Tag: pineiro

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What is the Bite on Vampires by Melissa Burmester

GingerHighWe’ve got a very special guest today – 15 year old author Melissa Burmester who is going to offer us her take on vampires!

Please welcome Melissa!

What is the Bite on Vampires? by Melissa Burmester

Everyone has their own opinion on how a vampire is expected to act and look. Some people think of a vampire as a horrid creature with huge blood dripping fangs and others say they are like normal people and live among us. When writing about vampires it is important to make the character appear “human” and “real”. This will give them more appeal.

The characteristics that most vampires have are:

  • 1. Vampires do not prey on just anyone they have a person they use as a “feeder” and when they get weak they always come back to them.
  • 2. They do not like to feed off children and animals.
  • 3. The vampires may keep some blood in the refrigerator in case their “feeder” is not available. It is usually hidden so no one can find it.
  • 4. Vampires have been around for many years and tend to move around from place to place. They also have a lot of money and can get anything they want.
  • 5. They are charming and look great. That makes them so appealing to us.
  • 6. Not all vampires drain blood from their victims. Some have the ability through magic to drain the person of their energy and liveliness.

So how do you kill or annoy them:

  • 1. Cut off their head or make them drink blood from a dead person.
  • 2. Garlic will never kill them. It just makes them very angry.
  • 3. The good old stake through the heart. I read that it only paralyzes them for a while and does not kill them.
  • 4. They do not burn or blow up when exposed to light. It may weaken them but they always recover.

So now that you know some of the characteristics of a vampire how do you write about them:

  • 1. You need to decide on the time period you want your novel to be in. Many of the novels are set in modern day or in the future. Some novels have flashbacks into the vampires past. I used this idea in my debut novel Ginger High.
  • 2. Never make the vampire seem dead or depressed. The character should blend in with the population. Make them appear mysterious and alive.
  • 3. It is important to surround the vampire with realistic details. This is important so the reader feels that they are able to connect with the vampire and the setting.
  • 4. A horror novel should have something horrifying in it. The vampire is always considered the bad guy and the human usually wins. Everyone likes the fangs that the vampires have. Incorporate them in the story.
  • 5. When naming a vampire always use a name that is appropriate for their age and character. They usually keep the name when they were alive.

I have given you a few tips on how to write about vampires. So go out and write your own bestseller. But the most important thing is that you have fun while doing it. The information that I provided was obtained from all the reading that I have done over the years. Have Fun.

About the Author:
Melissa Burmester is presently living in East Moriches, NY with her twin brother George, her parents and their cat Cosmo. Melissa has been writing about vampires and the supernatural since the age of twelve. She has written a few short stories, but “Ginger High” is her first novel. She is presently attending Westhampton Beach High School, and is in the tenth grade. She is planning a career as a writer and a teacher.
www.gingerhigh.com
http://melissa-gingerhigh.blogspot.com/
facebook.com/melissa.gingerhigh
http://twitter.com/Ginger_High

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Networking and Getting Out and About

My friend Rayna Vause and I headed to Georgia at the beginning of the month on a new adventure – the Moonlight & Magnolias Conference!

It was a fabulous conference run by the Georgia Romance Writers and many thanks to all the wonderful organizers there for a great event.

You must wonder what that has to do with Tuesday and Tips of any kind and here it is – You’ve heard me say it before and I’ll say it again – Networking!

One of the most important things you can do both before and after getting published is to get out and about and expand your horizons. Meet new people. Make new friends. Gain more knowledge that will help you not only write better, but also learn about the publishing business.

Some people go to the same conference every year. Sometimes that’s good if it’s a solid conference that brings in new blood and new possibilities. But it’s also important to allow room (and funds) for different conferences and adventures.

I’m glad I took my little adventure to Moonlight & Magnolias! It was a great group of people and there were some wonderful workshops and events. Thank you Georgia Romance Writers!

Here are a few photos for you from the conference. If anyone out there has more (I know I posed for bunch of photos), please send them to cpsromance at att dot net.

If you can’t see the slideshow, you can visit this link:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2037485&id=1130005412&l=3e31a03387

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Guilty Pleasures Monday Jeff Gordon

Thanks to my friend Fannie for the inspiration for this Monday’s Guilty Pleasures – Jeff Gordon.

Now Jeff is a familiar face from a number of television commercials as are several of the other NASCAR drivers, but did you know this about Jeff — he is a four-time NASCAR Winston Cup (now Sprint Cup) Series champion and a three-time Daytona 500 winner! (I bet Fannie knew that though 😉 )

What else? Jeff began racing at the age of five with quarter midgets, a type of car that is 1/4 the size of a midget race car and can go from 30 to 70 mph. And to imagine that I didn’t want to let my teenager behind the wheel of a full size car!

On the track, Jeff races for Hendrick Motorsports team driving a Chevrolet (Go Chevy!). For more on Jeff, you can visit his bio at the NASCAR page: http://www.nascar.com/drivers/dps/jgordon00/cup

And in case you want to check out the other NASCAR hotties, you can click here or cut and paste this link into your browser:
http://www.nascar.com/drivers/list/cup/dps/

Do you like NASCAR? Have a favorite driver? Let me know who!

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When Cakes Go Steampunk!

This Fun Friday is thanks to my buddy Carolyn who shared this cool CakeWrecks site with me. Thanks!

You may remember all those Steampunk costume photos I brought back from DragonCon (click here to view them and more).

Well now cakes are going Steampunk as well, including some pretty nifty wedding cakes.

(From BillGlover's Flickr stream, & made by Bronwen Weber)
(From BillGlover’s Flickr stream, & made by Bronwen Weber)(FYI – If you haven’t caught Bronwen on one of the Food Network’s Cake Challenges, you sure are missing an amazing artist!)

To see more of these amazing Steampunk cakes, you can click here or cut and paste this link into your browser: http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/2009/10/sunday-sweets-steampunk.html

Hope you all have a great and glorious weekend!

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The Home Stretch

stretchWith only a few weeks left until the deadline to deliver my next book – STRONGER THAN SIN – the second book in the SINS series, I’m in the home stretch, racing toward the finish.

Just a little bit more work, some polishing and the book will be finished. Always a rewarding feeling, especially when I’m liking it as much as I am.

I always think of writing a novel much like running a race. Start off slow and get a solid foundation in the first few chapters. Start picking up speed, but keeping mindful of the pace and where I am with both the romance and suspense so that the synergy between the two is keeping things moving.

Not so easy at times, so there is an occasional stumble. There are other obligations to handle in my life, like work. My family, who always comes first. Writing obligations, like prepping everything necessary to promote SINS OF THE FLESH which will be out on shelves on October 27th! 😯

Woo hoo, but scary. My first single title paranormal romantic suspense (and isn’t that a mouthful of a description?).

I’ve waited a long time to see that happen, another kind of race. Building a career and trying to take it to the finish line for this race because inevitably, the time in the winner’s circle is short before you have to hit the track again. 😕

But if you think about it, life is a race also (and hopefully not a rat race!). I like to think of it as a race against myself and not others. Always striving to do something different and to improve. Reaching for personal bests.

How about you? How do you deal with your reaching your goals, whether it’s writing or something else? We’d like to hear your thoughts on this Thoughtful Thursday.

Also, while I’m at it, the winner for last Friday’s Favorite Hero contest is Kayla! If you could send your postal address to cpsromance at att dot net, I’ll get your prize out to you.

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Write Until It Hurts by Gary Morgenstein

Jesse's GirlI have with me a very special guest today. Please welcome Gary Morgenstein, the author of JESSE’S GIRL who is going to offer up some tips on writing!

Without further ado, here is Gary’s WRITE UNTIL IT HURTS!

Writing is a muscle like any other requiring exercise. Relentless, agonizing, sweat-drenched, every single day. No time to rest sore muscles. Sorry but, as Vito Corleone said, that’s the life we choose for ourselves.

Beyond the pain, a writer must, as Faulkner said, be able to devour its young. As I learned in my thriller Jesse’s Girl, sometimes you have to let go. You know, Luke Skywalker closing his eyes and feeling the light saber?

Jesse’s Girl is about a widowed father’s search for his adopted teenage son, who has run away from a drug wilderness treatment program to find his biological sister. Now when I started the book, I had all these ideas. A small story, small canvas, almost a two-hander of a father and a son overcoming their troubled relationship.

So much for that. I wrote the opening scene where Teddy, the father, gets the call from the wilderness program that Jesse, his son, was missing, and after that, all bets were off. Characters I had thought of changed or vanished. New ones beamed down into me. Storylines emerged. Suddenly it was a thriller. I had to discard all my pre-conceived notions. From the excellent reviews Jesse’s Girl has been getting, I’m glad I did.

Admitting you made a mistake is essential in writing. Never be afraid to say you’re on the wrong path. Just because it sounded good in your head or in an outline doesn’t mean it will necessarily work as a story. How many times have you played out a scene in your head and then wrote it down and said, Ew!

Philip Roth said that there were times he wrote 100 pages only to realize that inside that was the one paragraph that contained his story. The rest of the 99 plus pages was simply the path to get him there.

As life is the constant journey for a writer, so is writing the constant road to your art. You might get ambushed, but that is the process. To paraphrase FDR, the only thing we have to fear is not writing.

****

In addition to Jesse’s Girl, Gary Morgenstein’s most recent novels, both available exclusively on Amazon.com, are the political baseball thriller Take Me Out to the Ballgame and the romantic triangle Loving Rabbi Thalia Kleinman. His chillingly prophetic play Ponzi Man played to sell-out crowds at a recent New York Fringe Festival. A PR consultant for Syfy Channel, he lives in Brooklyn, New York, with lots of books and rock and roll CDs. You can visit him at www.facebook.com/people/Gary-Morgenstein/1011217889 or at http://redroom.com/member/garymorg.

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Fall into Autumn Color

mumWoke up to a brrr in the air. There’s no doubt that fall is here, but that doesn’t mean the end of color in your garden.

Best bet – Hardy mums! Treat them right and they’ll survive the winter and come back for more fall foilage next year. Plus, there is such a wide range of colors to brighten a possibly dreary autumn day.

If you’re going to cut the mums as a gift, just be careful to whom you present them. In some cultures, Latins and Italians, the mum is known as the “Flower of the dead” and is typically not presented to someone as a bouquet.

Next best bet – flowering kale. Fill your borders and other low-lying areas with colorful kale in deep purples with bright white centers or totally white ornamental kale.

Another good bet is one of my favorite flowers – pansies/violas. They’ll survive a mild frost and violas are perennials, so look for them to return next year. Also, pansies are excellect reseeders, so don’t be surprised to see them coming up in the early spring as soon as it starts to get warmer.

Last but not least, colorful asters will provide awesome fall blooms and better yet, they’re perennials so they’ll be back next year for more color.

Hope you enjoyed today’s Tuesday Tip! What are your favorite fall flowers?

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