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Three down, one to go.
I am excited to say that I just mailed back my first writing contract. I will be having two stories appear in the upcoming Hazardous Press zombie anthology, “A Quick Bite of Flesh”.
I recently discovered Duotrope. A website where publishers place ads when they are looking for submissions. I have found a couple of interesting things there and “A Quick Bite” was one of them. However, for me, the story gets better.
This will be a collection of flash fiction and I originally submitted one piece. However, with my submission was a link to this blog. The editor decided to check it out and requested the zombie story that I had posted a few weeks ago. Due to the contract I had to take it down but it will soon be available in print. I will post a link on the side.
As this is a paying anthology that means that I have now met three of my four goals for the year. The last thing on my list is to finish a novel length work. I don’t know how many more anthology short story submissions I will be working on but I am sure that I will be working on the rough draft of my necromancer novel at the same time.
Wish me luck.
L. E. White.
Try One
My head felt like I was looking out of an empty fish bowl. The world was out of focus and everything sounded like I was talking to Charlie Brown’s teacher. “Wot Wot wotwot Wot wot.”
“How’re you doing dear?”
I knew she was talking to me but it took a minute to get my bearings enough to turn and look at the woman who was talking to me.
“Try this,” she had said. “You’ll feel better,” she had said.
Right now, I felt like I was standing outside the bus as it drove down the street. All the sensation of moving without going anywhere.
I don’t know if it was intentional or not, but she had lied. I did not feel better.
“Never again,” I said, looking at my angel as I considered what she went through every day. “How in the fuck can you take these things?”
“I don’t want to,” she said as she sat down beside of me. “I don’t like feeling weird but it’s better than the panic attacks.”
I wasn’t sure about that but I couldn’t seem to put the words together.
“Remember what those pills did to me when I started taking them? I went for almost two months before I started feeling ok.”
I looked at her for a bit; her curly hair and bright blue eyes, a caring smile and a little wrinkle on her brow that must have been from worrying about me. I felt bad for making her worry but these antidepressants were not the thing for me. No wonder she had been saying that she wanted to stop taking them as soon as possible.
“I am done,” I said. “From now on, I’m treating my emotional problems the old-fashioned way.”
“How?”
“Lots of alcohol and random sex.”
She laughed at that, but it wasn’t a happy laugh. She wasn’t laughing because it was funny, she was laughing because I now understood more of how she lived her life and there wasn’t a better way to express it.
The end is near and I am Excited
Just a few basic pieces of news and then on to this weeks story.
My in-progress novel just broke 7,000 words. Not saying much but it is coming along. I will try to put some serious effort into it this week as I don’t have any new projects planned. It is an urban fantasy with lots of magic.
I have three short stories that I am polishing and intend to submit different places this week. Wish me luck.
My oldest graduates (grad-gee-eights!) the first weekend in June. I will spend my holiday weekend cleaning, cutting and preparing for the celebration. We are so proud of him.
L. E. White
Inspirational Quotes
“Do what you always do, get what you always get.”
“You can change.”
“You don’t get to be happy; you get the chance to make yourself happy.”
These three quotes hang on the wall, each one of them on a different piece of paper. They weren’t printed out like a banner. No big, fancy letters. Nothing that would make them seem like more than words. That was part of the point, they weren’t more than words. Magic isn’t about saying the right things and waving special stuff in the air. There isn’t any magic in anything but your mind.
He put these words up to remind him that he had to make his own magic. Despite all that he had lost, or all that had been taken from him, or even all that he had given up. He was the source of his own magic.
There was no circle on the ground today. If he failed, he would die to teeth and claws, if he succeeded, he would never draw another circle again.
Deep breaths, slow and steady, an exercise to calm his mind and allow him to relax. Once he was ready, he opened his eyes and looked at the floor. A circle of light blazed there, clear in his thoughts and therefore as real as anything built from stone.
There wasn’t any chanting or dancing. No candles and no incense. He took one last deep breath and jumped into the deep end with three little words.
“Ego Vocco Vos.”
All the times he had done this before had been nothing compared to today. He had worked with groups and other skilled practitioners of the arts, never had something torn through the veil this fast. It slammed a great horned head against the invisible wall of the circle with such force that the windows shattered.
He just stood there looking into its eyes.
A raging bellow shook the room. Dust fell from the ceiling and the empty window frames rattled. The beast screamed and roared and lashed out at the prison that they would both see.
He didn’t move.
It looked at him. Squinted its large yellow eyes and sighed as it melted. The body of the fiend flowed like wax until it looked like he did. The same placid expression, brown hair and skinny body that had greeted him that morning now shimmered into being some five feet in front of him.
He smiled then, nodded once to indicate his approval, and released the demon, which returned home with a clap of thunder as reality snapped back together around it.
He smiled as he dropped the spell, feeling his body sag as he released the magic that had kept him alive. It had taken so much to contain the monster. His head was throbbing and he could feel blood leaking out of his nose. He had to sleep, to recover, but not until he was finished.
Slow, stumbling steps carried him to the wall with the three sheets of paper hanging on it. He placed his left hand on the smooth plaster for support before reaching up and wiping a finger along his upper lip. He made a bright red check mark with his macabre finger paint on the middle sheet. After all, he had just graduated.
He had changed.
Dark Shadows Review
The wife and I usually spend the second Friday of the month at a coffee shop in Bloomington. We meet with a group of our friends and talk. It’s an adult’s night where the older kids watch the younger ones and we get away.
But not this last one. We head out and I am talking about getting coffee like normal. She didn’t even smile. We drive a different way than usual but it isn’t out of the way so I comment on it and she stays quiet. Then she turns to head into the movie theater.
“Where are we going?”
She says, “Surprise.”
And just like that it went from the usual evening to date night. A total surprise and a lovely evening with my girl. She had already bought the tickets to the seven o’clock showing of “Dark Shadows” so all I did to help was carry her popcorn.
The movie was ok but more than a little disappointing after paying the fortune that tickets now cost. A decent movie and if you enjoyed either of the TV versions then you will probably be alright with the film. I would wait for video if I were you.
From here down to this weeks story, there are spoilers.
I was good with the story line and with the acting. All of the characters did a good job of performing what they were given. The problem was what they were given.
Dialog was not this movies strong suit. A lot of the scenes were carried by the strength of the actor giving the monolog and there was also a lot of monolog. The three main actors did a great job though.
Plot wise, I hated the sudden drop of the teenager as a werewolf. No foreshadowing of it made this feel like nothing but a chance to give more supernatural cameo’s in the movie. The boy seeing his mother’s ghost was also a little underplayed. Her banshee like wail to protect him made sense but doing something to show his interaction rather than just saying he had seen her would have been nice.
The end of the film, with the poor nanny being turned into a vampire was very cheap. Having it happen in the time of a suicide jump just felt out of character to the rest of the movie. I think it broke the rules of the earlier transformation of the doctor.
The reveal at the end, where the shrink was still alive as a vampire, was foreshadowed. You knew she was going to be there and it was an obvious way to leave an opening for a second movie. However, I won’t go see the second in a theater, it isn’t worth the money.
L. E. White
Me, Myself and I
I looked straight at the man who had ruined so much in my life. His eyes pleaded to me, wanting me to show mercy that we both knew he hadn’t. Our paths had crossed many times over the years and yet this was the only time I had ever managed to look into his eyes. To stare through the windows of his soul and see if some small piece of me was in there.
I cocked the pistol and placed it under his chin. “I won’t let you hurt anyone else.”
I was surprised that the metal felt so cold.
Guest Post by Steve McHugh, author of Crimes Against Magic
I would like to welcome Steve McHugh. Thank you for posting and I look forward to more of your work.
L E White
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This is actually my first ever guest blog post, so I was umming and ahing about what in the world to talk about for ages before actually putting pen to paper.
And then inspiration (or more likely one of my daughter’s toys) hit me, and I had an idea. You see, whenever I’ve ever read an interview with a writer, one question always seems to come up—what books influenced you?
Now, for the most part, these take the form of the classics: John Steinbeck, Arthur Conan Doyle, Stephen King, Tolkien, Terry Pratchett, et al—basically the great writers. But most interviews leave off one very important group of books, Comics. So, I thought I’d correct that and go through which comics have influenced my writing over the years. Books I can’t recommend enough to anyone with even a passing interest in the medium.
Preacher (Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon) – The first will probably be the most well-known of everyone on this list. Preacher is about Jesse Custer, a Preacher who is merged with Genesis (the product of merging an angel and a demon) that gives him the power of the Word of God, which makes people obey him. It’s incredible, funny, moving and utterly insane. It should also be required reading for anything even thinking about writing. But it’s not for the easily offended.
Y: The Last Man (Brian K.Vaughan and Pia Guerra) – Yorick and his monkey Ampersand are the last only male mammals on earth to survive an unknown plague. The story is not only about why the survived, but how they can reverse the plague. It’s an excellent series.
Usagi Yojimbo (Stan Sakai) – This one about a Samurai Rabbit. Yes, you read that right. All of the characters are anthropomorphic animals, which replace humans in a 17th century Japan setting. It’s a fantastic book with artwork that really is quite beautiful and captures both the action scenes and the quiet moments with a clarity that a lot of comics can’t manage.
The Authority (Grant Morrison and Bryan Hitch) – The Authority gained a lot notice for both its incredible artwork as well as the violence it showed. It’s about a team of superheroes that consider themselves a sort of protectors of humanity, but they went about protecting it by killing everyone who crossed them. It’s a very dark, funny and at times touching book. The Millar/Quietly era that took over afterwards is also excellent, but nowhere near as good as the original.
Spider-Man (Dan Slott and various) – The first well-known superhero comic on the list is Spider-man. Dan Slott writes the best spider-man for the last twenty years. Everything he does is incredible. There’s a lot of graphics of his work out there, but Spider-Island is probably a high-point for me. When everyone in New York is given the powers of spider-man. And it all goes very wrong from there. Long may Dan’s reign continue.
Batman (Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo) – Batman is another Superhero that everyone’s heard of. Scott Snyder’s take is considerably darker than most, and combines the use of horror to make a book that leaves you breathless with every issue. I wrote about this on my blog a few months ago and I think the sentiments I had then still stand:
“This is a mainstream superhero comic which genuinely does something compelling. The writing and art have formed a perfect match, and that’s a rare thing these days.”
So that’s it from me. Let me just thank Leonard for stealing his blog for a post. It was a pleasure to be here.
Steve McHugh can be found at https://stevejmchugh.wordpress.com and his first book Crimes Against Magic, an Urban Fantasy set in modern-day London with Historical flashbacks to early fifteenth century France, can be downloaded from Amazon now.
Getting ready for Mo*Con
This weekend I will be driving up to Indy to attend my first writing conference. If you are interested in the details then you can find out more by visiting the Mo*Con website.
I am excited to meet other writers in the area and I am hoping to find some from Bloomington or Terre Haute that would be interested in forming a critique group. If you will be there and are interested then look me up and let me know.
Friday I will also be hosting my first guest blogger. Steve McHugh will be here discussing Comic Books and his new book, “Crimes Against Magic”. An Urban Fantasy that is currently available on Amazon. Make sure you come back by and check it out.
In the mean time, let’s continue the blood sucking fun with another story. Enjoy.
L E White
Margie
Margie’s eyes watered from a mixture of fear and pain. Her hands shook as she held his waist. She had agreed to let him do this. He had asked if she would try it but told her that it was her decision.
“Of course I will. I love you.”
But now she was sure that it had been a mistake. This wasn’t natural. It wasn’t the way these things are supposed to be done. Yet here she was, trying to be brave so that he wouldn’t think less of her.
So that he wouldn’t leave her.
“I love you,” she whispered. Then she bit her lip to keep from crying out. A sharp sting slammed her backward as her body took over in an effort to protect itself.
She moved to escape the pain, but he had followed. Now she was pinned against the wall as he moved forward, driving into her hard enough to force out a cry that dissolved into a shaking wine. Her skin tingled as goosebumps swept over her like waves in a high wind. Every hair on her body stood up and then fell as her face flushed and her guts twisted.
Tears streaked down her face and she felt his hands slide down her arms in a movement that failed to reassure her as he pulled away.
Once she could see his face he smiled at her. His teeth and lips were bright red from her blood and his eyes sparkled with the life he had just taken from her.
He stroked the side of her face with the tips of his fingers, gently caressing her as he licked his lips.
“I love the taste of virgin blood,” he said before leaning forward and giving her bleeding neck a long slow lick.
When he leaned back again she smiled at him, “I love you. You can have this whenever you want.”
“Unfortunately I can’t,” He said as he traced a line up her arm.
“Why not?”
“Because, you won’t survive this.”
I Am a Whale Addict.m4v – YouTube
Kendall Grey has done it. Her novel, Inhale is available.
She is donating all the profits to the whales that inspired her to write the book in the first place so you get a great read and a chance to help whale research. This video is one she recommends to help show why she loves them and just how beautiful they are.
I Am a Whale Addict.m4v – YouTube.
Congratulations Kendall
L E White
Forever
The Sirens Call
Links
An Opener's Closing by L. E. White 