Welcome to my Halloween video bonanza for October. First up is a perfect example of what happens when I do a DIY – it progressively becomes a failure.
Bill and I had a go at a spooky cobweb cake which is meant to look something like this:
But I think we can all agree our final result is… a bit different. However, it tasted amazing and was probably the nicest cake I’ve ever made, and I have made a few despite appearances.
See you next week!
Good day my little cocktail cheeses. I made a tiny video which is hopefully full of good advice on how to reach your goals when aiming for your daily word count. Enjoy, and feel free to visit my youtube for story readings (mine and other people’s), tips and general oddity.
P.S. yep my hair is gone. I have entered the Jazz age!
I don’t know what I’m doing! Sometimes I think I do but, more often than not, the further into this writing game I get the more I realise I know far less than I thought. However help is at hand in the form of people who know a bit more than I do making words into microphones. Take their hand (don’t kiss it, it’s probably sticky) and follow them down a dark corridor. Or a well-lit one, whichever seems nicer.
Billing itself as the podcast for writers, readers and fans, Gregory A. Wilson and Bradley P. Beaulieu have been referred to as ‘the best interviewers currently podcasting about genre fiction.’ They’re also joined by Michael R. Underwood and all have a good background in writing weird. As well as in depth interviews they review books and discuss writing techniques and publishing.
Bizzong The Bizarre And Weird Fiction Podcast
If you like silly and daft you’ll feel at home here, but there’s a lot of information too. Frank Edler interviews a different weird writer each episode to discuss their work, life, and zombie Elvis.
The Horror Show With Brian Keene
Brian Keene seems like a nice man. He and his friends discuss horror fiction as a genre, the various news and points of interest facing horror authors and, well, pretty much anything else. It’s like having a nice cup of tea – except when they talk about something unpleasant, then it’s like having an unpleasant but interesting cup of tea.
This is also an informative podcast! Authors discuss their personal work, outlining stories, getting published, getting self-published and everything it entails – pretty much anything a horror writer needs to know.
Winner of the ‘This Is Horror’ award 2015, guests are interviewed about their books and writing techniques followed by ‘news from the weird.’ This is any information weird writers may find interesting such as anthologies looking for submissions.
Soothing and amusing, they chat with a guest on subjects ranging from beta readers, selling yourself, emotional arcs and mankinis with heels. 
Zach Bohannon and J. Thorn ‘discuss all things horror’ including an interview with the director of The Invitation, horror news and interesting TV. Bless their cottons.
Ta dah! Fill your ears with facts and interesting titbits and may it help you on your journey. Don’t forget to pack a lunch!
Hello my little munchkin fruit parcels. This blog post was sent to me by writer and artist lady Betty Rocksteady and I found it helpful, so I think you will too:
Discover what deep POV is and and how to use this popular viewpoint in your fiction and stories. Give viewpoint characters deep POV.
Source: Deep POV—What’s So Deep About It
Well hello there, so glad you could join me. Pull up a chair. Sorry, am I sitting too close? I don’t mean to, it’s just that your hair is so wildly attractive.
I’m researching surrealist films for my next post, and by researching I mean lying on my bed and watching a bunch of stuff whilst eating crisps. However, for now, you can contact me in my new advice column for Clash magazine. That’s right, you can contact me and I’ll stick your name beneath your question. I know, you’ll be waking in the night with excitement.
Here’s the link to all the columns so far. If you’ve any questions, surreal or not (preferably surreal), email me at evilpixie (dot) madeleine (at) gmail (dot) com with the subject line Ask Maddie. Toodle pip!
Hello! The other day my blog was nominated for a Liebster award. I may not have known what it was but I was very pleased as it made me sound intellectual, thus I purchased a pipe, a smoking jacket and crisps.
In actual fact it’s awarded to blogs with less than 3,000 subscribers. I must answer eleven questions given to me by Angela D’Onofrio and nominate 5-11 other bloggers, giving them 11 questions to answer which are at the bottom of this post (and they must then do the same). Here goes!
There we have it! My nominees to answer the questions below are:
And my questions for you are:
Oh, hello! You’re early! My my… I was just in the middle of baking macaroons. Erm, have a seat and chat with these well known author types until I’m finished:
Neil Gaiman’s advice for aspiring authors:
Octavia Butler on writing science fiction:
Ray Bradbury on writing:
Jeff Vandermeer on weird writing:
Angela Carter discusses her writing:
Jamaica Kincaid on finding her voice as a writer:
Good day! I trust you slept well. Time to brush away the cobwebs that have grown around you and have a listen to the latest podcast episode by myself and artist friend Steve.
We discuss making art on a budget, ways to earn money using your creativity and a story by one of our listeners. Feel free to send us your own unusual tale under 300 words, just visit the podcast site for details. Unsure if it’s unusual? Send it anyway and let us decide.
Next episode we look at making digital art and scams targeting writers and artists to avoid.
Merry morn to you all! Although, it’s probably not morning where you are. And maybe not so merry. But it will be merry with all these lovely advice videos I handpicked just for you!
Without further ado, the first one is called The Top 5 Mistakes Amateur Writers Make
This one is a crazy length (about an hour and a half) but just pretend you’re at a college lecture – Writing Tips And Advice From Lovecraft Ezine Editor Mike Davis
This one is from a friend of the ‘vlogbrothers’, who are two professional writers who also make videos. It’s called Dare To Suck
This one is called Writing for Magazines: Top Tips by Freelance Writer Linda Formichelli and Editor Laura Pepper Wu
This is from the same channel, called: What a literary agent wants! With Rachelle Gardner
At the moment I and everyone else is surrounded by heart stopping stories of bizarrely ranting authors, such as the cases of ‘The Author Who Trolled Himself For Four Goddamn Months‘ Stephen J Harper and ‘I Am Not Your Bitch You Are Mine‘ Chelsea Cain. I say heart stopping rather than funny (although in Stephen J Harper’s case I guess you kind of have to see the funny side) because one of the things that literally terrifies me is making people angry, online or in real life. And it’s happened too! Just an ill-timed joke or comment somewhere and…
Well, OK, maybe not all of us would be so relentless or unpleasant as those writers online recently, but everyone has a bad day and loses focus at some point. I suppose the thing to ‘bear’ (oh dear) in mind is: if in doubt, apologise and move on without going into massive explanations or excuses. Oh, and IGNORE BAD REVIEWS.
I’m always sticking my foot in it but I think it pays just to try to be as polite as possible ALL the time, which incidentally makes you feel quite pleasant and squishy too. If you’re experiencing a day when that’s impossible, STOP! Step back from the keyboard/touchpad/quill made from virgin’s hair. If someone says something mean, write it in your personal diary. Your paper personal diary.
Anyway, here are one or two links on the subject that may be helpful:
How To Create Your Very Own Personal PR Nightmare
10 Social Media Guidelines For Authors
Madeleine Swann 