Brian W. Matthews's Blog
July 6, 2013
Review of Special Dead by Patrick Freivald
Special Dead by Patrick FreivaldMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Special Dead is the stellar follow-up to Patrick Freivald's debut novel, Twice Shy. The story picks up a year after the end of Twice Shy. Ani Romero is chained to her desk, one of several zombie students being educated while their legal status is debated in court. These Special Dead, as the community calls them, struggle with life and unlife, learning their lessons and undergoing tests to try and find a cure. When the courts rule that they do not have any legal status as living beings, the pressure intensifies to find a cure before the Special Dead are destroyed. Only there is another danger, one none of the Special Dead saw coming. One that could end everything they have worked for.
I gave this book four stars, though I would have given it four-and-a-half, had that been allowed. Mr. Freivald has once again created a charming, quirky and danger-filled story that thrills as much as it chills. With a bold hand, he weaves a tapestry of adolescent angst that is both familiar and new, making this a good read for older teens as well as adults. Several subplots keep the story moving briskly. And if you read carefully, you will note a subtle tongue-in-cheek irony that I found delightful.
Special Dead is a delightful novel. I look forward to more from Mr Freivald.
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June 29, 2013
Review of "Steel Breeze" by Doug Wynne
Steel Breeze by Douglas WynneMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
One year ago, Desmond Carmichael's wife was brutally slain, beheaded by an ancient samurai sword. Cleared of the crime, a shattered Desmond struggles to raise his young son, Lucas, while desperately working to pull his life together. But when a chance encounter in a park reveals that the murderer is not finished with him, Desmond is thrust into a race against the police, the FBI and his own guilt as he tries to keep a killer from the one thing his has left in the world--his son.
Using a well-researched backdrop of Japanese culture, Douglas Wynne's follow-up to The Devil of Echo Lake is a nail-biting tale of suspense and revenge that shows how distant events can have terrible consequences in the present. Filled with wonderful imagery, Steel Breeze takes you on a ride with characters you will come to love--and love to hate. With his second novel, Mr. Wynne shows a master's hand at plotting and detail. A relative newcomer to the field of horror/thriller writers, I expect you will be hearing a lot more about him in the future. I will certainly look forward to his next novel.
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March 19, 2013
Ripped from the headlines
Where do writers get their ideas? It's a frequent question, and one that rarely satisfies everyone. Often it's a random thought, a comment from a friend or loved one--anything, really. Even, say, something from the news.
Admit it, how often have you heard, "You couldn't make this shit up!" And I've found it's true: reality is far more screwed up than the imaginations of most authors. And the news item doesn't have to be a bizarre headline, either. It could be a rather dry report that gets twisted into a story idea, because all you need is that seed (the headline), a little water (your imagination), and then sit back and watch it grow.
Let's do an exercise. While sitting writing this, a headline popped up on my news site. Tragically, several Marines died in a training accident in Nevada. This is truly horrible, but my mind immediately went to "Nevada = Area 51." Okay, what if those deaths were due to aliens in the area, perhaps a vanguard of BEMs (bug-eyed monsters) getting ready for an invasion, and the soldiers happened upon them? The government would surely cover something like that up, right? The world is in dire peril, and everyone is kept in the dark--except your intrepid hero, who braves the might of the miliary to blow the whistle and save humanity.
Okay, not very original, nor very well developed. But you get my drift. Ideas can come from anywhere. So the next time your reading the newpaper, pick a headline and see if you can come up with a story idea. After all, it's just a matter of turning it into what scares you.
Admit it, how often have you heard, "You couldn't make this shit up!" And I've found it's true: reality is far more screwed up than the imaginations of most authors. And the news item doesn't have to be a bizarre headline, either. It could be a rather dry report that gets twisted into a story idea, because all you need is that seed (the headline), a little water (your imagination), and then sit back and watch it grow.
Let's do an exercise. While sitting writing this, a headline popped up on my news site. Tragically, several Marines died in a training accident in Nevada. This is truly horrible, but my mind immediately went to "Nevada = Area 51." Okay, what if those deaths were due to aliens in the area, perhaps a vanguard of BEMs (bug-eyed monsters) getting ready for an invasion, and the soldiers happened upon them? The government would surely cover something like that up, right? The world is in dire peril, and everyone is kept in the dark--except your intrepid hero, who braves the might of the miliary to blow the whistle and save humanity.
Okay, not very original, nor very well developed. But you get my drift. Ideas can come from anywhere. So the next time your reading the newpaper, pick a headline and see if you can come up with a story idea. After all, it's just a matter of turning it into what scares you.
March 12, 2013
Interview with the East Coast Horror Group
Here is the link so you can listen to my interview with Zack Daggy at the East Coast Horror Group. I discuss the creation of the Forever Man novel, what makes good horror, favorite horror authors and movies, and other terrifying topics. Enjoy!
http://spookshow.tv/forever-man-inter...
http://spookshow.tv/forever-man-inter...
March 9, 2013
What scares us?
As a horror writer, this is a question my mind embraces every day. But the notion is elusive because the scope is so vast: the more you try to pin down what exactly terrifies someone, the less accurate you become. One person could be afraid of zombies, while another could fear snakes or spiders, yet another could lay awake at night ruminating about an invasion by hostile aliens bent on destroying the earth. See where I'm going with this? No one thing universally frightens everybody. And to write a story that hopes to scare as many people as possible, you have to approach things differently.
Personally, I focus on three writing techniques.
First , I keep all external/supernatural threats off stage as much as possible. Be it a vampire or zombie or some creature I created, I offer only hints and glimpses, enough to whet the razor's edge of my reader's imagination. And then I let them fill in the details. A reader's own imagination is far more effective at creating what frightens him than anything I or any other writer could hope to do.
Next, when the threat is on stage, I try to write the experience as tightly as possible, almost claustrophobically; I want my reader right in the face of the terror. That, coupled with the time they had to imagine how the monster (or whatever) truly frightens them, work quite effectively together.
The final trick is to emphasize the tragedy of the human condition: the pain of a broken marriage, the loneliness of a bullied child, the fear and rage a parent feels when her child is threatened, the terror of mangled expectations, social or personal (think of the Shining, where Danny Torrence, a boy who loves his father, must watch as the man goes homicidally insane, and what that does to the young boy emotions). Wise writers will focus more on the human relationships than the monster or alien or whatnot, because we all have a frame of reference for the former, while no one has really encountered the latter.
So, monsters can and do frighten us, but we all react more strongly to what our own imaginations feed us in the dark of night. And all stories, no matter the genre, are about people. Period.
Personally, I focus on three writing techniques.
First , I keep all external/supernatural threats off stage as much as possible. Be it a vampire or zombie or some creature I created, I offer only hints and glimpses, enough to whet the razor's edge of my reader's imagination. And then I let them fill in the details. A reader's own imagination is far more effective at creating what frightens him than anything I or any other writer could hope to do.
Next, when the threat is on stage, I try to write the experience as tightly as possible, almost claustrophobically; I want my reader right in the face of the terror. That, coupled with the time they had to imagine how the monster (or whatever) truly frightens them, work quite effectively together.
The final trick is to emphasize the tragedy of the human condition: the pain of a broken marriage, the loneliness of a bullied child, the fear and rage a parent feels when her child is threatened, the terror of mangled expectations, social or personal (think of the Shining, where Danny Torrence, a boy who loves his father, must watch as the man goes homicidally insane, and what that does to the young boy emotions). Wise writers will focus more on the human relationships than the monster or alien or whatnot, because we all have a frame of reference for the former, while no one has really encountered the latter.
So, monsters can and do frighten us, but we all react more strongly to what our own imaginations feed us in the dark of night. And all stories, no matter the genre, are about people. Period.
