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Regression

6/30/2018

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I have no good excuse for taking so long between posts. It does help if I have something to write about, and there's been very little.
One of the most important rules of writing is: Show, don't tell. I usually keep this in mind and seldom fall into the trap of telling. A really good example of showing a situation instead of telling appears in my novel, Prophecy of Honor. If I was to tell it, I would have said that the five Keeps in the Free Lands are named, and the man that is in charge of the keep is titled the same as the name of the Keep. So, the main character, Connor, has the title of Honor because he is the leader of Honor Keep.
But I never told the readers that. I showed them. First, we see almost immediately that his subordinates address him as "Honor." Later, when his friend, Lars, visits, Connor greets him as "Fair" and we find out later that Lars is the leader of Fair Keep. Later still Connor greets the leaders of the other three Keeps by their titles before the ritual is finished and they address each other by name. I showed the custom, gradually. One of the traits of the new or inexperienced writer is to be in a hurry to establish any new or unusual customs, technology, or linguistic characteristics. They do that by telling the reader about them right away instead of having the patience to show the readers in the natural progression of the story.
Apparently I have suffered a regression in my skills because that is exactly what I did.
I was re-reading the first few chapters of Saving Atlantis in preparation for submitting those first chapters to an agent. And I realized I was reading something where I was telling instead of showing. No wonder the agents have all declined. Of course, that might not be the only reason...
So now I must go through the manuscript, make sure that is the only occurrence of this crime, and then fix it.
And, if the word subtraction is enough, I might be able to add one of the subplots back in.
On the reading front, I finished The Waste Lands and have started Wizard and Glass, Book 4 of The Dark Tower series.
And on your reading front, I have Just Lucky, Book 2: Love and Hate available for those that want a signed copy. I've sold several already and answered demand for a few more, including one to Hawaii. And no, it's not going to the volcano.
Thank you for reading, and please continue to do so...my writing or someone else's. If you like humorous mystery, try Anne R. Allen's novels. If you like crime fiction, C. Hope Clark's stuff is very good. If you like fantasy, besides my two novels, Anthony Wedgeworth's Altered Creatures fantasy novels are worth the price and the time. I'm reading one of his most recent creations right now.
Be well.
 

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Brief Notification

6/12/2018

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A notice here to supplement the one on my FB page: I've created an author's page on FB. The primary purpose will be to post excerpts from my novels to entice readers to read my books!  Each excerpt will be be there for 7-10 days, then will be replaced by another excerpt from a different novel. To read these, please go to FB page F.G.Waiss, Author
Thanks!

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Back From Vacay

6/10/2018

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My apologies for not posting here for so long. I had very little writing time during our vacation. Lots of driving time, though. Lots of sitting-around-visiting time, too.
It was kind of cool to drive 80 mph across most of Wyoming on I-80, and then the same speed on I-70 in Utah.
The primary reason for the visit was to attend our granddaughter's high school graduation. It was the hi-light of the trip, even though it took over two hours. They graduated over 650 seniors; they used the Maverick Center in Salt Lake City to hold the ceremony. The boss had to struggle a lot to get up the outside stairs, then walk a ways to an elevator (she used her walker) and then down seven or eight small steps. Our former son-in-law and his wife helped a lot. My thanks to Rob and Toni.
My wife actually did very well the entire trip, and she continues to do well and improve. Strength and well-being is improving, though relatively minor new problems plague her now.
My granddaughter graduated with honors in Theatre Arts. She likes the back-stage stuff—building sets, applying makeup, and the other necessary things that make a production work.
If I never have to drive in the metropolitan area of SLC again, I will be just fine with that.
Having said so, I expect we will have to do it again next year, when our recent graduate's younger sister graduates, and also probably with honors in theatre arts. But she prefers the on-stage activities—acting, plus directing and even writing.
Our other daughter also lives in SLC and we spent time with her, also, plus her two kids, ages thirteen and nine, boy and girl respectively. We brought that granddaughter back with us. We went from SLC south to I-70, by Grand Junction and stopped overnight in Glenwood Springs before driving into Denver. We took our son and his three kids (two step-daughters and the son he and his wife produced) out to dinner and enjoyed the visit.
Then we had dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant in Brighton with our oldest and best friends and enjoyed a nice visit.
Then out to Brush to spend a day and night with my father-in-law and siblings-in-law. This made sense because Brush is on the way from Denver to home anyhow, and it cut about an hour off our trip the next morning.
I saw something on the television I want to share. While watching the local news there was a public service commercial. I can't remember the words exactly, but it was something like this:
A lady about thirty-years-old (give or take a few) looked at the camera and said (approximately), "My friends ask me if I hide my weed."
Then she opens the kitchen cupboard door behind her to reveal a boy about six completely in the cupboard.
She says, "Of course. Because kids can get in anywhere. Don't give your kids access to your marijuana."
A bit of a culture shock to those of us in a backward state where marijuana—even medical marijuana—is still illegal.
I couldn't help thinking that they should have similar messages in all fifty states regarding prescription painkillers.
On the writing front, Just Lucky, Book 2: Love and Hate is now available on Amazon and most other on-line booksellers (Barnes and Noble, etc.) in all e-formats, paperback, and even exclusive hardback for a higher price. Hopefully I'll have a bunch of copies, plus a few more of Book 1, in my possession for sale well before the end of the month. If you want to get it early, or save money and get the e-version, go to Amazon or the other sources and buy, buy, buy! For any that want a signed copy (with a new spiffy bookmark), you'll just have to wait a week or so. Sorry.
Book 1 garnered a five-star review, which you can read here:  https://wp.me/p9ghAg-3Nk This is, honestly, a bit less satisfying than the one I got from Larry (see previous post), but still a big up-lifter and more far-reaching commercially.
I'm still sending inquiries out to agents for Saving Atlantis and waiting for responses to all those already sent.
Hopefully I can also start making serious progress on Lying Swords.
I did write another erotic short story—about 1200 words. Again, those are just for fun and practice when I don't have the time to get really involved in a more serious project. If anyone wants to know where they can read these revelations of perversity, contact me through my web page and I will reveal...maybe. I'm frankly not sure if I want my nom de plum generally known.
On the reading front, I'm still reading Waste Lands at work. Sometime this week I'll acquire Tony Wedgeworth's Outraged for home reading.
And I wish again I could afford to work part-time so I'd have more time for writing. Oh well, maybe someday soon...
Thank you all for dropping by, and please read!

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

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