Author: mmaples4

Halloween

 

As usual, the summer went by way too quickly. But October is a wonderful month. I mean, you got the leaves changing color, bonfires, and of course, Halloween.

Halloween is definitely one of the best holidays. It’s a holiday you can celebrate no matter how old you are, and I think more fun can be had as an adult. You can drink, eat candy, and dress up as whatever you want.

During the weeks leading up to Halloween, you get to binge on scary movies! If you’re a reader, I hope you check out Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and anything by H.P. Lovecraft. Really fun books and stories to devour during a month when there is more night than day, and the cold creeps in.

Now, I think I’ll cozy up in bed, prowl the internet for a (warm) costume, and put  one of these movies on in the background!

Best Halloween Movies:

Hocus Pocus

Silver Bullet

Trick ‘R Treat

Pet Sematary

The Shining

The Amyitville Horror

Constantine

Bram Stoker’s Dracula

The Witch

Best Halloween episode from a TV show: “Who Got Dee Pregnant?” It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia

Shadows

“Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.” –Carl Jung 

I took a class during my last semester of college that was truly scary yet exciting. The class was Adapting the Short Story to Screenplay, and it was such a learning experience.  I loved peeking into the world of script writing.

The class really piqued my interest in screenwriting, and it’s amazing how many movies have been adapted from short stories. The screenplay turned into something a lot darker than what I had wanted, but that’s fine! Just keep writing, and it will turn into something beautiful. Or, terrifying. Either way, it’s so thrilling!

The Jung quote was something that kept coming to mind as I wrote the story. Like how the things that shape us are often buried so deep that we don’t even realize what truly drives us. Or, we know and are just afraid to acknowledge them.

I believe writing is a way to peek into the darkness inside yourself. Writing allows you to make a reluctant friendship with your shadow-self, and use him/her to create something beautiful, while not destroying your whole self in the process.

Sometimes the shadows and the darkness are your friends. Just don’t linger too long.

Goodnight,

MMM

 

Summer and Stephen King

Summer is here. The pool, the lake, meat sizzling on a grill, baseball, and beer. Lots of beer. In East Tennessee, we are fortunate enough to have four seasons, and summer and autumn are hands down the most fun.

In a few days, May will roll into June, and then, my favorite month, July. July is the most spectacular month. I mean, come on: the 4th, fireworks, lightning bugs!  And the air is so humid and the grass is an almost startling green…ahhh, it just makes me so happy.

But, I try to savor the months leading up to July. So, I want to talk about what summer means to me. For as long as I can remember, I always loved to go to the library when school let out for the summer and pick out my books I would devour over a few months. I always love being near the pool or the lake, and sitting outside at night, watching the lighting bugs, and breathing the sweet smell of honeysuckle and grass. And one of the most splendid parts of summer is sitting beside the pool or the lake with a good book.

Right now, I’m reading The Outsider by Stephen King. So far, I really love it. It’s a strange, dark mystery that features characters only King can truly bring to life.

Isn’t the cover art creepy? I am lucky enough to have the hardback copy (thank you, Cheryl!) and the jacket is thick and glossy, yet rough and kinda disturbing when you close your eyes and rub your hands over it! It reminds me of the lake. When you first get in, you have to step gingerly over pebbles and dirt then muck, and finally you make it into the smooth water. But the silky water is very unpredictable; your foot can scrape against something slimy or sharp, or God forbid, something with teeth. Or worse. For those of us in the south who don’t live near the ocean, lakes are a luxury that we truly appreciate.

Back to King, he was the first author that really imprinted himself into my mind. I fell in love with his books. And his books continue to cause me nightmares, inspire me, challenge me, and most of all, push me to write from the soul every day. I want to be able to affect people in the ways he has affected me.

That’s summer to me: secrets; heat; mystery; a lightness that can so quickly turn into darkness in the time it takes for heat lightning to flash across the sky. A season so brief yet long and memorable that we ache for it all year long, and sit and reminisce about when it’s cold outside.

Speaking of lakes, I am polishing up a short story of mine. It involves a lake with many secrets. Lakes are both beautiful and kinda creepy.

I mean, you can’t see what’s underneath the water. But, maybe you don’t want to!

Boo! 😉

That’s all for tonight.

MMM

Beginnings

It feels very strange to be writing this first post.  Because no one will be reading anything on here for quite some time. Well, aside from a few friends and some in-the-know family members, that is. Or the internet overlords.

I will mainly be posting about the novel I’m working on, and also about the attempts to write short-stories while working my normal job. When my work starts getting published, well then, I will be persuading you to go out and buy my stuff. What’s not to love? In fact, I think my next post will be about the current short story I am revising. It’s a scorching little number that I can’t get out of my mind.

Goodnight All,

MMM