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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

 

 

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

 

The Space Between Houses Returns!

/ Christian Laforet / 1 Comment

2019 marks the five year anniversary of The Space Between Houses. It’s crazy to me that this book is only five years old. It seems like a whole lifetime ago that it was released.

So, with the anniversary looming, I knew I wanted to do something special. The problem, however, was that The Space Between Houses has been out of print for over a year now. I toyed with the idea of self-publishing, but at the end of the day, rejected the idea. This, of course, led to the obvious question; who would publish it?

As luck would have it, I soon found myself having a coffee with Daniel Lockhart, owner and publisher of Urban Farmhouse Press (UFP). I’ve known Daniel for a few years, and he is a great guy. So, while sipping coffee, I asked if he—and by extension, UFP—be interested in re-releasing the book.

He said no.

…just kidding, he said sure, why not.

Which brings me back to the five year anniversary. This coming fall will mark the exact date the book first launched, so it is only fitting that it also act as the date of the re-launch. UFP will be releasing a brand spanking new second edition of The Space Between Houses later this year!

There will be more info as the day grows near, but in the meantime, check out UFP’s webpage and FB page.

-Christian

Distressed cover final

SPCS and the Windsor Small Press Book Fair!

/ Christian Laforet / 2 Comments

This weekend I’ll be pulling double duty (with writing chum Ben Van Dongen) as I head out to a couple of different events.

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Up first is the Windsor Small Press Book Fair. This event showcases various local publishers (including Biblioasis, Palimpsest Press and Mirror World Publishing to name a few) and is a great way to meet both authors and publishers! The event is this Saturday (April 13th). For more info regarding times and location, check out their event page here!

Next up (the very next day. April 14th) is the Sarnia Pop Culture Show. I’ve been a guest at this convention in the past and it is always a great time. If you are in the area, swing by and check it out, there is a ton of awesome stuff, and some great guests. For more about all that, head over to their event page right here!

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I hope to see you at one (or both??) of these great events.

-C

Update!

/ Christian Laforet / 2 Comments

I haven’t done one of these in a while, and thought it was time to give you all an update on what the hell I’ve been working on.

The short answer is: the novel. I say “the” novel, because this thing has been my Everest for the past few years. I’ve probably talked about this before, but I can’t be bothered to look back so I’m gonna go over it again. Without getting into all the details, I decided last summer to throw out my debut novel and write it again from scratch. This might seem like a drastic (and extremely foolish) thing to do, but after writing Sugar’s Last Dance for the All These Crooked Streets anthology, I knew it needed to be done.

So, where am I? Well, I am happy to say I am about a month or so away from finishing it. At least, finishing it enough to send to publishers and agents (it’ll need an edit from there). Speaking of agents, I met a few lately and gave them the first bunch of chapters and they really liked it. They even asked me to send it to them when it was finished. This was a nice surprise.

Anyway, after a wrestling match of epic proportions with the second draft, I feel like I’ve ironed things out and it should be (fingers crossed) smooth sailing until the end. I’m not going to lie, I’ve thought long and hard about putting this thing on the shelf and moving on to the next idea (a real dozy I can’t wait to write!), but I refuse to let this thing get the better of me, so I’m going to see it through.

On a completely different note, I feel like I’ve been neglecting this blog, so I have made the decision to start posting more often. Every Monday will be a post revolving around what inspires me to write (be it music, movie or book), with updates on Friday. So, come back often and tell your friends!

-Christian

Novel update

/ Christian Laforet / 2 Comments

I guess I should give an update on my novel. It is the most asked question I get these days and so I figure it’s only fair to shed some light on where it’s at and where it’s going.

I started work on it a few years ago (or pretty damn close to), and it still has a ways to go. I did hit a big milestone back in late summer/early fall of last year when I finished the first draft. I was proud to have gotten that far, but I also knew that there was going to be a lot of work ahead of me.

I’m not going to bore you with the details, but the cliff notes version is this: I kept changing what happens in the book. Because of those changes, huge sections of the novel which I had already written, became irrelevant to the story and were cut out. This indecisiveness has resulted in a patchwork collection of words that is a complete mess. Needless to say, I had become very discouraged.

It wasn’t until the end of last December (as in about a month ago!) that I finally came to terms with the story I am trying to tell. All decisions have been made. There is finally, once again, a clear direction. It’s time to start a new draft of the book (draft #4 for those keeping score). For this draft, I am just adding in those final elements I am missing and smoothing the edges on the other additions. From there, I will start cleaning it up heavily and preparing it for the editor.

…Just not right now.

For the immediate future, I thought it best to set the novel down for a couple months. I’ve been working on it in one way or another for years and I think it’ll help tremendously to come back for this 4th draft with a fresh mind.

That doesn’t mean I’m not writing anything, as I’m currently chugging away on the crime novella for Adventure Worlds Press that I mentioned in an earlier post a couple weeks ago. And more importantly, it doesn’t mean I’m abandoning the novel. I truly believe that it will be a scary book and can’t wait for everybody to read it! I just want to make sure it is everything I know it can be before I release it on the world.

-C

Crime (and) Story

/ Christian Laforet / 3 Comments

I was going to post an update about my novel, but found it too depressing, so instead I thought it would be fun to talk about the crime story I’m working on, and how my early writing process, as a whole, unfolds.

The above mentioned crime story is for an anthology. The book will have three stories, each in the 20 – 25K range, and will be written by myself and two other authors. I agreed to take part in the project before having any sort of idea as to what I was going to write about.m002060484_sc7

With a deadline looming, I got out the trusty note pad and started jotting. This marks the first step in the evolution of a story for me. I have about a hundred blank note books. You know the ones, those 80 page Hilroy’s we all remember from school. Every August I load up on the things when they are 10 cents each leading in the new school year. I like to get a nice mix of colours for the covers, but seem to lean towards red and green. Anyway, I crack one of those bad boys open and let my brain dribble all over the page. Continue reading →

Hey, I’m Writing a Novel! (pt. 1)

/ Christian Laforet / 3 Comments

“The night was…sultry?”

For anybody who’s seen the amazing black comedy, Throw Momma from the Train, you know how hard it can be for a writer to get the first line of a story just right. In the movie, Larry Donner (played by Billy Crystal) can’t get past that single sentence.

Now that several projects are behind me (The Space Between Houses, which is available now, and the horror/sci-fi collection with fellow writer, Ben Van Dongen ( https://benwltp.wordpress.com/ ), is coming soon), I can finally get back to that pesky novel I’ve been planning.

Last year at this time I was committed to writing it. I even went so far as to line up some volunteers to read over each chapter as I finished them (never turn down free edits). But ultimately, due to time constraints, the novel was shelved.

In the year since I last attempted writing it, a lot has changed for me. Besides those above mentioned projects, I’ve met tons of really talented writers and have learned a lot about the craft from them. With this new found knowledge tucked away in my pocket, I’m once again climbing out onto the ledge of novel writing and hoping like hell I don’t fall off.

The time away from the book hasn’t been wasted though, I did manage to keep the story in my head and spent the time further developing it. It’s safe to say that at this point I’ve planned, plotted and researched everything I possibly can to get this thing going.

Now I’m at that crucial moment of committing those ever important opening lines to the screen. Unlike Larry from Throw Mamma however, I’m not nearly as hung-up on that first sentence. In fact, the moment I’ve been anticipating writing the most since last year has been the first chapter. Being a big fan of the hook, I think I have a doozy of one to open my story with. Hopefully I’m right. Only time will tell though.

Over the next year, I’m going to keep you guys posted on my progress (hopefully bi-weekly updates). This includes the ups and downs and all the in-betweens of the novel writing process. If all goes according to plan, you’ll get an inside look at the entire shebang. From the first draft to the final edits and beyond.

Novel: Untitled (I got lots of time to come up with something)

Words so far: 0 (Although I’m shooting for a nice number between 60 and 70 thousand)

Chapters so far: 0 (I’m thinking about 60 when all is said and done)

 

Finders is here! (finally)

/ Christian Laforet / 2 Comments

Back several months ago, fellow Adventure Worlds writer, Ben Van Dongen, had an idea for a web comic. We talked about it for a bit and eventually came up with Finders. Ben handling most of the scripting, and me, the art.

It took way longer than it should have to actually produce it (my fault), but we did it. Finders 001 first appeared in the Adventure Worlds zine and is now available to all right here: http://adventureworldsblog.com/2014/09/15/finders-001/

So read it and marvel at the fact his this tiny little thing took like four months to make lol.