Jared Sandman

The DGA published a wide-ranging interview with horror filmmaker Guillermo del Toro in the most recent issue.

And I got a kick out of this infographic by Zachary Petit.  It’s funny because it’s true.

These both caught my eye because they share a horrific fairy-tale feel to them.  I hope you dig ’em too.

(List taken from the Horror Writers Association)

Superior Achievement in a Novel

Joe Hill – NOS4A2
Stephen King – Doctor Sleep
Lisa Morton – Malediction
Sarah Pinborough and F. Paul Wilson – A Necessary End
Christopher Rice – The Heavens Rise

Superior Achievement in a First Novel

Kate Jonez – Candy House
John Mantooth – The Year of the Storm
Rena Mason – The Evolutionist
Jonathan Moore – Redheads
Royce Prouty – Stoker’s Manuscript

Superior Achievement in a Young Adult Novel

Patrick Freivald – Special Dead
Kami Garcia – Unbreakable
Geoffrey Girard – Project Cain
Joe McKinney – Dog Days
Cat Winters – In the Shadow of Blackbirds

Superior Achievement in a Graphic Novel

Ed Brubaker – Fatale Book Three: West of Hell
Caitlin R. Kiernan – Alabaster: Wolves
Brandon Seifert – Witch Doctor, Vol. 2: Mal Practice
Cameron Stewart – Sin Titulo
Paul Tobin – Colder

Superior Achievement in Long Fiction

Dale Bailey – “The Bluehole”
Gary Braunbeck – “The Great Pity”
Benjamin K. Ethridge – “The Slaughter Man”
Gregory Frost – “No Others Are Genuine”
Greg F. Gifune – House of Rain
Rena Mason – East End Girls

Superior Achievement in Short Fiction

Michael Bailey – “Primal Tongue”
Patrick Freivald – “Snapshot”
David Gerrold – “Night Train to Paris”
Lisa Mannetti – “The Hunger Artist”
John Palisano – “The Geminis”
Michael Reaves – “Code 666”

Superior Achievement in a Screenplay

Fabien Adda and Fabrice Gobert – The Returned: “The Horde”
Brad Falchuk – American Horror Story: Asylum: “Spilt Milk”
Bryan Fuller – Hannibal: “Apéritif”
Daniel Knauf – Dracula: “A Whiff of Sulfur”
Glen Mazzara – The Walking Dead: “Welcome to the Tombs”

Superior Achievement in an Anthology

R.J. Cavender and Boyd E. Harris (ed.) – Horror Library: Volume 5
Eric J. Guignard (ed.) – After Death…
Michael Knost and Nancy Eden Siegel (ed.) – Barbers & Beauties
Joseph S. Pulver, Sr. (ed.) – The Grimscribe’s Puppets
Anthony Rivera and Sharon Lawson (ed.) – Dark Visions: A Collection of Modern Horror, Volume One

Superior Achievement in a Fiction Collection

Nathan Ballingrud – North American Lake Monsters: Stories
Laird Barron – The Beautiful Thing That Awaits Us All and Other Stories
James Dorr – The Tears of Isis
Caitlin R. Kiernan – The Ape’s Wife and Other Stories
Gene O’Neill – Dance of the Blue Lady
S. P. Somtow – Bible Stories for Secular Humanists

Superior Achievement in Non-Fiction

Barbara Brodman and James E. Doan (ed.) – Images of the Modern Vampire: The Hip and the Atavistic
Gary William Crawford (ed.) – Ramsey Campbell: Critical Essays on the Modern Master of Horror
William F. Nolan – Nolan on Bradbury: Sixty Years of Writing about the Master of Science Fiction
Jarkko Toikkanen – The Intermedial Experience of Horror: Suspended Failures
Robert H. Waugh (ed.) – Lovecraft and Influence: His Predecessors and Successors

Superior Achievement in a Poetry Collection

Bruce Boston – Dark Roads: Selected Long Poems 1971-2012
Helen Marshall – The Sex Lives of Monsters
Marge Simon and Sandy DeLuca – Dangerous Dreams
Marge Simon, Rain Graves, Charlee Jacob, and Linda Addison – Four Elements
Stephanie M. Wytovich – Hysteria: A Collection of Madness

The Lifetime Achievement Awards this year are being bestowed to R.L. Stine and editor Stephen Jones, both worthy choices.  Congratulations to all the nominees.  The Bram Stoker Awards are being held in conjunction with the World Horror Convention (in Portland, OR) on May 10, 2014.

I did this for my last book, Blackstone, listed some of the random tidbits I had to research during the editing process.  Flashback is no different, so here’s another list.  Some of these subjects are vital to the plot, while others are throwaway lines.

1 – Various types of surgical saws

2 – Which year Steamboat Willie premiered (1928)

3 – The history of the Hollywood blacklist

4 – Primate rescue sanctuaries in California

5 – The steps involved with creating a waxwork figure

6 – Which celebrities are buried at Forest Lawn Cemetery

7 – Fonda Theatre through the decades

8 – Sci-fi schlock films on IMDB

9 – Amenities at Griffith Observatory

10 – British Inspector in charge of the Jack the Ripper case

Here are a few links that recently caught my eye:

Isaac Asimov predicted at the 1964 World’s Fair what the world would be like fifty years hence.  Read his original article from The New York Times here.  Some things he really nailed; on others he’s way off base.

And here’s a creepy short film, somehow made creepier by stop-motion animation.

If you’re not reading Aeon Magazine, rectify that immediately.  I came across this site a few months back and gorged myself on their backlist of essays.  They’ve recently added short documentaries as well.

I wanted to share one Aeon piece in particular, published in the past couple of weeks, about creepypasta.

And finally another video about one of the best:  Richard Matheson being interviewed by the Writers Guild.  This was conducted (I’m guessing) a few months before Matheson passed away.  I’ve linked to a lengthier interview with him in the past; this one hits the same highlights, but it’s still worth a look if you’re a Matheson fan like me.

My 2013 New Year’s resolution was to blog more here on the site.  That didn’t happen.  I haven’t made any resolutions this year, but I do have a list of writing projects to tackle in the next 12-14 months.  Multiple novels are in the pipeline, so my lack of blogging will correspond with more stories for you to read.  I figure that’s more important than blogging anyhow.

If you want to connect with me via social media, I’m on Twitter (@JaredSandman).  I’ve really warmed to Twitter over the past year.  It’s like an ongoing party you can drift in and out of at will.  And depending on who you follow, you can create an army of like-minded individuals who bring you interesting tidbits from around the Web that otherwise wouldn’t have made your radar.

A few interesting tidbits from the Internet that caught my attention:

Helpful Definitions for Modern Authors:  uncomfortably truthful.

Margaret Atwood rejects blurb requests in poetic manner.

Various inspirational writing quotes.

A quick note about an upcoming event.  This Saturday (November 9th) I’ll be on hand to sell and sign my books beside The Links golf course, from 9 AM to 3 PM.  It’s located at 8700 Pavilion Drive, in Hudson.  Drop by and say hello.  Here’s a photo for those unfamiliar with the facility.

In other news, over the weekend the British Fantasy Awards were announced at the World Fantasy Convention in Brighton, England.  Here’s a list of this year’s winners (taken from the British Fantasy Society).  Congratulations to them all.

Best Fantasy Novel (the Robert Holdstock Award): Some Kind of Fairy Tale, Graham Joyce (Gollancz)

Best Horror Novel (the August Derleth Award): Last Days, Adam Nevill (Macmillan)

Best Novella: The Nine Deaths of Dr Valentine, John Llewellyn Probert (Spectral Press)

Best Short Story: Shark! Shark!, Ray Cluley (Black Static #29) (TTA Press)

Best Collection: Remember Why You Fear Me, Robert Shearman (ChiZine Publications)

Best Anthology: Magic: an Anthology of the Esoteric and Arcane, Jonathan Oliver (ed.) (Solaris)

Best Small Press (the PS Publishing Independent Press Award): ChiZine Publications (Brett Alexander Savory and Sandra Kasturi)

Best Non-Fiction: Pornokitsch, Anne C. Perry and Jared Shurin (eds)

Best Magazine/Periodical: Interzone, Andy Cox (ed.) (TTA Press)

Best Artist: Sean Phillips

Best Comic/Graphic Novel: Saga, Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples (Image Comics)

Best Screenplay: The Cabin in the Woods, Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard

Best Newcomer (the Sydney J. Bounds Award): Helen Marshall, for Hair Side, Flesh Side (ChiZine Publications)

Special Award (the Karl Edward Wagner Award): Iain Banks / Iain M. Banks

The New York Times published a great piece last week about the business of writing.  It emphasizes the fact that writing is a business, so no one should do it for free.

And in other news, I just finished edits for the rough draft of my latest book.  At this point I feel comfortable talking a bit about it.  It’s a straight mystery novel entitled Flashback. I mentioned before that my usual readers should enjoy it, because the story touches on the horror genre.  The main character, Gregory Kincaid, is a former B-movie star (think Roddy McDowell from Fright Night, or an elderly Vincent Price in a wheelchair).  He’s a world-famous actor remembered for one role in particular.  Much how Bela Lugosi is forever known as Dracula or Boris Karloff as Frankenstein’s creation, Gregory Kincaid’s is considered the cinematic portrayal of Jack the Ripper.

That’s all I’ll say for now, as I have a couple months’ worth of work yet ahead on the project.  When I have other news to share (perhaps a book cover?), you’ll be the first to hear about it.