Photographs and Memories

Etched in my mind are images of my past that present themselves to me periodically.  I have memories of my youth so clear that even my late mother was astounded when I asked, "Do you remember when . . ."

It's odd that these memory bursts come when I hear certain songs, encounter different smells (like rain on a plowed field or wet leaves in the fall), the shape of a tree as I'm driving down the highway, or simply when I allow my mind to drift back through time.

Did you ever watch Kung Fu with David Carradine?  He allowed his mind to carry him back to when he was a child.  Now, I don't have a Shaolin Master to visit while in meditation, but I do vividly recall events of my past with clarity.

My brother and I found an injured water crane hiding in our thick grapevines when we were kids.  This bird had a huge, long beak and legs so tall that it was almost my height.  My brother, David, noticed its wing was broken.  "It needs our help," he said.  "Let's catch it."

Catch it?  This thing was huge!  To me, at least.  He grabbed the crane and held its legs together while I held its beak because we were afraid it would peck us.  We took the bird to the house and showed my mother.  Being kids, I guess we convinced her it needed our help.

We kept the crane in our house for several days.  My dad fed it bologna, which it enjoyed eating.  But, the bird was in worse shape than we thought and died a few days later.

Fast forward:  A few years before my mother passed away, she was telling some family members about the crane SHE caught.  I quickly corrected her, but she argued that it was her that brought the bird home.  But, I remember my fear while holding its beak all the way across the yard to the house.  That's not something you forget.

Then, not long after while visiting dad, he said, "You remember that crane I caught when you and David were little?"

I said, "No, I remember the one we caught.  You were at work when we caught it."  Which was the case.

My guess is that both of them had told the tale to others about how they caught the crane for so long that they actually believed they had.  My brother and I know differently.

Writing in Layers

As artists paint on canvas, writers have to paint pictures with words.  But I often write in layers as painters will do touch ups on their pictures to make the colors blend better.  The same goes in adding detail to a scene or a character by returning to read and revise previous text.

The other day, I went back several chapters to revise.  Here and there, I added this, condensed that, but slowly the scenes became clearer.  By the time I finished, I had added two more pages to the novel while fleshing it out.

While I never write out an outline beforehand, I often find that the first run through is like the skeleton of the story.  As I go back, time after time, more clarity and direction unfold until the skeleton becomes its own person with a unique identity.  Exactly how this occurs is still a mystery for me, but that's my process and it works.  Believe me, there are days when I don't think it will work, but I keep plugging away.

Horror Comics

My father used to buy stacks of comics once a week when we were kids.  I remember, Haunted Tales, House of Horror, The Witching Hour, House of Secrets, Unexpected, Ghosts, Weird Tales, just to name a few.   The comics cost $0.15 to $0.25 each.  Find the same ones on eBay now, and you'll pay much, much more.  (Had we only known!)

My brother and I awakened well before sunrise during the summer to read these.  I was six-years-old but I never found the tales actually scary.  The artwork for the ghosts and skeletons was captivating, often making me develop my own stories in my mind, molding my early creativity.  As people say, "A picture is worth a thousand words."  While this is true, a picture also has other tales that can be siphoned from it.

We all see things differently and it's good to breakaway from the cookie-cutter mentality and be different.  And that's what I hope readers come away with after reading my novels.  Originality.  Something different from the norm.  If they have, I hope they tell all their reading friends.

Cloudy Rainy Days

My creativeness tends to thrive on days when the sun is hidden behind clouds.  Rain is a bonus.  I believe this correlation comes because without the sunshine, I have little outside attractions and I also have this sense of shelter, as the clouds are a cushion that surround and enclose me.

I am also a huge fan of thick fog, as long as I don't have to drive through it.  I love how sheets of fog roll in and make familiar areas mystical.  Once, when I was about six years old, I awakened to see our yard swamped in by thick fog.  I've yet to encounter another day quite like this one.  You couldn't see more than a foot ahead of you, and as a child I found this frightening and fun at the same time.  It's strange when swirling mists flow around you and moisture drips from leaves and buildings.  I believe this sensation is why such fog hung over Pittsburgh in Predators of Darkness: Aftermath.  Add blood-thirsty monsters to the mix, and you have a page-turning scare ride.

Today it's raining, so time to get busy working on my novel.

Fischer-Price Memories

I don't understand why my mind seems to recall so many instances from my youth, but a lot of my imagination developed during that time.  In part to escape how we were raised by an overbearing father and in part because my sister and I grew up in the time when "kids were to be seen, not heard."  Understand, this was also before cable networks took over television broadcasting.  We had three stations, one of which might come in clear enough to watch if the wind blew properly.

So television had little hold or control over us.  My sister and I spent countless hours playing with Fischer-Price Little People.  We created, for us, what we believed the perfect family life should be.  It was our little place to dream our dreams without outside interference telling us we couldn't.  We had a lot of great adventures together that time has not erased.

Lately, I keep having dreams of my old homestead where my sister and I were raised.  The dreams are pleasant, as are a lot of my memories.  Unless a time machine is ever invented, we cannot travel back to our past physically, but mentally, we can.  Not all memories are great, but I've learned to take the bad and apply those lessons to my life.  I believe I'm a better person for the experiences I've had.

I believe I've always been destined to be a writer because I've always tried to figure out why people do bad things to others.  Whenever someone deliberately did me wrong, I'd review the situation over and over in my mind, trying to figure out why they did what they did.  It never gave me a direct answer, but it developed my craft of seeing how others might think.  And perhaps this is why I am able to get into the minds of the characters in my books.

Writer's Notebook

As part of class requirement as I pursue my MFA in creative writing, I am supposed to keep a writing notebook journal.  This nifty idea is something I used to do.  It's really a great idea.  There are many times when an idea hits and you don't have anything to write it down on.  The old mentality is that "I'll remember it."  But, sadly, this doesn't seem to happen.

I would have never written Predators of Darkness: Aftermath had I not immediately put down words to paper the night the opening line came to me.  This gift from the Netherworld was a mere piece I could have easily lost if I had not realized its true importance.  However, I never imagined the series would be up to four books, either.  That is something the characters decided, and I've listened.  I've not been disappointed with the outcome, and honestly, I cannot wait to get back to working on the fourth book.  But, Devils' Den has to be finished.  Just has to be.

The current struggle within my mind is when I keep hearing my characters in Death's Valley wanting their due attention.  And I tell them, "I'm coming.  You'll be heard."

Devils' Den set in a musty box for nearly eleven years.  The book needs its chance to be read.  To find readers.  I have to admit though, due to so many years unread, and how I've matured both as a writer and a person, this book will be a LOT different than what it initially was.  The characters have had time to grow, new outlooks, and new decisions.  These unique characters have already promised to play out their own series as well.  This is great and refreshing but demands a lot of time, too.  Time that I love to give to these works, characters, and of course, to you, my reading audience.

Kindle Boards--A Place for Kindle Authors/Readers to Meet

For those of you who own a Kindle and have yet to discover the Kindle Board community, I invite you to check it out at: Kindle Boards.  There are lots of interesting topics and discussions about books, authors, writing techniques, quirks, etc.  A great place to connect with other authors and readers.