Monthly Archives: April 2012

April 28, 2012

Weekly Goals Review: 4/29-5/5

By Adam Ickes

These goals posts are mostly for myself, so that I can keep track of where I’m going, where I’ve been, and if I’m on the track I’d like to be on. They are also so I can hold myself accountable when I fail to meet a goal. I find that easier to do if I list my goals in a public forum such as this rather than just tack it on a wall where only I’ll see it. Feel free to comment if you wish, but it isn’t necessary.

Last Week’s Goals

  • Write a minimum of four first draft chapters of Cherokee Johnson
  • Settle on my next project I’ve decide my next project will be turning my Sins of a Father series of stories into a full length novel. For now, the novel will carry the same name as the story that got the ball rolling. Don’t expect it to be released any time soon, though. There will probably be at least a few more shorts along the way as part of the Friday Fictioneers to give you a brief glimpse into the world of the book.

This Week’s Goals

  • Write a minimum of four first draft chapters of Cherokee Johnson
  • Finish first draft of story for submission to the After Death anthology (submission deadline June 30)

May’s Goals

  • Finish the first draft of Cherokee Johnson
  • Begin planning phase for Sins of a Father
  • Begin writing the second draft of The Rain (working title)
  • Write second and third drafts of After Death story
  • Edit and submit After Death story
  • Start a story for submission to the Big Bad Anthology (submission deadline July 31)

June’s Goals

  • Finish the second draft of Cherokee Johnson
  • Continue work on the second draft of The Rain
  • Continue planning for Sins of a Father, maybe scratch out a few chapters
  • Begin rough sketches of The Child’s Guide
  • Write second and third drafts of Big Band Anthology story
  • Edit and submit Big Bad Anthology story
  • Find 2+ more anthologies to submit to

This Year’s Goals

  • Publish Cherokee Johnson
  • Begin editing phase of The Rain
  • Complete first draft of Sins of a Father
  • Begin working on drawings for The Child’s Guide
  • Submit stories to at least five anthologies

As you can see, I’m being pretty ambitious with my goals, but hopefully I can stick with it and pull through. I’ll give it my best effort anyway. It’s going to be a long, bumpy journey. Wish me luck!

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April 27, 2012

When Hope Dies

By Adam Ickes

This 100 word story was inspired by the Friday Fictioneers photo prompt by Madison Woods:

This story is a follow up to Sins of a Father. You should probably read that one first, if you haven’t already. Go ahead, I’ll wait…

When Hope Dies

Beyond the barbed wire fence, he paced countless miles to pass the endless hours of night. When dawn finally glinted on the horizon, he bolted into the tree line.

Not long now.

Sitting amongst the fern, back propped against a fallen oak, he watched the ground with fading hope as sunrise came and went. Tears streamed down his cheeks, carving canyons through the caked on grime.

The unwelcome task of digging the girl back up began five minutes later.

He returned to his truck, daughter cradled in his arms, anger nestled in his heart, vengeance clawing at his fractured mind

41 Comments   |  tags: , , , , | posted in Stories, Writing

April 26, 2012

Woozle

By Adam Ickes

With the lack of a prompt by Quill Shiv this week, I’ve decided to post a random drabble I’ve written. To be clear, this is a work of fiction, I would never do this to my child. Keep that in mind if you choose to comment.

Woozle

“It’s called a Woozle. It’s supposed to be the next big thing.”

“That’s a dumb name.”

“Watch the language, kiddo. That wasn’t very nice.”

She twisted the soft, furry toy in her hands.

“What’s it do?”

“It eats children who don’t listen to their parents.”

“Does not!” Her wide eyes stared at me, searching for signs of deception. The Woozle tumbled to the carpet. “I don’t want it.”

“Pick that up, please.”

“N-” She stopped herself. Her lips contorted as only those of a six year old deep in thought can. She knelt and scooped up the toy. “Okay, daddy.”

11 Comments   |  tags: , , | posted in Stories, Writing

April 24, 2012

Recommended Reading: Darlene Bobich Zombie Killer

By Adam Ickes

Darlene Bobich Zombie Killer by Armand Rosamilia

If you’re a fan of zombies, Armand Rosamilia has got you covered. Darlene Bobich Zombie Killer is one of his many zombie themed offerings. It’s the only one I’ve yet had the pleasure of reading with my busy schedule, but a few of his other works will get their chance to impress me shortly.

Basically, Darlene Bobich is a woman who had the unfortunate luck of surviving an ongoing zombie apocalypse and this book chronicles her journeys through a world crawling with undead and just as deadly un-undead (living) through a series of connected stories. She’s has to kill quite a few undead and even a few of the un-undead along the way. You can’t help but wonder how she’d been dealt such a crappy hand yet still continues pushing forward into a future unknown. She earns a spot on my list of epic badasses just below the almighty Ash Williams.

My only gripe with Armand’s Darlene Bobich isn’t with the content itself. It’s with the cover image. The woman on the Darlene Bobich cover looks way too similar to Laura Croft, the Tomb Raider chick, to be coincidence (in my opinion), but that isn’t really how she is described in the collection of stories inside the book. She starts off a bit overweight and ends up looking somewhat anorexic due to the lack of readily available food, neither of which could be used to describe Laura Croft. Sorry, Armand, it needed to be said.

All things considered, griping about the cover and not the content itself is a good thing. Do yourself a favor and pick up Darlene Bobich Zombie Killer. It’s an enjoyable little read.

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April 22, 2012

The Great Debate

By Adam Ickes

I read a post awhile back that got me thinking. If I could remember the URL I’d share it with you, but I can’t, so I won’t. Take my assessment with a grain of salt since you aren’t able to read the article for yourself; it’s possible I was reading too much into it. The point of the post seemed to be that people should expect the blog posts of authors to be rather long and verbose as that shows they are good at their craft. It even hinted that if you consider yourself a writer but your blog posts are short then you aren’t much of a writer.

I’m a bit perplexed by the correlation between blog length and writing ability. To me, length and ability cannot be compared in any way. Take a site like MicroHorror.com for example. A lot of great stories there are quite short, but that doesn’t take away from their power. Another example would be the 100 Horrors anthology that I’m lucky enough to be a part of. Each story is only 100 words and many of those stories are very well written. To add more to them would ruin their very essence. On the other hand, take a lot of self published novels that didn’t get quite as much pre-publishing attention as they probably should have. Nothing against self publishing in general, I’m working on self publishing a piece myself, but many authors don’t take the time to properly edit or format after their work is complete. The result: some very long novels that are rather bland accomplishments.

Blog posts are meant to be a way to get a point across in a timely manner. If you choose the right words then you don’t need to pad it with drivel to make your case. If you waste fifteen minutes of your readers’ time by forcing what should be a short post to fit the format of a long post then they probably won’t be your readers for long. It’s the same principal as a short story. Let the content determine the length, not the other way around.

That’s my take. What do you thoughts on blog post length?

3 Comments   |  tags: , | posted in Shenanigans

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