Dismantling a Nightmare

Starting this month I delve into the last of my books to rewrite for the final time and after I do this I have to decide if I want to put it back onto the selling block or just hide it away forever so wandering eyes don’t have to stare at the mistake that it has become.

There are a plethora of guides and books on how to be a better writer or how to write a better story/novel.  You can find many in bookstores, libraries, and online for free.  It’s like finding books on personal growth only not in such huge volumes.  What you do not normally find are guides on what not to do.  Then you have writers who discuss their process usually slightly different from the rest.  This isn’t one of those guides.

            Today, this is not one of those guides.  This is the short, painful story of my first novel I wrote from beginning to end.  The novel is called Machete Mauler and it was a story I thought it was cool at the time.  However there are several things I did wrong that made this a huge train wreck and probably the major reason why I’ve only sold one book in my one decade of actively writing.  As I am writing this blog post the original version is still out there to be purchased.  As soon as I get around to tell the publishing house in question to finally take it off their virtual shelves I’ll make sure that dreck will never be found again.  I mean this book actually caused physical pain and I’m not very proud of that.  Here are some things I did wrong with the first novel I began and finished.

            Number one: I didn’t stick to a tense.

            Yep, I jumped around the tense of the story like a monkey first discovering a trampoline.  What surprised me so much was my blatant disregard for not sticking to one tense.  I will point several times to my mentioning that this novel produced “physical” harm as any editor would be induced with at least a headache trying to fix the tense mix up alone.  Try reading one sentence, not paragraph but sentence that changes the tense four times.  Yeah, I did that five times in the novel.

            And number two: I wrote with absolutely no outline whatsoever whether beginning the story or as I went.

            So this created several problems like key supporting characters with name changes or characteristic changes in the middle of the story.  The reader is not supposed to get an aneurysm but I tried to write this book from beginning to end just by sheer memory.  What a bad idea.

            Now I’m going to attempt to a final pass edit on this story.  After I am done I have to make the decision to let this book go back out there to be read or just shove it under the bed in hopes that nobody will ever see it until I pass…maybe.  I’m expecting a lot of watery eyes from this book.

            But it isn’t the worst way I tried writing a story.  The very first novel I attempted to write, and this was back in eleventh grade, I decided to write the first seventy-four pages of the book as the story’s background.  Apparently I thought this was a great idea at the time until I decided to read it one day.  ::SNORE::  Now it just sits in story limbo with a lot of other projects I’ve either started or just mulled over until I finally get around to doing it.

            After these two learning experiences I thought I’ve written two other books at least worthy of other people reading them without me just giving them away.  Daemon  & Shifter have been put through the final pass and are now available in paperback form, however the previous of the two will possibly be put through the copy edit process by a professional then I can finally rest easy on the book I thought I wrote the best.  We’ll see.

 

Now a review

 

Recently I read the novel Blood & Water by Briana Morgan.  It’s a dystopian young adult novel set in the near future set in London and Calais, France.  Rather than going through the arduous task of explaining outbreak disease that rocked the world, Miss Morgan decides to focus on a group of four people; three teens and one of the teen’s older sister as they go on a small trip in hopes to rid the disease that lie in two of them.  The book is written to the point of view of Jay, one of the people with the non-named plague disease as he copes with the severe changes in his life.  Dare I say it’s a refreshing change for a dystopian story (yes I used the word refreshing) to put it on such a personable level.  The only thing that seemed a little rushed and convenient was the introduction to the doctor they went to see in Calais, France.  However her subplot is pivotal to the story, I just wished the author could have integrated her introduction with the story more smoothly.  Still it was an enjoyable read.

I Know It's Been Over a Year... It's Going to Keep Being Like That

It’s been over a year and a lot of things have happened.  Not all good and not all bad but a lot of things have happened.  There are some stuff I’m not sure exactly how much I would be allowed to talk about and other things I am not sure I want peeps to actually know.  Actually, knowing me I tend to spin things to the negative so don’t be surprised that most of this blog is that.  I also have some twitter peeps to shout out to, so if you want to see some reviews of people I feel you need to give a better look, scroll through the B.S.  So first, lets travel. 

 

In 2015 I planned to go to the San Diego ComicCon this past July but as I started with that plan I noticed some very discouraging facts with this particular convention.  Now I knew that there’d be zounds of people there roaming around causing a lot of foot traffic problems and getting in the dealers hall on day one would be next to impossible.  I understood that.  I was forewarned so I was forearmed.  Nope, the initial letdown to getting into this convention was the preregistration.  There were only so many to be bought and when they ran out I was stuck buying registration at the doors.  No thanks.  I’m sorry but I feel I don’t have to hurry up and spend just to obtain that glimmer of hope to be just ahead of everyone else and an even smaller glimmer of hope in getting a hotel room downtown so I didn’t have to walk great distances or deal with strange California traffic with a rental car and strain to find parking close enough to the convention hall.  The fact that I may not even get a prereg on day one when they are available was bad enough to make the decision to not go…EVER!  (Now I could be wrong about that and misread the information provided on their website, but that’s how it read to me.  Still I’m soured by this con and I never even started to make preparations to go.)

            So instead I decided to take my big trip to England during that time.  I was working on my ancestry of my family, mainly through ancestry.com, but later on there became questions about certain ancestors in the tree and certain far removed cousins so I made some correspondence with the right departments in the U.K. to make confirmations on these findings.  (Still waiting on Clan Ferguson but I think that’s no longer a possibility)  Ultimately I was given more questions after some answers were made.  But I also decided to make a real trip out of because the last time I was in England I was only visiting certain places.  Mainly in London and north of Liverpool is where I frequented with a day taking a touristy jaunt around Salisbury, Bath and Stonehenge with other Americans who wanted to see these places.  I remember talking mostly with a family from Cleveland and after a good fifteen minutes the accent I acquired while being in England for a week completely vanished.

            Back then I attended the Concert for Life in Wembly, attended the Queen fan convention in Southport (North of Liverpool) and got to watch an Arsenal match.  This time the only things of London I saw was Heathrow Airport and the Underground to the train station I was going to that was transporting me to England’s midlands area.  I wanted to see other things besides London, including going to Wales and Scotland.

 

3 July 2015

 

After a long travel from the Airport all the way to my first destination &much anticipated long journey I arrived in Leicester where I had enough time to just drop my luggage and head to my first appointment to look at parts of my family tree.  Fortunately for me the people in charge were very helpful and already had a sheet printed out for me about what I had questions.  Still it gave me more questions and already had me thinking I probably will never know all the answers with my family tree.  Not surprised because the further you went back the less likely records were kept on births and deaths.

            After I was done there I headed back to my room where I had a good three hours nap before I had to get up and head to my first show of the trip.  Got to see Derren Brown’s Miracle and at the same time finally had some jelly babies.  I thoroughly enjoyed it and the medium he emulated that night, and I use the word “medium” very lightly, he did a spot on job.  So finally, one off my list of who to see live.

            Now, back to Leicester and pretty much most of England that is not London.  I didn’t have one bite to eat besides some candy since I landed at Heathrow and one thing I learned very quickly was unless it’s a 24 hour fast food joint you’re going to have a hard time getting food past nine to eleven o’clock.  I was finally able to score a calzone kitty corner from my motel room but even then it was obvious they were getting ready to close.  I was made to wait a good half hour then they wanted a tip.  Fortunately I already had the food I ordered in my hands and since I was in Europe… no tip for jou!  I’m sorry, I know it’s obvious I’m an American that doesn’t me I’m ignorant on what goes on socially.  I know y’all don’t expect tips.  First restaurant I walk in and they expect a tip.  ::Shakes head::

 

4 July 2015

 

Got up early and headed down to Coventry, which was my next stop.  The hotel I was staying at was nice enough to allow me to keep my luggage there before getting a room because I was heading down to the Godiva festival, where I was all day enjoying music and atmosphere, though a lot of people, which I still have a hard time dealing with, but I let the music drown that out.  I treated the place like being at an outside bar; sitting back and being unassuming while observing others and their habits.  I’m a writer, I tend to do that.

            Around fiveish I had to head back to the hotel, claim my room, get cleaned and changed to head over to Birmingham so I can see Jimmy Carr live.  Another live act I get to knock off the list and it was definitely ROTFLMAO!  And it’s a thing for him to allow the audience to meet and greet him after the show.  The one thing about him that caught me off guard is Jimmy guessed my accent in one.  Figured out exactly which state of the union I was from.  He was pretty cool.  Kinda surreal because there he was even though all I’ve had is YouTube videos and then there he was.

            Something else about Birmingham that day when I was there; there was a small blues festival going on with a lot of pubs with booths around it.  So I sampled someone’s “hot dog”  ::Giggle:: and got to critique it.  They weren’t sure that it was a good idea for an American to be doing that but if you want to call it a Chicago dawg you better right well f’ing make it proper.  I asked them if they had anything in England called horseradish or relish because the dog was lacking in both.  All I got were shrugs where I added that the hot dog tasted really good but it was not a true Chicago dawg since these ingredients were missing.  Good try though.

            Also, while drinking pints of cider I noticed that only the ladies drank cider and the men drank beer, which bugged me.  Yes, I would love to drink the beer, but since I had gout, which was kind of flaring up at the moment, I had no choice but to ignore beer.  Besides, that cider was God-awful.

            Back to Coventry, didn’t want to mess with the children trying to hail cabs or waiting on the bus so I tried to head to the hotel via shanks mare, snuck into a pub before they were done serving drinks and had a pint and given some off hand information I wish forever I never acted upon it cuz –

 

5 July 2015

 

One of the worst days of my life.  Top ten, sure, top five, yeah that two, top three, quite a possibility.  This passage is tricky, but I’m going to say something about it because it’ll always be eating me away.

            At the time I thought I was okay, I though I wasn’t in the wrong.  Afterwards I have decided even second chances cannot happen, even with people who have preconceived notions of you, which are most definitely not you.  I decided not to argue but you cannot argue with those who have already made their mind up.  I could also try to take a more visceral approach, like I normally would but that would make more harm than good in the long run.  Was the way I did things the best way?  Looking back now, no.  I wish I wasn’t given any information the night before so I could just go on with my trip in blissful ignorance.  Besides, not everyone in this world are nice people.  And it also bears that their response truly displayed the content of their character.  Nobody was right this day.

            Still, because of said events, everyday I wake up, look in the mirror and now notice a monster I cannot shake.  Regardless of how wrong the impression was or how incorrect the preconceived notions were, I know I’m not that kind of person, but that’s not how I’m viewed and I doubt that’ll ever go away.  (Yeah, tmi, but that’s about as PC as I can put it.  No, I’m not naming names)

            After this I felt I couldn’t leave the hotel at all.  The name “Custer” means enough to me.  I knew no one in town and there were plenty of friends on the opposition.  I even had one more night to stay at this hotel, whom’s service has already waned to incompetence.

            So, because of this transgression –

 

6 July 2015

 

I loose fifty quid because I was not sticking around.  I doubt a taxi could never show up fast enough to save my ass from a lynch mob, so I decided to get a room in Leicester for that night because I had a show to see in that town. But first… I had my tour at Jaguar and got to see my very favorite vehicle being built in its varying stages, the F-type.  Even had one in the lobby where you can get your photograph taken while behind the wheel.  First time ever I got to sit in a car with the wheel on the right side.  I don’t know if I will ever get used to that feeling, clutch on the right, stick on the left.  I have a bit of ambidexterity, but I would still have to learn to get used to it.

            The tour guide also informed us they do make the F-type custom and if you were rich enough could come down to the factory for a more all inclusive tour that ended with you introduced to your new car where you can test drive it then and there and let them know what needed changing, if anything, before it was sent off to the nearest dealer to you.  If only I could win the lottery.  That and the Edinburgh Fringe would be epic IMO.

            After Jaguar I went further into the city to get my family tree stuff from Birmingham.  Unfortunately it had to be a lot faster than Leicester but they did have a printout for me too… for a tener.  ::Shakes head::  I grabbed my stuff so I could look at it later because I needed to be at the airport.

            I was meeting up with a friend.  A friend who agreed to meet me there from Northern Ireland, well, at least it seemed to me it was agreed.  I noticed the flight that they were supposed to be on and that I beat it to it’s landing by just 5 minutes so I waited in the main entry area at Birmingham International.  And I waited…and waited…and waited.  People who showed up at the baggage claim came and went and they didn’t show up.  So I decided to look at my fb to see what was up only to view that I was unfriended.  I should have done that earlier so I didn’t waste my time.  Again people being shitty with me second day in a row.  Took the train back to Coventry, grabbed my already packed luggage, handed the front desk my key and took the taxi outta there to the station and to Leicester.  I didn’t want anything to do with that town anymore.  GTFO.  They only way I would ever be back there are because the train/bus/car I was in gone through the town.  I even cancelled my appointment in Coventry for my family tree stuff there because I was so distraught.

            Now, Leicester, I had hoped things would get better.  Drop everything and chill.  I had three extra hours after spending more cash than I had planned.  Then I got to go to the Globe pub and see Aisling Bea (@WeeMissBea) do some work in progress comedy.  They gave me a front seat so I already knew I was in for it because like many comedians she likes to play off the audience.  Poor girl had to ask me how my time in England was thus far.  My answer was for yesterday, “I had a right shit day.”  The look of horror on her face was classic.  I knew she was going to make my day better because she’s that damn good of a comedian but I was sad panda and not enough cider was going to make me feel any better but I didn’t mean to make a statement that felt like I was telling her “Go ahead funny girl, make me laugh!”  I’ll have to admit, she was funnier than Jimmy until she decided to sing.  ::Sigh::  I needed another pint.  You can’t fault the kid for trying but… no.  I have a good ear for sound, for better or worse, and even the choice of song, which was funny, just…no.  If anyone who’s seen Aisling Bea at the Edinburgh Fringe this year please tell me if she sang as her “big finish” or not.

            Another performer on the list I can scratch off.

 

7 July 2015

 

It would be nice to find a T.A.R.D.I.S. right?  Well, I didn’t want to look that weird to walk into any ol’ police box, if they still existed, and act like it was one so I waiting to get my Doctor Who stuff satisfied when I got to Cardiff at the Doctor Who experience.

            Now up to this point it’s been pretty hot in England, mid 80’s for us yanks, but Cardiff was a wake up call weather speaking.  Couldn’t muster past 59 even though it was sunny, the wind off the harbor was unbearable.  When I was walking back from the Doctor Who experience to the hotel the wind was whipping water up from the harbor onto my face.  This wasn’t mist.  The droplets were huge and annoying.  One peculiar thing was seeing an ice cream truck parked against the fence that divided the sidewalk to the steady drop into the water and the Welsh overjoyed, running to said truck to get their ice cream.  No, just no way.  I was better when I was more back into the city where there were buildings so there were windbreakers.

            The Doctor Who Experience itself was nice but it was pretty much what I expected, geared to the kids.  Pretty much be there, remember when you were that age, just have fun with it that way and move on.  I spent a lot of money in the gift shop.  A LOT of money.

            Then finding a place to eat, which wasn’t hard, I just decided not to go into the main city.  The hotel steered my into another direction which I found was the best thing for me because I met an opera singer, Lorna Jean Hehir (@lornajean_h).  Didn’t know she was until she sang a few bars in the restaurant.  It was low enough so no one else notced but pitch perfect enough that one would go “daaaaamn!”  Really nice conversation with her that I think lasted an hour, hour and a half.

            I think it was the U.K.’s way of trying to make things a little better.

 

8 July 2015

 

A train ride about 9 hours long, from Cardiff to Glasgow with changing trains in Birmingham.  Yeah, changing trains, more like running for my life to the train to Glasgow and if I missed it I would have to wait until 8pm.  Not….happening.  I think I had 3 minutes to spare when I got onto the train.

            Then I finally got into Glasgow grabbed me a cab and got to my motel.  Outside greeted me a double rainbow, which made me nervous because when I looked outside from my room on 5 July there was a rainbow set over the downtown and you saw how that day went.

            I got a hold of my friend Ashley at met her at the train station found out I’ll get a better look at Glasgow the next day with her and a friend.  I ended up wandering the streets a little, found a place that served haggis…not sure if it was traditional, and found a very peculiar intersection.  A McDonalds, a Burger King, and Wendy’s, and a KFC took the corners and all were open.  ::Facepalm::  With that I headed back to the room to sleep but before I did ran across some obvious football supporters, figured out from all of their drunkenness that I was American and asked if I supported any team.  I had to play dumb and did it successfully because they were Celtic fans and I didn’t want to get into a fight.

 

9 July 2015

 

I had lots to do.  First thing was go straight to IBROX.  I was only ten blocks away so this was the only time I took a bus on my trip.  Got to the stadium, ironically it was on the day game day tickets were being sold and got my stuff from the team store, a kit and a scarf to be honest.  Got into talking with the clerk with my story about the Celtic fans the night before when I was interrupted by a codger.

            “Did ya punch them in tha throat?”  He’d ask me with a very heavy Glaswegian accent.

            I thought about it as to why I would do that then just told him “No.  No I didn’t.”

            “That’s what ya do with those types.  Ya punch them in tha throat!”

            I look back at the clerk where he could only shrug, “Welcome to Glasgow?”

            Next, I ate at Nando’s…and that happened.

            Finally I got back down to the center of Glasgow where my friend Ashley commented that I was late.  Here’s what she made sure I experienced.  Drinking an Iron Bru, which was so-so, eating some tablet, which was phenomenal, and going to a Scotch bar where I found my favorite Scotch, Whyte and MacKay 13 year old.  Oh yeah, and it’s not sold in the states.  Randy again a sad panda.  I forgot what restaurant we ate at but it wasn’t traditional Scottish so it didn’t strike a cord.  Then after saying good-bye to both Ashley and her friend I decided to go to the city’s local comedy club.  Most of the comedy was okay but I had plenty of cider to drink so I really didn’t care.  Then I just crashed in my room.

 

10 July 2015

 

IBROX tour!  The security guard in the main entrance said that bringing my luggage was okay so I could head straight to the train station after the tour was over so hell yes I bought a tour ticket.  It was the closest I would ever be to a match.  Got to see everything but the boardroom.  Got some pics taken of me looking like the new boss, which of course I’m not but it’s nice to dream.  Took all of two hours, plenty of time to get on a train and zip down to my final destination, Milton Keynes, where Tiffany and Matt were waiting for me.  Tiffany is an expatriate so her lack of an accent was needed to get rid of the rotten broken Glaswegian accent I acquired when being in Scotland.  I think it took all of two to three hours to accomplish that.

 

11-12 July 2015

 

My trip was winding down with a couple of good friends who I hope wasn’t too much of a trouble guest for them.  Their birds are something else and Matt made great tea.  (I make it too watery for some reason.  It needs practice.)  Got to see the church they got married.  Tried to imagine the place with Cthulu hymns being belted out.  I even had someone comment on how remarkable my accent was to where I replied “What accent?”  Got to see Minions 2 but not in 4D.  Oh well.  Also went to the Pubs the Cock and the Bull, decided to eat at the Cock pub.  (J) and on the 12^th with little problem Matthew was able to get me back to Heathrow with plenty of time to mess around and get lost if we had to.

 

Some things I learned while I was there:  Taxis are fairly cheap and cabbies don’t take anything higher than one quid in tips.  Believe me I tried and they turned it down.  The most I spent on a taxi ride one way was 7 pounds. 

I’m pretty good at Cricket.  Good enough that the opposing team was so insulted by my skills that I was told to leave the pitch.  No I didn’t do anything wrong socially, I just hit one over the fence the first time up as a batsman and bowled out too many batsmen myself.  I told them I never played the game and I never did, but I’ve observed parts of test matches and reviewed the rules of the game.  After that playing it made more sense.

Consignment shops are a way of life over there and there isn’t shame in buying at those stores, unlike over here and you’d find a lot more interesting things in those consignment shops.  (I got me an Office UK dvd collection for only 5 quid!)

Twinkies are 7 pounds 50.  You don’t eat the American stuff over there unless it’s fast food, if you really want to eat fast food.

During the summertime all you have to work with are fans.  There’s no such thing as air conditioning.  In the hotels they leave you a not explaining that you have to close the drapes of the windows so the sun doesn’t shine in, keeping your room naturally cooler and at night opening the windows so you don’t trap the heat.  Yes, we know this, but most people obviously needs to be coach through it.  To me I read it as, “Please deal with the fact you will not have AC.”  After making it to Cardiff, not only did I not need AC, but I needed to wear a jacket a lot.  It wasn’t that warm at all.

 

So that was England.

 

Now my writing.

 

I’ve turned all my books into these paperbacks because I believe they are cheaper that the larger books yet are still nice enough a hard copy to carry around.  Plus I have also found having a hard copy I’m easier to edit my work now then fixing them on the computer so for right now my books will be available only on paperback until I get off my lazy butt and work on the trade sizes and the eBooks.

            Daemon’s final pass is over, now I’m working on Shifter as this blog is written.  I also fancy doing vendor stuff next year but looking at the price of said books bought in bulk it looks daunting.  Not to mention how much to be a vendor at these conventions.  I will get these books done, seemingly very quickly, but after these I doubt I’ll be able to get anything else done going forward unless, somehow I can make a living at this, which I really cannot.  I’m not good at marketing, I never will be nor am I or ever will be a good salesman.  Plus the damaging my ego knowing I’ve only sold one book in the past ten years.

            The other problem, apparently, is my narrative.  My voice in third person I’ve always thought has had problems and it’s true.  Many have confirmed it sounds too much like a newspaper or magazine article and therefore I believe doesn’t allow the reader to enjoy the story.  The problem with all of this is I have no more time to fix any of this.

            My real life job is that of a truck driver.  This job gives me absolutely no time for anything else anymore.  What little time to myself I get is spent to either watching shows or sleeping.  This is all I get anymore so there’s no time to get any stories stuck in my head onto paper in any way, shape or form.  This doesn’t bug me as much as it should as I point out; again, I’ve only sold one book.  If I knew what to do I’d do it.  I don’t and I have no energy left to work that hard to get there.

            Third, my name.  Apparently H.R. Green is an engineering firm that started at the turn of the 20^th Century.  They don’t own the trademark on the name but if I started to make some real money on it I’m sure they’d want their cut, trademark or no trademark.  So I’ve been mulling over using my real name again which I find out isn’t being used anywhere but this means actually getting my lazy self to do the legal groundwork to find the stuff out and file the papers to get my name trademarked.

 

So now that I’m done with me whining for now and I know nobody wants to read that…

 

Things to read.

 

Recently I read three books by author Laura Del.  Graveyard Shifts and Dueling Moons are her Pat Wyatt novels.  Now, they are under the romance genre but they are also supernatural novels.  For those of us who don’t really like mushy romance it is fairly easy to skip all that text and get back to the vampire and werewolf goodness inside these books.  I personally believe she does a splendid job in combining both types of books and are both really good reads.  She’s closing in on finishing her third Pat Wyatt novel, Danville Horror, so I suggest you all out there play catch up and get the first two.

            She also has a novella out, “Ghosts Among Men,” that I think reads like those television mystery shows from the seventies and eighties, only with an obvious R rated feel.  Think Ghost Whisperer with attitude and you have her protagonist, Samantha Davidson. 

            Links to the author’s books from Amazon is down below, along with the link to her weekly vlogging site on YouTube.

 

Things to listen.

 

A while back I had the fortuitous luck in have a country artist, Julie Gibb, follow me on Twitter.  Now I don’t normally listen to country music, so I had to click on her website to find out what this girl is about and all I had to hear was just over a minute of her song, “Woe is Me” to decide to follow back and start getting more of her songs so I can get a good listen.

            Eventually I’ve purchased two of her albums, All My Yesterdays and Rewriting History. Now I bought the actually CDs instead of downloading the MP3 versions of the songs because with RW, the digital downloads sounded different than the tracks on the CD.  Now they still sound great, just on the CD I can hear the base play a much more prominent role in the songs, especially on “Thank God for You.”

            Tracks I recommend from both albums.  First, All My Yesterdays: “Cleveland,” “All My Yesterdays,” “Well I Do,” “Call Me Baby ( J ),” & “Too Soon to Tell.”  Second, Rewriting History:  “Get the Show on the Road,” “Consolation Prize,” “A Single Yesterday,” “Thank God for You,” “I Might Be Wrong,” and “Hold on Tight.”

            She too has a YouTube channel with a lot of lyric videos.  She also has a Christmas song and being this close to the holidays I invite you to check that out.  There are also listener requests that she does every once in a while if someone would like to ask her to do a cover song, she just might.  Check out “Move With You Slowly” on her YouTube channel as an example.  No real reason, just thought it was a good choice to start.

            Julie also has her first album, which I’ll admit I do not own yet entitled Persistence in Folly, where “Woe is Me” is at, and another song, “The Wrong Address.”  Go get eet!


Laura Del's website: http://www.thefictionwriters.net/,  her Amazon author page: http://www.amazon.com/Laura-Del/e/B00GR6QGEA, her YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJtlt0JsRewUBlo2gb1Gqbg


Julie Gibb's website: http://www.juliegibb.com/ where you'll also find her store where you can purchase CD's and music books as well as, a cookbook I believe.  Her YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCX3dXrvWt55IkgmDqE9zfFA

Games People Play

I’m a gamer.  Not a gambler, which most people in this word associate the term “gamer” to, but a gamer as a role player playing RPGs and other games that would be associated to such.  My bookshelf is riddled with gamer text books, my closet is full of magic cards and other collectable card games and I still find dice in the strangest of places.  I still have my PSP, we have kept the PS2 and upgraded to the PS4 and my son and I sometimes do battle with our 3DS, so, yeah, this house is a gamer house.

 

So now it take you down a little history:

 

Like many I started with board and card games with my family, however, I was introduced to computers at home at a very young age for my generation; five.  I’m forty-two now so you can understand having a computer in the house at that age for the times, the seventies, was a huge deal. 

 

The TRS-80 Model I took the entire dining room table with it’s main cpu unit, monitor, and all it’s wires and accessories.  These days, a piece of plastic the size of my pinky fingernail holds zounds more information than that monstrosity did back in 1977.  It didn’t even belong to us.  Mom brought it home from work because she had extra work to do on it she couldn’t accomplish during normal hours.  And, of course, it doesn’t hurt to teach her son a thing or two about something that’ll be commonplace when he becomes her age.  Eventually she bought a Model III when I was eight, upgraded to an Apple IIe when I was 14 then she finally relented to a IBM compatible 1megwhen I was a junior in high school.  This on top of having an Atari 2600 with 26 games to play up to a Turbo Grafix 16 by the time high school game around then going to the Sega Genesis for college.  I played RP computer games and went “online” when I was 14, before anyone coined the terms “internet” and “world wide web.”  So gaming was firmly established for me.

 

On the other end of the spectrum is tabletop.  Like most, I started with Dungeons and Dragons, more specifically Advanced Dungeons and Dragons 1^st Edition then had to move on to 2^nd Edition.  Ah yes I remember thac0 very well.  After college I graduated to playing both the Palladium universe  White Wolf and finally by 1997 I discovered LARP and with the exception of Magic, something I picked up two years prior, the actor in me picked up live action role playing and never looked back… for a while.

 

The reason for this blog is two fold.  One, because my previous posting was drama filled and I felt I needed to get things off my chest and there are a few games out there I feel are really fun and need mentioning even if they have been discontinued.

 

Dream Park

 

Published by R. Talsorian Games, this one shot is the holodeck RPG.  Or maybe it’s Total Recall since your PCs tend to not have any memory as to why you are in this weird universe.  The premise is you and your friends are at this virtual theme park where you enter pods to go to this strange world with it’s own rules.  Of course you have an ordeal to endure as you might have a specific goal to complete but half the fun is trying to figure out this domain’s rules.

 

What got me hooked was the GM decided to send us into a world that was always a rock opera and we had to save Iron Maiden’s mascot, Eddie, from Hotel California before the residents’ steely knives devoured him.

 

If you find this book it’s well worth picking up and playing.

 

HoL: A Game

 

AKA Human Occupied Landfill and its only supplement, “Buttery wHoLsomeness.”  This one I picked up while waiting for a magic game to pick up and I could not put it down.  Now to warn you it’s chock full of crude adult humor and quite possibly many people couldn’t make sense of it.  I did, and even went so far as to run an event at GenCon with it using South Park as a theme.  It was independent then later picked up by White Wolf for their Black Dog line that didn’t last long.  Still if you want a game for a good riot of a time that goes with the lines of Cards Against Humanity, find this game.

 

Amber Diceless Roleplaying Game

 

Because of the rise to prominence of Game of Thrones, the Amber books, written by Roger Zelazny, has started to slip into obscurity.  The DRPG was based off the books and because it’s diceless can be done pretty much anywhere.  With my circle of friends it was always started with the question, “Where are you and what are you doing?”  Easily can take the time away on long car rides or waiting at the doctor’s office.  It’s hard to find copies of this one because Palladium bought the rights to Phage Press’s books but haven’t done jack squat about it but it’s a game that you can easily run a campaign for years on end.  That is if you’re into that sort of thing.  And being a god doesn’t hurt either.

 

Well, that’s my contribution for now.  Lets hope later days won’t include such drama like today did.

 

TTFN

Watch the Birdie

A couple of months ago I joined this social network with the only purpose that I had to in order to have a chance to get a residency on Amtrak, otherwise I couldn't even fathom joining it because I thought it was silly and a waste of time but mainly because I felt I would never get any followers.  I am not that sociable, at least not in real life, so I felt my tenure there would be short lived.  I have since not scored a residency (surprise, surprise) but I am still on Twitter, gaining more followers than I loose and creating a nice little circle of professionals for myself.  Many of us writers where I see it as a community of support for one another it is something I could not see before joining and now I can't see why I could never had joined.  Like the line in the Hellraiser moving when the psychiatrist was turned into a cenobite, "And to think, at first I resisted."


"One of us!  One of us!"


I'm mutually following many writers, whether if that's what they do for a living or it's a hobby.  A huge online support group in hopes someone will catch what I created and maybe help me go to the echelon of "published."  But still it's kind of nice knowing many others are in the same boat as I.  And it kind of depresses me knowing many others are in the same boat as I.  I also have actors and singers following, very talented people, some followed me first and I haven't a clue why.   Some are seemingly become a kind of friend, but again I am always reserved because what has happened to me in the past with people and what tends to still go on today.  However I do have tweeters who I converse with more than others.  It seems I've developed a sort of report with them so it's much easier.  But for the most part and certain air of distance is required.  This is a much different animal than Facebook, an entity I don't use nearly as much anymore.


"Keep it Professional"


It is really difficult for me to not just turn to everyone and pull a Jon Lovitz, "Buy my book!  Buy my book!" or "Hey, you see that link?  That goes to where my books can be bought.  Hint hint."  You think merely mentioning such low behavior in this blog is bad enough, but just look to the right.  See, lulu dot com stuff over there, but I digress.  Twitter, I figure, is all about this international support group.  I mean, damn, I can always pull this up with the app on my smart phone.  When a tweet happens to my interest my phone informs me until I pull it up.  So when I'm not sleeping I'm tweeting.  I never thought I would be that person.  But what I do is tweet in the response of others either in support or antidotal in hopes that someday others will respond in kind.  Never mind about my bad day or why I'm so depressed or why the f--- can't my books sell.  There's a good chance my followers are going through the same thing so I've learned to keep drama away from everyone else because I definitely don't want drama around me.  So far I think I have a good thing going and best of all I've avoided the trolls thus far. (Knock on wood.  Then again I'm not famous by any stretch.)  Which now brings me to...


"I Only Have Patience for so Much..."


I am not going to follow just for following sake, unless I'm a fan and they have some sort of fame or an organization to the point I don't expect a follow back, generally I give about a week of following until I decide, "Well this person is definitely not interested."  Then I unfollow.  Again I try to keep things mutual and professional.  There are two individuals who I've kept around who don't follow me back.  I have my reasons for keeping them around, but for the rest of y'all I try to keep it mutual, professional, and respectful.  Sometimes it's difficult, but I believe if I keep my composure everything can stay flowers and birdies and bunnies, relatively speaking of course.  Believe me, those of you whom I have kept around you make sense being mutual followers and I hope you never unfollow.  Others, well... I wonder what possessed them to follow because they don't fit in anywhere with the community I'm creating for myself, especially those twit bots!  I'm sorry, I will NOT purchase followers and I will not tolerate advertisements violating my twitterverse space.  Fortunately in this case the "Ignore it and it will go away" method is the only tactic you can use and oddly it eventually works.


Others tend to be companies I've never heard of, never will patron, or just isn't interested.  Again, I wonder what went through their heads to think I would be okay to follow other than they gotta try.  Maybe this time they'll get lucky.  But for the most part, I guesstamate  every nine out of ten tweeters are not twits so are generally cool.


By the way for some of you who I have a constant communication on twitter, and you know who you are, I give you this liberty:  if I start getting all dramatic you guys have permission to give me a good mental slap across the face.  I should know better but there are days my mama said, yes there'll be days like these my mama said.  (Mama said, Mama said).


Now...


I just have one twitterverse thing, @RESIAMUSIC, amazing voice.  Check out her song on vevo.


I'd say ttfn, but I have two other blog entries today.  It's Labor Day; go figure.  One is very serious and possibly drama filled so you have been warned but it's something I feel needs to be said.  So see you in a few hours.

When is "Past" still "Present"

Here's the situation:


I've come to this quandary before.  Maybe someone can give better examples than the ones I will share today.


About a year ago I took my son to Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama.  I decided to make a pit stop in downtown Nashville, Tennessee first to eat at a restaurant that used to be in my hometown in Michigan.  Gibson Guitars moved it down there and put it in the tourist area of downtown.  It has since been closed, but the conversation my son and I had on the way open thoughts about something far greater in music.


We turned the corner and saw Johnny Cash's restaurant.  Immediately my kid started a diatribe about how he hoped he wasn't going to hear Johnny Cash's music as we walked around.  Lets not mention the fact we are in the middle of Music City USA and most like were going to hear that such genre but I quickly derailed his train of thought.  What came to me was, yes, the Man in Black's main genre was country, however, I knew his work transcended beyond that.  His influence is huge, international even.  He was just generalizing and I corrected him.  Later I forced him to listen to "Ring of Fire" and "A Boy Named Sue" and he did admit, he was corrected.  But it made me think something deeper than this.  We've lost Mr. Cash over a decade ago, however, his music and his influence still inspire, revere, haunt, and captivate us now.  Yes, even the American Recordings, because it is easy to say when Johnny Cash performed a song he made it his.  Few performers can do that.  So it is easy to say, when we speak of him it is not "Johnny Cash was" but "Johnny Cash is" ?


This is what I ask of you.  Add to this list because I am hard pressed to make it complete.  Of course this is just "music."  Nothing else in entertainment but "music."  I also omitted Classical because a lot of that music has, of course, transcended over many centuries and can tell you a story without words.  That's an art form that is hard to master.


So I started with...


Johnny Cash


"A Boy Named Sue," "I Walk the Line," "Ring of Fire," "Folsom Prison Blues" just to start.  Even had his own TV show.  Even the American Recordings from where I listen to his renditions of "Personal Jesus" and "Hurt" constantly.  I could go on, but I began this entry with Mr. Cash so I move on.


Elvis Presley


His music spans from the fifties to the eighties though he past on in the late seventies, I doubt many cannot think of Rock 'n' Roll and Rockabilly without talking about the King.  Starred in many movies, still has legions of fans, his home is a shrine that attracts millions of visitors per year and has conspiracy theories about his death.  Even was a voluntary DEA officer just because he wanted the badge, that takes balls.  Not only a huge discography but a legend just as huge, Elvis most definitely still "is."


Frank Sinatra


The Chairman of the Board succeeded twice.  A lot of kids can learn a thing or two from this man.  As a singer he was on top of the world as one of the best crooners but his popularity took a nose dive.  He rebounded through his acting which eventually led to the Rat Pack.  I understand that maybe his style could be stuck in a certain time period, but you can still take down the fedora, dust it off, put it on and waltz to "The Lady is a Champ" or "New York, New York."  I still find myself singing at the top of my lungs when "I Gotta be Me" comes on my MP3 player in the car.   "Send in the Clowns"  I could go on and on... He did it his own way, love him or hate him, that's why Francis Albert Sinatra "Is."


Jimi Hendrix


Even if you were able to "beat" him, you could never copy him and definitely NEVER eclipse him.  An analogy I can give to Hendrix's guitar artistry is that to Hunter S. Thompson's literary style "Gonzo."  He's the only one... and nobody else can ever take it over.  "All Along the Watchtower" is a huge example of an artist make someone else's song their own with their unique style.  The thing with Jimi is I always find myself going back and listening to his music only to get something new out of it.  Whether it was a sound, a note, words, or a vibe, I never get the exact same feeling for his recordings.  Anyone could match is guitar work note for note but you can never capture his essence.  Lets not forget "Purple Haze" and "Foxy Lady," obviously.  I am sure other people can add examples here, but I'm sure it's easy to say Hendrix "is."


Michael Jackson


I may be reaching here, but here me out.  Well, not really hear me out, just read one word:  "Thriller."  I still have that cassette tape, I still listen to the title track religiously on Halloween (It's a staple) and to be honest, I can't find a bad track on the album.  Yes, he got "eccentric."  To be honest I would love to have my own amusement park and have a pet monkey.  Plus there was a statue of him in Prague.  "Bad" is good, "Dirty Diana" is good, "Black and White" is good, "Leave me Alone" is good... so on and so on.  I remember when he grabbed the world by storm and really didn't let go.  I almost agree with Harlan Ellison when he said "Michael Jackson is the greatest entertainer of our time."  He's one of the greatest... but Michael Jackson still "is."


Janis Joplin


This is a somewhat harder choice.  I don't want people coming down and yelling all 27 club members should be included with this list just because Janis is on it.  She is an icon of rock.  There's no denying it.  "Piece of your Heart" with Big Brother and the Holding Company and "Me and Bobby McGee" released posthumously, eerie makes you feel like she's still there.  The impression she left on the few recordings there are around is so strong it nails you in the heart and knocks you to your knees if you are not careful.  That's why Janis "is."


Freddie Mercury


Okay, I'll admit I'm being sentimental.  I've always been a huge fan, so maybe it's giving me kaleidoscope eyes but when you watch past performances you have to admit you wish you were there.  I got to see their Live Aid performance on television... not at Wembley (Still was great) and he created until he passed on.  Granted, the man had fame himself, but he, like many before and quite possibly many after, created something that made him live forever.  The previous people did on this list, so did Freddie Mercury.  He is also the reason why I wish to create something that becomes famous in my writing.  I just hope not infamous.  Two examples; "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "We are the Champions."  These songs will live on forever and are two examples of many why Freddie Mercury "is."
Les Paul


Someone who I follow on twitter would never let me hear the end of it if I didn't mention this legend.  I have seen performances of this man many times including one live.  He possessed two of the fastest hands on the strings of the guitar I doubt anyone can copy now.  Those who have never seen one of Les Paul's performances go look on YouTube at the very least.  It will blow your mind.  His guitar play seemed very simple and clear yet masterfully complex at the same time.  The very reason to this day Gibson's iconic guitar is called the Les Paul and Les Paul just simply "is."


Now, you guys have got to think of others.  There must be more.  Especially women.  I can't just have one woman on this immortal list.  I must be missing someone.  If you do chime in with one please be nice about it.  Don't be hatin' and I will give it equal respect on not being hatin' back.


Now....


I am currently reading Galactic Energies by Luca Rossi.  Now the author writes under the "Erotic" genre however there are enough sci fi and thriller elements in this book that it's erotic nature does not make it a distraction.  Rather, it has been working well with the story's plot; I cannot put this book down.  I will go as far as it is raw and elegant at the same time.  Aged 18 plus though, but it's really good.


And...


K.M. Weiland has a free short story when you join her mailing list.  I highly recommend it.  It will encourage you to check out her other stuff.


Well I guess that's it for this time.


ttfn

Not My Normal Sunday Blog Post: An Experiment in Self Service? (or) A Possible Contest?

It's been four years or so since I finished writing a book.  Apparently that's been long enough for dust to collect on said book when I pulled it off the shelf to look at it again to analyze a few things.


First, I was looking for my "gratuitous"  Zelazny moment in writing this novel and each of my three novels has one of these moments.  To elaborate, what I call a "Zelazny" moment is when a paragraph takes a full page or more to end.  If anyone has read  Nine Princes of Amber or any other of the five books that make up the Amber Chronicles you would notice right away that the main protagonist, Corwin, tends to ramble.  And I don't me ramble as to over elaborate on simplicity, rather, this man loved to hear himself speak.  Paragraphs tend to take, not one, not two, nor three, but up to five pages of text before the bloody paragraph was over.  After a while, usually when I would go back to reading the book again, I would just pass by these speeches to one's self by saying, "Words...ah, words....ah, words...words...more words..." until it was over.  With my three novels, I am guilty of it every time.  Granted, thank the fates, not nearly as bad as five pages.


So I found it in Daemon starting on page 58 and ending on page 60.  Normally I would mark that area with a book mark, but somehow the one on this one vanished.  In Shifter the offense is on page 73 to page 74, and that one began a frakking chapter.  And finally, in the train wreck that is Machete Mauler it begins on page 104 and ends on page 106.  I'm sure that one is really one big writing mistake since it is my first novel and a huge headache on many levels.  All the more reason why I wished it can stay in the shadows, but probably never will.  Here's why:


Back in 2005 I created my first self published book entitled Listen Like Fiends.  It was a collection of short stories that spanned over twenty years.  Also it contained that previously mentioned first novel.  (Shudders)  However I have been entertaining the idea on doing a redo on the collection without having that novel in it.  I've written a few short stories and a novelette since then, however there's a slight problem.  Well, make that problems.


Number one:  I paid nearly a grand to get it published, but with that grand came an ISBN number, a copywrite date and a LoC number plus the ability to sell it on Ingram books.  The company I went with weren't entirely truthful with their claims, as the local Barnes & Noble story was happy to point out to me a period after my self publishing, but I'm pretty sure at the time I had more going for me that most.  Yeah, sure, lets go with that.


Secondly: The company I went with constantly calls me up with "unbelievable offers!" for my book's exposure if I pay a nominal fee.  I paid a grand.  With me that's about as nominal as you are going to get with me.  Also, the telemarketers who call me up always have a problem with pronouncing the word "Fiends."  They believe it reads "Friends."  Now I have tried in correcting them and even asking them to spell the last word in the title.  Once they do I then ask them to pronounce it, which they do incorrectly.  Now, whenever I make the mistake in answering their phone call, if they mispronounce the word, and they ALWAYS do, I just say, "I'm sorry, you mispronounced the title again, au revior."  And hang up.  Yeah, I'm being a dick, but if they wanted my money so bad you'd think they'd use communication to fix the problem.  ::Sigh::


And third: Lulu.com, the website I currently have my works located is where I plan to put this collection, there's only one problem.  Under Listen Like Fiends it wasn't published for the public yet.  I can only blame my own procrastination here.  And since I took too long the files were permanently retired.


So, I have a preexisting book that I don't want to go away because it has all the official stuff on it, but, I feel the need to update it.  Here's where y'all come into play.  I need a title and a kick ass cool picture.  Usually just the title will do and I can find a picture that best fits it, but I'm gonna keep it open until the end of summer (Labor Day).  The one who can think of the best title will win a prize.  Now right now I have only thought of a first prize, not second or third, so as of right now don't expect it.  The one who can think of a title for me will receive the following:


The new compilation in special edition form (This will be with extra stories and ... ahem... poems) in case wrapped hard cover along with Daemon and Shifter in their special edition case wrapped hard covered form.  All the winner has to do is provide me with a current mailing address and i'll do the rest.  I'm not going to rely on another companies snail mail.  If it fucks up, I want it to be entirely my fault and cut out the middle man and possible name blaming.  And for the first novel?  If the winner want a copy of that I guess I'll get that too, if you really are a masochist.


Please send your entries to my twitter account only @daemondelall.  Not email through lulu.com or if you find something else somewhere else.  The only way this is going to work is through my twitter.


We now return you to your regularly scheduled program -


ttfn