Hello! Today I’m going to share some friends of mine who have published work. They are all super wonderful and nice. They are serious about their work and do it well. Please check them out and send love in the comments!! They work really hard at what thy do and deserve to be showcased.
- Dylan Ginther
Getting to know Dylan, the bio from his website:
Dylan Lawrence Ginther is an author who specifies in the horror genre. As an LGBTQ teen raised on the streets of British Columbia Canada, Dylan learnt to explore the deepest parts of human consciousness and find out the truth of the mysteries that bring fear into the forefront of our minds through everyday situations ignored by the public. Exploring the realities that some will never dare to go, in the hopes to make a truly positive impact in the real world. Dylan attempts a way to maintain negative personal experiences throughout his life into his stories and films in a hope to reach others who may have gone through similar situations, and find a way to inform the public through open dialogue about many of the problems in the world today including racism, homophobia, lack of attention towards indigenous and minority issues, and many other situations.
Dylan is also currently working on a project short film labelled “Arrowwood.” which is a self-funded film centred to promoting the news of injustices centred around MMIWG.
The Interview:
1. Was the publishing process hard?
– The process of publishing is surprisingly easy depending on the author’s determination of publishing. Whether through self-publishing or Marketed publishing, it all depends on the author to make sure they have a fully edited copy of their work to promote! But personally, it was quite easy to publish for me.
2. What is your favorite piece you have had published?
– As a new author, I have only had one published work “Siblings” so far, so of course, it is my favorite. I hold it extremely close to my heart in terms of both the characters and the story.
3. What gives you inspiration?
– As a victim of abuse and having been abandoned by my parents by the age of 12, my life is my inspiration for my stories.
4. What advice do you have to people who want their work published?
-HAVE FUN! AND KNOW THAT YOUR STORY HAS WORTH! You know your stories better than anyone else and it’s important to tell those stories, and to be confident in your work!
Links:
https://www.facebook.com/OfficialSiblingsBookPage
Vasilis Zikos (@vasiliszikosart) • Instagram photos and videos
Dylan Ginther (@dylan_ginther) • Instagram photos and videos
Personal Thoughts:
Dylan is a kind person that is always nice to talk to. He may have had some rough patches but it only made him a better writer. To get your hands on a copy of his book Siblings simply by emailing him at siblingsbook@outlook.com So, I would recommend checking him out and sending your love.
2. Charles O’Connor
About Charles:
Charles D. O’Connor III is a dark prose poet hailing from VA. He spent 10 years learning how to write and has amassed many publishing credits-particularly in the Lovecraftian vein. Although still working on his first book, you can find his poems in the magazine Spectral Realms on hippocampuspress.com. Also, a partial list of his publishing credits can be found on isfdb.org. And until he builds a website (including all forms of social media), you can find him on this site as well as Facebook.
The Interview
1. Was the publishing process hard?
Yes at first. You don’t know whether rejections are because of the quality of your work, or if it’s another reason. And if you have a fragile self-esteem, the entire process can be draining. Giving people what they want while continuing to be yourself is another obstacle. But practice and maturity help a lot, also a good friend. All this is a novice’s salvation.
2. What is your favorite piece you have had published?
My favorite piece (prose poem) was called “The Daughter of Death.” It has to do with my ex-fiancé, but I presented it in a dark fashion like Poe; It wasn’t your normal dark lost love poem either. Plus it received shining reviews and marked the first time I tore everything I wanted to say from my mind and slammed it on paper
3. What gives you inspiration?
All the tragedies in my life have been the greatest inspirations. I also get ideas out of the clear blue. It’s most unusual. My “well” never empties. But there are times my well dries so I turn to mysterious stories or ideas that interest me. To me.. if you leave your heart and mind open then you’ll be ok
4. What advice do you have to people who want their work published?
For people who want to publish their work, I’d say know your intended audience, realize rejection doesn’t necessarily reflect the quality of your work-it’s simply not what they’re looking for. Also, make friends with people who are already published. Contacts/friends are imperative. Lastly, always practice your craft and learn about yourself as a writer. Why are you writing? What do you love to write and how will you express it on the page? Can I say I love what I’ve written and will continue to stand by it even if it’s rejected a million times? (Of course, make sure there’s nothing intrinsically wrong). If you can achieve all this and couple it with patience then you’ll be alright
Links:
http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?221665
Personal thoughts:
Charles is a very articulated person. Every conversation we have feels formal and I totally dig it. You can buy the magazines, which have his work in them, on Hippocampus Press. The magazines are around 200 pages and cost $10 plus shipping and handling.
3. John Wiseley
Who is John Wiseley?
John J Wiseley was born in Michigan and was dragged kicking and screaming to California when he was eight. His first career was in the medical field but he quickly learned that he had a passion for storytelling. He has an affinity for horror and sci-fi and has published books in both genres. John’s love of dogs has translated into being a highly respected and reputable purebred dog breeder. That, paired with his love of travel, keeps him busy when he’s not putting pen to paper.
The Interview:
1. Was the publishing process hard?
The publishing process was very easy but there was a learning curve. I published my first book when I was 19 and I used a company called book surge and it took three or four weeks to get everything done nowadays if you use Amazon and Kindle it takes about half an hour to get published so the process is really streamlined now to help new writers get their books published and that’s great.
2. What is your favorite piece you have had published? If you only had one piece published tell us something about it.
My favorite piece that I ever had published was actually a book of poetry. It contains poems from myself and from my dad. He had written poems his entire life. Back from when he was in the Navy all the way until he met my mother-and beyond.. so I figured I would combine my poetry with his poetry and actually get published so that he had a hard copy book that he could reference when he wanted to read some of his poetry. It was a pretty cool gift to be able to give him and he appreciated it immensely.
3. What gives you inspiration?
My wife is my inspiration. She’s my ride or die, my partner in crime, my soulmate, my BFF, my best friend, my everything! I want her to be proud that she chose me.
4. What advice do you have to people who want their work published?
The advice that I would give to someone that wants their work published is: do it because you love it not because you think you’re going to sell 1 million copies and be a New York Times bestseller because that happens to less than 1% of the authors out there. If you’re striving for dollars you’ll end up with pennies! However, if you do it for the right reasons-success will come, if you have a quality product. Also, don’t be afraid to pivot when you’re writing. Stay loose and let the story take you where it takes you, even if it ends up changing your story arc a little bit. Stephen King was quoted as saying, sometimes when he writes he doesn’t have an outline-it just goes where it goes he doesn’t know who’s going to live or die in the end and I think that’s great amazing!
Links:
Personal thoughts:
John is very passionate about his book, and is very good at getting himself out there. He is very active in our Facebook group and helps others with their problems. His book Hamilton House is free on Kindle Unlimited or $15.95 for a paperback copy! Def check him out.
4. Michael Fassbender
The Bio taken from his website:
I began writing in high school. During my freshman year, I was introduced to the work of H.P. Lovecraft, and within a couple of months, I conceived an idea for a story of my own. I learned how to type on summer vacation, and produced my first short story, “Tsunami.” In hindsight, it was hopelessly derivative of Lovecraft’s “Call of Cthulhu,” but it was a start.
I earned my Bachelor’s Degree in History at Illinois Benedictine College, now Benedictine University. Alongside my classwork and part-time job, I wrote fairly extensively, completing some two dozen short stories and several poems as well. Two of my stories, “Abraham” and “Ostracism,” won first prize in annual short story contests sponsored at the college by the American Chemical Society. Two poems, “Sherwood Forest” and “A Walk in the Night,” also saw publication in a campus volume.
Graduate study at Indiana University in Bloomington put my fictional aspirations on hold for a few years, and upon entering the workforce, I found them returning only by degrees. By 1999, however, I renewed my interest in writing as a profession, and in the following years I wrote several short stories and two novellas. Their completion gave me reason to begin preliminary work on a novel.
My biggest opportunity came in 2008, when I found the website Helium (then at http://www.helium.com). Here was a site open to writers of all skill levels, giving them the chance to write on nearly any subject, publish it online, and earn royalty payments based on the number of times that each article was viewed. Other opportunities from contests to commissions were available on the site, and within a couple of months I had made my first outright sale of a short story. Moreover, one’s work on Helium also served as an online portfolio, and I was able to demonstrate my expertise in historical matters. In 2012, I was invited to serve as the Channel Manager for The World Wars. In 2013, the title was changed to Subject Specialist, but I served in the same capacity until the website closed the following year.
I hold Master’s Degrees in Modern European History and Russian and East European studies. I speak German and Russian, with a little bit of Italian and Czech besides. I’ve traveled to Europe on three occasions. In high school, I won a trip to Germany, staying with a family in Nürnberg. In college, I studied for a semester at the Eberhard-Karls Universität in Tübingen. More recently, I’ve visited Rome on vacation.
The Interview:
1. Was the publishing process hard?
The publication process itself has never been too difficult. In most cases, the editors called for some changes, generally concerning minor issues, and I was happy to provide the fixes. The stories are stronger as a result. In one case, the editor requested a change that would materially have altered the story in a less felicitous manner, but once I explained the historical reference to which I was alluding, the editor was happy to let the original character information stand.
Once you get to the publication process, you have editors who like what you’ve written and want nothing more than to make the end result the best it can be. It’s the submission process that’s hard. You have to send your work out to numerous editors, and most of them will reject them. Unless you’re incredibly unlucky, everybody is going to be professional about it as long as you are. You won’t encounter rudeness or sarcasm or anything like that. You just have to realize that, most of the time, your story won’t be accepted and you’ll just have to keep trying anyway.
2. What is your favorite piece you have had published?
The choice of my favorite published story is a difficult one between The Cold Girl and Schattenlenker’s Hidden Treasure, which coincidentally take place a couple of years apart in the same fictional university town of Beecher’s Run, Indiana. The Cold Girl has the distinction of being published twice, but in the long run, I think I’m slightly more proud of Schattenlenker’s Hidden Treasure, which appears in The Nightside Codex from Silent Motorist Media.
Schattenlenker was one case when the writing process took on something of a life of its own. I had started out with a different end point in view, and as I wrote, a much better idea occurred to me and produced what I considered a very satisfying plot twist. It seems that others have enjoyed the story, as well. I’ve seen favorable references to it in reviews on Goodreads and Amazon.
3. What gives you inspiration?
Like most of us, I draw inspiration from many sources. A few come from personal experiences; the aforementioned Beecher’s Run stories draw in part on my experiences in grad school in southern Indiana. I have a lifelong love of history and related subjects, like archaeology, and I draw upon these subjects frequently. As a horror author, I have a special love of ghostly and monstrous folklore. I’m also a fan of Heavy Metal music, which is a fine font of inspiration for anybody who deals with the macabre in any artistic form.
I read a fair amount of horror fiction, and also related nonfiction, such as allegedly true ghost stories and studies of things like witchcraft beliefs. There are many authors whose work I enjoy, but I don’t consider any contemporary writers to be major influences. My principal influences are still, chronologically, Dante, Shakespeare, Poe, Lovecraft and Tolkien. Of these, Lovecraft was the one who gave me the push in high school to start writing.
4. What advice do you have to people who want their work published?
To those who want to get their own work published, my advice would be: you need to get your work out there. It’s hard to keep sending out submissions when you just receive rejections in return. It takes a little bit of a thick skin to keep going at it. There are ways to improve your chances — write your best work, follow the editor’s instructions when you send it in, and try to know enough about the publisher to ensure that you send the right story for consideration for a given magazine or anthology.
I recommend that you start with one of the aggregators of Open Calls out there (The Horror Tree, Dark Markets, or one of the submission call groups on Facebook) and follow it closely. Don’t just look for venues that might accept one of the stories you already have available. Look for ones that are seeking stories on topics that you think you could write well, and write stories specifically for these calls. Three of my published stories (including Schattenlenker) were written specifically for the publication in question.
I keep a book in which I document all submissions, rejections, acceptances, and payments, which is handy both at tax time and when I find myself wondering about the status of a story that has been out of the mix for a while. Separately, I have an .rtf document in which I track submissions, rejections and acceptances on a story-by-story basis, so I don’t accidentally send the same story to a given magazine twice. It’s also a handy way to see if a given story is free to send out if I see a promising opportunity on The Horror Tree.
Links:
Tisiphone – Michael Fassbender
Michael Fassbender – PAGE & SPINE: fiction showcase
Personal thoughts:
Michael was very enthusiastic about this project. He was very nice and professional. He has had stories in Sanitarium Magazine, in Hypnos Magazine, in Horror Magazine, and in Dark Divinations. His story “Tisiphone,” can be found on his website, Michael Fassbender – Depth and integration.
5. D. E. Grant
The person who is D. E. Grant:
I am 57 years old, born in New Jersey, and I currently live in Orlando, Florida. I have five sisters and been a writer since high school, first poetry and the school newspaper, then further fueling my desires for writing with flash fiction. I wrote CURSED PLANTATION in Charlotte, while I was on the job; the second of my trilogy, CURSED LEGACY, is in the publication process and due to be released later this year, was completed here in Florida. The finale, CURSED BLOODLINE, is being written at this time, hopefully to also be released later this year or early 2022, which will open the gateway to further adventures in my imagination.
The Interview:
1. Was the publishing process hard?
The publishing process was not difficult, but frustrating for a time. First, trying to capture the attention of traditional publishers and agents became time-consuming, especially when writing my next book in my DARK SUCCUBUS trilogy. After so many rejections, I decided to self-publish, and that made my publication process a whole lot easier for me, because I could better concentrate on writing.
2. What is your favorite piece you have had published?
I have had some of my poetry published, but nothing beats having my first book, CURSED PLANTATION, published and seen in print. Holding that book in my hand and having people read my thoughts put on paper makes my book my favorite published piece and greatest literary accomplishment.
3. What gives you inspiration?
I am inspired by the opportunity to allow my imagination to run free and give voice to my characters. Writing in itself inspired me because I have fulfilled my dream of being a published author.
4. What advice do you have to people who want their work published?
My best advice I could give to anyone who wants to publish their work is to keep writing, regardless of any doubts anyone could cast your way. We each have a story and there is an audience anxious to hear it and someone whose attention you will capture. Do not allow anyone or anything silence your voice.
Links:
Personal thoughts:
D.E. Grant was very pleasant to work with, alway very cordial. I can tell he really cares about his work and wants it to succeed. He has been writing a while and has a lot of knowledge about the field. His book Cursed Plantations is only $10.66 for paperback on amazon or $7.49 for kindle. I personally like paperbacks so i think it’s a steal. Please check him out and send your thoughts to him in the comment section.
The Creepy Celery 