Wandering Thoughts of a Writer: stories

Showing posts with label stories. Show all posts

I was thinking about what to blog about last night, and then Kevin told me they want to ban the words “pig” and “sausage” because it offends Muslims.

*shakes head*

Are you frickin’ kidding me?

This world is getting more and more ridiculous by the day. No, I don’t want to offend people, and I’m very cautious regarding other people’s feelings. In fact, I’m going to share a video with you that I created over a year ago to promote The Devil’s Third. It’s a cool video, but I decided at the time not to use it.

Why?

Because I was afraid it would offend Jews. However, those who have read my Beyond the Eyes trilogy will know that the dark spirits inhabited the Nazis, and in no way was I advocating the Nazi party. The video ties into my trilogy. I absolutely love history and everything I write has some sort of historical element in it and is thoroughly researched.

Anyway, I was thinking tonight about how easily people get offended nowadays. It seems to be getting worse. In the future, we might be restricted on what we say and how we run our business. I hope not, but that’s what it seems like.

I’ve been writing Ameerah’s story. She’s a dark spirit, btw, who wants to crossover and is seeking salvation. Ameerah has made appearances in Dark Spirits and The Devil’s Third and is a great character. She was born in 1907 and was a flapper girl in 1925 in New York. She’s also a lesbian. Her story takes the reader back to that time during prohibition and all the speakeasies in Harlem and Jungle Alley. It’s pretty awesome. I’ve been doing a ton of research to make the story authentic. I’ll be posting pictures of that time and doing a cover reveal any day now. I've been wondering though, if Ameerah being a lesbian will offend other people. There’s a sensual sex scene where she kisses and makes love to a girl for the first time in her life and finally admits to herself she’s gay.

Will it offend straight people?

Will people think I’m gay?

I live in a rural farming community of about 1,800 people. I wonder what they’ll think. It’s not like I purposely made Ameerah gay. Other authors will understand that the character “talks” to you. Ameerah told me she was gay.

I’ve talked to Kevin about this, and he advised me not to worry about it. Write the story (he's been bugging me to write her story for a year now). Don’t be afraid of offending readers. So that’s what I’m doing, and I decided that I’m no longer going to hide, because I love who I am. I’m considerate of others and if someone takes what I write or say the wrong way, so be it.

I remember reading about PETA getting all balled up in a knot over one of Stephen King’s stories where an animal dies. They totally bashed him. You know what Stephen’s response was?

It’s a story.

So do you ever worry about offending someone with your stories or how you market your books?

Here’s the video I mentioned. I might have shared it with you when I created it over a year ago, but I don't think I did. For those of you who know the German language, try to block out what they’re saying and read the script instead. I don’t speak German. I wish I did, but this video is cool, I think.

#afraid, #marketing, #video, #writing, Nazis, offend, stories, 0 Comments

Look what the Dauntless Indies has for free this weekend. You might want to check it out. You get three stories in one package. You can’t beat free, right?

So what are your plans for today or this weekend? I hope wherever you are, the weather isn’t too bad. Y’all be safe out there.

http://www.amazon.com/Dauntless-Indies-Collection-Shorts-1-ebook/dp/B00H6U6M9U/

free, indies, Kindle, stories, weekend, 0 Comments

I’ve been fretting over what to post about for a few days now, and then Sunday morning this idea came to me. I have to warn you, though, I’m going to be talking a little bit about my Beyond the Eyes trilogy, so this post will have some spoilers in it.

I think I’m fortunate to have a love of history. My dad is the same way, and I love talking to him about it. We get into some interesting conversations like historical mysteries and occultism. He knows a lot of shit. What’s even cooler is, I get ideas for my stories from these conversations, not to mention the things I’ve learned and experienced in my childhood.

Any writers out there or future writers who are sitting on the fence on what type of story to write, there are only two things you need to do to get you started . . .

1.) Don’t write what’s trending right now because by the time you finish your story there might be a different trend.

2.) Write what interest you–that fuels your passion. If you don’t, you won’t stick with it. You got to have that fire in your belly to where you’re thinking about your story off and on throughout your day and can’t wait to get back to it.

Wah-cah-cha-pah!

Easy peasy.

Of course, writing a book doesn’t end there, but that’s how you get started. I can always do a post on the rest some other time.

Anyway, after I came up with my story idea for my YA paranormal trilogy, it soon took on a life of its own. My love of history and mysticism began to pour into my story, bringing depth, color, and plausibility.

How?

I’ll tell ya how, but here’s where I say, “Spoiler alert!” Now there’s a lot going on in my, Beyond the Eyes trilogy, so I’ll just point out a couple historical parts where I interlaced it with fiction, thus creating a tapestry for the mind.

1.) King Solomon’s ring. There’s a legend he had a ring that can control demons. One night I was watching a show on The History Channel about it.

Bingo!

I already had a rough idea for a story: dark spirits walking among us in soulless humans. Now I have a motive. The “old one” who is an ancient dark spirit has been looking for this ring for thousands of years. Imagine what he can do if he gets a hold of it. He can control all the dark spirits and become God. He wants the ring and only Paige (my main character) can find it.

If it wasn’t for my love of history, I would have never known that. Of course, I added my own spin to it. I made the power of the ring impotent without Solomon’s incantations. But my characters can’t find the spells without the ring.

I personally think when you’re writing a story you should put your own twists in it. An author by the name of Regina Morris did just that in her book called Eternal Service. It has vampires; however, these vampires can adjust their age by the amount of blood they ingest. It’s a fresh idea and a good way to explain how these bloodsuckers are able to live with humans for thousands of years without raising eyebrows.

2.) Nazi week on The History Channel. Hitler and the whole Nazi regime fascinate me. I think it’s because I can’t fathom how one man can entrance others to do horrific and unspeakable things to another. And did you know the Nazi’s were heavily into the occult? They had a special organization under the control of Henrich Himmler who was the chief of the SS and head of the Gestapo. A very evil man–BTW. The organization was called Ahnenerbe. It was a Nazi think tank. They would send teams of archaeologists on top secret expeditions. Himmer was a Holy Grail enthusiast, and he once funded and promoted an expedition to find it. This is just the tip of the iceberg on how deep they were into the supernatural.

Anyway, check out these pictures. Doesn’t it chill you to the bone knowing the atrocities these men had committed?

Henrich Himmler.

Rudolf Hess. He was Hitler's deputy, the third most powerful man in the Third Reich. He was known to be a big occult supporter.

Hitler.

There are people who believe Hitler was possessed by Satan. I didn’t know this until recently and had already written in my third book in my YA paranormal trilogy (The Devil’s Third) that the “old one” done just that. He had possessed Hitler and the other dark spirits were the Nazi party. In Dark Spirits, Carrie tells Paige and Nathan about Aosoth (a wicked dark spirit) dwelling inside a Nazi. She then goes on and tells them what happens. To me, that’s some dark, scary shit. But again, I used my love of history and intertwined it into my story, making it my own and hopefully giving the YA paranormal genre something fresh and new to read about.

Here's what one reader said in her five star review on Dark Spirits:

I find her twist on a regular paranormal genre refreshing. She makes her own rules and forms a world all her own.

Here's what some other readers had said about my trilogy in their reviews:

A fresh look at the spiritual world.

Beyond the Eyes is a unique read.

The paranormal element of this story is really interesting.

They're saying it's fresh, unique, interesting, and I make my own rules.

That's what I'm talking about.

Make your story your own and readers will appreciate it. :)

dark spirit, history, Hitler, Nazi, stories, writing, 0 Comments

This has been a difficult week. I haven’t been getting enough sleep, which is my bad. But the thing is, how come you can be tired all day but when it’s close to bedtime you wake up?

What’s up with that?

I have a day job. I manage and do the book work for a mom and pop propane company. I live in a small farming community so we deal with a lot of farmers. Most of them are wonderful, and this is a great place to live. In fact, my office is in the country. When I look out my window, I can see a cornfield. It’s also awesome when the cropduster sprays the crops. The engine roars above us, and then the plane swoops down over the field really low. I usually run outside to watch because I’m a dork and love it. I get chills and laugh every time because it’s just so incredibly cool to see this small aircraft do the maneuvers it does. I keep meaning to bring my camera to work so I can film it and share it with you guys, but I think it’s too late now since the harvest season is upon us.

I don’t know much about farming so today a farmer called wanting propane for his grain dryer. Well, we filled it yesterday so I was a bit confused. I told him my driver already took care of it. He acknowledged it, but said he needs another fill. I’m sure he thought I was a complete airhead because I was totally perplexed. Anyway, after that awkward phone call, my boss (the owner) told me a grain dryer goes through propane rather quickly this time of year. She apologized to me for not telling me about it. She’s great, by the way. I’m lucky to work for her.

I know what happened today is really no big deal, but this entire week has been one thing after the other at my job. Not to mention, I’ve been trying to stay afloat with everything else in my life. So this week I’ve been feeling like this.
　
　

　
But then at the end of the day when I check my email before I do everything else like keep up on social media and revisions, I’m greeted with some wonderful comments like these from my editor who is going through my second book in my YA paranormal series:

Excellent chapter with new plot twists.

Another great chapter with lots of give and take drama.

Great job.

Another great chapter adding interest and advancing the plot.

My editor is not one to freely handout compliments unless they’re well deserved. So those comments made me really happy.

I also think about last Friday night when Kevin and I went out to eat. An older lady at a table next to ours looked at me and said, "I read your book and loved it. I read it straight through." And then as we were leaving a guy stopped me and asked, "Are you the author who wrote that book?" I smiled and nodded. He grinned, shook my hand and said, "Please to meet you."

So yeah, I have a lot on my plate trying to accomplish what I want out of this life. Sometimes I feel like bawling because I’m doing the best I can and it doesn’t seem like enough. But I keep at it. Even when my situation appears bleak. Even when I have hard weeks. Because I love to write stories, and when a stranger approaches me and gushes about my book, it’s so worth it, don’t you think?

And then I read this to give myself a little shove: