Archive for the ‘Writing’ Category

It’s The Year of the Snake (Is That A Coincidence?)

Posted: February 12, 2013 in Living and Life, Novel, Scary Stuff, Writing
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As many of you know, the Chinese New Year was celebrated recently, ushering in the Year of the Snake. As many of you also know, I recently wrote and completed a thriller novel called Snake, which is about a serial killer hunting mafioso. Since Snake will probably be published sometime before this time next year (hopefully), I thought it was a pretty strange but otherwise wonderful coincidence. Of course, the serial killer whom the novel is named after, the Snake, was probably born in the Year of the Rooster like myself, but still it’s a pretty cool coincidence.

And since it’s the Year of the Snake, I thought I’d give you a small sample of Snake, something to let you get a sense of one of my best written works to date (at least in my opinion). It’s from the first chapter, when one of the Snake’s first victims makes contact with the Snake over the phone. It’s creepy and I love it. Enjoy:

            Paul felt a buzz in his pocket and looked down. Through the fabric in his pants Paul could see the light from his phone shining through. Paul reached into his pocket, pulled out his phone, and dove into a little alcove where he could take the call in peace. Without checking the number he pressed the talk button and brought the phone to his ear.

            “Hello?” said Paul; on the other end all he could hear was a deep breathing. Paul raised his eyebrows suspiciously. “Who is this?” He checked the caller ID, and saw only UNKNOWN NUMBER.

            Suddenly the person at the other end of the phone spoke. “Men in your line of business have no right to be in a church, Mr. Sanonia.”

            Paul stared at the phone, surprised. Glancing quickly around the church, he saw only three people, and none of them were on their phones. How did this person know where he was and how did he get his number? He looked back at the phone and spoke into the mouthpiece. “Who the fuck is this?”

            The man on the other end laughed, a rich, hearty laugh that for some reason chilled Paul’s skin. “When your cousin James Sanonia died, he was shot in the head.” said the man, his voice deep and affected with a heavy Russian accent. “Then several bones were broken all over his body. He was then taken from wherever he was killed and thrown in the Hudson. Dockworkers saw his body floating and pulled him up out of the water. By the time they got him though, there was nothing to identify your cousin’s murderer. Except for one interesting detail, that is.”

            Paul froze, his heart beating loudly in his chest. Who was this guy? How did he know all that? “And what was that detail?” he asked through gritted teeth.

            The man spoke, and Paul froze. “You killed my cousin.” he hissed angrily. “You killed Jamie.”

            “Horrible thing, wasn’t it?” said the Russian man. “I couldn’t get what I wanted out of your cousin. But I’m sure you’ll be much more helpful.”

            Paul was only half-listening; he was looking around the church, trying to find someone—anyone!—on a phone. One of the other worshippers, a teenage girl with a skirt too short for the cold February weather, walked out of the church while texting. Besides her, no one else seemed to have a phone.

            “Where the fuck are you, you crazy shit!” Paul whispered into the phone. “Come on out and face me like a man!”

            “But there is no fun in that.” replied the Russian man. “Besides, you’re so much more amusing to watch.”

            Paul stepped out of the alcove, looking around the church. “Watch?” he repeated.

            “Oh, didn’t I mention it?” asked the Russian man. “I’m right in the church with you.”

I’m Writing What I Know For Once

Posted: February 11, 2013 in Living and Life, Reflections, Writing
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Last semester, I wrote how I continue to write about subjects I have no personal experience with, despite my creative writing class’s textbook’s insistence that I do so. It wasn’t that I thought anything from my own life wasn’t good enough for writing about, it’s just that I was more interested in writing about a demon causing a human to become a cannibal or a war between humans and werewolves than I was writing about my anxiety before a test or my sometimes stormy relationships with my sisters. When people like my dad would tell me to at least give it a shot, I would usually reply, “That’s too scary for literature.”

But lately–and I blame the workshops I’ve been taking for this–my writing has taken a more personal tone. Over break, I wrote “Enigma” (later renamed to “In The Lady Ogre’s Den”), which has an autistic child as the main character. I’ve worked with kids with autism before, and I’m even on the spectrum, though I’m very high-functioning. Later I wrote “Old Sid” for class (I’ll be turning that one in a week from Wednesday) and that story takes place on the Ohio State campus, where’ I’ve either been working, learning, or both for the past two years. And recently I’ve been working on a short story called “Three Life Saving Phone Calls”, which is based on some dark experiences in my life that for a time made me very depressed and even contemplated suicide. Sure, I’ve changed so much around that it’s now only very loosely based on my life, but if someone were to look closely, and if that someone knew a lot about me, they could see through the fictional veneer and spot what I’ve taken from my own life and put into the story.

Why the change? Like I said before, I think it might have something to do with the workshops I’ve been taking. The emphasis on literary fiction as opposed to genre fiction requires me to be more personal than I have been, and a lot of what those workshops have been teaching me I’ve assimilated into my writing. I guess finding ways to make my own life and experiences interesting is part of what I’ve taken away from these classes. I’m not exactly sure if it’s the best thing for my writing–after all, I’m still devoted to genre fiction, and I prefer to use imagination rather than confront an actual serial killer–but while I’m stuck with this new appreciation for things in my life and using them in my writing, I might as well take advantage of it to the fullest.

And besides, who knows? “Three Life Saving Phone Calls” seems to be just literary enough that I could submit it to a major literary journal, one that pays its contributors. That’s the hope, at least.

What about you? Do you use your own life in your writing, or is your work so strange that your life couldn’t find a place in your work?

Getting A Promotional Work Ready

Posted: February 10, 2013 in Progress Report, short story, Writing
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As many of you know, I’m preparing to release a collection of short stories known as The Quiet Game: Five Tales To Chill Your Bones (you can find the link for the Facebook page below). As I’m getting ready though, I want to also release some other stuff, drum up a little excitement. Which is why I’m hopefully going to be releasing a promotional short story later this week, so that until The Quiet Game comes out, you’ll have something to at least get an idea of what my writing is like (especially if you’ve never read any of my work before).

I won’t say much about the short story in particular, except that I will tell you I wrote it in high school and have given it several edits over the years. However, as my high school English teacher Mr. Guinan said, “There comes a time when a story is done. Not perfect, but done. When you can’t do anything else to it, when you can’t polish it or improve it anymore. It’s just done.” And this story is definitely done.

So tomorrow I’ll see about creating a cover that matches the story, turn the whole darn thing into a PDF file, and when I have the copyright, I’ll upload it onto Amazon and onto Smashwords (the latter makes it available on Barnes & Noble, iTunes, and a bunch of other sites). Now, the copyright is still going to cost money, so I’m on the fence on whether or not to charge for downloads (and if so, how much). So if you have an opinion either way, please let me know. As always, I value your opinions.

I hope to have more on this short story soon. I also plan to create a page called “Other Work by Rami Ungar”, but I’ll get to that when the time comes.

And once again, thanks for reading and thanks for supporting me. I really appreciate it.

http://www.facebook.com/#!/TheQuietGameFiveTalesToChillYourBones

Every Writer Does This

Posted: February 8, 2013 in ideas, Living and Life, Reflections, Writing
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It’s not uncommon for people reading fiction or watching a movie to identify with a character and say to themselves, “I want to be like that character”, or “I so wish that could be me.” We’ve all done it at least once. For years, I waited for a letter to go to Hogwarts, and was a little disappointed that I never got one, even if I knew it wasn’t possible to get one. Teenage girls today look at the Twilight books and films and wish they were so lucky that two hunky, supernatural guys would fight over them, even if one of them has some personality problems and wants to bite you. And I think plenty of us have wanted to blow up the Death Star or use the Force (I know I want to be a Sith Lord).

But it may surprise some people that writers of fiction do this too. In fact, it’s not uncommon for writers to insert themselves in their stoires, sometimes in very heroic or very different roles that are unlike who they really are. Now, you may be thinking, why should a writer do that? Shouldn’t they be creating figures we ourselves want to emulate, not figures they want to emulate or wish to be? But if you think about it in a certain way, it makes sense:

Nobosdy ends up a writer by accident or by purpose. We end up as writers through the various events in our lives. Yes, some of us show talent early on, but we don’t end up becoming writers just because we display talent. I ended up a writer because I liked to create stories, and writing allowed me to take those stories and share them with others in a very efficient way. Not only that, but I had plenty of people over time who encouraged my writing and helped shape me into the person I am today.

Imagine what would happen if I had never learned to love writing though. What sort of person would I be? Well, maybe I’d be a psychology major instead of double-majoring in History and English. I’d be learning about psychopathy and trying to become an analyst for the BAU. Of course, I wouldn’t look forward to the Stats classes. Those are tough!

Or imagine if I’d never come to Columbus and made a fresh start, but instead stayed at the same school in my old town where I was bullied. I might get fed up with it and one day just snap. This would lead me to become a delinquent with anger issues, and eventually I might go to jail for all of my fighting and other bad behavior. Or maybe an intervention might occur, I’d repent my ways, and become a lawyer dedicated to reforming schools.

Or imagine I was a girl. Would I still write? Might I instead be interested in a different lifestyle? Perhaps I’d be a friendly rival of Lady Gaga in terms of fashion and singing! Or perhaps I’d have done some stupid stuff in high school and I’d be a single mother working her way through college. How would I find time to write with all that going on?

You see what I’m doing here? I’m imagining myself in different roles and under different conditions. And as each person is the star of their own story, I’m basically imagining myself in a story where I’m the star and I’m very different from who I am. It’s not too hard after this to apply myself in a different character role for a completely different story.

And the examples above are only the start. It could get wilder, especially since I write fiction with horror/sci-fi/fantasy elements. Imagine what I would be like if I grew up in a world where psychics were a real phenomena, and about 10% of babies were born with it. Imagine that I was born with psychic abilities. What would my life be like? Or what if one of my siblings was a psychic and I wasn’t? Would jealousy make me do strange things?

Or what if we lived in a world where South Africa was the dominant superpower on Earth? How different would our culture be? Would I still be living in the US, or would I live in Johannesburg?

What if humans weren’t the ruling species of Earth, but some other creature was? Would the relationship between humans and this ruling species be symbiotic or would we be hunted by them? How would I feel about the relationship?

Or imagine if the Kingdom of Israel had never fallen, but had lasted for centuries, expanded beyond its original borders, and Islam and Christianity were minority religions like Judaism is today. Would I live in Israel? What would I be doing there right about now? What other countries, faiths, and cultures would exist? What sort of technology would be available, and would the religious establishment allow or ban certain types of technologies?

Or imagine that humans never aged beyond fifteen, died at sixty-three, lay eggs instead of gave life birth, and turkeys were considered divine symbols? What would the world look like, and what sort of strange comedic science-fiction story would I be living?

You see how this is for writers? We put all these possibilities into motion when we sit down to write and we insert ourselves into the story in some capacity. It’s weird, but it’s what we do, and as you can see from above, it’s a lot of fun to do. I actually do it a lot. And if anyone tells us that we could never be military captains or wizards or the pop divas with supernatural abilities, we just say, “It’s fiction. Besides, who says if things weren’t a little different, I might actually be these things?”

What’s your favorite role to imagine yourself in when you insert yourself in a story? Do you think you could be any of those things if life were a little bit different?

An Idea That Came Too Late

Posted: February 6, 2013 in ideas, short story, Writing
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I spoke a few days ago about how I had written short stories that were terrible, and that I tucked these short stories away until I can find some way to improve, edit, and/or rewrite these short stories. Lately several of these short stories have gotten edited and rewritten, due to inspiration coming my way and helping to improve the stories while keeping the basic ideas. I’m happy about that.

However, I mentioned a four-year-old story that I’d hoped would get a rewrite or edit someday. I just needed the idea. And tonight I got it. I had such an idea to run with, one that would turn this crappy story into a suspenseful, emotional rollercoaster. I was so happy and thrilled.

But that thrill only lasted a few seconds. You see, the short story I wrote in high school was about a school shooting. And no matter how good of an idea I got, it’s just too soon to do this sort of story. There’s a raging gun debate, parents, teachers, and students are scared stiff that their school might be attacked next, all sorts of options are being discussed. But most of all, there are just too many raw feelings after Sandy Hook.

As great as an idea as I had this evening, I couldn’t write this story without feeling a little guilty. In fact, I’m not even sure I want to rewrite it now. It’s just too soon, and I don’t know if there will ever be a time when I’m comfortable rewriting this story. I’ll keep it stored away on my flash drive, just like I’ve done since high school. Maybe I’ll even edit it someday, when the fears have died down and the memories have dulled a little with time.

For now though, it’s best that I don’t work on this story, especially with so many other stories for me to edit and write. I think that’s the best decision. Don’t you think so too?

Checking Into Copyright Law

Posted: February 6, 2013 in Living and Life, short story, Writing
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Okay, so today I stopped by the school library to see about copyright laws (if you’re going to self-publish something, might as well be protected by law from people using your work illegally and without permission). According to the woman whom I talked to, it’s actually much easier than I thought to copyright your literary work. A little costlier than I thought, but only by twenty dollars. Compared to tuition money, it’s not too bad. And hey, if this is a success, it’ll be worth the investment.

By the way, I’ve been thinking of releasing a short story not in the collection as a little promotion for The Quiet Game: Five Tales To Chill Your Bones. What do you guys think? Would you buy one of my short stories if it was priced at ninety-nine cents? Oh, and if you’re uncertain, I’m choosing between a kidnapping thriller and a scary story involving neo-Nazis. What say you?

Update on “The Quiet Game”: Another Short Story Is Ready

Posted: February 4, 2013 in Progress Report, Scary Stuff, short story, Writing
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The next short story in my upcoming collection of short stories, “I’m Going To Be The Next James Bond”, is finally ready for publication. This was the fourth short story I wrote over vacation, and it’s one that gave me a bit of trouble writing. Nevertheless I got it done and boy, do I like how it turned out. It’s weird, it’s creepy, it’s a little spooky. Hopefully readers will like it too.

I didn’t have to change much for the final draft. My beta reader for this short story, my mother Rabbi Wendy Ungar (yes it’s my mother, but she gives pretty solid advice, not just praise), told me to add in some creepy elements in order to better the story near the end, and that’s what I did. Now there’s a gross undertone with one of the characters, something that might make you a little afraid of that character too. Thanks Ima for the advice and for using Stephen King stories for it too.

I need three more stories in order to publish “The Quiet Game”. Hopefully my beta readers for those stories will also get back to me soon. In the meantime, I’ll keep you updated on the progress of everything as it coalesces. For the Facebook page for “The Quiet Game: Five Tales To Chill Your Bones”, click here:

http://www.facebook.com/#!/TheQuietGameFiveTalesToChillYourBones

The Superdome Goes Out, But I Light Up…With An Idea

Posted: February 3, 2013 in ideas, Scary Stuff, Writing
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I was watching a scary movie in my room while everyone else watched the Super Bowl downstairs. I’m telling you, besides college football and basketball, I don’t usually give a damn about sports. I only decided to support the Ravens out of some admiration for Edgar Allen Poe (“Nevermore!”). So I ended up in my room watching the sequel to The Haunting in Connecticut, which was decent compared to some other horror films I could name. After it’s done I check the news, and see the headline: 39-Minute Delay as Superdome Experiences Outage.

It’s at these moments, when I’ve just been in a scary state of mind and strange events happen, that ideas come to me. Scary ideas, horrific ideas, macabre ideas. And one did come to mind. I immediately start pondering the idea, meditate, and then start thinking of an idea. Suffice to say, I came up with a possible story. During the coming years, until I actually get around to writing it, that story will probably change around in my dark, zany mind until a fleshed-out story appears. At the very least, I have something here that I can put down on my ideas list.

Tell me, have you ever had any ideas that have come to you from strange events? Because I have an idea for a slasher film based on Hurricane Sandy also that came to me when I was walking into work after the third straight day of rain.

Am I Becoming More Literary?

Posted: February 3, 2013 in Reflections, Writing
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I’ve taken two writing workshops so far at school, with the goal of becoming a better writer. Have I become a better writer? I like to think so; none of the stuff I’ve produced since my first meeting in the workshop last semester has gotten a “yay” or “nay” as far as being published, but I think that same stuff is a little bit better.

However I may also be a little more literary in my writing voice. This is because the workshops I take emphasize literary fiction, mostly because of the character development aspect of it, but also because some critics believe that genre fiction is predictable (I’ll admit that’s sometimes true, but quality genre fiction can do the same old shtick several times and each time make it seem original and utterly compelling, so there’s no reason to put it down). Because of this emphasis on literary fiction, I’ve had to write my stories with more of a literary verve than before, and I’ve definitely had to critique and merit the stories based on how good they are, both as literary fiction and as fiction in general.

Because of all that, my style might sound a little more literary than before. I mean, today at the library, taking a break from homework and school pressure, I started writing a story about a character contemplating suicide. Before, that would’ve had a more thriller bent. But now, I’m wondering how to draw out his character, how to make it seem natural and realistic, how to get people invested in the character. And I find myself drawing on everything I’ve written and read for these workshop classes I’ve been taking, and I find myself thinking, “I’m becoming something I swore I wouldn’t become.”

What I swroe I wouldn’t become was an author of literary fiction, which I feel for the most part is boring and slow and too realistic for my dark tastes. And even though I’ve resisted, some of the elements of literary writing have rubbed off on me. Am I sad or angry? I’m not sure. Maybe a little worried. I mean, I like genre fiction. If I write in a more literary style, will people stop liking my work as genre fiction? Or is the fact that I’m a bit better at writing realistic stories with character development only going to aid me in the future?

I have no clue. And truthfully, I won’t get a clue for a while, at least not until I’ve published a little more work and seen how people react to it.

What’s your opinion? Do you think having some literary aspects to your creative process and to your writing is a good thing, or a bad thing?

“Enigma” Is Rewritten

Posted: February 3, 2013 in Progress Report, short story, Writing
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And I think I’ve thought of a new title for it: “In The Lady Ogre’s Den”. Why I call it that, I can’t tell you. You’ll have to read the story to find out.

I like how this new version of the story turned out. Sure the ending might need a tweak or two, but I think this version is much better. Hopefully I can make it even better on the second draft. I’ll know once I start editing.

Unfortunately I had to take out the Navajo elements from the story. The black wolf character identifies itself as a death wolf, but that’s as close as it gets to the original Navajo themes. Also, I expanded the role of the main character Jason’s father, mostly because I thought that for this version his role needed to be expanded a little.

Anyway, I hope to have this particular short story edited and finished soon. Until then, I’ll just keep writing. I’ve got plenty of ideas, and they’re just screaming to be implemented and turned into short stories.

Hope for updates soon, so I’ll let you know.

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