​Write what you know.
That’s what everyone tells you anyway. Sadly, having a psychologist or a professor as my main protagonist in each of my books would be a drag. Although, now that I look at it, there is a mental health professional in many of my novels (published and unpublished). Oh well. Still, some peripheral characters were “requisite” psychologist in my books which meant I had to learn about other occupations – and work that I’ve never done.
How should a writer learn about other occupations? Research of course. Here are a few ways to make your characters be realistic…

1. Ask. Yes, ask someone who you know that does that kind of work. You’d be surprised how many people would love to chat about what they do – and outline ways that their occupation would lend itself to a storyline.
2. Online research. This is simple of course, but make sure you’ve got reliable sources. Career counseling websites, Professional Association websites, and even blogs by certain professionals would often describe their day to day lives.
3. University libraries and departments. You probably don’t even need to go to campus. The university websites for various programs will explain the preparation and training for particular majors and also state licensing requirements.

In one of my novels, I needed to learn about FBI investigations beyond what I knew from watching TV. Did you know that the FBI website has a section called Resources for Specific Audiences? Under that are numerous links – one of which is for “Researchers and Students”. Want to learn how they FBI investigates serial killers? Well, it’s there in that section.
For my novel, The Disembodied, I checked multiple sites for their take on Depersonalization Disorder. Now, as a psychologist, I was familiar with it. But, not as much as you’d think. I never encountered a case of it. I wanted to see how it was portrayed on the internet. I found a great description on the Mayo Clinic website, I even included the reference in the novel.
Writers can avoid looking like they don’t know what they’re talking about by checking out these available sources. They’re huge, and they’re right at our fingertips.

​I struggled with exactly what to do with The Disembodied. When I finished the novel last fall, I was torn among submitting it to the small press which published two of my earlier novels, self-publish it in order to learn the process, or submit it to a Kindle Scout campaign.
My previous publisher, Damnation Books, had just been bought out by Caliburn Press around the time when I finished The Disembodied. I have full confidence in Caliburn after reading about the new owner’s plans for the company. After all, they already had two of my novels and had acquired the rights to my third which had previously been accepted by Damnation Books. I recognized, though, that the new owner would have a lot of details to iron out - so I decided to consider other options for The Disembodied. That left self-publishing or Kindle Scout.
I quickly learned that I needed to hire an editor to work on The Disembodied whether I went the self-published route or with the Kindle Scout. So, after securing my editor and while the editor was working on The Disembodied, I explored Kindle Scout more thoroughly and decided what the heck. Let’s do it. What really intrigued me more than anything was having the Amazon marketing machine behind me if I was successful in being selected at the end of the 30 day campaign window. Self-promotion is a huge drag and I don’t think I do it well, so the idea of being promoted by Amazon was a convincing factor. More money would be nice, but really, who goes into this to make money? I was honestly looking for more readers.
The editorial process took months, since I went with the whole shebang of story editing, copy editing, and line editing – not to mention proofreading. But Saturday, April 30th, 2016, the Kindle Scout Campaign went live. I have no clue about how many people nominated it. I know I nominated myself (narcissism 101).
Flash forward nearly four months. The campaign was a success! The Disembodied was released on August 16th. Now, all I have to fret about is potential readers becoming aware of its existence. No big deal, right? Sheesh.

​The Lonely by Andrew Michael Hurley is certainly not what I expected. Promoted as a gothic horror novel, complete with an ecstatic blurb by Stephen King, The Lonely surprises because it really isn’t a horror tale. At least a horror tale that readers of the genre would expect. Reading the reviews on Amazon and Goodreads will clearly support this observation. While I am one of those horror fans, I must say that I was not disappointed in the novel. In fact, I found it suspenseful, original, and more than a little unnerving.
By now you know the plot. A family, accompanied by their Catholic priest, family friends, and other parishioners, travel to a desolate part of the UK for a retreat. The purpose of the retreat is to once and for all complete a ritual which will cure one of the family’s teenage sons who is stricken with autism (although I cannot recall if this diagnosis is ever revealed as such). The narrator is the young man’s younger brother who recounts the tale as it occurred nearly forty years ago.
The geographical depictions are a central part of the story. The atmosphere, complete with fog, rain, and constant overcast skies, is a character in itself. The damp and gloomy houses haunt the reader on every page. The dank chill is always evident. There is even an old mansion that is off the coast and only accessible during low tide. The gothic nature of the tale oozes constantly.
The natives resent the presence of the pilgrims. And, there is something not quite right about these people. There’s a hint of witchcraft and pagan rituals, and there are veiled threats towards the visitors. The author keeps explanations for the strange events just beyond our grasp, and the depiction of the climax is ambiguous enough that it may not be to everyone’s taste. All of the action is reported through the first person account of a fifteen year old boy, and his experientially-limited frame of reference adds to the mystery. Oh, and the visiting retreatants are conservative Catholics (this being the 1970’s). The depiction of their beliefs and rituals is so well done that the reader can’t help but observe that these also have a bizarre/pagan feel to them (and I’m a Catholic, so my reaction wasn’t due to unfamiliarity).
Anyhow, I really liked this book. But, be aware, it is not a traditional horror story. Those who disliked it often referred to it as boring. These folks were clearly expecting standard horror fare. It’s not. But it is eerie, strange, and atmospheric. If you’re in the mood, give it a shot.

​William Meikle has the uncanny ability to turn out high quality horror and speculative fiction on a pretty rapid schedule. I realize that sounds like a back-handed compliment but I don’t mean it to be. He’s very prolific and manages to produce original stories every time without rehashing old plot lines. I wish I could do that.
My latest Meilke read was The Dunfield Terror, which concerns a deadly fog that mysteriously descends on a remote coastline of Newfoundland. This fog is unlike any other, causing massive death and mayhem to whatever it touches. The body count is high (and characters are dispatched in gruesome fashion) and there are especially menacing creatures to further contribute to the pandemonium.
Mr. Meilke uses two alternating narratives, present day and the 1950’s, to tell the story. The present-day action involves a return of the fog during a brutal blizzard, while the flashbacks recount the origins of the fog. Both stories are captivating and instill constant peril and suspense, but I liked the present day account better. I felt the characters in the flashback were not quite drawn as well. However, I’m only talking a small degree of difference. For some reason, a third narrative (and another series of flashbacks) is incorporated towards the end. These seemed unnecessary to me in terms of plot development. Ironically, though, I enjoyed that sequence better than the 50’s storyline. Go figure.
Overall, a strong hair-raising tale and a solid 4.5 read – rounded up to 5.