Greetings and salutations. It is I, Graham.

Can you believe that Clevenger went and posted our 100^th blog post last week, and didn’t even comment on the achievement? How deplorable! How unforgivable! How… unnoticed by me as well. Haha.

So I write in several genres, overall. I have written in science fiction, in fantasy, and a tiny bit in modern day. I have also written different themes that might be considered genres of their own, or sub-genres, such as coming of age, erotica, action-adventure, and furry themes. There is a genre that I love to read, but fear that I would not be very good at. In fact, that I just don’t think I could be good at it at all. I’ve gamed in all sorts of genres as well, and I have the same problem roleplaying in this genre that I do when trying to write it.

I am such a walking contradiction. I have no stomach for body horror and gore, and my imagination has no capability to tolerate jump scares and high stress. Because of this, I cannot watch horror movies. I just can’t deal with them. And yet, I know that the horror genre has some really good story material, as well as some great worldbuilding and character development. In addition, when starting out writing book three of Sainan, I ended up writing a very interesting and fun psychological body horror scene, and found that I quite enjoyed it. In addition, I have enjoyed a few corners of the horror genre, primarily Gothic horror and modern supernatural.

This has ranged from things like Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles and Bram Stoker’s Dracula, into modern setting series such as Charlaine Harris’ Sookie Stackhouse series and Laurelle K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake series. I’ve read everything by Dean Koontz and several similar authors like John Saul. I have also greatly enjoyed the Underworld movie series, the Blade movies, and Kindred the Embraced, a TV series attempt at bringing the roleplaying game Vampire the Masquerade to life. I have watched some of Stephen King’s more psychological and less gory adaptations, such as The Stand and Children of the Corn, and read others such as Needful Things. I love the concepts of the Undead, and I have watched the Resident Evil movies, as well as The Walking Dead up to a time.

What it all comes down to is this: I would love to write one or more stories of a Gothic Horror or modern monster variety. I adore the idea of the supernatural lurking just out of the corner of our eye within our modern lives. I would love to try writing something like this in a modern setting, something to change the mundane into the unusual, especially when it can throw modern expectations into upheaval. I would probably be satisfied introducing Gothic horror into a fantasy setting, if that is the beast I can achieve.

Maybe this is just me. Maybe it is the whole cliche of an artist always seeing flaws in his work. But every time I have tried to write dark and Gothic, it has always felt hollow, almost silly, when I reread it. It always seems to feel fake, like I am trying too hard. I can never get the mood to the right level. If you want to see the perfect level of Gothic horror I wish I could write, check out Poppy Z. Brite. She published two books, Lost Souls and Drawing Blood, but the detail, the mood, the atmosphere; it was Anne Rice without the need to over describe. It was Stephen King, but with a tight, concise plot. Even the Chronicles of Vladimir Tod, a YA series, managed to grab a dark, Gothic feel, even when starting the series out almost comically.

I wish I could capture this mood. This is possibly the one genre I would leave fantasy in order to write. But I can never seem to get it to a level of darkness that I find satisfying, that doesn’t make me groan in cringe-y embarrassment. Will I ever give it another chance? Probably. I love this genre too much to walk away entirely. Will I ever write something in this genre to a level that won’t cause me to wince in embarrassment? Possibly not. That being said, when we started writing Manticore’s Shadow, there were parts of my writing that I felt were juvenile. Yet Clevenger, and even our Beta Readers, found them perfectly acceptable. So maybe I am being too harsh. We shall see. Until then…

Don’t forget to love one another.

Graham