Farewell Bani

I'm dumbfounded and dismayed that my longtime online friend Bani Kinnison passed away unexpectedly this last Wednesday morning. I had been friends with Bani for about the last eight + years. I met her on tumblr first where she was really active, sharing her artwork, selfies, memes and vintage pics. She had a great sense of humor.

She created so many pulp inspired pieces and she loved doing vintage and comic inspired art. I have bought a few of her pieces down through the years, and with the exception of a Frazetta Atlantis phone cover, as long as I have had smart-phones, it was her artwork that I used through one of the sites she sold materials on like Redbubble or Society 6. If you see something you like this would be a good time to snag it to help out her loved ones.

I had intended on commissioning her to do a pulpy type book cover for me one day, but we never got beyond just talking about ideas.

Something that strikes me like thunder now, is that I had liked some of her Memento Mori work - she had taken some old cemetery stones and done designs with them that I liked. That theme was one that has been striking a chord with me lately, as I have a book coming soon with that title, but even more so it has had a synchronicity for me lately( with old friends younger than me passing away) and I've just gotta say to everyone, cherish and

value the time you do have.

The theme of the phone she designed - I'm guessing it had to be among her last commissions, made me feel uncomfortable sharing it with more of her fanbase at large, but I figure my blog is quiet enough and just has my usual friends that I was ok posting it here.


So it was only a week ago I was chatting with Bani and told her I would like a Memento Mori phone case, she offered to get to work on some new designs and let me pick my favorite. She got to it and soon was showing off her work. I picked my favorite and she said it was her favorite of the designs too.

That I had only spoken to her a week before just stunned me, there was no warning that she was sick. I read that she thought she had a fever, but then passed out and was unable to be revived by the time she was taken to the emergency room. She was just about a month shy of her 45th birthday.

I miss her sense of humor and vitality and it is a stark reminder to appreciate life and loved one.

Farewell Bani, you were something else entire and the world was a brighter place with you in it.

To Market, To Market, Jiggety Jig

Sure hope I haven't been spamming people too bad lately, but I've discovered the last couple months that simply writing a book, throwing it out there and telling family and friends to buy it only gets you so far.

I typically got the first month release spike and then not too long later the sales flatline, so getting frustrated with the day-job and wanting to transition into ONLY writing I finally started trying to learn something about marketing rather than just hoping my books would just go viral, so I've entered the necessary evil world of marketing.

I've been listening to a variety of fantasy themed author marketing podcasts and reading more and trying to see and understand what more successful people do. And I realize I've been doing it wrong, sitting back never works, so you gotta get out there and tailor things, on the bright side it has paid off.
I got my first #1 last month in western horror for Cold Slither and yesterday (and today) #1 in Ancient Civilizations and the LDS categories for Bless the Child

Granted there are tips and tricks to everything. I've changed up Amazon categories and keywords, I've looked at best release/promotion times and just plain old experimenting too. I have found you need to tailor your promotions, target and work out how these things will come about - its a lot more than I can say in one blog post, but I'm there for you my friends if you ask, anything I can help with, I will.

The other big thing I'm working on is planning for my next big releases which I decided need to be in January so as to avoid the holiday shopping blitz - I didn't want to be screaming into that holiday madness if I could help it. That just gives me more time to polish and prepare. I've also got my mailing list going finally! I'm doing a giveaway ebook for people that sign up here
It's all a start, and I'm getting to that goal even if I still have a long way to go.

And along these lines and for the rest of the weekend my Spartan mercenary Sword and Sandals novel BLESS THE CHILD is free on kindle - It's #1 in Ancient Civilizations and top ten Historical so grab it if you haven't already here!

On top of all this new found knowledge (for me that is) I'm still open to learning everything more I can,
If you have any tips, techniques or questions, lets hear it!

Treat Yourself

I had a friend recently ask on Facebook for some advice on feeling stuck with his current WIP. I also know he has a lot on his plate and has as many struggles as anyone - I know what that feels like when you're trying to work - 2013 was the year of being a single full time Dad - but when it comes persevering with the work, I did have a few things to say.

Looking back this is a good a reminder for me as it hopefully is for him.

(And these are pic's of me writing in paradise last weekend - made a lot of progress on a noir-fantasy novella)

This is a paraphrased response I gave him.



I go through ups and downs just like ANY writer/creator/artist out there. It comes with the territory. But ultimately I have to write/create, it must come out, it must be made and finally shared.

Sometimes it really sucks when it doesn't feel like you're getting the recognition - whether it be sales, reviews, awards or spoken appreciation, but I do think a lot of that is just how you feel - I know there are people out there who appreciate my work that I have never heard from and that I don't know even exist. Its like that for everyone. 

What I'm really getting at though, is the number one person you have to please is yourself, you have to have the self-satisfaction with what you have done regardless.
You have to have that as a writer.

I'm also a believer in that it takes ten years to be an overnight success = meaning it takes a lot of work (not luck) that almost nobody else ever realizes was happening behind the scenes.

Other people will appreciate and love your work - BUT you have to first.

 If you're not feeling like writing, reexamine what gave you a passion for the piece in the first place, regain that passion --- or drop it and move on to something that does excite you.

I also try and stop at a place where I know what happens next. ;) 
I got that from Hemingway.

Latest Around These Parts...

My latest installment of Walking Through Walls: Chapter 8 Burning Bridges is available online here

I still need to get some print copies, because as I've mentioned before it brings me a great amount of joy to feel I am truly a pulp author with these bi-monthly mags. And it also has a whole lot of Star Wars content for those that are into that.

For myself I am still cautiously optimistic.


And while I have wanted to blog more, life has been busy with the new baby etc.

Funny thing is, quite a while ago, I'm forgetting when exactly I moved my blog comments to accept all as long as it was within say two weeks. After that there was a greater tendency for spam rather than legit comments, still I do get legit ones on old posts every now and again, not that I suspect anyone but me ever see's them.

But I've not been checking the blog for the last few and Lo there was another comment on a post that is almost four years old! It was was my Write What You Don't Know post, wherein I said as a fiction writer how ridiculous it is to think of what our fiction would be without imagination = only writing what we know, and I do absolutely stand by that.

Somebody had to post anonymously and sound all superior about how rich he would be if he had a dollar for all the people out there who don't write well or do good  research and thus respect cross cultural peoples etc.

Whatever dude, there's a lot of bad writers out there and guess what? -they won't get better without working at it. AND lets talk for a moment about what cultural illiterate hole you have been living in. Reading is one of the best ways people can understand and empathize with others. I love to read and want my children to read so they can be better people  - its what books do.

But not everything is "the Best". People read what they like and part of hooking children on reading is letting them read whatever "trash" they like, they will come around and find the good stuff when they are ready. So don't come to my blog disparaging anyone on how they write and on not being culturally sensitive - go take a walk.

Yes, I'm a little inflamed as part of my original response on Write What You Don't know was following that spirit of Robert E. Howard and dreaming great dark dreams and I suspect the person the same tired old arguments against Bob and company. I've seen more of that stuff online lately and I'm dead sick of it and don't need to hear any more on it. Accept great writers for what they are = just people, you take the good with the bad, that's life, get over it.

Bad Reviews! Give Me More!

I'm working at formatting two projects for imminent release. Bless The Child, my Spartan sword & sandals novel for charity and Whispers of the Goddess, a novella from the fallen in battle, Roar of the Crowd anthology from Rogue Blades Entertainment. Formatting is a lot more work than I ever planned on and I'm not particularly good at it, so I'm doing a lot of triple checking and so forth as well as getting some much needed help, so delays are happening.

But on the bright side, it is a learning curve, I figure I'll be speeding up each time. The other thing when you take over formatting your own books is all the rest of that editing nonsense suddenly becomes deadly serious. Glad I've had help with covers etc and even writing back cover copy.

I also thought since its my project and I can do whatever I want, why not put some of the worst reviews I've ever had on the back of Whispers of the Goddess, the following are some samples - not about Whispers per se, few have read that, but about my writing in general. So I'd appreciate it if you tell me what you all think, is it a bad idea? Or shouldn't I just be able to laugh at myself and keep on rolling? (Contrary to everything else I actually said/say I care what people who comment here on the blog think). And I will still have legit summary's on the books too.

What the critics are saying about David's writing!

“tries to marry the shallow, stupid, and misogynistic sixties tough guy story with space opera and Lovecraft.” – Amazon review from Michigan

“brutal, gory, and depressing,” – Jennie Hansen, Meridian Magazine
“I was afraid to read this book.” – Marissa Walker, Timpanogos Times
“West tries to write --- and is proud of it.” – thoughtful Amazon reviewer
“He’s as cliché as he is a stupid, self-centered, intentionally ignorant murderer, a bore, a misogynist, a misanthrope, and he’s unpleasant in all kinds of other forms of ways to spend any time with.” – another informed Amazon customer taking things in a decidedly personal direction.
“the story I enjoyed the least,” – a Canadian Amazon reviewer
“Blood thirsty kings and references to a homosexual warrior were too much for me. Will be deleting it from my Kindle.” – Mrs. Cowboy, a giving Amazon reviewer
“I feel that the book is written at a grade school level.” – Amazon reviewer Mandy
“Unremarkable” – an ironic anonymous Amazon reviewer
“Hated it, boring, disgusting.” – another gem from Mrs. Cowboy
“this book just wasn’t very good.” – Fifty Shades of Grey superfan, Chad C.

***

 

I've been published for 4 years now and submitting stories publicly for 6 and I just realized, it snuck up on me, but I finally have that thick skin I've always needed/wanted. I can actually read any of these reviews and truly not give a damn.
Not to mention some of these I purposely took out of context for fun and there are an awful lot more good reviews than bad, probably at least 15-20 to 1.

p.s. I made it a point to kill that Chad guy in my Space Eldritch story Gods in Darkness
Idiot immortality achieved!

The Counselor and Character

I was excited to watch 'The Counselor', directed by Ridley Scott and written by Cormac McCarthy. In part because I have liked a lot of Scott's movies and I love McCarthy's writing but . . .

I was sorely disappointed.

From a cinematic standpoint, its great. Fantastic cast, wonderful imagery and intriguing nuances abound, but story wise it failed and it failed hard.

I read a piece over at word and film about McCarthy writing an unorthodox script that in time will come to be greatly appreciated, I wanted to believe that. I wanted to be "IN" on appreciating something genius that most people missed. But nope, this film just isn't what it was touted to be and I shouldn't be that surprised.

Now I'm not one to be offended at the over the top violence of McCarthy,  I dig Grimdark, he writes as savage as anyone these days - The Road, Blood Meridian, No Country for Old Men, and on the strength of those works I had very high hopes for The Counselor. But one thing McCarthy doesn't ever give is a satisfactory ending, not in any work of his I ever read. I truly hoped for this one to be different (partly because it is film) but alas no.

Ridley Scott who has made some great films is probably in a position where he can do no wrong (at least nobody working for him will tell him,  ala Lucas syndrome) but looking back at his last project Prometheus, we know that logic has just gone out the window in favor of sfx, and while they might be head-rolling sfx in The Counselor, they were just sfx none the less rather than STORY and CHARACTER and that is always a loser tradeoff.

Its not that there aren't merits here, there are, but unfortunately the biggest moment of genius and insight was 12 minutes into the extended cut, where the titular counselor is meeting an old Jewish diamond broker and they end up discussing the meaning of heroes - this scene was brilliant - but that's it, the rest of the movie is telling us how there are no more heroes and even when a character is pushed to the edge, we don't get anything satisfactory - sorry Scott/McCarthy and Word and Film, that's not something revolutionary that people will eventually appreciate. Not gonna happen - you should have all listened to the old diamond broker and represented heroism somehow.

So, I've been listening repeatedly to Robert McKee's STORY (see my last post) and he says true character is what a character does under pressure and that exactly is why The Counselor fails.

They may be portrayed by wonderful actors, but just having the characters have bad things happen to them does not make drama, it does not equal good story, it doesn't even make for a compelling horror movie that you tell your friends they need to see (Heads rolling again, we are informed of a sinister device early in the movie that we see executed toward the end - the old revolver in the drawer in the first act cliché) ~ Instead we see our characters in The Counselor find out they are in trouble and for the most part roll over and die. The one character absolutely still alive at the end isn't even a villain we want to hate, we just don't care, we never had any emotional appeal to be interested enough to hate the character - it is not a compelling tale nor a logical one.

I'm over simplifying things a little, but in essence they don't show us any metal when the going gets hard - they just die. It is not compelling drama and that's why it failed - not because people didn't "Get it".

A quote by David Farland seems appropriate right about now.
"I will respect my characters. This means that at the end of the story, I won't kill my protagonist or have him fail for no reason. I may have him die a heroic death, but if I do, there will be a purpose behind it, a deeper meaning, a compelling reason to end the tale tragically."

Getting Schooled: Robert McKee's STORY

The phenomenal Steven Pressfield always has fantastic advice to share over at his blog (as well as some of his friends too) he recently posted a piece here about how he still appreciates getting a recharge from the masters too. Mr. Pressfield has no ego and fully understands its about the art and that we never stop learning, (or at least we shouldn't stop learning) we can always keep progressing.

Namely the master Mr. Pressfield is referring to is Robert McKee, famed screenwriting guru, he calls him not just the best teacher of writing but the best teacher of anything.
Mr. Pressfield  highly recommended that all writers who care about their careers' go attend Mr. McKee's seminar. Pressfield says it will give you a veritable PhD in writing, and wouldn't you know it, now that I'm living in LA, McKee is holding a seminar not 15 minutes away from where I live in 3 days.

But...

Life being what it is, kids, home repairs, etc etc, I just can't make it. BUT thankfully, my ever loving wife has the audiobook of McKee's STORY and I've been listening to that the last few days and I gotta tell ya, it is heavy.

It might even be better for me that I can keep relistening to the audio tracks and digesting everything McKee himself is narrating. There is just too much for me to truly blog about just yet, but I wanted to mention that I'm digging this and will get to point where I can better write about it when I have had a chance to go through it multiple times, and again I want to stress the concept of forever improving and learning. All I can say just yet, is that it is amazing.

Madness in the Written Word

I'm thinking about the incredible highs and lows that come with reading and writing works that move you.
It is madness. For the reader we are moved by drama, comedy, tragedy, action and the sheer beauty of language and metaphor as well as a phrase that strikes us just so. I often wish I had written something I find particularly moving and lament upon my own skills at not doing so yet.

It is madness.

"In a mad world only the mad are sane." - Akira Kurosawa

It is madness because I slip back and forth between thinking I am both terrible and the greatest. I'm guessing, but I think my fellow writers tend to feel the same way at times. I take comfort in knowing that while there is nothing new under the sun, there is no one putting all my thoughts, experiences and imagination down on paper the same way I can. Our humanity and very separate lives make us unique individually. Likewise the reader will take my words down and absorb them through their own filter taking that uniquely as well.

“If I am mad, it is mercy! May the gods pity the man who in his callousness can remain sane to the hideous end!”  - H.P. Lovecraft, The Temple

So back around again to madness and the thrill of writing and griping  the reader, I think we do need a certain kind of madness to do what we do creatively, to keep that tension, because if we have that passion in our minds and convey it to paper, the reader will sense that and be taken along for the ride.

And we want them on that ride.

"Madness in great ones must not unwatched go." - William Shakespeare, Hamlet

Certainly there are those who don't want such things in their reading materials, cozy mysteries perhaps, but the cozy crowd doesn't read my work and I don't write for them. I write for me and for you.

"There is nearly always is a method in madness." - G.K. Chesterton

The Good Kind of Curse

I am on the edge of releasing my charity Sword & Sandals novel BLESS THE CHILD. 100% of the profits will be going toward the Hannah's Hope Fund in so doing I am hoping for both a good amount of press and funds to get to the charity for the sake of research etc, and of course I should like some good karma coming my way for the effort.
I've wondered at the what if? of my lead character and story actually becoming popular enough that a sequel is asked for. Do I want that?

Of course I do.

There is not a sequel planned as yet, it is a standalone novel, I've learned a lesson by having my first novel HEROES OF THE FALLEN end on a cliffhanger and its not something I wish to do again.

But again with the question. What If something is popular and you have to write to it? Robert E. Howard certainly had that problem with Conan the Cimmerian. Had Mr. Howard not suffered an untimely death there would have been a clamor for him to write more Conan stories and yet some scholars have suggested he wanted to leave the Barbarian behind and concentrate on his westerns. I for one enjoy the westerns but hunger for more tales of the Hyborian age over those of Breckenridge Elkins.

Farnsworth Wright, the editor of Weird Tales magazine turned down the notion of any one else writing Conan pastiches for his magazine after the famed authors death even though this would have been a continuing golden egg - it certainly was L. Sprague deCamp.

Other writers have had this conundrum too, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, another Conan! His Sherlock Holmes stories grew wildly popular once he went from novella to short story form until he reached a point of not being able to keep up with with the deadlines of what he deemed low brow entertainment.

I feel for his notion that it was not his best work, but it is what the people wanted. Several years after supposedly killing off Holmes, he had to bring him back. All in all it probably helped the Holmes stories to stay top notch, giving a break and letting people hunger for them rather than becoming routine and formulaic. It effectively increased Holmes immortality.
The Sherlock Holmes enduring popularity is the classic example of a good kind of curse for the writer - one that torments you BUT keeps you in demand, working and making a living.

Would that all of us writers could have that kind of commercial curse.

Let's See IF I Can't Win It Again

Back in summer of 2000, I was security for our local Church's annual Boys Camp. This entailed an awful lot of logistics from SLC, Utah out to the Grand Tetons and Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

One of my best friends in the world was heading up the operation and I had a rather relaxed duty. Hunt down any trouble that comes along and take care of it.

I felt uniquely qualified over some of the more respectable Church Elders who came along, because I know what a trouble-making teenage boy is actually going to go do. If boys were missing I knew where to go along the beach to find them (where the girls are). When some boys insanely shredded hot dogs in an effort to "bear-bait" I tracked them down - (they were sent home early)

And I also had my sympathies for the bad boys, I used to be one.

When several were caught and got a royal browbeating from the Elders, I stepped in and whispered for them to look "Sorrier" and say sorry to get it over with. I didn't fault them for looking for a good time, it's what I would have done, it's what I did.

But there is a time and a place for everything.

I was later awarded by the boys, Bachelor of the Year: Boys Camp 2000.

At the time it was bittersweet, I was flattered they thought of me like that, but I was 29, single and thought my prospects were gone (we are stupid in our youth, we are always stupid) - you get like that some times when you realize all your best girlfriends are already married, whores or dead.

But I was married come two years later and that trophy then sat somewhere on the book shelf gathering dust.

Ten years, four months later it is time to take down the trophy and dust it off, because I am forced to start 2013 as single father.

It ain't gonna be easy-but it's what she chose. Not I.

I'm going to throw everything I've got in 2013 into my kids (who will stay with me) and my writing which I hope will stay with YOU.

I will have my own kingdom and my own queen to sit beside me someday, even if today I am full of gigantic melancholies.

My Candidates

The King in the Office

I'm working very hard this month at being more productive than usual-something I intend to keep going with momentum. I am not doing the NANO but I have been keeping that kind of pace with several projects at once, and in my minds eye I need to--to turn Pro. (yes, I am continually judging myself against the full on no day job pro's)

Looking back at my Preparing to Blitz post from earlier this year, I can see that a lot of things did get taken care of and finished, some are shortly to come down the pike (Garden of Legion, Rolling in the Deep, Make a Monkey Outta Me, A Good Home For the Spoon,) and there are plenty that have not yet been done either.

It's a double-edged sword. I am proud of accomplishments, yet disappointed I didn't do more that I set out to do.

I still have some pressing personal deadlines, some projects I simply wish to do and at present 3 projects I was invited to be a part of coming in the New Year - work on them is of course required sooner than later.

Oh, and that's not even counting several of we Space Eldritch contributors have discussed doing a sequel, Space Eldritch 2 already. I am very grateful for the response we have received thus far.

I am working on a short I hope to submit before the end of the month, The King in the Wood, it takes place partially in a Curio shop and as I was describing what was inside, I realized after I had typed it all down that I was describing a lot of things here in my office-Ray Bradbury's advice pays off.

It remains to be seen if I can pull off all of the goals but here are a few before the end of the year ~

BLESS THE CHILD that I want to release in Dec.
Turn in BLOOD OF OUR FATHERS for edits
Secret Project that is 95% finished
Release WHISPERS OF THE GODDESS soon...
An essay on Heroic Literature (I at least have until Jan 30th-but better to have a rough done by New Years)
and there are probably a dozen stories I'd like to submit in various states of disarray.

Thinking about this, it is a lot, but I can do it if I apply myself.

And you wise readers? What do you do to keep that fire burning bright???

What is Hubris? What is Genius? What is Delusion?

Now besides my title playing hell with the Google search engine optimization - (who knows maybe this will drive traffic, considering one of my all time most visited posts is still What is a Tengu/Fistful of Tengu) I wanted to throw this out here for the sake of perhaps you all letting me know what you think.

I wanted to come up with a new bio for the Space Eldritch collection (October 29th by the by) and rather than write the same old, same old, I decided to do as my friend Krista suggested and write it as a writer, not a biographer.

So I came up with this and at 1 a.m. I feel like a genius, but hey, if it really doesn't work, say so. Thanks

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

David J. West can’t remember a time he wasn’t writing. From the primordial heat of a drowning Atlantis to a pair of vigilantes six-guns blasting raw justice in the old west, return to when obsidian rained down on Cumorah’s slopes, and crusaders broadswords swept over shadowy terrors, and ultimately, on to the cold vacuum of space for the birth of a new star. David is there, recording it all for your savage amusement. Check out his first brutal novel Heroes of the Fallen and his other short story collections and anthologies at http://david-j-west.blogspot.com/ 
No Lie Untold

Origin Stories...Why?

This isn't a formal essay by any means, just a rant (and I am all for discussion from any of you) but pondering what I think ruins a lot of films (and some prequel novels) when it comes to beloved characters from books is the idiotic need to give an origin story.

I can think of dozens of films where for the reason of making things "clear" so that we may know and understand the characters motivation, we are actually given a weak, forgettable story.

Taking things back to my beloved pulp roots, all we needed to know in 'Phoenix on the Sword' was that the king, Conan, had once been a barbarian. Solomon Kane is a puritan, Tarzan the ape man, the "Thin Man" and his wife like to drink while solving mysteries, John Carter 'of Mars', the Gray Mouser and Fafrhd are "Ill Met" in Lankhmar, are any of Lovecraft's protagonists not some befuddled scholar who just now stumbled upon some maddening relic or knowledge? (don't answer that)-but we don't need to know anything more do we?

In the Wolverine movie, they managed to take one of the most popular comic book characters and give him a turd movie. Why?
On one hand its the ridiculous Hollywood reliance on special effects over story, but also the tacked on, reaching back to traumatic childhood events that scar our poor hero and he has to spend the rest of the movie dealing with such a far-reaching pain. Same with the recent Conan movie, same with the newly relaunched Spider-man movie. Too much baggage. It is obvious to all the fans of these respective hero's that a film version of beloved story-lines could have been opening weekend gold over the revision "lets explain everything" that the suits give us.

Remember the suits are not artists, they are bean counters.

The making "clear" of a characters past eliminates the wonder and mystery of storytelling, it takes away the needed drama of why people watch/read. The audience doesn't tune in for information - if they did, they would be watching documentaries.

The wonder and mystery is why Harry Potter worked and it's why the original Star Wars trilogy worked. People didn't watch ROME or give Gladiator an Oscar, because they wanted to see what it was like to live back then-it was because of the wonder and drama. As much as I despise and absolutely loathe Avatar it followed the bare bones premise on character back-story too.

I am positive I am not alone in my imagination of what "The Clone Wars" were upon first hearing them in Star Wars, being so much better than what we were given in the latter trilogy.

Thinking about westerns-they all involve the stranger, whom we the audience know almost nothing that are best. "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly", "True Grit", "Unforgiven"; same with the Samurai/Kung-Fu movies, "Seven Samurai", "Yojimbo", "Hidden Fortress", "Enter The Dragon".

All of these display a tendency toward the action tale/movie, but that's what I like. I'm not here to discuss what I don't like/do = period romance pieces on Nantucket island.

In explaining too much to an audience whether film or print, we lose wonder. There is the argument that things need to be understandable and I get that, but no art has lasted the ages that did not make us wonder. Mona Lisa's smile anyone? And without wonder you will never get an art that lasts.

Flexing Those Writing Muscles

Amidst a sea of backlogged projects, current deadlines and things I simply have to get out of my head and onto paper, I'm still doing a few shorts.


My logic (or obtuse flakiness) is to keep flexing and working those writing muscles.

I figure, I like what I like, which is why I find myself rereading old favorites again and again ~ BUT I also believe that to improve my own craft, skill and general output you have to do what you have not done before...

So, I've been experimenting with writing shorts a little outside of my comfort zone and taking on topics that while still bordering on my own thoughts and concerns aren't what I might otherwise write.

I'm thinking these exercises will expand my overall abilities and reach. At least that's the plan.


I would like to hear if anybody else came to these same conclusions, even if like me you prefer genre material overall.

Limp and an Eyepatch

I like the idea of distinguishing tags for certain characters. Whether the character has a limp, drawl, compulsive habit and very common these days a catchphrase, these tags help us know who is who and what to expect. I think there is always a certain amount that readers expect/anticipate from a certain symbols i.e. tags.

 

A prominent one that comes to mind is the eye-patch. While my visual examples today will be from film, it illustrates the very idea of archetypal character for the sake of story resonance.

You pretty much know when you see these guys-he's tough!

 Whether filthy buccaneer or grizzled gunslinger, someone who lost an eye is a bad ass.

I pondered while driving yesterday (where I do a lot of my best thinking) that the root of this could be Odin chief of the Norse gods and for whom Wednesday is named = Woden. He traded an eye for wisdom and he slew a lot of frost giants. This collective archetype could be the reason we think eye-patch = tough guy.

What are some of your favorite tags?

If I didn't offend someone with my writing I'm probably not doing it right

I was savaged by a recent amazon review, well not so much savaged as amused. My initial thoughts on reading the rather brief bit of negativity were 'really?'

"1.0 out of 5 stars Hated it, boring, disgusting, July 12, 2012



By mrs.cowboy - See all my reviews
Thought this book would at least be similar to historical fiction. In my opinion, it's far from historical and more into fiction using some of the Book of Mormon names as characters in the book. Blood thirsty kings and references to a homosexual warrior were too much for me. Will be deleting it from my Kindle."
 
At least she bought the book once. A quick once over on her other reviews was enough to confirm my guess and begs the question on why she even picked up Heroes of the Fallen. I suppose we all branch out sometimes but even a cursory glance should have told her this was nothing like the other cozy mysteries she reads.
 
Part of my amusement comes from knowing that the reviewer didn't 'get' the book but needed to share her indignation. That she hated a boring and disgusting book makes me think I at least accomplished some amount of memorability.
But did she really think there weren't bloodthirsty kings back then? And that there couldn't possibly be a homosexual in those wicked and wild ancient times? Let's not even get into the discrepancy that Rezon is a caravan master and not even close to being a warrior!

In any case if I didn't offend someone with my writing I'm probably not doing it right because I'm not moving people enough-this review tells me I'm at the least moving a little something something (granted its nicer when you move people in a positive light as well ~ see the other reviews).
 
But as James Enge recently wrote about negative reviews, they can be quite a service. I had wondered if all the 4 and 5 star reviews looked too biased in my favor-yes, several were from friends and family but several were from complete strangers (that always makes you feel good) So I'm asking dear readers, go ahead and give me a few stellar 3 stars and gushing 2 stars just to round things out and clear the palette.

***Addendum (July 18th, 2012)
It's also good to know (since I just checked Amazon) I am still selling copies after this review~take that mrs. cowboy

My First Desk

I can't be sure how old I was when I got my first desk. It was the early 80's and I was probably somewhere in the neighborhood of ten years old. I remember being with my father in a stuffy attic in some big warehouse; sunbeams became pillars of swirling dust. He picked through a large pile of metal and wood desks, choosing different models and sizes for my siblings and I.

Being the oldest I received the biggest desk. It had a tan painted steel body with a swinging hard wood top and seat. Take my word for it they don't make em' like they used to.
I used it for painting models, surgery on G.I.Joe fatalities and my first work at actual fiction written for my own satisfaction.

I generally wrote terrible fan-fiction (as all fan-fiction generally is) either G.I. Joe and or Transformers, or even my own brand of Indiana Jones rip-offs,
BUT...

I did work at things that were embers of my own original voice too. I had thoughts on my own Tolkien inspired epic fantasy that would have a nation of werewolves within it~that were the good guys! Haughty kings and naive if not noble princes, world striding conquerors who wrestled with fate and defied the gods, tragic death and glorious triumph.

These things came to me when I was a child and I wrote them at my first desk.

My eldest son (7) is now writing his own books. I went and took the desk out of storage at my parents house and brought it home. My brother used it for a time too, so it has more paint than when I left it behind. It was the last of all those desks my parents bought for us from some nameless warehouse in Billings, Montana.
I dusted it off and put it in my sons room. I told him how I used it and what it helped me start doing. I think his fan fiction is better than mine.

And I may as well share the desk where I have written all of my pro sales.

39 & Turning Pro

I just finished Steven Pressfield's  The Art of War and Turning Pro and was quite moved-I highly recommend them for my writer friends and I'm also urging my wife to read them.

In a nutshell, Pressfield shares his experience to help the artist overcome resistance (anything that stops you from doing what you should be doing) and grow. To have the ambition to succeed and truly excel at one's ultimate goal requires a paradigm shift which he refers to as Turning Pro.

From Turning Pro ~ "Turning Pro is free, but it demands sacrifice. The passage from amateur to professional is often achieved via an interior odyssey whose trials are survived only at great cost, emotionally, psychologically and spiritually. we pass through a membrane when we turn pro. it's messy and It's scary. We tread in blood when we turn pro."

I'm 39 today and taking stock of my writing career. Turning Pro is what I want and am doing, too long I have let my own distractions and self-doubts (a universal writers malady I believe) slow me down. Time to banish the shade I've let loom over myself and do the work I believe in.
As such, I need to look at what I have accomplished and be proud of that instead of beating myself up over what I haven't done yet. Time to live in the present and have joy.

My published works and awards so far.

April 2009:

LDStorymakers Writers Con - 1st place General Fiction First Chapter Contest

Dance the Ghost with Me

February 2010:

LDS Publisher Blog Short Story Contest

1st place Song of Saphir ~ 2nd place Covenant of the Scalp

April 2010:

WiDo Publishing ~ Heroes of the Fallen

October 2010:

IRON BOUND magazine issue #1 ~ Sailing to Valhalla

February 2011:

Shadows & Light II ~ The Hand of Fate

April 2011:

Monk Punk ~ Fistful of Tengu

May 2011:

Lovecraft eZine issue #4 ~ Curse the Child

October 2011:

Utah Geek Magazine issue #1 ~ Midnight Son’s part 1: Cold Comfort

November 2011:

Monsters & Mormons ~ Fangs of the Dragon

March 2012:

Sword & Sorcery Magazine #2 ~ Hel Awaits

June 2012:

Unnatural Tales of the Jackalope ~ Tangle Crowned Devil

July 2012:

Wandering Weeds ~ Garden of Legion

In Situ ~ The Dig

***
And in some indeterminate near future (these have already been accepted for publication)

Blood of Our Fathers

Roar of the Crowd ~ Whispers of the Goddess

Challenge Discovery ~ The Serpents Root

The Evil Twin ~ The Cry of Carrion Birds

Dark Eclipse Magazine ~ A Good Home for the Spoon

Doorway to Inspiration: Ray Bradbury

"People ask where do you get your ideas. Well right here. All this is my Martian landscape. Somewhere in this room is an African veldt. Just beyond perhaps is a small Illinois town where I grew up. And I'm surrounded on every side by my magicians toyshop. I'll never starve here. I just look around, find what I need, and begin. I'm Ray Bradbury, and this is" The Ray Bradbury Theater. "Well then, right now what shall it be. Out of all this what do I choose to make a story. I never know where the next one will take me. The trip, exactly one half exhilaration, exactly one half terror". ~ Ray Bradbury ~ August 22, 1920 - June 6, 2012

While I generally talk about my fantasy writerly influences Tolkien, Howard, Wagner etc etc; when I really stop and think about it, Ray Bradbury has shaped how I live my life (and work) more so than even they. And it is the above quote that sparked that.

When I was a kid I used to watch the Ray Bradbury Theater on HBO (two seasons 85-86) and every episode opened with Mr. Bradbury in his office narrating that opening before it would launch into whichever story it was. I loved that, I was so taken with that doorway to inspiration.

My grandfather had an eclectic Dr.'s office and Mr. Bradbury's was even more fascinating from the glimpse I saw for maybe thirty seconds and I said, "someday, I'll have that too."

And I am still working on this doorway to inspiration in my own office and I'll never stop. Thank you Mr. Bradbury, Rest In Peace.