War of Nytefall: Savagery Blurb Test

Posted on March 7, 2021 by Charles Yallowitz

Cover Art by Alison Hunt

Time to test the blurb out . . . I should probably write it too.  Not sure why I was dragging my feet here.  This is going to go on the Amazon and Goodreads sites.  So, here goes:

*

For the first time in over a century, Clyde will know what it means to feel powerless and weak.

Headless bodies appearing across Windemere is only the beginning as Clyde faces the terrifying Alastyre.  Able to match the Dawn Fang leader in power and ferocity, this new menace shows no sign of weakness or mercy.  With both friends and enemies getting dragged into the battle, Clyde will have to find a way to become stronger.  For that, he will have to accept an ancient challenge and pray that those he cares about and trusts can hold Alastyre at bay.

Which monster of Windemere will claim the top of the food chain?

*

This one is really tough to put together because I used Clyde knowing fear in a previous blurb.  At the time, I didn’t realize he’d be even more terrified of Alastyre.  Yet, he does feel a greater sense of frustration and powerlessness this time.  Probably because he can tell that he’s facing a stronger enemy.  Fingers crossed, I guess.

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This May Be Shorter than Usual

Posted on March 6, 2021 by Charles Yallowitz

Warning:  The video above has a lot of cursing and a few strobes effects.  Still, I find it funny and the radio keeps playing the safe version.  Besides .

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This week was bad.

You know, I keep saying things are rough and I have expectations for the following week, but . . . this was bad.  Worst part is that the future doesn’t look to be any easier.  Anxiety will be running high and anything short of an elephant tranquilizer won’t solve that problem.  Can’t talk about it in public either, so you get vagueness on the blog.  I can’t even think of anything else to talk about here.

The blurb for War of Nytefall: Savagery will be up tomorrow for a test.  Not sure how it came out.  I might do a final editing run at nights since I’m just doing it to see if everything feels right.  That’s all for that.  Absolutely no luck finding an artist for cover and interior art for Do I Need to Use a Dragon? (Fantasy Writing Tips) either.  Don’t even know where to look anymore.

I’m watching ‘Record of Lodoss War’ because I’ve seen it before and my heart isn’t really into anything else.  Might watch the final Rurouni Kenshin movie tonight or tomorrow if I can muster the desire.  It could be best to wait until next week though.

Can’t do any outlining at work right now because of what’s going on.  Breaks are minimal or I’m too out of it to attempt things.  I could push a little harder on the ‘Brian Hunter’ stuff to get it done.  Maybe I should do that instead of trying to edit my next release while I’m stressed so much.  I might just try to finish the April blog posts and start in on May if I have any topics.  Feel free to suggest any subjects that I can touch on for May.  Think I’m stretching my topics a lot.  Any topic that I can revisit?

Yup . . . That’s really it.  Life took an unexpected and rough turn in many areas.  This could have easily been the worst week of my life if not for the one where I learned I was getting divorced.  On the plus side, I get a haircut today, which I desperately need.  That’s pretty much it.

Goals of the week:

  1. Survive
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How to Kill a Dawn Fang

Posted on March 5, 2021 by Charles Yallowitz

Yahoo Image Search

Way back, I was asked by Chris the Story Reading Ape about how one would kill a Dawn Fang.  It seems very difficult since they can regenerate and continue fighting with severe injuries.  At the very least, they’d escape to heal and come back within a few hours or the next day.  Funny thing is that this issue comes into play with Savagery and it’s the perfect time to answer it.

First, you need to know what the two most important parts of a Dawn Fang are:

  1. The Brain–  This is what controls their powers and maintains their life.  Not that different than a mortal’s brain.  Although, this can be healed albeit slower than other organs.  That’s as long as the Dawn Fang is still considered alive and the brain is still attached to the rest of the body.  Otherwise, the vampire goes into a coma until the brain is returned, which is usually a third party reattaching the head.  A Dawn Fang could feasibly spend eternity in this coma if their head is cut off and lost while the rest of the body is preserved.  Rather embarrassing.
  2. The Heart–  Classic vampire weakness, but this won’t kill them.  It can weaken a Dawn Fang immensely by turning them back into an old-world vampire.  This means they’re affected by the sun, are about halved in physical abilities, and their special skills are either lost or minimized to a fraction of their power.  Unlike the brain, the heart can be regenerated even if it’s completely gone.  It takes a year, so the Dawn Fang will go into hiding until they regain their power.

Note that neither of those two sections stated that destroying the brain or the heart would kill a Dawn Fang.  It was a coma and a devolution.  Both of those can be undone if enough time and help are granted.  Of course, beheading and staking are the two most common ways to destroy classic vampires.  This means that a hunter who isn’t aware of the difference may go for one and forget the other.  They could decapitate and walk away, which doesn’t solve the problem.  As for staking, a Dawn Fang may go along with it in order to end the fight and then leave once the coast is clear.  Remember that most Dawn Fangs don’t really want to get into this type of trouble.  Easier to play possum and leave to report the hunter to somebody who can do something about it.  So, how exactly do you kill a Dawn Fang?

Step 1–  Make sure it isn’t Clyde because you’d be dead before you can start.
Step 2–  Also make sure it isn’t Mab because that isn’t any better.
Step 3–  See Step 2, but for Lost . . . Okay, I’ll get to the steps.
Step 4–  Decapitate first.  This will leave the Dawn Fang defenseless due to coma.
Step 5–  Destroy the heart, which turns it into an old world vampire, which can be permanently killed by decapitation.

That’s the easiest way to do it since you need both organs destroyed or removed.  You could go for the heart first, but then you still have an active vampire on your hands.  It will be a lot more panicked and ferocious too since it’s a step closer to death.  A weakened Dawn Fang is still a Dawn Fang, which means you might not be able to finish the job before you’re killed or it runs away.  Not to mention, going directly for the heart and then preparing to decapitate will make it clear what you’re attempting.  So, you won’t have much time to deliver the second blow.  Incapacitate and then kill is a smarter way to do the slaying.

Of course, you’re still talking about a creature that’s fast, strong, and cunning.  They also have three powers that you probably won’t know about.  This makes Dawn Fang hunting incredibly difficult and dangerous.  Probably not the best way to make your money, especially since they’re trying not to cause any trouble.  Any Dawn Fangs that are causing trouble tend to get handed by their own as long as they’re reported.

A funny thing in War of Nytefall is that it took a while for the Dawn Fangs to realize that decapitation didn’t permanently kill them.  So, many of their enemies who they killed prior to that were able to be revived as long as they found the head.  A big reason for this is because Clyde had a habit of pulverizing his opponents.  His strength made it that he was killing any Dawn Fangs who tried to kill him, so his friends thought they were doing the same thing.  Nobody ever thought to question this until later.  The knowledge didn’t change anyone’s behavior though.  To them, it was a war and they saw their opponents as irredeemable enemies.  Well, one person thought differently.  Read the books if you want to find out who.

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Immortal Wars: Light, Blood, & Tears Part 8

Posted on March 4, 2021 by Charles Yallowitz

(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

“You can’t possibly be serious!” yells Fate.  He has just started to relax in the bedroom that he shares with Miracle.  It is a lot bigger than most of the other living quarters and the room has more than the usual bed, chairs, and table.  As always, a large, floating crystal supplies light that is as bright as ten lightbulbs.  One corner of the room is filled with tall, multi-colored flowers and a circle of soft, cushioned chairs is placed near the other side of the room.

“I am serious.  Just give her a chance and then we will all be happy.  You know what she’ll do if you keep saying no,” responds Miracle as she puts on a long nightshirt with a picture of a roaring tiger on the front.

“She is the least responsible out of us all.  Anything I can think of and more could go wrong with that spoiled brat in charge.  I’m supposed to relax and I can’t do that if I’m worrying about the base imploding.”

“Listen to you.  You’re treating her like the stuck up pest she was a year ago.  We both know that she’s changed.”

“Not that much.  Hydrana is much friendlier and not as obnoxious as she used to be.  I’ll admit that to anyone who dares to say otherwise.  But she still tries to avoid most of her responsibilities.  And she doesn’t seem to care who gets hurt in the process.  Whether it is one of us or one of Adriana’s gang, it doesn’t matter to her as long as she does what she wants.”  Fate goes into the large, walk-in closet to find his nightclothes before Miracle can get another word in.

“Do you hate her?” she suddenly asks when he comes back into the room wearing a pair of black boxer shorts.

“No.  After we spent a full month together, fighting an army of those immortal hunters, I trust and respect her.  She is a very good warrior, but that doesn’t make her a leader or a second-in-command.”

“I thought you just said that you trusted her.  Look, Fate.  We can discuss this at a later date.  Come to bed,” says Miracle as she slips under the thick, gray blanket.

“I trust her to a point.  I simply told her that she had to prove herself.  I want her to show me that she can handle leader-like decisions,” mentions the Mars guardian as he starts pacing back and forth.

“I should have expected this on the first night of relaxation.  You are not going to let this thing go any time soon.  Just don’t pace anymore because it’s making me nauseous.  I said stop.”  The black-haired immortal uses her birthright power to create a metal wall in front of her boyfriend.  Since he is still lost in his thoughts, Fate walks right into it.

“Ouch.  What was that for?”

“For not paying attention to me, which is becoming a life-threatening habit of yours.  Now, tell me what happened when you talked with Delila.  All I know about is the practice session and what she had said.  Something in your little story is missing.  Was she in a bad mood because she had a fight with Steve this afternoon?  He got on her case about being irresponsible and mentioned . . . her . . .parents.”

“What’s wrong?”

Miracle gracefully jumps out of the bed and looks Fate directly into his deep, blue eyes before saying, “You didn’t.”

“Didn’t what?” asks Fate as he collapses into a nearby chair.

“Did you by any chance mention her parents?  Be honest or else I’ll throw you through the wall and into the sun.”

“Yes.  I did.  Then, she attacked me and I had no choice but to throw her over the bar.  Next thing I know, she’s crying and telling me about her childhood, which wasn’t a happy one.  She was really scared of her father and I have a strange feeling far in the back of my head why that is.  It’s like one of those dark ideas that one doesn’t want to believe is true.”

“Never mention Hydrana’s parents in front of her.  She either breaks down crying or makes Psylon look like a harmless nun.  Her parents treated her like an unwanted dog instead of a human being.  The worst is that her father sexually abused her when she was a small child and he also beat her mother.  I’ve been privately talking with her about handling the memories.  She feels safer talking to another woman about her problems.  But, how could you do that to her?  She was only asking if she could help you by taking away a few of your problems.”

“You knew about it?  You knew about her past and didn’t bother to tell me about it?  And I’m the one that is being blamed here.”  Fate jumps to his feet and walks over to Miracle.  She sticks out her arm and calmly shoves Fate back into the seat before staring him down.

“Yeah.  It’s called keeping a promise, Edward.  She first told me when we were returning to Earth and she made me promise not to tell anyone.  She really didn’t want you and Steve to find out.  But since she told you, I don’t have anything more to do with keeping it a secret,” says Miracle as she sits on the edge of the bed.

“A small warning would have been nice,” mutters Fate.

“I guess it would have helped.”  Miracle yawns and slowly slips back into bed as Fate gets up from the chair and massages his neck.

“You’re not as sorry as I am.  This morning she mentioned that she had something to do to one of the space skimmers.  She was going to test some new improvements on the engines and adding some weaponry.  I should go apologize.”

“Do it tomorrow.  Now, come to bed before I make a bullet train run you over several times,” orders Miracle in a tired, yet utterly playful, voice.

“But I’m not tired.  Sleep can wait,” Fate replies.

“Maybe it can, but I can’t wait.  Besides, who said anything about us sleeping tonight?”

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Clyde’s Fear: Can a Monster be Afraid?

Posted on March 3, 2021 by Charles Yallowitz

Underworld

I remember talking about how Clyde was feeling fear in War of Nytefall: Eradication since there was the Orb of Durag.  He wasn’t sure if that weapon could hurt or kill him, so he was afraid.  Although, I think it was closer to confused and cautious since he didn’t retreat or back down whenever he was faced with it.  Now, I find myself in the same position since Clyde faces a monster who is as strong as he is in Savagery.  Yet, is he really afraid?

The truth is that he seems more scared in my mind than on paper, but that’s because I know what he’s feeling on the inside.  He’s frightened that this is the battle he can’t win and everyone will die because he’s too weak.  That’s why he is trying to get stronger, but that’s frustrating.  He doesn’t like doing anything other than barreling towards his problems to punch them in the face.  It hasn’t failed him before, so it’s become his first instinct.  Think of a top predator facing a human with a gun, which they’ve never seen before.  The predator has never fought anything that can kill it, but it’s cautious.  Yet, it doesn’t know to truly be afraid and may charge after a bit.  I think.  This isn’t across the board.  Clyde is basically in that situation.

Revealing how he’s feeling is difficult too.  He isn’t the most open and emotional character in any of my series.  Clyde holds a lot in, so being afraid isn’t something he would openly admit to.  His companions and the readers have to discern it through his actions.  I found that he felt more natural being impatient and frustrated instead of cowering or constantly worrying.  He doesn’t like that he has to train while this dangerous enemy is out there with his friends and family.  Fear can be shown this way if one feels like they can’t do anything about it.  I guess it connects to a sense of helplessness, which can be very uncomfortable for a powerful being like Clyde.  He’s never faced a threat of this level, so he’s almost baffled that he can’t punch it into oblivion.  With him still trying to figure out how to be a leader, he’s less likely to reveal his fear, so it’s all a mess that could lead to several mistakes.

Maybe I did better than I imagine?  I’m being hard on myself here, but I think there’s also a contrast.  I could have Luke Callindor or Sari act afraid fairly easily.  None of those characters shied away from their emotions.  Many of the Dawn Fangs are the same even though they’re hard to kill and incredibly strong.  Yet, I run into a roadblock when it comes to Clyde.  Does this make him a weak or faulty character?  It’s made me wonder a lot about how we demonstrate our own fear.  I think people typically expect tears and cowering when we’re afraid.  We forget that it can be faced with surging confidence, so you can’t tell that the person wants to wet themselves.  You have those that need a release, so the fear turns into anger and they try to fight back.  With Clyde falling into the latter category, I could be doing it right and underestimating myself.  Guess we’ll find out since this is going to be new territory for me, him, and readers who have followed the series.

So, what do you think about characters showing fear?  Have you ever had a character be afraid, but they don’t feel natural in showing it?

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Plagiarism and Content Marketing

Posted on March 3, 2021 by Charles Yallowitz

When I got my first SEO copywriting assignment from InSync Media, I expected them to ask me to proofread my copy on Grammarly. However, I was …

Plagiarism and Content Marketing
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Music of Legends of Windemere: Warlord of the Forgotten Age

Posted on March 2, 2021 by Charles Yallowitz

Cover Art by Jason Pedersen

Here we are at the ending.  Not so much of this lengthy blog series, but the final book of the series.  Legends of Windemere: Warlord of the Forgotten Age took a while to lock into place.  I had so many ideas for how I wanted to end it, so I needed to take a few weekends to think really hard about it.  For those keeping count, this was a 15 book series and that’s really tough to stick a landing on.  Did I do it?  Well, that’s open to interpretation much like the songs I picked.

So many songs to choose from to signify the fight in this book.  I landed on this one because I could imagine the champions and Baron clashing creating the sound of thunder across the land.  Just when Nyx and the Baron go spell to spell would be enough to make people think a storm is about to tear the area apart.

Got another character theme here.  This is very much Baron Arthuru Kernaghan.  If my series was given a modern soundtrack, this is what would play as he stepped onto the battlefield.  I can see him using the same level of brutality mentioned in the song too.

The song is ‘Legends Never Die’ (feat. Against the Current) and I used the ‘Seven Deadly Sin’ AMV for this one.  I mean, what else can you say about this?  We’re at the end of the series where the champions have their final battle.  Live or die, they will become legends in their world. This fits as the way to end the music posts for this series too.

Although . . .

There is one more book to do after this one.

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War of Nytefall: Savagery On the Horizon!

Posted on March 1, 2021 by Charles Yallowitz

Cover Art by Alison Hunt

Feels like it’s been a long time since I prepared for a new release.  Actually, it was early September and that had to be a decade ago.  Now, I’m preparing to release War of Nytefall: Savagery in about a month.  So begins the posts about Dawn Fangs and the upcoming story.  Hopefully, it gets people interested, especially since this a book where a lot of things happen.  Supporting characters get more attention, Mab’s issues take a turn, a frightening new villain appears, the miracle of un-life is seen, and Clyde is driven right into a corner.  That’s a long list of things to accomplish, right?

This was a difficult book to write.  It’s the 6th of the 8 book series and it went through many changes.  The main villain who turns up is another third party who threatens Nyte and Nytefall, but he’s different in one important way.  He’s as strong and vicious as Clyde, which means this isn’t a problem that can be overpowered.  It’s truly a battle of monsters, but that can only go for so long.  Total boredom if it’s 200 pages of these two having a slugfest while the others watch.  That’s why it was tricky to work on.  I had this great battle in mind, but it could only be done once.  So, what was the answer?

Readers will see Clyde do something he’s never done before in the series.  He’s going to have to get some training, which was awkward.  How do you have a guy get stronger when he can already split a mountain with one blow?  Where would he do this too?  I had to create an isolated land with an intricate background for him to go through a series of challenges.  Originally, this was going to be a ‘Twelve Tasks of Hercules’ type of thing and you can see it remained.  I’ll get more into this on the 17th when I talk about the challenge of having Clyde train.

I also had to keep the new villain busy, which was originally going to be Mab’s job.  Only I gave her the drug addiction in the previous volume, so the chances of her being able to handle this wasn’t very good.  This guy would know her weakness, so he’d pounce on her right away.  This meant that I had to hand the job of toying with him to the rest of the cast, which included the villains this time.  To be honest, I’m rather proud of how I fleshed out a handful of characters who hadn’t had many spotlight moments.  The only one I can mention here without major spoilers is Kai Stavros.  I’ve been tormenting him for a while with him becoming mortal, hyper-aging, and then barely getting that under control while staying mortal.  His loyalty to Xavier Tempest has been a surprise strength that I finally get to show along with how cunning he can be.  If I had to pick a secondary hero in this volume, it would be him.

Does it sound like I’m excited to unleash this volume?  I really am because it’s one of the ideas that I’ve had stirring since the beginning.  Clyde vs this new villain was part of the original concept.  Those who have read Ravenous already met this character briefly, but there isn’t much known about him.  I don’t even know how much I can talk about since he’s a big spoiler in my mind.  Not until I get closer to the release date.  With this book getting published, I only have the penultimate and finale volumes left.  Having finished them last year, my mind is already moving on to the next series, so I kind of want to just blurt out everything.  Especially here because I think this guy came out better than I imagined.

So, enjoy the month of promos and we’ll start seeing some Teaser Tuesdays for the book coming soon.  If anybody wants to help announce when the book is live then let me know.  I can either send you the standard ‘book is live’ post or write a special one if you have a topic that you know will appeal to your audience.  Thanks.

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Expansion Pack: Comedy wrap up

Posted on March 1, 2021 by Charles Yallowitz

Hi, Gang. Craig with you once more. This time I want to wrap up the mini-series about writing comedy. In the previous two posts, we gave a list of …

Expansion Pack: Comedy wrap up
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Future Work: Sutyra . . . Again

Posted on February 28, 2021 by Charles Yallowitz

Succubus from Castlevania

Who is Sutyra?

This is a character I designed in college and keep wanting to use.  She’s half lust demon and half something else.  I originally had her a demon-conquered Earth and she is freed by a human who she travels with.  Angels, demons, and humans began fighting again with her in the middle.  Sutyra used two magical pistols and loved causing trouble while getting drawn into bigger events.  Then, I moved her to Windemere . . .

What happened in Windemere?

I couldn’t figure out what to do.  She’s a fun character to write since she’s uninhibited, impulsive, and lacking in any ambitions beyond having fun.  Sutyra embodies so much freedom.  Yet, I could never figure out where here story could go.  I can’t have demons conquer Windemere since that wrecks all the other stories.  I can’t give her the guns because that technology doesn’t really exist.  Well, it does within a specific, highly regulated group, which she can’t join.  I tried her in a political thriller and she balked to the point where I tossed most of it.  I tried her in a short story series, but she was too directionless for that.  It was frustrating, so I shelved her.

Why bring her up now?

I was going through my ideas to organize them since I’m close to jumping to another notebook.  The Legends/Nytefall/Slumberlord book was done and now The Ether Thief one is nearly completed.  I could go with Mylrixians, Windemere history, groups, or kingdom builders.  Sutyra was sitting among that last category even though most of the stuff was crossed out.  All I could do was stare at the name and feel bad that a character I loved the design of couldn’t be used.

Or could she?

I think on problem was that I kept taking her away from the original structure, which was a trilogy.  If I think of her as a 3 act character then I feel more comfortable.  Parts of her different adventures can be added too.  I came up with this:

  1. Book 1–  A boy wanders into the Chaos Void and awakens Sutyra who protects him while they search for a way out.  This expands the Chaos Void as a location.
  2. Book 2–  They find themselves in Windemere and wander around while being hunted by a variety of enemies.  Demons want Sutyra returned, paladins have been called to destroy her, and there’s a mystery group.  They’re helped by a demon who has been trapped on Windemere for years and stumble onto an enclave of more masterless demons, who don’t want to go back to the Chaos Void.
  3. Book 3–  Sutyra and her friends have to protect the enclave while her true nature causes trouble.  I don’t know where this goes . . .

That’s where I start having trouble.  I want Sutyra to evolve, but I’m also not sure if I should have her settle in any way.  Can I have her continue to wander and be free after major events?  Is there a middle ground?  What do I give her for weapons?  I think I switched those to giant tonfas or kamas at some point.  Guess there’s a lot that I have to figure out here.  Any of this sound fun and interesting?

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