Joseph Hunt's Blog, page 15

My Fiction Thursday -- I'm Only Human.

So this piece has been inspired by Saturday's post: 'Why We (Writers) are all Vampires' -- you can read that first, or read this first, it doesn't really matter, but that's just where all of the inspiration came from.




Warning: Contains swear words.



I'm Only Human


He woke to the light in his eyes. The soft breeze from the open window had managed to wriggle the curtains along the pole, and now the study was beginning to fill with light. Harvey blinked and as the light touched his eyes he let out a groan and grit his teeth.



"Darcy!" he shouted, lifting his head up from his desk. "Darcy! Why the fuck are the curtains open?" he rubbed his eyes and shaded his face from the light.



"What's up, honey?" Darcy asked, walking into her husband's study.



"The curtains are open! Who opened the curtains?"



"Oh. I'm not sure," she said, rushing over to close the curtains. "How much sleep have you had?"



Harvey picked his glasses up and pushed them onto his face. He turned to look at the clock on the wall behind him. "3 hours," he said.



"Do you want to go to bed? I made it fresh this morning," she said, smiling at her husband.



He scoffed. "I can't go back to sleep now. Just go and get me my drip."



"Harvey," she said, "we've not got many left, you're going to have to start making some money soon."



"Just go and get me my damn drip!" he said through his clenched jaw.



She nodded and rushed out of the room.



The room was back to the way it was, dark and quiet, too quiet. Harvey pulled his laptop close and opened it up. There, that made everything instantly better. He turned it on and already open on the desktop was a manuscript, almost complete, and it had taken him about 16 hours to get there.



A taller, brown haired girl walked into the study, she was pushing a silver pole with a bag of foggy coloured liquid attached.



"Jessica," Harvey said, turning to see his eldest daughter. "Are you sure you can do this?"



"Dad," she grinned, "I have qualifications to do this. And besides, mum's trying to figure out how we can save the house without it being repossessed."



"Tell her to sell that," he said, nodding to the bag attached to the pole. "She can probably get more."



"No, I don't think she can. She was fired for stealing this shit in the first place."



Harvey rolled his eyes. "Go on then, put it in," he said, rolling the sleeve from his left arm up.



Jessica put her gloves on and started to fiddle around with the tubes, connecting them to the drip and the little needle at the end.



"How was the first bag?" she asked, tapping to find a vein on her father's arm.



"Sixty-five-thousands words," he said, suppressing the excitement.



"Mum will be happy to hear that," she said, "but don't use get too carried away. These are experimental drugs, the kind that's normally tested on animals first."



"It will be --"



"It'll hurt a little bit," she said, pricking her father's skin and pushing the needle into his vein.



"It will be fine. It's only caffeine, it's not like I'm taking drugs," he snorted.



Jessica put two sticky plasters over the needle and then across the tube running down his arm. "Don't move around too much or it will come out," she said, kissing her father's head and then leaving.



Harvey waited a moment, he closed his eyes and waited for that pop inside him, and right on cue the small pop inside his ear drums stirred. He opened his eyes and started typing from where he'd left it. His fingers strolled across the keys. He watched the screen whilst his fingers communicated on their own.



And then another pop. Harvey's head fell onto the laptop with a crunch.



"Harvey!" Darcy shouted, "are you okay? I thought I heard something bang."



Darcy walked in to find her husband facing her. His eyes were open, glaring in her direction.



"Oh." She held a hand up to her mouth. "What's happened?" she asked, walking over to him. She nudged his shoulder.



"D--D--" he stumbled over his words, trying to lift his head, and trying to lift his hands to his hand.



She sighed and then pulls the drip from his arm. "I shouldn't have stolen this for you," she said, tearing the plasters from his arm.



"No!" he shot up out of his chair, head-butting his wife in the process.



She wobbled around on her feet for a couple of moments and then Harvey turned and pushed his chair out of the way. He pulled his wife into his arms and tore a chunk out of her neck. He bit her hard, rubbing his teeth together to get a good mouthful. Darcy fell limp, the blood soaked her white flower print dress. She was dead in seconds.



Harvey's lips would forever be stained, tainted the colour of red wine, but without the full body to keep him company.




What did you think?


I think you should all write a small piece about your coffee intake, or your love for coffee! I'd love to here what stories you create... maybe write a response blog post, just post the link here and I'll share it around! Y'know, that would actually make my day!



-Joseph




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Slow and Steady Wins the Race!

The famous phrase--





"Slow and steady wins the race." - Aesop




Is so very true... and if you don't believe me, then that's your loss, you're the one who'll be bitchin' and whingin' when you're a bottom feeder.



As a writer there a no short cuts (exception - having a parent who is a famous author/writer).... there is no such thing as an overnight success, so stop clogging the Facebook groups with your sob stories of how you didn't make the sales you were expecting. Sorry for that outburst, but come on guys, you didn't really expect this career path to be easy, did you?


You might be asking me how I know so much about writing or self-publishing, I have after all not published anything. You're right, I haven't published anything, and yet, people seem to listen to me, and just because you are published it doesn't mean that you're better than me... heck, anyone can publish these days... it's the wise ones who hang on to their work... like Aesop said, Slow and steady wins the race.



If it was up to me... Lumen would already be out... but it's not up to me, it's up to Lumen, and it's telling me that it's not finished yet, it needs to be edited, it needs to have extra scenes... it needs a lot of stuff that can't be rushed... and the reason why it needs all of this stuff... is because I rushed it in the first place.



When I say that I rushed it, I do not mean that I wrote it really fast, because I'm a fast writer, I can touch type so 1,000 words an hour is kind of the norm. I mean that I didn't plan much of it, I just headed in and bashed out a 60,000 word mess.




Joseph's 3-Steps to Taking it Slow ;)




PLAN: let all your excitement out about writing through this... brainstorming should be one of the creative stages. If you don't know what you're going to be writing then you'll be going all over the place, writing off tangents etc. if you plan, there is a [insert high percentage here] that your book/short story won't suck.




WRITE-IT-ALL: I don't care how long you take... but you need to get it all written up before you even dare go back to the beginning and have a play around with it. We all type at our different speeds, but hopefully planning will set those demons at bay and you won't get stuck for anything to write... so write it all down.




GET AN EDITOR: I know you can edit your own writing, if you couldn't then you wouldn't be much of a writer, I mean, I love editing, you might hate it... it's a job, you have to do things that you hate. End of. If you don't get someone whose job it is... as a profession... to edit your writing then you might just fall flat on your face. Don't publish anything without having someone first look over it. (except a blog post... nobody ever looks over my posts LOL)




And for a bonus step!


BE CRITICAL! Let's face it, you're absolutely shit... I'm crap, I know this, I'm just better than the people who don't do anything about it. Get a red pen to everything... ideas, writing, even your attitude.




What did you think of this post?


I took on board what you guys said about loving how personal I get in my posts... so this is fairly personal, but I'm also trying to get you guys to admit the same flaws in yourself.




Are you ready to take it slow and steady?



-Joseph

(Disclaimer: I know that some people aren't planners, and that's okay, I still love you.)

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Write Like You Speak...

I've always wrote how I would speak, obviously cutting the "umms" and "errs" from my writing because that would just piss you off, and it would piss me off as well. I don't mean writing academically, because that's a whole different ball game, what I'm talking about is creative writing... you probably already guessed that though.



I was inspired from a recent creative writing seminar at university where we were given quotes etc. and one of them said something along the lines of... if you wouldn't say it out loud or use it in everyday conversation, then don't use it in your writing.



I agreed, and then someone pointed out that this isn't necessarily true because what if you're writing in the POV of a characters... it was a good point, I also agreed with this, and then to add to it, I said, but then you'd be in that characters mind and so you'd only use words that they would say.





I'm not one of those pretentious la-di-da-di-da writers, if I don't know a word I won't use it, although I love learning new words, and I have to know where it comes from and how it's best used before I even try to use it.



That's one of the reasons why I prefer to write in 3rd person, because I find that I don't have to be in character, whereas writing in 1st person means that you're that character and you can't break it, not even for a second.



Also, writing like you speak and speaking out loud as you write might help you to wriggle out sentences that don't make sense, words that don't fit right... I guess speaking your work aloud is a GREAT help in general.




So any way... write like you speak... you can always edit later.



-Joseph




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Oscar Wilde

If you've been a liker of my Facebook page, or a follower on Twitter for over a week then you'll have noticed that I've been using a lot of Oscar Wilde quotes.



He lived quite a short life, he was 46 when he died, leaving behind a 10 plays and a novel (as well as a few other pieces of writing).



I first heard of Oscar Wilde in my first year of college when I studied The Importance of Being Earnest and I loved it, I'd never really read a play and enjoyed it... sure, I've read Romeo & Juliet, and I'm creating my own version of it, but that's nothing like reading for the sake of being taken by the language, the characters... the play in general.



And so from my first year of college... he's been somewhat an idol of mine. I read The Picture of Dorian Gray, which words cannot describe, and as his only novel it serves him a great deal of justice.



Now, onto one of the reasons why he's an idol... the literary movement which he was a part of, aestheticism, also summed me up. I love visuals, and it's concerned with beauty, or the appreciation of beauty. It's about natural beauty, art and taste... all of which I find great pleasure in. Maybe that's a little weird. I mean... I just love art, I could go to an art showing and I don't know a thing about painting (I can draw a little), I'd just appreciate the art. It's the same with music and writing. 



"If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all." - Oscar Wilde



Do you have any idols?

Do you seek the little pleasures in life, like art?


-Joseph




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Author Interview -- Damaria Senne!

Tell us about yourself

My name is Damaria Senne and I'm 44 years old. And no, I don't mind people knowing my age. I think it's lovely that I've lived that long, and any delusions I may have had that I was going to be young forever were killed when my hair started turning grey when I was 20 or so. I'm South African and currently divide my time between my homes in Johannesburg and a village in the North West province of South Africa.

How long have you been writing for?

I started writing when I figured out that someone had to write the romance novels I devouring by the boatloads. That was when I was 13 or so.

Is writing your full time job?

Yes it is. Throughout the years, I've worked as a materials developer, journalist and communications person. All of these jobs required a heavy load of writing non-fiction. Now that I think about it, the only job I've held that did not have anything to do with writing was when I worked as an account executive for a computer training company ( 1996 – 1999). That was the dark ages, when I had given up on writing, afraid that I did not have a bright future in that industry and was never going to make a living it at. Thank God that stage passed and I now work for myself as a writer and publisher.

What genre are you most comfortable writing?

I'm most comfortable writing children's fiction, romances and non-fiction. I would love to try my hand at fantasy and sci-fi, but right now I find the research and world-building daunting. Maybe I'll try them in future.  I think you should go for it! It doesn't even have to be in a new world, it can be set in this world just like your romances are, but with a twist.

What do you write?

Gosh, what don't I write? Non-fiction pays most of my bills, children's books are my current self- publishing focus. I've had my poems and short stories published in anthologies and magazines, though I only write poetry when things are really bad in my life. My dream is to write and publish novels and novellas, especially in the m/m romance genre. Oo good luck! I supposed you've heard of my pseudonym, Thomas Jay? He writes m/m romances. And I totally understand what you mean by only writing poetry when things are bad in your life.

What do you prefer to read, stand-alone novels or series?

I prefer to read series. With stand-alone novels, sometimes I'm haunted by "what happened after the end of the book?" Or I fall in love with characters and don't really want them to leave.

Who is your favourite author?

I used to answer that question by naming Dean Koonz, Norah Roberts (J.D Robb), Faye Kellerman and a host of other writers. But over the years I've learnt that I tend to go through phases when I get lost in one author's works and stay there for a long time… or until I meet my new favourite author. For the past two years, Mary Calmes, who writes very intriguing m/m romances has been the front-runner.

Did they inspire you to write?

Writers whose work I enjoyed inspired me to a certain extent, in that, sometimes when I read their books, I'd think," I want to write as well as this author."

Is there anyone else or anything else that inspired you?

Yes, my parents inspired me, clichéd as it sounds. My mother started my love affair with children's books. She used to tell us interesting stories about the worlds away from my village and the stories stuck in my head for weeks on end. It took me a long time to realise that she was making up the stories as she went along. My father had very strong faith that I would succeed as a professional writer and that inspires me to want to prove him right, even after his death.

Do you write with music, or without?

When I'm writing, music is noise; loud, annoying noise that I find very distracting.

Are you forever coaxed on caffeine (like so many)?

I don't drink coffee at all, but I drink lots of herbal tea. Maybe you've heard of Rooibos tea? I drink it endlessly. I have heard of that actually!
What's your poison :)? 

Does sushi qualify? I don't drink, smoke or eat much chocolate, but for me, sushi is a dish for all seasons. I want it when I'm celebrating and when I'm depressed and need comfort food. Of course it counts! Also, sushi is good for you!

Are you planner or are you pantser? 
I'm such a pantser I don't even write the chapters sequentially. After doing research, I just write the story as it comes, with the manuscript peppered with sticky notes saying, "research topic X" or "is this a logical step?" The next round of writing then deals with the problem areas I highlighted.

Would you like to share any writing tips? 

Buy a big carton of butt glue, put it regularly, sit on that chair and write until the time you allocated is finished or you've reached your target word count. Then rewrite until you've removed all the glitches that you didn't attend to during the first, second or third draft of the story. Good tip! I think we should all have "butt glue" or a very comfortable cushion so that your bum doesn't go numb and hurt when you're sat up to your computer.

Do you have anything published (self-published)? 

Over the past decade, I've published thousands of articles through print and online media. My published books include:

1. Boitshoko ( An adult reader published by Heinemann South Africa, translated into four languages, now out of print)

2. The Doll That Grew ( First published by Macmillan South Africa, ebook published in 2012 by Damaria Senne Media)

3. How To Get Quoted In The Media (published by Damaria Senne Media in October 2011)

4. Waking Up Grandma ( Due for release on the 26th March through Amazon Kindle)




What are the books about?   







How To Get Quoted InThe Media (Amazon) is a guide for small business owners and non-profit organisations to get media coverage for their businesses or causes. In it, my co-author Christelle du Toit and I share lessons we learnt when we worked as journalists, and later, communications specialists.





The Doll That Grew (Amazon) is a children's story aimed at 5-9 year olds. It tells the tale of a boy whose sister damaged his car twice. The first time was forgivable, but when she did it again, he got very angry and decided to get revenge. It teaches young children the consequences of acting in anger.






Waking Up Grandma is a children's story, also aimed at 5-9 year olds, about a boy and girl who play pranks on their grandma. They have a lot of fun teasing her, but is she having as much fun as they are? The story teaches children that, jokes are supposed to be funny for both sides. If the person you're teasing is not laughing, then it's not a joke. Due out on the 26th March on Amazon.

Where can people find YOU?!

Please stalk me at

Blog: http://damariasenne.blogspot.com
FB page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Damaria-Senne-Media/123235287780213
Twitter: @damariasenne





I'm glad you could join us!

Good luck with the future and keep on writing! ♥




-Joseph




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Why We (Writers) are all Vampires!

Inspiration hit me... it hit me with a bat. Well, the sun hit me actually, almost blinding me this morning when I woke up, and as soon as I realised what was happening I'd wrote this on my Facebook and Twitter:



"Writers are like vampires... we're up at night, we flinch at daylight, and we feed off people... sometimes killing them off."



I'm going off a stereotype here... or what's true to me and my lifestyle etc.



I usually write late at night when there are less distractions around me... although the internet is around me whenever I'm awake -sigh- but I think I've got my addiction tamed. Flinching at daylight is partially true, I did try and burrow my face into my duvet when I thought my retinas were about to burn out. Eeek, that reminds me of the scene in the latest Final Destination where a girl is at the eye doctor and... eugh! Her eyeballs get lasered.



The third and fourth parts are absolutely essential in a writer's diet... as well as coffee, but I'll get to that in a moment. As writers we make a conscious effort to absorb information, we take in the way a person moves, the way they talk, what they say, what they're wearing, how their hair is styled etc. see how we feed off them. And yes, writers are notorious criminals and killers... and it seems that they're always getting away with it. We are killers, I've killed so many characters, and I cry every time. Oooh, that remind me of a moment in The Vampire Diaries, (Yeah, I made reference to vampires-- how cool am I) the episode two weeks ago where Stefan kills someone and then tries to put their head back on, whining into their body and saying "sorry"... well that's me.


Onto coffee... I am at the mercy of caffeine, just like a lot of writers. Coffee / coke / Pro-plus etc. are my poisons... they're what I need to survive (don't forget about a balanced diet, sleep, and where possible, exercise-- see, I'm promoting a healthy lifestyle). Someone tweeted me "I think my blood has turned into coffee" -- and I don't blame her, because it probably has, in which case I would recommend a visit to your doctors and a large cappuccino to go.



Now your turn:

What do you compare writers to?


-Joseph




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The Hunger Games: Film Review

Great book --- film didn't live up to the expectations.



If you follow me on Twitter or "like" my Facebook page then you'll know that I was really annoyed, borderline angry at the film.



Just so that we're all clear on this fact, I did not hate the film, I was just disappointed by it.




Out of 5 stars I give the film: 3.5


I understand that because the film was a 12A they weren't allowed to show the blood and gore, or the extreme acts of violence, they were only allowed to suggest it. However, I think I would have enjoyed the film more if it was a 15 because then it would have been more gritty and more what I wanted, but I can't have everything I want, and this was Gary Ross's interpretation of the film.



I hate the fact that he played on the Team Peeta and Team Gale thing through his use of showing Gale every time Katniss and Peeta kissed. I didn't like that at all, it's not supposed to be about any kind of love triangle, so for Catching Fire, please, Gary Ross, please just stop!



I do like the cast, I'm not so fond about Josh Hutcherson playing Peeta, but I got over it, there's nothing I can do, plus he is a good actor.



They changed a few things and that annoyed me... I won't list them because if you have read the books then you'll know what they are. I would have enjoyed the film a lot more if I hadn't read the books, and in fact, if I had waited until after the film to read them.



"It is not best that we should all think alike; it is a difference of opinion that makes horse races." - Mark Twain



We all have opinions, respect that, even if you disagree, disagree with grace and dignity.




So what did you think of the film?

Or when do you plan on watching it?


-Joseph




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Grammar Books

So to replace 'My Fiction Thursday' I've decided to review one of my all time favourite self-help grammar guides that I think everyone should read. It's easy, it's fun, and most of all, it's informative.



I've said in previous posts that there is no excuse for learning, some woman told me that dyslexic people couldn't learn... and I wasn't sure if she genuinely believed herself, but then I realised that she did... whoa, let's take a moment of silence for the ignorance in the world.




---Silence over---




Let's go on with the review. So when I first started to put my writing on the internet... around the age of 15, I got a lot of comments, some of them were great compliments and it's them who gave me this confidence, and then there were people who told me how to improve, and it's them who made me better.




This was my first ever grammar guide and I've had it for about 4 years now. It's a hardback (which I love and it still looks like new, so that's always good).



I have read quite a few guides after this because I didn't know if the book missed anything out etc. however, when I did try to read other guides they just complicated things, whereas this book is quite simple and easy to understand.



I wouldn't recommend just reading this book because although it has all of the rules in it and it's easy to understand, you might feel like some things are left out or you might want a second opinion on something, so have a read around... it's won't hinder your ability as a writer if you do a little research.


I would rate the book 4 *'s because although it's great, it isn't the best. There is a glaring mistake on the front cover and if you know what I'm talking about... then 5 points to you!



The book was £9.99, or around £7 on Amazon - My Grammar and Me - UK or $10 for the US - My Grammar and Me - US



If you do buy it, tell me what you think. If you've already read it, tell me what you think.





As a writer I presume that you've tried to brush up on your grammar--

Which books would you recommend?


-Joseph




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Writing Has No Age Limit!

I am 18 years old. Now, when I tell people who don't know me, generally you guys from the internet, you always seem to be shocked when you find out. I turn 19 this year, in June... not sure how I feel about that yet, I don't really want to turn 19 because I like being able to say that I'm 18 and I'm a young writer... that's my selling point. Yes, you need a selling point, there are so many writers now that if you don't *pop* then nobody will take much of an interest in you. There will be a post on creating a USP in the future.



In February I wrote a post: Everyone Has a Story and in it I said that everyone knows enough by the age of 15 to write a series of novels. I agree with that 100%, if you don't know, I wrote my first novel when I was 15 and I planned several more... all of which are now in a huge folder that's tearing because of the weight. Of course it was complete and utter crap, I didn't know a lot about grammar etc. so I was just writing for the sake of getting the story out onto the page---it turns out that I bottle a lot of stuff up and so writing became therapeutic and a way to know myself, really know myself.



There is no age on writing. There is no age on creativity. I believe that creativity is a natural talent... in all its forms, writing, drawing, painting, sculpting, playing music... and people who are creative tend to have more than one of these skills.



The reason for this post is because someone who was older than me told me that I shouldn't publish until I was a little bit older, a little bit more mature... you know what I did right? I laughed at them, although I don't think people over the internet can really see me laughing, not unless I filmed it and sent it them. Anyway, I told myself, and it might be big headed of me, but I told myself that he was most likely jealous that I was doing something with my life at such a young age and he'd only wished he could achieve it.



I want to leave you with this quote---




"There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed." - Ernest Hemingway




I wrote a little verse for you guys based on the quote above.


I bleed, just as you bleed,

and I cry, just as you cry.

I am, after all, only human.



If you don't mind sharing; how old are you?


-Joseph




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You Need to Love What You Do!

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There's something that I learnt a year or so back when I was in college... and that was, you need to do what you love and you need to love what you do!



This is a run on from yesterday's Creative Writing Portfolio, which I got quite a lot of comments on and I just wanted to say a huge THANKS for all the support you guys gave. It really means a lot that you guys are engaging with my posts.



I know that a lot of people don't do what they love, some people sit in offices with 9 to 5 jobs and are unhappy with their lives, and some people love that. Some people have jobs that they absolutely hate, and all because they need the money. So, yeah, it's all about money, I know this, you know this, everyone should know this, we're a society that relies on money---we need it to live.



You know what else we need to live? WE NEED LOVE! The ability to love and to be loved back. I know that I'm digressing here, and it's my blog so I'm allowed. I think that if you're not doing what you love... what's the point? Is there a point? THAT was not the reason you were put on this planet, nobody wants to be made unhappy.




SO you need to do what you love and you need to love what you do!


When I was at college and I had to revise English frameworks, media and film theories etc. anything that I didn't really want to do. I just made myself love it, I opened up to the love of learning and since then I have done nothing but absorb the internet, megabyte by megabyte.



Now the reason why this is a follow-on post is because I've figured out what both of my portfolios are going to be and I was inspired by all the motivation and positivity that you guys were sending me yesterday! I learnt to love what the portfolios were about. I probably sound like a crazy person right now, but like some people love food, I love writing and I'm pretty sure it loves me back.




SO LOVE WHAT YOU DO!

It will make you a happier person.



"To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance." - Oscar Wilde



Do you love yourself?

Do you love what you do?


-Joseph




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