Hi everyone,
I was honored to be asked to be a guest blogger on Printsasia. Since we are finishing the sequel to Secret of the Sands, entitled Destiny of the Sands, I thought blogging about sequels was a timely topic :)
I hope you find value in what I shared. Here's the link to my post:
The Secrets of Sequels
I very much enjoyed writing it & reflecting on the process.
Cheers,
Rai
Showing posts with label novels. Show all posts
Showing posts with label novels. Show all posts
Monday, August 8, 2011
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Guest post: Author Darren Pillsbury
Hi everyone,
It's my honor to share a guest blog post with you, by author Darren Pillsbury. He's written the series PETER AND THE VAMPIRES, PETER AND THE WEREWOLVES and PETER AND THE FRANKENSTEIN. They sound like lively reads!
Have a read & get to know a new author :)
******
Thank you, Rai, for letting me do a guest post on your blog!
One of the questions I hear a lot of readers asking writers is “Where do you get your inspiration?” I thought I would answer that specifically about the ebooks I’ve just published, PETER AND THE VAMPIRES, PETER AND THE WEREWOLVES, and PETER AND THE FRANKENSTEIN.
I’ve always liked scary stories. I remember sneaking into the grocery store as a kid and reading the Stephen King books in the book aisle. (My mom was very conservative, and there was no way she was going to let me read CUJO or SKELETON CREW. So I did it while she was picking out tomatoes and peanut butter a couple of aisles over.)
So, when I decided I wanted to be an author, I always told myself that I would write my ‘vampire’ story. And my ‘werewolves’ story. And my ‘swamp monster’ story. And my ‘evil freak show’ story.
The problem was, a writer expends a lot of pages setting up the characters and situations every time he writes a new novella. If I wanted to write a dozen stories, that would be a dozen different main characters, a dozen different supporting casts, a dozen different settings. Ugh.
Why couldn’t it be simple? On THE X-FILES, you jumped into a new episode every week knowing who Mulder and Scully are. Why couldn’t you –
Heeeeyyyy.
Problem solved. I would do something in a series, with the same characters, and with character arcs and larger plots that unfolded over hundreds of pages and through different books.
In actuality, the books really do resemble television shows in that each ‘novel’ has four or five different ‘episodes,’ or shorter novellas within it. And basically each story picks up where the last one ended.
What about the hero? Who was he? How old?
If I was going to do a series of supernatural stories, I wanted to do something about a time when everything seemed possible…and maybe even magical. I decided on a younger protagonist. Probably out of nostalgia, partly because the last time I remember feeling that the world might truly be magical (supernaturally magical, that is) was when I was very, very young.
But…it’s quite a different thing to say, “I’m going to write a vampire story,” and then write it. What do you do with it?
Is the vampire loathsome or gorgeous (and sparking, according to TWILIGHT)? Evil or misunderstood? Sociopathic or tortured by a conscience? The hero or the villain?
I don’t really start there, to be honest. I start with an image. In the case of the story “Peter And The Vampires” (the second story in the novel PETER AND THE VAMPIRES), the image was of a little girl in a rainstorm, standing under the ten-year-old hero’s third-story window, calling out “Peeeeeeeteeeeeeeeer” in a soft and mournful voice. When the lightning flashes, she is standing there in the rain; seconds later, when another burst comes, she’s gone.
I think – though I’m not absolutely sure – that the image comes from “The Dead,” the short story by James Joyce, in which the main character’s wife tells him how the love of her life stood out in a rainstorm and called up to her window.
(To be clear, I do not compare anything I have ever written to be in the same league, or even the same sport, as Joyce. If “The Dead” is the filet mignon and lobster tails of literature, then mine is a McDonald’s Happy Meal. But, hey, at least with mine, you get a bright, shiny toy.)
I had a lot of thoughts about that scene when I read the story in college. One that stuck with me was, “If she didn’t want that guy to be there, that could be a really creepy moment.”
BAM. That was the jumping-off point, though it took years to actually sit down and write a story about it.
For my other stories in the series, I always ask myself, What’s creepy? (And not in a gory way. Though there is gore in some of my stories, I try to keep it to a minimum.)
For years as a child, I vacationed at a lake house my grandparents owned. I always thought of sitting on a dock, legs dangling down into the water…and some unseen horror reaching up and dragging me down to the depths.
Bingo. There’s my opening for “Peter And The Swamp Monster,” the fourth story in PETER AND THE VAMPIRES.
One of the creepiest things I can imagine is looking out from a window, and someone dressed all in black – whose face you can’t see – is staring up at your window. Then they slowly lift their arm and point, as though to say, I see you.
Voila. “Peter And The Dead Men.”
As a kid, I saw a Spiderman cartoon that freaked me out. In it, a bunch of mannequins came to life and attacked poor Spidey. For years, I never, ever took my eyes off the mannequins when I entered a Macy’s.
“Peter And The Mannequins,” first story in the book PETER AND THE WEREWOLVES.
So there you have it. Most of my stories start from an initial scene in my head: some bad memory, some dark fantasy, some imagined scenario (often from my childhood) that can form the cornerstone of a story.
If you’re interested in checking out my books, please visit the links below!
eBooks By Darren Pillsbury:
PETER AND THE VAMPIRES (99 cents):
Kindle
Nook
Smashwords
PETER AND THE WEREWOLVES ($2.99):
Kindle
Nook
Smashwords
PETER AND THE FRANKENSTEIN ($2.99):
Kindle
Nook
Smashwords
*******
Thank-you Darren, for sharing with us! I'm always interested in learning more about my fellow scribes & their works.
You can visit Darren online at: darrenpillsbury.com
I hope this helps Darren to find new readers :)
Cheers,
Rai
It's my honor to share a guest blog post with you, by author Darren Pillsbury. He's written the series PETER AND THE VAMPIRES, PETER AND THE WEREWOLVES and PETER AND THE FRANKENSTEIN. They sound like lively reads!
Have a read & get to know a new author :)
******
Thank you, Rai, for letting me do a guest post on your blog!
One of the questions I hear a lot of readers asking writers is “Where do you get your inspiration?” I thought I would answer that specifically about the ebooks I’ve just published, PETER AND THE VAMPIRES, PETER AND THE WEREWOLVES, and PETER AND THE FRANKENSTEIN.
I’ve always liked scary stories. I remember sneaking into the grocery store as a kid and reading the Stephen King books in the book aisle. (My mom was very conservative, and there was no way she was going to let me read CUJO or SKELETON CREW. So I did it while she was picking out tomatoes and peanut butter a couple of aisles over.)
So, when I decided I wanted to be an author, I always told myself that I would write my ‘vampire’ story. And my ‘werewolves’ story. And my ‘swamp monster’ story. And my ‘evil freak show’ story.
The problem was, a writer expends a lot of pages setting up the characters and situations every time he writes a new novella. If I wanted to write a dozen stories, that would be a dozen different main characters, a dozen different supporting casts, a dozen different settings. Ugh.
Why couldn’t it be simple? On THE X-FILES, you jumped into a new episode every week knowing who Mulder and Scully are. Why couldn’t you –
Heeeeyyyy.
Problem solved. I would do something in a series, with the same characters, and with character arcs and larger plots that unfolded over hundreds of pages and through different books.
In actuality, the books really do resemble television shows in that each ‘novel’ has four or five different ‘episodes,’ or shorter novellas within it. And basically each story picks up where the last one ended.
What about the hero? Who was he? How old?
If I was going to do a series of supernatural stories, I wanted to do something about a time when everything seemed possible…and maybe even magical. I decided on a younger protagonist. Probably out of nostalgia, partly because the last time I remember feeling that the world might truly be magical (supernaturally magical, that is) was when I was very, very young.
But…it’s quite a different thing to say, “I’m going to write a vampire story,” and then write it. What do you do with it?
Is the vampire loathsome or gorgeous (and sparking, according to TWILIGHT)? Evil or misunderstood? Sociopathic or tortured by a conscience? The hero or the villain?
I don’t really start there, to be honest. I start with an image. In the case of the story “Peter And The Vampires” (the second story in the novel PETER AND THE VAMPIRES), the image was of a little girl in a rainstorm, standing under the ten-year-old hero’s third-story window, calling out “Peeeeeeeteeeeeeeeer” in a soft and mournful voice. When the lightning flashes, she is standing there in the rain; seconds later, when another burst comes, she’s gone.
I think – though I’m not absolutely sure – that the image comes from “The Dead,” the short story by James Joyce, in which the main character’s wife tells him how the love of her life stood out in a rainstorm and called up to her window.
(To be clear, I do not compare anything I have ever written to be in the same league, or even the same sport, as Joyce. If “The Dead” is the filet mignon and lobster tails of literature, then mine is a McDonald’s Happy Meal. But, hey, at least with mine, you get a bright, shiny toy.)
I had a lot of thoughts about that scene when I read the story in college. One that stuck with me was, “If she didn’t want that guy to be there, that could be a really creepy moment.”
BAM. That was the jumping-off point, though it took years to actually sit down and write a story about it.
For my other stories in the series, I always ask myself, What’s creepy? (And not in a gory way. Though there is gore in some of my stories, I try to keep it to a minimum.)
For years as a child, I vacationed at a lake house my grandparents owned. I always thought of sitting on a dock, legs dangling down into the water…and some unseen horror reaching up and dragging me down to the depths.
Bingo. There’s my opening for “Peter And The Swamp Monster,” the fourth story in PETER AND THE VAMPIRES.
One of the creepiest things I can imagine is looking out from a window, and someone dressed all in black – whose face you can’t see – is staring up at your window. Then they slowly lift their arm and point, as though to say, I see you.
Voila. “Peter And The Dead Men.”
As a kid, I saw a Spiderman cartoon that freaked me out. In it, a bunch of mannequins came to life and attacked poor Spidey. For years, I never, ever took my eyes off the mannequins when I entered a Macy’s.
“Peter And The Mannequins,” first story in the book PETER AND THE WEREWOLVES.
So there you have it. Most of my stories start from an initial scene in my head: some bad memory, some dark fantasy, some imagined scenario (often from my childhood) that can form the cornerstone of a story.
If you’re interested in checking out my books, please visit the links below!
eBooks By Darren Pillsbury:
PETER AND THE VAMPIRES (99 cents):
Kindle
Nook
Smashwords
PETER AND THE WEREWOLVES ($2.99):
Kindle
Nook
Smashwords
PETER AND THE FRANKENSTEIN ($2.99):
Kindle
Nook
Smashwords
*******
Thank-you Darren, for sharing with us! I'm always interested in learning more about my fellow scribes & their works.
You can visit Darren online at: darrenpillsbury.com
I hope this helps Darren to find new readers :)
Cheers,
Rai
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Come & check out Book Town
Hi fellow authors,
I wanted to pass the word along about one of the very cool ning sites out there. It's called Book Town and here is their mission statement:
"The social network that brings writers, readers & artists together. From novels to short stories Book Town is the place to promote your work."
The site has discussion forums, a bookstore, groups, various resources organized by genre, and more. We all have many choices in our social networking, and with some sites, it can be challenging to find places within that are on point with your needs and goals. Book Town makes a great addition to your social networking activities if you are interested in writing, reading, or are an artist.
Here is a link to the site:
http://booktown.ning.com/
and here is a little more info on what they are about:
"Book Town was built to provide a social network that brings writers of novels, graphic novels, short stories, poems, quotes, and artist together to:
* Provide assistance to the novice writer by building a network of accomplished authors who are willing to give pointers and advice to beginners in need of assistance.
* Gain additional exposure for authors to promote their projects by way of book sales, video trailers, contest, and by posting appearances in book fairs, book signings, radio and TV appearances."
Also, as many of you know, the free ning sites are no longer, but Book Town is not one of them, so you can rest assured your profile will remain. I have been a member since shortly after their inception and there are lots of cool peeps there to engage with & learn from. If you are an author, they are also offering opportunities for FREE promotion, including author features & a Book of the Week program. Sign up & check it out! Do befriend me there, too :)
Rai Aren, co-author of the award-winning mystery novel SECRET OF THE SANDS
I wanted to pass the word along about one of the very cool ning sites out there. It's called Book Town and here is their mission statement:
"The social network that brings writers, readers & artists together. From novels to short stories Book Town is the place to promote your work."
The site has discussion forums, a bookstore, groups, various resources organized by genre, and more. We all have many choices in our social networking, and with some sites, it can be challenging to find places within that are on point with your needs and goals. Book Town makes a great addition to your social networking activities if you are interested in writing, reading, or are an artist.
Here is a link to the site:
http://booktown.ning.com/
and here is a little more info on what they are about:
"Book Town was built to provide a social network that brings writers of novels, graphic novels, short stories, poems, quotes, and artist together to:
* Provide assistance to the novice writer by building a network of accomplished authors who are willing to give pointers and advice to beginners in need of assistance.
* Gain additional exposure for authors to promote their projects by way of book sales, video trailers, contest, and by posting appearances in book fairs, book signings, radio and TV appearances."
Also, as many of you know, the free ning sites are no longer, but Book Town is not one of them, so you can rest assured your profile will remain. I have been a member since shortly after their inception and there are lots of cool peeps there to engage with & learn from. If you are an author, they are also offering opportunities for FREE promotion, including author features & a Book of the Week program. Sign up & check it out! Do befriend me there, too :)
Rai Aren, co-author of the award-winning mystery novel SECRET OF THE SANDS
Friday, May 14, 2010
Rai's book reviews
I thought that I would start to share a selection of my book reviews here. I do a fair bit of them, and my policy is that I only post reviews of books that I can give honest 4 or 5-star reviews to. As a fellow author, I don't want to publicly criticize anyone else's work. I know how much hard work goes into writing a book, and the uphill battle it can be to find one's readership. Sometimes, it's a matter of personal taste, what may make me dislike a certain book, may not bother someone else, or they may like it that way. There are so many reasons why people like or dislike books, and it's certainly not the same for everyone. Preferences and opinions vary. It's also a professional courtesy, I do not put myself out there as a professional reviewer, but rather as an avid reader who simply likes to give credit where credit is due. There are enough official reviewers and bloggers out there to get a wide opinion on a given book.
I love to read (obviously), so there are tons of books I've read that I have not yet reviewed. Maybe one day I'll catch up, perhaps it could be a retirement project! (though I'd have to re-read them all, by then). For now, I will share reviews of selected books that stand out for me on a go-forward basis, because of how well they are written and/or because they are really my cup of tea. I might at some point, choose selected reviews from books I have read in the past and post them here, too.
I also do the odd movie review, though I haven't written as many of those recently, probably because movies have to be really special for me to take the time to write a review (books are my main focus and like everyone else, there's a time shortage in my universe!). However, for the films I did take the time to review, my reviews can be found in a couple of places. First is my Amazon profile, which also has most of my book reviews posted there:
Rai's Amazon profile
and my MySpace page in the blog section:
Rai's MySpace page
My MySpace blog is the most varied of my three blogs (the other two are this one & Goodreads), so there is a wider variety of topics there than on the others.
All of my book reviews can also be found on my Goodreads profile:
Rai's Goodreads profile
I hope that my reviews help you find some more worthy reads you might not have come across yet or encourage you to pick up a book you were just considering.
As always, happy reading my friends!
Rai Aren, co-author of the award-winning mystery novel SECRET OF THE SANDS
I love to read (obviously), so there are tons of books I've read that I have not yet reviewed. Maybe one day I'll catch up, perhaps it could be a retirement project! (though I'd have to re-read them all, by then). For now, I will share reviews of selected books that stand out for me on a go-forward basis, because of how well they are written and/or because they are really my cup of tea. I might at some point, choose selected reviews from books I have read in the past and post them here, too.
I also do the odd movie review, though I haven't written as many of those recently, probably because movies have to be really special for me to take the time to write a review (books are my main focus and like everyone else, there's a time shortage in my universe!). However, for the films I did take the time to review, my reviews can be found in a couple of places. First is my Amazon profile, which also has most of my book reviews posted there:
Rai's Amazon profile
and my MySpace page in the blog section:
Rai's MySpace page
My MySpace blog is the most varied of my three blogs (the other two are this one & Goodreads), so there is a wider variety of topics there than on the others.
All of my book reviews can also be found on my Goodreads profile:
Rai's Goodreads profile
I hope that my reviews help you find some more worthy reads you might not have come across yet or encourage you to pick up a book you were just considering.
As always, happy reading my friends!
Rai Aren, co-author of the award-winning mystery novel SECRET OF THE SANDS
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