Leon Stevens's Blog, page 31

Weird Wednesday: Cartoon

Sometimes the ideas come in a flurry (not the McDonalds kind, that’d be gross), but more often for me, they trickle out as I’m doing another task, so it behooves me to either remember it (Ha!), write it down (on what?), or stop what I’m doing before the fantastic plot twist fades into oblivion.

Since I have essentially finished my current story, it is time to start working on the plot for the next book. Being a series, all the characters are there, the backstories have been introduced, so it it time to decide who’s going to die.

What?

Well, not everyone can survive, can they?

-Leon

Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words, and his latest sci-fi mystery, Euphrates Vanished.

My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/

Free books? Sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter and choose one or more!

books.linesbyleon.com/Newslettersignup

Tuesday Top Ten: Reason you are Canadian

Top Ten Reasons you are Canadian

10. You have shoveled snow in February in shorts and tshirt because it’s only -2C
9. You have scraped frost off your windshield with a Tim Hortons gift card.
8. You know that Thanksgiving is much better in October.
7. You cry when you see the price of butter in the US.
6. You have been asked if you know that guy in Toronto.
5. Kraft Dinner.
4. Walleye is pronounced: Pik-rell
3. You can describe the country’s leader as “hot”.
2. It pains you to spell neighbour, neighbor, so that the neighbours—oops, sorry—neighbors to the south don’t correct you.
1. You have been messaged in the last week to be an “Emotional Support Canadian.”

Did I miss any?

(Psst. Ham and Pineapple pizza. End of story.)

-Leon

Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words, and his latest sci-fi mystery, Euphrates Vanished.

My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/

Free books? Sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter and choose one or more!

books.linesbyleon.com/Newslettersignup

Nov 11: Dulce et Decorum est

[Note: This is a repost from last year.]

War. There always seems to be another one. And that is sad. Many soldiers have died fighting for various reasons, some right, some wrong. People enlist in armies for various reasons, some right, some wrong.

A country’s army is meant to protect it’s citizens, and we should all honor the sacrifice of those who have lost their lives because their countries have gone to war for various reasons, some right, some wrong.

This poem has always stuck with me from the first time I read it in university English course. The title is in such stark contrast with the experience of the author, Wilfred Edward Salter Owen (18 March 1893 – 4 November 1918) an English poet and soldier. Wounded and sent home in 1917, he returned to the war in August 1918 and was killed a week before Armistice Day.

This poem takes its its title from a poem by Roman poet Horace, and means “it is sweet and fitting to die for one’s country” and I think it is one of the greatest poems ever written.

Dulce et Decorum est

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs,
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots,
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of gas-shells dropping softly behind.

Gas! GAS! Quick, boys!—An ecstasy of fumbling
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time,
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling
And flound’ring like a man in fire or lime.—
Dim through the misty panes and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.

In all my dreams before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.

If in some smothering dreams, you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil’s sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,—
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.

Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words, and his latest sci-fi mystery, Euphrates Vanished.

My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/

Free books? Sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter and choose one or more!

books.linesbyleon.com/Newslettersignup

Music Monday : Bands you’ve never heard of (Part III: Kick Axe)

Kick Axe. Unless you are Canadian ns was a headbanger in the early 80s, you probably are not familiar with the band.

Originally called Hobbit (really), they were formed in Regina, Saskatchewan in the mid 70s. It wasn’t until their debut album, Vices, in 1984 had them in the spotlight, touring with  Judas Priest, Whitesnake, Scorpions, and Quiet Riot (I presume on Canadian dates).

Were they original? Not many heavy rock bands in the 80s were, but I think they did a good job carving out their spot as they were an alternative to the mainstream rockers and glam bands.

There were very few videos available, but they knocked it out with the intro in this one (Remember: 80s, hair rock, MTV/Much Music needed historically inaccurate, budget conscience, Van Halen “Hot for Teacher” rip offs, entertaining content):

I thought that this cover of Humble Pie’s, 30 Days in the Hole was well done. At the time, I don’t think I knew it was a cover.

In 1985 they released their second album. More polished and melodic, it failed to repeat the success of Vises.

If you are going to cover a Beatles song, why not pick one that has been covered 193 time already?

I moved on, so this was my last album from them. Rock the World was their next album and saw them return to a heavier sound. This is the first time I’ve heard this song. Not great but at 2:10 there is some decent guitar work.

Another cover. I like what they did. I always thought the original had potential as a harder rock song.

They were dropped by their label in 1988 and broke up. They did reform in 2003 and released an album, and two singles in 2023.

Proof that 80s rockers don’t die. But you’re not winning me back, boys. Sorry.

-Leon

Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words, and his latest sci-fi mystery, Euphrates Vanished.

My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/

Free books? Sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter and choose one or more!

books.linesbyleon.com/Newslettersignup

Songs for a Sunday: m

Music, like reading, is subjective. Some books just don’t do it for me, and that’s okay. My books have every rating, from 1 to 5 stars, and that’s okay.

I’m glad that there are artists out there that put out a song I like, but their back catalogue is…well, meh. I don’t want to have to go out and purchase every album.

I like this song by American Jeremy Zucker. In fact it was the only song I had heard from Jeremy Zucker until I searched “top songs by Jeremy Zucker” and realized it was the only song by Jeremy Zucker I had heard.

So, I went through the list of “top songs by Jeremy Zucker” and discovered it was the only song by Jeremy Zucker that I liked. Oddly enough, it is a song that never charted, according to charts.

And that’s okay. I’ll take this one.

-Leon

Want to read more music blogs? Here are some of the ones I follow: Mostly Music Covers, Take it Easy, Beetley Pete, A Sound Day, PowerPop… An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture, SuperdekesVinylReviews, Fox Reviews Rock

Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words, and his latest sci-fi mystery, Euphrates Vanished.

My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/

Free books? Sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter and choose one or more!

books.linesbyleon.com/Newslettersignup

Songs for a Sunday: Jeremy Zucker

Music, like reading, is subjective. Some books just don’t do it for me, and that’s okay. My books have every rating, from 1 to 5 stars, and that’s okay.

I’m glad that there are artists out there that put out a song I like, but their back catalogue is…well, meh. I don’t want to have to go out and purchase every album.

I like this song by American Jeremy Zucker. In fact it was the only song I had heard from Jeremy Zucker until I searched “top songs by Jeremy Zucker” and realized it was the only song by Jeremy Zucker I had heard.

So, I went through the list of “top songs by Jeremy Zucker” and discovered it was the only song by Jeremy Zucker that I liked. Oddly enough, it is a song that never charted, according to charts.

And that’s okay. I’ll take this one.

-Leon

Want to read more music blogs? Here are some of the ones I follow: Mostly Music Covers, Take it Easy, Beetley Pete, A Sound Day, PowerPop… An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture, SuperdekesVinylReviews, Fox Reviews Rock

Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words, and his latest sci-fi mystery, Euphrates Vanished.

My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/

Free books? Sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter and choose one or more!

books.linesbyleon.com/Newslettersignup

Free Book Friday Nov. 8th

A Matter of Sabotage is now in beta reading mode!

The file was labeled “V3” (version three) last week, then I began listening to it being read by the wonderful Raymond, Microsoft Word’s text to speech narrator. I’ve used Linda previously, so I thought I should spread out the work.

It’s amazing how many errors you can detect when you are hearing your words out loud. Often it is a missing word or a word that was autocorrected incorrectly. It can also magnify the monotony of repeated words.

Linda and Raymond are not perfect, perfect for each other maybe, I assume they are married or co-habitating (rent in microprocessors are ridiculous, you know), but it is a tool I find is essential.

Some purists will say, “You’re using AI for your book, shame on you.” Dude, we’ve been using AI ever since we learned to code in school:

>10 print “HI”
>20 goto 10

Which would produce a string of “HI” and you would have to turn off the computer to exit the program. And yes, “HI” was the nicest thing we made it say.

And have we forgotten about Clippy?

Yes, I know there is a difference between a computer program and generative AI, most writers use some word processing program and spellcheck and grammar checker, so I’m not going to go back to typing on a typewriter.

Unless it is to learn this gem:

-Leon

The story behind Free Book Friday:

I’ve met many authors and readers during my time marketing, cross-promoting, and blogging. I think writers have a responsibility to inform readers about all the indie authors out there in the very crowded world of book publishing. You can’t do it alone, and why would you when you have a supportive group available?

Readers don’t just read one author – they stick with their favorite genres. Therein lies the power in cross-promotion. If one of my readers buys a book from an author I promote, then chances are there will be a reciprocal effect, or so is the hope. Do I want to boost sales? Of course I do. Do I want to boost other’s sales? Why not. It’s called karma.

Some free book offers require a newsletter sign-up, which is a small non-monetary price to pay to try out a new indie author.

Reads From StoryOrigin

StoryOrigin allows authors to advertise their books to each other’s audience. I hope you have been able to discover a new favorite!

Free Books/KU Sales/Purchase Links Review Copies (These are free!)

Review copies: Like reviewing books? Try my two poetry collections: Lines by Leon and A Wonder of Words

Newsletter:

Sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter and receive a free book (poetry or science fiction): Leon’s Newsletter

Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words, and his latest sci-fi mystery, Euphrates Vanished.

My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/

Free books? Sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter and choose one or more!

books.linesbyleon.com/Newslettersignup

Thursday Thoughts (Part II): Reasons to Read…

My books, that is.

Why you might enjoy science fiction books written by Leon Stevens.Less alien species than Star Wars so it’s easier to keep track of.Kinda like Star Trek.Not hard sci-fi. No in-depth explanations of how the technology works. It just does. I know how a microwave works: you press the button and a minute later you have a hot Hot Pocket.Techno-babble. Yes, some. You have to have some techno-babble. That anti-matter relay isn’t going to uncouple itself without a phase inverter. Yeesh.No long detailed descriptions that don’t advance the plot. Probably why all my novels are novellas.Realistic dialogue. Sure there are people who can ramble on and on, but usually there is more back and forth.Humor. I try to make you chuckle at least once.Short stories that leave you scratching your headAffordable. $0.99 – $2.99 and also in Kindle Unlimited.And he writes poetry too.Oh, and the book link is easy to remember: http://books.linesbyleon.com/

-Leon

Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words, and his latest sci-fi mystery, Euphrates Vanished.

My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/

Free books? Sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter and choose one or more!

books.linesbyleon.com/Newslettersignup

Thursday Thoughts: The Day After the Day After

November 7th. Happy birthday, Joni Mitchell!

What did you think I was going to talk about?

-Leon

Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words, and his latest sci-fi mystery, Euphrates Vanished.

My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/

Free books? Sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter and choose one or more!

books.linesbyleon.com/Newslettersignup

Weird Wednesday: Awards

How many awards have my books won? Counting Pulitzers? 

Zero.

I don’t enter many (any) award contests that charge (which is most of them) because I don’t think authors should spend money to win something. It should win because the reader’s think it is worthy.

Enter Indie Ink Awards. A reader can nominate an eligible book for up to 5 categories, from best book cover to best morally gray character, not to mention “Book that made me hungry/thirsty”. 

My book, Euphrates Vanished, is eligible so if you have a few moments, visit https://indiestorygeek.com/nominate/6/8560 to nominate my book in your favorite categories. If you haven’t signed up on the site, you can go here: https://indiestorygeek.com/

Writing Update:

I’m onto my third draft of A Matter of Sabotage, and I think it is my best book yet. Why? Being a prequel, it’s a chance to put some backstory to the characters in book one, often in a humorous way because certain events foreshadow what readers already know. We also get to know how the Alliance came about and how four strangers become close-knit friends.

I hadn’t written a protagonist before and I think I have succeeded in writing a couple of good ones that I hope you will love to hate.

I am looking for beta and ARC readers, so if you are interested, you can sign up here: Beta/ARC readers

-Leon

Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words, and his latest sci-fi mystery, Euphrates Vanished.

My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/

Free books? Sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter and choose one or more!

books.linesbyleon.com/Newslettersignup