Alan Loewen's Blog, page 25

Coming In Time for the New Year

Yes, I honestly thought I'd have this released in time for Christmas, but I have strong standards and kept finding errors. I think the fifth time through the approval process should do the trick and the result is a paperback and an eBook I'm proud of.

I stripped the cost down as far as Amazon would allow me so the paperback is $5.49 and the eBook is around $1.49.

This book is not yet released, but I will announce its Amazon advent within the next five days.

The ten tales are:
For The Reader - a anthropomorphic vixen goddess introduces the collection with a shocking revelation of what you actually hold in your hands.  Adrift Off the Great Red Spot, 22°51’23.14”S, 98°49’24.40”W - in the near future, a gas miner flying the clouds of Jupiter finds himself adrift and approaching certain death in Jupiter's centuries old storm known as The Great Red Spot. The Case of the Missing Glasses - Detective Nick Weaver discovers his new client is not only beautiful, but visually impaired.Timely Revenge - a sf tale of discovery, creation, and cold-hearted revenge.The Furry Con Mystery - once again we go into the world of detective noir where the detective searches for his client's son who went missing at a furry convention.Gray Matter - what if alien abductions were reversed and we started abducting them?Kill Your Darlings - a writer's dream turns into a nightmare when one of his literary creations vows revenge.I Have Seen the Future and the Future Is Diesel - diesel punk in a dystopian world of oppression and liberation.Wolf Hunter - a fantasy tale reversing the tropes of Little Red Riding Hood.Leywood Manor - formerly known as Yew Manor, Leywood Manor is the philosophical companion to my seminal work, Coventry House.

Just In Time for Christmas! A New Collection!

This collection contains the following stories:

1 - For The Reader   
2 - Adrift Off the Great Red Spot, 22°51’23.14”S, 98°49’24.40”W   
3 - The Case of the Missing Glasses   
4 - Timely Revenge   
5 - The Furry Con Mystery   
6 - Gray Matter   
7 - Kill Your Darlings   
8 - I Have Seen the Future and the Future Is Diesel   
9 - Wolf Hunter   
10 - Leywood Manor   

And it will be available in paperback and for the Kindle eReader.

Interview With Author A. R. Mitchell

A. R. MitchellI have had the pleasure of knowing author A.R. Mitchell for some years now and I was one of the original test readers for her work in progress, The Wind Walker. Recently she released a short story collection, Goldlust, that I reviewed here.

This is A.R. Mitchell's story.

1. Quick biography?

I’ve been writing fiction since about fifth grade. Even before then, I was the kid who was never intimidated by the teacher’s threats of, ‘you will have to write a report’. That was easy. Math is difficult. Math is still difficult. If you want me to confess my background like a resume, there’s about twenty writing awards. A good bit of them are from the national Scholastic Art and Writing Awards… and most of those stories do appear in my first short story collection Goldlust. I also have a blog. 

2. What genre do you write in?

I tell people I write pulp. Pulp isn’t so much a specific genre as it is an attitude or a style. People tend to think of it as just detective stories – and that’s part of it, but during the 1930s, 1940s, and into the 1950s it was actually a class of literature. The moniker 'pulp' came about because the titles were printed on cheap paper made from tree pulp. It was slightly above comic books, which at that time were considered foolish and only for children, and definitely far below literature. Pulp encompassed action adventure stories, science fiction, sword and sorcery, fantasy and westerns, as well as detective stories and… the last hold over… the cheesy romance novels you find in grocery stores. That’s considered women’s pulp, now renamed ‘chick lit’. I don’t write that. Ever. I would bore myself to death.

3. What drew you to the pulps?

I started reading Raymond Chandler in fifth grade. While my peers were reading the Harry Potter series – I was reading The Big Sleep and Dashiell Hammett’s The Maltese Falcon. Both are listed as a post college reading levels – which destroys a common belief among people that pulps are lower class, predictable and not to be enjoyed and consumed by anyone with an iota of intelligence.

It was actually the women of the pulps which pulled me in. Growing up I was the ‘good girl’ – which is incredibly boring. The wisecracking private eye Phil Marlowe said all the things I couldn’t say, and the women did all the things I couldn’t do. Vivian Sternwood from The Big Sleep is a favorite character of mine. She knows men, she knows how to work with them, and control them using the resources at hand, her money, wits, and looks, yet will work tirelessly to protect her father and her younger sister. She’s flawed and as tough as any of the dystopian fiction heroines we see today. She was also less noble, and a perfect foil for leading smart-mouthed narrator, Phil Marlowe. And I’m also a sucker for a snazzy and sassy turn of phrase coupled with an image which makes me chuckle. You’ll see some of that in my work.

4. You mentioned the 1940s – you are an active World War II reenactor. Does that play a role in your genre and subject matter? What came first?

I’ve always been a history nerd, and it wasn’t long after I started writing in historical time periods that I realized I needed to live my characters in order to understand them. That’s not to say that I get into barfights on a regular basis – but I do learn the experiences of my characters as much as possible… including a trench warfare night battle against the Germans on the Eastern Front, the perils of the French Resistance, and the surprise of rolling over in your 1940s shelter half (a two man tent) and whacking your eyeball on the tent pole.

The writing came first. The reenacting started as research. I had a character who needed paperwork and because it was German identification papers, I couldn’t call them passports. The internet frequently fails me in matters such as this, so I had to go talk to some people. Eventually I fell in with the US 36th Infantry Division, or the Lost Battalion, a unit who’s history I may end up writing about in the future. I’m their representation of the females of the French Resistance, since, unlike the Russians, during the 1940s women were not in the American infantry and generally not on the front lines. Although some of them did have combat roles in the Army Air Corp, nursing and in the Press Corp.

An the best stories come from real life. At a living history event this past year, we had the honor of meeting one of the veterans who had served beside the 36th and actually was part of the unit who rescued the 36th Infantry in the forests of France. He told me, “We had a man from the French Resistance named Jacques, who lead us through the forest. Without him, and the people like you (portray), we could not have rescued the 36th Infantry.”

You can read the full story on my blog here.

And you can also follow us on Facebook.

My Facebook author page is also full of reenacting events, military history, author updates, and my blog, which is updated every Monday morning. Its more active during the summer months because of reenacting events – but there are plenty of photographs to look over and see what kind of historical events and adventures I’ve had.

I’ve also enjoyed portraying Russian infantry, where women served on the front lines, in all aspects of the Russian military. Red Trouble, which I hope to have published in the coming weeks features one of these women. Here’s a sample without too many spoilers. 

5. Back to Goldlust, your short story collection… what is its genesis?

Goldlust is a short story collection. It began in a dry spell of writing with the goal of me seeing what I could put together. My goal this past year was to get published. Goldlust is the fruit of that project. It’s a collection of twenty award-winning stories – and some new ones too. They span the genre gamut – I’ve got science fiction, fantasy, action adventure, dystopia, humor, sword and sorcery, a tad of romance, a western, cop stories, military fiction, and spies.

6. Some of Goldlust’s stories appear to have a nebulous ending. Are you going to expand these stories at any time?

I hope to. There are several characters whom I love dearly, and multiple worlds which I would like to revisit, the dystopia of Armageddon's Grace and The Pursuit Cycle are two of them. Also, if I can, without giving away too many spoilers, you will be seeing more of the 1930s German scientists at the end of the opening action adventure story, Goldlust. The black blood from Remember Me is significant as well. The Angel of Death will return and arms dealer Mason Jaymes from Storms of Life has a habit of walking into loaded situations with that dashing brazen charisma and those stunning bright blue eyes saying, “Honey, you need me.”

7. You’ve mentioned Red Trouble, and Goldlust, which is available through Amazon.com. Have you any other works in the hopper that we should look forward to?
Yes. I am an author who never rests. Writing is like breathing. After Red Trouble my next project is a novel titled, The Mist Walker. – We’ll start with calling it a novel because in the seven years I’ve been working on it, it’s spiraled into more adventures than I can handle. The Mist Walker is a modern thriller mixed with dark fantasy and international intrigue. It features a detective narrator working with an international terrorism investigation team facing a serial killer who’s straight out of ancient legend. There are also World War II connections, ancient curses, a high body count, lots of gunfire and plenty of suspicious characters. Its like Indiana Jones with the cynical voice of Raymond Chandler meets Xena in the world of Tom Clancy.

I hope to have The Mist Walker edited and published this summer.

Goldlust in paperback can be purchased here.

Goldlust for Kindle can be purchased here.

My New WIP: The Inugami

Taking place concurrently with the events in The Shrine War, The Inugami is a tale of a young Japanese woman who rents an old house on the outskirts of Tokyo to discover her new home is already occupied.

An Inugami ("dog god") is a familiar for Japanese sorcerers and was created from a living dog in a process so abhorrent I will not post the process here and I only refer to it obliquely in the stories.

Don't hold your breath for this tale of Japanese yokai. This is my busiest time of the year and I suspect this short story will take a little while to wrap up.

It is better to light a candle ...

... than to curse the darkness.

The Loewen Vaguebook List of Immediate Attention Grabbers

If I was to list just one major irritation with Facebook, it is what is called “vague-booking,” making a post that is so ambiguous, you know the person who posted it just wants to get attention.

Well, as has been stated before, if you need that much attention, better to get a dog, but I thought to myself, “Hey! Why fight it?”

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the Loewen Vaguebook List of Immediate Attention Grabbers. Just post one of these suckers and you’ll get hundreds of “Wait…what?!?!” from friends, family, as well as unfriended from sudden enemies. Seriously. Give one of them a try today.
So here I am in the ER…again. Stupid toothbrush.So is anybody missing a head?Whiskey, melted wax, and my dog make an awful combination.The job is done, but there’s blood everywhere.Some of you sleep in funny positions.I think a restraining order is just a piece of paper.The family doctor has banned me from his office.Well, I’m unemployed…again. Stupid toothbrush.I never knew you could do that with 50 feet of plastic tubing!When you’re motivated you can dig a 6-foot deep hole real quick!Well, I just learned there are some things you just can’t microwave.Google can’t tell me how to conceal a prehensile tail.I wonder what I do during my blackouts?Do remember this is a humor piece. In other words, DON'T ACTUALLY DO THIS.

The Rough Draft of Patterns is Completed

Eighteen days to complete a rough draft is, I think, some kind of record for me, but the first draft of Patterns is complete at 5,690 words.

Now comes the very hard work of revision and correction and, though the basic plot will remain the same, I am free to add, subtract and revise until my heart is content with the finished product.

When will I know it's done? When I'm sick of the story and revision consists of nothing but shoving a few odd words around.

Then I start sending it out for its rejection slips. Here's an excerpt, but do remember this is a rough draft:


Ryan parked his car along the side of the street. North Second street in Harrisburg had, many years ago, been to domain of the upper middle class, but the years had made the brownstones appear to be a little more unkempt, a little more seedy in appearance.

The underlying pattern here was so wrong. It was unhealthy.

He checked his eyes in the rear view mirror, but this time, his eyes remained a crystal amethyst blue. He put his sunglasses back on.

An elderly woman came to the door at the sound of the doorbell, her eyes filled with suspicion.

“Ryan Williams, Mrs. McLain. I called you this morning?”

She sighed. “Come in.”

The interior of the home was the home of an old person, gravid with memories, the very air smelling of age.

Ryan turned down the offer of a glass of water.

“Thanks for letting me see you,” Ryan said. “As I said on the phone, I just have some questions about your late husband. When he passed, you sold some of his items at auction and now I own one of them.” He turned on his tablet and held it out to her so she could see the picture on the screen. “Do you remember seeing this? Remember anything about it?”

Arthritic fingers trembling with age, Mrs. McLain reached for the glasses she had hanging from her neck and placed them on her face. She studied the picture for a bit.

“Yes,” she said after a moment of silence, “I remember this piece. He picked it up on one of his travels to the Far East. I think he mentioned it in one of his books.”

She stood and toddled over to a bookshelf, taking down a small, dusty book. “It’s in here somewhere.”

Ryan took the book from her. “Legends of Lost Lemuria,” he said. “One of your husband’s books.”

He found the section with a few minutes of scanning the thin volume.

The ancients would train their wizards using various instruments and contests. I believe that one of these ancient tools was the predecessor of the Go board, one of the popular games of Japan throughout its history. This leads to the conclusion that either ancient Japan had open trade with Lemuria in its prehistory or that survivors of the Lemuria earthquake and resulting deluge somehow made it to the Japanese islands where they were absorbed into its peoples and culture.

Ryan handed the book back to his hostess. “Mrs. McLain, thank you so much for letting me see this. This answers my question.”

Minutes later, he held a pile of the late professor’s books as well as forty dollars poorer. Andrew McLain had self-published his books, leaving his widow with numerous boxes of books that would only sell to the fanatics who had long forgotten McLain’s work into prehistory in search of greater titillation. Understanding his hostess’ plea to rid herself of a few of the works, Ryan felt the money well spent, a donation to a widow in her dotage.

“By the bye,” she said, “as she walked him to the front door. “It’s rather odd that you should show me a picture of that thing he had.”

“Yes, ma’am?”

“The day he died? Poor dear. I found him in his office, slumped dead across it.”

Patterns: The Opening Paragraphs

Patterns is my new work in progress, a tale about Ryan Williams who wins what he thinks is a Go board at a prize drawing, but it turns out to be something far more insidious and as he uncovers its secrets, it begins to change him. Here are the opening paragraphs (still to be considered a rough draft)



“Our next drawing is for a traditional Go board.”

The crowd went silent waiting as the owner of Walt’s Cards and Games rummaged through the bowl that held slips with names of those who came to celebrate the store’s tenth anniversary. He plucked out a yellow piece of paper and Walt squinted as he made out the spidery handwriting. “Ryan Williams!”

There was sporadic applause as Ryan raised his hand. “Here!”

Walt held up his hands for silence. “I want to thank all of you for coming and celebrating our anniversary. I want to congratulate the ten people who won our drawing and when you come up to claim your prize, please bring some picture ID.”

Ryan made his way through the crowd that now focused on the table offering free snacks and treats Walt had made available for the celebration. Waiting patiently in line, he tried to suppress his jealousy as winners before him walked away with rare and expensive board games. A young kid walked by holding a copy of The Campaign For North Africa and Ryan doubted the boy actually had the ability to even understand the most basic rules. Maybe he’ll trade with me.

When he got to the front, Walt waved his ID away. “Know you well enough, Ryan. Enjoy.” With that, he handed a large, plain cardboard box to Ryan who whistled at the feel of weight and substance.

“Looks like I’m going to be learning something new,” Ryan said.

Walt smiled. “They’ve been playing Go for almost six millennia and I think I’ve had this game for that long. Never could find anybody interested in it, but if you can get some enjoyment out of it, I’m just glad to let it go.”

Ryan smiled. “So what you’re saying is that I’m getting your unsold junk?”

Walt pointed his finger at Ryan’s face in mock anger. “Walt’s Cards and Games never sells junk. But I’m willing to let you trade this for a pack of Yu-Gi-Oh! cards.”

Ryan laughed at the offer. “No thanks. I like myself. I’ll learn to play Go.”

Patterns: My New Work in Progress

 
Ryan Williams wins what he is told is a Go board but when he gets it home, he discovers that the board is something older and far different than what he expected. And it is changing him as well as the world in which he lives. 
One of my few forays into the  horror genre, its projected publication as an Amazon Single is December 15th.
Photo of slate Go pieces is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license courtesy of photographer, Liz West.

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