Aaron Polson's Blog, page 20
September 15, 2011
The Editing Ninja: Prepositional Abuse
I'm always troubled when I read prose which abuses the lowly preposition.
"I turned my head up and looked at her."
"I ended up looking at my feet."
"He stared the other man down."
Prepositions (most of them) require the presence of an object (noun or pronoun) to make a complete prepositional phrase in standard usage. As a phrase, they may function as nouns, adjectives, or adverbs--the preposition itself denotes temporal, spatial, or logical relationship (e.g., it shows where the object "is" in space or time).
In sentence one, there is no object. A reader asks herself, "Up where?"
A suggested revision: "I turned and looked at her." Less words (usually) = better sentence.
In sentence two... Well, let's just say it doesn't work.
A suggested revision: "In the end, I looked at my feet." Or "I eventually looked at my feet."
While we use the phrase "stare down" in common language, it bothers me. I still want to ask myself, "Down where?"
A suggested revision: "He stared at the other man." Or "He stared until the other man flinched."
Please take care of your prepositions. They're like delicate flowers.
"I turned my head up and looked at her."
"I ended up looking at my feet."
"He stared the other man down."
Prepositions (most of them) require the presence of an object (noun or pronoun) to make a complete prepositional phrase in standard usage. As a phrase, they may function as nouns, adjectives, or adverbs--the preposition itself denotes temporal, spatial, or logical relationship (e.g., it shows where the object "is" in space or time).
In sentence one, there is no object. A reader asks herself, "Up where?"
A suggested revision: "I turned and looked at her." Less words (usually) = better sentence.
In sentence two... Well, let's just say it doesn't work.
A suggested revision: "In the end, I looked at my feet." Or "I eventually looked at my feet."
While we use the phrase "stare down" in common language, it bothers me. I still want to ask myself, "Down where?"
A suggested revision: "He stared at the other man." Or "He stared until the other man flinched."
Please take care of your prepositions. They're like delicate flowers.
September 14, 2011
WIP Wednesday: By the Numbers
Net gain of one thousand words after revising and rewriting parts of Borrowed Saints.
In the Memory House stands at 47K with another 15-20K until the first draft is done.
The House Eaters sold five copies with its former imprint; since going "indie" it has sold 254 copies and counting. Yes, price does have an impact folks. People seem to like "cheap" for better or for worse.
I'm about thirty books away from hitting the "1,000" mark sold via Kindle. I guess that's a milestone.
Now I need to write.
Have a great day.
In the Memory House stands at 47K with another 15-20K until the first draft is done.
The House Eaters sold five copies with its former imprint; since going "indie" it has sold 254 copies and counting. Yes, price does have an impact folks. People seem to like "cheap" for better or for worse.
I'm about thirty books away from hitting the "1,000" mark sold via Kindle. I guess that's a milestone.
Now I need to write.
Have a great day.
September 13, 2011
I've Broken My Short Story Bone
Between working on In the Memory House and revising Borrowed Saints (which will have a shiny new cover and new title, coming soon), I've broken my short story bone.
I started a piece for Rainstorm Press's Mutation Nation anthology, but after two-thousand words have realized I'm writing a novella. Huh?
Waaaaay too much back story. I definately started in the wrong place. This has never happened to me, and I'm struggling a bit with making it work.
Anyone else have similar issues when switching between longer and shorter writing?
I started a piece for Rainstorm Press's Mutation Nation anthology, but after two-thousand words have realized I'm writing a novella. Huh?
Waaaaay too much back story. I definately started in the wrong place. This has never happened to me, and I'm struggling a bit with making it work.
Anyone else have similar issues when switching between longer and shorter writing?
September 12, 2011
How Much is a Review Worth?
Chuck Gould at Horror Bound Online Magazine has reviewed
Loathsome, Dark and Deep
. It's a good one, too--he even uses the word "consuming" to describe the book. I like that.
From the very first page of Aaron Polson's Loathsome, Dark & Deep, there is something about the writing and imagery that offers up shades of Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness.
That was my goal; I'm pleased it hit the mark.
Read the rest of the review online at Horror Bound.
Loathsome has been out for nearly a year now, and has garnered several (mostly positive) reviews.With the boom of "indie" writers and book bloggers--some sites which even charge for reviews or advertising--one asks oneself how much these things are worth, especially when most book consumers state word of mouth and author's personality do more to "sell" a book than any amount of reviews or advertising.
While I say I will never pay for a review, I have sent free books (even dead tree editions) to sites/publications/individuals in return for an honest review. Sometimes a review appears a month, two months, maybe more down the road. Sometimes a review never appears.
I've spent almost as much money promoting Loathsome as I've received in royalties. This is not a complaint--Jodi and the rest of the Belfire crew are top notch. This is reality. I can't really afford to spend another dime for my little book to find an audience--at some point, I must rely on the goodly power of word of mouth.Hopefully readers will stumble across me online and find I'm an all right dude.
How much would you spend (in time and/or money) to promote your work? At what point do you feel it is counterproductive (e.g., cuts into your writing time)?
From the very first page of Aaron Polson's Loathsome, Dark & Deep, there is something about the writing and imagery that offers up shades of Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness.
That was my goal; I'm pleased it hit the mark.
Read the rest of the review online at Horror Bound.
Loathsome has been out for nearly a year now, and has garnered several (mostly positive) reviews.With the boom of "indie" writers and book bloggers--some sites which even charge for reviews or advertising--one asks oneself how much these things are worth, especially when most book consumers state word of mouth and author's personality do more to "sell" a book than any amount of reviews or advertising.
While I say I will never pay for a review, I have sent free books (even dead tree editions) to sites/publications/individuals in return for an honest review. Sometimes a review appears a month, two months, maybe more down the road. Sometimes a review never appears.
I've spent almost as much money promoting Loathsome as I've received in royalties. This is not a complaint--Jodi and the rest of the Belfire crew are top notch. This is reality. I can't really afford to spend another dime for my little book to find an audience--at some point, I must rely on the goodly power of word of mouth.Hopefully readers will stumble across me online and find I'm an all right dude.
How much would you spend (in time and/or money) to promote your work? At what point do you feel it is counterproductive (e.g., cuts into your writing time)?
September 10, 2011
Me to You, for Free to Celebrate Spider and I
Spider and I is loose in the wild (i.e., available in e-book format from Amazon and Smashwords) for only 99 cents.
Less than a buck for a bucket-o-blood novella from this Polson joker? How can you beat that? Well, if you buy Spider and I for your e-reading device during September, let me know and I'll gift you any of my books available for Kindle, Nook, or Smashwords for free. Yep, just drop an email to aaron.polson(at)gmail.com and let me know what e-book you'd like.
It's that simple.
About Spider and I: Jack wants nothing more than a normal life after his parents' untimely deaths. He bounces from foster home to foster home, haunted at each stop by a monster he thinks of only as "the shadow man". As Jack grows older, he learns "the shadow man" isn't the only monster in his life...
Less than a buck for a bucket-o-blood novella from this Polson joker? How can you beat that? Well, if you buy Spider and I for your e-reading device during September, let me know and I'll gift you any of my books available for Kindle, Nook, or Smashwords for free. Yep, just drop an email to aaron.polson(at)gmail.com and let me know what e-book you'd like.
It's that simple.
About Spider and I: Jack wants nothing more than a normal life after his parents' untimely deaths. He bounces from foster home to foster home, haunted at each stop by a monster he thinks of only as "the shadow man". As Jack grows older, he learns "the shadow man" isn't the only monster in his life...
September 9, 2011
Five Question Friday: Shayne Parkinson
Five questions with Shayne Parkinson...
1. What do you think makes a good story?
Something that's hard to put down, and keeps me thinking about it long after I've finished. Characters I care about. A story that takes me out of the here-and-now, and draws me into its own reality.
2. What is the last book you read?
The Help
3. If you could live in anywhere in the world, where would it be?
Right here in New Zealand, but in a part that has cooler weather and a lake.
4. What is on the floor of your car?
Except when it's just come home from the garage, dirt.
5. What's your favorite thing to eat or drink while writing?
Coffee - what we in New Zealand (and Australia) call a Flat White.
Links:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Shayne-Parkinson/e/B003RF8LDI
Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/shaynep
Blog http://shayneparkinson.blogspot.com/
Web site http://sites.google.com/site/shayneparkinson/
1. What do you think makes a good story?Something that's hard to put down, and keeps me thinking about it long after I've finished. Characters I care about. A story that takes me out of the here-and-now, and draws me into its own reality.
2. What is the last book you read?
The Help
3. If you could live in anywhere in the world, where would it be?
Right here in New Zealand, but in a part that has cooler weather and a lake.
4. What is on the floor of your car?
Except when it's just come home from the garage, dirt.
5. What's your favorite thing to eat or drink while writing?
Coffee - what we in New Zealand (and Australia) call a Flat White.
Links:Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Shayne-Parkinson/e/B003RF8LDI
Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/shaynep
Blog http://shayneparkinson.blogspot.com/
Web site http://sites.google.com/site/shayneparkinson/
September 8, 2011
Irony: Enough Already
As a language monger, few things upset me as much as the misuse of irony.
Somehow, in common language, folks believe irony to be synonymous with coincidence. Listen to this NPR piece about Billy, a San Fransisco Giants fan gone missing. (you have to listen or read the transcript--it isn't in the article text) Did you hear Robert Siegel try to correct Giants manager Bruce Bochy at one point? SIEGEL: Just before you go, you mentioned that by coincidence... Bochy goes on to abuse irony one more time.
Enough folks.
Irony does not equal coincidence. In fact, the two are almost opposites.
Take this definition of irony: an outcome of events contrary to what was, or might have been, expected. Read more at Dictionary.com.
In the Giants story, one might have expected a team's "good luck charm" to cause a problem for the team after he disappeared. Irony? Not hardly.
I love teaching Edgar Allan Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado" along with irony; few stories have such robust examples of true irony which are accessible to average high school students. Within this short piece, students can find dramatic irony, situational irony, and verbal irony. A triple play.
Read "The Cask of Amontillado" online for free. Nothing fortunate about Fortunato's experience, is there?
By the way, Billy, wherever you are, the Giants miss you. Take care, okay?
Somehow, in common language, folks believe irony to be synonymous with coincidence. Listen to this NPR piece about Billy, a San Fransisco Giants fan gone missing. (you have to listen or read the transcript--it isn't in the article text) Did you hear Robert Siegel try to correct Giants manager Bruce Bochy at one point? SIEGEL: Just before you go, you mentioned that by coincidence... Bochy goes on to abuse irony one more time.
Enough folks.
Irony does not equal coincidence. In fact, the two are almost opposites.
Take this definition of irony: an outcome of events contrary to what was, or might have been, expected. Read more at Dictionary.com.
In the Giants story, one might have expected a team's "good luck charm" to cause a problem for the team after he disappeared. Irony? Not hardly.
I love teaching Edgar Allan Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado" along with irony; few stories have such robust examples of true irony which are accessible to average high school students. Within this short piece, students can find dramatic irony, situational irony, and verbal irony. A triple play.
Read "The Cask of Amontillado" online for free. Nothing fortunate about Fortunato's experience, is there?
By the way, Billy, wherever you are, the Giants miss you. Take care, okay?
September 7, 2011
WIP Wednesday: How Did I Get Here?
My "House" novel, now going by the name In the Memory House is nearing first draft completion. First draft completion doesn't mean much in my book. As a writer, I am a "pantser" for the most part, one of those free spirits wandering through the plot, dropping suspense and characterization along the way. The characters tend to reveal themselves better this way...
But then I have to pick up the pieces. My lead, a graduate student in psychology, has really shown me dark and secret corners of her life.
Now I have to go back and makes sure the early, more "private" chapters work.
From one of the final chapters:
Kelsey glanced once more at the door, took a breath, and plunged into the dark, groping with both hands now, reaching in front of her and to the sides to find the layout of the space. Her knuckles dragged against stone. She stopped, felt on both sides, and noted a rough, circular cavern. Her hands played with its boundaries. Behind her, the door had vanished, leaving no lingering ambient light.
She found herself in a cave. She hadn't stepped inside a cave since she was eight.
What are some of your most-powerful childhood memories?
But then I have to pick up the pieces. My lead, a graduate student in psychology, has really shown me dark and secret corners of her life.
Now I have to go back and makes sure the early, more "private" chapters work.
From one of the final chapters:
Kelsey glanced once more at the door, took a breath, and plunged into the dark, groping with both hands now, reaching in front of her and to the sides to find the layout of the space. Her knuckles dragged against stone. She stopped, felt on both sides, and noted a rough, circular cavern. Her hands played with its boundaries. Behind her, the door had vanished, leaving no lingering ambient light.
She found herself in a cave. She hadn't stepped inside a cave since she was eight.
What are some of your most-powerful childhood memories?
September 6, 2011
Teaser Tuesday: Spider and I
I wrote a short story entitled "Spider and I" a few years ago. It originally saw publication in The Devil's Food, an ill-fated anthology which never paid a single contributor. Some didn't even receive a copy of the book.
I've ressurrected Jack and Spider, wrote two earlier chapters to their story, and significantly changed the ending. They now star in their very own 16,000 word novella...
From Part 1: Jack is Almost Eight
When Jack slept, his dreams brought monsters of steel and rubber and glass, hulking things which screamed and cried frigid tears. The monsters clashed, flailing body against body until both slumped against trees on either side of the asphalt arena. Smoke rose into the sky. The tears became rain, and Jack found himself staring into a downpour from black and indifferent clouds. Another howl rose, sharp and shrill and panicked. A siren. The red lights flashed until Jack started from the dream. When he woke, his bed was soaked with urine and the shadow man skittered through his window.
"Cathy."
The boy's heart banged against his chest. Thump-thump-thump…
"Cathy!"
A muffled curse sounded through the thin walls, too deep for Cathy's honeyed voice. Feet stomped in the hallway. Jack clutched the stained comforter in front of him like a shield. The door wrenched open, and a hulking black mass slouched against the door jamb. Rick. Not Cathy. Jack cowered, shivering.
"What is it?" Rick's voice was big and deep like a sustained rumble of thunder. Smoke and whiskey rolled off his body.
"I want Cathy."
"Fuck." Rick's silhouette straightened. "I smell piss. Did you piss yourself again? God-damn, kid. You're six for fuck's sake."
Coming soon...
I've ressurrected Jack and Spider, wrote two earlier chapters to their story, and significantly changed the ending. They now star in their very own 16,000 word novella...
From Part 1: Jack is Almost Eight
When Jack slept, his dreams brought monsters of steel and rubber and glass, hulking things which screamed and cried frigid tears. The monsters clashed, flailing body against body until both slumped against trees on either side of the asphalt arena. Smoke rose into the sky. The tears became rain, and Jack found himself staring into a downpour from black and indifferent clouds. Another howl rose, sharp and shrill and panicked. A siren. The red lights flashed until Jack started from the dream. When he woke, his bed was soaked with urine and the shadow man skittered through his window.
"Cathy."
The boy's heart banged against his chest. Thump-thump-thump…
"Cathy!"
A muffled curse sounded through the thin walls, too deep for Cathy's honeyed voice. Feet stomped in the hallway. Jack clutched the stained comforter in front of him like a shield. The door wrenched open, and a hulking black mass slouched against the door jamb. Rick. Not Cathy. Jack cowered, shivering.
"What is it?" Rick's voice was big and deep like a sustained rumble of thunder. Smoke and whiskey rolled off his body.
"I want Cathy."
"Fuck." Rick's silhouette straightened. "I smell piss. Did you piss yourself again? God-damn, kid. You're six for fuck's sake."
Coming soon...
September 2, 2011
Five Question Friday: Aimee Laine
Five Questions with Aimee Laine:1. If you could write in any color ink, what would it be?
Raspberry. It's my most favorite color in the world. Well ... besides teal. Can I mix the two? Maybe a combination of raspberry AND teal?
2. Is the book always better than the movie?
Absolutely, yes because books play like movies in my head. And I get to be the only one seeing it. So I can make up exactly what the characters look like and how they sound and even somewhat how they act. I get to 'direct' them the way a Director does for actors. Even though the words are written on the page, my mind conjures up interpretations that only I am privy to.
3. Cats or dogs? Why?
Cats! Cats are independent, soft, purry and ... independent. They don't have to be walked or taken outside to use the bathroom on an ice-cold morning at 5am when I'm not awake yet. They can be left alone for a weekend with a bowl of food and a dish of water without supervision or hiring a pet sitter. Cats. 100%. :)
4. What is on the floor of your bedroom?
Clean clothes. I do have a dresser, but I can't stand putting away my clothes more than once a month. Or so it seems. So there is always a pile of freshly laundered clothes. Often there is a cat on top of them. Sometimes that cat carries with it a raspberry ribbon.
5. Describe the ideal meal.
Pepperoni and Mushroom pizza with a big glass bottle of Coca-Cola. Follow that with a banana split with chocolate, whipped cream, peanuts and ice cream. Oh and make it all NO calories. I don't mean fat-free stuff ... I mean if this were ideal ... it would be loaded with fat and sugar ... but be calorie free. THAT would be idea.
Aimee Laine
Photographic Artist & Author of paranormal romance
Little White Lies now available!
Find it online: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | AllRomance | Goodreads
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www.aimeelaine.com | 919-362-9039
