Michael K. Rose's Blog, page 15
November 8, 2012
What Scares You?
As mentioned in
a previous post
, I am now writing a horror novel called Darkridge Hall as part of my
#12NovelsIn12Months project
. This is a new experience for me. Now, years and years ago, long before I was any type of "serious" writer, I had begun and rather quickly abandoned a few horror stories, and a couple of the short stories available in
my collection
are horror, but this is my first serious effort at a full-length horror novel.
My biggest concern in writing it is this: can I make it scary? Sure, I can have "scary" things happen to my characters, but will they necessarily scare the reader? I don't know yet. However, I did creep myself out a bit while writing the other day. I suppose my main concern for now should just be to tell the story. If the element of horror is not strong enough after the first draft, I can always go back and try to punch it up.
So let me ask my readers for advice: What do you find scary in a horror novel? What makes your skin crawl, your spine tingle, your short and curlys stand on end? What gives you goosebumps, the willies, the heeby-jeebies, the creeps? I don't mean particular things you find scary, but what literary elements make a scene scary? Let me know and I'll keep your suggestions in mind as I continue writing Darkridge Hall!
All the Best,Michael K. Rose
My biggest concern in writing it is this: can I make it scary? Sure, I can have "scary" things happen to my characters, but will they necessarily scare the reader? I don't know yet. However, I did creep myself out a bit while writing the other day. I suppose my main concern for now should just be to tell the story. If the element of horror is not strong enough after the first draft, I can always go back and try to punch it up.
So let me ask my readers for advice: What do you find scary in a horror novel? What makes your skin crawl, your spine tingle, your short and curlys stand on end? What gives you goosebumps, the willies, the heeby-jeebies, the creeps? I don't mean particular things you find scary, but what literary elements make a scene scary? Let me know and I'll keep your suggestions in mind as I continue writing Darkridge Hall!
All the Best,Michael K. Rose
November 5, 2012
Review: Dolphin Island by Arthur C. Clarke
Yes, I am reading a lot of Arthur C. Clarke lately. I had begun Dolphin Island after finishing Garden of Rama. I couldn't find Rama Revealed at the local used bookstore, so I ordered it online and, being in a Clarke mood already, plucked this off my shelf to tide me over (sorry) because it was fairly short.As fate would have it, Rama Revealed arrived later the same day, and I put Dolphin Island down so I could finish the Rama series (see my review here ). When I picked Dolphin Island back up again, I was transported into a world of wonder and adventure.
What I didn't know when I began this book is that it is a young adult adventure novel. It takes place in the near future, as envisioned from 1963. The main character is a teenage boy named Johnny who hitches a ride on a hovership to escape his dreary home life. When the engines of the hovership explode over open water, Johnny is left stranded, floating on a piece of debris.
He is saved by a group of dolphins who pull him to an island on the Great Barrier Reef called, appropriately, Dolphin Island, where a biologist, Professor Kazan, has been experimenting with communicating with dolphins and has, as it turns out, had quite a lot of success with it.
I don't want to reveal too much about the plot, but the story progresses at a pretty good clip from that point onward, and Clarke's experience as a diver lends authenticity to the descriptions of the animals inhabiting the reef around the island. And as far as young adult adventure novels go, this one is quite good. It captured my imagination and, even though I left my childhood behind long ago, it made me yearn for sandy beaches, coral reefs and exotic locales where a new adventure is waiting around every corner.
I give it 4 out of 5 stars. It's a very short book and is pure escapist fun. While it seems to be currently out of print, used copies can be had for just a few bucks if you can find it. There are many other Arthur C. Clarke novels I'd recommend reading before Dolphin Island, but if you've already read his more popular works and are a fan, this one is definitely worth a look.
Image Source: Dolphin Underwater by Bobbi Jones Jones
November 4, 2012
Review: The Rest of Arthur C. Clarke's Rama Series
About a month ago I wrote
a review of Arthur C. Clarke's Rendezvous with Rama
. I loved it and immediately began reading Rama II by Clarke and his co-author Gentry Lee. I then read Garden of Rama immediately after that and, not finding Rama Revealed in my local used bookstore, I ordered a copy and impatiently waited for it to arrive. I've now finished the entire series and since Rama II, Garden of Rama and Rama Revealed tell one cohesive story line and follow the same set of characters, I've decided to review them together.
Rama II begins 70 years after the events that took place in Rendezvous with Rama when a second, seemingly identical Rama ship arrives in our solar system. This time Earth has more time to prepare to meet it and sends a crew that has been carefully selected for the task. If I tell you anything beyond that I will a) have to reveal key plot points and b) be here quite a long time because the story is vast. I will instead like to talk about my impressions of the Rama sequels versus the highly negative impressions that so many others seem to have of these books.
If you look at the Amazon reviews for any of the Rama sequels you'll see endless complaints, most of them directed at Gentry Lee who, according to what I read, did the majority of the writing on the Rama sequels with Clarke providing the basic plot and suggesting changes after Lee sent him chapters he had completed.
This may not be a popular point of view but I honestly believe that Gentry Lee is a great writer. The complaints stem from the fact that so many who had read Rendezvous with Rama picked up the others expecting them to be classic Arthur C. Clarke. Now, Clarke is my all-time favorite science fiction writer, and I do confess to having to adjust to the very different style of Lee, but once I did that and understood that Rama II and the rest of the books are not the Clark books but Lee books with guidance by Clarke, I really began to appreciate his style.
First of all, Lee is a lot wordier than Clarke. Clarke is famous, in fact, for his minimalist approach when it comes to character; he is all about telling the story and describing the science. And this works wonderfully with the right kind of story. In Rendezvous with Rama, the minimal characterization allows one to focus on the spaceship Rama and experience it for its awe-inspiring alien-ness. In 2001: A Space Odyssey, the mysterious power behind the monolith is given a similar treatment unencumbered by lots of details about the characters' pasts and inner thoughts.
But this impression that Clarke does not write character well, or does so minimally, is a misconception. Read Childhood's End or The Songs of Distant Earth, for example, and the beauty of those novels can be found in how the very human characters react to the unusual experiences they are having. So even though some readers of Rendezvous with Rama wanted minimalist Clarke in the sequels, their expectation was unfounded.
So Rama II and the other sequels are not in Clarke's classic style. This is true. So what? As I read, I began to fall in love with the intricately crafted characters that Lee wrote. Even if some of them are remarkable people, they are still fully human. Some said the Rama sequels were soap opera-ish because of this focus on the characters and what they are feeling. No, that's how real people respond to stressful situations: emotionally. "But wait," some will say."They don't respond like real people. They're much too well-balanced and competent." Well, this is the opposite complaint but my answer: of course! The main characters were hand-picked from the top of their respective fields to go on this mission to rendezvous with the second Rama ship. So yes, their inner lives are explored in detail but the actions they take, in spite of what they are feeling emotionally, are the competent actions of professionals. Few people are all one way or the other. Everyone contradicts themselves at times. Lee has been able to explore this human-ness in a very real way.
The next complaint I came across was that Gentry Lee is a dirty old man who likes to write gratuitous sex scenes. Hmm.... Apparently these people don't get out much. Are there a handful of sex scenes? Yes. Are they particularly vulgar? Not really. Perhaps I'm not as prudish as some, but I didn't find anything all that shocking about them. And are they gratuitous? Quite the opposite, actually. There is a rich interplay between the main characters and how they respond to each other sexually is part of that. If you read them out of context, not knowing the characters, you may not see the point of the sex scenes. But in the context of the story, those scenes tell us volumes about the characters.
Complaint three (or is it four?): Gentry Lee over-described everything. Again, I think this mostly comes down to expectation. For the most part, Clarke wrote rather brief novels. In the copies I have, Rendezvous... runs to around 250 pages. None of the sequels are less than 450 pages. But again, this is because of the rich characterization and, in the later books, the highly-detailed work Lee does describing the biology and behavior of different alien species. I found it all fascinating. I can close my eyes right now, and because of Lee's descriptive skill I can picture very clearly the places and creatures that inhabit the world of Rama.
Now in spite of all that I've already said, the novels are not perfect. There are more than a few cliches, some of the secondary characters are stereotypes and there are some plot points left hanging at the end of the series. I will also acknowledge that some slight trimming probably would have strengthened the books. But by the end of Rama Revealed I had grown not only to know the handful of main characters but to love them, to root for them, to rejoice at their triumphs and I will admit I even shed tears on more than one occasion. A writer who can do this for me is, in my book, a great writer.
If you do decide to read the rest of the Rama books, go in knowing you aren't getting "classic" Clarke. But it doesn't matter. Gentry Lee took Clarke's Rama and made it his own, and his Rama is definitely a world worth exploring.
Rama II begins 70 years after the events that took place in Rendezvous with Rama when a second, seemingly identical Rama ship arrives in our solar system. This time Earth has more time to prepare to meet it and sends a crew that has been carefully selected for the task. If I tell you anything beyond that I will a) have to reveal key plot points and b) be here quite a long time because the story is vast. I will instead like to talk about my impressions of the Rama sequels versus the highly negative impressions that so many others seem to have of these books.
If you look at the Amazon reviews for any of the Rama sequels you'll see endless complaints, most of them directed at Gentry Lee who, according to what I read, did the majority of the writing on the Rama sequels with Clarke providing the basic plot and suggesting changes after Lee sent him chapters he had completed.
This may not be a popular point of view but I honestly believe that Gentry Lee is a great writer. The complaints stem from the fact that so many who had read Rendezvous with Rama picked up the others expecting them to be classic Arthur C. Clarke. Now, Clarke is my all-time favorite science fiction writer, and I do confess to having to adjust to the very different style of Lee, but once I did that and understood that Rama II and the rest of the books are not the Clark books but Lee books with guidance by Clarke, I really began to appreciate his style.
First of all, Lee is a lot wordier than Clarke. Clarke is famous, in fact, for his minimalist approach when it comes to character; he is all about telling the story and describing the science. And this works wonderfully with the right kind of story. In Rendezvous with Rama, the minimal characterization allows one to focus on the spaceship Rama and experience it for its awe-inspiring alien-ness. In 2001: A Space Odyssey, the mysterious power behind the monolith is given a similar treatment unencumbered by lots of details about the characters' pasts and inner thoughts.
But this impression that Clarke does not write character well, or does so minimally, is a misconception. Read Childhood's End or The Songs of Distant Earth, for example, and the beauty of those novels can be found in how the very human characters react to the unusual experiences they are having. So even though some readers of Rendezvous with Rama wanted minimalist Clarke in the sequels, their expectation was unfounded.
So Rama II and the other sequels are not in Clarke's classic style. This is true. So what? As I read, I began to fall in love with the intricately crafted characters that Lee wrote. Even if some of them are remarkable people, they are still fully human. Some said the Rama sequels were soap opera-ish because of this focus on the characters and what they are feeling. No, that's how real people respond to stressful situations: emotionally. "But wait," some will say."They don't respond like real people. They're much too well-balanced and competent." Well, this is the opposite complaint but my answer: of course! The main characters were hand-picked from the top of their respective fields to go on this mission to rendezvous with the second Rama ship. So yes, their inner lives are explored in detail but the actions they take, in spite of what they are feeling emotionally, are the competent actions of professionals. Few people are all one way or the other. Everyone contradicts themselves at times. Lee has been able to explore this human-ness in a very real way.
The next complaint I came across was that Gentry Lee is a dirty old man who likes to write gratuitous sex scenes. Hmm.... Apparently these people don't get out much. Are there a handful of sex scenes? Yes. Are they particularly vulgar? Not really. Perhaps I'm not as prudish as some, but I didn't find anything all that shocking about them. And are they gratuitous? Quite the opposite, actually. There is a rich interplay between the main characters and how they respond to each other sexually is part of that. If you read them out of context, not knowing the characters, you may not see the point of the sex scenes. But in the context of the story, those scenes tell us volumes about the characters.
Complaint three (or is it four?): Gentry Lee over-described everything. Again, I think this mostly comes down to expectation. For the most part, Clarke wrote rather brief novels. In the copies I have, Rendezvous... runs to around 250 pages. None of the sequels are less than 450 pages. But again, this is because of the rich characterization and, in the later books, the highly-detailed work Lee does describing the biology and behavior of different alien species. I found it all fascinating. I can close my eyes right now, and because of Lee's descriptive skill I can picture very clearly the places and creatures that inhabit the world of Rama.
Now in spite of all that I've already said, the novels are not perfect. There are more than a few cliches, some of the secondary characters are stereotypes and there are some plot points left hanging at the end of the series. I will also acknowledge that some slight trimming probably would have strengthened the books. But by the end of Rama Revealed I had grown not only to know the handful of main characters but to love them, to root for them, to rejoice at their triumphs and I will admit I even shed tears on more than one occasion. A writer who can do this for me is, in my book, a great writer.
If you do decide to read the rest of the Rama books, go in knowing you aren't getting "classic" Clarke. But it doesn't matter. Gentry Lee took Clarke's Rama and made it his own, and his Rama is definitely a world worth exploring.
November 3, 2012
Free eBooks and Bookmarks!
Hello, all! This weekend (Nov. 3-4), my eBook Sullivan's War: Book II - A City without Walls is free at Amazon's Kindle store.Get it at: Amazon US Amazon UK Amazon.de and all the other international Amazon Kindle stores.
If you don't have Book I - All Good Men Serve the Devil , it's here for only 99 cents. Alternatively, you can buy Sullivan's War: The Complete Adventure (links here ) which contains all three books that make up the Sullivan's War story line.
I also have twenty sets of bookmarks to give away to my readers. If you've read and enjoyed any of my books, just send me your physical address and I'll mail four bookmarks out to you:
As you can see, you'll be getting two of the Sullivan's War bookmarks with the picture of the fighter jet on the front. If you're so inclined, I'd be grateful if you'd give the extra bookmark to a friend who you think might enjoy my work. Word of mouth advertising is incredibly important for Indie writers.
Send your name and address to myriad_spheres@yahoo.com and I'll get the bookmarks out to you ASAP. I'll update this page once all twenty sets have been claimed.
Have a wonderful weekend!Michael K. Rose
November 1, 2012
#12NovelsIn12Months Update: Sullivan's Wrath is Finished!
The first month of my #12NovelsIn12Months project has been a success! I completed Sullivan's Wrath, and it is over 60,000 words in length. This is, of course, a first draft, and I expect to add a bit to it as I flesh out some scenes during revision.
Some of you have asked when I'll have time to do said revisions and edits. Well, if I can keep on track this month as I write Darkridge Hall, a paranormal thriller, I will have a few days left over at the end of the month which I will use to work on a second draft of Sullivan's Wrath. The plan right now is to release it at the end of January.
The third book in the Sullivan Saga, Sullivan's Watch, will be written during the month of December. Then, as I'm doing in November, I'll write something else in January to take a break from the series and finish it off with the fourth Sullivan book in February.
I had written before that the trilogy of Sullivan books would be bookended by two others, one taking place before Sullivan's War and one taking place after the main story line of the series. However, I have decided to combine those into one book and actually increase Sullivan's involvement; I had originally planned for him to be a secondary character. This way, the Sullivan Saga, as I'm calling it, will be all about Sullivan, but the scope of the final book will be much larger than any of the first three books.
On a final note, this is November, and I imagine lots of you will be participating in NaNoWriMo. I am as well, by default, but I won't be participating in the communal aspect of it, posting daily word counts and all that. However, I do wish those of you participating the best of luck! I've just written a book in a month, so I know that while it is a challenge, it is not as difficult as you might imagine. You can do it!
I'll post another #12NovelsIn12Months update when I have something to report. Until then, don't forget that signed print copies of my books are currently on sale. Details can be found here . I'd also like to add that Nov. 1 & 2, Sergeant Riley's Account, the prologue to Sullivan's War, is free at Amazon. Click here for links.
Best,Michael K. Rose
Some of you have asked when I'll have time to do said revisions and edits. Well, if I can keep on track this month as I write Darkridge Hall, a paranormal thriller, I will have a few days left over at the end of the month which I will use to work on a second draft of Sullivan's Wrath. The plan right now is to release it at the end of January.
The third book in the Sullivan Saga, Sullivan's Watch, will be written during the month of December. Then, as I'm doing in November, I'll write something else in January to take a break from the series and finish it off with the fourth Sullivan book in February.
I had written before that the trilogy of Sullivan books would be bookended by two others, one taking place before Sullivan's War and one taking place after the main story line of the series. However, I have decided to combine those into one book and actually increase Sullivan's involvement; I had originally planned for him to be a secondary character. This way, the Sullivan Saga, as I'm calling it, will be all about Sullivan, but the scope of the final book will be much larger than any of the first three books.
On a final note, this is November, and I imagine lots of you will be participating in NaNoWriMo. I am as well, by default, but I won't be participating in the communal aspect of it, posting daily word counts and all that. However, I do wish those of you participating the best of luck! I've just written a book in a month, so I know that while it is a challenge, it is not as difficult as you might imagine. You can do it!
I'll post another #12NovelsIn12Months update when I have something to report. Until then, don't forget that signed print copies of my books are currently on sale. Details can be found here . I'd also like to add that Nov. 1 & 2, Sergeant Riley's Account, the prologue to Sullivan's War, is free at Amazon. Click here for links.
Best,Michael K. Rose
October 31, 2012
An Interview with Patrick C. Greene
Hello, all! Today I have an interview with Patrick C. Greene, author of Progeny, a Bigfoot novel from
Hobbes End Publishing
. Click
here
to get it from Amazon either in print or as an eBook.
And now, on with the interview.
***
Michael K. Rose: Patrick, could you tell us a bit about yourself and your writing?
Patrick C. Greene: I'm a longtime resident of Western North Carolina, a horror and samurai film fanatic, sometimes-actor/stuntman/screenwriter, full-time dad and husband. My father was a journalist/novelist, so I got an early dose of writing and found it to be as great an escape as any passive form of entertainment. I write short stories, novels and screenplays, mostly in the horror genre.
MKR: Tell us about your new novel Progeny.
PCG: The story goes a bit like this: a writer named Owen Sterling, having just purchased a large tract of forestry from a Native tribe in the mountains of North Carolina, moves there and promptly finds signs of something strange lurking in the woods. After investigating, he determines that he is neighbors with a family of Sasquatches. He makes a decision to keep the monsters a secret at any cost, refusing to allow anyone on his property. This engenders resentment among the local hunters and drives a wedge of secrecy between himself and his young son Chuck, a city kid who comes to visit for the summer, just about the time the hunters are embarking on an excursion onto Owen's land--and the territory of the monsters.
It's my first serious novel (I wrote an earlier one when I was much younger, that I will undoubtedly re-visit sometime soon) and one of the most meaningful writing experiences I've ever undertaken. It is dedicated to my oldest son Deklan, a fine writer himself with whom I will be sharing space in the upcoming THE ENDLANDS VOLUME 2 anthology from Hobbes End Publishing, who are also behind PROGENY.
MKR: How did you come up with the idea for this book?
PCG: Living in a pretty rural area and reading/watching way too much horror, my imagination will often shift to how my isolated surrounding could lend itself to all kinds of interesting scenarios. Having a lifelong interest in all things monstrous, I've often asked myself how I would react if I encountered a Bigfoot type creature. The experience is said to be so traumatic that it leaves one absolutely immobile. At any rate, kicking that around, I saw a story there. It was important to me that the monsters be more than just the Threat of Death--they had to represent a sort of mirror into which some of the protagonists must be forced to look.
MKR: Do you plan a sequel to the novel, or at least more Sasquatch stories?
PCG: I love these characters enough that I could easily see myself doing another one. However, I would have to take it in a vastly different direction. I would never want to just repeat myself, or just throw the same situation into a different setting. There are some other ideas involving Sasquatches and other cryptids in the ol' notebook, so I'll just have to see what happens with this one.
MKR: Tell us a bit about A Shotgun Wedding.
PCG: A Shotgun Wedding is a dramatic thriller I'm writing for a production company called CineFoundry that takes the concept of wedding day jitters to its absolute max. In it, a sweet young lady named Alyssa is about to get married for the second time, after escaping the clutches of her sinister and psychotic first husband. He's believed to be dead--but guess what? He's crashing the wedding. That will likely shoot next fall somewhere in Ohio or possibly North Carolina. There's a teaser trailer and lots of info at www.ashotgunwedding.com . I'm also writing some projects for SaintSinner Entertainment in New Jersey.
MKR: What are you working on now?
PCG: Aside from the aforementioned THE ENDLANDS VOLUME 2 coming in November, I'm eager to start my next novel and also to finish a collection of short stories, but for now, along with spreading the word about PROGENY, I'm trying to raise awareness about a couple of charities that are near and dear to me. Scares That Care is an organization that provides comfort and assistance to ailing children, helps fight breast cancer and helps care for burn victims. They're always auctioning off amazing horror memorabilia, so it's a fun way to give.They can be found at www.ScaresThatCare.org .
Also, Jackie Chan is doing great things with his Dragon's Heart Foundation . Kids can help him build a school for a dollar!
And finally, the sCare Foundation ( www.scarefoundation.org ) was put together by the producers of the Halloween film series to help teens in poverty get on their feet.
MKR: Thank you so much for the interview, Patrick! I already have my copy of Progeny and look forward to reading it.
***
You can connect with Patrick C. Greene at his website , Facebook and Twitter . His Amazon Author Page can be found here .
And now, on with the interview.
***
Michael K. Rose: Patrick, could you tell us a bit about yourself and your writing?Patrick C. Greene: I'm a longtime resident of Western North Carolina, a horror and samurai film fanatic, sometimes-actor/stuntman/screenwriter, full-time dad and husband. My father was a journalist/novelist, so I got an early dose of writing and found it to be as great an escape as any passive form of entertainment. I write short stories, novels and screenplays, mostly in the horror genre.
MKR: Tell us about your new novel Progeny.
PCG: The story goes a bit like this: a writer named Owen Sterling, having just purchased a large tract of forestry from a Native tribe in the mountains of North Carolina, moves there and promptly finds signs of something strange lurking in the woods. After investigating, he determines that he is neighbors with a family of Sasquatches. He makes a decision to keep the monsters a secret at any cost, refusing to allow anyone on his property. This engenders resentment among the local hunters and drives a wedge of secrecy between himself and his young son Chuck, a city kid who comes to visit for the summer, just about the time the hunters are embarking on an excursion onto Owen's land--and the territory of the monsters.
It's my first serious novel (I wrote an earlier one when I was much younger, that I will undoubtedly re-visit sometime soon) and one of the most meaningful writing experiences I've ever undertaken. It is dedicated to my oldest son Deklan, a fine writer himself with whom I will be sharing space in the upcoming THE ENDLANDS VOLUME 2 anthology from Hobbes End Publishing, who are also behind PROGENY.
MKR: How did you come up with the idea for this book?PCG: Living in a pretty rural area and reading/watching way too much horror, my imagination will often shift to how my isolated surrounding could lend itself to all kinds of interesting scenarios. Having a lifelong interest in all things monstrous, I've often asked myself how I would react if I encountered a Bigfoot type creature. The experience is said to be so traumatic that it leaves one absolutely immobile. At any rate, kicking that around, I saw a story there. It was important to me that the monsters be more than just the Threat of Death--they had to represent a sort of mirror into which some of the protagonists must be forced to look.
MKR: Do you plan a sequel to the novel, or at least more Sasquatch stories?
PCG: I love these characters enough that I could easily see myself doing another one. However, I would have to take it in a vastly different direction. I would never want to just repeat myself, or just throw the same situation into a different setting. There are some other ideas involving Sasquatches and other cryptids in the ol' notebook, so I'll just have to see what happens with this one.
MKR: Tell us a bit about A Shotgun Wedding.
PCG: A Shotgun Wedding is a dramatic thriller I'm writing for a production company called CineFoundry that takes the concept of wedding day jitters to its absolute max. In it, a sweet young lady named Alyssa is about to get married for the second time, after escaping the clutches of her sinister and psychotic first husband. He's believed to be dead--but guess what? He's crashing the wedding. That will likely shoot next fall somewhere in Ohio or possibly North Carolina. There's a teaser trailer and lots of info at www.ashotgunwedding.com . I'm also writing some projects for SaintSinner Entertainment in New Jersey.
MKR: What are you working on now?
PCG: Aside from the aforementioned THE ENDLANDS VOLUME 2 coming in November, I'm eager to start my next novel and also to finish a collection of short stories, but for now, along with spreading the word about PROGENY, I'm trying to raise awareness about a couple of charities that are near and dear to me. Scares That Care is an organization that provides comfort and assistance to ailing children, helps fight breast cancer and helps care for burn victims. They're always auctioning off amazing horror memorabilia, so it's a fun way to give.They can be found at www.ScaresThatCare.org .
Also, Jackie Chan is doing great things with his Dragon's Heart Foundation . Kids can help him build a school for a dollar!
And finally, the sCare Foundation ( www.scarefoundation.org ) was put together by the producers of the Halloween film series to help teens in poverty get on their feet.
MKR: Thank you so much for the interview, Patrick! I already have my copy of Progeny and look forward to reading it.
***
You can connect with Patrick C. Greene at his website , Facebook and Twitter . His Amazon Author Page can be found here .
October 27, 2012
Deep Discounts on Signed Books!
Hello, all! Right now, signed copies of my novel
Sullivan's War
and my collection
Short Stories
are each currently on sale for $3.00 off their regular cover prices. But if you buy them both together, the price is just $15.99 off a total regular price of $22.98.
By Grabthar's hammer, what a savings!
Just click here to order from my web store.
Just click here to order from my web store.
October 23, 2012
#12NovelsIn12Months Update: One (Almost) Down. What's Next?
October is quickly winding to a close. The evenings are finally pleasant here in Arizona and I am so close to finishing Sullivan's Wrath, so close I can smell it. What does it smell like, you ask? Well, NaNoWriMo is coming up, so you can have a chance to smell it for yourself!
By writing a book a month, I am participating in NaNo by default but I won't be participating in all the discussion surrounding it. I'm just going to hunker down and peck away at the keyboard. And what will I be pecking in November? I had initially planned on writing the third installment of the Sullivan series, but I feel like I want to write something else in November so I can have a little break from Rick Sullivan and his universe. That way I can come back to it in December with a fresh perspective.
So what should I write? Maybe you can help me decide. Here are three of the book ideas for my #12NovelsIn12Months writing project:
1. Darkridge Hall - A reclusive shipping tycoon dies childless and leaves his inheritance to a prep school along with instructions that the money be used to construct a building on the campus. However, he also left behind blueprints for the design of the building. Exactly one hundred years after his death, strange things begin to happen at Darkridge Hall.
2. Pray For Mars - Two hundred years from now, we have established a permanent colony on Mars. When the charismatic leader of a cult declares that it is against God's will for humans to leave the planet Earth, he sets in motion a series events that could lead to the destruction of the Mars colony. Can the colony's security forces uncover the plot in time?
3. Disreputable - A modern retelling of Henry James's The Aspern Papers with a twist. When a literary scholar discovers that the granddaughter of a writer he idolizes is still alive and, in fact, may have the manuscript of the author's last, unfinished novel, he determines that he will do whatever it takes to get his hands on it, even if that means pretending to be gay so he can seduce the author's great grandnephew, who is now living with his ailing aunt.
So there we have it: something a little occult/paranormal, something a little sci-fi and something a little literary and character-driven. The plan is for whichever one I write to be published after Sullivan's Wrath. Which would you like to read?
By writing a book a month, I am participating in NaNo by default but I won't be participating in all the discussion surrounding it. I'm just going to hunker down and peck away at the keyboard. And what will I be pecking in November? I had initially planned on writing the third installment of the Sullivan series, but I feel like I want to write something else in November so I can have a little break from Rick Sullivan and his universe. That way I can come back to it in December with a fresh perspective.
So what should I write? Maybe you can help me decide. Here are three of the book ideas for my #12NovelsIn12Months writing project:
1. Darkridge Hall - A reclusive shipping tycoon dies childless and leaves his inheritance to a prep school along with instructions that the money be used to construct a building on the campus. However, he also left behind blueprints for the design of the building. Exactly one hundred years after his death, strange things begin to happen at Darkridge Hall.
2. Pray For Mars - Two hundred years from now, we have established a permanent colony on Mars. When the charismatic leader of a cult declares that it is against God's will for humans to leave the planet Earth, he sets in motion a series events that could lead to the destruction of the Mars colony. Can the colony's security forces uncover the plot in time?
3. Disreputable - A modern retelling of Henry James's The Aspern Papers with a twist. When a literary scholar discovers that the granddaughter of a writer he idolizes is still alive and, in fact, may have the manuscript of the author's last, unfinished novel, he determines that he will do whatever it takes to get his hands on it, even if that means pretending to be gay so he can seduce the author's great grandnephew, who is now living with his ailing aunt.
So there we have it: something a little occult/paranormal, something a little sci-fi and something a little literary and character-driven. The plan is for whichever one I write to be published after Sullivan's Wrath. Which would you like to read?
October 17, 2012
Interview: SB Knight, Author of The Blood Chronicles
Today I have an interview with SB Knight, author of
The Blood Chronicles
trilogy. Book II, Drago’s Revenge, is the next step as he continues to pursue his passion for writing novels that deliver both thrills and chills. His desire is to improve the craft he loves with each novel he writes. He strives to deliver fresh, new ideas and stories in the Dark Fantasy genre. Currently he is writing the third novel of The Blood Chronicles.
***
Michael K. Rose: Tell us a bit about The Blood Chronicles.
SB Knight: The Blood Chronicles is a series of three books (Born of Blood is Book I and Drago’s Revenge is Book II) chronicling the life of a family as they struggle to survive. Pursuing them is the apex predator. He is determined to achieve his ultimate goal…permanent immortality. What hunts them is a vampire and he will destroy anything in his path to obtain what he wants. Why is this vampire hunting this family to extinction? They hold the key to all his desires.
MKR: How did you come up with the idea for the series?
SBK: I’m a fan of vampires, first and foremost, and knew I wanted to write a vampire novel at some time. I was watching a show on the History channel about Elizabeth Bathory (the blood countess) and a detail about her life grabbed my attention. I wrote it down and started to make notes to support it. I also asked a lot of ‘what if’ questions. What if a vampire was harder to kill? What if a vampire was not immortal unless certain actions were accomplished? What if a real historical figure and event actually dictated the birth of this apex monster?
MKR: Do you write in any genres besides horror?
SBK: Does Dark Fantasy count? If not, no, Dark Fantasy and Horror are where my muse dwells at the moment and for the foreseeable future. I have a number of novels planned in the genre. Actually, I believe my next novel will be a werewolf story.
MKR: Which writers have influenced you?
SBK: There are so many. First to mind are Tolkien, Brooks, Fiest, and Jordan. I love getting swept into their novels. King inspired me for his insight into writing and his passion for writing. Finally, Hitchcock for his method of building suspense and his outlook on what really chills a reader.
MKR: Book II, Drago's Revenge, will be out at the end of this month. When do you hope to release the final book in the trilogy?
SBK: Let me think, I have a separate novel releasing in March of 2013 and my hope is to have the third novel released in June of 2013. I am currently writing it now.
***
About Drago's Revenge:
The birth of a child is a time for joy and celebration. For Sam and Reba, it is a time for concern and worry. Concern for what could be and worry for what lurks in the shadows. They both know Reba’s baby, Christian, is special. But Drago waits in the darkness, and he also knows how special the child is. He knows what the child’s birth means. Now Drago stalks them, waiting for his moment to strike and claim Christian for his own evil purposes. As he unleashes his sinister plan, Sam and Reba fight to survive and keep their newborn out of his clutches.
Chased by a group of would-be vampires manipulated by Drago, Sam and Reba are forced to abandon their home and find sanctuary in once-forgotten locations. But they are not alone in this fight as family and friends arrive. Will it be enough?
Life will be lost, blood will be spilled, painful memories, and emotions will torment minds…all part of Drago’s revenge.
Special - From now until October 30 you can PRE-ORDER Drago's Revenge for $4.76 (that's 20% off retail price). PLUS, when you pre-order you get Born of Blood for free! That's right, save 20% AND get a free ebook! Click here to pre-order Drago's Revenge today!
When not writing, SB Knight enjoys spending time with his family and being outdoors. During a normal week he can be found on social networks such as
Facebook
,
Twitter
, and
his blog
. Easily approached, SB Knight enjoys chatting with readers and fans alike. Information about SB Knight, his books, and upcoming projects can be found at
www.sb-knight.com
.
***
Michael K. Rose: Tell us a bit about The Blood Chronicles.SB Knight: The Blood Chronicles is a series of three books (Born of Blood is Book I and Drago’s Revenge is Book II) chronicling the life of a family as they struggle to survive. Pursuing them is the apex predator. He is determined to achieve his ultimate goal…permanent immortality. What hunts them is a vampire and he will destroy anything in his path to obtain what he wants. Why is this vampire hunting this family to extinction? They hold the key to all his desires.
MKR: How did you come up with the idea for the series?
SBK: I’m a fan of vampires, first and foremost, and knew I wanted to write a vampire novel at some time. I was watching a show on the History channel about Elizabeth Bathory (the blood countess) and a detail about her life grabbed my attention. I wrote it down and started to make notes to support it. I also asked a lot of ‘what if’ questions. What if a vampire was harder to kill? What if a vampire was not immortal unless certain actions were accomplished? What if a real historical figure and event actually dictated the birth of this apex monster?
MKR: Do you write in any genres besides horror?
SBK: Does Dark Fantasy count? If not, no, Dark Fantasy and Horror are where my muse dwells at the moment and for the foreseeable future. I have a number of novels planned in the genre. Actually, I believe my next novel will be a werewolf story.
MKR: Which writers have influenced you?
SBK: There are so many. First to mind are Tolkien, Brooks, Fiest, and Jordan. I love getting swept into their novels. King inspired me for his insight into writing and his passion for writing. Finally, Hitchcock for his method of building suspense and his outlook on what really chills a reader.
MKR: Book II, Drago's Revenge, will be out at the end of this month. When do you hope to release the final book in the trilogy?
SBK: Let me think, I have a separate novel releasing in March of 2013 and my hope is to have the third novel released in June of 2013. I am currently writing it now.
***
About Drago's Revenge:
The birth of a child is a time for joy and celebration. For Sam and Reba, it is a time for concern and worry. Concern for what could be and worry for what lurks in the shadows. They both know Reba’s baby, Christian, is special. But Drago waits in the darkness, and he also knows how special the child is. He knows what the child’s birth means. Now Drago stalks them, waiting for his moment to strike and claim Christian for his own evil purposes. As he unleashes his sinister plan, Sam and Reba fight to survive and keep their newborn out of his clutches. Chased by a group of would-be vampires manipulated by Drago, Sam and Reba are forced to abandon their home and find sanctuary in once-forgotten locations. But they are not alone in this fight as family and friends arrive. Will it be enough?
Life will be lost, blood will be spilled, painful memories, and emotions will torment minds…all part of Drago’s revenge.
Special - From now until October 30 you can PRE-ORDER Drago's Revenge for $4.76 (that's 20% off retail price). PLUS, when you pre-order you get Born of Blood for free! That's right, save 20% AND get a free ebook! Click here to pre-order Drago's Revenge today!
When not writing, SB Knight enjoys spending time with his family and being outdoors. During a normal week he can be found on social networks such as
Facebook
,
Twitter
, and
his blog
. Easily approached, SB Knight enjoys chatting with readers and fans alike. Information about SB Knight, his books, and upcoming projects can be found at
www.sb-knight.com
.
October 7, 2012
#12NovelsIn12Months Update: The First 20,000 Words
It is Sunday night as I write this, and my word count for Sullivan's Wrath, the first book of
my #12NovelsIn12Months writing project
, sits at 20,063. I know that writing 3K a day means I should be at 21,000, but I was having dizzy spells for a couple of days (yes, I am in a Tennessee Williams play) and my writing output on those days was only around 2K. Fortunately, I had written over 6K on Monday so I was ahead of the game.
Now that I have a full week under my belt, I think I will shoot for 20K a week from now on. This will give me a little flexibility with my daily word count and, to quote Paul Newman in Cool Hand Luke, it's a "nice round number."
Quite a bit of time this week was spent in plotting out Sullivan's Wrath. I had a very basic twenty-scene outline, but that has now been expanded to fifty-five scenes. I also created and introduced a character who in this book will help drive the tension as the readers begin to wonder what he's up to and make for an effective antagonist for the third Sullivan novel. This novel is turning out quite a bit darker than Sullivan's War. In addition, elements that I introduced in the first novel are now playing a much larger role. Elements from this novel will play a large role in the last book of the trilogy.
I mentioned briefly that there will be two more novels to bookend the Sullivan Trilogy. With that in mind, I am trying to be very careful to craft this book in such a way that I do not contradict anything that I want to happen in those books. Very soon I plan on writing brief outlines for the third Sullivan book as well as those two bookends, just so I stay on the same page with myself. I also finalized the overall motivation for the things that are happening throughout the series. Readers will see that nothing that happened in Sullivan's War and nothing that will happen in this novel or the next is on accident. Every time I sit down to write, it seems that more and more events in the series become linked to one another. Some of this is intentional, and some of it is happening quite on accident.
An example: In Sullivan's War, the hyperspace entities began simply as an excuse for why Benjamin Alexander's new technology would not be extensively used. However, they have become linked to everything that is happening throughout. I am myself quite excited to see all this unfolding and I hope readers of the series will feel that same excitement.
Wish me luck as I enter my next week of the project. As I mentioned before, if you'd like to support me in this endeavor, financial considerations will end up being my biggest obstacle in preventing me from writing full time. If you'd like to purchase any of my books, it would be greatly appreciated. If you are new to my work, I have several short stories and novellas for sale individually, but you can get everything I've published so far in just two books: my collection Short Stories and Sullivan's War . If you get those two, you can enjoy my entire output to date.
Thanks again to my readers for all the support you have shown me this past year. I will do my best not to disappoint in the year to come.
Best,Michael K. Rose
Now that I have a full week under my belt, I think I will shoot for 20K a week from now on. This will give me a little flexibility with my daily word count and, to quote Paul Newman in Cool Hand Luke, it's a "nice round number."
Quite a bit of time this week was spent in plotting out Sullivan's Wrath. I had a very basic twenty-scene outline, but that has now been expanded to fifty-five scenes. I also created and introduced a character who in this book will help drive the tension as the readers begin to wonder what he's up to and make for an effective antagonist for the third Sullivan novel. This novel is turning out quite a bit darker than Sullivan's War. In addition, elements that I introduced in the first novel are now playing a much larger role. Elements from this novel will play a large role in the last book of the trilogy.
I mentioned briefly that there will be two more novels to bookend the Sullivan Trilogy. With that in mind, I am trying to be very careful to craft this book in such a way that I do not contradict anything that I want to happen in those books. Very soon I plan on writing brief outlines for the third Sullivan book as well as those two bookends, just so I stay on the same page with myself. I also finalized the overall motivation for the things that are happening throughout the series. Readers will see that nothing that happened in Sullivan's War and nothing that will happen in this novel or the next is on accident. Every time I sit down to write, it seems that more and more events in the series become linked to one another. Some of this is intentional, and some of it is happening quite on accident.
An example: In Sullivan's War, the hyperspace entities began simply as an excuse for why Benjamin Alexander's new technology would not be extensively used. However, they have become linked to everything that is happening throughout. I am myself quite excited to see all this unfolding and I hope readers of the series will feel that same excitement.
Wish me luck as I enter my next week of the project. As I mentioned before, if you'd like to support me in this endeavor, financial considerations will end up being my biggest obstacle in preventing me from writing full time. If you'd like to purchase any of my books, it would be greatly appreciated. If you are new to my work, I have several short stories and novellas for sale individually, but you can get everything I've published so far in just two books: my collection Short Stories and Sullivan's War . If you get those two, you can enjoy my entire output to date.
Thanks again to my readers for all the support you have shown me this past year. I will do my best not to disappoint in the year to come.
Best,Michael K. Rose
