All the World's a Game...

All the World's a Game - The Beginnings of Dime Store Novel

Sometimes a story starts with an image. Sometimes with an overheard conversation. Dime Store Novel started with a game.

We owned a game shop at the time -- a little place frequented mostly by teenage boys. Some nights we held a role-playing game in the basement. That night John was running a game we'd never played before -- Call of Cthulhu, a game based on the fiction of H. P. Lovecraft. John was the storyteller. I played a young herbalist named Toledo Cats who had a mangy cat named Voodoo. Tony, a friend of ours, played Hanover Fist, a young detective who had a thing for Toledo.

The time - the 1920s. The place - a haunted house in New Orleans. We were ready to rock. Officer O'Malley made his first appearance as a ghost who calls Hanover and tells him he needs to investigate this house. O'Malley didn't have a first name yet or a wife and daughter -- those details of his life would emerge much later. Hanover's parents owned a restaurant and a friend named Doug played a priest who sat in the restaurant slurping soup. If you've read From the Gator's Mouth, you know that  Doug's slurping priest gets a cameo. The story was suspenseful -- what story about a house haunted by zombies isn't? But it was also humorous.

John went on to run several other Call of Cthulhu campaigns. Tony always played Hanover Fist. I rotated between Toledo Cats and Regan Worth, the flapper daughter of a bootlegger who loved to flirt with Hanover.

The characters stuck. John got the idea to write a series called Dime Store Novel. He took a stab at one using the Lovecraft mythos. It was close, but not quite right. One night before dinner, we were talking about the world. I said, "Why not create our own mythos?"

The light went on. Soon after, Agatha, the earthbound swamp goddess was born, followed shortly thereafter by Caprice, the goddess of chaos. As the stories evolved, the gods proliferated. Khrou-ach, the storm god, and Acongojar, the pain god, became antagonists inRips in the Weave and The Desert Rose. Chiindii, the god of the desert, and Ravir, the goddess of pleasure, are key to the plot in bothThe Desert Rose and The Reunion. We also gave fairies and goblins a different twist. I don't want to spoil the fun, so you'll need to read the books to figure that out. The good news is, you can get The Reunion kindle edition FREE during our Lucky Friday the 13th special (Friday 7/13 through Monday 7/16). We'd like to invite you to escape the humdrum world of day to day and experience the world we created at a gaming table in a cool, dimly lit basement.

The Dime Store Novel characters blog at http://dimestorenovel.blogspot.com.

A huge Thank you to the great writers of Dime Store Novels! Go, get and Read!

Book reviews, how to deal. Glamor of a writer's life.

What a long week. I read a few blogs, most are about books and eBooks and what the writers are doing. I was sent a blog to read "Big Al's Books and Pals". He did a review of a book. He said it was interesting, but need some work on spelling and grammar. Its not a bad review, but the writer hated it. She went into a public melt down that was embarrassing for herself. Many asked her to stop but sadly she didn't in fact she resorted to profanity. I don't know the lady, no idea whats going on in her life. It was so sad to see someone ruin a chance of a book deal. Many agents read blogs and blogs that review books. We have all had one time or another been on the end of someones meltdown. We have also all had meltdowns but most of don't go public. I feel bad for this lady up to a point, but be real not everyone is going to love your work. I had a bad review but sadly the reviewer couldn't be nice enough to say why he disliked my book. I wish this lady well and hope she gets her act together.
I read another blog saying as a writer we should teach others to write. I was a High School teacher. I taught art for a long time. The people who read my blog are adults and have read books on how to write and some have taken classes in college. Some read my blog because they want to know what is up with me and when my next book is out. I will not insult them by saying you need to read this book on how to or do what ever. If asked I can honestly say everyone write in his or her own way. Books on how to are a tool. You can read every book ever written on how to but you still need an imagination.
Many people think a writers life is all glamor. Not so, most are hard working people who hold down a full time job, family life and then write their books, blogs and do publicity work for them selves. Having four full time jobs is not easy. Its stressful and very hard work. Please be kind to them and support them and if you read a book that's good to you pass it on to others. Today I am  passing on a book that is very good to read.  "A Proper Charlie" by Louise Wise. You can get her book on Amazon.com.
As for me I have been working the on five shorts stories for my book. I wrote most of these stories over the last year. I write in a notebook I call my sloppy copy book. I then put on the computer for spelling and grammar then off to editor and then re-done, repeat. It is a slow process and I do have to do things like clean house, cook and walk Princess. Oh the glamor of it all.
So here are a few writers I would recommend to anyone. Stephen King is a great story teller, Jack Ketchum will scare you to bits, Dan Simmons can tell you a tale you wont put down and if you like historical fiction kind of girly go for Philippa Gregory. Here are few other cool writers you many not know.....Debbie Mack, Louise Wise, Greg Messel, Belinda Frisch, Debra Purdy Kong check them out on Twitter.
So what book would you recommend me to read?