Julia Benally's Blog, page 17

Monsters!

Making monsters, one of the best past times ever!

I sit down with a drawing pad, and I just start sketching. I don't know what the monster is supposed to look like, or what it is I'm drawing. Sometimes I don't even know how many eyes it should have. My hand just goes, like when I'm writing without thinking, and something appears. Kind of scary when I think about it, like I'm actually conjuring something.

After the monster is out, I look at it's natural weapons, like if it has claws, teeth, a weapon in its hand, and from there, I begin mapping out its strengths and weaknesses. A monster must have a weakness, or it ends up like a one-dimensional character who does everything perfect. I make it a little overpowered, because what's a too weak monster? It won't give the protagonist something to worry about, and the threat is gone out of the story.

After I make the rules for the monster, I stick to them. Every incident with the monster must make sense to the monster's rules. This is how the story becomes unique. The main character can act and move as their personality prescribes, but it absolutely can't overrule the monster's actions according to its rules, and that's where the dynamics begin. This is what makes it real.

And on a personal note, my book of monsters "Pariahs" has just been released. Come pick up a paperback copy here, or a kindle copy here.

What "Pariahs" Is All About, and Cover Reveal!

In a land of monsters and soulless creatures, there is a secluded compound terrorized by a fallen demon-killer, the Grand Apwor. He's claimed its youngest occupant Vijeren as his son. The Grand Apwor can't be killed, he can't be escaped, and his punishments are severe and horrific. Somehow, he knows where Vijeren is at all times.

When a law enforcer named Zhin appears like a living flame, a family war that's been sizzling for decades finally ignites. It drags Vijeren in, revealing secrets of a long-forgotten past and a family torn asunder in recesses of lost memories. Only Zhin knows how to kill the Grand Apwor, but the answer rests on the love between a father and son--something that Vijeren doesn't have...

"Pariahs" coming to you in November.

The Beginnings of Ilo

When I was in grade school, I loved playing with Barbie Dolls and my Spiderman play-set. I hated writing like nobody's business, but I loved to read. Books, dolls, Spiderman and dinosaurs were my thing.

And then a few days before Christmas, my friend gave me a gift bag with a little present inside. I thought it was some kind of toy, and hoped with all my might that it wasn't clothes. The kids in my neighborhood loved getting clothes and shoes for Christmas. Bizarre to this day.

I pulled out the present while I was in the car, and realized that it was a tiny painting. It was shimmering in the streetlights. What in the world was this? I had never received art as a gift before. When I got home, I pulled out the present in bright light. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen, and I have never seen its equal since.

Something happened inside me that day. It was like a spear of light sliced straight through me, and my imagination burst from its confines. At that day, the planet of Ilo, where "Pariahs" takes place, was born. I explored every inch of it for years and years, finding the races, the lands, the wars, the monsters, the magic, and the stories.

In high school, I filled in one of those chain e-mails, where you have to fill out a survey about yourself and e-mail your answers to your friends. One of the questions was, "What are you going to do in the future?" I answered, "I'm going to make my own planet." They thought I was insane. I was being quite serious, but I had no clue how true it was. Oh, and by the way, I still love dinosaurs, so they came to Ilo with me.

Dreams at Midnight

"Midnight Dreams" is my first fantasy to get published, and not just a fantasy, but a fantasy romance. At the time that I wrote it, I had been thinking, wouldn't it be nice if someone were in love with me and I didn't know it? It was just a thought, but then I thought, suppose this someone was a powerful being? But what kind? I thought of all the things that I liked, and chose rain. I love it like nobody's business, so I turned him into a storm, and he controls the monsoon season.


And then I thought, the woman whom he loves needs to be somebody deserving, somebody who needs to get away, somebody who will benefit most from it. Abusive men are such jerks, so I made the main character an abused wife. When I was in high school, my friend took me out to eat. We were in earshot of the bar, and I could hear a man bragging how he had made his wife cry, and that that was how he had left her when he came to the bar. His loser friends laughed like it was the funniest thing in the world. It had bothered me ever since. I based Eliza's husband after him. His ending was a hate kill.


While I wrote, I could see a really awful ending in which Eliza succumbs and goes back to the house of horrors. I've seen too many endings like that. My inmost soul shrieked, "NEVER!" Failure is made too much a reality, and people forget that hope and strength are a reality, too. I wasn't about to write a "going nowhere" story. Eliza had to become who she was meant to be.

The Music of "Pariahs"

While I wrote "Pariahs," I listened to various soundtracks over the years, and of course the music changed before and after the book erased.

In the first stages of "Pariahs," the main music that I listened to was from Enya. I played her songs "Fairytale," "Epona," "Bard Dance" and "The Celts" over and over again. Along with that, I listened to the soundtrack from Braveheart, and The Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl.

"Pariahs" was a full fantasy, with nothing scary in it. The main story line was just about a boy running away from home because he was dissatisfied with it. The story was full of dragons and regular earth creatures, and regular earth vegetation. My creatures were humanoids, but not really human. There wasn't any real societies, norms, or anything.

And then the story gained some monsters, like vampires, zombies, demons, werewolves, so the typical things. I started listening to Siouxsie and the Banshees for those parts, in particular "Peek-A-Boo."

Then one day, bam, I realized, "This is not earth. This is on a different planet. It needs its own trees, vegetation, animals, and it definitely needs its own monsters. So I scrapped the dragons, and turned them into something else. I tossed out the vampires, werewolves, and everything else. Setting the book aside, I began a huge redesign of my planet, and a creation of monsters with their own rules. With that, came a world design to deal with the monsters. For this, I had no music. I just curled up with a drawing pad.

I called the main villain a demon. In a sense, he is, but I got rid of the demons, and I made something else. The main villain is a special monster.

And then the book erased. But I still had the monsters and the planet design. As I began the resurrection of "Pariahs," the music changed.

First, there was Micheal Jackson's "Will You Be There" from Free Willy, and "If We Hold On Together" from the first Land Before Time. Nolwenn Leroy's music joined the group, along with Silent Hill's "Hell's Frozen Rain." To add to the mix, I picked up some pretty awesome German music. A lot of the time, I listened to the soundtracks for "Sense and Sensibility" and "The Sound of Music." For some reason, I could think clearly while listening to these last two, and I was able to work my way out of some tight spots.

And when I was done, I was told the story had a dark tension to it, and some really freaky monsters. With what I was listening to, who knew?

"Pariahs," a Book Lost, a Book Found

"Pariahs" is coming out in November. It's a dark fantasy about a boy who has been claimed as a demon's son, and he has to find a way to escape. For "Pariahs," the writing process was long. I mean thirteen years long. I couldn't put two sentences together. I couldn't even type. I was one of those people who could find the entire alphabet on the keyboard except the letter I wanted. Seriously, three minutes to type my first name.

I wrote "Pariahs" in a notebook. It spanned about five five-star notebooks, each with 500 sheets in it. It's interesting to go back and see what I had. One thing I had was about thirty characters. They have now been distributed throughout several books, and will make their appearances accordingly.


"Pariahs" went through about 300 drafts, and I may be under-exaggerating. I had to chop characters until I had the small group that you will see in November. Life was good. Everything was fine. I was almost finished, and then everything corrupted. I lost my entire book. I went a little nuts for a few days, you know, like being curled in a fetal position on my bed and going through withdrawal the way Linus does when he's lost his blanket.



After I got my head together, I had to realize that even though I had lost the book, and I had lost a thousand scenes and words, that the book didn't live on the page, it lived inside me. It had always been with me, and I could find it again. I rewrote the whole thing within a few weeks. It wasn't exactly the same as the book that I had lost. I'm thinking that was good, because everything fell into place so perfectly. The new book went through several drafts, and now my preparations for it are almost complete.

I hope you enjoy it come November.

Into the Depths for Inspiration by Barbara Avon

Coming to you today about where inspiration comes from is the talented author Barbara Avon. And so, without further ado...


Recently, in conversation with a reader, they asked me where my ideas come from. “Write what you know, right?”

The answer is so much more complex. Authors have often been advised to “write what they know” but I think that is far too restrictive. If we only write what we know, we are limited and so is our imagination.

My inspiration comes from a dark corner of my soul. A place of dreams; a different dimension. This is not to say my stories are dark, (not necessarily), what it means is that words flow from somewhere where they are otherwise hidden. A place deep inside.

We have all seen that quote floating around the internet attributed to the great Ernest Hemingway: “There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.” This quote best sums up my own writing style. No fear; no holds barred. In writing what scares you most, or in writing outside of your usual norm, you are opening yourself up to new worlds – ones you never even knew you were capable of visiting. It's these raw, unpredictable emotions that look best on the page.

Anything can inspire: a sunset, the way an old man sits by himself on a park bench, a broken glass. It's an Author's obligation to take those things and describe them in a way that makes the reader look at life just a little bit differently – even if the Author has never seen an old man sitting alone on a bench. An Author's eye is vastly different than that of non-writers. I will go as far as to say that we have voices in our heads that colour the world in a way that allows the hue to shine. All of a sudden, it's not an old man on a bench. It's a young man trapped in an old man's body and he is not feeding the birds, he is seeking release from his imprisonment so he can visit his young wife who believes she lost him in battle. Thus is the prologue to his story. A fantasy love story. A story that the Author bridles from their imagination.

We are lucky, as story-tellers, to be able to wear many different hats. You can't do that if you simply “write what you know.” We don't know it all. That's why we make stuff up.

Barbara Avon is the author of ten novels. She is also the author of three children’s books. Her books have been received favorably across the board, entertaining readers with an almost “movie-like” quality. Barbara has written since she was young, pursuing her dreams and vowing to write for as long as she can. She has worked at several different media publications and will continue to publish novels until “her pen runs dry”. She believes in paying it forward and you can read about this belief as the theme is given voice in most of her books. Avon lives in Ontario, Canada with her husband, Danny. Visit her website at https://www.barbaraavon.com/

Since Halloween is on its way, pick up your copy of Barbara's book "The Simpleton" here! Also, you can read her book "Speed Bump" for free here!

It's Hairy and Scary!

My story "The Hairy Man" has come out at last! It was first published back in 2015 in A Shadow of Autumn Anthology. The anthology went out of print, and "The Hairy Man" went with it, but now it has returned, new and improved! It's the first in my trilogy which includes "The Cowboy Cabin" and "Toni's Land."

"The Hairy Man" has officially become my first reprint, and it is a time I shall remember. The Wicked Library Podcast had a full cast for it, and they pinned the characters exactly. I have never been so amazed and astounded! As I listened to it, I kept thinking, "This is my story? Is this really my story? It IS my story!" Go listen to more of their work. It's like an old fashioned radio program. It's fantastic, and perfect for Halloween parties!

I usually write about how I made the story and everything when one comes out, but I'm interviewed at the end of the show, so I don't need to do it here. And yes, this is the interview where I totally forgot to tell everyone that my book "Pariahs" is coming out in November, and go buy it so you can escape all the bull crap happening in ours.

Let me end by saying that "The Hairy Man" is a tiny earthly taste of "Pariahs." I hope you enjoy both of them, because I had a blast writing them, and I can't wait to hear what everyone says about them!

Growing Plants

Can't get your plants to grow? You ordered some delicate roses from across the sea and they all died? The plants were flourishing in the gardens you bought them from, and then dropped dead in yours? Do they end up looking like this?


I hear tell you need manure, worms, and a lot of watering. Some plants are fussy and die if there's a slight frost, or you don't give it that exact inch of water once a week at exactly 3:32 PM.

Well, there's a simple fix for people who aren't anywhere near a green thumb. Buy your plants from Walmart, K-Mart, and basically any other grocery store. Because if the plant can survive there, it can survive anywhere.

Take the rosebush Dede. I bought it from K-Mart. It survives in the snow, it survives in drought. I don't water it most of the time. It's in bad soil, and still it grows. The roses from the special gardens are fussy. They need an exact temperature and humidity, and some have dropped dead.

What about my little white flowers from Smith's? They survived an eleven hour drive from one state to another, dropped in the ground, endured frost, heat, snow, and they're still alive. I don't water them all the time either.


Another good flower is irises. You don't even have to plant those. You can just throw the roots somewhere and they'll dig themselves into the ground and grow. Barren ground, fertile ground, it doesn't matter. Just be sure to pull off the dead leaves after winter's over, and make sure some of the root is exposed to the sun.

So if you're not fussy, buy non-fussy plants, and bam, you got yourself a fussless garden.

Headlights, an anniversary in publishing!

I adore the Horror Zine. I love it's stories, and I love that it likes mine. There was one thing that I didn't expect. It was born on my birthday, and it began in 2009, the very year I started my long journey on the road to publishing. I had no clue what I was doing, or even how to begin, but I plunged in.


I really loved creating Headlights. It's also my first story published in first person present. There's always those creepy orange streetlights. They're especially eerie when nobody is around. Walking around Provo, Utah between nine and ten at night didn't help either. The streets were empty, but lights were on, and it reminded me of a nightmare I had.

It was a vivid nightmare. I was running from a monster riding a black horse in an abandoned city lighted with the orange streetlights. Parts of the story incorporate different scenes and settings from either this same nightmare, or other vivid nightmares I had. Being chased by some relentless creature always freaks me out.

When I first began short stories, I wrote about this particular nightmare in the abandoned city. I had called the story The Twilight City. It didn't get accepted anywhere. It was trash, but the idea stayed. I have several short stories turning to mulch, where this theme is prevalent.

I guess it wasn't time, not until the anniversaries collided, to call forth the dawn of a new age! I begin a new journey starting in November. This year, Pariahs is coming out. It's a dark fantasy filled with horror and high adventure. It's part of a series, although I intend each book to stand alone, just in case I drop dead and leave the readers on a cliffhanger. Of course there will be hints at other things, but no "set up" book for the next book, if you know what I mean.

Come read Headlights here for free, and I hope you enjoy. And as always, those of you who don't like cursing, or skin, this is safe to read.