Check This Out: The Losers at the Center of the Galaxy

Please join me in welcoming back to the blog the one-and-only Mary Winn Heider. Woot woot!. Mary Winn is here to talk about her latest middle grade …

Check This Out: The Losers at the Center of the Galaxy
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Blog Tour Volunteers for War of Nytefall: Savagery

Cover Art by Alison Hunt

Yeah, I’m leaving this for the eleventh hour, but I got a few volunteers already.  Still, it doesn’t hurt to post this and see if I can get some more.  If you want me to promote your book in return then I’m happy to oblige.  These are going to be a promo that includes a teaser, blurb, cover, author info, and sales info.  If you want something special and have an idea for it then let me know, but that’s going to take a little time.  Anyway:

Any Volunteers to Help Promote
WAR OF NYTEFALL: SAVAGERY
When It Comes Out

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Nearing the End of Spring Break

I’m going to hate writing this.  Not only because it was a bad week, but I really can’t take the well wishes and optimism.  Hopefully, people read this first part and understand why I’m in this kind of mood.

Due to unexpected events, I didn’t get to spend any time with my son until today.  This is the ONLY day I get with him for Spring Break, which started last Saturday.  If I wasn’t able to get today then it would have been a full 2 weeks since I’d spent time with him.  I spent the entire week angry and miserable because all of our plans were crushed.  Certain entities rose to make things worse.  Best comparison is if somebody locked in a stockade and a person comes to strap a bag full of manure over their head.  I’m not happy about the situation.

I helped a friend install a window and had dinner with him and his family, but it was supposed to be something I took my son too.  So, everything this week has been filled with a level of numbness.  People don’t seem to get that fathers can miss their children.  A few people were confused on why I was acting like a zombie.  Guess society hasn’t reached the point where fathers are allowed to be emotionally connected to children.  Another reason I hate this situation.

My sadness was pushed away a few times.  Last Saturday was Passover without my son who was supposed to be there.  My 6-month-old niece was there though, so I got to play with her a bit.  All of my energy of the day went to making her laugh, which was probably more for my sake than hers.  May have hovered a bit too much.  To be fair, this was at the start of the events and there were ‘incidents’ going on from Friday through Sunday.  I might not have been at my lowest.

Extra suckage went to the fact that Passover meant no pizza as comfort food.

With all other plans destroyed, I spent the week editing.  Barely left my room for anything other than bathroom and food.  Finished editing War of Nytefall: Savagery and should be done implementing the suggestions of a beta reader for Do I Need to Use a Dragon? tomorrow.  That second one might have gone faster if I wasn’t in a fragile mental state.  I took everything personally, including gravity resulting in my seltzer falling off the desk.  You know things are rough when you’re crying and cursing a friggin’ law of nature.  Still, all of the advice has helped me make it a stronger work, especially since non-fiction isn’t my area of expertise.

If I wasn’t editing, I was watching television.  I watched all of ‘Doom Patrol’, which was fun and little depressing.  Come to think of it, I might have been connecting too much with the characters who felt like their luck sucked.  Not the best choice when sad and ending every night with a glass of wine.  I didn’t want to sacrifice another new series to my mood once I finished, so I went back to ‘Arifureta’.  This was a short anime that I watched last year and enjoyed.  I should really watch the final ‘Rurouni Kenshin’ live-action movie at some point.  Maybe tomorrow after I finish editing.  Try to end this Spring Break on a high note since I go back to work on Monday.

With all of the editing done, I’ll be focusing on preparing outlines for the next series. War of Nytefall: Savagery is going to be delayed in getting published a little.  Recent events have made that one tougher and I want to get more volunteers if possible.  Think I only have a handful at this moment.  There might be a post going up tomorrow about it, but I’m not sure.  The new look of WordPress confuses me, especially since I can’t filter through posts by category or time period.  This was an improvement?

On the plus side, I get my son this week and Friday is my birthday.  I might actually get to do something for it this year.  Last time, the lockdowns an quarantines hit around that time, so all of my plans were canceled.  Not that I take my birthday as seriously as I used to since I’m just old.  Every year brings more aches, pains, and regrets.  Wake me when my luck changes and I can celebrate a year where things went well instead of badly or staying the same.

Not sure what else to talk about here since I’m definitely in a mood.  I’m hoping to finish the May posts this week while my son is asleep.  This means I should try to figure out what to do about June.  I’m still aiming for poetry and wondering how this can be done to help with books.  I could do a Monday for each series (Legends, Nytefall, Ichabod, Bedlam), but then I’ve got 9 more to cover Wednesday and Friday.  Characters might not work.  I might just junk the idea and go for fun poem topics.  Nothing structured either.  Just stream of consciousness stuff.  Nothing I do here causes sales anyway.

Goals of the week:

  1. Time with son
  2. Finish editing Do I Need to Use a Dragon?
  3. May posts and June prep
  4. Work and meetings
  5. Pizza
  6. Watch TV
  7. Try to cheer up
  8. Birthday
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Alastyre the Monster of Clyde’s Nightmares

Younger Toguro and Yusuke Yurameshi

The main event of War of Nytefall: Savagery is the appearance of actions of a ‘man’ named Alastyre.  He made a brief appearance at the end of Ravenous, but this is when he really shows up.  So, what can I say about him?

Not that much since I would like because his origins ended up turning into a big reveal in the story.  He does tie into past events in the series, which was part of the original concept from the first version.  I was going to have him be a recurring threat that continued to plague Clyde in every book.  Alastyre wasn’t going to be part of the overall events, but just a man who is determined to destroy Clyde.  That has stayed in place with a desire to do something about the Dawn Fangs.

The difference I made is that he’s connected to a few previous events while not showing his true nature.  At the least moment, I realized that it would ruin his impact if he was always around.  The big battle would be anticlimactic and dull.  Not to mention, I forgot to have him appear in a few volumes since the planned attacks threw off the rhythm.  Clyde was on a mission and trying to handle a problem.  Then, Alastyre would attack for a slugfest that had no effect on the rest of the story.  It isn’t like Clyde would be killed or take permanent damage.  So, I had a very powerful gnat that kept showing up in the books to ruin the flow of the story.  What was I to do?

All I can say is that it’s a good thing I couldn’t make up my mind and had 2 outlines for the series.  One had Alastyre showing up repeatedly for a fight with no real reason given for it.  He would have new tricks and be determined to kill Clyde, who would either be too distracted to kill him or not think it’s worth his time.  That’s the one that made the series too comedic and broken.  Alastyre was supposed to be this monster that could rival Clyde and here he was being a running gag.  So, the other option was to pull out War of Nytefall: Savagery and bring the book from 7 to 8 books.  It was a faint idea at first that got beefed up by other situations such as Kai’s situation, Mab’s addiction, Desirae existing, and the vampire civil war being in a stalemate.  In this way, Alastyre turned into the catalyst for the series to enter its final stage.  Obviously, I was much happier with this route.

Thankfully, the easiest part was to design Alastyre to be a monster who could rival Clyde in terms of power.  All I had to do was make him strong, tough, and aggressive.  He surpasses Clyde in a few areas too, especially in terms of brutality.  This makes sense.  Alastyre has been battling Dawn Fangs for a long time, which requires a lot of violence and carnage to make sure they’re dead.  Clyde has been coasting through most of his fights.  So, running into a fellow monster will be a shock to his system.  This is why he has to train in order to get strong enough to stand up to Alastyre.  His pride will take a major hit here as well, but that’s not surprising.

Yeah, this is a tough post to really make.  I can’t give details into Alastyre without giving away big events.  So, check out War of Nytefall: Savagery to see what kind of chaos he unleashes on Nytefall and Nyte.  You may be very surprised to see who steps up to hold him back while Clyde does his training.

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Don’t Talk Like That: How to Write Good Dialogue–Tags & Beats

Harmony Kent's avatarStory Empire

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

Hi SErs! Harmony here 🙂

Today, I’d like to take another look at dialogue. Because this is such a large topic, I have spread the topic over a few posts. As the post title suggests, we’ll look at ‘tags and beats’ around dialogue today.

‘ “So, what’s the deal on dialogue attributions?” the young writer asked. “I’ll tell you,” said the wise old writer. “It’s not complicated, but it’s important.” “I’m ready to listen!” the young writer asseverated. The wise old writer slapped him. “Don’t ever asseverate anything again. Just listen.” ‘

The above amusing quote comes from How to Write Amazing Dialogue by James Scott Bell.

Top Tip: Basically, an attribution is what most of us call a dialogue tag. We use dialogue tags to identify the speaker to the reader, and a tag is an excellent way to avoid too much name…

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Immortal Wars: Light, Blood, & Tears Part 12

(Disclaimer: A warning to those who continue.  This is a sequel to a previous story.  Both of these were written in the mid-1990’s.  While the first one was slightly edited and vanity press published, this one has not been touched in over 20 years.  I figure I should do something with it and people may get a laugh or fright from how I used to be.  Every author comes from somewhere, so this is part of my origin.  To that end, I am deeply sorry for whatever nightmares I will inflict on the literary world and the American English language.  Enjoy?)

PREVIOUS ENTRY CLICK HERE

“Miracle has been subdued and Infinity is still in your bedroom.  It would appear that you are on your own.  How do you plan to stop her?” ask SEAS while Fate patiently waits in the space skimmer bay.

“Quick and violently,” he answers flatly.

“But she is one of your friends.  Are you cold enough to kill her even though you helped cause her current lose of sanity?”

“I’m not going to kill her.  And this is not my fault.  She should have told us about her problems beforehand.  That way we could have done something instead of unknowingly wait for her to explode.  Besides, she’s crazy.”

“I’m not crazy.  I’m insane.  There is a severely big difference between the two mental behaviors,” mentions Hydrana, who is standing in the open doorway.

“Just give up and spare SEAS the clean up.  You can’t beat me, Hydrana.  You said it yourself during our little talk.”

“I did?  Well that was the old, sane version.  Thanks to you, I’m nuts.  If you hadn’t mentioned my parents and yelled at me for not talking to them, everything would have been kept nice and secured in the back of my head.  Know that every death I cause will be placed on both of our heads.  Well, my head mostly.  Thankfully I’m not insane enough to kill anyone.  Not yet anyway.  Lucky thing for Infinity and Miracle.  Now, shall we dance or talk?”

“Your choice.”

“Ah, a gentleman to the bloody, painful end.  My choice?  Very well, Edward Slane.  I guess I’ll lead,” says Hydrana as she throws the sheathed sword into the newly revamped space skimmer.  She creates large ice claws over her hands before leaping at Fate.  He swiftly jumps out of the way, but he has to dodge her again when the psychotic guardian follows him at a matching speed.  After a minute of bouncing around like ping-pong balls, they stop on top of one of the ships.  Wet claw marks and boot imprints are left over half the space skimmer bay.

“Stand still!  Dodging me is so obnoxious and frustrating!” shouts the redhead.  Without warning, she fires the ice claws at Fate, who tries to roll off the ship.  One of the claws impales his leg to the engine and sends a spurt of blood onto Hydrana, who calmly licks it off her face.  Fate is left dangling over the edge and slowly pulls himself back on top of the ship.

“You do not have to do this, Hydrana,” mentions SEAS who melts the remaining ice claw with a heat beam.  Fate gets up in order to fiercely hurl himself and Hydrana off of the ship.  Both of them land on their head and they both swiftly roll to their feet at the same time.

“Of course I have to do this.  But only someone like Fate can truly understand my reasons.  Isn’t that right, orphan?”

“You have all of my sympathy, but I never knew my parents.  I don’t see how that is similar to a girl whose parents didn’t love her,” replies Fate.

“Oh, it is very similar.  You don’t honestly know why your parents abandoned you.  Maybe they didn’t love you, Fate.  Maybe you are just like me.  The only difference is that your parents were nice enough to throw you away like the garbage they thought you were.  Don’t you understand why I have to go back to my home?”

“I do.  But that doesn’t mean you have to go there alone.  What if those four immortals attack you?”

“Then they will be in for a very deadly, and interesting, surprise.  Ready for another dance, Eddie?”

The redhead kisses him roughly before a water blast knocks him into the far wall.  Her fists cover themselves in thick ice as she runs over to try and smash his head into the titanium floor.  But Hydrana misses every time, which allows Fate the chance to push her off with his legs.  Both flip to their feet and simultaneously kick each other in the stomach.  Only the blond immortal stays standing and he slowly lifts the Neptune guardian up by her neck.

“Go ahead.  Kill me.  I dare you to snap my neck and end my life.  You want to do it, but I don’t think you have the guts.  I think you really do feel sorry for a poor creature like me,” whispers Hydrana.  Fate drops Hydrana on her feet and takes a few steps back.  She massages her neck and playfully smiles at the Mars guardian.

“You can go if you want to.  But the rest of us will follow you to Earth and take you down if necessary.  The next time we meet, Hydrana, one of us might not be walking away,” growls Fate while Hydrana goes into the space skimmer.

“It’s a date, handsome.  Hopefully, I’ll be long gone by the next time you meet with this body.  The personality is always changing and evolving into a different person.  Of course, will the original version be back or will a meaner one replace me?  And then there’s Adriana’s little party.  How will you be able to handle my rampage and the galactic slut at the same time?  By the time you figure out the answer to those problems, you’ll notice what I’ve done to you.  A lot of things can be said with a kiss, Edward.  I wonder what I shared with you,” laughs Hydrana as the space skimmer leaves the sun base and disappears into deep space.

“How are the others, SEAS?” asks Fate after a long silence.

“Infinity is moving around in your room and Miracle is still out cold.  Ignore the unintended pun there, sir,” the computer responds.

“What pun?  Forget it because we don’t have any time for it.  I’ll meet them in the Main Hall as soon as they’re ready.  We have a rogue guardian and four evil immortals to put a stop to.”

“What was Hydrana talking about with that kiss you shared?”

“I have no idea,” says Fate as he walks out of the space skimmer bay.  Instead of letting the door open, he kicks it down and storms down the hallway.

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7 Tips to Writing Vampire Hunters

Vampire Hunters Aplenty

Vampire hunters heavily come into play in War of Nytefall: Savagery, which is a slight change from previous books.  Until now, they’ve really been pawns and random encounters for other characters.  Due to that role, I didn’t have to put a lot of thought into them.  Even now, details weren’t necessary because you’re going to see the start of the monster hunting guild.  Vampire hunters are in a gray area too.  Still, I needed to consider a few things to make them work.  Let’s consider a few of them.

  1. Vampire hunters tend to be underdogs even if they’re superpowered.  The big reason is because they are mortals going up against immortals.  Having it be an immortal hunter vs an immortal vampire takes away the risk.  At least, that’s if the hero is the hunter, so the scenario can change if you’re watching the vampire.  The point is that part of the fun of this type of story is that one party has a considerable disadvantage even if the other has clear weaknesses.  For example, a super strong hunter still needs to stake the vampire, but that involves getting close.  Wrestling with something that will drink your blood isn’t a great idea.
  2. Removing superpowers from the equation, the hunter needs to have some way to fight back.  This means that they need to have weaponry knowledge of some kind.  Punching and kicking aren’t useful with the addition of magic or powers.  So, create an arsenal or one really strong weapon that will give them a chance of victory.  Personally, I prefer giving them multiple weapons since the threat of disarming is always high.  Even if they have the big one, it’s best to have a backup for emergencies.
  3. Brains.  There has to be some level of cunning and smarts involved here.  A hunter usually can’t go toe-to-toe with a vampire.  Those with equal strength can still be overpowered because of the primal savagery that mortals can’t really match.  This is where traps and precision strikes can help.  Readers will take the hunter more seriously if they are attempting to weaken the vampire or eliminate it without a direct confrontation.  Otherwise, it’s a brute going up against monsters and people may wonder why there aren’t more mortals beating up the undead.
  4. Holy magic and symbols aren’t always necessary.  It’s not a bad addition, but it doesn’t make as much sense if you remove the religious aspect from your vampires.  Many times, authors seem to take this aspect as essential.  Well, it’s really not.  In fact, more vampire stories are being down without the holy addition because their origins aren’t in angering god.
  5. Give your hunters a reason to go after vampires.  Given that these tend to be secretive and mysterious creatures, there has to be a reason for the hunter to know that they really exist.  They can’t just go out hunting because they thought vampires exist and happen to be right.  They’re more likely to kill a bunch of depressed teenagers under the bleachers, which is plain old-fashioned murder.  This reason doesn’t only reveal why the hunter knows that they exist, but explains their anger and desire to wipe them out.
  6. No whips!  That’s been taken.
  7. Hunters might be as interested in keeping vampires secret as their prey.  Part of this could be due to their identity as a hunter.  If everyone is doing it then they won’t be as special.  There’s a slight level of ego in some of these characters because it’s their unique calling.  Also, making them public could cause people to either sympathize with vampires or push to get changed.  If vampires have to remain a secret then they will keep their numbers relatively low.  There are many other reasons that you can come up with, but consider if your hunter will want them exposed or not.  This will determine how bold and big their actions are too.
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Smorgasbord Posts from Your Archives -#NewSeries – ‘Pot Luck’ -Top Ten Things Not to Do During A Lunar Rover Mission in 1971 by John W. Howell

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Teaser Tuesday: Yummy Beans #vampires #fantasy

Cover Art by Alison Hunt

It’s rare that I get to showcase Bob on his own.  War of Nytefall: Savagery gave me a few chances to let him shine, so I hope he earns a few fans from this adventure.  I cut this one right before the big event of the chapter too.

Continue reading

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Vampire Hunters in the Age of the Dawn Fang

Trevor Belmont

I wish I was that guy up there.  Seriously, the life of a vampire in hunter wasn’t that great to begin with.  Life expectancy wasn’t very high.  Unless you got turned, which meant it was off the charts.  Still, there were enough tools and magic to give you a fighting chance once you got used to their tricks.  We had apprenticeships in the areas where there was a lot of vampire activity.  Of course, it did feel like a losing battle since nobody tried to go for the nobility.  Hunters were going to lose hope until the Great Cataclysm kicked off the Duragian crusade.  We were happy to join even though it meant unemployment, but I could live with being a farmer.  Everything looked sunny . . . until rumors of the new breed began.

I say rumors because nobody is really sure that these Dawn Fangs exist.  We hear stories about vampires who are immune to the sun and eat real food.  Some of my peers swear that they’ve seen them, but why would such creatures allow witnesses?  That isn’t to say I don’t believe in those monsters.  Only that they’ve let anyone live.  I feel that many hunters and innocent civilians have been lost to them.  Sure, they can act like us, but that doesn’t make them mortal.  Just means they’re a more dangerous predator.  Why would they bother with ale and a cooked ham when they can chow down on a mortal filled with warm blood?  It doesn’t make any sense, which is why we need to be vigilant and do our part to see if they truly exist.

Now, I’ve not run into one of them, but my friend’s cousin swears that he got into a bar fight with a fanged bastard.  Nobody died, but many got roughed up.  Whole thing started over a debate about horses, which is strange.  That isn’t important.  This guy was able to do things without the usual casting stuff.  Mostly, he moved really fast and kept disappearing from view.  Freakishly strong too according to most accounts.  He had a friend who conjured a double, but I’ve seen that spell before.  Sure, they could have been using items that gave them these abilities.  Plenty of mortals like pretending to be vampires because it scares those who don’t know any better.  Still, it’s worth writing such an encounter down since it hits a few targets:

  1. Fangs
  2. Eating real food
  3. Active in the day with no loss of strength
  4. Incredibly strong
  5. Heal as if they’d never been cut
  6. Very fast
  7. Strange powers

Not the most amazing list, but it’s all we have right now.  Once the guild system is started up, we should be moving faster on confirming if they’re real or not.  The Duragians were going to help us, but something changed their minds.  Heard a few whispers that they know these Dawn Fangs are real and think they’re children of the sun.  Imagine that ridiculousness.  Vampires being praised and worshipped by the temples of their oldest enemy?  Makes you wonder what Windemere is coming to if that’s the case.  Next thing you know, trolls will be appointed kings and dread boars will be considered household pets.  It would be insanity. I’d retire and find a quiet house away from the rest of civilization if that happened.

Of course, there’s the other rumor too.  No idea if it’s a vampire, but it’s definitely something big and strong.  Hasn’t attacked any hunters though.  We’re not really sure what it’s been going after.  Nobody has seen it either.  All we know is that there’s a monster roaming the world and tearing living things apart.  Sometimes we find pieces of people and other times wild monsters like perytons and trolls.  Only reason we know it’s not a vampire is because there are no bite marks on the bodies.  Guess it could be one hunting for fun instead of food, but that’s not common.  We know it’s the same thing because a guy was brought in to check the scents.  Same sour one at each place, but he couldn’t tell us what it was.  Reminded him of a milky stew being left out in the desert sun for a week, which ruins my appetite.

Maybe you’ll get the answer when this War of Nytefall: Savagery book comes out.  I might even see you in there if a hunter is needed.

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