Vampires by Sandra Cox

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Vampires by Sandra Cox

They frighten and fascinate. For years vampires were the stereotypical black caped, coffin variety that could turn into a bat and fly away at a moments notice, outlined against the moon. These vamps had fangs that sucked their victims’ blood and secreted venom. They only came out at night, because they fried in the sunlight. Humans were nothing but a food source. And even though we feared and loathed them, they still held us enthrall.

Today that has changed. Vampires come in all varieties. Not only are there the badass villain-vamps, but there are now hero vamps that we love and lust for. Vamps that protect frail humans. We have Angel from the Buffy series, Nora Robert's Ciane, and Stephanie Meyer's phenom Edward to name a few. The new vamps can be out during the day as long as it’s overcast. And Edward doesn't have the classic fangs. He has regular teeth though they are still laced with venom.

Vampire Island has the classic villain vampires and the pranic variety. The pranics can be good or bad and instead of sucking blood, suck energy from their victims. The good pranics know when to stop before they do serious damage. Like their counterparts, pranics operate best at night. That is when their energy level is at its highest and their vision at its best. Sunlight burns their skin.

Given the wide scope of vampires, who are some of your favorites? Which vampire do you loathe? Which do you love?


Moved from the YA Insider blog to the Night Owl Reviews blog on 5/1/2010.

Writing Takes Discipline by Judi Moreo

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Writing Takes Discipline by Judi Moreo

“I need to take some lessons in writing because the inspiration just isn’t coming to me.”  That is a comment my sister made yesterday as we were talking about writing.  She started her book eight years ago.  It is still not finished.  I have written and had published nine books since she began.  Why was I able to make it happen and she hasn’t?  Because I followed the advice of many writers and authors...”Write every day.”

Although there are certainly skills, tools, and techniques that can be learned in order to develop our talents, writing is about writing.  Inspiration comes when we are writing.  The more we write the more inspired we become.   Writing takes discipline.  Sticking to a routine of writing every day is difficult because life happens.  People want us to do other things many of which need to be done.  I get up early, while the world around me is still very quiet and I write.  Sometimes I write for newspapers, sometimes for magazines, sometimes I write a new book, but every morning I write…before the world starts tugging at me.

Writers need to be good at telling a story, whether it is fiction with a plot, characters, setting, dialogue, etc or it is non-fiction self help like I focus on, a story brings the point to life.  People remember stories especially good stories…stories that touch their hearts.  Stories can be found everywhere in ones own life.  Observe what goes on around you every day.  Write about what you know and what you recognize in others.  Research, research, research.  If you have the ability to learn and we all do, then you will be able to find plenty of things to write about.  Don’t wait for inspiration to come along and hop on you.  It doesn’t happen like that.  Write and you will become inspired.

Don’t become obsessed with the words you use.  Just tell the story.  Tell it in a way that sounds as if you are talking with someone.  Tell it like you would tell it to a friend.  Be aware, however, that grammar is important and should be used correctly unless the character in the story is one that would use grammar incorrectly.  Keep in mind the rule that the shorter the story, the more important the words.  In a longer story, you have more time to make a point.  In a shorter story, every word counts.

You can always make revisions.  Write first, then revise.   Just remember that at some point you have to stop the revisions and see if you can find a publisher.  Once published, it becomes easier to get published the next time and the next…. as long as you keep writing, that is!

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Judi Moreo is an author, speaker, publisher and business woman.  Her books include “Life Choices:  Navigating Difficult Paths,” a compilation of short stories of hope from 26 inspirational speakers; her best selling, “You Are More Than Enough:  Every Woman’s Guide to Purpose, Passion, and Power” and it’s companion, “Achievement Journal,” “Conquer the Brain Drain:  52 Creative Ways to Pump Up Productivity” and many more.  In addition, she has contributed short stories to newspapers, magazines, and three of HCI Publications Ultimate books…including “The Ultimate Mom”,  “The Ultimate Cat Lover” and “The Ultimate Bird Lover.”  You can visit Judi at www.judimoreo.com or the book’s website at www.lifechoicesbook.com.  

“Luminous Beauty” By Stephanie Rose Bird

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“Luminous Beauty” By Stephanie Rose Bird

     In African American culture it is generally frowned upon to display dry, ashy skin.  Since I was a small child I remember my mother slathering me in lotion or cream after every bath.  To this day I use the wonderful tree medicine, shea butter after my showers so that my skin has a slight luster.  One of the interesting discoveries I made during my research for “The Big Book of Soul: the Ultimate Guide to the African American Spirit,” is that this practice is an Africanism or holdover that was passed on to us from West African culture.


     In chapter 10 of “The Big Book of Soul,” called “Tribal Beauty,” I share some of my research on this topic of beauty regimens.  Here is an excerpt:


     “The Mande people have a beautiful, black Theng mask that acquires its desired darkened hue by being rubbed multiple times with palm oil.  Teli or blackness, and wetness, refers to the origins of Mande knowledge—dark, deep, and contained.  It also refers to nature spirits who live in the river, embodying the medicine found within.  During masquerade, girls initiated into the local secret society have their dark skin oiled to represent water spirits.  When performed at night, this ceremonial production takes on an eerie, otherworldly quality reinforced by the depth and mystery of blackness.”


     “Tribal beauty is built around luminosity, which is enhanced by certain tree medicines, body butters, natural oils, and phyto-nutrients consumed, inhaled, or applied.  In West Africa, palm oil is used a great deal because it adds a sheen to the skin tone and also imparts a desired redness which indicates good health.  In American culture we utilize African tree medicines as well.  Cocoa butter and shea butter-based lotions and creams are very popular as African American skin conditioners.  Whereas, in other cultures there is a great deal of attention paid to shiny hair in our culture, on both sides of the Atlantic, skin that is luminous demonstrates good health and beauty.


Biography:


Stephanie Rose Bird, is the author of five books: The Big Book of Soul: the Ultimate Guide to the African American Spirit: Legends and Lore, Music and Mysticism and Recipes and Rituals, (2010, Hampton Road Publishers),A Healing Grove: African Tree Medicine, Remedies and Rituals ( 2009, Chicago Review Press), Light, Bright, Damn Near White: Biracial and Triracial Culture in America and Beyond (2009, Praeger Press/Greenwood Publishers) Sticks, Stones, Roots and Bones Hoodoo, Mojo and Conjuring with Herbs (June 2004, by Llewellyn Worldwide) and “Four Seasons of Mojo: An Herbal Guide to Natural Living (Llewellyn Worldwide, 2006). Bird has published numerous articles and columns including “Sage Woman,” www.naturallycurly.com, “Witchvox,” “PanGaia” and the “Oracle.” She is the mother of four, married to her soul mate and companion to four feisty animals.  Bird teaches magickal Herbalism, painting and herb crafting as well as aromatherapy.  She lives and works in the Chicago area. You can reach her at www.stephanierosebird.com or at www.authorsden.com/stephanierosebird.  

Hiding Treasure and Providing Maps by Steven R. Boyett

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HIDING TREASURES AND PROVIDING MAPS
by Steven R. Boyett


A man is arrested because he fits the description of a murder suspect. He refuses to provide an alibi or any information regarding his whereabouts the night of the murder. He doesn't want anyone to know he was with his best friend's wife, and would rather face the death penalty than have the public know  the truth.


This idea could be a good drama or a bad melodrama (or a country song, but that's not why we're here  today). Everything depends of course on how it is written. I don't mean the quality of the prose, for bad prose can ruin the best idea, and great prose salvage timeworn or unlikely notions. I mean the approach the writer takes to the material and the assumptions the writer makes about it and about the reader.


The writer could pretty much tell that story in a straightforward manner and rely on his timing and  characterization and suchlike to write a good drama. This is the approach  most writers take, and it is the expectation most readers bring to a  work as well.


But a few writers avoid exposition. They try not to tell the reader anything, at least not in any overtly expositional way. Instead they'll start in the middle of the situation and from the skillful revelation of detail (often in dialogue) will let the reader figure out the man's predicament, and perhaps realize from a conversation with the friend's wife why he won't provide his alibi.


No straightforward narration telling the reader why the man keeps his silence can match the moment of realization on the part of the reader who figures it out himself. This latter reader is both witness and participant. He is involved in the text to a greater degree than the reader of the expositional text. He creates the world and character and situation and explanation by gathering mosaic tiles offered by the writer until they form a picture. The reader is engaged in a creative act.


It takes more work to write this way. It takes more work to read this way. Naturally, then, fewer people attempt either and it is much less popular. In fact the difference between these approaches may also be a difference (not the difference, for surely there are many) between bestsellerdom and literary obscurity.


In addition to the assuming the host of duties of quotidian fiction, science fiction and fantasy narratives have the added burden of plausibly creating whole worlds and societies and devices and creatures that don't presently or can't possibly exist. It's much easier to do this by employing an expositional narrative (On the planet Grelfnab the natives are blue and eat bad cheese) or expositional dialogue ("What do you know about Grelfnab, Dan?" "Well, I know the natives are blue. And I know not to eat the cheese.").

I understand why writers do this. I've been guilty of it too. But I think it is lazy. Worse, I think it encourages lazy reading and noncritical thinking. How much more rewarding across the transaction from writer to reader to write They held hands and he marveled at the alternating pink and blue. He covered their clasped hands with his free one. As if his hand would somehow feel the color difference. There's activity and character and description without stopping to explain a thing, and simultaneously the reader is invited to participate in the incremental building of this world. If the next line is Their doubled shadows led the way before them, holding doubled hands not differently colored, you've made a world with two suns (or two bright moons) and made a nice little comment without ever directly saying so, and done it so much more evocatively than writing He looked at the difference in their skin color as they held hands. Hers was blue and his was pink. This system had two suns and their shadows were doubled as they walked along. There's so much less involvement there. The reader is bringing a lot less to the party. Where otherwise he might participate not only in the narrative but in the sense of creation, of realization, and indeed of collaboration with the writer.


I'll just go ahead and admit that most readers slide right over this kind of thing. They'll entirely miss that a series of ancient skyscrapers with basements called "propulsion chambers" might well be abandoned starships. That a character whose father speaks Tagalog at home may well be Filipino. That if a character who is fifty-seven was born in 1892, then the year is 1949. That if  jets are flying in a diamond formation there are four of them. And not only will many readers miss these details, they'll complain to writers that they haven't given them enough information. They'll send emails and demand to know why does the building have a propulsion chamber, what race is the narrator, what year does this take place, how many jets were there. Even when the answer is right in the text. The mosaic tiles are in place, but most readers have come to expect to be told what the picture is. As if they can't be trusted to see it themselves. And when you're told instead of trusted, eventually you don't even realize that the pieces you're being given are mosaic tiles that are meant to form a picture at all. It simply doesn't occur to you to look. This is all disheartening, I suppose, but I can't help writing like this, and I can't help preferring to read things written at this level. It's just the way I'm built. I think the gold left out in the open for people soon becomes less valued than the buried treasure they can find with a good map and a little digging.

Steve Boyett writer site:  http://www.steveboy.com

ARIEL website:  http://www.arielbook.com

ELEGY BEACH website:  http://www.elegybeach.com

Moved over from the SFF Insider Blog to the Night Owl Reviews blog on 5/1/2010.

Unique by Brynn Chapman (R. R. Smythe)

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Unique by Brynn Chapman (R. R. Smythe)

That’s basically my favorite plot, protagonist or problem.

How so? Well, Unique can be good or it can be bad.

As a girl, I liked many things…other girls didn’t. For instance, I don’t remember one of my young adult girlfriends being thrilled with The Island of Dr. Moreau. You remember that one, don’t you? Written in 1896 by H. G. Wells, the tale follows a scientist, who experiments on animals on a remote island.

So, I know a little about unique. My parents, very normal people, who never read science fiction in their lives, most likely thought me an alien as a kid—one who inhaled Star Log Magazine and read every fantasy book in her school’s library. I didn’t meet more of my kind for many years…till I hit some writer’s conferences!

My new book, Project Mendel, deals with stem cell cloning. I remember scanning the science news one day (yes, geek alert) and came across an article dealing with species recombination. Humans and animals, D.N.A.-ed together, for experimentation. This isn’t the workings of my twisted brain—it’s all too real. In 2003, at Shanghai Second University, researchers fused human cells with rabbit eggs, creating the first animal-human chimera. The chimeras were allowed to develop for a few days in a Petri dish, before they were destroyed and their stem cells harvested.

This got me thinking…what if they’d been permitted to live? At what point, how many genes, does a being stop being an animal, and become a human? Should that being have the same rights as other humans? Disturbing. Which is always a good place to start a story.

Enter Project Mendel. My books always deal with science, in one form or another, as it’s my day job. I am lucky enough to have some very intelligent friends. One of which just happened to be-ta da!-a stem cell scientist. She gave me a crash course and I took it for a ride on my warped imagination.

So, if you like romance, Hitchcockian suspense and science, I might be your all-too-strange gal.

Here is Project Mendel’s Back Cover Blurb and an excerpt. Enjoy. Hope you leave the light on.

Pittsburgh, Pa. 2030

It is a brave new post-war world. A world where parents can not only choose the sex of their child, but their eye color, hair color and talents. Project Mendel decides to take humanity a step closer to perfection.

Dr. Eve Fyfe, a stem cell scientist, signed onto Project Mendel to heal the sick. Around the city, the homeless are disappearing, orphans are reported missing in record numbers. The doctor's research produces amazing, and horrific side effects in the nation’s military children. She's reporting them. But no one is listening.

Because once in Project Mendel, always in Project Mendel

http://www.amazon.com/Project-Mendel-Brynn-Chapman/dp/0984249974

Excerpt:

Blaire sat cross-legged in front of her cell-door, unmoving.

Craning her neck, she focused all of her attention on the small window above her door. A quivering started, first in her hands and feet, and shot, lightning fast up her spine.

I feel like the world’s largest tuning fork.

The pounding inside her head, right behind her eyes rose to an almighty crescendo. A makeshift ruler lie on the floor at her feet. She had taken to measuring the size of her head with a piece of paper. Her newest pencil mark showed her head larger than ever.

Just call me Charlie Brown.

She was a kleptomaniac, pilfering bits and pieces of all sorts of equipment, ferreting them away—unsure when she might need them. This particular thieved article was proving useful. Her head was a full three inches larger around than it had been last week.

Blaire's forehead felt heavy. Was a brain tumor festering as the vaccines spread their poison behind her eyes?

The humming sensation happened daily, now. She'd always stopped it—terrified. As if someone had taken a clanging bell and struck it in her brainstem.

The sensation started again, and she swallowed. She willed herself to let it go, let it have its way with her, even if she died. Adam and Anne were gone, and she refused to breathe another minute without knowing their fate.

She dropped her defenses, going limp—giving herself to the sensation.

Her limbs contracted-relaxed, contracted-relaxed, as her concentration mounted.

The bolus liquid in her forehead shimmied madly, as if it would explode, but she bore down harder. She imagined a disgusting, bloated, amniotic sac behind her eyes. That's what it felt like.

Thrusting out her jaw, she copied Anne's clucking sounds.

The ones she'd made in the water, before the white coats carted her off.

Blazing images ripped into her head; the hallway behind her door appeared with clarity.

Not as the eye would see it, but like a sketch. It looked like 'Harold and the Purple Crayon.'

She laughed, wiping tears from her eyes.

The hall was empty.

She clucked, and the window above the doorframe rippled like water. She sucked in a breath.

Did I do that?

She clucked louder and lower, bracing the sides of her head in her hands.

The window vibrated; she clucked madly, the dizziness making her ill.

It shattered.

Glass shards rained down around her. She scrambled out the window. To freedom.

Brynn Chapman (R. R. Smythe) is a member of the Young Adult Chapter of Romance Writers of America and is half of the team responsible for Agent and Editor Interviews for their monthly Newsletter. She is also the Moderator of Editors, Agents and Blogs, Oh My! She writes Non-fiction articles for the Age of Autism Weblog, and is represented in Non-Fiction by Bookends Literary Agency.


www.brynnchapman.com