Winning The GalleyCat Vampire Re-Mix Contest

I am pleased to announce that I am the grand prize winner in the GalleyCat Varney The Vampire Re-Mix Contest. I had an absolute blast re-writing a section of history and am honored to have been chosen. Special thanks to Jason and all the folks at a href=”http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/”>GalleyCat for throwing this together.

If you would like to read my winning entry, you can drop by the GalleyCat Tumblr page. There will be a free eBook with ALL the creative scribings. Soon, you’ll be able to read the whole story! More to come on that. 🙂

Here’s how my portion begins:

“There is some one concealed there.”

“Marchdale” rolled his eyes. Eleven o’clock on a Saturday night. Wasn’t rehearsal over yet? “Varney’s gonna bite you. WOOOOOOOOO…”

“Pay attention, Marchdale,” Henry Bannersworth said, wagging his cane. “We film tomorrow!”

“Whatever.” Marchdale shrugged his shoulders and pulled out a flask out of his suit. “Where the hell’s George, anyway?”

“It’s his day off.” Henry smoothed out his coiffed hair. Even when they weren’t filming, the actor was such a prima donna. “Thanks for ruining the twenty-third take.”

“Can’t help it,” Marchdale whined, collapsing into an ornate chair. If he didn’t need the money, he never would have signed on for such a boring film. “Guess I’m still not feeling the creep factor.”

Bannersworth pulled out an ivory pipe and lit it. No doubt, the Victorian relic was authentic. If it wasn’t for Henry’s strong whiskey, he’d tell the jerk to save it for the camera. Hell, the actor even insisted they stay in character. What was that about?

Behind the Scenes, GalleyCat’s Varney the Vampire Re-Mix. Written by Monica Valentinelli


Win Free eBooks from FlamesRising.com

Celtic Wheel

A short overly-enthusiastic update today, for I am stuck in the wilds of well, the wilds and there’s really nothing to be done except write my way through it. So here goes:

Interested in free eBooks? (I hope, if you’re reading my website, that you are. . .) If you’re answer is “YES, PLEASE!” then visit this link at FlamesRising.com to add your favorite snippet of writing advice and celebrate NaNoWriMo.

There are already a few contestants who’ve proffered their glorious pieces of encouragement, but there’s still time to enter. . . The contest ends on Midnight CST, November 15th — that’s this Thursday!

Huzzah!

(Back to it then.)

    Mood: Yessssssss? May I help you?
    Caffeinated Beverages Consumed: Ask me later.
    Work-Out Minutes Logged Yesterday: Bendy, twisty-related activities.
    In My Ears: You don’t want to know. Seriously.
    Game Last Played: Dragon Age: Origins
    Movie Last Viewed: MirrorMask
    Latest Artistic Project: In progress!
    Latest Release: “Fangs and Formaldehyde” from the New Hero anthology through Stone Skin Press

Oh, Glorious Pumpkins

I carve pumpkins, sure, but certainly not as well as Villafane Studios. This is one of my favorites, because it uses other fall-riffic elements in interesting ways to add texture and color. If you’re feeling so inspired, they sell video tutorials so you can create your own and master pumpkin carving kits, too.

Best Pumpkin Ever

There’s a huge gallery over that way, so drop by and check out the studio!

    Mood: Yesssssssssssss????
    Caffeinated Beverages Consumed: BCL: 4.57 That’s blood caffeine level for those of you paying attention.
    Work-Out Minutes Logged Yesterday: Not enough. Feeling the need to jiggle and jive.
    In My Ears: Siren’s Call by Nox Arcana from Phantom of the High Seas
    Game Last Played: Dragon Age: Origins
    Movie Last Viewed: The Raven
    Latest Artistic Project: In progress!
    Latest Release: “Fangs and Formaldehyde” from the New Hero anthology through Stone Skin Press

The Story Of The Titanic, A Corn Maze

Jack The Pumpkin King Avatar

On Sunday, I got lost in a corn maze at the Creek Bed Country Farmacy. The miles of plowed rows were shaped into the form of the RMS Titanic. I was floored by the ingenuity of some people. Rather than tell you about this, I’d rather show you some pictures. If you want to see a larger image, you can click on it, and it’ll take to you a ginormous photo.

That giant square pumpkin is a character named Spookley The Square Pumpkin. The owners had an outside theatre set up where you could watch videos. Yeah, I popped in for a bit. How could I not? Outdoor theatre? Turns out it’s okay to be square. Yay!

In front of the maze, were two large haystacks and a life preserver.

This is the entrance and exit to the maze. You can see that there’s a starboard and a port path. To get a sense of how huge this maze is, here’s a link to the map.

Once inside, you could play a trivia game to get all ten stations punched.

The right answer will lead you on the correct path. The wrong one will send you into a dead end.

One of the things that I really enjoyed about the maze, was that there were a ton of really cool signs and set-ups like this one. So, it wasn’t just that you were meandering about sections of the ship. There were these teeny, tiny stories almost everywhere you looked.

Afterward, we went on a hayride. You can see the stretch of corn maze from my viewpoint.

And we saw BABY PUMPKINS! Sure, I mean I knew that baby pumpkins grew in a patch. . . But I’d never seen one of these before.

When we sat down to have a snack, I encountered rows and rows of teeth. Pumpkin teeth. That glow-in-the-dark and can suck your blooooood. Then, I saw these oddly-shaped squash that reminded me of gnarled dragon talons.

Of course, no corn maze would be complete without pets of varying size. A miniature donkey appropriately named “Eeyore.”

And a giant Flemish rabbit named “Daisy” that, upon close inspection, could probably take on my black cat Rimmon — and win.

Well, that was the end of my corny day at a farm. For ten bucks, I thought this was a lot of fun, and apparently it’s even spookier the closer you get to sunset. Imagine rushing through a corn maze with just a flashlight. . . In the dead of night. . . Many of the stalks were several feet higher than me. There’s a lot of ways to get lost and circle around in there. Good thing they had an emergency back up — a rescue if need be.

Thankfully, I made it out all right and didn’t need a rescue. I suppose the promise of caramel apples DID help. 😀

    Mood: WAKKA WAKKA
    Caffeinated Beverages Consumed: Enough that I’m hovering off my chair.
    Work-Out Minutes Logged Yesterday: I bent and twisted.
    In My Ears: Take A Bow by Muse
    Game Last Played: Tetris
    Movie Last Viewed: Harry Potter collection
    Latest Artistic Project: Miniatures
    Latest Release: “Fangs and Formaldehyde” from the New Hero anthology through Stone Skin Press

My WorldCon Schedule

Apexology: Science Fiction and Fantasy Cover

I am pleased to announce that I am attending WorldCon this year for the first time in Chicago. This, for me, is mostly vacation, an excuse to hang out with new (and old) friends, and a way to drown myself in awesome stories. Thankfully, Kodama (my netbook) is extraordinarily portable and has a long battery life so I can still write on the road.

This year, I’m two panels and I also have a reading. In addition to these events, I will be spending some time as a booth volunteer for my friend Jason Sizemore from Apex Publications on Friday from Noon to 4 p.m.

Steve Jackson (from Steve Jackson Games) will also be at the convention along with a host of other people from the gaming industry including Matt Forbeck and Kenneth Hite. I’m looking forward to hanging out with some friendly faces.

Should be a great time for all!

Panels and Readings

Saturday, September 1st

6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m., Grand Suite 3, Conquering Writer

Has your story fizzled out or hit a wall before completion? There are common reasons for this, and common solutions which work for most writers. Pros discuss their tips and tricks for getting a story back on track.

Eldon Thompson (Moderator), Gene Wolfe, Monica Valentinelli, Russell Davis, Tom King


Sunday, September 2nd

11:00 – 11:30 a.m., Dusable, Reading

I’ll be reading excerpts from “Tomorrow’s Precious Lambs” and “Tailfeather,” which were stories published through Apex Publications. I am strongly considering the addition of chocolate or some other confection, because really… what reading shouldn’t have some sugar?!?!

1:30 – 3:00 p.m., Grand Suite 3, The Ethics of Book Reviewing

Discussion on what are the ethics of book reviewing? What biases or conflicts of interests need to be divulged? What kinds of statements are not appropriate? Is it OK to review a book by a personal friend (or an enemy)?

Michael J. Lowrey (Moderator), Jo Walton, Michael Levy, Monica Valentinelli, Roland Green

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Looking for Monica’s books and games that are still in print? Visit Monica Valentinelli on Amazon’s Author Central or a bookstore near you.

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