Writing with Children

Posted on April 9, 2019 by Charles Yallowitz

Nicholas C. Rossis's avatarNicholas C. Rossis

My author friend, Charles E. Yallowitz, is continuing his new War of Nytefall series with a hot new release. War of Nytefall is a spinoff series taking place in his celebrated Legends of Windemere universe. The new release is War Of Nytefall: Rivalry. This is a guest post by him to celebrate the release. It deals with a matter dear to my heart: how on earth it’s possible to have a writing life when you have an energetic kid running around!

Writing with Children

War of Nytefall: Rivalry by Charles E. Yallowitz | From the blog of Nicholas C. Rossis, author of science fiction, the Pearseus epic fantasy series and children's books Check it out on Amazon

Thank you to Nicholas for letting me be a guest on his blog once again. It’s been a long time and here I am to promote my new book, War of Nytefall: Rivalry. The topic is . . . Hold on, I have to take care of something . . . I’m back. So, what I was going to…

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The Powers of Mab Winthrop

Posted on April 8, 2019 by Charles Yallowitz

Raven from Teen Titans

War of Nytefall: Rivalry highlights Mab and her powers since she needs to play the dashing rescuer.  Well, not so much dashing as angry and really wanting to tear somebody’s limbs off.  Now, I did an origin post for Mab a while back and she’s actually been around since Legends of Windemere: The Mercenary Prince.  Yet, I never really delved into her abilities.  Well, let’s get delving, which is a word my computers have been trying to turn the name Delvin into since 1999.

Out of all of the Dawn Fangs, she has one of the more interesting power sets.  It gets a lot more attention than most others because she uses them a lot and they’re very visual.  For example, Lost manipulating someone’s mind is common, but fairly subtle when compared to Mab launching out of a shadow with her claws out.  Her abilities don’t perfectly match up too like many of the others, but that’s mostly because of her mental power.  I’m going to go one-by-one to give some insight and explain how I came about doing this.

Claws

Back when Mab was a game character, she was a member of the Gangrel clan.  They possessed one of the classic vampire weapons, which were claws.  As a burglar, it made a lot of sense for Mab to have these and depend on them more than daggers.  She is all about stealth and speed, which means having as few things weighing her down as possible.  So, I had her using the spell for growing claws in War of Nytefall: Loyalty in order to get people used to connecting the two.  This ended up defining her fighting style as well, so she does a lot of dives and slashes.

Deciding on what the claws looked like was actually tougher than I expected.  I needed them long enough to slice deep and severe limbs, but not so long that they are ridiculous and ungainly.  There was one point where I gave a length, but I haven’t really stuck with it because I realized that she could adjust that by a few inches. There was also the question of what they were made of.  Early on, she is casting spells to give herself metal claws because actual nails would break.  I considered bone too.  They’re just kind of there now, so I’m thinking they look like animal claws with the sharpness and durability of metal.  They’re her only weapon, so they need to be strong.

Speak with the Dead

This was the last power I made for Mab since it took a really long time to think of a ‘mental’ ability that fit her.  Telepathy wasn’t her style and she isn’t much of a manipulator for charm-based things.  I considered her having the ability to mask her presence from the senses of others, but that didn’t work in my head.  It required that I move away from her burglar side and see if there was anything else.  Might have been a stretch, but her focus on Clyde being alive made me think she would try to speak with his spirit to make sure he didn’t respond.  I never had her do this in the book since it starts right when she’s pushing for another expedition to find him.  It takes a lot of doing to get her to use this power too, so it’s really the one that she’s uncomfortable with.  At least for now.  That’s why there really isn’t much else to say here.  I will point out that I enjoy mentioning the voices yelling in the background, which means she doesn’t have control.

Shadow Jumping

Let’s be honest.  This is the big one for Mab and it’s the one that I have the most amount of fun with.  More than I imagined because she’s used her shadow jumping in ways that I didn’t originally think of.  This power was created off the combination of her being a burglar and Clyde being very straightforward in his methods.  He can still be sneaky, but his battle lust kind of takes over.  I thought that her being stealthy would compliment him and it has worked out really well.  At times, Clyde acts as a distraction for Mab to get in her attacks or stealing in.  I reall love it when she just uses the power in non-combat settings. She will emerge from shadows in the middle of a scene to talk or grab something out of them, which is done as naturally as opening a door.  One could say it’s fairly close to teleportation too, which is a power I haven’t been able to play with much.  It isn’t as simple since she needs shadows to work with, which is a reason she has the long jacket.  There is a little distortion here too since it came out that she can widen shadows to come out of or her body is momentarily altered to fit.  Haven’t quite decided on that.

Perhaps the biggest challenge here was deciding on how she would travel.  Was it an instantaneous transport or did she have to move through something?  Could she bring others along?  All of this had to be decided before she debuted in The Mercenary Prince, so I was rushed a bit more with her than the others.  In fact, that’s where I came up with the shadow dimension/void/darkness world.  Although, it has monsters in the current series and seems a little different, so some things changed over the centuries.  I think Mab might be the first being who wasn’t a demon or deity to enter here, which helped me accept that it could be endless.  This place is getting a full post tomorrow since it’s so complicated, so I won’t say much here.  Yet, it is one of the few settings where I can just let my imagination go wild.

A final note on Mab’s shadow jumping is the combat usage.  I realized how it would work in a offensive and lethal capacity when I had her fighting a stronger opponent.  The scenario became so hectic and difficult that I was having trouble figuring out how she could survive.  I don’t want to give spoilers, but I had to think of everywhere that I shadow would be.  Were there any locations that she could find a shadow even if there are bright lights going off?  It was a messy answer and it opened the door for other uses.  Give War of Nytefall: Loyalty a read to see what I mean.  If you already have then go right into War of Nytefall: Rivarly.

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What’s So Great About Vampires: War of Nytefall: Rivalry – A New Novel from Charles Yallowitz:

Posted on April 8, 2019 by Charles Yallowitz

Another fun guest post to check out.

noelleg44's avatarSaylingAway

My fellow blogger, Charles Yallowitz, has come up with another of his great (and occasionally funny) lists, this time about vampires – to which he is clearly addicted! – to promo his new book. Read on, my friends:

A big thanks to Noelle for helping to promote my newest book, War of Nytefall: Rivalry. This is my third book that revolves around the Vampire Civil War of Windemere, which is the same magical world that was home to Legends of Windemere. Yeah, I guess that’s kind of obvious considering the title.  Now, I’ve been asked a few times, usually on days ending in ‘Y’, about why I decided to go for vampires.  They’ve been done a lot over the decades.  Well, my first response is because they were the next project in my mental queue and I’ve been dying to write stories with the Dawn Fangs as the…

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Top Ten Things Not to Do if You Are Worshipping the Vampire Queen

Posted on April 8, 2019 by Charles Yallowitz

Looking for a fun list? Well, I don’t have one of those, but here’s something that comes close. 😛

John W. Howell's avatarFiction Favorites

As you can see by the headline, I am totally out of my normal comfort level. That is because a friend of mine is launching a new book. I twisted his arm and made him cry uncle and agree to come here today to tell you about it. Charles is a prolific author of some of the best fantasy books on the planet. It pleases me to have him here with his own brand of Top Ten Things Not to do. So without delay here is Charles. Wait we need to see the book cover first.

War of Nytefall - Rivalry

Wow! Beautiful. Now here is Charles.

A big thanks to John W. Howell for letting me be a guest, especially on one of his most famous weekly posts. For those who don’t know me . . . More hands went up than my author ego was prepared for. So, my name is Charles E…

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Check This Out: War of Nytefall—Rivalry

Posted on April 8, 2019 by Charles Yallowitz

Head over and check out my guest post. You might even win a free copy if you comment.

L. Marie's avatarEl Space--The Blog of L. Marie

Thank you to L. Marie for being a great host and helping me promote my newest book, War of Nytefall: Rivalry. This is the third volume of my vampire action-adventure series, which takes place in the same world as Legends of Windemere. Okay, I think I covered the promo bases, so let’s get to the meaty stuff. Wait . . . My name is Charles E. Yallowitz. Knew I forgot to introduce myself. Oops.

The overarching story in War of Nytefall involves the Vampire Civil War that takes place right after the Great Cataclysm. During this global disaster, a vampire named Clyde is about to be executed by the followers of the Sun God. Magic is going haywire, so their spells actually turn him into a new species. Unlike the old-world vampires, Clyde and his “children” don’t lose their strength in the sun, they possess heartbeats, can eat regular…

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This Week in Indie Publishing

Posted on April 8, 2019 by Charles Yallowitz

Unknown's avatarDon Massenzio

Independent writers are choosing their own paths to success

Until recently, if you were a writer who had a novel or other work, there was essentially a single path to follow: you tried to find an agent who liked your writing, and who would be able to sell it to a publisher. The process could take months or years — assuming you were able to get on that merry-go-round at all.

David Gaughran, author ofLet’s Get Digitaland other books about self-publishing, tried that route when he wrote his first novel about 11 years ago. It was an exasperating experience.

“I spent about 18 months querying every agent that I could find in the English-language world and didn’t really get anywhere,” Gaughran says. He was frustrated enough that he thought about giving up. “But then I started looking at self-publishing.”

Read the rest of this story HERE.

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New Book! Birthday! Twitter Stuff! Things! SHAZAM!

Posted on April 7, 2019 by Charles Yallowitz

Where to even begin?  Well . . . As you can see from the sticky post, War of Nytefall: Rivalry has been released.  It went live on Friday and I’m hoping to see some movement over the course of the week.  For those who haven’t noticed, check out the cover and click on it to go to Amazon:

Cover Art by Alison Hunt

There are going to be a bunch of guest posts going up around the Internet and I plan on sharing them all here.  So, there’s going to be a high level of activity.  At least when I can because I do have work and that life event.  Really need to figure out when I can start calling that second thing by name.  Anyway, let’s leave that alone because I sense that nobody who doesn’t know it really is has any idea.  Some have even hinted that they think I’m being overly dramatic, but whatever.  Moving on!

Jay Sherman (The Critic)

You might notice that the Goal Post is on Sunday instead of Saturday.  Well, the secondary reason is because I wanted to announce War of Nytefall: Rivalry once it came out.  The other reason is because I was in New York City hanging with a friend to just relax and have an early birthday celebration.  We mostly wandered around and stopped at a bar for food and a drink from time to time.  Had a lot of water too since it warmed up quickly and I couldn’t do anything about my jacket.

The big event of the day was seeing ‘SHAZAM!’ . . . I’m just going to say it.  I’m already calling this my favorite superhero movie of 2019.  It was funny, had great action, twists that I didn’t see coming, and the characters were simply likable.  They also felt very human.  Shazam is definitely a kid in the body of an adult.  Freddie, his foster brother, has excellent comedic timing and the hyper, near obnoxiousness of him was countered by his utter honesty.  These were believable characters to me, which is something I haven’t seen in a superhero movie in years.  Also, the audience was laughing, cheering, and genuinely into the movie.  There wasn’t a sense that they were doing it because they thought it was required.  It was hilarious and had so much heart to the point where one revelation hits you so solidly in the gut.  I expected something like it, but not to the level of bluntness that it was delivered.  I highly recommend seeing because I don’t think we’re going to get many superhero movies that are this entertaining on a level beyond the spectacle.

Think I lost myself because this post became a movie review.  The other thing I wanted to talk about is Twitter . . . Is anybody getting anything out of it?  I was sitting here thinking up tweets to promote War of Nytefall: Rivalry and it wasn’t coming.  The one that went live today didn’t even have the preview.  I tried to switch the Amazon link with a new one, but still nothing.  I had to retweet with an image attached.  On days when I have 100+ retweets, I have no movement of the associated book.  All I do is retweet on there too, so I’m not sure why I put so much energy and time into it.  There’s really nothing coming out of there.  I figure my options are the following:

  1. Only have one pinned tweet per week to maintain some activity.
  2. Use it for something else that creates interactions.  Like pose a question every few days.  This would require more work on my part, but you never know what will come from it.
  3. Get rid of it completely.

I might try #1 for a bit to see what happens and try #2 from time to time.  The issue really has become that I have such limited time that putting effort into something with no real payoff doesn’t appeal to me.  I have 22.2K followers on there, but I seem to be running into the same people.  I have to hunt through my own feed to find things to retweet because there’s so much junk.  There is hesitation since I did work so hard to build that up, which is why #3 feels like a tantrum.  Maybe I’ll see how this week goes and make a post next Sunday about Twitter to get some insight.  I have scheduled tweets until Tuesday, so the last one will be left up there.  Then I’ll pose an author-based question one other day to see the reaction.  That sounds good.

In other news, my 39th birthday is Tuesday.  Getting older isn’t sitting too well with me because of how life is going.  I mean, the job is great and I’m making new friends.  Writing is still difficult due to time, energy, and emotions.  It’s really that life event.  I figure this is a rebuilding year.  It’s going to be busy and I’m going to be here and there.  Realized that I can’t use my cellphone during the summer job, so you guys might not hear from me until the evening on weekdays.  That’s far into the future.  Geez, this paragraph was supposed to be about my birthday.  Did get a few sweet presents like Deadpool sleeping pants and a weighted blanket.  That’s really it for now.  You really don’t get a lot of presents when you’re in your 30’s.

The plan for this week is to finally finish writing Chapter 8 of War of Nytefall: Eradication.  I need to get this book done before the summer, which is when I’m going to work on my super secret project.  It’s something that I can tinker with at a faster pace than my usual fare.  That reminds me that I need to pick up some pocket moleskine notebooks to work on it.  My last one got blown out of my hand by the wind and landed in a puddle.  You can’t come back from submerging and there wasn’t anything written in it anyway.  I was simply counting pages.  Beyond all that, I’m going to slowly work on the May posts too.  Running out of topics for June, which means I’ll have to sit down and figure those out as well.

Goals of the week:

  1. Promote War of Nytefall: Rivalry
  2. Write more of War of Nytefall: Eradication
  3. Birthday!
  4. Work!  Always fun and worthwhile.
  5. Schedule May posts.
  6. Tinker with super secret project.
  7. Make a list of June topics (always up for suggestions)
  8. Sleep, eat, bike, and shower.
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Sally’s Cafe and Bookstore – New on the Shelves #Shortstories – A Box of Memories by Allan Hudson

Posted on April 7, 2019 by Charles Yallowitz
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Sink Your Fangs Into War of Nytefall: Rivalry on Amazon! #fantasy #vampires #newrelease

Posted on April 6, 2019 by Charles Yallowitz

Clyde & the Dawn Fangs return to face a new enemy: The Vampire Queen!

Cover Art by Alison Hunt

Seeking the pleasure of revenge, an ancient rumor will reveal herself to be a deadly legend.

Lurking within the shadows for centuries, the Vampire Queen has been drawn to the conflict that surrounds Clyde. Only whispers have been spread about this elusive figure, who has amassed a kingdom that can rival Nyte and Nytefall. All that she is missing is the strongest vampire to crown as her king. In one fell swoop, she has taken the most powerful of her kind, including Clyde and Xavier Tempest. Hosting a tournament where the rules seem to change at her whim, the Vampire Queen threatens to shatter the already strained world that lurks beneath Windemere’s surface. Yet, there is more to her desires, which seep from a soul that is pulsing with fury. For her kingdom can never be complete until she holds the head of the one who wronged her centuries ago.

Can Mab stand against her ancient rival and save her monstrous partner?

 Excerpt: Party Crashers

Among the well-dressed vampires, the pair are obviously out of place, but they are not approached thanks to everyone seeing them enter with the beautiful desserts. The lack of suspicion allows them to move around the room and mingle with the waitstaff, who they talk to about the other dishes. Clyde makes sure to stay as far away from Xavier and Nadia as possible, but not appear too obvious. He watches the couple talk with their new council, all of them standing atop the dais where the thrones of Nyte have been placed. There are a set of nine smaller chairs being set up at the base of the steps, each one adorned with its owner’s house symbol. The Dawn Fang notes that they are all some kind of flower, which mimics the fanged orchid crest of the Tempest family. Meeting Lady Sylvan’s blue and yellow eyes, Clyde politely bows his head and is relieved to see that she ignores his presence. He chuckles at how her sparrow pendant does not match her black and red dress, the wooden bauble still on the leather strap it came with centuries ago. A gentle elbow to the ribs from Mab stops him from smirking at his own thoughts and reminds him that he is dressed like a woman, so he tries to walk with more of a sway in his hips. The exaggerated motion causes his partner to put an arm around his waist and end the horrible imitation that is earning a lustful leer from Archillious.

“Thank you to everyone for attending!” Xavier declares, his voice rising above the music and conversations. Taking his wife’s hand in his, he directs Nadia to her throne and waves for the council to take their seats. “On this day, the vampire nobility has been reborn. There will be no infighting or schemes to overthrow each other like with our predecessors. All of us have agreed that the only way for our kind to survive is to work together and form a global society with Nyte at its center. Many say that I have done this in order to call myself the Vampire King, but I assure you that this is a lie. Not that I would say no to the title, but my goals are not so vain and simplistic. Windemere is still changing and we need to be united under one flag. Otherwise, we will go the way of those who were lost in the Great Cataclysm. With these wise and powerful nobles at my side, I will make sure that our people will live and thrive. Extinction is not the destiny for vampires as long as I draw breath . . . so to speak.”

“We move as soon as he finishes the toast,” Clyde whispers to Mab.

The Lord of Nyte raises his drink over his head and says, “I am honored to present to all of you-”

“A real king requires the true queen!” a voice shouts from the back of the crowd. A vampiric halfling dressed in a bejeweled suit jumps onto one of the tables and shivers even though he is sweating. “This ceremony is a farce because it does not carry the favor of the Vampire Queen. It has been centuries, but now she is ready to assume the throne. As her emissary, I have come to warn all who would dare to deny her that they will be crushed. I also come with an invitation to those who have been granted permission to compete for the Vampire Queen’s hand. It is only through her blessing may you claim to rule our people. Do not accept forgeries who wish to draw you off the path!”

The halfling stops when a fang strikes him between the eyes, the shot from Archillious having very little effect. Stepping out from behind the tapestry on the back wall, Lou charges at the intruder. The hairy ogre knocks guests out of the way and lowers his head to display his horns, one of which is adorned with a colorful bow. He leaps for the smaller vampire, which he can easily crush in one hand. Decker is not far behind the bodyguard, his keen senses screaming that they are in danger. Crossbow bolts soar over the dwarf’s head to strike the halfling in the knees, but he does not buckle. The advancing warriors skid to a stop when Clyde, still wearing his dress, appears above the emissary and rears back to deliver a full-strength punch. His fist is about to make contact when the halfling suddenly bloats and the jewels on his suit begin to crack. The entire castle is rocked by a violent explosion, which fills the ballroom with a crystalline dust that hangs in the air like an immovable curtain.

Get War of Nytefall: Rivalry on Amazon for $2.99!
Add it to your Goodreads To-Read Lists!

*****

Start the adventure from the beginning with War of Nytefall: Loyalty!

Cover Art by Alison Hunt

Then, continue the vampire-filled fun with War of Nytefall: Lost!

Cover art by Alison Hunt

Interested in more Windemere?  Then don’t forget to check out Charles E. Yallowitz’s first series: Legends of Windemere

All Cover Art by Jason Pedersen

About the Author:

Charles Yallowitz was born and raised on Long Island, NY, but he has spent most of his life wandering his own imagination in a blissful haze. Occasionally, he would return from this world for the necessities such as food, showers, and Saturday morning cartoons. One day he returned from his imagination and decided he would share his stories with the world. After spending many years fiddling with his thoughts and notebooks, he decided that it was time to follow his dream of being a fantasy author. So, locked within the house with only pizza and seltzer to sustain him, Charles brings you tales from the world of Windemere. He looks forward to sharing all of his stories with you and drawing you into a world of magic.

Blog: www.legendsofwindemere.com
Twitter: @cyallowitz
Facebook: Charles Yallowitz
Website: www.charleseyallowitz.com

 

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Jewelz the Vampire Queen

Posted on April 5, 2019 by Charles Yallowitz

Carmilla from Castlevania

There’s only so much I can say about the Vampire Queen considering her past and actions are the main part of War of Nytefall: Rivalry.  Yet, I can reveal her true name, which is Jewelz.  I can share a little bit of her history too without going into the details, but we’re also going to see where she came from.  After all, the previous characters got their origin posts, so why not her?

Way back, I used to goof off on AOL Instant Messenger and sometimes it was role-playing online.  One person I chatted with a bunch created this vampire character named Jewelz who she said I could use in a story.  I would use Clyde and the two would interact with each of us trying to one up the other.  Fight scenes were extremely violent and we even tried love scenes with the characters to see how they worked together.  We lost contact, but I had the notes on Jewelz only to keep two parts:

  1. The name.
  2. She could go toe-to-toe with Clyde.

This is why earlier incarnations of the series had her show up as his lover, which kept causing trouble.  She would only be partially developed because Mab would be in the way and many times she went evil.  It was frustrating that I could never really get it to work, but I eventually accepted that was the case.  Of course this led to a long string of other ideas that kept her revolving around Clyde.  My personal favorite was his daughter from the future who was born completely from his blood and wanted to make sure he survived some disaster.  Her way of making him survive was to launch him through a portal, which sent him to Windemere.  I don’t know why Jewelz kept turning into the bridge between Earth and Windemere.  Should have known that would cause problems too.

For about 2 years, I had her on the shelf because I didn’t know how to make her fit once the Dawn Fangs went to Windemere.  She wasn’t needed to get Clyde there since he was a local now.  The last piece of her purpose was gone, but I didn’t want to toss her into the garbage.  Looking over my old notes, I tried to see where things went wrong and kept coming back to another character.  Jewelz would have gone a lot farther if Mab wasn’t in the picture.  I decided to play off that and it rapidly grew into them having an ancient rivalry.  The rest of the story really blossomed around this concept and it helped me design Jewelz in a new light.  It also gave some credence to the name.

You see, I needed Mab to have an opposite here.  Jewelz is vain while Mab doesn’t really care about her looks.  They both have ego, but Mab is laid back while Jewelz desires credit and praise.  Of course, both of them had to be thieves, which continued the curious differences.  I noticed that Mab tends to steal whatever catches her attention and has no real theme to her heists.  Being the polar opposite, Jewelz focuses almost entirely on gemstones and crystals.  I could keep going, but then there won’t be much to discover in the book.

All I can say here is that it was a lot of fun to create a foil for Mab because it meant Clyde couldn’t touch her.  It wouldn’t be right for him to take on the character who wasn’t designed to face him.  This put him in a tough spot and elevated Jewelz to a more powerful level because she needed to be able to keep that monster at bay.  Overall, I think she came out very well and has a lot of secrets that readers will enjoy.  So, step into War of Nytefall: Rivalry and check out the rest of her story.

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