Michael David Wilson

Now onto the LIVE THIS IS HORROR PODCAST party …

This is going down later today or tomorrow depending on your time zone. Conversation, readings, book giveaways, and an interactive chatroom with This Is Horror Podcast hosts, Michael David Wilson and Bob Pastorella. But it would be neither much of a party nor a launch without the help of some very special guests. Joining This Is Horror hosts will be our dear friends and super-talented writers and podcasters, Lisa Quigley and Mackenzie Kiera of The Ladies of the Fright.

Where?

Head over to https://mixlr.com/thisishorror/ for the full experience including the live chatroom. You can sign up for mixlr or you can login via Facebook. We recommend logging in ahead of time so you don’t miss any of the show.

You should also be able to listen to it above but we recommend the link with the chatroom.

Meet The Guests

Michael David Wilson, the author of The Girl in the Video, the very book in which we’re launching. He is also the founder of the popular UK horror website, podcast, and publisher, This Is Horror (hang on, that’s this website). A professional writer, editor, and podcaster, Michael’s work has appeared in various publications including The NoSleep Podcast, Dark Moon Digest, LitReactor, Hawk & Cleaver’s The Other Stories, and Scream. His second novella, House of Bad Memories, lands 2021 via Grindhouse Press. You can connect with Michael on Twitter @WilsonTheWriter. For more information visit www.michaeldavidwilson.co.uk

Bob Pastorella is the author of the weird crime novella, Mojo Rising, and the zombie western short story, ‘To Watch Is Madness’. Bob is featured in Warmed & Bound: A Velvet Anthology, The Booked. Anthology, In Search of a City: Los Angeles in 1000 Words, and Borderlands 6. His fiction has been published widely both online and in print, and he is a former columnist for ManArchy Magazine and Revolt Daily. Bob lives in Southeast Texas, and is currently working on several projects including a collaborative novella with Michael David Wilson, Peeper Ritual.

Lisa Quigley Hell's Bells Ladies of the Fright Podcast host

Lisa Quigley is a writer, mother, wife, and irreverent witch living in New Jersey. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of California Riverside’s low residency program in Palm Desert. She reads and writes horror and dark fantasy because that’s what makes her feel the most raw. Her work has appeared on The Manifest Station and Dwarf + Giant. She has a background in magazine publishing, and she is a professor of literature. Her debut novella, Hell’s Bells will be out in May 2020.

Mackenzie Kiera Ladies of the Fright horror podcast host

Mackenzie Kiera is the author of 30+ articles, essays and short stories. She has been a contributing author for Gamut Magazine and The Last Bookstore’s Dwarf+Giant, where she reviewed books and interviewed various authors. Currently she is working on her second novel and is a contributor to The Mighty. If she’s not writing or reading Mackenzie is either running with her rescue dogs or she and her husband are saving the world from zombies. Mackenzie’s work can be found at mackenziekiera.contently.com.

Hakone Japan by Michael David Wilson

A week or so ago I looked back at my goals for 2019 and now it’s time to look forward to my 2020 goals. And whilst I admit that announcing my 2020 goals in February might seem a little late, I set these at the start of the year and have been dutifully working away at them for the last month or so.

Next month I’m returning to Japan and I’m hoping to take my Japanese language to the next level which is why so many of these goals are focussed on language learning. I’ve also set a number of writing and podcast goals. With that said, let’s jump into them.

Japanese Language Goals

Clear Anki listening deck at least once per week

Most of the people I know who can speak near-fluent Japanese credit Anki for a lot of their success. It seems of all the language learning methods and programmes, Anki is amongst the most successful. When applying the 80-20 rule (how can I exert 20% of the effort for 80% of the results), Anki and other spaced repetition flashcard programmes come up again-and-again. With that in mind, it’s a key part of my language learning routine. But my goodness are there a lot of flashcards to memorise and review. As long as I can clear the deck once every week then I’ll consider this goal a success. If I clear it multiple times then bonus!

Finish WaniKani

WaniKani is another spaced repetition flashcard programme. But whilst I’m using Anki predominantly to memorise Japanese phrases and sharpen my listening skills, WaniKani is purely for learning the kanji. WaniKani was one of the first Japanese language learning programmes I took seriously. So much so that the last time I was in Japan I knew a disproportionate amount of kanji for my speaking level (which was awfully low). In recent years I’ve let my WaniKani practice slip which is why I’m setting myself the ambitious (read ‘stupid’) goal of finishing the entire thing by the time 2020 ends.

Get N4 JLPT certificate

I’ve never taken a formal Japanese Language Proficiency Test but I think it’s time to remedy that. There are five levels, 5 being the easiest, 1 the most difficult. I’m easing my way in and signing up for the N4. No prizes for guessing what one of my goals for 2021 will be …

Complete DuoLingo

Duolingo is a relatively easy entry-level language learning app. And whilst it’s not going to level-up my language as quickly as WaniKani or Anki, it’s certainly a lot more interesting and enjoyable. So it’s time to complete Duolingo, at least with regards to Japanese.

Writing Goals

2 Novels/Novellas accepted for publication

Last year was mostly about short fiction (you can find links to many of my stories here) but this year I’d like to see more of my longer fiction readying itself for the big wide world. In a couple of months, The Girl in the Video, will launch, and the year after House of Bad Memories, via Grindhouse Press, but I’d like to have at least another two pieces of long-form fiction lined up for publication.

15 stories published

But I won’t be abandoning the short story. Last year I reached my ’10 stories published’ goal with a grand total of 12. This year I’m aiming for three more. This may be the most ambitious of my writing goals, everything else considered. That said, I’m off to a good start with the aforementioned The Girl in the Video and my short story ‘Don’t Punch Kyle’ which will be appearing in Dim Shores Presents Vol. 2.

Write a new novel/novella

Whilst I have a number of stories in the bank and ready to go, I’m always producing and want to keep things fresh. By the end of the year, they’ll be at least another novel or novella in the story vault, ready to ship to publishers and readers.

Podcast Goals

300 Patrons

Last year This Is Horror Podcast Patreon reached 200 patrons, this year I’m aiming for 100 more. The year has got off to a rocky start and we’re actually a few patrons down but Bob Pastorella and I are working towards this the only way we know how: putting out high-quality episodes as often as possible. As of today we’ve already put out ten This Is Horror Podcast episodes and we’re only in the first week of February.

So, how about you? What are your goals for 2020? Sound off in the comments or let me know over on Twitter @wilsonthewriter.