It’s official. After almost a year wait, I’ve been assigned a mentor through the Horror Writers Association mentorship program. And not only that, I’ll be working with none other than JG Faherty, the program director and author of nine novels, ten novellas, and more short stories than I can count.
When I received the email about my mentor assignment, my stomach churned with anxiety. JG is an author I have a tremendous amount of respect for, and I have read and enjoyed several of his novels. That’s to say, this guy is legit. Although I’ve been writing fiction for a long time, the idea of interacting and sharing my work with someone that is out there doing what I want to be doing is intimidating.
When you get close to your goals, to achieving something that you’ve wanted for so long you can’t even remember not wanting it, it’s scary. But that’s probably the most valuable thing I’ve learned over the course of my writing journey. That if doing something scares the shit out of you, it means you’re on the right track. It means it’s something you need to learn.
The email from HWA said the next step was to send a story and a little bit about myself, so in my typical fashion, I vomited 3500 words onto the page, cut it all, and then wrote something much more concise that I thought would be beneficial. I outlined a bit of what I am looking for in the program, and I sent The Last-Stop Diner which I feel is a good representation of my current work.
Over the course of the next four months, I will post about my experiences with the program and what I am learning, so you all can get a better idea of what the mentorship entails. My hope is that we can learn together, and if you’re not a writer, it will give you some insight into the process us writers use to create our fiction.
Next month, I am also taking the Pure Poe POV class taught by Clay McCleod Chapman on litreactor.com and I’ll be sure to talk about my experience with that as well.
If you have any questions or comments as you follow along on my journey, please don’t hesitate to post them here or on Twitter @CJWritesHorror.
