  Horror/Scary
This week: Edited by: W.D.Wilcox  
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I have gone farther from myself than I realized…the walk back seems unnaturally long.
-billwilcox
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WRITING WITH EMOTION
I have seen fifty-six winters, springs, summers, and falls…which doesn’t really seem like that many if you think about it. But here I am, at the crux of my life, rushing to get ahead, yet striving not to go too fast and miss anything important.
My children, whom I have always dreamt would grow up to become something exceptional and extraordinary, have grown way too fast, and I find myself yearning for the innocent little girls that used to climb giggling upon Daddy’s lap and proffer butterfly kisses.
It is times like these, when I am in a ‘melancholy funk’, that I draw strength from my writing. If something is festering inside of me, writing helps me to get it out.
Today it is my kids, so I feel a story coming on where children are threatened and their parents are helpless to save them. I think about moms and dads all over the world who have to deal with the fact that some horrendous evil has abducted their child and they are powerless to do anything about it. These things happen; they are a part of our life and our deteriorating society. So I ask myself, ‘How do these parents survive such an ordeal?’ I attempt to put myself inside their shoes; I imagine that it has happened to me…and then I write.
The plight of both the children and the parents is heart wrenching, psychologically disturbing, emotionally draining, and yet, as I write, I begin to feel better because I am relating all the inner fears that I have about my own kids. I am venting my fear, my horrors, letting them pass through me and onto the paper.
The story follows unpredictable passages where the air grows chilled, too cool for comfort, and only the cold stars and indifferent moon remain to light my way. I have to tell myself that my kids are all right. They are safe and tucked snug in their beds. It is just another night, another story, same as the others: frightening, yet unreal.
That is how "McDermott's Gift" got started. Sometimes I discover that I’ve gone farther from myself than I realized and the walk back seems unnaturally long.
Until next time,
billwilcox
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W.D's. PICKS
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EEEEEEK-mail
GEOFFREY ROBSON 
Submitted Comment:
Billy, Billy, Billy, you got a style all your own and I'm a fan. Who in the world but you could write a line like this:
"Nausea ripples through his gut like a fat slippery slug, slides up his throat and surges into his mouth."
I find your newsletters VERY helpful.
-Geoff
Anne Light
Submitted Comment:
Great insight into the process of hooking the reader. I believe that the best opening lines contain a question the reader believes will be answered if he reads on, just a little bit. My favorite is "The last camel broke down at noon." It's from a Ken Follet novel (but I forgot which). I desperately wanted to know who was relying on the camel, and I met him in the following paragraphs, an amazingly cruel character, and I was hooked. That's what I hope for when I write the beginning, that the reader will want to read the second sentence, then the third, and after that has forgotton how many more he intended to read.
IGWOOTEN
Submitted Comment:
-Hello W.D.
Thank you for posting one of my stories in your newsletter.
Your are right, the writer needs to hook the reader right away. Something that leaves the reader wondering what's next or what's up. The description of the story also needs to grab the reader to make him/her want to read your story in the first place. Your description depends on the audience you are trying to attract. I know writers whose only job is to write descriptions for the essence of books, you know, those synopis you see inside book covers. I would imagine they have a very interesting job.
-IGW
daver
Submitted Comment:
Thanks for featuring one of my stories here. It's nice to get noticed. I always enjoy finding the Horror newsletter in my email. Write on.
-daver
Cyanvia
Submitted Comment:
I'm not so good with horror writing so this newsletter helped me a lot!
Thanks for sharing!
lulubelle
Submitted Comment:
Wow, great newsletter. And that beginning of the horror story was awesome! Great job and thank you for the help.
-Ashton Rose
J.Rich
Submitted Comment:
Hello there, long time lurker first time writer here. I have read many good books in my time, but I'm always wondering if one slipped past me. I do read alot of fiction contest on this site, but I am looking for paperbacks for when I am on the go. So maybe if someone can start a poll that would be great. Thanks!
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Horror/Scary: February 13, 2008 Issue [#2216]
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