Konn Lavery's Blog: Posts from konnlavery.com, page 37

Indie Insights with Marnie Cate Episode 12

GoIndieNow Presents the season finale, episode 12 of Indie Insights with Marnie.

In this episode:

(1:56) INTERVIEW WITH KONN LAVERY

(22:03) INTERVIEW WITH SUZY VADORI

(39:27) ROUNDTABLE WITH MARI COLLIER, CHRISTIE STRATOS, AND J. M. NORTHUP

(1:07:23) MUST READ BOOKS

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What A Ride

Summer is over, what a ride! Many exciting things happened over the past two months. Lots of writing took place, met new colleagues and attended When Words Collide. This year was the first time that I participated in presenting and sitting on a panel. Some exciting opportunities came my way as well. Let’s talk about them, shall we?

Welcome to another edition of Unprocessed Thoughts

As with every summer, the blog posts are less frequent There was no writing-related advice post. There was a new flash fiction though. Void Watcher was a fun experiment into representing sleep paralysis. Bits of it come from my own experiences and others I got to explore the bizarre. Next month we will get back to the regular blog programming with a writing-related advice post, interview, Unprocessed Thoughts and new flash fiction.

When Words Collide

Okay, to start, let me say, wow, when Words Collide was motivating. Every year it sparks the fire to write. It is the one time a year you get to connect with so many like-minded people in one area. This year I did attend fewer panels and spent more time networking. The shift in focus changed my perspective on the festival. Much like other conventions, there is a whole additional layer of When Words Collide which involves meeting other industry professionals.

I was also able to present a DIY Graphic Design for Authors talk which was inspired by the latest writing-related advice blog posts. The blog post series will continue and go more in-depth than the presentation did.

Purity: Part III of Mental Damnation

The next installment of Mental Damnation was announced earlier this month. If you follow me or the hashtag #mentalDamnation on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook, you’ll see five previews of the novel are being released every week up to the launch at the Edmonton Comic Expo on September 21st.

Rutherford Manor

A big announcement dropped on August 20th. I am pleased to say I am working with the Rutherford Manor crew on the next novel in the franchise. More information will come in the following months. Be sure to check out their site and like them on Facebook to get the latest updates about their other projects and the new novel.

 

Last Quarter of the Year

We have the Edmonton Expo coming up, and after that, I will be bringing signings and conventions to a stop. The absence will allow more time to focus on the new novels and plan for the next few years. Keep watch on the blog and social media. I will keep active online!

Beer Note: Unibroue La Fin Du Monde

Unibroue is a Quebec based brewing company with a wide range of beers. According to their site, this beer has won more medals and awards in major international competitions than any other Canadian beer. It is Unibroue’s international flagship ale. It is a great sipping beer, full of flavour and has 9% alcohol. The beer was on sale, and the box description was intriguing. Usually, the box descriptions aren’t very accurate, but Unibroue described their beer perfectly. Even with my hoppy taste buds in mind; I’d give this a 4.5/5.

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Purity Launch at Edmonton Comic Expo

Edmonton Comic Expo!

Next, I’ll be at the Edmonton Comic Expo with Mental Damnation Vol III along with the other releases. More info to come.

When and Where:

21 – 23 September 2018

Edmonton EXPO Centre

Fri: 4:00PM – 9:00PM

Sat: 10:00AM – 7:00PM

Sun: 10:00AM – 5:00PM

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Void Watcher

Emily has been a talented illustrator, designing unique characters her whole life. Her mother has always been amazed by Emily’s original ideas. For Emily, these ideas aren’t as one-of-a-kind as she’s told everyone.

Void Watcher is August’s Flash Fiction that explores beyond our reality. Experience the story in written word, audio, artwork and ambient sounds.

Void Watcher

Rediscovery

Goodnight, I love you, was a phrase that Emily heard throughout her childhood. Every time she was going to bed, she would get a kiss on the cheek and a tight hug before being dismissed. The ritual was cute as a kid, as an adult, it made her sheepish.

Even through the embarrassed feeling, Emily wanted to make sure her mother happy. Her mom’s life was not easy since her dad passed. She only wanted to be included in her daughter’s life. The least Emily could do was say goodnight to her. Hugs and kisses were a lot cheaper than rent, even if it made her feel like an adolescent.

Emily’s mother was also too forgiving. She let Emily move back home after college. The offer was a blessing and a curse. Mom’s kindness made it too convenient for Emily not to look for a job. Dinner was made every night and laundry was taken care of. Moving back home was like being at a Bed and Breakfast – there were no more ninety-nine cent mac & cheese meals.

“Tomorrow is a brand-new day,” Mom said with a warm smile.

“Thanks Mom,” Emily said.

“Oh! Before you go to bed…” Mom said while leaning down below her office desk. She lifted an old cardboard box up onto the desk with a heavy thud. “…I was looking through the basement earlier and came across these gems.”

“What’s that?” Emily asked, stepping closer.

Mom flipped the box open and pulled out some sheets of paper. “You know these.”

“No way,” Emily folded her arms. “You kept all of this?”

“You were such an artist, even then!” Mom said, flipping a sheet of paper around.

Emily stared at the paper, looking at the crude crayon figure of a ghost with an upside-down triangle for a head.

“I have no idea where you came up with these ideas,” Mom said, handing the drawing to Emily. She began to sift through the box saying, “there was that tiger in here that I liked too.”

Emily swallowed heavily while staring at the triangle-headed drawing. She shook her head and forced a smile, saying, “this stuff is so bad!”

“Nonsense! You’ve always had talent,” Mom said.

“Talent doesn’t seem to help get you employed,” Emily sighed. She handed the paper back to her mother.

“You’ll find a job, dear,” Emily’s mother said while taking the drawing and placing it back into the box. “You are exceptionally gifted.”

Emily rubbed her own arm. “Thanks Mom,” she said. “I’m going to hit the sack.”

“Of course,” Mom said. “Goodnight, I love you.”

A New Ritual

Emily gave her mom a hug and kiss goodnight before leaving the home office and up the stairs to her childhood room. She flicked the light on and closed the door. The room was exactly the way she left it after moving away to college.

Emily wanted to remove the boy-band posters and the stuffed animal toys, but she purposely avoided changing anything in the room. Keeping the childhood items convinced Emily that she was not going to be here very long. That initial thought came to her nine months ago, when she first stepped into her old room.

The girl turned off the lights and undressed. The blue nightlight automatically turned on, projecting enough brightness for her to find her pajamas and slip into them.

She swiped her smartphone screen to unlock it and navigated through the interface to set an alarm for the next day. After months of bad sleep, Emily finally decided to set a time for her to get up early each day. Her unrestful slumbers forced her to sleep in until early afternoon. By early evening, she’d have a heavy nap, ruining her sleep cycle for the night. Her sleep pattern was pure chaos.

Emily noticed a dating app notification appear at the top right of her smartphone’s screen. The icon indicated there was a match.

“Probably another dick pic,” Emily muttered, placing the phone on her dresser. She told herself she would check the notification tomorrow. Emily wasn’t in a rush to meet a man; she could barely get her own life together. No one decent would want anything to do with an unemployed deadbeat like her.

The girl jumped into her bed and got under the covers, lying flat on her back. She took a deep sigh, trying to brush away the daily pressure of being unemployed. Emily knew that her mother was patient with her situation, but she could not help feeling guilty for not finding a job yet. She was not even able landed an interview.

“Tomorrow’s worries,” Emily said through an exhale.

Her mind began to drift as she took deep breaths in through her nostrils and out through her mouth. Emily’s brain always ran a thousand thoughts a second before she was going to go to sleep. The moment just before sleep was the one time she was not doing something. The downtime gave her brain a chance to play catch-up, reflect upon the day and think about the wishes of tomorrow. This is why she practiced deep breathing. The stillness helped calm her system down.

After what seemed like a good three dozen breathing cycles, Emily’s thoughts turned fuzzy and her body began to relax. The worries of today and the uncertainty of tomorrow began to fade. The guilt of staying with her mother and not paying rent began to wash away. The stress of being single and making no use of her college degree had little concern to her now. There was only Emily, the bed and the blue glow.

With another exhale, the walls faded. Her eyes were locked onto the blue-tinted speckles of the ceiling. Her limbs went numb and her breathing pattern went into autopilot.

At some point in the process, the room went dark. Her body lightened as if she had left this reality. Her thoughts faded into the abyss, leaving her to observe the dreamworld. She began to drift through the empty, black, space. She was weightless and free. The physical constraints that bound her during the day ceased to exist.

“Welcome to the other side,” a raspy voice reverbed in her mind.

The Void

A loud thud came from the bedroom door.

Emily’s eyes twitched open and she attempted to move them to where the sound was coming from. They didn’t budge from their sockets. She could only see the upper half of the door frame from her peripheral view, due to the angle of her head.  Emily tried to move her eyes again with no success. Despite her best efforts, she was unable to adjust the position of her eyes in her skull.

What the…? she thought. The words in her mind were supposed to project out through her mouth, but she could only express caveman groans from her throat. Her jaw and lips did not respond. Some saliva began to ooze out from her lip and onto her chin. Emily attempted to use her tongue to grab the liquid. No luck.  Her tongue was as useless as her eyes.

The door to her bedroom creaked open, revealing a pitch-black hallway beyond the frame. The blue glow from her nightlight shined abnormally bright, increasing the contrast of light and dark.

An immense invisible force pushed onto Emily’s chest and limbs, sinking her deeper into the bed. She attempted to scream, only to be met with silence.

I can’t breathe! Emily cried out, feeling a lack of air entering her burning lungs. Her voice was nothing but gurgling gibberish, despite the clarity of thought. The force on her body continued to press into her being, pushing her deeper into the bedframe. The mattress morphed into a tar-like substance, absorbing her slightly into it.

A white shape entered the room from the hallway. Despite being unable to control the movement of her eyes, Emily could see a being glide closer to her. The being appeared humanoid, draped in a white robe. The head, on the other hand, was an upside-down triangle with glowing blue balls resembling eyes that sat at the two higher points of the geometric shape.

Someone help! Emily attempted to talk again, resulting in more gurgles. Her limbs failed to respond as she tried to spring from the mattress. She was stuck in an unresponsive body.

The being glided towards Emily’s bedside. The triangular head floated on top of the being where a neck should be. A jaw appeared from the lower point of the triangle up to the blue eyes. The elongated mouth revealed razor-sharp teeth and a red snake-like tongue.

“We have watched you from the Void since your childhood, Emily,” the being said. The white skin on the being’s face moved like rubber.

Help! Emily cried out again.

The being leaned closer, causing the invisible force to drastically increase. There was no air was entering her lungs as she helplessly stared at the triangular head.

“Your mind remains intact with this world and the next. You are attuned. You are awake. This is why we remain in contact throughout your realm’s years. The Void has waited for you to grow mature.”

An arm-length bulge appeared from underneath the being’s robe followed by three sharp claws. “Your time is up. I have come to take you to the Void,” the being said in a cold tone.

“No!” Emily screamed as the mattress returned to its normal state. Her body went into a hypersensitive state as she sprung from the bed, her eyes closed. She opened her eyes to see that the blue nightlight returned to its normal value. The pressure on her body ceased to exist.

Emily felt all of her body’s motor functions return to her as she kicked the white sheets away. She looked over to her bedside to see that the triangle-headed being was gone. She glanced at the door, no one was there either.

Emily rubbed her forehead, feeling an intense headache pulsate throughout her skull.

Some things never change, she thought while exhaling hard.

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Christie Stratos, award-winning psychological suspense author and host of the Writer’s Edge.

This month’s guest is Christie Stratos, who is an award-winning author. She also holds a degree in English Literature. Her work ranges from Psychological Suspense to short stories and poetry. She also hosts the Writer’s Edge on YouTube, a twice monthly panel discussion on writing and publishing.

Let’s welcome her to the blog!

Thank you, Christie Stratos, for joining us, can you give a brief introduction of yourself?

Thanks for having me, Konn! I’ve always been a writer, but not always in the genres I currently write. I actually started out with poetry, and it was a far cry from the dark suspense books I write now! I also never thought I could write historical fiction, but my books are rooted in historical accuracy. It just goes to show you can accomplish anything if you want to. And that is my motto.

Tell us about your latest novel, Locke and Keye, which was released in September, 2017.

Locke and Keye (now called Brotherhood of Secrets) is the second book in the Dark Victoriana Collection, but it can be read as a standalone novel. It’s a fast-paced suspense book that moves so fast, most readers say they finish it in one or two days! Cult mentality is at the center of this book, and the question of how far you would go to have—and keep—a family is at the heart of it. There are lots of parallels, connections, and a few cameos between book one, Anatomy of a Darkened Heart, and book two. Brotherhood of Secrets is strongly character driven, so if you like books that go deeply into characters’ psyches and are unpredictable, you’ll enjoy it!

This is book 2 of the Dark Victoriana Collection, how many more books do you plan on writing within the series?

Originally I thought this would be a collection with two novels and three novellas. Well, that has expanded dramatically, so feel free to get addicted—there’s much more to come! As of now, the plan is six books and a number of short stories. It’s an ever-expanding historical universe, so I expect it to grow even more than this.

Did you start writing in short stories before working on novel-length literature?

I started with poetry, then moved straight into novel-length fiction when I was in middle school (7th grade). I wrote another novel in high school, then moved back into poetry, and finally, after college, started writing short stories. They were actually the last form I wrote!

Tell us more about The Writer’s Edge? What made you want to host a live steam YouTube Channel?

By the time I took over The Writer’s Edge from fantasy author Joshua Robertson who started it, I already had a well-established author YouTube channel that I truly enjoyed making videos for. I had hosted a couple of livestream panel discussions before and found that I took to it quickly and wanted to do more. When Josh asked if I’d like to take over The Writer’s Edge, it was like a dream come true!

Since that time, I’ve expanded it from once a month to twice monthly: the second Thursday of each month is a panel discussion on a chosen writing topic, and the fourth Thursday we do a one-on-one interview with an author or publishing industry expert. I’ve also partnered with Mickey Mikkelson recently, so now I have a wonderful co-host who helps bring fantastic people to our show!

What’s next in your writing career after the Dark Victoriana Collection?

It’s so hard to say. I have so many ideas, so many things I want to write. One is a medieval duology, another is a fantasy book, still another is a noir book or series, and there’s also a business-themed drama… It’s too hard to decide! But while I write the Dark Victoriana Collection, I do write short stories and poetry in a variety of genres that get published in anthologies and journals. Watch my social media, follow my blog, and/or sub to my newsletter to find out when something new is coming out!

For aspiring writers, what would be one piece of advice you would give them?

Identify what’s difficult for you—the blank page, writer’s block, making time to write—and go after fixing that problem head-on. We all have things that get in our way, and it’s writers who strive to solve their problems and move on who achieve their dreams.

Let’s thank Christie Stratos for joining us to talk about her writing!

You can find Christie Stratos’s work at the links below:

christiestratos.com

Amazon

Kobo

You can also follow her online at:

Facebook

Instagram

The Writer’s Edge – YouTube

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Purity This Fall

Following the re-release of Dream: Part 2 of Mental Damnation in 2017 fall, Fusion is also being re-released. Originally the third Mental Damnation novel was hinted on June 26th through social media. Now the second edition’s manuscript is complete, renamed, and being prepared for release.

Purity: Part Three of Mental Damnation will be out Fall 2018.

Reality’s second edition had a massive overhaul from the first edition with lore adjustments, deleted chapters and characters and re-written chapters. The feedback from readers who read both editions was insightful and encouraging. Dream went through a large change as well to help improve the story. The third Mental Damnation novel, Fusion, pushes the dark fantasy series forward.

The majority of the original 73,000 words within Fusion are left as is. Another 53,000 has been added to elaborate on scenes, characters and subplots within the series. This totals to approximately 126,000 words for the new edition.

Eight new chapters have been added.

Fusion had ended on a cliffhanger. Originally there were eight additional chapters that were cut out of the first edition. These chapters were being saved for the fourth book. With the overhaul of the series, the eight chapters fit seamlessly into Purity. The new chapters are the primary reason for the renaming of book three.

Some of the new additions within the novel are:

Eight new chapters expanding on Krista’s journey, Darkwing’s quest to find her and Dr. Alsroc’s attempt to cure Krista’s disease.
New and updated illustrations.
An encyclopedia detailing every character, place, and race to-date within the series.

Purity Cover Art

The new art follows the occult theme from the new Reality with glowing line work pressed into a dark leather cover.

The simple line art represents the concept of the novel a little more than the brain-pentagram seen in the first edition.

Purity: Part Two of Mental Damnation Synopsis

Just under a week has passed since Krista has been diagnosed with the nightmare-enhancing brain disease Mental Damnation; the symptoms are more self-evident than ever to Dr. Alsroc who continues to pursue a cure.

Krista is now burdened with protecting her friend Marilyn’s dark secret and Paladin’s pressing offer. He promises her safekeeping at the price of exposing her people’s history to him – what will he use that knowledge for?

In the underworld, Darkwing’s quest to find Krista grows more complex. His morals are challenged, threatening any hope of seeing her again.

Malpherities, Krista’s ghostly companion, urges her to keep her mind focused on Dreadweave Pass and ignore her issues at the High Barracks of Zingalg. The two are forced to partner with an immoral paladin who has a personal interest in helping Krista escape from hell. Meanwhile the corrupt god, the Weaver, strains his army to find the young girl. They send a fallen angel who is determined to bring her to the Weaver so he can use her blood in his necromantic ritual that will set him free!

Release Date

Purity: Part Three of Mental Damnation will be out September 21st at the Edmonton Comic Expo.

Spread the damnation!

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Professional Juggler

Another late Unprocessed Thoughts! Shame… shame on missing the mark. This post is technically for July’s edition but it is being released in August. This is an improvement from last year, during the summer of 2017, the blog was a sitting duck. This year I am making sure posts happen, even through prepping for When Words Collide and attending this year’s Terminus Festival. I suppose that makes me a professional juggler?

Welcome to another edition of Unprocessed Thoughts

Like last year, Terminus Festival and When Words Collide are only two weeks apart. Two trips to Calgary. One filled with loud electronic noise, late nights and a lot of shouting and the other is informative, inspiring and a key place for authors to network. Pleasure and Business.

In addition to my new professional juggler career, another ball was added to the mix with more contract work – exciting! The constant hustle is nothing new if you really look back at the Unprocessed Thoughts series. Each one consists of mentioning work-balance-to-fun ratio. Let’s not go there again.

Terminus Festival

Before we go further, let me get this off my chest… wow! Terminus 2018 was a blast. I’ve gone since 2014 and every year has been a lot of fun. I enjoy the fact that the bands are intermixed with the attendees during the event, which gives them a human element vs large concerts or festivals where you are unlikely to meet the performers.

2018’s Terminus introduced a pre-party as well, making it a total of four days of chaos. If you ever want to be inspired to make industrial music, this festival will make it happen.

Outside of catching up with friends I only see once a year at the festival, there were a number of highlights such as Unter Null, Author & Punisher, Android Lust and Street Sects. The festival had some heavy hitters like Mesh Trst and Leather Strip as well. It was a great escape for four days. Now, it’s time to get the game face on and get back on track.

When Words Collide

I am very pleased to say I am participating in presenting at When Words Collide! Check out their full program list to see all of the great programs available. Every year When Words Collide ignites a fire in my writing. The craft is such an isolating experience. When you get together with a bunch of other authors you realize you are not in it alone. The struggles and joys you experience are shared amongst many others.

This year I am only at When Words Collide for the Friday and Saturday. The Saturday I will be presenting DIY Graphic Design for Authors and on a panel with Beth Wagner about Indie Publishing. I will also be participating in a signing session.

For Sunday, I am signing at Indigo Signal Hill then driving back home to get back to writing and working through the pile of projects that need to be wrapped up by the end of the month.

September, I’ll have more news on Mental Damnation Vol III. Who knows? maybe a teaser will sneak in this month if I get a handle on my life.

Beer Note: Howe Sound Inn & Brewing Company’s Devil’s Elbow IPA

During the Terminus fiasco, one night I consumed the Howe Sound Inn & Brewing Company’s Devil’s Elbow IPA that came in a liter bottle. Truthfully it was the name and label design that drew me in. It was also a liter and $12 at the liquor store. Seemed like a good deal. It was not nearly as hoppy as I was expecting considering the name. Maybe other parts of the Devil taste hoppier. Regardless, with my hoppy taste buds in mind, I’d give this a 4/5.

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Cassandra Penticoff, author of Weathering the Wicked and founder of A Novel Connection.

This month’s guest is Cassandra Penticoff, who is the founder of A Novel Connection, a place where indie authors are able to distribute their books to readers on a subscription-based service. She also pursues her own writing goals by writing fantasy novels.

Let’s welcome her to the blog!

Thank you, Cassandra Penticoff, for joining us, can you give a brief introduction of yourself?

Hello! I go by C. Penticoff in the book world. I’m a fantasy author and I’m also the owner of A Novel Connection. I started creating books the moment I could pick up a pen and write with it. My first book, Weathering the Wicked, is one I started writing at the age of 12. After 14 years of throwing crumbled up pieces of paper in the trash and going back to the writing board, I finally had the masterpiece I had dreamed of publishing since middle school.

When I’m not writing, I am homeschooling my two young boys and day dreaming of worlds beyond our own.

Tell us about your latest novel, Weathering the Wicked.

Weathering the Wicked is different than most fantasy novels that you will find out there because of its clear spiritual message and theme in the book. When I say, “spiritual,” I do not mean religious. If you have ever seen the movie Avatar, then that will give you a good reference as to the tone of the spiritualism, along with the world it takes place in.

Weathering the Wicked is book 1 in the Chronicles of Folklaria. Book 1 touches on the main character’s inability to face her fears and deal with her anxiety: And her reality being flipped upside down when she is forced to conquer her fears by venturing off into a mystical and wicked land.

Blurb:

One prophecy. One mortal girl. An entire land threatened by wicked magic.

Life hasn’t been easy for June. With crippling anxiety, an overprotective mother, and bouncing from part time job to temporary work, she often feels lost in a sea of success just out of reach over the horizon. Especially when it comes to her perfect-as-can-be sister, January. June’s world is turned upside down when January mysteriously disappears, and June must embark on her journey to a magical land, Folklaria, to rescue her. Upon arriving, June discovers her real identity. Everything she knew about herself had been an illusion, a distraction from her true self, and a diabolical plan to keep her from her true destiny.

Befriending a fairy, developing feelings toward Ryder, and facing off with a wicked sorcerer are just a few of the dramatic events, which June faces during her journey to save her twin.

In the end, when all seems well in June’s world, a climatic turn of events pivots the book into a sequel.

Little did she know, this was only beginning of a long and life-altering journey in Folklaria.

Weathering the Wicked is part of a series, what are your plans for the Folklaria series?

This is a 3 book series. I have BIG plans for this series! There are lots of twists and turns throughout the entire series, as there are in Weathering the Wicked.

In books 2 & 3, you will see the ups and downs of June and Ryder’s romance; you will also see it really take off and blossom.

You will find out what happened in Folklaria to bring on the wicked magic that is taking it over. You will figure out Tristara’s past, along with finding out who she is. I don’t want to give too much away, so I will leave it at that!

Now, you also run and manage A Novel Connection, tell us more about this website?

A Novel Connection is a website that offers free books to readers in exchange for honest reviews. On the flip side, we offer writers a free review servicing, along with other paid services: Such as, editing, graphics design, and web design.

What made you want to start up A Novel Connection?

A Novel Connection was born on a dream. When I created ANC, I dreamed of creating an opportunity for indie writers to help build their career without adding to the high expenses of producing a book. This was because I was slapped with the reality of how hard it is to be a successful author from my own experiences. At one point in time, an author really just needed to be a great writer and story-teller in order to produce books. Now, with self-publishing, you have to also be a marketer! For people new to the gig, it is very daunting.

I hoped that I could take some of the pressure off by creating this opportunity for authors.

Back to the writing, what is next for you after the Folkaria series?

I have plans of starting a young adult series, which will consist of unrelated stories. These stories will be based off of familiar fairytales, told in ways that you have never heard!

Alongside that series, I plan to keep writing new adult and young adult fantasy.

For aspiring writers, what would be one piece of advice you would give them?

There is so much advice that I would give to aspiring authors, but if I could only give them ONE piece of advice, then it would be this: Network with other authors. That has probably been, for me, what has given me the most insight into the writing and publishing world. Anytime I need some insight or advice into my book, publishing, writing in general, etc., I go to my fellow authors! I have had authors format my book for free when I was stuck and had no idea how to do it. That has actually happened 2 or 3 times. I’ve had someone make me a paperback wrap for free because I had no idea how to apply my Ebook cover to a paperback cover! Those are just a couple of ways that my fellow authors have helped me. When I need help coming up with names, getting advice on my plot, a sentence, etc., I turn to my writers gang!

Let’s thank Cassandra Penticoff for joining us to talk about her writing!

You can find Cassandra Penticoff’s work at the links below:

anovelconnection.com

Amazon

You can also follow online her at:

Facebook

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Tyne Cabin

The Tyne family visit their cabin for a digital detox getaway. The cabin is a home away from home.

They soon discover the cabin is also home to another.

Tyne Cabin is July’s Flash Fiction that jumps into the world of bizarre. Experience the story in written word, audio, artwork and ambient sounds.

Tyne Cabin

The Morning

I sat patiently in the car, twiddling my thumbs, wondering when I would be able to get up and stretch my legs. I had already spent over two hours on the highway, watching trees, rocks, and the occasional animal go by. Sure, it is cool at first, but after a while you get tired of seeing the same thing. The fact that I got squirrelly easily didn’t help either. Maybe that’s why my parents insisted on those prescription pills and less time online.

I let out a sigh, my exhale built up condensation on the window. I kept my gaze on the scenery, wondering when we would finally stop.

“We’re almost there, gang!” came dad’s voice from the front seat.

Mom looked back at me with her warm smile and said, “Jacob, you’re going to love the lake, it is beautiful.”

“Yeah,” I replied. I wanted to be enthusiastic, but as far as I knew, we could be driving forever.

That obscure thought was proven wrong when dad decelerated the car, turning off the main highway and onto a range road. The sudden change in the engine’s humming caught my attention and I perked up, looking out the driver’s view.

“We’re here?” I asked.

“That’s right champ,” my dad said. “In about a half an hour we’ll see that lake. You’ll get to see where your old man spent his summers.”

Mom sighed. “Uncle Chuck was a sweet man.”

“Yeah,” Dad said.

Mom gently touched Dad’s arm.

Dad smiled. “He sure showed me how to enjoy life. Back then we didn’t have all those handheld devices.”

“Like the one I couldn’t bring?” I asked.

“Trust me, you’ll thank me when we get there,” Dad said.

“I hear it is called a digital detox,” Mom said.

I sunk back into my seat and tried to zone out for the next half hour, what else could I do? I was still annoyed that my folks didn’t let me bring my cell phone, I wanted to keep tabs with my girl. I suppose a couple of days away didn’t hurt. I’d see Tania in school on Monday.

My thoughts focused more on Tania, thinking about her smell, her laugh, the kind of stuff any teenage boy thought about. Thankfully the brain-wanders took up the remainder of the drive and before I knew it, we came to a stop. I looked up to see a crystal-clear lake and a beach. To the right of us was a white-painted wooden cabin. A firepit was to the side of the cabin where a series of logs were set up for sitting.

“We’re here?” I said, unbuckling my seatbelt.

“We sure are. That’s the Tyne family cabin, probably as old as gramps himself.” Dad said.

“Same cabin?” I asked.

“Yep, amazing isn’t it?” Dad said.

Dad put the car into park and we all hurried out of the vehicle. My parents were already gathering our luggage from the back trunk. I ran to the lake, kicking up dirt and sand while I reached the shores, taking a deep breath of that fresh air. Yeah, I didn’t have my phone, but I sure as hell did enjoy that view. The kind of view Tania would like.

“Jacob!” Mom called out.

I looked back to see my parents were walking towards the cabin, my dad held a set of keys.

“Coming!” I called out, rushing back to them.

“Here,” I said while reaching for one of the suitcases Mom held. She let me take it and all three of us walked up to the front porch.

Dad reached the door, unlocked it, and pushed it open. The hinges creaked as the saturated dark interior was revealed from the sunlight.

We stepped into the entryway, inhaling the stale smell of dust. I coughed several times, looking around to see that the floor, furniture and even the walls, were covered in white flakes.

“When was the last time this place was used?” I asked.

“It’s been a while,” Dad said. “Dust travels from the car exhaust on the highway. It’s pretty common,” Dad dropped his luggage. The weight of the baggage caused a large cloud to engulf the scene.

I coughed and leaned towards the entrance, avoiding the white chunks of dust. “Dad, watch where you drop that! What’s with this dust anyways?” I asked, noticing one large flake gently landed on my forearm. “What is this?” I asked.

“It’s an old cabin,” Dad said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if it had some termites eating at the wood. Let’s enjoy it this summer and see if we can fix it up in the next.”

The Evening

The three of us cleaned every surface of the cabin to make it livable. We removed the excessive amount of dust and wood flakes. The process took us all afternoon and some of the evening. Our night was spent cooking hotdogs over a campfire and enjoying the stars, you know, the typical cabin thing.

All three of us were exhausted and didn’t do much for the remainder of the night. Mom kept complaining about itchy eyes and a sore throat from the dust. Dad seemed pretty beat too.

We concluded it was time to set up our sleeping bags. Mine was on the couch and my folks brought theirs into the bedroom. The two of them hit the sack shortly after. I was left awake, trying to fall asleep. All of the momentum from cleaning kept me up, not to mention the excessive amount of dust that I inhaled kept me coughing. Examining my skin, I noticed the dust and flakes had caused my skin to dry out. Sawdust will do that, but this seemed a bit much. Maybe I was allergic?

Most of my night was spent sitting on the front porch, watching the lake. We didn’t even have booze. My folks were too traditional to even consider letting me have some. I guess I would spend the time staring at the lake.

“Only two days,” I mumbled while standing up, deciding it was time to try and get some sleep.

A ruffling noise came from the shrubbery near the beach. I spun around to see some bushes bobbed up and down from the aftermath of the sound. I paused, scanning the scene.

A high-pitched snickering sound came from the darkness.

“Yeah, good time for some sleep.” I said, realizing no one else was around to hear. The last thing I wanted was for some coyote to bite me. Did they even attack people? I wasn’t an animal expert.

I hurried back into the cabin, locked the door and slipped into the sleeping bag, ready for a good night’s sleep.

Wakey! Wakey!

Scratching and scraping sounds were on repeat. I was dreaming of being in the car, was the vehicle scraping against something?

A snickering– or maybe screeching – noise errupted and I shifted my sleeping position. It was one of those half-awake and half-sleeping states where you weren’t sure what was reality and what was a dream.

I felt a gentle object land on my nose, followed by another, like leaves falling. The subtle touches answered the question – it was not a dream.

A few grunts and another snicker forced me to open my eyes. Directly overtop of me was a naked, crusty-skinned man scratching his neck vigorously over my face.

I let out a scream and scurried backwards. My head bumped into the armrest instantly.

The man looked down as his one leg slid off the backrest of the couch. His eyes were too dark to see under his puffy eyelids, his nose extended out, ending in a twist. His elongated ears bobbed up and down as he continued to scratch his neck.

He let out a cackle and snagged my forearms. “Wakey, wakey, it’s Flaky!” he said with a toothy grin.

“Mom! Dad!” I shouted, kicking the man in the chest.

He squealed, “ouch!” The man let go of me to scratch his chest. “Yeh took me flakes ya little prick!”

He scurried backward on the couch and leaped onto the hardwood floor, bringing his wrinkly behind into view.

“Dad!” I called out while kicked the sleeping bag away.

The man scurried around the couch and towards the kitchen. He continued to scratch and groan until he disappeared around the corner.

I got to my feet, panting heavily. “Mom! Dad!” I shouted, looking towards their bedroom door. It was half-shut, beside the open doorway to the kitchen.

My faced itched, forcing me to scratch the skin thoroughly in an attempt to get rid of the flakes.

“Mom?” I asked while stepping towards their bedroom, scratching my forearm. I looked over to the kitchen to see if I could spot the man, no. A draft picked up from the kitchen – the window had to be open.

I hurried towards the bedroom, pushing the door open.

“Mom, Dad?” I asked while wiping my face, it felt as if a swarm of mosquitos had stung my face. The itch was reaching unbearable levels.

The room was too dark for me to see anything. I rushed over to the curtains and pulled them open, allowing the moonlight to highlight the scene. The sleeping bags on the bed were empty, only a large pile of flakes remained where my parents should have been.

“Mom!” I hurried to the bed and swatted it a couple of times to check if they were under the sheets. My hand hit the sleeping bag and the mattress below, causing the flakes to fly into the air. I coughed, accidentally inhaling some of the particles. Smart move.

I spun around the room, looking at every corner to see if I could spot my parents. They were nowhere to be found.

“Dad!” I called out while rushing out of the bed room, vigorously scratching my face. The skin peeled back in thick layers with each dig of my nails. Blood seeped out with each scratch.

It’s so itchy, I thought, feeling my body temperature drastically increase.

“What’d you do with them!” I shouted, running into the kitchen.

I stepped onto the green-and-white tile and felt my left leg collapse. My elbow hit the tile floor first, followed by my head with a heavy thud. I groaned, feeling my body flare up in heat. I attempted to get up, but it was of no use, now, both of my legs were not responding.

Looking down, my eyes widened in fear. My pant legs were thinning out, flakes and dust began to blow out from where my leg should have been.

“Help!” I called out. My arms felt frail, my entire body began to itch uncontrollably as the heat from within lit up like a fire. I should have been attempting to crawl for help, or anywhere. Instead, I impulsively scratched my face.

“Itchy and bitchy, aren’t we? He! He! He!” came a high-pitched voice from the ceiling.

I stopped scratching and looked up to see the naked man had mounted himself on the far corner of the kitchen ceiling. His claws dug into the walls. The man’s puffy eyes stared at me as he used his one hand to scratch his crotch. Particles of his skin gently dropped below onto the kitchen tile.

The man leaped off from his mounted position, landing with a thud in front of me. The motion caused my leg-flakes to fly into the air as he raised his arms up, embracing the particles.

He took a deep inhale and exhaled slowly. The man caught one of the flying flakes and smiled. “Welcome to the family!”

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Author DIY Graphic Design – The Basics

In the digital age of self-promotion, we are constantly producing content of all types online and offline. Production has become quicker and tools are more widely available for common people to use. This has created a massive increase in published content in the world. It can truly be overwhelming. The ease of accessible tools has made a lot of people dabbling with things they wouldn’t normally pick up, like graphic design, even though they have no fundamentals or knowledge of the basics. That is fair, it is not their profession.

Although, because there is so much readily available for people to create and produce, there are a lot of – dare I say it – bad designs being published. This post is not meant to bash and criticize work that is out there. We won’t get into the nitty gritty of what is wrong. Instead, we are going to look into design theory that can help you improve your marketing abilities as a writer.

If you want to dive deep into graphic design, there are plenty of tutorials and creditable sites out there that you can reference. You can even go you school if you wanted to. This Author DIY Graphic Design series is going to be focused around authors.

The Basics of Graphic Design

Design can be broken down into elements such as line, shape, form and texture – in the simplest idea. This is what we will cover today. You may be asking why do any of these matter to you, as a writer? They matter because if you want to make appealing designs for your work, you need to get a basic understanding of the… basics.

Line

This is the starting point for most designs. The basics of the basic. It is literally what it is called, a point that extends from on end to the other. See the example below for the types of lines.

Shape

These are two dimensional objects. They are not the same as a line because the two end points meet. Shapes can be filled in or just outlines as seen in the example below. They can also be used to create negative space as seen in the shape to the far right. It is a circle inside of a square which also creates a triangle. So there are multiple ways of seeing the shape(s).

Form

This is the next step up from shape. Form is how the piece visually appears. It is made up of line and shape. Form then has texture and colour (we will save colour for another time) applied to it. A form might be an icon, or a glyph in a typeface. Another simple example would be the two shapes used to form a pyramid below.

Texture

Pretty self-explanatory. Texture can be slick, smooth, rough. Do you want your book cover to have gold embossed text for the title? That is a texture.

Okay, so how do I apply these elements of design to my book cover, or promotional banners?

Good question! These are some of the terminologies you will need to familiarize yourself with when diving into the world of graphic design. It will give you a better sense of what you can do with graphic design tools when you can speak the same language. Again, we could dive much deeper into what graphic design is but there are entire courses built around teaching people graphic design.

Line, shape, form and texture are the building blocks to creating any type of graphics. Of course, you have more fundamentals like colour and mass for example.

We will dive into some practical topics as well, for now we are keeping staying in the theoretical realm.

Your Exercise

Pick up a pen and paper and draw! I know it sounds crazy, a writer drawing? Try it out though, experiment with the four elements we discussed. Draw a line, a shape, a form and texture. Visually experiencing these elements will help you familiarize with what they are.

The post Author DIY Graphic Design – The Basics appeared first on Konn Lavery.