Kester James Finley's Blog, page 15

Random Image Wednesday! #15

Today, as our Florida weather shifts from one extreme to the other during the winter months, we will be discussing fog, namely its overall effect in books, movies, life. It’s considered creepy, it’s considered cool, and it generally gives off a supernatural or horror vibe whenever we come across it regardless if we already know its because the temperature lowers to the dew point and winds remain low, it still evokes a sense of weirdness.

Throughout our lives, weather-related issues tend to be showcased on a never-ending loop reel in movies and books and has become something we are more than accustomed to as the main cause for trouble, issues, death or just the storyline having a jumping point to move it along. It has its merit and can be seen as creating a mood or directing a scene. Fog is no exception and can be seen as doing it all.

At night time, fog is seen as containing the villain, being the driving force of confusion, or simply setting the mood or feel for the movie. In books, it does the exact same thing only in those instances we are offered up a chance to be a part of it, to touch it, have it close in on us, to impede the characters we’re following. It contains the fear factor, an encroaching blanket of impenetrable whiteness that leaves a misting and cool dusting across bare arms and legs.

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In this image by Martin Kucera (2005), typical Florida fog can be thick and hinder even when it is already daylight. It’s not the weather phenomenon that scares us, it is our knowledge of fog, what we’ve grown to know about it and how it has been used in books and movies that scare us the most. Its never the fog solely as we were always taught through life, it’s what is within the white dewy blanket that we should be afraid of.

A disappearing path, a road that seems to be erased before you. Escaping the evil or driving right into it, no one can escape the feeling that fog brings to the table in books and movies and should always be something to consider as the environment in our written works is very important, especially what could be lurking deep within the white.

You may have snow, but the creep factor of Florida fog will always be the stuff of nightmares for many of us down south and for many a reader of horror and the supernatural.

Have a comment, like, love, or suggestion? Drop me a line and say “hi” or randomly wave in the fog, I may not see it, but something will.

Haiku Friday – Flare & Steam

Awesome haikus every week and an offering from her work! If you haven’t checked out Vashti Quiroz-Vega’s book, “The Fall of Lilith”, you are missing out!

Random Image Wednesday!-#14

Snow has fallen in Florida, sound the alarm we’re moving from flip-flops to real shoes, with socks! I joke, but we did see some snow in two of our upper north-west counties a few days ago if only a slight dusting compared to the rest of the US. It doesn’t happen often, but when it does, it’s rememberable and marks winter, chillingly and exact.

The holiday season is rapidly approaching the big day and the weather is shifting from howling winds and rain to snow to heat and humidity while we toil around for gifts and spend many an hour baking, burning cookies on accident, and trying to navigate a tangled web of Christmas lights during which we play hide and go seek with the countless delivery drivers in the hopes they manage to drop off that 4 dollar item we bought for a second cousin twice removed. It’s happening and I’m, much like everyone else at the moment, am feeling the frazzle hassle of trying to get it all done.

That brings us to today’s random image. (Sorry for the runaway train up above hehe) It seems that animals play vital roles in many a book and film and many can be found mentioned, featured, or glorified in supernatural, metaphysical, or religious surroundings and settings. They flee danger, are hypersensitive to natural disasters and tend to noticeably pick up on spiritual activity if you are inclined to believe in that sort of thing.

I do and I have to question why my cat suddenly sits in a corner and silently mouths at nothing, why cardinals show up when I’m having a bad day, or rather a crow on the back porch signals bad or good magic and energy. I also have to wonder why everytime I wander into the woods to meditate or just take in the quiet while enjoying nature a random deer wanders into my path, stops, looks at me for several seconds, then wanders off. It’s one of the other reasons why I chose the picture below, it’s happened just like that more than it hasn’t throughout my life.   Regardless of what we know or think, animals can sense things we can not or refuse to overlook and can be a boon in writing, even if sometimes they appear cliched–*cough cough black cat cough*.

It has become evident that animals can sense the invisible world around us and are alerted to the tiniest shift in energy. It also seems that they can feel the good or bad in people more easily than we humans can in our daily lives. If you are writing any fiction, especially if it caters to the supernatural or paranormal genre or contains fantasy of any kind, you can’t go wrong with incorporating an animal into your work. It could be a recurring theme, a one-sentence mention, or become a character all their own. Readers know, readers can feel the energy of your work and by simply mentioning a specific animal or commenting on one, they can quickly get a feel for the direction of the book, the trail of crumbs you leave out heading to the climax.

Like most offerings on Wednesday, it is merely a suggestion. I encourage you to think about many of the movies you have watched, many of the books you have read. Is there an animal in there, showcased, mentioned, interacted with? If so, what did it signify, what did it represent? Think about it, see if you too can add a chubby cat, a curious dog, or a forewarning from a barn owl into your work or any other critter for sometimes they can help speed along our plotlines better than we can, at least we hope, at times.

Choose: Snakes or Ladders — LITERARY TITAN

Mitty Bedford is a young woman who has spent her life under the rule of a god-fearing sect, including the indomitable and vindictive Aunt Charity. Escaping to the city to become a typist, she meets the kind and loving Col. But she is conflicted; her sexuality has been repressed and she is laden with feelings […]

via Choose: Snakes or Ladders — LITERARY TITAN

Random Book Review-“Fear Inducer” by Ellie Douglas

I recently had a chance to read through Ellie Douglas’s titled book, “Fear Inducer” and decided what better way to spice up the holiday season than with gore and terror! Listed below is my review with links to the Amazon page and Goodreads. If you like your reading on the wild and wet side of gruesome, give it a try!

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Kester James Finley-

4.0 out of 5 stars-  Goes for the jugular!

December 10, 2017

Format: Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase



Ellie Douglas’s, “Fear Inducer” takes readers by the throat at the very start and refuses to let go until the life leaves the body in the messiest way possible. Douglas’s ability to detail the gruesome so expertly will leave many a reader gagging while their toes curl. Ramping the gore up to maximum, Douglas ensures that readers are not only grossed out, but turning the pages out of fear, and out of addiction for what happens next as she strings us along like hooked fish and stuck flies in her web of created horror.

“Fear Inducer” follows the exploits of Dr. Felix Bloom, an intellectual with a penchant for bloodshed as he delves deep into his patients’ phobias. Douglas handsomely crafts the main character of Bloom providing just enough information about him that borders on “aww” moments of care and professionalism before shoving readers into a dark room with “omg” moments of terror. Bloom walks a fine line between the two and masterfully highlights the hard and soft sides of a person’s personality, their wants, desires, and how they present to others, especially when that person thinks they are unstoppable and smarter than every other person on the planet.

Focusing on phobias, Douglas displays Bloom’s inner and outer demons in the most disgusting ways of human depravity I have ever read, and I loved every minute of it. Her ability to detail some of the more common phobias we hear about, and some we don’t, will leave many a reader clutching their chests and turning on every light in the house. She knows what makes you afraid, what makes your stomach turn, and she doesn’t care. Reading “Fear Inducer”, neither will you, especially if you love gore, scares, and thrills.

The only issues with Douglas’s work are that it stays in fast mode the entire time and barely offers up a chance for readers to breathe before thrusting them into more splattering fleshy bits and arterial sprays. Fast-paced throughout with small increments dedicated to outside the office so to speak, it left little time to fully flesh out Bloom, and although there was enough information to fill in some gaps, I wanted more details, more flashback/memories, and more day to day on what and why this character acted like he did, or continued to act that way. He was portrayed as all-powerful and it would have been nice to see weaker moments throughout because after all he is still human. Adding to that were a couple editing mistakes and the missing parameter of a “yin” to Bloom’s “yang” character-wise that made the book more one-sided. The ending came out of nowhere and seemed to only hint at wrapping up the story. My only assumption is that Douglas intends a sequel, after reading through her first offering featuring Bloom, I hope that is the case.

Overall, the book is a great read if you like your gore and splatters. A great read if you like your crazy dipped in psychology with a sprinkling of professional demeanor. If you like horror, if you crave toe curling fun at the expense of people suffering from phobias, maybe even one of your own, you can not go wrong with Douglas’s, “Fear Inducer” just be mindful to wear plastic coverings on your shoes and don’t touch the walls, it’s messy in all the right places.

Amazonlink:
 https://www.amazon.com/review/R385RO9...

Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2210423014?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1

Shadows, Shells, and Spain — LITERARY TITAN

Shadows, Shells, and Spain follows Jaime as he searches for his wife by following clues she’s left for him along Spain’s Camino trail. What was your inspiration for the setup to this novel? Well, I knew that I wanted to write about the Camino. The adventure had everything I think I needed to write my […]

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Book Review: “Dance Of The Lights” by Stephen Geez. @StephenGeez

Great review and sounds like a great read, give it a try and check out both Suzanne Burke and Stephen Geez’s work!

Welcome to the World of Suzanne Burke.

Meet author Stephen Geez

Stephen Geez earned his undergrad and grad degrees at the University of Michigan. A composer, TV producer, publisher, graphic artist, and writer, he focuses now on novels, essay collections, short fiction, authors’ how-to under the GeezWriter brand, and scripts. Founding member of the publisher Fresh Ink Group, he works with a wide variety of authors to produce their best possible work. Watch for his essays, stories, books, and blog posts at www.StephenGeez.com Find him and his author friends at www.FreshInkGroup.com. Send him a note from his member page or the Contact Form.

The author on TWITTER

BOOK REVIEW DANCE OF THE LIGHTS BY STEPHEN GEEZ.

BLURB

Frank relishes fast success and early retirement, but struggling to preserve his life’s work thrusts him into a desperate battle to protect the people he cares about most.

Beverly seeks a new beginning in Tarpon Springs—until those she…

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Haiku Friday – Bold & Daring — The Writer Next Door|Vashti Q

Happy Friday, everyone! Welcome to The Writer Next Door blog! For those of you that don’t know me, my name is Vashti Quiroz-Vega but you can call me Vashti Q.

Random Image Wednesday!-#13

We all know that Florida can be creepy. Any amount of time reading newspaper articles or watching the news and one can clearly see that, in some cases, Florida citizens are a crazy scary lot…present company included. I can say that, as a native, I’ve earned my stripes, badges, trophies, and scars of battling the crazy people, and more importantly, the crazier environment. There are those times, when amid the quiet and wild world beyond our normal crazy existences when the fears and scares one would normally see in a film or only read about ends up being just our daily lives. It’s moments like those when all we can say is, “welcome to Florida” and flash you a toothy smirk as a cousin twice removed spits his chew into an old soda bottle while wiping his lip on the sleeve of his mechanic’s jumpsuit…yeah it’s like that more times than its not, trust me.

Florida already does a bang-up job of creating its own level of weirdness, creepiness, and madness, but there are times when Mother Nature does one up even better and laughs at our feeble attempts to be scary for she is the true master of horror. Case in point, Florida mangroves. Anyone who has ever visited, lived near, or ventured through them can attest, they are scary in a serene calm way, in a twisted bizarre way, in a truly Floridian way.

The water is always calm, the area almost devoid of sound. Vegetation creeps in from both sides as you kayak down the waterway appearing as alien antennae or slippery eels reaching towards your tiny one-man canoe. Something quickly slips off a cypress stump, something green or black you can’t tell, but it makes a hell of a splash and creates a moment of panic, of chaos for now whatever it was, is clearly under you, in the water, in the shallow warm brackish water, waiting. If that doesn’t get the heart to racing there’s the constant fear of the horrifyingly low hanging canopies supplying you and the inside of your canoe or kayak with a parting gift, a water moccasin or other creature that just happened to get too far out on a tiny limb only to see you and your vessel as a safe landing spot. Did I mention the almost invisible spider webs that harbor giant spiders that look bigger than your hands that have spread themselves across the tiny passable expanse in their search for food? The wall of mosquitos? The heat?

Ok, honestly, it’s not that horrific. It is at times, but you get used to it after a spell. Makes for great entertainment, especially when its mentioned in a book or used in a movie. We may be a little off down here, a little crazy, a little weird, but when it comes to Florida, Mother Nature provides her own scares free of charge for those willing to roll the dice on if they return still wearing clean underwear. Welcome to Florida–don’t bring your fears, we’ll make our own!

Literary Titan Book Awards December 2017 — LITERARY TITAN

The Literary Titan Book Awards are awarded to books that have astounded and amazed us with unique writing styles, vivid worlds, complex characters, and original ideas. These books deserve extraordinary praise and we are proud to acknowledge the hard work, dedication, and imagination of these talented authors. Gold Award Winners Silver Award Winners Visit the […]

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