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Me watching you watching me

18 Dec

Dear Friends and Acquaintances,

Yesterday, it struck me again how much information is available on the internet. What started out as a two-minute search for the properties of Bloodstone, turned into a three-hour session that covered topics ranging from geology to modern magic to Wicca to various other organized religions to the US Bill of Rights to personal information on a friend of mine. I found the Bloodstone information I was looking for in the first two minutes, but I just could not help myself. One question led to others. It is so easy to get lost in the internet and the nearly limitless amount of information house there. So, needless to say I fell farther behind on my FAD challenge word count.

Then, I jumped on the blogosphere, read a few posts, and made some comments. As I was commenting on a post, it occurred to me, again, how much personal information we share with others without giving it much thought. We talk about ourselves, our families, and our lifestyles. What we like to eat, to drink, where we like to go and things we like to do. Now, I am no longer as paranoid as I used to be in my younger days. I don’t post information about others without their expressed permission. However, there is still a little voice that tells me to pay attention to what goes on around me. People are watching what I say and do. 😐  Dun, dun, duuun!

Since I am giving out so much information on myself, I thought it would be a good idea to keep track of who it is I’m giving this information to. WordPress, to my knowledge, has not seen fit to provide who stops by to view my posts so, I must take matters into my own hands. I decided to create a clone. The clone would need a disguise to ensure no one would know it is me. It cannot sleep and should be easy to care for.

For reasons which I will not get into in this public medium, I have a close relationship to the Rabbit/Hare. Yes, I know they are very different. I am a biologist for crying out loud. However, many people think they are the same thing and I am not inclined to take the time to explain it every time the question comes up. That’s what the internet is for.  🙂 But I digress. I looked through 80,000 images and found a self-portrait which now resides at the top of my blog site.

So, beginning now, I will always be here, watching you watching me!

 
6 Comments

Posted by on December 18, 2012 in Musings and Odd Thoughts

 

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Actress and the Warlock

12 Dec

Since September 21 was the start of the next year of my life, I took some time to reflect and evaluate the past year. I have posted about most of the trials and tribulations of family and friends with medical issues. Also, I have posted about the lake cabin purchase and the positive effect that has been. All of these goings on have taken their toll on writing time.

Overall, I feel I am in a better place than I have been in a long time. My priorities are becoming clearer and writing is bubbling up to take on an important role going forward. In light of this revelation, I have decided to get back to the original purpose of this blog. My intention is to post more of my writing. Though I am still nervous about posting excerpts from my novel-in-progress, I have decided to share a few scenes from the MS as well as other “ideas in the works”. The plan is to post these every other week while trading off with writing tips, thoughts or concerns. Please, let me know if anything piques your interest.

The first one will be a continuation of a previous post, My Scene, a story line that began as a writing exercise. I thought the character was interesting and mixing urban fantasy with a western novel flair made me curious to write more of the story. I’m planning on this being a short story to see if the character and premise works. This short introduction sets up the initial meeting of the protagonist with his client and provides a little background.

    The rain started before I left Grandfather Puma’s hogan in Tres Piedres. Grandfather Puma was a shaman who lived up in the hills a mile from the black top. The fine dust that filled the tire ruts he called a driveway turned to red clay soup. I needed the Jeep Cherokee’s four-wheel drive to get back to the pavement that led east to Taos. The rain stopped before I reached the Rio Grande Gorge so, it was little help in washing off the Jeep before I got to the turn off to Amy Hatcher’s ranch. Since it wouldn’t make much of a first impression on an Oscar-winning actress if the Wizard King’s Marshall left a pile of red mud on her blue flagstone driveway, I headed into Taos to find a car wash.

     I came to a stop in the car wash stall and heard several plops, as the accumulation of New Mexico’ clay began to fall from the wheel wells. I stepped out of the Jeep and deposited the required two dollars into the machine. The power wash wand jumped as I pulled the trigger. Soon the Jeep bled red clay from every surface and every door crack. As I worked, I thought about my conversation with the shaman. 

     Puma was old even for a shaman. With age, comes wisdom and power. Puma was the top-tier of his profession. That made it doubly disturbing when I got the message that he needed my help because something was stalking a famous actress.

     After a sweat lodge, Puma told me that whatever was stalking Ms. Hatcher, was not a skin walker. That piece of information let me breathe a little easier as skin walkers are evil and vile creatures in Native American culture. I once saw my mother shy away from open conflict with one and she is one of the nastiest wizards in North America.

    Puma said that whatever the stalker was, it did use magic like a skin walker. It terrorized its victim and then fed on the victim’s fear. So far, there was no physical harm to Ms. Hatcher or her staff. However, the local animal population was dwindling and even Puma’s protection wards had not stopped carcasses from being left around Ms. Hatcher’s property. The mutilated remains were getting progressively closer to the main house and the messages attached to the carcasses carried greater threats. That’s when Puma sent word to me asking for my help. Puma was leaving the following morning to travel to Window Rock to perform spring ceremonies on the reservation. Therefore, I would be on my own until he returned in four days. That’s fine as I am used to working alone. It sounded to me like I was dealing with a black witch or a warlock. However, Puma said no normal warlock had ever broken his wards before. This did not make me happy. Before I left Puma’s, I took a few items out of an old canvas backpack I keep in the Jeep. I slipped my prayer stick and my power orb into the left pocket of my coat. A bracelet, made of silver wire twisted around seven bloodstones, went on my left wrist. I checked to ensure the stainless steel .357 magnum was loaded then, slid the worn leather holster onto my right hip. Maybe I was overdoing it a bit but, I would rather be paranoid, prepared, and alive than any of the alternatives that ended with me being dead.

Twenty minutes after I pulled into the car wash, my forest green Jeep pulled onto Highway 68 and headed north towards Ms. Hatcher’s ranch.

 
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Posted by on December 12, 2012 in Actress and the Warlock

 

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Christmas letters

10 Dec

I’ve been working our this year’s family Christmas letter. Some times it is a major chore. But, this year I am enjoying it more. Partially because I’m happy this trying year is about over, partially because it helps build a writing habit, and partially because Shannon M. Howell is letting me include it in the FAD challenge word count. 🙂

Holiday letters are an interesting writing form. Some are like a status report on the health and welfare of the family in question. Others go into great detail of the goings on of the family over the last twelve months. Still others consist of a picture, usually of a child or children with a few words about each child. Some individuals look forward to receiving these letters from friends and family during the holidays. Others see it as corny and a waste of time.

Mine falls under the second category. You see, with me,  it is tradition. Just prior to my mother’s passing, she gave each of her children a copy of every Christmas letter she had drafted for the last twenty years. It was a surprise for us and something that meant a great deal to her.

My mother took great pains in drafting these letters. Each family member had their own paragraph that detail their achievements. Sometimes she would allow us to add something that we thought was important. Reading back through these letters is like looking in a mirror at what we used to do and what made us who we are. Those who write memoirs would do well to save these letters as they contain ideas and stories you may have long forgotten about.

I will draft the letter this year. It will include the sorrow of losing my wife’s mother and our last cat, Libby. It will also include publishing an article for a magazine, the purchase of a lake cabin, and fishing with my wife. We will send it out to those we know and love. And we will wish every one of them and healthy and happy holiday season. Hopefully, they will enjoy the mini-memoir that is our family tradition.

 
4 Comments

Posted by on December 10, 2012 in Other Strangeness

 

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Writing is like a Train

05 Dec

For me writing is like a train.Train

The Warm Up:

Train: The engineer gets into the locomotive, turns on the power, and fires up the engine.

Writer: I create characters that I think will be interesting. Next comes a situation the characters find themselves in that will create tension and lead to further adventures. The setting is somewhere within the fantasy world I created years ago. Finally, I gather my plot notes (islands), character sketches (Traits and Tags), and a big bottle of water and head to the Storyboard. Once the islands have been laid out, I go to the computer.

Leaving the station:

Train: The locomotive winds up and builds to a roar. The train begins to inch forward. It crawls along for a few yards as the full weight of the train is taken on. Now there is some momentum and the train begins to pick up speed.

Writer: The blank screen is deafening. My mind is full of the possibilities that await the characters but, nothing is happening. There is a moment of panic and self-doubt. My hands reach for the keyboard as I try to formulate the first sentence. It has to be the best sentence of the story. The hook has to be perfect. I stop and take a drink from the water bottle. Then I remember that the first draft is always crap. My hands return to the keyboard and I peck out the first sentence. No, it’s not perfect but, it is a start. Take another drink. Back to the keyboard. Soon the first paragraph is complete and the head is getting into the game. Each paragraph that follows is easier than the last.

Coming up to speed:

Train: The train accelerates to its cruising speed. The power and momentum seem unstoppable. The cars jostle around over the uneven tracks. However, the train keeps going forward.

Writer: Once I get into a writing rhythm, woe unto any who disturb me. My mind is in high gear and the fingers begin to have a hard time keeping up. I have become the characters at his point and the story flows out like a lake draining though a broken dam. I just stay out-of-the-way and let it happen.

Coming into the next stop:

Train: The Engineer reduces the power and the train begins to coast. The friction of the wheels against the steel rails begin to slow the train down. As the train enters the station, the brakes are applied. The momentum of the train strains against the brakes because it wants to keep going. At last the train jerks to a halt and the sound of the locomotive drops to a hum. It’s not off, just waiting for the command to crank it up again.

Writer: The mind is racing forward ahead of the fingers and it sees the end of the scene/chapter/story before the fingers do. Once the mind reaches the end, it begin to coast. The fingers continue to bang away but by now fatigue is beginning to set in. The keystrokes are becoming softer and begin to slow down. The final paragraph flows forth but much weaker than before. Finally, the fingers type out the last few words and then become motionless on the keys. The Save button is pressed. The mind, however, is already working on the next scene/chapter/story. Wanting to move forward.

 
8 Comments

Posted by on December 5, 2012 in Thoughts on Writing

 

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Campfires

03 Dec

7526122-a-campfire-in-the-night-next-to-a-basecamp

A few weeks ago, I cleaned out all of my old floppy discs and converted the data to my hard drives. I was surprised to find a selection of  writings from twenty years ago when I lived in Denver, Colorado.

The City of Denver has a serious pollution problem because it sits in a bowl against the foothills and there is usually a cold inversion layer that holds the exhaust fumes and smoke in the bowl. It hangs over the city like a brown blanket unless there is a strong wind coming off the mountains. So, years ago the city implemented wood burning bans on high pollution days. The piece below was written by the light of my fireplace.

     It is autumn. As I pull my car into my garage, the unmistakable scent of wood smoke invades my nostrils. It’s coming from a neighbor’s house. Suddenly, a rush of memories overwhelms my psyche. I see our old fireplace Where the family would gather to tell stories, plan our canoe trips, and roasted marshmallows. I see the wood burning stove that warmed the house at the Farm during the cold January weekends. Then there are the council fires at my Order of the Arrow initiation and the cooking fires on trips into the Boundary Waters Wilderness Canoe Area. That sweet, pungent aroma has become part of my very being.

     In this day and age of backpacking stoves and wood burning bans, due to high pollution days, my opportunities to add to these memories are becoming scarce. I understand the need for such measures but, I don’t have to like them. My heart goes out to the children of the future who will never know the pleasures of sitting around a campfire with family and friends. The story telling, the songs, the recitation of monologues memorized long ago, the meals that taste so good after a long days work, the stinging of the eyes and the smell, of the wood smoke.

     I will always enjoy staring into the heart of a campfire. The Native Americans called it “Fire Dreaming”. The flames form an ever-changing pattern that never repeats itself. The fire sings as the wood hisses and snaps. I can’t help but feel that the fire is talking to me in a language that I once knew but, has escaped me. My cheeks start to glow like the bed of coals that formed underneath the flames. The heat surrounds and penetrates me. The fire consumes all of my cares and worries. All distractions disappear as I am drawn into the Dance of the Flames.

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     Anyone exposed to campfires will tell you that they can be intoxicating. Total strangers can gather around one and instantly a bond is formed. This must come from sharing the warmth and the light. The fellowship is inescapable. Most times, silence is a big part of this fellowship. However, when silence is not in order, inhibitions are lost and everyone joins in the fun. Jokes, poetry, and songs spring forth from even the shyest of individuals. All time is lost as these episodes can go long into the night.

     There is something special about taste of hot dogs or a steak roasted over an open fire. They taste more natural somehow. Or, how about a fresh-baked apple pie or cherry cobbler coming straight out of a Dutch oven or reflector oven? After slogging through the woods all day or battling a twenty-mile an hour head wind across Moose Lake, nothing tastes better than “Beef & Spuds” followed by a piece of fresh Dutch-oven baked German chocolate cake.

     Campfires have always been a time of ceremony and emotion. The circle of light that is formed by a fire at night is a safe haven from the surrounding darkness. The contrast of darkness and light is dramatic and sets the mood for the ceremony to follow. The fire seems to draw out our most basic emotions, amplify them and send out into the cosmos riding on sparks and smoke.

     I smile as I step out of my car. I grab a few pieces of oak from the woodpile and carry them inside. I sure hope the Air Quality Index is Blue because there will be a fire in this house tonight!

And yes, it was a Blue Air Quality Index the night I wrote this.

 
2 Comments

Posted by on December 3, 2012 in Musings and Odd Thoughts

 

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Writer’s Notebook in Action

26 Nov

My, but it has been a long time since my last post. I have been reading your blogs and commenting as time permits. The good news is, I have been able to get some writing done on my novel. More on that in the next post.

Over the last year, many blogs have discussed the importance of keeping a writer’s notebook. Something you carry with you to jot down things like: potential plot lines, interesting characters you see, phrases, dialogue, scenes, landscape, tag lines, poetry, pictures, and anything else that fires your imagination. Almost every writer I know of uses some form of ” The Notebook”.

I actually keep three active notebooks, one at home, one at work, and one in my commuter backpack. My home notebook goes with me when I take the CEO of my domicile on shopping excursions and to writer’s group meetings. It may sound disorganized but it seems to work for me. All three are used daily. They are not fancy, just spiral bound notebooks with hard covers

Last week I watched the Michael Jackson “BAD 25” special. Normally not my first choice of entertainment, it turned out to be kind of interesting. It included interviews with his many collaborators and went into some detail on the process of generating and producing songs. During one segment that discussed the song “Man in the Mirror”, we got to see the lyricist’s notebook in action. The album’s producer, Quincy Jones, was looking for a “feel good” anthem song for the album. He contacted songwriter, Siedah Garrett, and asked if she would work one up. She agreed and immediately pulled out her  “Lyric Book” to find a fitting theme. One line she remembered from a conversation months before pinged in her head.

At this point in the interview Ms. Garrett opened her actual “Lyric Book” and opened it to the page with the line that simply read, “Man in the Mirror.” The close-up of the pages was interesting as it showed how Ms. Garrett used her book.There were lines and lines of potential lyrics. Some just a few words and others were several lines long. Notes filled the margins and there seemed to be some color coding used as well.  It looked like any other Writer’s Notebook only tweaked to fit her specific “Genre”, song lyrics.

At the time she wrote the line in her book, she did not know that one day it would become the basis for a number one hit by Michael Jackson. She did not rely on her memory; she wrote it down because it sounded interesting. It could have been used for any number of song ideas. By the way, it would make a great flash inspiration piece, wouldn’t it?

We all use our Notebooks differently and that’s okay. It was interesting to me to see a how a world-renowned song writer used hers.

I recently wrote a scene introducing one of my antagonists. It did not feel right and I wanted to make sure this scene was right before I moved on. So, this weekend, I was killing time in a parking lot at the Domestic CEO’s favorite shopping facility and pulled out my Notebook. I started thinking about the plot and how each of the character’s should be introduced and when the major plot conflict should be inserted. I started by writing down the sequence as I originally worked it out. Then I began playing with the order that the character;s are being introduced and the then jotting down the effect that might have on the plotting. I tried to write down every possible combination. It sounds like story-boarding but, at this point it was more brain storming. After several pages, I reviewed the possibilities. One jumped out at me as the best approach based on the character types involved and overall story arc. However, I could see that given different character traits or slightly different plot line, several of the other sequences might be usable. I just know that I will revisit this list on some later project. Lord knows I won’t remember each possibility without it.

The solution I found is making me rethink the opening scenes. However, I believe the middle will be much easier to write once the characters and plot hooks are introduced properly.

What kind of Notebook do you use and how do you use it?

 
15 Comments

Posted by on November 26, 2012 in Other Strangeness

 

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Next Big Thing

29 Oct

I have been off participating in other areas of my life for the past couple of weeks.

What do I find when I return but a very nice tag from Anne Woodman. The Next Big Thing is a fun little exercise going around some areas of the blogging world. You are asked to provide information on your current project.The topic for my next several posts will be WIP so, this makes a great segue.

Here goes.

What is the working title of your book?
Smoke & Goblet

Where did the idea come from for the book?
I have always liked the Luther Whitney character in Clint Eastwood’s movie, “Absolute Power”. It was a very different role for Eastwood and the Luther character was full of depth and interest. Seeing this type of character in one of the cities of my world was easy and helps me flesh out details relating to world-building.

What genre does your book fall under?
Fantasy – Sword and Sorcery

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
I’m not very good with actor’s names. The only one that comes to mind to play the main character is William H. Macy.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
When Liam Livsey tries to fence a stolen item, he finds out that this bauble is actually a phylactery that contains the source of all fear; and that the former owner stole it from a necromancer, with an insatiable appetite for new thralls, who is more than willing to add Liam, and everyone the thief knows, to his collection of souls if the phylactery is not returned.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
The original plan was to obtain an agent. That may change as I get closer to completing the manuscript.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript? May we see an intro?
Currently unfinished. The target date for first draft completion is March 2013. Total time would be a little over a year. As for seeing an intro, I will be posting that in an upcoming post.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
“Raven’s Strike” and “Ravens Shadow” by Patricia Briggs; “Witch” and “Warrior” by Marie Brennan

Who or what inspired you to write this book?
As I stated earlier, I love the character. The other area I want to explore is the different types of fear, their sources, and how fear affects different personalities.

 What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
Adoption relationships, death and necromancy, interesting settings within a fantasy city.

I am tagging some of the next big things:

Scott Weber

4amwriter

Shannon M Howell

Corey M P

Elisa Nuckle

Rules of The Next Big Thing:

*Use this format for your post
*Answer the ten questions about your current WIP (work in progress)
*Tag five other writers/bloggers and add their links so we can hop over and meet them.

 
8 Comments

Posted by on October 29, 2012 in Journey into Fantasy

 

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