Into the Void

Back to Business

2012-02-07T14:14:00.002-07:00

Ok, I'm back for some more from the literary community. Finished my degree, had my eyes fixed up nice so I can shoot lasers out of them (well maybe not lasers, but I can see again!) and I've settled into my new house!

The stars have aligned and my literary side is begging to break free and be all it can be. So, I post these questions:

How've you been and what have you accomplished over the last year?

Is it where you expected you'd be?

Pompeii Lovers

2010-05-03T10:32:00.005-07:00

If you aren't familiar with the story of Pompeii, go check it out on the Wikipedia. I wrote this love poem as if we were lovers in the time and location of the great Vesuvias eruption of Pompeii.

A faerie wing of burning light,
In sunless day like starry night.
We dance on dusk as daytime dies,
Embrace each other with our eyes.

The lupine children call our name
The lords of air they do the same.
We dance on dusk as daytime dies.
Embrace each other with our eyes.

Leafless root-worn grassless field,
Burning wind's touch does not yield.
We dance on dusk as daytime dies.
Embrace each other with our eyes.

Storybook love not false but true,
History will speak of me and you.
Of how we danced,
While others cried.

Locked in embrace,
Until we died.

Fantasy Friday

2010-04-30T10:08:00.003-07:00

Ok, my earlier post stunk. It bored me to tears... Let's have a little more end-of-the-week fun.

Here's the scenario:

You've been shipped out to an exotic island, one where you'll have access to everything you need to write a novel. You have a deadline of 2 calendar years to complete it. Beyond the bare essentials, you are allowed to bring one person and one object. Here's the catch though, you and your mystery guest can talk ONLY about your novel. Nothing else! They are to be your idea sparker, your muse, your... you get the idea. As for the object, it can be anything, so long as it will help you write your novel successfully.

Who is the 1 person you bring?

What is the 1 object you bring and the reason it will help?

Eagle Eye

2010-04-30T08:03:00.006-07:00

When I look at my art, whether sketches or paintings, I have something of an eagle eye. I can see the most minute problems from any distance. They stand out, they scream, "FIX ME! I'M RIGHT HERE!" Sometimes, they add character to the art, other times it really is an issue that needs to be fixed.

Writing is no different. Last night I had the opportunity to scan through a rough draft of a short story, that I needed to submit, and I saw the glaring issues. My eagle eye shot through all the bull and went straight for the kill.

Question: Is it easy or difficult to spot the trouble in your WIP? I'm not talking about grammar or spelling. I'm not even talking about formatting in any way. I'm talking about the story trouble. Those loop holes or issues that take a story from being sub-par to great.

HAHA!

2010-04-28T22:26:00.000-07:00

LOL... I saw this and had to post

Sheesh...Cut it out!

2010-04-27T08:09:00.004-07:00

We spent ~~a bit of~~ time last week, in creative writing class, ~~doing some edits to~~ editing our short stories. It's ~~often~~ been said that "sometimes less is more," and this is certainly the case in writing. You can read a myriad of 'how-to' books on writing ~~and find suggestions for keeping it straight forward and to the point~~, but nothing quite impacts you like reading a book and saying out loud, "c'mon c'mon, get to the point already."

If you've found yourself saying that, it's likely that the writer could have cut out some unnecessary words, sentences or even whole paragraphs.

So, what's the point!?

The point is pretty much summed up in that phrase. "Sometimes less IS more." Give it a try. Take a look at your WIP and see if there's anything you could reasonably cut out. You may be sharpening your story!

OUR Story

2010-04-22T10:28:00.005-07:00

I went over to visit Megan Rebekah's blog yesterday and she had a progressive story going that seemed like some fun. I've seem em before and participated too, but haven't done anything like that on my blog. Sooooo, here goes.

1. I'll start the story.
2. You follow up and continue the story in the comment section.
3. Make sure to read the comments in order, so you know where the story's at before you add to it.
4. Have fun and let's see where this goes!

Three thousand years of walking the earth, pretending to be a mortal man and all I have to show for it are some lousy scars and a few campfire tales. The fire within me is growing dull and I've nearly forgotten why I was cursed to continue on like this. If only I hadn't ...

ok, your turn

Methods of Madness

2010-04-21T08:23:00.007-07:00

We all have our unique style of....everything. In this case, I'm curious about your unique planning methods for novel writing. I'm well aware that creativity can't always be reigned in, but sometimes there is a method to our madness.

For me, writing a novel is a mix between planning and unbridled creative expression. Usually, I need a bit of a foundation laid before I can let loose and just write. For example, I will start most novel planning by filling in some of the following, very basic, information:

Title:
Subtitle:
Genre:
Sub genre:

Protagonist:
Primary Goal:
Occupation:
Alignment:
Character Trait:

So on and so forth for antagonist and other main characters. Then I'll do a little more of a detailed character study for each character to get more of a visual idea of just who they are.

CORE CHARACTER INFORMATION
Character Role: (i.e. protagonist, antagonist etc...)
Character Name:
Nickname:
Age:
Gender:
Ethnicity:
Religion:

VISUAL CHARACTER INFORMATION
Height:
Weight:
Hair Color:
Eye Color:
Body Type:
Skin Color:

RELATIONSHIPS CHARACTER INFORMATION
Siblings:
Parents:
Love Interest:
Children:
Best Friend(s):
Unique Relationship:

After I've filled in some of this information, I have a similar method to filling out basic scene & plot-lining. All of these are simply what I like to consider the skeletal structure of the novel. They help lay a foundation for which, I can then let loose and just fill in the details. I make sure that I view this foundation as fluid, in that, things obviously are bound to change, but it at least sets me off in the right direction.

How about you? Do you have anything planning methods like this?

$eX $ells

2010-04-19T20:06:00.009-07:00

Unless you've been living under a rock for the last few hundred years, then you're probably keen on the idea that sex sells. I'm not talking about a $20.00 harlot, with bright crimson lipstick and mini-skirt, on the downtown street corners. I'm talking about the idea of it. The taunting illusion that somehow, a product or service will be coupled with sex in some way, shape or form.

I'm bringing this up today, because I was reminded at how powerful this concept is. Even in the literary world. I posted a very quick blurb yesterday about a tattoo'd author and when I went to look for a picture to post for it, I just grabbed one of Megan Fox with her tattoo showing. Within minutes of posting that picture and my blurb, I had a bunch of comments...

I have a lot of different questions that this brings to mind, but I'll only ask one.

Who would you choose, based on sex appeal, to sit with you and help promote your book. Assuming that you could have any celebrity for a day in promotion.

Your Literary Tattoo

2010-04-19T09:05:00.003-07:00

I ran into an article that talked about an author who, after some success, made a point of getting a tattoo on himself that says "New York Times Best Seller."

This leads me to wonder, if you succeed as a writer, what would your tattoo say?

Or, is there anything wild or crazy you've promised yourself "if you make it?"

AHA!

2010-04-16T08:53:00.006-07:00

I had an AHA! moment yesterday, and not the pop/rock group a-ha kind of moment either. It hit me out of the blue and while I was sitting there at work I literally said 'AHA!' got out of my chair, because I was excited and made my way to the break room so I could celebrate with a soda. My co-workers looked at me like I'd just lost it and I didn't quite want to explain why I was so excited so I said... "I have to go potty." Seeing as how I'm the clown of the office, they thought I was just being silly, which I was, and dismissed my odd behavior as nothing new.

So, what was the AHA about anyway?

I'm glad you asked.

I had a breakthrough on the direction of my WIP. I've been stuck with a character and what exactly she is doing. I know where I want her, but I didn't know how to get her there and I finally figured it out. I broke through the "writer's block" so to speak and now I know where to go. I have to backtrack for a bit of a re-write and drop a good 4,000 words or so, but since I'm so new into the novel anyway, I don't mind. At least I have a solid path now. Then again this morning, I had a total plot twist slap me in the face after I woke up.

How about you? Any AHA! moments?

100th

2010-04-15T09:00:00.011-07:00

Well, here it is! My 100th post!

I jumped back into the blogger game about 11-17-2009 and since then so much has happened.

It's been 149 days. Since then there's been 100 posts, 66 new followers, 1 new marriage, 4 new step-kids, very few death threats, even fewer cute stalkers and a new health care bill. I've also had the privilege of watching a handful of you get picked up by agents/publishers and even seen some of you get published!

In celebration of all these things, I've decided to quit my job, go on welfare and abuse the system as long as possible while I finish my novels. Oh wait... that's my backup plan if I get fired.

Hmmm...How else to celebrate? Whatcha thinkz?

Oh, I do remember how lonesome it was in the beginning. Any of you out there that like wine, beer, spirits or liquor, please feel free to check out my wife's new blog. She is a former wine teacher and bartender, so she's blogging about the educational aspect of alcohol. Go check it out.

My W.I.P.

2010-04-14T10:50:00.007-07:00

(no that's not me lol)

So, I thought it was a bit unfair that I always ask where you guys are at with your WIPs and never fully detail what I'm up to, so here's your chance to catch up on my WIP.

As some of you know, I'd been working on a novel called Trueborn, off and on for the last 2 or so years. Since I have such a busy schedule, it's been tough to sit down and knock out large chunks of writing, but I'd manage to get a page or two done every to often. After a review and some major changes, I was brought back down to about 40,000 word count. Unfortunately, for me anyway, the big vampire boom hit the shelves (thanks to Twilight) and many authors jumped on board the success-train by writing TONS of vampire novels. Since I started this blog, I found that editors and publishers were getting soooooo sick and tired of seeing vampire novels and the market just seemed overrun with them. I decided to put that novel on hold, since it had a vampire element and I was stuck in a re-write plot rut.

Since setting aside Trueborn, I took up another novel as my current WIP, that I'm tentatively calling "The Watchers: Awakening." It falls under the YA Paranormal genre, which I know is already saturated anyway, but at least it's not vampire or werewolf themed. (for the record, I LOVE vamps and were-creatures, but I do agree that it is getting ridiculous)

I'm just about 10,000 words in and have some pretty solid characters I'm working with. The theme is a set in the spirit world, revolving around spirits who deal in prevention and facilitation of death in the human world. The main character is a teenage boy who questions the system as he is forced to make the hardest decision of his spirit-life. In his trail of choices, he not only struggles with the morality of his role, but also struggles with his spirit enemies, called drifters, who forcefully intervene in his situation and struggles.

The novel has such a fun element to it and really hits home with me on the 'entertainment of reading' factor. Whether or not it ends up being publishable material is yet to be seen, but in the end, I'm learning as a writer and enjoying the ride.

I Blame the Editor/Critique Group/Beta Readers

2010-04-13T14:29:00.010-07:00

Many of you already know that I recently finished a novel by Neil Gaiman called Neverwhere, which I felt was incredible. As mentioned in my own review of the book, I stated that I was so impressed with Gaiman's writing that I was compelled to pickup another book by him, SOLELY on the fact that I felt his writing was good enough to impress me, no matter what the story was about. My choice: American Gods.

Let me first start out by saying that the characters in this story are great. The writing style is still nothing shy of awesome and the main plot line was intriguing. Here's where I have beef though, I never actually finished the book. I got about 400 pages into the nearly 600 page novel and felt like I was reading WAY too much unnecessary stuff. While it was still very well written, it was still unnecessary. I found myself skipping parts saying to myself, "does this really matter?" I skipped so many little sections, hoping to get back to the main plot and story, that I felt like it was distracting from my enjoyment of the book. Eventually, I closed it and decided I wouldn't finish it.

I blame the editors. In my opinion, an author has to tell a story. They use every skill possible and every trick to give us as best a picture of the story as we can imagine. Many times though, in our pursuit to tell the story, we give more information that really doesn't HAVE to be there. That's where the beta readers, critique groups and ultimately editor(s) come in. It's their job to find that unnecessary stuff and shave it until the best story is told without wasting any one's time. I feel like the editor banked on the fact that Gaiman's previous success was enough and that his story needed to be there in its entirety to achieve success.

Who knows... Maybe his original was 800 pages and the editor did cut it down, but if you ask me, I feel like the same story could have been told by cutting out 200 pages or so and it would have been so much more than what it is.

In the end, Gaiman's success as a writer cannot be denied. He has multiple novels and stories published, some of which have great literary awards attached, and I have nothing but respect for the guy. He definitely inspires me. If I could write half as well as him and sell even half as many novels, I'd consider myself a huge success, but I cannot give American Gods the recommendation that I gave Neverwhere. I blame those people involved in not catching Gaiman's over use of the human language! :P

Foot Phone

2010-04-12T20:25:00.007-07:00

I just had to post this LOL! This our smallest chicklett... THE SARAH!

Promoting the most amazing thing ever... iPad, Eat your heart out... Say hello to the Foot Phone!

P.S. No Sarah's were injured during the making of this film. No animals either... so leave me alone P.E.T.A.

I'm Blank

2010-04-12T09:04:00.003-07:00

My brain is blank today. I'm sure my fellow writers out there have felt this way from time to time. I had a bit of a rough night.

Have a great day today...... That's about all I can think of haha

Inspiration

2010-04-09T21:32:00.004-07:00

After a failed attempt at painting the Hellsing portrait, I decided to fall back on my drawing to boost my confidence back up. I realize that I'm still just a beginning in painting, but I am very hard on myself, due to my perfectionist nature.

Anyhow, I decided to draw a portrait of Aphrodite IX, a MC in the same named comic series. The original picture of this was drawn by comic artist David Finch. I did my best to draw it only by looking at a picture. This is what I came up with. Draw time was approximately 1 hour. It's way easier to draw a picture than to write a novel lol. You authors have my deepest respect!!

P.S. The circle on her cheek is a tattoo.

Capturing the Evil

2010-04-09T09:25:00.005-07:00

We all know that we want our characters to be memorable. It takes skill, effort and practice to really get it right and when the pen hits the paper we want our characters to truly come alive.

Last night I worked on a new painting, based on the popular anime OVA's called Hellsing, and in it, I painted a portrait of Alucard (that's Dracula backwards, for those of you who don't realize or know) and I failed to capture his "evil." In the series, he is not necessarily evil himself, but there is a certain evil quality that surrounds him. I did not capture it in the painting and as I look at it I can't help but think about how well I'd do capturing it in writing.

What do you do to, as a writer, to capture a bad guy's "evil?" Have you done it well, or do you still need to work on it.

P.S. I AM RE-Painting the right side and there is a strong possibility that Alucard will not be there in the next version.

Green Blogger

2010-04-08T14:12:00.003-07:00

I'm not a huge "GO GREEN" kinda guy, nor am I against it. I believe we should take care of what we have, but not let the tree hugging mentality dictate everything we do. As good ol' grandma used to say, "everything in moderation."

Anyway, I just saw this on Summer's blog and wanted to be a part of it. I think planting a tree for me is kinda cool. So, here's the deal:

How Green is Your Blog?

According to a study by Harvard University, an average website causes about 0.02g (0,0008oz.) of carbon dioxide for each visit. Assuming an average blog gets 15,000 visits a month, it has yearly carbon dioxide emissions of 3,6kg (8lb.).

How much CO2 can a tree absorb? The answer varies, but the assumed values vary between 10 and 30kg (20 and 70lb.) for a tree each year.

One tree neutralises the carbon dioxide emissions of your blog.

Here’s how you can participate!

Just write a short blog post about our program “My blog is carbon neutral” and include one of the buttons on your site (ideally in the sidebar). Send the link to your blog to CO2-neutral@kaufda.de and we plant a tree for you, neutralising the carbon dioxide emissions of your blog. The trees will be planted in the spring of 2010 by the Arbor Day Foundation.

Update

2010-04-07T09:23:00.008-07:00

Time for me to catch up with you all. In my hunt for riches and glory, via blogger'dom, I've gathered quite a few followers since I began and also followed a bunch of you. Some people are more regular than others about visiting and some of you are lurkers.... gasp, shock, awe....

Ultimately, there are some of you that I haven't seen in a while, because I have failed to add you to my regularly visited links section. Please let me know if you are still around so I can follow up with you on your blog.

All I'm looking for here is a comment with a link to your current blog, so I can pop by and see what's going on. I have a regular crew of people that I check their blogs often, but some of you I've failed to keep up with and can't even find the blogs without hiring an Italian private investigator with ties to organizations that need not be named.

Oh and don't worry if you haven't dropped by or commented in a while, I still love ya. Heaven knows I haven't been able to keep up with everyone.

Literary Line Up

2010-04-06T08:46:00.003-07:00

Superman, Hulk, Spiderman, Wonder woman, Captain America, Wolverine, Batman... The list goes on and on. The list of unique characters that dominate the comic book scene. Some are good, some are evil, but all of them are unique and impressive in some way or another. The above picture is a climactic point of interest for pretty much all comic junkies, because it draws on speculative fiction and fan fiction and slams them into a series of action packed throw downs that every comic fan wanted to see.

As literary junkies, I wonder what kind of epic tale would YOU weave, if you were to take some of the most amazing or unique literary MC's and pool them together with a bit of plot. What mix of MC's would you like to see breaking their way through one grand novel of an adventure/story?

I.E. Huck Finn and Bilbo Baggins go on a journey which brings them to meet Bella & Edward. I'm not saying Bella or Edward are amazing MC's, nor am I saying they aren't.... Remember everyone has their own opinion. The point it, if you want to bring a cast of various literary MC's together, who would you want in your story?

My Latest Painting

2010-04-04T22:16:00.003-07:00

I know you guys don't follow me for my art, but sometimes posting these things makes it easy for me to share with other people, so I hope you'll forgive me for not posting something about writing this time. Then again, if you read the top of my blog name, it does say 'And everything in between.' So there! :P

Dream Office

2010-04-02T08:51:00.004-07:00

You've recently inherited a large sum of money, well enough to take care of yourself and your family for at least a few years without working, but not enough to retire on. In the mean time you've decided to quit work for now, design your dream office and take your writing to the next level.

I want to know what would be in your dream office. Describe your ideal writing conditions, assuming you had the money to pay for it.

Mastering the Craft

2010-03-31T09:56:00.003-07:00

I was online yesterday looking at some of the classes that will be offered at my local community college this next summer semester and I saw a script writing class that was open for evenings. I looked at the description and it seemed like something I'd enjoy. It's likely to improve my writing skills altogether, but I was curious just how different it would be to writing a novel. I have my general thoughts, based on the scripts I've seen in the past, but I wondered if any of you guys have experience with script or screen writing and could shed some light.

OPINION

2010-03-29T14:48:00.003-07:00

I thought this would be a fun set of questions for everyone. This is all opinion of course, so it is ok no matter what your answer is. Be completely honest with me here!

1. What is the BEST book you've ever read.

&

2. What is the WORST book you've ever read.

Whatever reason you have for it being Best or Worst is fine... Best could mean a myriad of things to different people, I'm just curious what you all have to say here.

Fallen

2010-03-27T20:50:00.002-07:00

I don't normally post on weekends, but every now and then I like to be a rebel! So, I just want to leave you guys with this little painting I did. It was my first attempt at painting. I do some drawing, but I'm not quite versed in the painting world.......yet. I've always wanted to try and I finally broke down and bought some supplies.

This is my first piece.

Relative Writing (En/Dis)couraging

2010-03-26T10:37:00.004-07:00

You've searched long and hard for the right set of words to open your novel. After intense mental debate you conclude that your line "It was a dark and stormy night..." just screams PERFECT!

Days go by and you add line after line, word after word, metaphor after metaphor...

Things are moving along, then suddenly you read bit of advice in a seminar handout regarding dynamic-novel-writing. It lists the most common amateur writing mistakes and sure enough you find that your opening line "it was a dark and stormy night," was a HUGE mistake! OH NO! Then you find out, as you read the other common amateur moves, that you've been doing it all wrong.

You have a HUGE choice here. You can either scrap your manuscript, turn tail and head for the mountains in shame, or you can suck up your pride, learn from your mistakes, take the advice and make the appropriate changes.

Sometimes as writers, we are faced with opportunities to grow. Often it can make us second guess our viability as a writer, but it doesn't have to be like that. Each of us will make amateur mistakes, the question is, what will YOU do when you are shown one.

The Short & Sweet of it

2010-03-24T08:43:00.006-07:00

I finished my latest reading last night. I had been reading Neil Gaiman's novel, Neverwhere. First of all, I have to say that as a story, this novel was well done and enjoyable to a great degree. There were a few unanswered questions, though in a story this rich in fantasy, there's bound to be a few. More than anything, I was impressed with Gaiman's use of language and mastery of words. I am hard pressed to name another modern author who could stand toe to toe with Gaiman in the craft of writing. I cannot begin to tell you how excellent his descriptions were and how the metaphors and allusions were utterly powerful and beautiful.

I'd rather not go into specifics of the story itself, to avoid spoiling it for anyone interested in reading, so I'll just leave you with this:

Check it out, buy it, rent it, borrow it, READ IT. As a writer, I was blown away with examples of how to better hone my skills. As a reader, I was taken on an incredible journey through a fantasy world nearly missing from my life since my childhood days of hiding from monsters in my closet.
For the record, I was so impressed by his writing, I've decided to begin another book by Gaiman called American Gods. That is very rare for me to do. I typically will not go looking for other books by an author just because I liked a single book written by them. Maybe this is a testament to how well received Neverwhere was with me.

Order of Events

2010-03-23T09:36:00.006-07:00

So, you are driving along and suddenly you spot a dead penguin on the side of the road and it hits you

SHABAM!

The idea for an amazing novel comes bubbling into your brain like a cheap champagne. It seems like the strangest or smallest things excite ideas, to us literary folk, that get our creative juices churning. I'm curious though, when something strikes you as a good idea for a novel, what order of events do you begin playing out in your mind. Do you take the idea and try to form a solid opening with it, or do you jump right to how it should end? Maybe you're a plot, middle of the road, planner? So, tell me, what's the order of events for you when it comes time to plan a brand new story out?

We Survived the Cruise

2010-03-22T11:01:00.001-07:00

Top Deck where we would party!

At the beach at Puerto Vallarta... the water was awesome!

Cruisin can be rough... gotta catch some zzzzz's sometime.

In the mid ship club called Club Fusion.

Bus Touring through Mazatlan

Overlooking Mazatlan

Chillaxin on the top-deck pool at the back of the ship

Me being silly

Coastal picture in Mazatlan

Me, dancing with a group of traditional Mexican dancers for Mardi Gras Style Dance

Puerto Vallarta

Us, overlooking "lover's point" in Mazatlan

Leave You With...

2010-03-12T14:40:00.003-07:00

As I prepare to embark on my epic journey across the Mexican Rivierra, on the Sapphire Princess Cruise Ship, I leave you with these words.

"Write well, and well..... um, write!"

See ya when I get back.

Limitations

2010-03-11T16:08:00.004-07:00

Does anyone else find that writing YA fiction in 1st person, limits the verb usage of their novel?

Omniscient 3rd person doesn't seem to have as much of an issue with this, but I know there are a lot of factors that would limit the possibilities.

Just curious if any of you YA authors are feeling dictionarilly (is that even a word LOL)suppressed.

I mean seriously, what teenager is going to say "The premature placative tonsuring of Elios' crown did not, in my eyes, warrant the extirpation of his bond servant, but who am I to stand up to the elders' judgement?"

Executions Are Messy

2010-03-10T09:08:00.004-07:00

All that blood, the occasional bird droppings from perched hopefuls looking for a free meal, entrails etc...

HOLD THE PHONE

I meant execution as in putting a new idea(l) into motion, not putting someone to death...

When it comes to writing a novel, the telling of a story is simply not enough. There's a right way and a wrong way to execute it. I find myself in the category of a 'storyteller,' not so much a 'real author.' This is aparent when I read books like the current one I'm devouring called "Neverwhere," by Neil Gaiman. I'm faced with the reality that I have a long way to go. While my writing is impressive to some, it is also quite lacking to others. It, like most things, is all relative, as the saying goes.

So, here's the question.

What do YOU do as a writer, to help ensure you aren't just 'telling' a story?

Please, nobody quote the "show don't tell" thing... I'm looking for more than that from you all today.

Breaking Rank

2010-03-08T13:00:00.005-07:00

I know I'm breaking rank here by diverging from my literary posting pulpit, but I had to share with you all my latest purchase. I play a little bit of a few instruments and love to learn anything new that I can. I have been using a mid-range Martin Acoustic guitar for a few years and wanted to try my hand at an electric guitar for a while. I finally purchased a new electric guitar and amp. These are what I purchased.

Ibanez ART 100 Artist Electric Guitar

Line 6 Spider IV amp

I must say, they sound amazing! I am having a blast learning some guitar riffs and trying to get a feel for the lighter touch of the electric.

Just wanted to share.

Living Characters

2010-03-05T16:10:00.005-07:00

I've written on this subject before and I'm sure it won't be the last words I say about this topic, but ultimately I'm having trouble reigning in my character.

Meet "Girl X" The love interest of my MC for my current novel tentatively called "Watchers" aka "The Awakening."

(for the record, she doesn't look like this, but I liked the expression for image sake)

Girl X, was supposed to be someone completely different than she is now. She is supposed to be nigh untouchable. She is supposed to be pristine, glass-like in her fragility, equally submissive in attitude and ultimately come across as weak. What she really is, is irrelevant. The problem I'm having is, her personality is shaping out differently. Is it detrimental to the plot, not so much, but does it bother me that I can't seem to fit my character's complex into the character... YES.

I had a similar problem with a character in Trueborn. The MC and his brother were swapping personalities and making choices that I had intended for the other to make. It feels like I'm trying to write a story about living characters who don't want to be written different than they really are. It's like they are rebelling against my finger strokes and key clicks. It's like they are developing themselves.

What is your experience with character development before and during the novel writing process?

I got nuthin

2010-03-04T08:38:00.003-07:00

I'm fresh out of blogging energy today, so I'll just leave you with this drawing of mine. I call it "the shifty eye anime guy."

Enjoy your day!

Advice For the Writer

2010-03-02T13:37:00.008-07:00

If you have a finger or two, access to Internet and a little time, you can stumble onto myriads of tips, tricks and bits of advice on how to organize your novel writing. There's a ton of great sources out there, many of them right here in the blog-o-sphere, which can set you in the right direction to make sure you efficiently and enjoyably write the best novel you can without taking years to do it. (Some novels do in fact take years to develop, even with efficient writing tools and schedules, but that's another beast for another day)

Anyway.

One thing that most people know is that achieving success is relative. Completion of a chapter may be success to me, while completion of a novel may be success to you, yet another person may have written a few novels, but doesn't feel successful until they receive a dignified award of some kind from the literary community. Success IS relative and subjective, but, setting up reasonable goals and reaching those goals can give most of us a feeling of success, which in turn will fuel our desire to continue. So, here's a little suggestion to help you reach those moments of success.

Try breaking your novel down into "acts."

For example:

Let's say that you are attempting to write a fiction novel with an approximate word count of 80,000 words. Try breaking that up into four acts.

Act 1 - 20,000 words
Act 2 - 20,000 words
Act 3 - 20,000 words
Act 4 - 20,000 words

Give each act a specific purpose.

For example:

Act 1 - Lay foundation and conflict
Act 2 - Develop characters and intensify conflict
Act 3 - Bring conflict to a climax
Act 4 - End climax and close the story, or tie up loose ends

This is obviously very generic advice and in your own way, you can determine how many acts you need to fully tell your story and how much of a word count each act will be given... Breaking it up like this and labeling the need of the act will empower you to truly use the appropriate words you've allotted for that act to get done what needs getting done. This can help you eliminate unnecessary information, can help you prioritize how much time you'd like to spend on each act. Ultimately, the best part is that, as you complete an act, you'll feel a sense of accomplishment and success. This should help fuel your desire to move forward and makes the whole novel seem less daunting. Rather than worrying about writing your 80,000 words, all you have to do is write your 20k word act at a time. Try it out. See if it helps you. I know it helps me.

Glimpse of Snippet

2010-03-01T10:06:00.003-07:00

I'd had a novel in mind that I wanted to begin working on later in life. I had filed away the idea with the notion that it would take a lot of research to make it work. Then, my creative writing instructor asked that we compile a short story of fiction. I decided that I'd take my novel, tentatively called "Snippet," and just turn it into a short story for the class assignment.

Here's the premise of the short story.

A budding young author finds himself being sued by a host of angry literary professors, due to a possible plagiarism & copy write infringement. His novel, called "Snippet," comes under fire as it becomes a best seller, yet none of the story itself was written by the author. Instead, the author decided to take sections of some of the best literary masterpieces in history and fit them together to create an altogether new story. These snippets, while unrelated, come together in a literary puzzle of sorts and create an epic tale which captures the hearts and minds of readers around the world. The problem arises when an Ivy League university professor questions the legal validity of the novel. Though the author cites each snippet, he may need to justify the overwhelming magnitude of his bibliography and the impact it had on his novel's success.

Catching Up

2010-02-26T09:23:00.003-07:00

So, a lot has happened since I took my hiatus to focus on getting married and I missed a lot of posts. I'd love to know what's been going on with everyone, but I just don't have the time to comb through the myriads of articles and posts that I've missed. That's where this post comes in. Please leave me a comment telling me if I missed anything major from your blog while I was in hiding (I.E. You were signed with a publishing house or agent etc...)

I'd also love to catch up on everyone to know what your WIP (work in progress) is. Please answer the following for me, if you don't mind.

1. Name of your current or most dedicated WIP.
2. Word count of that WIP
3. Genre it fits into
4. IF you are ok with sharing, please let me know the premise of you novel. Obviously don't give away too much, but just generally speaking.

P.S. This picture has nothing to do with the post, I just saw it and wanted to use it. N-Joy

Wrestling the Critique

2010-02-25T09:26:00.002-07:00

Every so often, I like to run my manuscripts by an innocent bystander to see if I can glean any new perspective. Often times, I already know of screaming problems that need to be addressed or issues that I've yet to tackle, but I ask instead for that person to simply point out specific needs, such as not enough detail, too much detail, not enough action, dialogue etc...

So, when I get back my manuscript with some red notes and suggestions, I'm thrilled when I see what I was looking for. Unfortunately sometimes people go above and beyond and do a little extra critique. In the end, I'm glad to hear suggestions, because ultimately, whether I act on them now or later, or even never, it's a fresh pair of eyes and a new perspective.

BUT

Does it bug you when people take it upon themselves to try to be your personal editor and literally shred your work right before your eyes, when all you may have asked for was a perspective of "dialogue smoothness?"

How do you handle critiques?

Details

2010-02-24T10:46:00.002-07:00

So, as promised, I told everyone I'd post the dirty details of the wedding. I'd like to preface by stating that the most important thing of the whole event DID happen: I married the love of my life. Now on to the fun part. My wedding felt like the very strands of fate were woven against it. If things could go wrong, they went wrong. This is a small list of some of the things that did not go well....there is more, but some of it I won't mention to protect the innocent LOL. All I can say is, if the old phrase "weddings that go wrong just mean that the marriage will be great," is true, then my marriage is going to be Freaking Fantabulous!

1. Wedding invitations were designed without saying "Marriage or wedding" or anything of the likes.
2. Wedding invitations never got to people. 80ish of them are still MIA at this point. Nobody knows what happened to them.
3. Friend who was going to throw bachelor party found out his dad got into a terrible car accident, broke nearly every bone in his body and was in a coma. Needless to say, he isn't throwing any parties, nor attending the wedding.
4. Best man couldn't get rental car, because his "temporary" license wasn't considered legitimate per the car rental company.
5. Father-in-Law, who was going to rent a 7 seater car for us to pickup family and such, couldn't get his own rental car due to a problem with his own license. His rental car was delayed for 2 days.
6. Mother-in-law became ill on Thursday and was taken to urgent care where she was promptly diagnosed with pneumonia.
7. When the flowers arrived, we forgot the ribbon, flower wires & pins for corsages and boutonniere, went to store to buy more, bought the wrong supplies. Wasn't enough time to get all the appropriate stuff, so we had to rig it with the ghetto stuff.
8. Mother-in-law got worse on Friday had to go to ER and was admitted, looking quite blue in the face due to lack of oxygen.
9. Mother-in-law's laptop was going to play ceremony music, but was left in her hotel room while she was in hospital
I Had to scramble to reload my laptop with ceremony music and inform my wife's cousin that he would be playing it for us (had to show him what to do, the day of the wedding...WHILE people were being seated)
10. Morning of the wedding, during a last minute run to the store for some missing items, I almost T-boned a truck due to the RAIN... yep, it was raining. Did I mention our wedding was supposed to be outside?
11. Both bride and groom forgot to bring the guest book
12. Both bride and groom forgot to bring the video camera, which had been purchased for the purpose of taping the event
13. The hotel's sound system for the wedding had a TON of feedback and was not working, up till 3pm. (the time of the ceremony)
14. Father-in-law arrived to the hotel promptly 10 minutes till the ceremony began, with the boys and her uncle.... Not a single one of them was dressed in their tuxes.
15. Father-in-law realized he left the camera man's camera at home. He had to go home to get it. The ceremony was delayed by about 45 minutes.
16. Due to last minute seating issues from the rain, nobody knew where to sit, or where to stand and our wedding coordinator threw in the towel... she lost all hope and was obviously upset with everything, thereby stressing us out.
17. Both mother's forgot to light the unity candle after being walked to their seats... I had to come down and remind them. :)
18. During the unity candle portion of the ceremony, my wife's wick wouldn't light... Eventually we gave up without it lighting.
19. After our grand entrance to the reception hall, nobody knew what to do because our wedding coordinator didn't fill us in or work with out DJ. She apparently upset our DJ.
20. We found out that all the music provided to the DJ, in advance, was not working.... the DJ had to stay up til 1am the night before to download all the songs, or re-purchase them,
21. The wedding certificate was placed somewhere after it was signed and was moved.... It was lost..
22. My blood sugar dropped by the time my wife and I got to our wedding room. I'm sure you can guess how that ruins the next part of the evening.
23. Next day, the wedding certificate was found, along with the party favors that had been forgotten under a table somewhere
. . .

WHEW!!!

2010-02-21T21:51:00.003-07:00

Well..... We survived! We did it. We are married. I must say, it was beautiful, but man was there a LIST, and I do mean LIST in all caps, of snags along the way!!!! I'll definitely post a follow up with details here, but it's late and I'm really stinking tired.

Here's a tickler photo of my beautiful bride and I to keep your attention till next post.

Counting Down

2010-02-15T14:35:00.003-07:00

I know you are all sick of hearing about it, but the official countdown is here. I'll throw this counter up here again so you can all watch for my impending doom... I mean impending bliss :)

I miss writing to you all and hearing from everyone. Hopefully things will settle down here soon and I can get back my crazy posts of odd'ness.

5 Soul Journey

2010-02-11T08:45:00.004-07:00

I want to try to stay afloat by posting something during this busy time, so I'll post this poem. It was a poem that my group members and I put together in our creative writing class. Each of the 5 of us in the group got to write a line of poetry, but were only allowed to see the line just above ours. So, none of us knew what the rest was writing in the poem, except for the last line written. We all got to contribute 2 lines total. This is the poem that we ended up with. I was VERY excited to see how well it turned out. I call it "5 Soul Journey," though we didn't officially name it.

I glisten at images of her,
Waves of regret burn a whole in my soul,
There is a fine line between pleasure and pain.
So let us strip these sheets and begin this game.,
Leave our homes and travel west by plane.

Escaping the inevitable yet deserved fate,
It’s a joyful thing breaking free,
Finally escaping from what felt like the chains of hell,
With sin in my dust, I gravitate toward righteousness,
I bow my head, fold my arms, and travel forth to unknown lands.

Really Don't Need This

2010-02-08T11:43:00.004-07:00

So, our office normally handles a call load of about 5,000 calls per month between a few of us that work them, and we just took over another family practice office which has their own call load of approximately 6-7k calls per month.

Wouldn't be so bad if we operated the same, but our two offices do things VERY differently, so my co-workers and I are attempting to learn a new system, AND accommodate all the new calls coming in. Needless to say, with my marriage coming up, I really don't need this extra stress right now.

BUT

I need my job and I like my job, so I'll just have to suck it up and deal with it.

Only reason I'm able to type this right now is, because I'm on lunch. So, I'll probably be posting even less than I expected in the next two weeks or so.

Sorry again if I can't catch up on everything you all are posting. I've got a full plate, but I'll try to as soon as things calm down here. Stay tuned.

True Lies

2010-02-05T10:45:00.004-07:00

Last night was my weekly creative writing class and I must say that I had a blast. It was the first night that we were able to do some writing and group participation. (a much needed change of pace from listening to our instructor simply read to us various writings)

The teacher decided to have us do a writing exercise that was called "True Lies," in which we were told to write a small blurb, about 50 words, telling a lie, yet somehow connecting some truth to it. I'm a very black and white kind of guy. Those instructions were a bit to gray for me and so I had him give an example or two, then I set my pen to motion. Here's my true lie.

I'll sit in contentment as we share our raft. She'll probably rest her weary head on my shoulder. "I told you so," I'll say. "I knew this would happen." She'll deny any wrong doing, but I'll sit happy in the knowledge that I was right. After all, happiness is a state of mind, not a follow up to circumstance.

The class was asked to try to brainstorm about what the truth was and it became something of a riddle for some people. When they asked what my truth was, I explained that my beautiful bride-to-be and I are going on a cruise. That's right! Her father decided to buy us a 7 day Mexican Riviera cruise on Princess Cruise lines. We'll be leaving in March during spring break. I'll post more on this later, but for now, I'll explain how it ties in to my true lie. The lie portion of my blurb was a prediction that our cruise line would end up sinking. See, I have a fear of being on the open sea. I blame it on diabetic camp at age 8, but that's another story. All in all, I'm taking a huge step in overcoming my fears, by going on this cruise. I know it will be wonderful, BUT, I've jokingly told my fiancée that "I've seen the Titanic movie, I know how this ends."

So, the truth was, the fact that we'll be going on a cruise over the open sea.
The lie was my 'knowing' about the ship sinking, leaving us to sit in a life raft.

That's it for now. Have any of you done any neat writing exercises that you'd like to share?

The Writer's Wedding Vows

2010-02-04T08:51:00.009-07:00

My bride-to-be and I met with our officiant yesterday evening to discuss the ceremony details. We are having a traditional non-denominational Christian wedding, in which vows are said, rings are exchanged, a unity candle is lit and the big kiss seals the deal. So, as we discussed the options for vows, we were hit with the option of writing our own vows.

ME!? Write the vows?

Why was I so nervous about it, after all I am a writer? It's not like I don't have hundreds of pages of written work that I hope to have published some day. Haven't I entered contests for short stories and poetry? Shouldn't writing these vows be a simple act? Heck, I could even invite a few agents to the wedding and tactfully wink at them claiming "I will now read the vows I wrote," in hopes of landing a deal for my next novel.

Uh, no. Try again.

I realize that we, as writers, all (well most of us anyway) have a concern about letting other people read our writing. After all our sweat, blood and tears are put into those words, it can be devastating to hear that someone didn't like our masterpiece. [I mean, c'mon we ARE legends in our own minds.] I found that this translated to why I didn't want to write my own vows. I'm afraid to let people hear my writing. I know that this is a difficult task for so many writers and in my own life, I will have to get over it. I have still decided not to write my own vows, not just because I have reservations about letting people hear my works, but also because quite frankly the traditional vows are REALLY good. They encompass what I want to say anyway.

HOWEVER

In my attempt to break out of my shell and share a bit, I'm going to post an email that I sent to my bride-to-be. This isn't quite "Vows," but it does give a bit of insight into how I feel and helps me let go of my insecurities of being critiqued. This blog has helped me do this quite a bit as I've been able to post all sorts of things I've written. So, without further ado, here's my love letter:

P.S. I did write the first part of this "cheesy" on purpose.

Dear Bride-to-be,

It's come to my attention that you intend to marry me. I think that's fantastic! In fact, I'm so very excited about the idea, that I've already gone out and ordered a tuxedo and invited 75 of our closest family and friends to come celebrate the event with us. I'd love nothing more than to see you walk up that aisle to me, take my hand, and jointly declare before God and Family that our love will ensue through this lifetime. I've taken the liberty to prepare my heart and mind, sanctifying it for you and you alone. You are my one, you are my only, you are my love. I vow to protect you, cherish you, teach you, love you and be true to you as we walk hand in hand together after God. Your love is precious to me and I will hold it like a porcelain doll, with gentleness and care. I will do my best to serve you and make you proud to be my wife. I'm so happy you've chosen me and I will strive to make sure you are always happy to have made that choice in me. I love you more than the stars in the sky.

Your husband to be,
Voidwalker

What about you? Did any of you writers, write your own vows? Did you find it harder or easier than some of your traditional writing? Care to share?

Fight Scene Blog Fest

2010-02-02T14:18:00.007-07:00

So, over at Crimson Ink, I was informed that there was a Fight Scene Blog Fest Event. I totally came into it late, but here's a clip from a story of mine. It's in the first draft stages and will probably be getting some re-working, but that's not the point. Here's a short fight scene from my novel, "The Watchers."

“As for the bodies, this is what happens to anyone stupid enough to try to infiltrate Daethia. That’s enough now to satisfy your curiosity. We really shouldn't be out here. Every second we stay here puts us in more da-.”

Suddenly I heard an earth shattering impact and I realized the irony of Devin’s statement.

My eyes froze open wide as I watched in slow motion, Devin flying past me down the side of the hill we were standing on, tangled in the arms of what looked to be a baedra…or was it a drifter?

The creature wrestling him on the way down had a darker shimmering skin. Its face bore a look of anguish, but maintained a distinct humanoid quality. Devin’s own dark skin made it difficult for me to tell where he began and the creature ended. It all seemed so sudden as I watched them roll toward the valley below.

“DEVIN!” I screamed. “Hold on.”

My heart burned inside my chest as I bolted down the hillside after them. They each struggled to gain advantage over the other. It didn’t take me long to catch up and as I ran, I looked around making sure we were alone. I threw myself into the wrestling match, pulling at the creature’s arms with all my strength. I felt that I may as well been pulling on a stone statue. The being was much larger than me and stronger by far. His smooth skin was hot to the touch as I tried to get a good grip to pry him off of Devin.

“Get his stone,” Devin yelled out from underneath his attacker.

I looked in the direction Devin had yelled towards and noticed a bright canary-yellow orb lying on the ground nearby. The assailant, realizing he had dropped his stone, bounded off of Devin and made a quick dash to try to recover his stone before me. He slipped out of my grip, but luckily Devin caught him by the leg and pulled the being back as it clawed toward the ground.

“Hurry!”

I didn’t waste any more time. I made haste to pickup the orb and as soon as I did, I focused on the stone and the creature it was tied to as I had been taught. The creature, which yelled with frustration, suddenly ceased to move. His voice was full of fire as he demanded to me, “Release me.”

“Do you have him Caz?”

“I think so.”

Devin released his hold and ran over toward me as our attacker stood still, frozen under my command.

“Here, quickly,” He grabbed the yellow stone from me, gripped my arm with his free hand and suddenly we were within Deathia once again.
Devin panted and sat into a crouch.

“We dodged a bullet there Caz. You wanted to see a drifter, there you have it.”

Yin's Love

2010-02-02T08:10:00.004-07:00

Keeping this post light today, I just wanted to say thank you to everyone for the encouraging words regarding my upcoming wedding and writing. You all have been so very helpful to me in so many ways and I want to say a thanks. Also, I just wanted to share a poem that I'm submitting to my local college publication's poetry contest. I'm not big on contests, but it doesn't hurt to try right? Here's the poem, titled "Yin's Love."

Ever since my Yang came back,
His face has changed,
His image black.

Where once like me, his every movement lithe,
Fluid in touch,
His soul was alive.

What happened since he went away,
Yang turned aside,
He lost his way.

Though I wanted to follow, I couldn't go along,
I'm simply Yin,
I just wasn't as strong.

Then returning from whence, I asked that he tell,
Yang seemed so different,
Like he'd just escaped Hell.

I was glad he was back, on this I've not lied,
Yet his demeanor seems darker,
It's as if he had died.

And so we've picked up, where once we left off,
I hold up my Yang,
While he stares from aloft.

Yet in its place, where once was a grin,
His passion abated,
As he stares at his Yin.

I'll never let go, despite his look from above,
Every Yang needs his Yin,
And even darkness needs love.

21 Days & Counting

2010-01-29T16:54:00.003-07:00

21 days until my beautiful bride to be and I tie the knot. This picture was taken a couple of months ago at my cousins wedding (that's my fiancee I'm kissing, not my cousin LOL) Not too long from now, she'll be in the wedding dress and I'll be garbed in the penguin suit, hopefully replicating this scene after a heartfelt "I do."

Though we won't have our honeymoon right away, as the wedding itself approaches, I may be missing a post here or there, or unable to leave a comment back for each and every one of my readers. Don't worry, I am going to try my darnedest to keep up, but please have mercy if I miss a beat. I don't want to lose any of you devout void-stalkers.

Anyway, in the mean time I'm still hoping for more participants in my post below, regarding the quote and how it applies to writing. Keep em coming guys, I really find encouragement and get a lot of great ideas from you all.

Have a great weekend and I'll be back on Monday with more Voidwalking goodness.

A Literary Exercise

2010-01-29T08:45:00.006-07:00

With much vexation of heart, I announced boldly to my body that it was time once again to get back into my exercise routine. I happen to have a physical therapy department at my office where I'm allowed to use it after all patients are done being seen for the day. In the department, they have many different exercise machines to help rehabilitate injured patients. One such machine is our good ol' friend, the treadmill. As I jumped on Mr. treadmill and set it to a hearty 3 incline and 3 miles per hour (Yes Grandma, you do in fact move faster than that in your wheelchair) I noticed a letter that was posted on the wall not 15 feet away from me. The letter contained a phrase that went something like this:

"Those who do not find time to exercise now, will have to find time for illness later."

I couldn't believe it, not only would I get a physical workout, (Yes Grandma 3 miles per hour does get MY heart going these days, geez, get off my back would ya) but I'd also get a mental one as I mused on this phrase. I thought of any way I could apply that to my writing world so that I could come back and astound everyone with a deep philosophical blog post. Then it hit me, faster and harder than a shoe being thrown at the president in contempt. I realized that it could be a fun activity to ask my readers to either comment back how this phrase could apply to their writing world, or ask them to post on their own sites an example of how it could apply.

So, here's where you come in.

1. Post back a comment to me explaining how you can apply the above quote to your writing life.

OR

2. Write a post on your blog explaining the same thing and asking your own readers to do the same.

I'd love to see some of the concepts you guys/gals come up with.

Results, Benchmarks & Award

2010-01-28T08:25:00.011-07:00

After yesterday's poll, I looked into the results and the comments you all left (big thanks to everyone who answered) and found that generally speaking, people mostly want a mix of posting topics. That's what I figured I'd see, but there were a few deviations making the 2nd highest choice topics about ME ME ME. **BLUSH** Thanks guys and gals.

I'll try not to disappoint you.

As for the "Benchmark" part of the title, I just wanted to shout out a big thanks to everyone who's joined my blog as a follower. I've passed the 50 followers benchmark. It's an honor for me to have so many of you stopping by to read what I have to say and encourage me in my own writing journey. A big special thank you to those of you who, not only follow me, but come by regularly to comment! Also I'd like to give a special thank you to Moonrat, who's industry related blog inspired me to start blogging again. So Moonrat, if you find yourself in sunny AZ, you are welcome to all the goodies in my trash cans and I promise I won't call Animal Control. **for those of you who don't already follow Moonrat, go check it out the blog, it's great!**

On to the "Award" portion of the title. I recently found myself a new blog to follow called Southern City Mysteries. I'm sure a lot of you are familiar with it and if not, drop by. There's some great postings and information coming through. I was graced there with an award called the "Creative Writer Award," and a wonderful review for my blog. THANKS! This particular award does not appear to have any stipulations or anything. I'm going to hold on to it and will pass it on here in the near future, so stay tuned. EDIT: Also, Tiana Lei was kind enough to pass on the Honest Scrap Award as well. I've answer the Honest Scrap questions before. Here is that post if you want to see my answers.

As a side note, I'm posting a missing persons request. Does anyone know where Ash went? She ran the blog "From Ramblings to Interviews," but it's not there anymore. I wondered if her link changed or do we need to send out the blood hounds and helicopters?

What do you people want from me!?

2010-01-27T09:08:00.002-07:00

Keeping it simple today. I'd just like some feedback from you all to know what you hope to see from me in the near future.

Um...

2010-01-26T08:56:00.006-07:00

So as you may or may not know, I am employed in the health care industry. I've worked in the administrative or patient service side of health care for coming on about 7 years now, following a decision to leave the computer world of networking and technical services behind. It didn't take long for me to learn that, just as it was in the computer world, the healthcare industry is saturated with funny stories and quotes. In the spirit of this blog discussing issues revolving around writing and reading, I'm going to share some of the funny things I've encountered in written messages between patients and their physicians over the last few years,

So without further ado, here are the quotes, questions and comments that have left me dumbfounded or smiling.

[Moment 1]
Patient: "How long does it take for marijuana to get out of your system?"
Me: "um..."

[Moment 2]
Patient: "I took my wife's birth control. What is going to happen?"
Physician Response: 'Well Mr. _______ you won't be getting pregnant."

[Moment 3]
Me: So let me get this right. You want Dr. ______ to write you a letter for work clearing you of TB (Tuberculosis), but you haven't been TB-skin tested nor have you had a TB chest x-ray in over 2 years?
Patient: "Well when you say it like that, you make it sound bad."

[Moment 4]
Patient: "I need to know what to do. I got bit on my nose by a Bee."
Me: "I'm sorry, did you say the bee 'bit' you?'
Patient: "Yes, it bit me on my nose."
Me: "um..."

[Moment 5]
Physician's Order Reads: "OB wants Neurology to clear the patient before delivery of her child"
Me: "um...What if they say no?"

[Moment 6]
Patient: "I'd like to know if my doctor can give me an antibiotic for the camel flu."
Me: "Camel Flu?"
Patient: "Yes."
Me: "um..."

So, Here's the Scoop: Tokyo Vice

2010-01-24T15:20:00.013-07:00

About 2 weeks ago, my soon to be father-in-law made a reading recommendation to me. Little did I know that the book he was referring me to, Tokyo Vice, was going to open as much of a door to my mind and heart as it did. I listened to him explain the premise of the book, then told him I'd love to read it and so began my journey.

The reading journey brought me back in time, to 2006, when I had went on a personal vacation to spend 3 weeks in Tokyo. Hoping not to come across as a completely unprepared foreigner, I thought I'd do my homework on Japan. I'd learned to read and write the Japanese Hiragana and Katakana which would help me survive some of the written world of Japan. I'd read about onsens, Kabukicho, foreigner job opportunities, visa options, gaijin houses, hostess clubs and most of the do's and don'ts to make sure I was prepared for what I'd be getting into. Little did I know that those things were only scratching the surface of a culture symbiotically tied with the Japanese Mafia. Little did I know that while I was playing around in Tokyo, trying to escape some of the woes of my past, the author of Tokyo Vice, Jake Adelstien, was right around the corner from me (literally at times) risking his life gathering information against the Japanese organized crime syndicate Yamaguchi-gumi. So, obviously, this book hit home with me really hard and really fast.

The book begins by taking you through a wild, and quite funny journey of Jake's introduction into the world of journalism in Japan, namely covering criminal activity for the Yomiuri Shinbun. His wit, skills, gaijin status and luck come together forging the perfect ingredients to bring about this memoir tell-all. As I followed his journey, I was enlightened to many aspects of Japanese culture, criminal or not, that I and many others are ignorant to. In some ways, I almost wish I hadn't heard about some of the things he mentioned in the book, after all King Solomon put it best in his own journal of Ecclesiastes: "For in much wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow."

Despite the difficult elucidations I was being filled in on, I found myself unable to turn away from the book. The further into it I read, the more real the characters and the author became to me. I was filled with sorrow, encouragement, happiness and fear in this roller coaster ride of a book. I can honestly say that I've never felt more part of the story or connected to the characters as I have with Jake's story. His train-wreck of a tale ultimately leads him to a very dangerous dilemma, that any reader could easily agree makes an amazing climax. Without revealing too much, I simply want to say that if you have any passion for Japan or curiosity toward journalism, this is a MUST READ. It will leave you breathless, scared, entertained and maybe even a bit paranoid by the time you finish it. I would offer this warning though, if you have any aversion to sexual content or foul language, you may need to pass on this one. Jake is brutally honest and when honesty meets the crime world, you are bound to be left uncomfortable.

As a critical point to the literary compiling of this book, I did find that the time line of the story, as well as the abundance of Japanese names, were sometimes hard to follow, but by no means were enough to hinder the progression of the story. There are a few rabbit trails he takes you on, but they are there to fill in the gaps and are well worth the time to read.

All in all, it was an amazing read. I felt more emotions being drawn out of me than I've had in a long time. If you spend the money on this one, you won't be disappointed.

I also wanted to include a link to the Polaris Project, which helps fight human trafficking. After reading the book, please consider helping their cause, I know I will.

And for anyone else desiring to continue the story beyond the book, here is Jake's website

Upcoming Review

2010-01-24T00:17:00.003-07:00

After many hours of somewhat uninterrupted reading, I've finished Jake Adelstein's book Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan.

I have a lot to say about this novel and I hope you all will join me for my review of it. I'll post it as soon as I can.

For now, sleep beckons.

Path's of the Craft

2010-01-22T10:07:00.007-07:00

Writing is such an ambiguous term. It can be used to describe everything from the compilation of a novel, to taking notes in a meeting, or anything in between. As an aspiring author, I've dabbled in poetry, short story and am continuing my learning curve towards working on a full fledged non-fiction novel. This semester I decided to take an evening class in creative writing, something which most writers could benefit from (yes, even me... thank you all for your looks of shock and awe). In it, our instructor discussed a few of the different aspects of writing and will continue to address them more personally as we are assigned to compile works in said branches. I've always wondered what avenues I could take, in the job world, if I wanted to utilize my love for writing, so here's a few jobs related to writing that I thought I'd post up for your viewing/curiosity pleasure. This list is by no means exhaustive, but maybe it can help elucidate the industry. Click on the link if you'd like a more detailed explanation of the job outlook for each. Included below each category are little snippets BLS website. (Bureau of Labor Statistics)

1. Journalism
The work of news analysts, reporters, and correspondents is usually hectic. They are under great pressure to meet deadlines. Broadcasts sometimes are aired with little or no time for preparation. Source: BLS

2. Editing
Editors review, rewrite, and edit the work of writers. They also may do original writing. An editor's responsibilities vary with the employer and type and level of editorial position held. Editorial duties may include planning the content of books, journals, magazines, and other general-interest publications. Source: BLS

3. Technical Writing
Technical writers, also called technical communicators, put technical information into easily understandable language. They work primarily in information-technology-related industries, coordinating the development and dissemination of technical content for a variety of users.
Source: BLS

4. Medical Transcription
Medical transcriptionists listen to dictated recordings made by physicians and other health care professionals and transcribe them into medical reports, correspondence, and other administrative material. Source: BLS

5. Software Programmer
Computer programmers write programs. After computer software engineers and systems analysts design software programs, the programmer converts that design into a logical series of instructions that the computer can follow. Source: BLS

6. Writers/Authors
Writers and authors develop original written materials for books, magazines, trade journals, online publications, company newsletters, and advertisements. Their works are classified broadly as either fiction or nonfiction. Source: BLS

7. Document Translation for Foreign Interest
Translators convert written materials from one language into another. They must have excellent writing and analytical ability, and because the translations that they produce must be accurate, they also need good editing skills. Source: BLS

Driving Success

2010-01-21T09:26:00.006-07:00

Photo found from Gary Settle/The New York Times

The author Erich Segal, who coined the phrase "Love means never having to say you're sorry," passed away this last Sunday, the 17th. I believe anyone would be hard pressed to find an adult who hasn't heard that phrase mentioned above. It will likely survive through history alongside other famous sayings for many lifetimes to come. As a writer, I'd find almost no greater honor, than to be quoted from my work like this. Though, many amazing authors have tried to come up with phrases and sayings in their work that could mimic the success of Segal's love-quote, it's probably unlikely that the average published author will ever achieve this goal. Regardless, having nigh achievable goals like this will likely cause us writers to try harder, write better and search diligently for those perfect words or sentences that hopefully leave our readers with something that they can take with them through their lives.

Are there any goals or success stories you look toward that drive you to be a better writer? Care to share them here?

Tokyo Vice: The Author's POV

2010-01-20T11:49:00.007-07:00

After yesterday's post, I received quite a bit of deep comments from you all. Thank you so much for all the feedback; everyone knows we bloggers thrive on comments. The general rule of thumb, I found most fellow writer's going by, was don't write something you'd be ashamed of, but be true to your characters or your information. I'd have to say it's descent advice and I can agree with it, but what about guys like Jake Adelstein? He dropped by here yeseterday and posted a comment about my article (Moral & Ethical Writing) stating that in his circumstances, being an investigative journalist, he was faced with difficult decisions on what he'd be able to share in his book without burning his sources or worse, himself. It's a completely different scene, writing non-fiction vs. fiction. As I mentioned back to him, I realize that in my own case, if I expose a character, there won't be much retaliation simply because they aren't real. In his case, the people he wrote about were/are very real and could potentially make a mess of his life or family/friends' lives. Nevertheless, he followed through and shared the facts and enlightened those of us who decided to read his book Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan.

I'm about halfway finished with it at the moment, but it won't take long for me to finish it. I am loving it. Yes, it has some dark themes and yes, it takes some of us readers to places we'd never want to see or know about, but it is part of the real world that many of us are blind to. I don't have to finish this to recommend you all check it out, but only with this warning. There are some explicit sexual and violent elements in this book. It is provocative, informative, entertaining and full of witty humor. I can only hope that when my own works get published (yes I said when, not if) that they bring my readers on a journey equally as impressive as Tokyo Vice.

I'll be sure to follow up and let you all know when I'm finished.

Moral & Ethical Writing

2010-01-19T08:33:00.004-07:00

It's a topic that's been blogged about before. It's likely come up in your own writing; I know it has in mine. The nagging question:

"Can I write this in my book, even though the subject matter is totally against my moral or ethical code?"

Let's face it, the world is full of people with a hodge-podge of belief systems on what is right, wrong and entertaining. There's no way for us as writers to entertain everyone. We are bound to step on some toes along the way, because as I said above, there are so many variations of what is acceptable in entertainment. But what about our own toes? I've found myself writing a story that, in my opinion, has an amazing concept, but gnaws at the back of my mind because it touches on some spiritual issues that are blatantly against my own belief system. I try to reason: "it's just fiction," but when I see some people take certain fiction a bit too literally, as is the case with maybe Dan Brown's hit novel (no I'm not plugging it here) I find myself asking, "but what if people try to take my story too literally?" It begs the question, "Can I write this in my book, even through the subject matter is totally against my moral/ethical code?"

I can't determine whether you should or shouldn't bypass your conscience just to get a good book written, but in my case I will have to figure out what's best for me. So how about you guys? Have you written or would you write about something that is fundamentally against your belief system or ethical code?

Riddle's Answer

2010-01-17T17:21:00.005-07:00

So, for those of you who posted an answer to my riddle, here's the answer:

SOUND!

Congratulations Girl With One Eye, you were the first person to get it right. Not only did you get it right, but you referenced the riddle that was in mine. "If a tree falls in the forest, does it make a sound: Yes"

Thanks for all who played, I wish I had a prize, but all I can do is link back to your blog. Yay for links? :P

Riddle for the Weekend

2010-01-15T16:09:00.004-07:00

In lieu of my "People don't like long posts" rant, I'm leaving you all with a short post. It's a riddle that I wrote for a gentleman I knew who had been on Jeopardy. He and I used to exchange puzzles and riddles and I wrote this one just for him. Take a stab at it. There's no prize at this point if you get it right, but I'm curious to see if anyone gets it. So without further ado, here it is:

This thing I'm thinking of in my mind,
This thing it still affects the blind.

If you think it's fast, you're probably right,
but it'll never be as fast as the speed of light.

When it moves, it moves like the sea,
and it does indeed come from that riddled tree.

This thing you can feel when it hits your face,
but this thing you can never embrace.

Good luck and have a great weekend and remember, your answer must make sense for EVERY line in the riddle.

The Short of It

2010-01-15T08:58:00.004-07:00

My most recent post was quite long actually and I've noticed the same trend rearing its ugly head.

People don't want to read long posts.

I used to be a very regular blogger about 3 years ago and what I noticed was, my short posts got comments and questions, but my long posts were often overlooked. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand why this is.

People don't want, to take time out, to read long posts.

Let's face it. We all have 100 things on our to do lists. Each of us has our own network of fellow bloggers that we want to keep up with and when we are faced with a post that takes us more than a couple minutes to read, we often simply move on.

My latest post was no different. While I did get some feedback, it took about 3 days of me keeping the post active to achieve the same number of comments that a much shorter post or quip would in just a few hours.

People don't want to read long posts.

This keeps popping up in my mind. I knew better, yet I posted a long post anyway. Seeing the lack of activity though, reinforces my desire to just keep it simple. So, my apologies for asking you to take extra time out for my recent long post. I'll do my best to keep it slim, yet entertaining in the future.

I better stop before this one becomes a long post, because let's face it: People don't want to read long posts!

Former Novel

2010-01-13T10:27:00.005-07:00

Here's a snippet from a former novel I was working on about 6 years ago or so. Forgive the grammar please, it's my arch enemy, right next to spelling.

“I’m sorry ma’am; you just can’t get in alone. Couples only! Not only that, but you don’t exactly look like your at the right place honey…” The doorman exclaimed in a tone of annoyance. He motioned to the next couple in line to come forward and asked for their ID’s. Normally, Kristen wouldn’t even think about going into such a sleazy club, but somehow her search had led her here. She needed to get in, was desperate to do so and willing to do anything.

“I’ll help you,” spoke the feminine voice from behind her left side.

Kristen turned in question to see who was offering and noticed a beautiful black haired woman dressed in a manner the pope himself couldn’t look away from. Her slender figure filled out the skin tight dress. The dress itself was jet black, matching her hair and pierced with holes up and down the side revealing just enough skin to drive any straight man insane. Her dark colored lips revealed that this woman had more of a exotic persona than could be ignored.

“Excuse me,” spoke Kristen in a confused tone. “Do I know you?”

“You don’t have to, but if you want any chance at getting in this club, you are going to need my help. It just so happens to be your lucky night, because my date turned out to be all talk in the end and so here I am…” The dark haired woman spoke in a slightly seductive tone and at several points in the conversation looked Kristen up and down as if sizing her up for something.

Kristen thought on it for a second before quipping “…and your name is?”

“Falicia,” spoke the woman as she extended her hand in a gesture of good greeting. Kristen didn’t feel right about something, but dismissed her concerns as she considered her other options. She returned the greeting and they shook.

“I’m Kristen.” Their eyes locked in a mutual embrace as they exchanged pleasantries. “I’m kinda new to the scene, so I hope you can forgive my attire,” said Kristen as she displayed her less-than-formal wear.

“Not at all, Kristen. In fact, most of the people here are more concerned with being comfortable, not that you don’t look ravishingly beautiful in your t-shirt and jeans.” As she spoke with a hint of sarcasm a very strong woman walked past them towards the entrance. She donned a black leather outfit worthy of Halloween and carried a leash in her hand that led to a young man. The man wore a matching black leather outfit and had a collar on his neck. She walked him in past the bouncer and doorman.

Kristen blushed enough to cause her to look away. She was somewhat flattered and yet somewhat embarrassed at the truth of the statement, noticing everyone else around her. She was entirely underdressed for any club, even the kind without dress codes. She had heard rumors of what went on in this place, but couldn’t pretend to be something she was not, so she opted to avoid the gothic gear and instead went for just being clothed.

“Let’s not concern ourselves with all of that now though. Come with me.” Falicia held onto Kristen’s hand and led her to the front door. She looked at the doorman and as they exchanged glances, he didn’t ask any questions, but instead stepped aside letting both girls in.

Upon entering the club Kristen had to let her eyes adjust between the darkness and flashing lights. The light show was mid-session and it played tricks on her mind as she saw people around her move as if they were in slow motion. The glimpses she caught of everyone around her revealed more leather clad couples, some of which were taking part in acts she couldn’t quite bare to watch. She had heard of blood raves as a teenager and even considered going with her “bad boy” boyfriend in college, but Kristen was just too… well, Kristen.

Falicia continued to lead her by the hand past the dirty tables, blood stained cups and dark paraphernalia. Kristen held her fear and concern at bay and tried to stay strong for her sister, after all if a place like this couldn’t shed some light on how to track down a twisted kill with blood fetishes, no place would.

As they approached a darker corner somewhat hidden from the barrage of lights and music, the two eventually took their seats. Falicia offered her a drink, not caring what Kristen would prefer. In fact, the drink was someone else’s, gained from a former patron at a nearby table. Kristen tried not to show her dissatisfaction with being given someone’s drink, not knowing what foul substance could be in it. She took it with a look of gratitude and set it on the table in front of her.

“So what brings you to the underbelly of social normalcy?” Falicia looked at her with hidden emotion as if bluffing a foul hand at a poker match. “Usually when people want to ‘try new things’ they tend to carry themselves a little differently than you are right now. Somehow I think you’ve wandered off the beaten path for more than just a good time…”

The corner of Kristen’s lips curved up revealing a slightly embarrassed yet obvious facial expression that screamed ‘you’re right.’ “It’s true, I haven’t been anywhere like this before, but I’m not here for me. I’m here to find a friend of a friend.”

“And does this person know you are looking for them, or are you simply a stalker with an open book policy?” Falicia played with the black pearls that hung gently off her neck just above her breasts. She never took her eyes of Kristen, peering at her with intent.

“Truth be told, I have a message to give this woman, but I’m having a hard time tracking her down. She doesn’t know me, nor does she know I’m looking for her, but I have nothing to hide. Well, except for a little embarrassment given my current circumstances.” Kristen lifted her eyes up and around surveying the room she sat in.

“An attractive innocent woman with a mystery message… I can’t say I’m not intrigued, but you are a terrible liar. I can see you have something to hide and it’s your prerogative either way, so I won’t pry.” The women’s eyes locked in a battle of wits as Falicia tried to draw out some form of emotion from Kristen. “I’ll tell you what, there’s a phrase that has withstood the test of time and its more than suitable for this very occasion.”

“What phrase is that?” asked Kristen. Her brows rose up in curiosity,

“You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours. It just so happens I know where to find the person you are looking for.”

Kristen shot forward out of her chair, but soon realized how quickly she was reacting. She caught control of herself and asked, “How can you know where to find her, you don’t even know who I’m looking for?”

“You obviously don’t have any clue who you are sitting with here. You need only know that a girl has her wiles and in the end if I want to help you, you’ll get what you are looking for. So, make me want to help you.”

Kristen returned Falicia’s gaze and began to contemplate her options. She knew she had no reason to trust this woman, but also knew she had no other leads and felt shy on ally’s these days. “What did you have in mind?” Kristen regretted the words, even as she spoke them.

Jumping Genre Batman!

2010-01-12T09:44:00.004-07:00

As a general rule of thumb, most of my reading in the past has been of books that are educational. I strayed away from fiction novels for the most part, not because I didn't enjoy them, but because I felt I always had to prove something to my peers and family. This thought process drove me to pick books that would "teach me something," rather than entertain me. I did have a few fiction novels in there, but mostly I stuck with books that explained how things were or are.

Some examples of books in my library are

The Knight in History

A Brief History of Time

The Code Book: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography

The Search for Superstrings, Symmetry, and the Theory of Everything

Recently though, I've begun to back down from that type of reading and really delve into the imaginary world of fiction. Like I said, I rather enjoy it, but it used to be trumped by the educational reading. As I look at fictional work, I find that I tended to stay in the sci-fiction/fantasy genre, but recently I gave in and tried some recommendations by fellow readers. "LOOK Ma, I'm expanding my horizons!"

One such read was the Twilight series, which, I understand most of us are sick of hearing about, but let's be honest...it was a pretty good read. At least I thought so. I would have never picked it up, had I known what it was really about, but I was duped into reading it, because a co-worker told me it was a book about vampires. After finishing the whole series though, I found myself realizing that YA fiction wasn't a category I should stray from anymore. Previously, I'd avoided it, thinking that it was childish or somehow not as literary-powerful. I was wrong. Another such read was the book Shiver. Just finished it yesterday (Amazing how much reading you can do when you're home sick). Again, I was very entertained by it and I've been playing around with the idea of writing a YA fiction novel.

How about you all.

Do you have any genres that you used to avoid and were pleasantly surprised when you tried them out?

Have any of them influenced your desire to write in a different genre than what you'd consider "your speciality?"

No Post Today

2010-01-11T16:04:00.003-07:00

Sorry for the lack of post/comments today, but I had the day off for some dental work AND apparently, the sinus infection has done a round robin between the 5 kiddos and my beautiful bride-to-be and now it's back to me!

BLAH! Will it ever end!?

HAPPY HAPPY JOY JOY

2010-01-08T13:36:00.004-07:00

No, I'm not posting about Ren and Stimpy. Those little characters always disgusted me, even though it was supposed to be somewhat child-friendly.

I'm actually posting about an award I received from Ash over at "From Ramblings to Interviews." It's a great blog that I follow and I recommend checking it out. On to the award.

I received the Happy 101 Sweet Friends Award. (At least I think that's what it's called. I just chose the largest letters on the award's picture and went with it) ANYWAY, it is given to bloggers that make you happy or are sweet. I'm going to roll with the "makes you happy" concept. The rules state that I have to list 10 things that make me happy, tag the person who originally awarded me, then pass it on. If you followed one of my blog posts about a past award, I stated that I believe passing awards on to many many recipients takes away from the "award" aspect, so I will only choose 2 people to pass it on to.

The following blogs are ones that I frequent and I find myself smiling often from posts, even if I don't always have a chance to comment on them. So, here's who I'm passing the award to:

1. Catwoods
AND, despite his blog title including the words "blogging blues"
2. Bane of Anubis

Beyond that, here are my answers for 10 things that make me happy, in no particular order:

1. Baby Animals
2. Jesus
3. Hostess Products (especially of the chocolate kind)
4. Playing my piano
5. Writing
6. My soon to be wife
7. Income tax returns
8. My blogging community of friends
9. Online MMO Rpg's
10. Science

I May Never Finish My Novel

2010-01-07T13:29:00.004-07:00

I recently purchased a book called "The Writer's Guide to Character Traits," to help me in the development of new characters for my novels. I have a pretty vivid imagination, but when it comes to the dynamic nature of a character, there are certain qualities that are inherently more common in certain personality types. As I was scanning through the pages, searching for a character type for my WIP's antagonist, I ran across the trait called "Perfectionist." I couldn't pass up reading it, since I've always felt that I was a perfectionist, and I found that I was absolutely right. The qualities and description were almost dead on and I really felt like it helped put into words how I've felt about myself for years.

I realize there are a myriad of character types out there, but which categories would you put yourself into? I look forward to hearing from you all!

Doomed

2010-01-06T09:20:00.002-07:00

I had a very strange moment last night. After I had fallen asleep, it must have been maybe about 30 minutes or so after, I awoke suddenly with a powerful feeling of dread. It was from a dream I had been having and yet I could not recall what the dream entailed. The feeling that I was left with, was extremely tangible and left me with a curious thought:

"Could I write in such a way as to bring that kind of a feeling of dread to my readers?"

I am not a horror writer, but that doesn't mean that I don't have situations in my novels where impending doom is present. If that is the case, do I have what it takes to scribe the perfect set of words to bring about such a feeling for my readers? Do you?

I'd like to know, have you ever written something so powerful, that you or your reader has felt that overwhelming sense of dread or fear? If so, what elements do you feel helped you accomplish that task?

Oh My

2010-01-05T12:04:00.004-07:00

Oh my... I'm very busy all of a sudden at work. New year + new office procedures. It's not giving me any time to post much or comment. I'll try to catch up later with you guys, hopefully in the next day or so.

Keep writing! :)

Yay For Technology

2010-01-04T08:47:00.003-07:00

Over this weekend, my soon to be father in law decided to upgrade his phone. He got the latest and greatest model that can do just about everything except for cook breakfast. So, lucky for me, he decided to give me his former phone, which by all standards is pretty amazing. I got the Blackberry Curve. Here's a picture.

I imagine you all might be wondering why I'm telling you this. You're probably asking something like:

"Why would Voidwalker be blogging about a phone, did he get a marketting deal with Blackberry to promote them or something?"

Well.......... no, but I am telling all of you, my blogging-about-writing-friends, because this new phone has an application in it whch allows me to use it as an E-reader! I'm very excited, because I was sincerely interested in purchasing a Kindle or Nook. Now, I don't have to spend 100's of dollars on those devices. Granted, the Blackberry doesn't have the snazzy e-reader technology that makes the screen look like a real book, but, I'm not complaining.

I'm sure you are all holding your breath asking "Which books did you download!?" So, here they are, in random order.

These were free downloads by the way, so nothing new, but that doesn't mean they aren't descent reads.

1. Robin Hood
2. The Oddysey
3. The Illiad
4. Frankenstein
5. Oedipus Trilogy
6. The Witch of Prague
7. Treasure Island
8. Olympian Nights
9. Evolution of the Japanese Social and Psychic
10. The Mysterious Island

So, If you come by and don't see an update to your comment, chances are I'm reading Frankenstein on my new Blackberry lol. Forgive me, but I'm a sucker for new technology!

The Dragon Wasn't Real?

2009-12-31T08:18:00.008-07:00

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess. This princess lived alone in a tower, far far away. The tower was guarded by a large dangerous dragon. One day a handsome young prince was riding along and encountered the dragon. Noticing that the dragon was guarding something, the prince decided to fight off the dragon and claim its prize. Little did the prince know what he was in store for...

END CHAPTER

NEXT CHAPTER

The prince dashed in with his sword blazing and swung with all his might. Only after the prince had ran through the cardboard cutout of the dragon, did he realize that he had been duped. It was a fake. PROCEED TO DISAPPOINTED READER FACE

Do you ever notice when books tend to do this. They throw in scenes at the end of a chapter that get you all pumped up, ready to read on, only to break out the dreaded "false alarm," card. To me, it's a cheating way to write. Yeah, it gets the reader to bypass their brain's recommendation to put the book down and go to bed (after all, it is 4am and you have to get up in 2 hours) but then what, you read on and the author completely closes down that climactic moment by avoiding the conflict and simply saying "never mind everybody, it's ok....it's ok."

Does anyone know of any SPECIFIC moments like this in any books you've read recently? Does it give you faith that the author will know how to tie up the ultimate climax of their book?

Results Are In & You Are . . .

2009-12-30T08:39:00.004-07:00

Freaks... that's right. Freaks, the whole lot of you. Just kidding. Here's the results of the poll from yesterday after a whopping 20 votes. Thanks everyone for participating. As it stands:

25% of you would fit best into a story involving shirtless boys and high school summer flings. YA FICTION

20% of you feel you may be better off with pointy ears, or playing with magic as you find your true calling in a land far far away. FANTASY

15% of you are cloaked with an air of questions as you make your way through the mysterious who-dun-its of your daily life. MYSTERY

15% of you find solace deep amongst the cyborgs and deep space pilots as you swing into action carrying your trusted nerve-blasters and retina scanners. SCIENCE FICTION

10% of you can't get your head out of the gutter and simply are loathe to be anywhere than in the arms of your lover. ROMANCE

10% of you are happy as a clam to spend time with the forefathers of our great civilization and the events that shaped ours as well as many nations of the world. HISTORICAL FICTION

5% of you rub elbows with Freddy, Jack, the Blob, IT and a fruit basket of scary characters amidst the halls of fear central. HORROR

AND Last, certainly least (in my book) is the WESTERN Genre. Not a single one of you went knee high in boots and spurs, riding your horse to the nearest saloon.

Yay, I made a poll

2009-12-29T09:30:00.002-07:00

Whirpool-of-Suggestions Question

2009-12-28T09:46:00.004-07:00

As a novice writer, I could benefit from plenty of advice in the area of creative writing and novel planning in general. I'd like to tap my resource of friends (YOU) and ask:

Are there any seminars, conferences, classes or utilities that you believe I could benefit from, other than books about said topic?

What has helped you as a writer/author?

Keeping it Light

2009-12-23T12:23:00.004-07:00

Just wanted to drop a light-hearted post here for everyone while I force myself to stop blogging until I return to work on 12-28-09. I may still stop by for comments, because comments are so addictive to me, but anyway enjoy the video and happy holidays to everyone out there. Keep writing and be safe!

A Forgotten Poem

2009-12-22T15:45:00.004-07:00

I wrote this a while back when I was going through some pain over a lost relationship. I read it today and thought I'd share it. I know writing and poetry are two different worlds, but in my life they are both outlets for me. So, here ya go:

Shed the Pain

Graven images of ill-born memory,
blockade against my mind.

Forlorn thoughts of recent events,
break thru, trying to remind.

As people pass and days grow cold,
The feelings get in the way.

My heart it aches and hardens now,
My soul it darkens day by day.

Favored tales so full of hope,
They shed their false birthed life.

Forever reminding people like me,
reminding me of stress and strife.

One day I will walk away,
One day I'll be true.

And on that day, I'll not look back,
I'll shed my thoughts of you.

A Few Things

2009-12-22T08:30:00.009-07:00

First of all, I wanted to say Merry Christmas from me (since I celebrate Christmas) and Happy Holidays to you (Since I have no idea what/if you celebrate).

Second of all, I received an award from Diana Paz, called "From Me to You." Thank you VERY much! I love comments and I'm honored to receive any awards or shout outs people send my way. According to the award stipulations, I'm supposed to share 7 facts about myself. So, here they are.

1. I am a type 1 diabetic. I was diagnosed at 8 years old and have been struggling with it my whole adult life.

2. I was born and raised LDS or Mormon, for 18 years, then left the church before I was supposed to go on a mission and eventually dedicated my life to Christ as a non-denominational Christian about 1 year later. You could call me a Born-Again Christian if you want to lable me lol.

3. I spent 3 weeks by myself on a personal vacation to Tokyo, Japan. I have loved Japan and everything about it since I was a young boy. I followed that passion and made my dream come true by saving money and going there.

4. I think baby animals are so much more adorable than baby humans.

5. When I was 15 years old, I went fishing and picked up some kind of poison from the water and ended up in the hospital for a month and a half. I was on death's door. Imagine me, 6ft tall and I weight 90lbs. Not fun!

6. I'm addicted to Dr. Pepper...(I know, I know. Bad diabetic)

7. I've been going to school at Glendale Community College off and on since I was 16 years old. Still don't have my degree since I've spaced out my classes so much.

Also, in order for an award to be considered special, I believe it should be given out lightly. I see some awards with suggestions on them to be passed to 15 other bloggers etc... In my opinion, it takes away from the award-aspect, if everyone gets it. SO, I'm awarding it to only 1 blogger. My award goes to one of my newest blogger friends, Stephanie Damore, that I had the pleasure of getting to know better yesterday through her chat party.

Official Kissing Day Blogfest

2009-12-21T15:08:00.010-07:00

Ok, so as I perused my fellow bloggers' pages, I noticed that today is apparently Official Kissing Day Blogfest. All in all, I believe it points us, as writers, toward a topic of blogging which should involve something or all to do with kissing. So, here's my little blurb. I threw it together just so I could say I played along. Hopefully it doesn't disappoint, but honestly I'm not too sure about my romance writing skill.... Be gentle.

Here's a quote from a scene which I'll intentionally put into my prequel to Trueborn.

“Come closer,” ordered Brenna with her silky voice. Her words frolicked with authority and kindness alike.

Vallen stepped forward keeping his eyes to the ground. His senses screamed with intensity as he breathed in her scent. The aroma of costly perfumes wafted off her pale skin and found refuge in Vallen. His heart beat faster with each word she spoke.

“It is not permitted for me to be here my lady,” he countered.

Suddenly, Brenna’s soft fingertips guided Vallen’s chin upward. The two held each others’ gaze. Vallen tried to look away, but just couldn't bring his eyes to obedience.

“Please,” she began, “tell me more of yourself, but do not speak to me as you should; speak to me as you are free.”

“If I would be free to speak, then let me say what is in my heart?” Vallen waited for her to agree.

“Please do.”

Without hesitation Vallen stood from bended knee and pulled Brenna’s body toward his own. Their lips touched in an effortless attraction toward one another. With one hand, Vallen held the small of her back while his other hand embraced her upper neck. Their hearts sped as the world around them disappeared amidst the symphony of their passion.

-------------------------------Ok, I found the rules here---------------------------------

Here is what to do if you want to participate in the Official Kissing Day Blogfest:

1. Write a post telling about the Official Kissing Day Blogfest. This way more writer/bloggers will get the word and be able to participate on Monday, Dec. 21st.

2. Tweet about it, using the hash tag: #kissingdayblogfest (I don't know if this will help get the word out, but I thought it might be fun to try.)

3. On Monday, December 21st, post on your blog an excerpt from your current WIP, or write a new scene that spotlights a kiss or an "almost kiss".

4. If you are not a writer, or are uncomfortable sharing your work online, post your favorite kissing scene or almost-kissing scene from any book or movie.

**Please note that you do NOT have to do #1 or #2 to participate. I was trying to think of a way to get more writers to join in on the fun, but it is NOT mandatory! Just post your kissing scene on Monday for our reading pleasure!

The official Kissing Day Blogfest is hosted over at Making A Dream Become Reality. If you want to participate, hop on over and add the link to her page so we can all enjoy which kissing scene is your favorite!

Shocker

2009-12-21T08:28:00.002-07:00

So my beautiful bride-to-be tells me that she's not a bookstore person.............................. 'breathe' I have to tell myself...............ok, all better.

My response: "I thought you liked books?"

Her reply: "My dad could totally get lost in a bookstore and be happy as a clam, but me, I could care less."

Talk about "Opposites Attract."

So, what about you guys out there? Do your significant others share the same passion for books that you do?

Remembering Elementary School

2009-12-18T12:18:00.004-07:00

I had a memory come back to me that I hadn't recalled for years. I was thinking of a new novel idea and I was reminded of something that I did as a young guy in about 5th grade. My teacher, Mrs. really-hard-to-pronounce-German-name, gave us a spelling word assignment. She told us that we had to use about 10 different spelling words from our list and write a short story which included all of those words.

I don't remember what the words were, but I do remember how much of a wise ass I was and so I decided to use all my brain power to cheat through the assignment without getting in trouble. So, I ended up writing a story about a young man who was in class one day and given an assignment by his teacher much like my own. He was to include the following words. Then I put my spelling list words down. The story ended by stating that the young man didn't quite now how to use them, so he just didn't do the assignment.

When I turned it in, my teacher read it aloud and realized what I had done and smiled. She told me that I was supposed to use them in a story and I explained that I had. My story did in fact include every word she gave me and so I should get a passing grade. She thought it was funny and gave me a passing A, but then the next time she gave a similar assignment, you bet your sweet biscuits that she gave a disclaimer: No writing stories like the one that voidwalker did. (insert my real name for voidwalker).

Any of you have any funny writing stories from your childhood years that bring a smile to your face?

Are You Up For the Challenge?

2009-12-17T10:22:00.005-07:00

I'd like to propose a challenge to my fellow writers. We all have words that we've come across which roll off the tongue about as well as a mudslide rolls off a mountain. Ugly words. Words which, if it were up to us would be removed from the language.

So, here's the challenge. Peruse your dictionary, find such a word and see if you can work it into your novel or work in progress'. The challenge though is not to just use the word, but to use it in such a way as to make it sound so good that the reader would desire to use that word in their own writing (if they write).

I'm interested to know what words you all would like to try to use and maybe if you work it in, you'd be willing to share how it was woven into your masterpieces! :)

Happy Writing.

P.S. Thanks everyone for the warm wishes on getting better. I'm still a little under the weather, but I see little rays of light in the near future.

Sick

2009-12-15T08:29:00.002-07:00

Sorry for the missing posts. I've just gotten hit with a little bug of some kind. Possibly a flu or something. I will try to be back for posts by Thursday.

Bad Day

2009-12-13T16:39:00.003-07:00

I don't think the phrase "Bad Day" is enough to express my frustration.

More to come when I pull myself down from Anger Mountain.

7 Things & What a Day!

2009-12-11T16:23:00.005-07:00

So, today has been officially a good blogger day for me. I came back after a nice day off to find that not only had I been awarded the "Lovely Blog Award," but Candice over at Suffering From Writer's Blogawarded me with the "Honest Scrap Award." From what I've gathered, this award is given to people for their honest and open blogging.

I am very honored to receive this and can't say thank you enough to everyone who has been coming by lately to read what I have to say. I welcome your comments and am blessed by each and every one.

Part of the rules for this award require me to share 7 honest things about myself that you may or may not know. So, here they be:

1. I'm openly in love with Japan and all things Japanese. I spent 3 weeks in Tokyo by myself just to experience it. If I had it my way, I'd be living there right now.

2. I tried to hold a sneeze one time during a math test, while I was sitting next to a girl I had a crush on, and accidentally farted because of the pressure from the sneeze.

3. I'm a big fan of video games, both computer and console. I became hooked when I was a little boy as I watched my father play Final Fantasy 1..... those were the days.

4. I am an Eric Clapton Fan.

5. I am afraid of dark water and most spiders.

6. I am a first degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do

7. I prefer boxers, not briefs (ok, maybe that's a little too honest)

The other requirement for this award is to choose 2 more individuals who deserve it. In this case, I'm nominating the following.

Charles over at Razored Zen
INTERN over at The Intern

Aside from the awards, I also managed to gather up to 21 followers! I can't tell you how excited that makes me. I recall the days where I had none and I was very lonely here by myself. You guys have really made my day.

Day Off

2009-12-11T08:43:00.008-07:00

So, yesterday I had a day off. Sorry if I missed anything and for not posting. I was busy trying to catch up on the Christmas shopping and relaxificationing. (I want to coin that word)

In the mean time, it appears that I was given an award. Thanks Diana! (And yes, us boys appreciate blog awards too) I've seen these awards on other bloggers sites and never really knew what they were all about. Ultimately I'm understanding that this blog goes out to people who have, as the award states, one lovely blog. So, per the rules of the award, I'm also supposed to award fellow bloggers. It says 15, but 15 might be a little out of control. So, I'm going to pick 5 people, whos blogs really stand out to me. Here goes my awarding.

1. Lydia @ The Sharp Angle
2. David @ Nephite Blood, Spartan Heart (Cuz, Sword-Slinging can be lovely too)
3. Lynn @ Behler Blog
4. Sophie @ Sophie Playle
5. Natalie @ Natalie Bahm: Wife, Mother, Writer

To all of you who I awarded, thanks for your blogging escapades. I appreciate your advice, quips, tips and quotes. Your blogs inspire me and many others and I hope they will continue to do so for many-a-days to come!

I Love Tag

2009-12-08T16:59:00.007-07:00

Girl With One Eye over at a Squirrel Amongst Lions was playing tag and she ran over and poked me. I'm it, so here's the questionaire that comes with being it along with my answers. Since I'm it now, I'm going to tag 2 more people randomly. CKHB and David. Hope you keep the game going....

1. What's the last thing you wrote? What's the first thing you wrote that you still have?
The last thing I wrote is part of my Work in Progress called Trueborn. It's had to undergo a lot of revisions as the story takes life. I'm hoping to have it finished in the next 4-5 months or so. The first thing I still have would be love poems regarding a girl in my highschool.

2. Write poetry?
See above answer: or YES

3. Angsty poetry?
I have a lot of dark poetry. I found that my writing helped me express myself during some down periods of my teenage life.

4. Favorite genre of writing?
I'm probably more of a Sci-Fi / Fantasy writer. I don't write about super Gung Ho themes in either, but rather, I try to blend reality into those genres by introducing "possible" things. Does that make sense? Probably not LOL.

5. Most annoying character you've ever created?
Annoying like pestering would be Serina. She's a young girl who was turned into a vampire and maintains a bit of her childish nature even though she is several hundred years old.

6. Best Plot you've ever created?
I REALLY love the plot to Trueborn, but it is very much on hold to talk about until I finish and start writing my query letter. Other than that, I have a really awesome plot involving a character dealing with the truth behind deja vu.

7. Coolest Plot twist you've ever created?
Can't tell you yet. You'll have to wait for Trueborn to hit the shelves!

8. How often do you get writer's block?
I can't really say. It comes and goes. Sometimes my ideas are flowing like a faucet and other times I feel like I'm a barren wasteland of thought.

9. Write fan fiction?
No. I'm not sure I could do that without feeling guilty.

10. Do you type or write by hand?
TYPE... My handwriting is wretched.

11. Do you save everything you write?
I try to save any significant amounts of work I produce. I use it to look back on and see how I've grown as a writer.

12. Do you ever go back to an idea after you've abandoned it?
I haven't done that per say, but I have a lot of ideas that I've put on hold till my current project is done. I have about 5 or so full story concepts that I'd love to write, but I am focusing on one at the moment.

13. What's your favorite thing you've ever written?
I began writing a fantasy series based on some role playing that I did in the game Vampire. My friends and I were role playing as vampires with powers and I jotted down info from the sessions then refined it into a 3rd person story. My character was an African American male stuck in the 70's (style-wise) named Spitts. It was a pretty funny story.

14. What's everyone else's favorite story that you've written?
So far, I've gotten more compliments about my current WIP (Trueborn)

15. Ever written romance or angsty teen drama?
No. I attempted to write some romance, but somehow it always comes out tooooo steamy, almost erotica. So, until I read more actual romance for some ideas, then I'll probably avoid it.

16. What's your favorite setting for your characters?
In one of my scenes from Trueborn, they main character and his companions have to breach a vampire coven that also doubles as a prison/torture system called H.Q.P. I thoroughly enjoyed the idea of the facility, based on how it functions.

17. How many writing projects are you working on right now?
I take Trueborn seriously, I fool around with other projects in the mean time

18. Have you ever won an award for your writing?
Not yet, but soon I hope :P

19. What are your five favorite words?
Chagrin, Languid, Lilac, Genesis, Dubious

20. What character have you created that is most like yourself?
A main character of Trueborn. His name is Vallen. He is an emotion driven, punch first ask questions later kinda guy

21. Where do you get ideas for your characters?
My characters aren't necessarily modeled after anyone, but more focused on personality types that I see in others.

22. Do you ever write based on your dreams?
I have written my own dream journal. I started writing down all my dreams and continued to do so until I had 100 dreams written down. I used LuLu self-publishing to print out a copy for myself that I called "Illusions of Grandeur: 100 Nights of Dreaming"

23. Do you favor happy endings?
That sounds like a dirty question?

24. Are you concerned with spelling and grammar as you write?
More grammer than spelling. Spell check saves my hide, but grammer is a little more dangerous and ultimately what I think and editor will love or hate me for.

25. Does music help you write?
Yes it does. Depending on the scene, I will play music that mimics my emotion behind that scene.

26. Quote something you've written. Whatever pops into your head.
Anger, love, pain and joy, express the way we feel,
but a fight, a wound, a kiss and tears of joy, those are what make us real.

Having a Little Fun

2009-12-08T12:54:00.003-07:00

Not that every one of my posts isn't AMAZINGLY fun to read, but here's something a little less serious for everyone.

I was musing on the generalizations we have surrounding genres and decided to use "Jack" to describe possible titles for said genres. So, here we go.

Romance - Jack and Jill
Sci-Fi - Jack vs. the Zo'orgonauts
Religious - Jack Finds Jesus
Young Adult - Diary of a Teenage Jack
Women's Interest - Jack's Wife
Biography - Jacked Up
Western - Jumpin Jack Jaroo
Action/Adventure - Jack Attack
Horror - Jack-the-Rippa
Children's Fiction - See Jack Run

Ok, I left one blank for you. Any thoughts for "Fantasy" genre? I'm excited to see your titles.

The Write Conditions

2009-12-08T08:26:00.003-07:00

So, I'm a mostly-native Phoenician here in Arizona and as most people imagine, it's SUNNY SUNNY SUNNY 24/7. The implication of that would be, I hate the sun... (Ok, hate is a strong word, maybe not hate, but definitely don't enjoy) I get the sun so much that I can easily say I'm sick of it. When we get a nice overcast day out here, I really pep up. I mean, it's like running into a long lost school mate that you used to be best friends with and haven't seen in years.

On to the point:

As I think about it, I imagine what my best conditions would be for writing. If it were up to me, it'd be something like this.

1. It would be overcast and or pouring rain.
2. I would be in my office which would have books from wall to wall around me
3. I'd have a Siberian Husky curled up next to my desk
4. I'd have no children within 800 yards of me
5. I would have breakfast, lunch and dinner served to me via butler or french maid! :P

I'm pretty sure that's my dream writing conditions. What would yours be?

Music to Writing is like________

2009-12-04T16:27:00.005-07:00

Bonnie to Clyde, Hot Dogs to Baseball, Grease to Mechanic etc... You get the picture.

Often times I find I can concentrate more on my writing when I have some form of static noise or music. I'd prefer music, but if it's not available, at least a good fan will do. When I do have music available though, I'll listen to whatever style suits the scene I'm working on. If it's action, I'll try to throw on some high energy techno, or rock, while if it's simply dialogue or filler text, I may listen to something a bit more mellow. In times,of writing emotional moments or apex dialogue, I try to listen to my cousin William Joseph's music. He has two CD's called Within and Beyond. He was signed with Time Warner a few years ago as a hot shot piano player. (I never liked the word pianist) lol.

Anyway, his contemporary approach to piano mixed with just enough orchestra really makes for great background music. I'm proud to say, he's my cousin and I taught him everything he knows... Well not everything, but most of everything... Ok fine, not all that much, but he's taught me a few things on the piano and I'm a much more refined pianist(ugh) for it.

If you get a chance, hop on Pandora Online Radio or YouTube and check him out. He's Incredible. Maybe his music can inspire some of your writing.

Or for those of you who are incredibly lazy, like myself at times, here's a clip.

But How Does it End?

2009-12-04T13:58:00.002-07:00

My brain hurts to think today. I'm going to avoid a long post. I will say this though, I started reading Shiver. I'm a sucker for covers and I saw this in my local bookstore. Not only that, but I saw several of my blogger friends who claimed it was pretty good, so I'm going to check it out. I still plan on finishing The Shadow of the Wind, but I needed to restart it anyway, so it's on hold for now.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Cast of Trueborn

2009-12-03T15:16:00.005-07:00

Inspiration comes in many forms. When I imagine a character in my mind, for a story I'm writing, I tend to look around on the internet to find a picture of a person who mirrors what I imagine. When I do, I use that picture for inspiration to keep my vision clear. So, I just wanted to share some pictures that I found of various people, from a royalty free stock photo site, which represent the major character cast of my WIP: "Trueborn."

My question to you is, "Do you have any odd things like this, that you do, that help you stay on track with your writing."

The 1st Novel

2009-12-02T09:11:00.005-07:00

Today's post is simple. It's more of a question really.

If you are an agent, editor, or publisher, here is your question:
Do you believe it is wise for an author to try to pitch his 1st novel after finishing it, or suggest they write a second one to pitch which may be better due to the experience gained from the first one.

If you are a published author, here is your question:
Do you think your first novel was as good, in quality, as your 2nd 3rd etc... If you think your writing/storytelling has gotten better, do you wish you would have saved your first novel's idea for now, now that you have more experience.

If you are an aspiring author, here is your question:
Is the 1st novel you intend to pitch your "BEST" idea, or are you just hoping to get your foot in the door after being published, only to "bring out the good wine" later, so to speak?

Tiger Woods Scandal

2009-12-01T15:38:00.005-07:00

So, if you live under a rock, you may not have heard that Tiger Woods is on center stage for a big scandal. This comes after an auto accident, which allegedly involved Tiger Woods running into a tree & a fire hydrant. Suddenly people are claiming his wife came out pissed off and decided to beat him with a golf club. Others are saying that his airbag didn't deploy and he was trapped, which is why she was swinging at the car(NOT HIM) to help him get out.

I have another theory:

Dick Cheney was in the neighborhood and Tiger decided to show him his sweet ride. While Tiger's spinning doughnuts in the street, Dick pulls out his shotgun and says, "Oh yeah? Check this out." He shoots out the tires on accident, Tiger crashes, his wife comes out thinking he's being attacked and starts swinging the golf club at Cheney in her pajamas. Tiger gets hit by accident, Dick runs and now they are suddenly in the midst of a media storm with Scandal written all over it.

Case solved! Tiger was Cheney'd

Review: Across the Nightingale Floor

2009-12-01T09:20:00.008-07:00

I recently read Across the Nightingale Floor by Liam Hearn. It is the first in a series of books known as Tales of the Otori. The series, if I'm not mistaken, was meant to be a trilogy, but was so well received that a fourth book was written. Afterwards, Liam ended up wrapping everything together, Star Wars style, by releasing the prequel called "Heaven's Net Wide."

I have not read the others yet, but am very excited to do so. The first book maintained an air of historical competence and mystery that fueled my own love for ancient Japan. The main character, a young man named Takeo, accidentally falls into a journey that brings him to the brink of death and back again as he consorts with assassins and royal samurai alike in an attempt to discover himself and bring down a warlord of a neighboring land. This book doesn't just appeal to the side of me that secretly wants to live in Japan, but also reaches my heart as a budding love story begins in the first novel.

So, bottom line time:

Read this IF

1. You enjoy anything Asian (Especially Japanese)
2. You enjoy fantasy based fiction
3. You are secretly an assassin and want to know more
4. You enjoy forbidden romance (Cuz, when it's allowed it just isn't as fun)

Notre Coeur Ensemble

2009-11-30T15:22:00.004-07:00

So the Girl With One Eye over at A Squirrel Amongst Lions reminded me that I'm overdue to share some of my old hidden feelings of love. Despite my ex-wife's views on my idea of love, I'm actually a sucker for a good love story. In fact, I've written a good portion of love poems over the years. I don't claim that they are good, but they are what they are. Here is one of the latest poems I wrote for my soon to be bride.

Notre Coeur Ensemble

Along the barren road beyond,
away from all that's well.

Our hearts they ached, destitute,
a loveless hollow shell.

Where "what once was" is just a thought,
and time it plays its game.

Our souls they yearned for something more,
to break us from the pain.

And suddenly aloft our needy thoughts,
a shining ray of light.

Our eyes they met with intense gaze,
love was in our sight.

Now our chains have broken loose,
as we walk off hand in hand.

Our journey now has just begun,
This journey will be grand.

Old Writing

2009-11-30T09:52:00.002-07:00

I found this burried deep in the depths of my old writing. I'm not sure what I was going for, but it may have been an attempt at a short story contest or something. Anyway, aside from the grammer problems (yeah, I know I'm terrible) I hope it's somewhat enjoyable.

Here ya go:

Ten seconds felt like eternity to Brandy as she held her grip on the cliff wall. Her heart raced at a dangerous pace, but kept tempo as a surge of adrenaline flew through her body.

“How stupid,” she said to herself as she held tight to the roots jutting out from the cliff wall.

“I knew my love for bugs would get me killed some day; I just figured it would be by a poisonous sting or something,” spoke Brandy as she clawed for a better grip with her other hand. She watched with irony as the beetle, she had leaned over the edge to pickup, crawled along her hand blissfully making its way to a nearby root.

“Shut up Brandy, don’t talk like that,” yelled the young man above her on the cliff’s edge. He fumbled as he took off his belt hoping it was long enough to reach her. “You're gonna be fine, just hold on and stop talking,”

“Why, you afraid my words are going to weigh me down more,” Brandy sarcastically spoke as she glanced over her shoulder to the drop below her. She had never been afraid of heights, but even her nerves of steel were being tested as she hung a few hundred feet from death.

“No, you’re just annoying me, now grab on!” Brian wrapped his end of the belt around his wrist to provide extra support as he dangled Brandy’s salvation in front of her face.

Brandy reached up with one hand and replaced her grip from the root to the belt now hanging in front of her. Slowly Brian lifted with all his strength.

“Geez, could you go any slower Brian,” she asked as she crept up the cliff wall.

“You know,” grunted Brian in between tugs, “I’ve got half a mind to let you go, but then again, I’m no good at lying and I wouldn’t be able to explain my way out of that one.”

Brandy smiled. Even in her current situation, near death as she was, she still appreciated the humor that came from her boyfriend. The two of them had a dynamic that she had never felt before in any relationship. It comforted her as she clenched the belt with all her strength.

“Oh no,” yelped Brian.

“Stop joking around Brian,” chimed the girl as she waited to be lifted, slowly losing her own strength. “Hurry up and pull me, I can’t hold on much longer.”

Nothing was further from the truth, thought Brian as the belt began to slip from his hand suddenly under the pressure of Brandy’s weight.

Without warning, the belt slid out of Brian’s hands and Brandy’s face bore a look of fear as she began falling.

“I love you Brian,” shouted the girl as she plummeted to the rocky floor below. Her body paralleled Brian's spirit as he watched in horror.

It was the first time Brian ever heard those words from her. It was the only time Brandy would say them.

Identity Theft

2009-11-25T14:39:00.009-07:00

Character development plays a very large role, as any writer knows, in the process of novel-writing. Often times your characters are faces of your own personality, whether buried in the depths of your pain ridden soul, or bubbling out of you like suds from a champagne bottle.

My current novel, Trueborn, features two unique personalities, both of which were modeled after personality types that I've come to understand via the bonds of friendship. The fun thing to watch is, when I'm writing their stories, they almost take on a life of their own and I've even found that they make decisions that almost break the roles they are supposed to be tied to. I write like I'm watching a movie. I see it happening as if watching the scene play out then try to pen it down. (Or type - to be more accurate).

It's amazing though as I watch my story unfold, I notice that even though the characters are supposed to be independent of one another and made up, I feel like I'm writing about me. I'll notice as I look back over chapters I've written and find that characters are making choices, thinking like and behaving like I would if I were in that situation. I think it must be an art to be able to write completely unattached from a character. It's definitely something I have to work on.

Do any of you find that your characters are mirroring you? Is this just an example of author induced reverse identity theft?

Any thoughts?

Where Do You Draw the Line?

2009-11-24T16:44:00.007-07:00

As I consider the requirements of writing a believable novel, I find the best descriptions come from those, not of the imagination, but of the experienced. Afterall, the word author does have its roots in the word authority. So, how can one write about something with which one has no knowledge?

If you ask me, this presents a problem. Does every thing that can be written need to be experienced by an author before it can be written about? No. Of course not. That would be absurd, however I believe there are some things which need to be experienced to write effectively or authoritatively about. So, where do you draw the line? I have a novel that I'm soon to pickup writing again called "In Eyes of Jade." The characters in this novel spend the majority of their time within the halls of a mental institute.

There's the problem.

Despite what some people may say, I'm not crazy and have no experience within such a place. I'd love to really deliver an honest, blunt, realistic and authoritative description of this institute, which demands that I spend some time within one (If I want to get the full effect) I am not suggesting that I hop in the padded cell, slip on the straight jacket and just see how it goes, but rather set up an interview or two with institute workers and or a tour.

Did any of you writers have to go through a dangerous or unique situation to acquire the research for your material? Where do you draw the line?

Any thoughts?

Book Cover Judger's Anonymous

2009-11-24T10:10:00.000-07:00

I think I might need some help. Maybe I should found a new program, for those out there like myself, called "Book Cover Judger's Anonymous."

No, I'm not talking about people here. I'm talking about book covers.

Let's face it, we all are guilty of book cover judging. If we weren't, there'd be no industry involved in, specializing in, dealing with, marketing for.... BOOK COVER DESIGN.

I can tell you that while I know the age old saying about not judging a book by its cover rings home with me, regarding people and prejudices, I do find myself passing up books simply by the art on the outside. Is it terrible? Probably. Am I missing out on some incredible novels...? Probably. Can I change it about myself? Probably, but I enjoy the book covers of the novels I choose. Some, having detailed art of scenes from the book, help me connect with the story as I recall that glossy picture on the cover. Other's leave so much mystery that the art, or lack there of, helps build the intrigue surrounding the story within.

So, on to my questions.

1. If you are a published author, did you care about your book cover design? What influenced you to choose the cover you went with?

2. If you are an aspiring author, do you have any ideas for design? Are you a simplistic person, or do you want something that screams "oooh ooh pick me," on the front of your book?

3. And last, as readers, are you guilty of passing up a book simply because the cover just didn't do it for you?