Showing posts with label novelist. Show all posts
Showing posts with label novelist. Show all posts

Thursday, September 21, 2023

Movie Night with the Novelist: Movie Reviews

Uncertain about what movie to rent or buy? Have Hollywood films let you down? Too many reboots? Too much politics? 

Avoid the bottomless pit of rerun and political party movies by tuning into Movie Night with the Novelist on Undawnted's newsletter: A Novelist Idea, as well as Movie Reviews on Undawnted's YouTube Channel. Make your date night special, instead of tedious. 

DL Mullan is the host. With her combined education and experience in literature, mythology, history, and scriptwriting (trained by a Hollywood screenwriter), then you will receive honest, objective reviews about older and newer movies. 

Don't waste your time or money, when you have Movie Night with the Novelist

A new movie review episode arrives every other Thursday on Undawnted's YouTube Channel throughout this Autumn Cider season.

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A writer at heart, Undawnted's own creative spark, DL Mullan, began writing short stories and poetry before adolescence. Ms. Mullan showcases her literary talents by publishing her creative writing. She has short stories and poems published in digital and print collections, from academia to commercial anthologies. In addition, she writes novels, designs apparel, and creates digital art. Ms. Mullan produces her own book cover designs for herself and others. She is an award-winning digital artist and poet.

Currently, she has embarked on writing her multi-book Legacy Universe, Supernatural Superhero Series.

With her education and experience in writing, DL Mullan shares her knowledge via her newsletters. If you too want to become a Fearless Phile, then subscribe to one of her newsletters on Substack.

Her innovative style teaches writers how to reach their creative potential, and write more effectively.

Learn. Grow. Master… with Undawnted.



Tuesday, January 17, 2023

2023 Retired Poems on My Poetry Forum

At the end of October 2022, My Poetry Forum went dark. 

In light of this website going defunct, all poems have now been retired from public review and comment. Undawnted has other poems and forums in the public sphere, but in the future will concentrate more on our YouTube Channel and Undawnteum sites. This change will ensure that our readership will have access to free reads in times to come. 

We are so sorry this snafu has occurred. 

Please be sure to subscribe to our YouTube Channel, as well as bookmark Undawnteum. There is a wealth of information already on the site, currently under construction, for you to read about Undawnted's creative spark, DL Mullan, and her writings. 

While you are here, sign up for A Novelist Idea and take your creativity to a whole new level. 

Thank you so very much for your time. We appreciate and adore our readership. 

Team Undawnted  

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Undawnted's YouTube Channel offers poetry shorts to full-fledged poetry feature films in our Poetry Slam section. This new playlist will give you more of the rhymes you crave.

Subscribe for more award-level poems written by DL Mullan.

Friday, December 3, 2021

Undawnted is Red Hot in December with Countdowns, Gifts, Parties, and Reviews

December ends autumn and begins winter. So, let's countdown to Yule and the New Year!

Undawnted has ongoing as well as new projects, movie nights, movie reviews, and a year-end review of goals.

On the Schedule for this month*:
  • Continue with Movie Night with the Novelist 
    • Yippie Kaiyay!
      • 12/4, No movie tonight; Event Booked: Autumn Wonders Book Event completed
      • 12/5, Die Hard completed
    •   Narnia!
      • 12/11, Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, & the Wardrobe completed
      • 12/12, Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian completed
    • Find Your Spirit ~
      • 12/18, Scrooged completed
      • 12/19, If You Believe completed
    • Be Your Own Hero ~
      • 12/24 Xmas Eve, Ernest Saves Christmas completed
      • 12/25 Xmas, Home Alone completed
    • Happy New Year!
      • 12/31, New Year's Eve, No movie tonight; Event Booked: Sonoran Dawn Party
  • Participate in a Book Tour completed
  • Author Interviews completed
  • Subscription for Newsletter/Mailing List completed
  • Add to Special Engagements/Writer's Workshops 
  • Book Event December 4th completed
  • Party December 31st in process
  • Finish Immortal Spellcaster for Editorial Review in process
  • Rework The Reality Hackers in process
  • Continue building the Legacy Universe 
  • Add/Remove Poems up for Review
    • Added: Eggnog Dreams  
    • Removed as of 12/31:
      • Moon over Aphrodite
      • 9.12.01
      • Upon Reading Edgar Allan Poe
      • Step on All of Us
      • You
      • Desert Mesquite
      • Vanished  
      • Eggnog Dreams
       
  • Year-end Review and Revision of Goals in process

See also: Undawnted's Calendar

Become a Community Member

Can you feel the sizzle! 

Have a great and wintry day!

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Our news and updates can now be found on our A Novelist Idea newsletter!






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Thursday, December 2, 2021

Undawnted Presents: WordCrafter Lingering Spirit Whispers Paranormal Anthology Set Blog Tour: Undawnted Interviews Roberta Eaton Cheadle

About the Anthology Set 
 
Lingering Spirit Whispers Paranormal Anthology Set, which is released today, December 1st, 2021 from WordCrafter and is available for purchase.

This anthology set is a bundle including Whispers of the Past, Spirits of the West, and Where Spirits Linger. All three anthologies combined into one convenient paranormal set for lovers of ghost stories.
 
Amazon Books

 

 

 

*****

Author Interview:
Roberta "Robbie" Eaton Cheadle
A contributor to all three anthologies in the set for a total of five stories. Titles: "The Last of the Lavender", "Missed Signs" (Whispers of the Past); "Ghost in the Mound", "The Thirstyland Journey" (Spirits of the West); "Listen to Instructions" (Where Spirits Linger).


As a poet, writing in the horror genre of the paranormal/supernatural is a different tone then the succinct and lyrical form of creative writing, how do you find writing horror? Is it a challenge?

As far back as I can remember I have always written poetry and played with words, forming them into descriptive paragraphs that, as a young girl, I thought were quite delightful. I have also always enjoyed books about people and their everyday lives and grew up reading L.M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables and Emily of New Moon series. These were the books I attempted to mimic with my descriptive passages.

At the age of ten I progressed to adult books. I had read everything in the children’s library and wasn’t allowed to borrow adult books. I resorted to reading my mom’s books behind the couch. I am the oldest of four girls and my mom was a very busy mother. She never missed me or noticed me stretched out on the floor behind the couch with one of her books in my hands. My mom was a Stephen King fan. I worked my way through The Shining, Salem’s Lot, The Stand, The Running Man, Cujo, Christine, The Talisman, Firestarter, Carrie, and Pet Sematary. These books scared me to death, but I loved them. When I had exhausted mom’s King collection, I moved on to her collection of Charles Dickens books. These were beautiful leather-bound books with thin, wispy pages.

My reading tastes remained dark, and I favour books about war, paranormal and dystopia. As a result, transitioning from writing poetry and children’s books wasn’t difficult for me. That being said, I might not have thought to attempt writing horror if I hadn’t come across a short story competition on another writer’s blog. An idea for my first horror story, The Willow Tree, came to me and I decided to give writing horror a whirl. Since that first attempt in 2018, I have written two supernatural historical novels and written dark stories for inclusion in nine anthologies, three of which are the WordCrafter anthologies.


Writing children’s books are often more visual creative than writing short stories, how do you use your gift for visualization in your writing craft of long narratives?

The feedback I receive from readers is that my books are very descriptive. The feedback has been positive despite my initial concern that modern readers don’t like a lot of description. Descriptive prose is my writing style, and I wouldn’t want to change it.

I have lived through some difficult experiences including numerous house robberies, thefts of cars, two children with chronic illnesses necessitating numerous operations and hospitalisations, and a home invasion when my mother and I were tied up and I had a gun at my head.

When I write, I insert myself into the circumstances of my story and visualise how I would feel, think, and react. I draw from my own negative experiences and try to capture the essence of them on paper. I always write dark literature for adults and my characters are usual either ghosts who are already dead or people who are destined to die. I have written about death from a gunshot numerous times in my stories.

Why am I drawn to writing dark stories? I do not know as I am naturally an upbeat and positive person.


Out of the five short stories you have written, which one was your favorite? Which one was the most unsettling? And, which one drew from one of your real-life experiences?

My favourite of these five short stories is The Ghost in the Mound from Spirits of the West. This was based on a real event in South African history where a wagon train comprising of nine ox-wagons was attacked and all the families were killed in the ensuing fight. Afrikaans women did use termite mounds as ovens to bake bread and some of these mounds are enormous. I had the idea of a young mother hiding her baby in one of these old ovens to save it from death during an attack and from that idea, this story was born.

The Thirstyland Journey from Spirits of the West is the short story that is the most disturbing to me as it is the one that is most closely based on a true story. The outcome and deaths in that story are all real and it was a most tragic situation as there were several children who died. Life for pioneering families was extremely hard and many of them died of sickness, starvation, or thirst, and during attacks.

Missed Signs from Whispers of the Past is the story that is most closely based on a real-life experience. The reason I say this is because the main character suffers from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and has a horror of germs and illness. The character of Sean is based on someone close to me who suffers from this illness. I like this story very much.


Would you like to visit a real haunted location? Have you already? What would you like to experience at a haunted place that would help you as a horror fiction writer? If you have a past experience, did that help you write your stories?

My husband and I have travelled extensively in the UK and South Africa. We favour visiting sites of historical interest, especially battlefields, forts, castles, and museums. We have visited several sites that are believed to be haunted. Our own house, which is the original farmhouse in our area in Johannesburg, is believed to be haunted by the ghosts of a gang of bandits who hid in the house and were killed in a shoot out with the authorities in 1929.

I am open minded about ghosts and spirits, but sadly, they have never chosen to reveal themselves to me. I would be interested in experiencing a paranormal phenomenon, but I don’t think I have any gifts in that direction. I do experience the dark horror of certain places and I am imaginative so I am able to write my stories without having any real supernatural experiences. I am particularly interested in the psychology of murderers and people who die unnatural deaths as a result of murder or war.


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Thank you, Roberta Eaton Cheadle for your understanding of the horror genre and storytelling. If you would like to know more about Ms. Cheadle, please see his biography and links below:  
 
 
Author Bio

Roberta Eaton Cheadle is writer of young adult and adult fiction in the supernatural fantasy, historical horror, and historical supernatural genres.

To date, Roberta has published two novels, Through the Nethergate and A Ghost and His Gold, and several short stories in various anthologies including Whispers of the Past and Spirits of the West, and Where Spirits Linger edited and compiled by Kaye Lynne Booth, and Spellbound, compiled by Dan Alatorre.

Roberta has a historical supernatural novel set during the Second Anglo Boer War in South Africa coming out in early 2021.

When she is not writing, Roberta enjoys working in the garden and creating fondant and cake artworks. 
 

Author Links



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If you like this interview, then read the others in the Lingering Spirit Whispers series: 


Wednesday, December 1, 2021

Undawnted Presents: WordCrafter Lingering Spirit Whispers Paranormal Anthology Set Blog Tour: Undawnted Interviews Jeff Bowles

About the Anthology Set
Lingering Spirit Whispers Paranormal Anthology Set, which is released today, December 1st, 2021 from WordCrafter and is available for purchase.

This anthology set is a bundle including Whispers of the Past, Spirits of the West, and Where Spirits Linger. All three anthologies combined into one convenient paranormal set for lovers of ghost stories.


Amazon Books

*****

Author Interview: Jeff Bowles 
Contributor to two of the anthologies with two stories, including the winning story in the 2019 WordCrafter Short Fiction Contest, "A Peaceful Life I've Never Known" (Whispers of the Past). The other is "Wenekia" (Spirits of the West).


How long have you been a creative writer? What is your favorite genre? What is your favored format? Poetry? Short story? Novel?


I've been writing for about ten or fifteen years now. I like speculative fiction of all types, most especially anything that does something new and different with the genres. I get bored easily. Novels are my favorite to write and read, but for the first bunch of years I was at this, it was all about short fiction. I've written a lot of things in a lot of different genres and modes, but I always come back to fiction. To me, it's the ultimate form of storytelling and more or less has been since its invention.



Your winning story: A Peaceful Life I’ve Never Know, was this narrative based on a real-life experience of yours? Or, was this story from your creative well? What makes this story so tangible that it speaks to the reader?

No, Peaceful Life is loosely based on the wilder side of singer and poet Jim Morrison of the 60s group, The Doors. No spoilers, but some things happen toward the end of the story that take it deep into horror territory. I kind of used Jim as a jumping off point, but he definitely never did anything my character Douglass has done. I liked the idea of a rock star who thought he could get away with anything. I think it's kind of a visceral story, and that's why people react to it. I like visceral storytelling. Like I said, I get bored easily.




How do you write? Do you write from characters’ point of view? Are you plot-oriented? If you have done both, which one works better for you?

Very often, I give myself an easy concept, a jumping-off point, and then I start writing and don't stop until I have something resembling a story. Editing takes longer this way, but very often I find I get something unique and startling out of it. It also works pretty well when I outline and plan everything out, but for the most part, I start with concept and character, and plot rolls out from there. There's so many ways to write fiction, almost as many as there are fiction writers in the world. I like that about the craft. There are some rules, but none of them are precisely what we'd call "hard and fast." In other words, sometimes writing rules are made to be broken.



Where does your creativity stem from? Did you have an active imagination in childhood? Is writing your only creative outlet? Or, are you into other forms of artistry? Painting? Photography? If no other forms at this time, would you like to try out one? If so, which type of creative non-writing format would suit your curiosity?

I'm also a singer and a songwriter, which has come in handy, because I started writing music when I was a young teenager. My ability to use language in an effective way stems from that. I'm not much of a painter or artist, but I do some of that stuff, too. I've always been a creative person. I get itchy and anxious if I go too long without doing something creative. So it's always been projects of various sorts for me, first with music–recording music, performing music–and then when I began taking my writing seriously when I was about twenty-two or twenty-three. I also keep a YouTube channel called Jeff Bowles Central, where a lot of my creative endeavors end up in one form or another. I love this aspect of my life, and I definitely feel kinship with others who are also creatively inclined.



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Thank you, Jeff Bowles for your unique perspective about creativity and the writing craft. If you would like to know more about Mr. Bowles, please see his biography and links below:  
 
Author Bio
Jeff Bowles is a science fiction and horror writer from the mountains of Colorado. The best of his outrageous and imaginative work can be found in God's Body: Book One - The Fall, Godling and Other Paint Stories, Fear and Loathing in Las Cruces, and Brave New Multiverse. He has published work in magazines and anthologies like PodCastle, Tales from the Canyons of the Brave New Multiverse. He has published work in magazines and anthologies like PodCastle, Tales from the Canyons of the Damned, the Threepenny Review, and Dark Moon Digest. Jeff earned his Master of Fine Arts degree in creative writing at Western State Colorado University. He currently lives in the high-altitude Pikes Peak region, where he dreams strange dreams and spends far too much time under the stars. Jeff's new novel, Love/Madness/Demon, is available on Amazon now!

Author Links

 



If you like this interview, then read the others in the Lingering Spirit Whispers series: 


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