S.J. Reisner's Blog, page 77
February 16, 2012
Sneak Peek: Into Darkness
Chapter OneSaturday, June 24
The beginning was the end. Of all the stupid things I could have thought at the end of my life, that was it. I felt the clay Lucifuge amulet I wore press hard against my left breast, reminding me that it was because of those damn amulets that I was in this mess to begin with. Beneath me the unyielding rocky ground dug into my flesh. Above me, the psychopath who'd murdered Mike loaded the gun.
But I digress. How I ended up the victim of another murderer in...
February 7, 2012
The Sky is Falling! The Sky is Falling!
Publishing news is full of doom and gloom as of late. Ever since 2011 and numerous reports of independent (of a publisher) author success, I see a new article every week about why indie authors are ultimately going to fail and why ePublishing is evil and destroying the publishing business.
There was a Greek philosopher who once said something akin to "This younger generation will be the death of us all!" May have been Socrates. Maybe Plato. I don't remember.
But guess what? We're all still...
February 4, 2012
The 2012 Garden
Hopefully my 2012 garden fairs better than my 2011 garden did.
From Seed:
Belladonna (this year hydro start)
Nightshade (this year hydro start)
Calamus (this year hydro start)
Lemon Balm (this year hydro start)
Mandrake (smaller pots + grow lamp)
Tomatoes (hydro start)
Beans
Peas
Peppers (hydro start)
Cukes (possible hydro start)
Beets
From Roots, Cuttings and Starts
Mandrake (already started)Potatoes (try, try again)Garlic (two experimental cloves started)Asparagus (bought 3 experimental...The Mandrake Files – Take Two
Last year's mandrake seed experiment was a bit of a flop. I suspect it had something to do with light and soil temp. Mandrake is a tough germinator. I shouldn't have put them in such a big pot. I should have put them in 3 inch pots (1 seed per pot) and put them directly beneath a grow light. This year I bought some free-standing grow lamps specifically for this reason.
My friend K sent me a bare root mandrake (I think it's a white mandrake) which I received on the 20th of January. I...
January 30, 2012
When to Give it Away…or Not
Friends of mine often send me "calls for writers". Such "calls" are often for unpaid publication in a webzine or on a website that I've never heard of before. I usually politely decline or simply file the forwarded "calls for writers" in my virtual trash can. Now before anyone starts making any assumptions about my reaction, let me tell you why I tend to bulk or walk away from the "Get your article published in our online zine!" calls for writers.
This is probably one of the most difficult...
January 25, 2012
Ideal Readers
This month's FM Merry-Go-Round blog is about my ideal reader. That's an interesting topic. Especially since, as authors, it's up to us to target our audience. My professional writing career started 1998 with the sale of my first non-fiction book, then refreshed in 2005 with the sale of my first novel. My view of the ideal reader has changed a lot since then.
It used to be that I fantasized my ideal reader was someone who read the likes of David Eddings (whose books I greatly admire). With...
January 23, 2012
My Advice… Ad Vice?
Vices. Yes, another blogging prompt stolen from someplace else. Perhaps that's a vice? The fact that I can't always come up with my own blogging prompts? My prompt theft aside, let's talk vices, shall we?
I used to smoke. I used to smoke almost two packs a day! This coming March 27 it will be my fifth anniversary of being smoke free. And to be honest – I have almost gone back to smoking a few times in the past five years. Usually during high stress periods. Back when I smoked I'd convinced...
January 20, 2012
What We've Lost
Lately I've been looking at Demonolatry students and it dawned on me that things just aren't the same way they were back in the 80′s when I started out. I realized just how much modern students lose now that the master – apprentice relationship between the magus and his/her students only exists for a rare few practicing the artes.
See, not very long ago that's how Demonolaters learned Daemonic Magick and the practice of Demonolatry. It was a one-on-one experience. It wasn't necessarily a...
January 17, 2012
SOPA & PIPA
I have chosen, albeit controversial among my friends, not to let my website go dark on January 18, 2012 to protest SOPA and PIPA. But before anyone gets their panties in a twist, let me explain why.
First – I do not support either bill as they're written. I've signed petitions and written to my congressmen with my objections to the proposed bills because I feel both SOPA and PIPA as they're written go TOO FAR. Instead of merely eliminating piracy and protecting the rights of authors...
January 9, 2012
Productivity
I have to admit – there are actually some weeks I have to search for blogging prompts. I've shamelessly snagged a few from the Pens Fatales over the past year, but only because I aspire to be as awesome as some of the ladies over there. They're social writers who always have far more interesting tales than I do. Most of the time I just write about the stuff on my mind. Today I'm thinking about productivity. I wasn't ambitious enough to come up with a creative post title, so sorry about...
