In the Eyes of the IDOLS

 12/8/2024 8:53 AM CST

Dear Reader,

This week, I started out thinking I would talk about Street Fighter. That’s right. One of the few things I do nowadays that doesn’t relate to writing is play a decent amount of Street Fighter 6. Sometimes, if I’m struggling with a difficult passage, I will fire up Steam and fight a few online matches. It often gets me out of my funk or at least forces me to take a well-deserved break from the grind of trying to make it as a new writer in my 40s.

There are lessons about patience and craft that I’ve learned from Street Fighter, lessons that I plan to apply to my writing. But I’m not going to discuss that today—consider this a tease for later. (For the record, my Ken is currently a two-star gold ranking, and I fought my way there from a low bronze. More on that in future blogs.)

Something monumental happened and we have to talk about that instead.

I was lucky enough to see an amazing opportunity on social media at just the right time. Michael Bailey posted an open call to submit work to an upcoming anthology called Silent Nightmares. I had just had my own Christmas-themed horror short, “Traditions Tangled in Tinsel,” accepted for publication in Last Christmas: A Holiday Horror Anthology by Dark Moon Rising Publications (link for pre-order coming soon). I had also submitted a 350-word Christmas story to Weird Christmas (crossing my fingers on that one). So, when I saw who the guest editor was for the upcoming Silent Nightmares, I thought it a bit ironic that I would have to give it my all for another holiday-themed story.

In the name of transparency, I want to be clear that I really didn’t know who Michael Bailey was. This is not a knock on his work in any way; I just haven’t been tuned in for a while. Lately, I’ve realized that this is a problem, and I want to be aware of all the good stuff out there as a reader and writer. So, I’ve been letting the algorithm wizards keep me in the know.

If an account pops up in my suggested feed that has something to do with writing, reviewing, or publishing books, I click follow. I’ve been on that grind for about two years now, trying to have a nebulous understanding of what’s going on in publishing and who’s who in terms of authors. (Tell me why I was already following Vicky Ball and gave her original post about selling two books a heart. Then I got to watch her explode in real time. Amazing. More about that in another blog soon.)

So, I am assuming that’s how Michael Bailey showed up on my timeline. Based on the awesome artwork alone (by Ben Baldwin), I would have submitted to Silent Nightmares on sight. But I repeat: When I saw who the guest editor was, submitting to the anthology became mandatory.

I am almost afraid to invoke his name. If you go to my very first blog, the tier list of my influences, you will see his name second on the list. Rant is probably number two on my list of favorite horror novels (It’s horrific, fight me). The point is, suddenly I have the opportunity to have my work read by one of my heroes. I don’t even harbor any delusions that I will make the final cut. I am a bit of a pulp writer and I lack a lot of literary ambitions and pretensions that often make writing really shine (though, I am working on that, IE the Street Fighter conversation).

The point is, I live in a world where one of my favorite authors might read a story that I poured a lot of passion and work into. That’s so kick-ass.

But let us drive the coolness home even further, dear reader. Silent Nightmares is going to be published by Written Backwards, Michael Bailey’s very own independent publishing company. For starters, I fucking love the name Written Backwards for a publishing company, and the website is literally the word “written” written backwards. That tickles a very special part of my brain. I am kind of obsessed with the concept of things having multiple meanings when perceived forwards and backwards. So, I was already into the vibe right off the bat and went poking around to see what kind of books Mr. Bailey is putting out.

Lo and fucking behold, I saw a bunch of really classy-looking anthologies. When I tell you my jaw hit the floor when I saw the kind of company this man keeps when he puts together these collected works, believe me, I was astounded. Let’s just reference that very first blog again. If you go back to take a look at that, you will see a very obvious and popular name as my top influence. Pretty obvious for a guy who was born in the 80s who would like to write horror.

So now, not only am I intimidated that the guest editor is going to see my work, but this Michael Bailey guy seems to be held in such high esteem that I am fairly certain my stuff will be an insult to his intelligence. Also, now I have to add his work to my TBR pile because he's obviously a name I should have known already.

Here's the thing. A story came to me quickly. I fell in love with it just as fast. It’s a pulpy short, just like most of my shorts. But the thing is, when I drink orange juice, I like the pulp.

I’ve already finished the first draft and managed to cut enough fat to keep it under the 5k word limit. I am going to keep trimming the fat and look for ways to insert more “zazz.” I am genuinely considering getting a structural editor to guide me on a second draft.

I had to fight through the pressure to make it this far. Thinking these too absolute units of literary prowess were going to be judging me was almost paralyzing. Luckily, I come with a powerful coping mechanism, delusional arrogance, that allowed me to push through that first draft. Things are getting serious. I am one good story away from starting to get too big for my britches.