Steven Shrewsbury's Blog

Moneyshots, or That Novel You Always Wanted to Write

Being a writer, one meets other writers. This wasn’t always so, or at least at such a daily frequency. Frankly, until the interwebs thing got going full swing, and I went to NYC in 2005 to the World Horror Con, I oft thought I might be the only one like this. This? Yeah, an author, a writer guy plagued by tales that needed to come out. Sure, I’d had a great deal of interaction with other writers back in the days of, gasp, snail mail…back when an attachment was a LEGO accessory or a device purchased at a lurid bookshop, but I digress. It did surprise me that there were others similar to me, as far as being creative, but I also learned their were quite a few stripes to the rainbow of writerdom, and many of those lines got blurry and were chewed on a little by mice or larger vermin.

I’ve always had many ideas for novels. There are about twenty outlines in my file cabinet now for full fledged books. However, I was surprised to learn that many an author has only a couple novels in them. Other writers can churn out a new one at will, or on any topic, but that’s another blog topic. What I saw was that various labored over a book for years, that this tome was their one passion and they were so afraid of someone reading it that many times, nobody ever got to.

While moderately human, I’ve always been a crap or get off the pot kinda person. Yes, I’ve drug my feet on things, but usually, one has to know when to cut the cord on a work. Some ideas are better than others, but I always had a few really super ones, or at least I thought, and in my mind, I deemed them “moneyshots” to use a porno term, or, the big one, as it were. These were ideas so freaking incredible, sliced bread bows to them. Or at least makes way for the butter.

Why do I bring this up at all? One of those ideas that I wanted to get out before I died, a story I have longed to tell since I was a child is coming out. PHILISTINE: A Story of Goliath. When talking of this work, I oft start saying, “This doesn’t include his death at all and the Hebrews are hardly mentioned.” Jeez, how’d he manage that in such an epic? Read and see. Long enamored with the character of Goliath, and how they said to David, “He is a man of war since his youth,” I felt there existed ample material for a fantasy epic.

I started work on this one near to six years ago after WHC in Salt Lake City, and the first draft owned me. My novels usually clock out at 75-90k tops & I can crank them in a month, but in the end, PHILISTINE sits at 137k words, so many characters and things going on, that it’s truly a magnum opus…and the first draft took half a year. I then set about , every six months or so, of walking through it again. I fell into the thing I oft scoffed at writers for, going over the work, repeatedly, heck, enjoying spending time in that world each time. Was I getting screwier or were they right?

Goliath was more than I bargained for, a real anti-hero on steroids, dark humor, torrid thoughts and bored with the world, sometimes not seeing how many folks might have it in for him. The book seethes with action, violence and lurid characters. I researched the era and this story is the end result of many a dusty volume consumed over my entire life, as well as numerous I pursued while writing it.

So, I think everyone who likes fantasy novels, epic, high, low or off the charts, this one is for you. It’s a long book, but I promise a great deal happens in it. This isn’t an exercise in world building, this is a story, a yarn about a brutal warrior in a time of demons, petty false gods and evil people, bent on their own selfish means…kinda like now. If you, dear reader, judges it as a Moneyshot or perhaps something better, drop me a line.

Give PHILISTINE a read. I promise you’ll want to spend more time in that time, or run screaming to a safe place.

Philistine is available in kindle and nook format

Today is the release day for Blood and Steel : Legends of La Gaul. A short story collection. Fans of Robert E. Howard are sure to enjoy.

Journey into the dangerous and exciting world of Gorias La Gaul in this collection of short stories from highly-acclaimed author Steven Shrewsbury! Volume One includes the tales “Day of Iniquity”, “Ashes of the All-Father”, “Author and Finisher of Our Flesh”, “Insurmountable”, and “Beginning of the Trail” (a prequel story leading into the events found in the novel Overkill).

Fans of authors such as Robert E. Howard are sure to love the adventures of Gorias La Gaul, as he battles all manner of adversaries wielding two blades fashioned from the wings of angels!

Blood and Steel: Legends of La Gaul is Sword and Sorcery as the genre was intended to be!

PHILISTINE coming soon

I’m pleased to announce that my fantasy novel PHILISTINE will be published

this year by SEVENTH STAR PRESS.

This is a novel I’ve always wanted to write and am excited to see it

published at last.

Look for further news on this book, blogs, and new Gorias La Gaul projects

forthcoming.

Author Jimmy Gillentine guest posts and more reasons to check out the Literary Underworld.

Part of a Writing Family

By Jimmy D. Gillentine

 

I started writing a few years ago just for fun. But one day a story got into my head, a story of love, blood, and horror. It was a story that would not go away no matter how hard I tried to forget it. It became Of Blood and the Moon, my first novella.

A lot of people were shocked that I, as a guy, would write a story about love and romance. I remember the looks I would get at book signings when I told them my book was a horror/love story. “Why not write something with more action and blood and guts?” I was asked.

I had to laugh at that. They hadn’t read my book yet. Of Blood and the Moon has plenty of blood and guts to it. I did my best to combine love and horror in my first book. And considering that it was the first runner-up for the Darrell Award in Memphis, I think I did a decent job of it.

I will say that it was hard being a writer with a new book out and not knowing much about the business. I had never been to a sci-fi convention until my book was up for the Darrell Award. A old friend of mine told me about something called the Literary Underworld and said I should join it. I never heard of it before and was interested in whatever could help me in this new world into which I was stepping.

The Literary Underworld is a author cooperative that was started by Elizabeth Donald. The LU sells books from several different writers, both online and at the many different conventions to which it travels. It was started to bring writers together and help promote their work and the work of the other writers in the group.

Being a part of the LU has helped me as a writer in so many ways.  It has gotten my books to places I couldn’t have reached by myself. Being sold online through the LU webstore and being displayed at cons has gotten my work into the hands of people that might never have even heard of me.

But the main reason why I like the LU is the friendship I have formed with my fellow writers in the group. It feels good to be at a con and to talk to a fellow Underlord (our little title for ourselves) about writing, the nature of the business, or how much fun the cons can be. I feel as though the Literary Underworld is a family of sorts. A little bit crazy at times, but still a family of very talented and special people that I am proud to call my fellow Underlords.

The biggest reason why I love the Literary Underworld is because I met the very beautiful Elizabeth Donald. I have the honor of being in love with her and we are getting married in 2014. So the LU really changed my life for the better, to say the least.

Check out LiteraryUnderworld.com for my newest work, A Night at Death’s Door. It’s a new direction for me, as I try to take a bite out of vampires with a dash of laughs just for the fun of it. You can also check out my website at www.jimmygillentine.com for the latest news about me.

Following the Voices: Why We Write

I’ve been involved with writing for all of my adult life.  From training manuals to brochures to website content to novels, I’ve written on some level for 20+ years.  I’ve also taught writing at the collegiate level for 14 years.  The pay is crap, the hours long, and the work tedious.  Anyone with the delusion that writing is a glamorous profession should follow a writer for a few weeks and see the grind that is holding down a full-time job while trying to create quality prose.  A miniscule minority of writers earn a living from their work, and even those who do often toiled for years in obscurity before breaking through.

So if writing is so difficult, the obvious question becomes, “Why the hell do so many of us do it?”

The answer is simple.  Virtually every single writer I’ve ever met, regardless of style or medium (prose, verse, screen) writes because they must.  The voices demand they must.  To non-writers, that may sound like madness, but those of us who’ve heard the voices know that those characters in our heads are as real as any person, rock, or tree in this world.  They haunt, pester, and harass us until we tell their stories.  They come at odd hours and inopportune times, whispering fragments of their tales and interrupting us until we sit down and write.

To outsiders, this often makes us seem odd, eccentric, and mysterious, but really we’re no different from others.  We just happen to sit alone for hours and have conversations with individuals no one else can see or hear.  Okay, I admit, it sounds a little strange, but other writers know what I’m talking about.  Just as most musicians hear music others can’t, writers hear their characters and are compelled to tell the stories.  When it’s flowing and the characters are all chattering away, the best thing the writer can do is get out of the way and let the voices speak.  When writers try to force or change the story, the characters will protest until it’s fixed.  As Ray Bradbury once advised, the worst thing a writer can do is think.  Thought is the antithesis of creativity.

Along with the voices, most writers I know have a passion for symbolic language.  This passion drives us to learn more about our craft, to hone our skills, to study those who came before us, and to polish our work until we’re tired of looking at it.  While creativity and creation require us to step aside and let the voices speak, editing demands attention to detail.  It’s monotonous work that takes hours and hours of dedication, which is why it takes passion on the writer’s part.  The passion for language drives writers to polish and tweak until the story is as good as we can make it.

Additionally, most writers are naturally curious about the world around us.  We rarely are satisfied with superficial knowledge of a subject.  The more we learn, the more we ask why, and we absorb information with an insatiable appetite.  This curiosity is innate to nearly every writer I’ve ever known, and while it may manifest itself in different forms, such as 19th century technology or cutting edge hard science or medieval metallurgy, most writers will study their subjects for hours to ensure they get the minutia right.

I’ve been fortunate to be associated with The Literary Underworld for several years now, and two common threads that connect everyone I know who’s a part of this consortium of independent authors are that we all have a passion for language and curiosity about the world.  Over the years, we’ve had wonderful discussions, during con weekends and online, about subjects ranging from sports to human rights.  I’m proud to be associated with so many talented authors, people who I consider part of my extended family.  If you’re looking for good books written by people who care about their craft, look no further than TLU.  From Horror to Hard Science Fiction to High Fantasy to Sword and Sorcery, TLU has something for everyone who loves to read, and when you support TLU, you are directly supporting independent authors.  Please, stop by the Literary Underworld today at http://www.literaryunderworld.com/ and check it out the selection. Use this code to receive a special discount for a limited time:

LUBLOGTOUR

D.A. Adams is author of the fantasy series The Brotherhood of Dwarves.  You can follow his madness at daadams.com

Well THAT novel is done…now what?

Readers learn about writers’ habits from snips from book jackets or movies, that’s what I used to think. I suppose that was before the Internet and major stalking could occur. If the phrase, “I used to wonder what people really thought, then I got FACEBOOK and now, I wish I hadn’t” ought to be commonplace. Not that it’s bad to hear what folks are thinking, it just might make one wonder a bit. However, it can inspire other things to greater heights. More than once I have been asked if I have a ritual I perform after I finish a novel. This was spawned by James Caan in the MISERY film (and the writer in the book) drinking Dom PER-IG-NON and smoking a cigarette after he finished a book.

While many silly fibs could be spun about blood rituals, chocolate baths and midget orgies, all would be more exciting than what usually happens: I do feel an awesome rush, that warm glow of victory and an edgy fear of possible writer’s block on the horizon. There are a few that know exactly what I’m doing and I tell them privately before talking online. I used to buy an expensive cigar and smoke it while I drank too much beer, but not on the day I got it done. It used to be a more secretive thing when I completed a draft or pronounced this one killed, but now I blurt it out on FACEBOOK, then drink some beer. I do like sharing such a thing with friends. Before, who cared but me? My kids think it’s cool. Now, I let the folks know who might buy it that it exists. Sometimes, the novel will fester a long time between drafts, pre readers and my own satisfaction before it is launched into the ether. Still, I tell anyway.

However, what I’m usually doing once a novel is completed is, well, setting my sights on the next novel. I have a couple dozen books in my brain and splayed out in notebooks ready to go, but the muse takes me where it seems to want to go. Perhaps all writers have this going on, but I dunno, really. I fear a few blow their loads on one book and fake it for a few more, but I digress.

In school an English teacher used to joke that a paper needs to “cool off” and then one can work on it again with fresh eyes. Every time I pick up a novel that I’ve not worked on in months I hear his erudite voice saying, “I think it’s cooled off enough.”

Also, I don’t just blog this to say what I might do after a draft is completed, but to tell some writers, one has to know when to say when. I’ve run into writers that can’t quit tweaking or screwing with a manuscript. I’m guilty of that on one epic myself that slumbers in my files. Indeed, writers can be their own worse critics, but my father’s phrase about defecating or getting off the pot comes to mind. One has to move forward, unless one doesn’t have those two-dozen ideas to fall back on. Perhaps not moving on is motivated by a fear of failure or that the idea tree is bereft of leaves and growing only feces on branches.

Now that this blog has descended from post-novel writing rituals into better terms for crap, it’s time to wrap it up. What do I do when I’ve finished a novel or a draft? I start another novel. Will the day ever come when I don’t? Sure. I gotta die sometime.

On a panel once, the question was raised as to why badass characters like Conan, Kane or my own Gorias La Gaul in OVERKILL & THRALL need to exist. While flattered to be in the same sentence as those creations, I will try to answer that simply. It’s not a very complex theory.

They’re fun. They do all of the naughty things we can’t. They fight, fornicate and steal. While sort of society outcasts, they aren’t geeks. If not invited to the party, this kind of character busts in the door, drinks the beer and kills the host. They’re unbridled and if one has ever been astride a horse sans bridle, the understanding is there. Though motivated by cash, sex or power, the vagabond badass trudges through the world leaving a trail of blood, screaming women, broken weapons and quivering body parts. A heart taker and a heart breaker, the violent rogue is far more interesting to read about that a morally tight assed individual. True, there’s nothing wrong with being a good guy to the core, the world needs more of them, but reading about Joe Purebred is about as fun as picking out socks.

However, I think many of us have to play the part of the good guy. We go to work and don’t punch the loud dude at the coffee machine in the mouth. We don’t tell the chatty pregnant gal they know what causes that now. We hold back, we fit in, trudge on, behaving. That is the true meaning behind my writing such characters, escapism. Gorias allows me to escape my every day world and plunge into another, to the hilt. I’ll take a reader along for the ride, to the barroom, the bedroom, the palace hall and the battlefield. You’re going to get dirty in a few ways.

But it’ll be fun. In the end, there won’t be bail to pay or prison time to serve. Rest easy with the dreams of darkness weaved from a crazy imagination, told from the mind of one willing to get their hands very dirty.

Flawed characters also remind us that it’s a good thing such folks exist. At times, the rough guys & gals are needed. Other days one can read about them and say, “Damn, glad I’m not that messed up that this is the only way I’d ever have to make my way in life.”

Please don’t think it’s all a rough and ready, tits & ass world these folks walk in. Usually, a flawed character gets that way because of his upbringing, his hard life and because of a trail of busted hearts that together couldn’t fill up his chest enough to make a grin break.

What’s the cliché? Men wanna be him, women wanna tame him. I think when faced with such characters, men might wanna be him for a little bit, but are glad to draw back into their mundane lives. Women would love to try and tame him, but in their heart of hearts, they know for all the pleasure, pain will come. To be glib, as DOCTOR WHO’s Sarah Jane Smith said, “Some things are worth getting your heart broke for.”   

Wanted everyone to know that Overkill is available for the very first time on the Nook!  The price is just $3.99.  Here’s the direct link:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/overkill-steven-shrewsbury/1110027172?ean=2940015022285

Hell Billy is now available in multiple formats for your ereader. Crossroads Press has made it available on their site as well as Smashwords.

When a series of bizarre murders take place in reconstruction era Memphis, former Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest is summoned to help solve matters. The occupying Union forces Commandant, General Michaels, sees members of his family killed in a fashion unique to a killer in Forrest’s cavalry brand, one William Hells. Nathan assures him Billy died in the war.

Want to win a softcover copy of Thrall?  Seventh Star Press is hosting a big giveaway at Goodreads and Thrall is one of the books being offered!