Walter E. Mark's Blog, page 3
October 7, 2010
An Illustration of Choice
Imagine two dark doorways. You know that you can’t stay where you are. You must choose one of the doorways.
To the left, a fit young man appears at the opening of the doorway. He encourages you to choose his doorway. He tells you that you will find abundance after passing through his doorway. He tells you that he will lead you the entire way . In fact, he promises that you won’t have to make a single decision along the way because he knows the best and easiest route to take. He says that he is strong enough to take you safely to your destination and he appears to have the ability to back up his words. He then asks you to trust him.
To the right, an older man appears at the opening of the doorway. He encourages you to choose his doorway. He doesn’t promise abundance on your journey, in fact, he says that there will be parts of the way that will be hard to travel. He tells you that there will be times that you will not see him because of the darkness of the way, but you will always hear him. He says that, if you lean on his experience, he will guide you safely to great abundance at the end of your journey. He certainly looks old enough to have experience. He then asks you to trust him.
You only have two choices. Which doorway will you choose?
Now imagine a shining world called Kosundo, a world that some call the sixth world of men. It’s a lovely, green world. It’s a world that offers many advantages to its inhabitants, though like all worlds where mankind exists, it is not a perfect world.
The inhabitants of this world will soon be called upon to make a decision much like the decision of the doorways. Some will enthusiastically embrace the choice, while others will pretend that a choice will never have to be made. Yet all will choose. Who will choose wisely? And will enough choose well to save their world?
Choose Wisely!
A Beacon of Hope
To the left, a fit young man appears at the opening of the doorway. He encourages you to choose his doorway. He tells you that you will find abundance after passing through his doorway. He tells you that he will lead you the entire way . In fact, he promises that you won’t have to make a single decision along the way because he knows the best and easiest route to take. He says that he is strong enough to take you safely to your destination and he appears to have the ability to back up his words. He then asks you to trust him.
To the right, an older man appears at the opening of the doorway. He encourages you to choose his doorway. He doesn’t promise abundance on your journey, in fact, he says that there will be parts of the way that will be hard to travel. He tells you that there will be times that you will not see him because of the darkness of the way, but you will always hear him. He says that, if you lean on his experience, he will guide you safely to great abundance at the end of your journey. He certainly looks old enough to have experience. He then asks you to trust him.
You only have two choices. Which doorway will you choose?
Now imagine a shining world called Kosundo, a world that some call the sixth world of men. It’s a lovely, green world. It’s a world that offers many advantages to its inhabitants, though like all worlds where mankind exists, it is not a perfect world.
The inhabitants of this world will soon be called upon to make a decision much like the decision of the doorways. Some will enthusiastically embrace the choice, while others will pretend that a choice will never have to be made. Yet all will choose. Who will choose wisely? And will enough choose well to save their world?
Choose Wisely!
A Beacon of Hope
October 6, 2010
Pronunciation Guide for Beacon
A few folks have requested that I give phonectic spellings for a few of the names in Beacon. I must admit that I've heard a variety of pronunciation of the names as more and more people I know read the book. There has been enough requests for this now from both folks that I know and folks that I don't know that I feel compelled to provided a crude pronunciation guide.
I didn't use any phonectic symbols in this guide except for a few vowel markings. Instead I tried to use letter combinations to illustrate vowel sounds. Bold syllables are the primary emphasis syllable.
Pronunciation Guide for A Beacon of Hope
Characters with Speaking Parts
Jahnu (Jahn-oo)
Odanoi (O-dăn-oy)
Phrunoi (Froon-oy)
Agap (Uh-gahp)
Agapoi (Uh-gahp-oy)
Agapu (Uh-gahp-oo)
Holon (Hall-ōn)
Holu (Hall-oo)
Yotux (Yō-tŭx)
Axopen (Ags-ō-pěn)
Supeb (Soo-pěb)
Kowtsom (Kōt-sum)
Phunex (Foo-něx)
Opsil (Ŏp-seel)
Eutay (Oo-tay)
Ketesku (Kě-těs-koo)
Temeos (Tĭm-ē-ōs)
Tryllos (Trē-yōs)
Abin (Ah-bĭn)
Nenavis (Nĭn-uh-vĭs)
Neaotomo (Nee-ō-tō-mō)
Laysa (Lay-sah)
Degmer (Děg-mėr)
Beltram (Bell-trŭm)
Countries
Cirri (Sear-ee)
Calisla (Cah-lees-lah)
Jontu Etirraze (Han-too E-tir-ah-zee)
Doetora (Doh-ay-tor-uh)
Dricho (Dree-koh)
O'ONaso (Ō--ō-nah-sō)
Minnunglindor (Mĭn-ung-leen-door)
Cargagru (Car-gah-grew)
Nurd (Nerd)
Schwinn (Shwĭn)
Other Words
Grasso (Grah-sō)
Thaoi (Thah-oy)
Manku (Măn-koo)
Anark (Ann-ark)
Zaria (Zuh-ree-uh)
I didn't use any phonectic symbols in this guide except for a few vowel markings. Instead I tried to use letter combinations to illustrate vowel sounds. Bold syllables are the primary emphasis syllable.
Pronunciation Guide for A Beacon of Hope
Characters with Speaking Parts
Jahnu (Jahn-oo)
Odanoi (O-dăn-oy)
Phrunoi (Froon-oy)
Agap (Uh-gahp)
Agapoi (Uh-gahp-oy)
Agapu (Uh-gahp-oo)
Holon (Hall-ōn)
Holu (Hall-oo)
Yotux (Yō-tŭx)
Axopen (Ags-ō-pěn)
Supeb (Soo-pěb)
Kowtsom (Kōt-sum)
Phunex (Foo-něx)
Opsil (Ŏp-seel)
Eutay (Oo-tay)
Ketesku (Kě-těs-koo)
Temeos (Tĭm-ē-ōs)
Tryllos (Trē-yōs)
Abin (Ah-bĭn)
Nenavis (Nĭn-uh-vĭs)
Neaotomo (Nee-ō-tō-mō)
Laysa (Lay-sah)
Degmer (Děg-mėr)
Beltram (Bell-trŭm)
Countries
Cirri (Sear-ee)
Calisla (Cah-lees-lah)
Jontu Etirraze (Han-too E-tir-ah-zee)
Doetora (Doh-ay-tor-uh)
Dricho (Dree-koh)
O'ONaso (Ō--ō-nah-sō)
Minnunglindor (Mĭn-ung-leen-door)
Cargagru (Car-gah-grew)
Nurd (Nerd)
Schwinn (Shwĭn)
Other Words
Grasso (Grah-sō)
Thaoi (Thah-oy)
Manku (Măn-koo)
Anark (Ann-ark)
Zaria (Zuh-ree-uh)
October 5, 2010
Down with Professional Re-writers!
How many times have we seen it? Someone writes a an original vision of a book that tops the best seller lists and suddenly ten thousand authors jump on the bandwagon trying to make a buck off of the original author's succeess.
A most vivid example of this idea plagiarism happened very recently. The writing of a new kind of romance novel featuring humans having relationships with vampires and werewolves launched a frenzy of similar books with nearly identical plots trying to catch the wave of success that the original writer started.
I don't think that I have to name the writer that was copied, surely everyone on Goodreads knows about whom I speak. And, probably nearly everyone knows of a few writers who have tried to profit of this fad in writing in some form or another.
The same thing happened with a certain YA Fantasy series a few years ago when a spectacled minor took on the role of a heroic wizard. Suddenly, everyone was writing YA Fantasy involving minors. This idea plagiarism is still happening today.
Now, I'm not begrudging folks the right to make a living. The writer's market is tough, no doubt. The point is that copying someone else's formula for success is not really writing at all and the folks that do it are not writers. They are re-writers.
A writer strives to come up with original ideas wrought out a fertile imagination. This process takes time; many times this time is measured in years. An original idea must be given time to grow in the writer's mind.
Today, the publishing industry has produced a lot of professional re-writers. These writers add nothing new to the writing profession. They only regurgitate what is popular in order to make a buck.
I say, down with professional re-writers! Yes, give the reading public what they want, but make it original. Give the reader a message along with the entertainment. If your work doesn't have a message, it's not worth the paper that it's written on, even if the paper is cheap.
Perhaps the fad of having something to say when writing might catch on. It would be refreshing to see the re-writers copy a message rather than a plot line. A least the story might be different. Who knows, maybe then all of these re-writers might become actual writers.
Well, I can hope, can't I?
A most vivid example of this idea plagiarism happened very recently. The writing of a new kind of romance novel featuring humans having relationships with vampires and werewolves launched a frenzy of similar books with nearly identical plots trying to catch the wave of success that the original writer started.
I don't think that I have to name the writer that was copied, surely everyone on Goodreads knows about whom I speak. And, probably nearly everyone knows of a few writers who have tried to profit of this fad in writing in some form or another.
The same thing happened with a certain YA Fantasy series a few years ago when a spectacled minor took on the role of a heroic wizard. Suddenly, everyone was writing YA Fantasy involving minors. This idea plagiarism is still happening today.
Now, I'm not begrudging folks the right to make a living. The writer's market is tough, no doubt. The point is that copying someone else's formula for success is not really writing at all and the folks that do it are not writers. They are re-writers.
A writer strives to come up with original ideas wrought out a fertile imagination. This process takes time; many times this time is measured in years. An original idea must be given time to grow in the writer's mind.
Today, the publishing industry has produced a lot of professional re-writers. These writers add nothing new to the writing profession. They only regurgitate what is popular in order to make a buck.
I say, down with professional re-writers! Yes, give the reading public what they want, but make it original. Give the reader a message along with the entertainment. If your work doesn't have a message, it's not worth the paper that it's written on, even if the paper is cheap.
Perhaps the fad of having something to say when writing might catch on. It would be refreshing to see the re-writers copy a message rather than a plot line. A least the story might be different. Who knows, maybe then all of these re-writers might become actual writers.
Well, I can hope, can't I?
October 4, 2010
It's been a long prenancy!
Having your first book published is a lot like having your first baby. The process begins with a lot of desire and passion. Then there's the long wait followed by the pain of labor for the mother and the anxious tension of waiting for the father. But when the baby is finally born, there is great joy.
The birth of a new series is like the start of a large family. Your glad the first one is out of the way, but you know that there's a whole lot more work to be done before it's all over!
Technically, the first book of The Sixth World of Men is not yet born, but the crown of the head can now be seen. The first book, A Beacon of Hope, is now available at the Barnes and Noble website. The book doesn't release until November 9th, but it can be pre-ordered now.
The birth of a new series is like the start of a large family. Your glad the first one is out of the way, but you know that there's a whole lot more work to be done before it's all over!
Technically, the first book of The Sixth World of Men is not yet born, but the crown of the head can now be seen. The first book, A Beacon of Hope, is now available at the Barnes and Noble website. The book doesn't release until November 9th, but it can be pre-ordered now.
