Chris Sarantopoulos's Blog, page 2

It’s a time of change

Panic mode on pause for this post.

Just a quick note to inform people of a couple of changes about to take place.

1. Those of you who have subscribed to my newsletter with an email other than Gmail have probably noticed that it’s been a while since the last time you received my newsletter. That means that the last one you received was the one I sent on February. Since then, I have sent out two more emails, in which I let people know of upcoming releases and publications. Apparently, this problem affected people who subscribed to my mailing list using a Yahoo, Hotmail, Att, Aol, and any other email provider, EXCEPT Gmail. This is because I was sending my emails using my free Gmail account. Up to now, this wasn’t a problem, but it seems that this is no longer allowed.

I am aware of the problem and working on a solution as we speak (see point 2, below)

2. In order to fix this problem, I’m working on setting up a new private domain (which will be http://csarantopoulos.eu – there’s nothing there at the moment, but there will be at some point) and, consequently, a new email address to use with my newsletter. Bottom line, the site you are reading now may come to end, and migrate instead to a new home, including this blog. It’s too technical for me to explain, because I don’t understand everything…

OK, fine, I don’t understand a single thing about it, but I have a good friend who is helping me out with this. Obviously, when it happens, I’ll let you all know and ask you to update your bookmarks, or anything else this will affect, so you can still read my weekly posts.

3. I have sent my manuscript for The Darkening to my editor (I love saying this – my editor!). I expect to be swamped with a ton of things to do in the coming weeks, so I may disappear a bit from blogging. Don’t worry, the result will be good. I’m sure of it.

Panic mode restarts in 3, 2, 1…

Writing Prompt 55

“Oh, for the love of Holy Morhan, will you please stop thinking that there’s always something wrong?”

Jonas stuck his hands in his pockets, kicked a pebble, and lowered his head. “Something is wrong, though,” he muttered under his breath.

Pela rolled her eyes, sighed, and slapped her hands on her thighs. “You’re impossible. You know for once, just once, I’d like to hear something positive from you.”

They reached the edge of the forest at the top of the hill. Jonas stopped.

“Were your parents really cruel?” Pela asked and carried on walking on her own down the path. “Was it a hex one of the enchanters put on you, huh?”

“Pela?”

“Did you pee on one as an infant?” Pela continued without paying attention to her surroundings.

“Pela?” Jonas insisted, still frozen in place.

“Did you accidentally fall into one of their cauldrons perhaps?”

“Pela!”

“What?” She stopped and looked around her for Jonas. “What are you doing back there?”

Jonas jerked his chin at the hanging-upside-down citadel. “Is that wrong enough for you?”

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Published in the #redditwriters anthology

Just a quick note to let everyone know that the anthology I mentioned a couple of weeks ago is now live. You can get your copy here (for you in the US, and here for those of you in the UK). The title is TL;DR: A Redditwriters Mixtape Vol. 1

In its pages you will find thirty-one stories from twenty-six authors. There is no theme to the anthology, so almost everyone will find at least one story to his or her liking. There’s fantasy, crime, horror, and even comedy.

Why should you buy this anthology? Because that way you’d be giving to charity. The proceeds from this endeavour go directly to Doctors Without Borders. So, if you buy a copy, you won’t be giving money to us, but for a good cause.

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I hope you enjoy it! Happy reading, everyone!

Crutch words – ANGRY (part 2)

This is the second part of my list of ANGRY synonyms. You can find part one here. I have to admit, while researching for these, I often had to pause and double-check (and sometimes triple-check) that they were in fact still in use or that they actually meant what I was looking for. Bellicose and Churlish are two of the words I had never seen before, but then again, I’m not a native English speaker, so that may be the reason.

Keep in mind that each synonym, is just that; a synonym. It doesn’t always work as a replacement, because each word carries a meaning of its own. So before you substitute all instances of angry with any of these or from part one, make sure it’s the right one.

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Published in an upcoming anthology

I’m between migrating from one computer to another. I could write a small horror story of how a certain operating system manufacturer found a way to piss off every user who wants to choose what operating system (OS) they install in their PCs. Believe me, I could. But, thanks to a friend who is by far more knowledgeable than I am, we managed to get around said OS’s locks, and I now have set up my PC with the operating system I wanted it to have in the first place.

But that’s not what this post is about.

About a year ago, I joined reddit. While there, I found and followed a community of writers known as RedditWriters. They all were at various stages in their careers, some with a readership of their own, some just starting out. At some point, one of the writers had an idea: create an anthology with our work, and put it out there. Everyone loved the idea, and almost everyone submitted pieces to the editors. I submitted one of my vignettes. A couple of months ago, the editors informed me that my piece was accepted.

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The editor in charge of the project informed us yesterday that the collection will be available on 30 March 2018 from Amazon, as an e-book, as well as from CreateSpace as a hard copy. The e-book will cost £1.99 (about $2.77 at the time of writing this). Obviously the hard copy will cost more. The title will be TL;DR, which stands for Too Long; Didn’t Read, a typical internet acronym, often seen on Reddit and other message boards.

All proceeds from the anthology will be donated to Doctors Without Borders.

If you want to know more about the project and those who made it possible, visit Joe Butler’s site. I will get back to you with download links as soon as I have them.

Finally, if you’re looking for free books (sci-fi, fantasy, or horror), have a look at this giveaway I’m part of.

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Sixty writers, veterans and newcomers, have joined forces for this. The giveaway ends on 26 March 2018.

Writing prompt 54

The old man picked up the note from the table.

“How does it feel to be a Methuselah, kid? Happy enough you ruined the last timeline? The Big Guy is pissed off. Actually, he’s fuming. He wants to talk to you. You know what this means. I’m sorry it came to this. You have until tomorrow.”

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Crutch words – ANGRY (part 1)

For a writer, drafting a story is all about putting all the thoughts down on paper (or virtual paper) as fast as possible. Often, if not always, this comes at a price. Drafts are messy. They often make us cringe when we read them. Why? For many reasons, but one of them is because we use words that are always the same boring ones, which most of the times break one of the sacred rules of writing: show, don’t tell. One such word is ANGRY. Below is a small list (more words to follow in the coming weeks) of synonyms that we can use instead. As is always the case with synonyms, each word carries a unique inherent meaning, so even though each is a synonym to angry, they don’t always serve as a replacement. Make sure you’re absolutely certain that the word you’re about to use carries the meaning you have in mind.

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On a side note, I think I have failed miserably in my attempt to make the colour of the word angry like that of Hulk’s. Not only that, but the font is wrong. *sigh*

Next steps, and plans

I hate making new years’ resolutions. In my mind, it’s ridiculous to think one can plan for something so far ahead, because life throws curved balls at us and changes everything. What we plan at the beginning of the year, is planned based on the info and difficulties we are aware of at that moment. The next moment, the Sun may implode and we end up rotating around a red dwarf. One hell of a sight to see, but it’s going to put a little dent on those plans. I believe I’ve said it before: when mortals make plans, gods laugh. Especially if those plans rely on the completion of a whole bunch of other things happening before the resolution comes to fruition. I’m talking about resolutions like, “I want to travel the world from east to west and north to south in a canoe before the end of this year.” A lot of things need to happen before one achieves that. Like learning what a canoe is, and how to navigate in the sea without electronic equipment. So I never, ever do them.

I don’t mind setting small goals, physically and mentally possible. Like, “this year I’m going to learn to count from one to ten in Cantonese.” It’s manageable and doable, even if life throws at me its worse.

All exaggerations aside, I’m more of a person who likes to set goals (see, I’m making a distinction here between goals and resolutions) over which I have control, things that I know for a fact I can make them happen in the immediate future (“this Saturday, I’m going over to Steve’s to reconcile with him after our last week’s argument”). So it’s more like a plan than anything else.

Well, this year, I broke my own rule. I set a goal for me, only it’s actually a resolution.

I will publish my first novel in 2018, I said. It shocked me a couple of weeks after I said it, but my mind insisted on it. 2018 will be the year the world will read my first novel.

A lot of things need to happen between now and 31 December 2018.

1. Have a completed manuscript ready (edited by me at least 20 times, read by betas, and re-edited after their suggestions 5 more times) –> CHECK

2. Have a basic knowledge of how one gets to publish a book –> CHECK

3. Have a list of potential readers who might be interested in reading said book –> CHECK (I have a newsletter, and some of the readers there show genuine interest in talking to me. That’s a start, right?)

4. Have a basic understanding of how a writer can promote their work –> CHECK (though I’m still learning)

5. Have an editor ready to edit the book –> X

6. Have a cover designer ready to craft a cover for it –> X

So now I’m at the point where I’m looking into editors. Line editors, to be exact. Apparently, not many of them go around. Or if there are, a great deal of them bundle copy editing and line editing into one (two different kinds of editing, but I’ll get back to that at a later post). Also, money is an issue. Editor needs to be affordable. Hmm, let me rephrase that: cheaper than what most writers would consider affordable. Take into account the different earnings between Greece and your countries. So, in other words, the editor has to be dirt cheap. Perhaps a line editor who is just starting up their self-employed editing career, and want to attract clients and referrers than anything else.

I’m sure there’s someone like that out there. I’ve already got my eye on a few. I’m waiting for them to reply to my queries and get quotes. I’ll let you know how it goes.

In the mean time, TL;DR (too long; didn’t read): 2018 will be the year I will publish my first novel.

Writing prompt 53

I figured I had a go with a funny prompt this Sunday. Not my usual style, but why not? I think it’s suitable for fantasy and humour writers alike. I hope it helps you create some nice stories.

“Ouch! Ow! You punched me in the nose! That hurts, you know.”

“Get back!”

“What is the matter with you, human? I’m a friendly orc. Do you see me squashing your meaty parts ’til your eyes pop out? You wouldn’t like that, would you?”

“Die, demon!”

“Hey, I have feelings too, okay? Just ’cause I’m an orc, doesn’t mean your words don’t hurt me. Or my nose. Look how swollen it is now.”

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Crutch words – WENT (part 2)

You didn’t think I forgot part 2 for this crutch word, did you? In case you missed part 1 you can find it here.

When we draft our stories, we want to get them out as fast as possible. Which tends to make things sloppy and messy. Non-writers, don’t get us wrong. It’s a need all writers have; get the story out of our heads immediately. Unfortunately, this comes at a price.

Crutch words.

When we finish our first draft, we haven’t exactly “written” anything. Technically, we have, but practically, well… it’s not readable. When we draft a story, what we’re really doing is putting our thoughts down. Writing comes after we’re finished with the first draft. That’s when we have to turn our drafts into something that won’t hurt the eyes (or the minds) of our readers. Part of this process involves removing crutch words.

One such crutch word is the past tense of the verb go (went). We love using it (and other crutch words), because it’s always available and it does the job. The thing is, readers want more than a word that just does the job. The problem with went is that it’s not descriptive enough. And so, we have a huge list of synonyms to consider. Below, is a small list of some of the available synonyms for WENT. Keep in mind that every synonym has a meaning of its own, so make sure you use the right word. And yes, I know there are more synonyms available. I will cover those in future posts.

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