This week Twilight Tales and Killer-works.com bring you a special event: Beach Blanket Blood Bath! It’s not just an excuse to show off your dark side: it’s also a contest (cash prizes), a raffle, and whole lot of bloody fun. So we asked Jill Cooper, the Killer-works Headmistress of Horror, her thoughts about the event coming up on Monday, July 28. We got back some interesting replies. Have a look and a laugh, fire up that PC or pen, and join us on the blood spattered sands of summer.

Let’s start with the basics… Tell us a little about Killer-works.com.

Jill: Killer-works is an online review/recommendation site for all things dark and disturbing. This includes but is not exclusively horror. One of the things that differentiates us from similar sites is that we are constantly looking for disturbing content in all areas - be it books, films, art, artifacts, events…There is definite overlap with the traditional horror genre, but we aren’t restricted by labels. Basically if there is something to disturb the masses and it’s well executed, we’re interested in it! Our goal is to become the destination to find “…the best dark and disturbing things for your mind.” (our tagline) and to be able to actually buy everything we recommend from our site. …There are more origin details in the “about killer-works” section of the site.

What first drew you to horror?

Jill: Vast quantities of Dr. Seuss and night-time monsters in my closet - age 3.

What kinds of things do you hope will be featured or killed at the up > coming Beach Blanket Blood Bath and contest?

Jill: Men in Speedos (or not in Speedos…I’m not picky).

You’ve turned the evening into a contest with cash prizes, publication on the Killer-works.com web site, and possibly in an anthology. Is this a new kind of venture of Killer-works.com?

Jill: This contest is definitely a new venture for Killer-works and we’re looking forward to hearing lots of beach-y gore! Publication on our website is a relatively new venture, we have been posting a monthly Flash Fiction piece since April of this year. We coined Flash Fiction to be under 1000 words (you can find submission details online as well) So far the entries have been fantastic and we’ve actually published some Twilight Tales peeps. At the end of a full year of online publications (i.e. April 2009) we will be publishing a print anthology with all of the submissions plus any extras we decide on. The contest winners from Beach Blanket BB will be part of this anthology as well as being featured online at Killer-works. We decided to give writers a bit more word play than the Flash Fic - 3000 words max - as well as a bit more cash. We want to see lots of bloodshed!

We hear there’s going to be a raffle as well, how many rolls of pennies should the attendees bring along with them so they can score some killer swag?

Jill: Well, Killer-swag (a very cool item with our logo on it) will be free for writing your email on our signup sheet to get our free weekly newsletter. Our snazzy blood bath beach gear will be raffled off at 2$ a ticket. You don’t want to miss out - some very unique stuff! (We’ve contacted a mortuary novelty shop…I shall say no more.) Proceeds to go to Twilight Tales - the lovely NPO that it is!

Other than sign up for Killer-works.com, is there anything else you’d like to tell us about the contest or Killer-works.com in general?

Jill: Yes, besides looking for entries for our monthly Flash Fiction, we’re now open to guest writers for our weekly articles. We’re looking for our writers to develop a “voice” of their own for readers to get to know and relate to (and I always add my two cents!) You can find all the writer’s guidelines here: http://www.killer-works.com/write_guidelines.asp.
We are also currently running a short horror film contest! We’ve only just started promoting this one (we’ll be extending the current Labor Day deadline) and will be featuring it (as well as Flash Fiction) at the up and coming Festival of Fear (part of Fan Expo Canada) in Toronto the end of August. Killer-works will have a wee booth - we’re very excited! If you plan on being in Toronto from Aug 22-24, you should come visit me there…
Thanks! Jill

Come one out and meet Jill and her merry minions of mayhem this Monday July 28th at 7:30 pm at the Mystic Celt 3443 Southport in Chicago.

This week we have Aaron Longoria and Lane Kareska at our featured reading.
Aaron Longoria has done a number of open mics and participated in this year’s Red Light Night. His voice training really brings his characters to life at live reads. His tales of the Dragon Cafe and its hapless owners have really been a hit. whatever he brings to the mic this week, you can be sure the evening will be fun and the voices interesting.
Lane Kareska is a relatively new voice at our mic, but his first reading (in a group of fiction writers from Tina Jens’ class), so impressed us at Twilight Tales that we invited him to be a featured reader. The snippet we heard, shows great promise. We hope his new job, several hours from Chicago, doesn’t keep him away too long.
Following are their answers to our interview questions.

Let’s start with the basics. What’s your story called, and can you tell us a little about it?

Aaron: Dragon Cafe: Passion on the Side is my first in-depth characterizational story within the Dragon Cafe series. Slopwyth Dragon is co-proprietor of the Dragon Cafe, and the tale tells of long-lost love renewed between Slopwyth and his lover of three years ago, Artifice Stallion, the premier danseur of a horseling troupe called the Equines Fine; and the insuing [sic] conflict therein.

Lane: My story is called “King Hellry.” These are the beginning pages of my novel of the same title. It’s about a young guy named Sam who through a series of circumstances, finds himself accompanying his old and dying Grandfather, Arthur Hellry, on a hallucinatory and violent trip into the wild heart of Mexico- where Hellry hopes to find and kill his lifelong rival, Wolfram True, the Sin Eater.

What kinds of things inspire you to write?

Aaron: Usually, a nice, brisk walk helps motivate me to write—stirs up the sluggish brain cells. As for inspiration, ideas can come from as far as left field. It might be something I see while driving hither and yon.
As for my current story, Passion on the Side, I noticed a bus stop poster while waiting for the light to change. The poster showed the Lipizzan stallions dressed in tutus, dancing and standing on their hind legs. I saw that and said, “There’s a story there, somewhere…”
Lane: My family, friends, experiences. All the crazy people I know and the good and bad times alike. My earliest memories are being read to by my mom. She really instilled a respect for literature in me and made me want to try and be a writer. I also find myself most inspired by place. I’ve had some really horrible experiences in some great places and vice versa. But beyond that, I’m really getting into places with age. Places that are older than can be counted. The novel King Hellry was inspired by grandfather, but it was also inspired by the southwest, where I was born and where I lived and where he lives now. Mountains, deserts, ghost towns.

Do you have a particular genre or do you write more across the board?

Aaron: I’ve always appreciated Fantasy. There’s so much one can work with—human and non-human characters. That seems to be my forte; the conflict involved between such diverse species within their own worlds, yet making it realistic as well as fanciful.
Lane: My mentor Tina Jens has really liberated me when it comes to genre. I’ve always been a pulp nut, even when I didn’t know what to call it that. Working with her has really energized my passions for horror, for the weird and the fun. The most fun I’ve ever had in my life was as a kid reading comic books in the summer. Was Spider Man a genre? I don’t know, I know he touched on great themes of literature, but also there were sci fi issues, and horror issues, and romance and even moments of sex appeal.

Have you gotten any advice that has made a difference in your writing?

Aaron: I’d say the best advice I’ve ever heard is “Listen to your characters.” As I’m fleshing them further, they’re the ones taking place within the story. Makes for more believable storytelling.
Lane: Tons. Rob Duffer has taught me that it’s good to be scared, to not feel too comfortable. Mort Castle taught me work ethic. Tina Jens has taught me to take fun seriously, and to respect craft.

What’s the biggest obstacle you have to overcome when you sit down to write?

Aaron: For me, it’s the flow of the story. Making sure I’m going from Point A to Point B and back, as well as pulling the story all together, creating and resolving the conflict, and just making sure everything gels. If I’m happy with the flow, I’m hoping the reader will be, too.
Lane: The temptation to get up and do something else. Every session is a battle.

Any final thoughts you’d like to let to share about your featured reading?

Aaron: I enjoy bittersweet love stories. I think it’s important for our heart-strings to be tweaked now and then, and I hope my audience finds this as enjoyable a tale to listen as I found it a pleasure to write. Thank you.
Lane: I’m thrilled to be a part of this. Thrilled to be sharing and to be experiencing all the fun.

We hope you’ll join us on Monday July 21st at Mystic Celt (3443 N. Southport) to hear Aaron and Lane’s fiction and perhaps more discussion!

This week Twilight Tales brings you a pair of returning favorites: Wayne Allen Sallee and Larry Santoro. Both authors have been published multiple times. Most recently the two have been touring the state promoting their publications and the new Annihilation Press anthology Hell in the Heartland. Its an anthology of dark stories set throughout the State of Illinois, a worthwhile read for anyone looking for a summer book.
Larry Santoro is also the author of the recently published novel Just North of Nowhere. He has a long history in the theater as well as writing. Just read along and you’ll see Larry explains himself quite well.
Wayne Allen Sallee’s life experiences have made him a master of dark stories with a hint of comedy tossed in when you least expect it. He’s been published in everything from anthologies and e-zines to full novels. A new book titled The Holy Terror published by Midnight Library, is due out this fall. Wayne is “pinch-hitting” for the previously scheduled Mort Castle. Unfortunately, Mort had to cancel but will reschedule as soon as he can.

Following are their answers to our interview questions.

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