During that time, I regularly hosted Diabolical Radio, an internet radio show devoted to horror and entertainment—retro entertainment to anybody born after ’91. After the glitch ruined my weekend, I almost forgot I was supposed to record an interview with Gary A. Braunbeck. I was so distraught that I nearly canceled it.
My career is thankful that I didn’t do that.
Braunbeck called in on time and we talked for almost four hours. During that talk, I told him about what had happened to Angel Board. He insisted that I should start writing it again right away. If I waited, I would completely lose the passion I felt for the story. He made me promise him that when we finished talking, I would start writing again. Of course, I reminded him it was nearly one in the morning, but he said that didn’t matter. And after we were done talking, I staggered back to the bedroom, to the little corner that I called my office and got back to work. I rewrote the prologue and first chapter that night, going to bed as the sun was coming up. My wife woke me for breakfast a little after eight.
Though I’d had very little sleep, I felt completely energized. The prologue was shorter in the rewrite, but so much better. And I cut out a lot of writing in the first chapter that wasn’t needed. I got right back to work on it. I wrote daily, not stopping until a draft was completed.
While I worked on the book, I continued to interview authors for my radio show. I struck up friendships that I hold close to my heart even now. Guys like Ronald Malfi, Jeff Strand, Edward Lee, Jack Ketchum, Wrath James White, Brian Keene, and even John Saul have been so helpful along the way. But it wasn’t until I was invited by Heather Graham to attend a writer’s conference in New Orleans that I began to think I might actually make it as a writer. There I met Heather Graham (who’d come on the radio show as well), Kathleen Pickering, Aleka Nakis, and Traci Hall. Except for Heather, none of these wonderful ladies were horror authors, but they taught—and continued to teach—me so much about writing.
I had written three novels by this time and was working on a fourth, and the completed three sat on a flashdrive, untouched. I attended a few pitch sessions while in New Orleans with some great editors and talked about Angel Board. The enthusiasm it garnered made me wonder if I should return to it, polish it up and try submitting it again, but this time to other companies.
But I put it on hold so I could just keep writing fresh stories. I finished a book and was in love with it. At the time, it was called Haunchies, but is now called The Lurkers. I was in love with this book and devoted all my time to it. I submitted sample chapters all over. I sent it to publishers and agents, hoping it would land me a deal of some kind.
A pile of rejection slips came back.
While I collected a novel of No thank yous, I began working with a producer on a low budget horror-comedy movie called Rags. We were in the middle of pre-production when I lost my father. My world changed in an instant. After the movie was completed, I no longer cared much about writing. It was my father who was the biggest supporter of it, even more than my wife, and she was a constant driving force. I lost touch with my writer buddies the following summer. I didn’t write for five months. And this was a guy who couldn’t last a day without at least writing a sentence since he was eleven years old.
This time, it was Heather Graham who saved me with a post on Facebook. I actually looked it up not too long ago and read it again. This was 2010, and she commented on some pictures I’d posted from the Rags shoot. Then she sent me a private message, asking how I was doing with all that had happened. We talked for a while about things. When I confessed I hadn’t written in months, she demanded I come to New Orleans again.
That trip to New Orleans is still a little hazy to me, and not only because of the abundance of alcohol I consumed while I was there. This was before I learned I have a liver disease that has pretty much killed barhopping for me. But it was a great weekend, and I left there with a renewed passion for writing, but also a heavy burden of guilt for neglecting it for all those months.
I started work on Angel Board yet again the following Monday, and kept working on it until I had completely polished it. Some things were dropped, others added, but overall it was for the better. I was very proud of the book when it was done.
I sent it to three people right away: Ronald Malfi, Jeff Strand, and Traci Hall.
While they read the book, I started polishing another novel of mine: The Lurkers.
It took a little while for them to find time to read over Angel Board, but I eventually got notes from all three. I read them over, listening to their suggestions about the story and studying what they said about grammar and style. I still overdid it a lot in that draft of Angel Board, taking a very long time to get my point across. All three said the same thing in some form—I was very good, but I needed to be quicker in getting to the point.
With that in mind, I reworked Angel Board again. Then I sent it back to them while I began work on a new book.
Malfi was the first to respond. I’ll give a brief recount of our conversation.
“I like the rewrite,” said Malfi. “A lot!”
“Great! Did I get it right?”
“The story was always fine, but now you’ve told it in a much better way.”
“Thanks, Ron. That means a lot. Is it good enough for me to submit it?”
“Absolutely. I already sent it over to Don D’Auria for you. He’s starting a horror line with Samhain Publishing. Send him a follow-up email to introduce yourself and tell him I sent you.”
I was speechless. He’d enjoyed the book enough to vouch for it. Not only was I honored, but I was very intimidated and nervous. I had been a fervent member of the Leisure Book Club and was very aware of who Don was. He’d edited many of my favorite books. I took Malfi’s encouragement and used it to build strength in myself, to motivate my thought process into accepting that I was a real writer. Not the best, but okay enough that he Malfi stamped it with his approval. And Don’s opinion of the book would tell me if it had legs of its own to stand on.
I sent that follow-up email to Don. He responded rather quickly and said he was looking forward to reading it.
A little over a month later, I received the email that would set me on this path. Don liked the book. And he liked it enough to acquire it for publication. In October 2011, it was released in eBook and paperback. It’s done rather well so far, and garnered me a lot of female readers because of the romance aspect to it, but overall, it’s a full-blown horror novel, heavily influenced by Clive Barker, Edward Lee, and of course, Richard Laymon.
A lot has happened in my life since I began writing Angel Board in 2009. Bad and good. But all of it has helped sculpt me into who I am today spiritually, physically and mentally. When I look back over my notes from 2009, I see the writings of a guy who no longer exists. That was a very angry guy, trapped in some very dark convictions. I’m happy about how far I’ve come, not just as a writer, but as a person.
And I’m very proud to finally have Detectives Stiltson and Giles as main characters in a novel. They returned for small roles in Oak Hollow, and I’m sure they will eventually show up in another story. Stiltson has been calling a lot lately, and he asks when I might need his services again.
I think that time is drawing near.
Kristopher Rufty
July 2014
About the Author
Kristopher Rufty lives in North Carolina with his wife, three children, and pets. He’s written numerous books, including Something Violent, The Vampire of Plainfield, Jagger, The Lurkers, The Skin Show, Pillowface, and more. If he goes more than two days without writing, he becomes very irritable and hard to be around, which is why he’s often sent to his desk without supper.
For more about Kristopher Rufty, please visit his Website www.lastkristontheleft.blogspot.com
He can be found on Facebook and Twitter as well.
“He was
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapt
er Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Afterward
Angel Board Page 25
