Archive for the ‘Fiction’ Category

My Commitment to Writing in 2012

Posted: January 3, 2012 in #WIP500, Fiction, Writing

A New Challenge for 2012

A couple of days ago I mentioned that I decided to accept the #WIP500 challenge that my friend Cara Michaels is hosting. If you aren’t familiar with the #WIP500 challenge, I’ll give a brief explanation. First of all, for those of you that use Twitter (which is probably everyone who follows this site) you’ll recognize the title of the challenge is in the form of a hash tag, so everyone interested and involved have a place to announce their successes and communicate with other writers taking the challenge. Basically, the #WIP500 challenge involves writing at least 500 words every day for your current work-in-progress (WIP). Since this year is a leap year, if you write 500 words a day, you’ll have 183,000 words written by the end of the year! That’s plenty of words for multiple projects. Writing 500 words a day seemed like a reasonable goal for me, so I jumped on board.

The last time I checked, 125 people have accepted the #WIP500 challenge with more than half of them already reporting their daily word counts. So far, for the first two days I have added 1300 words for my current project, The Devil’s Nightmare, bringing it to a grand total of 2034 words.

The Devil’s Nightmare

My current WIP, The Devil’s Nightmare, is only in its infant stage right now, but I’m excited to be writing again and working in a genre that I have always loved…horror! I’ve had this story floating around in the back of my mind for a while now and decided that 2012 was going to be the year to take stab at the horror genre. If I don’t do it now, I may not get another chance later…you know, considering that the world is suppose to end on Dec. 21, 2012. Let’s just hope the Mayans were wrong about that one!

My tentative goal is to have The Devil’s Nightmare ready for e-book distribution by Oct. 31, 2012 and then in print sometime shortly after that. This is, of course, if everything goes as planned, but you know how that goes! If I manage to hit my 500-word daily #WIP500 quota, then getting The Devil’s Nightmare published this year shouldn’t be a problem. One thing is for sure, though…I don’t want to rush through this one! I want to make sure that The Devil’s Nightmare is handled correctly, written well, edited well, and has a great cover. Thanks to the awesome writing community on Twitter that I have had the pleasure networking with in 2011, finding the perfect editor and cover artist for The Devil’s Nightmare will be a heck of a lot easier (and here come the marketing tweets and emails). 🙂

Pushing Forward

Last year was like riding an emotional roller coaster. I have a lot of great things to reflect on from last year, but there were also some events that got me a bit depressed too. However, as the new year approached I was ready to leave the past in the rear view mirror and tackle 2012 head on. I decided to focus on my goals with my head held high and a confident heart that I can and will succeed this year no matter what it takes to do so. In my next post I’ll be writing a little bit about my experience of quitting a job that I loved to pursue a dream of operating my own business and focusing more on writing.

I love reading your comments, so feel free to share your thoughts. Also, be sure to click the follow button below or subscribe to my blog via email by entering your email address in the sidebar. Thanks for visiting!

Author Interview: Carolyn Arnold

Posted: November 15, 2011 in Fiction, Interviews, Publishing, Writing

I’m excited to announce my first guest author at SharkbaitWrites.com, the lovely and very talented Carolyn Arnold. Carolyn just released her latest FBI thriller Eleven last week (on 11.11.11 to be precise) and has taken her book on the road with a promotional blog tour. Today she’s taken time out of her busy schedule to sit down and share a little bit about herself and her latest book. So grab yourself a beverage and make yourself comfortable. We’ll be back after this promotional video of Eleven.

My interview with Carolyn Arnold:

Carolyn, thank you for stopping by to visit SharkbaitWrites.com to help promote your new book Eleven. I have been anticipating its release since I first watched your promotional trailer back in September. I know you have worked hard at promoting it and have had your eyes set on the 11.11.11 release date for what seems like an eternity. Before we get into talking about Eleven, I have a few general questions.

Aside from being an author, can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

I’ve been married for fifteen plus years to my best friend, and am a “furry baby momma” to two beagles, Max and Chelsea, who are two and a half years old.

When did you first realize you wanted to be an author?

I used to write as a teenager and thought it would be amazing to write a full-length novel, but it wasn’t until over four years ago that I rediscovered this passion. From this point, writing became a huge part of my life and now I can’t imagine life without it.

What one author inspired you the most to begin writing novels? What specifically about that author inspired you to write novels?

As far as one author who inspired me to start writing, I can’t say for sure. As I mentioned I did have a desire to write a novel as a teenager – maybe writing is just something I’m meant to do?

However, as writing has become an integral part of my life two authors have influenced and inspired me. This is David Baldacci and Sandra Brown. Both of these authors have inspired me in different ways.

Baldacci writes rich character description, background and motivation. I learned from his example words used to develop and strengthen characters is not only a good thing but integral.

Brown pushes the edge of where I would normally dare venture and I love that.

When you’re not making the keys smoke on your keyboard, what do you like to read?

I love mysteries and thrillers.

When you write your novels do you use outlines, note cards, and intricate planning, or are you a seat-of-the-pants kind of writer… a “pantser”?

Panster! Before I start I have an idea how it’s going to end, but the journey there is with my characters. Before I set out to write, I interview them and get to know them. I find this process helps immensely in rooting out backstory. I also know them better from the first word I write in the book.


Now on to your latest novel…

Eleven published on 11.11.11. Tell us the significance of the number 11 in your latest novel?

Eleven factors into the number of intended victims. Eleven is also the number of incisions the killer makes in his victims. Essentially the number and its representation factor symbiotically into the plot of the novel.

What inspired you to write Eleven?

I love the television series “Criminal Minds” for one. Second, there is this small abandoned home outside of the city I live it. The idea for underground burial chambers just hit me when I saw it one day.

With that said, I’m going to give you the spot light to tell us about your latest thriller Eleven…

Eleven Rooms. Ten Bodies. One Empty Grave.

Brandon Fisher never expected this when he signed up as a Special Agent for the FBI. Working in the shadow of Supervisory Special Agent Jack Harper of the Behavioral Analysis Unit his career seemed set. But when the team is called to a small rural town where the remains of ten victims are found in an underground bunker, buried in an unusual way, Brandon knows he’ll never return to his normal life.

With one empty grave, and the case touching close to home, he fears he’s become the target of a psychotic serial killer who wants to make him number eleven. Only thing is, everything Brandon thinks he knows is far from the truth.

Carolyn, this book sounds awesome! I am definitely going to be adding this one to my collection. I look forward to seeing this book rise to the top of the Amazon best sellers list. It has been a great pleasure having you as my first guest author at SharkbaitWrites.com and a part of the Eleven Blog Tour.

Rob, thank you for having me as a guest on your site.

Brief Author Bio:

Carolyn Arnold is the author of several novels in the mystery, thriller and suspense genres. TIES THAT BIND, the first in a police procedural mystery series surrounding Detective Madison Knight, was her debut novel and published May 2011.

Carolyn was born in 1976 in the rural town of Picton, Ontario. While her passion for writing dates back to her teen years, it wasn’t until 2008 that she completed her first novel. She lives with her husband and her two beagles in Southwestern Ontario

Where to connect with Carolyn online:

Amazon Author Page
Website
Blog
Twitter
Facebook
Goodreads
Email

Carolyn Arnold’s Books:

A note to my guests: Thank you for visiting SharkbaitWrites.com and I hope you enjoyed my interview with Carolyn Arnolds. Be sure to visit Carolyn’s web site by clicking here, and if you haven’t done so already, you can get your copy of Eleven here.

Flash Fiction Mondays

Posted: November 8, 2011 in Fiction, Writing

Cara Michaels, a friend of mine that I met on Twitter, hosts a weekly flash fiction challenge every Monday called #MenageMonday on her Defiantly Literate blog. On Monday, October 24, I had the pleasure of participating in this weekly event as a judge. It was the first time I participated in such a thing and I have to say it was very enjoyable. Choosing the winners was not easy; there are so many great writers out there and it was a heck of a lot of fun reading the stories as they were posted throughout the day. You can read those stories, the prompts, and see the winners here:

#MenageMonday Week 8 That I Judged
Winners of #MenageMonday Week 8

Sadly I missed out on the Halloween version of #MenageMonday last week, but I made a point not to miss out on this week’s fun. So, yesterday afternoon I decided to take a stab at this week’s challenge judged by the talented flash fictioneer (of course it’s a word!) Maureen Hovermale. Cara’s photo prompt was probably the most difficult part of coming up with a story, but here’s what I came up with:

David woke up with a throbbing headache. He lifted himself off the cold floor he was laying on, looked around, and realized he was in a holding cell at the Sheriff’s Department.

“You okay, bud?” A cellmate asked noticing the bruises, black eye and abrasions on David’s face.

“I’ve had better days.” David responded as he slowly sat next to his cellmate.

“So, whatcha’ in for?” The cellmate asked with a slight shove.

The last thing David remembered was the tattoo. What did it say? Vivre Libre? “To tell the truth, I don’t remember getting arrested.”

“Damn! You must have been wasted! Or judging by your face, you really got the shit kicked out of you.”

Now David remembered. The woman. The legs. The tattoo. The diamond necklace.

David explained, “I tried to mug a woman coming out of a club and…” Then he saw the woman walk by the cell. He saw the tattoo on her ankle… and the badge that she wore on a lanyard hanging from her neck. “Turns out she was a cop.”

David’s cellmate laughed at the risible turn of events, “Say what you want, dude. You got your ass kicked by a woman!”

***

This was the first time I had ever participating in a flash fiction challenge and it definitely will not be the last. It was a lot of fun being a part of #MenageMonday both as a judge and as a writer. So, be sure to keep an eye out for future 100-200 word flash fiction shorts written by yours truly in the coming weeks. Better yet, if you are a writer, be sure to take a stab at it yourself. It’s not only fun, but it also helps get those creative juices flowing in the old noggin.

Lastly, I’d like to congratulate this week’s #MenageMonday champ, Antonio Angelo, for wearing the crown for two consecutive weeks! Also, congratulations to this week’s Judge’s pet, Jen DeSantis, for having the best use of Judge’s prompt.

As always thank you for visiting my humble establishment online. I hope you enjoyed your stay, and if you did be sure to subscribe to my blog site by either clicking on the FOLLOW tab or by entering your email address in the box on the left margin.

Cheers!

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