Icy Sedgwick's Blog, page 110

Photo Prompt 43

Latest prompt, ready and waiting.



If you want to use the prompt, all I ask is that you include a link to this entry and a credit to me for the photograph, and that you post a link to your story in the comments box below so I can see what you've come up with! If you don't comment on this entry, then I can't comment on your story.



The 43rd prompt is Footprint.





All photo prompts are my own photography - you can find more of it on Flickr. You can also buy my prints from Deviantart. 20% of all proceeds go to charity - the other 80% go towards my PhD fees!

Friday Flash - Your Money or Your Life

I crouch in the bushes at the side of the road with only a dead body at my feet for company. I nudge the corpse with the toe of my stolen boots. It rolls into the ditch behind me, hitting the frost-frozen earth with a sickening thud. Good riddance, if you ask me.



The full moon gazes down at me, her open face full of reproach. I scowl at the judgemental satellite, and turn my attention back to the road. Horses hooves head this way. I count four horses - it must be a large coach. A large coach means wealthy occupants - perhaps even my foolish former master.



I straighten my frock coat and tricorn hat. The fool from whom I liberated the coat, a fool who incidentally now lies dead in a ditch, certainly knew how to dress well. Judging by the tooling on the pair of flintlock pistols I found stuffed in his belt, he did fairly well at this highwayman caper. Well, until he met me. What can I tell you? Even in my more humble situations, I have always been prey to the attractions of the finer things in life.



I leap out of the bushes. The driver shouts an oath and hauls on the reins of his team of four. I yank free one of the pistols and fire. The force of the shot knocks him from his seat. The horses rear, pawing the cold night hair with their lethal hooves. The coach grinds to a halt mere inches away from me. I saunter along the side of the coach and open the door.



A young lady cowers on the back seat. An older gentleman in a powdered wig and pristine breeches sits opposite. He splutters with indignation, and stinks of money. This night gets better and better. I draw the other  flintlock and draw patterns in the air with the muzzle. The lady watches it, hypnotised by the movements. Her chaperone ignores the pistol and glares at me.



"How dare you!"



"I believe the phrase for an occasion such as this would be 'Stand and deliver, your money or your life'," I reply.



"You utter fiend. You scoundrel!" replies the gentleman.



"Indeed I am both of these things. Yet I repeat, your money or your life?" I ask.



"Then you shall have to take my money, for you shall never take my life," says the gentleman.



I swing the pistol in his direction and fire. A terrific explosion fills the coach, shattering the peace of the night. When the smoke clears, I see the gentleman slumped back in his seat. His head lolls on his chest, a red flower blooming on the breast of his grey frock coat. What a waste of a good coat. The young lady sits and stares, her mouth hanging open as she tries to scream.



"And you, my lady?"



"Then I say you must take my life," she says. She sits up straight and looks me dead in the eye. I can see her logic, and I toss aside the pistol. It clatters on the stony road. She expects me to take her money now.



"Your life, you say?"



"Indeed, you vile rogue. My life!"



"If you insist."



I reach into the coach and pull her out into my arms before she can blink. I tip back my head, letting the moonlight glint on my extended fangs, before I sink them into her pretty neck. Having gorged myself on the highwayman out to stop this very coach, I don't drink much. I stumbled upon him by accident, but this delicate morsel was definitely on my agenda. She faints, and I sling her over my shoulder. I lope into the night, heading for my den.



I find highway robbery suits me very well, and I do believe I shall enjoy my midnight snack tonight.



* * *

The highwayman in the image that accompanies this flash is the dashing David Marshall, tour guide with Alone in the Dark Entertainment. They're about to start running a new ghost walk around Washington in the north east of England. The photo comes courtesy of them - the editing comes courtesy of me. David is also my other half!

How to work on your writing when not writing

I came across this post over on Duolit about how to turn your summer reading into summer inspiration, and a lot of it makes sense. Writers sometimes stress about not writing enough - we seem to forget that if we write with the kind of zealous enthusiasm that we think we should, then sooner or later we'll burn out. Contrary to popular belief, you can't write ALL the time. Of course, it's all too easy for the Guilt Demon to start pouring its poison in your ear if you decide to use your spare time to do something other than writing, so here are things I do to help my writing when I'm not actually writing.



Read books about writing

My absolute favourite is still Plot & Structure by James Scott Bell (which I reviewed over on Write Anything) but I'm happy to read most books about writing - I just choose to ignore or use the advice as I see fit. I subscribe to Writer's Digest, which I find both interesting and useful, and I'm currently reading Larry Brooks' Story Engineering. Whatever I'm reading, I make notes as I go, and I think about how I can apply this information to my WIP. I'm still in the planning stages for a brand new novel, and I've been doing a lot of the preparatory work using these kinds of books.



Read fiction

 It goes without saying that a writer must read. I hear people coming out with statements like "Oh I don't want to read other novels in case it affects my own work" or "I don't have time to read, I'm too busy writing." BOLLOCKS. Architects can't design buildings without looking at how other architects have approached similar briefs, and surgeons don't tend to operate on patients without keeping up to date with medical advances. You're a writer, not a hermit living in a hermetically sealed bubble. Besides, how will you know if your spectacular idea has ever been done before if you don't read? You'll never get to understand generic convention, or even the process of storytelling, if you don't read. I pretty much read whatever catches my attention, and I do so primarily to unwind, but I also like to know what other people are doing. Hey, I'm nosey.



Read non-fiction

I'd actually venture to say that I read far more non-fiction than fiction. It's not even necessarily for research purposes, although that's often a reason for picking up a particular book. Sometimes I'm just interested in a particular thing. As well as Story Engineering, I'm also reading The Amazing Story of Quantum Mechanics by physicist James Kakalios. I have no intention to write science fiction, I just find quantum theory fascinating. Anything that expands or enhances knowledge can only be a good thing - and it often goes that the spark of a story appears while reading non-fiction. It's a veritable treasure trove of ideas!



Watch films

I've sometimes read blogs about writing in which the blogger chastises would-be writers for watching films. Apparently, to them, the principles of filmmaking and the principles of writing are too far removed from one another. Cinema is "low art", considered to be tawdry mass entertainment, while writing is "high art", literature intended to elevate mankind. (These bloggers have clearly never read Stephanie Meyer) Well I thumb my nose at them because whether it's cinema or writing, it's all still storytelling. Sure, some of the conventions differ, but it's amazing how many principles can be applied to both. Of course, I am biased considering my track record in film studies academia, but it is true that I find it easier to absorb said principles if I'm watching them unfold. Plus it's a good excuse to watch a movie.



Knitting

I've talked about this before, but I figured I'd mention it again. A lot of writing blogs advocate periods of "meditation" or "contemplation" - basically, sit/stand and think about your WIP while you're doing something else. So you can unravel plot tangles while doing the washing up, or consider characterisation conundrums when you're hoovering. I mull over my WIP while I'm knitting - there's something soothing about the rhythmic nature of the craft that helps me to understand my story in a clearer way. So I get to think about my writing AND I get to make something at the same time.



What about you? What else do you do when you're not writing?

The Air of Resignation

I'll be honest with you, I'm not really accustomed to blogging about myself as a person - I'm far more comfortable blogging about my writing career, or my ghost hunting exploits. What I do, I feel, is far more interesting than who I am. However, there are occasionally events in life that prove momentous enough to share, and I think this is one of them.



"The best thing I've written all year is by far my resignation."

On Monday, I handed in my notice. As of 6pm on 12 August, I will no longer be an administrative serf in an office-based fiefdom. Technically, considering I have been paid for my writing, I can call myself a professional writer, but I doubt I will feel comfortable applying such a label to myself. Instead, I will make the migration back to my Northern homeland from this lonely and sprawling capital city, where I'll begin a PhD in Film Studies in October. I'll be an academic!



I haven't really talked about my PhD yet, and I'm disinclined to until work gets underway, but I can say that I'll be exploring the representation of haunted spaces in contemporary horror cinema. It's quite nice that it dovetails so well with my interest in paranormal fiction, as well as my work with paranormal investigators in the north east of England (more on that in September). I've wanted to do a PhD for some years now but it was only late last year that I finally decided to get the ball rolling. After all, you can only complain about your lot in life for so long before it becomes a good idea to do something to change it.



There are also other things on the cards - there are some exciting developments that I will discuss when the time comes, and I will continue to post weekly free flash stories. I have The Guns of Retribution coming out in paperback with Pulp Press in late September (which you can already pre-order here), and I've got another e-book coming out to coincide with its release - I'm expanding and revising my Dead Man's Hand trilogy that appeared on my blog earlier in the year. There is also an intention to have a Parrots and Piracy collection done by the end of the year. I've just finished editing my Fowlis Westerby novel, and there will, in all likelihood, be more Vertigo City stories.



Still, I stand poised on the edge of a major change, and for once, I'm not wondering if I'll be able to manage, or cope. I'm wondering when exactly I can get stuck in.



You have been listening to a transmission by Icy Sedgwick. Signing off until next time...

New Vertigo City mini serial starts today

I've started my brand new mini serial over on my Vertigo City blog. The three part serial, The Prize, features Liss Hunt at the age of 16, along with a mysterious visitor to Vertigo. Part 1 is here.



If you want to catch up, you can still buy The First Tale for just 99c from Amazon and Smashwords, and there is a selection of Vertigo City flash stories over on the blog. You can even follow Liss Hunt on Twitter @LissHunt.



Enjoy!

Photo Prompt 42

Latest prompt, ready and waiting.



If you want to use the prompt, all I ask is that you include a link to this entry and a credit to me for the photograph, and that you post a link to your story in the comments box below so I can see what you've come up with! If you don't comment on this entry, then I can't comment on your story.



The 42ndt prompt is Mausoleum.





All photo prompts are my own photography - you can find more of it on Flickr. You can also buy my prints from Deviantart. 20% of all proceeds go to charity - the other 80% go towards my PhD fees!

Friday Flash - Angels of the Junkyard

Image by John Uhri, edits by me
It's been a while since I brought you any Tales from Vertigo City, and I've been rather feeling like I've been neglecting my steampunk metropolis. Indeed, the last story I posted over there was my Friday flash, Festive Felicitations , back on Christmas Eve 2010!



I do have a mini serial planned to explain exactly how Commander Liss Hunt appears to be invincible, but for now, I give you Angels of the Junkyard . If you've read The First Tale, you might recognise my protagonist. If you haven't, come over and meet him now.



Enjoy your stay in Vertigo City!

Xan Marcelles on being a character

On Tuesday, I reviewed a rather nifty short story, Just My Blood Type, by Nerine Dorman and Carrie Clevenger. Yesterday I let the ladies take over the Blunt Pencil to take us behind the scenes of their collaboration. Today, I let one of the story's stars, Xan Marcelles, do the talking. Xan, my sweet, over to you...



[image error] There's a ton of blog posts talking about how to connect with your character these days. But there aren't very many on what it's like to be us. Characters. You know, the individuals you have fall in love, torment, even kill. Some of us last for years and pop up in book after book, others of us just kind of walk across the stage straight into a manhole.



For those of you who don't know me, I'm Xan Marcelles and I am a character. Not really unusual is it? To have one of us talk back? Because we do all the time. You can't deny that you've heard us laugh, cry, or felt that poke when we've got something good to tell you. And sometimes we play with you. You, the writer. The author. Whatever you want to call yourselves. Puppet masters. Slave drivers. Yeah, I'm talking to you.



So how is it I came about? I guess I came along when my writer needed me most. A tragedy forced her to withdraw from the real world and, besides that, she wasn't in a good place anyway. She doesn't like to talk about it much, so I'll give that respect and say I was there when she needed to escape. Did I pop out of thin air fully formed? Nah. I wasn't sure who I was at first. You try being dropped off on another planet to survive. You first have to figure everything out. Remember who you are. So I did. Slowly.



I was a quiet sort of guy at first, thrown in a tiny beginner's novel and given a sketch of a past, a sliver of a future and I even died at first. Yeah, she killed me. But I came back. Because the good die young but the best come back, isn't that how it goes? No? Oh well.



So, who is this mouthy bastard who decided to come forth and start pointing fingers, you might ask. Or not. I'm going to tell you anyway. I'm a bassist in a band I named Crooked Fang. I live in a tavern that used to be a lodge. Oh, and there's one more thing: I'm a vampire. Yeah. Stop rolling your eyes at me. I'm not exactly a fuzzy-sparkly-lovey-dovey thing. For one thing, I'm not a little guy. I'm six-five and weigh around two-twenty. My mom was a Navajo and a small quiet woman. My dad was a big happy, outgoing type. Italian. Ladies' man. Ran a restaurant. This was before I was a vampire, mind you. Pay attention. I was born in 1958, dropped in 1985, and life has never been the same. You ever wake up dead? Yeah. It sucks.



So let's go back to your world. The real world. How do I fit in there? Can't say I do really, but that's the point. We characters are like actors on the stage of your ever-reading brains. We say things that are scripted and perform actions that move a plot. Ever talked to one of your characters? Sure you have, haven't you? Really? Let me tell you a little secret: we're picky. That's right. In fact, we're so picky, out of all the people in the world, we choose one special writer to tell our story. You.



Yes, you. You who only think you can shut us up. Because we won't be silenced. We'll nag you at every godforsaken hour until you get your ass up and go to your computer, your notepad, or even your dinner napkin and start scribbling down points like you're crazy. Because we rely on you to live. To survive. To love. To lose. And we understand when you choose for us to die.



Don't feel bad. We're here to use as you want, provided you work with us, and not against us. Let us be who we're gonna be and just tell the damn story. Because the truth is, without you…we're nothing.



Lates,



-X.



You can find out more about Xan over at Crooked Fang - you can even 'like' him on Facebook, and I highly recommend following him on Twitter. His handler, Carrie Clevenger, hangs out here. You can also download Just My Blood Type FOR FREE from Smashwords, and go check out the reviews on Goodreads. Be sure to post one if you read it yourself.





Be sure to give Xan a lot of love, and tell him Icy sent you...

Behind the Scenes with Carrie and Nerine

Yesterday I posted my review of Just My Blood Type, the collaborative piece by Carrie Clevenger and Nerine Dorman. Today I let them take over the Blunt Pencil to take us behind the scenes of the creation of JMBT. Nerine, over to you...

Behind the Scenes with Carrie and meBy Nerine Dorman


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Nerine Dorman
There's no doubt that when a writing partnership works, it's a definitive case of "two heads are better than one". This was underscored for me yet again in interviews I've conducted with South African author Sarah Lotz when discussing two of the writing partnerships in which she's involved (SL Grey and Lily Herne).

My first attempt at a writing partnership happened about two years ago and, while the end result was great--we both took turns writing each other's characters with a high degree of authenticity--it never amounted to much more than a short story.

In my mind there's an X-factor that results in a mutual explosion of creativity, where one feeds off the other.

To be honest, this year I wasn't looking to collaborate but perhaps why this situation is so special is that it happened of its own accord. A few musings about shared ideas resulted in a proposed "short story" turning into a not-so-short story of more than 8 000 words. This has obviously led me to consider the most important aspects about forging a collaborative writing partnership.

In my mind, common ground is vital. Some shared literary interests as well as background. Carrie and I found each other on the A Pale Horse Named Death forum, and our love for this band, as well as Type O Negative, and vampires, gave us a lot to discuss at first. I pretty much fell head over heels for Xan, Carrie's creation, and was totally blown away when she allowed me to take a peek at his world.



Carrie Clevenger
Carrie adds, "To be honest, most of my writing partnerships have been forged by mutual adoration and respect with another person for one another's work. Not to mean entirely accidental. I don't go out trolling the internet to look for someone to write with. I have to start a relationship with the person before I even consider going any further. To me a writing partnership is very much like a marriage: there's give and take. I think the biggest indicator of a good choice is when the other person excels in different areas of writing mastery. Take you and me for example. You're good at extended plots, technicalities and description. I feel my strengths lie in sharp narrative, realistic dialogue and crafting unique twists for plotlines."

Okay, so this brings us to mutual respect. I listen to Carrie's vision and see where I can fit mine around it. Likewise, she considers my ideas. I can only compare it to playing with building blocks. If stuff doesn't work, tear it down. But yeah, Carrie sees stuff I don't, and vice versa. She's good at plot points, characterization and witty observations whereas I'm more of the grammar Nazi who looks at overarching structure and content layering.

Another point I reckon is vital is to know where you're going, to have an outline so that you don't end up trying to pull a story in opposite directions.

Now the thing is, Carrie's in the States and I'm in South Africa. Time zones can be interesting. We spend a lot of time to-ing and fro-ing on ideas so it helps that sometimes we're on Skype or email in "real time". I prefer "talking" in text so it gives me a chance to mull over a response, if need be. But ja, I don't think either of us sleeps much. I get about five to six hours a night, which suits me fine. My body clock is so messed up I find it very hard to sleep for longer than that.

Carrie says, "Geographical distances and time zone differences mean nothing to me anymore—I just never sleep on a regular schedule! But seriously, I work for a European division so I'm up while most of my American neighbors are sleeping, and I rest while they work the daylight hours. When I worked with another publishing company before, the only real difficulty was synchronizing with the Australian counterparts because they are so far to the other extreme as far as the clock is concerned."

For me the nuts and bolts of a writing partnership have always been how well I know the character my partner is writing. I've found it helps to have a list of facts that I add to, that cover everything from favorite music through to when their birthday is. I add to the list as I work and share it with Carrie. Also, plotting dialogue ahead of time in factoids, if I'm not sure what her character's response will be. Sometimes we'll layer a scene three or four times before the dialogue and action runs smoothly. I like to know where I'm headed in a story so I generally create an outline, even if it's just point-form information that shows a logical progression.

Carrie says, "I only outline when I'm writing a longer piece, and by that I'd say over five thousand words or so. If I happen to be planning a novel my outlines look more like organized synopsis points. It helps fool me into thinking it's not work, because outlines are work but entirely essential for many people to get a plotline straight. In narrative, I play off the other person, just as I do with dialogue. It's entirely dynamically tuned to a balance between me and the other person. In a collaboration where there are two distinct voices, I like to give each author equal amount of time at the mic, so to speak. With revisions, one of the best things I've learned from you is that you might have one another but it's still wise to reach out and seek a second, unbiased review on what you two have produced. Beta readers are invaluable in this process to ensure that each author has stayed true to their own voice and that neither one is drowned out by the other."

I'll close by saying it's important to keep up the energy, to not let a document sit for too long. Writing a collaboration is a little bit like playing tennis. Right now Carrie and me are having a great time lobbing ideas at each other and, judging by some of the readers' responses to Just My Blood Type, we're providing a very entertaining match of wits.

Download Just My Blood Type here.Follow us on Twitter @CarrieClevenger, @nerinedorman and @crookedfang.

Or see the Crooked Fang website or Nerine Dorman's Facebook page.

[Review] Just My Blood Type

Anyone who has been reading my blog (or following me on Twitter) will know that I'm rather partial to a certain Xan Marcelles, the vampiric creation of my good friend, Carrie Clevenger. I'm getting impatient to read the finished Crooked Fang book, so when I heard Xan would be starring in a short story, I couldn't download it fast enough.



Just My Blood Type tells the story of an encounter between the moody Mr Marcelles and romance author Therése von Willegen, the creation of South African writer Nerine Dorman. The story takes it in turns to leap back and forth between Nerine's Therese, and Carrie's Xan, giving us a unique insight into our dual protagonists. The steady banter ups the sexual tension between the pair as they trade innuendo at the Pale Rider bar, in Pinecliffe, Colorado.



Just My Blood Type rattles along at a good pace, letting both characters (and their creators) share the limelight. Therése just takes Xan at face value, something I think our favourite vampire secretly enjoys, while Xan seems genuinely fascinated by this new woman in his life. It's a quick yet highly enjoyable read, and I've always been a fan of Xan so nice to see him in a new piece. At the same time, this is the first piece I've read by Nerine Dorman and based on this, I want to read more. A lot more.



Perfect for fans of Gothic romance, or hard rock vampire fiction, Just My Blood Type is a highly recommended read that serves as both a stellar introduction to two incredibly talented lady writers, and as a lesson in just how good collaborative writing can be. Download it for FREE here.



Five blunt pencils from me!