R.E. Chambliss's Blog, page 6

Some thoughts on endings: Dreaming of Deliverance's ending in particular!

I've wanted to blog about story endings for a long time, but I've put it off because I don't want to spoil anything for anyone who hasn't reached the conclusion of Dreaming of Deliverance. Actually, I'm still not sure how to do it! I guess I'll put a warning here. If you haven't finished DoD and don't want to have any inkling as to how Dreaming of Deliverance ends, skip this post. I'm not going to outright say what happens, but you'll get a sense of the tone of the ending.  Consider yourself warned!

A few years ago I was reading one of my favorite childhood books, Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls, to my daughter. If you're not familiar with the story, it's about a boy in the Ozarks who works for years to save enough money to buy some hunting dogs. He and the dogs develop an incredible friendship and at the end of the book the dogs are killed saving his life. (It's a little more complicated, but in a nutshell, that's the story.) So I'm reading this book to my 7-year-old daughter and she's laughing at the dogs' antics and the cute, smart things they do, and as we get closer to the end of the story I start to stress. I feel like I'm guiding her to her doom. My dilemma was, do I warn her about what's going to happen and spoil the story for her, or do I blithely go on, knowing that it's going to be rough for her at the end? Wimp that I am, I ended up telling her that the dogs would die, but that it still was a great story, and I asked her if she wanted me to finish it. She said no. We've still never gotten to the end of that book.

When I was podcasting DoD I had a similar concern. People would write to me and tell me how much they loved the characters and I'd think, "I'm sorry! Don't hate me when you get to the end!" I felt like warning people to brace themselves. But I didn't. And I know the way the story ended was tough for many.

Sad endings have never ruined a story for me. Like Where the Red Fern Grows, some of my favorite stories have sad endings: The Time Traveler's Wife, Dragonfly in Amber, Shakespeare in Love, Before Sunrise. I don't like stories that are complete downers--where there's no upside. But that's not the case in DoD. There is a lot of positive at the end, both for Lindsay and most of the other characters. It's not all bad. And with DoD, a completely happily ever after ending wouldn't have fit with the rest of the book. It's a dark story.

Besides, I don't pull any punches when it comes to story. I guess I'm brave that way. If you're one of my characters, you have to realize that I won't keep you safe, just because I like you.

Still, I apologize to anyone who was upset by DoD's ending.

One of the tough things about being an independent artist is that there's no paid mentor to ask for advice. I've wondered for months if I should come right out and reveal something that might make you feel better about DoD's ending. However, being independent, I don't have an agent or editor to consult. And my knowledgable friends, who I know would be happy to advise me, are fans of the story. I haven't wanted to ruin anything for them just because I wanted some guidance.

But I did end up telling one person something about the ending, something that I think most people missed. (It's okay that they missed it, I kept it subtle intentionally.) Then I asked her what she thought I should do: tell or not tell.

Her advice was this: allude.

So here's my not-so-cryptic revelation:

Go back and listen to the last episode. Or read the end one more time, if you're a reader not a listener. If you pay close attention to exactly what's described (and what's not described) you'll probably feel better about how the story ends.

And there is a sequel. Don't forget that. I'm not participating in NaNoWriMo this month, but I do plan to do a lot of writing on DoD2. Before too long, I think I'm going to release a few excerpts from it to whet your appetite for the next part of the story. Possibly in video form, now that I have a taste of being on camera!

Yay! My post on endings is finally complete. Feeling any better now? I hope so! Let me know in the comments if you have any questions or want to share your thoughts on endings in general and DoD's in particular. I'm happy to talk more about it!

The Farrago Anthology: See me on video; read "The Reprieve"

I had the honor of contributing to the soon-to-be-released Farrago Anthology, which contains 17 pieces from different writers, all together in one ebook. Farrago will be available starting October 31 and all proceeds will to help raise money for filmmaker Michael Bekemeyer's latest project.



Michael put together the above promo describing the origins of the Farrago Anthology as well as some short videos of different writers explaining who they are and a little about the stories they contributed. Wouldn't you know it, mine is first. So now you can see me as well as hear me, and learn about my Farrago story, "The Reprieve".

Listen to my latest short story: It's sinful!

Hi everyone!

This year, I had the honor of participating in the Wicked Women Writer's Challenge. Each writer received one of the Seven Deadly Sins to write a story about and then record for the Horror Addicts Podcast. My sin was "Pride", and I had a lot of fun with it.

Those expecting something like Dreaming of Deliverance, might be surprised. This is short fiction so it's not as in-depth with characters and themes as Dreaming of Deliverance was. But I do have a vivid, some would say twisted, imagination, so I think you'll find the story to be different from the norm. There's also some humor and...well...since it's horror, there are some dark moments too.

To listen to "Pretty Pride" by R.E. Chambliss go to HorrorAddicts.net. There you'll find Episode 49 of the podcast as well as all of the stories as bonus episodes. You can also find them by searching for Horror Addicts on itunes.

If after listening to the stories, you find that one struck you as particularly well done, you can vote for it to win the challenge by emailing your choice to emzbox at sbcglobal dot net. If you vote, you'll be eligible to win a super-cool prize package, so why wouldn't you vote?

A big thanks to Emerian Rich the fabulous hostess and force behind Horror Addicts, and to the awesome H.E. Roulo, another terrific author/podcaster and last year's Wicked Women Writers Challenge winner, for all that they've done to make this year's Wicked Women Writers Challenge possible!

Want to buy Dreaming of Deliverance? It's $9.99 through the end of the year!

As I mentioned in my last blog entry, I always thought the print version of Dreaming of Deliverance was over priced. But I didn't have the option to lower it. Until now!

So I'm thrilled to announce that through December 31, 2010 you can buy a print version of Dreaming of Deliverance, an actual, physical book, for only $9.99!

Click here to order it from Amazon.com!

And if you'd like me to sign it, just email your address, and who the book is for, to renee@rechambliss.com and I'll send you a special signed, personalized Dreaming of Deliverance book plate to stick inside!

Starting January 1, the print version price will go up to $13.99, which is more on par with other trade paperbacks like it. But for the next two and a half months, it's yours for just ten bucks!

And don't forget, you can also buy the Kindle or Nook ebook versions for $2.99!

Now there is a Nook edition!

One of the Dreaming of Deliverance podiobooks listeners asked if there could be a Nook e-reader edition. It took a couple of months, but finally it's available!

Here's the link:

Dreaming of Deliverance, Nook Edition

In other news, the print version of Dreaming of Deliverance will be priced lower soon, which thrills me, because I've always thought it cost way too much. It's only recently that I've been able to adjust it. I will let you all know the new price, once it goes into effect.

And, I have this blog post on endings, DoD's ending in particular, that I've been mulling over for a while now. It'll be up before too long. Stay tuned. I think you'll like it!

Tri!

There's been some curiosity about the triathlon I mentioned in my last entry. So for anyone wondering how it went, here are some pictures from the race. As you can see, I had a lot of fun, as crazy as that might sound!

Before the start...


After the swim...


Ready to bike...


Starting the run...


The finish!


If you'd have asked me a few years ago if I would ever do a triathlon, I'd have said, "No way!" But I think I'm braver now. I still get anxious about taking on challenges like triathlons, writing novels, and (probably toughest for me) self-promotion, but I take those challenges on anyway, because I don't want to let myself down. Also, even though I still have perfectionistic tendencies, I won't let the worry about not being perfect keep me from trying.

So take on a challenge from time to time. You don't have to "tri", but try...something you've always wanted to attempt. You won't regret it!

P.S. I'm picking up the pace on the DoD2 writing. And look for a blog post about endings, DoD's ending in particular, in the next few days!

New Fiction Writers

I cannot believe it's been so long since I last posted an entry. I thought I was doing pretty well, for me, anyway.

Sorry to anyone who is hoping for more Renée blog regularity!

This will be quick too, because I have to run a few errands before I go swim. Did I mention I'm training for a triathlon? I did one last year and really enjoyed it, believe it or not, plus having an event like that to train for helps me to stay motivated, exercise-wise. I'm actually quite a lazy person if left to my own...

Prisoner of NaNoWriMo--A Voice Actress's Thoughts: Part 1

Hi everyone! Look it's my third Monday in a row with a new blog entry!

So Craig's newest podiobook The Prisoner of NaNoWriMo is up and available: Episodes 1-5, anyway. I think I had at least a line in all of them. Have you listened yet? What do you think? I thought I would give a mini behind the scenes take on what's out so far.

Episode 1: We meet Piers, our hero. He's about to start NaNoWriMo and is very excited about it. His wife, Samantha, is not. I think it's so hard for the people in our ...

Dunesteef: "This Must Be The Place" by Elliot Bangs

Hey!

Now things are happening! That Dunesteef Audio Fiction Magazine story I narrated is now live! I really liked this story, and think Bryan Lincoln of the Fullcast Podcast did an awesome job producing it. I still haven't finished listening to Big and Rish's commentary after the story and that's partly because I'm afraid of what they might have to say, and partly because when I saw my pathetic Author Website link in their show notes, I panicked and have spent the morning doing some sorely nee...

Finally, I have some news!

Hello, my invisible friends!

It's been about a month since my "I'm still around" post. Pathetic, huh? But there's just been no big news. Maybe I need to start blogging about writing progress, or favorite books or something. It might be better than the empty void that's been Pointed Squiggle for the last few months!

However, now I finally have some news! There is something coming out soon that I was lucky enough to be involved with.

Craig Robertson's next podiobook, The Prisoner of NaNoWriMo has ...