Konn Lavery's Blog: Posts from konnlavery.com, page 39
June 19, 2018
Red Then White
A cruise on the highway to Jasper is a pretty regular thing for Canadians to do. Vehicles stopped dead on the highway are not normal. Neither is your radio spontaneously turning on then playing distorted chanting. What’s with the random lighting too? Red Then White is this month’s flash fiction explores the paranormal. Experience the story either through audio or through reading.
Red Then White
By Konn Lavery
The sound of tapping glass accompanied the constant humming of the SUV that glided down the pitch-black roads below the star-filled sky. Thin, elegant fingers moved rapidly against the lit glass, showcasing a keyboard interface. The fingers were carefully angled so the long, monster-green finger nails didn’t hit the screen.
The driver kept both hands on the wheel, keeping focused on what little could be seen in the darkness. The vehicle’s high beams provided some visuals of the road, but truthfully if something were to jump out on the side of the road, the vehicle couldn’t stop in time, not at these speeds.
“I hate night time driving,” the driver said as he used one hand to stroke his neck as a flash of lightning briefly lit up the night view.
The passenger to his right stopped typing and brushed her blonde hair aside. “Yeah Craig, I know. We don’t have that much longer.”
The man let out a sigh. “I can’t believe your boss didn’t give you the day off. We’ll be driving most of the night.”
“No, really it will be fine. We only have a few more hours left. We’ll be in Jasper in no time.”
“The welcome party will be long over by the time we get there. You know that.”
The girl continued tapping away on her phone. “I’m just making a post on the event page right now. Besides, we’ll have all day tomorrow to catch up with everyone.”
“I get that, it’s just that these reunions don’t happen every year, you know?”
The girl finished typing on her smartphone and pressed the send button. She looked up to the road ahead, it was filled with upward hills leading straight west. Two red lights were viewable further up the road.
“You sure we’re still on highway sixteen?” the girl asked.
The man nodded. “Yeah, it is the main road leading to Jasper. Driving in a straight line is pretty simple when you think about it.”
“Just checking.” The girl folded her arms. “No need to get snarky.”
The SUV was going about five kilometers over the speed limit. This late at night, the highway was crawling with Peace Officers just looking for someone to misbehave. Even five over was living on the edge. Plus, it was dark, and it was better to be safe than sorry.
The radio lit up as a fuzzy, noise came through the speakers sounding, “YUK-YUK-YUK-ACH-ACH-UCK.” What sounded like screams shortly followed. Truthfully it all sounded like noise from the distortion.
“What are you playing?” the girl asked while reaching for the radio.
“I didn’t turn on anything,” Craig said. “Probably picking up a bad signal. It’s a cheap radio.”
The girl pressed the power button, causing the sound to shut off. “It’s super annoying,” she said.
The two remained in silence for what seemed like ten minutes, when in actuality it was only a few. Time had a funny way of doing that on road trips. As they drove, the red rear lights of the vehicle ahead rapidly grew lager.
“That car is going pretty damn slow,” Craig said.
The girl looked up from her phone and squinted. “How fast are you going?”
The man double checked the speedometer, it was still hovering at 115. “Five over.”
“Who knows. Maybe the night has him more spooked than it does you.”
Before the man could reply, the distance between them and the car diminished drastically.
“Christ!” Craig shouted while swerving into the opposite lane, missing the parked car by a few meters.
“Holy shit.” The girl put her hand on her chest. “What was he doing, stopped right in lane? He should pull to the side.”
“I don’t know,” Craig said.
“Should we call it in? Maybe they’re having a heart attack.”
“No, they’re just stupid. Let’s keep driving.”
A flash of light burst from the sky, lighting up the roadway. Craig pointed over to the right side of the road where a white sign was now in view from the car’s high beams, it stated: ALBERTA 16 with the numbers inside a shield
“See Hannah, we’re still on the right road.” Craig said.
Hannah folded her arms. “It just doesn’t look familiar this late at night.”
“Yeah, nothing does at this hour,” the man said while adjusting the wheel as they came up on a slight turn. A second vehicle came into view. The red rear lights increased in size at an accelerating rate.
“Another one?” Hannah asked.
“I guess?” The man said as he brought the wheel back to the middle, congruent with the now straight road.
The radio flickered on with a distorted, “YUK-ACH-ACH-UCK… No!”.
Hannah reached for the radio, shutting it off. “What is wrong with this?” she asked.
Craig didn’t reply, he was focused on the lights of the new vehicle that continually grew larger – the vehicle wasn’t moving.
“Craig, move over, we’re going to hit him.” Hannah said.
“I am.” Craig squinted, seeing that the red lights were perfectly in line with the middle of the road. “He’s…”
“He’s what, Craig?”
“He’s in the middle of the road.” Craig said while pressing his big toe on the breaks of the vehicle.
“Move into the shoulder lane and get around him. This is beginning to creep me out.”
“Yeah me too.” Craig gradually moved the vehicle off to the right, continually pressing on the breaks to bring the vehicle down to fifty kilometers. “See if you can take a look.” Craig said while he moved half-way onto the shoulder lane. The vehicle vibrated as the right-side tires drove on the rippled pavement of the shoulder lane.
The girl sat straight up and looked out through Craig’s window.
“What do you see?” Craig said, glancing at the stopped car as they drove by. He wasn’t able to take a good look and returned to the road, tightly gripping the wheel.
“Nothing,” she said.
“What?”
“No one, the vehicle was empty.”
“It can’t be. It was probably just too dark.”
“No, I am telling you, there was no one in that car.”
Craig looked directly into Hannah’s hazelnut eyes for just over a second before returning to the road. She kept her gaze on him.
She’s serious, he thought. She never kept her gaze for long unless she was certain.
“Can we stop? just pull over for a moment.”
“Why?” Craig asked.
“Craig! There’s two cars stopped in the road, one of which I know no one was in. How can that be? I just need a damn smoke.”
Craig was about to reply but stopped himself. His first instinct was to tell her that they weren’t sure that someone wasn’t in the vehicle. Someone had to be, right? It didn’t matter though. Hannah did not enjoy being challenged when she was convinced she was right. He would never hear the end of it.
“Fine,” Craig groaned while slowing the vehicle down, causing the vibrations to lessen. “Call the cops. Or have a smoke. Whatever it is.” He pressed the flashers button as he slowed it down to a stop. He put the vehicle into park and leaned back into the driver’s seat.
“Well?” Craig asked. “Let’s hurry, I’d like to make it to Jasper and call it a day.”
“Just a quick dart, okay?” Hannah said, reaching into her purse with one hand.
“Yeah cool. I’ll wait here.” He folded his arms. I wish she’d stop smoking. He wanted to argue with her but there really wasn’t much of a point. Smoking was the same as any situation, when she was set on something, it didn’t change.
“Great.” Hannah undid her seatbelt and opened the door with one hand. With her free hand she flicked the lighter and brought it to the cigarette that was now in her mouth. She closed the door to the SUV and stepped out of view.
Craig fiddled with his thumbs and looked out the side view mirror, then the rear mirror to see if he could spot Hannah – she was out of view. He let out a sigh and looked down at his shoes, then to the clock on the dashboard, stating it was 11:15 P.M. Basically anything that would pass the time while Hannah inhaled a mouth full of cancer.
Craig looked at the clock again, it was now 11:19 P.M.
Okay, that’s enough. Craig unbuckled his seatbelt and opened his door, stepping out into the cool spring air. He rubbed his arms, causing the windbreaker to make squeaky noises.
Damn Gore-Tex, always sounds like a kid’s jumpsuit. Craig thought while closing the door shut. “Hannah?” He said while walking around the front of the vehicle. She wasn’t anywhere in the front, she had to be by the rear passenger side if he couldn’t see her from inside.
Craig put his hands in his pocket and walked around the vehicle to the passenger side. “Hannah?”
A thumping noise caused the vehicle to shake as a sudden flash of light flickered directly above the vehicle. The whole scene lit up bright white momentarily and vanished, causing Craig to jump back.
“Hannah?” He called out again.
Craig ran around the vehicle to the back, no sign of Hannah.
Where did she go? He glanced back to the side of the road, leading into the forestry, it was pitch black, impossible to see.
“Hannah?” Craig shouted.
He ran around the driver’s side of the vehicle, only to find nothing. The blonde was nowhere to be found. The subtle sound of “YUK-YUK-YUK-ACH-ACH-UCK,” came from inside the vehicle. Craig looked over to see that the radio lights were on as screams roared through the radio speaker.
“Hannah!” Craig shouted again while running to the back of the vehicle, looking into the forestry.
Did someone grab her? Did she run? What is with that radio? Craig thought. His internal chatter was running a million questions through his mind with no resolutions.
A burst of light flashed, causing Craig to grunt as an immense force pulled him off the ground. The pressure felt like a vacuum hose sucking him up, stretching his skin upward. His eyelids and lips were pulled upward. The light vanished, leaving him in pure darkness, skin reverting to normal. The light flashed again, revealing the road as a small line below, with acers of forestry around him.
“Hannah!” Craig screamed as his skin stretched again. The light continually got brighter, blinding him as the haunting voices from the radio began to chant, “YUK-YUK…”
Want to save this for later?
The post Red Then White appeared first on Konn Lavery.
June 12, 2018
Book Event Promotion
Do you have an event coming up? A book reading, launch, or signing? Great! Now we need to discuss your book event promotion. How are you going to get people to know about it? We briefly chatted about this in two previous blog posts, What To Do at a Book Launch and The Do’s and Don’ts at a Book Signing. For this post, I want to dive in a little deeper into the topic. There is a lot more to discuss.
Starting Your Book Event Promotion
Alright, so let’s presume you have your date picked out for your event. The details have been sorted out, such as time, location and agenda. For a book signing these are pretty easy, you show up with books and sign them. For a book launch, they are more complex and have a more ridged agenda.
Let’s say that your event is fully booked (ideally two months in advanced), let’s review some ways that you can go about promoting it:
Book Event Poster
This is a highly versatile marketing piece. Usually a poster is sized to fit a 11”x17” paper, also known as portrait ratio. It can be printed and be distributed digitally. Whether you, or a graphic designer, are making the poster, you want the key points on the poster to be visible. This would include:
What type of an event? Example: Book Launch for…, Book Signing for…
What is the date?
What is the time and location?
These are probably your three key pieces of information you will want to have visible on your poster. Some primary graphical elements would be the book cover and possibly a portrait shot of the author (you).
Poster Sizes
Your poster should also be sized for various distribution methods. Social media usually works with a square size for posts (Twitter, Instagram). A landscape banner works well for Facebook. In short, you probably what three variations of the poster:
Portrait size (print poster/postcards)
Landscape size (Facebook or web banner)
Square size (Instagram post)
Physical Distribution
Got your poster design complete? Get some posters and postcards made! Hand deliver the postcards to key individuals who you know who will want to come to your event. Leave them on poster boards and at cafes that allow you to. Hand out as many as you can.
Take them to the event location itself and give them some of the posters, they want your event to be as much as a success as you do. That way everyone wins.
Hitting the streets to promote your book can also be done in casual conversation. If friends or acquaintances ask how you are, tell them about the event! It is an easy habit to say “things are good” or “things are busy”, no. Tell them exactly what you are doing. Keep some postcards on hand at all times so you can give them to people in discussion.
Leading Up to the Event – the Digital Event
We’re primarily focusing on free book event promotions. If you have a website, or Facebook account, you will want to make an event online about a month or so in advanced before the event itself. Do not be shy to send the invite to everyone. Invite them via social media or in email. This is when you want to make sure everyone is aware of it.
Prepping for the Event
It doesn’t hurt to post continually on social media before the event. Organizing the books? There’s a photo with a post saying: “Counting the books for the event!”. You will also want to post the day before and the day of the event before you head down to the location as an additional reminder to people. We all have busy lives and quite frankly, your event isn’t nearly as important to them as it is to you. Stay humble.
Alternative Methods
The methods mentioned above are pretty much free, minus the printing and design services of the poster. You can also look into alternative methods such as online paid ads allow you to target regions and interests. If you plan far enough ahead – again, in months – and have a press kit ready, you can approach the media or a local magazine to see if they would be interested in covering your event.
Book Event Promotion is Difficult to Track – Stay Humble
It can be a real challenge to tell who is going to show up to your event. Facebook or Eventbrite events can give you a rough estimate, but you really don’t know until the day of. Physical posters and social media posts also are difficult to track their usage. Pardon the language, but a lot of marketing tends to be throwing enough shit against the wall and see what sticks. Of course, you can target specific groups or communities that would have a higher interest in your event. For example, distributing posters to an arts district vs the suburb communities will probably do better.
It is difficult to track who and how many will show up until you are facing the attendees the day of, so stay humble. Don’t be bummed out if it is a low turnout, instead, ask yourself why? What could have you done different?
Perhaps the weather was bad, the location was difficult to get to, the time was a challenge for people, or maybe the wrong time of the year/month. Take this information and plan better for your next event.
Any other thoughts?
Share your thoughts in the comments if you have had personal experiences planning for a book event.
The post Book Event Promotion appeared first on Konn Lavery.
June 6, 2018
Planning Your First Con
You have your book completed, great. The launch is over and maybe you have tried some book signings. You’re interested in getting your book out into more people’s hands. Where do you go? You can always find your way online, what if this isn’t your strongpoint? What if you want to get your face out into the public and actually meet people who would be interested in your book? A great place for this is conventions. There are a lot of them out there, and finding the one that best fits you is always the challenge. Let us look into planning your first con.
Planning your first con – where do you go?
Research and planning ahead is key if you want to have a successful con. If you missed the previous post about book signing DO’s and DON’Ts, check out the blog post for some good examples on how to set up your table. The things you do at book signings also cross over to conventions. The challenge we will be looking at is knowing what convention you should go to.
Research
We have the internet, you can research into conventions in your area and elsewhere in the world. Depending on how far you want to travel, you can find many different types all over the globe. If you are starting off, careful about traveling far for your first time. Traveling takes a lot of careful planning and budgeting.
When researching, look for conventions based on some of the following points:
Location and length: This determines how far you will travel and how long you have to be in a location for. If it is more than a weekend, maybe you have to book some time away from work
Industry and genre: Is it a comic con? A horror con? A sci-fi con or maybe a literary convention? Find the convention that best suits your work. A horror con might not be best for a fantasy novel.
Convention size: Most conventions should have this type of information in their about section or vendor package. Seeing how many guests attend on average is a good indicator at the type of exposure you will get
Booth costs: This is a pretty important one and leads into the next section about budgeting.
Can you actually do the con?
So you’ve narrowed down one – or more – conventions that you want to go to, now you need to figure out if you can afford it and plan in time to attend.
Timing
As mentioned in some of the points, can you book the time off to attend the convention? Will you have enough time to organize all of the items you need? If you found a con that you want to attend, keep watch for it throughout the year. Maybe the con as filled up and you cannot attend this year but you can go for next year.
Budgeting
This is the fun part (not). Jot down all the variables that will go into the trip like: booth cost, gas, room & board, food, marketing materials, your product cost (ordering your books) and tally it all up to figure out what it will take to break even at the convention. That is really the minimum you should be making at the convention.
Some conventions you will make less, and can be more likely if you haven’t established a following. That is alright too because you can return the following year (ideally with a new book) and have a greater chance of success. If you strike out again, maybe the con isn’t right for you.
Preparation
This goes in line with the timing, can you get everything you need ready in time? Maybe you don’t have may books in stock, can you order them before the con begins? Will you be able to register for the convention and make the trip? This will vary depending on how many marketing materials and products you already have prior to planning for the convention.
Getting the most out of a con
Besides getting a booth, there are many other things that a convention can offer. A lot of them will offer panels/talks that you can either submit yourself or join others on. Some have art book submissions that attendees can purchase and find the artist throughout the convention. There are sponsorship opportunities, treasure hunt games and more. Normally these extra activities have additional charges, so use them sparingly.
Long term plans and tracking your cons
If you’ve followed the advice listed above, managed to get into your first con and you sold two books, don’t worry. This goes for if you didn’t even get in to begin with. Maybe the convention was full or you didn’t have enough expenses to afford the trip. Don’t get too let down from it, writing is a long term game and this applies to conventions as well. Success with cons is really measured by the overall average of your success. Keep track of your sales to determine how well you do throughout a year, then review each year as they come to a close.
Additional advice
There are many conventions out there and everyone has their own methods of approaching them. If you have your own ideas that you’d like to add, please share them in the comments.
The post Planning Your First Con appeared first on Konn Lavery.
May 30, 2018
Try New Things
May, almost over and it has not been nearly as crazy as April. The previous month was loaded with trade show work for clients, tax season and the launch of YEGman, wow. Not really sure how I managed to get it all completed. I suppose sleep was sacrificed to the gods. This month, no sacrifices were made to the higher-ups. Thank god(s?). Free time gives us the opportunity to try new things, and that is exactly what I did.
Welcome to another edition of Unprocessed Thoughts
With YEGman launched, media/marketing changes, conventions booked – with some completed – I have had to take a step back and look at where I am going with the writing career. I’ve been pondering the question on and off since the winter, knowing that the backlog of releases was coming to an end and I would need to start planning new stories to release and juggle my contract life. That time is now.
Back in February I worked on a slasher plot outline and put the story aside, letting it sink into my mind and grow into something tangible. It did, I wrote the first completed draft for the story from start to finish this month, reaching 50,000 words. It is far from finished, but a lot of the heavy lifting is done.
What to do with a finished slasher draft?
Here’s some inner workings of my writing career planning: Should I go self published, or go traditional? Truthfully this question enters my mind every time I have a completed draft. It has come up again and I will weight the options for the slasher draft.
To Release Yearly or Not to Release Yearly?
This is another question that enters my mind, do I keep bringing out a new novel every year? Can I handle the weight of the work, keep the quality, and maintain my sanity? Is there a way for me to use my time wiser and write more effectively? Or do I just work on each novel gradually to ensure they are perfect before release. The trap of perfection can be a curse on its own though.
These are the thoughts that float through my mind about each new novel that I write. Not to mention the Mental Damnation series needs to come to a conclusion.
Try New Things
When you really break it down, as an indie author you don’t have to answer to anyone but yourself. You should be aware of your reader-base and the market to make your next move too. You can also move very quickly and realign your goals as you need to if life throws something weird at you.
Flash Fiction
In the spirit of continually offering stories to you guys, the readers, I’ve started doing flash fiction on a monthly basis. This will serve a couple of purposes. One, I get to experiment with the writing craft. Two, you the readers get fun new tidbits. This was also a result of the thought processes mentioned above. This is a lower risk use of time and offers some fun content for everyone while I work on the next novel, whether it comes out next year or not.
Beer Note: Bent Stick Rush Job IPA
For this month, I tried the Bent Stick Rush Job IPA. Bent Stick is a local brewery here in Alberta that makes a number of good beers. I’ll have to make one of the Unprocessed Thoughts beer notes about them. This one in particular though was a fun experiment. It is basically whatever they have at that moment to throw together and make a batch of beer. This one was lighter, quite hoppy and bitter – everything I love! With my hoppy taste buds in mind, I’d give this a 4/5.
The post Try New Things appeared first on Konn Lavery.
May 24, 2018
Runner
Runner is the first of a flash fiction series that will be released on a monthly basis. Each one is going to be a completed transmedia storytelling experience that consists of the story, artwork and an audio component. The story can either be listened to in audio format or read directly below.
The purpose of these flash fictions is to offer some fun tid bits to read while I am working on the next novel for you to CONSUME. Feel free to listen to the story, or read it, and share with your friends!
Runner
by Konn Lavery
The blue wind breaker was zipped up, shin-protection socks on, shoes tied, toque on, and Bluetooth earbuds in. The smartphone was synched to the earbuds with the music app set to the workout playlist. It was everything Dan needed to start his run. As with every day, his head was groggy at six AM. It didn’t help that he had a late work night the day before. His lifestyle hours didn’t bug him, he enjoyed getting up at this time to embrace the brisk morning. It was technically spring but there was no sign of the snow melting any time soon – typical of Alberta.
“Let’s do this,” he muttered while getting up from his seated position. A late-night-early-start day did not motivate him to go for a run, but he knew he’d regret not doing it. The reward is what drove him to get up each morning and endure the cold. The clarity, the physical form, and the sense of refreshment post-run was unmatched.
Dan exited his condo, locked the front door, hurried down the flights of stairs, and out the lobby. He took in a deep breath through his nose, feeling the crisp air enter his warm system. He pressed the play button on the earbuds that wrapped around his skull, bringing the electronic bass to life.
Alright, he thought, recognizing the beat – a favourite track of his to get energized for a work out.
Dan burst from his walking speed and exited the front of the condo and down the sidewalk, leading to the river valley. He glanced down both sides of the street before making a dash onto the fresh snowy road. At this time of day there was barely any traffic, making crossing the street like real-life Frogger on easy mode.
He breathed steadily, moving on the familiar path as he did with every morning. It led him down a set of stairs, which was a pain to get back up at the end of the run. Past the staircase, the path continued along the bed of the river. From here he could see downtown just south of the river. It was always a beautiful sight this early on.
Dan kept a steady pace, head looking down at the fresh snow. There were a few bike tire imprints but no shoe imprints. It was a big ego boost for Dan. He knew he was the only one dedicated enough to focus on his run consistently throughout the year. Summer time was when all the posers came out and ran.
About two kilometers into his run – or three songs later – the peaceful snow suddenly had footprints and pawprints. They came from the forestry to his right and onto the path. The footprints were slightly behind the pawprints until a splash of red sprinkled over the snow.
What? Dan slowed his pace, looking up to see the pawprints became more condensed and the blood became more prominent. Further ahead, the blood smeared the snow in a wide stroke, spanning for several meters before disappearing into the forestry.
Dan stopped in his tracks, panting as he pressed the pause button for his music. What was he looking at?
“This doesn’t look good,” Dan said under his breath. He unzipped his jacket so he could reach for his smartphone that was kept in the inner pocket. This was too weird not to report to the city.
He took his one glove off so he could swipe his phone and unlock it and dial nine-one-one.
As the phone rang, he turned back to see the path was empty behind him. He was completely alone.
“Hello this is nine-one-one, what is your emergency?” came the operator’s voice.
“Hey, yeah, I’d like to report a slaughtered animal.” Dan said.
“Slaughtered?” the operator asked.
“That’s right.” Dan turned forward again to examine the trail of blood. “I was just on my morning jog down by Bow River and saw some fresh blood, some animal tracks and shoe tracks.”
“Is anyone else there?” the operator asked.
“No, just me. Think I will be heading back though.”
“Alright, for future reference, call for three-one-one for disposal of animals.” The operator said.
“Yeah I know that, but there’s a lot of blood. I’m just trying to do what is right here.” Dan exhaled. Is she stupid? he thought.
“We appreciate your concern, where exactly is this?”
“I had just crossed onto-“ Dan’s sentence cut short as twig snapping caught his attention.
“Sir?” the operator asked.
Where the blood ended, a tall, broad shouldered being – presumably male from the size – burst from the shrubs with a blood-dripping machete in hand. He wore a ski jacket with the hood over his ski-mask covered face.
“Oh shit! St. George’s Island!” Dan shouted while spinning around, dashing back whence he came. His legs stumbled slightly before he regained balance, they were weak from the sudden stop-and-go in his regular run. Dan clenched the phone with one hand and his glove with the other. He could feel his muscles burn from the burst in speed.
He took one glance back to see the man closing in on him. His speed accelerated faster than Dan’s with each stomp he made in the snow.
“God no, God no.” Dan exhaled through his breath. How is he running that fast? This can’t be happening, this can’t be. “What is going on?” he exclaimed.
The muffled sound of the emergency operator came through the phone. In the moment of panic, Dan forgot about the operator on the line.
Bringing the smartphone up to his face again, Dan said, “help! Send help! I’m being chased by a man with a machete.”
“We have a unit on their way. You said by St. George’s Island?”
“Yes! I will be crossing the bridge and heading west, towards traffic.”
“Stay on the line. We’re not far off.”
Dan made a swift turn left onto the bridge, crossing the river. His steps were wobbly from his tiring legs. They were echoed by heavier, stomping footsteps of the man with the machete – he had to be getting closer.
Don’t look back, don’t look back, Dan thought. It was hard not to. His lungs burned, and his legs felt like jelly despite the burst of adrenaline that spiked through his veins.
He reached the end of the bridge at the fork in the road and collided with a passing bicyclist. The impact sent him flying to the side of the pavement, letting go of the smartphone and skidding in the snow. The bike tumbled onto the ground, launching the rider off the seat and shoulder-first onto the concrete.
“Shit!” Dan rolled onto his back and attempted to get up, but his feet slid on the ice hidden below the snow. He looked back to the bridge only to see no one.
Dan stared at the fork in the road, it was empty. He turned to his left – no one, his right, nothing. He looked back towards the island, then the bridge, nobody. The machete-wielding man was nowhere to be seen.
“Christ,” muttered the bicyclist while taking off her helmet.
“Did you see the man behind me? He had a- “
“Share the damn road!” the bicyclist snapped.
Dan wiped his face and glanced around one more time to see if he missed machete-wielding man. No. He was gone for certain.
Dan couldn’t help but smile to himself with relief. He got away. He knew running was good for your health but who knew the results would be so sudden.
Want to save this for later?
The post Runner appeared first on Konn Lavery.
May 22, 2018
Pure Speculation Festival 2018
I’ll be at this year’s Pure Spec festival, a friendly little science fiction & fantasy festival in Edmonton, AB, Canada.
Learn more about the festival at their website.
When?
June 15th & 16th, 2018
11:00 am – 7:00 pm daily
Where?
Alberta Avenue Community Hall
9210 118 Ave
Edmonton, AB
The post Pure Speculation Festival 2018 appeared first on Konn Lavery.
The Agony and Ecstasy of the Short Story
Life is like an owl pellet. Why? I dunno. Owl pellets are cool and there are worse things life could be like…the owl itself, for instance.
Thing is, I’ve wanted to write an owl pellet story for a long time and I had an idea once, but it turned into Loud As A Murder. A fine story, but it’s got nothing at all to do with owl pellets, and it took me a really long time to write. Why? Because short stories are hard work. The novel, as a form is orders of magnitude more forgiving than the short story. While novels require a certain tenacity and endurance, there is nothing that will challenge your skill as a writer more than the short form – and the shorter it is the more brutal it gets.
In terms of readers, the ones who love short stories and flash fiction are savage and discerning. With only your writer’s voice you must grab them by the ears and yank them into your world immediately. Your pacing must not waver, your characterization must be on point, and your language must boil over with deliberately curated sounds and crisp images. A prose writer lives and dies by the sword of the short story. You need to know how to do this.
Short story writing takes time and practice. You also ought to have some fun on the way. So how long should it take to write a short story? In my case, three years. There are exceptions, but on average, from the initial spark of an idea to hitting the submit button, three years.
Apparently, this is excessive.
But is it? I’m not working on that story and only that story for three years. I’m doing other stuff. Still, I’ve been at this long enough to see a pattern. Bearing in mind that this is not an instructive document, I’ve broken my short story writing process down into a 36-month timeline.
Month 1
Have idea. Idea is kickin’ rad. Make notes. Do research. Start writing. Stall out at 1200 words.
Month 2-32
Open the document from time to time, usually when you’re avoiding other work. Smile as you read because there’s something special there. You’ve got a hook, voice, characterization, an inciting event…and no fucking idea where it goes next.
Month 33
Finish a project you started roughly 3 years ago and wonder what you ought to work on next. Hey, you’ve got that beginning of a story languishing on your hard drive. The problem is you’re trying to write it around owl pellets and you need to let that go. Power through and complete a rough draft.
Month 34
Your rough draft sucks. You suck. You suck like a mongoose with an emotional eating problem. Do it again, but better.
Month 35
Send 5th draft to crit partner. Crit partner understands the anxious egg-sucking mammal version of you, and also knows stuff about good writing. She offers thoughtful feedback and talks you out of becoming a bricklayer. Rewrite. Suck less.
Month 36
More rewriting. You could do this forever. Maybe another 3 years. Didn’t this story originally involve owl pellets? Now there’s a good idea…
Makes a bit of sense now, doesn’t it? So much of writing isn’t actual writing. It’s thinking, marinating, agonizing, and slowly brazing in the low heat of your cerebral oven. Short stories are particular cuts of creative meat. They need to be prepared just so or they’ll be ruined. It’s time worth taking though, work worth doing, because every bite will be something to savour.
Now ask me how long it takes to write a novel…
About Sarah L. Johnson
Sarah L. Johnson lives in Calgary with her noisy family and two slightly bewildered cats. She wrangles literary events at an indie bookstore for money, runs ultra marathons for fun, has a filthy mouth, and does daily battle with curly hair. Her writing skates across multiple genres: literary, sci-fi, fantasy, noir, horror, and once a romantic comedy that was so very terrible and shall be blasted from the obelisks of recorded history. Her short stories have appeared in a number of journals and anthologies including Room Magazine, Plenitude Magazine, the Bram Stoker nominated Dark Visions 1: A Collection of Modern Horror (Grey Matter Press), and Year’s Best Hardcore Horror Volume 2 (Comet Press) . Her short story collection Suicide Stitch was released in 2016 by EMP Publishing, and her first novel, Infractus, is coming soon.
Sarah is also the 2018 Writer in Residence for the Calgary based Alexandra Writers’ Centre Society
Find Sarah on:
The post The Agony and Ecstasy of the Short Story appeared first on Konn Lavery.
May 16, 2018
What Type of Research Comes With Writing Science Fiction and Fantasy?
Science fiction and fantasy are two genres I grew up with, both in reading and on T.V. I grew up reading The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter. I also read a lot of book that usually took place in different worlds and dimensions, followed a lot of folklore (especially that of the Fae), or took place in different time lines. And, I grew up watching a lot of Star Trek, Star Wars, Stargate and various others on the Space Channel. In book stores, the Sci-fi Fantasy section was, and is, my first stop and happy place.
That love of both genres plays out in the stories that I write. Recently, I submitted a manuscript for publishing. This story has both science fiction and fantasy in it. One half of the story is based in an idyllic fantasy world, complete with castles, princesses, pirates, magical creatures and magical happenings. The other half is more science fiction based, on a planet dealing with the aftermath of an apocalypse that happened some three hundred years before the start of the story. That side has futuristic technology, mutants, and gangs, Post-apocalyptic world style.
Even though I’m writing in a way that lets me make up points and plot and creating my own worlds, there is still an element of research that goes into writing these genres.
Research Science Fiction and Fantasy
Fantasy: A world, a universe, a people, a history is being created. And even though it can all be made up, fantastical, and not bound by the rules of reality, it has to be believable, and to do that, it needs to be research. To create the fantasy world in my book, I needed to be comfortable with Fae legends and folklore, I needed to understand what went on with royal families and I had to do some research on pirate ships and language. Though, I had some leeway on that because, as you’ll find out, the pirate wasn’t a traditional pirate. I tried to hold true to legends and myths while putting my own spin on the story. I also had to study people in our world with very innocent personalities as Aryanna, one of the protagonists, is very innocent in the beginning. She was a struggle to write so that she would come off as believably innocent and not just simple, child-like or two dimensional. And, I had to research some psychology. On the fantasy side, the actions and reactions that people have, both main character and non, are extremely important to the plot. I had to study how people who have lived the perfect, non complicated life would deal with something not fitting into their perfect little box or how someone’s reaction to something that goes against conformity would affect someone else that didn’t understand the big picture. The reactions had to believable and realistic even if the situation was not.
For the science fiction part, there was also research. More in some ways and also very different. Terminology was different. As the majority of the story takes place in the main character’s compound, a place she has built up over time with help, for security and safety, I had to have some knowledge of military lingo both for people and for location. Again, this was able to be little lax because the rules of our world don’t apply there and so I was able to take some liberties. I had to create a world that was dying, yet people could still live on it. Barely surviving but living and creating a life. How? Why? What’s dangerous there? It had to be believable that they could be there so their bodies had adapted. Time to brush up on genetics, biology and adaptations. I researched some symptoms for common sicknesses and stepped them up a little. I will admit that video games like Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas were very helpful for me to watch. I liked that the mutated creatures in that game weren’t all zombies, that there was a well rounded civilization of mutants. In my book, they range from almost human to feral monster, mindless and dangerous. Seeing what some other people had done in video games gave me a clear idea of where to take mine.
I had to research weapons, carefully. They had to make sense with the world. In futuristic and post-apocalyptic era genres, energy weapons seem to be a favourite so I have that in there.
Though the people and the places in these two genres aren’t real, the people and places have to feel real. Even though you can take some liberties and make it your own, you have to make it feel like it could be happening or could happen. The characters have to be relatable, the places have to feel like you could be living there and the events have to feel like you’re witnessing them, feeling them. Research into world building, character creating, and mood setting are a must. You need to be open to getting ideas from all different places. For me it was T.V. movies, video games, books, and good old internet. I actually made my husband either laugh or sigh many times because he’s the gamer, not me and I’d beg him to play Fallout for a few hours while I watched, and listened. But, I did end up trying my hand at it for a while. That was leap because playing video games is hard for me. I actually got my character to level 8 or something! But, it did give me that extra bit of insight and experience (see what I did there) to make some parts of my story more believable.
Stay Authentic
Leslie Hodgins
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May 15, 2018
Kelsey Rae Barthel Debut Dark Fantasy Release – Beyond the Code
This month’s guest is Kelsey Rae Barthel who grew up in the quiet town (500 people) of Hay Lakes in Alberta. After graduating high school, Kelsey moved to Edmonton and eventually began working in the business of airline cargo. However this never stopped her from writing, which led to her first release, Beyond the Code.
Thank you, Kelsey Rae Barthel, for joining us, can you give a brief introduction of yourself?
I’m Kelsey Rae Barthel. I’m a short, 30 year old woman who loves anime, DND, fantasy, coffee, and above all else, writing. I always loved writing short stories when I was growing up but I could never come up with enough story to make more than that until I grew up and moved to Edmonton. I think my experiences on my own and the friends I made really helped me come out of my shell and let my creativity thrive. Now, I have more stories then I have time for.
Tell us about your debut novel, Beyond the Code which was released earlier in 2018.
Beyond the Code is the story of Aurora Falon. As Aurora, she is a pampered heiress of an influential and wealthy family. But as Luna, she is a powerful Knight is a secret Order of warriors with supernatural abilities. She serves her Master, Cole Iver, and together they worked to bring another Master, Damon Lexus, to justice for using her Knights to gain power in dishonorable and devious ways. When they get closer to realizing their missions success, Damon goes against the laws of their Order and has Cole Iver assassinated. After a failed attempt to take justice into her own hands, Aurora realizes how broken the Order they served was and with the help of the Hunter sent to execute her, they start a new mission, topple the Order and give the Knights the freedom to choose their own destiny.
Is this the first novel you have written?
Yes it is.
Reviewers have said Luna, the protagonist, is a strong female role. Her description on the synopsis sounds pretty badass. Can you share some of the process in developing her character?
Growing up as a tomboyish girl who hung out with boys mostly, strong female characters have always resonated with me. But being strong doesn’t always just mean being tough. It’s a lot to do with being the best person you can be while standing strong for your ideals. I made Luna to be what I wish I was. She’s powerful, skilled, hardworking, and kind but not a push over. But, as a writer, I knew that she had to be flawed because, frankly who isn’t in some way. So I also made her a bit naïve in the beginning and, through the events in the book, but a wedge in her ability to trust people. I also don’t like how, in some stories I’ve seen, that the main character, even though they are relatively new at something, they are always the best at it very quickly. Luna is badass and skilled in battle but that came from years of dedicated training and a drive to be strong for someone she cared about.
The cover artwork is quite stylized, how did the creative process go for the cover design?
That I can’t take credit for. Through my publisher, Inkshares, they connected me to a fantastic company called CoverKitchen. I gave them a general idea of what I wanted and through some creative back and forth, we finalized this design. I couldn’t be happier with it and I have been getting a lot of positive feedback.
What’s next now that Beyond the Code is out?
Well, I am stumbling through the world of book marketing to try and make Beyond the Code successful. Luckily, I have the help of Creative Edge Publicity. They have been getting me book signings and interviews like this one in the hopes to build my platform. Also, I am currently working on the sequel to Beyond the Code, working title, Beyond the Masquerade.
I always ask this question for the readers… For aspiring writers, what would be one piece of advice you would give them?
Don’t be afraid of the work. If it’s in you, it’s hard to imagine yourself doing anything else but you have to be willing to work at it. No matter how good you think you might be, you can always be better.
Let’s thank Kelsey Rae Barthel for joining us to talk about her writing!
You can find Kelsey Rae Barthel’s work at the links below:
You can also follow online her at:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37957052-beyond-the-code?from_search=true
The post Kelsey Rae Barthel Debut Dark Fantasy Release – Beyond the Code appeared first on Konn Lavery.
May 9, 2018
Tosca Lee, New York Times bestselling author
This month we have Tosca Lee, New York Times bestselling author as a guest to the blog. She is known for her work such as The Legend of Sheba, Demon: A Memoir, Havah: The Story of Eve, and the Books of Mortals series. She is also a fan of video games! Let’s welcome her to the blog.
Hi Tosca Lee, thank you for joining us to the blog, can you give us a brief introduction about yourself?
Thank you for having me!! I’m a girl who grew up with one foot in the make-believe world, who has always loved stories, music, and the arts. Today I’m an author of nine novels (my 10th, a brand new thriller called The Line Between, releases this coming January), am a new wife and step-mother to four, and a city girl who now lives on a farm. (You can follow all my crazy adventures—and our brand new German Shepherd puppy, Timber—on Instagram.)
You have a new novel, The Progeny, can you tell us a bit more about it?
The Progeny is the story of Emily Porter, who is living a quiet existence in the North Woods of Maine after having the last two years of her memory erased… only to realize she’s being hunted and that everything she erased to protect—even from herself—is what she now needs to survive.
Is The Progeny part of a series or a stand-alone novel?
It’s book 1 of 2— Firstborn, the sequel (out now!) takes up in the exact moment that The Progeny leaves off.
What was the first piece of literature that you got published?
An article about my English Bulldog, Oliver, in a pet-lover’s newsletter when I was in third grade. J
Have you always wanted to become an author?
I actually wanted to be a professional ballerina from an early age until injuries sidelined that dream in my teens. After that, I wasn’t sure—I thought maybe I’d go into advertising or news media. Only during my freshman year of college in a conversation with my dad about one of my favorite novels of all time, The Mists of Avalon, did I blurt out that I’d like to write a book. I’d written my entire life and even won some contests, but had never really thought of it as a thing until that moment.
What was your life like before becoming an author professionally?
Well, my first job out of college was writing on the staff of Smart Computing magazine, so I’ve been writing professionally for a while. But in between that job and the day I quit working to write fiction full time—a time span of 17 years—I wrote what would become my first two published novels, ran for and won the title of Mrs. Nebraska, competed for Mrs. United States and won first runner-up, and worked as a senior consultant for The Gallup Organization traveling the globe. So it was a twisty, winding road that brought me full circle from writing for a living to once again writing for a living (this time in fiction, on my own terms), but I wouldn’t change a thing because I learned so much that has helped and inspired me along the way. J
Your Pinterest is the only spot that mentions you’re a rumored vampire – is this true?
I have a longstanding reputation for sleeping during the day and rising at night. My neighbors, before I moved to the farm, were accustomed to seeing my office light on until dawn. Granted, that started to reverse two years ago when I married a single father and became an insta-mom with three of four kids still at home. These days I really crave my sleep!
Any advice you would like to give aspiring authors?
If you’re not published yet, this is a special, protected time. Write a lot. Be bold, experimental, and audacious. It gets harder to write this way as you publish and become constantly aware of those reading your work, which is why my #1 Rule of Writing is “write like no one will ever read this”—like you’re writing secret stuff in your closet. It helps keep fear from getting in the way.
And of course, read. Read a lot, ask for help, and be gracious to those around you.
Let’s thank Tosca Lee for joining us again to the blog! You can find her work on her website, amazon and the various links below:
Website: www.toscalee.com
Amazon: https://amzn.to/2IoO7BZ
Twitter: www.twitter.com/toscalee
Facebook: facebook.com/AuthorToscaLee
Instagram: instagram.com/toscalee
Pinterest: pinterest.com/toscalee
Read the first four chapters of The Progeny here!
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