Tyson Adams's Blog, page 78
November 11, 2013
Running the Cross by Tyson Adams
Reblogged from THRILLS, KILLS 'n' CHAOS:
It's called “Running the Cross”, or simply “The Cross”. It is dangerous.
I've been here before. It's a small town in South Australia where twelve rail lines merge, an east-west alignment of freight trains travelling from various states. Once every few months, the timetables align and twelve trains converge in a slightly staggered pattern. For the few that are fast enough, strong enough, determined enough, or just plain crazy enough, this is the place to test your mettle.
My short story, Running the Cross, appears on Thrills, Kills 'n' Chaos. Have a read and then check out some of the other brilliant short stories there. They've just had a special Halloween week for all the horror fans.
Running the Cross is also available in a longer format from Amazon if your bookmark button is playing up.
November 7, 2013
Book review: Zero at the Bone by David Whish-Wilson
Zero at the Bone by David Whish-Wilson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I know it is only early into November, but I think I’ve read the best book of the year. But don’t just take my word for it, Angela Savage thinks so too. That isn’t to say you can’t take my word for it. I’m trust-worthy. Honest.
David has set himself a huge task: setting a crime novel in the sleepy city of Perth Western Australia and making the hard-boiled-thriller work. Let’s just say that I’m glad I was too young to experience the Perth David has crafted in Zero at the Bone.
If you read Angela’s review, she has summed up the story and highlighted David’s skilled writing. I’ve previously discussed David’s previous novel, Line of Sight, as being a great novel; this one is even better.
Tagged: 5 star, Angela Savage, Book review, Book reviews, Crime, crime novel, David Whish-Wilson, Hard-boiled thriller, Line of Sight, Novel, Perth, Perth Western Australia, Reading, Right What You No, Tyson Adams, Zero at the Bone
November 3, 2013
Tomorrow is the Melbourne Cup - Rossleigh's Tips
Reblogged from rossleighbrisbane:
Ok, I know that many of you will consider the whole Melbourne Cup scene an example of the worst excesses of Western decadence, but you to show you that I don't have to always attack the rich and famous, here are my Cup predictions:
The Commentary Team will talk about how lucky they've been with the weather.
Someone off a Channel 7 show will be asked to give you a tip, which will be one of the favourites.
I was going to write a scathing diatribe on horse racing and my thoughts regarding The Melbourne Cup. I know some people love horses and horse racing, and I'm sure they are up-to-date with their therapy bills, but I'm just not a fan of this once a year dog food and midget hype.
Fortunately for me, Ross has written a great blog about The Melbourne Cup.
October 31, 2013
Relaxing read
And don’t even get me started on what happened to my Kindle.
Tagged: Bath, Book, Expectation versus Reality, Fun, Funny, Humor, Humour, Kindle, Reading, Right What You No, Tyson Adams, Water
October 29, 2013
Rules of thriller writing
1) If in doubt kill a character.
2) Plot holes can be filled with dead bodies.
3) Nothing screams thriller more than characters screaming for their lives.
4) Car chases and shootouts are mandatory.
5) The hero can’t die, unless you really, really want them to.
6) The bad-guy must die horribly, unless you want them for the sequel. Even then, the sequel could be a zombie thriller.
7) Beloved minor characters must die the most gruesome and pointless of deaths.
8) Minor bad-guys must follow the inverse ninja law.
9) The only reason a gun should ever run out of bullets is if it puts the hero in even more danger.
10) The rules of physics and biology do not apply to the hero, unless it puts them in even more danger.
11) Deus ex machina can only be used once in the story, so use it wisely.
12) If your story hasn’t given your readers a heart attack, rewrite it so that it does.
See also:
http://davidmorrell.net/on-writing/writing-advice/
http://www.creative-writing-now.com/how-to-write-a-thriller.html
http://www.writerscentre.com.au/sydney/thrillerwriting.htm
Tagged: Action, Archer, Author, Car chase, Death, Fun, Funny, Humor, Humour, Inverse ninja law, Ninja, Right What You No, Thriller, Tips, Tyson Adams, Writing, Zombie
October 27, 2013
Breaking Bad: Only in the USA
It’s quite interesting to see how the premise for any book, movie or TV show is endemic. The above example of Breaking Bad is a classic, and especially funny given the current furore over affordable health care in the USA. But there are plenty of others.
Sherlock Holmes is a classic example. Imagine a drug addicted, genius, arsehole detective in the modern age where drugs are illegal. Yep: Sherlock and the Hounds of B-Block. Also, before anyone says House, think about how long House would have spent in malpractice suits.
Robinson Crusoe would be pretty difficult to see happening in this day and age. Sure, Tom Hanks tried to convince us that modern people could be lost on an island and survive by their wits and a bunch of FedEx packages. But with modern tracking methods, mapping and the fact that no-one travels by boat now-a-days, Robinson Crusoe would be Bear Grylls or Survivor.
Huckleberry Finn is the tale of a young boy running away with his adult slave. That just wouldn’t happen these days. Now it isn’t that slaves don’t exist anymore (they do), nor the idea of run-aways. A young boy going missing in the USA with a grown man, sounds like an episode of Without a Trace.
The test of a premise really is to see if it would work anywhere else, any-time else. If it doesn’t work anywhere or any-when else, then it is interesting. If it can be transposed, how interesting was the premise to begin with?
Tagged: Bear Grylls, Breaking Bad, Cartoon, Huckleberry Finn, Humor, Humour, premise, Right What You No, robinson crusoe, Sherlock Holmes, Survivor, Tyson Adams, Without a Trace
October 24, 2013
Inspiration
At one of the places I worked there used to be motivational posters on the wall. I know that most of the quotes and pictures are meant to inspire but I’d really question who gets inspired by a pretty picture with a cheap phrase underneath. If that is the sort of stuff that inspires you then you really have to question how long your job will be around before a robot takes your place. Inspiration can come from many places and I’m sure that somewhere, someone, might have been inspired by a pithy quote or cool picture. They may have even created an ad campaign to sell toilet paper so that people can wipe their backsides with the glee of the pithy quote.
I think that inspiration is actually more like a playful kitten stalking a fly. The fly is just sitting around, minding its own fly-y business, taking a break between eating garbage and flying up people’s noses. The kitten is creeping up on the fly, thinking it is a lion about to pounce on an unsuspecting prey, that the kitten can’t be seen, despite the vigorous tail twitching in the air. As the kitten pounces, the fly, calmly, buzzes off to see if it can annoy someone, the kitten comes crashing down, bringing the urn with your dad’s ashes in it, smashing onto the floor. On the rare occasion that the kitten catches the fly and doesn’t destroy valuable items around the house, that is inspiration. The one off moment when your brain comes up with the most amazing idea that has ever occurred. An idea that will reshape humanity. An idea that will see you showered in champagne, chocolate and high priced hookers.
An idea that will have to wait until morning, because you were just about to fall asleep.
See also: John Cleese on Creativity
Tagged: Inspiration, Inspired, Motivation, motivational posters, pretty picture, quotes
October 22, 2013
October 17, 2013
Rejection letter bingo
Just a little something for all my fellow authors.
Tagged: Agents, Bingo, Frustration, Funny, Humor, Humour, Literature, Publishers, Publishing, Publishing industry, Rejection letter, rejection letters, Right What You No, Tyson Adams, Writing, Zachary Petit
