L.S. Murphy's Blog, page 32

5 Questions with Brent Michael Kelley

Brent Michael Kelley

Brent Michael Kelley is the author of Chuggie and the Desecration of Stagwater available now from Omnium Gatherum Media. His story "Ride" will appear in the upcoming anthology Detritus which will be available on January 13th.

Brent Michael Kelley lives and writes in the Wisconsin Northwoods. He shares a home with such things as hairless dogs, a snake named Darth Batman, and the woman he married on Halloween. In addition to writing about his pal Chuggie, he likes writing story-poems, painting monsters, and making wine. Some say late at night, if you're alone by a campfire, you can summon Brent by closing your eyes and saying his name eleven times. He insists this is not true and there's no way it will work… yet.

What is your biggest time drain? My biggest time drain is either those video games or the internet in general. Too dern much information out there. But you have to read about scientific breakthroughs, you know? Sooner or later, CERN is going to find the Higgs boson, and I'm not going to be out of the loop! What if they find a cure for aging? What if peace breaks out in the Middle East? What if the zombies finally rise up? These are things you need to know immediately. In the words of Captain Picard, "The truth is out there."
How many writing projects do you work on at one time?  I always have a handful of stories cooking in various stages. Right now there are a couple short stories that are nearly finished, although I probably shouldn't call them "finished" until I see them in print. I have a couple of story-poems in progress. With those, I have no idea where the story is going, so I can't tell if they're just about done or what. They're kind of all sitting on the back burner right now, though. The thing I'm most interested in writing is the sequel to Chuggie and the Desecration of Stagwater. I'm doing a strange form of ideation. I wouldn't call it outlining. Just coming up with creatures and artifacts that I've never seen before. Coming up with events that I want to work toward. This is certainly the fun part of the process, but pretty soon I'll need to start the heavy lifting.
What do you do when/if you're suffering from writer's block?  Writer's block is a big fat jerk. There are different levels of severity, though, and I've never been stricken with a level 10. Say you're sitting at your computer and you can't think of anything to write. Go mow the lawn and put your mind to it. It's midnight and you can't mow lawn? Go sit on your roof with a notebook. I usually have a little pocket notebook with me to jot down any notion that strikes me. They don't all make the cut, but they all warrant consideration. I keep my eyes peeled. I'll see the things I want to write about all around me. I recently saw a large bipedal goat in a pile of hair. Now I have an idea for a Goat Lord, as big as King Kong, that I can use in my story. And I'm pretty sure he's one of many. There are creatures in the clouds, too. But ideas are leaping at you from all directions at all times. The trick is to keep the net ready so you can snatch them from flight before they get away. And if that still doesn't work, get yourself a copy of Finnegan's Wake. You get stumped on ANYTHING, turn to a random page and read a sentence. I also like a long country drive with a voice recorder. Just get jacked up on caffeine and drive across the state by yourself. You'll get some ideas out of that.
Where did the spark of inspiration come from for Chuggie? Chuggie came about when I heard my painting instructor talking about her muse back in college. I decided to call forth a muse of my own. Chuggie showed up, knocked a bunch of my stuff over and tried to sell me a sack of old church keys. He had a voice like Tom Waits and a chain wrapped around his chest. One day I just started writing about him. The first thing he did was fight his way through some trees only to end up in something called a Desecration. Later on I found out he was the walking embodiment of Drought. But the spark… the very SPARK at the core of Chuggie… nothing pushes you to create quite like a job you aren't happy with. I'm not going to sling any mud right now, just going to say I was the wrong person for the job I had. At lunch time every day, I'd go and sit in the park to write about Chuggie or work on my story-poem about gnomes. I could have done anything with that time, but I spent it creating. Then after work, I'd stay up writing or painting or whatever until I couldn't keep my eyes open. Lots of people are miserable. They just need to understand they're alchemists, and they can transmute that misery into something worthwhile.
Finally, Beatles or Rolling Stones? This is a very difficult question. I told someone very close to me about this question, and she immediately blurted "Rolling Stones!" I tried to explain that it isn't such a simple answer, but she tried to stab me instead. On the one hand, the Beatles were all about experimentation. Sure, they did plenty of LSD, but it was all in the search of something. They went to India and learned to play sitars. They grew beards and handlebar mustaches. Maybe they didn't grow handlebars, okay? I haven't verified that. But I grew a handlebar mustache, and my only regret is not doing it sooner. I look so distinguished it'll make your head explode. Monocle? Yep. Top hat? You know it. But I'm getting off track. So this person says Rolling Stones, and I'm not allowed to argue. But I know that this person really just likes the one Rolling Stones song. And they also prefer the Guns 'N Roses cover of that song to the Stones version. I'm not naming any names here, but Chuck Palahniuk himself advised me to break up with her back in 2006. Did I listen? No. Maybe Chuck Palahniuk doesn't know everything! Although he did claim to have urinated on a piece of art that I sent him. I know that doesn't sound like something you'd like to have happen to your art, but I was (and am) quite flattered by the gesture. Of course, I have no way of verifying whether or not this is true. I just have to trust that if Chuck Palahniuk says he tinkled on my art then that's what he did. The point I'm trying to get at, and I hope I'm not rambling now, is that… crap, I forgot where I was going with this. I guess I better say I like the Rolling Stones better so SOMEbody – again, not saying who – doesn't try to smother me in my sleep. Again

Don't forget to check out Chuggie and the Desecration of Stagwater which Piers Anthony called "a literally gut-wrenching horror story, in the sense of guts being wrenched out of living bodies and eaten by little monsters. I'm really not a fan of horror, as mentioned above, but this one held my morbidly fascinated attention to the end." Read the full review here.

Tagged: 2012, Authors, Books, Fiction, friends, Fun, Interview, Interviews, Just for Fun, Musings, Random, Random Thoughts, Reading, Writers, Writing

Book Review: Embrace by Cherie Colyer

Synopsis from Goodreads: Sometimes you end up hurting the ones you love.

You find you can't save them or yourself.

Madison is familiar enough with change, and she hates everything about it. Change took her long-term boyfriend away from her. It caused one of her friends to suddenly hate her. It's responsible for the death of a local along with a host of other mysterious happenings. But when Madison meets a hot new guy, she thinks her luck is about to improve.

Madison is instantly drawn to the handsome and intriguing Isaac Addington. She quickly realizes he's a guy harboring a secret, but she's willing to risk the unknown to be with him.

Her world really spins out of control, however, when her best friend becomes delusional, seeing things that aren't there and desperately trying to escape their evil. When the doctors can't find the answers, Madison seeks her own.

Nothing can prepare her for what she is about to discover.

Dangerous, intoxicating, and darkly romantic, Embrace is a thriller that will leave you spellbound.

The Cover: I actually didn't even notice the cover when I decided to read this, so it wasn't a factor in whether or not I would pick it out at the bookstore.

The First Line: "I should have cared what I wore, but I couldn't quite get there." This is a great first line. It tells the reader a lot about the main character, in this case Madison. You're left wondering why didn't she care about her clothes and why she should have. It creates enough intrigue to pull you into the story.

The Good:  This is a good example of how setting can enhance a reading experience. Since this was set in Essex County, Massachusetts, the history of witchcraft added to the plot. The witchcraft was well presented with clear knowledge of the occult and a nice mix of the fantastic. Madison's relationships with her family and her friends is genuine. And I would love to have a best friend like Kaylee. It also read fast and was, at times, difficult to put down.

The Bad: The beginning was slow with the first meeting between Isaac and Madison going too easily. That relationship felt forced initially. While it was all rectified by the narrative and the great character voice that stood out, it took away from the believably of the romance.

Recommendation: Fans of the cult movie classic The Craft will love this book and devour it in one night. Overall, this is worth checking out for fans of YA paranormal romance.

Tagged: 2012, Authors, Book Reviews, Books, Just for Fun, Musings, Opinion, Opinions, ramblings, Random, Random Thoughts, Reading, Reviews, Teens, Writers, Writing, YA, YA books, Young Adult, Young Adult Books

Book Review: Everneath by Brodi Ashton

 Imagine my joy when I opened my mailbox on Christmas Eve and inside was an ARC of Everneath by Brodi Ashton. Merry Christmas to me!

Synopsis from Goodreads: Last spring, Nikki Beckett vanished, sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath, where immortals Feed on the emotions of despairing humans. Now she's returned- to her old life, her family, her friends- before being banished back to the underworld… this time forever.

She has six months before the Everneath comes to claim her, six months for good-byes she can't find the words for, six months to find redemption, if it exists.

Nikki longs to spend these months reconnecting with her boyfriend, Jack, the one person she loves more than anything. But there's a problem: Cole, the smoldering immortal who first enticed her to the Everneath, has followed Nikki to the mortal world. And he'll do whatever it takes to bring her back- this time as his queen.

The Cover: My first impression of the cover was WOW. It's absolutely beautiful. I love how the dress drifts into wisps through the air and what appears to be clouds at her feet. I also love the use of color. The red dress draws my attention down to the title.

The First Line: "I was picturing his face – a boy with floppy brown hair and brown eyes – when the Feed ended."  What I love about this line is the simplicity of it. You don't get a lot of details, but you do get sucked in immediately with two questions that need to be answered. 1) Who's the boy? and 2) What's the Feed? It's also apparent that the boy and the Feed are on opposite ends of the character's desire.

The Good: The twist on mythology is great without overwhelming the reader with the mythology. There is enough information on Greek myths in the story without weighing down the plot. The characters are believable and well written. The setting is a great contrast to the brief visuals of the Everneath. The romance is definitely swoon worthy. While the love triangle can sometimes be overdone in YA books these days, Ashton manages to make it feel fresh.

The Bad: There isn't a lot here. The only thing that bothered me was the absence of Nikki's father and brother for the first half of the book. Especially her father. While they do pop up more frequently in the second half, both characters seemed underutilized in the beginning.

Recommendation: Anyone who enjoys YA paranormal romance should pick this up.

Tagged: 2011, Book, book Review, Book Reviews, Books, Fiction, Musings, Opinion, Opinions, Paranormal, Paranormal Romance, ramblings, Random, Random Thoughts, Reading, Reviews, Romance, Teens, Writing, YA, YA books, Young Adult, Young Adult Books

Write Christmas

About this time last year, I posted Twas the Night Before a Writer's Christmas to resounding success. So, in honor of destroying the classics, I bring to you a sing-along this year… A Write Christmas. (May Bing Crosby forgive me.)

I'm dreaming of a Write Christmas

So I can get this novel done

Where the tree tops shatter and bodies splatter

In pages and pages that go on.

I'm dreaming of a Write Christmas

With every Christmas card I jot.

While planning and scheming, romancing and dreaming,

Of every scene that I could plot.

I'm dreaming of a Write Christmas

Just like the ones in Dickens' books

With beggars in top hats, children in loose wraps

And snow covering everywhere you look.

May your days be scary with blight,

And may all your Christmases be bright.

Tagged: 2011, Authors, Christmas, Fun, Just for Fun, Musings, ramblings, Random, Random Thoughts, Writers, Writing

Breathless – Blogfest contest

Brenda Drake is hosting a fabulous Blogfest contest. Go to her blog and check out everyone else's entry. See who leaves YOU breathless. Oh, and check out mine:

Fred smiles at me like he knows some big secret that I just don't get.

"That's it." I grab Ben's hand and drag him out the front door. The sound of laughter drifts behind us as we cross the lawn. I shove him against the van. "What's going on? Why do they keep calling me that? And you're going to answer me this time, Bender."

"You don't like the attention? Being Queen Bee is your sort of thing, isn't it?" He snarls. The malice is in his voice but not his eyes.

It still hurts. "So now you're mean again?"

He shrugs then looks out onto the lawn. A few cars park in front of the house. He watches the girls fall out of the first one with an assortment of beer cans.

"Ben, what's going on?" I shove my hands into my pockets. I'm not letting this go.

"Can we talk about this later?"

"Why not now?"

"I just…"

"You know what. Just forget it. Fine. Whatev." I spin toward the street but don't walk away. I don't want to. A car slows as it passes on the street. It looks like Tiffani's, but she doesn't come on campus.

"I'm sorry, Q-Tip."

"For what?" I turn back to face him.

He cups my face in his hands. I'm frozen. Everything's going in slo-mo. He doesn't rush in. I make no move to stop him. My hands move on their own and cover his. Then his lips brush against mine. A volcano erupts inside. It's not like the first time Logan kissed me; it's so much better. My hands drop to his waist. Looping my fingers into his belt loops, I pull him closer.

Ben pulls back, but his lips are centimeters from mine. "That's why they call you famous."

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Glowing in Forest Park

This summer has been beyond busy and moved at lightspeed. Sadly, my blog has fallen by the wayside. I plan on remedying that in the upcoming months with a new look.

Until then, here are some photos from The Great Forest Park Balloon Race and Glow.

Energizer Bunny

Lighting Up the Park

Meet Me in St. Louis

 

Tagged: 2011, Balloon Race, Family, Forest Park, friends, Fun, hot air, hot air balloons, Just for Fun, Memories, Missouri, Musings, Opinion, Opinions, Photography, Photos, ramblings, Random, Random Thoughts, St. Louis, Videos, Weekends

Yadi's Bad Call

Jeff Passan, a well-known hater of the St. Louis Cardinals, wrote a column yesterday about the issue of player-umpire relations. While I agree with Passan that more needs to be done to fix this problem, I found it interesting that he waited until a St. Louis Cardinal, in this case Yadier Molina, made a dramatic show of arguing a called third strike to write the article.

Of course, Passan likes to rile up Cardinals fans so that may be why. It also bothered me that the Yahoo! Sports Minute showed the clip with the commentary from the Brewers broadcasters and not the Cardinals broadcasters. Yeah, like the Brewers announcers are going to say that Yadi had a point. They aren't stupid. Their market is Brewers fans, not fairness to any situation.

It's a point of contention with Cardinals' fans that the national media ignores our team or just shove it to the side with such blatant lack of real journalistic ethics. If Yahoo had any journalist ethics, they would have used the commentary from BOTH teams. But I digress….

Back to Passan's column.

Did Yadi spit on Drake? Maybe. I know that when people are yelling that spittle flies. Happens to the best of us, after all. Regardless, it's an unfortunate situation and he does deserve a punishment.

But what about the umpires?

Really? In situations like this where a call is blown, what punishment to they get?

The most famous blown call in Cardinal history came in the 1985 World Series. Cards fans know this one by heart. In case you don't know the story, Don Denklinger blew an easy call at first during the eighth inning of game six. The Cards lost momentum and eventually the championship. While Denklinger dealt with the ire of fans, what punishment did he receive from MLB?

None.

Then there was the blown call last year that didn't cost a championship, but it cost a player something almost as hard to achieve: a perfect game. Armando Galarraga lost el perfecto when umpire Jim Joyce pulled a Denklinger. Joyce and Galarraga handled the situation with more professionalism than any bank CEO has. Still, other than being added to the list of Worst Calls in MLB History, what punishment did he receive?

None.

Players make mistakes. Umpires make mistakes. They are human. It's part of the game. Yadi deserves whatever fines/suspensions he gets. He lost his cool. BUT shouldn't the umpires be fined for making the bad calls that make things like this happen? Shouldn't umpires be held to the same standard of MLB players?

Maybe if there was equal ground, there would be equal respect…

 

Tagged: 2011, Baseball, Don Denklinger, Fun, History, Memories, Missouri, MLB, Musings, Opinion, Opinions, ramblings, Random, Random Thoughts, Rants, St. Louis, Umpires, World Series

Colby & the TRADE

World Series rings are not won based on a player's potential. Neither are League championships, Division championships, or even single season games. It's that simple.

While I appreciate that Colby Rasmus has incredible potential, it was time for him to move on from St. Louis. He wasn't happy here. He never would be either. A player that asks for a trade two seasons in a row, doesn't want to play for that team anymore, no matter how much smoke (or money) you blow up their a$$.

People are screaming for LaRussa's head. People are screaming for Mozeliak to stop catering to LaRussa. So instead of looking at it from a baseball perspective, look at it from a standard employee/employer perspective.

As an employer, you have an employee who doesn't want to work for your company. He's not living up to your expectations. You can't fire him because he hasn't done anything wrong. The employee just doesn't fit with the whole of the company.

As an employee, you feel like your boss is always picking on you. Your coworkers are on your rear about how to do this and how to do that. Then you have your father telling you how to do your job as well.

The best solution for all involved is for the employee to move on.

This is what happened when the Cardinals traded Colby Rasmus to Toronto. I wish him well. I hope he lives up to his potential. And I hope he grows some balls and tells his father to butt out of his career. He's 24 not 14. He can vote, buy booze, and go to as many strip clubs as he wants. Why does he need his father to hold his hand as he figures out his career?

Good Luck, Colby.

Tagged: 2011, Baseball, Blue Jays, Cardinals, Colby Rasmus, Fun, Memories, Missouri, MLB, Musings, News, Opinion, ramblings, Random, Random Thoughts, Rants, St. Louis, St. Louis Cardinals, Toronto, Toronto Blue Jays

Hasta Luego, Borders

[image error] The news of Borders liquidation isn't a surprise to those who've been following the once mighty stores downfall. That doesn't make it less depressing.

 Is it because of e-books? Maybe to a degree. Borders had its own e-reader.

 Is it because of Barnes & Noble or Amazon? Maybe, but it can't be blamed entirely on competition.

 Is it because of the economic downfall? More than likely this is the case. Add that to rapid expansion and general mismanagement and you have the ingredients for disaster.

I, for one, am sad to see Borders go as I frequented the two stores near me quite often. It won't be the same to walk into a different bookstore. The employees of Borders were always kind and always knew what I was looking for, even if I didn't.

Goodbye, Borders. You will be missed.

Tagged: 2011, Books, Borders, Business, Memories, Musings, News, Opinion, Opinions, ramblings, Random, Random Thoughts, Rants, Reading, Writers

Rockin' Thursdays

It's been a really busy summer so far and it appears it will only get busier. In a good way, of course. Sadly, I've been neglecting Rockin' Thursdays! Today, I will rectify that with a little "Country Song" by Seether. (Because Seether TOTALLY rocks.)

 

Sing along with the lyrics. Rock on and Rock LOUD.

Tagged: 2011, Country Song, Fun, Just for Fun, Music, ramblings, Random, Random Thoughts, Rock, Rockin' Thursdays, Seether, Videos