R.A. Evans's Blog, page 20

The 7 Deadly Questions

Beginning this week I will be launching a new feature – The 7 Deadly Questions.   The format is simple, guest authors will be posed seven questions. These will be a mix of my own questions, those chosen at random from a collection of 100 questions I have compiled, and finally – questions submitted by followers of R.A.  Evans writes…

The first victim…er…author will be Jon. F. Merz, author of the highly-acclaimed Lawson Vampire books and the equally exciting Rogue Angel series. His short fiction story "Prisoner 392″ (appeared alongside Stephen King in FROM THE BORDERLANDS, 2004, Warner Books) earned him an Honorable Mention in 2004's Year's Best Fantasy & Horror edited by Ellen Datlow.

The 7 Deadly Questions will be a weekly feature. If you would like to submit a question to be added to the follower's list, please do so at raevans@asylumlake.com.

First peek into Grave Undertakings…

Brady's search for answers intensifies as he and his companions pick up the trail of the illusive Dr. Wesley Clovis. As the mysteries surrounding the man's sinister plans begin to unravel, Brady is left to ponder just what could lead a man to such Grave Undertakings……

 

December 3, 1972

Eerie, Indiana

The methodical footsteps approaching down the tiled hallway of the Pleasant Grove Psychiatric Hospital were as precise as a metronome. Their thunderous echo ended abruptly at the registration desk.

"May I help you," the middle-aged, overweight secretary asked without looking up from her finely-manicured nails.

The man's baritone voice was formal beyond reproach. She flinched beneath its weight. "Indeed. I am here to finalize the transfer of care for one," pausing as he produced a thin file from an oversized black case, "Collins, Lionel J."

The receptionist looked up from her polished nails into the ageless face of Dr. Wesley Clovis. Silver hair flowed from beneath his puritan hat, while a starched white collar concealed his throat beneath an overcoat the color of midnight. His hungry smile widened below cold blue eyes.

She accepted the file, paging nervously through the paperwork, before reaching for the phone.

"If you can wait one moment," she replied, gesturing toward a small cluster of uncomfortable plastic chairs.  The man nodded, his smile unflinching, and remained rooted to the floor.

Shortly thereafter, a boy was led by two white-clad orderlies from behind the locked doors at the end of the hall.  He was small and frail with a mess of auburn curls falling over his brow. He struggled beneath the weight of an oversized suitcase.

Clovis turned from the uneasy receptionist with a nod and cast his stern gaze upon the boy. He waved the orderlies away with indifference, his eager eyes drinking in the Lionel's fragile form.

"Son," the cold greeting was accompanied by a firm hand falling across the boy's delicate shoulder, "are you prepared to shed the shackles of this prison?"

Lionel looked up into the man's cold blue eyes and smiled warily. "Yes, sir," he replied, his coppery eyes holding the man's stare.

Dr. Wesley Clovis smiled down at the boy. He glanced briefly at the gawking receptionist, slowly tipping his black hat, and escorted his new patient down the hallway and out the doors of the institution.

One week later, Marie Quinn's name would be listed among the deceased, just one of dozens of victims claimed by a devastating fire of unknown origin. Her identification only made possible by the distinct red polish of her charred fingernails.

Coming May 2011

Crimes Against Humanity

"I do love a good horror story, and Asylum Lake fits the bill.  It reels you in while developing the storyline and main character and then slams it home with one of the more horrific murder scenes I have read in a long time.  Hello, has anyone seen the twin's hands and feet lately.  Try looking in the kitchen sink if you have the stomach for it...definitely one of the more entertaining reads I have picked up in awhile.

- Duncan Moron, Journalstone Publishing

 

Whether it's in conversation with family and friends, during Q&A portions of my book events, and even media and reader reviews, once chapter in my debut thriller Asylum Lake has people talking – Chapter 5 Crimes Against Humanit.

In the original draft of Asylum Lake, Crimes Against Humanity actually served as the prologue. I wanted to grab people by the throat from the first page and not let go until the end. It sounded like a good idea at the time, but some people read books like they make love. They need a bit of foreplay before things get nasty. So on the advice of a very good friend, I delayed the nastiness until Chapter 5.

Crimes Against Humanity was written in one three-hour sitting and appears almost exactly as conceived in that frenzied first draft.   I'd like to share it with you, without the foreplay, and see if its enough to entice you to dive into the mysteries of Asylum Lake.

CLICK HERE to experiences Crimes Against Humanity.

What's the best way to ship a dead body?

Yeah, my mind is working overtime again.  The UPS truck is driving circles through my neighborhood delivering packages and it started me to thinking, "could I ship a body via UPS?"  If the answer to this question is "yes" (which for the sake of this post I am going with) then would it be best to piece-meal that body out or send it in one big package?

Why would someone want to ship a body via the brown truck? Good question.  I've come up with a couple scenarios – really just spit-ballin'  things here.

She's gonna complain about the gift anyway – that special person in your life is never happy. Maybe a body part or two delivered to her door will make her realize just how lucky she really is.
Grandma always wanted to travel – It's like hot potato with your relatives. Grandma always wanted to travel but could never afford it. Now, thanks to UPS, you can send her anywhere your heart desires. Christmas with your cousins in Arizona? No problem, UPS has logistics, baby!
New friend online – So you've finally met a new friend online who shares similar interests but wouldn't you know it – he lives clear across the country in a desolate shack deep in the mountains of Montana where he is working on his Manifesto.  He has some crazy ideas about the current state of our country but seems like a nice enough guy. Maybe he just needs a special lady in his life – pickings must be awful thin with no neighbors for 100 miles. No worries, you have a few stuffed into the crawl space downstairs (see a previous post on You might be a serial killer).  UPS helps you spread the joy!
Everybody loves jewelry – Have a collection of necklaces made from human teeth and not sure what to do with them? UPS can help. Pick some random names out of the phone book and give them an anonymous gift they will never forget!

I hope somebody is writing this stuff down!

 

Get $1.00 off all e-book purchases of Asylum Lake

Asylum Lake

Asylum Lake is available across all e-book formats. Simply comment on this post and I will send you a $1.00 off coupon for smashwords.  CLICK HERE for details.

THE MAN SHOW – Guest Post by RachelintheOC

There seems to be a separation between what women understand about men and what men think women understand about men.

Now in all fairness, some gals don't seem to comprehend, and are truly taken aback by, their man's need for speed, sports, and bro-time. They get upset, feel slighted and take personally, his "rude" behavior when he chooses those pursuits over her. Well, that and er, the latest and greatest hard drive that just can't wait.

I've reviewed this whole scenario in my eBook A Walk In The Snark and several past blog posts including this Chickspeak post: I'm Fine. Deconstructed. She's thinking, it's really up to the dude to get with the program if he ever wants to have sex with me again. He's thinking what the hell? I just watched the game with my bros at Hooters. I want some lovin, woman.

Ah, the dance.

One fella told me my Mancode blog embarrasses him because he sees in himself the dude he doesn't want to be but knows he is. He laughs about it but says it hurts a little. When I asked him to explain further, he said that women aren't supposed to understand that men don't have it all figured out. Um, really? I know, I know, he said. We get that you get that we don't get everything. Just don't tell us that you get it!

So. We're back to the male ego. For big, strong, hairy men, the male ego is an awfully fragile, delicate little thing, isn't it? I mean, we chicks don't have it all together for god's sake. We cry about our shortcomings, in particular our split ends. We bitch to our husbands, girlfriends, hell, even our dogs about our nails, dry skin, or fat asses. Or occasionally the state of the world.

Women have perfected The Vent.

I can admit that I'm a bitch, I'm not perfect, and I hate housework. A woman can get away with admitting their faults far easier than men can in our society. I freely admit my addiction to nude lip gloss and pretty black shoes. Yet, when I write that (gasp!) men are not perfect on my blog (you want to change the world but you can't change a toilet paper roll?), I tend to get comments ranging anywhere from calling me a bitch (like, I know), to someone like this admittedly nice enough guy who's afraid of what I might discuss next for fear of meeting his truth.

Perhaps I missed that day in class that said I have to believe men are perfect just cause they themselves believe it and tell me they are (seriously, go read my comments sometime). I don't make it up. You guys are handing me material. It's great.

What I do is observe male behavior and deconstruct it, with humor. It's already there, baby.

I'm just here to enjoy the show.

Who IS RachelintheOC? A redhead in a sea of blondes. A chick who decodes women for guys (Chickspeak) and deconstructs men (Mancode) with humor. She also writes about lost love. Her blog has been nominated for Funniest Blog in 2010 (Blogluxe.com) though you will often find poignant stories about love and loss.

Rachel also cofounded the Indie Book Collective ( @IndieBookIBC on Twitter) this past fall, along with authors Carolyn McCray and Amber Scott, where they teach writers how to use social media to sell their work. Their promotions Blog Tour De Force and Bestseller For A Day will soon be written up in major national publications as well as addressed at a self-publishing panel discussion at #SXSW where Carolyn is a panelist with Writer's Digest editor Jane Friedman and John Sundman.

Her non-fiction book, A Walk In The Snark: Best of RachelintheOC is available in eBook format on Amazon for $2.99. She just cracked the Top 100 Humor (#67 Parenting and Family) List in just two weeks of release.

She's currently working on her next book, The Mancode: A Survivor's Tale.

Prostitution: A Self- Published Author's Guide to Promotion

I've learned a thing or two about book promotion since my debut self-published thriller Asylum Lake hit the shelves in July of last year.  The first thing I learned is that promoting a book is nothing like I expected. I have been operating in the Marketing/PR world for nearly 20 years now and thought I would be able to hit the ground running – EPIC FAIL!

My clients have hired me to promote products, services, causes – name it and I have promoted it.  Outside of the occasional job interview or client contact, however, I had never really promoted myself. This changed when Asylum Lake hit the shelves.  I realized I was selling myself as much as the book.

So how does one sell themself? Simple – you sell yourself with everything you do. Social media tools such as facebook, twitter, and blogs make it easy to present your product. Sadly, these tools do not guarantee success. There is no "If you build it they will come" secret recipe for success.  It requires time, patience, and work to sell yourself.  Imagine the internet as a bustling metropolis. Your job is to carve out your own street corner to hawk your wares. My advice – wear comfortable shoes..:)

So once you have your social media sites up and running you're done, right? Hardly! This is when the real work begins.  In the vast sea of opportunities you must be the shark that never stops swimming. Make use of site like Goodreads to network with other authors and readers. This is a great place to get your work reviewed – and reviews drive everything.  Get a review and post it to facebook and your blog, tweet it to the masses, shout it from your little street-corner!

So now you're tweeting and blogging about these amazing reviews and all is right with the world.  Or is it? Yes and no.  That tweet becomes ancient five minutes after you send it and that blog post that automatically goes to your facebook page – consider it old news.  You should already be looking to turn that next trick.

My best advice – carve out a chunk of time each day that you can devote specifically to promotion and networking.  Interact with others via your social networking sites. Always be doing something. Oh – and when you have time – you might want to consider doing some writing on your next project…:)

Writing your novel is the easy part – selling it requires work!

And the winners are…

Response to my Start to Finish contest was amazing! I am both honored and scared by the creative/twisted minds that you are showing – I have taught you well!

Congratulati0ons to Dan from Holland, MI for the following story starter:

The voice on the phone said "This is an attempt to collect a debt and any information obtained will be used for that purpose". The caller ID showed…

My mind raced with the possibilities when I read that starter.

Lisa from Swansea, South Wales provided the perfect finisher to this short story:

The bumper sticker on the car in front read 'No rest for the wicked'. Michael laughed. Those poor suckers didn't know how right they were.

So what happens now? I guess the real work begins. I have another 3,450 words to write in the middle!

Thanks to all of you for participating. Given the interest in this contest, I'll be pulling some other things together in the near future.  In the meantime, given the starter and finisher, I'd love to hear your ideas on story titles…

 

 

From Start to Finish, continued…

I sometimes wonder when I write my posts if anybody really reads them. It must be the typical lack of self-confidence that most writers cling to.  In my recent post asking for story starters and finishers, I never imagined how many people would respond – and with such quality stuff!

The decision is a bit more difficult than I imagined. I'll be making the announcement tomorrow morning and hope to have the piece completed by Thursday morning. In the meantime, please take a moment to read my guest blogger's post about Writer's Block, reacquaint yourself with some of my older posts, and definitely tell your friends and family about how they, too, should follow R.A. Evans writes…

 

To think or to write? Courtney Conant – Guest Blogger

Every author has a different way of going about things, different tricks and tips that they might share for getting past writer's block. What works for me? What is my tip? Stop thinking about it and just do it!

For me, I don't write; my fingers do. I've always found that when I actually try to think when I'm working on a piece, it turns out to be more like word vomit than anything worth reading. I had attempted to write a novel many times. It had always been a goal of mine, ever since I was a small child. I always dreamed that I would write the next best seller and that my book would be on shelves around the world. More than twenty years after the dream burrowed its way into my head, it still has not come to pass.

I spent many wasted attempts working on that novel. Each attempt had many hours of planning and plotting behind it. I would write up a concept for the book, put together an outline, build character descriptions and backgrounds. I put so much work into the book that by the time I got around to writing it, I had already lost my way. No matter how hard I tried, I just could not actually WRITE the story I wanted to tell. After having this happen to me several times, I decided to go about it a different way…

When I went to write The Blood Moon of Winter, all I had was the opening line. I had no concept of characters, plot, nothing! I decided to let my fingers do the work on the keyboard, with no thought in my head as to where I wanted the story to go or what the story even was. I knew that I wanted the words to flow as naturally as possible, to give the book a more comfortable feel. I didn't want my 'voice' to intrude. The only way to do this was to have no voice at all.

I was actually able to pull myself completely from what I was doing and just type away. After typing out the opening sentence, I let my fingers walk and the next thing I knew, I had several pages done and five characters. I didn't stop and read what I had written. I just let it ride and left it to chance. I found that once I let go of controlling the story, it seemed to write itself. As the story grew, the genre began to change and turn from what could have been chick lit, into a paranormal fantasy in which I created a whole new world.

I found myself quite amazed that in just over two weeks, I went from having no thought in my head (other than wanting to write a novel) to having completed an actual novel. The story took over and it wouldn't let me stop writing once I started. I've never been good at relinquishing control, especially if it is regarding something that has my name on it. This was my first ever attempt at doing so and I am so glad that I did. The novel is finished, published and starting to get some good feedback. Sometimes less planning can actually lead to more results (and better ones)!

So I say WRITE, don't think… Even if you only write a paragraph here, a short story there, it doesn't matter. Start letting your fingers do the work and see what may come. You never know until you try. Don't let writer's block get hold of you, like I did.

www.courtneyconant.com