R.A. McCandless's Blog, page 18

My First Car

Girl not included.
My parents bought my first car.  For about $100. 
A 1964 IH Scout.
The engine was ran, but not well and the electrical was a joke.  The body was mediocre.  It had been in a small accident and someone had beat out the fender with a ball peen hammer.  They'd also spray-painted it gold, but not a good gold (if there is such a thing).  It was a rusty-brown gold.  The kind of gold that let you know someone without Banksy’s talent had attempted to...

The illegitimate, unworthy Kavanaugh: Edwin Lyngar

That's what I do—I drink, and I know things.
The current Supreme Court nomination fight has morphed into a combination of Judge Judy and Jersey Shore. We should have seen it coming, because everything touched by Donald Trump turns into a trashy reality show, and, like all Trump’s greatest hits, wom...

When Free Pictures Aren't

Biel you can be!
Serves me right.  I thought I had a royalty free image of a model in the perfect pose for my new cover art.  Alas, turns out it was not only royalty free, it was Jessica Biel.
Clearly, I have no idea what movie this is.  Chances are, I saw it and haven’t realized.
Fortunately, the cover can be saved—and this time I’m paying for the image so as to not run afoul of any likeness rights confusion.  Saved all the receipts and everything!
The upshot of all this...

The Best of All Cities

For which it stands.
A friend posted up the cover of Plato’s The Republic as being on his top list.  If you haven’t read it, it’s probably not what you think.  It’s considered a classical treatise on government, but really it’s something of a thought-experiment and science fiction type of world building.
No, really.
Plato uses Socrates, as he often does, as the mouthpiece for most of his thoughts.  This book, however, is completely Plato’s as a work. Within the work, Plato takes o...

Tag, You're It!

What is this game and where can I play it!?
Generally.
Here’s a quick example of the most common kinds of dialogue and dialogue tags.
“Here’s a line being spoken by a character,” she said.
“A...

So You're Gonna Beta Read!

It's not you, it's your story!
Beta readers are an essential function for any author. But you only get what you put in, which means you’re probably going to be asked to read yourself.  Beta reading is actually an excellent opportunity to work those reading/writing muscles and provide some excellent feedback, while also gaining something from the experience.
Here are some essential tips to bringing you A-game to the Beta Reading Tournament and become a champion:
1 – Listen to the writer’s re...

Don't Break the Glass

Sarah is wondering why you stopped reading?
Etymologycan be both fun and frustrating.  Fictional writers get to do pretty much whatever they want—provided they don’t break the reader’s willing suspension of disbelief.
That’s the trick.
Recently, I reviewed a draft blurb for another author who used a line similar to this:
When Sarah and George touch, they can cause great destruction, ruin buildings, or build them back up.
Nothing inherently wrong with that.  It reads like a young adult, s...

Yog's Law and Corollary

Yog's Stash of Cash
If your “publisher” is asking you for money, something has gone horribly wrong, and hopefully you've had your contact vetted by an attorney before you signed it. Even if it’s $20 to cover some kind of submission or something, you should run, far and fast. 
When applied to a traditional publisher, Yog's Law is in effect—Money flows TOWARD the writer.  The writer is only responsible for the writing. The publisher is responsible for everything else.
When applied to a...

E Pluribus Unum

Real News doesn't care for you either.
Let’s be clear.  No one used that phrase before Trump tweeted i...

The Dark Archer by Robert Cano

Dark, but also purple.
My buddy has a book out, and you might like it.  Here’s an excerpt from The Dark Archer :
Bene had lived a life of service to those whom he deemed worthy.  Preju was the most powerful kingdom in Aariad.  West of The Spine, largely unknown, had long been relegated to myth. 
But Bene had been betrayed by the one he had given everything for.  And now he was immortal.  Under his new form, he suffers without feeding off of the living, but he also h...