Archive for the ‘Writing’ Category

The Big Birthday Sale!

Posted: June 10, 2015 in Living and Life, Novel, Scary Stuff, short story, Writing
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
2

22 years ago, a powerful being of a higher plane burst forth out of its hellish home with the purpose of spreading terror and chaos to the world. It found a human host and came forth from her, bringing insanity wherever it went and making things interesting at parties. This being, known by a thousand names in just as many worlds and cultures, became known in this one as Rami Ungar the Writer.

At least, that’s how I like to tell the story of my birth. It’s better than the one my mother tells, anyway.

But back on point. Today’s my 22nd birthday, and I’m celebrating it by giving a gift to you, my Followers of Fear. From today, June 10th, to Sunday June 14th, all my published works–The Quiet Game, Reborn City, and Snake–will be available at marked down prices or–in the case of the e-book versions–free of charge! And you’ll be able to get them all from Amazon or Smashwords (reminder that Smashwords only does e-books).

All my books, on sale through Sunday

All my books, on sale through Sunday

In case you’re not really familiar with my works, I’ve included descriptions of each book along with the links below. I hope you like what you read and decide to check out one of my books for your reading pleasure. And if you do decide to get one or more of my published works, I hope once you read them you’ll be kind enough to let me know what you think, either in a review or just a comment on a blog post. Positive or negative, I love feedback. It helps me improve the stories I write so that more people get entertaining and thrilling books.

Well, that’s all for now everyone. I’m off to do some writing and try out a new hobby and if I get a chance later today I’ll write another post. Until then, have fun at the sale, my Followers of Fear! And happy reading!

The Quiet Game: Five Tales To Chill Your Bones
Are you ready to face your own inner demons? Or perhaps you are ready to face the dybbuk’s wrath. Maybe you’ll even jump into the lady ogre’s den. And if you’re brave enough, you may end up in the deadliest game of all, a game where if you die, no one will hear you scream. In his debut published work, Rami Ungar takes you through five terrifying tales of darkness, suspense and fear. Get ready to play The Quiet Game.
Amazon link
Smashwords link

Reborn City
When Zahara Bakur moves to the gambling town of Reborn City, she finds her life flipped upside down when her parents are killed in a hate crime and she is forced to join the interracial street gang the Hydras. From the start this gang is different. Its leaders, including the silent and stern Rip, all have powers that defy imagination. And as Zahara becomes closer to the leaders, she becomes aware of a shadowy government organization that has a sinister interest in the Hydras. It will take all that Zahara has to make sure she and her new friends make it out alive of Reborn City, and the choice she makes will affect not only her, but maybe the world itself.
Amazon link
Smashwords link

Snake
How far would you go for love and revenge? When a young man loses the love of his life and afterwards witnesses a horrific murder, he descends into insanity and decides to hunt down the men who took his lover away from him. Styling himself as the Snake, he goes after New York’s most powerful mafia family, and he won’t stop till he finds his love and makes the monsters who took her pay. Even if that means becoming a monster worse than the ones he is hunting.
Amazon link
Smashwords link

1 Day Till The Big Birthday Sale

Posted: June 9, 2015 in Living and Life, Novel, short story, Writing
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
0

promo spread 1

The anticipation is killing me. I hope it lasts.

Well, tomorrow I turn 22 years old (lukewarm yay!) and in honor of that, I’ll be doing a tremendous sale of all my books (more enthusiastic yay!). All paperback copies of The Quiet Game, Reborn City and Snake will be marked down, and all e-books will be free to download! This will be happening from tomorrow, June 10th to Sunday, June 14th, and will be happening on Amazon and Smashwords. It’s going to be exciting.

That’s all for now. Only one more day to endure reminders, everyone…unless I decide to do reminders every day that there’s a big sale going on. Then you’ll never be free. Ha ha ha…

Villain Songs

Posted: June 8, 2015 in Living and Life, Reflections, Scary Stuff, Writing
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
22

It goes without saying, I love villains. They’re often the most memorable part of a story or among the most memorable parts. Everyone recognizes the killer clown from Stephen King’s IT or Dr. Lecter tied up and wearing a mask in Silence of the Lambs. And in certain musicals, when they have a song about the villain, it can become the best part of the entire show. In fact, in some cases it’s the only good part of some musicals.

I guess I’m a little obsessed with villain songs, particularly “In the Dark of the Night” from the movie Anastasia (perhaps the only good part of an expensive Disney rip-off) and “Be Prepared” from The Lion King. I’ve even written my own villain song about me as a horror writer called “Eater of Fear” (boy, would I love to get that thing produced into an actual musical track) and I came up with an idea for a short story involving a villain song. And I’m not the only one. You’ll find plenty of people who like villain songs and even create lists for them (you can find examples of other people’s lists here, here, and here).

What’s with the love of villain songs? Well, I can think of several reasons. One is that everyone likes a catchy song. It’s part of the reason why we can’t get some of Taylor Swift or Carly Rae Jepsen’s songs out of our heads sometimes (I’ve been there more than once). Villain songs are among the catchiest because they are often used to explain the plans or motivations of the villains, so a lot of thought is put into making the lyrics and tune exciting while explaining these plans/motivations. It’s a lot more fun than you’re average monologue about the villain’s plans or beliefs, right? Nobody downloads those on their iPods!

Tell me you weren’t wiggling a little in your seat when Dr. Facilier started doing this fun little song and dance.

 

Another reason is that–and this is my own opinion, but I think it has merit–most people want to indulge in their dark side every now and then, they want to have a little fun being evil. How many times have we wished we could get revenge on our bosses or on that nasty kid on the playground? Probably a lot, but we don’t because most of us are good people who would never do something so horrid or we’re afraid of the consequences. A villain song is a sort of trip to the dark side. You get to indulge in being bad and have fun singing about it. And when the song is over, what’s the worst that comes back to haunt you? Maybe someone sees you singing and goes to warn somebody else, but that might be it. Usually, the song ends and we move onto the next part of the story.

In addition, villain songs are packed with dark visuals. Even non-fans of horror like the dark and the creepy every now and then, they just don’t like being assaulted with it in the books or movies or shows they read or watch. No, they prefer to dip their toes, and a villain song is a perfect way to do it. If you’ve ever watched “Hellfire” from The Hunchback of Notre Dame or “Be Prepared”, you know they’ve got some arresting visuals. The former has some freaky Gothic and hellish imagery, the latter has freaking Nazi hyenas marching in front of Fuhrer Scar. It’s kind of creepy, it stays with you, and it’s a lot of fun to watch.

Anyone who didn’t find this scene a little chilling is either lying or possibly has ties to dangerous organizations or groups.

 

These and a bunch of other reasons could be why villain songs resonate with us so much as an audience. Whether it’s because we love a villain, indulging safely in our dark side, or we just like a catchy tune, villain songs are just a ton of fun and as long as people are writing musicals, they’re bound to show up again and again in our shows and, if they’re good, in our consciousnesses.

Do you have a thing for villain songs? Which are your favorite? And why do you think they tend to stick in people’s minds so much?

Oh, just a reminder that my Big Birthday Sale is in 2 days. From June 10th to June 14th, all my titles–The Quiet Game, Reborn City, and Snake–will be marked down or, in the case of the e-books, free to download from Amazon and Smashwords. So if you’re looking for something new to read and want to get it at a good price, this might be the opportunity for you. Get excited, because it’s coming soon!

That’ll be all for now, Followers of Fear. I’ve got to go and sing some “Eater of Fear” in my head. Have a good one.

3 Days Till The Big Birthday Sale

Posted: June 7, 2015 in Living and Life, Novel, short story, Writing
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
0

promo spread 1

Annoyed yet with these constant reminders? Well guess what? In true horror fashion, there’s more to come! Mwa ha ha!

Anyway, my birthday’s coming up on Wednesday, and in honor of this very special day, I’m giving all of you a gift! All my published titles–The Quiet Game, Reborn City and Snake–are going on sale from June 10th to June 14th on Amazon and Smashwords. Paperbacks will be marked down and e-books will be free to download. So if you’re looking for something new to read and you want to get a new story for a very good price, this will be the opportunity to do so.

Until the next time, my Followers of Fear. I’m off for another busy crazy day.

5 Days Till The Big Birthday Sale!

Posted: June 5, 2015 in Living and Life, Novel, short story, Writing
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
0
Three of my favorite books by one of my favorite authors. I hear he can be a bit of a narcissist in real life though.

Three of my favorite books by one of my favorite authors. I hear he can be a bit of a narcissist in real life though.

Only 5 days until my birthday and you get a special gift. All my published works–The Quiet Game, Reborn City, and Snake–will be on sale from June 10th to June 14th on Amazon and Smashwords. Paperbacks will be marked down and e-books will be free to download. If you’re looking for something new to read and do it cheaply, or you want to get a gift for both me and for yourself, this is the opportunity to do so.

That’s all for now. Hope you’re as excited as I am. I know my sister is. She shared and retweeted my Facebook and Twitter posts about this. God bless her, she loves my stories (and not just because I wrote them).

All for now. If I don’t post later today, have a great weekend, my Followers of Fear!

#FirstLineFriday

Posted: June 5, 2015 in Writing
Tags: , , , , , , , ,
2

I’ve been part of a Facebook group for writers for a while now, and we have this thing where on Fridays called #FirstLineFriday (always with the hashtag). Basically we post the first one or two lines of one of our stories, works in progress, or potential stories. It’s a lot of fun, so I thought I’d try it here on my blog, maybe see if I could inspire some other writers to do it on their blogs and start a trend. It would be pretty cool if that happened, don’t you think?

Alright, here’s my first lines, from a story I had an idea for not too long ago. Not sure if these will be the first lines when I write the story, but it sums up a great deal of the story’s theme. Enjoy:

Being human meant surviving, at almost any cost. That was the humble opinion of eight-year-old Marianne Carter, who had endured the whipping Lady McConnell had bestowed upon her rump today–without crying–just so she and her family could survive on the meager pay her job brought home.

Thoughts? Suggestions? Errors? Let me know and wish me luck for next week. Here’s hoping this ignites a trend!

The Love/Hate Challenge

Posted: June 4, 2015 in Living and Life, Writing
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
20

Joleene Naylor, fellow author and writer of the Ramblings from the Darkness blog (cool name, by the way), has challenged me to do the Love/Hate Challenge. What I have to do is write ten things I love, ten things I hate, and then challenge ten other bloggers to do the same (don’t you just love these meme things?).

Alright, here I go Joleene. First, ten things I love:

  1. Anything scary or terrifying (come on, you knew that was going to be up first. I’m nothing if not true to my values).
  2. Manga and anime. I’ve been a fan since I first watched Pokemon and Sailor Moon as a kid, and even though I don’t spend as much time with either format today, I’ll probably be a fan throughout my life.
  3. Places filled with a rich (and possibly bloody) history. These windows into the past are so powerful, giving the appreciative viewer the chance to reflect on not only where they’ve been and where they’re going in their life, but where the world has gone and where they may go someday. Plus these places usually yield up awesome ideas for stories and occasionally are haunted.
  4. A good joke. If you can make me laugh or I can make you laugh, then all is right with the world.
  5. Cats. Enough said. Also, today is National Hug Your Cat Day, so go and do that.
  6. Dogs. Also enough said. Also, National Hug Your Dog Day is the second Sunday of September. Thought you’d like to know.
  7. Music. My tastes run in a number of directions, from classical and meditative music to metal and J-Pop and everything in between. When I’m listening to music I like, I’m transported to another world, and it’s one where everything is calm, wonderful, and able to stimulate my senses and my imagination. Where would I be without music? Actually don’t answer that, I’d rather not know.
  8. Sweets. I have a powerful sweet tooth, and satisfying it is no easy task. It’s actually led to some excess wait I’ve been trying to get rid for a while now. Still, can’t help myself. That’s just how things are, I guess. Now give me some chocolate cake!
  9. Moscato white wines and wheat beers. Plus every now and then a sweet cocktail like a Long Island Iced Tea or an Electrified Lemonade. Never all at once, of course. That’s just dangerous.
  10. And of course, settling down in the evenings to watch some good TV. Doctor Who, Sleepy Hollow, and Law & Order: SVU are particular favorites of mine. I cannot wait for the next seasons of any of these to start!

Alright, there’s the things I love. Time for the things I hate:

  1. Really bad horror films or novels. It really gets me when you get so excited for what looks like a scary good time and then you’re let down in the worst possible way. At that point, I want to find whoever wrote the story or made the film and shout at them, “What were you thinking when you made that piece of crap?!” And this leads me to my next item…
  2. The Friday the 13th remake. Honestly, that was a pile of shit that Michael Bay threw at us. I’m pretty sure the director and writers were going through a sexual dry spell when they made that movie, and that’s why they placed so much more emphasis on getting all the girls naked and showing them having sex while the guys got drunk and high and swore every other word, rather than making a legit Friday the 13th film. It’s the only way I know how to explain the abomination inflicted upon us.
  3. When people are totally prejudiced or ignorant. Honestly, that really gets my goat when people don’t use their God-given brains or close their hearts over tiny differences between people. It’s even worse when they know they’re being ignorant or prejudiced, they just don’t care. That shows real callousness on their parts.
  4. Idiocy in government. Unfortunately there’s a lot of that no matter where you go. Totally sucks, right?
  5. When people continue to defend the Duggars. Really people, if it was anyone who wasn’t famous who had molested those girls, everyone who didn’t belong on a sex-offender registry would be condemning them and wishing them a nice vacation in Hell. Yet the Duggars are famous, so clearly we must accept that their son made a small mistake and he’s really a good Christian and worthy of forgiveness. I’m going to have to beg to differ.
  6. The price of things. It’s expensive to pay for living space, for basic services, for food, for transportation. Not to mention to pay for entertainment. It’s insane.
  7. Spiders! Especially big ones where you can see each individual feature on their ugly little faces! *shudder*
  8. That NBC cancelled the Dracula TV series (if I were to be convicted of a capital crime, it would be for trying to avenge this dreadful wrong).
  9. That I never have enough time to write or edit or publish. I’ve got so many different projects just languishing, waiting for me to get around to them. And yet I’m often stuck on a single story for several weeks at a time or more! I wish I could find more time to be as prolific as many other writers out there.
  10. And finally, I hate it when I have the components for a good story in my mind, I just can’t make them connect to create a story that’s original, interesting, and scary. And when those components are swirling in my head for days and I still can’t connect them, it annoys me even more. What a pest.

Alright, I’ve completed the challenge. Now to nominate ten bloggers and let them know:

That’s all for now. Just a reminder that there’s six days left till my big birthday sale, where you’ll be able to check out my books at discount prices from June 10th-June 14th. Get excited!

Announcing the Big Birthday Sale

Posted: June 3, 2015 in Living and Life, Novel, short story, Writing
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
2

Well Followers of Fear, my birthday is a week away. That’s right, I’m turning 22 in a week. It’ll also be the one-year anniversary from when Snake was published. In honor of both these special events, I’m doing a special sale of all of my books. From June 10th to June 14th, all electronic versions of my books–The Quiet Game, Reborn City and Snake–will be available for free download, and the paperbacks will be marked down. This will be happening on both Amazon and Smashwords, where my books are available for sale.

I’ll be posting reminders throughout the coming week to get you excited…or possibly sick of my reminders. But heck, if you’re looking for something new to read and want to get it at a good price, next week will be your opportunity to do so. I can’t wait. Can you?

Until next time, my Followers of Fear!

Pushing Your Boundaries

Posted: May 31, 2015 in ideas, Living and Life, Novel, Reflections, Writing
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
2

In case you’re not friends with me on Facebook or you don’t follow me on my author page or Twitter feed, my trip to Russia has been delayed. I won’t go into the reasons why, but just know we’re working hard to get a new date and as soon as I know, everyone else will know, including you, my wonderful Followers of Fear. In the meantime, I’m doing what I’d been doing before the delay: preparing, practicing German, packing, and of course, writing and blogging and editing (bet you expected something beginning with a “p”, didn’t you?). Which leads to this post, which is something I’ve been contemplating quite a bit:

It’s considered healthy in your personal life to get out of your comfort zone and try something new, whether that be a new hobby, a new group of friends, or just a change in routine or attitude. I think at times it’s the same thing with the stories you write. Sometimes you want to stick to writing content you feel is safe, that you as the author feel comfortable dealing with. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing–I’d say most writing is writing in an author’s comfort zone–but occasionally as an author you have to get out of that area and go in directions you normally wouldn’t go.

When we authors try to push our boundaries like this, we may do it for several reasons. On a personal level, an author may want to push themselves in the hopes that they won’t become boring or stale staying in what feels like safe territory, or they might want to see how far they can go. On the level of the story they’re working on, an author might feel he or she is helping to make things more exciting or keep it from becoming too much like some of their other works. Another reason could be for the audience’s sake: authors may feel that something different has to be done with the story, something untried and maybe even a little scary, so that either the audience stays interested or so that they too are pushed out of their safety spots.

An example of this happened to me while writing Rose. In one of the later chapters, my protagonist Rose Taggert remembers some of the formative events in her life. In the first draft, the first flashback in that chapter  ends with Rose being traumatized but not seeing any of the things that would cause the trauma. The flashback after that, while Rose does see and experience some traumatic stuff, it was all things I felt comfortable writing about, nothing that made me personally squirm.

While I won’t post excerpts here on the blog (too much space would be taken up and besides, the book’s still far from ready), I can tell you that in the second draft things changed quite a bit. I looked at that scene, those flashbacks, and I thought to myself, “You know Rami, this is supposed to be horror. You’re not horrifying enough in this part. Perhaps you should go deeper, show more and maybe try to go places you normally don’t. Besides, some other authors you admire would add some very nasty and hurtful dialogue in that second flashback. You should at least try it and see how it works.”

And I did. I expanded the first flashback so that Rose, rather than experiencing her trauma from afar, experiences it up close and personal. With the second flashback, I added a bit more dialogue that was meant to make Rose (and possibly myself) a little uncomfortable, just a bit more afraid than she normally would be. And you know what? It actually worked out pretty well. The flashbacks were much more intense, the tension and terror were heightened, and you got much more of a sense as to why these moments affected Rose so much in her later life.

This experience taught me that sometimes you had to push yourself and your boundaries and be bold, try writing stuff you might not at first be comfortable with, see how it fits with you, your story, and what you’re trying to do with the story. I think that’s especially important to me as a horror writer. Often I’m diving into subjects or going into directions meant to scare people, to make them afraid of what might be lurking outside the house or what is underneath their beds. If I’m scared to go someplace with my story, then perhaps that means I should try it and see how it fits in the story. If it scares me, imagine what it’s doing to my readers!

And I think for a bunch of other writers, from many different genres, backgrounds, and training, pushing those boundaries can be a good thing. It can lead to new and interesting stories, or within the stories themselves bring new twists that make what you’re writing (and what hopefully people are reading) that much better. It also can be considered part of the continual evolution that writers go through, constantly learning and getting better as they craft new stories to tell. And by going outside your comfort zone, an author grows not only as an author, but as a person too.

So I’ll keep pushing boundaries when I feel it’s necessary, see if it works out like it did with the second draft of Rose. Heck, maybe when I get to the third draft, I’ll push some more boundaries, add what happens from doing that to all the other edits my advisor and second readers suggested for me. You never know what could happen. But I think it could make the story much better much better than it already is.

Do you push your boundaries a little or maybe even a lot while writing? How so?

What was the results of pushing those boundaries? Would you do it again if given the chance?

Self-Pub Authors: Gulf Coast Bookstore

Posted: May 24, 2015 in Living and Life, Novel, Writing
Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
0

I just published my latest article from Self-Published Authors Helping Other Authors. This one is “Gulf Coast Bookstore” and is about a new bookstore in Florida dedicated entirely to featuring the works of self-published novelists. I decided to write a post about it when I heard of it, but I couldn’t find the time until today to write it.

If you get the chance, please check it out, as well as check out the rest of the site. Self-Published Authors Helping Other Authors is a wonderful resource for indie authors, by indie authors, and from indie authors to help them write, edit, publish, and market as best they can. You should really check them out if you get the chance.

That’s all for now. Got plenty to do today, so I’m going to get on it. Preparing to go to Germany and all that. Wish me luck, my Followers of Fear!

Older Entries
Newer Entries