Mari Miniatt's Blog, page 16

December 29, 2010

Year in review: Most popular posts: #3

Number three is Teaser Tuesday Artwork Addition

I know that should be Edition. But no one seemed to care. This was the unveiling of the cover of Killer. I got only one No on it.
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Published on December 29, 2010 02:09

December 28, 2010

Year in review: Most popular posts: #4

My fourth most popular post was this How to Make up the Character That You Need Now!

My advice as a panster to writers that need a little shove. It really does help if you need to come up with character quickly.
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Published on December 28, 2010 02:03

December 27, 2010

Year in review: Most popular posts:

This was my fifth most popular post on my blog: Unethical or Brilliant Marketing

I am skipping the press release.
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Published on December 27, 2010 02:07

December 26, 2010

#SampleSunday Opening of Patriarch

*This is the first 700 words to Patriarch. It is in an early stage of editing. So this is a really rough, really bad stuff here. If you are brave: continue.

A white van turned the corner, making Steopa jump back onto the curb. The car that the van had cut off, swerved and hit their horn. Steopa reached back and laid his hand on Rebecka's shoulder.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

Rebecka patted his large hand. "You were nearly run over, not me."

He turned his head to watch the white van as it drove away from them. He took Rebecka's hand and walked down the street, following the van. People moved out of his way as he began to pick up his pace. His statue, all seven feet, would make anyone want to avoid being run down by him. But the people on the street did not see him.

Steopa and Rebecka had blurred. Shadows covered both of them as they stayed on the white van's path. Its path was erratic. Turning down one street, then another. The darkened windows had piqued his attention. A shroud covered the van. Someone in that van wanted to die.

The van rode low to the ground. So low that if it hit a large bump, it would get stuck. The blackened windows did not allow anyone to see how many people were inside. From the interior you could feel, before you heard, the heavy bass lines echoing from a hip hop song.

Steopa strained to hear, over the bass and engine, the heartbeats of  the occupants. He heard three. The strongest, a steady beat, with a slight irregularity, almost drowned out the other two. Those beats were fast. Two of the occupants were frightened.

The van slowed down. Steopa paused on the street. He pulled out a  hair tie from his overcoat's pocket and tied his long black hair back. Rebecka motioned with her head to across the street.

Across the street, a group of seven men, all wearing the same shade of red, watched the van roll pass. The van turned down another street and the group of men followed it. Steopa raised his eyebrow. Rebecka grinned.

Steopa faded into the shadows, Rebecka did the same. They jumped across the street, then followed the men. The van turned into a parking lot of an old factory. It drove through a set of open double doors and shut off its engine. The music still echoed. The group walked into the same building. Two of them turned around and shut the double doors behind them.

Steopa looked up. The factory had four floors. The third floor, set back a little ways from the edge of the building, had the most windows. Most of them were broken, at one time it may have been the only light source in the building.

He jumped and landed on the small ledge around the windows. Rebecka joined him. He leaned over the empty window frame and studied the scene below. The van had pulled into the middle of the factory floor. The group of men surrounded it. One of them walked up to the driver's side door.

Rebecka put her arm through the empty window pane, then pulled it back. Steopa gave her a single nod. Even if a place was abandoned, it didn't mean they could walk inside. This old factory did not have the barrier. Nothing would stop them from entering.

"It is abandoned." He whispered.

"You never know," she said.

The driver got out of the van. Unlike the other men in the factory, the driver wore a suit coat over blue jeans. The one that had walked up to the van and the driver walked over to the large side door. They were engaged in an animated conversation.

Steopa could hear parts of the conversation. They discussed a payment. Money, exchanged hands. The driver opened the side door. Steopa grabbed Rebecka as she lunged forward.

The children were bound and gagged on the floor of the van. Steopa growled. Each of the men grabbed one of them and pulled the children out. Two of the red hooded men came forward and took the children.

Rebecka pried Steopa's fingers off her arm. Steopa grabbed her wrist. Rebecka glared at him. Steopa whispered. "Wait."

"Why?"

"When I come back, get the children." Steopa jumped down to the ground.
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Published on December 26, 2010 08:42

December 20, 2010

Sometimes the Fool is the sanest one.

Last Thursday, I met a man. He had a "unique" view on the world. He wasn't violent, or angry, or threatening in anyway. He was intelligent, but had a strange way at looking at the world. He asked me about my books. We talked for a whiled, and the conversation went to this question:

"Are there real vampires?"

I used the historical argument. That vampires were the lack of understanding about how the body decomposes and how disease works. How they were a manifestation of our fear of death. He cut me off.

"I know that, but are there real vampires?"

Because of the conversation I had with him already. I realized that he would not take any answer other than "Yes."

Have you ever talked to someone that is a little off? Your gut tells you that if you say the wrong thing, they might go off on you. That is what I was facing.

So I asked him. "If there are, would they want us to know?"

He got excited. "That sounds like you met them."

Luckily, I was saved by a friend. She interupted us and asked me to come with her. I have never been so relieved.

But it got me thinking. What if they were real? How would we know? I doubt a 1500 year old vampire would go online and claim to be exactly that. I think they would be the ones going around "Change me please!" and when someone agrees. They would show up and smile! The rest you can leave up to your imgination.

Would a real vampire spend their time in high school? I would say no, but Musings of a High School Vampire might change your mind. At least it made me think it could be possible for a vampire to hide out as a high school student. But I would think that the vampire, if they wanted to bother with the school scene, would pick college. An art school might be the best. Or pretend to be an out of work actor. There are so many more interesting things they could do, other than go back to high school.

Would a real vampire take weeks to stalk someone? I think it would depend on how bored their were, and who they were stalking. I could see a realy bored vampire finding a serial killer and seeing if the killer would recognize that they were being hunted too.

Could they survive in sunlight? Depends on the vampire. Movies make us believe that they explode in the sun*. But in the folklore can go any way. There were some that could not stand the sun, some that could not stand the moonlight, some change appearance depending on what time it was, etc.


What about appearing legal? Getting the right paperwork together, so they didn't have that hassle.  Either they won't care, or know "the right people"

Have I met a vampire? Only the ones in my head.

But there was that one time...

* If you look up how hot the human body has to be in order for it to burn, vampires must be made out of flammable tissue paper
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Published on December 20, 2010 02:05

December 13, 2010

Bed Bugs and Vampires

Bed bugs are real. We have spent the last three years fighting them in our apartment. With the landlords help, right now I will say there is an armistice. My personal feelings are, between them and cockroaches. I will take cockroaches. You clean the house and lay down some poison. The cockroaches leave. Bed bugs, hide and hibernate until they can strike again.

They are blood suckers. They have evolved to feed off humans. You won't find them on animals. They might hitch a ride, but they will not be feeding. They come at night. So you can see the connection to vampires immediately.

But my theory has to do with the bite marks that vampires are supposed to leave. Most lore mentions small marks on the neck. It bothered me. If you seen a dog bite, or even a human bite, you know that the marks are not small. They are not dots. They look horrible. The skin bruises and the wounds are ragged.

So why small marks?

It wasn't until last summer when I got bitten on the neck by bed bugs, did I see the connection. There on my neck were small wounds. Right along the jugular. I had my own vampire bite. Some people wondered if I had done the bites to myself because of my books. I was embarrassed by them, more than anything.

Not me, but a good example of what the bites look like.

So what do you think? Would some people wake up in the morning, feeling a bit tired (they can wake you up if they are really hungry), and see the marks on their neck, think a vampire came in the night?

Only I don't think a vampire bite will itch and last for days.  Stupid bugs.

The only saving grace of these little vampires, is that they do not transmit diseases. Whereas real vampires, being dead, might be full of stuff that could make you sick.  But that being said. I would rather have the real vampire. At least I can put garlic around the house and they will leave. Not like the bed bugs. Grr stupid bugs.
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Published on December 13, 2010 02:01

December 7, 2010

Update: well strange things afoot.

First off, an apology. I still have not got the file up for the Kindle version of Killer. I don't want to bore you with the long torrid tale, but it involves a crashed motherboard, and switching operating system. I am sure once I look around the Linux community I can find what I need to get the file in the correct format and up. But I just have not had the time.

The short story challenge; Great start. I got the first one done! I am getting it critiqued! Yay! The second one, not so good. The first theme: Prehistory. My mind went blank. Nothing. Nada. I had one idea, but I couldn't articulate it. So I went to the next theme: Marionettes. I have ideas. Now I just have to filter out which ones.

Two projects are starting to come together. I can't talk about them yet. But one I hope will help make more people interested in my writing. The other is still in the brainstorming stage. When a more solid idea is formed, and everyone I need is on board. I will make an announcement.

As for Patriarch. I know it's going to be a thicker book. When you start delving into Steopa's past, you have a lot to work with. Best change so far. Perun comes into the story earlier.  Who is Perun? He's a force of nature. And when I told my husband he is making his appearance earlier, my husband clapped. I can guarantee you, you are either going to love him or hate him. There will be no middle ground.

So that is the update. More insights into my mind later.
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Published on December 07, 2010 16:44

November 29, 2010

Am I Insane?

Photo by gilles chiroleu

A personal contest, maybe.

I have decided to try a personal writing contest. I have won NaNoWriMo for three years in a row. I have two books indie published, and more on the way. I can do novels. Short stories, I haven't messed around with much.

Maybe it won't be personal, I would be willing to have anyone do this, with me, you know, for support. For a month, a few months, heck even the whole year.

So starting on December first, I will write – two short stories a month.

The numbers break down to this:
Average short story length: 5000 words.
Total words for the year: 120000
Daily average to hit: 330 words

After doing NaNoWriMo, 330 words a day is a cake walk.

What to write about?
For me, I went to Duotrope and picked out 24 open submissions that interested me. I don't know if I will actually submit the stories, but the themes and deadlines have given me a goal to work towards.

What if I hadn't done that? I would have pick a theme for each month and kept to it. So this might have been my list:

January = New Beginnings
February = Love
March = Madness (ie March Hare)
April = Rain
May = Flower
June = Weddings
July = Explosions
August = Lazy Summer
September = Back to Learning
October = Ghosts
November = Thanks
December = Gifts

Or I would have gone to a place like Story Starter or Seventh Sanctum and pick a random one there.

What are my goals doing this?
1.Take a daily break from my novel writing and editing.
2.Think outside my comfort zone in writing.
3.To see how fast I can do it.
4.To build up a stories that I could submit. If I needed one in a hurry.

So that is my crazy idea. Anyone else want to join me? And if you do, What the heck would should it be called?
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Published on November 29, 2010 01:07

November 25, 2010

Black Friday - a short story

My Thanksgiving gift to all of you!

If you have to place this story in the time line of my series. After Killer and before Patriarch. It's a little view into the reactions to some of my characters as they are dragged to a Black Friday Sale.

Andi's pigtails blew in her face. "Thanks for coming with me. Silvia has Chuck on the other side of town, I can't let him see what I am getting him."

Vincent stared at the line outside the store. He rubbed his goatee. "Um, what is going on, again?"

"Black Friday," Rebecka said. She wrapped her arm around Steopa's waist. "You know, the busiest shopping day of the year."

Steopa and Vincent looked at each other with confused expressions. Andi giggled. "You know, for Christmas."

Vincent turned his head so he could take in the whole line. "What does this have to do with Christmas?"

"Best time to get great deals on gifts," Andi said. She grabbed Vincent's arm.

Rebecka scoffed. "Yeah, if you don't mind being mobbed. The last one I was dragged to, I ended up with a black eye."

"Sounds horrible," Steopa said.
"It's not that bad, if you have a plan," Andi said. "I want to get one gift for Chuck. But if it's gone, I have other ones in mind. I am heading to electronics and picking up the game. Then we are done."

Vincent looked up at the sky. A few hours ago he had gotten up. "Another question, why so early?"

"It's part of the fun," Andi said.

"Madness," Rebecka said.

"They are standing in line to buy gifts?" Steopa asked.

"Yeah," Andi said.

Steopa shook his head.

"Didn't you do anything like this for Christmas?" Andi asked.

"We would clean the house and have a large dinner, but that was on Christmas Eve," Steopa said. "On Christmas proper, we would celebrate."

"I would get an apple and a new pair of pants," Vincent said.

Rebecka sighed. "Well, if we are going to do this, we better get in line."

Andi bit her lower lip. "It is long, isn't it?"

"What are you buying Chuck?" Vincent asked.

"Time War Unleashed. It supposed to be this amazing game."

Vincent put his arm around Andi's shoulder. "You know, I had nothing else to do tonight, so why not have some fun."

Andi turned her head so she could see Rebecka and Steopa. "You don't have to come."
Rebecka shrugged. "Why not? I'll just sit at the snack bar."

Vincent walked with Andi to a spot that was close to the front of the line. He smiled at the middle aged woman, who gave him a stern look.

"I didn't think we would make it, thanks for waiting," Vincent said.

Her eyes clouded over. "I was worried too," she said. She turned to face the door.

The couple behind Vincent whispered to each other, glaring at him. He turned around. "Sorry, we forgot your coffee. My friend will buy you some inside." He pointed to Steopa.

Their eyes clouded as they stared at Steopa.

The man smiled. "That's no problem," He said as his eyes continued up Steopa's large frame.

The four of them, squeezed their way between the middle aged woman and the couple. Vincent leaned against the cold bricks. "So everyone here is..., is buying something?"

"Yeah, there are some great deals." Andi pulled out the store's ad from her purse. "If I have time, I want to get John and Loreli a new stereo."

"Don't bother," Rebecka said.

"Why not?"

"John already bought a new one."

"Really? He said that he was still looking."

"Was Lorelei in the room?"

"Yeah she was." Andi rolled her eyes. "It's a gift for her, isn't it?"

Rebecka nodded.

"Could I see that paper?" Steopa asked.

Andi handed him the ad. Steopa opened it and flipped through the pages.

The woman in front of them checked her watch. "One minute. Come on open the doors."

Andi squirmed. "Okay, I am heading straight for electronics."

Vincent looked at the line in front of them. "You will have to be quick."

Andi shook her head. "Maybe I could kick them?"

"Where is electronics?" Vincent asked.

"Middle of the store, I think."

Vincent straightened up. "I'll meet you there."

Andi smiled. "Remember it's called, Time War Unleashed."

A manager came to the doors and unlock one. Most of the crowd groaned. When he opened the door. The lined surged. The crowd shuffled in, but as soon as they made it passed the door. They ran.
Vincent slipped ahead of them and blurred. Andi giggled as she moved forward.

"Where can we met up?" she asked.

"Snack bar," Rebecka said. "I'm finding a seat, and I am not moving."

"I have to see something," Steopa said. He had folded the ad back to one page. "I will meet you there?"

Rebecka nodded.

Andi cleared the doorway. She bolted down the aisle. Steopa turned and walked away. The crowd clearing a path in front of him. Rebecka sighed.

She walked over to the snack bar and sat down. The cashier looked up.

"You get a little break before you get crazy?" Rebecka asked.

The cashier nodded. "For a couple of minutes."

Vincent made it to the electronics area before the rest of the shoppers, behind him he could hear the footfalls. It sounded like a stampede. He saw the game sitting on the counter next to the cashier. He grabbed one.

As he pulled his hand back. A woman tried to take the game out of his hand.

"Whoa! Hey! That's mine!" Vincent said, grabbing the game back.

"I'm sorry, but I need that for my son."

"Then take one from the counter." Vincent turned away and shook his head.

Andi ran up to Vincent. "You got one!"

Vincent glanced back at the counter, the rest were gone. Andi hugged him.

"Chuck's going to be so happy!"

He handed the game to Andi. She put it on the counter, smiling. As she opened her purse. Vincent looked around. One person shoved another away from a collection of dvd players. One man grabbed an item out of a woman's cart as she looked away.

"I've been to riots with better manners," he said.

Andi laughed as she grabbed the bag. "Its not that bad."

Closer to the front of the store, Steopa leaned over to look at the jewelry in the cases. He rubbed his chin as he studied each piece.

"Can you check in the back?" a woman said.

Steopa glanced up. A young cashier looked around. "I'm sorry, but all the TVs that were on sale, were out on the floor."

"I know you hide one or two. Just check in the back."

"I'll call someone, I can't leave-"

"Look! I want that TV!" The woman shook the ad in the young cashier's face.

Steopa tapped the glass with his fingers. He watched the woman's face turn red, then a strange shade of purple as she yelled at the young cashier. The cashier glanced at him. He looked down at the necklaces in the case, then at the woman.

He stood up, smoothing out his coat as he did. He walked over to the cashier. The woman yelled. "I can't believe you would not have enough stock-!"

"Excuse me," Steopa said.

The woman did not look at him. "I was here first!"

The cashier craned her head. "I will be with you as soon..."

Steopa placed his hand on the angry woman's arm. She spun around. Her eyes did the familiar motion of starting at his chest, then traveling up.

"Excuse me," he said. "But I do not think this young woman makes the purchasing decisions."

"You can't tell me you think it's fair that-"

Steopa held up his hand. "I do not like to be kept waiting when I want to make a purchase."

"I was here first!"

"But you are buying nothing. You are only making this young lady's morning difficult."

"How dare you! I'll get a manager and have you thrown out!"

Steopa raised his eyebrow. The cashier turned her face away, she snickered.

"You should leave," Steopa said.

"I will not!"

"LEAVE!" His voice echoed for a short time. It became drowned out by the crowd and eh racks of clothing.

The woman's eyes clouded and then opened wide. Then she grabbed her purse off the counter and turned around. When she had disappeared into the crowd, the cashier sighed.

"Thank you," she said.

"You are welcome. Could I see the lockets? In the case with the pocket watches."

The cashier smiled. "Yes. The gold ones?"

"Yes."

At the snack bar, Vincent sat down next to Rebecka.

"Where's Andi?" Rebecka asked.

"In line, on the way back, she found some other things that she had to look at." Vincent looked around. "Where's the big guy?"

Rebecka pointed. Steopa's long black hair could be seen over the mass of people that were gathering at the cash registers. A few people walked into the snack bar and sat at the empty tables.

"Have you done this before?" Vincent asked.

Rebecka nodded her head. "But why bother? Look at them, they are insane. Fighting over something because it's on sale, or because it's the hot item this year."

"You sound bitter."

"I never understood this madness." She pointed to a man pushing out a cart with four TVs on it. "Look at that, do you really need to give someone a TV?"

"It's nuts. I did love Christmas when I was a kid. I would get one toy, an apple, and some candy. That was it. But all the family would come over and we would party. I got drunk when I was twelve."

Rebecka had a small smile. "I liked it when I was a kid too. Dad would always get John and I a great gift. Then we would go sledding. One year when it was warm enough, he took us out on the Harley." She sniffed. "After he died. Mom went nuts, she would buy us junk. Just because it was the big toy that year. Everything had to be perfect. We couldn't even rip off the wrapping paper."

"That's the best part."

Rebecka nodded. "Try buying her a gift. If I got her earrings, she wanted a necklace. If John had made her a cutting board, she would say the one at Macy's was nicer. Thanks to her, I hate giving and getting gifts."

Vincent patted Rebecka's hand. She pulled her hand away. Steopa walked over to them. He glanced at the small chairs surrounding the table, then stood by Rebecka.

"Did you buy anything?" Vincent asked.

"Yes," Steopa said, he glanced at Rebecka.

Andi bounced over to the table, with a large bag. "Alright, I found stuff for Chuck's dad too."
She put the bag on the table and pulled out a robe. She held it up. "What do you think?"

Steopa nodded. "I think he will like it."

Her cell phone rang. She answered it while she folded up the robe. Vincent leaned over to Rebecka.

"You really don't like getting gifts?"

She nodded. "Like I said, Mom made it seem like a chore."

Andi put her phone away. "That was Silva, we are going to meet up for breakfast."

"I'll go with you," Vincent said.

"It's not far."

"That bag is bigger than you are, I'll go with you."

"We should join them," Steopa said to Rebecka.

Rebecka shrugged.

They left the store. People were still streaming inside. The line had disappeared from the front of the store, a line of red lights of cars leaving the parking lot replaced it. They had to walk around the outside of the parking lot to avoid the heavy traffic.

Vincent turned to Steopa. "Rebecka told me that she doesn't like to get gifts."

"Is that true?" Steopa asked.
"Sometimes."

Steopa stopped. He patted his pocket. "Are you sure?"

"Why?"

"I did not want to give you this like this," Steopa said. "But if you are sure that you do not want a gift-"

"What is it?"

Steopa pulled out a small black box. "It is not complete, I have to have the inside done."
He handed Rebecka the box. She opened it. Vincent peeked over her shoulder. Andi gasped. Rebecka picked up the locket and held it up.

"It's pretty," she said.

Steopa opened it. "You see, nothing inside. I wanted to have the interior painted."

Rebecka pointed at his locket. "Like that one?"

"Except your portrait would be inside."

Vincent watched the expression on Rebecka's face change. Her lower lip trembled. "That is..."

Steopa motioned her closer. He looped the chain around her neck and closed the clasp. "Do you like it?"

"Yes."

"I wish Chuck would give me something like that," Andi said.

Rebecka threw her arms around Steopa and hugged him. "Thank you."

Steopa kissed her forehead. "You are welcome."

Andi opened her mouth, Vincent put his finger to his lips. She grinned. She moved away from Steopa and Rebecka. Vincent went with her.

"I thought Rebecka was going to cry," Andi whispered.

"I think she is," Vincent said. He glanced behind him. Steopa had picked up Rebecka as he kissed her.

"I know it was crazy in there, but it was worth it." Andi asked.

Vincent nodded. "Yeah it was."


Creative Commons License
Black Friday by Mari Miniatt is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at www.mariminiatt.com.
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Published on November 25, 2010 03:27

November 19, 2010

Character Theme Songs: Andi

Want to catch up the previous posts are as follows:


First Post HERE
Second Post: HERE
Third Post: HERE
Fourth Post: HERE
Fifth Post: HERE

This is the final installment of the theme songs. Please check out the links above if you missed any. The point behind this is to show how music can help define a character when you are writing.

Andi, the cute little waitress. Her song is....

Stupid Girls by Pink



Why this song?

Andi is young, likes pop music. But she also has to deal with looking too young and cute. Men make assumptions about her based on her looks. She can really kick ass, and that is a surprise to the ones that assume she is a small thing that needs protection. You don't need protection when you have a passion for a unique form of martial arts.

Although a minor character in Fledgling, her role becomes bigger in Killer. And this is the song, that I would listen to when she was in the scenes. She has no issue with her looks and the assumptions that people make about her.
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Published on November 19, 2010 01:48