Things change

The longer I do this — write, I mean — the more surprised I am by how things change ... and not always for the better. Opinions mutate and trajectories take a different course.

Take for example the implosion of Humdrumming, only six weeks after the launch of BENEATH THE SURFACE. Certainly, I managed to get a few copies of the book into the world, but not many, and not enough for anyone to really have had a chance to buy, let alone read, it. I've done what I could to raise its profile regardless, but at this point it's little more than a curio. A few months later, barely anyone remembers it ever existed.

Or take the introduction I was commissioned to write that I now no longer am. Or perhaps the anthology I had a story lined up for that during the editing stages the editor decided might not be such a good fit after all (I was asked to make changes, but I declined; it would have changed the story fundamentally into something I didn't intend). My projects seem to be drying up on me, and that's certainly not something I anticipated. There was also some more cover artwork I'd been scheduled for that also seems to have gone south.

By that same token, there have been attitude changes over the years that I didn't necessarily expect. One of the most surprising is my stance on the "art vs entertainment" argument that plagues Horror (specifically) and perhaps writing in general — or genre writing, at the very least. Though I still believe, in the case of my own work, that it's important to strive for some sort of artistic goal, it's become clear to me, perhaps in the last year more so than ever before, that good fiction hews close to neither of these two extremes and finds some place in the middle. Good fiction is a balance. Though it's not the direction for me, there is nothing inherently wrong with trying to tip the scale closer to "entertainment". It's not the sort of thing I have a lot of interesting in reading, but I can't begrudge people who do. There's no reason for in-fighting, especially in a field as small as Horror. Better each respects the other and does its best to elevate the entire group in the eyes of the world.

Lastly, a change that may or may not be permanent, I'm sure a few of you have noticed my erratic blogging schedule as of late. My heart really isn't into it lately. I'm not stopping altogether, rather no longer posting on such a regular schedule. I'll post now when there's news, or I have something to say, but I think I'm done for the time being trying to scrape up an idea just so I can hit an arbitrary deadline. My condolences to though who no longer have a guaranteed place to visit each week, but I'm sure you'll manage fine without me.