I’ve decided to post excerpts of my published work on separate pages. From now on, readers can click on any of the pages for the books I have out and read excerpts from the final drafts of each novel/short story collection. So if you’re interested in getting a sneak peek at The Quiet Game, Reborn City or Snake, you can scroll above, click on any of the pages for those works, and find a link to an excerpt.
I hope you get a chance to take a look at them. Each excerpt is carefully selected to give you an idea of what you might be reading should you decide you might want to purchase a hard copy of my published work (or e-copy, as it is these days).
I’m signing off now, but I want to let you know at some point during the week, besides more countdown posts for Reborn City and the usual Weekly Exercise, I also plan to write a reflection piece or two on themes in writing and perhaps a special Halloween post. Oh, and my last review till the Doctor Who 50th anniversary special.
Until then, have a good night everybody! See you later in the week and happy reading!
I got my homework done earlier than I’d expected today, so I’m writing up a blog post to mark up how close Reborn City is to coming out. I’m so excited! I still can’t believe it’s been over four years since I first started writing the story.
To classify RC, it’s dystopian science fiction, but it’s a different science fiction than anything we see in the market these days. Unlike The Hunger Games or Divergent, the world of the story is (at least in my opinion) close enough to this world that we don’t have to totally suspend our disbelief in order to enjoy the story. Instead of just going “Crazy events must have happened to create a state that murders its children from the districts” or “I’m sure there’s a great economic/political/cultural reason behind why Chicago is divided into factions”, I try to make the world slightly more believable. For example, racism, gang violence, and Islamaphobia are still major problems in this world, and the technology, although sometimes pretty incredible, is mostly recognizable to any citizen living in the developed world.
There are things that make the world of RC different though. For instance, buildings can change shape in the future, cars rely on vegetable extracts for food, and hoverbikes have just come into being. Not to mention that some gangsters in this novel have abilities beyond the ordinary. But most importantly, at this point the world of RC is mostly made up of city-states and small nations, and because of the Third World War, most nations and city-states are demilitarized. Now there’s something you don’t see everyday!
Well, it’ll be up to the readers whether or not this world I’ve created is more believable than the worlds of other authors. And they may let me know in any reviews that RC gets. At any rate, I’m just excited for them to read it.
If you’re interested in reading Reborn City, it’ll be available Friday, November 1st, and will be available on Amazon and Smashwords. The print paperback version will be available for $6.99, while the e-book version will be available for $2.99. And I’ll be using the Kindle Matchbook program, so that if you buy a copy of the e-book, you may be eligible for a discounted or even free copy of the print paperback version (at least I think that’s how it works). Anyway, I hope you/’re as excited as I am and I can’t wait to hear what you think when you get the chance to read it.
I didn’t get to do this with The Quiet Game (I forget why), so I’m doing it with Reborn City. Guess what:
Yes, seven days! Reborn City will be coming out November 1st in both print paperback and e-book formats. It’s been a long process, but it’s finally almost time! And I could not be more excited. Well I could be but I’m pretty sure it would involve illegal drugs, so I’ll stay at my normal levels of excitement.
You know, it’s been over four years since I first sat down and started writing Reborn City. I had an idea for a novel–possibly one with a sequel or two–on the way home from the library while listening to a CD with a lot of rap and rock music. I stopped by a Dairy Queen for a treat and started thinking about how to develop this idea, which had street gangs at the center of it and a sci-fi twist. Then at my sister’s birthday, after the cake and presents had been put away, I started writing some notes down in a journal. Then I started researching, and typing a manuscript, and then after many breaks and a lot of painstaking work over the course of two years, I finished the manuscript. Another year and a third of editing, eight months spent emailing chapters to my dear friend Matt Williams and making more adjustment based on his suggestions and the final copy was done. Finally I created a cover on CreateSpace (which you can see above) and I sent it all off to the copyright office.
A few months pass by, a book trailer comes out, and now we’re finally at the end of this long journey. I’m hoping for wonderful things to happen with this book. I’ve poured a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into RC, and I hope people really like reading it. It’s not as scary as some of my other work, so that may appeal to less fear-loving readers. And it’s sci-fi dystopian fiction, so considering today’s market that’s good to have.
But there’s more to it than that. The novel tackles some powerful themes, like racism and Islamaphobia, drugs and gang violence, and a number of other issues. And I’m hoping its those themes that will resonate with readers and help them fall in love with characters, rather than some dashing heroine and a couple of good-looking guys rebelling against a government that’s pure evil (how many franchises did I just describe there? I think I got Twilight in there too).
So without further ado, I’m going to give you guys a treat in honor of RC coming out. The first treat is the RC book trailer, which is right underneath the next paragraph. Immediately following the video is an excerpt from Chapter One of RC, for all your reading pleasure. I hope you like the video and the excerpt and that you’ll be interested in reading the actual book afterwards.
Also, if you haven’t already read them, please see my interviews with Zahara Bakur, Rip, and Jason Price, three very important characters from Reborn City. They’re very amazing people…though two of them did threaten to kill me for various reasons.
Reborn City, former Nevada
28 Anno Bombus (2056 CE)
June 28
Zahara and her family had decided to eat out at a restaurant in North Reborn that served kosher meat, the closest they could get to halāl. “I know it’s for Jews mostly, but it’s a very nice place and the Jews were very nice to us in New York.” Zahara’s father, Emir Bakur had said when he’d suggested it. “They know they don’t have to fear Muslims anymore. And the Chaplinsky family in 4F was nice enough, right?”
However Emir had taken a wrong turn on the still-unfamiliar streets and highways and they had somehow ended up in West Reborn. The sight of the place gave Zahara chills, and it just wasn’t the reports of gang violence: the area had a grittiness that Zahara didn’t like. The cold brown houses, the rusty lamp poles, the cracked, light-grey concrete. West Reborn looked unkempt, uncared for, like the city had kept up the other areas of the city but had forgotten about this one. The only buildings that looked in any good condition were casinos, bars, and strip clubs, displaying three-dimensional holograms of cash prizes and sexy women drinking beer while looking at passerby with bedroom eyes. The sight of them disgusted Zahara.
In the front of the car Emir and Aaliyah were arguing, trying to figure out how to get back to where they were going. Zahara closed her eyes and tried to let the music from her filepiece filter into her right ear. Surrendering to the small device, she wondered if she’d ever get out of this city and get back to New York where she belonged. Somehow, Zahara had a feeling she would never come to like Reborn City, no matter how much she lived here.
After a few more minutes of her parents arguing about which direction, Zahara opened her eyes again, prepared to tell them they should just check their phones for the directions. Her eyes widened as she saw an arm swing up from the sidewalk and throw a rock at the windshield. The glass cracked as the rock rebounded off the windshield and into the road. Aaliyah and Zahara screamed as Emir braked the car and jerked at the steering wheel. The car skidded to a screeching halt, the nose pointing towards the middle of the road.
Zahara saw her father unbuckle his seatbelt and before she could stop him, stepping out to inspect the damage. “What in the name of Allah—?” he said, but stopped as he heard the click of a jackknife being opened. He turned around and saw two men, one of whom was holding a long, deadly-looking blade. Leaning forward in her seat, Zahara could make out the details of the two men: both of the men had a ruddy tan complexion, were wearing green clothes, and had looks on their faces that said they did not like making new friends. On the neck of one Zahara could make out what looked like a tattoo of a pitchfork with a sombrero hung over the right prong.
One of them, who was large and muscular, spoke to Zahara’s father. “Hand over yo’ fuckin’ money an’ yo fuckin’ car.” he said with a Spanish accent. “Ya got that?”
“Sure!” said Zahara’s father, holding his hands up defensively, looking so unlike the corporate lawyer he was. “Just take it easy, okay? Just take it easy—!”
“Hurry the fuck up!” said the other man. “Who ya think yo messin’ with, estupido?” This man was thin and gangly and had a strange leer on his face, like he would rather punch Emir than talk to him.
“Okay, okay!” said Emir, backing back up to the door and turning off the engine. Zahara’s mother Aaliyah saw this and as her husband stood back up out of the car, unbuckled her seatbelt and opened the car door.
“Mother!” said Zahara in English. Aaliyah looked behind her to where her daughter was sitting on the edge of her seat, fists balled in her lap, chewing her lower lip. “Don’t go out there!” Zahara hissed; Zahara rarely used English with her parents and she was only using it now because she didn’t know if these two men in green were fans of Muslims or not. Either way, it was not a good time to find out.
Zahara’s mother looked at her daughter as if she’d gone mad. “I don’t have a choice, Zahara.” she said in Arabic, pushing a loose lock of hair back under her hijab. “Our car is being stolen.” She opened her door and slid out of the seat. Zahara watched with disbelief as her mother closed the car door. Did her mother think things would go peacefully?
Suddenly the skinny gangster stared at Zahara’s mother and pointed at her hijab. “Hey Manny!” said the skinny gangster. “Check out the headscarf. Musulmàns!”
The fat gangster, Manny, stared at Zahara’s mother, then turned back to Emir, his expression livid. “So, you thought you’d get the jump on us, huh?” he said, thrusting the knife at Zahara’s father. “Fuckin’ terrorist! Let us jack ya car an’ explode us too?”
Zahara winced. Fuckin’ terrorist. She had been right, these two men hated Muslims.
“No, that’s not it at all!” said Emir, looking terrified as the skinny gangster pulled out a gun. “Please, you have to believe me—!”
“Shaddup!” yelled Manny, stabbing Emir in the belly. Emir went rigid as the knife plunged into his belly, then collapsed as Manny pulled the blade out. Blood poured out of Zahara’s father, pooling around him in a big red circle.
Aaliyah screamed in horror, staring at her husband as tears flooded down her cheeks. “Emir!” she cried. “Emir—!”
The skinny gangster pulled out his gun and shot Aaliyah in the forehead; her eyes rolled into the back of her head as Zahara’s mother fell lifeless to the ground. Zahara gasped, trying to keep her tears and screams inside herself. If the gangsters saw her they’d kill her too. And maybe…just because she was a teenager and a girl…they’d do other stuff to her, too. Zahara shuddered to think of what they’d do to her if they did that too.
Manny was kicking Emir’s lifeless body casually, making sure he was dead. “Think they’d play us, did they?” he said to his companion. “Fuckin’ terrorists.”
“Yeah, well they’re shittin’ in hell now.” said the skinny gangster. “Shows what happens when ya mess with Diablos.”
“Yeah.” said Manny, looking up from Emir’s body. “Come on, let’s go—wait a minute.” Manny’s piggy little eyes fixed on Zahara in the backseat of her parent’s car. Zahara squeaked as Manny took two steps towards her. “Yo, Che. Come check this out.” Manny called to his friend, followed by something in Spanish. Zahara nearly froze up as she realized she’d been discovered.
Quickly Zahara unbuckled her seatbelt, threw open the car door and ran, throwing her filepiece as a distraction. Manny and Che jumped back as the filepiece hit the ground, probably thinking it was a grenade or something. By the time they realized their mistake, Zahara already had a head start on them. They set off after her, angrily yelling in Spanish at her. Zahara turned around, saw them catching up, and ran faster, determined to get away.
As Zahara ran, bumping into people and flying past holograms, she began to cry; her parents were dead, she was miles away from any familiar place and with no familiar people to help her. The heartache she was feeling was so intense that she could just keel over and die, but she wouldn’t die here, and she would not let herself be caught by the gangsters chasing after her. She’d get out of West Reborn, find the house (she still hadn’t thought of it as “home” yet), and then she’d call New York and get help. Or maybe kill herself. Either way, she had to get out.
The gangsters were only a few feet behind her. But a few blocks ahead there was a police station. Maybe, if she was able to get there, she’d be safe. She could tell the police what was going on, they’d arrest her parents’ murderers, and then she could go back to New York—
Suddenly Zahara tripped on a shifted slab of concrete and fell. Thrusting her hands out in front of her, Zahara cried out as she scraped her hands and knees. She tried to stand up again but then someone grabbed her shirt from behind and yanked her up. Zahara stared into the faces of Manny and Che, the Hispanic gangsters who had murdered her parents. Che grabbed Zahara’s arms and twisted them into a painful armlock.
“Hello, Little Miss Terrorist.” said Manny. “Thought ya could get away so easily. Thought the po-po would help ya out. Wrong!”
Both of them laughed cruelly, and Manny brought out his knife, holding it close to Zahara’s jugular. The blade gleamed with the blood of Zahara’s father still fresh on it. Che and Manny laughed harder at the expression on Zahara’s face. “The po-po are just pussies.” said Che. “Fuckin’ pussies. They couldn’t catch us an’ throw us in the clink, an’ they would never help a fuckin’ Musalmàn. Besides, even if they would, them assholes can’t see us. It’s dark out, ya know.”
Manny pressed his face close to Zahara’s, grinning wickedly. The foul smell of his breath wafted over Zahara’s face, making her want to puke. “And the nearest streetlamp is right ovuh there.” he added, cocking his head in the direction of the lonely streetlamp.
With a great effort Zahara twisted her head away from the knife. “Somebody help me!” she screamed.
“No one’s gonna fuckin’ come to your rescue, Little Miss Terrorist.” said Manny, pressing the blade to Zahara’s neck; a little bit of Zahara’s blood trickled onto the knife, mixing with Emir’s. Zahara whimpered as Manny pressed his face even closer than before, so close she could see the pupils in his beady eyes. Behind her Zahara could feel Che’s hot breath on the nape of her neck.
Suddenly Manny’s free hand swooped down and grabbed the button on Zahara’s pants, undoing it in an instant. His hand reached into her pants and began feeling around.
“No, please.” said Zahara, tears spilling from the corner of her eyes. “Please don’t do this—!”
“Shaddup!” said Manny, looking up from what he was doing; Zahara felt the blade of the knife dig a little deeper into her neck. “Ya shaddup an’ try ta enjoy it. Maybe aftowards we’ll let ya kill yoself, got it? But no bombs; ya might hurt someone.”
Che giggled as Manny worked Zahara’s pants off, exposing her white underwear. As he did Zahara felt the fight go out of her. She was going to die and painfully too and at the hands of her parents’ murderers. She’d never see her friends again, she’d never see her parents again, and like the two men had said, no one was going to help her—
“What ya mothas doin’?” said a voice. Zahara looked away from Manny as a figure dressed in a black hoodie and jeans stepped into the lamplight. Manny paused and then stood up, pulling the knife away from Zahara’s neck.
As he did Zahara felt her energy disappear. Black edged into her field of vision as Zahara strained to discern the face of the newcomer. But the darkness took her and Zahara couldn’t see his face. The last thing Zahara thought before she fainted was that she would’ve liked to see the face of her potential rescuer.
That, and how embarrassed she was that her pants were lying uselessly around her ankles.
Ever since I heard that this film was being made, I’ve been excited for it. Over the past few days, my behavior has been pretty close to that of a Belieber right before a Justin Beiber concert, I’ve been so excited. And this evening I went to the movies after dinner and sat in the best seat in the house. Afterwards, I struggled to find a phrase or a sentence, some way to describe the Carrie remake. I hit on it on the way home:
This is not like any version of Carrie you’ve ever seen before.
And I mean that. The storytelling, the acting, the music, and the special effects go together perfectly to create an awesome Halloween movie. Even when I knew something was going to happen, from plot points to scares, I was totally freaked out.
I’ll start with the acting, because that was just phenomenal. It’s amazing to watch Carrie White, played by Chloe Grace Moretz, go from a shy, terrified girl to someone who’s starting to come into her own power and rebel. Then at the climax of the movie, she doesn’t just become an angry telekinetic girl. She becomes Nemesis, Goddess of Revenge, and an angry witch upon her dais emerges to reap what has been sown. Afterwards, broken by all the pain and misery, she become a little girl again, wanting only love. And when she can’t get that, she looks for peace.
Julianne Moore was also great. You sensed she cared for Carrie, but the way she played Margaret White as a delusional woman with vacant eyes and a propensity for self-flagellation even in public was positively spooky. Honestly, she could win an award for playing Margaret and putting the “mental” in fundamentalist. In addition, all the other actors were great in their roles. I truly got the sense that Sue Snell, played by Gabriella Wilde, made me feel her remorse as the one girl who regretted hurting Carrie, while Portia Doubleday embodied the entitled bitch that was Chris Hargensen. And Judy Greer, you get a nod for really seeming like you cared for Carrie, comforting her while also making sure that no one would hurt her further. I can see why Carrie left your character alive. You made us believe she deserved not to die.
The next aspect was the storytelling. In this version of Carrie they actually included parts not seen in other adaptations of Carrie, including the love between Sue and Tommy Ross and what that love results in, the destruction of the town, and even the flying rocks make an appearance in the story (though not in the way we might expect). The filmmakers were also able to work the Information Age seamlessly into the plot, using a video of Carrie’s first period to the greatest effect. The only thing added in that I didn’t care for was the bath scene at the end. Honestly, there’s no bath scene in the book, and we already get Carrie covered in blood in the shower. Why do we need it again in the bathtub?
You don’t want to mess with this Carrie!
Now for the music, it was terrifying and vivid. It matched every moment and I felt it adding to my terror during certain parts of the film. And the special effects were better than everything we’ve ever seen in a Carrie adaptation. The destruction at prom had everyone in the theater on the edge of their seats and the showdown between Chris Hargensen, Billy Nolan, and Carrie is like watching Titans battling each other! I couldn’t believe any of it was done with computers or wires, because it all seemed so real and terrifying to me. The only thing I didn’t like was the blood that fell on Carrie’s head. I thought it looked more like corn syrup or Jell-O that hadn’t yet solidified than blood, but maybe that’s just me.
Am I using the word terrifying too much?
This lady deserves the Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Doesn’t matter. Honestly, I want to buy the DVD when it comes out, because this was one freaking epic horror film and I loved every minute of it. For the 2013 adaptation of Carrie, I give it a 5 out of 5. Congratulations to the cast, the crew, including director Kimberly Pierce, and a special congratulations Stephen King, Chloe Grace Moretz, and Julianne Moore. King made a wonderful story that will last long after he has left the Earth (hopefully that won’t happen anytime soon) and I think Moretz and Moore could easily win Oscars for this one. It’s just that good, so go and see it if you get the chance. You will not regret it.
Today I do the last character interview before Reborn City comes out in two weeks. And today I’m interviewing Jason Price, CEO of the Parthenon Company and the main antagonist of the novel. Price is one of those characters that is full of himself and full of hate and power. He’s a dangerous character, and I would not want to get on his bad side.
If you would like to read my other character interviews with Zahara Bakur and Rip, click on the links.
Now here’s Jason Price:
Notes and Stats:
Sex: male Age: 65 Race/Ethnicity: African-American Birthday: December 12th Eye color: Brown Hair color: White (originally black) Religion: atheist Affiliation: Parthenon Company Special Powers/Abilities: Went to the University of Michigan as an undergraduate before earning a degree in biochemistry. Later joined the United States Army as a lieutenant before being honorably discharged and joining the Parthenon Company. Later became a member of Parthenon’s board and then its CEO. Notes from the Author: I based Jason Price on Samuel L. Jackson visually, but his character is based on a number of different villains. He’s a war-monger, a corporate executive with no conscience, a racist, and he’s just plain nasty. For a man of his age he’s still incredibly fit, his mental acuity is undiminished, his vision is unshakeable and he’s very dangerous to mess with. Go against him at your own risk.
RU: Mr. Pirce, it’s a pleasure to meet you.
Price: Where the hell am I?
RU: That’s not important. Mr. Price, I know you are the head of Parthenon Company. Could you tell me a little bit about what your company does?
Price: Parthenon is an entertainment corporation that also leads several cities whose main business is entertainment, such as Reborn City, Seattle, and Marvolo, the new adventure hotspot for families and adults. Our corporation is based in Reborn City and we’re also currently expanding our enterprises into virtual reality video games, as well as travel, new forms of music, and–
RU: Enough with the salesman’s pitch. Didn’t Parthenon used to be a weapons developer and supplier for the military?
Price: True, but after the Third World War we became an entertainment corporation. We started with Reborn City, and through trial and error we’ve become one of the biggest suppliers of fun on the North American continent and in the world.
RU: So you guys aren’t working on anything military? Nothing that might involve the Hydras in West Reborn?
Price: How’d you know about that?
RU: I’m clever that way. So you don’t deny the Hydras and Parthenon are linked?
Price: Look kid, I don’t know who you are or how you know about our involvement with the Hydras, but if you poke a dragon, prepare to get roasted.
RU: Sounds tasty. Now tell me, why would an entertainment compnany that’s supposedly left the weapons industry still be working on weapons projects, especially projects that might still be considered illegal by other city and nation-states?
Price: Oh, don’t get into the legal crap with me, boy! It’s only a matter of time before some Adolf Hitler or Osama bin Laden comes along with plans to destroy the free world. And guess who’s going to be supplying the weapons when that person does show up?
RU: Okay, better safe than sorry. I get it. By the way, can I get a tour of the Facility underneath Parthenon World Headquarters?
Price: You know too much.
RU: Yikes! That’s a gun! He’s pointing a gun at my head! Okay, time to cut the interview short! Join me next week when I give you readers a preview of the first chapter of Reborn City itself…that is if I survive till next week! Help me!
Last week I did an interview with Zahara Bakur, the protagonist of my novel Reborn City (out November 1st). Now I’m here with a interview with Rip, one of the Hydra leaders and the deuteragonist of RC. I hope he’s as friendly as Zahara was, otherwise I might be in trouble!
Also, if you want to read Zahara’s interview, please click here.
Now without further ado, let’s meet Rip!
Notes andStats: Sex: male Age: Unknown (believed to be between ages 16-18) Race/Ethnicity: Caucasian Birthday: Unknown Eye Color: Grey Hair Color: Grey (originally brown) Religion: Agnostic bordering on atheist. Affiliation: West Reborn Hydras Special Powers/Abilities: Able to produce neon-green claws from his knuckles by converting energy from his body into living matter through special glands in his hands. Because they are dependent on energy, the glands will automatically convert the claws back into energy if Rip’s energy levels are dangerously low. Notes from theAuthor: In Stephen King’s The Stand, the protagonist Stu Redman was described as a quiet man. For a quiet guy, he talked a lot. That is why when I formulated Rip, I decided I wanted him to be so quiet that he would make it a point to let people know he wasn’t into long conversations. It’s led to some interesting situations, and I think he’s a better character than he might’ve been if he’d been a bit more talkative.
RU: Rip, it’s a pleasure to meet you.
Rip: Where the fuck am I?
RU: Okay, not as friendly as Zahara.
Rip: You know Zahara?
RU: We’ve met once or twice. She’s a nice kid.
Rip: That’s just what she is though. A kid. Doan know a thing ’bout the world. I gotta teach her ’bout ev’rythin’.
RU: Do you like her though?
Rip: I guess so. I doan hate her.
RU: That’s good to hear. So Rip, I hear the Hydras are getting pretty powerful in West Reborn. You must be proud of that.
Rip: It’s cool. Got a lotta hard workers in the Hydras. I should be proud.
RU: I bet you and the other leaders having powers may be a big help to that.
Rip: Ya know ’bout our powers?
RU: I know a lot about the Hydras. But you can trust me. I’m not going to sell you out to anyone, like a certain man I could name who watches Reborn City from a giant rotating skyscraper.
Rip: Ya know ’bout him too? Who the hell are ya?
RU: A friend. Well, we’re almost out of time. I’ll send you back to West Reborn. Tell Zahara the weird blonde guy with the glasses said hi, okay?
Rip: Whatever. Just doan do nothin’ ya shouldn’t, or ya might meet my claws!
RU: Oh wow, they really do glow like neon, don’t they? And they seem really sharp. Well, that’s all the time we have left. Join me next week, when I do another interview, this one with antagonist Jason Price, CEO of the Parthenon Company. That is, if Rip doesn’t gut me first! Reborn City, out November 1st!
It is Wednesday of Week 8 of the semester here at Ohio State, putting us squarely halfway through the semester. And as is my custom on this blog, I’m letting people know how I’m doing right now.
Love it at my school!
Right now I’m at work taking my lunch break. Work’s going well, by the way. I work between ten and twelve hours a week, and now that busy season is over, we’ve kind of fallen into a routine that’s quieter than the summer and early fall but stil busy and full of things to do. Actually some of my biggest fans are at work. The head of the Financial Aid department keeps telling me she’s going to buy two print copies of The Quiet Game when she shops on Amazon next, one to read and one for me to sign and keep in pristine condition forever and ever. She just has to find time to shop on Amazon, which is hampered by her very busy schedule. She’s also looking forward to reading Reborn City when it comes out in November, as well as some of my coworkers. I’ve got to love the people who work here!
My classes are also going well. I’m taking five courses right now, and my favorites are without a doubt my Science Fiction and Fantasy literature course and my Holocaust in History course. I learn a lot from my teachers and the discussions are always stimulating and we all have fun, especially in the Sci-Fi/Fantasy course. My one class I’m struggling with is my Biology course, but I’m meeting with my TA a lot to talk about points I’m having trouble with and improve my grades. Hopefully by the next midterm in that class I’ll be Super-Student.
Not likely, but I’ll get as close to it as possible.
I’ve also applied for a Study Abroad trip in May to Europe to see some of the more important sites of World War II Europe. I don’t know if I’ll get in yet (I won’t find out till next week at the earliest), but my GPA is high enough and one of my former teachers wrote me a stunning letter of recommendation, so I’m hopeful. I’ll let you know if I get in.
And at my apartment things are also peachy-keen. My roommate Morgan and I get along very well and we divide up our duties both as housemates and as resident managers for our complex very well. Sometimes I even cook for the both of us, though that doesn’t happen often because Morgan’s studying to be an engineer and has a bigger courseload than I do, so he’s often on his own schedule and I’m on mine. It’s sad that we can’t hang out as often, but I’m okay with it. Besides, there’s something on every night on TV, so I’ve got pleny to occupy my attention.
If I could change one thing about this semester though (besides how much I have to work on my Biology coursework or get a winning lottery ticket), I’d like to attend clubs more often. I attended a couple of club meetings for the English Undergraduate Organization and the Science Fiction club at the beginning of the semester, but somedays my homework load piles up and I just don’t have the time or the energy to go. Especially when some club meetings, like for the sci-fi club, are on the south side of campus and I live north of campus. The only place I can regularly go to that can be considered club-like is OSU Hillel for Friday night services and dinner, but beyond that nothing much. Hopefully for the second half of the semester I might find more time though. Depends on a number of factors, but I’m hopeful.
And finally, some updates on my writing. Video Rage has less than twenty chapters left till it’s completed, so I’m trying to get as much done as possible when I have the time. Laura Horn is still a long way from being completed, but the chapters are shorter than the ones for Video Rage, so I should complete that by midway through the spring semester. The Quiet Game is doing as can be expected for a first-time writer being published, which means it’s close to reaching 50 copies sold. Reborn City is still coming out on time, so that’s something to get excited about. In fact, I plan on doing a bit more advertising for it as the week goes on, so get prepared. Also, Snake is still getting its final draft looked over by author Angela Misri of a Portia Adams adventure, but it should be ready by spring or summer 2014. There’s something to look forward to. And last but certainly not least, I’m already planning what to write after I finish the first drafts of Video Rage and Laura Horn. I’m thinking I’ll do a lot of short-story writing, maybe put out another collection. I also want to write something with a big supernatural influence that is longer than a short story. We’ll see what happens when I finish the WIPs, though.
Well, my lunch break is just about over, so I’m signing off. I’ll let you know if anything happens when it happens, and I hope you have a nice day. Blog on you later!
You know, I don’t think I’ve had words begin with lowercase letters since I first started writing this blog. Except for “the”, “a”, “is”, and words like that, but that’s beside the point.
In media res is Latin for “in the midst of things” and it is a literary technique where a story begins in the midst of action rather than beginning with some background or exposition. It also details my semester at the moment, but that’s tomorrow’s post and it’s very beside the point! The point is, I noticed that a lot of stories I write tend to start in media res.
Even if we don’t know it, a lot of books we’ve read and movies we’ve seen begin with in media res (and plenty don’t). They often use flashbacks to help fill in backstory and background information. A prime example of a book that uses in media res is the first book in the Bartimaeus trilogy, The Amulet of Samarkand. Anyone read that? No? Well, for those of you who haven’t read it, the story is about a world where magicians who summon and bind demons into their service rule over modern England. However we don’t find out all that information at the beginning. Instead we see human protagonist Nathaniel summoning the titular demon Bartimaeus into his service before he’s sent to capture the Amulet of Samarkand, and then through flashbacks (and footnotes) we find out that the magicians rule England and its colonies, and that they use demons to do their bidding.
That’s an example of in media res. A good example of a work that doesn’t begin that way would be Charles Dicken’s A Tale of Two Cities, which all of us have probably read in high school or college. “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, etc.” Only after we realize how much like our current era the era of the novel is do we find ourselves on a dark road in the middle of the night, and the story begins. And believe it or not, the first few lines of Harry Potter were exposition in nature: “Mr. and Mrs. Dursley of Number 4, Private Drive were proud to say they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.” Rowling makes sure we know how absolutely, perfectly, horridly normal the Dursleys are before we realize how weird things are the day before they find Harry on their stoop. That is the exact opposite of in media res.
Now why am I bringing this up, you might be asking. Firstly, I just want to make sure everybody who’s not an author on this page knows what in media res is before I talk about it. And now that I’ve explained it all, I want to get back to what I said previously, which is that a lot of the work I write begins in media res.
This show’s pilot (and several of its episodes) utilize in media res. It is also my most recent TV addiction.
If you’ve read my collection of short stories The Quiet Game: Five Tales To Chill Your Bones, all but the short story I’m Going To Be The Next James Bond start out in media res. Take The Quiet Game itself: “It was a tranquil Saturday morning at St. Dunstan’s School for Girls as Traci opened her eyes and stretched.” I don’t spend a moment explaining that St. Dunstan’s is a Catholic school in the middle of the country, that it’s girls stay on campus, that it’s run by priests and nuns, or that it has a darkness within it. I let that come out later in the story.
And not just The Quiet Game, but most of my other work is told this way. I could begin Reborn City (out November 1st, by the way) by explaining that several years before the story begins, there was a conflict between Western civilization and several radical Islamic terrorist organizations and some Muslim nations that led to a third world war and the devolving of many nations into independent city-states, and then go into how my protagonist Zahara and her family get caught up in some violence in the West side of Las Vegas-style Reborn City. Instead, this is the first paragraph of RC:
Reborn City, former Nevada 28 Anno Bombus (2056 CE) June 28
Zahara and her family had decided to eat out at a restaurant in North Reborn that served kosher meat, the closest they could get to halāl. “I know it’s for Jews mostly, but it’s a very nice place and the Jews were very nice to us in New York.” Zahara’s father, Emir Bakur had said when he’d suggested it. “They know they don’t have to fear Muslims anymore. And the Chaplinsky family in 4F was nice enough, right?”
Full action, no exposition or backstory. I leave that to the flashbacks I use throughout the story. And it’s the same with my other novel-in-the-midst-of-getting-published, Snake. The first four chapters are a single scene of the Snake taking his latest victim and then leaving the body out. I use several flashbacks throughout the book to explain why he’s doing this, but I don’t say it all in the beginning. I wait, and reveal it at certain points in the story through flashback and characters telling other characters about past events.
Now why am I saying all this? Because I think it’s an interesting stylistic choice that I decide to start most of my stories in the midst of the story and use flashbacks to get into past events that may have led to the current events of the story. In media res requires readers to put themselves right in the action of the story. No time to catch up, just plunge right in and fill in the details along the way. I think that’s a much more fun way to tell a story.
It also allows me to write in a way that keeps readers from getting bored with my work. Instead of explaining everything slowly at the beginning, I impart a bit of mystery instead and task the reader to play detective, to keep going through the novel to piece together how events of the novel came into being. The readers love it, they love unraveling how we got to where we are by reading and seeing what happened before the story and how those events correlate with what the story in their hands (or on their audiobooks).
So the next time a movie/TV show/book starts out like this, you’ll know what it’s called.
So yeah, I like in media res. And I’ll probably use it in the future. But I’ll be conscious of its use., and when I see other writers using it, I’ll wonder if they’re conscious of why they’re using it. Because the story requires it? Because they find that much exposition boring? Because it’s fun to tell a story that way? It’s almost as intriguing to guess why they use that method as reading the story to find out what happens, even if we might not ever know why that author does it. At least, that’s my opinion.
If you are a writer, do you ever use in media res in your fiction? And if so, why? If not, why
Some of you may be wondering what the scariest chapter I’ve ever written so far must be. I write scary stories, so it must be something gruesome. What could it be? Monsters? Evil spirits? Something not of this world or any other world we know of?
If you guessed pure, human evil, then you were correct.
I’ve written several times on this blog that one of my works-in-progress, Laura Horn, has a teenage girl and a survivor of sexual assault as its protagonist. Naturally, the question came up of whether or not to actually show her sexual assault in the novel. I’m not sure when I decided on that issue, though it was probably when I wrote the outline for the novel. But I decided to show her assault, devoting Chapter 17 of the book to it.
The past few weeks, where I knew it was only a matter of time till I reached that chapter, were not terrifying, nerve-wracking, or exciting as I expected writing a sexual assault would be. Instead, I just felt a sort of…acceptance, I guess. I’d committed to writing that sort of scene, and when I finally got to it, I got to it.
And last night, after finishing Chapter 17 of Video Rage, I took a short break, and then I started writing Chapter 17 of Laura Horn. Today, after finishing up my homework and meditation class, I did the last of it. and now the first draft of that chapter is complete.
I don’t know if what I’ve written will resonate with readers or feel real to them. I wrote this scene based on testimonies and memoirs by rape victims that I’ve read, the articles I’ve read on the statistic and psychology of rape, more Law & Order: SVU episodes than I dare mention, and my own overactive and sometimes unhealthy imagination. (Those last two I’m not sure you can count as credible sources). But if I’ve done my job right, then I will be able to put the reader directly into Laura’s state of mind at the time of her assault, make them understand what she’s been through and how it’s affected her three years after the event when the story takes place. And only then will the readers really understand who Laura Horn is, and truly be able to empathize with her.
And speaking of which, I’ve had trouble at certain points of writing this story getting into Laura’s head and understanding her both as a character and as a person. But having just written the formative event of her young life, I now can truly get into her head, understand her motivations, her thoughts, were obsession with avoiding drawing attention to herself. So hopefully writing the rest of Laura Horn will be a little bit easier.
However, that doesn’t change the fact that this is the scariest chapter I’ve ever written. In fact, it scared me personally, because I was terrified of the fact that I could conceive this scene and then write it down without losing my stomach. Even now, I’m wondering how screwed up I truly am to write such a scene. Considering how many times Stephen King’s written that sort of scene, I can say I’m fairly f***ed up.
I’m not sure if I’ll ever do such a scene again. However I do believe that when Laura Horn makes it to print, whenever that is, if I’ve done my job right, then the readers will feel the fear I wish to convey. And maybe they’ll understand the terror and trauma of rape victims. Maybe the book will help people who’ve experienced sexual assault. Maybe it’ll cause some people to think before they say someone deserves to be raped. I don’t know if any of that’ll happen, but it’s my hope that it will.
And now I’m going to take a break from writing. I’ve done a lot in the past 48 hours, and I’d like a little break before I pick up with Video Rage Ch. 18. I’ll need to recharge my batteries, especially after writing that sexual assault scene.
The life of a college student can be really crazy sometimes. Some days I just want to sit down and write, to finish the next chapter in one of my works-in-progress, or maybe a blog post or an article, or a short story. But first I have classes to take care of, and the homework that comes with them can’t be put off until the last second, and I work ten hours a week, and I have to cook my dinner and do my laundry, and I like to watch TV and read a book in the evenings, and I finally managed to find time to get a haircut today, which took some time from homework, but I got that done–where the heck is this train of thought going?!
Suffice to say, I’ve been crazy busy lately. And what’s the worse is that I just want to sti down and write. I’ve been hammering away at my computer on a chapter of Video Rage for about three days now, and I’m not halfway from finishing it. And I just WANT TO FINISH IT! And after that, I want to do another chapter of Laura Horn, followed by Video Rage or a Weekly Exercise, I don’t know. It depends on the day.
But you know, I got my priorities, and until those are out of the way, becoming the next HP Lovecraft will have to wait. The good news is I’m used to working on stories while being swamped with work, so I should still be on the usual production schedule (the first draft of a novel being done in six months to a year). So for now, I’ll keep working as hard as I can, when I can, where I can, and hopefully I’ll be able to get everything I want to get out as soon as I can.
At least in theory. I can’t get copyrights right now, thanks to the federal government shutting down here in the United States (thank you Congress! You’d all fail kindergarten if you had to go back there for a day!). And you know me, I like being insured in case of plagiarism or theft.
Well, I’m off to make a simple dinner and settle down for a nice, relaxing evening of writing and watching The Big Bang Theory and Scandal. Hopefully I’ll get this chapter of Video Rage done too!
Rami Ungar The Writer 