Thank You

I just checked the blog attendance figures and was very shocked. Since I started this blog just over seven months ago, the blog has had a tremendous increase in traffic. I am especially surprised by the amount of international traffic. People from thirty five different countries from around the globe have visited my blog. I had no idea my work was reaching such a wide audience.


Thank you to all of my fans who have visited this blog. This is the single best way I can think of for connecting with you and giving you a glimpse into what I have worked on and what I have in the works. Your feedback has been invaluable as many of you have not only commented on my posts here, but have sent me emails or messages on Facebook or Twitter. I read each comment and take them into consideration, really.

Thank you for helping make this blog a success. I admit I wondered as I started writing here if anyone would read my posts. Keep spreading the word and I will keep writing!

Young Adult Fiction

As I continue to make progress on The Devil's Nightmare, as always I am thinking at least one project ahead. So what lies ahead for me? Well, for those of you who think I may only have a few stories in my head, be prepared. I have quite a few stored up top, with more generating all the time.

For my next project, I am going to be switching gears. Instead of doing another adult paranormal book, I will be concentrating on the young adult audience. I am going in this direction for a few reasons. First off, I know by the time I am completely done with the writing process of The Devil's Nightmare, I will really need a change of gears. The Devil's Nightmare is big, it is draining, and I need to work on something more lighthearted.

Aside from that, I also feel like I need to contribute to the body of young adult fiction. I was originally turned on to writing by one writer in particular, who wrote a series of books still widely read today. I began reading The Chronicles of Narnia in the third grade, and my imagination and hunger for writing books caught fire. A part of me feels the need to give back what I was given, not that I think I am a C.S. Lewis type.

I also want to try my hand at young adult fiction since you can get away with a whole lot more in the genre. I can do crazier things and make my stories even more imaginative, which is fun for me as a writer. Writing more "realistic" stories is a challenge as well, but I admit I enjoy both.

So what can you expect from my young adult fiction? Well, first of all, it will be age-appropriate. Secondly, it will still have a very paranormal slant, just as much as my other books. That's about all I am willing to tell right now, but I promise this first young adult book will be well worth the wait (which hopefully is not too long).

Thriller or Horror? What's the Difference?

After receiving some interesting feedback from some self-proclaimed horror buffs, which caused me much thought, I have come to the conclusion that Shadow House is not really a horror novel. I have further concluded that nothing I am currently working or plan to work on classifies as horror, either. Genres are interesting things, since they never perfectly categorize every last piece of work in the world. The "new" sub-genre called paranormal thriller or supernatural thriller has supposedly been gaining more and more attention. I would have to say my type of writing fits better in the thriller genre.

What's the difference between a horror story and a paranormal thriller story? In terms of movies, it is like the difference between 28 Days Later and The Sixth Sense. Both, you could say, are "scary" (which is a subjective term) yet one frightens through gore and the other through more psychological means. Personally, I really don't care for the gory stuff, and I don't write it either. If this means I am not a horror writer and am instead a thriller writer, so be it.

I think the term "horror" scares off some people, because they think of grotesque torture scenes and the like. Maybe this is not a fair assessment, but it is the way horror (both in books and movies) has been going for the past while. Thrillers, on the other hand, bring in a larger audience, and do not come loaded with the gore stigma.

My Writing Scares Me

 Sometimes as I am writing late at night (as I was last night), the things I am writing about scare even me. As a writer, I see everything play out in my mind. Sometimes it is like watching a movie, but other times it is like I am in the story like Harry Potter using the pensieve to immerse himself in people's memories. As I write intense scenes in my books, I have completely freaked myself out. Last night was one of those nights. I have grown a little used to doing this to myself, but only a little. Sometimes what I am writing is so much I have to do only small doses of writing. I always know that I am on the right track if my writing has me checking over my shoulder periodically.

President Eisenhower and Aliens: Truth or Heresy?

Why a former New Hampshire lawmaker would record such a statement about aliens on Earth is intriguing, to say the least. Strange stories of President Eisenhower having met with extraterrestrials have circulated for decades, but for a person of such a social standing as Henry McElroy to testify he saw a brief confirming these rumors gives me pause to think. I admit I am highly skeptical when I hear most accounts about UFOs, since by definition a UFO is not necessarily something not from this planet.

The second video (below) seems to support McElroy's testimony. This former military man tells about a supposed alien craft landing at a military base and meeting with President Eisenhower. Apparently Ike did more than just lead Allied forces to Berlin, or at least that is what these two gentlemen. What do you think of these two videos?

Shadow House Reviews

It is always great to receive reviews, especially as a young author trying to launch a career. Shadow House has received reviews on various websites such as Barnes & Noble's and Amazon. I always appreciate feedback, even from those who may not find Shadow House to be their thing. Trust me, I love my first book but am already working on outdoing it.

I was especially impressed with one review that just posted on Amazon a few days ago. The reader said "the author adeptly weaves a variety of human emotion and experience into this intriguing thriller." What a compliment! I admit, I wracked my brain about putting real humanity into a horror novel, about making it about more than just thrills and chills. To me, the story is always more frightening and intriguing when the characters are real people, not just paper dolls being chased around by the scary monster. But, at the same time, I wanted to make Shadow House at least suspenseful. Apparently this reader thought I accomplished this, as she included in her a review a warning about reading the book alone at night. That is also a huge compliment for an author. It is times like these when all the sacrifice, the emotional ups and downs of writing pay off even more.

Hopefully the good reviews keep coming, and all of you keep spreading the word about Shadow House.

Shakespeare's Tragedies

I have always enjoyed Shakespeare's tragedies the most, even though they are nor performed nearly as much as his comedies or even his historical plays. I especially enjoy Shakespeare's "big four": Othello, Macbeth, Hamlet and King Lear. Despite the fact these plays may involve sad events, they are also plays that keep on giving.

Every time I read Othello, Macbeth, Hamlet or King Lear I gain a deeper understanding of how complex each story truly is. The first time I read these plays, I thought things were very clear-cut as far as who are the villains and who are the heroes. I used to think Hamlet was a put-upon hero who could not overcome the impossible obstacle put before him. I now have a slightly different view of him as I have come to recognize Hamlet lacked a proactive spirit, and in so doing enabled the bad behavior of those around him. The same is true of King Lear, who is guilty of a few other major character flaws.

Othello gives so much insight into the danger of a lack of complete confidence in one's spouse. The play also highlights the damaging power of family who disapproves of a marriage, especially when the couple plays into the game. The older I get, the more apparent the racial tensions of Othello strike me -- something which barely registered in my high school brain.

Macbeth clearly illustrates the corruptive nature of lusting for power, and ambition without limits. My experience in the corporate world has taught me that many today harbor similar ambitions to the Macbeths. I especially enjoy the element of the withches' prophecy in the play, and the role it plays in the unfolding events. On the same note, Hamlet's father's supposed ghost also plays an interesting role, and calls into question what the ghost's intentions really are.

I could go on about each of these plays (really, I have written many a paper on them). I always jump at a chance to see them performed, whether on stage or on the movie screen. It is always a treat to see how directors and actors interpret the complex, ambiguous themes of the "big four." Every time I read one of the plays, it seem I gain a new perspective into the characters, which endears these plays to me even more.

The New Daughter: The Movie That Could Have Been Great

Recently I saw The New Daughter, a movie starring Kevin Costner as a recently-single father of two children. He decides to buy an old house in the middle of nowhere, South Carolina. Not too long after moving there, his teenage daughter starts behaving differently, causing Kevin Costner's character to become concerned about a mound on the property his daughter has taken a liking to. Of course, there is more to the mound than dirt and stones.

I noticed in the opening credits that the movie is based on a short story, but digging around I could not find out where the short story is published. I am glad I caught that detail in the opening credits, though, because it made sense of the movie's flow. The New Daughter starts off strong, with an interesting setup full of possibilities. Some may call the spooky-house-in-the-middle-of-nowhere motif cliche, but the fact of the matter is the setup is archetypal. The use of archetypes is not cliche, but rather what you do with those archetypes that determines if your story turns cliche or not.

Back to the subject of the movie, it starts off strong, which makes me suspect that strength came directly from the short story. Short stories are, well, short and so I am sure the screen writer needed to flesh out the material to make a feature length film. Unfortunately, what the screen writer put in was a poor follow-through. It was like watching your favorite sports team kick the tar out of everyone else all season, but then go to the playoffs and get worked over and eliminated right off the bat.

I was extremely disappointed in the ending, which I thought went for cheap thrills instead of going with the interesting threads started in the beginning of the story. That, and I found the ending depressing, but I will not say anymore about it, lest I spoil the movie for those of you who have not seen it.

Alas, some people actually really enjoyed this movie. The acting was good, which surprised me since I am not a huge Kevin Costner fan. The cinematography was good as well. The story was what got me, but then this is a subjective business. You may see the movie and love the ending and think I am way off, and that is just fine. Anyone who tries to act like storytelling is a science (there are many, many books on writing and English professors who practically claim this) rather than an art is a liar or delusional. There are plenty of critics who still think the Harry Potter series was a lot of bad writing, so to each his own.

The Jersey Devil

The Jersey Devil is more than the mascot for New Jersey's NHL team. The cryptid supposedly lives in the Pine Barrens or Pinelands in New Jersey, a wilderness area that stretches over seven counties in the Garden State. The creature reportedly looks demonic, complete with bat-like wings, a horse-like face, and rear legs with cloven hoofs. 

Thousands of people over the span of more than 250 years have reported seeing the creature, both in the Pine Barrens and in other areas. Some of these witnesses were prominent people of their time. Commodore Stephen Decatur, a U.S. naval officer who gained recognition for his efforts in the War of 1812, witnessed a strange creature flying through the sky near the Pine Barrens. Decatur was testing out a new batch of cannon balls for his ship when he saw the creature. He aimed his canon at the Jersey Devil, claiming he hit it at least once, yet the creature continued flying through the sky, unaffected by the projectile. 

The oldest brother of French leader Napolean Bonaparte, Joseph Bonaparte, also reported seeing the Jersey Devil. After an unsuccessful stint as the ruler of Spain and subsequent exile to the United States, Bonaparte was on a hunting excursion on his own property in Bordenton, New Jersey when he found some interesting animal tracks in the snow. The tracks, Bonaparte said, appeared to be similar to those of a donkey, only there were only two hoofs instead of four. Adding to the strangeness of the tracks, one of the hoofs appeared larger than the other. As if that were not enough, Bonaparte followed the tracks for a distance until they abruptly ended without explanation. Bonaparte was puzzling over the sudden disappearance of the animal when he turned around to find himself face-to-face with the Jersey Devil. Bonaparte was so shocked he forgot to shoot the creature, instead watching it fly away.

The year 1909 provided the widest audience ever to witnesses the Jersey Devil. The Devil and its tracks were reportedly seen all over southern New Jersey. Hunting parties went out in search of the creature. Hunting dogs were used to track the Jersey Devil down, but the dogs refused to follow the trail. Hunters followed tracks in the snow, only to find they disappeared abruptly. A New Jersey police officer saw the Devil and shot it with no seeming effect. A woman found the jersey devil attacking her dog in her back yard. Surprisingly, she was able to shoo off the Devil using only a broom. A mob, including police officers, chased the Jersey Devil to the top of a hill, where it flew away. Hundreds of witnesses spotted the Jersey Devil flying over the city of Philadelphia. 

Visitors to the Pine Barrens have reported not only seeing the Jersey Devil, but also hearing what many have assumed are its haunting screams. Paranormal investigators, including cryptozoologists, have failed to collect conclusive evidence of the Jersey Devil’s existence. Recently, the show Paranormal State featured an investigation in the Pine Barrens where a thermal image supposedly belonging to the Jersey Devil was captured. 

Where did the Jersey Devil come from? Legends around the Devil vary some, but essentially they state that a woman named Mrs. Shrouds of Leeds Point, New Jersey gave birth to the cryptid. Some say shrouds was tired of having children, and so said if she had anymore they would be a little devil. Others claim Shrouds was meddling with the dark arts and the child was literally the offspring of Lucifer. 

Some cryptozoologists believe the Jersey Devil is a surviving creature from times long ago, perhaps even a small dinosaur. Without the capture of a live Jersey Devil or the discovery of a dead corpse, the Jersey Devil will remain, for now, the stuff of legends.

Why Horror

Some people I know wonder why I write horror stories instead of stories about "nice" things. I should clarify before I go on that I do not write the gory or grotesque kind of horror so pervasive in horror books and movies these days. I lean more toward the "classic" end of the horror scale, the kind of stuff that people who want to simply see intestines and blood don't generally like. Poe and Hitchcock are my heroes, and I was hopeful the Sixth Sense would lead to some sort of a neo-classic horror revolution. Unfortunately that revolution didn't materialize.

Even though I am not writing the gore-fest horror novels, people may still wonder why I write horror. I learned during my collegiate studies that scary stories, including those little social nuggets commonly called urban legends, teach societal values to the receiver (or reader, watcher, etc). I'm still not sure what societal values are taught by some gory horror books and movies, but then I do not dwell too much on them.

As an example, the movie The Sixth Sense reinforces several societal values, all while scaring the pants off some people (not me, but I know some people who were afraid to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night after seeing the movie). Perhaps the biggest lesson taught by The Sixth Sense movie is the importance of family over all else, including professional success. Malcolm is supposedly a success at the beginning of the movie, but it is revealed he has sought his professional success at the expense of a deep relationship with his wife.

The old urban legend of the escaped convict with the hook instead of a hand also works to reinforce societal values. The couple who was almost the escaped convict's next victims was "parking" in a remote area. If the couple had not been engaging in risky sexual behavior in the car, they never would have been in risk of getting killed by the escaped convict, or of reaping other negative consequences from their behavior.

The whole cautionary tale aspect of horror writing attracts me, to be honest. I also think it is fun to come up with frightening scenarios. I still very much enjoy a good scary book or movie. Because horror should deal with people's fears, horror requires the author to dig deep into the human psyche. Some people may find such work unpleasant, but to me it is extremely enlightening. Horror writing is a challenge, especially if you don't just gloss over the deeper subjects your tales may scare up by simply pouring buckets of blood and entrails over everything.

Self-Publishing Gaining Respect

There was a time when self-published authors' books were referred to simply as "vanity press" publications and summarily dismissed. After a turn of events in print technology as well as the internet, self publishing has become more attractive to quite a few authors. Some newcomer writers who have not been able to get an agent or publisher to look at their book twice have self published and cracked the New York Times bestseller lists, as well as other bestseller lists. Movie deals are now negotiated for some self published books.

Why would an author want to self publish their book, instead of going with a publisher? Well, for one, publishers seem to be digging themselves into nice, comfortable ruts. It is pretty telling when you go to a bookstore, and it seems that 90% of the books are on only a handful of narrow topics. As a reader, I find that incredibly boring. As a writer, I find that lacking integrity. I thought about writing a vampire novel, since that was what agents and publishers want, but became disgusted with the idea quickly. I like doing my own thing, being original. Writing is not just about money, but also expressing myself and keeping people entertained.

Writers who self publish maintain greater control over their work. This means they do not have to add in garbage a publisher wants to add to "sell more books." Sorry, but my own principles dictate certain things I will not write about, no matter the size of the wad of cash being shoved in my face by a publisher. Oftentimes, publishers want to smooth out books to get rid of the "wrinkles" or original plot elements. What we are left with is a homogeneous slurry of bland books, all trying to copy one another. Trust me, we are still not done with the bland vampire onslaught, as evidenced by this New York Times review of The Passage here. 

Book sales reportedly are at a high, yet publishers are laying off people as their sales decline. How can this be? Obviously they are not the ones seeing growth in sales. Part of the reason for this I cannot help but believe is due to self published books eating away at big book publishers' sales. With the increase in technology for printing, marketing, and distributing books with greater ease, smaller publishers are also gaining headway in the market. I firmly believe competition is good, and the publishing industry has been locked up by a few powerful players far too long.

Click here to read a story by the Wall Street Journal about all of this. It is an interesting read, and backs up the claim that self published authors can outsell those with publishers. Of course, I will be the first to admit some self published books are not of high quality. But then, I have picked up publications at bookstores, put out by big time publishers, that are not exactly wonderful either.

E-Books and the Future of Reading

It seems quite a few electronic book reader devices are coming to market. Amazon fired the first real shot with the Kindle, which was at first greeted with skepticism by many. Electronic books have been talked about for so many years, like space travel, yet nobody had seemed to come up with a marketable solution.

After the Kindle became the #1 selling product on Amazon.com, the floodgates have opened for other e-readers. Apple has set the world on fire with its iPad device, drawing both praise and criticism from countless sources. Barnes & Noble has entered the fray with its Nook device, and now Borders has deployed its own e-reader (click here for more on the Borders Libre Pro).

Some have declared the death of paper books (and magazines and newspapers). I'm not so sure I agree with them. While e-readers are wonderful and offer flexibility traditional books do not, they also have inherent limitations. On top of that, call me an old soul, but there is nothing like reading that old book complete with dog-eared pages and the musty smell of old paint and paper.

I still use paper for a good portion of my pre-writing exercises, and to jot down quick flashes of brilliance I have throughout the day. A Moleskine journal sits in my back pocket right now, and it stays with me throughout every day. I tried before to write down notes and thoughts on a mobile device, but it was not as quick nor as easy. That being said, I obviously am not writing this post with pen and paper, so there is a space for electronic devices.

I certainly will not be throwing out all of my books because of my Kindle or because I buy an iPad. I probably will buy fewer cheap paperbacks at the bookstore, which will mean less book clutter at my house (my wife is cheering).

Something About Coraline

My wife will testify that I am obsessed with Coraline. I saw the movie not having read Neil Gaiman's young adult horror novel. I was familiar with some of Gaiman's other work, especially in the comic book world. I knew of his superb talent as a storyteller, but I tried to not get my expectations up too much. After having seen quite a few movie adaptations of books that slaughtered the source material, I have learned to set my expectations low. Little did I know there was no need to do that with this movie.

For those who have not seen the movie nor read the book, Coraline is about a little girl who moves into an old Victorian house that has been carved up into several apartments. She finds a small door hidden behind the wallpaper, which leads into an alternative world where everything seems better. The movie is definitely not for little kids, since I have known a fair share of adults who were creeped out by it.

The stop motion animation is superbly done in the movie, and the story flows quite smoothly. One of my favorite parts of the film is the soundtrack, which makes use of a myriad of instruments as well as a childrens choir. I also thoroughly enjoyed the use of mythology in the story, such as Coraline using a seer stone to find magical objects. Any movie that can effortlessly and seamlessly employ world mythology has my vote. The whole story has a good moral to it as well.

If you have not read or seen Coraline, I highly recommend checking it out. The book is a quick read, especially for an adult. I personally would not let a child under 10 see the movie, but that is just me.

How to Write a Novel

Writing a novel is very much like eating an elephant (or so I have been told, since I have never actually eaten one). The task seems daunting when you first start out. Many a person has been struck with an idea they think would make a great novel. They sit down, start writing the beginning of the book, maybe make it a few chapters, and then they fizzle out completely. Some people underestimate the amount of work that goes into writing a novel. Others get partway into their book, only to realize it has become a tangled mess.

Like any large, complicated process, you do not dive head-first into writing a book. Every once in a blue moon someone will do just that, and somehow the book turns out fine -- that is the exception. Writing a book takes careful planning, like building a car. Do you know what goes into building a completely new car? Well, for starters, automakers put a lot of time and energy into designing the car. It used to be that ink and paper were the modes for design, but today car designers employ computer software. Every aspect of the car is designed, from the ergonomics of the dash controls to the aerodynamics of the exterior.

The first step of writing a novel is pre-writing. Why so many people think they can sidestep pre-writing is beyond me. Perhaps it is viewed as extra work, or busy work. Trust me, when auto designers plot out the position of every last bolt in a new vehicle before it is ever fabricated, the first test driver to take the car up to freeway speeds appreciates the forward thinking. That being said, there are a lot of ways to pre-write, just like there are a lot of ways to write. Anyone who tells you there is one true way to write is trying to sell you their book on writing or they are very narrow-minded. Pre-writing is something you need to customize to your own writing abilities and style. I have heard some writers envision the words before they put them to the page. I, on the other hand, see things play out like a movie in my mind and then try to describe them for the reader. The pre-writing methods I use would be different from those used by writers who see words. That being said, not every way of pre-writing is a good way.

I combined some different pre-writing methods when I wrote my first novel, Shadow House, using some methods I read in a screenwriting book, the snowflake method described here, and another site explaining how to write a novel in 100 days or less (you can read it here). I highly recommend researching different schools of thought on pre-writing, then deviating at least some from them all and making your own system.

As far as the process of actually writing the novel, I agree with writers such as Stephen King who say you sit down and you write. Too many people try to make everything perfect in the first draft. My first drafts are kind of messy. There is a reason they call it a rough draft. I write what I feel, I write what I planned, and sometimes I change what I planned in the pre-writing. Yes, all that work pre-writing and sometimes I change it for various reasons. Sometimes I just feel like a change is warranted, sometimes I realize there is a continuity or flow issue once I am on the ground writing the novel, and sometimes the characters take over and change things such as their behavior.

After you write your first daft, you are far from done writing. You have now moved on to what I call the vacation phase. Yes, that's right, I take a vacation from my novel. I work on other writing projects, such as another novel, short stories -- it doesn't matter. The point is, I take a significant amount of time off from anything surrounding my novel. By the time I come back to the manuscript, I see things differently.

During the rewrite phase I catch many of my mistakes, and so I go over the manuscript with a fine tooth comb. I will read the book several times over, looking for mistakes in grammar, spelling, poor word choice, clarity, story flow, continuity, and many other factors. I do a lot of restructuring and writing during the rewrites, and that is when the story truly takes shape. Writers who think they only need to lightly edit their writing for grammar and spelling errors are not being honest with themselves. The biggest effort I make in the writing process is in rewriting and refining my work.

After I am done rewriting the book, I then let others read over it for feedback. You have to be careful about whom you select, since you need people who can be honest, yet not destructively critical. You also need to be careful, as Stephenie Meyer found out, who you select since someone could leak the entire manuscript online, violating your trust. Once I get feedback from these people, I choose what I do with it. Just because someone says you need to change an aspect of your book does not mean you need to do it. You are the author and are ultimately in control of your creation. That being said, you need to consider closely the feedback you receive. If you are truly careful about whom you select for feedback, you will have an easier time evaluating the feedback.

Now everything is done, right? Wrong. I re-read the book a few more times, making sure nothing else is wrong. I have caught blatant errors even in this phase (and embarrassingly after this phase). I really pay close attention to the book's formatting, since at this point the structure of the book is unlikely to change dramatically.

Sound like a lot of work? You will put a lot of hours into writing a novel. You had better choose a subject you feel passionate about, otherwise you will find yourself hating the novel by the end. After you write it, then you will talk to others about it for some time afterward.

C. S. Lewis: Till We Have Faces

Published in 1956, Til We Have Faces is a book many who enjoy Lewis' other works may not be familiar with, or perhaps may not have even heard of before. When I was introduced to the book, I had already read over a dozen C.S. Lewis books, and they had all impacted me quite heavily. But this book would impact me the most -- something I was not expecting whatsoever.

Till We Have Faces was a dream of Lewis' since he was in his fledgling years as a scholar and writer. The book is a retelling of the tale of Cupid and Psyche. If you are not familiar with this tale, it does help to review it before reading the book. There are many simple mythology books that will give you enough of an overview of what happened between Cupid and Psyche that you will appreciate completely what Lewis did with his tale.

 The characters in the book live in a made-up barbarian kingdom in pre-Christian Europe. In the kingdom there are two princesses, one ugly and one strikingly beautiful. The beautiful princess is swept away by Cupid, much to the displeasure of the other princess. Lewis explores the pain and frustration experienced by those who do not understand the actions of the gods (or the Christian God) when those we love are taken away, or other difficult things transpire in their lives.

I am sure it is no coincidence Lewis dedicated Till We Have Faces to Joy, his late wife. While I truly appreciate A Grief Observed, Till We Have Faces really took me for a trip emotionally. The way Lewis draws the reader emotionally through his lesson, one that can be very abstract and all-encompassing at times, is masterful. I have not been so completely sucked in by very many books. If you are a fan of C. S. Lewis, give Till We Have Faces a try. You will not regret it.

Critics

You'll always have your critics, at least that is the saying. I actually think there is a lot of wisdom encased in the saying. Oftentimes, the higher you rise, the more you are criticized by at least some of those around you.

Why do humans feel the need to criticize others? The type of criticism I am talking about is not the constructive type, but rather the destructive kind. My wife, for example,is excellent at telling me when an idea of mine is not working, and also why. I am always suspicious of criticism that is only degrading, that mentions no strengths of a thing, and that offers no solution or insight. The destructive type of criticism seeks to break down, to mortally wound others' agendas, ideas, efforts, etc.

I spent a few years of my life doing volunteer in Honduras, but not on the paradisaical white sand beaches. Most of my time was spent in the ghettos of Honduras' capital city, Tegucigalpa, where for many there was little money and little hope. It was always interesting to see when someone tried to better their situation, especially through education. Like a boiling pot of crabs, other people would try to belittle, insult, or threaten the person.

So why do humans feel the need to criticize in destructive ways? Fear is a powerful motivator. Fear has pushed people to commit unspeakable crimes. Many people feel threatened by those around them who rise above, especially those who are in the early stages of rising above. Perhaps if they can get that one barb into the person's skin, such as a defeatist thought, then that person would sink back down to the level that makes the aggressor comfortable. After all, misery loves company.

What should you do if you are reaching toward a lofty goal and find yourself surrounded by such critics? First of all, realize such people are not your friends. Real friends (or family) can share in the joy of your success, even if it is not their own. Secondly, do not internalize the bitter comments. Realize the comments are born out of bitterness and should be viewed accordingly. Finally, remember if you are receiving such comments, you are headed in the right direction. If you were just cruising through life, living below your true potential, these critics would be content and quiet, perhaps even friendly to you.

Money & Writing

"The man who does not work for the love of work but only for the love of money is not likely to make money nor find much fun in life." - Charles M. Schwab

Everyone, it seems, is trying to write "the next Harry Potter" or "the next Twilight" or something like that. There is a sea of wanna-be writers who are constantly dazzled by the media's accounts of ridiculous payouts to authors, especially to newcomer authors who previously were of little to no notoriety. The hope of these hopeful writers is that they too will strike it rich in the publishing lottery, making millions in a short space of time. What comes after that? I'm not so sure these people have thought of that.

Click here to read about Justin Cronin, whose vampire book The Passage has already landed a movie rights contract of over $1 million. People are in a frenzy writing their own vampire novels in hopes of similar success. What they fail to notice in the story is that not only is Cronin a professor, but he is a graduate of Iowa Writer's Workshop. Trust me, the Iowa Writer's Workshop is the Julliard of the writing world. Not only is Cronin's success abnormal, but so is his background.

I don't have a sexy publishing contract, and I don't know if I ever will. I don't have an agent or a publicist who has an office in a Manhattan high-rise. I have yet to put together a dramatic book trailer for my next novel. My writing space is a small nook in my basement, located next to the furnace and the water heater. My desk barely fits in the nook, and my chair barely fits in between the two shelves crammed with books and other things.

So why do I write? It obviously is not for the money, or I would still be holding out for that $700,000 up-front from a publisher. I write because I love to write. I tell stories because I love to move people. I have so many stories and characters in my head, I feel like I am going to burst. I have to write my stories down and share them, otherwise I could not live with myself.

Writing and storytelling are just in me. If I can make money telling stories, that is just icing on the cake. But, if I cannot make much money telling stories, I would still tell them. It may be longer between books and other story projects, but I would keep telling my stories. It is not about the money, but about doing what I love.

One Book a Year

Not too long after I graduated from college I ran across this statistic: the average American college graduate reads one book a year. I was floored, astounded, dumbfounded - you name it. Just one book a year?

Maybe other academic programs do not require that much reading, but in an average semester I would read about 2 1/2 books a week. How would I keep up with such a reading schedule along with working part time, researching and writing papers, and still doing non-academic things from time-to-time? Well, in my first English major course my professor taught us all how to speed read. Trust me, it came in very handy.

Granted, I do not read 2 1/2 books per week right now, but I would love to. I read all the time: books, magazines, news, you name it. I cannot imagine a life without reading. I also love to write, obviously. One of my biggest goals in life is to write books people enjoy reading, books people look forward to and not dread. I view myself as an entertainer, not just a writer, almost like a performer. Always leave them wanting more - that's what they say in show business.

I have heard back from numerous people who have read Shadow House, saying they could not put the book down. They read the whole thing in two or three days because they could not wait to see what happened to Scott and the house. I love to hear that. My favorite books are the books I just cannot seem to put down. I stay up late reading, I read them every chance I get - just ask my wife. I love to hear I have given other people this euphoric reading experience, since that is really what reading is all about. Hopefully I can help tip the scales, along with other writers, so the average college graduate reads two books, three books, maybe more per year. So I go back to the workshop, cranking out more writing that keeps readers engaged, keeps them guessing, and most important keeps them reading. 

Utah's Strange Creatures

It seems every time I dig more into the cryptozoological world within the borders of Utah, I find out about more and more strange creatures that supposedly live in the state. As I pointed out in a couple of my Examiner articles, Bigfoot has been spotted in Utah quite a bit. Despite being the second most arid state in the Union, Utah also is said to have a lake monster in Bear Lake. I have not run across any real stories of werewolves or super wolves in Utah, which seem to be more common in the Great Lakes region of the country. Utahns have reported seeing skinwalkers, which can be wolf-like in appearance.

One cryptozoologist spent some time in Utah looking for fabled super-size beavers. I am not making that part up. Yes, I chuckled when I first read it as well. You seem to get all kinds of interesting stories in the paranormal world, from the creepy to the ridiculous.

One of the most compelling stories of fantastical creatures living in Utah comes from the Piute Tribe in Southern Utah. Supposedly there is an old Piute legend about two snakes of unusual size that live under the Henry Mountains. The Henry Mountains area in Southern Utah is extremely remote, rugged, and dry. It is the home of the only free roaming herd of buffalo in the United States. Some have theorized these large snakes feed off the buffalo. The legend states that the snakes guard a cave in the Henry Mountains that is lined with gold, and contains tablets made of gold with inscriptions that detail the history of mankind. Witnesses have reported that snakes are about 30 feet long and have leathery skin instead of the usual scales. It's an interesting tale, and the fact the Henry Mountains are so rugged and are frequented by so few humans makes it even more interesting. Could large snakes be living in an area like that? Scientists used to think gorillas were simply local myth in Africa in the early 20th century.

One of the fun things about the paranormal and cryptozoology is the fact anything is seemingly possible, including the existence of blood sucking predators from outer space. For this reason one needs to be cautiously selective about what they believe. At the same time, though, those who are so quick to dismiss anything strange may be the true fools who close their minds out of discomfort and fear.

The Last Harry Potter

Moviegoers are eagerly awaiting the final two Harry Potter movies. The final book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, is going to be adapted into two films. I guess someone felt there was too much going on in the last book to cut things, out, even though much has been trimmed out of other Harry Potter books.

For those of us who read, we already know how the Harry Potter series ends. I picked up the final Harry Potter installment the day it came out, and finished it 2 days later. Yes, I am a fast reader. In any case, I enjoyed the final book but did not feel completely satisfied with the ending.

I'm not going to ruin the ending for those of you who have not yet read the book. As a writer, I was looking at the ending of the book in a different way than others might have been. The ending felt a little stiff, a little less organic and flowing than the endings for some of Rowling's other books. I think Rowling is masterful at telling smooth tales with lots of twists and turns, which was why the ending to this final book took me by surprise.

I was puzzling over this ending for some time after finishing The Deathly Hallows, until one day I ran across an interview with Rowling. I wish I had bookmarked the website, since I can no longer remember where I found it. The important part was J.K. Rowling admitted she wrote the ending to the last Harry Potter before she ever penned The Sorcerer's Stone. I don't think that was a bad idea, but I got the impression she did not let the development of the Harry Potter series alter that ending. I am sure Rowling was quite attache to the ending, as it is evident she is quite attached to her characters, and so she sheltered it from change. Sadly, I wonder what kind of ending would have resulted from Rowling letting the end of the story develop as it would. I have planned many events in books, only to see them change once I actually write the book. This can make for excellent writing.

I know I have blasphemed against Harry Potter, a sin I may never live down in some peoples' eyes. I have mentioned this opinion to some of my friends, only to receive terse remarks in return. Apparently Rowling can do no wrong in some peoples' eyes. For my next unspeakable act, I will point out flaws in J.R.R. Tolkien's work. I'll be here all day folks, so come back for more...

"I Wish I Were a Writer..."

I get interesting reactions from people when I tell them what I do, including a CNA in the emergency room I was unfortunately visiting late Saturday night. I guess there are a limited supply of writers walking around, unless you are in New York of L.A.

One reaction I get from people when they learn my profession is "I wish I were a writer" or something similar. My perception is that quite a few people think writing is somehow an "easy street" profession. There are many challenges to writing, one of which is the struggle to consistently produce quality pieces.

See a person may one day sit down and write out some brilliant essay on an event from his childhood or a current social phenomena. Now, sometimes what some people think is brilliant others think is garbage, but that happens even to the best writers. In any case, for the sake of argument we will say the piece is brilliant. Bravo, congratulations to that person. Does that mean they have what it takes to write professionally? Not necessarily.

In writing, especially when it comes to journalism or web content writing, you not only need to be brilliant but you also need to be quick and prolific. Can you write a brilliant piece in under an hour? What about less than thirty minutes? That person who wrote the one essay may have slaved away at it for hours, maybe over the course of several days.

Sometimes this holds true in fiction, depending on the author's publishing contract. Some authors are under the obligation to pump out a surprising number of books in a compressed period of time. Screenwriters often are under pressure to produce quite a bit of material regularly, as are scriptwriters for television shows.

Back to people wishing they were writers, I am surprised how many "aspiring" writers do not write every day. During some romantic whim I have expressed to my wife before how I wish I played a musical instrument, but then I have not bothered to buy one. Even if I did purchase an instrument, I would still need to practice it daily to get really good. So why haven't I? Obviously, at this point, the wish is romantic and not serious. If I truly wanted to play an instrument I would be playing the thing until it hurt, every day, until I got good. And then I would keep playing every day.

Writing is the same way. You have to practice it every day. If you want it to be your profession, you need to be fast and prolific (unless you get one of those cushy publishing contracts people whisper about but nobody gets). This means if you do not feel inspired one day or you are tired, you still write. It is much easier to write when inspiration is hovering above your head, but then you may only write one day a week, which quite frankly is not enough to get you anywhere in the world of professional writing.