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Keepin' On

11/16/2019

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On the personal level, I'm still working five ten-hour days per week which leaves no time for exercise, writing, sleep, eating, helping the boss with whatever, and now snow shoveling is added to the chore list.  So exercise and writing are forced to the wayside...which is why it's been a month since my last posting. I really hate doing this so seldom, but I just can't find the time.
I finished reading Witchery and I did find an error, sort of. If you haven't read the book, this won't mean much to you. If you have, especially if you own one, you might want to go back and see for yourself.
When Mirra separates herself from the forces of Kessia and goes on her own to rescue Kaar, there is no mention of her familiar, Shana. There is no way she would undertake a task that hazardous without her cat, but I never mentioned her.
I submitted Witchery to Book Pipeline, an organization that holds competitions to connect published or unpublished books with film makers. Will it go anywhere? More hope than expectation, but I must take a few monetary risks. Before submitting I added a few sentences that made it clear Shana accompanied her mistress into the Dark Land.
Speaking of dark, my submission to Avon of Saving Atlantis was declined. Not surprised, really. It's too much of a thriller. Now I'll have to rewrite it, removing or changing most of the Romance features and add more of the Thriller and suspense elements. It will really require a change in tone. I hope I can manage it.
Of course, having to spend more time on that project will subtract more time from the Lying Swords fantasy series. I continue to have ideas about events and progression of the series, but getting it all down in writing just ain't happenin'. I feel like I'll be seventy before I even get the first book done.
I've taken up reading a book by Dean Koonz: Life Expectancies. I haven't read Koonz before, but I picked up a used paperback at the Goodwill store in LaCrosse.
I like his story-telling style. He presents short chapters. This book begins with a unique premise: James Tok was born at the exact same minute his grandfather died in the same hospital. But with his last minutes, the grandfather dictated specific predictions for his grandson's future—specific dates that Jimmy (as predicted, everyone always calls him Jimmy) would experience a terrible day. So the story is about those days. Hence, the title.
I have no idea how it will be going forward, but so far I like it a lot. I'll have to read more by him when I've finished this one.
Sorry this is shorter than usual, but, as Arlo Guthrie said in the movie Alice's Restaurant when they told he had not provided sufficient sample for the urinalysis, "It's all I had."
Please keep reading, writing, enjoying what you can when you can, and tell someone you love how you feel.  

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Devolution

10/19/2019

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Unfortunately I don't have a lot to write about on the writing/reading front. But I felt I should post something; it's been almost three weeks since the last one.
Here's one thing: I highly recommend the article "Why I Write" by Billy Dean in The Writers' Table tab of Page and Spine in the 9/13 issue. Here's the link: https://pagespineficshowcase.com/the-writers-table/why-i-write-billy-dean#comments
The Writers' Table for 10/11, "Why Do We Write" by P. S. Nolf is also worth a read. You can find it here: https://pagespineficshowcase.com/the-writers-table/why-do-we-write-p-s-nolf
On the personal level, last weekend we drove to Chillicothe, IL for our granddaughter's wedding. We also got to meet our great granddaughter. I didn't care much for the drive—four hours one way—but the stay and the ceremony and all else were good.
Okay, I'm going to devolve into the most popular subject in the U.S. today. By "popular" I don't mean well-liked. I mean "most visited."
Politics.
In any past postings I've tried to remain close to neutral. Not this time.
I am an independent and have been since I registered to vote about forty-five years ago. And almost every major election, I've voted against rather than voted for. 2020 will be no different.
I'll be blunt: If you respect and treasure The Constitution, you cannot respect Donald Trump. I'm pretty sure he's been in violation of the Emoluments Clause since he took the Oath of Office. And it's been pretty clear from the beginning that he does not understand The Constitution, has never read it, and has no intention of defending it.
And his supporters who chant that disgusting "Lock her up!" or now "Lock him up!" Either don't know or don't care about the Fifth Amendment. Trump himself has attacked the First Amendment frequently. And he does not seem to understand that an attack upon him by the Congress is not treason. In fact, his refusal to cooperate with the specific rules set down in The Constitution is treason.
He tries to bully our allies while kissing our enemies' backsides. For those of you that are gun-toting worshippers of the Second Amendment and a Trump devotee, I'll point out something that is obvious to me, though perhaps not to you. Our blustery President is physically afraid of Vladimir Putin.
That's why he said, referring to the Russian meddling in our election (which is an established fact, whether you like it or not),"I don't know why it would be Russia"—in complete defiance of the findings of every one of his intelligence agencies—while in Putin's presence, but then changed it to, "I don't know why it wouldn't be Russia" once he was safely away from Putin's physically threatening presence.
     The following excerpts are from:[ OUR VOICE: LIES, TRUTH AND OTHER ‘LAND OF OZ’ CLAIMS NOT RELATED TO REALITYPosted by Jan Wondra | Aug 17, 2019
(https://arkvalleyvoice.com/our-voice-lies-truth-and-other-land-of-oz-claims-not-related-to-reality/)
 
As of six days ago, The Washington Post reported that President Donald Trump has told 12,019 false or misleading claims over 928 days. From the start of his presidency, he has averaged 13 untruths per day. Since he crossed the 10,000 mark, his average is ramping up: it’s now 20 falsehoods per day. More than 18 percent of his false claims are on Twitter, where his itchy Twitter finger apparently can’t stop itself.
 
The willingness of this core audience to either believe, or want to believe, Trump’s increasingly bizarre claims harkens back to another time in history – the 1930s when first Mussolini (“Il Duce”, the Leader), then Adolf Hitler (The Fuerher — “Heil Hitler”) presented alternative ideologies to their countries, to disastrous ends. At the time, audiences — even “good” Christians — were described as “mesmerized, transfixed” into near hysteria when their leaders spoke, believing anything they were told.
 
Donald J.Trump is showing himself to be a real and present danger to this country and whether people chose to believe it or not, a tool of the Russian government. We’re staring at the world occupied by  autocrats, despots, dictators and tyrants.
These days, I have to say… “Dorothy, I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore…”]
Of course, the correct quote there at the end should be, "Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore."
If the United States is cursed with a second term under the treasonous Donald J. Trump, it will be largely the fault of the Democrats. They must drop the in-fighting and decide early who will be the best candidate to go against Trump, and then run a smarter campaign than Clinton ran in 2016.
 
Next time, I hope to go back to reading and writing.
 
Disagree with my political commentary? Enthusiastically agree and want to add comments?
Then please comment on the comments opportunity below, or on the contact page.
Thanks for reading.

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Finishes, Good and Bad

9/17/2019

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In an episode of Happy Days, a time comes when Fonzi needs to admit that he was wrong. And he tries, but he can't get the phrase out. "I was wrrr...", I was rrrraaww..."
And finally another person helps him out: "You mean, you were wrong?" "Yeah, that's it."
I can do better: I was wrong. But I'm glad I was.
I did manage to get the whole manuscript of Saving Atlantis polished and submitted two days before the deadline.
Now I get to wait up to twelve weeks to get a response.  
As I mentioned before, one standard synopsis seldom works. I had two synopses prepared for Saving Atlantis. One was a detailed chapter-by-chapter nine-pager and the other was a more standard two-pager. Avon Books is a subsidiary of HarperCollins Publishers and they want a three-to-five page synopsis. I tried cutting the long one, but that didn't work. So I expanded the short one to four pages. The hard part is deciding what characters and plot points should be included and which ones can be left out.
And after I submitted all the required documents I realized I screwed up.
In the synopsis I referenced a reference that's in the manuscript about a conversation between two characters. But when I was editing it for more romance and less thriller, I took that conversation out. When I was writing the synopsis I reminded myself that I needed to put that conversation back in, though in a shorter version.
I forgot.
If the publisher decides to publish I'll mention that little error and it will be fixed...if they feel it's important enough. They may assume that the readers will either not notice or that the conversation itself wasn't important enough to include.
I'm going to relax just a little now from the writing...but just a little. I won't try to do anything with rewriting Saving Atlantis as a fantasy thriller until I know if Avon will accept it. No sense in trying to make name changes and such unless necessary.
So I'll go back to the fantasy series, which I've been itching to get back too anyway.
Getting away from writing for a moment: it is football season. I'm a Denver Broncos fan. I grew up in the Denver area. I recall once about a hundred years ago, (okay, maybe sixty) my brother and I walked about a mile or more from home and played in a vacant lot right in the shadow of what was then Bears Stadium. I think that spot is part of the parking lot for Mile High Stadium now.
Sunday against the Bears, the Broncos got hosed by the zebras. (Hmmm...that could imply a comedic but slightly gross image.) Maybe twice in the last minute, but the for-sure bad call was roughing the passer on Bradley Chubb. My opinion, yes. But not just my opinion. Not just the Broncos' opinion. Mark Schlereth, color commentator for the game, said it was a horrible call. Three of the four participants on Around the Horn on Monday said it was a terrible call. One called it egregious...another called it ridiculous and another said it was horrible. Thanks a heap, zebras. It just this minute occurred to me that a zebra is a kind of horse, and these human almost-horses, during that last thirty-one seconds of playing time, resembled their own back ends.
If the zebras don't call that penalty that wasn't one, the Bears don't get an extra fifteen yards, they don't get a first down, they don't get the clock stopped and they probably don't have the opportunity to kick that field goal. As Broncos' head coach Vic Fangio said, the penalty was not called as written.
Still, the Broncos let down on one play and that was just enough.
So much for this time. My free advice, worth what it costs: If you want to know what's going on the world, do not listen to the news, except maybe your local news cast. Don't trust any cable news network!
Instead, read, and access two or three sources.

Thanks for reading.
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Labor Day Labors

9/4/2019

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Most of this was written the evening of Labor Day, but I didn't finish it until 9/4.​ And I want to thank the people responsible for the 491 separate visits to my site and the over 1200 page views. Awesome! Thank you and keep it up. And while I don't want anyone to think they're obligated to buy one of my books, it's okay if you do. Just give in to that feeling. ;-) 

To continue from last time, I have now completed the re-write to make it more of a Romance...I think I have. But I still need to polish it—get rid of the adverbs and my normal over-writing. I did that somewhat during the rewrite, but I'm sure I need more. The deadline is Sept. 15, so for the next two weeks, or until I get done, that's what I'll be working on.
And in my spare minutes I'll be thinking about character names. A few people have wondered if I could have two books-a paranormal Romance, and another as a paranormal thriller with a romance subplot. N.K. Wagner thought it would be great, but pointed out that I'd need to change names of the characters. And, I figure, the name of the fictional island nation that the story takes place on. So I'll be thinking about those, plus I must decide which names I want in which version. For example, I definitely want Michael Macduff as the hero in the thriller, and I definitely want Samantha as the love interest in the Romance.
The toughest choice will be Atlantis. First, I'm not sure which version would be better with that name for that character, but it also means I'll have to come up with a different title for one of them...which I would have to do anyway. Right now I'm favoring "Olivia," but that may change.
Whoop! Forget all that! Cancel the names changes. I'm not even going to manage getting the polishing finished in time so I definitely have not the time to change the names. I will submit the Romance version with all names intact. If I am fortunate enough to sell the book, then I'll worry about changing the names for the fantasy version.
On a personal note, I brought my wife home from the hospital today after her second neck surgery last week. Caring for her will probably take a little more of my time than it has in the past few weeks, but less than it did after her first surgery in May.
And that's it. I'm sorry there isn't more, but if you've read up till here then you understand.
One more thing: I've often recommended Page and Spine as a source of good reading material and also a great place to submit your writing. One of the regular features is The Writers' Table. I wrote a critique column for that tab for two years, appearing the last Friday of each month, critiquing the stories that had been published that month. I enjoyed it, but stopped so I'd have more time for my own creative writing. In TWT, authors give general or specific advice about writing, usually with samples of how to or how not to. So if you want to learn more about writing, read that!
Thank you and please keep reading.
 

 
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Two From One

8/16/2019

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One last note on the subject matter from last time. One of my more popular erotic stories received nine comments. Curiously, one of the Anonymous comments panned the story because I spent too many words describing the physical contacts of the mutual seduction in too much detail. Another commentator praised the writing for the details of the seduction.
So always keep in mind that all criticisms, and praises, are very subjective. They are influenced by the critic's experiences, upbringing, personal preferences, and anything else unique to that person. Keep that in mind and you won't be too devastated by criticisms, nor too ego-buoyed by praise.
Submissions: I wrote a 650-word story over two years ago that I hoped Daily Science Fiction would buy. No such luck, and I had not submitted it to any other market. But revealed through one of my many e-mail newsletters was a publisher looking to publish an anthology of very short stories, each 500 words or less, about wishes. It so happens that this short story was about wishes. I edited it down from 650 words to 489, and submitted it. I'm hoping to be one of the top three (they get paid) but just getting published will be a good deal.
I enjoyed the challenge of editing it down those 150+ words. I do tend to over-write, and when I finish the "final" draft of a story or novel, I always need to go back and hack out the over-writing. And then do it again, and maybe again.
My paranormal Romance/Thriller has met with little enthusiasm from Romance publishers. So I decided to de-emphasize the romance and write it as a paranormal thriller with a strong Romantic element. But then in another of my newsletters I discovered that one of the major print Romance publishers was having an open call for un-agented submissions. The only requirement is that the novel must have and HEA or HFN ending. That's "Happy Ever After" or "Happy For Now." The deadline for that submission is September 15. So instead of de-emphasizing the Romance, I'm going to emphasize it more and de-emphasize the thriller part. So far I've eliminated one chapter that was antithetical to the Romance mood and I'm going to have to rewrite at least two other scenes for the same reason. And probably rewrite a key encounter to make it more Romance-oriented, but I think I'm going to ask for help on that one.
I have at least a small personal connection with four successful women in the writing or publishing professions and I will ask (beg) for their opinions on that particular point. Though three of the four are FB friends, I'm able to contact them privately about something like this. Whatever the results, I'll let you all know next time. But because the deadline is less than a month away and my work hours along with my household duties still give me little time to write, I doubt I'll be able to add to this blog again before the 15 of September. But I'll try!
And then, to cover the bases, I'm going to continue the other version, de-emphasizing the romance and stressing the thriller-parts (and violence) a little more. So I may end up with two different novels when there was only one.
Thank you for reading, please continue to do so...anything in print!
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To the Moon, and Then to Smut

7/28/2019

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This was originally going to be posted on July 20, but business and router problems delayed it. Sorry.
Fifty years ago, Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon. The Russians have still never done it, the Chinese haven't done it, but the U.S. has done it a few times.
“We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win.”...John F. Kennedy
That was an attitude that proclaimed America's greatness. There was no need to boast about making America great...What America accomplished would prove it without boasts, without swagger, and without the President going out of his way to be a butt head.
On a completely different subject, I read, and write, erotica. Or is it pornography? There is a very thin line between erotica and porn. Not only is the line thin, but it is blurry and mostly subjective.
One opinion is that if the sex is about the story, it's erotica. If the story is about the sex, it's pornography. I'm not sure I totally agree with that, but it is certainly a legitimate point of view.
I'll offer my own take on the matter. If it's romantic; if the sex is an expression of romantic love, or even just strong affection, then it's erotica. If the story is obsessed with size and bodily fluids, it's probably porn.
Back when I had time to write I enjoyed writing erotica and used it as an outlet when I was having trouble with the many facets of my serious writing. Sort of like a pianist working on Chopsticks when he needs a break from Chopin. Not that my serious writing is comparable to Chopin as far as quality is concerned.
But what's the benefit of reading it, beyond whatever personal entertainment value it might have?
It's like this: one way to learn how to do something right is to see it done wrong. In athletics this is easy. Coaches will often show film of players' mistakes as a learning tool. Viewing mistakes is a useful tool in acting classes, art classes, and writing classes.
If you are trying your hand at the writing craft, and for whatever reason there's no organized class specifically for writing available, you have to use the tools you can find to help you. And finding good clear examples of bad writing is not easy. Even the amateur writing on Fan Story is pretty good, usually.
One example of bad writing that nevertheless hit the best seller list is one I've mentioned before: Fifty Shades of Grey. That book is a perfect example that sometimes content trumps quality. Also, as I've written before, her fourth book, Grey, is much superior in quality.
And the free erotica/porn stories often offer examples of really poor writing. They tell instead of show. That is probably the most common example of how not to. They spend the first few paragraphs describing the circumstances of the story, the appearance and characteristics of the characters, and then finally getting to the "nitty gritty" of the action.
Another characteristic of poor writing in the erotic stories is character movement, and that's what I want to dwell on a little bit.
Some writers of sex scenes, especially in a group sex setting, get sloppy about who is where when. Suddenly a participant who is last seen standing in the doorway dressed is suddenly, without transition, on the bed, naked, and engaging some part of his (her) anatomy in intimate activity.
And sometimes you have two or three people in physical situations that would require world-class contortionists, if you can picture exactly what the often unclear descriptions are trying to convey. For the most part these stories are unedited for quality and clarity, though reviewed for content.
These are good examples of how not to.
When you are writing any kind of scene, whether fiction or non-fiction, if you have any movement of characters you need to make it clear to the reader what those movements are. You may have the picture clear in your mind, but the reader can't see that. You must use words to convey the situations and movements. I find constructing action sequences as one of the most challenging and satisfying parts of writing.
About forty years ago I wrote my first novel. It was terrible. But it did serve as a learning experience. I had one scene where the hero, sword in hand (yep, it was fantasy) had to fight his way against perhaps a dozen foes while he worked his way through connecting rooms furnished with chairs, tables, couches, windows, doors, etc. I tried simply writing it as I envisioned it, but found that I wasn't clear even to myself.
I'm a lousy artist but stick figures and labelled squares are adequate. I sketched out the entire setting and the action sequence so I could see the sequence of events and how the furnishings affected the action.
Then I rewrote the scene, frequently consulting the sketch and using lines and arrows to show character movements.
I've only had to do that once since, but for every complicated scene of character movement I still draw a mental picture of the setting and characters and make sure I've written it in such a way that the readers will have as clear a concept as I do of what's going on.
And that'll do it for this time.
If anyone wants to know the internet site that I read and contribute my naughty smut to, ask on the contact page or in the comments and I'll tell you. If you want to know specifically which stories are mine, I might tell you that too, if you ask. Or I might not.
Thank you all for reading. I hope I'll be able to contribute the next blog post in less time than it took to post this one.
 

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My Biggest Fantasy May Be Finishing My Fantasy Series

6/23/2019

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​As has become habit, a quick note on the personal stuff: Our wedding anniversary was the 19th...and the birthday of our second child. And the 21st was my parents' wedding anniversary. When my father died in 1990, they'd been married forty-five years. The boss and I have been married for forty-three years so we just might pass the folks. But Mom and Dad were much older than we were when they got married. Dad was thirty-eight and Mom was almost thirty-one. We were twenty-five and twenty-one.
Due to the demand by my employer to work five ten-hour days a week, plus the continued lack of mobility for the boss, I only get to exercise two days a week, and don't get to write really, ever. This blog entry is the only thing I've written in two weeks.
However, it is not all bad. Although I'm getting nothing down "on paper," I'm getting plenty of ideas. I've developed a clearer picture of Tara's background and I've expanded her personality. That will force me to go back to what I've already written and add details, but that's what writing is all about.
I've also developed a clear though undetailed picture of the climax of the story...it will involve a surprise that has been hinted at already in what I've written. And even as I go through my days I realize more details and more characters. Also, the motivation and character of the primary villain has revealed itself to me. He/she/it (still undetermined) is, of course, psychotic. This character's psychosis is likely to be a version of the psychosis of a past or present world leader of some country. In the past, think Stalin, Hitler, Idi Amin, Pol Pot, Genghis Khan.
In the present, think...well, you all can use your imaginations and/or research news reports. However, here's a link to one candidate: https://www.quora.com/Who-is-the-worst-leader-in-the-world-right-now-and-why
As for fantasy, I want to recommend my favorite author, Robert Heinlein. Heinlein is known as one of the best, if not the best, science fiction author of the twentieth century. He won four Hugo awards and lots of others. When the Science Fiction Writers of America decided to create a Grand Master Award, he was their first choice.
But Heinlein also wrote fantasy, both novel length and shorter. His most obvious fantasy work is the novella, Magic, Inc. This is usually available in book form paired with Waldo. And, though Waldo is presented as science fiction, it is a fitting introduction to the fantasy world of Magic, Inc. Other shorter stories of his that fall more into the genre of fantasy than science fiction can be found currently in the collection, The Fantasies of Robert A. Heinlein. An older collection, 6 X H, has some of the same stories. The larger current issue has "Waldo" and "Magic, Inc." as well as the six in the older collection.
I borrowed a few details from "Magic, Inc." when I wrote Witchery.
A full-length fantasy novel of his is Glory Road. The fantasy aspect sort of sneaks up on you as you read it. It has inter-dimensional travel, ray guns, modern surgery, astronauts, the war in Southeast Asia, and the Irish Sweepstakes.
But it also has dragons, non-earthly creatures of many forms, six-legged horses, and a very well-described sword duel. I may have borrowed from Glory Road for either Witchery or Prophecy of Honor, but not consciously. I did borrow quite a bit from Heinlein's The Cat who Walks Through Walls when I wrote Prophecy of Honor, though someone who read both might not see any resemblance.
In case I've never mentioned it, Daily Science Fiction is a free source of science fiction and fantasy. If you sign up for it, they'll send a story to your email address every weekday. Well worth the non-monetary investment. I haven't managed to sell them anything yet, despite three or four attempts, but I'll be trying again soon...when I have time to write.
And that's it for this time. Thanks for reading. Now that you've read this, please read something else. Preferably one of my books or short stories (here's a link to my writing in the Page and Spine archives: https://www.pagespineficshowcase.com/fw-stories.html )  or something else, but something you'll enjoy.

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    I'm a former teacher and current warehouse grunt that loves writing.

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