Changing Literary Styles (Part Two)

Posted on June 19, 2020 by Charles Yallowitz

Joan Hall's avatarStory Empire

Hey, SE Readers. Happy Friday. Joan with you today with the second in a two-part series on changing literary styles.

In the first post, I used examples from James Fenimore Cooper’s Last of the Mohicans and Tolkien’s The Hobbit. Today we’ll look at two of my favorite authors.

I first read Agatha Christie in high school. Her Hercule Poirot stories are among my favorites, particularly Murder on The Orient Express. She was a master at writing intriguing plots, throwing in enough twists to keep readers guessing until the end.

I recently read, And Then There Were None for the first time. Initially published in 1939, it’s the world’s best-selling mystery, having sold over 100 million copies, and is one of the all time best-selling books among all genres.

As I started to read, I realized how much writing styles have changed.

The driver said, addressing his remarks…

View original post 542 more words

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Immortal Wars: The Summoning Part 23 #fiction #throwback

Posted on June 18, 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!

“I really do not understand these actions.  Why do you let yourself get injured to the point of exhaustion before fighting back?  It makes no sense,” mentions SEAS.  Fate is busy getting slashed and kicked by a hologram with swords for arms.  The Mars guardian’s clothing is practically shredded down to his underwear.  He stops and catches one of the swords in his left hand, which causes blood to trickle down his arm.

“Don’t worry, SEAS.  I’m done,” mutters Fate before he throws the hologram into the wall.  It disappears on impact and Fate slumps against the door to the restaurant section.

“What is wrong, Fate?  I know about what happened between you and everyone else.  It shouldn’t get to you.”

“Everyone thought I was over-reacting to what I found out.  Solix is not telling me the truth.   How can I not let it get to me?  I have never had anything stable in my life since I was five years old.  Then I was adopted when I hit eight and I met Kelly.  My life was actually something of worth,” replies Fate.

“Then explain the criminal activity.”

“That was just me having fun.  It’s weird.  Ever since I was a kid, I’ve been more athletic and luckier than all other kids.  Well, luckier in the sense that I could never get caught at any of my pranks.  Right now, the only thing I can think of is that my powers were around earlier.  Is that possible, SEAS?”  Fate suddenly looks up to see a hologram standing in the middle of the room.  Everything about it looks humanoid except for the serious head of a Doberman.

“I cannot tell you anything because of Solix’s current program changes.  But he did not say I could not show you to someone who could answer your questions.  This is the original Mars Guardian.  Just call him Mars.  I will leave you two alone,” says SEAS.  The hologram slowly strides over to Fate and stands there looking at him with neon green eyes.

“This is foolish.  It’s only a hologram.  A hologram cannot answer the questions that I have.  Only SEAS and Solix can do that,” says Fate.  He throws a kick at the hologram and is suddenly off the ground and hanging up side down.  The hologram lifts him up, so that their faces are almost touching.

“Not all holograms are what you think they are.  I am the original guardian of Mars.  During the fight with our enemies, I fell into the main generator of SEAS.  This destroyed my body completely and turned me into a holographic program.  I could only live inside the computer system and watch as Solix mourned and made plans as usual.  He has not changed over the past few centuries.  Now, what questions do you have?” questions the hologram.  He tosses Fate into the air and the young immortal lands on his feet.

“This is impossible,” says Fate.  He throws a punch at the hologram, but it never connects with its target.  He feels a sharp pain on the top of his head and realizes that the hologram just slapped him on the top of the head.  He makes a spinning back kick, which is caught by the hologram.  Fate is flipped onto his back and all of the air is knocked out of his lungs.  The hologram slips his foot underneath Fate’s back and kicks him up into the air like he was a soccer ball.  Fate manages to land in a crouch and eyes the hologram very cautiously.

“You fight well for an novice.  But I am only here to answer questions.  So, what questions do you have?  Ask me now or I will leave,” says the hologram as it crosses its muscular arms.

“I don’t know.  There are so many questions that I want answers to.  I guess this is the first one.  Why should I keep going with this fight if I am nothing but a pawn?  Is there any point in staying here?” asks Fate.

“Solix and the rest of us had to fight because that was our only reason for being created by the Glebnoks.  We did not have a choice.  But I am not one to tell you why you should stay with Solix.  We never got along because I didn’t follow orders.  He was just as conniving and a lying bastard like he is now.  But I would suggest that you stay for several reasons.  One is that someone has to stay here and get under the old man’s skin.  He needs someone around to keep his ego from suffocating the cosmos.  Just don’t let the old man’s personality get to you, boy.  After awhile, you get used to it and find ways of getting around it.”

“Easier said than done.  Any better reasons besides just to spite Solix.  Because I think he wants me to stay.”  Fate hits a button on the wall and the arena turns into a large forest with a lake nearby.  They both walk over to the lake and lean against two trees.  The hologram scratches himself behind his ear and takes a minute to think about an answer.

“You are a special creature.  Like many races, there are even higher versions of immortals.  At least there might be.  Something about you is special and that will give you an edge against other warriors.  Unlike the others, your birthright powers have been around for a very long time.  The reason you are naturally more athletic and are luckier than everyone else is because your powers have never been dormant.  SEAS has not been able to explain it and Solix has not even been made aware of it.  That is until SEAS tells him within the next few minutes.  To sum everything up, you are a more powerful version of what the original immortals were.  You are to Solix what a human is to a monkey.  Now, do you have any other questions that do not deal with me making choices for you?”

“What happened to the weapons?  All of you had magical weapons, but only Solix managed to keep his.  They should be somewhere on this base.”

“If only it was that easy.  After the evil immortals destroyed us, they took our weapons for themselves.  And in order to use Solix’s magic weapon, you must be the leader of the planet guardians.  Look.  I have to get going.  Just try to confront Solix because he has hidden a lot of information from most of the computer systems.”  The hologram fades away as Fate walks out of the arena.  He barely notices a quick shadow darting out of the room and down the hallway.  As he comes to the wall, Fate finds a pink flower on the floor.

“At least I still have one thing left of my old life.  Now, I think it’s time I got into Solix’s face again and got some real answers.  I just got to remember to stay out of the sun this time around.  This should be interesting,” thinks Fate as he drops the flower and runs up to the Main Hall.  The delicate flower disappears once it hits the ground and Miracle walks out of the shadows smiling.

Posted in Immortal Wars | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

7 Tips to Using Curses in Fiction: Eye of Newt Can Expire

Posted on June 17, 2020 by Charles Yallowitz

Curses can have a lot of pitfalls when you use them.  Have they been done already and in the same fashion?  Do they have a purpose in the story beyond window dressing or a comical reaction?  Is it really a hindrance?  Plenty of questions to consider, so let’s see if we can clear any of those up.

  1. Curses need to have a downside even if the character has figured out a way to use it in a positive way.  These are supposed to be the opposite of helpful spells, which means harm was intended.  It could be the threat of a social incident or a physical malady under certain situations, but you need it to be bad for the curse to have any type of impact.  Otherwise, it comes off as a blessing and there is no reason to have it removed or complain about it at all.  Why even call it a curse?
  2. You don’t have to show the curse being cast for it to have an impact.  Many times, a hero might not even realize they’ve been cursed.  So, there’s a level of discovery if it happens during the story.  You can have people talk about the possibility at first to create foreshadowing and establish that curses are a thing.  Yet, you need to put more focus on the effects than the delivery.
  3. Removing the curse cannot be easy or there really isn’t a point.  Keeping your eyes closed for an eye to be free of the Noxious Farts curse means everything connected to the spell falls apart.  The characters need to hunt for the answer or at least keep an ear out for a solution.  Make it worth the time and words you are spending to make it part of the story.
  4. On the other end of the spectrum, you need to be careful when making a curse impossible to remove.  This isn’t a bad thing because people who cast it will want it to last forever.  So, you’re more likely to have a permanent one.  You could have it be that the removal has been lost to history.  If you do this then you need the character to act accordingly.  There needs to be a learning curve to living with this thing and maybe the go through the stages of grief.  If the character takes the curse so well that they don’t grow then you again find yourself in a wasted situation.
  5. Try your best to be creative with your curse.  It doesn’t have to be a direct challenge to the plot, but it has be a hindrance of some kind.  Consider what would be a problem for you or someone you know.  Maybe a fear that you have trouble facing such as arachnophobia or loss of a sense.  Don’t be afraid to take a traditional curse and give it a twist too.  Familiarity helps more than we’d like to admit.
  6. Cursed items are a viable method of transference.  The trick is to make them hard to escape once they have latched on.  Clothing is fairly easy, but anything that is held can be dropped.  Ways to counter this is to have part of the curse be that the item teleports back into the person’s possession or can’t be tossed away.  Maybe there is an addiction factor, so they can’t bring themselves to get rid of the object.  This goes back to curses needing a level of difficulty to remove.
  7. Almost forgot this one.  If you are using a curse that doesn’t really exist then you need to show why it’s important.  This happens in horror where a curse is mentioned and nobody believes it.  Then, something occurs to make it seem like a possibility.  It gets gradually amped up until the characters swear it’s true, which can get the audience thinking that it may be true as well.  Curses are a great source of tension and fear, so use them psychologically if you can.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 23 Comments

Top Five Mistakes New Authors Make and How to Avoid Them

Posted on June 17, 2020 by Charles Yallowitz

Great advice.

John W. Howell's avatarStory Empire

Twiggy and Lucy “Lucy. What are we doing here?
“The Boss is a contributor here, Twiggy.”
“I don’t see any biscuits.”
“I think he’ll fix that. Keep smiling.”

Hello, SEers. I am delighted to be part of The Story Empire group. I have long admired the members and followers and am pleased to now be a part of the team. I feel like a kid who has been looking at penny candy with his nose pressed against the display case glass, and the shop keeper invites me to take my pick.

The good news is I’m in. The bad news is now I have to go to work.  As you know by now, you can find a wealth of information on writing, publishing, and organization on The Story Empire. The authors here have a lot of experience and are willing to share.

To that end, for my first post, I’m going to discuss…

View original post 879 more words

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Teaser Tuesday: Freedom #fantasy #adventure

Posted on June 16, 2020 by Charles Yallowitz

Cover Art by Jason Pedersen

Here we are at the finale.  A big scene from Legends of Windemere: Warlord of the Forgotten Age.  This was a hit during the debut post because it shows that things do not go swimmingly for our heroes.  I added more to it, which reveals the secret power of a hero.  I kept this one off the blog for years and then showed it while promoting this story.  Enjoy!

Continue reading →

Posted in Legends of Windemere, Teaser Tuesday, Warlord of the Forgotten Age | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Curses! Not the Censored Kind

Posted on June 15, 2020 by Charles Yallowitz

Skeletor

I don’t think I’ve touched on this topic outside of a casual mention, so I’m going to attempt to go below the surface.  Curses show up in a lot of genres even when magic isn’t a main component.  Some are real and others are legends that don’t actually work.  The key point with a curse is that it triggers a sensation of fear and tension.  That is the literary usage of such a thing.  I’m going to get more into this on Wednesday with a 7 Tip list.

The reason I began thinking about this is because somebody asked me:

Do you think curses are cliches?

This honest question brings up a good point.  Many people tend to point at anything they have seen before as cliche and stale.  Evil curses have been around since mythology days if not longer.  From punishments by the gods to witch hexes to Egyptian tomb curses, humans have clung to this concept that magic can be used to inflict a negative effect on others.  Sometimes it’s a specific target while other times it strikes whoever is unlucky enough to wander into the area.  We see them in movies, shows, books, and video games, so I can see how one can see them as cliche.  Yet, can we really say that about curses when we take a step back to examine their purpose?

My personal opinion is that curses are more literary device than anything else.  They are obstacles that have to be overcome through thinking, luck, and/or magic.  You can’t swing your sword or shoot a bullet at a curse to get rid of it.  This means you get a variety of ways to remove it.  Even more so, you have an unlimited amount of curses to choose from.  Yes, some have been overdone such as werewolves, vampires, and amnesia.  You can do those with some twists, but they are rather widespread.  This doesn’t mean curses in general are cliche.  It means you need to be more creative.  Maybe a man turns invisible and unable to be heard whenever he gets close to his family, so they think he abandoned them when he’s right there.  Could be a curse that bestows a terrible allergy or weakness.  The only limit is your imagination.

There is a story down the road that I was going to include curses as a main point.  It would be a group of monster hunters who individually ran into a mystery beast that left them with a different curse.  They want to find it, kill it, and return to normal.  I haven’t done much beyond wanting the main character to switch between male and female through a trigger.  Unfortunately, that’s also Ranma 1/2, so I might have to junk it.  Unless I can get away with the character being 2 in 1, so it’s actually switching to an entirely different person since they were merged.  As you can see, there are a tons of curses that you can come up with, but you need to give many of them twists because the juicier ones have all been taken.

So, what do you think about curses?  Have you used any before?  Do you think they’re a cliche?

Posted in Thoughts | Tagged , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

Medieval Castle Assaults

Posted on June 15, 2020 by Charles Yallowitz

Have fun storming the castle!

Nicholas C. Rossis's avatarNicholas C. Rossis

I came across some great answers by Jon Bourgetti, Patrick Ashby, Alexander Taylor, and Steve Blanchard on Quora on the subject of assaults on Medieval castles. Whether you write fantasy, historical fiction, or just love history as much as I do, I think you will enjoy learning more about castles and how they could be brought down.

The Castle’s Role

Medieval castles were indescribably dominating. One historical report describes, literally, a handful of defenders on the walls using just six oaken crossbows to slaughter an attacking force who eventually took the castle by escalade (ladders). The odds were definitely in the castle’s defenders’ favor.

They could do this because castles are mighty force multipliers.

In a field, your 1,000 men would face my 1,000 men.

In a castle, your 5,000 men would be needed to take my 500 men.

Then, there’s geography. Consider the following two…

View original post 804 more words

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Queen Titania’s Court — Through the Veil, by Adrienne Dellwo

Posted on June 14, 2020 by Charles Yallowitz

DebyFredericks's avatarWyrmflight

Unsure what to expect inside the ball, Dedra pulls up the hood of the pink robe denoting her as an adherent of the Ahweian Order of Spirit. She takes a deep breath and slips inside, where she takes in the scene. She’s certain she’ll be asked to play something on the violin–she always is–but she wants to get her bearings before anyone sees her and makes a request. As she sizes up the revelers and their mood, she thinks of what piece of music would suit them best and pictures how the colorful tones would interact with the costumes and decor. After a few minutes of lurking around the edges, she feels comfortable enough to lower her hood, straighten her spine, and move forward to greet her hostess.

Character Questions

Are there any fantastic beasts where you live?

Yes, there’s one that shows up periodically in the dimension I visit…

View original post 978 more words

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Now What? (Running Low on Teaser Tuesday Stuff Again)

Posted on June 14, 2020 by Charles Yallowitz

Finding Nemo

I didn’t finish what I wanted to post today.  The last full week of school caused some time issues as I talked about yesterday.  This does give me an opportunity to figure out a problem I have coming up for the July and maybe August.

By the end of June, I’ll be done with the scheduled Teaser Tuesdays.  I’m going up to Ichabod Brooks and then . . . I don’t know.  The release of War of Nytefall: Ravenous by Labor Day isn’t a sure bet, so I don’t want to start bombarding people with Nytefall teasers too early.  Imagine if I did that for July and August only to have to stretch it to October or December.  That will bring up a secondary issue I’ve got actually.  So, I’m left wondering what to do.

Yeah, these posts are awkward and I tend to get most people saying ‘whatever you want to do’ in the comments.  Sometimes I get a few good ideas and suggestions.  After all, I’m posting to entertain and promote here even if it doesn’t get me anywhere.  All in good fun and games.  So, I’ve been thinking of the following:

For Tuesdays:

  1. I can open up each Tuesday to promoting the books of others through July and maybe August.  Not sure if anyone wants the spot.
  2. Character interviews for Nytefall.  These don’t always go well because people haven’t read the books.  Maybe I can jump it back to Legends of Windemere for July and then do Nytefall in August.
  3. So screw it and do Teaser Tuesdays for Nytefall.  July would be one from each of the published works and then August would be the new one.
  4. Any big author questions that people might have.

This brings me to another challenge.  If I’m not going to be hyping a book in August then I have no post ideas.  I’m thinking I need some ideas to create a safety net and then I can just rescheduling them for September/October if I need to use August for promos.  So, any topics that anybody would want on here?  It can be anything in regards to writing from my own stuff to opinions on things to tackling sensitive topics or whatever.  I know I’m asking for a lot, but most of what I come up with is either lame or something that I’m afraid will cause as much of a comments battle as the ‘perverted hero’ thing last year.  With any luck, I won’t have to worry about this and the book will be on my to-do list.  Fingers crossed here.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 9 Comments

The End is Nigh! Maybe . . . I’m Napping this Weekend

Posted on June 13, 2020 by Charles Yallowitz

It’s Thursday night and I’m scheduling this baby now.  What else could possibly happen this week?  Well, Friday is my son’s moving up ceremony because he moves on to middle school in the fall.  That’s going to be fun and quick, but that’s really the only thing left to the week.  Had the usual Friday meetings and staring at a wall between those times because I’m drained.  Definitely been a long week.

Monday is a blur, but I remember schoolwork for my son that didn’t go smoothly.  He didn’t have a lot to do these days, but he kind of checked out.  The work was getting done, but he was easily distracted.  For example, there were a few minutes spent with me trying to get him to tell me why people go to a restaurant and he overthought it.  This proved that I was out of it too.  Last time I had a day of fun with him was March, so I’m feeling it.  We have an inflatable pool now too, so seeing that through the window became his new obsession. Monday was video games because it was chilly, but the next two afternoons saw him being aquatic.  It was fun and fresh air was good for him.  I forgot that I still have a mild allergy to my own sweat, so I paid for it by the end of the night.  Still, it was worth the itching.

I still have some class sessions next week and I might be working over the summer.  My son has summer school, which is only on the days that he’s with me for all of July.  It is what it is, but it’s only the morning.  I promised to set myself up in the same room and do my own work . . . What work?  Well, here is where the juggling act is going to make people think I’m insane:

  • Helping my son with his schooling.
  • If possible, helping with remote learning for my school.
  • While he is in school, I’ll be working on Do I Need to Use a Dragon? (Fantasy Writing Tips)
  • While he is with his mom, I’ll be working on War of Nytefall: Anarchy.
  • Nights will be setting up August blog posts, which we’ll get into more with tomorrow’s post.

That’s a lot that I’m tossing onto my plate, which is why I’m going to take this weekend to rest up.  I’m aiming to finish the chapter titles for the fantasy tip book and the final outline for The Ether Thief.  That will put those projects in a good place for me to barrel into the summer like a writing demon.  I’m sure things will rise up to cause trouble.  Weekends seem to be turning back into socializing periods, which will get in the way of the big novel since that’s my only clear writing time.  Really wish I had all the free time that I see other people with, but it feels like I’m always struggling to get stuff done.  It’ll be a lot worse once fall hits and I start grad school.  Got a feeling that I won’t be doing any personal projects at that point.  Someone sent me a meme that showed famous author making it in their late 40’s and 50’s when I brought this up.  My only argument against that is they lived in a time when there was more respect for the written word.

That’s really it as far as writing and life.  I binge-watched ‘The Great’ last weekend once I finished War of Nytefall: Ravenous editing.  I might have lost some of it because I had no knowledge of the real events that they are incredibly loosely based on.  The characters were fun and there was a lot of dark comedy moments.  I found the level of sex and cursing was a little distracting from the story.  F-bombs felt more common than the word ‘the’ and I think the writers got paid by the F-bomb.  That aside, the story was solid with some good turns and character consistency.  I’ve moved on to another anime that I thought was a fun action/magical adventure.  Within the first episode, I realized that the story is interesting, but it’s very nude-filled.  Nothing below the belt and no sex, but it was jarring when I settled in for a story about demons and got . . . lots of nudity.  I’ve heard the story is worth it, so I’m going to muscle through.  Wouldn’t be the first time since I’ll be outlining while it’s on too.

It’s gotten much warmer here, so I’m losing energy fairly quickly these days.  My room heats up fast and gets humid, but I can’t pump the AC all day.  The power bill would be insane, so I have to endure until it becomes unbearable and then cool things down enough to survive.  You know I’m coming to the end of the post when I start talking about the weather.

What are the goals of the week?  Should I bother since I’m so drained?

  1. Finish the chapter titles for Do I Need to Use a Dragon? (Fantasy Writing Tips)
  2. Finish the outline for The Ether Thief: Punctured Soul
  3. Set up the next three Sunday posts.
  4. Start writing War of Nytefall: Anarchy
  5. Finish school for me and get father/son time in.  (This is a given.)
  6. Consider buying a physical calendar because I don’t remember what day of the week we’re on.
  7. Eating, biking, showering, and sleeping.
  8. Maybe I should watch some of the Ruoroni Kenshin live action movies that I found on streaming?
  9. Figure out if I can publish War of Nytefall: Ravenous in September.

Oh!  That was something else that happened.  Had a heart attack on Thursday when Microsoft Office stopped working.  It hit my dad’s computer first and caused a big mess that I stayed out of.  The next day, I finally try to open a Word file and get a message that Word can’t be accessed.  Needless to say, I nearly cried because I only imagined that I could no longer access my books.  Took 10-15 minutes to find the answer, which was that the virus/malware blocker was updated.  For some reason, it’s update made it think that the opening Microsoft Office programs were dangerous.  So, I had to hunt through a forum to find a link to the patch to get it all up and running.  Last thing my week needed.

Posted in Goal Posts | Tagged , , , , , , | 11 Comments