Thursday, May 27, 2010

CREATIVELY SELLING YOUR WORK

I've learned so much about being an author, selling my work and publishing in the last year that my head is spinning. One of the major lessons learned is that I control what I want to do with the works I produce. Each work has its own potential and it's my job to create and map out the opportunities for that baby.

WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU'VE WRITTEN YOUR BOOK

After you've edited it to death and it's ready to sell, you need to change from author to marketer. Evaluate what avenues are available for your work. Find an agent? Find a small publisher? Self-publish? Use as tool for marketing other works or building a platform? Contest shop? Serialize or give away for free? How many markets can I tweak this baby to sell in? YA? Romance? Horror?

Let's say you finished a book where the main character is 19yrs old and there is some romance, but not a strong one in the book. You can evaluate your work and say hum...I can market this for YA if I make the main character younger, I can market it for romance if I build up the love story more, or I can make it horror if I make the killing scenes more gruesome and suspenseful. Then create those 3 different versions of the book and market it to literary agents and publishers that represent those genres. Why? Because it gives you three times as many chances at selling it. Think sell that baby or figure out how it can help push your career as a writer further.

SELF-PUB? LIT AGENTS? SELL DIRECT TO PUBLISHER?

So you have a lit agent and a publisher that gave you say a 3 book deal? Yay! Well you also have a thing for writing short stories. Think of your career in writing as a business. If you have sold your books and you know the market for short stories isn't that good. Use your short stories to do the following; keep your name in front of your readers, self-publish them to make income that is leveraged off of the sale of your novels, serialize them on podcast to increase your audience, send them to anthologies, post them on your blog, do contest for more exposure, or ask your publisher to publish them in the back of the books they are selling so that you can hook your reader further.

THINK BEYOND WHAT YOU'VE EVER THOUGHT BEFORE

Think outside of the box that says I have to go in this direction to become published, to progress my writing career...to do anything. Think beyond the obvious. That means don't just surround yourself with other writers, authors, publishers etc. Seek out business people that are entrepreneurs, because as a writer you are an entrepreneur. You sell the written word and whatever you produce (provided it's well done) can help you to build your business and grow your career.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

DANCE YOUR WAY TO COOL

While my teen son was getting ready to go to a party he had on several movie videos that he used to practice dances. My youngest son joined in and was doing a better job break dancing that my oldest – but hold the phone, why did my 6ft 2in, 300lb husband push them out of the way to show them how to spin on the floor. Okay, I almost lost my dinner. It was crack you up funny. Now for an old man three times his former size, he outdid both of those boys.

WHY LEARNING THE NEWEST DANCE CRAZE IS IMPORTANT

When I first started high school, I couldn’t dance. Had no rhythm. I remember my dancing fool of a cousin was determined to teach me the new dance craze and we hung out in his basement for hours Friday and Saturday until I learned the dances. When I nailed it, I showed off with him at the school dance as we stood side by side and pulled off this cool dance move that got us claps. After that, I was hooked and many of my girlfriends and I would practice pre-choreographed dance moves for parties and dances. I had my cool on and my confidence soared.

Today, my kid desires the same kind of attention. I watched him and my little 6yr old who idolizes his brother dance for hours to practice – the jerk, breakdance moves and create new ones. My son is now called out to dance at events that his friends attend. It’s gotten him some positive attention from the ladies also, lol! Which is why he told me he had to learn the dances in the first place.

KEEP IT SAFE….AND CLEAN

Teen parties are fun to chaperone. Only problem is the heightened level of violence, possible drinking and definite smooching that can take place. Now a parent, I’m ever watchful of the mood of the crowd, and the amount of rubbing and grinding that the kids still try to do. I can’t believe that dance is still around – but now called something different. I also make sure the lights stay on to the chagrin of my kid. But oh, do I remember when I used to go to parties. The big event was when someone cut off the lights.

Tell me about some of your most fun teen party or embarrassing. My most embarrassing was when at 17ys old, I got caught kissing my friend (who now happens to be my husband) in the bathroom at his party by his …..mother. Talk about mortified. Now top that.

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Create Buzz: What?, When?, Why? and How?

by guest: Naomi Giroux, Author Advocate

Create 'buzz' we're told, but; What what is 'buzz'? How is it created? and Where do I start?

The simple answer is: 'buzz' is conversation, ; people talking about your topic, book or product. The more people talking, the louder the 'buzz' and the more potential buyers. The goal is to stimulate interest so your book/product will sell or you will get lots of traffic to your site.

How is the 'buzz' created? The concept of buzz means to talk to lots of people. If you think of a virus spreading from one person to two or three, then they each spread it to two or three more and so it grows. That is creating an epidemic, or in the case of talking, you have created 'buzz.'. The more networking you do, the more outlets you have to help you share information. The Social Media groups like Twitter, Gather, FaceBook and many more allow each of us to target groups that which share our interests and are willing to share with their groups things of interest to them. These groups are invaluable to creating 'buzz' for your project, but you have to be active in the groups for them to be willing to share. You know; supporting others, so they'll support you.

When should you begin to create 'buzz' and where do I you start? are both answered the same way. Identify groups you share interests with and join them. Actively post to the ones you find the most interesting; respond, comment, ask questions and learn who is in the group so you can follow them on their other sites. Now that you have established a network to talk to, begin talking about your book or project as the release date approaches. Invite them to pre-order, share insider tidbits, offer a contest for them, involve them in your excitement. Before the release date, you might want to offer to do guest interviews or blog posts on sites you especially connect with. You can create a blog tour by doing several guest spots within a set period of time. You let all your connections know about the guest spots coming up and after they appear and the hosts will do the same for you. All of this generates 'buzz', ; interest in you, your books/products.

To keep the 'buzz' going, stay actively connected to your networks and tell them about what you’re are doing, where you’re going, how your book/product is being received. Keep that stimulating conversation going.

Go out and create 'buzz'! Stimulate conversation about your book, interest, or product.

by Naomi Giroux, Author Advocate
Stimulating Conversation about your book
www.stimulating-conversation.com
I Just Finished
www.Ijustfinished.com
979-209-0436

Thursday, May 20, 2010

I HAVE A BLOOD SUCKING HABIT

Yep, I admit it, another time for confession. I love vampires. Always had. My first love was Interview with a Vampire by Anne Rice and I was hooked ever since. As far as movies, I can’t even list the amount of vampire flicks I’ve dragged my poor husband and kids to see. All I know is - the habit won’t go away.

WHY DO WE LOVE VAMPIRES

Huh? What? Because they are sexy, dangerous, forbidden – um, sexy. The entire lure for them is that they are able to seduce you into wanting them so bad, that you’d let them suck every ounce of blood out of you.

IS IT JUST TO MUCH BLOOD SUCKERS IN YA

Yep, I’m sick of going to the YA section with my daughter (who isn’t exactly a vampire addict like me) and all I see is vampire books. I did love to hunt them out when I was in the mood for a blood sucking tale. Truth is, I grabbed ‘I AM LEGEND’ and loved the fact that it was about gruesome vampires (unfortunately, the movie didn’t exactly depict the creatures as vamps).

When I started hunting out agents for my books and bloggers for my virtual tours some specifically said, “No Vamps here!” Wow, that was daunting and made me wonder if it was all done for my fav spooky heroes.

WHAT I’D LIKE THE NEXT VAMP CRAZE TO BE ABOUT

Now I’ve been around a long time. I’ve seen vampires come and go, but I’ve yet to see the vampire that I really imagine. A vampire that is as hideous as it is beautiful. Something that is truly grotesque but just hypnotizes its victim into believing in its beauty. I’m sure it’s been done, I just haven’t seen a recent movie to that effect.

THEY WILL BE BACK – THEY ARE THE LIVING DEAD

Sure for now there will be a cooling off period for vampires. But they will be back when my 9 year old turns into a teenager and falls for the seductive lure of the gorgeous vamp that graces the movies and or books. Til then, I'll wait dreamily for every episode of Vampire Diaries and TRUE BLOOD. I can’t wait :-D

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

SO YOU KILLED OFF THE PARENTS IN YOUR YA/MG BOOK?


C’mon, You Know You Did It. Eight Ways the Law Affects Teen and Children’s Stories
by guest: Donna Ballman

What Happens After You Kill Off the Parents in Your YA/Middle Grade Novel?

Young adult writers are the first ones to tell me the law has nothing to do with their stories. But the first thing we usually do (yes, I write YA and middle grade too) is kill off the parents or have them divorce. Why do we do it? Because we want the focus to be on the teens in the story, not on the adults. We have to provide a reason why someone that age is running around doing stuff their parents wouldn’t normally let them do in a gazillion years. I actually heard of a group of children’s writers who called themselves something like, “Let’s Kill the Parents.” Sad, but true. Adults don’t fare well in most kid lit.

So now that they’re orphaned, lost at least one parent, or are in a split home, you think the law doesn’t affect your character? Think again. Below are ways it affects your story.

1. Divorce. Which parent makes the decisions relating to the child? Where your character lives? Is the divorce acrimonious or amicable? Are they still fighting? These issues can add depth to your character, angst, conflict, and relationship issues. With older characters, divorce can affect every romantic relationship they have. If Bella’s parents weren’t divorced, would she have moved to Forks in Twilight or became obsessed with Edward?

2. Custody. Who has custody? Are parents alive or dead?. Did they seek emancipation? Do they live with a distant relative they’ve never met? If Harry Potter hadn’t had an awful custody situation, would he have been as sympathetic?

3. Inheritance. If one or more parent is killed, did they inherit? Is there a lawsuit over an accident or medical malpractice? Does your character come into a bunch of money from an inheritance? Who’s the beneficiary? Your character’s financial situation is key to how they live. The entire Series of Unfortunate Events book series related to issues of custody and inheritance.

4. Siblings. Do the siblings live with your character? Do they even know they have siblings? What would The Parent Trap have been had the custody arrangements been different?

5. School. Do they write an article for the school newspaper that gets suppressed? Criticize a teacher on Facebook? Bullying issues. Discrimination. Civil rights (maybe a locker is searched). Everything that happens in school is regulated in some way.

6. Dating. Dating can turn to stalking. What a different story Twilight would have been if Bella had sought a court order after Edward showed up in her room the first time. If your character is the victim of date rape, do they come forward? What happens when they prosecute or choose not to prosecute? Do they get falsely accused of stalking or rape? How does that affect them?

7. Injuries. Do they sue? Do they have to testify against a friend? Are they beaten up by a bully? Do they prosecute or sue, or do they stay quiet?

8. Work. Is your character savvy or clueless about workplace rights? It makes a difference to your story.

If you use the law in your story, do the research. Make sure your plot is believable and rings true. There are lots of resources available for your research. You can also ask a lawyer for advice on how to handle an issue in your story.

So there you have it. The law affects your story whether you like it or not. You can use it for ideas and inspiration, for background, for characters or settings, and to establish your characters’ personalities.

The truth is, the law is all around us. It touches everything we do from the moment we wake up until the moment we go to bed. That means it touches your story. You can use it to your benefit or choose to ignore it. But get it wrong at your peril. There are 1.1 million lawyers in the U.S. alone. Most of us read. If you do it well, we will be your biggest fans. Don’t make us throw your book against the wall.

I hope I’ve provided you with some inspiration for your stories, and some ideas on how to get your stories right. If I can help even one novelist keep from having their book thrown down in disgust, or one TV writer from having the channel changed, my work is done here.

About Donna Ballman:

Donna Ballman has practiced employment law for 24 years. Donna’s book, The Writer’s Guide to the Courtroom: Let’s Quill All the Lawyers, is part of Behler Publications’ award-winning “Get it Write” series. Her website: http://www.donnaballman.com; blog is The Write Report, http://writereport.blogspot.com. The Writer’s Guide to the Courtroom: Let’s Quill All the Lawyers, by Donna Ballman, is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Borders, and many other stores online.

Monday, May 17, 2010

YOU CAN DO IT ALL

How do I do it all? Well to start, I am a mom of four kids. I work a full-time job as an Engineer, and I teach part-time at a University. Lastly, I am an author.

I learned a long time ago to manage my time. I’ll provide tips below, however, you must make time management work for you. I make it fun, by managing to do something I enjoy, which is writing every day. If I am not writing, I am usually imagining aspects of a story, because I'm an proverbial daydreamer. Most of my friends or family would never think that I'm working on stories while I'm cooking dinner, taking a shower, driving or eating my lunch.

Steps to do more in a day than you ever thought possible;

1) KNOW YOURSELF

Take time to evaluate what stimulates you to accomplish your goals.

I knew that in order for me to get anything done, I needed to have many things going on at one time. I know it sounds weird, but I write best when I am surrounded by my kids. I also need lots, and lots of breaks. Therefore, most times I write in 10 to 30minute sprints.

2) CREATE A CALENDAR THAT YOU CARRY EVERYWHERE

Carry a calendar, pda, ipod or cellphone. I use all of these items to keep me on track.

You must have the tools of the trade. I use my cellphone and my pocket calendar to store all of my task, appointments, and goals for the week. That way if I am riding in the car, I know what I can do to pass the time, yet be efficient.

3) SYNC YOUR LIFE

Update your pocket calendar or ipod, and set reminders for task or goals that you send yourself with your phone, email calendar, or notes in your pocket calendar.

I drive my family crazy with this. I set reminders for my writing time on my cellphone, outlook and my calendars.

4) MAKE YOUR DREAM LIST

I prefer to say dream list. I believe that most people are more apt to complete goals that are in line with their dreams. Therefore, don’t create a DREAM LIST of stuff you have to do like, homework, pick up kids, cook dinner. Create a dream list (or bucket list) of things you want to accomplish before you leave earth. Then list the things you can do or have to do in order to check off your DREAM LIST.

My DREAM LIST included, write a book, snowboard, ride in a hot air balloon, scuba drive, hang glide, and travel. Of those items on my list I have completed over half by my personal deadline dates.

5) WASTE NOT WANT NOT

Use those boring, do nothing moments effectively. I spend a lot of time at my kid’s sports practice just waiting for them to get finished. Therefore, I usually carry my manuscripts with me, and while I am sitting there for two hours waiting for them, I edit my books. If I don’t have books to edit, I give out bookmarks or other promotional gifts. I also, take a notebook for writing notes, or snippets for any Work In Progress I have. I also use the time to check student’s assignments from my teaching job at the university. Also, when I am riding in the car on long trips, I bring my laptop and write while my husband drives.

6) SET A DEADLINE – and CHECK YOURSELF

Set realistic deadlines for your DREAM LIST. Then squeeze in time to reach those dreams in your everyday life.

I have accomplished and experienced so many things in my life. Some things I have attempted, and yet failed. Others, I have attempted and changed course, and some I have conquered and am satisfied. Imagine your time here on Earth is a gift, an adventure of which you want to taste and do all the things your can before you leave. You will be surprised and amazed at all you have experienced if you know yourself, love yourself, dream big dreams, map a path to reach them, and enjoy every minute along the way.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

How I Speed Write

Nano (National Novel Writing Month) from November 1st-30th. It’s the writing frenzy where you kick out a large number of words to hopefully finish a novel in record time. Many people start the challenge and end up with a sizeable number of pages by the end. Some are inspired to start writing for the first time. Others are inspired to finish something for the first time. Some, like me, find that writing at breakneck speed produces a lower quality of work that doesn’t reflect what is normally produced when writing within your own timing. Truth is, my natural timing is four months from start to finish. I tried to increase my speed and did it without much trouble. It increased by 3 weeks, and for me, that cooking time for a novel fits just right.

There are ways to make speed writing more effective. The overall goal, is to produce more in a shorter period of time. If you keep this up, who knows, speed writing may become a habit.

Prepare for it

When you set out to write a novel in a short period of time, outlining is your friend. Take a week to write a detailed outline of the story. It will help to work out most of the kinks before you even sit down to write. Create character profiles of the main characters and review outline before the start of your writing marathon.

Plan it

If you are going to focus on spitting out as many words as possible a day, then plan it. Block out your writing time for the month. Figure out when you are most productive. Is it in the morning, at night or midday? Make a rule – no sleep unless you have kicked out a minimum of a certain amount of words. Make sure you schedule extra time for working out of corners or temporary writer’s blocks. Make your schedule somewhat flexible so that you don’t get burned out and give up.

Write it

With a printout of your outline next to you and a bullet list of your character profile – start the race. Follow your outline. If you want to go rogue, go ahead, write until the roadblock. If you reach a road block – write anything, take some time off to think on it, then re-work your outline and get back to it. Also, if you took out writing time to think, add more blocks of writing time to make up your word count later. Whatever you do – don’t stop writing. Remember, you will always have to edit it.

Don’t look back

Whatever you do, don’t read over what you’ve written until you are finished. That is an easy way to get distracted. Remember, you’ll have to edit the thing many times before your piece of art is perfected. Just write forward, don’t make corrections, don’t read over it, just push forward and write.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

IRON MAN 2 - Movie Review


Testosterone, action, guns, kick tail special effects, deadly sexy women, cutting wit and a decent plot. Who could ask for more? You don’t have to with this movie. We are reacquainted with our off-beat hero that’s arrogant, rough around the edges, a womanizer and sarcastically funny. Downy plays this part to a T. Unfortunately, being Iron man comes with a price – his life. He becomes even more unstable, starts sharing with his friends and holds it all inside.

The movie starts off with a huge party, the villains – who I loved by the way, and the revelation of a secret organization. While Iron man is slipping into depression of his inevitable death, he’s attacked. He saves us again while his world comes tumbling down around him. He reconnects with his father’s memory and realizes that his father did ‘love’ him in his own way. That his father thought he measured up, and in doing so he gains renewed purpose.

Now armed with a partner in crime, he brings down the evil plot of the two quirky villains who are out to humiliate and kill him.

This was a awesome ride. I give it 5 out of 5. Even though it had action, a smidge of romance, and great special effects, it also had a semblance of a plot.

GUEST REVIEW by MONIQUE our Movie Mistress, http://moniqueblog.net/:



Holy flashy projects, Batman! Wrong comic book empire, I know, but still, this movie used every ounce of their production values budget. From cameos by Bill O'Reilly, Christiane Amanpour, the recently deceased DJ AM and even Marvel Comics institution Stan Lee as Larry King, along with spots by Audi, C-Span, Youtube, Monaco's famed racing track and a plethora of other goodies, this film feels totally immersed in our present time as well as evoking the style, extravagance, and expensive quality that comes with Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.)'s fast-paced, did-it-yesterday kind of life. But beneath the logos and lights and glitter, there's a well-organized, tightly-written story with actual pathos. And, like the movie itself, behind the fast-paced one-liners, ego and manic attitude, Stark has depth, angst, and genuine concern for others.

The storyline continues from the first movie's end, where Stark reveals he's Iron Man. In this movie, he's capitalized from his admission, creating an entire brand around his suit of armor and declares that he's "successfully privatized world peace." While he's riding high on his ego, Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke) is plotting to take the control and world admiration from Stark by replicating his palladium core technology and creating his own device-a set of electric whips that can cut through cars. Although not mentioned in the movie, he becomes Whiplash. Along with external threat, Stark is facing one that is very internal-his palladium pacemaker is slowing killing him.



The characters are solid once again-Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) is still magnetic as Stark's rock and more organized half, Lt. James Rhodes (Don Cheadle) as his long-suffering friend (in this movie, Rhodes becomes War Machine), Scarlett Johansson kicks major butt as steely S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Natasha Romanoff. Rourke is enigmatic as the quiet, self-contained force Whiplash, and almost wish there was more of him in the film. Sam Rockwell as Justin Hammer comes across as a mix of that guy you have to deal with when you're calling in for electronics help and the middle-management guy that you hate working for, which is awesome for this role.

Like I said, the story is technically and emotionally sound, and the repartee between the characters is sharp and witty. Actually, most of the action comes from the conversations, reminiscent of '40s screwball comedies. Probably the only thing wrong with the film-which is an echo of the first film's ending-is that the villain was defeated too fast. The buildup in the beginning of the fight was spectacular and raised the stakes, but the villain himself was beat by a few punches.

Even still, this movie is a must-see; it's a great way to jump-start the summer movie season. As a P.S., I really don't know where the hate is coming from with this movie; just because there's more talk and less blowing stuff up doesn't mean it's a horrible film. Some of the best action/dramas have the least action, like The Godfather. When action happens in movies like these, it matters; it's not needlessly thrown in like the Transformers movies.

Saturday, May 8, 2010

HUNGER GAMES, review by Teen Guest Reviewer - Nyia


As one of my new favorite books, I simply loved the Hunger Games. I would give it 5 stars and read every new book that the author threw out besides this one. I love action and this book delivers it. No tipping around, kids die in this book.

In the book, I thought that the author really let the main character, Katniss grow on the reader. Her two love interest Gale and Peeta were also loveable. When I usually get a new book (being a normal non-bookworm kind of girl) it has to make me fall in love with it or I skim the whole thing. I can honestly say that I did not skim and was hanging on to every word that was printed in the book.

Only thing that I would have to say I didn’t like was that Peeta and Katniss’ relationship was fake, but I understand what the author was doing. Hey! I wouldn’t want her to change a thing because then there wouldn’t be that extra drama that move the story forward. Overall, The Hunger Games was fantastic (or else I wouldn’t be reviewing it, and probably would not have even wasted my time even reading it). If the author is reading this I LOVED it.

by: Guest Reviewer, Nyia - Teen Reviewer

Thursday, May 6, 2010

THE PRINCESS OR KNIGHT BRAINWASH STORY

You ever want to be a Princess or a Knight? Well, who didn’t? I did. Disney had me hooked from the first time I saw Snow White. After that…well I looked for Prince Charming and found, frogs.

That first Disney Princess movie turned me into a hopeless romantic. So much so, my journey into reading romance started at the tender age of …13yrs old. No, I didn’t look for kiddie stuff. I went straight to the adult section. Harlequin Romance was the first ever romance series I started to read. Yep, I started reading them a bit younger than I was supposed to, but truth was, even then teens had sex. I didn’t, but I sure knew the sordid details about it. To me, at the time, harlequin was just plain PG.

This makes me wonder how many kids today pick up adult romance novels, horror novels and scifi novels. So…..I went on an undercover investigation. To my disbelief, lots of teens were in the YA section. Truthfully though, there were still a bit of high school kids picking through the adult fiction and romance isle.

OH, BEING A PRINCESS

Well I totally blame that darn Cinderella, for giving girls this unrealistic view of what the man they will marry will be like. Heck, even the guy they date. Talk about picky, and I was picky when I was younger. Nothing is wrong with being picky, but I just wasn’t looking for a regular guy – I wanted my Prince darnit! After years of a reality check, I finally settled for a cute, funny, supportive, loving – regular guy. To me…he is a Prince.

A KNIGHT

My son never wanted to be a knight. He wanted to be Superman. It could happen you know…just not with the powers thing right away. Yet, just like his mom, he found a way to get superpowers. He did it by writing. Writing does have a way of turning you into anything, anyone you may ever want to be.

Try it out…just for fun…I dare you. Be a Princess, a Prince, a Knight, a Super Hero. How? Write it.

Monday, May 3, 2010

Short Story - SPECTRUM - by R.Preston

My son entered this short story for the Baltimore Science Fiction Society, Young Writer's Contest. I enjoyed it - but hey, I'm his mom. Tell me what you think. I didn't help him with this story at all.

SPECTRUM, by R. Preston

Hello. My name is Damon Fitzpatrick, and I’m a spectrum. In case you don’t know what that is, it’s a super human given powers by sunlight - to sum it all up. See I wasn’t always like this. About year ago my life was perfectly normal. I had tons of friends, a sexy girlfriend and a great family. I guess maybe I should tell you what happened, brace yourself though, it ain’t pretty.

Well it all started my sophomore year in high school. I remember it was Wednesday. Toni, my brother, and I caught the bus to school. I was wearing my American eagle shirt and a pair of shorts. Although it was winter time, strangely for the past couple of months it had been extremely hot. Some days it was too hot for us to go to school.

Anyway, when we were getting on the bus riding to school, I noticed my brother wasn’t feeling too hot. So, when we got to the school, I took him to the nurse. While she was checking him I realized the bell had rung so the nurse told me to go to class.

“Good, you go on, I’ll take good care of him. Looks like he’ll have to be here until your parents can pick him up.” The chubby, smiling nurse said.

“I can hang out here with him.” Of course, I got a little protective because my little brother was sick, and after all he was only a freshman.

“That won’t be necessary. I'll call your parents. You better get to class.”

“I don’t know when they’ll be able to get him. It’s hard to reach them at their jobs.” She gave me a stern look, and I shrugged.

Nevertheless, I go to class. Sitting in Mrs. Livel’s math class, I got bored. Started talking to Nancy, this hot senior, and her face got blurry.

“Hey girl, what’s up?”

“Hi Damon,” she said with a wink.

“I, uh…” I braced myself on my desk to stop the room from spinning I figured I must’ve caught something my brother had.

“You okay,” she asked.

“I don’t know…” The bell rang, so I rushed out of class and headed to the nurses office when suddenly a giant flash blinded me, the entire school - the friggin whole world.

After about ten minutes of blinding light, and the burning – all I remember was the pain. Still remember it. The flashes began to fade and my eyes started to focus in the darkness. I wish it hadn’t, because at that moment I realized that everybody around me is dead.

At this point, I was in complete shock. Couldn’t believe what just happened. The smell of burning flesh was, man, it was sick. My stomach bubbled like I was going to throw up, when I realize that my brother may be dead as well.

So, stumbling, tears rolled down my eyes as I choked back vomit. “Ugh, Toni,” I called out.

For some reason, my eyes couldn’t adjust to the light. The colors had changed what used to be bright wonderful colors was now dark and vicious flashes. When I stumbled to the nurse’s office, hoping to find my brother, I got the sense something was off. Like someone was following me - hunting me.

Now, I was sure I must’ve been going crazy or in serious danger, so I started to run. Before I could get a single stride in, I was attacked by someone. More like something. The breathing, the harsh sound of something hungry and crazed burned in my mind. He looked human – well sorta, but didn’t act or even have the slight sense of being human.

This thing jumped on top of me, drool dripped on my cheek as it snarled. It looked at me like I was his morning snack. A weapon, where the heck is a weapon when you need one? I looked around frantically while I pushed it back by the neck. Nothing, not a friggin thing in sight that I could use to get him off of me.

The dead bodies all over dang floor didn’t help much either. struggled to get him off of me, but the thing took a huge chunk out of my arm.

“Ahhhh!” I screamed.

Man it hurt, but I got a surge of strength to kick the creature off of me and ran for my life. How the heck it ran so fast I don’t know. From nowhere, it jumped back on top of me from behind. Knocked me forward onto the floor, I bounced. But this time I got angry. Something happened then, something I can’t explain. A fiery anger exploded from me, and I used all my strength to throw him off of me. And trust me, I had a lot. My body was on fire, at least it felt like it.

Finally, I was able to get back up. At the time, I didn’t realize that I didn’t just push him off of me, I completely torched the thing. His body was on fire as he sat there rolling and screaming.

“Uhhhh, oooh. Grrrr,” it screamed as it tried to crawl toward me on the floor.

What was left of my clothing was burnt as well. What the hell just happened. Then the realization of what I was hit me. A slight grin ran across my face, I always did want superpowers now I have them.

The feeling of euphoria ended. My slight enjoyment went away as the fear that my brother and family may still be dead. I began to pick up speed, and ran to the nurse’s office, praying that my brother was like me, that he survived.

This time more open to my surroundings, I was relived I made it there without running into trouble. When I finally got there, I could already see that the door was locked. Which I hoped meant that nobody had attacked him. So, slowly I made my way to the door. As soon as I got my hand on the door. Smack! I saw light between my eyes, and shook my head to recover as I fell back on the floor.

Toni hit me straight in the face with the door. “Damon? Where you been? Thank God it’s you.”

I recovered, and stood up. “It’s me. You okay lil’ bro?” If it were any other day I probably would’ve punched him in the arm. But at that time, I was just happy to see him.

“Hurry, get in here. It’s safe.” Toni pulled me by the arm.

“I don’t know what’s happened but..”

“I do. The news said they were videotaping the sun and some weird rays were flickering off an on it. They said the sun was poisoned by a meteor that hit it. After that, everything went bright.”

“How did we survive – why did we?” I mumbled to myself.

“I don’t know.” He slumped down on the door.
I locked it, then took a chair to brace against it.

Things were starting to make a little more sense. But why the rays didn’t kill everyone, I guess I will never know. It was still unclear how my brother and I had survived the deadly attack, and why there were things, or people, trying to eat him.

“We gotta jack a car and check on mom and dad.”
Toni looks up at me. “You think they’re still alive?”

“If we are, there’s a good chance that they are too.”

“Um, you got blood on your arm.”

I looked down and realized that the bite mark had completely closed over. Blood remained. “Something bit me.”

Toni looked at me, concern and fear on his face. The look on his face rubbed in the fact that I didn’t really know what else to do.

One year later…..

“It is finally clear to me my roles in life, eat, sleep, and die, that’s all humans ever did but I’m different I have a true purpose my purpose is to extinguish the world of this evil and bring the balance back.” Toni said with conviction.

“Really? You don’t look much like an angel to me. At least not while we were running those things down to get home.”

I turned away from him, lost in my thoughts. Of course it didn’t really make much sense at the time, now though, I truly see what he was rambling about.

It’s been a whole year since the incident. I’ve found out a lot about what happened that day as well the extent of my powers. My brother’s powers complement mine, but there are those out here there that can out smart us if we’re not on top of our game. Yes, there are others like us too. A whole group of spectrums just like us but with different powers are roaming around, looking for others to join forces with.

Toni for instance can slow down time making all of his movements crisp and precise. Me on the other hand I have a diverse power from anybody in my group. I can change powers based on the colors I see. For example red is fire, blue is ice yellow is super speed, green is super strength and my last power is silver. I;m not quite sure what that one does – yet, but I hope to use it eventually.

“Hey, you wanna get some feeders tonight?” Toni asked.

I smiled, feeders are the ones who like to eat off living flesh. The flash caused them to go insane, twisted their brains somehow.

“Cool. I’ll call the others. You sure you ready for this. I could go in your place.”

“No, I’ve done this before. Besides, you are good backup. Just drop me off up ahead, and I’ll get us some supplies. The gang will be here soon to back us up.”

“I don’t know, got a bad feeling about this bro. But, I’ve got your back.”

I watched him sneak into the abandoned train station, dialed backup and sat. Too much time had passed since the other’s called me back. Then a call comes through from my best friend Enox.

“Damon, there was an ambush. We couldn’t save them all. Just two of us can make it to you. The others are going to save Mike and Stacey.”

Enox and Leann pulled up next to me. “What’s up?”

“He’s been in there too long. His telecom is off. He texted me about ten minutes ago and said he hit a hive, but was dealing with it.”

Although this is a dangerous mission I’m pretty sure Enox, Leann and I can handle it. Enox is made of pure energy and is as big as a truck. Leann shoots deadly crystals from her hands and can make some massive force fields.

“Lets go in.” I grabbed a mini- bomb from the back seat of my car and lead the others down into the deserted subway station.

We made it in without a hitch, and the moment we hit darkness the bastards came at us. They’d grown huge over the several months, the more they ate, the bigger they’d become. There were hundreds of them. Where the heck are you Toni!

“Kill them all!” I yelled.

“Ain’t nothing but a word.” Enox called out and started blowing the crazed feeders up like popcorn.

Yellow light formed in front of me as I headed down the path of dead feeders Enox made for me. When I saw yellow my super speed kicked in and I whizzed through the salvating drones to search out my brother. “Toni! Toni!”

He was trapped, surrounded by over fifty of them. He was fighting, but there was just to many of them for him to kill.

Enox came put behind me, while Leanne cleaned up the remaining feeders that blocked out exit.

“Enox, Make a hole threw them, and when you do, be prepared that all hell is going to break loose.”

“Got it, just say when,” he said.

“Leann I need you to make a barrier around me, so I can get to Toni”

“On it – but their coming fast. From friggin everywhere.”

“Now!” I called out.

Enox started firing them down, the smell of burning rotten flesh filled the room. Toni yelled out. “Ugh.”

He’d been bitten, I grabbed the neck of the feeder that took the chunk out of Toni’s arm, and saw red. Fire came out of me and burned the feeder to ashes.

“Crap! Where the hell are they coming from!” I yelled as more seemed to come at us. Leann’s force field was weakened.

“The hive..too big.” Toni forced out, weaken from the loss of blood.

“Full power everyone! Get to the sun, and don’t look back!”

Leanne made her way to us. “I’m giving it all I got!” She put her force field around us.

“Enox! Blow the joint! We’re safe!” I called out to him.

Enox smiled. “Dang I love my job! Brace yourselves – here I – go!”

I grabbed Leanne’s arm and threw Toni over my shoulder and willed yellow to show. Yes! Super speed was on and I ran us out of there, just as Enox incinerated the place.

We cleared the hive, and made it to the car. I kept it running as I watched for Enox to come out. The entire place collapsed.

“Oh God, he’s not gonna make it.” Leanne cried.

Toni rested his head on the window, and I held back a sob. We waited.

Hours passed as we sat there and waited for him. Grudgingly, I pulled off. In the end me Toni and Leann made it out safe. Although Enox didn’t, we had made our first step to turning the world back to its normal self.

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Nightmare On Elm Street – Movie Review

This movie is a cult classic for me. I broke my neck to go see this movie when I was a kid, and I just had to see the remake of it. I have to tell you – I was not disappointed. This movie was a bit different from the original, but not in the way of the loose plot. Child molester gets killed by parents of the kids he hurt. He comes back and attacks the kids in their dreams. I jumped, got scared, and nearly ripped my husband's arm off from the suspense.

The reason I enjoyed this horror flick more than the other movies like it (ie. Friday 13th) is because Freddy was horrifyingly funny. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case with this updated version. This updated version had better special effects, acting and story. I give it a 3 out of 5 stars simply because the plot is simplistic and the Freddy didn’t have the same lure as the previous version.