Anticipation!

Anticipation is a useful experience in fiction. Setting up the protagonist to expect a particular outcome and then undermining that expectation is golden in drama and comedy, too.

Think of the hero all ready for his end of WWII Times Square style kiss, coming home to find another kind of welcoming committee or the anticipation of a heavenly first sip of expensive wine — when the bottle turns out to be bad vinegar. There are plenty of good surprises too and some characters anticipate the worst-case scenario only to be taken aback by good news.

But a constant state of anticipation is just this side of misery. It’s like being on-hold for an extended wait. The endless message loop plays over and over with no way of knowing when the end will come.

I’m very excited about the new Candy’s Monsters blog design. I’m anticipating having it up and running in the next couple of weeks, but… right now I feel like I’m doing the anticipation dance. Will it get done? Will the navigation work smoothly? Will I do it justice with fun short stories and more?

I’m also ALMOST ready to release the fourth in my Candy’s Monsters series. I hope you’re anticipating a good read and don’t get bent out of shape by the delays. It’s just that every time I turn around there’s a glitch — technical or otherwise — and I’m back in that waiting room.

One of the masters of anticipation, and its delusional, hallucinatory aspects, was Poe. The anticipation of death is at the heart of the terror in “The Pit and the Pendulum” and he messes with the reader’s anticipation of outcomes in “The Tell Tale Heart” and other stories.

I’m afraid to anticipate a positive welcome to my new, and delayed, endeavors. Fingers crossed!

Comments

  1. Waiting sucks. I was the kid who searched and found most of my christmas presents growing up.

    Here I am impatiently waiting for your new site and next book.

  2. For us, at least, waiting for your new site is pleasant anticipation, as is waiting for the 4th Monster. Seems rather appropriate somehow to bring the two together in an almighty bang. 🙂

    Here’s a suggestion – why not end each post until the big moment with a one sentence snippet? Like a teaser. That should build the anticipation nicely. 🙂

    • Candy Korman

      LOL… a snippet of what? I guess I could tease the 4th Monster… umm… something to think about.
      Hopefully it won’t be too many more pre-new blog posts.

        • Candy Korman

          I should. BUt I have to figure out how to include you and my other blog followers. You’re support and continued encouragement is invaluable.

          • I know, that is something that has vexed me for ages too. Still no closer to a solution either. Once we all have 3D printers, digital content can become real content, but until then… Trying to think outside the box but nothing’s giving me a light bulb moment.

          • Candy Korman

            Here I am worried about intriguing pictures and FREE short stories… a 3D printer would create “real” content LOL… A plastic model of anything. Now, what would I build? Not sure. You?

          • lol – I was actually thinking of freebies like…Monster Bookmarks! Mouse pads? Key chains? Okay, maybe not such a great idea but I’m still working on it. 😀

          • Mmmm… I think I’d make tiny figurines of my bestiary. 😀 Or maybe t-shirts with the varous characters on them. Or…

            Damn, I just realised my thinking is still mired in traditional marketing blah blah. I think we’ll have to be a bit more creative and think outside the box. :/

          • Candy Korman

            Yes, I think it’s time to get outside the box and make a new one that is not even box-shaped.

            Years ago I sent bookmarks as a promotion for my freelance writing business. Now, bookmarks are like an artifact from another time — something quaint and a little eccentric, like my dad’s shaving brush.

  3. Whatever new and exciting things you have in store for us, there’s one thing that won’t change. You sure know how to entertain! Best of luck with everything.
    xxx Hugs Galore xxx

  4. Yep, I’m patiently anticipating the reveal of your re-vamped site and the release of your latest eBook. Let me know if there is anything I can do to help above and beyond my usual sharing of posts and such.