Night Children: The Blog

Bite of Story Thursday

2012-01-12T06:00:00.002-07:00

Night Children: Dark Trials
Chapter Twelve

It took the Bloodfeast three weeks to finally approach its isle home. During that time, they would feed on the surviving Sea Wing crewmembers. Roland didn’t want to be tossed overboard so he ignored the helpless human’s desperate pleas. He avoided their desperate eyes, even though their cries for help ripped his soul apart.

Roland watched the crew unload the stolen goods onto the dock. They seemed to gaze at their Captain with a mix of fear and respect as he forcefully shouted commands.

The sounds of excited people drew him to the shore. The port looked normal. He could sense vampires nearby but it was probably the crew. He wondered what new adventures this place would bring. An unnaturally strong hand gripped onto his shoulder and spun him around. Blood-Eyed Bill glared, his dark red eyes skewered him like two hot pokers.

“It was a mistake to bring you,” his voice deep as a powerful drum, “You shouldn’t be a vampire. You’re too small. Too young. One day he won’t be able to protect you.”

Roland wanted to scratch the fool’s eyes. Prove his merit. Instead of causing a fight he might not win, he simply brushed off Bill’s hand with an equally strong push.

“Touch me again and I’ll make you Black-Eyed Bill,” he snarled. So did Bill.

Who's Who in the Annabelle Universe? Fenroth

2012-01-10T06:00:00.040-07:00

FENROTH

No picture at this time. Hopefully that will change someday.

Other names: Trapper, Vampire-Trapper, Hunter, Fen

Physical characteristics:
"The imposing stranger towered over him, standing well over six feet tall. Dressed in furs from head to toe with the exception of his pants and belt, which were leather, the man looked rugged. A large fur cloak covered his ensemble.

He had a thick beard and mustache with heavy eyebrows. A large hat covered his forehead and cast a long shadow over his hairy face. His glowing red eyes stared through the shadowy night."

Personality:
Clever, smart, gruff, silent, confident and careful.

Abilities:

He has the standard vampire abilities. This means he’s faster and stronger than humans, his senses are extremely acute as are his reflexes. However he can not fly or transform. He cannot mesmerize others either. He can communicate with animals.

His tracking skills are stronger than most vampires and werewolves. His senses are stronger and more acute, allowing him to sense other vampires, creatures, humans and animals for miles around.

He is an expert tracker with a collection of kills. He uses every trap known to man or vampire as well as many he has devised himself.

Known History:

Fenroth is a Northwestern tracker turned vampire by a mysterious Native American vampire in the early 1600s. He has two werewolves that the dark witch Gertrude trapped in werewolf form. They look like big wolves on four legs. Fenroth named them Set and Hades. Fenroth is loyal to Dominic and serves him well. Dominic put Fenroth in charge of his empire in North America. This means the trapper can create as many vampires as he wants, as long as they are loyal to Dominic first and foremost. He has two assistants, Isi the Choctaw squaw and the crazed Wildes Blut Teir.

Fenroth originally met Roland Foresight when Roland traveled through the woods of Massachusetts in order to rescue a friend. Fenroth befriended Roland in order to trap him, but Roland found out Fenroth’s plan and escaped. Fenroth captured Roland and Annabelle Foresight had to mount a rescue with their friend Thomas Dunston.

The Foresight children have dealt with Fenroth over the last three centuries in stories yet to be told.

Night Children: Dark Trials is ready for the crit group!

2012-01-08T06:00:00.008-07:00

I belong to a local critique group. We review each other's books, give advice where needed to make the books stronger and support each other in our endeavours. Sometimes we're brutally honest. It's hard but necessary.

Dark Trials is the second book in the Night Children series. When I first wrote the rough draft for what would become Dark Birth, I actually had a great deal of Dark Trials in it too. I later broke the books in two.

A friend at work read Dark Trials and liked it. He was the only one so far. Now it's time for the group to review it. They'll read it this month and in February we'll discuss it. I expect some parts to entertain them but I know there are unknown problems throughout it. There always are things that I think are OK but I later find out it didn't quite work.

I know I'll be hating some of the things I hear but it's necessary. It's part of the journey that I need to do.

Bite of Story Thursday

2012-01-05T06:00:00.005-07:00

Night Children: Dark Birth

Chapter Twenty-One

They traveled together all night. Roland watched Fenroth closely, trying to learn from the experienced tracker.

“How long have you been tracking and hunting?”

“For the better part of eighty years. I was turned into a vampire shortly after I moved to this continent.”

They were running quickly through the dark woods. The moon lit up the path at certain intervals but Roland’s night vision made the moonlight unnecessary. Fenroth never turned into a bat or flew. Roland followed his lead because he didn’t want to look like a show off.

After a while of traveling at top speed and never quite catching up with Fenroth, Roland began to get tired. Suddenly the man stopped. He held up his right arm to signal for Roland to stop as well.

“Smell it?”

“Yeah. What is that? It smells stronger than the beavers and raccoons I’ve eaten.” The thin, musky odor tuned Roland’s nose. He could pick up the tasty aroma of lots of blood.

Fenroth nodded towards the moonlit stream through the brush where a bear drank greedily. “Watch closely.”

Roland instinctively held his breath.

-----

For more check out Dark Birth at your local online store. Links to Dark Birth on the web can be found on the Store Page.

Who's Who in the Annabelle Universe? Eliza Pratchet

2012-01-03T06:00:00.061-07:00

ELIZA PRATCHET

This is the closest I have to a pic of them.

artist:(if you know the artist, please let me know so I can credit him or her).

Other names: Laila, Dear wife

Name Origin: Form of Elisabeth, "pledged to God." Variant, Liza, exists.
“Eliza” is her English name. Her real name is Laila, like her 4th great grandmother. She was named Eliza by her Grandmother Laila and she took it, quite honored.

Physical characteristics:
She appears in her early twenties, has long dark hair and olive skin like her fellow European gypsies, except it seems more pale due to her vampirism. She has long fingernails and wears long flowing black and white dresses and robes.

Personality: Very patient, caring, loving and kind. She walks and speaks softly and appears gentle unless you threaten her adoptive children, Annabelle and Roland Foresight. She gained confidence the longer she was with the Foresight children.

Abilities:
She has the standard vampire abilities. This means she’s faster and stronger than humans, her senses are extremely acute as are her reflexes. She can fly and turn into a bat. She has ability to transform into a wolf, rat, bat and mist. She can control humans through mesmerization and communicate with lesser beasts.

Known History:

Born in 1589 a daughter of gypsies. She and her family were mortals whom traveled with the Mullo tribe, a family of vampiric gypsies. The tribe members, after a certain age where they might die, can chose the Right of the Dark and get turned so they can live on. Some stay mortal because they choose to while others desire vampirism.

Her 4th great grandfather, the vampire Nicu, died in 1591 defending the tribe and young Eliza in particular. A small group of evil vampires under Dominic’s command tried to slaughter them but Nicu drove them off, earning a steak to the heart. Eliza’s parents died as well. Her 5th great grandmother Laila raised little Eliza.

In 1609 she met Dominic. Eliza fell in love with him and he stole her away to America when he was back in Europe gaining supporters. Eliza carries a great deal of guilt over allowing Dominic to take her.

In 1692 she rebelled against him and saved Annabelle and Roland. She turned them into vampires. She teaches them because she at first felt sorry for them, because Laila taught her to help the downcast and because she loves them.

Bite of Story Thursday

2011-12-29T06:00:00.005-07:00

Night Children: Dark Threats

Chapter Six

In her werewolf form, Grace appeared thin but healthy. The attacking werewolves all dwarfed her due to her smaller size. She was roughly the same height as Roland and possessed his defiant temper. Despite being two different creatures of the night, Roland and Grace seemed perfect for each other.

Her opponent smiled a toothy grin. “You would do well to join up. We’ll find your precious clan. And when we do, I’ll take your head to your brother Coinín as a trophy. He’s the king of your tribe now, correct?”

She grinned as well. It took a lot more than false bravado from one of Dominic’s trained mutts to get under her fur. “You’re welcome to try.”

The werewolf lunged. Grace dropped to the ground and darted between his legs. She flipped, grabbed the extra fur on his back, pulled herself up and slashed at his eyes and throat. He let out a dreadful gasp as she bounded off his shoulders and somersaulted in the air. Grace outstretched her feet, landing on a table. She picked up a silver knife with a napkin and crouched, ready for his attack.

-----

For more check out Dark Threats at your local online store. Links to Dark Threats on the web can be found on the Store Page.

Who's Who in the Annabelle Universe? Servo Guardante

2011-12-27T06:00:00.012-07:00

SERVO GUARDANTE

No picture at this time. Hopefully that will change someday.

Other names: Ol' Stinky, Smelly, Mr. Creepy

Name Origin: Watching Servant in Italian.

Physical characteristics:

Always hunched over, filthy, wild eyes, creepy smile, balding with pock marks and scars on skin and dressed in dirty rags.

Personality:
Creepy, back stabbing spy who only serves his master and himself. Clever enough to know the value of escaping to live another day. Completely devoted to Dominic and will betray or kill anyone if it means gaining his master's favor.

Abilities:
Servo is a ghoul. If a vampire bites a human twice in rapid succession their physical and mental being becomes corrupted. They become stronger and faster than most humans. Their reflexes and senses are sharper. In short, they gain a small fraction of the power of a vampire. They cannot mesmerize others, fly or chance shape. The sun weakens then a fraction but does not burn them. Ghouls have long life spans but it is unknown if they can achieve the full immortality that vampires have. Most die in the service of their dark masters.

Known History:
At some point in the past Dominic found Servo in Italy and made him a ghoul. Servo has served Dominic for centuries, spying on Dominic's enemies across two continents and within many nations. He always puts Dominic first and travels a lot to fulfill his master's wishes. He mortally wounded Thomas Dunston, forcing Annabelle Foresight to turn Tom into a vampire. Most of Servo's dark history is so far untold.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T13:19:00.000-07:00

Just a quick message to wish all my blog followers and those hidden in Lurky-ville a wonderful and merry Christmas and happy holidays.

Hope your holidays go great and bring you peace and joy.

Scott

Bite of Story Thursday

2011-12-22T06:00:00.003-07:00

Night Children: Dark Trials
Chapter Five

She caught a glimpse of Eliza. The men held her tight, pulling her to the center of town. Why didn’t she try to defend herself? Annabelle punched and scratched her way to Eliza. The angry shouts and constant attacks from her attackers made it impossible to concentrate. If she could think for long enough to change her form or mesmerize the mob, Annabelle might be able to rescue Eliza and escape.

Where are Roland and Thomas? she thought in panic.

Henry continued to shout over the mob, “Reginald Worthing told me they were killing Johnny. He said they lied to me and they’ve always served the devil.”

The crowd of hostile villagers tripled in size. Men were joined by their wives, fathers by their sons. Annabelle wondered if the entire town had gone insane. Other voices joined Henry: “We have to stop them before they kill everyone in town.” “Don’t let them murder our children.” “Let’s hang them at the town square.”

Henry shouted over the mob, “Hanging won’t work. We’ve got to burn them!”

Her body tired and her mind in panic, Annabelle couldn’t stop the mob from dragging her after Eliza. Bloodthirsty cheers roared in her ears while her voice was raw with all her screaming.

Who's Who in the Annabelle Universe? Grace Faolchú

2011-12-20T06:00:00.074-07:00

GRACE FAOLCHÚ

No picture at this time. Hopefully that will change someday.

Other names: Graine, Grainné, Princess, Wolf Princess, Hot-headed mutt

Name Origin:
Graine : Irish name meaning "love." Graine was translated into English Grace.
Grace: English name derived from the vocabulary word, meaning "grace."
Faolchú: Wolf.

Grace's father, Alastar, changed his last name after exile. He was exiled from his clan after being bitten by a werewolf in the first part of the 1600s. He roamed early Britain, found other exiled werewolves and formed his own clan.

Physical characteristics:

She's thin and short. She has long red hair that flows down to her butt. For awhile she cut it to a cropped short look. Thin facial features. When she transforms, she gains a thick red coat of fur. Her bright green eyes turn yellow.

Personality:
Aggressive, strongly opinionated, strong minded, like her father. She can also love fiercely. Everything she does, she does with passion.

Abilities:
Grace has the standard werewolf abilities. She can transform into a half-wolf half-human form or all wolf form. In both forms she's stronger, faster and has better agility and enhanced senses. She can access her enhanced abilities and sharp nails and teeth even in human form. As an Alpha Wolf, she's immortal. She seems to age slowly, perhaps a year per one-hundred human years.

Known History:

Like her little brother Coinín, Grace was born a werewolf to two werewolf parents, Alastar and Maureen Faolchú. She is a werewolf princess and a member of royalty among the clans. She is a Alpha Wolf, like her father and brother. This means she'll live forever and has the makings of a future pack leader like her father.

As of this writing, much of Grace's history has not been chronicled. She met Roland and Annabelle in the mid 1700s when the Clan Faolchú paid their yearly visit to the Mullo gypsy tribe. She has helped Roland multiple times and in 1941 was referenced as his "girlfriend" by Annabelle. It remains to be seen if Annabelle was speaking out of turn or if Grace and Roland ready did/do have that kind of relationship. It should be noted that it is taboo to romantically link a vampire with a werewolf.

Night Children: Dark Birth - the Proof is here!

2011-12-17T10:04:00.000-07:00

The printed proof has arrived for Dark Birth. I actually hold in my hands a copy of my 1st novel, the one that I've been blogging about since '06 and working on since '04. It's so surreal to open it and see text I've tweaked and revised for so long. Originally it was called Annabelle & Roland: The Night Children. I like the new concept of titles I'm using.

As an actual novel, Dark Birth is thicker than Dark Threats. I compared it to several books on the shelf and found it to be about the same size.

I learned from my formatting errors on the proof of Dark Threats. There are very few things wrong with the Birth proof. I'm revising Book Two's title (sigh, again) so I need to change that bit on the last page. Other than that I think it turned out great.

Next step, order copies to give away at speaking engagements/book signings and also to loan out for reviews. Meanwhile it's set up so Amazon will soon have it available to order.

It's so exciting to finally hold it in my hand!

Bite of Story Thursday

2011-12-15T06:00:00.002-07:00

NIGHT CHILDREN: DARK BIRTH

Chapter Eighteen

She rushed deeper into the forest, sweat running down her brow and pooling behind her neck. Her undead body shouldn’t be having these reactions. Annabelle had no pulse yet it quickened. Terror caused her body to tremble. Her inhuman mind was demanding certain responses of her body and it was following suit.

She didn’t want to die and if this madman found her everything would be over. She wondered if all their training on how to kill vampires would be used on them. The man almost got Roland’s heart. He could have any weapon at his disposal. Deep fear rippled through her body as she continued to blur away from each arrow.

The stranger seemed to get closer by the minute. While he didn’t have her speed, he did have a certain skill with his weapon. Every time they would emerge from one set of trees, more arrows pierced the night. It took all her speed to avoid them.

He’s good, she thought, I can only stay a step ahead of him. If we keep running, he’ll get us. Where do we go? She looked through the trees and then glanced up. Annabelle leapt high into the branches while holding her brother. Once on a limb, she gently leaned him against the trunk and remained deathly quiet.

Who's Who in the Annabelle Universe? Penelope Chesterfield: Bride of Domi

2011-12-13T06:00:00.034-07:00

THE THREE QUEENS / BRIDES OF DRACULA

This is the closest I have to a pic of them.

artist:(if you know the artist, please let me know so I can credit him or her).

Who:
Elizabeth Báthory, Roxana Dawn and Penelope Chesterfield.

What:
Their mission is to watch over Domi's interests and keep an eye on the Seven Tyrant Lords.

Penelope Chesterfield

Name origin:

Latin form of Greek Penelopeia, meaning "weaver of cunning."

Physical characteristics:

Long, straight light-brown hair. Bright brown eyes with thin eye lashes. Likes to dress in long black robes with a long flowing cape.

Abilities:

Typical vampire abilities:

She possesses the abilities of all vampires. This means she is faster and stronger than humans, her senses are extremely acute as are her reflexes. She can fly and can mesmerize humans. It took her a long time to learn how turn into a bat and mist.

Special abilities:

She’s an expert witch. Penelope has mastered dark magic and loves to use it on Dominic’s enemies. There are very few warlocks and witches who have become vampires. Of their limited number, Penelope is the greatest. She’d rather focus on her spells than master her vampiric abilities.

Known History:

Insane, Penelope Chesterfield lost her parents to illness in Colonial America of the late 1600s. She was found by Dominic Pratchet, whom brought her to one of his witch covens in North America because she showed a penchant for witchcraft. She became part of the coven and lived with his senior witch, Gertrude. Penelope was always more comfortable with her cats (familiars). She has a familiar named Moonlight that she hexed into a werecat.

She is obsessed with Dominic. She continuously tried to prove herself to him until he finally turned her into a vampire. Her goal is to one day be one of his queens. Eventually she proved herself and became one of his Brides. She recruited the Invisible Man.

Met another fan!

2011-12-09T19:15:00.000-07:00

I found out today that one of the copies at the Purple Cow bookstore sold yesterday. You can imagine how excited I got.

Well that excitement went into overdrive when I was at Wal-Mart. A boy came up to me, admitted he was the one who bought it, and told me he loved it!

I love meeting fans! THAT is what it's all about. Writing stories that entertain. Sharing characters who inspire and help others.

I LOVE THIS!

Bite of Story Thursday

2011-12-08T06:00:00.001-07:00

Night Children: Dark Threats
Chapter Two:

A twig snapped ahead in the darkened wood. Annabelle and Roland stopped in their tracks and stiffened. Two heartbeats pounded nearby and Annabelle silently chastised herself for not listening closer to the surrounding woods.

“Smell that?” she whispered to her brother.

“Yeah,” Roland agreed. “The breeze was blowing the other way before, hiding their scent. It’s them.”

Two familiar women hid just ahead. Menace oozed off of them.

“Who?” Tom peered into the dark wood fearfully.

“The witches, Tom,” Ann explained. “I need you two to run as fast as you can.”

“That’s not going to work,” Penelope said. Sixteen years old and completely devoted to evil, the younger of the two witches stepped onto the path with the much older Gertrude beside her. “Time to die.”

I GOT PAID!

2011-12-07T05:51:00.000-07:00

Monday I had a surprise in the mail. My first royalty check from Amazon.com! I couldn't believe it. It was for the ebook sales for August, September and October.

I made more money in October than the other two months, probably due to the Blog Hop and speaking engagements. I need to schedule more of those, along with some book signings.

Anyway, this is exciting!

Who's Who in the Annabelle Universe? Thomas Dunston

2011-12-06T06:00:00.026-07:00

THOMAS DUNSTON

No picture at this time. Hopefully that will change someday.

Other names: Silly Boy

Name Origin:

English form of Greek Thōmas, meaning "twin."

Physical characteristics:

Curly blond hair. Red eyes. Small white fangs.

Age Chart:

He was turned at age 11. Every hundred years he ages one year. He actually experiences his years longer than normal humans. Vampire children remain that age emotionally and mentally, perhaps for self preservation so they do not go insane living as an adult trapped in a child body.

How he handles immortality remains to be seen.

Advancement Chart:

b. June 6th 1681 d. 1692

born a vampire 1692-

Age 11= 1692-1792

Age 12 = 1792-1892

Age 13 = 1892-1992

Age 14 = 1992-Present Day

No other ages available at the moment.

Personality:

Tom is fun loving. He likes to joke around and always tries to bring some humor to a otherwise stressful situation. When things are really tough, he'll be serious as well. He's fiercely loyal to Annabelle and Roland.

Abilities:

He has the standard vampire abilities. This means he’s faster and stronger than humans, his senses are extremely acute as are his reflexes. He can fly and turn into a bat. He can control humans through mesmerization and communicate with lesser beasts.

In later years he has shown the ability to transform into any kind of animal but how he learned this has yet to be told. Most vampires that have mastered transformation abilities can only become nocturnal creatures like bats and wolves. Thomas mastered the ability to transform into any animal. While in these forms he is still subject to all vampire weaknesses such as wooden stakes and sunlight.

Known History:

Thomas grew up in Jorgantown, Massachusetts along with his older brother Henry and his kid sister Polly. He loved adventure and often pretended to be a pirate or explorer. He decided to apprentice at the general store because he enjoys being around people. Tom likes to make others laugh and always finds humor in any situation.

In 1692 Annabelle and Roland Foresight arrived in Jorgantown from London. Tom became a close friend and was deeply hurt when he thought they’d been killed by wolves.

When he found out they were actually vampires he became very excited. Maybe due to his crush on Annabelle, but Thomas desperately wanted to become a vampire just like her. She swore to never turn him but thanks to unforeseen circumstances, she had to change him in order to save his life.

Thomas has been a faithful companion to Annabelle throughout the centuries. There have been troubles and challengers over the last three-hundred years. He has mastered some unique talents and tried to bring a smile to his friends during their darkest times.

As of this writing, his future is still a mystery.

synchronicity

2011-12-05T06:00:00.035-07:00

Do you ever have one of those random moments of synchronicity where something happens that strangely links to a past event of your life? I did recently.

Last month my wife and I attended the annual Tooele Writer's Holiday Dinner.

Keep in mind, I've been with this local collection of talented authors since the first meeting at the local library. I showed up for that meeting because I wanted to meet local authors. After all those years of feeling like I was alone, it was nice to find others crazy like myself.

So I'm following the directions to the dinner when I stumble upon a shock. The author who is hosting the party just happens to live at Jeff Russon's house.

Who's Jeff Russon you may ask? Jeff was a 6th grade teacher for West Elementary ( a local elementary school).

After finishing my rough draft of what is now Dark Birth, I called the school librarian (an old family friend) and asked her if she knew any 6th grade teachers who would read it and give me advice. Jeff's name came up.

So with a belly full of nerves, I jumped into the deep in for the first time with this author job and called Jeff. He was thrilled to hear from me and we set up a meeting. It was in his kitchen I discussed my novel with the first stranger (not a friend, co-worker or family member). He read it, loved it but found oh so many things that needed improvement.

I eventually spoke to two of his classes. Jeff's an old friend now. He moved to Washington (the state) some time ago.

So imagine my surprise when I re-entered his house and even stepped into the same kitchen that started so much for me so long ago. I walked in there a self-published author, amidst other authors, for the purpose of a writer's dinner.

And the strangest thing of all? Dark Threats was on her shelf. In the same house where I swallowed my fear and took a chance at having someone look at Annabelle's story, her first published story sat on the shelf years later.

So weird. Cool. Awesome as all heck. But weird.

Night Children: Dark Threats NOW at the Purple Cow Bookstore!

2011-12-03T10:00:00.000-07:00

My novella, Night Children: Dark Threats, is now at the Purple Cow children's bookstore! Come one, come all to grab a copy.

It'll be at the bookstore, located in Tooele Utah, for a 90 day trial period. If it sells, they'll want more.

Please, if you're able, come grab it and help a local author out.

You read that right, Night Children Dark Threats will be on thier shelves!

Book Review: The Son of Neptune (Heroes of Olympus #2)

2011-12-02T13:39:00.000-07:00

I absolutely loved it! As always, I find Rick Riordan’s writing refreshing, exciting and inspirational. I couldn’t put it down and found myself flipping pages way too quickly.

Its fun seeing Percy, Tyson and Mrs. O’Leary again. It’s also great being in Percy’s head. I could always relate with him. Frank and Hazel are also very strong, well-written characters, too. Darn you Riordan! All seven half-bloods are wonderful. Who could we possibly sacrifice?

It was nice seeing a brief glimpse of Jason, Piper and Leo. This book performed an amazing job of following the last and leading to the next tale. Can’t wait to see SPOILER again.

Adding to my personal list of “Things That Prove Riordan is a Fellow Comic Geek”, we have a super-speed horse that uses the Flash’s run-on-water technique, questions about amazons that would make one think of Wonder Woman (i.e. talk of what powers they do and don’t have), animal shape-shifting abilities and a possible mention of Beast Boy, more talking to aquatic animals like Aquaman, and more trick arrows like Green Arrow and Hawkeye (as seen before with the Party Ponies). Yes, I keep a mental list. I think it’s cool that he draws inspiration from one of the places I do.

Anyway, I loved this book and cannot wait till the next!

Bite of Story Thursday

2011-12-01T06:00:00.013-07:00

Night Children: (Book Three) Dark Quest

Chapter Three

Annabelle and Thomas hurried outside to find the entire camp gazing into the forest, their eyes searched for the source of the terrible sounds.

The eerie howling took her back decades ago, to a single night when she, Thomas and Eliza looked for her brother on a dirt road through the wilds of Massachusetts. It was the first time she’d heard a werewolf. The strange mix of human and wolf calls made her hairs stand up on end.

This time it was far worse. A large choir of wolf creatures sang to the bright full moon. Their song grew louder from three sides around the camp and oddly enough, the vampires and humans didn’t seem concerned. In fact, a small glow of excitement crossed their features.

By contrast, Thomas, Roland, Eric and Mary stood as ridged as Ann. Charlotte clung to Mary for protection while Selina and Samuel perked up, curious about the coming threat.

Fear gripped her as eerie yellow eyes dotted the darkened wood. They were surrounded by too many rapid heart beats. Things that smelled of musky fur hungered, obscured by the thick trees.

A large red beast pushed out of the foliage, followed by five more of similar build. Each werewolf stood on two hairy legs and were adorned in patterned kilts with bright sashes across their chest.

The large red one sniffed the air as Yoska stepped forward. His bright red eyes locked with the werewolf’s yellow pupils. Each stood firmly, as if daring each other to attack first. Annabelle’s breath caught in her chest.

----

Who's Who in the Annabelle Universe? Roxana Dawn: Bride of Domi

2011-11-29T06:00:00.075-07:00

THE THREE QUEENS / BRIDES OF DRACULA

This is the closest I have to a pic of them.

artist:(if you know the artist, please let me know so I can credit him or her).

Who:

Elizabeth Báthory, Roxana Dawn and Penelope Chesterfield.

What:
Their mission is to watch over Domi's interests and keep an eye on the Seven Tyrant Lords.

Roxana Dawn:

Other names:
Roxie, Lady in White,

Name origin:
Latin form of Persian Roušanak, meaning "dawn” or "break of day."

Physical characteristics:
Pale complexion, short black hair mostly bobbed Ala a 20's "Flapper" girl. Thin, small body. Girlish round face. Small dimple on her left cheek. Likes to wear "Flapper" girl styles such as long dresses and plenty of long necklaces. Used to dress like a western show girl back in the mid-nineteenth century. Used to wear gobs of make up like her sister but gave it up. Loves to wear white lace. She always wears lace gloves.

She has a sweet disposition but is actually a terrible back biter.
Abilities:

Typical vampire abilities:

She possesses the abilities of all vampires. This means she is faster and stronger than humans, her senses are extremely acute as are her reflexes. She can fly, turn into a bat, wolf, rat and she can mesmerize humans.

Special abilities:
She can control almost anyone, human or creature, with her voice. As soft and high pitched like the tinkling of a bell, Roxana's voice can control a person's body, allowing her to make her victim do anything she wants. Has no affect on Dominic or Elizabeth Báthory. She also carries a small silver blade with a leather handle.

Known History:

Roxana lived in ancient Rome with her older sister Lucretia. While Lucretia was more obsessed with her looks, Roxie developed a passion for Dominus. She became very loyal to him and jumped at the offer of vampirism. Trained by Dominus’ chief General, Adad, to be great fighter. Along with her older sister, she has always dreamed of being on of Dominus' Three Queens.

Domi commanded Lucretia and Roxana to hide during the Exodus War. They rejoined him one he escaped his prison in the Dark Place. She has been an active follower ever since.

There is much left to discover about Roxana's long, evil life.

What I'm thankful for

2011-11-24T09:02:00.000-07:00

Everything! I'm thankful for everything!

As I sit here, Thanksgiving morning, the intoxicating aroma of turkey flowing through the air, I realise how grateful I am for my family, my home, my job, my ability to write and the opportunities I have in both writing and drafting (my day job). I'm grateful for my material blessing and even more grateful for my eternal blessings like my wife and kids.

I just thought I'd mention these things. Now I'm going to go back to what I was doing, sitting here smelling the turkey that has been cooking all night, it's annual aroma of insane goodness is driving me loopy. I swear the moment will come this morning when I "check" the bird, my sharp fork clutched in my trembling hand. Come, bird. Come and know death!

Sorry. Got carried away.

Who's Who in the Annabelle Universe? Roland Foresight

2011-11-22T06:00:00.080-07:00

ROLAND FORESIGHT

artist: Adam Diller

Other names: Night Child, Island Keeper, annoying brother, Bloody Buccaneer

Name Origin:

Old German name meaning "renowned land."

Physical characteristics:

Straight red hair. Red eyes. Small white fangs. Wears a variety of clothing but likes to wear combinations of red and black.

Age Chart:

He was turned at age 13. Every hundred years he ages one year. He actually experiences his years longer than normal humans. Vampire children remain that age emotionally and mentally, perhaps for self preservation so they do not go insane living as an adult trapped in a child body.

How he handles immortality remains to be seen.

Advancement Chart:

b. October 13th 1679 d. 1692

born a vampire 1692-
Age 13= 1692-1792
Age 14 = 1792-1892
Age 15 = 1892-1992
Age 16 = 1992-Present Day

No other ages available at the moment.

Abilities:
Roland tends to have dreams of the far future, although he isn't aware of this at the beginning on the series. When he learns of this talent remains to be seen. He has the standard vampire abilities. This means he’s faster and stronger than humans, his senses are extremely acute as are his reflexes. He can fly and turn into a bat. In later years He has shown the ability to transform into a wolf, rat and mist but how he learned these things has yet to be told. He can control humans through mesmerization and communicate with lesser beasts.

He became an expert sword fighter thanks to his years as a Bloody Buccaneer.
Known History:

In 1692 Roland Foresight moved with his family to the wilds of Massachusetts. The Vampire Lord Dominic Pratchet killed his parents and left him and his sister Annabelle for dead. Dominic's wife Eliza turned them into vampires, taught them the things they needed to know and became a surrogate mother to them.

As the centuries have passed, Roland became a hero to many, constantly fighting Dominic's forces as a member of the Order of Righteous Vampires. He prefers to drink the blood of animals instead of humans. Roland is possessed with an overwhelming desire to finish Dominic off once and for all.

He's rebellious, acts before thinking, hot-headed and gets overly excited about new things without thinking about the consequences. He isn't afraid of much in life and is filled with a wanderlust for adventure and travel.

He learned to sword fight when he became a Bloody Buccaneer. Those years were both some of the best and worst of his life. Two men have filled him with a passion for revenge; the vampire hunter Hawke and Dominic, the monster lord who killed his parents. He has also had a few loves in his long life.

Any more information would be spoilers at this time.

FAN ART!

2011-11-19T08:57:00.000-07:00

Years ago I searched online for Harry Potter fan art. We only had three movies but more books and I was dying to see images of those great book scenes that had not yet been captured on film. As I saved tons of drawings for my collection a silly thought crossed my mind.

What if someday aspiring artists created masterpieces of my books? I knew it was far off because after all, I was still massively editing book 1.

Guess what? That day has arrived! The following are two great pieces from Elizabeth Hansen.

Thank you so much Elizabeth!

Bite of Story Thursday

2011-11-17T06:00:00.003-07:00

NIGHT CHILDREN: (BOOK TWO)
DARK TRIBULATIONS

Chapter Twenty-One

“Of all the stupid, selfish things to say.” Annabelle exclaimed as she passed back and forth on the carpet back in their apartment. Thomas smiled.

She turned to him and gave a look that would frost his heart, “What?”

He smirked despite the apparent danger of annoying a passionate vampire child. “You knew that was going to be his response didn’t you?”

She flopped down in a chair and sighed loudly. “Yes. I did. Just once I’d like to get a straight answer from that man. Just once.”

“I know, Ann. Believe me I know.”

“Come, let’s go find something warm and juicy. I need to drown my sorrows.”

-------

Dark Tribulations is due next year. More info as things develop.

Dark Threats will be at the Purple Cow Bookstore!

2011-11-16T20:07:00.001-07:00

The Purple Cow is a local children's bookstore in Tooele, Utah. I've spoken with them and gave them a copy of Night Children Dark Threats. After reviewing it they have decided to carry the book in thier store.

You read that right, Night Children Dark Threats will be on thier shelves!

I'm so excited! It's $8.99 and will be in stock at the store within the next two weeks!

Who's Who in the Annabelle Universe? Elizabeth Báthory : Bride of Domi

2011-11-15T06:00:00.127-07:00

THE THREE QUEENS / BRIDES OF DRACULA

This is the closest I have to a pic of them.

artist:(if you know the artist, please let me know so I can credit him or her).

Who:

Elizabeth Báthory, Roxana Dawn and Penelope Chesterfield.

What:

Their mission is to watch over Domi's interests and keep an eye on the Seven Tyrant Lords.

Elizabeth Báthory:

Other names:

Elizabeth Báthory: Báthory Erzsébet in Hungarian, Alžbeta Bátoriová in Slovak, Blood Countess, Blood Queen, Lady of the House of Domi, Head Bride, Countess Dracula.

Name origin:

Anglicized form of Greek Elisabet, meaning "God is my oath."

Physical characteristics:

Dark hair, pale complexion, commanding presence. Posses a regal air. She’s strong, powerful, constantly in control.

Abilities:

Typical vampire abilities:

She possesses the abilities of all vampires. This means she is faster and stronger than humans, her senses are extremely acute as are her reflexes. She can fly, turn into a bat, wolf, rat and mist. She can also mesmerize humans.

Special abilities:
Her typical vampiric abilities seem more refined. She's a master at all of them, perhaps due to her personal training by Dominic. The various servents under Domi share rumors that she might be as powerful as the master.

Known History:

Domi warped the mind of Elizabeth Báthory, followed her as she grew up, spoke to her in secret. She fell in love with him. Completely devoted. She wanted to become one of his Three Queens (Brides of Dracula). He demanded she marry for political reasons to another mortal.

At age 35 he finally turned her after she gave him a present, the constant supply of young maidens from her land. She forced others to help her kill over 650 victims. She’d bathe in their blood as well as drink it. She was psychotic, thanks to Domi’s constant influence. Grateful for her “gifts”, Domi turned her in secret.

As punishment for her crimes, the mortals imprisoned in her home, Csejte Castle. She was bricked within a set of rooms. Domi faked her death. Allowing her to secretly escape in the night. He trained her in every skill. She is the closet he has ever loved anyone.

She became is Head Bride and rules by his side to this day. Serves him faithfully, watching over the Seven Generals, making sure they don’t betray Dominic.

Speaking Engagements for 11-11-11

2011-11-12T07:56:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had the fortunate opportunity to speak to two classes again.

In the morning I first went to Mr. Bryant's 8th grade US History class at the local Junior High. They listened politely as I explained who I was. I told them of Annabelle's story and my journey as a writer. I showed them pictures and even read part of my Salem chapters to them (that's what they had recently studied).
While I read, Mr. Bryant placed their names in my cauldron. I then opened it up for questions. Two kids asked several good questions and after I was done reading I chose a winner for a copy of Dark Threats. The lucky boy asked me to sign it (I'd forgotten beforehand). I finished off by chucking candy at them. All in all it was a good visit.

A few hours later I spoke to Mr. Palfreyman's high school 10th grade English class. I followed a similar pattern but I think I was more relaxed. Maybe it was because my wonderfully energetic wife helped me open up? Maybe it was because most of my daughter's friends were in the class? I don't know but it went really well. Several kids had a lot of questions (one of Katie's friends would ask every time there was a lag in conversation) and my wife Janeen broke it up with the book giveaway and the candy chucking.

I'm grateful to both classes for having me and hope to do it again.

Bite of Story Thursday

2011-11-10T06:00:00.022-07:00

NIGHT CHILDREN: DARK BIRTH
Chapter Four

Time seemed to stop. They all looked at Dominic, confused and shocked.

His strong, pale face drew Annabelle’s attention. His eyes seemed to glow red like two burning embers in the night. His mouth opened into a fiendish smile.

“Mr. Pratchet, be careful! The wolves are--”

Roland’s words trailed off as the wolf pack paced towards them. He whispered, “Nice doggies. Can we go home, Father?”

Annabelle knew the wolves were too close. She and her family were trapped. Her breath caught as she peeked through her mother’s arms.

Dominic gestured and the beasts stopped in their tracks. Before she could bury her head again, the man attacked. He lifted Father from the ground as easily as if he were a feather and held him in the air.

Anthony flailed wildly, striking the lantern against Dominic’s head. The fiend latched onto it and flung it to the ground.

Roland surged forward, but Mother pulled him close.

Annabelle fought her mother’s tense grip. “Let me go! We have to help!”

“No!” Mother cried, “There’s nothing we can do!”

-------

For more check out Dark Birth at your local online store. Links to Dark Birth on the web can be found on the Store Page on this blog or you could just go here, Dark Birth on Amazon. Soon to be on paperback!

Who's Who in the Annabelle Universe? Annabelle Foresight

2011-11-08T06:00:00.125-07:00

ANNABELLE FORESIGHT

By Adam Diller

Other names: Ann, Night Child, bossy sister

Name Origin:
ANNABEL: "Beautiful grace." A compound name consisting of English Ann, "grace," and French Belle, "beautiful." Variants include Anabel, Anabella, Anabelle, Annabal, Annabelinda, Annabell, Annabella and Annabelle.

Physical characteristics:
Short. Red bushy hair. Red eyes. Small white fangs. Wears a variety of clothing but likes to wear combinations of red and black.

Age Chart:
She was turned at age 11. Every hundred years she ages one year. She actually experiences her years longer than normal humans. Vampire children remain that age emotionally and mentally, perhaps for self preservation so they do not go insane living as an adult trapped in a child body.
Annabelle, however, is more mature for her age. How she handles immortality remains to be seen.

Advancement Chart:

b. October 13th 1681 d. 1692

born a vampire 1692-
Age 11 1692-1792
Age 12 = 1792-1892
Age 13 = 1892-1992
Age 14 = 1992-Present Day

No other ages available at the moment.

Abilities:
She gets dreams that show the near future (but is presently in the books is unaware. When she became aware of this has yet to be shown). She has the standard vampire abilities. This means she’s faster and stronger than humans, her senses are extremely acute as are her reflexes. She can fly and turn into a bat. In later years she has shown the ability to transform into a wolf, rat and mist but how she learn these things has yet to be told. She can control humans through mesmerization and communicate with lesser beasts.

Known History:

In 1692 Annabelle Foresight moved with her family to the wilds of Massachusetts. The Vampire Lord Dominic Pratchet killed her parents and left her and her brother Roland for dead. Dominic's wife Eliza turned them into vampires, taught them the things they needed to know and became a surrogate mother to them.

As the centuries have passed, Annabelle has become a hero to many, constantly fighting Dominic's forces as a member of the Order of Righteous Vampires. She prefers to drink the blood of animals instead of humans. Annabelle is deeply concerned about the safety of mortal children.

She is determined, loyal to family, feels love for others and angry if someone hurts her family. Annabelle is outward friendly,book smart, a quick learner and sometimes acts too serious to make up for her reckless older brother. She tends to pretend to be brave and mock the bad guys.

She takes life too seriously and can be bossy. She tends to take over when she should sit back. She can often make decisions before consulting others. She's afraid deep inside if she doesn’t just take over and make it happen it will fall apart right away.

Before vampirism she loved animals and winced when they got hurt. After becoming a vampire she now sees them as something to eat. Lost touch with who she was. She has a deep fear of two men, Hawke the vampire hunter and Dominic, the vampire who killed her parents.

NOTE: I added a "NAME ORIGIN" to Dominic's entry below.

Book Review: Insight by Terron James

2011-11-06T09:21:00.000-07:00

Oh ho! This book surprised me! Yes, the cover did throw me off. The guy on the cover is so depressed. But are we not told to NOT judge a book by its cover? Well I’m so glad I didn’t. Before I tell you why, I will say here that this cover actually is perfect after you follow Lon’s tough journey. Author Terron James is planning on changing the cover but let me tell you the story inside is good enough no matter what the cover looks like.

Insight is the story of a boy who becomes a man, gaining “insight” as he discovers everything he knew was wrong. It’s a coming of age story set in a realistic world of warring nations, exiled people and years worth of false hatred. Appernysia could easily be any place on Earth, where people were raised up to believe the other people “over there” are bad and we’re good. Lon grew up in a small community where everyone lived the lives they were expected and never stepped out of line or challenged their world.

But what happens if the “bad guys” come to Lon’s sleepy outskirt community ? What happens when Lon discovers that these Rayders seem to be just as human as anyone else?

It doesn’t help that Lon discovers the reason behind his headaches, the amazing untrained abilities he now has and the terrible dangers those abilities bring his loved ones. If unchecked, his new abilities could kill him.

Revelation after revelation completely turn him upside down. He’s forced to leave his loving parents, his hot-headed twin sister, his home and the love of his life. He must go to the one person who can help him, the scholar Omar, deep within the Rayder’s world.

How does his sharp tongued sister Mellai or his love Kaylen feel about this? What do they do and where do they go as a result? How does Lon fit into the harsh military world of the Rayders and how will he become the man he needs to be? Will he master his gifts or will they destroy him? Will he grow into an amazing leader or die by the sword and his pride?

This book is filled with adventure, romance, shocks, humor, realism and fantasy. It even has a monster or two. I identified with Lon and Mellai. They were two of my favorite characters. I also enjoyed Omar and Tarek. There are also plenty of characters you’ll love to hate like Braedr and Commander Rayben Goldhawk.

All in all I really enjoyed this book. I recommend it to anyone. The chapters end in ways that you just have to turn the pages and devourer more. The story starts slow and continues to build until you just can’t stop reading. The final last two chapters alone are so amazing when… wait. Go get a copy and find out for yourself. It’ll be worth it!

Book Two Name Change again

2011-11-05T10:58:00.001-06:00

Yes, once again I've decided to change the name of my 2nd book. Now to clarify, Dark Threats is a collection of short stories and NOT part of the ongoing numbered series. It's an addition to it.

Dark Birth is Book One. Any book that is published keeps it's title. I will not change the name of Threats or Birth.

Book Two is in the edit phase and is scheduled for release sometime next year. I'd had some trouble with it's name but recently my daughter Katelyn gave me a great idea.

NIGHT CHILDREN: DARK TRIBULATIONS

There are some major life altering situations in the vampire children's lives. "Tribulations" seems to cover a broad collection of trials so as of this moment it fits best.

Pirate vampires! Shadow vampires! Lots of new characters! Love! Death! Watch for it next year!

Bite of Story Thursday

2011-11-03T06:00:00.003-06:00

NIGHT CHILDREN: DARK THREATS

Chapter Six

Cam let out a commanding bark and the two werewolves that were guarding the exits joined him. They flanked Cam, ready to attack. Annabelle quickly glanced at Thomas. His clothes were torn but he seemed all right. He knelt by Grace. She began to stir.

With a mighty howl, Blood Reaper pushed Roland down to his knees, and then brought up his own knee to smack Roland in the mouth. Roland fell to the ground, dazed. The large werewolf raised his right gloved hand; the silver claws reflected the dance hall lights.

-------

For more check out Dark Threats at your local online store. Links to Dark Threats on the web can be found on the Store Page.

Who's Who in the Annabelle Universe? Dominic Pratchet

2011-11-01T06:00:00.004-06:00

DOMINIC PRATCHET

This is the closest I have to a pic of Dominic
"Vampire: The Masquerade" developer: Nihilistic Software publisher Activision
artist:(if you know the artist, please let me know so I can credit him or her).

Other names:

Domi (original name), Vlad Dracula, Vlad the Impaler, Domhnall (Gaelic), Dominicus (Latin), Dominick (Old English), Dominik (Czech and Polish), Dominique (French), Domonkos (Hungarian)

Name origin:

DOMINIC: "Belongs to the lord." English name derived from Latin Dominicus. This is a name traditionally given to a child born on Sunday. His mother Lilith named him this as an insult.

DOMHNALL "World ruler." Gaelic name composed of the elements dubno "world" and val "rule."

Physical characteristics:

Tall, commanding presence, night-black hair, red eyes, and sharp white fangs, pale and radiant. Usually wears black suits, sometimes with a cape.

Abilities:

Dominic possesses the abilities of all vampires, only perfected with thousands of years of experience. This means he’s faster and stronger than humans, his senses are extremely acute as are his reflexes. He can fly, turn into a bat, wolf, rat and mist at the very least and has complete control of others through mesmerization, perfecting it at a lever beyond any other vampire.

Known History:

The vampire known as Domi seems to be as old as history itself. He has been behind all the terrible events of history and an advisor to various rulers through the ages. Throughout many cultures and eras there has been rumors of a powerful lord of the night who commands dark armies. His grim goal has always been to rule the world, turning a portion the population into food stock for those creatures he has deemed fit to survive. He has had many names, some lost through history.

Much of his personal history is shrouded in mystery. The vampire Annabelle has told me that she knows more and at the proper time she’ll reveal it to me. As the chronicler of her stories I’m extremely intrigued.

I have so many questions; if he’s so old, how come he hasn’t taken over yet? What is this Exodus War he was tied up in? How can he be the famous Romanian ruler Vlad the Impaler if we know Vlad wasn’t as old as Domi is supposed to be? What is his relationship with the Falabranwyn because every time he shows up, they do as well. Why does he have so many wives and who are the Three Queens? Who are the Seven Tyrant Lords? Why did he speak of future events as if he knew them?

I suspect we’ll find out together as Annabelle’s story continues.

This Is Halloween

2011-10-31T21:49:00.000-06:00

Originally posted on 11/1/09 for the Charge of the Write Brigade.

I sit here typing my article, my legs numb and my flesh sore. The only reason my stomach doesn’t ache is because I’m too tired to walk to the freezer to get any candy. If I allowed gravity to win and dropped to the bed, it would be the morning of November 1st before I could open my eyes.

Am I complaining? No. Actually, I’m smiling. I’m going to stay up, watch something spooky and fun, eat some sweets and totally love the fact that this night falls on a Saturday this year.

I love Halloween. Absolutely adore it. This year we walked a couple blocks to the main street Trick or Treat thing. All the businesses along main hand out candy and give off a neighborly feel at a time when small town friendliness is a thing of the past.

We then went to a “Trunk or Treat”. Here in Utah various members of my church park their cars at the church parking lot, open their trunks and hand out candy. They do this, seeing it as a controlled environment so that kids are off the streets. Its fun and a chance to visit your neighbors.

After that we went to dinner, and then knocked on a block of houses, gathering more sweets. For the last month, whenever I’ve passed two houses decorated to the max during the nightly dog walking, I'd swear to visit them.

One had blinking lights set to music. A vampire glowed to the tune while smiling from its coffin. A tombstone reads “Here lies the last dog that pooped on my lawn” as a werewolf glares from behind. Pumpkins flash, a ghost wails as it travels down a wire and various ghouls grin at any visitors who dare hunt for candy. The yard resembled a fun house set to a Haunted theme. More kiddie than scary, I found it very fun.

The other one had a different, yet equally enjoyable effect. Skeletons stood around an eerie graveyard. Some played cards on an over turned barrel while another bent on one knee and purposed to his ghoulfriend. A giant spider crawled down from the roof while a demon lurked in front of the red-lit basement window. All was lit with a strange, soul eating green light as if the other side ripped open, setting free it’s dark citizens into our world for the night.

My mind raced with ideas for that one. How will the skeleton army look when Roland or Annabelle command them in later books? Will there be any giant spiders when Ann visit’s the Arachnid’s kingdom in the 11th book? What strange colors and creepy feelings will accompany the unusual events in these later stories?

Now we’re home, relaxing and resting. Halloween was a success once again. My creative brain is buzzing with even more worlds and situations to make life a unloving Hell for Ann and her brother.

What about you? What seasonal events inspire you?

*Update: In Halloween '10 it rained and we ran a bit late. Regardless it was a good evening. Halloween '11 just finished. We did all the things mentioned above and had a good time. I hope all of you had great Halloweens as well.

Movie Review: Let Me In

2011-10-28T09:36:00.000-06:00

OK, I finally saw this flick. I managed to TiVo it and watched it late at night when all the impressionable people were fast asleep and far from nightmares.

First off I'm NOT a gore guy. I do not watch films like Freddy or Jason. I get turned off my gore and of course this film had gore in spades. Yes, the gore turned me off. But that didn't hurt my over all rating of the film.

I liked it. The writing was strong. I really felt bad for the human child Owen and of course I felt bad for vampire child Abby.

As you know, I am obsessed with vampire children. I suppose that's because I needed to tell Annabelle's story. That obsession, while controlled, is still strong. I worry that with each new interpretation, we'll see Ann exactly rendered in another story before she's made it into the world on her own. I know the fear is silly, but it drives me to search out these stories.

In Let Me In we find a vampire child with a conscience. Abby doesn't want to hurt others, feels terrible for what she puts her adult guardian through (he has to kill innocent people to bring her blood) and fiercely defends her human friend Owen.

This is a world where vampires can't substitute human blood for animal blood like they do in Twilight and in my Night Children series. Abby has no choice. She looses control of the blood lust and kills. To get this through to the viewers, it has gore. But I feel bad for Abby. She wishes she didn't hurt people and longs for a normal life.

She has the current vampire powers; speed, acute senses, strength, speed and agility. It's cool watching her scale a palm tree and a 6 story building. When she fights it's done in shadow. She kinda looks like a blood thirsty Gollum. She crawls/zooms around the victim, biting everywhere. Her eyes go funky and her face slightly distorts. She also goes pale.

As with the title of the movie, it's foreign predecessor movie and the original book, the tile "Let Me In", which is the scaled down original title "Let The Right One In" refers to the age-old vampire tradition that vampires have to be invited in. Other classic vampire concepts are in this film as well. Sunlight burns and kills them. Also as she let go of the high hospital window the closed caption (I watch everything with captions) revealed she "fluttered" away which suggests flight. She herself said she flew during the film. So as with Night Children, vampires in this universe have the Anne Rice current abilities AND the Bram Stoker abilities and problems as well. That earns a high score in my book.

Claudia in Interview With a Vampire was irredeemable due to her selfishness and lack of guilt. The children in The Little Vampire were never shown dealing with real issues like addition and murder. Nessie from the Twilight series is sweet and a personal favorite. Abby joins the list of vampire children and has made my list as well. She does feel guilt and is very relateable.

Chloë Grace Moretz pulls off an amazing and believable performance as someone Annabelle could have become if eating animals wasn't an option and she had to live with the guilt. It's a very adult, strong performance. The same is true for Kodi Smit-McPhee who pulls off the frightened, teased loner outcast child in many of us. Abby's loss of control and blood feast didn't scare me. The bullies teasing Owen scared me much more. Kodi showed the absolute fear we all felt when confronted with a bully at school.

So over all I give it a 9 out of 10. Yes, the gore took it down a peg as did the brief flash of upper nudity from a neighbor. The story and acting is powerful so if my warning about gore, violence and 1 second upper nudity doesn't scare you off on principle (which is why I warn my friends), watch it.

And the winner (for October Blog Hop '11) is...

2011-10-18T11:32:00.000-06:00

Mary-Ellen! Congrads Mary! After placing all the contestants into a hat and drawing randomly, your name was pulled out. I'll be contacting you shortly.

I really enjoyed participating in the blog hop. I plan to do many more in the future.

Thanks again to everyone who added me to their followed blogs. It means a lot. I may not be the most frequent poster, but I have plans to change that.

To anyone who wants to read Dark Threats can find it on Amazon electronically as well as paperback. It's also found on Barns and Noble.com and iBooks for the Apple.

Thanks everyone!

Coming Soon:

2011-10-18T05:25:00.000-06:00

Hey guys, sorry it's taken be a bit to choose the winner of the Blog Hop. I've had a crazy few days. At this moment I'm putting names in a hat and preparing it for a child to randomly pic. The winner should be announced tonight!

Successful Writer Day!

2011-10-15T11:00:00.000-06:00

Friday the 14th: Successful Writer Day!
I think from now on I'll post entrees called "Successful Writer Days". Once in awhile things happen in a writer's life that make all those rejections or brain-stalling less productive days seem worth it. I call those "Successful Writer Days".

Thursday was fun. I spent the day with my sweetheart (October 13th is her birthday, just like Annabelle). It was a very relaxing day.

Yesterday, Friday the 14th, was successful.

1st off Janeen and I visited a Tooele High Creative Writing class. I spoke of my writer's journey and briefly about the books, showing slides of my various influences and research pictures. I'm grateful to say that the students were curious and began to ask questions. Lots of hands went up and lots of smart questions came my way.
I love creating interest in my stories. I simply want to entertain and inspire, so when people show interest, I just get more excited.
I never spoke to High School students before. I found them very curious and their questions involved a lot of the mechanics of my world. Excellent! It gets me thinking and simply drives my creative juices further.
Janeen got my back, keeping track of those who asked questions so we could give one of them a free copy of Dark Threats. She was (and always is) a perfect help meet. She helps me keep track of who has their arms up the longest and provides added perspective on my books. Also, she loves to throw candy at the students. :)
Congratulations to Shantelle for winning Dark Threats!

We had a nice lunch. Afterwards I spoke with John at the Purple Cow (a local bookstore). He's going to pass out my book marks at his store and at the Children's Book Festival. Also, he's reviewing Dark Threats to see if it's appropriate for the store. More on that as news develops!

Finally, we attended the last speaking engagement of the day. We visited the West Elementary 6th Grade! Janeen had a brilliant idea to set up our projector and her lap top so that we could show my pics again. We let it slip that kids who ask questions might qualify for books. Of course I was assaulted with wonderful questions about the books and characters. We decided to have the kids place their names in a hat and the two 6th grade teachers pic the winners. Congratulations to Andrew and Dawson for winning copies of Dark Threats! My sweetie helped run the slides and answered questions for children to shy to ask me. Janeen got a chance to throw candy to all the kids, resulting in some fun chaos for a minute. :)

Of course everyone got a book mark as well.

So all in all a fine successful writer day. Next speaking engagements will be October 28th. I'll be visiting a High School English class and the Jr. High History classes. Can't wait!

October Blog Hop!

2011-10-13T04:00:00.003-06:00

Welcome to the October Blog Hop, where you can visit new blogs, enter to win prizes, and have a great time!

At the bottom of this post, you'll see a list of participating blogs. Just click on each link, check out the prize, and follow the easy instructions to enter. You can enter on each blog, so it's possible to win multiple times. It's frighteningly easy.

On this blog, you can win a paperback copy of NIGHT CHILDREN DARK THREATS!

To enter, all you need to do is:

1. Become a follower of my blog.

2. Leave a comment on this post and tell me why you'd like to win this prize. If your e-mail address isn't visible through your Blogger profile, please also leave it with the comment so I can notify you if you win. You can enter until midnight MST on Saturday night, October 15th.

That's it! You are now entered. Now please go visit all my friends on the list below. It's almost like trick or treating!

October Blog Hop Participants

1. Tristi Pinkston
2. I Am a Reader, Not a Writer
3. Bonnie Harris
4. Michael D. Young
5. Misty Moncur
6. Debbie Davis
7. Mandi Tucker Slack
8. Mary Ann Dennis
9. Deanna Henderson
10. Laura Bastian
11. Kristy Tate

12. Kristy Wilson
13. Jennifer Debenham
14. Jenny Moore
15. Elizabeth Hughes
16. J. Lloyd Morgan
17. Close Encounters with the Night Kind
18. Billy Boulden
19. Scott Bryan
20. Maria Hoagland
21. Shirley Bahlmann
22. Shelly Brown

23. Marcy Howes
24. Lynnea Mortensen
25. Jaclyn M. Hawkes
26. Diane Stringam Tolley
27. Gail Zuniga
28. Betsy Love
29. iWriteNetwork
30. Canda's InkBlast
31. Stacy Coles

Learn more about October Blog Hop here.
View More October Blog Hop Participants
Get The Code

The 1st ever BOOK MARK CONTEST!

2011-10-10T14:00:00.004-06:00

Welcome to the first ever BOOK MARK CONTEST. Well, it's more of a free giveaway than a contest but still, check it out:

Front

Back

The first 10 people who send me self addressed stamped envelopes will receive a free book mark and the FIRST TEN PAGES of DARK BIRTH!

Envelopes must be sent to...

Scott Bryan
128 West 200 South
Tooele, Utah, 84074

Looking forward to receiving your envelopes!

Book marks are here!

2011-10-09T10:11:00.000-06:00

Hey guys, my book marks arrived! Here is an image of the front and back...

I'll be giving theses away at the four school visits this month.

Tomorrow I'll announce the first ever BOOK MARK CONTEST!
Keep your eyes pealed to this site!

Zach's Game Room now has puzzles!

2011-10-09T09:52:00.000-06:00

At the top of this page is a link to Zach's game room. Go try your hand at some puzzles. At the moment there are four to choose from but more will be added in the future.

Author Reflections

2011-09-25T06:00:00.005-06:00

It's so hard for me to realise that Book One is on Amazon. I simply can't get over the fact that this book, the self same one I've tiled over for seven years, is now available for others to enjoy.

All those many years ago I couldn't get her out of my head. I had to write about Annabelle. At first I thought she belonged in the Parodyverse (a beloved fan-fiction site I belong too). As I posted tiny stories with her there I realised she needed to reach further. She had to be in school libraries and book stores and regular libraries. She needed to inspire and entertain children everywhere.

Is she doing that now? Of course not. These things grow very slowly.

But I feel inside that she will. One day.

For now, Smashwords, Kindle and the Nook will be the beginning...

My review of Dark Birth on Goodreads

2011-09-24T09:10:00.002-06:00

Night Children: Dark Birth by Scott Bryan

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What more can I say about this book? It was fun to write it. Obviously I’m biased as the author, but there is something about Annabelle and Roland. Once I step into their world, I just can’t let go. I thirst for more. I hope you feel the same way.

View all my reviews

I won the Liebster Blog award again!

2011-09-24T01:18:00.000-06:00

Another big THANK YOU, this time to my fellow Tooele Writer and a great friend, Roseanne, for giving me this award...

This is my 2nd time winning the Liebster Blog award and I'm very grateful to have another chance to pass it onto others who need some attention.
As I mentioned before, Liebster means "friend" in German. This award is aimed at those who have fewer than 200 followers.
Here are the rules...

- Link back to the person who gave you the award.

- Pick five other people to give the award to and notify them on their blog.

- Post the award on your blog.

- Bask in the camaraderie of the most supportive people on the internet—other writers.

- And best of all—have bloggity fun and spread the love.

The winners are...

Terron

Clare

Emily

J. A. Bennett

And my fellow writers at Tooele Writers

Night Children: Dark Birth News!

2011-09-12T06:00:00.033-06:00

All sorts of news about THE book.

Night Children: Dark Birth is my first novel. "Wait Scott, wasn't Dark Threats your first one?"

Actually no. Seven years this month I watched Interview With a Vampire and found myself searching for something. Days later I found it as I tried to write my own vampire child story and Annabelle walked out of my imagination and onto paper.

Years of beta readers, critique groups, 6th and 8th grade classes, a professional editor and several drafts brought me to the current version of this novel.

Dark Threats is one chapter removed from that original novel plus a lot of new stuff written just for the my debut into the world of eBooks. Threats is a collection of short stories to introduce people to the world of Annabelle and Roland.

Months ago I decided to break the first novel into two books; Dark Birth and Dark Trials. Last Friday I changed my mind. This story stands better as one.

I've gone through and formatted it for online publishing. I had some troubles but I finally mastered it last night. I uploaded it to Smashwords and it's available there.

Dark Birth on Smashwords!

I wont reveal it to Facebook and Twitter yet because I'm waiting for it to be reviewed by the Smashwords team for any format errors. Once it's good, I'll load it on Amazon and Barns & Noble.com.

Also, thanks to my Highland-loving coworker and pal, Don Phillips, I have a pic that has been used for the cover.

So much going on! I can't wait for you to read my real first book, Annabelle and Roland's origin story! Hope you like it!

10 years ago - 9/11/01

2011-09-11T08:33:00.000-06:00

I was reading a book about life in America after the world collapsed. It was by Orson Scott Card and seemed to be pretty good. The UTA bus dropped me off at the International Center, on the outskirts of Salk Lake City. Just another day. I don't remember September 6th or 5th or the 1st but I remember that morning.

I get to my desk, turn on my computer and got ready for the day. Chuck (a coworker and fellow drafter) had his radio on. Normally the morning DJ's would be goofing or music would be playing. Pop? Country? I don't remember. I think country but it doesn't matter. It was 7:50 AM so NYC time it was at that fateful hour.

Those morning DJ's weren't joking. They were talking about a plane that crashed into the 1st tower. At the same time they were trying to figure why a plane would crash (they thought it was a small one) I opened my Internet explorer. The same event was plastered on MSN.com but they were stating it was big. I remember those DJ's reporting the second plane and the Pentagon crash. One guy on the radio said their were dog fights in the air of New York. It's amazing how panic and fear can affect how we report things.

The office was a buzz. It was a small staff of 10 to 15 people but on that morning we were less than ten. Soon everyone was in the conference room watching Good Morning America. We were in shock.

The personnel manager called a meeting and told us we could go home and be with our families or since we were contractors to the government, we could keep working to show the terrorists life will go on here. We elected to stay.

I do feel pride in the American spirit. Even as a child I welled up with tears when I heard America the Beautiful. I love this country and am fiercely loyal to it. I hope my future novels will illustrate some of my patriotism.

To this day, however, I question if remaining at a small company, trying to focus on drawings that don't matter in the grand scheme of things, and listing to the radio play patriotic songs all day, was the best place for me. That job went under. They are a foot note in time. I couldn't focus on tracing PDF files of electronic F16 harnesses into Auto cad. All I could do was force back the tears as Amazing Grace played with bagpipes and I thought of those poor people.

I wanted to be home. My wife and kids were glued to the TV and I wanted them in my arms. I was and will always be grateful that we are blessed to be alive. I just wanted to be with them.

It was hard those days. We felt defeated as a nation. Maybe the last time Americans felt that defeated was when Kennedy was shot. I don't know. That was seven years before my birth. But we also felt something else. Remember? Yes, we had hate and anger and those are wrong but understood because of the circumstances, but we felt pride.

Strong, unified, powerful pride. Like Pearl Harbor. Like the Alamo. Like those long gone days of the Revolution. The kind of pride that made Paul Revere and Sybil Ludington race at night to warn their countrymen.

We have our differences. We cant agree on money or jobs or the environment. We believe lies about each other and worse, spread them. We lose faith in one another and fear the future.

BUT WE LIVE ON. In ten years we will still be what we are now. In twenty, eighty, a hundred years. We will be Americans. We were forged by a desire for personal liberty. We will not die. We will continue to be a nation and we must forever remember who we are and how we became.

Remember.

Proof II The Sequel

2011-09-08T21:30:00.000-06:00

I've experienced a lot during this journey as a writer. I've watched the dream die only to be reborn. A legion of helpers have carried me each step. I've gone in different directions and return to the starting point more times than I'd like to think of.

But I've never held my own story in my hands. I don't mean a print out, bound or loose, I mean a gloss covered BOOK.

My first proof arrived in the mail last Friday, right before I headed off to the critique group no less. I shared it with them, then my adoring wife who shouted with excitement! After that we took it to family and showed it off. I even carried it to Wal-Mart to show people I knew. I also compared it to other books on the shelf to see A) What Annabelle would look like next to the likes of Percy, Harry and the rest and B) To compare the text size to see if mine was indeed too small.

Thanks to the help of my wife, daughter and the crit group, I found various things that needed to change. Over the extended weekend I made those changes and resubmitted it.

Tomorrow I'll send for another proof. Once Dark Threats passes the proof stage, it'll be ready for people to order soft copies right from Amazon!

Passing friendship to others...

2011-09-02T18:23:00.002-06:00

A big THANK YOU to Krista for giving me this award...

The Liebster Blog award! "Liebster, for those of you who are not Nightcrawler or cannot speak German, means "friend" and is aimed at those who have fewer than 200 followers. Yes, that is me. But we'll get more. I swear it!

At any rate, here are the rules...

- Link back to the person who gave you the award.

- Pick five other people to give the award to and notify them on their blog.

- Post the award on your blog.

- Bask in the camaraderie of the most supportive people on the internet—other writers.

- And best of all—have bloggity fun and spread the love.

1st I want to say something about Krista. She's always warm and supportive and I'm grateful she takes the time to post a reply. It means a lot when us struggling writers get replies to our posts. I try to do the same.

The winners are...

My wife and strong defender for those with ADHD, Janeen

Katie

Nicole

Laura

Melanie

Proof!

2011-08-30T20:55:00.000-06:00

I ordered my proof! What does that mean? It means that I ordered the pre-printable version of my soft cover book from Create Space. Once I review it and OK it for distribution, everyone will be able to buy a soft copy of Night Children: Dark Threats!

Can't wait till it arrives!

Here is the cover before I added the price on it.

The Blog is a-changin'

2011-08-25T06:00:00.002-06:00

I'm sure some of you have noticed but I'm slowly improving this blog. I've had it since '06. I started it right after I finished the rough draft for my first book. I didn't realise back then how much learning I had coming.
I'm still far from perfect and I look forward to much more education coming my way.

Anyway, watch this space. I've added info pages about the books, the characters and so on. The store is up (soon to have print on demand books). I'm planning out a place for some small games, maps and so on.

It was difficult choosing a color scheme for the blog. I really wanted to keep it black with white text. After all, this is a vampire adventure series. But ultimately I decided to go with a off-white with black text. After all, you need to be able to read it!

So... more changes coming. Watch this space!

I won an award for the blog!

2011-08-24T21:11:00.001-06:00

I got a blog award!

I received a Brilliant Writer Blog Award from Author and artist Deirdra Eden-Coppel.
You can find her blog here. A great place to visit and learn so much about the crazy world of writing and publishing.

Thanks Deirdra!

I'm in the local paper!

2011-08-11T21:32:00.001-06:00

Reporter Emma Penrod did a story on my hometown's local e-published authors. I'm going to scan the article and post it because it's not on their website.

I spoke heavily about e-publishing and why I do it. In the interview I mentioned by book's title (Night Children: Dark Threats) and where it could be found (Amazon) but there was no mention of that.

At any rate it's a start. Now to find my way into other papers and such.

UPDATE...

Here is the article.

BOOK REVIEW: Night Children : Dark Threats

2011-08-01T06:00:00.000-06:00

Night Children: Dark Threats by Scott Bryan

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Would it be wrong to say I love this book? Yes, I’m biased because I’m the author, but I can’t stop reading or writing her stories. I have to tell them, share them, and get them out into the world.

As the author I’ve fully aware this story isn’t perfect, but I believe it’ll entertain.

Give it a shot!

View all my reviews

BOOK REVIEW : Throne of Fire by Rick Riordan

2011-07-31T10:17:00.000-06:00

The Throne of Fire by Rick Riordan

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Just finished! I loved it! I can really like being in the heads of Carter and Sadie. I enjoy reading their adventures. Riordan is always fresh and an inspiration to me as a writer. There are surprises and very fun characters. Some twists in the story throw you for a loop. A+

View all my reviews

I'm published on Amazon!

2011-07-24T14:59:00.000-06:00

Now you can find DARK THREATS on Amazon for the Kindle or just online reading.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005E59LOC

Come check it out!

My cover for Dark Threats

2011-07-22T10:40:00.002-06:00

Let it be noted:
ADAM DILLER IS AN ART GOD.

http://www.adamdiller.net/portfolio/

I'M PUBLISHED ON SMASHWORDS!

2011-07-22T10:37:00.000-06:00

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/75648

Come see! Come buy! Come enjoy the beginning of the Night Children Series!

Good bye Harry

2011-07-15T23:43:00.000-06:00

In 2001 I knew two movies were coming to theatres. Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings. Continuing with my goal to read the books before I saw the movie, I checked out Harry Potter book 1 from the local library.
I was swept up into the story and had to have more. I went back to the library and grabbed the next and the next. I read four books before that 1st movie came out. Back then I was the only one in the family to know these characters for who they were. I couldn't get enough. My favorite was Hermione.
The decade continued, bringing midnight parties at Wal-Mart while we waited for new books, followed by my even later night reading sessions. All the while wondering how each scene would translate into a movie.
Now I know. And I'm so very glad I do. I could go on for hours, sharing my opinions of Daniel Radcliff, Emma Watson and so on. I could spoil your brains out on the movie and how it compares to the book. I wont. Those things will be elsewhere I'm sure.
What I will say is I feel a milestone has happened. After 7 books and 8 movies, this era has ended. I'll always miss it but the great thing about books and movies is we can always revisit them.

Good bye Harry, thanks for the wonderful decade of memories. See you around sometime.

At last: a cover!

2011-07-12T12:02:00.000-06:00

I'm so excited I have to post this from my phone. Last night I got a wonderful surprise! The magnifisent Adam Diller sent me the cover for NIGHT CHILDREN : DARK THREATS.

It's amazing! It's like she's real!

Since the launch is very soon, I'll save it for then but watch this space!

New titles!

2011-07-11T09:36:00.003-06:00

More Big news!

I’ve decided to change the title of my Annabelle books. In keeping with my upcoming eBook launch and the fact that “Book One” is now Books one and two, I’ve re-titled almost everything.

See, when I was writing this book I turned to Rowling for inspiration on a title. She had “Harry Potter and the…” for every title so I picked “Annabelle and Roland…” for my titles. It was easy and told the reader who the protags were.

Since I’m in charge of this whole launch, it rises and falls based entirely on me. This has made me rethink a lot of things and cleared my brain quite a bit.

Boiling things down to their basic core, this entire series really is about the life of vampire children or “night children”. So without further ado, the new titles planned are…

NIGHT CHILDREN: DARK THREATS (Brief looks into Annabelle’s adventures, a short story)

NIGHT CHILDREN: DARK BIRTH (How two children from England became vampires in Colonial America)

NIGHT CHILDREN: DARK TRIALS (The vampire children face werewolves, vampires a vampire hunter and the Salem Witch Trials, as well as a confrontation with Dominic, the vampire lord who killed their parents)

All three will be published soon on Smashwords, the Nook and the Kindle.

Meanwhile I’ll be taking the next installments (DARK SEAS AND SHADOWS) and breaking it into two as well as running it through the critique group when we restart this fall.

Watch this space!

NEWS FLASH!

2011-07-08T09:27:00.000-06:00

Big News!

I found a way! A hidden door that opens up a word of chances and choices! Yes, it’s true, Annabelle and her word will be published!

See, I discovered, while traditional publishing won’t look at vampires, online publishing will. I can publish my novels on Smashwords, the Kindle and even the Nook. Things will start out slow but that’s the norm for publishing anyway.

I’ve only wanted one thing; to get Annabelle’s story out there. I’ve discovered through my journey that I actually need to see how it ends, too. But if I can share her tale with others, all the better. Through online publishing I can do this.

This year I wrote a collection of short scenes, all tied together as a short story. I was going to take a break from Ann and focus on Myths and Multi-Mart, but the online publishing bug hit me. I wrote this new Annabelle short story, pushed it through a great critique group and now I’m just waiting for a cover from the amazing Adam Diller.

I was going to launch it mid-July but might have to hold back a bit. Regardless, it’s coming!

As for my novel, it’s been broken in half and set up for the next two online books as well. I’ve re-titled everything and I’m experiencing a rebirth of sorts as a writer.

More to come!

Here Comes Peter Cotton Tail

2011-04-01T09:27:00.002-06:00

Originally posted on 4/4/10 for the

Charge of the Write Brigade.

Well, it’s April and with that statement we should see flowers blooming and baby livestock running. It’s true in my town those small horses and cows are falling over themselves. But the flowers are scared.

I live in Utah and Mother Nature never understands a simple thing like seasons. The last few days we’ve been pelted by snow. It’s freezing at night and scorching during noon. Ah well.

Another sign of the first weeks of April is Easter. I won’t wax religious here. That’s not what this blog is for and besides, it’s not my style. I will say that Eater is about living again. Spring is about rebirth, too.

So, how to tie this season into a topic about writing? Simple. Editing.

We come up with these great ideas and eventually write them down. We create these rough drafts and are so proud of our babies. But unless we want them to simply live forever on our hard drives, we want to share them. Some of us want to get them published.

Problem is, they’re not ready. All sorts of imperfections run rampant through them. Things like improper POV shifts, telling far more than showing and even problems in story flow and continuity. Face it writers, our babies aren’t as “cute” as we thought.

The only help available is to find fresh readers to look it over and be honest. After the proper blood bath they create with their red pens, our poor child has fallen into the dirt. All it’s blood oozing on the pavement.

What to do? We pick it up and begin to apply edits. We fix the POV, we unpack scenes to show instead of tell things. We cut and change and fix.

In other words, our baby is reborn. This resurrection of word will happen multiple times. It’s where I live as a writer at this very moment. Like the butterfly from the caterpillar, something far better comes forth.

So have a good Easter, writers, and don’t be afraid of the edits.

Writing is Eternal

2011-02-10T09:34:00.001-07:00

Originally posted on 5/2/10 for the Last one!

Charge of the Write Brigade.

The other night I was walking my dogs. I’ve got three. They’re big and strong and one of them seems to suffer from ADHD mixed with Speed. Nevertheless they’re good dogs and mind me pretty well. Being rowdy, I like to walk them at night.

Sometimes I don’t get started until rather late but I like it that way because it’s just us and the night. No pestering pedestrians to gawk at the stranger and his pooches as they pass people’s lawns (don’t worry, I do clean up after them).

During these walks I have an opportunity to clear my head and think on things. One such night I stopped by my wife’s late grandmother’s house and pondered life’s brief stint. Right after as I continued down the path I noticed the beautiful moon and considered when the next group of people would stroll its surface. That’s when something occurred to me.

Think for a moment of some writers of old. Kipling, Twain, Longfellow, Dickens and Stevenson.

Their work still exists. They’re dead but their work is still with us. Every book you pick up, regardless of your feeling for the author, those words were first created by people from long ago. Faces that smiled and cried in the Victorian era. Feet that walked the market places of ancient Greece. Hands that toiled Colonial soil. Minds that were inspired to share stories, ideas, concepts from lives we can no longer fathom, minds long dust, whose children are long dust. Their words are still with us.

Have you looked up at the moon and thought that one day, long after the politics of today have changed a hundred fold, we might step on that ivory surface again? Sure, not us, but people. People with our words tucked in their computer chips. Fun reading while they wait for their lunar test results. Just like those authors of old, will our words last long after everything we know has changed?

Will what you write now, what you edit for the thirty-seventh time, will it be loved by children centuries from now? Will souls thrill, cry or laugh at those very words you wrote today?

Why not? Shelly, Hawthorne, Shakespeare, and the rest are still with us. Sure, they’re all worm food, but their minds still entertain and show us new ways of thinking.

Why wouldn’t yours do the same?

So next time you struggle with that painful critique or review, think on the generations of people who could gain from the finished draft. Those men and women of old had nothing more than you. They had a drive, an idea and the gumption to learn and do what they must to get their words out into the world.

Why can’t we do the same?

----

Jack Roberts lives in a small town in the western US. He’s married with four children and six pets. As the scribe of Annabelle and Roland, he chronicles the vampires many adventures through the last three hundred years. Along with their YA fantasy stories, he also has plans for more fantasy and some Sci Fi.Check out Annabelle and Roland, The Site.

Pacing

2011-02-05T09:31:00.002-07:00

Originally posted on 4/18/10 for the

Charge of the Write Brigade.

Pacing

I never even realized it was a problem. When I came up with Annabelle, I simply sat down and started to write. The story wrote itself. What that means is that the characters traveled the paths they wanted and as each story idea presented itself, I wrote it. Obstacles were resolved and a conclusion finally happened.

Boy was I green. I feel for those first beta readers. I knew stories needed beginnings, middles and ends but what I didn’t realize is the journey needed to be tighter.

As writers, we get caught up in our worlds. We want to spend all day with our muses. We’d be happy sitting at a kitchen table with them, chatting away. But that’s not interesting to our readers.

People want to read stories that keep them entranced. We as writers want the same things. Recently a professional editor taught me a few things on this subject. I can’t profess to be an expert and when I get my manuscript back, I’m sure they’ll still be pacing issues to work on. Regardless, I did learn some very valuable lessons.

I had a beginning and followed it with the main threat and a turn around event that set the story agenda. But afterwards my story went from event to event. Sure, there were threats and the main characters learned things, but the big bad guy didn’t constantly threaten them. He seemed to be ok with leaving them to stir and stew.

Shouldn’t he have a vested interest in them? Why isn’t he trying to kill them more? Or at the very least, why aren’t his servants doing more to further his goals? It may be fun to see vampire children learn to be bats, but what if there’s a time limit to learn before the big bad returns to kill them?

There were plenty of fun scenes that I originally showed. Things that even helped the characters grow. But these scenes had no bearing in the story I wanted to tell this time. If they don’t add to the general story, cut and paste it into a new file and tuck it away for later. Tell them this story.

Create a Novel Elevator Pitch, create an outline from it, and then sit down with your novel and remove anything that doesn’t contribute to the story goals. Keep in mind that as the story continues, your events should add to your goals.

What is this story about? Where do I want my characters to be by them end? What conflicts will there be and how can they ramp up the story? How can these events or new events keep the readers invested and help my characters to grow?

Take a good look at your story structure and you’ll make a better novel.

Ok, direction not quite changed

2011-01-29T08:45:00.000-07:00

I was planning on taking a year long break from Annabelle but Editor Jennifer told me about the wide world of publishing on the Kindle. I decided to look into it and this does seem like an amazing opportunity.

So I wrote a short story about Annabelle and Roland set in modern day. I'm going to polish it with the help of my critique group and get it ready for the Kindle. Then I'll shop around for cover artists and ready the book. After I put it up, I'll return to my break and Myths.

Wish me luck.

Top Five Misconceptions about Writing: A Keynote Address from Rick Riordan

2011-01-29T08:40:00.000-07:00

Top Five Misconceptions about Writing: A Keynote Address from Rick Riordan

Two quotes from this I love...

"You have to find the story you must tell – the story so important to you personally that you have no choice but to write it." & "I would have written it whether it was published or not."

This is why I stick with... Annabelle, folks. This is why I endure the pain, struggle and disapointment. This is also what I feel for Myths.See More

Deadlines

2011-01-25T09:05:00.000-07:00

Originally posted on 3/21/10 for the

Charge of the Write Brigade.

Recently I’ve been working hard on my novel. I’ve been tasked with edits and re-writes. My editor has given me two months to get this manuscript in place and that’s plenty of time.

This means I have to get serious and knuckle down. Some scenes only need to be reworked a bit and folded into the general story. Other scenes have to be completely thrown out and new ones put in to replace them. It needs to be tighter, more interwoven and the pace needs to be brought up quite a bit.

Now, if I decided to put off my edits until later, one of two things would happen. I’d either find myself at the end of the second month, scrambling to meet my deadline and producing shoddy work, or I’ve have to confess I wasn’t ready and couldn’t accomplish the job.

I long to be a published author. Do I intend to produce crap for my agent and the editor at my future publisher or do I intend to not produce anything at the required hour? Either answer means failure. What’s worse is that after the long, painful period of trying to find an agent and that agent finding a publisher, to throw it all away because I got lazy or distracted just seems purely insane.

Sure, my current situation isn’t that serious, but I must create a working habit of sticking to my writing deadlines. Interestingly enough, when I was working on book two I had no deadlines so I took my sweet time. Now that I have a professional editor waiting on my pages, it feels real.

That’s a good thing. I find that I behave more seriously about my writing now that I have a goal. I have until the last day of April to get all thirty-two chapters polished enough for her to see it. Sure, I don’t have to cross every ‘T’ or dot every ‘I’ as it were, but a complete story must be in place with all the changed.

Heck, it’s a Young Adult Historical Fiction Fantasy and the ‘Historical’ part means research. So to properly tell this tale, I find I’ll need more research, too. This means I’ll need to make time for that research with the time allotted.

Deadlines can’t be matched without writing goals, a chapter a day for instance. They’ve got to be realistic goals. If it takes a day, great. If a week or a month, also great. But don’t set a goal for two months of writing on one week. Be honest with yourself. You know the take before you. You know how long it takes you. Plan out the time you know it’ll take and the time you want to start. Once the time arrives, jump in and get it done.

A big help for me during this challenge is my cheerleaders. Hey, I could tell you plenty of story plotlines for comics and Sci Fi shows but when it comes to who plays which sport, I’m lacking. One thing I do know about sports; they set up pretty cheerleaders to shout praises at the guys while they’re struggling to make the goals.

Same principle. Remember your beta readers and critique group partners? Remember the members in your writing group? How about family, friends, co-workers? These people have either read your story (and it’s not as bad as your inner voice says) or listened to your struggles. Tell them your goals. Tell them what you plan to accomplish the next time you sit down at the keyboard. Set it up so they’re waiting to hear your progress. That way they can nag or remind you.

You may say, “But Scott/Jack, I hate it when my mother calls and nags me. Why would I want to have her voice doing it about my recreational hobby, too?

Well, why are you writing? If you’re serious about getting your work out there and sharing it with the world, if you’re serious about really getting published, then you’ll have deadlines and that means it’s also work. Yes, work you love, but work. That means you’ll need those friendly reminders from the people who want you to succeed.

Ok, my article is finished and it’s still pretty early. I’ve got scenes and chapters to do today so I’m signing off. Can’t let this deadline slip.

Direction change

2011-01-21T16:46:00.000-07:00

I've tried every thing. Critique groups, beta readers, reading out loud, reading to classes and a professional editor. I spoke with two agents and caused a certain degree of interest in them for Annabelle.

I tried very hard.

I just got the final rejection for awhile. The agents have good reasons to reject it. There are still things to rework. The problem is, I lack the strength to do this work. I still love Annabelle, but I can't bring myself to look it over again. I'm so very tired of it.

There are two choices available to me. 1) Give up writing/ take a break from writing, or 2) Try again with something else.

There have been moments when I've taken a break and tried to write other things. I think they're good but then I thought Annabelle was ready. So I'm going to try Myths. I'm going to go down that path, honing my writing and trying to get inspired for it instead.

Annabelle, I'll miss you a great deal. I've spent 6 years with you and I wish things had been different. There will be times it will hurt but I must move on.

The Climb

2011-01-20T08:55:00.000-07:00

Originally posted on 3/7/10 for the

Charge of the Write Brigade.

What is your anthem?

As writers we thirst for inspiration. We sail the ocean of procrastination and distraction. The far off shores of creative thought and completed manuscripts or at least chapters seem so far over the horizon that we wonder if we’ll ever get there.

Life gets in our way. Sometimes we need something to spark our juices. I’ve already written about how music can inspire a writer. I won’t go into length about it now.

I do want to share with you some of the songs that set my writer’s brain on fire. I’m not talking about what songs or music styles inspire certain ideas or stories. I’m speaking of those songs that remind me that this dream is reachable. That despite all the things I can never seem to learn and apply, all those rejections that pile up, these songs make me stand up and forge ahead with the dream.

At least three songs come to mind.

Go the Distance by Michael Bolton

Created for the Disney movie Hercules, this song represented young Herc’s longing to be something more. He sensed within himself the ability to take his talents and do something important with them.

Whenever I hear this I feel it too. I don’t think of glory or fame. I don’t give a crap for those. Instead I think of the joy my stories bring to others. I think of how they can make kids dream and wish for things in life. I think that maybe one day, beyond this mountain of rejections, one day there will be a line of kids and adults wanted to discover Ann and Roland’s latest adventure. That one day I can get these stories out there into the world.

Someone’s Watching Over Me by Hilary Duff

In the movie Raise Your Voice, Duff plays a girl who wants so bad to sing. The problem is her father won’t let her spread her wings. Well, her older brother (played by John Ritter’s son) always believes in her. Without her knowledge, he sends out her application to the music school she wanted to attend. He dies shortly afterward and she discovers what he did later on.

The ballad is soft and reaches out. It reminds me of the doubts and fears that always cloud my mind. It also makes me think of my dream. It causes me to reach for the impossible. I think of how important this dream is. How the fears and impossibilities aren’t important. I refocus my mind and sit up straight. I can do this. I can achieve my dreams.

The Climb by Miley Cyrus

This is the new kid on the block for my personal anthems. It’s currently my favorite. Created for her movie to represent the character’s feelings about failure and hope, I resisted it at first. I have four children who practically live on Disney Channel so I tend to get sick of their TV offerings.

I couldn’t resist it though. I hear the quiet beginning and soft words and my mind travels to the same doubts I mentioned before. I think of the hard reviews and tough decisions I’ve made. Stephen King said you have to kill your babies and I’ve got so much blood on my hands. But it’s not the end of the journey I should focus on. It’s the actual path I’m taking. Each rung of this latter is important. Am I scared of what my editor is going to say? Yes! But I need those bad reviews. I have to fall again and again if necessary to learn how to walk. I can’t become a author unless I learn how to write.

So there you go. Three anthems that make me believe in my abilities. What are yours and what effect do they have on you?

End of the World As We Know It; Dangers of too much world building

2011-01-15T06:00:00.004-07:00

Originally posted on 2/7/10 for the

Charge of the Write Brigade.

Last time I wrote about the joys of world building. I went on to explain the fun of creating your own world and how to build on that for many future stories.

Today I’d like to touch on the dangers. Yup. There are dangers. Not danger in the sense of the word where your mouse will bite you if you click it again. I’m talking about distraction and procrastination.

Yes, those two evils that destroy a writer’s potential. Two of our greatest adversaries lurk within world building, waiting to strike.

A friend of mine has an amazing imagination. He’s inspired by many writers to sit down an pen the great American novel. He lives on the other side of my state, too far to visit. Because of this distance, we keep in touch through nightly chats on the phone. I respect him a great deal and expect him to soar if he put his mind to it.

Some nights we discuss writing and our mutual progress. When ever he speaks of his ideas I’m entertained to great concepts involving wonderful plot twists and well thought out characters. He tells me of histories and back stories and future plans where multiple novels revolves around generations of heroes and villains.

But in every story, on all the many worlds he’s discussed over twenty years of discussions (not always nightly, but that’s still a long time) I know there is one question that will always have the same answer.

“Have you actually begun writing this book?”

“Well no. It’s all just in the planning stages.”

Now to be fair, he did write two short stories and a chapter. But this makes it worse in my mind because I now know he can do it. I know all these great ideas are more than wishful dreams. I realize he can do something wonderful with them if he’s just sit down and do it.

As writers, we can’t help but create worlds. It’s in our blood. It’s a wonderful ability and our main super power. But there must come a time where we sit our butts down and WRITE THE DANG NOVEL. We need to call a time out, take these ideas and actually begin the sentences, paragraphs and ultimately the chapters of our projects.

We can get distracted in the big picture and caught up in our creations. We love how it all fits together. It’s so amazing! We want to take out outlines or notes and run right out and shout our incredible discovery to the masses.

But they won’t ‘get’ it. It’s raw. Sure, our friends, family, fans and support groups may even sit beside us in eager anticipation as we expound upon our creations, but it don’t mean jack if it never becomes an actual story.

Anyone who has actually written a novel knows that your plans change during the telling of the story. The characters’ voice alters things. Sometimes they won’t play as instructed. If you never begin, how will you discover these changes?

So why do we do it? Are we to afraid to start? Maybe. Is our time limited? Definitely.

What do we do about it?

Set a time limit or goal. Make a plan like “I will build for a week or a month, then begin writing this monster.”

Write something about your world. Start a scene to get in the flow. You don’t have to keep it and it doesn’t have to be in chronological order. Set a time and jump in.

So if you’re trapped in your own worlds, jump on to a chair and just write.

Part of Your World: The Joys of World Building

2011-01-10T06:00:00.014-07:00

Originally posted on 1/17/10 for the

Charge of the Write Brigade.

We all write in our own worlds. World building is as natural to the writer as breathing.

Maybe you have a space saga with strange planets or a fantasy epic with golden lands populated with elves and dragons. Some of us spend time in the past where knights rescue ladies or gunfighters meet at high noon. In your world monsters could exist, be they romantic immortals who have gotten a bad rep or horrific demons of old who’d rather eat you than look at you. Does your story take place within a secret society of magic users or deep within an ancient institution where deep coded secrets await discovery? Maybe your world is the tough crime ridden streets of New York or a quiet suburbia where your heroine tries to avoid love?

Regardless of where you place it, the scope of your world is governed by the scope of your story.

My first novel is set in the frontier colonies of the New World. Moving from smoggy, crowded London, Annabelle finds the peaceful clean air a stark contrast to her first ten years of life. The fresh smell of pine and the crisp sound of chopping wood becomes a comfort to her.

There can be pain and pleasure to writing about the real world and real history. It means tons of research so the past you use is as accurate as can be. I must read books, watch period shows, search out and save web pages about certain topics and set up a 2nd home on the History Channel. I save pictures of period style clothing and maps of locations, preferably from the era’s I’m writing about. All the while trying to imagine my characters strolling those old streets and seeing those historic events.

World building research isn’t just for historical fiction. In the realms of Sci-Fi and fantasy you still need governments, currency, food, entertainment, transportation and history

Base it on the real world. Ok, you’re writing about happy elves that live in a tree and make cookies. Who is the head elf? How did he or she become head elf? What is the hierarchy? Are they paid? Why do they live in tree houses? Are they hiding from something? What do they do on their time off?

We each find our own ways to create our worlds. Long walks, music and prior concepts we want to change are some ways. Recently I discovered one of my own.

I’m taking a break from friendly child vampires and trying my hand at regular fantasy. I’ve created my own mythical world of elves, dwarves, mermaids and dragons called Farnalla.

To create Farnalla I needed to make a map. Because of the nature of the story, I needed to think about the various mythical creatures and how they would migrate across the globe. This led to several maps, each covering a different era in their history.

As I created and altered the tribal and later, national boundaries, my mind had to do something. So it wandered. I found myself explaining to my daughters (whom were fascinated at the story) why the elves and fauns would merge their tribes, why the giants and dragons went to war over the mountains, and so on.

Before I knew it, I had an outline for the world’s entire history up to the present day when the novel starts.

That’s one way to world build. What are your favorite ways ?

Auld Lang Syne

2010-12-31T23:59:00.001-07:00

Originally posted on 1/3/10 for the Charge of the Write Brigade.

I suppose you know what this week’s article is about. Check out the calendar and you’ll know straight away. Yearly resolutions. Yeah, I know. I feel the same way, too. Why bother? I mean, we’ll just break them. I’m not the type to make resolutions because I know I have a difficult time following through. I’ve always though, “Why set myself up with a goal I know I’ll fail?”

The thing is, I seem to have a problem. I say I want to sit down and write. I push away distractions and refuse to play games of take part in online groups because “I need to use my free time to write”, yet what do I truly do? When I sit at the computer I check my email, glance at a few sights and then nothing. I might browse the web. One thing I never do is make the time to write.

I have time on Saturday and Sunday mornings, before the distractions wake up. If I simply used that time, who knows how far in my writing I’d get?

For some reason it’s hard for me to get started. Once I begin to type, I go like a mad man. The ideas flow and I can’t get them on the page fast enough. But getting started? That’s the hard part.

What I need is a regimented set time and place. I need to say “It’s 7 am, Saturday morning and this is my computer. It’s writing time!” Then I jump in and begin. What if I did that? What if I actually created a writing habit?

So now you know my resolution. It’s simple and it’ll help be become a better writer. I profess to want a future career in writing novels, yet I don’t force myself to work on some kind of deadline. You can be sure if Annabelle did land an agent and publisher, I wouldn’t be able to fart around the web. I’d have to write “x” amount of pages a day and accomplish a lot more than my new resolution allows for.

You can’t hand Christmas lights on your roof until you master climbing a ladder. By creating a set time and place to write, and sticking to it, I’ll learn to master the first rungs.

Enough about me. What are your writing resolutions?

Research

2010-12-08T06:00:00.005-07:00

Originally posted on 12/20/09 for the Charge of the Write Brigade.

Research. For some it sounds like hard work. Sure, it’s time consuming but it can really be worth it. It’s very important that you do this phase of the writing, just not necessarily at first.

We all get a general idea of what to write about. Concepts pop into our heads and we are inspired with “Wouldn’t it be cool if…”. Some of these ideas beg a look into other topics and fields we’re unsure of. Sometimes we’re watching a documentary or show and get inspired to create a story from the small aspect we’ve learned.

There’s nothing wrong with looking deeper into whatever that topic is. In fact at some point you’ll need to do this so your facts are accurate. One problem that might occur from too much research at the beginning is procrastination. You might get so wrapped up in studying the facts that you never actually begin the story. Your warm story concepts and passion for your ideas might cool. You might lose interest or get caught up in something completely different. In those situations, stories die in the opening stages and never become something.

Avoid this! It’s better to have something on the page. Some pages or chapters writing out so you can go back (if distracted) and find that passion again. If you can write the whole thing and only pause for research when you absolutely have too, you’ll have a finished manuscript. Don’t bog down ideas. Don’t stifle the writing by interrupting the flow to follow up on research, but go back after, during the edit phase, and fix. That’s what rewrites are for.

I jumped in with both feet and just started writing the story in my mind. I wrote two whole chapters involving a school house circa mid eighteen hundreds. The problem is, there were no such things in the seventeen hundreds. Yes, I had to cut them out and save those chapters for a later story, but by pushing through I had a chance to place my characters in situations where it helped me to get to know them better. I continued onward and finished the book. I know myself well enough to know I would’ve gotten sidetracked and lost my nerve. It would’ve been another unfinished project.

Sometimes we can’t catch it all. After numerous revisions of the finished manuscript I joined a critique group. I advise everyone to do the same. Others might take you down a peg, but you need it. One such author pointed out that the way I had wolves attacking children was wrong. The pack leader always goes for the fleeing prey’s ankle, that way she or he could pull in down. Sure, I had to rewrite the scene, but something better came from it.

Beta readers don’t expect you to be perfect, but your readers do need the story to be as accurate as possible.

Research is very important. Do not skip it. You find information from reading about your topics both through the web and actual books on the subject. Also, you can find others who know about said topics and interview them (with their permission of course). As you study, interesting gems come forth that may help direct your story. What would your characters do in this new, more accurate situation?

Yes, there will be parts you’ll have to rewrite but don’t be afraid to do that. We’ll discuss rewrites later. All I want to empress on you is that research can be fun and is necessary needs to be controlled. The important thing is to get your story on the page.

Good luck with your writing!

Working For a Living

2010-12-01T06:00:00.000-07:00

Originally posted on 11/15/09 for the Charge of the Write Brigade.

Cindy Speer’s article on Friday really hit the spot. She wrote about Split Focus and I’ve got to confess I suffer from the same situation. Some days it’s so hard to focus on writing. I hear the kids in the other room or the TV. Maybe there are things in my life that I find myself dwelling on and can’t hear the muse.

It’s not like I don’t want to write. I still have my goals and dreams. I want to be a professional author whose tales entertain and inspire. Sure, getting the right agent or a publishing contract is harder than winning in Vegas, but I still must try.

Despite this desire, I find myself procrastinating. Why is it that it’s so hard to start writing and so hard to stop? I suppose it’s a demon I’ll always have to fight.

At any rate, I’ve got to put my nose to grindstone and my shoulder to the wheel. Sometimes writing is hard work. Yuck. Work.

Downstairs, while I continued in my relaxing activities upstairs, sewer water seeped into the carpet and soaked the walls of a few rooms. This meant work. Sure, a contractor removed the black water, and another has begun to put up new sheet rock to replace the old, but the wife and I need to help. We have a goal to get the ruined rooms replaced before Thanksgiving and we’ve got to jump in where possible to help meet that.

This means sheet rock dust in the eyes. Sometimes life blows dust and causes your vision to get blurry. I don’t like it but if I don’t put up the sheet rock, I don’t make my goal. So I jumped in and started at it. After some chalky mess I look around and behold, the room looks nicer.

Sometimes you need to set apart time to sit down and work. You might get dust in your eyes like discovering a scene wont work out how you want it too, but you’ll also find gems.

So how do I “jump in and work”? Friday I found myself with time to write and a desire to browse the web. I stopped what I was doing, opened Windows Media Player, and cranked up “Dies Irae (Requiem)” by Karl Jenkins. Suddenly I saw the big fight scene I needed to write. I opened my file and began to write.

Some days music doesn’t help. Some days a quiet walk inspires me. Whatever inspirers you, do it and get in the mood and write.

Good luck and remember my favorite catch phrase...

Just write.

That's what friends are for

2010-11-25T06:00:00.003-07:00

Originally posted on 11/29/09 for the Charge of the Write Brigade.

I thought I’d use this article to explain what I’m thankful for. After all, it is Thanksgiving weekend, the time of year where we pause and think on our blessings and good fortune.

There are a lot of things I could write at length about. My family, friends, work, house, pets and even the material things I enjoy. I could go on about faith and various religious terms, but this blog isn’t really for any of those things.

This is a writer’s blog and on it I’d like to mention my gratitude to other writers and readers. See, while we as writers have imagination and the means to use that imagination to create, we need others to create for.

Sure, you could write for yourself and many do. This site, however, is for people trying to perfect the writing craft. To improve on your writing, you need someone outside your head to read your stuff and call BS on it. Someone who will see the good for good and the bad for bad.

I’m so very grateful for them. Some of these people are reading this right now (Michelle and Kim, I’m looking at you!) while others have no clue I’m put this article up.

From Jeff, the 6th grade teacher who agreed to check out my rough draft (feel sorry for him) all the way to Rick at work who is reading my 2nd book, every one of you have shaped my novels and ideas into something better. I’m grateful to all of you. It was hard to listen sometimes, but it has always been worth it.

I’m also grateful for this site. Writing my articles here has given me the opportunity to force my butt down and write. They say you learn by teaching and that has certainly been true for me.

Thanks guys, and keep on writing!

--
A little addendum from 11/26/10
As you readers know, I originally wrote this article two years ago for a writing blog.
My gratitude to my past beta readers still hold true. I'd like to add to the list. I'm grateful to Cheri for forming the Tooele division of the League of Utah Writers and to the various members for their support. I'm also grateful to Mr Kelly and Bryant for letting me speak in their classes and to Jennifer, the best editor in the world, for showing me the light.

As always, I'm grateful to my children and my wife. Her support is the light in my soul, without it I could not function.
Beyond all that, I'm grateful to my Heavenly Father for giving me the talent to write.

I Wanna Talk About Me

2010-11-23T06:00:00.000-07:00

Originally posted on 10/18/09 for the Charge of the Write Brigade.

Ever have a chance to talk to others about your books? It seems us authors can’t get enough of that. We simply won’t shut up. Well, I guess I’m glossing over the legions of people who might feel differently. I’m sorry if you’re one of them. It’s just that I haven’t met any of you.

I have, however, met many writers who, once they get started, can’t stop themselves when describing this great scene or that cool new character. They were wrestling with a dilemma in their story and something clicked. My family, friends , beta readers and critique partners would testify of how they labored over my constant jawing about Annabelle.

I’ve labored to control myself here and only pepper my articles with my novel info. I’ll continue to do so. The reason I’m going on about this is one simple fact. We like to share our worlds, concepts and ideas with everyone. Why else would we try to be published?

Ok, this being said, have any of you thought of taking this desire to the next level? Sure, it’s easy to babble on to one or two people in person about your stories, but have you ever tried a group?

I’m talking about speaking engagements. Yes. Scheduling a time and place to stand up in front of several eyes and speak about writing, your journey as a writer and yes, your book. Not rambling on at your long suffering spouse about how character A can’t get to place B without item C and it’s driving you insane. I mean calling up a book store, library or school and scheduling a time to stand before others and share with them.

Several of you live in a different universe than me. Many of you are published and attend speaking engagements on a regular occasion. Maybe next weekend you’ll be at the Lone Pine Mall, signing copies of your book. If so, all the power to you and I long for those days.

Speaking as a first time author with no agent or publisher, I can still attest to the power of public speaking. I’ve had the privilege to speak in front of two 6th grade classes and two 8th grade classes. Last Friday I spoke to my daughter’s 8th grade history class.

Was I scared? Of course! A small sea of eyes looked up at me, expecting knowledge mixed with mild entertainment. I don’t like being under the spot light. My daughter laughed later and told me how nervous I looked. She would know. She sees me all the time and knew I seemed a little tense. I didn’t let the others onto it, though. I focused on a select few faces and continued on. Sure, I could’ve done it better, but they did like it.

The teacher had a Smart Board. I knew this ahead of time so I brought various images of my characters and the historical settings. I explained the story and main characters and then sat down and read a few pages. I wrapped it up with questions from the audience. It was an afternoon class so the kids were awake and full of questions.

Sure, I got the “when will it be published” question and had to explain how it’s in the editing stages but I hope to get it out there in a couple years. Sure, some were disappointed, but they did enjoy the presentation and I could tell by their eyes they wanted more. If I never get published, at least I inspired future writers today.

You can inspire others to write, or just get them excited about your book. We newbies can use all the well wishes we can get. Have a teacher read your book in class. It’s possible. It happened to me. Sure, you can’t put their positive feedback in a query letter, but it’ll lift you up during the down times and show others that writing can be fun and productive. They learn that if they might just reach those dreams.

Turn The Beat Around

2010-11-20T20:41:00.001-07:00

Originally posted on 10/4/09 for the Charge of the Write Brigade.

This last week and a half I’ve found myself caught up in my day job. I’m a CAD drafter and our company has been under a dreaded deadline. With last minute changes and tiring efforts, my brain has turned to mush.

Now as a budding writer, I know my time is precious. When I have a few moments to myself I should write. The problem is that I feel too exhausted to think let alone let the muse play.

Up to this point my articles have tried to give encouragement and next time I plan to do the same. This week, however, I’d like to turn the tables a bit.

I know those of you reading this have experienced times like this. What have you done to push away the brain-dead exhaustion and put pen to paper? What methods have you employed to get your butt into the chair and write something instead of troll Twitter?

Discuss.

Workin’ It Out

2010-11-15T06:00:00.001-07:00

Originally posted on 9/20/09 for the Charge of the Write Brigade.

The other day I found myself alone on my day off. This is very rare in the Roberts household, I can assure you. We have in our home seven pets. We’ve got three dogs, three cats and one quiet rabbit. I decided that a morning alone was the perfect time to clean the rabbit’s cage.

Now to properly do this task, I needed to tie the bunny to the fence so she didn’t escape into unknown dangers abroad. Then I would take the cage to the curb to hose and scrub it clean. Yes, it was a vile job but the underlings (children) were at school.

The challenge wasn’t the hosing process. No, the true challenge of that morning had nothing to do with Hazel’s abode. We recently added to our six pets. We gained a new, annoying, puppy (hence the count of seven animals).Yes, we’re outnumbered.

While the other animals have enough knowledge to stay out of the street in most situations, Lily the pup didn’t. So while I lean over the curb, washing the cage, she wanted to run pass me into the street.

I couldn’t have that so I had to put her on the dog-run. Now I should mention that the difference between a relaxed adult rabbit and a nervous puppy is that one is content to party in the family garden near the fence (whoops!) while the other makes more ear-splitting noise than a cat in a washing machine.

The cleaning process isn’t very long. She would remain tied for perhaps ten minutes. If you happened to be strolling up my street at that moment, you would have sworn I was beating the puppy within an inch of her life. She whined and tugged at the strap with desperation.

If she could’ve understood that at after a short ten minutes she’d be frolicking in the house, terrorizing the cats or chewing on something important, she wouldn’t whine. It should be noted that when it comes to waiting for things, there is a strange chrono- spatial warp present. If you are the one waiting, ten minutes becomes an hour. This warp elongates with time. If you’re a writer waiting on that expected rejection letter, it could take years (months).

We whine too. I’m a big whiner. Ask my friends and family. They have stood by me during this whole writing dream and they’ve suffered with my frustrations. I’m tied to a fence, waiting (i.e. editing, revising, submitting and then start all over after enough ample servings of rejection). One day I’ll be chasing cats in the air-conditioned living room (published). Sure, it wont be Heaven. Everything I read informs me of all the challenges a published author goes through, but where I sit it would be better than wondering if I’ll ever get there.

Instead of whining about rejections and further revisions, wondering if we’ll ever be published, we could work on other books, send more queries, revise yet again and improve our web platforms.

If we could look at our situation from an outsider’s point of view from the future, we might learn that yes, we did get that agent and publishing contract. Unfortunately we can’t. We have to struggle and learn the hard way. And by doing that, we learn the things we need for that future time. Patience and faith. They’re hard to comprehend sometimes, but it’s worth it.

Go The Distance

2010-11-11T06:00:00.001-07:00

Originally posted on 9/6/09 for the Charge of the Write Brigade.

Whoops.

It appears I posted my article a week early. Ah well. This gives me the chance to pen a quick letter of encouragement.

Dear Frustrated Author;

I understand you’ve had it rough. Word has filtered to me that you’re ready to throw in the towel.

I realize you’re tired of finding mistakes in your manuscript that previously were invisible. That you can’t believe the betas and the critique group members found something so obvious while you overlooked it for the last seventeen read throughs.

And then there were those constant rejections. You wonder if there is a single lit agent in the world who hasn’t passed on your masterpiece. It’s so easy for them, huh? You pour your life blood into this work and they don’t have the decency to look at it. Or maybe they did ask for pages and now you know they saw the glaring errors your betas pointed out. Ouch!

I need you to realize something. These problems are normal, they will happen again and even get replaced with other challenges. I don’t need to tell you that this is life.

What I do want you to do is think back. Remember when you got the notion for this book? Remember why you wanted to be a writer? Think on that. Remember the positive things your betas and critique group members said? It wasn’t all bad, was it?

Why would you build a wooden rocking horse for a child? Because you love her and want to see her smile and laugh. There is an end result you’re looking for. So you begin and work every day on it. Tiny slivers cut into your hands and you wince with pain (the smallest cuts seem to hurt the most). Do you quit?

How about when that child comes over on Saturday and asks, “Is my horsey almost done, Uncle Author?” What do you say?

You suck the tiny sliver spots on your hands and get back to work. You persevere. At some point you’re finished and she laughs and smiles and rocks the heck out of that beautiful rocking horse.

My point? When were down, we don’t know the future, keep at it. There is a certain period of time between painful creation and happy finished work. When I say “finished” I don’t mean rough draft stage or 5th revision, I mean the end of the road. For you and I that means published.

The gap between start and true finished is a long one involving many pratfalls. We have to remember our goals, reevaluate our plans and jump back into the work. Everyone has a reason to write. Focus on your end destination (like the happy child in my example) and push to that goal.

You’ve made it this far, why stop now?

More classic Charge of the Write Brigade articles

2010-11-10T20:54:00.000-07:00

Hey guys,

Like always, I'm behind in my postings.

I'm going to schedule the rest of my articles from the Charge of the Write Brigade. http://writebrigade.blogspot.com/

Hopefully you'll like them.

Don’t you forget about me

2010-11-10T20:33:00.001-07:00

Originally posted on 8/30/09 for the Charge of the Write Brigade.

Stephenie Meyer woke up after a strange dream about a love struck vampire and a mortal girl in a meadow. She quickly wrote down the dream as best as she could remember. JK Rowling pictured her main character while riding a commuter train and took no time to jot the ideas and concepts down on any paper she could find.

Like them or not, you can’t deny the impact both authors have had on the industry. If either one blew off their flashes of idea, where would their fans be now? Both introduced people to the world of books during an age of TV, video games and other visual forms of entertainment.

Writers have a gift. We have the talent for seeing interesting characters, places and situations where others see only what’s in front of them. Last time I wrote about the effect of music on inspiration but today I’d like to focus on what you should do once that inspiration strikes.

Ideas come from everywhere. A quiet campsite, a bubbling brook, a crowded city, the view from a plane window, a vivid dream, or even other’s creations can all bring ideas. We watch a show or read a book and a thought strikes us: “That’s all well and good but what if…”

If and when these ideas strike there is one thing and only one thing you should do. As quick as possible, before anything or anyone stops you, write it down and keep it. I don’t care if you prefer to write long hand on paper, napkins, flesh or toilet paper. I don’t care if you choose to keep folders of scribbles that only you or a team of trained code breakers could understand. I don’t care if you prefer to keep electronic files full of notes. All that matters is that you write down, record or even video any idea for later.

I personally like a loose outline. Many don’t. In fact the writers’ website known as Absolute Write has that very question in their members profile info. Outline or no outline? Ultimately it matters not as long as you have a system that works.

Here is my system:

1) Idea pops into my head.

2) I use whatever is available to write it down (if nothing is available, I keep the idea in the back of my head until I get something to write it down).

3) Once home I transfer the idea into my notes, i.e. my “Who’s Who” or “Timeline”. Save file.

4) Refer back to notes when I reach that character or scene.

Simple, no?

Let me explain the “Who’s Who” and “Timeline”.

For me, the term “Who’s Who” comes from DC Comics. Back in the ‘80s they published their “Who’s Who” over a twelve month period. Each issue featured their various characters. There was information on their full names, birth dates, death dates, eye & hair color, height & weight, history, powers & abilities and anything else that mattered. Marvel comics did the same thing but called it The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe.

In my Annabelle’s Who’s Who, I don’t go into all that detail unless that stuff is worked out. I do include any information that is important to my stories. This might be their history, motivations, relationships or passions. When an idea for a new character or changes to an existing character strikes me I open the file and put it in.

My Timeline is a list of every major event in the lives of Annabelle and Roland from 1687 AD to the current time.

I’m writing a YA historical vampire fantasy fiction series. One of the reasons I placed Ann’s origins three-hundred years in the past was to have fun with history. As far as I can tell, every vampire story begins with a human from now-a-days meeting a vampire. The vamp isn’t the MC because we can’t relate with someone who lived forever. I beg to differ. Sure, I could be wrong but why not go with the dream?

So instead of beginning now and have my vamps say “Remember when the Salem jail was packed with dirty innocent people and we had to rescue that real witch?” I show them doing events in order of when they actually experience them. So the famous witch trails are touched upon in the first book, pirates and post-fire London in the second, and so on.

With this plan, I need a comprehensive list of where they were during the last three-hundred years. When a character or setting pops into my head, I add it to my Timeline. When I come across a particularly juicy piece of history, I put it in my Timeline.

When I actually write the stories, I copy and paste the notes needed into my actual story, then write through as the inspiration takes me, including the notes where they fit into the story.

This system works for me. What systems do you use to catch inspiration and bottle it up until you need it?

Play That Funky Music

2010-11-10T20:25:00.002-07:00

Originally posted on 8/16/09 for the Charge of the Write Brigade.

The theme to “Edward Scissorhands” by Danny Elfman begins. My mind instantly travels to a dark Fall night. Eliza Pratchet walks purposefully with two children in red cloaks following behind. She’s taking them through the small colonial settlement for another lesson. Annabelle’s undead pulse quickens with excitement. Will they finally learn how to become bats?

At the point of the song marked 02:08 the soft eerie tempo starts to wave, like small bat wings. Ann and her brother flutter under the moonlight. Then around 02:59 the quirky march slows off to become a gentle ballad and I see her. I can’t help it. Her flowing red curls, the gleam of happiness in her crimson eyes, the gentle billowing of her blue dress and red cloak in the wind as she floats ten feet in the air. Annabelle’s inner peace, joy and love all moves through my soul.

That is what I see every time that song is played. Heck, even if we’re watching the movie, I see it. That theme will forever be linked in my mind as “Annabelle’s Theme”. If I could choose a composer for a Night Children movie it would be Danny Elfman, hands down.

Music inspires me. I can’t help it. Heck, I wouldn’t want to. It doesn’t matter if there are lyrics, or what style the music is. Certain songs send me off to other worlds.

My main antagonist, Dominic, commands attention as I listen to “The Kraken” from the “Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest” soundtrack by Hans Zimmer.

“Love Song For A Vampire” by Annie Lennox puts me straight into Eliza’s mind as she cares for the dying children, ready to change them forever rather than let them die so young.

The list goes on and on. Some songs provide me with actual scenes from my series, like “Carpe Noctem” from the Dance of the Vampires soundtrack, “Journey to Transylvania” from the Van Helsing soundtrack by Alan Silvestri, the “Poltergeist” theme, “Libra Me” and the “Davy Jones” theme from that same Pirates movie.

Other songs create characters. “Original Sin” from the Dance of the Vampires soundtrack, “Moon Over Bourbon Street” by Sting, “Taste of Blood” by Mazzy Star, “Lucretia My Reflection” by Sisters of Mercy and “Transylvanian Concubine” by Rasputina have all created very interesting cast members.

Then there are those songs that simply put me in a vampire mood. “Cry Little Sister” by Gerard McMann, “Supermassive Black Hole” by Muse, “Go All The Way (Into The Twilight)” by Perry Farrell, “Bela Lugosi's Dead” by Bauhaus, “Bloodletting” by Concrete Blonde and of course the mack daddy of all vampire songs, “Toccata and Fugue in D minor” by Johann Sebastian Bach .

I’ve used enough quotation marks to allow this post to fly but I think I’ve made my point. Music can be a powerful tool for writers. Ever watch a movie and catch yourself leaning forward in your chair, not because of what’s going on, but because the music is telling you something bad is about to happen? Once again, the power of music.

It can show you the gentle parts of your story or the fast paced action sequence. Characters, settings and entire plots and subplots form in your mind as the songs continue. If you haven’t tried to use music before, give it a chance.

Think of the kinds of music you would expect to hear if your story was a movie. What songs really cover your theme? Then while listening to them, close your eyes and picture the scenes in your novel.

Not everyone is inspired by the same things, but if this works for you I’d suggest creating folder of music for your music player of choice. A soundtrack if you will. Then when you’re feeling writers block, play it and watch the scenes grow.

Sometimes when I need to be inspired, I’ll play the Vampire Folder on my media player.

I feel sorry for my coworkers. I have no clue why they haven’t yelled at me. Maybe because I turn it down? At home I have no fear. My wife and children support my dreams. My children are easily warped. I put on Scissorhands and they shout “It’s the Annabelle theme!

Happy writing.

Edits, agents and stuff

2010-11-02T20:44:00.000-06:00

Well, lesson learned. I tried to post this at lunch from my new cell phone but lost the post. Ah well. I'll try again someday, to post here from my cell. We'll see if I can save it in chunks or something.

Anyway, tons of news. 1st things 1st.

Edits;
Wow. Jennifer was the most amazing editor. I suppose I should say IS the most amazing. She's still alive and ready to help you, fellow writers. I guess I said "was" because I'm all finished. She gave me my 3rd edits and I went through them, accepted most of her changes and made a few myself. Had to tweak some stuff that she pointed out.

So it's "finished". Next step...

Agents;
The two agents I spoke with at the conference? Well they got back in touch with me. I emailed them and told them of the 3rd and final edits. One wanted a few chapters and the other wanted the entire manuscript! I'm excited, scared and curious. I'll keep in touch. This is the first time this book with these changes and this flow has ever been seen.

So there you are. My update. I'll post again as things develop.

Editor Jennifer

2010-10-02T10:38:00.001-06:00

Attn Writing Friends:

Seriously guys, my manuscript was far from perfect. I am grateful to all my critique group partners and beta readers. Without you the story would never be finished or ready for the next level.

But that next level for me was a professional editor and guys, Jennifer Feddersen is the one. Affordable and down to earth, she gets your vision while at the same time, teaches you and guides you to crafting for agents, publishers and the general market.

Look her up if you need a personal editor. She’s worth it!

Editor Jennifer

Tomorrow there be agents!

2010-09-17T23:04:00.003-06:00

The Writer's Round Up is tomorrow. Writers and editors from all around will migrate to my neck of the woods to meet and share. I can't really afford to go to any of the classes or events, but I will be attending two One on One meetings with real New York literary agents.

I'm scared I'll screw it up. I'll get tounge tied or not interest them in Annabelle due to my lackluster presentation. I even had a dream that I slept late and missed the 1:15 meeting. I can't sleep pass 8 normally!

On the other hand, I know inside the same truth others know when they tell me of thier confidence in me. I know the calm peace that things will be ok.

I'm told I need to relax and simply tell them what I love. Tell them why I believe Ann can succeed. Tell them what makes Ann and Roland stand out.

I need to just talk to them like I'm talking to others. They just want interesting, compelling stories and I know this one is just that.

Granted, I expect rejection. My rose colored glasses are locked away in a dresser. And when I get that rejected I'll smile, get my edited revision from Jennifer on the 28th, read it over and revise what I will, then resubmit to others.

But it's an amazing chance and I can't help but be excited/scared.

So wish me luck!

4 (5) Key Elements to a Plot (and other notes from J Scott Savage's talk)

2010-08-21T08:52:00.004-06:00

1. Protagonist:
Main character. The POV character. He/she that uses the only POV in 1st person perspective or the main character that we follow in 3rd person perspective. Chapter and scene are driven off this character.
Must be mostly likable. Reader needs to route for this character. Relatable.
Must have some unlikeable traits so he/she has room to grow. Some part of the protagonist must be unlikeable. Some views, decisions or traits the reader will want them to change.

Should have a maximum of two. Each one gets their own chapter for their POV. You can have more, but a protagonist has to grow with a path through the story, have chapters dedicated to their POV (1st or 3rd POV). This makes it hard. Ron and Hermione didn’t get that. Only Harry and a couple people when Harry wasn’t around (The Prime Minister, groundskeeper, Snape).

How does the protagonist grow? Life Altering Change. A change to the character’s life/ viewpoint/ home/ anything big from the start of the story to the end.

Character Bible = Mapping the decisions the protagonists make.
Implied History = Brief mentions of their life before this story.

Protagonists must be proactive. Do not make them “Nancy Drew/ Scooby Doo” (Standing around, letting strange/bad events happen and decide to investigate). Have a motivation. Give them a personal reason to actively try to change their world.

Supporting characters come in many shapes and forms. Each serves a purpose. Here are a few:
A. Source of knowledge; (Hermione, Annabeth, Sarafina Pikala,Spock, C3PO& R2D2). Someone to tell the protagonist the rules/ history/ consequences/ knowledge they need to know.
B. Side Kick (including humor giver); (Ron, Grover, C3PO & R2D2,Dr. McKoy, Jimmy Olsen). Someone to lighten the mood and cause laughter.
C Father figure; (Dumbledore, Obi Won Kenobi & Yoda, Chiron). Someone to mentor the protagonist, train them and lead them. This one must be removed from most of the story so the main can learn by doing.

2. Goals:
What is the protagonist trying to accomplish? We need to route for that goal.
There should be a total of three story lines in the overall book, minimum. There will have to be down time, to give info and allow the characters to rest or travel. It can’t be constantly on the go with action. With the other stories, or subplots, the story can have ebb and flow.
1 goal and 2 subplots, minimum.

3. Obstacles:
Be mean to characters. 3 ways to do this are;
A. Isolation; Cut them from parental figures.
B. Disorientation; Place them in an unfamiliar location.
C. Misdirection; After the resolution of a strong, hard, difficult threat or task, characters discover there are even bigger threats or tasks coming.
Don’t need all three but must have at least one of these.

4. Consequences:
What happens if they fail? Add stress to their goal.
Give it a time limit (if X isn’t accomplished before tomorrow morning, I will die).
Set up bad consequences that if the goal isn’t met, the characters will face a very bad situation they do not want.

5. Setting:
Where and when does the book occur? Establish the world. Setting can help build the above four items. Setting is like another character. Give it life. Draw people into it.

Other advice given during the talk;

Create a chapter by chapter outline to keep track of the story.

Take time to get the pieces in place.

Write it! Don’t worry about these things or grammar or if it seems dumb. Just get it on the page, finished, then go back and change.

The more you chat to others about your story, the more you loose excitement. (Dang).

When talking to teachers at a speaking arrangement, let the material be interesting. When speaking with kids, be funny.

Sorry about the break & catch up

2010-08-21T08:39:00.002-06:00

Ah the life of a husband/father/writer/drafter/toy collector. Obviously busy, I tend to let this blog fall by the way side.

1. Edits on book one is finished. It's in Editor Jennifer's hands. She's doing the final edits and then she'll send it to me on September 28th. I trust her, but it's my baby! Ah well. It's the next step.

2. The Utah Writer's Roundup will be here next month. I'd love to go to the workshops but life and money gets in the way this year. I WILL be meeting those two New York agents, however.

3. Author J Scott Savage spoke to our group Thursday and gave all sorts of advice. I'll post it by itself next.

Lots of other stuff happened but that's good for now.

Air Supply Concert 2010

2010-07-03T01:23:00.022-06:00

Air Supply came to my home town of Tooele to give a 4th of July concert. I've always liked their soft ballads, but to be honest I'm more of a fast type band than the slower love song type.

Boy was I wrong. Sure, I'd stumbled upon the last minutes of a Stray Cats concert in Oshkosh, Wisconsin '87, and I'd been to a stadium where Shena Easton sang for another 4th of July concert, but this felt like my first.

Janeen (my wife) is a huge fan so we arrived two hours early. When we first arrived, Sara and Dave ran down to where they were getting things ready but security asked them and my wife (who went to fetch them)to leave and wait on the sidewalk.

Janeen and Sara got Air Supply a "Hoops and Yoyo" talking card that said "Thank you" a zillion times. We love their humor cards. The night before Sara made two homemade wrist bands for them, too. Well Janeen gave those things to a security guy to give to Air Supply and they were promptly ushered out.

We waiting in the heat while the local dignitaries and Tooele royalty were allowed in. It was frustrating and we had no idea how these things truly work so we weren't sure if they got thier card.

Still, at 7 pm they let us in. We got settled and grabbed some food and the concert began. Their are two lead singers. A tall one and a short one. The tall one invited people to come sit near the stage and before he could finish his sentence Janeen and Sara were off and running. I assigned the valuables to Katie and joined them.

I discovered something! Just because a band sounds slow on the radio doesn't mean they can't rock. Very good band! They rocked out and we all got caught up in their spell. Before long the crowd were motioned to stand up and clap and Janeen and Sara did.

I wanted to join them, tried to get up (it was crowded) and accidentally snapped off Janeen's fake toenail along with cubicle and real nail. Ouch! She crumpled to the ground, her toe gushing. One of the lead singers motioned for the security guard to help. Neen was not to be removed! I don't blame her. So I went with them to the ambulance and got gauze to help her.

She got all fixed up but still hurts like crazy and I feel bad. She's a sweetheart though. She even forgives me!

This event did not spoil it for her or anyone. The band continued to rock out. The tall singer wore Sara's wristbands! The two leads walked through the crowd and Sara and my in-laws had a chance to shake their hands.

They returned to the stage and continued rocking.Soon the tall singer motioned for an audience member to sing to. He picked SARA! He motioned for her and Janeen to come up close. Boy was Sara's face red! And keep in mind, he had no clue she was the same person who made the wristbands. No idea Janeen and Sara did the card.

They rocked, finished, everyone called for an encore and they rocked again. Lots of fun. So does the story end? NOPE!

We regrouped the whole family to the grass for the fireworks. Laura and I left to get another blanket and Ibuprofen (for Janeen) from the car as well as dropping off the camera and such.

We return with water and find Janeen and Sara gone. I ask my mother-in-law where they are. Carolyn responds along with my daughter Katie that Janeen and Sara when to talk to Air Supply.

You need to understand some facts here.
1. It has been my wife's hidden passion to meet certain celebrities, Air Supply lead singers among them.
2. Tooele city said that there would be no visits after the concert.
3. Sometimes when you want something with a pure heart, and you have the inner fire that my wife and daughter have, miracles happen.

I mean, you should have seen Sara's face when everyone was told there would be no visits. She looked crushed. Tooele royalty could meet them, but the average Joe can't. Yeah, I know there wouldn't be time for everyone, but Sara was so crushed.

So, back to the story. It's dark, we're sitting a little ways off from their trailers and the two leads stepped out to relax a bit. Janeen and Sara exchange looks. "Shall we?" And they sneak past the security guards and walk right up to them!

I return with Laura and ask where they are. I'm told. I repeat it three times out loud with an unbelieving voice, "They went to meet Air Supply?" Carolyn and Katie had to say "Yes" several times as I just stood there.

Then I look at Air Supply's trailers and silhouetted with the lights behind them was my wife talking to the lead singer! My question turned to a shocked statement. "They went to meet Air Supply!"

Finally my long suffering wife who never gets any breaks cause she isn't with the "in" crowd, finally she could have her dreams come true!

I found out later how they did it. They snuck up and walked right up to them. They simply said "Did you like your card?"

That tall lead singer took a double take! The same child he sang to was the one who made the bracelets and Janeen gave them the card! It all fit! Apparently they laughed before the concert for five minutes at all those "Thank yous" in the card.

It was perfect. Except Neen's toe, it was a dream come true.
Very happy tonight. :)

I Get By With A Little Help From My Friends

2010-06-28T06:00:00.001-06:00

Originally posted on 8/2/09 for the Charge of the Write Brigade.

Anyone who takes writing seriously knows it has a learning curve. Some of our friends, family and coworkers think that all you need to do is finish a novel and it’s practically published. They have the wrong assumption that the major task is the completion of the manuscript.

Back in ’04, when Annabelle hit me on the head and demanded I write her story, I chased after various resources to learn how to begin such a task. Several people told me the hard part comes after you finish the book. I smiled and said “Of course, of course”. From my perspective, a finished manuscript loomed in the far distance. I didn’t want to consider anything else but conquering that monolith.

For all of you newbies out there who are still trying to reach the top of your first literary mountain, stay the course, stop reading this article, open your document and finish the dang thing!

OK, are they gone? I don’t want to scare them into stopping their future creative accomplishment too soon.

Now, the rest of you who have reached the end of your first book might understand what I meant by “hard part”. Let me continue with my own story. Fast forward two years. It was now ’06 and a finished manuscript sat in my particular folder. I had a raw beginning, rough middle and uncertain end. I was ready for the next phase in my plan.

I selected ten people to beta read it. Some were online and local friends and two were teachers of the grade level that my YA book fit into. I sent out my baby and moved onto repairing the mess I made of book two. I whistled happily, knowing the flowers bloomed and the sun shone over my amazing work.

After a short period, my head snapped upward to see dark storm clouds. Thunder deafened me while lighting bolts atomized the flowers. Yes, my chosen ten did exactly what they should. They told the truth. They got out red pens and drew my blood all over the pages of my bruised baby.

I couldn’t be more grateful. Sure, at first it mortified me, but this novel means a lot. Either I think on what they said, or give up all hope. I couldn’t do the later so I pondered their words and what they truly meant. Changes were made. I drew the line in the sand on some topics while others I gladly sacrificed.

As time progressed I found myself trying more beta readers. Some were published authors while others had experience and knowledge in the subjects covered in my book. I found out later that a few still follow me on the web, checking up to see if I’m still striving.

I remember Adam’s comments and the fear they caused. Then Chris in England made some humorous points that stuck me hard. Aprilynne rocked me to my core. The list goes on and on. In ’07 I joined a critique group. Two of my fellow Brigade members were part of that group. With the combined abilities of two critique groups I learned a great deal.

Each review scared and later, after some serious pondering, excited me. The manuscript changed quite a bit and will continue to improve. I’ve taken something special from each review and learned a great deal. I appreciate everyone who has ever looked it over.

As writers we have the ability to loose ourselves in our work. We get so excited in our story and how it fits together that we want to rush out and tell the world. Some of us fear rejection; others get steamed when faced with opposing concepts that dare go against our vision.

The truth is, we’re far from perfect and need other’s frank honesty to improve.

1. Choose peers whom like what you like.

2. Choose those who don’t.

3. There is nothing wrong with family and friends but remember they might not want to hurt your feelings.

4. Seek after English majors and teachers.

5. Try people who have been published and/or learned the pratfalls of writing.

6. Join or start critique groups. An assortment of voices can agree or disagree on where you need to change.

You are the final voice. What you say will always matter the most. Are you qualified to stand alone in your vision? Wouldn’t it be better to check first with others to be sure you know what you’re talking about?

I believe it was Steven King who said “You’ve got to kill your babies”. You have to give sometimes, but if you let others help, you’ll find greater possibilities than you ever imagined.

Where I've been

2010-06-27T06:00:00.000-06:00

I've had this on the blog page forever. I thought it works better as a single post instead.

visited 9 states (18%)
Create your own visited map of The United States or try another Douwe Osinga project

They Felt Doubt Too

2010-06-24T20:49:00.003-06:00

Originally posted on 7/19/09 for the Charge of the Write Brigade.

Hey there gentle beings. The name is Jack Roberts and I’ve decided to join the merry band of literary champions, the Write Brigade. It’s true that I come to you with limited experience but in my struggle to catch the dream, I’ve learned a thing or two. In fact I’m still learning.

This lesson becomes abundantly clear to me every time I read through my writing. Just last Thursday, in fact, I discovered something on the World Wide Web that made me want to duct tape my hands in oven mitts and chain them behind my back so I'll never make a fool of myself again.

I discovered a post where I reviewed the seventh Harry Potter book. Apparently overcome with excitement, I typed a long winded essay. I told of my personal history with the series, examined various characters and practically filled every sentence with overjoyed hyperbole.

After reading the post with fresh eyes I felt embarrassed. Why didn’t I wait a couple years before I posted it? Sure, I’m over reacting, but the very thought of something that over-the-top can be connected to me just sent shivers up my spine.

With my past sins still fresh on my thoughts I continued with my daily activities. Among those tasks was the purchase of movie tickets. As I drove around the theatre, aware of a line that would make a DMV employee feel at home, sudden realization smacked me upside the head.

Many want to see this movie because of their love of the book. A close bond that author created by simply choosing to weave the best story she could. She had to have doubts in her writing abilities. I know she had rejections. What if she quit when faced her mistakes?

I count the minutes until I see the latest Harry Potter movie and reflect to where I was when I read it. I remember finishing that book in a bathroom stall located on the same floor of the hospital my son slept in. He slept deeply, the latest in a chain of plastic surgeries a success. With my wife in the chair beside his bed, I was safe in the knowledge that he’d be OK. So I crept to the bathroom (because I didn’t want to disturb anyone) and delve into the remaining chapters of HP 6. What feelings I experienced! I couldn’t get enough. A writer with fears and insecurities worked hard despite them and created something that gave me that lasting memory.

If we as writers gave up every time we discovered a mistake, life would be void of entertainment. What do you do? You take a deep breath, realize others have been there before, and jump right back in. Simplistic? Sure, but it works.

Thanks for reading.

Classic articles

2010-06-24T20:41:00.002-06:00

I've posted a few articles on
the Charge of the Write Brigade.
Due to busy schedules among us writers, no one has posted a new article in over a month. Heck, I can't even update this site, let alone that one.

I do plan to do more articles, but with the 2nd edits going on with Editor Jennifer, my time is best suited elsewhere.

Still, those articles were fun and any secret lurkers here might enjoy them. So I'm going to repost them here, maybe twice a week (thank goodness there are timed posts).

Expect the first one soon.

Speaking to the 6th grade

2010-06-02T20:48:00.000-06:00

I’m getting pretty busy with my next set of edits and the speaking event is getting further and further away. I’d better give you the highlights.

My wife was absolutely wonderful. The day before she spent the entire day getting custom bookmarkers and posters made up. Now I have a humongous picture of Annabelle. I also have a giant stock male vampire pic I got from the web that really looks like Dominic.

Mr. Kelly arranged for me to speak to the entire 6th grade. It was fun! I really enjoy talking about my book and the journey I’ve taken to become a writer.

The kids had an assembly just before and seemed pretty tired so there weren’t as many questions as times past. Also, my nerves got the better of me and I stumbled through it, speaking too fast and reading too long. I really need to practice this more.

All in all it was a great experience and I’m grateful to the teachers and faculty of West Elementary for this great opportunity. I can’t wait to do it again next year.

Lazy/Busy month, All play no write. Time to work.

2010-05-28T20:27:00.003-06:00

OK, I had May off from Annabelle. My writer juices flowed and I really wanted to start Myths. I actually wrote the 1st paragraph! But I got distracted a lot and cruised through Bandon Mull's Fableheaven 3.

In short, I took a break. Looking back, knowing what I need to change in Annabelle, I'm glad I took the break.

So the cast of Myths will remain as notes and an outline. So will Justin Tyme and his students. They are only concepts. Kyle Phillips and the story of Multi Mart remain as notes, too. But after these three months, I'll play in those other sand boxes.

I got my notes and mark ups from Editor Jennifer. Whew! She liked my changes! I did good. I did catch onto her thoughts and did move in the right direction.

But now it's time for fine-tuning. There are a lot of things I need to focus on.
Structure, characters, pacing, transitions and dialog. More problems that others have mentioned, some others have missed.

This is good. I'll pull up my sleeves and get my hands dirty. I hope I'll finally get these lessons.

Signs

2010-05-06T20:13:00.000-06:00

Ok, I’m not the superstitious type, but something weird happened to me today.

There are three songs that inspire me to carry on with writing; “The Climb” by Miley Cyrus, “Go the Distance” by Michael Bolton and “Someone’s Watching Over Me” by Hilary Duff.

So I’m plugging away on my drawing redlines when “The Climb” plays. I’m thinking to myself “Yes, I really need to use this month off from Annabelle to start writing something else.”
But I know me. I’ll say that, but actually sitting down and writing is another thing entirely.
A few songs later “Go the Distance” plays and I chuckle. I figured if “Someone’s Watching Over Me” plays, then I’ll take notice.
It was the very next song. My mouth dropped open and I stared at my Windows Media Player in mute shock.
Ok, I get the message. Get back to writing!
Then, as if to direct me on purpose, “The Mummer’s Dance” by Lorena McKennit plays. That’s my official song for my Myths novel.
Fine! Don’t have to his me over the head with a dwarven made axe. I’ll begin Myths.
Sheesh. The lengths some have to go through to get me writing!

Novel Boot Camp is full steam ahead!

2010-04-19T20:08:00.005-06:00

Sorry I haven't posted but there's a very good reason.

On February 28th I began a Novel Boot Camp. All of March and most of April I hacked and slashed and revised my novel.

All of this is thanks to my editor Jennifer Feddersen. She's helped me a great deal and I recommend her services to everyone.

The first thing I did was pick my target audience. I already had this in my head but it was good to make it official. 11-14 year olds. Young Adult.

The next thing was to create a Series Elevator Pitch and a Novel Elevator Pitch. These are short statements that explain the basics of my novel or series in an upwardly moving direction. I'll show you in a different post. I created a synopsis based on the Elevator pitch.

Editor Jennifer gave me a review on the basic problems my novel had and suggestions on how to direct my work in order to fix them. For two months I was tasked with revising the novel, chapter by chapter and scene by scene, tieing things together, throwing away things that didn't contribute to the plot as seen in the Elevator pitch and synopsis. I needed to ramp up the danger and make things more pressing.

Lot's of ideas came to me. I was inspired once again to do things that for some reason never before occurred to me in five years of writing/editing. Instead of taking seven years to tell this, I centralized the Salem Witch trials and set this book within five months.

I still taught the Advancement (how children vamps age) but there was no reason to age my vamps. Bad guys were tied together. Good guys were added. In fact a few new characters were added. Chapters were cut and new chapters added. Another new beginning and a deeper look into the Salem trials.

I tweeted my progress every day. My followers on Twitter and Facebook (as well as family, friends and fellow writers) all cheered me on. Boy did that help! Careful watchers of this blog saw no updates, but the Twitter posts on the right of the screen showed what I was working on.

So now this new version is done. It's turned in and I wont get another review and critique for a month. Time to breathe.

I plan to work on the Annabelle site, read, and relax before the next big charge.

My thoughts on the JSA on Smallville

2010-02-05T22:51:00.001-07:00

Spoilers..

How cow!

It was amazing! With shouts out to so many classic members from the Golden Age (even Ma Hunkle!) plus some accurate costumes! We had the meeting table and so many members mentioned.

Daniel Jackson did a good job as a tough Hawkman. I hear he’s like that in the comics these days. I was glad to see they even mentioned his past lives. We also got the traditional Hawkman/ Green Arrow war.

I wondered why use Stargirl but seeing the story it makes sense.

Doctor Fate did a great job. Sure, when he walked beside Clark I got a “Dark Helmet” vibe and most the time I got a Vader vibe, but he also was Fate. I hoped the special effects would be good for him and I wasn’t disappointed.

I was slack jawed at the Star Spangled Kid’s appearance. They even had the Rocket Racer! Sandman was a nice touch too.

And Alan had his power ring and they showed Jay’s hat. Even Ted boxing. Great stuff.
Plus we had Martian Manhunter come back, wear something similar and get his powers back. They even through in a cookie reference!

Cloie gets the idea to make the JLA more of a family and we had the fact that they have no name brought up too. More visions of the red cape, more references to the future and finally a mention that Lex will someday be back.

After all of this we also got Amanda Waller, Checkmate and a mention of Suicide Squad.

Finally, what does Waller say? We’ll need all our heroes for the coming Apocalypse? Does this mean that stupid one-note Red sun Zon takes over thing or do I dare hope for Darkseid?

Excellent stuff.