The Four Hundred and Forty-sixth Post: The One Where I Have a Between Meal Snack…

Posted by Seething With Apathy

Ever heard of the Baader-Meinhof effect? It’s an effect when you see or hear about something, then you start seeing it everywhere. You read an ad for something like a particular model of car, and then you see it on the streets and in parking lots. It’s a weird effect, and mostly harmless.

Well, I’m writing about hunger for my latest novel, and now I’m starting to notice when I’m hungry, and really been focusing on food as of late. I’ve been taking note of what I’m putting in my mouth when I get hungry. Now, I am usually the person that doesn’t get really hungry, or to be more accurate – when I feel hungry, it’s a big thing. Ever since I started this project, I notice more when I feel a little hungry and feel the need to do something about it, rather than let it go on.

Shown Above: The Creative Process

Should my next project be about billionaires who give away money? Asking for a friend.

I just find this unusual because this isn’t the first time I’ve written about eating, but I never paid attention to the feeling of hunger. In that time, I was really into eating meat, you know? Getting into the taste, smell and texture of the meat – whether it was ground up chuck or filet mignon. Now it’s just a general ‘huh…I’m hungry now. That’s weird’.

I’m also one of those kind of people that tend to see meaning in seemly random events. You know – superstitious. Now, when I’ve had things like this, the writing went very well. So far…well…it’s been a slightly uphill battle, but I haven’t really tossed this idea in my head around for very long.

I’m starting what I’ve called ‘The Year of Horror’. No more fantasy for this year. Only going to focus on horror. I’ve got four book ideas. Three of them are very new and one is one I’ve been working on for a while, I just need to really hammer down a P.O.V. for it. If all goes well, I might have a couple of new books out by the end of the year, and two more to come out next year when I buckle down and finish something I’ve started.

Well, I’m feeling a bit hungry, so I am going to get a small snack that is totally appropriate for a diabetic and is certainly not a chocolate bar. Hope to see you all later. Ta-ta for now!

The Four Hundred and Forty-fifth Post: The One Where I Drink a Pina Colada Out of A Viking Horn.

Posted by Seething With Apathy

Fantasy and I are going to take a bit of a break from each other. When I read the backs of a lot of books, I’m not thrilled anymore. I can wait for them to get into my hot little hands (still have a bit of a fever). So, I am going to dedicate this year to horror and see if I can get some things going. I’ve got a lot of ideas – enough for this year easily…including Camp Nano and Nanowrimo. I think I need to do this to recharge the batteries and regrow some interest.

I wonder if Stephen King went through something like this? His bibliography looks like if he did, he just took an afternoon off.

Anyway, busman’s holiday aside, I am looking forward to getting into horror. It was the one big genre I loved and I snapped up anything I could grab, with fantasy being a close second. I wonder if there are any good fantasy/horror mashups? If you know of any, let me know please. I want to widen my horizons and maybe dabble a little bit, who knows?

I know I missed yesterday and I am sorry, but after working for 12 hours a day and coming home, I felt like poo. I also got Mechwarrior 5 (I am a sucker for games with deep lore) and tried it out a little. Not a fan of the shallowness of ‘mech customation, but I am willing to give the game a shot. When I have the time. *sigh*

There is not a whole lot going on here – started writing the first horror novel of the year: Serve Me Now and it’s going to be published under my name, so it is my first official horror book. I hope that it has a better showing than Valentina’s Feast. The book has a four and a half star rating, so it can’t be too bad…which is actually the average for my books on Amazon. I just need better publicity.

Anyhow – if you’re curious, on the right hand side there are all the current books of mine you can buy, not to mention books that good friends (and better writers than me) have written, I actually need to update that list soon. Well – that’s all for today, I do have a chapter to finish up for Saturday’s writing group. Ta-ta!

Four Hundred and Forty-fourth Post: The One Where I Don’t Think I’m Contagious, Just Bored?

Posted by Seething With Apathy

I’m feeling a lot better now, but I’m not feeling better enough to write. I cant come up anything for The Deadly Barrows right now, so I am doing something else. I am giving contemporary Gothic Horror a shot. Maybe if I do something completely different from swords and sorcery fantasy, I can shake up my brain enough to get me to the next planned scene in the novel.

Times like this drive me crazy sometimes. While I am still writing, I’m not getting anything done. I know that this is the method that Isaac Asimov used and he’s the most prolific authors ever. The big difference is that he finished his stuff and I just let my stuff twist in the wind. How he did it, I have no idea.

Then again, I still have a touch of what’s going around at work now. It could be that my body is still fighting the infection. I know I’m coughing like I got a pack-a-day habit. I think my brain might want a little rest.

But I have a couple of scenes in the gothic horror novel (working title: The Golden Ticket – it’s a term I used for which people can come over uninvited) that I am going to write and let’s see what happens. It might be that I am starting to burn out on fantasy, and I should switch to something else. Maybe this is going to keep me from just giving up completely on fantasy, which is my favorite genre to write.

Ultimately, I am trying to find the genre that’s going to be the most successful. I could write comedy, horror or fantasy, but I feel like I need to drill down and find one thing to work on. I gave splatterpunk a shot with Valentina’s Feast, but I don’t think it’s going to go off like I thought it would. Maybe Gothic is the way to go. Foggy nights in the woods, the blanket of dread settling over people, and the knowledge that something is wrong – not just wrong, but an act against nature’s own laws.

My goal is to have a book good enough to send to Stephen King as a way of gratitude for what he’s taught me (maybe get an endorsement? C’mon Mr. King – I helped get your kids through college, all I want is a shout-out) as a writer.

Well – I apologize that this is so late, but I knew it was Wednesday, but not that it was deadline Wednesday. Also – I do have a show that I am hooked on called Yellowjackets. The best way to sum it up is Lord of the Flies meets Sweet Valley High. Worth a quick look.

Check out the books I’m selling to the right – written by authors far more talented than me and by myself as well. Hopefully, the sickness will work its way out of my system, and I can be far mor productive.