M.L.S. Weech's Blog, page 74

700 Followers! Shout Out To the New Friends!

Greetings all,

[image error]All stock imagery from Pixabay.

I’m not sure what the recommended rate of growth is, but I feel like I have a ton of momentum, and all of you who follow me and share my posts are to thank for it.

As is usual when I hit a benchmark like this, I’d like to pay it forward by giving a shoutout to my five most-recent followers (as I type this).

 

Amaysn Reads: Tasha’s page is a review page. Gryffindor though she may be (I’m a Slytherin, and I can’t deny it.), Tasha is a pro-and-con reviewer. See below regarding why I like those. This page is unique because it has mashup reviews. These are quick-hitter reviews on multiple books (usually two of the same genre).  So you can scan these reviews and get a few notes on a few books at once to gain perspective. Then, her followers can determine if they want to try a book out or not.

Gerardo Writes: Gerardo is a writer of YA novels. He currently has two book s out.  He also writes review (which is how he grabbed my attention). His review on Carve the Mark by Veronica Roth caught my eye as I’m thinking about reading more of her work. His review was brief, but I like that he gave frank honesty while insisting on offering a positive comment as well. Those sorts of reviews are pretty valuable to me as I tend to want to get a sense of the good and bad of any book I’m thinking of including on my already-too-long TBR.

Books and Mermaids Reviews: Roubeeni’s blog is essentially just another link to her Goodreads page at the moment, but that’s still a solid sort of blog for lovers of words on paper. She’s reviewed 54 books across a variety of genres. Each of her reviews are at least 100 words, so it’s good, in-depth information.

The Curious Chapter: Kim’s blog is great for book lovers. She gives info on cover reveals, new releases and more. She also, of course, does reviews.  She reviews mostly romance-based stories. Even though that’s not my bag at all, I love the depth of her reviews and the number of ways she provides readers to connect with the authors and their books. She just gives so much content for readers.

Randicri.com is a foreign language site. I wanted to him credit as he was my fifth-most-recent follower. It looks like a social media networking site or business networking site. If you read the language (it might be Italian or French maybe), give a look, even if it’s just to tell me what it’s about.

[image error]Since I couldn’t really tell you much about Randicri, I wanted to give you five descriptions of blogs on which I could speak intelligently.

Eva Newermann: Eva’s a Norwegian artist and writer. She has two books out, but I’m most impressed by her art. She does landscapes with Acrylic paint.  If you like art, check this site out.

I want to thank these six bloggers and all the others who’ve decided to keep some sort of track of my antics. I can’t tell you what a blessing you are. I hope my blog is engaging. Please always feel welcome to comment or ask questions as much as you like.

Thanks for reading,

Matt

 

 

Story Review: Eye of the Beholder from Posh Bytes by C. Rose

[image error]Spoiler Free Summary:  In Eye of the Beholder, from Posh Bytes by C. Rose Lavender is a distraught widow trying to move on in her life. She’s set up on a blind date, but in a world where everyone has access to virtual beauty programs, it’s hard to find real love. When she meets her date, everything clicks until he asks her to see him without his program, revealing a secret that forces her to confront the idea of letting go of the love she’d already lost.

Character:  The scales on how one judges Lavender depend entirely on how readily the reader believes one could be devastated by the loss of a loved one. I, for one, found this situation to be believable. Lavender is trapped between wanting to want to move on, and not being ready to let go. This is her key conflict. She’s not very proactive, but she is sympathetic and competent. As I’ll mention in future reviews of other stories from this book, there are more compelling, more enthralling stories, but Lavender delivers a nice tale that sets up what’s honestly a fascinating anthology based on a singular world and premise.

Exposition: I think this is where there’s the most room to grow. Short stories / novellas have to move quickly, but Rose does tell a more than she shows on occasion. Her gift in other areas offset this issue, and she never dwells in exposition too long.

Worldbuilding: This is where Rose shines! This story sets a scene of a world surrounded by digital beauty and dark, tragic vanity. As each story progresses, the world grows deeper, and there are so many pleasant nuggets that connect one story to another. It gives the anthology as a whole a very Tarantino feel.  This is why Posh Bytes is currently my second-favorite book of 2018 (so far). While it’s a young year, and I have a lot of great books I’m excited to read on my TBR, I really found myself fascinated by the concept of this world and setting.

[image error]Dialogue:  I think this is solid. If I’m being honest, I don’t remember much. This means it wasn’t worth remembering or worth stewing over. That usually means I thought it was decent, but not amazing.

Description:  This is another strength for Rose. Her delicate use of adjectives and careful narrative paint a picture that sets the director in my imagination off. She’s better at describing things than people, but when she takes time to describe a person, that individual becomes unique and memorable.

Overall:  Eye of the Beholder is a lead-off story for what’s currently a great anthology. It’s expertly crafted speculative science fiction that does more to force the reader to think than it does to entertain. For me the distinction is in the satisfaction I get while reading the story. Most Spec. SCIFI is enough to get one to think; it’s very rare that one is forced to think without falling out of the story or feeling lectured. I’ll be reviewing each of the stories from this anthology individually as I feel that gives them the full credit they deserve.  This story wasn’t the one that hooked me, but it was the one that showed me C. Rose is an author who truly let’s the concept drive the story.

Thanks for reading

Matt

Preorder Bob’s Greatest Mistake!

Greetings All,

[image error]I have a few announcements regarding The Journals of Bob Drifter.

The first is that Bob’s Greatest Mistake, the part of Bob’s story is officially available for preorder for only 99 cents. It will remain at that price from today until May 15. It goes live May 1. Once the sale ends, this book will go to its regular $2.99 price.

Once more I want you all to understand this is not a sequel. If you want Bob’s whole story in one fantastic swoop, just click straight to the first link I gave you above. However, if you’re just looking to try a part of the story, you can always try Part One, or even this part.

Speaking of Part One,  that book will be free from April 26-30 in celebration of Part Two’s upcoming release. So you can essentially get 2/3 of Bob’s story for 99 cents on those days.

I’m excited to get another title live on my digital bookshelf, and getting this story out means I can turn my full attention to Repressed and The Power of Words. Both of those books are very close to being ready, and I’m hard at work to keep everything on schedule.

I hope you’re all as motivated as I am by how things are moving. If you haven’t tried Bob’s story, this is a great opportunity. Bob was my first published book, and he’ll always have a special place in my heart. I hope he earns a place in yours as well.

Thanks for reading,

Matt

Announcing the March Book Cover of the Month!

Hello everyone,

We’ve just wrapped up another month. This one was pretty historic.  This month is the second-most voted on month to date. That’s a pretty awesome stat to hand out. I’m thrilled and honored at everyone involved.

We had 6,019 votes this month.

It was a pretty stiff competition between about five books. No one really pulled away, and that made for some exciting matches.

The March Book Cover of the Month is…

 

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Heshayol by Joshua Robertson and J.C. Boyd! If you’re curious about how I felt about the book, check out the Facebook post that I posted when this book first landed on the bracket, here.

Let’s look at the stats!

Heshayol received 335 total votes. If this cover and art looks  familiar, it’s because his first book Anaerfell was in the Book Cover of the Year Wild Card Round. I also read and reviewed it.

Since April only has 30 days, Metal and Stone by K. Potter and The Past is Never by Tiffany Quay Tyson. will be in next month’s cover bracket because they finished second and third respectively.

But for now, let’s look at this month’s winner!

Amazon:

(START BLURB)

Over a millennium ago, at their father’s command, Tyran and Drast sent the Horned God to the Netherworld in hopes of gaining everlasting life. Instead, they sparked a chain of events that led to the near destruction of the Ash Tree and the liberation of the old gods. Now, with the world waning, the two brothers are freed from Anaerfell to travel to the frozen realm of the dead and resurrect their enemy with hopes of restoring balance. Tyran and Drast journey between time and space with limitless magic at their fingertips to face demon legions, forsaken immortals, and the realization that the malevolence of their father is not yet done.

While the first ennead of books in Thrice Nine Legends can be read separate of one another, the following is the chronological reading order for full enjoyment.

Anaerfell, The Blood of Dragons, Book 1

Warden of the Ash Tree

The Highborn Longwalker

Melkorka, The Kaelandur Series, Book 1

When Blood Falls

Dyndaer, The Kaelandur Series, Book 2

The Name of Death

Maharia, The Kaelandur Series, Book 3

Heshayol, The Blood of Dragons, Book 2

(END BLURB)

I’ve added Heshayol to my TBR. (For those who are new to the deal, I buy the Book Cover of the Month to read and review in the future. I buy all the winning covers. I’ve already bought February, January and December’s book.

[image error]Here’re Josh’s and JC’s Facebook page. Give it a like if you’re curious about him and his work.

I’ll try to find out who did that cover. I’m still  behind my interviews, and I’m just not sure how or when I’m going to get back on that. I will try though.

The April Book Cover of the Month is almost set, and that contest will launch May 1.

I will continue to identify and select covers for each day from Amazon’s New Release section for fantasy and science fiction. If you follow and like my Facebook page, you can see what covers will make the bracket.

Thanks for reading

Matt

Testimony: My Trial of Faith as My Mom Struggled With Cancer Part 7

See Part 1 here.

See Part 2 here.

See Part 3 here.

See Part 4 here.

See Part 5 here.

See Part 6 here.

The Caretakers

I’m not sure what a normal family is. I don’t know what it looks like. I don’t know how it should feel. We argue. We judge. We don’t honestly get along. It’s an issue that vexes my mother.

My mother, on the other hand, is the epitome of unselfish love. No matter what stupid stuff we pulled or horrible things we said or did, she’d take us back.

When our grandmother became too ill to truly care for herself or live alone, my mom stepped up. She moved Grandma in and cared for her until the day Grandma passed a little more than a year ago. This was a sacrifice. There were events or trips my mom couldn’t go on. There was the strain of caring for a woman who was honestly in need of fairly consistent assistance in one way or another. Thing is, my mom never complained. I did. My dad did.  But the most my mom would do is mention that she couldn’t do something because she was taking care of my grandmother.

I wondered something during that time. Who would step up when my mom needed that?

You see, if this were one of the fiction books I was writing, I’d be the hero. Fact is I’m not. I’m more than 3,000 miles away. My life hasn’t truly changed in terms of day to day habits and action. I don’t have to get mom to appointments or help her if she’s ill. I don’t have to negotiate my own life around her treatments or the other members of the family who visit and want to spend time with mom.  I’m just a guy reflecting on the process, but I’m not actually a part of it.

My older sister and her family are.

My mom needs to be close to the hospital that treats her. This is why my mom can’t stay in our hometown with her husband and youngest daughter. The fact is there are several people who love my mom, and they’re doing what they can just as I am.  But my older sister stepped up. She moved mom in and she’s coordinating all the visits and appointments.  The fact is, while there are many supporters and helpers, she’s the hero of this story. Amid the handful of people working and doing what they feel is best to help, this woman is the one there for all of it.

I hope these words don’t sound like an accusation to those in my family who aren’t there every minute of every day. The honest truth is they can’t be. Some have jobs. Some are ill themselves. Some are trying to keep my mom’s home in good condition and even make it better.

I am, in fact, doing the least in the family. I’m writing a blog.

But I don’t want the fact that I’m in the worst position to be of use to take away from the fact that my sister and her family are doing an amazing job just because they happen to be in the best position to be of use.  I hope that makes sense. If I’m being frank, some aspects of my relationship with my siblings make us pretty judgmental of one another. Every now and again I get defensive about things because I know my sister has made taking care of our mother her life.  Am I a lesser child because I’m doing less?

I certainly feel that way, but that’s not the message I want to deliver here.  What I want to do is give the credit where it’s due. Should I feel demeaned or humiliated simply because I’m giving proper acknowledgement to she who is doing the most?

I’m on the wrong side of the country to be of use. But each day of this trial, my sister, who, if I’m being honest previously held a reputation for publicly complaining about a great many things, hasn’t complained once. At least not to me. It may be because I’m simply not in a position to do anything about it, but it doesn’t make it less true.

The only thing more humbling than her efforts to help my mom is the growth I’ve seen from here through the process. No look, I can’t say enough times that I’m not there. I have no real idea what’s going on. I call once a week or so to see what’s happening and how things are.

But then there was a text. She asked if I’d be able to make it down one week.  You see, my niece is about to graduate, and she’s got a lot of things to do. My sister needed someone to take the edge off.

At first I said I’d just need word, but would it make sense to see if those closer to home could help. Besides, I imagined a number of them would be around anyway to attend my niece’s graduation.

Prior to all of this, I’d burned up my leave. I came home from Christmas intending to spend a year to 16 months here to save up leave.

However, when my sister sent another text saying she needed help, I did the wrong thing. I balked.

I wasn’t without reasons. My biggest fear was that if I took leave now, and then something horrible happened, I wouldn’t have the leave to support that. I spoke to a number of people about that, including my sister’s husband. I didn’t say no outright. I called my dad to see what was going on. He, my older sister, and my younger sister all got together and worked something out.

At the end, they didn’t need me. I can save my leave for another purpose (hopefully a happy one), and my sister has the help she needs to get my niece off to the next leg of adult life.

Despite the fact that it all worked out, my failure is clear.

My sister called for help.  I should have simply said, “OK,” and figured it out. It would have been hard, and it could have been even more difficult if things don’t go the way I’d like them too, but how often are we called in life?

I don’t think the reasons I hesitated are unreasonable or even wrong. That’s the trap we fall for in life. I wanted to work out something where everyone got what they needed. To be honest, it worked out that way as far as I’m aware.

None of that changes the fact that I was wrong. When someone calls for help, you answer.

You might have to figure some things out. You might put yourself at risk. You might have to change things you had planned for months. None of that matters. When someone calls, you answer.

My mom needed help. My brother-in-law just started a new position at work. My niece is about to graduate. My sister was still relatively new at a job of her own. My nephew is adorable, but he’s a handful. None of that mattered. My mom needed help, and that family stepped up.

For those who may feel even more defensive about it than I am, I implore you to see that this doesn’t have to be about selfish pride.  My ego and feelings are what they are, but I don’t have to let that selfish pride prevent me from testifying how Christian my sister is being right now. She’s stepped up.  She’s followed the example our mother taught us for so many years. For that, she deserves all the blessings I can pray for on her behalf.

That sacrifice allows for the other members of the family to chip in by doing what they can do. My other siblings stop by. As I mentioned above, my baby sister was able to make some tweaks to her schedule to get up there for graduation week. My dad is taking care of the house. My other siblings are helping.  I just wanted to make sure to put the spotlight on someone who’s doing an amazing thing.

I talked to another one of those older siblings about graduation just a few days ago. None of my circumstances have changed. There may be a time when I’m needed, and I’ll stand ready. I wasn’t needed this time. Sure, I made a few phone calls and made sure it would have worked out. Of course I would have gone down and made it work if my other siblings couldn’t.

The wrong in what I did was looking for other ways because I saw other ways. I need those reading this to understand this most of all. We get called so often in life. How many times do we compare what we’re asked to do to what we want to do? It doesn’t make our lives or our dreams meaningless, but it does make us selfish. Even if it didn’t make us selfish, it still makes us unhelpful.

Most of this situation took about a day.  But by the end of my dinner the night of that text I’d told my girlfriend, “I’m doing this wrong. What I should have done, the right thing to do, is say, ‘I’ll be there,’ and figure it out.”

The wrong isn’t in the reasons it would have been difficult. The wrong was in the fact that I thought about my situation first. I thought about my complications and my obstacles before I thought about my mom and what she needed. I thought about my issues before I thought about my sister and all the things she’d already done and sacrificed to be the day-to-day caretaker for our mother.

Don’t follow my example in this case, readers. Don’t fall for the trap that I fell for. I don’t think anyone I talked to (including my older sister) blames me or holds it against me. Again, those reasons are quite valid. But the trap was to think of myself when I should have been thinking about others. I hope you’ll do a better job if you’re called.

 

 

Questions and Revelations

Where do you get off writing this blog after you fail to show up the first time you’re asked?

Frankly, I’m still just doing my best. When I was called, there was never a doubt in my mind that my sister would get the help she needed. My family is huge. I knew it was only a matter of talking to everyone and figuring out who could help.  The wrong was in using convince as the measuring stick. The question was “Who can help my sister without too much interruption.” When what should have happened was, “I got you!”

Also, this blog is (as of now) a real time process. To me, sharing these victories and mistakes are important. I know a lot of people who did things very much like I did. They explained it to their friends (like I did), and those people said something like, “I understand. It’s fair. It’s okay. You had things to figure out.”  Those justifications usually make other people feel great. Each time I heard them, they just felt more accusatory. I’d save readers the same feeling if I could.

So are you going?

No. The issue and need was, “care for my mom,” and that issue was resolved. Once the discussion became about my nieces’ graduation, it was something we’d talked about the year before. My sister has the help she needs, and that was the main issue.

I love my niece, and she knows I’m proud of her. My failure was in not answering a need. Once it became a matter of want or desire, then all involved parties should look at things and do what they feel in their heart are best.

Need = do.

Would like or wants = do if you can.

I still won’t sacrifice my ability to head home in the event of a more unfortunate emergency for an event everyone in my family knew I wouldn’t make it down for since last year.

Wouldn’t someone have helped?

Of course they would have. There are a few things in place, and I work with some amazing, generous people. my pride is a bigger issue here. My mom and I have that in common. Never cause those around you stress because you want. That’s a rule we follow. My mom feels pretty bad right now because she honestly thinks she’s being a bother to my sister and her family.  It’s just how we’re wired. I could be pined under a bus with a comet heading toward me and I still wouldn’t ask someone to help if I thought they were “too busy” or they would be “too inconvenienced.”

Had my baby sister been unable to help, I would have worked things out. My guilt is over the fact that I worked around that.  Fact is, I have no idea what my baby sister already had planned or how her leave situation was. I didn’t occur to me.  She answered the call, and she stepped up.

Why do you feel so guilty then? Everything worked out right?

Well, let’s look at Job.  In Job, after he’d already been suffering greatly. His friends showed up.

They did a lot wrong.  Seriously, they did a LOT wrong. What they did right, however, was show up. I even talked about this the night all this went down. I defensively said, “Well they didn’t have jobs or overworked coworkers.”  Even then I don’t actually know. I haven’t read all of Job. I’ve only heard a few sermons on the book, but that book is special to me already.

I’ve often prided myself on being the guy who helps when it’s needed. So even though I had honest, reasonable explanations for why I might not be the best person to help, I already felt pretty crappy for handling it the way I did.

Guilt is a pretty handy whisper from God. What I recognized is that my defensiveness, and I’d dare to say any defensiveness you might feel, was my soul’s way of telling me I’m in the wrong to begin with.

Try it out.  Have you ever not done something, but then felt the need to explain why you didn’t? Some who read this now might feel angry or defensive simply because I’m speaking so highly of my older sister.

If that’s the case I’d argue why? Is this defensiveness or anger a result of what I said, or is it a result of how what I said makes you feel about yourself? One of the three major points of this chapter was to point the blaming finger straight at myself.  So don’t be like me. Don’t be selfish. Be selfless. When someone asks of you, just help.

I’m not recommending servitude to someone. I’m not saying carry another grown adult through life. Those are all circumstances I can’t predict. In this situation, with actual people who needed actual care, I was wrong. I have said no to others who asked for help and felt zero guilt. Why? Because they had all the ability in the world to help themselves. For many a day, I wish for a burning bush or angel to come down and just tell me what to do.

All I have is my conscience. What I learned from this was to let it be a better guide from now on.

If you have other questions regarding my faith or thoughts or actions at this point, feel free to ask, and I’ll add them to the blog.  I try to ensure these passages are self reflective. My chaplain told me to take this opportunity to look at myself, but at the moment, those were the only real thoughts going through my mind. Questions might help me remember other thoughts or parts of The Bible I’d overlooked while typing this post.

Thanks for reading

Matt

Always an Awesome Time!

Greetings all,

AwesomeCon was a few weeks ago, and I always like to talk about how the conventions I attend go.

This con is special to me because it was one of my first ever and certainly the first “big” convention I ever attended. I go every year, and I plan on being there every year God grants me life.

From a business standpoint, I did fairly well. What I mean to say is I sold about what I normally sell at any convention. AwesomeCon is a bit more expensive to get to, but that means I get a lot more exposure too. It’s a weird balance between sales and marketing, but I’m pretty satisfied with how it meant.

I’m hopeful that the new readers I met enjoy the books and maybe drop me a review or two. I also made a few new author friends and linked up with some fans. Look, the fact that I can say with certainty that I have fans is still kind of a wondrously strange thing to me. Getting to say hello to a few loyal readers and maybe meet a few new ones is always a plus.

Another reason I’m such a fan of this event is the fact that I usually have a panel.  This year was no different.  My panel about “The Pitfalls of Unwary Self Publishers” has become a tradition.  I managed to record the event this year so anyone interested in the process (or more importantly the things they shouldn’t do) can just watch the video.

 

Finally, I got to see some cosplay, my favorite was of a young woman who dressed as the new Doctor. I’m a huge Doctor Who fan, and she was the first person I’d seen wear the 14th (there were 14.  Count them.  #AllRespecttoJohnHurt) Doctor’s attire.

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These events are always fun, and I can’t express how grateful I am to everyone who comes to see hello, much less listen to me rant about my books and then actually buys one. I’ll always be indebted to those who help keep my dream moving forward.

 

Thanks for reading,

Matt

Book Review: Working the Table: An Indie Author’s Guide to Conventions by Jeffrey Cook and Lee French

[image error]This image was taken from Amazon.com for review purposes under Fair Use doctrine.

As I was trying to improve my success at conventions, I met Jeffrey at the 2017 AwesomeCon, and picked up his book.

This really is a solid resource for a new author looking to start using conventions to expand his platform. My regret is that I found it a year after I’d been doing conventions, and I read it nearly a year after that.

There are a few things in this book I’m considering, the one I’ll mention (and I assure you there are several ideas in here that new authors should consider) is working with a partner. For me, my current issue is the overhead.

This book agree that conventions aren’t about making money. Most authors hope to break even. My current advantage is that I’m staying local, but even that advantage doesn’t always help.  While I think most of the conventions I’ve been at have been successful, I’ve still actually lost money.

[image error]I’m prepping for Balticon, and I’ve done the math. I have to see at least 11 pairs of books (or some combination of the two, but the pairs are easier to estimate) to make back what I paid for the table and the actual ordering of the books. I average 15-30 books sold per event. So why do them? First, if I don’t, I don’t sell books. It’s that simple. What this book confirms is the idea for conventions is to build your platforms and find more readers loyal to you. I’ve done that through the years, and that’s the trick for me. If I were able to team up with a  few local authors, the overhead would come down, and I could lose less money (maybe even make some) while still gaining new readers.

[image error]All of that comes just from that idea. It’s one I’ve tried a few times, but this book gives tips on how to work with other authors. Seeing these ideas gave me a bit more insight into how to do this better.

Like I said, this book is most valuable to those who haven’t started going to conventions yet. If you’re thinking of doing it, I recommend this book to give you a solid start.

Thanks for reading,

Matt

A March Book Cover of the Month Update

Greetings all,

With just seven days left in this month’s bracket, it’s time to update you all on how things have been progressing.

As I type this, we have 2,862 votes so far. This had a much better start than last month, but this month’s is still one of the closest in recent memory.

[image error]Fractals by Larry Buena is in the lead at the moment, but only because of a tie breaker.

Most Voted on so far: Fractals has the lead because of the tiebreaker in total votes. His 193 votes are enough to give him the edge in the finals.

Least Voted for:  The Battle of Tangine  by Will Crudge. This cover has 42 votes. I think Cridge’s book deserves more credit.

What’s really interesting here is how close a lot of the other rounds are.  The Divide by Jeremy Robinson (currently second) is pretty much fighting every step of the way. He has a 28-26 vote lead on Flash Magic by Jamie K. Schmidt.

Robinson’s fight spills into the Elite Eight.  He’s actually only winning a 20-18 against Tangled Lands by Paolo Bacigalupi and Tobias S. Buckell.

[image error]Fractals isn’t untouchable either. He’s winning a 20-20 tiebreaker against The Past is Never by Tiffany Quay Tyson.

That’s a lot of uncertainty in a tightly contested bracket.

A quick reminder of how the tournament works. The easiest way to win is to have the most people vote for you in every round. The trick is you have to have the most people vote you through in each round, all the way to the final.  As an example, 100 people could vote someone through to the finals, but that doesn’t do a cover any good if he doesn’t win the first round. It’s not total votes. It’s not simple championship votes. The winning cover has to have the most votes in each round of the competition.

This will be the only update for this type of bracket. It’s been slow so far, so I hope readers start lining up to support their authors by voting, liking, and sharing the bracket with as many people as possible.  You can vote at this address!

I’ll announce the winner is just seven days!

Thanks for reading,

Matt

Testimony: My Trial of Faith as My Mom Struggled With Cancer Part 6

See Part 1 here.

See Part 2 here.

See Part 3 here.

See Part 4 here.

See Part 5 here.

Know The Enemy

 

Around the time my mom’s treatment plan was getting finalized, I got a hold of my sister and learned the specific type of cancer with which my mother was diagnosed.

It’s called Glioblastoma Astrocytoma. The following information was obtained from the American Brain Tumor Association’s website. I’ve chosen them to receive any royalties earned after I release the complete story you’re reading at this moment.

GBMs are tumors usually located in the cerebral hemispheres of the brain but not uncommon anywhere in the brain or spinal cord. The good news is they don’t typically spread anywhere else in the body.

As I looked at the symptoms, I found a few that were common back when I called my mom just a few days before this all started. The primary ones I remember were speech difficulties, headaches and drowsiness.

One thing that was encouraging to me as I spoke to my father about mom’s treatment is the fact that the treatment has been in development for an amount of time I can’t pin down. But as I looked at ABTA’s website, it seemed right in step with what they were doing with my mom, except for one notable exception.

For all the bad news I’d gotten regarding my mom, her diagnosis, and how long it could take, my mom qualified for a newer treatment (amino treatment). I don’t know much about this treatment as I type this, but it essentially is something doctors have found is effective in treating cancer. Everything I’m told reflects that being able to use this helps my mom a lot. I know my father was hopeful this treatment option would be available, so I kept that in mind during my prayers, and those prayers were answered thanks to the mercy of God’s will.

The doctors opted to do this treatment along with the other standard treatments. I spoke to my mom and father about this. I think it’s a positive. I’m an all-in kind of guy. I think if there are three things to do that help increase a the odds of accomplishing the goal, one should do all three things.

As I read The Bible, I find myself working hard to understand the concept of free will. My current theory is that one should do all in his power to achieve a goal, but that individual must always understand that nothing happens without God’s will. I think we show God our faith and intent by taking action to follow his laws and demonstrate our worship. It’s all fine and good to pray, but if all you do is talk, God, who already knows your heart, might not be very moved. (That analogy might rub some the wrong way, but please note this is an analogy and not intended as a direct statement of fact.)

When one combines prayer, faith, and action, I feel that individual is doing everything they can do to demonstrate commitment and loyalty to God and his will.  My mom’s courage and effort is an example of this. The woman’s a freight train of effort in everything. Even days after that first surgery, I’m told the doctors and nurses were amazed at her desire to get right back on her feet.

As I type this, one of her biggest frustrations is that (to her) she’s not bouncing back quickly enough. Leave it to my mom to be frustrated she’s not at 100% two days after surgery despite the fact that the doctors (at that time) didn’t even have a full diagnosis. So as my family rallied around my mom, I prayed. Action + Prayer + Faith in God = blessings. I may have to add Loyalty, the following of God’s laws to that equation, but I currently place that in the same area as faith. I mean, how can one say they have faith in God and then follow it up by doing those things which God finds detestable?  Furthermore, how can one do these things and honestly expect God to put that aside and grant him anything?  Despite the temptation and fear I felt, I did everything I could to keep God’s laws and pray as best as I know how. The moment I heard my mom qualified for this additional treatment, I once more dropped to my knees to immediately praised Him for his mercy and continued blessings.

We knew what my mom was facing, and we had a plan for how to fight it. But we still needed someone to step up to help coordinate the effort. When that moment came, I learned I had no idea how heroic some of the members of my family could be.

 

 

Questions and Revelations

How often has that formula worked for you?

Well that formula has more variables than I can account for. The largest factor in the formula is my own sin. I talk to my friends a lot about this concept. Humanity sins so much every day. We tend to put those sins aside as if God will forgive them simply because everyone else does them. These are the white lies we tell. It is our pride as we judge those around us. It’s the thoughts we entertain but tell ourselves are fine because, “we’re not acting on those thoughts.” Actions matter, but we still sin with our thoughts.

That’s the variable I focus on when I live my life these days. I have things I want. Those things must be secondary to pleasing God. In 1 Kings, God asks Solomon to ask for a blessing. Solomon could have prayed for wealth and heirs. Instead, Solomon asked only for wisdom. He prayed for the wisdom to serve God and his people. In turn, God granted not only that prayer, but also those others mentioned above. For me, the action and prayer portions of that clever little formula of mine are easy. That last one is one that takes true commitment. I want to fill my heart with God. I want to know I’m serving him in what I do. I’m not going to pretend I don’t have wants or ambitions. But I do try to put those aside and focus most on service to God. I really don’t know how good I am at it. I can only say with complete honesty that I’m making an effort.

I wouldn’t advise people to take this formula and try to directly apply it to whatever mortal desire they have. I don’t have the mathematical acumen necessary to present the formula in a manner I feel is most accurate, but the fact is that faith in God must be at the highest value for those other two to matter. I can toil forever and never accomplish my goal if it’s not in God’s will. I can pray till I’m blue in the face, but that prayer won’t be answered if I willfully sin and stubbornly refuse to do those things my heart tells me God wants me to do.

Honestly, I find myself wishing for the occasional burning bush or booming voice. I want to believe I’d jump to whatever command God gave me if he’d deliver one of those, but he works in more subtle ways in today’s day and age. I’ll talk about that a bit in the next segment.

I realize I didn’t answer the above question.  The answer I’ll go with is I’m blessed far more often than I’m not. Please note I’m not claiming God’s favor. I think we’re all blessed more often than we realize. The thing is I’m currently, actively looking at my life and recognizing the blessings I have. I also observe these blessings from a perspective that reminds me I don’t deserve anything but God’s sovereignty. I woke up today, and God didn’t have to let me. Each time I’m happy about something, I call that a blessing. I honestly think if we did something like that more often, we’d see God’s mercy much more than we see his sovereignty. I think if we did this, we’d know that while terrible things happen, and they are indeed sad, terrible events, as a species, we’re blessed far more often than we’re not.

If any who are more trained and understanding of scripture care to chime in here I’m happy to listen.

If you have other questions regarding my faith or thoughts or actions at this point, feel free to ask, and I’ll add them to the blog.  I try to ensure these passages are self reflective. My chaplain told me to take this opportunity to look at myself, but at the moment, those were the only real thoughts going through my mind. Questions might help me remember other thoughts or parts of The Bible I’d overlooked while typing this post.

Thanks for reading

Matt

The Power of Words is a Go! My Release Schedule for the Near Future

[image error]Greetings all,

Things looked a little grim in late March when I realized I only had a total of four stories for The Power of Words. I had other submissions, but they weren’t right for it.  Please know I’m not saying they weren’t solid stories, but some just didn’t fit the theme or genre for the project.

What I did was tally up the word count for what stories I knew I had, and it turns out we have about 67,000 words. It’s certainly not as big as some of the anthologies I’ve seen, but I believe TW, Richard, and Heidi wrote some powerful short stories, and I’m proud of my contribution as well.

When working on an anthology, there’s a lot to consider. One thing to consider is when the best release time would be. We all talked, and we’ve decided our target release time for The Power of Words will be October of 2018. That means a few things have to shift for me. This isn’t a bad thing, it’s just news I want to make sure you all get.

So, here’s my release schedule for the near future.

May 1 (or as close to that as Amazon releases it): Bob’s Greatest Mistake, Part Two of The Journals of Bob Drifter. If you’ve already read the whole book, you’ve already read this part of it. I can’t stress enough this isn’t a sequel. However, if you’ve only read the first part, or if you haven’t yet given Bob a chance, this will be your opportunity. I plan to do some cool stuff here, and I’ll make more announcements on this once I’m done with the formatting and a proofread (because no one can do enough of those).

[image error]Aug. 1 (or as close to that as Amazon releases it): Something Always Remains, Part Three of The Journals of Bob Drifter. By August, readers will be able to try any portion or all of Bob’s story, and I’m pretty thrilled about that.

However, I didn’t want a year to go by without any new stories from yours truly.

October of 2018: The Power of Words anthology. This was the best time for all of us, and I think we’re all pretty stoked to get this story out. For great Science Fiction (well, one’s a Zombie apocalypse story, but it fits) stories from at least three great authors (I feel weird when I try and call myself “great,” especially in comparison to those three).

Some of you may remember I’d announced that Sojourn in Despair was scheduled for release in November. The truth is, releasing a book that quickly after another doesn’t really make a ton of sense unless I have a flock of other stories to release. I don’t. My goal is to release four projects a year, and I can only work so fast.   So Sojourn has to get pushed back.

Jan. 1, 2019 (or as close to that as Amazon releases it): Repressed, an Oneiros Log YA Novella. I love Kaitlyn as a character, and as the Oneiros log continues, she’ll have a bigger role. To bridge the gap between book one (Caught) and book two, I wrote this story to show where Kaitlyn is and how the team has progressed in the four years between books.

[image error]Elele’s Chapter Icon.

April 1, 2019 Sojourn in Despair, A Perception of War Novella.  Not only will this story come out as an ebook, but I’ll also release a flip book (paperback) putting Elele’s and Kaitlyn’s stories together.  On one side, you’ll have Repressed, and Elele’s story will be on the other. This will give me another physical book to sell at conventions and give readers the chance to get two stories at a solid price.

All of those stories are done or close to done. I don’t immediately see any reason why any of those dates should change (God’s will be done). I have two drafts left on Repressed and three drafts left on Worth of Words (that title will probably change soon). When I finish Repressed, I’ll get hard to work on Betrayed, Book Two of the Oneiros Log. My hope is for that to be released by October of 2019. I’m sorry I won’t get the whole trilogy out, but I promise I’ll get the trilogy complete (again, subject to God’s will regarding health and life) by 2020. There’s a short-story series I’m planning on doing as well. I’d like to get the first episode of that out in 2019 as well. I’ve also been mentioning a secret project. That project has been submitted to an editor for a major comic book company. All it is at the moment is a favor for a friend and an opportunity I’m excited about. If it pans out, I’ll be the first to announce it (after I’m done running laps around my condo property shouting for joy). Until then, I’d rather keep it under wraps.

I can’t ever thank you all enough for giving your time and attention to my work. I’m constantly humbled at your interest. I hope you’re as excited about these upcoming releases as I am.

Thanks for reading,

V/R

Matt