Tuesday, November 6, 2012

And I Swear This is True--My anthology of Urban Legends

STATIC MOVEMENT
is a great small press for beginning writers and editors alike. Since it is non-paying, there is less competition than one faces if trying to answer a call for submissions with semi-pro or better rates. Though there is no pay involved, the process gives writers exposure and also the chance to work with an editor.

One of my first completed Static Movement anthologies as editor was
AND I SWEAR THIS IS TRUE, stories inspired by urban legends. I left the theme wide open, encouraging writers to conceive their own legends or an original twist on a well-known one.

While some writers did use an existing concept for their launching point (e.g. Chupacabra by Jonathan Savill eorThe Zodiac Killer by Andy Echevarria) each offered unique twists on the legends.

Most of the stories, however, are the writer’s own invention, but all still have the exciting qualities of urban legends—the insistence that (hence this book’s title) the narrator “swears it is true,” the small shred of evidence left behind that can be passed off as coincidence only by the most tenacious skeptic. There are several stories of haunted places and for some reason quite a few involving spiders.

Some of the writers explore the reasons these legends might be so prevalent. The Devil and Rich Levi by Ken L. Jones is dedicated in part to Washington Irving and emulates that writer’s style well. It also reinforces the idea that urban legends are not a new phenomenon at all.

In one way or another, some character in each of the tales "swears it is true." Skeptics requiring proof write the supernatural off as nonsense. The tales collected here provide enough evidence to the contrary to leave the incredulous reader a little less certain about that stance.
 
We believers have always known there is a world of shadow beneath reality.

Urban legends are simply the stories where the layer between those two planes is paper thin.

You can purchase this exciting anthology at Amazon here: http://www.amazon.com/And-I-Swear-This-True/dp/1617061727

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