Ever since I finished Red’s War and presented it to you guys I’ve had burn out with my stories. However, the recent posts about Ruby Caves are related to my work on it. I’ve finally found my voice with that story. Mutant Cowboy Space Pirate and Radiation Road are the same way. I believe I released Red’s War back in… what was it, late December or January? That’s a long time to be writing something. Another problem: my short stories are at least ten pages up now. They used to be shorter. With the exception of Ruby Caves, everything before Mickey in my STORIES menu is less than ten pages. Now that I’m trapped myself in a visual, in depth style and intricate plot lines the stories are a little longer.
You notice a pattern in my stories after Mickey? All of them deal with the supernatural. This is my burnout. My longer novels and novellas are going to take a while regardless. I’m not too worried about them. I’ve stopped making promises to you about when they are going to be released.
I think my problem with shorter supernatural, paranormal stories is world building. Some creatures don’t need explaining. Zombies, ghosts, vampires, and werewolves are so ingrained in popular culture I don’t need to worry about explaining their origins. I do have to explain where they came from within the reference of the story.
Red’s War was a story I had to write for class… Well, the original, far less bloody version anyway. That story was quick out of necessity but the story is still realistic within its own world. There have been rumors of a monster roaming around the French highlands. Jackie, a local hunter, is sent in to eradicate the creature and dispel the fear that it is a werewolf. The hints throughout the story leading up to the conclusion clearly state that something is wrong. I got through most of the world building quickly because the initial story was already written. The wolf attack on his car is an example of something added in after I presented it to class. It took me ten days to complete the story with all the added background information.
The direct reason for my moving away from the paranormal is also the most simple. I have been working in the genre for a long time and it is finally hitting me that I’ve run out of ideas. I’m human. I don’t know what it’s like to face off against a supernatural being. I do know what it’s like to have fears, desires; and what it feels like to reach out to others on a daily basis, stranger, friend, and roommate alike. Shout-out to Marcus, Roshad, and Sully- the three awesome roommates who have to put up with me for two more weeks.
Manny is a story of the human condition. A security guard on the graveyard shift at a cheap mall must make it through his first night. And then the power is knocked out by a storm. The setting alone is a perfect place for the supernatural to happen. However, Manny is a lone man against a quartet of criminals. Nothing supernatural. I’ll have a brief introduction to his situation and immediately move on to the major part of the story. It works on his fear and the natural urge to stay alive. I can relate to Manny. The first paragraph can be found in this post: see what he does? He’s watching a zombie movie. If I’ve seen a particularly horrific movie I stay up most of the night. That doesn’t happen often, but when it does, it can have an adverse effect on me.
You notice a pattern in my stories after Mickey? All of them deal with the supernatural. This is my burnout. My longer novels and novellas are going to take a while regardless. I’m not too worried about them. I’ve stopped making promises to you about when they are going to be released.
I think my problem with shorter supernatural, paranormal stories is world building. Some creatures don’t need explaining. Zombies, ghosts, vampires, and werewolves are so ingrained in popular culture I don’t need to worry about explaining their origins. I do have to explain where they came from within the reference of the story.
Red’s War was a story I had to write for class… Well, the original, far less bloody version anyway. That story was quick out of necessity but the story is still realistic within its own world. There have been rumors of a monster roaming around the French highlands. Jackie, a local hunter, is sent in to eradicate the creature and dispel the fear that it is a werewolf. The hints throughout the story leading up to the conclusion clearly state that something is wrong. I got through most of the world building quickly because the initial story was already written. The wolf attack on his car is an example of something added in after I presented it to class. It took me ten days to complete the story with all the added background information.
The direct reason for my moving away from the paranormal is also the most simple. I have been working in the genre for a long time and it is finally hitting me that I’ve run out of ideas. I’m human. I don’t know what it’s like to face off against a supernatural being. I do know what it’s like to have fears, desires; and what it feels like to reach out to others on a daily basis, stranger, friend, and roommate alike. Shout-out to Marcus, Roshad, and Sully- the three awesome roommates who have to put up with me for two more weeks.
Manny is a story of the human condition. A security guard on the graveyard shift at a cheap mall must make it through his first night. And then the power is knocked out by a storm. The setting alone is a perfect place for the supernatural to happen. However, Manny is a lone man against a quartet of criminals. Nothing supernatural. I’ll have a brief introduction to his situation and immediately move on to the major part of the story. It works on his fear and the natural urge to stay alive. I can relate to Manny. The first paragraph can be found in this post: see what he does? He’s watching a zombie movie. If I’ve seen a particularly horrific movie I stay up most of the night. That doesn’t happen often, but when it does, it can have an adverse effect on me.
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The Cinnabon food-trucks are having a sale.
The Cinnabon food-trucks are having a sale.
P.S.- while looking for the first mall image I came across a cool website that chronicles all the abandoned malls in the US. Check it out here!
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