R.A. Evans's Blog, page 13

Inspiration As A Chemical Reaction – A Guest Post by Anne-Mhairi Simpson

Firstly, I would like to give a huge thank you to R.A. Evans for having me today. I'm absolutely thrilled and very appreciative!

When asked if I would like to guest, he suggested I talk, among other things, about what inspires me. When I finally sat down to write this post a few days later I suddenly thought, what does inspire me? What is it that sets off that initial idea? It must be something powerful. It takes thousands and thousands of words to play out and does so only after building characters and worlds quite beyond our own.

I've read other authors' answers to this question and I feel almost guilty for not having the same response. They listen to everyday conversations or watch people go past in the street. A well-observed moment of life – a fender bender or a child dropping its ice cream – these seem to be fodder for every writer except me. Everyone else seems to take their inspiration from things they saw. I take mine from things I've felt.

I am no saint and have surely experienced every emotion from the sappiest love to the most murderous of rages (unfulfilled, I might add). Fear and anger may lead to the dark side but they also lead us into the very darkest corners of the soul. People who are afraid or angry, or both, can and will do almost anything to make themselves feel better. People who are in love will go to similar lengths to protect the object(s) of their affection.

The first book I seriously sat down to write was based on feeling lost. After all, doesn't everyone want to be found? 2005 was a bad year and I felt very lost. My life was turned upside down by events I had no control over and I didn't know what to do with myself. While I didn't want to do nothing, I couldn't think of what I should do. What I really wanted was for someone to come along and pick me up, dust me down and give me a piece of paper with 'PLAN' written across the top and step by step instructions. Needless to say, it didn't happen. I had to sort myself out. This is a good thing, although it didn't feel like it at the time.

That book is still unfinished and this is because I stopped feeling so lost. Over the course of the following five years I returned to it at intervals, but only when my mood matched the book's theme. I take this as a sign of my immaturity as a writer. Writing fiction is not supposed to be autobiographical. We can base it on real life events and/or emotions, but in the end it is supposed to be fiction.

I have had much more luck with writing fantasy. The past can be considered another world, every minute creating a new alternate existence where what is is not as it was. I use my memories of past emotions, some deep, some dark, some beautiful beyond words, and use them to create new worlds and new characters who can feel those emotions for me.

This, for me, is part of what writing is all about. Human beings are chemically wired to feel a huge range of emotions, yet our culture is geared towards these not being expressed, or at least, not the bad ones. Our entire society depends on humans not unleashing their dangerous, destructive emotions on others and we have a sliding scale of punishments to deal with those who do.

But what then are we supposed to do with those feelings? As a ridiculously emotional person I count myself blessed that I have the outlet of writing available to me. I can put my characters through every kind of physical, mental, emotional and spiritual torment and I won't go to jail for it. My characters, through my manipulations, experience the full range of emotions and I get to go along for the ride, inflicting my terror and anger from worlds past on them without fear of reprisal.

If I am doing my job properly, those who read my words will experience those emotions as well, but here is the thing: they can also direct these feelings at the characters in the book and not at those around them. It's the mental equivalent of beating ten kinds of smoke out of a punching-bag. The energy is burnt, the emotions are expressed and nobody gets hurt.

Awesome or what?

About Anne-Mhairi

Anne-Mhairi Simpson spends most of her time off the planet, but has earned daydreaming money washing dishes in Tenerife, leading horseback tours in Peru and sitting at a desk in England, among other things. She considers any world without dragons deficient and talks far too much. You can find her demonstrating this skill on Twitter (@AnneMhairi), Facebook (Anne-Mhairi Simpson) and her blog (http://annemhairisimpson.wordpress.com).

How 80′s television saved me from rejection

A few weeks ago I sent a copy of my thriller Asylum Lake to a literary agent whom I have the utmost respect for.  I won't mention any names, but chances are you've seen posts from this agent on here and elsewhere. She is a true professional.

I recently received her feedback and as you can imagine from my lack of cartwheels, the news wasn't all good.  Now I'm no stranger to rejections. I've thought about wallpapering my bathroom with the stack of letters from publishers and agents. This one was different, however. This time it was my self-published product that was rejected, not merely a completed manuscript.

As far as rejection letters go, this was by far the nicest and most enlightening. Yes, my novel was adequately creepy for her tastes. And she went mentioned my talents as a writer several times within the three paragraphs of rejection.  Her criticism was more with the structure of Asylum Lake than with the content.

Of course, my first reaction was disappointment. Nobody likes to be rejected – especially not by someone who makes their living by judging the chances of success for novels and authors. But then a funny thing happened, a very nice woman from Fresno, California sent me an email. She had picked up a copy of Asylum Lake off Amazon and loved it. In the span of just twenty minutes I had experienced both ends of the spectrum.

The entire affair reminded me of that ear-worm of a theme song from The Facts of Life. You know, that 80′s sitcom about the all-girls boarding school. Oh how I miss the days of coming home from school and watching Blair, Tootie, Natalie and Joe try to navigate their way through adolescence. Regardless, it's the song that came rushing back.

You take the good, you take the bad,

you take them both and there you have

The Facts of Life, the Facts of Life.

Never before have truer words been sung. The agent was right. Asylum Lake does have some structural issues – and its a good, creepy read. Marie from Fresno is right, too. The mystery of Asylum Lake does suck you in and keeps you guessing until the very last page. As an author, you have to learn to take the good with the bad.

I'm smart enough to know that Asylum Lake isn't perfect. Hell, it's my first novel and I'm a much better writer now than I was then. In many ways I'm learning how to be an author on the fly; I've no agent, editor, or publisher guiding me. I do, however, have more than 3,000 copies sold, an ever-increasing list of people anxiously waiting for me to announce how to pre-order its sequel – Grave Undertakings, and a wonderful support group of authors and friends on twitter with #pubwrite.

So although I've been rejected yet again, this time it's different. This latest letter hasn't left me questioning whether or not I am worthy of having my stuff published – Asylum Lake is already out there on numerous bookshelves.  It has, however, reinforced for me the need to look at everything I've already accomplished with greater pride.

Marie from Fresno thinks I spin quite the yarn and is waiting patiently for the next chapter.  What more could I ask for?

#Pubwrite Dives Into Books For Soldiers

In a previous post I introduced my blog followers to the amazing group of writers who congragate under the twitter hashtag #pubwrite. Beyond sharing a passion for writing (and the adult beverage), we're also a supportive bunch who want to share our works with the world. At #pubwrite, you'll find talented authors representing every genre imaginable.

With so much talent and support collected under one hashtag, we've decided to pool our talents and support the amazing Books For Soldiers program. Our troops overseas are faced with loads of downtime and could use a book or two to help pass the time and keep them connected to home. The #pubwrite crew will be donating books for this worthy cause and I encourage you to do the same. Whether it's your own title or an old paperback you have on your shelf, our troops can really use these care packages for the mind. Visit the official Books For Soldiers website to learn more about this amazing program.

I'm happy to announce that between now and May 30th, for every purchase of my thriller Asylum Lake I'll donate a copy to Books For Soldiers.  I challenge other authors to do the same!

7 Deadly Questions with author Joanna Penn

1.  Your debut thriller PENTECOST has been widely lauded and even compared to a Dan Brown adventure. Talk to me about the inspiration for Pentecost.

 

I had been blocked for years by the thought I needed to write literary prize-winning fiction, but NaNoWriMo 2009 helped me get over that. I looked at my bookshelf and found that my obsessions are religion, psychology and fast paced thrillers and so I decided to write in that genre. I am an obsessive traveler and so wove my travels in Israel and Europe into the book as well as researching other fantastic locations. I have plans for at least six more in this series investigating religious mysteries in exotic locales with a lot of action and adventure along the way.

2. With the religious overtones and sweeping setting of PENTECOST, I can imagine that the research for PENTECOST was quite extensive. How did you manage tackling that aspect?

 

I do have a Masters in Theology and a degree in psychology and Pentecost wove many of my ideas from these subjects into the text. The research was more to refresh my mind, rather than to start from scratch. I did find some amazing synchronicity when I started to research though, like the painting in Carl Jung's Red Book from the 1920s that exactly matched the Pentecost stone and pillar of fire. Most of the locations are ones I have personally visited, so descriptions like the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem are from my own notes, diaries and photos. The places I hadn't been to I did have to research but I knew why I was going there, for example, the bones of St Andrew in Amalfi and James in Santiago de Compostela. This research led to some brilliant story events, like Jake's escape from the Thanatos agents by riding the giant thurible which sends waves of incense over the pilgrims. I only discovered that when I researched the cathedral and it seemed just made for the story!

3. You've created a strong yet vulnerable heroine in the character of Morgan Sierra. Any concerns about a female lead in a thriller genre packed with strong male characters?

 

My model for Morgan Sierra is really Lara Croft, a woman in all senses of the word who can also fight and have great adventures. She's smart and has wounds from her past, but can still kick some serious butt! There are overwhelmingly male writers and heroes in this genre but I have been told that I write like a man, which in this case I shall take as a compliment. Many female writers in the genre use their initials instead of a first name and I shall probably do that in future books, but Morgan is definitely as much of an action hero as Cussler's Dirk Pitt, but she won't be having quite so much of a love life! Interestingly, I have recently read Brad Thor's The Athena Project which has an entirely female group of agents so male writers are seeing the benefits of women who can fight.

4.  The secretive ARKANE group plays a pivotal role in PENTECOST. Any chance we'll be reading more about their involvement with world affairs in future novels?

 

Absolutely! ARKANE stands for the Arcane Religious Knowledge and Numinous Experience Institute andI see the series as Morgan Sierra/ ARKANE novels going forward. They really they are the access Morgan needs into a world that is generally closed to the rest of the 'normal' world. In the ARKANE crypt under Trafalgar Square are all manner of mysteries and I'll be using them as a way into plotting the next set of novels. I have so many interests that intersect with religion and theology so this is a great way to have an organization powerful and rich enough to enable further adventures. The next book, Prophecy, will use the ideas of obedience to authority figures as studied by Milgram and Kierkegaard as well as the neuroscience of belief, with a little eugenics and apocalyptic excitement thrown in.

5. For many in the field of publishing you are mostly known as the force behind THE CREATIVE PENN – a website/blog dedicated to writing, publishing, and book marketing. Please share a little about THE CREATIVE PENN and how you were able to use your own advice in bringing PENTECOST to print.

 

I first self-published four years ago and wasn't able to sell many books at all because at the time I knew nothing about marketing, the internet or how to build an audience. I also knew very little about publishing and even writing, so when I set out to learn for myself, I also decided to share what I learned along the way. I'd really like to save people time, money and heartache on their own journey. So that's why I started The Creative Penn and it has now evolved into my own author platform for selling my books, online mini courses and also my speaking as well as helping others with lots of free articles, audios and videos. The launch of Pentecost was the culmination of everything I have learned in the last few years and it's been more successful than I thought it would be. You can read about it all here and find tips for your own book launch. Pentecost has been in the Amazon bestseller ranking Top 100 for religious fiction since it was released and is now in the top 100 for action-adventure on Kindle (although rankings change every hour!)

6. The world of publishing is evolving. What advice would you give to those authors who are just now setting out on their path to writing and publishing a novel?

 

If you want to successfully self-publish a book, or sell it to a publisher, you need to know who you are writing for. You can write for yourself which is fine, or you can write to a market segment. I don't mean write what's trendy but understand the readers and how you can find them. I read primarily religious themed thrillers. I have probably read thousands of them, so I know what I need to do to satisfy that market. Romance writers need to know the formula to please those readers and so on. You just won't sell otherwise. That doesn't mean your writing has to be formulaic. You can be endlessly creative within the boundaries of genre. Or you can write literary fiction if that is your love but that seems to be harder to sell and also hard to get a success.

I also think you need to start building your audience as soon as you can. For me, blogging has been the most effective method of marketing and it takes a long time to build but it's so worthwhile. I'd continue writing thrillers and blogging if I won the lottery!

7.  Where can readers go to learn more about you?

 

You can find articles, audios and videos on writing, publishing and marketing at TheCreativePenn.com. You can find Pentecost and my other books on Amazon and other online bookstores in print and ebook formats. You can also connect with me on Twitter @thecreativepenn and Facebook/TheCreativePenn. I also have a thriller and mystery video book review blog, MysteryThriller.tv .

Thanks so much for having me on!

About Joanna

Joanna Penn is an author, blogger, speaker and business consultant based in Australia. She always dreamed of writing her own books, and spent many years thinking about it before she actually took the plunge.

Joanna self published her first book  How to Enjoy Your Job in 2008 and learned a lot about the process along the way. Then she wrote "From Idea to Book" and "From Book to Market" in 2009 to share what she had learned. 

In Feb 2011, Joanna published her first thriller novel 'Pentecost' available on Amazon and other online retailers.

FLIGHT gives the term red-eye a brand new twist

I've just completed the first draft of my new project, FLIGHT.  I may be biased, but I think it's goin to be something special.

U.S. Air Marshal Liz Downie thought she had lucked out with her assignment – a half-empty red eye from London to the states. The passengers – an odd assortment of State Department staffers freshly plucked from the embattled U.S. Embassy in Iraq. These aren't your usual friendly skies, however. Tucked into the passenger jet's shadowy cargo hold hides a secret the U.S. Military will do anything to protect – and Liz Downie everything to stop.

Where do you run when you are 33,000 feet up?

Flight

The new novel from R. A. Evans

Scheduled for take-off soon

 

The Horror of it All: Guest Post by Phil Hickes

In South Africa, there is a particularly gruesome form of street justice called necklacing. If you are deemed to have committed a crime, or in some circumstances, you support the wrong political party, then a car tire is forced over your head, pinning your arms to your side. Then it's doused with petrol. And then it's set alight. It can take the unfortunate victims up to 20 agonizing minutes to die.

Just imagine it: the hatred on the faces of the baying mob; the smell of fuel; the flicker of a naked flame, edging ever closer; the knowledge that you are about to experience agony that defies description. I once saw a few seconds of this brutal form of execution online. Despite quickly closing down the clip, I had seen enough to haunt me for days and weeks afterwards. It was, a truly horrific experience.

The full gory cornucopia of humankind is available for all to see in the dark corners of the internet. Beheadings, hangings, stonings…oh we have such sights to show you! How times have changed. In the 18th century, delicate ladies would swoon with fright as they read The Castle of Otranto. Today, you can get the real thing, pure and unadulterated.

What led me to click the link? Why would anyone do that? You may have seen similar atrocious clips yourself. It's the same sadistic urge that all horror fans share – we want to be terrified. Of course we only want to experience it vicariously. But we want to experience it all the same. It's a powerful urge and one that the horror writer eagerly feeds. Only in this instance, I went about feeding my addiction the wrong way – and paid the price.

Horror reading and writing allows us to access fear in an enjoyable way. Books will still scare us, but it's a fear we welcome and embrace. And make no mistake, this can still mean genuine horror. Give a good writer a computer and a desk and they'll ignite the most terrible flames. Only this way – our way – no-one's getting hurt for real. And that's the best horror of all.

About Phil

Phil Hickes

Phil is a copywriter by day and  horror writer and blogger by night. You can check out some of his work at HorrorNews.net. Follow Phil on twitter: @hickesy

Joanna Penn, book marketing/publishing guru & author of PENTECOST, to join me for 7 Deadly Questions

Chances are you've read her stuff and you don't even know it. Probably best known for her blog The Creative Penn, where she dishes out advice to authors on how best to publish and market their work, Joanna Penn has published her own debut thriller PENTECOST and will be joining me for 7 Deadly Questions on Wednesday, April 20th.

Learn more about Joanna Penn, her amazing blog, and PENTECOST by clicking here and then come back Wednesday for 7 Deadly Questions.

Joann Penn, book marketing/publishing guru & author of PENTECOST, to join me for 7 Deadly Questions

Chances are you've read her stuff and you don't even know it. Probably best known for her blog The Creative Penn, where she dishes out advice to authors on how best to publish and market their work, Joanna Penn has published her own debut thriller PENTECOST and will be joining me for 7 Deadly Questions on Wednesday, April 20th.

Learn more about Joanna Penn, her amazing blog, and PENTECOST by clicking here and then come back Wednesday for 7 Deadly Questions.

Buy Horror, get Sci-Fi Free!

My good friend Steve Umstead, author of the sci-fi thriller novel GABRIEL'S REDEMPTION, is inching closer to the completion and release of GABRIEL' S RETURN, the second in the Evan Gabriel trilogy. I'm just weeks away from releasing GRAVE UNDERTAKINGS, the sequel to my debut horror novel ASYLUM LAKE. So during an evening of #pubwrite chatter, the light bulb went off for both of us. Why not team up on a promotion to "pre-celebrate" the next novel launches?

In the spirit of cooperation, friendship, and good old fashioned promotional marketing, here's what we have:

Buy ASYLUM LAKE at $2.99, and receive GABRIEL'S REDEMPTION for free!

Yes, the great people at Smashwords, an ebook distributor that publishes in multiple formats, allows us to create a promotional code to download a novel for free. Whether you own a Kindle, Nook, Kobo, Sony Reader, iPad, iPhone, Android, laptop, or feel like printing out a couple hundred sheets of paper, Smashwords has the format that will work.

How do I get my free book? you ask. Yes, I heard you ask. Simple, really – when you purchase ASYLUM LAKE (link here) from Smashwords, do a print screen of the "You bought it" page that pops up after purchase and send it to me (raevans AT asylumlake.com). Or on Twitter, send me a DM (@raevanswrites) with the print screen image attached. I'll email/DM you back with the promo code to download GABRIEL'S REDEMPTION for free.

How about that? For less than a venti latte, you can pick up a science fiction adventure and a horror thriller for your ereader, and enjoy the reading much more than the long-lasting calories of the latte.

Oh, and did I mention both novels are receiving 4 and 5 star reviews? Pick up ASYLUM LAKE – hurry, promotion ends April 30th!

A Horror Writer's Perspective on the Importance of Neil Diamond's Sweet Caroline

I sometimes wonder what my neighbors must think on warm days like today when every window in my house is open and my iPod is jamming.  They've only recently come to know me as the writer of horrifying tales that lives next door. For several years I was merely the man with the beautiful family who works in advertising. That changed when local newspapers and tv stations started promoting my novel Asylum Lake. Suddenly I was the author of this dark and chilling tale set right in their backyard. I became "that guy". You know, the one that neighbors will one day claim, "Was just an ordinary guy – I had no idea he had a collection of feet and hands in his basement freezer."

Anyway, I digress.  The windows are open and the music is jamming and here I sit completely immersed in my current project – FLIGHT (think snakes on a plane but with Zombies, and without Samuel L. Jackson).  The first draft is done and I am merely revisting one of the more more disturbing chapters. It's the big reveal – when U.S. Air Marshall Liz Downey finally realizes what's lurking within the cargo hold. I've never been completely satisfied with this chapter…until today. I've nailed it – the tension is high and Ms. Downey is sufficiently freaked out. All is right with the world once more.

That being said, my neighbor has walked by twice in the last forty-five minutes. My desk has a wonderful view and I've waved each time she's passed. I'm not sure what's she thinking, but I'm fairly certain that the sound of Neil Diamond's SWEET CAROLINE through my open windows is causing her some confusion. She sees me typing and knows full well what I am capable of. But who would ever think good ol' Neil could be the soundtrack to such darkness.

So now you know my secret. Although I'm a huge fan of Pearl Jam (as those of you who have read Asylum Lake know first-hand), only Neil Diamond can lead me to the dark places I need to go to really write the messy parts of my novels.

It all makes me wonder where other authors get their inspiration. Surely I can't be the onlyone who believes every Neil Diamoind song is based on some dark secret he is harboring. In fact, I believe I have proof.  CLICK HERE and witness the darkness that is Neil Diamond!