I know it's been forever and 5 days since I last posted, but in my defense I kinda had no life for a few months there. I was working full time and going to school full time, so pretty much that was all I did besides sleep. Oh, and then there was that lovely stretch at the beginning of the year when I came down with the Black Plague for three weeks. Fun stuff.
Anyway, now that I have a few more hours in the week and feel like a normal person, it's time to get back to doing what I love. To start, I'm doing a free promotional giveaway of my novel G-157 starting February 13th and ending February 15th. What better gift to give your sweetie than a rockin book? Especially one you can pick up for free!!
The paperback version will be out next week. I've finally gotten the formatting taken care of and am awaiting my proof copy to arrive, then bam! You'll be able to hold a copy of this amazing novel in your hands.
I'll also be posting another Short Story of the Month this week, so be sure to check back soon for another horrifying tale.
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Saturday, October 13, 2012
New Story of the Month
The October short story of the month is a little tale of horror titled Chitters. It's about an old man facing a beast in the darkness. I wrote this story ten years ago and recently pulled it out of my writing trunk. It was one of my favorite stories then, and is still one of my favorites now. Hope everyone enjoys it!
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
And you wonder why we don't like you...
So I was going through the oh-so-fun task of sorting the mail the other day and saw a letter from our Home Owners Association. Normally I toss these aside because I want to save reading them for those special days when I have absolutely nothing better to do than waste my time with nonsensical things, but I was curious as to why they were sending me a letter since our yard is up to code and I had paid them our fees several months in advance.
What do you know, they had sent me a notice. But not just any old notice they like to give you about bringing in your trash at 5:07 pm on Wednesday because it's supposed to be brought in by 5:00 pm (and we all know if we bring in our trash a few minutes after 5 because we actually have something to do with our lives, like work, that drug dealers and thieves will be swarming so thick in the streets they'll block out the sunlight and children will become drunkards that roam the in the night breaking windows and spraying graffiti on the walls. That few minute time lag could really bring down the neighborhood within a matter of seconds, you know). No, it wasn't one of those very important letters, it was a delinquency notice.
Yes, we're delinquents.
Our account was delinquent by such an outrageous amount of money they had to contact us immediately to let us know that if we didn't pay them the huge debt we owe it could lead to legal repercussions.
It was for six dollars. Yeah. $6.00.
I don't even have anything to say about that, but at this point I don't think I need to.
Don't get me wrong, I think HOAs can be a great thing. I really think they do help keep a neighborhood looking clean and nice, and some of the park and playground areas in our neighborhood are just fantastic, all thanks to the HOA (not our HOA though, we have a dead patch of grass which serves as our park and it's usually chocked with weeds, though they have made minor improvements over the last month). So I believe they are a really valuable thing that more communities should have because when run properly, they really do make a difference in creating a better neighborhood.
But, they also get a little, well...ridiculous sometimes...
Six dollars...psh!!
What do you know, they had sent me a notice. But not just any old notice they like to give you about bringing in your trash at 5:07 pm on Wednesday because it's supposed to be brought in by 5:00 pm (and we all know if we bring in our trash a few minutes after 5 because we actually have something to do with our lives, like work, that drug dealers and thieves will be swarming so thick in the streets they'll block out the sunlight and children will become drunkards that roam the in the night breaking windows and spraying graffiti on the walls. That few minute time lag could really bring down the neighborhood within a matter of seconds, you know). No, it wasn't one of those very important letters, it was a delinquency notice.
Yes, we're delinquents.
Our account was delinquent by such an outrageous amount of money they had to contact us immediately to let us know that if we didn't pay them the huge debt we owe it could lead to legal repercussions.
It was for six dollars. Yeah. $6.00.
I don't even have anything to say about that, but at this point I don't think I need to.
Don't get me wrong, I think HOAs can be a great thing. I really think they do help keep a neighborhood looking clean and nice, and some of the park and playground areas in our neighborhood are just fantastic, all thanks to the HOA (not our HOA though, we have a dead patch of grass which serves as our park and it's usually chocked with weeds, though they have made minor improvements over the last month). So I believe they are a really valuable thing that more communities should have because when run properly, they really do make a difference in creating a better neighborhood.
But, they also get a little, well...ridiculous sometimes...
Six dollars...psh!!
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Thank you!!
Huge, huge thank you to everyone who participated in the free giveaway of my debut novel G-157!! The giveaway was a tremendous success that far surpassed what I had hoped for.
I cannot thank everyone enough who took a chance and got a copy. I really hope everyone enjoys the novel, and again cannot say thank you enough to the first people to support my crazy dream. Thank you all!!
I'm hard at work on my next novel and can't wait to share it with everyone. I'll be posting a sneak peek at the first few chapters in the next week or two, so stay tuned for another exciting adventure. Happy reading everyone!!
I cannot thank everyone enough who took a chance and got a copy. I really hope everyone enjoys the novel, and again cannot say thank you enough to the first people to support my crazy dream. Thank you all!!
I'm hard at work on my next novel and can't wait to share it with everyone. I'll be posting a sneak peek at the first few chapters in the next week or two, so stay tuned for another exciting adventure. Happy reading everyone!!
Book Review: The Red Church
This book is about a small southern town with a "preacher" named Archer McFall leading a religious cult. The majority of the book has your typical Christian horror elements in it: a woman seduced by the dark side, a televangelist as the evil leader, a haunted cop, a stereotypical stone heart female cop, and the one man whose faith in the Lord doesn't falter. A lot of the plot was pretty stereotypical too, but even with all the "been there, read that," happening, I still enjoyed the story and was intrigued to see what happened next.
Aside from being a captivating story-teller, I particularly love the way Nicholson describes things. As a fellow writer, I have to say I'm very jealous of the way he can describe primal emotions in a new way, and for that I have to give him major kudos.
What really made me a fan was the ending of the novel. (Spoiler alert!!) The entire novel was all about the Christian battle between God and the Devil, Heaven and Hell, Good and Evil. And then we get to the last couple pages where we see a major twist. What was the evil leader of the cult actually turned out to be a creature of the earth that gave no such recognition to God or the Devil because it didn't entertain the idea of "anything greater than itself." This creature merely used religion to its advantage to get what it wanted. I really, really loved that this was the way it ended instead of with some intervention from Jesus or having the demonic preacher win out. It really threw me for a loop and got me thinking.
The Red Church is a good read for anyone looking for a classic horror tale with a twist ending written by a talented author with a gift of describing the world around us. I give this book four stars, and am eager to read more of Nicholson's work.
Sunday, September 2, 2012
Announcing "Story of the Month"
As a writer I naturally have a trunk full of short stories that I've written over the years. Most are horror stories, some are sci-fi, and a few are literary fiction. Rather than have them sitting there collecting dust, I've decided to add a new feature called Story of the Month. Every month, I'm going to pull an old story out of my writing trunk and post it here for everyone to enjoy.
Some of these stories I've queried to a few magazines, but let's face it, it sucks waiting to hear back from fiction magazines. True, the submission process is a hundred times better than it was when I was in high school, but the waiting still drives me crazy. Back in the day, I'd have to print out two copies of the story along with my query letter, stuff everything into a big manila envelope, and wave farewell to it as I sent if off in the mail. From there I usually had to wait between three and six months only to receive a coffee stained envelope with my query letter inside that had a quick "No" scribbled in the corner. Well thank you very much for making me wait forever just to get a scribble of a response. Awesome. But I get it, that's the way the publishing world works. No one said I had to enjoy that part though. And I have to admit, when I did receive my few "Yes, we want to publish your story," responses, you can bet I ran around the house screaming my head off and waving my acceptance letter in the air.
Nowadays, the submission process has gotten faster, and so have the response times thank to this lovely thing called the internet. But even so, it takes a lot of time researching magazines to find the right fit for your story and trying to craft the perfect query letter for your mini masterpiece. However, when I was going on my short story spree a few months ago, the process was easier than it was even a year ago, so I still try to submit on a pretty regular basis, though my shorty submissions were put on hold for a couple months while I was finishing G-157.
With all that being said, I hope you enjoy some of my "classic" tales of horror that have been salvaged from the depths of the black writing trunk. My first story is called "Fritz," and I must say it's one of my all time favorites. I pulled out a binder of a dozen or so stories I wrote years ago and rediscovered this little tale about a man who tells his pet rat the story of how he "unlocked" the fourth dimension. It was one of my all time favorites then, and it was one of my favorites when I pulled it out a few months ago. Look for it under the Story of the Month tab.
Happy reading everyone!!
Some of these stories I've queried to a few magazines, but let's face it, it sucks waiting to hear back from fiction magazines. True, the submission process is a hundred times better than it was when I was in high school, but the waiting still drives me crazy. Back in the day, I'd have to print out two copies of the story along with my query letter, stuff everything into a big manila envelope, and wave farewell to it as I sent if off in the mail. From there I usually had to wait between three and six months only to receive a coffee stained envelope with my query letter inside that had a quick "No" scribbled in the corner. Well thank you very much for making me wait forever just to get a scribble of a response. Awesome. But I get it, that's the way the publishing world works. No one said I had to enjoy that part though. And I have to admit, when I did receive my few "Yes, we want to publish your story," responses, you can bet I ran around the house screaming my head off and waving my acceptance letter in the air.
Nowadays, the submission process has gotten faster, and so have the response times thank to this lovely thing called the internet. But even so, it takes a lot of time researching magazines to find the right fit for your story and trying to craft the perfect query letter for your mini masterpiece. However, when I was going on my short story spree a few months ago, the process was easier than it was even a year ago, so I still try to submit on a pretty regular basis, though my shorty submissions were put on hold for a couple months while I was finishing G-157.
With all that being said, I hope you enjoy some of my "classic" tales of horror that have been salvaged from the depths of the black writing trunk. My first story is called "Fritz," and I must say it's one of my all time favorites. I pulled out a binder of a dozen or so stories I wrote years ago and rediscovered this little tale about a man who tells his pet rat the story of how he "unlocked" the fourth dimension. It was one of my all time favorites then, and it was one of my favorites when I pulled it out a few months ago. Look for it under the Story of the Month tab.
Happy reading everyone!!
Friday, August 31, 2012
I have a dream
Actually, I had a dream. I had a dream last night that I gave away eleven promotional copies of my novel G-157. As of now, I have given away more than ten times that many and all I can say is, I am completely blown away.
I never in a million years thought that many people would get my book all in one day. NEVER. So I wanted to shout out a huge thank you to everyone who took a chance and got my book. THANK YOU!! A writer is nothing more than a scribbling lunatic without readers, and I am so grateful for all the readers who took the time to consider my novel and add it to their reading lists. Thank you all.
For those of you who took the risk of reading my book, I would love to hear your thoughts on it. If you enjoyed the book let me know! You can write a review on amazon, leave a comment on my blog, or shoot me an email at kathleen.malloy@hotmail.com. Heck, even if you didn't like it I still want to hear your thoughts. After all, it is through criticism that writers become better at their craft.
Thank you all again, and I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts and opinions. Happy Labor Day weekend everyone!
I never in a million years thought that many people would get my book all in one day. NEVER. So I wanted to shout out a huge thank you to everyone who took a chance and got my book. THANK YOU!! A writer is nothing more than a scribbling lunatic without readers, and I am so grateful for all the readers who took the time to consider my novel and add it to their reading lists. Thank you all.
For those of you who took the risk of reading my book, I would love to hear your thoughts on it. If you enjoyed the book let me know! You can write a review on amazon, leave a comment on my blog, or shoot me an email at kathleen.malloy@hotmail.com. Heck, even if you didn't like it I still want to hear your thoughts. After all, it is through criticism that writers become better at their craft.
Thank you all again, and I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts and opinions. Happy Labor Day weekend everyone!
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Promotional Give Away!
In celebration of releasing my latest novel, I'm going to do a five day book give away. That's right, for five whole days the Kindle version of my novel G-157 will be absolutely free! Check it out while this deal lasts because the party ends after Labor Day weekend.
If you're planning on going out of town to celebrate the long weekend, you'll need something to keep you entertained during your travels. What better way to spend a car ride or a flight than by getting lost in an amazing story? Or if you're planning on celebrating your extra day off work by staying home and being lazy, there's nothing better than spending the day on the couch getting lost in a good book. And since it's free for this limited time only that makes it even sweeter.
The Labor Day weekend giveaway will start on Thursday August 30th and ends at midnight Monday Spetember 3rd. Get your free copy while this deal lasts!!
If you're planning on going out of town to celebrate the long weekend, you'll need something to keep you entertained during your travels. What better way to spend a car ride or a flight than by getting lost in an amazing story? Or if you're planning on celebrating your extra day off work by staying home and being lazy, there's nothing better than spending the day on the couch getting lost in a good book. And since it's free for this limited time only that makes it even sweeter.
The Labor Day weekend giveaway will start on Thursday August 30th and ends at midnight Monday Spetember 3rd. Get your free copy while this deal lasts!!
John's Town knows no greed, violence, or poverty. It is a Utopian world in which
all live peace and happiness; the perfect society mankind has aspired to for
generations. Yet Aire has always been suspicious of the smiling faces around
her, certain there are dark secrets behind every set of laughing eyes, behind
every perfectly painted door.
When the military begins to "recruit" people in the masses after an unexplainable virus hits the city, Aire decides to flee for help. There’s just one problem; no one leaves John’s Town alive
Beware the blue lion...
When the military begins to "recruit" people in the masses after an unexplainable virus hits the city, Aire decides to flee for help. There’s just one problem; no one leaves John’s Town alive
Beware the blue lion...
Don't Drink With Monkeys
I heard on the radio the other day that a lab tech at Georgia University Health Sciences was arrested. Not too interesting, right? Wrong. He has one of the best arrest stories I've ever heard!
Apparantly, the guy was found passed out drunk and naked on the campus....in a room with two lab monkeys running around! Getting black out drunk with a bunch of monkeys? That is an EPIC party story in my book.
True, guy shouldn't have been drinking on the job, but to get wasted with lab animals is one of those moments in life you just can't pass up. I found a few articles about it that all say the same thing. Here's the one from the Huffington Post.
Now while this is an epic story of intoxication and a roaring good time that most people probably couldn't top, let's all remember that it's probably not a good idea to do something like this on the job. Ever.
Moral of the story: If a monkey ever offers you beer, just say no.
Apparantly, the guy was found passed out drunk and naked on the campus....in a room with two lab monkeys running around! Getting black out drunk with a bunch of monkeys? That is an EPIC party story in my book.
True, guy shouldn't have been drinking on the job, but to get wasted with lab animals is one of those moments in life you just can't pass up. I found a few articles about it that all say the same thing. Here's the one from the Huffington Post.
Now while this is an epic story of intoxication and a roaring good time that most people probably couldn't top, let's all remember that it's probably not a good idea to do something like this on the job. Ever.
Moral of the story: If a monkey ever offers you beer, just say no.
Sunday, August 19, 2012
G-157 Now Available!
My first novel G-157 is now available in e format! Check it out at amazon! And for a limited time only it's just 99 cents! That's right, only 99 cents for an amazing novel! But this deal won't last long. The 99 cent deal will be over after Labor Day weekend, so if you're looking for a fantastic story for a steal, now is the time to buy!
I'm so excited to finally have my book released to the public and hope everyone enjoys it! Happy reading.
Saturday, August 18, 2012
It's published!
My new novel G-157 has been uploaded to Amazon! In just a few short hours it will be available in electronic format for purchase, and for a limited time only it will be just 99 cents! That's right, just one buck for an amazing story! But hurry, this deal ends after Labor Day weekend.
The paperback version will soon be available for purchase as well. I'm having some conversion issues with the cover art, but my artist will have that taken care of this weekend. Can't wait to hold the printed version in my hands!
I'll be sure to update everyone when the e version is officially on amazon and when the paperback will be available. I'm so excited to finally be sharing my work with the rest of the world and hope everyone enjoys it. Happy reading!!
The paperback version will soon be available for purchase as well. I'm having some conversion issues with the cover art, but my artist will have that taken care of this weekend. Can't wait to hold the printed version in my hands!
I'll be sure to update everyone when the e version is officially on amazon and when the paperback will be available. I'm so excited to finally be sharing my work with the rest of the world and hope everyone enjoys it. Happy reading!!
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Art Work for G-157
It's here! My rockin new artwork for my first published novel G-157. Right now I'm working on getting the formatting correct for publication. Look for it at Amazon next week!!!
John's Town knows no greed, violence, or poverty. It is a Utopian world in which all live peace and happiness; the perfect society mankind has aspired to for generations. Yet Aire has always been suspicious of the smiling faces around her, certain there are dark secrets behind every set of laughing eyes, behind every perfectly painted door.
When the military begins to "recruit" people in the masses after an unexplainable virus hits the city, Aire decides to flee for help. There’s just one problem--no one leaves John’s Town alive.
Here's the back jacket of the book:
Beware the blue lion...John's Town knows no greed, violence, or poverty. It is a Utopian world in which all live peace and happiness; the perfect society mankind has aspired to for generations. Yet Aire has always been suspicious of the smiling faces around her, certain there are dark secrets behind every set of laughing eyes, behind every perfectly painted door.
When the military begins to "recruit" people in the masses after an unexplainable virus hits the city, Aire decides to flee for help. There’s just one problem--no one leaves John’s Town alive.
They WILL go in there...
I am so paranoid about bugs crawling in my ear when I'm sleeping. Sometimes I am completely irrational about it and will keep myself up half the night thinking that something could have gotten in there. I've never had this happen to me, but I have gone to the doctor on several occasions just to have them check and make sure nothing went in there. I know its just my hair crinkling when I'm moving around and that's why I heard a noise close to my ear, but I'm always still convinced its a bug and will wake up at two in the morning to put peroxide in there just to make sure it kills anything that may or may not have decided to wander inside.
Today I found a news story that confirms my suspicions that bugs WILL crawl in your ear and live in there for the rest of their lives if given the opportunity. I found this story on Yahoo today, and am pretty sure I won't sleep well tonight.
Here's what doctors found in a woman's ear:
Yeah, that is a freaking spider just chillin and posing for the camera.
See? They ARE out to get you...
Today I found a news story that confirms my suspicions that bugs WILL crawl in your ear and live in there for the rest of their lives if given the opportunity. I found this story on Yahoo today, and am pretty sure I won't sleep well tonight.
Here's what doctors found in a woman's ear:
Yeah, that is a freaking spider just chillin and posing for the camera.
See? They ARE out to get you...
Sunday, August 5, 2012
The Spanish Demon
Creepy moment yesterday. I was working on my soon to be released novel G-157 and right in the middle of revisions my pen ran out. I opened my drawer to get another one and as soon as I closed it I hear this man's voice from inside the drawer sputter out something in Spanish that ended with the word casa. What the hell? It's a pen drawer! Why would a Spanish man's voice be coming from my pen drawer?
Now, I don't know very much Spanish so I have no idea what the first part of the sentence was, but I did understand the word casa. So of course in my mind, this mystery voice must obviously belong to some dark entity that wants me to get out of his house. It was three in the afternoon mind you, and of course one cannot get creeped out in the middle of the afternoon.
So instead of writing over the next half an hour I spent my time ripping apart my drawer trying to figure out where the voice could have possibly come from so I could ward off the creepies that were starting to wash over me. I mean, there had to be some kind of reasonable explanation for the origin of the voice. Maybe it was some old tape recorder or weird random gag gift that talks. Whatever it was, it had to be coming from something real and rational, right?
Nothing was found. In all my searching I couldn't find anything that could have possibly spoken to me in a different language. And so the case of the Spanish Demon remains unsolved...
Now, I don't know very much Spanish so I have no idea what the first part of the sentence was, but I did understand the word casa. So of course in my mind, this mystery voice must obviously belong to some dark entity that wants me to get out of his house. It was three in the afternoon mind you, and of course one cannot get creeped out in the middle of the afternoon.
So instead of writing over the next half an hour I spent my time ripping apart my drawer trying to figure out where the voice could have possibly come from so I could ward off the creepies that were starting to wash over me. I mean, there had to be some kind of reasonable explanation for the origin of the voice. Maybe it was some old tape recorder or weird random gag gift that talks. Whatever it was, it had to be coming from something real and rational, right?
Nothing was found. In all my searching I couldn't find anything that could have possibly spoken to me in a different language. And so the case of the Spanish Demon remains unsolved...
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Coming this week!
I've been hard at work over the last couple weeks giving my novel G-157 a make over, and oh my gosh is it gorgeous! It was a pretty good book before, but it was missing that 'I have to keep reading this vibe' in the beginning. Now I've added over fifty pages of the kind of writing I do best; gross, weird, creepy, disturbing, etc. and the book is so much better for it. I'm really excited about the new scenes and overall pacing of the story. Another fifty pages of revisions to go and it will FINALLY BE FINISHED!! I'm so excited I haven't been able to think about anything else (which is not so good when you have a day job that requires your full attention) and have worked my booty off trying to finish my revisions over the last couple weeks.
The book will be totally complete this weekend, and I'll be uploading it by Sunday at the latest. I'm so excited to get the first paperback copy of it I can hardly stand it. Look for it on Amazon next week!!
The book will be totally complete this weekend, and I'll be uploading it by Sunday at the latest. I'm so excited to get the first paperback copy of it I can hardly stand it. Look for it on Amazon next week!!
Saturday, July 21, 2012
It's still not right yet
I've had over a dozen people read G-157 and they all freaking loved it. That's a good sign, but after I read through it again last weekend I realized that even though its a good book, it's still missing something. I've felt it was missing something for the longest time, that the book wasn't quite there yet and still needed something more. I couldn't figure it out for the longest time, but after a week of racking my brain I think I figured a few things out.
First off, the book is too short. It's just under 70k words, which means something is missing.
The characters aren't developed enough. Yes, most of them are supposed to be a little bland and blur into each other because that's a major part of the story. But my main peeps just aren't there. They have no soul.
The beginning is way too slow. I do like slower books to a certain extent, but there isn't enough action going on to keep the reader's attention. I do a hell of a good job at keeping the oddities up and making the reader go, "hmm, that's weird," but there's not enough omph to keep your adrenaline pumping.
There's not enough back story. G-157 is supposed to have a bit of mystery in it, but at times its too much.
I don't think my list of needed revisions is very big. Hell, I thought I'd have two pages of things that needed to change, so four things is pretty darn good. And that's because it is a good book with a great story. So I'm hard at work this weekend cranking out those changes. I've added some freakin awesome, page turning back story scenes, spiced up the characters, and so far have added another 30 pages of material to the whole thing. I'm not sure how many words that is because I hand write everything and sometimes my writing is micro, sometimes its huge and sprawling, but I'm guessing I've added around 5k words to it over the last couple days.
And the great thing is, I'm getting excited about this book again. For the longest time I haven't been totally stoked to be working on it, and I think that's because the damn thing has been through like 8 revisions and I feel like it should be finished already. But it's not, because this book is my problem child. It doesn't mean it's less good than the other novels I've written, it's just more difficult to complete it. Unlike the Sledgehammer Club, which flowed like molten lava out of an exploding valcanoe. I've been slowly working on that one now since it's almost finished, and truth be told it is a freaking badass book that I'm so proud of, which is why it's been coming along so slow. I don't want to leave that world to go into another.
I love that story, love the characters, love being completely wrapped up in that world of evil. One of the main characters is a kid named Goat, and he is the most evil character I've ever written. He's also my absolute freaking favorite. He's so fun to write about, and I love showing his reactions and creepy tendencies. He's also the character that has made me most uncomfortable to write. I know he's not real, but some of the things that come out of his mouth make me so uncomfortable. I know that sounds really weird to non writers, but writers understand how words just seem to come from nowhere and land on the page, words they had no intention of writing. And that's how it is with Goat. Because he rocks. Well, except for the whole evil thing. But he's badass evil, so that makes him awesome, like the Joker in The Dark Knight movie.
Anyway, I'm so glad I had another break through with G-157 and have figured out of what it's missing. I'm sure after I go through this round of revisions and edits, let it sit, and go back to read it again, I'll find something else that's not quite right with it. But that's okay, because with each page the book gets a little closer to being completed. And really I'd rather edit a book 15 times to make sure I feel like its right than to say, well it's been revised 6 times so it must be good enough. Nope. That's how people publish totally crappy books, and I refuse to publish a totally crappy book. Sure some people will think its kind of crappy, but that's okay, because even those people will find a lot of good things about the book that they like. And the rest of my readers? They'll either like the book or love it, because it's a great story on the verge of being greatly written.
First off, the book is too short. It's just under 70k words, which means something is missing.
The characters aren't developed enough. Yes, most of them are supposed to be a little bland and blur into each other because that's a major part of the story. But my main peeps just aren't there. They have no soul.
The beginning is way too slow. I do like slower books to a certain extent, but there isn't enough action going on to keep the reader's attention. I do a hell of a good job at keeping the oddities up and making the reader go, "hmm, that's weird," but there's not enough omph to keep your adrenaline pumping.
There's not enough back story. G-157 is supposed to have a bit of mystery in it, but at times its too much.
I don't think my list of needed revisions is very big. Hell, I thought I'd have two pages of things that needed to change, so four things is pretty darn good. And that's because it is a good book with a great story. So I'm hard at work this weekend cranking out those changes. I've added some freakin awesome, page turning back story scenes, spiced up the characters, and so far have added another 30 pages of material to the whole thing. I'm not sure how many words that is because I hand write everything and sometimes my writing is micro, sometimes its huge and sprawling, but I'm guessing I've added around 5k words to it over the last couple days.
And the great thing is, I'm getting excited about this book again. For the longest time I haven't been totally stoked to be working on it, and I think that's because the damn thing has been through like 8 revisions and I feel like it should be finished already. But it's not, because this book is my problem child. It doesn't mean it's less good than the other novels I've written, it's just more difficult to complete it. Unlike the Sledgehammer Club, which flowed like molten lava out of an exploding valcanoe. I've been slowly working on that one now since it's almost finished, and truth be told it is a freaking badass book that I'm so proud of, which is why it's been coming along so slow. I don't want to leave that world to go into another.
I love that story, love the characters, love being completely wrapped up in that world of evil. One of the main characters is a kid named Goat, and he is the most evil character I've ever written. He's also my absolute freaking favorite. He's so fun to write about, and I love showing his reactions and creepy tendencies. He's also the character that has made me most uncomfortable to write. I know he's not real, but some of the things that come out of his mouth make me so uncomfortable. I know that sounds really weird to non writers, but writers understand how words just seem to come from nowhere and land on the page, words they had no intention of writing. And that's how it is with Goat. Because he rocks. Well, except for the whole evil thing. But he's badass evil, so that makes him awesome, like the Joker in The Dark Knight movie.
Anyway, I'm so glad I had another break through with G-157 and have figured out of what it's missing. I'm sure after I go through this round of revisions and edits, let it sit, and go back to read it again, I'll find something else that's not quite right with it. But that's okay, because with each page the book gets a little closer to being completed. And really I'd rather edit a book 15 times to make sure I feel like its right than to say, well it's been revised 6 times so it must be good enough. Nope. That's how people publish totally crappy books, and I refuse to publish a totally crappy book. Sure some people will think its kind of crappy, but that's okay, because even those people will find a lot of good things about the book that they like. And the rest of my readers? They'll either like the book or love it, because it's a great story on the verge of being greatly written.
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Good Dogs
I have these two mongrel dogs that I'm still not quite sure how I ended up with. One is a cocky little whippet mix that was rescued from the pound. The other is a total baby dog that's afraid of his own shadow. He showed up at my cousin's house one day all scratched up and scared of everyone. My cousin couldn't keep him, so I went over to see if maybe this dog and I would be a good match. I took one look at his sad little face and instantly fell in love. I think he did too because he came running over to me and sat right down on my lap. I'm still not sure what kind of dog he is. He's got a fat pit bull looking head with the soft face of a lab, and his hair color and patterns are trying to look like German Shepherd markings but don't quite cut it. And to top it off, he's only 40 pounds, so there has to be something smaller in there. He and my other dog aren't the best dogs I've ever had. They do bad things they know they shouldn't sometimes and on occasion get on my nerves, but they're still good dogs, and last night they really proved that they were exactly what dogs are supposed to be.
Last night I fell asleep on the couch trying desperately to finish reading the last 80 pages or so of Stephen King's IT while my boyfriend was on the other couch watching a movie, but it was a losing battle and I nodded off just after page 1000. I slipped into the normal world of my strange and sometimes utterly boring dreams (don't you hate when you dream that you're at work answering emails or that you're in the grocery store debating which brand of chicken to buy?). My dream started out normal enough as far as dreams go; I rode a roller coaster through a lake, ran away from some terrible demon creatures, and flew through the air in my truck just like it was Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang.
Then I got back to my house, and the terror began.
You see, I fell asleep while reading it at the very end where they're trying to kill the evil monster that takes the shape of whatever scares you. There's a ritual that the kids do to try to kill the thing, and it is strangely similar to stories I hear from people who have dropped acid. It wasn't terrifying like other parts of the book had been, but it was strange and though provoking and kept me on the edge of my seat. And, it seeped into my dream.
I had just gotten into our living room and went to go sit on the couch when my cocky little whippet dogs started growling at me and trying to attack me. In my dream I realized it wasn't my dog at all, but rather the evil things that plagued the town of Derry in Stephen King's novel had taken hold of my dog and was using her against me.
I tried to leap over the couch just as she bolted towards me, but I didn't leap over the couch like I could in real life, I leapt above the couch. Our house has vaulted ceilings anyway, but as in the bent rules of the reality of dreams, our 20 foot vaulted ceilings grew into 50 foot vault ceilings, and my tiny little whippet mix jumped 30 feet in the ceiling and sand her teeth right into my neck and lower jaw. And then we were in the darkness as we spiraled into that strange, tiny huge place that is made of everything and nothing, where we were everywhere and yet nowhere at the same time.
It scared the crap out of me.
I bolted up screaming at the top of my lungs like a harpy. My boyfriend sits up with a stunned expression, looks at me, and screams, which makes me scream again because in my delirious state I have no idea why he would be screaming unless there were something terrible standing behind me waiting to cut my head off or something. Both of my dogs, yep my chicken baby dog too, come rushing in barking and growling with their hair standing up and their fangs bared and stand on either side of the couch ready to rip whatever was hurting their mom to shreds. And then, when I stop screaming and sit there panting and clutching my chest, fighting back tears because I'm so bewildered and trying to make sense of everything, my boyfriend says "what the hell?" AND GOES BACK TO SLEEP!!!!!! My hero (insert eye roll here).
So there I am, clutching my chest all freaked out and trying not to cry while my super awesome boyfriend falls back to sleep like nothing happened, and who do you think is right there by my side? Yep, my dogs. Both of them snuck onto the couch with me and just laid there, not fighting with each other for attention like they always do, but just laying there with me in a quiet, comforting way while I got my bearings and calmed down.
And then I started laughing.
It started as a little giggle when I thought about the whole thing, me screaming, my boyfriend screaming, me screaming again, and then my little giggle turned into full blown laughter the more I thought about it. The whole thing was so much like something from a comedy movie that I burst into uncontrollable laughter and had to go outside to let it out. Of course my dogs followed me and sat there wagging their tails with those goofy little looks on their faces as they stared at me laughing so hard I was crying and clutching my stomach.
When I finally calmed down I went back to the couch to try to fall back asleep. Both of my dogs followed me and settled down on the floor next to me, their ears perked, their eyes alert and watchful. I fell back to sleep almost instantly knowing I had two dogs that were there to protect me, to comfort me, and to laugh with me when the whole thing was over. Last night they were everything dogs should be; guardians and companions who are there for you no matter how frightened and tired they may be. Yes, I've got a couple of good dogs.
Last night I fell asleep on the couch trying desperately to finish reading the last 80 pages or so of Stephen King's IT while my boyfriend was on the other couch watching a movie, but it was a losing battle and I nodded off just after page 1000. I slipped into the normal world of my strange and sometimes utterly boring dreams (don't you hate when you dream that you're at work answering emails or that you're in the grocery store debating which brand of chicken to buy?). My dream started out normal enough as far as dreams go; I rode a roller coaster through a lake, ran away from some terrible demon creatures, and flew through the air in my truck just like it was Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang.
Then I got back to my house, and the terror began.
You see, I fell asleep while reading it at the very end where they're trying to kill the evil monster that takes the shape of whatever scares you. There's a ritual that the kids do to try to kill the thing, and it is strangely similar to stories I hear from people who have dropped acid. It wasn't terrifying like other parts of the book had been, but it was strange and though provoking and kept me on the edge of my seat. And, it seeped into my dream.
I had just gotten into our living room and went to go sit on the couch when my cocky little whippet dogs started growling at me and trying to attack me. In my dream I realized it wasn't my dog at all, but rather the evil things that plagued the town of Derry in Stephen King's novel had taken hold of my dog and was using her against me.
I tried to leap over the couch just as she bolted towards me, but I didn't leap over the couch like I could in real life, I leapt above the couch. Our house has vaulted ceilings anyway, but as in the bent rules of the reality of dreams, our 20 foot vaulted ceilings grew into 50 foot vault ceilings, and my tiny little whippet mix jumped 30 feet in the ceiling and sand her teeth right into my neck and lower jaw. And then we were in the darkness as we spiraled into that strange, tiny huge place that is made of everything and nothing, where we were everywhere and yet nowhere at the same time.
It scared the crap out of me.
I bolted up screaming at the top of my lungs like a harpy. My boyfriend sits up with a stunned expression, looks at me, and screams, which makes me scream again because in my delirious state I have no idea why he would be screaming unless there were something terrible standing behind me waiting to cut my head off or something. Both of my dogs, yep my chicken baby dog too, come rushing in barking and growling with their hair standing up and their fangs bared and stand on either side of the couch ready to rip whatever was hurting their mom to shreds. And then, when I stop screaming and sit there panting and clutching my chest, fighting back tears because I'm so bewildered and trying to make sense of everything, my boyfriend says "what the hell?" AND GOES BACK TO SLEEP!!!!!! My hero (insert eye roll here).
So there I am, clutching my chest all freaked out and trying not to cry while my super awesome boyfriend falls back to sleep like nothing happened, and who do you think is right there by my side? Yep, my dogs. Both of them snuck onto the couch with me and just laid there, not fighting with each other for attention like they always do, but just laying there with me in a quiet, comforting way while I got my bearings and calmed down.
And then I started laughing.
It started as a little giggle when I thought about the whole thing, me screaming, my boyfriend screaming, me screaming again, and then my little giggle turned into full blown laughter the more I thought about it. The whole thing was so much like something from a comedy movie that I burst into uncontrollable laughter and had to go outside to let it out. Of course my dogs followed me and sat there wagging their tails with those goofy little looks on their faces as they stared at me laughing so hard I was crying and clutching my stomach.
When I finally calmed down I went back to the couch to try to fall back asleep. Both of my dogs followed me and settled down on the floor next to me, their ears perked, their eyes alert and watchful. I fell back to sleep almost instantly knowing I had two dogs that were there to protect me, to comfort me, and to laugh with me when the whole thing was over. Last night they were everything dogs should be; guardians and companions who are there for you no matter how frightened and tired they may be. Yes, I've got a couple of good dogs.
Friday, July 13, 2012
If only the Tommyknockers were real...
I started a new job recently. It's not my dream job, but it's a damn good one. The company is awesome, the people are great, and I enjoy what I do. But even with good jobs there are days when you just don't want to be there. The last couple days have been like that.
It's been raining for the last few days, which is really, really weird because it usually only rains in Arizona during August and March, and on occasion in January. But rain in July? That's weird. I think it's a trade off from nature to make up for all those dust storms we had last month.
Anyway, it's been raining for the last few days and every time I look outside at work I just think, "Man, I wish I was at home writing...and sleeping. At the same time." I told this to one of my friends and she laughed and told me, good luck with that. Well guess what friend, it could be true if the Tommyknockers were real.
For anyone who doesn't know, Tommyknockers is a Stephen King novel about aliens who crash into our planet and give the people of this small town super abilities. One woman in the story is a writer who invents a typewriter that will write her novels while she sleeps. Best idea ever!! I want one of those.
If the Tommyknockers were real, I could sleep and write at the same time. I told this to my friend and she said, "true, but I don't think you're allowed to sleep at work."
Damn.
Ruin my dreams why don't you.
It's been raining for the last few days, which is really, really weird because it usually only rains in Arizona during August and March, and on occasion in January. But rain in July? That's weird. I think it's a trade off from nature to make up for all those dust storms we had last month.
Anyway, it's been raining for the last few days and every time I look outside at work I just think, "Man, I wish I was at home writing...and sleeping. At the same time." I told this to one of my friends and she laughed and told me, good luck with that. Well guess what friend, it could be true if the Tommyknockers were real.
For anyone who doesn't know, Tommyknockers is a Stephen King novel about aliens who crash into our planet and give the people of this small town super abilities. One woman in the story is a writer who invents a typewriter that will write her novels while she sleeps. Best idea ever!! I want one of those.
If the Tommyknockers were real, I could sleep and write at the same time. I told this to my friend and she said, "true, but I don't think you're allowed to sleep at work."
Damn.
Ruin my dreams why don't you.
Saturday, July 7, 2012
Mr. Bucket
It rained for the first time in months on the 4th of July. I'm not talking about a typical Arizona rain that does nothing more than add overwhelming humidity to 120 degree heat and drizzles just enough to make your windshield muddy. It was a real rain, a steady drizzle with a few downpours in which the Heavens gave us a good two inches. That is a lot of rain for central Arizona.
My better half and I spent much of the day reverting to our childhoods by playing in the rain and eating pizza on the back porch. An adult moment kicked in when we realized that the cover over our old boat we inherited was so overloaded with water it sagged to the seats.
Now this boat is nothing fancy, it's old and practical and in no way flashy, but it's our boat and we want to have it for a long time so we take good care of it. Since the water that had collected from the day's showers was straining the cover, my better half decided we better take care of it. We tried to lift it up and let the water run onto the ground, but it was way too heavy for that. So he says, "I need a bucket." The first thing that came to my mind was "Mr. Bucket is buckets of fun."
Of course he looked at me like he had no idea what I was talking about. Many people may not remember this, but Mr. Bucket was a little kid toy that came out like 15 years ago where the kid has a bunch of plastic balls that they scoop up with a shovel and throw into him, then he spits them out of his mouth. Cute idea right? Right.
After I say that my better half says, "Oh yeah, I remember that now."
"Yeah?" I ask. "Do you remember the little song they used to sing on the commercial?"
Nope, he didn't.
Now when Mr. Bucket came out I was at that age when I was becoming more aware of the adult world, but many innuendos still alluded me. Mr. Bucket's jingle was one of them, and when I did realize what his cute little theme song meant in the dirty adult world it couldn't have been at a better time.
At this time when Mr. Bucket was new and his commercial played fifteen times a day on Saturday morning I was friends with a girl who had two mortal enemies that were always picking on her and trying to beat her up. It was after school one day and my friend and I were on the football field when these two evil girls showed up and tried to start a fight again. They did their usual routine of making fun of her, calling her names, doing whatever they could to provoke us to get into a scuffle with them.
Well my friend had had enough and she told the one girl, "Yeah well at least I'm not a Mr. Bucket like you!"
The three of us stopped and looked at her like, what in the hell are you talking about and I asked her what that meant. She rolled her eyes and said, "You know, like Mr. Bucket's theme song? 'Mr. Bucket, balls pop out of my mouth, Mr. Bucket, buckets of fun!'"
That was really how the jingle went for this children's toy. "Mr. Bucket, balls pop out of my mouth." None of us had EVER caught onto the adult meaning of that until my friend called this girl a Mr. Bucket and we all realized that my friend was callign her slutty. We were all so taken back by the fact that we had never realized this before that all three of us starting laughing our asses off when just seconds before we were ready to get into a fist fight with each other.
Needless to say our fight was diffused for the day. Who can keep fighting with someone after your all just laughed your asses off together? So I thank you, Mr. Bucket, for having such a perverted song at a time in our lives when we were caught in that strange and scary place when we weren't quite girls anymore yet still weren't quite women.
My better half laughed for a good ten minutes about this story, because he never realized how dirty innocent little Mr. Bucket was either until I sang the song again as an adult. And that boys and girls just goes to show how much you've changed through your life without even knowing it.
My better half and I spent much of the day reverting to our childhoods by playing in the rain and eating pizza on the back porch. An adult moment kicked in when we realized that the cover over our old boat we inherited was so overloaded with water it sagged to the seats.
Now this boat is nothing fancy, it's old and practical and in no way flashy, but it's our boat and we want to have it for a long time so we take good care of it. Since the water that had collected from the day's showers was straining the cover, my better half decided we better take care of it. We tried to lift it up and let the water run onto the ground, but it was way too heavy for that. So he says, "I need a bucket." The first thing that came to my mind was "Mr. Bucket is buckets of fun."
Of course he looked at me like he had no idea what I was talking about. Many people may not remember this, but Mr. Bucket was a little kid toy that came out like 15 years ago where the kid has a bunch of plastic balls that they scoop up with a shovel and throw into him, then he spits them out of his mouth. Cute idea right? Right.
After I say that my better half says, "Oh yeah, I remember that now."
"Yeah?" I ask. "Do you remember the little song they used to sing on the commercial?"
Nope, he didn't.
Now when Mr. Bucket came out I was at that age when I was becoming more aware of the adult world, but many innuendos still alluded me. Mr. Bucket's jingle was one of them, and when I did realize what his cute little theme song meant in the dirty adult world it couldn't have been at a better time.
At this time when Mr. Bucket was new and his commercial played fifteen times a day on Saturday morning I was friends with a girl who had two mortal enemies that were always picking on her and trying to beat her up. It was after school one day and my friend and I were on the football field when these two evil girls showed up and tried to start a fight again. They did their usual routine of making fun of her, calling her names, doing whatever they could to provoke us to get into a scuffle with them.
Well my friend had had enough and she told the one girl, "Yeah well at least I'm not a Mr. Bucket like you!"
The three of us stopped and looked at her like, what in the hell are you talking about and I asked her what that meant. She rolled her eyes and said, "You know, like Mr. Bucket's theme song? 'Mr. Bucket, balls pop out of my mouth, Mr. Bucket, buckets of fun!'"
That was really how the jingle went for this children's toy. "Mr. Bucket, balls pop out of my mouth." None of us had EVER caught onto the adult meaning of that until my friend called this girl a Mr. Bucket and we all realized that my friend was callign her slutty. We were all so taken back by the fact that we had never realized this before that all three of us starting laughing our asses off when just seconds before we were ready to get into a fist fight with each other.
Needless to say our fight was diffused for the day. Who can keep fighting with someone after your all just laughed your asses off together? So I thank you, Mr. Bucket, for having such a perverted song at a time in our lives when we were caught in that strange and scary place when we weren't quite girls anymore yet still weren't quite women.
My better half laughed for a good ten minutes about this story, because he never realized how dirty innocent little Mr. Bucket was either until I sang the song again as an adult. And that boys and girls just goes to show how much you've changed through your life without even knowing it.
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