C.V. Hunt's Blog, page 34

No internet = little progress of new writing.

I had a strange idea to give readers a interesting look into my mind. I decided to write 100 haikus and turn it into a free download for anyone willing to waste some time. I have included the cover for this so you know what to look for when it arrives. (If you even care to look at it, I would suggest you not.) It will be in PDF format on my regular site www.authorcvhunt.com, and it will also be available through Smashwords, Goodreads, Kindle, and NOOKbook. There is no story or excellent inspiration to these ramblings, only disturbing, funny, and weird fantasies or thoughts of my own. They are not traditional as far as a haiku is described. The poems only follow the 5-7-5 rule. The first and third line are five syllables and the second line is seven.

100 demented, stupid, and weird haikus that make no sense. by C.V. Hunt [image error]
And as fate would have it, something was bound to go wrong.

I have no Internet.

I am currently scrambling to get the necessitates done on our computer at the shop. I have been patiently waiting for my new modem to show up from our Internet provider, and yet again, today it was a no show. I have been working on Legacy, but I am unable to do any research. It sucks.

I will try to keep you updated when I can. And I hope to have the poems up within the next week for anyone that might be remotely interested.

Have pleasant vampire, werewolf, and zombie dreams. www.authorcvhunt.comwww.authorcvhunt.com

Make overs all around.

My website and blog got a make over. Take look and let me know what you think of both of them.

Have pleasant vampire, werewolf, and zombie dreams. www.authorcvhunt.comwww.authorcvhunt.com

Done...for now.

I just finished some minor rewrites for Legacy. So now I will step back from it, for a week or two, and clear my head of it. Then I will read it from start to finish to make sure it all meshes. This will also give me an opportunity to fall into the emotions of the story and make the writing flow seamlessly.

The editor checked in on me after a week. I told him what I was up to, and he gave me some good advice. It looks like this might all come together a lot quicker than what I had planned.

Have pleasant vampire, werewolf, and zombie dreams. www.authorcvhunt.comwww.authorcvhunt.com

Another review of Endlessly.

This review can be read by clicking here http://booklog.eternalised.net If you would like to read other great reviews check out the site.
Title: Endlessly
Author: C.V. Hunt
Genre: Supernatural, Paranormal Romance, Vampires, Urban Fantasy, Horror
Publication Date: February 19th 2011
Author's Website | Goodreads | Smashwords | Amazon
Rating: [image error][image error][image error][image error][image error]
Review copy provided by the author.When Ashley walks into a shop run by the vampire, Verloren, they both get the surprise of their lives. Ash is about to learn that she's not just another pretty young woman, while Verloren is astonished to find himself falling in love. But how can a vampire love a human? And what if the human isn't as human as she seems? When Ash's true nature reveals itself, the entire power structure of the world's outsiders teeters on the brink of destruction. Verloren and Ash become more and more terrified as they grope their way toward the ultimate truth: that they hold the key to something much larger than their own survival.Verloren is a vampire in a world where vampires, werewolves, witches and other supernatural beings live alongside humans, ruled by The Quatre. But Verloren isn't any normal vampire, since he can sees auras, which is a talent vampires don't naturally have. He's leading a fairly secluded life, terrified to do anything wrong since he has run into The Quatre once already, and it didn't end very well. He runs a shop and works there together with a werewolf and witch, but he also gets along with his nextdoor neighhour who is a human. That's not to say Verloren doesn't drink human blood because he does, but mostly prostitutes and other people who won't be missed. Our vampire is up for the scare of his life though, as one day a girl stumbles into his shop. Although he doesn't know the girl and has never seen her before, he does feel an instant connection to her, and he knows right away that she's an incarnate, a supernatural being. He befriends the girl, and promises to help her find out who – and more importantly, what – she really is. But that promise might have desastrous consequence for the both of them.After reading the back cover of Endlessly, I was worried that the story might be too familiar, since there was nothing there that I hadn't heard before, or read before for that matter, or that seemed even remotely original. Don't let it misguide you though. Endlesslyoffers a very original take on vampires that I've never read before, and even for that alone, this book is definately worth reading.In the world described by C.V. Hunt in this novel, incarnates and born knowings roam this earth alongside with humans, while the latter are unaware that the first even exists. Vampires aren't necesserily dead – what? you say, but it does work out quite well – and sunlight doesn't burn them in an instant. They don't sleep in coffins, and when they have sex it tends to get very messy, and possibly even deadly, especially if their partner is not a vampire. Werewolves aren't bound to change once every full moon, but they can change whenever they want. Moreover, they devour their victims in a most gruesome way. But vampires, werewolves and witches…that's just the top of the pyramid. Imagine dragons, leprachauns, trolls, every single supernatural being you ever encountered, all mixed together in this novel. It tends to be a bit too much, especially while regarding the rather small size of this novel. And just under 200 pages, it's a lot to explain and talk about at once. And although I do think the world-building is very original, especially in regards to a Quatre existing of a vampire, werewolf, shaman and faerie ruling all supernaturals, I also believe the author should have either focused on less beings at a time, or expanded the novel. The overflow of knowledge is overwhelming at times.That said, Verloren makes an interesting protagonist. At first, he appears to be another lonely, lost vampire bound by the orders of The Quatre, and looking for something meaningful in his life. Then it turns out that he isn't. He actually kills people. And here I was, thinking I'd met another veggie. Don't get me wrong: I'm all for vampires killing and slaughtering humans, since that's just about what vampires do. The only thing I find that repulsing about Verloren is that while he goes out to kill humans at night, he communicates and befriends them at day. It made me have complicated and mixed feelings about him. On the one hand, I wanted to like him, because it feels natural for me to like the protagonist of a story. On the other hand, I felt like hating him because he's the most ignorant hypocrite in the history of vampires. If he communicated with people, but didn't like them at all, and only did so because he had to, then I would have understood his actions, and why he did choose to kill people for their blood. But since he actually genuinely likes people, his actions raised many question marks in my head. I mean, I know he has to drink blood or else he dies, but he could have at least shown some remorse then, or indicate that this wasn't really what he wanted to do. This behavior just made him seem very hypocrite, but it did make him interesting. At least he wasn't the goody-two-shoes type you see all too much in novels, or the standard bad guy we often deem vampires to be.I liked the overall premise and storyline, of Verloren meeting his soulmate, then finding out who and what she is, and having to run from the Quatre. But there were some minor things that just didn't make sense. When reading the way Ash reacts to the Quatre in the end – which I'm not going to mention, for the sake of not spoiling anything – it seems stupid for them to have fled the Quatre in the first place. Jessica's dead seems pointless as well, especially after reading that scene. Also, Ash's reaction to growing horns, a tail and wings seems very unrealistic. If it were me who grew those things overnight, I'd probably be screaming in anger and frustration. She takes it rather calmly, but then she does burst into tears when other people deem her a monster for the way she looks. That doesn't really add up.I would have liked to see a more well-developed storyline – like not running from The Quatre when in the end, things work out the way they do (I sure am being mysterious here, eh?) and a bit more depth to the characters. I especially would have liked to read more about Ash's thoughts after she is changed. I wish Jessica didn't have to die, because she did offer some possibilities, being a born knowing and all. And although I did like the romance between Ash and Verloren, and I felt the obvious chemistry between them, I could not help but feel that everything was a bit rushed. Some parts of the storyline are blurry are unnecessary, and the characters could have had more depth. I found the way they handled the loss of Chris and Jessica for instance quite repulsing. Verloren's best friends just died and the only thing on his mind is making love to his new girlfriend. I would have liked him mourn their deaths more, as it would have made him more likeable as a character.That said, Endlessly is C.V. Hunt's debut novel, and it does make a really nice debut. There is some polishing up to do, but I have complete confidence in the author succeeding in that in the sequel, Legacy. On the one hand, I would have liked more plot-building and character-depth, and I couldn't help but feel that the novel was a bit rushed. On the other hand, I was thoroughly impressed by the world-building, the fast-paced plot and the way this novel glued me to my chair from start to end. It's a very enjoyable read, and a nice way to spend an otherwise boring evening by reading a different take on vampires, werewolves and supernaturals in general. For originality and being a fresh breeze in urban fantasy, this novel definately gets some extra points. I hope to see the characters evolve and grow in the next novel, and I hope that the storyline develops into something even more interesting. I would definately recommend this novel to vampire fans, and to fans of the supernatural in general. I myself am already looking forward to the sequel.

Have pleasant vampire, werewolf, and zombie dreams. www.authorcvhunt.comwww.authorcvhunt.com

Book Review: Journals by Kurt Cobain

Journals by Kurt Cobain
My rating: 5 of 5 stars [image error]



ABOUT:Kurt Cobain filled dozens of notebooks with lyrics, drawings, and writings about his plans for Nirvana and his thoughts about fame, the state of music, and the people who bought and sold him and his music. Over twenty of these notebooks survived his many moves and travels and have been locked in a safe since his death. His journals reveal an artist who loved records, who knew the history of rock, and who was determined to define his place in that history.

MY REVIEW:To anyone who is not a Nirvana fan - I don't know why you are even bothering to look at this. Read no further.

For those who ARE Nirvana fans, tread forward with caution.

This book was an insightful look into one of the most beautiful minds that I've ever had the pleasure of experiencing as it unfolded. People talk about where they were, or what they were doing when great catastrophes happened in the world. Laugh if you want, but I still remember where and what I was doing when I heard that Kurt Cobain was dead.

I thought this book was a very interesting look into Kurt Cobain's mind. It's not an autobiography. Kurt kept journals, drawings, clips of paper with notes and thoughts sprawled across them, rough drafts, and unsent letters. This book is a wide variety of these things photocopied from the originals. Some writing is almost illegible. On other pages you can see the emotion in the jerky script.

Most of the passages describe his frustration with the music industry, fanzines, and journalists that misunderstood him. In some areas it shows a lot of his beliefs about the world around him and what he believed to be a perfect society. When it comes down to it, you had to have been a fan to bother buying it, and you have to appreciate it for what it is.

I will leave you with my own mad ramblings in a letter to Kurt that will never be sent.

Kurt,

They're not dyeing out like the dinosaurs. They have mutated into something much worse than you ever could have imagined. They've built a breed of music that no matter how many times you turn away, it keeps growing. They try to make it look like it's for our own good, but…..

It's just the beginning. The media has control. Now they tell us what we are supposed to like. Pop stars, the kid next door, and televised competitions for contracts? And it all revolves around selling the sexually provocative image of an under aged teen. Their voices are electronically altered, or it takes five people to sing one song, and not a single one of them knows how to play an instrument. It makes no sense to me that tweens are billboard successes, and they are singing about things that they won't come close to experiencing for another ten years.

None of them write the lyrics. There is a small group of people in an ill lit room somewhere scribbling out the next big hit. I assure you the words; "baby", "party", or "hot" are well peppered through it. There are no deep meaningful songs anymore, no words to make you think hard, it's all superficial bull. Hell no, you're not allowed to express any other emotion than happiness or love. If you do…then it's considered too political. POLITICAL? It's politics to express frustration? The frustration of being spoon fed the same garbage over and over. I'm sorry, I would like some variety. Or how about you just quit playing the same crappy song so much I want to puke?

I've given up on finding anything original in the air waves Kurt. I say turn off the radio station, unplug your MTV (that no longer plays music), and start searching. I refuse to let them feed me what they want me to like. I do not listen to the radio and I don't shop in stores for CDs. I've taken to searching the internet for bands that I've never heard of. I want to like bands that people think don't exist. They ask me, "Who's this?" I tell them the name of the band, and they always follow up with, "I've never heard of them." People never ask about the band again. If it can't be fed to them off the shelf they don't even bother.

It's sad really. It's not music any more. It has just become a rhythmic beat that they all bob their heads to.


View all my reviews


Have pleasant vampire, werewolf, and zombie dreams. www.authorcvhunt.comwww.authorcvhunt.com

I knew what to expect this time.

"Legacy" was read by the editor and suggestions were made. The suggestions didn't seem as overwhelming this time around. I think it was because I kept everything that he had told me about "Endlessly" in the back of my mind. Which he even mentioned helped and hurt in some situations.

I tend to get over descriptive in areas that don't really need it, and I tried to cut down on that. He was good about pointing out areas where I went a little over board in the opposite direction. So hopefully I will be able to find a happy medium when I double check "Phantom".

I think I got quite a bit done over the last three days, and I think I might have it finished by the end of this coming weekend. I'm excited and anxious to get it out there for people to read. Actually I was really worried about the editor's reaction to the story this time, but he liked it, and I hope all of you do too when it's available.

The next step will be the line by line edit.

I'll keep you updated.

Have pleasant vampire, werewolf, and zombie dreams. www.authorcvhunt.comwww.authorcvhunt.com

The theory of mind.

People like to ask me questions about my book. I don't mind answering them. I think it gives me an opportunity to explain the aspects of the story in more detail.

When I get into a conversation about characters...sometimes it can become creepy. It has been pointed out to me that when I am talking about the characters, I use the word "we". It's hard to explain to people with out sounding like I have lost my mind.

Each time I create a character, I take a small piece of my own personality, plant it, water it, and let it grow. The best way I have found to describe it; I am a slice of bread, I rip off tiny chunks and but them in a petri dish, place it in the dark and slowly it begins to take on life.

Once I have envisioned a character, I give it an extreme of my own personality as it's defining role. I file it away in my brain. Now I let my life go on about its normal swing. When ever I see something, hear a phrase, a song, anything that I think the character would like, it gets added to their file. The character starts to take on a twisted personality of their own.

After awhile of this...you do start to question your own sanity. I came across an article that I thought describe it better than I could, and I thought I would share it with you.

Link to original post here.
The controlled multiple personalities of writers


image by perpetualplum [Update: due to some well-reasoned commentary on this article, I've changed the title from its original to what you see now, and have adjusted other text in this article to match. If you care what that means, you can read all about it in the comments.]Recently I wrote that writers need to develop a kind ofmultiple personality syndrome. I won't say "disorder" because as it applies to writers, it's actually a good thing. Then last week someone made a comment on my article about boring characters which touched on the notion that boring characters don't have a well-developed sense of theory of mind.That got me thinking. Dangerous, I know, because realizing how these two things are related leads to heresies like this one: You know that old rule about how you can break any of the rules of writing, as long as it works? Here's one you can't break. Here's a new rule that, I claim, is not a rule but instead a fundamental law of fiction.

Writers must have a strongly developed theory of mind.

That is to say, your books are doomed to suck until you really understand theory of mind. This, although I didn't quite realize it when I wrote it, is what I meant in that earlier article when I was talking about multiple personalities.What is "theory of mind?"Click the above link and Wikipedia will tell you it is "the ability to attribute mental states—beliefs, intents, desires, pretending, knowledge, etc.—to oneself and others and to understand that others have beliefs, desires and intentions that are different from one's own." That's actually a pretty good definition, and I'm not going to mess with it.Why you must understand itTheory of mind has everything to do with writing, because it has everything to do with creating believable characters. Unless you're writing an autobiography (in which case, you're not writing fiction and you're reading the wrong blog right now), you can't create even one believable character without being able to model the mind of someone other than yourself.You create a believable character by imagining a set of beliefs, desires, knowledge, and so forth that are different from your own. This is a model from which you can then determine how a character will act, react, and speak in a given situation. Using your model—your theory of the character's mind—is how you keep your writing true to how the character would really be.Now do this for every character in your book, and develop the ability to keep all of these different theories of mind straight within your own head while you write your scenes. This is nothing if not controlled multiple personality syndrome.Understanding the theory of mind on this level is necessary to create believable characters. I would argue that most successful writers do this in "gut feel" terms, rather than in analytic terms. But however you get there, you simply must have a strong sense for how the minds of other people work if you are to write believable characters.That's table-stakes, the minimum requirement for creating believable characters. But what happens when you understand theory of mind on a deeper level? What happens when you realize that part of your theory of mind about any of your individual characters should include that character's own sense of theory of mind about others.This can get confusing pretty quickly, so re-read that a couple of times if you have to.What can you do with theory of mindWhen your theory of mind about a character is rich enough to include whether the character's theory of mind is poorly or strongly developed, then you can start to play with it to achieve some specific effects:Boring people. As I talked about in my last article, boring people don't have strong insights into other people's minds. Boring people are deficient in the ability to infer what other people think about them. Boring people, as it were, have a weakly developed sense of theory of mind which makes them blind to how others perceive them.Children.they themselves know where they are.Deception. Speaking of hide-and-seek, theory of mind lies at the root of all deception. You cannot intentionally deceive someone else without having a good theory of the other person's mind. Deception is all aboutmanipulating the other person's beliefs, usually as a means to affect the other person's actions. But, you cannot do that without first having a good sense for the other person's beliefs, knowledge, and goals. If you understand the other person on that level, you can predict how they will behave, and thus, you can figure out how to manipulate their beliefs in order to induce them to act how you want. Or, as Friends so aptly put it, they don't know that we know they know. Note: if your theory of mind about the other person happens to be wrong in some key aspect, the person's reactions to your manipulations might really surprise you, which is itself a great strategy for novelists to employ.Walking in many people's shoesDon't resort to taking meds or anything, but strive for this controlled multiple personality syndrome. Like any skill, you have to work on it. It's not just a good idea, it's the law. "Black's Law," if I may be so cheeky as to label it:Writers must have a strongly developed theory of mind.If anything, your proficiency with theory of mind must be stronger than normal because it's not enough to simply understand theory of mind. You also have to know what to do with it.April 26, 2010 19:26 UTC by Jason BlackHave pleasant vampire, werewolf, and zombie dreams. www.authorcvhunt.com
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Legacy is now in motion.

I thought I would update you on what is happening with "Legacy".

"Legacy" is in the hands of the editor. It's a whole month sooner than what I had originally planned. That's right...it is being read by another set of eyes, other than my own. I should be receiving my constructive feedback Friday, if all goes according to schedule.

I am going to push on with "Legacy", even though I said I was going to wait for some encouragement from "Endlessly". The reviews that I read have been better than what I had hoped for, but word of mouth moves slowly as an advertising campaign.

Have pleasant vampire, werewolf, and zombie dreams. www.authorcvhunt.comwww.authorcvhunt.com

Copyrighted!

I received my certificate of copyright in the mail today for Endlessly. That is one small step. I still keep checking in the Library of Congress's catalog, and still, I have not found it. Not feeling optimistic about it. From what I have read, usually books are cataloged before they're copyrighted. I was told to keep checking for up to one year, after that point, it was probably not accepted. It would be nice to see it get cataloged, that way people would be able to find my book at the library.
Have pleasant vampire, werewolf, and zombie dreams. www.authorcvhunt.comwww.authorcvhunt.com

Internet radio interview.

Here is an Internet radio interview with me, about my book Endlessly. There was some trouble with the song she was playing before the interview started. There is a long pause, so you can skip up to the two minute mark and listen to me nervously stumble through the interview.



Listen to internet radio with Candy ODonnell on Blog Talk Radio
Have pleasant vampire, werewolf, and zombie dreams. www.authorcvhunt.comwww.authorcvhunt.com