Monthly Archives: April 2011

Fanfiction, Guest Author

A friend dreams a sequel to ‘Pandora’s Box’

A month ago, I was talking with my friend, Laura Brooks, a college freshman from Michigan, who told me she dreamed a sequel to my novel, Pandora’s Box, after reading it. I asked her to write this dream down so I could post it here, calling it a “fanfiction” (you know you’re successful when people write fanfiction related to your stories). What follows is a synopsis of that dream, written much like a story treatment for a movie. Now, believe it or not, I have been mulling over ideas for a sequel for a year, although this bears little resemblance to it. Regardless, this dream is entertaining. Enjoy!

(WARNING: If you haven’t read Pandora’s Box yet, there are some spoilers in this).

Pandora’s Box Dream
by Laura Brooks

It started after Hope went to visit the place she was found. After they had used her blood to discover the cure, she left to join to the armed force her mother was in. After one year of training, she could take down any enemy put in front of her despite the fact that she was just a simple recruit.  She went out with her superior officer on a mission. They were attacked by strange black creatures. They took down the creatures and were amazed by what they saw. They looked like people but had pure black skin, and bloodshot eyes. News struck of another infection.

Her commanding officer said that they needed to return to base immediately.  When they got there, they discovered that the base had been attacked, and everyone had been turned or slaughtered. They saw only one survivor, their general. The general told them to escape, but her commanding officer said he wouldn’t leave him behind. Instead he told Hope to run, but she refused and started fighting. With her blade and fists she knocked down or slashed every creature that tried to kill her. Both of the commanding officer and the general shouted at her for staying and kept trying to get over to her to help. That’s when she came across her best friend from training. She had been turned.

Hope didn’t want to fight her, but knew she had no choice. She charged and took down everyone in her path. Receiving wound after wound she looked to her friend and sadly said, “Goodbye.” She slashed at her friend but received a deep cut in the side as a result. She knew the only way she could survive was to kill her so she did what she had to. She stabbed her friend down. She had no time to cry over her friend for her commanding officer was being overpowered. She rushed over to his side and slashed one of the creatures across the stomach with her blade. But just when everything seemed to be going their way they were surrounded. The general said, “Looks like we’re not getting out of this one.” She responded, “I’m not done yet!” The creatures lunged towards them from all sides.  There was no escape. (This is when I woke up).

News, Announcements

My latest short story: ‘Love and Pac-Man’

I just posted a new short story a few minutes ago. It’s entitled, “Love and Pac-Man” (click the title to read it). It is the combination of a flurry of ideas.

First, after watching the original version of The Karate Kid some months ago, and seeing the scene where the protagonist, Daniel, meets the girl he likes at an arcade, I had this idea to write a story about a young man who finds love while at an arcade (this was later reinforced while watching Tron: Legacy). It’s a location almost never used in a romance story.

Second, last month’s assignment given for the Writers’ Corner, a writers’ club that meets at the North Webster Community Public Library, involved writing a story that used certain words. Each person was given a short time to write things pertaining to several categories and questions given by the club leader, Beth. Here’s the list I wrote:

Two Things That Annoy You:
-Lying
-My old laptop

Two People You Admire:
-Abraham Lincoln
-C.S. Lewis

The Names of as Many Horses as You Can Think of:
-Black Beauty
-Silver
-Seabiscuit
-Secretariat
-Quick-Draw McGraw
-Gunpodwer (Ichabod Crane’s horse in “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”)

Would You Rather Live Rural or Urban?:
-Rural

Three Things You Associate with Summer:
-Hot weather
-Blockbuster movies
-Swimming

Pay close attention, and you’ll see that I managed to work all of these into the story, which is surprisingly only 1,000 words long.

Readers who live or have lived in my area may notice a few “local references,” even though it takes place in a fictional small town. There was once a theme park in North Webster, Indiana, called Adventureland, and it did have a small roller coaster called the Wild Mouse. The name of the arcade, Tilt, was taken from an arcade that used to be at the Glenbrook Square mall in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Anyway, I read the piece at the Writers’ Corner’s meeting Monday, and everyone enjoyed it. I hope you will too.

Romance, Short Stories, Comedy

Love and Pac-Man

Love and Pac-Man
By Nathan Marchand

“I don’t wanna be here, Joey!” cried my blonde eight-year-old sister, Kay. “I wanna ride the Wild Mouse!”

I tightened my grip on her tiny hand as we walked to Adventureland’s arcade, Tilt. The stares we were getting from parents and their kids were palpable. I smiled awkwardly at some passersby and then turned my attention to Kay. “Don’t worry. We’ll ride it soon. I just want to play some of the games in here, okay? I promise I’ll buy you a stuffed Black Beauty with the tickets I win.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“Pinky swear!” My sister held up her mouse-tail of a pinky.

I wrapped my, by comparison, python-like pinky around hers and swore my oath.

Instantly, Kay smiled, and said, “Okay!” With that, she released my hand and ran through the door into Tilt.

I shook my head and sighed. Maybe I was better off spending my Friday night working on my old laptop or reading a C.S. Lewis book. But someone has to watch her while Mom and Dad are out on their “date night.” That thought felt like a knife through the heart. I wish I had a date tonight. I harrumphed. At least in our tiny rural town we have a half-decent little theme park to go to. I can enjoy a bit of the hot weather this summer before I go back to college.

I pushed open the door and was greeted by a rainbow of flashing neon signs, the smell of pizza, the screaming laughter of children, musty air, and the cacophony of Donkey Kong, Street Fighter, and Mario Bros. Shouting over it was the song “Don’t Stop Believin’” by Journey, which was blaring from the jukebox. It brought back happy childhood memories.

“Hi-ho, Silver, away!”

I looked to my right and saw a giggling Kay straddling a Lone Ranger-themed coin-operated horse ride sitting next to a Pac-Man machine.

“How’d you get that to work?” I asked.

“I found a quarter on the floor,” replied Kay, smiling coyly.

I rolled my eyes. A few seconds later, the horse stopped, and I lifted Kay off “Silver” and onto the floor. I crouched to make eye contact. “What poor boy did you charm into giving you his hard-earned money?”

Kay hung her head and wrung her hands, wearing her trademark “pouty face.”

“Spit it out, Sissy.”

Hesitantly, she pointed behind me and said, “That one.”

I looked over my shoulder. There, standing between an animatronic Abraham Lincoln and a Gunpowder arcade machine was a little brown-haired boy about her age wearing a Quickdraw McGraw T-shirt—and he was holding the hand of Sue Preor!

I gulped. My sister had just swindled money from my high school crush’s little brother!

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News, Announcements

Where ‘Pandora’s Box’ can be purchased

After discovering that British internet retailer that was selling my book, I decided I needed to post the places/websites where Pandora’s Box could be purchased and the libraries that have it in their collections. This is something I have been procrastinating on for a while, and for that I apologize.

So, without further delay, here are the places you can buy a copy (or at least have it special ordered):
–Amazon.com
–Langtoninfo.com
–Hyde Bros. Booksellers (in Fort Wayne, Indiana)
–Summer’s Stories (in Kendallville, Indiana)
-Ace Hardware (in North Webster, Indiana)

Here are the libraries that have copies:
–North Webster Community Public Library (in North Webster, Indiana)
–Syracuse Public Library (in Syracuse, Indiana)
–Noble County Public Libraries (in Noble County, Indiana)
–Warsaw Community Public Library (in Warsaw, Indiana)
–Peabody Public Library (in Columbia City, Indiana)

I will add more as they become available, so be sure to check back for updates.

News, Announcements

‘Pandora’s Box’ available online–FOR $47!?

Yesterday I downloaded an app for my new iPhone 3GS called RedLaser. Using the phone’s camera, I can scan an item’s UPC code and price check it online. For fun, I used it on the UPC of my novel, Pandora’s Box. I thought it would, at least, bring up its listing on Amazon.Surprisingly, it didn’t, but it did bring up a listing on a different website–where it is being sold for $47.54!

The website is www.langtoninfo.com, a British internet retailer. They promise that they “might not always offer the ‘best deal,’ but we offer a fair deal with an exceptional level of genuine service to match. Even though it means our prices are slightly higher, we don’t pressure our suppliers to reduce royalty payments to authors and other copyright owners.” You can see their listing for Pandora’s Box here.

As nice as that sounds, I am happy to say it retails for $20 on Amazon, and I sell them at a discount at my signings.