Cherie Reich's Blog, page 90

Promo Monday

It's Promo Monday, and today I'm promoting SHAKEN by J.A. Konrath. SHAKEN is number seven in the Jack Daniels Mysteries and the first one of that series I've read. I received it as an ARC for reviewing DRACULAS. I absolutely loved the book, and it is one you can pick up and read without having to read the others. I read the non-linear version.



Title: SHAKENSeries: Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels MysteriesAuthor: J.A. KonrathPublisher: AmazonEncore (October 26, 2010)Purchase Link: http://www.amazon.com/Jacqueline-Daniels-Mysteries-Content-ebook/dp/B003M69XAM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1288110461&sr=1-1
Product Description/Blurb: This Bonus Content Edition includes the full text of Shaken plus an alternate, chronologically linear version of the book which allows readers to choose their own reading experience.

Since her debut in Whiskey Sour, Lieutenant Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels has dealt with her fair share of criminals. But she may have finally met her match in "Mr. K," the brutal serial killer who has eluded Jack not once, but twice, over the years. Mr. K is the essence of evil, credited with more than two hundred horrific homicides. Now, on a hot August night, Jack finally gets the chance to face the maniac—unfortunately, she must do so while bound and gagged in a storage locker, primed to be his next victim. As she awaits her fate, Jack looks back on her career, from her first homicide case to her recent retirement. The twenty-five years in between saw Jack's attitude toward justice, the law, her job, and her personal life shift drastically. She is a different woman now…but is she good enough to stop a madman? Novelist J. A. Konrath's trademark blend of suspense and wry humor are on full display in this tense thriller, a gripping tale that will keep readers on the edge of their seats.
Review: As the seventh book in the Jack Daniels Mysteries, J.A. Konrath's SHAKEN kidnaps the reader into this suspenseful novel and doesn't let the reader go, even at the end. SHAKEN follows Jack Daniels' career attempts to capture the infamous Mr. K by interspersing three timelines throughout the novel, twenty-one years ago, three years ago, and present day. The philosophical notion of good and evil plays throughout the novel. "What is evil, if it even exists" is a question Jack has to answer, and she may have discovered it by the novel's end. The three timelines were easy to follow and brilliantly foreshadowed enough hints to what was going to happen to make the reader want to read as quickly as possible to discover what did happen. Konrath's writing heightened the tension and suspense, and he added bits of wit and humor throughout. SHAKEN is a fun, sad, gory, horrifyingly great read. You don't have to read the previous Jack Daniels' Mysteries to enjoy SHAKEN, but by reading SHAKEN, you'll want to rush out and read the previous ones. I know I do.

Flash Fiction Fridays

Every Friday in November, the flash fiction will revolve around the main characters in my NaNoWriMo 2010 novel, Sarah's Nightmare. These are not scenes from the novel but instances in the character's life. This week, you'll meet thirteen-year-old Sarah Richards. In my novel, Sarah is twenty-nine going on thirty.


I'm Not Crazy
"Sarah, what would you like to talk about?"
Sarah shifted in the seat and tucked her right leg under her. Her left leg swung back and forth like a grandfather clock's pendulum, counting the time until her session was over. She popped her gum and stared at Dr. Johnson.
"I know this is difficult for you. We can talk about anything you like." He poised his pencil about the notepad and waited. She gave him nothing. "Would you like to talk about your grandfather? Your parents told me he recently died. I'm sorry."
Her fingers curled around the chair arms, and she clenched her teeth.
"They tell me you sleep with the light on at night. Are you afraid of the dark? There is no shame in it. A lot of children are."
"I'm not afraid of the dark." A spark lit up her gray eyes before they dulled again. Her leg swung faster. She wanted to run, leave this cold, harsh room.
"Why do you sleep with the light on then?"
She didn't say anything. He would think she was crazy.
"Tell me about your grandfather. How do you feel about him being gone?"
"He's dead. I knew it was going to happen." She bit her lower lip hard enough to cause tiny teeth indents. She had said too much.
"You knew. How?"
She shrugged, and her leg stilled. "He was sick. I knew he was dying." She couldn't explain the soul feeling any better. She just knew. Wasn't that enough?
"Why do you sleep with the lights on?" He changed tactics.
"I can't tell you."
"Why not?"
"You'll think I'm crazy." She admitted it. She was crazy. She was too old to believe in monsters.
"I don't think you're crazy, Sarah. I won't judge you. Anything you say is safe here. I want you to feel safe here." His voice was calm, soothing.
She started swinging her leg again. She didn't feel safe here. How could she tell him what came out of the darkness? "I lied. I'm a little afraid of the dark." Her lie dripped off her tongue.
He scribbled something down on the notepad. "There's no shame in being afraid of the dark."
"Yeah, I suppose so." She glanced around, noticing the diplomas on the wall, the rows of books. She liked books but not the ones he had. She needed to go home. She didn't want to think about monsters in the dark or her grandpa's death. She couldn't tell him about the nightmares, the voices, the shadows clinging to the light. "Can I go now?"
"We still have thirty-five more minutes. What would you like to talk about?" He smiled, encouraging her to continue speaking.
She had to stay away from monsters and the dark. She talked about school and mundane things. Anything to fill up the next thirty-five minutes. Her leg ticked down the seconds. Gum pops punctuated the minutes, and she talked so he couldn't.

A New Review of ONCE UPON A DECEMBER NIGHTMARE

Sheila Deeth won a free copy of my Once Upon a December Nightmare. After reading it with a cup of instant hot cider, she wrote up a review for it. Thank you so much, Sheila! I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Here is Sheila's review:
Once Upon a December Nightmare, by Cherie ReichThis midwinter night out's a bust, just James and three girls in a truck taking the long way home and thinking maybe the straight road would've been best. Author Cherie Reich paints a tense picture with her words, trees standing black in white snow lit by red brakes. And the drive goes on."Creepy" describes more than just the scenery. Soon the young people are on foot, making their way through cold and dark, reminding themselves that "You never split up" if you want to survive a horror movie, telling stories that might be better kept for a safe warm house. Meanwhile, the author cleverly splits chapters up into different points of view, each adding to the picture already given of characters and situation, each adding to the tension.And, yes, the young people split too.Once Upon a December Nightmare is a delightfully creepy modern tale, with old-time overtones, believable scares, and a breathless epilogue. It's another excellent lunch-time e-read from Wild Child Publishing.

(Side note to Sheila: I know you said this was a first draft, so if you came up with a better one, I'll switch them out.)

Wednesday's Writing Update

It's Wednesday, so by now, you should know what time it is. I have a lot to update, so I hope I remember everything that happened since last Wednesday.
Since October ended on Sunday, I have my October stats.Submissions: 1 ("Melek Katili")
Rejections: 3 ("Lady Death," "Melek Katili," and "Magna's Plea")
Acceptances: 0Word Count: 5,293Submissions Still in Submission World: 2 ("Soul Survivor" and "Defying Gravity")
Yes, I received a rejection for "Magna's Plea" from Pill Hill Press's Shadows & Light, Vol. II on Saturday. It was a nice rejection letter, even if it was a little disappointing. I was told that they received 50 to a 100 submissions since December and my story was one of only 30 short listed, but in the end, my story didn't quite fit with the other stories they were accepting. They also said it was a very good story and wished me luck finding another home for it. As I said, a nice rejection letter.
As for my other two submissions still out there, I should know something about them in December/January. I have plans on writing and submitting one more short story in December for Wyvern Publications' Fangtales, but otherwise, I'm not going to submit anything else the rest of the year, I think. I want to be able to take time and go back over my previously written short stories, fix them up, and send them on submission in 2011.
As for November goals, I have only one: write and complete first draft of Sarah's Nightmare. I tell you I am the most prepared to write this novel than any novel I've previously written, and it is paying off. Since Monday, I've written over 6,000 words and I'm on chapter six in the novel. I don't feel like I'm just writing any word down either to up my word count. I'm taking it as I go, making certain to limit adverbs, adjectives, cliches (sometimes), and other things that are not too good for a manuscript. I feel very much in the head of these characters, and I'm enjoying writing them and the story. I missed writing a novel and focusing solely on it. By the end of today, I hope to have at least chapter six written and be close to 8,000 words.
And, if you haven't read Flash Fiction Fridays yet, hope over and read "Possession" here.
I've been thinking a lot about the end of the year and next year. I want to do things differently. I want to have my previously written novels ready to submit to agents and my old short stories fixed and find homes for them.  I likely won't be writing many new short stories for anthologies in 2011. I'll still write my short stories for Raven and the Writing Desk and my flash fiction for the blog, but I need to fix my old work. By the end of this year, I'll have three completed novels in basically first draft form. In 2011, I hope to have all three, or at least two, polished to query agents. And, of course, I'll do NaNoWriMo next year too. I even have an idea for it based off a character named Grim Reeper. If I can figure out the rest of the novel, then it'll be an Middle Grade Urban Fantasy. I never tried to write one of those, so it might be fun and a challenge. For now, I must focus on Sarah's Nightmare. Shut up, Grim. Seriously, dude.
And, last but not least, we have cover art for Oil and Water...and Other Things That Don't Mix charity anthology. My story "Tradition" will be in it, and the publisher is just finalizing the charities, so I'll keep you updated on a release date. The great thing about this anthology is all the proceeds go to help Gulf oil spill victims. I'm so pleased to be a part of it.

Promo Monday

Today, I'll be promoting another Emerald Tales issue, "Winter Solstice." My story "Io Saturnalia" is in it, and it is the first story I've had published in print and my first story I received payment for.






Emerald Tales, Vol. 1, No. 3 "Winter Solstice"
Publisher: Scribblers and Ink Spillers (December 2009)
To purchase:  http://www.scribblersandinkspillers.com/emeraldtales.html
The electronic version of the issue is free, but please consider a donation.

All stories and poetry in this issue had to revolve around the winter solstice.  

Here is the blurb from the website:
A couple are reunited on Winter Solstice; a slave has a day of freedom on Saturnalia; a worker at a crisis line has a scary drive home in the snow; an eight-year-old boy gives his great-grandfather the best gift of all; a young trapper discovers a gruesome scene at his neighbors cabin; a young boy and his grandfather must avoid a Viking raiding party; a teenage girl records the last seven hours before the arrival of the Centaurians on Earth; and a young woman encounters the not-so-grim reaper.

Contributors: Guy Belleranti, Heather Gregson, Damien Walters Grintalis, Bruce Golden, John Hayes, D. L. Hegel, Neil James Hudson, Raymond Koonce, Kristina Lee, Lauren McBride, Heather Parker, Cherie Reich, and G. W. Thomas.

Here is the blurb for my story "Io Saturnalia": As a Greek slave for the Roman Lucius Valerius Corvinus, Hermes has always longed to be free. During the festival of Saturnalia, his master grants him his wish with a price. Hermes, a scribe, has to come up with 700 sestertii for his freedom. When the slave travels to the sigillaria or special market, he comes across an Etruscan fortuneteller. She guarantees his freedom, if he doesn't tempt the Fates. With magical knucklebones, the Greek scribe seeks out his destiny.

November is the last month to read the "Winter Solstice" issue, since this issue will soon be out of print. So, go now and read some great stories.

Happy Halloween!

I want to wish everyone a Happy Halloween! Halloween is my favorite holiday. True, getting candy is nice, but I love dressing up in costumes and seeing everyone else's costume. I love scary movies, books, and music. It's a fun, mystical, mysterious time, and I look forward to it each year. True, this Halloween I have no plans (except perhaps to still try to finish writing my post-apocalyptic story "They"), but I'm still excited for the season. I even wore my Halloween shirt, socks, and devil horns when we went grocery shopping and up to Mill Mountain Star for my research on Saturday.

Costumes
I love costumes. My profile picture I use on this blog is actually me at Halloween last year. I went as a dead flapper/1920s girl. Yes, there is something sad to think that my best picture was one of me dressed up. I love getting dressed up in costumes, and I particularly love masks. There is something powerful about wearing them. I think that is why I enjoyed theatre so much. The becoming someone else to be more yourself thrilled me. Yes, I understand the paradox of it, but it's how I felt when acting or dressing in costume. I enjoy wearing costumes more as an adult than as a child because I have money to buy nice costumes, if I want, instead of cheap ones.

Horror Books
I love horror books. Stephen King is the KING. I tell you. He's awesome. I believe the scariest book I've ever read was his novella, The Mist. Bentley Little's The Return was particularly scary as well, and I thoroughly enjoyed The Hollows by Ben Larken. The Hollows is up for an EPPIE award for best horror novel, and he won previously with his horror novel Pit-Stop. He has a new novel coming out today called Pillar's Fall. I can't wait to buy and read it and Pit-Stop. Click here to find out more about these Ben Larken books. And, if you like a sort-of urban legend horror, you should check out my ebook Once Upon a December Nightmare. You can find it on Amazon.com, OmniLit, BookStrand, and Wild Child Publishing. Yes, I had to plug my own horror book. *winks* Also, for horror anthologies, check out Pill Hill Press's collection. They have some great horror stuff there. And, if you want to go with scary bugs, read Nate Kenyon's Sparrow Rock. I didn't like bugs beforehand, but now I'm really creeped out by them!

Horror Music
I love scary music, and horror movies have the best horror music. The scariest theme song is the one from the Poltergeist. Nothing is scarier than creepy children singing. Seriously. I love the Halloween theme song. It's my ring tone, and nothing beats the X-Files theme music. Of classical music, my favorite is Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor. If you want scary music, you must have it in a minor key. Add creepy children, and it's SCARY! 

Horror Movies
And, of course, you can't think of Halloween without horror movies. I've always loved horror movies. My favorite is the Halloween series (pre-Rob Zombie versions, sorry, just don't care for the stupid reasoning why Michael Myers is Michael Myers). I just love watching them. I even own most of them. I'm still trying to figure out how Halloween 3: Season of the Witch fits in with them, even though they say it doesn't. I like to think they are connected. With Halloween movies, you can have zombies, vampires, werewolves, witches, demons, and anything else you can think of. Now, although I love the Halloween movies, I don't find them particularly scary. The scariest movie I've ever seen would be Signs by M. Night Shyamalan. The reason I found it scary was because it made a lot of sense. Seriously. I keep a glass of water by my bedside because of it. And, in general, I don't mind gory movies, but I don't find gore scary. Want to scare me, give me some psychological horror and make it seem very real. And, for some fun, child friendly movies, I recommend Ghostbusters. I love Ghostbusters. Hmm...should I watch Ghostbusters or Halloween tonight?

So, I do wish everyone a spooky yet safe Halloween!

Saturday Surprise

Surprise!

It's another Saturday post.

So, yes, I'm at work.

As I mentioned before, it's not bad working on Saturday, although I am tired today. I still don't think I've caught up on things since I went to the JRW Conference. Of course, everything will be busy until after Christmas. It always is.

I'm still working to get everything set for NaNoWriMo on Monday. Yes, a day and a half away. I'm getting so excited about it. I want to write this novel. I feel pretty ready to write this novel too. I've done more preparation for it than any other novel. The last thing I have to do is read back through the outline and add/change a couple things here and there. Then, I should be ready.

I'm still hoping to get that last short story written tomorrow. We'll see.

I did get all my Promo Mondays and Flash Fiction Fridays posts set up to go on their respected days in November. Now, if I can just finish reading Dracula: The Undead by Dacre Stoker and Ian Holt before Monday, I'll be doing great.

*sings* One more day to Halloween, Halloween, Halloween. One more day to Halloween. Silver Shamrock!

Flash Fiction Fridays

Possession
"Ugh, I stepped in cow shit." Nina rubbed the bottom of her shoe on a rock.
"You have to watch out for them," I said, stepping around a pile and crossing to the dilapidated house's front porch.
"No, really, Sandra?" She skipped over one and stood beside me.
I ignored her sarcasm. "You three wanted to come out here."
"We thought it'd be cooler than this." Xavier tested the strength of the rotting boards. "You sure this place is safe?"
"I think so." I glanced over to Calvin. He clutched the Ouija board to his chest in one hand and pushed up his glasses with the other. "You okay, Cal?"
"Yeah," Calvin said.
I thought he looked green, but it might be from the smell. In the distance, a cow mooed. "Let's go in." I stepped onto the porch. The boards protested but didn't break. I shoved the front door open. I coughed when a mixture of dust, mold, and staleness breathed on me from the house.
Xavier flicked on the flashlight, and the yellow beam struck the empty room. "Looks like the roof could cave in."
I stared up at the sunken boards. "It's been like that all my life. I don't think today it'll decide to fall." I stepped inside and tried not to scream when spider webs brushed against my face. "No one's been in here for so many years."
"Sure looks like it." Nina entered and let out a tiny squeak. "Was that a rat?"
Calvin came in behind her. "I think it might've been a squirrel."
"Do you want to do this or not? We can go back to my house." I spotted our footprints in the thick dust. No one had lived here since the murders almost a hundred years ago. It felt wrong to be here, like we were trespassing, even though this was my family's land. "We can go," I repeated, giving them an easy out.
"We're here. We might as well do this." Nina set out the candles and lit them. A raspberry scent filtered in with the dust.
"Yeah. Let's stay." Xavier pulled out the towels, so we would have a place to sit.
Calvin set the Ouija board on the floor and took out the planchette. "Ready, guys?"
Xavier and Nina moved beside of Calvin and placed their fingers on the planchette.
"It was your idea, Sandra. Sit down," Nina said.
They looked up at me.
I couldn't move.
The room felt hot. Sweat beaded upon my brow. Then, something dowsed me in cold water. I shivered. "I think we should leave."
"Come on. You brought us out here." Xavier reached for my hand and tugged on it.
I saw it but couldn't feel his hand in mine.
I jerked away. "What are you children doing here?" My voice screeched out, but it wasn't quite my voice.
"Sandra, stop it. It's not funny." Nina stood up.
I wrung my hands and began to pace back and forth. "He's coming. I know he's coming. Y'all have to git out of here." A thick Southern accent pushed through my lips.
Xavier laughed. "Been watching too much Gone with the Wind, haven't you?"
"He'll be so angry." I stopped. "Git gone. Run." My dress swirled around my ankles, but I hadn't been wearing one.
The planchette moved on its own accord.
"Look, guys." Calvin pointed at the Ouija board.
H-E-
"Git!" I shooed them.
L-P
The fireplace crackled. Smoke rose from it for the first time in years.
M-E
"Help me. Who is this?" Nina clasped Calvin's arm.
The planchette responded. S-A-N-D-R-A
"Not funny, not at all." Xavier stood and shook me. I couldn't feel him. "Stop this, Sandra. It's stupid."
"Git out." I spit at him.
The door banged open.
"He's here." I couldn't wipe off the grim, smug expression.
The flashlight and fireplace's lights went out except for the flickering candles.
Murderous Harold Higgins shot me.
Again.

NaNoWriMo Preparation

It's only a few days until Monday, November 1st. I feel like I have so much more I want to accomplish and not enough days to do it. So, I'm having to improvise and decide what is essential to write this year's NaNoWriMo novel, Sarah's Nightmare.

I have blurbs written, synopsis, timeline, and outline.

I finished my detailed character sketches of the three main characters: Sarah, Ted, and Marc.

I wrote four flash fiction pieces for November's Flash Fiction Fridays. These pieces include the main character, but these are events written in their lives that won't appear in the novel. They were a lot of fun to write and worth it, I think.

Now, I'm working on some quick world building to get a feel for certain places in the novel. On Saturday, my parents are going to meet me after work, and we're going up to Mill Mountain to see the star.


Roanoke is known as the Star City, and Mill Mountain and our star feature in my novel. My parents say I've been to the star before, but I don't remember it, so I thought it was time to take a trip, take lots of pictures, and be ready to write that scene when it comes to it.

If I can get my world building done today for the most part and write up some research questions, then I'll be set to do my research Friday and Saturday. I want to do at least some preliminary research, so I can write what I need to write. Anything more in depth can come later in revisions.

If I can get all that done by Saturday, I feel like I'll be more than ready to begin writing Sarah's Nightmare on Monday.

According to my outline, Sarah's Nightmare has fifty scenes in it. My goal is to write two scenes a day, no matter what the word count is. If I can do that, I should have the novel finished on November 25th. Of course, there will be days where I don't get that much done, and I'm prepared for that. And, yes, I do hope to write the complete first draft in November.

As for my blog, I might not be around quite as much in November. I am working on getting all the Monday Promos set up to go on their respected Mondays. Friday's Flash Fiction is ready to post. And, I'll use Wednesday's Writing Update to give updates on how NaNoWriMo is going this year. And, if I have time, I'll see what else I can post on the other days of the week.

I wish everyone else who is doing NaNoWriMo good luck, and add me as a buddy if you are on the official site. I'm bookworm0753 there.

Wednesday's Writing Update

It's Wednesday, so it's time for another writing update.
On the blog this week, I interviewed Lisa Rusczyk about her new book Chasing the Dark. You can check out that interview here, which has links to the review I did.
If you haven't already, don't forget to read "Elevator" here.
On Raven and the Writing Desk, we're doing our three-part story this week. Drop by to read "Maize Maze" here. I wrote part one, Lisa did part two, and Aubrie is writing part three. Also, on Raven and the Writing Desk, in honor of Halloween and all things horror, I'm giving away my ebook Once Upon a December Nightmare. Drop by the blog here and find out how you can win a copy.
I reviewed J.A. Konrath's SHAKEN yesterday on my book reviews blog. It is a wonderful thriller/mystery novel. You can read that review here.
Also, don't forget it is the last week Bloody Carnival is on sale as well as a few other Pill Hill Press books. Drop by their website and see what they have to offer here.
As far as writing is concerned, I've written three flash fiction pieces this week for November's flash fiction. They all involve earlier scenes in the main characters' lives in this year's NaNoWriMo novel Sarah's Nightmare. I'll speak more about it tomorrow, though.
I only have four short stories out in submission world. I should hear about two of them within the next week. Once NaNoWriMo is done, I'll see what I can send out where again.
Also, I've been really into Twitter the past couple weeks. I got a twitter account a while back (sometime last year), and I stopped doing much with it. Well, I started up again, and I now have 64 followers. I've added 40 followers within a couple week's time. Amazing! You can follow me on twitter at bookworm0753. I'm even thinking after NaNoWriMo is over to begin writting 140-character stories for Twitter. So far, all I can come up with is character's dying. *laughs* Morbid, I know. I'll think of something. It should be interesting. It's hard enough to come up with flash fiction sometimes, imagine a few word story. I'm willing to give it a try. I've picked up a few new followers (up to 36!) and I wanted to welcome new and old followers, as well as those that remain anonymous. I love you, guys!
And, I think that is all for the previous week in writing. I'll see you tomorrow for my NaNoWriMo Preparation Update.