The Lorelei Signal is a fantasy webzine dedicated to strong female characters. With three issues now under her belt, editor Carol Hightshoe has commemorated the first year of publication with the release of A Time To… Volume 1. This anthology brings together the best short stories and poems of The Lorelei Signal 2006, and it stands as testament to what a success that inaugural year was.
The best of issue 1 kicks off with Lee Martindale’s Act of War. This piece of flash fiction uses stark descriptions to build a tense and creepy atmosphere, as a group of villagers take refuge inside a warehouse. Outside, soldiers are preparing for battle against something that approaches. The story is tidy and complete, and there’s a great twist at the end, but its briefness has the feel of a prologue, and that makes it perfect for the first story of the anthology.
Blood and Ashes by Michele Acker plumps us straight onto a blood-soaked battlefield during the height of a war. Our protagonist, Sorea, is a woman posing as a man in the army, and facing the complications that brings. And as the day on the battlefield grows long, she soon realises that it sometimes takes a woman to know a woman, and it’s a lesson learned too late. The sense that everything may not be as it seems is carried through this tale from start to finish. Acker packs a lot of character information into a relatively short piece, but it doesn’t detract from an otherwise enjoyable story.
Next up comes Kayelle Allen’s The Last Vhalgenn, which is also the longest story in the anthology. Raik is the king’s concubine, recalled to the kingdom from her duties with the army. The king’s wife is pregnant, and the unification of two lands depends on the birth. Here, with a clash of cultures, Raik is assigned a covert mission, where she walks a precarious line between the greater good and an act of treachery. Although Allen’s prose is easy to read, and the story is both engrossing and poignant, I felt that as a whole The Last Vhalgenn could’ve been developed a little further. The story is 10,000 words long, and with a few thousand more it could go from being a decent yarn to a great tale.
I'll admit it. I want more blog traffic. I'm jealous of folks who have billions visiting their blogs all the time. So, I'm trying to step up to the plate with content people might like to read. I hope my rounds of interviews and reviews will help. Secondly, I'll just do some old-fashioned begging. A friend's blog had this Vote for Me doohicky on his site, so I trotted over to FuelMyBlog and signed up.
So, vote for my blog! Pretty please. Here's an icon right here, or use the one over <<<<<----- there.
Friends in Dark Places by John Bushore ISBN: 1-933556-55-2 Buy it at: The Genre Mall
I grabbed up this book for a couple of reasons. First, I'm becoming familiar with the quality of publications put out by Sam's Dot Publishing and second, I've been following John's various publishing endeavors. What the heck? I thought. I'll get this trade paperback and give it a read. I had a few books ahead of it, so handed it over to my hubby to read first. By the time I was ready for it, hubby said he'd read the first few pages and wasn't grabbed up by the story. So, I read and stayed up too late, then read some more and stayed up too late. I went back to hubby and essentially told him he should try again.
This darned book keeps me reading well past my bedtime. Dang it! I hate when a book does that and I also love it. You know the feeling, I'm sure.
Okay, all that aside, let's give you a bit of synopsis. Brad and his buddies go off to the desert out of the small town of Tres Viejos, in the American Southwest. They're on a lark. Following an old treasure map, the teens are looking for Spanish Gold or whatever. It makes no difference, 'cause they're really just out on a kid-type adventure. Brad is forced to take along his younger sister, Becky, whom he hates in traditional teen fashion.
Things go wrong, seriously wrong, and Becky is abducted by what Brad describes as a 'monster.' Well, that explanation doesn't get very far, but Becky is gone and Brad feels guilty for not following the ghost-like gremlin into dark places.
Twenty-some years goes by and Brad comes back to Tres Viejos on the unhappy errand of burying his parents who have died in a car accident. He makes friends with a young woman he knew slightly in high school. Jenny and he warm to each other and things are going along well until the same monsters of his childhood snatch Jenny's daughter. He runs off after the kidnappers across the desert, but loses them in the rocks and crags.
Returning to the truck where he'd left Jenny, he finds that she's gone, too. He calls the cops, but suddenly he's under suspicion of being the abductor. It seems that a number of young girls have disappeared and the local good-ol-boy Sheriff is convinced that Brad has been the perpetrator of his own sister's disappearance along with a string of other girls.
Brad is desperate to follow Jenny, but the deputy who arrives at the truck in answer to Jenny's 911 call tries to arrest him. Brad knocks the deputy flat and runs off to the desert. He'd snatched up Jenny's cell and calls his friend, Andrew, to come help him. He also enlists Wayne, Jenny's brother and a spelunker, to help out.
Well, enough of the plot because you need to read the book for yourself. John has built a mystery for the reader. Who are these strange troll-like creatures who seem to be grabbing girls for whatever purposes? How can Brad rescue Jenny and her daughter? Just where the heck have they been taken?
Throughout the narrative, the reader is taken into the world of ancient humans, caught in the dank underworld of caves. Turned into almost-alien creatures, the cave dwellers are both sympathetic and disgusting. Dang it! Those poor folk have been trapped underground for thousands of years. Kill them! Those nasty creatures eat human flesh. Yechh!
That's probably way too much to tell a potential reader. Trust me on this. John Bushore's book will make you feel Brad's desperation at being falsely accused, claustrophobic fear of dark places and underground dwellers. You'll have shudder moments and root for Brad to save Jenny from the monsters, while sympathizing with these poor, underworld creatures.
So, buy the book. Read it. Enjoy. So there. Here's where you can find "Friends in Dark Places." The Genre Mall
Our guest today is Kimber An, a novelist of longstanding, she's still seeking the elusive publisher and/or agent. This lady isn't sitting still waiting for them to come to her. She's on the hunt and I think she'll be bagging some big game real soon.
Marva: Hi, Kimber. I know that Kimber An is your nom de plume. Could you tell my readers how you decided on that name?
Kimber: Kimber is the first part of my real name. I wanted a short surname which began with ‘A’ and quickly settled on ‘An’ because it sounded so elegant. I was delighted to learn later that it means ‘Peace’ in Chinese and Vietnamese. Asian mythology and culture never cease to inspire me!
Marva: You're writing a series about a hyperactive girl named Junior, who happens to be the daughter of a Star Captain. Could you give us your query hook for Star Captains' Daughter?
Kimber: Actually, you’re only part right, Marva. I’ve written a novel about TWO star captains who have a hyperactive teenager nicknamed Junior because she’s so much like her father. This is a Science Fiction Romance novel. If you’re unfamiliar with that subgenre, check out www.linneasinclair.com and www.susangrant.com for my two favorite published authors in it. Both have new novels out and they are both stellar human beings besides! While the STAR CAPTAINS’ DAUGHTER is a stand-alone novel, it is also the first in a trilogy and one in a series which just keeps popping more stories into my head as I go along trying to mind my own business. Here is the hook:
‘Captain Olivia O’Keefe accepted the destruction of her marriage to Captain Edward Delano to avoid war. She never imagined their secret baby girl would grow up to wreak havoc on the galaxy trying to reconcile them. Now a Menelaen prince has a telepathic lock on Junior and saving her soul could set off a new interstellar war.’
Marva: Tell us all about SCD and what's going on in SCD2. Here's your chance to tell my readers why they should become your reader.
Kimber: ‘The STAR CAPTAINS’ DAUGHTER is quite different from anything out there, even in my own subgenre.
For starters, it’s a triangular story rather than the traditional hero-and-heroine of other romances. Junior is a fully involved protagonist. She cannot be cut from the story or it will fall apart. Likewise, this story cannot be done Young Adult either. Junior’s parents’ reconciliation is everything to her. Their love story is essential and can only be told well enough by including their points of view.
Secondly, this is an Enduring Love story. Not a couple’s first meeting and falling in love. Edward and Olivia were happily married, and their marriage was torn apart from the outside. Emotionally shattered, Edward broke out of the stockade and exiled himself in the Menelaen Empire. It’s only Junior learning about this and sacrificing everything which finally redeems this couple.
Finally, this is a Working Mother’s love story. For reasons which baffle me, powerful heroines are rarely cast as involved mothers. Having been a Certified Professional Nanny, I know assuming a powerful heroine can’t also be a mommy is absolute crap. I worked for several in real life and loved and respected them all dearly. A while back it was assumed that mommies can’t be sexy either, but that attitude’s changed. I’m hoping fiction will catch up with real life in this respect too.
It’s difficult to say much about SCD-2, since it’s still being Slashed & Burned into a comprehensible draft.
Marva: You're seriously going after agents. Lots of writers are kind of lost on this. What's your research process? Had any kick-yourself moments you'd like to warn other writers to avoid when they're querying?
Kimber: Last August, I researched the process as much as I could and just plunged into it. I consider that first wave of queries purely an educational exercise. I learned so much I couldn’t have until I actually went into it. For my second wave which began in February, I had completely revised the manuscript, query, and synopsis. And then I just plunged again.
I’ve had a few kick-yourself moments, but I can honestly say they weren’t my fault. The fact is every agent wants something different in the query submission package. Some only want a query letter, while others want pages and/or a synopsis. Of those, some want short queries, some want longer ones. Right after I sent off the last queries, I popped into the Knight Agency’s blog in my on-going effort to self-educate. In that day’s column, the agent talked about how she wanted to know if the writer blogged and if she personally knew published authors. No reflection on the Knight Agency here. They’re wonderful and I didn’t query them. But, I was screaming! I had been advised not to mention I had a blog, even though I’d had over a thousand visitors at that point. And in nanny school we were taught never, ever to name-drop or talk about people in the public eye. Well, I would have told the agents about my blog, but I still can’t bring myself to name-drop without direct permission. I’m sure the school director would hunt me down and whack me over the head with her magic umbrella. I also don’t want to ask the authors I know for recommendations or permission to mention their names. I don’t want them to think I only value them for what they can do for me. Anyway, the queries are out. I have no way of knowing which agents feel the same as the Knight Agency and which ones don’t. In the end, you just have to learn as much as you can and take your best shot.
Marva: I know you're also a reviewer on your blog (Tuesday Speed-Read). Since you're a speed-reader, you manage to chow down on several books each week. What is your review process? Take notes while reading? Read the whole thing, then note your thoughts? How do you decide what to review?
Kimber: I try to find booklists on the Internet and elsewhere. I also visit the blogs of authors, aspiring authors, and agents who regularly feature new releases. Then, I hit the bookstore or library. I speed-read the first couple of pages and bring home the ones which snag my interest. At the computer, I speed-read and fill out a little form on each book. Usually, this goes easily. Sometimes, I’ll be doing a book that loses me and I toss it. Other times, I do a book which is soooo good that I can’t speed-read it. I set that one aside for normal human reading. Once complete, I post it to my blog. No big deal really. I need to read a lot as part of learning about the publication business. I figured I might as well share what I learn with my Blog Buddies. The goal of Tuesday Speed-Read is to let people know about good books they might not otherwise try because they’re afraid of being disappointed. For each book, I let the potential reader know if there’s an HEA, if there is sex and how hot it is, if there’s anything really icky, or paranormal. Some people like some of those things and others don’t. But, no one wants to spend hard-earned money on one thing and get something else entirely.
Marva: Along with reviews, you've also been hosting blog parties for writers with new releases. Where did you come up with that idea?
Kimber: I read about real life Launch Parties and wanted to throw them for my mentor-type Blog Buddies. Linnea Sinclair, Susan Grant, and Gwyneth Bolton all had new releases within just a couple of weeks of each other. But, I live in Alaska and they’re spread out all over the Lower 48 states! I thought I could have an image, an interview, a drawing for a prize. That was wonderful, but it didn’t feel like a party. So, I started making stuff up in the comments section until we had a really bizarre virtual bash going on! Klingons were stalking Tribbles. Yoda barbecued Bantha Burgers with his lightsaber. The authors sent in some of their characters too. It was a blast!
Marva: Anything else you'd like to tell my readers? Have at it. 500 words or less.
Kimber: Visit my website and click on My Stories if you want to know just how many stories I’ve piled up since I wrote my first novel at age 11. I know the odds of publication are seriously stacked against me. I figure I might as well polish up my stories for submission, since I’m going to keep writing anyway. Sooner or later, something may break for me. I won’t hold my breath. I’ve learned from children that enjoying the process of anything is as important as achieving the goal.
Marva: Thanks for answering my nosy questions, Kimber. See you around Critique Circle!
Kimber: Thanks so much again, Marva. This was fun!
Print on Demand (POD) simply means that a purchase of the book spurs the printing. It does not mean that it's a vanity or self-published book. Why people keep getting this confused is beyond me. It's very simple. On the other hand, so what if somebody self-publishes? It's not exactly the Crime of the Century. Nevertheless, here are a couple of sites that review POD books:
Marge Simon is an artist and a writer. I wish I could do both, or even one of them half as well as she does.
Marge's latest book is a collection of flash fiction titled "Like Birds in the Rain." (Sam's Dot Publishing)
Stories included in this collection have appeared at Vestal Review, Flashquake, The Pedestal, FlashMe, EOTU, Fictionwise, From the Asylum, and Raven Electric.
Being a multi-talented lady, she has a ton of publications out in the world featuring her writing and her artwork. Everything is listed on her website at:
If I had Dave Barry's comic writing ability, this story would be much better. I still can't resist telling it. As Dave would say, "I'm not making this up."
From an AP report out of Lynnwood Washington:
A couple pulled up near a pet store, Petco, which allows people to bring their pets in. Dogs and cats, pretty common, but the woman carried her duck inside. In the meantime, her male companion decides to go to the nearby Linens 'n Things and shoplifts some iPod accessory. He leaves the store with a security guard hot on his trail.
The woman with the duck sees this activity and goes out to wave the man down as he tries to escape. He runs into her whereon she drops the duck as she's hit. A Petco employee, runs out to save the duck. As she grabs the duck out of harm's way, the man in the car runs over her,too. But, all this smashing into both friends and strangers disoriented him and he ends up rear-ending another car. The security guard catches up and holds the man for the police.
The Petco employee got a broken ankle, but the duck was okay.
My husband and I thought it suspicious that the duck owner didn't know her male companion was planning to shoplift. We could only assume the duck was a decoy.
This is the first of what I hope will be a regular run of interviews by publishers and writers. I think these are folks that deserve your attention, so I'm hoping you're interest will be piqued to take a look at what they have to offer.
This interview is with J Erwine, the new owner of Nomadic Delirium Press.
A: I can't complain. Spring has definitely sprung here in the Front Range of the Rockies. After all of the storms we had during the winter, it's nice to have some decent weather, although as warm as it is now, I'm sure we'll be facing a brutal summer.
Q: I recently heard that you are the new owner of Nomadic Delirium Press. What possessed you to add that iron to your fire?
A: Simple answer...I'm insane! I was already doing a lot of the legwork for it, and when the owners wanted out, it seemed like the logical next step...I think the first answer is probably more accurate.
Q: What's available from Nomadic Delirium now?
A: Currently we have my novel, The Opium of the People, my short story collection, Marionettes on the Moon, and an anthology about crime in the future called Future Syndicate.
We will soon be re-releasing a novel by the late James Baker entitled The Poet. After that we'll be opening to submissions for a new anthology, and we will also be doing a couple of novels as well.
Q: Nomadic Delirium currently carries science fiction titles. Are you planning to expand to the related genres of horror and fantasy?
A: At the moment, there are no plans to expand into other genres. However, I am toying with the idea of creating an RPG...we'll see where we go with that.
Q: Where will Nomadic Delirium's books be carried?
A: At the moment, they are available from most on-line booksellers. We are working on getting them into some brick and mortar stores as well, but that's very hard for the small press. Hopefully we will have some new reviews in the next couple of weeks which might get us in the door.
Q: What else would you like to tell my readers about ND?
A: Like many small presses, we really do offer some good alternatives to what the big boys are putting out. It's so hard now for writers to break into the larger markets, we're just glad we can be there for some truly talented writers.
Okay, I heard about this subscribe thing, so I'm giving it a shot. I actually do subscribe to a few blogs and get them listed on My Yahoo page. It helps me see when something is new on blogs I'm interested in reading.
The little orange doohickey on the left down a bit that says SUBSCRIBE next to it is how you get a feed to this blog. Try it out and plunk it wherever you hang out a lot. It gives you choices like Yahoo or Google. Don't worry. You can always remove the feed if you find it annoying.
I signed up thinking I'd get some instructions to do this, but nothing happened except adding my name to the list. Sorry. Just go back to whereever you came here from and try another link. Here's a picture for you, though.
If I figure it out, I'll come back and fix the post.
On the main page, select Perpetual Issue, then Fiction. Since this is a perpetual issue, the new story links are added to the top. When enough stories fill up a reasonable sized page, the editor creates a new first page and everything is shoved down the list.
I read a blog today reporting that somebody was being charged with stalking for (amongst other crimes, I'm sure) calling somebody a "Fat Penguin."
Given the popularity of the animated film, "Happy Feet," you'd think that was a compliment. I've been calling my hubby, on various anniversarial tomes, "My Sweet Baboo(n)." How did this get started? A Pepe LePew cartoon? Hmm. I can't remember, but if dear hubby decided to start calling me "Fat Penguin," exactly how would I respond. Well, "fat" isn't very nice, but penguins are cute. Should I take that as a slam? Or, given the current animated film's popularity, shouldn't it be a plus?
Well, it might be difficult, because if DH (dear hubby) called me "fat" in any context, he'd certainly be in a position to explain himself. "Penguin?" Not so bad, but a bit obscure.
Still, an endearment can come in many guises. Some sound like insults and, unless Dr. Phil intervenes, the endearee should accept the sentiment in which the endearment is offered. DH might call me a horse, goat, cow, or pig, but I think I'd try to figure out just exactly what he's trying to say. It might be something very nice.
Of animalistic endearments, elephant isn't all that bad. Loyal, family-oriented, loving. How about bear? Furry, fuzzy, cuddly. Cat? With our feline friends, it's definitely a positive.
So, if you're beloved puts foot in mouth and offers up an endearment of dubious quality, just take it in the spirit it's offered, no matter how strange it might be.
On March 14, 2007, the IAFF will host the first bi-partisan Presidential Forum of the 2008 election cycle. No other union and very few organizations has the credibility and respect to attract top-tier candidates from both political parties. The lineup of speakers who have agreed to participate in our Forum is truly a testament to our great union and the reputation we have built as a powerful political force and a coveted endorsement.
John Edwards, John McCain, Barack Obama, Chuck Hagel, Hillary Clinton, Chris Dodd, Joe Biden, Duncan Hunter and seven other candidates will make their case before the 1,000 delegates who will be attending the Forum and to our entire membership via same-day broadcast on our web site.
Early on, the IAFF made a decision to invite all serious candidates from both political parties — except one: former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
We made this decision after considerable soul-searching and close consultation with our two New York City affiliates, the Uniformed Firefighters Association Local 94 and the Uniformed Fire Officers Association Local 854, as well as our former Local 94 President and current IAFF 1st District Vice President covering New York.
The IAFF recognizes that Mayor Giuliani generally enjoys a favorable reputation as a result of his actions immediately after the tragedy of 9/11. As such, we want our affiliates and every one of our members to clearly understand the reason and rationale behind this very serious and sober decision.
Many people consider Rudy Giuliani "America's Mayor," and many of our members who don't yet know the real story, may also have a positive view of him. This letter is intended to make all of our members aware of the egregious acts Mayor Giuliani committed against our members, our fallen on 9/11, and our New York City union officers following that horrific day.
Rest assured, our exclusion of Mayor Giuliani is not about any particular contractual or policy issue or disagreement, nor is it based on his unfriendly relationship with our New York City affiliates prior to 9/11 — which we will document and explain in additional correspondence later on during the campaign. In fact, we invited several candidates with whom we have had substantial disagreement on policy issues because we feel very strongly that our members have the right to hear from all candidates, not just those who tow the IAFF line.
Regrettably, the situation with former Mayor Giuliani is very different. His actions post 9/11 rise to such an offensive and personal attack on our brother and sisterhood — and directly on our union — that the IAFF does not feel Rudy Giuliani deserves an audience of IAFF leaders and members at our own Presidential Forum.
The disrespect that he exhibited to our 343 fallen FDNY brothers, their families and our New York City IAFF leadership in the wake of that tragic day has not been forgiven or forgotten.
In November 2001, our members were continuing the painful, but necessary, task of searching Ground Zero for the remains of our fallen brothers and the thousands of innocent citizens that were killed, because precious few of those who died in the terrorist attacks had been recovered at that point.
Prior to November 2001, 101 bodies or remains of fire fighters had been recovered. And those on the horrible pile at Ground Zero believed they had just found a spot in the rubble where they would find countless more that could be given proper burial.
Nevertheless, Giuliani, with the full support of his Fire Commissioner Thomas Von Essen, decided on November 2, 2001, to sharply reduce the number of those who could search for remains at any one time. There had been as many as 300 fire fighters at a time involved in search and recovery, but Giuliani cut that number to no more than 25 who could be there at once.
In conjunction with the cut in fire fighters allowed to search, Giuliani also made a conscious decision to institute a "scoop-and-dump" operation to expedite the clean-up of Ground Zero in lieu of the more time-consuming, but respectful, process of removing debris piece by piece in hope of uncovering more remains.
Mayor Giuliani's actions meant that fire fighters and citizens who perished would either remain buried at Ground Zero forever, with no closure for families, or be removed like garbage and deposited at the Fresh Kills Landfill.
Our Local presidents at the time attempted to meet with the Mayor to stop this despicable treatment of those who perished, but he refused to even see them face-to-face.
The scoop-and-dump continued. And when hundreds of family members of the fallen joined with our affiliate leadership and members to protest Giuliani's decision, he ordered senior officers of the New York Police Department to arrest 15 of our FDNY brothers, including a number of local elected IAFF leaders.
Giuliani modified his policy after the protest because public opinion was so strongly with our members. Ultimately, he was forced to put the fire fighters back on the pile. Our protests were later proven justified as more bodies were ultimately recovered and those families given a chance for some closure and a decent burial.
Giuliani argued that the change was for our own safety, but his argument was empty and without substance. Fire fighters had been on that pile since minutes after the twin towers fell — why all of a sudden, after nearly two months working on the pile, was Giuliani concerned about fire fighter safety?
In our view, he wasn't really concerned. The fact is that the Mayor's switch to a scoop-and-dump coincided with the final removal of tens of millions of dollars of gold, silver and other assets of the Bank of Nova Scotia that were buried beneath what was once the towers. Once the money was out, Giuliani sided with the developers that opposed a lengthy recovery effort, and ordered the scoop-and-dump operation so they could proceed with redevelopment.
In the first few days immediately after the disaster, Giuliani had said he was committed to the recovery of those lost "right down to the last brick." We believed him at the time. But, what he proved with his actions is that he really meant the "last gold brick."
Giuliani crucified fire fighters after our protest and publicly stated that our members were essentially acting like babies, that they didn't have the market cornered on grief. His insensitive statements demonstrated his inability to grasp what members of the FDNY were experiencing.
What Giuliani showed is a disgraceful lack of respect for the fallen and those brothers still searching for them. He exposed our members and leaders to arrest. He valued the money and gold and wanted the site cleared before he left office at the end of 2001 more than he valued the lives and memories of those lost.
Our members deserved the right to continue with a full search for their lost brothers and other innocent victims. Proudly, as you know, the fire service has a code similar to the military, where we leave no one behind. Recovering even a piece of a turnout coat or helmet gave our FDNY brothers and sisters and the families of the fallen some small semblance of peace, something to honor. But hundreds remained entombed in Ground Zero when Giuliani gave up on them.
The fundamental lack of respect that Giuliani showed our FDNY members is unforgivable - and that's why he was not invited. Our disdain for him is not about issues or a disputed contract, it is about a visceral, personal affront to the fallen, to our union and, indeed, to every one of us who has ever risked our lives by going into a burning building to save lives and property.
We have heard from some affiliates that Giuliani's campaign is beginning to reach out to our locals, looking to build support. If you are contacted by Giuliani, Von Essen, or a representative of the Giuliani campaign, we hope you will say not just, "No," but, "Hell no." And please let the IAFF Political Affairs Department know about it by calling (202) 824-1582.
Please share this correspondence with your membership. Thank you. Fraternally and Sincerely, Harold A. Schaitberger, General President Vincent J. Bollon, General Secretary-Treasurer and Past President, UFOA of NYC, Local 854 Kevin Gallagher, IAFF 1st District Vice President and Past President, UFA of NYC, Local 94 Stephen Cassidy, President, UFA of NYC, Local 94 Peter Gorman, President, UFOA of NYC, Local 854 Written by IAFF
If Yes, Yes, then head on over to BlogHer and sign up. This registers your blog with a bunch of other women's blogs. A lot of Mommy blogging, but with the number of enrollees, there's bound to be somebody else out there who is your feminine soulmate. Seems to me that even my men friends have a touch of the feminine mystique about them. Don't sulk, I mean it in the most complimentary way.
And you don't even have to clean up after them! Click on Prickles and watch him jump for joy. There are many needy pets awaiting adoption. Do the right thing.
Insurance is supposed to pay for your medical stuff, right? Don't count on it. Also, expect the amount you have to pay out-of-pocket to keep going up in an inexorable march past any reasonable rise based on inflation.
I pay for my own insurance. I get it through my retirement plan from state service. When I retired, I tried to get a cheaper plan with a higher deductible. They gave me a physical and I passed completely. BP, cholesterol, weight, etc. All of it great. Then, the denied me. Why? I happen to have a very minor amount of osteoporosis in my lower back. As if the entire world doesn't have back problems. Nothing is being done about it. I take no prescriptions for it. I exercise to keep my back flexible and pretty much ignore those periods of minor pain if I overstress my back. The other reason is that I take Bupropion. You might have heard of it as Zyban--a drug that helps people stop smoking. Note I havaen't smoked in nearly six years. Bupropion helped. But, the problem is that bupropion is an anti-depressant. If you've ever taken an anti-depressant for any reason whatsoever, the insurance companies will deny you.
So, a perfectly healthy woman with two minor, but completely controlled problems can't buy private health insurance. I'm lucky in that I can get insurance through the group plan from my retirement. Many folks don't have that option. It costs me twice each month what a private plan would. The premium goes up a minimum of 10% per year, and the service level goes down.
Now, imagine you're a family guy/gal working someplace where insurance isn't employer-provided. Imagine you have a minor back problem. Imagine trying to get health insurance. Imagine being turned down no matter what exorbinant amount you'd have to pay.
40,000,000 people or more are going without health insurance in the richest country in the world. Now, you know why. Insurance companies won't sell insurance to individuals if they can help it. Oh, yeah, they pretend to offer it, but they'll find any excuse to deny you.
So, never get yourself in a position where you'll have to buy private health insurance. No amount of tax breaks on premiums will make any difference if you can't even pay premiums. You just have to wait until something catastrophic happens, then you can either go into debt for the rest of your life trying to pay it off or . . . wait, there is no 'or'. After the Republican Congress handed out the happy gift of new bankruptcy laws to the credit card companies, you can't even go bankrupt. Got a modest home, a car? Too bad. You're dead.
Over the past several weeks, I've gotten emails from a variety of different names, but they all say essentially the same thing. That is, that everybody at my workplace is talking behind my back about how fat I am. This talk just disgusts the emailer and they want to recommend a product that will help me out. After I buy this product and (supposedly) lose a ton of weight, then I can thank the writer by taking them out to lunch.
Most are worded exactly the same way, however, a couple decided to up the ante and rewrote the basic message but pretty much spewing curse words throughout. Now, I've been know to say a few myself, but these were a bit over the top.
At the bottom of each email is a web address. Every email has a different web address. I have to assume that these pathetic people are trying to make a buck through lies and deceit. Well, what else in new in the world of web entrepreneurs?
What gets me about these emails is how they might affect somebody who is obese (I'm not) and in a workplace rife with backstabbers. To me, these emails come down to being hate mail. It would be nice to grab these freaks by the neck and ask them what their mother would think about what they're doing.
Unfortunately, they are safely off in the internet ozone. I can only register my disgust of their tactics by writing this blog entry.
This is almost as creepy as the Nigerian scam, or the dying woman who wants me to take her money to use for Christian good works because her family is a bunch of money-grubbing pagans (or something to that effect).
If you haven't seen the series or the movie, shame on you. Go out and rent it right away, then come back here to take the quiz. I also don't know why that big gap is showing. Oh, well.
Your results: You are Malcolm Reynolds (Captain) Honest and a defender of the innocent. You sometimes make mistakes in judgment but you are generally good and would protect your crew from harm.
The ultra-rightwing religious organizations tend to twist and turn science or simply deny that it's true. After all, they don't want facts getting in the way of their march toward Armageddon.
Here's a site that documents the distortions on scientific research promulgated by whatever nut cases get their panties in a twist about.
I've been hitting the agent's blogs a lot lately trying to figure out what makes them tick. Most of the blogging agents are personable sorts obviously trying to help writers along the path to publication.
On the other hand, I'm struck by a certain condescension. Writers who don't have agents must learn lots of cute tricks equivalent to sitting up, rolling over, and begging. Your query letter must be perfect, your hook must be a firestarter, your first paragraph had better grab them by the throat. If you can accomplish all those tricks as a writer, then you might get representation IF your whole book appears to be a candidate for the NY Times Best Seller List.
Obviously, there are not enough slots for published books for every writer, so if you're a good utility writer, then you might as well head directly to the small presses and hope for the best. You have the same hoops to jump, but you're at least one step closer to the people who actually publish the books.
What do I mean by "utility writer?"
Someone who can actually write grammatically correct prose. This means that an editor will have far less work to do. However, if you're avant garde and terribly daring, you can misspell anything you want and call it technique.
Someone who has a moderately new twist on an old story. Apparently, fantasy doesn't require much here. Just make the elves short and the dwarves tall and you've got your twist built in. Don't forget to give them unpronounceable names! Chick Lit? Oh puhleeze. There hasn't been a new plot there since the 19th Century. Just more sex. Erotica? Be sure you have a sexy vampire then set the story in Anarctica for your twist. Heat up the old igloo (you see, it doesn't matter that igloos are in the northern regions when writing this type of fiction).
Someone who can write multiple books in a short period. Look at Piers Anthony. I think he writes a book every week or two. Some of his books aren't topnotch, but he's a great utility writer.
So, Utility Writers Unite! We have nothing to lose but the potential agents who are looking for Dan Brown or whoever else is the author du jour. The agents sure as hell aren't looking for you.
I tend to avoid this genre since most of them are just thinly veiled romances. I think you can tell looking at the spine of the book. Is the title in a lovely cursive font? Romance. So, I scan the used bookstore shelves in the Historical section for books with nice blocky title fonts. I spotted one by a gentleman named Bernard Cornwell. Even better, the title was "Stonehenge." Now, that sounds more like it, methinks (I'm not sure of the Olde Englishe, so I'll leave it at that).
Since I've apparently been living in a cave, I was surprised to find that Cornwell has written a ton of historical novels. He has a few series, including "The Sharpe Series." Whoa Nellie! Who is that British hunk on the page there? Sean Bean. Silly name, I know, but he's one handsome fella. Why is this guy on the author's webpage? Apparently, Sharpe is a television series in England. Now, I KNOW there's another good reason to return to England.
Well, enough panting after actors. While I'm not yet giving a big thumbs up to Cornwell's writing (I've only read the cover notes), I think it worthwhile to check out this prolific author's website.
The Moon is a card of magic and mystery - when prominent you know that nothing is as it seems, particularly when it concerns relationships. All logic is thrown out the window.
The Moon is all about visions and illusions, madness, genius and poetry. This is a card that has to do with sleep, and so with both dreams and nightmares. It is a scary card in that it warns that there might be hidden enemies, tricks and falsehoods. But it should also be remembered that this is a card of great creativity, of powerful magic, primal feelings and intuition. You may be going through a time of emotional and mental trial; if you have any past mental problems, you must be vigilant in taking your medication but avoid drugs or alcohol, as abuse of either will cause them irreparable damage. This time however, can also result in great creativity, psychic powers, visions and insight. You can and should trust your intuition.
I've had problems updating my website (the one linked to the left under Profile). At least four times, I've had to recover from scratch (PEEVED SMILEY FACE)!
I'm trying out the free Microsoft Live Office web and I'm thinking it looks darned good. Have a peek and let me know what you think. The coolest part is that I've now become a domain name of my very own. I'm not so sure the Contact Me page is working. I tried it and didn't get an email, so ???
http://marvadasef.com/default.aspx
If you're interested in trying out the freebie site builder, here's where you go to sign up. You have to put in a credit card, but that's for a verification thing to keep people from grabbing tons of free websites. One site per CC number.
I don't believe in Astrology. After all, I've got two Leo sons and they are not very much alike, and I'm a Leo/Virgo and completely different from them. Am I ignoring the truth?
Your Birthdate: August 23
You're not good at any one thing, and that's the problem. You're good at so much - you never know what to do. Change is in your blood, and you don't stick to much for long. You are destined for a life of travel and fun.
It's a large file, so if you don't have a high-speed connection consider yourself warned.
Here are some of the bon mots from the last chapter of the book, just to pique your curiosity. This is from the final chapter of the book.
ALLEN’S AXIOMS – lest you forget _____________________________________
WRITING IS AN activity which can seriously damage your health.
As far as income is concerned, most writers would be better off working behind the bar in their local pub.
The desire for fame should be sufficient, in and of itself, to get you sectioned under the Mental Health Act.
Serious literary criticism is written in a language called litbabble, which is a form of postmodern, deconstructed gobbledygook. Its practical value, in terms of helping you to write a better novel, is nil.
Unsolicited submissions, from writers who are not represented by an agent, are accorded the same degree of respect as would be given to something left on the publisher’s doorstep by a dog with diarrhoea.
Without writers there are no books.
Without books there is no publishing.
Without publishing there is no free lunch.
The so-called advance is actually a retrospective.
Most publishers can recognise a bestseller, but only when it was published two years earlier and they have the sales figures in front of them.
Publishing depends, for its continuance, upon a ceaseless flow of mugs, suckers, and assorted halfwits who are prepared to work for a year or more without any serious prospect of remuneration.
Properly understood, the role of writer is analogous to that of healer. It follows therefore that writing is both a moral activity and an honourable one. But keep this knowledge to yourself, otherwise you will seem horribly pompous.
The degree of success experienced by a writer will vary according to circumstance, and the definition of circumstance is everything that the writer cannot control, or even influence.
The death of Anna Nicole Smith didn't affect me one way or the other, but I'm loving the aftermath. I don't mean to sound hard-hearted. I'm quite sorry she died so young.
However, the fight over the paternity of the baby Danielynne is becoming absolutely priceless.
Howard Stern, her lawyer and last known beau, claims he's the dad. Larry Birkhead, ex-boyfriend, also wants to be Danny's Daddy. Prince Freddy of Anhalt, Zsa Zsa Gabor's husband, has stepped up to the plate as well.
Now, the perfect capper is the rumor that J. Howard Marshall, Anna's elderly hubby is really the sperm donor.
Anna was clearly not as stupid as she appeared to be. By having the child by dead J. Howard, she cemented the child's claim to the estate. I think this is exactly what happened and those other guys are just trying to cash in.
I took a trip to the P.O. yesterday to mail out queries for Tales of a Texas Boy. Three different publishers. My idea of saturation bombing.
Deb helped me at the desk weighing the envelopes, discussed mailing options such as delivery confirmation, and was generally a pleasant person.
She looked at the envelopes addressed to publishers with names like YYY Children's Division and asked me what type of children's stories I wrote. I gave her a quick rundown on Cadida and the Djinn, Tales of a Texas Boy, and Eagle Quest.
She mentioned her 12-year-old granddaughter loved to read and before I realized what I was doing I offered to give her a book for Tia (the gd). Quick as lightning, Deb wrote her name on a blue sticky.
As I drove away, I became fraught (another one of those old folk's words) with anxiety. I'd promised the woman one of my books and I didn't even know when I might go back to the post office.
Fate must have played a hand since eldest son called me asking for a short-term loan (all loans to him have been short-term and most are never repaid). Nevertheless, Mom's a sucker, so I wrote out a check and put it in an envelope. I knew the mailman had already gone by, so I decided to pop down to the P.O. to send the sorely-needed funds (some vague mumblings about the Mafia softened me up). I brought along a copy of Eagle Quest for Deb's granddaughter, all signed and everything.
Now, this book is the one I practiced my Lulu formatting skills on right after NaNoWriMo. It doesn't look quite like the more finished ms I have now, but the cover is pretty.
Deb wasn't there, so I dropped the book off with her puzzled supervisor who promised to get it to Deb.
I hope Tia likes the book. I hope she lets me know what she thinks. I wrote my email address on the sticky note. Maybe she'll take a hint and at least send me a thank you note.
On the other hand, maybe Deb will open the book to Chapter 1 and decide Tia is too young for the book. The first chapter's title: The Rat Bastard. Do I know how to write a kid's book or what?
A young agent recently started blogging and I've been following him as closely as Miss Snark. He's practical, smart, and very open about discussing the ins and outs of publishing. I'll put his blog link to the left.
His most recent blog topic was about cross-over works. That is, books that could sit on either the Adults or the Juveniles shelves in the bookstore. He contends you need to decide on one or the other for queries. He also says you can mention cross-over possibilities in the query. I'll have to remember to do that as I write queries for my three ready-to-roll books. I've been putting in my most recent effort on Tales of a Texas Boy, a project that I'd really like to get into book form before my father - well, you know.
One responder to Nathan's blog said:
I don't like the whole crossover trend. Grown men and women shouldn't get excited because the new book about a boy wizard just hit shelves. I think a lot of the joy that comes from reading is about finding characters that you can relate to. When you hit a certain age you aren't supposed to be able to relate to the same things that a twelve year old can relate to.
I just had to respond with:
As for an adult not being able to enjoy 12-YO stuff, heaven forfend I ever get that old and stodgy.
After posting, I noticed I used the term 'heaven forfend'. Well, that just put me into the old and stodgy category. I also used the word 'smidgen' earlier in the same post. I doubt if anybody under 50 or so would have any idea what either of those terms mean.
This all by way of observing that the title of this post should be preceded by the word 'Never'.
A friend's blog (Gene, you dastard!) linked to the Muppet personality test. Had to take it, but I'm not sure I agree with the results. I kind of like the Swedish Chef myself.
You Are Kermit
Hi, ho! Lovable and friendly, you get along well with everyone you know. You're a big thinker, and sometimes you over think life's problems. Don't worry - everyone know's it's not easy being green. Just remember, time's fun when you're having flies!
I have an impossible to place orphan child. I suppose I'll have to wait until I'm a famous author before I can convince a publisher to take on "Tales of a Texas Boy." Thing is, these stories are absolutely all one package and dying to get a cover and a blurb.
Haven't these people (meaning publishers) ever heard of Annie Proulx? We both write in Southwestern dialect, except my stories don't have any sex in them. I take that back, there is some discussion about a crazy jackass who is an enthusiastic stud--too enthusiastic.
Then, there's a lot about other animals, both domestic and wild: sheep, chickens, pigs, horses, cattle, dogs, bears, rattlesnakes, jackrabbits. This is a veritable cornucopia of animal antics. The picture's of old Cage McNatt and his champion pig. Aren't you dying to hear that tale?
Oh, yeah, how can you pass up a story about mammoths? Yes, those big hairy elephants. What do they have to do about West Texas in the 1930s? Beg me for the story and you'll find out.
Seven of the stories have found homes in print and on-line, so I'm pretty sure people like them. I just want them all together in a single book. Is that too much to ask?
All twenty stories are from the point of view of little Eddie Perkins, a boy living on a farm in West Texas. The best part is that all the stories are true. My father was that boy and he told me these tales. Since they're about Texas, you can also assume there's a little bit of exaggeration involved.
When I made my living writing technical documentation, when the product was completed we'd say it was in roll out. I figure that's as good a term as any for a couple of my completed books I'm try to roll out to either agent or publisher. Here's my current product list:
"First Duty," is a 36,000 word YA science fiction novella. Nyra Hutchings escapes a dead-end life on a manufacturing planet by joining the Space Service. After enduring a near-fatal final exam, she graduates and becomes an officer. On her first assignment, she fails to stop the escape of a dangerous rebel leader and vows to regain her reputation by recapturing the escapee. She soon finds herself caught up in the rebellion, her faith in her beloved Space Service shaken by the revelation that her own great-grandmother was a rebel leader. She discovers that the bureaucratic Incorporated Planets is not the benevolent guardian of the known planets she believed it to be. Nyra must decide whether to remain loyal to the Space Service or join the rebellion. Two chapters from "First Duty" have been published as short stories.
"Eagle Quest," a 36,000 word YA novella, tells the story of four misfit junior high school friends who find adventure and danger when they go on an overnight campout to a wildlife refuge. One of the friends, a half-breed Native American boy, wants to experience a traditional Vision Quest and his friends go along to help. Encountering a crusty old codger with a gun, a black bear, and a pair of eagle poachers, the kids find new confidence in themselves as they bring the two poachers to justice. The book describes the real Klamath Wildlife refuges in Oregon and delves into Native American lore.
My 85-year-old father asked me to put something on the Internet. He'd like comments or opinions from other people, so if you're reading this, maybe you could pass this question through to your own blogs for reactions.
Here's his idea:
Illegals, aged 17+, should be offered citizenship if they join the National Guard (or any service, I assume) and serve three years. They're on good behavior while they serve and if they get an honorable discharge (or choose to remain in the service) after three years, they would get legal status, possibly even citizenship.
My father grew up in Texas, so he was in close proximity to quite a few Hispanics. He's always believed them to be hard-working and generally honest folks. Do you agree with him that this type of amnesty is a good idea? Not? Please leave your opinion in the comments. He'd really like to know what others think.
If you could repost on your own blog, let me know so I can check for any feedback there.
The anthology, A Time To..., from Lorelei Signal came out a few weeks ago. I've got a story in it, of course. The latest to hit the web is the video trailer for the book. These trailers are becoming more popular all the time. Check it out below and buy the book at Lulu.com. A Time To...
On the theory that if you shove enough stuff out the door, somebody will bite, I've have two acceptances this week:
Final Exam to The Fifth Di... I liked this since it was first accepted by Abyss and Apex, then the editor changed her mind. It came home with tail between legs. Fortunately, J at The Fifth Di... (Sam's Dot Publishing) liked it. Watch for it in the March issue: The Fifth Di...
The Hunter to Diddledog. Yeah, yeah, the editor is a personal friend, but I know he's not shy about saying no, so this is a good acceptance. It's a short horror piece that I kind of liked. Next issue at: Diddledog Flash
I've been working on a children's book with a lady who runs a website for Disney travel. The idea was to produce a book for kid's to get when the family plans a Disneyworld vacation. It's supposed to be the first in a series to cover all the Disneyworld parks. The first is the Magic Kingdom, the place we all think of when we hear Disneyworld. Cinderella's Castle, Peter Pan, Pooh--all the really great kid stuff. The idea of the book is to give the kids a taste of their trip by showing them the adventures of Maybell Moth as she discovers the magic of Disneyworld.
It's finally coming together, so I thought I'd post this lovely illustration of the type you'll see when you buy the book for your child or grandchild.
I've added a little logo and link to the Blogs by Women site. They collect blogs by and for women and keep them in a nice central place. Are you female? Have a blog? Check 'em out.
I bugged most everybody I knew to go vote in this poll. Of course, it's a popularity contest. A lot depends on how many people you can browbeat into voting. Still, an entrant doesn't come up in the top 10 without a few other people voting for them as well.
My folks at SDP hauled down many top tens, so we know that's a primo outfit. Tyree Campbell, in particular, showed in the top 10 in several categories.
Now, I begged for votes for my two stories and some others I had a close connection with. Here are the results on those:
Individual Art 7. Chilpequin 22 Miles, Holly Eddy - This is my story and you can see the artwork on this blog somewhere. I'm happy that Holly got a good spot for the illo.
Book Cover Art 14. A Time Too..., Lee Kuruganti - Chilpequin is included in this anthology (A Time To...) of stories from Lorelei Signal.
Book Editor 17. Carol Hightshoe, A Time To... - Not in the top 10, but respectable.
Fiction Ezine 9. The Lorelei Signal - Kudos to Carol Hightshoe for a very nice ezine.
Zine Art 6. Lorelei Signal, Amy Harlib
Zine Editor 9. Carol Hightshoe, Lorelei
Here's how I came out in the poll. The 12th spot is quite gratifying. The 17th in Romance is not bad considering it's a huge group of stories. In my humble opinion, If You Could See Her is the better of the two stories.
Short Story (other genre) 12. Extraordinary Rendition, Marva Dasef, The Deepening-Aug Issue
Short Story (romance) 17. If You Could See Her, Marva Dasef, The Deepening-Nov Issue
No, not the excellent book or even the movie, but the color my blog is supposed to be as determined by a short quiz. I'm not sure I agree. I'm generally not all that fond of purple.
Your Blog Should Be Purple
You're an expressive, offbeat blogger who tends to write about anything and everything.
You tend to set blogging trends, and you're the most likely to write your own meme or survey.
You are a bit distant though. Your blog is all about you - not what anyone else has to say.
Anybody out there have kids or grandkids in the middle-grades? I've got three copies of my Luluized novella, "Spirit of Bear Valley" to give away. That includes postage and it will be an autographed copy. Woohoo!
Here's the deal. Have any kid of the more-or-less middle-school age group send me a 200+ word essay on bald eagles, wildlife refuges, conservation, Native American traditions, or anything even vaguely related to these topics. I'll judge the essays and send a copy of the book to the top three winners.
Mail the essays to me at mdasef@clearwire.net and include name, age, street address, and email address (this can be parents' or grandparents' address).
I'll pick the top three and publish them on this blog. Winners get a copy of the book, "Spirit of Bear Valley." 120 pages of fun reading for kids of all ages.
I'm enjoying formatting my writing for publication, so I thought that maybe e-books on Lulu wouldn't hurt my street cred very much. My story "The Cursed Valley" is now available at Lulu for only .49 download only.
Okay, so I sent the file up to Lulu and the devil forced me to put my book up on Lulu. Now that the shine is dulling, I'm going to take the book off Lulu for public access. I set the price to minimum so it's a free download. On January 15th, it disappears from the Lulu shelves.
So, this is last call. If you want a freebie copy, go for the download. If you'd like the print copy, I promise you it's the absolute rock-bottom price.
When this book disappears from Lulu, I'll decide whether it lives or die forever.
I've got the final edit of Spirit of Bear Valley uploaded to Lulu. I'm only going to leave it there for a short period. So, if you want to buy a copy in print, this is your chance! I've priced it as low as I could ($8.99) so it's affordable for all.
If you do order, be sure to select USPS Media Mail as the delivery method. It's the cheapest way to go.
We all owe so much to Carl Sagan, especially those of us without a degree in the sciences. He explained the cosmos to us in a way we can understand.
Today marks the tenth anniversary of Carl's death. Let us all pause for a moment of silence for the man who made "billions and billions" a standard phrase. Go here for more info:
Lulu.com offered to print the NaNoWriMo books for folks who won (e.g., managed to hash out 50K words), so I thought I'd take them up on the offer. Since I went to a bunch of trouble to format it, pick out a cover, and all that other stuff, I thought why not put it up for sale to the public? So I did. Hanging my head in shame at self publishing a book, I'll nevertheless try to get somebody/anybody to buy it.
If you happen to take a peek, you could also give it a wonderful rating so maybe somebody will buy a copy. Spirit of Bear Valley Link
Margaret is a writer friend of mine and she just put up a website of her works, so I thought I should promote it. Margaret and I worked together a million years ago as tech writers. She's a superb writer and turned to writing stories and articles about her faith. Good for her! Still, I remember her fondly for her edits on a little story of mine about Big Foot that eventually was published by Bewildering Stories.
Here's Margaret's website:
http://www.inthecourtyard.com/index.htm
You would do well to check it out. She's a lovely lady and a fine writer. That we've maintained contact after all these years says a lot. I appreciate her and I'm sure you'll appreciate her as well, especially if you are of the Christian faith. Now, I'm not, but I can still appreciate Margaret's writing and her strength.
We moved into a 55+ manufactured home park about 1-1/2 years ago. We found out last Christmas they have a contest for best lights display. My hubby, not to be found wanting, put up lights for a week and we won 3rd Place, which is a $50 prize. At the Christmas potluck, we also won a ticket draw for another $15. My parents, who also live in the park, also drew a $15 prize. It was a profitable night at the old folks' home.
So, here's a pic of the lights. Not quite all are visible because I can only backup so far across the street to get the shot.
Despite being the 'fairer' sex, women have long demonstrated that they possess great strength. They instinctively know there is a time for everything and they face it with Strength, dignity and determination. Here you will not find damsels in distress or shrinking violets. Instead, you will meet women who wield strength in war and compassion in the face of hatred. Women who know there is A Time To... Laugh and Cry Kill and Heal And even a Time to Die.
Will is an absolutely brilliant writer and I wish he'd write more. He's funny, poignant, and versatile.
Here are a couple more of Will's stories. I think they're well worth reading. I'm blogging them here because the man is so shy, you can hardly find him tooting his own horn. That's a shame because I think he could definitely become a very famous short story writer.
A buddy of mine, Gene, challenged a bunch of us to a round-robin write-a-novel (novella, short story, whatever). He's writing the first segment to give us a starting point and then we'll round-robin scenes/chapters in order. This sounds like fun or total chaos. We'll find out which in the next few weeks.
Just a nice quiet town where people smiled at each other, waved, and lived harmoniously day in and day out. Or did they? Was there more to the story than what a passerby might see when they stopped here to rest? And what about those folks who lived in the hollow? Maybe, just maybe, the town wasn’t as quiet as it seemed to be.
If you'd like to follow the progress, here's the website Gene set up.
My buddy Gene tagged me to post my five favorite holiday songs and to tag other folks to do the same. Here's my list:
Oh Holy Night We Wish You a Merry Christmas Silver Bells The Little Drummer Boy (pah rum pah rum pum) What Child is This
Some of my selections have a religious theme, but I really don't think Christmas has anything to do with a specific religion. Yeah, yeah. I know that it's supposed to be Christ's birthday, but historically that's actually in March or April. The majority religion of the Dark Ages didn't want to impinge on the Easter celebration, so the pagan mid-winter festivals were usurped by monks trying to convert the masses in northern Europe. The continuance of the evergreen tree and a mid-winter feast allowed the pagans to more easily buy into this new religion being peddled.
A friend of mine through various crit groups started his blog recently. He writes lovely essays on life in general. Yeah, lots of people do that, but he does it very well.
But, he also went the extra mile for me and put a nice plug for my Cadida book on his blog, complete with the cover art.
Go read Gene's essays (below the lovely plug for Cadida). I think you'll enjoy them.
I retrieved my website, no thanks to Clearwire's non-help. I think they've grown too fast since I did receive good help when I first got the receiver. Clearwire isn't DSL and it isn't cable and it isn't a satellite. On the whole, I'm happy with the service once I found the right place in the house to put the receiver. It's sitting on top of a six-foot bookshelf and pointing generally southeast. It's this flat thing with five lights on top. The number of lit lights shows signal strength. The signal comes from a tower, which I believe is also a cellphone tower. The receiver is connected to my wireless router, and our computers pick up the signal via the router.
But, back to how I solved the problem. After I received another note from Clearwire to call them to "troubleshoot" the problem, I went back into my account and started the setup of another webpage. Apparently, the connection was broken somehow or other and when I started the setup process, the system located all my webpages. Everything is intact. Thank goodness! I'd hate to have redone the whole thing.
The "troubleshooting" the email referred to was obviously just putting me through the re-setup steps that I did on my own. Now, why couldn't they have just said "do the setup again and your webpages are most likely still around." Now, my heart does go out to the other people with their clearwire website which no longer work and they don't even know it. On the other hand, if they don't update their site, then I guess it doesn't matter much.
As for beta blogger, it still does not have the features to do fun stuff with the post. No HTML editing, no picture download, no hyperlink setup. Maybe they'll get it straightened out before they decide they aren't in beta anymore.
So, I switched to the Googlized version of blogger, downloaded IE7, and lovingly updated my webpage, MySpace page, Author's Den, etc.
IE7 seems to not allow any cookies set so I have to enter my (various) passwords everywhere new. This is highly annoying. I keep messing with the security settings so the Remember Me checkbox actually remembers me.
The new blogger from Google doesn't seem to be any kind of improvement. But, guess what? You can't go home again.
Clearwire, my ISP, seems to have lost my webpage. I put in a problem report asking if it was just my page or was there a problem with their web server. I got a note back from them that said "We cannot troubleshoot this type of problem." Plus a bunch of other stuff about calling their customer service lines. That would be fine except this is what will happen: Me: My webpage seems to have disappeared and I can't log into the WebsiteOS to check it. Them: Is your computer plugged in? Me: Obviously. I wish you'd just take a look and see if my webpage is anywhere on the server. Them: Have you installed any new hardware lately? Me: No, that's not the problem. Them: ((( other stupid comments which waste their time and mine until I can convince them to simply check )))
Here's the fun part. I googled .clearwire.net and found some other folks' websites on the same server as mine. Many of those websites are also MIA. So, it's not just my site. The question comes to mind: Why don't they know their server is eating people's websites? Why do they fail to mention to their customers that they've bombed bigtime and are working on the problem?
So, that's my gripe for today.
Please check my existing websites for information on my writings. In particular, go buy my new book, "Cadida and the Djinn," from Genre Mall. http://www.genremall.com/fictionr.htm#cadidaandthedjinn
I would have made that a pretty link, but google's version of blogger doesn't want to supply any of the nice features like adding pictures, building links, making text colored. So, screw them, too.
The Lorelei Signal anthology, A TIME TO... is coming together and I'll be posting a link for it soon, but I thought I'd share a fun quote from one of the reviewers the editor passed on:
Kim Headlee - author of Dawnflight, said
"This line alone is worth the price of the whole antho!" about this line from Marva's Dasef's story "Chilpequin 22 Miles" -
"Yeah, my cousins both play for the Seahawks. I've got an aunt who's a linebacker for the Chicago Bears."
As you might notice, this is a lighthearted story and I hope you'd enjoy reading it along with the rest of the stories and poems in the anthology.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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."
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.
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?
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.
