Shroud #9 – Available for Pre-Order!

Posted on by Ty Schwamberger

Shroud Magazine #9 that contains my short story, ‘Liquid Courage’, is now up for Pre-Order for a mere $6.99.

‘Liquid Courage’ is essentially about a guy that is trying to get over a heart-felt break up with his long-time girlfriend.  He’s going through a lot of internal strife and is looking for a way out.  He thinks about committing suicide until one of his friends come up missing.  Shortly after the disappearance he starts receiving notes of his friend’s whereabouts.  He tries to put aside his own personal demons while searching for him.  But in the end it turns out that he’s not the only one that needs saving…

Product Description for Issue #9:

Shroud welcomes the Summer with startling stories from the Brothers’ May, Lon Prater, Robert Canipe, Marie Brennan, Alethea Contis, Debbie Kuhn, Ty Schwamberger and many more! Brian Keene and Scott Christian Carr share their latest columns, I.E. Lester investigates the zombie phenomenon, Mark McLaughlin interviews a NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD icon, Derek Fox discusses the Art of Fear, an interview with Jeff Strand, and cover art and interview from Tom Brown. So much more!

Click here to order a copy!

An Update – For After Midnight

Posted on by Ty Schwamberger

I announced towards the beginning of this year that Dark Quest Books picked up my first short story collection, For After Midnight, which contains 13 tales of terror and suspense.  To give you an idea of the length of each story, the book should come out to be around 250 pages.

I mention this because as of yesterday, I received word from Dark Quest, that the collection is slated for release during the 4th quarter this year.  I am also currently working with the Editor to come up with some ideas for the cover art. 

As always, I’ll keep you informed of when and where you can pick up a copy.

Context 23 Schedule

Posted on by Ty Schwamberger

As you know, I will be a guest at Context 23, in Columbus, Ohio, August 27th – 29th.  If you haven’t already booked a room at the adjoining hotel, well, I’m not sure what in the world you’re waiting on.  I had a wonderful time at Context 22 last year and I’m sure this year won’t disappoint.  In any event, I wanted to update you on my schedule for the weekend (the below list does not include any of the devious things I’ll be getting myself into throughout the weekend):

Friday, August 27 at 8:30 pm – Showing of my short film, Cake Batter, followed by a brief Q&A session (a VERY limited number of copies – like, seven, which is all I have left – will be available for purchase right after we watch the 22 minute film).

Saturday, August 28 at 1:00 pm – Sitting on the panel, Making A Living As A Writer, with Tim Waggoner, Rosemary Laurey, Elizabeth Massie, Jerry Gordon, William H. Horner and Elie Harriett.

If you’re planning on attending the convention, please feel free to come up, say hello and chat a bit.  The overall atmosphere at this con is very laid back (with a great night life) with plenty of diverse panels to attend to learn more about writing, publishers or the business side of the industry.

Hope to see you there!

Fem Fangs Submission Deadline Approaching

Posted on by Ty Schwamberger

If you’re still thinking about submitting a story to the female vampire anthology, Fem Fangs, I’m co-editor on, you need to do so soon.

The submission deadline is August 15th!  The anticipated release date of the anthology will be late September of this year.

Click here to read the Call for Submissions.

Write Your Last Rites

Posted on by Ty Schwamberger

Well, you’re really not going to be writing your own last rites…unless you’re into that sort of macabre thing.  But, I did have the opportunity to speak with the Editor at the coming soon ezine, Last Rites Publishing.  And I have to say, I’m impressed. 

Not only does the zine have a snappy name, but he’s got a business plan in place to build it into a great new small press that will put out books in the near future.  I especially like how he is going to feature ‘Sections’ on the site for different types of fiction.  Cool stuff.  In fact, I’ve agreed to…oh, wait…I won’t let the corpse out of the bag on that just yet.

In the meantime, go check out the newly launched site, the submission guidelines (they open in October) and give your muse a go at writing something for them.

Besides, it’s always better to write about how someone else lived than your own last rites.

New Interview Available

Posted on by Ty Schwamberger

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I’ll be featured in the Artist Spotlight section in eight local northeast Ohio newspapers, as well as, an online edition.  You can pick up the following papers at grocery stores and the like – The Tallmadge Express, The Cuyahoga Falls News-Press, The Stow Sentry, The Hudson Hub-Times, The Twinsburg Bulletin, The News Leader (Nordonia area), The Aurora Advocate and The Gateway News (Streetsboro).

If you don’t live anywhere close to one of the above communities or would just like to check out the interview online you can read it here.

New Column for Morpheus Tales Magazine

Posted on by Ty Schwamberger

Morpheus Tales is a leading horror, science fiction and fantasy print magazine based in the United Kingdom.  They publish their magazine quarterly in January, April, July and October of each year.  They have included interviews and fiction from leading authors; Joe R. Lansdale, Michael Laimo, Christopher Golden, Ray Garton, among others.  Along side their quarterly print edition, they have a free pdf download on their website each month of the Reviews Supplement, which is a mini-magazine, featuring non-fiction, interviews, columns, articles and book reviews.

It’s in the Reviews Supplement that beginning in October you’ll find my new column, ‘Guidance from the Dark Scribe’.  In each column I’ll talk about practical writing advice, infused with my own personal experience and knowledge of the horror genre.  I will provide links here and add them under the Published Works page as the articles become available in October 2010 and January, April and July of 2011.

Stay tuned!

Twisted Tales Cover Art

Posted on by Ty Schwamberger

Below is the working front and back cover art to Twisted Tales from the Torchlight Inn.  A 3-novella collection by Dean Harrison, Thomas A. Erb and Myself.  The book currently has a release date sometime in February 2011.  Erb also did the beautiful artwork for this collection.

So You Want To Be A Fiction Writer

Posted on by Ty Schwamberger

‘So You Want To Be A Fiction Writer’ – is the next class I am teaching at the University of Akron (Ohio) come this Fall.  You can now visit UA’s site and read the class description, class topics, location, dates and times and cost by clicking here.  The ‘textbook’ I will be using for the class will again be Writers Workshop of Horror edited by Michael Knost.  You can then go to the top of the page and use their Online Registration to sign up and pay for the class.  

For those of you that are seriously interested in the class below is the Class Objective & Outline what will be covered during the 5 class meetings.

Learning Objectives –

Some of the skills that will be taught during these sessions include:

  • Turning your idea into a book or short story
  • Developing characters, plot, pace, and more
  • How to stay focused and avoid distractions
  • Finding time to write with a busy schedule
  • How to find a Publisher
  • How to promote your work after it has been accepted and released by a Publisher

 

Topical Outline –

  •  Turning your idea into a book or short story
    • How to come up with ideas that a general audience or a particular niche would enjoy
    • How to expand on a general story idea and be able to compose an effective novel or short story from it.
    • How to organize your thoughts so they are coherent throughout the entire story
    •  Developing characters, plot, pace, and more
      • How to write believable but fascinating characters
      • How to format your plot so that readers will stay focused on the story
      • How to space out character descriptions, action, sub-plots and general scenes while not making it boring for the reader
    •  How to stay focused and avoid distractions
      • How to find your own time to write without the worry of outside distractions of a busy life
      • How to keep your eye ‘on the prize’
    •  Finding time to write with a busy schedule
      • How to find time each and every day to write if it is your passion
    •  How to find a Publisher
      • Where to look for a publisher of books and magazines that accept short stories
      • To self-publish or not
    •  How to promote your work after it has been accepted and released by a Publisher
      • How to use all the media outlets; magazines, the internet, radio, newspapers, etc, to market and promote yourself and your work

 

So, if you live in the Greater Cleveland/Akron area and are truly interested in being a horror writer or just an overall better writer in whatever your chosen genre might be, this class may be just right for you!