New board member

[shawnl]

Hey, everyone. I've frequented this site for half a year now, enjoying the movie and DVD reviews, and thought I'd join to say hi.

Also, if anyone is interested, I'm podcasting a free werewolf novel you can find on iTunes (search for Shawn Lewis audiobooks) or get it from my web-site: www.shawn-lewis.net

I've posted 13 out of 15 episodes (each around 30 minutes long), and new episodes come out every two weeks.

Here's a brief synopsis:

Roman Adage: Man is the wolf of man

After being bitten by a werewolf and killing his best friend, college student Caden Lawson flees--desperate to protect his girlfriend, Tiffany. But leaving is the worst thing he could do.

The man hunting him feeds on death, creating zombie slaves from his victims. And he'll use Tiffany, alive or dead, to get to Caden.

Hope someone finds that interesting

Shawn L.

[Marcus]

Hi Shawn, nice to see you sticking your head out of the forest. Don't worry, we only bite when we're hungry.

Out of curiosity, when you started writting your story, did you have a particular age group in mind, or was it more along the lines of writting it in the way you like to hear it?

I've thought about writting a novel off and on for years, but I've never been able to get the hang of making the conversations read well. Tends to always read back as forced and fake like hearing bad acting on a stage.

[hawkeyepierce]

More souls to feed on! Welcome!

[eloojak]

ello mate

[Moonreaper]

Whats Up!

[necrodemon]

What's going on man. Story sounds intersting.

[shawnl]

Marcus:

I wrote the story mostly for me. There's a type of werewolf story I like that all too often I can't find: werewolf protagonist, struggling with his condition, but forced to face something far worse than the beast within.

Dialog can be difficult. There are some tricks I've found helpful. 1) Have each person want something different from the exchange--pit them against each other (this adds conflict/tension as well as sub-text) 2) People can't help but lie (be it from malice, self-interest, fear, or ulterior motives), this adds drama; 3) Real life tends not to make interesting reading (hey, we live that, right); likewise, "real dialog" isn't something people enjoy reading either, it has to be condensed into something quick and packed with energy. Never discuss the weather or the time of day unless you're distracting the person from the knife in your hand =) 4) It's very tempting to put exposition in your dialog, to have the characters say things so the audience can learn more about your world. When you do this, it's all to easy to make it sound staged because they're covering things they both already know and would never really say. The trick here is to have them know what's going on, but give just enough clues for the reader to figure it out (people tend to love mystery/puzzles).

Shawn L.

[hawkeyepierce]

When I'm writing dialogue I always try and read the lines out loud. if I can't pronounce it or if it lacks rythm, than I won't bother letting a reader/actor do it unless I fixed the problem.

[Moonreaper]

You sound a lot like me when I write, I like the secrecy and trying to hid the condition from others. The struggle to survive, but feels like he (or she) should tell someone.

[Werewolf]

Welcome to the pack

[necrodemon]

Checked out your website and I am interested. I am going to check out all your episodes.

Marcus write that novel.

Anyone figure out my avatar yet?

[shawnl]

Necrodemon:

Cool!

Marcus, yes, please write that novel! We need more good werewolf novels out there

Shawn L.