Six Sentence Sunday: 11-7-2010

Here's another Six Sentence Sunday piece. I hope you guys like it. Please check out other great writers who contribute to this Sunday event by searching the hash tags #sixsentence and #sixsunday on Twitter.

Thanks y'all!


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Image Source: roleplayerguild.com


In time, he'd know...come to understand the ways of carnal desire – fulfillment. He'd understand the pleasure of pushing his flesh up against that of another. The moist, slippery way that his skin could slide against that of a lover's when covered in perspiration. The salty taste of skin as his tongue run's over a throat's throbbing artery. The way his fangs could slide so effortlessly into the tender meat of the person he's penetrated with his manhood. Yes, in time he would know...come to understand what it means to be a vampire.

OK, Blast From The Xtina Past!

OK, found my old youtube channel and my old videos (they're quite random )

Here's a video from Christina Aguilera's "Back To Basics" tour. I layered the song from the album over her actual live singing because my camera just picked up feedback and noise when I was taking the footage. Either way I hope you enjoy.

PS: I swear I'll post something more appropriate tomorrow :)

By appropriate I mean writing.

Author Interview/Guest Blog: A. F. Stewart

Here's a great read for your Tuesday! Author, A. F. Stewart, has kindly written a guest blog for this site's readers. She has a book out called Chronicles Of The Undead.


Please make sure to check out her site and give her book a read. And remember, author's love reader feedback. If you do go and grab a copy of her book, please go and give her some feedback...we rely on you to nourish our fragile egos :)


Without further delay, I give you A. F. Stewart!



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A. F. Stewart

Some thoughts on writing and publishing




I have always loved books and have been scribbling stories and poems since I could pick up a crayon to write. I gained an interest in fantasy and sci-fi young, when I found short stories by Ray Bradbury and Harlan Ellison in Scholastic (a Canadian publishing company for children) magazines. My love of all things fantastic was firmly established when I saw Star Wars at age ten and then discovered comic book writers like Frank Miller and Neil Gaiman; there was no turning back after that. What intrigues me most about writing fantasy is the whole “what if” factor. I like to ask and answer the questions of a supernatural world existing just beyond our own. Who, or what, would live there and what would their lives be like? And since I’ve always thought tragedy makes a more memorable story, I gravitate to the darker aspects of fantasy in my writing.


The idea of writing as a career came slowly. I dabbled with the notion, writing my first book (as yet unpublished) and sending a few stories in to contests and magazines, but life got in the way of writing as a serious pursuit. Then I found the concept of self-publishing. I thought “why not?” I could see if readers would be interested in my work and test the waters of the writing world. I self-published a book or two of poetry and story collections and began marketing the books. That’s when I discovered the whole “traditional vs. self published" controversy.


Now, I think the whole debate is silly. The fact is there are advantages to being traditionally published, but it is an exclusive club, hard to break into to, even if you are talented. And some well-written books just have little or no chance of being accepted by a publisher because they are not that commercially viable. Self-publishing is not a rival for the traditionally published; it is just another option for some authors.


The worst argument against self-publishing is the “all self-published books are bad” nonsense. Of course bad books get self-published, but so do good books. And you can say the same thing about traditionally published books. One advantage with self-published books is that it is easier to find online excerpts to weed out the bad from the good. I’ve reviewed several excellent independently published books on my blog (http://afstewartblog.blogspot.com/).


I’ve also found the independent writing community very supportive and they’ve received my writing efforts positively. Their encouraging feedback was one of the reasons I decided to publish my vampire horror novella, Chronicles of the Undead.

The book came about one day when the thought occurred to me, “what would happen if someone found out their neighbors weren’t what they seemed?” My mind went straight to the paranormal and I thought, “what if they were vampires, what would happen?”


I played with those ideas, setting the whole story in Georgian England (between the years 1795 and 1825) in the city of London. Then I got my brilliant (or ill-advised, depending on how you look at it) idea of writing the book as diary entries, from the point of view of three different members of the same family. It sounded good at the time, but I had no idea how complex it would be to write a novella length book of journal entries without a word of dialogue.


I started with the research, studying the historical facts, lifestyle, and calendar dates of both eighteenth century Georgian England and Regency England, and examining the folklore of vampires. Then I had to find the voices and motivation of three characters (including one intractable character) and work out the intricacies of the linked plotline that spanned decades. And all that before I even started trying to write enough diary entries to create a 168 page book. It was a challenge, but I think it turned out well.




Here’s the book blurb:


Chronicles of the Undead


Family Secrets.

Three generations of one family share their intimacies with the world of the vampire. Inside the personal journals of the Harrington family, a dark and dangerous odyssey unfolds. Three members of this tormented family, Samuel, his son Edmund, and Edmund’s daughter Charlotte, struggle during the 18th and 19th century in London, England, as the lives of this family intersects with supernatural forces. Two intriguing vampires befriend, manipulate and play with all three souls, altering their lives forever.


Their fears, private confidences and weaknesses are revealed as one selfish act ends in horrific tragedy, with far-reaching consequences.
Who succumbs to the seduction and danger of the vampire? Who grapples to combat the evil influence that permeates their lives?


You can find all my books (and some free excerpts) on my website:
http://afallon.bravehost.com/

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Here's a link you can use to find A. F. Stewart's books for sale http://afallon.bravehost.com/

Guest Blog/Artist Interview: Lauren Curtis

Hello Everyone!

I hope you all had an amazing Halloween and for my pagan friends, a blessed Samhain.

I have another guest blog/interview for today and I'm sure you all will find her fascinating. Her name is Lauren Curtis. She's a fascinating photographer/artist and her images invoke beauty out of darkness.

After you read her post, please be sure to check out her websites and artwork.

Without further delay, I give you the talented, Lauren Curtis.



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Lauren Curtis

Marcus: What inspired you to create art?

Lauren:My father started teaching me to draw when I was a child and ever since the 7th grade, I knew I wanted to be a professional artist. Initially I was inspired by nature and as soon as I started learning about art history and mythology in high school, ancient cultures such as Greek, Roman, Egyptian and Celtic have had a huge influence on my work.

Marcus: How do you visualize a concept so that you can "create" it? How do you bring an idea into creation?

Lauren: It all starts with an idea from something I saw, read, experienced. I then do rough pencil sketches (if it's a drawing, painting or mixed media piece) or I shoot photographs of the subject. It may then take months before I feel the right "mood" to create the final piece but sometimes it can be within days or weeks.

Marcus: Why do darker feelings/tones translate into your artwork so readily?

Lauren: I've been involved in the Gothic scene since I was about 17 and have been a practicing Eclectic Wiccan for 23+ years...these often misunderstood cultures value the mystical, mysterious and the Occult, although they in NO WAY represent the demonic sides of things for MOST practitioners. However, we do see that you need darkness in order to have light, and death to have life...these are natural cycles in nature and are to be respected so this translates into a lot of my work, especially my new photo collages series, "X-Rayted" & "Curio-cities" which utilize images photographed from x-rays, bones, Victorian woodcuts and more.

Marcus: Do you have a "Dream Project" that you hope to one day work on? If so, what does it consist of?

Lauren: I LOVE to travel and do so as often as I can afford to (which is tougher these days!) so it would be amazing to travel the world for a period of time shooting photos and sketching ideas. Egypt, Greece & Italy are 3 places I haven't been yet that I would really love to visit and experience their mythology and art 1st hand!

Marcus: Anything else that you would like to talk about concerning you, your artwork, and your field, or plans for the future?

Lauren: Two years ago I finally took the leap to do art full time. I've been doing freelance illustration and graphic work as well as exhibiting in a minimum of 2 shows a month across the US. I've been expanding my social network promotions and sales and hope to continue to build on my career, both in my personal work and commercial work. To me it is in no way "selling out" to do commissions for clients...I always do my on work as well and I'm honored that people like my work enough to pay me to create something for them! I also have a line of original greeting cards and T-shirts so those with smaller budgets can still buy artistic items even if they can't afford originals. It's a great way to get my work out there! You can view my work on:


http://www.LaurenCurtisArt.com (commercial & fine art)
http://www.laurencurtisart.mosaicglobe.com (fine art, photography, art updates)
http://www.laurencurtis.imagekind.com (cards, T-shirts, photography, illustration)
http://laurencurtis.wordpress.com (my Blog!)


Feel free to email me with any questions about my art!
Thanks to Marcus for inviting me to guest blog on his site...he will be a guest blogger on mine as well.


~Lauren Curtis






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I want to thank Lauren for allowing me to introduce my readers to her amazing talent and once again, I encourage all of you to check out her sites and to drop her a line about anything you may want to ask her or to inquire about some of her awesome creations.

Best Regards,

Marcus Twyman