It's Not All Gumdrops & Unicorns

How's it going my gumdrops? Is it just me, or does that gif look creepy? Staring at the illustration of those hands typing and the texture of the hands somewhat makes my skin crawl. It appears that I managed to creep myself out.

Since I write Psychological Horror, Crime, and Psychological Thriller Short Stories, it would only be fitting to have a creepy-looking gif to help set the tone for this blog.

Recently, I realized that I never published a character list for any of my short stories. You already know, that I self-built my Horror/Thriller page with excerpts of my short stories. That's along with publishing blogs explaining about some of them. However, I have NEVER published a character list on It's Not All Gumdrops & Unicorns. At least, not to my recollection.

Before publishing today's blog, listing the characters for my Flash Fiction piece, "Across The Street" was impossible. How? How could I?

Feeling stumped, how could I POSSIBLY create a character list for this particular story, that I originally wrote in 2005?

When I originally wrote the story, it was titled "Dolls" and mostly in homage to Octavio Paz's "The Blue Bouquet." It was really surprising that my Creative Writing Professor at the time enjoyed my horrifying version of the late author's Flash Fiction piece.

In "Across The Street," the characters are nameless. A young, female author is the narrator. After taking a break from writing on a dark and stormy night, she goes to bed and begins to have what are called, "false awakenings."

False awakenings are dreams within a dream. In this particular situation, the narrator's dreams are nightmares within a nightmare.

Hearing a monstrous thunderclap and a domestic disturbance from across the street break her nightmare. Being an interloper, the narrator walks across the street to her neighbors' house only to discover a domestic murder.

The husband's mutilated corpse is found propped on the floor by the narrator, inside the garage, after he attempted to rape his deranged wife. The narrator is soon held hostage by the widow.

Aside from "Across The Street," the characters in my other short stories can be viewed as darker as well as more depraved and sadistic than in the preceding piece.

Some feedback was given about the characters in "Maliciousness," "The Bill Collector," and "Psycho Vs. Psycho," over the last year or 2.

I've always considered those 3 short stories to be a "short story trilogy." According to a writing coach, "Maliciousness," "The Bill Collector," and "Psycho Vs. Psycho" would be considered a so-called "novel-in-short story."

So, why is that?

Well, all 3 short stories read like a fast pace novel and have the same recurring characters.

Anyway, here are the lists of all the characters found in "Maliciousness," "The Bill Collector," and "Psycho Vs. Psycho."

Part 1: "Maliciousness" Character List

Terry- 1st person narrator/bully explaining about his 1-sided friendship with Alice

Alice- Victim with a past vendetta against Terry, Tiffany, Carrie, Drew, and Michael

Tiffany- Terry's ex-girlfriend, who he cheated on with Carrie

Carrie- Terry's former friend/one night stand

Drew- Terry's former friend and Carrie's ex-boyfriend, who she cheated on with Terry 

Michael- Terry's former high school jock best friend and Alice's scumbag crush/prom date

Part 2: "The Bill Collector" Character List

Alice- 21-year-old petite, chunky blonde protagonist, and a Capricorn

Damon- Alice's recently unemployed live-in boyfriend, who could pass as LL Cool J's young doppelganger and spoils her with expensive birthday gifts

Alexis- Alice's feisty, Rottweiler/Doberman Pinscher that Damon bought her as a birthday gift

Greg- Somewhat resembles actor/voice actor Seth Green and is Americana's clerk and Alice's love-struck stalker with jaw dropping secrets

Gwendalyn- Americana's clerk and Greg's co-worker, who helps Alice and Damon with Alice's 21st birthday gift

Part 3: "Psycho Vs. Psycho" Character List

Alice- 21-year-old protagonist being objectified and stalked by 3 scumbags

Damon- Alice's unemployed, live-in boyfriend, who rushes to her rescue with Alexis

Alexis- Alice's feisty, Rottweiler/Doberman Pinscher that Damon bought her as a birthday gift

Greg- Americana's clerk, Gwendalyn's co-worker, and Alice's love-struck stalker going under the guise of "Larry" with jaw dropping secrets

Michael- Terry's former jock best friend and Alice's antagonistic, deranged, scumbag crush/prom date from the past with a 3-year-old high school vendetta

Tony Sausalito- Sleazy, opportunistic, Spanish American, security guard at the gas station, who is titillated by Alice

The preceding character lists are only lists for 3 of my 6 short stories. Have any thoughts regarding these 3 character lists? If so, let me know what you think!

Wow! Can you believe it? Today is the day that marks It's Not All Gumdrops & Unicorns' 6th anniversary. How's it going my gumdrops? Before I forget, Happy Birthday to Whiskey Brewer on MeWe!

While still working for my uncle, I self-built this website on September 23, 2013. In a way, I cannot help feeling somewhat disappointed that I still haven't accomplished as much as I really wanted this year.

Since 2017, I have endured a plethora of issues ranging from dealing with my mother's eternal health issues to chores, editing, revising, and submitting my short stories for publishing, contacting publishers, voice actors, editors, job hunting, etc.

Earlier this year, I was sick at least twice. For the 4th time in 19 years, I had bronchitis and a cold. Long story short, this year has been brutal.

Since this year's Q&A blog has a few jargon-filled questions, I tried answering them as best as I could by giving them the so-called "college try." Anyway, let's begin!

Kersten: What is the most difficult part about having kept a blog this long? Also, who is your favorite Horror artist?

Answer: When it comes to Horror artists (because they are more than just Metal vocalists and guitarists), I guess I would say Rob Zombie, Glenn Danzig, and Wes Borland. Even though Wes Borland is best known as Limp Bizkit's lead guitarist, he collaborates with other bands besides fronting his own.

In addition to self-building this website, managing it, generating SEO, traffic, visitors, and loyal subscribers, there is enduring social climbing opportunists, selfish and misanthropic "friends" pretending to care about me, indifference, jealousy, envy, the bitterness of others, and copycats. Also, site and server glitches. Those have been my biggest problems.

Creating a blog is nothing compared to self-building a website full of content. All the while, trying to generate exposure and attracting the right demographic.

Tard Tardnation: What's your favorite type of weather?

Answer: I love the hot summer weather. Then again, I was born ~1 week before Summer Solstice. Now that it's fall, I dread having to rake leaves and shovel snow again.

Meanwhile, rain and snow help set ominous tones to my short stories, since I mostly write Psychological Horror, Crime, and Psychological Thriller.

Jesse: Do you ever use Duolingo or Babbel to help learn a new language? I've just started using Duolingo recently because I am interested in learning German.

Answer: Yes, I have heard of both Duolingo and Babbel but have never used either. Even though it has been years since I last took German, I highly recommend the book, Komm mit! You may also want to visit the 50 Languages foreign language website and download their app.

Much like my family, I believe it is best to traditionally learn a foreign language with drills. Using apps make for great aids but it is best to have a quality foreign language book. My youngest aunt uses Duolingo to help her with learning Japanese.

According to her, Duolingo is not the best way to become fluent in a foreign language. Regardless of what foreign language you want to learn, you MUST have quality foreign language books with drills to help learn a foreign language.

DJ Scott: What's your fondest memory from blogging/blog responses?

Answer: My fondest memories actually predate building It's Not All Gumdrops & Unicorns.

For those, who didn't already know, I originally started blogging 13 years ago on Yahoo 360. This was months after graduating from Carthage College, while still battling a bleeding disorder at the time.

My English Literature Professor would sometimes use my Yahoo 360 blog as an educational sorce for his classes. More educational information was published compared to the last 6 years of blogging on here and Blogster.

Unfortunately, all good things always come to an end. This can most definitely be said about Yahoo 360. Yahoo always discontinues their best products.

Years later, I discovered the blogging community, Xanga. I regret not discovering Xanga years sooner.

Before The Xanga Team dumped their money problems into OUR laps by making it mandatory to pay to blog, which caused division within our community, I had both national AND international traffic, friends, and loyal subscribers. In addition, more readers genuinely cared about my content and I made top blogger AT LEAST a few times, 6 years ago.

C. Afflerbach: Do you like crafting? Ancient aliens? Ghosts?

Answer: The closest I will ever get to crafting is building this website. Otherwise, I always suck at crafting. As cool as crafts look, I never had that skill. 25 years later and I still suck at doing Origami.

In regards to ghosts and aliens, I'm not a huge fan of them. Blame it on Hollywood filmmakers like Steven Spielberg, for example and the media. They love spreading (as I use the cliche term) "misinformation" and stupid ass stereotypes about the paranormal and extraterrestrials.

The contrived and unrealistic scripts and special effects in Spielberg's movies only validate all those skeptics, who don't believe in ghosts and aliens. Even though I'm not a huge fan of either, I know that both DO exist, especially the paranormal.

Whiskey Brewer: Are there any cartoons you grew up watching, that you'd actually like to see remade for youngsters nowadays?

Answer: When it comes to movies and shows, including animation, you could say, that I am more of a "purist." Today's filmmakers, writers, and animators need to leave Classics alone.

Continuously remaking and rebooting movies, shows, and cartoons because they want to stay relevant only proves, that all these said entertainers lack creativity and originality.

The biggest problem with today's writers, filmmakers, cartoonists, musicians, etc. has to be the incessant political correctness, which mostly consists of CONTRIVED tokenism to pander to politically correct hipsters.

Why does Ariel from The Little Mermaid suddenly have to be black? Why does a famous superhero suddenly have to be non-heterosexual or female? Speaking of, have you seen the commercials for CW's Batwoman?

Batwoman Trailer CW (2019)

If anything, more network programmers should introduce younger viewers to Classics. Sure, they may look dated but as they get older, they may have a better appreciation for said movies, shows, and especially cartoons. They should be able to imagine what life was like during an era(s) that was before their existence.

For example, every time I watch a film that was made before, during, and slightly after I was born, that film allows me to embrace and reflect on what life was like before we had cell phones, laptops, the Internet, social media, etc.

As a 37-year-old woman, I miss the days of publicly socializing with friends and on my bedroom's phone line as a teenager, going to public places without someone staring at his cell phone, while playing video games on it, and being able to hold onto memories WITHOUT some girl snapping selfies and recording the play by play of her vapid, daily life with poses on social media for instant likes.

C.S. Michel's Questions:

1) Have you seen the trailer for the new Joker movie?

2) Have you seen Doom Patrol?

3) Do you like Erotic Anime?

My Answers:

1) Yes, I have and please reread my answer to Whiskey Brewer's question. The Batman franchise was meant to be campy. Since the time of the 21st Century, filmmakers have ruined Batman by dramatizing what was originally a campy franchise.

2) I had no idea what Doom Patrol was until Googling it, last week only to discover that it was ANOTHER DC Comic Flick. Batman, Blade, The Phantom, and The Crow are probably the only movies based on comic books, that I enjoyed. Otherwise, I was never a comic book fan. As as a teenage girl 20 years ago, I tried but comic books don't resonate with me.

3) Erotic Anime or in other words, Hentai? Since I love Anime, I am not that fast to dismiss Hentai. It has been a long time, since I last watched any Hentai.

Over the last 13 years, I have watched more Ecchi, Seinen, and Josei Anime that somewhat border the lines of Hentai Anime than actual Hentai.

Donald's Questions:

1) Over the past year, what has been the best resource you have turned toward to promote your own growth, both personal and professional?

2) The notion of incremental improvement is a powerful one, compared to yourself a year ago how have you bettered yourself and in what ways?

3) What are the best books or lectures you have interacted with on the subject of personal development?

My Answers:

1) I would say... reading articles published by John Matthew Fox, Writer's Relief, Web Design Relief, Marie Forleo, and Authors Publish. Just last week, I read this enlightening article published by Thriller author, Joanna Penn about Comparisonitis.

2) While re-revising my short stories recently, I noticed that I am able to mentally re-edit certain lines as I type. I believe that spending HOURS editing and revising all the blogs I've published over these last 6 years, from night to beyond sunrise made me a better writer.

Despite what pompous elitists (including some delusional Fan Fiction writers) think, BLOGGING is a fantastic way to improve writing skills. Blogging is journaling for the most part.

3) Please reread Answer #1.

So, how did I do with answering all your questions?

By giving it the "good ol' college try," I answered each question to the best of my ability.

If I misunderstood your questions, I apologize. However, I will NOT apologize for MY opinions in regards to today's Hollywood entertainment and how political correctness is destroying it with contrived tokenism.

So, thank you my gumdrops! Please leave your feedback in the comments section below!

Or should I have said, "season" or "year"? How's it going my gumdrops?

Wow! Fall is creeping around the corner already. Yes, I know I haven't blogged as much these last 2 years.

In case you haven't already noticed or learned, most of my time has been preoccupied offline. These last 2 years have been incredibly stressful. This past weekend was also rough.

Webs' glitches, the discontinuation of pages and features, that I have been using since the time of building this website, and Google Plus banning my account TWICE, before the announcement of their shut down last fall, contributed to my already pre-existing distress.

I already have the distress of playing caregiver to my mother. All the while, job hunting as employers play their mind games, doing yard work, revising my short stories, contacting book publishers, editors, contacting voice actors regarding a collaboration(s) for my future audiobook, maintaining both physical and mental health, etc.

If you haven't read the About page (which is the main page) recently, I have been updating more information over the last week or so. In fact, I have updated quite a bit on It's Not All Gumdrops & Unicorns over the last week or so and archived more previously published blogs into more recent blogs.

Even though I barely blogged this year, I kept sending you updates via e-mail blasts every so many days. Just to think, it will be 6 YEARS, since the time of building my website, It's Not All Gumdrops & Unicorns on September 23rd. Where has the time gone!

Speaking of It's Not All Gumdrops & Unicorns, I typically publish an annual Q&A blog in celebration of the site's anniversary. It's Not All Gumdrops & Unicorns is normally decorated in the Halloween colors orange, green, purple, and black.

Where is the usual Halloween Spirit, Anna?

Well, I read earlier this year about the certain types of shades and colors authors should use for our author websites. Considering that most of my short stories are Psychological Horror, Psychological Thriller, and Crime Fiction, it is best to have black, red, gray, and white.

With my own creativity, I managed to incorporate those specific shades and colors for the current appearance of this website.

The current appearance of It's Not All Gumdrops & Unicorns consists of a cloudy, gray sky. I feel the gray clouds help give an ominous setting and tone to this website. The blog links are bolded in black. Hovering and clicking on the blog links flashes red.

Meanwhile, the font is mostly gray. Originally, the font was completetly black with gray blog links.

After someone complained about my website's black font, I switched the shade by making the font gray. The gray font makes it easier for most to read (or at least I hope so). I always learn something new every time I experiment with this site. As always, I digress.

To get back on topic in regards to celebrating the 6th anniversary of It's Not All Gumdrops & Unicorns, do you have any questions for the kooky, 1-woman show that is I?

Surely, you must have AT LEAST 1 question for moi. The deadline for your questions is September 22nd. As long as there are NO glitches, I plan on publishing the answers to all your questions on September 23rd.

In case you missed the previous Q&A's and want to learn more about me, click HERE.

Leave your questions in the comments section below.

How's it going my gumdrops? In the middle of searching for images to use for future blogs, I happened to discover the gif above.

I thought to myself, "Hmm... I never published a blog specifically about the topic of blood before. This gif would be perfect for a blog about hemophobia. Then, I can archive the blog link for blogs about fears/phobias."

In case you have not already guessed, today's blog is NOT about hemophilia. It is about hemophobia. Hemophobia is the fear or phobia of blood.

The more I thought about hemophobia, I chose to conduct online research about it, hoping to find informative articles about the phobia. Low and behold, there are at least several.

Stumbling upon the website, FearOf.Net, I discovered that it is a website specifically dedicated to a plethora of phobias. When visiting FearOf.Net's main page, there is an Anxiety Test, as well as lists of the Top 10 and Top 100 Phobias. Of course, 4 of mine made the Top 10 List.

Don't be fooled. Just because I am a Horror fan and author, doesn't mean I don't have any phobias of my own. My biggest phobia made Number 1 and must be slayed every time I walk inside and outside the house, throughout spring, summer, and early fall.

To solve any confusions some might already have, being hemophobic is NOT the same as being terrified of needles (trypanophobic). Trypanophobia is more common than hemophobia.

How many people do you know personally enjoy having blood work done and/ shots taken at hospitals/clinics?

Both shots and blood work can be extremely painful. This is especially if you have a ruthless nurse holding a needle in his/her hands just to brutally stab you with it.

Hemophobics typically experience symptoms such as anxiety (duh), nausea, increased heart rate, sweating, and trembling at the sight of blood.

Sudden drops in blood pressure and heart rate leading to pallor or weakness and fainting at the sight of blood are soon to follow.

Some have been caused to have a fear of blood due to traumatic and tragic experiences. Bloody images shown on TV and movies can also contribute to hemophobia.

It goes without saying that genres, sub-genres, and themes that are "near and dear to my heart," so to say (Horror, Thriller, Crime, serial killers, etc.) are mostly to blame for hemophobia. Well, the objective is to frighten audiences, after all. Otherwise, we wouldn't be doing our jobs.

Anyway, if you would like to participate in the poll taking, statistical data, and are more curious about hemophobia specifically, don't be too horrified to LEARN MORE.

So, did I happen to traumatize anyone with the display of blood?

How's it going my gumdrops? In the middle of searching for pictures in regards to phobias, I believe my heart sank, as I jumped back against my bedroom wall each time I saw mine. It had to have been at least 5 times. The chills it makes me feel every time I see it.

Even though I am forced to deal with my number 1 phobia almost every time I walk inside and outside the house, it seems too common of a phobia. There are too many pictures of it.

You may be wondering, "Anna, are you afraid of snakes?" No, for the most part, I happen to like snakes. That's as long as they're not poisonous like the cobra above.

Regardless, I will choose reptiles over bugs and insects every time. Considering all things frightening, what REALLY triggers your fears?

We are all afraid of something(s). Maybe it is a certain Horror sub-genre or film, that INVOKES your fears.

Or, maybe it is a certain day of the week, month, holiday, person, place, or thing that EVOKES your fears. Below are blog links with some topics regarding the Horror genre and phobias.

Overkill In Horror Today: Is The Zombie Craze Highly Overrated? (2014)

Why Are Some People Coulrophobic? (2014)

Paraskevidekatriaphobia: Fear Of Friday The 13th (2017)

Don't Faint, Hemophobics! It's Only Blood! (2019)

More blog links are subject to be added, in the near future.

How's it going my gumdrops? Have you ever wondered about foreign folklores? If so, there are currently 8 blog links to choose from below!

Cartoon Sunday: Fruits Basket (2015)

The 13 Yule Lads Before & During Christmas In Iceland (2015)

Do Irish Horror Folktales Really Exist In Ireland?! (2016)

Shinigami In Japanese Folklores (2016)

Revisiting The Gremlins Franchise & Mogwais In Chinese Folklores (2016)

Gruss vom Krampus! (2016)

Want To Learn More About Leprechauns? (2017)

What Are My Thoughts About Grimm's Series Finale? (2017)

Also, what are your thoughts? Don't forget to like, share, and leave your feedback in the comments section!

How's it going my gumdrops? The About page for It's Not All Gumdrops & Unicorns only gives a brief outline, you might say about me as a blogger, webmaster, and as a New Adult Psychological Horror, Psychological Thriller, and Crime Fiction author.

So, want to learn more about a kook like moi as a person? Click on the following blog links:

What Blogsterians Don't Know About Me (2013)

It's Not All Gumdrops & Unicorns: Q&A #1 (2014)

It's Not All Gumdrops & Unicorns: Q&A #2 (2014)

Here's More About Yours Truly, Horror-Punks, And Others (2015)

It's Not All Gumdrops & Unicorns' 2nd Birthday [Q&A EDITION] (2015)

Why Do I Publish Song Saturday + Cartoon Sunday Blogs? (2016)

How I Label Content On It's Not All Gumdrops & Unicorns (2016)

How Morbid Am I Really? (2016)

It's Not All Gumdrops & Unicorns 3rd Anniversary: Q&A (2016)

Questions About Music, Anime, + Pets (2017)

It's Not All Gumdrops And Unicorns Q+A 2017 [Part 1] (2017)

It's Not All Gumdrops And Unicorns Q+A 2017 [Part 2] (2017)

It's Not All Gumdrops & Unicorns Q&A 2018 [2018]

It's Not All Gumdrops & Unicorns 6th Anniversary Q&A (2019)

More blog links are subject to be added in the near future.

How's it going my gumdrops? Recently, I combed through pages of previously published blogs. Originally, I was going to add a few to the About page on It's Not All Gumdrops & Unicorns. That was until I realized there are numerous of blogs, that have been previously published over the last 6 years about writing.

Because there are so many, here is a list of links to all my previously published blogs about writing.

People Who Can't Handle Constructive Criticism (2013)

What About My Writing And How To Handle Writer's Block? (2013)

Guess Who Has Done Sleep Writing? (2013)

What Was It Like Taking Creative Writing Classes In High School And College? (2014)

How About Scheduling Time For Writing? (2014)

What Are My Thoughts About Audiobooks & Soundtracks As An Aspiring Author? (2014)

How About Writing More Short Realistic Fiction? (2014)

Writer's Relief's Top 10 Horror Writers Countdown (2016)

Learning About New Adult Fiction (2016)

NOOO! There Are Too Many Horror Authors! Should I Switch Genres? [2018]

About The Short Story Trilogy I Recently Submitted To Writer's Relief [2018]

HAPPY HALLOWEEN GUMDROPS!!! It appears that the engineers are STILL unable to fix the eternal glitches on Webs. Webs is partly why I stopped blogging on It's Not All Gumdrops & Unicorns this year.

As some of you already know, it has been a tad over a month, since I last published a blog on It's Not All Gumdrops & Unicorns. A long overdue blog update was published on OMG, Anna! What's Going On?! 2 weeks ago.

When visiting OMG, Anna! What's Going On?! make sure to copy and paste the following blog link:

omgannawhatsgoingon.blogspot.com/2018/10/what-roller-coaster-2018-has-been.html

Even though I have not published more blogs this year {especially for October 2018}, doesn't mean you can't watch, listen, and read previously published blogs. On It's Not All Gumdrops & Unicorns, there are 5 years worth of content.

For Halloween (that's if you are still interested), click on the previously published blog links below.

Updates, Updates, & More Updates (2016)

Halloween Special Updates (2016)

2 Classic Horror-Punk Songs With More Halloween Updates (2017)

In addition, here is a Cartoon Sunday blog that was published 2 weeks after Halloween last year.

Cartoon Sunday: Noella Borie's The Face Shop (2017)

In case you didn't already know, I submitted 3 of my short stories to Writer's Relief for reviews. "Maliciousness," "The Bill Collector," and "Psycho Vs. Psycho" were the 3 short stories I submitted.

Because all 3 stories are centered around the character, Alice I view them as being The Alice Trilogy. The first 2 short stories were written 12-13 years ago for Creative Writing. Both were bound to my Carthage College chapbook but are unpublished.

"Psycho Vs. Psycho" on the other hand, was written 6 years ago. It is in continuation of "The Bill Collector." The opening for "Psycho Vs. Psycho" picks up where "The Bill Collector" left off; "The Bill Collector's" ending segues into "Psycho Vs. Psycho."

When you really think about it, those 2 particular stories are parts 1 and 2 of "The Bill Collector." At the same time, "Psycho Vs. Psycho" could also be seen as the conclusion to "Maliciousness."

In "Maliciousness," Terry went as far as tricking Alice into eating an Oreo Cookie, that he previously had in his mouth. Terry sucked the cream filling out of the Oreo, stuck it back together, and fooled Alice into eating it, when they were 2nd graders.

As the years progressed, Alice had time to swear vengeance against Terry and their so-called friends, Tiffany, Carrie, and Drew.

Considerting that Michael Dimitrius Peyton was Alice's high school crush/prom date at the time, she did not expect his deception.

It was not until their prom night, that Alice overheard Mike colluding with Terry over his cell phone about taking her virginity. Those 2 lowlives betted on Alice losing her virginity to Michael.

After she lost her virginity to Mike, he bragged about it in his cell phone message to Terry. That bet was the worst prank they ever played on Alice. However, Terry and Mike did not get the last laugh.

Both antagonists squandered years seething over Alice and began referring to her as "Malice." Although, Mike carried his vendetta towards Alice 3 years after high school.

Michael Dimitrius Peyton mostly spent 3 years seething over Alice's malicious intent towards Tiffany, Terry, Carrie, Drew, and himself. After what she did to them, Mike felt compelled to retaliate against Alice 3 years later. He had his half-brother, Greg stalk her by posing as a bill collector named "Larry," in "The Bill Collector."

While sending Alice and her boyfriend, Damon harassing phone calls about supposedly having delinquent payments on her laptop, Greg becomes madly in love with Alice in "The Bill Collector."

In "Psycho Vs. Psycho," Alice is unexpectedly reunited with her old high school crush/prom date. In this particular short story, readers should expect murder, mayhem, mystery, dark humor, and fights.

"Psycho Vs. Psycho" has the most activity, which should really hook the readers. Not that "Maliciousness" and "The Bill Collector" ever had problems inciting controversy, but "Psycho Vs. Psycho's" writing has the most depth and depravity.

More time was spent on the dialogue than the narration. I believe that readers will favor "Psycho Vs. Psycho" over "Maliciousness" and "The Bill Collector." In "Psycho Vs. Psycho," readers will have a chance to learn just how merciless Alice can be.

All those who are members on this site, should be able to sign in and read the latest excerpts on the Horror/Thriller page. A few months ago, I added excerpts from all 6 of my short stories to the Horror/Thriller page. Therefore, I highly encourage you to take the time to sign in and read them.

Hopefully, you enjoyed today's blog. I managed to squeeze in time from my hectic schedule on HALLOWEEN to explain about the short stories I submitted to Writer's Relief.

Thank you my gumdrops! Don't forget to like, share, and let me know what you think!

How's it going my gumdrops? Can you believe that 2018 will be over in 4 more months? I can't believe how much time has gone passed. This year did not exactly go the way I planned, which is highly disappointing. Realizing this makes me feel unaccomplished.

Throughout every year, I always hope for the better but it seems like everything keeps getting worse. Today is the 5th anniversary of It's Not All Gumdrops & Unicorns. There are fewer questions this year. Here are the following questions I have answered:

Zombified: How do you think things with your website will evolve in the future?

Answer: Honestly, I have no idea. Webs' engineers need to hurry with their repairs. They are that 1 straw breaking every camel's back. In other words, most of us, who use Webs as a platform for publishing content like myself and/ business owners are suffering.

As I explained to a Webs Customer Service Representative over the phone last Friday, we have been losing customers, subscribers, traffic, etc. It all depends on what that person is using Webs for.

I personally use Webs' service for publishing and sharing excerpts of my short stories for only members of It's Not All Gumdrops & Unicorns to read on the Horror/Thriller page. That's along with blogging normally at least 2-3 days a week.

Earlier this year (late January to be more specific), I stopped blogging on It's Not All Gumdrops & Unicorns and started experimenting again on Blogger.

After building my 2nd Blogger page, OMG, Anna! What's Going On?! I noticed there were less problems with publishing my blogs. Also, the features that us bloggers can use on Blogger like scheduling blogs to be published and meta tagging WITHOUT any glitches are free.

Not having to pay for more artistic designs on Blogger is another bonus.

Countless times over these last 5 years, I have said that WordPress is highly overrated and overpriced for vapid designs and is user unfriendly. This statement still holds true today. The ball is currently in everyone else' court other than mine.

Only YOU can help generate traffic to content by liking, sharing, and having discussions. Discussions especially generate THE MOST traffic to a website.

Marquis DeBlood: What inspired you to start writing?

Answer: This is a great question. Since elementary school, I learned how to create my own short stories. My teachers in 1st and 2nd grade made us draw pictures and write short stories.

By 3rd grade, my English teacher gave us a monthly chart with ideas to create stories with for assignments. Once it reached October, we had to create our own Halloween stories. You, as well as some other Horror fans would've loved those assignments in school.

That year in October, I really had fun. I wrote short stories about werewolves, zombies, vampires, and Chucky from Child's Play. Looking back, I suppose that would've been labeled as "Fan Fiction," before Fan Fiction was ever a term or a website. Not that I support Fan Fiction, but you get my point.

After becoming a teenager, that was when I really became interested in Creative Writing.

As a form of personal catharsis, I wrote angry poetry, when I wasn't creating my own characters and short stories. During my high school senior year, I had a disparaging teacher for Creative Writing Class. 

That same teacher claimed, that all my stories and poems were "depressing." Maybe some of my poems were but NOT my stories. You have read some of the excerpts of my short stories on my Horror/Thriller page to know, that they are NOT "depressing."

After minoring In Creative Writing in college, my professors appreciated my work. Those disparaging remarks didn't stop me from graduating college with a Creative Writing Minor.

In a nutshell, that red-headed, divorced cow (or pig) from high school, along with my asshole study hall monitor, who labeled me as "The Next Columbine Student" can go fuck themselves to Icy Hot.

BTW: I added more excerpts to the Horror/Thriller page. Whenever you have the chance, I highly encourage every member to sign in and read them.

Robert: What is your favorite album of all time?

Answer: That is a tough question to answer. After being exposed to numerous music genres, sub-genres, and albums by so many mainstream and underground bands and singers, I cannot name only 1 album. The following is a list of my favorite albums:

Gravity Kills' Gravity Kills and Perversion

Stabbing Westward's Wither, Blister, Burn, & Peel and Darkest Days

Lords Of Acid's Lust, Voodoo-U, and Our Little Secret

Stone Temple Pilots' Core, Purple, and No. 4

Type O Negative's Bloody Kisses and October Rust

KoRn's KoRn, Life Is Peachy, Follow The Leader, and Untouchables

Dokken's Breaking The Chains and Back For The Attack

London After Midnight's Psycho Magnet

Lacuna Coil's In a Reverie, Unleashed Memories, and Comalies

My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult's A Crime For All Seasons

The preceding list only names a few of my favorite albums.

With all that has been answered, did you enjoy learning anything new from today's Q&A blog? What are your thoughts?

In the near future, I always look forward to seeing more of you on It's Not All Gumdrops & Unicorns and on OMG, Anna! What's Going On?! Thank you!