"F" is for Fear

I was so tempted to title this one: "F" is for Friday! But then I was stuck.

Instead, I'm going with fear. Fear creates a lot of emotion and I enjoy using it to my advantage in my writing. Fear changes people. It causes them to do things they wouldn't normally do. Fear paralyzes people. Fear motivates people. Fear creates villains...and heroes. I love the theme of conquering fear to create a hero. There is a great struggle along the way, but the payoff, success, or reward is far greater in the end. Fear creates great stories.

In line with the fear topic, I am also a fan of horror (books and movies). I can't really explain why I enjoy it so much; my parents have often asked me because I am the only horror fan in the family. Maybe because it was a way of rebelling through my teenage years and now it's nostalgic. Maybe it was a way to build my identity and differentiate from the family instead of actually rebelling. Maybe it was me conditioning myself. I started off scared and therefor determined to continue to watch things that scared me until I conquered that fear, by which time I started to enjoy them. Maybe my morbid fascination stemmed from having a cemetery as a playing ground as a toddler. It's interesting for me to think about, but I don't have a definitive answer. All I know is that: I remember being scared of Michael Jackson's Thriller when it first came out (I must have been 4 or 5), Nightmare on Elm Street 3 was the first real horror movie I remember seeing (from 3rd or 4th grade) and thereafter haunted by nightmares of the puppet scene, and I was afraid of clowns long before I read Stephen King's It (no explaination on that one besides clowns are just scary).

And with that, I'd like to leave you with a few of my favorites in horror:

• It (book)
• The Exorcist (book)
• The Exorcist (movie)
• Halloween (movie, original)
• Poltergeist (movie)
• Saw (movie)
• Paranormal Activity (movie)
• American Horror Story (TV show)

Sometimes it's fun to be scared. And next Friday is Friday the 13th, which is a great night to turn off the lights and watch a scary movie with someone you love. Have a good scream. :)

Lucky Me & the Secret to Bubbles

Thank you to Candy Lynn Fite over at On the Trail to Publication. She tagged me with the Lucky 7 Meme & answering her 10 questions and gave me the secret to her Bubbles nickname (continue reading to find out). Here are the rules for Lucky 7 Meme:

1. Go to page 77 of your current MS.
2. Go to line 7.
3. Copy the next 7 lines - sentences or paragraphs - and post them as they're written. No cheating!
4. Tag 7 authors.
5. Let them know.

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“That’s the trippiest thing I’ve ever seen!” Greg said.

The florescent lights hanging from the ceiling began to crackle and flicker.

“I’m not feeling good about being here,” Logan whispered.

“This is obviously some elaborate prank. Good one!” Greg yelled out to the room.

“No, I don’t think so,” Logan said, stepping away from the other two.

The florescent lights on the far end of the locker room went out, followed by the next row, and the next—until the only lights illuminated were directly above the row where the three boys stood.

“I’m getting out of here,” Logan said and ventured into the shadows, headed toward the door. He dragged his left hand along the cement wall and stepped slowly and carefully as the room in front of him darkened. Upon finding the door, he pushed as hard as he could, but it still wouldn’t open.

- p. 77 (in my formatting), Provex City (The Lorne Family Vault, Book 1)

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Now, on to The Lucky 7 questions (but there are 10 of them...I know):

1.   What is your dream vacation? There are many places I’ve never been to that I really want to visit and explore. But one place I had the opportunity to visit for an afternoon and swim with dolphins was the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas. When we were there, I told my wife that we absolutely must come back and actually stay here—in a suite.

 

2. Are you spontaneous or do you like to plan? I like to plan for spontaneity.

3. Tell us one thing you want to do, but don't dare do. I’d love to be the lead singer of a band, but I don’t sing very well and I’m petrified of being up in front of a crowd, so I probably won’t be doing that any time soon.

4. What's your biggest phobia? Public speaking—it’s a fear worse than death. Kind of irrational, but true.

5. If you were stranded on a desert island--what 3 things would you want with you (not including laptop or family)? One notebook, one pen, and one boat to get off the island when I'm done writing the next great American novel. 

6. Name 3 blessings in your life. Family, friends, and work (it's still a tough economy!)

7. What was your nickname in high school? "Mikey Likes It," from the old Life cereal commercials. 

8. If you could meet the President of the US, what would you say to him? I'd like to ask him about his family, his most memorable moment in office, and see if he’d be willing to promote Provex City on national television. Haha.

9. If you could be any literary character for a day, who would you be? Roland of Gilead, from Stephen King’s The Dark Tower Series. He’s just bad-ass in every sense of the word. Though I’d want to be him before he lost two vital fingers on his shooting hand.

10. What is your favorite quote? “Every passing moment is another chance to turn it all around.” – Sofia Serrano from Vanilla Sky

Now, it’s time to extend the Lucky 7 to a few fellow writers of my choice (oh, the power!). Since I’m new to the Insecure Writer’s Support Group, I’m choosing 7 members of Alex J. Cavanaugh's IWSG. I'm interested and anxious to meet more members. If you’ve been chosen, then I hope you have fun with this. If you’ve been chosen before, then I’m sorry, but do it again. Just kidding, that would be mean. :) Lastly, I'm also sorry, but I lied. I don't have the answer to Candy's Bubbles nickname. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me.

Now, without delay, please join me on a journey through the blogs of these seven “lucky” writers:

Angeline Trevena

Misha Gericke 

Laura Eno

Callie Leuck 

Kaye Draper 

Hope Roberson 

Gabriel M Clarke

Hello, Insecure Writer's Support Group!

I'm not the last blog on the list any more! I was just excited to see that. This is my first post for the Insecure Writer's Support Group. I'm glad I found it and thankful to have the opportunity to take part. I'm fairly new to blogging and I'll use this post to talk about my adventures, struggles, and triumphs in writing over the past few years.

I came up with an idea for a YA fantasy series a little over three years ago and began writing the first book, Provex City, finishing an early draft in about a year's time. It was my first attempt to write a novel and it needed a lot of reworking. I didn't want to take classes to learn how to write a novel first and then begin writing, so I just began writing and learned along the way. Once I was in the editing phase I signed up for a novel writing class at a community class and had my original prologue critiqued (which was about 12 pages). I got an interesting mixture of comments and took many of them into consideration for future drafts of my book. For the class, my novel had a different title, and since then I have also written a completely new prologue. But that class was encouraging because it showed me that people I didn't know seemed interested in my story.

Over the past two years, I've been editing Provex City and submitting queries to agents. That was a humbling experience. I wrote about this in my first blog post, but to make a long story short, I didn't get much in the way of responses. I've read a lot about not taking it personal, but it's hard and takes its toll over time. Do I start writing a completely different novel or book two in the series I already had planned? I have a few ideas for other books, but I really want to continue with my series. That's when I decided to stop submitting and seriously look into self-publishing. There are people becoming successful by publishing direct to Kindle. And that is something I can do now instead of waiting for someone else.

I realize that the people who are really succeeding through self-publishing are the minority, but I have to believe that it's possible for me to fall into that group. Why not? If someone else can do it, then why can't I? If I write a good book and model the strategies of authors succeeding doing what I want to do, then I should be able to achieve similar results. I like what Anthony Robbins says:

How long do you give your average baby to learn how to walk? How long do you give your average baby to learn how to walk before you shut her off and don't let her try anymore? Are you kidding? My baby will try until she learns how to walk. Try until. The magic formula for success. --this is not a direct quote

I keep telling myself that. My debut novel, Provex City, will be out on Amazon in the next few weeks, first in eBook and later in paperback. I am working on increasing my online presence and building a platform. I am writing daily on a first draft of my second book in the Lorne Family Vault Series. I tell myself that it's not a question of if, but when. Try until. I will continue to write, fight, and push toward my desired direction, knowing that the valley of successful writers lies just over the horizon. Thank you for reading. I'd love to read your comments. I hope I see you again before May!

Also, be sure to check out other writers in the group (the list is posted below).