POST CARDS FROM THE MUSE
Happy New Year!
By Nandy Ekle
Ok. Public resolution setting time. Gonna finish at least 5 previously begun writing projects and get them published. Finish two cross stitch projects previously begun. Finish reading ALL THE BOOKS. Go to Winchester House in October. And stay low key next Christmas.
Watch for upcoming announcements.
My Favorite Works of Fiction
By Adam Huddleston
A couple of weeks ago I published a blog concerning my favorite non-fiction books for writers. This week, I would like to list a few of my favorite works of fiction (in no particular order). As you can imagine, me being a life-long reader of fantasy and horror, the list is full of selections from those genres.
Stephen King has always been a “fave” of mine. He has a plethora of thrillers and chillers. Some works seek to get you at the “gross-out” level. Others are more intimate examinations of the inner-self. My favorite novel of his belongs to the latter; “The Long Walk.” Reminiscent of Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”, this story follows a young man as he participates in a horrific annual tradition. The book is eerie and very well written.
Shifting to fantasy, you can’t find many works better than those of J.R.R. Tolkien. In a world where new writers are shoveling their wares in both bookstores and electronically, this legendary author’s work stands the test of time and his “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy is, to me at least, at the top. It is the definition of an epic fantasy with a huge cast of characters, a sprawling world, and an entire language created by the author.
The late Michael Crichton penned a ton of great science-fiction stories, many of which were adapted into motion pictures. My favorite work of his is “Jurassic Park.” The movie, once it gets going, travels at a break-neck pace. Guess what? The novel does as well. The author even goes into great detail concerning how they manipulated the DNA to create the stories antagonists.
The last piece I’ll mention is one by Richard Adams. One of my earliest cinematic memories is watching “Watership Down” on a VHS player in my parent’s bedroom. When I was older, I discovered that it was based on a novel of the same name. The book does a great job of personifying the characters, mostly rabbits with a black-headed gull thrown in for good measure, and bringing their adventures to life. Like Tolkien, Richard Adams gives us a healthy dose of backstory, native language, and even a form of lupine religion.
Whatever your favorite genre might be, these novels are worth looking into. They will give insight into proper world building, plot, dialogue, and character development.
Happy writing; and reading!
Outtakes 331
New Year
By Cait Collins
I know it sounds trite, but the older I get the faster time seems to fly. When I was a kid, my parents tried to help my impatience by telling me it was seven sleeps to my birthday or Christmas. Those were long nights. And it still seemed like the big days would never come. Now days, time races on and before long, we will be staring 2019 in the face.
While I don’t make resolutions for the New Year, I am making promises.
I promise to finish my short story by the first critique meeting of 2018.
I promise to finish the edits on my memoir.
I promise to have my short story for Holidays on Route 66 by deadline.
I promise to get my blog done on time each week.
Best wishes for 2018 and happy writing.
Excerpt from “The Winter Wizard”
By Adam Huddleston
This week, I simply wanted to release a few paragraphs of a fantasy story that I am currently working on. If it were to ever be published, it would actually be the beginning of the second book in a series entitled “The Sea-Wall”.
The wind and snow assaulted the small, wooden cabin. Each gust threatened to separate the old timbers that made up the walls and roof. Ben and his family snuggled deep under their bed covers seeking warmth, but only managing to frustrate their tired bodies. Just as the family patriarch was nearing sleep, a loud rap came from the front door.
Ben slowly cracked one eye open and peered into the darkness. He waited a few seconds, hoping the sound was just a rogue branch blown by the wind, or perhaps a wayward owl, lost in the blur of a night blizzard. He counted to five and was about to drift off to sleep when the knock came again.
Ben covered himself in a giant bear skin and stumbled out of bed. The icy-cold floor bit into his feet and he moaned loudly. The knocking continued, growing in intensity.
“I’m coming!” he growled at the newcomer. “It’s the middle of the night, don’t ya know?”
Ben hobbled through the modest den and grasped the brass knob, wincing as the metal stung his palm, and ripped the door open.
On the narrow stoop, covered in a thick blanket of bright snow, was something that resembled a human figure. After a few moments, a thick walking staff appeared out of the whiteness and pushed an ice-covered hat upwards. A pair of deep-blue eyes, deeper and bluer than the waters of the Sea-Wall (not that Ben had actually ever seen the Wall in person), opened. The eyes belonged to a trouble-worn face, and Ben took a step back as a bushy set of grey eyebrows furrowed over them. The man leaned forward and fixed Ben with a fierce gaze.
“It’s time to repay your debt,” he said.
Outtakes 330
Make It Work
Cait Collins
I was three chapters from the end of my Route 66 short story when I learned that one of the places I planned to feature was closed. I needed that site to help my heroine move forward with her life. When someone is afraid of dark places, a tour of a cavern sounded ideal. So it was time to find another route to helping the character heal.
I opened my research books and began looking for something to fill the need. I knew there were mining operations in Missouri, but were tours available? Did the company require a minimum number of people to schedule a tour? I took a while, but I have my fix. It has made it easier to allow her to realize the mistakes she has made in her life.
Roadblocks in our work are not reasons to scrap the project and move on to something else. They should be considered opportunities to make the story better and maybe more insightful. I don’t like to scrap a project until I have dug myself a hole so deep I can’t crawl out. Even then, I do not destroy the work. I keep it under the bed and revisit it occasionally. Maybe one day, I’ll discover the fix for it.
Wordsmith Six 