That’s Entertainment!

Posted on July 9, 2020 by RieSheridanRose

Playbill-1875

The above is an actual program from a variety show that is preserved in the Library of Congress. If Alistair and Jo get back from the Continent in time, they could actually attend this show. If you look very closely, you can see that there were a true variety of performers–from musicians to politicians; comedy stylings to serenades. There was also some politically incorrect blackface performance which was typical of the period. Variety shows were the popular entertainment of the time. Theaters like the Bowery Theater catered to the workers and immigrants of the Lower East Side. Tony Pastor began using the term Vaudeville in 1876 as he bid to “clean up” the variety shows.

I found a great post about general leisure time on Sundays. (After all, most people would have to be working the other six days a week–and even Alistair should be in class most days.) The owner of this blog, Ephemeral New York, has a book out about The Gilded Age that I just ordered for MY collection!

Jo and Alistair could go out to dinner at Delmonico’s like Fred and Kevin do in the new book.

Perhaps afterward, they could go to a play on Broadway, which was already becoming established as a theatrical center. Theaters like Fifth Avenue Theater or Wallack’s Theater provided popular evening entertainment.

Maybe Leonora would join them for a night at the opera at the Academy of Music.

Or, perhaps, they would just spend a night in with Jo’s favorite Dime Novels which were the popular fiction of the day. If you would like to read one of Garrett Goldthwaite’s novels and see why Jo likes them, Practical Polly and The Village of Doom! is free until Monday, July 13, 2020 (and fairly reasonable in price after that.)

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Horror Poetry

Posted on July 8, 2020 by RieSheridanRose

By Candlelight            Overheard in Hell cover-FINAL

I love horror. It’s kind of addicting in a way. There are so many flavors of it. Bruce and Roxanne are silly fun, Skellyman is an attempt at gritty, serious horror. My scattered short stories run the gamut from silly to serious. But I have a deep fondness for poetry above all else, and I have two collections of dark fantasy and horror poetry, By Candlelight and Overheard in Hell.

Exploring these subjects with the economy of words demanded by poetry is a real challenge and one that I love to give myself. One of my inspirations and mentors was the late Charlee Jacobs. If you haven’t read her poetry, it is award-winning and amazing. Her encouragement has made horror one of my favorite genres.

Writing poetry is a cathartic experience. From the rigorous structure of a haiku:

Bones rattle at night
Under the full witches’ moon
As the dead rise up.

To full unstructured free verse like this:

Roll the Bones

Sit you down
Across the fire
Take a chance –
roll the bones.

Shamanistic seeds
Of power
Mystic runes –
roll the bones.

Fortune found in
Etched impression
Fueled by fever –
roll the bones.

Wisps of magic
Twists of fate
Now or later –
roll the bones.

Cast from hands
That tremble badly
Heart a-pumping –
roll the bones.

Death or birth
Fame or loss
All revealed by
one last toss –

Roll the bones.

What is your favorite style of poetry? Do you prefer rhyming or free verse? Share a bit in the comments! I’d love to see your poetry too.

And, in honor of my birthday Saturday (because I am a halfling at heart) Overheard in Hell is free on Kindle until Sunday, July 12, 2020. Have some poetry for summer!

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Writing Tips: Creating a Compelling Character

Posted on July 7, 2020 by RieSheridanRose

Jo and Alistair with Priss

What makes Huck Finn someone that everyone who has ever read The Adventures of Tom Sawyer or The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn remembers forever?

Why were so many watchers of Game of Thrones rooting for Tyrion Lannister to make it to the finale alive? (The jury still being out on the books, I mention the series…) Or was that just me…?

People have been fascinated by the love story of Romeo and Juliet for–literally–centuries. Why do people care about a teenage love story hundreds of years after it was written?

It is because they are fully realized characters with both strengths and weaknesses. They are flawed individuals who do the best they can in the world they live in but aren’t always right any more than they are always wrong. Will Jo and Alistair ever make that level? If I am being honest…probably not. But some character I write someday might. It is the dream of all authors, isn’t it?

When you are writing a story, be it short or long, this is a truth to hold in mind. Of course, in a short story, you might need only one flaw in a hero or one redeeming feature in a villain. There isn’t a lot of room for character development–but there should be something. Here’s a list of some flaws that might be handy for you.

How do you decide what traits to use? What incidents inform your character’s actions? These are decisions you need to make for your characters because they can’t do it for themselves. But you don’t have to start from complete scratch. There are lots of resources to help. For example, a book on creating good characters like Dynamic Characters: How to Create Personalities that Keep Readers Captivated by Nancy Kress can be a great starting place. Here’s another potential resource Creating Character Arcs: The Masterful Author’s Guide to Uniting Story Structure, Plot, and Character Development (Helping Writers Become Authors Book 7) by K. M. Weiland.

While you are waiting for that Amazon delivery, you can start with a character sheet like this one that will help you get to the depths of your character.

Do you have any special tricks or tips to share? What is the most important attribute you look for in a character?

Leave a comment below if you want to join the conversation. 🙂

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And…Here We Go Again

Posted on July 6, 2020 by RieSheridanRose

You may have noticed that the last entry was dated last February. Things stalled out in the library, and haven’t gotten any further since, but I have a new schedule, and I just paid to update this website too, so that’s a lot of incentive. I am going to start a weekly rotation and today is Here’s The Clean’s turn.

I am the first to admit that I am the Queen of Procrastination. If it doesn’t have to be done today, I’ll do it tomorrow. Which is why I haven’t done my taxes yet for the year. And, therefore, why I am starting this time cleaning up with the desk I do most of my work on. (Not my office where I am supposed to write, but my gaming desk where I have started doing everything. My office is a WHOLE ‘nother project.)

Here is what I am starting with:

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Yikes, right?

I am working through the desktop today. Keeping small goals makes them more likely to happen. I have started with a communications center:

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Putting it up allowed me to clear off the notes on my computer case.

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Looks neater already.

Another thing I did was take the jar I had been keeping coins in and replace it with a smaller bank that will use less real estate but remind me of last summer’s trip instead.

Speaking of coins…you know that old adage about cleaning old coins with vinegar? Well, I found a double handful of coins in the old car we were donating to make room for the new car my husband got me for my birthday. And they were sticky and nasty, so I decided to try that. I wish I had read this forum first. Apparently, overnight is not a good idea. It did make for some interesting results:

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This wasn’t at all what I expected. But it WAS interesting. I’ll never do that again. Maybe if it comes up again, I’ll try the Coke method…

Now, back to cleaning.

Several hours later, and a full trash bag from the desk and floor under it, and not quite nearly done. But, it is almost 7:00 pm, and I’ve been at it most of the day. Now it is time for my husband. 😉

Here’s the final shots of what I finished. I decided the part that isn’t done is just too depressing to share…lol.

I may sneak in a bit here and there while working on other stuff the rest of the week. If so, I’ll update it Monday. If not, guess what we’ll be finishing next week? 😀

It doesn’t look like that much, but it really is a big difference.

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Remember, the whole point of this blog is I am a slob trying to get better…that bowl of candy used to be a bottlecap collection for instance…

One step at a time!

EDIT:

I kept fiddling while we were playing Factorio, so I got to where I am (mostly) happy. There are a couple of piles to sort, but they are minimal:

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HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!

Posted on July 4, 2020 by RieSheridanRose

Here are some of my best fireworks. (I don’t take that great of pictures of them, but I like to try…)

 

I swear I have better SOMEWHERE…and if I find them, I may switch out. 😉

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Fish Tale

Posted on July 3, 2020 by RieSheridanRose

whale s tail

And we have come to the end of the trail. The final story in the book is “Fish Tale.” The newly-wed Roxanne is taking a well-deserved break at the lake at the bottom of the hill when she spies a tail diving into the depths. Curious about the size of the fish that would grow that big in a small body of water, she keeps watching, and a big blond fellow invites her to come swimming. In November.

Despite the new ring on her finger, she wades into the water and he gifts her a beautiful bracelet–that lets her breathe underwater as he takes her to his home beneath the lake.

Of course, Bruce isn’t totally clueless about the fact that she is missing–especially when she misses a dinner shift at the restaurant. So he and the other residents of the Home go looking for her.

They find a strange world under the lake, where a stranded merman has been looking for a suitable bride. Has he found one?

Find out in Bruce and Roxanne from Start to Finnish from Yard Dog Press.

Also included in the book is some miscellaneous material:

  1. Bruce’s Wedding Toast to Roxanne
  2. A Sampling of Madame Rose’s Horoscopes
  3. The original welcome page from the old Home website. (I may recycle that to the new one!)

 

Next week I plan on starting the new rotation schedule. Posting on each blog once a week with a RieView on a random site on Friday will make it easier to come up with material for each blog.

Tentatively, the weekly schedule will be:

  1. Monday–Here’s the Clean (to get the housework out of the way early)
  2. Tuesday–RieWriter
  3. Wednesday–Home for Wayward Spirits
  4. Thursday–The Conn-Mann Chronicles
  5. Friday–a RieView on one of the sites

My first RieView will be a look at all 9 seasons of American Horror Story at the Home.

Stick around. I think it will be cool. Now, my husband has a holiday today, so that’s all the blogging for the week. See you Monday!

 

 

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Welcome to the Home!

Posted on July 2, 2020 by RieSheridanRose

RVHome

 

Well, I’ve gone and done it. As if two daily blogs weren’t enough, I decided to start one for my horror antics as well. 

I will be talking about Bruce and Roxanne (it is their house, after all) and linking to my Ladies of Horror pieces, my horror short stories, and Skellyman…and my horror poetry…

Plus, I plan on exploring the history of horror and monsters, RieViewing other people’s books and movies. Adding bar-be-que tips and recipes…

The possibilities are endless.

Of course, that’s a lot of territory to cover…so I think that I will change things up a bit. I will be focusing on one blog a day and RieViews on Friday starting next week. (And that includes “Here’s the Clean” so maybe I will finally get some housecleaning done!)

I haven’t decided on the order of days yet, and I may rotate all of them but Fridays. We’ll see. For now, here are some of my credentials for doing a horror blog in the first place. 🙂

 

        

         

        By Candlelight  By Candlelight 

  (only available on Audible ATM)

 

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Fangs for the Memories

Posted on July 2, 2020 by RieSheridanRose

silhouette of couple kissing during sunset

Everything that has gone before has been leading to this moment–the sunset wedding that Roxanne has dreamed of.

Of course, none of it goes smoothly. The wedding is scheduled for six, and at four o’clock there’s a storm raging.

From the arrival of Bruce’s mother and her entourage to one of the musicians going missing right before the ceremony, anything that can go wrong does go wrong.

It was a lot of fun writing this one, which is filled with a lot of guest appearances from real people. First, the winners of a Tuckerization contest I had held quite some time earlier…Erin Aislinn (Roxanne’s Maid of Honor) and Cass Andre (Bruce’s mother.) And Roxanne’s favorite band The Brobdingnagian Bards came to play the wedding. Plus my family came to see “Cousin Roxanne” get married.

A lot comes to light in this story that has hitherto been hidden–some of it even to me. Don’t you love it when that happens? I’m not going to tell you all of it, because that is spoilers…but there is a clue in the title. 😉

Tomorrow will finish up Bruce and Roxanne from Start to Finnish from Yard Dog Press. Then I think I will do a few RieViews next week.

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Options…

Posted on July 2, 2020 by RieSheridanRose

What would you like to see here next, as we broaden our Steampunk horizons somewhat?

I have three anthologies of Steampunk stories I could do as I have been doing the anthologies on RieWriter.com.

I could do a feature on each of the individual short stories related to the Chronicles that are out there.

I could RieView some of the Steampunk I have read from other authors.

I could tell you about some of my favorite Steampunk music.

I am also trying to work up the nerve to do some visual stuff like videos or one-frame comics with the dolls…

What would you like to see first? Leave ideas in the comments so I know where to start. 🙂

ask blackboard chalk board chalkboard

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

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When You Wish Upon a Jar

Posted on July 1, 2020 by RieSheridanRose

Gnome with beard and red hat

“When You Wish Upon a Jar” started life as a fan-fiction story in the 80s. I was a big fan of the short-lived and long lamented paranormal investigation series Shadow Chasers. (In fact, Felix the wizard is based on Edgar Benedek.) There were only fourteen episodes altogether, and four of them were never aired in the United States–we had to get them from Armed Forces television, as I recall. It was a great series, and I wish they could have had a little more time to get an audience because I think they would have found one. Alas, like Firefly, it wasn’t meant to be.

But it led to a lot of fan-fiction. We had a group of ladies who put out a LOT of pages dedicated to Benny and Jonathan. I myself wrote a five-story arc fanzine that was one of my first in-depth pieces…sort of a pseudo-novel.

And I had this story published in a fanzine as well.

When it was time to put together some new Bruce and Roxanne stories, I thought this one would be easy to file the serial numbers off and revise for the purpose. Anyone who had read the original would find this one MUCH different, as it was majorly rewritten. For one thing, an ill-conceived wish from Benny to a genie in the original turns staid Jonathan into a kid again. In this one, turning Bruce into a kid was too easy. Who’s notice? So it’s Roxanne who takes a stroll down minority lane.

I also had Benny bring a stuffed Opus doll to life in the original (his Magnum Opus), but I wasn’t sure anyone would even remember what that was, so I made it a garden gnome in this case.

It’s a clear case of why one should never accept a genie’s wishes as Bruce tries to get everything back as it should be without his level-headed second-in-command to help.

And he has to hurry because there’s a wedding coming up…

Read all about it in Bruce and Roxanne from Start to Finnish from Yard Dog Press.

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