#WIPJOY: Day #6/7

The weekends are combined in the present #WIPJOY challenge and today I'm to list the books I have available for purchase. I will not be linking them as I have readers from around the world, but if you travel to the Amazon service that serves your country, you will find them easily enough.

A reminder: Please, PLEASE, if you have read any of my works, a review is solid gold to me. Please leave one either on Amazon (preferred) or Goodreads. Thank you. And never forget this:

Now let us begin:

A collection of anthropomorphic-themed stories compiled for Morphicon 2012. This collection represents a period from 1998 to 2011, four of the stories being published in this collection for the first time. Stories include: The Substance Of Things Hoped For; The Clockwork Cat; Sawyer; Fox Hunt; Festival Of Masks; Wild Carrot; A Fairy Tale; My Pretty Pony; Nightmares; Storyteller; Lair Of The White Rabbit; Pick’s Model; and Coventry House.

The collected dark fantasy works of Alan Loewen from 1996 to 2013. The stories range from an informal convention of serial killers to south-central Pennsylvania where pine trees grow so close together that the mystery they conceal lives in permanent darkness. You will meet a carnival fortune teller with a vicious deck of cards, a man who lives in Fae-haunted Greengate, an artist who discovers beauty can be just as deadly as ugliness, a man dealing with a deadly, feral pig, and others. This eBook contains ten tales of dark fantasy: Killer Lullabies, An Incident at a Carnival, The Pig, The Unbearable Burden of Beauty, Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep, Through The Black Andes, All Hallowed Eve in Greengate, Parting Gift, Perils of Power and The Pond.

A collection of 14 vignettes, essays, and stories collected from Alan Loewen's blog writings over the years. This slim volume explores the odd worlds of magical anime girls, evil overlords, weak female literary characters, a mad scientist convention, hardboiled “clergy noir,” and other topics that demonstrate why the author does not own nice things.

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. Rowan Dreaming is the second installment of Alan Loewen's expanding Doll Wars saga. 

As a bonus, this edition also contains the short story, Strange Streets, a short story of urban magic and lost love.

A collection of dark fantasy featuring the short story, In The Father's Image and the flash works, Come Into My Cellar, Blood and China, and The Vicarage.

A collection of short stories from Alan Loewen, these stories of mystery, suspense, humor, and wonder will enthrall and entertain.

Ranging from the storm-wracked clouds of Jupiter to worlds of fantasy to the untidy offices of jaded detectives to your own backyard, these tales include Adrift Off the Great Red Spot, Timely Revenge, I Have Seen the Future and the Future Is Diesel, Wolf Hunter and his celebrated Leywood Manor, companion to his seminal masterpiece, Coventry House.

My only children's novel, eleven-year-old Molly receives a mysterious gift of a snow globe that is the start of a quest to return seven magical ponies back to their proper time and place. Along the way she meets new friends, dangerous enemies and learns valuable lessons about loyalty, self sacrifice, and forgiveness.

The Hunting of the Snark Is Becoming A Movie!

The Hunting of the Snark (An Agony in 8 Fits) was a nonsense poem written in 1876 by Lewis Carroll of Alice in Wonderland fame and I remember the impact it had on me when I read it as a child. For me, the illustrations provided by artist Henry Holiday added a dimension of surreal horror that has stayed with me for years and paradoxically, I have always adored the poem for its portrayal of another universe where the rules don't work the same as here.

Think I jest about the illustrations? Take a gander.

However, I just received word that British film director, Simon Davison, is starting an Indiegogo campaign to turn the poem into a motion picture and I am beside myself with excitement.

If done correctly, it will be a masterpiece of sheer terror and odd, yet completely captivating, beauty. 

If you would like to read the poem, you can enjoy it (sadly without the illustrations) here. 

Though the requested funds are only $13 American dollars, personal finances are rather tight at the moment. However, I come into a little disposable income late November and eagerly look forward to supporting this enterprise.

#WIPJOY: Day #5

Today is a tough one. I'm supposed to come up with one or more tunes that resemble my current work in progress.

The Shrine War takes place completely in Japan, a country that has some exotic and very lovely indigenous music. 

And since Sen and the rest of her kitsune shrine maidens (miko) practice in a Shinto shrine, here is a video of a traditional dance and music they would have performed:

#WIPJOY: Day #4

Today in the WIPJOY Challenge I'm to list books that changed my life.

I have posted on this so many times, but I will do a repeat.

Fiction books that made an impact on me are rare, but there are two that I can mention: War of the Worlds, by H. G. Wells, and Journey to the Center of the Earth, by Jules Verne. They instilled a love of reading and story telling deep in my heart and I am probably a fiction writer today because of reading them when I was young.

As for nonfiction, without telling you the story of how they changed my life, here are the nonfiction books that made such an impact on me I was not the same person when I put the book down:

Non-sectarian books:

1. First Things First, by Stephen R. Covey
2. The Art of War, by Sun Tzu (James Clavell translation)
3. The Art of Worldly Wisdom, by Baltasar Gracián (Christopher Maurer translation)
4. How to Make Friends and Influence People, by Dale Carnegie

Christian books:

1. Inside Out, by Dr. Larry Crabb
2. The Holy Bible (New American Standard Translation)
3. Mere Christianity, by C.S. Lewis

If you would like to see a list of fiction books that I very much enjoy to the point I love to promote them, scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page for a list.

#WIPJOY: Day #3

Today, the challenge is to print a line from my current work in progress (WIP) about a theme or topic that you care strongly about.

Let me make something very clear. I write solely to entertain. I do not use my works as bully pulpits in an attempt to change somebody's mind or push an agenda. Nonetheless, there are topics I care about, but they will be secondary, if not tertiary, to the simple act of telling an entertaining story.

However, if there are two subtle themes that permeate The Shrine War trilogy they are the importance of family and community and the innate sacredness of nature. However, if a reader is not aware of that, she or he could easily read the entire work and not be conscious of an overarching motif.

Case in point is the opening of the entire work where I introduce Sen and Hoso. The themes are understated, surrendered to the simple act of telling a story without the need to beat a message into the head of the reader with all the subtlety of a crowbar:

An alternate cover for The Shrine War

“Sen-sama? The sisters have gathered in the oratory as you have ordered.” In the dim light before dawn, an observer would have seen the forms of two young women. Each wore the traditional garb of a Shinto shrine maiden: long, red skirts bound with an obi, a white kimono jacket, and white hair ribbons and ivory combs tying back long, waxed hair.

“Well done, Hoso-san. Arigato.” For a moment, they watched the sun rise above the horizon beyond Mount Tomuraushi. As the growing light illuminated the mountain’s summit, what little mid-summer snow remained glowed with a brilliant radiance. On the lower slopes the small hardy bushes and wildflowers turned the slopes a verdant green.

As the gloom dissipated in the growing warmth of morning, sunlight reflected from the eyes of the two watchers, eyes that were brown and a fitting shade and shape to match the white-furred, fox-like faces of the pair.

“You enjoy watching the sunrise, do you not?” Hoso asked.

Sen remained silent for a moment and Hoso wondered if her superior had heard her, but after a pause Sen slowly nodded her head. “If the weather allows, I have not missed a sunrise in the five centuries I have been here at the shrine.”

Hoso stared with envy at Sen’s nine tails, one for each century of her life and the greatest number a Kitsune could acquire. For a moment, and not for the first time, Hoso regretted her youth. Only two tails emerged from a cleverly designed slit in the back of her skirt and Hoso had seven more centuries to go before she could enjoy Sen’s status and glory.

Ashamed of her jealousy, Hoso bowed to Sen, her furred hands with their dainty claws sliding down the front of her thighs. “We will await you, Sen-sama, but I humbly ask that you not tarry. The Inugami emissary will be here soon.” With that, she turned and left.

Sen watched as the risen sun turned Mount Tomuraushi into a brilliant and shining beacon, and wondered if today would be her last opportunity to revel in the gift of a new day. She turned to see the sun gleaming off the red tiled roof of the hodon. Surrounded by its protective bamboo wall, the hoden served as the most sacred part of the shrine where Inari's mirror stood in glory and splendor, primal and serene. In front of the hodon, stood the haiden, the public oratory where her sisters waited. All around her, the peace of the shrine lay inviolate, but Sen feared it would not be so for long. An invading force of the Inugami were coming. The emissary only served as a pretense of peace. With a shake of her head, she turned to walk up the tiled sandō to join her sisters.

#WIPJOY: Day #2

Today, I have the challenge to provide the backstory and goals for The Shrine War, my currant work in progress (WIP).

In May, 2016, I was asked my anthologist Fred Patten to provide a story for his upcoming collection, Dogs of War. After a lot of discussion, we decided I would write a tale about a band of kitsune defending their shrine from a band of invading inugami.

However, after I was done with the negotiations, I realized I knew nothing about Japan and very little about its mythology. I cannot tell you how many books I have purchased and read and the amount of info I have scoured in my desperate attempt to make The Shrine War as accurate as I could.

The story took me a total of  three months and 24 days (or 116 days total) to complete the first draft. Fred accepted the story, but I had fallen so much in love with my characters that I went back to the story and expanded it with subtle changes. I had a number of people read the rough draft and make excellent comments and by the time I was finished with the expanded vision, it had turned into a 12,000 word novella.

A possible cover design.

At that point I decided to turn the work into a braided novel with three independent novellas that when read in order told a much greater story. 

I started The Inugami in January, 2017. In this story, American Kelly Robbins moves to Tokyo to begin her studies at the Toyko University. Renting a small house, she learns that an inugami resides under the crawl space. I finished the 13,000 word story in April of this year and immediately dove into the third installment, Incident at a Japanese Inn where I bring all the characters together in the first two tales and wrap up all the loose ends.

I confess I'm having a difficult time with the third part of the novel as there are some characters that will meet an untimely end as they join together to battle a great evil and I am struggling to, quoting Stephen King, "kill my darlings."

Nonetheless, I have made a commitment to focus on the work for the month of October and submit it for review to a close group of friends in mid-November.

My goal? Simple. To have it published in 2019, and my hope is to obtain an agent for publishing through a traditional venture and not self-published as all my other work has been. Unfortunately, my first brush with an agent was very satisfactory as she behaved in a very unprofessional manner and once burnt, twice shy. Time will tell.

#WIPJOY: Day #1

There is no other season that is more creatively empowering for me than the season of Autumn. Nor is there any other month more empowering than October. 

For this month, I have decided to participate in a challenge entitled #WIPJOY that is displayed to your left. Every day there is a recommendation on what you are to post about your work in progress (aka WIP). Today's challenge is to describe your WIP as a blurb, a genre, and provide a visual.

The Shrine War is a blended novel that consists of three novellas: The Shrine War, The Inugami, and Incident at a Japanese Inn. Taking place in present day Japan it starts on the island of Hokkaido and ends in a supernaturally concealed inn located near the the city of Aso in southern Japan.

A fantasy, most of the characters are not human, but are derived from Japanese mythology such as kitsune, inugami, and a host of others.

To the right is an artistic interpretation of Hoso, one of the characters who appears in the first third of The Shrine War and then later reappears in Incident at a Japanese Inn.

Tomorrow, I will talk about the backstory of my current WIP and my goals for the novel. Until then, have a pleasant day.