Music of The Uninvited

When I wrote The Uninvited, I found that the music of Creed really embodied the feel of the story, so I played a lot of them over the three years it took to write this novel. This tune, in particular, really gets me, and whenever I’d work on the last pages, the final scene, I always put it on. A Thousand Faces was also a big tune, in ways that should become apparent upon reading Uninvited. I always get (still do, after 12 years—I started The Uninvited in 2001) a little bit emotional whenever I hear Creed, because of Kacey, Sheila, Jack and Hedda Hocker, and all the rest the restless souls. So, every time I went back over the story, I found it just wasn’t right listening to anything else (I tried). It was either Creed…or silence….

Enjoy this freaky video.

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Crazy Ants Invade!

Ants play a role in The Uninvited. Fire ants (Solenopsis richteri Forel and Solenopsis invicta Buren). But last week I’d read an article about a new variety of ant causing a ruckus in the southeastern U.S. What are they called?

Crazy ants.

Or, as they are officially called, “Tawny crazy ants.”

And, apparently, they come in colors, like black, red, or yellow.

And can sport wings.

They’re omnivores and take over areas by killing, and what they don’t kill, starve out. They don’t bite and sting like fire ants, but they get into everything. Inside and out. Nest inside walls, crawl spaces, house plants, empty containers. Bags of leaves. Anywhere and everywhere. And their populations are incredibly dense. Experts say at least fire ants were…polite. Yes, that’s the term used. Fire ants at least stayed around their outside mounds, and only interacted if you interrupted their lives, like came plowing through their mounds.

This all kind of reminds of the 1974 Phase IV novel and movie.

I mean, where do these kinds of things come from? Why do they exist? It seems we get used to one critter, and another comes along and takes its place. Or is it something much more insidious? Could it be…an alien invasion? Did Barry Malzberg, Mayo Simon, and Saul Bass know something we didn’t know? Mother Nature fighting back?

Or…do we attract the crazy ants, the fire ants, the killer bees into our lives?

There is the old adage, “Like attracts Like.”

Aphorisms like these usually have some form of truth to them. What if (remember, I’m “What-if” Guy)…all our Human-generated angst is bringing these kinds of infestations into life? And not just the crazy ants, but the crazy weather, the crazy politics, the crazy despots? If “Like” truly does attract “Like,” might this be how it would manifest in real life? That all our collective fears, collective angsts, which really are another form of energy (exactly like electromagnetic radiation; everything has a frequency, matter is just another form of energy), and all forms of energy radiate (even Black Holes radiate), because all of life is about energy, the change in its state, the manipulation of it…what if we’re the ones bringing these “intrusions” into our lives, and it’s not really about any so-called “invasions”? And it’s not that what we’re experiencing is anything new. Throughout Human history we see the nasty, but what I’m getting at, is, what if we’re the ones bringing the nasty upon ourselves? What if we cause our own experiences—good and bad—and we are not at the whim of “exteriorized” forces?

Or…I could just be full of it, and it really could just be Phase V of the invasion….

Related articles

• Invasion of Crazy Ants Maddening For Southern U.S. (natureworldnews.com)
• ‘Crazy’ Ants Spread Through Southeast U.S. (breitbart.com)
• Good-Bye Fire Ants, Hello Crazy Ants – Invasive Species Causing Big Ecological Changes (latinospost.com)

KA-BAR and The Uninvited — Not For The Squeamish

In my travels, I found this site, for KA-BAR, They craft knives, and I feature the USMC version of a KA-BAR knife in my novel. This video is not for the squeamish, but I thought, man, what product placement! Sure, it’s not for everybody (but, neither is my novel), but how cool that: 1) the Zombie craze is, um, creeping about, and b) they can totally capitalize on it for their products! Check out some of their other videos (if you dare). I checked out a couple, and they’re well made and actually tell stories. Hmmm, wonder if they’d do one on an opening scene from The Uninvited….

Getting The Uninvited ready for release in a couple weeks (May 24th is my target date, with Smashwords) has been fun, but it’s keeping me on my toes. At times, exhausting, doing the constant sprint from hopping out of bed in the morning (and, like today, the day after a gym workout, gets a little tough at oh-dark-thirty in the a.m…), to doing the rest of my day, then coming back to it toward the end of the day, if the gods allow. My formatter and I are in constant back and forth, ironing out the little things, but it’s almost there!

I’ve also created a new page on my website for the novel. I have really mixed feelings about doing anything Facebook, because of Zuckerberg’s views on privacy (I terminated my account 2 years ago). He doesn’t believe in it. It may be changing, but I’m not yet sure about how much I believe him. I’m betting that were I to go back and re-up…my account would still be there. So, I’m torn. Were I to do anything with Facebook, it would be a fan page.

In the whole formatting biz, I hope to post some things I’m learning in the near future.

Okay, I’m off and running…..

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The Uninvited

The Uninvited, © F. P. Dorchak (cover art: Duvall Design, 2013)

Kacey Miller is running from her past.

Sleepless, frustrated, and out-of-work, she stumbles onto a heinous crime scene. In the dead of night all residents of a brand-new retirement home in the balmy, sleepy south Florida town of Sunset Harbor have been murdered. The killers are everyday people from across the globe. None know why they did what they did, and—once apprehended—many take their own lives.

Desperate for work, and angst-ridden from having left her husband and newborn in a fit of postpartum depression a year earlier, Kacey writes up the story and lands a job as a local stringer—but all is not as it seems with the murderers…nor Kacey. The murderers are normal everyday people, with no history of past violence, and all are confused and vehemently disbelieving of their actions, tormented by inexplicable, supernatural forces. During her investigation, Kacey, like the murderers, is besieged by the same bizarre, supernatural visions the murderers are experiencing, and begins having her own angry, violent nightmares that end up forcing her to confront another long-denied secret: a one-nighter with a high-powered news media executive the night she’d run away from her family…who later turns up during the executive’s national coverage of the crime.

Kacey, the investigators, and the murderers are all forced to confront their actions and inter-relations to examine deep, buried issues to find how they are all tied to each other in ways that will forever change their lives..and those around them.

Welcome in…the uninvited. A bizarre supernatural murder mystery that takes crime scene investigation—and prosecution—to a whole new level. The Uninvited will be released Memorial Day weekend.

Let them in…you don’t really have a choice….

“I get the chills…a most impressive work.”

Rob Butts, Seth Material Facilitator/Author, The Seth Material, The Early Sessions, The Personal Sessions

“I found I could not stop reading this thriller. I became totally fascinated by the depth of Dorchak’s exploration into the many influences beneath the hostilities performed. I was especially delighted with his reference to the modern pioneer in metaphysics and philosophy, Jane Roberts—right there beside the famous psychic Edgar Cayce. Today’s police and lawyers need this novel!”

Madelon Rose Logue, Editor/Publisher, The Black Sheep

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Goin’ Indie

Goin’ Indie. (Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark , photo credit: Wikipedia)

Yeah, that’s my steely stare.

Determination.

I’m finally doing it.

Made the decision. Jumping in with both feet and my Bullwhip.

I’m going indie. And by “indie,” I mean e-books and (a little later, maybe earlier) Amazon hardcovers. Not going the route of AuthorHouse anymore. E-books. That’s the route. Check out Nathan Bransford’s post. These things are selling.

I’ve mentioned this once or twice elsewhere, but after the past couple weeks, getting a cover done, interacting with the person who will do my file conversions, going over my manuscripts and talking to those in the indie world, at this year’s PPWC (and this doesn’t even count the years I’ve been thinking about this, kinda watching how e-books “go”…), I’m not waiting another second. It has reinvigorated me, in this whole business of writing. I have four titles (one still needs some work—or might be the title I again try traditionally—but, we’re talking at least into 2014) I can publish, five if you count a Sleepwalkers e-book reissue:

• The Uninvited. This is my whydunnit supernatural murder mystery about a troubled reporter who stumbles upon a gruesome and inexplicable mass murder in Gulf Coast Florida. This will be my first release. I was originally shooting for the end of May, but since this is my first, is my learning curve, it might actually turn out to be June. But I’m still shooting for May. So, please, stay turned—either way, it won’t be long!
• ERO. This is my one (so far) science fiction-y, action/adventure novel. It’s about a marooned on-orbit astronaut who tries to reconstruct his life by relying on incomplete memories that place him at the very heart of the UFO conspiracy. This novel is, well, somewhat auto-biographical. It’ll be my next release.
• Psychic. This is a companion book to Sleepwalkers. Okay, it’s the second in a considered series of three.  There, I said it. It’s actually more of a prequel (but, hey, what is Time, anyway?), and features the origins to the Man With No Name, from Sleepwalkers. I plan at least one more book to this series (it won’t take 12 years, like this one). It’s a supernatural action/adventure about a humble, guilt-ridden hotline psychic who becomes embroiled in the ultimate government conspiracy, involving JFK and remote viewers. Oh, and a really cool teenager.
• The fourth is one that still needs lots of work, so am not going to give its title just yet, but, it’s about guy who falls in love with…ehhhh…a ghost. Of sorts. Yeah, yeah, I’m know, there have been other books about the topic, but what makes mine unique, I’m not even teasing with, because I still have some runway to ride before taking off. But, it’s not your standard, run-of-the-mill everyday ghost, we’re talking about here, and to tell the truth, I haven’t yet seen a “ghost” like this one.
• Sleepwalkers. This one depends a lot on if AuthorHouse plans on putting it back into an e-book like they said they would a couple years ago. Haven’t even had time (there’s that word, again) to think about that yet. If can do the e-book to it, I plan on redoing the cover.

Depending on how long all this takes, I’m looking to release one book about every 3 or 4 months until I get all these out, so no real new work for me this year. ERO should come out around September/October time frame, and Psychic, November/December. I plan on pushing the Internet-y promotion as hard as I possibly can (I have some guides, but more on those, later). The Uninvited will be free for about the first three weeks or so, and this is mainly for reviews (this is a standard M.O. among the e-book community). It looks like some sites, like B&N, Amazon, have a way of setting prices (still looking into those), but at places where I can set the price, I’m looking to price it at $2.99, after the free period, but this remains to be seen, once I actually get to the upload part. But, from what I’ve read, e-books tend to sell well between the $2.99 to $5.99 range (and it’s not obvious about going right for the higher price).

So, there it is, that’s my plan. Out into the world at large. I’ll post more as I go, but I’m still cleaning up the manuscript to the The Uninvited, which, depending on a couple other logistical issues, is scheduled to be converted into all the different file formats next month (oooh, it’ll be hot off the author keyboard, like freshly baked cookies!). And while that is being done, I plan on beginning and hitting the promotions.

Look, I’m not pie-in-the-sky, I’ve been around, I’ve tried self-publishing by spending three grand, done and occasionally still do a short story or two, and even got an agent. Still, NYC didn’t think they could make any money off me. But I see and hear where e-books are going. I’m just a guy with voices in my head trying to get my work out there. My work has been termed “thinky,” sometimes jumps genres. But I try to tell stories, to show, perhaps, the way things could be, big What-ifs. I—like most every other writer out there—just like to write. For a while that passion was slowly getting snuffed out…but now I’ve found renewed passion. A new way to go.

A new…What-if.

I hope you’ll join me!

Oh…and I’m an optimist.

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Shifting Gears

Clutched? Shift! (Photo: RambergMediaImages.com)

Grind me a pound, will ya?

I feel…like a huge weight has been lifted from me.

Yesterday, I had a long talk with my agent about this SF-y action/adventure I’d been working on the past year, because the editor who came to me with the proposition (a first) turned it down—and (perhaps) rightly so.

Science fiction is really not my thing. I’ve written only one science fiction-y manuscript (actually a conspiracy theory with elements of science fiction…), and it’s a stand-alone, based in part on my early life, which I wrapped around aliens, government conspiracies, and gave new meaning to the term “extended family.”

NOTE: no, I have had no (zero-zilch-nada-nichts) personal extraterrestrial alien interaction at all.

That I know of.

Okay, back to this rejection thing. As much as the editor loved the ENERGY of my writing, the plot, he did not.

And I’m okay with that. I had issues with it, too.

But I tried, the past year, in doing something different, something outside “my box”…and I realized it’s simply not my thing. With an exception to follow, science fiction is not for me [to write]. I love writing about normal people experiencing weird shit. It’s that simple. Hey, it’s not like that stuff’s sold, either (though am considering other options)…but it’s what I love penning (penciling? keying?). In fact, I even try to be a little literary about it, my stories, whether or not I succeed still remains to be seen…but I try. Exception still to follow….

Not going to get into all the gory details—there really aren’t any—the whole series idea simply didn’t work, that’s all. We didn’t see eye-to-eye. That’s okay. And this whole time I worked on the project I felt…well…I felt conflicted…working on it (11 months on the thing as a whole, 8 months on the first draft). I just don’t do science fiction. And I don’t really do action/adventure, per se, though elements do surface in my material (but, at the same time—here’s the exception—I really do want to write an X-Files-like story…someday…so I might resurrect elements of this work later…). I do supernatural and paranormal. Everyday people. Mashing the two together. Somehow…I have to make that work better—correction, make that more salable. Or go indie publishing, which I’m still really considering for a couple works of mine. And, like my agent and I talked, it’s best I figured this out now, rather than forcing myself to continue plodding along at something I don’t really like doing or get stuck in some other project with less of an escape, if that be possible. It’s good to try new things every so often, even if they don’t pan out, because you always learn from everything you do. I truly believe that nothing in life is wasted, even if you can’t figure out what’s happening at the time or the why behind it….

But, he loved my energy!

I can bring a piece of paper alive, and I appreciate that from this editor-who’s-been-around. We get so few compliments on our work, so it was nice to receive this one.

My agent and I talked about other possibilities, I threw a couple ideas out—one of which I was working on directly before this project—and she liked them. Actually kinda liked the one I’d already started (120 pages in). And this one could even become a series—don’t know if I’ll go there, but I’m certainly going to put some thought toward it. But over the night and this early morning I also thought about maybe again looking into the Amazon CreateSpace route for one manuscript in particular, my supernatural whydunnit murder mystery. Stay tuned for possible developments.

But, oh, do I feel so much better! I appreciate all the help a handful of writer friends lent in creating this project, but it just didn’t feel right to me. Sometimes, I feel like I’m already in overdrive and am running out of gears…but I always have to go back to why I write in the first place (downshifting…). For the enjoyment, the imagination, the creativity. I’ve been doing this since I was six. I hope to keep doing it.

So, sure, I’ll grind a pound for ya—or ten. Want some cheese with that?

Shifting….

A Little Recap. Would You Like Some Tea—Or Prozac?

William Bendix and Martin Balsam in “The Time Element” (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Holy crap.

Things have been quite weird the past couples weeks—actually since mid-December, to be honest. I’d started (and since finished) an autobiography on someone I’ve followed throughout most of my life, and though elements of the book had been somewhat “annoying,” other elements of the book really hit home in unexpected ways. Which got me to thinking…why is it that some people get what they go after in life and others don’t? Even when they do all the right things, think the right thoughts, live the right life?

I know I wax philosophical and get all high and mighty, sometimes, but I try not to. I try to be open and understanding and all that. But I do have my opinions, just like many of you out there. Basically, I try not to be a jerk. And though I do believe that we all create our own lives, our own realities (I don’t believe Anyone else creates it for us, God, All That Is, or some powerful Universal Turtle), I don’t have to always understand every little minutiae associated with it.

And, apparently…I don’t.

I believe God, All That Is, and that powerful, Universal Turtle provide the support system (perhaps in the case of the Turtle, literally…) for us to this have other stuff, but I believe They want us to create our own lives and to take responsibility for it. I believe They do not want us to blame or fall back on Them for our lives. We have to step up to our own lives, our own responsibilities. But, whatever, this is not my point and I’m not gonna debate it, cause we all have our beliefs, so more power to all of you for what you believe in.

But, weird things have since happened to me, one that is life impacting, and I’m not going to go into, here (or yet). Other things followed, like massive computer problems. It seems every time I try to get into this new manuscript of mine, some weird shit happens, seeming to always try to keep me from continuing to get into it. Like the computer problems…and some other issue that I really really want to vent on but won’t, because it’ll get me into trouble. But…I’ll be (and am, now…) okay. I just took a sucker punch, a haymaker, and an upper cut (in that order) and it got me a little on the ropes. A bit dazed and confused.

So, good God, there isn’t enough time in the day…it’s ticking away…and I’m in some massive Twilight Zone warp of change and whatnot. I can’t please everyone, I try to entertain some, try to learn some, try to be good person, and try to have some fun along the way.

Sun’s up…moon’s setting…and the day is begun.

I’m looking forward to a nice walk/hike later.

Twilight Zone Marathon—2012/2013!

Well, here it is, the day we all wait for, for many reasons!

1959 Series Logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

If you’re like me, besides the day off so close to other days off, you’re checking out the DVR, test running it, giving it practice runs by recording other shows more and more, and of longer and longer duration you’re not gonna watch, only to delete them, polishing the box (make sure you lift the box and also get the top and bottoms), running diagnostics, and generally sweet talking the heck out of it, telling it how wonderfully it’s been performing for you the past year. “Flight testing” all the remotes, and hiding them (and the instruction manuals for non-remote control of the DVR) from all other family members. You might even <choking back a tear, here…> buy it a present. Like a wireless router <excuse me…I need a moment…>.

Why?

Three words:  Twilight Zone marathon, baby!

Okay, four.

Some of the best television ever. And right now, recording away are many, many DVRs. And the winners in this marathon…are the viewers (okay, and I’m sure the Serling estate and the SyFy channel).

We are all winners in this marathon. Yes, you can actually say “we’re all winners,” and not get body slammed into the nearest wall by the competitive of us. So, go ahead, there’s still time, it’s just started! Set your DVRs, Edward, you know you want to—and enjoy the run!

Just make sure to hydrate-hydrate-hydrate!

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Also pimpin: Twilight Zone-related blogs, Shadow & Substance, and  Seeker of Truth, for Twilight Zone posts and great insight!

It’s A Wonderful Life

It is a wonderful life.

Let’s not waste it.

Let’s not destroy it.

Let us all realize the impact we each have on each and everyone else.

The impact we have on things.

Let’s create the life we all say we want.

A life of peace, respect, love, and doing what we want to do. Enjoy doing. A life where we all are free to express ourselves in positive, constructive ways that do not infringe upon others. Respects others and their differences.

It is a wonderful life…but only if we make it so.

Cemetery Dance

“Graves,” Arlington National Cemetery, VA, 1990

What is it about cemeteries that draws us to their hallowed grounds?

Yeah, I know, “they just can’t stay away,” and are….

But, really, what is the allure?

Once you get past the well-manicured state of most cemeteries, the beautiful landscaping…what really draws our fascination?

I admit to visiting them. I find them calming. I also don’t believe that when we die, that’s it—in any sense of the word. I believe in quite the active “afterlife.” When I stroll through them I wonder about the all the lives that have been lived—and I’m excited for their souls. In my eyes they are now moving on to other things with the consciousnesses that had once inhabited those “vehicles of life.” Hopefully, I like to think, they have learned something useful from their lives to apply to other lives they’ll live, or move on beyond reincarnational existence (I actually believe in simultaneous lives, but let’s not go there now).

I’ve tried to explain my own curiosity around graveyards to myself, but, in the end (pardon the pun), I’m not quite sure what really got the interest going—maybe it is as simple as life’s “beginning and ending points,” which do fascinate me, or that death really isn’t the end, or how people die as well as how they live—I’m just not quite sure.

And when you get into the ”atmosphere” of graveyards, especially the more established and older ones which I prefer to roam, their leafy trees and old, old buried dead, is it all the years of watching spooky movies? We all do seem to have some measure of inherent “joy of fear,” especially for fear that is removed and not really in our faces, as we watch from living rooms and theater seats. Read books we can put down. But where many cemeteries are built, they are usually at places I like to frequent—full of large, flowing deciduous trees tossing in the breezes, they’re quiet. Calm. Lawns are well-kept. Who wouldn’t one like to stroll through such an area, short of the realization you’re walking over, well, many, many, uh…dead bodies….

So, maybe it does have to do with a little or a lot of all of the above. But I do marvel at the lives lived and wonder how they fared…how they birthed…how they died. How they loved and strove. What kind of people were they? Were they kind? Giving? Hard working? Fun loving? Love the artistry in effort, whether a little or a lot, that went into making the headstones. Headstones say a lot about the dead over which they rest. How well liked they were, how affluent they or somebody who cared for them were. What material was available, what skills. “The sign of the times.”

Are they kept up?

Who’s keeping them up?

Some even show a sense of humor…irony:

“Quod tu es, ego fui, quod ego sum, tu eris“

The above phrase is said to go back to ancient Roman times, and is included in the more modern version most are probably more familiar with:

Remember me as you pass by

As you are now so once was I

As I am now so you will be

Prepare for death and follow me

And, in all my journeys, I’ve never (to my knowledge) seen any ghosts among the dead—and I’ve tried. Asked for some to present themselves. Never once. Now I have seen ghosts, but not of the human variety, so I know I’m capable of it.

One note: included in the pictures below is a “mummified” human forearm. That photo was taken in a small (at the time) museum in the back of local shop, on the road into Sharpsburg, MD. It was on the left side of the road, as driving up from Alexandria, VA. There was a small article attached to the glass, thought I’d taken a picture of it, but I didn’t find it. What I remember of the article was that the arm was thought to have come from the battle of Antietam, that it looked to have “flash fried” as it was blown off its owner. I forget the rest of the details, or where it was found, maybe when an building was being excavated? Just don’t remember. But it was creepy, and, once again, rammed home the horrors of war.

Okay, originally, I was going to include more photos of other cemeteries, but once I scanned in the set, below, I thought, these look so cool on their own, give off such a great, creepy, atmosphere, I have to keep them by themselves. Like my previous post, all the shots in this post were taken with film, then scanned. I love how they came out. And these are just the ones I could find, I know I have more. I might do another post for other cemeteries, but for now, I’m keeping the “Cemetery Row” work (Alexandria, Virginia, back in 1990), below on its own, with a few from Sharpsburg, Maryland (Antietam Battlefield, same 1990 timeframe) as their own post.

So…what better time to revisit and share some of my favorite cemeteries than during the haunting month of October?

Enjoy.

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