This Week: Back and Forward (2)

This past week, I read a book called No Plot? No Problem! by Chris Baty, the founder of National Novel Writing Month. I'm not going to get into the book here, as I'll devote a blog post to it sometime later this year, but I will say that it inspired me. I've attempted to write books without the benefit of an outline before, and it never ends well. Reading Mr. Baty's tips and encouragement, however, excited me to give it another go, in 30 days, no less! Yes, my own personal NaNoWriMo. I started writing a Young Adult horror story about a demonic Magic 8-Ball (that's all you get about it for now, though), and after two days am almost on pace. My goal each day is 1667 words, which will make 50,000 words in 30 days (50,010 words if your nasty). I wrote 1364 on Friday and 1885 yesterday, leaving me just 85 words shy of pace so far. But I'm not worried--the book also gave me a tip on writing time that I think will work wonders for word count once I get into it. I'll see if it works for me this week, and report back on it if it does.

I'm still shooting for 5000 words each week, which should be no problem these next few weeks with my NaNoWriMo experiment. Ended up with 5449 last week. Didn't quite make up for my slow first week, but, as I said, I'm not too worried about that. It'll all even out. I was happy about my social media experience this week--I was on Twitter quite a bit, tweeting and retweeting my writer buns off. I'm still giving thought to how I'm going to handle my author page on Facebook, but I think I've got it figured out. Last week I wrote a few health tips and a writing tip. I think I'll continue that a couple times or more a week. I looked through my Google Reader account each day, and even commented on some blog posts, which I need to do more of. I didn't use Google+ much, and I doubt that'll change. It simply feels redundant to Twitter and Facebook. I'll change my tune if necessary, but I'm not going to worry about it now. I did post my links to my blog posts, and I'll continue doing that.

This coming week will be a busy writing week with my personal NaNo. I also will have a new Speculative Fiction Writing Prompt on Monday, a blog post on Wednesday (a book review of Page After Page by Heather Sellers), and I'll do my best to have a Friday Flash on, you guessed it, Friday (though, honestly, I usually post them in the late evening on Thursday). That's it for now. I'll have another one of these looks back and forward next Sunday. I hope everyone has a productive writing week!

A Writing Break (My Writing Depression)

I didn't write much in December. I wasn't sure why at the time, but the spark just wasn't there. Part of it was that my wife had a good chunk of the first part of the month off from work, and we spent a lot of time together doing fun things and getting ready for the holidays, but there was something else under the surface that I couldn't quite put my finger on. As the month went on, the itch to write started to get to me, but I had no problem telling myself to wait until the beginning of the year to start off right. This made perfect sense to me.

Though it shouldn't have, and I didn't know why.

Then I figured it out. I'd let myself become a bit depressed with writing because of the novel I was sending out to agents. I wasn't even getting a "let me see more," and though I know it's all a part of the game, especially with the way the business is nowadays, it still got to me. It sucked the joy out of writing, and since I didn't diagnose it, the depression with the business festered inside of me until I didn't want to work on anything. Luckily (or unluckily), I had that magic mark of "The New Year" coming up. I can't help wondering if this depression had hit me in, say, July, if I would have either not waited so long to start writing, or if I would have stopped for a much longer time.

Anyway, I did figure out what was wrong. I've always told myself to not take anything in this business personal when it came to submissions; if someone doesn't want the story, try someone else. I let my guard down, though, and it seized me, freezing my writing life for a month. Now that I'm back in the game, I'm feeling stronger about my writing life, and I also feel confident I won't let that depression sneak up on me again. I know the signs now and can confront them head on. I plan big things for myself this year, and I don't want to self-sabotage.

So why am I sharing this? I want to remind everyone to not take rejection so personally. I know it's hard, but if you let it get to you, it can sabotage all of your writing, not just the project that is not earning the praise you believe it should. Yes, it's okay to feel bad for a bit when you get that rejection letter, but know that you're doing it so you can keep it in check and move on after that initial wallow in pity. Human nature sometimes makes it hard, but to make it in this business, it's a necessity. I just hope I've learned my lesson.

Writing Prompt #88

Here is this week's speculative fiction prompt. I'm labeling it as science fiction, but take it whatever direction you choose. Have fun with it!

A rabbit-eared television set can control time and space.

This Week: Back and Forward (1)

This past week, I wanted to write 5000 words, as well as be more of a presence on social media sites. I did not hit my weekly word goal, but, honestly, I didn't expect to. I basically took December off from writing (part of the reason why will be addressed in this week's coming blog post; look for it on Wednesday), so I didn't expect the words to flow. That's okay. I knew it going in, and I also know I'll make up for it over the course of the year. As for my social media presence, I feel I did fine. I've been on Twitter quite a bit, and I feel like I've reconnected with some people I've largely lost track of in the past several months, as well as meeting some nice new people. I also posted daily on my Facebook author site, something I've decided to keep up throughout the year. Some days will be me pointing out links to this blog or other type things, while other days will be quick writing tips. I also plan to post exercise and nutrition tips, since this is often (from listening to complaints by writers on Twitter and Facebook) that many of us can use reminders of every once in a while. I feel I'm qualified enough to make these occasional tips--I lost 60 pounds last year, dropping my pants size from a 44 to a 34. So these exercise and nutrition tips are proven to work!

This next week I pretty much have the same writing goals. 5000 words and keeping a strong profile on Twitter and Facebook (Google+ needs to be addressed, too, but not sure if that'll be this week or not). I will be getting back into writing the first draft of a middle grade novel I started last year, so hopefully that'll pile up the words. If you're looking forward to my blog posts, I'll have a new Speculative Fiction Writing Prompt on Monday, and a post on Wednesday about why I didn't write in December. There will likely be no Friday Flash story on Friday as I don't think I'm going to carve out the time that weekend to read the story of other authors, and I dislike posting my own story if I can't read others.

That's a look back at last week and a look forward at this coming one. I'll be posting these updates each Sunday to keep myself honest.

#FridayFlash--Writer's Block

Writer's Block
by Eric J. Krause

He sat down and stared at the blank page. No ideas flooded his mind, but he didn't worry. Inspiration would come; it always did. Besides, he could dig up a writing prompt on the web, listen to a song, or simply freewrite. He'd been through this before. The words would come.

A minute. Two. Five. Ten.

Nothing.

Fine. He stood and headed to his computer, ready to bring in the big guns. A writing prompt. This mini-bout of writer's block wouldn't stand a chance. He had a few sites bookmarked that had served him well in the past, and a few keystrokes later, he'd printed out a dozen prompts that were sure to get him through.

He dove into the first, finished a paragraph, and stopped. No, this one was a good freewriting exercise, but it wasn't leading to a story. The next one proved the same. And the next. And the next. And the next.

The pen smacked onto his desk when he dropped it. This was no good. It wasn't a traditional writing prompt night, or, for that matter, a freewriting type of night. Maybe a song would jar a story out of him.

The iPod went to random, and he stared at the display. The name of the first song would be the title of his story. "The Price of Pain." Perfect. That could go in a hundred different directions.

Except it didn't. The page remained blank, and his pen stayed silent. He started to get up to take a mind-clearing walk when the pain hit. His chest burned and his arm tingled. He plopped back into his chair and took a deep breath. After a few seconds, everything went back to normal. Damn heartburn.

As he picked up his pen, something about it caught his eye. For the first time, he examined the writing instrument. It was clear plastic, the kind where you can see right to the ink. Except that wasn't ink in there. Ink didn't move like that, not any kind he'd ever seen. It swirled and bubbled and dripped and rose and changed from black to blue to green to yellow to red and back to black to start it all over again.

Where had this pen come from? He couldn't remember. Had it been a gift, part of a pack he'd purchased, or had he grabbed it as a freebie somewhere? No matter how much he thought about it, the answer wouldn't come.

He dipped the tip onto the paper. He'd done it plenty of times in the past hour in his attempts at the writing prompts, but this time the ink came out different. It swirled on the page as it had inside the pen. Hypnotic. Multi-colored. Moving where no movement should be possible. And it wasn't just the ink. Now his words flowed, given new life by the dancing print.

He filled one blank page. Then another. And another. He had no idea how much time had passed, but it felt like mere seconds. And these words were gold. He hadn't gone over them yet, but he knew. He'd sell this story and plenty of subsequent ones based on it. This was his key to success in the business, and it was all due to whatever was in this strange pen.

Four more pages in, he finally jotted those two magic words: The End. As fast and furious as his pen had travelled over the paper, he couldn't believe his hands hadn't cramped up. As he set it down, he massaged his fingers, but it was unnecessary. They didn't even tingle. He stood up, intent on heading to the kitchen for a bottle of celebratory beer, and had to stifle a scream.

He hadn't actually written anything at all. His dead body lay slumped over the still blank pages, and the pen, which proved to be one of those plain, run-of-the-mill jobs from an office supply store, had rolled off the desk and bounced a few feet away. The ink was clearly black and definitely not swirling.

Cries of sorrow, frustration, and downright anger stopped in his throat. A bright light behind him melted away those negative emotions and left only a peaceful aura around him. What else could he do? There was nothing here for him anymore. He turned and stepped into the light.

2012 Writing Goals

With the new year upon us, I decided it was time to publish my writing goals for 2012. I decided I need to write much more this year, so my main goal is to get at least 5000 words down on page each week. That will equal 260,000 words for the year when all is said and done. The plan is to work on a few novels (YA speculative fiction still being the main thrust, though I'd like to throw an adult horror story in, as well), write short stories for publication, and publish Friday Flash stories (more on that last one later). I've also made myself a deal when it comes to editing and plotting--each hour I spend doing one or the other counts as 250 words. This way, as long as I'm working on a novel or short story, it'll count towards my goal. I think that this goal will do well to getting me closer to where I want to be as a writer.

In addition, I need to put more focus into marketing and social media. These are weak areas for me. I'm very sporadic on Twitter, only really post goofy stuff for my friends on Facebook, and largely ignore Google+. This needs to change. I will be more of a presence on Twitter, will make more use of my writing account on Facebook, and will actually use Google+ this year. Also, I will be more on top of submitting short stories and query letters, as well as other marketing areas that I'm not very good at. I hate that part of the writing game, but I know it needs to be done. I will also comment on other writers blog posts in an attempt to get my name out there more often (and to show others how much I appreciate the hard work they put into everything, since I know how much time it all takes).

This blog will also benefit from my wanting to be a better all-around writer this year. I need to post more often, and I have some ideas to make this happen. I will continue to publish Speculative Fiction Writing Prompts each Monday (or at least most Mondays). As I said in the first paragraph, I also want to publish Friday Flash stories on, you guessed it, Fridays. I won't do this every week, but my goal in this area is to aim for at least a couple times a month. So if you're a fan of my flash fiction, keep an eye on that coming soon. I also will do my best to post an article on writing every Wednesday. These may be my thoughts on certain writing topics, book reviews on writing books, occasional movie or television show reviews, or any other topic that pertains to writing. I'm not going to promise that there will be one every single Wednesday, but I will post most weeks. I'm also considering posting a review of what I've done, writing-wise, each weekend, be it Saturday or Sunday, and maybe a preview of what I plan to do in the coming week. If I do this, I doubt I'll advertise much about it on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, or wherever else might be appropriate. That post will be mostly for me to keep myself accountable. Of course, anyone will be free to read it and leave me comments. I always love to see comments on any blog post.

So there you have it: my writing goals for 2012. I'm hoping this will be a breakthrough year for me, as I'm in the middle of an agent search. With the output I hope to produce, there will also be further agent and publication searches down the line. All in all, I hope this is my best writing year yet!

2012 Reading Challenge

Last year I attempted the Outdo Yourself Challenge at The Book Vixen's blog, and while I came close to my goal, I fell just a book short. Hopefully I can do a bit better this year. My goal this year (as it was last year) is to read 50 books. I hit 49 last year, so I only need one additional book this year. I can do it! I will list which books I've completed below. If you'd like to join in this challenge, click this sentence or the picture below.



If you'd like to read my review of any or all of the books I read this year, check out my reviews on Goodreads. Feel free to friend me while you're there, if you'd like!

Now, onto the books:
1. Feed by M.T. Anderson
2. Peter and Max: A Fables Novel by Bill Willingham
3. Other Kingdoms by Richard Matheson
4. A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain
5. The Moon Maze Game by Larry Niven and Steven Barnes
6. The Zero Game by Brad Meltzer
7. Tirfo Thuin by Andrew Butterworth
8. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
9. The Dark Yergall by Jason Sullivan
10. The Fairy-Tale Detectives by Michael Buckley
11. Devil's Hand by M.E. Patterson
12. Time's Daughter by Anya Breton
13. Witch Hunt by K.C. Blake
14. The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger by Stephen King

Writing Prompt #87

Here is this week's speculative fiction prompt. I'm not labeling it this week, so take it whatever direction you choose. Have fun with it!

A radical environmental group starts assassinating smokers.

My #BestReads2011

I both read and listened to almost 50 books this year (49 if you want to get right down to the nitty-gritty facts), and while I enjoyed each one--what's the point of finishing a book you don't like?--some stood out more than others. John Wiswell of The Bathroom Monologues came up with the #bestreads2011 blog-hop, so I decided to share my favorites here. When you finish looking at my choices, head over to John's post to see what books others have chosen as their favorites of the year. I think you'll be hard-pressed to walk away without the itch to check out at least one title.

Of the 49 books I read this year, I chose five as my favorites (as well as another for an honorable mention). Without further ado, here they are, presented in the order I read them:

1. Hidden Mickey 2: It All Started... by Nancy Temple Rodrigue and David W. Smith : I love Disney, and more specifically, Disneyland. With this series based at Disneyland, I figured it would be a slam dunk. The first book was a bit clunky, but I enjoyed it well enough to move right on to this second book. And I'm glad I did. It had a much more dangerous plot than the first one, and the slight hint of the supernatural was fun to read about. This one was more character-based than puzzle-based like the first one, but the puzzles in this one were fun to follow. Even though the characters were more "out there" than in the first book, they felt a lot more real. It was also fun to spend a much more intimate time in Disneyland. I really felt like I was there at times. (Of course, I've been to the same places as the characters many, many times.) The part of the book that took place on the Jungle Cruise was especially fun--it took me back to my days as a skipper navigating the rivers of the world and cracking corny jokes. I highly recommend this book. It was an easy choice for my top five of the year.

2. The Time-Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger : This year I discovered audible.com, and this was the first book I downloaded. (Actually, it was free, but I signed up for the service soon after finishing it.) The voice acting was delightful--it really brought the characters to life. As for the story, it grabbed me by the throat right from the beginning and didn't let go. It had some wonderful lines throughout, to go along with the sparkling, but increasingly sad, story. If you enjoy speculative fiction at all (or even if you don't and simply like a great story), give this one a read (or listen).

3. The Child Thief by Brom : Wow, from beginning to end, this one was dark. It was right up my alley. It's based on the Peter Pan story, but Brom takes the legend and makes it his own. There are many familiar pieces showcased, but it's all turned on its head with a liberal dash of new characters/situations. This is not a Disney version...it's not even the same tone as the original Barrie story, and that one was pretty dark if you peered close enough. This one is full of violence, swearing, and death upon death. If you're a fan of the legend of Peter Pan, and you enjoy a healthy heaping of darkness in your fiction, you won't be disappointed. If you don't care one bit about Peter and his lost boys, but you enjoy dark fantasy and horror, you also won't be disappointed.

4. The Prestige by Christopher Priest : This is another one I listened two rather than read. The narrator did a marvelous job throughout, inflecting different voices to each character. As for the story itself, I thought it was brilliant. For the most part, it is told in journal entries by the two competing magicians. It's quite interesting to hear their sides of the story, and I found myself rooting for first Borden as he penned his account of his life, and then Angier when it was his turn. Both had secrets that they dodged around, though the text does give enough hints for their discovery. It's full of twists and turns, and I highly recommend this book.

5. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline : This is by far my favorite book of 2011. It easily makes its way into my top five favorite books of all time. The story is terrific, and it was so much more fun because of all the pop culture references from the 1980s. The real world, set in the 2040s, is a depressing place, and is certainly a possible future. The Oasis, though, the virtual reality world where most of the story takes place, is, like the name suggests, an oasis from the hard life. The main character, Wade/Parzival, is fun to follow, and I found myself rooting hard for him. The other characters are also well-drawn, and I found it easy to get lost in this story. I recommend the audio version, since Wil Wheaton is the narrator, and he does an excellent job of bringing this story to life. All in all, especially if you're a child of the 80s, and even more so if you enjoyed video games and other fantasy/sci-fi entertainment in the decade, give this one a read. I'd be shocked if you were disappointed.

Honorable Mention: Bag of Bones by Stephen King : I'm not putting this in my five because I've already read this one many times. This year, however, I listened to it for the first time, with Mr. Stephen King himself narrating. I enjoyed it as much as the first time I read it back when it originally came out. Mr. King proved to be an excellent narrator, and I'd certainly like to listen to him read some of his other books. Bag of Bones is one of my favorite books of all time, so it was nice to experience it in this way.

I hope you enjoyed my list, and head over to The Bathroom Monologues to check out the rest of the #BestReads2011 blog-hop.

Writing Prompt #86

Here is this week's speculative fiction prompt. I'm not labeling it this week, so take it whatever direction you choose. Have fun with it!

Is that Santa climbing down your chimney...or something else entirely?

Writing Prompt #85

Here is this week's speculative fiction prompt. I'm labeling it as fantasy, but take it whatever direction you choose. Have fun with it!

Your favorite stuffed animal comes to life.

Writing Prompt #84

Here is this week's speculative fiction prompt. I'm not labeling it this week, so take it whatever direction you choose. Have fun with it!

You have a superpower, but it only works when adrenaline courses through your veins.

Writing Prompt #83

Here is this week's speculative fiction prompt. I'm not labeling it this week, so take it whatever direction you choose. Have fun with it!

That's not candy in Grandma's candy dish.

#FridayFlash--The Fantabulous Funnybone Floatiboats

The Fantabulous Funnybone Floatiboats
by Eric J. Krause

Heidi waited for the last boat to cycle through, and then grabbed her waders, flashlight, and walkie-talkie. She couldn't put into words how much she dreaded Tuesday nights, her turn to walk the flume. As light and airy as it was during the day, the building was that much darker and heavier once the last guest left.

She took a deep breath and stepped down into the water. Though it was only 18 inches deep and the waders were insulated, she felt chills flash all over her body. That wasn't from anything other than her dread and anticipation. So far.

During the day, the Fantabulous Funnybones sang and danced to the delight of the children, and to a lesser extent, their parents. Now, though, in the dark of night, the various dogs, cats, and mice stared down with menace in their dead, mechanical eyes. But as creepy as the robots were, they weren't the problem. No, the real problems drifted unseen around the lifeless automatons.

Or at least that's what the stories said. And as much as she laughed about it with her coworkers in the well-lit break room, she didn't when she was down here alone.

She sloshed through the first room without incident. The flume and propulsion devices worked fine, and she didn't hear any cringe-worthy sounds. Just as she did every Tuesday night, she said, "One down, four to go," referring to the various rooms of the ride.

It started in the second room. Just tappings and footsteps up among the characters. Heidi ignored it, instead focusing on the flume. She'd heard it all before. But then came a whisper that caused her blood to run cold.

"Heidi, Heidi." She couldn't tell where it originated from, but she knew right away it wasn't human. The malice in the voice caused her to pick up her pace. Her flashlight stayed trained on the flume and propulsion system, but her attention remained up amongst the cartoon characters. She saw nothing.

As she passed from the second room to the third, she walked through the coldest spot she'd ever felt. If every air conditioning vent in the building was pointed to that one area, it wouldn't have been as cold. She sloshed a few steps forward, and the air remained frozen. A voice, different from the one before, said something, but it was so garbled that she couldn't understand. This time she lifted her flashlight, but other than the various Funnybone characters, she saw nothing.

After a few more feet, the voice returned, and this time she had no problem understanding it. "Die, die, die." As it spoke, something splashed into the water in front of her. A scream escaped her lips, and she positioned her flashlight so she could see. It was an animatronics eye. She pulled out her walkie-talkie, intent on calling for help. She'd feel stupid relaying the story, but at this point, she didn't care.

Before she could press the talk button, the ride turned on. But that was impossible. A padlock lay attached to the start mechanism, and the only key was in her pocket. Either someone had cut the lock, which they wouldn't do--they knew she was in here--or even more improbable, something in here caused an override.

As the Fantabulous Funnybones sang their signature song of tolerance and peace, the water propulsion jets spit out more air than necessary to move the boats at a steady pace. It knocked Heidi off-balance, and the walkie-talkie flew from her hand. It splashed into the water at the same time she did, but it was far out of her reach and already rushing away in the current.

She tried to prop herself up, but her hand slipped on the bottom. Her head went under, and before she could pull it out, hands pushed her down. She struggled and tried to scream, but water rushed into her lungs. She'd only been under a second, and she already felt the first signs of drowning. She knew she shouldn't panic, but with phantom hands still pushing down, that was impossible. Thrashing about did no good.

Her head hit the bottom, and the hands disappeared. She pushed up, but pain assaulted her scalp. Through the chlorinated water, she saw her hair stuck in one of the propulsion mechanisms. A quick yank broke a good chunk of hair loose (with a fair amount of scalp). It wasn't enough. She still couldn't rise. And she'd already taken in too much water. Unless she acted fast, she was going to drown in a foot and a half of water.

Heidi grasped her hair and planted her feet on the bottom of the flume. It would hurt like a bitch, but her legs were strong enough to pull her free. And she had to hurry. Not only was she about to pass out, but the boats had no doubt been launched. With the speed of the propulsion jets, they'd not only get to her in a hurry, but would hit too hard to survive.

With the speed of the water, she couldn't get traction on the bottom of the flume. She tried a new angle and moved her feet to the side of the flume. She pushed hard, screamed out the last of the air in her lungs as her scalp ripped, and freed herself. She pushed up, but before she broke the surface, the first boat slammed into her. She didn't die right away, but it pinned her down, trapping her at the bottom.

As the happy music of the Fantabulous Funnybone Floatiboat attraction played above her, the last thing she heard was a raspy voice.

"Join us."

Writing Prompt #82

Here is this week's speculative fiction prompt. I'm labeling it as horror, but you can take it whatever direction you choose. Have fun with it!

You can create and control the undead.