Posts Tagged ‘publishing’

An Evening of Readings with the Horror Writers Association, Ohio Chapter

Posted: June 2, 2019 in Living and Life, Novel, Scary Stuff, Writing
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I know that the majority of people who read this post will NOT be in central Ohio (and that is a damn shame, in my opinion), but I have to post it anyway. The Ohio Chapter of the Horror Writers Association, which I am a proud member of, will be having a reading at Kafe Kerouac, one of the coolest places in the University District in Columbus, this Saturday night at 6:30 PM. There will be scary stories to tell, chances to meet some great authors, new reads and friends to discover and meet, and a few drinks to have while you’re at it.

Did I mention they serve alcohol at this place? Well, they do. It’s not a reason to go in and of itself, but it’s icing on the proverbial cake.

Anyway, by this point Rose will likely be edited, so this could be the very first reading for the final version of the novel. If you’re able to, I highly encourage you to make it out and hear it. And if you can’t, I’ll try to get it filmed for YouTube. After all, I want as many people as possible to check out my novel as possible, and I’ll do whatever it takes to make that happen. Hope to see you there!

And in the meantime, Friday, June 7th is the last day to sign up to be an advanced reader for Rose, the story of a young woman who turns into a plant creature (and that’s just the start of her problems). If you or someone you know would like to sign up, send me an email at ramiungar@ramiungartherwiter.com. All I ask is you read the book and consider posting a review after the novel is released. Thanks, and I look forward to hearing from you.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I’ve got a ton of posts to catch up on, so I’ll hopefully have those up at some point soon (though between editing and everything else, who knows when I’ll have the time?). Until then, pleasant nightmares!

Rose: Three Weeks Until Publication!

Posted: May 30, 2019 in Novel, Progress Report, Scary Stuff, Writing
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Are you annoyed with me mentioning Rose yet? You’re not? Well, that’s a first. They’ve already told me to curtail talking about it at work. I guess it’s a good thing I’m on vacation, then. Now I can crow about it from the rooftops!

So if you have no idea what I’m talking about for whatever reason, my fantasy-horror novel Rose is set to be published three weeks from today, on June 21st, 2019, by Castrum Press. Here’s the description I’ve been using lately (subject to change depending on feedback from my publisher):

When Rose Taggert wakes up in a greenhouse, the past two years missing from her memory, she has no idea what is in store for her. Her body changes, transfigured into a new, plant-like form by Paris Kuyper, a student and her self-proclaimed lover who used an ancient family grimoire to save Rose’s life. While Rose is at first willing to trust Paris and work with him to recover her memories and the supposed love they shared, it soon becomes clear her lover is not all he seems. In a short time, she decides to put love and memories aside in favor of survival.

But a rose may be defenseless when a storm surrounds it. And Rose may only be able to stand for so long against the forces swirling around her.

I love that word, “grimoire.” There’s a power in it. I should use it more often, but it’s so hard to insert into daily conversation!

Anywho, things should move pretty quickly from here. Starting Sunday or Monday, I’ll be neck-deep in the final edits for the novel. The final cover art and font will also likely be finalized pretty soon, and links on Amazon and other sites will also go up for anyone who wants to preorder a copy. And of course, this marketing machine I’ve set up will be working. If I’m lucky, word will spread far and wide enough to get enough people interested in Rose.

And I’d be very happy if people did read and enjoy the book. I’ve been working on this thing since it was a college thesis, and in the nearly five years since I first started writing the book, it’s gone through so many changes and revisions. To see all that hard work pay off would be a dream come true.

And in the meantime, if you’d be interested in getting an advanced electronic copy of Rose, then we’ll be taking advanced readers up until June 7th. Just send me an email at ramiungar@ramiungarthewriter.com, and I’ll add your name to the list. All I ask in return is that you read the book and consider posting a review after the release date. Thanks, and I look forward to hearing from you.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. Hopefully my next post on the book involves cover art. Until next time, pleasant nightmares!

Review: Brightburn

Posted: May 25, 2019 in Review, Scary Stuff
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What if the Superman origin story had a dark, horror-movie style twist? That’s the conceit of Brightburn, a movie produced by the director of the Guardians of the Galaxy films and the upcoming Suicide Squad film, written by his brothers Mark and Brian, and directed by David Yarovesky, who directed the pretty-good horror film The Hive. And from the trailers, it looked like it could be really good, or just plain bad. Either way, I put my butt in the seat and waited to see how it would go.

Brightburn follows the Breyers family, consisting of farmer Kyle, wife and artist Tori, and adopted son Brandon. Around his twelfth birthday, Brandon starts exhibiting supernatural powers and psychopathic behaviors. When he starts to hurt classmates and people around town start dying or going missing, Tori and Kyle reveal to their son his extraterrestrial origins, and he reveals to them his dark purpose in coming to Earth.

*sigh* You know, I can forgive them for copying Superman’s basic power-set in this film. I can also forgive them for not mentioning him at all (probably did that out of legal reasons). But I can’t forgive them for making a bad film that puts all its best bits in the trailers!

I kid you not, everything that was supposed to make this film exciting and scary was revealed in the trailer. The woman who got glass in her eye, the guy in the car seeing Brandon flying on the road, the girl’s hand getting broken, the plane crash. Those should’ve been surprises, but we all saw them in the trailers, and that takes out all of the suspense and horror of the actual movie. Except for a few moments, I watched the film thinking to myself, “That’s predictable. That’s predictable. Oh, how could I have not seen that coming? Oh wait, I did! In the previews!”

What do you have left when you take all those elements out? Just your below-average evil child horror film, like Prodigy from earlier this year (which I didn’t review because it was so much like every other evil child film out there). Parents get a kid, usually not their own. Kid grows up mostly fine, but then starts exhibiting scary behavior. Kid turns out to be evil, either because they were born seriously messed up or because of some supernatural reason, one parent ends up dead, the other either successfully kills the kid or is killed while trying because a bystander was nearby and didn’t know the truth.

Seen it. Done it. Took it to dinner. Had a good time afterwards. Ordered them an Uber. Point is, done to death.

There were only two things I liked about Brightburn. One was the mask the kid Brandon wore, which looks like a crocheted cross between an insect head and Cthulhu’s face. The other is Elizabeth Banks as mother Tori. You really see her love for this strange boy, and how much she tries to hold onto that little boy despite all he’s done.

But other than that, Brightburn is sadly unoriginal despite marketing itself as original. And I’m convinced the filmmakers knew that, and that’s why they put all the highlights in the trailers, to get butts in seats. On a scale of 1 to 5, I’m giving this one a 1.5. Avoid, unless you like wasting two hours of your time. I hope to God I never write anything as unoriginal as this.

Speaking of which, I’m still looking for advanced readers for my upcoming fantasy-horror novel from Castrum Press, Rose. The story follows a young woman who turns into a plant creature (and that’s just the start of her problems). Anyone who’s interested should send me an email at ramiungar@ramiungarthewriter.com before June 7th. All I ask is that you read the book and then consider posting a review after release. Thanks, and I look forward to hearing from you.

Until next time, my Followers of Fear, pleasant nightmares!

Rose: One Month Till Publication

Posted: May 21, 2019 in Novel, Progress Report, Scary Stuff, Writing
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So today after work, I stopped by the grocery store to pick up a few things. As I was leaving, I spotted one of my teachers from elementary school and her husband getting out of their car to do a little shopping of their own. We recognized each other right away, and while I’ve grown from the scrawny kid I was, she hasn’t seemed to age a day in the fifteen years since I last saw her, and neither has her husband. Normally I would attribute that to witchcraft, but given that they’re Orthodox Jews, I think it’s far more likely they’re using the not at all diabolical but still very impressive power of Kabbalah.

Why do I tell you this story when the subject of this post is Rose? Well, it feels like the basis of a story, and honestly, I felt like sharing it. Do I need better reasons?

But back on subject: Rose will be published in a month from today, on Friday, June 21st. And since my last post on Saturday, I’ve had some updates. My publisher Castrum Press and I have been going back and forth a lot, discussing the editing process and the things we still need to do to get the book out on time.

First, there’s the final edits. According to Castrum, I should be getting the first round of final edits probably near the end of next week. From there, it’ll be a race against time to get the edits done before too long so we can reach the target date for the release. Luckily, I’ll be on vacation during that time, and all my traveling during that vacation time will be wrapping up around that time, so it works out for me. I’ll still have to put my nose to the grindstone so I can get those edits done, but I think I’ll be able to make the deadline. I might not be able to hang out with family and friends during that time, but I’ll make it.

It beats disappointing potential readers and having to order new business cards with amended release dates, anyway (the costs of those pile up if you have to change them frequently, you know!).

In the meantime, I’ve been working on some other stuff that doesn’t get considered until we’re this far along in the process. Last night, I wrote a dedication for the book, an acknowledgements section, and a preliminary blurb for the back cover. That last part may get changed around a bit between now and release day, but I think what I wrote last night gives a good idea of what the novel is about while withholding enough information to get people to actually read.

Here’s what I sent my publisher:

When Rose Taggert wakes up in a greenhouse, the past two years missing from her memory, she has no idea what is in store for her. Her body changes, transfigured into a new, plant-like form by Paris Kuyper, a student and her self-proclaimed lover who used an ancient family grimoire to save Rose’s life. While Rose is at first willing to trust Paris and work with him to recover her memories and the supposed love they shared, it soon becomes clear her lover is not all he seems. In a short time, she decides to put love and memories aside in favor of survival.

But a rose may be defenseless when a storm surrounds it. And Rose may only be able to stand for so long against the forces swirling around her.

Like I said, this may change a lot over the next month, but I think it’s not a bad start.

As for other updates, I’ll be keeping those under wraps for a while. But I think I’ve got enough brewing in my proverbial cauldron that at the very least, I can guarantee that A LOT of people will hear about Rose and may consider giving it a read.

Speaking of which, as I said in my last post, I’m still looking for advanced readers for Rose. If you’d like to receive an early, electronic copy of the novel from my publisher prior to release, all you have to do is send an email to ramiungar@ramiungarthewriter.com. All I ask in return is that you read the book and consider posting a review after it’s released. Thanks, and I look forward to hearing from you.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I hope to have more updates soon, maybe even a shot of the cover. Until next time, pleasant nightmares!

Rose: Still Looking for Advanced Readers

Posted: May 18, 2019 in Novel, Progress Report, Scary Stuff, Writing
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I was going to wait until I got an update from my publisher* or until Tuesday, one month from when Rose is released, but I got impatient.

So as you probably know by now, my upcoming fantasy-horror novel Rose is on target to be published June 21st, 2019 by Castrum Press. The story follows a young woman who turns into a plant creature (and that’s just the start of her problems). Yes, that trippy subject is what the novel’s about. Yes, I sold that to a publisher. And yes, it is coming out in a little over a month.

Obviously, I’m over the moon with excitement. I’m also dealing with a lot of nervousness and a touch of anxiety, but I’m working a multi-pronged approached to make sure the novel is a success. One of those prongs is through advanced readers, people who receive electronic copies prior to the book’s official release with the hopes they’ll read it, like it, and maybe help spread the word by telling friends or writing reviews online (encouraged, but not required).

And you know what? I’m still looking for more advanced readers.

I’ve managed to build up a pretty big list of advanced readers, but I could always use a few more. So from now until June 7th, if you or someone you know would like to get on the advanced reader list, all you have to do is send an email to ramiungar@ramiungarthewriter.com. Once I have that, I’ll add your name to the list and then we just have to wait. Once I know the advanced copies are being sent out, I’ll notify you via email to give you a heads-up.

Thanks, and I look forward to hearing from you all.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I should have more updates on Rose as we get closer and closer to the release date. You may even get a little annoyed with me talking about the book so much (but can you blame me?). But of course, it’s all in the name of making sure plenty of people get to read the book, so why not?

Until next time (which, for all I know, might be anytime between today and Tuesday), happy reading and pleasant nightmares!

*Speaking of which, Castrum Press has just released a new anthology, Alien Days, featuring a variety of authors writing about what our first contact with extraterrestrials might be like. A terrifying subject, even if it’s not horror. Please make sure to check it out on Amazon. I’ll be downloading a copy very soon, and I can’t wait.

Rose: The Publication Date Has Been Set!!!

Posted: May 6, 2019 in Novel, Progress Report, Scary Stuff, Writing
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I’ve been waiting all day–since yesterday, when Castrum made known to me their intentions–to announce this. Through a long work day, social media posts and devouring a pizza to celebrate/get out of cooking tonight, I’ve been waiting for the moment where I can make this announcement. After fifteen months of edits and quiet planning and not-so-quiet planning, my novel Rose, being released by Castrum Press, has a release date.

Now, if you’re new here and you don’t know what Rose is, first off, hello! Welcome to the Followers of Fear! Second, Rose is a fantasy-horror novel that follows a young woman who starts turning into a plant creature (and that’s just the start of her problems). I wrote the first draft as a thesis project for college. Four years after finishing the first draft, the book is finally getting ready to be released. After so many changes and numerous rewrites, it’s finally coming out.

But Rami, I hear you all thinking, when is it coming out?

Well, Castrum has quoted to me a target date for June 21st, 2019. At any rate, we’re going to try to get the book out right around then, with the advanced copies being sent a couple of weeks prior. So yeah, it’ll be a little over a month and a half till Rose hits the digital and (hopefully) physical bookstores. And between now and then, I’ll be doing marketing work and doing final edits for the manuscript. At some point in the next couple of weeks the cover art will be finalized, and we’ll put everything together in an awesome little package.

Honestly, I’m both excited and nervous, and my anxiety is trying to bite and tell me all the things that could go wrong. I’m keeping it in its place and letting it know those things won’t happen in all likelihood, and just trying to remind myself all the big things ahead to get excited for. A dream I’ve held for almost twenty years is finally coming to fruition. There’s only one thing to do, and that’s to alternate between celebrating and working hard to ensure it goes well.

With that in mind, Castrum says the last date to get on the advanced readers list is June 7th. So if you’d like to get an early electronic copy of Rose before anyone else, send your email now to ramiungar@ramiungarthewriter.com. In exchange, all I ask is you read the book and then consider posting a review after the book comes out. Thanks, and I look forward to hearing from you.

That’s all for now, Followers of Fear. I’m off to start a Rube Goldberg machine of marketing. Thanks again for supporting me through these many years of work. It’s been a crazy ride, but I’m about to reach a huge goal I’ve longed dreamed of. And I don’t think I could’ve gotten this far without you. I hope when Rose comes out, you’ll all consider checking it out.

Until next time, pleasant nightmares!

My First Solo Road Trip

Posted: April 22, 2019 in Living and Life, Reflections
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My car, the Unholy Roller.

This past weekend was a busy one for me, all due to it being the Jewish holiday of Passover (which, if you’re unfamiliar, is us celebrating the events movies like Ten Commandments and Prince of Egypt are based on). Among other things, I somehow ended up tying the musical Hamilton to two different dinners, played a prank on my stepmom that I posted on YouTube (you can watch it here), ate more food lacking in yeast and drank more wine than is probably recommended, and watched a lot of anime and Lucifer.

However, what feels for me like the highlight of my weekend was something quite different. As some of you know, I only got my driver’s license this past July after nearly ten years of on-and-off instruction and practice, and my car, the Unholy Roller, this past October. Since then, I’ve had a number of firsts: driving to work, driving to the movie theater, driving on the highway without anyone else beside me, driving at night, driving in the rain, driving in the rain at night, driving at night in the rain on the highway (not something I’m ready to repeat anytime soon). And this past weekend, I racked up another first: my first road trip.

You see, I live in Columbus, Ohio and my dad lives in Cleveland, which meant I had to drive up to Cleveland to attend his Seder (Passover ritual meal), and then drive back the next day. And I was driving up by myself.

Honestly, I was more than a little nervous. I’ve never driven that long or that far on my own, and while I’ve gotten comfortable driving on highways, I’ll never like doing so. But I got some good advice before I embarked, and I made sure to have caffeine and snacks, as well as a full tank of gas, before setting out. And you know what? It went well. Very well. In fact, the ride back home was almost enjoyable. I listened to an audio book both ways, Red Rising by Pierce Brown,* which is one of my favorite science-fiction stories and which kept me calm in the absence of music. This allowed me to enjoy the passing scenery (Ohio has some lovely mountains and farmlands) and keep an eye on the road without getting antsy.

It was fine. Even better, it was fine. And dare I say it…it was fun at times. Lots of fun.

I guess this makes sense for Passover. The ancient Israelites had never been outside Egypt prior to the Exodus, and had no idea of what to expect, though they had been prepared for the trip for a while now. But they left, crossed the Red Sea, and…found numerous instances to complain and want to go back to Egypt, which eventually led to no Israelites entering Israel until all the generation who had known Egypt died off forty years later. But if they hadn’t freaked out and tried to turn around anytime they faced a small inconvenience, they would’ve enjoyed life in the Holy Land instead of dying in the desert.

And I went on a trip, with only a vague idea of what to expect. But I didn’t freak out every time a driver cut in front of me without signaling and tried to turn off and go home. And in the end, I got to my hotel in one piece, enjoyed dinner with my family, and somehow ended up rapping a mini-medley of Hamilton songs with the lyrics changed to reflect Passover (yeah, that was a thing. And it is something only heavy demand will make me repeat). And the next day I got home, easy as pie, with enough time afterwards to relax before cooking dinner.

I would love to revisit the Reformatory and reconnect with the ghosts there someday soon.

And perhaps I’ll do the trip again. I’ve applied for some vacation time at work, and I’d like to spend a few days in Cleveland with my dad and see some of the city’s sites, including the cemetery where James Garfield is buried (yes, I’m bringing the dowsing rods), as well as go back to the Ohio State Reformatory and check out some other haunted locations in Ohio. Now that I know I can, it should be a breeze.

Oh, and before I forget, on the way up I made a pit stop in the village of Bellville, Ohio, which I found to be quintessential small-town Ohio at its best. The Waze app on my phone had me drive around the place a little bit in order to get back on the interstate, and I was charmed by what I saw. Bellville feels like the perfect place to set a novel, and I even have an idea for one cooking in my head. I’ll have to visit again at some point so I can write it and make it feel real. Maybe after visiting my dad and the Reformatory?

I just hope nobody in Bellville minds their town being the setting of a horror novel. Otherwise, I might never be able to return!

Well, that’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I’m off to have dinner and then do some writing. In the meantime, I’m still looking for advanced readers for my upcoming fantasy-horror novel Rose, being released by Castrum Press. The story follows a young woman who starts turning into a plant creature (and that’s just the start of her problems). In exchange for an early electronic copy, all I ask is you read it and consider posting a review after the book is released. If interested, please email me at ramiungar@ramiungarthewriter.com.

Until next time, pleasant nightmares!

*They’re slight, but there are some parallels between Moses and Darrow, the main character of Red Rising, which is why I listened to it. Totally recommend the book, by the way. If you want a science-fiction story about a revolution of the have-nots against the haves in a dystopian world but want it to be much more immersive and smarter than Hunger Games, the Red Rising series might just be for you.

Review: The Curse of La Llorona

Posted: April 19, 2019 in Review, Scary Stuff
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I’ve known of the legend of La Llorona, aka The Woman in White or The Weeping Woman, for a while before I heard of this film. A woman drowned her children after her lover was unfaithful to her. Horrified by what she’d done, she either dies of grief or commits suicide, her spirit returning to search for errant children in the vain hope of trading them for her own lost darlings. So when I heard the upcoming film about her would be part of The Conjuring universe, I had to wonder, how would they treat the story? Would she be rewritten as a demon? Or would the filmmakers learn some new tricks and add a bit more to The Conjuring universe as more and more people started to find it formulaic and over-reliant on the jumpscares? I went in today to see it myself.

The Curse of La Llorona follows Anna Garcia, a single mom and social worker whose children become the target of the titular spirit after it takes the lives of two children whose mother she previously worked with. With the church’s process to approve exorcisms taking too long, Anna turns to a local faith healer and former priest. But will it be enough to stop a being driven by an unending grief and obsession?

And I’m sorry to say, this film didn’t really do anything for me. Oh yeah, it had some effective jumpscares and moments of atmosphere. There were quite a few moments where I jumped in my seat. There’s a reverence for the source material here, and you can tell they’re really trying to make this tragic ghostly figure intimidating.

Unfortunately, the formula The Conjuring set up has gotten stale almost five years later. We’ve gotten used to someone experiencing a haunting in their home, calling in an expert, and then a final battle where there’s either triumph or someone loses their soul. And predictability, along with jumpscares that we know to look for, just doesn’t do it anymore. And while the film does flirt with the idea of adding something new–La Llorona herself is not a demon, as past antagonists in the series have been, but a ghost whose obsession has turned her into a dark spirit, and there’s a twist during the climax that I was surprised by–but not enough to add new life to the franchise.

As of the writing of this review, The Conjuring universe has the third (and probably final) Annabelle film, Annabelle Comes Home, coming out in June. After that, everything else is in various stages of development (The Conjuring 3 has a release date but so far hasn’t begun filming yet). If Warner Bros and New Line Cinema want this franchise to continue past Annabelle Comes Home, they’ll have to come up with some new tricks to keep audiences coming back (and no, I don’t mean going to space. Sorry Jason X, you’re a lot of fun, but there’s a silliness about you that can’t be denied. At least you’re not the Friday the 13th remake, though. Beyond Jared Padalecki and the guy playing Jason Voorhees, there’s nothing redeemable about that film. Yeah, I took another shot at that film, and I’m glad I did!).

On a scale of 1 to 5, I’m giving The Curse of La Llorona a dismal 2. Has ideas, but needed to buck the formula more in order to be anything other than below average.

But you know what (probably) won’t disappoint? My upcoming fantasy-horror novel Rose, being released later this year by Castrum Press. And at the moment, I’m looking for advanced readers for the book, which follows a young woman as she starts turning into a plant creature (and that’s just the start of her problems). In exchange for an early electronic copy, all I ask is that you read the book and consider posting a review on or after the release date. If you’re interested, please send me an email at ramiungar@ramiungarthewriter.com.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. Until next time, pleasant nightmares!

You Can Say a Lot in 500 Words

Posted: April 17, 2019 in Reflections, Writing
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As I said in a recent post, I’ve had to scale back on how much writing I attempt to get done each evening because I try to go to bed earlier. To be more specific, I used to aim for at least a thousand words a night, or about four pages. However, I get tired more easily and need more sleep, so I go to bed earlier. Thus instead of a thousand, I aim for at least five-hundred or two pages.

Which to us wordsmiths can seem like quite the downgrade. One of the ways we measure our progress with our stories is by word count. So when you have to aim for lower word counts every day, it means you make slower progress and possibly make people wait longer for new stories.

However, that disappointment quickly evaporates when you realize something: while getting a thousand words out is nice, five hundred words is also momentous in and of itself. And that’s because you can say a lot in five-hundred words as well (and I don’t mean in the sense that even a small paragraph is composed of thirty to fifty words).

Let’s flash back to last night. I’m working on a story I’ve been writing on and off for about a year now and which I’m barely halfway through. I could’ve let the amount of writing left to do with this story get to me and keep me from getting a single word down on the page. Instead, I started writing. And lo and behold, I got seven hundred words in. Of those, the first five-hundred are about the narrator’s evolving mental state. And even though it’s still only a first draft, it was actually pretty good. I mean yeah, it could use plenty of cleaning up, but it was still a good passage of story, diving deep into what the narrator has been feeling at that point in her life, and how it’s affecting her relationships with her loved ones. Those two pages or so felt really emotional, almost as if a reader would feel the same emotions as her just by reading about it.

And somehow, I doubt that if I was aiming for a thousand words, I could write such a good section. I think when  was aiming for a thousand words, a part of my brain was urging me to rush on, to get that huge number out of the way so I could claim significant progress. The work I did while aiming for that big number was still good work, or at least I like to think so, but it might still be rushed. With five-hundred words, I recognize on some level that I can take my time, there’s no goal to rush to, and that allows me to write better.

And if I somehow make it to a thousand words? Great, I’m just glad I wasn’t panicking internally about getting there in the first place.

Of course, I would like to get to a point in my life where I aim for a minimum of a thousand words a day, but I want it to be under circumstances where I don’t feel so pressed for time and I can really explore the story and the character while working to reach that word count. That might not be for a long time, seeing as how much time in the day I would need to devote to such a goal conflicts with how much time I actually have to write sometimes. But who knows what the future holds?

Anyway, my point is that you don’t need to go crazy trying to rack up a huge daily word count. What matters most is what is written down during that daily struggle to write. If it’s meaningful and tells the reader a lot and sticks in their heads and ignites all sorts of marvelous images, then wonderful. You’re making great progress on your WIP. If, however, you’re getting a lot down on the page but it’s just a lot of fluff…well, that’s what the editing process is for, after all. Get’s rid of that fluff and replaces it with words of substance.

Either way, it sounds like a win-win. And by the way, this blog post is 814 words. Did I manage to say anything of substance in that amount, do you think?

 

And while I still have your attention, I’m still looking for advanced readers for my upcoming fantasy-horror novel Rose, being released from Castrum Press. The story follows a young woman who starts turning into a plant creature (and that’s just the start of her problems). In exchange for an early electronic copy, all I ask is that you read the book and consider posting a review online once it’s released. If you’re interested, please send me an email at ramiungar@ramiungarthewriter.com. Thanks, and I look forward to hearing from you.

Queen Alice: First Draft Done

Posted: April 6, 2019 in Scary Stuff, short story, Writing
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So do you remember the other day, when I posted about the character of Momo, who supposedly reaches out to kids and teens online, and tries to hurt them or make them hurt themselves? I outlined the myth and how the character took off in the public consciousness, before mentioning that I was working on my own story inspired by Momo and other terrifying figures that originate online and gain a life of their own in the real world.

Well, I just finished that story a few minutes ago. As you can tell by the title, I’m calling the story Queen Alice, and it follows an investigative reporter who delves into the burgeoning legend of a cult leader named Queen Alice who uses social media to bring harm to her targets. Or does she? Is she even real? The reporter is determined to make it to the bottom of this mystery, and what happens when he releases his report will change his world forever.

Writing this story was a lot of fun and I found it easy to write it, despite how much went on in my life (it’s gotten to the point where I’m going to bed earlier and setting lower writing goals so I can get more rest during the work week). The online world is as much a play and communal space as the campfires were for early humanity, when our first boogeymen were created. Today we’re creating boogeymen through the Internet, and people are taking them seriously in ways that would’ve been unimaginable even just ten years ago. Tapping into that fear, even though I sometimes have trouble understanding the most basic of human emotions and motivations, allowed the story to really flow for me and I was able to get it out much quicker than I thought I would.

It probably also helped that I pictured actor John Noble in the role of the reporter. Not sure why, he just fit the part in my head when I was visualing the character.

So what now? Well, I think I could get it published somewhere. At 27 pages and under 7,600 words, the story isn’t too long for many publications. I’ll get it looked at first and see if a beta reader can’t give me some good feedback before I edit it. With any luck, I can get it published somewhere very soon.

Well, that’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I have some stuff to take care of before the day is over, so I’ll see you all later. Until next time, pleasant nightmares!

 

And while I still have your attention, I’m still looking for advanced readers for my novel, Rose. The book is a fantasy-horror story about a young woman who starts turning into a plant creature (and that’s just the start of her problems). In exchange for an early electronic copy, all I ask is you read it and consider posting a review on or after the release date. If you’re interested, send me an email at ramiungar@ramiungarthewriter.com.

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