Keep on Writing in the Dark
Posted inArnzen News Instigation

Keep on Writing in the Dark

If you came to this post looking for Instigation, you've got it. And there's a prompt at the very end. Today one of my favorite publishers, Raw Dog Screaming Press (the team who brought you The Gorelets Omnibus and 100 Jolts and others), announced that they are taking pre-orders for my friend Tim Waggoner's latest writer's how-to guide, Writing in The Dark: The Workbook. I want you to buy it (and when I get to teach horror writing at Seton Hill University -- where, incidentally, Tim has taught beside me -- you can bet I'll be assigning this book). It's…
March 31, 2022Posted inArnzen News, Instigation
Creating Something From Nothing
Posted inArnzen News Instigation

Creating Something From Nothing

At the heart of creativity is innovation -- that is, the ability to originate, or to act on the impulse to make something new. I recently was interviewed by my friend in the creativity business, author Matt Betts, who I think of as an innovative writer because he channels his fannish glee for genre literature and movies into some very fresh takes on familiar tropes, often by mashing them together and seeing what happens. He's written some wildly imaginative novels for Raw Dog Screaming Press, is authoring a sasquatch series, and is continuing the saga of Carson of Venus from…
July 22, 2021Posted inArnzen News, Instigation
Instigation: Prompts About Masks
Posted inInstigation

Instigation: Prompts About Masks

If you write horror or otherwise create "on the dark side," look into acquiring my prompt collection, INSTIGATION: Creative Prompts on the Dark Side. In my day job, I teach creative writing at Seton Hill University, and one of my many tasks is advising the campus literary magazine, Eye Contact. They are running a special theme issue on "Masks" for Spring 2021, in response to the Covid pandemic, and I made a list of prompts for one of their workshops, as well as for my current creative writing class. Since masks are an icon in the horror genre, I thought…
March 12, 2021Posted inInstigation
Posted inArnzen News Instigation

HWA Poetry Showcase V

[NOTE: Submissions are now closed and the book is being edited now published in Fall 2018!  Preview the TOC. Read my Goodreads review. ] April is National Poetry (& Poetry Writing) Month -- and the Horror Writers Association is celebrating with a call for submissions of poetry to their next anthology, the HWA Poetry Showcase V! Deadline is end of April 2018. Guidelines appear down below. I'm on the jury vetting the entries alongside Mercedes Yardley and editor Stephanie Wytovich. You do need to be member of the HWA to be accepted, sure -- but...If you're a pro horror writer,…
April 7, 2018Posted inArnzen News, Instigation
Posted inInstigation

Joe-La Dowdy Wins the Instigation Marathon!

Imagine a red devil jumping for joy, wagging its deadly tail, and applauding with hooves ablaze -- that's me, cheering for writer Joe La Dowdy, who just published her 365th creative blog entry, marking a full year of dark flash fiction and devious poems inspired by the 365 prompts in my book, Instigation: Creative Prompts on the Dark Side! That's right. She wrote 365 stories. Jealous? You should be. I am! READ THEM. Joe-La's accomplishment is not easy. It takes a tremendous amount of stamina and discipline to return to the computer, every single day, to do yet another exercise,…
July 5, 2016Posted inInstigation1 Comment