Pernell Rogers – Writer

Scroll down to see where my stories come from…

This was the very first story I published while I was still learning the craft of writing., and it was also published at shortfictionbreak.com. Bullying has been around forever and in the news quite a bit these days. I wanted to create a short story outside of the city, in a small rural community within America’s Heartland. I love driving outside of the city limits and viewing various farming communities. From those drives came the idea of a lonely guy who was bullied by other townsfolks he knew. What the townsfolks didn’t know was that the lonely guy possessed something that, if provoked, would turn on anyone who crossed him. Find out how Curtis Weems dealt with bullies.

Growing up, I never read any superhero comics. I preferred the tales of horror comics instead, and that was part of the motivation for this story. The other motivation revolved around my tendency to order items through mail-order catalogs (way, way, way before Amazon). The first thing I ever ordered were those X-ray glasses. Combining these two ideas led me to the idea of an unknown delivery man. What would the family do when they encountered him? If you read the story, you’ll find out.

This story was published at shortfictionbreak.com. I’m not a texter. I’d rather talk to someone on the phone. However, when I’m driving, my phone does not exist. But there are multitudes that text all the time, regardless of where they’re at. This story came into being when I envisioned a supernatural act of revenge on someone that caused a deadly accident while driving and texting. I made sure to add a surprising twist that made the revenge even sweeter. To find out what it is, read on.

I’ve always been fascinated by Egypt and it’s ancient culture. I’ve watched every Mummy movie ever made (especially the old black & white ones). Howard Carter and Egypt’s former State Minister for Antiquities, Zahi Hawass, are my favorite Egyptian explorers. Imagine finding an ancient bauble during a visit to the old kingdom, then taking that trinket back home. Is their luck associated with it, or will it be your doom? They say taking lava rocks home will bring bad luck. To find out which type of luck awaits Duane, read ahead.

Another one of my fascinations is with Native American culture. When they dominated this land, it was pure and clean. But nothing impedes progress. When progress boils over into their lands, it can lead to absolute devastation. What can be done when nature retaliates, or can anything be done? Find out by reading this story. By the way, this is the first story I submitted to a professional editor.

The duality of being alone is stark: you can hate it or love it. This book is a series of four short stories when being alone may kill you. I have to admit that one of the stories reveals a fear that still haunts me from time to time. Can you guess which story contains my fear? Read on to see if you can guess what it is.

With this story, I began to venture into the realm of novels (this actually ended up being a novella). I didn’t know if I had enough material, but after breaking down each character and exploring their motivations, there was more than enough. Any fan of South Park knows that Kenny’s spirit jumped into Cartman’s body after he died. What if that were to happen in real life? Is it possible? Could you recognize it if it happened? And if you did recognize it, what then? Find out what a group of teens do when confronted with those questions.

AN UNEXPECTED EVIL receives a 4-STAR RATING!

I received some very good news today from Amy’s Bookshelf. She’s given me a 4-STAR review for ‘An Unexpected Evil’. You should be able to read the review here:

http://writeramyshannon.wixsite.com/bookshelfreviews/post/an-unexpected-evil-by-pernell-rogers

The story came to me while getting a dental implant. Then I recalled an older movie, ‘The Eyes of Laura Mars’. It didn’t take long for me come up with an overall idea, but I couldn’t figure out the setting for the story. Looking at my other stories, I realized I don’t have a story based in a very large city, so I chose New York, New York. More specifically Brooklyn. I had to do a lot of research about Brooklyn to make this story come to life (thank you Google Maps). This was my first supernatural thriller.

This was my second attempt at a short story collection. One thing I never want to happen with my writing is getting locked into stories that are strictly American rituals and mythology. There are too many unusual rituals and myths that take place around the world and are excellent fodder for my stories.

My original idea for this collection was to come up with horror/supernatural stories based on different holidays, but that turned out to be harder than I expected. ‘A Most Unusual Feast’ is one of them. I had a lot of fun with this one and let my imagination run away. ‘Welcome, Claire!’ delved into some Irish mythology. I can’t remember how many times I revised this story. ‘Remembering the Bellflower’ was the second holiday-based story involving a true ritual from Talca, Chile (look it up!). ‘Manifestations of Guilt’ felt like taking a road trip back to Cleveland (my hometown), but I didn’t want to base the story there. Finally, ‘Whispers of Cusco’ came from my real desire to visit Machu Picchu. This was also my first attempt to delve into the minds of six different characters in a single story. This was the most complex story of them all. 

After I wrote these stories, I had a devil of a time devising an appropriate title. One day, as I was walking around my house with my televisions muted, I realized each story contained secrets, and I was the one revealing them to you!

With this story, I returned to the theme of bullying, but this time, instead of straight forward revenge, I tried to weave a more complex tale. I introduced a family tale passed down from generation to generation along with something unknown. Trying to stick with my writing style of deep point-of-view, it took me 15 revisions until I felt I had it right.

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