Rival Gates's Blog, page 79

It Had to Happen

It was bound to happen. I thought maybe I would avoid it, but the situation became dire. In spite of my best efforts to prevent it…I have joined Twitter! It finally reached the point where I had to do it. Now I just need to learn more about it. At my joining the screen said it was simple. Just pick five people to follow. After that it said to pick five more people. Well why didn’t it just say to pick ten in the first place? I felt weird. “I don’t know these people”, I thought. “Will they mind me following them?” “I feel like I’m invading their privacy.” Then my blunt wife explained to me that anything someone writes on Twitter is meant to be seen by everyone. So…as I understand it…Twitter is like a diary everyone reads. Ok. I think I understand now. Then I thought, “What do you say to one of your heroes or idols?” These aren’t people you just ask, “How’s the weather there?” Or maybe, “What do you like to do in your spare time?” I don’t want to sound like a stalker. Then again, maybe I’m supposed to ask those things. Comment on this blog and let me know. Then the strangest thing happened. I received notifications of people following ME! Whoa! What do I say to them? Least of my problems are I tend to be wordy and you only have so much room in a tweet. Then I look at the Tweets on TV that people post. It seems there’s some sort of Tweet language that I do not speak. Some of the Tweets I see are ones I just stare at in confusion. What is the Tweet language? Is there someplace to learn it? I feel arthritis creeping up my spine as I start to age by the minute. I have no choice in the matter. I will have to consult…my children! Yes those same wonderful kids who take my smartphone and change all the settings until I can’t find anything must come to my aid. I don’t know if they teach this in school or people born after 1990 just ’know’ these things somehow. One thing about me is that I do not quit easily. I will figure this out…in time. Some of you reading this must think I’m an albatross. My only consolation is that I know people far less tech-savvy than me. With proper training, however, I feel this old dog CAN learn some new tricks. I just have to have my puppies teach me.

She was Made For Me

Well, I finally caught up to the year and opened a Twitter account. So far I can say with a certain degree of certainty that I have no idea what I’m doing. Fear not, however. It can’t be that hard to figure out. On to the main point of this blog. Yesterday was my wonderful wife’s birthday. I would like to take this opportunity to tell you about this amazing woman. She is the person who always believes in me. I could not be writing this right now if she had not backed me in my literary pursuits. She listens when I know I have told her a part of my story a thousand times but still remains interested. She is more than a wife to me. This tough-minded woman is my best friend and companion. When I need to be pumped up because I feel a little deflated, she is there. And when my head swells up too large to fit through the door, she brings me back down to earth. She is roughly nine months younger than me so I always joke with her that God made me and then said, “Hmm. I feel like I forgot something…Oh, that’s right. He’s going to need a wife who can handle him. I had better start working on that right away.” Nine months later, she arrived in the world. And so, to my rock, my foundation, and my inspiration, I wish her a Happy Birthday.

Adventures in Grocery Shopping

Today was supposed to be simple. There was a grocery list on the table with some coupons and two stores to visit without my wife. Sounds like a piece of cake, right? Wrong. It was an adventure Indiana Jones would have had trouble handling. First I went to Sam’s club and found the store arranged backward from the way I remember it last. Then I began looking for the items on the list. I needed cereal bars. Not just any cereal bars would do, but bars with just the right nutritional contents. I looked at box after box that had too much of one and not enough of the other. Then I found the right brand. Yeah! Wrong bars. Boo! I finally found the right bars but they were in a split pack with other bars that did not reach the nutrition requirements. Do I buy them anyway? They are on the list so they must be important. After all, you don’t just put things on lists for no good reason. So I put it in the cart. Then I came to the cheese. It was $7.00 just for one chunk. I figured I was going to the normal grocery store afterward and could buy it there cheaper. Next on the list was “Salad”. An entire wall was filled with bags of lettuce. Some were different types while others were blends. Some bags were big and some bags were small. How much do I get? Doesn’t it seem to go bad in like a day? I don’t want to get too much or too little. Nothing just said, “Salad”. I stalked a lady looking at the same wall while I pretended to look at my phone. Without a second thought, she picked up a bag and put it in her cart. She didn’t even break stride. I quickly took a bag of the same kind and moved on. Next the list said “Eggs”. I reached the aisle and there were mountains of eggs. There were different sizes, colors and quantities. How many do I get? What size is right? I’ve never had an egg colored anything but white so I had that part down. No one else was looking so my trick wouldn’t work this time. I passed in favor of the supermarket. After checking out my bill at Sam’s was over $200.00, and I still needed to go grocery shopping! So I went to the other store and tried to finish the list. First up was the cheese. It was $7.69 for a smaller chunk than at Sam’s. I thought about it but I was not going back. Begrudgingly, I put the cheese in the cart. Then I blindly picked a dozen eggs that were not broken. Then I needed vitamins with just the right nutrients. Something that would have taken my wife two seconds had me crawling on the tile reading the back of the bottles. I was there so long, one of the managers pretended to straighten the shelves nearby just to make sure I wasn’t stealing. I finally asked for help at the pharmacy counter. They sent a fellow out and he asked, “Did you try reading the back of the bottles?” I just smiled and gestured to the shelves for him to look. He took longer to look than me. Finally he found one for children (I think I needed ones for adults) but he said adults could take them too. I didn’t even look at the price and placed them in the cart. Overall, I spent nearly the entire day shopping and still left items off the list. After all, “Canned vegetables” can be almost anything. I have new found respect for my wife. It is a job I gladly relinquish and thank her for doing. I’m exhausted and I’m sure I bought some of the wrong merchandise.

Evil Movie Theater Candy

One of the beautiful things about writing is that sometimes it can be serious and other times whimsical. Today I give you the latter of the two forms. The topic is…Milk Duds! That’s right. That caramel and chocolate snack that has been around forever. I was in the line at the supermarket and saw them sitting in a bin. It reminded me of a story and I had to buy them. They are delicious but so is the story. Many, many years ago before I even knew my wife I went to a movie on a date. At the candy counter I ordered two sodas, a box of Jujyfruits and a box of Milk Duds. With it being a first date, I didn’t want her to see me make a mess of myself with popcorn. That would be a disaster. I thought I was so smart and had really thought this through. So we go into the movie and everything is fine. Then I opened the Jujyfruits and put about three in my mouth of some random flavors. Everything was normal and them I bit down. It was as though some industrial strength glue had stuck to my teeth! I pulled and pulled with my jaw and finally the candy released one side of my mouth. Now I had two candies stuck to the molar on the bottom of my mouth and one on the other side stuck to a top molar. Panic began to set in. I didn’t want to look odd but these things were driving me insane. My tongue tried to discreetly dislodge them but they would not move. I wanted to use my forefinger to scrape them off but that would look most undesirable in a perspective boyfriend, I presumed. Then I had an idea. Use the straw from the drink to scrape them off. I put the straw in my mouth and must have jabbed the roof of it ten times before I finally connected. Then the girl asked, “What are you doing?” I was embarrassed and instead of revealing my misery I fibbed. “I just had trouble finding my straw in the dark.” She moved the cup out of my hand to the drink holder and held my hand as we watched the movie. One side of me said in my head, “Yes! She likes me. This is a sure sign. The other side of my brain was saying, “No, I almost had one of them! Now she has hold of my cup-hand and my soda is on the other side of the seat from my free hand. How can I possibly do this?” Then things went from horrible to unthinkable. She smiled at me and opened the Milk Duds. “Here, I don’t want to eat alone. Have some.” What could I say? Could I tell her, “No thank you, I have already managed to adhere three pieces of candy permanently to my teeth?” I couldn’t go there. So I convinced myself that the Milk Duds would stick to the Jujyfruits and pull them free. (Great plan, I know). I put a couple in my mouth and discovered Jujyfruits are slippery and do not like caramel. So the Milk Duds wedged themselves between teeth and settled in for a while. It was a good thing I didn’t buy Redhots. My tongue set to work on the Milk Duds and pulled 75% of them free but the caramel had adhered to different teeth. It was a new and different pain. I felt like I needed a dentist with that scratchy probe to work them out. At last I could stand it no more and I excused myself to go to the men’s room. I moved so fast that I spilled someone’s popcorn (thank goodness for free refills or that could have been ugly). Finally I reached the bathroom and started ramming fingers into my mouth as I looked in the mirror. A guy was combing his hair and watched me for at least five minutes before he said, “First date?” I nodded sadly. He replied, “That really sucks, Dude! Next time go with licorice.”

To Live Forever

Well there’s big news on the marketing front. My publisher, Alpha Wolf Publishing is being merged with Solstice Publishing. This is kind of a big deal when you look at it in the grand scheme of things. Solstice is apparently a large company with extensive resources at their disposal. That would mean greater exposure for “Quest for the Red Sapphire” and the future sequel, “Sapphire Crucible.” Details are only just coming in so I will keep you informed. What is important is that the sky is the limit for these books and any writer would be happy with that. As you may have noticed, I have drawn on strong family memories in many of my stories and blogs. Tonight is no exception to that reference. I originally hid my writing from my father. He was an editor and his criticism on my writing was just but hard for a teenager to swallow. In hindsight he made me a better writer but his pen slashing across my papers to cross out errors or entire sections left a lasting impression. It made me hide my work or any evidence of writing. It was almost like I was doing something against the law. I wrote when he was not around and hid my book away when I was done writing for the day. Then a day came when I was working in the yard with him clearing branches and cutting wood. He asked me about what I wanted to study in college and at the time I was interested in business. (This was before I ran smack dab into Accounting 101 and changed my major to Communication). After I told him he was quiet for a while. He was not disappointed but rather was mulling over my answer. Then, out of the blue, he said the strangest thing to me. He said, “Do you know what the great thing is about being a successful writer?” I meekly responded in the negative. “The great thing about it”, he said. “Is once you are published, you live forever!” I was confused and just nodded. He elaborated. “You see, good writing lasts and stands the test of time. Look at Shakespeare. He has been gone for hundreds of years and people are still reading his plays and performing them. Look at Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. They have long since passed but their words live on.” Being a typical teenager who had a retort for everything, I said, “Yes, but those people are famous. That is the reason they live on.” He corrected me. “No, those writers were amazing and that made them famous. That in turn made them live on through the printed word forever. You see, I am hard on you because you have ability. If you work hard and harness that ability you could create something wonderful and be amazing too. And that is the beauty of being a writer.” Did he know what I was working on in my spare time? Had my mother informed him about the series I had planned? To this day he says he was in the dark about it at the time. My name may never be mentioned with those elite writers, but I can look at my work and say, “This is something I am proud to have my name printed upon. I have no regrets other than waiting so long to publish my work. To those who have sent kind words, I thank you. I am humbled by your praise. To those of you who have not read the book yet, visit http//www.Rivalgates.com and read the samples. Most people end up buying the book and enjoying it. Who knows; maybe one day I can live forever too.

If Only I Were an Artist

Back when I was in school, most kids loved art class. They saw it as a legitimate break from the rigors of academics. That is understandable. I, however, was not overly fond art class. The lone exception was in grammar school when we were allowed to bring records (vinyl) from home for the class to listen to during session. Having older brothers with record collections, I was able to bring groups like ELO, Meatloaf and the Beach Boys to name a few. The art itself never found any great place in my heart. It was not that I disliked the subject. Rather, I was, in my own words “The worst artist on Earth.” I tried clay pottery. It fell apart in the kiln. I tried sketching. My people looked like stick figures. I tried painting. The result was essentially stick figures in color. You name it, I failed doing it. Even finger-painting looked like a Rorschach ink blob. When high school came I took music instead of art to avoid the humiliation. Music was easy. I was a drummer and the teacher did not know how to tie my playing into the pieces so she would have me do drumrolls through the songs. It was an easy A. Meanwhile my friends were painting and drawing with charcoal. Their works were impressive by my standards and I wished I could be an artist. Meanwhile I was working on a short story idea of mine about a Red Sapphire. The more I worked on it, the longer it became until one day my mother said it was simply too large to be considered a short story. I asked if there was such a thing as a “Long Story.” She politely responded, “Yes, they are called novels. Abandon the idea of a fragment of a story and tell it completely.” So I reorganized my work and had a rough draft of “Quest for the Red Sapphire” written in ink when I was fifteen years old. I remarked to my mother that I wanted a real artist to do the book cover one day. She said to me, “It is fine to have a professional do the illustration but are you saying you are not a real artist?” I explained that all I did was writing. Anyone could do that. Real artist make paintings and sculptures. Then she gave me one of those quotes that has stuck with me for my entire life. “Do you not see? You paint pictures with words. You may envy painters and sculptors but do not think that what you do is any less creative. Your gift is different from theirs, but it is beautiful just the same.” There have been many dark hours when those words gave me comfort. Every one of us has different gifts that we use in different ways. Their achievements in no way detract from your own. Thanks again for the lesson, Mom!

The "Silver Spoons" curse

There’s a thunderstorm going on outside right now. That means writing on the computer is probably the last thing I should be doing. When you are a writer, however, you write when you feel the urge and that time is now. From a young age my mother taught my siblings and me to like and even enjoy thunderstorms. We lived in a house right on Lake Erie. When the storms started, we would sit on our three season porch and watch the waves slam against the break wall. The entire house shook and the lightning tore through the sky like a conductor’s baton tipped with electricity. Often the power would go out and we would rely on old kerosene lanterns so we could continue to play cards. The storm became a backdrop or sound effect. There was always a pot of tea and maybe some cookies. We actually looked for the biggest waves or debris floating in the water and cheered for them. Though the wall was only twenty feet from the house, we felt totally safe. Mom was an excellent singer who studied music in college. She would often sing us a tune as we watched the festivities. Funny how a little thunder in the Great Plains can take me back to singing at the lake. Then there was the “Silver Spoons Curse”. There was a sitcom called “Silver Spoons” that we rarely watched. During one storm my brother and I decided to watch television and it was the only thing on. Suddenly lightning struck the power lines and something in the T.V. blew. My father repaired sets as a hobby and ordered new parts to replace the burned out ones. It took months but finally the set was working again. That day a storm blew in but we were anxious to watch the T.V. So we turned it on and guess what was on? That’s right. “Silver Spoons” was coming on. Suddenly the house was zapped again and the T.V. blew for good. We determined through scientific observation that God did not like “Silver Spoons” and never watched it again. Some things simply are not meant to be.

My Digital Life in My Hands

My cell phone recently started acting up. It worked sporadically for a while and after trying all the things my carrier said to do, they exchanged the phone. When I opened the box they sent I realized that they had sent me a different phone than the one I had. Upon talking to them I was told that they did not have my old one anymore and had substituted a newer one. So far, everything is ok. I had backed up my data to this cloud thing so it would be automatically returned to me when I set up the new phone. Admittedly, I am not the most tech savvy individual. After a walk-through installation on the new phone it was up and running. Then I realized how different my new phone was. There were all these new functions I did not understand and the menus were completely different. What was most troubling was the fact that none of my data was there! At that very moment I realized my entire life was in my old phone. The pictures and video I had taken were gone. So was the history of all my texts and the phone number of everyone I knew in the world and might ever want to call. My whole life had shrunk down to some microchips and a touch display in my hand. My world stopped turning. How could I find all that data again? I have long since abandoned keeping numbers in my paper phone book. All the funny texts and information I would look up within were gone. The cute pictures of my grand-daughter…history. All the applications I had downloaded and taken for granted were suddenly gone from my memory. I could not even remember my own password for my email. It had been saved in the phone. I imagined just how long it would take to re-enter all of that data if I could even find it all again. It really hit home just how much my life revolved around that phone. It felt like I was being held hostage by my own electronic device. As I sat there staring at the phone I wondered if this had ever happened to anyone else or if I was the single lost soul in the digital world. Then I called the wireless company yet again and explained to three different people what was going on with the phone. They kept saying, “Didn’t everything come back?” If all my data had come back, why would I be calling for help? Finally a fourth person took out their own phone and walked me through the steps to retrieve my data. One minute I only had the numbers for the wireless company. The next minute, my world was restored! Not only numbers came back but the texts, pictures and video. The person even showed me a place where I could see every application that I had ever downloaded to that phone number. The next several hours were spent retrieving that information and learning the new phone. I still do not have it all down yet but the important part is, my data is in hand again. I know there are people much more proficient on their phones who might laugh at me, but it was a horrifying event. There is no way I could imagine a surgeon with someone else’s life in their hands when I came this unglued at the thought of my digital life being over. If anyone else has had a similar event, let me know.

Nations of Lavacia: Rador

Rador is the final country in Lavacia we will be looking at in detail. It is located on the east coast of the continent. Her rocky border with the Great Eastern Sea has many natural harbors. To the south they border Valia and are on congenial terms with them. The western border is the Great Eastern Forest of the Unclaimed Territory. To the north, the Mystic River moves at a slower pace as it drifts toward the sea. North of the river was a friendly kingdom that has been absorbed into the Mandrean Empire. The soil is marginal for farming in Rador. It is shallow top soil over solid stone. As a result they can grow crops of grains but nothing with deep root systems like orchards. Rador’s wealth lies at sea where they were the first to establish colonies across the waves. Trade from those lands as well as that along the coast encouraged the creation of a vast merchant fleet of ships. The harbors became towns and cities with the capital in a bay surrounded by high cliffs. Only a narrow channel allows access to the sea. It is the ideal natural port to handle anything nature conjures up to make havoc. With their natural resources limited, they have begun to look at the Unclaimed Territory with greedy eyes but know their pitiful army could never make such a bold claim and hold it against the Mandreans and Sartanians. The fact of the matter is they cannot even root out the nests of bandits in the forest who prey upon would-be travelers in the region. One thing Rador does have is a wealth of gold from her trade empire. That blessing is not lost on the Mandreans who seek more than just land in their conquests. Rador sees that it is only a matter of time before the Mandreans turn their attention south. As a result of these things, Rador has been hurriedly recruiting and training an army for their protection. With a lack of military experience, however, they find themselves trying to learn tactics from Valia in order to better prepare their forces. It is a difficult task and one where they are floundering. They pray that the Mandreans continue to be fixated on Romadon and leave them in peace until such time as they can defend themselves.

Nations of Lavacia: Valia

Valia plays a prominent role early in “Quest for the Red Sapphire”. It is located on the southeast coast of the continent. The Kingdom of Rador is its friendly northern neighbor. Several small kingdoms border it on the west followed by Sartan. To the east lies the Great Eastern Sea. The problem beings at the southern border. After the last Dark Age, the goblins in Valia were pushed off the fertile farmland into the Southern Marshes. Here the goblins plot endlessly to retake the rich land to the north from its human inhabitants. Valia’s leader is King Hardurian. The king rules from the magnificent walled city of Sarice. He is old and wise but has a political hornet’s nest with which to contend. Much of the real power in the country lies with her rich noblemen. For them there is a problem. There are simply not enough people in Valia for all their enterprises. Much of the country is farmland which needs massive amounts of labor to work. They also possess arguably the finest navy in the world and are constantly short of sailors. Then there are the new colonies established across the sea where precious metals including gold have been found in abundance and require adventuresome people to settle. With a wealth of trade, the merchant class also is busy. That leaves very few soldiers for General Linvin Grithinshield to command and try to fend off goblin invasion upon invasion. In every encounter, the Valians are dramatically outnumbered and must rely on leadership, strategy and training to prevail. Valia’s most renowned inhabitant, however, is an old man by the name of Sedemihcra. He is the foremost inventor and military strategist of the age. It is Sedemihcra that Linvin is sent to live with and learn the skills he will need to become Master of the Red Sapphire. As Chief Military Counsel to the King, Sedemihcra wants nothing to do with Linvin’s training at first. After seeing the boy’s abilities and Dirk’s generous endowment, the old man decides to take in the boy of twelve and raise him to be a great general, leader and person. At age eighteen, Linvin enlists in the King’s Bowmen to gain practical experience. His career soars from there. King Hardurian takes notice of Linvin as he rises up the ranks and begins to look at Valia’s military savior as a son. Linvin’s success is a double edged sword, it seems. While he pulls off miracle after miracle with meger resources to save Valia, it only reinforces the oppinion of the noblemen that a large standing army is unneeded. Thus, Valia continues to neglect the army in favor of income generating pursuits. What their shortsightedness fails to see is that Linvin’s destiny has always been elsewhere. He will not always be around to save them. It will be then that the sad army will be truly tested by the Marsh Goblins.