SUMMER!

24 MAY 2019

Yesterday was the last day of work! School is out! Time to get back to writing! And picture taking too! 

For writing, I'm working on several stories at once, as the mood strikes. Me and my wife were watching The Amazing Race and one of the challenges inspired me to write a section for my long frontier story about a family moving across the sea to the New Lands. I think it came out pretty well, just have to figure out where to place it in the bigger story and tie it together with what is going on. As far as releasing new stories, I'm continuing on a rewrite of The Killing Parts, still working through some edits from another writer. Thought I was over 10K words but I forgot to remove her comments at the end of the piece. Not that I'm shooting for a nice round number like 10K, just looking at the overall size of the piece. Still have to work on a cover, and I'm also looking at including a few small illustrations with the story, as long as I can figure out the formatting.

The following photos were taken on a recent trip to the local museum, the RW Norton. I had posted some already. Enjoy them and enjoy the summer!

 

This last picture is a Honeysuckle. Not the kind that grew in my backyard as a kid, but a close variety. You can pull out the long yellow parts of the flower and at the other end is a delicate drop of sweet-tasting nectar.

Flower Pictures

18 MAR 2019

Nothing like Spring Break to get me to post more. So here's another post, this one more visual than writing though. We have a peach tree in our back yard, and a magnolia bush as well. So I strolled out with my camera today and took some pictures in the warm sun. 

Oh, before I forget, in writing news I am doing some good editing on the story I picked next for release. It's up over 8,000 words now and while I aim to write a story as long as it needs to be, I'm going to shoot for this one to get up to at least around 10K words. Throwing around some ideas for the cover with the wife as well. Now onto the pictures. 

Love to all. 

Master Class Writing Prompt

16 MAR 2019

Two posts today! Stephanie Ayers had a great writing prompt this week so I thought I'd give it a go. Here's my take on the prompt:

Master Class Writing Prompt

A fist slammed onto the wooden table. “Utter madness. I won’t allow it. I will not have you descend into your own dream!”

“He’s right you know. You’ll go mad,” Justin paused, assessing his words. “Well, madder than you already are! The human mind cannot handle being confronted by itself. It’s a proven fact. Zared tried it and you know what happened to him. They had to water him every day or he would scream bloody murder.”

I paced around the conference table. My right arm shot out of its own volition, my fingers danced lightly along the tops of the empty chairs and in the hairs and scalps of the seated as I passed each one. I used to know each one of these masters at the table, but their names escaped me at the moment. I was in desperate states indeed. “What other choice do we have? The Braxen is only targeting me! Me!” I twirled uncontrollably, the taste of the morning light on my lips. I turned to face the windows and opened my mouth to drink in more.

A balding man reached back and grabbed my arm. I stopped mid-gulp. “That’s exactly what it wants! They like brains lightly toasted and slightly swirled. Look at you! I bet your senses are already jumbled up. They must be practically salivating.” He looked around the room, as if he could see the ethereal beings.

Justin shook his head. “You’re not helping, Herb.”

“He’s already delusional,” another gentleman chimed in. He looked suspiciously like a flower. “What could it hurt now? Maybe there’s a chance he comes out of it fully sane and they leave him alone?”

“The chance of him going into his own dreams to confront the Braxen and coming out alive and sane are the same odds of us throwing him into a tornado with knives and a cow and hoping he comes out with a set of nicely dressed ribs ready to cook. It can’t be done.” Herbert stood up and gestured around the room, “Not by me, not by you, and certainly not by him. No offense,” he said, nodding to me. “If he’s lucky he’ll wake remembering how to pee.”

I don’t know if it was fear of what we were contemplating, or the sudden arrival of the Braxen in my thoughts, or the mere mention of urination, but as I nodded back I felt a warm liquid running down my leg…

Sold!

16 MAR 2019

There is no better feeling for a writer than finding out some wonderful person out there in the world bought something you created! Thank you whoever you are! Gives me the impetus to continue writing. Ah, who am I kidding, I would still write even if no one ever bought any of my stories. I write things I like to read. So to all the writers out there, keep going! There is hope! 

It's Spring Break time for me, which means some serious writing time. I've already put in a few good hours of writing today and I'll probably spend most of St. Patrick's Day writing as well before seriously putting in the hours during the week. Shout out to Raising Cane's for having green lemonade in honor of St. Patrick's Day, looked really cool. My goal for Spring Break is to release another short story before I go back to work. Which one will it be? I won't decide until Wednesday I think, see which one of my tales has matured enough to be released out into the wild on its own. Hopefully my wife will donate her mad cover skills and make another fantastic cover. I absolutely love the one she made for The Legacy. 

The Legacy


Anywho, time to wrap up this post for today. I know I haven't been posting very often. My day job will always be my main focus. The good news is Summer is on the horizon. Just a few more months and I'll really be able to devote time to writing. So many projects to be completed! I have that historical Louisiana story that is just starting to form up, several short stories waiting to be stretched out and grown more before they are published, plus covers to make, blurbs to write, and two other long tales to keep chugging along at. One is a frontier piece and the other is my mega-long tale of the entire world and the forces tearing it apart while others try to keep it together. Who will win out? And what lengths will both sides go to in order to win? What would you do to keep the world from being destroyed? Would you be willing to [SPOILER] an [SPOILER] creature inside [SPOILER]? Even if it meant [SPOILER]? Can't give away the big twists and turns yet! Good things come to those who wait. 

Thought for today: If you want something done, ask a busy person. Hm, true words. Very true words. 


Pictures for today: Some random fantasy pics to get the mind juices flowing. Enjoy. 

Fierce woman!

Lord of the Rings...

Pandora, one of my favorite myths.

Louisiane!

21JAN2019

Short post today. First off, Happy MLK Day to everyone out there. Amazing man, changed the world. I have some favorite quotes and moments from him, here's one: 

The other item for today is the draft blurb for another story. This one will be long in writing, as it will cover many hundreds of years. Soooo, without further ado, here it is: 

Blurb for Louisiane: Tomás has a problem. Well, two problems really. A dragon who raids from the northwest and vampires in the southern swamps. His father was missing, gone on a desperate trip across the ocean to get aid for the colony. Clouds were forming to the west, a sign the storm dragon would soon be coming to hunt. What was he to do? 

Would this be the end of the colony in Louisiane?

Yep, it's about an alternate Louisiana! I'm really excited about it. Just need to keep plugging away at it. I plan on having fun with an alternate history of French Louisiane. Will the Spanish take over as they did in the real world?

Oh, and one more thing. Pixie Forest Publishing is now accepting submissions from kids (8-18) for an anthology centered around the theme of Growing Up, called Across a Decade. I'm hoping for some young people I know to send in submissions! Good luck to all!  

Here's the link: Across a Decade Anthology

Love to all. 

Science!

15 JAN 2019

CNN recently had a news article about Genetic Phenotyping. Now back in the day I used to teach science, so I was instantly excited about this new technology. You see I remembered that phenotype meant what was expressed by genes, meaning what the gene causes you to look like or what it ended up as in your body, influenced by the environment. So that means this phenotyping could tell what a person should look like! Wow! 

So basically this is what genetic phenotyping is: scientists can use DNA to give a guess on what the person looks like! The big thing is that DNA does not show age, so the scientists do their best with age-progression software. But they can tell the police if the suspect is male or female, what color their hair is, eyes, etc... Now the person they interviewed from the company said they do not look at medical conditions, but that is something they could find out rather easily from DNA. For example, genetic phenotyping should allow scientists to tell if someone is lactose intolerant, have sickle-cell anemia, or other genetic-based conditions. 

The company doing this technique is called Parabon. The link below is to the company's website and shows examples of predicted look based on their DNA phenotyping and the actual look of the person:  Parabon

Pretty freaky stuff! 

EDIT: Forgot to mention they can also match unknown DNA to family members who have DNA on file. So if someone in your family does an Ancestry.com kit or something similar and you commit a crime, they will be able to track you down through your relations.

Writing: No real writing updates for today. I have been writing, but all is in work. I've completed nothing recently, just editing and working on tightening up a few different stories. I did edit a short story for a friend, a good little fantasy piece. Had a nice Hunger Games feel to it. Hope she takes my edits to heart and continues on.

Picture for today: Iron Vader. The ultimate mash-up...

Fantasy story set in French Colonial Era

26 DEC 2018

As this year comes to a close, I find myself working on a new short story. The impetus came from an anthology call, titled Coffins & Dragons. It got me to thinking about all sorts of possibilities. And then when it came time to set the story somewhere, I decided to set it in an alternative French Colonial setting. Right here in Louisiana! Below is what I have so far. I'm sure it will change so much as to be unrecognizable by the time it gets printed. Enjoy:

Storms 

“What are we to do, Thomas? Father was due back two months ago and the storms are coming.”

“We’ll think of something.” A southern wind blew through the remains of Thomas’ hair.

“How will we defend the colony? We cannot head south. The Robber is there…”

“I’ll think of something…”

Thomas has a problem. Well, two problems really. A dragon who raids from the northwest and vampires to the south. His father had not returned from a trip to get aid for the colony. The storms were forming to the west, and that meant the dragon would soon be coming to hunt. What was he to do? Would this be the end of the colony in Louisiane?

The dragon attacks were nothing new. They had been going on since the very founding of the colony. Some years the dragon did not come, but when he did it was always on the leading edge of the warm summer storms. Last two years had been dragon-free. The dragon had never been absent three years in a row. He would be coming soon with his fiery breath and hunger for livestock. No doubt about that. The colonists used to head downriver and hide in the swampy bayous under the huge cypress trees, but that was not an option anymore because the vampires in the south were growing in strength and numbers.

The greatest threat from the south is known throughout the colony as the Robber of Life, though his real title is René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, late of the first rulers of Louisiane. When he was alive, René was the first explorer of the region, coming down from the north to claim the land for King Louis. He settled at a bend in the mighty Colbert River, now called the Mississippi. For the next several decades his people, the French, ruled the newly-founded Louisiane.

Under French rule, the colony suffered through many trials and tribulations: devastating diseases like Yellow Fever, floods, neglect from their European-based rulers, attacks from the natives, and the occasional raids from the dragon that came from the West with the summer storms. Rene died one year while trying to return to the colony with supplies.

After his death, the colony was taken over by the French brothers Iberville and Bienville. The colony tried to hang on through all the problems, but one self-inflicted issue the early pioneers could not abide was the loss of the few young ladies of the colony. There weren’t many Frenchwomen to begin with, and the ones that were there were not the greatest stock, being women of ill repute forced to come to the colonies. The women started to disappear in greater numbers than expected. The colony might not survive their loss.

The only bright spot during this time was the French brothers were able to stave off the dragon’s attacks. This made the colonists happy and they worked hard to keep the colony alive. But then the source of the brothers’ abilities came out: they were using the blood of the missing women to protect the colony. This was magic of the New World.

The people rose up and overthrew their bloodthirsty rulers.

The Brothers Bienville and Iberville had mastered magical secrets of the new continent and they were able to fly forth from the castle and continue their evil experiments from the comfort of the swamps south of the colony, further down the Mighty Mississippi.

There they strengthened their alliance with the bloodthirsty swamp natives, the cannibalistic Atakapa, and in return their powers were increased further and they were granted the secrets of the re-risen. Their first true test of their new power was the raising of the first explorer, René Robert Cavelier, and his assistant Henri de Tonti, the Iron Hand. Their return marked an increase in French power again in the region. But the colonists were afraid and stayed away from the southern swamps.

From that moment on, the colony was truly on its own. The French King across the sea did not want to waste any more money or people on a rebellious colony with so many problems, especially one where the dead came back to life.

Thomas’ people [Spanish?] took over the colony.

The colony’s largest problem was now they had no defense against the storm dragon. How would they survive his next visit?

When the winds shift and come from the south, the people worry about the vampires coming from the south instead. Basically, the people of Louisiane feared winds from any direction. And when the winds blew from both directions, well, that’s when the worst storms blew and all colonists stayed inside and took shelter from the storms powerful enough to blow houses down.

Picture for today is an old old map of the Gulf coast...