S.K. Nicholls's Blog, page 31
November 13, 2014
Barely Wet
I am going to die on this boat.
We live in Central Florida, almost directly in the center of the state. One of the reasons we wanted a trailerable boat is that we like to go to the west coast on the Gulf and the east coast on the intracoastal waterways, the rivers and lagoons that separate the barrier islands from the mainland. We bought a hybrid boat just for that reason.
A hybrid boat has a modified V-hull. It is good for pleasure riding and fishing. The bottom of the boat is not flat like the lowland fishing boats. In that way, you can take it out in rough waters without getting beat to death. It is not a full-V either. In that way, you can get it into the shallow areas where some of the best fishing takes place.
The draft of the boat is a measure of how deeply the boat sits in the water. Our last boat was 36 feet, full V, and had a draft of nearly 3 feet. We test drove some boats that had a draft of less than 10 inches, but in mildly choppy water your fillings rattled in your head and back and neck surgery would be inevitable from the pounding.
The Coastal 231 solves those problems. It has a draft of only 14 inches and a modified V-hull that smoothly glides over the waves and choppy waters.
The Rocket Scientist has owned a boat since the age of sixteen, so boating is something deeply ingrained. He lived for 12 years on Siesta Key, Fl, and spent 2 years on a treasure hunting boat in the Caribbean. He has had everything from kayaks to cabin cruisers. He could not wait to get this boat wet so we took it over to the intracoastal waterways to put in at Indian River Lagoon on the east coast.
Something you need to know about the east coast: Mosquito Lagoon is barely navigable because it is so shallow. Most people pole small boats through that lagoon or use a small trolling motor. The fishing there and in the Indian River Lagoon that is connected by a canal is some of the best in the world. Indian River Lagoon has some deep channels but the average water depth is 4 feet. The lagoon runs south into the Indian River and opens into Sebastian Inlet from the Atlantic and some seriously deep water.
The locals, mostly rednecks and Hispanics that live around Bithlo and the country villages between Orlando and the intracosatals, don’t like the city boys coming out to fish their holes.
We pulled up to the boat ramp at Parrish Park and there was a group of Hispanics putting their boat in at one ramp and a couple of rednecks putting their boat in at another ramp. We backed toward the third ramp. I got out of the truck and into our boat to back it off the trailer and the Rocket Scientist did the driving down the ramp. All the while, these guys were jawing.
“In Puerto Rico we called them pescado de la ciudad…city fish!”
“We call them jerks,” came the redneck’s reply.
My husband backed the boat down into the water, got out of the truck and quietly went about his business while I cranked up the engine and backed the boat over to the dock. I killed the engine, got off and we tied up the boat. There were insults and jeers coming from the fishermen as my husband went to park the trailer. The group of fishermen continued their exchange and I was feeling uncomfortable when the rocket scientist came back.
Redneck #1: “I don’t understand why these city boys think they’re gonna move in here and catch fish just because they have these big ass shiny new boats.”
Redneck# 2 : “This is one place where bigger ain’t better.”
The Hispanic group boarded their small flat craft and motored away into the darkness of the early morning.
Redneck #1: “Y’all gonna be stuck before the sun rises.” He tossed his fishing gear into his little flat bottom boat.
Redneck #2: “Hope y’all got some poles on that monster to push off the sandbars,” he mocked, spitting tobacco juice into the water.
The rocket scientist smiled. He stepped aboard our new boat and quietly went about checking out the new depth finder.
Redneck#1 “Plannin’ to fish the deep holes?”
Rocket Scientist: “Nah, yo girlfriend ain’t here.”
I froze.
I am going to die on this boat. *sigh*
Name we decided on for new boat!
Filed under: Boating and Fishing Tagged: Boating, breaking her in, city fish, Fishing, Indian River Lagoon, locals, maiden voyage, making friends, Rednecks, Trouble
November 12, 2014
Path of a Bullet – Put some Ike under your tree this Christmas!
If you haven’t met Ike, Tim Baker’s main character, Path of a Bullet, a collection of short stories that tell what Ike has been up to all year and includes some feature stories by other authors as well, is a great way to get to know him. Tim Baker has seven books out and they are all great!
Originally posted on Books: Publishing, Reading, Writing:
I am so pleased, and proud, and downright giddy, that a story I’ve written is being included in the new anthology, Path of a Bullet, A Collection of Short Stories Featuring Ike that Tim Baker has put together for release on Dec. 1 as an eBook and in print.
I don’t mind telling you, I’ve fallen in love with Ike, Tim’s main fictional character, since I first discovered the novels in 2013. Tim began writing short stories featuring Ike late last year, and when he put out a call for stories written by friends and readers, I just had to write one. I went with fan fiction, and have taken Ike for a visit to my own milieu. I tried to make Bequia Blues as much an homage to both Ike and Tim as I could, and those in the know will recognize many of Tim’s other characters, colleagues, friends…
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November 11, 2014
Wild Concept by C. S. Boyack
A review of a book I have on my TBR list by C.S. Boyack
Originally posted on My train of thoughts on...:
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Plot
(by Amazon)
Lisa Burton is a new kind of robot. Built in the concept lab, she will be dismantled at the end of the experiment.
Lisa is a bit naive when she starts her new life, but soon learns to fit into modern society.
She gets assigned to the Hudson Police Department to study how she reacts to pressure, stress, and the everyday world. Hudson PD assigns her to a homicide case to catch the Escort Executioner.
When the escorts start showing up dismembered, she decides not to conclude her own experiment. She takes off on her own adventure to turn the tables on her creators.
Genre(s): Urban Science Fiction [this is my (Karen's) invention, derived from the categorisation 'Urban Fantasy']
Length: 296 pages
Teaser
“…I have a reward for you. When we get home, you’re going to get a…
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It’s Here! Changelings: Into the Mist
The long awaited Changelings: Into the Mist By Katie Sullivan is now here!
Originally posted on The D/A Dialogues:
Changelings. They were the descendants of Man and Fae. They walked between worlds – as healers, mystics, even kings – but no more. He thought he was the last, alone and lost, until the day he saw them.
Irish teens Maureen O’Malley and Sean McAndrew are lost in time. To find a way home, they must curry favor with pirates, dodge a revolution, and defy a king out of Ireland’s deepest legends.
They are Changelings, and they have magic in their blood – magic, which will rekindle a centuries-old war that threatens to tear the very fabric of time.
Pirates and rebels and myths, oh my!
Changelings: Into the Mist is the first book in the exciting Changelings series, and it is available in print and digital from Amazon today!
D: And it’s about bloody time.
A: Excuse me?
D: A year-and-a-half you’ve been telling people about my book!
A:…
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November 10, 2014
American English, Language Corruption, and Authenticity
American English. What’s that?
Although it was many years ago, I can recall my mother correcting my grammar. Ain’t was not a word that was tolerated, even though I heard it all around me growing up in the Deep South. Them was, rather than those were, he done gone, rather than he has gone. All around me were horrible corruptions of the English language. There were many other words and phrases that I mispronounced and she was quick to correct.
Mama did a good job. All through junior high and high school, I was commended for being so very articulate. English teachers used me as an example and encouraged me to write. My papers always received good grades. After school, when my sister and step-sister were practicing for drill team and playing in the band, I was sitting in the back of the library reviewing all of the National Geographic magazines from 1875 to 1972, and reading the classics.
When I went to college, again, my English lit professors and composition professors were impressed. That’s not saying so much though. You have to remain aware of where I was coming from. People in the Deep South have always had their own way of speaking and I am not simply talking about dialect. We had our own words for things. Many of these words came from colonial English.
We wore britches instead of pants or trousers. Under those, we had our bloomers on. And phrases; we did not come inside, we had to get inside. We did not have our breakfast on the plate we had it in the plate, and we sat in the floor, not on the floor.
This was the language I was surrounded by for twenty years before college.
My human anatomy and physiology professor, Dr. William Birkhead, got me good one day. He came out to our farm and tagged rat snakes in our chicken house to see if they homed in to a food source or homed in to mate. When he was out on the farm, he spoke like all the other country folk around. He seemed like one of us.
Then there was the language he used in the classroom. It was much different. When tests were over, we always reviewed the answers in class. One of our questions was to name the five main functions of skin. I thought I had them all correct, but he marked one wrong and I could not understand why.
1.Maintains the body’s integument.
2.Regulates body temperature and maintains homeostasis.
3.Eliminates wastes
4.Produces vitamin D.
5.Gathers information about its environment. (sensory)
My first answer was, “Holds the innards inside.”
Seriously…”innards”
I was the laughing stock of the class. My uneducated, farm girl, southern roots were showing.
Often, when I am writing my regional character’s dialogue, I allow them to slip back into these old countrified, southern roots. Even today, living in the city, the lousy use of the English language is all around me, mixed with Spanglish, Creole and Patois. This corruption is everywhere. No one I know speaks formal English.
When I am writing a character that is southern or influenced by the corruption, it can come across that the writer doesn’t understand the correct use of language. I have to be ultra-careful to keep the narrative correct, else it comes across that the writer doesn’t understand proper use of the language. It appears to be bad writing.
American English is constantly evolving. I want my regional southern fiction to come across as authentic. There is a very fine line between permitting a regional colloquialism to stand in a manuscript and writing poorly. I have to remind myself that it is the perception of the reader that is critical, not the perception of the writer.
Do you use strictly formal English in writing?
Do you encounter colloquialisms that influence your work or writing style?
When you run across a local colloquialism in reading, does it throw you a curve and jerk you out of the story?
Filed under: Writing Process/WIPs Tagged: Americanized English, authenticity, colloquialisms, evolving language, formal English, language corruption, spoken English
Goodreads Giveaway – 3 copies of Island in the Clouds!
Originally posted on Books: Publishing, Reading, Writing:
I decided to run one more Goodreads Giveaway in 2014 for 3 print copies of my novel, Island in the Clouds, but this time Members must live in the following countries: Belgium, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, India, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Qatar, Spain or Switzerland. If you are a resident of, or have friends who reside in, these countries, please enter, or tell your friends about, this contest for a chance to win one of three copies! Giveaway runs from Nov. 10-27.
(Island in the Clouds is also available as an eBook.)
Goodreads Book Giveaway
Island in the Clouds
by Susan M. Toy
Giveaway ends November 27, 2014.
See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.
Filed under: Uncategorized
November 6, 2014
Sign up early for Read Tuesday
CALLING ALL AUTHORS! Here is a great opportunity for distinctive promotion in a yearly event, Read Tuesday, like Black Friday, but it is all about books! Reserve your space today!
Originally posted on ReadTuesday:
SIGN UP SOON
I wish I could say more, but I don’t yet have permission to describe what is brewing.
Read Tuesday is a Black Friday type of event just for books on December 9, 2014. We’re building on last year’s success. It’s a FREE promotional opportunity for authors.
I’m working to promote the event. Participating authors and books have the opportunity to be considered for possible enhanced exposure through these promotions.
One or more very B-I-G companies are interested in helping to promote or feature select Read Tuesday books or authors.
This could be very B-I-G exposure for you or your book(s).
If this goes through, only those authors and books that are already signed up will receive consideration.
So there may be an advantage to signing up at least one book soon.
The last question on the Google Docs form asks for your email address in case I…
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November 5, 2014
Instant or Delayed Gratification?
How are you with delayed gratification? When I was in nursing school, I would study so hard to make good grades, but sometimes, even though the grades were good, family matters and personal issues would result in me having to withdraw and wait a year to pick up the course again as everything was in sequence for the nursing program.
I really wanted to see my family’s standard of living improve, so I stuck with it and endured to the end, but it wasn’t easy. It took me eleven years to get a four year degree.
Nobody says writing, publishing and marketing a book is easy. It takes months, even years, to write and prepare a novel, publish, and even more months and years to effectively market, unless you already have a fan base built up.
Do not be discouraged. If you really want to see your books sell, it will happen.
When things seem to slow down, and progress seems too far away, I sometimes need to step outside of the task at hand do something that gives me a sense if instant gratification. I make jewelry, bead necklaces, bracelets, and earrings. Unlike my writing, hours later I have a completed project in my hands. It is that feeling of completion with something tangible to show for it that helps me along.
If you are one of us writers who needs instant gratification, knit, crochet, bead, paint, draw…find something that will give you instant gratification to balance out that feeling that your writing project is an eternity away from completion. Or find some way to reward yourself for smaller accomplishments along the way…a weekend spent camping in exchange for a weekend of writing, a Sunday drive along the coast for a week of writing, a video game for every fifteen hundred words.
Then go back and write!
Don’t give up!
Find your balance.
Filed under: Healthy Lifestyle, Spirituality, Writing Process/WIPs Tagged: avoiding burnout, balance, Delayed gratification, instant gratification, writing process 
November 4, 2014
Please sign up to appear on the Read Tuesday Meet-the-Author page
Originally posted on ReadTuesday:
READ TUESDAY AUTHORS
Authors can now sign up to appear on the Read Tuesday author page.
This year, we’ll post the author pictures and information on a Meet the Authors page on the Read Tuesday website. (We might also link these images to Pinterest, but that’s still up in the air. We’ll definitely post them on Read Tuesday.)
In addition to images, you’ll be able to provide a little other information, like a brief description.
After your name, a question asks you to say something short and witty, but really you can write anything (appropriate for a general audience) you want about yourself or your books in this space. Don’t sweat it. :-)
First complete (at least) one other form to sign up (at least) one of your books, and then you can fill out the form to appear on the author page.
EARLY BIRDS
As soon as we have…
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Writing and a New Adventure
Today marks a year since I wrote the first words in Naked Alliances. It has been through a dozen beta reads and I’m not finished editing. It isn’t ready for publication and I’m not sure it ever will be. I have a couple more stories in my head for Richard and Brandi and I plan to work on those.
I have another project in Surviving Sister. That one is a really slow go. I write on it in bursts and then draw a blank for weeks, then go back and add more. I’m not sure where or how it is going to end. It is a linear write and I’m taking it as it comes.
We bought a new boat. I’m excited about it, but not nearly as excited as the rocket scientist. He has owned a boat since age sixteen, but has never owned a brand new one. I’m hoping he’s got one he can just tinker on upgrading and not spend hours and hours making repairs. I’m looking forward to going coastal and collecting stories.
This is a 2015 Nautic Star 231 Coastal and we have named her “Nauti Dreams.” We were naughty to buy her before selling the old boat, but we do have a few interested parties in the old one so say a prayer, keep your fingers crossed, and let’s hope for the best. The new boat is both a pleasure boat and a fishing boat. We got the T-top in black and tan.
We pick up the boat Friday and get to take her out for a test run on Lake Harris at the dealership. We plan to bring her home and get her equipped for a coastal voyage. The rocket scientist has some vacation saved up and we’re going to dance her from marina to marina for a few weeks. That should be fun. We will be on tour back behind Sanibel and Pine Island around Ft. Myers.
There are some stories in this adventure, I’m sure, and other adventures in front of us. We got her for $16,000 less than MSRP, so that was a good start. This is a nice trailerable boat, so we can go east or west with no problems. Take a look:
Filed under: Fascinating Florida, Healthy Lifestyle, Writing Process/WIPs Tagged: adventure, boat, going coastal, Naked Alliances, Nauti Dreams, New Stories, Surviving Sister, writing progress
