I felt this down deep in my bones, Thomas. Thanks for this great essay. Charlie was a great guy -- I first met him at the 1990 World Horror Convention -- but he was plain-spoken and didn't waste words, both in his fiction and real life. His first words to me "I've read your stuff. You're pretty damn good. So why the hell are you writing for Zebra?" Folks these days don't realize what a true treasure to the horror genre he really was.
Yep, that was Charlie. We had him as the keynote speaker for the South Carolina Writers Workshop years ago, and he sat on a panel about submitting to anthologies. One local anthologist just went on and on, chest puffed out, trying to impress Charlie. When he said, "Sometimes you don't know how many people you can invite until the state grant comes through," Charlie sat up in his chair. "Oh, I thought we were talking about real anthologies with real competition there for a minute. Not one where the state pays for it, you design a crappy cover, then invite friends to send you whatever they have so they can get in print." Long sigh... "I'll tell you what. After this is over, for those of you who want to know how to give your manuscript the best chance of being selected, or at least seriously considered, for a real anthology that might have a few hundred or even a thousand submissions, meet me in the bar when this is over and we'll talk about it." The bar was packed.
I felt this down deep in my bones, Thomas. Thanks for this great essay. Charlie was a great guy -- I first met him at the 1990 World Horror Convention -- but he was plain-spoken and didn't waste words, both in his fiction and real life. His first words to me "I've read your stuff. You're pretty damn good. So why the hell are you writing for Zebra?" Folks these days don't realize what a true treasure to the horror genre he really was.
Yep, that was Charlie. We had him as the keynote speaker for the South Carolina Writers Workshop years ago, and he sat on a panel about submitting to anthologies. One local anthologist just went on and on, chest puffed out, trying to impress Charlie. When he said, "Sometimes you don't know how many people you can invite until the state grant comes through," Charlie sat up in his chair. "Oh, I thought we were talking about real anthologies with real competition there for a minute. Not one where the state pays for it, you design a crappy cover, then invite friends to send you whatever they have so they can get in print." Long sigh... "I'll tell you what. After this is over, for those of you who want to know how to give your manuscript the best chance of being selected, or at least seriously considered, for a real anthology that might have a few hundred or even a thousand submissions, meet me in the bar when this is over and we'll talk about it." The bar was packed.