Kevin Lucia's Blog, page 69
November 9, 2010
November 8, 2010
My Dark and Tender Life.....
...is on display at Ben Eads' place. Part one is today, part two is tomorrow. Enjoy! 
Triumphs Follow Trials
Back when I started this blog and dedicated it to reporting on all aspects of our lives: the kids, Zack's autism, our trials and tribulations with such, writing, life and everything else, I realized that I'd need to strike a tenuous balance between giving you the full, unadulterated truth, using it as a way to vent my frustrations and fears, but also balancing all that dark stuff with something positive and uplifting and, well, readable. So, some good news to report, a little about triumph instead of trials. As some of you may know if you've been reading, we hit a rough spot with Zack's sleeping patterns through the month of September/October. It was frightening, because on of the aspects of autism is VERY erratic sleep patterns. I've said it before and will say it again: that's one of my greatest fears with Zack's autism, that his sleep patterns would get shot to hell...and then WE'D get shot to hell.
Well, during the past month or so, that happened. Some nights, he got up every hour. Sometimes every thirty minutes. We found ourselves putting him back to bed THIRTEEN consecutive times before he finally passed out for an hour. A few nights, I just looked at the clock - which read 1 AM - said "Screw it" and got up to write for two hours. I was awake. Might as well get something done...
Anyway, we scheduled a round of doctors appointments and meetings with his teachers. We met with his teachers this past Friday. With everything going on, we were really worried about his progress in school...and let's not even unpack those worries, for now.
Anyway - as it turned out - the week of our meeting his sleep started to settle down. Finally. At the meeting, we learned that he'd been having different teachers almost every day, which very likely had caused his sleeping problems. For any three year old, big changes can be troublesome.
For a three year old autistic boy, big changes or inconsistencies are CATACLYSMIC. Throw in Zack's off-schedule at school, and Abby's new weekend night schedule, and we have part of an answer. Again - even in the answer is the implication that our lives are still not normal, that this would throw him off so bad he couldn't sleep for a month - but answers are answers, all the same.
Anyway, turns out his performance in school has been nothing short of fantastic. He's very social and friends - a BIG hurdle with autism - and basically, his speech therapist can barely keep up with him. He meets his goals within days, forcing them to keep making new ones.
Keep in mind his "awesome pace" is still couched within his diagnosis. He's still effectively a year behind. However, we saw the best evidence of his (and Madi's) growth at The Magic Paintbrush this weekend. More on them later, but basically it's a free resources for parents with disabled children.
Essentially, it involves playing with paint and making a huge, fun mess. The past several times, Zack just didn't know how to do it. Part of autism involves not knowing "how to play", how to follow instructions or be part of something. All the other times, Zack had to be "forced" to play, or else he'd just run around the room. Also, Madi's sensory issues have always made her very averse to getting dirty...a weird thing for a five year old.
Well, as you can see....getting dirty and playing is no longer a problem. This weekend's trip to the Magic Paintbrush was the best possible indication for us that - even though challenges still lie ahead - things with both Madison and Zackary are rocketing skyward, and for that we feel tremendously blessed. 
November 7, 2010
New Review!
As part of the November Blog Tour, here's another new review of Hiram Grange. The best parts:
"First and foremost, this adventure is a lot of fun. There is non-stop action seasoned with Lovecraftian chills, forming a page-turning final product that satisfies. Lucia's pacing is tight and his writing descriptive, though sometimes a little repetitive. Nevertheless, each chapter leaves you wanting to see what happens next. And that, as my inner Neil Gaiman says, is what it's all about."
And there is this, too, because this tells me that some folks really GOT what I was doing with Hiram:
"In this installment you see less of Hiram's perverse pleasures, the outlets he pursues to release the darkness in his soul, and more of his pain."
Read the full review.
Near the end of the tour I'll be swapping blog time with author of Hiram Grange & The Nymphs of Krakow, Richard Wright...and this is what my topic's going to be about. I don't really think I locked into Hiram until started contemplating how tortured he really must be, and until that point...I didn't even think I could write him. At all.
Anyway...don't forget about the Goodreads Giveaway. Gotta be a member, but after that... just click 'Enter'....
"First and foremost, this adventure is a lot of fun. There is non-stop action seasoned with Lovecraftian chills, forming a page-turning final product that satisfies. Lucia's pacing is tight and his writing descriptive, though sometimes a little repetitive. Nevertheless, each chapter leaves you wanting to see what happens next. And that, as my inner Neil Gaiman says, is what it's all about."
And there is this, too, because this tells me that some folks really GOT what I was doing with Hiram:
"In this installment you see less of Hiram's perverse pleasures, the outlets he pursues to release the darkness in his soul, and more of his pain."
Read the full review.
Near the end of the tour I'll be swapping blog time with author of Hiram Grange & The Nymphs of Krakow, Richard Wright...and this is what my topic's going to be about. I don't really think I locked into Hiram until started contemplating how tortured he really must be, and until that point...I didn't even think I could write him. At all.
Anyway...don't forget about the Goodreads Giveaway. Gotta be a member, but after that... just click 'Enter'....
November 6, 2010
New Amazon Review of "Hiram Grange & The Chosen One"
New Amazon review for Hiram:
"All I can say is, Wow.
I don't know how Kevin Lucia did it, but he managed to take a man who is unattractive bordering on disgusting looking who has the temperament of a rattlesnake and consumes alcohol at a dizzying rate and make me wind up really loving him as a protagonist. There is much more to Hiram Grange than his greasy long hair, his huge hawk nose, his ill-fitting suit, his skinny frame. He is, deep down where he lives, honorable and will stop at nothing to keep the world and its inhabitants safe. So what's not to love?
The book was a page turner from start to finish and I'd have finished it in a single sitting but for the fact that I work nights and am pretty exhausted by the time I fall into bed to read until I go to sleep (which hasn't taken long lately). Lucia's writing style is what I like to call, "approachable friendly," which is the best style to have, as it draws the reader in immediately--or in Hiram's case, grabs the reader by the throat and threatens him with a pistol.
Get ready for tentacles, psycho Faerie, exploding people, creatures from the Abyss, and yet another Hiram Grange assignment that only he can execute with success.
It was a great ride and I was sorry to turn the final page." - Linda Lightfoot, Amazon Reviewer
Nice to come home to before nap time...
"All I can say is, Wow.
I don't know how Kevin Lucia did it, but he managed to take a man who is unattractive bordering on disgusting looking who has the temperament of a rattlesnake and consumes alcohol at a dizzying rate and make me wind up really loving him as a protagonist. There is much more to Hiram Grange than his greasy long hair, his huge hawk nose, his ill-fitting suit, his skinny frame. He is, deep down where he lives, honorable and will stop at nothing to keep the world and its inhabitants safe. So what's not to love?
The book was a page turner from start to finish and I'd have finished it in a single sitting but for the fact that I work nights and am pretty exhausted by the time I fall into bed to read until I go to sleep (which hasn't taken long lately). Lucia's writing style is what I like to call, "approachable friendly," which is the best style to have, as it draws the reader in immediately--or in Hiram's case, grabs the reader by the throat and threatens him with a pistol.
Get ready for tentacles, psycho Faerie, exploding people, creatures from the Abyss, and yet another Hiram Grange assignment that only he can execute with success.
It was a great ride and I was sorry to turn the final page." - Linda Lightfoot, Amazon Reviewer
Nice to come home to before nap time...
November 5, 2010
I'm A Hopeful Cynic...
Honestly...I couldn't have pegged it better myself. Sounds about right on the nose, and I like that, "right down to the ground."
As part of the November Tour, author Jackie Gamber has me by for some tea. Some "bloody good" tea, as it happens. Come join the fun!
As part of the November Tour, author Jackie Gamber has me by for some tea. Some "bloody good" tea, as it happens. Come join the fun!
Pimping My Cool Author Friends: Tosca Lee and Maurice Broaddus
First, don't forget about the Hiram Grange giveaway on Goodreads. You have to join to enter, but once you do that, click "enter to win", and at the end of November, Goodreads will pick three winners, and I'll mail three copies out. Simple. Oh, and please go read the first interview in my November Blog Tour at author Greg Mitchell's place. Next week, I'll be over at Ben Eads' blog, and all over the place in the next month.
Four years ago this winter, an anxious and inexperienced writer invited a very well known, on the rise suspense novelist to be part of his school's book fair at his local Barnes & Noble. He'd communicated with said author a few times, ever since she'd emailed him her thanks about a review he'd written for her first novel, and she seemed down-to-earth, amiable, and just plain nice...but you never know about these things, really.
Maybe she'd turn out to be pretentious and arrogant. She was judging a poetry contest; maybe she'd be hurtful and mean. Worse, maybe she'd be a diva and totally look down her nose at this little bitty Catholic school book fair she'd decided to attend, especially when she was destined for great literary things.
Luckily, Tosca Lee turned out to be none of these things. She turned out to friendly, helpful, considerate, fun, and very humble. We had a lot of fun, and laid the foundations for a professional friendship that exists to this day. She even read my first - and horribly clunky, amateur, and long-winded - story, even gave me my first author blurb:
Kevin Lucia scares me a little bit, and for that I thank him.- Tosca Lee, author of "Demon: A Memoir"
Far right, Tosca Lee.
Since then, Tosca has been a well-spring of advice as I've tried to figure out where I belong, exactly, as a writer. Even as her career has gotten busier and busier (you know, co-writing a series with Ted Dekker takes time, of course) she's never failed to offer advice, keep in touch, or even send me random compliments on my twitter avatars.
AND, even as a lot of the other authors who I used to talk with have long since gotten too busy to return my emails, she hasn't. She's still just as considerate and helpful as she was when first met her.
And you REALLY should read Demon: A Memoir. Probably one of the most startling faith-oriented novels I've ever read, she's a fabulous researcher, and her prose is almost flawless. Her next novel? From the perspective of Judas, of all people. I'll be snapping that one up, kids.
SO, a little more recent, a slightly less anxious and slightly more experienced but still essentially clueless kid stood on the brink of project that, in all reality, wouldn't "make or break" his career, but would certainly point him in a specific direction. Before Hiram Grange & The Chosen One, I think I still hemmed and hawed about whether or not I was a "horror" author or "supernatural suspense" author.
Plus, I still debated: write for the mainstream or try to crack into the CBA (Christian Bookseller Association)? Hiram Grange would land my feet solidly in the former, and even back then I sensed huge potential in Tim Deal and Shroud Publishing. This was a fantastic opportunity I couldn't pass up....but a defining moment in my career.
Before I made my final pitch to Tim, I emailed Maurice Broaddus, horror/dark fantasy author AND a Christian. I hadn't met him yet - that would happen later at MoCon III - but we'd conversed a bit on his message board, and I read his blog. I asked him straight out - accept this chance to write in the secular realm, with all the secular trappings (swearing, violence, bloodshed) and how he dealt with that as an author and Christian.
Maurice's advice really struck a chord in me, mirrored my feelings about the CRAFT of writing. It was the advice I needed to hear, and it was this conversation that finally sealed the deal in my head that writing an installment in The Hiram Grange Chronicles was a good idea. I have him to thank for that, in a way.
I can't really call Maurice a mentor - maybe only because my vision of a mentor is so strict, actually including lots of face-time and work underneath said mentor. Still, his blogs about the intersection of writing and faith have provided lots of food for thought, and he - along with others, like Midnight Diner editor Michelle Pendergrass (yep. You're next!) - have become models for me as I try to figure out how this whole thing works out.
Oh yeah, and you SHOULD go get his first novel, King Maker - a retelling of Arthurian legend in the Indianapolis ghettos. It's possibly the most interesting contemporary fantasy out there, (finally, no more "I really wanna be Harry Dresden but I'm not nearly as good" novels). It's pretty epic, and the vehicle he's chosen for it - gang wars - is perfect.
Four years ago this winter, an anxious and inexperienced writer invited a very well known, on the rise suspense novelist to be part of his school's book fair at his local Barnes & Noble. He'd communicated with said author a few times, ever since she'd emailed him her thanks about a review he'd written for her first novel, and she seemed down-to-earth, amiable, and just plain nice...but you never know about these things, really.
Maybe she'd turn out to be pretentious and arrogant. She was judging a poetry contest; maybe she'd be hurtful and mean. Worse, maybe she'd be a diva and totally look down her nose at this little bitty Catholic school book fair she'd decided to attend, especially when she was destined for great literary things.
Luckily, Tosca Lee turned out to be none of these things. She turned out to friendly, helpful, considerate, fun, and very humble. We had a lot of fun, and laid the foundations for a professional friendship that exists to this day. She even read my first - and horribly clunky, amateur, and long-winded - story, even gave me my first author blurb:
Kevin Lucia scares me a little bit, and for that I thank him.- Tosca Lee, author of "Demon: A Memoir"
Far right, Tosca Lee.Since then, Tosca has been a well-spring of advice as I've tried to figure out where I belong, exactly, as a writer. Even as her career has gotten busier and busier (you know, co-writing a series with Ted Dekker takes time, of course) she's never failed to offer advice, keep in touch, or even send me random compliments on my twitter avatars.
AND, even as a lot of the other authors who I used to talk with have long since gotten too busy to return my emails, she hasn't. She's still just as considerate and helpful as she was when first met her.
And you REALLY should read Demon: A Memoir. Probably one of the most startling faith-oriented novels I've ever read, she's a fabulous researcher, and her prose is almost flawless. Her next novel? From the perspective of Judas, of all people. I'll be snapping that one up, kids.
SO, a little more recent, a slightly less anxious and slightly more experienced but still essentially clueless kid stood on the brink of project that, in all reality, wouldn't "make or break" his career, but would certainly point him in a specific direction. Before Hiram Grange & The Chosen One, I think I still hemmed and hawed about whether or not I was a "horror" author or "supernatural suspense" author.
Plus, I still debated: write for the mainstream or try to crack into the CBA (Christian Bookseller Association)? Hiram Grange would land my feet solidly in the former, and even back then I sensed huge potential in Tim Deal and Shroud Publishing. This was a fantastic opportunity I couldn't pass up....but a defining moment in my career.
Before I made my final pitch to Tim, I emailed Maurice Broaddus, horror/dark fantasy author AND a Christian. I hadn't met him yet - that would happen later at MoCon III - but we'd conversed a bit on his message board, and I read his blog. I asked him straight out - accept this chance to write in the secular realm, with all the secular trappings (swearing, violence, bloodshed) and how he dealt with that as an author and Christian.
Maurice's advice really struck a chord in me, mirrored my feelings about the CRAFT of writing. It was the advice I needed to hear, and it was this conversation that finally sealed the deal in my head that writing an installment in The Hiram Grange Chronicles was a good idea. I have him to thank for that, in a way.
I can't really call Maurice a mentor - maybe only because my vision of a mentor is so strict, actually including lots of face-time and work underneath said mentor. Still, his blogs about the intersection of writing and faith have provided lots of food for thought, and he - along with others, like Midnight Diner editor Michelle Pendergrass (yep. You're next!) - have become models for me as I try to figure out how this whole thing works out.
Oh yeah, and you SHOULD go get his first novel, King Maker - a retelling of Arthurian legend in the Indianapolis ghettos. It's possibly the most interesting contemporary fantasy out there, (finally, no more "I really wanna be Harry Dresden but I'm not nearly as good" novels). It's pretty epic, and the vehicle he's chosen for it - gang wars - is perfect.
November 2, 2010
Get You Some Maurice Broaddus, and Part Two of Interview
First, there's this:
Maurice Broaddus' modern retelling of the King Arthur myth is on the streets, and if you're in the Binghamton, New York area - it's in the Vestal Barnes & Noble NOW. It's probably one of the more unique spins on Arthurian Legend I've seen in years, and it's not just a spin - given the setting - the turf wars of the ghetto - it makes absolute sense. If you're not in the area, get it on Amazon. I'll have more to say about this and Maurice in my Friday Author's Pimp.
Also, here's part two of author Greg Mitchell's interview with me. Enjoy!
Maurice Broaddus' modern retelling of the King Arthur myth is on the streets, and if you're in the Binghamton, New York area - it's in the Vestal Barnes & Noble NOW. It's probably one of the more unique spins on Arthurian Legend I've seen in years, and it's not just a spin - given the setting - the turf wars of the ghetto - it makes absolute sense. If you're not in the area, get it on Amazon. I'll have more to say about this and Maurice in my Friday Author's Pimp.Also, here's part two of author Greg Mitchell's interview with me. Enjoy!
November 1, 2010
An Interview, Hiram Grange Chapters 1-3 Free, Hiram Giveaway!
First, I'd love it if you'd head over to author Greg Mitchell's blog for part one of my first round of November interviews. Believe it or not, all the interviews I've done for this month so far manage to ask very different questions, so reading them all won't be a repetition of the same old thing, over and over again. Anyway, part one today, part two tomorrow.
Second, this whole month I'm running a Goodreads Giveway for Hiram Grange & The Chosen One. Three copies are up for grabs. All you have to do is click the "Enter to Win" button, Goodreads will pick three winners, they'll send me their addresses, and I'll send them Hiram. Easy!
Lastly, I give you the first three chapters of Hiram Grange & The Chosen One, free:
Enjoy!
October 31, 2010
Happy Halloween!
It's that time, folks! (Even though it's snowing, here....)
Anyway, have fun trick or treating tonight, rent or watch a scary movie later on, have a blast dressing up, and burn those Jack Lanterns brightly!
Just watch out for the last house on the left, that old creepy manor at the end of the lane, and don't pick up any strange-looking hitchhikers on the way (or run over them, either!)
I have to admit, I wished I'd dressed up this year. The kids are getting old enough, I think, to really appreciate it, so I think next year we'll have to figure something out. That, and maybe next year we'll hunt up a haunted house or two...
Tomorrow I'm starting a tour around other folks' blog and websites. I'll begin at the home of Greg Mitchell, author of the upcoming horror novel The Strange Man, as he kicks things off with an interview. I'll end things at Apex Publications. There'll also be a brand new, online short story for you too - which I think you'll all love!
Hope you come along! And Happy Halloween!
