Matthew Ledrew's Blog, page 3

Wilwarin: Kit’s Storytime

Happy 2019! I hope everyone had a lovely holiday season, and that the joy continues through the new year!

I had a page full of ‘themes’ for this year’s 52 project as 2018 drew to a close, however when the time came to choose one to stick to for another whole year, I simply couldn’t decide! Thus, welcome to 52 Adventures! I hope we can travel to many magical places together over the next 52 weeks!

A few short weeks before the shooting of this Wilwarin, my precious morpho, Winnifred arrived from Moth On The Wall! As soon as I opened her I was overwhelmed with a million different concepts (I considered doing a year of butterflies, but alas here we are). Settling on the perfect one for the first week was a bit of a struggle, as the desire to impress and start the year with a bang was definitely on my mind!

Saturday evening I curled up in my pink chair with my old sketchbook and a mechanical pencil, and the first thing I sketched was myself caught in a giant net, reaching for Winnie! I so lovingly looked across the room to my darling Fiancé, and he must have sensed I had a prop idea ready to propose, because he gave me one of those looks, followed by an ‘Oh no, what do I need to build?’.

Despite the apprehension, he fabricated by giant butterfly net in about 3 minutes flat, including the time taken to run around the house collecting the pieces! The net itself is actually his hammock! The round base was the bottom of my gold cage from last year’s 52, and the handle was from the dire paint brush also used last year! Here’s to fast thinking and up-cycling!

Sunday morning (shoot day) I was horrified to be woken up to the rain attempting to break in through our bedroom window with the wind. It was absolutely torrential! Had it been snow, I would have panicked less, but I had no back up prop prepared. I spent another hour with my sketch book and simply stared at the blank pages. When that didn’t seem to get me anywhere I moved to the window, where I stared hard at the rain for another half an hour, hoping to will it away!

Sure enough, halfway through the day the rain let up, and the wind died down! I wished upstairs to put on a decent face and grabbed the first dress I put my hands on! Drew and I collected the net & Winnie and headed to the precious place we will tie the knot in 7 months!

The fog lingered low over the lake at the bottom of the hill, and the wind held off long enough to set up and complete the shot! My darling boy assisted in being my ‘human tripod’, as mine managed to hide itself rather well while I tore the house apart trying to find it just before the shoot. Once finished, we piled back into the car, and headed home to de-christmas-ify the house before heading out for some noodles with two dear friends!

Tomorrow is prep day for week 2 of this adventure, and I can’t wait to create more magic for you!~

Helpful Things That Aren’t Writing | House Blog

There are times when I find it difficult to write. Sometimes I’ll sit in front of the computer with the best of intentions, but the words don’t come and the page remains blank. Yes, I want to be writing – I desperately want to create – but I feel stuck. Usually it’s because I’m stressed or finding it difficult to think, or trying not to focus on the other things I should be doing instead (i.e. cleaning).

So when the words won’t come, I try to think of other things I can do that will help push my ideas in a forward direction, instead of letting them swirl in an eternal vortex of hesitation. Such as…

Outlining. I never used to be big on outlining. I would sometimes know specific scenes and maybe how I wanted a story to end, but I always got there organically. Sometimes I even wrote out of order, having to find ways to cobble scenes together coherently. But when I’m having trouble writing I find that jotting down a rough outline of how I want the scene to look will help me. This especially helps with stress-brain, as now I know what I’m looking for and working towards. [This probably counts as writing, but it’s still different than actually writing the story.]

Creating Avatars. My visualizing isn’t always the best, so sometimes I’ll go online and create an avatar so that I have a quick reference to what a character looks like. What was their eye colour? Hair colour? Skin colour? Just look at this photo and you’ll know. And you don’t have to stop at avatars – create or find reference photos for places or buildings, too.

Reading a Great Book. When I was in high school I had two friends who were writing stories and they inspired me so much that I wanted to write one of my own. To this day, I can easily get inspired just by reading something amazing. It makes me want to create something just as wonderful. [Note: I can also sometimes be inspired by a book I find not-so-amazing, as it inspires me to write a story that doesn’t have all those things that bothered me in it.]

Reading or Watching Something Similar. If I’m having trouble slipping back into the world I’ve created, I’ll sometimes find something that’s similar in genre/character/tone, to help ease me into the world. It’s not always a book – it can be a television show or movie or graphic novel. Usually I go back to the thing that inspired me in the beginning. Whether it’s a musical that brought about a short story or a television show that I’ve spun into a series, taking another look can help me re-discover my original inspiration.

What are some of your favourite helpful non-writing activities?

Goof Report | From the Rock Stars

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Mistakes are going to happen from time to time, especially in these odd times when we all have so much else on our mind.

Anyone who ordered the at-cost version of From the Rock Stars in the past several weeks and taken advantage of the as-cheap-as-possible pricing so that we’d all have something entertaining during COVID-19 may have noticed a glitch: On the Contents page, the two stories contributed by award-winning author Jeff Slade were listed as ‘The Pale Horse’ and ‘Mimir.’ Not only were these stories not the ones that appeared from Slade in the collection, they were not written by him. Slade’s contributions to the collection were ‘Anchored’ and ‘The Culling.’

This error occurred as a result of the rushed layout process due to COVID-19. The Table of Contents was ported over from an existing collection and the details changed, and clearly those were missed.

The issue has been corrected and should not appear in future physical book purchases. The issue was not present in the eBook version of the text.

Checkout From the Rock Stars here.

 

‘Always Greener’ by JRH Lawless had links to the From the Rock series!

[image error]Have you read JRH Lawless’ stories ‘The White Bird Dives’ and ‘Breaking the Ice’ in Flights from the Rock and Pulp Science-Fiction from the Rock and need… more? You’re in luck. Both of these stories take place as part of a larger tapestry of stories — The General Buzz series from JRH Lawless!

These stories link to Lawless’ new novel, Always Greener, published in February 2020 by Uproar Books!

From the cover: “Life’s biggest victim, please step up and claim your prize! A smash-hit reality show is offering a lifetime of luxury to the one person living the world’s worst life, and now everyone is out to prove just how bad they’ve got it. Want in? All you’ve got to do is accept ocular implants that let the whole world see life through your eyes, twenty-four hour a day, seven days a week. Fortunately, there’s still one person who hasn’t lost faith in all humanity. The show’s ever-smiling host is determined to wring some tiny bit of meaning out of this twisted competition and your unhappy existence. There has to be a purpose behind all this misery… doesn’t there?”

Engen founder Matthew LeDrew raves: “Science fiction at its finest. The brains of Arthur C Clarke and Robert A Heinlien mixed with the wit or Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams!”

Check out Always Greener, available now wherever books are sold!

Winner: “The Glowing Lure” by Melissa Wong | Kit Sora Flash Fiction Photography Contest

After much deliberation, Engen Books is proud to announce the winner of the March 2020 Kit Sora Flash Fiction Photography Contest: Melissa Wong with the story, The Glowing Lure!

We had four judges for this contest:

[image error]Matthew LeDrew has written twenty novels for Engen Books, Black Womb, Transformations in Pain, Smoke and Mirrors, Roulette, Ghosts of the Past, Ignorance is Bliss, Becoming, Inner Child, Gang War, Chains, The Long Road, Cinders, Sinister Intent, Faith, Family Values, Touch Your Nose, Jacobi Street, Infinity, The Tourniquet Reprisal and Exodus of Angels.

[image error]Kate Sparkes is a USA Today Bestselling author of Fantasy and Urban Fantasy. She currently lives in beautiful central Newfoundland, a magical island at the very eastern edge of North America. She has two kids, one husband, and a handful of pets keep her plenty busy when she’s not writing. She also writes under the name Tanith Frost, and it is under this name that her most recent novel, Temptation, has been released! It’s the fifth book in a series about vampires in St. John’s Newfoundland: we wholly recommend giving it a try!

[image error]Born in Newfoundland, Canada and raised in France, Lawless came into his own as an author while living near a twelfth century abbey in rural England. Lawless is an attorney by day and a speculative fiction author by night. He draws on his education and professional experience, including at Sciences Po Paris and the French National Assembly, to craft worlds that look ahead to the political, social, and economic challenges that face us all. He draws on his love of Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams to ensure his works are full of tongue-in-cheek humor and never take themselves too seriously, even when tackling subjects that could not be more serious. Now living in Atlantic Canada with his beautiful family, Lawless looks forward to sharing his worlds with as many people as possible.

[image error]Kit Sora Photography. Kit Sora is an artist and photographer from St. Johns, Newfoundland. Her photography draws inspiration from fantasy, dystopia, and thrillers to create evocative imagrey that startles, inspires, and excites.Kit signed with Engen Books in 2018 as head photographer, producing the thrilling image for Chillers from the Rock and re-imagining the covers to the entire Black Womb series into the Coral Beach Casefiles series. Drew Power is a currently seated member of the Sci-Fi on the Rock committee. He was recently featured as the model on the cover of the bestselling collection Chillers from the Rock.

Runners up include Voice of the Fog by Lisa M Daly, New Angles by Colleen Anderson, and Murky Waters by Shannon Fay.

The Flash Fiction Photography Contest is sponsored in part by FictionFirst Used Books, which specializes in previously enjoyed Sci-fi & Fantasy Novels, Roleplaying Manuals and Graphic Novels. It is run out of the Annapolis Valley and open by appointment only. Their inventory is currently over 5000 titled strong and they ship within Canada, USA and Europe. You can find them on Facebook, here.

The winning entry will be featured on this website as well as on the Fantasy Files newsletter (click to join!). Both runner-up entries will also be featured.

The first year’s worth of these amazing short stories have been collected in a lovely hardcover edition from Engen Books, featuring photos from the author and flash fiction stories from some of Canada’s top talent! Order your copy today!

Kit Sora: The Artobiography

A stunning, hundred-plus page hardcover collection of over 80 of Kit Sora’s most ambitious photographs, paired with short fiction inspired by the art by Canada’s best authorial talents. Includes stories by USA Today Bestselling Author Kate Sparkes, USA Today Bestselling Author Victoria Barbour, and Bestselling Author Amanda Labonté.

C$75.00

 

Kit’s Storytime: Tavaril

[image error]This idea stems back to the fall, just after shooting week 44 in Harbour Maine! Myself, Drew & Maisy were all gathered around the island in her parents kitchen chowing down on some Goulash, and The Chronicles Narnia was on. The scene with the precious pink Dryad started, and immediately the wheels started turning. Drew must have noticed how hard I was staring at the screen, because he looked at me and said ‘Oh god, you want one, don’t you?’- Of course the answer was yes!

Within the next day or so we picked up a bunch of wire, and attempted a few different methods of wrapping the wire around one of my many bustforms to make a stable shape, that we could actually remove from the form when the time came. By the third try we had it, but it was time consuming. Drew started in on the torso, and made a base for me to add to. It was quite the process, and it was a slow one. The tips of my fingers were tender for a few days after. Once the torso was complete, I started in on an arm (I have a few of those kicking around too). Sadly, the amount of time in between starting the torso and continuing to finish the arm is a few weeks, and by then it was too late for my initial ‘farewell to summer’ concept, so we moved the wire figures downstairs to make room for other ideas.

Fast forward to Wednesday evening past, when I was attempting a brainstorm session, and decided I would create a floral dress masterpiece for week 3, but I needed my bust form from downstairs. I brought it up, removed the wire skeleton, and started to build my dress!…only to realize I didn’t have the flowers I thought I did to complete the dress how I wanted, and I kept staring at the wire form across the room. It was of course in that moment I decided I was determined enough to get the form complete, to shoot for Sunday.

Unfortunately, free time wasn’t something I had in spades, so the bulk of the work in completing my Dryad was done Sunday morning. I got up early, tossed on the greatest showman, and started wrapping wire around the various parts. When Drew got up, he was tasked with the leg (which he started and finished while I was still working on the head). When we finally completed the wire skeleton, we hung her from the giant archway in the living room, so I could magic her up with the vines!

We set up in one of my favourite places, however as it was a not windy Sunday, every snowshoer/skier and their dog was out and about, so there was nothing secret about this location. To give her the floating look, Drew strung her up to my backdrop stand which we set up to be well above my head (typically if I suspend anything for a photo, that’s how!).

Despite what the finished image shows, she does have a lot of detail to her! She has hair, a nose that’s hard to see, a lady figure, and many separate vines for the other arm + leg. My original plan was to tie up each strand of her hair, as well as the vines for her arms and legs to make her look more flowy and magical, but by the time we finished and got ready and set out, we were pushed for daylight, and it was like -15 so the fingers could only do so much moving before threatening to fall off!

She will definitely make a return in the future, as I feel there is still so much to do with her! Perhaps with a mini-series of adventures..?

Engen’s ‘Spring into Summer SALE’ May 1 – 8 2020!

Engen Books is proud to announce the Spring into Summer Sale, happening May 1 to May 8 2020!

During this time if you live in the St. John’s metro area or the Corner Brook region, you can purchase The Love of Summer, the new novel from Corner Brook’s own Sarah Thompson, for 25% off! That’s right, just $15!

Orders we be collected and delivered — with no shipping fee — during the week of May 11 – 15 2020! Special accommodations can be made if the purchase is for a Mother’s Day present. All deliveries will follow social distancing rules.

Spring into Summer Sale

This amazing, heartfelt romance follows Kerri Walters, a normal girl with anormal life until she met Summer Donnelly. She had just turned 18 in the small community of Jenkinstown when new neighbours moved in next door, including Summer. The pair become inseparable and it soon becomes clear to Kerri that there is more happening than just a friendship. Will Kerri hide her feelings from her best friend? What will happen if Summer finds out how Kerri feels?

Check out The Love of Summer during the Spring into Summer Sale to find out!

C$15.00

‘What’s My Motivation?’ | House Blog

This line is usually used as a joke to indicate that an actor is high-maintenance, but motivation is a very important factor for actors and characters. Motivation is what compels a character to do (or not to do) something, and if it’s not clear enough, then the audience might have trouble believing in that character’s actions – and maybe even the character themselves.

It’s one of the reasons I enjoyed the novel of “The Hunger Games” more than the movie – because in the book we get to see Katniss’ reasoning. She’s smart and capable, and by being allowed to see her thought process, we know why she takes the actions she does.

When I’m reading stories, if a character does something that’s… well… out of character, and it’s never explained why, then I find myself dropping out of the story. I end up pausing to try and reason why they did this strange thing. Like, did I miss something that would account for this? Or was the author trying to be subtle, and in being so subtle they actually never explained it (note: this is why editors and beta-readers are important – they can pick up on things you might not notice).

I remember reading a story where a person had been transported from their home to a strange new land and this person spent almost the entire story wanting to go back home. The problem was that I couldn’t figure out why they wanted to go back. By all accounts, their old life had been pretty terrible and their new life seemed really fun and interesting. Every time the character thought ‘I have to go back’, I found myself going ‘but why?’. I couldn’t think of a single reason why they were so determined to leave and they never provided me with one.

It even happens with television shows I like. Every now and then I’ll find myself wondering why a character did something when they’ve learned better. Like, I love Supernatural, but certain episodes seem to be written by people who’ve never watched any of the previous episodes. A character’s growth that was established in season 6 is suddenly thrown out the window in season 7.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately because I’m trying to adapt a Shakespearean play into something modern and I need to be clear about my character’s motivations. I can’t just go “Well, that’s what the character did in the play”. That’s not motivation – that’s someone playing God with characterization and moving people around like chess pieces (which could work, if you wanted to play it that way).

We all know why Katniss volunteers for the Hunger Games (to protect her sister), and it makes it easier for us to relate to her and her choices. If you want your character to do something, then they need a reason – they need motivation. Why do they face off against the Big Bad Evil Guy instead of hiding under the covers, hoping someone else will step up? Why did they stab their best friend in the back? Why did they keep this super-important piece of information secret?

Remember that a character’s motivations can change over time (and often do), and that this journey can be a compelling one to follow. Characters often start off selfish before growing to be more altruistic, but they don’t just wake up one day and think “I now care about other people” – not without a reason. Heck, Scrooge needed 4 ghosts to teach him why he should care about others.

Now it doesn’t mean that you need to explain every little tiny thing a character does, but if you’ve set up a character to be a cat lover and they suddenly adopt a dog, I’m going to need you to explain why.

Engen Artists helping during COVID-19!

We’ve always considered the artists we work with some of the best people in the province, but in the past few weeks of the COVID-19 crisis its been proven. All of the authors and artists we work with have been going above and beyond: managing day jobs, taking care of children, and working to make sure all the Engen titles stay on deadline!

We consider everyone we work for to be essential, but there are a few right now that the whole province considers essential, and we wanted to spare a moment to say thank you.

[image error]Brad Dunne, author of After Dark Vapours, is a home care worker who has been working tirelessly taking care of those in need even during the COVID-19 crisis. His job isn’t easy on a good day, and we are eternally grateful for the personal sacrifices he’s been making above and beyond the usual during this. Even with all that on his plate, he’s been working hard as one of Engen’s main editors, and is one of the reasons all our 2020 titles are still on time!

[image error]Kit Sora, the revolutionary visual talent behind Kit Sora: The Artobiography has been pulling double duty. She’s been helping with mask production necessary to protect the public and front-line workers from the worst risks of COVID-19, and has also been working hard to keep the spirits of the community high with her art. Herself and several photographers have been taking incredibly vivid pictures from home and uploading them as daily challenges, each of them sharing them out to the world to make sure we all know there’s still light in the world. Like today’s entry, Space, seen to the left. Her monthly short fiction contest also continues to keep authors engages throughout self-isolation!

[image error]Matthew Daniels is a front-line worker in the food industry and has been putting himself at risk every day to make sure everyone else has everything they need! Despite his still very full work schedule, he’s been taking the time and energy needed as an Engen editor and our most recent board member, as well as finishing up work on his first novel, Diary of Knives. Daniels is a powerhouse in this province whose hard work we need now, more than ever!

So thank you so, so much to you three and all our artists that have dealt with so much change in the past few weeks, we appreciate you all and promise we’ll do everything we can in this new normal to keep your fiction coming!

Winner: “Coming Out” by Hannah Jenkins | Kit Sora Flash Fiction Photography Contest

After much deliberation, Engen Books is proud to announce the winner of the February 2020 Kit Sora Flash Fiction Photography Contest: Hannah Jenkins with the story, Coming Out!

Hannah Jenkins is a new writer currently residing in Corner Brook, Newfoundland and Labrador, where she is completing a Bachelor of Arts in English Language and Literature. She founded the creative writing society at her university and sits on the editorial board of the school’s journal, Paper Mill Press. She is the recipient of the 2020 Moynes-Keshen John McCrae Poetry Award and is currently in the midst of producing her first chapbook of poetry entitled The Birds Come Back in the Spring.

We had three judges for this contest:

[image error]Matthew LeDrew has written twenty novels for Engen Books, Black Womb, Transformations in Pain, Smoke and Mirrors, Roulette, Ghosts of the Past, Ignorance is Bliss, Becoming, Inner Child, Gang War, Chains, The Long Road, Cinders, Sinister Intent, Faith, Family Values, Touch Your Nose, Jacobi Street, Infinity, The Tourniquet Reprisal and Exodus of Angels.

[image error]Lauralana Dunne has proven herself to be a force to be reckoned with in Canadian writing circles. In December 2018 her short story, ‘Venus Flytrap,’ was featured in the astonishing collection Kit Sora: The Artobiography, which paired talented authors with the artist known as Kit Sora to achieve spectacular combinations of story and photography. She was heavily featured in the bestselling anthology Dystopia from the Rock with two short stories, “Future Tense” and “Future Imperfect.”

She joined that 2018-2019 Board of Directors of the Writer’s Alliance of Newfoundland in October 2018, an organization which contributes to a supportive environment for writing in the province and fosters public recognition of Newfoundland & Labrador writers.

She describes herself as a slayer of imaginary monsters.

In June 2020, Engen Books will release her first novel, a New Adult Fantasy titled Ashes.

[image error]Kit Sora Photography. Kit Sora is an artist and photographer from St. Johns, Newfoundland. Her photography draws inspiration from fantasy, dystopia, and thrillers to create evocative imagrey that startles, inspires, and excites.Kit signed with Engen Books in 2018 as head photographer, producing the thrilling image for Chillers from the Rock and re-imagining the covers to the entire Black Womb series into the Coral Beach Casefiles series. Drew Power is a currently seated member of the Sci-Fi on the Rock committee. He was recently featured as the model on the cover of the bestselling collection Chillers from the Rock.

Runners up include Mother by Melissa Wong, and Generations by Peter J Foote.

The Flash Fiction Photography Contest is sponsored in part by FictionFirst Used Books, which specializes in previously enjoyed Sci-fi & Fantasy Novels, Roleplaying Manuals and Graphic Novels. It is run out of the Annapolis Valley and open by appointment only. Their inventory is currently over 5000 titled strong and they ship within Canada, USA and Europe. You can find them on Facebook, here.

The winning entry will be featured on this website as well as on the Fantasy Files newsletter (click to join!). Both runner-up entries will also be featured.

The first year’s worth of these amazing short stories have been collected in a lovely hardcover edition from Engen Books, featuring photos from the author and flash fiction stories from some of Canada’s top talent! Order your copy today!

Kit Sora: The Artobiography

A stunning, hundred-plus page hardcover collection of over 80 of Kit Sora’s most ambitious photographs, paired with short fiction inspired by the art by Canada’s best authorial talents. Includes stories by USA Today Bestselling Author Kate Sparkes, USA Today Bestselling Author Victoria Barbour, and Bestselling Author Amanda Labonté.

C$75.00