Category Archives: Writing Fiction

Warfare for Writers -

February 23, 2015 Dameon Cox Leave a comment

This is the 6th installment of WARFARE FOR WRITERS - 6 Fog of War graciously permitted by Timons Esaias.

Warfare or Writers 6 deals with common mistakes writers make when writing about war, battles and et cetera.

The thing that is screwed up the most, is having warriors know too much, too accurately and too quickly. The truth of war is that nobody knows what's happening and half what they think is wrong. There are few truth commissions sorting through the facts while war is happening, so ignorance of what happens accumulates over time. One example: The American public didn't know what happened at Pearl Harbor for the entire war. We still aren't quite sure.

SO WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR YOUR WRITING?

Don't do that

Have the uncertainty of the situation get on your characters' nerves

Use it as a plot device. images

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Tasty Things - 2 Kill You

January 5, 2015 Dameon Cox Leave a comment

Note: In this series, I've pulled information from various providers. These came from Wikipedia.

Tasty Things - 2 Kill You - I write fantasy and that gives me license to make up stuff. That's not always a good practice. It's best to have kernels of truth in even fantasy work the reader can identify with having seen or heard of in passing. Some of these poisons come from exotic parts of the world, but there is always a way to work them into your story, i.e., the nice little man at the corner apothecary. So, fantasy or non fantasy, see if some of these can flavor your story.

Cerbera odollam (commonly known as the suicide tree). The seeds contain cerberin, a potent toxin related to digoxin. The poison blocks the calcium ion channels in heart muscle, causing disruption of the heart beat. This is typically fatal and can result from ingesting a single seed. and its taste can be masked with strong spices, such as a curry. It is often used in homicide and suicide in India; Kerala's suicide rate is about three times the Indian average. Now, you know there are a lot of Indian spice shops around the world!

Consolida(commonly known as larkspur). Young plants and seeds are poisonous, causing nausea, muscle twitches, paralysis. Often fatal. Tea, anyone?

Digitalis purpurea(commonly known as foxglove). The leaves, seeds, and flowers are poisonous, containing cardiac or other steroid glycosides. These cause irregular heartbeat, general digestive upset, and confusion. Can be fatal. You might need lots of tea for this one!

Phytolacca(commonly known as pokeweed). Leaves, berries and roots contain phytolaccatoxin and phytolaccigenin. Toxin in young leaves is reduced with repeated boiling and draining. Ingestion of poisonous parts of the plant may cause severe stomach cramping, persistent diarrhoea, nausea, vomiting (sometimes bloody), slow and difficult breathing, weakness, spasms, hypertension, severe convulsions, and death. Not a pleasant way to go!

Ricinus communis (commonly known as castor oil plant or Palma Christi). The seeds contain ricin, an extremely toxic water-soluble protein. Also present are ricinine, an alkaloid, and an irritant oil. According to the 2007 edition of the Guinness Book of World Records, this plant is the most poisonous in the world. The lethal dose in adults is considered to be 4 to 8 seeds, but reports of actual poisoning are relatively rare. If ingested, symptoms may be delayed by up to 36 hours but commonly begin within 2–4 hours. These include a burning sensation in mouth and throat, abdominal pain, purging and bloody diarrhea. Within several days there is severe dehydration, a drop in blood pressure and a decrease in urine. Unless treated, death can be expected to occur within 3–5 days; if victims have not succumbed after this time, they often recover. Toxicity varies among animal species: 4 seeds will kill a rabbit, 5 a sheep, 6 an ox or horse, 7 a pig, and 11 a dog. Poisoning occurs when animals ingest broken seeds or break the seed by chewing; intact seeds may pass through the digestive tract without releasing the toxin. Ducks have shown substantial resistance to the seeds: it takes an average of 80 to kill them. Gee, mama, do I have to drink that; it's yucky!

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Cover Artist - 2

January 2, 2015 Dameon Cox Leave a comment

Cover Artist - 2 is Jeff Brown, a digital artist specializing in environment paintings. He is a full-time freelancer, originally from Saskatoon, Canada. He currently lives in Cuernavaca, Mexico. He has worked for many projects in the industry such as Monstrous, SettleForge, Fallen, Rhune, and Shattered.

Mr. Brown charges $200 for a quicker concept picture and $450 for a detailed cover. The pictures posted here are copyrighted by Mr. Brown. You can connect Mr. Brown through his website: www.jeffbrowngraphics.com

The first two pictures are concept pictures and the last two are detail covers.

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Belladonna, and other tasty treats! - Dameon Cox Author Blog

December 29, 2014 Dameon Cox 79 Comments

Belladonna, and other tasty treats!

Poisoning has been around for a long time. Socrates was forced to drink hemlock in the year 399 by his own hand. Of course, in today's world many toxins are around to do one in. I've listed some of the longtime favorites to whet your appetite. Over the years, I've found several incidents where an author used a poison not yet discovered. You can make up your own in fantasy or sci-fi, but I advise checking out your toxins if your setting is real world.

Belladonna is also know as Nightshade. Belladonna, or "pretty woman" in English is a flowering plant that can, over years, grow ten feet tall. The shiny black berries are the most poisonous, but the rest of the plant can kill you, too. It's found in Europe.

Another plant to reach ten feet is Poison Hemlock. It has pretty flowers and fleshy roots. It's not related to the Eastern Hemlock Tree grown in the United States. Paralysis of the lungs is usually the cause of death. The victim can't move, but is aware of what's happening around him until the very end. Not a happy way to go.

Arsenic inhibits the production of necessary enzymes and has been linked to cancer in small amounts. It was used in the middle ages, think the Borgias. The symptoms are similar to cholera.

Strychnine comes from Asia and Australia and wasn't discovered until 1818 by Pierre-Joseph Pelletier and Joseph Caventou.

Curare is slow and horrific. It comes from the Amazon (the forest, not the website). It's used in hunting and tribal warfare. Unless you're Indiana Jones, you probably won't need it.

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Warfare for Writers - 5

December 24, 2014 Dameon Cox 3 Comments

NOTE: As those who follow my blog know, I don't use it to self promote my novels. Nonetheless, like all authors, a little help is needed. If you enjoy my blog and find it useful, please follow and like me on the social media platforms you use. I'm on Google+, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, GoodReads and Linkedin. Thanks for the help, Dameon

Warfare for Writers - 5 is another in the series graciously permitted by Timons Esaias for distribution by me from his lectures.

What is a "line" ?

In army terms, a line is a formation in which each soldier, or artillery piece, or horse or chariot is facing forward, and the other members of the unit are side-by-side. If a second line of soldiers/horses/guns is behind the first, this is called a double line or a two-man line. There can be triple lines, and so forth, but the nature of a line is that it is wider than it is deep. In the old days, when most military vessels were oared (galleys) and their major ship-to-ship weapon was the ram, a naval line was the same as an army line, vessels shoulder-to-shoulder, facing forward. We now call this formation line abreast. With the invention of the cannon, however, the business end of the ship was actually its sides, so the "battle line" got turned 90°, and ships moved nose to tail. So now a line on land is the opposite of a line at sea.

What is a "column" ??

The column is the "opposite" formation from a line, and can be created simply by having everyone in a line formation turn 90° to the right or left, in place. In the part-wrestling-match that is close combat, this formation is used to break through the enemy, or at least push them around, by piling up against them. If people in the front are killed, they can be replaced by folks immediately behind, without stopping to reorganize. A column is generally deeper than it is wide, though starting in a solid square was quite common. The column also applies more "peer pressure" on the troops in it to stay in formation. (It takes more discipline to stand steady in a line than it does in a column, because there are fewer folks behind you to make you stay.) Each line in a column or in a multiple-line formation is called a rank, and the rows of guys from front to back are called files. Since these formations are made up of the most common soldiers, this is where our expression "rank-and-file" (meaning the grunts who do the real work) comes from.

Which flank is which?

The "right" and "left" of a unit is judged as you would a person, as they face forward. When arrayed for battle one generally faces the enemy. Your right will be to your right, and opposite your right will be the enemy left.

Enemy Right Enemy Center Enemy Left

Your Left Your Center Your Right

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Warfare for Writers - 4

December 22, 2014 Dameon Cox 3 Comments

Warfare for Writers - 4 is the latest update from the Timons Esaias' workshop. These comments go from medieval to modern times.

You can see arrows and crossbow bolts flying through the air, likewise trebuchet loads. And you can figure out pretty much where they were fired from, as a result. Also, you can hear them. Likewise with musket balls and cannonballs and artillery shells. You can see them, and you can hear them, and because they are subsonic you can hear the shot before the projectile gets to you. If it's close enough you can also probably see the muzzle flash of the gun, not to mention the smoke, and tell where it came from.

This all changed with the modern rifle, though. Modern bullets travel quite a distance at supersonic speed, so you actually hear the sonic boom of the bullet before you hear the shot, if you hear the shot at all. Oh, and the bullet will hit you, or go past you, before you hear it. And you generally can't see the bullet, ever. Because the sonic boom is the main sound you hear, and the bullet is past you before you hear it, the sound cues (unless you're VERY used to this) tell you the opposite of the truth. You will think the bullet came from where it actually went, or 180-degrees from the correct solution. When people hear modern gunshots, they almost always start looking in the wrong direction.

The reason we can be pretty sure there were no shots from the "grassy knoll," is because so many untrained people heard shots coming from the grassy knoll.

So unless your character is very close to the weapon when it discharges, don't have them figure out where the shots are coming from by the sound.

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Copyright

December 19, 2014 Dameon Cox 7 Comments

First off! I'm not now nor have ever been a lawyer and I have never worked as an expert on Copyright Law.

Note: This post is for general informational purposes only, and not to be considered legal advice. If you have specific legal questions about a marketing campaign, you should speak to your attorney. The information herein is a summary of an article by Molly Siems, Director of Legal and Business Affairs at NewsCred that originally appeared on WIRED.

The Copyright symbol is not necessary. Copyright attaches as soon as it is "fixed," i.e. set to paper, typed, recorded, etc.
Authors do not have a total monopoly on their work through "fair use." This allows limited use of a copyrighted work for criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship or research.
Watch out for Images, even thumbnails! Be sure the image is in the public domain or you have license to use it. Certain images are in the public domain and can be used without worry. Flickr, for instance, licenses under Creative Commons. BUT, you may use them only under certain conditions -- READ THE LICENSE.
Don't Scrape! If you're going to use a bot to find information, SEE A COPYRIGHT LAWYER.
Think if you're using whole or large parts of an author's work or copyrighted images. Giving full attribution is not enough -- even if you're linking back to the original author -- GET PERMISSION. (In my previous post on Dystopian Fiction, I got the author's okay in an email before I posted it and what I'm posting here is a summary of an article covering over three pages on copyright.)

Attribution has nothing to do with Copyright Law -- it helps you avoid an allegation of plagiarism. You are infringing on an author's copyright by displaying his or her work. Copyright, like all legal matters, gets very involved in fine details. Satisfy yourself that you are using another's work legally.

I hope this answered more questions than it raised.

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Dystopian Fiction

December 17, 2014 Dameon Cox 19 Comments

This discussion is reprinted with the author, Roderick Vincent's permission. It was first published in Writer's Digest. I would like to thank Mr. Vincent. Also, thanks go to Julia Drake of Julia Drake, PR who worked with me to obtain Mr. Vincent's okay.

In most cases, the dystopian genre explores a fictional future, tapping into present fears about the path society currently travels. The art is in imagery of the not yet invented but easily imagined. It’s not a surprise the dystopian genre is often lumped together with science fiction (check out Amazon’s browse categories) where technology plays a crucial role. Robotics, nanotechnology, advanced artificial intelligence, cloning, and all other derivatives of advanced, imaginable technology are often used as colors on the canvass painted into a reader’s mind. In George Orwell’s 1984, the all-seeing Big Brother uses the telescreen. In Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, reproductive factories of the future are used to produce a limited number of citizens preordained to a caste-world void of pain.

As you’re writing dystopian fiction, think about how to take current technologies and extrapolate. When you have a vision of what that might look like, ask yourself how it changes the society that does not yet exist.

Other dystopian novels avoid the technological aspect, but drive one forward with a central theme (book burning with Fahrenheit 451, ultraviolence with A Clockwork Orange, and the cycle of revolution to despotism in Animal Farm).

Discover what the central theme is and then explore it with indefatigable passion.

Better dystopian novels have two things in common:

The narrative pushes internal events to an extreme. Drive the plot forward so that at the climax, there is a big sense of doom. How are the characters taking us there? In dystopian, a lot of times resolution of the central conflict comes in death (The Road, 1984), but before that a force exists inside the story driving the reader towards the second crucial element:
The inherent message within closely associated with a burning fire inside the author’s stomach. In Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake, corporate domination led by biotech companies pushing the envelope of manufactured microorganisms (the theme) causes the inevitable collapse of mankind. The message: man is too smart for his own good; unfettered technological advancement without ethical consideration will have disastrous consequences. In The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, reality TV is pushed to a violent extreme (the theme). The message: gladiator games appealing to the masses distract from the true nature of the world within the thirteen districts. The Surveillance State in George Orwell’s 1984 is all pervasive (the theme). History is rewritten to suite Big Brother’s needs, and the nation is in a perpetual state of war (any of that sound familiar). The whole book is one big message warning us about the nature of totalitarianism.

Why do readers latch on to such pessimistic, futuristic novels instead of utopian works? Why are we dystopian downer dudes/dudettes? Perhaps the reason lies in what Nietzsche said, “If you wish to strive for peace of soul and pleasure, then believe; if you wish to be a devotee of truth, then inquire.”

Dystopia seeks to uncover truth in the morass of the present by projecting the problems of today into the future and amplifying them. When the author is successful at doing this, the writing immediately becomes more relevant.

Let’s face it, utopia is a bore. As readers, we sense utopia as innately unachievable. Humans aren’t wired for stories without conflict, and perfect-world scenarios are a bigger lie than the leap of faith it takes to jump us into dystopian futures. Likewise, we’ve lived the horrors of dystopia through two world wars. We’ve seen the gas chambers smoking, the walking skeletons griping barbed wire fences clinging for their lives, the groupthink and fascism, the thought control.

When writing in a dystopian genre where the future usually isn’t so bright, one can draw on horrific examples of the past for macabre imagery. Keep in mind, almost all dystopian fiction uses stark, depressing imagery within the prose. What is crucial is to create something unique that will stick in reader’s minds.

Much more based in the reality we know and understand, dystopia magnetizes a reader’s sense of fatalism when we speak of hopelessly deadlocked politics and looming social and economic problems we all see habitually. The battlefield spreads itself wide and far in dystopian novels, where the imagination can dive into futuristic minefields. Considering the current political landscape and where we seem to be headed, a resurgence of the adult dystopian theme is inevitable (young adult seems to be already saturated and lacks a certain tie to the present in most cases).

The key to writing great dystopian fiction is to entrench yourself in current affairs. Does it piss you off? If so, then the fire in the belly will help you create great prose. Can you transfer it to paper? After each passing day, the narrative lie becomes the inkling of truth. Militarization of the police force, Ferguson, Edward Snowden and his NSA revelations, BigDogs, Petman and advanced robotics, crony capitalism and a ballooning kleptocracy in a perpetual state of war are all spicy ingredients for the next dystopian stew. Will you be the one to write it? I don’t know, but you as the author have a chance to say something, to slam home a point, so don’t let the opportunity slip away. How do you see the world differently and how can you express that through your characters without writing a diatribe on your beliefs? Therein lies the art of dystopian fiction. (Note: Of course, this works well in medieval/ancient fantasy, too. DC)

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Warfare for Writers 3 - Don'ts!

December 15, 2014 Dameon Cox Leave a comment

Warfare for Writers 3 - Don'ts! Stuff Not To Screw Up!

In this post, Warfare for Writers 3 - Don'ts!, Timons Esaias debunks things that don't happen in the real world and shouldn't happen in your books.

You cannot pour gunpowder along the ground to use as a slow fuse. I know you've seen it in the movies and on television, but if you pour a trail of gunpowder for a hundred feet and put a match to it, you'll have about two seconds before it all burns.

One cannot close the eyes on a corpse simply by pushing them closed. They go back to whichever way they want to be. They used to put heavy gold coins on eyelids to keep them in place, now we just sew them closed (generally after removing the eyeball). Most readers don't know this, so you can get away with it, but if my wife finds out you've screwed this up she may come hurt you. And she's a physician, so she knows how.

Speaking of medical things, unless you're describing magical creatures or superheroes, resist the urge to knock characters out by blows to the head and then have them regain consciousness with no aftereffects. The typical result of such a blow is nausea, vomiting, dizziness, headache, vision problems, stability problems, and the utter inability to swing a battle-ax with any authority.

There have been, in history, a number of short swords that were made to be drawn over the shoulder, usually by people who fought on horseback. These swords have only one edge, so you don't cut off your ear or slit your own throat; and they are very short, because you simply can't draw a long sword from your back. Now you will see, in the literature, swords called "back swords," and you'll think these are the ones you draw from your back. No, they are usually swords you wear on your back while riding around the countryside, but then hang from your waist if you actually get into a battle.

Don't have people drawing katanas or longswords over their shoulders, or I'll have to come hurt you.

Please avoid another favorite Hollywood bullpuckey device, which is the baton-twirling change of grip on a sword. It looks way cool, but it's the stupidest move on the planet. All somebody has to do is touch that sword while you're not holding it, and presto, you're unarmed. Oh, by the way, that's when they can hit you, too.

Now folks have reversed grip on swords and daggers all through history, it's a common and useful move, but it's almost always done by gripping the blade in your off hand, and then reversing. Folks gripped their own blades a lot, especially when wearing leather or armored gloves. I bet you do it in the kitchen, sometimes, when cutting with a large knife. You can get really wicked action on a sword by holding it in front of you like staff, and suddenly sweeping right or left, with the blade out. You can roll an opponent off your blade and club him with the grip, or go the other way and roll him off, and sweep the point into him, with your arm right on it. If you're quick, you can trap his shield arm.

Dameon Cox, Author

Category Archives: Writing Fiction

Warfare for Writers -

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Warfare for Writers 3 - Don'ts!

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Belladonna, and other tasty treats!

Belladonna is also know as Nightshade. Belladonna, or "pretty woman" in English is a flowering plant that can, over years, grow ten feet tall. The shiny black berries are the most poisonous, but the rest of the plant can kill you, too. It's found in Europe.

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