The Four Marks of the Servant

I'd like to welcome Randall Stone, today, as our guest blogger. Randall is a favorite dark poet and short story writer of mine, as well as an expert on horror literature. He founded Dr. Terror's House Of Horror, a NEW online social network for lovers of Horror, Sci-Fi, and Dark Fantasy. In addition, Randall will join us on the weekends, blogging about books and other dark subjects.

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By Randall Stone

Anita Blake is a fictional character created by an extremely talented and charismatic author Laurell K. Hamilton in her Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series of novels. Anita has also made an appearance in the Dabel Brothers/Marvel Comics' adaptation of Laurell’s first novel, Guilty Pleasures.

Set in a fantasy world, parallel to our own, the novels are filled with vampires, shape shifters, werewolves and faeries. Anita earns her main income as a member of the RPIT Agency, pronounced Rip it, its full name being Regional Preternatural Investigation Team. It is an organization that deals with supernatural and paranormal crimes. Any crime, in fact, that may have been perpetrated by dark magic or supernatural entities. Working within the agency as an “animator,” Anita uses her extraordinary talents of Necromancy in reanimating the dead temporarily, to legally question them during her office as a licensed investigator. This also incorporates her duties as an authorized Vampire Hunter/Executioner with her eventual empowerment as a Federal Marshal. All this takes place in the parallel city of St. Louis. Anita's amazing powers also give her control over the Undead, as in vampires and zombies, but she has no power over ghosts or ghouls. According to Laurell’s idea, in the world of Anita Blake, the Four Marks are four favors bestowed upon the faithful, human servants of a Master Vampire and as such, can only be empowered by a Master.

The eyes, ears, hands and voice of the vampire during the hours of daylight, humans see being presented with the Four Marks as a rare and honored privilege. There is also everything for the human to gain by these marks in the shape of supernatural strength, speed, great wisdom and longevity of natural life. So special is this bond between vampire and servant that the Master Vampire can only have one bond at any given time. For a new bond to be taken out, the present servant must first die. Just going off at a slight tangent here, I suspect that Laurell may have hit upon this idea when studying the customs of Ancient Rome. It was common for a long, serving slave to be given his freedom eventually and becoming what the Roman’s termed a “freed man.” Although the man was now free to do as he pleased as a Roman Subject, he often stayed on in the service of his master/mistress until the day one of them died. It was a very special and strong bond between a master/mistress and his/her servant. On the other hand, Bram Stoker states quite clearly in his famous novel, Dracula, that the vampire has a power over the ones he creates and over prospective or half attacked victims. Once this vampire is destroyed, that bond is broken. The would be or half attacked victims recover, the turned die along with the vampire.

As in Stoker’s ideas, Laurell too states that although the vampire is usually present during the bestowing of these marks upon a human, it is not necessary for this to be so. And, although this relationship is usually an agreed upon and consented to arrangement, the vampire can achieve it by force of will on an reluctant partner. Although the vampire gains very little from this relationship, other than having eyes and ears etc. during their more vulnerable times, the human gains resistance to most poisons, is able to heal quicker from wounds, and becomes immune to the voice, commands and glance of the vampire that marked them.

Despite all these added talents however, unless the human is trained to use them effectively, a skilled, average human can beat them. When a human has all four marks, they age almost as slowly as the vampires do. Once the marks are received, they cannot be voluntarily removed and they fully bind the human to the vampire who gave them. Because of this, the Master Vampire does not give them lightly. While a human is in the midst of receiving these marks, other Master Vampires may bestow their own marks upon the same human but once the final mark is given, then the vampire who gave it is in complete control as the final mark eradicates and supersedes all the others.

The First Mark: This is a transference of the pranic life force of the vampire’s upon the human subject. Normally done in the physical presence of the vampire, it does not necessarily have to be so. Human’s who have experienced this have often said, “it is like falling into the eyes of the vampire”. This transference leaves no physical marks upon the servant.

The Second Mark: Flaming Eyes. The human sees, approaching them, twin spots of light, the exact same colour of the vampire’s eyes except in flame. These lights overlap their eyes and for a brief moment, the human looks at the world in shades of fire. Any witnesses to this act will see the human’s eyes glow the flame’s shade. Again, like the First Mark, the vampire does not have to be physically present in order to endow the human with this.

The Third Mark: This is a mark in which the vampire does need to be physically present, for it is the act of taking blood from the human in order that memories and insights may be shared by both parties.

The Fourth Mark: Here, the human partakes in the blood of the vampire while the vampire intones words similar to, “Blood of my blood, flesh of my flesh, two minds, one body, two souls joined as one.” Each vampire may have a slightly different variation on this verse but the meaning remains essentially the same. The two now become one, empathically linked.

In conclusion then, the results of the marks upon the humans are as follows:

• With each mark the human becomes stronger, faster and more resistant to poisons and physical harm. They become resistant to the mind tricks, mesmerism and voice commands of the vampire that created them and also all other vampires. They also have a higher threshold of physical pain.


• On the Second Mark, the vampire can be sustained by the human by feeding from his/her pranic life force, even when kept from feeding on blood. By siphoning off this energy, the vampire can maintain a healthy and sane demeanour and can also enter the dreams of the servant to communicate. Though they can no longer bewitch or trick their servants using their eyes or voice, it is still possible for a highly accomplished and disciplined vampire to apply mind tricks.


• The Third Mark enables both vampire and human a more direct way of telepathic communication between the two. It is also possible for the vampire to communicate with the human when the human is conscious and there is the added advantage of shared emotions and memories. . .empathy.


• With the Fourth and Final Mark, the link between the two is complete. The life forces of both individuals are fully bound now and the human, although retaining all human and mortal traits, becomes immune to the aging process. Injury to either one will have a severe and detrimental effect on the other. However, the human is still able to wear and touch blessed and holy symbols and to enter sacred and consecrated premises such as churches etc. According Jean Claude, the human soul is not compromised by the transference of these marks but Anita is not so sure. Although the death of one usually leads to death of the other, a strong, Master Vampire can survive the death of the servant but it will however, leave then greatly weakened. A servant may also survive the death of the master but this will often result in insanity. The longer the relationship has gone on between the two, the more likely these outcomes have of occurring.

These then are the Four Marks as far as I know them. I hope Saoirse it has been of some help to you and to everyone else, I hope it has been informative. Of course, as much as I would love to take credit for it all the praise and recognition must go to Laurell K. Hamilton for the fantastic world she has created. It is also a perfect example of how the vampire continues to adapt and evolve.

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Thank you, Randall, for guest blogging with us today and in future posts.

Research as Muse

I’m one of those writers who can’t read a newspaper without wondering about the back story. There’s too much interesting stuff happening in the world, just waiting for me to riff on. That's why research is one of my best cures for writer's block.

Take for example, my recent research about the textile industry in Mumbai. Okay, before I lose you here, I'm writing a novel, not a history book, nor is the novel about textiles. However, my main character (MC) embarks on a new career that involves textiles. It has little bearing on how the story unfolds but it does inform some of my backdrop.

I hadn't given it much thought until recently, when I realized I needed to plump up a subplot. My writing buddy suggested I add a scene, possibly at a textile museum. The idea sparked my imagination. Does Mumbai even have a textile museum? The city’s economy relied on its cotton mills  for more than a century, until about the 1980s when a major strike more or less led to its demise. But in my travels to the city, I’d never heard about a museum dedicated entirely to its greatest source of income, art, and fashion. I did an Internet search, of course, and emailed an uncle who's a textile executive there. Then the juices started flowing. Not the writing juices so much as the idea juices.

It turns out the history of textiles in the city is pretty fascinating. During WWII, British India provided the Allied effort with the raw material that would become tents, uniforms, bandages, and stretchers. I also learned the head of the textile company my family worked for had been assassinated a decade ago by a mobster. In addition, the section of town the textile companies abandoned is being revitalized into a massive commercial district, with fancy malls and discos. Yet despite a long, glorious history, there's still no textile museum in Mumbai.

Hm, what if…?

A similar spark occurred when I started working on the book’s sequel, set in Cairo. Some time after plotting, reading guide books, developing characters, sketching some initial scenes, and talking to people who'd visited the city, I lost steam. I had learned plenty about popular drinks and national foods and neighborhoods and where to plop down a hotel or an embassy. But the story was starting to feel one­-dimensional.

Then last fall, during the height of the H1N1 scare, I found out the government of Egypt had rounded up all the pigs in the country and slaughtered them—despite published evidence that pigs were not responsible for the “swine flu” epidemic. Better safe than sorry, they'd decided. As a bizarre result, Cairo became overrun with, of all things, trash. Yet another great example of how the truth is often more fantastic than anything I could make up.

It turns out that by killing the pigs in Egypt, the government put most of the country’s Christian minority out of work. Coptic Christians live in an area called Zabbaleen, which if you can believe it, refers to both people of that faith and to the garbage. (The slum/suburb where they live even translates to Garbage City in English.)

The double meaning of "zabbaleen" is not meant to be a slam on Christians, but a strange fact in itself. Members of the small, poor community in this largely Muslim city had forged livelihoods as pig farmers, catering to western hotels and restaurants. As a result, they also became garbage collectors, separating discarded food items from the trash they collected so as to feed their pigs.



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They then found resourceful ways to offload the nonfood items, recycling or reselling it. For example, they sold scrap metal to China, plastic bottles back to their own government for a few pennies apiece, even animals bones to factories to make glue. (How's that for an image?) In this way, one report estimates that Cairo had one of the highest recycling rates, around 85%, in the world. That was the case until last year, when the government killed the pigs and deprived the farmers of their main source of income, in turn giving them little incentive to collect the trash. The city's still feeling the repercussions, with piles of trash littering streets all over town.

Few of these details actually make it into my book, especially since my story takes place well before swine flu hit. But what I learned about Cairo from this bit of research gave me much of the context I needed to understand my setting, much more so than the guide books could offer. This new information gave me the spark for entire scenes, settings, and character development I wouldn’t otherwise have had. Little of these have to do with garbage itself (thankfully). But talk about inspiration--I guess one man’s garbage really is another’s gold. (Now if I only could finagle a trip to Cairo. Ahem, for research, of course!)

Anyone else out there for whom research spurs a story?

Spring Time and Thoughts Turn to Plotting

Today we have the first post from our newest member, David Sartof! We'd been looking for a male mystery writer for a few weeks now, and C.J. met David on a Facebook group for authors. He wrote intriguingly, his novel sounded interesting, and he seemed computer savvy - and thus began a flurry of emails spanning an ocean. Please give David a hearty welcome as he tosses his cap in with the team~

Well, here goes… my first blog post as the new kid on the Wicked Writers' block.

[caption id="attachment_1992" align="alignright" width="124" caption="Potting? Who said Potting?"][/caption]

To plot or not to plot. My post will take a cursory look at the issue of whether a writer should have a good idea of their destination, and set out with a route map in hand or whether they should set out as an explorer, with merely the “idea” of the direction that their artistic travels might take.

Do you pooh-pooh the notion of sitting down and planning, in detail, how your story will unfold, preferring to bow to the elevated status of literary prose? Or do you scratch your head (carefully avoiding splinters) and trace out the necessary plot turns and twists and the character traits to be observed on the journey?

[caption id="attachment_1993" align="alignleft" width="120" caption="That's better - I said Plotting"][/caption]

If you’re a reader, do you enjoy a ramble through the machinations of your favourite author’s literary musings? Or do you pick up the books of that author knowing that the journey they take you on will, in labyrinthine style, guide you through thrills and spills, holding your hand, knowing, with confidence, that the author will reveal to you a new and exciting destination?

James Scott Bell writes in his book Plot and Structure that “Some writers, critics, and other assorted literati sniff at plotting as a tool of craft.  …[it is] something decent people don’t do.”

Certainly, we can assume that an extended synopsis of a proposed novel – as a detailed writer’s “road map” – restricts the scope for characters and events to evolve in exciting and surprising directions.  Such restrictions reduce the scope to offer readers new insights into the characters’/writer’s world.  And given such restrictions, perhaps those other writers, critics and assorted literati have a point. If a writer plots to the n^th degree, then scope for the artist’s “art” is severely limited and writing becomes recipe-driven.  How many times have we seen a new writer’s break-through success followed by formulaic mediocrity?

[caption id="attachment_1997" align="alignright" width="87" caption="James Scott Bell"][/caption]

If, however, a writer disregards the elements of plot that can be traced back to the Greek philosophers of old, they also disregard the nature of the audience experience and risk loosing their readers’ engagement through a succession of wanderings into literary superlatives. How many times have we picked up a book on the recommendation that it has been the receiver of some major literary award, only to find the prose leaves you distinctly disengaged with any conception of an underlying story, wondering where on earth the book is taking you and… should you put the coffee on and go do something else, something more entertaining?

As Robert McKee in his work Story says, “As important as language is, however, it’s only the surface by which we capture the reader to lead him to the inner life of the story. Language is a tool for self-expression and must never become a decorative end of its own.”

[caption id="attachment_1998" align="alignleft" width="130" caption="Robert McKee"][/caption]

My own view is that there is a time and a place for plotting and non-plotting.

I believe it is necessary that the author, as an artist, should understand two necessary but conflicting responsibilities in realizing their written work. First, there is the responsibility to apply their word craft as an artform.  Call this the desire to pen our word pictures with as much concentration on the creativity with which we can manipulate language – even to the point of reaching the “decorative end”.  Secondly, there is the responsibility to retain a connection with the expectations of the audience.

So, with my apologies to the great Bard himself, to plot or not to plot – that is the question: whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune and bow to the mass market desire for good quality commercial fiction, or to take arms against a sea of expectation… And, by opposing, challenge the norm and deliver the true art in words?

[caption id="attachment_2002" align="alignright" width="114" caption="To plot or not to plot..."][/caption]

For the new author, learning the craft of writing, I would advocate that it is easier to bend to expectations. There is time enough to challenge the norm when you have gained the strength of having mastered your craft. It also depends on whether or not you might be writing in order to earn a living from the sale of your books.

And, before the obvious question, having quoted from two books on the subject of story and plot structure, can I recommend these works?

In the words of a dear and departed relative, inscribing a note in a book he presented to me before I joined my first ship, in a naval career started so many moons ago I prefer to forget – “A good book will not teach you anything, but you can learn a lot from it!”

Welcome!

You've arrived a bit early!  Please pardon our appearance while we get things set up.

Our blog will officially launch in May. We hope to see you then!

10 Inspiring Places to Write

Is it really the last day of March, already?

As usual, I had a hard time deciding on a topic, so I did what any lazy writer would do. I looked for inspiration in other blogs and found it in a few posts on writing spaces. So I first have to give credit to Brock Henning over at Lifesummit in his post Where is Your Writing Abode? Make sure you drop by, because his post is linked to a couple other blogs with interesting reads on the subject. I'm also lovin' Where Stories are Made… over at Book Chick City. Every week, they bring in guest authors to describe their writing spaces.

I've decided to approach writing spaces a little different in this post. I've included places, past and present, where I've found the most inspiration to write. Here are the top ten:

#10 - The Usual Places: Where better to begin than with the usual places I drag my computer around the house every day? Like right now, I'm on the couch, surrounded by snoring beagles, writing today's post. Whenever I stop in mid-sentence or paragraph, searching in my mind for just the right words, I scratch the nearest tummy and the answers comes to me. They're like little genies. In addition, I have an office I don't use because the desk is an old roll top that's way too uncomfortable. Instead I opt for the dining room table if I feel like sitting in a chair.

#9 - On Public Transportation: Ten years ago I lived in Colorado Springs half the week and Aurora, Colorado half the week. While in Aurora, I rode the bus into Downtown Denver, where I worked at the time. The commute was about an hour each way, and I was never without a notebook. Every morning I blabbered in the journl, added to my list of story ideas and wrote half a novel before I stopped riding on that route. So public transportation is good for more than the environment.

#8 - On a Long Car Trip: So you're wondering, how is this different than #9? While on a long car trip to Southern Colorado or Rocky Mountain National Park, I can edit my ass off. On public transportation, there are far too many distractions from fellow commuters, and I can't edit without mostly silent surroundings.

#7 - At Chuckie Cheese: Any place there are large numbers of screaming children, my ears tune out and my imagination takes over. So when my sons reached the age they could take off unsupervised at places like Chuckie Cheese or small amusement parks, I'd hand them a cup full of tokens, open the old notebook and write a new short story or add to a novel. This worked for everyone. They played for hours and I never killed anyone else's kid.

#6 - In the Middle of Downward Dog: Yes, I know you're supposed to clear your thoughts while doing yoga, but I can only do that for maybe two minutes at a time. It does help clear my mind of the insignificant crap quite well. So if I'm distracted and can't work through a scene, by the time I’ve stretched for twenty minutes, I’ve usually got it all figured out.

#5 - From a Jail Cell: Well, not in reality. Whenever I can't seem to find peace and quiet anywhere, the loner in me dreams of writing from a jail cell in solitary confinement. No Internet, no planning dinner, no vacuuming, and no teenagers not doing their homework. Ahhhhh :-)

#4 - With My Left (Less Dominant) Hand: Every now and then, when I don't feel I'm quite capturing the personality of an antagonist, I pull out a notebook and tell the character to write through my left hand. Oh, and I write backwards because it's just easier with my less dominant hand. Five years or so ago, I actually picked up a book in a new age shop that discussed using this technique as therapy. Since most antagonists could use a good therapist, I decided to let my bad guys talk to me using this method. The results are both scary and amazing. Or, maybe I'm also in need of a good therapist.

#3 - While People Watching: This one includes writing just about anywhere: coffee shops, libraries, park benches. I think C.J. hit on this one a few weeks ago. What better inspiration for characters than watching real people interact. Need a description for your bitchy character? Coffee shops are a great place to find 'em. The wimpy guy who just missed the bus might work well as your next victim, eaten by a monster down a dark alley.

#2 - In Bed; In My Head:  Sometimes I wish I could turn a story off like I can turn off the television. I was up at 2:30 A.M. Tuesday morning because The Courier was playing the next part over and over in my head. If I haven't written anything new for a few days or can't work through a scene, I have no control over my thoughts. It's worse, at night, when there are no distractions. Good thing I'm a writer and not a serial murderer.

#1 - Walking the Dogs with a Hand Held Recorder: While I love a tranquil walk with the pups, they are beagles, and half our daily one-hour trek involves them sniffing for rabbits and me standing beside them thinking about story plots, character development and new ideas. So I can't leave the house without my hand held recorder. Last year, around this time, I wrote a novel in a month and most of it was written during our daily walks. Heck, I'm expecting to write most of the second Courier novel this way.

And so that it, folks, my favorite writing spaces. I'd love to hear about any of your out of the ordinary writing habits.

Authors, Authors Everywhere -- even on a film shoot

I just burned the candle at both ends last week. I worked an 8-hour shift, did nearly 12 hours on the set of the TV pilot 187 Detroit with James McDaniel (Lt. Fancy on NYPD Blue) and Mike Imperioli (Chris on The Sopranos). I then got two hours of sleep, went back to work Saturday morning for overtime. Then, I went straight to the set of 187 Detroit for eight more hours of filming (I'm the black detective in the green shirt, black blazer and an ugly ass tie that I think Harvey Keitel wore in Life on Mars).

By now, you're asking the obvious.

Why are they filming a TV show about Detroit in Atlanta?

Sorry, can't answer that one. A few weeks ago, I was shivering in a silk print shirt as an extra on the set of the Farrelly Brothers' Hall Pass, which used Atlanta to double for summertime Providence, Rhode Island.

The point of this blog is that when the other extras found out that I was a real writer, suddenly everyone was a writer.

Everyone had either a book they'd started but not finished or a book they wanted to write. Of course, they wanted me to write it or co-write it for them. Alas, I was only able to help the most beautiful one (she was also a cop with a real gun, so I had more incentive).

Many of us have this desire to write. But, most of us also have the hidden desire to procrastinate. And while it was nice for everyone to want me to help them, it was a little disconcerting.

As I thought about it, I noted that it was kind of ironic because these same people had possessed the desire to be in acting. They'd gotten agents or scanned Craigslist or Facebook 24/7 to find roles. Many made being a background actor or extra their livelihoods (I just do it for fun). They found the will and desire to get into the acting biz and, yet, they did not apply the same desire to writing the books they said they always wanted to write.

The message seems to be that publishing a book is infinitely more difficult than being an actor. But, we all go through 12 years of schools in which we write and write and write. It should be more natural than acting, so why the hesitation?

I think writing forces us to use a lot more of our brain matter. Don't get me wrong. I love being on film sets and TV shoots, but my "acting" requirements are just to follow the directions of the assistant directors or production assistants. Writing requires thousands and thousands of words that must "flow" and "excite" and "inform."

The end result, though, is much better. I know my chances of winning an Emmy or Oscar for my "acting" is somewhere between "hell no" and "eff no," but I can publish a book. Writing a book can be a labor of love. Publishers can edit my works, but they can't edit me completely out like movie directors. And, in the end, a resume of book and short story titles seems to carry more weight than a resume constantly prefaced with the word "uncredited."

I appreciate the people who view the Wicked Writers blog but I sincerely hope that those that we entertain and inspire get enough incentive to stop reading my wonderful words for a few minutes to put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard.

The Business of Selling Books

This week, the Wicked Writers are getting a free pass to blog about anything we’d like. My topic of choice is selling books versus writing books. I believe it’s possible for an author to do both, but more and more I run into writers who write purely for the love of writing and question my approach.

Let me start by saying there is nothing wrong with their way. And thankfully, there are a tremendous amount of platforms today for such writers. I do not fall into that category. I don't have a burning desire to have my name in print for bragging rights at my next high school reunion. Hell, I won’t even see my real name in print but a pen name.

I have a desire to succeed at this business and make money at it. I want to sell books and lots of them, but where does one start? You can't just wish these sales into existence.  You must have a plan—a detailed one on what to do and how to achieve your goals. I've recently mapped out a marketing plan, but the more I study the market, the more I realize my plan will have to evolve even more over time.

As in any business venture, you must approach things carefully and examine things from all angles. Good ideas on paper may turn out to backfire and bite you in the butt because of public perception. And what do you do then? You pick yourself up, dust yourself off and try again. No one buys your book because you sell it well. Those are the purchasers who return your book because it was all hype and poorly written.

You must always start with craft and good storytelling. If you can create a story that pulls the reader in and helps to suspend reality, if even for only a few hours, then you have a product worthy of being sold. And that means really and truly working hard to sell it.

Blogs, blog tours, twittering, fan pages, web sites, book tours, author interviews, book reviews—these are only the tip of the iceberg. The sheer work involved with selling will likely daunt and turn away even the staunchest in the industry. After all, with the time you must devote to it, when do you have time to write?

It's a balancing act and one I'm still currently trying to learn. My background in sales and marketing gives me an advantage—but that's like saying someone who sold cars for ten years can now sell life insurance. A good salesman learns to specialize in the industry and in the product they are selling prior to ever making that first sale.

There are a few "sharks" that industry-hop, who do exactly what I described above. But a savvy purchaser knows the difference. They can see past the charm and blinding smile and realize that this sap can't advise on what policy works best for their family's needs and they need to find a rep that can.

The best in any industry starts from the bottom and moves up the ranks. So that's where I am. I'm a new writer who has been a reader her whole life. I love books and I love to read. I don't shop a lot and don't own a bunch of fancy shoes—my sole vice is buying books.

I started as a book consumer and have been a voracious one for years. I started to write when I saw a lack in my favorite genre. Knowing next to nothing about writing, I didn't know writing in present tense was almost taboo among my peers. I didn't switch it to past tense because frankly, I didn't know enough about writing to do it well.

Now, I've learned more. I've finished my book. I've developed a loyal following among readers and I've acquired an agent. From the outside looking in, it may seem like I've been lucky and this has all come together quickly. Eight to ten hours a day of work with no pay is not lucky. I'm starting at the very bottom, learning as much as I can, making mistakes along the way and determined not to make them again.

I intend to learn enough about this industry to sell well and succeed. Does that mean I won't fall a few times? No. I'm sure I will. But anything in life worth having doesn't come easy. The pros just make it look like it does.

How many of you out there have an interest in the path I've taken and in the one I plan to take in the future? How many of you would like me to write a detailed, step-by-step primer on what I've done to see if it’s useful to your own journey? Let me know. If there is enough interest, perhaps I can do a special supplement and post it here.