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Book Review: Any Zombie Fans?

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Book Review: Any Zombie Fans?

Natalie Bright

One of my favorite things about writing conferences is meeting other writers and being exposed to genres that I never would read otherwise. Case in point, I met Mr. Ray Weeks at the Canadian River Valley Writer’s Workshop several weeks ago. He happened to take a seat across the table from me. Ray had returned to his home town of Canadian to run the movie theatre in town, and he writes stories. More specifically, short stories and stories about zombies. I bought his book EAT ME for my son. It’s autographed, “To David. Eat ‘Till your dead and then some.” My plan was to read the first few pages, but then I couldn’t put it down.

As a zombie fan, you may think that you have read every possible scenario involving zombies. After all we’ve been reading about the fictional undead since 1929, with the book THE MAGIC ISLAND by W. B. Seabrook. Horror, fantasy, science fiction – the genres can be varied but the scenario is basically the same. An undead man-eating creature destroys humanity. I thought I had read enough to last me a lifetime until I picked up this book by Ray Weeks.

EAT ME is a unique, highly inappropriate, often gross and shocking collection of zombie short stories. I love this book! His writing is brilliant.

You will be entertained by original premises from humans living in the tree tops to a zombie animal, which has always been impossible. Animals can’t be zombies. It’s unheard of. Not in the world where Mr. Weeks resides.

Buy this book. You will not regret it. In fact, order some extra copies for your friends. They will love you for it. Here’s the link for Amazon.

Eat Me: A Zombie Story Collection

 

WATERSHIP DOWNBY RICHARD ADAMS

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WATERSHIP DOWNBY RICHARD ADAMS

Lynnette Jalufka

I have loved this novel ever since I was assigned to read it in high school. In all the times I’ve read it since then, it has not disappointed, the hallmark of a great book. Filled with action and adventure, it’s about a group of young male rabbits who, led by Hazel, leave their home and make a perilous journey to Watership Down to start their own warren. Their troubles don’t stop once they’ve arrived. The only way the new warren can grow is for them to find female rabbits. That results in a vicious battle with another warren on Watership Down.

Hazel is one of my favorite heroes. He’s courageous, compassionate, and smart. He uses the various talents of different rabbits to accomplish a goal. His leadership earns him the suffix “rah” added to his name, which denotes a chief rabbit. Nevertheless, Hazel-rah is not infallible. When he goes against the advice of his prophetic brother, his deed cripples him, just as the warren faces its greatest threat.

The book has some lengthy descriptions, but Adams does an amazing job of creating the rabbit world, including their own terminology and folk hero. The novel was so real that I was shocked to learn it was classified as a fantasy. After all, it is about rabbits. I highly recommend it.

Nora Roberts: Shelter In Place

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Outtakes 383

Nora Roberts

Shelter In Place

By Cait Collins

 

Every year I look forward to the release of Nora Roberts’ novels.  Last summer Shelter In Place hit the bookstores. I read until I fell asleep and was almost late for work a couple of mornings simply because I didn’t want to put the book down. This well-crafted novel keeps the reader on the edge and guessing until the end.

The initial setting came straight from the headlines. Shooters infiltrate a shopping mall in Rockpoint, Maine. An eight-minute rampage changes lives forever. But the story does not end with the shooting. Survivors had to go on living, but how do you live when those you love die? One took refuge in law enforcement. Another buried herself in her art.

As one year moves to the next, the survivors rebuild their lives, but one person is not content to let the horror end. As the clock races toward the 13thanniversary of the shooting spree, survivors begin to die. Reed Quartermaine, a police detective, feels there is something unfinished from that night. He’s restless and seeking. Artist Simone Knox plans a memorial for the victims. Will she live to finish it? The story keeps you hooked to the end.

The beauty of this Nora Roberts novel is in the setting. I could see some of those places as I had visited them. The names may have been changed, but I knew the settings. The architecture of the old village buildings brought back memories of living in Bangor. The scenery pulled me in to the story. The author allowed me to return to places I love and become an observer as Reed and Simone fight for their lives.

Nora Roberts is a favorite author. Whether it’s contemporary fiction, mystery, or fantasy, Ms. Roberts does not disappoint. I don’t recycle her books, I reread them.

Storytelling Narration

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Storytelling Narration

“Stories are our primary tools of learning and teaching, the repositories of
our lore and legends. They bring order into our confusing world. Think about
how many times a day you use stories to pass along data, insights, memories
or common-sense advice.”

– Edward Miller, founder of Edward Elementary, illustrator and product
designer

DIAMONDS OF THE NARRATOR

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DIAMONDS OF THE NARRATOR

Lynnette Jalufka

“The peasant girl watched the raindrops drip off the tree leaf. She cupped her hands to catch the falling diamonds that sparkled in the sunlight.”

Is anything wrong with the above example? Assuming the scene is in the peasant girl’s point of view, why would she compare the raindrops to diamonds? She has probably never seen a diamond. She might compare the raindrops to stars, something she is familiar with.

On the other hand, what if the scene is in the point of view of a princess watching her from a carriage? The princess might compare the raindrops to diamonds.

When using descriptions, keep in mind whose point of view you are in. A peasant girl has a different view of the world than a princess. The imagery you choose gives insight into the narrator’s character.

 

Narratives

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Narratives

by Adam Huddleston

Sometimes we take for granted our readers’ understanding of literary terms.  This week, I wanted to quickly define the main types of narrative.

First-person narrative: The story is told from the narrator’s point of view.  Pronouns seen are typically I and me.  If the plot is in past tense, the reader knows that the narrator will survive whatever dangers they face.  If it is in present tense, the suspense is still there.

Second-person narrative: The story is told from the reader’s point of view.  You are actively participating in the plot.  A well-known example of this is the “Choose Your Own Adventure” books.

Third-person narrative: The story is told from a narrator outside of the story.  They may either be omniscient or remain in the “heads” of one or more of the characters.  This is the most commonly seen type of narrative.  

Check Your Word Choices

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Outtakes 382

 

Check Your Word Choices

By Cait Collins

 

There are times when I find myself using too many passive sentences and echoing words in my narration. Robert Ray author of The Weekend Novelist Writes the Novel, suggested this exercise during a workshop. You will need a pencil, paper, a timer, and highlighters.

You will be free-writing. Do not think. Do not lift the pencil from the paper. Do not cross out and correct. Just write. The opening sentence begins, “My first boyfriend (or girlfriend) sat across from me….”  Set the timer for five minutes and start writing.

When the timer goes off, put down your pencil.  Do not complete an unfinished sentence.  Read your work.  Using your highlighters, underline the nouns. Highlight your active verbs and circle the passive ones.  Highlight adverbs in a different color, and adjectives in a third color. Now count your strong nouns. How many strong, descriptive nouns are in the paragraphs? Do the adjectives enhance the noun choices?

Count your active verbs and your passive verbs. Do you have more active verbs or more passive verbs? If there are more passive verbs how can you correct this? Adverbs are not your friend, so can you eliminate some adverbs by choosing more active verbs?

Free-writing allows the subconscious mind to take over and pilot the narrative. It allows our instincts to lead us to choices we might not consciously make. Using exercise like this we can develop a better vocabulary, improve our word choices, and create better narration in our stories.

Story Narration

Image

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SHORT STORY NARRATION

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SHORT STORY NARRATION

Natalie Bright

 

My critique group is busy crafting new short stories for Book 2 of our Route 66 Anthology series. My story is going great. It’s not all on the page yet, but it is in my head. Also, the ending came to me clear as a bell. The main character spoke the last line of the story and I wrote that scene as soon as I could. I have two main characters and I have a theme: regrets. One problem I realized after our discussion is that my story has no antagonist.

Short stories have the same components as full-length novels.  Neil Gaiman talks about short stories in his MasterClass (well worth the price at masterclass.com). He learned from a mentor that “a short story is the last chapter of the novel that was never written.” How brilliant is that?

Here are your short story components:

  1. Strong sense of place, setting.
  2. The basic story conflicts apply, as we’ve noted in a previous blog: man versus man; man versus nature; man versus himself.
  3. Plot (sequence of events)
  4. Theme. Some examples: big idea, universal, underlying meaning such as ‘loneliness’, what lies beneath the surface ‘obsession’, moral of the story ‘love stinks’.
  5. A protagonist and an antagonist.

Even short stories feature a main character (MC) that changes in some way from beginning to the end, called the character arc. What does your MC want? What are the things that prevent your MC from achieving that goal? Flat characters are boring and does not experience any growth from beginning to end.

Dig deep and make that emotional connection with your reader. Tug at their heart strings. Keep writing, and good luck with your short stories!

A SHEEP OR A ROCK?

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A SHEEP OR A ROCK?

Lynnette Jalufka

Comparisons are a useful way to create imagery in a story. My friend considers a well-written novel to be full of metaphors. In the book Word Painting: A Guide to Writing More Descriptively, Rebecca McClanahan states, “An effective metaphor or simile is significantwhen it calls forth an image that reinforces the overall description.”

Beware of mixing your metaphors. For example: “The fluffy sheep grazed in the pasture, a black rock in knee-deep grass.”

Wait. Rocks are solid and unmoving. The sheep is soft and in motion. Which image am I suppose picture in my mind?

Every word you choose is important. They should work together to create one solid image to immerse your readers into your world.