I Love to Break Rules

I don’t know why. Maybe it’s the little kid in me, but my immediate reaction upon hearing about a rule, a restriction or a closed door is “oh, yeah? Let’s see what happens when you cross this. What is anyone gonna do?”

One of the things that I wanted to do in writing The Bones of the Earth was to write a fantasy that breaks a lot of rules. But I always do two things before I break a rule:

      <!--[if !supportLists]-->1.       <!--[endif]-->I know what the rule is<!--[if !supportLists]-->2.       <!--[endif]-->I break it to achieve something.

In other words, I’m not just some berserker of the English language, out to smash everything standing. So I looked at the rules of fantasy. Some of the rules make sense. Many of the better fantasies draw upon ancient myths. This is important, because these myths speak to something very deep within readers — in all of us. They help make that vital connection between author and audience.

But many of the others exist just because writers are copying other writers, especially Tolkien. “Hey, if you liked Lord of the Rings, you’ll love my book. It’s the same thing, only different!” This is the same phenomenon that sparked so many books (and movies, and TV shows, and graphic novels ...) about sexy, sparkly and friendly vampires. How long until the Hunger Games rip-off? Oh, it’s out, already?

No, I set out to break some rules, bend others until they snapped, and perforate the boundaries of the genre to allow elements from other genres to invade. But there is one rule that I held to: I made sure it was still a story, a story about real people that interest readers.

Rules broken

Everyone loves free stuff, so I’m giving away copies of The Bones of the Earth. If you can answer a skill-testing question, I’ll send you a copy of my novel in the electronic format of your choice. For more details, visit Wodke Hawkinson’s blog at http://findagoodbooktoread.com/wodke-hawkinsons-blog/genres-boundaries-rules-and-my-hero.

All you have to do is read two excerpts:

• Chapter 1 on my blog, http://scottswrittenwords.blogspot.ca/p/sample-bones-of-earth.html
• Chapter 2 on Wodke Hawkinson’s blog, http://findagoodbooktoread.com/featured-books---excerpts.php

Oh, you want a hint? Okay. Here are some of the conventions of fantasy writing that bug me the most. Now, you figure out which rules, tropes, conventions and clichés I did my best to wreck.

• setting — place
• setting — time
• languages and names
• nobles, princes and princesses
• vampires and dragons
• wise men and women
• true love.

Good luck!

Scott Bury is author of The Bones of the Earth. His blog, Written Words, can be found at http://scottswrittenwords.blogspot.ca.

He is a writer, editor and journalist based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

How Do You Know?

Recently, my four year old Godson turned down a perfectly yummy chocolate chip cookie because “it’s not round”.  I said, “That doesn’t matter, it still tastes good. Try it.” He took a tiny taste but you could tell that he still had the notion in his head of what it is going to taste like. 

This got me to thinking.  Maybe other people are afraid to stretch their genre wings because they don’t fit into what they feel is the right shape.  I know that up until a year ago, I was the same way. I stuck pretty much to reading Medical Mysteries.  Why...because I was comfortable with them.  What I’ve since discovered is that a book is a book. It might look slightly different but if I go in with the idea that I don’t know what it will “read” like until I try it then I how will I know if I’m missing something really good?

I am applying this new theory to all types of books. I’ve read Tom Clancy as well as several Independent Authors. If you’d asked me 5 years ago to read anything outside of Medical Mysteries, I would have looked at you like you were crazy.  I like to think that I’ve grown as a reader and hopeful as an author because I took a leap of faith.  I’ve savored some really sweet fruits right along with a few sour grapes.

I’m sure one day that my Godson will outgrow his need for things to be a certain shape or color before he tries them.  I just hope that it doesn’t take him fifty years before he decides to try.

My challenge to you is to try something new.  Whether it is reading or writing something out of your “genre comfort zone” or trying "pizza cookies".

Have a great one!

Lynn Hallbrooks

Love like Twilight

                                       

We all have been there. One day we are having romantic dinners for two and the next day we are wandering down the frozen food aisle looking at Lean Cuisine for one. It sucks! Come on…I hear a deep sigh from the wounded…those memories haunt us and inspire us to keep looking for “ the one.”

We are the happiest when we are in love and for most it doesn’t come easy. How many times do we try to get it right? Don’t ask me because I’ll be embarrassed! Very few get it right the first time. I’m going to self diagnose here, something that I have gotten better at in my old age.

Our first concept of love comes from our family, but mine never were openly demonstrative in that department. Sure, my mother took good care of us and my dad worked hard to provide for us all. I was the oldest of six girls. That’s right, six! My parents never showed open affection to each other or to us. I never saw them hug, kiss or even hold hands. They were shy, reserved and quiet and I was also like that in my early years. I yearned though for the affection of just hearing someone say I love you.

So, I first found love in the form of a small wiggly puppy. Yep, my first love was dogs. Many times they were my only friends. You can always love just one more dog! Whenever I have lost a beloved pet I tell myself I don’t want another one, but have I only loved one dog? Of course not, I’ve had many and I’ve loved them all.

My second love was teen idols! I’m sorry, but I have to be honest here. I grew up in the seventies. I’m talking about bell-bottoms, rock and roll music and Elvis.

My third concept of love was from television shows. I Love Lucy,  Leave it to Beaver, The Dick Van Dyke Show. Everyone wanted parents like that!

My fourth concept of love was books! Glorious, exciting, mesmerizing books! When I was in second grade my teacher took me to the library and I fell under the spell of The Little Princess, by Francis Hodgins Burnette, who also wrote The Secret Garden.

Later, I became totally spellbound by romance novels. It was Barbara Cartland, Grace Livingston Hill and currently Stephanie Meyers. Their words of romance and ideals of love spoke to my heart.

 Yes, I have read all of the Twilight books by Stephanie Meyers. Amazon deemed her book Twilight, the best book of the decade. It was kind of weird that teenage daughters and their mothers and even grandmothers all were under the Twilight spell.

What was all the fuss about? It was never about Edward or Jacob or even the real life actors for me…sorry Rob! It was the concept of a forever love. It thrilled me, lifted me and gave me back my dreams of knowing that kind of love. We all want a love like Twilight!

So much so, that I wrote my own paranormal romance called Radiance:Love after Death. Marena Jacobs was not your typical kind of heroine. She was overweight, divorced and a workaholic.

Her life is about to change one night in ways she never imagined. She fell in love with the man of her dreams after she died. ~

Something more happened to her in those seconds she passed from life to death. Waking up from a coma three months later, bits and pieces come back to her and it is more fantastic that she ever imagined…so much so, she thinks she may have lost her mind. The truth however, stands in front of her and he’s over six feet tall and not going to take no for an answer!

 Book Trailer

Author Bio:

Debra Jayne East was born the oldest of six girls in Martinsville, Virginia. For as long as she could remember, she loved to keep journals, write poetry and short stories. She researched her family tree and suddenly she understood why. Her distant relative, Violet Florence Martin was an Irish author, born in 1862, who wrote under the pen name of Martin Ross in the late 19th and early 20th
century. 
Learning about her heritage encouraged her to follow her dreams of being a writer.

Where to find me:                                  

Amazon
XOXO PUBLISHING
http://debrajayneeast.blogspot.com
http://twitter.com/juliet2cool4u
https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Debra-Jayne-East/177696055623372
heart-stone@live.com

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What to expect during Home Swaps

When I tell people that we're doing home swaps as a way to have a wonderful and cheap vacation time, they ask me about the main differences between the countries: in this case Germany and the USA. The biggest and probably the most hard to comprehend for Americans from the South like us is the lack of Air Conditioning. I don't know any private homes in Germany that has an AC. Public places and hotels are different. In Germany, we open all the windows to create a breeze and love living outdoors -weather permitting. Mind you, we hardly ever have the temperatures nor the humidity that prevail in Florida for almost half of the year. AC even has a bad reputation in Germany: it causes colds, spreads germs and is a waste of electricity. Well, here it's a different kettle of fish and we encourage our house guest to keep the AC on even they may think doing us a great job in saving money for us when they switch it off. They learn soon enough.
With open windows come flies and midges.There aren't really any mosquitoes in Germany. But they annoying midges will find their way into the house and bedroom. You just have to switch off the lights when the windows are open.
Another difference are the fridges.People tend to have smaller fridge-freezers that have no ice-makers.That's what my poor hubby really misses. We even take an extra old fashioned cube tray with us so that we have enough ice cubes. For some reason, Germans don't need ice cubes in their drinks as we do here. Once their drink is chilled in the fridge- that's cold enough.
Germany has its famous Autbahn. Many foreigners dream of driving there at top speeds. In reality, in many areas speed is restricted due to heavy traffic in densely populated areas. But I have done my 240 km/h legally. The rest of the country has Bundesstrassen which often are only 2 lane roads. In fact, traveling in the countryside that is the type of road you're likely to encounter. There is only one or 2 of this type of narrow roads left where we live. As my neighbor called it:"The dangerous road..."Ooh, and also windy...scary, scary.

Other differences are the ones that I miss dearly: foods! My favorite foods like white asparagus, Italian Gelaterias (ice cream parlors), a gazillion different breads and Broetchen, (bread rolls), most of them not sweet -thank goodness- exquisite cakes and tortes (tartes) as well as beer gardens.I wrote about some of these before in last years blog, Season 1 as an eBook.(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005N0N3CO). With less than 4 weeks to go, my excitement is growing. I'll keep you posted! For more information see www.Intrepidhomeswappers.blogspot.com
Siggy Buckley

Where Heaven Touches Earth

Poems in 2 languages: a Rare Find

Waar de hemel de aarde raakt,

langgerekte velden van sneeuw.

Dashwit lijkt die reuzenkracht

terwijl het langzaam smelt tot eeuwige vlekken.

Weggevaagd door oververhitting.

Verpulverd door veel te veel waskracht

die neerslaat, rivieren doet zwellen,

waar vloed vloeder wordt en wegwast

tot alles rein is,

daar waar de hemel de aarde raakt!

Where heaven touches earth,

elongated fields of snow.

Dash-white this giant power seems

while it slowly melts into eternal stains.

Pulverized by much too much wash power

That suppresses, rivers does swell,

where flood becomes flooder and washes away

until everything is clean,

there where heaven touches earth!

Joachim Artist http://joachimartist.blogspot.com/

A TRIBUTE TO RAY BRADBURY by Salvatore Buttaci

 

Posted by Salvatore Buttaci on Thursday, June 07 2012 in News

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               MARTIAN CHRONICLES (1950)


I first met Ray Bradbury in the pages of his book The Illustrated Man way back in 1951. His easy flowing, poetic style of writing science fiction and fantasy hooked me into a love of these genres to this very day. From that book came others throughout the Fabulous Fifties and beyond. They were books I had to read because Ray Bradbury wrote them and Ray Bradbury ranked first among all of my favorite authors: Philip K. Dick, Theodore Sturgeon, Alfred Bester, Clifford D. Simak, Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, C.M. Kornbluth, Frederik Pohl, Poul Anderson, Frederic Brown, and Fritz Leiber.
My childhood was a wonderful time to be an avid reader delighting in vicarious adventures. Thanks to Bradbury and the others, those 25-cent paperbacks allowed me to travel through space and time, hitch my imagination to theirs, and leave Earth if only for the duration of each exciting novel.

Ray Bradbury, who passed away at 91, on June 05, 2012, was the last of my literary heroes to leave this planet. I miss them all, but especially Bradbury because he more than the others started me writing his same kind of fiction. No, we never met in person. He never stood at my side, as my parents did, encouraging me to take up my pencil or pen and get that story down. But being a Bradbury fan, I learned by his example. I internalized the advice he offered young aspiring writers. 

When Bradbury was a young boy of 12, he met Mr. Electrico, a carnival magician, who at the end of one of his performances, reached out and touched young Ray with his sword. “Live forever!” he commanded him. Later Bradbury said, “I decided that was the greatest idea I had ever heard. I started writing every day. I never stopped.”

For over 80 years he wrote at least 1,000 words a day! In 1941 he sold his first story “Pendulum” and published his first book, a short story collection called Dark Carnival. in 1947. He was a prolific author who wrote hundreds of short stories, more than fifty books, poems, essays, screenplays, and even operas. 

For those who have never read his works, let me suggest some classics: Martian Chronicles (1950); Fahrenheit 451 (1953); The October Country (1955); Dandelion Wine (1957); Something Wicked This Way Comes (1962).

Despite a stroke in 1999, which forced him to use a wheelchair, Bradbury continued to write and see his books published. . In addition to many writing awards, Bradbury was the recipient of the 2007 Pulitzer Prize Special Citation. 

In 2002 I was an English teacher in a New Jersey middle School. One of the stories we were reading and discussing was Ray Bradbury‘s “All Summer in a Day.”  The story takes place on Venus where rain falls incessantly, except for two hours every seven years, when the sun makes its rare appearance. The children in the schoolhouse are no different than children on Earth. (you can read the story at http://www.wssb.wa.gov/content/Classrooms/tate/content/freshman/All%20Summer%20In%20a%20Day/story.htm 

My 8th graders loved the story! Some went on to read more Bradbury stories on their own time, even books I recommended to them. Because of their enthusiasm, I asked if they’d like to write a letter to the author. I would somehow find his address, we’d place all our letters in a manila folder and mail it out to the author. 

Here is Ray Bradbury’s reply from his home on Cheviot Drive in Los Angeles:

February 28, 2002

Dear Salvatore Buttaci:

Thank you very much for your kind and loving letter. I deeply appreciate all the wonderful things you said about my books and your history in reading.

I appreciate your sending on the letters and essays of your various students. I wish I had time to respond to each one. This sort of thing is very welcome to me at this time because when I began writing, years ago, very little attention was paid to my writing; my first books were published to absolutely no reviews at all. Now you come along with your kind students and give me praise in my later years.

I wish you well in the months and years ahead and send all of you my love.

(Signed: Ray Bradbury)

I hope after reading this article, if you are not already a Bradbury fan, you will pick up one of his books and become one.
Salvatore Buttaci is the author of two short-short story collections, Flashing My Shorts and 200 Shorts, both published by All Things That Matter Press and available in book and Kindle editions at http://www.kindlegraph.com/authors/sambpoet

 His new book If Roosters Don’t Crow, It Is Still Morning: Haiku and Other Poems   http://tinyurl.com/76akl73  
Buttaci lives in West Virginia with Sharon, the love of his life.