Marc Bilgrey, our guest blogger this week is kind enough to share the first two chapters of And Don’t Forget To Rescue The Princess. Simply visit his website at www.marcbilgrey.com. While you’re there, read an article he wrote for aspiring writers about how he wrote the novel. And check out some of his panel cartoons and comic strips.. He writes and draws them for magazines and books. Marc put up new ones every week.
Tag Archives: Tina R. McSwan
The Two-Faced God
by Gail Z. Martin
Postcards from Liminal Space—January was named for Janus, the two-faced god. It makes sense. It’s a month when we look forward and backward, when we’re nostalgic over what’s ending and tentatively excited about what’s beginning. I can relate. I’m wading into beginning a brand new series—new characters, a new world, a whole new world building exercise. At the same time, I’m getting ready for the launch of The Sworn, which is the newest book set in the world of the Winter Kingdoms. So I’ve got a foot in old and new, and it’s a little strange.
It’s really exciting to flex my imagination and bring a whole new cast of characters to life. My mind is becoming a very crowded place! And it’s also fun to work out their history, the culture and society, the beliefs and mythology—I’m exploring brand new territory, and once I find my way around, I’ll bring you with me. At the same time, the beginning of any new journey is unsettling, because the traveling always changes the traveler. Should be interesting.
Filed under Gail Z. Martin
New Books by Our Resident Bloggers
The Sworn by Gail Z. Martin is now in stores.
As plague and famine scourge the winter kingdoms, a vast invasion force is mustering from beyond the northern seas. And at its heart, a dark spirit mage wields the blood magic of ancient, vanquished gods.
Summoner-King Martris Drayke must attempt to meet this great threat, gathering an army from a country ravaged by civil war. Neighboring lands reel toward anarchy while plague decimates their leaders. Drayke must seek new allies from among the living – and the dead –- as an untested generation of rulers face their first battle.
Then someone disturbs the legendary Dread as they rest in a millennia-long slumber
beneath sacred barrows. Their warrior guardians, the Sworn, know the Dread could be pivotal as a force for great good or evil. But if it’s the latter, could even the Summoner-King’s sorcery prevail?
The Sworn is Book One of The Fallen Kings Cycle, and it picks up the adventures of Tris, Jonmarc and the Winter Kingdoms gang six months after the end of Dark Lady’s Chosen. There are all new challenges, lots of dark magic and the biggest threat Margolan has faced in 400 years.
You can read the first chapter of The Sworn by clicking here
Or, you can listen to Gail read from Chapter One by clicking here.
Crossed: A Void City Novel by J.F. Lewis is also available now.
You can purchase Crossed from Amazon by clicking here.
You can also read an enlightening guest post on Greta by clicking here.
Filed under Gail Z. Martin, J.F. Lewis
Does anyone else smell burnt toast?
by Crymsyn Hart
It’s now February and today is Ground Hog’s day. I wonder if we’ll have another six weeks of winter or if spring will be coming shortly. For many people they want all the snow to end. They dream of warmer days with the sun melting the snow, tiny rivers of runoff curving down the street and robins pecking between the blades of grass hoping to come away with a worm. People are praying for a new beginning. I’m eager for one.
At the start of 2011, I set a goal for myself to write one new book a month and whatever time I had left over, I would edit or just work on other things that came up. Now that January has past, I can put one big check mark next to it. Two works done for the month and a couple of edits. Now that we’re in a new month, the counter has rewound and I’m hoping to do the same. Although, the biggest news I’ve had in my life, is that my day job got eliminated so I can focus on the words for a while. While I’ve been trying to focus with all the life changing events, I’ve hit the dreaded wall. The one all writers fear. Writer’s Block. And my brain now smells like burnt toast.
I’ve gotten tons of suggestions to overcome the beast, but so far none of them have worked. But I’m sure that stress has kept me from writing. Characters are screaming in my head for face time, but all I smell is toast from the writer’s block. Cleaning the house and cooking is only a distraction. It’s time to face my worst enemy. Myself. Hopefully the smoke will clear soon and I’ll have some hot, paranormal lovin’ for all to read.
I’ll get over it eventually. I’m not sure my love for toast will reappear though.
Filed under Crymsyn Hart
Little Green Notes – Part Three
The third little green note is one that has had me setting out little plastic pyramids and occasionally twisting wooden dolls into strange poses or checking out blue prints or zooming in REALLY close with Google Maps… As so, Little Green Note Number Three:
3) Better Blocking
Whether I’m trying to make sure that I keep track of a special hat during a big long fist fight or I’m describing where exactly our hero is a secret maze just before he vanishes forever, the blocking is extremely important. If I’ve done a great job with the blocking, it’s one of those things a reader doesn’t even consciously notice, but if I’ve done a bad job with the blocking the reader will find themselves scratching their head and asking questions like: “Now wait a minute, if the hero was standing over here, then how did he even see the bad guy? I thought he was next to the flower pot with the orangutan…”
For some writers blocking seems to come more naturally than others. In my case, it’s often hard and I sometimes have to use props to keep the positions of various characters straight in my head while writing a fight scene. There’s a scene in STAKED (the first Void City novel) that involves a werewolf hockey team (The Void City Howlers) fighting Eric (the vampire protagonist) on an ice rink. For some reason that was relatively easy to keep track of in my head with nothing more than a map of a normal ice hockey rink (thank you, Wikipedia) and a little imagination. But throw in a few more werewolves and Eric’s daughter Greta all fighting in the middle of the street and out came the little plastic pyramids and chess pieces to keep track of things.
Of course, blocking doesn’t just have to involve complex situations. It also covers those little movements characters make during a dialogue sequence… having a character fold his arms or pace from one side of the room to the other. That type of blocking helps keep your characters from becoming a couple of “talking heads” in a important dialogue heavy scene or convey emotion after a dangerous fight. If, instead of typing: Bob was incredibly nervous, the writer shows the reader how Bob paces the room, chews his fingernails, and makes minute adjustments to portraits that required no straightening, the blocking doesn’t just help keep track of the character, but helps convey the emotion of the scene as well.
Filed under J.F. Lewis
AND DON’T FORGET TO BUY MY NOVEL!
by Marc Bilgrey
Do you worry about the economy, politics, crime, pollution? Do you sometimes feel like getting away from it all and having some laughs? Me too. That’s why I wrote my humorous fantasy novel, And Don’t Forget To Rescue The Princess. (Now available as an ebook from Amazon’s Kindle Store). I wanted to write a book I’d like to read. A laugh out loud funny fantasy with likable characters and a good story. The kind of book that you could escape into and have fun reading. What’s it about? I’m glad you asked. The novel is about Al Breen, an unemployed actor who wants to spend a quiet summer on Cape Cod writing a play. But his plans are interrupted by a talking cat who zaps him into a medieval world where Al is mistaken for a brave warrior (hey, it could happen to anyone.) Al is then forced by a king to go on a dangerous quest to rescue a beautiful princess. (Why don’t beautiful princesses have better security?) Al and his new partner, Nigel, an inexperienced knight, must battle a whole host of horrifying creatures, including evil trolls, a monstrous dragon, and other scary things too numerous to mention. All of this leads to a fast paced climactic conclusion that you’ll never forget. (Well, at least for an hour or two).
The book was originally published in hardcover, by Five Star,in 2005,and got good reviews, (Publisher’s Weekly, said, …”a series of amusing adventures involving trolls,dragons, elves, wizards and dental floss.” And William F. Nolan, author of Logan’s Run, said, “Laughs, thrills, suspense, and the product of a truly wild imagination. You’ll love the book.”) I’ve always loved fantasy and humor, so I thought, why not combine them? My serious fantasy, SF, and mystery short stories have appeared in numerous anthologies and magazines, but my background is in comedy writing. I’ve written for comedians, syndicated comic strips, and television.
Product Details
Now available as an ebook from Amazon’s Kindle Store:
https://www.amazon.com/Dont-Forget-Rescue-Princess-ebook/dp/B0049B2E3C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1291003216&sr=1-1
You can listen to the audio from when Marc was a guest of Blog Host, Gail Z. Martin’s Ghost in the Machine podcast here: https://www.audioacrobat.com/play/WyW99CjX
Filed under Guest Blogger
Freebie Friday by Jean Marie Ward
Jean Marie Ward, our guest blogger this week, is kind enough to share the following free goodies:
Ward Theater (flash fiction slide shows)
“Duzell’s Due” <https://jeanmarieward.com/and-stuff/duzells-due/>
“Green Eyes” <https://jeanmarieward.com/and-stuff/green-eyes>
Short Fiction
“About the Flies” – The Devil’s in your freezer and he’s ready to deal.
< https://samhainpublishing.com/blog/2010/05/28/about-the-flies>
“Clear as Glass” – Rita meets the man of her dreams…over her husband’s dead body.
< https://jeanmarieward.com/and-stuff/clear-as-glass/>
“The Kitty at the Edge of Forever” – Who knew a Star Trek/Tolkien cross-over could be so wrong?
< https://jeanmarieward.com/and-stuff/the-kitty-at-the-edge-of-forever/>
Unclassifiable
Everyday Haunts: A Real Life Ghost Story
< https://www.readmoreromance.com/sam/freebies/t-z/ward_haunts.pdf>
Filed under Freebie Friday, Guest Blogger
Paranormally Speaking
Paranormally Speaking
By Tina R. McSwain
What are the different types of hauntings?
Last week, we talked about what a ghost is (or isn’t). This week, we will begin to delve into the different types of hauntings. Some paranormal enthusiasts would argue that most hauntings would fall into one of about four categories. After being in this field for over fifteen years, I would have to say there are many more. Over the next several weeks, we will explore these various manifestations in depth. My categories would go something like this:
Residual Haunt
Intelligent Haunt
Poltergeist
Demonic Haunt
Metaphysical Entity
Native American Entity
Elementals
Crisis Apparition
And, my favorite category, Other, which would include Cryptids and Aliens.
First up, Residual Haunts. Stay tuned…
Filed under Tina R. McSwain
Postcards from Liminal Space
by Gail Z. Martin
Postcards from Liminal Space—I am trying to open up some new ideas, not just for my writing, but for my vision of the future. So in this first month of a new year, I am trying to be open to subtle nudges from my intuition, to dreams and memories, and to nature as it prepares for rebirth. There have been times in my life when I felt so clearly that I was standing in-between what was and what would be, but I couldn’t see far enough to know what was going to happen, only that something was about to. I have that sense now. I think it’s a good thing, but any time your routine gets knocked topsy turvey there is an in-betweenness that is awkward.
I’m just finishing up The Dread, which is either book 6 in the Chronicles series or Book Two in the Fallen Kings Cycle, depending on which reader or publisher you talk to. I’m going to take a bit of a break from the world of the Winter Kingdoms and Tris and the gang after this book, so finishing it makes me a little sad. I have many other Winter Kingdoms stories in mind that I hope to write, but I’ve got a brand new series that I’m excited to write, and so that’s going to consume the next few books. It’s definitely luminal space for me—one thing drawing to a hiatus while something else opens up.
Filed under Gail Z. Martin
Shape shifters and why we find them so riveting
By Crymsyn Hart
Admit it. Shape shifters come in all shapes and sizes. From the enormous, hulking dragon, to feisty werewolves, perfectly proportioned cats, be they large or small, down to those sex snake shifters who love to slither along their mate’s body.
It seems that all animals are being written into the two skinned hunks we all love to read about. My personal favorites, besides the werewolves, are the large cats. From the roaring king of the jungles or sexy tigers along with the large birds of prey. I love my shifters with a little tail or a smattering of feathers. But I think what draws the reader into the shape shifters’ world is that element of danger that having a relationship with a shifter entails.
Get them angry enough or on the right phase of the moon and bam! There goes the man and out pops the beast. Or when there are two, three, or four main characters all end up in bed tougher, depending on what sub-genre of paranormal romance you’re reading and the shifter accidently bites or scratches the other human characters. Then you’re in a butt load of trouble, because what if the other character turns into an animal. What if they don’t want that? Does the shifter want his or her love interest to be like them? What a plot twist if that is the case?
But I think it is in the wild, untamed sides of ourselves that lures the reader in. We want to touch the sleeping beast that lives inside of all of us. To be able to run through the wilderness and have there be no consequences. The shifters survive on instinct. They embrace the animal inside of them and let it roar. Not many of us can claim such abandon, of giving up ourselves. How many of you can truly break away from the ties that bind us to our humanity and become something else? No one to control them or nothing that holds us down. To me that is why we enjoy reading about shifters. We love them to brood or be unpredictable, just as long as they are hunky and will let nothing stand in their way.
Pick your animal and run, fly, or swim with it.
What do you prefer? What do you want to see more of from authors? What have you read and it just didn’t work for you? Do you think there are some animals that should stay animals? We’re dying to hear about it.
Filed under Crymsyn Hart
