The day has finally arrived…RELEASE DAY IS UPON US!
So, before I get into my promo, I’d just like to give a little shout-out to the three authors who did not end up getting pics. I would share blurbs for their stories, but I don’t have two of them, and didn’t feel right in demanding those…but I also wouldn’t feel right about not promoting their work at all, either. Not only that, but I was actually published in Counterclockwise with all 3 of them.
And those 3 are:
Sarah Buhrman, whose urban fantasy series is just plain awesome (book 3 coming soon), and whose work has also been featured in A Twist Of Fate. Seriously, check her stuff out, she’s great.
Her story, “Super Powereds Anonymous”:
Mute is tired of the villain life and joins a support group for lesser super powereds. When people start dying, will their…
I’m reposting this from a few years ago. Back then, I didn’t have many readers so now, I wanted to share these pithy thoughts–including a few updates–with all my new efriends!
There are a lot of difficult parts to writing. I mean, besides the whole write-edit-revise-rewrite-market-start over thing. That cutting a vein and bleeding on the page can get touch-and-go at times. Channeling your muse often gets someone you’d prefer to avoid. And it’s well documented that trying to make a living as an author is pretty near impossible unless your last name rhymes with ‘Fancy’ or ‘Brawling’.
Despite all that, it’s a profession people flock to, spend thousands training to be, and wouldn’t give up for anything. Widely-accepted studies show 80% of us have a book we want to share–despite that industry stats show it takes five years to hone and deliver an acceptable novel.
I’m pretty sure I’ve talked about this before to some extent, but I couldn’t find any posts on the topic. Regardless, I keep running into the same obstacle when talking to some people about War of Nytefall. They hear that the characters are vampires and respond as if Clyde and his friends are running around slaughtering everyone. Cassidy and Lloyd Tenay of Derailing Bedlam are actually more violent than the Dawn Fangs. Still, people here the word ‘monster’ or a monster species then jump to conclusions. It gets frustrating too when you’re bombarded by questions like:
So, who is the human that they are fighting? Uh, there isn’t one.
Everyone is a bad guy? No. There are good and evil vampires here.
Will a hero appear to kill them all? Kind of like that first question.
There’s nobody to root for. Not a question, but you’re obviously not paying attention.
It’s amazing to me that there is such a wall when it comes to using creatures such as vampires and werewolves as protagonists. It’s like people refuse to believe that these beings can be anything more than blood-thirsty beasts. You do have to maintain some of their grisly and monstrous habits, but it isn’t like they are that removed from humans. In most cases, vampires were once mortal or at least act as part of a society (either covert or overt) that mimics a mortal system. That’s why I find it so odd that people have trouble considering that you can have one who isn’t entirely monstrous. Not like vampiric heroes are anything new too since you have Forever Night, Morbius the Living Vampire, Angel, and some heroic incarnations of Dracula. Yet, I continue to receive messages asking about how I can have a story with no heroes or comments that assume the Dawn Fangs are brutal destroyers.
Part of this could come from how I describe them on the blog. I always maintain that they are not mortal and can be violent. Clyde gets this description a lot, but I can’t always go into that much more detail. I explain that he is still human with feelings, dreams, and some restraint. A big part of the overall series is him holding onto what little humanity he has left since, unlike the other Dawn Fangs, he’s on the edge of being a full-blown monster like people think he already is. I’ve had to forge a balance between his monster and human side with there never being a clear superior. He goes back and forth a lot, which is something you can really only see in teasers and the books themselves. On the blog, I mention he’s a vampire and that seems to seal the deal for some.
Is it really that hard to believe that monsters can be used for more than antagonists? As authors, we’re supposed to put our own twist on ideas. Yet, people are very protective of the idea that monsters are monsters. I remember running a D&D game and the group ran into a band of goblins crossing a bridge. They attacked right away and discovered afterwards that these were miners heading towards a nearby city to deliver bags of gemstones. Keep in mind that it’s really only the ‘ugly’ monsters that get this kind of treatment. Dragons, unicorns, griffins, pegasi, and other types that are seen as beautiful can be anything. Doesn’t matter if they tear somebody apart as quickly as a vampire who is known for fangs, blood, and scary faces. There’s a long history to go up against and I think I underestimated it when I wrote War of Nytefall.
I know is this is near the end, but I’m now going to say what I mean by humanoid monster. These are creatures that don’t so much as look human, but they have the emotions and thoughts that we typically associate with human characters. They might be monster on the outside, but they have depth to their soul. As odd as it sounds, Herman Munster is a great example even though he was made for comedy. He looks scary to some extent while being a loving father and husband. There are human characters that can’t even claim that because they’re monstrous on the inside. Funny how the opposite doesn’t seem to get the same amount of praise unless it’s a romance. Maybe more people should give humanoid monster protagonists a chance in the hopes of making them more accepted by the world. Just a thought. Not that I have a book series to sell. Okay, I do, but it’s my blog and I have to make pitches from time to time.
When creating War of Nytefall, I didn’t really think about the cities that would be vampire only. In fact, I only considered that they would have castles, lairs, and live within the pre-existing mortal society. That was kind of lazy of me since that’s how settings typically go in these stories. Then, Mab turned up in Legends of Windemere: The Mercenary Prince and talked about the city of Nyte. It was a passing comment about the vampire capital and I didn’t think much of it. In fact, I nearly forgot about it and it took me a while to find it and confirm the spelling. So, what did I come up with for this central location?
Honestly, I was very sparse in the description of a lot of Nyte. It came to me that the vampires wouldn’t make a city that would scream undead bloodsuckers. There is a central castle where a lot of the action takes place and a city has spread out around it. Windows all have shutters for when daylight comes, but since the sun only saps strength, the vampires still move around the city during those times. The marketplace had the most detail because I imagined the stores having unconscious mortals in cages to sell as ‘full kegs’ or tap to give citizens a variety. It was similar to ducks in a Chinese restaurant window. Overall, the city came off as having a mild personality instead of being out there like Gaia, Rodillen, and Haven. Again, this made sense because vampires wouldn’t want to stand out and I couldn’t see them trading with mortals.
Nyte is tucked in the middle of a wilderness, but the Great Cataclysm has moved it closer to mortal settlements. This is another reason why the vampires are under attack from the beginning. With nobody knowing what caused the Great Cataclysm, certain groups have considered that the vampires did it in an attempt to increase their hunting grounds. This isn’t even close to true, but a terrified world has turned Nyte into a beacon of fear for one side and hope for another. In this way, the city acts more as a symbol than a location. It’s extremely important to the traditional vampires because of its role as a stronghold that has survived the 50 years of assault from their natural enemies. Many consider the fall of Nyte being equal to the fall of vampire society, which isn’t surprising. It’s been maintaining the front line in terms of battles and culture for centuries.
One might wonder why the Duragians haven’t tried to raze the city to the ground since it’s a known location. I’ve thought about this too and came up with two conclusions. One is that there is a benefit for keeping Nyte around. Not every vampire lives here and those that don’t are harder to keep track of. Destroying the city means that more enemies escape into the wind and become wandering threats. If the Duragians ever manage to destroy most of the solitaries and smaller civilizations then they would go after Nyte because the threat of thousands of hiding vampires wouldn’t be there. Also, a failed siege could result in retaliation at a time when the temples’ numbers are too low. Needless to say, this isn’t what every priest and paladin believes, so there are still attempts. The other conclusion is that there are magical defenses around the territory that only mortals fall for. This would be illusions that direct them away from the city or traps that are checked for fresh meat every few hours.
Most of my attention with Nyte went to the castle, so I imagined it starting out with that and developing a city around it. So, much of the area revolves around the nobility surviving an attack. There are thick fortifications and secret passages that connect all of the important rooms. Oddly enough, I didn’t really imagine this place with the window shutters, which hints that those who live there try to maintain a slight connection to their mortal lives. This might not be on purpose with the current leadership, but the castle has a sense of never being changed beyond decorations. Still, the details of this place remained tame compared to my past creations. This may go throughout the whole series since vampires are focused on staying in the shadows.
Then again, there are two more locations that are important to War of Nytefalland they sit at the extremes when compared to Nyte.
Promo week continues for this superhero anthology, assembled to raise money for the fight against childhood cancer! This one’s a day later than intended, but we’re back on track!
So, the next one here is Devorah Fox’s story “Lady Blackwing Gets Her Moniker”.
Blurb: Mercedes is just trying to make her way through life: taking classes, working her shift as a barista, and when she can squeeze it in, writing short stories. Inoculated with a pencil favored by her literary heroes, she finds herself imbued with startling abilities. She can write the imagined future into existence and rewrite the past, but the consequences are unpredictable. After a late-night writing session, a hate crime erupts in her neighborhood and Mercedes is certain that it’s her doing. But does she have the power to right the wrong?
This week was exhausting and I’m actually write most of this post on Thursday because I don’t know how much energy I’ll have Saturday. That and I want to spend the morning writing while my son is at his programs then the afternoon playing with him. My eyes keep trying to close, so we’ll see what happens. Tomorrow is a field trip where I get to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge, which I’m sure is going to use up the last of my energy for the week. Let’s categorize to make things a tad easier. Noticing that people kind of choose one or two things to respond to as well, so it should help out there. (I’m guilty of this too at times.)
War of Nytefall: Eradication
Let’s start with the good news: I actually managed to write a chapter of a new book on Sunday . . . or was it Monday? One of the challenges has been that the cold has sapped my energy like it does every winter. So, I don’t always remember the exact days, especially with everything else you’ll see. Anyway, the first chapter is done and I didn’t do too horrible. Wandered off a lot because I needed to get my head away from reality and back to the story. Since I tend to drift with the writing, I run a risk of my mind jumping to the stressful life situation that continues to get worse. Still, I got the prologue down and that’s progress. Part of me thinks I should put the first scene of Chapter 1 in there since it doesn’t have Clyde, but has Titus and Luther. That shouldn’t be too hard and might be what I do Friday night or Saturday morning. The point here is that I got writing done even though I failed to do anything else during the week. You’re about to see why.
TESTS!
It was midterm week, so the schedule was off at school. The student I help had three tests and my job was to read it to him and one other student. Have to admit that I thought I would be working with another teacher, but I was going solo. The initial shock wore off fast and I think I did a good job. As usual, I can’t go into details about things because it wouldn’t be right. It was fun to see the student I help get excited about some of the tests and be proud about knowing things.
The one thing I wasn’t ready for was the waiting for being needed. Once my test was done, I was basically on call. Got to do some reading and talk to people, but I’ll admit that part of me kept hoping I’d find something to do. I considered taking my laptop to do some writing, but I didn’t think I’d be able to focus. Finding a quiet place to write wouldn’t have been too hard. The issue is that I’d have to keep part of my attention on my phone in case I got a message about being needed somewhere. Better to hang out with the other teachers or grab some Naruto manga in the library. I do feel bad that I read many of the issues that I requested from the local library. Oops.
(Adding before posting) The week did end with a fun field trip. We went to the Freedom Tower and the walked across the Brooklyn Bridge. It wasn’t that cold, but the walk was still a little grueling. Doesn’t help that I’m out of shape, so I’m not the best judge of difficulty. Going to the top of the tower where you get a 360 degree view of NYC was great and well worth the stuffy ears caused by the elevator. When going up, they show the city growing over the years like its a virtual journey. Highly recommend it if you can get there, but I’ve heard there’s a long waiting list.
Not a Free Night at All
Another reason I’m drained is because I didn’t get much time to relax. Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday was my son’s martial arts nights as usual. Tuesday and Friday he had doctor appointments that required me picking him up from school. These resulted in me getting home around 7:30 most nights. Went to biking for 15 minutes and then I was just worn out. Spent more time watching Jessica Jones Season 1 because I knew I wouldn’t be able to write. This might have been a uniquely chaotic week, so I hope to find a way to do some writing at night in the future. Only getting the weekend will slow my progress down to a pretty big crawl. Unless I use weekends for new stuff and edit during the weekdays. That’s too rushed and it ignores that I have more important things like teaching, parenting, rebuilding, and sleeping.
The Comment-Attracting Posts
It seems my posts on Monday and Wednesday got a lot more attention than my normal stuff. People really stepped in with their opinions on things. I know I got a little heated with some of the talking because I felt like certain aspects of what I was saying were getting ignored. A big one that keeps turning up is that my situation has changed in a very negative and chaotic way. I truly wish I could talk about it in public, but I can’t without making things worse. This isn’t something that one can shrug off and it’s probably going to leave scars for years. So, I’m not taking to being told that I’ll find a way or things will get better very well. I know a few people reached out in private to ask what’s going on and I got a few ‘Oh, shit!’ responses. Keep in mind that this is something bad enough that I announced a semi-retirement and admit that I might not be able to do any real writing for years. My time as a prolific author is done for now unless a miracle happens to make it a viable career. Not holding my breath, which is why I’m focused more on teaching.
Another thing that I tried to explain a few times is that this ‘setback’ is more brutal and crushing than people might realize. Since 2013, I’ve mostly met authors who were either retired or had a well-paying main job. It was rare that I ran into another author who was going full-time because it was a gamble. One that I thought I was winning, but then I just failed. Support systems crumbled, sales died, and everything fell apart to the point where I feel like I was an idiot for trying. People who claimed for years that I could make it have changed their tunes to saying I should never have tried. Most don’t say it to my face, but it gets back to me. I don’t know how many people out there truly understand what this all means and why positive thinking doesn’t really work. I jumped for the brass ring and got yanked into the carousel’s gears. Can’t say that I’m dead, but I’m certainly mangled and bleeding. So, I am wondering why talent doesn’t seem to be a factor to success and why so few people decided to follow me to a new series. If it’s all luck and I have to rebuild every time I start something new then how does anyone make it?
Again, there’s more going on here that I can’t get into. The day I can talk about it should have people understanding why I’m in the state that I’m in. Let’s get to the goals.
Get at least one more chapter of War of Nytefall: Eradication done.
After publishing ten books with another in the wings, I suppose my passion for writing appears healthy. There are those days, however, when the words won’t come and I struggle to even write original posts for my blog. You can call it writer’s block, but there is also an element of frustration and discouragement that factors in.
What I’ve tried to do is turn the negatives into positives and maximize the positives. It’s not always easy, but it works.
Here are some of the negatives I’ve been working through:
Not enough time to write: My job is crazy busy. I have time to write at night, but I’m an old guy and I get so tired that my brain can’t function enough to write coherently.
My solution: I crash into bed at 8:30 or 9 at night and I’m up at 4:30 or 5 and get a couple of hours…
Ciao,amici! Hope you’re all doing well. It was another busy week for me, and it doesn’t look like my obligations will be changing anytime soon, so rather than boring you with the same lament every Friday, I’m going to move on to what is relevant.
We celebrated Martin Luther King, Jr. this Monday. Man, wouldn’t it be nice if we kept his quest for peace in mind all the time? I thought I’d choose one of his quotes in his honor this week. One, I think, that applies to anyone as well as to our writing lives.
Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.
Wise words.
I’m not sure if you’re just starting out on your writing journey or if you, like me, have been at it for a while. Wherever you are, beginning each new story can be daunting. It’s exciting, but…
Welcome to the Store Store! What is it you’re looking for? An explanation might be able to clear things up. You see, we supply everything you need to make a store. These are in high demand these days and our Board of Directors, none of who are giant termites, saw an opportunity. Feel free to look around and don’t assume that you have to decide on anything now. Such a decision takes time and information. Let me give you a tour and maybe something will catch your eye. Have this tasty drink and enjoy.
As you can see, we have two categories depending on what you need. Some of our customers need the building constructed from the ground up, so they require extra attention and services. Others have the building already, which means we only have to worry about the codes that involve additions. Our architects have created hundreds of possible designs, but they are always up for a new challenge. For example, we recently had a customer who needed a tower on a small island. I’m talking one that was no bigger than five houses across. It was mostly sand too, so stability was an issue. Unfortunately, that’s where my story ends because our techniques are kept secret from outsiders. Even our customers only get a basic idea of what we do. Otherwise, we’d never get called in for maintenance.
The interior of your store depends primarily on what you are selling. Flowers would require some open windows to get a breeze while ice sculptures need to be sealed off and kept cold. There are still some common basics. You need a front area with registers, which range from a solitary desk to supermarket rows. The variety here is in the level of technology that you wish to use. We have fully automated, computerized registers, abacus, and a several other systems. It really depends on what you are looking for and the level of human involvement you require. I will warn you that fully automated does require at least three live-in mechanics. By live-in, I mean they need room and board within the store because you never know when something will go wrong. Like what? Corrupt software, lost data, fires, attempts to enslave humanity, missing dollar sign keys, and the usual issues.
Here is our art department where you sit in the chair and talk to our various artists. They will help with signage, murals, and whatever else needs a creative touch. Do not feel obligated to listen to all of their ideas because they can get fairly competitive. That’s what the paintball guns are for too. If a heated debate ensues and you are unable to provide a clear answer, the feuding artists have a duel. The usual ten paces, turn, and fire. How do we know who wins if it’s non-lethal? It usually devolves into a small battle that ends once one person is out of ammunition. It’s fairly entertaining as long as you don’t get hit. Feel free to choose a third option if you feel the actions of the others are unbecoming of your brand. Oh, we recently hired a sculptor too. Keep that in mind . . . Yes, I know you are not interested in a store, but you should still keep it in mind.
What do we have left? It’s difficult to do this without knowing what you would want or need. It really isn’t that hard to put a store together when you have a theme. There are the aisles and shelves that range from wooden standard to conveyor belts. Holograms were taken off the market because customers kept mistaking them for real products. Far too many false advertising lawsuits even after we added a ‘this is a hologram’ message on the bottom. I guess that’s really it. Sorry that I couldn’t be of more help. Is there anything you want to do before you leave? Do we have a bathroom? I’m sorry those are only for paying customers. Would you be interested in a small calendar kiosk?
Not enough time to write: My job is crazy busy. I have time to write at night, but I’m an old guy and I get so tired that my brain can’t function enough to write coherently.
