Rival Gates's Blog, page 76

Ice, Ice Evil

Have you ever had a song stuck in your head? I’m pretty sure everyone could say yes to that one. Sometimes you get songs stuck in there that are new and just get played into the ground. For example, Katy Perry’s “Roar” is on all the time. It was ok the first few hundred times I heard it but it is everywhere. A little while ago, Fun had a huge hit with “We are Young”. That one was stuck in my cranium for quite a while. A couple years ago my kids were really into a song called “Fireflies”. That one became annoying really fast. Some are good songs but are overplayed. Others are just bad songs with a lot of money behind them. That combination never ends well. Take for example, ANY SONG BY MILEY CYRUS. There's just too much money behind bad songs. Take for example M.C. Hammer’s “U Can’t Touch This.” Other songs just happen to be the song that came on the radio when your alarm went off or the last song on your car radio before you turn off the car. I went through a week with “Hey Jude” from the Beatles because of that. Another time I was going to work and the last song I heard was “Margaritaville” by Jimmy Buffet. Needless to say, I didn’t get much done that day. Songs getting stuck can sometimes help. I was in a bad mood one day and heard, “Everything’s Gonna Be Alright” by Bob Marley. It is nearly impossible to be in a bad mood when you hear that song. I highly suggest it as a remedy. For every good song, however, there are usually a few bad ones. In my life there has been one song that could get stuck in my head and not leave for days or even weeks. I do not even need to hear it. If someone just goes, “Ding-ding-ding-da-da-ding-ding. Da-ding-ding-ding-da-da-ding-ding”, BAM! Vanilla Ice’s “Ice, Ice Baby” is stuck in there. I try to think of other songs or other things but it is no use. That riff just keeps playing in my head. It is evil. Queen and David Bowie sure knew what they were doing when they made the piece the Ice Man ripped off. As I said at the start of this blog, I think everyone can relate to the situation. When it happens I just turn to the Classic Rock station and my problems eventually go away. What are some songs that have become ingrained in your brain?

Time Travel

I love science fiction. There is something about a good science fiction story that captivates me. As with all genres there are staples. One of the common themes in Science fiction is time travel. I thought to myself today, “What would I do if I could travel back in time? I could make Archduke Ferdinand’s driver take a different street through Sarajevo. He would not have been assassinated and the First World War would never have been fought, right? Maybe not. Maybe another assassin would have killed him later in the day. I would have changed next to nothing. What came out of the war? The United States geared up their industry to fuel the roaring 20s and earned superpower status for their efforts in the war. Without the war, the USA would have been left behind the great powers of Germany, Britain and France. Chemical weapons would not have been banned. Democracy would not have taken route in the whole of Europe. Emperors would have continued to rule. The Russians would not have revolted and there would still be Czars. Communism would either have not taken root or else done so elsewhere. What if I went back to 1923 and gave Hitler a nudge during his Beer Hall Putsch and the bullet that hit him actually killed him? No Hitler would mean no Second World War, right? Maybe not. What if someone else in the Nazi party was equally as dominant but never had the chance to shine in Hitler’s shadow. Could that person have done the same things? I wonder. Perhaps the war would have come earlier or later. That much tension would have boiled over eventually. If it didn’t, would the Great Depression would have lasted longer without the war to bring its end? Think of all the inventions that came out of the war. There were weapons like the atomic bomb and the jet fighter. Then there were the first rockets that led to the space race years later. Penicillin was produced in large quantities and later made available to the public. That was a huge change right there. Even fabrics like nylon were invented to make parachutes in place of silk. Synthetic rubber was created for tires and even Silly Putty in a failed attempt to create it. The smallest changes could have made the most profound effects. Then I looked at my world. If I chose a different college I never would have met my wife and our children would never have been born. If I had taken a different major, perhaps I would have lost my will to write. (Doubtful) If I had taken one job instead of another, I might be in a totally different field. When all is said and done I have an answer. If I could go back in time I would remember to buy my wife flowers on our anniversary this year. I did the dinner and the gift but forgot the flowers. She’ll never admit it but I disappointed her. For that I am sorry. She is the person always in my corner and I forgot such a simple thing that hurt so badly. She deserves every flower I can find. That is the thing I would change.

Advertisers...Ugh!

An advertising executive once told me that you could tell the target demographic of a television show by the commercials shown during the broadcast. I have spent some time notating commercials and it’s amazing what I noticed. If I am watching the local news, I see ads for local car dealers, fast food, pizza and local stores. Clearly they are aiming for the people who just came home from work. When I watch the national news I see ads for investments, new medicines (with hundreds of side effects), luxury cars and vacation resorts. Apparently, the people watching the nightly news are more affluent, have health problems and need to vacation in order to relieve stress. Soap operas and reality television were remarkably similar. They both showed ads for cleaning products, medications specifically targeted to females, processed foods (soup, side dishes, and entrees), makeup, and personal hygiene products. Clearly advertisers see the demographic as women and particularly housewives. If I watch a football game, on the other hand, things are very different. Again I see the ads for investment companies, life insurance, national truck commercials, erectile dysfunction, high cholesterol medications, and some medicines where they never really tell you what they’re for but the person is playing on the beach by the end, pizza, fast food, bars or restaurants and beer. Apparently only sick men who overindulge in food and alcohol watch football. If you watch a mainstream detective or police show you see jewelry ads, lingerie ads, and sales for national stores. This is a tricky one. Are they aiming at men who are shopping for the women in their lives? Or could it be that they are aiming for women who know their men will never actually buy those things and will need to buy them for themselves. I think it’s option number three. Men and women are watching the show and the men are being told “Dude, if you REALLY love her you’ll buy her these things. And if you do, she is going to be REALLY GRATEFULL.” The women are being told, “If he didn’t get all your hints about what to buy you, here’s a refresher even he can understand.” If you watch a Discovery Channel show or anything like History you will see retirement investment adds, “cannot be turned down” life insurance ads, coin collector ads, medications for seniors and medical or home invasion alert commercials. Apparently advertisers think no one under the age of 50 watches these shows. At the other end of the spectrum, if you watch a cartoon or youth program (not Disney…as I said in another blog, they only advertise about themselves) you see toy ads, candy ads and “As Seen on TV” type ads. I could go on but I think you get the point. Advertisers are expecting and betting that those demographics are watching those shows. They actually create the demographics! It’s really sad that they think everyone just fits into a nice neat little bar on a graph. Clearly I have watched all of those shows for one reason or another and most of those ads have nothing to do with me. Am I alone in feeling odd when they are talking about products and services I have absolutely no use for? I am an individual and feel offended that a small group of marketing executives have created stereotypes into which we are all supposed to fall. I think they missed the mark.

Today's Visit

Today I had the honor of visiting Ms. Christine Carroll’s 10th grade English class at Millard North High School. The students were bright and alert. It amazed me how self-confident they were and the excellent questions they asked. One of the students had even read the prologue for my book and drawn out a picture of one of the characters on the computer. She brought it to the class and I was highly impressed. This girl is going places! One of the questions that were posed to me by both classes I lectured was, “Do you ever have writer’s block?” I answered that I don’t in the conventional sense because I always know what I am going to write before I sit down. You see, I work out my writing ahead of time in my mind. I storyboard it sometimes on paper or in my head so that conversations and events flow in a logical sequence. Do I ever get struck? Sure I do. With me, though, the problem is more transitional. “Ok. I’m here in the story. I need to get to there. What do I do to fill that void? How can I bridge that gap? Sometimes I do some character development and other times I like to use comic relief. Even in an action/adventure like “Quest for the Red Sapphire” you need to have comic relief. Imagine a story with no breaks in the action or suspense. You just can’t keep a reader walking the razor’s edge like that for very long. It’s exhausting for the reader and it’s hard on the writer. There need to be breaks when the reader can breathe easier. Humor is a wonderful way to give that break and add a little levity to the serious storyline. That’s not to say that you need to write a stand-up routine but something light and frothy can make it a more enjoyable book for everyone involved. Another question I was asked was, “Do I draw on my own experiences for my writing?” The answer was “Absolutely yes!” When one is creating characters the best place to look for inspiration is from people or situations we know. How many singers have written songs about heartbreak? Some of them have made their name just by doing that. You can bet they experienced those emotions at some point in order to write the song. It is no different as a book writer. It is the experience you have that inspires you to write. No matter how imaginative the story is, there will always be some real life inspiration behind it. The group today was alert and intelligent. I was deeply honored to have the chance to visit with them. KEEP ON READING

Today's Visit

Today I had the honor of visiting Ms. Christine Carroll’s 10th grade English class at Millard North High School. The students were bright and alert. It amazed me how self-confident they were and the excellent questions they asked. One of the students had even read the prologue for my book and drawn out a picture of one of the characters on the computer. She brought it to the class and I was highly impressed. This girl is going places! One of the questions that were posed to me by both classes I lectured was, “Do you ever have writer’s block?” I answered that I don’t in the conventional sense because I always know what I am going to write before I sit down. You see, I work out my writing ahead of time in my mind. I storyboard it sometimes on paper or in my head so that conversations and events flow in a logical sequence. Do I ever get struck? Sure I do. With me, though, the problem is more transitional. “Ok. I’m here in the story. I need to get to there. What do I do to fill that void? How can I bridge that gap? Sometimes I do some character development and other times I like to use comic relief. Even in an action/adventure like “Quest for the Red Sapphire” you need to have comic relief. Imagine a story with no breaks in the action or suspense. You just can’t keep a reader walking the razor’s edge like that for very long. It’s exhausting for the reader and it’s hard on the writer. There need to be breaks when the reader can breathe easier. Humor is a wonderful way to give that break and add a little levity to the serious storyline. That’s not to say that you need to write a stand-up routine but something light and frothy can make it a more enjoyable book for everyone involved. Another question I was asked was, “Do I draw on my own experiences for my writing?” The answer was “Absolutely yes!” When one is creating characters the best place to look for inspiration is from people or situations we know. How many singers have written songs about heartbreak? Some of them have made their name just by doing that. You can bet they experienced those emotions at some point in order to write the song. It is no different as a book writer. It is the experience you have that inspires you to write. No matter how imaginative the story is, there will always be some real life inspiration behind it. The group today was alert and intelligent. I was deeply honored to have the chance to visit with them. KEEP ON READING

Class Visit Tomorrow

Tomorrow I have the honor of visiting Christine Carroll’s 10th grade English class at Millard North High School and talking to them about my writing. It is exciting to exchange ideas with young adults. I look forward to the opportunity!

Here It Comes

I was out today running errands. When I returned to my car after one stop I buckled my seat belt and turned the key in the ignition. The car started right up. Instead of seeing the digital odometer on the display, I saw a different message. It was a message I had been dreading but tried to convince myself I would not see it for a while yet. It read, “ICEY CONDITIONS POSSIBLE. DRIVE CAREFULLY.” Really? Already? We just had Halloween. How can it be cold enough for that message to come on? Sure enough; I looked at the temperature gauge for outside and it read 28 degrees. Then a modest little snowflake glanced over my windshield on the edge of a frigid north wind. It did not stay long as it must have had others to tell its blustery news. I was instantly disheartened. Sure, it’s just one snowflake now and one cold afternoon. But I know what is coming. Soon there will be a “dusting” of snow on the driveway in the morning. Then you will go out to your car at the end of the day and have that half-inch of accumulation that has caught on the wiper blades and invited its friends to join it there. No big deal, right? Wrong! Next come the ice storms when your car and everything around are incased with ice. You cannot walk across a parking lot without slipping around. Workers start throwing salt on the sidewalks like grass seed on a lawn in the spring. You reach your car and find out it is entombed in ice and the doors are incapable of opening. (Remote car starters are a lifesaver at times like this. If all else fails, you can usually climb in through the trunk.) Forget the four wheel or all-wheel drive. This is ice you are dealing with and it is uncaring about such things. All you can do is pick the route home with the fewest hills and remember your winter driving lessons. Snow in and of itself is a wonderful thing. It is wonderful, that is, to look at through a window. Driving in it is the next phase of winter. The first accumulations are usually light and easily driven through. Soon come the snowstorms when you must go out. THEN it is nice to have the four wheel or all-wheel drive. The roads never seem to be plowed until you shovel your driveway and then the plow pushes new snow into the end of it, preventing your coming or going. And all of this started with a warning display on the dashboard and one flake of snow. It is no wonder Florida was created.

The Antagonist

Yesterday I talked about the protagonist (Linvin Grithinshield) in “Quest for the Red Sapphire” and today I would like to say a few words about the antagonist. The book has more than one but they are not all known. Two clear and dominant antagonists are Linvin’s cousins, Bander and Rander Greenlith. Rander is the brain of the duo. Bander provides the muscle. They detest Linvin for numerous reasons. The first of those reasons is that Linvin is only a half-elf and not entirely of the Elf race. With a general mistrust and loathing of humans as a whole, Linvin is an abomination to his cousins. The major reason they resent Linvin, however, is because they envy him. Linvin is bigger and stronger than either of his fraternal twin cousins. He is also stronger and far better educated. His parents were rich while the twins were raised in poverty. Linvin is celebrated as a great warrior, tactician and leader. Those qualities are totally absent from the twins’ characters. Deep down they yearn for all that Linvin is and has but will not admit such a vice; so they disguise their hatred in racist remarks and actions. They are the obvious antagonists. Then there are the not so obvious ones. Linvin’s father is missing under suspicious circumstances and his mother is poisoned. It all leads back to artifacts Dirk Grithinshield (Linvin’s Father) collected for his son’s quest and the fact that someone else knows of the Red Sapphire and covets its power. Assassins are revealed in the book and are identified only in shadow and called by numbers. They are the tool of the true antagonist who has not yet been revealed. What can be determined about Linvin’s faceless enemy? The person has immense power and money. They hold to no code of honor and will therefore sink to any level in order to obtain the magical gem first. The antagonist is someone who views Linvin as an obstacle in his path rather than an equal adversary. How can Linvin fight an enemy he cannot see or find? How can he succeed in his quest if the odds are stacked so strongly against him? That is the beauty of storytelling. You must read the story to find the answers!

Linvin's Shortcomings

It’s been a while since I blogged about my book, “Quest for the Red Sapphire” and I thought I would mention something for those new to the blog. A fan asked me the other day about the main obstacle the protagonist, Linvin Grithinshield has to overcome. There are many combative situations in the book that are challenging for Linvin. He fights everything from man eating wolves to a dragon. The real conflicts he must overcome, however, are his own shortcomings. Linvin has been a warrior and general for many years. After countless battles and rivers of blood, he is disgusted with the person he has had to become in order to do his job. He has hallucinations about goblin blood clinging to his hands and has nightmares about fighting for his life. The last thing he wants to do is take up a quest into one of the most dangerous places in the world and fight his way through. When the idea is proposed he resists until he discovers that assassins are coming for him. He will never see them coming and must go on the quest to avoid the fate of his late parents. Linvin refuses to take a sword with him because of his apprehension. It is a decision he will regret. Once on the quest it becomes clear that he has another flaw to overcome. Linvin had been drilled to train and plan for battle. His schooling left him with little tolerance for those unprepared or who question his leadership. To be blunt, he has a short fuse for those who cannot see the big picture or challenge him. Enter his fraternal twin cousins, Bander and Rander. They are constantly getting under his skin and causing outbursts from Linvin. There is no question that the duo is annoying and makes you want to throttle them. If Linvin is to prove himself worthy of the Red Sapphire, however, he must overcome these weaknesses and grow as a person. The book is a wild ride for the former general.

All Hail The DVR

I watched a program on the 101 greatest inventions of all time. The I Phone was number one. I have no problem with the device but I would personally have placed air conditioning higher than 13th. Then again, what do I know? It made me think about some of the things about which I ask myself, “How did I live before I had this?” Amazingly the first thing that came to mind was the DVR. How DID we survive before the DVR? We used to use the VCR and have tapes used strictly for taping shows we couldn’t watch. Half the time, the show didn’t tape right. The other half, it always seemed to start after the start of the show or end before the end of the show. It was better than fighting over the remote but still a flawed system. Now when my wife wants to watch a show and I want to as well, we can just DVR one and watch the other. If we go out to dinner, there’s no worry about missing our show or the VCR recording it right. The DVR catches it. How about those shows you used to love but now only come on at 3AM on an oddball channel? No problem. While I doze, my DVR is blissfully recording my show. When the big game is on and I am working…you guessed it. The DVR catches it all in high definition. While it is true that it shouldn’t be somewhere on the list around where antibiotics are, I figure if an I Phone is number one, can’t this be on the list?