K.M. Alexander's Blog, page 97
September 3, 2013
Introducing: The Telegram
I am starting an email newsletter! For now I am going to shoot for monthly messages, but I intend to ramp up to a bi-monthly distribution later this fall. It’ll be full of all sorts of stuff: tips on writing, reading recommendations, news on my books, interesting links, maybe even a few guest posts. You can sign up for The Telegram here!
Also, some of my old readers might notice there is a new look going on here at my blog. I spent some time over the weekend working on the site while prepping for the release of The Stars Were Right. The goal is simple, keep content the focus but still surface some other important information in a sidebar. I hope everyone likes it. Pardon my dust while I keep adjusting things.
September 1, 2013
Monument to Azathoth appears in Oklahoma City
Something strange popped up outside the Paseo Grill in Oklahoma City on August 23rd: a monument to Azathoth. It’s large and so heavy three “strong men” could hardly make it budge. A plaque adorns its face reading:
In the Year of Our Lord 2012 Creer Pipi claimed this land for Azathoth.
Time will tell what Azathoth’s interest in the Paseo Grill’s “casual, yet sophisticated dining experience” really means for the citizens of Oklahoma. Clearly the police know what is up, and refuse to move the monument and incur Azathoth’s wrath. It has been left to the Paseo Grill to figure out what to do with the object. You can read the full story at New York Daily News.
August 31, 2013
Reading Recommendations: American Vampire
Every once in a while you read something and have one of those “I should have thought of that” moments. It’s rarer still when those moments happen repeatedly over the course of a book. However that is exactly what kept happening to me as I read American Vampire Vol. 1.
Written by Scott Snyder and Stephen King the story follows two characters in two different tales: The first is Pearl Jones an aspiring actress in 1920s Los Angeles who’s eagerness to please put her in serious trouble. The second story follows the evil and murderous outlaw Skinner Sweet who is captured by a honest lawman in the 1880s. Snyder and King twist these stories together in a lovely tapestry of plots, characters, and concepts that left me stunned. American Vampire is one of the freshest takes on the whole vampire genre in years. Some advice: go into it blind, there’s a lot of amazing ideas to stumble upon and it’s fun to discover them along the way. I eagerly await the next trade.
Want more Reading Recommendations? Sign up for The Telegram and get a bimonthly email featuring all manner of interesting items.
August 22, 2013
Imagine if you will…
We have come a long way in thirty years.
August 20, 2013
Elmore Leonard’s 10 Rules for Writing
The news broke this morning that hard-boiled crime novelist Elmore Leonard passed away in his home city of Detroit. Even if you haven’t ever read any of his books odds are you have seen an adaptation, so far 26 of his stories have been made into movies or television shows. In honor of his life, I thought it’d be fitting to post his 10 rules of writing. I especially like #10.
Never open a book with weather.
Avoid prologues.
Never use a verb other than “said” to carry dialogue.
Never use an adverb to modify the verb “said”…he admonished gravely.
Keep your exclamation points under control. You are allowed no more than two or three per 100,000 words of prose.
Never use the words “suddenly” or “all hell broke loose.”
Use regional dialect, patois, sparingly.
Avoid detailed descriptions of characters.
Don’t go into great detail describing places and things.
Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip.
R.I.P. Mister Leonard. You’ll be missed.
Happy Birthday H.P. Lovecraft
Today August 20th marks H. P. Lovecraft‘s 123rd Birthday! Those of you who have been following me on this whole writing journey are undoubtedly aware of Lovecraft’s influence in my upcoming novel “The Stars Were Right.” I owe a lot to his crazy imagination.
Knowing today was his birthday I have been reflecting on which of Lovecraft’s stories is my favorite. It’s been a tough call but I think “Shadow over Innsmouth” is my #1 with “The Haunter of the Dark” coming in for a close #2. There is something about Shadows…the slow reveal followed by Olmstead’s hasty rush away from the rotting town and it’s bizarre citizens never fails to draw me in. It oozes atmosphere.
How about you? What is your favorite Lovecraft story? Let me know in the comments!
Do you want to know more about Lovecraft? There’s a great documentary titled: “Lovecraft: Fear of the Unknown” that I posted before. I would recommend giving it a watch. It covers all of Lovecraft’s life and work and doesn’t shy away from the positive and negative aspects of his career. It’s good stuff.
(Also, if anyone knows who drew the illustration above, let me know! I’d love to give credit where credit is due.)
August 9, 2013
Random Story Title Generator
Saw this link over on Chuck Wendig’s TerribleMinds. It’s a random story title generator! I have mentioned before how I often struggle with titles. So finding little resources like this are great for someone like me. While you probably won’t walk away with the perfect title for your next novel or short story it’s a handy little tool to get the gears in your brain spinning.
Hope everyone has a good weekend!
July 31, 2013
July 24, 2013
Aki Inomata’s “Why Not Hand Over a “Shelter” to Hermit Crabs?”
Saw this on RadioLab’s tumblr and it was too beautiful not to share here. You can see a more artificial hermit crab shelters at Aki Inomata’s site.
Goodreads doubles its membership
I saw this on The Passive Voice (mentioned in my last post) but it was originally announced on the Goodreads blog. Goodreads has passed 20 million members, doubling its membership in one year. Huge growth which is great for readers and for the authors. I bet we’ll see some really exciting things coming from them in the near future.
If you’re not on Goodreads and you’re a writer, get on Goodreads, it’s an amazing resource to communicate with readers and promote your book. If you’re a reader and you’re not on Goodreads, get on Goodreads, it’s an amazing resource to communicate with authors you love and other readers who love the same books as you. (You should also add me, and add The Stars Were Right to your to-read list, since it drops in less than a month. Announcement for that coming soon.)
Okay, I am done promoting Goodreads. (For what it’s worth: I’m not getting paid for this, I just really like the service. For now I’ll avoid talking at length about their UX issues.)
