R.J. Hore's Blog: Fall is Here, page 4
July 11, 2020
The Housetrap Chronicles - Two and Three
“Dial M for Mudder” is the second episode I wrote that fell into the Housetrap Chronicles format. It is also the only one that broke the opening mode I finally decided on. This tale starts off with the detective tracking a suspect through the gloomy city streets. From then on I used an opening chapter with the detective, and usually his secretary, sitting in the office bickering when a client walks in. Decided it was much simpler for someone reading the stories out of order and easier for the author too. With “Mudder” in the title I thought of mud, and the old pulp version of Venus, this one Terraformed. This is a case with a missing statue (I channeled my bird and Bogart) and a nasty curvaceous assassin.
“The House on Hollow Hill” is a take-off on those lovely English tales of guests locked in haunted mansions and murders abound. The folks in their coffins under the hill added to the fun.
Along with “Housetrap” these three were gathered together in a single print version under the moniker, “The Housetrap Chronicles, Volume 1” The three individual tales are also available as single ebook versions. The collection, originally just in print, is also available now as an ebook.
An excellent way to break a writer's block (which I claim I never have) or to just have a change of pace, The Housetap Chronicles is my comfort blanket when I really want to run wild.
“The House on Hollow Hill” is a take-off on those lovely English tales of guests locked in haunted mansions and murders abound. The folks in their coffins under the hill added to the fun.
Along with “Housetrap” these three were gathered together in a single print version under the moniker, “The Housetrap Chronicles, Volume 1” The three individual tales are also available as single ebook versions. The collection, originally just in print, is also available now as an ebook.
An excellent way to break a writer's block (which I claim I never have) or to just have a change of pace, The Housetap Chronicles is my comfort blanket when I really want to run wild.
June 18, 2020
The Origin of the Housetrap Chronicles
Looking for a break from writing mainly medieval-style novels I decided I wanted to try something shorter and lighter. I’d had two short stories published but wanted to try the novella length mystery. I thought of a gimmick to inspire me. I’d take the title of an existing murder mystery, mash it up, and create a plot out of the mess that followed. I’d seen Agatha Christie’s play “The Mousetrap” in London, so I decided on “The Housetrap” (Which became just plain “Housetrap”).
I had no idea what a housetrap was. After some head-scratching I created a detective, his mouthy secretary, a femme fatale to lead him astray, and a fantasy world for them to play around in. The story took me off-world, which made for some unusual fantasy characters, and murders on Mars.
An editor read and liked it but said the story was too long for his format. I soon discovered there was a limited magazine market for a 30,000 word tale.
I decided the only solution was to write two more mystery tales, come up with a book-length manuscript format, and try to get that accepted.
The next two episodes I wrote were “Dial M for Mudder,” and “The House on Hollow Hill.”
A pair of publishers showed interest in this completed manuscript, and then both sat on it for the next two years, still periodically expressing their interest.
I met a third publisher at a con, who was interested in my medieval fantasies, and then asked me, “What else do you have?”
Since then I've written ten Housetrap Chronicles novellas with eight published to date and two more completed and in editing.
Never give up!
I had no idea what a housetrap was. After some head-scratching I created a detective, his mouthy secretary, a femme fatale to lead him astray, and a fantasy world for them to play around in. The story took me off-world, which made for some unusual fantasy characters, and murders on Mars.
An editor read and liked it but said the story was too long for his format. I soon discovered there was a limited magazine market for a 30,000 word tale.
I decided the only solution was to write two more mystery tales, come up with a book-length manuscript format, and try to get that accepted.
The next two episodes I wrote were “Dial M for Mudder,” and “The House on Hollow Hill.”
A pair of publishers showed interest in this completed manuscript, and then both sat on it for the next two years, still periodically expressing their interest.
I met a third publisher at a con, who was interested in my medieval fantasies, and then asked me, “What else do you have?”
Since then I've written ten Housetrap Chronicles novellas with eight published to date and two more completed and in editing.
Never give up!
June 11, 2020
We're Not in Kansas - Another Standalone Novel
“We’re Not in Kansas” – Another Standalone Novel
I can’t remember exactly what triggered this novel, but it does start with one of my favorite opening lines: “Macy rose to her feet, leaned over, and poured the entire ruby contents of her wine glass neatly over the crotch of his light gray slacks.” I just had to use this somewhere.
Macy’s night out goes downhill from this point.
Not sure where I was going with this when I began, I wrote a near-future thriller about a single mother who was an archaeologist, and her rebellious teenage daughter, Tiffany. In search for the unusual origins of an Egyptian statue, they are off to an obscure country ruled by a dictator and his henchmen. Among the many characters they tangle with is a rugged Indiana Jones look-alike.
Bodies pile up and things take off in a much different direction from what they, and I, originally expected.
An often darker novel, the story is told from the points of view of the mother and daughter.
I can’t remember exactly what triggered this novel, but it does start with one of my favorite opening lines: “Macy rose to her feet, leaned over, and poured the entire ruby contents of her wine glass neatly over the crotch of his light gray slacks.” I just had to use this somewhere.
Macy’s night out goes downhill from this point.
Not sure where I was going with this when I began, I wrote a near-future thriller about a single mother who was an archaeologist, and her rebellious teenage daughter, Tiffany. In search for the unusual origins of an Egyptian statue, they are off to an obscure country ruled by a dictator and his henchmen. Among the many characters they tangle with is a rugged Indiana Jones look-alike.
Bodies pile up and things take off in a much different direction from what they, and I, originally expected.
An often darker novel, the story is told from the points of view of the mother and daughter.
June 4, 2020
Alex in Wanderland - A Standalone Tale
“Alex” hit the shelves in 2015. Other than the fact I wanted to write something completely different from the medieval-style fantasies I’d been working on up until that time I have no idea where this plot sprang from. The title comes from the names of the two main characters, a modern married couple,
Alexander and Alexis. In one of my favorite opening chapters, we have a hard-working wife and an unsuccessful stay-at-home author. They get into an argument about the purchase of his latest toy and end up being transported to an alternative universe with a brutal Dark Age civilization.
They both believe they are dreaming, at least in the beginning.
Mistaken for religious prophets they are sent on a quest to deliver a petition to the king, which, if they fail they will probably die, and if they succeed, they will probably die.
To add madness to their quest, they are accompanied by a priest, a thief, and the standard barbarian swordsman. I really had fun writing this and merrily abusing them along the way. I must have done something right; I had two editors working on this manuscript during publication preparation, both of whom told me to tone it down.
After all, things can’t be too bad when the chief deity in the land is the Goddess Gladys.
Alexander and Alexis. In one of my favorite opening chapters, we have a hard-working wife and an unsuccessful stay-at-home author. They get into an argument about the purchase of his latest toy and end up being transported to an alternative universe with a brutal Dark Age civilization.
They both believe they are dreaming, at least in the beginning.
Mistaken for religious prophets they are sent on a quest to deliver a petition to the king, which, if they fail they will probably die, and if they succeed, they will probably die.
To add madness to their quest, they are accompanied by a priest, a thief, and the standard barbarian swordsman. I really had fun writing this and merrily abusing them along the way. I must have done something right; I had two editors working on this manuscript during publication preparation, both of whom told me to tone it down.
After all, things can’t be too bad when the chief deity in the land is the Goddess Gladys.
May 28, 2020
Of Destiny's Daughters - Adventures in Science Fiction in Three Parts
I had an urge to try my hand at a straight sci-fi novel back in the pre President Trump days. Somewhere, perhaps on one of my early morning walks, I came up with this image of a large crippled spaceship parking over Ottawa. More thinking while in need of a plot, and characters, I turned up a brother and sister theme to share the center stage. He was a bored civil servant; she was a restless ex-military type in search of something. She just didn’t know what. A novel developed out of these loose threads.
Not sure who would be my lead character when I started this project, the sister and her girlfriends took over, hence the title choice. I had a vague idea of where I wanted to go with this in the end. For the middle of the tale I needed to develop the character’s family and backstory. What would happen when the spaceship was discovered? Who would become involved? What had happened to the spaceship and what were their intentions?
I had a lot of fun finding out. I also discovered somewhere during this creative process that I couldn’t leave the story where I originally intended. There was still too much going on. The story became a trilogy. While the novel was in editing I sketched out the middle book, “Hammer Across the Stars,” and the final episode, “Expeditions to Earth.” Both of these manuscripts are completed and now in editing.
“Of Destiny’s Daughters” came out in 2019; I expect we will see “Hammer” sometime in 2020 with “Expeditions” completing the trilogy later in 2021. Like all of my books they are available in print and ebook formats through the publisher and the usual outlets such as Amazon and Kobo. Normally you could also track me down live at a local craft sale, Con or Medieval Fair. Not these days!
Not sure who would be my lead character when I started this project, the sister and her girlfriends took over, hence the title choice. I had a vague idea of where I wanted to go with this in the end. For the middle of the tale I needed to develop the character’s family and backstory. What would happen when the spaceship was discovered? Who would become involved? What had happened to the spaceship and what were their intentions?
I had a lot of fun finding out. I also discovered somewhere during this creative process that I couldn’t leave the story where I originally intended. There was still too much going on. The story became a trilogy. While the novel was in editing I sketched out the middle book, “Hammer Across the Stars,” and the final episode, “Expeditions to Earth.” Both of these manuscripts are completed and now in editing.
“Of Destiny’s Daughters” came out in 2019; I expect we will see “Hammer” sometime in 2020 with “Expeditions” completing the trilogy later in 2021. Like all of my books they are available in print and ebook formats through the publisher and the usual outlets such as Amazon and Kobo. Normally you could also track me down live at a local craft sale, Con or Medieval Fair. Not these days!
May 21, 2020
Toltec Dawn Etc.
Somewhere, about fifteen years or so ago, I was reading the local newspaper and noticed a headline about how once again our nation had mistreated the indigenous North American folk. I can’t remember what the article was about but the thought that immediately sprang into mind was, “I wonder what it would have been like if the shoe, or moccasin, was on the other hind foot?” The question that followed was, “how would I write that?”
I occasionally tell people one reason I write fantasy is that I don’t have to do a lot of research into detail. I was afraid of getting lost or at the least, sidetracked. I like alternate history or what-if stories, but I found this particular project made me stretch a bit. How could I make it work and how far would I carry it? The novel that resulted from this exercise massages a lot of details to make everything fit together the way I wanted it to. At least I had some background interest in history, a fond subject of mine. I once spent several years in charge of the judges running a Canadian History Book Contest. I had to bend several rules for this novel but in the end, “Toltec Dawn” was the result.
Why the Toltec? I chose the time period across the pond when my events would take place, then had to look back at who was prowling around the Americas at the time. The Aztec had not yet risen, the Maya were scattered, and feuding like Greek city-states, and the South American empires were located on the wrong coast to make for an easy invasion of Europe. In my research I came across the Toltec, the time period fit but the information on them was a bit vague. I found three general lines of thought about the Toltec.
1. Archaeologists disagree. They didn’t exist, or if they did, they were an obscure culture the Aztec claimed as ancestors to give themselves some cred.
2. They were magicians playing with crystal skulls. This was not going to be that sort of tale.
3. They were a militaristic state that conquered all of Mexico.
You can guess which one I went with.
One of my editors suggested I direct this to a different publisher. They accepted it, but said that 140,000+ words were a bit much for them to handle in print format. They advised me to cut the manuscript in half into two volumes, flesh these out, and write a third one.
So I did, and created a what-if historical fantasy.
What followed Toltec Dawn became “Toltec Khan” and “Toltec Noon.”
I occasionally tell people one reason I write fantasy is that I don’t have to do a lot of research into detail. I was afraid of getting lost or at the least, sidetracked. I like alternate history or what-if stories, but I found this particular project made me stretch a bit. How could I make it work and how far would I carry it? The novel that resulted from this exercise massages a lot of details to make everything fit together the way I wanted it to. At least I had some background interest in history, a fond subject of mine. I once spent several years in charge of the judges running a Canadian History Book Contest. I had to bend several rules for this novel but in the end, “Toltec Dawn” was the result.
Why the Toltec? I chose the time period across the pond when my events would take place, then had to look back at who was prowling around the Americas at the time. The Aztec had not yet risen, the Maya were scattered, and feuding like Greek city-states, and the South American empires were located on the wrong coast to make for an easy invasion of Europe. In my research I came across the Toltec, the time period fit but the information on them was a bit vague. I found three general lines of thought about the Toltec.
1. Archaeologists disagree. They didn’t exist, or if they did, they were an obscure culture the Aztec claimed as ancestors to give themselves some cred.
2. They were magicians playing with crystal skulls. This was not going to be that sort of tale.
3. They were a militaristic state that conquered all of Mexico.
You can guess which one I went with.
One of my editors suggested I direct this to a different publisher. They accepted it, but said that 140,000+ words were a bit much for them to handle in print format. They advised me to cut the manuscript in half into two volumes, flesh these out, and write a third one.
So I did, and created a what-if historical fantasy.
What followed Toltec Dawn became “Toltec Khan” and “Toltec Noon.”
May 14, 2020
The Queen's Pawn - Genesis
The Queen’s Pawn
The second novel I ever had published was “The Queen’s Pawn.” This came about when I was watching a documentary on the fall of Troy and started to think about how uncomfortable it would be to find yourself trapped inside a burning city. Without much more than that to go on I started to write. For some reason I started with a character who turned out to be an older student, fresh off the farm, whose parents had sent him off to the City to become a priest. He turned into someone who amused me and from then on I took great pains to give him a hard time. The other trait I added was to make him completely innocent, and attractive to women, young and old.
This is the first time I created a character who was this far on the out-of-his-depth side of life. Enjoyed abusing him immensely.
This was also the first time I had the experience where the characters took over complete control of the narrative. I started out with the queen in need of rescuing and appearing foolish. Boy, did she soon fool me and take over! Her daughter was a nasty piece of work, but then I had to look into her backstory and find out why.
At one busy Con I had a woman stop by our table, glance at the back of the book and snap, “Another helpless woman rescued by a male,” toss the book back and disappear into the crowd before I could open my mouth. Didn’t she notice the title, “The Queen’s PAWN?” I suppose she might have been unfamiliar with the word.
I had no idea who the villains were when I started this epic, or again, why. Once I uncovered them I had to discover their motivation. I had a lot of fun writing this piece.
Strange, and idea that started out based on a gloomy idea (burning city!) turned into a bit of a romp. You never can tell about these things when you wing it.
Such is the writing life of a "pantser!"
As I didn’t have a publisher at the time I wrote Pawn I created a reasonable ending for TQP. The book came out and the publisher said, “Don’t stop now.”
And so began my second adventure into the world of sequels.
The second novel I ever had published was “The Queen’s Pawn.” This came about when I was watching a documentary on the fall of Troy and started to think about how uncomfortable it would be to find yourself trapped inside a burning city. Without much more than that to go on I started to write. For some reason I started with a character who turned out to be an older student, fresh off the farm, whose parents had sent him off to the City to become a priest. He turned into someone who amused me and from then on I took great pains to give him a hard time. The other trait I added was to make him completely innocent, and attractive to women, young and old.
This is the first time I created a character who was this far on the out-of-his-depth side of life. Enjoyed abusing him immensely.
This was also the first time I had the experience where the characters took over complete control of the narrative. I started out with the queen in need of rescuing and appearing foolish. Boy, did she soon fool me and take over! Her daughter was a nasty piece of work, but then I had to look into her backstory and find out why.
At one busy Con I had a woman stop by our table, glance at the back of the book and snap, “Another helpless woman rescued by a male,” toss the book back and disappear into the crowd before I could open my mouth. Didn’t she notice the title, “The Queen’s PAWN?” I suppose she might have been unfamiliar with the word.
I had no idea who the villains were when I started this epic, or again, why. Once I uncovered them I had to discover their motivation. I had a lot of fun writing this piece.
Strange, and idea that started out based on a gloomy idea (burning city!) turned into a bit of a romp. You never can tell about these things when you wing it.
Such is the writing life of a "pantser!"
As I didn’t have a publisher at the time I wrote Pawn I created a reasonable ending for TQP. The book came out and the publisher said, “Don’t stop now.”
And so began my second adventure into the world of sequels.
May 7, 2020
On Sequels
On Sequels: Dark Days – Dark Knights
When “The Dark Lady” came out my publisher told me to keep on going. Most of my main characters, both good and bad, were still alive so that was not a problem. I found the trilogy format suited me and this particular tale quite well. One problem with trilogies is deciding how you keep the middle book interesting. Scatter plots and sub-plots throughout the three books.
In book two, “Dark Days,” I moved the heroine along a couple of years and had the coming-of-age and first hints at romance while continuing with the situations and struggles from book one, everyone around her wanting to take over the throne, and the neighbours desiring to seize control. This also provided me with the opportunity to expand and develop the supporting players and their stories. Of course there needed to be desperate situations. For an ending, I came up with a surprise twist that led into the third and final chapter, “Dark Knights.”
The third book, DK, continued developing the growth of the main characters while speeding up the conflicts over a shorter period of time than in the first two volumes. This was also the book where I hinted how our heroine might eventually turn out. One of my early readers commented she was living up to her reputation, and would probably cause those around her much grief. I had a lot of fun writing this series and building the world around these diverse characters.
How do these two books compare with “The Perils of Paul?” PoP takes place over a longer period of time within a single volume and is lighter in tone with more tongue placed firmly in cheek than the tales found in The Dark Lady trilogy. No plans at this time to expand on PoP.
Next time, a look at the second trilogy I wrote, starting with The Queen's Pawn.
When “The Dark Lady” came out my publisher told me to keep on going. Most of my main characters, both good and bad, were still alive so that was not a problem. I found the trilogy format suited me and this particular tale quite well. One problem with trilogies is deciding how you keep the middle book interesting. Scatter plots and sub-plots throughout the three books.
In book two, “Dark Days,” I moved the heroine along a couple of years and had the coming-of-age and first hints at romance while continuing with the situations and struggles from book one, everyone around her wanting to take over the throne, and the neighbours desiring to seize control. This also provided me with the opportunity to expand and develop the supporting players and their stories. Of course there needed to be desperate situations. For an ending, I came up with a surprise twist that led into the third and final chapter, “Dark Knights.”
The third book, DK, continued developing the growth of the main characters while speeding up the conflicts over a shorter period of time than in the first two volumes. This was also the book where I hinted how our heroine might eventually turn out. One of my early readers commented she was living up to her reputation, and would probably cause those around her much grief. I had a lot of fun writing this series and building the world around these diverse characters.
How do these two books compare with “The Perils of Paul?” PoP takes place over a longer period of time within a single volume and is lighter in tone with more tongue placed firmly in cheek than the tales found in The Dark Lady trilogy. No plans at this time to expand on PoP.
Next time, a look at the second trilogy I wrote, starting with The Queen's Pawn.
April 25, 2020
A Novel Idea
What follows is the first in a series of essays I've posted weekly on my Facebook page, starting off with a discussion on where some of my ideas came from.
A Novel Idea
I used to write and submit short stories to anthologies. I had two published, one of which won a national short story contest. I also had one editor return two of my submissions on separate occasions with the comment, “These tales sound more like novels,” so I took the hint.
The first novel I had published was The Dark Lady. This project came about when I caught a brief glimpse of the face of an actress on TV and thought; ‘she could easily play the part of an evil queen.’ My next brainwave was: ‘I wonder how evil queens get their bad reputation,’ or something weird like that. This line of thinking created the title, and with that I was off and writing. The plot gradually changed with a young protagonist and into more of an idea vaguely inspired by a fantasy version of the young Elizabeth the First trying to survive in a castle filled with conniving courtiers and cunning nobles, but you get the drift.
Even though the heroine was on the youngish side, the tale was not written as a young adult novel. I seldom think about the age of the potential reader when I create, which gets me some interesting reviews. One reviewer of The Dark Lady said: “this is a tale for teenagers.” Another boldly stated: “this is definitely not for teens!”
I didn’t have a publisher when I wrote The Dark Lady so I wrapped the tale up with a reasonable conclusion, while still leaving a few loose ends, and a goodly collection of villains and perils haunting the towers of the ancient castle.
How does the tone of this tale compare with the new novel I’m sharing on Wednesdays, The Perils of Paul? The Dark Lady is definitely more serious and darker in tone, with more blood and gore.
Next week: We need a sequel! The birth of Dark Days.
A Novel Idea
I used to write and submit short stories to anthologies. I had two published, one of which won a national short story contest. I also had one editor return two of my submissions on separate occasions with the comment, “These tales sound more like novels,” so I took the hint.
The first novel I had published was The Dark Lady. This project came about when I caught a brief glimpse of the face of an actress on TV and thought; ‘she could easily play the part of an evil queen.’ My next brainwave was: ‘I wonder how evil queens get their bad reputation,’ or something weird like that. This line of thinking created the title, and with that I was off and writing. The plot gradually changed with a young protagonist and into more of an idea vaguely inspired by a fantasy version of the young Elizabeth the First trying to survive in a castle filled with conniving courtiers and cunning nobles, but you get the drift.
Even though the heroine was on the youngish side, the tale was not written as a young adult novel. I seldom think about the age of the potential reader when I create, which gets me some interesting reviews. One reviewer of The Dark Lady said: “this is a tale for teenagers.” Another boldly stated: “this is definitely not for teens!”
I didn’t have a publisher when I wrote The Dark Lady so I wrapped the tale up with a reasonable conclusion, while still leaving a few loose ends, and a goodly collection of villains and perils haunting the towers of the ancient castle.
How does the tone of this tale compare with the new novel I’m sharing on Wednesdays, The Perils of Paul? The Dark Lady is definitely more serious and darker in tone, with more blood and gore.
Next week: We need a sequel! The birth of Dark Days.
February 10, 2020
Something New
I'm going to try something new.
I had an itch to write a fantasy novel based on a couple of ideas rattling around in my head, so I did. "The Perils of Paul."
Instead of sending it off to my publisher I decided I would post it one chapter a week on my author facebook page.
I already have thirteen published novels and nine novellas out there, so this is a thank you to my readers, and a sample of one of my writing styles.
If anyone is interested, look me up on www.facebook,com/RonaldJHore starting February 19th 2020 and have a read.
I do have my publisher's blessing to do this as she already has two more of my novels in editing (sequels to "Of Destiny's Daughters") and a couple of Housetrap Chronicles novellas in the works to keep her busy.
I did say The Perils of Paul was a fantasy novel, although by the time I was finished, I may have changed my mind.
I had an itch to write a fantasy novel based on a couple of ideas rattling around in my head, so I did. "The Perils of Paul."
Instead of sending it off to my publisher I decided I would post it one chapter a week on my author facebook page.
I already have thirteen published novels and nine novellas out there, so this is a thank you to my readers, and a sample of one of my writing styles.
If anyone is interested, look me up on www.facebook,com/RonaldJHore starting February 19th 2020 and have a read.
I do have my publisher's blessing to do this as she already has two more of my novels in editing (sequels to "Of Destiny's Daughters") and a couple of Housetrap Chronicles novellas in the works to keep her busy.
I did say The Perils of Paul was a fantasy novel, although by the time I was finished, I may have changed my mind.
