R.A.’s Musings

News Headlines Often Provide Inspiration for Horror

Posted by R.A. Evans writes... on May 7, 2012
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It’s the second most frequently asked question fans and readers pose at events and signings – “Where do you get your ideas from?”  I am sure the question is posed to nearly all authors – regardless of their chosen genre. With horror, however, the inquiry always seems to be laced with a healthy dose of fear – which is good – because fear is the fuel which powers my gray-matter engine. Everything I write boils down to me trying my very best to elicit fear in my readers – the humor and warm & fuzzy scenes I sprinkle into my stories are merely icing on the proverbial “nightmare cake”.

Dive Into the MysterySo where do I get my ideas? The answer might just surprise you.  Asylum Lake/Grave Undertakings started as a journal entry about struggling with the death of my father and the memories I would sometimes encounter when I travelled home to the small town where I grew up. Of course, there was no abandoned psychiatric hospital in my neighborhood or haunted board games to deal with. The inspiration for the story and the dark turns I take that inspiration are two very different things.

For FLIGHT, the project to follow the release of Grave Undertakings, inspiration came from a TIME Magazine article about the military’s use of passenger aircraft to transport the bodies of soldiers killed in action during the Gulf War.  The practice was eventually discontinued, but I oculdn’t get the visual out of my head of those flag-draped boxes next to the luggage in  the cargo holds of planes.  I merely, added a diabolical pharmaceutical company doing military rsearch and a spreading zombie apocalypse – just small elements which  make the actual story much more interesting (insert evil laugh here).

The lesson I’ve learned is that inspiration is a real bitch and that you sometimes have to take what the world gives you and turn it to your own dark devices.  You can imagine my glee when this headline from the BBC scrolled across my computer - SOUTH KOREA TO TARGET POWDERED HUMAN FLESH CAPSULES.

Will I do anything with this story? The jury is still out. I’ve been wrestling with a vampire story inspired by an article from Newsweek. You see, apparently scientists are on the verge of identifying the gene responsible for causing mosquitos to crave blood. Once modified, these malaria-carrying insects could be erradicated or at least controlled to no longer spread dangerous diseases.  In more capable hands this story would practically write itself.

So what will I do with these powdered human flesh capsules? As much as i would like to turn my imagination loose on developing the horrific who, what, where, and why – I just don’t have the time.  For now, I’ll just allow myself to quietly wonder what a powdered human flesh capsule tastes like and whether it is a  better strategy to  swallow them whole or to bite through and enjoy every last grainy morsel? 

Cheers from Bedlam Falls!

R. A. Evans

A Brush with Greatness: Killing time in Line at the Bank

Posted by R.A. Evans writes... on April 26, 2012
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I had to run a few errands on my lunch hour yesterday – pick up a prescription and deposit a royalty check at the bank.  Of course, when I arrived at the pharmacy my prescription wasn’t ready. I insist on using my corner pharmacy in an effort to “buy local” but when my son has an ear infection I kinda need to get the antibiotics relatively quick. You can imagine my mood when I pulled into the bank and saw five cars ahead of me in line for the ATM.  The world, it had seemed, was conspiring against me.

I opted for a quick run into the bank in hopes that most of the with banking needs were just as lazy as I usually try to be and were exercising their right be lazy by  not walking the thirty feet from the parking lot to the lobby. Sadly, the line was long inside, too. 

I took my place in line and quickly morphed into full people watching mode. I love to people watch, In fact, it has to be one of my favorite past times.  That’s when I noticed the woman standing in front of me in line – she was reading her Kindle. After a few failed attempts to peek over her shoulder I was finally able to decipher what she was reading – ASYLUM LAKE.

I could tell she was far enough in to have made some sort of commitment to the book – somewhere in Chapter 9 if my memory serves. Brady had already had several encounters with the Scrabble Board and young Lionel was beyond his visit with the Reed family. If this woman were going to bail on the story she probably would have done so by now.

The line dragged along slowly as I watched this woman page along on her Kindle.  The internal debate was raging – do I introduce myself? Do Iask her if she is enjoying the story? I could feel my anxiety level rising as I wondered what to do.  Would an introduction be a cool and memorable moment or might it just come across as desperate and strange?

The pace must have picked up as I stood there debating my options. Without warning the woman was called to the counter and was soon out the door. Later, as I drove back to the office, I thought about her missed oppportunity to meet the author of such a fine tale (insert sarcasm). That’s when it hit me – the missed opportunity wasn’t hers. I had missed the opportunity to thank a reader for investing their time – and $2.99 unless she downloaded it on a free day – into my debut thriller.

You see, at the end of the day the fact that I published a book really isn’t any great feat. Trust me, anyone with a computer can upload an ebook to Amazon and call themself an author. It’s having readers that allow me to be a SUCCESSFUL author – and even that is subjective. I shouldn’t feel as though I am making a reader’s day by introducing myself, I need to focus on the fact that they have made my day by choosing one of my titles to spend their time with.

Whoiever you were, mysterious woman in line at the bank, just know that I think you’re great!

And that, my friends, was my brush with greatness.

Inside the Story of Grave Undertakings

Posted by R.A. Evans writes... on April 13, 2012
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According to Native American legends, the souls of the dead are carried to the afterlife on the wings of a crow. Sometimes, however, the manner of death is so vile that the soul is weighted down by sadness, grief or guilt. In these instances, the crow is unable to carry the soul to the land of the dead, leaving the  soul in limbo.  These unfortunate souls, carried by crows, cannot rest until those wrongs have been righted.

For those of you who have read my thriller Asylum Lake you know of the restless souls searching to right the wrongs which still hold them captive. It is through their tormented eyes that many of the secrets of the mysterious abandoned asylum will continue to be revealed. Their souls, however, are not the only burden carried on the wings of the crow.

Other legends provide vastly different accounts of the crow.  These legends speak of the black-winged bird as a scavenger of the dead, a feeder on the flesh of the departed, and even a devourer of the souls of the living.  It begs the question – to what use would a crow put the soul of a man?   Is it merely a coincidence that the crow  flies higher into the heavens than nearly all of its feathered bretheren?  Perhaps it is the stolen souls of men which carry the crow ever-closer to the creator.

In Grave Undertakings you will learn much more about the neverending  journey of  the soul.  The veil which separates the living from the dead has been parted, allowing the most restless of souls to revisit their grief, anger, and loss upon the living.  This parting, however, also provides the living an opportunity to prey upon the souls of the dead.

The cast of characters widens with Grave Undertakings as the story moves both forward and backward in time to reveal even more secrets.  Although much of the story is spent within the walls of the Lake View Asylum, readers will also journey beyond Bedlam Falls to follow the trail of Dr. Wesley Clovis.  From the coal mines of West Virginia to Gray’s Crossing, Indiana, the search for answers eventually leads back to The Lake of Tears.

I look forward to the unearthing of Grave Undertakings on May 22nd and hope you find as much enjoyment in reading my dark tale as I have had in writing it.

Cheers from Bedlam Falls!

R. A. Evans

Black Friday: Eddie Vedder Cancels U.S. Tour

Posted by R.A. Evans writes... on April 6, 2012
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Saddened by the news today that Eddie Vedder has cancelled his 2012 solo U.S. tour  due to nerve damage in his arm.  I’ve been a fan of Pearl Jam for more than 20 years and have wanted to take in one of Eddie’s solo performances for quite some time – and this was going to be the year!

Concert dates are being rescheduled and who knows – maybe I’ll still make it to see him this year; Halloween in Vegas does have a nice ring to it. Needless to say I’ll be mourning this in my own unique way – cranking my iPod to 11 and doing some writing about things dark and dangerous!

Tonight’s writing session playlist will surely include my top 10 Pearl Jam tracks/covers/performances of all time. I thought I would share them with you here (including Links to videos on YouTube):

10. The Waiting

9. Throw Your Arms Around Me

8. Let My Love Open the Door

7. Come Back

6. Evenflow

5. Wishlist

4, Nothingman

3. Betterman

2. Yellow Ledbetter

1. Alive

 

And I would be remiss if I didn’t little bonus.

I’m Still Here

 

How about you – what’s your Pearl Jam playlist?

Flirting With Greatness: Reaching the Top 100 Kindle Charts

Posted by R.A. Evans writes... on April 2, 2012
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There are certain milestones which every author strives to achieve. First – just finish the damn story. This is usually the most difficult milestone to achieve.  The internet is littered with the carcasses of half-finished manuscripts and pitch letters for projects which never make it from thought to fruition. For me, I am most proud of the fact that the idea of Asylum Lake actually became the novel Asylum Lake.

The second noteworthy author milestone is actually getting someone to pay for the privilege of reading it. It’s one thing to get a pity read from your mother and something altogether different to have a complete stranger part with a few bucks to read the fruits of your labor. I still recall with wonder watching the pre-orders roll in for Asylum Lake. It was both gratifying and terrifying at the same time. Now, having just launched pre-orders for Grave Undertakings, I find that same odd combination of fear and pride taking root somewhere between my heart and my lower intestine. I’m still gratified that people are buying into me and my creepy tales, but also afraid that I will in some way disappoint them.

My most recent milestone achieved is purely ego-driven. Asylum Lake is currently taking up a bit of real estate on the Kindle Top 100 List for horror – #83 last I checked. What a rush to see my novel listed with some of the heavyweights of the horror genre. As I write this Stephen King’s The Stand sits squarely in my rear-view mirror at #84 and Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead: Rise of the Governor is within spitting distance ahead f me at #70. Now, I’m not foolish enough to compare Asylum Lake to those titles, but apparently – for the time being at least – enough people are intrigued  by my ghost story to push sales figures into the rarefied air of two of my idols – Mr. King and Mr. Kirkman – and I think that is pretty fucking cool!

So please forgive me this moment of self-adulation. Its not every day that I get to rub shoulders with greatness and something tells me that by this time tomorrow I will be cast back into the abyss of anonymity.

If you would like to do your part to keep Asylum Lake on the Top 100 Kindle Charts for horror, CLICK HERE to download my 4.4 star rated thriller. It’s only $2.99 and you probably have that much sitting in the cup holder in your car. Don’t have a Kindle? No problem, you can easily download the Kindle app for your smartphone or computer and still dive into the mystery of Asylum Lake.

Cheers from Bedlam Falls,

R. A. Evans

Book Marketing Tips: Have you written anything lately?

Posted by R.A. Evans writes... on March 27, 2012
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I try to write every day – and not just because the little voice in my head demands it. I write because I know that’s what it takes to make it in this business.  I am envious of authors who have multiple titles under their belts – not that my novel Asylum Lake is anything to sneeze at – but one book does not make a career.

Yeah, I said career; one day I hope to pay the bills with my writing and that just isn’t gonna happen with royalties from a single novel.  So my marketing tip for today – spend more time writing!

I know, that’s counter-intuitive to everything I have ever said about book marketing, but hear me out. My novel Asylum Lake was published in 2010 and in the subsequent months I have spent countless hours establishing my author platform.  From interviews and review requests to managing a blog, multiple facebook pages, and an ever-growing  twitter account, I’m proud of my platform’s growth,  yet frustrated by the impact it has had on my writing.

Grave Undertakings, the sequel to Asylum Lake, has been delayed a handful of times and progress on other projects has also slowed dramatically.  I sometimes wonder if I have done more harm than good in focusing so much attention on promoting Asylum Lake and establishing my brand.  Could the hours spent tweeting had been better served by longer and more productive writing sessions? And don’t even get me started on my blog – sure having more than 50,000 views is great, but the amount of work it has taken to get there has been nearly overwhelming!

So here is my plan -  I’m gonna churn out a minimum of 10,000 words a week. For some that may seem high, and others low, but for me it’s a nice round number that seems to be fairly manageable.  Bottom line, if I am ever gonna make writing my career then I need to actually write – about things dark and mysterious, alive and undead, and most assuredly with ill intentions.

So tell me, are you a writer or a book promoter? Have you written anything  lately?

And now, purely for comic relief, is one of my favorite scenes from the film The Wedding Singer.  It illustrates just what the simple question of Have you written anything lately can lead to.

Choose Your Fate: Who Survives Grave Undertakings?

Posted by R.A. Evans writes... on March 16, 2012
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It’s been nearly two years since I introduced Brady Tanner and his band of ill-fated friends to the world – a fact that just blows my mind. It seems like only yesterday that I was laboring through the wee-morning hours on an untitled screenplay that eventually became the novel Asylum Lake. Little did I realize that so many would become attached to the characters, places, and mysteries of the fictional town of Bedlam Falls, Michigan

Ever since Asylum Lake was published in July of 2010 there has been much debate among readers and fans about the fate of certain characters.  In fact, I have received hundreds of emails from readers threatening boycotts if serious harm should befall Brady’s stalwart and four-legged companion Gruff.  I was surprised that people were more willing to accept the brutal murders of the Reed family by a 12-year-old boy than believe that as an author I would write a dog out of a story. I was relieved to see that the grisly murders were not driving readers away.

Without spoiling things for those who have yet to dip their toes into the chilling waters of Asylum Lake, I want to take a moment to talk about what rests at the very heart of the story – loss.  We each deal with loss in our own ways and with emotions that range from grief to rage – just ask Ellis Arkema if you don’t believe me. As I wrote Asylum Lake I grieved for those characters who did not make it through and at certain points became enraged with where my own story was taking me. The same has been true with my journey through Grave Undertakings.

Minor characters from Asylum Lake play much greater roles within Grave Undertakings as Brady searches for Dr. Wesley Clovis – and given my non-linear storytelling you will even read more of characters that were lost in Asylum Lake. You will learn about what transpired within the shadowy hallways of the Lake View Asylum, what happened to young Lionel Collins, and most importantly why Dr. Clovis is so determined to part the veil of death. Although there will be large doses of both humor and horror sprinkled in along the way, there will also be additional loss.

That being said, which character from Asylum Lake would you be most disappointed to lose by the end of Grave Undertakings? I bid you choose wisely, for one never knows if a return to the small town of Bedlam Falls at some point in the future may be in the cards.

Connecting The Dots: How My Blog Does More than Just Sell Books

Posted by R.A. Evans writes... on March 13, 2012
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Never underestimate the power of imagination.

Having a fairly vivid imagination comes with the territory – it’s in the writer’s handbook right after the other must haves of “thick skin” and “love of caffeine”.  Imagination is the fuel which powers the idea machine and lately I’ve been running on fumes.

I never considered, however, that my imagination actually fuels others. Over the course of the last few months I’ve really been digging into the data on this blog – looking at who is visiting and from where. The WordPress dashboard is full of all kind of interesting items when you know what to look for. One of my favorites is being able to track how people end up on this blog. Sure, some visitors merely click on the various links I throw out on twitter and facebook, but others, the vast majority, are actually searching for something that invariably leads them here. That’s the cool part.

In the last week alone people have landed on my blog by searching for everything from Neil Diamond and UPS shipping to alcohol consumption and ghost stories. I wonder what those searchers thought when their Google search for Neil Diamond directed them to a post describing how I wrote one of the bloodiest scenes in my thriller Asylum Lake while listening to Sweet Caroline. Or, how simply searching for UPS Shipping information led others to my post about the best way to ship a dead body. Oh to be a fly on the wall of their cubicle/home when they read my ramblings!

Strangely enough, the Neil Diamond post happens to have more than 3,000 total views – ranking it right up there with some of my more traditional posts promoting the release of a book or random advice on writing or marketing. It seems that the brief glimpse inside the way my brain works appealed to a very wide swathe of people; wider than the typical circle of authors and readers who typically frequent my blog.

It made me realize that my rocket fuel imagination doesn’t just help me vomit my dark stories onto the printed page (or pixeled screen if you’re into that sort of thing). No, my imagination is also in some way providing a brief respite for those searching online for real and useful information on a myriad of topics.  And I think that is pretty damn cool.

Of course, it also means that not only do I need to use my imagination for my story-writing evil purposes, but also consider what good I can do by sharing my random musings. Hell, I won’t be curing cancer or feeding the starving of the world, but if I can make just one person say “WTF?!?” when their Google search lands them on my blog I will consider all of this work a success.

Cheers from Bedlam Falls!

The Problem With Sequels: Join the Conversation

Posted by R.A. Evans writes... on March 7, 2012
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My friend and fellow author Shay Fabro has a very interesting post on her blog today regarding movie sequels. In it she challenges people to identify movie sequels that were actually better than the original. It’s an interesting conversation and I encourage you to join in.

Her post has me wondering about my own line of work – writing novels – and whether or not book sequels face the same type of challenges as they do with film. The topic strikes particularly close to home as Grave Undertakings, the sequel to my debut thriller Asylum Lake, inches closer to hitting the shelves. The pressure to bring forward everything that readers enjoyed about Asylum Lake while still moving the story into new and interesting places has been quite daunting. In fact, there have been several times when I was tempted to just throw my hands in the air and give up. Fortunately, and I say this with all sincerity, Grave Undertakings delivers in all the right ways.

It begs the question, however, what are the most disappointing book sequels you can remember. We can include trilogies and series works, too.  Conversely, which ones totally rocked? I’ll start the discussion with my own best and worst.

Best Book Sequel

The Fellowship of the Ring

I was ten-years-old when I first read Tolkien’s classic, The Hobbit. My older brother was leaving for a stint in the U.S. Navy and he left me his book collection (inlcuding my favorite book of all time – Shadowland by Peter Straub). I was immediately enthralled with The Hobbit and the epic journey of the very endearing Bilbo Baggins. My brothers collection also included The Lord of the Rings trilogy and I can still recall the feeling of excitement upon discovering The Fellowship of the Ring was, in fact, a continuation of the adventures started with The Hobbit.Of course, the remaining titles in the series – The Two Towers and The Return of the King were equally magnificent, but it was with The Fellowship of the Ring that I first understood the value and excitement of a book sequel.

 

Worst Book Sequel

Hannibal Rising

I was one of the lucky ones who had read Thomas Harris’ Red Dragon prior to watching the movie based on the sequel The Silence of the Lambs (I had also enjoyed the Michael Mann film Manhunter based on Red Dragon). Both The Silence of the Lambs and Harris’ third installment Hannibal were terrific reads and provided deeper insights into the frightful mind of one of literature’s, and film’s, most popular villains, In fact, Dr. Hannibal Lecter.  Harris completely lost me, however, with the fourth and hopefully last installment, Hannibal Rising. Who would have thought that the humble beginnings of such a great protagonist could be so boring.

What say you? Have something to add to the conversation?

Why Less is More When it Come to Writing Horror…and Making Music Videos

Posted by R.A. Evans writes... on February 28, 2012
Posted in: R.A.'s Musings, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 4 comments

It usually takes a lot to disturb this horror writer. Perhaps I’m wired differently than most of the general population, but I don’t get squeamish about many things – with the lone exception being worms. Don’t even get me started on worms. The smug way they mess with my head by stretching their bodies across my driveway after it rains makes me shiver – not to mention the smell. Worm smell ranks right up there at the top of the list of worst smells ever.

I digress.

Aside from worms I am not a squeamish person. Yet last night I stumbled across something that made my skin literally crawl. Those of you who have dipped your toe into my novel Asylum Lake or who follow this blog regularly know that music is a big part of my life. I am literally unable to write without some kind of music playing in the background – and yes, it is usually includes a Pearl Jam track or two.

Last night’s writing session playlist included The Confessor by Joe Walsh.  It’s a great track and I highly recommend giving it a listen.  Although Walsh is probably best known for his work with The Eagles, I much prefer his solo stuff.  I dare you to listen to Rocky Mountain Way or Life’s Been Good without singing along.

Anway, back to The Confessor and my theory of why less is more. After listening to the track on my iPhone I couldn’t get it out of my head. It’s a haunting tune with powerful lyrics. So powerful, in fact, that I’ve been playing with a storyline for years inspired by it. Long story short, I made the mistake of Googling The Confessor; surely someone must have posted a completely awesome video for it on YouTube.  Sadly, no. Instead I found Walsh’s own MTV clip for the song. Ugh – not since Billy Squier’s Rock Me Tonight abortion of a video have I felt so embarrassed for one of my personal musical heroes.   Walsh’s efforts to be cool came across as completely hokey – and don’t even get me started on Billy Squier’s awesome dance movies and pink tanktop.  Neither could leave well enough alone and let their songs speak for themselves.

The entire ordeal brings me back to my writing. I’ve gained a certain following for writing about things which go bump in the night.  Although only Asylum Lake currently graces the bookshelves I am expecting bigger and better things with the upcoming release of the sequel Grave Undertakings. And I know from fans and friends alike that I have already created a certain expectation with my stories – dark humor, believable characters, and enough chills to make ice cubes in July. It’s my personal recipe for success.  Now, unlike Joe Walsh and Billy Squier, I have to resist the temptation to try to do more than what my talent allows for.

I dare you to check out The Confessor and Rock Me Tonight.  As Pinhead so eloquently put it in Hellraiser, “it’ll tear your soul apart!”.