Leon Stevens's Blog, page 33

Songs for a Sunday: Coincidence

Blond: Check
Skinny: Check
Pouty lips: Check
Disney Channel star: Check
First album Teen Pop: Check
Fifth album Dance Pop with skimpy outfits and high heels: Check
Not finding any other song that I felt worthy of including: Check

So why does this song totally have Joni Mitchell vibes?

-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

Weekend Wrap-up Oct 26: My best book yet?

I think I’m writing my best book yet. Why?

I’m enjoying weaving the stories of my characters together and connecting them with the previous book. Several times I have smiled when I wrote something that wouldn’t be amusing if you didn’t read book one.

I’m enjoying writing antagonists. I haven’t written one before and in this book I have two. One of them is a bit of an a-hole.

I think my characters have more depth as their relationships evolve and you learn the backstories.

Is it the best story ever? Of course not. But it is going to be hard to follow it up with the next book in the series.

-Leon

In case you missed it:Weekend Wrap-up Oct 26: My best book yet?Free Book Friday Oct 25: Faster than FictionWeird Wednesday: The History of HalloweenTuesday Top Ten: Slang I Just Can’t Use (Part II)Song Lyric Sunday: Spirits

Hope you enjoyed the recap! Feel free to share it with others.

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 Oct 25: Faster than Fiction

When I’m writing, I like to let the story develop on its own. Sure I do have a general idea of where the story need to go, but often, the flying by the seat of your pants approach gives rise to some interesting tangents or sub-plots.

I like to journey with my characters and try to solve problems using the information and skills I have. So, yeah, my characters make mistakes. I’ve made them do math and had to get out pencil and paper to see if my calculations will work or put them into peril.

Yeah, more often it’s the peril.

That’s not to say I don’t do any research. Even as a science fiction writer, I can’t just make all the s&!t up like they did a hundred years ago. I do envy them at times. How many books have I read with Mars being populated, or Venus covered with a rainforest? All those canals and clouds had to point to something, right?

One of the top problems with writing science fiction is travel time. In order for any story to work, you have to have a reasonable commute. Star Trek had its warp drive, Star Wars had hyperspace travel, Battlestar Galactica used jump drives, and Dr. Who uses a phone booth.

I don’t want my readers to have to try to wrap their heads around how a ship can get from one planet to another in a reasonable time. There are just some concepts you just have to accept to allow you to enjoy the story.

So, I keep my technical explanations to a minimum:

As the Greek goddess Nike famously said, “Απλά κάντε το.”*

-Leon

*You don’t need me to translate that…

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

None this week.

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

Weird Wednesday: The History of Halloween

The spooky season is here. I know that because:

Spirit Halloween stores are popping up.Bins and bins of pumpkins are prominently displayed outside the supermarkets ready to be stabbed, then thrown away.Small, overpriced candy is everywhere.Underinflated inflatable decorations appear on lawns.Specialty networks are airing 24 hours of horror movies and shows. Costco has put out the Christmas displays.

Say what you want about knowing how Halloween started, but you’d be wrong. Some say the Celtic festival, Samhai, held on the autumnal equinox was the precursor to All Hallows Eve, but since no one knows what a hallows is, that has been debunked.

When Halloween first started is vague, but on October 30, 46 CE (CE means calendar era) at 3:21 PM (post morning), the pope was addressing his conclave (not a plug for the movie of the same title, starring Ralph Fiennes and Stanley Tucci. being released on October 25).

“I’ve been watching those pagans dancing around their bonfires. We should try to convert them.”
“By bribing them with candy?”
“Oh, I was thinking about creating a day where we honor all the saints.”
[mumbling amongst the cardinals] “Every one? That’s going to be a lot of work.”
“You are right. Candy would be easier, but not that shitty candy corn.”

Where does dressing up come in, you ask?

When people ran out of spice to make their pumpkin spice latte, they would often have to go door to door in their neighborhood to get the proper ingredients. But to embarrassed to admit they like pumpkin spice lattes, they would dress up in various costumes to disguise their identity.

And the scary?

The pagans used the day to celebrate their dead, but one year, someone said the name of their crazy aunt three times in a row, and we all know what that does.

What about the ceremonial carving of the pumpkin? Well, that was invented in 1948 by the National Canadian Pumpkin Growers Association, because after the Canadian thanksgiving holiday held on the second Monday of October, they had to get rid of the rest of their stock, and since there was so much rage built up during the family gatherings, stabbing a pumpkin seemed to be a good outlet.

Fun fact#1:

Being at the beginning of the season that is supposed to be fall but often feels like winter, then gets nice and warm for a few days, lulling people into a false sense that winter won’t be too bad that year, before finally dumping snow in the yard before they had a chance to properly put away the patio furniture, was the origin of the phrase, “Treat then trick, suckers.”

Fun fact#2:

The celebration was exclusively for adults until the American Dental Association thought it would be a boom to business if they marketed the holiday to children with good teeth, promoting it as “Good family fun. With Candy!” Four out of five dentists approved of this scheme, with the hold out being the one living at the house that would give out toothbrushes.

-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: Slang I Just Can’t Use (Part II)

Now that you think you’re not cheugy and that you are full of rizz because you know all the bussin words all your moots are drippin…

In english:

Just when you thought you were up on the new new slang kids these day are using, making you stylish being able to say the proper vernacular your friends are using, there are ones you probably haven’t come across unless you are a parent of a Gen-Alpher.

Many of the words, unsurprisingly, have their origins from social media. I was going to include examples, but there are many web pages that go into more detail.

Top Ten Slang Words I Can’t Use (Part II)

10. Yeet: An expression of excitement, or happiness or to throw something forcefully without care.
9. Ohio: something bad or stupid
8. Bet: Used to respond to agree to do something.
7. Ate: This word, often used as a verb, describes something that is exceptionally good or awe-inspiring.
6. Delulu: Short for delusional. 
5. Mewing: A behavior that involves changing the appearance of your jawline by repositioning your tongue in the mouth.
4. Sigma: Someone (or something) who is cool or popular but not domineering as an alpha male/female
3. Gyat: A short form of “goddam” Used while responding to something shocking or fascinating, but it can also be a comment on the size of someone’s rear.
2. Skibiti: It can be used to describe something as bad or being up to no good.
1. Fanum Tax: to snatch food away from another.

Okay, I said I wasn’t going to give examples, but the last two are probably making you wonder. So…

Skibiti

There is a YouTube series called Skibiti Toilet (no I didn’t make that up) about toilets with human heads coming out of them (no I didn’t make that up either) bent on taking over the world. It spawned many memes on social media.

I was going to include the video for it, but after watching it, I couldn’t bring myself to subject you to the…what’s the word…oh, yeah…the Ohio of it all. But if you have $50, here’s a costume idea for your kids:

Nope. I didn’t spend an hour photoshopping that. but if you are really curious: Skibiti Toilet Episode 1

Is it safe for work? Sure, but your coworkers might raise an eyebrow, unless they have kids of a certain age, then you’ll have something to talk about. And when I say talk, I mean bitch and complain about “Kids these days.”

Fanum Tax

Made popular by a live streamer, Fanum, on the platform, Twitch. Fanum was invited on a show where he took fries off the plate of the host and said that it was the cost of hanging out and being friends with him. So in order to curry favor with the popular kids you have to pay the “Fanum tax.”

While looking up some of the meanings, I discovered a site, Bark.com, to help you relate to your Gen Alpha kids which asks:

Need to talk with your child about slang meanings? Here are a few conversation starters for kids to help you teach them healthy tech habits.

Well, here are those conversation starters and the answers I suspect would follow:

Q: “What’s a new word you and your friends are into right now?”
A: [eyeroll]Q: “When I was your age, people would say something was ‘all that and a bag of chips’ if it was awesome. What’s your favorite word to describe something as cool?”
A: [eyroll] “You’re so Ohio, Dad,”Q: “I know emojis can mean something different to kids than they do to parents. Are there any emojis I use that you think I should stop using?”
A: “ALL OF THEM, MOM, ALL OF THEM. Just please stop.”Q: “If you could describe yourself using just one emoji, which one would you pick?”
A: *

-Leon

Here’s the first one:

Tuesday Top Ten: Slang I Just Can’t Use

*Annoyed

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

Song Lyric Sunday: Spirits

“Whoa. Slow down there, little buddy.”

[Clive at Take it Easy suggested I do a post for today’s Song Lyric Sunday that had the theme of Spirits (not the October spooky kind), so I put aside all the things I had planned for the next ten minutes and here we go.]

If you grew up in North America the 70s then you are familiar with the rise of the compilation album. K-Tel was the main company pumping out vinyl records with a variety of thematically connected songs.

As a kid, anything that was silly was, as we said back then: “Cool”

Roger Miller’s most famous song is, “King of the Road”, but I think the first one I heard was from a K-Tel album. Don’t know why they put out two versions, I guess the first one didn’t go over well in the focus groups because I had version two.

Lyrics

Chug-a-lug, chug-a-lug
Make you want to holler, “Hi-de-ho!”
Burns your tummy, don’t ya know?
Chug-a-lug, chug-a-lug

Grape wine in a Mason jar
Homemade and brought to school
By a friend of mine ‘n’ after class
Me and him and this other fool decide

That we’ll drink up what’s left
Chug-a-lug, so we helped ourself
First time for everything
Hmm, my ears still ring

Chug-a-lug, chug-a-lug
Make you want to holler, “Hi-de-ho!”
Burns your tummy, don’t ya know?
Chug-a-lug, chug-a-lug

4-H and a FFA
On a field trip to the farm
Me ‘n’ a friend sneak off behind
This big old barn where we uncovered

A covered-up moonshine still
And we thought we’d drink our fill
And I swallered it with a smile
I run ten mile

Chug-a-lug, chug-a-lug
Make you want to holler, “Hi-de-ho!”
Burns your tummy, don’t ya know?
Chug-a-lug, chug-a-lug

Jukebox ‘n’ sawdust floor
Somethin’ like I ain’t never seen
And I’m just goin’ on 15
But with the help of my finaglin’

Uncle I get snuck in
For my first taste of sin
I said, “Lemme have a big old sip”
I done a double back flip

Chug-a-lug, chug-a-lug
Make you want to holler, “Hi-de-ho!”
Burns your tummy, don’t ya know?
Chug-a-lug, chug-a-lug

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Roger Miller

Chug-A-Lug lyrics © Sony/atv Tree Publishing, Tree International

This song reminded me of this spoken word piece by Johnny Bond which was also on the album.

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming.

-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: 6th Avenue Heartache

How long can you go before learning about the inspiration of a popular song?

If it’s a Taylor Swift song, even before it’s out, there’s a Swifty out there that has already parsed it out to determine which boyfriend has wronged her.

If it’s a Wallflowers song and you are me, then the answer is 28 years.

From Wikipedia:

The lyrics are based on Dylan’s own experiences while living in New York City, in particular the story of a homeless man who would sit outside Dylan’s window and play the same songs every day. One day, the man was gone, but his things were still there, until gradually people started taking them.

The story reminded me of a picture I took in New York:

There’s another story waiting to be told…

-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

Weekend Wrap-up: A funny thing is happening…

I wrote a post three and a half years ago about humorous poetry. and it is my most viewed post, and over the last year consistently receives 30-50 visits/month.

I discovered the popularity last year and did some tweaking to add more recent poems and to include links to my poetry books. Google search is the largest referrer, so I assume people are searching for humorous poetry and my post shows up. Funny thing is that it doesn’t. I’ve looked though several pages of search results and…zip, nada, zilch.

What’s not so funny is that despite the number of visits, I’ve seen very few sales. So, I’m at a loss to explain how readers are finding me and why they are not purchasing or at least signing up for my free book.

Maybe I’m not as funny as I think I am.

No. That not right.

-Leon

Funny Friday: Humorous Poems

In case you missed it:Weekend Wrap-up: A funny thing is happening…Weird Wednesday: Worth the wait?Tuesday Top Ten: CostumesMusic Monday Oct 13: Golden Oldies, Really Oldie.Songs for a Sunday: Tokyo Police Club

Hope you enjoyed the recap! Feel free to share it with others.

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: Worth the wait?

What’s my excuse for not cartooning for the last few months? Don’t got one. Just haven’t. I did end my Minuscules series because I felt it ran its course, but my Untitled ideas are still kicking around. I’m looking at a sheet of paper with poorly drawn zombies, houses that only have a passing resemblances to houses, a cat that looks like a dog, a dog that looks like a cat, and…well you get the idea.

By the way, I know you have heard Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in d minor, or at least the opening bars.

Not what it was written for, but kinda gets you into that whole Halloween spirit, doesn’t it?

-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: Costumes

There’s no Spirit Halloween in your town. The thrift store is out of clothes from the early 2000s that you think are now “retro”. The costume store only has “Sexy [fill in profession]” costumes.

You may be panicking with only 15 days left and you don’t want to be the only one at the party who doesn’t dress up. Or, even worse, you are one of two people who didn’t dress up, and you’ve just pissed of the guy who never dresses up because that’s his “thing”.

The Top Ten Costume Ideas

10.  Ghost. Yeah, that’s a cop-out most times, but if you show up and ignore everyone…

9. Mummy. If you don’t have enough gauze, show up with a wine glass and a shirt that says, “Don’t ask me about my kids tonight.”

8. Garbage. That extra large bag that you haven’t found a use for? Problem solved.

7. Robot. When I was a kid, a cardboard box and dryer ducts for arms was what all robots looked like. Now, just show up.

6. Gen Z. Show up and don’t take your eyes off your iPhone.

5. Animal. Which one, though? Cat? Dog? P Diddy?

4. Amazon package. Because you have enough boxes, right?

3. Vampire. Black clothes and pale skin. Probably be mistaken for Elon Musk.

2. Put a pumpkin on your head and you’re …*

1. Indie author. Show up broke, mooch off your friends, and start every conversation with, “I’m an author, you know.” You’ll win the scariest costume award.

*I was going to say the Headless Horseman from the Legend of Sleepy Hollow, but whatever.

-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