David M. Brown's Blog, page 94
August 12, 2012
#BlogFlash2012: 30 Days, 30 Prompts, 30 Posts: #12 – Celebration
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This month Mr B and I are taking part in #BlogFlash2012, run by Terri Giuliano Long, and – every Friday – #FlashFiveFriday at The Indie Exchange.
The idea behind #BlogFlash2012 is simple: 30 Days, 30 Prompts, 30 Posts. Every day there’s a new visual prompt and you have to produce 50-100 words on the theme. The beauty of it is, you can produce anything from a simple anecdote to a piece of flash fiction.
There’s also a Facebook page so you can follow along and swap links.
I am also taking part in NaBloPoMo August.
#BlogFlash2012: #12 Celebration
Dave
We all have something to celebrate during the year. For me, my love of birthdays has subsided somewhat and not just because I recently turned 30! They just feel like another day to me now. Christmas is still fun but the novelty wanes compared to when you were still a child.
Celebrations that do matter are of course my wedding anniversary. I’ve learned from British comedy Fawlty Towers the repercussions of forgetting your wedding anniversary and that might be one reason why I made sure the date coincided with my father-in-law’s birthday.
Donna
When we think of a celebration we often think of the big things – a birthday, wedding anniversary, Christmas. Those things are indeed important and worth celebrating. I find, though, that sometimes we fail to celebrate the small – but important – occasions in life. A work project that has gone well, a good time with the family, even a well made meal. These small celebrations of the things we achieve can be more than enough to keep us going to the big celebrations. So keep on celebrating every day!
#BlogFlash2012: Day Twelve – Celebration
#BlogFlash2012: Day Ten – Success
Success #BlogFlash2012 Day 10
#BlogFlash2012: 30 Days, 30 Prompts, 30 Posts: #12 – Celebration | Thank you for reading Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dave
Guest Post: Rotoscoping Allows The Tolltaker to Roam the Earth – Steve Janas
We’re really excited to feature a guest post from Steve Janas today! Steve is the director of short film The Tolltaker and is sharing a great piece about a technique used within the film called rotoscoping. You can see the full film over at Vimeo.
Rotoscoping Allows The Tolltaker to Roam the Earth – Steve JanasWhat dark magic is it that makes the eponymous fiend wander his dismal, subterranean catacombs in the animated short The Tolltaker? Alas, the name alone’s not apt to inspire vivid acts of imagination: it’s called rotoscoping.
Although it’s now done on computers, the process dates back to 1917, when animation pioneer Max Fleischer invented it to turn his brother David into Koko the Clown, Fleischer’s signature creation. It gets its name from the type of projector that Fleischer developed to create the effect. The image would be projected onto a sheet of frosted glass, on the other side of which an artist would be tracing the image’s outlines, one frame after another, literally turning reality into cartoons.
During the 1930’s, rotoscoping inserted a dancing Cab Calloway into Betty Boop cartoons and made a proto version of Superman fly in an early animated serial. It also found frequent use in the Soviet Union, where it appealed to social realist sensibilities in vogue at the time.
Contemporary American animation fans will easily be able to spot the process in films like Heavy Metal and Richard Linklater’s mind-bender A Scanner Darkly (which, incidentally, shares a member of its animation crew with Tolltaker: Philly-based animator Monique Ligons). It also created the surreal, pencil-sketch world of one of the most iconic music videos of the 1980’s: Take On Me, by Norwegian band Aha.
The king of American rotoscoping is indisputably Ralph Bakshi, whose animated features were trippy, violent and at times downright pornographic. Beginning with his profane Fritz The Cat in 1972, Bakshi made a total of seven feature films, including genre classics likeWizards and an early, animated version of Lord of the Rings, which earned him a dedicated, world-wide following.
The Tolltaker has about two minutes of rotoscoping, which was created by a team of animators who turned the first floor of director Steve Janas’s Philadelphia-area townhouse into an ad hoc studio. Running the show (the animated portion of it, anyway) was co-producer Lavinia DeCastro, who chose as her lieutenant a fellow graduate of the Art Institute of Philadelphia named Jake Hoisington. They both oversaw a total of around a dozen animators, working on laptops set up on folding tables in Janas’s living and dining rooms.
To explain the specific way the rotoscoping process is used in The Tolltaker, Hosington hosts a short, two-minute feature seen at the end of the article.
The Tolltaker tells the story of a young boy named Bobby growing up in Northeast Philadelphia in the early 1970’s, in the aftermath of Vietnam, whose increasingly desperate belief that he’ll see his MIA father alive again rests on a cheap metal charm bracelet, inscribed with his father’s name, that he wears on his wrist. Unfortunately, this is the very prize sought by the Tolltaker, a corpse-like ghoul that Bobby encounters on an expedition into a local drain pipe.
Guest Post: Rotoscoping Allows The Tolltaker to Roam the Earth – Steve Janas | Thank you for reading Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dave
News: Dog Days of Summer Sale – 3 Books, 3 Bucks!
The Dog Days of Summer SaleThree Great Books, Three Great Ladies, Three Single Bucks!
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Little girls are vanishing from Deadwood, South Dakota. Fearing her daughter might be next, single mom, Violet Parker, is desperate to find the monster behind the abductions. With her savings dwindling and just three weeks left to sell her first house or lose her Realtor job, Violet is ecstatic when a handsome jeweler hires her to sell his century-old, Victorian masterpiece, until she sees the dilapidated dwelling. Now, if she could just convince her only buyer to stop rejecting vintage homes as if they’re haunted. Short on time and long on worry, she refuses to give up her dream of a fresh start in Deadwood. But with a malicious coworker trying to get her fired, a secret admirer sending her creepy messages, and a sexy stranger hiding skeletons in his closet, will Violet end up as one of Deadwood’s dearly departed?
The Tylers have a perfect life–beautiful home, established careers, two sweet and talented daughters. Their eldest daughter, Leah, an exceptional soccer player, is on track for a prestigious scholarship. Their youngest, Justine, more responsible than seems possible for her 12 years, just wants her sister’s approval. With Leah nearing the end of high school and Justine a seemingly together kid, the parents are set to enjoy a peaceful life…until Leah meets Todd, a high school dropout and former roadie for a rock band.As Leah’s parents fight to save their daughter from a world of drugs, sex, and wild parties, their divided approach drives their daughter out of their home and a wedge into their marriage. Meanwhile, twelve-year-old Justine observes her sister’s rebellion from the shadows of their fragmented family-leaving her to question whether anyone loves her and if God even knows she exists. Can this family survive in Leah’s wake? What happens when love just isn’t enough?Amazon
‘I’m over forty. I don’t have a blankie. I have vodka.’ Author note: this is not a book of advice, how-to, or self-help. She deconstructs stereotypes with satire. Totally different concept. ‘I write about men, women, sex, & chocolate. My experiences, my truth, my martinis.’*Note: Thompson employs hashtags (i.e., the # sign) in her collection. Google it. These are not typos, people #deargod.Looking for a humorous take on family relationships or love and romance? Look no further.Amazon
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Giveaway: EveryoneRelated articles (external)
Dog Days of Summer Sale: 3 Authors, 3 Books, 3 Bucks! #dogdays99c
Online Radio & Giveaway: Dog Days of Summer Sale Special #dogdays99c
August 11-13: dog days of summer + give@way
Dog Days of Summer 99 Cent Sale
GIVEAWAY! DOG DAYS OF SUMMER SALE 3 Authors $3 #dogdaysc
News: Dog Days of Summer Sale – 3 Books, 3 Bucks! | Thank you for reading Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dave
Guest Post: A Virgin in the Philippines – W.H. Johnson
I’m pleased to welcome W.H. Johnson today, author of A Virgin in the Philippines, along with several other titles! W.H. Johnson has kindly shared the story of how he came to write this intriguing travel book.
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From A Virgin in the Philippines – W.H. Johnson
Funny how things turn out.
Four years ago I’d never have given a thought to visiting the Philippines. It wouldn’t have appeared in even my top hundred places to visit. Come to that, I’d never thought of re-marrying.
But I did end up going to the Philippines a couple of times and I married a Filipina though not necessarily in that order.
When I first arrived in the Philippines I certainly had no thought of doing any serious writing. Emails to my friends. That’d be enough. It was certainly not my intention to sit day after day at the computer, creating, editing, deleting, all that business that after a day’s slogging away leaves you with something that looks serviceable but not yet right. I was holidaying. No need for hassle.
So how, against all expectation, did I come to write A VIRGIN IN THE PHILIPPINES? What is it that drives us to writing? I mean why do we pick up a particular theme and run with it? What’s the starting point? And don’t call it inspiration.
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From A Virgin in the Philippines – W.H. Johnson
In my writing life I recall only one occasion when I was perhaps inspired. The trouble was I wasn’t at my desk. I was out of house when this marvellous paragraph came to me quite out of the blue. I had to get home as fast as I could before it all faded. The words came quite naturally in order, preordained you might say. They almost fell onto the page and I got every word down. I didn’t forget one syllable of this paragraph. It was to be the opening of a novel and whilst not wishing to sound immodest, that paragraph was good. It was a super piece of writing. I felt so proud of it and I still do because I have it on disk and before writing this blog I looked it up again just to reassure myself that it was as splendid a piece as I thought.
It was one of those opening paragraphs that people would have quoted down the years. It was powerful, vivid and elegant.
Trouble was that I couldn’t sustain it. The story that followed was workmanlike at best and never made a ripple in any publisher’s pond.
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From A Virgin in the Philippines – W.H. Johnson
Inspiration? Don’t wait for it. When it comes it disappears very quickly. All right for poets maybe but for the longer stuff it doesn’t seem to carry you far. Just start writing and hope something develops. That’s how I look at it.
Anyway, while I was staying in the Philippines last winter, I came across Steven Lewis’s Hot Silver: Riding the Indian Pacific, a wry account of a four-day rail journey across Australia. Only 16000 words or thereabouts. It was good. Not riveting stuff but highly entertaining.
Couldn’t I do something like that?
But had I done a travel book before? No. Had I ever kept a diary? No? Did I like writing descriptive pieces about places which would immediately capture the readers’ interest? Well, not in so many words. In fact, not at all. Describing places isn’t what I enjoy.
So was I qualified as a writer even to consider following such a line? They always say, write about what you know. They tell you to think hard before you start on something that you aren’t really at home with. Seems sensible, sound advice. And the Philippines is such a vast country and I know only a small area and even that not very well.
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From A Virgin in the Philippines – W.H. Johnson
What could I say that would be in the remotest sense useful or convincing? Truth to tell not very much.
And at my age I have learnt not to go bull-headed into unknown territories. But clearly I haven’t quite absorbed what I’ve learnt.
I weighed the matter up for all of fifteen minutes and then said to myself, I’ll do this. I’ll write a travel book.
Now don’t tell me that this had anything to do with inspiration.
I suppose that I was confident because I already had two advantages. My wife is a Filipina and I was already on my second extended trip to the Philippines, right in the middle of things in rural Luzon.
More to the point, during both trips I had been writing lengthy emails to friends because the place and the people entranced me. Much of the stuff was there already on the computer. Needed a bit of tarting up, of course, a tweak here, a twist there. Some bits to cut. A few pieces to be developed. Just the need here and there to add a shade of licence to worthy fact. You can’t let the truth spoil a good story. I’m not talking about the wholesale distortion of facts of course. I’m talking about wording, about emphasis, and well, yes, a little invention.
But was it a travel book that I ended up with? I think not. It’s something slightly different. It makes no claims to be a systematic, detailed guide book. It doesn’t recommend where to stay or when to go or what to wear or how to get about the country. It’s a travelogue, a diary of impressions and incidents. It’s an account of my Filipina wife and her family and the people round about. It’s a book of personal experiences.
When all came to all, nudged by Steven Lewis’s book, I realised that I wanted to write such a book. There was I so far away from home but right in the middle of things, feeling I had a part to play just like everyone else. I’d thought that I didn’t want to write but I was already doing it through my emails. They gave me my material which hadn’t been self-consciously produced, hadn’t been honed for strangers. The words were for my friends.
And there was never the slightest breath of inspiration in any of this. But I loved making it into a book.
About A Virgin in the Philippines (2012)
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‘Three years ago I’d never have given a thought to visiting the Philippines. It wouldn’t have appeared in even my top hundred places to visit. Come to that, I’d never thought of re-marrying.’
So begins my travelogue, more a diary than a guide book, describing my marriage to a Filipina (by the way, we met through neither a dating agency nor ebay!) and my visits to the country. Lest there should be any doubt, I am the virgin in question though only in a figurative sense. In fact I’m an 80++ years-of-age Englishman though I don’t feel a day over 65!
The book is an account of the greenest green of the rice fields; of nightmarish criss-crossing traffic, managed it would seem by some master choreographer; of traditional family reunions; of my being refused entry to a Subic Bay hotel room on moral grounds along with my 65-year-old nephew-by-marriage; of advertising hoardings the size of tennis courts; of the eventual sale, after much peasant dealing, of one of my wife’s rice fields; of my election as Life President of the Husbands’ Escape Committee; of life in a country town; of being inveigled into having a tooth extracted; of visits to the family mausoleum; of locking myself for hours in a mosquito-infested garage; of the most charming and pleasant people you’d ever meet and that’s just for starters.
I love the Philippines, the place and the people and I hope it shows though my writing.
Amazon USAmazon UKB&NGoodreadsAbout W.H. Johnson
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I retired 24 years ago since when I’ve written twenty-odd books, both fiction and non-fiction, both traditionally and self-published; I’m a winner of the South East Arts Prose Prize; the National Association of Writers’ Groups gave me their ‘best novel’ award; I was a finalist in the Fenner Brockway Peace Prize and a runner-up in the Alpha to Omega short story competition which attracted writers from all over the world. And on top of all this I’ve found a wonderful wife …and I’m blissfully happy.
Guest Post: A Virgin in the Philippines – W.H. Johnson | Thank you for reading Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dave
August 11, 2012
#BlogFlash2012: 30 Days, 30 Prompts, 30 Posts: #11 – Greed
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This month Mr B and I are taking part in #BlogFlash2012, run by Terri Giuliano Long, and – every Friday – #FlashFiveFriday at The Indie Exchange.
The idea behind #BlogFlash2012 is simple: 30 Days, 30 Prompts, 30 Posts. Every day there’s a new visual prompt and you have to produce 50-100 words on the theme. The beauty of it is, you can produce anything from a simple anecdote to a piece of flash fiction.
There’s also a Facebook page so you can follow along and swap links.
I am also taking part in NaBloPoMo August.
#BlogFlash2012: #11 Greed
Dave
One of the Seven Deadly Sins and one I do my best not to be guilty of. As a writer, I hope to be successful but I have no desire to have the millions that the likes of JK Rowling have. That’s not what writing should be about.
If you offered me the chance to write full-time, earn enough money to live then I would accept without question. I wouldn’t know what to do with millions in my bank account. It would likely end up donated to various charities that really need it.
Donna
I admit I can be greedy. A cheeky cake to go with the latte. An extra glass of wine. Another new book. All things I could do without. I like to think that when it counts, though, all thoughts of greed vanish. My husband and I sold our wedding rings to pay for vet treatment our cat urgently needed. We reasoned that love is not bound up in a possession but in what we feel for one another – what we do for one another. Saving our cat bound us more than those rings ever could and therefore means much much more.
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Jump On Board For #BlogFlash2012: 30 Days, 30 Prompts, 30 Posts
#BlogFlash2012: Day Ten – Success
Day 10 “Success” (#BlogFlash2012 Haiku No.8)
#BlogFlash2012: 30 Days, 30 Prompts, 30 Posts: #11 – Greed | Thank you for reading Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dave
August 9, 2012
Guest Post: A Ravenous Reader – Kristen Wolf
We’re delighted to welcome Kristen Wolf to the blog today. Kristen is on a tour with CLP Blog Tours to promote her new book The Way and is kindly sharing a blog post.
A Ravenous Reader – Kristen WolfI’ve been a ravenous reader since a very young age. Both of my parents were readers and instilled in me an early love of books.
I definitely find a difference between books I read for pleasure and books I read to “learn” the art and craft of writing.
Being an English major, I would have to credit all the “greats,” though as I grew older I found myself reaching outside the established canon—diving into Native American literature, African literature, mythology, women’s literature, poetry, stage plays, screenplays and so on. I also read a great deal of science books and articles. For me, nothing is as thrilling, or reverent, as seeking to know the true nature of things… of discovering more and more about the world from which we come. And the possibilities we have yet to explore!
It may be because of this interest in future potentials that I became drawn to novels that explored “big ideas” rather than just describing human experience. I often seek out books that offer alternative paradigms, upend assumptions, portray imagined worlds, or imagine life in utterly new ways.
Writers who, for me, do this very well include: Jeanette Winterson, Italo Calvino, Jorge Luis Borges, Thomas Mann, Mary Oliver, Haruki Murakami, Stephen King, Hayao Miyazaki, Isabelle Allende, William Gibson and Ursula Le Guin, to name a few.
If I had to admit to a “secret weapon,” it would be poetry. I once heard a writer describe poetry as providing the colors a writer puts on her palette. And I absolutely agree with that description. Whenever I feel in need of inspiration, or need to clean my spectacles, as it were, I turn to poetry. Sometimes even just a verse or two are enough to get my blood pumping. It’s the precision of language, the beauty of thought, and the sheer attentiveness to life, that always capture me and make me eager to get back to the page.
About The Way (2011)
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Anna is a fiery tomboy living in ancient Palestine whose androgynous appearance provokes ridicule from the people around her and doubt within her own heart. When tragedy strikes her family, and Anna’s father—disguising her as a boy—sells her to a band of shepherds, she is captured by a mystical and secret society of women hiding in the desert. At first Anna is tempted to escape, but she soon finds that the sisterhood’s teachings and healing abilities, wrapped in an ancient philosophy they call “The Way,” have unleashed an unexpected power within her.
When danger befalls the caves in which the sisters have made their home, Anna embarks on a hazardous mission to preserve the wisdom of her mentors by proclaiming it among ordinary people. Her daring quest and newfound destiny reveal, at last, the full truth of her identity—a shocking revelation that will spark as much controversy as it does celebration.
Anna’s story is one of transformation, betrayal, love, loss, deception, and above all, redemption. Readers will cheer for this unforgettable protagonist—and for debut novelist Kristen Wolf, whose beautifully written book both provokes and inspires. A compelling mix of history, myth, and fantasy, The Way is a fascinating exploration of the foundations and possibilities of human spirituality.
Amazon US Amazon UK B&N Goodreads
About Kristen Wolf[image error]
Kristen Wolf, 43, is a mother and writer living in the Rocky Mountains. She is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Georgetown University and holds an M.A. in creative writing and film from Hollins College where she was awarded a full scholarship.
As a child, Wolf grew up in a heavily forested suburb outside New York City with her parents, a younger brother, and an ever-changing menagerie of pet animals.
Both Wolf’s parents and grandparents passed onto her an avid love and respect for nature which explains the photos of Wolf posing with an ever-widening array of pets, including cats, dogs, guinea pigs, mice, quail, two raccoons, chickens, even a squirrel that lived in her bedroom! Needless to say, hers wasn’t the average American family.
Later, Wolf’s family purchased land in upstate New York and on weekends and summers lived like a regular Swiss Family Robinson, clearing the land, building fences, barns and, eventually, raising and tending cattle, horses, pigs, goats, chickens etc. This led to a very unique life for Wolf and her brother as they lived like farmers on the weekends and students in a suburban public school during the week.
Wolf credits her unique childhood for providing her with keen powers of observation, a passion for living things, unlimited curiosity, and a strong independent streak.
As an adult, Wolf has worked primarily as filmmaker and writer.
WebsiteFacebookRelated articles (external)
Book Review of The Way by Kristen Wolf
CLP Book Tour & Spotlight: Brownie Fix by Ellen Cardona
Guest Post: A Ravenous Reader – Kristen Wolf | Thank you for reading Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dave
#BlogFlash2012: 30 Days, 30 Prompts, 30 Posts: #10 – Success
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This month Mr B and I are taking part in #BlogFlash2012, run by Terri Giuliano Long, and – every Friday – #FlashFiveFriday at The Indie Exchange.
The idea behind #BlogFlash2012 is simple: 30 Days, 30 Prompts, 30 Posts. Every day there’s a new visual prompt and you have to produce 50-100 words on the theme. The beauty of it is, you can produce anything from a simple anecdote to a piece of flash fiction.
There’s also a Facebook page so you can follow along and swap links.
I am also taking part in NaBloPoMo August.
#BlogFlash2012: #10 Success
Dave
When I started writing I once measured success as selling millions of copies and being rich. My perception of success has changed a lot since then. If I could earn enough to pay my bills each month then I would be more than happy.
Real success for me comes in the form of readers’ reactions. If a reader tries one of my books and is full of praise, feels that I have taken them on a rewarding journey, then that is the kind of success that is worth far more to me than money.
Donna
Success. Is there anything in the world more subjective than success? One person’s success could potentially be another’s failure. And yet, is there anything in the world we work harder for than success?
When I was younger I believed success was a good job, a big house, many holidays, a great car. Now I’m older, I realise success is a good love, a big heart, many warm moments, a great sense of humour. Success is not defined by what we have but by who we are.
NaBloPoMoWhat was the last piece of candy that you gave someone else?
I always try to give a piece of whatever candy I’m eating to Mr B. He deserves it. Call it the ‘Last Rolo Syndrome’…
Related articles (external)Jump On Board For #BlogFlash2012: 30 Days, 30 Prompts, 30 Posts
#BlogFlash2012: 30 Days, 30 Prompts, 30 Posts: #10 – Success | Thank you for reading Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dave
#BlogFlash2012: 30 Days, 30 Prompts, 30 Posts: #9 – Journey
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This month Mr B and I are taking part in #BlogFlash2012, run by Terri Giuliano Long.
The idea is simple: 30 Days, 30 Prompts, 30 Posts. Every day there’s a new visual prompt and you have to produce 50-100 words on the theme. The beauty of it is, you can produce anything from a simple anecdote to a piece of flash fiction.
There’s also a Facebook page so you can follow along and swap links.
I am also taking part in NaBloPoMo August.
#BlogFlash2012: #9 Journey
Dave
In July I read of a German man who has been driving around the world for 23 years and still has the same vehicle, Otto! The footage included photographs of him and his wife at various landmarks in America, Asia, Africa and Europe.
If money wasn’t an object I’ve often thought I’d love to just travel the world, spend a few weeks in each place and keep moving on. I’d want to go just about everywhere in this beautiful world of ours. It’s one of the reasons I write, to put characters on amazing journeys I’ll probably never have myself.
Donna
I doubt that there are many cats who enjoy a trip to the vets but our cat Kain is now so unruly on the journey that a taxi ride has become an impossibility. He will settle if you walk for twenty minutes to the vets with him in a carry box so, come rain or shine, this is now how we transport him. Poor Mr B. Kain is not a light cat and his carry box is pretty huge. After lugging the beast around today, I’ll bet his arm was aching. An hour – and $100 – later and we are told Kain is doing ‘quite’ well but there’s room for improvement. I guess we’ll be making that journey again in a couple of months… Anything for our boy!
NaBloPoMoAre there any candies that you just can’t stomach?
I am not a big fan of chocolate with mint or fruit flavoured fillings (see yesterday’s post on Peppermint Creams). And someone once brought me back some Reece’s Peanut Butter Cups from the US… well, the less said about that, the better!
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Journey #BlogFlash2012 Day 9
Jump On Board For #BlogFlash2012: 30 Days, 30 Prompts, 30 Posts
#BlogFlash2012: 30 Days, 30 Prompts, 30 Posts: #9 – Journey | Thank you for reading Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dave
August 8, 2012
#BlogFlash2012: 30 Days, 30 Prompts, 30 Posts: #8 – Relaxing
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This month Mr B and I are taking part in #BlogFlash2012, run by Terri Giuliano Long.
The idea is simple: 30 Days, 30 Prompts, 30 Posts. Every day there’s a new visual prompt and you have to produce 50-100 words on the theme. The beauty of it is, you can produce anything from a simple anecdote to a piece of flash fiction.
There’s also a Facebook page so you can follow along and swap links.
I am also taking part in NaBloPoMo August.
#BlogFlash2012: #8 Relaxing
Dave
John Lennon once sang, “A man must break his back to earn his day of leisure,” and I partly agree with that sentiment. It’s more rewarding to enjoy some relaxing time when you’ve been working hard. You feel like you have earned it more.
Reading, watching films or gaming are good ways of relaxing for me. If I go travelling though I am not content sitting around. I want to be looking around and seeing as much as I can. You could say holidays with me are not relaxing!
Donna
How laughable that today should be ‘Relaxing’. Mr B’s novel Fezariu’s Epiphany is featured on Ereader News Today, a slot we have waited months for as we know how great the site is. I have broken every cardinal rule – checking rankings, checking sales alerts, checking the FB page to see how many ‘likes’ it has had. This is not vanity. We are not patting ourselves on the back with every new like. This is the realisation that THIS is what over a decade of work has culminated in. Thousands of people seeing my husband’s title. Be still my heart.
NaBloPoMoTalk about a memory tied to a certain candy, especially if it involves another person or a place.
I always remember that visits to my grandma included delivery of a box of Peppermint Creams. Never a fan of chocolate with mint or fruit fillings, I couldn’t stand them as a child and I’m still not very keen now. But I can’t see a box of Peppermint Creams or similar chocolates without remembering my grandma.
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Day 7 “Sunsets” (#BlogFlash2012)
#BlogFlash2012: Day Seven – Sunset
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My first post for the August NaBloPoMo
starting today with something sweet…
#BlogFlash2012: 30 Days, 30 Prompts, 30 Posts: #8 – Relaxing | Thank you for reading Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dave
The Next Big Thing: Ansel’s Remorse
Thank you Coral Russell for tagging me on The Next Big Thing last week!
The Next Big Thing: Week 7What is the working title of your book?
Ansel’s Remorse.
Where did the idea come from for the book?
I wrote a story – The Sparkling Dew on the Lakeside – back in 2004 and wanted to adapt it into a novel. Reading back through the world history of Elenchera to get a feel for the zeitgeist, I realised the novel needed more substance and has now developed into Ansel’s Remorse.
What genre does your book fall under?
I write in the fantasy genre though the Elencheran Chronicles are more on the periphery of fantasy. I want to make the genre more accessible to readers with a greater emphasis on characters than fantastical elements or the world itself.
Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
John Malkovich in his Dangerous Liaisons days would have been perfect for the role of the vampire ruler, Palatine. He’d still be good now actually. An actor like Jake Gyllenhaal would do a good job as Palatine’s best friend and second in command, Ansel.
What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
Ansel knew it was wrong, that Palatine had gone too far but by the time he chose to object Palatine had already brought an epic war upon Elenchera.
Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
I shall be sailing the ocean of uncertainty with my brothers and sisters from the indie world.
How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
I’m currently still working on the book. My previous novel, A World Apart, was written in less than a year so I anticipate Ansel’s Remorse will be ready by next summer.
What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
The use of vampires will make some people immediately think of Twilight but I won’t be deploying sparkly vampires here. These are more like the traditional vampires of old.
Who or What inspired you to write this book?
I’d always wanted to write a novel of The Sparkling Dew on the Lakeside but with the boom in vampire literature I resigned myself to having to wait many years. My wife convinced me the wait could be a very long one so I decided to take the plunge and get to work on Ansel’s Remorse now.
What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
The fact there are no sparkly vampires and that the Elenchera take on them will hopefully be different to many other stories they’ve read. Oh, and there’s a bit of romance, many battles, friendship etc
Tag you’re it!Rules***Answer the ten questions about your current WIP (Work In Progress) ***
Tag five other writers/bloggers and add their links so we can hop over and meet them. It’s that simple.
Ten Interview Questions for The Next Big ThingWhat is the working title of your book?Where did the idea come from for the book?What genre does your book fall under?Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?Who or What inspired you to write this book?What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?Related articles (external)
David M. Brown: Across the Genre Boundaries
#bookreview A World Apart by David Brown
Discover Fantasy Blog Tour Stop
Discover Fantasy – All at Sea – David Brown (Fourth-Wall Friday)
World Building: How it can make or break a game or book
The Next Big Thing: Ansel’s Remorse | Thank you for reading Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dave
