Life at Open Heart Publishing

Posts Tagged ‘publisher’

We here at Open Heart Publishing have had a ton of work on our plates but one bite at a time deadlines are being met and production is moving forward. With everything coming up on us in the next weeks I wanted to, halfway through; introduce you to our fearless leader, the Dictator of Deadlines, Debrin Case.

I remember when I first saw the friend request from An Honest Lie in my Facebook in box. I thought, “What the hell is an honest lie?” I’m glad I did the research because I was more than pleasantly surprised at what I found. There are so many small publishers out there, and I’m not one to point fingers, but Open Heart Publishing struck me immediately as one of the better ones. At the time Debrin was hiring and I was determined to get in on the Publishing business so I sent him an email. It wasn’t long before he got back to me and within a week he’d given me a call. I remember one of the first things he said to me was,

“I have to warn you I get a bit nervous around new people and when I’m nervous I cuss.”

It seems like such a small thing but it made him more real to me, more human, more accessible than the other interviewers I’ve had to deal with. I didn’t get the job then but Debrin and I remained in contact. When the time came he called me first and I appreciate it.

Debrin is a man with a focus and a plan and he does a fantastic job of bringing us all together to accomplish our goals. He may seem gentle and unassuming on the surface, but don’t be fooled he has an iron will and a remarkable depth of talent. He graces the Pages of An Honest Lie Volume 2 with a tale called Learning to Pray. today though we are going to talk to him about Open Heart Publishing and what exciting things are in store for us. But I’ll let him tell you about it.

Open heart Publishing: So you are the man who started it all. I feel I would not only be remiss if I didn’t ask, but I might get a few less than pleasant emails as well, so, what do you feel is a delusion of insignificance?

Debrin Case: I feel it would be a travesty for me to interpret the meaning of this year’s theme or the masthead . This is something I would rather leave to the interpretation of the individual reader as opposed to defining it and ruining all of the fun.

OHP: I can understand that. What is An Honest Lie?

D. C.: Like a Delusion of Insignificance, I feel it would be a travesty for me to interpret the meaning of this year’s theme or the masthead. This is something I would rather leave to the interpretation of the individual reader as opposed to defining it and ruining all of the fun.

OHP: Looks like we are going to be sticking with the party line on that one. But I asked him! No angry emails! Open Heart Publishing and the An Honest Lie anthologies are becoming pretty popular pretty fast; tell us something about where you are planning to take them in the future.

D.C.: AHL is heading into its second volume and wow what a great collection of authors we have found for our readership this year. It does my heart good to see a new cast of amazing authors to work with for volume 2, and as we get ready to embark on volume 3 it can only get better. As to what else to expect from Open Heart Publishing, the best advice I have is to keep checking us out. A wonderful collection of short stories from C.B. Calsing entitled All Along the Pacific will be available later this year, the winner of AHL Vol. 1 will be announced, yet another wonderful opportunity project, and of course Volume 2 of An Honest Lie should be available by late October.

OHP: I can hardly wait; it’s looking pretty good right now. Is your desire to publish other writers as strong as your need to write?

D.C.: Absolutely, in some ways it is even stronger. They are both important sides of me and my own personal missions of creating accessible fiction, and to promote and find new authors.

OHP: I’ve read some of your work and I know what’s waiting in the wings as far as Open Heart Publishing goes, I find your imagination fascinating. Where do you draw your inspiration from?

D.C.: Like all artists, and the rest of humanity, my inspiration is an amalgamation of everything I intake into my life. Whether this is through food, drink, music, movies, T.V., books, internet, conversations with strangers, moments of road rage… etc, in the end everything I do is a byproduct of everything I have consumed.

OHP: so many bathroom jokes and waste to writing comparisons to make, so little time. In your opinion, which is the more important discovery of humankind… plumbing or the written word?

D.C.: Definitely plumbing. Though I would like to believe that the written word has changed the world far more vastly than any other human invention, it has also brought about more debacles, damnations and epiphanies than any other invention before or after. Yet, it is in fact plumbing that has done more in the ways of health, safety and the unity of mankind than was ever dreamed of before. Just like pants that go on one leg at a time, so too do we discover that everyone goes to the bathroom and perhaps this could be the very medium by which world peace could be achieved.

OHP: People miss the simplest things sometimes. Are you a writer or a publisher first?

D.C.: I am dictator first, everything else is highly suspect.

OHP: Are there any authors, besides yourself, that you enjoy reading?

D.C.: There are thousands of authors out there besides myself that I love to read. Too many to list and to many egos to inflame or deflate by a mere mention or deletion from that list. I am a voracious reader, and in fact often read books without trying to discover anything about an author before I devour their work.

OHP: Who would you say is your writing mentor/ hero?

D.C.: My writing heroine is Ariel Gore, her book How to Become a Famous Author before You Are Dead is like a bible to me. I read it far more religiously than I ever read any assumed to be “Holy” text. If you are an author or a publisher and have not read this book, then stop reading this article now and hit Google, or whatever search engine you prefer, and find out more about this amazing book right this second. Seriously, you won’t regret it.

OHP: I haven’t read it yet … I know, I know. Do you have a writing nemesis?

D.C.: I sure do, and I have to see that bastard every morning when I get out of bed and wander my way into the bathroom. If you never realize that you are your own worst critic and at times your own worst enemy then perhaps you need to reexamine your artistic endeavors.
Being an artist is about introspection, and introspection is not as easy as getting your temperature taken, on the contrary it is more akin to exploratory surgery on a primitive battlefield where the doctors are still blissfully unaware of the concept of infections caused by dirty hands.

OHP: Indeed! I know how much work goes into producing an awesome literary product; do you have any advice for aspiring publishers out there?

D.C.: Keep to your deadlines. Nothing else matters above your word and keeping to your deadlines.

Is your life in shambles, can’t pay the rent, need a new car… tough shit, keep to your deadlines.

The world is doomed, the wrong political candidate won the election, there is a race of mutant rats overthrowing your city… ah well, stick to your deadlines.

An author needs an extension on their piece, an artist is having issues, your printer is going away on holiday, who cares… Keep your deadlines.

OHP: Why do you feel the need to write?

D.C.: Communication. Communication and communion with the rest of the human race is the endeavor of all people the world over. Whether this is via speech, interpretive dance, collages, decoupage, crochet or writing the need is the same it is in its presentation where we discover all of the dissimilar ways in which we are so similar.

OHP: Besides short stories what other writing endeavors are you currently engaged in?

D.C.: Tons of them. Currently I am working on 4 different books, and I am preparing 3 more volumes to be published this year by Open Heart Publishing.

OHP: It has been a pleasure picking your brain. Just a few more questions; what do you feel about the following quote “Imagination is more important than knowledge?”

D.C.: I believe Einstein was more accurate than he could have ever dreamed, and as the day’s move forward into months, then years, decades and eventually eons we will see just how far down the rabbit hole we can go while taking what we perceived of as reality along for the ride.

OHP: According to Anatole France “To die for an idea is to set a rather high price on conjecture,” in your opinion what do you believe is worth dying for? What do you believe is worth living for?

D.C.: I believe that everything is worth living for, I have yet to find one truly worthy reason to die and for this reasoning alone I am currently refusing any model of living which concludes with such an outmoded way of thinking.

OHP: Mark Twain once said that “You can’t depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus.” What do you believe he meant by that?

D.C.: There is a bigger picture in all things with which you may be blissfully unaware at any given moment. As such you aren’t always seeing or understanding what is actually going on at any moment. Pay close attention to everything and all of the details. No matter how unusual, bizarre or even downright ordinary things may appear… they aren’t. They never are.

OHP: Most people have two stories for doing anything… a plausible excuse and the real reason, why do you really write?

D.C.: I write, therefore I am.
Or is it; I am, therefore I write?
Or is it simply, I enjoy telling a story whether good or ill conceived and in the end I want to get paid for it?

Yes to all of the above, and then a whole bunch more that I am quite sure would quite easily become a philosophical debate about the existence of bubblegum on the dwarf planet of Pluto and how that is causing certain politicians’ to vote no to better funding for public education art programs.

OHP: There is a great deal of talking going about your book “A Children’s Book of Necromancy”, I hear that anyone that reads it can become quite powerful and even learn how to raise the dead. Is this true?

Absolutely, Davin. “A Children’s Book of Necromancy,” is absolutely the most important coloring book ever to be published, and I personally promise with absolute barnum sincerity that anyone who reads this book will be able to raise the dead.

If you want to know more about this amazing volume visit the official website here, and you can also visit us at Animefest 2010 in Dallas,TX where you can meet myself and Darcy Melton (the illustrator).

OHP: We are coming up on the publication day for An Honest Lie Volume 2: Delusions of Insignificance very fast. Do you have any plans for a third volume?

D.C.: Yes I do, but you will have to wait until next year to hear more.

Debrin Case has been making the story more interesting since 1970!
Debrin Case holds a B.A. in English Literature and is currently the founder/publisher of Open Heart Publishing, a company that promotes, showcases, and opens doors for new authors with its annual anthology
“An Honest Lie,” but also for children through its charitable project called, “The Opportunity Project.”
Additionally, Debrin oversees intuitive writing workshops, writes grants for charities (non profits and artistic endeavors), and is an experienced storyteller, ghost writer, and fiction writer.
Previously held the positions of editor for Hedge Wizard Press, and also co-editor for Red River Review.
When asked of the validity of his tales he will normally reply,
“My stories are 50% bullshit… and the rest is questionable, but at least they are honest.

http://debrincase.com/

We are coming up on September pretty quickly here. School has started, the weather is cooling off, well for now at least, and there is already talk about what we’re going to be for my favorite holiday, Halloween. That means we are roughly 2 months from the release of An Honest Lie volume 2.

There are big things going on with this volume. We know how much you liked the first one so we brought back a few of the authors you loved. We featured C.B. Calsing a few weeks ago. This week we wanted to bring another returning author to the page … say hello to, Eric Trant.

Eric blessed us in An Honest Lie Volume 1 with a tale called Apple Tree. He returns in An Honest Lie Volume 2 with One Small Step, a story about dreams and following through with those dreams. A working writer and business man Eric has a unique perspective on his work, and the craft. When I asked him to give us some advice for aspiring bloggers he said.

I’ve been blogging and hanging around online for over a decade. Blogging is an inspiring process that challenges me not only to write something useful for others, but for myself. It’s a meditative introspection that keeps me analyzing my writing skills, and honing my word-craft. It’s like going to the gym, but instead of lifting weights, I lift words, and I talk about words with other writers both big and small and in the interaction, we all grow stronger.”

Indeed my friend, indeed. You can find his blog at http://diggingwiththeworms.blogspot.com/

Eric Trant: If you’re wondering about the title (of my blog ed.), the worms are my muse. They always have been no eyes or brain but five beating hearts, dozens of them wiggling between my ears.

Open Heart Publishing: Nice approach. I am beginning to think I don’t have a muse, only an obsession. We’ve really enjoyed reading your work. From where do you draw your inspiration?

E.T.: Real life is my inspiration. I dream, listen to other people dream, and then marry that up with reality to generate my stories. I spend a vast amount of time watching people and wondering about their lives.

OHP: Are there any authors, besides yourself, who you enjoy reading?

E.T.: Of course; millions. I am currently reading several books — I usually have three or four books going since I flip-flop between them and stash them in the car, next to the bed, by the couch, in the office. I am reading Charles De Lint, Robert McCammon, Neil Gaiman, Cormac McCarthy, and L.E. Modesitt, Jr. I also enjoy blogging among a close-knit group of online writers, both published and unknown.

OHP: I never take seriously the writer that does not read voraciously. Who would you say is your writing mentor/ hero?

E.T.:Cliché, but I have to go with Stephen King. He understands that readers have only one request: Entertain me. That’s all I want to do. I don’t want to make a statement, though I would like to modify your view of the world, just a little. After King come Bradbury and Vonnegut, followed by Cormac McCarthy, who single-handedly almost strangled my muse with his stylistic prose. When I feel the need for inspiration, I read one of these authors and the worms get to digging and I am back at the blank page with pen in hand, erasing the emptiness.

OHP: I agree with King as a writing Hero. I mean the man is good. On the other end, do you have a writing nemesis?

E.T.: YES! Her name is Raquel Byrnes. She is as yet unpublished, but I am certain she’ll land a multi-novel deal somewhere in her near future, because in the real world, evil triumphs. You can meet her at her blog: http://nitewriter6.blogspot.com/

OHP: Since I read your interview I’ve been reading her blog. She is very talented, but I am certain I don’t know the half of it. Why do you feel the need to write?

E.T.: Everyone has a need to share their stories. If you don’t believe me, look at Facebook or any other social networking website. We all want to be heard. Even non-writers want to somehow expose themselves to the public eye. Nobody wants to howl at the moon alone — we want a pack to howl with us, and like every other writer, I do my howling through my stories.

OHP: You really howled with One Small Step but even the most fantastic story must be supported by some sense of what’s real and One Small Step is pretty fantastic. What was your inspiration for it?

E.T.: We all look up and dream about flying off to the moon and stars. Reaching into that darkness has been the greatest collective dream of all humanity from the time humanity took its first small step, and looking back, we’ll see how rudimentary we really were in today’s “modern” society. There is so much out there still to discover and imagine, but we’re beginning to forget our curiosity. We’re taking our genius for granted. We’re bored with the stars and the moon and we can’t even see them anymore for all the airplanes and city lights and televisions and who needs NASA anyway. That’s what this story is about: what’s still out there. It’s about not quitting when we’re so close to flying off to the stars. It’s about never, never quitting.

OHP: So with so many small press publishers out there, why did you choose to submit your work to An Honest Lie: Delusions of Insignificance?

E.T.: I am a returning author, and so I knew what I was getting into with Open Heart Publishing. The publisher and editors are a rare breed of wonderful. So long as they keep publishing it, I’ll keep submitting my work.

OHP: What do you feel is a delusion of insignificance?

E.T.: Let me give you an example of a significant but deluded individual: Your waiter. Hands down, waiting tables is the worst delusion of insignificance. You are treated as an unimportant beggar-servant to be ordered and belittled, yet you can sicken, disgust, or kill an entire room full of people. That’s sounds harsh, doesn’t it, but that’s the reality, and there’s your delusion. These people are not insignificant. Remember that the next time you figure your tip.

OHP: What is An Honest Lie?

E.T.: An honest lie is something you tell because it is either somewhat true, or based entirely on unverifiable speculation. For instance, describing your height wearing boots. For instance, claiming you are a wonderful lover. One is based on a half-truth. The other, if given a chance to prove or disprove, becomes a moot point, as the speculative nature of the Honest Lie has now served its purpose.

OHP: We are always looking for amazing pieces of work, besides short stories what other writing endeavors are you currently engaged in?

E.T.: I am working on my fifth novel, with working title The Gladiator’s Son. I’ll have to change the title because I have absolutely no gladiators. The hookline is this: “On the isolated slopes of the western Andes, a soldier awakens an earthly Andean spirit that attacks his unborn child, and is cast into a dreamlike battle to save his son thousands of miles away.” This spring I revised last fall’s novel and wrote and revised a novella, not to mention two or three short stories. I started a new novel early this summer and have been working on it for about three months. The current piece is still very much in the draft stage, but if it maintains its shape on final revision — which most of my novels don’t — then it will embed a strong father-son element into a horror-fantasy mold.

OHP: Besides writing, what other sorts of deviant behavior do you happen to enjoy?

E.T.: My deviance meter is low these days. I’m building my family and tapping on the door of my forties. I know that’s boring. Writers are supposed to live in South America, or own a chateau in France and spend their evenings in clubs writing fabulous prose over bottle after bottle of wine between long lines of cocaine. At the very least, I need to be a raging alcoholic who eats Zoloft like Tic-Tacs. I’ll admit that I like dark beer. I am German-Irish. What else is there but dark beer? Other than that, I lead a quiet life and try to focus on my home and family.

OHP: My deviance meter is … well, let us say I am more the drunken cliché of a writer; most famous after life. I accept it. Tell us about your family.

E.T.: I have a son and daughter who both inspire me to remain young and enthusiastic and blindly hopeful. We are expecting a son soon who will, according to my older son, “Break stuff.” I’m sure he is correct. We also have two dogs, a Corgi and a Pomeranian. The Pom sits in my lap as I write in the dark hours of the morning. The Corgi sleeps it off until about mid-morning, when he moves from under the bed to the couch.

OHP: It’s been great getting to know you and we look forward to working with you in the future. For now let’s give our readers something to think about. What do you feel about the following quote “Imagination is more important than knowledge?”

E.T.: I agree completely. Education has a way of dumbing you down to the level of whoever wrote the book. Some of the best things I’ve learned are not from reading or learning about the subject, but by doing and learning as I go. Writing is the obvious example, but I would lump on top of that woodworking, computer programming, math, and raising a family.

OHP: Have you ever contemplated becoming involved in a revolution?

E.T.: The US is in the middle of a revolution. It is being fought at the polls, and the latest shot was fired in November of 2008. We’re all part of this revolution, and if you are not, then you need to pick up your weapon — your voter ID — and use it.

OHP: Where do you believe humanity is headed as a whole?

E.T.: In the U.S., most of them are headed to Texas. The rest of the world is headed East, I think, toward China. The ones who don’t make it to China will likely get lost in Europe while trying to figure out what the heck a Euro is and how to exchange it for a Chinese yuan.

OHP: In your opinion, which is the more important discovery of humankind… plumbing or the written word?

E.T.: A combination of both, actually. One gives you the means to accomplish your personal business in private. The other gives you something with which to wipe.

OHP: According to Anatole France “To die for an idea is to set a rather high price on conjecture.” In your opinion what do you believe is worth dying for? What do you believe is worth living for?

E.T.: Right now, I would die for a dark beer, preferably an Irish Black-n-Tan, well-poured. I wouldn’t die for the idea of a dark beer, though. There’s a difference between dying for the idea and living to enjoy the result. I hope I made my point.

OHP: Mark Twain once said that “You can’t depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus.” What do you believe he meant by that?

E.T.: Twain meant that you’d better be able to see what is not there. Often it is the absence of a thing that makes it important. Seeing the world only in literal terms limits the scope of your vision so much that you might as well keep looking at your feet and walking where they tell you to walk. Twain never walked that way.

OHP: Most people have two stories for doing anything… a plausible excuse and the real reason. Why do you really write?

E.T.: On one hand, I write because I must. It’s an obsession and a passion. But really, I have nothing better to do.

Eric Trant earned a BS in Chemical Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin in 1994, and is the son of a librarian and English teacher, who shared with him her love of reading, writing, and above all, storytelling. Each morning he rises well before the Texas dawn, and in the quiet writes thousands of words. He is self-taught.

Raised during his formative years in the East Texas Piney Woods, and then later in a small town on the Texas Gulf Coast, Eric maintains an avid fascination with outdoor living. Eric’s blended perspective of rural, small-town, and city lifestyles is at the heart of his stories, often leading the reader deep into the woods where as a child, he and his brother discovered so many wonders. He now lives near Dallas, Texas, where he continues to explore the world around him.

He holds a U.S. patent for a statistical outlier algorithm, and has received numerous technical recognitions as a semiconductor engineer. His most-prized award is a simple plaque reading Anyone can be a Father, but it takes someone special to be a Daddy. This plaque sits on his desk, in front of the embossed US patent.

Eric’s professional career covers a broad range of experience, including over twenty years of writing. As a freelance writer, he has dozens of short stories and five novels to his credit.

Davin Kimble Jr. Editor

Hello again loyal friends and fans. We have been hard at work on An Honest Lie Volume 2: Delusions of Insignificance. I can promise you that it will be a fantastic book to read and own. I know you’ve enjoyed getting better acquainted with our writers but this week we wanted to take one step back and reminice with you by

GIVING YOU THE BEST FREAKIN’ DEAL EVER!

Thats right folks starting tomorrow, for a short time only, we are offering a special deal on the ebook version of An Honest Lie Volume 1: Encouraging the Delinquency of Your Inner Child. This volume includes Great tales like The Apple Tree, by Eric Trant and Gran’s Prophecy, by C.B. Calsing. There is a tale about a boy who gets Goblin Socks for Christmas and one about … well author William Terry called it Situational Dyslexia. If you don’t know what I’m talking about this is your chance to get in the know. If you do, remember Christmas is only right around the corner and you’re going to need books to put on those e-readers you’re buying all of us. Oh, the deal?

For a limited time only Open Heart Publishing is offering An Honest Lie Volume 1 ebook for only 3 dollars. What’s that you say? We’re crazy? We’re writers not sales people. I know enough to know a great deal when I see one. This is a savings of over 50 percent on a great title! And you won’t find this gem hanging out on the shelves of Half Price Books.

But Wait…! Yes I do believe … there’s MORE!

Not only will you be getting a great book for pennies you will also be helping one of our great authors get a book deal! Here’s how it works. Head over to the Voting Portal and click on your favorite authors name to gain access to the $3 copy of An Honest Lie Volume 1. This is a limited time deal so don’t delay … act NOW!

For Details: Click Here

Davin Kimble Jr. Editor

As some of you may already be aware our Jr. Editor, Erin Marissa Russell has decided to continue pursuing her education and honing her crafts of editing and journalism and has discovered much to her own dismay that she must relinquish her position at O.H.P. so that she may give her full attention to her education.

It is with a sad heart that we say goodbye to Erin, she is truly an amazing editor (as well as a myriad of other artistic talents (a fraction of which can be found in Volume 1 of “An Honest Lie”)), and writers of either a journalistic or literary nature would be wise to listen to her words of wisdom. We have learned a lot from her, and we believe that the same can be said from her about her time and experiences with O.H.P.

May your journey take you wherever you wish to go Erin; it has been a pleasure to have you with us at O.H.P.

Though we shall miss Ms. Russell, the presses at O.H.P. just do not stop, and there is a mighty large workload to take care of… so it is without further adieu that I am pleased to announce our new Junior Editor, Davin Kimble.

Davin Kimble

lives and writes from Fort Worth, Texas.
His writing career actually started when he learned to put words together. He remembers quite well the first story he ever wrote. Since then, his work has evolved into hundreds of short stories, poems, songs, essay’s and articles.

He is currently working on his first novel, tentatively entitled “Donovan,” a story about a 30 year old propaganda writer in a future war-torn America.

Davin also creates beats and lyrics for hip-hop and alternative music, and is an amateur photographer and digital artist.

His recent published works are “Stirrings in Hell” in the anthology, “The Devil Inside,” published by the House Of Horror Ezine ; “A New Way of Being”, published by House Of Horror Ezine in their anthology titled “House of Horror Best of 2009, Issue #2;” and “A Remarkable Picture” published by Twit Publishing in their anthology titled, “Twit Publishing Presents Pulp – 2010″. Davin is the Junior Editor for Open Heart Publishing.

To see more of Davin’s work, please visit www.davinkwriter.com.

Welcome aboard Davin, I can’t wait to start hearing about all of the wonderful things we are going to be seeing from Open Heart Publishing over the next few weeks.

From the presses at Open Heart Publishing in Dallas Texas, Happy reading all.

Debrin Case
Publisher: Open Heart Publishing