Roxanne Crouse's Blog, page 4
June 19, 2015
Author Guest Post: 5 Quick Tips for Writing Fight Scenes By Christine Haggerty
By Christine Haggerty, author of The Plague Legacy: Acquisitions
I. Love. Karate. For most of my marriage, my husband has referred to it as my religion. I even went to the dojo on Sundays while he took our three kids to church. (Yes, we’re still married.)
I love the dojo. I love the wisdom and centeredness I feel when I’m in that place. I love the mental focus in training.
And I love the fighting. Karate is about depth of character as well as the physical training, but when it comes to applying my knowledge of karate into fight scenes, it’s the physical training and mental focus that translate most directly.
There is at least a novel’s length of things I could say about writing fight scenes, but below is the short version in five quick tips:
1.Stick to Physics
Living on Earth comes with a few rules, including inertia, atmosphere, and gravity. In short, what goes up must come down. If you describe someone being kicked and flying a distance of twenty feet before hitting a tree or landing on the pavement, either you are watching too much anime or you have no idea how far twenty feet is. Start with a realistic fight and then embellish with the characters’ special powers. I recommend measuring fights by body parts, such as ‘within arm’s reach’ or ‘she landed a body length away.’
2.Stay True to Your Characters
A character’s mental make-up affects their fighting as much as their physical traits. Are they tall and shy? Short and spunky? Do they have any experience? How about the other guy? If you plunk an unskilled character in the middle of a herd of trained ninja, they are dead unless they have a magic trick equivalent to a grenade. (Or a grenade, but then your character would also have to be grenade-proof.)
3.Follow through
In a good fight, you get bruises and broken bones. You hurt in places you didn’t know you had. Even Chuck Norris would be stiff and sore after defeating Megamind and his army of alien minions. These bruises and sore muscles are how you learn, and the more you train, the stronger you become and the faster you recover. In the scenes following a fight, remember to include these painful reminders of the action.
4.Consult an Expert
If you’ve never done any fighting, get help from someone who has. I’ve trained for ten years and taught almost as long. Spacing, timing, technique—I know these things. I will also know if an author doesn’t. Even if you think you have a good grasp of the logistics, have someone with experience read over your scenes. I also recommend having someone with no experience read your scenes to make sure that the rookies can follow the action, too.
5.Have Fun
That’s what it’s all about, right? In the end, it’s having a good story that sells. The fight scenes just help. And why do we read books in the first place? It’s to escape reality, so make it a fun escape.
June 16, 2015
Free Read: The Cat by Roxanne Crouse #freeread #shortstory
by Roxanne Crouse
PhyKittyMy cat, Kitty (true name Banchee), was nice enough to cooperate for this image. All she had to do was lay there and she was happy to do it.
I couldn’t stop eyeing the amazing cat sitting on the concrete ledge. I wanted to touch her soft gray fur, but decided to stay a safe distance away. When I examined the fleece, variations of color collided together from white to black and all colors in between. Her coat shone with a healthy vibrancy in the sun, radiating random rainbow colors as the rays struck down. Her gray nose sniffed the air between us, her black gum line parted with the effort exposing tiny teeth. The claws on her paws stuck out from her fur, uncut and sharp, sure to be lethal to any prey she decided to catch.
Everything about her feline body was perfect except her mouth. She couldn’t quite close her lower jaw all the way. Her yellowing teeth always exposed making her appear to have a vampire’s smile. Sometimes, her tongue would sneak out between her front little teeth and lay there for minutes, quite comical in appearance.
The most striking feature about her was her eyes. They sparkled emerald-green, not yellow like most cats, and when she let me get close enough, the irises swirled like looking into a green crystal ball of mist. They’re churning memorized and I couldn’t look away. My reflection expanded and contracted as the black pupils changed with her intense stare.
The cat’s posture changed and her eyes grew larger as I continued to gaze deep into her magical eyes, entranced by their beauty. Her ears folded back and the fur on her body and tail stood on end. She didn’t like me gawking, so intently into her eyes. Her animal instincts told her I was dangerous and she hissed expelling her foul breath in my direction. The intense odor made me wince breaking my eye contact and she took the opportunity to escape my gaze and jumped away. She slipped too quickly through the crack in the bricks for me to stop her and she disappeared in an instance.
I searched every day after work for her, but I never encountered her again. Even though I only saw her for a moment, I never forget those amazing hypnotic green eyes.
March 27, 2015
Book review: Evil Water by Inger Wolf #horror #amreading #bookreview
Evil Water by Inger Wolf is a crime thriller about a serial killer who uses leeches to kill his victims and stuffs their bodies into suitcases. I watch a lot of TV shows on crime but I don't read a lot of books in this genre. Actually, this may be the first one I've ever read. I thought it was written well
- except for the occasional copy editing issues - and formatted well for kindle. I enjoyed the foreign setting of Denmark and am glad the translators didn't change it to an American setting. I also liked the methodology of the killer. I found it to be very clever and understandable once you find out why he kills in this manner. The novel is structured well and follows a well structured path that works. I wish more of the novel was from the killer's point of view and the victims point of view. The procedures of the police seemed realistic as well, not that I'm an expert, far from it.
There were a few things that bothered me. Much of the novel, especially the beginnings of almost all the chapters, are written in past perfect and past perfect progressive, which gets annoying to read after a while. Here's an example in case you don't know what those tenses are: "In the meantime, she had gone back to her own apartment, which was located only a few minutes' walk from the police station. She had made her family dinner...Then she had read Winnie the Pooh...Now , Jacob had gone to bed. The reader will encounter pages and pages of it. In my opinion, if the info is important and it takes more than a sentence or two to say, write it as the current scene instead of flashbacking on the information. You'll get more emotional impact that way anyway, which brings me to another problem with this novel. There is not a lot of character emotion in this novel. There is plenty of action and dialog, but nothing about how what is happening is emotionally effecting the characters. The novel lacks intimacy which made it hard for me to keep reading, everything came across dry and factual. When I read, I want to feel what the character feels. You won't get that from this novel.
Many of the other reviews say they found the book horrifying. I found it interesting but it didn't horrify me. Perhaps I'm desensitized, but without the emotional element, I just didn't care what happened to anyone in this novel. I developed no attachments to any of the characters.
Should you read this book? If you're looking for an emotional charge, no. If you're looking for a clever plot with a clever serial killer, yes. I would say this book may appeal more to men than women.
March 25, 2015
A Wedding Photographer Nightmare
I haven't shot a wedding in a while and I have one coming up this weekend. I guess that's why I had a nightmare about it. The couple in my dream wasn't this weeks couple, thank goodness. It was a different couple whose wedding I shot years ago. Other than a wreck on 81 making
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everyone late, that wedding went perfectly. It's so strange that my mind would decide to twist it years later.
In my dream it was two o'clock. The ceremony was scheduled for two-thirty. I noticed I forgot my tripod so I went out to my car parked right in front of the church to retrieve it. When I came back in, the time was two-twenty and the ceremony had just ended and the couple were about to walk out. Completely confused, I of course freak out and scramble to get shots of them processing out. When I hit the button on my camera, everything on my camera that is detachable falls off. So I also miss all of the processional. My mind is racing trying to figure out what I should do. I don't know if the wedding couple are aware I didn't get a single picture of their ceremony. I'm wondering why they started early? And I'm trying to figure out how it took me twenty minutes to go out to my car.
I decide to set up for the formal images like I normally would and recreate parts of the ceremony before getting started with the formals. I explain what happened to the bride and what I plan to do. She seems okay with it. For some reason after I get everyone back to the alter, the bride moves away saying she can't be there anymore, she can't stand it. I still haven't taken a single picture. I have no idea why she doesn't want to be at the alter. I can't see anything wrong with it. Now I'm really up the creek. I don't have a single picture!
About that time my husband's alarm goes off. I'm soooo glad. I really hate the wedding nightmares. They are so stressful. I've never had anything like this happen at a wedding, but I guess it is always in the back of a photographer's mind.
So brides, some advice. Never start your wedding early! And make sure you know where your photographer is before starting anything important. You shouldn't have this problem with a pro photographer, but you never know.
March 9, 2015
Artist Interview: Photographer George Small “The Butterfly Guy” #art #photography
Here's part of an interview I did with an artist whose work we are currently showing at The Fine Arts Company where I work. I've been writing for their blog which is why I haven't been writing for this blog as much as I'd like. I guess I only have so much creative power to go around.
George is a photographer like me but he loves to shoot butterflies, unlike me.
George Small will be exhibiting his work here at the store during the month of March and will be having an opening March 14th from 6pm to 8pm. Below is an opportunity to get to know him better before you meet him in person here at The Fine Arts Company.
He has had a passion for photography since his teen years in Baltimore, Maryland. As his family grew, he documented their many activities from infancy to college graduation to marriage. His varied interests in photography include insects, flowers, butterflies, moths, birds, animals, landscapes, weddings, and sometimes unusual creations that catch his eye. He has used both film and now digital (with strong encouragement from his sons). Family Vacations have provided him great opportunity to capture butterflies and birds primarily in Florida and abroad.
That’s a little history about George. Now let’s get on to the interview. He can tell you just about anything about butterflies.
What drew you to photography over other art mediums?
I never considered myself artistic and never attempted painting or drawing. Stick figures give me a problem. I am surrounded with other artistic people though, as my wife is a Colored Pencil artist. I let the drawing up to her. Photography on the other hand is something that interested me and has been a part of my life from a young age. Many people say they never knew me without a camera in my hand. As a youngster growing up in Baltimore I would photograph all kinds of family events. Then, with my own family there were lots of opportunities to document the life experiences of our children from birthday parties to weddings and now grandchildren.
As a Traffic Engineer for the State Highway Administration I needed to document all kinds of highway incidents and features affecting drivers. Photographs give you a different perspective and one you can refer back to time and time again. So photography has been a continual part of my life and continues to be.
Why are you attracted to photographing butterflies?
About 10 years ago while visiting with friends in Florida we were amazed at the hundreds of butterflies attracted to their bright red bottle brush plants and began taking pictures of the different local butterflies attracted to the flowers. When we printed the pictures we were astounded at the intricate detail in these creatures of God that could not be readily seen as they fluttered about. Among God’s creatures, the butterfly is one of the most stunningly beautiful! Its gentle flight, colorful wings, and amazing migratory patterns are traits that make the butterfly a masterpiece of the natural world. This flying insect, while supplying us with visual enjoyment, also supplies us with amazing examples of the marvels of God’s creative work . For example, theGreat Southern White
looks like any other white butterfly as it flies around but when captured on film you can see the bright turquoise tips of its antenna that only this butterfly has. The Queen Alexandra,
largest and most beautiful butterfly, has wings and a body of vibrant yellows, blues and black.
January 28, 2015
#Kindle #Books The Last Swordmage (The Swordmage Trilogy #1) by Martin Henqst
The Last Swordmage: The Swordmage Trilogy: Book 1 (Magic of Solendrea)
3 out of 5 stars
I thought this book was edited and formatted for kindle well. I only came across a few copy editing issues, nothing that would annoy me and make me stop reading. The formatting for kindle was excellent and set up the way a book should be set up. I also enjoyed the writing style, one of the best I’ve come across in a while which is why I’m surprised some of the reviews are negative on the writing style. To each their own. I liked it and found it easy to follow and picture. I also liked that there was no head hopping, point of view changes were clear. Either the whole chapter followed one character or there was a break letting the reader know a change was about to happen.
I enjoyed the characters Tiadaria and Royce. I felt they had well defined arcs and they stayed in character and reacted as they should in the situations they were tossed in. Tiadaria definitely changes from the beginning to the end and Royce made an excellent mentor type character. I wish everyone else had been developed more especially our “bad guy” werewolf. More from his point of view from the beginning would have been nice.
I thought the story had a strong beginning. Right away conflict occurs as Tiadaria’s father sells her into slavery. We are in the scene with the main character experiencing it right along with her. The reader is never drowned in the beginning in flashbacks, exposition, or long passages of narrative explaining the character’s past or the world’s past, one of the first things that turns me off from reading a book.
There was also a good balance between action, narrative, and dialogue. I would have liked a little more background on the characters as the story went along, but I felt there was just enough to keep me interested and this is just the first part so more may come in later books. More dialogue between the characters Tiadaria and Royce would have been nice, especially during the time they are training together. It would have been a great time to set up the character’s pasts more and to show them getting to know each other. This part of the book felt a bit rushed, but just enough was there to make it still work.
The parts from the werewolves point of view also felt rushed and undeveloped. It felt like a couple of chapters from their point of view were thrown in at the end to set up the battle. I would have liked to have seen this part of the novel developed throughout the work slowly so when the battle comes at the end it doesn’t feel like it happened so suddenly out of no where.
I also enjoyed the back backstory of the world in which the characters live in. I hope this gets developed more in the later books. The story of the brothers and the dragons was simple but effective.
Overall I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading fantasy in a medieval setting with magical creatures. I found it enjoyable and worth the time. I wish it had been longer and developed more.
January 20, 2015
#Bookreview Untimed (Rules of the Regulator #1) by Andy Gavin #amreading
Untimed (Rules of the Regulator #1) by Andy Gavin
4 out of 5 Stars
Untimed by Andy Gavin is a fantasy time travel novel about a teen boy named Charlie who has a problem, no one seems to be able to remember who he is, sometimes not even his own mother. The day he finds out the reason why is the day his life changes forever, he is able to time travel at will, and because of this power, strange clockwork soldiers try to hunt him down and kill him. There is a catch, he can only travel into the past. He finds out this bit of information from a girl he meets in the past named, Yvaine, another time traveler.
Because she is a girl, she can only travel to the future. Unfortunately, the two accidentally end up changing history attracting every clockwork man in time to chase them down. The two must set time right again or the strange future they discover will become permanent, but the clockwork men don’t want it changed and stop them at every chance.
I enjoyed this book. It is well written and free of typos and grammar problems. It is also well formatted and has wonderful artwork throughout the book, a truly professional job. I liked how time travel works in the book and the clockwork soldiers give the novel a bit of a steam punk feel. The main character Charlie comes across as realistic as we hear his inner thoughts conflicting with what he actually says and does. Yvaine’s sexual issues were a bit much at times especially if this book is meant for younger readers. She is very promiscuous. Unfortunately, I have known girls just like her so her behavior is realistic, but I’d suggest this book to a more mature crowd. The sexual acts are not detailed out like you would find in a romance or erotica novel. They were at a level that I didn’t mind reading the scenes. A lot of action scenes are sprinkled throughout, but at times it does get slow when you read to the middle parts. Keep going when you hit these areas, it will pick up.
This novel has a conclusion of sorts, but obviously will have more books coming as none of the larger picture issues are resolved, such as where did the clockwork men come from, why are they trying to change time, why are there time travelers in the first place etc. If you like time travel stories with a bit of steam punk thrown in then you should give Untimed a try. A few may think it’s too slow at times, but I think most readers will enjoy this tale and appreciate its interesting time travel system.
January 18, 2015
#Photography White Balance Lesson Basics in Color Temperature
Being a digital photographer, it is important to understand what white balance is and how to use it to your advantage. The human eye will see white objects as white no matter what lighting your under because our brains compensate for the color of light. When we are under tungsten light (light bulbs like in a church or the average living room) the light gives off an orange sometimes even red color. You can sometimes see the orange light if you open up a window and let the sun in, the light from the lamp is orange or warm looking compared to the light coming in from the window which will look more blue or cool. The two different light sources mixing together helps you see their different qualities. Have you ever taken a picture indoors where the people were lit by the flash and they looked OK, but the background looked orange. That is because camera flashes are daylight balanced (blue light) and the room is lit with tungsten light (orange light). There is a way to fix that problem and we'll get into the solution soon.
A camera does not have a brain to compensate for light temperature so it is up to the photographer to fix the white balance. Digital cameras do have an auto setting for white balance, and in a lot of situations the auto white balance works pretty good like outside in full sunlight or at a beach or when your object is being completely lit by flash. Digital cameras also have preset white balance options like the picture below.
You can change your white balance setting to these options depending on where you are shooting and as long as you are not using the flash with them. If you are in tungsten light and set your white balance to tungsten light you should get good results. If you combine the flash with those settings, a tungsten lit room with the camera set to a tungsten setting, you'll get a yucky result because the flash is daylight balanced which is a blue light. Lets say you take a picture of your friend in the kitchen, the kitchen may look normal but your friend who is lit more by the flash will look blue. If you set the white balance to the flash setting, your friend will look normal, but the kitchen will look orange. So how do you get a perfect picture? Well, you can color gel your flash so that it shoots a tungsten light. Below is a picture of my flash with a tungsten gel under the white diffuser. You can see the orange sticking out. The orange gel makes the light from the flash orange just like the light in the kitchen so everything matches up.
With your camera set to tungsten, the room lit with tungsten light, and the flash covered with a tungsten gel you'll get a perfectly color balanced shot. You can also buy daylight balanced light bulbs for your home or place your shooting. You would set your camera to flash color balance and use your flash normally without a gel and you'll get a perfect color balance again.
You'll have to use gels for florescent lighting as well. The gel for florescent lights is more of a green color. You can find and get good deals at B&H Photo and Amazon if you can't find gels locally.Here's an affilliate link below to one on Amazon.
Pretty much all flashes are daylight balanced (blue light) so keep that in mind when shooting indoors under warm tungsten lighting or green florescent lighting. Most digital cameras, including point and shoot cameras, have the ability to manually change the white balance. You'll need to be brave and dig around in your camera's menu to find it.
Next time I'll talk about how to do a custom white balance which is more accurate than the preset white balance settings.
January 17, 2015
#Kindle #Books Spotlight: Riot of the Living Dead: Escape From Detroit by Samual Elkins
About the Author
The First novel by Samuel Elkins is sure to be a hit with horror readers. Sam Elkins is an MRI Technologist who has worked in the Detroit inner city for nearly a decade. His Accounts of racism and ruin are based on first hand accounts and a fair amount of trespassing in the many abandoned buildings that mar the city. He hopes that his debut novel will shed light on the struggles that Detroiters face, and encourage others to invest in this city whose economic fate is directly tied to the fate of the region.
Book Description
RIOTS, RACISM, ZOMBIES, AND BAD COFFEE. Seemingly overnight, a riot has erupted in Detroit, rapidly engulfing the volatile city. But as victims begin to flood an inner city hospital, it becomes apparent to the staff that this is no ordinary riot. The patients are feverish, bearing horrible bite marks and the stench of death. As they succumb to infection, their corpses inexplicably seem to rise from the dead, violently attacking and cannibalizing anyone they come in contact with. As the city burns, a mild mannered MRI Technologist tries desperately to flee the city. Starving, dehydrated, and desperate for a decent cup of coffee, he hides in the historic ruins of Detroit’s former glory, experiencing firsthand the urban decay, racism, and socioeconomic depression that blight the automotive capital of the world.
January 14, 2015
#Bookreview Wool - Part One (Silo series Book 1) by Hugh Howey #amreading
Wool - Part One (Silo series Book 1) by Hugh Howey
4 out of 5 Stars
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Wool by Hugh Howey is more of a short story than a novel, but that doesn't take away my enjoyment of reading it. Although short, this little story packs a lot of twists. I found it well written once I got to the dialog. The beginning was a little overwritten for my taste, but that would be my only complaint and that's a minor one. The formatting and editing were well done. You won't stumble over missing words or have to interpret where paragraphs should be.
The story opens with the main character waiting to be sent out into an apocalyptic world to die. He has asked too many questions in a place where questions aren't allowed. Now he must go out with his wool sponges and clean the cameras so the inhabitants
can see the nightmarish world outside. By the time he finishes he will die. He's angry and doesn't want to clean them. Why should he. Why did everyone else clean them when sent out to die. Even his wife did.
I loved the ending. It was my kind of ending and very clever. I'm also thrilled that the story had an ending. So many self published authors don't conclude their first books. As a reader it gets annoying to be forced to buy another book. I tend to move on not wanting to waste time on a series that may end poorly. But the ending for this story makes me want to go ahead and buy the rest of the books. This author has proved himself capable of a satisfying ending.
I would recommend Wool, absolutely. The beginning might make you want to stop a page in, but keep going. It gets better, I promise. Once the dialog starts the story becomes far more interesting.
