Speedloader

Breaking News!

ANNOUNCEMENT: Spinetingler Magazine is pleased to announce the launch of Snubnose Press, an e-publisher of crime fiction.




Spinetingler Magazine has been publishing new and emerging writers since 2005. Building from that foundation Snubnose Press will seek to publish only the best in short crime fiction. With the traditional publishing market contracting, Snubnose Press will fill this gap by publishing original anthologies, novellas and short novels.

Visit Snubnose Press at http://snubnosepress.wordpress.com/

The debut title of Snubnose Press is an anthology of six original short stories called Speedloader. Upcoming releases will include short story collections by Patti Abbott and Sandra Seamans, with more titles to be announced over the summer.

Speedloader Description:

From the trenches of WWI to the abandoned row homes of Baltimore; from a rural charnel house to the Texas-Mexican border, these six stories explore the dark heart of crime fiction today.

Speedloader features stories of…

…revenge that will challenge you to a game of uncle that you may not win and will haunt those who are able
to finish it.
…clashing motives on the Texas Mexico border.
…a slide into an alcoholic haze.
…a struggle with the weight of a personal choice when confronted with the sins of the past.
…getting caught up in actions far beyond one’s control.
…small crimes covered up and lost amidst larger forces.

Speedloader is six stories slammed home and ready to kill.

With all new, original stories from Richard Thomas, Nik Korpon, Nigel Bird, newcomer WD County and Spinetingler Award winners Matthew C Funk and Jonathan Woods.

Visit Snubnose Press at http://snubnosepress.wordpress.com/

Please pass this information along to others and feel free to post this information publicly. Brian and Sandra are available for questions.

CONTACT: Brian Lindenmuth or Sandra Ruttan: snubnosepress@gmail.com

A tale of two fonts

by: Joelle Charbonneau

A few months ago, I was about 1/2 of the way through writing a manuscript when I got an idea for another story. I hate when that happens. Here I was knee deep in South Side Chicago gang violence and a new light bulb flickered on. A light bulb I couldn’t ignore. I knew it was a story I wanted to write, but I’m one of those writers who can’t write two projects at the same time. I suck at it. So, I told myself I’d shelve the idea and continue to write my thriller. Only, the opening of the new story beckoned – probably because it was once again in a genre I hadn’t written in before. Something bright and new and shiny – and something I had no idea if I could write. The new project requires a lot of fantasy world building something I had always said I admired but never wanted to attempt. What’s a girl to do?

I did what I never do. I opened up a new file and started writing. Oh – I knew I wasn’t going to write much. Just a few pages. Just the beginning. Just enough to see if I could even hope to create the world I saw in my head. To make sure I didn’t get confused about which manuscript I was working on, I decided to write in a different font than I usually type in – Times New Roman. Normally, I wrote in Courier New. For a few days I alternated between the two manuscripts. Once I had satisfied myself that I might have hope of pulling off the world building in the new book, I shelved it and marched to THE END of the thriller.

Now I’m back working on the new project. I think it might be good. Chances are I’ll change my mind about that before too long. However, the one thing I haven’t changed is the font. And I have no idea why. I like writing in Courier New because it makes me feel ultra productive. If I write 1000 words in Courier New I know I have written about 5-6 pages. In Times New Roman I’m lucky if that same word count covers 3 ½ pages. Yeah – it’s the same number of words – the same productivity, and yet the differential is driving me nuts.

Which is ridiculous, right? The font I write in shouldn’t make me feel better or worse about my writing. The fact it does kind of ticks me off – so I haven’t changed the font. I’m determined to overcome.

Yeah – I’m stubborn. Let’s blame it on my hair and move on.

The thing is my love/hate relationship with my writing font made me wonder if any other writers have fonts out there they HAVE to write in. Do you feel most comfortable in a specific font or does it not matter to you? Am I the only one that seems to have this hang-up? If so, I think I might go get therapy. (After I finish writing this book - without giving in.)

The Start of a Beautiful …

By Scott D. Parker

All writing advice boils down to the obvious: Just Write. Those words are painted on a ceramic pencil holder I keep on my writing desk. On the back of it, I put a small red dot. When the lady at the ceramic store asked my why, I told her that I was always missing something and I needed a little reminder to help me remember what I missed.

The beauty of that little red dot is that it can stand in for just about anything: better prose, more natural dialogue, get that essay to the editor yesterday! This week, the little red dot has taken on a new meaning: schedule. I am blessed to be able to work my technical writing day job out of my house four out of five days a week. As a result, I’m in this room many, many hours. I’ll admit, too, that come the end of the work day, I am so ready to get off my butt and step away from the computer and the keyboard. Not a real conducive writing environment, that.

Like Dave on Thursday, I read Chuck Wendig’s post, “Six Signs It’s High Time to Give Up That Whole “Writing” Thing” (Hey, Chuck! Two DSD shout outs in one week!) There was a single take away from that essay: Shut up and write. The nifty thing for me was that I already was.

Taking a cue from Jeff Abbott, I started a habit five days ago: write in the morning. With summer here, my boy is not in school. In the past, when I didn’t have to get up so early, I’d allow myself a few minutes more sleep. Not so, now. I made a simple decision: maintain my wake up time from the school months and get 1,000 words done before heading “off” to the day job.

And I’ve done it, too. In this first week of summer when the mercury nears 100 every day, the mornings have been unexpectedly pleasant. So, not only have I fired up the Mac every morning a little before 7am, I’ve also pounded out my words sitting outside on my patio. I can’t tell you how fulfilling it is to have your writing for the day done by 8am—my hard cut off time since I do have to work. And, as the week progressed, I found that I, when I awoke and groggily brushed my teeth, the sentences I was to write started forming in my head. By the time I poured the coffee, I almost didn’t’ need it so thrilling was anxiousness to get to writing.

An interesting colliery: Because I have to start work at 8am, I have had the situation where I’ve had to stop in the middle of a scene. I’ve never really done that before—despite the advice from numerous sources that it’s a good idea—but found it to be a pretty cool thing the next morning. I don’t think I’ll keep that aspect of my writing, but it’s helped a couple of times.

When do you write? Are you a morning writer?

Short Story Collection of the Week: Adventures of Cash Laramie and Gideon Miles as written by Edward A. Grainger. I think we all know that Edward A. Grainger is really David Cranmer, writer, editor, publisher, husband, and new father. A couple of days ago, the first collection of his Cash Laramie and Gideon Miles short stories was released via Kindle. I had the pleasure of reading some of these stories in draft form and I can attest that there isn’t a bad tale in this book. Even if you don’t particularly like westerns—see Chris F. Holm’s introduction if you fall into this category—you will enjoy these tales of adventure. Besides, the collection is only $0.99. Come on! You can part with a dollar, can’t you? You’ll get much more than you paid for, I assure you.