Kevin A. Ranson's Blog, page 6
February 18, 2015
The Matriarch: Changeling by Kevin A. Ranson – Coming Soon!
A vampire must be invited in to do harm.
“Wary of a future misunderstanding, Janiss Connelly pays a surprise visit to an immortal residing in the state capital of West Virginia. The Charleston vampire isn’t amused, a slight that puts the residents and staff of Cedarcrest Sanctum at risk when their administrator goes missing.
“Forced to endure a nightmare scenario, Janiss must embrace the potential she has both envied and feared – even if she has to make a deal with the Devil to do it.”
Publishing soon!
Learn more about The Matriarch at CedarcrestSanctum.com.
Filed under: Existentialism Tagged: am writing, Cedarcrest Sanctum, cover reveal, Kevin A. Ranson, the matriarch
January 29, 2015
The Great Vampire Dispute ~ Kevin A. Ranson’s Vamps
The Great Vampire Dispute, Part #13
Originally posted on Emz Newz:
And now, for the last post in this series, vampire author, Kevin A. Ranson. Kevin’s series is called The Matriarch and like many of us, he is a fan of Anne Rice’s work.
Let’s find out more about Kevin’s vamps.
KEVIN’S VAMPS
Author name: Kevin A. Ranson
What is the title of your series?The Matriarch
How many books are currently for sale or listen? Two
How many total in the series to date? Four
What are the books about? “Every October, the freshmen at Glenville State College are told stories about Sis Linn, the local ghost who haunts Clark Hall and the graveyard where she’s buried. Murdered in 1919, she was beaten beyond recognition, the target of a brutal killer who was never caught. Present-day student Janiss Connelly is about to find out that the stories are wrong – and that there are greater things to fear in life…
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Filed under: Existentialism
January 11, 2015
What’s a Vampire? No, a REAL Vampire.
When someone says “You’re like a vampire!” to a living person, that’s a simile, a comparison using like or as. When some says “You’re a vampire!” to a living person, that’s a metaphor, a comparison NOT using like or as. Living people are not actual vampires because vampires are DEAD THINGS that, by definition, are not alive – otherwise, they would not be a vampire. Feel free to compare all you like, but the following is the ONLY definition of a vampire:
vam·pire
/ˈvamˌpī(ə)r/
noun
a mystically animated corpse that imitates its living victims so it can feed off of their blood.
Filed under: Cemetery, Horrificus, Paranormal Tagged: blood, dead, definition, metaphors, simile, vampires
January 7, 2015
Official Title: The Matriarch: Changeling (Plus a Cover Reveal Event Announcement)
As the third book enters the final phase before publication, the official title has been revealed:
The Matriarch: Changeling
A Facebook event will be take place on Friday, February 13th, 2015 along with a contest to win one of three signed softcover copies of the new book upon publication.
Join us there for a bit of fun, a few excerpts and trivia about the series!
Filed under: Existentialism Tagged: #amwriting, #fangtastic, #VWSG, Changeling, horror, Kevin A. Ranson, the matriarch, vampires
December 28, 2014
I Hope to Never Meet One of My Own Vampires
Some of you may be aware of the Vampire Community, not just fans of the genre who embrace the lifestyle but those who believe themselves to be actual vampires. Psychic vampires absolutely exist, stealing your energy or lending it with their very presence, but I’m not talking about (to quote Ian from The Matriarch) “a mystically animated corpse that imitates the living so (it) can feed off of it.” Do they exist? I hope not – both for my sake and their own – because if they ever find out I created their world and inflicted them with their condition, I wholly expect them to be rather pissed off at me.
What I am saying is this: as a fiction writer, I do not believe what I create is real anywhere but on the page. These characters exist in my mind and that is what I share, and there are things I write about I wouldn’t wish on anyone…but, alas, such atrocities make for interesting storytelling.
I also don’t hate anyone calling themselves a vampire, but like an organized religion, there are a FEW who take it upon themselves to wage a personal crusade to say “yours isn’t real because *I* am real.” The Bard’s phrase “the lady doth protest too much” fully applies here with the same level of annoyance as believers knocking on your door Saturday morning to tell you “the good news” about our Lord and Savior (we all have our little illusions; far be it from me to take away yours).
Finally, we all wear masks, and the first step in any personal change is to act the part; it isn’t a far stretch of the imagination to think the human mind can convince itself of anything (Nic Cage’s “Vampire’s Kiss” comes to mind as an example) until the mask becomes the truth. All of this said, however, no vampire character I have ever created would log onto a social network expressly for the purpose of convincing the world that they’re real; it is far more likely they’ll deny everything and smile at the ones screaming in all caps across the internet.
Filed under: Cosplaying, Creativity, Existentialism, Horrificus, Literarian, Paranormal Tagged: Nic Cage, organized religion, psychic vampires, the matriarch, Vampire Community, Vampire's Kiss
Janiss Has a Holiday Message for Cedarcrest Sanctum
For the very first time, the executive administrator of Cedarcrest Sanctum, Janiss Connelly, takes the reigns of the annual holiday address from Timothy Harker to wish a happy holidays to all – and why she’ll never turn anyone into a vampire.
Let’s just say this isn’t your usual Christmas message; read it HERE.
And Happy New Year!
Filed under: Cemetery, Conspiracies, Horrificus, Literarian Tagged: #amwriting, #VWSG, Cedarcrest Sanctum, Christmas, Janiss Connelly, vampires
December 18, 2014
First Draft of The Matriarch III is Complete! #amwriting
58,800 words written in 48 days completes the first draft of this third book (out of a planned four-book series). Now it’s time for a well-earned step away, letting the words settle on the page for a bit before trading “good enough for now” up to “as near to perfect as any mere mortal can hope to be.”
Like the first two novels, I have strived to infuse as many human elements as possible into this vampire story. There are plenty of individual elements, but to infuse life into the adventure, the risks and the rewards, you must also show love, hate, fear, surprise, betrayal, jealousy, and all the rest. Plot is what happens to our characters; story is how it affects them.
Coming soon: the official title, the actual cover, chapter teasers, and the publication date! As always, there is plenty more information and other goodies at Cedarcrest Sanctum.
I cannot wait to show you what I’ve been working on!
Filed under: Creativity, Existentialism, Horrificus, Literarian, Paranormal Tagged: Kevin A. Ranson, Matriarch, novel, vampires
December 11, 2014
Much Ado About Vampires: Writing The Matriarch III
Whether you love or hate the Bard…or vampires.
When I expanded my stand-alone vampire novel into a book series, it required me to re-envision the first novel as “part one” to create a story progression (don’t you hate when a great story falls apart at the end?) I tried to think of The Matriarch as a trilogy, but it was going to take four books to get to the ending I wanted and wrap everything up with a bow.
This means each self-contained novel – intended to be enjoyable unto itself – had to seed the entire arc to show the main character progression, especially in her capabilities and the challenges she would have to overcome. Those knowing the story line of my current work in progress, the untitled third, have dubbed it “Shakespearean” in reference to characters withholding critical information that escalates the situation. The Matriarch: Guardians did this, too, but to a much smaller degree.
It’s a classic and flexible trope: if Boy-X would have just told Girl-Y about Suitor-3, Villain-Z wouldn’t have tried to kill Girl-Y over the perceived slight from Boy-X. Then there’s my favorite: the character who knows everybody’s secrets but keeps them to manipulate others and/or just enjoy the show. If we would all just learn to talk to one another, we wouldn’t have to go around threatening to kill everyone…I know, I know: where’s the fun in that?
The first draft of The Matriarch III is nearly complete! I credit Linda S. Cowden with the title of this post; I love my wife!
Filed under: Creativity, Existentialism, Horrificus, Internet, Literarian, Paranormal Tagged: Kevin A. Ranson, Shakespearean, the matriarch, The Matriarch: Guardians, vampires
November 11, 2014
Novel Writing – My Process: Motivation
Novelist Tim Waggoner was asked by one of his creative writing students for tips on “how to stay motivated to write.” I offered this suggestion:
On the subject of motivation in writing (when you can’t seem to get it done), I try to boost stimuli: read, walk, travel, explore, and above all TAKE NOTES. Being a writer means you’re always thinking about how to describe something, do something, or how things happen. And when you’re neck-deep in a project, you never know what little tidbit will solve that problem you’re working through. Don’t be afraid to step away from the pencil or keyboard and let your imagination be inspired.
Filed under: Creativity, Internet, Literarian Tagged: Kevin A. Ranson, Motivation, My Process, Novel Writing, Tim Waggoner
October 30, 2014
Novel Writing – My Process: Plotting
In a discussion of Stephen King’s book On Writing, he claims he doesn’t see the value in plotting. This is what I had to say on the subject on the eve of the 2014 NaNoWriMo:
Whenever I write a short story, I often envision it as a single scene or chapter with a single point of view. When I scaled that up to writing a novel, I treat each scene/chapter as a separate short story, giving it a beginning, a middle, and an end. To find those scenes, I usually start at the end, then work my way backwards to figure out what scenes I need to get to that conclusion; my first scene is often the hardest to decide upon: what is the perfect spot to jump into the story? I also imagine specific scenes – money shots – to act as way points to work toward while filling in all of the missing pieces.
Filed under: Creativity, Existentialism, Literarian Tagged: Kevin A. Ranson, My Process, nanowrimo, Novel Writing, On Writing, plotting, Stephen King
