Let Haunted: 11 Tales of Ghostly Horror Scare You in eBook Formats!

Haunted CoverHAUNTED: 11 Tales of Ghostly Horror is now available in eBook format on DriveThruHorror.com for your Kindle, Nook and more! Just in time for All Hallow’s Eve; I hope you’ll do me the honor of downloading this collection of ghostly mysteries.

The first review has been posted and here’s what the reviewer had to say about my role:

The attention and careful thought that editor Monica Valentinelli put into arranging the stories in “Haunted” pays off as it the only anthology I have ever been able to read (and enjoy) in a single sitting. — Review of HAUNTED on DriveThruHorror.com

Download Haunted: 11 Tales of Ghostly Horror

Who willingly walks into a haunted house?

Ghost hunters explore dark places, investigate clues and uncover secrets of the dead. Evidence of an afterlife may prove elusive and few hunters recognize some things are best left buried and forgotten.

Suspense and intrigue lurks inside HAUNTED: 11 Tales of Ghostly Horror. Unlock the clues in these eleven mysteries:

+ A curious ghost hunter tracks down a mysterious device’s origin and finds more than he bargained for.

+ One local tour guide meets a group of cocky professionals in a small town and discovers something more frightening than ghosts.

+ After his famous ghost hunting wife is declared missing, a devastated husband follows a trail of clues to find her.

+ A team of researchers at a local university are in over their heads when they try to prove a house is haunted.

+ When a desperate mother offers his services, a boy who can talk to ghosts is dragged into a dangerous mystery.

+ Lost without their go-to guy, a group of ghost hunters fight each other to get him back on curious terms.

+ Tragedy looms when a group of friends enter a suspicious house and realize they’re unequipped to hurt what’s already dead.

+ A skeptic and a believer team up to expose the truth about a local legend in a haunted forest.

+ An iconic figure confronts a man to find out if he’s building haunted houses or if it’s a bizarre hoax.

+ Strange circumstances compel the ghosts from a troubled veteran’s past to reappear in the present.

+ A friendly warning turns into a bizarre rescue when a ghost hunter tries to help an amateur armed with an odd locket.

Answering These Zombie Questions Three at Maggie Slater’s Blog

Today I’m over at fellow author and The Zombie Feed, Volume 1 contributor Maggie Slater‘s website. I answer three questions about my story entitled “Tomorrow’s Precious Lambs.”

Here’s how Maggie describes my story:

Monica Valentinelli’s contribution to The Zombie Feed Vol. 1 is a visceral, irreverent, stream-of-consciousness narrative from the perspective of troubled Officer Mike Francis, a badge-carrying member of civilized society’s last-stand response to a world gone mad. It’s not the zombies Office Mike worries about–with a little fire, he can manage them–it’s all the other nutcases left behind, the ones who hide behind their fancy gated mansions and pretend like nothing’s changed. With them, you just never know what to expect, and that can be deadly. This is no quiet tale of love and loss: it’s a story that cuts to the quick and reveals the rotten madness even the living try to hide. If you’re brave enough, check out Monica’s story, “Tomorrow’s Precious Lambs” in The Zombie Feed Vol. 1!

Visit Three Questions: Monica Valentinelli and find out more about my writing process, my favorite fiction character and what I think about writing in the dark!

[Video] Ray Bradbury on Writing Persistently

So, I couldn’t come up with a good post for today. (Yeah, I know…so sue me…) Instead, I turn you to Ray Bradbury who talks about writing persistently. Because? It’s RAY BRADBURY. *falls over*

Watch Ray Bradbury on Writing Persistently on YouTube!

[Call for Quotes] How Did You Get Published?

Hi folks,

Based on the popularity of my article yesterday for SFWA.org entitled Message to New Writers: It’s Okay to Focus on Your Craft, I would like to follow up in July with a new article that highlights how published authors got their start.

    If you are a published author who has gotten paid for your fiction, please consider telling us about the first story you ever published and where it was featured.

    You may contact me directly or provide a quote in the comments below along with your website.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: no two paths within this industry are alike. You and I may have opinions about the approach an author has, but at the end of the day those thoughts mean diddly. What matters, is focusing on your own work. What you are comfortable doing. What you are happy with.

I hope by exploring other people’s stories, in addition to my own, that we’ll not only shed some insight on these diverse paths, but we’ll also provide new authors with some much-needed encouragement.

The Hard Question for New Writers

I’ve talked about this a little before, about how we live in an age of immediacy. We have many tools that allow us to instantly connect with anyone, anywhere else in the world. I feel this connectivity is a double-edged sword because of something very simple, yet very important to all creative people.

Before I get to the whys and hows and whats of this post, I’m going to post the question first: Are you ready?

So what does that mean, anyway? Even though that sounds simple enough, there’s a lot more to it. You see, writing it’s just the process of putting words on the page or sticking up a story for readers to buy. It’s a journey. It’s the kind of journey that isn’t exciting or glorious or even fulfilling at first, because it can be very complex and grueling. After all, writing a short story isn’t the same thing as writing a novel. Writing a technical report isn’t a blog post, and it’s not marketing copy. Each form has its own function. Its own purpose.

To go from “new” to “professional” requires something that I feel the internet is obscuring. The steps — some emotional, some not — almost every writer goes through to get from Point A to Point B. The first one, of course, is to figure out what you want to write, and write that. The second is to study that form. I mean, really study it. If you like a genre, read books in that genre. Uncover why you like it. Etc. This process can take a short time or a long time, but the end result will help shift one role away from the other. Instead of being in the position of “receiver” or “consumer,” you will start to steer towards being the “creator.” This philosophical shift is huge, but often difficult to explain because being a creator resonates through every action you take — how much TV you watch, how many books you read, what music you play. The more you learn, the more you’ll go through. Emotionally, physically, mentally and even spiritually.

Where I feel the connectivity is hurting new writers is the way that it obscures and minimizes these processes. The medium facilitates immediate distribution and — in some cases — immediate creation. My blogging software allows me to type quickly and then publish the post with the click of a button. Once you’ve finished a book, all you have to do is go and publish it. Does that make you a creator? You created something and now it’s available for a consumer. So yes, right? Yes, it does — whether or not the work was ready to be published or not.

Earlier in this post, I posed a question. Are you ready? For me, this question means that it’s okay to not submit a finished novel or a short story until I feel it’s ready. It means that if I want to try a new technique, I can write a story and never submit it. I can write trunk novels or trunk passages and use them to experiment, to practice, to freshen up. With deadlines in the mix, it means that I have to gauge my time accordingly.

The idea that not everything you create has to be consumed is a freeing one, because now the decision comes back to you. If one project isn’t ready, then don’t submit it and move on to the next one. Abandon it. Use it as a learning experience. This is crucial, but especially when you’re new. Why? Because when you’re a creator, there is someone else you’re creating for — yourself. Allow yourself that luxury. Recognize it. Revel in it. Then, when you’re ready, take the next step. Whatever that is. Just don’t be afraid to say: “No, I’m not ready yet.”

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