FEBS: FleshEaters and BloodSuckers

Flesheaters and Bloodsuckers Anonymous On Amazon

2012-01-03T23:48:00.000-08:00

After experimenting a little bit with Amazon and Smashwords, I've decided to go ahead and publish FEBs as an ebook. If I were to start submitting the novel to book publishers, it would be months before I heard back from someone about it.

Going the Amazon ebook route allows me the chance to get my book out there immediately and also offers greater creative control. Plus, I'm not sure I have a lot of time left to really capitalize on the current interest in vampire novels... The sooner it's published, the better.

Flesheaters and Bloodsuckers Anonymous is just about ready for publication. After four years of work, it's amazing to see how well this final product is turning out. Now, it's time to put this work out into the world and move onto another project. Look for the release of FEBS sometime in January!

Free Ebook Update: Remington Witch

2011-12-15T12:22:00.000-08:00

Stop in at Smashwords to get a free copy of Remington Witch until the 21st.

Use this coupon code at check out:
QK63G

Free Ebook!

New Release: Remington Witch

2011-12-15T00:05:00.000-08:00

The young adult short story, Remington Witch, is now available at Amazon.com for .99 cents. I'm on a roll with the short stories this month. Actually, this is a story I wrote way back in 2004 and posted on Lulu, but it didn't really get a lot of attention.

After publishing Mistress of the Bubble Wrap, I decided to take another look at Remington Witch. I made some edits, reformatted it and created a new cover for the short story. Wow, were there a lot of grammar and punctuation errors. It's amazing to see how much my writing skills have improved over the past seven years. This is still a nice little story despite that and I thought I could revive it on another site. It's also available at Smashwords.

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Seven generations ago, the Remington Witch cursed the town with her last breath.

Possessed and turned to wolves to serve the witch in 150 year's time.

Time is up.

The witch is back to stake her claim.

Only 16-year-old Jackson Marner knows that the witch's curse is soon to be fulfilled. Only he can stop her before the Spring Equinox.

Excerpt:

"Who's there?" Page's voice rasped. She could swear someone was in the room with her. Some dark presence watching her, but Page couldn't see any movement.

"Who's there?" She asked again more loudly. The presence in the room stayed stubbornly quiet. Page reached over to turn on the lamp. No miraculous blanket of light flitted across the room. It wouldn't turn on. Page slide to the back of her bed, pressing herself against the wall. She curled her legs up underneath her body and pulled the blanket over her. She willed her pupils to dilate so she could see better in the darkness.

"Please, whoever's there? Just go away," She whimpered. Across the room, something began to form in the darkness, a soft red glow. Page's harsh breaths grew more and more haggard in response. The form moved towards her. Its glow increased to a violent, bloody red."

Ebook Update: New Cover

2011-12-10T06:35:00.001-08:00

I've made a few little changes to the Mistress of the Bubble Wrap story including, a new more eye-catching cover. I was back and forth with myself over this cover for a few days because of its imagery, but in the end decided that it's no worse than any women's erotic fiction. Just as long as buyers aren't misled by the cover into thinking it's full of sexy times, instead of stalkerish behavior.

Thanks go to Lee J. Haywood and RobynLou8 for giving permission to use their photographs as source material. Thanks guys!

What do you think? Too risque?

Buy Now!

Ebook for Sale: Mistress of the Bubble Wrap

2011-11-30T11:37:00.001-08:00

I've published a short story called, Mistress of the Bubble Wrap, over at Amazon. There's been so much posted online about the growth of the ebook industry this past year, I thought I'd put up a test book and see how it went.

The process of creating an ebook went much faster than expected. I just gathered up a short story and a couple of poems that I never published, formatted them according to Amazon guidelines and converted them to a Kindle format with MobiPocket Creator. For a little extra marketing, I went ahead and included an excerpt from FEBS at the end of the book.

It took about 12 hours from submission for the ebook to go live on Amazon.com. So far so good.

If you have a Kindle, check it out and let me know what you think. The ebook is available for .99 cents right now.

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Mistress of the Bubble Wrap: A Short Story

Mistress of the Bubble Wrap
A Short Story

By HC Hammond

A young woman lives out her fantasies by sneaking into her employer's home late at night. For a brief period of time, the nights she spends there without his knowledge sustain her fantasy world.

Eventually, all dreams must be fulfilled or die.

The wrong move. A careless act. Her presence is close to being uncovered. Will her fantasy deflate under the harsh light of reality?

Gone Fishin': Back in a While

2011-10-18T16:02:00.000-07:00

Things are pretty hectic on this end. I've gone back to school to supplement my education with a Certificate in Web Design. It's only a year long endeavor, but adjusting to taking classes and doing homework again was harder than I thought. However, I'm already getting lots of fun ideas for visual basic forms and website designs related to writing.

Maybe I'll put together a free writing tool for this blog.

The book is still going, just a little more slowly than before. It's also got siblings. Two other books, currently in the plot development stages.

How the Writer Can Use the Amazon Kindle to Edit Manuscripts

2011-08-31T23:07:00.000-07:00

I've recently purchased the Amazon Kindle and oh my gosh, it's so cool! At first, I was hesitant about buying a book reader, because I thought its only use would be for reading books. I can pretty much read a book anywhere without a Kindle. Anyone can read a book anywhere without a Kindle.

After purchase, I discovered that this nifty little device can do so much more.

The screen does look like a book page and it is readable in the sunlight. It will access a variety of document formats including, PDF, DOC and MOBI. It plays music files and has a text-to-speech option. Plus, the WiFi Kindle accesses the Internet using any local WiFi as long as it's free or I have a password. Once, I have access to the Internet, I can pretty much do anything I need to for work in a pinch.

Photo Courtesy of bfshadow

I've even figured out how to use the Kindle in the manuscript editing process. Yes, it's a tool even writers can use! I believe that makes the Kindle tax-deductible. :)

Uploading the Manuscript to the Kindle
Using the Kindle for manuscript editing starts with uploading your manuscript to the Kindle. It's possible to connect the device to a computer with personal documents on it using a USB cable. This works well for transferring documents to read on the Kindle. Those who want to use the text-to-speech option on their Kindle will need to email the document to their Kindle email address with the word "convert" in the subject line. Amazon will automatically convert the document to a Kindle format and send the document on to the Kindle as soon as it accesses a WiFi connection.

Writers will be able to click on the document on the Kindle to open it. From here the text-to-speech option is turned on by pushing the "Aa" button and clicking "On" the option in the window that opens up. The text reader will turn on automatically and read the document in its entirety from the current page on. The reader is turned off by pushing "Aa" again and clicking "Off" in the window.

As the writer works through the document, notes about potential changes can be made using "Add Notes and Highlights" in the menu. The text reader will need to be turned off to make a note.

When finished with the manuscript, the writer can transfer the personal document back to their computer to open up and reference the notes for editing. To open up the document on a desktop, download the Kindle for PC software here.

The Amazon Kindle lets the writer hear their manuscript read aloud, giving another perspective on the work. It also allows writers to take work almost anywhere for editing. Plus, I feel like I'm in Star Trek everytime I use it. :)

Revised Book Excerpt Available for Flesheaters and Bloodsuckers Anonymous

2011-08-15T21:21:00.000-07:00

A revised copy of the first few chapters of Flesheaters and Bloodsuckers Anonymous is now available at Authonomy.com. The link can also be found on the "About the Book" page. This updated version is my most recent copy of the book with a few grammar and punctuation changes, some additional content and rewrites on a few scenes.

I wanted to curtail the sense of humor-for-the-sake-of-humor in the book, while still maintaining a mix of comedy and tension. I'm going back over it one more time to work on a few scenes and some more grammar issues. It's amazing. You think you've fixed all of the grammar and punctuation problems, but more keep popping up in every rewrite.

If you have any comments or suggestions about the book excerpt, I'm happy to see them. Also, see the nifty book cover I made.

How to Format a Manuscript

2011-08-04T20:31:00.000-07:00

Nearly all print publishers have formatting requirements for the manuscripts writers send in to them. These guidelines vary from publication to publication. For instance; Macmillan requires double-spacing between lines for all book submissions, while Penguin wants single-spaced lines on manuscripts submitted to their Idiot's Guide book series.

Every publisher has different rules. Writers following these standard manuscript formatting guidelines can expect to meet most company's requirements. See Carolyn Jewel's Guide to Formatting Your Manuscript for a more in-depth look.

Courtesy of Sidewalk Flying

1-inch margins all the way around the page
Indent each new paragraph.
Double-spaced lines
Times New Roman
12 point font size
Page numbering, lower left side of the footer
Header including, first and last name, manuscript title, and phone number or email
Cover page with the manuscript title, first and last name, contact information and total word count

Print your manuscript out on one side only and send in loose leaf. Don't staple, hole-punch or otherwise bind the manuscript pages. This uses a lot of paper, but gives the editor plenty of room for notes and is a lot easier on the eyes.

Things not to include:

An Author Biography: Editors don't need to know about your past credits. They just want to evaluate the manuscript on its own merits. Including a bio, unless specifically requested, can actually mark you as an amateur.
Author Head Shots: See above.
Letters that aren't Cover Letters: Don't write long letters telling the editor why he should buy the book, how you plan on marketing the book, how the cover should look and describing how much money you want for the book. That comes later, if the publisher is interested.
Bribes: Candy, cookies, tickets, gifts or even money aren't going to sway the editor. They just increase your postage costs.

You can include a Cover letter briefly describing the book, and an SASE for return postage. Be sure to check the publisher's guidelines to see if the company will return your manuscript. Check the guidelines to see if the publisher has different requirements.

Blood Banks Charge for Blood

2011-07-28T01:48:00.000-07:00

I've been researching a few things for my book. Among these things, the process for blood donation and found out that hospitals have to pay for blood. This means that patients end up paying a lot of money per pint of blood they receive in the hospital.

After blood donation at a community blood bank, the blood is processed, tested, separated into parts and stored for transport. All of this is completed by qualified technicians and nurses and those tests are costly. So, the blood bank has to charge hospitals for the blood to pay for the costs of running the facility, hiring employees and processing the blood donation. The blood is separated into red blood cells and plasma. Each used for a different purpose and I think it also helps to stretch each donation a little further.

The actual cost of a pint of blood is still a little mind-boggling. I came across numbers between $180 and $270 a pint. Geographic location, overhead and whether or not the blood bank pays people for blood all play a factor in final costs. Hospitals usually pass that cost onto the patient.

So, giving blood doesn't mean you're giving it for free, but it does mean you are providing a valuable life-saving product. The effort is worthwhile and saves hundreds of people each year.

Photo from: Frostnova

Three Websites for Writing Prompts

2011-07-21T02:52:00.000-07:00

I remember completing several writing prompts in high school. At the time the prompts were just exercises completed to pass the time. Fun, but not that important to me.

As a writer, these simple writing activities are so much more. They stretch my skills, creativity and allow me to experiment. Every writer should make use of writing prompts.

The best prompts are those provided by someone else. These prompts come from outside, so they are fresh and may lead you in a direction you wouldn’t normally head. I like to visit a couple of different websites for their free writing prompts.

Writer’s Digest provides hundreds of free writing prompts that set up a situation and ask the writer to bring it to a conclusion. This is good for develop basic writing skills, characterization, and even practicing your endings. A lot of writers have a hard time figuring out the best place to end their stories.

Daily writing prompts from The Teacher’s Corner are geared towards some historical or seasonal event that occurred on each day of the year. These prompts give you a chance to work with essay topics and writing about historical events.

Writing Fix is intended for young elementary and high school students, but their prompts work just as well to get the brain started working. Sign up to receive six random writing prompts to your email inbox every Sunday.

Just today I went through some old papers and found lots of writing prompts and exercises I’d completed over the years. Some were completely silly, but a few had potential as large pieces. You just never know what you’ll turn out.

Photo Courtesy: ModernHeartist Photography

Pomodoro Technique for Writers – 5 Benefits of Writing in Chunks

2011-07-13T23:27:00.000-07:00

Every writer knows that they must first write. It is easy to call oneself a writer, but without the product of their efforts, they cannot actually be a writer. Making the time to sit down and be productive is a daunting task for many people. The average fiction book is about 100,000 words. A project of that magnitude can overwhelm and prevent a writer from even attempting to produce such a volume of words. This effort must be broken up into small increments for the writer to succeed.

There are many kinds of productivity tools for writers. The simplest has to be the Pomodoro Technique. This technique was developed in the 80s by a graduate student named Francesco Cirillo. He needed a better way to work and study. Writers can use it to increase their productivity too.

Increased Focus

One Pomodoro is exactly 25 minutes. This short period of time forces the writer to focus on what they are doing and be more productive. Part of the Pomodoro technique involves giving your work your complete and total focus for each increment of time. Turn off your television and phone too. This increased focus allows for greater understanding of complex ideas, ease in communicating these ideas to the reader and a greater clarity of thought.

Increased Productivity

You'll find that as you move through each Pomodoro you get more work done. That increased focus makes work go faster. You also want to get as many Pomodoros completed as you can during the work day and with more Pomodoros comes more completed work. This naturally increases your level of productivity.

Creates a Challenge for the Writer

As mentioned above, the Pomodoro Technique acts to challenge the writer. Writers find themselves trying to complete as many Pomodoros as possible each day. They also compare their previous days' work effort against current efforts. Many people who use the Pomodoro Technique keep track of their productivity with charts and try to out do themselves each day.

Forces You to Plan

Anyone attempting a Pomodoro must stay at work during the entire period of time to successfully complete the Pomodoro. This forces writers to plan out what they'll work on during each Pomodoro. If you finish an article and there is still time left, you'll need to move onto something else, such as researching the next article.

Encourages Further Work

Just doing one Pomodoro a day encourages you to keep making the effort to work. You see results from your 25 minutes of work. You also find yourself wanting to try another Pomodoro and another. The Pomodoro Technique recommends trying to complete four Pomodoros in a row before taking a longer break of half an hour. Of course, one or two Pomodoros works just as well. You are working during these periods too.

Photo courtesy of Mobentec

Benefits of Editing on Paper

2011-07-06T00:33:00.000-07:00

I'm working on the final edit of FEBs before sending it off to a publisher or two. This last edit is on paper, which I love doing. It's easier to write on the computer, but there's just something about working with paper. I guess it feels real to me.

Now that computers are ubiquitous, there is a strong temptation for the writer to complete all edits on-screen. This is bad. Bad writer. Do not do it.

Editing is a much hated and involved part of the writing process and as such, it must be completed in person with the written word printed out before you in all of its plain, average, beingness. Using the computer for editing saves a great deal of time. It reduces trash and even saves trees. However, every story should be edited on paper at least once before completion.

Why?

Paper changes the format in which the story is read. It presents the story in a new way, not through electrons but a on a touchable, material surface. Anyone can touch the screen, but not run fingers over the words in the same way as with a piece of paper.

Printing out the story also gives the writer an impression of how the words will look on the page of a book. Visually, it can tell the writer whether paragraphs are too dense or if there is too much dialogue and not enough exposition. This is important to getting a feel from the reader's standpoint. If the book looks imposing or empty at first glance, the reader may not delve into it. Working on paper also gives the writer a chance to write-in edits without losing the original text. The writer can compare edits and original text at the same time to decide which works better.

It just offers a break from the computer screen. Working as writer, it's common to spend several hours a day at the computer. I've developed such a crick in my neck this way. Take a break. Print out that story and edit on paper.

Photo Courtesy of gruntzooki

Working Out Kinks in the Game Maps

2011-03-15T19:00:00.000-07:00

The templates for the Febs Game have been the most time consuming aspect of this mini project so far. I'm up to three templates or maps and am still working out kinks. Some tiles got labeled wrong. Some tiles got put in the wrong place. On the other hand, it's fun to see this little world my brother and I created starting to come to life, or un-life. I'm not much of a game designer. These maps are a little rough around the edges and I realized belatedly that I've got side view characters on an overhead view map. I'm going to leave them as is for the game. Otherwise, they'd just look little circles in an overhead view.

New Sprites to Look At...

2010-11-22T23:01:00.000-08:00

Behold, the Ogre, Harold and People sprites! The first Harold sprite wasn't popular with anyone, not even Jay Leno, so we decided to go in a different direction and I've revamped the sprites to match. All except the Ogre, which is detailed and I think looks great, As Is.

Time sure flies when having fun with video games! Obviously, we're still putting together that mini game based on a FEBS scene. So far, we're able to put the characters on a background and get them to move around on it. Next up, creating walls.

On a somewhat major side point, an excerpt of FleshEaters and Bloodsuckers Anonymous has been posted to Authonomy.com. Anyone with an account on Authonomy can read it, leave comments or critiques and most important of all place it on your bookshelf if you like it.

Book Excerpt on Authonomy and New Game Sprite

2010-11-03T20:04:00.000-07:00

New and exciting changes are happening on this end. Okay, maybe only exciting to me, but so far I'm the only one reading this blog so it's my party. :)

I've posted part of my book to Authonomy.com if anyone should happen upon this post and want to check it out. Better yet, sign up as a reader and place my book on your bookshelf to improve its rank. I also take any and all critiques and do make changes based on them.

We're continuing with the FEBS game too. Sprites are both fun and frustrating to create. From the tutorials on Youtube they seem deceptively simple, but in actual practice it's hard to arrange all those pixels into something recognizable, let alone good looking. The Golden Rule is: 32x32 pixels!

Behold the Harold game sprite. I say it's the lovechild of Jay Leno and Edward Cullen.

A FEBS game you say?

2010-10-30T21:14:00.000-07:00

We're going multi-media on this bad boy! My brother is learning about game engines and has graciously offered to help me put together my own little game based on FEBs. It's probably only to be a 2D platform or RPG game, but I'm so excited! It's already leading to lots of new ideas for how the characters will look, the layout of the town and the sequence of events in the plot. I'm in charge of sprites...not the magical kind mind you, but the graphic image kind. Now I just have to learn what those are and how to create them.

Photo by: angelamaphone

Tagxedo Lets You Shape Your Word Clouds

2010-05-03T20:37:00.000-07:00

Fans of Wordle, the word cloud creation site will be excited to try out the newest feature of Tagxedo.com, a similiar site that offers much more in terms of choosing the shapes of your word clouds, picking out fonts and colors and more. Above is a cloud I did for the blog.

It's an incredibly easy way to waste an hour or two of your life. :)

Writer's Digest: 21 Tips to Get Out of the Slush Pile

2010-04-13T22:11:00.000-07:00

Writer's Digest featured a great article in February called, 21 Tips to Get Out of the Slush Pile.

These are tips intended for the writer intending to get out of the rejection slip filled sea known as the slush pile, but it's equally useful for the writer in midst of editing. Read through the list, it definitely helps one realize what areas of their current work might be in trouble.

For me it's:

18 Have you created enough contrast? Too many stories focus on a cast of characters who look, talk and act alike.

11 Are your characters motivated? What drives them to do the things they do? Do we know what they want?

10 Do you appeal to a sense of place? Many stories exist in a vacuum, where lines are spoken without any description of an interior or exterior setting

7. Have you created appropriate frequency and intensity of scenes? A scene should reveal something about the character, advance the plot in a significant way, provide insight into the "theme" or, as Eudora Welty suggested, do all three.

1. Could it use a new beginning? Lead with a powerful scene, a witty exchange or a dazzling description that's now buried.

I have this nagging fear that some of my characters are way too similar, although I'm holding off on changing them until the book is a little more finished. They may end up becoming more diverse through the natural editing process. Additionally, I knew halfway through the first draft of this thing that it needed a new beginning, which I'm proud to say I've already gotten too. Hopefully, it's the right beginning this time. The other tips listed above from the article are just things I'm noticing as editing goes on and on and on.

One Hundred Pages into the Edit

2010-03-30T22:19:00.000-07:00

Who hoo a hundred pages into editing! I'm having good days and bad days with the rewriting process. Sometimes it seems like the writing is at least pretty good, maybe even good enough to sell and other times not.

I can literally see the different moods I was in at the time of writing the first draft of this book too. Some passages are spell checked with complete sentences and others are sloppy, loose writing. It's like I just didn't care on those days, which happens a lot during the first draft. Those days its the only goal is putting words on the page, sometimes very random words.

That's a lesson learned, try to write a complete sentence on the first draft. You'll save a lot of time trying to sort out what it all means several. months. later.

Still Alive and Working...

2009-11-10T16:07:00.000-08:00

I'm alive! I've been working on the book. Will update soon!

Rough Draft of FEBS complete

2009-05-09T21:35:00.000-07:00

Houston, we have an ending!

Okay, it's the rough draft; and the beginning needs to be changed and some characters changed nationalities halfway through and the plot shifted course a little bit but its got an ending!

Ha, hahahahahhaha! Now I can begin the rewriting process...er, fun.

Wordle: Word Art for Your Book!

2009-04-29T22:10:00.000-07:00

This word art site is so much fun. Make your own Wordle from an excerpt of text.

Nearing Completion of the Rough Draft

2009-04-29T18:21:00.000-07:00

80,000 words and counting! Wow, it's been a while since I've posted on here. The enIt's way short of the original goal of a nice round 100,000 words, but I'll take it.

What's really odd to me is that it's getting a lot harder to write as I'm getting closer to the end. I'm not sure if this is some kind of self-imposed writer's block or maybe it's just harder to get to that ending every time one writes a long story or book.

I already have the very end of the book visualized, so I know where I want the main character to be. It's just the manipulating the story to get him there part that's getting mind-boggling difficult.

Anyone else out there have a hard time getting down to the final few chapters of a book when writing? Perhaps it's you have a harder time with the beginning of a book or have problems with a saggy middle?

Photo Courtesy: by xxrobot

Too Much Plot in a Book? 65,000+ Words

2009-03-04T14:40:00.000-08:00

Approximately 65,000 words and counting on the book. I had hoped to reach 70,ooo words by the end of February but that didn't quite happen! Any progress is good progress, right?

At least I'm now in the bottom third of the book. I think I've hit the climax of the plot and it's all downhill from here. Hopefully, in the good 'snow sledding' downhill kind of way and not a 'agggh, we're gonna' die' kind a way.

Harold, my main character, has gotten himself into a tough spot as usual because he really isn't the brightest color in the crayola box. So far in the book he's been picked up by the cops, bitten a couple of times by a giant flesh eating slug, been hypnotized, burnt by the sun twice, bullied by government agents and oh yes, shot in the back with a silver tipped arrow. Plus, a few other things that don't directly involve physical harm, just mild stupidity. I love getting this guy into trouble because he's just so hard to kill!

Right now, I'm worrying that all of these colorful and calamitous situations are a little too much. How many times can one endure a stupid vampire before they put down the book? So, I'm probably dragging my feet on this because it feels like there's too much stuff happening one thing after another and we're only at 65, 000+ words.

Of course, this book is primarily plot driven because Harold is primarily apathetic about life. His motivations are blood and sex. So, all of his character development has to occur through external events. I've only just gotten him to the point in say the last ten thousand words where it's feasible for him to act on his own inner force of will. Hopefully, that's not placed too late in the book!