Author Jo-Anne Sieppert : Nightmare on elm street

Author Jo-Anne Sieppert : Nightmare on elm street: On my search for what's scary I watched  Nightmare on elm street, a classic. Or so I am told when talking to other horror movie buffs. I...

Nightmare on elm street

On my search for what's scary I watched Nightmare on elm street, a classic. Or so I am told when talking to other horror movie buffs. I remember enjoying them back in the day, I just don't remember if they were scary then. Well they aren't now.

Much like Poltergeist the effect are terrible. Granted they were great for their time, so this in my opinion makes the movie not stand the test of time. 

The premise is good. Evil guy comes into your dreams and takes you into a nightmare, brilliant! Then enter the special effects, and they over shadow the possibilities.

Now before you get mad and yell about how it was the 80's and the effects were ground breaking and all that, I get it, I really do! I just think there could have been something timeless in this story idea, something that could not just give you nightmares but your children, and your children's children.

I mean the song, oh my god, chills.

But that's where they end.

"One two Freddie's coming for you,

Three four better lock your door,

Five six get your crucifix..." Chills! 

The fear project

Fear

Fear is in everyone, we fear the unknown, the consequences, the loss, the fight, and most importantly, fear it's self. 

What makes a story truly terrifying?

What is it that makes the difference between making someone jump verses making them not be able to sleep?

Let's find out! 

I'm a huge horror movie fan, but there are so many that are laughable, not at all scary! So I'm going to write my own.

But first I intend to watch as many as I can, until my brain goes numb. I want to find out what works, what doesn't, and what it is that makes them great.

Some of the so called "classics" must have something that made them terrifying in their day, but most of them now wouldn't make the cut. Are there any timeless ones out there that can scare the hell out of generation after generation?

Star Wars, E.T., Jurrassic Park, all timeless, but try watching Nightmare on Elm street now, trust me I did and it was ridiculous! Why? Stay tuned and I'll tell you! 

The scary project

After watching terrible horror movie after terrible horror movie, desperately waiting for something so frightening it never leaves the soul. Yet finding nothing but disappointment. 

I have to wonder, is it even possible to frighten people anymore? Are we so bombarded with real terrible things going on in the world that the simple creak on the stairs of the empty house, moan in the darkness, or feeling that someone is watching you sleep does nothing anymore?

Do those writing this laughable attempt and horror even understand what it is to be afraid of something you can't see? 

Making one jump is not the same as making one sleep with the light on! 

So is it possible to write something truly terrifying? 

I guess there is only one way to find out...

New me.

It hasn't quite been ten months since my surgery, and I feel like a whole new me!

I feel like I was given a second chance at living. Now I know I wasn't dying, I didn't have a major life saving operation per say, but it did change my life. 

I am in the best shape I've been in, in years, I'm happy, I actually like the way I look, which for a female who's had kids, is a big deal!! 

I'm 10lbs lighter and the scale hasn't moved in well over a month, despite my working out, eating smaller portions, and aside from the occasional treat, eating healthy. But that's okay. Sure I'd like to loose another 5lbs at least, but if I don't but I still feel this good, then I'm okay with that.

The scale isn't as important as we all think. The best way to judge your progress is by how you feel, and how your clothes feel.

I have been slowly buying a whole new wardrobe, and it's filled with skirts and dresses. I haven't been able to wear them in years. Not and still feel good in them, I'm ised to covering myself up in stomach hiding sweaters and pants to start and balance out my middle.

Not any more!!! This weekend I purchased 3 dresses alone, and I can't wait to wear them all.

I have even bought bikinis for my upcoming trip to Maui. I haven't worn a bikini since I was 16 years old. 

I know I still have work to do, there is much to be toned, and my cardio is always in need of help, but I hiked up a mountain, I couldn't have done that before surgery. The extra weight on my stomach slowed me down and put stress on my heart. Since surgery, my heart rate has been great and my cardio has benefited substantially.

I'm a whole new me, and I can't wait to experience more! 

ALS

Please help the support ALS! $5.00 from every sale of Walk Gently Through My Mind. Tip Toe Through My Soul will be donated to the Alberta ALS Society

http://ow.ly/3uCamJ

Yeah, I hiked!

I leaped right out of my comfort zone on Sunday and I  so glad I did!

I seem to have become quite shy over the last thirteen years of working from home, meeting new people isn't easy and when I do I'm so nervous I usually end up babbling like a fool. But seen as I have started a bucket list consisting of numerous things hubby is not interested in and most are not ideal to do alone, I have no choice but to meet new people.

So Sunday I went hiking with 3 new friends, and I think it went pretty good. 

Especially considering me and the great outdoors are not always compatible, the bugs, the uneven ground, the weather, all make it challenging for an introvert, writer such as myself.

But I took myself to outdoor store and bought the fancy hiking pack and the not skiing poles, which generated quite the laugh from the sales guy when I asked for them. And I packed my bag with enough stuff I could have lasted a few days out there, and I headed to Fullerton Loop in Bragg creak. 

It was amazing, the veiw was beautiful, the air was fresh and the sense of accomplishment gave me a high I still haven't come down from. I can't wait to go again!

Now don't get me wrong, I don't plan on doing and mountain climbing, tied to a rock and scaling a cliff, no thank you! But I definitely will be trying more trails and challenging myself a bit more. 

And who knows, maybe I will meet more friends along the way. 

Coming to an end

It's been ten years since I started writing my Nytstars series and I am finally writing the ending of the fourth and final book.

Sure I've written another 8 book series in between, a book about raising a child with ADHD, a poetry book and a children's book. But finishing the very first series I started feels even more significant. I feel like I am letting go of a piece of me. It's similar to a child moving out. I've nurtured and cared for it, helped it to grow into the series it is today and now I'm letting out of the nest and hoping it fly's! 

It's a hard thing to do, let go. All the hours and hours we as writers put into each book, our heart and soul all squished in, with our deepest emotions, our fears exposed, our hopes put out there for the squashing. Every book we write is filled with our soul, and we just share it with everyone. Sure we hide behind fictitious names and places, throwing in prices of those we love and hate, all in a feeble attempt to throw my oh off the scent of what pieces of us is what.

Someone recently asked me how it feels to be a writer. I wondered if they had ever read a book in their life! How does it feel? Terrifying, thrilling, frightening, amazing, horrific, all at the same time. But I suppose a reader wouldn't know that, j know when I read a book I don't think about the author, I think about the characters and if I don't know the author and their friends and family parsonally then I don't know the characters any more than as the characters in the books. 

I know that each character represents someone in the authors life. That events could actually be a representation of an actual event in their life, but I don't know exactly who the character represents. 

I don't know that the guys that gets his head hopped off by an angry elf is actually their uncle who fights with a cousin over grandmas cake knife.

I finally answers the person who had asked me how it feels to be a writer and told them it feels like being beautifully, lonely, while in a crowd.

You know no one understands that part of you, they don't know how it feels to have people read your words, how painful it is when people don't. 

How vulnerable you are, people have the ability to break you quite easily and not even know or care that they did it.

But I wouldn't change it for the world! 

And now my first series is coming to an end I have learned so much!

I've learned that the only ones who truly know you are the ones who have read your books!!! 

That anyone can listen to you talk, but to read what you write, that's how you know they care.

I've learned that I can write, and I am supposed to write!

I've learned that spelling is important, even though I'm not good at it.

And above all I've learned that when fans quote your work back you, you better remember you wrote that!!

Sl every time you pick up a book remember you are reading into a writers soul. It's not easy to write a book, so remember to appreciate those who write your escapes, your fantasies, and your lessons. 

Competitive, me?

So I'm still loving my FitBit! It reay is the best way to make sure I keep moving.

I join weekly challenges and daily ones too. I find myself checking in all day long to make sure I'm still on top. Nothing makes me more mad than seeing that message saying someone snuck past me!

I instantly start pacing the room while thinking of ways to increase my step count.

I'm going for walks, running on the treadmill and on occasion running on the spot in my closet because someone suck past me while I wasn't paying attention. 

Sure I may be a little "obsessed" I may be "taking it too far" or even acting "crazy" but I'm actually making the steps. I'm actually moving and that can't be bad, right? 

If it's a little competition that gets you moving, that's okay.

I'm sure my FitBit nemesis, the one who magically makes 10'000 steps in 30 mins and always seems to walk further than I do, no matter how many steps I make. I'm sure she is making the steps, as much as sometimes I think she's sharing it with someone else because she seems to walk 24/7, or she's sitting and tapping the FitBit while watching movies, but either way it makes me move more.

Now if I could just find a way to be just as competitive with eating healthier, everything would be great! 

My journey continues

It's been a while since I posted. Life gets in the way as it so often does.

Trying to take care of me on top of work and family and friends and cooking and cleaning and laundry and and and is almost impossible.

I want to go to the gym but here's not enough time. I want to go for a walk but it's too cold. I want to eat right but it takes thing to make and no one else will eat it. OMG! Life doesn't make taking care of me easy at all.

My new favorite accessory is my FitBit. It's cute, pink, and tracking my steps. I need 10'000 a day to reach my goal. If I don't hit it I find myself walking around my kitchen counter or up and down stairs just to see the steps add up. It's a win win really, it feeds my competitive nature while working my ass at the same time. Love it!