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Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Plagiarism in the now defunct Michigan Horror Writers Group...

Updates To News and Criticism:: Easy as 1, 2, 3...See David Boyer Steal a Story! (...: I'd like to thank Ferrel "Rick" Moore for sending me the emails from his recent blog post: http://thewriterandthewhitecat.blogspot.com/20...

Penguicon Weekend

I will be selling signed copies of my books at Penguicon on Friday, April 27, through Sunday, April 29, 2012 in the dealer's room. Penguicon is being held this year at the Regency Hyatt in Dearborn, Michigan. Dealer room hours are:

Friday: 4 pm to 8 pm
Saturday: 10 am to 8 pm
Sunday: 10 am to 2 pm

Some of the highlights of this year are the Gears of War 3 Horde Mode Competition, Rock Band Rock Off, Brick Challenge, Quelf, and Zombie Walk.

For more information on this convention, please visit http://www.penguicon.org/.

Run For Your Lives!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFRfL0fmAOU&feature=player_embedded

Monday, April 16, 2012

Norway Shooter Anders Breivik 'Regrets Not Going Further' - ABC News

Norway Shooter Anders Breivik 'Regrets Not Going Further' - ABC News

Right-wing extremist Anders Breivik, who has admitted killing 77 people during a politically-motivated murder spree in Norway last summer, has been declared sane and fit to stand trial and will probably take the stand to say he wishes he had killed even more people.

"The experts' main conclusion is that the accused Anders Behring Breivik was not psychotic during the events on 22 July 2011," a Norwegian court said in a statement. "That means that he is considered criminally responsible at the time of the crime."

An earlier psychiatric report had found that Breivik suffered from paranoid schizophrenia. Both Breivik and some of the families of his victims objected to the diagnosis.

The families want Breivik to be legally responsible for his actions, and Breivik said in a 38-page letter to the Norwegian media that he considered the insanity diagnosis the "ultimate humiliation."

Breivik has confessed to detonating bombs that killed eight people in downtown Oslo and to killing 69 people with a rifle on the nearby resort island of Utoya. Breivik said he committed the acts as part of a war on Islamic immigration to Norway and had targeted government offices and the youth summer camp of Norway's ruling political party. He also told police that he had considered attacking U.S. President Barack Obama with a car bomb when Obama visited Oslo in December 2009 to accept the Nobel Peace Prize.
 
Breivik's trial begins next Monday, April 16. His defense attorney, Geir Lippestad, has said that the Breivik wants to be found guilty of the twin attacks. "He wants to be found sane and accountable," said Lippestad.
Lippestad also said that Breivik will provide an explanation for his actions. "He will not only defend his actions," said Lippestad, "but will also lament, I think, not going further."

Given his client's wishes, Lippestad will portray Breivik as sane, but as an extremist. To bolster his case, he plans to call both Islamic extremists and right-wing extremists to the stand. Lippestad says he will call Mullah Krekar, an Islamic extremist now resident in Norway, as a witness. Krekar, who once headed Ansar al-Islam, an Islamist group in Kurdish Iraq, has admitted meeting with Osama bin Laden and requesting backing for his group.

Lippestad said he wants to demonstrate that "Islamists also believe that Europe is the setting for a war of religion" and that therefore Breivik's belief in such a conflict is not delusional. Breivik has written a 1,500 page manifesto outlining his motives.

The attorney told the French newspaper Le Monde that he also plans to call the Norwegian anti-Islamic blogger who goes by the name Fjordman to the stand. Breivik quoted Fjordman, whose real name is Peder Jensen, in his massive manifesto.

In their new report, psychiatrists said there was no evidence that mental illness had "significantly weakened" his ability to evaluate the outside world realistically. The doctors said they would provide more detail on Breivik's mental state in court.

Monday, April 2, 2012

Accidental Horror Writer by T.W. Fendley

Accidental horror writer: Genres can be tricky
By: T.W. Fendley

Writing genre fiction can get confusing. You think you're writing science fiction, but others tell you it's fantasy or horror.For those of us who write speculative fiction, I think the lines are often blurry. At least, they're pretty tricky for me. Here are a couple of examples.

A little over a year ago, I had the pleasure of getting to know Fran Friel, the Bram Stoker Award-nominated author of MAMA'S BOY AND OTHER DARK TALES. Although it had been years since I'd read horror, immediately I downloaded her book. I was glad I did. What really surprised me was finding I'd already read one of the short stories--a tale about malevolent dust bunnies. When I learned Fran's new story, "House of the Infinite," was out in the May 2011 issue of Necrotic Tissue, I rushed to get it, too. As I read the futuristic gladiator story, it struck me that I wouldn't have been surprised to find it in a science fiction magazine.

That made me wonder about some stories I hadn't been able to sell. I decided to test my hunch. In my email inbox was a Writer's Digest reminder about its short story contests, so I entered one of my science fiction stories in the horror competition. A few months later, I learned it placed second! Even as I danced around my office, I was thinking, "Hmmm, I guess that means it's horror." Always quick to catch on, I am.

And that wasn't the first time I'd had a blindspot about what makes a story "horror." I thought my first novel, LITTLE SISTERS, was a mystery until an agent told me otherwise. In that case, my murderer telepathically controlled black widow spiders. I guess it should've been easier to for me to figure that one out.

Anyway, that's why I sometimes think of myself as an accidental horror writer. I don't think I've ever intentionally tried to write horror, but what I write sometimes has a mood or an edge that simply isn't "right." Or the "evil element" isn't completely vanquished. It's more than just a gory scene or two. I used to love scary stories and movies, and Edgar Allen Poe has always been a favorite. Maybe that's what comes out when I'm writing?

Well, at least I've worked out the genre for my short story, "Origin of the Species," but now I'm rethinking some others. I've been bombarding traditional sci-fi and fantasy 'zines with my queries, but what if the stories are actually Young Adult, or mystery or horror. It sent me back to the basics, to get more clarity about the differences between the genres. Writer's Digest offers one of the best lists of Fiction Genre Descriptions I've found, but you have to register. (It's free and you can also access other free stuff, like their list of 101 Best Websites for Writers). Writing to Publish also has an extensive list of Fiction Genre Definitions that even breaks each category down into subgenres (more than 25 for horror).

If you've been having trouble finding a home for one of your horror stories, it's possible that you need to reconsider the markets where you're submitting. Check out the genre lists and try sending it to a different kind of publication. You may find you're an accidental fantasy writer!

Thanks, Black Widow, for being a Party Host in my Virtual Book Tour Party!

The ZERO TIME 2012 Virtual Book Tour Party is here!
To celebrate, T.W. Fendley is giving away a Maya-Aztec astrology report, a Mayan Winds CD, ZERO TIME tote bag and fun 13.0.0.0.0. buttons. Check out the prizes and other posts on the Party Page.

3 ways to enter  (multiple entries are great!)

1) Leave a comment here or on any of the other PARTY POSTS listed on the Party Page.

2) Tweet about the Virtual Party or any of the PARTY POSTS (with tag #ZEROTIME2012)
Example: Join the Virtual Party for historical #fantasy novel ZERO TIME by @twfendley for a chance to win prizes! #ZEROTIME2012 http://bit.ly/x91NgP

3) Facebook (tag @T.W. Fendley) about the Virtual Party. (NOTE: tag must have periods to work)
Example: Join the Virtual Party for historical fantasy novel ZERO TIME by @T.W. Fendley for a chance to win prizes! http://twfendley.com/?page_id=510
 
You can find ZERO TIME at:
Ebook $4.99
Paperback $16.95