Guest Blog: Story Behind The Story: Beastie by Armand Rosamilia + Giveaway

Story Behind The Story: Beastie
Armand Rosamilia

So, I have this horror short story eBook collection out called Skulls, and I'm here to talk about it, make you love me and it, and get you to part with your hard-earned $1.99…

It features six of my short stories as well as a nice chunk of my urban horror novella Death Metal - hopefully enough to get you to part with a few more bucks on that release, right?

All kidding and shameless, shameless money-grabbing aside, I'm quite proud of the stories in this collection. When I was putting it together I took care to select some of my favorite stories that I'd written over the last twenty years or so. It's actually quite scary to think that I've been writing horror stories that long, but then I realize that I'm 41 and probably wrote the first one about thirty years ago. I'm sure it was crap and ripped off a Koontz plot, but still…

I've conversed with a few fellow authors in my time, and I find a startling fifty-fifty split on the ones who can't recall which of their short stories was the first sale way back when. I spent years 'honing my craft' (read: writing a ton of crap) before finding my initial groove when it came to how I wanted to present my writing.

The first story I ever 'sold' (sold being a discount on copies of the issue) was to a Xeroxed little zine in the early 1990's called Nocturnal Ecstasy Vampire Coven. I still have the letter that the editor (Darlene Daniels) sent to me, on fancy sky-blue paper with some cool artwork on the edges. Ironically, it was a vampire zine long before this latest garbage that passes for vampire these days. Those who know me and my work knowthat I'm a zombie fan through and through and have no use for vampires. Anyway, the
story published was "Beastie" and my mother bought five copies (at the discount price, of course) and I wish I still had one.

Without spoiling it (after all, you'll be buying a copy of Skulls ASAP and reading the story, right?) for you, the story is a simple idea: a drunken grave-robber is doing his nightly work when a bat appears.

The story had been written over the course of a few days, and at the time I thought it was brilliant. When it 'sold' I proclaimed myself an author and mapped out my career trajectory of more sales, more money, and fame and fortune. After all, I was published now!

Interesting as well was the fact that, at that point in my early twenties, I hadn't finished too many stories. Sure, I'd started and gotten halfway through a bunch of ideas, but this was one of the few that I'd actually completed. I also distinctly remember writing the story because of the listing of Nocturnal Ecstasy in a side-stapled market listing booklet I used to get each month (the name escapes me now, but it was a great place to find listings and pre-dated Ralan and Duotrope by years). I knew they wanted a vampire story but I
had an immediate idea for something a bit different: bats. Even then vampires weren't in my list of ideas.

The story is a great read (if I do say so myself) because it has so many subtle flaws that showcase where I was at the time I wrote it and how many stories and words I'd put down since then. The version included in Skulls is word-for-word what had been printed back in the day, and I still enjoyed reading it. I hope you will as well.

And if anyone knows Darlene Daniels, former editor of Nocturnal Ecstasy Vampire Coven from Illinois, let her know I said thank you…

Skulls on Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Skulls-ebook/dp/B005LEPMQC/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1316560682&sr=1-1

Death Metal on Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Death-Metal-ebook/dp/B004VMPLRU/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1316560719&sr=1-2




Giveway

Comment on this post or the review of Skulls later today and you can win a copy of State of Horror: Texas horror anthology, which Armand has a story in, more information about it is below.  Just leave a comment and Armand will pick a winner at random, open international if you can accept the ebook and will run through 9/30.  Increase your chances by commenting on both posts, this guest post and my review.

State of Horror: Texas

Five Tales of Horror set in Texas...

The Espantosa by Mark Mellon…
Chiggerfest by Jeff Parish…
Lubbock or Leave It by Brian Johnson…
The Last Ride of the Headless Horseman by Doug Goodman…
Blind In Texas by Armand Rosamilia…

http://www.amazon.com/State-of-Horror-Texas-ebook/dp/B004WXEY9Y/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1316560994&sr=1-1

**My review of Skulls is coming later today (the hint: I could not put it down and some of the best horror I have read in quite awhile)**