How Two Rejections Led to an Acceptance

Although I have not been blogging much lately, I have had a recent run of success in short fiction, poetry, and non-fiction. I recently published a short non-fiction article on a little-known blues artist from the 1930s named Robert Johnson in Mike Korn's Wormwood Chronicles. The article idea stemmed from a Facebook post I made to Mike's group, Dr. M's House of Weird, where I posted about this blues artist who was said to have made a deal with the devil to become a better guitar player. I found it so fascinating, it inspired me to research a little more about Johnson until I wrote my own article titled "Robert Johnson: The World's First (Satanic) Rock Star," which can be found here.

Then I found success for my poetry in, not one but two, publications. "Introverts Unite" will appear in the next issue of Teach. Write. My work has been published in Teach. Write. a few times before, and I believe it is very good literary magazine. Then I received another acceptance from the literary magazine associated with Norfolk State University's English department where I teach college English courses. The poem, "Environmental Generations," will appear in the issue published later this semester. I am particularly excited about this one because it will be the first time I am published in a literary magazine directly associated with a university.

Between those acceptances, I received an acceptance from a podcast, a market I had been trying to break into for some time now, called Creepy Podcast. My short story, "A Witch's Revenge," will appear as part of their 31 Days of Horror series in October. I am very excited to hear how this story will turn out after it is read by one of their talented actors.

It is an interesting story, how I managed to gain that short story acceptance. It actually starts with two rejections. I had previously sent another story to Creepy Podcast, but it received a personalized rejection that said the story I sent them had too much dialogue with too many speakers, and they prefer stories with one very few speakers and no back and forth dialogue. Meanwhile, I sent "A Witch's Revenge" to another publication, and it received a personalized rejection because that publication's editor said they did not like the fact that the story had only one character and no dialogue. So I got the idea that if one editor said they did not like the fact that this story had a single character and no dialogue, and the other publication rejected a previous story because they want stories with little to no dialogue, why not send the rejected story with no dialogue to the publication that wants such a story. And that's how I landed that acceptance with Creepy Podcast.

Meanwhile, I have also started making the rounds at several horror and science fiction conventions. I attended Fanta-Sci at the Chesapeake Central Library with the author of numerous books about Virginia folklore, as well as numerous short stories and poetry, Pam Kinney (pictured below), working the Horror Writers Association - Virginia Chapter table and sold copies of several anthologies I appear in as well as a self-published short story. Then I recently attended Tidewater Horror Con in Virginia Beach, and plan on attending Mars Con in Virginia Beach in January. Additionally, I started appearing as a regular guest on a YouTube channel discussing cult movies called MovieNaut. I will likely be blogging about all of these other ventures in the near future, but until then, see you at the cons.

My First StokerCon

I attended my first StokerCon in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania recently, and took a few photos, which I shared below. I am from Erie, Pennsylvania originally, which is only about 2 hours north of Pittsburgh, so I figured if I didn't make it to this StokerCon, I may never make it to one. You can tell I am from Erie because I just measured distance in time. Anyway, there was a Taylor Swift concert going on not far away, so I could not get a hotel room at the actual con, but found one about 10 minutes away (and I just measured distance with time again. It's an Erie thing, although I imagine a few other areas do that too.). I started out getting a late lunch next door to the con, at the Hard Rock Cafe. I love Hard Rocks, and eat at one every chance I get, especially ones I have not eaten at yet, like this one.

I met up with my friend and author of many books, both fiction and non-fiction, Pam Kinney. We chatted at length about Pittsburgh and current projects. She always has something going on.

I attended several public readings, including this one with another friend I knew online, but this was my first chance to meet him in person, Rami Ungar, seen here in the middle with the top-hat. He was reading from his upcoming short story anthology, Hannah and Other Stories. Next to Rami is Gabino Iglesias, who won this year's Superior Achievement in a Novel for The Devil Takes You Home. He read from his current work-in-progress. On the ends are Jeremiah Dylan Cook on the left and Barbara Cottrell on the right.

I also attended several presentations and panels, which I often enjoy. I won't go into details about them because it would take too much space to do them justice in a blog post such of this length, but I always find them very informative and interesting.

The panel below is from the Ann Radcliffe Academic Conference portion of StokerCon, proving genre fiction, even in the horror genre, can be considered academic.

Between all the panels and presentations, I was able to stop at a Pittsburgh favorite, Primanti Brothers. I love going to local eateries wherever I go. This location of Primanti's was within walking distance of the con and coincidentally was the original location. It is local Pittsburgh legend that their sandwiches were created because the owners forgot to purchase silverware, so they put the coleslaw and French fries into the sandwich. The steel workers at the time enjoyed the sandwich so much, they kept it as their staple. That's an I.C. Light (Iron City Light), the local brew, to wash it down.

I finally got to mee my mentor, Tim Waggoner, face-to-face. I blogged about some of the things he taught me when he was my mentor in a previous post. He also walked away with a Stoker Award during the weekend event. Unfortunately, we did not get a chance to talk for long because he's kind of a BMAC at the HWA, but we did talk briefly about current projects and he agreed to pose for the selfie. Perhaps another time . . .

I also went to the Mass Author Signing where I purchased a number of books from fellow HWA members and got many of them to autograph their books for me. In the center is Classic Monsters Unleashed, edited by James Aquilone. I've had my eyes on that anthology for some time because it contains new stories about all the classic monsters such as Dracula, werewolves, the invisible man, and others. Stories that will truly interest me. I am very much looking forward to reading these other books as well.

And that was my trip to StokerCon in Pittsburgh. It was a great time, and I hope to attend another one some time.

A Little More About the Origins of Classic Camp

 I've blogged on several occasions about this alternate ego of mine, Classic Camp, including discussing the name's origin, and more recently about one of my favorite movies that I feel epitomizes the name. The name Classic Camp represents my favorite topics, Classic film (especially Classic horror films, but not limited to those), Classic rock music, Classic literature, and sometimes I am embarrassed to say, but it's true, Classic pro wrestling, which I am not getting into here today, but perhaps one day I will.

So I thought some people may be wondering where I acquired my interest in all things Classic. The short answer is, I really don't know. It's just kind of always been there, somewhere in my DNA.

I saw a friend on Facebook recently criticizing the latest Stephen King novel, Fairy Tale, because it included a kid of 17 who was familiar with actor Jimmy Stewart and several of his works in the novel (I have not read that Stephen King novel, by the way). He said no teenager would know old classic black & white films like that. Well, I am here to say, I was that kid. Yes, even at 17. Let me put it this way, I listen to more 80s music today than I did in the 1980s. My friends and family will verify this.

I remember in the days before I got cable TV, so I must have been 8 or 9, watching a show on PBS called Matinee at the Bijou. It was just like being back at an old-time theater. It would start with a few trailers for movies from the 1930s to the 1950s. Then it would show a few cartoons, newsreels, a short subject, and finally a chapter out of serial, like Flash Gordon or Buck Rogers. Each week they would show the next chapter of the serial. They even followed that up with a B-movie movie, like one from the Bowery Boys series, but it was usually edited for time.

My mother would often tell me about going to the movies during that era, how she had a crush on Leo Gorcey of the Bowery Boys. Both of my parents were older than most of my friends parents. They weren't even Baby Boomers, although I am a member of Generation X. Perhaps their advanced age contributed to this interest. I also grew up close to my grand parents who lived through the 1930s, so they probably had some influence as well.

Even after we got cable, some of my favorite shows were those from early television, such as The Jack Benny Program, Burns & Allen, and You Bet Your Life, as well as some of the early horror related shows such as The Twilight Zone and Alfred Hitchcock Presents. I also started watching Night Flight on USA Network because their final feature was often an old, poverty row horror film from studios like Monogram or PRC. (I was a latchkey kid from the age of 11, so I watched a lot of television growing up).

When I became a teenager and my interests shifted from film to music, I started listening to the legends of rock, like Led Zeppelin, The Who, and The Doors, more often than listing to more contemporary bands of the time.

I have gathered a bit of a following online for these interests. For instance, I run a Facebook group, Classic Camp's Classic Horror Emporium, which has amassed over 1000 members. I assume many of the members follow the group simply for the nostalgia, and I'm fine with that, but to me it is more than just nostalgia. Old film, literature, and music are time capsules to how people lived and their attitudes during those eras. It's understanding where we came from as a society and understanding where we are going now. Perhaps that sounds a little corny, but my true feelings about it are in there somewhere.

I also try to over-glorify the past. I understand many terrible things happened in our history. Things like segregation, internment camps, antisemitism were rampant then, and unfortunately still exit today. And none of those things deserve to be glorified in any way. But I enjoy gaining a better understanding of what those attitudes were then, and I feel it does help me understand the world today a little better. Perhaps it even helps me understand how to better counter those negative attitudes today.

I do still follow some modern franchises though. I don't want to be that old man yelling at the cloud, or saying "Get off my lawn!" to the younger generation. In fact, I think some of the exclusive shows on modern day apps are some of the work on television and movies in decades. But I lay just a little extra attention if they simply provide a wink and a nod to any of the old Classics, even if it's just an Easter egg-style reference.

Anyway, that's what I have today. Please enjoy the short video below of the intro to an episode of Matinee at the Bijou, one of my favorite shows when I was just 9 years old.

'Tis the Season for Literary and Academic Festivals

Lately, I have been making the rounds to a number of literary and academic festivals and conferences. On March 16, I attended the Suffolk Mystery Authors Festival in downtown Suffolk, Virginia, which is the city where I currently live. It was nice to talk writing and books with several fellow writers. I was also scoping this event out for a possible table for either the Horror Writers Association Virginia Chapter to get a table at the event next year, or for me to get a table by myself. I think the Edgar Allen Poe anthology I appear in would be a good fit for this event, and I know some of my fellow Virginia chapter authors also write and have published some mysteries.

While there, I attended a presentation on short story writing, because that was something that I do and wanted to hear more about what these authors had to say about it.

After the festival, I was notified by mail that I won a raffle for a bundle of books by one of the authors, Karen McCullough. I have not dug into these just yet, but some of them do look tempting, and I can wait to cut into them soon.

I also work in higher education, and spring is a popular time for many academic festivals and conferences, which we sometimes call "academic development." It helps for teachers to get together once in a while and confer with each other about what we are doing and share ideas. One such festival I attended was the Old Dominion University Spring Conference on the Teaching of Writing. Being an ODU alumnus, I always enjoy getting back on campus. Interestingly, while I was there, I ran into Kole Matheson, who did a presentation with me at the 2018 conference. Not only did he recognize me, he even remembered my Frankenstein project that I presented that year (hoping to work on that again this summer).

After that, I attended the Norfolk State University William Carroll Writers' Festival. I enjoy teaching English composition at NSU, which is a traditionally Black university. During this festival I was asked to do a public reading, so I read my latest short story, "Beheaded" which appears in Madame Gray's Poe-Pourri of Terror, and is available here (plug, plug). The reaction was a mixed bag of those who seemed to love it, and those were more than a little shocked (in a good way [I think]).

Later in the festival, I participated in a creative writing activity where we were given cards from the kids' board game Apples to Apples and asked to come up with something within a few minutes. I ended up with the card "Knock, Knock" and thought to myself, "What the hell am I going to do with this?" But then I just used a little stream-of-consciousness to see what followed, and I think I actually came with something pretty damn good. I might even try to sell it as a poem after a little editing to clean it up. That could be a good activity for others to try at home. This may have also led to me finding a new summer writing group🤞.

Lastly, just this week, I attended a professional development presentation at the other higher education institution where I teach, Paul D. Camp Community College. It was about latest practices on diversity and distance learning. Again, it's a good way to compare what I do in the classroom with some of my colleagues and provide ideas on how to improve.

And speaking of PDCCC, I was asked to add another literature class in the second eight weeks of the semester, which I was allowed to gear toward Romantic elements in literature, both during the Romantic movements in the United States and England and unto today. I do feel that teaching writing and literature improves my own writing, and would encourage anyone who is qualified to teach to do so. I may have to post a little bit more about this at another time as it lends itself to another topic.

That's about it, and looking at it now, boy have I been busy. Even if I have not had that much time to write lately, I have been immersing myself in the writing, education, and publishing field. This immersion, in my opinion is the best way to find success (I hope).

King Kong vs. Godzilla (1963)

 

I thought it might be good to occasionally use this blog to discuss some of my favorite topics, such as Classic movies and Classic rock music as well as the usual writing and publishing. These topics bring the blog back to some of the origins of the name Classic Camp. So today, I thought I would blog about one of my all time favorite movies, King Kong vs. Godzilla (1963) and the first time I had the opportunity to see this movie. Some sources might place that film at 1962 because that was the year of the original Japanese release, but because I have not seen the Japanese version (but I would love to) and this is mainly about the American version of the film, I place it in its American release date of 1963.

This film always had an aura about it for me. I mean, how could it not? The two biggest and baddest monsters of all time duking it out on screen. I had seen photos of the movie in several books about horror movies, which were my first introduction to the genre. I wanted to see so badly, but it seemed to only come on cable, and my family did not have cable yet. I asked friends and relatives to record it on their VCRs for me when it came on cable, but it never seemed to work out. We didn't have our own VCR yet, so I would have to see at their place.

Finally, in the spring of 1984, when I was 11 years old, my family got cable. I used to the check the TV schedule every week to see when some of my favorite movies that I had never seen were going to come on, like the 1933 King Kong or the one for this blog. At last I saw it there on the schedule, in black and white. King Kong vs. Godzilla was coming on WGN channel 9 in Chicago, but at 4 o'clock in the morning on a Saturday night. I contemplated if I should even attempt to see it, but decided I just had to. I would not tell my parents I was going to do this.

I slept on the couch that night, which was not unusual for me then since I used to stay up late watching all the great television, such as Night Flight on USA network, which introduced me to many Poverty Row Horror movies. I set an alarm next to the couch and set it for a few minutes before 4 am so I could wake up and see the movie. I stayed up until around 2 or 3 am, as I usually did, watching late night movies. But when my head hit the pillow, I could not sleep a wink. I was too excited to see the greatest movie battle of all time. So I just laid there for over an hour until my alarm went off. I stopped the alarm instantly so my parents would not wake up and tell me to get back to sleep, or worse yet, make me go to bed in my own room.

So I got up and turned on the television, but kept the volume down low, again so I would not wake up the parents. Because it was so low, I had to sit about two feet from the screen. And I stayed up for the whole thing. My heart was pounding so hard, I never even felt sleepy. I don't think it's much of an exaggeration to say I lived for that moment.

At 6 am the movie ended. The sun was starting to glow over Lake Erie, the first time I stayed up until the sun started to show. I went to bed, but even then I still found it hard to sleep. I figured I would sleep until noon or later since I stayed up so late, but I wound up waking up around 10 or 11 am to the sight of my mom sitting in the living room reading the Sunday morning paper. I told my mother I stayed up to watch the movie, and she actually said that was fine, like she knew I would be doing this at some point after we got cable.

After that, I caught that movie every chance I could, and found it often came on WOR Channel 9 in New York, which has since gone defunct. When we finally got a VCR around 1989, one of the first VHS tapes I purchased was, of course, King Kong vs. Godzilla, and I used to watch it about once a week for the first few months after I got it. Then I slowed down to about once a month. I'm surprised the tape did not grow worn out. In fact, the DVD version of that film I own today is still a transfer of that old VHS copy I purchased so long ago. And I still watch that film about once a year to this day. I would say it is the movie I've watched more times than any other in my entire life.

I assume most monster kids have similar stories about a movie they were forbidden to watch, either because of the content or the time it came on. But don't those make the best memories? Don't they make those movies the most special? There is something about the forbiddeness of horror movies and horror stories that make them that much more special. Feel free to share any of your own similar stories and memories in the comments.

Halloween 2022

Here are some photos from last year's Halloween.

I was challenged to create a raven for the annual jack-o-lantern because we just got a few birds as family pets.

I dressed as Norman Bates for a few Halloween events I attended. I think it turned out pretty well, don't you?

We bought new salt and pepper shakers. I decided to keep these out all year long.

The lawn decorations turned out pretty well this year. I've always loved old cemeteries.

I know this is dark, but here I am handing out candy for the trick-or treaters. Halloween is one of my favorite holidays.

 

Last year's Monster Fest

Let's take a look at a few photos from last year's Monster Fest, which took place on October 1, 2022, in Chesapeake, Virginia at the Chesapeake Central Library.

I worked the table for the Horror Writers Association where I signed up a few prospective members for the organization. The table was positioned between other HWA members, authors Red Lagoe and Pam Kinney. Author Brad Center also worked the table during the day.

I watched the costume contest, which is always fun. These are this past year's winners. I always consider the costume contest to be the main event of Monster Fest each year.

 Here is me displaying the line-up of events for the day. The HWA Virginia Chapter ran a panel / presentation on the importance of joining writing organizations. Overall, it was another fun event put on by Rob and Phyllis Floyd.

2022 By the Numbers

Every year I do this post to publicly state how much I am submitting and how many of those submissions result in successfully publishing one of my works.  Perhaps it will help any readers to gage themselves against what I have done each year. Perhaps many writers submit far more works than I do. Perhaps many submit far fewer. The idea of doing this began when I read a writer's blog (sorry, I cannot remember who) and they said they submit around 100 works per year. I decided I would see how many works I could submit each year. I found that I could submit between 35 and 50 works per year. I now try to work toward that 50 mark as much as possible. I have also found that the more works I submit each year the more of those works end up getting published, on average anyway.

So anyway, here are this year's numbers. I submitted a total of 8 books, although it was actually the same book submitted 8 times, which brings up another point. This is the total number of submissions, which means if the same book is submitted many times (8 in this case) it still counts as 8 submissions. The same holds true of short stories, poems, etc. I am working very hard to finish the follow-up to that first book, and I think I am getting close to deciding to self-publish that first book if I receive a few more rejections. Which brings up yet another point, some of these works I am still waiting to hear back on, including a few submissions of this novel.

I also had 29 short story submissions. Unfortunately, only one of those were successful this year, but again, a few of those submissions are still waiting on replies. That makes this year an anomaly in that I submitted more items than most other years, 48 total submissions, my second highest number of all time, but I had only one sale (again, so far). That success was "Beheaded" which appears in Madame Gray's Poe-Pourri, pictured above, and available on Amazon here. I also blogged about that particular sale here.

I had 11 poetry submissions, without any sales, and no non-fiction submissions this year. Just for comparison, 29 short story submissions is tied for my second highest, and 11 poetry submissions is tied for fourth highest. Eight novel submissions comes in second highest.

The most submissions I ever made in a year was 2018 where I hit 53, and it got me the most published works in a year as well with five total. This year saw my second most total at 48 as noted earlier. Third was in 2019 when I reached 47 total submissions, followed by 2021 with 44 total submissions, fourth was 2010 with 42 total, and 2020 with 35 total.

My goal for the coming year may be a little lower as I would like to start working on my longer works once again, namely my follow-up novel, and that Frankenstein project and hopefully get them both sent out to potential publishers or even agents.

I keep track of these on an Excel spreadsheet, and only recently started keeping track of total submissions each year. I find it helps me compete with myself to keep getting my works out there. If you see fit, feel free to tell me how many submissions you made last year, and how that looks compared to your other years. If it makes you feel better, I've had a lot of years with only a handful of submissions and even a few years with goose eggs.🥚😊