Christopher Stocking's Blog, page 22

I Am The Narrator

I am the narrator.

(Believe me)

I tell weaved webs of concocted stories.

(Picture me)

Imagine my face, hair, the color of my skin.

(Trust me)

Listen to the characters.

(Hear my words)

Embrace what they say.

(Would I lie to you?)

For years you’ve trusted me.

(Trust me)

To tell you the facts.

(Believe me)

And the honest truth is.

(I’m lying)

Remember, you can’t always trust the narrator of a story.

Let’s Get Vulgar, Shall We?

First off, I’d like to apologize for my long absence. English classes have me bogged down with reading, my wedding is only 19 days away, and Anne Rice has sucked me into the first book in “The Vampire Chronicles.” But, let me assure you, as I’m typing this, I can tell I’ve really missed blogging. I’ve missed writing in general. I won a free contest where I get free cover art, so I’ve been going back through what I have for “London Darkness: War of the Devices” so I can finish it and use the f...

Let’s Talk Tuesday: History

Today was my first day back to college, and my Modern World Literature professor asked a question that really got me thinking. This leads me to believe that, aside from all the extensive writing, it’s going to be an interesting class. I wanted to take this Let’s Talk Tuesday and leave you all with the question that I’m quite eager to see the answers to.

How do you know that history exists?

Forsaken

I’ve decided I want to post more of my fiction on my blog, along with other writerly-life things. Sometimes people want to read someone’s work, rather than read about their struggles all the time. So, to kick this off, I’ve written another poem. For some reason poetry always comes out somewhat dark. I’m not really sure why.

Enjoy!

On that dreadful night

It would be his test

A pistol pressed against his temple

To lay him to rest

It had been called cowardice

Though he knew it was just

For she had forsa...

The Joy of Starting Something New

Photo Credit: LMRitchie WANA Commons

I’ve started writing a short story called “Captive” which takes place in a post-apocalyptic world. Sixteen year old Aiden Mateka is out on his own, and is captured as part of a plot to take over a large city;jeopardizingwhat remains of civilized life. I’m still ironing out some of it and I’m only about 1,000 words in, but I really like where it’s going.I don’t know if I’d exactly call this a new project, but there’s a chance it could turn into something a l...

Is It More Than A Numbers Game?

Part of being successful as a writer is having good numbers. A high number of book sales, fans, profits, Facebook likes, Twitter and blog followers, etc. That’s all well and good, but there’s one particular thing about this numbers game that bothers me:

I can’t stand when people say “‘Like’ me on Facebook and I’ll ‘Like’ you back!” That is absolutely ridiculous. Whenever I’m offered that I never go through with it. I want to earn my fans from my writing and professionalism, not because someone...

Let’s Talk Tuesday: The Name Advantage

Suppose you are a huge Stephen King fan. You go onto Amazon and search for him; but, instead of finding his Dark Tower Series, or “It,” you find a book by another man named Stephen King. Do you check out his books? Or, do you skip by them and go for the Stephen King you know?

Today’s topic is about writers with the same, or very similar names as famous authors. Do you think they have an advantage over the others? Should these writers use their names to help market their books? Do you know anyo...

Lost In Translation

Now, I’m not a man of poetry by any means. I’ve never been good at it, but this came to me at work the other day. I’d appreciate a little feedback, but do be gentle. Thanks!

Words enveloped in silk

Laced with cyanide

Slipping off your tongue

Finished with a smile

Alone the words stand

Pure in meaning

Paired with the means

Brings forth decay

Black as coal

Your soul stands in waiting

With a blood-soaked blade

As sharp as your words

And now here I stand

A laceration in my heart

Bleeding forth the chemical

That...

It’s Not Always Pleasantville

I’ve recently discovered something that may be holding me back as a writer. Characters, no matter how cool and badass, can’t do everything. They don’t always achieve their goals, they don’t do everything perfectly. They make mistakes. This somewhat falls into the category of not babying your protagonist.

I’ve always known that characters need to have flaws to make them who they are. They need to make mistakes to move the story forward, and to help their development. I’ve tried to put this in...

My Deepest Apologies

I feel I need to apologize for a few things. I went away on a little mini vacation to my mother’s for the past few days, and forgot to schedule a Let’s Talk Tuesday topic. There will be one next Tuesday for sure. Also, I never updated everyone on how the book launch went. I will dedicate a full blog post to this soon, but it went great! I even sold out of books! More on that later.

I’d really like to apologize to all of my followers. I’ve received so many new WordPress followers lately, (over...