Here is this week's speculative fiction prompt. I'm labeling it as horror this week, but, as always, take it whatever direction you choose. Have fun!
You sit in a haunted prison cell.
As always, feel free to use this in any way you choose. There's no need
to give me any credit for any story you come up with. Of course, I
never mind if you do give me credit for the writing prompt, but it's not
necessary.
Monday, October 28, 2013
Sunday, October 27, 2013
Ghost Betweens - Free For Kindle
Today through Halloween, I'm making the Kindle version of Ghost Betweens free. If you haven't had a chance to read it, now you can. Here's the link to Amazon for it. Don't forget, if you don't have a Kindle, it's quite easy to get a Kindle app for your smart phone, iPod Touch, iPad, and even your laptop and desktop. (Easiest way is to run a search for "Kindle Reader" in your favorite app store.) Go download it for yourself and for your teen! And when you finish reading it, I'd appreciate it if you took a few minutes to give it a review on Amazon, Goodreads, and/or anywhere else you can leave book reviews. Thanks!
Don't forget I'm also running a contest to give away a free paperback copy of Ghost Betweens. You can find the info here. So you can have one copy for your Kindle (or Kindle app), and one for your bookshelf. Sweet deal! I hope you enjoy the book!
Don't forget I'm also running a contest to give away a free paperback copy of Ghost Betweens. You can find the info here. So you can have one copy for your Kindle (or Kindle app), and one for your bookshelf. Sweet deal! I hope you enjoy the book!
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Free copy of Ghost Betweens
Since it's the month of October, or as I like to call it, the month of Halloween, I've decided I should run another contest for a free book. This time it's a paperback copy of my Young Adult Paranormal Adventure, Ghost Betweens. This contest will start up right now, and I'll hold a drawing on November 1st for a winner.
There are two ways to enter. First, leave a comment on this blog post. Do make sure that I can get in touch with you if you win, of course; if I click on your name in the comment, I should be able to find your blog, twitter handle, email, or something. I don't have Facebook (that may change soon, but not yet - more on that at a later date), so don't rely on that. Second, follow me on Twitter (@ericjkrause) and retweet any tweets related to this contest. They'll be easy to spot, as most will have those instructions right in them. I'll only enter you in the contest once, but if you'd like to retweet more than once, I'll send you thank you tweets for getting the word out!
As soon as this posts, consider the contest open. I'll send out the first tweet very soon, and then two or three times a day until Halloween. The contest officially ends on Midnight on Halloween, though unofficially I'll still enter you on the morning of November 1st when I wake up and check Twitter and this blog post. Good luck!
Oh, and I should mention that I'll also be making the Kindle e-book free during the last five days of October (Oct. 27-31). That way, if you don't win, you can still read the book. And if you do win, you'll have both a paperback copy and an e-book copy. I'll, of course, remind everyone about the free Kindle book when the time draws nearer.
There are two ways to enter. First, leave a comment on this blog post. Do make sure that I can get in touch with you if you win, of course; if I click on your name in the comment, I should be able to find your blog, twitter handle, email, or something. I don't have Facebook (that may change soon, but not yet - more on that at a later date), so don't rely on that. Second, follow me on Twitter (@ericjkrause) and retweet any tweets related to this contest. They'll be easy to spot, as most will have those instructions right in them. I'll only enter you in the contest once, but if you'd like to retweet more than once, I'll send you thank you tweets for getting the word out!
As soon as this posts, consider the contest open. I'll send out the first tweet very soon, and then two or three times a day until Halloween. The contest officially ends on Midnight on Halloween, though unofficially I'll still enter you on the morning of November 1st when I wake up and check Twitter and this blog post. Good luck!
Oh, and I should mention that I'll also be making the Kindle e-book free during the last five days of October (Oct. 27-31). That way, if you don't win, you can still read the book. And if you do win, you'll have both a paperback copy and an e-book copy. I'll, of course, remind everyone about the free Kindle book when the time draws nearer.
Monday, October 14, 2013
Speculative Fiction Writing Prompt #155
Here is this week's speculative fiction prompt. I'm labeling it as horror this week, but, as always, take it whatever direction you choose. Have fun!
You hoist a scythe from an old tool shed, and it turns you into the Grim Reaper.
As always, feel free to use this in any way you choose. There's no need to give me any credit for any story you come up with. Of course, I never mind if you do give me credit for the writing prompt, but it's not necessary.
You hoist a scythe from an old tool shed, and it turns you into the Grim Reaper.
As always, feel free to use this in any way you choose. There's no need to give me any credit for any story you come up with. Of course, I never mind if you do give me credit for the writing prompt, but it's not necessary.
Monday, October 7, 2013
National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)
Every writer knows about National Novel Writing Month (usually known as NaNoWriMo or, more simply, NaNo). Even if they don't participate, they do know about it. Social media has seen to that. I'd been one of those who watched posts of writers every November telling of their NaNo experiences, but come time, I had always either been in the middle of another project, or too far away from starting a new one. So while it was a big deal in the writing community, I never joined.
Before I go any further, I probably should explain in case there are some out there who don't know what NaNoWriMo is, despite my earlier claim. The month of November is set aside for writing a novel, defined by the event as a work over 50,000 words. Okay, so it's more a novella at that length, but it's still a lofty goal. There are rules for those serious about taking up the official NaNoWriMo challenge, so if you want to know more, head over to the National Novel Writing Month website to learn more.
As I said, I've never tried before. I usually take about two months or so to get my first drafts done, so getting one out in a month is a lofty goal, indeed. I've never seen the point in rushing; I'd rather stick to my own style. But, having said that, because NaNo is such a big deal in the world of writing, I feel I should attempt it at least once. And since I have a project about ready to start, and I feel it fits in well with the format of NaNoWriMo, I'm going to give it a whirl this year.
The project I'm working on is my most ambitious yet. I have three young adult books under my belt, but this time I'm stepping out of the young adult speculative fiction genre to tackle an adult speculative fiction book. It has a number of different POV characters that will all be facing different individual challenges throughout the book that will all meet near the end to bring the story together and then to a close. I've always started on page one and continued straight through the story until I reached the end, but this time I'm going to tackle it a little bit differently. I'm going to write each of the POV characters' parts individually in the first draft, and then when I finish, in my editing phase, I'll intertwine them throughout to create the vision I have. If I do it right, I think this could be a powerful story. And if not? Well, we authors always have that question in mind before we start, don't we?
So what does that have to do with me thinking this format fits NaNo well? If I hit 50k words before the end of the month, I'll have a few fully-formed stories that I'll be happy to call complete. I will, of course, keep working hard to finish the entire thing, but as long as I finish the month with the word count over 50k, I'll consider myself a winner. Since I write with pen and paper instead of a computer, I don't believe I can officially "win" NaNoWriMo anyway (from what I can tell, an author needs to enter the manuscript into the website's official word count calculator to "win," and I won't have anything to enter), so I'm doing it all for the unofficial experience. I'm fine with that. I'm excited about this project I'm working on, so this will get my pen moving faster. That's all that matters!
I've signed up on the official National Novel Writing Month website, and, while I haven't really looked into everything too carefully yet, I understand people can follow and friend each other on it. If you'd like to do that with me, I signed up as Eric J. Krause. (Aren't I original and clever?) So feel free to add or friend or whatever me. Good luck to all involved! Hopefully many of us will get working novels out of the experience!
Before I go any further, I probably should explain in case there are some out there who don't know what NaNoWriMo is, despite my earlier claim. The month of November is set aside for writing a novel, defined by the event as a work over 50,000 words. Okay, so it's more a novella at that length, but it's still a lofty goal. There are rules for those serious about taking up the official NaNoWriMo challenge, so if you want to know more, head over to the National Novel Writing Month website to learn more.
As I said, I've never tried before. I usually take about two months or so to get my first drafts done, so getting one out in a month is a lofty goal, indeed. I've never seen the point in rushing; I'd rather stick to my own style. But, having said that, because NaNo is such a big deal in the world of writing, I feel I should attempt it at least once. And since I have a project about ready to start, and I feel it fits in well with the format of NaNoWriMo, I'm going to give it a whirl this year.
The project I'm working on is my most ambitious yet. I have three young adult books under my belt, but this time I'm stepping out of the young adult speculative fiction genre to tackle an adult speculative fiction book. It has a number of different POV characters that will all be facing different individual challenges throughout the book that will all meet near the end to bring the story together and then to a close. I've always started on page one and continued straight through the story until I reached the end, but this time I'm going to tackle it a little bit differently. I'm going to write each of the POV characters' parts individually in the first draft, and then when I finish, in my editing phase, I'll intertwine them throughout to create the vision I have. If I do it right, I think this could be a powerful story. And if not? Well, we authors always have that question in mind before we start, don't we?
So what does that have to do with me thinking this format fits NaNo well? If I hit 50k words before the end of the month, I'll have a few fully-formed stories that I'll be happy to call complete. I will, of course, keep working hard to finish the entire thing, but as long as I finish the month with the word count over 50k, I'll consider myself a winner. Since I write with pen and paper instead of a computer, I don't believe I can officially "win" NaNoWriMo anyway (from what I can tell, an author needs to enter the manuscript into the website's official word count calculator to "win," and I won't have anything to enter), so I'm doing it all for the unofficial experience. I'm fine with that. I'm excited about this project I'm working on, so this will get my pen moving faster. That's all that matters!
I've signed up on the official National Novel Writing Month website, and, while I haven't really looked into everything too carefully yet, I understand people can follow and friend each other on it. If you'd like to do that with me, I signed up as Eric J. Krause. (Aren't I original and clever?) So feel free to add or friend or whatever me. Good luck to all involved! Hopefully many of us will get working novels out of the experience!
Speculative Fiction Writing Prompt #154
Here is this week's speculative fiction prompt. I'm labeling it as horror this week, but, as always, take it whatever direction you choose. Have fun!
The dead are rising, and they're hungry, but not for brains. In fact, they ignore humans altogether.
As always, feel free to use this in any way you choose. There's no need to give me any credit for any story you come up with. Of course, I never mind if you do give me credit for the writing prompt, but it's not necessary.
The dead are rising, and they're hungry, but not for brains. In fact, they ignore humans altogether.
As always, feel free to use this in any way you choose. There's no need to give me any credit for any story you come up with. Of course, I never mind if you do give me credit for the writing prompt, but it's not necessary.
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