The Official "Write Away!" Contest Post

In my last post I gave you a quick and dirty explanation of a contest I'm currently running. Since these things are apparently supposed to have names, I'm calling this contest the "Write Away!" contest. Here's the official skinny:

Overview:

Six submitted stories will be chosen by me and my trusty beta readers to be included in my "Year Two" collection of Living With the Dead. Each of those six people will receive fifty dollars via paypal and promotion within the book itself as well as on this blog, the Living With the Dead blog, Facebook, and wherever else I can fit them. Submissions are open until August the 15th, and may be sent to me joshguess22@gmail.com with the subject line, "Write Away Contest". 

Requirements:

There is no word limit, and thematically all I ask is that each submission be somehow related to zombies. They can be funny, scary, fantastic, all or none of the above. I want every person to feel free to write whatever strikes their fancy. 

However, there are some very basic restrictions that I don't think will be a problem but need to be stated for the record. Amazon does not allow necrophilia, rape, beastiality, or incest for the purposes of sexual arousal. In short, that means if you're going to write and submit erotica for this contest (which is totally cool with me) then please avoid using those topics as a part of any erotic scenes. If you send me something that violates this rule, I have to nix it. Sorry. 

Rights:

I am NOT buying the sum publishing rights to your story. There are many shady authors and publishers out there that will try to do this to you, and I'm not one of you. The only thing submitting your work to me does is give me the right to include it in the "Year Two" collection of Living With the Dead forever and ever. 

What this means is that you retain all other rights. If you want to include your short fiction in your own collection that happens to publish the very same day as "Year Two", that's okay. You can do whatever you want with it. All you're allowing me is the right to use it in this book for as long as I want to. 

Additional Info:

If you're an author of any stripe, published, indie, or just starting to get into writing, and you're willing to forgo the fifty bucks to get your name out there, I'm willing to include your story if it meets the approval of my beta readers (and my own, of course.) Each author who has their work added in to "Year Two"--whether they're recipients of money or not--will have their website links and whatnot added in the front of the book. 

If you don't care about the money and just want a shot to get in the collection, say so in your submission email. 

Any questions, comments, or concerns can be emailed to me or written as comments on this post. I'll do my best to check it as often as I can. Which might not be every day, just fair warning. 

So Here's the Thing

A lot of you have been asking me about a "Year Two" version of Living With the Dead. I released "Year One" at the same time as book 2 last year, and it killed sales of book two. So this year, when I released book 4, many people wondered why books 3 and 4 weren't bundled in a "Year Two" package. Now you know.

However:

When book 5 of Living With the Dead comes out in early September, I *will* be putting out "Living With the Dead: Year Two". I know, you're super excited. I'll be writing some short fiction as bonus material, but I also want to put out the call for other writers to do the same.

Here's the spiel.

I'm looking for six pieces of fiction from other writers to add to this book. "Year Two" itself will be about 200,000 words, or the length of two books (which makes sense, as it actually is two books). I'm doing at least two short stories, and I want YOU to submit something as well. So from now until August 15th, I'm accepting submissions from anyone and everyone who wants to give.

Requirements:
Zombie-related.

That's it. Your story can be dramatic, funny, silly, whatever you like. The six people I'll be selecting for this will each receive $50 for their submission. Unlike some people out there that put together collections of stuff, I'm not asking you to give up the rights to your work. By submitting, all you're doing is giving me permission to publish your piece in the "Year Two" collection forever and ever. You can do whatever you like with your work, even if you want to publish it yourself the same day. All I'm buying with your $50 is the right to borrow it for this collection ONLY.

Of course, if you don't care about money and want to submit something, I'm happy to add more than six to the collection. Right now I'm budgeted for $300 split between six people. If you want your name our there in this collection and don't care about getting paid, let me know.

I'll be doing another post in the next few days to make this a bit more formal, but that's the gist of it. Send all submissions to me at joshguess22@gmail.com.

Hope to hear from you soon.

Allow Me To Review The Shit Out of "The Avengers"

I saw The Avengers today. I have some things that need to be said.

First, to the critics:

I've read a few of your reviews, and they seem to trend negative not because of the movie itself, but because of the genre, though I'm not sure if you mean action movies or comic book movies. Either way, most of you who've given negative marks have done so using the most verbose and flowery language possible, pointing to the cavernous emptiness and blah blah blah.

My response to you: climb out of the ivory tower, put down the Jonathan Franzen novel, and pick up a goddamn comic book. You're not doing anyone favors by being as out of touch with modern culture as, say, Mitt Romney.

Now, on to my own thoughts.

Is The Avengers perfect? No. There was only one perfect film, and it died for our sins so other films could know the joy of record-breaking opening weekends.

That being said, there was very little to dislike about the movie. I didn't have any issues with it at all, and generally I'm a very picky moviegoer. One small complaint might be a few moments when Scarlett Johansson didn't quite hit her mark as an actor, but those were small things. Easy to ignore.

The script played out beautifully, dialog working seamlessly with the acting and direction. As a comic book fan, I can't express to you how utterly perfect each of the main characters felt in their roles. That goes all the way around--dialog and personalities were spot-on, but the action itself was stylized and tailored to each character. Take Captain America as he bounces around the battlefield, fighting with acrobatic grace one moment and rescuing civilians the next. There were many small scenes taken directly from my mind, images so iconic that you can't help associating them with the characters moving in front of you. Cap, again, as he jumps and pulls himself into a ball behind his shield to escape an explosion. Brilliant and logical.

At two and a half hours long, the movie should have dragged at some point. It didn't. The progression was smooth and always interesting, but the truly surprising element was how much comedy fit in to the story. Joss Whedon's touch was evident there, the hilarious moments between characters giving the film a sense of reality. I believed Tony Stark was a real guy, that Steve Rodgers could walk off the screen at any moment.

It's an action movie, but one with heart. Seeing the struggle Mark Ruffalo goes through (probably the best performance in the film) as Bruce Banner trying to contain the Hulk, actually made me feel bad for the guy. I could see Tony Stark being budged from his self-centered mindset by seeing the suffering around him. I felt the shift in his character.

It might not be a perfect movie, but it is a perfect example of what superheroes should be. At their core, the characters are human (mostly) or at least have a basic humanity. They represent the modern equivalent of Hercules as flawed people with great power. They screw up, they fight, but ultimately they use that power to protect those who can't protect themselves.

I don't know what some critics expected or hoped for from The Avengers but it's clear to me they have no concept of the genre. In reading those negative reviews, I got a sense of disdain for it simply because of what the movie was and not for what the movie says.

Not every film has to be an art house classic, people. It's okay to produce action films, superhero films, and it's just as fine to enjoy them. Bad ones are bereft of meaning in the name of making money, decent ones tell a story but never truly captivate. Great ones capture the spirit of the characters and make your heart move.

This is one of the greats. Hands down. I've never laughed so much during a comic book or action movie, nor felt tears come to my eyes as often. I rooted out loud at times, cheered loudly when bad guys got their comeuppance, and geeked out at every single nod to the source material.

If your opinion is that The Avengers could somehow have been better, then I'm going to tell you something I generally never say about opinions: You are wrong. This movie couldn't have been a better translation of the story. Period.

Now, if you haven't seen it, go do that. Seriously, stop reading and go.