Letters

Classic Horror

Classic Horror: The Ministers Black Veil

Katie Marie

What’s your Secret Sin?

Today I am writing to you about an underrated piece of classic horror. The Ministers Black Veil is a short story that was written by Nathaniel Hawthorn in the 1800s. It was published in 1836 in a magazine and was republished the following year in a collection of short stories by Hawthorn. 

Summary

The story starts with the sexton (chap in charge of the maintenance of church buildings) ringing a bell. The reverend arrives and greets his congregation, but all are surprised to see him wearing a veil, which obscures all of his face save for his mouth and chin. Naturally people begin to speculate, while the Reverend gives his sermon on secret sin, his tone being darker than usual. The congregation grow concerned about their own secret sins.

Continue reading “Classic Horror: The Ministers Black Veil” →
Random Stuff

We have a ‘New’ Office Space!

Katie Marie

New Room to Write in

This weekend the wonderful Mr Sherlock and I redecorated our office space.

Prior to the weekend, we had a full-on clear-out. Our office isn’t the biggest of rooms and we wanted to feel like we had more space. We also wanted a colour that would make us feel less like a spare room with desks and more like a proper writing space.

This is the old office. As you can see it’s crowded, cramped and a bit dingy.

This is the new office and we’re super happy with it.

cliches

Cliches: Monsters

Katie Marie

Time for a wide range of cliches!

Today I would like to return to one of my favourite topics, Cliches!

As we’ve discussed before cliches can range from phrases to characters, to scenes, and beyond. They are an overused trope and often portray a lack of original thought.

Despite that clearly negative definition, there is a time and place for cliches, particularly around certain characters, as they allow an audience to gain an understanding and expectation very quickly. So, on occasion, a cliché can be a useful tool to impart information quickly. Though it is best used sparingly and if used in relation to characters it should only be applied to very small, very side characters.

With that out of the way, today I want to talk to you about monster cliches!

With monsters being a highlight of the horror genre, certain kinds of monsters have a lot of tropes attached to them. I have already done a few letters on specific monsters, vampires, werewolves, ghosts etc. today I want to talk about a wider range of overused monsters and the even more overused tropes that come with them.

Continue reading “Cliches: Monsters” →
Katie Recommends

Can’t Find a Horror Film? WatchMojo has you covered.

Katie Marie

So Many Recommendations

Do you ever have a moment when you really want to watch a film, but you just have so many you can’t choose?

I do this all the time, I do it with clothes, books and music.

The other day I was trying to pick out a super spooky film for an evening, and for the life of me I couldn’t think of one. This got me thinking, I tried Google and then I wandered onto YouTube and I found the below lists which were a great inspiration.

Blog Talk

The Robots are coming…

Katie Marie

…to write you some books.

I rarely post blogs about ‘current’ issues, I’m usually pretty late to most parties.

But recently I have been hearing a lot about AI. It’s pretty much everywhere. It’s popping up on podcasts I listen to, YouTube channels I follow are talking about it and I’ve seen a lot of artists very concerned about it.

I wasn’t overly concerned until a YouTuber pointed out that this is the worst AI will ever be. It’s only going to get better from here on out, it will become more and more indistinguishable from people.

What does that mean for writers?

A recent article in the Guardian talks about Clarksworld and they say ‘We don’t know’ far more eloquently than I

Sci-fi publisher Clarkesworld halts pitches amid deluge of AI-generated stories | Artificial intelligence (AI) | The Guardian

Katie's Stories

A Man in Winter

Katie Marie

Such Lovely Feedback!

I’m so thrilled with the feedback I’ve received for A Man in Winter and I want to thank you all.

Every now and then, when I need cheering up or reminding that imposter Syndrome is a total %^&*! I pop back on Amazon and give the reviews a read.

A smooth flowing structured story told from the rarest of characters-the elderly.


A Man in Winter made my heart weep for Arthur.

Katie Marie blends the line between reality and the supernatural.

I think I read this in two sittings and the ending is really explosive!


I loved the way the author takes us deeper and deeper into Arthur’s world. She skillfully weaves an elaborate web of threads, intertwining one with the other until the reader is as unsure as Arthur as to what is real and what is not.

A Man In Winter is also told with real heart.

So, yeah, I really want everyone to know just how much I really appreciate you taking the time to give me such lovely feedback. It really makes my days brighter.

Thank you all, so much!