Christian Laforet

Hey, I’m Writing a Novel! (pt. 1)

/ Christian Laforet / 3 Comments

“The night was…sultry?”

For anybody who’s seen the amazing black comedy, Throw Momma from the Train, you know how hard it can be for a writer to get the first line of a story just right. In the movie, Larry Donner (played by Billy Crystal) can’t get past that single sentence.

Now that several projects are behind me (The Space Between Houses, which is available now, and the horror/sci-fi collection with fellow writer, Ben Van Dongen ( https://benwltp.wordpress.com/ ), is coming soon), I can finally get back to that pesky novel I’ve been planning.

Last year at this time I was committed to writing it. I even went so far as to line up some volunteers to read over each chapter as I finished them (never turn down free edits). But ultimately, due to time constraints, the novel was shelved.

In the year since I last attempted writing it, a lot has changed for me. Besides those above mentioned projects, I’ve met tons of really talented writers and have learned a lot about the craft from them. With this new found knowledge tucked away in my pocket, I’m once again climbing out onto the ledge of novel writing and hoping like hell I don’t fall off.

The time away from the book hasn’t been wasted though, I did manage to keep the story in my head and spent the time further developing it. It’s safe to say that at this point I’ve planned, plotted and researched everything I possibly can to get this thing going.

Now I’m at that crucial moment of committing those ever important opening lines to the screen. Unlike Larry from Throw Mamma however, I’m not nearly as hung-up on that first sentence. In fact, the moment I’ve been anticipating writing the most since last year has been the first chapter. Being a big fan of the hook, I think I have a doozy of one to open my story with. Hopefully I’m right. Only time will tell though.

Over the next year, I’m going to keep you guys posted on my progress (hopefully bi-weekly updates). This includes the ups and downs and all the in-betweens of the novel writing process. If all goes according to plan, you’ll get an inside look at the entire shebang. From the first draft to the final edits and beyond.

Novel: Untitled (I got lots of time to come up with something)

Words so far: 0 (Although I’m shooting for a nice number between 60 and 70 thousand)

Chapters so far: 0 (I’m thinking about 60 when all is said and done)

 

Upcoming Events

/ Christian Laforet / 2 Comments

The next few weeks are going to be pretty busy. I’m super excited to be taking part in three different (and awesome) events. So if you’re looking for a signed copy of The Space Between Houses, you’ll know where to find me 🙂

Sunday, November 23, 10 am-5pm – The Windsor/Essex Book Expo

St. Clair College Centre for the Arts

201 Riverside Dr W, Windsor, Ontario N9A 5K4

Over 200 (and counting) local authors under one roof selling and signing their books!

http://www.windsoressexauthors.com/

Sunday, December 7, 11am-6pm – Christmas Comic Con 3

St. Clair College Centre for the Arts

201 Riverside Dr. W, Windsor, Ontario N9A 5K4

Windsor’s rapidly growing Christmas Comic Convention. Tons of big names in comics and television!

http://www.windsorcomiccons.blogspot.ca/

Wednesday, December 10, 6pm-10pm – Biblioasis X-Mas Bash

Biblioasis

1520 Wyandotte Street East, Windsor, ON N9A 3L2

Six great writers coming together for a night of reading and conversation. Should be lots of fun!

http://www.biblioasis.com/

 

 

Book Signing!

/ Christian Laforet / 1 Comment

I’ll be at Paper Heroes Comic Book Lounge and Collectibles this Saturday (Oct. 25th) from 11am-3pm signing copies of my book! For the signing, I’ll be slashing the price from $12.95 to an even $10! As an added bonus, bring your copy of The Space Between Houses across the street to Wendy’s (just that location), show them the book and you’ll receive $2 off you combo!!

Paper Heroes

2857 Howard Ave.

Windsor, ON

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Finders is here! (finally)

/ Christian Laforet / 2 Comments

Back several months ago, fellow Adventure Worlds writer, Ben Van Dongen, had an idea for a web comic. We talked about it for a bit and eventually came up with Finders. Ben handling most of the scripting, and me, the art.

It took way longer than it should have to actually produce it (my fault), but we did it. Finders 001 first appeared in the Adventure Worlds zine and is now available to all right here: http://adventureworldsblog.com/2014/09/15/finders-001/

So read it and marvel at the fact his this tiny little thing took like four months to make lol.

New Story!

/ Christian Laforet / 1 Comment

Hopefully if you are a frequent viewer of my blog, then you also take some time to check out Adventure Worlds. If not, don’t worry, you can also start now lol.

There is a new post every Monday and guess what? This Monday was my turn. The story is called Relict. It is a horror/thriller story and, fun fact, was written almost entirely on my phone.

So head over to http://adventureworldsblog.com/2014/08/25/relict/ and give it a read.

Let me know what you think.

 

Summer’s Friend published on DM Du Jour

/ Christian Laforet / 2 Comments

Way, way, way back in January I submitted a short story (Summer’s Friend) to an online horror magazine, called Danse Macabre. I had all but written off a reply from the magazine, since it had been SEVEN MONTHS!! but to my surprise, I was contacted late last week with an email from the magazine’s editor-in-chief. My story had been accepted and went up on one of their three websites, DM Du Jour, just now.

So without further ado, follow the link to Summer’s Friend on DM Du Jour

http://dmdujour.wordpress.com/2014/07/30/christian-laforet-summers-friend/

007: Updates

/ Christian Laforet / 3 Comments

When I started this blog all the way back in the very distant past (January of this year) I laid out a list of work that was in the pipeline. I figured, it being about mid-year, now would be a very good time to go back to those things.

I had mentioned four specific projects that I was toiling away on and even went so far to give a few tentative release dates for some of them. Well, as time does its annoying march, some of those projects have hit a snag and others are rolling along nicely.

Let me begin with Adventure Worlds. Not much has changed on this front, except that the site has gotten bigger. It’s because of this growth that I feel myself pulling back a bit from working on it. Now, that doesn’t mean I’m leaving it behind, quite the contrary, I’m more dedicated than ever. What it means though, is that since we are starting to get submissions more often from other writers, there isn’t a huge need for me to always have a story ready for posting. I love the site and will keep pushing it for as long as I can, but it has already somewhat served its purpose and it’s time for me to look ahead at other things.

space coverNext, I spoke about two different projects. The short story collection and the comic mini-series. Since I already talked about the former last month in pretty great detail, I’ll jump right to the comic book. Continue reading →

006: The Space Between Houses

/ Christian Laforet / 5 Comments

Hello loyal readers! We have to do some more time travelling this month. Nothing as extensive as blog post 003 mind you, but still, you might want to bring lunch.

333058_10150487425101892_1669362473_oA few years ago two big things happened to me. One was the birth of my first daughter, Lelaina Blue. The second, very much connected to the first, was starting a blog call The Space Between Houses. The blog was connected to my daughter in that up until that moment, I was too lazy to try and make a career out of writing. Sure I liked it, but my laziness knew no bounds. What this meant was that even though I hated working in a grocery store, I was probably going to be doing so for the rest of my life. But then here was this amazing baby girl. She was everything I ever wanted and more, and I couldn’t stand the thought of her knowing that her dad never strove for anything.

Before I get too much into the Space Between Houses stuff, I have a confession to make. I’m a huge quitter. I quit everything. When I was a kid I quit karate, beaver scouts, saxophone, guitar and other things I’m sure I’m forgetting. This trend continued into adulthood where I quit jobs and even school (although the Tradigital Animation program at St. Clair was a joke so don’t judge too harshly for that one). The truth is, I like to quit. In fact, I would say I’m about as good a quitting as a person can be without being pro.

So here I am, starting a new life as writer and wouldn’t you know it, I want to quit. Writing’s hard. It takes time and patience; these are things I don’t have (those video games weren’t going to play themselves). But once again, here is this little girl who looks at me with huge blue eyes and in them I see the reflection of the person I can be, not the one I am. So, I turn off the x box, mute the television, put down the comic books and get to writing. Continue reading →