Lost a Piece of Heart and Soul

Posted on August 28, 2020 by Charles Yallowitz

Yahoo Image Search

They had a place
Settled in your chest
Adjusting your beats
And nurturing the soul
Existences entwined
Allies in life
And now you are alone
*
A mix of pain
And numbness
Denial may rear its head
Along with anger
And despair
Left to limp through life
Like a wounded beast
*
Time is said to heal
It never says how long
A week for some
Years for others
Never is an option
Life has been shaken
From your insides
*
A beating heart
That does not feel whole
An invisible soul
Marked with a scar
Signs of loss and pain
Earned throughout life
Which all will wear

Posted in Poems | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

The Nutshell Catch and the Point of No Return

Posted on August 28, 2020 by Charles Yallowitz

Staci Troilo's avatarStory Empire

Comedy Tragedy

Ciao, SEers. We’ve been talking about Jill Chamberlain’s Nutshell method of plotting as it relates to Aristotelian comedies and tragedies. Last time, we discussed the protagonist with respect to flaws and strengths. (You can find the introductory post here, and the protagonist post here.)

Today, we’re going to talk about the catch. But just as the protagonist can’t be discussed without defining the strength and the flaw, the catch can’t be discussed without defining the point of no return.

The Point of No Return

The point of no return occurs at or around the 25% mark of the story. It’s when the protagonist’s life changes. If you’re a student of other plotting methods, you might think this coincides with the inciting incident.

It is related, but it is NOT an interchangeable term.

The inciting incident takes place around the 10% part of the story. It is…

View original post 415 more words

Posted in Uncategorized | 9 Comments

August Book Reviews

Posted on August 27, 2020 by Charles Yallowitz

D. Wallace Peach's avatarMyths of the Mirror

Only four this month! I’ve been slacking.

Actually, I’ve been super busy preparing for my launch and then dropping into bed at night, too tired to read.

This month, my offering of  4 and 5 star reviews includes fantasy, sci-fi, and a children’s book that my 7-year-old grandson reviewed. I hope you enjoy the browse.

Click on the covers for Amazon global links.

*****

Coyote Summer by Laura Koerber

I really, really enjoyed this book. The story starts with a “boys will be boys” rape of a very drunk teenager at a party. The main character, Ben, doesn’t participate, but he also doesn’t take strong action. This story is about his loss of innocence as he grapples with his guilt and the disheartening cultural biases, including within his own family, that force the victim into silence and give the perpetrators a break.

The story, the attitudes, and the choices of…

View original post 815 more words

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Immortal Wars: The Summoning Part 33 #fiction #throwback

Posted on August 27, 2020 by Charles Yallowitz

(Previously on Immortal Wars.)

(Again, we shall revel in my teenage originality.  Everyone groan in unison.)

Disclaimer: Immortal Wars was the book I came up with and wrote in high school.  I hadn’t even hit college by the time I wrote the first two books.  That means I hadn’t developed my style yet, wasn’t good at self-editing, and the story was fairly basic. So, you’ve been warned that this is the ultimate author throwback segment for my blog and will show my author origins.  FYI-  I put the first book (The Summoning) through a Print-on-Demand publisher and the second one (Light, Blood, & Tears) never saw the light of day.  Enjoy!

Later that day, Startrix and Tegam walk into Adriana’s room in order to discuss one her current ideas.  When they walk in, they find Adriana wearing a red, very low-cut leotard while practicing some martial arts styles.  Tegam is stunned because he never had a chance to see Adriana with her hair messed up and sweat all over her body.  She still looked absolutely gorgeous, but it was definitely a rare sight to see.

“Did we come at a bad time?” asks Startrix.  Adriana freezes in the middle of a crescent kick and turns around to see who is talking.  She lets out a deep breath before grabbing a towel and wiping most of the sweat off her body.

“I say we didn’t.  Nice style.  I especially like it when you jump up and down in that particular outfit.  Good form,” mentions Tegam.

“Shut up, prankster.  I hope you didn’t come here to make useless passes at me.  So, why are you here?  Make it quick because I want to take a shower before tonight’s celebration.  And there will be one.”

“Not if it does not work out as you planned.  I honestly think you should reconsider doing the physical ability test until we dispose of the guardians.  We all went through with it, but that was when we did not have an upcoming battle,” warns Startrix.

“Basically, the two of us don’t want to go through with this if you plan to continue.  We just think it’s a good idea.  And we aren’t the only ones,” Tegam says.  Startrix just waves him off and nods to him.  His smile fades away and he just walks out of the room.

“You two don’t have to get involved if you don’t want to.  But we need to do this before we fight the guardians in order to make sure that she is ready.  The last thing I want is for Kilanus to suddenly freeze up in the middle of battle.  This should give her a taste of combat and prepare her.  Now, where is the problem with that?”  Adriana starts practicing more high kicks and punches in the air while Startrix sits down on the bed.  One of her punches goes so quickly that a wave of air shakes a nearby bouquet of tulips.

“You plan on sending her up against all of us, except for you, without the help of the death scythe.  That just seems too much.  What if she gets killed?  You know how Psylon gets in a battle.  Totally bestial and bloodthirsty.  Why would you put your daughter in that dangerous a situation?  What could possess you to do such a thing?”

Adriana stops and sits down next to her friend as she explains, “Because I have complete faith and trust in my daughter’s abilities.  She is new and improved.  Mindtrigger and I brought her mental state up to par with her physical state.  And as for the visions that drove her insane, I took care of that with the healing staff.  There is nothing to worry about anymore.  Kilanus is now fully healed and ready to defeat anything that is thrown at her.  She is our secret weapon and this is a test run.  I hate to be so technical and uncaring in that explanation, but that is the easiest way to explain it.  We need to see if she will work out for us.”

“Fine.  But I refuse to go through with this.  As does Tegam.  Both of us do not want to be involved in something that could go wrong.”

“I respect both of your decisions.  And I won’t push you two into it.  So, what do you two plan to do while this is going on?  I want you to at least be there.”

“We will.  We are going to be acting as . . . referees so to speak.  If anything looks like it is going wrong, them we will eliminate the problem.  Mostly it will be to make sure that nothing kills Kilanus, but also to keep an eye on the less controllable members of our party.”

“Good idea.”  Startrix gets up to leave while Adriana walks into the connected shower compartment.  The shower immediately gets covered in warm steam.

Adriana suddenly sticks her head out of the fogged up door and yells, “Hold on, Startrix!  I have to ask you something!”

“Yes?” says the black-armored woman from the open doorway.

“Have you had any new visions?”

“A few.  The guardians will be arriving some time tomorrow morning.  They will be in two groups.  I do not know which ones will be in which group.  But I suggest you position Psylon on the ridge above the warship.  Two of them will be going that way.  Leave two people in the warship also just in case Psylon is defeated.  Which she will be because she will not be ready for their powers.”

“Good.  Anything else?”  Adriana’s head pops back out with her hair covered in pink shampoo.

“Just that it is not Solix who will be our greatest enemy.  I saw a vision of a young man with blond hair and blue eyes.  He held the Sword of Light and the Solstar medallion.  Next to him was this shadowy figure.  There were no features that I could see on this shadow.  Something was blocking my power from seeing the true form of the other enemy.  But they will be your greatest enemies.”

“Hmmm.  The young man is most likely this new Mars guardian.  Mindtrigger did say that he would be a problem.  I won’t worry about this shadow figure until I find out more about it.  I’d much rather take care of the problems that we have right now.”  Startrix hears the water get turned off and the door is about to open when she hears Adriana mutter a quick curse.  A wet, slender arm curves around the door and starts flailing at a towel rack.

“Startrix.  I’m in a little need of some help.  Just like when I was a kid and needed your help.  Can you hand me that towel?”

“Sure.  Here.”  Startrix tosses Adriana the towel and walks out of the room.  Meanwhile, Adriana dries off and put on her usual low-cut bodysuit that fits like a second layer of skin.  She does a quick check in the mirror and heads out to the surface of Pluto.

Posted in Immortal Wars | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Thursday – A little Personal – Book Launch Day

Posted on August 27, 2020 by Charles Yallowitz

Eternal Road – The final stop is Now Available in Paper and Kindle Formats. For the Introduction, the Kindle edition is on sale at 99¢. The Price …

Thursday – A little Personal – Book Launch Day
Posted in Uncategorized | 5 Comments

7 Tips to Handling Grief and Mourning in Fiction

Posted on August 26, 2020 by Charles Yallowitz

Yahoo Image Search

As I said, grief and mourning is a subplot in War of Nytefall: Ravenous.  It was very difficult to touch on this while the majority of the book dealt with action, humor, and Desirae’s seductiveness.  I kept having to remind myself that some characters were still getting over the losses of the previous adventure.  It made things fairly somber at times and I had to take a moment if the scenes were mixed in with the less emotionally raw ones.  So, here are some things I learned about writing about grief and mourning.

  1. Regardless of what anyone says, there is no single way to mourn.  A person’s personality and culture are be factors in this, which means it will vary even slightly between characters.  If everyone handled it the same way then it is rather unrealistic and flat.  You will have those who recover quietly and quickly by using a number of methods of acceptance.  Others will forever carry the wound that they can never fully heal.  Then, you have the hundreds of methods in the middle.  Think carrying about how each character will react to the death.
  2. Never skip or rush this part of the story.  If you say that everyone got over it between adventures then it will make the loss feel empty.  If they talk about it for one chapter and that’s it then you get the same effect.  Now, you can explain in the opening how the characters handled it if a lot of time has passed.  For example, Ravenous takes place months after Eradication.  So, there are characters who have developed their coping habits to deal with it.
  3. It can be messy.  In fact, it really should if it’s fresh.  Tears, screams, isolation, risky behavior, guilt, anger, and the whole gamut of responses that one could imagine having to such an emotional blow.  This is something that will last for longer than the funeral and the day or two after.  At least, it should.  As I said, mourning is done differently, so you could have some who do get over the shock quickly.
  4. Anger and confusion are very easy to misdirect.  Characters can be more likely to lash out for small reasons during these times.  The slightest comment from another can be taken the wrong way, so they attack and break down.  Maybe they aren’t handling things as well as others, which makes them feel like they’re the only ones who truly cared.  Loss can really fracture a group for a bit, so don’t always assume it’s going to unite your characters right away.
  5. What about the mission?  You do run into a problem if your story involves a time-sensitive adventure.  Legends of Windemere had this problem when characters died in later books.  Because of the speed of events and how things need to be completed by a specific time, heroes might not be able to mourn effectively.  They can use other defense mechanisms like deciding to survive and succeed to honor the one they lost.  It can be smaller conversations spread out as well, so they use lulls in the action to let their emotions out with those they trust.  You can also have them become more reckless or even more protective of those around them.
  6. From a ways back, I mentioned that you have to factor in the personality of a character for mourning.  Some are easier than others.  Those that are quicker to show emotions will flow onto the page in these scenes.  You may have more trouble with those who typically hide their emotions.  In fact, you may find it very confusing to have them deal with grief.  Well . . . There you go.  A character who keeps things under wraps might be unsure of how to express what they are feeling.  They can fumble an explanation, lash out, or try to imitate another.  People suffering from grief aren’t always clear and focused, so things can be awkward and uncomfortable.
  7. If you really aren’t sure how people mourn then ask friends and family.  Be clear about why you’re asking and don’t do it to someone who is currently grief-stricken.  You may be surprised how many answers you get.  Just remember to be kind and polite when broaching this sensitive topic.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 17 Comments

Teaser Tuesday: Gregorio’s Favorite Hobby #fantasy #vampires

Posted on August 25, 2020 by Charles Yallowitz

Cover Art by Alison Hunt

One of my guilty pleasures in War of Nytefall is creating new trapped entrances for Gregorio Roman’s lair.  Ravenous doesn’t disappoint here either.  Every time a character has to go inside, they end up on some crazy ride or having to figure out the secret to getting through.  It’s a lot of fun and I probably spend more time on that than anything that comes afterwards.  Enjoy.

Continue reading →

Posted in Teaser Tuesday, War of Nytefall | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Mourning in Fiction: Accessing the Shadows

Posted on August 24, 2020 by Charles Yallowitz

I was wrestling with the idea of this topic since this year has been horrible.  Writing this on July 2nd too, so I don’t know what will happy leading up to today.  Many people have lost loved ones, so mourning and grief are clear in some minds.  Yet, it is a theme in War of Nytefall: Ravenous.  Among the action scenes, comedic lines, sexual innuendo, and vampire antics are scenes of utter pain and anguish.  You will see it handled differently and how some actions can cause fellow mourners to react in certain ways.  I won’t go into details since you need to read the story.  For those who finished Eradication, you know who is involved.  Our heroes didn’t get out of that adventure unscathed.

People might be scratching their heads and wondering how I can talk about mourning in regards to vampires.  After all, these are monsters that feed off the blood of others and live for eternity.  If they lose someone then they move on or seek revenge, but there isn’t any real grief in them, right?  Immortality does make loss fleeting, right?  Well, the people thinking this might have missed a few things I’ve said on this blog.  It’s why writing the Dawn Fangs is both fun and challenging.  They are monsters, but they have the emotions of mortals thanks to the change.  It’s even noted that Dawn Fangs might be more susceptible to darker emotions since they have that monstrous side.  Also, a mortal might get through grief believing that life is short and they need to live for the ones that they lost.  It isn’t a coping mechanism that an immortal can use, so Dawn Fangs have fewer ways to handle grief than one would think.

Still, characters do find ways to move on.  You will see some that fall into denial and manage to create something that makes them believe the loss never happened.  Others will have gone through the stages between books and talk about it with sadness.  They will make mention of the loss, but it will be clear that they have found a way to come to terms with it.  Then there’s the character who will be going on a self-destructive spiral that is clear from the beginning.  People might roll their eyes at this one, but it was a story line that I couldn’t avoid.  Not part of the original plan, but I saw that I had no choice after the events of Eradication.  Maybe I’ll write a post about this specifically when I feel that enough time has passed for spoilers to be okay.  (Yes, I know nobody is buying the book, but I don’t want sabotage it yet.)

When writing the mourning and grief parts, I had to take a step back and examine each character for their response.  I realized that you can’t have one method work for everyone because that’s not reality.  It’s why a story feels wrong if every character moves on instantly or at the same time after a death.  Doesn’t work if they’re all permanently in depression and acting out in the same manner.  You can have them all sad and down, but characters are individuals.  They will turn to different things to cope with the pain.  You have to make it work for them as well.  There were times when I attempted to have someone mourn in a way that didn’t suit them.  I’ll be doing a ‘7 tips’ post on Wednesday to go into more detail.

Writing this book after my own losses was a little therapeutic.  I found where I would fall on the spectrum and even used some scenes to release pent up emotions.  It was nice to get it out in some form, which sounds weird to say given the topic.  Long history of authors using fiction to overcome dark times and understand themselves.

So, what do you think about writing about mourning and grief in fiction?  Have you ever tried it?

Posted in Thoughts | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Binge-Worthy Book Festival Week 4!

Posted on August 24, 2020 by Charles Yallowitz

It’s the last full week of the August Binge-Worthy Book Festival by N.N. Light!  That doesn’t mean the fun is over though.  There are still books being posted and authors to be discovered.  Not to mention the contest to win Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift cards.  Let’s finish the summer off with a blast.

Click here for the  Festival!

Clicker here for the Rafflecopter!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Tales of the Slumberlord: How Much Trouble Can He Get In?

Posted on August 23, 2020 by Charles Yallowitz

(Kind of funny how I’ve been pushing this Sunday post back for about 2 months.  I keep having other things that I need or want to post.  Sorry if things are bit off here.)

My mind is already inching towards the series that I’m going to tackle once I retire Clyde and the Dawn Fangs.  Hey, everything comes to an end eventually.  War of Nytefall will have 8 books by the time I’m done, so I expect to finish the publishing side by the end of 2021.  I’m unsure of what my free time will look like after Grad School begins, so take these dates and plans with half a grain of salt.  Now, what comes next?

Tales of the Slumberlord

This series is going to be taking place after Legends of Windemere, so you’re going to get some classic cameos.  It stars a character I played in a D&D game and he’s way different than Luke Callindor and Clyde.  With Luke, it was my first time playing a story-based game and I went for true, but inexperienced, hero.  He used swords and was a half-elf, so I wasn’t straying into challenging territory.  Clyde was created a little after that as my anti-hero, dark side persona.  I mean, he’s a violent vampire who enjoys fighting even though I toned him down for his books.  Both of them had been retired by the time I hit this new game and I wanted to be something other than a warrior.  I was always focusing on fighting, so I wanted to play with magic.  Little did I know, I was in for a really wild and confusing ride.

Morpheus . . . Sorry, the DM threatened me if I kept that name.  Yeah, that’s the comedy we started with here and that was character creation.  I actually picked a favorite spell before anything else and it ended up being the underutilized ‘sleep’ spell.  This is a level 1 enchantment and it gets used, but it’s kind of just there for sneaking around and gags.  I couldn’t get my brain away from this gem, so I made it a focus of the character:  DARWIN SLEPSNOR!  I never played a halfling before, so I went with a halfling.  Never played a caster before, so I was a sorcerer to skip training since the game had already been going on for a bit.  Needed a familiar, so I gave him a hamster since I had one in my dorm room.  Then, I was reminded that I had to pick one high and one low stat, which is what caused things to go in an odd direction.

Now, D&D has six stats that are Strength, Dexterity/Agility, Constitution/Durability, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma.  For Darwin, I gave him a high charisma because that’s what his magic was fueled by.  I figured I would get into trouble, so I left his physical stats as average or a little above average.  So, the low or negative stat meant that he would get minus points on rolls in regards to mental abilities.  I went with wisdom, so he was adorable with the common sense of a child.  For example, the group came to a bridge that was destroyed by a boulder.  While everyone else figured out that the boulder rolled down a hill, Darwin failed the check and went with ‘a dragon dropped it here’.  Any attempt to correct this was met with an adamant and logical rebuttal that continued the belief of a dragon-based sabotage. He was very impulsive and made very black/white connections.  I remember getting a glove that was blessed by a Destruction God who uses lightning.  Of course, I put it on and grabbed a door that had a lightning spell because ‘a god would never kill his own people even if he stands for destruction’.  Somehow, I survived the entire game and was also the only hero to have wanted posters around the enemy city.

This is where I have to step back and consider how to write Darwin.  He’s brave like Luke and Clyde, but mostly because he doesn’t really known any better.  He’s helpful, honest, and fairly innocent.  After getting his magic, he’s going on a grand adventure because he’s an omen that Gabriel the Destiny God doesn’t like.  Every story will have him working alongside one or two other characters in an almost sidekick role because his presence changes the destiny of those around him.  Like Gabriel and Clyde, Darwin is an anti-destiny being, but he has no idea how to work with that or why anything goes on around him.  In fact, he’s entirely unaware of his status and simply wants to help people because that’s what those with magic are supposed to do.  So, I have to write a hero who isn’t marching towards a goal or even aware of the events he’s in the center of until it is practically stapled to his face.  I’ve been struggling to pinpoint how I played him because I can’t take away his foolishness and innocence without ruining his character, but those can get on people’s nerves.  What to do?

It hit me recently that Darwin Slepsnor might be autistic.  High-functioning, but his mindset reminds me a lot of my son.  They both take things literally or come up with a crazy explanation for something simple, which is logical to them and technically true once you think about it.  While weak in some areas, there are one or two that they are able to excel in even with a lot of work.  There is a habit of panicking when things change too much, which I might enhance for Darwin.  Not sure I want to give him meltdowns, but maybe confusion that leads to mistakes and making a big mess.  He will be in his early 20’s at this point, so he can be more mature.  He can’t lie very well and he’s quick to trust anyone he runs into including a demon at one point.  I’ll admit that I’m nervous about openly making him autistic even though the term won’t be in the book.  People are sensitive about such things and I’m one of those types because of my son.  Once I get over this hurdle, I should be able to pinpoint the other issues though.  What do other people think about this?

Posted in Character Origins | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 17 Comments