Behind the Writing

We made it!

/ Christian Laforet / Leave a comment

Hey! 2020 is behind us! We made it!

Last year was not exactly ideal (says captain obvious). All the plans were scuttled…seriously, all of them. The various book signings and conventions I had lined up to promote the re-release of The Space Between Houses vanished. I’m not complaining about this, mind you. It sucks, don’t get me wrong, but we were all in the same boat, so I’m not going to make it into a one-man pity party.

On a positive note, I did get some writing in, and even managed to sell four short stories (three have been released, the last coming this fall), with a fifth out in the ether as we speak.

I also managed a couple new drafts on my second horror novel, as well as a first draft on a literary fiction book I’m working on. That latter project will come to completion first, but then it’s back to the scary for me.

Another thing 2020 allowed me time for was a re-write of my first horror novel. Basically, after talking to some friends in the industry, I decided that there needed to be some changes to the story (mostly pacing). Ultimately, I am much happier with the novel now, and have recently started sending it out to agents and publishers (fingers crossed).

Looking ahead to this year, besides finishing those two books, I’m also going to try and squeeze in another four or five short stories as well as a mystery project (more on that soon).

With any luck, we’ll all be able to return to some semblance of normal in 2021 and we can start going outside again (I’m almost a mole-person at this point so it can’t happen soon enough). I miss the conventions and signings so much! Meeting new folks is the highlight of this wacky career I’ve chosen.

Anyway, that’s enough out of me for now.

Cheers!

-Christian

New Short Story!

/ Christian Laforet / 1 Comment

I am pleased to announce that my short story, Hunger, will be featured in an upcoming anthology from Blood Song Books. The anthology is called Harvest and features stories of a rural bent.BSB_Harvest_Acceptance_2

The book will be available in both print and digital format on July 1st. If you are interested in ordering it, please follow the link below.

https://books2read.com/harvest

-Christian

The Space Between Houses cover reveal!

/ Christian Laforet / 1 Comment

Cover reveal

A little over five years ago, my first book, The Space Between Houses, was unleashed upon the world. The initial run was limited, and as such, the book has been out of print for a couple of years now. And it would have probably stayed there as well, if not for all of you. I am constantly being asked if, or when, Space will be available again. And since the book will always have a special place in my heart, coupled with the demand, I decided it was indeed the time to bring it back.

For this second edition of the book, I have gone through and cleaned it up a tad. Fixed some minor mistakes, and gave the whole thing a new coat of paint. Beyond that, I have also added three short stories that were not included in the original edition, but were written around the same time.

So, without further ado, I present the cover for the second edition of The Space Between Houses, published by Adventure Worlds Press, which will be available for purchase this April.

-Christian

Cover final

 

 

Scribes & Songsters

/ Christian Laforet / 1 Comment

I was recently asked to appear on an episode of Scribes & Songsters. I had a blast talking to host Veronique Mandal (a great writer as well!) about my work. Thanks to all involved and if you do check out the video, make sure to subscribe to the Scribes & Songsters page as they feature tons of fantastic authors and musicians.

Fall Update!

/ Christian Laforet / 1 Comment

Hey! I have some news regarding my first book, The Space Between Houses. The 2nd edition will be available in late winter, early spring of 2020 through Adventure Worlds Press. This title has long been sold out, and I’m excited to get it back on the stands. More details on that soon.

In other news, I’ve been asked to do a spooky reading at Biblioasis on October 30th. You may be familiar with the name (Biblioasis), as beside selling books from a physical location, they also publish a plethora of award winning literary fiction. I will be reading alongside my friend, Ben Van Dongen and fellow horror scribe, David Nickle. I’ve never met David, but have read some of his work. He’s a very talented author. It should be a fun night of thrills and chills.

And lastly, but not leastly (is that a word?), I am about 50K into my second novel. It is coming along nicely. At my current rate, I should be done the first draft by the end of next month and be shopping it around by March/April of next year. As for my first novel, it is currently on sub with a publisher (basically, they’ve asked to read the full novel based off my 25 page submission). This publisher doesn’t traditionally release horror, but I heard they were looking to change that. Hopefully I’ll back from them, but in the meantime, I will be sending it to a few other publishers that fell like a good fit as well to hedge my bets.

Until next time,

Christian

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The Space Between Houses 2nd edition Update!

/ Christian Laforet / 1 Comment

So, as is wont to happen in the publishing world, things change.

I announced that my first book, The Space Between Houses, would be getting a second edition through a small press local to where I live. This agreement, done the old-fashioned way—a conversation and a handshake—has, unfortunately, fell through.

The good news is, The Space Between Houses 2nd edition is still going to come out…just not until next year. A lot of you have been asking for this book to go back into print, and as it is my first literary baby, I’m all too keen to make it happen.

More news on this in the coming months, including the brand new (and quite rad, if I do say so myself) cover art.

-Christian

Update!

/ Christian Laforet / 1 Comment

It’s been a while since I’ve done an update on my projects. So, hey, why not now?
First, I did finally finish* my novel. I need to put an asterisk next to that because It is not actually finished (possibly far from it), but it is more finished than ever before. Basically, I finished it enough to submit it to a publisher. I’ve had really good feedback on the book and think it is quite scary. Hopefully I’ll have some publishing news sooner rather than later to share.

Next up, and I already did a post about this, but what the heck, it’s my site so I can do what I want, is the re-release of The Space Between Houses. I’m crazy excited about getting this book back into print. I went through and cleaned up a few of the things that always bugged me about the book (don’t worry, I didn’t go full George Lucas on it or anything), and was also able to add in three short stories that I had written around the same time (or just after) TSBH but were published elsewhere. This means that between TSBH and No Light Tomorrow, almost every short story I’ve ever written that has been published will be in print. Fear not though, I’m not expecting those who already own the book to buy it again. As I said, the three stories have been published online previously, and can still be found over at Adventure Worlds Press.com (you might have to do some scrolling though). And, like the rest of the stories in the book, I was able to give those three stories some added shine for this upcoming second edition.

There is a tentative release date of the fall for the newest incarnation of The Space Between Houses, but an exact date has not been announced. And it will be coming out through Urban Farmhouse Press. I’ve read a number of UFP books, and they are always quality.

On the subject of short fiction, I have a few NEW short stories I’ve put together recently. One is a leftover for an anthology I was going to submit to last year, but didn’t have the time to finish it before the deadline. Another is for an upcoming anthology, but I won’t know if it makes that book or not until at least October, and the third is a short story for a rainy day. I figure it is good to start stockpiling some short stories in case of unexpected opportunities.

And, lastly, I’ve started a new novel (horror, of course). I won’t tell you what it is about because it is in its embryonic stage, but I can say that it is an idea I had about a year ago (maybe less), and as soon as I did, I knew it was the next book I was going to write.

Besides the above stuff, I’ve been doing a few interviews, and will be teaching a workshop on horror and Sci-Fi writing with Ben Van Dongen (co-author of a couple of my books, as well as full author of a couple of his own) in Sept. And then there’s been PlayStation. That sweet, awful source of endless distraction. While on the subject, if you haven’t played the Resident Evil 2 remake yet, do so. It is amazing!

-Christian

All Write in Sin City!

/ Christian Laforet / 1 Comment

I was asked recently to be a guest on the brand new podcast All Write in Sin City (along with writing buddy Ben Van Dongen). Normally, I find interviews for radio, TV or internet, to be a bit stuffy, but the folks running the show at All Write know what they were doing and it was a very pleasant experience.

If you want to hear me talk about various topics like: writing horror, attending conventions, and the importance of selling in person, then give it a listen. Oh, and as a bonus, the podcasters (not sure if that is what they are called, but oh well) recorded me doing a reading at Biblioasis (a local bookstore for those not in my neck of the woods).

Listen here.

Enjoy!

-Christian

 

Monsters! Aliens! Short Stories! …& Friends!

/ Christian Laforet / 1 Comment

A couple months ago, I was asked (along with my frequent collaborator, Ben Van Dongen) to host a writing workshop. I said yes, of course, but truth be told I did have some reservations. You see, I’ve been lucky enough to take part in all sorts of writing and literary events since the release of my first book, The Space Between Houses (which turns 5 this year!), but have never hosted a workshop.

What would we speak about? And, more importantly, would anybody care?? After some discussion with Ben, I can say that at least one of these questions has been answered. We’re going to focus on what we know best: short stories and genre fiction.

We’ve since mapped out a series of sub-topics and writing exercises for those attending. It was while doing this that I had an interesting revelation. If such a workshop as the one I myself was going to be hosting existed five or six years ago, it would have taught me how to avoid a lot of the obstacles which plagued the embryotic days of my writing career. Which then made me realize I need to build a time machine.

The workshop itself will be held at Gertrude’s Writing Room; a cozy space with a ton of charm. Ben and I sat in on the last workshop held there (to see what we were in for) and fell in love.

For anyone that is interested, there is a link to the website to register HERE and one for the Facebook event page HERE.

The workshop, now titled Monsters! Aliens! Short Stories! …& Friends! will be a 3 hour class, and it goes down January 19th. The cost is $50

-Christian

P.S. All those who attend will receive a signed copy of our short story collection, No Light Tomorrow.

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Four Years of The Space Between Houses

/ Christian Laforet / 3 Comments

Distressed cover finalSo, this coming September will mark the four-year anniversary of my first book, The Space Between Houses. I’ve gotten a lot of mileage out of this book, and like having it available in my back catalogue…but, it is currently out of print.

Now, here’s the dilemma. I can get more made under my own press (Adventure Worlds Press), but since I don’t have any of the final files (the original publisher does), I would have to go through the book and literally retype it. This is not a completely bad thing, as there are a few minor things I’d like to change (mostly all grammatical), and this would allow me the chance to do so. The down side is, I’d have to retype the whole fucking thing.

Sigh.

I’m leaning towards doing it, if for no other reason then my next solo book (the long in development novel) will probably not be out for quite some time. I still have No Light Tomorrow and All These Crooked Streets but neither of those are horror, and they are both co-authored.

Double sigh.

I guess I need to think about it some more. I’ll give an update in a week or two once I’ve made up my mind. I just really don’t want to retype the damn thing.

Triple sigh.

Later ‘gators,

Christian