Posts Tagged ‘blogging’

I’m In A Bit Of A Slump

Posted: March 31, 2013 in Novel, Reflections, short story, Writing
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You’d think I’d do something a bit more festive for my 400th post. But no, all I got is some bad news.

Truth is folks, I’m in a little bit of a slump. I have two short stories that are not coming along like I want them to, and I feel absolutely no desire to work on either of them while I’m drained. Every time I sit myself down in front of a computer with the intention of writing, I find myself instead watching crime shows online or reading or playing Angry Birds on Facebook. Not only that, but I’ve been neglecting one short story I’ve been meaning to send to some magazine or another, but when you’re a full-time student with homework and a part-time job, you sometimes don’t feel like doing the research.

What I’d rather be doing is working on novels. I’d rather write or edit them or even research them. But the only novel I’m going to write anytime soon is Reborn City’s sequel, which I won’t start on until I’ve put out RC on the Internet, and my beta reader for RC is only halfway through the novel at this point. And although I have plans for a sequel to Snake, I want to wait a little while before I even think of starting the sequel to that, and besides, my beta reader for Snake’s been busy herself, so she hasn’t had a chance to start on it yet.

So what do I do in the meantime? Work on short stories, but those are harder for me than novels. Novels I can stretch out, go deep into the character’s history and identities and personalities, do all sorts of interesting twists and turns and create a whole mythology for. Short stories are compact, usually less than 10,000 words, and we writers have to fit a whole story into that amount of space. You can see where a guy like me, who grew up on a steady diet of novels, usually novels that were part of series, might encounter problems. The joke is that the short story is the novel’s neglected younger sibling, but really, it’s the sibling that requires more skill to handle.

So I’m in a slump. I have no idea what to do at the moment, with no novels t0 write, only the occasional chapter to edit, and two short stories whom I can’t seem to fully finish. Even when I come up with new ideas for novels, which I do a lot, I can’t work on them anytime soon, so that’s not helpful.

Any suggestions would be most welcome. They could be anything from tricks or strategies to help me finish the short stories to suggestions of something else I could try doing while I wait for inspiration and chapters to edit and whatnot.

And if you feel the same as me or have felt the same as me, please let me know. It’d make me feel better.

A Dark Milestone: 666 Comments

Posted: March 17, 2013 in Living and Life
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I am a horror author. I write on anything that’ll scare people: serial killers, ghosts, science gone awry, the darker sections of our minds, racism, hate, darkness, demons. You name it, I’ve probably written about it, and if I haven’t I probably will.

I also don’t believe in Satan as an adversary of God, seeing as traditional Judaism does not have Satan in that sort of capacity. Still, I admire Satan the character and I’m fascinated by him, which is why for me getting six-hundred and sixty-six comments is a big thing for me. It’s something, as a writer of all things evil and scary, I have to commemorate.

I’m sorry if this post offends any readers who are Christian and believe in Satan as the Devil and 666 as his number. I mean no offense, I’m just stating that I reached something that for me is cause for celebration. I respect your religious beliefs and I hope we can see past this in the future.

Thanks to my Uncle Joel, who’s comment on a previous post made it possible to get this far (so if you have anyone to blame, he has a good chunk of it). You may not have the most comments on my blog Uncle Joel, but you certainly make some meaningful ones.

Have a demon-free evening everybody.

A Welcome To My New Followers

Posted: March 17, 2013 in Living and Life, Novel, Progress Report, Scary Stuff, short story, Writing
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I’ve noticed that I’ve been getting a lot of new followers over the past month or so, and especially during these past two weeks. So with that in mind, I’d thought I’d extend a welcome to my new followers and thank them for deciding to follow me and read my blog. And to my returning followers, welcome back and thanks for continuing to read my blog.

Also, I wanted to clarify some things for the newest readers. Occasionally on this blog, you’ll see words and phrases such as The Quiet Game, Reborn City, or Snake. These are my works-in-progress that I’ll be self-publishing hopefully within the next year or so. Each is very different from the other, and are at different stages of getting ready for publishing. I’d like to take this oppurtunity to tell you all about each of them and to let those who are already familiar with the works in question how progress is coming along.

So without further ado, here’s a look at my WIPs:

The Quiet Game: Five Tales To Chill Your Bones

TQG cover

This is a collection of short stories I’ll be putting out soon. I wrote these short stories over winter break and the beginning of spring semester, and it’s almost ready for publication. I’m just waiting for the US Copyright Office to get me my copyright and then I’ll be ready to upload this onto the Internet. Since the Copyright Office takes about two and a half months though, we’ve still got a bit of a wait to go before it comes out. So please be patient, and in the meantime you can read the description for the book on the page “Books by Rami Ungar” or watch the trailer below:

Reborn City

This is a science fiction novel about street gangs in a post-apocalyptic future I wrote in high school and that’s being reviewed by a beta reader before I prepare it for publication. The beta reader, Matt Williams, also happens to be a published writer and blogger, so you should seriously check out his blog here: http://storiesbywilliams.com/. Currently Matt’s halfway through the novel or thereabouts, and since he finished his latest novel Pappa Zulu, he’s been able to get the chapters back to me that much faster. I can’t wait to see what results from our collaboration.

Snake

This is a thriller novel I wrote over six months from June to December 2012 and follows a serial killer in New York who is hunting members of a powerful mafia family, his reasons for doing so clouded in mystery and in murder (how’s that for a description). I recently finished the second draft and have sent off the first four chapters to a beta reader I trust. Hopefully she’ll be able to let me know what she thinks very quickly. In the meantime, there are a few excerpts of Snake on this blog, so if you get bored you can probably go looking for them and find them.

Well, that’s all I’ve got. I hope this piqued your interest in some of my work. Once again, thanks for reading and agreeing to follow my blog. It really means a lot to me. Have a nice day, and I’ll post again soon.

Rami

10,000 Views!!!!

Posted: March 15, 2013 in Living and Life
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At some point this morning, I surpassed the ten-thousand view mark on Rami Ungar the Writer, which is actually a little sad because I’d been watching for this milestone all week only to sleep through it when it actually happens!

But to tell you the truth, I’m actually very happy. I can still clearly remember the days when for days or even weeks at a stretch nobody would read my blog, only for one or two views on an odd day to appear. Let me tell you, the fact that I can count on at least a couple of views each day, and upwards of ten every time I post, is a huge improvement for me. I’ve also made some very good friends through the blogosphere, whom I can always count on for support and interesting discussions. Heck, one of my friends I’ve met through blogging is helping me edit my science fiction novel Reborn City. If that’s not trust and friendship, I need to go back to kindergarten for a few lessons.

I’d like to thank everyone who’s been following my blog/liking posts/commenting with their thoughts up to this point. When I thought my blog was a stupid idea because nobody was reading it, the lone view or odd like was enough to keep me going and to keep me posting. I’ve gained followers and a few friends, and now I’m able to reach this wondrous milestone. I hope some of you may even download and read my books when they come out.

So thanks everyone, for being such a support network for me. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for me.

Reborn City: Zahara the Expatriate

Posted: March 12, 2013 in Novel, Progress Report, Reflections, Writing
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Merriam-Webster.com: expatriate–to leave one’s country to reside elsewhere

I’m about to edit another chapter of Reborn City (yes, I’m still editing, but my beta reader’s schedule has freed up a little, so the chapters are coming faster than before). Before that, I read a blog post (read here:http://stevenglassman.de/2013/03/11/grokking-expatriates-in-sci-fi/) about how certain characters in science-fiction are considered expatriates and what category of expatriates they are (yes, there are categories. Read the blog post if you doubt me). The post covered everything from Superman to Futurama to Star Wars to even Buffy the Vampire Slayer characters, and it got me thinking: Zahara Bakur, main character of my own science fiction novel, is an expatriate, or expat for short.

For those of you who haven’t read the novel–which is basically everybody but me and my beta reader and fellow author Matt Williams–Zahara was born and raised until her elementary years in Cairo, which in the RC universe is one of the last remnants of the Egyptian state (don’t ask me why, just read the book when it comes out). However Zahara’s father moves the family to New York City, which is now its own independent city-state, to attend NYU’s law school, and the poor girl has to adopt to a much more liberal and sometimes very Islamaphobic culture. Over the years she gets used to New York and finds friends that don’t judge based on a person’s religious affiliation, but things shake up horribly for Zahara when she’s fifteen.

What happens? Her father has to relocate to Reborn City, which is the Las Vegas of the strange world of RC. There Zahara has to adjust to living in a city that is worse than New York City in how Islamaphobic it can be. When Zahara finds herself coerced into gang life, she finds the whole gangster culture mind-boggling, especially the taken-for-granted hostility between the various gangs and the equating of surviving violence and conquering enemies as being tough and cool. Zahara has to live with this sort of culture and try her best to adjust to it while also integrating the gang culture with the culture of New York, her Muslim upbringing, and her naturally peaceful nature.

Even without all the science fiction elements in this story, you can see how much conflict Zahara has to go through.  But as the story progresses, I hope Zahara can find a new strength that she didn’t have before. I’ll see where the two sequels go with the story and hopefully things will get better for Zahara and her friends.

But before that, I have to see the first book out on the digital bookshelves. I’ll let you know how things go as I get updates. Blog on you later.

The Next Big Thing Blog Hop

Posted: February 21, 2013 in Living and Life, Progress Report, Scary Stuff, short story, Writing
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I was tagged by Lorna Dounaeva (http://lornadounaeva.wordpress.com/2013/02/21/the-next-big-thing-blog-hop/) for this post, which is similar to the award memes that make the rounds of the Internet. The Next Big Thing Blog Hop is a chance for us to talk about our works-in-progress, or WIP, and we have to follow certain steps to fulfill it. First, I have to tag the person who tagged me (thanks, Lorna!). Then I have to introduce and explain The Next Big Thing Blog Hop to those reading the post (check!). Then I have to answer ten questions about my WIP, and include pictures if possible. After the questions are done, I must tag five other writers with WIPs, and then let them know through emails or comments.

I’ll get to that, but first the questions, which will be focusing on The Quiet Game:

1. What is the title of the book you are working on? The title is The Quiet Game: Five Tales To Chill Your Bones.

TQG cover

2. Where did the idea come from for the book? I think it started when I realized that editing my sci-fi novel RC was taking longer than I thought and that I’d probably finish my thriller novel Snake around the beginning of winter break. I’d played with the idea of working on a collection of short stories after Snake was done, but by the time winter break arrived, I thought it’d be a good thing to do, especially with my plans to self-publish. So as soon as I’d finished Snake, I got to work on it.

3. What genre does your book fall under? Horror, definitely horror. To be more specific, four of the short stories feature supernatural horror, while the fifth features psychological horror.

4. Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition? Well, it’s a collection of short stories, so that’d be five movies if I were extremely lucky. The only actor I can think of though, would be Taissa Farmiga from American Horror Story, who would play Traci from the titular short story, The Quiet Game. Although she doesn’t look very much like my conception of the character, she’d definitely define and bring the role to life, and that’s what I’m looking for.

Taissa Farmiga, everybody.

5. What is a one-sentence synopsis of your book? Be prepared to enter the darkest corners of your mind in…The Quiet Game.

6. Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency? I’m doing the self-publishing thing. It’s the way of the future, and I’ve tried the traditional route to publishing novels and collections. Although it’s still prestigious,the traditional route is still very difficult to do and from the way some of the bigger companies in New York have been merging and acting, they know it won’t last forever. Besides, I want to get my work to my readers sooner rather than later.

7. How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manusript? Probably a month or so, though one of the short stories did need to be rewritten at some point, so that’s another couple of days there. Each story took different lengths of time to work on, so it was an uneven work schedule. Still, it was very much worth it.

8. What other books would you compare this story to in your genre? I don’t know; it’s so hard to compare one collection of short stories to another. In fact, I’d say it’s almost impossible, though my Mom did compare one of my short stories to Stephen King’s It, which I thought was a huge compliment.

9. Who or what inspired you to write this book? I got inspiration from anywhere. The Quiet Game came from a comment-conversation on a friend’s blog; Addict came from the experiences of a friend of mine. If I tried to go back and figure out the origin of each story, I’d have interesting stories to tell right there!

10. What else about yoru book might pique reader’s interest? I think that it’s by a new author and that each story is different, scary, and unique might draw some in. That’s the hope, anyway.

And now, onto the tagged people:

1. Matt Williams (http://storiesbywilliams.com/)

2. Angela (http://aportiaadamsadventure.wordpress.com/?ref=spelling)

3. Cristian Mihai (http://cristianmihai.net/)

4. Pat Bertram (http://ptbertram.wordpress.com/)

5. Jason Alan (http://jasonalanwriter.wordpress.com/)

Congratulations to the tagged winners, and I can’t wait to read what you’re in the process of creating.

The Reality Blog Award

Posted: February 5, 2013 in Living and Life
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Thanks to tazeinmirzasaad of The Transcending Borders Blog (http://transcendingbordersblog.wordpress.com/2013/02/04/reality-blog-award/) for nominating me for the Real Energizing Amazing Lovely Inspiring Yippee (REALITY) Blog Award, one of those Internet meme awards so common to the blogosphere that always bring a warm glow to our hearts when we recieve them.

For this award, I have to answer 5 questions. Here are the answers I made up:

1. If you could change something, what would you change? I think I would create peace in the Middle East, especially in terms of Israel and her relationships with her neighbors. Of course, this would be the top of a very big list; there’s a lot in this world that I would like to change that I shouldn’t need a genie for (*cough* gun problems *cough*).

2. If you could repeat an age what age would that be? I don’t think like that; I begrudgingly accept my mistakes and move on. That’s just how it is with me. If you dwell on the mistakes of the past, you can’t expect to move forward, can you?

3. What is something that scares you? Oh, you know I can’t reveal that? I’m a horror writer; we’re not supposed to be afraid of anything.

4. What is one dream you have not completed and do you think you will complete it? I want to be a successful author, and with God’s Grace, I’ll achieve that dream. Just got to keep writing, one word at a time.

5. If you could be someone else for a day, who would you be? I’d be a sorcerer with the power to stop evil in the world. But unfortunately, I didn’t get a letter to the equivalent of Hogwarts is in America, so I’ll need either a genie or a wizard to give me his book of spells right as he dies in my arms. Anyone got a genie they don’t need? I think the second one has to happen by chance for it to work.

And now for the 3 bloggers I’d like to nominate for this award:

1. Caitlin Kelly of Broadside Blog.

2. Pat Bertram of Bertram’s Blog

3. Cristian Mihai of Cristian Mihai.net

Thanks for the awards, and congratulations to the nominees. You are all my inspiration to keep writing.

Now I’m On Twitter

Posted: January 11, 2013 in Living and Life, Progress Report, Scary Stuff, short story, Writing
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If the me of a year ago knew what I was doing these days, he may have a heart attack. Or possibly slap his future self. Or some combination of that.

Yes I, Rami Ungar, resistant to new technology and social media crazes, have gotten a Twitter. Why? For the same reason I got a Facebook: to spread my writing to those who may not be on this blog but may be on other social media websites. This twitter account of mine, @RamiUngartheWriter, will focus exclusively on my writing. Already I’ve published a couple of tweets advertising my upcoming collection The Quiet Game: Five Tales To Chill Your Bones. I’m very excited and I hope I gain a followship soon. You’re welcome to follow me if you like. Just know this: I’ve got a scary picture as my profile pic and it may cause some nightmares.

And no, it’s not of my face. Much scarier than that.

Also, I don’t know if any of my blog followers got a notification (do they send notifications for pages?), but I set up a new page that lists my upcoming books. Which means of course at this point only The Quiet Game is on that list, without even a picture, but I plan to rectify that soon. Check it out if you like, and have a great weekend.

The Sunshine Blogger Award

Posted: January 9, 2013 in Living and Life
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I’m happy.

Wouldn’t you know it? I got nominated for another one of these meme blog things, and this time it’s the Sunshine Blogger Award, the award for those who use their blog to positively and creatively inspire others in the blogosphere. Thanks to my friend Matt Williams (http://storiesbywilliams.com/2013/01/08/sunshine-blogger-award/) for the nomination; it means so much to me.

So as part of getting nominated for this award, I have to answer some questions. Here they are:

1. What is your passion: Oh, that’s an easy one. Writing stuff that scares people. If I get people scared from something I created, I consider it an accomplishment. In fact, this past Thanksgiving my grandmother told me she’d become very scared reading a science fiction short story I’d written. I was high on that for about three hours afterwards.

2. Favorite time of year: Summer. I’ll take sunscreen and sweat any day over freezing winds and snow. Besides, some of my best memories are associated with the summer.

3. Favorite book: That’s a tough one. I read so much I hardly have time to settle on one. I guess Alice in Wonderland, an influential storybook that hides underneath its whimsical nature a dark world of hallucinations, violence, and possible sexual deviancy on the part of Lewis Carrol. Besides, so many books and mangas I like are based on Alice, it’s hard not to like it.

4. Favorite movie: Another tough one. I’m going to have to say Schindler’s List, not only because it’s such an amazing film, but it inspired the book series I plan to write someday that’ll be my personal magnum opus.

5. Favorite animal: I love all animals, but I’m especially a cat person. I’ve grown up with cats and I feel most comfortable with them. My favorite type of cat is a tiger; I know they want to eat my face off, but I can’t help but want to hug them.

6. Favorite time of day: Late afternoon, early evening. Things are winding down, you can enjoy a good meal with friends and family, and afterwards you can watch the latest episode of your favorite crime or drama series.

7. Favorite flower: Roses. They’re romantic and filled with secret meanings.

8. Favorite nonalcoholic beverage: Diet Dr. Pepper, and I can’t drink yet.

9. Favorite physical activity: A nice relaxing walk on a warm day. Makes winter especially difficult.

10. Favorite vacation: When was the last time I went on vacation? I can’t remember, it was so long ago! But if I could go anywhere for my vacation, I’d probably visit either Germany, Japan, or Israel. Germany because I’m interested in the European theater of WWII, Japan because I’m a huge fan of the culture and of manga/anime, and Israel because I’m an Israel-loving, Zionistic Jew who feels connected to my roots.

Well, I’ve answered all these questions. Time for the nominations:

You! Yes, I’m nominating you, dear reader. Every time someone reads, comments, and/or likes something on my blog, it brings a bit of happiness to my day. So you are the nominee. Congratulations, and have a most wonderful day!

2012 in Review

Posted: December 31, 2012 in Living and Life
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Awfully big, isn’t it?

Like a lot of people, I got my report from WordPress on how I did this past year. Let’s just say I got a lot of views, and a lot of comments. My highest grossing article was–you guessed it–my review of The Wolf Gift by Anne Rice, which got 580 views on July 6th, 2012. My highest commenter was my friend Matt Williams with 57 comments, followed by my Uncle Joel with 28 comments. Of the 99 countries that had people visiting my blog, most of my views came from the United States, with Canada and England close behind. And my biggest referrer was Facebook, specifically Anne Rice’s Facebook (I’ll be forever grateful to her for that little bit of recognition).

But besides blogging, I did a bunch of other stuff; I finished my first year of college and finished my first semester of college (OSU just switched to semesters, in case you didn’t know); decided to self-publish; had two short stories published, with a third in June; wrote a ton; finished a novel in six months; and a whole bunch of other things.

I’m hoping for some good stuff next year as well. I hope to publish a collection or novel soon; possibly be Freshly Pressed; more comments and followers; and some other stuff I’m not going to list here.

Thanks for a great year, and I hope to update you with a whole bunch of other great stuff soon.

Happy New Year,

Rami Ungar the Writer

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