Funny…and a Little Disturbing

Last week, there was a post on IFL Science about an AI site that creates and shares inspirational posters. The sayings aren’t exactly uplifting, but the results can be incredibly amusing.

I decided to see what type of inspirational posters would be created for me, and I was both amused and a slightly disturbed. Here’s what I got.

Personally, I like the shark one the best.  The picture is creepy, but the quote isn’t too off the wall. It’s almost encouraging!

I had to stop myself after awhile because it was like a train wreck. I felt like I could sit there for the vast majority of the day being amused and repulsed by the posters that the AI came up with. If you want to check it our for yourself, you can find it here.

If you get something really amazing or really disturbing, let me know!

I had to generate one more after adding the link to this post. Here’s what I got. Hahahahahahahaha!

Maybe It’s Not All Doom and Gloom

Last week was one of those weeks that reminded me why I’m an author. All of my books were on sale for 99 cents, and some of them (ahem, Life After the Undead) fared better than some of the others. For several days, it was ranking back in the top 100 for its three categories. It’s since fallen out, but it’s not doing horribly. It’s still within the top 200 in its three categories.

It always amazes me when this happens. It boggles my mind that my book could make it so far up the list. But I love it. I love that readers are checking it out and (hopefully) enjoying the story. Readers are the whole reason I write, so it encourages me to continue on.

As I mentioned before, the books that have been already been published will continue to be available. I will self-publish them. As for what will happen in the future, that’s still uncertain. I told you last week that I was taking some baby steps, but I still need some time. I still have to set myself up mentally and emotionally for the slew of rejections I’m about to receive.

I’ve been spoiled—I know that. But that’s why I loved Booktrope so much. They were willing to take all of my stories and I didn’t have to go through the submission process. After hundreds of rejections, it was a breath of fresh air.

But that is no more, and there’s nothing I can do about it. Baby steps are good, but I still need to figure out what’s going to happen in the long run. I have finished Humanity’s Hope, the first book in another young adult zombie series I’m writing. Here’s what the book is about:

Seventeen-year-old Caleb survived the zombie uprising, but he’s scarred mentally and physically. Humanity is trying to rebuild, but after the loss of his family and friends, Caleb walks a path of self-doubt and self-harm. Caleb gets up every morning and goes to work at Zomtech, writing computer code so that the scientists can find a cure. Today, though, regulars—zombies—escape the ghetto and kill his neighbor, and the death is a message directed at him. He receives an email with a video of someone unleashing zombies onto her. The video says if Caleb doesn’t give them what they want, more people will die.

Then he and his friend Samuel are attacked by a hoard of undead in a park. These aren’t typical undead. In addition to regulars, there are mutants known as BZs and RBZs—Big Zombies and Really Big Zombies. A regular bites Caleb, and things only get worse when he discovers he’s immune to whatever turns a person into a zombie. Caleb has to make a choice: will he become humanity’s hope and save them from the undead menace, potentially becoming a pawn in a power struggle, or will he finish what he started long ago and end his own life?

If anyone has a burning desire to be a beta reader for me, I would entertain the idea. Shoot me a message and let me know!

The Cool Things I Get to Do

Ugh! Sorry for the late post today. It’s been crazy. I hope this isn’t how the rest of the week is going to be…

Anyway, let me tell you about something fun/cool/inspiring I did last Monday.

A while ago, I joined the site Nepris. You can read about exactly what they do on their site, but in a nutshell, the connect experts with classrooms through technology. I don’t get paid for participating, but I don’t have to pay either. And so far, it has been a lot of fun.

Last Monday, I had the opportunity to speak to a class of third graders about how important it is to have a good beginning and ending in their writing. Since I have experience in both fiction and nonfiction, I talked about the differences between the two. I spoke for half an hour, with time devoted to introducing myself and answering questions.

I’m going to be honest: I didn’t feel overly confident with my subject matter, only because I’m not sure I write effective beginnings and endings. Endings especially. I’m never sure if I’m done writing a story, so I always try to leave it open for more. And if I’m writing a series, I want to make sure each book ends with a cliff hanger so the reader is interested in finding out what happens next.

Either way, it was a good exercise to talk about what works and what doesn’t works and to get ideas on how to improve my own writing. In essence, we figured that a good beginning means that the reader wants to continue reading. We talked about how important it is for the character to have a problem and the promise of adventure. We also talked about how important it is to incorporate all five senses so that the reader can experience the world the way the characters do.

It was so much fun. When I asked questions, the students shot their hands into the air and were more than happy to be involved in the conversation. At one point during the question and answer section, one student raised her hand and had a very concerned look on her face. I had mentioned earlier in the discussion that I wrote zombie novels, and she wanted to know how I incorporated taste in those books. I laughed. I told her that I didn’t tell the story from the zombie’s perspective, so I didn’t describe the taste of eating a human. Although, the question did inspire me to think about that for future stories…

I’ve signed up for another presentation in March. This class is older and I will be talking about my process for writing a book, but I think it will still be just as fun. Even though it doesn’t pay, it’s still a good way to get out there and to talk about what I really love: writing.

Feeling Inspired

A couple weeks ago, I got some really heartbreaking news from a publisher.  Basically, they told me that my nonfiction book wasn't good enough.  Some of the language they used made me feel stupid and embarrassed, which upset me, but after getting over the initial shock, I was able to see the critique for what it really was.  My friends also helped quite a bit in that department also.

What this person did was give me what I needed to change the book into what it really needs to be:  fun.  I tried to make it too serious, too scholarly, but that's not what the book is about.  It has some seriousness in it, but it's also about me and my journey of discovery.  That's what I needed to focus on.

I'll admit it, the edits were a little hard to do at first.  I was still upset and raw from the rejection, but I also had a "screw you" mentality, so I was going to get the edits done.  It didn't take me long to get through them, about a week, and I felt so much better about the manuscript.  I felt even better when I sent it to my editor friend and she told me the book was sooooo much better.

That really inspired me.  It made me feel like I could take on the publishing world again.  I know not everyone is going to like it.  The world is full of rejection.  I just hope one person out there will say yes.

I've been able to get over my anger at the publisher and move on with the book.  In the end, no matter how hurtful the critique was, it inspired and pushed me to be a better writer.  For that, I can only say thank you.

For those who are interested, here's the query for the book that I will be sending out after it gets edited.  Fingers crossed someone finds it interesting enough to ask for more!

My obsession with zombie films started when I was in junior high. They are a great lens to examine concerns society has about modern science. Let’s face it, when it comes to horror movies, science has a bad reputation. Blind ambition, experimental serums, and genetic experiments are often blamed for the giant monster terrorizing the city or the reason aliens are taking human prisoners or the cause of the dead rising from the grave to consume living flesh.

Using film, literature, and interviews with experts, my nonfiction book, Undead Obsessed: Finding Meaning in Zombies (approximately 65,000 words), examines how zombies portray real-world fears such as epidemics, mind control, what may or may not exist in space, the repercussions of playing God, and the science behind the fears.

Science has made it possible for us to live the way we do; it has given us numerous advances in all fields of life from medicine to agriculture to entertainment. Yet, with all of these advantages, there are a multitude of disadvantages that could prove to be detrimental to humans and society. Weapon technology used in wars is one of these major disadvantages, but anything that is beneficial to humanity, including medicine, has the potential to harm us. My goal is to explore how zombies become a metaphor for our fears of science and what could happen if science gets out of hand. The manuscript is completed.

This isn’t my first look at society’s fears. My nonfiction book, Life Lessons from Slasher Films, examines the social significance of slasher movies and was published by Scarecrow Press in 2012. I am a weekly contributor to a blog that features female zombie authors. I have my master’s in English, I was a technical editor for an environmental consulting firm for 6 years, I wrote freelance science articles, and I am now an editor and writer for a university foundation. I’ve also published two YA zombie novels, a novella, and short stories written under the pen name of Pembroke Sinclair, as well as children’s books.

It Happens to Everyone

One of the highlights of my trip to AWP was listening to Ursula Le Guin do a reading and interview.  She was paired with Molly Gloss, who I'd never heard of before, but I'm now very intrigued to read her work.

Of the many things Ursula talked about, one was the contribution to the genre of science fiction and fantasy.  The interviewer asked her if it had been her intention to bring feminism to the genre, and she replied it wasn't.  She just wanted to write, and the men in the field were doing it wrong.  It was hilarious and insightful.

I think one of the points she was trying to make was that she wasn't trying to change conventions or define what it meant to be a woman writer in the genre.  I think she was just trying to write the stories she wanted to write and the other things fell into place.  She writes because she enjoys writing.  It was very inspiring.

She also talked about how important it was to have a writer's group that was willing to give honest feedback for a work.  It was the only way to get better.  She had been with her group for a long time (I can't remember exactly how long, but I want to 20+ years), and they were very good at inspiring and pushing each other to be the very best.

I appreciated that advice.  It is incredibly important for a writer to have honest feedback about their work.  If the reader doesn't get what I'm trying to say, then I've failed.  Whenever I have beta readers read my stuff, I always ask them:  What is your favorite part and why?  What was your least favorite part and why?

But beta readers and a writers group are two totally different things.  Readers may not be writers.  They may not understand the mechanics of the work or the process that goes into creating it.  They may know what they like or don't like, what's working or not working, but they might necessarily know why.  It's really important to have input from both groups to whip your work into the best shape possible.

At the end of the reading, she read a from a piece that hasn't yet been published.  Apparently, it's been on submission, and one place had it for 10 weeks, but then rejected it.  She commented to the audience that rejection still happened to her.  That was both refreshing and depressing.  Ursula Le Guin has been writing for a long time and has made huge impacts in her genre, who wouldn't want her work?

In the end, I came out of the reading feeling inspired and proud to be part of such a wonderful community of writers.  It was awesome to listen to both women talk about their work and writing process and to see that it's important not to take yourself so seriously.  In the end, writing should be fun, and if it's not, it's not worth doing.

An Atmosphere of Support

I've been to another  literary conference before, but it wasn't nearly as big as AWP.  It was fun, but I felt like if you weren't already part of the club, you weren't going to be part of the club.  I still mingled and learned a lot, but I never really felt like I belonged.  I never got that sense at AWP.

There are literally thousands of writers that go to this conference.  It's easy to get lost in the crowd, but I never felt like I wasn't part of the crowd.  It was so easy to talk to people.  I was with my friend Tamara, who is really good about talking to everybody and anybody, so we would be engaged in conversations with others as we walked the three blocks to the convention center.

Once there, you could turn in any direction to talk to someone.  I handed out several business cards and got many back.  I didn't feel like I was in competition with anyone but was there for a common goal:  to make ourselves better.

It was inspiring to be at this conference.  The panels were incredibly awesome, the people were super nice, and the whole experience was just fantastic.  It felt good to be around like-minded people and to talk about writing.  I almost didn't go to the conference.  There was a sense of hesitation because of the cost and the distance, but with my friend there and my spouse basically shoving me out the door, I went.  And I'm so glad I did.  It was worth every moment.