tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-317045402024-03-12T16:48:49.288-07:00DIRTY DEEDS - Mystery/Suspense Author's AdviceGet down and dirty advice from a professional on how writing gets done and sold from an author who has sold over 50 novels and short stories. The blog is going to walk you through my writing of my next novel - PlagueShip Titanic - worts, bumps, mistakes, successes and all.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01250914060366610106noreply@blogger.comBlogger56125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31704540.post-8852783660760715332017-09-10T05:14:00.001-07:002017-09-10T05:14:18.151-07:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Writers like any artists have spells when they wonder why bother, what am I doing this for, may's well stop wasting my time, my energy on this 'nonsense' -- creating fiction, a pack of lies to prove a truth, and if it is for money or the Big Win, why don't I just play the ponies like 'normal' gamblers do? There's a blues song in this mood, a blues song for writers and artists, so you have a drink filled with remorse and regret. And then a young person comes to your private bar, comes along and says thank you, says of your worst, earliest book that it was his first ever for him. His first to turn him onto reading. Or that it was her first novel of that genre, and that the thing you crafted moved this person on to read more--not just by you but by others in your category. Then you begin to realize you have spent all that time and energy and talent and skills learned and adapted, all those tools you have picked up and made your own for this reason: to open up whole worlds of your making to others--to readers. That you have created portals the likes of which (with each book you write) open on another time, another place, filled with other people, a portal into which other real people have come and have shared, filling out the formula similar to H20, and then all the doubt and questioning, all the stabbing at the heart of oneself, all the regrets and all remorse slough away, at which point you go back to your work-in-play. rejuvenated because there are readers yet to connect to, readers to feed, and there is always a portal to open.<br />
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I have put out 3 new titles this summer. Pub date is Sept. 15 for #3 in my CHICAGHOSTS Series, GOATBUSTERS - sequel to GONE GORILLA <a href="http://getbook.at/Gorilla" target="_blank">getBook.at/Gorilla</a> and The MONSTER PIT found at Amazon.com and Createspace.com -- https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=node%3D154606011&field-keywords=Goatbusters<br />
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The second FRESH title is #8 in my Bloodscreams Series, SATANIPEDES which follows SKITTERS. <a href="http://getbook.at/Satanipede" target="_blank">getBook.at/Satanipede</a><br />
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The additional title out this summer is #1 in a new Series called Killing Time - Under the Dead Man's Hat. Find url below. <a href="http://getbook.at/HAT" target="_blank">getBook.at/HAT</a><br />
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<u>Click on any one of the above for a GREAT READ.</u><br />
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<u>"Walker is a master at the top of his game." JA Konrath, master of frights.</u><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01250914060366610106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31704540.post-35861810761906497972016-04-07T06:37:00.000-07:002016-04-07T06:39:43.268-07:00REinventing w/The Novella<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I have always been a long-distance writer in the sense of doing novels over other formats. I know from experience that I typically start out with scene one and am never sure what's to happen after that. Just how I work. I have learned to stay away from attempting poetry. The form is a diamond with many facets and escapes me. The short story, I learned to work at it and I have, I believe learned well and have done now several collections of my own and have been involved in a number of anthologies. So I have done pretty well with the novel form, the short story form, but one form of art I have not attempted before is the NOVELLA.<br />
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Darned if I have not found my first novella to have gone quite well. So well that I am in the midst of a sequel novella to it as I write this. CHICAGHOSTS is the series title. I find that I am having fun with the form, and I have surprised myself with it.<br />
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Like anyone, writers fall into habits that are comforting, and we begin to believe our own assessment of our strengths and weaknesses. Sometimes to our own detriment. Not unlike life itself, eh?<br />
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I'm reminded of what some old timers told me when I was young about this creative life, writing life, the life of imagination. They'd ask, "Are ya havin' fun with it?" After a resounding YES from me, the old timer would shout back, "Then keep doing it! When it stops being FUN, stop doing it!"<br />
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I am working on my 64th title - that new novella sequel called Chicaghosts - The Spiral Hole. Guess what. I am still having fun and I started having fun with it in Jr. High. And YES, I am now an old timer.<br />
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Latest cover art from most recent books: <br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01250914060366610106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31704540.post-81072551618955452292015-08-09T11:21:00.002-07:002015-08-09T11:21:38.993-07:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
My latest is up for sale at amazon.com on the Kindle Shelf as an Original Kindle title -- RANDOM VIOLENCE - #6 in my BLOODSCREAMS Series featuring Dr. Abraham Stroud, archaeologist and vampire slayer. The series titles run as Vampire Dreams, Werewolf's Grief, Zombie Eyes, Bayou Wulf, The SubterraneanS, and now Random Violence. Cover art below: <br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01250914060366610106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31704540.post-16044859468268768352015-08-09T11:18:00.003-07:002015-08-09T11:18:09.593-07:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The new book is available for sale here at 2.99 -- <a href="http://www.amazon.com/RANDOM-VIOLENCE-Archaeology-Supernatural-Bloodscreams-ebook/dp/B013IHKT5W/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1439143803&sr=1-2&keywords=Random+Violence">http://www.amazon.com/RANDOM-VIOLENCE-Archaeology-Supernatural-Bloodscreams-ebook/dp/B013IHKT5W/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1439143803&sr=1-2&keywords=Random+Violence</a><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01250914060366610106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31704540.post-50370673041058429102015-08-09T11:13:00.001-07:002015-08-09T11:13:09.255-07:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
My new title RANDOM VIOLENCE - book #6 in my Bloodscreams Series has been launched as a Kindle ebook. Here is a description of the novel and the cover art. It can be found, of course, on Amazon.com/kindle books.<br />
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Find the book here @2.99<br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/RANDOM-VIOLENCE-Archaeology-Supernatural-Bloodscreams-ebook/dp/B013IHKT5W/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1439143803&sr=1-2&keywords=Random+Violence">http://www.amazon.com/RANDOM-VIOLENCE-Archaeology-Supernatural-Bloodscreams-ebook/dp/B013IHKT5W/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1439143803&sr=1-2&keywords=Random+Violence</a><br />
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Cover art from <a href="http://www.srwalkerdesigns.com/">www.SRWalkerdesigns.com</a> <br />
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Let me know how you like it, and be the first to REVIEW it.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01250914060366610106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31704540.post-18344375104231351682015-07-05T11:37:00.003-07:002015-07-05T11:39:21.313-07:00Chapter Two - RANDOM VIOLENCE - my Work-in-Play<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
RANDOM VIOLENCE - book#6 in my Bloodscreams Series = Writing as Geoffrey Caine<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">TWO<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Dr. Abraham Stroud felt a disturbance in the
universe here in <span style="background: white;">the Canadian
Badlands in Alberta near the Drumheller area. He pinched himself to determine
if he was back </span>where he was in charge of a new archeological dig. Of
course, he had felt such disturbances before—in fact, ever since the first time
that he was called on to combat supernatural forces, ever since the meatball
surgeons at a field hospital had saved him from death when they’d plucked him
from a pile of dead bodies cast into a common grave in Vietnam. And ever since
surgeons in a German hospital equipped with the wherewithal to slap a steel
plate in his head had done so. An archeologist now, one who had discovered and
vanquished vampire and werewolf covens, zombies, and gargantuan cemetery worms,
Abe knew the stirrings in his head and soul amounted to a new call for his
services and likely his fortune, along with his mercenary squad.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">However, this time the disturbance was somehow
larger and more demanding than any he had ever felt. He was busy, of course, in
the midst of the most important Canadian archeological find of prehistoric
beasts ever uncovered. He and his students had been busily categorizing what
seemed to be a limitless number of creatures from the Sabre-toothed Tiger to
the Woolly Mammoth roaming eons ago in what was on the map today as The
Badlands of Alberta, Canada. Everyone associated with the dig, Stroud’s backers
at the university in Florida, and the Canadian Archeological Society—major
contributors in both money and influence—were all ecstatic at the reports
coming from Stroud that in part read:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Some
species never before seen or known to have existed have been uncovered here.
This is a major, major find, gentlemen and ladies. Some of the evidence
suggests a number of strange and odd creatures without a name or classification
save that they appear to belong in the reptile family.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Stroud lifted the skull of a creature no one had
ever seen before. At least not in modern times. It appeared to be part reptile,
sure, but it also appeared to be part hominoid – human. Could there have once
been a race of reptilian-like homo-sapiens? Stroud recalled his brief brush
with a kind of were-creature that inhabited the bayous of Louisiana that
amounted to a <i>were-gator</i>, an
alligator that walked upright like a man. At the time, he’d had his hands full
with an entire coven of Bayou Wulves, werewolves of an evolved nature in that
same vicinity, and as a result, he had not pursued the were-gator to uncover
any others of its kind. Now this.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The skull was a far, far cry from a human skull, and
yet there were marked similarities about the forehead and the crown. While the
jawbone and what few teeth had been found still attached appeared more
reptilian—crock-like. It might well be evidence of a creature that lived and
died off without anyone’s ever knowing about it until now.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The skull was ugly and horribly misshapen, reminding
Abe of the old joke about a camel being a horse designed by a committee.
Whatever forces of nature had designed this beast, said forces had to have been
interested in a thinking man’s reptile most assuredly. Close to the raptor dinosaur
in design but not quite, Abe thought this creature might well have had wings
too. Larger, more ferocious, more cunning than the raptor, this thing walked
like a man.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The ugliness of the brown, dirt-encrusted skull
stood at the opposite end of the spectrum of skulls found in other parts of the
dig. Known skull types, even those of the Woolly Mammoth and the Sabre-toothed
Tiger were sleeker, smoother, and more compact. This thing, Abe thought as he
held it up to the light in his tent, this is pock marked with huge bony bubbles,
and atop the head, sticking out like tree stumps, were two broken off <i>horns</i>. Whatever this creature was, it
must have been a brutal beast and a terrible foe, and a brainy one at that. The
size of the cranium had to house a sizable brain. The real question that likely
would never be answered was whether or not this creature used its brain in ways
that were human-like. Whether its kind hunted in packs or individually—and how
successful were they? Had they died out from catastrophic events, pestilence,
meteors, climate change, or had they cannibalized themselves to their own end?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Stroud was unsure how he could ever know the full
truth about the creature he had no name for. He wanted to give it a name that
might reflect on himself. After all, it was his diligence in locating the dig
here and in its game-changing discovery. <i>Humanoid
Stroudius</i>, he quipped and laughed. Maybe he’d leave the naming for the
students; make a game of it, a lottery. Student with the best name gets a day
off and a jet ride to the playground of his or her choice, a ride on Stroud’s
private jet.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Stroud’s financial situation had only gotten better
and better with each of his triumphs over the years. Stroud Foundation
funds—funds to combat all manner of evil in the world—had catapulted since the
very public and out in the open battles he had done with the Bayou Wulf clan in
Louisiana and more recently the war he had waged against the giant fluke works
of New York City that had come to be called the <i>Subterraneans</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Stroud took his precious oddly shaped, once horned
skull to his workbench where he pulled a lamp on a swivel arm over it. He
studied it in its every detail as he picked at the final layer of encrusted
dirt and debris about the hills and valleys around the cheek bones, the mouth,
nose, and eye sockets. Once done with these areas, Abe worked off a large chunk
of earth, fused to the area between the stumps of two horns—the forehead and the
crown. This was a stubborn patch of glued-together earth and grass, a
clay-based earth.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Abe, impatient to finish clearing off every speck of
earth from the ancient skull while thinking about the Greek and Roman
depictions of the Minotaur—half man, half bull—got the idea that perhaps—just
perhaps—he was holding the skull of a Minotaur in his hands, or at least what
passed for one in ancient Canada. There had to be more like him, Stroud
thought. “There has to be. What would a lone ‘minotaur’ be doing in a land not
on any maps of the day?” Stroud also wondered if this creature walked on two
legs or four…or if it crawled on its belly snakelike. A snake with a humanoid
head and horns. It sounded damned biblical, but they would not know anymore
until or unless the dig provided a lot more bones belonging to the nameless
species. Until then, all was pure speculation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Then again, Stroud cautioned himself, “If you start
talking out loud like you are doing inside here, you risk being called a fraud.
He knew that every step of the way.” He knew one thing for certain: the dig here in Alberta must be recorded and
religiously preserved.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">His thoughts were interrupted by a ping on his Mac,
and a glance at his watch told him it was Jessie, his wife now of a year and
thirty odd days. She called Abe every night at this ungodly hour, unable to
sleep as it were. She was pregnant with their son, and as much as she would
have loved to see Canada—“No thanks! Not on a dig”. For this reason, she’d
remained at home in Andover, Illinois in the safe confines of Stroud Manse.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">She came on screen, and he worked up his best
cheerfulness and smile, putting away any of the dark thoughts that he’d been
juggling in his mind. She had enough to do seeing that their son was healthy
and being cared for in the womb.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> “I
miss you terribly, Abe. When can you come home even for a weekend?” she asked,
a radiant glow surrounding her.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> Abe
saw her aura as a bright yellow with orange splashes here and there, like the
sun itself, he had told her. “I am hoping to get back soon, sweetheart, but
we’re looking at something here that may be a breakthrough.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> “<i>Ahhhhh</i>, yes, breaking news!” she teased.
“Can you share? I am bored and going out of my mind. There is one art gallery
and one museum in Andover, and they are in the same room!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> “I
know, I know. You have access to the chopper, so go shopping in Chicago, or go visit
your folks in NYC.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“I have done both, Abe,
but I am freakin’ eight months along, so I’m going nowhere. Just staying close
to home and sticking close to my doctor!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Tell me what your last
visit with Dr. Shelby was like. All’s well, I pray.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> She
frowned but began telling him of the waiting room gossip and politics.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> Stroud
half-listened as his mind wandered back to the strange find uncovered here in
Canada. In his mind’s eye, he saw the Arctic land bridge and whole tribes of
people coming across from Asia and with them something ugly and evil following,
chasing, a wickedness that had come this way eons ago. How old is evil, he wondered to the beat of
Jessie’s voice, and a strange, unfamiliar fear began to seep into his
consciousness like nothing he’d felt before—not even when he thought himself
dead in a stack of bodies in Vietnam. No…this was something new…or was it? Was
it something ancient yet knew only to Dr. Abraham Stroud in 2015?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> “Are
you listening to me, Abe Stroud?” shouted Jessie. “You know very well I will
not be ignored.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> “Oh,
sorry…sorry dear. My mind wandered a bit but I am here. You know there is
nothing more precious to me than you and our child, Jess.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> “If
that’s true, then why are you there and we are here?” The conversation had
taken a sudden tone of gloom.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> “It’s
my work, honey; it’s what I do.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> “No,
Abe, it’s who you are, and I knew that when we signed the pre-nup, I did, but I
am not sure I can live this way—with you gone so often.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> “Hold
on, Jess! Don’t go. I need you and Gideon.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> “You
certainly need something,” she countered. “This <i>work-a-holic</i> behavior is wearing on me, Abe.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> “I
promise, I’ll be at your side soon, darling. There’s important work going on
here, and I suspect an incredible discovery.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> “What
sort of discovery?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> “Not
sure I should say what it is over the internet, babe.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> “The
hell you say! Just tell me.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> “A
new species of humanoid, we <i>suspect</i>.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> “New?
How new?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“OK, not new—old!
Ancient and extinct, newly discovered.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Wow, sounds like a
huge deal. What? Like the bloody missing link or something?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> “Possibly…or
<i>something</i>.” Abe found this completely
foreign, having to explain such things and their importance to a wife.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> Jessie
waved her hands and said, “Show me.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> He
frowned now. “No duplicating. This has to remain our secret until we publish our
findings, hon, understood?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> “Abe,
I no longer work for any government agency. No more undercover work to elicit
information from you. Do you get that?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> He
laughed lightly. “Understood.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> “Well
then? Show me what is so damnably important.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> Stroud
went to the horned skull with its huge jaw bone. He had to hold the two parts
together, and they precariously fit like two ends of a shredded napkin where he
held it up to the Skype screen. “This is crazy. Anyone might rob this
information, so have a quick look and that’s that.” Abe was saying as Jessie
stared aghast at the skull.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> “Abe…what
the hell is that thing?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> “We
don’t know; fact is, we need to come up with a name for it. I was thinking
Gideon, you know, after the boy, but then—”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> “No!
No, no, no. Do not name that thing after your son, Abe, after our son. Name it
Tom, Dick, or Harry but not Gideon, ever! Banish that thought from your mind.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> “Sure,
sure!” Abe picked up on her fear. He could see it in her eyes. “I was only
joking, baby. It’s OK.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> “I
don’t like the look of that thing, Abe. Not one bit. I think I’m not feeling
well. Going to lie down now.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> “Sure,
sure! I didn’t mean to upset you, Jess.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> “I
know…I know. Say goodbye and remember, we want to see you this weekend if at
all possible. Love you, miss you, and goodbye for now.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> Abe
was speaking over her with words of endearment when she went off. He still had the
unknown in his hands—the two parts of the skull: gorilla like snout and jawbone
against the rest of the skull. His students were in a fever to find more like
it; they’d be in a race to find another come sunup. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> He
wondered if Jessie had been able to make out the two broken off horns on the
skull. She may well have not seen them or if so, perhaps she had no notion of
what they were. Skype did not always get every detail. Still her sudden onset
of illness worried him some; then again, she was well along and anything might
set off a bout with nausea. He brushed it off.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> Unable
to sleep, he laid down and stared at the top of his tent where phantoms played
within the fabric.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01250914060366610106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31704540.post-2549747340712264792015-07-02T12:46:00.000-07:002015-07-02T13:54:13.582-07:00RANDOM VIOLENCE Chapter One<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Placing up right here Chapter One of my Work-in-Play for your perusal. Enjoy and let me know what you think. Sequel to The Sub-TerraneanS ...<br />
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 24.0pt; line-height: 115%;">RANDOM VIOLENCE<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">An
Abe Stroud Bloodscreams Series Title #6<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Robert
W. Walker writing as Geoffrey Caine<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">ONE<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">]<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Dear Abraham –<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">There is a family of demonic origin - that has been set loose in
the world by the demon of demons himself, Satan. These are humans turned to his
evil cause, and the primary reason for Random Violence. The other bloodlines
that produce genius and progress in the world, compassion and social concerns
as well as the arts are targets for the Vdoq who survive generation after
generation - infiltrating the weaker-minded among the human race. Some Vdoq
become were-creatures, others vampires, still others sheer maniacs. The Devil
may take a pleasing form or not.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">From a letter written to</span></i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Abraham Stoker, author of Dracula, from Elias Stroud, devoted
grandfather.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Abraham Stroud’s mind reeled even as he swept out
his .38 police special, realizing that his weapon was no match for the Uzi he
faced. In that same instant, the staccato blasts of the automatic sliced the
body of the man who’d been pinned atop the hood of Stroud’s police cruiser—literally
sliced in two across the waist. The two parts of the poor devil slid off the
hood in separate directions, one at the grill, the other body part at the passenger side
front tire. Both parts of the man left a slug-trail of blood in each wake.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Stroud at first thought it all a dream, a nightmare
hanger-on from his days as a Chicago cop, long before he was given the
wherewithal to follow his dreams of being an </span><span style="line-height: 18.3999996185303px;">archaeologist</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> instead. But this was
neither dream nor nightmare. This was altogether different as he found himself
inside the mind and body of another cop and this was real time, happening now.
Stroud had somehow become the cop in danger as he inhabited the man’s body at
this crucial, dangerous moment.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">That’s how he saw it even as he leapt from his car
when first he’d stopped at the traffic light and the two men outside the
cruiser wound up fighting against his—or rather Lt. Detective John Random’s
car.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In a flash of thought that only the human mind could
accomplish, Random—and so too Stroud—replayed it all in his head in a
millisecond where <i>they</i> now crouched
behind the vehicle. Stroud saw the lettering on the cruiser, which read: <i>Teays Valley/Hurricane Police Department –
We</i> <i>Aim to Serve</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Stroud learned in rapid secession that Detective
John Random had just gone off duty, and his mind had joyfully wandered to his
two little girls, and John Junior, now playing Pop-Warner football. It had been
then that Random had first realized the explosion of violence out his
windshield. One man, a slim, angular Abe Lincoln in torn jeans and a long black
overcoat on a warm night just looked sinister.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Random had caught the devil’s look in the man’s eyes
as the assailant had shoved the second man across Random’s hood when Random had stopped for a red light. A
small, impish man was being pummeled viciously by the tall beardless Lincoln
fellow. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Random had leapt from his car, his gold shield held
out before him like a cross presented to a vampire. Random had left the engine idling, the
headlights working just fine. He believed a good shout and a scare would break
up this nonsense and send the attacker running. Such bold and loud action
typically worked with lowlifes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It turned out it wasn’t to be as simple as that—and
Random, along with Stroud, ciphered this fact the moment they simultaneously saw
the muzzle of a black weapon rise from out of the dark overcoat. Stroud was
sharing the same eyesight, the same touch, the same loss of breath, odors,
sounds, and fear as Random now. Stroud as Random and Random as Stroud thought
the muzzle of the weapon looked like the head of a cobra rising from a basket.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Random had figured the overcoat in the valley in May
was for shoplifting; no doubt about it, but he didn’t figure on a concealed
weapon of this nature, but here it was, before him. He gave a thought to his
wife and children while staring at the damnable ugly end of the
state-of-the-art Uzi. Yes, like the head of a cobra.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> “Now just
keep cool, and all three of us will go home tonight to our loved ones,” Random said
to the gun as much as to the man wielding it, this ‘cocaine cowboy’. Under the headlights, the man’s features
proved dark, pock-marked with two rocks of coal for eyes—eyes set far back
below a shaggy cliff for a brow.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> “Ju
got people, I dunt got nobody,” said the attacker, whose accent marked him as
Hispanic, possibly Cuban or Columbian. Impossible to be sure, as the area was
home to both, despite the majority white population.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Random held up both
hands, and Stroud worried about his hands being so far from his weapon. “No
need for this to go any further, amigo.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> “I
am not your amigo! Do ju know me? No, and I dunt know ju neither, so shut that
shit up, man!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> “You’re
hardly out of your teens, aren’t you?” Random asked. “You finish high school?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> “Shut
up, old man!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Stroud realized that time was not the same in astral
journey as he was on, not while inhabiting another being. This incident may
well have all happened a day ago, a week, a year. There was no telling.
Meanwhile, sequences from Random’s mind to Strouds jumped like bad reception.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Random had just turned thirty-six and thought of
himself as eighteen. The little squirrely guy had wiggled out of the attacker’s
grasp, and groaning in pain, climbed higher on the hood as if trying to get
behind Random for protection.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Random then said, “No
need for any more violence, young fellow. Tell me, what’s your name?” Random
had negotiated many a good outcome as a negotiator with the local PD, and he
was often called into nearby Charleston to help out there.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> “Ju
don’t need my damn name.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> “All
right, Paco. I’ll just call you Paco and you can me John.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> “How
‘bout I call you Random!” the punk replied and opened fire on his victim there
on the hood, the torrent of bullets tearing the victim in two. Bullets went
through the dead man, tearing through the hood and pinging and ricocheting off
the engine block.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Random dropped to the ground the moment Paco opened
fire, but when the shooting stopped, hearing the gun jam, Detective Random rose
to fire on the assailant when his full attention fell on the victim, seeing his
now upper and lower torso disappearing over the front and passenger side of the
hood. Somewhere in back of his mind, the detective wondered how this murdering
SOB knew his name. In that single moment of hesitation, Paco opened fire on
Random as he dove for cover. A round hit Random and Stroud felt the searing
pain as it had torn through him as well.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">John Random and Abe Stroud next heard the maniacal
laughter; together they heard the killer’s footsteps rounding the car to get to
Random where he lay helpless and bleeding from his check and from behind his
right ear where the slug had exited, leaving a hole large enough for an iPhone
to pocket.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Now old-old man, <i>Random</i>, you can go to hell,” Paco said
in a sneering voice.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Random, in great pain, tried to turn over, feeling
his gun below him. If I can turn over like John Wayne in the old movies and
fire,” he was thinking when he heard and felt the second bullet rip through his flesh. Random mercifully
wafted off into a coma. He did so to the sound of Paco’s satanic laughter.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Paco was about to put another bullet into Random’s
head when a close-on siren sounded, followed by a second, along with the sudden
onslaught of strobe lights: two police
cars racing toward the scene from two directions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Stroud, terrified at what might happen should Random
be killed outright with his astral body inside Random, trapped in a death
spiral, had released Random and he now hovered over the scene. He saw Paco race
off, taking his weapon with him, leaving behind his senseless act of seemingly
random violence behind. As he did so, Stroud heard the he ask in Spanish
something of the night sky, “Did I do good? I got Random. Now I want payback.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Paco was not on a cellphone as he spoke. He seemed
to be speaking to some voice inside his head, like a man possessed. The night
sky failed to answer him. From the confusion on his face, Stroud guessed that the
voice or voices inside his head also failed to answer him. In an attempt to
understand the gunman’s motivation, Stroud’s astral self entered the killer as
he had entered John Random, but this time he was fully conscious and making the
decision himself. In Random’s case, some force outside him had sent him here.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> “Ju
wanna take time, eh? Caution. I know, but I put two bullets in the hero.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Paco had re-attached his Uzi to the interior of his
long coat. It anguished him that THEY had gone silent, but perhaps this was
THEIR way once a mission was carried out. Maybe the beings he only knew as Vdocqs
had to hold some sort of ritual or silent vigil when an enemy was killed…maybe,
just maybe, but who knew? Then a creeping little fear for his own life seeped
into his consciousness and Stroud shared his palpable fear. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Paco eyed a man walking a dog coming toward him. <i>Jus’ a man and his dog, nothin’ to trouble
myself over. Didn’t see nothin’. Knows nothin’. Might’ve seen me talkin’ to
myself is all. No matter. Still…being close, the man had to’ve heard shots—
unless deaf. Maybe I need do this guy. Leave nothin’ to chance. No witness to
ID me in a lineup.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">His fingers went for the still hot touch of his
weapon, but before Paco could whip his monster gun out, the dog—a German
shepherd that had morphed into a hound from Hades itself and leaped, knocking
Paco over and thrusting huge fangs into his throat. Stroud rushed from Paco’s
body as the hellhound ripped out Paco’s throat.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Hovering above the bloody scene, Abraham Stroud
recounted in his own mind what had happened. All in an instant, the old man had
released his hold on what appeared a harmless dog, and dragging the leash, the
monstrous hound devoured Paco’s throat. Actually, the single bite threw Paco
into a paroxysm of pain and trauma, and as he bled out, the dog walker stood
over him with the grin of a satanic imp.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Yes, Mister Cruz, you
fulfilled your end of the bargain,” the impish fellow said, and then to the
hellish creature, “Dante, stop it now. Come away. You can’t be lapping up so
much. You know it makes you ill to do so.” Then the imp again addressed the dying
Mr. Cruz. “Now you can become one of us in spirit over flesh.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Back at the scene of the shootings, uniformed police
had fanned out in an effort to locate the shooter. All this while EMS workers
were doing all in their power to save Detective Random. One said to his
partner, “I hear he was supposed to be promoted to captain status next week.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> “Won’t
be at that ceremony,” replied his partner.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> “Think
he has a chance in hell?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> “Hard
to say. Sometimes when they go into coma like this,” the partner began and
shrugged, “it’s like the body’s way of shutting off the trauma. Hard to tell.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> “Coma…such
a weird thing.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> “Likely
the docs would’ve induced a coma if he hadn’t done it himself.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> “What
do you think goes on in a person’s head when he’s…you know…out there in
Coma-land?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> “Anyone’s
guess. Science knows shit about that landscape.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> “Wonder
about that, too,” said the first man.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> “What’s
that?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> “How
it is that some people go into shock and die with such wounds, and others go
into coma and live?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> “Not
everyone who goes into coma lives either, Pat.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> “I
know, Steve…but some do.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> “This
cop-shooting across the country, and now here, in our city’s sucks man.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The man’s partner,
nodding agreed. “It’s gotten like some kind of carnival game for the gangs.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“It is getting old
fast.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Loaded into the
emergency medical van marked Putnam County, on IV, the comatose John Random
found home, his wife, and his children. He had never felt so warmly welcomed,
so at home, and so alive. But it was as though there was something gnawing,
scratching at his door…at his consciousness. Some sort of danger and disharmony
wishing to be visited upon him, upon his family, upon his city, upon his
country, and perhaps upon his world. Yet a powerful opiate-like desire to focus
only on his family now overtook him, banishing the thing at the door of his
home here in the Teays Valley-Hurricane area, a bedroom community for both
Huntington and Charleston, West Virgina; a place that hadn’t seen a murder case
in six years.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">“Where am I?” Stroud
had wondered when he first entered the comatose John Random where he had begun
his journey through Random’s mind. It had been Random, lying on the street,
bleeding and comatose who had astrally entered the shooter’s mind. Stroud had
only entered Random in his hospital bed where he remained in deep coma. All the
time that Dr.Abraham Stroud, </span><span style="line-height: 18.3999996185303px;">archaeologist</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> and vampire slayer, had seen and
felt the entire incident only through contact with the comatose patient’s
memories. Stroud knew it was time for him to pull free of Random—at least for
now. He did so with a swirl of questions left in his own mind.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01250914060366610106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31704540.post-5194245872491435042015-06-13T06:00:00.001-07:002015-06-13T06:00:36.099-07:00Keeping the Book Idea Burning<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Keeping an idea from burning out, keeping the flame ever burning for the duration of the long process from idea to publication is key to developing the novel-length story. An author may well get a glimpse of a passing notion called an idea, but that budding flower dies quite promptly from neglect if not nurtured. Give it your consideration and courtesy and love and see it grow and flourish instead. Yes, what if style ideas come fast and furiously to the creative mind, but we must latch onto the one we can bring to full term, so to speak.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMtpYpkMmcYwsEC30NwPceePRE9-kR9-aq0VoAF1lu9UNOqm-N3s8ots_VyBWbQUg6Cr0naXMuLz3km4bzqEMQfVEGcKzdAXeS6Hnw2ZPd6fdllqoXXWDf2ZgB3Sb8F1f1vSwx/s1600/SubterraneanSw-01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMtpYpkMmcYwsEC30NwPceePRE9-kR9-aq0VoAF1lu9UNOqm-N3s8ots_VyBWbQUg6Cr0naXMuLz3km4bzqEMQfVEGcKzdAXeS6Hnw2ZPd6fdllqoXXWDf2ZgB3Sb8F1f1vSwx/s320/SubterraneanSw-01.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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<br />
How do we manage that? Time, patience, and holding on to the concept--at least long enough to write an opening scene with the idea/concept in mind. We might jot down some notes, but we might also go do some research if the idea calls for it.<br />
<br />
Working on my latest, I had to determine the best most recent treatment for epilepsy because the answers would support my wild-haired idea for a story involving past life regression meets astral traveler. Heady ideas combining. The research supported my idea, fed it in fact.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7Et1HufCLLYeBYVCGxdByVoZWR_VnMshBio_cAOhVkLG-z7OVyUEVIlHMqsBnlaEAHiNnrpCoAFPnXw1hVl2QIITOX07NU5_LgfkXx8bDYR3dHyPufxG9LsBT98YeMf5zmOdK/s1600/Removal-Cover2-01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7Et1HufCLLYeBYVCGxdByVoZWR_VnMshBio_cAOhVkLG-z7OVyUEVIlHMqsBnlaEAHiNnrpCoAFPnXw1hVl2QIITOX07NU5_LgfkXx8bDYR3dHyPufxG9LsBT98YeMf5zmOdK/s320/Removal-Cover2-01.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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I believe in research informing ideas. Through delving deeper into an idea via reading, research, and googling these days, one nurtures the notion(s) as the book concept grows and extends from scent to scene, chapter to chapter.<br />
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Even in my lowliest most <i>schlockiest </i>horror novel (novel in novel idea) such as The Sub-TerraneanS or Bayou Wulf, just as in my more serious historical novels (The Red Path, Annie's War) I do research to inform myself of the various aspects of a concept/idea.<br />
<br />
Out of the IN basket comes a slew of information then which informs me on how to pull the necessary threads of a novel from page one to page last.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQoobfYq5bECRsXieHC28CFIaFVTntt4gzrafeLLaXvkL4JsUUoBjcz4pPPFIeALcJO-JbbVR4JHqcPZFE3rIM6izMqNdEKeP3uyMsElquMb26p8vjYdOIYbdRA3oOHMAQlvMx/s1600/RedPath-01+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQoobfYq5bECRsXieHC28CFIaFVTntt4gzrafeLLaXvkL4JsUUoBjcz4pPPFIeALcJO-JbbVR4JHqcPZFE3rIM6izMqNdEKeP3uyMsElquMb26p8vjYdOIYbdRA3oOHMAQlvMx/s320/RedPath-01+%25282%2529.jpg" width="228" /></a></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01250914060366610106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31704540.post-87078944788317204722015-03-23T10:02:00.001-07:002015-03-23T10:02:44.748-07:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I have LAUNCHED a new collection of Short Fiction - 10 stories designed to snatch the mind of the reader for the duration of the story - each story in rapid succession. These are tales I imagined as an O'Henry strolling through The Twilight Zone. I priced them at 1.99 and placed them on Kindle shelf in a matter of hours once they were vetted and edited and reviewed. My son did the cover as I rely on him for all my Indie titles. He does stunning work at www.Srwalkerdesigns.com his company.<br />
<br />
Here is where the book can be found for purchase -- http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00V2I1QUW/ref=cm_sw_r_fa_dp_0N1dvb0MDGGYS<br />
<br />
As with all my work, I labor greatly to make it REAL even if it is a truly off the wall plot with characters riddled with flaws and oft driven by phobias and addictions, and sometimes physical and emotional problems if not downright psychological issues.<br />
<br />
Here is the lovely cover art: <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmxhgv5dr58shNA0JRgu1wc1XuP9nBbFiCA4ziCDSkKF2z4WGbDCXoA_6p97v77OIR65OS-eWD8LeeqBLcvBrPw8PTrS1U5h2_dztbj462p7pTlrfONzS1Ct99w9xKSQ0lKrBh/s1600/Dark-Light-Cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmxhgv5dr58shNA0JRgu1wc1XuP9nBbFiCA4ziCDSkKF2z4WGbDCXoA_6p97v77OIR65OS-eWD8LeeqBLcvBrPw8PTrS1U5h2_dztbj462p7pTlrfONzS1Ct99w9xKSQ0lKrBh/s1600/Dark-Light-Cover.jpg" height="320" width="235" /></a></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01250914060366610106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31704540.post-81900345743659018712015-03-12T14:22:00.002-07:002015-03-12T14:22:29.682-07:00OFF KILTER Interview!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_CZO0lZLGX8a7Ec5mXsVIsdMojomfk_jfUy39aDR6CTfLs5-D0qPMiWIRsHkq1NZneUjm6lmSa4gAG9az3iIAHzpoCz4_kD0Pg4jkIxW8yaCfk8Vr7fUy3cCgqQukVeQpnjVx/s1600/Zombies2-ACX.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_CZO0lZLGX8a7Ec5mXsVIsdMojomfk_jfUy39aDR6CTfLs5-D0qPMiWIRsHkq1NZneUjm6lmSa4gAG9az3iIAHzpoCz4_kD0Pg4jkIxW8yaCfk8Vr7fUy3cCgqQukVeQpnjVx/s1600/Zombies2-ACX.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: #f6f7f8; color: #141823; display: inline !important; float: none; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 12px/10.72px Helvetica, Arial, "lucida grande", tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: black;">An
Off Kilter Interview of Robert W. Walker</span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">:<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;">Geoffrey
Cain, author of the Bloodscreams Series of horror novels interviews his</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"></span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;">illegitimate
father, Robert W. Walker, author of a few books, too, and some of them </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"></span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;">are good
books.</span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;">Cain:</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">Could you tell the readers a little bit about
yourself?<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;">Walker:
How little? You mean my height, weight, length of index finger, toes?</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">Oh, </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"></span></span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">you mean like biography. We have no time
here for that. Move on.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;">Cain:</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">What do you like to do when you're not
writing?<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;">Walker:</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"> </span></span><span style="color: black; font-size: small;">Write more. Seriously, I go watch Gotham,
Sons of Anarchy, reruns of the </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">Sopranos.
Call it research. Been fascinated with good storytelling wherever I find it all
</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"></span></span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">my life.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;">Cain:</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">What’s your favourite food?<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;">Walker:</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"> </span></span><span style="color: black; font-size: small;">Dog when prepared right.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"> </span></span><span style="color: black; font-size: small;">Just kidding! Stop throwing dog bones at
me.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"></span></span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">Seriously, I truly enjoy lobster,
shrimp, fish…but huge fan of Italian as well…and then </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"></span></span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">there’ BBQ ribs and Alice
Springs Chicken.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;">Cain:</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">Who would be on the soundtrack to your life
story?<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">Walker:
Hmmm…not Blake Shelton or Garth Brooks; more likely Bob Marley or Bon </span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"></span></span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">Jovi.
Sorry…that’s just me. The WHO might fit.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;">Cain:</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">Tell us a dirty little secret?<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;">Walker:</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">That Geoffrey Cain is one of Robert Walker’s
alter egos. HA, REVEALED </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"></span></span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">and unmasked!<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;">Cain:</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">What advice would you give to your younger
self?<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;">Walker:</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">I have no younger self; I am a vampire. Age
has no meaning for me. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"></span></span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">However, I do have one regret turning into an aged
remorse—Wish I’d taken off for </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"></span></span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">Hollywood as a kid.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"> Cain:</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">Characters often find themselves in
situations they aren't sure they can get </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"></span></span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">themselves out of. When was the last
time you found yourself in a situation that was </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"></span></span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">hard to get out of and what did
you do?<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;">Walker:</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">I stewed, and then I stewed, and when it was
almost over, I stewed some </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"></span></span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">more. Let us say it had to do with a horribly toxic
relationship. I extricated myself in </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"></span></span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">the end by moving 1000 miles away and getting
a Chicago lawyer.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;">Cain:</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">Who are some of your favourite authors?<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;">Walker:</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">Too many to enumerate but here goes – Mark Twain,
Shakespeare, Dumas, </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"></span></span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">Dickens, Doyle, Emily Dickenson, Victor Hugo, Mark Twain
again…Kipling, Robert </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"></span></span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">Bloch, Richard Matheson, Rod Serling, Dean Koontz,
Stephen King, Martin Cruz </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"></span></span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">Smith, JA Konrath, David Ellis, David Morrell, John
Hershey, Edgar Allan Poe, </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"></span></span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">Lovecraft, Einstein, and I know I am missing some
like Aldous Huxley and the genius </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"></span></span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">who wrote Lord of the Flies, and author of
All Creatures Great and Small, James </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"></span></span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">Harriot (closest thing to Mark Twain since
Mark Twain). These are writers who can </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"></span></span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">move me to laughter and to tears.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;">Cain:</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">What was the last great book you read, and
what was the last book that </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"></span></span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">disappointed you?<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;">Walker:</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"> </span></span><span style="color: black; font-size: small;">Amazingly enough, just reread the remarkable,
unbelievably wonderfully </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"></span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;">written boy’s life—The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.
Terrific what Twain could </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"></span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;">accomplish and how inspiring to learn from my spiritual
mentor still after all these </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"></span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;">years. Worst – I tried my desperate best to see
what all the fuss was with James </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"></span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;">Patterson and I was appalled</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">instead. Will say no more.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">Cain:
What is your all-time favourite horror novel, and film?<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;">Walker:</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">Novel scariest – The Exorcist which goes way
beyond the film. Film scariest </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"></span></span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">h</span></span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">as to be the original ALIEN.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;">Cain:</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"> </span></span><span style="color: black; font-size: small;">Mr. Walker, you’re working on your 60</span><sup><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">
book. What’s it going to be about?<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;">Walker:</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">It will be #5 in YOUR and MY Bloodscreams
Series, Geoffrey. Me writing </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"></span></span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">as Geoffrey Caine again. Last time was Bayou Wulf,
almost maybe perhaps two years </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"></span></span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">ago. There were the original three published via
St. Martins Press and now on Kindle – </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"></span></span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">Vampire Dreams, Werewolf’s Grief, and
Zombie Eyes, followed by a Kindle Original, </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"></span></span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">Bayou Wulf. The new instalment is
in the works, featuring Dr. Abraham Stroud, </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"></span></span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">archaeologist who digs too deep and
comes up with objects that are supernatural every </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"></span></span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">time. He combats the giant
White Wurm this go round. NYC is having serious break-</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"></span></span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">ins from subterranean house
guests who’re just not wanted except wanted dead.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;">Cain:</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">Hold on—you and me…we’re one and the same?<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;">Walker:</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">Sorry, I am Walker, and you are
pseudo-Walker.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;">Cain:</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">This ends our interview; I am feeling a bit
thin.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;">Walker:</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">Sorry…there’s no delicate way to get out of
these circumstances except to say </span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"></span></span></span> </div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">goodnight old friend.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">Other
pen names Walker has used – Stephen Robertson, Glenn Hale, Evan Kingsbury.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01250914060366610106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31704540.post-37219532417738644312015-03-05T10:59:00.001-08:002015-03-05T10:59:54.329-08:00Occurrance at Owl Creek Bridge<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="344" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6zGFZ1UjSBw" width="459"></iframe>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01250914060366610106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31704540.post-28135605764709520842015-03-04T04:48:00.001-08:002015-03-04T04:48:10.668-08:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The Dirty Deeds continues. There is much to cover in terms of Marketing With Attitude. Have a gander and I hope this helps with your endeavors:<br />
<br />
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Marketing With
Attitude <o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
or<o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
Practical Tips for
Indie Authors<o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
by Robert W. Walker,
author of 56 Kindle titles, 33 audible.com titles<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Trust me, <i>Marketing Responsibly</i>
can be a barrel of fun, if one comes at it with the right attitude. It helps if
you are, or have ever been, a closet Advertising Executive. It helps if you
have a steady stream of creative and inventive ideas streaming through your
skull or if ideas are being channeled through your fevered brain by the
deceased creator of The Pillsbury Dough Boy or the Ajax Dutch girl.<o:p></o:p></div>
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You definitely want to approach selling of your book with a
proper good emotional high that involves convincing yourself that it can be
done, and then going about doing the job.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Indie authors are lucky today as never before. With the ease
of a keystroke nowadays we can access our book on a site like Amazon.com/Kindle
and place our book cover and description onto our Facebook wall or pin it to
Pinterest or add it to our Twitter feed. This is tempting in and of itself, and
historic in and of itself, but don’t do it without <i>flare</i>.<o:p></o:p></div>
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How can one add flare to a post about one’s own book? First
get into character—the one you conjured up to pitch your book; the one who
wrote the book’s dynamic description. Own that character as the way to book
sales. You wrote copy for your book when you did the book description. You put
copy-writer hat on for that. Now it’s sales marketer hat.<o:p></o:p></div>
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It all begins with humor and insider information that only
you have ready access to. Information about your book and a self-deprecating
attitude toward your book. First off, do not be afraid to poke fun at your own
title or your genre. People love an author who can make himself the butt of the
joke.<o:p></o:p></div>
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In addition, everyone loves a clever SEGWAY and a good joke.
Use humor. Especially self-deprecating humor. For example, I might call my Instinct
serial killer series “palatable—raw yet crunchy and binding” followed by a
hehehe or an LOL. Else post a line in the story that might get a laugh, or a
bit of dialogue that might be humorous. I will also make jokes surrounding the
genre. A specific example here: Speaking
of my title <b><i>Werewolf’s Grief</i></b>, I might easily joke thusly: “And you thought only Charlie Brown
experienced GRIEF. It’s not easy being hairy all over.” The fine line between
humor and horror is as thin or as thick as blood. 50 Shades of Blood Read
Orange. You get the picture. Utilize what is current, what is in the hopper.
Read Orange not Red Orange. “Blood Red is the New Black.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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Another approach to getting a look-see at your opening pages
via the peek inside the book on Amazon.com for Indie authors is to work with
your platform or one of the <i>issues</i>
raised in your book. If autism, for example, is a part of the storyline or
child homelessness or the supernatural, or if said issue has a part in the list
of characters, highlight and emphasize the issues close to your heart in your
ads. These issues would not be in your book if not important to you, and if
important to you, then they will be important to others. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Finally, the tried, the true, the clichéd are all wonderful
boons to crafting clever commentary surrounding your gem of a book. A quick run
through of a book of clichés could really help here, but I simply use print
magazines. Pick up lines, I call them. “A book is a terrible thing to
waste…” or “Here is your book, here is
your book on speed!” Open any magazine
and scan the advertisements for any and all products, be it cereal or soap or
electronics. Clever advertisers utilize that which is familiar. Familiar comes
from the collective unconsciousness <i>ala</i>
family. Familiar is warm and cozy.<o:p></o:p></div>
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A familiar line such as “The Sky is Falling” actually fits
in my <b><i>Pure Instinct</i></b> where the sky indeed is predicted to fall and it
does. So I’ve utilized the phrase for that title. You see an ad for Campbell’s
Soup that reads: “It warms you to the bone” but for my suspense novel it reads:
“It WARNS you to the bone.” I often cite the “Surgeon General’s Warning”
against reading my books while anywhere but below covers, and certainly to not
listen to one of my audiobooks while driving.<o:p></o:p></div>
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A familiar turn of phrase or new twist on one is an
immediate attention getter, and that is what all advertising is meant to do –
get attention for your book. So you find
an ad in a magazine for a muscle car that reads – “Finally, a car with real
muscle and torch.” You rewrite it for
your sales ad to: <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“<i>Finally, a book with
muscle, torch, and verve enough for the most jaded</i> <i>reader</i>.” Almost any print ad can be helpful in posting thusly. I suspect
you can find between 5 to 10 ads in a single magazine that you can apply to
your book. With magic marker, mark out the word CAR and replace it with Book or
your title or Novel.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Without a dime out of pocket, these three steps have helped
sell many of my books. Set your timer. Go on social media for a set time, visit
your book on Amazon, keystroke the link for other venues and ADD your AD.
Remember keep a positive and humorous attitude. People respond to confident and
positive and humorous and clever approaches to selling any product. Why not the
same with a book?<o:p></o:p></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01250914060366610106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31704540.post-28756589248558724762014-12-21T09:00:00.000-08:002014-12-21T09:01:44.237-08:00In the event you were looking for more information regarding the latest Dr. Jessica Coran novel, The FEAR Collectors - #13 in my most popular series, The Instinct Series, find it here: https://www.blogger.com/The%20latest%20in%20the%20Instinct%20Series,%20Bk#13 is now available: <a href="http://askdavid.com/reviews/book/suspense-thriller/10110" target="_blank">The Fear Collectors - a Dr. Jessica Coran M.E. mystery (The ...</a> How dark can a killer's mind get?
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpTuBg5rEcgvwTfNyEwywFw9v6j5RyVog2-JD-mu1DtH3Ey4_tXaj-TWwrqRUHc_ATQz2iTa7ST-QEjWvpMdi2nd9D8_UCGK3-5pbQWliMFy5a3B0G5x2sjhteJWa3tosFKGoL/s1600/FearCollect2.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpTuBg5rEcgvwTfNyEwywFw9v6j5RyVog2-JD-mu1DtH3Ey4_tXaj-TWwrqRUHc_ATQz2iTa7ST-QEjWvpMdi2nd9D8_UCGK3-5pbQWliMFy5a3B0G5x2sjhteJWa3tosFKGoL/s320/FearCollect2.jpg" /></a>
<br /></div>
Merry Christmas and Thanks to all my READERS and future READERS!!
Rob Walker
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01250914060366610106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31704540.post-12484781114471722932014-12-21T08:36:00.001-08:002014-12-21T08:41:59.968-08:00Sunday Mornings and TIME...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/The%20latest%20in%20the%20Instinct%20Series,%20Bk#13 is now available: <a href="http://askdavid.com/reviews/book/suspense-thriller/10110" target="_blank">The Fear Collectors - a Dr. Jessica Coran M.E. mystery (The ...</a> How dark can a killer's mind get?">find me all over the place...</a><br />
<br />
Sunday, Sunday... a day to take stock of all that we have accomplished during the previous six days... a day of respite and relaxation but for most writers, also a day of serious reflection.<br />
<br />
An author is nothing if not a clock watcher. How much can get done in fifteen minutes otherwise wasted? Time is a useful tool that a prolific writer puts to work at every turn, which may well annoy hell out of those around him or her, and yet we all know nothing gets completed without our noses to the grindstone, and we only get there, to that grinding when we use our time wisely.<br />
<br />
Setting goals begins with time at the job. Treating one's writing as a job or career puts us in the frame of mind that we need a schedule, and if not a schedule an attitude that prompts up to get things done and use our time well in the process.<br />
<br />
Putting work off and off and off as a procrastinator is only good and worthwhile during the staging or planning or research phase of writing a full-length work of fiction or nonfiction for that matter. Pages only accrue if we put in the time.<br />
<br />
People call time a man-made artifice and as true as that may be, we still have to use it and not let it use us entirely; that is allow time to wash over us as if we have NO control over it. In order to get a novel thought out, organized, written, edited, rewritten to completion, we must rope time and ride it like a bucking bronco--that is, if we really and truly want to have a finished product at the end of our labors.<br />
<br />
While writing may be a labor of love, it is also the product of a great deal of blood, sweat, tears, and TIME put in. Without being conscious of time and ignoring it as a useful TOOL for the author, said writer will accomplish less, lesser, less still.<br />
<br />
Time is a precious commodity; give over to it those things you prize. If you truly prize writing, you will create a time and place for it to happen. And yes, a writing space/place is just as important - a setting where one can utilize writing time without the many distractions that are pulling at us all the TIME. Distractions that rob us of our time at the keyboard.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiipzUnAwMdQzX6m6doiJK1PB0gFkJlNb-Azl9q_2k1RHZfWNaU00FpZH9jhov9Xw69-B4msCMKCR_gA3iDXoffx5hgkFkjz6htJvurfeohyfakSctO2CeWe7DaXmB_nV-opNZ/s1600/FearCollect2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiipzUnAwMdQzX6m6doiJK1PB0gFkJlNb-Azl9q_2k1RHZfWNaU00FpZH9jhov9Xw69-B4msCMKCR_gA3iDXoffx5hgkFkjz6htJvurfeohyfakSctO2CeWe7DaXmB_nV-opNZ/s1600/FearCollect2.jpg" height="320" width="200" /></a></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01250914060366610106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31704540.post-52850667602224021302014-12-17T09:30:00.001-08:002014-12-17T09:30:53.139-08:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01250914060366610106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31704540.post-19068694616403996792014-12-17T09:29:00.000-08:002014-12-17T09:38:58.818-08:00Dirty Deed Done of Late...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This year I have been extremely busy, and as a result have had to put aside blogging for awhile...a long while. I have done two new Instinct Series titles, #12 & #13. The Edge of Instinct was completed last January or so and placed up for Kindle publication. It is a combination book, that is it combines the Edge Series characters with the ensemble from the Instinct Series. The Edge of Instinct has a lovely, distinctive cover by the way, done by <a href="http://www.srwalkerdesigns.com/">www.srwalkerdesigns.com</a> and looks like this:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVxwXD4DgtGbLRQYiPcixX6BrmI42tqPeQAsPCc8skjtgWaRoxFvGZAjQpHB55DeiITTVM72VnEFBqVAhzwKi2Mui5jL1o0dzMyIL-Qipk8g50-ygPLv9afmRMVcExdYo877G2/s1600/EdgeIntinctCoverACX.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVxwXD4DgtGbLRQYiPcixX6BrmI42tqPeQAsPCc8skjtgWaRoxFvGZAjQpHB55DeiITTVM72VnEFBqVAhzwKi2Mui5jL1o0dzMyIL-Qipk8g50-ygPLv9afmRMVcExdYo877G2/s1600/EdgeIntinctCoverACX.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
The novel is also an audible.com title as well, along with many other Instinct and Edge Series titles. I have placed up 37 audible.com titles this past year and a half. <br />
<br />
The other Instinct title is The FEAR Collectors - #13 in the Instinct Series, and it takes a whole new twist. These last two titles come after Jessica Coran has retired from the FBI, but she is continuing as a 'gun for hire' as a consulting profiler and medical examiner. She's as tough and as strong as ever. Here is the cover art for The Fear Collectors also done by my favorite cover artist listed above:<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZdt5H_wm47bTYrFiJGW6IRsf09o3Mi8N_f1BXTB2ou4yB0BbN4bnuJ6t033MqcQoeShPFADqVoGx9YaysGk20E3EM4PGXFceHdj-roAJ0p-y83Crsl4hLKqte0V0HNQhBfcBl/s1600/FearCollectors2-01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZdt5H_wm47bTYrFiJGW6IRsf09o3Mi8N_f1BXTB2ou4yB0BbN4bnuJ6t033MqcQoeShPFADqVoGx9YaysGk20E3EM4PGXFceHdj-roAJ0p-y83Crsl4hLKqte0V0HNQhBfcBl/s1600/FearCollectors2-01.jpg" height="320" width="211" /></a></div>
This title is a Kindle ebook only. I will eventually get it into audible.com and like oher of my works, hopefully get it into paper via Createspace.com The Fear Collectors puts a whole new twist on Dr. Jessica Coran, showing that she can still GROW and Flourish...but it comes at terrible price.<br />
<br />
In addition to the two above titles completed over the past year, I also dredged up an older manuscript that I feel is an important story that does for the American Indians what Glory did for the Black soldiers of the American Civil War. THE RED PATH - Indian Brigades in the Civil War is what I am referring to. I have a hugely soft spot in my heart for this title. I cannot count the number of times I have written and rewritten this book, first attempts being a nonfiction title. Finally, I went back to what I know and turned it into a historically accurate account intertwined with an imagined romance. Here is the cover art here, also done by <a href="http://www.srwalkerdesigns.com/">www.srwalkerdesigns.com</a> :<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU9-8TTkrwr5yz2AceWG3EE7iBi2kSLUAk86W_n3En83V9yS3DuFg5PSqDpplLO6_vO49Z6ZmdDWFHRs-9B3t3HeTRoW5URKlZCyEbOnQEHPjbPM2HBaD2oNIkvFPe9p8ptlWR/s1600/REDPath.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU9-8TTkrwr5yz2AceWG3EE7iBi2kSLUAk86W_n3En83V9yS3DuFg5PSqDpplLO6_vO49Z6ZmdDWFHRs-9B3t3HeTRoW5URKlZCyEbOnQEHPjbPM2HBaD2oNIkvFPe9p8ptlWR/s1600/REDPath.jpg" height="320" width="228" /></a></div>
This title is only available for now as a Kindle eBook (and via Kindle app. of course). It tells the true story of the Indian Brigades who fought on the side of the North and the South. Per capita the "state" of Indian Territory lost more men in the war than any other state in the Union or the Confederacy. Per capita, that is. Many lives lost when brothers of the same campfire came to blows in the White Man's War. I mix in a romance to keep the pot boiler boiling.<br />
<br />
In addition over the past 14 months, I also rewrote two other early novels for the Young Adult market. One was strictly a boy's book on how George Washington's first artillery 'fell' into his hands. A fascinating historically accurate account mixed with a coming of age imaginary tale of Ben Cross & The Guns of Ticonderoga. Cover art below done by same graphic artist company:<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiJK10eHjkzU5WevAuscg2r3MBs2dYVNovnjsjQoCf0blGwJ5TX713v7VJvw7sS2As6ItNkE4Rc8Se52saL_OFjHSoPcFyJprN0sm5V4WlXtyWK1W2V5Eu3z4Fm8kSsVLeqvy2/s1600/CanyoneersACX-01+(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiJK10eHjkzU5WevAuscg2r3MBs2dYVNovnjsjQoCf0blGwJ5TX713v7VJvw7sS2As6ItNkE4Rc8Se52saL_OFjHSoPcFyJprN0sm5V4WlXtyWK1W2V5Eu3z4Fm8kSsVLeqvy2/s1600/CanyoneersACX-01+(2).jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
This title is a kindle eBook but also a wonderfully narrated audible.com title. I love what the narrator did with this novel. Stirringly read!<br />
<br />
Finally, in this same 14 month time-period, I just completed a 3rd novel lifted from my old trunk. This one a Young Adult historical romance set during the time of the Black Hawk War in the Fox River Valley, Illinois entitled ANIMIKI & The Keepers of the Fire. It has been such a pleasure doing these YA titles, and they really can be appreciated by any age group. Here is Stephen R. Walker's cover art again (my son, the genius):<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPjSHpQ4UOIUtNi7W5jktiF2Nqu2s5ict8CaRrxJ-jqC6rGxExqFRis8Hg1k47Jvq1VMHOW07MmORVlf0un_iKsqYyiXVq-MZVsb2zZVDfwBBiAB2GvyUUFfu4mr5Ljw_cZvxu/s1600/Animiki-XJpeg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPjSHpQ4UOIUtNi7W5jktiF2Nqu2s5ict8CaRrxJ-jqC6rGxExqFRis8Hg1k47Jvq1VMHOW07MmORVlf0un_iKsqYyiXVq-MZVsb2zZVDfwBBiAB2GvyUUFfu4mr5Ljw_cZvxu/s1600/Animiki-XJpeg.jpg" height="320" width="250" /></a></div>
<br />
This title is at this time a Kindle eBook only. Eventually hope to get it in audible.com with the same narrator who did such a tremendous job on The Canoneers. This tells a love story--an Indian love story that moves our hero to great lengths but it is a young adult historical romance and a coming of age story that can be appreciated by anyone of any age.<br />
<br />
So as I said, I have been extremely BUSY of late. I am hoping to revive the Dirty Deeds blog here.<br />
<br />
Thanks for reading this far!<br />
<br />
Rob Walker</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01250914060366610106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31704540.post-41402786909411534682014-03-24T18:05:00.001-07:002014-03-24T18:05:53.231-07:00Pure Instinct by Robert W. Walker - Narrated by Ted Brooks<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/h68tkPh7htQ" width="480"></iframe>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01250914060366610106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31704540.post-2215118869888468952014-03-24T13:58:00.002-07:002014-03-24T13:58:50.310-07:00A Writx Process Blog: Does My Writing Process Make Sense?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="background-color: #f7f7f7; color: #3e454c; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 8.045714378356934px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><br />
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<st1:personname w:st="on">Roxe Anne Peacock invited me to do a Writing Process Blog, so here I am doing it. Roxe</st1:personname> is the author of <i>Leave No Trace</i>, <i>Fatal Catch</i> and <i>The History Lover’s Cookbook</i>. Her decade-long participation in Civil War reenactments and an avid interest in history inspired the above-mentioned cookbook. View her blog at</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.799999237060547px;">
at <a href="http://www.civilwarcooking.blogspot.com/" style="color: #999999; text-decoration: none;">http://www.civilwarcooking.blogspot.com/</a></div>
<br />
Blogging it forward, I will invite 3 other authors on to answer questions about their process in writing the dirty deeds they commit to paper. I will ask the same four questions of myself here of them:<br />
<br />
<b>What are you currently working on?</b><br />
<br />
I have been working slowly on a new crime novel entitled The Fear Collector, but progress has been slowed by life problems for one, but also due the fact I am engaged currently in putting up my previous 55 titles now on Kindle onto audio book format via acx.com and consequently Audible.com and iTunes for sale. I currently have completed nearly 20 titles ready and selling, but am in various stages of producing 27 other titles. This means I am a busy fellow along with teaching four classes....sigh. Thusly, my work in progress has had to take a back burner. Still it is halfway completed.<br />
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<span style="text-align: left;"><b>Why do I choose to write the kind of novels and short stories I do?</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSv7XndXVNSfBBSTpOwkEBeR7cM2Sn7lcOjsE_O4aFEzXvzpEvhyphenhyphenzqlZsARMP4kxuU3IPeGFP7mpsDC2-4u7JZmgepV6i0GVkqahzHJCXxBKKfWkTQHMOCv3kmJjbDbecI-eKQ/s1600/BayouWulf.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSv7XndXVNSfBBSTpOwkEBeR7cM2Sn7lcOjsE_O4aFEzXvzpEvhyphenhyphenzqlZsARMP4kxuU3IPeGFP7mpsDC2-4u7JZmgepV6i0GVkqahzHJCXxBKKfWkTQHMOCv3kmJjbDbecI-eKQ/s1600/BayouWulf.jpg" height="320" width="222" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
I have a warped, sick sense of things such as life and death, I suppose. While I write in a variety of genres from strictly horror with monsters abounding, I also write psychological suspense thrilers, forensics files, young adult, alternate history, history-horror, and paranormal detectives. I do add touches of science fiction and romance into some titles, and some I call Hystery Mystery. As a child, I was reared on One Step Beyond and such as The Twilight Zone. Look at it this way, heroes are Rod Serling and Mark Twain, so I blend dark humor in with the frights and high praise for me is when a reader tells me she literally threw my book across the room, hit the cat, cat leaped and landed on sleeping hubby, woke him...then she with flash light in hand goes to retrieve the offending book to finish it off.<br />
<br />
<b>How are your books different from others in your category?</b><br />
<br />
My novels are shockers no matter the genre I am writing in, and as I have said above, I delve into many categories of fiction. I have seen other authors triangulate a few of the five senses in a scene, which is good, but I go for all five whenever, wherever possible, and when I cannot legitimately scare a reader with psychological frights, I will go for the jugular every time. Mine are filled with action, a sizable seismograph and no straight line story is going to come out of me. Twists and turns are my watchword along with making the reader the main character. By that, I mean for the duration of the novel, I want to hold the reader complete enthralled. To that end, I pull out all the stops to the locomotive of the forward moving dynamo of the plot built around memorable characters.<br />
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<br />
<b>How Precisely do you worm a book out of your head?</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
One scene at a time. Start with a character's hands busily at something...you are already in action and in the middle of things. Build this scene out of which the next will flow. Trust your story and your establishing opening shots. If they are good and true, a second scene will organically suggest itself to you from your own reading of scene one. When young, my approach was to get the book entirely out of my head, finished, kaput so that I would have a product on paper to then go in and WRITE for real - rewrite, painstakingly so. My process has however evolved so to speak, as now I do a couple few chapters, go back, reread up till what I have completed, and then carry on to the next few scenes, then go back, re-read and re-edit again as I go, rearranging as I go in much more an ocean wave, parabola fashion. Comes with experience, I suspect<br />
<br />
For more detail on all my process and method and tools, get hold of my How-To for the Dysfunctional Writer in Us All entitled DEAD ON WRITING, an ebook soon to be an audio book.<br />
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<br />
I am going to attempt to get 3 additional guests authors to speak to these same concerns/questions. I will attempt to get as my guests Les Robert, John Everson, and a surprise guest #3 - if I can get him....Ed Gorman, and if not Harry Shannon.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01250914060366610106noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31704540.post-91730527203098094122014-03-19T13:37:00.002-07:002014-03-19T13:37:26.013-07:00NIKOLAS BARON - Guest Blooger @Dirty Deeds / To Make Editing a BREEZE<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
GUEST BLOGGER - NICK BARON with a great article on easing the pain of EDITING and PROOFREADING -- I love what Nick has to say here. Enjoy and do SHARE!<br />
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<b><u>Why Writing More Pages Makes Editing Easier<o:p></o:p></u></b></div>
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<o:p> by Nikolas Baron</o:p></div>
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<b>More Available Real Estate<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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When it comes to editing a large manuscript, anything that makes the
process easier is welcome. There are many pages to get through, tons of ideas,
themes, and characters, as well as different ways of tying it all together. But
if you start with less words or pages, you could be making the editing process
much more difficult on yourself.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Having
more pages or words available for editing makes it easier to identify which
pieces need to go and which need to stay. It may crush you to cut twenty pages
of dialogue, but you know that what’s left is moving the story forward and
essential. There’s more available real estate to see what you were thinking as
you were writing the story and how you constructed it. If you have less
material, there’s less information to build changes off of. Even more
drastically, if you end up cutting more than you expected, you will end up
having to rebuild much of the story.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I like to dump all of my thoughts down on paper and edit as I go. I
detest squiggly red and green lines, messed up grammar and punctuation, and
confusing wording. I have to change it immediately or I feel like I can’t press
on. However, this leaves me with tons of material since I’m constantly adding
to my manuscript. I want to fix as I go, but I end up gathering up changes that
have created more words. This actually helps my editing process because I can
look back and see that the changes I made were either useful or steered me off
course. I have more flowers to pick from in my field of papers. This is a great
problem to have when it comes to editing.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>More Jumping Off Points for Ideas<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Sometimes
I have to resist the urge to cut material while I write. This comes in handy
when I’m editing. While I’m writing and in the zone, sometimes I forget that
later on, I may change my mind. I realize the ending I wrote doesn’t work or
the characters would never say the dialogue on the page and now have to come up
with new material. The fact that I didn’t cut out material before gives me more
ideas to use for my changes. I could have deleted all that work but now I have
a vantage point to start from.<o:p></o:p></div>
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If
I end up having a bunch of material that seems to clash, I keep it because I
may need new ideas or similar ideas later. I may end up cutting half of the
material that doesn’t work and only keeping what does. When you go back to
grammar check and <span lang="UK"><a href="http://www.grammarly.com/proofreading/"><span class="-"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1155cc; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">proofread</span></span></a></span> your work and realize that you have more
available material of substance, you have a better chance of starting fresh
with new ideas, or being able to reach into your inventory of material from
before.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>It’s Always Easier to Subtract than Add<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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One
of my writing professors in college consistently told me that “it’s always
easier to subtract than add.” When you have a finished book, a collection of
ideas, it’s hard to go backwards to what you were thinking at the moment when
you wrote a particular section. It can be done, of course, but it can also be a
huge struggle. Taking away material that doesn’t add to the robustness of your
storyline is easy. Bringing in new ideas that meld with your ideas that are
already on the page and developing them is a ton of work. It’s like baking a
cake. When you add way too much frosting, you can scrape some off and have a
great cake. But when you add frosting and it’s the wrong color, you have to
scrape it all off and start over with a misshapen cake.<o:p></o:p></div>
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When
I’m proofreading my own work, I like to use online resources to help me find
errors I might have missed or suggest more appropriate words that fit my style.
Grammarly is a resource I really love because it learns my style the more I use
it, provides a thorough grammar check, and gives me the tools to learn more
about writing. It also helps me see where I can scrape off more frosting that I
don’t need.<o:p></o:p></div>
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When
it comes to writing, sometimes you have to resist the urge to edit while you
write to make the proofreading process easier on yourself. Remember, it’s
always easier to subtract than it is to add.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<i>By Nikolas Baron<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i>------------------------------------------------------//-------------------------------------------------------------<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i>Replace “Nikolas Baron” with the following HTML:<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i><ahref https:="" plus.google.com="" rel="author" u="">Nikolas
Baron</ahref></i></div>
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<i>Bio:<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i>Nikolas discovered his love for the written word in Elementary School,
where he started spending his afternoons sprawled across the living room floor
devouring one Marc Brown children’s novel after the other and writing short
stories about daring pirate adventures. After acquiring some experience in
various marketing, business development, and hiring roles at internet startups
in a few different countries, he decided to re-unite his professional life with
his childhood passions by joining Grammarly’s marketing team in San Francisco.
He has the pleasure of being tasked with talking to writers, bloggers,
teachers, and others about how they use Grammarly’s online proofreading
application to improve their writing. His free time is spent biking, traveling,
and reading.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01250914060366610106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31704540.post-22721685593189768472013-03-25T13:19:00.001-07:002013-03-25T13:19:16.083-07:00Rob Walker's Amazing Class for Writers<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Take my class - in six weeks you will learm more about writing and have more insight into your own writting than any handful of classses in creative writing you have ever taken. I take 30 of your pages and turn them into a workshop as together we autopsy your style and if you can take it, we find out what might well be keeping you from commercial success but in plenty of rejection slips. Six weeks of access via email with yours truly. Only complaint I ever got was to be called a Butcher, a compliment really to a developmental editor. Payment is a mere $90 and it could change your life as it has many previous students.<br />
<br />
If interessted, contact me at inkwalk at SBC global dot net.<br />
<br />
Now go read some of my articles below.<br />
<br />
Rob Walker<br />
<a href="http://www.robertwalkerbooks.com/">www.robertwalkerbooks.com</a><br />
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01250914060366610106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31704540.post-84099099454471664342013-01-19T08:26:00.002-08:002013-01-19T08:26:50.811-08:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
REGARDING Reviews on Amazon.... been a long, long-standing argument as to how
important they are...how much people do or do not pay attention to them. The
often vile, personal attacks by noids and jealous people who are frustrated,
cannot themselves get published legitimately or any other way, have not figured
out how to write themselves, etc is RAMPANT on there, and few have been as
attacked by ridiculous one-star enthusiasts as I have. <br />
<br />
The EXACT SAME book side
by side with the vile personal attack on the author goes hand in hand with
thoughtful 3, 4, and 5 star reviews. Often a RAVE review from a reader then is
summed up as the author's buddy or mother. Frankly, my mother has an opinion of
my work. She thinks it is terrifying and filled with way too many curse wrods
and OMGs and Jesuses, etc. She will hammer me on taking the Lord's name in vain.<br />
<br />
That aside, reviews are only helpful in how they can be culled and stripped for
use as a marketing tool, so anytime anyone anywhere - not necessarily on Amazon
- has a kind word to say about your book or your skill in writing then it is
encumbent upon you to SPREAD that word wherever. whenever you can. I quote my
readers who comment on my books on facebook and twitter as well as tossing up
reviews from Amazon onto my facebook page, and I do drive twitter and facebook
friends to where they can find reviews on amazon but also on any blogs,
etc.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-hyzJ1xJfjhuNuyJ4CMmS8YYT5ak4HxPXbVpk1RJ-6J1HF9TXchgDir5OoG6QOqsg6hoq-NVYNeXa79uBV-0yMsoqLm-ASItx6u5QZLmIumUMu7qPueEFyh-hpGKCKmBdrhk9/s1600/BISMARCKCover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-hyzJ1xJfjhuNuyJ4CMmS8YYT5ak4HxPXbVpk1RJ-6J1HF9TXchgDir5OoG6QOqsg6hoq-NVYNeXa79uBV-0yMsoqLm-ASItx6u5QZLmIumUMu7qPueEFyh-hpGKCKmBdrhk9/s320/BISMARCKCover.jpg" width="238" /></a></div>
<br /><br />A review, even a 3-star, can be very helpful and enticing. I often
use the TITLE of the REVIEW and url to garner interest because many Amazon
reviewers have quite imaginative and descriptive and complimentary TITLES. Of
course the one-star titles will be awful, but I have even done this with
one-star reviews just to LAUGH in the face of them, but HIGHLIGTING them and
showing them up for the stupidity that 99 percent of them are. Yes LAUGH at it.
For instance, the idiot who judged my entire 140,000 double-novel TITANIC 2012
purely on the basis of the cover art. The reading of the book will have
explained in no uncertain ABYSS dive style that we do have the technology in the
book to make a DIVE INTO a shipwreck 3000 miles below the surface POSSIBLE. The
book explains it; the cover depicts it. The SAME for BISMARCK 2013 also some 3000 miles below the surface.<br /><br />Never judge a book by its cover
UNLESS it makes you BUY mine! LOL. For that reason, make your covers sparkle and jump off the
page.<br /><br />Anyhow back to reviews. You might want to do this which is how I
got a lot of reviews. I posted on my FB Wall that I would GIFT a copy of the
book to anyone willing to read and review it on Amazon. No strings attached save
that one provios. Free book, free review to me.<br /><br />Not everyone who takes
you up on the offer comes through for you; some will disappoint you, but some
will come through for you and it is worth it. Worth your paying for the book to
get that review. Is it underhanded? Hell no. Every publiher sends out FREE
REVIEW COPIES by the hundreds, and they get back a very small percentage of
return on that investment but if those few revews are good to great, then you
can use them forever. Clive Cussler called my first Instinct title, Killer
Instinct "MASTERFUL" and my then publisher in NYC used that single word culled
from his remark that I did female characters far better than he could ever hope
to for years afterward on all my 11 Instinct titles thereafter. <br />
<br />
Do feel free to leave a comment; let me know you've been by....<br /><br />So GET
reviewed by going AFTER reviews.<br /><br />Rob Walker<br />www.robertwalkerbooks.com</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01250914060366610106noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31704540.post-28252027538566185932012-11-23T13:58:00.000-08:002012-11-23T13:58:08.868-08:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
WHO'S IN CHARGE - THE AUTHOR FOR FIRST TIME IN HISTORY, THANK YOU!<br />
<br />
<br />
You want to know what I think is sad in all this new finagled (newfangled?) publishing paradigm? What is sad is that over the MANY years before Kindle was born and longer still before Amazon showed up on the scene, publishers - big publishers - and distributors - big time distributors were eating up all the smaller fish in the pond. Gobble gobble toil and trouble. It comes as no surprise to anyone who had been in the publishing Casino (it is more a horse race or roulette wheel than a business in my estimation)...anyhow anyone in the casino for my time in knows that now that it has come first down to the big SIX publishers left and maybe fewer big Distributors of the units you and I call books, we will not be surprised to learn it went down recently to the Big FIVE... and rumors on the horizon calling it soon the BIG THREE.<br />
<br />
Imagine that, every publishing company in the US controlled by three corporations. So much for mom and pop publishers? Certainly, any that had any large following such as Algonquin Press is now under the umbrella of a major corp. Ten Speed Press. You name it. And while there remain small presses out there, many with extremely high standards from Krill Press and Echelon to Five Star and more, the shrinkage in publishing outlets has been a horror show to watch.<br />
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What has it done for authors? It has put us all on alert and many of us who are too smart to wait around for a year or more to sell a book, then a year or two to see it actually published, all the while making NOTHING in the way of green, no way to pay the bills in such a system... well the smart <br />
ones among us, we have GONE fishing....NO not fishing, we have GONE Indie Authorship; we have become our own bosses, we have become intrepid entrepreneurs thanks to Amazon.com/kindle ala <a href="http://www.kdp.amazon.com/">www.kdp.amazon.com</a><br />
<br />
At this site anyone can publish at no cost and you go into an immediate mode of publishing partnership with Amazon. This means as Barry Eisler encouraged all of us BEFORE kindle to do -- take charge of our own Writing Business. That means we become public relations and marketing, we become the guys who give thumbs up or down on cover art, and we write our own book description, and we become our own bandwagon and sales force.<br />
<br />
I know that sounds tough and it sounds like you are giving up much too much in the way of BIG MAJOR Publisher coddling you and sending you on jet planes across America and putting you name up in lights and on marquees (bookstores ought to have marquees over the top!). But guess what, by the time you become the next Janet Evanovich or Stephen King or even Stephen Hawking, you will have cobwebs growing out your ears. While in the meantime, you can publish that book and begin sales in an hour or two.<br />
<br />
Way back in 2005, Award-winning author Barry Eisler, author of the famous Rain books as in Killing Rain, wrote in MJ Rose's blog (another major author) that writers need to quit bellyaching about their poor sales and poor relations with their publishers and take control instead. Treat their quite artistic productions as business people by putting on the entrepreneur's hat. Seven YEARS ago a lot of us were saying you have to treat your work as best you can as a business venture, and Barry laid out a long list of process and method to get you there. It was reprinted in the infamous newsletter put out by the MWA - mystery writers of America - The Third Degree. The point of my blog -- by going Indie Author ala Kindle or any other ebook process, we smart guys who beat our heads against the NYC curtains and walls of NYC publishing have freed ourselves of untold burdens that frankly no one ever wanted to hear us complain about, so I won't complain about them here. What I will say is the discovery of one's courage in taking the leap of faith, and the discovery of a new found freedom among the new fandango of a new publishing reality has been WONDERFUL and PROFITABLE.<br />
<br />
Rob<br />
<a href="http://www.robertwalkerbooks.com/">www.robertwalkerbooks.com</a><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01250914060366610106noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31704540.post-8287900885735895992012-11-19T21:29:00.001-08:002012-11-19T21:29:28.535-08:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I have gotten away from blogging for some time....Had been terribly busy with all manner of other things too mediocre to list here. Suffice it to say, am getting steam up to reestablish DIRTY DEEDS here. I hope to at least blog once a week and have some guests bloggers as well.<br />
<br />
So watch for it! I will post when and where I can as new blogs go up. Most will hopefully be of use to readers and writers alike as well as all book folks.<br />
<br />
Rob</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01250914060366610106noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31704540.post-28607546466589468012012-05-16T08:05:00.001-07:002012-05-16T08:05:55.923-07:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Recently was asked a question via my website at <a href="http://www.robertwalkerbooks.com/">www.robertwalkerbooks.com</a> and it went a bit like this: "Knowing you are quite the experienced author and enjoying the hell out of your City for Ransom series, I have to ask: How do you deal with rewrites from agents, editors, and publishers? I work a full-time job and find it extremely frustrating after having once told the story and pounding out hundreds of thousands of words only to be told it needs a complete rewrite.' -- thanks, Jackie Chan<br />
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OK...I changed the name to Jackie Chan. But the question remains and here is my reply to Jackie: <br />
<br />
Hello -- your question is one that will rarely be answer
the same way twice, but for me REWRITING is where I make so many "aha" discoveries that
really and finally improve and characterize the book to make it as unique as it can
be. I worked briefly with your agen Xavier Holecraft (not her real name), so I know how frustrating it can get; I
pulled out when after a year or so she was unable to place anything I sent her,
and yeah, she wanted a lot of rewrites. I don't hesitate to rewrite but after so
many hurdles one gets well...frustrated.<br />
<br />
I finally got those Ransom books sold after they were turned down by EVERY
publisher known to another agent who represented them. We'll call him Calvin Jeans, a fellow I fired TWICE. Agents frustrate me as
much as do publishers. If working with a traditional publisher, I prefer doing a partnership/rewrite with an actual
EDITOR in house. If I am workking with a publisher.<br />
<br />
I say if because for my last book done with a publisher we'll call Zenith Press (made up name) while they were
happy with the sales and pocketed what they considered enough to make them
happy, I earned very little, a pittance. After that, I took the same book and
priced it at 2.99 as an ebook and have made some serious money, thank you! This after getting all my out of prints "in
print" as ebooks. Some forty titles that I feel publishers looked on as midlist
and with no or little enthusiasm. The Ransom titles are as good as I get, and yet
they did not earn out; I say it is due to the piss poor way they were handled
and given short shrift by the publisher as my editor was gung-ho over them while the pblisihing house simply did not know what they had in hand. (Your letter was prompted by your reading of these books and how you loved them.)<br />
<br />
My last six or so titles have been Original to Kindle ONLY titles. I have
extended 'dead' series as a result, placed Ransom on board Titanic 2012 - Curse of
RMS Titanic, did my Bismarck 2013 - Hitler's Curse without anyone telling me no one would want to read an alternate history of the greatest battleship in history. I also publsihed what amounts to my life's work, a novel turned down by EVERY
publisher and agent, inlcuding Chan and Calvin -- Children of Salem.<br />
<br />
My first agent, who has since passed away, said of my Salem Witchcraft title 30 years ago, "I
love it, Rob. There are scenes I cannot get out of my mind, but in this market,
I can't sell it." I got the same sort of response from every place I sent it--and it went everywhere. As an ebook, it is doing very well and has found an
audience.<br />
<br />
So....as far as rewrites, imagine how many times I had to rewrite Children of
Salem -- off and on between doing 8 series characters over 30 years! So I may not be the best person to ask regarding "Are rewrites necessary" as in my 'book' they are absolutely necessary, and so far as I am concerened, editors are a fantastic help (not so sure the 'editing agent' is anywhere near as helpful--least not in my experience).<br />
<br />
<br />
Man....so in the end, yes, REWRITNG is WRITING so far as I know. Frustrations abound in dealing with agents, editors, and publishers but the real hurdle to a reader's GETTING you, following you, understanding you is YOU. Don't get in the way of a good edit. Once you get editorial corrections take them like ducks in a shooting gallery and deal with each in turn. Some will be minor, grammatical, logic issues, while others may require a rethink of format, plot, characterization. Take them each in stride and realize the best for the book is not always one's own myopic view.<br />
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Good luck and happy REWRITING.<br />
Rob <br />
<a href="http://www.robertwalkerbooks.com/">www.robertwalkerbooks.com</a><br />
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</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01250914060366610106noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31704540.post-9392289228147918242011-06-02T20:49:00.000-07:002011-06-02T20:49:26.157-07:00Life doth slow a writer down...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Life oft times gets in our way, we sorry bunch of storytellers. There are newborns you have to go see, family reunions, picknics, parades, funerals, hospital visits as well as holidays. We are expected on holidays.<br />
<br />
As writers who cherish every moment of time we have to write, we find the less time we have to write, we get more written. That sound like a paradox to you? But think of it, too much time on our hands and what do we do with it but fritter it away? Less time we have, generally speaking, the better we schedule and stick to said schedule. Scheduling time to write is really key to getting pages stacked up and eventually fit for editing and rewriting.<br />
<br />
Lately, I have had so many distractions and problems thrown at me by life that a series of monkey wrenches are making it impossible to schedule time, so now I have to grab time wherever and whenever I can.<br />
<br />
I embarked on the writing of Bismarck 2013 - tentative title. I have a whopping seventeen single-spaced pages completed, some four or five scenes. I am feeling pretty good about the quality (as I edit in the process of re-reading up to where I left off, then go forward), but not too thrilled with the quantity at this juncture.<br />
<br />
While outside forces beyond my control have reduced the time I have had to work on the book, another outside force is working from within--the simple knowledge that I know I don't know enough...that I need to do far more research, and that I need to buckle down for that, despite the fact I want to jump into the writing. This has always been a problem with me--more anxious to do the story than the research behind the story.<br />
<br />
Don't get me wrong. I love reading and researching my topics but the story is bursting to get out of me and onto the now proverbial page which is now a screen and not a page. The story wants be told, and the story does in fact dictate far more so than research, and that is as it should be. No matter what the backdrop for the human drama is, it needs remain as backdrop and not take over or overtake the story itself. If that happens, you need to be writing for Encylopedia Britanica, non-fiction and not fiction. Dramatic writing dictates the story comes first. Good example is the now 75 year-old classic Gone with the Wind. It is not about the Civil War. It is about Scarlet O'Hara as another Perils of Pauline tale; the burning of Atlanta and the War Between the States just happens around her.<br />
<br />
So these are the issues revolving around the opening scenes of Bismarck for me right now. I will see to it these issues and this all important balance gets worked out. In the meantime, the pages I placed up earlier as openers have entirely been overhauled. Rest assured some pages are getting done despite the hassles of life's intrusions--some of which must take precedence over pushing the new novel along. <br />
<br />
I blogged at <a href="http://www.acmeauthorslink.blogspot.com/">http://www.acmeauthorslink.blogspot.com/</a> for my weekly article there on the Creative Process and how very Mystical and Magical it truly is and how it all comes down to we authors having OCD--obsessive compulsive disorder. I think that is part of the tussle to want to get underway with the story despite a feeling of needing to do more research at the same time. Two sides of the brain at war but then a story is a war and an author is its combatant. After all, with my Titanic 2012 and now Bismarck 2013, I am embarking on a new subcategory of suspsense--seafaring suspense.<br />
<br />
Rob Walker<br />
Titanic 2012, Children of Salem, and more...</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01250914060366610106noreply@blogger.com1