Five minutes with Colin F Barnes #interview

Recently I sold a short story which appeared in the Urban Occult anthology (Anachron Press) edited by  Colin F Barnes. It was a bit of an odd story, half-written on a whim, but playing with a flirtation between occultist and media that I adore and loathe by equal measure. So, today I'm happy to invite Colin over to chat a little more about this anthology. Welcome, Colin!

Now all anthologies start off with an idea. What sparked off Urban Occult? 

It's quite difficult to remember really. I have various ideas daily. Usually they spin out from conversations I have with people. I think one day I got thinking about occult fiction and it came to me that I'd like to read some that are contemporary and set in an urban situation.

An open call for submissions can be a bit of a free-for-all. What were you looking for in submissions? 

A strong story that fits the theme, or at least compliments the theme is what I look for first, and then it's the quality of the prose and finally a voice. If a story had those three things then it would stand a good chance of being an acceptance.

What has some of the feedback for Urban Occult been? 

Of the readers that have come back to me about it, it's been overwhelmingly positive. As an example, here's a few quotes from some of the reviews:

"Like a modern, slightly darker, homage to Roald Dahl's Tales of the Unexpected there is some fine fiction on display her" — Paul Homes (The Eloquent Page).

"I don't read many anthologies, but knowing the quality of fiction Anachron Press releases, I couldn't help but gobble this one up. And I was not disappointed: URBAN OCCULT is simply one of the best anthologies on the market" — Dave Thomas (Editor at DarkFuse).

"This book runs the gamut of what can fit in this genre, and I found myself enjoying each and every story on its own merit" — Stephen Ormsby (Goodreads and Amazon Reader).

What other anthologies have you worked on/are working on? 

Before Urban Occult, I have worked on a number of anthologies, such as:
- City of Hell Chronicles, a horror collection of linked horror stories.
- Day of Demons, a dark fantasy anthology
- Crime Net, a small collection of cyberpunk/crime stories.

I have plans to do another anthology at the beginning of 2014 and at the moment I'm considering that might be a follow-up to Urban Occult. I had a lot of submissions for that one, and it seems to be a subject that garners a lot of interest.

If you could sit an aspiring author down for a little heart-to-heart chat, what would you say? 

The first thing I would say is to drop the word 'aspire' and just get on and write. I'd also advise to go to a class or a workshop and learn the basics of story telling, and from then just write every day and keep improving. Too many writers don't actually write all that much. You can only get better if you write more.

What are the five cardinal sins you keep seeing in submissions which are automatic form rejections?

I don't if there are five particular sins as such that I look for, it's generally a combination of various factors. For instance, if a story is on theme and works but some parts of the prose are clunky, I'll often give editorial feedback and give the writer a chance to fix it. Complete rejections are usually:

1. Off theme
2. Excessive violence for no reason
3. Zombies or other overused tropes
4. Ignoring the guidelines
5. An absence of style/skill

Who are three authors in SFF/H you reckon folks should keep an eye out for.

That's a tough one, there's so many writerRen Warom and KT Davies. Another name I'd recommend is a seasoned writer among the small press, and someone who I think who writes some of the best psychological and period horror: Mark West.
s doing interesting things, including your good self. Although if you were to put the thumb screws on me I'd offer up two writers who I've published before:

Links:
My site
My Twitter
Anachron
Urban Occult

Urban Occult anthology!

So, my dearly beloveds, I have a short story appearing this year in the Urban Occult anthology which is edited by Colin F Barnes. He mailed me today about a special limited-edition pre-order special. So I'm going to share it here and encourage you to take advantage of this, and help make a bunch of really awesome authors very, very happy.

* * * *

Urban Occult Limited Pre-Order

Limited to 50.

Behind urban life, weird and horrific things fester.

The whispers and chills of things long gone… the promise of power from the darkness… the seduction of those that lie in the shadows… the occult is all around us: in town houses, in mansions, and in your very own street.

Editor Colin F. Barnes collected together fifteen stories by a cast of critically acclaimed authors from around the globe who look into the stygian gloom, explore the dark corners of our houses, and peer into the abyss of human temptation.

Featuring stories by: Gary McMahon, Ren Warom, Gary Fry, Mark West, K.T. Davies, Nerine Dorman, Alan Baxter, Adam Millard, Julie Travis, Jason Andrew, James Brogden, A.A Garrison, Jennifer Williams, Sarah Anne Langton, and Chris Barnham.

Special Pre-Order Edition Limited to 50.

This pre-order edition means you will get the book at least a week to two weeks ahead of general release and:

A FREE ebook version (for any eReader)

and A FREE ebook of Day of Demons. (eBooks will be emailed to you on the 4th of March).

Just £9.99 (+£2.99 shipping anywhere in the world).

Pre-Order here:

Khepera Rising now unleashed upon the world... Again

Tonight I approved the print files, and on Friday the ebook files went through to Smashwords, so we're good to go on #1 of the Books of Khepera series (yes, I finally figured out what to call Jamie's epic saga). I decided to run with CreateSpace because a) it's not going to cost me a dime to get files set up and b) it will get the printed book on Amazon. With Smashwords I'll get the maximum amount of different digital file options (which is ideal) and once the file passes muster, it will show up on Amazon and B&N (still waiting for that).

I'll be honest. The Books of Khepera are not going to appeal to everyone. Readers feel very strongly about Jamie. They either love him deeply, or they despise him. He doesn't make any apologies for being a vain, opinionated bastard. In many ways he's everything I'm (thankfully) not, so in a sense he exists as my animus. Which is probably why he's never quite going to go away (even though Ash is stealing hearts left, right and centre). He's part of my story. 

The man isn't completely without redeemable qualities, however. Despite being hideously flawed, Jamie does good. And perhaps there's a little bit of Jamie in all of us. We lie to ourselves about our flaws and weaknesses. Sometimes we redeem ourselves. Other times we set ourselves up for spectacular failure.

On Friday I got smacked upside the head with the premise for a fourth book. This kind of sucks because book three, Khepera in Shadow, isn't done yet, and won't be for a while since I'm supposed to be writing Thanatos (the book that follows Inkarna), have a secondary world fantasy half on the boil, and am in the midst with edits for Camdeboo Nights. Then I still got a bee in my bonnet and wrote a short Jamie story today, just for shits and giggles. Not to mention that I'm also editing an anthology of dark fantasy entitled Dark Harvest, and I'll be starting on edits for the third Bloody Parchment anthology early 2013. Oh, and I need to prep print files for some of my shorter works... jawellnofine shut up already.

So, what's on the cards next besides surviving year-end at the Sisyphusian day job? I'm finishing Thanatos so that it can go through to beta. Then it's time to revise Khepera Redeemed. I've decided the best course of action is to alternate between revising old work and finishing new work. If I'm lucky, I can get both done before the end of this year. However, I'm not holding my breath.

Now, if you haven't read Khepera Rising, you can go get it in ebook format here (the first 20 percent is available as a free download, just by the by) and you can buy the dead tree version here. One huge-ass big disclaimer. This is the first novel I ever completed. (We'll not talk about all the aborted attempts I've mercifully burnt on a funeral pyre at the bottom of the garden.) Khepera Rising is not a perfect book (what book is?) but as my first published work, it gives an idea to my readers of where I've started. For a first novel, it's still something I'm proud of. During the rebooting phase I itched to get stuck into some developmental edits, but resisted the temptation. 

This is my writing in 2007. The novel was sold in 2008. It was first published by Lyrical Press on December 21, 2009. Dear Dog I've learnt a lot since then. Khepera Rising is a crazy poke at Cape Town's underbelly and the religious intolerance of fundamentalists we all love to hate. And Jamie's a total dick and he does some really stupid stuff. But he also does some pretty awesome stuff too. You've been warned.

SAPS to investigate the paranormal? #guest

For every step South Africa takes forward, we sometimes seem to shuffle a few steps backward, and this latest bit of news that I can share, courtesy of my friends in the South African Pagan Rights Alliance, makes my hair stand on end. Many thanks to Damon Leff, for providing me with this information to share here. My feeling on the matter? Our police force should invest its time in fighting crime, not hunting ghosts. This is not an episode of Supernatural. While I might not consider myself pagan, these hardy folks are very dear to me, and whatever happens to them, can quite easily spill over to other minority religious and esoteric movements. 

* * * *

The South African Police Service is launching new regional occult crime units. According to a leaked memorandum, Provincial Commissioners were recently instructed to appoint two detectives in every province tasked with investigating alleged harmful occult-related crimes.

Those already familiar with the work of the old ORC unit then led by Kobus Jonker, will recall that between 1992 and 2001 the unit is alleged to have investigated 300 cases of muti-related crimes (murders committed for the express purpose of harvesting human body parts for sale to traditional healers).

The ORC’s previous mandate included: a) investigating occult-related crime, b) in conjunction with the South African Police Service Crime Intelligence, promoting the prevention of occult-related crime, c) managing the use and dissemination of information on occult-related crime, and d) rendering services to victims of occult-related crime.

In addition to investigating muti murders, newly appointed detectives will be required to also investigate spectral evidence including spiritual intimidation and astral coercion, curses intended to cause harm, allegations of rape by tokoloshe spirits, and poltergeist and paranormal phenomena.

The units will also be responsible for investigating alleged offences relating to Witchcraft (identified as “black magic” by the SAPS), Voodoo, vampirism, harmful cult behavior, suicide where evidence of occult involvement is present, animal mutilation and sacrifice where evidence of occult involvement is believed to be indicated, human sacrifice, and the interpretation of alleged occult signatures, vandalism and graffiti at crime scenes.

This newly envisioned scope of investigation must be viewed with suspicion and be of concern to anyone engaged in the practice of Witchcraft, Traditional African religion, and other Occult spiritualities (including Satanism). Given the already evident bias expressed by ex-members of ORC and new members of provincial Religious Crimes Units against Witchcraft, the new mandate potentially threatens religious minorities who may be scapegoated on the basis of belief alone.

It is the informed opinion of the South African Pagan Rights Alliance (SAPRA) that the given investigative mandate for the establishment of new provincial Occult Crime Units, in particular, certain 'categories of crime' as mentioned in said memorandum, contravene internationally recognized policing ethics and conduct related to a) jurisprudence in the identification and verification of evidence, and b) respect for religious diversity and belief.

Law of Evidence

The SAPS memorandum states “For a crime to be considered a harmful occult-related crime, the elements of legality, conduct and unlawfulness and culpability have to be present and the motive must be rooted in the supernatural.”

The term ‘supernatural’ is generally defined as something above or beyond the laws of Nature. In a strictly scientific context, the belief in the supernatural agency of a non-corporeal entity (spirit, fairy, demon, God) cannot be proven using the law of evidence in any Court of Law, and therefore cannot be submitted as evidence of anything other than faith in the unknown. Since the courts will not accept evidence of the supernatural on principle, the ORC detectives will be wasting valuable time and effort investigating para-psychological phenomena.

SAPS special unit detectives should not be considering the role of alleged supernatural occurrences in the commission or investigation of crimes. A belief in the existence of the supernatural is not, and cannot be viewed as proof of the supernatural. The SAPS must deal in matters of verifiable fact, not religious or cultural belief. The SAPS should not be fulfilling what should remain the role of religious or psychology specialists.

Religious bias, prejudice and propaganda against the Occult

In the SAPS memorandum under objection, newly appointed detectives of regional occult crime units are encouraged to consult with “trained individuals in their respective provinces… with the investigation of an alleged harmful occult-related crime”.

It must be noted that former occult unit detectives, many of whom now independently pursue careers in Christian ministry and in particular, ministry against the Occult, Witchcraft, Satanism, and ‘Spiritual-warfare’ ministries targeted specifically at Witches and Satanists, will be consulted by detectives assigned to regional occult crime units. SAPRA is of the opinion that consultations with such persons will introduce highly subjective religious bias and prejudicial reasoning into investigations which should remain rationally objective. SAPRA has submitted formal objection to the scope of the new SAPS mandate and will be closely monitoring the activities of all new ORC units to ensure that innocent civilians are not targeted by un-provable allegations of criminal or harmful activities.

For more information contact SAPRA at info@paganrightsalliance.org
http://www.paganrightsalliance.org/press.html