Countdown to
FROM THE GRAVE!!!
Today’s Monsterism:
#3: Time waits for no monster
Here’s the link to win a signed copy of FROM THE GRAVE!
Tag: monsters
September 23–A Month of Monsters
Countdown to
FROM THE GRAVE!!!
Today’s Monsterism:
#2: Mayhem when appropriate
Here’s the link to win a signed copy of FROM THE GRAVE!
Celebrate FRANKENSTEIN DAY!!!
Who wouldn’t love a face like that?
Okay, so I’ve been hanging around with monsters for much too long–and I LOVE IT!
AUGUST 30 is Frankenstein Day!
So you still have time to put on your costume and monster mash the night away!
FRANKENSTEIN FRIGHTFACE GORDON from my upcoming MG fantasy novel FROM THE GRAVE (October 18, 2016) is not a typical Frankenstein–he’s blue, prefers a crisp white button-down shirt, and the quiet life.
Still he’s full of surprises, the best of friends, and can certainly pull his weight in a tough situation. BLUE is COOL!
Preorders are happening right now–and an amazing giveaway! Don’t miss your chance to win a MONSTER OR DIE T-shirt.
Bonus:
Follow the link and learn how to make a FRANKENSTEIN CAKE–perfect for today’s celebrations or anytime you want to Monster On!!!
And if you want to make your Frankenstein cake look like my character FRANK, just switch blue icing for the green. Remember, BLUE is COOL!
GOOD MONSTERS and BAD MONSTERS
Oftentimes When I Start Writing a Story…
There will be a good guy versus a bad guy. My fantasy FROM THE GRAVE seemed pretty straightforward in this respect with Frankenstein Frightface Gordon—a less-than-monsterly monster—as the good guy. Malcolm McNastee—a true blood troll on a mission to end misfits—seemed the obvious bad guy. But then, as I dug deep (please forgive the obvious cemetery allusion) into the story, my characters started revealing who they really are. Their quirks and shortcomings. Their fears and failings. And of course, I love them all the more for it.
Looking Deeper
While Frank maintains his good guy persona, he’s not without his numerous shortcomings. He has a quick temper that he’s tried to put under wraps, which sometimes causes him to be too cautious. He doesn’t initially lead the charge to stand up for exiled misfits. Rather he must be convinced by Georgina—a dragon without a trace of fire—and by his dear, departed granny—from the grave!
Malcolm, on the other claw, isn’t a totally tough creature. He has a big soft spot for his little sister, Nelly, who exhibits some disturbing misfit traits. Plus, Malcolm has his own secrets to hide—secrets that would destroy his perfectly gruesome image. One of Malcolm’s favorite sayings is “Less thinking and more monstering.” But that is not always easy to do. In fact, being a monster is far from easy but wonderfully entertaining, as I hope you’ll discover in FROM THE GRAVE coming October 18 from Jolly Fish Press.
More Monsters!
For more information on creating characters and details on FROM THE GRAVE, visit these What’s New blog posts:
Monster Writing Prompts: Creating Characters
1/29 Friends
1/21 Family
1/17 Appearance
1/8 Likes & Dislikes
The BFG and Monster Food
Roald Dahl’s fantasy THE BFG is coming to the theaters on July 1. This is one of my favorite Dahl stories. I remember reading it to my two sons many years ago when they were in early elementary school. We would all laugh-out-loud at the antics of Sophie and her big, friendly giant. This was the type of story I wanted to write for children—one that would entertain and delight them.
Fast forward many years later, as I was brainstorming during a long car trip. An entertaining fantasy story started jelling in my mind. I scribbled down some notes about a world of monsters where a group of misfits was struggling to fit in. Originally, I intended to write FROM THE GRAVE as a beginning chapter book, but very quickly the characters informed me I was wrong. Their story was much too involved. These monsters needed a lot more pages to show off their stuff.
As an author, I knew better than to say “no” to monsters. Instead, I wrote their escapades into a middle grade story with humor, adventure, a fair share of gross-out factor—and plenty of heart as well. Plus, there’s more than a few monster curses thrown in, just to warn you.
I must say that I totally enjoyed the gross-out parts, particularly the monster food. The monster world in FROM THE GRAVE parallels the human world in many ways. But monsters have totally different palates than humans. Creating disgusting monster chow became a daily challenge as I wrote and rewrote the story. “Peppered innards” is one of my favorites.
WRITING PROMPT
What cooking in your monster kitchen???
Now it’s your turn to create some delectable (for monsters anyway) food. Pretend you are inviting all your favorite frightening friends for dinner. What will you serve? Perhaps Toasted Eyeballs for an appetizer. Chopped Lizard Gizzards with Gravy for the entry. And Bubbling Brains for dessert!
*Bonus: Write out the recipe for how to make your monster food.
*Bonus: Write a story that has monster food in it. Who’s making and eating the food? Throw in a problem to make it interesting. Remember a story needs:
- a Beginning (introduce us to your characters & setting)
- a Middle (things become worse instead of better)
- an End (wrap things up/solve the problem)
Watch the STIR UP A STORY slide show on my website for more help.
Starter Idea: Maybe a witch is throwing a party and she can’t get the fire going under her cauldron. What will she do? How do things go from bad to worse for her? Does anyone help her? (Remember: it’s good to have the main character solve her problem as much as possible.)
If you don’t like the starter idea, think up your very own story!
Have fun. Be creative. Don’t worry about spelling and punctuation too much on the first round. But if you want to earn a SUPER WRITER badge, try to correct as much as you can when you read your story over the second time.
Send me your BEST suggestions for monster food @CynthiaReegAuthor on Facebook or @cynthiaReeg on Twitter or comment below!
Be sure to find out what food is bubbling in the pot in FROM THE GRAVE by Cynthia Reeg. Coming to a cemetery near you October 18!
R.L. STINE and MARC BROWN CREATE NEW MONSTERS
Monstrous Fun
On Friday night I had the privilege to attend the Premier Event at the St. Louis County Library Headquarters, featuring R.L. Stine and Marc Brown. R.L. Stine is famous for his spooky adventure series GOOSEBUMPS. While author and artist Marc Brown is equally well known for his ARTHUR ADVENTURE books and delightful PBS television series ARTHUR.
Leave it up to these two amazing literary sensations to combine talents and produce a frightfully fun picture book for young readers, THE LITTLE SHOP OF MONSTERS. The two friends explained the beginning of their teamwork. “We should do a book together,” Marc Brown said he had suggested a few years ago. R.L. Stine countered that comment with, “I think Marc had this inner monster waiting to get out.”
Picture Book Writing Isn’t Easy
R.L. Stine told the large audience that writing a picture book was hard work. He wrote and rewrote it—six times. Then he sent a text copy to his friend and Marc proceeded to draw right on the text! Here is a picture of one of the preliminary illustrations.
Mr. Stine said that he enjoys writing “scary and funny” stories. He’s excited about the upcoming Goosebumps movie (October 16) starring Jack Black as R.L. Stine himself.
Big Ideas
Mr. Brown described a turning point in his youth when he read his kid sister’s book, WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE, and realized just how powerful pictures could be in helping tell a story. Back then, he was “a little kid with big ideas.” Those ideas eventually included creating the Arthur characters based on children and adults from his real life. His latest book is MONKEY NOT READY FOR KINDERGARTEN
The authors’ parting words for the evening were, “Life is short. Read great books!”