Rami Ungar The Writer

My Exceptions To The “Friends In Books” Rule

Posted: June 29, 2013 in Novel, Reflections, Writing
Tags: Laura Horn, living and life, novel, Reborn City, Video Rage

A while back I wrote a post about how I why I tell friends and family that characters with similar names aren’t based on them (if you wish to read said post, click here). The basic idea was that I don’t put people I know into my books for a variety of reasons and I always let them know that the character isn’t based on them if I know anyone with a similar name.

Well, there are a few exceptions to that rule of not basing characters on people I know. But I’ve only done it twice and only for special reasons. Like, It was for charity. Before I started writing Reborn City, there was a charity drive at my high school. my school was a private school and wasn’t exactly rolling in money, so the yearbook club literally had to pull every cent they could find to afford to print copies of the yearbook and give them free of charge to students. One of the ways they gathered funds was an auction, and I auctioned off a role in RC, starting at $5.

Yeah, that low. Well, I was still dreaming and writing then. I hadn’t published a single short story, let alone shown that I was going anywhere with the writing I was doing. But that didn’t matter for some of the people in my high school, because a bidding war began between two friends of mine, one a junior at the time, the other a freshman. The freshman won with $12 (yes, that low) and true to my word, I included my friend in RC when I wrote the outline and later the story as the main antagonist’s assistant.

I actually enjoyed writing that character, and instead of killing him off, left open the possibility of his return in VR and Book 3. When I told him over Facebook that the book he was in was coming out in November and he got excited, I couldn’t help but think, Not a bad investment you made, my friend.

The other time I included someone in one of my books actually happened rather recently, and it was To prove a point. I was talking with my sister Adi, a mutual friend of ours I’ll call J, and that friend’s younger sister A. Adi and J wanted me to include them in Laura Horn, despite the fact that I normally didn’t do that sort of thing. Even better, they were both demanding main character status. And J’s younger sister was just standing there quietly, not demanding anything of me, just rolling her eyes in amusement. So I went and said, “A, you’re getting a role in Laura Horn.”

Adi and J were like, “Are you kidding me?” I just laughed and laughed, and for added measure, said A was going to be a mean girl with a different last name. A, being A, didn’t care one way or another, but I proved my point: Don’t ask to be in my books, because there’s no guarantee you’ll get a good role or any role for that matter. I’m not sure J and Adi got the message though, because they were asking for roles again this evening. Well, J was asking for a role.

If I ever do another auction, maybe then I’ll give J a chance. But until then, I’m not letting anyone bully me into giving them a role. After all, what would be the point? And what do I owe them that they should badger me constantly? And if I included them, wouldn’t that mean I had to include everybody who wanted a role?

Only a few exception, EVER. And that’s the way I’m going to keep it.

Do you ever include friends or family in your books? If so, who and why?

My Second Self-Pub Authors Article: An Interview With Matthew Williams

Posted: June 29, 2013 in Journalism, Writing
Tags: authors, blogging, interview, journalism, publishing, Reborn City, self-pub authors, writing

I told you I’d abbreviate that blog’s name the next time I let people know about an article I’d written for Self-Published Authors Helping Other Authors.

This time, the article is an interview I had with my dear friend and science fiction writer Matthew Williams, whose own blog you can read here. I promised him an interview in return for hurrying up on getting Reborn City critiqued by a certain point, and although he was past the deadline, I did the interview anyway.

As Self-Pub Authors is about helping other authors learn about self-publishing, I mostly asked about Matt’s experiences with self-publishing and if he had any advice to dispense (if you read the interview, you will see that he most certainly did). After about a couple of weeks of back-and-forth emails, I asked him for a photo of himself, and then I created the post.

If you wish to read it, you can follow this link and read the article. And I strongly recommend subscribing to Self-Pub Authors I you’re a self-published author, preparing to be one, or if you’re thinking about becoming one. The advice here is indispensable, and it comes from writers of all different genres and experiences.

Review: World War Z (film)

Posted: June 29, 2013 in Review, Scary Stuff
Tags: celebrities, entertainment, films, novel, review, scary stuff

Some of you may remember my review of the novel a while back (if you haven’t read it, click here), which got a very favorable review for being a history of the political, military, economic, social, educational, religious, ethical, and moral ramifications of a zombie war as told through a series of vignettes from witnesses of the war (try saying that three time fast).

After reading the book, set ten years after the end of the war, my whole family–or just me and my mother, plus my sister who hasn’t read the book–wondered how the movie would differ from the book. Obviously there would be a lot of differences, seeing as the movie shows the zombie war as it begins. When we got to the theatre yesterday, had our coupon denied, sat through a hundred corporate ads, had the projector break down, and finally started the movie, we hoped that even with so many liberties, the movie would be good.

We weren’t disappointed. Although plenty of liberties were taken and plenty of stuff was left out–the zombies were fast-moving rather than slow shufflers, there was no mention of the new religious empire of Russia or the South Africa plan, changes in what happens to North Korea, and a huge difference in what happens to Israel–the movie was a decent zombie thriller. Brad Pitt was awesome as Gerry Lane, a retired UN worker who’s called back into service when the plague breaks out. He is surrounded by a great cast and zombies who are so lifelike–or maybe un-lifelike is better–that whether they are CGI or actors in make-up, they look so real.

The movie zigzags around the world, from Philedelphia to the Atlantic Ocean to Korea to Israel (whoop-whoop!) to Wales and finally to Nova Scotia, but there are plenty of thrills and tense situations in-between that have you on the edge of your seat. And finally there’s the scene in the vault in Wales, where the final twist in the movie is revealed. At the end, you’ll be enjoying yourself despite all the liberties taken.

My family and I left the theater discussing the movie and its many differences from the book, but how we enjoyed it all the same. I’m going to give the film a 4.4 out of 5, for being the first decent zombie film I’ve seen in a while.

Oh, and apparently Paramount is moving ahead with plans for a sequel, despite the fact that the original was plagued with numerous problems and production costs skyrocketed. Not surprising, considering horror has had a history of doing sequels long after the sequels should stop, and this was well before the sequel mania we are in began. I’m not sure if I’ll see the sequel, but considering that it took six years for the movie to actually make it to the screen, I tink enough time will pass for me to actually enjoy the sequel.

People Like Interactive Authors

Posted: June 28, 2013 in Reflections, Writing
Tags: authors, blogging, social media, writing

I was reading a blog post about whether or not it’s essential for an author to have a blog (you can read that here), and the post gave me something to think about. It occurred to me that people like interacting with authors in the digital age. In the age of Twitter, Facebook, and all sorts of social networking facilitated by the Internet, an author has the chance to truly interact with their readers, and those that do can have huge reactions from fans.

As I’ve mentioned before, author Anne Rice is very active on her Facebook page, and every time she posts something, especially an opinion piece or a review of one of her books. And I’ve read the blogs of authors here on WordPress with huge followings. Sometimes I’ll log onto their blogs for the latest post only to find that nearly 250 people have liked the post before me, and at least 20 have left encouraging comments, with the author giving just as many replies. I’m pretty sure that garners loyalty from people and keeps them coming.

For the readers, interacting with their favorite authors makes them feel good. They like talking to the people who create the worlds they love diving into, and to actually send a message or have a discussion or just to get these great writers’ thoughts as they have them makes them feel like they know the author. And for the author, it’s a potential boost to their readership and to their sales. Many authors start blogging just to get their work to a wider audience, and occasionally it works. So while the blogging and FBing and tweeting can be exhausting, it pays off if an author can get some more readers.

Of course, not all authors do the blogging thing just for readership, even though it may start that way. In fact, I’ve actually come to enjoy blogging, though I started just because I wanted more people than my friends and family to read my work. I like hearing what people have to say when I share my thoughts on writing, review the latest film, or update them on the latest developments for a novel. In addition, I’ve made some valuable friendships with other bloggers and authors, some of whom have been kind enough to help me with my work and whom I try to help when I can. To say that blogging has become important to me has become an understatement.

But to the original point of this post, there’s a mutual benefit to fans interacting with authors. Both parties get something from the relationship, even if it is basically over a computer 99% of the time. I certainly enjoy interacting with the authors I like, and I enjoy interacting with others as an author. To say that it’s enriched me as a writer and as a person would be an understatement.

Do you like interacting with your favorite authors? And if you write, do you like to interact with those who read your work?

Laura Horn: The Outline Is Done!

Posted: June 28, 2013 in Novel, Progress Report, Writing
Tags: entertainment, Laura Horn, novel, Video Rage, writing

Dye this angel’s hair brown and she could be Laura.

Oh, I’ve had a good day. I got up on time for once this week, I had a good breakfast, went for a jog, started on the new Dan Brown novel, had lunch with my stepmother, and…oh yeah. I FINISHED THE OUTLINE FOR LAURA HORN! Twelve pages, eight-and-a-half of them devoted to the plot, the other three-and-a-half devoted to character summaries. And you know what? I LOVE IT!!!

To tell you the truth, I think it’s kind of ballsy to write this sort of novel. Not only is this novel’s heroine a victim of sexual assault, but it’s plot revolves around a…well, a plot. Against the President of the United States. And I have said victim trying to save the nation while the people behind said-plot are after her. And through all this she confronts her past and takes the first steps to moving on. I also make references to the NSA scandal and PRISM. Plus I write my first actual rape scene (not looking forward to that).

All that, and there’s an interracial cast of characters that would make the KKK run out of the movie version screaming like a bunch of banshees (makes sense given their wardrobes) and enough characters that slightly resemble actual political figures that if I ever get any devoted fans (perhaps I already have them but I just don’t know it? Like my grandmother?), they’re going to be wondering which characters are based on which politicians.

For the record, no one’s directly based on anyone. The President character is not a Hispanic version of Barack Obama, he is not based on Marco Rubio, and I didn’t even hear of the senator with the same last name as my guy until this evening, when I watched The Colbert Report! But yes, this is going to be a ballsy novel to write. I’ll have to do some more research as I write it, and it’ll be difficult to write at times.

But like I said, I love this novel. It’s going to be 67 chapters long (I guessed 61-67 chapters, so I’m glad I was right), and I love the twists and events that happen. At some point I stopped writing and was like, My God. I feel like I’m writing a James Bond movie with a teenage girl as Bond. That’s a huge stretch, but it’s what I felt like at that moment. There are plenty of crazy things that happen in the story, including a chase across the Georgetown University campus, a gunfight in the Blair House, and a trip down the shaft of an elevator, just to name a few.

To quote somebody from my generation, it’ll get cray-cray. But still, I love it, I’m looking forward to writing it, and the fact that it’s 30 chapters longer than Video Rage means I’ll finish Video Rage long before I finish Laura Horn. I’m either very good at guessing how long my books or going to be, or I’m a psychic. God, I hope it’s the latter.

Good night everybody.

The Quiet Game: 3 Weeks To Publication

Posted: June 26, 2013 in Progress Report, Scary Stuff, short story, Writing
Tags: entertainment, publishing, scary stuff, short story, The Quiet Game, writing

More good news after the SCOTUS verdict! The Quiet Game: Five Tales To Chill Your Bones, will be available to purchase in both print paperback and ebook format. I’m very excited about The Quiet Game getting published soon, as it’s been the culmination of nearly seven months’ worth of writing, designing, advertising, and just plain waiting for the copyright to come in.

For those of you unfamiliar with The Quiet Game, it’s a collection of short stories I’ve written that I’m putting out this July 17 for purchase. And some of these tales I’m going to be publishing are quite scary: in Addict, a man with sex addiction tries going cold turkey, only to be haunted by horrifying hallucinations; in I’m Going To Be The Next James Bond, several kids go into an abandoned hospital with a dark history, and find out the history is very much alive; an autistic child gets to experience true terror In The Lady Ogre’s Den; a senator finds that his ancestor’s sins are following him around in the form of a vengeful spirit in Samson Weiss’s Curse; and finally, there’s a game that’s more perilous and more deadly than any game ever played. The Quiet Game.

You can sign up for the Facebook page here, and join nearly 75 people to get instant news and updates, and you can check out the trailer below if you’re not sure whether or not you want to buy a copy. I hope you have a nice day and that the thought of my collection doesn’t scare you too badly.

Of course, if it does, I wouldn’t mind that. Mwha ha ha!

Let Freedom Ring!

Posted: June 26, 2013 in Living and Life, Politics and Leadership, Social Activism
Tags: activism, government, human rights, living and life, politics and leadership, proper decisions

Today I woke up to some wonderful news: the Supreme Court of the United States had declared the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional and had struck down Proposition 8, both laws that had negative consequences for same-sex marriage. The former, signed into law in 1996 by Bill Clinton, prohibited the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages, even when legalized by the states, while Proposition 8 was a ban on same-sex marriage in California that was overturned by the state courts.

At this point, it’s unknown what the exact ramifications of these rulings are. However at the very least, the government in Washington will have to recognize same-sex marriage when legalized by the states, whichwill mean a lot more people will be filing joint tax forms. I’m not sure what Prop 8’s ruling will mean exactly, but I think it may affect all gay marriage bans across the nation, of which there are more than a few.

As a long-time supporter of gay rights, let me just thank The Supreme Court for siding with liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It is unfair to so many when their marriages are recognized by the states but not by the government that’s supposed to have their best interests at heart. Your ruling has been a great success for gay rights, civil rights, and human rights everywhere. I can only hope that this leads to more tolerance and more good news as time goes on.

And to those who have worked tirelessly to see that these laws were struck down, the lawyers, the activists, and finally the people filing the suits in the first place, I cannot congratulate you enough. Your hard work has helped many people, and I salute you. Because of your efforts, I will be able to stand this Independence Day proudly and be glad I live in a nation moving towards tolerance for all.

Have a wonderful and hopefully colorful day, everybody.

1,000 Comments!!!

Posted: June 25, 2013 in Living and Life
Tags: authors, blogging, living and life

Is that the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the one in Vegas, or Tokyo Tower? They all look the same to me.

A milestone has been reached this evening, ladies and gentle-bloggers. And I thought I’d never get here. I think I might cry.

I know every time I reach a milestone–10K views, 250 followers, 500 comments–I remember how hard it was to get one view in a single day on this blog. But now I average 10-35 views a day, and people let me know what they think about my posts at least once a week. It makes me feel happy and appreciated and it lets me know that people are interested in my writing. Or at the very least my blog writing. I hope people are interested in my fiction as well.

Thanks to everyone who has commented on my blog up to this point. I hope you continue to support me as time goes on and I hope we have some great conversations in the future. And a very special “thank you” goes out to Christine Haggerty, whose comments helped me pass this milestone. I couldn’t have done it without you, and good luck with your own writing. I’m sure you’ll do awesome.

I’ll have more to write tomorrow. Good night everybody!

Laura Horn: Up To Chapter 40

Posted: June 25, 2013 in Novel, Progress Report, Writing
Tags: Laura Horn, novel, writing

I’ve been working on the Laura Horn outline for the past couple days, going on the Internet when I need information I don’t necessarily have (research is ongoing and done as needed). So far, I’ve written up to Chapter 40 of the outline. And let me tell you, it’s shaping up very well. A really great political thriller with spy themes. And Laura Horn herself? She’s getting the help she needs, slowly but surely.

It’s been a tough process just writing the outline. The many different things I have to research, plus planning out each scene to be the best as possible. Plus all the distractions that go on in my life, it’s been hard to write the outline. But the fact that I’ve gotten this far, and that I’m probably going to get much farther by the time the day is done, is spurring me on. I might be finished by Thursday, Saturday at the latest.

I’m not sure how many chapters Laura Horn will end up being (more than Video Rage, anyway). I’m pretty sure that it won’t be Snake-length (100 chapters) but it’ll be a good length novel. And the way I’m feeling this story shape up, it’s going to be one hell of a story. One I can be definitely proud of.

Review: “Under the Dome” Pilot Episode

Posted: June 25, 2013 in Review
Tags: authors, celebrities, entertainment, novel, review, television shows

Adaptations are either average, amazing, or really, really bad. Sometimes it’s easy to know which one is which, sometimes it’s not. But when you have Under the Dome, based on the thousand-page novel by Stephen King, it’s difficult to tell what this adaptation will be like. Especially when you consider that there are some big differences to the novel that His Scary Highness himself okayed.

For those of you unfamiliar with the novel, Under the Dome takes place in Chester’s Mill, a small Maine town that is cut off from the world by a giant invisible dome. The novel itself focuses less on where the dome came from and how they get out of it (though that does get its treatment), but on the social ramifications of being cut off from the rest of the world. The TV series, which may have more than one season depending on how well the show does in the ratings, will chronicle how the town does over a period of months (rather than days like in the book). Clashes will occur, people will die, and perhaps we may get a second season.

However at this point it’s too early to tell. There’s the usual weirdness and odd elements that typically define a King story. Two teens have seizures where they see “stars falling in lines” and there’s a cow that’s split in two early on. There’s also hints of something very wrong happening in Chester’s Mill well before the dome fell (I won’t give anything away if you haven’t read the book, but trust me when I say it’s important). And of course, there’s the usual elements of a small town in a King story: the local diner, the townsfolk knowing everybody and everything, and town politics that are bound to get nasty.

The King himself okayed certain changes to the story. What on Earth could that mean for the show?

As for character development though, not much. Dale “Barbie” Barbara (Bates Motel‘s Mike Vogel), our main character, is as mysterious to us as he is to the fellow townspeople. Big Jim Rennie (played by Breaking Bad‘s Dean Norris) isn’t yet the villain he’s supposedly playing (or will that develop later?), while his son Junior (played by Alexander Koch) is disturbed, but a different kind from the one in the novel. Still, very disturbing.

I’m not going to go into all the differences between book and TV show, but I do hope that this story can improve over time and become something I look forward to in the summers should it have a second season. For now, I’m giving it a rating of 3.4 out of 5 for at the very least giving a good attempt at bringing a Stephen King novel to the small screen. Let’s hope they can make it a great attempt as time goes on.