Author Archives: Frank Morin

About Frank Morin

Frank Morin loves good stories in every form. When not writing or trying to keep up with his active family, he's often found hiking, camping, Scuba diving, or enjoying other outdoor activities. For updates on his sci-fi time travel Facetaker novels, his popular YA fantasy novel, Set in Stone, or other upcoming book releases, check his website: www.frankmorin.org

Werewolves and Vampires – Classic Monsters of Myth and Legend

Frank Morin 4 Comments

Werewolves and Vampires.  Two favorite monsters that have scared and fascinated the world for centuries.

First:  Vampires – we have poems, stories, and plays dating back to the 1700’s, based on legends that date back even further. (one list claims there have been 197 vampire movies)

Vampire imageSome well-known stories and/or movies:

  • Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897)
  • Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997 – 2003)
  • Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files (2000 – 2011)
  • Interview with a Vampire (1994)
  • the Blade series (1998 – 2004)
  • The Lost Boys (1987)
  • Salem’s Lot by Stephen King (book:  1975, Movie:  1979)

Why so much focus on vampires, and why do they continue to appeal to generation after generation?

Anciently, vampires were always seen as creatures of gothic horror, little more than animated corpses often preying on their closest loved ones.  Then, starting as early as the 1800’s, vampires became sensual, seductive creatures, the living embodiment of forbidden lusts.  The classic Dracula by Bram Stoker is a great example of that transition period that dramatically impacted the entire field.

Later Vampire stories continued to evolve, many focusing on vampire hunters (Blade, Buffy, Monster Hunter International), and eventually portraying vampires less as evil incarnate and more  as objects of desire (Twilight).

I find the transition interesting.  It’s rare these days to find a classic vampire that just sneaks around at night looking for virgins to bite.  Far more often, the vampires are depicted as cool, rich, sexy, and desirable, with a hint of danger thrown in that only seems to increase the appeal.  People today seem to want to flirt with the danger rather than destroy it.

Then there are the Werewolves (or lycanthropes)

Werewolf imageWerewolf legends are some of the oldest and most widespread of all monsters, with stories from all parts of the world.  Werewolves are shape shifters, the living embodiment of the beast caged inside of man, released to savage across the world without restraint.

Early werewolves were often depicted as witches, who used various potions to turn into wolves, or required intricate rituals to affect the change.  The full moon, connected with madness in people for millennia, is generally associated with werewolves too.  Some werewolves can voluntarily change shape, others are cursed, usually after being bitten, and face a terrible fate of changing against their will and losing control.

Werewolves in the past century have generally been depicted as being vulnerable to silver, but highly resistant to other injuries.  Stories about werewolves abound, all the way back to Little Red Riding Hood.

Many movies have been made about werewolves, including notables like:

  • Werewolf of London (1935)
  • The Wolf Man (1941)
  • The Howling (1981)
  • Silver Bullet (1985) – based on a novella by Stephen King
  • Dog Soldiers (2002)

Unlike vampires, far fewer werewolf stories depict them as anything but horrific creatures.  We love to be scared, to see the face of destructive evil.

Werewolves vs Vampires imageThen there is the awesome juncture where vampires and werewolves meet:

  • The Underworld series (starting in 2003)
  • The Twilight series
  • Larry Correia’s Monster Hunter International Series
  • Van Helsing (2004) – one of my favorites
  • Even Abbot and Costello

So what continues to drive the fascination?  I remember years ago people saying, “Don’t write any more vampire stories.  That market is saturated and dead.”

Then Twilight took over the world, and spawned an entire new genre of paranormal romance.  Vampires and werewolves are still everywhere.

I think part of the allure is the fact that people know these monsters.  Sure, different stories twist facts around some but, for the most part when someone says “vampire” or “werewolf”, people immediately get a sense of what they’re talking about.

For vampires, they’re always tied to seductive evil, and audiences get a thrill flirting along that forbidden line.

Werewolves, savage and hard to kill, offer great power, and the loss of all restraint, all social norms.  They’re the animal we all hold within, the face of what happens when we cross the line and step to the far side of chaos.

Although I have no interest in writing a vampire or werewolf story any time soon, there are lessons to be learned by the great ongoing success of these stories, and the myths that give them life.  Are the monsters in our stories sensual, tempting, and savage?  Do they terrify and fascinate in equal measure?  Do they reflect the darkness lurking within the characters, and by extension, the readers?  Is there a risk the hero may fall to that darkness, even in their moment of victory?

If so, your own myths might prove to be legends in their own right.

Lovin’ Every Minute of it

Frank Morin The Writing Life No Comments

Blog post image - 5-29-13I’ve really enjoyed the posts this month – the insights into the history and motivation behind why we’ve all chosen such a difficult, time-consuming, and not-yet lucrative focus for our time.  This month provided a rare opportunity for self-reflection, for looking back, and for reminding myself why I enjoy writing so much.

I love a good story.

It all boils down to that.  As early as third grade, I began devouring books way above my grade level in search for great stories.  I read widely, but gravitated toward science fiction and fantasy, reveling in foreign worlds, alien technology, and boundless magic.  Many of the great stories mentioned this month are ones I enjoyed too, but I thought I’d mention a couple of other favorites from my early days as an avid reader.

First there’s the classic Sword of Shannara, epic fantasy from before it was clear what made classic epic fantasy.  It’s one of the early greats ones.  It had everything:  the mysterious, powerful mentor; the young hero hopelessly in over his head; the faithful sidekick; the experienced fighter friend; and an ancient evil no one really expected anyone could defeat.  It also included spectacular battle sequences, terrifying monsters, magical talismans, and memorable moments of wonder and horror.  What’s not to love?  Many of the sequels were good, but for me, none of them surpassed the parent story.

Another of my all-time favorite series was The Mallorean by David Eddings.  The magic system was fairly simple, yet consistent, and the world well-developed.  Most importantly, the characters were awesome.  I loved how they interacted, how they each had a distinct voice, how even the minor characters had some interesting arcs, and important roles to play.  For me, this was a series that showed how to manage and utilize a big cast of characters.

There are many other stories I still cherish to this day, but these are a couple of classics that helped cement my love of fantasy.  I read so much, it became a problem in school and at home.  However, it wasn’t until I started role-playing games that I really started recognizing I had a talent for spinning my own tales.

As a youth, I played a spin-off version of D&D with brothers and friends that minimized the use of dice (everything was done with a single die), and focused more on the crafting of great adventures.  Through that effort, I soon discovered I had a flair for inventing great stories, for adapting quickly on the fly, and holding a group’s interest.

It was about that time that I started writing my own stories in earnest.  In high school, I plotted out a couple of complete novels, although I never finished writing any of those ginormous epics.  I wrote many short stories, some of which were actually pretty good.  At that time, I knew I wanted to be a writer, to craft long, epic tales that would thrill me, and hopefully a few readers too.

Unfortunately, I went to college and fell in love with computers, which were just becoming mainstream, and shifted focus to become a computer programmer.  That’s what became my career, what supported my family for over a decade until the desire, the need, to write began consuming me again.

Now I write as much as I can, and I’ve arranged my schedule to allow more time to write.  I’ve written and thrown away well over half a million words, and have completed three novels and a novella that are viable properties.  It’s a long road to become a competent writer, but it’s a road I’ve loved.  Soon I hope to reach the next big milestone:  publishing something, but that’s a different topic.

And I still play role-playing games, now with my kids and their friends.  I still find it one of the best ways to exercise my creative muscles, to keep my mind sharp, nimble, and focused on what’s important in stories.  It helps me stay in tune with what makes stories fun.

Because a fun story is a good story.

St Patrick’s Day – A mixing of folklore with the every day

The Writing Life 2 Comments

St Patricks Day

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

May you be in
Heaven a half hour before the
Devil knows you’re dead!

May your home always be too small to hold all your friends.

God is good, but never dance in a small boat.

Dance as if no one were watching,
Sing as if no one were listening,
And live every day as if it were your last.

(For more Irish sayings/blessings, check out this site.)

I’ve always thought St. Patrick’s Day was a lot of fun, but never really knew much about it other than the need to wear green so people don’t punch you in the arm, and the constant advice to look for a rainbow with a pot of gold at the end.

So to celebrate the holiday today, here are a few facts:
– Irish have been celebrating St Patrick’s day for over 1000 years.
– St. Patrick, who lived in the fifth century, is the patron saint of Ireland.
– Chicago turns the river green on St Patrick’s day by dumping in 40 lbs of vegetable dye
– Shamrock plants can actually be used in remedies for snake venom.
– Snakes do not live in fields of Shamrocks anywhere in the world.

There’s a lot of culture and history tied in with the holiday, particularly the ‘wearing of the green’, shamrocks, parades, and feasting. The shamrock is a powerful symbol of Ireland, and there is lots of folklore surrounding it, from beliefs that it is a sacred plant, that its leaves curl upward before a storm, and the very fact that it has 3 leaves, a number always associated with power, be it religious or arcane.

Then there’s the leprechaun, usually depicted as an old, bearded man dressed in green, who loves to cause mischief, make shoes, and store pots of gold at the end of the rainbows. Leprechauns have been featured in movies, books, and other media, from comic to horror.

So what gems can we glean from this fun holiday so filled with history, folklore, and culture? How does this tie in with our genre month?

First, think about adding depth to your stories with legends or folklore. If you’re writing urban fantasy, it’s important to tie in your alternate view of the ‘real’ world to existing, recognizable legends. Readers love it, and the biggest successes do it
(think Harry Potter, and even Twilight). But even if you’re writing science fiction or epic fantasy, you can use folklore/legends to add depth to your stories. Give your characters beliefs unique to their culture. You don’t have to spend much time on them to make an impact. In just a couple of paragraphs, I’ve defined the basic concept of St Patrick’s Day. It wouldn’t take much more to include your own holidays/folklore. Think of Robert Jordan’s Bel Tine festival in the opening scenes of The Eye of The World. It helped bring Emond’s Field to life and draw the reader into the fantasy world. Without it, the town would have been far less engaging.

Second, it’s worth studying folklore like this and how it affects different demographics of society around the world, regardless of what genre you write in. Different groups react in dramatically different ways to the same events in their lives, or the history of their nation. Such diverse opinions, when applied to characters in your story, help define them and differentiate them. Think of Han Solo in Star Wars and his scoffing of the force while Luke is becoming Obi Wan’s disciple. Luke is shocked that Han Solo can possibly doubt, but Han just says, “Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid.”  That interchange defines Han’s character at that time so perfectly.  Over time, as Han Solo sees more evidence of the power of the force, he reluctantly comes around, but that doubt reflects his own history and experiences, and helps make him memorable and real.

Third, there is so much material out there! If you’re ever feeling stuck or uninspired in your own stories, or seeking inspiration for the next story to write, delve into folklore from cultures around the world. There are ideas everywhere, and the world is full of fascinating legends.

Study it, see how it manifests in everyday culture, and then step out into the shadows and find your own inspiration. It’ll always be there.

Examples of stories I’ve enjoyed that mix the real and the unreal are Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files series, and Larry Correia’s Monster Hunter International. In movies, Van Helsing, and Stargate are a couple of favorite examples.

What are your favorites?

Complex Characters

Character Craft & Skills Frank Morin Writing Tools 4 Comments

Complex character img 2-20-13We’ve all heard the criticism:  “Your characters are flat” or “One-dimensional” “Make them deeper, more rounded.”

The problem is, most of the time the people offering that vague advice have no concrete suggestions for fixing the problem.  Many newer authors often fall into the trap of trying to add quirks or other surface affectations to try to make the characters appear ‘interesting’.  Quirks can be cool, but only if they tie into the character’s real psyche.  If not, they’re just weird and don’t help.

In my last post, I explored what it means to have deeper, more complex characters by utilizing Larry Brooks’ three dimensions approach to character development.  Today I want to explore additional examples from books and television to highlight what we mean when we say a character has ‘depth’ or is ‘complex’.

First, we need to know our characters, know them better than we know just about anyone else in our life.  Think about it – most of the people we interact with are enigmas.  We know their surface personalities, and we may know a little about their history, but how many people do we know well enough to imagine them in an extremely difficult situation like the ones we’re going to place our protagonists in, and then feel confident we can predict how they’ll react?  The number is probably smaller than we usually assume.  We can’t have that ambiguity with our main characters.  When we place them in extreme situations, we need to know how they’re going to respond.

Many of the ‘flat’ characters we see are ones where they don’t seem to have a history.  They step onto the page with no back-story, no childhood, no past mistakes or triumphs to be reminded about.  As a result, we only see the surface of a character but get no insights into why or how they reached that stage in life.  These are characters with only that first dimension defined.  Fine for secondary characters, but not for central characters.

For example, in The Dark Knight, the joker is such a fantastic character not only for how crazy he is on the surface, but also for the hints he gives us of his tortured past.  We never actually learn the truth, but just hinting at it is enough to make him far more deeply fascinating and freaky.  Who’s ever going to forget the line, “Want to know how I got these scars?”

As a reader, knowing a character’s back-story helps us develop empathy with them.  This is the why of a character’s actions that gives them meaning.  Without it, we cannot connect with them.

Another fascinating example is the character Cobb, the main protagonist in the movie Inception.  On the surface, Cobb is an efficient dream spy, capable of infiltrating the best-kept mental secrets.  Then we’re faced with his ex-wife who continually threatens to undermine all his work.  That twist becomes infinitely more interesting when we learn she’s actually dead, a projection created by Cobb’s own sub-conscious that refuses to be ruled by him.  Throughout the movie, the layers are peeled back as the stakes rise, until we realize this projection is his inner demon, the part of his psyche he has to face.  We’re left wondering right up to the end:  how did she die?  Was he really responsible?  Why can’t he let go?

Brilliant use of back-story and inner demons.

Another wonderful example, and an excellent venue for studying complex characters is the tv show Once Upon A Time.  Not only is the concept fantastic and the writing brilliant, but the show offers many examples of great character development.

Virtually every character in the show has a complex back-story that interweaves with other characters and generally experiences at least one major flip that catches the audience completely by surprise and challenges expectations.  This is especially true for the evil characters (the wicked queen and Rumplestilskin – the dark one).  We see them struggling against evil impulses and trying to live the best lives they can.  It’s absolutely brilliant because we end up developing empathy with characters we should simply loathe.

There is nothing simple about any of these characters.  Their second dimension is fully fleshed out and complex.  Even better, in critical moments, we see even some of the evil characters try to break out of the mold they’ve placed themselves in, and we root for them.  At other times, we see the heroes struggle with powerful temptations to do terrible things, usually with plenty of justification.  These are the deep moments when characters’ true selves are revealed, the third dimension moments of truth, and it’s wonderful to see a character we think is evil show us a hint of good, even if they back-slide later.  I’ve learned a great deal from this show, and hope to apply it to some of my own writing and character development.

Of course, most of us won’t get to use our back-story as heavily as Once Upon A Time.  They set up the show format around this complex back-story, and the very structure of the show allows them to maximize the power of it.  Still, the point is valid – it’s absolutely vital for the writer to know what happened in their characters’ lives before page 1, and find ways to share that information with their readers.

Another fun example is Shrek.  The funny, irreverent ogre who refuses to live within the narrow boundaries expected of him.  As he explains to his companion, donkey, he has layers, like an onion.  All good characters should have those same layers.

Of course, once we’ve created our onion characters, we then face the daunting challenge of when and how to weave that back-story into the narrative without falling into that dreaded ‘info-dump’.  It’s hard to not share the cool stuff we know about characters, but that information is best served in small portions, sprinkled throughout the story.  It’s the seasoning that separates the simple stories from the great.  But like any seasoning, apply too much, and you wreck the effect.

What other characters stand out as exceptional examples to you?  Why do you find them so powerful?