A MOMENT IN THE HISTORY OF WRITING
LITTLE-KNOWN FACTS ABOUT . . .
FINALLY . . . A Sample of Excellence
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Volume 3,
Issue 14
October
17, 2005
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R e a d i n g W r i t e r
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Welcome to The VERB! Whew! Sorry you haven't received an issue lately, but we've had both personal and professional deadlines to meet. Unfortunately during such times, our little Labor of Love here gets booted to the back burner. That's why we've decided to make our recent change a permanent one. The VERB is now officially a monthly ezine. I don't know what it is about this time of year, but I can't stop writing! Is it the cool crisp air? The changing leaves? The aroma of pumpkins and cinnamon? I feel like a squirrel, gathering nuts, getting ready for the winter. Only my nuts are words, and I plan to send them out into the world rather than hoard them in a tree. Come to think of it, I don't live outdoors and I'm not actually covered with fur, although sometimes I ... oh, forget the squirrel analogy. Suffice to say, I love the Fall and I am wonderfully inspired by it. Hope you are too. If you aren't, try baking a pumpkin pie! Speaking of writing, I can't believe our current contest is over in two weeks. Where has the time gone? If you plan on entering your strange, hair-raising crime scene tale, send it in soon. ~~~ FOR
YOUR RESEARCH -
Horror
Everything
you need to know about vampires.
Superstitions are the basis of many a
scary story. Read up on them here.
If you want to break into horror
writing, join the forum at Cafe
Doom.
Finally, your temporary Freedom from Toil is here. Read classic horror stories, if you dare, at a really cool site. Mawaaahaahaahaa! Now, without further ado ... let the action begin!
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| JEFFERY DEAVER So nice to hear from you! As for items on my desk:
Jeff is the author of twenty novels. He's been nominated for four Edgar Awards from the Mystery Writers of America, an Anthony award, and is a three-time recipient of the Ellery Queen Reader's Award for Best Short Story of the Year. Translated into 25 languages, his novels have appeared on a number of bestseller lists around the world, including the New York Times, the London Times and the Los Angeles Times. The Bone Collector was a feature release from Universal Pictures, starring Denzel Washington as Lincoln Rhyme. The latest Lincoln Rhyme novel, The Twelfth Card, is in stores now! |
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SAY WHAT? Commonly Misused Words
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Apparition means a
ghostly figure. Aberration means deviation
from accepted standard. |
A MOMENT IN THE HISTORY OF WRITING
 On a rainy Switzerland evening in June 1816,
a group of friends gathered around the fireplace to read aloud a German
book of ghost stories. Inspired by the tales and the weather, host Lord
Byron challenged his guests, Dr. John Polidori, poet Percy Shelley and
wife Mary, to compose their own story of horror that would entertain and
terrify the others.
Although Byron clearly intended the competition to be between himself and Percy Shelley, the writers of the group, Mary and Dr. Polidori also agreed to give it a try. The next day, Byron, Percy and Polidori read the beginnings of their tales. The topics ranged from experiences of early life to a skull-headed lady punished for peeping through a keyhole. Mary had nothing to offer. She wanted to think of a story "which would speak to the mysterious fears of our nature and awake thrilling horror--one to make the reader dread to look round, to curdle the blood, and quicken the beatings of the heart." But the story itself remained elusive. Eventually the others dropped the exercise, but they didn't forget Mary had failed to contribute. They kept nudging her for a story, and she kept admitting she didn't have one. A few nights later, while listening to the menfolk discuss Erasmus Darwin's success in causing a piece of vermicelli to move voluntarily, she had an epiphany. What would happen if one were "to mock the stupendous mechanism of the Creator of the world" by giving the spark of life to a hideous corpse? Next morning, after the poets went off sailing, Mary Shelley started work on what was to become one of the scariest stories of all time ... Frankenstein.
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Fear
triggers the "fight or flight" response in our bodies--heart
rate increases, blood rushes to the larger muscles, lungs take in oxygen
faster, pupils dilate, skin sweats, digestive and urinary systems slow
down. The body remains this way until the brain signals it's safe to
relax.LITTLE-KNOWN FACTS ABOUT . . .
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H.P.
LOVECRAFT Born:
August 20, 1890
"At
night, when the objective world has slunk back into its
cavern and left dreamers to their own, there come inspirations
and capabilities impossible at any less magical and quiet hour.
~ Howard Phillips Lovecraft was born in Providence, Rhode Island. ~ His mother Sarah, a descendent of Reverend George Phillips who stepped foot on Massachusetts soil in 1630, and father Winfield Scott Lovecraft, a traveling salesman, married late in life. Howard was their only child. ~ Howard began reciting poetry at the age of two and writing complete poems by six. ~ When he was three, his father had a nervous breakdown on a business trip in Chicago and died five years later. Howard's upbringing fell to his mother, two aunts and his maternal grandfather, the prominent industrialist Whipple Van Buren Phillips. ~ Phillips introduced the lad to the world of Gothic horror and the writings of Edgar Allan Poe. ~ A lonely child, Howard suffered from many illnesses that kept him from attending school regularly. But he loved to read, and learned a great deal through independent study. At the age of eight, he discovered science and wound up producing two hectographed journals, The Scientific Gazette and The Rhode Island Journal of Astronomy.
~ In 1904, Lovecraft’s grandfather died. Gross
mismanagement of
his affairs left the family almost broke. Howard and his mother
had to move out of their lavish Victorian home and into a much
smaller house. The loss of his birthplace devastated Howard.
He contemplated suicide.
~ In 1908, prior
to his high school graduation, Howard had a nervous
breakdown. He didn't receive a diploma.
~ The next five years, Lovecraft
lived like a hermit. He wrote no fiction, but focused only on
astronomy and poetry. One day, while reading a pulp magazine,
he became so enraged by an "insipid love story"
written by one Fred Jackson, he wrote a letter in protest, and
in verse, to the editor. The letter was published, creating a storm
of protest from Jackson’s defenders.
~ The controversy caught
the eye of Edward F. Daas, President
of the United Amateur Press Association (UAPA), a group of
amateur writers who wrote and
published their own magazines. He invited Lovecraft to join
the UAPA. Lovecraft agreed, and later even became President
and Official Editor.
~ Several noted authors
urged him to go back to his weird fiction. Howard wrote "The Tomb” and “Dagon” in quick succession in
the summer of 1917, and kept up a steady flow of fiction along
with his poetry
and essays. He also began a correspondence with friends and
associates that would eventually label him as one of the most prolific
letter-writers of the century.
~ After the death of his domineering mother,
Howard went to an amateur
journalism convention in Boston. There, he met Sonia Haft Greene,
a Russian Jew who was seven years older than he. They fell in
love.
~ Howard's two aunts
didn't approve of Sonia because she was a working woman--she
owned a hat shop on Fifth Avenue in New York. So Howard waited
until after the wedding ceremony to inform them of the
marriage.
~ Two years later, he and
Sonia divorced. Howard ecstatically
returned to Providence and embarked upon his greatest fiction:
"The Call of Cthulhu," "At
the Mountains of Madness," "The Shadow Out of
Time."
~ He continued his vast
correspondence, and nurtured the careers of many budding writers,
such as August Derleth, Donald Wandrei and Robert Bloch.
~ Later on, his horror
stories became increasingly complex and difficult to sell. To
make money, he was
forced to ghostwrite others' stories, poetry and nonfiction works.
~ For two years, Howard
suffered from severe abdominal pain, but ignored it. By the
time he entered Jane Brown Memorial Hospital, and learned his
illness was cancer of the intestine, he was beyond help. The
doctors gave him morphine to ease the pain.
~ Howard died there five
days later. He is buried at the Phillips family plot at Swan Point Cemetery,
Providence, Rhode Island.
~ Although Lovecraft
didn't enjoy literary success in his lifetime, today he is
considered The Grandmaster of American Horror.
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Pronouns do a wonderful job sitting in for nouns: Terry dropped her Halloween candy and raced to her car. Pronouns also do a wonderful job clearing up ambiguities. Is Terry a girl or a guy? We might never know without a she thrown in now and then. But for all their hard work, pronouns do have their lazy side. They don't tell us which. Clarity is the goal. So do a "pronoun hunt" whenever you finish a scene, and you'll probably find that some of those rascals are sleeping on the job. To catch them all, have someone else read your work, just to make sure they see exactly what you mean.
EXAMPLE: CLEANED
UP:
EXAMPLE: CLEANED
UP:
Uncertain
of a piece of your writing? |
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Bright
lemon yellow is the most fatiguing color of all. Avoid it as a
background. It is, however, a great accent color when you want to draw attention to certain areas of your
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Do you like to be scared? |
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PREVIOUS SURVEY
I work in the medical
field.
- 9%
"I'm a medical examiner. Medical facts are not so difficult to come by. A publisher, on the other hand ..." - Phillip Rochester, M.D. "I have several friends who work in the medical field. They are always eager to give me info, including offering suggestions for believable plots. I advise all medical fiction writers, or anyone who's writing about a murder, to search their local phone book. An interview with a real-life professional beats almost anything you'll read in a book." - Eddy Bartlett
"My
brother is a pediatrician. When he can't help me, he
hands me off to those who can." - Elaine Dunsford
"I
don't have medical professionals in my family, but I do have
many "medical" contacts online who help me with the small
details. I also devour medical books and articles, in general, so
that I at least SOUND as though I know what I'm talking
about." - Ann Butler
"I
guess if I knew someone in the medical field, I would ask an
occasional question. I'm inclined to think that, unless we
were very dear friends, a relentless interrogation would get old
quick. When I need medical information,
I first research the topic online. If I can't find it there,
I head for the library." - Norman Lawton
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Subject:
CHALKBOARD submission
THE
EYEWITNESS "But when I go to close the door, he yells, 'Hey, you got cable?' Now, ain't that something? Of all things to call out to a perfect stranger! 'You got cable?'
"I was on the couch," said Marlene, "doors and windows wide open--it was so pretty today, wasn't it?--and I'm thinking, if he's watching TV too, he knows he's all over the place and he's got to be scared and I better get up and lock the door. But I can't move. I'm frozen to my seat." "But you did finally move," said Agent O'Malley. "Yeah, when I heard the door slam in Apartment A. And I'll just be damned if he wasn't there in the front yard, lighting a cigarette. Cool as spring water." Agent Ward frowned. "Just standing there?" "Well, I guess he was waiting on Teddy to come out, I don't know. I just wanted to scream and run at the same time. But something told me no, I got to act normal. I knew he'd already seen me, so I yelled, 'Nice day, ain't it?' He nodded at the ground like it was the one talking to him. But when I go to close the door, he yells, 'Hey, you got cable?' Now, ain't that something? Of all things to call out to a perfect stranger! 'You got cable?' But I knew he was testing me. He wanted to see if I'd seen him on the news. I couldn't lie, so I said, 'Yeah, I got cable, but don't ever have time to watch it.' And then he stared dead into my eyes under that cowboy hat and I thought, he knows I know and he's about to kill me and Jake is gonna come home from school and find me in a pool of blood and … well, I got mad and flew out the door." "What do you mean you ..." Agent Ward leaned closer, eyeing the little woman. "Where did you go?" "Right at him. You could tell I surprised him because he dropped his cigarette. He looked like he didn't know if he was coming or going. Just as I got to him, screaming, he took off like a scared rabbit. We went in and out of the bushes, around those trees out back, and then the crazy thing ran up on my back deck. Headed straight for the sliding doors, trying to get inside. He stepped on one of Jake's Lego trucks and broke it. That's when I jumped on his back and poked his eyes. "He whirled round and round, grunting and groaning, swearing he wasn't going back to prison. 'Shoulda thought about that before you killed those people,' I told him. Next thing I know he's got me in a headlock. He had this skull tattoo on his arm and I thought, Lord, don't let this be the last thing I see on this earth. Then I saw the Legos again and thought of Jake and somehow, I don't know how, I twisted out of his arm. I put both hands on his big old chest and pushed harder than I've ever pushed anything in my entire life. He fell back, eyes all wild, snapped the banister and before he could get his balance, he fell right off the deck and landed on the side of Jake's sandbox, ten feet below." Marlene crunched a piece of ice. "They said he broke his leg in three places, but at least he'll walk again. Those people he killed won't." Both FBI agents stared at her, wide-eyed and speechless.
© 2005 Deborah Johns |
Here's a chance to show off your
writing! |
ARE YOU TAKING 'EM FOR
A RIDE? The amount of gasps it elicits depends on the amount of time the journey takes. Too fast, and readers feel cheated of a thrill. Too slow, and readers fall asleep. The key to the perfect ride is the perfect pace. Take the quiz below to see if you can find the scenario that best builds suspense.
1. In the shower, a young woman hears a strange sound on the other side of the curtain. What does she do?
a) Shuts off water, listens for a
moment, determines sound came from water heater, exhales in relief.
2. A non-smoker awakes to find his bedroom reeking of cigarette smoke. What does he do?
a) Jumps up, looks out open window, sees neighbor smoking in yard,
exhales in relief.
3. A babysitter gets a call from a stranger who urges her to check on the children. What does she do?
a) Recognizes annoying brother's voice, hangs up, resumes watching
TV.
4. A student enters the doctor's office to learn his test results. What happens next?
a) Doctors jumps up from desk and announces, "Shane, I'm so
sorry, it's cancer."
5. A bowler hears an eerie growl as he walks toward his car in a dark parking lot. What does he do?
a) Glances over shoulder, spots
pack of dogs in Burger King's trash dumpster, exhales in relief.
The A scenarios are like supersonic rocket launchers. The pace is so fast, the ride is over before it begins. Apply brakes. Don't be so quick to explain away the suspense. Allow your readers time to conjure a good gasp. The B scenarios are like kiddie choo-choos. The pace is so slow, the riders would make better time if they got out and walked. Hit the gas. Don't give in to passivity. Allow your readers the chance to live the suspense. The C scenarios are the ultimate roller coaster. The pace starts out slow, then builds and builds and builds with the promise of a terrifying thrill on the other side of the hill. Readers will simply have to turn the page.
© 2005 Elizabeth Guy |
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Details here. |
FINALLY . . . A Sample of Excellence
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"Lord, man! How you made me jump!" he exclaimed, on his feet beside him the same instant, and peering over his shoulder into the sea of darkness. "What's up? Are you frightened—?" Even before the question was out of his mouth he knew it was foolish, for any man with a pair of eyes in his head could see that the Canadian had turned white down to his very gills. Not even sunburn and the glare of the fire could hide that. The forest pressed round them with its encircling wall; the nearer tree stems gleamed like bronze in the firelight; beyond that—blackness, and, so far as he could tell, a silence of death. Just behind them a passing puff of wind lifted a single leaf, looked at it, then laid it softly down again without disturbing the rest of the covey. It seemed as if a million invisible causes had combined just to produce that single visible effect. Other life pulsed about them—and was gone.
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ALGERNON BLACKWOOD
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© 2005 ReadingWriters. All rights reserved. This ezine is a labor of love, and may not be reproduced without permission. All correspondence should be sent to Elizabeth Guy. |