The Gates of Chaos Anthology

A series of strange coincidences (or synchronicity, to some) served as inspiration for my story "4 Brothers, 3 Sisters". Following the bereavement of my Mother (and confident the remainder of my family were coping well enough) I embarked on a long-held ambition to travel to the Far East.   In one such place (Capiz in the Philippines, where I was later learn to be a magnet for Witchcaft and Shamanism: to be continued!), I became familiar with public transport vehicles known as Jeepneys. These vehicles were often customised with chrome fittings, curious trinkets, garish paintwork and personal slogans placed across the top of the windshields.  One in particular caught my eye - subsequently becoming the title of my tale- since it was the exact amount of siblings until only recently within my mother's family. Perhaps even more uncanny still was how shortly afterwards this number was to decrease in rapid succession.  Merely a series of strange coincidences? Judge for yourselves...

So I'm going to start out by admitting that I don't know what I'm talking about.  I'm using the terms "linear" and "non-linear" in a specific way, to describe certain observations I make about stories I've read.  I'm also using them to talk about my own writing, my successes and failures as a writer, and what I try to do to make it better. "America's Pastime," my entry into the Gates of Chaos anthology, was very much a linear tale when it was written.  I wrote it in the 1990's for a contest that was called "The Publican Brief."  (The contest name was a mashup of a popular John Grisham novel and the name of the Delphi forum that I helped to run.)  We were given six words and an opening sentence for this particular contest.  Some of the contests only gave the six words.  Some gave opening sentences.  Some gave a topic.  I recall that this one was both because I remember the opening sentence:  "All things are fou...

With 2020 being what I love to call, ‘the year of the toilet’, life took an unprecedented turn for most of us. Tensions also ran higher than ever due to social and political issues, while all of us were quarantined to the safety of our homes with not much else to do than stew on it. That, and bicker with strangers and acquaintances on the internet.  The latter of these two is what caused the first sparks of creative genius that led to this anthology’s birth. As more and more groups lost focus and descended into utter chaos, we decided to do something not many others were doing at the moment and band together to create something positive. Everyone involved was very pleasant to work with and the project as a whole went smoothly and without a hitch. Considering the hell the rest of the World was stuck in, I see the collaborative process we’ve achieved in and of itself as a success.  I was one of the newest of the group and was beyond thrilled that I was offered the opportunity to...

  I first became involved in what later named The Gates of Chaos when Will Jacques first proposed the idea to group.   I recall my reasoning to join the project was to work with writers whose work I had read and enjoyed. I knew from the get-go it was a great opportunity to present my work and hopefully have readers enjoy my tales of macabre. ~ My approach to writing is three-four hours a day. The first story (“Lockdown and Macabre”) was one for which I could clearly see the beginning and the ending. As it is a massive homage to the Tell-Tale Heart and splatterpunk, I read two to three poems by Poe and Richard Laymon before each writing session. I am pantser, as I enjoy letting the story take me by surprise, and this quality was a huge benefit to the story. “Samhain” was a more plot driven story, so I was writing for two hours in the morning and four hours at night. There was a lot of research involved plus the editing process was longer. Scott Beallis (Scott Dyson) was i...

  At the beginning of the pandemic I lost two important influences in my life, my dog Molly, and my father. My father was the one who inspired my love of words and books. We were interested in the same authors, we bought each other books, and we discussed writing. He died before my dream of becoming a published author was realized. Our birthdays are approaching. His is on April 19 th , mine is on April 20 th . This will be the first year we won’t celebrate together. I struggled. I struggled writing, focusing, and I had a hard time concentrating, not just on pages, or paragraphs, but some days on single words. At unexpected times, sadness would overwhelm, and tears would fill my eyes. Most days words wouldn’t flow. I quit querying my novel because the rejections bit too hard. However, like most of my life when times were tough, I could count on books. Books provided a place where I could disappear into and find solace. I have a great writing support group. My wife, my daughter, and ...

  What is sanity? That is the question posed in 'Equilibrium.' what is sanity, as opposed to insanity. As an author, my writing initially examined emotion as a fine line between health and illness. This question, combined with a personal love of the horror genre, guided my work into the realms of horror and all of its sub-genres. I could discuss this further, but this anthology relates directly to life during the pandemic. Rather than examine the horrors of the pandemic, I would rather tell an uplifting story in this blog. Let's shift the bleak moods of late to a genuine fairytale. Writing, for me, is more than a career; it is a vocation. As such I produce work across multiple media platforms. My primary genre, as discussed, is horror. In April 2020, one month after lockdown, my largest work; a book called 'Horrotica' was released and subsequently became an international best-seller. During the month of May I was engaged in book promotions across most social media. ...

  Out of all the books I own, the ones I've read the most, the ones I cherish and will never, ever part with, are a stack of beaten and dusty horror anthologies. Some of the covers are well done, stylish pieces, professionally illustrated with pictures of werewolves, ghouls and witches. Sharp graphics that juxtapose against the murky depths of the deep blacks. Others are cheap and garish things, leering clowns and vibrant blood. It's quite a collection, there's stories by Shirley Jackson, Robert Bloch, essays on the werewolf trials and a hundred others bits and pieces that I read when I was a kid in Benalla. That's where I first read most of them, in books I borrowed from the small catholic school library and later from the larger one in the town, books I'd read and return, one or two of the stories would stick, sometimes I thought I'd imagined them when I recalled them, but years later I'd find a horror anthology in a second hand place, read through, it...