The Literary Underworld

The Elsie Lind Chronicles

By J.L. Mulvihill

One night I had a strange, terrifying but magical dream. That dream turned into a 180,000-word story. Eventually it was cut down drastically and became my first novel, The Lost Daughter of Easa. I had no idea what I was doing except writing a story that I wanted to share with others. Once I finished the novel, I had to figure out what to do with it.

I remember I was at work one day and was getting coffee in the kitchen when I saw an ad in the paper for a convention that offered workshops for writers. The conference was called MidSouthCon and was only for a weekend so I convinced my family we should go. It was the most amazing thing I had ever done. While my family went to do all the fun things they had at the convention, I went to every single writing panel I could squeeze into my schedule. I remember I was up late and exhausted, but I was determined to learn the business of writing inside and out.

With the things I learned at that convention and with writing that novel I found a link to another world. Of course, that world was always there, always looming in the back of my mind drifting in and out of my thoughts, but it was never really something I understood when I was younger.

As a child I read a lot for escapism. I didn’t have a very nice childhood, but I found that I could climb a tree with a book and run away with the characters in the story. My mind didn’t stop there though, because something else was going on in my head. Stories of my own were formulating and I found that if I didn’t have anything to read, I could escape into a story of my own making. As I grew older, I started writing these stories down along with poetry and songs. The silly thing is that I should have realized then that I was a writer, but I just didn’t get the hint.

The novel Lost Daughter of Easa was published in 2011 and had its debut at DragonCon that year where it sold out. I was riding on cloud nine and was ready to continue the story. However, I moved on to another project for a few years and wrote another adventure, all along knowing that Elsie’s story wasn’t finished. When I finally had time to sit down and continue writing Elsie’s story, I found it easy falling back into her world. The next novel in the series, for I now realized that this would eventually become a series, was called Return to Easa.

I was still working a full-time job and raising a family with my husband, but all the while I remained connected to that link in my mind. I never let go of the storyteller inside, but instead tempered her and kept at an even pace. I managed to write five other novels over the years to a total of seven while still working. I also wrote short stories and had them published as well.

In all this time I have never let Elsie Lind go; she has always been with me. I don’t think it is because it was my first novel, but more than that I am not done telling her story. There also might be a bit of me and my feelings and life in that story as well. Of course, all my stories have a little something of me in them – after all, you do write what you know. I am still writing the Elsie Lind Chronicles, not just to share her story, but to offer a world to escape to for my readers as I had done when I was young.

Though the novel was labeled young adult, I never started writing the story as a YA novel; it just kind of came out that way. I did, however, create the character in such a way that readers could identify with her. She does not start out as anyone very special, but she eventually finds her own potential and strengths within her to become a strong young woman. That part was intentional, because I believe we have within us the strength and power to overcome the obstacles life throws in our way.

In the beginning of the novel, Elsie Lind falls through a giant spider web that is a portal to another world. This was something I often fantasized about when I was a child, kind of like Alice in Wonderland. I wanted to go to another world to escape the life I was in, and I believed that if I could just find that portal, I could change everything in my life. I did find that portal, sort of, when I write my stories, because I go into that world I am writing about in my mind. As any good writer will tell you, I live it, breathe it, I feel it.

When Elsie wakes up in the other world, she has amnesia. I wrote this because what I had hoped was that a person could forget the bad things in their life and start fresh and maybe be a new person, start a new life. This experiment, however, enlightened me. I found that as I wrote the story, Elsie still had the thoughts and feelings inside, and she could not understand where they came from. Her emotions from past “baggage” if you will, were still guiding her and she could not grow until she faced these emotions. She had to find out who she was and where she came from in order to change the bad feelings and emotions within and become a better person. Elsie is still working on this, and I probably am too.

I think perhaps all my characters in all my novels are the kind that most kids and even adults identify with. It’s an understanding of growth and it is a form of therapy. I always encourage anyone who is going through, or has gone through stressful times to write, even if you’re not writing a novel just write your feelings because it really does help. I feel so grateful to be able to share my stories and get the therapy I need at the same time.

People always ask me what research I do for my books. Since The Elsie Lind Chronicles are fantasy novels, it is a bit difficult to research a made-up world, but not impossible. Even though it’s a fantasy world it needs to be believable. I like to research historical elements such as castles, swords, battle skills, clothing and things like that. I also research folklore, especially Scandinavian folklore that really seems to fit into my world beautifully. I have my own private collection of books on these subject matters and use them often. If there is something I do not have, I tend to go to a library or bookstore to find what I need. I am not against modern technology, and I will do some research on Google, but I prefer to use books so that I can be accurate.

The Lost Daughter of Easa will always have a special place in my heart, and I do hope to continue the story until there is no more to tell. Right now, I am writing full-time, so I will have lots of time to spend with Elsie Lind in her world. I hope that if you who are reading this now, you might give The Lost Daughter of Easa a try. See if you don’t manage to escape if only for a little while.

If you are a writer, give your characters the chance to speak to you. Let them in your head, feel their pain and accomplishments because really, they are a part of you. Share your story, because I promise you someone out there will identify with you and will appreciate the story you have written.

A California native born in Hollywood, California, J.L. MULVIHILL wanted to be a rock star. After several years of modeling, acting, and singing, she decided to marry, have a family, and moved to a quieter life in Mississippi where she has lived for the past twenty years. Finding she has a gift for story telling she began to write young adult books, including the Steel Roots series and The Lost Daughter of Easa. She is very active in the writing community, a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, Gulf Coast Writers Association, Imagicopter, the Mississippi Writers Guild and Clinton Ink-slingers Writing Group. She continues to write fantasy, steampunk, poetry and essays inspired by her life in the South.

Pick up the first edition copies of Lost Daughter of Easa and Return to Easa at the Literary Underworld!

Disability Pride

By Diana Morgan

It’s Disability Pride Month, and now more than ever, it’s important for disability representation in literature and media.

Disability Pride Month celebrates the landmark passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (AMA) in July 1990. The AMA has been essential in protecting the rights of people with disabilities, ensuring access to jobs, transportation, and more. It has helped create a culture of pride and visibility in disability communities all over the country.

One place where this visibility is important is through our stories. Disability representation in media is often overlooked when talking about marginalized communities. It is often portrayed in stereotypes or exaggerations. Disabled characters frequently serve to support a non-disabled person or as inspiration for the audience. Frequently in science fiction and fantasy, magic or superpowers “cure” the disability, reinforcing the idea that being able-bodied is the only goal – that living with disability is shameful, or only something to be overcome.

There’s a long history of shame and concealment when it comes to disabled people. In the late 19^th and much of the 20^th centuries, many cities had “Ugly Laws” that targeted disabled people, making it hard for them to appear in public. You could be fined, arrested, and even institutionalized if you were found to be too unpleasant or distressing. These laws were based on eugenics and creating an “ideal society.” Freak shows and carnivals often exploited them for profit, putting them on display for entertainment.

Many of those laws weren’t officially repealed until well into the 1970s. This is why legislation like the AMA and policies like DEI that protect the disabled and other marginalized communities and break stigmas are so important.

I am a disabled author with ADHD and autism, and I often include characters with similar experiences to my own. I’ve also spent time learning about representation and trying to help other writers as a sensitivity reader and speaker. I am not an expert on every disability, but I feel representation in media and fiction is important to the disabled community.

Early disability representation was often villains, angry over being disfigured, or victims who needed to be pitied and rescued. Much of this came from the fear and misunderstanding caused by stigma from things like the Ugly Laws.

Representation has improved over the decades. Characters like Geordi LaForge on Star Trek: The Next Generation, Daredevil, and Professor Xavier in Marvel comics have led the way for more disability representation and better visibility for the community.

More recently, characters like Nessarose in the Wicked movie, played by Marrissa Bode, a wheelchair user, brought even more authenticity to the character. On Broadway, the Wicked musical just cast Jenna Bainbridge, another actress who is an ambulatory wheelchair user, to play the role on stage for the first time.

Supporting disabled writers and actors is how we continue to break the stigmas around disability. Letting disabled writers tell their stories and be involved in media is the best way to ensure that we continue to have authentic representation that breaks stigma and normalizes disabled people being a part of society.

Disability is not a monolith. There are many different types of disability. It can be physical, neurological, or developmental, cognitive, or intellectual, or a combination of factors. Not all disabilities are visible, and not all conditions disable every person in the same way. People can also have multiple disabilities that impair them in multiple ways. Some people are born with disabilities, but others acquire them from accidents, disease, or chronic conditions.

Disability is the only marginalized community that anyone can join at any time. Everyone is one accident, one sickness, one twist of genetics away from being disabled.

Even within a single disability, things are often on a spectrum. Autism affects each person in very different ways. We are not all Sheldon Cooper or the Good Doctor—many of us struggle in very real ways. Very few blind people see total darkness—many have some visual acuity. Same with D/deaf people. They may have some ability to hear within a certain range. Some people use adaptive aids like cochlear implants, and some use sign language. Some wheelchair users are ambulatory and able to walk short distances, while others have little to no ability to walk.

Remember, disabled characters are not just their disability—they are real people with real interests. Matt Murdock/Daredevil is blind, but he is also a lawyer with friends and family and real problems. He’s also a superhero with extrasensory powers that allow him to fight and help him navigate the world without his sight. He’s a full character.

Be careful about having technology, magic, or superpowers that “cure” your character’s disability. Daredevil’s powers don’t restore his sight, but they do help him fight and navigate the world without it, and many blind people find that problematic.

When Daredevil was first created in 1964, many cities still had ugly laws on the books, and disability representation was often in the form of villains seeking revenge for their “disfigurement” or victims meant to be pitied or rescued. Daredevil was something different. He was a hero. Matt Murdock wasn’t a victim or a pitiable invalid. He was a lawyer, and he was charming and funny. He had a best friend and a girlfriend. It was rare to see a disabled character fitting into normal society. He was far from a perfect representation of a blind person’s experience, but it was still something many audiences had never seen before.

More recent versions, including the recent Netflix and Disney+ TV shows, have tried to make improvements in representations. Charlie Cox, who plays Matt, worked with blind people to learn how to move and work as a blind person. It’s still not perfect, but there are a lot of moments where he uses adaptive aids like screen readers or reading braille. The other characters describe things to him. Ultimately, they are showcasing one person’s experience with blindness in a fictional setting.

This is why it’s essential to listen to people with disabilities about their experiences. Ask disabled people about their experiences – hire a sensitivity or authenticity reader if you can. Sensitivity readers are people who belong to the marginalized community you’re writing about and usually have experience with writing and editing. They can read your work and consult with you on how to navigate problems and make your story more authentic.

Things are happening in our country that make the fate of many disabled people’s lives uncertain. Attacks on DEI, healthcare, and the rising stigma around things like autism and mental health have made it harder for disabled people to get help. Now more than ever, Disability Pride is important. Sharing our stories and being represented is one way we can fight this and protect our rights and our ability to live and work in a world that isn’t always built for us.

I will continue to include disabled people in my stories and share my own experiences. For information about neurodivergent disabilities and ways to be more inclusive of disabilities in your writing, you can see my resources page at DianaMorganAuthor.com.

DIANA MORGAN is a superhero by day, writer by night. Okay, not really, but when she’s not writing books, she’s a librarian at a local library, which is kind of a superhero. Her superpowers include always knowing what kids like to read, being able to read more than 10 books at one time, and the ability to eat more pizza than anyone.

Diana has always loved science fiction and fantasy. She grew up watching Quantum Leap, Power Rangers and Star Wars. She can’t remember a time when she wasn’t making up stories.

She was a geek before being a geek was cool, and she loves hanging out with other geeks and sharing her love of all things space and magic and books.

Imaginarium ahoy!

By Elizabeth Donald

We are delighted to be returning to Louisville for Imaginarium, a convention we have attended most of the years since its inception. The Literary Underworld will have its usual booth, as well as the Traveling Bar, of course.

In addition, we have our own panel! Literary Underworld has been in operation for more years than any of us have counted, outlasting many such experiments in author and small press cooperatives. But what the heck are we? A lot of people assume we are publishers, or a self-published hub, or a cult. Okay, no one said cult. It was implied.

So we’ll be holding a panel at Imaginarium to explain what we do, how it started, what evolutions we’ve tried, and the current state of the Underworld. More importantly, we hope to help people understand that we’re all in this together, and a cooperative could possibly be a useful thing for them in their own careers.

Of course, it’s happening in a year where we have an all-time low in Underlords attending. I can’t remember the last time Shrews missed Imaginarium, but he won’t be there this year. Many of our other longtime miscreants will be missing in action, including J.L. Mulvihill, Sara Harvey, and Sela Carsen. Fortunately Jim Gillentine and I will be there, and hopefully Stephen Zimmer, who is both author and publisher in Literary Underworld for mumblety years. We also get to see Angelia Sparrow, who co-founded Literary Underworld with me and Sara Harvey a thousand years ago. (I told you no one kept count.)

At some point between now and Imaginarium, I will have to look up how many years we’ve actually been in operation, supporting small presses and their authors and trundling ourselves to conventions all over the midwest and the south. It’s a labor of love, a love of the written word, of genre fiction and the writers audacious enough to lay their souls bare on the page despite the monumental pressures against them.

So pass the bourbon, and come join us in Louisville on July 18-20. We’d be delighted to see you.

Pride

By Angelia Sparrow

So many places I could start this. It’s June, and hence Pride.

Maybe we should make it Veterans’ Month.

When’s Straight Pride, hurhurhur?

It’s Men’s Mental Health Month and you all need mental help.

Maybe we should drop the TQ+, they are scaring off allies.

And Donald Trump Jr. announced on June 16 that the transgender movement is the most violent domestic terror threat in the world.

These are a few of the recurring things I’ve seen this month. There is a saying that the comments on any post about feminism prove the need for it. Ditto Pride. After all, homophobia is just misogyny’s rainbow-clad twin.

In 2024, the ACLU tracked 533 anti-LGBTQ laws through the state legislatures. This year it’s 597. And 937 anti-trans bills have been proposed. Over 100 have passed. 26 states have passed bans on gender-affirming care.

Across the country, feeling the shift in the zeitgeist, corporate sponsors are pulling out of Pride parades and festivals. San Francisco, New York and St. Louis are some of the bigger ones.(Memphis Pride got rained out HARD, lightning strikes and flash flooding. The parade was postponed.)

And this is why Pride is more necessary than ever. Twenty percent of GenZ (1997-2006) are LGBTQ+. For reference, that’s my two youngest kids, age 27 and 25. Their grandfather’s generation, before 1946, has about 2%. But they were one of the hardest hit by AIDS.

Overall, about 9 percent of the population is some shade of queer. In demographic comparison, that’s all the Asian, Pacific Islanders and Native Americans, put together. It’s two-thirds of the Black population. It’s the same number as all the non-Christian religious folks in the country: Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, pagan, etc.

Yet, right now, that 9 percent is under attack by state and federal government. According to Project 2025’s aim to “Promote Life and Strengthening the Family,” all “trangenderism and woke gender ideology” must be removed. To this end, they want:

The Department of Justice to treat anti-gay discrimination as a free speech issue (We reserve the right to refuse service);
The Department of Defense to remove trans soldiers from the military;
The Department of Health and Human Services to remove a focus on LGBTQ+ equity;
The Supreme Court to quit applying Bostock (Title VII gender equity ruling) to matters of orientation and gender identity.

And that’s only part of it.

My wife is trans. And the laws make her public existence a minefield. She is very cautious about going to the restroom in public. She ignores the dirty looks we get in restaurants (I tend to glare down the offenders). While all her ID has her real name on it, her driver’s license still says M. Because Arkansas decided emergency action was needed against all 200 people who had an X, and all the trans people.

I am scared for her all the time.

While you personally may not be part of the QUILTBAG, you may not be out of the woods. In February, Oklahoma introduced an extremely broad obscenity bill (SB 593),which could be applied to anything someone believes is obscene. If you write so much as a kiss before closing the door, and someone takes offense, it can be prison time, massive fines for the author, the publisher, and any book seller or librarian. And if you write LGBTQ+ characters, that will be the first target if this passes.

Oklahoma already passed HB 1217, which criminalizes “obscene performances,” especially drag, around minors. This is a slippery slope bill. First, they make drag illegal/obscene. Then they arrest trans women for wearing dresses to the grocery store and charge them with exposing minors to obscenity. Immediate prison and registry on the sex offender list. And if Project 2025 gets its way, executing them. Over going out for a box of Cheerios.

Some of us who know how this picture (Cabaret) ends are fighting it every step of the way. Others don’t think it will get that bad. And a small minority think their wallets will protect them.

“No one ever talks about [extermination]. They just do it. And you go on with your lives, ignoring the signs all around you. And then, one day, when the air is still and the night has fallen, they come for you.” The 2000s X-Men movies are a gay metaphor and Magneto’s assertion has only become more salient since.

And this is why we need Pride. To come together in public, in joy and color and happiness. To wave at all those who cheer. To cheer for those who march. And most of all, to dance our defiance of a tinpot fascist who thinks we can be eradicated and no one will care.

In the darkest days of the AIDS crisis, the saying “Bury your friends in the morning. Protest in the afternoon and dance all night,” came into being. We dance. Well, others dance. I no longer can. So I make things and I write.

This year, all my amigurumi was in Pride colors, rainbow, lesbian, nonbinary and other.

And yes, I am writing. One of the tenets of Primali Paganism is Divine Defiance. So, I write. It’s slow going through the COVID brain fog, but I continue. Whether an Orc lord marrying for political gain, or Santa and Krampus having some (ahem) VERY private time between holidays, I’m still making words happen.

“There was a cabaret and a master of ceremonies, in a city called Berlin in a country called Germany. And it was the end of the world.” — Joe Masteroff, Cabaret

From Cemetery Dancers, the fourth of the Withycombe and Doyle books, in progress.

[His father] looked sharply at Charlie. “You never seemed to have much interested in dating or courting. Has that changed?” When Charlie glanced down, he nodded. “I see. It hasn’t.” Mr. Doyle lowered his voice. “Is it Edward? You try to keep your letters casual, but you adore him, and it comes through in every line.”

There it was, the big secret, the one that could get him arrested or deported. And his father had seen it without him even telling it.

“Yes. And it’s so illegal.”

“I can’t say I approve. We would like to see you married, although, your Ma would prefer you live nearby so she can spoil the grandbabies rotten. Having them across a whole ocean would be a trial to her.”

“I wasn’t asking for approval of Edward. I was asking about how to get married when it looks as if the marriage is going to be arranged for me.”

His father shook his head. “That’s a hard one, son. The best you can do is be kind and sweet to her. But that’s your nature so it shouldn’t be hard. Remember she is in the same position and no easier with it. You don’t have to love her right away. But do try to be her friend. That may grow into love. There is more to love than the swoopy, giddy feeling.

“When Ma smiles at you, is it still like the sun coming out?” Charlie asked.

His dad smiled. “Every time.”

My writing work can be found on Amazon or the Literary Underworld as Angelia Sparrow or Nick Rowan (NOT the one who writes the Silk Road travel books). My links can be found at these pages: Angelia Sparrow or Nick Rowan. My crochet work is available at The Traveling Tinkers.

Vegas Run

By Rachel Brune

Run Faster…

Rick Keller, werewolf secret agent and grumpy retired soldier, came to me over the course of three or four writing exercises. I wasn’t expecting him to set up shop in my creative brain until those exercises turned into Cold Run, the first book in the Rick Keller Project. Nor did I expect there to be more books, short stories, and half-formed ideas that would grow along the way, each waiting to be set down with greater or less patience.

But after Cold Run, which had its own long, strange trip to its current publication with Falstaff Books, I wasn’t sure what direction I wanted to go in. We’d already visited the trope of the retired spy being dragged back in from the cold, with the shady government agency that treats him like just another resource to be used up at their discretion. Did Cold Run work as a standalone book? Did it have series potential? And what would that series potential look like?

I’m a history nerd with a long reading list in 20^th century shenanigans, and one of the elements that stood out to me when learning about the arms race was the absolute amorality of the sprint to developing nuclear weapons. Project Paperclip showed that the mission to develop and keep the edge in the nuclear arms race against the U.S.S.R.

Without giving away spoilers for Cold Run (and if you haven’t read it, it’s available right here on the Literary Underworld), at the end, Rick Keller tries once again to disappear into the wilderness—but there are some loose ends that are going to eventually bring him back.

And those loose ends are directly tied to the fact that governments and extra-national organizations will, in the vast game of might-against-might, will do anything they need to or can do to pursue that edge in race for the bigger and better weapon.

Even if it ends up destroying them.

Keep running!

Vegas Run, the sequel to Cold Run, is now out and available for purchase here at the Underworld, as well as from Falstaff Books. (And I guess you could buy it from other places, too, but if you’re here, you probably enjoy supporting indie authors and publishers.)

There’s a bunch of themes and topics I’ve been thinking about while planning out the rest of the series. Vegas Run is where I went hard on the theme of found/chosen family. It’s the book where I worked through my feelings about the decision to leave the military and what that would look like. (Spoiler alert – I immediately joined the Reserve because, like my main character, I am a masochist.)

Vegas Run also has a few hints as to where the next books in the series will go. And, I have to say, the final climactic sequence was immensely satisfying to write.

But of all the different plot twists and characters introduced and various themes touched on, I kept coming back to the idea of how far people will go to pursue power and a technological edge, even if the final weapon has the capability to wipe us off the face of the earth, along with whatever group of them we’re demonizing and othering at the moment.

But pace yourself…

When I pitch my series to readers, I tell them it was written by someone who grew up in the Cold War and served in the global war on terror, and enjoy reading spy and thriller novels—but always wished they had a werewolf.

When my publisher pitches the book, he pitches it: “If Joe Ledger were a werewolf, he’d be Rick Keller.”

The arms race never went away. The desire for power and strength and pursuing the technological edge to keep that power and strength never went away.

As Vegas Run launches, and I work on finishing up the third book in the series, Trial Run, it reminds me that when faced with the banal malevolence of large entities embarked on the quest for absolute power, the only thing that can throw dirt in the gears of the machine is finding the people who will be your family and stand with you—and hand you another handful of dirt.

I hope that the folks who have given the series a chance will enjoy the ride, and that if you—like me—get nostalgic for a little Spy vs. Spy—with werewolves!—you’ll check out the series. And take care of yourselves and your chosen and found families.

RACHEL A. BRUNE graduated from the NYU Tisch School of the Arts in 2000, and was immediately plunged into the low-stakes world of entry-level executive assistantship. Her unexpected journey out of that world and into the military is chronicled in her self-published book Echoes and Premonitions. Rachel served five years as a combat journalist, including two tours in Iraq, and a brief stint as a columnist for her hometown newspaper. After her second tour, she attended graduate school at the University at Albany in NY, where she earned her M.A. in political communication, and her commission as a second lieutenant in the military police corps.

Although her day job has taken in her in many strange, often twisted directions, Rachel continues to write and publish short fiction. She released her first novel, Soft Target, in early 2013, and other books have followed. In addition to writing, she is the founder and chief editor at Crone Girls Press and edits the Falstaff Dread line of horror fiction at Falstaff Books.

Some debts you can’t outrun.

An unprovoked attack destroys Rick Keller’s refuge and sends him back to civilization. Adrift, alone, his past reaches out to him as the agency he escaped–and the old Soviet spook he almost didn’t–call in their debts. His choice: work with MONIKER one more time, or face the rest of his life on the run.

From the snows of the north to the sand of the Las Vegas strip, Rick finds himself enmeshed in a web of old alliances and new, as his team heads out on the trail of the latest development in the supernatural arms race. While Rick has been hiding in the north country, MONIKER has been building a supernatural army. No matter how fast or far he runs, it won’t be enough. This time when they call him in, they don’t need an agent–they’re eliminating the competition.

This time, he’s going to burn them to the ground.

I remembered I was an artist

By Elizabeth Lynn Blackson

I need to tell you a secret: I am a fraud. I’m a complete fake. I don’t have a degree in English. I have no piece of paper declaring myself competent. Nothing.

I’m no author.

That’s the voice of my harshest critic: me.

Stephen King has been quoted as saying “If you wrote something for which someone sent you a check, if you cashed the check and it didn’t bounce, and if you then paid the light bill with the money, I consider you talented.”

Damn. That quote is a powerful tool against my raging Imposter Syndrome, and frankly, it’s something I occasionally dearly need to hear.

There is this long, terrifying space in the process of writing. Not the slap-dash first draft. Not the hours of honing, or reading and rereading, looking to spackle plot holes closed. Not going through dialogue, looking for opportunities to strengthen character through their voice. Not researching absurd facts, like whether a Glock 17 has a last-round hold-open on the slide.

When you buff and polish, and format and publish and then…

Then you wait. And you hope for positive feedback. And you get… not much. Sometimes none. If you’re lucky enough to have a few reliable beta readers, whatever momentum you got from their enthusiastic cheering fades, and you wait.

I finished an entire trilogy of urban fantasy/horror novels collectively known as “The Suffering Sequence.” And then…

Nothing.

I don’t know how to market. Maybe worse, I do not wish to learn. I HATE the face-forward portion of this process. If I felt fake calling myself an author, I feel doubly so trying to be my own hype-woman. “Read my stuff. I’m amazing.”

I hate the ‘elevator pitch’ and the ‘back cover blurb.’ I hate selling myself as an author, but unless I plan to magically find funds to hire someone else to do it, I’m… stuck.

I’ve written over a million words of fiction: seven entire novels, co-authored two other novels, only four of which ever saw the light of day. I’ve DNFed several more novels around the halfway mark. I have written three other novellas, which are frankly fan-fic, but (I feel) important building blocks to longer works. I have also written a fair bit of short fiction, enough at least for several collections.

Minus one novel written with Scrivener, all of them have been created in simple word processing programs. I’m writing this using Google Docs, which is what I used to write the entire “Suffering Sequence” trilogy.

I have had issues with finding cover artists, editors, publishers, and at every turn it’s felt like the world conspired against me to place barriers to completion. Add frustration, impatience, and lack of funds to the Imposter Syndrome.

In the early 90’s, I was working with a friend on small press comics. While sitting at a booth, selling our wares, there was another artist next to us, and we struck up a conversation. The topic wandered to the parts of the process that are in our control, and the difficulty of the whole process. He said, paraphrased, that it was a lot of effort even to make garbage. That notion has stuck with me. Even in the age of print on demand, creating a finished book is a lot of work.

After having a cover artist’s delay in getting his assignment completed, I became gun-shy of farming out ANY part of the process.

That’s when I remembered something that I frequently shove aside in the mad dash toward monetization of any skill: I make art. I write. I create fonts. I draw and I paint.

I remembered that even if I was reduced to a physical spiral-bound notepad and Bic pen, I would still write and draw.

I painted the cover image of my latest collection with poster paint from Dollar General. I might complain mightily, but I still create. It seems to be an innate part of me, and budget constraints are only limiter as to what tools I use.

When I pulled my head out of the mire of depression, I remembered I was an artist.

ELIZABETH LYNN BLACKSON grew up in a small town in Eastern Ohio, living on a steady diet of comic books, horror movies, and Stephen King novels, while playing D&D and listening to heavy metal. It twisted her into the maniacal creature you now see before you. While certain she was going to be a comic artist, life pulled her in a different direction, and she ended up in the St. Louis metro area, where she lives with her hubby and two cats. Check out her work on the Literary Underworld!

This is Your Brain on Story

By Kathy L. Brown

The Story of Us

Unless we are some sort of Zen master of mindfulness, for good or ill most of us walk around all day immersed in the story in our head. We converse with ourselves or imaginary people. We react to events, parse their meaning, and fit them into patterns of our own creation. Each of us stars in our own story for an audience of one.

The late neurologist Oliver Sacks has written extensively on the subject. We seem to be hardwired to find patterns and impose sense on this narrative we call life. We unconsciously amend the objective facts to make a “better” story: More dramatic, more interesting, or just to “earn the ending.” Events really can’t be random and meaningless, right? And that pattern-finding instinct comes into play as we see images in random patterns, from clouds to grilled tortillas.

We Love Some Oxytocin

Human brains produce oxytocin, aka “cuddle hormone,” when we feel trusted or receive a kindness. It increases our empathic abilities–insight into other people’s emotional states–and thus makes cooperation more likely. (Fun fact: Oxytocin triggers the let-down reflex for nursing mother’s milk flow.)

Dr. Paul Zak’s brain chemistry research at Claremont Graduate University took blood from test subjects before and after they heard a narrative. Character-driven stories were associated with increased oxytocin levels. And more oxytocin is associated with more cooperation. Researchers have found stories—”experiential products”—provide happiness, just like real-life experiences.

“Collaborate or Die”

Proto- and early humans had to get it together, literally, or die. An individual naked ape had little chance in the wild. One thesis of social development cites the power of empathy—internalizing another creature’s observed experience and reacting to it as one’s own.

This instinct lead to banding together and cooperative behavior. It helped all member of the group get “on the same page,” as it were. Early cave paintings hint at an oral tradition of storytelling that harnessed the group’s experience: A powerful bonding tool.

The Power of Story

As biologist Nathan Lents points out, “We cannot feel empathy for data.” A character-driven, emotional rich narrative is remembered more accurately later and is more likely to change behavior. Marketers and educators tap this aspect of human psychology. When I was in graduate school, I used a case study for a presentation on health behavior principles. My patient had worked hard as a coal miner all his life. He’d played hard, too. He loved the nightlife, beer, and cigarettes. When we meet, he had end-stage lung disease. Medicines were barely helpful, and the disease would slowly but inevitably destroy his lungs, each breath a labored gasp. But then, he was put on the wait list for lung transplant.

See what I did there? This expository piece turned into a story about a poor dude who couldn’t breathe. Maybe it’s a little more interesting now, as the oxytocin-driven empathy kicks in.

Because story links directly with our emotions, the connection is stronger and faster. The facts don’t have to convince us of the superiority of a particular brand of chewing gum: when we see a sweet, one-minute story about a man, his growing daughter, and the bond between them symbolized by a chewing-gum wrapper collection, we not only want gum, we also want the “gum experience” of love and family devotion.

This blog was originally published on 6/7/2019 at The Storytelling Blog.

Kathy L. Brown lives in St. Louis, Mo. and writes speculative fiction with a historical twist. Her hometown and its history inspire her fiction. When she’s not thinking about how haunted everything is, she enjoys hiking, crafts, and cooking for her family. Montag Press published the first novel in her Sean Joye Investigations book series in 2021. Follow her social media platforms: Instagram at kathylbrownwrites, Facebook at kbKathylbrown, and Twitter at KL_Brown. The Storytelling Blog lives at kathylbrown.com.

Wearing many hats as writers

By Diana Morgan

For years, I’ve struggled to maintain a consistent blog or newsletter. Between having ADHD and feeling like I have nothing to say, it’s seemed an impossible task. But there is one other thing besides fiction writing I’ve always wanted to do: write media reviews and commentaries.

As writers, we often wear many hats to connect with our readers, we’re selling ourselves as much as our stories. We’re publicists, social media influencers, activists, and so much more. Our jobs are often to sell so much more than just our words. It’s difficult and overwhelming at times. We’re always looking for new ways to connect to our readers and share our passions with the world.

One way I’m doing that this year: I’m launching a Patreon. Regular content includes movie and TV show reviews and a general blog. Eventually, I’ll add paid content, including serial fiction, short stories, and other sneak peeks at my writing.

I’m still hard at work on Lost Colony book 2, now titled, Retributions. Keep reading for a quick teaser or check out my website for further details.

Saving the Colony hasn’t made life easier for Livia Icini. But when a soldier turns up dead, Livia is the prime suspect, and the entire Colony is ready to see her banished. But the murder is just the beginning; an old enemy has found her, and he’s brought the Aveeys with him to bring the universe crashing down around her.

Jacob Moorland doesn’t care about Livia’s past. He just wants her to run the hospital so he can use his skill as a surgeon to help as many people as possible. When Aveeys attack, he ends up a prisoner to pirates, he has no choice but to adapt and survive in ways he never thought possible.

Revenge is served cold in space.

Follow me on Patreon for more.

Diana has always loved science fiction and fantasy. She grew up watching Quantum Leap, Power Rangers and Star Wars. She can’t remember a time when she wasn’t making up stories.

She was a geek before being a geek was cool, and she loves hanging out with other geeks and sharing her love of all things space and magic and books.

BLACKFIRE RISING has shambled to Literary Underworld

By Elizabeth Donald

I’m happy to announce that Blackfire Rising has finally been resurrected, and is now shambling your way via the Literary Underworld.

Longtime readers know that the Blackfire series has been going on for 15 years in various forms, beginning with a novella published by Sam’s Dot Press and continuing through novels, short stories and another novella, published a few years ago by Crone Girls Press. Now the good folks at Falstaff Books have picked up the series, and our first release collects all the Blackfire pieces into one volume with some new stories and a look forward at what might be ahead for Sara Harvey and (what’s left of) her team.

It was an experiment. A way to create a better soldier. Colder, more efficient.

But some things shouldn’t be altered, and some creatures are best left to myth. The dead know no peace, and they are coming for Sara Harvey.

Sara has faced the Cold Ones again and again, losing friends and comrades in a running battle to keep the world safe from the monsters released by an experiment that should never have happened. Again and again, Sara is drawn back into Blackfire, as it hunts the things that hide in the shadows.

The clock is ticking, and the slaughter has begun.

And you shouldn’t have to pray to just stay dead.

From award-winning horror author Elizabeth Donald comes a compendium of the entire Blackfire series… so far.

Blackfire Rising is published in ebook, trade paperback and hardback. Preorders are on their way and will be shipped as soon as they’re in our hands. If you didn’t preorder, feel free to order right away! If ordering through Literary Underworld, you can have it signed upon request – be sure to indicate it in your checkout.

And you can join me on Monday for a live Zoom chat where I will read selections from the book, talk about its weird shambling journey to resurrection, what might be coming in the future for this series, and also pass the bourbon. Click here to RSVP on Facebook, or if you eschew the book of face, you can register at EventBrite. The Zoom link will be shared closer to the event.

Where to buy the book:

Many thanks to the awesome folks at Falstaff Books for their fine work on this book, even making me fix all those em dashes. Special thanks to Rachel Brune, editor extraordinaire (and fellow Underlord!), and publisher John Hartness for their hard work and patience and faith in this series.

I have had so much fun with this book in all its iterations. I hope you enjoy it just as much as I enjoyed writing it.

How art can be a protest

By Alexander Brown

While art is primarily for the artist, it can be a Trojan horse for the audience. Although works produced for commerce can still evoke emotion in the consumer, nothing is as raw as an artist who creates to reflect the horrors of society. As the general public suffers under an administration that only cares for its own well-being, and an audience that screams that the smallest fraction of diversity in entertainment is “woke,” wokeness in art has existed since the dawn of time. Yet, the general public has refused to acknowledge its existence.

To give a popular reference that the majority should be familiar with, there is Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. This gothic classic deeply resonates with classism, feminism, race, and even queer culture. Consider Frankenstein’s “monster,” who began as docile and only wanted love and acceptance. But rather than having gained that, he was literally feared for no other reason than his identity. Sound familiar?

Another fine example is Toni Morrison’s Beloved. This Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece, which takes place shortly after the American Civil War, explores the horrors of slavery and racism through a paranormal lens. And since the ghost serves as a vehicle to remind us of a traumatic past, what better way to focus on these subjects than to present it as a ghost story? To show the impact of this novel, even in 2021, Republicans tried to use it under the guise of propaganda to justify their prejudice against the critical race theory.

Another fine example is Bret Easton Ellis’s American Psycho. This splatterpunk classic reflects the horrors of the 1980s, where the monster of Corporate America was projected onto the ruthless antagonist, Patrick Bateman. In this shocker, not only did he murder those who were his competition, but he brutalized women, minorities, and those who were underprivileged for an extensive amount of page time. Meanwhile, he continued to financially thrive in a society of Reaganomics. What better way to humanize Corporate America by giving it the traits of a sociopathic narcissist?

Other great examples can be seen in the work of Octavia Butler and her series known as the Xenogenesis trilogy, which focuses on colonization. Then there’s Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, which warns against totalitarianism. Also, we have Poppy Z. Brite’s Exquisite Corpse, which explores the suffering of those in LGBTQ+ community when they are shunned.

Something all of these books have in common, aside from being outstanding literature, is they are all Trojan horses that comment on society in one form or another. For the most part, the general public has accepted them as a form of entertainment and nothing more. Yet, if one were to look harder, they would see that these pieces, and many others, have acted as a protest against a world where movements are few and far between. The reason why one has to look hard for these subjects is that a good artist knows how to show and not tell. In other words, they present without proselytizing or pandering.

If done right, art can be a protest; the artist a protester and documentarian. A source that can act as a creative liver. One that processes vital subjects into a format so its consumers can develop a deeper level of sympathy for those who are different from themselves, or empathy for those who feel alone in their struggles.

To create good art, not only should it entertain, but it should also evoke emotion, whether that emotion be positive or negative. The only way to do that is to produce unforgettable characters in a concept that reflects our own reality. Regardless of what medium one chooses to express themselves in, what better time than now, 2025, to create something that reflects the external horrors of everyday life? Don’t be afraid to be woke with your art; use it as a protest, even if the end result is just as nihilistic as the ending of a Bachman book.

ALEXANDER S. BROWN is a Mississippi author whose first book, Traumatized, was published in 2008 and later re-released by Pro Se Publications. Brown is co-editors/coordinator of the Southern Haunts anthology series published by Seventh Star Press. His horror novel, Syrenthia Falls, was published by Dark Oak Press. His short story collection The Night the Jack O’ Lantern Went Out, published by Pro Se Press, reached bestseller status in three literary categories on Amazon.com upon release. Brown is the author of multiple young-adult steampunk stories found in the Dreams of Steam anthologies, Capes and Clockwork anthologies, and Clockwork Spells and Magical Bells. His more extreme works can be found in the anthology Luna’s Children, published by Dark Oak Press; Reel Dark, published by Seventh Star Press; and State of Horror: Louisiana Vol. 1, published by Charon Coin Press. Brown is also an actor and producer in the short film The Acquired Taste, inspired by a story in Traumatized and directed by Chuck Jett.