Cage Dunn's Blog, page 93

SmashWords Summer-Winter Sale

SmashWords  from 1 July to 31 July!

For me it’s Winter – cool nights (even rains sometimes); snow in Queensland (sub-tropical!! Queensland!); long dark nights with howling wind and singing trees; dogs howl and cats hide –

But you can come and look at the SmashWords Summer-Winter Sale.

Try: Speculations of a Dark Nature Vol I: NDE           –

FREE, only at SmashWords for the duration of the sale.

 

 

 

Water

The stuff of life. Water. Not enough of it around here.

It’s a serious issue – I hear people say to ‘populate the desert’ but they don’t say how they will get water out there – huge cost for what gain? I heard that the human body is greater than 90% water – and I also heard that the planet will only ever have the exact same mass/volume of water that it’s always had. There’s something wrong with that.

Humans have increased in number to the point of critical mass, if the human bodies are taking up so much of the available water. Maybe it has gone beyond that – I’m not a scientist in these fields.

Global warming – or overpopulation? Not a question I can answer, but it brings up another question: Why do all governments, corporations and big enterprises want the world to grow more people? Answer: So that capitalism (consumerism) can increase their profits (taxes) each year. Yes, each year. No longer do we have objects/articles/items that are likely to last beyond the warranty period (the other serious issue: waste-ism). We are required to keep working to pay for the stuff we ‘need’ and have to replace regularly.

All the stuff we buy has a ‘cost’ in its use of water, as well as other resources.

Mining – can’t do it without water – tons and tons of it, every day.

Agriculture – can’t do it without water – tons and tons, of course.

Manufacturing – see above.

Population hubs (cities) – gotta have that water for businesses, cleaning the streets, flushing good drinking water down the sewerage.

etc., etc., etc.

If water is a finite resource, why aren’t there more projects to study how to save it, re-use it, collect more of it from everywhere, distribute it fairly (why not get mining companies to use ‘cleaned’ sewerage instead of water that could be used for food production?).

I was born in an arid region – we did not use water to flush waste; we did not use water on the garden unless it had been used at least once before (cooking, washing, first-flush from the tank); we did not waste water on a shower (one bath once a week to wash several people – littlest last, of course); we did not waste any roof-space or flat surface – always there was a container of some type to catch that precious stuff.

Not much has changed in that region. People build new houses to include composting toilets; all water used in the house is re-used for the garden; all collection points are considered in the planning stage. Why? Because water in those regions costs a fortune – up to $350 per kilolitre. Keep that in mind the next time you leave a leaking tap for later, or flush the toilet even if you only drop a tissue in there, or water your garden with good drinking water for hours each day just so it looks green and people will admire how pretty it is. My view: if it doesn’t provide some form of sustenance (to me, to bees, to birds and critters), it can survive as if it were a ‘wild’ thing – without my precious water.

An aside: I hear people say that Democracy is the only way, and when you talk more, you hear the meaning behind the words is really Capitalism – they want to get rich by getting more money from the consumption of something they offer. We need to learn the difference.

And that’s my rant for the day. Water.

 

The Journey of Shadow

Serialised to be one chapter each week (see Smashwords or Shadow’s Page).

Fantasy in the realm of epic, with Dragons and Magic and Dreams – all of it real (yes, it is).

Shadow is young, determined, ever so slightly arrogant (you meet her in the next instalment).

R’Cci is old, determined, and very arrogant (she has a right to be, she knows all the Magic).

Injuwu is a dragon who sleeps. All the dragons sleep. If their minds wake, or they move into any world, the beast will come for them – and even dragons can’t beat this beast.

Only the seed of the prophesy can help the dragons grow into life on this world. And only one person knows what that prophesy is, and what it means to the lives it must take in order to achieve the Dream – of dragons.

Prophesy

Is that the same as Prophecy? Yes, it is, so I will tell you the story of Prophesy – the child of Hope. (©CS Dunn 2016)

To dream of the future, to imagine how things would be if this happened, or that happened; if this person did something that would change the way others view them; if that person did something that changed the world, or even just his family.

What if? If hope wasn’t part of life, would people continue? Would they just take one step after another – on and on – until it ended?

Hope is all it takes to initiate dreams, and from dreams come ideas, and from ideas come actions, and from actions comes movement. Always forward. People move forward. Thoughts move forward, toward what could be – or what they dreamed it could be.

Live with hope, know that each cell in your body fights to live; but living is not just breathing. To be alive is to be part of community, and to be part of a community thought must move forward, into the future – the best future we can provide for the children of our community.

That’s what it’s all about – what we leave for our children.

It is, isn’t it? Or do you dream of living forever? Do you want the world to be your slave? Do you want to  rule over your dominion? Fool if you do.

Life isn’t forever. It is limited. This is the bonus. We get to fight for every moment we live, for every dream we have, for every child we know. It is only the fight for life that gives us the moment of choosing this way or that way, or following this dream or that dream, or of assisting those that dream the biggest dream.

Yes, that is community. Follow the dream, even if it isn’t your dream. Live your community, leave something good and strong and prophetic for your children, for your grandchildren, and their grandchildren. Leave them a world of promise, of dreams, of a future that has dreams and prophesy.

This is not a story, but it is. It is the story you make, or he makes, or I make. It is a story that encompasses the reason for the telling of stories, for hope and dreams and looking forward. It is the story of life – short, unpredictable, and participatory. So please, participate as hard as you can. Live your life as an example to those around you, as an example to your future. As only you can do. Be your own prophesy.

 

Found it! Neo-Noir, the genre

Neo-noir, as outlined in LitReactor, is the genre for The Blood List.

If you like neo-noir, if you like a protagonist who breaks the rules, who takes the law into her own hands, have a look.

Here’s one comment (from a reader – edited slightly to avoid spoilers):

Like your stuff – appropriately chilling. Tiny bit too much detail – you probably don’t need that much fine detail to carry the reader with your main character, even if she is a professional herself.  Believable character, even when she is committing murder.  And publishing it online, which is just plain creepy.  Keep it up, I think you’re on to a winner here.

Let me know what you think!

Empty

It’s a desert. Hot, dry – empty.

The horizon is flat, a smear smudged with heat haze and drifts of imagination. Swirls of dust rise and fall, sing and dance, sway and swat. It’s the desert. Hot, dry – empty of people.

The ground is full of ants, red and brown and black and green; of lizards, frill-necked and spikey and long and short; of snakes – keep still and let them go their way; of crickets and beetles and bugs and grubs; of things that leave their mark, but are never seen. It’s the desert. Hot, dry – empty of expectations.

The air is hot and still, hot and swirling, hot and slashing. Wind comes and goes, nothing to break it but the shrubby salt-bush and spiky clumps of windmill grass and spinifex. It’s the desert. Hot, dry – empty of nothing.

The soul sings with the blessing of clarity, of the needs that come first – water, sustenance, shelter. Water hides under the roots of the desert-oak, sustenance comes from the small things and patience, shelter comes from the hole dug in between the spinifex spines or from the rocks that are swept clean and dry and give respite from the scorch of the sun. It is the desert. It is full. It is my home.

The only empty place comes from the fight – but the desert does not fight; it does not care. It only is what it is. Live within the means of the setting, absorb the peace and the life and the joy of the moment. Be alive. Soar on the wind, tickle the sand with your steps, slide your hot flesh over the cool rocks – be alive! Live! The desert is alive, full of life – but only if the soul of the desert is free. Do not try to contain the heat, or to bring water to grow your food, or to take more than you need. If you do that, you will feel the fullness of the desert, and you will not survive.

Be still, be empty – let yourself be filled with the life of the desert.

* * *

I love the desert. The above is a real feel I have when I see it, whether I’m there in it, or from the air, or from the window of a car, or a photo – or even a memory. I am home, at peace. I can smell it, taste it, hear it, feel it. Home. Not empty.

 

Genre – which one fits?

Am I the only person who has problems defining which genre suits the book, or which books belong with what genre?

As a reader, I have problems when I look up a particular category looking to read a particular type of story – and get something completely off-centre! I read 7-10 books a week when I’m not in full novel-writing mode, and I don’t want to waste time part-reading a book that isn’t going to suit my needs.

As a writer, I have problems deciding which genre to place my publications under. Is it this? Or is it that? Or is it too many things? Or not quite this and not quite that? Is that bad writing? Or bad categorising? How do I reach the readers who would want to read this? If I put it under ‘psychological thriller’ are people going to think it’s a ‘who dunnit’ or a crime novel? (Some writers put their crime under this genre category and seem to expect that their books are the only ones that fit this genre – all others are in the wrong place. Usually well-known authors, of course, not struggling like most writers, and not having to decide for themselves because the publisher or agent has done that for them. Crime is not the only thrill, nor is it always related to psychological thrill crime.) That’s my rant for the day.

I have listed below the categories and subcategories of genre you find when looking online. I write in science fiction (not ‘hard’ sci-fi, which some fans and writers say is the ‘only’ true sci-fi – whoops, that was another rant!), metaphysical (beyond life), horror (not the blood and guts type – the psychological horror type), psychological thriller (not crime), paranormal (spiritual beings), fantasy (and some others, but that’s enough for now).

My problem: if I don’t put my books into the right category/ies, the readers won’t find them. If I put them in the wrong categories, I’ll annoy the readers who do find them.

What is the answer?

Literature & Fiction: (Note: these categories come from more than one e-location, which is why there may be more than one heading)

Big Picture:

Action & Adventure | African American | Ancient & Medieval Literature | British & Irish | Classics | Contemporary | Dramas & Plays | Erotica | Essays & Correspondence | Foreign Language Fiction | Genre Fiction

Historical Fiction | History & Criticism | Humor & Satire | Literary | Mythology & Folk Tales | Poetry | Short Stories & Anthologies | United States | Women’s Fiction | World Literature

Fiction

Adventure | African American fiction | Anthologies | Children’s books | Christian

Classics | Cultural & ethnic themes | Fantasy | Gay & lesbian fiction | Graphic novels & comics | Historical | Holiday | Horror | Humor & comedy | Inspirational | Literary collections | Literature | Mashups | Mystery & detective | Plays & Screenplays | Poetry | Romance | Science fiction | Themes & motifs | Thriller & suspense | Women’s fiction | Young adult or teen

And sub’d from above:

Themes & motifs: Psychological | Spiritual & metaphysical | Family sagas | Political | Crime | Medical | Religious | Technological | Legal | Media tie-in

Horror: General | Undead | Weird | Occult | Ghost | Crime

Horror: Dark Fantasy | Ghosts | Occult

Horror : Anthologies | British & Irish | Dark Fantasy | Erotic Horror | Ghosts | Occult | Vampires

Thriller & Suspense: Action & Suspense | General | Crime thriller | Psychological thriller | Spies & espionage | Supernatural | Courtroom

Mystery & Detective: General | Women Sleuths | Short Stories | Hard-boiled | Police Procedural | Historical | Cozy | Traditional British | Amateur sleuth | International Crime

Thrillers & Suspense: Crime | Financial  | Historical  | Legal  |Medical  | Military | Psychological Thrillers  | Spies & Politics  | Supernatural  | Suspense  | Technothrillers

Science Fiction: Adventure | General | Short stories | Apocalyptic | Space Opera | Utopias & Dystopias | Military | Hard sci-fi | High tech | Steampunk & retropunk | Cyperpunk

Science Fiction: Adventure  | Alien Invasion  | Alternate History  | Anthologies  | Colonization  | Cyberpunk | Dystopian  | Exploration  | First Contact  | Galactic Empire  | Genetic Engineering  | Hard Science Fiction  | History & Criticism  | Military  | Post-Apocalyptic  | Short Stories  | Space Opera  | Steampunk  | Time Travel

Fantasy: Paranormal | General | Epic | Short stories | Contemporary | Urban | Historical | Dark

Fantasy: Alternate History  | Anthologies  | Arthurian  | Coming of Age  | Dark  | Epic  | Historical  | Humorous | Magical Realism  | Military  | Myths & Legends  | New Adult & College  | Paranormal & Urban  | Romantic  | Superheroes | Sword & Sorcery  |

Fun, isn’t it?

 

Vol II – Alone in the Dark

Hot off the press!!

Speculations of a Dark Nature, Shorts Vol II – Alone in the Dark

Available at: Smashwords and Amazon (more later).

 

Winter

The heater, the heater – a cat needs warmth and sun and heat and a den and warmth! Turn on the heater!

Sunday – A Walk in the Park

We never walk fast enough for the dog. She wants to plough ahead, follow the scent, leave her own – you have to notify your neighbours of your intent and territory – and get to it all. Break new trails, seek out the unknown, repair the old; meet and greet and move on, satisfied that they (your kindred walkers, of four legs and two) know the rules of engagement.

The final decision, when to head for home and the treat, is her choice. We can only follow her lead. Of course, if it’s cold, or wet, or too hot, the walk is shorter – cut through here, go around this dam, not the big one, force the march up this sixty degree slope – cuts off minutes – and the left, left, left again is always heading for home.

Grab the treat, chuck it in the air, chase it down, hide it from the other residents – eat, eat, eat (the hunt, catch, kill, gorge is all wolf and we should understand that). Done.

Steal the best spot on the couch, scratch that blanket into the proper den-shape, settle in for the nap. When the sun shines in that window, with the spare blanky, lift the dozy body and drag it into the window for the daily sun-bath.

And that’s the life of a dog (Wolf!), sorry – wolf.

Regardless of the size of the dog, every heart that beats in the canine chest, is the heart of a wolf.