Betty Adams's Blog, page 121

Looking Forward to OryCon 38

OryCon 38 is rolling around again and despite everything that life has thrown at me I am able to go! Swag bags and handing out business cards await! Looking forward to meeting a lot of cool folks and cruising the vendors. 

Letting Your Characters Go

When asked at a talk what was the best way to get over writers' block, actor and author Peter Mark Richman said - to paraphrase -.
"Take two very different characters and put them in a situation, any situation, but make it odd for at least one of them and then just let them talk."
It is good advice for getting over writers block but it is also an odd idea. The concept that your characters can almost act on their own will. This might seem a bit strange and of course the ideas are still coming out of the writers' own heads, but there does seem to be a moment of time when your created characters do take on a life of their own. 
For instance, I put three characters in a semi-abandoned maintenance bay expecting only conversation and perhaps a tense conflict between a pair of siblings that would result in a firm scolding.
Then out of nowhere one of them rips out a chunk of the others hair, MacGivers  a thermite bomb, and burns the maintenance bay to the ground. 
At no time in the three year course of creating or writing the story did this author intend for this to happen but when these characters were put in this situation this was the single most logical outcome. 
​Richman was onto something. 

Friday Reads - Annals of a Quiet Neighborhood

For a good weekend read "Annals of a Quite Neighborhood" is a delightful treat from the literary father of J.R.R Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. 
It is a book that has aged well and is full of love and redemption without flinching from the darkness and injustice in the world. 

Writing Darkness

Writing sensory deprivation can be difficult but there are a few easy ways to prepare. Turning off the lights in the bathroom is a good one. That is after you have hunted down and deactivated all the device with LEDs. Pay attention to what you are sensing. What do you smell, what do you hear, what do you feel? Which of your senses is dominant? Does that change over time? How comfortable are you? Think about how this would be different in an unfamiliar place. How would it be different if there were loud noises? 

Food Sources For Aliens

What exactly do your aliens eat? How much do they eat? How do they obtain their food? Do they have agriculture? 

Writing with Confidence

There are three things that are stately in their stride,
four that move with stately bearing:
a lion, mighty among beasts,
who retreats before nothing;
a strutting rooster, a he-goat,
and a king secure against revolt.
When you write, write with confidence and don't look back.
When you edit, edit without mercy. 

Book Review - One of the Few

One of the Few
by Jason B. Ladd
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book for an honest review. 

They say don’t judge a book by its cover. But it is fairly safe to say that you can do that with “One of the Few”.  This book is, as the metaphorical ‘they’ say again, exactly what it says on the tin. Jason B. Ladd explores religion in both the theoretical and practical from the perspective of a U.S. Marine. He is no armchair philosopher but a military scout, keeping his eyes, ears, and mind open for anything that might affect the outcome. The research in the book is sourced from a complex array of places from the cockpit of personal experience, to the musing of the founding father of America, to philosophers who lived and died before Rome had an empire. The pacing is comfortable and the philosophical musings run deep but clear. The format that the over arching personal story is told in is predictable and a bit formulaic, as befits an author used to filling out reconnaissance reports. Through it all Ladd does not seem to be trying to make a name for himself in academia, rather the book feels like the explorations of a soldier who believes that lives could very well be on the line if the intelligence he gives them is wrong.
The personal stories are intriguing and detailed without getting bogged down in reminiscing and the characters feel real and engaging without being dry and boring. The explanations of military hardware and culture can seem a bit redundant for someone who already has a basic understanding of military aviation but are no doubt necessary for (most) people who didn’t grow up learning to differentiate between the various helicopter classes by sound. For example, a detailed explanation of how a fast attack helicopter pilot differs in mindset from a fighter jet ‘flyboy’ sets up a revealing philosophical point, and those differences and well explained. In short, the book is more written with those who did not shed a sentimental tear when the good old huey was finally formally retired a few years back.
This was an enjoyable book and what it lacks in originality is excused by  the nature of the questions it asks. Who am I? Who am I in relationship to the world? Who am I in relationship to the Creator of all things? Who has my back? Ladd is asking questions that have haunted the best minds in the world since humanity began to record his musings in writing. Like all of these minds Ladd takes his own path. The path of a United States Marine. 



Further information can be found at these links


http://www.OneoftheFewBook.com
http://www.jasonbladd.com
http://www.jasonbladd.com/online-media-kit/#shareablecontent

Deadlines and Goals

Some days you can relax. Some days you have ten projects waiting. So this author is going to get reading, writing, and reviewing! 

Thanksgiving Music

Some people reject the idea of listening to Christmas music before October is over. Some people prefer to wait until the week before Christmas Day. But most people agree that sometime in November is a good time to start. What this author wants to know is that why isn't there lots of Thanksgiving music? There should be an entire industry dedicated to folksy songs of thanks and acknowledgements of the blessings of life. Technically "Jingle Bells" is a Thanksgiving song. It was written for that holiday by the artist but it was sort of absorbed by Christmas. "We Gather Together" is a nice one but complex and a bit difficult to sing. Not to mention very overtly religious.
So what are your favorite thanksgiving song? 
Let's make a list! 

Rethinking Discipline

If your book is going to get written than there is nothing to do but get down and write. This takes discipline far more than it dose inspiration or genius.