Undead Flesh is my newest novel set in my home state of Oklahoma and takes place after a massive earthquake causes the dead to rise from their graves. At the time of its writing, I had lived in Oklahoma for fifty-five years and never experienced or heard of an earthquake. I only chose one as the catalyst for my zombie apocalypse because it fit with the supernatural theme of the novel. I knew early on I wanted to write a scene where the actual dead crawled out of the ground. Diseased and plague zombies had been done to death (pardon the obvious pun). I had to have the real walking dead in all their maggoty gruesomeness. Originally, Undead Flesh was born out of a Nanowrimo which stands for for National Novel Writing Month. It is a challenge every year for writers to produce a 50,000 word novel in the month of November. I took the challenge, along with my good friend and fellow writer, Tim Baker, and dived right in to start whipping out this tale of Jack Garret fighting to keep his family alive in a zombie-filled apocalyptic world. I had already written two books and it seemed easy enough task to write this one. With only a basic image of how the tale began, and very little else, I plowed into the story letting the words fly off my fingertips as fast as I could write them. One morning, while writing about the earthquake happening to my characters, a real quake struck Oklahoma. It started near Norman and rattled up the state to Tulsa. Where I sat in my writing room, it felt like a large truck had rumbled past the house. I checked on Facebook and saw dozens of posts about the event that just happened. Granted it was not the huge quake described in my book, (thank God) but it gave me the incentive to continue on with the novel. That was over two years ago and Oklahoma has had several earthquakes since then. I didn't complete the Nanowrimo challenge of 50,000 words (I fell 6,000 words short) but the story of Jack Garrett kept dragging me back to the keyboard. It wasn't as easy to write as I thought. It was the story of a man who would walk through a zombie-infested hell to protect his family. It challenged all my skill as a writer and it reached deep into my heart. Now it is done and in just a few short weeks will be available on Amazon for readers to enjoy my little tale of earthquakes and zombies. Monday, April 22, 2013
Earthquakes and Zombies
Undead Flesh is my newest novel set in my home state of Oklahoma and takes place after a massive earthquake causes the dead to rise from their graves. At the time of its writing, I had lived in Oklahoma for fifty-five years and never experienced or heard of an earthquake. I only chose one as the catalyst for my zombie apocalypse because it fit with the supernatural theme of the novel. I knew early on I wanted to write a scene where the actual dead crawled out of the ground. Diseased and plague zombies had been done to death (pardon the obvious pun). I had to have the real walking dead in all their maggoty gruesomeness. Originally, Undead Flesh was born out of a Nanowrimo which stands for for National Novel Writing Month. It is a challenge every year for writers to produce a 50,000 word novel in the month of November. I took the challenge, along with my good friend and fellow writer, Tim Baker, and dived right in to start whipping out this tale of Jack Garret fighting to keep his family alive in a zombie-filled apocalyptic world. I had already written two books and it seemed easy enough task to write this one. With only a basic image of how the tale began, and very little else, I plowed into the story letting the words fly off my fingertips as fast as I could write them. One morning, while writing about the earthquake happening to my characters, a real quake struck Oklahoma. It started near Norman and rattled up the state to Tulsa. Where I sat in my writing room, it felt like a large truck had rumbled past the house. I checked on Facebook and saw dozens of posts about the event that just happened. Granted it was not the huge quake described in my book, (thank God) but it gave me the incentive to continue on with the novel. That was over two years ago and Oklahoma has had several earthquakes since then. I didn't complete the Nanowrimo challenge of 50,000 words (I fell 6,000 words short) but the story of Jack Garrett kept dragging me back to the keyboard. It wasn't as easy to write as I thought. It was the story of a man who would walk through a zombie-infested hell to protect his family. It challenged all my skill as a writer and it reached deep into my heart. Now it is done and in just a few short weeks will be available on Amazon for readers to enjoy my little tale of earthquakes and zombies. 
Sunday, March 3, 2013
Underground Monster Carnival 2
The first Saturday of every March something wicked this way comes to
Oklahoma City. It's the Underground Monster Carnival! This great event
is an informal gathering of horror vendors, entertainers, and fans put
on yearly by Art Sunday and his wife Stephanie. Housed in a building on
the state fair grounds, this is a vendor friendly event with lots of
space for each person to show their merchandise. As you walk along the
multiple exhibit rooms, you'll see an assortment of handmade art, masks,
clothing, and books; much of it locally produced. The great Count
Gregore serenaded the crowd and there was actually a real carnival
sideshow put on by Carnival Epsilon. This daylong event was a great way
for me to connect with several fans of my books and to meet new ones. I
was also able to promote my upcoming zombie novel Undead Flesh and show
off the cover done by Gary Berger at DBG/graphix. This was a very fun day for all. My only complaint was
that this event only happens once a year and I have to wait until March
for another.
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| Why is Killer Bunny smiling? |
 |
| The lovely Anjanette Clewis |
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| Cool costumes! |
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| Always happy to meet a new fan. |
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| Stopping to visit a foggy graveyard |
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| An Italian movie zombie wanders by |
Monday, January 28, 2013
Dennis on Writing
1. Write, write, write, and then write some more: Okay, I know you've heard this a thousand times but I'm going to say it again. You can't be a writer unless you write. Period. Put your butt in a chair and do it. Try to set a time each day to write and stick to it. Write in a room by yourself free of interruptions. Forget Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, blogs, Netflix, etc. Those things rob you of your writing time. If you're like me, you can only do good work about two to four hours a day anyway. Get your writing out of the way and then spend time doing other things. If you do it everyday, you'll have a 80,000 word manuscript before you know it.
2. Write something your passionate about: I couldn't be hired to write a story or submission to an anthology unless its something I am passionate about. Don't go through the motions of writing. Do it with passion. Your emotions transfers to the reader. Writer and reader live in a symbiotic state. You want them to feel what you do while writing a piece of fiction. If you feel love, laughter, fear, and excitement while your writing the piece, so will the reader if you do it right. Show no fear. If it's in your heart then set it free in your story.A strong passion for the subject will also drive you to finish your piece of writing.
3. Keep it simple, stupid: Okay so you got a bachelor degree in English and have been through hundreds of creative writing classes and writing courses. Your vocabulary knowledge is incredible and you prove it in your use of long flowery poetic writing. You can write phrases like:
Jack shot a quick look out the opaque window to the boulevard below where townspeople scurried along a broken sidewalk trying to find shelter under the halogen glow of a dozen streetlights. Above their heads, thunderous clouds threatened to let loose a powerful downpour over the sleepy municipality of Rockford. Jack turned away from the windowpane and faced the only other occupant in the room.
“It’s going to start storming any minute, Sully,” he spoke anxiously."
Though the writing above is functional it can be simplified using the KISS (Keep it simple, stupid) method:
Jack glanced out the window. On the broken sidewalk below, people ran for shelter under the glow of halogen streetlights. Thunder crashed over their heads in the dark skies above the town of Rockford. He turned to the room’s other occupant.
“It’s going to storm, Sully,” he said.
Okay, this may not be the best example, but I hope you get the idea. Keep your sentences simple and direct. Easy reading is hard writing. Your reaching out to readers who have a thousand other things to occupy their time and you're asking them to put aside their lives to read your book. Streamline your large word count. Wow people with your story, and not your vocabulary.
Jack shot a quick look out the opaque window to the boulevard below where townspeople scurried along a broken sidewalk trying to find shelter under the halogen glow of a dozen streetlights. Above their heads, thunderous clouds threatened to let loose a powerful downpour over the sleepy municipality of Rockford. Jack turned away from the windowpane and faced the only other occupant in the room.
“It’s going to start storming any minute, Sully,” he spoke anxiously."
Though the writing above is functional it can be simplified using the KISS (Keep it simple, stupid) method:
Jack glanced out the window. On the broken sidewalk below, people ran for shelter under the glow of halogen streetlights. Thunder crashed over their heads in the dark skies above the town of Rockford. He turned to the room’s other occupant.
“It’s going to storm, Sully,” he said.
Okay, this may not be the best example, but I hope you get the idea. Keep your sentences simple and direct. Easy reading is hard writing. Your reaching out to readers who have a thousand other things to occupy their time and you're asking them to put aside their lives to read your book. Streamline your large word count. Wow people with your story, and not your vocabulary.
4. Passive writing equals passive story telling: Passive writing is a cancer that slips into your prose if your not diligent. It happens to me especially when writing the first draft. To me passive writing turns your reader into a passive participant to your story. It's makes them take one step back from your tale. Give your story an Active Voice. Passive example:
The zombie was shot in the head by Jack.
Active example:
Jack shot the zombie in the head.
I'm no English expert, but the use of the word "was" above is a sure identifier to me that the sentence is in passive voice. I search through my manuscripts for the word "was" in every sentence and see if I can say it in a more direct way. Other things that are a sure tip off of passive writing using the words "could" a lot in your manuscript. I do this a lot in my rough manuscript:
Example:
Jack could hear a car engine start.
Should be changed to:
Jack heard a car engine start.
Change it out and tighten up your sentence structure.
5. Avoid adverbs like the zombie plague: Drop words ending in -ly. Cut the words quietly, carefully, sadly, loudly, quickly, etc. from your descriptions whenever possible. Replace them with a good adjective.
Example:
Jack stealthily walked up to the door and slowly turned the knob. Carefully, he entered the room beyond and heard someone snoring loudly.
This plays into the KISS method listed above. Drop the adverb and write it in a more direct manner.
Jack eased his way to the door and turned the knob slow to the right. Careful not to make a sound, he entered the room beyond and heard someone's loud snoring."
There you have it. Another note: Use the term "suddenly" very seldom in your manuscript. I tend to use it at certain times, but do so with trepidation..
6. Said is often good enough: In dialogue "said" is often the only term you need to use to describe someone talking. Drop the usage of replied, stated, cried, shouted, answered, etc. if at all possible. A good speech tag can help you identify the person speaking as well. Once you establish the people speaking you can move the conversation between two people with out using any identifiers.Example:
7. Feel the flow, baby: This maybe a little hard to explain but I'm going to give a shot at it. There's a certain flow to your prose. A rhythm that keeps the reader engaged as they go from one sentence to the next. If the flow is proper the reader's eye moves along your story without effort. A bad sentence can break this flow like rocks sticking up in a running river. The best way to check the flow of your story is to read it aloud to yourself. If your tongue snags on a sentence and it doesn't feel write alter the wording to match the flow. Here is an example from my book Ebon Moon:
The zombie was shot in the head by Jack.
Active example:
Jack shot the zombie in the head.
I'm no English expert, but the use of the word "was" above is a sure identifier to me that the sentence is in passive voice. I search through my manuscripts for the word "was" in every sentence and see if I can say it in a more direct way. Other things that are a sure tip off of passive writing using the words "could" a lot in your manuscript. I do this a lot in my rough manuscript:
Example:
Jack could hear a car engine start.
Should be changed to:
Jack heard a car engine start.
Change it out and tighten up your sentence structure.
5. Avoid adverbs like the zombie plague: Drop words ending in -ly. Cut the words quietly, carefully, sadly, loudly, quickly, etc. from your descriptions whenever possible. Replace them with a good adjective.
Example:
Jack stealthily walked up to the door and slowly turned the knob. Carefully, he entered the room beyond and heard someone snoring loudly.
This plays into the KISS method listed above. Drop the adverb and write it in a more direct manner.
Jack eased his way to the door and turned the knob slow to the right. Careful not to make a sound, he entered the room beyond and heard someone's loud snoring."
There you have it. Another note: Use the term "suddenly" very seldom in your manuscript. I tend to use it at certain times, but do so with trepidation..
6. Said is often good enough: In dialogue "said" is often the only term you need to use to describe someone talking. Drop the usage of replied, stated, cried, shouted, answered, etc. if at all possible. A good speech tag can help you identify the person speaking as well. Once you establish the people speaking you can move the conversation between two people with out using any identifiers.Example:
“It’s going to storm,
Sully,” Jack said.
“The weatherman reported rain.”
Sully frowned. “We’ll just have to work with it.”
“The storm could hide the fact
that we’ve cut the power to the building.”
“Then it could be to our advantage.
Once the power is cut we enter the bank unseen.”
“Let’s hope.” Jack turned back
to staring out the window.
7. Feel the flow, baby: This maybe a little hard to explain but I'm going to give a shot at it. There's a certain flow to your prose. A rhythm that keeps the reader engaged as they go from one sentence to the next. If the flow is proper the reader's eye moves along your story without effort. A bad sentence can break this flow like rocks sticking up in a running river. The best way to check the flow of your story is to read it aloud to yourself. If your tongue snags on a sentence and it doesn't feel write alter the wording to match the flow. Here is an example from my book Ebon Moon:
Reaching the
pole he erected the day before, Jasper stopped to catch his breath. The sun
beat warm upon his brow, and he wiped sweat away with the sleeve of his grimy
work shirt. He took a moment to look back over the farm he worked for the last fifty
years. The clouds broke the sunlight to cast shifting shadows over the rusting
tractor, the overgrown fields, and the peeling paint of the house and barn.
When Emma was alive, golden wheat fields surrounded the property. The farm died
when Satan murdered his beloved wife. Its only crop now was the signs he made.
I hope you found my tips on writing useful. Now get out there and write. You can check out more about my writing and books at dennismcdonaldauthor.com
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