Short Stories & The Heartache They Bring ME!

So I've been working on this short story for a collection called "Mad Like Me," and I'm not sure if I'm over thinking it or if it just sucks. I mean when did writing shorts get so hard? I used to write short stories all the time and now it seems like I'm worried about the plot, the ending, character development. I guess in a way that shows that I'm growing as a writer, but does that growth have to come at the expense of pumping out a bad ass short?

I'm just going to break down the overall idea of my short right here so I can talk myself through it.

Title: Unfit

We have three characters for this story. 

Nurse Sarah (MC)

Dr. Calvin Alexander

Donald Willaim Connor

The story surrounds Sarah who has requested Calvin's help in murdering Donald, a serial killer who murdered Sarah's daughter Dallas. Dallas was given up for adoption years ago but Sarah found her and had been watching her from afar. Sarah and Calvin work in a mental hospital and they helped get Donald placed under their care by making him seem unfit to stand trail. 

They place Donald in a closed off section of the hospital and have him strapped to a bed where they plan on playing a deadly game of "Do you remember?" Where Donald has to remember or know some detail about his victims and if he gets a question wrong or refuses to answer then Calvin will do something very, very bad to him. 

This game is all fine and fun for everyone except Donald and Sarah because Sarah has been lying about Dallas this whole time. Her daughter died years ago and she has created this fairy tale based on a young girl she met in the mall and began following until that girl was killed. Sarah is worried that Calvin will find out Dallas isn't her daughter and not only will he not want to date her but he will lock her up. 

So now Sarah has two choices, own up to what she did or let the killer free and hope Calvin kills him before any of her lies get out. 

So that did kind of help, I guess this is more of a twisted comedy, Sarah also hears a voice in her head, that as the story rolls on you realize she's talking to that voice and more or less telling her the whole story.

Well, hopefully, I can knock this out and get it to the publishers. I want it to come in under 10k, this is my first real deadline and it's freaking me out. I'm over thinking it because this run down seems ten times more simpler than anything else I was thinking today. 

Thanks for letting me get this all out.

If you're a writer, keep writing

and 

If you're a reader, go support a indie writer!

Writing & Marriage

Stan Lee's wife died. 

Those are the words that fell from my wife's lips today. It's a heartbreaking statement. Not because I'm friends with Stan, (I do love the man, but I don't know him.) It's heartbreaking to hear as a husband and a creative soul. Stan and Joan Lee had 69 years together. That's 69 years of fights, 69 years of kisses, and many more countless things he's thinking about right now.

Yesterday I had a reader tell me I owe it to my readers to put out the best book that I can, and that what's out now isn't that. I wanted to act as if it didn't bug me, but my wife could see through the tough guy mask. She grabbed me by my face and told me I'm an amazing writer. She reminded me of all the good things people have said and reminded me that this is just my first year. I took the leap this year to write full time and it hasn't been all that fun (Writing has been amazing! Marketing, pitching and selling, that all isn't too fun.) 

Yet, through it all my wife hasn't doubted me. She cheered when my paperback came in the mail. She held me when my father died and I couldn't string together the words, "I'm okay," much less write a book. She kept pushing me even when I didn't want it or when I thought I didn't need it. She kept pushing me forward. 

I've been married for four years and in that time I've felt like I was drowning many of a time, but when I thought I would never see the surface or never get a bit of air back into my lungs. My wife pulled me back to the land of the living. She's my lighthouse in the storm as I sail through this crazy creative sea. So it's heartbreaking to hear that another creative sailor lost his lighthouse. I'm sure Stan had years of fearing he was drowning, only to be pulled from the waters by Joan. 

My heart goes out to Stan and the rest of Joan's family. I don't know the pain that he is going through and I wouldn't wish it on anyone. She's in a better place now, smiling down on you, and making sure the waters remain calm. 

Zombie Movies!

Well, welcome to the first real post of The Author's Casket, where I talk about most things horror and all things Planet Dead, why? Because it's my blog and I write it, duh!

So I've decided to watch a shit ton of Zombie movies as I'm finishing up "Planet Dead: Bloodthirsty" and getting started on the second book in the series. I've asked for some help with making a list but as we all know Social Media can be a wicked lover, one minute she wants you and is blowing up your phone at all hours of the night tell you to come over and the next she's telling everyone who will listen that she doesn't know you and doesn't know what you keep saying that you're in a relationship.

Yes, Demi Lovato, I got the restraining order and it cut deep.

Anyway, I've decided to start my Zombiefest off and just let people jump in with their picks as I got.

Oh, the reason I'm going all out with the zombies is because my next book in the Planet Dead series is gonna be an all out gore filled thrill ride, with crazy zombies, funny heroes, and blood, lots and lots of blood. So I wanted to make sure I have my head on right when I start it.

As of today 03/29/2017 I've watched:

My Boyfriend's Back (1993)

Anger Of The Dead (2015)

Now I'm not gonna get into a big breakdown on these movies, but I will tell you what's worth the watch. Now I'm sure many of you have heard that sweet little song My Boyfriend's Back, right? Well did you know they made it about a real zombie boyfriend who returned 15 years ago and needed to eat people to keep himself from decaying?

No! You didn't hear that because that's not real. I'm not sure what inspired the song but I can tell you, My  Boyfriend's Back is an awesome zombie movie. You have your comedy, you have your love story, and a mob out to get zombie blood. I think my favorite thing about this movie is the mom...even after her son became a zombie she still made sure he was eating right.

Now That's The Real MVP.

Anger Of The Dead was a random movie I found on Hulu, don't sleep on Hulu guys, it has a pretty big and good library of movies. So I saw this movie and I thought 'okay low budget horror movie, that's gonna just play in the background' 

I was wrong, this movie was pretty good, it started off with a bang and went out on one as well. I'm not gonna say it's the best zombie movie ever but it was pretty good, it kind of felt like someone who watched a lot of walking dead and wanted to make their own fan movie.

Oh, shit haha it's like Walking Dead Fanfic. There is a Negan type person and A Rick type. They had a lot of concepts that were in the show and comics in this movie, like saying goodbye to your infected sister before shooting her. The whole opening felt like the beginning of the walking dead, I'm pretty sure they used the same song.  

I think for what it was, it was a really good movie and part of me wishes there was more because you are left with some unanswered questions. 

Anyway, if you wanna check those out I believe My Boy Friend's Back is on Amazon prime and like I said Anger Of The Dead is on Hulu.

Okay guys, it's time for me to get back to killing some zombies.

Oh I started up a wattpad account again, I'll write more about that later on.

~Sylvester

You Know What's Hard....

I've been self-published for a little over a month now and while I could complain about a lack of sales and reviews, I won't. I love the fact that I even got it out there, it's the very first step towards what I want to do in life. Yet what I'm finding to be hard is the next step, my next project, my next move, my next anything!

I'm kind of at a stand still, I have my main novel that I'm working on and a mystery series that I'm plotting out, but I feel if I want to be a full-time author, I need to be taking more steps than just sitting down and writing every night.

I guess I feel that I should be bringing more to the table if I really want to make my dreams come true. So I started looking into audio books, online retail, and making a Youtube channel. I started looking up more ways to get myself out there, to find the people that want to read what I'm putting out.

What's hard is knowing you meant to be something and not fully understanding how to go about it. There are too many different avenues to go down, so I'm deciding here and now.

I'm gonna say fuck it and write....I'll figure the rest out as I go.

But I do want to do a YouTube channel, something horror based......

Someday

~Sylvester

P.S: Check Out My Book Trailer! I think I did a pretty good job for my first time.