Last Post

Okay, so this is my last post.

But before you say anything, let me explain. I'm about to finish the rough draft of my novel, Lycan Island! Yay!

But when I look at it, I can see that there is something wrong.

It's my pen name.

When I first started this blog, I chose the pen name John Smith. If you're a fan of Doctor Who, you'll know why I chose that name. I got the idea from a YA author who uses the pen name Christopher Pike, which comes from a Star Trek character.

However, as I look at the name on my rough draft file, it doesn't seem like it'll work.

The name John Smith seems common, but when you walk into a library or bookstore, you don't see that name as an author. And that's why I thought that I could use that name.

But I'm starting to think that John Smith may not be a great pen name after all. After the rough draft, I'm going to edit it, and then I'm going to send it to an agent. I can just imagine it now. My future agent will try to change the name. He/She will say it's too common. They will probably change it to something like John L. Smith or John Richard Smith.

But I don't want that. It has to be John Smith. That's it.

But let's face it. That's not going to happen. John Smith is a way too common name. So I decided to change my pen name into something a little more uncommon. After some thinking, I decided that my new pen name will be:

John Caliburn

That was anti-climatic. Anyway, that is the reason why I'm canceling this blog. It's such a shame after all the work I put into it. But don't worry. I'm making a new blog:

http://johncaliburn.blogspot.com/

This new blog

So come follow me on my new blog

Also, if anyone here follows me on Twitter or Facebook or some other social networking thing, I'm going to cancel those too. Let's face it. I don't spend that much time on those other sites. In fact, they keep me away from my writing. So I think it's a wise choice to just stick with one blog.

So from now on, the only way to contact me is by:

1) email: johncaliburn42@gmail.com

or

2) comment on my new blog

A million thank yous to everyone who have been following my journey so far. With the completion of my rough draft, I am one step closer to being a published author. One day, I will be a famous writer, and then all of you can say that you were with me since the beginning.

Thank you everybody,

John Caliburn

P.S. - The word Caliburn is the Welsh name for Excalibur.

Fat Vampire

Fat Vampire is a novel written by Adam Rex

I've read a lot of books. Most of them are good. But every once in awhile, I come across a bad book. This is one of them.

Don't read this book. It sucks (no pun intended).

This novel is basically about a fat kid, named Doug "Meatball" Lee, who gets turned into a vampire. From the title and description of the novel, I thought it would be an interesting and funny teenage angst type of story or something.

So I read this book.

I didn't like it. And here are the 2 reasons why:

1) I did not like the main character, Doug Lee, who all the kids have nicknamed "Meatball". He is a fat, mean nerd (geek, dork, or whatever you want to call it). Normally, I kind of see nerds as the underdog to the story and I want to root for him to get the girl or something. But I hate this guy.

Doug is a mean nerd. He's the type of person that hates getting picked on, so he takes out his frustrations behind other people's backs. He calls them names and says mean things about them to make himself feel better. And he doesn't even realize that he's doing it. Seriously, people around him call him Meatball as a nickname and he hates it. But instead of asking them to stop, he just says mean things about them behind their backs instead.

I know with the concept of a fat vampire, the author was probably trying to make him as far different from the gorgeous Edward of Twilight as possible. But Doug Lee is not a main character that I liked and I just can't root for him as a hero.

2) And now for the absolute worst thing about this novel, which is the ending. I believe that no matter how good the book is, if the ending is bad, the entire book will leave a bad taste in your mouth.

The ending of this book is bad.

From this point forward, there will be spoilers about the ending of this novel. If you intend to read this book, don't read beyond this point.

Now for the ending of this book: ...It has no ending!

Or to be more exact, it has several different endings to choose from. In the final pages of this novel, Doug gets a stake in his heart. Does he die? I have no idea. Because the novel then gives you several different endings.

For example, after he gets a stake shoved through his heart...

-He lives on and marries the heroine

-He continues to live on and becomes a graphic designer

-In a parallel universe, he doesn't get turned into a vampire. He gets turned into a werewolf instead, and the whole novel would be different.

-He can't pull the stake out of his heart, so he files it down until it's small enough to hide under his clothes

-He dies.

-etc....

Now you can see why I don't like this novel. If I were to rate it, I would give it two stars out of five. So if you're planning to read this book, check it out at a library first. I don't think that it's worth buying, but that's just my opinion. If for some reason you might actually like this novel, feel free to purchase it at your local bookstore.

No one likes Short Stories!

I would first like to say that I love short stories. I've read almost all the stories by Stephen King, Ray Bradbury, Roald Dahl, etc....

But for the past year or so, I finally started to notice that not many people read short stories. Of course it should have been obvious to me sooner. Most of the books in libraries and bookstores have been novels. I guess I was just blind.

But I really do love short stories, and I don't understand why they aren't more in demand. When you walk down the street or drive in your car, you see all those people rushing to their destinations. Life seems so busy. You'd think more people would prefer to read something that takes up less of their time.

But here's the truth:

Not many people like short stories.

So I asked the all knowing (yet sometimes misleading) internet on why this is. And this is what the people of the internet had to say:

Reasons why people LIKE short stories:

-Novels are too long

-I'm too busy

Reasons why people DON'T LIKE short stories:

-Loves to see how a character will develop in a novel

-Novels have more complex plotting

-I can curl up with a novel and read for hours

-Short Stories are too short. They leave me feeling unsatisfied

-Novels are a great way to escape from the world

-I like to touch Harry Potter's face on the cover of Rowling's novels

-etc....

These are just some of the reasons why people prefer novels over short stories. I guess I can see their point. But it doesn't mean that I have to like it.

Anyway, thank you all for reading my rant about the dying art of short stories. But before you go, I would like you to answer two important questions in the comments below:

1) What would you rather read? Short Stories or Novels?

2) Think of your favorite author. If he or she wrote a short story, would you read it?

(In my research, I noticed that some people will read a short story by their favorite authors, even if they don't like reading short stories in general)

Thank you for your answers!

Sincerely,

John Smith

P.S. - I'm at the library, and someone's phone started to ring. It played a song from "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog". ...Awesome!

Shakespeare Undead

Shakespeare Undead is a novel written by Lori Handeland.

If I were to summarize this novel in one sentence, it would be:

This is a story about a vampire, named William Shakespeare, who falls in love with a human, named Kate,.... while they both fight off an army of zombies in 16th century London.

No matter how it sounds, this is a romantic tale. William Shakespeare is a vampire, one of the undead. And Kate is a chasseur, a huntress who kills zombies and vampires and anything else supernatural. The two meet when they travel the streets of London at night, hunting for zombies which started to appear in the city.

Together they must defeat the zombies and find the necromancer that is summoning the army. Meanwhile, Shakespeare must try to keep his undead secret from Kate, or she'll chop off his head when she finds out. That's going to hurt a lot more than just being kicked in the nuts.

This is a great tale full of romance, sex, blood, zombies, and Queen Elizabeth. How can you not want to read this book?

P.S. - Throughout the book, there have been scenes that vaguely implies that Shakespeare will continue to live on and write other works in the 20th century, such as The Wizard of Oz, The Sixth Sense, Star Wars, etc....

Happy New Year!

Hey there blog readers,

Happy New Year!

I can't believe a whole year went by.

Let's see. I started this blog in April 2010, so it's been 8 months since I started writing my novel. And I still didn't even finish writing the rough draft yet.

So this is my New Years resolution. The next time I write a New Years post on my blog (for 2012), I will have a novel accepted by a publisher.

So wish me luck everybody.

Happy New Year to you all,

John Smith

P.S. - I just realized that today is 1/1/11

End of Nanowrimo!!!

Hi everybody,

Sorry for disappearing for so long. The internet at my home was cut off, so I had to go cold turkey. No twitter, or facebook, or youtube, or anything. But then I realized that this was a good thing. I could work on my novel during Nanowrimo without any distractions.

But now Nanowrimo is over.

I've managed to write over 56000 words at the end of Nanowrimo! Yay!

Although I've completed this challenge, my novel is not yet finished. I still have a couple of thousands of words to go. But still, I have written more in this one month than the previous six months I first attempted to write this novel. So I'm quite happy about that.

Right now, I'm going to take a break from writing for awhile and start reading some books for a week or two. I am currently reading Shakespeare Undead by Lori Handeland.

But I'll eventually continue to write my novel.

I believe that I will finish the rough draft before February.

Thank you everyone for supporting me,

John Smith

P.S. - I'm sorry, but my posts will be a little sporadic from now on. I will probably only be posting about once or twice a month.

Also, I am currently typing this blog post from a computer at my local library.

NanoWrimo: Day 1

It's the first day of NanoWrimo! Yay!

So let's start it off with a NanoWrimo song:

Happy Halloween!

The only time of year when you're allowed to talk to strangers.

This year I'm going to go as Death (with a scythe). I hope a lot of old people will answer the door when I ring the bell. My little brother is going to go as the Black Spiderman. I'm going to take him around the neighborhood in celebration of this special day!

I'm going to enjoy this day before tomorrow appears on the horizon. Because tomorrow is a special day for us aspiring writers. It's not a holiday. It's definitely not a holiday. It's more like a literary version of a woman giving birth. You force yourself to go through the torture of it so as to create something special in the end. So it's certainly a special day. But it's definitely not a holiday.

So are you writers out there ready for tomorrow. Because tomorrow is NANOWRIMO!

I can already feel the bags forming under my eyes.

P.S. - Even if you're not a writer, you must still prepare for the day after Halloween. Be sure to have an abundant supply of toothbrushes, floss, toothpaste, mouthwash, and maybe some Pepto Bismol for upset stomachs.

Draculas review

Draculas is a novel written by Blake Crouch, Jack Kilborn, Jeff Strand, and F. Paul Wilson. They worked together to create this work of horror that I was too afraid to read at night.

This novel is freaking scary and gory, with a lot of bloody scenes. They said that if you're tired of the romantic vampires from Twilight by Stephenie Meyer, you should read this book.

When I heard that, I thought that this novel would have vampires that were similar to the ones from Dracula by Bram Stoker or Interview with a Vampire by Anne Rice.

But I was wrong. These vampires aren't sophisticated, or charming, or good looking. If you take away what's left of their humanity, that's the kind of vampire you will find in this book.

I guess they are more like vampire beasts. A more violent, devolved form of vampires.

Their thirst for blood is so addicting that they would feed on each other for sustenance. They would even drink their own blood if the thirst is too strong. Which results in so many gory scenes that will just give you nightmares. Seriously, there is this one vampire child who calls the blood, "red candy". If that doesn't give you nightmares, I don't know what will.

And of course, some of the heroes in this novel is a guy with a big chainsaw, and another guy who has a giant gun collection, in which he named one of his guns, Alice.

If you like horror books with a lot of gory scenes, then I would definitely recommend this book. However, I'm only going to give this book a 3 out of 5, because it had too many B-movie elements in it. Plus, this novel had some silly comic moments that were just unnecessary. Did you really need to write a scene with a vampire clown, or the scene with the vampire amputee in a wheelchair?

But I've got to say that I love how the book ends. Like that scene where the leader of the vampires ...(spoiler...spoiler...spoiler...spoiler).... That was just awesome. I'm definitely going to read the sequel in 2011.

If you love horror novels, read this book. You can buy it as an ebook for only $2.99 at Amazon

Start Over

After much debate, I decided to scrap my novel and start over. This does not mean that I'm giving up. I'm simply just reassessing my situation.

The progress of my novel has been going really, really slow. It has taken me months just to spit out less than 30,000 words of cow manure. And during those months, I had to battle with writer's block dozens of times... and losing.

So I've been spending this past week researching everything I can to improve my writing, getting rid of writer's block, etc.... And do you know what I've discovered?

Outlines!!!

I have learned that a good, long and detailed outline is a fantastic way to write a novel without writer's block. The outline that I wrote for my novel was only 2 pages long. However, according to other authors, their outlines took 20 to 40 pages to write! As a result, they rarely suffered writer's block.

When I first wrote my outline, I thought that it should be short. It was almost like a skeleton, with barely any meat in the writing. I thought that if there weren't too much details in it, I would be able to easily bend and twist the details of the novel to suit my needs and make any changes along the way.

But according to some other authors, their outlines were really detailed. Because of this, they were able to write a rough draft in less than two months. I'm not saying that it was smooth sailing, but it sure made writing novels a whole lot easier for them.

So I'm going to do the same thing. For the rest of October, I'm going to rewrite an outline that is at least 20 pages long.

My novel may be down, but it will rise from the flames, better than ever.

And when November comes around. Boom! I will start writing my novel during Nanowrimo. I will write 50,000 words in a month (and maybe even more than that).

So wish me luck, because I'm going to need it.

The Versatile Blogger Award

I have just received "The Versatile Blogger" award from Donna Hole. Thank you, Donna!

I'm glad that someone finally recognized me as a versatile blogger. And by versatile, I mean blogging about a bunch of random topics that only vaguely have anything to do with reading or writing books.

Now to accept this world renowned, prestigious award, I have to:

1) Thank and link back to the person who gave me this award. Thank you Donna Hole!

2) Tell everyone 7 things about myself

3) Pass this award to 15 other bloggers

4) Contact the bloggers that I've picked and tell them about the award

So here are the 7 things about myself that you may not know:

1) I attempted to write my first novel in the summer between 8th and 9th grade. I got to around 60 pages before I got bored with it.

2) I'm addicted to watching web shows like I Heart Vampires and Little White Lie.

3) I don't believe in the Roswell incident, but I do believe that there is life on other planets. I'm not talking about intelligent aliens. I'm talking about alien trees or alien bacteria. Not all life has to be technologically advance.

4) I want to take a trip to London someday

5) I have a phobia of china dolls. Actually, I'm afraid of any inanimate object that looks like a human with staring eyes that never blink. But china dolls are the scariest.

6) I love chocolate. And I also love coconut. So yay for Almond Joys!

7) I want to write a book, but I'm really lazy.

And now to pass on this award to 15 other bloggers (I have such a big heart. It's even bigger than a whale's):

Kiersten (Kiersten Writes)

Jess (Big Deal to Me)

Liz (8 Bit Words)

Julia (Writing Jewels)

Clarissa (Listen to the Voices)

Chelle (The Prairie Library)

Chazz (Chazz Hart)

The Bookish Snob

Stephanie (Natural/Artificial)

Heather (Little Squeed)

Petty (Pen and Paper)

Kah Woei (The Books of My Life)

Misty (Writer's Block)

Missie (The Unread Reader)

Natalie (Between Fact and Fiction)

So thanks again to Donna Hole for passing on this award to me. And a gigantic, whale-size THANK YOU to all of you who read my blog!

John Smith

Back to the Future lesson

Hey there blog readers,

I've just finished watching Back to the Future (again). When people think of this movie, they usually think of time travel and crazy scientists and stuff. But when I watched it again, I realized that this movie teaches you an important lesson in life.

It taught me that no matter how smart you are, or how talented you are, you won't get anywhere in life if you're not confident.

The character of Marty McFly is someone that hates being called a coward. This is because his father is always intimidated by the bully. Marty's dad is a coward who holds his head down and flinches in fear at the slightest thing. He just sits there and takes the abuse that the world dishes out at him. He's not confident at all.

As a result, their house and life and etc... are just pieces of cow manure.

However, when Marty goes back in time and inadvertently gives his father more self-confidence, he then returns to the future, only to discover his father lives in a nicer house, with a richer life, and he just published a novel (plus the once scary bully is now waxing his car).

This goes to show you that you need confidence to succeed in life. I don't care if you are intelligent or if you have some special talent. If you don't have an ounce of confidence, people are going to walk all over you. You'll just be that cubicle guy who has coworkers making you crunch their numbers so that they can go home and relax, while you stress over paperwork with the janitor pushing a mop around late at night.

So be confident. Don't think about how you might not make it, or how your work might get rejected, or how you'll fail. You've got to believe that the novel/song/invention that you've created will become something big someday. Put your mind to it and make it happen.

Be Confident!

Forever cover!

I'm a follower of Maggie Stiefvater's blog, and she has just revealed the cover for the third novel of her Wolves of Mercy Falls series! Today!

Here it is:

This novel will come out on July 2011. I can't wait!

The Impotence of Proofreading

I just found this video, and I think that it really defines how proofreading your words can help improve your writing. And it's super funny!

The (De)Evolution of a Writer

One of the funniest (and true) writing comics I've ever seen.

If it's too small to read, check it out here

An Abundance of Katherines ... in your pants

When it comes to relationships, Colin Singleton's type is girls named Katherine. And when it comes to girls named Katherine, Colin is always getting dumped. Nineteen times, to be exact. On a road trip miles from home, this anagram-happy, washed-up child prodigy has ten thousand dollars in his pocket, a bloodthirsty feral hog on his trail, and an overweight, Judge Judy-loving best friend riding shotgun-but no Katherines. Colin is on a mission to prove The Theorem of Underlying Katherine Predicatability, which he hopes will predict the future of any relationship, avenge Dumpees everywhere, and may finally win him the girl.

An Abundance of Katherines by John Green deals with a character named Colin, a prodigy that's not a genius. After getting dumped by Katherine XIX, his best friend's solution is to take him on a road trip to forget about her. Of course, the majority of the book is not really a road trip. They have to eventually end up somewhere, so they stop at a place called GutShot.

The main character, Colin, is a self-centered smartypants who constantly worries about the future and his relationships with other people. He fears that one day he's going to die and no one will remember him. So, he tries to get a "Eureka!" moment so that he can create something big that many people will remember him for.

Throughout the book, we get glimpses of his past, which shows us why he only dates girls named Katherine. With all this combined, we get a story that is not only hilariously funny, but it also talks about relationships in an insightful way.

I highly recommend this book. Not only will it be an enjoyable read, but you can also learn a few things from it as well, such as:

1) Just because you have a super genius brain, doesn't mean that you will grow up to win the Nobel Prize or something. Most geniuses grow up to be just a simple doctor or lawyer. One even grew up to become a murderer (although they never proved it).

2) If you ever have a child who is a prodigy, don't make him waste his time by learning Sanskrit and other dead languages. It does show off his mental abilities, but in the end, it's pretty useless. He has all this potential, don't waste it.

3) Bees can only sting you once, and then they die. I already knew that. But, thanks to this book, I learned that hornets are able to sting you multiple times without killing themselves.

*I also learned other things from this book, like Thomas Edison didn't technically invent the lightbulb, and that Nikola Tesla once fell in love with a pigeon. But those 3 things I listed were kernels of knowledge that for some reason struck home with me.

Also, here is my most favorite quote from the book: "What is the point of being alive if you don't at least try to do something remarkable?"

Read this book. You'll love it.


!Nerdfighters!

The Thirteenth Chime interview

About a month ago, Emma Michaels published a great novel called The Thirteenth Chime. She is a blogger who became an author of her very own book (something I hope to accomplish soon). So, I did a post-publication interview with her to find out how it feels to now be a writer.

1) Where did the idea for "The Thirteenth Chime" come from?

A) The Thirteenth Chime was born from a series of small experiences I encountered one night and my desire to write something different from anything else that is currently available on the market.

2) Now that you're published, how does it feel?

A) It is an incredible feeling and although the road was long and difficult, it was worth it! I have learned so much, met so many amazing people and am just loving it!

3) One of the things that make a published writer different from an aspiring writer is the deadline. How does a deadline for your second novel affect your writing?

A) I find that I work best with a deadline. Not only is it easier to keep on track, but it provides me with a bar that I can rise above. I also have a few helpful tools I use including that my plot outline has it set up for how many pages to write a day and I give myself little prizes. (Snacks like a chocolate kiss per page or some dried blueberries!)

4) If you were a superhero, what would your power(s) be and what would be your kryptonite?

A) I love this question!! *laughs* I think my kryptonite would have to be chocolate or writers block! :-)

5) If you could travel to anywhere in the world, where would you go?

A) There are many wonderful places I would love to visit. Currently, it is a toss-up for me between Japan and Brazil. Both countries have so much to offer visitors and are rich in history and culture.

6) Do you ever go back and reread your book?

A) Definitely! I like to go back through my work, especially when I am experiencing different emotions. For me, this will not only allow me to obtain a better grasp on how readers will enjoy the book, but it allows me to write an even better story in the future.

7) If you could ask any author just one question, who would you choose and what would you ask?

A) I would ask J.K. Rowling if she ever had any regrets - not just about her writing, but overall in her life.

8) In the event of your untimely demise, who (any fictional character) would you like to solve your murder?

A) David - he is very intuitive and most likely to give everyone fair perspective while never giving up on the truth. I would want to not only know who killed me, but to understand why it happened and know everyone's perspectives. I feel certain that David is the right choice.

9) Were you surprised at the number of people who bought your book? Or did the numbers meet your expectations?

A) I've actually been blown away as to how many people have not only bought the book, but in how that number is increasing weekly. Although I have not been given an exact count yet by my publisher as even they only find out after a certain amount of time has passed, but we've been given a ballpark figure and I am ecstatic!! Thank you to everyone who has been so wonderful in supporting me and sharing your warm wishes!

10) Is there any advice you would like to give aspiring writers?

A) Never give up! I know the road is a long and arduous one, but it is worth it once you make it here. Enjoy the road because every step you take both pre-publication and post-publication is another opportunity to learn!

Thank you so much John and to everyone reading!!! I appreciate your support and feel so blessed to have so many wonderful people cheering me on!


Sincerely,

Emma Michaels

Thank you Emma for doing this interview with me. I wish you great success in your path as a writer. I can't wait until the next book comes out!

You can find out more about Emma on her blog: http://emmamichaels.blogspot.com/

Watch the trailer for her novel: http://emmamichaels.blogspot.com/p/thirteenth-chime.html

Check out a preview of her novel: http://www.amazon.com/reader/

Concert Giveaways!

If you've been reading my blog, you know that I'd gone to the 102.7 Fresh concert, featuring Tyler Hilton, Five for Fighting, and KT Tunstall. While I was there, I managed to get some autographs. So I decided to do a Giveaway! Yay!
The prizes are:

A 102.7 Fresh sticker card, signed by Tyler Hilton

Five for Fighting's latest album Slice, signed by John Ondrasik (singer of Five for Fighting)

*For all those KT Tunstall fans out there, I'm sorry but I didn't manage to get her autograph :(



Anyway, I'm planning to give out these prizes separately, so there can be two winners. So tell all your friends about this giveaway!

To try to win these prizes, all you have to do is earn some points. The more points you get, the higher your chances of getting a prize. Please leave a comment, if you've done any of this:

+1 If you follow my blog
+1 If you follow me on twitter
+1 If you're a fan on facebook
+2 If you tweet about this giveaway (please leave a link)
+3 If you blog about this giveaway (please leave a link)
+5 If you subscribe to my youtube channel
+1 If you add up your points for me (no cheating!)


You can only get a maximum of 14 points (like a sonnet).

Remember to leave a comment with all of your points. Also, don't forget to leave an email address so I can contact you if you're a winner. If you don't feel comfortable leaving your email address on my blog, then email me:

johnsmith00042 (at) gmail (dot) com



Good luck to all of you!

Bran Hambric: The Specter Key trailer!

Hey there blog readers,

The trailer for Bran Hambric: The Specter Key has come out! This is the trailer for the second novel of the Bran Hambric series written by Kaleb Nation. For those of you who don't know, Kaleb is a blogger/vlogger who became a writer (which I hope to be someday as well). He created this trailer himself, so watch it and enjoy!

Kings of Clonmel

When mankind seeks protection from the world's many dangers, they put their faith in warriors, kings, gods, and even money.

In the neighboring kingdom of Clonmel, a mysterious cult has sprung up, promising defense against lawless marauders in exchange for people's riches. Their sermons are attracting audiences from miles around, but there's a dark side to this seemingly charitable group, prompting Halt, Will and Horace to investigate. What the trio uncovers could threaten the safety of not only Clonmel, but their homeland of Araluen as well.



The Kings of Clonmel by John Flanagan is the 8th book in the Ranger's Apprentice series. This book deals with a religious cult that is tricking people with bandits and false gods to get control of Clonmel. They want money and power, so it's up to the Rangers to stop them. This book also reveals the past of one particular Ranger... the famous and mysterious Halt.

You should definitely read this, even if you haven't read any of the previous books in the series yet. This book seems to be the beginning of the latest arc in the series. They will face new enemies, journey through new lands, and meet Halt's twin brother, Ferris, who turns out to be the king. Of course, everyone hates Ferris, but not because he's evil (even though he tried to kill Halt a few times when they were kids). Ferris just comes across as a fat, lazy, and pathetic king, which is a huge contrast to the legendary Halt.

But anyway, read this book. With swordfighting, trials of combat, and past secrets being revealed, this book will keep you on the edge of your seat, with a laptop on your lap, ordering the next book off of Amazon.