Announcement - New Novel: Chimera

A late Sunday update to announce the availability of my dear Kelly's newest novel, Chimera. You can download your copy from Amazon today! Here's the blurb:

In scientific terms a chimera occurs when one fetus absorbs its twin, resulting in fused DNA. In mythology a chimera is a monster. Katherine Tate is certainly the first, perhaps the second. Kath lives and speaks with her unborn sister, as the twin is alive and well inside of her. And her dual nature is expressed in another way; Kath is a child of the west and the east. A Malaysian girl brought up in an American farming community, Kath is unaware that Kali, Hindu goddess of death and creation, is waiting in the land of her birth. Follow Kath through the teaming streets of Kuala Lumpur and the surrounding jungles as she discovers self-enlightenment, love, and her forgotten past.

Friday Weekly Writer's Wrap Up - Mr. Leonard's Rules

This week we mystery writer lost Elmore Leonard, so as the writer’s week wrap up here are the great mystery author’s ten rules of writing:

1. Never open a book with weather.
2.  Avoid prologues.
3. Never use a verb other than “said” to carry dialogue.
4. Never use an adverb to modify the verb “said”…he admonished gravely.
5. Keep your exclamation points under control. You are allowed no more than two or three per 100000 words of prose.
6. Never use the words “suddenly” or “all hell broke loose.”
7. Use regional dialect, patois, sparingly.
8. Avoid detailed descriptions of characters.
9. Don’t go into great detail describing places and things.
10. Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip.

Happy Birthday H. P. Lovecraft

It would be easy to describe the life of Howard Phillips (H. P.) Lovecraft as sad and tragic. He was born  into a working class family, in the working class home at 194 Angell Street in Providence, Rhode Island.  He grew up an only child, the son of a traveling salesman and a mother who traced her ancestry to the settlers of Massachusetts and he would see loss and madness close up before he grew to manhood.

Lovecraft created the genre of weird fiction along with its bleak premise that not only is humanity is insignificant in the cosmos, it cannot even grasp the truths that the universe holds. Though Lovecraft never achieved widespread recognition during his lifetime, his work has influenced a great deal of what we know as horror and science fiction to this day. During his career Lovecraft collaborated with Robert Bloch (author of Psycho), Robert E. Howard (creator of Conan the Barbarian), and August Derleth (who codified and added to the Cthulhu Mythos). Author Stephen King said of Lovecraft:

"Now that time has given us some perspective on his work, I think it is beyond doubt that H. P. Lovecraft has yet to be surpassed as the Twentieth Century's greatest practitioner of the classic horror tale."

I wish I could say that I came across Lovecraft out of a deep interest in horror and weird fiction as well as a questing imagination, but to be honest role playing games were my first introduction to his Cthulhu mythos. I spent hours pouring over Chaosium's Call of Cthulhu rulebook only to fall out of love with the game when it became apparent that the story arc of any character could be summed up as curiosity - discovery - madness - death. When I read Lovecraft's work, I discovered that the same could be said of any of his major characters. You don't read Lovecraft for the happy endings, his world is dark and cold, devoid of human comfort and understanding.

Farewell Richard Matheson

Sometimes there's an author who touches your understanding of a genre without your even realizing they have. For me Richard Matheson was that sort of author. Then again, when you write I Am Legend, The Thing, and 15 episodes of The Twilight Zone you're bound to influence a few people. On Sunday, Matheson passed away at the age of 87, but his influence and fiction will live on.

Fun with Authors

I just received an update on my Facebook account from one of my favorite radio programs, A Way with Words. It linked to a nice slide show from Flavorwire showing famous authors doing amusing (sometimes silly) things. Paging through the images makes me feel better about my own odd habits. Maybe I should adopt a few more to help with my success?