Monday, October 10, 2016
Ernie Writes Books: Hey! Those X-Ray glasses were legit!
Ernie Writes Books: Hey! Those X-Ray glasses were legit!: When I was a kid, I loved comic books. I loved the stories filled with action and accompanied by drawings that seemed to jump off the page...
Hey! Those X-Ray glasses were legit!
When I was a kid, I loved comic books. I loved the stories filled with action and accompanied by drawings that seemed to jump off the page into my wide excited eyes. As I got older, I read books without the pictures. Instead, the writing drew the pictures in my head. The stories were the same though. These stories called Pulp fiction. I read writers like Richard Matheson, and Phillip K. Dick. I read Sci-Fi Anthologies, and collections of stories by Stephen King. These writers wrote the stories I liked. They came complete with dark stairs that lead to the basement where you knew the monster lived, but still you read.
They were stories about regular people who got taught lessons in life by supernatural characters. Some of the stories were funny, and always entertaining, and some were dark and scary. These made you think about all of those weird noises you heard late at night. "What was that..." Just the wind I guess.
These "Pulp" stories were the ones that made me want to become a writer. I would read these and try to weave my own ending, trying to figure out the conclusion before I got to the end of the story. Most times I was wrong, but I got better as I got older and read more.
Pulp fiction gets the least amount of credit these days. People look at it as not serious writing. They call these stories "Twilight Zoners" A term I have never understood because the twilight zone always told the best and most entertaining stories! I don’t think you would have the smash hit Stranger Things, or the oldie but goodie Lost, if it wasn’t for the Twilight Zone.
Why do people read if they don't want to be entertained? If you are reading a book so you can give it a review, or tell your friends you read it. Just so you can sound smart in certain circles... You have missed the point of reading fiction! You will never get that time back. The time you spent reading that boring book that some critic called a tour de force!
You get older and almost feel you will be shunned by the “serious readers” if you say your favorite writer is Stephen King. Hey, I've read Infinite Jest. David Foster Wallace was a great writer, and I loved that book. But as far as storytelling goes, he couldn't hold a candle to Richard Matheson's Bid Time Return. You may know it as a movie called Somewhere in Time, starring a young Christopher Reeve, and Jane Seymour. Yes, Matheson wrote that. And he wrote many Twilight Zone episodes.
So before I get long winded, let me tell you why I wrote this. I wrote this because I have seen reviews that seemed to have missed the point. Reviews that called stories I loved, or wrote for that matter, "Twilight Zoners." To which I have to say Thank you! I'll take your three star "Twilight Zoner" Review. But what I want to know is, were you entertained? Did the story help you leave your hassle filled life just for a moment? Did you get to escape? Because that is all that matters.
Don't be the person who doesn't want to know if that Submarine in the back of the comic book really worked. You remember, the one for $6.98 plus postage.
Don't be the person who is too smart to believe those X-Ray glasses were just worthless pieces of plastic.
Be a kid! You don't have to grow up if you will simply let yourself enjoy the story you are reading without critiquing it as you go. Not everything has to be Shakespeare. Who was a great Pulp fiction writer I might add. Yes, feed your brain, but don’t forget to have fun.
I write Pulp Fiction in these Anthologies. With other “Twilight Zoner” writers, of “Twilight Zoner” stories. If you would like to read and be entertained, you can pick up the latest Tales from the Canyons of the Damned.
Maybe it will remind you what it was like to read under covers with a flashlight late at night. You remember. Your mom told you to go to bed. You dutifully laid down. She kissed you on the cheek and said good night. She closed the door, leaving just a crack, so some light would come through. You waited for her footsteps to get down the hall. Reaching under your pillow, (never under the bed), and grabbed your flash light and latest edition of Tales from the Crypt. You read for hours, getting to the part where the Mummies hand is pushing back the large stone of his dusty grave.
.
You hear a noise in your silent house… “What was that…?” Probably just the wind…
Friday, August 26, 2016
Confessions of a spoiled Indie Writer
Confessions of a Spoiled Indie Writer
My mother was a writer. She wrote a couple of books, and many screenplays. All of them she submitted to publishers who turned her down usually with a very impersonal rejection letter. She would get the “it’s not what we are looking for,” or “you need to put this together the right way. Meaning she didn’t send her manuscript in a box, with the pages loose leafed. Back in those days you had to jump through many hoops just get your book read.
Later in her life she actually did sell a screenplay. It was a story about two couples who are opposites, end up getting the same hotel room by mistake, and have to stay in it together. Kind of like the Odd Couple on vacation. A few years later my mom succumbed to lung Cancer.
Where am I going with this…?
I guess my point would be how spoiled I am as an indie writer. I have published many short stories, a couple books, and I have been in an anthology. Tales from the Canyons of the Damned, maybe you’ve heard of it. If you haven’t you can get it here.
I guess the whole spoiled notion came to me while I was browsing Facebook. I’m friends with many authors on there, so I get to see lots of different insights through other authors eyes. Some are doing very well for themselves, while others… not so much. And it is the later few I want to talk about, and say this. Just the sole fact that your stories are being read is a miracle by past standards. Back in the day independent writers were looked at as the ones who couldn’t cut it. They were the weirdos with weird-looking books, and they were not taken seriously. They were the old history teacher that would sit outside of bookstores and sell half assed copies of their books out of a trunk. They were your friend that would hound you to read their book.
We are spoiled now.
There are tools to make your book look professional. There is social media to get the word out. And there is ways to connect with fellow authors to get insight, and encouragement. So… Quit whining. We live in a time when the gatekeepers have been burned at the stake! You can write what ever you want. And even if it’s not that good someone will read it. It is the greatest time to be an author. Quit feeling sorry for yourself, and get writing.
My mother never had this chance. She died just a bit to soon. But she would have taken advantage of indie publishing, and she wouldn’t have complained once. She would have loved it. Because she would have been doing something she loved anyway… Writing.
Later in her life she actually did sell a screenplay. It was a story about two couples who are opposites, end up getting the same hotel room by mistake, and have to stay in it together. Kind of like the Odd Couple on vacation. A few years later my mom succumbed to lung Cancer.
Where am I going with this…?
I guess my point would be how spoiled I am as an indie writer. I have published many short stories, a couple books, and I have been in an anthology. Tales from the Canyons of the Damned, maybe you’ve heard of it. If you haven’t you can get it here.
I guess the whole spoiled notion came to me while I was browsing Facebook. I’m friends with many authors on there, so I get to see lots of different insights through other authors eyes. Some are doing very well for themselves, while others… not so much. And it is the later few I want to talk about, and say this. Just the sole fact that your stories are being read is a miracle by past standards. Back in the day independent writers were looked at as the ones who couldn’t cut it. They were the weirdos with weird-looking books, and they were not taken seriously. They were the old history teacher that would sit outside of bookstores and sell half assed copies of their books out of a trunk. They were your friend that would hound you to read their book.
We are spoiled now.
There are tools to make your book look professional. There is social media to get the word out. And there is ways to connect with fellow authors to get insight, and encouragement. So… Quit whining. We live in a time when the gatekeepers have been burned at the stake! You can write what ever you want. And even if it’s not that good someone will read it. It is the greatest time to be an author. Quit feeling sorry for yourself, and get writing.
My mother never had this chance. She died just a bit to soon. But she would have taken advantage of indie publishing, and she wouldn’t have complained once. She would have loved it. Because she would have been doing something she loved anyway… Writing.
Friday, June 10, 2016
Banana Phone, not a podcast. Unboxing
Got some paperbacks in the mail the other day of my new book The Pool.
Excerpt from THE POOL
"Shawn walked up to the door of the bar. The familiar smell was comforting; stale beer and cigarette smoke that seemed to be embedded into these types of bars as if the wood soaked it up just like the patrons who sought refuge in their pint glasses.
It was fitting. If he was going to break his sobriety, he might as well break his prohibition on cigarettes. He hadn’t had a cigarette for longer than he’d had a drink.
He paused with his hand resting on the handle of the door. The last bit of better angels pleaded with Shawn to turn around and go back to the room. Back to sobriety and back to his family. He almost did, but the clinking of glasses rang in his ears like a siren’s song. Shawn opened the door and walked through. He wasn’t listening to those angels tonight, even if they were right.
The bar was so familiar. There were four people sitting at the bar, regulars who were more than likely permanently rooted in the stools they sat on. Shawn spied the bartender talking with one of the regulars. Her home dye job screamed white trash and her sunken eyes screamed something else. She had the look of being rooted in this place just like her patrons."
It was fitting. If he was going to break his sobriety, he might as well break his prohibition on cigarettes. He hadn’t had a cigarette for longer than he’d had a drink.
He paused with his hand resting on the handle of the door. The last bit of better angels pleaded with Shawn to turn around and go back to the room. Back to sobriety and back to his family. He almost did, but the clinking of glasses rang in his ears like a siren’s song. Shawn opened the door and walked through. He wasn’t listening to those angels tonight, even if they were right.
The bar was so familiar. There were four people sitting at the bar, regulars who were more than likely permanently rooted in the stools they sat on. Shawn spied the bartender talking with one of the regulars. Her home dye job screamed white trash and her sunken eyes screamed something else. She had the look of being rooted in this place just like her patrons."
Get it here>>>> http://amzn.to/1Uo9GgN
Tuesday, July 14, 2015
Prime Day Double Feature!
For Prime Day I give two of my books for the price of one!
I have always loved to write. From the time I could put two words together I’ve been writing stories. My first story ever was a play based on Star Wars. I made props out of paper grocery bags, and boxes much to my parents delight, when they would have to step over my cardboard X-Wing fighter just to get into the bathroom. My play would be great! I wrote the script on a spiral notebook complete with lines and exit stage lefts. It was quite an undertaking for a 6 year old. Alas, my play never saw the stage. Maybe I should have started with something a little less technical, like a Goonies play, or a Indiana Jones remake…
The cardboard X-Wing gathered dust in the basement, and the paper sack Storm Trooper helmets met their fate in a land fill in a Galaxy far far away. Over the years I had many fits and starts with stories, much like my Star Wars play. I would write 50 plus pages and either get discouraged, or something would happen in my life and I would forget about the pages that piled up on the kitchen table, destined to be put in a box and forgotten.
Fast forward to about two years ago. My life had gone through some major changes in the previous year. I ended one relationship, and moved back to Nevada, and started my last with my wife and her sons. My own son was on the way, snuggled nicely in my wife’s belly, (she looked beautiful by the way.) One night I was looking at my wife and step sons when I was overcome with gratefulness. I was so happy in that moment. Me being a writer though my good feelings were soon replaced by a sense of foreboding. What if I lost all of this. A World Without came flooding out of me and onto the paper. I barely had to try to write it. It focuses on a man who lost exactly what I myself love. My family. I wrote about my greatest fear, losing my wife and sons. I think most of my writing comes from a place of fear, and loss. I ask myself a What if question and then try to write about it with honesty. I published it through KDP on Amazon, and boom! I had put out my first published work!
The other story, Walter came from dark memories of remembering what it was like to be an outcast in Junior High School. I moved to Las Vegas when I was 11 years old. I was from a small Minnesota farming town with a population of 700 hundred people, and I was moving to sin city. To say I didn’t fit in was an understatement!
There was an explosion right before I moved close to the Junior High School I went to. A rocket fuel plant called Pepcon blew up leveling everything within a 2 mile radius, and damaging the junior high school I went to. In my 11 year old brain I thought my parents were crazy to move us to a place like that. I would think about the Pepcon explosion as I got kicked under lunch tables, and called names in the halls. I would fantasize about the whole damn school getting leveled and me coming out unscathed. My parents would eventually come to their senses and we would move back to Minnesota. I know this is dark, but again I try to write as honest as I can. My imagination got me through that awkward stage of my life. I think anyone who has gone to junior high school, not to mention a new school, in a new state will give me a pass. Things did get better for me.
So there you have it. The origins of these two stories. I did this Double Feature in honor of Amazon Prime day. Amazon over the years has been a big part of this reader, and writers life. It has given me the opportunity to realize a dream. To be a published writer. I hope you enjoy these stories as much as I enjoyed writing them.
The cardboard X-Wing gathered dust in the basement, and the paper sack Storm Trooper helmets met their fate in a land fill in a Galaxy far far away. Over the years I had many fits and starts with stories, much like my Star Wars play. I would write 50 plus pages and either get discouraged, or something would happen in my life and I would forget about the pages that piled up on the kitchen table, destined to be put in a box and forgotten.
Fast forward to about two years ago. My life had gone through some major changes in the previous year. I ended one relationship, and moved back to Nevada, and started my last with my wife and her sons. My own son was on the way, snuggled nicely in my wife’s belly, (she looked beautiful by the way.) One night I was looking at my wife and step sons when I was overcome with gratefulness. I was so happy in that moment. Me being a writer though my good feelings were soon replaced by a sense of foreboding. What if I lost all of this. A World Without came flooding out of me and onto the paper. I barely had to try to write it. It focuses on a man who lost exactly what I myself love. My family. I wrote about my greatest fear, losing my wife and sons. I think most of my writing comes from a place of fear, and loss. I ask myself a What if question and then try to write about it with honesty. I published it through KDP on Amazon, and boom! I had put out my first published work!
The other story, Walter came from dark memories of remembering what it was like to be an outcast in Junior High School. I moved to Las Vegas when I was 11 years old. I was from a small Minnesota farming town with a population of 700 hundred people, and I was moving to sin city. To say I didn’t fit in was an understatement!
There was an explosion right before I moved close to the Junior High School I went to. A rocket fuel plant called Pepcon blew up leveling everything within a 2 mile radius, and damaging the junior high school I went to. In my 11 year old brain I thought my parents were crazy to move us to a place like that. I would think about the Pepcon explosion as I got kicked under lunch tables, and called names in the halls. I would fantasize about the whole damn school getting leveled and me coming out unscathed. My parents would eventually come to their senses and we would move back to Minnesota. I know this is dark, but again I try to write as honest as I can. My imagination got me through that awkward stage of my life. I think anyone who has gone to junior high school, not to mention a new school, in a new state will give me a pass. Things did get better for me.
So there you have it. The origins of these two stories. I did this Double Feature in honor of Amazon Prime day. Amazon over the years has been a big part of this reader, and writers life. It has given me the opportunity to realize a dream. To be a published writer. I hope you enjoy these stories as much as I enjoyed writing them.
Get them now here
Tuesday, July 7, 2015
Trailer for The Light Through the Water
My New book The Light Through the Water is available for Pre-Order on Amazon.
This is the book trailer. Pre-Order Here
Monday, July 6, 2015
5 Resources for Self-Editing
It has been said that editing is the most important part of the writing process, and I couldn't agree more. If you're into percentages, I would say your actual writing is about 15 percent of the process, and editing takes up the other 85 percent. I spend more time editing than I do actually writing my stories. Fortunately we live in a time where the Internet is chock full of resources for our problems. Yes guys it's true. The Internet isn't just for cat videos, and porn anymore. Who Knew!
I am not saying you don't need to have an editor, but Self-editing will help in the process, and save you lots of money.
I found a ton of information for writers who are feeling over burdened by editing like I was. Here's a list of five.
1) I found a site that has cut my editing time in half. It's called Pro Writing Aid. This site is awesome for the story writer like me, or for the person that needs to write a blog post, or hell even a business letter. And get this, it's will cost you the big F word! Yes you heard me! No not that F word Captain Dirty Mouth! The F word meaning FREE! However, if you want to use their more complex editing tools packages start out at only 35 dollars a year. Here are some of the features with Pro Writing Aid.
- Check for hidden and passive verbs
- Identify overuse of adverbs and glue words
- Locate repetitive sentence structure
- Replace commonly overused words
- Reveal repeated words and phrases
- Eliminate vague, abstract and complex words
- Remove clichés and redundancies
2) The book Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, by Renni Browne & Dave King is a must have for anyone that wants to learn more about the craft of writing. Renni Browne was once the senior editor at William Morrow, and has founded The Editorial Department , which is a national book-editing company. Dave King is a contributing editor at Writer's Digest, and is an independent editor. So these two know what they are talking about when it comes to the written word. You can pick it up on amazon for a few dollars. Self-Editing for Fiction Writers description.
"Hundreds of books have been written on the art of writing. Here at last is a book by two professional editors to teach writers the techniques of the editing trade that turn promising manuscripts into published novels and short stories.
In this completely revised and updated second edition, Renni Browne and Dave King teach you, the writer, how to apply the editing techniques they have developed to your own work. Chapters on dialogue, exposition, point of view, interior monologue, and other techniques take you through the same processes an expert editor would go through to perfect your manuscript. Each point is illustrated with examples, many drawn from the hundreds of books Browne and King have edited."
3) Scrivener is writing software, but it does have some editing capabilities. I use scrivener to write everything. With it's ability to move chunks of text around, and the cork-board feature, it's like having another brain. If you are serious about writing, Scrivener is a must have. The software cost $40 dollars and you can get it here.
- Cork board - In Scrivener, every document is attached to a virtual index card onto which you can jot a synopsis; moving the cards on Scrivener’s cork board rearranges their associated text in your draft.
- Outliner - View and edit the synopses and meta-data of your documents in Scrivener’s powerful outliner. Organise your ideas using as many or few levels as you want and drag and drop to restructure your work.
- Scrivenings - Scrivener’s innovative “Scrivenings” mode allows you to move smoothly between editing your document one piece at a time or together as a whole.
- Statistics and Targets - A live word and character count of the current section is always in view at the bottom of the screen, and you can set a word or character count target for each section.
- Full-Screen - Because sometimes you want to blank out the rest of the world while you write - or at least the rest of the screen. One click in Scrivener’s toolbar and you can leave the rest of your desktop behind and write distraction free.
4) After The deadline is editing software that is free for personal use. It checks spelling, style, and grammar, among other things. It also has tips on how to become better at editing. http://www.afterthedeadline.com/
5) NewNovelist Version 3 Second Edition (Windows 8.1/8/7/Vista) Is affordable writing software for beginners.
- Help and advice on how to write a novel
- Tried and proven writing methodology with creative writing advice
- Dedicated novel writers word processor with voice recognition dictation and read-back
- Facilities to build up plots and characters to implement into your novel
- Advanced review and publishing tools
I Hope this helped all my writing friends. If you find any other resources please let me know in the comments below. I look forward to your feedback. As always you can find my writing on Amazon. I'd wish you luck, but you don't need it. By the way I am sure there are editing mistakes in this post. Thank you for noticing. :)
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