Tag: birthday

Weekly Roundup – MY SCHOOL BUILDING (Another Blast From the Past)

Weekly Roundup is an update on what’s going on in my world. Welcome!

In my dusty old school folder I found a poem I had turned in for an assignment. It’s written in longhand cursive (does anybody even remember what that is?), and even though it received a grade of B+, was torn in half. For some reason I changed my mind about throwing it away and kept the awful thing. Though undated, the text itself tells me it must have been written in the 8th grade. Considering the subject matter, and the humorless nuns who filled the place, it was awful ballsy of me to turn it in!

 

MY SCHOOL BUILDING

Your rugged features are frightening,

You’re ugly as can be,

I hate your personality,

I think you’ve got it out for me.

I really think you’re ignorant,

And stony-faced and cold,

You always make me say “I can’t!”,

You’re impersonal and bold.

I’ve been with you for eight long years,

And hated you all the while,

Your sickening lunches psyche me out,

They look like garbage piles.

Yeah, yeah – I know it’s wretched poetry, but the sentiment still stands! I have very few good memories from my Catholic school days – which ended up being grades 1-12. My parents thought they were doing the right thing, and who knows? Perhaps attending a public school would have been even worse than my experience at St. Albert!

By the way, I got even with the blue-haired lunch ladies in my senior year. I did a spot-on impersonation of Roseanne Roseannadanna, who reported on the awful state of things in the cafeteria. It brought down the house. HA! My best comedy performance ever! I still believe the blue hair came from the toxic food fumes and not as a result of their rinse.

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Rise of the Draman, my fantasy dragon series, is coming along nicely. Both books one and two are now available on my blog, and book three DRAGON BONDS will be featured soon! I’m already working on the next story, which will be in two parts as books four and five. If I have the funds, I will then publish all five books in one volume. Depending on sales and interest, I may write another five stories with the MC as a teen.

The next project will be a new mixed-genre series of shorts under the working title of “Curiosity Shoppe”, and I am eager to get started! I have a boatload of cool story ideas to use and it will be difficult to choose which ones make the cut.

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To celebrate my birthday (WOO HOO!), I am taking time off to enjoy a three-day weekend. Most likely, I will use it for writing and other author-related tasks. I might even get some extra sleep! My older son is sending me a gift, my younger son took me to a cool animal park last weekend, and my best friend is taking me out to dinner on July 4th. If you want to help me celebrate, gifts of cash or chocolate are always welcome!

Weekly Roundup – The Long Road to a Short Story

Weekly Roundup is an update on what’s going on in my world. Welcome!

Next week I intend to introduce the first installment of the short story I have been working on, entitled DRAGON CHILD. It’s a fantasy tale set in the quasi-middle ages about a young orphan boy, a kingdom at risk, and nest full of dragons. I’m going to release it here FREE, in serial fashion, with a couple chapters each week. Depending on reader response, the story may serve as a prequel to a full length novel later on, so be sure to share your thoughts with me!

There were a few things I wanted to accomplish with this project. The first, as I mentioned last week, was to prove to myself that I was capable of writing a short story in the first place. I have numerous future projects riding on successfully reaching that goal, so it was critical for me to learn how. In addition, I wanted to have something to use as a give-away for promotional purposes or as a thank-you to my beta readers.

The idea for Dragon Child presented itself all at once and I was hooked! There are several first’s with this one:

  • First foray into the fantasy genre
  • First dragon story
  • First child as the main character
  • First time using the middle ages as a setting

With a plethora of dragon books out there, there probably aren’t too many new ideas to introduce. I wasn’t about to let that stop me! One recurring theme is a dragon’s love for treasure – especially gold, but few authors want to explain the reason for this strange obsession/hoarding behavior. I decided to use the premise but add a twist of my own by introducing a perfectly logical explanation for their love of gold. All dragon stories include a little bit of magic to make them work and mine is no exception. I think you’ll like it.

I don’t want to give away all the goodies, so you’ll have to read it for yourself. Join me next week for DRAGON CHILD!

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Today is not only the first day of spring, but my sister’s birthday! With ten siblings, it’s almost always somebody’s birthday and I enjoy sending cards and chatting on the phone. In person would be better, but she’s 600 miles away and I don’t get back home very often. Anyway, HAPPY BIRTHDAY SIS – your little brother loves you!

PS – be nice to me, or you’ll end up as a character in my next book…

Reader Roundup 11-28 18 November Birthdays

Weekly Roundup is an update on what’s going on in my world. Welcome!

Apparently March is a popular baby-making month, since my November calendar is filled with birthdays! In fact, today is my youngest son’s special day, and he insists on getting older every year, dragging me along with him. November also included birthdays for my sister, niece, and granddaughter. Break out the cake, ice cream and balloons – and don’t forget the presents.

Most of my extended family are several states away, so I make an effort to send a card and call them on their day. It feels nice to be remembered on your birthday, even if you hate the idea of getting older. Hey – you’re going to age no  matter what, so you might as well get some attention and gifts out of the deal!

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Had our first winter storm here a few days ago. It wasn’t too bad, but all snow and ice make me nervous if I have to drive in it. My recent move brought me 800 miles northeast, and the winters in my previous home were nothing in comparison. I went from six inches of annual snowfall to sixty-eight! Since I used to live here for many years, it shouldn’t take long to become accustomed to it again. No one here seems to pay much attention to the weather.

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Traitor’s Moon – I’m finally making some significant progress! Chapter eleven was completed over the holiday weekend and I got a great start on chapter twelve. Following that, I should be able to wrap things up with one more chapter and the Epilogue. There is still a lot of story to tell, both major plot elements and minor story threads. It’s all important! I love seeing my characters grow and change, new ideas introduced, and conflict resolved.

I don’t plan out everything in advance with my books. I prefer to work with a rough outline of ideas and then allow the story to tell itself as I write. I’m sure a lot of authors would cringe at the idea, but it works for me. Some of the best elements in my stories are ones literally added as I’m writing, and they often surprise me. For instance, in my current manuscript two of the main characters have a unique and humorous way of interacting which I hadn’t even thought of previously. Initial feedback from beta readers confirms their verbal fencing fits the characters well and made the story more enjoyable. Cool!

You might think my mind is totally consumed with finishing Traitor’s Moon, but you would be wrong. While my new job requires more concentration and less time for my mind to wander and create, I’ve still been churning out story ideas! As always, it’s been a mixed bag; dragons, fairies and elves, various romances, sci-fi, and of course the next book in the Gladstone Shifters series. If I could start writing full time today, and lived to be a hundred, I would still have file folders full of ideas. That’s OK, it keeps me out of trouble.

Reader Roundup 6-27-18 What? No Aliens?!

Reader Roundup is a weekly update on what’s going on in my world. Welcome!

FINALLY! Someone in the scientific community has been brave enough to suggest what I have always believed – we are alone in the universe.

“Alien life should be everywhere. Yet, by all appearances, humanity seems to be flying solo in our galaxy, and perhaps the universe. Many solutions have been proposed to solve this riddle, known as the Fermi Paradox.

Researchers of Oxford University’s Future of Humanity Institute have another answer. It’s likely intelligent life doesn’t exist at all, outside of Earth.

The researchers write that there is “a substantial ex ante probability of there being no other intelligent life in our observable universe,” and we shouldn’t be surprised if we fail to detect any signs of it. In other words, there is no need to speculate about the fate of aliens. It’s likely they’ve never existed.”  (See the full article by Michael J. Coren HERE)

Many people sincerely believe in the existence of extraterrestrials, and the news is filled with claims of alien craft sightings and abductions which serve to keep the speculative fires burning. Why? One reason may be the desperation to believe someone/something will come and rescue this planet from its own foolish inhabitants, bringing peace, prosperity, and a reversal of the damage we have inflicted on the earth.

Personally, I believe they are looking in the wrong place for such deliverance. I hate to break it to you but if such life existed, and was intelligent and powerful enough to travel from planet X for a visit, they would more likely see us as a pestilence to be removed or a food source. So, do you REALLY want them to find us??

So, whether or not they exist, why are aliens so often found in popular literature today? Because the mere possibility of alien life makes for great stories!

Strange beings from outer space add drama, excitement, interesting allies or enemies, and that Ohhh/Ewww factor, adding spice and fueling our imaginations. Good aliens often shame us for our reckless behavior while evil ones make us look good in comparison or give us someone to conquer. Any way you slice it, intelligent life forms from outer space provide a vast array of creative possibilities for interesting fiction. This is why I enjoy writing about them in my own books, not because I believe they actually exist.

OK – on to other things this week.

My birthday: yep, the only day of the year which belongs to me has come around once again, and no, I’m not going to tell you how old I am! If you want to give me a gift, buy my books or just send cash.

My current manuscript: I have finished chapter two of Traitor’s Moon! Word count is 15,000+ and so far I have added eight brand new characters to the series. In consultation with one of my devoted beta readers (thanks TC), I have decided to create a “Cast of Characters” list for both Expectant Moon and Traitor’s Moon. I don’t want the story to be confusing for my readers, so I’m hoping the list will help them keep track of everyone as they read.

Chapters one and two were mostly setting up the new story, so I’m looking forward to chapter three and the excitement and drama you’ve come to expect! Hang on Nolan, you’re in for a wild ride…

A great quote: “Miles had claimed, not even a week ago, that he could never be attracted to a man with such a stick up his ass. He was not happy to discover he might have been wrong. The only explanation was that Evan, like any decent mold, grew on you after a while.” Loved it! My thanks to Beth Bolden and her book “Bite Me” Kitchen Gods Book 1. Check it out HERE.

Have a great week, and I’ll see you on the 4th of July!