I love a good contest. Even more than a good contest, I love a good contest without a reading fee. Back when I was in college, one of my teachers advised us to stay away from fee-based contests. “You’re writers,” he pointed out. (He also pointed out that we were college students, which was painfully obvious by our ratty sweatshirts and … Read More
Shock Totem Has A New Blog. And It’s Awesome.
Seriously, I love this cover so much that I want it for wall art in my home. Would my sweet husband agree? Probably not so much. Perhaps I’ll hang it over my writing desk. Anyway! Shock Totem has a new blog to go with our shiny new website. The blog is constantly updated with new information. Book, music, and movie reviews, contests, … Read More
Five Important Lessons I Learned By Reading Slush
1. If your cover letter is bizarre/arrogant/horrifyingly uninformed, you’re sabotaging yourself. I make a special point to read the submissions blind because too many writers shoot themselves in the foot. (More on that in a later post.) 2. Well, whaddya know, this business really is subjective! And we thought that was just a brush-off line. It’s true, though. Perhaps I … Read More
Shock Totem Interview at Ramblings of a Tattooed Head
So Simon Marshall Jones is hosting an interview with the Shock Totem staff at his site Ramblings of a Tattooed Head. He said, “Why do you write?” and then basically let us interview ourselves, which was a big mistake. After a zillion rather creative deviations and a moment or two spent in red-light territory, I finally asked the boys to … Read More
Shock Totem Issue #2
Issue #2 of Shock Totem is coming out on July 1st. I can’t tell you how excited I am! It will be the first issue out since I was on staff, and I can’t wait to see it. Here is the illustrious TOC: * To Be Titled: An editorial, by K. Allen Wood * The Rat Burner, by Ricardo Bare … Read More
Where Have I Been?
You know how you get that writer’s high? The I Can Do Anything/I’m King Of The World/Life Is A Bowl Of Cherries feeling? Yeah, well, I haven’t been feeling that. But I’ve been close. Issue #2 of Shock Totem is slated for mid-March, and that’s very exciting. As some of you know, I’m the nonfiction person for ST, and they … Read More
Shock Totem’s First Writing Contest!
So Shock Totem is having it’s first writing contest, and I’m in charge. Bwa ha ha ha! Here are the official rules: The Official Shock Totem Flash Contest Rules Hey cats. We’re kicking off our first Shock Totem Writing Contest. It’s going to be a monthly thing, and here are the official rules. 1. The stories will be posted on … Read More
What A Prize!
So, this rocks. Enter Tweet the Meat’s Halloween contest, and what can you win? A copy of Shock Totem’s debut issue, signed by the very scary Kurt Newton and the not-so-scary Yours Truly! Or I can be scary. Whatever you wish.
Plagiarism Ticks Us Right Off. Obviously.
Wow. This hit and it hit HARD. By now most of you are familiar with the idea that a person going by the name Richard Ridyard submitted a plagiarized version of Stephen King’s “The Boogeyman” in to the magazine that I work for, Shock Totem. We immediately contacted Mr. King’s people and got the ball rolling. Then I found the … Read More
We Interrupt This Blog Post…
to give you a warning. A few days ago Shock Totem received a story called “Baboulas” by an author calling himself Richard Ridyard. John Boden, Assistant Editor of Shock Totem, read the story and immediately cried foul. “This is plagiarism,” he said. “This is Stephen King’s ‘The Boogeyman’ from his Night Shift collection. Even the title is the same!” ‘Baboulas’ … Read More