All Things Writing

Good Day to you!

I had the greatest fortune to meet author Darin Kennedy at a show we were doing. Wonderful show and a great time. I recently read his book, Necromancer for Hire and I wanted to get him on the show to talk about the book, his current works, and everything in between. Check out Darin and I as we talk about all kinds of things to include writing, art, music, and his bird watching habit. We will also chat about:

• What got him started in horror?
• Necromancy? Was there some particular attraction? 
• How does being a medial professional look at how the main character approaches her job?
• How did the idea of April the Necromancer come about?
• How did he decide on the Janus Blade as both a weapon and a tool at the same time?
• Where does her love interest, Gavin, end up in the grand arc that is April's life?
• We leave Julian LaMorte in an precarious place. Interesting. One gets the impression this was certainly on purpose. Why did he leave the story line where he did?
• Is he a just a fan of classical music or just Pictures at an Exhibition in general?
• How does art influence his writing?
• Being a doctor is a busy job. How does he find time for it all and what does he get out of it at the end?
• He and I will discuss his writing process.

Want to know more about Darin? You can check out his website here!

You can also check out his Amazon Author page here!

Thank you for listening. Consider supporting an indie author by signing up to Patreon today. After you sign up, I will send you the book of your choice.

Welcome to the show everyone! Hope you are doing well. This is All Things Writing and I am your host, American author, Bryan Nowak.

let’s get hooking? 

Have you ever read a book that was so woefully lacking in any kind of hook that you put it down and never picked it up again? I most certainly have and if you have too, you are not in the minority. If you are not hooked, then why should you continue reading?

In an article written by Sharon Short in Writer’s Digest there were five characteristics of a great beginning. I will make sure and post the link to writer’s digest in the show notes so you can check them out yourself. Well worth checking out.

She focuses, in the article, on five characteristics of a great beginning. 

The first is an overall sense of immediacy. She says that readers must have a reason to read, even if that reason is visceral or lies in the subconscious.

It was like I was saying, you need to present your audience with some reason to continue reading or they will just put the book down and walk away. And no one wants that.

She suggests that it is perfectly fine to start with dialogue or action, but you need to still pique your reader’s curiosity.

The second characteristic is the tone you set. She also uses the word tone in the article. 

You must ensure that word choice and overall tone in the beginning of your work will tell the reader what to expect. Are they going to laugh? Are they going to cry? Will they be terrified? You need to make sure and build that into the beginning.

Third is suspense. I am a fan of saying that all books are mysteries since you are starting with something you have never read so you have no idea how it is going to end. It is a mystery in that sense.

Sharon says, “just hint at what’s to come.”

A great example is in the first paragraph of the book Watchers by Dean Koontz. It is stated that the main character is taking only “…a package of Oreo cookies, a large canteen full of orange-flavored Kool-aid, and a fully loaded Smith and Wesson .38 Chief’s Special.”

To me, that is a great hook. You know this guy is planning for something and not something good.

Next Sharon’s article mentions something that drives me crazy. She specifically calls out specificity as an important characteristic of the writing. 

What she is getting at is the importance of getting to the point when you are still hooking the reader. 

And lastly fair play. In my own words, don’t offer them a steak dinner and then serve them linguini. Or maybe I am just hungry?

You want it to work, so there has to be foreshadowing of something fixin’ to go wrong. You cannot just let it lay on the page there if your reader expects horror, mystery, scifi, etc. Let your reader know that there is enough in store to keep them moving through the pages.

Remember the idea that your first chapter is essentially a contract with your readers. Don’t mislead them.

Want to know more? Check out Writer's Digest here! 

Thank you for listening. Consider supporting an indie author by signing up to Patreon today. After you sign up, I will send you the book of your choice.

As most of you know, I love doing cons. Why? Well, not only do I get to meet some amazing readers, but I also get to spend time with other amazing authors. The last show I did in 2021 I got the chance to hang out with my next guest for three days of fun and mayhem. This effin’ guy was so much effin’ fun that I’m sure I had more fun than a whole sackfull of Collared Observer Penguins who would rightly tell you to sit back, relax, and get some fucking popcorn, it’s shitshow time. 

Bryan, what, did you just say?

You heard me right. Sit back and grab your thesaurus of expletives, my next guest is Aaron Reynolds, author of Effin’ Birds, A field guide to identification. Aaron, welcome to the effin’ show.

Join us as we find out more about our good friend Aaron and how Effn' Birds came into being.  We will talk about all kinds of cool things.

• What started first, the jokes or the deep and abiding interest in what birds?
• I have, for years, and idea for a coffee table book, but it has stalled on me because of the whole novel writing and podcasting thing. Something about needing more time for stuff. But when was it that you knew you had an idea for a coffee table book?
• How does a coffee table book differ in terms of writing that versus a novel do you think?
• What things surprised you about writing Effin’ Birds?
• If you can go back in time, and tell your writer self anything, any bit of advice, what would that be?
• What bit of advice we were given when we were first starting out that we did not need at all?
• So you wrote an amazing effn’ book. Then you decided to get into the cards. I think we sometimes forget about the idea of merchandizing outside of just our books. I am curious what led you to the cards.
• What’s effn’ next for you?
  
  

If you are so inclined, any support you can offer the show would be most appreciated. You can hit me up on Patreon where I am actually doing readings of my books. You can also donate to the show directly through paypal.

If you have any questions about the show or would like to chat about anything, reach out to me at [email protected] .

If you would like to find out more about Effn' Birds, check it out here. 

Thank you for listening. Consider supporting an indie author by signing up to Patreon today. After you sign up, I will send you the book of your choice.

Happy New Year!

Welcome to the show all things writing. This is our 3rd season and we are happy to reintroduce ourselves to you. 

For those of you who don’t know me, I am Bryan Nowak, the author of The Dramatic Dead, The Reverent Dead, Crimson Tassels, Riapoke, The Bagorian Chronicles, the Dean Cordaine books, the soon to be released second book in the Bagorian Chronicles series, as well as another horror novel which I am putting the finishing touches on now.

What is all things writing? We are talking about writing, books, fans, editing, publishing, and all things in between. In reality, as long as it is book related, we are going to chat about it. 

I got my start writing in 2013. Funny story that I think I have told loads of times, but not really on the show, so I will share it here. I was in a meeting and for the most part, the meeting had nothing to do with me. So, I pulled out a pen and paper and started writing a little story in the back of my notebook. I still have that original manuscript and I sometimes pull it out and look at it.

People ask me about my style of writing, and I love to point out that in reality I am 100% committed to the idea that I am first and foremost an entertainer. That is the one thing actors, musicians, singers, and other artists have in common, we entertain people. 

To be an effective writer, you have to get that idea firmly entrenched in your head or there is no reason to write in the first place. That book you are writing must entertain at least one person, that is you.

I also want to be a writer who lifts you out of your place and time and transports you to a world more entertaining than our own regular lives. 

When I was in high school we read the book The Great Gadsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald and the book Gentlehands by M.E. Kerr. Those books painted pictures for me that I could never get out of my hands. In the book Gentlehands there is a chapter where the kids are sitting around playing a game where each of them has to throw in an article of clothing. Each of the others tries to figure out which of the other kids has what. Buddy, the main character, has a polyester sweater he throws in when the other kids, rich kids, throw in expensive articles of clothing.

The way Kerr writes this is so amazing to me that it sticks with me all these years later. That is truly great writing. The dialogue, the world, everything is just so perfect. 

But isn’t that what amazing writing needs to do? 

Give me fun prose and some amazing dialogue. Give me characters that I will weep for when something goes wrong. That is good writing.

Welcome to the show and enjoy. Remember to hit the like button so you can keep up on everything we have going on and remember to tun in next week when we will have Mr. Aaron Reynolds on as our guest. He is the author of the fantastic book, Effn' Birds. 

Thank you for listening. Consider supporting an indie author by signing up to Patreon today. After you sign up, I will send you the book of your choice.

 Welcome friends! A happy holidays to all of you. I am finally doing something I have wanted to do for a long time. I am recording the classic tale, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. I have wanted to do this for a long time and present it to people in its 1847 edition. This week we tackle the fifth and final chapter in this most famous of holiday tales.

Pay close attention to the reading and compare it to the way we traditionally see the story told today. It is amazing to me how many similarities to the original text made it through time and what, oddly enough, just didn't.

For those of you interested, and to show my appreciation, I am giving you a link to what I am reading from. This is the version provided free of charge by the good people at the Gutenberg Project. Want to know more? Click here!

Like what I am doing? Hit that like button and if you are so inclined, head over to my Patreon and support my endeavors. If you sign up at the $5 a month level, I will send you a novel every time a new one comes out. Hard copies in the U.S. and an e-book of your choice if you are anywhere else in the world.  Click here for more information!

And, as always, thank you so much for listening!   

Thank you for listening. Consider supporting an indie author by signing up to Patreon today. After you sign up, I will send you the book of your choice.

Welcome friends! A happy holidays to all of you. I am finally doing something I have wanted to do for a long time. I am recording the classic tale, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. I have wanted to do this for a long time and present it to people in its 1847 edition. This week we tackle the fourth chapter in this most famous of holiday tales.

Pay close attention to the reading and compare it to the way we traditionally see the story told today. It is amazing to me how many similarities to the original text made it through time and what, oddly enough, just didn't.

For those of you interested, and to show my appreciation, I am giving you a link to what I am reading from. This is the version provided free of charge by the good people at the Gutenberg Project. Want to know more? Click here!

Like what I am doing? Hit that like button and if you are so inclined, head over to my Patreon and support my endeavors. If you sign up at the $5 a month level, I will send you a novel every time a new one comes out. Hard copies in the U.S. and an e-book of your choice if you are anywhere else in the world.  Click here for more information!

And, as always, thank you so much for listening!  

Thank you for listening. Consider supporting an indie author by signing up to Patreon today. After you sign up, I will send you the book of your choice.

 Welcome friends! A happy holidays to all of you. I am finally doing something I have wanted to do for a long time. I am recording the classic tale, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. I have wanted to do this for a long time and present it to people in its 1847 edition. This week we tackle the second chapter in this most famous of holiday tales.

Pay close attention to the reading and compare it to the way we traditionally see the story told today. It is amazing to me how many similarities to the original text made it through time and what, oddly enough, just didn't.

For those of you interested, and to show my appreciation, I am giving you a link to what I am reading from. This is the version provided free of charge by the good people at the Gutenberg Project. Want to know more? Click here!

Like what I am doing? Hit that like button and if you are so inclined, head over to my Patreon and support my endeavors. If you sign up at the $5 a month level, I will send you a novel every time a new one comes out. Hard copies in the U.S. and an e-book of your choice if you are anywhere else in the world.  Click here for more information!

And, as always, thank you so much for listening! 

Thank you for listening. Consider supporting an indie author by signing up to Patreon today. After you sign up, I will send you the book of your choice.

 Welcome friends! A happy holidays to all of you. I am finally doing something I have wanted to do for a long time. I am recording the classic tale, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. I have wanted to do this for a long time and present it to people in its 1847 edition. This week we tackle the second chapter in this most famous of holiday tales.

Pay close attention to the reading and compare it to the way we traditionally see the story told today. It is amazing to me how many similarities to the original text made it through time and what, oddly enough, just didn't.

For those of you interested, and to show my appreciation, I am giving you a link to what I am reading from. This is the version provided free of charge by the good people at the Gutenberg Project. Want to know more? Click here!

Like what I am doing? Hit that like button and if you are so inclined, head over to my Patreon and support my endeavors. If you sign up at the $5 a month level, I will send you a novel every time a new one comes out. Hard copies in the U.S. and an e-book of your choice if you are anywhere else in the world.  Click here for more information!

And, as always, thank you so much for listening! 

Thank you for listening. Consider supporting an indie author by signing up to Patreon today. After you sign up, I will send you the book of your choice.

Welcome friends! A happy holidays to all of you. I am finally doing something I have wanted to do for a long time. I am recording the classic tale, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. I have wanted to do this for a long time and present it to people in its 1847 edition.

Pay close attention to the reading and compare it to the way we traditionally see the story told today. It is amazing to me how many similarities to the original text made it through time and what, oddly enough, just didn't.

For those of you interested, and to show my appreciation, I am giving you a link to what I am reading from. This is the version provided free of charge by the good people at the Gutenberg Project. Want to know more? Click here!

Like what I am doing? Hit that like button and if you are so inclined, head over to my Patreon and support my endeavors. If you sign up at the $5 a month level, I will send you a novel every time a new one comes out. Hard copies in the U.S. and an e-book of your choice if you are anywhere else in the world.  Click here for more information!

And, as always, thank you so much for listening!

Thank you for listening. Consider supporting an indie author by signing up to Patreon today. After you sign up, I will send you the book of your choice.

I am ready to announce my award winner for best book I have read. Yep, I have a clear winner. And, to be honest, this was not even much of a competition. This year, I deem Mr. Ronald Mafi’s novel, Come With Me as my overwhelming winner.

Seriously, I am not trying to make it sound like this is a commercial for the book, Come with me, but it is going to be unintentionally so.

So, the big question is why did I like it so much?

Imagine, if you can, careening down a path you thought you knew so well that every twist and turn of the path was known to you even before you had a chance to see the next turn in the road. I mean, you knew that path well enough that no matter what happened you thought you could handle it.

Next, I want you to imagine what it would be like if that path suddenly no longer made any sense to you and as matter of fact, now you found that monsters lie in the darkness on either side and the slope became so impossibly steep that you had no choice but to continue on for climbing back up the hill was impossible.

Ronald Malfi is a master at putting his protagonist in. I argue that this is quandary we find our protagonist Aaronn Decker in. As a matter of fact, he is so good at descending people through the levels of insanity, that I am amazed with his talents to bring you through the depths of insanity and make it feel completely natural.

Truth in advertising, I have been a Ronald Malfi fan for son long. It is hard not to love his work. You have not heard of Ronald Malfi? Have you never heard of Stephen King, or Josh Malerman? How have you never heard of Ronald Malfi, the master of true psychological horror? Well, read on and pick up a copy of this book.

In his latest offering, "Come With Me", we see the life of Aaron Decker as he is after the death of his wife. Guilt and grief stricken, we find a man searching for a way to get out of this miasmic existence when a series of strange occurrences lead him to discover something his wife, Allison, tried to keep hidden for so many years.

What was she hiding? I would argue her personal obsession as well as cross to bear. An obsession which quickly becomes Aaron’s to see through when he discovers a file of notes along with a handgun. This grabs Aaron by the nose and leads him to see the truth and complete the quest his wife was on.

By the end of the book, you finally are left to ponder what Allison means in the very beginning of the book, when she implores Aaron, “Come with me.” I know it certainly left the question in my head. A question I will certainly bother Ronald for an answer for, next time I see him. That question, and I don’t think I am giving anything up here, is this. Was Aaron supposed to die with Allison that morning? And yet, you have to read the book to understand why I ask this.

Amazingly well written, there is a danger in reading this book as it will ensure you forget about eating and sleeping. You simply have to know how it all ends and that is the challenge with a book like this. 

I really don’t say this very often, but this book really needs to become a movie and if that doesn’t happen, I will feel there is little justice in the world. And yet, no film adaptation would ever do the book justice. It is just not possible to improve on this work.

Check it out here!

As always, thank you for listening. If you like what I am doing and want to support me, head on over to my Patreon page and see what else I have out there for content. CLICK HERE

Until next time

Thank you for listening. Consider supporting an indie author by signing up to Patreon today. After you sign up, I will send you the book of your choice.