S. Evan Townsend's Blog, page 132

Sunday Six: No Exit

Today's Sunday Six comes from Chapter Eleven of Rock Killer :

"What the hell are you doing?" a voice growled loudly.
Charlie looked up from the computer to the base of the stairs.  Beatty was standing there, dressed in shorts and a tee shirt.
"I said what are you doing down here?" he repeated, moving menacingly toward her.

Charlie looked around. There were no other exits. 

Christmas Music

It's Christmas time (and Merry Christmas to you!).  Time for the annual fight between my wife and me about . . . Christmas music.

It's all my fault.  I basically do no like most Christmas music.  And the newer and more modern it is, the less I like it.  She was just listening to something like this (I can't find the exact thing she was listen to, maybe I have the artist wrong):


And I said, "I'd better leave before that gives me diabetes" which upset her.  For some reason she doesn't seem to be able discern the difference between that and this:


(This version drags a little, this is supposed to be a joyous song, not a dirge but this version is too fast.  The version I have is almost just about right.).

I got sick of Christmas music when I worked as a disk jockey in the late '70s (yes, I'm dating myself) and we played Christmas music incessantly from Thanksgiving to December 25th.  And the sappier it is, the more I dislike it.  Whereas the sappier it is, the more my wife seems to like it.

So it's our annual fight.  I usually just avoid being around her when she plays that music (I'm doing that now).  It helps keep the peace.

P.S.: This is one of the best pieces of music ever.

Sunday Six: The "Spontaneous " Rally

Today's Sunday Six from Chapter Twelve of Book of Death :

The door opened and a middle-aged man in a business suit scurried out, closing the door behind him.  He was carrying a sheaf of papers.
"What is wrong, Comrade Buscan?" Parasca asked jovially.
Buscan gave a harried scowl at Parasca.  "He wants a spontaneous rally tomorrow to protest the invasion."
"A lot of work to prepare for a spontaneous rally," Parasca said, patting the man on the shoulder.
"Yes; now if you'll excuse me, Comrade General."

Pre-Christmas Sale: Rock Killer Free

Just in time for Christmas, bury yourself in the hard science fiction of Rock Killer .  And it's free on the Kindle this weekend.  Just click here to download to your Kindle or Kindle App for your device.

To get you in the mood, here's the trailer for Rock Killer:

The Hobbit

Last night I saw The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey .  I'm still sorta gathering my thoughts about it.  I drove 100 miles (each way) to see it in high frame rate and I gotta tell you, technically it's beautiful.  Peter Jackson has a wonderful eye for beauty (and for ugly) and he uses 3D to enhance his movie, not the other way around.  It was nice to visit old friends (Blibo, Gandalf, Elrond, and even Frodo makes a brief appearance).  I like that they put some of the songs that Tolkien had in the book in the movie (the dish-washing scene/song is pretty funny).  As with all Peter Jackson films the CGI is flawless to the point you forget you're watching a CGI character.

But (you knew that was coming), they strayed from Tolkien a lot.  They added new characters and new plot Tolkien never devised.  The dialogue in some of those scenes clunks badly.  I know they are making three movies (why? greed?) so they need more plot than Tolkien provided.  Maybe if they'd stuck with two movies, stuck more with Tolkien, it would have been better.  They also used any excuse to have a sword fight.

And, I know it's a fantasy, but I doubt even dwarves could fall 100 feet onto rock, groan a bit, and jump up and fight orcs as if nothing happened.

I find myself wondering if I'll pay to see the other two movies in the theater or just wait for them to come out on Blu-ray.

Oh, and this wasn't the film makers' fault but there were 20 minutes of previews before the movie.  I found that excessive (especially for a two-and-a-half hour long movie).

Winter Driving

I like to drive.  I guess I'm weird that way.  Now, I prefer to be driving fast, but even tooling down I-90 with the cruise control set at 75 (five over the limit) is something I enjoy.  As I get older it is getting harder for me to drive long distances without a break.  I used to drive 20 or more hours and only stop to fill the car and empty me.  But now I pretty much don't want to drive more than 6 or so hours straight at a time.  Last summer I did a 650 mile drive in one day which was about 11 hours of driving.  The next day I was wiped out.

Now winter is approaching and I'm also, in my old age, becoming a wimp about driving in snow.  I used to be the guy for whom nothing stopped me.  I was the guy who drove over Snoqualmie Pass in a Mustang GT without snowtires when the state patrol had chains required and did fine.  But lately it's sort of like driving in slick conditions makes me nervous and just doesn't seem like its worth the hassle.  Oh, I'll still do it if I have to be somewhere.  But I won't enjoy it.

This worries me a bit.  Will the time come when I no long want to drive fast?  Yesterday I drove to a town about 70 miles away.  The pavement was bare and dry the whole way.  But for a long time I was stuck behind a cop so I had to do the speed limit.  And I was bored to death.  So so far I'm not turning into a slow driver on dry pavement.  And I still enjoy the occasional burst of felonious velocity, although I haven't had the courage to repeat my highest speed ever (I'll plead the fifth if you ask)(but I have done 155 on a racetrack).

I guess getting old sucks.  I do know my reactions have slowed (I don't play video games anymore).  But I hope I never become one of those people who drive slow and block traffic.

Community Service

A week ago I got an email from an acquaintance I know through Toastmasters.  The email read:

I have written a book can you guide me how do i get it published ? please can we meet about it ?
(In that font and color.)  So I wrote back and said "Yes."  And I got back:

WHERE AND WHEN PLEASE

(Yes, all caps.)  I suggested the person buy me lunch (I could tell this wasn't going to be easy) and they suggested a restaurant today at 11:45.  I said "Okay."

So, since then, I've been thinking "what do I know about getting published?"  Last October I did a presentation at Toastmasters (this woman may not have been there that day) on what I know about getting published today (traditional publishing, going indie, small press publishers).  Then I realize something, all the success I've had getting published has been through networking and a lot of that networking has come from working in the community.

Almost all of my freelance work comes from people I met through my community service work.  And my publisher I met through a friend.  We met when she called me after the local paper published an article on me.  The local paper knew about me because of mine and my wife's community service.

If you're looking for more writing jobs, it might be a good idea to join local service clubs/organization.  And make sure the local newspaper publisher or editor is a member. 

Sunday Six: The Mob Doll

Today's Sunday Six from Chapter Eleven of Book of Death :

A man walked in wearing an expensive suit that somehow didn't fit him right.  Two other men followed, also in suits, also looking out of place.  Then a girl came in, blonde, chewing gum, in a sequined minidress, her hair all piled on top of her head and too much makeup on.  She sat at the bar, looking bored.  The bartender gave her a martini without her asking.  She must be a regular, I thought.

12/12/12

I missed it.  I was busy.  At 12:12:12 on 12/12/12 I should have done a dance or something.  But I missed it.  For 12:12:12 A.M. I was sleeping.  For 12:12:12 P.M. I was at a lunch meeting.

This will be the last chance for alliterative dates until 2101 (for 01/01/01).  Probably won't live to see that day.

My son graduated high school in 2007 and of course they had James Bond tie ins for their graduation ("class of 007").  In 3007 I doubt anyone will remember James Bond so this was the one and only time in human history this will happen.

Of course, if the Mayans are right, 12/21/12 is going to be a bad day for all of us.

Did you observe 12:12:12 today?

Sunday Six: The Great Conclave

Today's Sunday Six from Chapter Ten of Book of Death :

The Great Conclave was scheduled for the summer solstice on Friday, June 21st, in Paris, France.  I don't know why Paris was chosen.  Maybe tradition.

Inter-guild messages flew back and forth by both modern and meta means as arrangements were made and guilds contacted.  Some guilds still hated each other after various slights, such as helping Hitler during World War II.  Vaughan wondered out loud to me if the Cuban Guild would show up, or if they’d be embarrassed by their working with Communists in an attempt to take over the world using zombie armies.