Roland Yeomans's Blog, page 148
March 27, 2016
THE WOLVES ARE SILENT; NOW ONLY THE MOON HOWLS
“I love you as dark things are to be loved,
with caution ... between the shadow and the soul.”
- Pablo Neruda
“Every heart sings a song, incomplete, until another heart whispers back. Those who wish to sing always find a song. At the touch of a lover, everyone becomes a poet.”
- Plato
I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night. But this night ... this night.
The wolves are silent ... now only the moon howls.
To be nobody but yourself in a world
which is doing its best day and night to make you like
everybody else
means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight and never stop fighting.
Samuel McCord is such a man.
And he bears multiple curses. One such is his love for the alien Empress, Meilori Shinseen.
It will one day be the death of him. It is a price he is more than willing to pay.
Come with me to Elizabeth Craig's Blog:
http://elizabethspanncraig.com/blog/
We are nearing the end of my "Don't You Hate Blog Tours?" Blog Tour.
Don't miss the thrilling last ports of call for the Xanadu.
See you there!
with caution ... between the shadow and the soul.”
- Pablo Neruda
“Every heart sings a song, incomplete, until another heart whispers back. Those who wish to sing always find a song. At the touch of a lover, everyone becomes a poet.”
- Plato
I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night. But this night ... this night.
The wolves are silent ... now only the moon howls.
To be nobody but yourself in a world
which is doing its best day and night to make you like
everybody else
means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight and never stop fighting.
Samuel McCord is such a man.
And he bears multiple curses. One such is his love for the alien Empress, Meilori Shinseen.
It will one day be the death of him. It is a price he is more than willing to pay.
Come with me to Elizabeth Craig's Blog:
http://elizabethspanncraig.com/blog/
We are nearing the end of my "Don't You Hate Blog Tours?" Blog Tour.
Don't miss the thrilling last ports of call for the Xanadu.
See you there!
WHAT IS EASTER TO YOU?
Chocolate eggs and bunnies fill the shops. Hollywood blockbusters fill TV schedules.
But try to find a religious card and you will be busy until Christmas.
Many people do not know the story of Easter and many others believe in the paranormal more than in God.
The idea of Jesus is challenging to many.
Say you believe He rose from the dead after having been asked in a secular situation,
and you can expect condescending smiles.
To encounter Jesus is existentially challenging. It can be scary and uncomfortable.
It is much safer in today's society to say you are an atheist.
I love munching on chocolate bunnies
and hiding colored eggs for the children to hunt for as much as the next guy.
But on Martin Luther King's Birthday, I like to think on the man and what he represented and what it cost him.
Likewise the same with Jesus on Christmas and Easter.
Did you know the word “Easter” doesn’t have anything to do with the Christian celebration?
It is derived from the name of a German deity, Estre or Ostra.
She was the goddess of the rising sun and spring, and was celebrated in springtime festivals.
Bunnies represent fertility and are associated with the re-awakening of the land in springtime.
Bunnies were first associated with Easter celebrations in the 1500s,
and by the early 1800s, German bakers were selling Easter bunnies made from chocolate and pastry.
The tradition of the Easter Bunny bringing gifts to children Easter morning is also from Germany, where he was known as Oschter Haws.
Initially, the bunny left his treats in a nest made for him by children.
Later, the tradition merged with the notion of the Easter basket.
Most people who walk beside you on the street or drive past you on the highway are not religious.
They doubt that a historical Jesus even existed.
If a religious teacher did offend the powers-that-be 2000 years ago and get himself executed, it means less than nothing to them.
They will shake their head at you in scorn if you ask them if they believe Jesus rose from the dead.
The Apostle Paul wrote about the importance of the resurrection in his letter to the Corinthians:
"If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith… if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.”
You see, long ago we broke the terms to our lease on Eden. We got evicted. Jesus paid the back rent and rose from the dead as concrete proof that He had done it.
Still, Easter holds a significant message for us all, religious or not.
It's a message of hope and reconciliation.
"Jesus Christ risen from the dead."
there is life after death but more than that it's the possibility of forgiveness and a new start.
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
March 25, 2016
TO WANDER BETWEEN REALITIES
{Samuel McCord and Wolfe from Her Bones Are In The Badlands}(Image by Rinus Baak and purchased from Dreamstime)“If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is: Infinite.
For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things thru narrow chinks of his cavern.”
- William Blake
“Maybe each human being lives in a unique world, a private world different from those inhabited and experienced by all other humans.
If reality differs from person to person, can we speak of reality singular, or shouldn't we really be talking about plural realities?
And if there are plural realities, are some more true (more real) than others?"
- Phillip K. Dick
"The first discovery of genius:
Those who agree with you are insane. Those who do not are in power."
- Samuel McCord
Ride the winds of Alternate Realities with Samuel McCord, Wolfe, and me as we head
to RaShelle Workman's delightful Blog:
http://www.rashelleworkman.com/
Yes, it is another stop on my Legendary "Don't You Hate Book Tours?" Book Tour.
Don't groan.
It is different from the others. It is fun. It is thought-provoking.
It is better than Batman vs. Superman!
But then, Gilligan's Island is, too!
C'mon. We are nearing the end of the trail. It is the Third Act.
And you know how thrilling the last act always is!
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1530302722/
What I think of as the theme for "The Legend of McCord"
March 23, 2016
YOU ARE NOT OWED READERS
“There is no such thing as a failed test. You will learn every time you challenge yourself.”
Marsha Blackburn
As you write, keep in mind that no one cares.
First, you have to make your readers take notice of you with a catchy title,
absorbing cover blurb,
and intriguing back cover copy.
That is the easy part. The hard part is just beginning.
The savvy writer knows he must keep reader interest at every point and go to whatever lengths it takes to grab and hold that interest.
Ask yourself:
since my reader may have no interest in this,
what do I have to do
to conceive this story in an interesting way,
to start off with an interesting premise
and to sustain that interest throughout my book?"
No one cares about you, about your book, about what you are writing about ...
Go on from there.
You must make them care by being riveting,
by appealing to universal needs ... from chapter to chapter, never letting up.
When you finish one chapter,
you must work to make the next even more interesting, building on what you have already written.
Keep it interesting,
knowing that there is a seductive world out there,
calling to them to put down your book and come out and play in it.
Pick a storyline you care about.
If you care enough about something, you can more easily make it interesting.
What do you say in your head as you write?
Don't forget I am at Hunter Shay's Blog and Diane Wolfe's too: http://huntershea.com/
http://circleoffriendsbooks.blogspot.com/
Marsha Blackburn
As you write, keep in mind that no one cares.First, you have to make your readers take notice of you with a catchy title,
absorbing cover blurb,
and intriguing back cover copy.
That is the easy part. The hard part is just beginning.
The savvy writer knows he must keep reader interest at every point and go to whatever lengths it takes to grab and hold that interest.
Ask yourself:
since my reader may have no interest in this,
what do I have to do
to conceive this story in an interesting way,
to start off with an interesting premise
and to sustain that interest throughout my book?"
No one cares about you, about your book, about what you are writing about ...
Go on from there.
You must make them care by being riveting,
by appealing to universal needs ... from chapter to chapter, never letting up.
When you finish one chapter,
you must work to make the next even more interesting, building on what you have already written.
Keep it interesting,
knowing that there is a seductive world out there,
calling to them to put down your book and come out and play in it.
Pick a storyline you care about.
If you care enough about something, you can more easily make it interesting.
What do you say in your head as you write?
Don't forget I am at Hunter Shay's Blog and Diane Wolfe's too: http://huntershea.com/
http://circleoffriendsbooks.blogspot.com/
