Carl Alves's Blog, page 15

10 Questions with Mercedes Yardley

1. Who has been your biggest influence as a writer?



MMY: My two biggest influences aren’t authors you’d necessarily expect. I was heavily influenced by Erma Bombeck, who was a humor writer who made the mundane seem absolutely magical. I was also influenced by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and his novel One Hundred Years of Solitude. I read it in class and abhorred it instantly. It was difficult to understand. The characters seemed interchangeable and unlikable. It was grueling reading. But when I read it again years later, I found the wonder and beauty in it. It made me think, “I’m allowed to write like this?” That’s when I gave myself permission to write the strange and surreal. So I find unusual magic in everyday life, thanks to those two authors.


2. What was like nearly getting killed by a scorpion bite and how is your current health?



MMY: I laughed out loud when I read this! What an awesome question.



You know, it was pretty traumatizing. I was doing dishes in my kitchen and it stung me on my bare foot. My foot went dead and my tongue went numb, so I drove myself to the ER. I could tell the very second the medical staff realized it was deathly serious. The energy in the room changed, and the doctor asked me to consent to a $30,000 antivenin. I can’t remember if I was able to consent at that time or not, but I do remember them tearing my clothes off to hook me up to a heart monitor. The next thing I knew, it was several hours later.



It was terrifying because there was this very real moment when I realized was dying. It was such a sick, helpless feeling. I love my family. I love my husband and kids. It’s almost stupid to think that one minute I’m happy at home and less than an hour later I’m paralyzed in a hospital wheelchair. I tried to deal with it using humor, and laughing at the scorpion pictures friends would send me, but I’m paranoid about being stung again. Maybe this time my superhero powers will kick in. I feel cheated that I’m not Scorpion Woman or something yet.



The health ramifications have been astronomical. It wiped out my immune system. I’m weak all of the time. I had a bizarre eye infection that destroyed the vision in one eye. The other day I scratched a bag of grout behind the ears because I thought it was a cat. My kids thought that was pretty hysterical. I’m certain the grout loved it, because I doubt it gets much open affection.



But it’s helped me appreciate my life. And it helped me drop a few toxic things that I was hanging on to. There isn’t time to surround yourself with people and activities that don’t buoy you up. In the long run, that was a realization I needed.



3. If you could only read one book for the rest of your life, what would it be?


MMY: Tough question. I suppose it would probably be my childhood favorite Watership Down. I love that book so much and it’s held up on many rereads. We use the rabbit lingo in our everyday conversation. “Hey, kids! Time to silflay. Come on.”



4. What was it like winning a Bram Stoker award, and how has that affected your writing career?


MMY: Winning a Bram Stoker award was insane! Completely unexpected and delightful. In my case, it helped my career quite a bit for about a year afterward because it was my first major award and it put me on people’s radars. It was a whirlwind of podcasts and interviews and meeting new people. Things settled down after that. The award means quite a bit to me. It means that my peers find value in my work, and that makes my heart sing.



5. What current writing projects are you working on?


MMY: Ha, what am I not working on? The Limited Edition of Little Dead Red and Other Stories” is currently at the printers, and I can’t wait to see it! It’s going to be beautiful. My agent is shopping a novel that is very dear to my heart. I’m working on a Super Secret Project with Orion Zangara, who is just a doll. A wildly talented, insanely likable doll. I’m working on a couple of short stories for anthologies, some nonfiction, and also the next Bone Trilogy book. My desk is always a beautiful, wild place with different projects everywhere. I like it that way.



6. What do you prefer writing: novels, novellas, or short stories?


MMY: That’s an unfair question. It’s like asking if you like your son or your daughter best. Each story has a different heartbeat, and needs a different medium. Flash fiction holds a special place because it’s how I originally broke into the field, but I love them all. I love shorts because it’s difficult to tell a story well in a concise manner, and I adore that challenge. I love novellas because they’re toothy but not overwhelming like novels can be. And I love novels because you can explore so much in such a vast space. I love nonfiction articles. I love poetry. They’re all my favorites. Except that whatever I’m working on at the moment is NOT my favorite. I always want to be doing something else. I’m easily distracted.



7. What type of scenes do you most enjoy writing?


MMY: I love a good fight scene, or something explosive. I love writing about wind whipping somebody’s hair around or somebody taking a good kick to the ribs. We are physical creatures and I love writing about the human body. I had a few scenes in Nameless that had to do with motorcycles, and I asked a local motorcyclist if he would perform some of the stunts so I could see if they were physically possible. Most were. A few weren’t. I love stuff like that. I had a lot of fun writing some of the scenes in Apocalyptic Montessa and Nuclear Lulu. They were violent and wild and just super cool to write.



8. Is there any subject that is off limits for you as a writer?


MMY: A few years ago, I would have said yes. I would have told you that I won’t write rape or sexual assault, but I have since changed my mind. My fear was always that the scene would be gratuitous or disrespectful. Sexual assault is such a weighty, sensitive subject and it deserves to be treated with so much respect. Now I write about it, but I’m very careful in how I present it, and I leave a lot of the actual act offstage. For those who have suffered abuse in any form, I don’t feel the need to play that out in front of them. For those who want to read the gory details, they can find them elsewhere. I won’t contribute to that. I think I’ve matured as a writer to the point where I can tackle these dark subjects while staying true to who I ultimately am, and being as delicate and considerate as possible.



9. What was the inspiration for you for writing Apocalyptic Montessa and Nuclear Lulu?


MMY: I read this question aloud to my husband and he answered for me: I wanted to burn the house down.

That’s actually pretty accurate. Let’s go with that.


Apocalyptic Montessa and Nuclear Lulu: A Tale of Atomic Love was a long time coming. I had the title before I ever had the book, and I needed something that would stand up to such a moniker. I had a few things I wanted to try with this book. How do you make a someone like a serial killer, whom we rightfully hate, be sympathetic? That was a challenge. I also wanted to have two broken people come together and be something MORE. Something sick and explosive and twisted, but I also wanted the readers to root for them, if possible. It was a challenge, but I loved writing this book. It utterly consumed me. I wrote the story start to finish in three weeks, and there’s only one other book that I wrote that quickly. I barely had my feet on the real world at all during that time, because I was floating around with Lu and Montessa. I wanted them to be happy, but at the same time, I wondered if that was ever a possibility for them.


10. If you could invite five people to a dinner party (alive or dead, real or fictional) who would you invite?



MMY: The first person who comes to mind is David Bowie. He seemed like such a well-read, intriguing fellow and I’ve loved him for years. I’d want Joe Kenda because he would be full of stories and also seems like a calming presence. He wouldn’t let things get out of hand. I’d love Erma Bombeck because she would be funny and warm. I’d want my friend Rachel Miller there, who would not only enjoy the dinner party, but would single-handedly throw it with elegance and grace. And then I’d want some hungry little kid who wouldn’t care a whit about parties or conversation, but would be really excited to fill their tummy with delicious food. I’d want him or her to eat until their stomach was tight like a drum. Then maybe this kidlet would curl up and fall asleep while the rest of us discussed books and music and murder and our places in this insane world.

Apocalyptic Montessa and Nuclear Lulu by Mercedes Yardley

Apocalyptic Montessa and Nuclear Lulu is a tale about two crazy kids in love that reminds me of Natural Born Killers. It’s not exactly a conventional relationship since Lulu kidnaps Montessa with the intention of killing her. But all relationships must start somewhere. The story mostly takes place in a truck, which Lulu drives as part of his job. Montessa is a stripper involved in an abusive relationship with the worlds biggest a***ole, so in comparison to that creep, a serial killer truck driver isn’t so bad.



What most impressed me about this story was the quality of the writing. It’s hard to describe, but the writing had an almost lyrical quality to it. The flow of the sentences, the language being used, the way it’s all put together, is done in such a way that evokes the right atmosphere for this story. The author hit all of the right notes in putting this story together. As a fellow writer, I can appreciate the skill level seen in the writing, and found it to be an enjoyable read.



You might have a hard time getting over the fact that a woman would be willing to have a romantic relationship with a person who kidnapped her and wants to kill her. I know that I did. So, there needs to be a certain level of suspension of disbelief that has to be applied in order to get into the story. But if you can get past that, there is a lot to like inside of the pages. I would suggest giving it a read. You won’t regret it.

Song of the Dragon by Tracy Hickman

In Song of the Dragon elves rule the world. The Rhonas Empire are a petty, shallow race who have defeated all of the other races and now kill off their enemies for the sake of getting trinkets and trophies. They enslave and subjugate others through the use of magical devotions, which make their slaves forget all of the horrific things that the elves do to them. Drakis, a human, is the hero of this story. He manages to break free from the elves along with a band that includes a chimera, manticores, a dwarf, and human females. This odd cast of characters are on the run, being hunted by elves. Meanwhile, those in his party and others in the world believe that Drakis is the human that according to legend is supposed to lead their uprising against the elf oppressors.



The novel got off to a slow start. About a third of the way through, I wasn’t sure if I was going to like this novel, but as it progressed, I liked it more and more. It was a bit of a slow build, mostly because at the beginning, the narrator in the form of Drakis, who was mostly the viewpoint character, was unreliable because his character had his memories erased. It was only after regaining his memories did the momentum of the story build. I liked the progression of the novel. I also liked the elven character Soen, who was hunting down Drakis’s group. The ending of the novel was satisfying, and I look forward to reading the other books in this trilogy.

The Dead Play on by Heather Graham

In The Dead Play On, a maniac is going around killing musicians in New Orleans in search of a magical saxophone. Whether the saxophone is actually magical or whether the killer is just a lunatic is up for debate. Danni Cafferty and Michael Quinn, who have a history of taking on paranormal cases and investigating paranormal objects, are on the case, as many of their friends are musicians.



This novel is a bit of a mixed bag. On the plus side, I thought most of the characters were well crafted. The novel wasn’t too long and moved at a good pace. I didn’t find many plot holes or flaws in the logic. On the downside, despite the fact that the novel wasn’t very long, I found that it got repetitive at times. There was a lot of repeating of information or recapping a scene that just happened in dialogue between the characters. Much of that was unnecessary and could have been cut from the novel. The other negative for me is that as far as mysteries go, this novel left a bit to be desired. Until the end, there was very little focusing in on characters who could be the killers and creating a more dramatic narrative by emphasizing who might be doing the killing. As a novel, this was a solid read. As a mystery, it left a bit to be desired.

Ghost Monster by Simon Clark

Set in the UK, the novel centers around a mausoleum housing a mural containing the soul/spirit of an incredibly evil man from the 18th century. Since Justice Murrain’s death, his ancestors have been protecting the mural to prevent Murrain’s spirit and those of his insane followers from breaking loose. Nature is conspiring against them, however, as the land surrounding it is in danger of falling into the sea. As the land continues to erode, slowly Justice Murrain and his followers begin to break free and take possession of residents of the area and wreak havoc in a very violent way. It is up to Jack Murrain and his grandfather, along with a couple of members of the excavation team to stop Justice Murrain before they possess the entire town.


For the most part, I enjoyed this novel. The characterization was pretty strong. The plot was logical and the story had a good flow. There were some trouble spots, however. Most striking was that certain parts of the story seemed unoriginal and very much like other stories I have read. Specifically, I’m referring to the montage of when the author would give these little slices of Murrain’s followers doing damage to the town. It felt as if I had read similar passages dozens of times in other novels. That was the only thing that really bothered me, but it bothered me quite a bit. So, I generally enjoyed the novel and would recommend it, but it failed to hit the mark as a result.

Cell by Stephen King

I wanted to preface this by noting that Stephen King is my favorite all time writer and I have read most of his novels. Having said that, Cell is an absolute mess of a novel. There was nothing about it that made any sense. King must really have been fixated on phones and computers while writing this. From what I can gather from reading this novel, the human brain is basically a hard drive that can be wiped out and reprogrammed. It can also be exposed to viruses and worms just like a computer. In this novel, some mysterious pulse occurs, which turns people into ultraviolent, nonsensical monsters, but these are only the people who have cell phones. Good thing this didn’t happen now or the whole human race would have been taken down in one shot, since I don’t know very many people who don’t have cell phones.


The story follows a group of survivors from Boston, where Clay, a struggling comic book artist who finally gets his break, is trying to return to his ex-wife and son in Maine. Along the way, they meet other survivors and have confrontations with the phone zombies. The best part of this novel is the characterization. I thought that the characters in this story were well done, starting with Clay but also with the other members of the group. Where the book falls apart is that the plot and concept behind the book are a train wreck. There is no explanation for anything. Somehow, I’m supposed to believe that a pulse, whatever the hell that is (is it a solar flare, an electro magnetic event, something supernatural) can wipe clean the brains of anyone who has a cell phone, and then give the phone zombies a hive mind, telepathy, voice projection to the normal people who were not affected, the ability to control the minds and actions of those unaffected, and even the ability to levitate. With no explanation whatsoever how any of this is happening. I’m sorry, but in a book like this you need some type of explanation, but apparently King didn’t feel that his readers deserved to know how any of this was happening. This novel came in that time period after King’s accident where he was putting out the worst material of his career, e.g. Lisey’s Story, Bag of Bones, the final chapter of the Dark Tower, etc. I’ll give him a pass because the body of his work is so much better than this.

10 Questions with C Michael Lance

1. Caribbean Layoff is a big departure from your fantasy writing. What made you want to write that novel?


Actually, Caribbean Layoff was my first attempt at novel writing. Shortly after getting laid off in the 2009 recession and then getting laid up with a broken leg from a bicycling mishap—with nothing better to do, I decided to write. After several iterations, I decided that attempt was quite poor and turned to Fantasy instead. A couple of people who’d read CL, however, kept bugging me. Said it would make a great movie. After three Fantasy novels, I hoped that I had learned enough to do a decent job on a Caribbean Layoff rewrite. I think it’s much improved. I hope readers agree.


2. Who is your favorite writer?



Anne McCaffrey and her Dragon Riders of Pern is the first of many that popped to mind. So I’ll go with that stream of consciousness leader.


3. You have held many different jobs in your life. What has been the most interesting and/or fulfilling?


I had to skip this question and come back because it was the toughest. Sales, and leading a sales team was the most lucrative and working with customers to meet their needs was very fulfilling. However, leading a product management team and bringing new products and new product concepts to market was probably the best. Particularly because of the teams I lead and the plethora of customers I had the opportunity to work with.


4. What current writing projects are you working on?



I’m writing the fourth and final novel, Dragon Eye, in the Battle Wizard Saga contemporary fantasy series. Sig attempts to track down the source of his sword’s power in his quest to recover the magic that was stolen from him as a child.

His pursuit takes him into a dimension to which dragons escaped a millennium ago, after the thieving Knights Templar had almost decimated dragonkind.


5. Being a fellow engineer and writer, why do you feel there aren’t more engineers who have written novels?


Actually, there are a number of engineers who write, and have done well. A few examples are: Homer Hickam, the writer of best seller (and source of the movie) October Sky; Nick Arvin, author of award winning Articles of War; New York Times best seller Boyd Morrison; G. Harry Stine, one of the founders of model rocketry, who wrote a number of novels under the pseudonym Lee Correy for Del Rey and Daw. Fyodor Dostoyevsky and a whole slew of other Russian engineers were novelists. Andy Weir, author of The Martian is a computer programmer, which is a profession at least as nerdy as engineering.

I wonder if we don’t hear more about engineer writers because they’re embarrassed to admit that they function in the right brain as well as the left? I’ve resigned myself to the dichotomy, since not only do I write, but I’m also a book cover designer.


6. What type of scenes do you most enjoy writing?

I’m most comfortable with action scenes. Love a good fight, particularly if swords and mythical monsters are involved. I can see the action in my mind and they flow to the paper (just a turn of phrase—really, no paper is involved. I’m strictly a computer nerd when it comes to writing.) There is also good action in Caribbean Layoff. Martial art battles, sniper scenes, knife fights, even a dog chase featuring a large sighthound.

I get the most satisfaction, however, from wrapping humor into a novel.


7. What made you start writing?


I touched on that briefly in the first question. I’ve always been an avid reader. Started on science fiction in third grade, when I read Slan by A. E. van Vogt and was hooked. It might be a surprise that my first effort wasn’t science fiction. But by the time the broken hip laid me up, I’d read most every facet of SciFi and had moved to Fantasy. Reflecting on it now, Anne McCaffrey was a big influence on that re-focus. The core of Dragon Riders is SciFi, but dragons have deep roots in Fantasy. A great crossover series.

Still doesn’t answer why Caribbean Layoff, an Action/Adventure. I guess the story was at the top of my stream of consciousness at the right time.


8. How much of you is in the character of Steve Henning?


He’s my height (6’3”). I guess I know what the view is like from that vantage. I like weaponry and hunting, although I’m not an NRA member. Too much politics involved. I’d say I’m devoted to my family like he is, and my wife is a major influence on my life (don’t tell her).


9. What is your best quality as a writer?


I’ve been told that action scenes are particularly strong. Easy to visualize as a reader even without a background in combat or weapons.


10. If you could invite five people to a dinner party (alive or dead, real or fictional) who would you invite?


Genghis Khan – most influential in shaping history. (Do I get a translator?)

Queen Elizabeth I – to discuss the acrimony between Protestants and Catholics and how hard it was to maintain a middle ground. The Sunni/Shia wars are reminiscent of that time.

Thor – how damn heavy is that hammer?

Thomas Edison – Where did all those ideas come from?

Abraham Lincoln – Can I ask what he thought of the play?

Movie Review: Ant Man and The Wasp

The first Ant Man movie was one of those stealth Marvel movies featuring a relatively unknown character that kind of snuck up audiences and was a surprise hit. Ant Man and Wasp came in with far more fanfare, since the characters were now more established and well known. I was big fan of the first movie. It was clever and funny with a good cast. I don’t know if I quite liked the sequel as much as I liked the first movie, but it was a definite winner.

To create the timeline, this movie happens two years after Captain America: Civil War and just before Avengers: Infinity Wars. Because of his role in the aforementioned movie, the Ant Man isn’t on good terms with his cohort or her father, Hank Pym, however they need his help in retrieving the original Wasp, who they believe is still stuck in some sort of quantum zone that Ant Man travelled to in the first movie.

There’s no true villain in this movie (except for the generic evil rich business types that are trying to get Hank Pym’s technology, and they weren’t all that impressive). They did introduce the Ghost, who isn’t exactly a supervillain, but is constantly going against the heroes in the movie—hey, they need someone with superpowers that they can fight against. Anyway, she does have some cool powers. There are loads of action scenes, including some really cool ones where things get super huge or shrink. Mostly, what I enjoyed about the movie is its sense of humor. Luis was great for his comic relief, especially his recapping of past events. The FBI agents were hard to take seriously, but also brought in comic relief. Although, this won’t crack my top ten Marvel movies, it was fun and worth watching.

Caribbean Layoff by C Michael Lance

Caribbean Layoff doesn’t have the most original premise, but what it lacks in originality it more than makes up for in execution. Steve Henning comes across a wrecked vehicle with a dead drug cartel member and $30 million. Instead of reporting the money to the authorities, he decides to take it. He and his wife then embark on an adventure to the Caribbean in an attempt to park the money offshore while being pursued by a Mexican drug cartel.



The idea of finding lost money from gangsters may not be new but I loved the way the author went about crafting this novel. You can tell he painstakingly thought it all through of exactly what you would have to do to tuck this money safely away. Adding the complication of the drug cartel hunting them down added an extra layer of intrigue. As I was reading the novel, I kept on thinking about what I would do if I were in that situation. Although I didn’t agree with everything that Steve and his wife did, I saw the logic behind it.



The novel was intelligent, well thought out, well written, and fun to read. It was a bit more light-hearted than I would have expected, and I think there were spots where the tension could have been ramped up a bit, or at least the attitude of the characters could have been a little less flippant, but the novel delivered in its intended effect. This was a fun read that I think readers will enjoy regardless of their genre of preference.

Joyland by Stephen King

Joyland was a bit of a departure from the usual Stephen King novel. For one thing, although it had supernatural elements to it, it was at its heart a mystery. Also, I’ve never read a Stephen King book that took place in a carnival setting, although Joyland was technically an amusement park, it still seemed more like a travelling carnival. There was a good deal of carny lingo in there at the least.



The story’s protagonist, Dev, is a college kid who had just gotten his heart broken by his college sweetheart. He spends the summer far from his university working at an amusement park in North Carolina. The park has a haunted house type of ride that is actually haunted from a woman who was murdered while going on the ride—and that is the heart of the mystery in this novel. What shapes the story is when Dev sees the park’s fortune teller, who actually has some psychic ability, and she tells him that a young boy and girl will figure prominently in his future. As it turns out, this young boy, besides suffering from a debilitating disease, also has psychic abilities, and figures in his quest to solve the mystery of the haunted ride murder.



This was an enjoyable novel. It was really strong from a characterization standpoint. There were very memorable characters, from Dev on through numerous side characters. Although the mystery element was well done, most of the book did not focus on that part of it. Most of the book focuses on his evolving as a person and his relationship with the crippled boy and her mom—both of whom are also standout characters. I liked the supernatural parts of it, and thought it meshed well with the mystery. The one negative was a groan-inducing part at the end that involved the reveal of the killer, but otherwise this was a satisfying novel.