My Life and My Writing

As the three of you who visit my website probably know, my updates have been few and far between. Thanks to a hectic work schedule and spending time with my daughter, all of my spare time is dedicated to writing and sleeping. However, I feel it necessary to update you on a few key things.

My five-month-old, Levi Athena Herndon, is doing spectacularly. She's smart, she's playful, she has a full head of hair, and she beams with absolute joy every morning I come home from work. To put it simply, she's changed my life for the better. Even though I'm still the same ol' Craig (immature, rambunctious, obnoxious to a fault), I feel that I've grown up quite a bit. Not to toot my own horn, but I might very well be the best father in the history of the world.

As far as my writing goes, I've drifted away from short stories for the time being. I thought for a while they were my bread and butter, but I've recently found myself feeding my hankering for long, novel-length fiction.

I recently edited and rewrote a bit of my novella, SECRETS TO THE GRAVE, and though I (don't really) hate to brag, I think it's pretty A-Okay. That is currently with my trusted, fantastic editor, Stacey Turner, and I suspect she'll make it into something that I won't be able to believe is mine. Yes, she is that good. When I get that back, I'll be subbing it to whoever the hell still takes novellas.

I'm in the process of editing a novel, SEEK ASYLUM. It surprised me as it poured out of my brain, simply because it's not so much horror as it is a literary work centered around a crumbled family, an alcoholic father struggling to put it all back together, a distant mother living through a midlife crisis, and their twin daughters who can only stand and watch as their parents turn from a loving couple into two people they can barely stand to be around any more. That's not to say it's not still horror; it's just not the centerpiece of this book, and I feel like it's a great turnaround. If I can make someone scared and make them cry all in the same book, I'll consider it a win.

I've got another novel in the works, still in the outline stage, with the working title SURROUNDED BY WOLVES. It's inspired by Kanye West's song, "Wolves." I've got a great feeling about it, and I hope it goes over as well as I think it will.

As many of you know, the novel I finished last year, SPEAK OF THE DEVIL, was set to be the first book in what was to be a trilogy. The second book, HEAVY LIES THE CROWN, is also finished, though it sits unedited somewhere in Google Docs. Luckily I haven't written the third book, because I've found myself wanting to trim so much of the fat that SPEAK OF THE DEVIL will now be a standalone novel (after an extensive rewrite, obviously). The thing is, even though I always thought it would be a trilogy, a lot of the subplots I had planned just didn't make sense to the theme of the story, and it would have made the books a lot less cohesive than they should have been. Besides, I've always had an affinity for standalones because, like most people, I hate writing sequels. For the most part, unless they're mastered beautifully, I don't even like reading/watching sequels.

That's about it on the writing front. I've been extremely busy. In other news;

One of my favorite writers and a man I've come to call my friend, Mark Allan Gunnells, said that he loved a story of mine I sent him, THE (UN)LUCKY, CHOSEN FEW. Needless to say, that made me feel pretty warm inside.

I finally read a John Green book. PAPER TOWNS, to be exact. Holy shit, I wasn't expecting that. In all honesty, I was expecting his work to be a knockoff, watered down version of Nicholas Sparks. But Sparks doesn't hold a candle to Green, and I look forward to reading more of his stuff.

I watched The Babysitter on Netflix, and that was probably the best movie I've seen this year.

I can't think of anything else to put here, so instead of brainstorming what news you may or may not care about, I guess I'll go write some more. Merry Christmas, everyone.

Merry Christmas!

That title pretty much says it all. I have nothing else to add except for this:

Levi Athena Herndon.

First off, sorry for falling off the map for the past couple of months. I've been too busy getting to know my daughter, Levi. She was born on July 10th at a whopping 9 pounds 6 ounces.

Her coming into my life is by far the greatest thing that has ever happened to me, and more than anything, her mere existence is the biggest motivator for me to work harder than I ever have before.

So expect to see a lot from me.

Horrorland (AKA The Comment Section)

It’s your typical boring day. You’re sitting in front of the TV, whether at home or in the breakroom at work. More than likely the channel is playing the news, which is depressing enough, an old rerun you’ve seen a hundred times before, or a soap opera, which is almost as bad as watching the news. You’re so bored you pull out your cell phone.

The first thing you click on? Why, Facebook of course.

What pops up? One of the many, many stories concerning Trump, a viral video of a random good deed (probably staged for likes/notoriety for the page that created it), a photo of someone’s kid, a status a close friend posted, proud of themselves for something or other, angry about this and that, work sucks, kids suck, yada yada. You know how it goes.

Facebook, or any social media website, for that matter, wouldn’t be all that bad if that were the end of it. But it never is, is it?

Enter The Comment Section.

Not to say that every comment on every photo, video, or status is absolutely awful. Some people are great. They’ll wish you the best, pick you up when you’re down, apologize for whatever bad thing might have happened to you even if they weren’t even close to being at fault.

The percentage of those people, especially on viral posts? I’ll be generous here and say… 2%.

No, I’m not underestimating. And no, I’m not a cynical writer man who just hates everyone and stews behind a computer all day. I simply happen to have an account on a lot of social media. I’m masochistic that way.

I happened upon the most adorable puppy video the other day. Seriously, the owner was tickling this golden retriever pup, so cute you could just eat him. The puppy fought back for all it was worth. Finally, the owner stopped the assault, and the dog, bless its heart, looked up at him with the saddest eyes, begging him to resume tickling. Eventually, he did.

“What’s the worst that could happen?” I thought as I clicked on the comments section. I wanted to see if anyone posted links to other cute dog videos. I like tagging my girlfriend. She gets quite the kick out of them.

But, no. Just a lot of talk about the president. People defended him. People slammed the people defending him. Hate speech getting flung around like monkey turds during a bad day at the zoo. I had to hit the back button so quickly I hurt my thumb.

I’m not exaggerating. I’m not lying to you. This happened in the comments section of a cute little puppy being tickled. I wish I were lying, for Pete’s sake.

The average American citizen has developed an overbearing sense of arrogance and righteousness, instilled in them by means of downloading an app that could carry their voices, their opinions, to millions. A hundred years ago we were a disconnected civilization. Rare phone calls were made, newspapers were still in mass production, and letters were exchanged. 

Fast forward to the present. I could pick up my phone at this very moment and have access to more than one billion people, if Facebook’s latest numbers are anything to go by. It’s a harrowing concept, and it’s one that should unite us all if it does anything.

As is nearly always the case, however, we’ve taken a great thing, turned it on its head, and made the worst of it.

In essence, what I’m saying is this, and it’s a good rule if you’re on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram;

Thinking about being a fucking prick? Don’t.

Thinking about calling someone a racist/homophobic/sexist slur? Don’t.

Thinking about slamming someone because you’re a republican/democrat/independent and the other person isn’t? Don’t.

You can judge other people in your head all you want. That’s your right. Hell, I do it all the time. Much as I pretend to be a people person, I generally find myself not liking a heck of a lot of people. But when you open your mouth and the ugliness spews forth like a poopoo blast from a shit geyser, everyone’s going to hate the real you.

These sites should all share a common slogan: THINK BEFORE YOU SPEAK. OR TYPE. WHATEVER. When you think you’re being edgy because you just called the guy you don’t like a faggot, or you called a asian guy who disagreed with you a chink, or you just called the guy who didn’t vote for Trump a snowflake cuck, just stop. You’re not being edgy. You’re being a fucking stooge.

Unfortunately, until we can re-educate ourselves on how to be proper humans, you’re also the norm. So at least you’re blending in, right?

-

"Gee, what the heck is Craig working on?"

Some of you might be thinking that. Well, the four of you are lucky. I'm going to tell you, kind of.

I'm working on a few different things. I'm currently doing yet another readthrough of Speak Of The Devil before sending it out to a whole new slew of agents. I'm also logging editing progress on its sequel Heavy Lies The Crown and a novella that has nothing to do with this series called Secrets To The Grave.

The third book in the Ruination Trilogy, titled Deliver Us From Evil, is slow going, but I'll have more time to work on that bad boy once I'm finished editing the first two books and finding myself an agent, though the latter is much harder than it sounds.

I've also got two more books that I've already got outlined and whatnot. The first is Robin Banks Robbin' Banks, which is part horror, part crime, part adventure, part comedy... part everything, really. The second is a superhero thing I'm working on, titled Thorn. I'm not too sure whether to do this as a graphic novel or just a novel, but I've already got most of the story panned out.

On the short story front, there isn't much new going on there. I have been tossing around an idea about a collection of zombie stories all in the same world. I don't have the time or motivation to write an entire book centered in a post-apocalyptic zombie world, but I've had a few stories bouncing around in my head for as long as I can remember. My thing has always been trying to avoid writing something eerily similar to something that's already been written, and that's terribly hard to do when you're adding your voice to the clusterfuck known as the zombie horror subgenre. Nonetheless, I have high hopes for these stories, and I'm excited about writing them.

My story collection The Sadness Will Never End has garnered three 5 star reviews, for which I'm extremely grateful. If you're interested in buying a copy, it is available in both e-book format (here) and paperback (here), and if you'd leave an honest review I would be doubly grateful.

My baby girl Levi Athena Herndon is due on July 14th, less than three months away. I've never been a dad before, so wish me luck on that, too.

Until next time, friends!

Important Update.

I lied about this update being important, for one.

For two, I haven't really written anything in the last two months. Whatever. A thousand words here, a thousand words here. Nothing to write home to Mom about. I've been busy, tired, and uninspired.

But I'm back. Maybe not better than ever. But I am back, and I've got big plans.

Expect to hear neat things in the coming weeks.

Buy My Book... pretty please.

(BUY THE BOOK HERE)

It's exactly what it sounds like; a lot of the stories in this book will leave you feeling pretty upset. Whether we're talking sad, disturbed, or just plain creeped, you'll at least feel something. If you don't, then Craig's probably not that great of a writer, anyway, and chances are you'll wipe your hands of him after this. Here's hoping that doesn't happen.

It took Craig a while to build confidence enough to compile this collection, but after two and half years of publishing short fiction, he's finally done it. A cannibalistic B&B; a singer whose lust for fame takes a wrong turn; a woman who will go to any and all lengths to replace her deceased soulmate; a boy who takes the whole 'reincarnation' theory as far as it will go; and more!

While five of these stories have been published with great markets, three of them are original solely to this collection. Check out this collection of stories from Craig Steven, a member of the Horror Writers Association and one of the freshest voices in the horror genre.

"Craig Steven is that rare combination of talent and skill acquired early. His fiction is dark and evocative, searing images of violence and redemption in the soft tissue of your brain. His is a promising voice, all the better because of his clear dedication to getting the details right."

-Zachary Jernigan, author of The Jeroun Series