P. A. Matthews
Vulnerable Raconteur
Dirt Beneath the Shamrocks
Nightmare in Stone Dirt
| Posted at 09:00 PM on October 28, 2008 |
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The skill of writing is to create a context in which other people can think.
Hello Peeps;
Gosh, where has the month gone? Mine still exists in an Ibuprofen bottle. I'm into my second hundred tablet one in three weeks. Think there's a record somewhere in there for liver tolerance or something. How has your month gone? Geez, almost Halloween and I haven't decorated anything in my blog either. I'll try to put something here once I get this effort in rambling gone amok done. 
Okay, here's more scoop on the writing front.
After months trying to decide how to handle a scene in the next Riley installment, I finally found something to hit on after scads of misses. Some days writing is like digging for gold in a million miles of pyrite-laden earth. It just ain't happenin' no matter how long or deep those holes have become or how tired your arms are from flinging gold-flecked stones. But I'm tres happy to report I started on that scene and it kept growing as if the pyrite had been layered with manure and continued sprouting areas full of idea plants. Too many ideas in fact as I continued trying to rein in my mind and concentrate on the task at hand.
The scene ended up at almost 17,000 words, which I'm dividing into sort of chapter-like breaks. Hopefully the editing will make the scene's length interesting and not a torture session in the futility of overwriting a notion instead of a plot.
When I reached the end of the scene I was never so happy to remove my mind from the room in which the story dwelt. I'd spent weeks locked in that room with one character, shifting from banter to angry words, active visions, weaving loose ends of other storylines from the previous stories into the tapestry of this story to answer questions posed by plotlines and characters and probably from those who've been kind enough to read the series, while tempting other questions to be asked from Riley and her foes.
When I started this installment, now entitled "Nightmare in Stone", I had planned to continue the story far past where I have ended, but have since decided to begin another installment and delve deeper into some the characters of Zander, Andrew, and Riley's reaction to them in her life. That's the only spoiler you're going to get from me at this point. Sorry.
I can now tell you "Nightmare in Stone" is finished!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This one weighs in at almost 30,000 words (yep another novelette, aren't you excited? I am.) and picks up with Riley ... ah, you'll need to read "Hunted" to see how that one ends to put this in context. 
And don't forget "Blood Betrayal" (novelette length) is coming out in February 2009 and you'll want to have read "Hunted" then as well since Braedon isn't happy due to ... What can I say? It's a series meant to keep you intrigued. I hope I'm doing my job because I'm intrigued with what I'm going to come up with next. 
So I'm now going to tackle editing, make sure continuity issues are addressed, and plot lines secure. Who ever said writing was a simple process? And then the pacing begins when people read to see if I managed to work a bit of magic on the page, then more pacing as the work is sent to the publisher to await their reaction. I wonder how low the stock price on Advil is these days? I'm sure I'll need a fresh supply. Maybe I can ask the Great Pumpkin for some in lieu of candy.
Here's where we stand, folks. "Myth to Life: The Rise of Riley McCabe" is available at Mystic Moon Press
http://www.mysticmoonpress.com/authorpages/pamatthews.html
as well as a few other stores such as Fictionwise eBooks, mobi pocket, and Amazon.com (click above picture for reading links)
Available now:
1) Between Myth and Blood
2) At Death's Door
3) Hunted
February 2009:
4) Blood Betrayal (A Carlisle Chronicle)
Coming Soon:
5) Nightmare in Stone
6) Harbinger's Moon (new characters in the Carlisle Chronicle side of life)
7) Rise of the Clan (this title may change as many do, just wanted to tempt you with the story of Zander, Andrew, and Riley.)
I want to thank those of you who continually care about what happens to me as well as my writing. I couldn't do any of this without ALL of you and I don't want to. Thanks for being patient with me while I write. Life becomes a tad tunnel-visioned when trying to get work out there and meet deadlines.
I heard this song today. It's the new single from Nickleback. I think I've found a song which expresses my personal life a bit. This is the first day I've listened to music. Consider this a gift to those still searching. Maybe one day, huh?
Ta and peace.
P
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woiRZBlDJHs
Is Anything Really Finished? Dirt
| Posted at 08:12 PM on October 06, 2008 |
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Finishing a book is just like you took a child out in the back yard and shot it.
Hello people;
Again, I speak as if extoling to the masses instead of the person who happened to click on my blog in error. Welcome wanderer.
I think I mentioned somewhere last month that the latest installment to the Myth to Life series was finished and being sent to the publisher. Of course I may have been under the influence of chocolate that day so I'm not quite sure I posted a blog or perhaps just put it in my header thingy. I digress.
Welllllllllllllllllll, I was all ready to send the bloody manuscript away (after too many rewrites and edits and comma corrections from those in the know), but held off submitting.
Last week was one of those weeks where lots of craziness happened, not the least of which was a day sitting in court as a potential juror. I'll share that lovely episode for another blog dedicated to God and Fresno County in the near future. Needless to say, the submission didn't happen then for several other reasons as well.
So today I decided I couldn't procrastinate any longer and opened up the manuscript for one last check before hitting send. I'll tell you, this manuscript has been like a project from someone suffering with anOCD problem. I can't tell you how many times I've gone through the thing and ended up not editing but reading. After awhile I thought I knew the words so well that everything was wonderful ... I wasn't seeing any errors. Ha! There were a few mistakes still lurking amid the thousands of words I'd written and had repeatedly checked. So I suppose the lingering over the manuscript was a good thing this time. 'Blood Betrayal: A Carlisle Chronicle' is now screaming through the internet connection, hopefully landing at the correct computer and not orbiting the hinterland of deep space.
Frankly, I'm glad to have this one completed. Plus, I really like the story and hope each of you like it as well when it is published and you get the chance to read.
This installment is different in that this story is one of the Carlisle Chronicles and deals with Braedon and a few of his family members so you will be able to see some of the inner workings of his world. And all the characters are male in this one, except for a brief appearance by a female who ... ah, you'll have to wait to read what trouble lurks there! Writing a male dominated story was fascinating and exhausting every time I put on my testosterone hat to write. If I offend you guys ... sorry. Just think of it as writing about shoes or cosmetics for a lot of words. But since most of my characters are male in this series, while the main character is a woman, I'm liking the direction this is going.
Now I can return to the latest Riley McCabe adventure that will come after Blood Betrayal. I've already got 16,000 words down with many more to write. Hopefully that one will be completed in the next month and on its way to publication.
If you haven't had the opportunity to find out about Riley McCabe and Braedon Carlisle and all the good and evil characters lurking in the series, why not catch up with the stories before this new one hits the airwaves. I think you'll like the series ... of course I'm prejudiced.
The series is available at Mystic Moon Press as well as Fictionwise eBooks. Riley awaits.
Myth to Life: The Rise of Riley McCabe
1) Between Myth and Blood
2) At Death's Door
3) Hunted - MMP's bestseller for the month of May
http://www.mysticmoonpress.com/authorpages/pamatthews.html
In the immortal words of Eeyore, "Thanks for noticin'."
Ta for today,
P
| Posted at 02:54 PM on October 04, 2008 |
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"And this is the forbidden truth, the unspeakable taboo-that evil is not always repellent but frequently attractive; that it has the power to make of us not simply victims, as nature and accident do, but active accomplices."
Welcome;
Come gather round while eventide slips into true night and we are no longer bound by garish light. Settle back ... allow your mind to wander into the hinterland of disbelief. Breathe the dank air as is enters your nose, tickling your brain as you inhale the scents of rotting flesh and stench-filled viscous clots of drying blood spattering walls and ground.
Imagine 13 tales of horror ready to whisk you to a place filled with never-ending unease. Get ready to hear the moans, groans, and unsettling sounds of the dark as they wind through your ear on strains of madness. Try to regulate your breathing as your lungs refuse the air while your heart thrums against your ribcage in a tribal drumbeat.
"Red Fog" has been published in the Horror Issue of TREI Literary Magazine - The Front Door, available today and running until the last clang of the midnight chime on Halloween.
Enter if you dare ... I hope you enjoy my story as well as the rest of the chilling tales permeating the magazine. Not for the faint-hearted.
Bloodily yours,
P
Remembering Dirt
| Posted at 02:18 PM on September 11, 2008 |
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"Now, we have inscribed a new memory alongside those others. It's a memory of tragedy and shock, of loss and mourning. But not only of loss and mourning. It's also a memory of bravery and self-sacrifice, and the love that lays down its life for a friend?even a friend whose name it never knew. "
Please remember to keep the families of all those who died on September 11, 2001 in your prayers.
Thank you and peace,
Patricia
"Died to Match" Dirt
| Posted at 05:06 PM on September 01, 2008 |
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Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did.
I am pleased to annouce that "Died to Match" was picked up for release in the premier issue of TREI Literary Magazine, debuting September 1, 2008.
Needless to say I am ecstatic about this story being selected for the magazine, as well as another opportunity to have my work read by yet another audience. I am truly humbled as well as really excited for this chance to share one of my favorite stories with more people.
I hope you will take the opportunity to stop by TREI Literary Magazine, and read not only my story, but also the stories and poetry of other great writers who have contributed to the magazine.
No one can accomplish this alone, and I have always said I didn't want to. Thank you to all those who continually support my writing, but mostly who support me as a friend and cohort. I couldn't do this without YOU.
Tres groovy day!
P
The back story behind the back story of "Died to Match". Or: Isn't there always something that goes wrong when you think everything is right?
Every story we write has a back story. Some back stories are slowly revealed to the reader as the work progresses, some stories the author gives a scant scattering of clues and leaves the revelation up to the reader to develop whatever type scenario plays out in their imagination. Whichever way the author decides to utilize the back story is a personal one, deciding how much or what the reader is allowed to perceive. And then there are the times a back story is merely for the author alone to ponder as he sets the stage for the reader, a knowledge only he understands and possesses as his characters take center stage.
Back story is what makes the piece real, allows the characters to breathe and relate, stimulates the imagination of the reader to enter the story and believe what is written ? and often forces the writer in another direction he didn?t want to go. Shame on the back story.
?Died to Match? had an interesting back story, some revealed, with some remaining solely in my mind as I wrote. To me it was an interesting mixture of give and take, with a giant dollop of laughter topping it off when I finally got the end and was able to write the words I?d held back from the beginning of the project. Often the ending words come first and then the story is born.
For those who know me, know I love the intrigue of getting inside someone?s head to deliciously dig around in there with shiny cutlery to find out what makes a person tick, or what?s given them ticks. I like complex, I like to be disturbed by something which alters a character?s normalcy, I love it when I can play it out on a page and someone will say that was too close to reality. And, that?s what some readers said as they handed me back the proofs ? that they were bothered because it could happen. I smiled. I?d done my job ? at least on that day.
However, ?Died to Match? wasn?t one of those stories without its own back story. Originally written for a contest, I submitted the piece, and then the contest was canceled. Always my luck. However, during that time one of my friends read it and gave me a review on it which allowed me to go back and start chipping away and rebuilding the story.
All of us have rewrites and edits on our computers for stories we are working on, I?m no different. However, aside from the novels I?m working on, or the Riley series, not many short stories have that many edited copies. ?Died to Match? has its own folder due to the many times I dinked around with it ? changing perspective, changing tenses, changing P.O.V., adding back story, deleting back story, adding text to make it stronger, setting aside pleas from readers to make the story longer knowing that it would have to be novella length once I went down that road. I think the last time I saved the story the saved caption read something like this: Edited so many times I don?t care anymore.? That?s how I left the story. I had completed it to the best of my ability and I was satisfied.
I had never submitted the story. It was one of those pieces that felt as if it were truly a child of mine. I wasn?t sure I wanted to let it go out into the big world. But I did submit and let the story go.
You can imagine my surprise when I hadn?t heard anything regarding the story and then received an e-mail a week before the magazine was to launch stating they would be glad to run the story ? oh, and they wanted a bit of editing completed ? what?
I sat reading the e-mail, reread the e-mail, closed the e-mail. Did I want to make the changes? Did I want to be published? Did I want to tackle my ego and willingly let it go?
Opening the folder for ?Died to Match?, I found the submission and reread it. I still liked it. But ego is ego, and sometimes we have to face that and deal with it in our writing. So, I copied the story and edited the bits in question ? all done while in the throes of a 102 degree temperature and an infection making me more than a tad cranky. Probably why I wasn?t originally hip to the editing.
I sent the final product to the editor and as you can see my diligence paid off. I?m extremely happy to have this story find its way to TREI Literary Magazine, but more than that I?m ecstatic that I got out the way by choosing to let the story go without my training wheels still attached to it.
So, to all of you who want to quit (and believe me I have been there too many times to count) I say keep hanging in there. Keep at the hard work you?ve begun and keep striving toward making your dreams and goals come true. Most people will never see all the back story in your life as you keep hacking away at making your work better. But you?ll see it and that?s what counts, the author in you creating your world for others to visit ? soon they will see it as well. We all need our egos to write stellar material. Just make sure you don?t trip over your ego and miss an opportunity to accomplish something while you?re facing the floor.
Here?s to getting up off the mat after we?ve been knocked down.
Ta and peace,
P
Riley McCabe is on the rise ... and move! Dirt
| Posted at 08:25 PM on July 11, 2008 |
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"When I find myself fading, I close my eyes and realize my friends are my energy."
Hello Everyone or should I just say 'Friends';
Thanks to wonderful readers like YOU, "At Death's Door" is moving up the charts at Fictionwise eBooks in the Dark Fantasy Section.
Today, I checked the site, and "Hunted", the third installment of the Myth to Life: The Rise of Riley McCabe series has a TOP RATED indicator! This is absolutely rockin' news! This story has yet to move a lot in the pack of thousands of great writers, but this is soooo exciting to hear, especially since it is the latest story.
Check out Riley McCabe, I don't think you'll be disappointed with the read.
Stay tuned for more news on the Riley front. She has just gotten a new Myspace acccount and is anxious to share some of her life and excerpts from her stories.
Thanks to everyone who has helped Riley and me on our path to publishing. We couldn't do it without any of you - nor would we want to. You guys rock!
P
Fictionwise eBooks
http://www.fictionwise.com/eBooks/PAMatthewseBooks.htm
Also available at Mystic Moon Press
http://www.mysticmoonpress.com/authorpages/pamatthews.html
| Posted at 10:59 AM on May 07, 2008 |
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Being an author is like being in charge of your own personal insane asylum.
Hello everyone;
I don't think I'll ever get tired hearing myself repeat this as I write the words ... another installment of "Myth to Life - The Rise of Riley McCabe" is being released today, May 7th, 2008. Woo Hoo!
http://www.mysticmoonpress.com/bookstore/
http://www.fictionwise.com/
I'm really excited and trying to remain under the anxiety of one more story out there needing to be read by the public. You would think after several releases the anxiety would go away, wouldn't you? It hasn't. But amid all the anxiety and struggle to find a readership, I truly am happy because part of the ongoing saga of Riley, Braedon, Andrew, Quinlan, Desmond, as well as a few unsavory characters and enemies are out there mingling with the rest of the literary world. A small beginning for me, but one I hope will grow as more people read and become familiar with my characters and their lives - and of course buy my stories.
At times I feel schizophrenic with all the characters clamoring for a continual storyline, while I juggle the scenes and conversations of such a varied group of lovers and miscreants. But isn't that what writing is all about ... bringing all those characters and their emotions to the page so people can enjoy reading? I hope so otherwise I'm wasting a giant portion of my life scrawling black ink into a lined notebook.
One of my friends at work, a fellow writer, has read several of the series stories. After reading the second story, "At Death's Door", he asked me if I talked as much as my characters did because they had a lot of conversations with each other. That had to be the funniest thing I'd heard in a long time since I'm rather a sporadic talker and talk very little once I leave work. I'm sure I'm like a lot of writers in that regard, always saving bits and pieces of me to put into a story for someone to read.
I'm still hard at work on the next installment of the series - "Blood Betrayal", and with hope will have the final rewrites and edits completed in the near future for the publishers to read. Plus, I've begun the fifth story and have the rough draft almost completed. These have been harder to write due to my work schedule, but I'm slowly plogging along, keeping the characters anxiously waiting for their next cue so they can enter the stage of Riley McCabe.
Little did I realize how apt the first part of the title of the series would be. Myth to Life. Sounds a little like my life. 
Thank you to those who continually support my writing as well as me. I cannot do this alone, and, frankly I enjoy the company of the few who are brave enough to walk with me through my odd little life and this publishing venture. You are very special to me and life is much fuller for knowing you.
Thank you for reading my words, thank you for caring that I make it.
Ta and peace,
Patricia
| Posted at 03:28 AM on April 07, 2008 |
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I'm really excited to have the second story out there for everyone to read and provide comment on when they visit the sites. And, at Mystic Moon Press, I now have my own author page, P. A. Matthews, which provides blurbs about the stories, excerpts from the stories, as well as a link to the bookstore. Hopefully tomorrow I will have my website address also listed so people will be able to write me there and provide me with feedback as well as letting me know you're out there and what you're doing. http://pamatthews.webs.com/
"In the middle of difficulity lies opportunity."
Hello People!
Wow, I looked at the last time I wrote in here and it's been ages. Life continues at break-neck speed, at times a mere blur as I race through the day and mingle my writing with fifteen minute breaks and a half hour lunch. Mornings I usually feel like I have a hangover after working 91/2 to 10 hour days and getting home after 1:00am, so not too much writing is happening then. Editing and answering bits of mail here and there seem the only things accomplished most days. The several hours while I unwind before bed I try for a bit of writing before shutting off the light for the night. A few pages have appeared, the scrawled handwriting from my cramped hand a testiment to too many hours working on a computer.
However, I have great news! The final edits on "At Death's Door" were completed and sent to the editor late last week in order to meet the deadline for publication. Hang on everyone.
Today, "At Death's Door" is released at Mystic Moon Press: http://www.mysticmoonpress.com/ and will probably hit Fictionwise eBooks:
http://www.fictionwise.com/ within the next few days.
Oh and just a bit of promotion (I'm so bad at this) if you would like to purchase a coffee mug with any of the covers from my stories, they are available at Mystic Moon Press in the giftshop. I don't receive any proceeds, but if you want a momento, other than my huge thanks, a few items are there to purchase. Who knows, maybe one day I'll have my own line of merchandise to sell. Maybe I should run a contest to find the best catch from the Riley series to print on a mug of my own. Sounds good. Gosh, where would we be without mass marketing taking over our lives? Yes, I'm a sellout author. Hate me, love me, just buy my stuff! 
So, amid all the craziness and lack of time in my life, I am still getting out there and trying to deliver what I hope will be the beginnings of a long life with Riley and all her friends and foes, and provide those willing to share my life a bit of reading pleasure along with my friendship.
Speaking of friendship, I owe many of you letters and words of thanks. With hope this next week will provide the time I need to sit down and actually write heartfelt words and not merely quick notes. I'm working my way through the notes, although it is slow going these days.
Thank you all for your continued support of my writing and especially of me. You will never know how much I appreciate knowing you are there reading my words and caring what happens not only with the stories, but with their author. We can never achieve success solely on our own. Sometimes it takes a legion of behind the scenes warriors to prop up the person striving for the unknown. Thank you all for being my warriors, because you know I'm always standing with my sword drawn for each of you.
Here's to everyone having a great day, and a selfish wish from me for huge sales!
Ta and peace,
P
Happy First Day of Spring! Dirt
| Posted at 02:33 AM on March 20, 2008 |
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Spring shows what God can do with a drab and dirty world.
Hello everyone;
I wanted to wish everyone a wonderful first day of Spring. I have much to share on the subject as I watch winter pass and life emerge from barren ground. I do believe Spring is my favorite time of the year, a time of hope as we step from Winter's death into Spring's eternal promise awakening from its slumber. I even get to celebrate my birth during this time of blustery days and colorful flowers.
Until I can write of the things touching my heart and soul, I will leave you with a poem. Hopefully through some of the words you will understand a bit of my soul.
I miss each of you.
Happy Spring,
Ta and peace
P
by
P. A. Matthews
Buds
freshly
formed emerge,
subtle, supple,
vernal?s verdant theme?
ancient variations,
leaves bow t?ward radiant blooms
beginning a quixotic dance
as sweetened zephyrs scent warming air
and cottony clouds kiss the azure sky.
eternal life springs forth from barren beds
awakening the season to thrive,
enticing anticipation,
resurrection of spirit,
revelation of mind,
raised to perfection,
victorious,
conquering
wintry
death.
Double Etheree
Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig oraibh! Dirt
| Posted at 12:45 PM on March 17, 2008 |
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Happy St. Patrick's Day from this wee lass as I wish you all blessings from my little corner of the Irish world.
In closing, I shall leave you with these bits of Irish wisdom.
The utterly impractical, never predictable,
Sometimes irascible, quite inexplicable, Irish.Strange blend of shyness,
pride and conceit,
And stubborn refusal to bow in defeat.
He's spoiling and ready to argue and fight,
Yet the smile of a child
fills his soul with delight.
His eyes are the quickest to well up with tears,
Yet his strength is the strongest
to banish your fears.
His hate is as fierce as his devotion is grand,
And there is no middle ground
on which he will stand.
He's wild and he's gentle,
he's good and he's bad.
He's proud and he's humble,
he's happy and sad.
He's in love with the ocean,
the earth and the skies,
He's enamoured with beauty wherever it lies.
He's victor and victim, a star and a clod,
But mostly he's Irish?
in love with his God.
Be they kings, or poets, or farmers,
They're a people of great worth,
They keep company with the angels,
And bring a bit of heaven here to earth
Here's Céad Míle Fáilte to friend and to rover
That's a greeting that's Irish as Irish can be
It means you are welcome
A thousand times over
Wherever you come from, Whosoever you be
Ta and peace,
P
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