Don't Make Jokes

A couple months ago, while getting a vehicle to replace my wife's van, I made a joke. One of those wierd off the cuff jokes that seem funny to you but may not be to others. You may know the kind.

In this case, in response to an interogative about my car, I replied that I would drive it until the wheels fell off. Some of you may be laughing, because you can see what's coming. Go ahead take a moment...

So, I'm driving through Ohio yesterday and, wouldn't you know it, my wheel comes off. We all know that God has a sense of humor but how often do we get such clear proof? The lesson from this bit of truth appears to be to not make jokes that you wouldn't want to find yourself living out in real life. At least, I think that's the lesson.

S L Eaves: A Twelfth Night Interview

This month sees the publication of The Endangered by S L Eaves. In support of her novel the author is participating in a blog tour and has agreed to be our Twelfth Night Interview for this month. But first let’s take a look at what her book is about.

The Endangered:

S&D Industries is a prominent pharmaceutical company based in New York. It has, for many years, appeared to exist only for the benefit of humanity, and this year's chief product seems no different. The company's CEO, whom we know only as Striden, announces the imminent delivery of a powerful flu vaccine. The true purposes of S&D are anything but philanthropic, however. The newly-engineered drug does not protect against flu. It turns people into werewolves.

The only group which stands a chance of resisting this change is a population of vampires. The foremost of them, who go by the name of The Endangered, are determined to turn back the mass werewolf infestation. Among them are an ambitious rebel named Catch, and Lori, Catch's newly-turned protégé. Catch has brought this treacherous world to Lori's doorstep and both their worlds are turned upside-down in the process. Secrets are exposed, alliances are formed. Blood is spilled as the vampires must do everything in their power to preserve both their own kind and that of their food supply.

The Interview with S L Eaves:

1. Your first book, The Endangered, was just released; what will you tell us about it?

It’s a story about a small clan of vampires who are trying to take on rapidly spreading, dangerous packs of werewolves and discover that they are planning to infect the masses through dispersing a virus masked as a vaccine to the human population. 

The readers are pulled into this world through the eyes of the main character, a newly turned vampire who does not know anything about what’s going on and is resistant to get involved. We see her struggle with conflicted feelings towards her maker and the other vampires, but ultimately as she realizes what they are fighting for and decides to take up their cause. Blood, violence, and chaos ensues.

2. What made you decide to write a Vampire vs. Werewolf novel?

I started writing it when I was taking a Slavic course on ‘Vlad the Impaler’ and the origins of vampire mythology in college. I enjoyed Buffy the Vampire Slayer as a teenager, but otherwise was not really into the genre until started reading about the history of Eastern Europe (I happened to be taking a horror film course at the time which didn’t hurt). Then, seeing how pop culture has treated these horror icons in recent years - with the romanticizing and “de-fanging” - I set out to write a story that would find a happy medium between the current trend of modernized, likeable paranormal creatures and their horror roots. I wanted to stay true to the mythology but still make it relatable to a present-day audience. 

3. Which is your favorite; Vampires or Werewolves?

Vampires.

4. Was this book at all influenced by the Underworld movie series or the Twilight novels? 

Underworld somewhat. I had a good portion of the manuscript written before I saw the Underworld movies (which were very cool) and actually changed some of the plot because of the similarities in the storyline about vampires hunting werewolves.

My novel is more heavily influenced by Fight Club, though. It takes the concept of cult like terrorist groups forming around the globe to create mayhem and applies it to werewolf packs plotting a bioterrorism attack, dealing in weapons, and infecting humans.

I have not read the Twilight books. I did see parts of a couple of the films, but, well let’s just say I am not their target audience. 

5. What themes do you explore in this book?

The book challenges conventional notions of good and evil. Many of the characters have good intentions but they do unsavory things to achieve a “greater good.” The story tests a lot of the character’s moral integrity and forces the characters to show their true colors, wrestle with inner demon; those types of themes. Many of the characters are trying to figure out who they are, what motivates them and who they can trust. 

Other themes deal with aspects of violence, death, grief, revenge; lots of acts of violence are carried out by characters who don’t consider themselves bad or violent and are haunted by their actions… or are coming to realize they are not the hero they make themselves out to be to justify their actions and in turn have to deal with being the “bad guy” in the story and a transformation results from this (very film noir anti-hero).

There is a family theme too. The main clan of vampires, having bonded together over decades of war, does operate like a family unit. So family bonds are formed and themes of love, faith, and sacrifice are interlaced in the plot. 

6. What are you most passionate about?

This is a tough one… writing? Haha. At the risk of sounding even more cliché I’d say “happiness” in the broad sense – finding what makes you happy, making others happy, having the courage pursue the things that make life worth living.

7. You earned a degree in Film from the University of Pittsburgh; if The Endangered were to be made into a film, how involved would you want to be in the adaptation process? 

I’d be as involved as the studio would let me. I’d want to help find the right people for the project – people that share my vision – and then trust them to carry it out. Having worked on a number of film sets, I’d be able to lend input, but only if I truly felt I could help; ultimately I’d trust professionals. I wouldn’t want to be that writer on set criticizing decisions and slowing production. You have the respect the shift in medium from book to film. And I’d write the screenplay version if asked.

8. Which authors do you feel have had the most influence on you and on this book? 

Some of my biggest influences are (in no particular order): Agatha Christie, Raymond Chandler, Lawrence Block, Ken Follett, Tom Clancy, Bret Easton Ellis, Charlie Huston, Chuck Palahniuk, Stieg Larsson, Stephen King, Anne Rice, Charles Bukowski … and a number of detective fiction writers both past a present.

9. What is your favorite book and why?

Hard to pick a favorite... The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is one of the best books I’ve read in recent years, so I’ll go with that. Or the whole trilogy if I’m allowed :-)

10. What other projects are on your radar for the near future?

I’m working on a sequel to The Endangered right now. Look for it to be out sometime in 2015. And I have another manuscript I’d like to revisit and complete within the next year. It’s pulp/crime fiction project, not fantasy – I’d like to try my hand at different genres or genre-blending, rather.

11. What do you want your legacy to be?

Someone who can tell a story you want to read; a storyteller who has the ability to draw you in and make you care what happens next, and inspires you to tell your own. 

12. Where can readers find you on the internet?

http://writewithfire.com/

https://www.facebook.com/SLEavesAuthor

https://twitter.com/TheEndangeredBk

https://www.goodreads.com/SLEaves

S.L. Eaves Bio:

Presently, Stephanie L. Eaves is a graduate student at Drexel University, pursuing her MBA. She received her undergraduate degree in Film from University of Pittsburgh. Originally from West Chester, PA., she lived in Pittsburgh and Minneapolis before returning to the Philadelphia area, where she currently resides. Stephanie's professional background is in marketing, primarily in the media and publishing industries. She sort of fell into marketing when she got tired of per diems on film sets and wanted a steady gig. She enjoys being in an environment that promotes creativity.

Stephanie loves to write. She's taken a number of writing courses with a focus on crime fiction and earned a certificate in Professional Writing while attending Pitt. She's also really into fitness, especially running and biking in her free time. While she readily confesses to being a bit of a film and television junkie, music has always been a huge influence in nearly every aspect of her life, and she believes there’s nothing like a good live band.

When home, she's never without a book in arm’s reach.

Pick up your copy of The Endangered today via Amazon or Barnes & Noble.

OCY/CYS/CPS: 5 appalling things

Over the last sixteen months or so I’ve had the opportunity, if you can call it that, to witness the manner in which the Erie County Office of Children and Youth Services (OCY) operates. OCY, called CYS in other PA counties and CPS in other states, is the agency that purports to protect children from abuse and neglect. During the course of my observations I began to notice things that didn’t sit right; I decided to do a little bit of research on Child Protective Services across the US and Learned that the oddities where not unique to Erie County, PA. So, to inform parents across the US, here are five appalling things about OCY/CYS/CPS.
5.) They have no problem violating your rights. In fact the will argue that you have no rights that protect you from them. I know of one woman who asked an OCY case worker what she needed to do to have her case closed and the case worker told her she had to let the case worker into her home. The woman told the case worker that that would be a violation of her rights. The case worker’s response was, “I know.”
4.) If the same person continuously makes false accusations against you they will continue to stay open with you and investigate every single false accusation. (They have to, in case one is true.) This makes it, not only easy, but ideal for your ex to use the agency to continue to emotionally abuse you (with their gleeful assistance) for as long as your kids are below the age of 18.
3.) There is no finding of innocent. If an accusation is made against you there are only three possible outcomes to an OCY investigation:

a.) Founded: Which is guilty with concrete evidence.
b.) Indicated: Guilty with circumstantial evidence.
c.) Unfounded: Guilty, but they could find no evidence and gave up, for now.

2.) Case workers can violate the law, agency rules and any standard of ethics known to man with impunity as long as they do not write down what they did in their case notes. There is no governing organization to appeal to either.

1.) Most appalling of all is the statistic that more US children are abused and or killed in the care of OCY/CYS/CPS than in the care of their parents!!!!!!

You have been warned!

Bullying... It's An Update

I recently posted about my stepson and the bullying community here in Union City. My son doesn't want to go back to school; so, we began looking into enrolling him in an online high school. When my wife told the representative of the PAcyber Charter School why we were interested in enrolling our son they said that that was terrible and asked where he attended. Upon being told that it was Union City School District they were unsurprised. Apparently they have several students from the Union City area that transferred due to bullying.

Other people in the area that I've talked to have also been unsurprised. Seems that the area has had a bullying problem for many years and it is getting worse. Good thing we're looking to move.

Vanessa Finaughty: A Twelfth Night Interview

Last month I shared an extract from the new fantasy series “Wizards of Ends” by Vanessa Finaughty. At the time I promised an upcoming interview which I know you’ve all been waiting, however impatiently, for ever since. Well, it’s time to end the anticipation and hopefully stoke up some more for Vanessa’s upcoming series. So without further ado, I present (on this the twelfth of August) a dozen questions with Vanessa Finaughty!!

1.) Your new series "Wizard of Ends" is coming out soon, what will you tell us about it?
 
Wizard of Ends is a fantasy novella series that follows the adventures of the wizard, Lashlor Leaflin. Lashlor doesn’t think he’s all that powerful, yet he’s probably the most powerful magic user the Land of Ends has ever known. He also doesn’t use magic just because he can, and always tries to find another way. This often upsets the people around him, especially if they’re under attack and the one person who could end it quickly refuses to use magic to do so.
 
2.) Do you plot out your series before you start; how many books and what occurs in each?
 
I sometimes plan my books, but, thus far, none of my series have been planned. It usually starts with a vague idea that pops into my head, along with the opening scene, which I visualise much like a movie. Once I start writing, the story writes itself and the characters take over. It’s much more fun writing a story when you don’t know what’s going to happen next, and is excellent motivation to make time to write among all the work and baby-related responsibilities. As far as the total number of books in Wizard of Ends is concerned, I honestly have no idea – all I can say at this point is that there will be quite a few more books in the series, based on what’s already in my head waiting to come out, and Book 3 is already well underway.
 
3.) What themes do you explore in this series?
 
There are two main themes. The first is that you shouldn’t always do things the easy way just because you can. Sometimes that can have disastrous consequences and weaken you, and, if you take the easy way too often, it may no longer be available to you when you need it the most. The second theme is that you should always try to do the right thing, even if it takes some effort and you gain nothing from it other than the joy of doing the right thing.
 
4.) What themes are you most passionate about and which of your works explore them?
 
I’m passionate about doing the right thing no matter what, and helping those who cannot help themselves, so that tends to come out in a lot of my writing. Wizard of Ends is one example, as is my other series, Legends of Origin, which also explores humanity’s origins and our reason for existing – something I think everyone would like a definite answer to… before we leave our fleshly bodies! Of course, I’m the most passionate about good overcoming ‘evil’, and that’s apparent in most of my books.
 
5.) What other projects are on your radar for the near future?
 
I’m currently working on Book 4 in my Legends of Origin series and Book 3 in the Wizard of Ends series. After the Wizard of Ends book tour later this year, I’ll be publishing an A – Z of Book Marketing (that’s a working title). There are also a number of new series ideas clamouring to leave my head, all sci-fi and fantasy, but, sadly, right now I only have time to focus on the two series I just mentioned. It’s tempting to start the others, but I don’t want to let down my readers, and, as an avid reader myself, I know how frustrating it is when you’ve just finished a book and are dying to read the next one, but it isn’t available yet.
 
6.) Which authors do you feel have had the most influence on you and on this series?
 
Dean Koontz probably influenced much of my earlier writings, specifically my horrors and thrillers, and I still love his books. I don’t think Wizard of Ends was influenced by another author, though, simply because I hardly ever have time to read for fun anymore (that isn’t as bad as it sounds, because I still read novels daily for work, which is nice).
 
7.) What is your favorite book written by yourself and by someone else and why?
 
My favourite of my books is Wizard of Ends, Book 2 – I find that the last thing I’ve completed is always my favourite, possibly because I never stop trying to improve. My favourite book by another writer… that’s a hard one; there are so many! If I have to choose just one, I’d have to say The Queen’s Blade by TC Southwell, but I also love Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and all his other books, and my favourite Koontz books are Lightning and Watchers.
 
8.) Is there any question that you dislike answering and why?
 
I can’t think of any question I’ve disliked answering, but I think anything that’s too personal would be a no-no for me, and I’d probably refuse to answer. I’m quite an open person, though, and most interviewers have the tact not to ask people too-personal questions, which is probably why I can’t recall ever being asked something I didn’t want to answer.
 
9.) Is there a question that you wish someone had asked you and what is your answer to it?
 
I think this is probably the same for most writers, but… I would be over the moon if someone asked me: do you want me to sponsor your writing for a year? Okay, that’s not an interview question, which is what you were asking for, but it’s the first thing that popped into my head when I read your question! My answer would obviously be a resounding yes please!
 
10.) What is the hardest part of being a writer?
 
Having to stop writing to fulfil other responsibilities when I’m ‘in the zone’.
 
11.) What do you want your legacy to be?
 
That you can do anything, including things others think impossible, if you just believe, put your mind to it and never give up.
 
12.) Where can readers find you on the internet?
 
Author website (which will soon be given a facelift)
Author blog
Twitter
Facebook
Goodreads
Smashwords
Barnes& Noble
My books are sold by all Smashwords’ distribution partners, except Kobo and the libraries, which I’ve opted out of.

A Brief Author’s Bio

Vanessa grew up in Cape Town, and still lives there with her husband of fifteen years, her baby daughter and plenty of furry, four-legged ‘children’.

Her passion for the written word started her career as an editor and copywriter and she ran a writers’ critique group for close on seven years. She’s been writing ever since she learnt how, has always been an avid reader, and currently lives on coffee and her e-cigarette.

Her interests include reading, photography, the supernatural, life’s mysteries and martial arts, of which she has five years’ experience.

 

Disclaimer: This blog is a Smashwords affiliate, any purchases from Smashwords may result in a laughable amount of money to fall into my bank account.

Bullying… It takes a community.

My step son is being bullied. It got so bad at school that he started skipping school. When we discovered that his brothers and he were sneaking back in to the house through their bedroom windows we went to the school and made arrangements for someone at the school to call us if the kids did not attend. No one ever called.

They filed truancy charges against him and his mother and a hearing was held. The representative from the school claimed to be ignorant of the bullying. The District Magistrate told my son that if he attended school and got his grades up she would not fine him or suspend his ability to get his driver’s learning permit. So he goes to school, works hard gets his grades up. His mom and I continue going to the school about his being bullied. No resolution to the bullying ever appears and despite doing as the Magistrate ordered he was fined $371.00 and cannot get his permit for 90 days after his sixteenth birthday.

The school has successfully taught him that if you are being bullied nothing will be done (in fact they told him it was more likely he would be the bully than the victim) to the bullies but the victim will be punished especially if he skips school to hide from the bullies. The Magistrate has taught him that no matter what the government tells you, doing what they ask will only result in your being punished anyway.

So his current attitude is that the kids are bullies, the school staff are bullies and the law enforcement officials in the government are bullies. As far as he is concerned the entire community is peopled with bullies. He wants to move away from Union City and failing that wants to go to school online. Sadly, I am inclined to agree with him!

Unfocused Writing

I just spent a few hours working on my next book. What do I have to show for it? A few paragraphs and a handful of notes scattered across the book.

The problem apparently is a lack of focus, brought on by frustration. Events in real life are feeding on my attention like a cancer in my brain. I want to scream! I want to cry! Most of all I want to do something that  I’ve only ever done twice in my life. I WANT TO HIT SOMEONE!!!!!

The truly funny thing is that I’m writing a book on living a Christian life and improving your “Walk With God”. Not only that, I’m supposed to be writing about forgiveness. I wasted hours and wrote one paragraph before realizing that I was not in the right frame of mind to write on that topic. So I switched to the topic of study where I made slightly better progress. I then made a few quick notes about things I want to cover in the book. A wasted effort some may say.

Lately, I’ve been letting the real world keep me from writing anything at all. The house needs cleaned so I’ll write later. So and so is late for our meeting so I’ll write later. I don’t feel motivated so I’ll write later. If I keep on this way I’ll never write anything, ever again.

So, was today’s meager output a waste of time and effort? I wrote something. I only wrote a few paragraphs (and this blog entry) but at least I wrote something. I call that a win. Now, I just need to keep on winning. No more letting the world keep me from sitting down to write. So what if I write a little or a lot at any particular sitting. No more distractions from the real world is my new mantra.

Now, if I can just convince myself to stay away from the internet when I should be writing I’ll be golden.