666: The Number of the Beast

This is a cross post on my Tumblr. Book two in the fifty.fifty.me challenge but book one in the  Book Chick City Horror Challenge.



This is a collection of horror short stories, so I can't very well write a blurb.

They are, however, entertaining. Some more than others.

The book is divided into three sections: Evil, Darkness and Beasts. Each story is no more than 20 or so pages, some shorter.

While some I didn't care for, my absolute favorite was "The Legend of Anna Barton" by Laurie Faria Stolarz. It's young, hip and told in first-person--my favorite POV.

Pure Evil?

Yesterday's post about feeling bad for a "fictional" criminal got me thinking about writing villains.

Years ago, I enjoyed creating bad guys that were pure evil. They had no conscience and lived to torture my heroines and heroes. Today, I like a bit of realism with my murder. Not too much. The up side of writing mysteries and suspense is the creative license. I don't have to think about all that real life yucky stuff. That's depressing. Besides, the best part of writing these kind of books isn't getting in my killer's head but the chase, the threat and the discovery. Yes, the discovery!

Thing is though, pure evil isn't enough. It's two-dimensional. So not only do I need to understand my MC's (main character's) GMC (external and internal goals, motivation and conflict), I also need the same information for my antagonists. So maybe feeling bad for a fictional criminal isn't so weird. I need to understand what makes a person tick in order to do what I love most. Entertain. :)

Are We Weird to Care?

Yesterday I partially watched Taken in Broad Daylight, starring James Van Der Beek and Sara Canning on Lifetime. I'd seen it before so I wasn't fully focused on it, got up and down and was in the kitchen at the end. But as I stood at the table chopping veggies, I heard crying and turned to see James, as Tony Zappa, crying.

He abducted Anne, played by Sara, and they travel. I forget some of the details, sorry, but he wants to go live in the woods with her. She's smart and savvy, leaving clues along the way. He's not portrayed as anything more than a criminal, having been in prison before. And he assaults her during the film. No one I'd feel sorry for, right?

Well, when he started crying, I did. She, in the pic above, is trying to convince him to surrender to the police, who are outside the cabin. She promises him she'll never leave him. And of course, as any sane and smart person would do, runs like she's on fire as soon as she gets the chance. I get all of that, and I totally agree. I could only wish I'd be half as intelligent as she is if, God forbid, anything like this ever happened to me.

But here's the thing...he'd kidnapped her because he was lonely.

Maybe I'm a softie. Maybe because I know this is fiction. (I didn't realize this was based off an actual event. It doesn't change how I feel about the movie. The real crimes are different, and maybe that's why I'm able to care, because in my mind I differentiate it and am only focusing on what I thought was fiction.) Maybe I'm deranged. But I felt for the guy. Okay, so his methods suck big time, but the poor thing only wanted a partner. Isn't that what most people want? None of this is to say he shouldn't suffer for the pain he caused Anne and her family, but in a warped kinda way, I get it and feel for him.

My daughter did too. So then we had to stop and question ourselves. She said, "Are we weird?" I don't know. Are we?

Craft & Dragon Slaying

I'm not one to write posts on writing, as in teaching others what I know, nor do I like boring people with my process. Usually. :P Today is a different story though. I've made so many discoveries lately I feel I'll burst if I don't share.

First. I made a firm decision with what I'm writing, who I am as a writer. Since turning to YA, I've tried genres I never thought I would, like contemporary and paranormal (as in creatures). I've had a great run, but this year is about focusing on my platform and what I do.

Hence, I write dead bodies.

That came about in a conversation with a dear friend, Moria Keith. She said, "I write paranormal/urban fantasy." I said, "I write dead bodies." So simple, yet I've spent years trying to come up with the right tag. ;)

So... Quirky heroine + dark plot = fright lite.

Yep, that's what I write. As much as I drool over horror, dark suspense and thrillers. No matter how many awesome dark, scary, sinister stories I come up with, none of them fit my voice. I wouldn't say I write light. Hardly. But my voice is conversational. And that true dark, creepy writing that I love to read, I just can't do. And that's okay. Especially since I've decided I will no longer try. Instead, I'll spend my time improving what I do well.

Which brings me to...Second. I'm in the process of rewriting my paranormal creature ;) ms from last year. It's been giving me problems, but now is the time to tackle it. Issues with the beginning has me reading Hooked: Write Fiction That Grabs Readers at Page One & Never Lets Them Go by Les Edgerton. It's showed me that I don't have my heroine's internal GMC established. Yes, she has plenty of external, but what I thought was the inciting incident is actually just a part of the surface problem. It's not the emotional core of the book.

Then (*ahem* Third), I discovered Margie Lawson's classes today. I'm looking forward to ordering a couple of her lecture packets. How did I not know about her before? Actually, I vaguely remember her name. I'm sure I've heard of her through Romance Divas, but I wasn't ready for it. Now I am.

Boy, I feel alive. Like I slayed a 100 year old dragon and have no burns to show for it. I can't wait to get to work! :)

Horror Reading Challenge

I'm so stoked about this challenge I saw it listed on Goodreads. Book Chick City's 2012 Horror and Urban Fantasy Reading Challenge.

I'm already participating in Fifty.Fifty.Me (see sidebar), where I need to read 50 books and watch 50 movies in 2012, so why not add another challenge?

Book Chick City's is either 24 or 48 horror and/or urban fantasy books in 2012. Since I'm a horror fan, and some if not most of the books I read this year are horror anyway, this should be easy peasy. Or hopefully, scary as hell. :P

I'll be posting Fifty.Fifty.Me's reviews on my Tumblr blog and Book Chick City's here on this blog. 

Stay tuned!

What If Wikipedia Disappeared?

Or in this case, was taken off the Internet.

Wikipedia is only one of many online places that would no longer be able to operate if these bills were passed. Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, AOL, Google, Yahoo to name a few more. Wikipedia is too important in my life. How about yours? What about the others?


Created by: Online University

Second Snow

Today we received our second snow storm. Well, technically it's the first for 2012, but the second since fall. The first one was that horrendous blizzard in October. The one that gave us several feet of snow and blew out the neighborhood power (thankfully not my apt. complex) for weeks.

Our second storm resulted in maybe an inch. :) I shoveled and two hours later it had melted away. lol It's pretty ironic considering I usually go out of my way to not shovel. I'm hoping we won't get much more this year. Last year kicked our butts.