The Seraphym Wars by Rebecca Ryals Russell 2 New Book Videos

After having a vision of her brother burning alive, 19-year-old Myrna finds herself in the middle of an epic battle between good and evil. An average college student from Florida, she wakes one morning on the Steampunk planet of Thule, home of the demon-dragons responsible for her brother’s death and many other atrocities in the news. She meets Michael (19) who explains that according to prophecy, Myrna must gather the remaining six Vigorios (child warriors) then train with the Majikals on an enchanted island. But first she has to get there.

Reluctant to lead, she nonetheless agrees, battling dragons and monsters along the journey, locating three of the Vigorios. However, complications occur when three young men, not Vigorios, are drawn to her and two of them, her sweet & sensitive trainer Michael and a brusque, sensual half-naked warrior, insist on accompanying her.  The third, a dark and handsome, charming, intelligent rogue with possibly dark motives, drops in occasionally to stir the pot.

Characters with horrific pasts like Brigid (17) who was kidnapped for child slavery and watched as three demon bullies “accidentally” killed her baby sister or Tien (10) raised in the foster care system going from one abusive home to the next or Liam (18) whose best friend died of a heart attack while playing a vile video game and then his mother was murdered in her bed, give readers a reason for cheering these heroes to victory.

Book 2, Harpies, follows the remaining 3 Vigorios as they battle Harpies, dragons in hand-to-hand combat, nightghasts, a warlock and more in their journey to the island. Along the way they find friendship and love, trust and distrust.

Book 3, Majikals, follows a year of training on the Enchanted Island of Caldelub where the Majikals escaped after the Great Shuddering. Here the Vigorios will discover themselves and each other as they learn weaponry, majik and love. But everything on the island is not as it should be and trouble begins when the Vigorios find this out.

Book 4, Uprising, follows the Vigorios and the others who choose to accompany them on their return journey. But travel is not as easy as it was before as Narciss is now aware of the prophecy and his danger.

Book 5, Annihilation, concludes the series with a massive battle between the Seraphym of Asgard and the Dragon-Demons of Tartarus. The Vigorios and friends assist the Seraphym thereby fulfilling the prophecy. But things may not always conclude the way one would assume.

The Seraphym Wars     Prophecy Book Video

The Seraphym Wars   Vigorios 7: ODYSSEY (Book 1)

Create Your Author Platform in 10 Steps

I came across this awesome post recently and wanted to share it.

Whether you are a seasoned author or just dipping the tip of your toe in the waters of writing your book, it won’t be long before you hear that you will need to have an “author platform” if you wish to sell your book with any success. And if you are looking to land a contract with a traditional publisher, having an author platform can mean the difference between being published and not being published. So, what is a platform and what do you need to do to develop one?

An author platform is your sphere of influence when it comes to your notoriety. It encompasses many things that converge to tell the world who you are and why you are a person to listen to when you have something to say. The greater your platform, the higher your book advance. That’s why ex-presidents, celebrities, and previous bestselling authors can command multimillion dollar advances. A platform tells a publisher that if they take on your book, their risk exposure is limited because you have people who already know who you are that will hear about your book.

Ideally, a platform will tie in to the subject of your book. For example, if you are an oncologist, you will probably have a stronger platform if you write a book about cancer than if you write a book on the history of NASCAR. However, if you are an oncologist who blogs every weekend about NASCAR, then you may have a platform for your History of NASCAR book that other oncologists won’t have.

That said, you can still leverage your current platform for an unrelated book. How? Because if you have any authority in your field, and if you are followed by others, then you can use that to help you promote your book. This is exactly what actors and actresses do when they come out with books on subject matters that they hardly qualify as being an expert on. However, they have people who know who they are, who are willing to listen to what they have to say, and are ready to buy a book that they write. You can use the same premise to leverage your platform with your new book.

Here are 10 tips on how to create your author platform:

1. Chose a subject related to your book and become an expert on that subject. Blog about it, submit articles about it, speak on it. The more you communicate on the subject, the more you are building your author platform.

2. Comment on other people’s work. Visit blogs that deal with the same subject matter and lend your authoritative voice to the conversation.

3. Create articles for giveaways on your site for people to download or read on the subject.

4. Take advantage of guilt by association. Who are the perceived experts with the same platform? Find them, communicate with them and submit writings to the same places that publish their writings. If you are able, go to the same conferences and conventions they go to.

5. Join appropriate trade associations. If your subject has professional associations, then look into joining one or two.

6. Become active in civic/community organizations. Not only will you get your name out there, but you will find speaking opportunities through those groups that may give you air time or get your message in print.

7. Become active in a charity relating to your platform. Many organizations desperately need volunteers to carry on their good work. You may find yourself in a position of helping with a noble cause while gaining notoriety in that role.

8. Mentor others who are looking to build the same platform that you are building. This can be one-on-one or by teaching classes or conducting seminars. This is a way to position yourself solidly in a leadership role regarding your platform.

9. From business cards, e-mail signatures to personal meetings, always introduce yourself as it relates to your platform. “I’m Tony Eldridge, oncologist and NASCAR historian…” If you have two separate platforms you are cultivating, you may want to have your business collateral separate (i.e., one business card for your oncology practice, another for your NASCAR gig).

10. Stay up to date in current news/events relating to your platform and comment early when news breaks. Don’t be afraid to strongly state your opinions. Experts are people who commentate on important events; reporters are people who regurgitate it. Be an expert, not a reporter.

All of this can be summarized to say:

1. Know your platform well
2. Communicate your platform well
3. Commentate on on your platform well

Do this, and not only will your followers continue to follow you, but your platform, sphere of influence, and your credibility will get stronger and stronger over time.

Two Quick Notes:

1. The new videos tips are out. You should be getting your e-mail soon with this week’s tip and link location. If you have not joined the Marketing Tips For Authors Video Newsletter, then you can do so now. This week’s video walks you through how to use a back door way to create multiple pages on your blogger blog and how to integrate your Blogger blog into your current website.

2. Make sure you enter the “Win A Signed Library Of Book Marketing Books” contest going on now through April 19th where you can win a library of book marketing books signed by their authors to the contest winner.

A Treat For the Losties – Hilarious 5 min. Recap

I don’t know about the rest of you Losties, but it’s been too long without it. I’m so sad this is the last season. Let’s hope they wrap everything up, but there are so many hanging threads I don’t see how they could. For your funny bone, and as a reminder, here’s a hilarious 5-minute recap from Seasons 1-5. Enjoy.

Designing a Good Author’s Website Can Be Tricky

For those of you who are unaware, Goodreads is a growing community of Readers and Writers. There are forums for every possible topic within Groups of every type. One of the awesome groups I’m a member of is called Book Trailers ™ & Author Web Sites. It provides tons of info and friends. http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/9066.Book_Trailers_tm_Author_Web_Sites

One of the interesting forum threads is Post your Book Video and get it rated while you rate others. http://ratemybookvideo.wordpress.com/. This is a great place to see what types of trailers other authors are making as well as posting your own for comments or suggestions.

Another awesome forum is the Goodreads thread about What Makes a Great Author Web Site. http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/62018-what-makes-a-great-author-web-site There are a lot of discussions and suggestions but these two lists stood out as explicit and very helpful.

Kristin Blizzard said:

Personally, I believe there are many aspects to creating a sound website. Hopefully, writers at some point did create their marketing plan. I bring this to attention because of the information that it should contain. Before you sent query letters to agents or publishers, you should have started to collect what would become your selling points.

As you should have been asked by everyone, why is this book amazing? Is there something about the author that gives a different or special angle? What genre does you work fit into and exactly who is your targeted audience? The answers to the questions should lay out what kind of a website you should be aiming toward.

Dee brought a great point with determining what do you want to offer your readers. Do you want to offer them a link to purchase?

Bottom line, this is what I believe you really must tell them:

1. Your name silly. Be clear about it (you would think i would not have to say that huh lol)

2. Title (s)

3. ISBN!!!

4. Information about the titles

5. Depending on background, people might know about you

6. Optional link to purchase

7. Contact information – give them an email (most websites will include at least 1 free email I would never use your personal)

8. Color is good, not too much, you do not want to take away from your books.

9. If you have a good review, use it!

10. If you are appearing at signings, event, radio, tv, or even a scout meeting (kidding) let people know.

Paul Mitton had this to say:

1/ Easy to read (and by that I mean not dark backgrounds and white text – sorry, I know that describes many author websites, but it does present challenges to the visually impaired).

2/ Easy to navigate – identical links at top and bottom of the page, or at the side – not both.

3/ Each page should stick to the consistent theme (background, colour, style)

4/ Quick to load – don’t forget that many people still don’t have access to Broadband/DSL/cable

5/ Which means no big images on the pages. Use thumbnails and click to see a larger image

6/ No page should require horizontal scrolling; few pages should require vertical scrolling, so keep the text concise.

7/ Every page should be tested in a variety of browsers and at a variety of resolutions. If your website looks fine in Internet Explorer 6 and 7, Firefox 2 and 3, later versions of Opera and Safari, then you have covered 99 percent of the browsing audience. It should also be tested at resolutions of 800×600, 1024×768 and 1200×1024.

8/ Use CSS and JavaScript includes for ease of maintenance and to address the resolution issues.

9/ Validate every page using the W3C tools such as Bobby and Lint

10/ When using JavaScript includes, always include a no-script option. Why? Because most search engine spiders can’t follow page links that are held somewhere off the static page. The more other pages your page is linked to, even other pages on your site, the higher it features in search engine rankings. Use a text-only browser like Lynx to make sure that you can see lots of links on each page.

11/ Don’t embed music or sound on your pages. By all means put a clickable link to listen to something, but the last thing you want is for a potential buyer to wake the baby at 2 in the morning because they’ve surfed to your site and suddenly Celine Dion is blasting out loud enough to wake the dead!

12/ Never use scrolling or blinking text.

13/ Don’t have a Flash intro page with that hugely irritating ‘click here to enter the site…’ link. Why? Why not just enter the site straight away?

Now the marketing bits:

1/ I think that if you intend to have many books published, have one author site , not individual ones for each book. You are the brand!

2/ Yes, by all means have a blog. If you want people to post comments, you need to have some sort of membership and file locking system, which probably means you would need to be able to run and configure PHP or Perl Scripts and have a My SQL database system running on your web-server.

3/ Include a preview of your work(s) (but yes, check the contract with your publisher first.

4/ MOST IMPORTANT Include a link so people can purchase your book via Amazon, B & N etc. That is why you have the site in the first place, isn’t it?

5/ Do have book preview videos available on your site, also on You-tube, MySpace, Facebook, Bebo (depending on your target audience).

6/ Email – yes, fred@fredsworld.com is much more professional than fred991@hotmail.com – so own your own domain and have email re-directs to your private email address.

7/ Optimize your pages for search engines – use Google webmaster tools and create XML indexing pages.

Hopefully these lists will help anyone thinking about or in the beginning stages of setting up a new Author website.

Red Room Assignment: Favorite Novel

The assignment for this week’s Red Room Blog was to write about my favorite novel. It’s so hard for me to select one favorite novel. I have so many that have touched my life and my writing it would be impossible to choose one.

The Lord of the Ring series has influenced me through my love of dragons and mythical creatures, world and language creation as well as how people treat one another. My current WIP series is heavily influenced by JRR Tolkien’s vision.

Then there’s The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck which I read as a teen. Scenes from that book have haunted me since. I learned so much about Chinese culture and history from that book. I’ve even adopted a Vietnamese child.

1984 by George Orwell is one I’ve read several times over the decades. It is timeless and meaningful in any society at any given moment. I love its dark nature and the struggle for freedoms that we take for granted; the right to love whomever we choose, the right to READ.

Along those same lines I love The Giver by Lois Lowry. Again it is dark with spears of light and warmth. The reader grows along with the main character and you find yourself crying, rejoicing or mourning whenever he does. Few stories have moved me the way that one did.

And of course I adore ALL of the Harry Potter books. The characters are lovable, quirky, fun to read about and the darkness of the story is heavily punctuated with light-hearted moments. I only wish my own writing could be as universally read and my characters as universally loved.

So, as you can see, there is NO way I could select ONE favorite novel. I could actually keep listing stories that have touched my life and writing, but I won’t bore you. Discover your own list by reading, reading, reading. Discover other worlds to visit and meet new friends in books. You can check out my Dragons in the Dark  Volume I: Threshold on this blog or at Between the Dark and the Light.

Things I Learned About Writing in 2009

2009 was the first full year of my life I spent predominantly writing.  My family had to learn to be more self-sufficient (especially the 15-year-old male who kept saying, “Whatcha gonna fix for me to eat?” and walked away disappointed when I said, “You can do it yourself.”)

It was also a year of personal growth unlike any other I’ve had. Even as a new mom or new teacher (many years ago), I felt I learned more about life this year as I observed others and wrote about them or created new characters using those observations.

Things I learned about Writing for Children and in General in 2009:

This is a biggie. I attended a Picture Book Writing Conference because it was close to home (none are EVER held in North Florida) and came away with enough knowledge to write four really nice picture books which are being considered by a publisher as we speak. YAY! I’d never considered writing picture books because I think so grandly, but it was an interesting challenge to refocus my thinking. I might even do some more.

I also took a very blah Middle Grades novel and rewrote it from stem to stern for a YA audience with romance and new twists and turns. I played around with a MG version as well, but have decided to move on to the second book in the series instead.

So what did I learn?

KISS-keep it simple stupid. I started with a huge premise that was overwhelming and even I couldn’t keep track of it. After losing a lot of that (destined for future books in the series) the actual story became clear and writable.

Know your Characters . The first characters I designed were flat and dull; one dimensional and too goody-goody. So I threw them out, renamed them even, and gave them flaws and quirks and attitudes. That’s when the love triangle appeared and really worked! See my posts about designing characters. How to Create a Compelling Character Part I  & II (http://rebeccaryalsrussell.wordpress.com)

Outline the basic book before writing. This provides several aspects that you won’t have to go back and try to insert later.

Arc-Every story needs an arc, a curve, a bell curve from start to finish. Without a basic outline you can’t see where it is or even if there’s one present. A story without an arc is flat and uninteresting. Each chapter should have one as well.

Inciting Incident-What happened to cause a story to begin?

Plot Points-There should be three definitive times when your main character and/or plot change direction or learn something.

Climaxes-Yes, I said plural. That’s because the climax should be broken into three parts. If you don’t outline, this could come too early or too late in the story. It shouldn’t occur before 50 pages from the end of the story, according to several blogs I read over the course of the year.

Climax A- Lighting the fuse

Climax B- Watch it burn

Climax C- Kaboom!

Denouement- Wrap up.

While editing is critical, you can over-edit as well. I’m bad for that. Every time I look at my MS I want to change things around, add something or remove something. After a while it’s not the same MS I sent off. There comes a point when you have to say, “Good enough” and move on to the next book. BUT, you also MUST edit. No one writes the perfect MS first, third or even the fifth time. It takes time to write a good book.

There is so much more I learned but can’t list it all here. Start your own list for 2010 and you’ll have a finished blog for January 2011. That’s what I’m going to do.

Things I learned about Blogging in 2009:

• Do it often. Every week to ten days you should post something. (Although I don’t find the time to do this myself.)
• Choose an audience and keep your posts relative.
• Keep a file of Blogging Ideas from the news, other blogs, your own thoughts…
• Shorter posts are easier to read. Break long posts into Parts.
• Keep blog pages organized and clutter-free.
• Keep pictures to a minimum as it takes them too long to load and some might lose interest.
• Proofread posts before posting. Editors, publishers, etc, will see them.

Hopefully some of these ideas will help stimulate you to write or begin a blog or look into improving your writing by reading others’ blogs, etc. It’s how I’ve learned. There’s a wealth of good info out there waiting to be found.  I might even do a blog on that…

Some Florida Writers Who Twitter

Out of curiosity I wondered how many Florida writers were on Twitter so I searched Twellow and amassed the following list. If you are a writer living in Florida with a Twitter account and wish to be included on this list, comment me and I’ll add you.

cori padgett | @coripadgett Lover of Rain..Slightly OCD..Stellar Professional Writer.. Young Mom!  Location: Orlando, Florida

SeoulLady.Com | @SeoulLady Hi, my name is Victoria, I ‘ve just come down to Miami, Florida. Some people call me Liz. My website will tell you how to become a good writer !

ashleyladd | @ashleyladd love to read and write erotic romance – vampire, time-travel, comedy-contemporary, M/F, M/M, MMF. I want to network with other writers, readers, moms, American Idol, cat, and Star Trek lovers.  http://www.total-e-bound.com

Susan M. Heim | @ParentingAuthor Mother of 4 – two teenagers and preschool twins (all boys). Author of 5 books, including 2 about twins. Former Chicken Soup for the Soul editor.

Ron Williams | @inkwest Writer / Designer / Evil Genius / Artist / Graphic Novelist  Location: Jacksonville, Florida

Kathy Riordan | @katriord One woman’s view of life and the universe.

Sandy Hall | @sandyhall I am an Author, Online Entrepreneur, EBook Creator | Writer | Publisher.. I Love Working Online and Helping People With Affiliate | Internet | eBay Marketing Location: Treasure Coast – Sunny Florida

Rashad Jennings | @RashadJennings Writing a book. Enjoy causing ppl to slow down and “think” Always laughing Just drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars #23. I play guitar. enjoy the follow!

Don Millard |@OTOOLEFAN Sardonic Writer and Artist, Current PressRoom Drone Loves Peter O’Toole, Writing, Comedy and All Things Irish  Location: Florida (Tan Belt)

Maria Nerius | @MariaNerius Craft professional, author, writer, gardener, and pet owner. I’m here to network with other creative people! Fibromyalgia is a part of my life.

Jimmy Palmiotti | @jpalmiotti writer of JONAH HEX, POWERGIRL, PAINKILLER JANE, THE LAST RESORT AND A NUMBER OF ASSORTED COMICS, TV AND FILM

Sue Reddy | @reddywriting Publicist, Fiction Writer of Navy SEALs, sports fan. Don’t send quizzes. I don’t take them.

Sandra Friend | @sandrafriend Florida travel writer, author, blogger, speaker, hiker, trail enthusiast. Member SATW, ASJA, FOWA, SCBWI. Take a hike, Florida!  Location: Ocala, FL

Janet Dawson | @PoetJanetDawson A Writer 1 book published (G MarksThe Spot)working on the other one (The Art Of Me),

Andrea Shea King | @RadioPatriot Radio show host/Writer/columnist at World Net Daily  Location: Central Florida

Christian M. Archer | @carcher777 I am a novelist and creative writing teacher!  Location: Jasper, Florida

Teresa Mears | @miamicheap Teresa Mears is a publisher, editor, writer and owner of South Florida On the Cheap blogs   Location: Miami

Kevin Lintner | @kjlintner Horror Writer. Musician. Husband. Father. Socialist. Equal Opportunity Annoyer. If you are stupid, I will find you, and mock you mercilessly.

DebraMarrs | @DebraMarrs Editor and Coach for Writers. Author of: Writing Your Life Stories. Help U Get Organized to Get Your Writing Project Launched, Build A Platform, Generate Buzz

bohemianliving | @bohemianliving Hippie-used to practice law now Im writing and flying free- Live Free Write Well Location: Orlando, Florida

Janet Conner | @janetconner Writing Down Your Soul, Conari Press.Madly in love with soul writing, science&spirituality, mystical poetry, prayer. Teach how to connect with the Voice within.  Location: Ozona, Florida

Florida Book News | @FloridaBookNews Florida Book News is dedicated to getting the word out about Florida writers, books and organizations.

Kim Weiss | @kimmerieweiss Author, Writer & Book Coach-PR Director-Blog Mistress-Music Lover/Singerhttp://www.helpmewithmybook.com/blog

Charles Dennis | @WriterCharlesD Writer, Poet of 30 years. Location: Cape Coral, Florida.

The Hive Mind | @thehivemind Writer, WriteTilt.com Artiste, geek, bookworm, sci-fi fan, forward-thinker, perfectionist, loner, tea drinker, music lover, film nut, vegan

The 23rd | @writefast Author of the soon to be released SciFi:365, writer, podcaster, artist, geek dad, rolaids, caffeine, http://the23rd.ning.com/

Joseph Paulino | @JoePinOrl Poet, Writer, Entrepreneur  Location: Orlando, Florida

George LaCas | @George9Writer Writer & Artist … author of The Legend of Jimmy Gollihue

Kim Molner | @OfCourage Kim Molner is a cartoonist, illustrator and writer.

Jill Christine | @mintconspiracy Writer (chick lit, short horror, YA paranormal), designer, monster wrangler. I sell plush creatures via Etsy when I’m not serving as my muses’ secretary.

Crimson Shrine | @CrimsonShrine I am a writer, artist, philosopher and poet

LindaStamberger | @LindaStamberger Author, Editor, Freelance Writer, Artist. Recently finished my first fiction novel; ROMANTIC SUSPENSE

Susan Hilliard | @writingsh53 Writing Resources, Book Reviews & Writing Tips Location: Cape Coral, Florida

Charlene Weston | @charleneweston I’m charming, friendly and honest. I love writing fictional and non-fictional stories as: horror, love and children etc. Also,into knowledge & personal growth. Location: Miami, Florida

SaraRoseWrites | @skirtsararose Writer and Moe’s steak burrito consumer  Location: Jacksonville, Florida

Lou Belcher | @LouWrites Writer, editor, photographer. Writing,editing and consulting on book-length fiction and non-fiction, and blogging.

Helen Akers | @HSPWriter Creative writer, highly sensitive person, INFP, philosophy, spirituality, music, film, theatre enthusiast  Location: N. Colorado/Tampa,Florida

Harley May | @harleymaywrites Super mutant wife mom lady. Writer of many short stories and a YA urban fantasy. A reader, joker, drinker, and biter of babies.

Patricia Byron | @1abstractgirl Artist, teacher, writer, poet…

Jhonny Thermidor | @JhonnyThermidor I’m a student. I can see myself as a successful poet in the next few years, I enjoy writing & reading. Poetry is my passion.My passion is what keeps me alive.

TammyMcDuffie | @TammyMcDuffie I am a single mother of 5, I’m a writer, poet, and a giver of wisdom and LOVE!!!   Location: Cape Canaveral, Florida

Kimberly | @gladeslibrarian First, I’m a mom. Next, I’m a librarian interested in sharing great books that entertain, encourage, enlighten, enrich and empower young adults. I’m also a chicken owner, quilter, knitter, reader, writer, YA book reviewer, weight trainer and more.  Location: South Florida

Roy Peter Clark | @RoyPeterClark Taught writing at Poynter since 1977. Author of the book Writing Tools.  Location: St. Petersburg, Florida

Ray Cates | @rcates2 Writer, teacher, book store owner  Location: Ocala & Port Orange Florida

JC Hutchins / @jchutchins Writer, Published Author/Podcaster  http://JCHutchins.net/order Location: Ft Lauderdale

Stacie McElroy/ @stacielcm http://lottelinedesign365.blogspot.com

Medeia Sharif/ @sharifwrites http://sharifwrites.com

Eric Taubert/ @EricTaubert http://capecoralbarometer.com Location: Cape Coral, Fl

Rebecca Ryals Russell | @Vigorio Writer of MG and YA Dark Fantasy; Vacation Rental Owner; Mommy and Wife http://rebeccaryalsrussell.wordpress.com Location: Wellborn, North Central Florida, USA

More agent figures about choosing MS to

More agent figures about choosing MS to publish. Truly depressing. Do it yourself, here I come. http://ow.ly/ZUJ3

My Favorite Short Story: The Most Dangerous Game

As a teen I really got into reading the classics. One of the short stories I fell in love with was The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell ©1924.

There are a lot of reasons why this has become my favorite story. In fact, I’d say it must be a favorite of a lot of people the way it’s been used in television shows (Reality TV), movies (Savages (1975),  The Naked Prey (1966), Surviving the Game (1994)) and books (The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins).

One of the things I like about it is the way the main character, Rainsford, changes from the know-it-all hunter insisting that Jaguars have no feeling beyond instinct to the hunted and knowing what it feels like. The character of General Zaroff is interesting in his lack of humanity. He sees hunting men as sport born out of boredom in his life. He even goes so far as to purposely crash ships in order to obtain ‘game’ to hunt and classifies people as worthy or not. He seems to have developed a god complex, although there is some question by Connell about his being purely evil.

The story is incredibly well-written with some of the best descriptions I’ve read. …”trying to peer through the dank, tropical night, it was palpable as it pressed its thick warm blackness in upon the yacht”; or …”a screen of leaves as thick as a tapestry”; …”black cigarette; its pungent incense-like smoke”; …”He lived a year in a minute”; the best is …”an apprehensive night crawled slowly by like a wounded snake and sleep did not visit Rainsford although the silence of a dead world was on the jungle.”

The story is timeless. Although Connell references many things appropriate to his time-period, such as “mid-Victorian” attitude, Madame Butterfly, Folies Bergere, the over-all theme of man’s inhumanity to man is timeless. For many years this story has been studied by 14-15 year-olds in school literature classes.

I love the way Connell chose to end the story. He didn’t describe the final battle, he didn’t even show Rainsford killing General Zaroff or tossing him from the window. All he did was suggest that “one of us will feed the dogs and sleep in this fine bed” then the final sentence stated: “He had never slept in a better bed, Rainsford decided.” Classy.

For the Love of Reading and Writing

I recently received an email inviting me to respond to the following prompt. I didn’t even have to think hard about the answer. My fingers immediately began dancing across the keyboard and the following essay is the result.

Who first introduced you the love of books and reading? What about them resonated so deeply with you that you came to love books and reading too?

I learned to love books and reading from my father. Daddy grew up in a household so poor they never had newspapers, magazines or books in the house. Oddly enough, however, he broke the mold of most kids in that situation and learned to escape into the worlds of books borrowed from the library. He wrote stories and poems that no one ever saw. I found them after he had died and sat for days reading the genius of this modest man who could never find it in himself to seek publishing, but should have. In high school the guidance counselor recognized his potential and helped get him a scholarship to U of F. He chose to go into teaching.

When I came along his last year of college I quickly became Daddy’s girl. We rode to the A&W stand on his red motorscooter in the evening for rootbeer floats and went boating and fishing down the Oklawaha River and Rainbow Springs River. All the time Daddy would talk about stories he’d read and characters he’d read about. By the time I was in Middle School I was devouring anything written by Ray Bradbury, JRR Tolkien, HG Wells, George Orwell, Edgar Allan Poe, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings and more. We would discuss the characters and plots and find the symbolism together. He was the best teacher anyone could have asked for.

By the time I could write I scribbled poems and stories and songs. Throughout my entire life I have written. I still have most of it and sit giggling at the insanity of it some days. Today I am a struggling writer of YA/MG literature. Each time I finish something I feel proud of I wish I could show it to my Daddy and let him know what a wonderful influence he was on my literary development. Finally getting published and becoming an author of books enjoyed by others will be the cherry on my rootbeer float and I know Daddy will be smiling.