Posts Tagged ‘writing’

Yes, I wrote another article for Self-Published Authors Helping Other Authors. This one is How To Write A Prologue, which I found a little bit challenging to write. I’ve written prologues before, but I really struggled with what made a good prologue, and had to really examine all the ones I’ve read and all the ones I’ve written over the years to write a helpful argument.

Interesting enough, I originally didn’t intend to write this article. But while in France (in Paris, if I remember correctly), the site got a comment asking if we had any articles on writing prologues. We didn’t, and I was sad to report that. So this article was kind of to rectify that lack of prologue-related article. I hope that the reader who posted it is able to read the article and find some helpful advice in it.

And speaking of helpful advice, make sure to check out the rest of Self-Pub Authors. It’s written by independent authors for independent authors, and offers a variety of helpful articles on making writing, editing, publishing, and marketing independently easy and cost-effective. You never know what helpful articles you’ll find while reading this website.

All for now. I’ve got some other work to do, so I’m going to get on that. Have a good weekend and have a safe Friday the 13th (because it’s also a full moon. That can only mean trouble!).

Reborn City

This just in folks, Reborn City just got a new review on Amazon! This one comes from my mother, whose review I’ve been waiting to hear for some time. Now, I know what you’re thinking: his mother? It’s obviously a good review! Well, this is my mother. She can actually be a bit critical of my work if she thinks it isn’t up to snuff. I’m glad to say this time though she really liked this one. This review, which she gave 5 stars, goes like this:

This book was amazing. I really loved the story line, and especially the social lines of a post war society looking for answers. I did think that the “gang speak” was sometimes difficult to manuver [sic], but a fantastic story, all in all.

Thanks, Ima. I’m sorry you had a hard time with the gangster speak, though. I was hoping to make things a bit more authentic with the gang speak, but not everyone enjoyed it. Luckily the new edition I uploaded recently has a lot of grammar corrections and less gang speak, so it should be easier reading from now on.

If you are interested in reading RC, you can check it out on Amazon and on Smashwords. Currently the e-book is $1.99 until Saturday, so now’s the time to get it at a really good discount. And if you decide to read it, please let me know what you think when you’re done. Positive or negative, I love feedback (though I usually tend to get the former rather than the latter. Not sure if people are being nice or if they really like the stories sometimes).

Until next time, my Followers of Fear!

I’m back on Self-Published Authors Helping Other Authors, and it’s good to be back. My latest article is Showing vs. Telling, which covers one of the most difficult aspects of learning to be a writer. Often we are told by our English teachers when learning creative writing to “show, don’t tell”, but rarely are we actually shown how to distinguish between the two. The purpose of this article is to do just that.

So if you have a moment, please go check out the article. And if you have a few more minutes, please check out the rest of the website. Self-Published Authors Helping Other Authors is one of the most helpful sites for independent authors, written by independent authors to help others write, edit, publish, and market their books for little-to-no cost. Take it from me, you never know what helpful article you’ll come across.

All for now. I’ve got a bit of work today to get done, so I’m going to get on it as soon as possible. Wish me luck, my Followers of Fear, and have a great day.

Snake

How far would you go for love and revenge?

Hello my Followers of Fear. Well, it looks like Amazon has finally figured itself out, because both the e-book and paperback versions of Snake are now visible and available from its Amazon page. This is good, because Amazon has been known to have kinks in the webpages of its self-published authors during the first few days of a new book’s shelf-life. Why that is, no one is sure. It’s just one of those things you deal with when you are a self-published author.

Anyway, I’m excited and glad to say that both versions are now available and you can go online and order them now if you wish by following this link. The paperback version is about thirteen dollars, which is a little more than I’d like to charge for the book, but Amazon has more say on the prices than I do. Once again, that’s something you deal with when you’re a self-published author.

The good news is, the e-book version is much more affordable. In fact, from June 10th (yesterday) to June 24th, the e-book will only cost $0.99 to download. Afterwards, from June 25th to July 7th, the e-book will be $1.99. And from July 8th onwards, the e-book will cost $2.99 until the next sale. So if you’d like to get Snake‘s e-book, now is the time to go and download it.

Also, this is the last week to get Reborn City‘s e-book for $1.99. On the 15th the price will return to $2.99 until the next time I do a sale (probably in November), so now’s the best time to get RC on sale. Hope you decide to check both books out. You can check out RC by going here.

That’s all for now. I’ll write again when I have something to write about. Until then, have a great day, my Followers of Fear.

Not sure how, but it looks like I have another piece of good advice to tell everyone about. Laura Horn, the WIP I’ve been working on on-and-off since last summer, has reached another milestone, with Part III: The Ringleader, done and out of the way. This part of the novel was actually rather interesting to write: not only did the three main characters find themselves isolated from just about everyone they know and care about, but I had to cut out two chapters I found extraneous and unnecessary, and I merged two more into one, reducing the chapter count by about three. Just goes to show that a lot can change between the original outline and the actual writing of the novel.

With the completion of Part III, I also move pretty quickly to the climax of the story. At the moment, I only have about twenty-five chapters left, and most of them will probably be less than ten pages left. Good for me, because I’m aiming to get the first draft of this novel done before I go back to classes in August. With the rate I’ve been going these past couple of days, as long as I’m able to not get distracted and find time to write, I might jut get there some time between the end of the month and mid-July.

Before I start Part IV though, I’d like to be able to take on some quick projects: I’d like to write a few articles for Self-Published Authors Helping Other Authors, as well as write some poems and some flash fiction pieces. Once I get those out of the way, I plan to finish off LH as quickly as possible and move onto the next project, which will probably be editing Video Rage and working on some short stories.

First, I’d like to update the page and word counts of LH (for those who weren’t around for the last update on those counts several months ago, I do this every time I make it to a milestone in writing my novels. Not sure why I broadcast it on my blog, it’s just something I like to do). Remember, by pages I mean 8″ x 11.5″ pages. The total for the Prologue was about 10 pages, and 2,190 words. Part I was 43 pages and 12,019 words. Part II was 107 pages and 29,634 words. And Part III came out to be 57 pages and 15,637 words. That brings LH‘s total to 217 pages and 59,480 words. Since most authors use word counts to gauge the length of their books, this makes LH just under novel length, by about 520 words. I’m looking forward to seeing where it gets with Part IV!

For now though, I’m going to head to bed. It’s been a crazy birthday, I’ve got a busy day tomorrow, and I’d like to be well-rested when I go about my day tomorrow. Especially with the articles and with work. Good night, Followers of Fear.

Snake

How far would you go for love and revenge?

I don’t know what I should be happier about: today’s my 21st birthday, it’s exactly two years from the day I began work on Snake, and it’s also the day that Snake has become available for the public. I think two of those are cause for public concern!

Anyway, I’d like to focus on the latter, if possible. I’m very excited to announce that Snake is now published and available in paperback and e-book. It should be, anyway: it always takes Amazon a while to get e-books on the same webpages as the paperback versions. So if you go onto Amazon and you don’t see the version you’d like immediately, please come back later and hopefully it’ll be there. (I’ll write another post when all the kinks are sorted through).

It’s still pretty amazing to me that two years of work is finally available to the public. I just hope the public wants to read it and enjoys it now that it’s out! And if you do decide to buy a copy of Snake, please let me know what you think once you’ve read it. Did you love it? Did you hate it? Did something strike you as totally weird or that made it hard for you to enjoy the book? Did you get turned off by the painting of a naked woman on the cover (if you did, then that might be judging a book by its cover)? Let me know. I love feedback, whether positive or negative (except when it comes from trolls).

Anyway, if you’d like to check Snake out, you can go to Amazon to get a copy. I hope you like it and thanks for checking it out. And if you’d like to know a bit more about Snake before checking it out, you can click here.

That’s all for now. I’ve got some work to do, so I’m going to get on that. Have a great day, my Followers of Fear.

How far would you go for love and revenge?

Snake

Yes indeed, Snake is only one day away from being released. I can hardly believe it myself and yet I’m so excited! I just hope nothing happens to derail the publication and force me to push back the release. That would suck big time.

Also, today is the last day to enter the contest to win a free, autographed copy of Snake. Yes, that’s right, you can win a free, autographed copy of Snake, that I will ship anywhere in the world. All you have to do is follow the directions below:

  1. Give me your name
  2. Give me your city, state/province, and (if you’re outside the United States) your country
  3. What’s your favorite scary movie/book or something that scares you
  4. And tell me how far you would go for love and/or revenge (I would ask how far you would go for love and revenge, but I know not everyone likes to go that far, so I’m giving options)

The contest is open until 5PM Eastern Standard Time today, at which point I will select a winner from the entrants and announce it here on the blog. The contest is open to everyone who is not closely related to me, hasn’t helped with the creation and publication of this book, and/or isn’t receiving a dedication in the book. Good luck to all entrants and I hope you enjoy reading Snake, whether or not you win the contest.

If you would like to know more about Snake, you can click here, or watch the book trailer below.

That’s all for now. I’ll post the contest winner later today. Good luck, my Followers of Fear.

Snake

How far would you go for love and revenge?

It’s only three days away from the release of Snake, the thriller that I started nearly two years ago. I’m really excited for the release of this book, which has been quite an exciting story for me to write as well as a ton of fun to edit and prepare for publication. I’m so glad that I can finally share it with the whole wide world now that the release date is only a couple of days away.

In the meantime, I would like to announce a special contest for Snake: from now until 5 PM on Monday, June 9th, readers of this post will have the chance to win a free, autographed copy of Snake, which I will send to them from anywhere in the world. You enter by leaving this information in the comments below:

  1. Your name
  2. City, state/province, and country (only do the latter if you live outside the United States)
  3. Your favorite scary movie or book or what really scares you.
  4. Answer this question: “How far would you go for love and/or revenge?”*

Anyone 15 or older may enter the contest, as long as they are not related to me the author, did not have a hand in helping to make this novel possible, or you are not one of the people to whom this book is dedicated (sorry folks, but I don’t want to be accused of favoritism. Besides, do you really want me to call you up, make you think you’re the winner, and then tell you you’re not just to mess with you? I didn’t think so). The winner will be chosen by me personally from all the entries. And if nobody enters…well, I won’t think about it.

Anyway, I hope you decide to enter. The contest winner will be announced on June 9th, before Snake comes out, so start preparing your answers now. And if you would like more details about Snake, you can click here or watch the video trailer below. And may the best person win. Good luck, my Followers of Fear.

*I decided to do “and/or” instead of just “and” like in the novel’s tagline. Let’s face it, not everyone will go to the extreme lengths that the Snake went to. Anyway, you can enter an answer for love, for revenge, or for both, whichever you feel comfortable with. Just remember to make sure it’s an impressive answer if you want that free book.

Snake

How far will you go for love and revenge?

I never get tired of playing this video. Guess how long there’s left till Snake hits the digital bookstores?

Thank you, creepy little girl on the other end of the line. Yes, Snake will be out in seven days, exactly two years from when I began work on the novel. It also happens to be about twenty-two years from when I was born, meaning that every book sold is a birthday present.

For those who are unfamiliar with the book, Snake is a thriller novel about a young man who, in order to save his girlfriend from a powerful mafia family, becomes a serial killer called the Snake and starts hunting down members of the family in order to find her. But in the process of saving his girlfriend from the monsters holding her captive, will the Snake become a monster himself?

I’ve really been looking forward to putting Snake out, and I hope you’ll be as excited as I am come June 10th. Snake will be available in both paperback and e-book, and will be available first from Amazon before becoming available on Smashwords later on. I don’t have the price for the paperback yet (Amazon determines that, not I), but the e-book will definitely be on sale for the first couple of weeks, so it’ll be a good time to download it right after it comes out.

And guess what else? One lucky reader will be able to get a free paperback copy of Snake signed by me and sent to wherever they live in the world. The details for said contest will be made available about three days before Snake is released.

If you’d like to read more about Snake, you can check out the character interviews I released last month, or read the page for the book. Also, make sure to check out the video for the book trailer, which I’ve posted below.


That’s all for now, Followers of Fear. Expect another reminder at the three day mark (I’d do one at the five-day mark, but I don’t want to annoy my readers. That’s too much work. It’s hard enough annoying my family). Have a lovely day, everyone.

It seems that my prayers have been answered. Either that or I and the many people lobbying for this video to come have finally gotten what we desired.

Anyone who spends enough time on YouTube will probably come across the Epic Rap Battles of History videos. They are funny, have more history than the History Channel does these days, and are really well done. Several of them, such as the Adolf Hitler vs. Darth Vader series, the Doctor Who vs. Doc Brown battle, and the famous Donald Trump vs. Ebenezer Scrooge Christmas special, have become viral sensations. And in a stroke of creative genius, these guys have put out what has to be my favorite video yet: Edgar Allen Poe vs. Stephen King!

The video stars slam poet and rapper George Watsky as Mr. Poe, while Zach Sherwin (aka MC Mr. Napkins) plays his Royal Scariness King. It’s a delightful back-and-forth between the two horror greats, with Poe even rapping in trochee (the form of verse The Raven was written in) and King making references to both his and Poe’s work, as well as poking fun at a certain kid’s movie’s protagonist’s name. Plus the soundtrack is just perfect. But why just read me praise it? Check it out below:

Awesome, right? And it’s very hard to choose a winner, though I have to go with King (he’s got the best disses). Funnily enough, Mr. King himself had some different thoughts:

Mr. King, don’t put yourself down. Frankly, I thought you were sharper than Annie Wilkes’s axe. And I look forward to reading Doctor Sleep and Mr. Mercedes, once I can find the time to do it. In the meantime, can I interest you in one of my books?

Who do you think won? Why? And who would you like to see in another rap battle?

Personally I’m hoping for Walt Disney vs. Stan Lee or Freddy Kreuger vs. Jack the Ripper (yes, that is disturbing. But would you expect any less from me?).