NEVЯLAND--Suffer the Children Book Trailer

My first attempt at a book trailer.

A bit longer than most book trailers, but I like it. Rather dramatic.

Thank God for LBJ's 1964 fear-mongering ads against Barry Goldwater. I've used the infamous Daisy Ad and the War on Poverty Ad to highlight the book trailer.



I enjoyed putting it together. It took about four different versions before I settled on this one.

One interesting side effect of making the book trailer is that the process of creating a visual interpretation of my story has inspired me to keep going and even generated new ideas and new enthusiasm for the tale.

I'm sure a professional book trailer maker could do a more precise and shorter version, but I still like this first attempt.

Now, back to writing the tale!

Be well.

See you on the bookshelf.

Larry Mike

NEVRLAND: Suffer the Children, Chapters 01-04, now on Scribd

NEVRLAND: Suffer the Children, Chapters 01-04, now on Scribd

God? Virus? Barney? -- Using Real People to Create Fictional Characters

One of my more inspirational--some say insane --ideas in promoting NEVЯLAND is the weekly "publication" of the Junebug Journal.

You can read it HERE. I started as a photojournalist. I've published and edited two newspapers. The Junebug Journal is one way of reaching inside of me and doing something I enjoy doing very much.

I have to be careful, though, not to make the weekly newspaper look too professional. After all in the apocalyptic, non-adult world of NEVЯLAND, the Junebug Journal is published by Chad Chapman, Jr., the 17-year-old son of the disappeared publisher and editor Chad Chapman, Sr.

The weekly newspaper gives a real-world effect to my tale. It reveals background and sundry information about the characters, Junebug, Oklahoma, and gives a different personal insight into the terror and chaos the children are facing.

The newspaper contains some clues and teasers. This second special edition even has an ad for a tattoo parlor--after all, the paper has to pay for itself.

The newspaper allows an outlet for the minor characters, those who don't have a big role in the novel.

Another thing I did to try to achieve a more realistic effect as well as create a more realistic set of characters in a realistic world is to poll several dozen children from 11 through 14-years-old.

Two Altus Public School teachers graciously volunteered to pass out a survey I had written and have their students complete it.

The survey asked things such as age, size of family, if any new CPR and other first aid.

I also asked them a series of questions:

*What do you think happened to the adults?

*Who would you miss most if your family suddenly disappeared?

*What are the five to six biggest problems in a city where there are only Children and no Adults?

*What do you fear the most in such a situation?

*How would you solve some of the problems you think would arise in such a situation?

*Et cetera

I received some very interesting answers. Some were quite insightful.

I was surprised at a few students whose answers came very, very close to the overall plot of NEVЯLAND.

I was pleased as the answers of the students re-affirmed what I had felt as I outlined and began writing the first draft. In other words, I am on the right track.

So, I have combined the Jungebug Journal with the students' survey answers.

Combining the two has given the story an authentic voice and is helping me to stay focused on the real characters. These are real voices from real children, and now they are a part of my tale.

The latest edition of the Junebug Journal contains direct quotes from the surveys of the students--and, yes, one really did say that Barney had eaten the adults. I laughed when I read his response--that young man isn't going to be phased by anything or take much too seriously.

Further editions of the Junebug Journal will feature more real quotes from real students who have now been incorporated into NEVЯLAND.

When you write, don't isolate yourself.

Talk to people who are representative of your characters--in age, gender, appearance, disposition.

Ask these people how they would react in such-and-such situation. You don't' have to tell them you're writing a story, just bring the conflict randomly in conversation or relate it to something you've read in the news or on the Internet.

When you write, create a real fictional world complete with a newspaper, a radio station, local teen hangout. Invite your readers to participate in this real fictional world.

Creating a real world within your fictional world requires getting butt off chair and meeting face-to-face with real people. These real people are your characters, and they will help you to smoothly move your story along.

See you on the bookshelves.

Larry Mike

NEVЯLAND Soundtrack: AC/DC - Thunderstruck

I'm in one of those moods.

The words are pounding out like thunder and flashing across the page like lightening.

Nothing more thrilling than directed and intense creativity!

The Birth of NEVЯLAND

NEVЯLAND was born on 23 April 2010.

I was meditating about a story idea. A story that involved a 12-year-old  protagonist in a post-apocalyptic setting.

I wanted to write a Middle Grade transitional to Young Adult  end-of-the-world thriller that didn't involve genetic mutation and  zombies.

I asked myself two questions:

1. What do teens, especially young teens, want more than anything else?

2. What do teens, especially young teens, fear more than anything else?

The answers to those two questions is exactly the same answer:

The disappearance of Parents and Adults.

I read once that when God wants to punish us, He answers our prayers.

What would the world be like if all the adults disappeared?

Lord of the Flies meets Home Alone jumped to mind as the  comparable story lines, motifs, and themes.

First, I had to decide on the age of those who would disappear.

Of course, legal Adulthood--18-years-old.

That means the world is full of newborns through 17-years-old.

But, wait. The world is too big.

Let's make it one small town.

A small town in Southwest Oklahoma.

Junebug, Oklahoma.

Junebug, Oklahoma is my fictional town for nearly all my stories loosely based  on Altus, Oklahoma.

Like William Faulkner's fictional Yoknapatawpha County is based on his  beloved Oxford, Mississippi.

And the kids left in Junebug really are the last people left on of  Earth.

Only those between newborn and 17 living in Junebug have survived what  the kids label the Rapture.


What would happen?

How would the kids react?

How would the various age levels react?

Who would go crazy--insane?

Who would commit suicide?

Who would be in charge, try to take over, try to be a dictator?

Would the racial and ethnic make-up of the remaining kids be a factor?  Of course, they would! People naturally seek safety not only in numbers  but in numbers of their own kind--especially children.

Fear is a great motivator for story.

And what about the newborns? What would happen to them? Who would take  care of them?

This applies to the infants and toddlers as well.

Not only that, the Rapture has not stopped. Any 17-year-old who turns 18  also disappears.

By Sunday, 25 April 2010, I had a 20,000 word single spaced outline of the  first book.

There will be five books.

Because the protagonist is 13-years-old, each book covers a year in her  life from the morning of the Rapture in the First Book to the day before  her own 18th birthday in the Fifth Book--the next day she turns 18 and  disappears.

I don't know why, but from the beginning my protagonist was female. At  first she was 12, and then she aged one year by the time the First Book  outline was complete.

This is how the idea moved from Mediation to What If Question to Outline  to Story and is now proceeding full steam into Novel.

See you on the bookshelves.

Larry Mike Garmon

PS: Make sure to check out the other entries under the NEVЯLAND category for other insights to the development of this novel.