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By Jackelyn Velilla and Amos Patterson
Aug. 27, 2020
Trumped-up terror is big business. According to Zombie Buzz, haunted houses scared up nearly $700 million in ticket sales across more than 5,000 U.S. commercial attractions in 2018.
So it’s no surprise that investors are drawn to the spooky festivities, attracted by a lucrative seasonal industry that’s as reliable as pumpkin spice.
I just wrote a 70k word novel that started with a single idea, and I never want to forget that. It’s been an uphill climb to start my second novel, and I know I’m not the only writer who fights with this. What’s the point in writing anything at all without a fully-formed and explosively fantastic idea?
The events described in the last ten chapters of Pareidolia all occur on the same day. This wasn’t a plotting challenge as much as it was a technical nightmare. I was all for describing different events from different character perspectives earlier in the novel, even with a little overlapping thrown in, but this was a whole other level of insanity.
A page with links to all chapter posts is here.
Thanks to all who read and liked! More is on the way.
Enjoy this excerpt from my first novel, Pareidolia. The premise is available here, and the table of contents can be found here.
MARCUS
Society Hill, Philadelphia | Tuesday August 1st, 2000
It’s not like, you know a big deal or anything, is what Erin’s telling me back in the library now that the head honcho has retired upstairs for a brief rest after his trip. She’s seen him before, not too long ago either. Back when he was here in town for that New Age expo.
Spotted this little doozy of an article over the weekend and thought Pareidolia readers would get a kick.
“Researchers also studied people who said they had experienced physical effects from encounters with the objects and examined them for any physiological changes.”
Come on.
Continue readingEnjoy this excerpt from my first novel, Pareidolia. The premise is available here, and the table of contents can be found here.
MARCUS
Society Hill, Philadelphia | Tuesday August 1st, 2000
I’m crossing the hallway to check out another room when I hear Mandy’s voice from downstairs. It’s not pitched or raised, but there’s an unmistakable urgency in it.
I rush to the lower level. They’re in the living room, only there’s three of them now. Mandy, Daryl, and someone else.
The third person is Balero.
Enjoy this excerpt from my first novel, Pareidolia. The premise is available here, and the table of contents can be found here.
ZEKE
Downtown Philadelphia | Tuesday August 1st, 2000
I’ve just explained to Todd that Leah, her father, and probably Courtney are by now probably all sitting in small dark respective rooms with two-way mirrors, bad coffee, and cat-and-canary-smile-wearing feds. Todd’s hunched over on his knees, leaning off the edge of the bench. Looks like he’s about to puke. He doesn’t say anything for a while, then manages to get two words out.
Enjoy this excerpt from my first novel, Pareidolia. The premise is available here, and the table of contents can be found here.
MARCUS
Society Hill, Philadelphia | Tuesday August 1st, 2000
We get to the top of the stairs and Mandy just sort of stands there and looks around, eyebrows raised, listening. Daryl’s a few steps behind us, frozen mid-step. Why are we being so quiet?
Jason Herrboldt 