Fiction Train I: A Quest For Gifts

Yesterday I introduced you to my new The Fiction Train contest.  Below is the opening of our first story A Quest For Gifts.  Read the opening, jump in, and good luck.  I hope you win, but more importantly, I hope we all have fun.

If you don't know the rules please, please scroll down to the post just prior this one and read them.  Then jump in.  You have 90 days (or 30 entries) to participate in this story:

When Yolanda Thompson was in the third grade she bet a boy in her class twenty-five cents that she could put her entire fist in her mouth.  Upon losing the bet, Yolanda realized she should have tried putting her fist in her mouth at least once before making a wager.   But Yolanda had convinced herself that she could do it, had convinced herself that this, perhaps, was her gift.  She had to be gifted at something—right?  And thus began Yolanda’s quest for gifts.........

The Fiction Train

 

Back in the 70s the singing group the O’Jays recorded their hit song Love Train.

People all over the world

join hands

Start a Love Train, Love Train.

I loved that song. Yeah, I’m old. What of it?!?

Today I want to introduce you to a fun new opportunity to participate in an ongoing story with me on my blog.  I call it The Fiction Train.

People all over the world

join hands

I’m startin’ a fiction train, fiction train.

Hey!  I’m an author, not a song writer.  Get over yourself!

Here’s the origin of the idea.  I love writing openings.  I learned early on in order to grab readers you must have a good, catchy opening. Ever since I learned that lesson many years ago, I’ve been writing and perfecting openings.  I’ve been writing openings for over 20 years. I have openings up the ying yang.  Problem is, to complete a book or even a short story you need a lot more than an opening.  Here’s where you come in.  I thought we could have some flash fiction fun with some of my openings.  Tomorrow on my blog, I’m going to post the opening of a story; your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to continue the story in 175 words or less. 

Just author the next several lines of the story in the comments section at the bottom of the blog post. The person after you will read my entry and yours, and author the next several lines after yours in the comment section, and so on, and so on.  The story goes where it goes, and where it goes is up to all of us. 

You can author often, but there must be two authors between your last addition and your next addition.   And, of course, anyone can leave a comment about the story in the comments section, just open with *comment* so we all know yours is a comment and not part of the story.

30 entries over 90 days (hopefully a lot sooner) is the max.  When we get to 30 entries I’ll try to wrap it up and maybe start a new one.  Unless author 30 wants to wrap it up.  That’s up to you guys. The beauty of it is you can take the story wherever you like; create as many new characters as you like.  Just try not to write the author coming after you into a corner.

Prizes: I’d like to award a few prizes, but I’m not yet sure how we’ll pick the winner.  Maybe a random drawing.

The winner will receive a $50 Amazon gift card.  First runner up will receive a $15 Amazon gift card. 

3rd prize will be an ecopy of The FictionWriter’s Handbook by Shelly Lowenkopf.  This prize is being donated by my The Falling Angels Saga publisher, White Whisker Books (Lowenkopf was my fiction writing professor on the graduate professional writing program at USC.  I learned a lot from him—like writing a good, catchy opening).   If we don’t get 30 entries in 90 days I will end the fiction train and no prizes will be awarded.  That’s it.  It should be fun.

Rules: I only have a few rules so far.  1) no profanity.  I write YA paranormal and there will be minors reading my blog.  So let’s keep it clean 2) No erotica.  Pretty much for the same reason.  3) If I think your entry is offensive in any way I will delete it.  It’s up to my discretion. We’re trying to have fun here, not offend anyone 4) If you’re a minor, and you win, please have your mom or dad accept the prize on your behalf. 5) Word count maximum 175 words per entry.  Word count minimum 50 words per entry.  If your entry is longer or shorter, I will delete it. 6) You can write as often as you like, but there must be two entries between your last entry and your next entry. 7) There must be (minimum) 30 entries for prizes to be awarded.  There must be at least 10 entrants for prizes to be awarded. 8) Contest ends in 90 days or anytime after 30 entries at my discretion--basically when I think the story is getting boring.  If we don’t have 30 entries and 10 entrants in 90 days I will end the story and no prizes will be awarded.

That’s all the rules I can think of now.  I’ll come up with more if I find more are needed.

I’d love for authors, bloggers, agents, aspiring writers, friends as well as fans to participate.  We’re not grading you here; this is just for fun. So please tell your friends.

Credit: If you decide to start your own Fiction Train, please give me credit for originating the idea.  And if you discover I didn’t originate the idea, please let me know so I can stop taking credit for it.

People all over the world

join hands

join my fiction Train, fiction Train.

It starts here tomorrow. Peace.
*This contest has already begun

An Easter Treat of Falling Angels

Hello Frans,  It's been quite a while since I've written on this blog.  I've been busy writing, though.  Since January I've been fast at work on the fourth and final book in the Falling Angels Saga.  This last book is a real doozie.  In it I bring back characters from all the earlier books. 

Because I've been so immersed I have no new advice for indie authors at this time.  Still, I have a little Easter/Passover/Spring Break gift for those of you who're fans of the series--a little taste of the next book in the series, the one I'm currently working on.  This'll be the first time I've shared a WIP on this blog, but I'm so pleased with my progress I couldn't wait for you to have a look.  It's totally unedited, which I hear is part of the charm.  This is not the opening of the book, it's something I plucked from around page 150.  Even if you haven't read the earlier books, there are no real spoilers here, just a teaser of what's to come.

Speaking of the earlier books, Heaven Sent has garnered some fine reviews on Amazon.  All five stars.  If you haven't read Boyfriend From Hell or Earth Angel, perhaps a peek at these reviews might peak you're interest: Heaven Sent Reviews.  I sure hope so.  And as an added treat for those of you new to my Best Selling series, click on the red link for a freebie (Pdf) Boyfriend From Hell sample:

And now the excerpt.  Enjoy! 

Untitled Falling Angels Saga Excerpt

It was an old house in an even older East Phoenix neighborhood.   An ancient Nisan Maxima sat in the driveway.  I recalled being in Monsieur Perez’s car the night he’d driven me to Tavares castle.  Although the car was old, it gleamed like a highly polished jewel in the sunlight.  It had been treated with love.  I smiled inwardly as we moved up the gravel path to the house.  Monsieur Perez appreciated vintage things just as much as Aunt Jaz.  Perhaps this was part of their initial attraction.

Seeing the car brought back memories of the hot summer night we retrieved Erin from the grip of Danny Tambor and the Satanists.  No smile crossed my lips when I thought of what we’d accomplished that night.  It was also the night I unleashed my powers onto the world, the night I reached the so called tipping point.

He came to the door wearing a white cotton shirt and a maroon bow tie that brought to mind a gentleman of a bygone era.  He and Aunt Jaz could have made quite the pair in their vintage gear.

“You look lovely, Jasmine,” Monsieur Perez said in his sexy mellifluous voice.  His sexiness seemed to have no effect on Aunt Jaz who was all business in a charcoal suit, the a skirt falling just below her knees, and a mint green top.  No hug, no laughter, no peck on the cheek for Monsieur Perez.

“Thank you, Hector,” she said in flat tone as he ushered us in.

His eyes moved to me. They were glowing with pride.  “Megan Barnett.  You have single-handedly set the occult community on its ear, young lady.  It’s good to see you again.”  His smile was warm and friendly, yet it made me feel creepy all the same, as if bugs were crawling up and down my back.

“Hi,” I said, trying to sound as if I was happy to see him again.

The house was small but cozy.  A tiny alcove opened into a quaint living room where a ceiling fan circled slowly overhead, keeping the tiny room from getting too stuffy in the Arizona heat.

“Gita, bring the tea,” Monsieur Perez called in a haughty tone.  “Please, sit,” he said, gesturing toward the old sofa.  “We’ll have tea and biscuits.” He was smiling at Aunt Jaz.  She pretended not to notice.  “Nothing as elaborate as your pineapple upside down cake, I’m afraid, Jasmine dear.  But it will do.”

“Thank you for seeing us on such short notice.”  Like a fish who’d gorged herself on grubs all day, Aunt Jaz refused to rise to his charming bait.

“But of course.  Anything for you, Jasmine.”  He was looking at her like a little puppy dog craving his master’s attention.  I was starting to feel sorry for the old guy.

“Good,” she said.  “If we could dispense with the small talk, you know why we’re here.”  It was so unlike Aunt Jaz to not be sweet and cordial.  Their breakup must have been quite hard on her.  She refused to allow even a ray of kindness to crack her leaden exterior.

“Yes, of course.”  Monsieur Perez moved across the room and plucked an envelope from the mantel. “I have no idea what Dagenhart is up to, so I can’t help along those lines.”  His eyes moved to me. “However, the concave is being held at Dagenhart castle, formerly Tavares castle, tomorrow night at sundown.  This will get you in.”  He held the envelope by the corner and fanned it through the air like a Polaroid picture.

The tea kettle in the kitchen began to whistle.

“There’s no way I’d allow Megan to return to that hellish place,” said Aunt Jaz.  She waved her hand at him, a dismissive gesture.

“Then who?”  He was smiling.  It was the smile of a poker player laying down a winning hand.  “The only way you’ll know what their up to for sure is if someone attends.  You can’t go, you might be recognized.  You wouldn’t send your precious niece.” He lay on the word precious making it clear what he thought of Maudrina.  “If the angel goes, he will certainly set off all kinds of alarms.  I’m sure Dagenhart has cloaked the castle with a shield of formidable dark magic.”  His gaze moved back to me.  “Only you, Megan.  You are more powerful than they are.  They need to know this,” he said, his voice rising.  “They need to fear your power.  The world needs to know it was you who performed miracles at that travesty of a wedding.”

“Stop it!” Aunt Jaz said, rising to her feet.  “Hector, you’re a fool.”

The tea kettle continued to whistle.  “Gita!  The kettle!” Monsieur Perez called.

“I suppose when they discover Megan is at the concave, and I’m sure they’ll discover her, she’ll have to use her abilities to get out,” Aunt Jaz continued.

“Would that be so bad?  The Satanists need to know we have a powerful weapon against them.”

Aunt Jaz smirked.  “Don’t you mean, you have a powerful weapon against them?  I’m sure you’ll have enough spotters there to vindicate yourself.”  Aunt Jaz’s words were a furious assault.

“I should be the one to lead our community.  You know that Jasmine.” His furry eyebrows twitched with rage.

This was yet another play for power.  Monsieur Perez had tried to use me to gain control of the local occult community last summer. But his plan backfired at Erin’s wedding.  No one knew I was there, so they didn’t believe when he said it was me who had caused all the damage that night.

“They need to know about you,” he said, his eyes entreating me.  “You can still be the darling of the occult community.”  He took a step toward me and I flinched.  He really was creeping me out.

“Megan let’s go,” said, Aunt Jaz.  “I was wrong to come here.”  Without waiting for my response, she started for the door.

“Jasmine, please!” Monsieur Perez called.  His mellifluous voice had turned whiny and pathetic.  She brushed past him on her way out.  “I miss you,” he called, inhaling her fragrance as she went by.  “Don’t you miss me?”

Aunt Jaz stopped abruptly.  She turned.  Hope blossomed on Monsieur Perez’s face, thinking his words had chinked her armor.

“Something’s wrong,” she said in a dark tone.  Caution showed in her eyes as she surveyed the room.  “I can feel it.” We both looked at her.  I could feel it, too.  There was eeriness in the air accented by the whooshing of the ceiling fan along with the whistling of the tea kettle in the kitchen.

As if we were in a cheesy horror flick, our eyes all moved in the direction of the kitchen.  The whistling pierced the silence.  It was high-pitched and insistent.  The creepy feeling I had earlier returned.

“Gita?” Monsieur Perez said softly, his eyes widening.  “GITA!” he screamed.  It was an ominous sound, filled with fear and anguish.  He dropped the envelope and dashed from the room and down the corridor.

“Do not follow!” Aunt Jaz commanded, holding one finger in the air, her eyes blazing at me.  “If you don’t hear me call out to you in sixty seconds, run and bring the police!” 

“But—”

“Now is not the time for questions, deary.  Now is the time to obey without hesitation.”  With these words, Aunt Jaz hustled down the hall after Monsieur Perez.

___

 

Use Humor To Distinguish Your Voice

One of the more gratifying things I hear about my writing is that it’s funny.  That’s gratifying because I decided early on to use humor to distinguish myself from other YA authors in my genre.  It seems to have worked because I regularly get tweets and emails from fans that’ve read one of my books and can’t wait to read another. If you’re a fairly new author reading this, I can tell you first hand that adding humor to your work can help distinguish your voice from the many other authors writing in your genre (Unless, of course, your genre is humor).

One of the keys to unleashing your humor is the point of view chosen for your story or characters. When Charles Schultz looked at the world through the eyes of Charlie Brown or Lucy Van Pelt, we laughed. In the cartoon below he uses Snoopy to find humor in a broken heart.

 

 

Point of view allows a writer to comment on things that might not seem funny at first glance. By using humor, authors can have their serious points resonate with readers even better.  It’s all in the angle of attack.

While Charles Schultz did it with Snoopy and the kids, you can do it with any of your characters. A few years ago I was starting a novel about a girl whose father was a corporate whistle blower. The family went into the witness protection program, relocating from New York City to a small community outside of Denver. My protagonist was faced with the unhappy situation of leaving her friends and everything familiar behind. A situation like this can be traumatic for any fifteen year-old. But I wanted to take the trauma out of it and show how resourceful my protagonist could be. So I infused in her the attitude that starting over was good:

If I have to go where nobody knows me, then why not start over as a fourteen year old? she thought. I’ve already made all the fourteen year old mistakes. And I’ll know all the work in school, since I just completed ninth grade. This, my protagonist surmised, would give her more time for her fabulous social life.

By giving my protagonist a slightly skewed (or off-beat) point of view, I gave her the chance to be funny. There’s no humor in the story yet, but with this POV, and compounding the lie that goes along with it, it becomes easier to come up with humorous situations for the characters. I bet you can think of two or three humorous situations you could place my character in as you read this.

If you give your stories or characters a slightly off beat POV, they will more easily lend themselves to humor. Rule of Thumb: Don’t shoot down the middle when you want to add humor to your story. How will you know if you’ve got the right POV? If you’re smiling as you think about it, you’re on the right track.

If you’ve read Boyfriend From Hell or any of the books in The Falling Angels Saga, you know I have a distinctive, humorous voice.  If you haven’t read me yet, I hope you'll give one of my books a try.  Peace.

 

From Corona With Love

Last year I had the privilege of doing my very first reading for an elementary school audience when I visited Corona Elementary school in Los Angeles.  My books are for an older audience and I didn't know how the younger kids were going to take to them or me.  Turns out, I had a great time.  The students even sent me some wonderful thank you notes complete with their own personal art. If you'd like to see the post with the thank yous go here (Fan Letters...)  This year when my friend Sam Contreras (teacher at Corona) asked me to again participate in Career Day I jumped at the opportunity. 

When I arrived at Corona I was ushered into a room that had been decorated by the kids with artwork of themselves in different careers.  It was very creative. There was a lawyer visiting the school that day, and a fireman and a real estate agent among others.  I discovered this year I'd be addressing the fourth grade.  So slightly older than last year, but I feared I might be repeating myself as I'd brought the same book with me to read from: Never Slow Dance With A Zombie.  I chose NSDWAZ because the title alone would win me some favor.  I had a boat load of bookmarks leftover from the original promotion so I brought those along as leave behinds.

As it turned out, I didn't have anything to worry about.  Most of the children I met hadn't been exposed to me, and the few that had were happy to see me again.  They thought I was cool.  (Yes, old-ass me was cool to nine year-olds).  I've read the section from NSDWAZ I'd chosen many times.  I read it last year. It's short, exciting and funny.  When I finished a girl's hand went up in the air.  "What's a freshman?" she asked.  I say in the book that the first floor girls bathroom at Salesian high was the domain of "freshman, freaks and geeks."

The reason I bring this up is I'm always surprised by some of the questions young people ask.  Why would a nine year-old know what a freshman is?  I'd never thought about it, but I was happy for the question.  I think I gave a satisfactory answer--she said I did--but I've been thinking about the question ever since, because when we write for young people we have to consider that certain language we wouldn't think twice about can be a stumper for them.  I never write down to my audience, so in my writing, I pretty much use the same language I'd use when talking to you.  I don't intend on changing that.  As one of my teachers used to say "That's why they invented dictionaries." To me, the question served as a reminder that as sophisticated as children are today, they're still children with a lot to learn.  Something to remember when crafting young characters.

I read for three classes that day and one boy in the back of each class asked the same exact question--could I tell him the end of the book... You know, so he wouldn't have to read it.  This also served as a reminder that even in this sophisticated 21st century world we live in, boys are still boys.  I look forward to next year.

Peace.

Did The Groundhog See His Shadow?

It's  February already.  I haven't blogged since I wrote my New Year's Post in early January.  I just looked over my plan for 2013 and I'm happy to say I'm on target with most of what I laid out.  That's good news.  How's it going with your resolutions and plans?  If you discover your best laid plans for 2013 have already gone astray, don't be a groundhog and give up on them.  Reverting back into your hole isn't going to accomplish anything, especially your goals. Heck, it's only February.  Pretend that tomorrow is the beginning of the year and start over.

That's what I'm going to do with the few plans I let slide last month.  Just start over.  My dad used to tell me "You can't fail unless you stop."  In other words, if your plans have all gone to hell, but you keep trying, you haven't failed.  Just give it
another go.

One of the things I did accomplish in January was finishing up the rewrite of my fun, paranormal novella, I Want You Back.  If you're a member of my fran club The 25, I want you to know that the book will be available for you, FREE as promised, some time late February or early March.  This book will not be available to regular buyers.  It will only be available to members of The 25, and like I said, it's FREE.  If you're not a member of The 25, but you've purchased a book or two of mine and consider yourself a fan, I suggest you join.  What is The 25?

Several months ago I got the idea to build an online group of fans that supported me as an author.  In John Lockes' book How I Sold A Million Ebooks in 5 Months he said while we'd all like to have 10,000 fans we can rely on to buy our books, start with twenty-five.  So that's what I did.  I sought friends and fans (frans) who liked me and my books and wanted to support me.  I call my group The 25... get it?  Of course, I hope to have 10,000 of you out there as members one day, but the name will always remain The 25.  You can read the initial The 25 post HERE.  Anyway, if any of you reading this would like to join The 25, just email me (info@evanlowe.com) and I will add you to the list.   I have big plans for us this year. All members get to participate in events, member only contests, as well as the free copy of I Want You Back as my way of showing my gratitude for being my fran.

In other news, I'm happy to announce that my latest book, Heaven Sent has been getting some great reviews.  I tried really hard to make this the best of The Falling Angels Saga so far, and from what people are saying, I've succeeded.  Check out my awesome reviews here: AMAZON. GOODREADS.  I could still use more reviews on my Amazon pages (US and UK).  Those pages are looking a little anemic. If you've read the book and enjoyed it, why not stop by my page Amazon and leave a short review.  It would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

A few of you were promised autographed copies of Heaven Sent for participating in my cover reveal last November.  The hard copy of the book still isn't ready yet.  I saw in an email they had some problems with the spine.  As soon as it's available, I'll be getting your books out to you.  I haven't forgotten you.

Many of you have asked about the fourth and final book in the saga.  My publisher requested he have a draft in August, and if I get it in on time, you should see the final book around the end of the year.  Once again, I'm going to take my time with this one.  I want to knock your socks off with this last book in the saga.  Oh, yeah.

That's it for now.  I just wanted to touch base. Now I need to get back to writing.  I hope everyone had an awesome January and your February is getting off to a good start. 

Peace.

 

 

Out With The Old And In With The New... Year

Here's to 2012! Time to kiss the old year goodbye, and for some out there it will not be a friendly kiss.  2012 was a year of incredible hardship for many Americans ending with the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School.  If you are a victim of one of the many hardships in the world this year, you are in my thoughts and prayers.

For me, 2012 was a wonderful year of new friends, new heights and new challenges.  Last January in my post My New Year's Revolution, I spoke of how instead of making New Year's resolutions that will be forgotten in a few weeks, I'd make plans.  Looking back on my plans from 2012 I can proudly say I've hit the mark with many of them. Both of my 2011 Novels, Boyfriend From Hell and Earth Angel spent many months on Amazon top 100 seller lists in 2012. 

This resulted in The Falling Angels Saga being optioned by Jamie Kennedy Entertainment for a television series or film (Jamie and I announced the deal at Comic Con last summer.  Yeah, that's us on the panel next to Shaq).  Nothing has come of it yet, but the project is being shopped to studios and TV networks by top industry writer Davah Avena.  Fingers and toes crossed.

I had two books published in 2012.  The first book in the Hollyweird series The Zombie Always Knocks Twice by my new awesome publisher Imajin Books, and Heaven Sent, by my other awesome publisher, White Whisker Books.  I stated in my New Year's post last year that I wanted to make Heaven Sent the best Falling Angels book ever.  So many series fall off after the first few books, and I was determined not to let that happen with mine.  From the reviews so far (Amazon/ Goodreads), I have succeeded.

I had a few misses last year with the movie versions of my Sal Conte horror short story The Toothache Man and my ALA Award nominated novel, Never Slow Dance With A Zombie.  The projects aren't dead (yet), they just didn't move along as I'd hoped they would.  I had even less success with book club and school visits, but all-in-all, I had an awesome year.

One of the unexpected highlights of last year was creating my fran club The 25.  The group is still in its formative stages, but I can tell you I've met some fabulously helpful people last year and many of them are now members of The 25.

Before I move ahead, I do want to take a moment to thank everyone responsible (too many of you to mention but you know who you are) for helping make 2012 such a fabulous year for me.  I hope I was able, in some small way, to help make it a fabulous year for you.

So what's ahead for 2013?  More writing, of course.  I plan to expand on The Falling Angels Saga by possibly spinning off one of the peripheral characters into a new series.  The idea is still in the bubbling stages, so I don't know where I'm headed yet, but I plan to bring out something brand, spanking new around falling angels and demons.  White Whisker plans to publish the final book in The Falling Angels Saga ( currently entitled Falling) in November. There will be another Hollyweird book as well, but I'm not sure I can get it published in 2013.  I will try.

I plan to do more with The 25 and grow its membership to 100. Baby steps.  My overarching plan of turning my books and short stories into entertainment across many platforms is well under way, and I plan to grow that business even more in 2013. I'd still like to participate in more book club and school visits.  If you know of any book club or school that would like to host a visit from me, please write to me at info@evanlowe.com and let me know.

On the personal side, my son, bassist Latif Van Lowe, had an awesome year, too.  His band Year Of The Dragon opened for The Red Hot Chili Peppers at The Staples Center and Bad Brains at The Henry Fonda Theater.  I plan to continue attending his events, no matter that I will be the oldest person there ;)   I also plan to spend more time hanging with my friends and family as well as more time writing.  I don't know how I'm going to accomplish all this--better time management, I guess.

So that's where I'm headed and where I've been.  I hope you take some time to lay out your plans for the coming year.  You'd be surprised what can be accomplished when armed with a written plan.

Have a fabulous 2013 everyone.  Guess I'd better get to writing, huh?  Peace.