It is one of those days
Piles of work
Looming over me like Colossus at Rhodes
Challenging me
Daring me.
Are you up to the challenge old man?
Do you have what it takes?
The phone rings
Bringing yet another deadline, another crisis
That apprently needs to be solved today
Not tomorrow
Not next week
I lean back in my not so comfortable chair
Running my hands over my worn face
Beginning to question my role in the grand scheme of things.
Will I find what I am looking for?
Does it even exist?
Am I searching for the Lost Arc? The Fountain of Youth?
Has the thing I am begging for in a story
Become the thing of myths and dreams?
The computer chimes with another challenge
And yet this time,
The message is good.
My authors have come through again -
Providing me the boost to get through one more pile.
Scott
Friday, November 6, 2009
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Alien Vampire Bunnies Writing Contest Winners!
I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the stories coming in. When Kate Duffy first mentioned this idea, off-handedly, we were laughing about how “stupid” the idea potentially was. And yet, the writers submitting stories this year were able to over-come that barrier.
As promised, the winner of the contest receives a free critique of the first 100 pages of a story. The first place winner may should contact me via email for further information.
Also, this is for you editors out there. If you love a premise of the story, I will arrange to get it to you! I dare you!
Like I said, you all made it tough on me. Some were funny, some were dang serious. In the end, I was looking for the story that exemplified quality writing as well as meeting the criteria of the contest. In other words, the story had to be about Alien Vampire Bunnies.
First of all, I want to thank the following writers for just competing. This was a tough challenge but you still did it. Good for you!
• Deathright by Joely Sue Burkhart
• Untitled by Kelly McClean
• Dissociation by Monica Peters
• Untitled By Marilou Goodwin
• Blood Counts by Jan Mitchell
So, without further adieu…
1st Place…
My Love, the Alien Vampire Bunny by Ellie Nystrom
A paranormal romance about Maggie, a small town substitute teacher with a big secret. Namely, the alien vampire bunny whose space pod crashes into her backyard. Seeing his adorable little cottontail, she names him Peter, but then, after biting the pizza delivery man, he transforms into her dream man.
Coming from a race of blood sucking creatures known only as the Collective, Peter does not understand the value of the individual. Maggie teaches him to respect himself and become his own man. He teaches her to embrace her differences, which are substantial and not entirely human, and follow her heart. In the end, as bunnies in little space suits descend upon Earth to rescue their lost friend, Peter decides that being with someone who loves him for himself is better than rejoining his kind where he's just another nameless part of the whole.
2nd Place…
The Bunny Prophecy by Carolyn Carey
Two weeks ago, Marley Holland was just a super wealthy former English prof who’d won the lottery and had been wondering what to do with herself, other than encouraging her boyfriend in his efforts to translate the medieval writings of an esoteric German who had prophesized the arrival of a spaceship filled with vampire bunnies whose meat could cure any human vampires who consumed it. Connor is especially interested in the prophecy because his sister is a vampire. And unbeknownst to him, so is his girlfriend. Ten days ago, Marley was attacked and turned while perusing the ancient textbooks in the archives of the graduate library at the university where Connor teaches. Now she has a personal reason for seeking out those blasted bunnies.
With help from her chauffeur, Kooper, and an occasional assist from Connor, who’s positive he knows the time and place the spaceship will arrive, Marley engages in a frantic search for the flying rabbit hutch Kooper spotted one dark evening on a mountainous road. Dangers they never anticipated arise. Seems Connor wasn’t the only scholar trying to translate the works of Hasenpfeffer, but where Connor had read “vampire bunnies,” others have seen “golden nuggets.” By the time Marley succeeds in trapping one of the bunnies, Connor has been changed and she must use the precious rabbit stew to return her beloved to a normal life. Then it’s time for her and Kooper to begin their quest again, leaving behind the comforts of normalcy in their continuing search for alien vampire bunnies.
3rd Place
24 Carrot Blood by Candice Gilmer
Just because Gerald was a vampire bunny, didn’t mean he enjoyed his violent ways. When he comes upon an alternative to killing beings for nutrients on the planet Earth, he high-tails it to the small planet. Unfortunately the King and Queen follow, bringing their subjects to find Gerald, as well as explore the delectable beings on Earth.
Gerald enlists the help of Kandi Kayne, immortal Templar Knight, to find this True Blood he seeks. While Kandi and the other Templar Knights search for the blood substitute for Gerald, the King and Queen start their sampling of the blood offered on Earth, creating a string of deaths all over North America. Stuck between a rock and a hard place, Kandi and the other Knights have to find a way to get the vampire bunnies off world, and still allow Gerald asylum on Earth. Especially since this blood substitute Gerald seeks may not exist.
Honorable Mention
Untitled by Kimberly Rood
Thad Marshall and Allison Sherry are the executive liaisons for The Interplanetary Peace Office. It is their job, a long with the other members of their team, to keep peace between planet Earth and other extraterrestrial beings. Everything has been going fine until a meteor strikes The Alvampuns’ planet. The Alvampuns, strange creatures possessing mixed features of aliens, vampires, and bunnies are devastated by their planet’s destruction. When the meteor slams into their planet, a chain of natural disasters ensue. A year later, their planet is no longer fit to sustain life. They request refuge from Earth. The United States grants them asylum and allows them to move into designated neighborhoods.
People are outraged that the extraterrestrials are aloud entry into their country. It becomes obvious quickly that human beings and Alvampuns cannot get along. They refuse to except each others’ differences and peacefully coexist. Thad Marshall and Allison Sherry desperately try to bring the two species together but without success. When were-aliens threaten planet Earth, they must choose either to band together and fight or risk losing their precious home forever.
As promised, the winner of the contest receives a free critique of the first 100 pages of a story. The first place winner may should contact me via email for further information.
Also, this is for you editors out there. If you love a premise of the story, I will arrange to get it to you! I dare you!
Like I said, you all made it tough on me. Some were funny, some were dang serious. In the end, I was looking for the story that exemplified quality writing as well as meeting the criteria of the contest. In other words, the story had to be about Alien Vampire Bunnies.
First of all, I want to thank the following writers for just competing. This was a tough challenge but you still did it. Good for you!
• Deathright by Joely Sue Burkhart
• Untitled by Kelly McClean
• Dissociation by Monica Peters
• Untitled By Marilou Goodwin
• Blood Counts by Jan Mitchell
So, without further adieu…
1st Place…
My Love, the Alien Vampire Bunny by Ellie Nystrom
A paranormal romance about Maggie, a small town substitute teacher with a big secret. Namely, the alien vampire bunny whose space pod crashes into her backyard. Seeing his adorable little cottontail, she names him Peter, but then, after biting the pizza delivery man, he transforms into her dream man.
Coming from a race of blood sucking creatures known only as the Collective, Peter does not understand the value of the individual. Maggie teaches him to respect himself and become his own man. He teaches her to embrace her differences, which are substantial and not entirely human, and follow her heart. In the end, as bunnies in little space suits descend upon Earth to rescue their lost friend, Peter decides that being with someone who loves him for himself is better than rejoining his kind where he's just another nameless part of the whole.
2nd Place…
The Bunny Prophecy by Carolyn Carey
Two weeks ago, Marley Holland was just a super wealthy former English prof who’d won the lottery and had been wondering what to do with herself, other than encouraging her boyfriend in his efforts to translate the medieval writings of an esoteric German who had prophesized the arrival of a spaceship filled with vampire bunnies whose meat could cure any human vampires who consumed it. Connor is especially interested in the prophecy because his sister is a vampire. And unbeknownst to him, so is his girlfriend. Ten days ago, Marley was attacked and turned while perusing the ancient textbooks in the archives of the graduate library at the university where Connor teaches. Now she has a personal reason for seeking out those blasted bunnies.
With help from her chauffeur, Kooper, and an occasional assist from Connor, who’s positive he knows the time and place the spaceship will arrive, Marley engages in a frantic search for the flying rabbit hutch Kooper spotted one dark evening on a mountainous road. Dangers they never anticipated arise. Seems Connor wasn’t the only scholar trying to translate the works of Hasenpfeffer, but where Connor had read “vampire bunnies,” others have seen “golden nuggets.” By the time Marley succeeds in trapping one of the bunnies, Connor has been changed and she must use the precious rabbit stew to return her beloved to a normal life. Then it’s time for her and Kooper to begin their quest again, leaving behind the comforts of normalcy in their continuing search for alien vampire bunnies.
3rd Place
24 Carrot Blood by Candice Gilmer
Just because Gerald was a vampire bunny, didn’t mean he enjoyed his violent ways. When he comes upon an alternative to killing beings for nutrients on the planet Earth, he high-tails it to the small planet. Unfortunately the King and Queen follow, bringing their subjects to find Gerald, as well as explore the delectable beings on Earth.
Gerald enlists the help of Kandi Kayne, immortal Templar Knight, to find this True Blood he seeks. While Kandi and the other Templar Knights search for the blood substitute for Gerald, the King and Queen start their sampling of the blood offered on Earth, creating a string of deaths all over North America. Stuck between a rock and a hard place, Kandi and the other Knights have to find a way to get the vampire bunnies off world, and still allow Gerald asylum on Earth. Especially since this blood substitute Gerald seeks may not exist.
Honorable Mention
Untitled by Kimberly Rood
Thad Marshall and Allison Sherry are the executive liaisons for The Interplanetary Peace Office. It is their job, a long with the other members of their team, to keep peace between planet Earth and other extraterrestrial beings. Everything has been going fine until a meteor strikes The Alvampuns’ planet. The Alvampuns, strange creatures possessing mixed features of aliens, vampires, and bunnies are devastated by their planet’s destruction. When the meteor slams into their planet, a chain of natural disasters ensue. A year later, their planet is no longer fit to sustain life. They request refuge from Earth. The United States grants them asylum and allows them to move into designated neighborhoods.
People are outraged that the extraterrestrials are aloud entry into their country. It becomes obvious quickly that human beings and Alvampuns cannot get along. They refuse to except each others’ differences and peacefully coexist. Thad Marshall and Allison Sherry desperately try to bring the two species together but without success. When were-aliens threaten planet Earth, they must choose either to band together and fight or risk losing their precious home forever.
What Are The Rules To The Game?
This issue (or a slight twist of it) came up recently on another website that I like to hang out on. The writer was asking the question of what the right approach was when it came to the troublesome Point of View. In this case, the writer was trying desperatly to follow a rule she had been told, but in the end, realized the scene was in the wrong POV. She had done it from the heroine's POV and it really needed to be in the hero's. Needless to say, she was VERY troubled.
So, with that said, what are the rules?
The simple truth is there really isn't any rule. The goal is to tell a dang fine story and to make it work. In her case, I told her that if the ratio of POV shifts was 75/25 and it worked, then do it. And really, the rule works for all of those other wonderful "rules" that writers like to preach in sessions at writing conferences or on their blogs.
Now, please don't get me wrong. I am not saying this is a time for a complete free-for-all writing fest where writers do anything. Remember the goal is to tell a story that makes sense, is marketable and draws the reader in.
I had a conference with my son's fifth grade teacher today and she was describing the perfect type of story. She wanted her kids to find that story that when they were finished with it, they were upset it ended. That is the rule you shoot for when it comes to writing. Write a story that works just like that and you have a best seller. Hook me from the first line and keep me hooked until the end.
Scott
So, with that said, what are the rules?
The simple truth is there really isn't any rule. The goal is to tell a dang fine story and to make it work. In her case, I told her that if the ratio of POV shifts was 75/25 and it worked, then do it. And really, the rule works for all of those other wonderful "rules" that writers like to preach in sessions at writing conferences or on their blogs.
Now, please don't get me wrong. I am not saying this is a time for a complete free-for-all writing fest where writers do anything. Remember the goal is to tell a story that makes sense, is marketable and draws the reader in.
I had a conference with my son's fifth grade teacher today and she was describing the perfect type of story. She wanted her kids to find that story that when they were finished with it, they were upset it ended. That is the rule you shoot for when it comes to writing. Write a story that works just like that and you have a best seller. Hook me from the first line and keep me hooked until the end.
Scott
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Writing With A Purpose
If you don't know where you are going, you will end up some place you don't want to be. I heard this from a motivational speaker and, I am sure, like many of you, there were doubts. I honestly thought that "maybe I will end up in a really cool place", or "maybe because I don't have a planned route, I will see things I might have missed." And then it hit me... MAYBE.
As a writer, you have to know where you are going to with your story. While I am a big fan of simply writing each day, if you are working on your actual manuscript, you have to have a plan.
I am bringing this up because a friend of mine is particpating in the Write a Novel In a Month program, or whatever that acronym is. She is so excited about this program because she now has deadlines to get the material finished. When I talked to her about it, she openly said that yes, she may well end up with 50+ K of pure drivel in the end, and yes, she will likely have a huge amount of editing to do with this.
And there lies the problem.
If she is taking 1 month to write the story and then will take the next 4-5 months fixing the huge problems with the story, this is the problem. This is really an issue when she could have done the whole thing in 2 months shorter and done it right the first time.
I have told my son the same thing. I ask him to clean his room and he just shoves things under the bed. When I send my 4 year old up to clean out the mess under his bed (she calls it exploring) he gets really frustrated because he has to clean the room "again". As I tell him, if he would have done it right the first time, we wouldn't have to do this again.
Look, I am not going to tell everyone to 100% outline the entire book chapter by chapter. What I will tell you is that you better know the beginning, middle and the end. You better know the major points throughout the story. You need to know the conflicts internally for the characters and externally for the plot, and more importantly, how the characters are going to fix it.
Daily, you need to know what the goal of that piece of writing is. No, word count is not it. What is going to be accomplished in the story by the end of your writing time.
Do this and you won't have to backtrack.
Scott
As a writer, you have to know where you are going to with your story. While I am a big fan of simply writing each day, if you are working on your actual manuscript, you have to have a plan.
I am bringing this up because a friend of mine is particpating in the Write a Novel In a Month program, or whatever that acronym is. She is so excited about this program because she now has deadlines to get the material finished. When I talked to her about it, she openly said that yes, she may well end up with 50+ K of pure drivel in the end, and yes, she will likely have a huge amount of editing to do with this.
And there lies the problem.
If she is taking 1 month to write the story and then will take the next 4-5 months fixing the huge problems with the story, this is the problem. This is really an issue when she could have done the whole thing in 2 months shorter and done it right the first time.
I have told my son the same thing. I ask him to clean his room and he just shoves things under the bed. When I send my 4 year old up to clean out the mess under his bed (she calls it exploring) he gets really frustrated because he has to clean the room "again". As I tell him, if he would have done it right the first time, we wouldn't have to do this again.
Look, I am not going to tell everyone to 100% outline the entire book chapter by chapter. What I will tell you is that you better know the beginning, middle and the end. You better know the major points throughout the story. You need to know the conflicts internally for the characters and externally for the plot, and more importantly, how the characters are going to fix it.
Daily, you need to know what the goal of that piece of writing is. No, word count is not it. What is going to be accomplished in the story by the end of your writing time.
Do this and you won't have to backtrack.
Scott
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Lack of Action Is Killing Me
No, I am not talking today about narratives that go on and on without any movement (although this is a frequent problem). Today, it is simply about the action of people in general. I am totally sick of people that do nothing but complain about things not going right and then sitting around and doing nothing about it. You know who I am talking about.
Think about it. How many times do we see organizations with significant problems and all the organizations can do is "form a committee and fix a problem." Now please don't get me wrong. I am all in favor of getting people involved with solving problems. Committees do work. However, if there is something that needs to be done and time is important, we have to get off our butt and get going. I have been and am part of organizations with people like this. Needless to say, in those past organizations, the group simply fell apart and was lost in the dust. The groups I am part of today and I am sure there will be groups in the future will do just the same thing unless they take action.
I think I mentioned this before, but hey, it was a great comment. The man who created USA Today said that he never worried about anything. When something went wrong, he would either fix the problem, or move on. Apparently, we are now living in a society that does nothing about a problem just to be able to complain later about how we were "victims" in all of this.
Don't worry, we can bring this back to writing as well. The writers that are successful out there are the people that just keep moving with their writing. A rejection gives them more motivation to do better. A comment on a rejection gets them asking questions to learn that skill better.
So people. I am a person of action. I don't want to simply talk about it, I want to fix it. If you are someone that simply wants to contemplate your navel and the problem, move out of the way so those of us that want to keep moving can do so.
Scott
Sorry about that, but it was time for a Rant.
Think about it. How many times do we see organizations with significant problems and all the organizations can do is "form a committee and fix a problem." Now please don't get me wrong. I am all in favor of getting people involved with solving problems. Committees do work. However, if there is something that needs to be done and time is important, we have to get off our butt and get going. I have been and am part of organizations with people like this. Needless to say, in those past organizations, the group simply fell apart and was lost in the dust. The groups I am part of today and I am sure there will be groups in the future will do just the same thing unless they take action.
I think I mentioned this before, but hey, it was a great comment. The man who created USA Today said that he never worried about anything. When something went wrong, he would either fix the problem, or move on. Apparently, we are now living in a society that does nothing about a problem just to be able to complain later about how we were "victims" in all of this.
Don't worry, we can bring this back to writing as well. The writers that are successful out there are the people that just keep moving with their writing. A rejection gives them more motivation to do better. A comment on a rejection gets them asking questions to learn that skill better.
So people. I am a person of action. I don't want to simply talk about it, I want to fix it. If you are someone that simply wants to contemplate your navel and the problem, move out of the way so those of us that want to keep moving can do so.
Scott
Sorry about that, but it was time for a Rant.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Alien Vampire Bunny Update
WOW! The query letters on some of these are fantastic! Who would have thought Alien Vampire Bunnies would be such a hit.
I’ll begin reading these today! Stay tuned.
Now, go eat your carrots!
Scott C. Eagan
Teacups and Toast - Sometimes it's OK. To Just Do It
Writers need to realize that there are times when introspection, scene building and the like are simply not necessary, at least at that moment.
I was reading a historical recently and the hero and heroine were beyond hot for each other. There was more sexual tension in that room than a senior ball. It was also at a point in the story when moving to that next level would have been fine (in other words it wasn't in the first chapter). And yet, for some reason, the writer decided that right there, right then, it was time for the hero to suddenly release all of his past baggage about his family. Huh!
Look, as a writer, you have to have your characters think like a human being. There are times when people think and there are times people simply act without thinking. Obviously, if a character is being chased by an alien vampire bunny, then they would not be thinking about the fine decorations or paintings in the room. They would be running.
And yes, this goes for when the characters are in those most "intimate" moments. I seriously doubt they contemplating a lot of things. This scene is about action. No, it doesn't mean you have to rush it, but the contempation is not there.
Just something to "think" about this Monday.
Scott
I was reading a historical recently and the hero and heroine were beyond hot for each other. There was more sexual tension in that room than a senior ball. It was also at a point in the story when moving to that next level would have been fine (in other words it wasn't in the first chapter). And yet, for some reason, the writer decided that right there, right then, it was time for the hero to suddenly release all of his past baggage about his family. Huh!
Look, as a writer, you have to have your characters think like a human being. There are times when people think and there are times people simply act without thinking. Obviously, if a character is being chased by an alien vampire bunny, then they would not be thinking about the fine decorations or paintings in the room. They would be running.
And yes, this goes for when the characters are in those most "intimate" moments. I seriously doubt they contemplating a lot of things. This scene is about action. No, it doesn't mean you have to rush it, but the contempation is not there.
Just something to "think" about this Monday.
Scott
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