Richard Dee's Blog, page 65

Blog hopping. Getting all emotional.

Welcome back to another blog hop, with #OpenBook. Here’s this week’s prompt.

Do you think someone
could be a writer if they don’t feel emotions strongly?

There’s a lot to be said for being a tortured artist.

Joking apart, if you’ve experienced life’s ups and downs, you must be better equipped to write realistic characters. Because not everything goes right, every time. Despite how other’s lives may appear to you. And, as every experience gives you the tools to deal with it, so the more you’ve packed into your life, the better equipped you are to portray emotion in your characters. Interaction also helps, whether it’s bringing up teenagers, dealing with older relatives or just the people that you meet, all these situations give you clues about how different people handle different emotions.

There is an important point that needs to be considered to qualify this, and that’s context, the setting for your emotional response.

Attitudes change and the emotions that they produce alter with time, so how we react today is different from how we would have acted yesterday, given the same situation. Things that used to shock us as a society are now commonplace and accepted, our writing must conform to the time period we have chosen as our setting.

Personally, as I write Science Fiction, I’m very conscious that things will change when mankind moves out into the Galaxy. One thing that won’t is man him(her)self. We will still have all our vices, hang-ups and funny ways of looking at things. Although they may be tempered by the new environment that we find ourselves in, things like love, hate, revenge and all the others will still be there. Which is good news for us authors. All you have to do is modify them to the setting.

But, even if you are
setting your story in the fifty-third millennium, or an alternative universe,
as long as it contains humans, it has to be relatable, logical. Emotion may be
tempered by setting, but it still has to be…emotional.

Lastly, if what you
write doesn’t stir emotion in you when you read it back, then you have to
wonder if it will get any reaction from a reader.

Personally, I get emotional when I have to kill a character. Whether it’s a good guy or a bad one, it leaves me feeling terrible for days, even if they were created with the sole purpose of doing something and then dying. And the end of the book, the final explanation and realisation that it’s over, also leave me feeling hollow and bereft. Which might explain why I write so many sequels; or use characters again in spin-off adventures.

What do you think? Let me know in the comments, then check out the rest of the great blogs on this hop.

Just follow this link.

https://fresh.inlinkz.com/p/abda061b2efc4056bad0ff5645a25663

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The Indie Showcase presents, Randy L Scott

Please welcome this week’s guest to the Showcase.

Randy
L Scott, author, narrator, and word slinger of the Dream Messiah Series

Freedom – Just Another Word…

Into the Fire – Where it gets real…

Awakening – Will the Circle be…

Blurb for the series:

In wilds of Alaska, the land of misfits, would
you believe the crazy stories of a survivalist derelict? What if those stories
led you into another world, doubting your own mental stability?

This character-driven, adventure series is the
account of Jake Barnes finding his purpose in life after stepping into the
world of lucid dreaming. The Dream Messiah takes you on a wild
journey from the forests of Alaska to the jungle of Borneo. 

Jake Barnes is living his dream, building a
cabin in remote Alaska when he becomes an unintended father with his fiancé Kat
and his whole world changes. Jake’s interest in lucid dreaming sends him into a
world he is unprepared for and fearing the mental afflictions that plague his
family. Kat has her own demands and agenda. As the line between dreams and
reality blur, Jake’s decisions may cost him everything he cares about,
including his infant son, Luke. 

Halfway around the globe, the Punan Dyaks, a
tribe deep in the mountains of Borneo are manifesting their Dream
Messiah. While the forest of Borneo burns from corrupt companies clearing
the land, more than one person wants Jake Barnes to burn in hell, while another
hand is guiding him to a baptism by fire as these two worlds converge. Once he
crosses that line, there is no turning back.

How will you judge Jake Barnes?

Author Bio:

Library was my favorite
class in early grade school. Our teacher read to us such classics as: Swiss
Family Robinson, Treasure Island, Robinson Carouse, Five on a Treasure Island,
and The Mad Scientist Club. I was fascinated with adventure, camping,
backpacking and woodsmanship. Long after I was put to bed and should have been
sleeping, I was under the covers with a flashlight reading Boy’s Life magazine,
the official rag of the Boy Scouts. I became a Scout at twelve years old and
fell in love with the outdoor experience. Soon I was
reading PT-109, Sea Wolf, Call of the Wild, and Last of the Mohicans. 

In my teens and early
twenties, I immersed myself in authors Hermann Hesse, Kurt Vonnegut, Saul
Bellow, Tom Robbins, Frank Herbert, Ray Bradbury and Robert E Howard of the
Conan the Barbarian series of adventures. I was amazed how writers created
places, characters, and made up their stories. I dreamed of writing my own
stories but didn’t know what the heck to write about until this story about the
Dream Messiah popped into my head and said ‘hello.’ Turning back was not an
option.

The genesis for this saga came while
hiking across the Superstition Mountains of Arizona. I took a break from the
one hundred and ten-degree heat and lay in the shade of a cactus, watching the
clouds hang in the sky and began daydreaming. I had recently seen the
video series from PBS Nature – The Ring of Fire. The stories by the Blair
brothers of their quest to find the Punan Dyaks of Kalimantan (Borneo) blew me
away. While daydreaming that afternoon in the desert, I saw the story of a
young man in Alaska, his struggles and journey into the Dreamtime of
another culture to find his destiny.

It
took thirty years to chisel away and expose the story, hone the details and
polish it into something presentable. I always knew where I wanted the story to
go. By the time I finally wrote ‘the end,’ I had a tome of almost 300,000
words! Thankfully, I was convinced to break it into a series of three novels. Much
of the minutia was edited out on advice from my developmental editor. Each of
the books had to have its own arc and not stop simply where it was convenient. Now
they total about 266,000 words for all three books in the series.

Many of the Alaska scenes are
based on experiences I’ve had building cabins, commercial fishing and avoiding
bears. I spent the better part of sixteen years of my adult life in Alaska
before bouncing between Hawaii and Arizona and settling in California. I’ve
been to Indonesia and the island of Borneo for research.

My most valuable lesson in
self-publishing is to use as many proofreaders as you can find. After finishing
my developmental and line edits, I hired a professional proofreader.
Nonetheless, it feels like a ton of grammar issues and misspellings got
through. I didn’t get any feedback about the mistakes when the ebook was
published. However, when the paperback came out, the errors were far more
apparent on the printed page.

Fortunately, it’s easy to fix the
manuscript and resubmit the cleaned-up version to all my distributors. I just
wish I gotten right the first time. My solution is to print up a dozen ‘author
copies,’ a cheap version, to give my volunteer proofreaders after the
professional proofreader is done. They can mark up the books and dog-ear the
pages before giving me back the copy so I can fix the mistakes before the final
release.

I’ll release my next novel, a
psychological thriller, on Kindle Unlimited for at least 90 days to build up
page reads and reviews before going wide with the ebook and into releasing the
print version. My goal is to have it published early 2021. Join my email
newsletter and visit my website for updates on progress.

I also have experience as a
professional on-stage storyteller. I’ve had my own home recording studio for
about ten years, that I’ve used to record and mix music. Combining my speaking,
recording and editing experience with the pro-grade gear I have, I’m also
narrating the audiobook versions of this series. My goal is to have the first
book in the series recorded, mastered and released by May of this year, 2020,
and the 2nd and 3rd books of the series released before
the end of the year.

In
February, I’ll put up audio samples on my website.

Blub for Freedom – Just Another Word …

Jake Barnes didn’t often
wear a gun, but he would be now.  He fears his freedom is in danger
when psychological afflictions come knocking on his door. He never planned on
marriage or fatherhood – but the best-laid plans…

Jake is building a
homestead in Alaska when he opens the door to lucid dreaming. He wanted the
thrill of flying, instead he’s grounded when his fiancé, Kat, announces her
pregnancy. Everyone has advice for Jake as he teeters on the brink of
psychosis. The line between dreams and reality blur and Jake’s decisions may
cost him everything he cares about, including his infant son. 

Halfway around the
globe, the Punan Dyaks, a tribe deep in the mountains of Borneo
are manifesting their Dream Messiah when a plane crash in the jungle
heralds the end of their world. While more than one person wants Jake
Barnes to burn in hell, another hand is guiding him to a baptism by fire as
these two worlds converge.

How far into the shadow-world
will Jake go in this first book of the Dream Messiah Series? Adventure and
magical realism with flavors of Jack London and Carlos Castaneda make this a
tale to keep you turning the pages. How will you judge Jake Barns?

This dark adventure story
destined to be a classic, will change your life forever. Get it today!

Excerpts
from Freedom – Just Another Word…

He felt that his soul had been yanked
right out from his body. The intangible presence of another entity was there
with him again. He felt a rush of paranoia as he came back to the reality that
he had not been paying attention to the danger of the chainsaw in his hands.

Oh
my God, I’m hallucinating.
Shit, don’t let this happen to me!

But he absolutely knew something was
behind him, watching and ready to pounce. He spun around in panic, swinging the
blaring saw, expecting to see a brownie charging. It took him a few more
seconds to catch his breath and calm down.

His finger released the trigger of the
throttle, hit the kill switch, and he set the saw down. The hot blade fell
forward into the damp moss and sizzled as Jake let out his own steamy sigh. He
shook his head and smiled, relieved that he hadn’t gone crazy and crossed the
line into–

Dave was smiling mischievously like a
kid caught in a prank. He was leaning against a spruce tree twenty feet away.
“A little jumpy today, are we?”

“Say what?” Jake pulled off a glove and
took the foam plugs from his ears.

“We came over to take you up on your
offer for help. We could use a little extra muscle. Can you come give us a hand
for a while?

“Yeah, sure,” Jake agreed. “Whadda ya
got?”

“Come and see, my lad. Come and see.”
Dave turned to grab the rope and begin lowering himself down the cliff to the
beach. His pants and boots were streaked with blood.

“Hey, what happened to your leg?” Jake
asked.

“Oh that…” Dave stopped and pulled an
old blue bandanna from his pocket, wiped his face and spoke in a tone of
complete seriousness. “Jake, they say that a friend will help you move. And a good friend, will help you move…” he paused for effect, “a body.”

Dave panned a perfectly sober face.
“What kind of a friend are you going to be, Jake?”

Jake stood with his mouth open. Of course, he’s kidding. He’s gotta be…

For readers of the Indie Showcase, for the next month, until March 31, 2020 I’ll give away a free ebook copy of the first novel in my Dream Messiah series; Freedom – Just Another Word… when you sign up to my newsletter email list. Here is the link to Bookfunnel who will distribute it to the e-reader of your choice.

Careful What You Ask For!

In wilds of Alaska, the land of misfits, would you believe the crazy stories of a survivalist derelict? Jake Barnes didn’t often wear a gun, but he would be now. He fears his freedom is in danger when psychological afflictions come knocking on his door. He never planned on marriage or fatherhood –…










Links to my blog and social media

Randy
L Scott Website: https://randco.me

Book
Giveaway page:     https://BookHip.com/NQSPKT

Amazon
Author Page:      https://amazon.com/author/randylscott

Goodreads
Author Page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18482245.Randy_L_Scott

Facebook:    https://www.facebook.com/Redwoodvoices/

Instagram:    https://www.instagram.com/randylscott2/

My thanks to this weeks guest for a great post. I hope you all enjoyed it.

While you’re here, why not have a look around the site? There are FREE things and a whole lot more, just follow the links at the top of the page.

You might also like to join my team. I’ll send you a bi-monthly newsletter, filled with news, updates and extra content, as well as more about me and my worlds. You’ll also get a free short story and offers on my novels. Subscribe by clicking HERE

If you want to be
featured in a future Showcase, where you can write about whatever
(within reason) you want, then please let me know. Use the comment box below
and I’ll get back to you.

You can catch up on
previous Showcase posts by clicking HERE

Don’t miss the Saturday Rewind, next Thursdays Showcase post, and my musings every Monday.

Have a good week,

Richard.

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Streets Ahead promotional team, Mr Sagittarius, by M. J. Mallon.

This week, we are promoting Mr. Sagittarius: Poetry and Prose, by M. J. Mallon.

This title is published on Feb 16th and is available to pre-order now.

Blurb

Twin brothers Harold and William love the magic of the natural world.

When Harold dies he leaves a simple memorial request.

Will his brother William and his sister Annette honour it?

Or, will the garden work its magic to ensure that they do.

A magical story expressed via an original compilation of poetry and prose with photographic images.

Pre-order link










Mr. Sagittarius: Poetry and Prose Kindle Edition

Mr. Sagittarius: Poetry and Prose eBook: M J Mallon, Alex Marlowe: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store









You can find out more about Mr. Sagittarius on the author’s website,










Mr. Sagittarius: Poetry and Prose #release #poetry #prose #photography

Who Is Mr. Sagittarius? And what is his connection to twin brothers, Harold and William? When Harold dies he leaves a simple memorial request Will his sister Annette honour it?

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Blog hopping. Fame and Fortune.

Welcome back to another blog hop, with #OpenBook. Here’s this week’s prompt.

Would you like to be a bestseller or have a smaller, more manageable following?

Personally, the idea of fame and fortune does not appeal to me. Fame brings its own set of problems. Mostly, I would hate the inability to find solitude. And at my age, any more money than I can reasonably use is no benefit. If I suddenly acquired it, I would probably give it all away, to family or charity.

As for a bestseller, I have given away far more copies of my books, to reviewers and bloggers, than I have ever sold.

The main reason that I write and publish is because I can. It’s my hobby in retirement, like golf or fishing. I enjoy the actual writing, watching the story unfold in my head and writing it down. The steps involved in producing and publishing a well-presented novel are enough to keep my mind active.

Not only that, I find the whole process fascinating. I get a lot of pleasure from holding a paperback in my hand and knowing that I have been responsible for every stage in its creation.

A lot of people have taken time to criticise Amazon, and there are things that it does that I do not agree with. However, the one, undeniable thing that it has done is given everyone a voice. It has removed publishing from the grip of the self-proclaimed industry gatekeepers and put it in reach of anyone with a tale to tell.

Because of that, I can write and publish what I like,

I don’t have to satisfy the latest trends or write only that which is acceptable to (or approved by) the establishment. Nobody can tell me to amend my story, change the characters or location, make it conform to some mythical ideal.

We should all be grateful for that freedom. I have been able
to read stories that would otherwise never have seen the light of day, from
writers who are now friends, thanks to the power of self-publishing and social media.
And people that I have never met have had the chance to read what I have
written, and the opportunity to comment on it.

I have a small group of people who seem to read most of my books. Considering that I write in three separate styles within the Science Fiction genre (Space Opera, Steampunk and Cosy Crime), I’m quite pleased with the number of readers that I’ve attracted. I might not sell hundreds of books but as I only write as a hobby, and don’t do very much marketing, that’s fine by me. I currently have thirteen novels, two collections of short stories, a textbook and nine short reads available. The positive reviews I get are a great boost and encouragement, it means that I’m doing something right.

I consider myself extremely lucky that I’m able to write at a time where I can publish in the way I want.

What do you think, does fame and fortune appeal?

I’d love to get your comments, please leave them below. While you’re here, why not take a look around? There are some freebies and lots more content, about me, my writing and everything else that I do. You can join my newsletter for a free short story and more news by clicking this link.

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this week’s thoughts, please go and check out the rest of the great blogs on the hop. Just follow this link.

https://fresh.inlinkz.com/p/73d77a3db20c4b3bad7f1e8069557e5d

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Reblogging. An interview with Jack Eason

Here’s an inspirational blog post that caught my eye. Please check it out. Make sure that you leave a comment, (leave one here as well).

Let’s spread the word.

Reblogged from https://janesturgeon.wordpress.com/











Jack Eason’s blog is an author with an impressive number of titles. Here he discusses his latest, The Magisters.














‘The Magisters’ by Jack Eason; interview and review…

Jack Eason’s blog “Have We Had Help?” is an eclectic mix of his magical writing, book excerpts; thoughts and observations of the world around him. He doesn’t suffer fools gladly and is unafraid to …

A great interview and review.

Home

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Sausagemeat, Onion and Apple Pie.

Vegetarians should probably look away now, there’s nothing for you to see here.

The place I buy a lot of my meat from, Evergreen Farm, has a wonderful range of sausages, with flavours ranging from Traditional, through Cumberland, Pork and Apple, Pork and Leek, Hot Spanish, Toulouse to Pork & Marmite. And many more.

He also has a clever way of using up the mixed meat resulting from changing spice mixtures on the production line. He markets them as change over meatballs, you get a mixture of flavours, all delicious.

I do know they’re out of date, they were in the freezer!

I had some ready-made puff pastry leftover from Christmas mince pie making so thought that I could combine the meatballs and pastry in a pie, with a few other added ingredients.

This is a recipe that I remember from my youth, my mother used to make it, using local sausages from where we lived in Kent (she used to buy the sausages and skin them). I can’t remember the exact proportions, I make it in a smaller dish anyway. Not only that (whisper it), I don’t make my own pastry. If pre-made is good enough for Mary Berry, it’s good enough for me. Hence there are no quantities given, just adjust them to taste.

I added some pre-cooked fried onions to the meat,

mixing it well.

Some apple sauce and a little sage and onion stuffing mix bound it all together,

before I placed it in my pastry case.

I made a (very scruffy) lattice top with the leftover pastry and baked it for 45 minutes at 180°C

And here it is.

I’d love to get your comments, please leave them below. While you’re here, why not take a look around? There are some freebies and lots more content, about me, my writing and everything else that I do. You can join my newsletter for a free short story and more news by clicking this link.

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Reblogging. 10 Things for which the Indie Author is grateful

Here’s an inspirational blog post that caught my eye. Please check it out. Make sure that you leave a comment, (leave one here as well).

Let’s spread the word.

Reblogged from https://scvincent.com/











There are a good many things Indie writers and publishers have to be grateful for.

A great take on the life of an Indie author, from Sue Vincent.

10 Things for which the Indie Author is grateful

There are a good many things Indie writers and publishers have to be grateful for. Things we seem to have in common…apart, of course, from the abject poverty of living in unheated garrets whilst su…









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The end, or is it? More thoughts on sequels

Almost as soon as I type The End on any project,

whether it’s a short story or a full-length novel, the following happens,

First – I decide that it’s not really finished and start working through the story again, changing and adding things.

Then – I get an idea for a sequel, a prequel or a spin-off. Before I know it, I’ve written ten or fifteen pages.

The first one is fine, it’s part of the process, perfectly normal and almost to be expected. Even now, six years after my first novel was published, I can still see where it could be better. Not that I ever get around to re-writing it, there’s far too much else to do.

It’s the second thing that bothers me.

I’ve written about this before, several times as it happens,














Sequel. Or prequel, or spin-off. Don’t you just love them?

Everyone loves a sequel…, or a prequel…, or a spin-off.
















More about sequels.

I’m following on from a post that I did a while ago, I guess that you could call this the sequel to it.
















I feel a series coming on (the unexpected sequel)

This week, I wanted to look back at what must be the most unlikely event, a sequel to a book that I never thought I would write.









I guess that you could say that this post is another sequel to them.

Here’s the thing, this is a big subject, largely because I never intended that any of my novels would be part of a series. Some of them, like the first thing I wrote about Andorra Pett, were only meant to be short stories, just look what happened there!

Andorra Pett, so far!

I can trace all this back to my youth, I would read a story and wonder what happened next. I even invented new adventures for the characters in my head. Long before the term fan-fiction was popular, I was doing it unofficially. It must have been a premonition of what was to come.

The trouble is,

my characters refuse to go quietly. Even the dead ones. They pester me, dropping ideas and subtle hints into my brain at the most inappropriate times. And to be quite honest, once you have got to know them over the course of writing their adventures, it can seem a bit harsh to never give them a chance to tell more of their stories.

I was reading through my latest novel when I realised that a series of remarks; scattered through the story, could be combined to provide the basis of a sequel. I hadn’t even realised that they were there as I wrote them.

I won’t go into more detail than that, suffice to say that I’m now trying to see if there’s enough mileage in it.

A lot of these ideas get to around the 20,000-word mark and run out of steam, at which point I leave them and go on to something else. It’s surprising that; perhaps six months later, I can get a thought and go back to one of them.

I currently have six or seven sequels at this stage, all of
them unplanned and all unfinished, just waiting for a bit of inspiration.

The other thing that results from having ideas for sequels is that I don’t do as much new work as I used to.

So what? you might ask,

readers like series, go with it.

That’s OK but there is a fine line between writing another book in a series and flogging a dead horse. There are times when you have to say enough is enough and walk away before you run out of new things for your characters to do. There’s a danger of simply rehashing formulaic plots and situations, if you’re not careful, the whole thing becomes a chore. People might start to get bored, I’ve said it myself, they used to be good but now he’s just churning them out to make money, there’s no originality anymore.

The trouble is, every time I get a new idea, I want to turn it into a series.

What do you think, do you love series, or would you prefer to have a new story every time? Let me know.

As a postscript to this,

I’ve had a request for the sequel to Life and Other Dreams, a book that I published last March. In it, I rather foolishly included an idea I had for Chapter One of a sequel, now several people have asked me what has happened to the sequel and I haven’t written any more of it!

I suppose I should get on with it double quick, I just hope the voices in my head are in a cooperative mood.

I’d love to get your comments, please leave them below. While you’re here, why not take a look around? There are some freebies and lots more content, about me, my writing and everything else that I do. You can join my newsletter for a free short story and more news by clicking this link.

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Reblogging. Writing Apps That Every Working Writer Needs Today

Here’s an inspirational blog post that caught my eye. Please check it out. Make sure that you leave a comment, (leave one here as well).

Let’s spread the word.

Reblogged from https://justpublishingadvice.com/











The writing process hasn’t changed, but technology certainly has. Because of this, a writer today needs to use the very best digital writing tools.

A great list of resources from Derek Haines, make sure that you check out all the links.

Writing Apps That Every Hard Working Writer Needs Today

A writer needs five essential writing apps. You should choose wisely and make sure that you have the best writing tools for your needs and style of writing.









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Streets Ahead promotional team

This week, we are promoting Words We Carry: Essays of Obsession and Self-Esteem by D.G. Kaye.

Blurb

“I have been a great critic of myself for most of my life, and I was darned good at it, deflating my own ego without the help of anyone else.”

What do our shopping habits, high-heeled shoes, and big hair have to do with how we perceive ourselves? Do the slights we endured when we were young affect how we choose our relationships now?
D.G. takes us on a journey, unlocking the hurts of the past by identifying situations that hindered her own self-esteem. Her anecdotes and confessions demonstrate how the hurtful events in our lives linger and set the tone for how we value our own self-worth.
Words We Carry is a raw, personal accounting of how the author overcame the demons of low self-esteem with the determination to learn to love herself.

A recent review

I’d love to get your comments, please leave them below. While you’re here, why not take a look around? There are some freebies and lots more content, about me, my writing and everything else that I do. You can join my newsletter for a free short story and more news by clicking this link.

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