Strange Streets: My Best Kept Secret

Strange Streets is a foray into dark fantasy romance where the narrator discovers the object of his unrequited love is not the person he initially thought her to be. A story of 5,380 words, it forms part of my ebook, Rowan Dreaming.

Oddly enough, those who reviewed the ebook make no mention of Strange Streets, and I believe the story to be just as compelling as its companion piece.

I developed the idea when a detour took me through Carlisle, Pennsylvania and I was delighted by all the little odd shops, delis, and restaurants that peppered the main streets. In my story, James and his adopted cousin, Darcy, enjoy a hobby of visiting small, obscure shops in various small towns:

...for the last two years, when she was not assisting her parents in the daily routine of running the family farm, we would take an occasional Saturday and explore the streets of any nearby town or village. Darcy had no interest in malls or the predictable sameness of the chain stores. Instead, she reveled in shops that stood on what she called "strange streets," the tiny little shops and eateries with their quaint, special eccentricities that existed only off the main thoroughfares 

Over the months, we had wandered through Greencastle, Newville, Waynesboro, and other assorted burgs and villages throughout south-central Pennsylvania and even ventured into Maryland. My Ford, always threatening to breathe its last, took us on many an adventure and I took delight in following my enchanting will-o-the-wisp, sharing in her joy when she would find some inconsequential, yet eccentric treasure.

However, in Carlisle, they discover an extraordinary street and an otherworldly adventure that changes both their lives.

The Kindle ebook is yours for a mere 99¢ and can be read immediately on your phone, computer, or tablet with a free Kindle eReader. And Strange Streets is bundled with the novella, Rowan Dreaming, another dark fantasy romance that takes place in Harrisburg, the capital of Pennsylvania.:

It was just a ball-jointed doll and for pawnbroker, Auden Gray, it was just another item to sell. Until Auden found his business partner dead with the doll in his arms. Investigating, Auden discovers the doll serves as a gateway to a dreamworld so seductive, men die under its spell. And Auden's time is running out as his resolve to discover the origin of the doll crumbles under the allure of Rowan, the dreamworld's sole resident.

The ebook can be yours at Amazon US, Amazon UK, Amazon Canada, or whatever Amazon serves your country.

Thank you for allowing me to entertain you. I look forward to doing it again.

And please remember to leave a review, even if just a short note of affirmation. Reviews on Amazon are an independent author's bread and butter.

Rowan Dreaming: Read It Yet?

Rowan Dreaming is a dark fantasy romance with a body count and is only a mere 99¢ as a Kindle eBook.

This novella drew me in right away and held my attention right to the end. It was delightfully creepy without any of the violence or gore so prominent in a lot of paranormal/horror fiction. It's obvious from the start that there is "something" about the doll, Rowan, that just isn't right, and the protagonist sets out to discover what that something is before he too succumbs to its curse. The ending was satisfying, although not at all what I was expecting. (Amazon review)

Part of my Doll Wars cycle, the story centers on Auden Gray, a pawnbroker who receives a ball-jointed doll and saw it only as an exotic toy to sell. Until Auden found his business partner dead with the doll in his arms. Investigating, Auden discovers the doll serves as a gateway to a dreamworld so seductive, men die under its spell. And Auden's time is running out as his resolve to discover the origin of the doll crumbles under the allure of Rowan, the dreamworld's sole resident.

This is another bit of classic horror from author Alan Loewen. Done in the tone and feel of works by Blackwood or M.R. James, the novella tells us about some unlucky people who come into contact with the strange doll, Rowan, and what happens to them. Some may be groaning at the prospect of 'Not another evil doll story!' but this is different. It plays with that classic trope and surprises you with an original yet logical end. (Amazon Review)

 As a bonus, the story comes with another dark fantasy romance, Strange Streets.

For 99¢, enjoy a story that costs far less than a ticket to the movies and can be enjoyed over and over again.

Rowan Dreaming: Amazon USA
Rowan Dreaming: Amazon United Kingdom
Rowan Dreaming: Amazon Canada
Rowan Dreaming: Amazon Australia

And if you have read it, could you kindly leave a review?

Change of Plans: Introducing Jill Noir

A number of years ago, I met a gentleman at a convention named Ken Pick who had written and illustrated a fascinating fantasy dream sequence about an anthropomorphic unicorn being led to the guillotine during the French Revolution. The name of the piece, translated from the French was, The Age of Reason Has No Place For Unicorns.

Ken's Interpretation of Jill Noir and companion

Since then, we have collaborated on the first book of what we hope will be a science fiction trilogy loosely titled, The Adventures of Jill Noir. A braided novel, each chapter can be read independently, but together they tell a complete story about a genetically engineered, anthropomorphic ferret named Jill Noir and her struggles to be accepted into society. Unfortunately, she has these continuous run-ins with a human Roman Catholic priest named Father Eric Heidler who is something of an enigma himself.

The chapters in the first book are:

Episode 1: Mask of the Ferret
Episode 2: Ferret and Rabbit
Episode 3: Down to Cathuria
Episode 4: Dyads, Part 1
Interlude: On the First of Winter
Episode 5: Dyads, Part 2
Interlude: Breaking News
Episode 6: Dyads, Part 3
Episode 7: Nameless Guild
Epilogue: Until Then...

The projected titles of the three books are:

Book 1: The Ferret and the Priest
Book 2: Ice Vixen, Golden Marten
Book 3: Sargasso and Saint Dismas

Some of the chapters have already been published in assorted anthologies:

 

The anthology, Infinite Space, Infinite God (Karina L. Fabian and Robert Fabian, editors) contains the opening stay, Mask of the Ferret that was reprinted in Fred Patten's anthology, Anthropomorphic Aliens (currently out of print)

The anthology, Different Worlds, Different Skins (Will A. Sanborn, editor) carried the story, Down to Cathuria.

Infinite Space, Infinite God II (Karina L. Fabian and Robert Fabian, editors) contains the full novella, Dyads.

In 2008, Ken and I received an Honorable Mention at the 2008 Washington Science Fiction Association award for Mask of the Ferret.

Needless to say, this means putting aside Return to the Vicarage. And that is for the best. Jill needs her final time in the sun and the Vicarage story shares too much in spirit with my recently released, Strange Streets.

So Sunday, I travel deep into WebFed space and track down an illusive anthro-ferret thief with ADHD paradoxically combined with some serious thanatophobia.

One Final Review for Rowan Dreaming

 The last review I will post, but I am grateful for all of them, regardless of how many stars are attached. As my biography states:

Loewen also makes no bones about his writing: he writes solely to entertain, his first desire to be a storyteller. If the reader discovers some great universal truth in a Loewen-crafted tale, that's icing on the cake, but as Loewen has said, "I want my readers simply to enjoy themselves in a story of my own creation. If they feel their time has not been wasted and they liked the story, I have achieved my primary goal."

Thanks to all who bought the chapbook and enjoyed the tale. Feedback inspires me to write more. Rowan Dreaming is still available for your enjoyment and at 99¢ is, in my humble opinion, a bargain.

Amazon US
Amazon UK
Amazon Germany
Amazon Australia

And Another Rowan Dreaming Review!

I am deeply grateful for those who take the time to leave a review regardless of how many stars are given.

Rowan Dreaming also includes the short story, Strange Streets, and according to Amazon takes 90 minutes to read in its entirety, the length of a feature length movie. Here in the United States, a first run film can cost you anywhere from $6 to $15, but for 99¢ you not only get two stories, but one you can read over and over again as many times as you want.

You can buy your own copy of Rowan Dreaming here at any of these fine sites: 

Amazon US
Amazon UK
Amazon Germany
Amazon Australia

Rowan Dreaming Receives Its First Review!

True Writing Contains Two Contradictory Elements

Still playing with the final edits of Strange Streets, moving closer to the time when I know it's done as all I am doing is only pushing words around.

I thought I was so smart by changing the gender of one character from male to female, but after letting the story sit for a day or two I reread it to realize I now had so many women in the room, it was confusing to tell them apart.

The character is now a man again.

And I had far too many sections that had to be rewritten where the reader would have simply become confused because I had not stated the obvious either blatantly or through a discrete reference or by giving a clue.

Show, don't tell. Show, don't tell. That staccato phrase has become my mantra.

Also, there are two aspects of the story I refuse to change as they are what make the story mine and, more importantly, also because of my relationship with you, the reader. Allow me to explain.

I have been told I use big words. That is true. In Strange Streets I use words and phrases like "sylvan bric-à-brac," "will-o-the-wisp," "chocolatiers," "minuscule tapers," and, my favorite, "aurulent" (though I did give in and changed "aurulent" to "cinnamon-colored").

Also, I leave the ending somewhat ambiguous though it is very clear how the story ends. I just didn't come out and shove the ending in the reader's face as I thought it would be insulting to the intelligence.

And that's the reason. Though I like to think I write only for myself and "if I build it, the audience will come," the reason I write the way I do is because I have a lot of respect for my readers. They don't need bully pulpit hack stories that speak down to them and assume they have no reading level above 4th grade. That's insulting.

It may be conceit, but I like to think my readers are very intelligent. They do not need to be spoon fed.

I am moving through the various stages of writing with Strange Streets:

1. Contentment upon completing the first draft.
2. Horror at the first reading.
3. Frustration during the first edit.
4. Hope as the first edit sits for awhile.
5. Despair at the second reading.
6. Resentment during the second edit.
7. Waves of optimism and desperation through the remaining editing cycles.
8. Fear as I prepare to surrender it to my critique circle.
9. Terror as I read the story to my critique group.
10. Flashes of faith as I go through the final edit.
11. Amazement and gratitude when I find somebody who actually wants to read the thing.

The Hard Part of Writing Is NOT Writing

Some days ago, I wrote the words, "The End" for Strange Streets, my new dark romantic fantasy and now comes the really hard part.

I have to go over the story for revision and editing and preparing it for critique when it faces a group of writers next month at my monthly writers' group.

Editing and revision is, hands down, the most difficult part of writing regardless of what you may have completed: short story, novel, poem, a work of nonfiction or a movie script or essay.

Editing and revision is much like changing the diaper of a baby ogre. Before you get everything nice and cleaned up, you have to go through a lot of mess and sometimes you might even get chewed on for a little bit.

Let me show you a glimpse of what it took to revise Strange Streets so far.

I had to put the work aside for at least a week before even beginning revision and editing. I have been living with the characters and the plot for weeks and much of my understanding of their motivations and other aspects of their personalities and actions were well known to me. By distancing myself from the work, I gained the ability to see the story from the perspective of a reader. In Strange Streets, James and his cousin, Darby, go window shopping in Carlisle and end up on a street rather off the beaten path. I knew when writing the story that Darby was not all that she seemed and that she was oblivious to that fact herself. In rewriting, I had to stress Darby's background so in a second reading when the reader knows the reveal, they can see the hints that led up to it.

James is a timid introvert and socially awkward. In the story which covers three years of his life I had to show the reasonable and logical manner in which his personality changed through the events where the the timid part of his personality is replaced by one that is more courageous. That meant that some additional storyline had to be included to show that transition.

There is a third character in the story and on revision, I discovered the character would have more of an impact if I changed their gender. The male shopkeeper is now female which gives the story a vital energy it lacked when the character was a man.

When will the story be complete? I leave you with the advice given to me years ago and so long ago I cannot remember the source:


When your editing and revision is finally reduced to nothing more than pushing words around, you're done.

Rejoice With Me!

The first draft of Strange Streets is completed, all 4,900+ words of it.

Now I shall let it sit and age like a mellow wine and in a week or so I will revisit it and begin the harder work of revision and editing.

I have published some excerpts from the work and you can read them here, here, and here in that order.

And stay tuned. On Thursday, January 7th I am going to be doing a public reading of Strange Streets  for some fellow authors and if you live in south-central Pennsylvania, I would like to invite you to the event.

So stay tuned. It's going to be fun.