Well, that’s week 1 of my horror-themed month over and done with. It was a great week!
If you missed anything, do not fret, here is a handy summary.

Horror October Week 1

Welcome to Horror October 2017 (coming up)

Flash Fiction Battle:

Vote now!

Story Prompt Revealed

30 Days of Horror:

Day #1: The Last Days of Jack Sparks

Day #2: The Dark Net

Day #3: Under the Dome

Day #4: The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter

Day #5: A Head Full of Ghosts

Day #6: The Crow Girl

Revisiting Self-made Man by Poppy Z. Brite

This Week in Books 04.10.17

Mother! Film Review

Posts from around the blogosphere

Zombie Books Giveaway & Interview with Author: TD Ricketts – Dab of Darkness

Ghosts: A Short Story – Marie McWilliams.com

Blog Tour: Black Bird of the Gallows – Between the Pages

Halloween Read-A-Thon – Wonderless Reviews

October Fright: Seven…

Whimsy met fantasy, nature recreated by man stood next to the absurd, the beautiful rested close to the ethereal celebration of family. A journey of discovery ensued as I visited the Gardens and Arboretum of Marks Hall which hosted over 300 sculptures from across the UK. For once such a magnificent exhibition was near to me and with a childish delight of the unknown, I set off to explore…and found the most wonderfully surprising, original, colourful and creative work imaginable. It felt an honour to feast my eyes upon these sculptures and I left a few hours later in awe of the artists and inspired by the collective creative energy.

The plaque accompanying this magnificent statue was written by the designer, Stephen Charlton and is a testament to his desire to share joy and happiness with the viewer through his work.

‘THE OFFERING
NO WORD SAID,
BUT WITH A SIMPLE,
GESTURE…

Dear all 

it’s been somewhat quiet on writerchristophfischer during the last few weeks. I had my head buried deep in the writing and re-writing of my next murder mystery:

“Over My Dead Body – Murder at Eurovision (Bebe Bollinger Murder Mystery 2)”

I feel I have rounded the story up enough to offer the book to beta readers, that is test readers who give a first opinion on the novel. 
That can be a short paragraph with what they liked and didn’t like, or more involved, naming scenes and characters that didn’t work for them, plot holes, stylistic critique, praise for what they liked most and what should feature more etc.

Beta reading is an art. I’m not very good at it, admittedly, as I get easily carried away if I like a book and then I miss plot holes or stylistic short comings that are obvious to others.
It…

No one disagrees with the importance of the visual in communicating. The problem usually is creating it. Most writers are great at wordsmithing, but not so good at matching colors, picking fonts and font sizes, and then laying everything out artistically. It’s much easier to leave the artistry for the artists. When Microsoft Publisher came out over twenty-five years ago, it was the first major desktop publishing effort to make it easy to blend layout, colors, and multimedia. Unfortunately, it was (and continues to be) an expensive piece of software not traditionally included in Microsoft’s Office Suite (though that changed with Office 365).

Say hello to Canva. It’s web-based (including apps available for iPads and Chromebooks) with a drag-and-drop functionality that makes the design process simple and intuitive. You can create professional presentations, posters, multi-page documents, marketing materials, social media graphics, and more using Canva’s more than 1 million photos…

Well, as you all know, it was the Annual Bloggers Bash Awards today.

What an amazing day!!!!!!

The start for me was trying to carry two bulging bags of cakes to the venue, via train and tube! You’d think that would be a conversation starter, wouldn’t you?

I got a comment from one of the employees at the tube station when he clocked them, and then as I was sat on the Tube, the man opposite looked at the contents of the bag,and gave me a smile… no mate, you ain’t getting none! These are for my Blogily!

I arrived, in typical Ritu fashion, an hour early, and settled in the lobby of the venue, ready to catch up on blog posts and comments, when I heard a squeal as the committee arrlved… Sacha ,His Geoffleship,Ali andHuggable Hugh!

And so the day began!

The function room…

If you haven’t heard about The Annual Bloggers Bash yet, then where have you been?

I’d like to thank everyone who came along to the event and for making it the huge success it was. Last year, just over 20 of you attended. This year it was just over 50, and boy, what a great day it was. I only wish I could have magically got everyone there who wanted to come so they could have shared the magic of the day. New friendships were formed, lots of hugs were in evidence and everybody met up with online blogging friends they’ve been wanting to meet for a long time.

There have been lots of posts all over WordPress about the event and I’ve been busy reading, tweeting and sharing them across social media. Where possible, I’ve added all the posts to my Bloggers Bash Pinterest board.

When Sacha Black first…

_________________________________________________________________

I.♠Introduction:

In my previous post, I made reference to the Muses. 

Back to the most common typology, I found interesting that Tragedy and Comedy were represented among the Nine Muses. I am specifically pointing out toMelpomene and Thalia. Melpomene was the muse of Tragedy and her symbol was the tragic mask. On the other hand, Thalia was the muse of Comedy while her symbol was the comic mask.

Furthermore, as I read about them, I couldn´t avoid thinking of the well known symbol of the two masks, depicting Tragedy and Comedy.

→Now, let´s see which were the masks´purposes when it comes to The Ancient Greek drama.

The Ancient Greek term for a mask is Prosopon (literally meaning,”face”).

The classical masks had an important function in plays of tragedies and comedies as they were able to create a sense of dread in the audience creating large…

Characterization is the most important aspect of writing a book. Whether it’s a short story or a long one, you need characters, and that too strong ones. They are the building blocks of your story as they provide substance and an extra dimension to it.

Many people believe that in certain genres, such as mystery-thriller, romance and horror, the story is the main hero and not the characters, and therefore it’s okay to have even half-decent characters to play along when it comes to writing in these genres. But being a thriller writer myself, I think that it is totally wrong.
Whether it’s thriller, mystery, horror or even romance, you need strong characters to add depth to your story. And if you want to write a memorable book then characters are indeed as important to your story as the plot itself, irrespective of the genre.

I’d like to state a few…

When I revealed Musiville’s book cover the other day, you were all so sweet about it and seemed to enjoy it. However, John Howell’s comment about how he liked Pandiano made me think.

You see, that problem I’m having is that Maraceros, the protagonist, is not book cover material, as he looks like a misshapen smudge when small. That’s why I picked Trumpephant instead.

The options I have, as I see it, are:

1. Use Maraceros, ignoring the smudge factor.
2. Use any photogenic, animal for the cover –  say Trumpephant or Pandiano.
3. Use a number of animals to highlight the “village” thing.

So, please allow me to present these options in all their glory. Any feedback will be much appreciated!

To help you vote, here’s a small poll:

Friday Fantastic Flash – aliisaacstoryteller.com

Last weeks Friday Fantastic Flash Challenge was this;

Daydream. Vision. Nightmare. You close your eyes. Where do you go when you sleep?

First up is a newcomer to this blog and this challenge by the name of Bri Ollre, who has written a wonderfully evocative description of her dream experience…

The Fickleness of Dreams

My dreams are as vivid as reality. Their ebb and flow as natural as the waves of the sea cresting upon the shore. In them I am me, and someone else entirely; I can soar above the clouds, as if Icarus straining towards the sun; fall in love with the sounds of the forest, wrapping myself in its comforting embrace; feel the pain of a thousand wounds, all digging deep within my skin. My dreams are a portal to another way of life. Where I am not simply holding onto the reigns for…