Passion and Writing

 
“Light yourself on fire with passion and people will come from miles to watch you burn.” John Wesley 

Wesley had it right: when you are truly passionate about something, people will be drawn to you and your activities of passion. Why is that though? There are probably many reasons, but I think one of the biggest reasons--if not the biggest reason--is that many, many people are going through life in neutral. They are literally coasting through, taking the easy route as they live a mediocre life. It's really a sad thing, if you ask me, but I think many people actually love such a life. 

When these people encounter someone with true passion, they are drawn like a moth to a flame. Sometimes people react to the passionate with awe and wonder, and sometimes they react with revulsion and annoyance. But one thing's for sure: they always stop to observe, and then react. 


I hope to be the kind of passionate person people stop and observe with wonder and awe, but in reality I know you can't always please everyone. Sometimes you have to be who and what you are and let everyone react to your activity without it affecting your passion. Unlike some passionate people, I am not trying to offend or polarize people with my writing. 


I have to admit when I first set foot on publishing ground I did so with a fair amount of hesitation. I had no idea what to expect as I blazed a way into fresh territory. I had never done any work that was so out there for literally anyone to praise or revile. Looking back, I was really just dipping my toe in the water. 


That is all changing now, with the publication of my second book drawing near. I am writing what I have a passion for--not to say my first book contained no passion, but it would be different if I were to write it today. The feedback I have received from my batch of "test readers" has been overwhelmingly positive, proving that writing with passion is key. 


So how does one write with passion? I think one of the biggest keys is to not hold back. All of us to one extent or another filter what we say and what we write. As writers, we hold a portion of ourselves back from the blank page we stare at. Writing with passion requires you to figuratively spill your own blood across the page as you open yourself up and put a good portion of yourself into your writing. You might make yourself a little vulnerable in a way, but that makes good writing. Of course there are many writers who are afraid to do this, partially because if what they have written is criticized it feels like a personal attack on them. The only solution to this I have been able to find is to keep writing--not just books, but other kinds of written works--and eventually as a writer you build up thick enough skin that it doesn't bother you. 


Aside from that, writing with passion is something that is difficult to teach and to learn. It is the same as learning to do any performance art with passion, as well as to produce works of art with passion. After all, in the end writers are at least in part artists.

Paranormal Fridays: A Paranormal Board Game Movie

There was Jumanji. Before that there was the Clue movie. Movies based on board games, though, were few and far between. Now that Hollywood is into a sequels and adaptations frenzy, board games apparently seem like good basis for a number of movies. Perhaps one of the biggest stretches was this summer's Battleship, which didn't have really anything to do with the game.

As if that wasn't enough, Universal Studios is cooking up a movie based on the popular "game" known as the Ouija Board. I have written about Ouija Boards many times before, including explaining on this blog why I would never use one myself. Ouija Boards, or "spirit boards" as they have been called in the past, is an area I have studied a fair amount about.

According to recent reports, Universal originally was developing an Ouija Board movie that was big on CGI and family friendly. The studio had tapped director McG (This Means War) to tell the original version of the movie, but then dropped the project. Several months later it picked the movie up again, but this time with a scarier vision, lower budget and a direction heavily inspired by the runaway hit Paranormal Activity. Jason Blume, who directed Insidious (a movie I thoroughly enjoyed), has been appointed as the movie's director.

I know how I would write such a movie: it would be a cautionary tale about why you shouldn't use a spirit board. I have no idea what direction the writing team for this new movie will take, but it will be interesting. I suspect once we start to see some marketing collateral for the movie we will have a pretty good idea. I think it's pretty likely that the movie will revolve around people making contact with a not-so-nice spirit via the Ouija board, but that's just a guess. After all, I wouldn't have predicted that Battleship would be all about an alien invasion.

Literacy Advocacy

Those of you who follow me on Twitter already know that lately I have been amping up my efforts to encourage literacy advocacy. Unfortunately my efforts have mostly been limited to my family, so the increase in effort hasn't been too hard to achieve. The good news is that's about to change.

Reading opens a world of opportunities for both kids and adults, but there is a shocking amount in our society who can't read or whose reading skills are shockingly poor. These people go through life severely limited in their ability to understand what's going on around them. I'm sure news stories can be confusing for those who read poorly. Researching anything either online or at a library would be intimidating. Contracts to buy a house, car, etc would be dizzying to understand for someone with weak reading comprehension. Reading (especially reading well) literally is power.

At first I am planning on using the launch of my new middle grade book as a good excuse to go out and become more involved in the general community. The book is written for kids, so I will be starting by encouraging kids to love reading. Part of the reason why I am even writing the book is to encourage kids to read, as well as to tell a fantastic story. This means I will be doing speaking engagements, volunteering at libraries and community centers and doing other activities that will put me in a position to encourage kids to read--not just a little, but a lot.

If any of you have suggestions of ways I can further advocate literacy, I would love to hear them. I have some other ideas, but they are still developing and so I'm not sure how feasible they are. Right now I am looking to innovate and use some methods that might not be quite so conventional to get people to try out reading, hoping to make them into little reading addicts. 

I feel that one key thing I can do as an author to support literacy is to put out books kids and adults love reading. Some people are turned off on reading simply because they felt forced to read some boring book. My challenge is to get those people reading again--not because they have to, but because they really enjoy what they're reading. I want my books to be entertaining enough more people turn off the TV, get off their computer and immerse themselves in a world of words. 

For sure more news about my literacy advocacy efforts will be posted here. I will be sharing what works, what doesn't and hopefully inspiring others to take up the same cause. 

Paranormal Fridays: Weaponizing Alien Tech?

Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. And sometimes truth and fiction converge, even though nobody at the time the fiction was being produced knew it.

Those of you who follow the UFO news (don't you all jump up and down at once) already know that England has declassified thousands of pages of official government documents pertaining to UFOs, aliens and such. Journalists and others have slowly been sifting through the massive amounts of information, finding out some interesting and even startling facts from these real-life x-files.

The Huffington Post recently broke a story detailing how government officials were working on plans to potentially weaponize alien technology, just like in so many sci-fi movies, books and television shows. Basically, UK leaders were contemplating how they could capture and either use or reproduce alien technology to fight off potential alien invasions or even other nations on this planet (human nations, just to clear that up).

What kinds of technologies were they interested in? Well, for starters they seemed interested in how UFOs could pilot through night skies at blazing fast speeds without making very much noise. Anyone who has ever heard and felt a stealth plane that has flown overhead knows the technology isn't quiet (even if you do hear it long after the plane has passed by).

Craft propulsion wasn't the only thing the Brits were interested in. Some documents also talked about figuring out how to use "atmospheric plasma or ball lightning" for particularly devastating weapons.

Lest you jump to conclusions and assume the United Kingdom's military secretly is using alien technology, the documents also contain passages affirming that the government has not recovered any crashed UFOs, and so does not have access to their technology. The documents also deny any knowledge about the Roswell, New Mexico incident some claim provided the United States government with access to not only aliens, but their spacecraft's technology.

Of course so many people are probably already wondering if they can trust the declassified documents from the UK. These people have asked if the United Kingdom has secretly been harboring alien technology that crashed on Earth, why would they suddenly let everyone in the world know about it through the declassification of government documents. I have no idea if they or the United States has access to alien technology, but if they do I would really like them to install systems in all of the cars that send an electric current through anyone who texts in the driver's seat while a vehicle is moving.

That would be excellent use of alien technology, for sure.

Middle Grade Book Progress Report

Some of the art tools I have put to use for my book's cover.

Anyone who reads this blog regularly knows I am working on a secretive middle grade novel I am hoping to have ready for publication this fall. I have posted some pictures of the cover artwork progress, but up to this point that's pretty much all I have divulged as far as details.

The cover is drawing near to completion, which is a very rewarding thing for me. I have not done a really in-depth finished colored pencil drawing that's bigger than 3 by 5 for a long time. Doing artwork on a regular basis is a lot of fun and I have noticed that my stress levels have dropped as a result. While I draw I have found I can also think about other things such as the book's plot or problems I need to work out, and my mind actually flows very smoothly while I have pencil to paper. As an added plus, I have 100% freedom with my cover design, for better or for worse.

While I am wrapping up the cover artwork, I am also working on the cover layout as well as draft revisions. Writing for a much younger audience than I am normally used to so far is a different experience, so I have had that to navigate. I have had other people reading over what I have written, getting valuable feedback about what works and what doesn't and why. This has lead me to begin further tweaking my book's content.

I am anxious to get this book published, not because I want to be done with it. Instead, I am excited because I want to see readers' reactions. The story is so original I am wondering how people will take it. Instead of rushing to get the book out the door, I am taking my time to make sure I get things just right. And yes, I am already plotting out a sequel (actually a few).

More news to come in the near future!

Paranormal Fridays: Another Happy Friday the 13th!

In case you haven't already heard, it is yet another Friday the 13th today! And in case you are not a regular follower of my blog, I was born on a Friday the 13th. Because of the timing of my birth, I have had some of my luckiest days on Fridays the 13th. I honestly look forward to these rare occurences.

Believe it or not, there is a signficant portion of the population that dreads or even has an extreme fear of any Friday the 13th (and I'm not talking about the movies). I have personally known people who actually want to remove the 13th day from every month, adding an extra day to the tail end of the month just to eliminate the chance of a Friday the 13th from ever coming around again. Of course the question that begs to be answered is will changing what we call the day really change what transpires during it? Without getting too deeply into a postmodern philosophical discussion on the topic, I do have to wonder if changing the name of something--including a day or event--changes the effect of that thing. Like Shakespeare wrote in the famous balcony scene of Romeo and Juliet "what's in a name?"

So what's so bad about Friday the 13th? Don't ask me, since whatever it is seems to have the exact opposite effect on me. Perhaps by being one of the lucky ones born on the day, I somehow altered the metaphysical nature of Friday the 13th, causing its mojo to turn lucky for me. Or maybe the reason why Friday the 13th is so unlucky for so many people is that their beliefs about the day brings about a self-fulfilling prophecy, whereas my upbeat attitude about the day brings about the exact opposite outcome.

Is there anything paranormal about Friday the 13th? Probably about as much as some other events we call paranormal, even if it is for a loss of a better means of explaining the phenomena. Or perhaps there really is something behind the scenes pulling the strings to make Friday the 13th a bad day for many, while it for whatever reason smiles on me (and anyone else born on that day?).

What do you all think?

The Joys of Writing for Children

I am currently working on publishing my first book aimed at children. It's a middle grade novel to be precise, meaning it will be aimed at kids in the latter grades of elementary school. The book is in the stages of revision and I am currently drawing the cover myself (see the picture above).

This book represents a few firsts for me: the first time I have drawn the cover for a book I have published, my first published book with a female protagonist and my first book written for children. So far it has been an interesting experience since everything I have written and published up to this point has been geared at an adult audience, complete with scary sequences and themes throughout the story lines.

Writing for kids is definitely a different kind of process in many ways. The experience so far is a good one; so good in fact that I am already plotting a few sequels to the book I am working on. I also have some other book ideas for kids, including both middle grade and children's books I fully intend on publishing in the near future. At first I thought writing a book for kids was a difficult process because I had to start thinking like I was nine again. After perusing through some of the books I enjoyed at that age I began really remembering what it was like to be a kid reader. Unlike many adults, kids are accepting of fantastic elements in their stories, which gives me more freedom in my storytelling. Instead of worrying if the reader will suspend judgement and go with me on a crazy adventure, with kids I can go anywhere my imagination takes me. In essence I get to be a kid again--unfettered imagination and all.

I almost feel like I am playing Santa Clause, but for a lot of kids. This story is so different and imaginative. As I am working on it I am imagining what will be going through little kid minds. Hopefully I inspire them to read more, to love that feeling of starting a new book and reading it faithfully to the end.Maybe I will even inspire some future writers; I was first inspired to write by a middle grade book.

Writing for kids is a magical process. That's not to say writing for older crowds is not, but just that it is magical in a different way.

Paranormal Fridays: What Lives in the Great Salt Lake?

The Great Salt Lake, located in the northern part of the state of Utah, is famous for many reasons. It is the largest natural lake in the Western United States, measuring roughly 2,625square miles. Because the Great Salt Lake is not incredibly deep, slight changes in the water level can cause the shoreline to move several miles in some parts.The lake is more saline than the ocean, so little lives in it.

There are some who claim that more than just brine shrimp live in the lake. I wrote before about the Great Salt Lake Phantom, but that technically is not a living creature. There have been past reports of large creatures some call monsters living in the lake.

Around 1847 a man known simply as Brother Bainbridge reported seeing a strange creature in the Great Salt Lake. He was near Antelope Island at the time he spotted what he said appeared to be a dolphin's body.

The next report was from 1877. Workers from Barnes and Co. Salt Works said they saw a large creature with a crocodile-like body and a head that resembled a horse's wading through the lake. The creature made a loud noise and then charged at the workers on the shore, who ran up the nearby hills and hid in the underbrush until morning. The event reportedly took place at twilight. Some have questioned if the workers invented the tale to cover up that they had been drinking on the job and passed out until morning. Others theorize the workers actually saw a buffalo. Locals started calling the creature the North Shore Monster.

It seems much harder to believe that a large, mysterious creature is living in the Great Salt Lake versus other bodies of water given how shallow the lake is. A large creature would be spotted easily and often. Even if it did live on brine shrimp, such a creature wouldn't have much food for long.Still, these tales do illustrate man's gut inclination to be distrustful of large bodies of water and what secrets they might harbor.

Patience and Writing

One of the things I struggle with as a writer is learning the right amount of patience. I guess it's good I am improving as a writer and not going backwards, but I fully admit the sometimes I get a little too antsy and eager with my creative works.

I do believe that most new writers struggle with this impatience problem. It is very similar to a quarterback who is nervous about getting hit, and so he just flings the ball out there as fast as he can after he sinks back into the pocket. What happens? He throws an incomplete pass, or worse an interception. Over time and with enough experience that quarterback begins to learn just how long he should hold onto the ball for everything to fall into place so he can gain some real yardage.

Writing can be much the same way. I have seen a lot of writers, some who are even quite experienced, rush too quickly to bring a book or other story to market. Prometheus is a perfect example of just such a half-baked writing job. Readers for the most part don't buy the fantasy you are trying to sell them because it feels too forced, too fabricated.

I finally feel like I am starting to get a feel for an appropriate speed with this middle grade book I am working on right now. I would really like to have it out in time for Halloween, but I am not going to rush too much and sacrifice the quality of the story just to meet that deadline. The story is just too good to not to it right, and I know I owe the story and my readers a well put together book. I did the same thing with The Devil's Nightmare, since something about it just didn't feel right. I put the brakes on and am not going to bring the book to market until it feels right, however long that's going to take. 

Epic Fantasy

I think a lot of people are fans of epic fantasies, if they are done right. The success, both past and present, of J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle Earth books is a testament to this fact. I consider Tolkien to have been a master of the craft.

When I was a teenager I got an idea for an epic fantasy novel series. I started writing the first book in the series, only to peter out after about a hundred pages or so. I knew then that I wasn't ready to really write the story. I had another crack at it several years ago, not too long before I started writing Shadow House. That time I produced about three hundred pages, but the whole thing felt off in a way I couldn't quite pinpoint. The smartest thing I did that time around was I did a lot of prewriting. When I say a lot, I mean I filled up a few notebooks and some sketchbooks with ideas, background for the world I was creating, character descriptions, ideas about the plot, etc.

I have continued to add to that body of prewriting since and the world I started to create has become much richer. The history of the world has deepened and become more complex. At the same time the characters have also become more interesting and three-dimensional. It's become a place where my mind can go and walk around, experiencing everything this other world has to offer.

I finally feel like I am nearing the point that I can really tell this story. The story is big and it is epic. There are multiple layers of themes, as well as many characters. It will probably still take me quite some time to bring the first book to market, and I anticipate writing at least two more. I will also likely be producing a large body of artwork to accompany the books, and so I might be doing some interesting projects with that as well. The story is not really like anything I have read, seen or heard of before and so it deserves to be told in a unique and memorable way.

From time to time I might mention this epic fantasy book, maybe even give everyone a few peeks into my sketches. Hopefully in the not too distant future I will have the first book ready for the public, and then you all can become familiar with the world my mind likes to traverse on a fairly regular basis.