Happy Halloween 2013

Once again the time has come for my all time favorite holiday. I simply love Halloween. Perhaps the reasons for  me are definitely different than for others as I appreciate the historical aspects of the holiday. You see, for me, trick or treating and playing dress up for no particular reason are a bit tawdry to say the least. I like to contemplate that this magical night is the time where spirits of the long passed receive the chance once again to walk upon the Earth. Even if such a concept is flawed, I do find it overwhelmingly interesting. And, when my time comes to partake in the afterlife, I can hope that for one night a year I get to haunt everyone and anyone.

Take the proper steps

In the publishing world, just like any other, there exists some painful realities. The one reality that every writer must come to terms with is the subject of what I refer to as white collar plagiarism. This is what happens when budding writers mistakenly send out portions or full manuscripts of their work to well established publishing firms without having the rights to their work copyrighted. So essentially what happens is the firm blatantly steals the work and gives the credit to some low-achieving hack writer they, themselves, have made the mistake of trying to promote. Being fortunate enough that this scenario has never crossed my path, I have heard several horrible experiences of other would-be writers who weren't so lucky. Legally, there really isn't anything the would-be writer can do to ensure those responsible can be held accountable if the proper steps are not taken before hand. Namely, getting all of one's work copyrighted. Whenever you complete a masterpiece, you want to make sure YOU are the one getting the credit and all of the benefits that come with that. So, with that in mind, before you show your work to anyone, even certain family members and friends, make sure all copyrights belong to you!

Familiar Process

My new novel, though not as far along as I would have it by now, is coming to fruition rather nicely. As usual, as soon as I put my pen to paper the magical creative process follows through. I do become impatient at times because, like others, I, myself, would like to know how the story is developing. But, when all is said and done, I'm pretty sure I will have another masterpiece on my hands. I'm giving myself a deadline of five months to the day to finish, that's two months longer than my last novel took to complete. I want this novel to be a tad longer than my first one. And, who knows? If I have the same sort of positive experience with this one as I had with my first one, which seems to be the case right now, there may in fact be a third one. But, I don't want to get too far ahead of myself.

Recent trip to Yosemite

Recently I was able to visit Yosemite National Park, located in California. As luck would have it, It was only one day after my visit of it that Government shutdown forced the park to close. I must say, I had more than a good time as a result of going there. The views were spectacular. While I didn't do as much hiking as I wanted to, It was still surreal. I also stayed in a rented cabin about ten miles out of Yosemite that was more like a mansion-style townhouse than it was a cabin. Complete with hot-tub, cable-t.v, and views beautiful enough to rival Yosemite. Yeah, you could say that I had a wonderful time.

Starting a NEW novel!

The beginning of the year brought with it my first attempt at a novel. I must say, the whole experience associated with it was nothing less than positive. That being said, I'm going to attempt to have lightning strike twice and start working on a new one. This particular story is going to include themes once foreign to yours truly. I'm actually going to use the concept of love as it has been used before in several Gothic tales. Elements of pain, loss, and deals with supernatural beings are but a taste of the story line that I'm currently developing. With any luck, this novel should be completed within the same time frame as my first one was.

 

Excerpt from 'Virtue's Villainy: The Flaccid Depths of Decay'

The following is an excerpt from my most recently completed short story 'Virtue's Villainy: The Flaccid Depths of Decay'.

'The fanciful wooden door creaked as it opened. Sticking her scarf draped head around the corner from it, a mocha-colored woman looked in and saw an older, distinguished gentleman holding a small glass of bourbon. "You called, Mr. Wellis, sir?" Standing in his study among a large expensive desk and tall shelves full of books on law and history, he motioned with his hand for her to come inside the room. "Close the door, please." Slowly closing the door, she was hesitant to walk towards the man, as she knew what it would entail. Walking behind her, he removed her dress of tattered cloth and as he proceeded to force himself upon her, she did her best to put the terrible scenario out of her mind....'

Imagery versus Reality

A large part of being a writer is the understanding of the power of imagery. Imagery can inspire and incite and no matter the subject involved, it always has the ability to stay both beautiful and interesting. Reality on the other hand is a completely different animal altogether. Reality usually becomes both tedious and ugly very quickly. Think of the classical depiction of the Sorcerer. In terms of Imagery, they are powerful, wise, in full control of themselves and of their surroundings and possessing knowledge and abilities the rest of the world could only imagine having. In reality, most modern day sorcerers live obscure and mostly impoverished lives. Many of the rituals they perform have very little, if any, effect on the world around them and many of them do what they do either for family tradition, or a desperate act of gaining attention or financial reward. The same things can be said in regards to satanists and witches. I, myself, never forget the need of imagery to separate the exorbitant from the mediocre. It, in and of itself, is the ultimate tool to forge what is most important in literature, and everything else in between: Interest.