O Canada, We Stand on Guard Alongside Thee

On Wednesday October 22, there was no Canadian team present, but my Pittsburgh Penguins opened their NHL hockey game against the Philadelphia Flyers with the singing of “O Canada” following the terrible deadly shooting in Ottawa and the storming of Parliament Hill earlier in the day.

 

Very classy gesture, Pens, I thought. Then I watched as the dreaded Flyers beat up on the Pens. My publisher is in the Philly area, so I’m sure he loved the game. I won’t hold it against you, Gio.

To be honest, I didn’t think any more about the game or national anthem until the next day when a groundswell of Canadian gratitude started flowing back.   

When the Characters in Your Story Whisper to You

Let me start out with a disclaimer and then an announcement. First the disclaimer: I am not crazy . . . I think. Announcement? Well, I’m excited to announce that my latest installment in the Colony Zero series is out on Amazon! I hope you will check it out.

For the Children was the most challenging story I'd ever written. The author before me in the series, Mark Carver, wrote a terrific story, Hammerfall. Only one problem: Mark ended his story with my character, Christopher Ransom, storming Colony Zero with a platoon of soldiers. I envisioned Chris escaping to Earth and wrote my draft story accordingly. There's a little scientific law that states a person (or character in my case) can not be on two different worlds at the same time! I had TWO WEEKS to rewrite my entire story before my deadline. The clock was ticking and I was totally stumped. It literally took me three days to write the first page of the new story. I could hear the wind whistling in the space between my ears. Then Lieutenant Lisa Clarke appeared on the pages of my story and she took my hand. 

Okay, admittedly this sounds freaky. I don't know the name of the young lady in the pic, but that is the image of my Lisa in every way. She guided me, showed me things through her eyes. She told me she knew the beautiful Zero, Althana. She revealed her past to me and shared her pain that helped shape the outcome of my story. Without her, I would never have delivered the story on time.

I hope you will take the time to meet Lisa. I’m very proud of For the Children. I could never have written it without her.

Helping Hands Press Blogtalk Thursday 10/9 - Come hear me mumble

Hey all! Man it's been a hectic couple of months. There's a Huge Helping Hands Press blogtalk Thursday, 10/9 starting at 7:30 p.m. EST with several authors, including MOI at 9:15 p.m.

Come join us and listen to me mumble and fumble and discuss my next installment in the Colony Zero SciFi series, "For the Children."

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/gelatisscoop/2014/10/09/helping-hands-press-thirsty-thursday-party

 

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Mark

The poor you will always have . . . and doubts

Just the other day an incident happened that really upset me. It upset me enough to want to discuss it here. I’m angry with the way I reacted. I am second-guessing myself, even after many hours have passed. I just don’t know the best way to handle situations like this.

Maybe there never will be a best way.

Meet the Witch of Blue Note

It's interesting how this post dovetails with last week's talk on favorite characters. Several Helping Hands Press authors are participating in a summer reading blog tour where we introduce our blogging audience to our stories.and characters. As usual for me, the introduction of my favorite character from my fantasy novel Whispers from Forbidden Earth has taken a slightly darker turn . . .

My name is Jai. I was born as you see me, with useless eyes. Yet I see in ways very few can. Perhaps I’m the only one still alive on the vast world of Eversong with spirit-sight. I don’t know. I have not sensed anyone else for many years.

Since the days of the Bothers’ War, three-hundred years past, the good ancient races of Eversong have despised and mistrusted my people for the Old Knowledge that we keep. Even the pixies and gnomes mistrust us. The trolls hate us, but isn’t that the way with trolls?

Until recently, arrests and trials and hangings have dogged us because of the Old Knowledge. It always angers and saddens me, but it never surprises. Most don’t trust what they don’t understand, or in the case of the clueless magi holed up behind the glistening walls of the castle Haven-Rest, what they don’t try to understand.  

Quite the Character!

I know readers have favorite stories. I blogged about some of my favorite science fiction short stories last week. What about favorite characters? Do you have memorable characters who jumped off the pages? Quirky characters? Humorous characters? Characters whose personality and traits just rang true?

Some of my favorite characters are
* Louis de Pointe du Lac from Interview with the Vampire
* Julian "Bean" Delphiki from Ender's Game
* Rue from The Hunger Games
And maybe because they're from some of my most recent (and favorite) reads . . .

I found an interesting blog post by Chris Winkle on Five Signs Your Character Is Fully Developed It is a good review for writers. I also hope readers will find it interesting to see the process in developing well rounded and believable characters.

Have a great week everyone and keep reading!
Mark

I Have No Mouth and I Must Write

What? Do ya think I lost my mind with the title? Patience, Grasshopper, and my madness will become clear.

I came across a post by Jim Denney on his Unearthly Fiction blog. The post struck me, not only because of the great advice to writers passed along from Harlan Ellison, one of Science Fiction’s grand masters, but also because he mentioned Harlan’s 1967 short story, I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream.  

The stark imagery and brutally powerful voice of Harlan’s tale drew me in as a teenager and NEVER let go. Few other short stories have had a similar impact. Arthur C Clarke’s The Star is one, as is Daniel Keyes’ Flowers for Algernon and Brian Aldiss’ Super-Toys Last All Summer Long. These stories touched me in ways that have lasted many, many years. Shouldn’t that be the goal of every writer, to touch and influence his or her readers in powerful ways? Shouldn't we strive to covey ideas and images and emotions in fresh ways the reader may have never experienced before?

That is why I found Harlan Ellison’s advice to writers in Mr. Denney blog so encouraging. In a way, I needed a pep talk. The ache in the pit of my stomach never goes away, even after the many rejections that’s a part of every writer’s life. Will my stories impact readers in the same way that I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream did to me?  Eventually, I hope so. That is my dream. That is why I keep writing.

Here’s a link to Mr. Denney's Unearthly Fiction Blog