Cadida and the Djinn - Now Available!

Here's the actual cover for the book and here's the link to it's purchase site:

Buy Cadida Here!

There's also a nifty write-up in the Between Kisses Newsletter put on-line by Sam's Dot Publishing, the lovely folk who thought Cadida needed a place to hang out.

Check out the rest of what they offer. There's definitely something for everyone.

I WON! NaNoWriMo 2006

Cadida and the Djinn

The first in the series of the Cadida tales will be out in time for Christmas sales. Here's the artiste's conception of the cover. It should be pretty close to the final product.

The artist is 7ARS. I'll post her website and other information when the chapbook comes out.


I've also got a new site on myspace. Check it out at:
http://www.myspace.com/mdasef

Two Steps Back

NaNoWriMo is all about pounding out words until you get to 50,000 or more. The biggest mistake one can make is to start thinking of whether the words thus pounded really belong in the novel(la) or not. I committed that error and went downhill by removing stuff I just know won't be in the final story.

Other nanon-ers are telling me how wrong I was to do that. Well, I'll keep trying to write things that actually belong in the book. When I'm still short of the 50K near the end of this month, I may retrieve the junk and shove it back into the manuscript. I'm proud, but not that proud.

Googler Blogger

Funny names, yes?

So, I found that I did have a google password from a group I was in months ago. Okay, so I took the plunge and converted this blog to the Google beta. So far, it looks pretty much the same.

Well, back to NaNoWriMo. 2000 words to go.

NaNoWriMo

If you take a peek to the left below my profile, my Nano progress doohickey shows I'm am getting darned close. I wonder what exactly it is I've written. Since I have read it yet, I hope I'm pleasantly surprised (or not upchucking) when I hit the 50,000 words and can take a look. Here's my story's plot:

Fiona, Billy, and Hap are an unlikely trio of friends. Outcasts from the usual social circles in junior high, they've gravitated together. A new kid, a half-breed Indian who's named himself Black Crow, shows up at school and they take him in when the soshes and jocks have no interest. Together, they embark on a journey into the realm of the Vision Quest. Black Crow finds his true self in communion with a bear. The friends discover poachers in the wildlife refuge and risk their lives to bring the thieves to justice.

Yup, it's a middle-school novel set in beautiful Southern Oregon in and near Klamath Falls. I've tentatively titled it "Spirit Quest."

Google Password?

So, I pop over to the blogger dashboard (where you update your own blog) and there's this huge message about converting my blog. Very excited sounding about all its cool features.

Then, it says: "Once you convert your blog, you'll need to sign in with your Google password."

Hmm. I wasn't aware that I had a Google password. I've resisted adding yet one more user name and password to the growing pile. So, I'm wondering if I convert my blog as they suggest, will I ever be able to get to it again?

I'm holding off on that conversion thing until I have more time to study the church.

Sigh of Relief

I'm only one of millions who breathed a huge sigh of relief that the elections are over (well, nearly).

It came out the way I liked it, so I can't complain. I'm sure there will be lots of complaints coming in the next few weeks from those lovely neo-cons who stole two presidential elections and got their fingers slapped by the populace who saw through their shenanigans (a nice word for shit).

Now, on to 2008. I hope I don't have to support Hillary, but I will if that's the way it works out. However, rarely are the rising stars two years prior to a presidential election the ones who actually end up being the candidates.

Will McCain get blasted out by his fellow Republicans again? Is Rudy the once and future king?

Stay tuned. But, be ready for a bumpy ride.

My Sam

People tend to be of two types: horse lovers or horse 'I don't cares'. I'm of the former variety. I was talking to some folks the other day about their horses, who are also in the former variety. It made me miss my horse, Sam. Yeah, Sam is a weird name but think of Samson, and you get a better idea.

Sam was a Polish Arab. That's a big Arabian, about 5-1/2 feet tall at the withers. This picture shows how fine his head was. Not too much dish, a strong neck, alert and interested in everything going on around him. This was a fine horse, a horse of estimable quality, a champion.

I didn't show Sam because I didn't have the skills, but he showed me his high stepping ways even as I sat on him, unworthy of being on the back of this gorgeous animal. He loved to run. Imagine strapping yourself atop a runaway locomotive. That was Sam at on the run. Try to pull him up after a couple of miles because you are worn out. He'd fight you. He wanted to run some more.

He believed he was a beauty, so he stepped out, neck arched, tail up. A big show-off, he was.

Unfortunately, my back gave me troubles and I couldn't get up on him anymore, not with a saddle anyway. Put a two-year-old kid on his bare back and he was Ol' Faithful, plodding around like a good old boy. Saddle him up and hang on for the ride of your life.

I miss Sam and I hope he's still giving somebody a thrill to be on the back of a champion. He'd be around 25 now, but I suspect he hasn't really slowed down. At least, that's what I hope. I don't want to know otherwise.

Sam was one of a kind and I am privileged that he let me up on his back and take me for the ride of my life.