Posts Tagged ‘living and life’

The Importance of Grammar

Posted: February 6, 2014 in Living and Life, Reflections, Writing
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Yesterday I got some great advice from my American History teacher on grammar. You’re probably thinking “What?” Allow me to explain.

I take an American History class that covers America’s rise as a superpower from right after WWI to 1963 as one of the required classes I need to take for my study abroad trip. The class meets three days a week for about fifty-five minutes, and it is probably my favorite class this semester. Not only is it the first class I have on the days we meet (and we meet after 10am, so I’m a little less rushed to get to class on those days), but the subject material is interesting, we do small quizzes and short papers instead of midterms and finals, and the teacher is such an animated storyteller and genial character, you can’t help but be mesmerized and enjoy listening to him when he speaks.

Yesterday morning, our teacher was talking to us about the grades we got on our first papers, where we examined the different sides in the Scopes trial back in the 1920s. He was telling us about how to improve our essays for next time, and then he said something that really resonated with me as a writer. This is what he said, as best as I can reproduce it here:

“I always have the one student that grumbles about grammar. It’s not an English class, so why is it so important to have good grammar? Well, if this were an engineering class, would it be okay to have a little bad math? Or if this were a physics class, would it be okay to have a few incorrect equations? If the answer is yes, then let me know what bridges you’ve built or what planes you’ve built, so I can know to avoid them! Good grammar is important in History, even if it’s not an English class. And I expect good grammar in your papers.”

And not just in history papers, but in all written works, one should have good grammar. If one looks at the self-publishing phenomenon, one has see new authors emerging by the thousands to publish their books. And that’s good. Although it means more competition for every author, it’s great that authors get the chance to publish their work without having to pander to New York-based publishing companies who are only concerned with making a profit. However, some of these authors, whether they feel that too much attention to grammar stifles creativity, or they have forgotten the rules of good grammar, or they’re too lazy to be bothered with it, have neglected grammar in their books. This has not only brought down the quality of their stories, but has put a stain on all self-published authors, that we’re half-assed about our craft and that we write sub-par stories with horrifying grammar.

Grammar can also be like that.

The truth is, most self-published authors–a majority of self-published authors–are very serious about their craft, grammar included. And it’s important that authors, whether they’re writing their first book or their twelfth or their fiftieth, should pay attention to their grammar. It makes the story flow nicely, the quality of the story is vastly improved, and the author feels a sense of satisfaction when, in reviews (when they get them), no one’s griping about how bad the grammar has been.

So if you’re an author who thinks that grammar isn’t that important, consider thinking again. Because grammar is there for a reason, and it is not one to be taken lightly. Yes, it’s sometimes a pain to add every apostrophe or to know where the semicolon belongs or whether to use “me” or “I”. But nobody ever said writing was easy. And sometimes we have to go through annoying or painful trials in order to make our art the best.

Or we could get on the unstable bridge or the plane that won’t stay up after reaching a certain altitude. But I hear the chances of doing those twice aren’t so great.

Oh, good news: one of my teachers is allowing me to write a short story I came up with for class (not the American History teacher, though I will use material from that class). My Deaf Literature class has an assignment where we have to bring in something representative of the Deaf community or Deaf culture. I plan to write a short story about a young deaf woman living in the Oklahoma Panhandle during the middle of the Dust Bowl of the 1930’s. I figure I can make an exciting story when I add those factors together. Though whether I can add a serial killer or a monster is up in the air at this point. Might not even happen (sigh). We’ll see what I can come up with by next Wednesday.

Snake: The Official Book Trailer

Posted: February 6, 2014 in Novel, Progress Report, Scary Stuff, Writing
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Snake

I swear, this is the last Snake-themed article for a while. Honestly, even the Snake is getting tired of all the articles about him (and if you can figure that one out, then you win a prize). And I’m going to try to keep this short, so don’t click away yet.

Today I had some time on my hands, so I took some photos I’d scoured off the internet, a song I’d always associated with the Snake for some reason, and compiled them all using iMovie into a very scary video for a book trailer. A book trailer for Snake, to be exact. It’s probably my longest and most complex book trailer yet, using a variety of techniques I learned from a class I took a couple of semesters ago. Honestly, I had not used iMovie in a while, so it took a while to figure out how to do some things I’d forgotten. But I guess it was like riding a bike, because before I knew it I was making the video and had it done in almost an hour.

The video uses images I associate with the character of the Snake, who has an extreme love for scary movies and knows quite a bit about famous fictional serial killers and a few real ones (gee, I wonder who that sounds like?). And the song I use is “Before I’m Dead” by metal band Kidney Thieves. For some reason it’s a song I’ve always thought should be put at the beginning of a movie adaptation of Snake. Since I don’t think that’ll be happening any time soon, I’m using it in this trailer.

Oh, and the people in this video whom I identify as characters in Snake are actors from some shows I’ve seen. They came the closest to how I imagined the characters in Snake, so I used their images. I hope nobody minds that!

So without further ado, here’s the official Snake book trailer. Tell me what you think when you’ve watched it. I love feedback (I think I’ve mentioned that before).

Oh, and good news: I’ve sent Snake to the copyright office. Hopefully they won’t take their sweet time processing it. I hate it when that happens!

Plans for February 2014

Posted: February 2, 2014 in Living and Life, Writing
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January was a great month for me. I got a lot of writing done, I did very well in most, if not all, of my schoolwork, I applied for several scholarships for my study abroad trip, That, and Angela and I are very close to finishing the final draft of Snake (thanks for all the help, Angela, by the way. Couldn’t have done it without you). Since January was so good, I’ve got similar feelings for February, and I thought I’d share what I hope to accomplish this month:

Write and edit like a madman. I’ve still got several short stories I want to write, so I hope to get those done before I return to my WIP Laura Horn. I also hope to edit those same short stories and maybe send them to some magazines. That, and I plan to finish Snake and get it ready for publication (already thinking about a book trailer), as well as to write an article for a magazine a friend of mine runs. And finally, I hope to write some really great blog posts that examine various aspects of writing and ask some deep questions on fiction writing. Not sure what those will be yet, but I have some ideas. We’ll see what I can come up with.

I’m going to enter a few contests. There’s a short story award given out every spring semester by Ohio State’s English Department, and I’ve submitted my entry already. I decided to go with Ohm, the short story I wrote last month about a man who starts a cult around himself using meditation. It’s not horror, but with OSU’s English Department that might be a good thing (they’re more literary-oriented, sadly). I think they’ll like it, but we’ll see. I also plan to submit Reborn City for the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award in the middle of the month. I don’t think I’ll get very far with my first novel, but I hope to get to a certain round where you can get a possibly favorable review. If that happens, I’m hoping that more people will discover RC and maybe like it. Fingers crossed!

I’m going to work hard in school. Five classes, most of them between the 3000-5000 level makes for some heavy assignments to get through. As soon as I’m done with one, I have another to look forward to! But I’m not going to let it get in my way. I’m going to get all A’s this semester and I’m going to keep my place on that study-abroad trip! And speaking of which…

I’m going to get a lot of scholarship! Okay, that’s kind of out of my hands, but I applied for a lot of scholarships. At least one of them might come through! It’ll save me from applying for a loan to finance this trip, anyway!

And finally, I’m doing Buckeyethon again! Last year I had so much fun raising money for cancer research and then celebrating with a 12-hour dance marathon, I’m doing it all over again this Valentine’s Day! Oh, and if anyone wants to make a last minute donation, here’s the link. It’s all for a good cause!

Well, that’s all I got for now. I hope to have more good news later this week and this month. Until then, Goodnight Followers of Fear!

Reborn City: Three Months Since Publication

Posted: February 1, 2014 in Living and Life, Novel, Review, Writing
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Reborn City

As I said earlier in the week, it’s been three months since my first novel Reborn City was published. I still can’t believe it’s only been three months! Maybe it’s because during November, December, and this past month I’ve been busy with school and work, but it feels much, much longer.

For those unfamiliar with RC, this is a science-fiction novel I wrote in high school and edited and polished through my first two years or so of college before publishing it in November. The first book in a trilogy, the novel follows Zahara Bakur, a Muslim teenager living in Reborn City, a Las Vegas-esque entertainment city owned by the powerful and mysterious Parthenon Company. The world Zahara lives in is a dystopia that resulted from the War on Terror devolving into a third world war, leaving most of the Western world prejudiced against Islam and Muslims, making life for Zahara very difficult. One day though she’s forced to join an interracial street gang called the Hydras, and it’s from there the story begins, with Zahara learning to live in a gang and finding out that there are more than just other gangs after the Hydras. The choices she makes will not only influence her own life, but the lives of those around her.

I’ve only gotten two reviews on RC so far, but they’ve all been pretty positive. Here’s what they’ve had to say:

“As a reader who does not read books in this genre, I must admit that I could not put down the book. I attribute this to the talent of the author. I am looking forward to reading the next books published by Ungar. I recommend this book to readers who enjoy action with  features of supernatural powers and sci-fi.”

Enji

“Gangland violence, superhero-like enhancements, a futuristic setting, and social commentary that stems from a semi-post-apocalyptic theme. And then there’s a story where people come together as a family to deal with mutual loss and tragedy. What’s not to like?”

Matthew S. Williams, author of Whiskey Delta and other great books.

I must say, I really enjoy RC, and I’ve grown close to many of the characters. And if you end up liking RC, there’s good news: I just finished the second book in the trilogy and I’ll probably start editing it later this year (for a summary of Video Rage, please click here). I’m very excited for VR, actually. I felt that while writing it I experienced both personal growth and growth as a writer, and it shows in how I wrote VR. It also expands a bit on the world the Hydras inhabit and explores their personal relationships more deeply than the first book. I think a lot of readers will like it.

If you’d be interested in reading Reborn City, you can get it in both print paperback and e-book from Amazon and Smashwords. And whatever you think of it, please let me know what you think. I enjoy feedback, positive or negative.

Thanks and I wish you happy reading!

The Quiet Game: Six Month Anniversary

Posted: January 29, 2014 in Living and Life, Review, Scary Stuff, short story, Writing
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tqg cover

I kind of let this pass by without really realizing it, but now that it’s on my mind, I’d like to commemorate that six months (and twelve days) ago my first book, The Quiet Game: Five Tales To Chill Your Bones, was first released for paperback and e-reader.

Since that July day, a lot has happened, but especially with this book. A small collection of original short stories I’d written over Winter Break 2012 and Spring Semester 2013, the book has sold about a little over fifty copies (which for the first book of a self-published author is not that bad). It’s also received eight reviews from readers, which has brought the book’s average to a 4.4 out of 5 (which for the first book of a self-published author is pretty mind-blowing for me). Here are what some of the reviewers have been saying:

“5 wonderfully crafted tales! I purchased this as an eBook originally and put off reading it for quite a while, I really wish I hadn’t waited. Sometimes when one purchases a collection of short stories you expect some of them to be less entertaining or of lower quality than the others, but none of these disappoint. Well worth the money, especially considering after you read each story the author gives you creative insight into what inspired him to write each tale, which is really wonderful.”

Jeff D.

“I happened across The author Rami Unger about a year ago when he was researching the paranormal online.

He nailed the Dybbuk story. Write more… soon!”

Jason Haxton, author of The Dybbuk Box

“I liked that each story was unusual. I think that the book was appropriately named. I prefer chilled bones rather than scared out of my whits since I am a bit of a chicken”

Enji

I’d just like to say that it’s been wonderful hearing from people what they think of The Quiet Game and finding out that they enjoyed the book and want to read more. It’s the readers themselves that have made all of this possible for me, so I really owe everyone reading my work a great debt that can never be repaid. So thank you very much and I hope we’ll be able to have great times together in the future.

If you are interested in reading The Quiet Game, you can find it on Amazon and on Smashwords. The print version is available for a little over five dollars, while the e-book version is available for about a dollar-thirty. And if you do decide to read The Quiet Game, please let me know what you think of it. Good or bad, I’m always happy for reviews and feedback.

Thanks for reading, and I hope to have more good news at the one-year anniversary. And speaking of anniversaries, Saturday will make three months since Reborn City came out. I’ll have to do a post about that as well. Look forward to it!

I Shouldn’t Use Present Tense

Posted: January 26, 2014 in short story, Writing
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I started a short story the other night about a family that moves into a haunted house (yes, that’s been done before a hundred times, but I’m trying to do something new with it. Hopefully I’ll succeed). For some reason I started writing it in present tense, something I rarely ever do. Most stories, especially the ones I’ve read  and the ones I usually write, are in past tense. I think I was trying to make the story unique by writing it in present tense, or maybe it sounded good at first to write it in the present tense.

But as this short story’s been coming along, I’m finding it harder to continue going, and I think the tense of the story is a major contributor to that problem. The only story I’ve ever written that’s been in present tense and that I’ve barely had any trouble with is Addict, one of the short stories I included in The Quiet Game, but that was also in second-person, and that kind of made it easier to write. Heck, it was practically begging to be written in present tense as well in second person (“You walk out of the bathroom and you rejoin your buddy. He asks you a question and for a moment you’re not sure what he said”. See what I mean?). But this is third-person, and I think unless you’ve had a lot of training in writing in present tense or you prefer that tense, then it’s just not the sort of tense you write in.

Okay, the TARDIS doesn’t have much to do with tenses, but it does with past, present and future.

Well, I’ve certainly learned my lesson. I can’t write this story in present tense and I’m definitely not going to attempt to attempt future tense (never seen an entire story of any length written that way). So tomorrow (or the next day, depending on the amount of homework I have), I’m going to through the short story and switch it to past tense. Then I’ll go through it again, adding, editing, and deleting where I see appropriate. Luckily I’m only about seven pages into this short story, so I can probably get both tasks done fairly quickly.

For now though, I’m going to go to bed. I’ll let my mind swirl this short story in my head overnight and see if I can come up with any other ideas to improve this short story. I think it could be great, but since I’m trying to do something new with a familiar trope, I really have to work hard to make the story believable and enjoyable to the audience. Hopefully I can do that.

That’s all for now. I’ll post again when I’m done with the short story, or when I have something else to post about (whichever comes first). Goodnight, Followers of Fear.

Secrets of Ohio State University

Posted: January 22, 2014 in Living and Life, Scary Stuff
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I love my university, and I find out things about it every semester that are new and interesting. And some of those things I find out are actually kind of cool. Kind of inspiring. Kind of weird. Kind of creepy. And for all those reasons, I want to share them with you. From secrets tunnels to ghost stories, OSU has got it all. I hope you enjoy an expose on some of Ohio State’s greatest secrets.

There are tunnels under some of the buildings. A couple of the buildings on campus are connected on campus aboveground by connecting hallways. Lazenby and the Psychology Building are connected by their first and second floors, Cockins Hall and the Mathematics Building are connected on most of the floors. But there are some buildings that connected underground. Every building in the Fischer School of Business is supposedly connected by tunnels, and one of those tunnels also supposedly goes to the Blackwell Residence Inn, though you might need a key card for that one. And strangely enough, University Hall and Dulles Hall are connected by a tunnel that goes underneath 17th Ave. I’m not sure why that last one exists, but it’s still pretty interesting. I wish there were more tunnels like that: it’s too cold outside to be walking to classes that way!

Some of the buildings have abandoned and empty pools. Pomerene Hall is one of the oldest buildings on campus, and it’s like a giant castle. However only a fraction of the building is used, and the basement is tiny, which is weird considering the size it technically should be. Turns out the back area used to house a pool that’s been nothing but a dry pit for several years. Explains the size. Pomerene’s not the only building with a pool no longer used: I used to live in Jones Tower, which was a graduate housing facility when it first opened. Back then it had a pool for the grads to use, but due to maintenance costs and injuries at poolside it was closed down. If you walk by the pool’s door today, you can still see the places where people would hang up towels and still hear the sounds of the pipes that would carry water to the pool (at least I think that’s what that noise is).

Ohio State has some hauntings. I save the best for last. Apparently in its 144 year history Ohio State has gathered a few ghost stories and possible hauntings (Ghost Adventures, call the university!). Learning that makes me even prouder of this school I go to. Here are the spooky legends on campus, brought out nine months earlier than usual:

–Pomerene Hall, situated right next to the infamous Mirror Lake, has a very special ghost story of love and tragedy. In the 1900s, Professor Clark committed suicide after a failed mining investment, his body found where Pomerene Hall now stands. His wife swore never to leave him, and when she died in the 1920s, her ghost started appearing around Mirror Lake (on it during the winters). Professor Clark himself is said to haunt Pomerene Hall, slamming lockers and doors and doing other ghostly things.

–Hopkins Hall, the art building on the Oval, has a much more gruesome story. At some point a young woman got stuck into an elevator overnight, suffering a nervous breakdown from the stress and lack of response to her cries for help. During her breakdown, she apparently wrote plenty of weird stuff on the walls of the elevator. She eventually got out, recovered, and then graduated, but not too long afterwards she died in a car crash. To this day, students report seeing writing or scratches in the elevator that say “I’m still mad at OSU for what they did to me.” Scary.

–Orton Hall is one of the oldest buildings on campus and is home to the Geology Department’s famous fossil museum. It also has two ghosts. One is Edward Orton, one of OSU’s earliest professors and the building’s namesake, as well as the man who gifted the Geology Department the core of its collection. When he was alive, he used to read by lamplight in the top of the bell tower (the scorch marks are still there). At night you can sometimes see mysterious lights through the slats of the bell tower, apparently Professor Orton reading in his favorite spot. During the day he supposedly chills the air and makes weird noises in order to get students to behave.

If you look at the cover of The Quiet Game: Five Tales To Chill Your Bones, you’ll see that Orton Hall’s bell tower is on the cover.

There is also tales of a hairy, caveman-like figure who makes noises and bangs on doors. Some believe it might be somehow connected to the Geology Museum’s vast collection. Others believe it could be a dead football player, though that may be a more humor-filled supposition.

This post is getting rather long, so I’m going to cut it off now. It’ll be continued in another post. Trust me, I’ve got a few other secrets about Ohio State worth sharing, including some other famous ghost stories and OSU’s connection to a famous serial killer. Until next time, Followers of Fear.

Ohm: Finished

Posted: January 20, 2014 in ideas, Living and Life, Progress Report, short story, Writing
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In Judaism, that hand is called a Hamsa. It’s designed to keep the evil eye away. I have no idea what it’s doing on this poster though.

Last week or so I posted about an interesting discussion I had in my meditation class about hypnosis vs. meditation (see post here). At one point during that conversation, I said that although hypnosis could be abused, meditation could just as easily be abused by someone of unscrupulous character. I then gave an example to my group, which was immediately followed by this realization: “Hey, that could make a great short story.” I told that to my meditation group, which caused them to laugh while also looking at each other in fear. It was a “What have we done?” moment right there.

Well, I started the short story Saturday evening before SNL started, and I’ve worked on it every evening since. And this evening I finished it. Then I went back and added a few more details to earlier parts of the story in order to make it flow more smoothly. Then I clicked Save and decided to write this blog post.

As you can see from the title of this post, the short story is called “Ohm.” I wanted a title that would go very well with a story of someone using meditation for bad purposes, and I went with “Ohm”, because it was simple, the word itself was relevant to the story, and it gave people an immediate sense of what this story might be about. It’s on the short end of short stories, a little under 2100 words, and it’s more literary than horror, if you look at it closely. Still, I think it’s an interesting story, even if there are no demons or serial killers, and I even managed to use a new technique in order to tell it:

Last semester, I read a short story for my science-fiction literature class called “Gene hackers”. The story was about a man who was quite famous in the near-distant future for his role in the industry of genetic engineering and manipulation, and chronicled various events throughout his life in short little vignettes, starting from when he was young and all the way up until he was a very old man. I was really impressed by the style used to tell the story, and I wanted to try that for myself with “Ohm”. I think it turned out pretty well, personally.

I’m going to ask my meditation group if any of them want to read the rough draft. After they get back to me, I’m going to try to submit this story to a creative writing contest here on campus, see if I can impress any judges. Hopefully my meditation group and the people running the contest will like “Ohm”. At any rate, I think they might find it at least a bit interesting.

Well, that’s all for now, Followers of Fear. I’ve got classes tomorrow, so I’ll sign off and see you in the morning. Goodnight and pleasant nightmares. I’ll let you know if anything comes of “Ohm”.

Oh, and before I forget, I bought my plane tickets for my study abroad trip today. They cost me an arm and a leg, but it was well worth it. I’m so looking forward to this trip. It’s going to be so much fun!

Sales In Self-Publishing

Posted: January 20, 2014 in Reflections, Writing
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Some people think that anyone who’s published a book must be very talented  and rolling in money. I’m going to leave the question of talent to the side for another post, and focus on sales, particularly sales in the world of self-publishing.

I published my first book in July last year and my first novel in November. As a self-published author, a college student, and a guy working at Ohio State’s Student Financial Aid office part-time for nine bucks an hour, I couldn’t exactly afford an advertising team to help me spread the word about my books. I’m completely reliant on my blog, every social media platform I can get my hands on and learn to use, and the spoken word, along with any contacts I can make in the writing industry.

Truth is, most writers don’t make that much money out of their craft, especially if they’re self-published and doing a lot of the work on their own. Most writers usually have teaching jobs or something else to help pay the bills. Stephen King didn’t stop teaching until Carrie went paperback. Anne Rice and JK Rowling had small sales until their careers started taking off, and then they began writing full time. There are numerous other examples I could mention, but the point is that writing and publishing books is not guaranteed income. In fact, several authors I know, most of them self-published but a few of them having gone the traditional route, have described their book sales as getting a big boost whenever a book is published, followed by a steady decline to the usual amount of sales after a month or so. I’m still working to get to that level of popularity!

But then again, most authors don’t care about the amount of sales, at least not like an executive in a toy company might worry about how a toy is not selling as it should among kids 8-12. Most of the time, we’re more worried about how people are liking our books, if they enjoy what they’re reading and if they’re connecting with the characters. In short, every writer wants to know is if people are appreciating the stories they create. And the authors that are more concerned with sales in the other sense? Well, I don’t think that they got into writing for the right reasons.

So most authors don’t make big sales like some people tend to think. We certainly wouldn’t mind having more sales but it’s not as big a factor for us as one might think. In fact, I’m very happy with my current fanbase, though it’s pretty small at this point. The people who read my work tend to enjoy it very much, and they let me know in reviews and emails and in conversations. And for now, that’s all I can ask for. When I get the big sales and the larger fanbase, it’ll be because I’ve earned it.

All for now. I’ve got a short story to work on. Wish me luck!

Self-Published Authors Helping Other Authors: My First Post of the New Year

Posted: January 17, 2014 in Journalism, Living and Life, Writing
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This morning I published my first article of 2014 on Self-Published Authors Helping Other Authors, a website I write for that aims to help self-published authors make the most of their options and succeed in self-publishing. It’s also my tenth article for the website, which I’m very happy about.

The article is called Some Tips For WattPad Users, and it’s about–you guessed it–using WattPad. I promise, I’ll leave the topic of the website alone for a while after this post. Well, I did say that if any of our readers on that blog had any tips about using WattPad, I’d publish those in a follow-up article, but…well, after that article. I think I’ve been going on a Wattpad obsession lately, and it’s been showing through on this blog. I hope it hasn’t annoyed anyone. At least not too much.

Anyway, the article is about some general tips for utilizing WattPad, so if you have an account or are thinking of getting an account, please check out the article. And if you’re a self-published author or you’re considering self-publishing, I highly recommend Self-Published Authors Helping Other Authors. It’s a wonderful website with many articles on just about every subject you can think of devoted to self-publishing and it’s run by a variety of authors, myself included, who are devoted to their craft and love helping others out.

All for now. Have a great day, my Followers of Fear.

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