Posted on by Chris Sarantopoulos · 3 Comments

Creativity leeches

Pointless grumbling follows.

Have you ever experienced the effect certain people, who I call “creativity leeches,” have on you? People who surround your every day life (co-workers, family members, friends, acquaintances etc) and who are so negative about and within their own perspective of the world (or the part of the world you and they coexist in) that dump on you their bile.  People that seem to be afflicted with a perpetual facial sourness and they want you to have it too. So much so that their efforts wear you down? I don’t mean people who will criticise your work (be it stories, music, movies or any other form of art) but people who will actively attempt to destroy your way of thinking, your perspective of life, people who will do their utmost to diminish you as a person, as an individual, your skills, your ethics, your intelligence. In short, the work you produce at its entirety. People who will look down on you from a self-perceived pedestal that for them seems like the top of their (tiny) world. People who actually think they have authority and some sort of power over you. You know the kind of people I’m talking about?

I’ve recently come across such a person (who, by the way, did not start off as such, but evolved into it – guess I failed to see the cocoon), and it amazes me how easy it was for them to create an environment where I can’t function or create, even when I’m away from them. It’s all part of me being worn down. Every time I attempt to edit my work, or write something new, or add a few new ideas in my ideas folder, I find myself drained, absorbed over too many inconsequential thoughts that make me feel like a stretched wrapping film before the first tear appears.

Part of the fault lies with me, since I allowed them a foothold into my head, so I too am to blame. I firmly believe that these people should be isolated and left on their own devices as much as possible. Some may say that I’m being too harsh. Perhaps. However, there are other people who surround both me and the leech, and they too feel this negativity. The funny thing? The leech’s behaviour affects them too. They too failed to notice the cocoon. Guess not everything coming out of cocoons is meant to turn into a butterfly. Apparently, some turn into blood-sucking leeches. Or in my case, creativity leeches.

End of pointless grumbling.

Posted on by Chris Sarantopoulos · 4 Comments

Getting back on the short story submission train

Confession time folks. I haven’t submitted a new short story to any literary magazine since Xmas 2016. At that time, I submitted a cyberpunk short story which, as of writing this, will be the basis for a future novel. The story is still under consideration by that magazine (yes, it can take this long, and sometimes even longer), and it’s officially the story that has taken the longest to get a response. The fact remains though: since then, I haven’t submitted any other short story nor have I written a new one. Now, I’m about to submit two: a flash fiction one and a short one, both written more than a year ago.

The reason? I was too busy editing and revising my novels. Too busy submitting my first novel to agents. Too busy wrapping my head around promotion and marketing strategies for my self-published work. Too busy with a new job. Too busy with parents’ health problems. Too busy in general.

I started drafting both stories way back in 2016. Late spring, if my memory serves me. Nothing new since then. I don’t think I’m going through a dry spell (God, I hope not). It’s just that I’ve focused on longer stories than short ones. I don’t know if I’ll work on another short piece any time soon (at some point, I probably will, perhaps a teaser prequel to one of my novels), but for the time being I feel I should focus on novels. Especially now that I’ve had a taste of the turbulent waters of self-publishing.

So for me, submitting these two stories is a big deal. Wish me luck, folks. I’ve set the bar high for both.

Many thanks to all those who read earlier and badly written versions of this story, and provided me with precious feedback.

Posted on by Chris Sarantopoulos

Writing Prompt 46

“Okay, you convinced me. When do I start working?”
The man gave Simon a toothy grin and scratched his pointy goatee with an equally pointed fingernail. “We’ll get to that. First, the job’s perks. You will be in charge of your own self and no one can fire you. You get to travel the world. The -”
“I told you, I’m sold. When do I start?”
The man put out his hands and begged for patience. “The drawback is that you don’t have a fixed timetable. You go to work whenever you’re needed. You must always follow the day’s appointments. This is very important. You can’t miss any. Do you want to know what the job is?”
“Do I really get my weight in gold every month?” Simon asked.
“That’s right.”
“And the whole world will know of me.”
“Correct.”
“So, when do I start? Monday?”
“No, as soon as you sign.” The man took a piece of paper out of a pocket and pointed at the right spot with his fingernail. “Sign here.” When Simon took the paper, the man scratched Simon’s finger with the tip of his fingernail. A drop of Simon’s blood landed on the paper. “Never mind that. Just sign the contract, please.”
Simon did as instructed.
“Congratulations, Simon. You are now Hell’s caretaker. Have fun.”

Posted on by Chris Sarantopoulos

Getting back on track + poll

Quick reminder that the giveaway, Bad People With Guns, will end on September 5, so if you intended to read one of the available books but haven’t obtained one yet, you should hurry, especially if you’re a fan of thrillers, suspense, mystery, or crime fiction in general. Go here and download stories from Anna Willet, J. L. Stowers, Sara Cobb, and Simon Royle.

In other news, I’m happy to announce that the last of my betas got back to me. Unfortunately, they didn’t manage to finish Through Stranger Eyes. In their words, “I haven’t had the chance to start it yet. Sorry, but I can’t do it.”

It happens. Life always gets in the way of things and sends our best intentions down the drain. That’s why it’s important to reach out to more than one beta reader, and to have a decent personal relationship with them, so that they don’t feel that they’ve put themselves in an uncomfortable or awkward position when they have to tell you, “sorry, I don’t think I can make it.” Remember, betas are hard to find, they want to help, and perform an important task for us writers for free. Cherish them and understand that they too lead demanding lives.

So, what this means is that as soon as I get back to my computer (still waiting for you, summer, to bugger off and let me enjoy some cool days), I’ll go over the notes the rest of the beta team returned (I was lucky enough to get (feedback from four people!). I expect to have a hard time going over one beta’s notes in particular, since they gave them back handwritten, which means I will have to transfer them into my digital copy. And I have their thoughts recorded on a couple of audio files, so I’ll have to transcribe them too. Which is good, ’cause I can’t make out most of their handwriting. Oh well.

This is one of those moments where I sympathise with all editors out there.

However, here’s the thing: the first thing I noticed, from almost all the betas who gave me feedback, was that they enjoyed one of my secondary characters more than the protagonist. In fact, they liked that character TOO much. I’m not sure if there’s an underlying problem with this. What I mean is, I’m not sure if my main character is badly written or if that secondary character is so dominant that overshadows everyone else in the story. If the latter is the case, I’d have to figure out a way to trim her dominance a bit, which I’d rather not do (the truth is, I too enjoyed writing her scenes). If the problem lies with my main character and he is badly written, then I have the feeling I’ll need to rewrite A LOT of my story in the next months.

Has this ever happened to you? Have you ever read a book that, to you, one of the secondary characters stood out far more than the protagonist? Did this bother you at all? I’ve made a poll for your convenience. I would appreciate it if you could share this with your friends, as this will save me not only time, but part of my sanity.

Bruce Campbell from Evil Dead 2

Writers answer here

 

Readers answer here

 

Thank you 🙂

Posted on by Chris Sarantopoulos · 2 Comments

I missed a week

Last week I failed to post something here. Excluding summer holidays or Christmas, this was a first. The truth is I was swamped with a lot of things happening. Nearly all of them related to writing. In fact, they were related to promoting my writing. You may have noticed that I now have a newsletter (did you notice the pop up? If not, then look to the right of your screen; there’s subscribe option there as well). A good friend (thank you, Abbie) suggested I should join a newsletter swap platform to build up my readership and network. And she was, as always, right. So I joined Bookboast.

For the past two weeks or so, I’ve been trying to tweak my newsletter, gain readers, start a group promotion (the intention was to join one, but I ended up leading it, hence why I was overwhelmed), choose a low-cost advertising service (impossible to afford Bookbub or other similar sites at the moment), figure a few things out about Bookboast, network with other writers, getting in touch with two of my betas here in Greece, and more. I hope you can see why I was overwhelmed and why I didn’t post anything last week. If I wanted to tackle all these different things and maintain a relatively low degree of sanity (which I very nearly lost for a couple of days), I had to educate myself. For that, Julian Coleman, another fellow writer I met through Bookboast, suggested I took a look at Nicholas Erik’s guides on how to market books and how to gain exposure and readers. So now I’m trying out some of the things he suggests. Next week will be a period of seeing things unfold, and the week after that will be the one to evaluate results and learn
from the mistakes I made during this week.

So, what do I have to show for it, you ask?

Myself and a few other writers joined forces and started the group giveaway I mentioned earlier, titled BAD PEOPLE WITH GUNS.

Nowhere near what I would have liked the banner to look like, but being on a borrowed computer, without photoshop, it’s the best I could do.

If you’re a fan of thrillers, crime fiction, short stories, and suspense, and you like getting free stuff, you may want to check this giveaway out. There, you will find stories from Anna Willet, J.L. Stowers, Sara Cobb, and Simon
Royle, which we believe will entertain you. The giveaway will only last until September 5, so hurry.

Not a suspense or thriller fan? Horror is more to your tastes? I got you covered.

My latest short story, At Horizon’s End, will be free today, August 27 and tomorrow, August 28, to download from the Kindle shop.

At Horizon’s End – Horror short story

I’m convinced you will like what we offer you. When you read our stories, please leave a review. It’s what sustains writers.

Finally, if you want access to some exclusive items, new authors’ interviews, Q&A with authors about their work, free sample chapters, deleted scenes, alternative endings etc, then sign up to my newsletter.