Carey Burns

Summer is so hectic.  Between working 10 hour days, cleaning the house, and working out I barely have time to write or even read let alone update the blog.  Sorry blog.  Anyway, the zombie anthology Chivalry is Dead  is available for purchase and not only are the stories great, there's an introduction written by yours truly.  I've finished reading the anthology Horrorology  and it is yet another fine book I'm proud to be published in.  I'm reading Alienology right now and am pretty impressed so far.  I've got another poem coming out in Putrid Poetry & Sickening Sketches and from what I've seen, the book will be pretty amazing.  Despite a HUGE moment of self-doubt, I've finished my vampire tale and submitted it to the editor.  Fingers crossed that he likes it and that it is good enough for the book.  I've also finished a tale called "Once Upon an Autopsy" and will be submitting that either tonight or tomorrow.  O...

We've all had it.  When we wonder "Is it good enough?" and make numerous attempts to click the dreaded SEND button to zip the story to the editor.  This time for me is different.  I just can't even tell if my story is good, bad, wonderful or terrible.  I fear I'll be letting this one sit so long it comes close to the deadline but I just can't hit that button yet. To keep my mind off it I started a story about moles.  Not the adorable blind critters that dig up yards--the splotches of melanin some of us have an overabundance of.  So far I think it'll be a flash piece but it might just surprise me and be a full blown story.  Either way I don't think I'll be looking at my moles the same way again. 

I've been invited to participate in an anthology and at first I freaked out because that's a lot of pressure to write something amazing, unique, and compelling.  After many false starts, I think I've finally hit my groove and the words seem to be coming at me rather than from me.  Hard to describe but it is like the vampire is telling me what happened and I'm just trying to keep up.  Writing is weird this way. Oh, do you like bacon?  How about bacon with a side of horror?  This is the first peek at the amazing cover for the forthcoming Baconology which my story "BLT Summer" is in.  Just when I think the covers at Library of the Living Dead couldn't get any cooler, they go and do this. 

I've been tardy in announcing the release of Alienology: Tales from the Void !  This is the first alien story I've ever written and I'm rather proud of my tale "Space Freaks."  The vampire story I've been working on is on hold for a moment while a zombie story takes over my brain.  They'll do that, you know.  Zombies just loooove brains.  With any luck I can finish it up this weekend and get back on the vampire bandwagon because my deadline is just getting closer.

There are times when I have about ten different ideas that all seem perfect and all would fit nicely in an upcoming anthology.  They pop in and out of my thoughts at inopportune moments and I can never really pin them down the way they deserve so that I feel like I'm being run through a blender--the kind on TV that blends other blenders--and it is exhausting.  Days like today when I get zero words put to paper it frustrates me.  Really bad.  It isn't that I'm blocked.  I just can't stop long enough to get it all out. So, instead I'm Facebooking and blogging and bumming around the forum--anything but actual writing so I can slow the heck down.  I'm sure I will be awake until 2:00am and finally start writing around 3:00am.  I hate days like these.  The deadlines loom closer on days like these. 

I think I've finally chosen a fitting ending for my deer tale and now I have to choose a title so I can get on to writing my next scary story about vampires.  Yes, vampires.  Don't roll your eyes just yet because these are heartless, cruel, selfish vamps (well, one is) and things get very bloody and very horrible.  I hope I can finish it before my deadline! As we've discovered that cake can't mend a wounded knee, it turns out that cheesy curly fries are equally useless for strained back and leg muscles.  Live and learn, I suppose.  I spent the day painting yesterday and I ache like you wouldn't believe and I get to do it all over again tomorrow and the day after that.  And maybe again on Thursday or Friday.  What a week off! Also, the anthology No More Heroes will be out soon-ish so you can pick it up and read my tale called "Picking Up the Pieces."  My hooping and hollering will tell you when it is available for purchase.

While I've been patiently waiting for Alienology to be published, another book I'm in is now live on Amazon and CreateSpace:  Horrorology .  My story "The Dark Ride" is in this one and I can't wait to read the other stories.  As if that weren't enough, the table of contents for Baconology (which features my story "BLT Summer") has been posted.  Things are moving right along and it looks like I'll have a slew of books to read over the summer.