ArcheBooks' Writers Forums!

My publisher, ArcheBooks, introduced new boards today! We have all sorts of forums where you can talk to authors from fantasy to sci-fi to horror to contempory and self-help.

There's also an area for Conventions, Events, marketing tips, general writing conversation and lots more.

Drop by and check out the forums!

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About the Author -

Raven Bower is the author of the upcoming horror novel, Apparitions (ArcheBooks, May 2007)

Apparitions

My debut horror novel, Apparitions, just got its first blurb! I'm very excited about it as it comes from one of my favorite authors - Steve Alten (Author of MEG, The Trench, MEG: Primal Waters and The LOCH).

Check out what Steve has to say about Apparitions here!

Take a gander at Steve's books here!

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About the Author -

Raven Bower is the author of the upcoming horror novel, Apparitions (ArcheBooks May 2007)

Grave Thoughts

I've got exciting news! Greg from Grave Thoughts will be hosting me on his show on April 10th. There will be a short reading from Apparitions and an interview. He seems like a really interesting guy and I can't wait to talk with him.

In the meanwhile, check out his site and listen to the other authors and artists he has featured including - Steve Vernon, Gary Braunbeck and Scott Nicholson.

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About the author -

Raven Bower is the author of the upcoming horror novel, Apparitions (ArcheBooks May 2007)

Time Change

[Start Public Service Message] This is a warning. This is real and not a test. Starting this Saturday at Midnight (our beloved hour even...blasphamy...) the clocks turn forward by one hour. Yes. We lose one hour of darkness. Find and prepare your shelters now! Again, this is not a test........This has been a public service message from the dark side.[/End Public Service Message]

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About the author -

Raven Bower is the author of the upcoming horror novel, Apparitions (ArcheBooks 2007)

New Method!

On my web site I mentioned that I'll be using a new method with Windigo (horror / suspense) than I have with my previous two novels - Apparitions (horror / suspense) and Night Wing (dark fantasy). Here's a brief summary of the new system -

All characters (big and small) are written out on 3x5" cards.
Each character with major to moderate roles are color coded with different markers
Each character with minor roles are color coded all in yellow.

I'm keeping a running set of cards on 'Detail' - ie the details of the fictional town I've created for Windigo.

Each scene or sequel is written out on a card and color coded in the VP (view point) character's color. Included on the card is a list of details (sensory type stuff - this addition is thanks to M.B Weston), list of actions, brief summary, list of emotions and most importantly the RESULT (effect) of the scene.

Working with a cause and effect system I list out each scene and sequal, make a calendar allotting for when each happens in 'fiction time'. Then I break these cards into chapters usually consisting of 4 average sized VPs or up to 7 short ones.

Then all of these are placed neatly into an index file with appropriate segments ie - Characters, Details, Chapter 1, Chapter 2 and so forth.

On top of this file I keep a 3 pronged folder with print outs of the major characters' bio sheets, intensive write up of the area and general plots (broken into the main plot and the various sub plots).

Annnnd I keep a spiral notebook (usually a matching color - I lean heavily to purple ;) ) where I do my bubble charts, notes and various other doodling.

It seems intensive but for anyone that's taken on a novel length work organization is key! Or in my case, organised chaos...

So this is my new system. Once Windigo is out you can let me know if it worked!

____________________
About the author -

Raven Bower is the author of the upcoming horror novel, Apparitions (ArcheBooks 2007)

World Fantasy Convention '07

I just got an email from the WFC - their hotel rooms are already half full. If you're planning on attending please book your room soon!

For more info visit them here

____________________
About the author -

Raven Bower is the author of the upcoming horror novel, Apparitions (ArcheBooks 2007)

Banners for Apparitions

Banners for Apparitions - regular and animated - are ready and up at the web site. We also have a mini-trailer ready that has a neat ghost image in it.

This week we'll be working on the 'movie' trailer for Apparitions. I'll keep you guys up to date on that and put it on the web site to view when it's done.

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About the author -

Raven Bower is the author of the upcoming horror novel, Apparitions (ArcheBooks, May 2007)

New Web Site Design

Whoever works on web design for a living is an angel or demon...in either case they possess unearthly powers of patience.

After lots of trial and error we present the new and greatly improved Raven Bower web site!

Take a gander. It's design has been spiffed up and 98% of the content is available. There are some links to horror sites, Halloween sites and other fun stuff.


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About the author:

Raven Bower is the author of the upcoming horror novel, Apparitions (ArcheBooks May 2007)

The Guardian

Since I'm between projects I was able to eek in a second movie this week. I choose The Guardian because of the trailers I saw of it with the stormy seas. Being a huge fan of the seas and lakes I just had to see this one.

I'm glad I did! It was an all around excellent movie with great cast and story line. I particularly liked the ghost spin at the end of it. That the ghost of Randall continued on with the life saving work he did when he was alive.

I've read stories of ghosts in forests saving people that were lost within them by leading them to houses or roads. It was pretty neat to hear of a nautical story that had the same slant of helpful ghosts.

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About the Author -
Raven Bower is the author of the upcoming horror novel, Apparitions (ArcheBooks May 2007)

Free Ebook!

My publisher is offering a free e-book to anyone that visits their web site. Take a gander! You might even find some neat new authors.

ArcheBooks

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About the author -
Raven Bower is the author of the upcoming horror novel, Apparitions (ArcheBooks 2007)

Gist of the Novel

As the release date gets closer I figured I'd give a taste of what Apparition's is about:

In Apparitions the supernatural meets modern reality in the tourist town of White Sands, Michigan. Bailey Khane is a renowned author visited by ghostly guests; murder victims seeking the peace of the grave. Unbeknownst to her, they were all slain by the same man. Caught between the growing shadow of his knife and the unholy fury of the dead he has left in his wake, she is forced to call upon obscure knowledge of the occult, superstition and myth to survive.

…will she succeed?

When Andy Bennett searches for the answers to his sister’s murder he is drawn into a web of horror and shambling corpses. With Bailey high on his list of suspects -

Will he draw her from their clutches and risk becoming their prey?

Sheriff Jay Carson and Deputy Raines fight to form a line between their citizens and the creatures that crave to destroy them.

Will they fall and leave their town defenceless in the face of death?

So it's a mix of a ghost story, heavily supernatural and also includes a nasty serial killer and zombies! whoo

I don't know about you, but Zombies have always frightened the daylights out of me.

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About the author -
Raven Bower is the author of the upcoming horror novel, Apparitions (ArcheBooks April 2007)

ITW Contest

Here's a fun contest from the International Thriller Writers --

150 Thrillers!

It's a thriller lover's dream - the chance to win 150 novels by some of the biggest and best thriller authors in the business. That's right, 150.

Imagine receiving books written by Joseph Finder, Tess Gerritsen, John Lescroart, Gayle Lynds, and David Baldacci for free. Then multiply that by thirty, because they represent only five of the 150 books you will receive if you're the winner in the International Thriller Writer's "150 Thrillers" contest.

The best part? Just by entering you'll begin receiving the free ITW newsletter, a monthly email newsletter that contains loads of information about upcoming thriller novels, thriller authors and thriller news.

All you have to do is go to www.150Thrillers.com, or email contest@150Thrillers.com before February 15th and sign up to get the free ITW newsletter. That's it.

Once you've subscribed, you're entered. The winner will be picked randomly from all entrants, and will receive 150 thriller novels from some of the top novelists writing today. Three runner-up entrants will each receive a copy of the 2006 Thriller Anthology, edited by James Patterson. But really, everyone who signs up to receive the ITW newsletter is a winner.

So go on, sign up. You know you want to.

Please note: one entry per person, and, as usual, ITW will not share your email information with anyone.

For further information, contact M.J. Rose at MJRoseAuthor@aol.com

Happy New Year!

The time has come to say farewell to 2006 and usher in 2007! YAY! 2006 was a rough year for us and I can't wait to kick its arse out the door.

Sticking with tradition I've concocted a list of New Year's Resolutions. I find that if I use the word 'will' instead of 'I'll try' etc. and keep things doable it's easy to obtain most if not all of your goals.

So for 2007 I WILL:

Spend more time with positive friends and family members
Support hubby in his artistic endeavors
Work more with the kiddos
Do my best editing job on Apparitions and get it out to you
Find a home for Night Wing
Have Windigo done by November
Continue to learn and grow in my chosen fields
Work out regularly so I can be around to write for a good long while

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About the author -
Raven Bower is the author of the upcoming horror novel, Apparitions (ArcheBooks April 2007)

Raven's Blog

Merry Christmas!

To everyone out there, mortal or ghostly, have a Merry Christmas!

Enjoy the season and all it brings. Remember that life is short, too short to be serious all the time. Too short to worry about the trifles like... 'oh I can't possibly have another piece of pie.' Sure you can! Like I said about Thanksgiving, add in a few more reps to whatever thing you do to keep in shape and no one will be the wiser come mid-January that you splurged at the table.

Anywho, as an update my second novel, and first in my fantasy series, Night Wing is done! Took a wee longer than I expected but...done none the less. Once the final reader does his edits then I'll print it out. After that it gets a final reading by me and a final polish and then...dun dun dun...off to the publisher!

After that I can get to work on the outline and character sheets for Windigo, the sequel to Apparitions.

It's exciting! 2007 here we come!

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About the author -

Raven Bower is the author of the upcoming horror novel, Apparitions (ArcheBooks April 2007)

Raven's Blog

WFC

Just got the approval handed down by DH…we're going to the World Fantasy Convention in Saratoga NY! From what I've been reading on it, it sounds like it'll be a grand time!

To make it even better the topic of the 2007 WFC is 'Ghosts and Revenants' :)

Seems like they'll be covering all sorts of ghostly goodies in works of fiction past and how it relates to our current works -- particularly the fantastic. Here's their site if you want to take a look --

http://www.lastsfa.org/wfc2007/index.html

It'll be a great time. Hope to see you there!

__________________

About the Author -

Raven Bower is the author of the upcoming horror novel, Apparitions (ArcheBooks April 2007)

Raven's Blog

Release Delay

Apparitions' scheduled release month has changed from March to April of 2007.

Which gives me an extra month to get Night Wing wrapped up! Phew.

Happy Thanksgiving

Take a few moments out of the hectic Holiday rush to give thanks for all your blessings. It's what Thanksgiving is about!

I think my dentist has a fabulous idea too. Instead of promising yourself you won't stuff yourself this holiday season...just admit that it'll happen and have fun! Eat and enjoy! It's better than feeling down on yourself or guilty about the fun and good times you had.

Just increase your activity for the next month by a few minutes a day and your body will never know you splurged.

Writing About the Supernatural

The supernatural, ghosts and all the howling, growling creatures have all ways enthralled me. When I was young I used to sneak downstairs to peer into the living room late at night when my mom was watching movies about mummies or those short ghost stories they used to show on T.V. I thought I was being the ultimate sneak. Now I'm sure she knew I was there and just didn't say anything. My earliest recollection of a movie was the B&W version of the Mummy.

My novel, Apparitions, was my first venture into actually writing a book length work of fiction that revolved around ghosts. Like the films of old it's very much a ghost story yet it also has a human side. For right now though we'll stick with the ghosts and their creation.

Whenever you're working with a critter that isn't known to science -- whether it be ghost, werewolf, dragon or anything in-between -- plausibility is your main obstacle. The apparitions you show must be 'real' and to be real they must have a set of rules that they abide by. Once you set these rules they shouldn't be broken.

If you've done any reading into the supernatural or the occult you'll know there are hundreds of different theories. Which do you choose, if any?

My answer -- whatever suits your fancy and your story so long as you can set the rules and maintain them throughout your story.

If at the beginning of the novel you show that a ghost cannot leave the place it is bound to then none of your ghosts can move outside of their allotted area. If they do then the reader will rightly assume that since one rule is void they all are and they may cease to believe in your ghosts.

For Apparitions I chose to follow Greer's view on ghosts for the most part. You will see however that I tainted it as well. I twisted a few rules and made their nature more sinister than he puts forth. I took a few of their known abilities and enhanced them.

Perhaps one of the oddest things I did (for me the writer) was to insert myself into a few of the ghosts' viewpoints. Now that was an eerie experience!

Whichever way you choose to work your ghosts and beasties unknown -- be very careful when deciding. Keep your plot and characters in mind at all times. Stick to your rules and let the shudders begin!


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About the Author -

Raven Bower is the author of the upcoming supernatural horror novel, Apparitions (ArcheBooks March 2007)

Raven's Blog

Ghosts in The Attic

…or bats in the belfry.

I've always wondered why most people view supernatural events, ghosts or horrific sightings with such a negative eye. Some people sensitive to the supernatural have been accused of taking mind-altering substances or being wonky in the head.

Why?

Is it fear? Are skeptics so afraid of what might exist that they endow themselves with the arrogant right to declare infallibly that ghosts, spirits and monsters do not exist?

If so, what causes this fear? Is it that it opens an entire realm that they cannot control? Or is it more personal…if there are spirits there is life after death and perhaps our actions or inaction here do play a role in our final destiny?

Or are they really that arrogant to believe that their view of reality is the true view of reality and nothing else exists?

Points to ponder.

Me, I'll stick with admitting my ignorance thanks.

I can say ghosts exist because I've seen and felt them. Spirits too. I've had supernatural experiences too and you can call me batty if you want -- I think they're cute.

As for the rest…I've never seen anything out of cryptozoology (such an intriguing field by the way) but I don’t see why such strange and interesting animals couldn't exist.

In the end I think the question is more -- why wouldn't they exist and who are we to place limits on this world and this universe when really…we know so very little about it.

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About the author -

Raven Bower is the author of the upcoming horror / suspense novel, Apparitions (ArcheBooks March 2007)

Raven's Hollow

Happy Halloween!

For those who love to create the thrill and chill of fear! For darklings, strangelings, the morbid and the imaginative --

Have a grand time on this most hallowed of holidays!

Perhaps take some time out and read a ghost story or better yet, read it to someone else too.


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About the author -

Raven Bower is the author of the upcoming horror novel, Apparitions (ArcheBooks March 2007)

Raven's Blog