I’ve written another article for Self-Published Authors Helping Other Authors, and once again I’m sharing it with you guys here. The post is called Creating A Great Antagonist, and as you can tell from the title, it’s about creating great antagonists for stories of all kinds (though in the article I kind of focus on high fantasy stories).
If you have a moment, please go check it out. And if you’re a self-published author or you’re interested in self-publishing, please check out and subscribe to the blog. There’s a mountain of good advice on self-publishing, written by authors such as myself and others such as Ruth Ann Nordin, Joleene Naylor, Janet Syas Nitsick, and Stephanie Beman.
I hope you enjoy reading, and if you have any thoughts leave us a comment. We’re always happy for feedback.
Another semester passes by, and with it the realization of two things: one is that I have enough credit to be considered a senior now that the semester is over. The other is that I now have a year and a half left of my time at Ohio State University. Boy, way to make my time here feel finite.
Every semester is different and not just because of a set of new classes. For example, this semester I moved into an apartment with a friend about two blocks from campus, meaning we both had to take on a whole lot of different responsibilities. I also started taking five classes in a single semester, more than I’ve ever had in a single semester. At times the homework load was almost unbearable. I hope that next semester will be a bit easier, though judging by the amount of reading I’ll be doing that doesn’t look like the case.
This semester was also significant because two major events happened to me: I published my first novelReborn Cityand I got accepted into a study-abroad trip to Europe for three weeks in May. The latter so far has taken up more of my attention, because I’m going to be spending all of next semester preparing for it. And I mean all of next semester: four out of five of the classes I’m taking are in preparation for what I’m going to study in Europe (by the way, the trip is about studying World War II). Still, RC has taken up a bit of attention too. I’ve had to advertise everywhere I can. I’m actually looking into putting an ad into the student newspaper if it doesn’t cost too much.
And as for my classes this semester, I took Introduction to Sociology, Introduction to Biology, Writing for English Majors, Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature, and History of the Holocaust. The latter two were my favorite classes (despite the dark subject material in the Holocaust course) and they were also the classes I did the best in, getting As on most papers and tests. All told, my grades added to a total 3.263 GPA. I’m happy with my grades (they’re all passing grades) but I’m going to aim for higher next semester. Especially since going on the trip and keeping my scholarships will require me to keep my grades up!
Well, I hope to have more good news later. Watch out for my Spring Semester 2014 Pre-Semester Report. It’ll probably be showing up in the next couple of weeks. In the meantime, I’m going to make dinner and finish Ch. 28 of Video Rage. Wish me luck.
I’m not sure there’s a single American in the country today who opened a newspaper, got on their smartphone, or connected to the Internet who doesn’t realize that today is exactly a year since the horrific tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Even now, the memories of that terrible day are resurfacing in my mind’s eye: sitting in bed, seeing that a school has been shot up by a gunman. Fatalities, fear, fingers already being pointed, conspiracy nuts shouting their insanity. But for a little while, the American people, a people so prone to heat and rage and division, were united in a way that hadn’t been seen since 9/11. We cried and memorialized the dead. There was grief for the 20 children and six adults who died, grief from people who’d never heard of Newtown until that day. There were numerous memorials and tributes, online and on TV and across the nation by everyone from children to the most powerful of politicians.
However in the days, weeks and months since Newtown, as we learned about the gunman Adam Lanza and we heard stories about the dearly departed. that unity broke up. We looked for solutions to prevent this tragedy from ever happening again. In a year full of monstrous mass shootings in Aurora, Wisconsin, and now in Newtown, advocates for stricter gun safety laws hoped that Congress would pass sensible gun control laws. And with ninety percent of Americans behind measures such as a ban on automatic rifles and expanded background checks, it looked like there might actually be some change this time. Second Amendment advocates meanwhile balked at these proposed measures, and instead said gun control laws didn’t work and called for administrators to be trained in firearm use and to hire security guards for schools. In the end, some states such as Colorado, New York, and Maryland passed their own restrictions, while President Obama passed 23 executive mandates and Congress failed to pass any laws that would truly satisfy either side.
Normally I would use a post such as this to advocate for stricter gun laws, but I’m tempted to not do so in order to keep the dead in mind on this horrible day. However, I read articles that show that the gun maker for the rifles used in the massacre actually had an increase in sales after Sandy Hook, and I feel a little sick to think anyone could profit off a tragedy such as this. Not to mention that nearly a year after Sandy Hook, there was a shooting at a school eight miles from Columbine High School, as if to remind us how little has been accomplished since then.
So I’ll speak and say, a year later, parents are gathering around dinner tables with a vacant seat. They wish to hold their kids close to them, but they can’t. And across the nations, parents and children, siblings and cousins, friends and families, lovers and colleagues, lose someone dear to them because of gun violence. In fact, approximately 30,000 people each year are lost to gun violence, the equivalent of nearly 1154 Sandy Hooks.
We need to do something about this tragedy, but is throwing more gasoline on a fire really going to help? No, it will not! We need to choke out the fire, not give it more fuel. So if you can, call or email your legislators. Support gun control groups if you can afford to. And if you own firearms of any sort, make sure it is in a safe place where it won’t hurt anyone who might accidentally stumble upon it. And I know any Second Amendment advocates will be furious with what I’ve written here, but let me tell you, I’m not advocating for taking away all guns from your homes. Even freedom of speech is regulated when that speech is used to incite violence or is used in a malicious manner. Shouldn’t guns be treated the same way?
And besides, do you really need a military grade automatic rifle? There are no zombies or enemy armies waiting to attack, you can’t go hunting with that kind of gun, and a simple handgun is enough to ward off any burglar or rapist. Just saying, is all.
I’m going to leave you with this video I found. It describes all the grief I feel for the victims of Sandy Hook, and I think it’ll resonate with you too on this most horrid day.
They say that 7 is a very lucky number, and I have no doubt about that right now. I just got my 7th review on my collection of short stories, The Quiet Game: Five Tales To Chill Your Bones. This review comes from A. Frankel, which stands for Amy Novak Frankel, my third cousin and a dear friend., and she gave it five stars. In a review titled A really good book from a new author, Amy says this:
“I thoroughly enjoyed each of the short stories in this book and look forward to reading more from this author.”
Well if I remember Amy, you said that you bought all my books (which is just the two), so I can’t wait to hear what you have to say about Reborn City. I spent four years bringing that to the printed page, so I’d love your opinion on it. And thanks for the review once again. I’m averaging about 4.3 out of 5 on Amazon now.
If you’re interested in reading The Quiet Game, it’s available in both e-book and print paperback from Amazon and Smashwords. I hope you enjoy reading it and whatever you think, please don’t hesitate to leave a review. I’m always happy for feedback, positive or negative.
A friend of mine and I went to see this movie today. We hadn’t seen each other in a while, and we thought it’d be a lot of fun to see. Turns out it was: Frozen is definitely a lot of fun to watch, and it’s definitely not your average Disney movie.
Frozen tells the story of two sisters, Princess Elsa and Anna of Arendelle. The elder sister Elsa has the power to control ice and snow, however a childhood incident where Anna is injured causes the royal family to erase Anna’s memories of Elsa’s powers and to try and shut up Elsa’s abilities in the hopes of controlling them (all it seems to accomplish though is a rift between sisters and giving Elsa low self-esteem and a terrific fear of people. However, when Elsa takes over the throne, things get out of hand, culminating in Elsa accidentally causes a blizzard in summer and ends up retreating to the northern mountains to use her powers without restriction. Anna goes off after her sister to save the kingdom and repair their friendship with the help of a very stubborn ice salesman. Meanwhile, a scheming duke tries to get his way with the kingdom, and there’s an even worse schemer in the dark.
The musical numbers are wonderful and fun, and the animation is excellent (though I’m still a bigger fan of traditional animation. I’ll never stop watching anime because of it). The voice acting is wonderful and the plotting is very good (unless you’re the Doctor, you won’t see some really interesting twists near the end of the show that will leave you going “No way!”). And you can really feel the emotions between the characters, especially between the sisters and between Anna and ice-salesman Kristoff.
But the best part of the show (if you’re an adult, that is) is seeing Disney play around with the usual tropes and clichés in Disney princess films. In some ways they’re still stuck in the past in terms of women’s portrayals, but in other ways they’re managing to advance (I’d go into detail here, but if you see the movie, you’ll get the idea). They also play with the whole idea of Prince Charming, and finally, they explore the meaning of the word freedom. In fact, I think the theme of the movie would be love and freedom, and what those words mean.
There’s only one problem with the show. Well, it’s not a problem, really. More like they left room for a sequel. And if there is a sequel (and they may do a sequel, given the success of the film), it might be really bad. In fact, it would probably really bad. I’ve never seen a good sequel to a film about a princess (and I’ve seen one or two in my time).
All in all, I give Frozen a 4.8 out of 5. It’s a lot of fun and I recommend it for you and for the kids. I might have to check it out when it comes out on DVD…and I’ll definitely have to check out the soundtrack. Even if there is a bad sequel someday.
By the way, before my friend and I went to the theater, we watched the movie The Thing at my place, which takes place in Antarctica. And here in Columbus, it’s regularly around or below freezing. I’m just wondering, does that make us gluttons for punishment or what?
I’m hearing a lot of comments on political news shows about how certain programs the government is doing or how certain actions being taken are being considered as slavery/apartheid/the Holocaust/genocide/etc. by certain people. I’ve just got one thing to say: quit the melodrama! Obamacare is not apartheid or slavery, abortion is not the Holocaust, shaking hands with Raul Castro is not the same as shaking hands with Adolf Hitler!
You see, there are certain groups here in America–African Americans, South African immigrants, Jews, etc.–who get really upset every time their national/ethnic/religious persecutions and injustices are used flippantly in political speech. It belittles the tragedy, makes it seems trivial. I mean, take slavery for example. It seems absurd if I compare myself to a slave if I complain about my homework every day, doesn’t it? How about being told to go to bed by your parents? Does that make you a slave? No it does not!
And actually, not only are these statements trivializing the tragedies in question, they are terribly inaccurate. Obamacare is not forcing people to work in horrid conditions and receive little or no benefits for it and are actually mistreated by overseers. Nor is Obamacare forcing people who are not enrolled in its programs to live in separate areas of towns or even of the country and putting strict legal restrictions on interactions between those enrolled and those not enrolled in the program. And unless abortion has become the state-sponsored deportation of fetuses to ghettos or work camps where they are subjected to conditions meant to either kill off or turn them into human beasts while my back was turned, I think it’s a little much to start comparing your local Planned Parenthood clinic to Auschwitz!
Of course, you’re free to disagree with me. That’s the lovely part of America: we can all have our own opinions, and as long as they don’t lead to violence, becoming socially ostracized, or aren’t a symptom of some mental illness, we can express them as we wish and expect little or no backlash. However, I urge you to be cognizant of your words when you make a comparison between something you disagree with and a terrible tragedy or an unspeakable act. You may offend somebody with such an interpretation of events or a comparison. And if you don’t care who you offend in making these statements–my, how callous can you get!
And if my point hasn’t gotten across how gross these comparisons are, let my friend Dr. Sheldon Cooper show you how ridiculous these comparisons are.
Get the picture?
Oh, no comments that are offensive or trying to convince me that Obama is out to get Americans or whatever. I don’t want to hear it and I’ll delete those comments should they show up here. I’m just saying, be careful what comparisons you’re using, because many find them upsetting and terribly inaccurate.
One thing I struggled with early on in my attempts to become a professional writer was time, or more accurately, keeping tack of it. In my earliest stories, whether it be about lycanthropic pirates or a Harry Potter-esque story of witches, keeping track of how much time has passed was not high on my to-do list. I was more concerned with making a novel that would sell millions of copies, win me legions of adoring fans, and regularly get adapted into blockbuster hits. Why should I pay attention to how quickly a year can pass or how it’s noon on one page and then sunset on the next when I have to decide who I want to play my female protagonist and if she’s going to be my girlfriend?
But I got older, and around the time I started writing my earliest vampire stories, I started to become more aware of the passage of time in those stories. I think it first occurred to me that it seemed weird that my characters were still in school around late June. From then on I tried to keep the passage of time consistent in the stories I wrote, and as I got much older and realized there were too many vampire novels out there at the moment for me to make a name for myself with those sorts of stories, I started to put dates and even the passage of hours in my outlines, which would later end up in the early drafts of the stories I wrote.
And no one else is more aware of time than the guys and gals who write the Doctor’s adventures.
If you examine other authors who are extemely popular, you’ll notice how they try to keep the reader as well as themselves aware of the passage of time without annoying the reader with it. For example, JK Rowling structured her entire Harry Potter series around the school year in Britain. Stephen King’s It switches between 1958 and 1985 and King makes sure to note how June passes on into July and July into August during the 1958 sections. And Jean Auel’s famous Children of Earth series is very particular of marking the passing of seasons and years.
All in all, I think keeping tack of the passage of time in my stories has very much improved them, and in some of these stories I need to be cognizant of how much time has passed in order to tell the story correctly. For example, my WIP Laura Horn takes place during the week leading up to the 2017 Presidential Inauguration. I went online to find advance calendar dates for that January, and only then did I write out the plot in my outline for the story. In addition, I have several ideas for stories that need to be very time conscientious while writing them. One takes place during World War II, meaning I’ll have to be very careful of the dates of certain events in order to tell the story correctly. And I have a science-fantasy story involving time travel that will require me to be very careful about the dates I use, should I ever get around to writing it.
The only thing I wish I was better at was keeping track of dates by making a timeline. However, doing a timeline at the outline stage isn’t always helpful because so much can change between the outline stage and in the actual writing of the story. Perhaps I can find some sort of middle ground in future stories. I might ask my writing group on Facebook if they have any tips on doing timelines.
And speaking of Facebook, I just want to remind people that I have a Facbook page and a Twitter feed, where I post on stuff that I don’t always post about on my blog. If you’re interested in checking either out, please do so.
How important is marking the passage of time in your stories? What do you do to keep track of time?
Oh, blessed relief. Today I sat down, once again, to work on Chapter 24 of Video Rage, the sequel to my novel Reborn City. I’d been working on and off on the chapter for the past eight days or so, delayed by homework, exams, and the need to sit down and do something other than writing in order to relax. But today I sat down, and I finally finished it, meaning I only have a third of the novel left to write! Woo-hoo!
I’ve been enjoying my return to the world of the West Reborn Hydras. Not only has it been kind of therapeutic and relaxing to work on my novel after having to take a very long hiatus in order to focus on school, but it seems that the world of the story has expanded on its own, become more complex and astounding than when I first created it. When I was working on Chapter 22, the characters kind of took the reins away from me and played out a scene before me similar to a cop drama, where one character was poking holes in the story of the other two and showing just how flawed their seemingly-flawless version of events really was. I didn’t even think I could write a scene like that! And when I worked on Chapter 23, new characters and new situations kept intruding into the scene I’d originally envisioned. I guess it’s true what they say, that the characters really write the story and not the authors.
Well, it makes my job easier if they write it for me. And better yet, my characters don’t ask for royalties.
But I digress. Let me update you on page and word counts (and when I say page, I mean your standard 8″ x 11.5″ MS Word paper). In total, the number of pages has risen to 197 pages, while the word count has risen to 54,703 words. That’s about the length of a very short novel, and since I have thirteen chapters left to write, it’s probably going to rise another ten to twenty-thousand words (no, don’t be intimidated. Most of the Harry Potter novels are much longer than that).
For now though, I think I’ll take a very short break from writing VR. I’ll probably write an article for Self-Published Authors Helping Other Authors, I’ll apply for several scholarships offered through my university, I’ll spend a lot of time at work so I can afford to keep a roof over my head, and if my friend Angela sends any more chapters of Snake, I’ll work on edits. And after all that, I’ll start on Chapter 25 of VR. Trust me, it’s going to be awesome. Things will really come to a head in the final seven or so chapters.
For now though, I think I’ll make dinner and settle in with some TV, a nice reward for myself after some really hard work. Until next time, my Followers of Fear.
Today I woke up to a wonderful surprise: I’d gotten two new reviews on Amazon, one for each of my books. Both come from the same reviewer, username Enji, which makes me happy as I’m glad that anyone would read both of my books and also review them. But then again, I know who Enji is offline and I know she’s supportive of me and my writing, so that might explain it.
First, let’s start with The Quiet Game: Five Tales To Chill Your Bones, which now has six reviews. Enji gave it five stars and titled the review Loved the Uniqueness of Each Story. Here’s what she had to say:
“I liked that each story was unusual. I think that the book was appropriately named. I prefer chilled bones rather than scared out of my whits since I am a bit of a chicken.”
Chicken or not, I’m glad you plucked up the courage to read the book Enji and I’m glad you enjoyed them. Also, I still get to maintain a 4.0 average on Amazon, so I’m all the happier that you read it.
Next, Reborn City, which now has two reviews. Enji also gave RC five stars (moving its average to a 4.5 out of 5) and titled her review Fantastic (which is the catchphrase of my favorite Doctor). Here’s what Enji wrote:
“As a reader who does not read books in this genre, I must admit that I could not put down the book. I attribute this to the talent of the author. I am looking forward to reading the next books published by Ungar. I recommend this book to readers who enjoy action with features of supernatural powers and sci-fi.”
Oh Enji, I think I’m blushing a little. And I’m happy to hear you couldn’t put it down. It’s always great to hear that from people who read your work. And I hope to have another book out soon, I just don’t have a definite date yet. But thanks for reviewing Enji. It means a lot to me.
If you’re interested at all in reading The Quiet Game or Reborn City, or you want to give either of them to a friend, or you just want to support me because you’re extremely nice, both books are available on Amazon and Smashwords in print paperback and e-book formats. And if you like or hate what you read, please let me know. I don’t mind feedback, positive or negative (though I haven’t gotten much negative feedback yet).
I have some work to do, so I’ll be signing off now. Thanks for reading, and I hope to post again later. Have a lovely weekend, Followers of Fear.
Time once again for my Weekly Exercises, my flash fiction pieces dedicated to a) practicing my craft, b) getting feedback from readers, and c) trying to get people interested in my published work. Remember that the Weekly Exercises depend on reader feedback, so if you have a thought on what you read, please let me know. Also, if you would like to check out any of the other Weekly Exercises, you can find them here. And if you have an idea for a Weekly Exercise, give me your name and idea. You might just see your idea on this blog someday.
With the upcoming aniversary of the Pearl Harbor bombings, I dedicate this Weekly Exercise to those who died during the bombings and those who afterwards fought for our freedom here and abroad. We owe more to you than can be expressed in a single blog post.
Enjoy.
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When I was a kid, my brother and I would read all these science fiction stories. Looking back on it now, they were all basically the same: the noble and indestructible warrior, the beautiful princess with barely any clothes, the quest that always ended with the hero victorious and in sexual bliss with his princess. Stupidly optimistic, but that was the 1920s for you. We were all hopeful for the future and thought nothing could cut us down.
Then there was the Depression, and then war broke out in Europe and in the Pacific. I enlisted to get away from home and do honor for my country. Or maybe what I wanted to do was get away from reality and become the hero of my own science fiction adventure. Perhaps they were the same in my mind. Either way, I joined the Marines expecting that I’d leave training an invincible warrior just waiting for the princess of my dreams and the adventure of a lifetime to come my way.
Neither did. When we got to Peleliu in 1944, it was like I was in a jungle on another planet, but I was fighting the Japanese instead of aliens or whatever, and I certainly wasn’t invincible. The heat of the jungle, the sweat of unbathed men, the rotting corpses and the buzzing flies made all of us miserable. At any second we were liable to get killed by bullet or sword or sneak attack, and that only worsened our misery, and sometimes drove us mad. Once in a foxhole my buddy got out to piss. He was shot as soon as his fly was unzipped. I saw his body later. His entire face was a bloody mess and his fly was still down, but whatever had been there had been mangled by gunfire. I could almost hear him asking me to zip his fly. All I could do was puke.
We did see a girl on the island, one of those girls from a pleasure regiment. She was Asian, but she was a real beauty and she wore a simple dress. She was the first girl I’d seen in months, and I was ready to make her feel like a princess right then and there, if only she’d tell me that things would get better. She saw me and my boys though and threw herself over a cliff. We tried to save her, but all we did was see her join some of her comrades down at the bottom of the cliff. We learned later the Japanese had brainwashed the girls to believe that Americans would do horrible things to them if they were caught by them. So much for an epic romance in an unforgiving wasteland.
As I sit thinking about this now, one of my comrades is peeing on the face of a dead Japanese soldier. He’s laughing like it’s a big joke and when he zips up his fly he walks away with a swagger. Does he think he’s done his duty for his country? How would he feel if a Japanese did that to one of our many dead? He wouldn’t act so noble or treat this like a joke. Truth is, there’s no nobility in war, there’s no adventure or romance or humor. There’s just blood and death and destruction and the knowledge that any moment all of it might come raining down on your head.
My brother tells me in his letters he’s planning to enlist once his birthday comes around. I want to tell him to stay away, but then he’ll accuse me of just trying to keep all the fun for myself. Oh well, let him enlist. He’ll see that the fun isn’t to be had here, or anywhere there’s war. It’s just one pile of shit after another, and if you’re unlucky, you die, sometimes by your own hand but usually by the hand of someone else. And if you’re lucky you ride it out, you go home, and you move onto something else. Maybe write science fiction stories that reflect the truth of life, which is that life’s harsh. That’s what I plan to do, anyway. If I don’t bite the bullet first.
Rami Ungar The Writer 