Thea Isis Gregory's Blog, page 6

A Tale of Two Novels – a guest post by John Abramowitz

I’m pleased to re-introduce my friend and fellow writer John Abramowitz! John wrote Atticus for the Undead, and now he wants to talk about his latest upcoming release, The Void. I’ll let John fill you in on the rest:

It is fitting that The Void is a tale of two characters’ coming of age (One of the characters is Alex Cronlord, the protagonist. I won’t say who the other one is to avoid spoilers. For purposes of this blog entry, we’ll refer to that character as Bob. Yes.). The Void is the second book in my young adult Weaver Saga, and the story of the Saga’s creation is the story of my coming of age as a writer. After all, its predecessor, Weaver, is the first book I ever published. Together, the two novels bookend my writing career (ba-dum-ching).

As I moved Alex and Bob through their journeys in roughly parallel action, I often felt like the novel was a case of art imitating life — Bob’s story arc was a metaphor for writing Weaver, while Alex’s story symbolized writing The Void. Just as Alex and Bob must make similar choices at various points during the novel, I confronted many of the same choices while writing The Void that I faced while writing Weaver. I’ll leave it to you to decide if the second book is better than the first (though I hope it is), but I would like to share with you some of the lessons I learned:

#1.) Don’t try to rush through your plot. Before I wrote Weaver, I made serial fiction, not novels. Serials allow a writer to be very ambitious, since they provide a lot of time to stretch out the plot and character arcs. When I started writing novels, I was determined not to dial back my ambitions — but I had less space to tell my story. I think the final product still turned out well, but I definitely tried to cram too much into too few words. As I re-read the first book in preparation for writing the second, there were some scenes that I definitely looked at and said, “I wish I had gone into more detail about this.”

I’m happy to say that I didn’t make that mistake this time around. In fact, I altered my original plan for the book to avoid making that mistake. My initial outline called for me to essentially tell Bob’s entire story in this book, but as I got down to writing, I saw that it wouldn’t work. After all, I wanted Alex’s progression to parallel Bob’s, and Alex’s story would not end with this book — the rest of the series would be very boring if it did! Since I knew how far I wanted to take Alex in this book, I decided to stop Bob’s story at the same point. This was painful for me, since I’d been looking forward to writing some of the scenes that didn’t make the cut. On the other hand, now I can torture my readers with the suspense!

#2.) Keep up with your characters. This wasn’t an issue for me in the first book, since I only had one set of characters to contend with. But by the time I wrote The Void, I’d also self- published Atticus for the Undead, a totally different type of story with a totally different cast of characters. By the time I finished Atticus, I’d bonded so thoroughly with Hunter, Kirsten, and Sabrina that I’d completely lost touch with Alex, Moira, and James. I didn’t know what was going on in their heads. I’d lost track of their motivations.

And then Michael, my friend and beta reader, suggested that I write one-page sketches of each of the characters before writing another word of the manuscript, which I did. I cannot overstate how much easier those sketches made the writing process. They forced me to define the characters and their motivations in my own mind. They also served as a “cheat sheet” I could use when writing the scenes, to make sure I didn’t forget details that might influence their decisions.

#3.) Listen to your critics. Well, not all of them. Don’t listen to the ones who just want to call you names, for example. There are also some people whose tastes in reading will differ from your taste in writing. That’s okay. But I highly recommend reading any review offering constructive insights into issues or problems the reviewer had with your book. Detach your ego and ask yourself if there’s a kernel of truth in their criticism, or something you might use to build on your own work.

This is how I learned Lesson #1, above. A kind reader e-mailed me to say that, while she had enjoyed Weaver, she felt that the book had pacing issues, and hoped I would take that into consideration in writing future books. When I thought about it, I realized she was right. As a (terrified) first-time novelist, it was hard to read criticism of my book, but if I’d ignored or dismissed her criticism, I would have done myself a disservice. I truly believe that both Atticus for the Undead and The Void are better books because I took what she said to heart.

A New Project Beckons

I’m back after an extended disappearance! I didn’t forget about you guys, but, no news is no news. Now, I have news, am making news and am ready to rock some socks.

Sanity Vacuum is done for the moment and awaiting edits, which leaves me with a void in my life. As we know, nature abhors a vacuum (haha) and thus, there is only one or two logical things to do, especially since day job style work is slow.

1. Fill it with zombies

Bedlam is getting moved off the back burner, and finding itself thrust back into the angry, violent recesses of my mind. The fourth part of the Zombie Bedtime Stories introduces new characters, new places, and new atrocities. There will be some familiar places, and names, because the whole series is interconnected and will lead up to the terrifying and ultimate series conclusion. I love the Zombie Bedtime Stories, and it will get its 12-15 story run.

2. Write a sequel

That’s right, I started the sequel to Sanity Vacuum today. The working title for the series is The ABACUS Protocol, and the title I’ve picked for the sequel is The Pandora Machine. There’s not a lot to tell here yet, but it’s going to be one hell of a ride.

The Zombie Bedtime Stories blog tour has ended

I'm so sad to see it go. The tour went out with a bang!

I discussed humor and the Zombie Bedtime Stories with Rick Gualtieri on his blog.

I explained how even the mundane act of preparing meat and food can be an inspiration for horror, with fellow woman zombie writer Alyn Day.

I was also included on Stant Litore's Your Zombie Bookshelf feature, where I undertook one of the most rigorous literary exercises since college English class. I am in excellent company there, it's worth a second (and third!) look.

It was a great tour. I made a crochet zombie, answered many, many interviews and I had a grand old time. I'm not sure when I'll do my next one, more than likely after Sanity Vacuum comes out.

Things are changing, but staying the same

In short, I'm finally well enough to return to work, and I started a temp job today. It's for a few months, and I expect that my social media activities will be highly curtailed as I'm not allowed to have my phone while I'm on the floor. My video reviews will slow down, but not stop. In order to meet my other obligations, I can only read while on public transit for about 30 minutes per day.

I'm managing to keep up with #wip500, and even get in some extra as I can manage it. Right now, Bedlam is about 11000 words long, and I'm only about half-way through the story. It's going to be the longest Zombie Bedtime Story yet! I'm hoping to have the first draft ready late this month, as I anticipate that its final length will be between 20 and 25k words.

I have some very exciting news coming up, but I'm keeping a lid on that for the moment. Let's just say that I am very, very happy, which means you should be happy, too!

Fresh meat in the Video Reviews department, and submission guidelines

I recently had the privilege of reviewing Coral Moore's Broods of Fenrir. It's a werewolf urban fantasy, and let's just say I am now in love with werewolves.

Have a watch:

If you like my reviews, please subscribe to my YouTube channel. I try to keep a fresh assortment of indie books that range in length from short stories to novels.I update about once or twice per week, depending on health, schedule and how long the books are. I try to cram a short story or a novella between novels to keep things fresh.

Additionally, I promised some submission guidelines for those among you who are up to the nerve-wracking awesomeness that is having me video-review a book. Well, look no longer. I've got a bit of a back list, but I'm still accepting submissions for the time being. Let me know in the comments, twitter or any of the other myriad ways there are of contacting me.

The Zombie Bedtime Stories blog tour marches on!

We're about halfway through the month. There are plenty more interviews and guest blog posts coming up. I'm very excited about them all, of course. I have to be! Here's the quick run-down of my latest guest blog adventures:

Last weekend, I outlined my Quest for a Crochet Zombie on SM. Robertson's blog. She and I talk about crochet, rescuing birds, writing and all other good things on Twitter, so I was so happy when she offered to host me.

Today, a post called Zombies In Disguise came out on Mercurial Musings. It's kind of funny, I expand on the "ha ha, mall patrons are zombies" logic. To make us all zombies.

This weekend, I have a packed itinerary. It's going to be great.

 

Guest Post: Nobody Expects The Zombie Inquisition

I'd like to introduce you to a new writer friend I've made. His name is John, and he's a lawyer, but he's a nice lawyer! (Stop being prejudiced!) I'm presently in the middle of reading his legal thriller, Atticus for the Undead, and while it's the first legal thriller I've ever read, it's opened my eyes to the genre. It also has zombies in it, which helps. Stay tuned for my video review.

Now, I'll turn you over to John. Hi hi to John, audience!

 

Hi. I'm John Abramowitz.

If you haven't heard of me, I'm not surprised. I'm a relatively new indie author, and I'm

trying to build On The Bird Publishing from the ground up. Thea kindly offered me this space on

her blog to help spread the word about my brand. (Don't worry, I promise not to track too much

mud on your carpets!)

When I sat down to write this, I struggled with the question of what I could say. I could

tell you that I'm a long, tall Texan (over six-and-a-half feet, in fact), that I'm a lawyer in the day

job, or that I use way too many parentheses (as you're already discovering), but none of those

really tell you what I'm about as a writer.

So let me start by telling you what I'm not about — or rather, what I don't want to do. I

don't want to write great literature. I have absolutely no interest in that. Mark Twain once said

that "A classic is a book which people praise and don't read." He understood that, too

often, "classic" is a synonym for "boring". And if there's one thing I never want to be, it's boring.

Sure, don't get me wrong — there are issues I have strong feelings about. I have things to

say. But I think you should always make your social commentary in the context of telling a good

story. I would rather read an entertaining, emotionally engaging story that had nothing

whatsoever to say about the human condition than read a book chock full of social commentary

which had no blood going through it.

(Actually, "no blood going through it" may be the wrong phrase to use for a guy who

currently writes paranormal and urban fantasy thrillers, come to think of it. I guess you'll have to

read Weaver and Atticus for the Undead and find out for yourself if there's blood in them. I can't

spoil — that would be mean!)

If you like books that are enjoyable first and meaningful second, then welcome to On The Bird.

Video book review: Book 2 of The Zombie Bible

I had the privilege of reading and reviewing the second book of The Zombie Bible, What Our Eyes Have Witnessed. The story takes place in ancient Rome, and focuses on the events leading up to the martyrdom of St-Polycarp.

Head on over to The Zombie Bible's website, and tell Stant I say hi. Or, better yet, pick up this great read. Treat yourself. It's a couple of months until the next Zombie Bedtime Story, after all.

The Zombie Bedtime Stories blog tour continues with a stop at Chaos and Insanity

The wonderful Coral Moore over at Chaos and Insanity was kind enough to interview me as part of the Zombie Bedtime Stories blog tour.

Head on over, see what I have to say about zombies, writing and more zombies.If zombies aren't your thing, Coral has some excellent insights on werewolves and shape-shifters.

PS. Bedlam, part 4 of Zombie Bedtime Stories, is looking good.

The Zombie Bedtime Stories blog tour has begun! Today’s host: @onthebird

That’s right, I just did my first guest blog post!

I discussed the Anatomy of a Zombie Story at onthebird, the home of John Abramowitz, author of the zombie legal thriller Atticus for the Undead. Are you intrigued? I know I sure am!

Drop by, see what goes into my super-scientific zombie story formula before I patent it, and tell John that Thea sent you.