Archive for the ‘Scary Stuff’ Category

My Favorite Kinds of Characters

Posted: October 20, 2012 in Reflections, Scary Stuff, Writing
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I’ve been wanting to do a post on my favorite types of fictional characters on and off for a while now, but now feels like the right time, since I’ve got an inkling of what sort of characters I like to write and read about and since Reborn City‘s coming out and Snake‘s on its way. So, if you read my work sometime and decide that you want to show how I’m a bad author, here’s the post you can point to if you want to prove I have predictable characters.

So here we go. Here are the types of characters I like to work with:

1. Protagonists with flaws: I like my heroes to be flawed in such ways that it inhibits their abilities. For example, Rip from RC is super bad-ass, but (spoiler alert!) he’s a recovering drug addict and he’s got a huge chip on his shoulder. These sort of things weigh him down and keep him from achieving his true potential. Plus he can be incredibly insensitive, as two characters in chapter two let him know! Not only that, but there’s the Snake himself; he’s killing members of a powerful mafia family and shaking up the criminal underworld, and some might see him as good, whether or not they know why he’s killing in the first place. Either way, there’s one thing that cannot be denied: he’s mentally ill. Not that it inhibits him in life or anything, but I wonder what a shrink might say if they could learn about all the details of the Snake’s condition. It might give people a second thought or two on rooting for him.

2. Amazing girls with issues: What do I mean by that? I like my female leads to have problems even as they’re changing the world around them. For example, the protagonist from RC, Zahara Bakur, is a positive influence on the other characters who inspire them to have lives that aren’t defined by violence. Even so, Zahara saw her parents murdered and feels a little guilty that she’s the one who survived. Not to mention she feels she’s holding her friends back because she’s not real gangster material, and puts herself down when she attributes something that happens to her own weakness. Even with all that, she ends up bringing some positive change to those around her.

Another example is from a political thriller I plan to write someday. The main character is around Zahara’s age, though has her own dark past and her own problems to deal with (not saying what at this point, but it makes an interesting story). She’s timid and shy, and anything that reminds her of her dark past scares her horribly, especially when that past comes back to haunt her while she’s trying to save the United States. Watching her break free of the hold her past has on her and then going on to save the nation is something I’m looking forward to writing, because it’d be an awesome story to read.

3. Nasty human villains: I make a distinction between villains who are human and those who are something else, since I plan to write about both. This one will focus on human villains, which can be vary wide-ranging in their motivations or designs. For the most part though, the villains I write, when they’re human, either think they’re doing good or don’t really care whether or not their actions hurt people. An example of the former comes from RC: the main antagonist Jason Price (who’s design I based on Samuel L. Jackson, by the way), believes that his company’s actions will benefit the world someday, even if it means using unethical and deplorable means to get there, and anyone in his way is trying to stop progress and the safety of the world.

On the other hand, you have Christopher Camerlengo, head of the Camerlengo Family from Snake. The main and final antagonist the Snake goes up against, Camerlengo’s mob organization deals in human trafficking and the sex trade. Does he care that he’s degrading the lives of women and men everywhere? No; instead he sees what he does as a business, and the Snake is ruining that business. Perhaps he’d raise a hand if someone tried to traffic someone from his family–one of his kids, per se–but for the most part, all he cares about is making easy money, and people are easy money when you know what you’re doing (or so I’ve heard).

4. Supernatural villains: Like the human villains, these sorts of villains are wide-ranging both in designs and motivations. But they also have two general types: survival or to be the ultimate ruler of all. In the first category, we have a demon from a supernatural crime novel I’m going to call The Weaver when I get around to writing it. I’m not saying what kind of creature we’re dealing with here, but I will say that the creature in question is concerned about the survival of its species, and goes on a killing spree for that very purpose (do not confuse this with Stephen King’s IT though; it’s very different). In the other category, we have the main villain of a novel based on Alice in Wonderland that I plan to write one day (and in case you haven’t figured it out yet, I have a whole list of stories I’d like to write someday; I just can’t write them all right now). The villain in question, whose specifics I also shall not reveal, is a powerful force of intelligent evil whose whole purpose is to turn our world into a nightmarish hell because he feeds off of suffering, and enjoys it too! Can you see the advantages of stopping this one from achieving power?

5. Wise mentors with mysterious pasts: In the stories where characters have mentors who teach them and guide them during critical minds, these characters have plenty of experience they want to give to the protagonists. In the trilogy RC belongs to, the characters run across an old man with a connection to Rip, and helps them out as best he can. He also becomes close to Zahara, and helps her help her friends in the one way she knows best. In another series, this one a 6-book series set during WWII, the main character receives help from a woman he met while living in America. It is through her tutelage that the main character gains the skills he needs when he decides to take on the Nazis (and boy, that’ll be a story to tell). And remember that story The Weaver? The male protagonist is a cop; whenever he’s in trouble, he looks to his uncle, a veteran detective who was a proud gay man despite never being able to come out at work, whenever he has a problem.

The thing is, most of these mentor figures have pasts that aren’t explained, either for plot purposes or just to make them mysterious or because it doesn’t really matter what their pasts are like, but that just makes them so much cooler, right?

That’s all I can think of for now. If I have some more ideas on characters I like, I’ll let you know. But what about you? What kind of characters do you just loooove to write about? Don’t be shy, let me know; I like discussing the pros and cons of such characters, personally.

Some Thoughts on “Dodi Li”

Posted: October 18, 2012 in Living and Life, Progress Report, Reflections, Scary Stuff, short story, Writing
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For those of you who have no idea what that title means, Dodi Li is a short story that I started this summer and that I’m rewriting before National Novel Writing Month starts in two weeks. It means “my darling” or “my beloved” in Hebrew and should not be confused with a popular Jewish song that is sung sometimes on Friday nights by Jews everywhere.

Dodi Li features a succubus, a demoness who visits men at night as a beautiful woman and steals their sperm in order to create demonic children or steal pieces of their soul through fornication, depending on what myths you believe. However my succubus, who I’ve named Umuruk (sounds like a name a succubus would have, right?) is not the antagonist of the story. Instead, she struggles to protect the other protagonist, a male she’s fallen in love with. Succubi have fallen in love with humans before, according to the folklore and stories I found by people who say they’ve had experiences with succubi (it’s on the Internet, so I can’t be sure if the writers are crazy or not, but I try to keep an open mind), and I decided to tap into that for this story.

The first draft was very plot-oriented, and sucked immensely. I decided to leave it alone until I could think of a way to make it better, and if I couldn’t, then it’d make a great learning experience. But yesterday in creative writing class, my teacher gave me an idea on how I could improve the story. So I went back and started to completely rewrite it, going until half-past ten last night, and then resuming for a little while this morning before class.

As I was heading to class, I realized something about my story: the main character, whose nine years old, and the antagonist, a 40-something with some mental issues, are the only male characters. All the rest are female: the doctor, the head nurse, the head of neurology, a possible detective character, and of course the succubus Umuruk, are all women, and all are women in positions of power that they use to help people.

I started to wonder if that might mean something, if my psyche was trying to tell me something through my writing. If it’s that I respect women in positions of power and that I think there should be more of them, that doesn’t surprise me at all; I grew up in a house full of women, my mom’s a rabbi, my boss is a woman, her boss is a woman, and I took a Women’s Studies course my first year at Ohio State, which I did very well in. So no surprise that powerful women show up in my story.

However, if it has something to do with the fact that Umuruk is able to help the main character more than these women, then I wonder what that might be saying. Perhaps even if women are educated and in positions of power, if they don’t occasionally open their minds to the impossible, then a mentally unbalanced man will hurt an innocent nine-year-old? That’s also a possibility.

In any case, once I finish the story I might understand more, and if I manage to get it published, you might be able to read it and give me some suggestions on what my Muse is trying to tell me.

Anyway, I’ve got some homework to do before I go to work, so I better get that taken care of right now. Have a nice day.

Oh, before I forget, something funny I have to tell you: I was talking to my history teacher after class today, and we had a really great discussion on the way out the building. You see, at the beginning of the semester, my teacher, whose focus is African History, told us that if any of us intentionally failed his class, he’d used magic he learned from tribal priests to enter our dreams and scare the heck out of us. Ever since then I’ve been trying on and off to get him to agree to teach me how to enter people’s dreams (can you blame me?).

At some point during our conversation, my teacher revealed he’d been joking, but I thought he’d been serious because he said it in such a serious way. This led to a discussion on witchcraft in different cultures, which led to a discussion on using magic and summoning stuff. That led to a discussion on spirits and possessions, and in the end, I ended up recommending my teacher to go see The Possession, which I reviewed back in September. Turns out, he agreed to see it. How about that?

Anyway, I think it’s funny, I have no idea what you think.

Edits and Construction

Posted: October 17, 2012 in ideas, Living and Life, Novel, Progress Report, Scary Stuff, short story, Writing
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Well yestereday I edited two short stories. One was Doll’s Game, the short story I’m writing for class, though I might decide to edit it again if I can get this idea I got today for the story to work somehow. I also edited Hunt in the Slaughterhouse, a short story I wrote back in April based on a dream I had. I’ve been trying to get around to editing it for a while, but I’ve had some trouble doing that. But yesterday I had the chance and I have to say, it loooks much better. I’ll have to figure out whether or not I want to send it to a magazine right now or if I want to wait and show it to someone else beforehand.

I also had an idea for Dodi Li, the succubus story I wrote over the summer. Although the plot for that story was really bad and I ended up deciding this story was best left as a learning experience, I decided to rewrite it after my teacher in my creative writing class gave me an idea. You see, she had been discussing the story we were critiquing today, and how the author was able to make it difficult to tell what was reality and what was delusion in his story. Listening to that, I just had a burst of inspiration for Dodi Li, which I plan to get to work on as soon as possible. Got to say, those workshop critiques can do wonders for you.

On, and before I forget, remember how I rewrote the outline for my serial killer novel Snake and that I mentioned I’d set a scene in a construction site? Well today I finally reached the man who could help me get onto the site. We’re going to try and find a time that works for both of us so that I can tour a site and ask some questions. This is a big oppurtunity for me because I want my readers not to have to suspend their disbelief too much and what’s better than actual experience?

Well, hope to have more good news for you later. In the meantime, I’ve editing to do.

My Favorite Fantasy Stories

Posted: October 8, 2012 in Living and Life, Reflections, Review, Scary Stuff
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Anyone else wondering if Mickey Mouse is hiding behind a corner?

Lately I’ve been reading a lot of of books based on Celtic and Arthurian mythology. Knights, faeries, dragons, magic and wizards. I’ve been on a bit of a fantasy binge. So I’d thought I’d devote a post to some of my favorites…not including Harry Potter. Or Tolkein. Or Lewis. Or Game of Thrones. Why none of those, you may ask? Mostly because everybody’s read them and I don’t want to just tell people what everyone know. That, and I’ve only read two of the four mentioned.

So here’s my fantasy favorites, all for your enjoyment:

THE AGE OF MISRULE by Mark Chadbourn

Honestly one of the most interesting fantasy stories I’ve ever read, weaving together both Arthurian and Celtic myths with New Age philosophy and beliefs. In modern-day Britain, strange things start happening. Dragon in the sky…electricity failing mysteriously…technology going haywire…stepping out at night becoming an extreme sport. What’s happening is the ancient gods, demons, and magical creatures of days past are returning to our world, and the only thing standing in the way of humanity being bulldozed by this change is the Brothers and Sisters of Dragons, five ordinary humans who’ve been gifted with the Pendragon Spirit, a power given to them by Existence itself to help humanity weather the coming change. Together the Brothers and Sisters must learn to work together and help humanity adapt, especially when the demonic Fomorii are working to bring their master Balor back to life and wage war on the god-like Tuatha Da Danaan.

I really enjoyed this trilogy, not only because it’s unique and Mark Chadbourn knows how to write a compelling plot and characters, but because even though the world is full of supernatural dangers, I’d want to live there. Heck, I’d want ot be a Brother of Dragons, helping to bring the change to humanity. After all, it’s a simpler life, one where if you’re not working on the land, you’re learning to be in harmony with nature and the spirits around you. And you get to learn magic, which is pretty cool.

 

 

 

 

EARL AND THE FAIRY by Mizue Tani

A series of light novels, the story follows a woman named Lydia Carlton, who is one of the last few fairy doctors around (fairy doctors being people who mediate between humans and fairies). Unfortunately for her, humans in 19th century are not too predisposed to seeing or believing in fairies, so Lydia’s kind of an odd duck to other people. That is, until she meets Edgar Ashenbert, a cunning, manipulative, and mysterious nobleman who enlists Lydia’s help in reclaiming his heritage, which includes a sword that belonged to the Blue Knight Earl, a warrior who had holdings in the realm of the fairies and Edgar’s ancestor. Torn between falling in love with Edgar and hating him for using her in his schemes, Lydia becomes embroiled with supernatural events that seem to gravitate around her and Edgar, sometimes endangering both their lives.

The series is quite popular in Japan, with 29 volumes out already, and a manga and anime series based on the books out as well. Unfortunately, only the manga is available in the US, and only the first 3 volumes as of last month. Still, it is worth a read, especially if you’re looking to get into manga and need an opinion on a good one.

 

 

 

MERLIN

A TV miniseries starring Sam Neill and Miranda Richardson, Merlin chronicles the life of Merlin in his battle against the supernatural Queen Mab. The story starts several years before King Arthur, beginning with Merlin’s birth, his magic training, his animosity with Mab, the rise and fall of Arthur and Camelot, and the final defeat of Mab and the death of magic. I saw this when I was younger, and I always thought it was an amazing story, though now that I think about it I’m not sure how pissing off Merlin and doing everything you can to hurt him is supposed to save your kingdom…oh wait, now I see what Mordred’s purpose was! I really need to rewatch that series now.

The special effects aren’t Avatar or Inception-grade, but the story is compelling and even if the effects aren’t top-notch, they do look believable for their day. Sam Neill is great as a pensive, all-knowing Merlin with anger issues, while Miranda Richardson is the ultimate femme fatale, a hoarse-voiced queen of magic with spells galore and a thousand and one tricks up her sleeve. You’ll love it if you watch it.

 

 

FAIRY CUBE by Kaori Yuki

Kaori Yuki has a reputation for powerful stories with Gothic and supernatural elements. Here she upholds her reputation with Fairy Cube, a story about a boy named Ian who sees spirits and fairies and is haunted by a spirit named Tokage. When Ian is killed by his father in a drunken rage, Tokage possesses Ian’s body and starts romancing Ian’s childhood friend Rin. Determined to get his body back, Ian teams up with a fiery fairy named Ainsel and a mysterious shopkeeper named Kaito in order to get his body back and save his friend. At the same time, Ian starts to become aware of a company called Gotoh that has ties to the spirit world and has sinister plans for the human world (I always knew corporations were up to no good).

Exciting and with Kaori Yuki’s awesome art and storytelling, Fairy Cube is an exciting read for all those interested in dark fantasy in general. I certainly enjoyed it.

 

That’s all I have right now. If I think of any other stories I’d want to put up here, I’ll let you know. If you have any suggestions, if you’ve read any of these works and want to give your review of them, or if you think I’m crazy because I haven’t read Tolkein or Game of Thrones, let me know.

The Latest Idea: Dybbuks

Posted: September 26, 2012 in ideas, Scary Stuff, short story, Writing
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Leah’le, a character from the 1937 film “The Dybbuk”, who was possessed by the titular spirit. Based on the play of the same name by S. Ansky

Well, it seems I have a lot of creepy stuff on the mind lately: evil dolls; succubi; and now dybbuks. Anyone want to put down bets on what will be the subject for the next short story?

Anywho, I saw The Possession a while back (wrote a positive review of it) and just now I finished watching The Unborn (one of those movies that I enjoy but the critics just seem to hate). Both have to do with dybbuks, which if you are unfamiliar with, are spirits that were once the souls of humans but, according to Jewish mysticism, were barred from Heaven or turned away from God and became monsters that possess human beings, looking for a second chance at life.

Both these films got me thinking about dybbuks, and now I want to write my own story about a dybbuk (or maybe more than one; who knows?). Of course, it won’t be like The Possession or The Unborn, which follow the typical possession-exorcism story. Instead, I’ll probably try to make the dybbuk seem like a hero instead of a villain, and maybe I’ll mix in some British folklore while I’m at it (I’m not saying what or how, but I will say it involves dogs).

i’m not sure what sort of story I want to tell yet, but I’ll see what I can come up with. I just hope that I don’t accidentally summon something by thinking about it too hard like I did when I was researching succubi!

Snake: Part II Done

Posted: September 17, 2012 in Novel, Progress Report, Scary Stuff, Writing
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Creepy Mayan snake god gobbling someone up. I have a feeling my character would find some connection to this image.

Well, I finally did it! I finished Part II of Snake, though truthfully it’s coming about four days later than I expected.

Part II deals a lot not only with the main character’s quest for revenge, but also with the circumstances that caused him to take up serial killing. It totaled about twenty-one chapters, eighty-six pages, and twenty-two thousand and thirty-three words. Add that to the prologue and Part I, and you have a total of thirty-four chapters, one-hundred and thirty-eight pages, and twenty-five thousand, three-hundred forty-six words for the rough draft of Snake. Several times chapters were added together and split in two in order to keep the story flowing and the tension high. I have to say, at certain points it was an arduous process writing out this section of the novel.

Now that I’ve got Part II done, I’m going to wait a little while before I start Part III, which is probably the longest of the parts in Snake, take some time to finish a short story and edit a couple more. I also plan on going over the outline of Snake and see what I can do to make the plot more exciting, because as it is it’s a good story, but I want to make it great. I plan on doing some more character development with the Snake and some of the people close to him, which will probably mean going back to previous chapters and doing a few additions. I also plan to add some scenes showing the fallout of what happens when a serial killer goes after a mafia family and not only evades the family but the police itself. And lastly, I want to change the climax, see if I can change the setting so that not only does the Snake face off against the mafia, he faces off with the police too, and does it in front of everyone.

Sounds more exciting that way, anyway.

I’ll let you know when I begin Part III. Wish me luck.

What I Expect From The New “Carrie”

Posted: September 3, 2012 in Reflections, Review, Scary Stuff
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The cover of the original Carrie novel. Oh, does this bring back some fond memories.

In case you haven’t heard, MGM and Screen Gems are doing a remake of that wonderful debut novel of His Highness Stephen King, Carrie. I feel a strange connection with that novel, not just because I’m a huge fan of King, but because I was bullied when I was a kid, so I know what it’s like to want to lash out (and sometimes actually lash out) at the bullies who hurt you. So you can tell I’m super-excited that Carrie‘s getting a third chance at the screen, big or small.

I’d like to devote two posts to Carrie. One will be on what I hope the filmmakers will do with the novel, in comparison to what others have done with the novel. The second post, which I will write in the morning or afternoon, will deal with what I hope people will get from a new film adaptation of Carrie. And trust me, what I’m thinking of, is probably different than what you’re thinking of; they are two very different subjects.

Theatrical poster for the wonderful 1976 film.

Alright, the first film, the one that’s famous, starred Sissy Spaceck as Carrie, and Piper Laurie as Margaret White. Spaceck was very believable as Carrie, though a tad prettier than I expected, while Laurie was freaky as hell as Mrs. White (honestly, I’m soooo glad my mother, who’s a rabbi, is not like her!). The prom scene seemed not as scary as I’d hoped, though that may be because I’m a Generation Y-er, which means I’m used to special effects and whatnot. And of course, Chris Hargensen was a total bitch. 4.2 out of 5, if I had to review it.

The second film, a made-for-TV movie, could’ve done a lot better. Angela Bettis not only looked like a real Carrie, she embodied the role to the point I believed that girl was Carrie. Patricia Clarkson, on the other hand, did not intimidate, but then again what do you expect: the woman was passive, and wore colors other than black. Not scary in the least. The music for that film also was better suited for a Hallmark Channel white-women romantic drama centered around family life, not a Stephen King-based horror movie. There were high points though: not all the characters were Caucasion, and Sue Snell was even African-American, so kudos for diversity, which I think should be looked for in every movie, especially horror with its nearly-always white victims. And the special effects, while not exactly state-of-the-art enough to look very real, were done in such a way that during the prom scene, I had a huge grin on my face from glee. Once again, freaky as hell.

Poster for the flop of a TV remake.

Like I said however, the TV remake could’ve been better, barely getting a 2.9 on my review scale.

Now what I hope from the new movie: we’ve learned by now that Chloe Grace Moretz, the little girl with a punch from Kick-Ass, is playing Carrie, while Julianne Moore, who I’ve seen in a couple of films but never really taken note of till now, is playing Margaret White. Now, as I’m not that familiar with Moore’s work, I’m going to decline to specualte on her in the role and hope she plays a good crazy woman. As for Moretz though…well, she’s a very pretty fifteen-year-old. The make-up artists are going to have to work hard to make her look plain. I’m also a little surprised that they didn’t include an actress who’s maybe a little chubbier so as to be more in-line with the book, but hey, if Moretz can seel it, I won’t complain.

As for special effects…let no expense be spared. This is a movie about a psychic girl with a ton of issues, and the one thing the TV remake did right was make that prom scene scary to behold. So this time around, I hope they can top that: students screaming, flames burning students while scoreboards fall into water to electrocute other students, and Carrie standing in the middle of it all, a melding of the Queen of Hearts and the Red Queen, silently chopping off heads.

Promotional image for the new movie. So far, I like what I’m seeing.

 

Was that a great metaphor or what?

Two other things I’d like to see: one would be more of a stand-off near the end between Chris Hargensen and Carrie. It just seems a little anti-climactic that Chris and Billy always see Carrie on the road and then get killed while accelerating at her. Can’t Carrie have a few seconds to say, “Very funny, bitch” or something before crushing them? Or maybe just a stare to say, “Our eyes are locked. Here’s my revenge”?

I’d also like to see the inclusion of the subplot featuring Sue’s pregnancy. So far, that hasn’t made it to the films, but I would love to see it happen in this one. After all, it plays a big part near the end of the novel, especially since this is a story centered around blood. Blood starts it, blood is at the climax, and blood should symbolically end it.

By now I’m thinking my words won’t affect the script, but hey, I can hope, right? Let’s see what happens.

Tune in at some point tomorrow; I’m planning on doing some thoughts on the subjects of Carrie and bullying, all before I go to see a movie at the theater near campus.

Bye.

Aasif is Published in Mobius Magazine!!!

Posted: September 1, 2012 in Progress Report, Scary Stuff, short story, Writing
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Oh, happy first day of Septhember! The Buckeyes are preparing to kick Miami of Ohio’s butt, the sun is shining, and a certain little short story got published! The web address for Mobius Magazine is down below. Once you get to the website, you’ll find my short story on the left under fiction. I hope you enjoy reading it.

This story was inspired by the Kony 2012 video that came out back in April, and you can definitely see the influence there. The story itself may have taken me a week to write, but I credit the fact that I had great inspiration behind it that it didn’t take longer.

Please feel free to tell me what you think of the story. Did you like it? Hate it? Was there a particular part that stuck with you? Did you think a certain character may have been a racist caricature of some ethnic group or another? Whatever your thoughts, please leave me a comment and let me know.

So, without further ado, here’s the address for Mobius Magazine. Hope you like what you read.

http://mobiusmagazine.com/

The Horrors of Rape: What Todd Akin Doesn’t Get

Posted: August 20, 2012 in Politics and Leadership, Reflections, Scary Stuff, Writing
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Rape.

This one word can send terror through a person’s system. In some ways it is worse than murder, for after the deed is done, the victim still suffers horribly from the experience, sometimes for life. 1 in 5 women on college campuses will be the victim of a sexual assault, and every year 32,o00 rape victims are impregnated by friends, boyfriends, husbands, acquaintances, stalkers, fathers, brothers, total strangers, coworkers, you name it. Rape is the perversion of sexual intercourse, turning something beautiful and great into a nightmare, a travesty of psychological anguish. Our culture is fascinated by it as we are repulsed by it, as can be seen by the enduring popularity of Law & Order: Special Vitctims Unit, and by the constant stories in the media of rapists and their victims.

Earlier this week, Representative Todd Akin, a Republican running for a Senate seat in Missouri, said that “legitimate rape” victims “rarely get pregnant”. Immediately, this caused a firestorm: Mitt Romney immediately distanced himself from Akin, saying that victims of rape should be able to get abortions; President Obama was quoted as saying “rape is rape” and that “men should not be making decisions about women’s health”; and across the nation, thousands of rape victims railed against Akin, questioning him and his definiton of rape.

Personally, I find Mr. Akin’s comments to be very upsetting. Although the number of adult male rape victims are still relatively low (yes, they do exist, and there may be more victims than reported due to fears that men will lose their “masculinity” if it becomes known they were raped), men should know that rape is a horrible thing, it cannot be classified as “legitimate” or “illegitimate”, and any type or rape can get a girl pregnant. As a politician, Mr. Akin should be doubly aware of this fact.

I’ve taken a Women and Gender Studies course, I’ve watched shows and read novels where women have been brutally raped, and in my novel Reborn City, my main character Zahara comes very close to being raped herself. Every time I think of rape, every time I read or watch a scene involving a rape, and the one time I wrote about Zahara’s near rape, I could almost feel the terror, the shock of being violated, the urge to end the pain and the constant fear that it could happen again. It is a powerful, mind-numbing force, and it cannot be taken lightly under any circumstances.

I hope Mr. Akin and others learn that rape is not something to be talked about like it can be classified or screened for authenticity, but an act that destroys lives as surely as murder destroys lives, and for women who become pregnant from rape, carrying that child to term can be an ordeal only imaginable, like a cancer that eventually morphs into a constant reminder of one person’s cruelty to another. To Mr. Akin, I feel sorry that you do not understand the tragedy of rape and hope you learn about it, because rape and the pregnancices that can result are very serious matters. And to women everywhere: if, God forbid, you should be raped, I hope Mr. Akin’s comments do not stop you from getting the help you need, and especially if you become pregnant because of your rape.

And if you are worried you are alone in the world because of what you went through, know this: you have at least one friend here with you. I may be hidden by the anonymous Internet, but I’m here for you across the blogosphere.

Snake Ch. 21

Posted: August 16, 2012 in Novel, Progress Report, Scary Stuff, Writing
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Oroboros, or the snake that eats its own tail, a symbol for immortality. Has no bearing on this story, but it’s still darn cool. And look, it spins!

You know how you’re not supposed to hitchhike or pick up hitchhikers because you might encounter a crazy person or a dangerous runaway convict doing so? You also know how in the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre they had a scene that illustrated very well why you shouldn’t pick up hitchhikers or hitchhike yourself?

I like to comapre this chapter to everything in the previous paragraph, except instead of hitchhikers it’s pulling over to help a motorist in distress. Roman Veretti, the latest member of the Camerlengo Mafia group to become the object of the Snake’s desire to kill, is on the road when he sees a guy on the side of the road. What happens next may make you consider never helping a motorist ever again (and if you knew what happened to the guy, you wouldn’t want to help any motorist even if it was your twin brother!).

Oh, I’m also considering adding a few scenes where the Camerlengo family has to deal with the instability caused by the Snake’s murders: other families are taking territory and killing members of the Camerlengos. But I guess that’s the fallout when a serial killer shows just how easily a formerly-invincible family becomes not-so-invincible. The only problem though is placement: where best do these chapters go if I add them? Probably after Roman Veretti meets his fate; that’s when the Snake shows just how hard he is to stop.

Well, I’ve rambled on long enough. Here’s Chapter 21 as promised; enjoy and please do not hesitate to tell me what you think.

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Roman Veretti was whistling as he turned off the main road and onto the scenic route to Connecticut. The sun was shining, the view was beautiful, the minivan was warm and toasty, the XM radio was playing some of Roman’s favorite jazz and big band songs, “A Gal in Kalamazoo” and “What a Wonderful World”, among others, and there were no other cars on this secret route Roman loved so much.

Best of all, taking the scenic route meant another hour until Roman got to Connecticut, a place Roman wouldn’t have even considered visiting if his wife hadn’t insisted they go and visit her parents that weekend. It wasn’t as if they were bad people—Roman thought that Lizzy’s father was a hilarious storyteller and philosopher—but the house smelled heavily of cleaning products, and Lizzy’s mother always found some way or another to suggest that Roman was a poor choice of husband for her daughter and that Lizzy could do better without actually coming out and saying it. In truth, Roman preferred making sure the prostitutes under his watch made enough money for him rather than spending an entire weekend smelling dish soap and hearing criticisms about his paycheck.

 Just wait till I get off pimp duty and get into a real position in the family. Roman thought, drumming his fingers along the steering wheel as he listened to the music. Mr. Camerlengo’s getting to be real fond of me, and I’m sure that once this whole serial killer thing blows over, I’ll be able to get a job with money enough to shut up that old bat.

Up ahead on the road Roman noticed a car pulled over, its hood up and the lights blinking. The driver was waving his arms in the air, trying to signal Roman as he approached. For a moment Roman considered driving on, but the possibility a few more minutes away from Lizzy’s mother excited him enough that he turned on his turn signal and pulled over to the side of the road next to the car. The driver of the car ran up to Roman as Roman turned off the engine and stepped out of the minivan.

“You saved me!” said the driver, a young man who looked unremarkable save for a pair of brilliant blue eyes. “I can’t tell what’s up with my car and my cell has no signal. Do you think you can help me?”

“Let me see the car.” said Roman. “My dad was a mechanic, so I used to help him out all the time.”

“Well, isn’t that a stroke of luck!” said the driver. “She’s right over there. I figured that son of a bitch was conning me when he sold me this piece of crap.”

“We’ll see about that.” said Roman, sidling on over to the open hood. Peeking in, he examined the engine. To Roman’s confusion, the engine looked brand-new, and nothing he could see indicated any maintenance issues or repair needs.

“I don’t see any problems with the engine.” said Roman, ducking his head out from under the hood. “What’d you say was wrong with it—?”

WHAM!

There was a bright flash of light and Roman felt a sharp pain in the side of his head. He staggered, his hand pressed to his temple, before he staggered and fell over. The last thing he saw was the driver putting on a strange-looking mask before Roman closed his eyes and the world fell away.

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