Friday, January 29, 2016

Free Horror Story Sample Online

 

Pages Up at Goodreads

The prologue for my upcoming horror novel, Hallowmass, is available for your viewing pleasure over at Goodreads. Depending on the response, I may add up to two more gratis, bargain, discount, free chapters. Here's the blurb:

Party-loving grad student Mercy O'Connor must choose to set down the mimosas and follow in her family's footsteps by learning powerful magic, the only weapon that can check the diabolical warlocks of Dunwich, Massachusetts and their scheme to see all life on the planet eradicated by monstrous beings. Aided by a country & western loving Zulu security guard, Mercy must first find the belief, then the confidence, then the courage to battle her terrifying foes and stop the earth from being drug into another dimension.

Cover art is on the way here. I'm setting the book up for pre-order on Amazon for an April 30th release. Lovecraft fans may recognize that day as Walpurgis Night, a fitting launch date for a horror novel.

8 comments:

Armando E. Torre Puerto said...

I read it, and I recommend it.

JP Mac said...

Thank you, Armando.

I'm adding your name to the Acknowledgments for your fine beta read.

Armando E. Torre Puerto said...

Wow, thank you!
I've been reading Stephen King's On Writing. In some senses he reminds me of you in that book. Both write as warm and friendly neighbors, and the impression doesn't go away even if you use a curse word now and then. Nevermind that, you can talk about horrific events and I still feel comfortable!

I'm finding that book incredibly useful. However, I'm past the part in which it becomes obvious that his method (taking the situation wherever it goes) is the opposite of Syd Field's plot-first. I'f finding everything very useful and now I have some more books to read (Elements of Style and Grammar and composition, for starters), but I don't think I could do a story with a four-page treatment first. What are your thoughts on the matter?

JP Mac said...

It's a good way to know where you're going, even if the route and the destination change on the way. For me, knowing the ending is a great help in pushing ahead.

Armando E. Torre Puerto said...

King's method makes me a little nervous, but just after reading your comment, I started to divagate and came up with an interesting speculation: Maybe doing the first draft is King's version of doing the treatment and the character bios of Field. By the second, he knows the ending and makes everything fit. By contrast, with Field's method you might prapere a lot of material or ideas that you dispose. I'd still prefer Field's, but a good dose of King's spontanitiy.
I also read Poetics. I suspect all of it is still in my head, somewhere, but I can only remember that "making a story about women or slaves is boring and a waste of time". Reading that was funny in our context.

JP Mac said...

I used to think I could write my way out of trouble—keeping putting down words until the answer arrived. But with longer pieces, it's a huge waste of time. The more I can plot upfront, the the faster the work goes. As for characters, I do very little upfront other than knowing what they want. They change and solidify as the first draft takes shape.

Armando E. Torre Puerto said...

That makes sense to me. However, sketching some characters upfront sounds like too much fun for me to miss. In Writing for Comics, Alan Moore's approach seems to be closer to Syd Field’s. Even though I really like the way he describes and researches everything in detail for his stories (his annotations in From Hell - the story about Jack the Ripper) are terrific, I think that level of writing is a "don't try this at home" situation; I wouldn't be able to finish everything that way.
By the way, I just finished On Writing, and following Stephen advice, I am close to finish The Elements of Style. Do you have any other recommendations?

JP Mac said...

Congrats on finishing.

Elmore Leonard had a few good tips, especially number 10.
https://www.writingclasses.com/toolbox/tips-masters/elmore-leonard-10-rules-for-good-writing

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