GUEST BLOG with The Man -Armand Rosamilia

Fellow Hobbes End Publishing author, Armand Rosamilia stopped by for a visit.  We can't repeat most of what he said, but here's his blog about the challenges he faced writing the amazing Miami Spy Games Series.  If you haven't checked him out - it is definitely your loss.

Click here for MIAMI SPY GAMES

Miami Spy Games by Armand Rosamilia

Planning The Story Arc 

I'm a pantser. To me, nothing kills an idea like an outline, even a few sketched lines. I've tried it. Years ago I used to put an outline together and even write in some scene ideas or dialogue or action, figuring it would grow from there. It usually didn't.

I'm also not very big on writing ahead in the story. I might jump a chapter or two with a new character, but I can't skip ahead in the story or write an ending first. I like the natural flow of the story and writing and reading it in 'real time' instead of jumping around.

But when I was contacted to do Miami Spy Games I was also offered a challenge: I had to tell a dozen smaller stories, with cliffhangers, and tie them all together in one motion. There are several big spots in the episodes (you'll have to read them, I won't give out spoilers) that I needed to hit during specific parts, and the fun was trying to get to them naturally.

Planning a definite story arc in 7,500 word increments, with every three or four episodes making up a bigger plotline to finish or reach some conclusion was daunting at first. I tend to write and write and see where the story goes. With a definite arc it actually flowed and I got into the groove when Hobbes End Publishing gave me several key ideas to use in the story, or suggested things as simple as 'write in a zombie dog'.

I use index cards for everything. They litter my desk, overflow from my laptop bag, and are scattered on my floor at home. I started by pulling 12 clean index cards and figuring to write out the main point(s) of each episode on them. I ended up with over 50 index cards, all scribbled on both sides and with many yellow and pink highlighted parts. The fun when writing the last four episodes and getting to some kind of ending was mixing and matching the ideas I had written down until it made sense and had a flow to it.

It didn't hinder the story, because at this point I was so in tune with the main characters and wanted to see where it went to as a reader. Writing Miami Spy Games was a fun challenge and took me out of my comfort zone, which I needed. I can't wait to get the green light for a second series of stories, because it is fun to play in this world, and build it as a story arc. 

If you have any questions about the Miami Spy Games series, I'd love to hear them: armandrosamilia@gmail.com

Armand Rosamilia

Miami Spy Games on Amazon Kindle only $3.99!

Click Here for MIAMI SPY GAMES

INDIE BOOKSPOT Interview

Why do you write? Is it something you’ve always done, or always wanted to do? Or is it something that you started fairly recently?

Sitting down with a pen or pencil or crayon and expressing myself goes back way farther than I can remember. As a tyke, I got in trouble for drawing on the wall, like most kids–but seems like it took me a longer time than normal to learn my lesson. I made pages after pages of drawings, burning through those cheap paper pads faster than my parents could re-stock. Fortunately, my dad was in the newspaper business and had access to lots of paper. I vividly remember seeing a box turtle crawling around in our yard and thinking those little markings on his shell were the alphabet- and I couldn’t wait to learn my ABC’s so I could read turtle shells!

Read more of the INTERVIEW

Have you met CRAIG WESSEL??

HOBBES END AUTHOR HIGHLIGHT - CRAIG WESSEL


“I’ve always loved stories that have a twist of some sort at the end. That’s probably the result of too much Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Twilight Zone, and Night Gallery during my formative years. I believe that stories like the two I’ve submitted for The Endlands Volume 2 (as well as “Loose Ends” from Volume 1) are rooted in our inherent fear that sometimes things just aren’t what they seem to be. We may not like that in our personal lives, but we do seem to enjoy living vicariously through characters that find out the hard way.” More from Craig at Hobbes End Publishing

THE DICKSON VIXEN

Allison M. Dickson is making her debut appearance in The Endlands anthology with two short stories included in this volume. She has previously published “Under the Scotch Broom” in eBook format, and we are so happy to include it in this collection. Also gracing the pages is “The Shiva Apparatus.”

Here’s what Allison has to say:

“I see short stories as a way to experiment with time-honored themes and tropes, and my stories have ranged from bugs to technology run amok to love at first sight. I came up with “The Shiva Apparatus” out of a desire to apply the “bottle episode” theory to a short story... READ MORE HERE 

BUY THE ENDLANDS VOLUME 2 HERE

NEW RELEASE!!

Are you ready??! All you ENDLANDS Fans 

come and get it HERE!!

THE ENDLANDS: VOLUME 2

With the Upcoming Release of VINCENT HOBBES Presents, The Endlands Volume 2,  I thought I would reminisce with an interview I did for the release of The Endlands Volume 1 with Jairus Reddy of Hobbes End Publishing.  Do not miss out on what is sure to be a fantastic second volume! 

PRE-ORDER TODAY -Click Here 

 INTERVIEW - Click Here