Sarah Masters's Blog, page 6

TODAY WE HAVE SOMETHING A LITTLE DIFFERENT. WHILE I'M NOT ONE FOR SALES PITCHES, I RECENTLY MET A GENTLEMEN WHO PIQUED MY CURIOSITY REGARDING AN EMERGING SOCIAL NETWORK. MOVE OVER FACEBOOK! I ASKED HIM TO BE A GUEST ON THE BLOG. LET'S SEE WHAT HE HAS TO SAY.

CAN YOU TELL ME A LITTLE SOMETHING ABOUT YOUR ORGANISATION?

Of course, and thank you for having me!

All I have to do is ask: have you ever wanted…more?

Of course you have! It's human nature to look at our simple lives, perhaps the plain wife in front of the television and the ugly brats that are fighting over the meagre crumbs your worthless employment can provide. Does this sound like you? Then read on, friend!

We here at the Cult of Zandathru…

LET ME STOP YOU THERE. CULT? WE HEAR SUCH HORROR STORIES ABOUT CULTS NOWADAYS. NOT GOING TO OFFER ME KOOLAID ARE YOU?

No, no. Let me explain. The word cult in the Cult of Zandathru is merely a term. Consider it as a friendly group of people. We have no religious connotations nor connections.  You will not be required to attend church, pray or sing hymns. We also don't have any religious texts that you are to meticulously study. We put the ult back into cult, ult being the neo-anglo-saxon term for fun!

SO THERE IS NO RELIGIOUS COMMITMENT?

Well, Zandathru is the ancient god of chaos, but it's more like a figurehead. Something for the Cafepress t shirts and mugs.

SO IF THE CULT OF ZANDATHRU HAS NO RELIGIOUS BACKGROUND, WHAT'S IT ALL ABOUT? I'M INTRIGUED!

Our members believe in themselves. If you want something, why shouldn't you have it? Don't we all work hard enough to get what we want?  The Cult of Zandathru is also firmly established in the new world of telecommunications, and we regularly have members meet and trade ideas online. We also broadcast directly to members over the net via our subscription service. That side of the business is run by a chap we call Demon, as he's a demon when it comes to technology! Demon has a very impressive set up at our Orchard House site in the quaint old town of Samhane. Subscribers are guaranteed the upmost in download times, hi-res video and and a wide band width, whatever that means!

AND WHAT DO YOU PROVIDE?

Let me ask you something. What would you want providing?

FOR A STREAMING SITE? I WOULD EXPECT MUSIC, SPORT, THE LATEST MOVIES…

I think we're being a little modest! What would you really want to see? Any fantasy can be provided. Any sin of the flesh imaginable can be broadcast live into your own living room…

AH, SO YOU RUN A PORN SITE?

The term porn is so…tarnished, nowadays. Is it porn to eat caviar and drink champagne in the finest restaurant? Or to scratch an itch that's been screaming for attention? No, I don't think it is. We cater for any taste, and subscribers can even email their requests in live during the broadcast. Please bear in mind that none of the broadcasts are morally wrong in any way. We have members who even watch with their children! We love the little tykes, and they enjoy the interactivity of the shows. Children are the future, after all.

CAN YOU CONFIRM THAT THE CULT OF ZANDATHRU IS TIED WITH BELVEDERE LTD, OR MORE SPECIFICALLY JOSEPH BELVEDERE? THE GRANDSON OF CHARLES BELVEDERE, FOUNDER OF SAMHANE?

No comment.

THE BROADCASTS SOUND GREAT. IT WOULD BE NICE TO FIND SOMETHING MY YOUNG SON AND I CAN DO TOGETHER. HOW DO I FIND OUT MORE?

The next step would be to pick up a copy of the novel Samhane. The Cult of Zandathru employed some hack writer to dress up our practices and make it look like a novel. That way, we can attract the lucrative market of fiction readers. Why waste time reading when you can watch pure pleasure 24/7? But yes, the novel will give potential followers…erm, subscribers a deeper insight into how we operate.

Although just to clarify, the author did go a tad overboard. His accounts of torture-porn, chainsaws, acid, rape, cannibalism and giant, horrific gods are purely artistic license for sales. Unfortunately, not only was the Cult's reputation tarnished, but sadly the author met a tragic accident shortly after the review copies were sent out. A group broke into his house at night and flayed him in his bed. At least the money we save in royalties can go towards repairing our besmirched reputation! Should you want to know more about this sad and pointless death, we have the video, available to all subscribers. You should see it…boy does he bleed. And the screams? Oh the screams are orgasmic! Almost as good as the time Demon remade the move 'Drillbit Taylor' with a girl called Taylor and a drill…

OKAY…I THINK WE"VE HEARD ENOUGH. CAN YOU LEAVE NOW? 

I don't think so. I've been here long enough. All this time Demon has been hacking into your blog account. This site now belongs to us!

The pain, the confusion, the brutality,

He invades, He reaps, He destroys,

He answers the cry of your hidden self,

Those are His ways,

So say the Order of Zandathru!

Samhane, available from Stygian Publications, Amazon and other retailers from late November. Visit Stygian at www.necrotictissue.com and keep up with the now skinless author at www.daniel-i-russell.blogspot.com.

Hi folks!

Today I'm blogging at Four Strong Women about the trials and tribulations regarding waxing…

http://fourstrongwomen.blogspot.com/2...

I'm also at Three Wicked Writers Plus Two sharing an emotional moment between myself and my seven-year-old daughter.

http://threewickedwriters.blogspot.co...

Have a great day!

)

Come and join me HERE today and find out some of the reactions I've encountered when I've told someone what I write!

See you there!

I'm blogging over at Four Strong Women all week. Today's rant is about snobbery. Come and share your views with me HERE!

Today I'm having a bit of a rant HERE. Please feel free to drop by and let me know what gets your goat!

)

I wrote a book once about sayings, and the main character wondered where they came from. Yesterday, I revisited a site I went to about the origin of sayings and it gave me an idea… Want to play a game? It's called "Fill in the blanks". Let's try and create some really funny new sayings, just because we can, just because it's childish and fun to be immature sometimes, and just…well, just because. You know, kind of like: What the hell. It's insane to play this game, I really wouldn't normally, but it's Friday, for God's sake, and I fancy being silly.

Or something.

Before the game, though, here are some interesting (I hope!) facts on adages, the originals on THIS SITE:

Getting out of the wrong side of bed



Apparently, this saying comes from way back when, when many children shared the one bed. When one got up, having to climb over all the others, it woke those still sleeping, causing them to be in a bad mood. I can agree with that. Imagine those poor little buggers being clambered over. Yes, I'd be pretty naffed off too. An elbow in the temple or a knee to the groin isn't my idea of waking up happy.

To let the cat out of the bag



I like this one. Apparently, in medieval England, piglets were sold and given away in bags. Most probably sacks. Off you go to market, thinking, "I'm going to buy a little piggy today. I could fair do with a pork chop for my dinner!" only to get home and find a cat in it instead. Enraged, the next time you go to market, you check in the bag, make sure your little piggy is inside. If you see a cat again, that's it! You've let the cat out of the bag. Love it!

On the wallaby



On the bloody what? I've never heard of this one, but many Australians might have. It refers to men from years ago who trekked through Australia looking for a job. It possibly means they jumped from town to town, much a like a wallaby, although that image leaves me a tad disturbed. I can't imagine men holding their hands up together in front of their chests, fingers curved, and jumping around. Then again, I'm quite a literal person, possibly insane, so this image popping into my head doesn't surprise me.

And now for the game! Fill in the blanks with as many words as you like to make a new adage:

Good things come to those who __________

A problem shared is ___________

Practice makes _________

Come on! Make me laugh with your new adages!

One of the decisions regarding my career that I've been struggling with of late is whether to "come out" as the EC author. Today is the day I do that. It's been hard keeping myself quiet, and I haven't much liked, while in Natalie Dae mode, speaking to people I know as Emmy/Sarah as though I don't know them. It's like deceiving people, and although the whole point of having different pen names is so you can "be" someone else, I realise it isn't for me.

Thanks to all those people who kept ND a "secret" and, if you guessed she was me by my blog post style, thanks for not emailing and asking if she is me, therefore putting me in a bit of a "spot" on whether to admit it or not. And if you're thinking, "Natalie WHO? Never heard of her!" then that's because of my piss-poor promotion.

So, today I'm off to jazz up my ND site to reflect "me" more instead of someone I'm not. I suppose I did my polkadot site because it's far removed from who I really am. You know, keeping everyone separate. But now I can be me in all the genres I write.

Did you just hear that clonk? That was a huge weight falling off my shoulders.

Have a great day, folks!

Yesterday was a particularly shitty day, where certain things seemed pointless. I went to bed early after a nice bath and woke this morning with remnants of the shit still lingering. I opened my emails, saw some things I didn't feel like dealing with and wanted to literally run. Ever get like that? Where things get too much and you just want to get away from whatever it is that's bothering you? Like this computer, for instance. There is no reason why I shouldn't just walk away from the computer today. Nothing that can't be left until tomorrow, but after realising that hey, if I didn't pull my socks up and stop feeling like shit it would take a stronger hold, I had a cigarette and told myself off. I do that regularly. Sometimes out loud when I'm on my own, and other times in my head so family members don't think I'm really mental.

Anyway, I logged onto Facebook, still wanting to run, still wanting to say "Fuck you, world!" and saw a wall post Hubby had left me before he went to work. It's just a series of letters, but it means something to us, and seeing them took all the shit away. That he had been thinking of me down here while I slept up there, that he knew, because of yesterday, that I had come very close to hitting rock bottom about something—I don't usually cry, so that gave him a good indication—made me get everything into perspective.

He loves me. Wants what's best for me all the time. And like he said last night before sleep, whatever decision I make, he'll support me all the way. I knew that—he always has—but hearing it made me feel better.

So, my options today are:

1. Walk away from the computer and tell the world to fuck off today.

2. Dive in and get on with things, get them off my back so they aren't on my mind.

3. A bit of both.

I'm choosing option 3. I'm going to do what I have to on here this morning, and if I stay on here after that, all well and good, but if I don't, who cares. What does it matter if I'm not "doing" something with regards to my career every damn day?

I got good advice from friends via email, good advice from Anny Cook on my blog post yesterday, and support from Hubby with hugs and knowing to just leave me alone with my woes. I'm lucky that I have such people who help me through the dark dips that get hold of me, and I feel guilty I dump my shit on their shoulders, but they are the angels who keep my wings from breaking. Muddling through alone would be very crap.

Soooooooooooo, without further ado, I thank those who supported me yesterday—again!—and will plug on today, get things done, and shift back into "You won't beat me!" mode.

After all, I've done that so often I'm a sodding pro.

Have a great day, all.

I've had a bit of a revamp around here. I got bored with the white and decided to go with something more in keeping with the darker aspects of my work that I've been leaning toward lately. Sort of combining my "old" self (Charley Oweson) with the newer, m/m self (Sarah Masters). I love writing dark books, but it remains to be seen if the darker work will be taken as well as my other m/m. We'll see.

The last two books of the Blinded series—Wildfire and Shimmer—are at the formatters, so they should be available soon. Scared is with two beta readers, so that novel will be sent to the publishers shortly. A single title, Grafton's Point, in the Dreams & Desires anthology, the proceeds going to a battered women's shelter, will also be available soon. As for WIPs…at the moment I have four books on the go. One for EC, one for who knows where, one co-authoring with Jaime Samms, and an m/m. You'd think with 4 to choose from I'd have the urge to write at least one of them, but I don't. So, I might well start a new short today just so I keep up with my chapter a day regime that I've been sticking to for the past two weeks now. It's working well, although some days the procrastination fairy does sit on my shoulder and prod me to do other things. Like she did this morning by making me re-do this site. Bless her…

I'm on a bit of a downer today, but ho hum, such is life, and I'm sure I'll knock myself out of it in an hour or two. Sometimes life throws a curveball and makes me wonder what the fuck the point is with certain things, and I ask myself whether I need to take a new direction. Still, I'll plod along as usual, see if anything changes—God, I'm always saying that!—and then if it doesn't, I'll think about making some changes of my own. Sometimes it's like I'm beating a dead horse, know what I mean? I reckon it can apply to anything in life: When do you decide enough is enough? When do you say, "Right, that's it! Fuck this for a game of soldiers!"

Yeah, it's to do with writing, my career, whether all this hard work is worth the virtual paper it's written on. But…that's a story for another day. I think I'm just tired, may possibly need a break after hammering out Scared. Unfortunately, I never know when to quit until I burn out. So maybe I just need to either start a new book or go and do something else for a week or two. Avoid manuscripts like the plague. Um, yeah. That's likely…

Whatever you're doing today, I hope it's a good one, and if you need to reflect, like me, I hope you come to the best solution for you. One that makes you happy. TTFN, loves!

After twelve days of writing like a loon, my first m/m novel, Scared, came in at 67K. It's one of those books that, as soon as the plot formed, I had the urge to keep going until it was done. No stops, no procrastinating. I had the plan to write a 3K chapter every day, but obviously some days went to two or three chapters. I wrote it arse-backwards all the way, skipping chapters so the loudest characters got their say first, then went back to fill in the ones who didn't have the courage to bully me into writing their parts. Bless them.

There are six main characters, something I didn't expect when I started. Originally it was meant to be a novel about Toby and Russell from my short story Grave Findings, expanding on that book and what happened after that one ended. Whoa, lots happened, and a small part of Grave Findings, where Toby stops a couple of men harassing a young boy, turned into the basis of the plot in Scared. Boys abducted in order to be sold on in the sex trafficking trade.

It isn't a pleasant subject, and I'm praying I handled it well, but it's something that has bothered me for a long time. I read a true-crime book once, that stated more boys are abducted than girls, just for this purpose. It's shocking and frightening, and when you delve into this terrible world, you realise there's so much nasty stuff going on right under your nose.

Tomorrow I'll be going through the book again from start to finish, making sure, because of me skipping chapters, everything runs in sequence and makes sense. The second draft also gives me the opportunity to add extras, things I tend to skimp on with the first draft, because I want to just get the main story down.

I felt lost when I finished. The book has literally controlled my life the past few days, and now maybe I can get to sleep without thinking on what happens next. Unfortunately, I don't think that will be the case. The bad guy in Scared, "Frost", decided he has a tale of his own to tell, so don't be surprised if I do another mad few days writing another novel all about him. But that can wait for a little while. I need to give my poor brain a rest, not to mention my fingertips.

But, ahhhhhhhhhhh, it feels so good to have got that story out of my head and onto the page. I've just got to hope readers like it, despite the horrific subject matter. Eep!