Ajax Minor's Blog, page 13

Writing Tips for Aspiring Authors 5/8/17

Last week we addressed the issue of the extent to which stories are autobiographical.  Now let’s talk about something more basic. I often hear people say, “I’ve always wanted to write,” or “I’d write, if only I could find the time.”  The second comment is the easiest to address.  Let me tell you, you do have the time.  Can you spare 15 minutes, one day a week?  If not, you will probably die of anxiety or exhaustion, or are so completely fulfilled that you really don’t need, or want, to write after all.

Writing Practice

Consider:  Grab a Composition Book at the local supermarket in the school supplies section.  Or just use your Word Processor.  During those 15 minutes, once a week, write one hundred words.  I think a prose writer can do that.  Do the math.  In one year you will have written 5200 words.  That’s a nice short story.   I Married a Butterfly is only 3000 words and is, while short, a complete story.  The year will pass in any event and, barring death, you will finish it either with a piece of writing or without one.  So, do you want to write or don’t you?  We’ve established that you have the time.

The arithmetic is simpler, but the process harder for poetry.  I can vouch for this, since I’ve written some poems; though I am clearly not a poet.  Novels, of course, require more of a time commitment, either in terms of hours per week or as the sum of months or years.

Writing Fundamentals

One thing that is absolutely necessary is to have a good grasp of the fundamentals of modern exposition.  Unless you are a bona-fide genius with a revolutionary style that resonates with a large audience, you have to observe current conventions: Point of View, dialogue tags, well defined genre.  Then again, since I fail utterly on genre, I should probably say you need to be aware of modern conventions.

But before you begin to write, make sure you have a good grasp of usage, grammar and syntax.  Even if you got A’s in English, you may have forgotten some basic rules after years of plumbing houses, slinging hash or writing memos.  So, “Get the little book!”

Recommended Resources

Read and keep handy at all times  ‘Elements of Style’—it’s been a major help to me for my writing!

 

The post Writing Tips for Aspiring Authors 5/8/17 appeared first on Ajax Minor.

‘I Married a Butterfly’ and writing

Do writers always write about things they know? Should they write about things they don’t know? These are intriguing questions. It has been said that all stories are  autobiographical.  I believe there is some truth to this. Without experience, there could be no psychological basis motivating the tale. And personal histories provide raw material as well for the details of a story. Colum McCann, in his new book, ‘Letters to a Young Writer’, asserts that writers do and should write about those things with which they have no direct experience. (As a matter of disclosure, I have not read, but plan to read, “Letters..’, but have drawn this observation from an interview on PBS Newshour with Jeffery Brown).  In this way  writers learn more about the world around them.

I’ve tapped both deep springs in my writing. Almost by definition, as a Fantasy writer I couldn’t possibly have experienced those things I’ve written about–giant spiders, Rock Cats and, in my new book, ‘The Girl from Ipanema‘, North Korea. Some things are drawn from pure imagination and some from learning about a subject indirectly, as with combing through Wikipedia!  So if you want to write, use your experiences to provide an emotional launchpad for your theme and then teach yourself something new.

In ‘I Married a Butterfly‘, both elements were in play. Of course, I’ve never seen, let alone married, a giant butterfly. But the incident in the cornfield did happen when I was in high school (although I was not dumped immediately, but shortly thereafter), and I haven’t forgotten how I felt. And the evening in the New York apartment also occurred, although it didn’t last a year!

Hopefully you will enjoy ‘Butterfly’ and something will resonate with you.

Read ‘I Married a Butterfly’ now »

The post ‘I Married a Butterfly’ and writing appeared first on Ajax Minor.

‘I Married a Butterfly’ and writing 4/20/17

Do writers always write about things they know? Should they write about things they don’t know? These are intriguing questions. It has been said that all stories are  autobiographical.  I believe there is some truth to this. Without experience, there could be no psychological basis motivating the tale. And personal histories provide raw material as well for the details of a story. Colum McCann, in his new book, ‘Letters to a Young Writer’, asserts that writers do and should write about those things with which they have no direct experience. (As a matter of disclosure, I have not read, but plan to read, “Letters..’, but have drawn this observation from an interview on PBS Newshour with Jeffery Brown).  In this way  writers learn more about the world around them.

I’ve tapped both deep springs in my writing. Almost by definition, as a Fantasy writer I couldn’t possibly have experienced those things I’ve written about–giant spiders, Rock Cats and, in my new book, ‘The Girl from Ipanema’, North Korea. Some things are drawn from pure imagination and some from learning about a subject indirectly, as with combing through Wikipedia!  So if you want to write, use your experiences to provide an emotional launchpad for your theme and then teach yourself something new.

In ‘I Married a Butterfly’, both elements were in play. Of course, I’ve never seen, let alone married, a giant butterfly. But the incident in the cornfield did happen when I was in high school (although I was not dumped immediately, but shortly thereafter), and I haven’t forgotten how I felt. And the evening in the New York apartment also occurred, although it didn’t last a year!

Hopefully you will enjoy ‘Butterfly’ and something will resonate with you.

The post ‘I Married a Butterfly’ and writing 4/20/17 appeared first on Ajax Minor.

NEW LOOK

We thought it would be appropriate to celebrate the publication of a new book in the Ur Legend series with an improved website. Evelyn Helminen has done a spectacular job of redesigning the ‘look’ of the site as well as increasing its ease of use and utility. I hope you like it as much as I do.

Book 2 of the Ur Legend, The Girl from Ipanema, will be coming out in May 2017.  A preview of the cover and plot will be found on the site.  In the near future, as we get close to release, I’ll be speaking more about the novel.

You will also notice a short story, ‘I Married a Butterfly‘, under Short Stories and Poems. If you haven’t already read Sun Valley Moon Mountains, “Butterfly’ will give you a feel for my style as well as my preferred (well, ONLY!) genre.  I’ll be talking more about ‘Butterfly’ next week.

Hope you will be visiting the site and offering your thoughts on a variety of topics from Grief to God, from Mind to Morals.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The post NEW LOOK appeared first on Ajax Minor.

NEW LOOK 4/13/17

We thought it would be appropriate to celebrate the publication of a new book in the Ur Legend series with an improved website. Evelyn Helminen has done a spectacular job of redesigning the ‘look’ of the site as well as increasing its ease of use and utility. I hope you like it as much as I do.

Book 2 of the Ur Legend, The Girl from Ipanema, will be coming out in May 2017.  A preview of the cover and plot will be found on the site.  In the near future, as we get close to release, I’ll be speaking more about the novel.

You will also notice a short story, ‘I Married a Butterfly’, under Short Stories and Poems. If you haven’t already read Sun Valley Moon Mountains, “Butterfly’ will give you a feel for my style as well as my preferred (well, ONLY!) genre.  I’ll be talking more about ‘Butterfly’ next week.

Hope you will be visiting the site and offering your thoughts on a variety of topics from Grief to God, from Mind to Morals.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The post NEW LOOK 4/13/17 appeared first on Ajax Minor.

2nd Book in Ur Legend Series Coming Soon!

In “The Girl from Ipanema,” scheduled for release in May 2017, we meet Ur as a young lady, and, boy, is she growing up!

Book cover for soon-to-be-released fantasy book, “The Girl from Ipanema”

Can Ur help save the Earth of her original World line from the effects of a catastrophic event? Help without interfering? ‘Girl..’ is a different kind of book than “Sun Valley Moon Mountains.”  It’s Fantasy and Future Fiction.

And I sort of like how my daughter is turning out.

The post 2nd Book in Ur Legend Series Coming Soon! appeared first on Ajax Minor.

Reading, Research, and Reference

While I promised ‘no elves’ in the novel, Sun Valley, Moon Mountains , there are elements of “Swordplay and Sorcery” common to straight-ahead Fantasy.  In addition, in SVMM I do a riff on The Iliad.

If you’re interested, here are a few works of literature that are relevant to Sun Valley, Moon Mountains .

The main protagonist, Jaq, while a Wall Street trader by vocation and a Philosopher by avocation,  is a Classicist by training.  So it’s no surprise that the world which he ‘shapes’ with his mind draws inspiration from Classical texts, like ‘The Iliad’, and ancient sources, such as the Sumerian Creation Epic.  ‘The Iliad’ is one of my all-time favorite works of literature.  With the exception of the genealogies, it’s fast paced and filled with complex characters.  It’s bloody.  Gory, actually, and surprisingly so.   But the most interesting aspect, I think, is the unpredictable and ephemeral nature of both courage and cowardice in every one of us.

Translations of The Iliad

While there are numerous translations, I’ll cite links to my two favorites: Lattimore’s and Pope’s.  Read Lattimore first; or if you believe a different translation superior, shoot it in.  Pope is just plain fun to read.  And brilliant.  I’m not a huge fan of Rhyme, but Little Sandy does a masterful job.

Richard Lattimore:  ‘The Iliad’

Alexander Pope:  Pope’s Iliad

James B. Pritchard:  Sumerian Creation Epic Vol. 1 and other Fun Stuff

The post Reading, Research, and Reference appeared first on Ajax Minor.

Goodreads reviews 10/30/16

Stacy and JennyR. i’d really like to know what you didn’t like about Sun Valley Moon MOuntains. i take reader feedback seriously and am always striving to improve. at 1 star i’m guessing i’m in a pretty deep hole. the couple of 2 stars on Amazon didn’t like the genre.   so give me some feedback. either on Goodreads, or my site, ajaxminor.com  you might enjoy the topics covered there and, unless you hate fantasy, a couple of short stories.

The post Goodreads reviews 10/30/16 appeared first on Ajax Minor.

Fine Spotted Cutthroat 10/17/16

Awesome Fish!!

photo courtesy of Zach Matthews

itinerantangler.com

The post Fine Spotted Cutthroat 10/17/16 appeared first on Ajax Minor.

Fishing in Idaho

It may come as a shock to those who’ve read SVMM, but Linda and I were in Idaho

Fishing, of all things.

It was pretty cold for this time of the year. Temperatures are normally around 60, daytime.  But we hit a stretch in the mid-40s. pretty chilly. However, the fishing made it all worth while. Linda’s prize was a 20″ cutbow, and I reeled in a sub-species, about 20″ as well, which was entirely new, in my experience. The Fine Spotted Western Slope Cutthroat. A gorgeous animal. Tiny black speckles spotted its golden flanks. And while Cutthroats normally don’t have the vim of a Rainbow, this one was a fighter.

We landed (and, of course, released) both fish on the Lost River, which also figures prominently in Sun Valley, Moon Mountains, you’ll recall. We were with our guide and friend of 30 years, Scott Schnebly, of Lost River Outfiters in Ketchum.  The river was running pretty well for this time of year. But the real attraction was the Lost Mountains. Rising almost a mile and a half off of the valley floor, they were covered in snow. A new experience for our eyes! The ‘walls of Troy’ that Jaq visualized in SVMM had never stood out in such bold relief. I kept waiting for Priam or Hecuba to hail us!

I’d love to know if any of you have checked out the Iliad, assuming you’ve not read it before.  Let me know if you love it as much as I do.

Next blog we’ll be talking about some anomalies in the story of SVMM and why they actually fit into the context of the narrative.

The post Fishing in Idaho appeared first on Ajax Minor.