Niteblade

Amber Keller is a writer who delves into dark, speculative fiction, particularly horror and suspense/thrillers. She has been fortunate enough to be included in various anthologies, and features short stories on her blog. A member of the Horror Writers Association, she also contributes to many websites and eMagazines, including providing horror and science fiction movie reviews. When not at her laptop, she can be found looking for things that go bump in the night.

We’re fortunate Amber was able to find time in her schedule to answer a few questions.

You’ve mentioned on your blog you wrote for the high school newspaper and majored in English in college. When did you figure out the direction you wanted to take your writing?

I started taking my writing more serious in college when I saw my dark poetry published. It all basically happened on a whim. I saw a call for submissions in the hall as I waited for English Lit class one day, sent one of the poems I had finished and honestly never expected anything to come of it. Then I received the acceptance letter. I did a full-fledged Snoopy dance in the middle of the college post office. I think it helped to show me that others liked my work, and gave me the confidence to submit more in the future. My work has mostly been in the dark fiction area. But to be fair, I have always loved horror. Books, movies, anything I could get my hands on. So it was a natural progression. Along the way, my work has deviated to the thriller and speculative fiction side, as well.

What do you find most appealing about horror and dark fiction?

The adrenalin rush. The feeling that accompanies reading a very scary scene and wondering if something is just around the corner, waiting to jump out at you. It’s fear in its most basic form. Give me raw, intense, suspenseful moments any day and I will be yours forever. Also, these genres really deal with the human condition. Humans are propelled by fear, and even tailor their lives around it, mainly to avoid it. We don’t like to step out of our comfort zone, as a general rule. I am a very visual person, so horror feeds my creative side, bringing me the monsters and worlds that I can see, feel and almost touch at times. I say what’s not to love about horror.

You tackled paranormal/supernatural creatures and elements on your blog during last year’s Blogging from A to Z Challenge. Is there a creature you’d like to write about but haven’t gotten to it yet?

Hmm, I don’t believe I’ve written about the kraken and Cthulhu. As far as the monsters I write, the way it works for me is that when I find a creature lurking up in my gray matter and bring it to life in words, just as soon as I finish the story there are many more waiting in line to take its place. There is a type of primordial ooze in my brain that these frightening creatures crawl from, just waiting to kill, maim and otherwise cause chaos. And I love them each dearly.

You’re off to a great start to the publication year. In January 2012 Blood Bound Books released Night Terrors II edited by Theresa Dillon and Marc Ciccarone which included your story “Forbidden Fruit”. What is it about?

First off let me say that I am very honored and grateful for all of the publication opportunities. Each time I receive an acceptance, I am still ecstatic. “Forbidden Fruit” is a story that’s about both deep desires and ancient worlds; a place where reality meets dreamscape. A man locked in his own horror finally becomes freed, but at a hefty price. The story is about things we want that we can’t have, and ultimately the consequences involved. When I wrote this story, I had a great visual that went with it. I really wanted to convey what I was seeing in my head along with the surreal atmosphere.

Later this month the mythological horror anthology, Twisted Realities: Of Myth and Monstrosity edited by Kate Monroe, will be released by Sirens Call Publications. Which myth and monster did you decide to tackle and why?

I went with Hades. I know that Hades isn’t really that bad of a guy, but I decided to give him a mean streak, bring him to New York City, and have some fun. He also employs his pet of sorts, a Hydra, to assist him. Using Hades, I had the opportunity to describe his kingdom, Hell, and just a few of the horrors that I envisioned there. Also I wanted to show two sides to Hades – an evil, fun loving, mischief-maker, and a little bit of a softie. I had a lot of fun writing this one.

“Seeing is Believing” will be included in Childhood Nightmares: Under the Bed edited by Kate Monroe. The title alone makes me want to turn on all the lights upstairs before going to bed. In your opinion, is the imagined more horrifying than what can be seen?

Absolutely! I know that my imagination has supplied me with endless monsters and creatures, and some of them I still haven’t come to terms with unleashing into a story. When I watch a horror movie, I tend to like the one’s where they don’t show as much because my mind can make up monsters that are way worse than the ones they’re giving us. In “Seeing is Believing” I gave the reader a glimpse of what might happen if the monsters that live in our imaginations were real.

An upcoming piece will be included in the zombie anthology, Zombies Gone Wild. Have you participated in a zombie walk? What are your thoughts on the recent popularity of zombies?

I have not participated in a zombie walk – yet. I would love to, and hopefully I can soon. Personally, I have always loved zombies and their endearing shuffle, moans and smelly, rotting flesh. George A. Romero’s “Night of the Living Dead” was always one of my favorite horror movies. Zombies have found a new resurgence in popularity due to more mainstream exposure, such as the AMC hit television show, “The Walking Dead”. There have also been many popular movies made in the last few years that feature zombies like “Zombieland”, the “Resident Evil” franchise, “Dawn of the Dead”, “28 Days Later” and “Shaun of the Dead” to name a few. Along with video games, comic books and novels, it is a multi-million dollar industry. People do love their zombies.

Is there anything else you’d like to share with Niteblade’s readers?

Recently I had a short story, “It Came from the Sky”, in Sirens Call E-Zine, Issue #2, The Observer (  http://www.sirenscallpublications.com/ezine.htm ). It is the tale of a man who is abducted by a particularly nasty race of aliens, sees what they intend to do to him and how he is helpless to do anything about it. Also, if you are interested to see more of my work, you can find some of my short stories on my blog at: http://adiaryofawriter.blogspot.com. Come follow me on Twitter @akeller9.

I’m pleased to announce the table of contents for our upcoming June issue:

Black Marker by Clyde Haley
The Missing Red Book by Sarah Gunn
In the Hours Before Dawn by Alexandra Fresch
Dragons of Fire by Alexis Hunter
The Surrogate by Mark Rigney
Carnivoyeur by Rebecca Hodgkins
Castle Lanes by Lisa M. Bradley
for two by Dan Campbell
Red Eye by Lisa M. Bradley
Silent Energy by J.A. Grier

Looking forward to it? Me too! Mark it on your calendar and start spreading the word

Our first ever fundraiser is now over and I’m calling it a success

Together we raised $108.78!

I would like to thank everyone who helped make this possible. The people who donated prizes, everyone who helped spread the word, and especially the following supporters who donated cold hard cash toward our cause:

BD Wilson
Beth Cato
Suzanne Sykora
Amber Stults
Michael Haynes
Anonymous
Paul Walther
Anonymous
Christopher Hivner

Thank you, everyone. You’re awesome!

All of us at Niteblade would like to congratulate Keith Kennedy whose poem, First Loves for the First Time, was included in Ellen Datlow’s honorable mentions list for the Best Horror of the Year volume 4 To this day whenever I read that poem my stomach gets a little squicky, which is just one reason I love it so much.

Congrats Keith, on some well-deserved recognition!

This is re-blogged from my personal blog. I was going to write a more official-type blog here, but then realised I’d mostly be repeating myself. After the re-blogged post below I will be providing links to other people who’ve blogged about our fundraiser, so if I haven’t convinced you to help out, maybe they can.

But, uh… no pressure…

~*~

*sang Batman-style* Na na na na na na na na na Niteblade! Niteblade!

I freaking love Niteblade. Love it. I have a fierce pride and an overwhelming affection for the publication and everyone who helps make it happen that I could do a whole Blogging from A to Z challenge with ‘Niteblade’ as my theme and still have blog topics left over at the end of the month. Truly. In fact, maybe I’ll do that next year. For this year, however, I only have one blog day to dedicate to it in this challenge. Today.

Niteblade, for anyone who is new to my blog and my life, is a fantasy and horror magazine I founded nearly five years ago (that’s like a billion years in internet time!). Since that day when it was me doing everything but the .pdf layout (which has always been Jo’s responsibility) Niteblade has grown to have several great people working behind the scenes.

We publish high-quality fiction and poetry and our pages are illustrated by original art.

Put simply, Niteblade rocks.

Unfortunately, it also costs money, and money is short these days. I’ve always hated asking anyone for help, for, um, anything, but Niteblade is something that means enough to me I decided I was willing to break that pattern and have a fundraiser. It was with more than a little trepidation that I put the call out ‘Niteblade could use your support, can you help?’ but the response I received was fabulous.

People donated loads of awesome stuff to our first (hopefully annual) fundraiser. Lots of stuff. Amazing stuff. I’m talking about critiques, handicrafts, signed books, food, art… the list goes on and on. People who couldn’t afford to donate *things* donated links. They donated time. They told their friends, and their friends told friends.

Our fundraiser starts today, April 16th and will be running through until the end of the day on April 20th. Check it out, we really do need your support:

Niteblade 2012 Fundraiser

This fundraiser will be the biggest single factor when it comes to determining our budget for next year. That means it directly effects how many stories and poems we can include in each issue and potentitally how many issues we put out. Every dollar makes a difference. Every one. Seriously. And if you can’t afford to donate cash, you can show your support by sharing the news of our fundraiser. The more people who know about it the better and we’re giving away a great collection of goodies to one lucky person just for telling people about our fundraiser. It could be you.

And thank you. Thank you so much.

~*~

As I mentioned above, I’m not the only person who has been blogging about this fundraiser, check out what the following (super awesome) people have to say about it:

~ Damien Walters Grintalis ~ Brenda Stokes Barron ~ James Dorr ~ TJ Tranchell ~ Amber Stults ~

Yay!

On Thursday we surpassed our goal for sales and donations and released the web-based version of Issue #19 to the interwebs so now everyone can read it online for free. Know what the best part is? The donations haven’t stopped.

Thank you. Thank you so much.

It’s fantastic to see that people appreciate what Niteblade has to offer enough to show their support by donating money and telling their friends to stop by.

Thank you.

So very excited to start this new chapter of Niteblade on such a positive note.

~ Issue #19: Lycanthropist ~

Who likes snail mail?

I recently re-discovered a whole whack of Niteblade postcards. I made them up to take with me when I went to the World Horror Convention in 2009, so they have the cover from our March 2009 issue, The Sentry on them, and a download link on the back to pick up a copy of that issue. Because WHC 2009 had so few participants I ended up bringing most of my postcards back home with me.

They aren’t doing any good sitting around here.

Would you like a postcard and the free .pdf download that comes with it? Shoot me your mailing address and I’ll send one out to you. I will be deleting your address immediately after addressing your postcard so you will never receive anything else from me (without your permission and you providing the address to me again).

You can send me your addy via a DM on Twitter (to the @NitebladeZine account), as a comment here (which wouldn’t be my first choice as comments aren’t screened) or via email to rhonda@niteblade.com.

If you are going to a convention anytime in the near future and are feeling super generous let me know and I’ll send you a whack of postcards and maybe you could put some on the freebie table?

I look forward to mailing some of you

Right now the oldest fiction submission in our queue is from January 22nd, so if you sent us something before then and haven’t heard back, please feel free to query.

Know what else is exciting? We’re 20% of the way to the sales/donations goal we set for the March issue. That means we’re 20% of the way to releasing the web-based version of the site. Do you want to help? If you’ve got a couple dollars to spare consider picking up a copy of the March issue, or any of our back-issues at the Niteblade Store, or you can make a straight-up donation. If you haven’t got any change kicking around and you really want to read the March issue online for free (and you should) the best way is for you to tell your friends about Niteblade. The more people who come by the more sales we make* and the sooner you’ll be able to read this amazing issue for free.

~*~ Niteblade Store ~*~ Lycanthropist (sneak peek) ~*~ Link To Niteblade ~*~

*It also increases our advertising revenue, but that money gets put into the pool for the June issue.

The best cover design so far if you ask me. I love our clean new look, inside and out, and the content on this one just cannot be beat. Sincerely.

You know how every issue I say is the best one yet? Well, guess what? This one is the best issue yet! Fer realz. We have epic fantasy featuring two children trying to escape poverty and the horrors that come with it, a wedding with a ghostly groom, a fungus that takes over people’s brains, a story about stolen love, gambling, a group of musicians that may seem familliar… at first, and SO much more.

This was the first issue with Alexanda Seidel as poetry editor and she chose to publish poems by Dan Campbell, Patrice Wilson, Sonya Taaffe, Stephanie Smith and J.S. Watts. It was also the unveiling of a whack of changes BD made to the website. Many of them are behind-the-scenes but I’m sure you’ll agree that the site looks phenomenal.

Niteblade Issue #19: Lycanthropist

2012 is a year of change here at Niteblade. Not only do we have a new poetry editor, a new backend for our website and plans for a new fundraiser (more on this later) we are also going to try a new format for the magazine. Allow me to copy and paste from the updated ‘About’ page:

Is Niteblade free?
Yes and no. Our super awesome .pdf versions are not free, but they are gorgeous and well worth investing in. What’s more they don’t have any advertising and can be read on any device that can read .pdfs. When things get a little complicated is when we start talking about the web-based versions of Niteblade. The archived web versions are completely free. You can check them out from the Archives page and enjoy all the amazing fiction and poems we’ve published over the years, however, as of the March 2012 issue we are implementing a major change.

After March 2012 the web version of each issue is initially going to offer only a teaser of the full version for free. In order for us to release the issue in its entirety we will have to reach a set sales goal. That goal will be fluid at first, while we test to see what the market will bear. Every sale, donation and all advertising revenue generated each quarter will count against the goal. Once we reach it the web-version will be released to everyone for free. If you need to get your fix before then you can purhcase a .pdf right away, and know that in doing so you are contributing toward making the issue available to everyone.

Here’s the thing, that explanation makes it sound more complicated than it really is. The web version of each issue will be teasers only until enough people have donated, bought copies or advertising to reach the goal, and then everyone can read it for free. We’ll track the goal on one of the Niteblade pages and will try to find a balance between not getting paid for the fantastic work we publish and not being able to share that work in its entirety because the website isn’t free.

I’m excited, I hope you are too.