H. Dean's Blog: Meanderings, page 3
March 9, 2014
Stuff
In an effort to bring over some of my works to make it easier for others to find it, I have just ported a short story I wrote a long time ago.
It's not my best writing by any stretch of the imagination. It did, however, make me laugh when I wrote it. That's half the battle when you write a comedy.
Anyone interested can find it here - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
H. Dean
It's not my best writing by any stretch of the imagination. It did, however, make me laugh when I wrote it. That's half the battle when you write a comedy.
Anyone interested can find it here - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
H. Dean
March 6, 2014
The Long Weekend
The story is done, the book cover made, and the first edits complete. After Cromson Femme completes her pre-review and a brief forward, and once I get the final edits done it will be sent to the publisher.
All things considered I expect to see it for sale in about 2 weeks. This is the part I hate - waiting.
Lest anyone be disappointed, it is a sequel to "Object of His Affection" and breaks little new territory. Still, I think it is better written than Object and better thought out. Really, it's what Object should have been had I been a better writer at the time.
I hope my fans enjoy it.
H. Dean
All things considered I expect to see it for sale in about 2 weeks. This is the part I hate - waiting.
Lest anyone be disappointed, it is a sequel to "Object of His Affection" and breaks little new territory. Still, I think it is better written than Object and better thought out. Really, it's what Object should have been had I been a better writer at the time.
I hope my fans enjoy it.
H. Dean
March 2, 2014
All better now
I am pleased to say that it must have been a moderator or some other shlub who flagged my comments to Patrick. I had, logically I thought, assumed him to be an over sensitive sort as I am told exists on Goodreads, however his response has proved otherwise. Thus, I have apologized to Patrick for coming to the wrong conclusion. Since I brought it to the public domain I also felt it necessary to conclude this interesting situation publicly. Patrick has proven to be a good guy - not only did he offer further review he did so in a fashion that, as an author, I feel to be quite helpful.
As for the mods - well, I can understand their position after learning of some of the flame wars that go on when low ratings are posted. Still, they need to be more clear in what they do, and motivation given. I have said as much in an email to the mod who responded to my query regarding this matter.
Finally - thanks, Patrick, for being a good sport and for giving me a more full review and helping me to understand what it was that you disliked. It was helpful and appreciated more than I can tell you, regardless of the number of stars.
H. Dean
As for the mods - well, I can understand their position after learning of some of the flame wars that go on when low ratings are posted. Still, they need to be more clear in what they do, and motivation given. I have said as much in an email to the mod who responded to my query regarding this matter.
Finally - thanks, Patrick, for being a good sport and for giving me a more full review and helping me to understand what it was that you disliked. It was helpful and appreciated more than I can tell you, regardless of the number of stars.
H. Dean
February 27, 2014
Screw it
I decided to post more comments on that review and I am going to post them for everyone to see should they be flagged and taken down once again - so here goes...
I am uncertain why my previous comments were flagged or removed. But I am a stubborn sort and so will try, once again, to respond in a similar fashion as before.
First of all, thanks for taking the time to read my story. Thanks again for offering a review. I always try to respond to reviews, good or bad, since reviews are a rare commodity. At any rate...
Patrick, I would very much like to know what it was that you did not like about this story. Your comment offered little insight into the reason and, as an author, I always seek out my shortcomings and attempt to fix them. So, if you would, please let me know if it was simply the story not being to your tastes or if my story telling was, in your eyes, substandard.
Thanks again,
H. Dean
I am uncertain why my previous comments were flagged or removed. But I am a stubborn sort and so will try, once again, to respond in a similar fashion as before.
First of all, thanks for taking the time to read my story. Thanks again for offering a review. I always try to respond to reviews, good or bad, since reviews are a rare commodity. At any rate...
Patrick, I would very much like to know what it was that you did not like about this story. Your comment offered little insight into the reason and, as an author, I always seek out my shortcomings and attempt to fix them. So, if you would, please let me know if it was simply the story not being to your tastes or if my story telling was, in your eyes, substandard.
Thanks again,
H. Dean
Poor Moderation
Recently I received a poor review for one of my books on Goodreads. It is not my first poor review, nor, I imagine, will it be my last.
Since I always respond to those who leave comment I did so. My response was to thank that reviewer for the review and then to ask that he expand on his comments. I asked him if it was the story, the topic, the story telling that he did not like. There was nothing remotely inflammatory in my response unless one takes it utterly sarcastically.
In response (I assume) the reviewer flagged the comment. It was summarily removed. I learned of this from a letter from Goodreads stating my comment had been flagged - then I discovered it had been removed.
Of equal interest is the final line in the email I received stating "Please refrain from posting this kind of comment in the future." So, what? I am supposed to not ask a reviewer to tell me what he didn't like? Is that what I am to do? DO I never respond to comments now?
Another line in the letter reads "These guidelines are designed not only to protect our membership, but also to protect well-meaning authors from possibly damaging their public image" - This, combined with the arbitrary removal of my comment tells me that my membership is threatened if my comments are flagged, even if I leave a positive comment on a negative review.
Yup, I am pissed. Goodreads moderators have overstepped their authority.
Now, I have replied to their email and I have also attempted to reach support through another means. So, the jury is still out. Regardless, I intend on repeating my comment once this is resolved and if my comment is not returned. I guess my time on Goodreads may be short lived.
H. Dean
Since I always respond to those who leave comment I did so. My response was to thank that reviewer for the review and then to ask that he expand on his comments. I asked him if it was the story, the topic, the story telling that he did not like. There was nothing remotely inflammatory in my response unless one takes it utterly sarcastically.
In response (I assume) the reviewer flagged the comment. It was summarily removed. I learned of this from a letter from Goodreads stating my comment had been flagged - then I discovered it had been removed.
Of equal interest is the final line in the email I received stating "Please refrain from posting this kind of comment in the future." So, what? I am supposed to not ask a reviewer to tell me what he didn't like? Is that what I am to do? DO I never respond to comments now?
Another line in the letter reads "These guidelines are designed not only to protect our membership, but also to protect well-meaning authors from possibly damaging their public image" - This, combined with the arbitrary removal of my comment tells me that my membership is threatened if my comments are flagged, even if I leave a positive comment on a negative review.
Yup, I am pissed. Goodreads moderators have overstepped their authority.
Now, I have replied to their email and I have also attempted to reach support through another means. So, the jury is still out. Regardless, I intend on repeating my comment once this is resolved and if my comment is not returned. I guess my time on Goodreads may be short lived.
H. Dean
February 22, 2014
Recent Reviews and other meanderings
First of all, I want to let everyone know who ever reviews me that any time I fail to respond it is due entirely to the fact that I have not seen it. Difficult as it is to get a review I sort of feel I am obligated to respond - even if the review is shit - and I do get a few *shitty reviews.
*Shitty reviews are a specific category of review that is simple, short and without explanation. They can be positive or negative reviews. But nothing is more shitty than not having explanation for a review - good or bad.
Influences: On occasion I get asked about my influences, how I come up with ideas and what the hell was in my little brain when I wrote the story - so here goes...
My favorite author is Michael Moorcock. Perhaps not the best writer of this or any generation, he is extremely influential. This is, of course, mostly due to his imaginative tales. But also because of his penchant for offering up tales that are not entirely predictable. That is, the hero is not always a "Good guy" and he doesn't always win the girl. Sometimes he is entirely fucked over, and no character is guaranteed to see the end of the tale. In other words, his work is not Epic Pooh. http://www.revolutionsf.com/article.p...
I've also a rather heavy influence from Robert E. Howard.No, I don't write adventure/fantasy but much of my verbiage and stylistic choices come directly from Howard.
The final influence is my ego and really bad erotica. Sounds weird, I know. The truth of it is that there is a lot of really bad erotica that take excellent ideas and destroy them with bad prose and ridiculously silly notions - and my ego tells me I can do it better.
Now, I am off to get back to editing my latest tale of woe.
*Shitty reviews are a specific category of review that is simple, short and without explanation. They can be positive or negative reviews. But nothing is more shitty than not having explanation for a review - good or bad.
Influences: On occasion I get asked about my influences, how I come up with ideas and what the hell was in my little brain when I wrote the story - so here goes...
My favorite author is Michael Moorcock. Perhaps not the best writer of this or any generation, he is extremely influential. This is, of course, mostly due to his imaginative tales. But also because of his penchant for offering up tales that are not entirely predictable. That is, the hero is not always a "Good guy" and he doesn't always win the girl. Sometimes he is entirely fucked over, and no character is guaranteed to see the end of the tale. In other words, his work is not Epic Pooh. http://www.revolutionsf.com/article.p...
I've also a rather heavy influence from Robert E. Howard.No, I don't write adventure/fantasy but much of my verbiage and stylistic choices come directly from Howard.
The final influence is my ego and really bad erotica. Sounds weird, I know. The truth of it is that there is a lot of really bad erotica that take excellent ideas and destroy them with bad prose and ridiculously silly notions - and my ego tells me I can do it better.
Now, I am off to get back to editing my latest tale of woe.
February 9, 2014
Too Lazy
Okay, the new system is up and running like a top. I was too lazy to do much in the way of tweaking, though. I did manage to install a solid state hard drive, though. For that I did do a little tweaking. Since the write capabilities of an SSD are limited I moved the TMP and TEMP files to another HD. I did the same with the cache for Chrome. No, I haven't done that for IE, but I never use that browser since it sucks. I will eventually do it, though. The point of all this is that I have about a 10 second boot time. Which rocks!
Now that the system is up and running it's time to get back to writing. Unfortunately, all I have been able to do is play games and read useless BS on websites. It really sucks when you get out of the habit of writing - getting back into the swing is a bitch!
Now that the system is up and running it's time to get back to writing. Unfortunately, all I have been able to do is play games and read useless BS on websites. It really sucks when you get out of the habit of writing - getting back into the swing is a bitch!
February 1, 2014
New Computer
AH, the joys of having a new computer! My old system died recently, leaving me in quite an unpleasant position of having to replace it. This is not something I enjoy doing in the least.
My old system was severely under-powered by today's standards. It ran Windows 7 and only had 2 gigs of RAM. This will run Windows 7, as well, but has 4 gigs of RAM. Furthermore, the old system was a dual core processor while the new one is a Quad core chip.
Now, I know it sounds like it's all shits and giggles. But I had tweaked my old system to run like a modern computer. It was blazing fast for what it was. The trouble is that I now feel compelled to do the same to this one. That means that I will be working on it for the next two weeks, tweaking and adjusting it so it runs like a modern gaming computer. Albeit with a severely under-powered video card.
In another hour or so I will be installing a video card, a sound card, 6 hard drives, an optical drive and all the drivers needed to get this thing running slow. Then comes the tweaking.
Fun stuff for a guy who does this sort of thing for a living. I just hate working on my own computer. It really sucks.
My old system was severely under-powered by today's standards. It ran Windows 7 and only had 2 gigs of RAM. This will run Windows 7, as well, but has 4 gigs of RAM. Furthermore, the old system was a dual core processor while the new one is a Quad core chip.
Now, I know it sounds like it's all shits and giggles. But I had tweaked my old system to run like a modern computer. It was blazing fast for what it was. The trouble is that I now feel compelled to do the same to this one. That means that I will be working on it for the next two weeks, tweaking and adjusting it so it runs like a modern gaming computer. Albeit with a severely under-powered video card.
In another hour or so I will be installing a video card, a sound card, 6 hard drives, an optical drive and all the drivers needed to get this thing running slow. Then comes the tweaking.
Fun stuff for a guy who does this sort of thing for a living. I just hate working on my own computer. It really sucks.
November 27, 2013
Uh oh
This year for Thanksgiving: A wood cooked London Broil marinated overnight in a salt/brown sugar brine, cooked five minutes on each side and then laid aside the heat in my smoker for ten more minutes. Add a roastin' ear and some football and I will be out like a light.
Will I have my hand down my pants like an old geeser? No. I will have both hands down my pants like an old geeser who doesn't give a damn.
Am I an old geeser? That depends on your age, not mine.
Now, get the Hell off of my lawn!
Will I have my hand down my pants like an old geeser? No. I will have both hands down my pants like an old geeser who doesn't give a damn.
Am I an old geeser? That depends on your age, not mine.
Now, get the Hell off of my lawn!
November 17, 2013
Beef Jerky
It is an odd little treat; dried meat, salted and seasoned, sometimes heavily, sometimes not so heavily and sometimes not at all. Whether seasoned or not, it is highly addictive. We all enjoy it. Some are picky about theirs, though. Some like theirs with a hint of smoke, while others prefer it salty. Still, some prefer it a bit sweet; seasoned with teryaky, perhaps. I don't like my foods to be seasoned with teriaki or other words I can't spell.
But what is it really? Well, it's a tender piece of beef dried into a scab that weighs no more than a pack of cigarettes. I don't like when people smoke cigarettes when I am eating. They smell bad and make everything and everyone around them smell bad. Yet I enjoy a hint of smoke in my beef jerky. How odd.
When at last we have that moment...that moment to sit back and enjoy a cool drink with a large piece of jerky, we enjoy it to its fullest. When this moment comes, we stretch out our legs and propose deliciousness to our mouths. Our mouth waters at the indecent proposal, much like Robert Redford when he was hot for Demi Moore - but I'm not talking about eating her (smoked or otherwise).
Some of us chew it slowly, enjoying the full taste of the jerky. Some chew it quickly. Others...well, others like to chew it into a mash of saliva and dried beef, sucking the resulting saliva and beef tea from the mash as if it were edible chewing tobacco. Be careful not to get the two confused because tobacco juice will make you throw up.
In the end, the jerky is gone. It has passed its temporary home within our mouths to settle within our digestive tract. But it is not lost to us. No, it is far from lost. For it is inevitable that a carbonated beverage was consumed with the jerky. It is this beverage that allows us, and others, to savor the memory of our prized jerky. It does so in fits and bursts, sometimes at the most inopportune time. I don't recommend it before a big first date.
When, at long last, the carbonation has subsided within our bellies we are left to wonder if we ate it too fast. "Could I have eaten it slower and made it last longer?" you are prone to asking. Yes, you could have taken it slower. You could have partaken of smaller and more delicate sized pieces. It is at this very moment when you realize your lover, this mistress of delight, has not left you. She resides, still, within the gaps between your teeth. Your tongue tells you this, as does that uncomfortable pressure between your teeth.
This is when you realize one of the world's ultimate truths: There is never a toothpick around when you need it.
But what is it really? Well, it's a tender piece of beef dried into a scab that weighs no more than a pack of cigarettes. I don't like when people smoke cigarettes when I am eating. They smell bad and make everything and everyone around them smell bad. Yet I enjoy a hint of smoke in my beef jerky. How odd.
When at last we have that moment...that moment to sit back and enjoy a cool drink with a large piece of jerky, we enjoy it to its fullest. When this moment comes, we stretch out our legs and propose deliciousness to our mouths. Our mouth waters at the indecent proposal, much like Robert Redford when he was hot for Demi Moore - but I'm not talking about eating her (smoked or otherwise).
Some of us chew it slowly, enjoying the full taste of the jerky. Some chew it quickly. Others...well, others like to chew it into a mash of saliva and dried beef, sucking the resulting saliva and beef tea from the mash as if it were edible chewing tobacco. Be careful not to get the two confused because tobacco juice will make you throw up.
In the end, the jerky is gone. It has passed its temporary home within our mouths to settle within our digestive tract. But it is not lost to us. No, it is far from lost. For it is inevitable that a carbonated beverage was consumed with the jerky. It is this beverage that allows us, and others, to savor the memory of our prized jerky. It does so in fits and bursts, sometimes at the most inopportune time. I don't recommend it before a big first date.
When, at long last, the carbonation has subsided within our bellies we are left to wonder if we ate it too fast. "Could I have eaten it slower and made it last longer?" you are prone to asking. Yes, you could have taken it slower. You could have partaken of smaller and more delicate sized pieces. It is at this very moment when you realize your lover, this mistress of delight, has not left you. She resides, still, within the gaps between your teeth. Your tongue tells you this, as does that uncomfortable pressure between your teeth.
This is when you realize one of the world's ultimate truths: There is never a toothpick around when you need it.
