Author: Stephanie Ellis

Is it Downhill After 50(+) for Women in Horror?

A while ago, I wrote a blog post for the British Fantasy Society ‘A Woman’s World (Not)’ because as a woman who came late to writing – and writing horror at that – I was struggling to see myself in the community. Where were others like me? Where were the opportunities? And it’s something I still ponder although with a few improvements.

I have found some of those older women, usually via zoom meetups or readings, women who don’t have profile pics or the images I had seen did not equate to the reality. Why are we so frightened of showing ourselves as we are? I have also seen more women in conventions and some improved networking aspects but I still have a struggle with the issue of age and the female writer. I am now 60 and have been writing for just over a decade, starting like most with short stories and my first novella in 2020, with novels following. And whilst I saw possibilities still at 50, I am now wondering if those are vanishing.

Rejections are often worded that they ‘can only take on a small number of new authors’ to develop their careers. These wordings have had me thinking that they do not perceive an older female writer as ‘value for money’, even if we can give twenty plus years more of our writing. Calls which say no simultaneous submissions with long turn round times suddenly seem not worth doing. As an older writer, thoughts of mortality make you realise you don’t have the time to wait around for some decisions. Nine months plus for a book? I don’t have that time to waste any more. I don’t mind that a book will be accepted but not published for a year or two. That’s fine. It’s the idea of wasted time that I have a problem with.

I have my own experiences, my own perceptions and I would love to know what others have found. I recently responded to Gwendolyn Kiste’s call out for women who’d like to be involved in raising issues concerned with women in horror, taking part in discussions, promoting each other – all sorts of things and I stuck my hand up, referencing in particular my interest in older women writers in our genre. We’re hopefully going to get a panel together and do something online related to this topic. With this in view, I’d like to find other women who fall into the category of the 50+ writer. Yes, to take part in the panel, but also to provide me with information I can use to compile an article giving a snapshot of what it’s like to be us. If you would just like to offer up responses to the questions I pose below and are happy for me to use your comments in my article, please respond in the comments or use the contact form (I can withhold names if wished).

I think there are two aspects to consider before you look at the questions:

Are you a woman who has been writing for some time but now hitting 50+ or are you a new writer just starting out at 50+?

For the established writer, are you seeing few opportunities, do you feel you are becoming invisible?

For the new writer, as above but do you feel invisible already?

Do you think women are invisible as older writers because they are also invisible within the pages? (We see few older female protagonists, including those showing menopausal/post-menopausal symptoms. Our biology impacts our lives in all sorts of messy ways but it’s never shown on page or screen, barring the occasional exception.)

Do you think that male editors don’t necessarily ‘get’ female horror, ie we don’t write the kind of horror they think people want to read? And life experience can deliver up some pretty grim source material.

Are you restricted in your writing by your circumstances, especially those working full-time but with carer roles (whether children/elderly parents)?

Social media is a horrible necessity but it is draining. Does the whole thing exhaust you? Do you have time for it?

Do you think social media is skewed against older women because the cult of youth or youthful appearance dominates?

Do you feel isolated, are you looking for a support network? (Or where have you found your tribe?)

Have you experienced ageism (and/or sexism)?

Do you think ageism exists or do you think this is perception when the reality is different?

What could be done within the indie horror industry to help older women?

When submission calls asks for underrepresented groups, do you think older women fit this category?

Many of the above questions could apply to female writers of other genres but I think a proper look into our own industry is worthwhile. If there is an issue, it needs to be dealt with, if it’s misconceived perceptions, then it would be nice to put those to rest.

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Festive Flash: The Christmas Tree

Time to dust off my old favourite and let this little story have its yearly outing.

The Christmas Tree

The Christmas tree waited patiently at the bottom of the garden. It was nearly time. From behind, the others rustled their bare branches in expectation. They were old and nobody came for them anymore. It did not matter, Christmas was a time for sharing and they would still enjoy the festivities.

A new family had moved into the house in the summer and three young children had spent those distant hazy days running in and out of the trees, hiding from grown-ups and tormenting the ageing dog that had come with them. The mother had spotted the tree during one of their games and made a mental note that it would be the perfect tree for Christmas. The high-ceilinged rooms of their house demanded the presence of such a majestic specimen.

***

The first day of the holidays had been spent putting the finishing touches to the decorations that now hung around the house until all that was needed was the tree. She had sent the children on ahead of her whilst she gathered together the angel and the little wooden soldiers that were to adorn its branches, listening with half an ear to the sound of their youthful laughter echoing through the cold night air.

Her sons ran wildly in the happy beam of the moon, darting between frost-trimmed branches that glittered as brightly as any tinsel, releasing their pent-up energy into the darkness. The moon loved this time of year, when the children would come to decorate the tree.

As their mother called to them from the house, the boys dived beneath the tree’s branches, stifling their giggles, trying to ignore the scratch of needles. They loved to hide from her and the tree helped them. It curled its limbs around their waists, gripping them tightly, lifting them up, silencing them before they realised what was happening. Then the tree stilled itself, waiting as the mother approached her children’s hiding place and started to creep quietly into the darkness, ready to make them jump, not expecting the surprise in store for her as a branch dug its needles into clothes and flesh so that she too was held prisoner. She struggled fiercely but the tree was obstinate and refused to give her up, piercing her body with its knife-edge leaves so that she too had no choice but to stay.

The mother’s protests, sung as loudly as any carol, were ignored as she was lifted higher and higher, past the bodies of her children that now dangled like little wooden soldiers in their crimson coats, up and up until she cleared the topmost boughs to be placed almost reverently at its peak. The finishing touch, a dusting of frost, made her shimmer as brightly as any angel.

The others let out a gentle sigh of approval, a shared delight in the decorations that now adorned the tree. Christmas had finally come.

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A Much-Needed Bit of Recognition

Writing is solitary, and with the increasing numbers of works put out (not to mention the awful AI issue), it can feel as if you are sending your hard-crafted stories into the void. Especially when your sales figures bump along near the zero line regardless of the quality of your work.

But one thing I did do last year was to take a leap of faith and send my self-published short story collection, Devil Kin, to Ellen Datlow for consideration in her The Best of Horror of the Year Volume 16. I did it with hope but zero expectation. And whilst my stories did not make it into the anthology itself, I found that 3 stories from Devil Kin and my poem in the Shakespeare Unleashed anthology, were listed in her Best of the Year Horror Volume 16 Recommendations Part One 2023:

To have more than one mention meant the world, particularly as these three stories – which I loved – were rejected when out on submission. The three are a good example of the range of my horror fiction: ‘Better to Close Your Eyes’ is sf/horror/post-apocalyptic, ‘Dog Rose and Devilkin’ is gothic, and ‘Suspended’ is body horror.

When I compiled this collection it was with a knowledge that the contents were good, that they were amongst the strongest stories I’ve written, regardless that some of them seemed to keep coming back with a ‘not for us’ message. I made the decision after this kept happening that I would put them out myself, because of that belief in their quality. Ellen Datlow’s mention is a true reward.

There are 19 stories in this collection and 13, including those above, were new.

The paperback is available from amazon and the ebook from my own shop (delivered via Bookfunnel).

I hope some of you will check it out.

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I’ve done a thing and got a shop!

I’ve done a thing I’ve long wanted to do but dreaded and part of me is still dreading this because like many people when you start something, you wait for it all to go pear-shaped. This little update is not so much about the writing aspect of my life but more about self-publishing. Others have no doubt done more, gone further, but it’s a giant step for me, the person who prefers to hide!

So here’s my shop! https://payhip.com/StephanieEllis

A little while ago, I set up a BookFunnel account – finally – and uploaded my Darklings ebooks there. From there I signed up to payhip and created my own store. The latter is free, they take a small % of a sale but that combined with the Paypal % is still much smaller than amazon would take. Books are still available via KDP but not KU. Any that remain in KU are being withdrawn. Why? Because the amount I receive is pretty negligible and it’s not worth it. Taking some sales away from KDP may hit possibility of achieving certain rankings, but I’ve decided those, too, are not important to me. (Fun if I got them, yes, but I don’t so I won’t miss them!)

I did look at Shopify and a few others but an advantage of payhip is that it sorts VAT out for you as well. Physical books are exempt, but ebooks carry a certain level in the EU etc. Simply tagging the product as an ebook in its record page gets this aspect sorted!

If you buy an ebook via payhip, you get sent a Bookfunnel link and go from there. It was all much more straightforward than I imagined and I’m wondering why I didn’t do it sooner. The answer actually is that I couldn’t afford the subscription for the year prior to this. That makes it sound expensive, but it’s not in the great scheme of things, it was just circumstances and necessary budgeting at the time.

Today I put up physical books on payhip – the signed author copies that have been lurking on my shelves. These are set at UK only and p&p is added at the end. I followed the purchase flow through as far as I was able to test and it worked. Integrating payhip and Bookfunnel was also relatively painless and Bookfunnel provided info and some video links which were a great help talking me through it. But as with all things this is early days so if anything does go wrong just get in touch and I will look into it and get it sorted! If you are not UK but would like the books, then send me a message and we can sort something out.

I realise I’m going to have to look at advertising and promotion more – but that is next steps. I wanted this aspect done. I didn’t want to be beholden to online stores who could decide to take my work down for whatever reason. More ebooks and perhaps other things will be added along the way.

This is me wanting to control my own self-published work as far as I can. It is also something I regard as a learning exercise – another reason I did it was simply to see if I could. And if I can, then anyone can.

I would also love to see more turn their backs on amazon and the like now that we have more tools at our disposal to create our own futures.

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A Civil War Walk – All for Research Purposes!

A little while ago, I went over to Chester to watch the Midsummer Watch Parade of giant puppets in town – something which has a history going back 500 years. Those puppets have served as the inspiration for the December (and last) instalment of my Darklings series, although this one is set at the Winter Watch (with which I may have taken liberties!). At present it’s called To the Beat of the Drum, but that may change.

Anyway, the period in which it is written is December 1646, several months after the siege of the city had ended in February of that year. Initially a Royalist stronghold, the Parliamentarians were able to defeat the King’s army at nearby Rowton Heath, subsequently causing Charles I to flee the city. The remaining forces in Chester held out against the besiegers until February 1646 when the walls were breached.

Above is the bridge across which Charles escaped.

Whilst I have taken some liberties with the period, I have been trying to incorporate real aspects of the city from that period, a number of which are still in evidence today. One thing I had been trying to discover was the building from which most governance was carried out – it took me hours yesterday to find that it was known as Common Hall and this was in the converted St. Nicholas’ chapel. I found that building today, but look what it houses now! From mayors and aldermen to cosmetics …

Fun fact: apparently this building was also once a theatre and Charles Dickens performed here.

We (my lovely husband, Geraint, was keeping me company) then followed a self-guided civil war walk and trekked round the city walls and along the old city streets to help me get my bearings for the story, much of which takes place in the centre in the vicinity of the Rows – those upper galleries of shops you can see like those shown in the pictures below.

It was a really enjoyable walk, rounded off with a quick visit to Waterstones (which also occupies an upper gallery in one of the Rows). Once I got home, I carried on writing the story which currently stands at 8000 words so only 2000 to go, and let’s say those 2000 are the final chapter and it’s all about to go horribly wrong for my protagonist.

In terms of history, the English Civil War and following Commonwealth/Protectorate is one of the most fascinating in English history and yet it seems to be neglected. Tudors, Victorians, Stuarts, are all popular, but this period when the world turned upside down does not get the same attention. Yet it’s a period when authority was turned on its head, when radical religious and social movements appeared, when even women started to gain some leadership and take action and so many ideas swirled around. Yes, a violent time, but so much seemed possible before the status quo was … almost … resumed with the restoration of the monarchy. I just find it a shame that these people seem to warrant only a tiny part of the history section in bookshops.

Below are some of the books I’ve been reading. I’ve almost finished The Blazing World and then have The Restless Republic and The Levellers (Putney Debates) to read. It’s not all been just for this story, but also served for my historical mystery, Women of the Witch Eye, which I am currently trying to home and which will be developed into a series – even if I self-publish. And I know I will return to this era for other stories in the future!

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The Woodcutter Giveaway!

Brigids Gate Press are hosting a giveaway of my folk horror novel, The Woodcutter over at StoryGraph. To be in with a chance of winning, go here.

A tragic accident, shrouded in mystery, leads to a family reunion in the hidden village of Little Hatchet, located in the smothering shadow of GodBeGone Wood, the home of the mythical Woodcutter and Grandma. Alec Eades rediscovers his bond with GodBeGone Wood and the future his father agreed to years ago as nefarious landowner Oliver Hayward schemes to raise money for the village by re-enacting part of the Woodcutter legend. Old wounds are re-opened and ties of blood and friendship are tested to the extreme when the Woodcutter is summoned and Grandma returns.

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Discover Dracula Found in its Entirety!

Look what National Poetry Month 2024 produced! Seriously, it was not my intention to write this book; I merely started out – a little late – to National Poetry Month, and was trying to come up with an idea for the remainder of April. Cue found poetry – always a brilliant exercise when needing inspiration. I love the digging through words written by another and seeing what I can come up with (without plagiarism). Trouble was, there was more to the book than could be fitted in during April – and so I carried on through May, and well into June.

Bram Stoker’s Dracula gave me the opportunity to retell the story in found verse. But I also wanted to share the verses in a slightly different way so I created short video clips (on ClipChamp) and uploaded them to YouTube and TikTok. YouTube is the best place to go to as it has the playlist in the proper order. All videos used free images, footage and music from either pixabay.com and pexels.com. Note I actively avoided the numerous AI images which appeared on those sites – and which I found somewhat irritating, being horrendous in number. 70 videos were created in all, most on the day I wrote the poem, one or two written ahead of time when I knew I would be away.

Whilst all the poems are free to read on these videos – I didn’t get around to voice overs – I have created both ebook and print versions. The ebook is a straightforward gathering of the poems in one place. But I also wanted to play with formatting in a print book and so the paperback has some wonderful images, again sourced from pixabay or pexels, but worked on using Affinity photo.

Plus I love to find brushes and used Affinity’s FX settings to create the sort of 3D effect seen below with the fly (warning, you might find a spider or two in the book as well):

As well as playing with formatting, there was also something else I wanted to examine – amazon’s ‘quality’ paper for colour. Everything I’ve self-published before, has been standard paper and black and white. So yes, this put the price up, but it created a very pretty book. Again, I’ve used a new project to learn something.

Dracula Found was a deep dive into a classic not read for some time, a reassessment of the original against so many modern versions. I don’t think I’ve examined a book that closely, at that word level, for some time. Whilst having to omit or skim over many aspects due to the nature of the medium in which I was writing, I feel it carries the flavour of the original Dracula. Above all, it has shown me this is really the story of Mina Harker, a strong and clever woman, whose role seems to have been diminished in the many retellings – to me, anyway.

The poems remain freely available to read online, but if you want a copy, you know where to find them (and I’ve added Dracula Found to my Poetry Collections tab).

The last thing I would say is thank you to everyone who read and commented as I ploughed on with the task I set myself. I think I would like to do it again with another classic, but for the moment I need to reduce my other self-imposed workload! (Darklings, ahem.)

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The Barricade

I have been remiss with my updates lately, especially as the pre-order links for my new novel, The Barricade, are up – plus I’ve had a few interviews with folk talking about the book! Scroll down to see the links to interviews with Happy Goat Horror and Horror Realms.

Sometimes you get so busy with your next project, that you don’t realise the time passing. I wrote this book back around 2020, writing in parallel with a folk horror – I think it was The Woodcutter. From my records, I subbed it to two publishers, it got rejected, and then I left it for a while. Then I tried agents, again crickets. And then I left it, faffing about whether to self-publish or try again, and with me, that can actually take years! When I was on X/Twitter, I had one of my moments and decided to try PitDark. Cue one request to see mss from an agent, then nothing, and then the lovely people of Lycan Valley Press asked if it was still available and here we are. I think what this tells me is I should actually make a bigger push at getting my work out, upping the number of submission attempts but I do find that a bit soul-destroying … and so the years pass. Advice to other writers out there? Keep subbing, but yes, get the balance right for you. Rejection takes a toll and the nature of this industry is that rejection is normal. It happens to everyone, even the biggest names were rejected on numerous occasions!

Now it’s The Barricade’s time, it was only waiting for this moment.

A pre-order package is available here.

When the world threatened to end, a select few went into an underground complex and left those above to survive any way they could. Scientist Faith Hamilton and her grown daughter Josie are two of the abandoned. A Barricade around the entrance to the bunker ensures those below would never be allowed out. Twenty years later they start hearing strange voices, seeing shadows within. Those below start to appear in the inner circle of the Barricade asking to be let out. Those above still refuse. Faith and her friends discover it hasn’t isolated them as they thought, that in fact there has been communication and manipulation by those underground all this time.

Early praise for the book:

“Stephanie Ellis worms her way under your skin with The Barricade, a monstrously grim dystopian tale exposing the human condition with all its frailties. Uncovering themes of abandonment, trauma, and mental health, The Barricade examines exactly how far we might be prepared to go to survive the impossible, both as individuals and as a species. Provocative and compelling.” —Lee Murray, five-time Bram Stoker Award-winning author of Grotesque: Monster Stories

“In The Barricade, Ellis presents the worst kind of dystopia: one which is all too believable, especially in the actions of the few who remain. With a diverse cast, and a compellingly underrepresented choice of protagonist, the author’s unique voice and perspective bring this post-apocalyptic world to chilling life.” –Kev Harrison, author of Shadow of the Hidden.

“With The Barricade, Stephanie Ellis has created a story where the strength of older women is celebrated. Topics usually shied away from, such as menopause, are part of the story just as they are part of everyday life for many of us. Her heroines are human, and it’s the limitations they overcome that make them special. A riveting story that doesn’t flinch from the worst in us and, in spite of this, somehow left me feeling stronger. An empowering narrative that will lodge in your thoughts for a long while.” —Angela Yuriko Smith, 2x Bram Stoker Award® Winner

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A Self-imposed Challenge! Darklings continues: From Jolly Jack to Descendants of Monstrosity

My self-imposed challenge continues! Laugh with Jolly Jack is up for pre-order now, publication being 1st April. An appropriate date I think for this title.

Not up for pre-order yet but completed is Descendants of Monstrosity. Many thanks to Alyson Faye for her careful eye and useful comments. Completely different to Jolly Jack, this is a modern day tale which reaches back into the past:

‘As part of a university team investigating the disappeared settlements of England, Harriet Rothery arrives in the vanished hamlet of Church Easton. A place on no map but one. A place an old friend had given as her address before she dropped off the face of the earth. As she investigates, she is plagued by strange dreams at night and illusions during the day. Church Easton and its surrounds, she discovers, is a place haunted with the taint of witchcraft and the injustices of the English Civil War, a legacy which reaches into the present, reaches for her …’

And here’s the cover! Note I only include the black border to ensure the cover shows up.

Links for pre-order will go up soon – intended publication 1st May.

The next in the series, Mine, is nearly ready as well. This one will be put up for June 1st publication.

Several more left to write … and at some point, print versions – or at least a couple of omnibus editions – to pull together. And all this while I’m trying to working on a new novel. When will I ever learn.

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Darklings are Hatching and Jolly Jack is Lurking!

I mentioned in a previous post that I was creating a series of novelette-length quick reads under the series name, Darklings. Four have now been uploaded to a number of platforms, currently Amazon, Barnes&Noble, Kobo and Apple so it is available on a wider basis than just KDP. This means that none of these books will be available on Kindle Unlimited but having seen a lot of authors experience difficulties with amazon on a more frequent basis, I just want to make sure that I have a variety of options if anything ever goes wrong!

The four stories have been previously published, although Asylum of Shadows was the only standalone. The remaining three are to be found in collections but I think deserve a space of their own.

Pop over here https://stephanieellis.org/darklings-quick-reads-series/ to order!

Available for pre-order, actual publication date is 1st March. So what next for this series? I am currently 3/4 of the way through a brand new story, Laugh with Jolly Jack, which I intend to publish 1st April. I think the title is most appropriate for April Fool’s Day!

Laugh with Jolly Jack

Graham inherits an ancient penny arcade from his Great Uncle Reginald. His wife, a keen antiques hobbyist, insists the machines are worth something, and so Graham sets to work repairing and refurbishing them in his garage. But strange things happen when he puts a penny in the slot and the miniature worlds of burning mansions, revolutionary France, and desolate cemeteries come to life. And beyond all this, he hears laughter – the laughter of Jolly Jack.

Background to this story: many years ago, we used to take our children to visit the Milestones Living History museum in Basingstoke. It was always a great favourite so we went on a few occasions. Inside, you’d find cobbled streets and recreated shops and transport stations which were huge fun to wander around. In addition, they had a penny arcade with a whole heap of different settings and these machines which inspired my story. Some of them were really creepy, the faces, the puppetry, it was just macabre and Jolly Jack was one which always stuck with me.

Amazingly, I’ve just found a video of that machine online, so please, come along and laugh with Jolly Jack!

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