Blogs

  • A Phantom for My Opera?

    Some days when I doubt myself and my abilities to write I think of employing a ghost writer. But in a bit of a different setup. I will write the first draft and then the potential ghost writer can refine it to a readable/enjoyable state. I love storytelling, and I love the creative process. But my produce just isn't up to par most of the time. Training is like trying to teach an old dog new tricks. I read, I watch, I practice... I learn? Yeah, sometimes I do learn. But I will continue to try my best. So no, I will not employ a phantom for my space opera. I will be the author of my own...
  • The Desperate Search for a New Idea...

    I think I have it... Not a truly different idea in that it's completely unheard of on any level.. But I had quit story-telling for a while because I couldn't think of something genuinely new and interesting. Different in terms of style, structure, and idea. As a fiction writer...I tend to want to [I]create [/I]something. To flex my imagination rather than offering stylistic renditions of the same types of stories. Only problem is...I think I will never complete it in time. I know...cryptic. Useless...but this is more a time-stamp for myself. Maybe, in time, someone will look back on...
  • Hello Predator—Meet Prey! You'll get along famously

    [CENTER][MEDIA=youtube]dK80v17Fkcw[/MEDIA][/CENTER] Finally I've found a good and fairly comprehensive video on this subject, something I've tried many times to elaborate on throughout this blog. [B][I]Iain McGilchrist[/I][/B] seems to be just about the only scientist concentrating on this subject today, aside from some low-key research groups doing studies nobody ever hears about (unless they look into McGilchrist's work). He's its popularizer, the way [B][I]Carl Sagan[/I][/B] and [B][I]Neil DeGrass Tyson[/I][/B] are for astrophysics and science in general. Several times I've explained...
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  • Time, time, time

    On our neighborhood walks my wife and I used to walk past a big old deciduous tree (as I recall, though it may have been a pine). A couple years back, though, it dropped its biggest branch and some others in a storm, and the property owners had it removed. All of it, stump and all. This year when we walked past that spot, there is absolutely no indication that the tree was ever there. Once the next generation of property owners move in, no one will recall that tree. It existed, but now it's totally gone. When we moved into our house more than 20 years back, a semi-retired surgeon and...
  1. !!

    The guy I was asseing told me a little more than a week ago that he just wanted to be friends. he texted me a few times and I told him I needed some space, some time for my ego to heal.

    I was 'fortunate' enough to give my friend a ride home today from work. And while we drove the 50 minutes it took to drive himk home he told me that the guy that I was seeing is now re'seeing the girl that he was seeing that he was dating before me.

    Here's the tricky part.....(i'll give them fake...
  2. " But the moon is scarred."

    Devdas (speaking to his mother after his father's funeral service):

    Bapuji said leave the village, everybody said leave Paro, Paro said leave alcohol. Today you said leave home. One day He will say, leave the world.

    On a whim I brought out Sanjay Leela Bhansali's magnum opus, Devdas. I had been flipping through the novella when I was struck by a wave of nostalgia, and although I knew it would just depress me, I had to see the film again.

    One scene in...
  3. " The right one slipped away"

    I wrote that conversation I had with Joseph the other day, and now I can't get him out of my cranium, and well, knowing me, maybe I don't want to get him out of my head. Maybe I'm more comfortable with him there. At least it beats being lonely.

    I wonder why we said those things to each other. I wonder why I said those things back then: " Do you really need a name?", " Never lose sight of me?"

    Even now it makes me blush to think I said such cheesey lines to him. On...
  4. " Yes, all four quadrants, damnit!"

    I don't believe I could have said it any louder than that - and shouldn't have done so because there was people around - but the girl at the receptionist desk in the dental office was starting to pinch a nerve.

    " Yesh, all four quadranches," I said. I had bloated lips (or what I felt like bloated lips) and could barely move my mouth. I couldn't close them either and was afraid of slobbering all over the counter, so I smothered my mouth with my hand.

    She didn't bat an eyelash.

    " Are...
  5. ". . . you may be a Pikey!"

    If you haven't seen it, I can thoroughly recommend the 'Blue Collar Comedy Tour' DVD, featuring Jeff Foxworthy, Bill Engvall, Ron White and Larry the Cable Guy. Get hold of a copy, you'll be glad you did.

    One of the things on the DVD is the '. . . you may be a redneck!' jokes. Eg: "If you've ever unloaded your pickup by lowering the tailgate, backing up at speed, and stamping on the brake - you may be a redneck!"

    I found that nearly all of those jokes applied to me and my family,...
  6. "..I walked through the air port alone.."

    Life has an interesting way of throwing things at you, spontaneously or not.

    I'm in a weird spot right now. Week days I'm exhausted, wanting to sleep the day away, ignoring everyone around me. And on Week ends, I'm at home, having nothing to do. I don't want to be at work, yet I'm restless where I am.

    Hobbies can be fun, but it's the job of finding one. I used to think my hobbies were reading, piano and the internet. But now? Well, I do those things nearly every day, so I'm...
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  7. "Ah, But I Was So Much Older Then . . .

    . . . I'm younger than that now." Bob Dylan, My Back Pages.

    Someone recently asked me if, now that the Covid-19 restrictions are lessening (at least for now) if I would be shaving my "quarantine beard." I said no, why would I?

    "Because you look younger without it."

    Me: "You mean younger than 70? Why would I want that? Because that's what I am."

    I am not ashamed to be 70. As of now I am in good health (knock wood) and relatively good living conditions (wood...
  8. "Anything Goes"

    "Anything Goes"
    A Biography of the Roaring Twenties
    2010 Lucy Moore
    The Overlook Press
    332 pages plus extensive bibliography and index

    A public library find for me. This was one of the Sunday Times Books of the Year.

    The jacket truthfully describes the contents. I will buy this on Amazon for my personal library. It is one of those books that gives and gives and keeps on giving.
  9. "Aqua Vitae," from WolfSinger Publications

    My novella "Aqua Vitae" will be published by WolfSinger Publications sometime in 2011.

    Jenes Inarya's quest for immortality drives her across the galaxy, but the prospect of eternal life seems to cause more problems than it solves.

    Expect many more updates to this page over the year as more information becomes available.
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  10. "Betrayal" snipper from Chapter 4

    “We have a problem,”

    Rear Admiral (retired) Claudio Reyes looked up as Doctor Louis Matthews entered his office. The look on the doctor’s face was enough to tell him that the quit day he had been enjoying was not at an end. He wondered why he had a sinking feeling it was involved Kate Almir.
    That’s because it generally does, he reminded himself with a snort of contempt.

    Sometimes I wish we had never put the damned cybernetics in her, he reminded himself...
  11. "Capitalize after quotations?" he asked.

    Okay. Now I have read a lot misleading information about capitalizing after quotations especially ending in "!" or "?" Does it depend on the action or structure of the following sentence? I am writing a book and I need to finish it...

    "Help me!" he yelled, as he fell back.
    "Help me!" He yelled and fell back.
    "Help me!" he yelled, and ran away.

    This is driving me batty..... "Help!" He yelled, because he could not figure it out; or get an answer. lol:redface:
    Please respond to me by...
  12. "Checkers and the Pawn"

    Here is a story idea that I am working on.
    I don't know what to do with it, so I am posting as a SLOPPY copy.
    I can picture the unfolding story, but that does not mean I like the way I see it.
    Much less, I kept changing the senctences-- and I feel they are worse.
    Therefore, I am submitting as an idea to others, myself, and perhaps a challenge to work on it further.
    I will add that I just started this as a response to the "Work Drama" fiction contest.
    Obviously, I veered offcourse, in more...
  13. "Cottonclub" gangster movie starring Richard Gere

    Typical prohibition era. This was on premium cable STARZ (February 2). It is probably available at the local public library. An easy movie to watch.
  14. "Daddy's Princess" - What do you think?


    Murky green, russet cries,
    Her eyes, they hide one thousand lies.
    Stories of sorrow, tales of spite,
    A flame inside her mind ignites.

    Willow blonde, ash like hair,
    Your mind is damaged? She doesn’t care.
    She’ll rip your soul into tiny shreds,
    Your heart is dead and her powers spread.

    Seedy, wide, malicious smile,
    She hasn’t seen you in a while.
    With a grin and a laugh, her knuckles crack,
    Her knife is ready for your back.

    She means no harm, or so it seems,
    But a...​
  15. "Get It Done" = Writing tip from Steve Donoghue

    https://youtu.be/2NsUKqT1Who?t=548
    Start at 9:08

    Steve Donoghue is a book nut who discusses books and writing on his YouTube channel, and in this video, he encourages writers to start their NaNoWriMo with something I found encouraging -- and I hope it'll encourage other writers whether they're doing NaNoWriMo or not.

    "Get it done." Set a word goal and just get it done. If it's 2,000 words a day, then write 2,000 words. Don't fret over...
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