Roland Yeomans's Blog, page 79
May 13, 2019
BIG RED_ Sureal Science Fiction
From the very first sentence, Damien Larkin hooks the reader.
The story propels you with mystery and empathy for the narrator.
Danger you can feel flows through the opening chapters with its back and forth
from a murky past to a dangerous unknown present.
The mystery of what happened to the main character, Darrin Loughlin, urges the reader through the next chapters.
Big Redis reminiscent of Joe Haldeman’s The Forever War.
If you liked that book, you will totally enjoy Big Red.
Add in a bit of bitter Count of Monte Crisco betrayal,
a bit of mystical Ray Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles,
and you have one movie-worthy adventure.
If you are a student of history, you will recognize the Sci. Fi. Version of Impressment
which was used from as early as Elizabethan times and was last used during the Napoleonic wars 1803-1815.
All the duplicity, callousness, and manipulation of the military mind
comes through in the pages of this Sci. Fi. Tale with its own unique twist on space travel within the solar system.
Surprises abound in Big Red, and no plot thread leads where you think it will.
This is one novel you will re-read with relish, murmuring,
“We have always been here. Always.”
Links:
Barnes & Noble - https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/big-red-damien-larkin/1129887528?ean=9781939844606
Kobo - https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/big-red-11
Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/Big-Red-Damien-Larkin/dp/1939844606/
ITunes - https://itunes.apple.com/ca/book/big-red/id1442336848?mt=11
Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42846453-big-red
May 12, 2019
How To Make Peace With the Shark of Rejection
YOU CHOSE TO SWIM IN SHARK-INFESTED WATERS
We all did when we became writers.
You don't step into the ring unless you can take a punch
But you will be knocked down more than you will win.
That's just the nature of the business.
The key is to find the strength and will to get back up.
In 1923, Babe Ruth held the record for ...
HOME RUNS in a season
HIGHEST BATTING RECORD
and
He STRUCK OUT more times than any otherMajor League player that season.
He said:
"It's hard to beat a person who never gives up."
"Every strike brings me closer to the next home run."
"Never let the fear of striking out keep you from the game."
Ray Bradbury started out young as a writer --at 12,writing on the only paper available:Butcher's Papersince it was the Great Depression.
He kept on getting rejected.
He promised himself that he would quit if he could not sell a story by the 500th rejection.
You guessed it:
he sold a story on his 500th attempt.
"You have to learn to take rejection, not as an indication of personal failing, but as a wrong address."
Ray Bradbury said:
"Man has always been half-monster, half-dreamer.
Once you understand that, then you can write a full story."
Writing is not a sprint.
It is a marathon.
And you win a marathon by always moving forward.
And enjoying the race doesn't hurt either.
Listen to the wisdom of Ray Bradbury and grow as a writer:
May 11, 2019
MOTHER Is Not a 4 Letter Word
Though you might think it a term of profanity
from our modern movies.
Sadly, the full term is used more and more lately.
In fact, it is the duct tape that binds Samuel L. Jackson's dialogue together!
Yet, MOTHER is a name that is so complex depending upon the situation in which you hear it
that it is a many-faceted gem of many colors and nuances.
The young woman hearing that she is soon to be a mother
may hear the term with hope, despair, or fear of being like her own hated mother.
The teenager yelling "Mother!" may feel unloved, controlled, or ignored.
The man sitting by the death-bed of his mother
may whisper the name out of a wellspring of loving memories
or from a dark pit of having never been understood.
Mothers are only human:
some saintly, some devilish, most somewhere in between.
We train our children in schools on how to do everything senseless but not how to live well.
Shouldn't we have classes on how to parent?
How to deal with stress?
How to manage a budget?
Mothers make it up as they go along.
Sandra, my best friend, had a son, Drew,
who was forever fiddling with the electric wall sockets close to the floor boards.
She finally put covers on all of them.
Sometime later as she did her business' books on her computer, she heard a Fittzz and saw the lights go dim.
She turned to the sound of faltering steps.
There stumbled poor little Drew, his hair looking like Einstein's, holding his trembling right hand high.
"Mama right. Mama right!"
From that time forward, Sandra would counsel Drew when he felt compelled to do an unwise thing. "Mama right."
Usually, Drew would later sadly confide to her with a wry, hurt smile.
"Mama right. Mama right."
May we all have had mothers wise enough for us to follow their counsel.
Happy Mother's Day
to All My Friends
For Whom This Day Applies!
May 10, 2019
LOVE is a good place to BEGIN and a tragic place to END
{Image in Public Domain}Khalil Gibran actually appears at the end of my most recent audiobook,
The Not-So-Innocents Abroad
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07G9XZTDC/In my horror anthology,Silhouettes in the Key of Scream, I use a quote of his to lead off one of the stories.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GVFH1PFI recently realized with a start that Khalil Gibran's thoughts
on the uncertainties of love run through three of those tales of horror.
“Think not you can direct the course of love, for love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.”
{Self-Portrait in Public Domain}He wrote of the precarious balance between intimacy and independence in healthy relationships.
(And how many of those have you seen in your own life?)
“Love one another but make not a bond of love: let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.”
HOW DO YOU DELINEATE LOVE AND INDEPENDENCE IN YOUR STORIES?
May 9, 2019
What Famous Writers Did While WRITING
I'm a writer so I can say this:
Take Charles Dickens and his deaf cat, Bob.
Bob would watch Dickens as he read by candlelight.
If he felt in need of play time,
he would put out the candle with his paw repeatedly until the author got the idea.
Like Macak did with Nicola Tesla as a child,
Bob would follow Dickens about like a dog.
Dickens loved Bob. So much so that when Bob died, the master turned him into a letter opener!!
Not the whole cat, actually. Just a single paw,
which the author had stuffed and attached to an ivory blade.
The blade is engraved “C.D. In Memory of Bob 1862″
which is more grave marker than most pussycats can hope for.
LYING DOWN ON THE JOB
Among the successful novelists who wrote lying down are Mark Twain, George Orwell, Edith Wharton, Woody Allen and Marcel Proust.
They were all known for churning out pages while lying in bed or lounged on a sofa.
American author and playwright Truman Capote even claimed to be a
“completely horizontal author” because he couldn’t think and write unless he was lying down.
LET ME TAKE A STAND ON THAT
Writers like Hemingway, Charles Dickens, Virginia Woolf, Lewis Carroll, and Philip Roth all liked writing standing up.
These great thinkers have been inspired to pen their finest pieces at their standing desk.
For health-conscious writers, this technique might work for you because standing desks offer many proven benefits.
LOOK IN THE INDEX!!
Vladimir Nabokov, author of Lolita, Pale Fire, and Ada, was very particular about his writing instruments.
He composed all his works on index cards, which he kept in slim boxes.
This odd method enabled him to write scenes non-sequentially and re-order the cards any time he wanted.
Nabokov also stored some of his lined Bristol cards underneath his pillow.
This way, if an idea popped into his head, he could quickly write it down.
You can use index cards when doing your note-taking or plotting too.
It’s a different way to construct your story that can knock fun things loose.
BLUE IS THE COLOR OF MY TRUE LOVE'S ... FICTION?
For decades, Dumas used various colors to indicate his type of writing.
Blue was the color for his fiction novels,
pink for non-fiction or articles and yellow for poetry.
And you thought writing to music was strange when you did it?!
And we won't even get into Dan Brown hanging upside down to stir up his muse!
May 8, 2019
HOW TO WRITE DIALOGUE THAT LIVES
Dialogue is one of the first things a literary agent will check
when evaluating the marketability of
your book.
The reason is simple really.Dialogue instantly reveals your skill as a writer.
The best words are actions, of course. But that doesn't mean your significant other doesn't want to hear the words:
"I love you."
Good dialogue illuminates the personalities of your characters,
moves the plot forward, and develops relationships.
I.) Good dialogue is essential in our novels if we want to succeed.
A.) What is good, "draw in the reader" dialogue?
B.) It is not actual speech.
1.) we pause.
2.) we drift
3.) we stray or become confused and stammer.
C.) It is not the State of the Union Address either.
1.) No blunt instrument of prose
2.) No chunky, thick paragraphs.
D.) It is a reflection of real speech:
1.) It is the distillation of actual speech
2.) Think of it as a pruned bonzai tree of real conversation.
II.) We interrupt each other
1.) People break into the words of the other or plain talk over one another in a "listen to me now" barrage of words.
2.) No taking polite turns in real life.
3.) So aim to have the other person respond to the other character after every line.
4.) It won't always be possible, but you should never let a person talk for more than 3 lines.
5.) Why?
6.) Never tire the eye of the reader (especially the already tired eye of the agent!)
III.) Good dialogue reveals the character of the person talking
A.) Surface message reveals
B.) The intent of the speaker.
IV.) Good dialogue reveals the inner heart and mind of the speaker while moving the story forward at the same time.
V.) Good dialogue gets to the gut level of the character speaking,
defining her experience of what is going on around her and her reactions to it.
A.) Having your character's every other line questioned or reacted to by another ...
1.) creates a deeper, more dramatic story.
2.) creates more complex, more "real" characters.
3.) drawing the reader into believing the reality of your fictive world.
B.) You don't have to get this exact in your draft.
1.) Leonard da Vinci sketched the bold outline of his complete image in bold sweeps at first.
2.) He later refined and added depth after the whole composition was sketched on his canvas.
3.) That is what you do with your prose canvas.
4.) Trying to get your dialogue spot-on in the draft will only end up blocking you up.
VI.) Good dialogue requires rewriting.
A.) Rewriting in dialogue is cutting.
B.) Think of it as going on a word diet.
1.) Cut out every word you can do without as you would calories.
2.) Cut out going back for dessert :
3.) No seconds for your favorite words and phrases. One to a conversation.
C.) Read aloud your dialogue
1.) Listen to the rhythm of the interplay between the characters.
2.) Each character should have their own distinct rhythm of talking.
3.) Each character should have their own distinct way of expressing themselves.
a.) their favorite words and phrases should be different than the others in the conversation.
b.) their differing mindsets, educational background, their prejudices, their passions should mold their words into being distinctive to themselves.
VII.) Doing all that will make your conversations in your novel seem real,
drawing the reader into becoming immersed into your story, perhaps even having them feel that the moment is actually happening.
What did George Bernard Shaw say of an irritating actress at a party?
"The trouble with her is that she lacks the power of conversation but not the power of speech."
May 7, 2019
Are You Weak If You Tear Up in a Movie?
I admit it.
I teared up during ENDGAME.
We cry during emotional movies because of oxytocin,
which makes us feel more connected with the characters
while increasing levels of empathy, altruism and even fulfillment.
Are we weak if we cry during a movie?
Empathy makes us better, stronger human beings.
Crying at a movie is also a great way to untangle some of your own emotions through the characters onscreen.
And since it's only a movie, you don't have to deal with any lasting effects.
You have a nice cry, you feel better, and credits roll!
The empathetic souls have their hearts broken frequently by movies and books or people.
They tend to heal and rebound faster, making them stronger people in the longer run.
DO YOU TEAR UP
AT MOVIES?
WHEN WAS THE
LAST TIME?
The Scene
That Had Me
Tearing Up
Don't Look
If You Do
Not Want to
Be Spoiled.
You've
Been
Warned:
Are You Weak If You Cry in a Movie?
I admit it.
I teared up during ENDGAME.
We cry during emotional movies because of oxytocin,
which makes us feel more connected with the characters
while increasing levels of empathy, altruism and even fulfillment.
Are we weak if we cry during a movie?
Empathy makes us better, stronger human beings.
Crying at a movie is also a great way to untangle some of your own emotions through the characters onscreen.
And since it's only a movie, you don't have to deal with any lasting effects.
You have a nice cry, you feel better, and credits roll!
The empathetic souls have their hearts broken frequently by movies and books or people.
They tend to heal and rebound faster, making them stronger people in the longer run.
DO YOU CRY AT MOVIES?
WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME?
May 6, 2019
Avengers: ENDGAME Shocker!
When WONDER WOMAN pushed Captain Marvel aside to defeats Thanos in the last battle, my jaw dropped!
Why did so many work so hard to spoil AVENGERS: ENDGAME?
Some people, coming out of the movie,walked up to thosewaiting in line andtold them who died!
I had to stay completely off Social Media, even Yahoo to stay spoiler free
And still had something spoiled for me by a news outlet!
Why do so many people get some perverse enjoyment out of spoiling a popular movie for others?
Maliciousness? Bullying?The Need to Gossip Anti-social lack of empathy?
What do you think?
May 5, 2019
Giant Asteroid Destroys New York!
This Sunday, 42 miles of New York City was destroyed by a giant asteroid
And NASA's Planetary Defense System could not deflect it.
At least in simulation.
The asteroid, about 330 to 1,000 feet in diameter, exploded 9.3 miles above Central Park
with 1,000 times the energy of the nuclear bomb that destroyed Hiroshima.
https://www.nasa.gov/planetarydefenseThis Sunday, Washington considered sending a nuclear bomb to deflect the 60m space rock –
replicating a successful strategy that saved Tokyo in the 2017 simulation
But it was crippled by political disagreements,
meaning all that remained to do was prepare for impact.
That does seem about right, doesn't it?
Our politicianswill be the death of us.
What do you think?
