Thursday, November 1, 2012

NaNoWriMo Begins!

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November, the Month where all the Writers & Authors goes nuts!
Why do I say we go insane this month? Although we plan and anticipate the 50K words in 30 days, some of us are natural procrastinators. Myself Especially, Tomorrow/Today I will be participating on my first ever NaNoWriMo Write-In. 

My book for NaNoWriMo this year is Queen Cleo's Fall from The Nile Towers Series. 

Few questions comes to mind:
  • How am I going to do this?
  • Do I worry about grammar throughout the Write-In?
  • Is there any tips about NaNoWriMo I can use?
  • Has any of my readers participated and what was their experiences?
 Time to Write! Stay Tuned!!

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

"Passion & Love"

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“Passion and Love”


Dedication: To my love.
Written March 13th, 2004

Underneath I lay
Holding her closer to me
As she makes her way
Into ecstasy.
Her skin touching mine
Making my center wet
And wanting for her attention
As she slides her fingers
Down my breast,
Across my stomach
Making me shiver under her touch,
To my wet center.
Through out the night
Our bodies entwine
And ecstasy cascades us.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Date A Girl Who Writes.

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Date A Girl Who Writes.
Find a girl who loves to write. She could be anywhere serene: on the bench, under the tree, on the beach, on top of the mountain, or on the fresh-cut grass field, for it is in those places that she could think better, and write masterpieces out of a paper and a pen. Catch her in the nearby coffee shop, sipping a huge cup of coffee and staring out the shop’s window; it is in those times that she would think about what lays ahead of her on the real world, about her characters, about her next novel. Spot her inside the public library, engulfed by tall bookshelves, trapped inside her own world. Notice how she flips a page of a book, lifts her chin up, and scamper away to find another book. She then walks, clearly entranced by the antiquity of everything that’s around her. She then walks, clearly making up stories inside her mind. Her lips twitch as she does. People look at her, but she wouldn’t seem to care. She has her own world with her – much better than what is laid on her table. She’s crazy, in her own kind of way.

Talk to her like any normal person would do. Ask her about her interests. See if she’s interested to respond to whatever comes out of your mouth. She’d be busy thinking at times though, about her next story, a topic, a blog post. A lot of things just pop out inside her mind like popcorn, but just go talk to her. Sooner or later, she’d realized that somebody is willing to listen to her chatter.

Ask her out on a date, because she knows what it means to fall in love, take risks, and get hurt. She knows how it feels, or at least how to fake it. She had been used to twists and turns –they’re already part and parcel of her system. The girl who writes has already been tested by time for she’d been slaying dragons and fighting in wars in her stories, together with the main character and everyone of the cast in the story. Date her for she had been the captain of a ship, the queen of her own castle, the pianist of her own concerto. She knows for it is through writing that she could express what she truly feels. She knows for it is through writing that she breathes and lives. Just take her anywhere. She’d see the good and bad side of things; she’s already used to them.

Try to understand her actions a few months later. She’s only concerned with how to change the story’s flow, how to surprise you as the story goes, and how to make magic out of mere words. The pen is her wand; it is through which that she gains access through her mind’s eye. Emotions are her vocabulary. Words, sentences, and paragraphs are her helpers. The girl who writes knows how to command them to do things, the way a hunter catches his prey. Stories and essays are her spells. She is literature’s fairy godmother. You, the man who reads, are her secret prince. Try to understand her as she lives on her ordinary life. Try to fathom all her words because she means it, but never get tired of reading her mind. Appreciate her passion. She knows how to please you through her words.

Give her time to pause, for she knows it’s the best for the both of you. The girl who writes knows where to insert the climax and where to put transitions. She knows how to iron things out. She knows when it doesn’t sound right, or if it would, how to make it better. Her sentences might “run on and on”, but never get tired of chasing her. She loves it when you brood over what she has written. She might not be an expert when it comes to syntax, but she knows how she’d deal her thoughts. Let her write, let her move. She’s just the girl who reads, the girl who doesn’t rolled into one person, and that somebody in between. She’s just a girl.

Date a girl who writes for she knows how to begin and end your love story. She had it all outlined in one of her sacred notepads, tucked within the deepest recesses of her bag each day. She still doesn’t know what the ending would be, however, for like a pen she’s just an instrument, guided by the power of a story left untold. It’s up to you both on how the story would go: you, the man who reads and her, the girl who writes. But most certainly, it would be another happily-ever-after.

Book Review: Cemetery Street

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    Book::
Cemetery Street

    Author::
John Zunski

    My Rating::
10/10

    Synapses::
Description from Smashwords:
“In a world of presumptuous people, irony is alive and well,” concludes James Morrison, the narrator of this touching coming of age novel. A view Shannie Ortolan - James’s longtime friend, sometimes lover, and full-time obsession - wouldn’t argue. From their first encounter as teenagers until Shannie’s death, experience the twists, turns and enthralling characters that populate Cemetery Street.
On the cusp of the new millennium, James fulfills a promise. Reenacting a childhood ritual, he places a mud pie upon a grave. This simple act triggers powerful memories.
Meet the people that shaped James’s life. Shannie, who among other things, introduces him to the sport of dodging freight trains. Count, the cemetery caretakers son, helps James navigate the minefields of adolescence until destiny is met in Desert Storm. Russell, an aging blind African-American, guards a horrifying secret behind a cloud of cigar smoke. Diane, Shannie’s mother, a college professor dispels the notion of tweed jackets and elbow patches. Steve Lucas, a mortician’s son, who despite bizarre obsessions, stands by James during his most challenging times.
Laugh, cry, and blush as James recounts events of late twentieth century American life.

Adult-Content Rating:
This book contains content considered unsuitable for young readers 17 and under, and which may be offensive to some readers of all ages.

    ::Review::
A brilliantly written coming of age story about a boy named James Morrison. Him and his family move into a house on Cemetery Street. After moving in he befriends a witty spirited young girl named Shannie who he eventually falls inlove with. He also became friends with an older boy named Count who just so happens to be the local cemetery caretaker's son. All Three soon started spending time, doing almost everything together. They loved playing games of course, especially one called catch the train, where they would one by one go into the local train tunnel and wait to see oncoming visible headlights from a train, and at the very last minute they would run out from the tunnel laughing, thinking were able to cheat death. Numerous events shake up James' life along with those around him. As you read on, a vast emotion of happiness, love, and appreciation run through you like a flowing river of words. After some time goes by, his grandfather, who is an army veteran, visits him and his family and inspires many lives. During this time James' mother leaves for California never to be heard from again. After his grandfather left, a series of events lead to adventures in which all the characters in the book especially James', grow. As years past, Shannie and James grow apart and tragedy follows with an inspirational but reflective ending. This novel is a must-read, it will make you laugh, cry and fall in-love with the characters.

    ::To Purchase This Book::
Smashwords * Amazon * Barnes & Nobles

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Author Interview: John Zunski

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    ::Intro::
This author is extremely talented and knows how to capture his readers with vast amount of emotion in his writing. He can paint a picture with his pen like a painter with his brush. I had the pleasure to interview John Zunski and read his new novel called Cemetery Street, who also wrote Shangri-La Trailer Park. These novels are available in several sites, like Smashword and Amazon. Now lets take a journey in getting to know the author and view his world in his eyes, also in writing.



    ::Author Interview:: ::John Zunski::
1) What is your name? Do you use a Pen Name? If so, what is it and why?
A) Hi Carmen, John Zunski here, and Zunski isn’t a pen name, though the name has penned a novel or two. I’m glad to have a semi-unique name as not to be confused with established authors. I know an author named Stephen King, no, not that Stephen King, so imagine the dilemma he faces. I think I’ll stick with my given name. Plus, my name has provided me with cool initials – JAZ.

2) At What age did you start writing?
A) I was introduced to the world with a pen in hand, before I could crawl I drew squiggly lines on my crib. When I could walk, I found my way to the typewriter, maybe it the noise of the keys, that rhythmic ratta-tat-tat sounded more magical than music, or maybe it was the bell that dinged after a bunch of ratta-tat-tats. Whatever it was, I found myself looking up, impatient to sit before it. When I finally did, I made lots of noise and a blizzard of scrap paper.
Okay, it didn’t happen quite like that, but, I write fiction and that sounded interesting.
In reality, I was anything but a prodigy. In my early years I struggled with reading, I couldn’t understand that sotp was pronounced stop or that gniht was pronounced night and that meant time for bed. Despite the confusion, something about reading seemed magical – that I could open a book and fall into another world. I wanted to be a magician, I wanted to create worlds people would enjoy.

3) What do you do/use for inspiration?
A) The flippant answer is life. Great characters and plots are all around, patiently waiting to harvested. That doesn’t mean I literary translate what I see to the page, but with a dash of embellishment and two pinches of creativity, the elements of a story are placed in the mixing bowl called a manuscript. Then the ingredients are spiced up and whipped into a delicious novel.

4) How do you manage your real life and your writing life?
A) I would like to say they’re neatly compartmentalized and they don’t bleed into each other, but that would be a lie. I guard my writing life very jealously – meaning, I make sure that time is set aside to both further my craft and promote published works. That being said, I own a small-town bar and the demands of business occasionally cut into writing time, which is dangerous, because I have a tendency to be cranky if I’m not writing. It’s as if the ideas accumulate within my mind and press against my skull demanding release.

5) What is the hardest and the easiest part of the writing process for you?
A) I’ve found that my creativity is sharpest in the wee-hours. So the hardest part of writing is pulling myself out of a warm bed and sitting before my computer. The easiest part, is when the muse slips from the moonlit shadows and reveals what it has in store. It’s also the most joyous part of writing.

[caption id="attachment_361" align="alignright" width="107" caption="Cemetery Street"][/caption]

6) Do you have any plans for your current book and any upcoming books?
A) Cemetery Street is about to be released in paperback by Orangeberry Publishing. Shangri-La Trailer Park was recently released as an e-book and will be released in paperback in 2013. My third book, Nightwatching, which is a ghost story, will be released later this year as an e-book with the paperback tentatively scheduled for 2014.

7) What kind of genre do you classify your writing style?
(A) Life can’t be encapsulated into a single genre, neither can my work. The novels range from stories of impossible love to forays into the darkest recesses of the mind. In short I enjoy exploring the human experience. My stories aren’t for the faint of heart. A reader may laugh, cry, feel repulsed and rejoice within a chapter. Creating engrossing fiction entails weaving a web of elaborate lies and presenting them to the reader in a believable fashion. It’s my job to lie to the reader – but to do so in such a manner that the reader is appreciative of being entangled in that web of embellishment.

8) Are there any characters in your books (published or unpublished) based off real people?
A) Of course. But very rarely do I snatch one without tweaking or combining personality traits with other ‘inspirational sources. I’ve been blessed in life with incredible voyeuristic opportunities, I would be discarding that gift if I didn’t mix real people into the fray. I’ve met some characters, that if I simply dropped them into a story, wouldn’t be believable. That’s the curse of a fiction writer.

9) Are there any events in your books based on real events? If so, What inspired you to use them in your novel?
A) In Cemetery Street I used news events of the 80’s and 90’s to lend relatability to the storyline. The most obvious example is the Gulf War segment. A ton of research went into the sub-plot to give it authenticity. As a reader, nothing turns me off more than a plot line based on real events that has historical errors.

10) Is there a certain person who has either influenced or inspired you in writing?
A) I’ve cited three major influences: John Irving, Stephen King and Carl Hiaasen. John Irving because the depth of his characters, Stephen King because it’s all about the story, and Carl Hiaasen because, for me, he makes the absurd seem plausible.

11) Do any of your books have any hidden messages for the readers? What is it?
A) Of course they do. But if I told you, or a reader, I would rob everyone involved of discovering my intent or worse yet, obscuring meaning that a reader assigns to any given circumstance.

12) Do you have any advice or tips to new writers?
A) Never, ever, give up. Honor thy craft as if it is a sacred part of thyself. Despite the difficulties and frustrations the process brings, it’s all worth it. Cemetery Street took ten years from the completion of the first draft to it found the light of publication. Seeing it published was one of the greatest joys of my life. Don’t be guilty of denying yourself such an accomplishment or worse yet, don’t deny a potential reader the uniqueness of your creativity.

    ::You Can Check Him Out At::
Facebook Pages @ Cemetery Street or Shangri-La Trailer Park * Website
 
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