Tag: gore

Regarding A Lack of Intense Gore

Posted on by officialgabrielpenn

Depending on the person, this could be very good or very bad news. #gore #writing

blood on knife

This is going to be sad news for some and great news for others. I decided that I’m going to remove a good portion of disturbingly gory scenes in the book. There is a good reason for this. I realized that I did a lot of the gory fight scenes in order to draw some attention to the book when it came out. I wanted some controversy to boost sales. But I do not need to become the Quentin Tarantino of…

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Regarding A Lack of Intense Gore

Posted on by officialgabrielpenn

This is going to be sad news for some and great news for others. I decided that I’m going to remove a good portion of disturbingly gory scenes in the book. There is a good reason for this.

I realized that I did a lot of the gory fight scenes in order to draw some attention to the book when it came out. I wanted some controversy to boost sales. But I do not need to become the Quentin Tarantino of writers in order to gain attention for the book. If my writing is poor, but the book is gory, I’ve failed as a writer. So I want to be paying far more attention to my writing than I have been in the beginning.

Now, will there still be some blood in the books? Yes. Blood plays a key part in the books, for reasons I can’t say without spoiling things. But will I be discussing crushed and sliced bodies and near-cannibalistic scenarios as I did before? Absolutely not. However, the king-slayers, a vampiric race, will still be in the book. There will still be beheadings. But will it be anything close to its previous state of slaughter? No, probably not.

For those thinking I have decided to make a kids book, do not worry. There will be realistic fight scenes. The king-slayers, a vampiric race, will be in the book. There will be beheadings. But will it be anything close to its previous state of slaughter? No, probably not.

If you’re wondering how all these things will be in the book and yet it is not close to its former level of gore… you have absolutely no idea. You just don’t.

It’s not that I’m scared to disturb my readers. But I don’t see the point in doing it unnecessarily. When I want you to be, you will. That is, after all, what makes it dark fantasy. 😉

What do you think of intense blood and gore in Young Adult novels? Do you think or helps or detracts from the realism of the story? Let me know in the comments!

On the Prowl Again!

Posted on by officialgabrielpenn

It’s been quite a while since I’ve made a blog, so I figured I should get back into the swing of things and let you all know what’s happening.

Basically, since you’ve been gone I’ve gone to the liberty of editing the book even more-so than it was before! It is now at 399 pages (a travesty for a person with slight OCD, but I have no important things to add and so I will try not worry about it). There’s a lot more character interaction in this version, grittier themes and even more epic fight scenes. Less gore, more grit is how my mind works. Although the old version simply touched on the themes of the destiny, this one also adds the themes of humanity, war, family, morality, and whether or not a person is really inherently good.

Also, since I last posted, the very first hint at character looks is shown in the art for Chapter 4.
Ch4painted
I personally love Annika’s work. She’s a champ. I can’t wait to see her continued work, as she plans to do some work for each chapter. Amazing!

Also, because I could, I added some more depth to the hinted love triangle that was already there. I’ve just plain had fun with it, because why shouldn’t I? My favorite part as to now has been the two characters in the book, Luc and Roach. Roach is pronounced Roak, but I didn’t like the “k” look so I switched it to something that I thought looked better. Then I realized what that spelled, and for comedy kept it. As both characters have deep accents, I will admit what they are based on: Scottish. I happen to have a deep love for Scotland, as everyone from my mother’s side is at least part scottish. I’m a fourth-generation American, and one of my oldest family apparently still remembers the boat ride. This boggles my mind, and so in order to make my extended family proud, I put some people in there who sound Scottish. Also, it’s just fun to write for.

However, I am a busy man and just am not in the mood to do a heavily long and detailed speech regarding everything that’s happened, so I will let the work speak for itself. Please observe a certain scene, which I will remove spoilers for and add things to help with context. Also realize that I cannot display some names because I switch constantly between evil and good characters. I don’t want you all to know who goes bad and who doesn’t just yet.

“Whit’s aw thes?” He asked with a drunken slur. He then saw ******* and his eyes widened. “One ‘e you!” he bellowed, grabbing the sword that was resting on his hip and rushing toward *******.
He put his hand out and a blast of air flew towards him. To his surprise, Roach dodged to the left and continued rushing at him. *******’s eyes widened. He continued shooting blasts of air at him as Roach swaggered out of the way drunkenly, hiccupping between dodges occasionally. ******* let out one giant wide-ranged blast [of wind magic], hurling Roach into the house and also knocking the house over.
As the dust cleared, he saw Roach’s brother sat in the rubble next to a table. He took a cup off the table and took a sip. The table and chair he was sitting on crumbled. He looked at ******* angrily as he stood up and took another sip.
“Whit is thes, ye comin’ ower an’ knockin’ mah hoose doon loch ‘at? Bludy rude, e’en fur a monster.” He picked up a sword from the rubble and threw the cup over his shoulder. “Ye need some ‘elp Roach?”
Roach hiccupped. “Ah dornt need yer help, Luc! i’ve got thes! It’s jist one ‘o ‘em!”
Roach’s brother joined Roach and also ran toward *******, but taking a route with the clear intention of coming behind him.

And so, now that that’s all over, I will admit that I am on the prowl for an editor. I don’t know who it will be yet, but as a college kid, it’s hard to find time to do it myself. But I’m happy to have someone else giving it a try, someone a little more professional and who has a fresh look on it.

Adios, my dark friends, keep on following and viewing!