Again, it’s been over a month since my last posting. Please do not ask me where the month went; I cannot tell you. It just kind of slipped out the back door while I was watching the front. There have been plenty of doctor appointments, most for my wife, and plenty in La Crosse. But I’ve had one, too, and will have another in a few weeks. Both concerning my eyes.
I woke up one Wednesday morning with floaters and flashers in my right eye. I’ve had a floater in my left eye for quite a while, but it didn’t bother me because all my looking is done just with my right eye. So when two intrusive floaters showed up, and a couple of flashes, I figured I better get them checked. So far, not serious enough for more action.
I have cataracts, too. I’ll get them evaluated in November. If surgery seems called for, I’ll have that sometime next year. They are already booked for that procedure as far forward as February. It might be March by the time I’m checked.
The fantasy novel continues to go slowly, but it does go. I get new ideas all the time…the trick is incorporating those neat ideas into the story. The problem I have is making it realistic.
Sure, it’s a fantasy, but the characters are still people. There is a huge range of realistic behaviors of human beings, but once a specific human has been identified, given a personality, goals, ideals, etc., a writer can’t just have that character do something contrary to his or her nature just for the convenience of the story. Also, if there is a group of strangers, they must still behave in a believable manner regarding their goal, and then to combine these two necessities can make for a challenge.
That’s where I am right now. What’s going to happen pretty soon is clear, but how our intrepid heroes deal with the determined enemies in pursuit is not. Those enemies are aided by a troll—in this case a woods troll (aka a forest troll) that will play an important part at the ending of this first book. But getting the troll, the determined bad guys, and the intrepid heroes all in the right places at the same time is the real challenge I’m dealing with right now.
There’s also the beginning of an odd fantasy short story I’ve had knocking around in my head (plenty of room for knocking around up there) for over a year, and I’m finally ready to get the first draft started. The beginning goes something like this: Axelrod Hammersmith was well known to the souls in hell. He’d brought many of them to their current place in eternity.
The tentative title is “Even Hell Makes Mistakes.”
One of the advantages of going to La Crosse is that we stop at the Goodwill store. I picked up eight or nine books over the last two weeks, most by Koontz or Patterson, and one by King (Stephen, not Tabitha). That should keep me in reading material maybe to the end of the year.
My birthday is always in the same week as Thanksgiving, but hardly ever falls on the holiday, so I usually have to work on my birthday. But this year my birthday falls on the holiday, so, if work is not mandatory on that Thursday, I’ll get my birthday off.
That’s all for now. I just realized one reason I hadn’t added to this blog before now was because I didn’t have anything to write about, except listing my rejections for Saving Atlantis.
One last note: Page and Spine, the online magazine that offers a free read every week with three or four short stories, poetry, and maybe an essay, is closing up. If you wish to submit anything, you have until Dec. 31. Their last issue will be May 6, 2022. Their archives will be available until May 5, 2023. One of the best stories in those archives is (and will be) “The Music Box” by N.K. Wagner.
So, enjoy the fall, but please don’t.
I woke up one Wednesday morning with floaters and flashers in my right eye. I’ve had a floater in my left eye for quite a while, but it didn’t bother me because all my looking is done just with my right eye. So when two intrusive floaters showed up, and a couple of flashes, I figured I better get them checked. So far, not serious enough for more action.
I have cataracts, too. I’ll get them evaluated in November. If surgery seems called for, I’ll have that sometime next year. They are already booked for that procedure as far forward as February. It might be March by the time I’m checked.
The fantasy novel continues to go slowly, but it does go. I get new ideas all the time…the trick is incorporating those neat ideas into the story. The problem I have is making it realistic.
Sure, it’s a fantasy, but the characters are still people. There is a huge range of realistic behaviors of human beings, but once a specific human has been identified, given a personality, goals, ideals, etc., a writer can’t just have that character do something contrary to his or her nature just for the convenience of the story. Also, if there is a group of strangers, they must still behave in a believable manner regarding their goal, and then to combine these two necessities can make for a challenge.
That’s where I am right now. What’s going to happen pretty soon is clear, but how our intrepid heroes deal with the determined enemies in pursuit is not. Those enemies are aided by a troll—in this case a woods troll (aka a forest troll) that will play an important part at the ending of this first book. But getting the troll, the determined bad guys, and the intrepid heroes all in the right places at the same time is the real challenge I’m dealing with right now.
There’s also the beginning of an odd fantasy short story I’ve had knocking around in my head (plenty of room for knocking around up there) for over a year, and I’m finally ready to get the first draft started. The beginning goes something like this: Axelrod Hammersmith was well known to the souls in hell. He’d brought many of them to their current place in eternity.
The tentative title is “Even Hell Makes Mistakes.”
One of the advantages of going to La Crosse is that we stop at the Goodwill store. I picked up eight or nine books over the last two weeks, most by Koontz or Patterson, and one by King (Stephen, not Tabitha). That should keep me in reading material maybe to the end of the year.
My birthday is always in the same week as Thanksgiving, but hardly ever falls on the holiday, so I usually have to work on my birthday. But this year my birthday falls on the holiday, so, if work is not mandatory on that Thursday, I’ll get my birthday off.
That’s all for now. I just realized one reason I hadn’t added to this blog before now was because I didn’t have anything to write about, except listing my rejections for Saving Atlantis.
One last note: Page and Spine, the online magazine that offers a free read every week with three or four short stories, poetry, and maybe an essay, is closing up. If you wish to submit anything, you have until Dec. 31. Their last issue will be May 6, 2022. Their archives will be available until May 5, 2023. One of the best stories in those archives is (and will be) “The Music Box” by N.K. Wagner.
So, enjoy the fall, but please don’t.
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