Bryce Beattie's Blog, page 17

StoryHack Podcast #1: David J. West Interview

I’m calling this the StoryHack Podcast, Episode #1. However, don’t hold me to any sort of schedule for releasing more of these. I have no plans for regularity. That being said, it was a lot of fun, and I would like to do more author interviews in person.

Cutting now to the chase, I’d like to introduce my first live author interview. I recently discovered David J West. Somehow, I had been following him on twitter for a while now, but I’m not sure how he got there. After we “met” on twitter, I decided to check out some of his fiction. After greatly enjoying a couple of his works, I decided I needed to meet him. Fortunately, he lives less than an hour away. So I used this interview as a pretext to meet him face to face.

David writes great action adventure/horror/western stories.

And like I said, this was my first live interview so I was a bit nervous. Hopefully I didn’t step on David’s responses too much.

Download (~32 mb)

We talk about his journey to getting published, David’s literary likes, writing process, Orrin Porter Rockwell and historical context of David’s westerns, ranking gunslingers by body count, writing soundtracks, Conan and other Robert E. Howard works, and whatever else struck our fancy.

Stuff I learned about myself: I need a less cumbersome mobile rig if I ever do this again. Also, I need to stop saying “okay” so much.

If you’d like to learn more about David, here are some useful links:

David’s Amazon Page
David’s Blog
David’s Twitter

Coming Soon

I just got back from my first ever live author interview. I’ll post the audio in a day or two, as soon as I can listen to it and make a couple of notes.

There was a big car wreck on the freeway on my way back. It took 2.5 times as long to get back as it took to get there. Oh, well. Still worth it.

Random Replies

As of late I’ve been “discussing” politics and morality and religion and all sorts of stuff around the internet. Yes, I know that arguing on the internet almost never changes anyone’s mind.  I’ve come to the conclusion I should probably cut back. After all, I want to remain friends with certain people despite our differences of opinion. Still, people are wrong out there and I HAVE TO SAY SOMETHING.

In place of fighting on various threads, I’m going to put some of my responses below, listed without any context. I just need to get this stuff out of my system.

Yes he does, and so does every other senator. They all get donations/rewards from companies and special interest groups. All of them on both sides of the political isle. Don’t act like he’s a special case.
Who cares?
This doesn’t work and I’m not dumb enough to share it or like it thinking it’s going to work. It’s a prank.
That headline is phrased as anger-inducing clickbait. It’s not a strong debate point. I mean, if another publication, maybe one like the National Review, printed that story they could have easily re-titled it “GOP Senators vote to not take away citizens’ 5th amendment right to due process.”
This news is sickening. I think they should abolish the draft altogether, so that none of my children can ever be forced to kill or be killed at the whim of war-monger politicians.
Pledged delegates and superdelagates might be a problem, but it’s one with your chosen party, not the actual election. Electoral college is a separate issue altogether.
I’m pretty sure by this point that Bernie Sanders will not be getting the nomination, but I do appreciate your enthusiasm.
If you continue to lie to your children like that, they will not believe anything you say when they get older. My kids at know that I claim to be Santa for them. One day they’ll be like, “Man, society lied a lot to me, but my Dad always told the truth. Maybe he was also right about…”
It is this exact fear to vote 3rd party (or independent) that keeps the current parties in power. Suck it up and vote for someone else, man.
Wait, you disagree with the sentiment that both sides only present skewed and misleading statistics? I can provide you with several more examples, but you obviously have your mind made up. I won’t waste my time. Please, continue your uninformed ranting.

Writing Again & other News

Okay, so I’ve been making an effort  to write every night at least a little. For as much as I enjoy writing, I realized I haven’t been doing much. Now I need to add in edit a little every night, too, so I can get that kids’ book polished up.

Also, I’m in a consolidating phase, so I’m going to be moving my tutorials for self publishing a book over here to the blog on a single post.

Just another Million Dollar Idea…

Does anybody else get scam calls from the same place over and over? Even after you tell them to stop calling? It bugs the heck out of me. I wish there was an app that would remember the numbers of those places and not just block them, but play loud, annoying noises over the phone until they hung up. Or maybe a message that said something like “Hi, and welcome to Captain Zeusmonger’s private horoscope hotline. Because Captain Zeusmonger values you as a human being, you will only be charged $39.95 per minute to use this exclusive, powerful, life changing service. Your horoscope today is as follows…”

I’d pay for that app. That is all.

2016 Beattie Family Vacation Report

So, I know nobody cares, but I’ve recently come to the conclusion that I have to occasionally write something for the blog, so here you go.

We just got back from a week long trip to the Yellowstone area. It was pretty fun and the kids are finally starting to do the road trip thing without screaming/complaining the whole time.

Highlights from my journal include:

Accidentally left my son in the bathroom at Grandpa and Grandma’s house. The other kids were talking and singing so loud we didn’t even notice he wasn’t in the car. At least Grandma and Grandpa were home with him and we only got two blocks. Not sure why I considered this a highlight now that I think about it, but I’m too lazy to delete it now.
The toddler picked her nose, put it on a baby wipe, then would not stop shouting until everyone in the car looked directly at it and commented upon it.
Took the kids on the Wraith Falls hike and also the Old Faithful Observation point/Solitary Geyser hike. Their stamina is getting a little better.
We saw bears in the park for the first time in years. Also, we saw deer, bison, elk, a moose, pronghorn, coyote, bald eagle, swans, various other waterfowl, chipmunks galore, and a snake. More variety of animals than I’ve been able to see in a long time.
The next thing deserves more than just a bullet point.

On a day trip out of the park, my oldest was throwing a fit. She was super grumpy about something my wife and I considered unimportant. At a rest stop, my wife told her to get out of the car and do a couple of laps around the parking lot as sometimes the physical activity jars her out of her almost-a-teenager mopes. The back side of the parking lot ended about 10 feet from a river. Anyway, she was being way lame and half-heartedly frumping around the parking lot (her little sister jumped out and did laps for fun), so I decided to give her a fun little dad-style attitude adjustment.

I ran over there, picked her her up, carried her to the back of the parking lot and swung her around as if I were going to throw her in the river.

On the second spin around, she cried out, “My boot!”

I set her down and looked at her feet. Sure enough, one foot still wore a cowboy boot and the other just a sock. I spun around in horror to see a brown cowboy boot lazily floating down the river.

Could I reach the boot from the shore? No.

How deep was the river there? Not too deep.

How fast was it really moving? Not too fast near the edges.

What was the riverbed made of? Big rocks.

How cold was the river? Probably cold.

Did I have time to take off my own shoes and wade in? Probably not.

Did my daughter have any other shoes if this one got away? I had no idea.

So, I did the only sane thing possible. I hopped in the river and grabbed the boot. And yes it was cold.

Back to the bullets.

We took a bit of a detour on the way home and visited EBR I, which I’ve wanted to see ever since I found out about it. And it’s awesome. It was the first electricity-producing nuclear reactor. And they let you take pictures and play with the dials and switches in the control room. It is cooler than I can possibly describe.
Also at EBR I, the tour guide asked the group, “What do you know about nuclear reactions?” My four year old son said, “Well, we know where the bathrooms are.”

All in all, a successful trip.

The Castle Crumbles

Okay, so I saw the Castle series finale this week. Here are some random thoughts.

So, yes, it was apparent that the showrunners honestly believed they’d be renewed, and so they didn’t really prep a “series ending scene.” The scene they tacked on the end had to be something filmed for and cut from a previous episode.
I’m always happy to see Major Dad. Even if he turns out to be a bad guy.
This last episode had some pretty big logical stretches. Took me right out of the story. Let’s consider the electromagnet. Even if it made sense for him to have one, which is doesn’t, its usage in the show has huge problems. If it’s strong enough to rip a gun from someone’s hands, it would be pulling all sorts of crap to it. Button and zippers would distort clothing, watches would lift hands, random bits of metallic trash would zoom upward, etc. And Castle would have felt a pull long before he got close enough to rip the gun from his grasp.
Also, what was the creepy bad guy doing in the cab before Castle walked out? How could he possibly time that abduction?
Last season, when Stana Katic was thinking of leaving the show (holding out for more money?) fans went ballistic on her. Now, suddenly she’s the victim of a cruel Nathan Fillion plot. I’ll bet when they announced she wouldn’t be back for “budgetary reasons” she was probably asking for even more money…
I’m kind of bummed that Castle’s character went from charming, competent, funny, ruggedly handsome, helpful guy in the early seasons to mega buffoon caricature by the end. Well, buffoon caricature with occasional super intense angry moments.
Caleb showing back up to shoot them? That was stupid. He had no reasonable motivation to do so- only purpose I can conceive is to have a forced surprise kick-in-the-groin cliffhanger.
I don’t know why nobody likes the Haley character. My only qualm is the tacked on hacking superpower she was granted after introduction. Maybe she was bitten by a radioactive c compiler or something. Other than that, I thought she was interesting.
For the record, I totally would have watched a continued series without Kate Beckett. And I probably wouldn’t have even missed her. So there.

Re: Hugo Nominations

I think the yearly kerfluffle over the Hugos is getting quite ridiculous. Both sides are basically being jerks to each other. “The people you thought should be nominated are stupid and stop the people I think should be nominated!” Both parties scream. They simply egg each other on and dare the other side to take more and more drastic matters. Authors on both sides write books upon books worth of snide comments and proof of their superiority. One side simply favors self important-intellectual-newspeak and the other crass verbal bludgeoning. It’s all very fun to watch, but not very productive.

That being said, I think there should be a new award where instead of a crappy statue the winner is given an actual puppy.

An Arborist Daydream

Just over a year ago My wife and I took our kids on a road trip to the redwoods in northern California. It was amazing. I loved being there and I was blown away by the sheer grandeur of those trees. I plan on going again.

Several months later, I came across this article about growing a forest rapidly.

Maybe you can already see where this is going.

At some point over the last little while I wondered if I could somehow mix the ideas in the article to make rapid redwood forests.

In fact I have this secret dream of planting such a patch somewhere hidden, but not too difficult to get to. I’d use the three types of redwoods, douglas firs, maybe lodgepole pines, heck I could throw in some quaking aspens for color in the fall. Pretty much any tree I would find amusing. But the primary goal would be to establish redwoods.

Now, I’ve read that redwoods can grow 6-10 feet per year. That means before I shuffle off this mortal coil I could revisit my secret forest and there would be some very tall trees. They wouldn’t be truly huge in diameter yet, but that’s okay. In a couple of hundred years, someone else will discover my forest and be amazed.

As I’ve batted this idea around in my head, I’ve had fun imagining many “what if”s. After all, if I love the redwoods, then everybody else would, too, right? And not everybody lives close enough to road trip it to northern California. So they should be planted everywhere.

What if somebody planted these forests in a bunch of yards in abandoned neighborhoods?

What if several people planted these tomorrow?

What if a large conservationist movement did it?

How many years would it take before the trees got big enough for anyone to really notice?

I haven’t exactly done any research for this, so it’s mostly a pleasant daydream. Redwoods might not be suited for places I want them (Yellowstone, the park down the street from my house, etc…) And I have this nagging fear that maybe introducing such massive non-native species somewhere would cause ecological mayhem.

Still, if here in 14 years you are hiking about and you come across a grove of redwoods where none should be, go ahead and think of me. Just don’t tell the government about my plan. I don’t want to get in trouble.

P.S. When I lived in Brazil, I had the chance to see a few of what I believe were Kapok Trees, which are also pretty cool. Feel free to plant some of those, too.

Chatting with Maria Lynch

Today’s author interview is with Maria Lynch, author of Beneath the African Sun.

What are three things everyone should know about you?

I love reading fiction and non-fiction books that interest me; fiction—historical fiction, detective mystery and some popular fiction. Non-fiction can vary from philosophy to current trends in leadership, addressing social justice issues and community development.
I write book reviews of the books I read and then post them on my blog www.dovemuse.ca This is really a repository of the books I have read and my opinions of them.
In my past life I was a high school teacher, college instructor and web tutor and am happily now engaged in writing fiction.

What is one thing almost nobody knows about you?

I can’t divulge my secret; then everyone will know once you publish this. Some things have to be kept secret.

What motivates you to write?

The need to bring out social justice issues as it relates to ordinary lives in a fiction format that would illustrate the pain and anguish ordinary people endure;
To illustrate in fiction format the positive and sometimes negative impact of community on individuals;
To apply some philosophical concepts in a story format as it relates to daily living.

What does your writing process look like?

Once I have determined one of my motivational themes from question #3 above, I map out an outline of the story. In a free-thinking manner I write the “almost whole clay” of the story. Then I write many iterations of the story line and determine the protagonist’s role and how this person would fit in the theme of the story. My next step is to determine the flow of the chapters as the story evolves. This leads to the development of the characters and creation of scenes to make the story come alive. Self-editing takes over as each word and sentence is fine tuned to satisfaction. I usually know my beginning and ending but this could change as the story develops through the fingering of the keyboard.

Tell me a little bit about Beneath the African Sun.

It is a story about a young man seeking adventure and a completely different lifestyle in a faraway land of Kenya in the early 20th century. Sabby, the protagonist, for the first time endures the true meaning of segregation in Colonial Kenya which is quite different from his homeland of Goa in south west India. Despite it, he becomes a successful business man, gets married and raises a family of four. Some of the obstacles they attempt to overcome include their own Goan community caste system, the Mau Mau freedom movement from the indigenous Africans to enable them to gain independence from Britain and the ultimate impact of post independence on this one family seeking a sense of belonging to a beloved country.

What kind of research did you have to do for Beneath the African Sun?

I researched the historical facts included in my novel; three official sources are acknowledged in the Acknowledgements page of my novel. There was cursory research done via the Internet; sometimes to verify certain historical facts and other times to include new facts. Then I recalled and relied on the many stories told by my family members, friends and neighbours who were in Kenya during the time span of the novel.

What should I have asked you, if only I knew you well enough to ask?

Do you ever stop? Why do you keep finding writing projects to work on? How does your interest in travelling affect your writing?

Okay then, do you ever stop?

In my past career I used to stop after each project until I would find myself seeking another challenge or project to work through. It helped me to learn and grow. Now that I am writing fiction for publication I have found an activity that seems to last forever. This can be accomplished by writing a series, sequels or trilogies that results in a continuum of fiction writing.

Why do you keep finding writing projects to work on?

Fiction writing has many threads and they lead to a variety of tapestries of stories. Each thread is woven into a different story.

How does your interest in travelling affect your writing?

When I travel I meet and interact with people of the countries I visit. There is a mountain of stories; some are about the local people while others are about tourists I travel with. These stories will be written in a fiction short story format.

Maria’s book Beneath the African Sun is available at Amazon and other major online booksellers. You can learn more about Maria on her website, her blog or on twitter.

Beneath the African Sun from Maria Lynch on Vimeo.