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The Up and Down of It

11/28/2014

This has truly been a week of ups and downs. For starters, we found out that Rick was misdiagnosed last week. It's not an upper respiratory infection he has; it's the flu. And let me tell you, the one surefire way to get everybody to leave you alone is to have the flu. All of a sudden, nothing is that important anymore. I saw that when I got the flu in late December/early January, and we've seen it again this week. A bummer, yes. I did take Chloe and see my family for a few hours yesterday, and they sent home some food for Rick (they said he could come over, but he was too sick to leave the house. They aren't germaphobes because they rarely catch things from other people, and I have yet to figure out what magic they have that I didn't inherit on that issue!). But otherwise, not much. Honestly, I'm not surprised that Rick got the flu. Ever since his father died in August, it's been full speed ahead for him. I know people said that the condolences pass quickly when people rush back to their lives, but within two days of the memorial service, Rick was pretty much treated like absolutely nothing happened. No grace period. It's a shame that the statute of limitations on behaving like a decent human being is so short. I believe it was longer when Ollie (our parakeet) died than it was for Rick's father. As Rick said, it's times like these that show what people really are.

But that's not all. I'm sure that all of you saw the Star Wars: The Force Awakens International Trailer earlier this week. It was discretely slipped out somewhere in the media coverage of Ferguson, Missouri, burning. I'm not sure how looting and burning a town down is supposed to bring about the change they want, but at least that trailer is good. And when I saw the heartbreaking news that crime/mystery writer P.D. James died yesterday, I also ran across the Star Wars: The Force Awakens UK Trailer. It's different from the International one, so you'll want to watch both. Both are good. Despite the volleyball match of comments on YouTube, these trailers actually make me feel somewhat optimistic that Episode Seven will work out after all. I trust J.J. Abrams (I keep telling myself). After all, he did great things for the Star Trek franchise (I keep telling myself). I just know this is going to be awesome. I heard that fans crashed iTunes trying to get the previews this morning, so there you have it. We gave them a different kind of Black Friday, didn't we?

You gotta hand it to nerds. We won't loot you. We won't burn your business down. We won't march or protest because baby, it's cold outside, and we aren't going out there. But we WILL crash your servers for awesome previews. Seriously, iTunes. You haven't figured out that Star Wars fans are fanatics yet? And you know this!

Speaking of Black Friday, you can forget that with me. Amazon is this girl's best friend. Seriously, that's the Sears catalog of the 21st century. They have great deals. They deliver right to your door. You can do it on your computer, and then crash iTunes downloading Star Wars previews. You can do all of this without leaving your house. Good times, folks.

Good times and bad, really, I feel like a yo-yo this week! I bet it was a week like this that drove C.S. Lewis to write about the Law of Undulation in The Screwtape Letters. Most of the time the ebb and flow take longer, but sometimes the tides of life get all out of whack, and do it all at once! *Sigh* I just want things to be better. I know it comes, because things always change. You just don't always know when it's time to trade the shovels of the valleys for the binoculars of the mountaintop. Life's funny like that.

That's all today. I hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving and that your holiday season 2014 is off to a great start. Take care, have a Happy Black Friday, a wonderful weekend, and Go Gamecocks - beat Clemson!

Bye!

Being Thankful - And Awesome

11/25/2014

Ah, Thanksgiving! A day of feasting and joy to give thanks for what we’ve got, and then the next day we bash one another’s brains in for super-duper deals on Christmas gifts.

Only in America, folks. And if you get the right 6 pack of Cracker Jack boxes, you can get a green card AND a driver’s license too, at least in South Carolina. (I got suggestions for other things to add to this list, but I’ll do us all a favor and leave off the things I don’t know anything about.) That’s how it’s looking these days, anyway.

Joking aside, I believe that the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday and the season that follows is an important reminder to us that we should be thankful for what we’ve got every day, and we shouldn’t need a holiday to remind us of that. We should be thankful whether it’s a sandwich on the desk tomorrow afternoon or a turkey on the table Thursday. We have so much abundance, but unfortunately it seems that we’re more programmed to gripe about what’s missing than grateful for what is. I know it’s been said over and over, but we go about it completely backwards. Why should the Lord give us more if we aren’t happy and thankful with what we’ve got? If our current blessings are giving us grief, then why compound it?

I’ve heard a lot of people complaining lately. A lot of people are unhappy, frustrated, and outdone with their problems. OK, it’s true that no life is perfect. We all have problems of one sort or another. As the saying goes, you can have it all, but you can’t have it all at one time. You can have this today, but that may not come until tomorrow, next week, next month, or next year –and by that time, who knows what or where the this from today will be? It may well have passed on with another season of life. I know from first hand experience that things can change in the blink of an eye, causing things you never imagined to shift irrevocably and permanently. The blessings you take for granted (or even complain about) today can be gone forever tomorrow, so you better enjoy what you’ve got, while you’ve got it. That’s a lesson I hope you never have shoved down your throat as I did a few years back. Of course, it seems to be one that creeps up on us all at one time or another. So I’ll do you a favor and tell you today: be thankful every day, because you don’t know what tomorrow will bring.

There’s another side to the coin, though. Being thankful can bring more blessings to you. You reap what you sow, after all, so if you’re happy and thankful, then more good things will come to you. Think about that: you can compound your blessings, and all you have to do is the best with what you’ve got! That’s so easy, it’s mind boggling. Everything I’ve read whether religious or secular points to gratitude as the number one key to improving your life. It’s a snowball effect either way. Be thankful, and you can compound your joy. Gripe, and compound your misery. The choice is yours each and every day, and you can reset from grumpy to grateful anytime. I know I have to. Like everybody else, society programmed me to troubleshoot problems instead of enjoying joy, so I often find myself having to “check myself” to get on a right track again. As you saw last week, there are times it can be a struggle, like when you’re sick and stressed out. But you can be in it to win it, and I encourage you to join me on the journey to creating more positive life energy.

So this holiday season, don’t be a Grinch because that’s self sabotage of the worst sort. You don’t have to be an obnoxious elf either, but you can have a simple gratitude that brings you the peace and joy of a balanced life. Now isn’t that better than being twisted in knots of worry and anxiety; scaring Santa away from a 100 mile radius of your house with a violent temper; driving like a beast on the Nascar circuit; giving yourself a miserable holiday and Jake from State Farm a holly-jolly Christmas with a heck of a bonus off your back? (Or worse yet, the funeral director some end of the year cha-ching from your family?)Come on, folks; it doesn’t have to be this way. I know changing your thinking is the hardest thing in the world to do, but its well worth it. Don’t you want joy? Don’t you want peace? Then don’t shelf thankfulness for a holiday. Do it every day. Life, peace, joy, and harmony is much better than the poison that society tries to force feed you with constant complaints, unrealistic expectations, and a refusal to accept and deal with the reality that the Lord has given you.

Accept what is. Do the best with what you’ve got. Mind your manners and be your best self at all times and in all circumstances. And most of all, know what is and isn’t your business, and tend to your own. You can’t control other people and there are a great many circumstances the Lord brings that are also beyond your control, so do what you can and leave it alone. That’s not being cold or uncaring; it’s being realistic and protecting yourself from the devil stealing your joy. You serve others by being at your best. So give them your most awesome self, not your most asinine self.

And that’s what Thanksgiving every day is all about, Charlie Brown!

I hope you have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving. Have fun, be careful, and remember that Thanksgiving never really ends in a life of peace and joy.

Happy Holidays!

Publishing Advice

11/23/2014

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People often ask me for advice on getting published. I can't say there's a "magic bullet" or any kind of formula you can follow to get a coveted contract. I do, however, have a few tips that I don't mind passing along to you, and it seems timely to do it now, as November and National Novel Writing Month are drawing to a close. And so, without further ado, here are some tidbits and tricks I can offer you on getting your work from your desktop to ereaders:

1. Do your research. I can talk to you all day about my experiences and what I've learned through publishing, but there's no substitute for educating yourself. It's absolutely necessary, in fact, because there are "sharks" out there looking to take advantage of your dreams just like there are anywhere else, and your own ignorance is the bait they can use to reel you in. Research the various publishing methods available, and think about your goals and what's right for you. I suggest some books at the end of this entry that might help you in getting started.

2. Skip the traditional route. The heavens are made of brass and you have a better chance of winning the lottery than getting a publishing contract from one of the "big six" publishers - or even getting an agent to represent you. I'm not saying that's impossible. I never say never. What I'm saying is that this is the path of most resistance, and when it really comes down to it, it's not much different from publishing by other means anyway. You'll still have to do most of your own publicity, because you'll have their attention for a few weeks maybe, and then they'll be off to the next project. But most likely, you'll amass an impressive collection of rejection letters that offer you no advice on how to improve your writing because they don't WANT you to improve. After all, why would they encourage competition with their tried and true favorites? Plus, ebooks are on the rise, and the traditional publishing industry really is a dying trend, whether anybody realizes it or not. Out with the old, folks. They've killed themselves with their high-fluent demeanor and exclusive attitiudes, and this is not a death you want a front row seat too, especially with your precious writing in the mix.

3. If you want a publisher, query an e-publisher. They usually have the same requirements as traditional publishers, and you submit to them the same way (by checking their guidelines online to see what they want you to submit). Plus, they usually aren't as hard to get in with as traditional publishers, because ebook publishers are more willing to take a chance on new names and types of writing. The Writer's Market Guide usually has a list of these publishers, or (better yet) you can do a websearch for "Epublishers" or "Ebook Publishers." I published Splinter and Anywhere But Here through Whiskey Creek Press (who merged with Start Publishing), and I published Blurry through Wings ePress.

4. Consider self publishing through Kindle Direct and/or Smashwords. The plus side of this is that it's free, and you publish at no risk to yourself. The downside is that you do all of the work: you have to find people to proofread the manuscript, produce cover art, and you have to format it for publication (and I won't lie - this is a gigantic pain in the rear until you get used to doing it). I've self published a lot of my work through these two sites, and overall I've been very happy with them. You can control the pricing and you can go back in and make updates to your manuscript and cover later if you wish. I'd suggest publishing through both of them, because Kindle Direct only publishes to Amazon, and Smashwords publishes through pretty much all of the other ebook outlets if your book is accepted in the premium catalog. If you really want a paperback copy of your book available, you can go through CreateSpace with Amazon to make it available, but I do believe there's a cost associated with it. I'm not sure how much it is, because frankly I haven't sold a paperback book in at least 2 years, so I don't mess with it, because I've heard from other writers that formatting for CreateSpace is an even bigger pain than ebook formatting.

5. Stay away from vanity publishers. These are the ones that want you to pay them to do all of the work. They're some of the aforementioned "sharks" and you should stay away from anybody that wants you to pay them to publish your work (except CreateSpace, which is reputable). And they usually want a lot of money from you to do it - like, thousands of dollars - and they do nothing for promotion. Speaking of which:

6. Start building an online platform now. If you haven't done it already, build a website and start a blog.Join social media to build an "audience" with friends and followers by helping them get to know you. I have a book suggestion below that helps you get started on this effort.

7. Join websites that help writers. If you write short stories or even want to post excerpts from larger writing projects, then Readwave.com is a good place to post your work to get feedback. Writing.com is also a great place to post your work to get reader feedback. Another good site is Goodreads.com, because it's a great site for readers and writers, so you can connect with readers and other authors. One site I caution you to beware of is Authonomy.com. You can post a full manuscript there, but it's set up as a competition where the top 10 books of the month get the first 10,000 words read by editors at HarperCollins. That sounds good, but it is a system, and people know how to play it, because it's built on getting a lot of followers and a lot of people to read your work (or at least leave good reviews for you). It's not entirely honest, and the "deal" of getting read by a HarperCollins editor isn't as glamerous as it seems, because I don't know of anybody that's scored a contract with them that way yet (I could be wrong, of course, but you get the picture).

8. If you decide to self publish, be sure to hire an editor and a cover artist to do that work for you. If you DIY it, the readers will know. You can find editors and graphic artists online (Goodreads is a good place to find them). Smashwords will also provide you with "Mark's List," which is a list of people that will format ebooks and do cover art for you at reasonable prices. I haven't found a "master list" of editors yet, but if I do, I'll let you know.

9. Check your expectations. I still have my day job for a reason, folks. We all dream of being the Stephen King and J.K. Rowling, but the fact is that this is extremely rare. Most writers have primary jobs to keep the bills paid, because writing doesn't make a tremendous amount of money. Heck, J.R.R. Tolkein and C.S. Lewis were college professors that wrote and worked full time, and eventually retired from their day jobs. Again, I never say never. Anything can happen. All I say is that if you are writing and publishing your work, then you need to do it for the right reason, and the right reason is because you love to write and want to share your stories with readers. Because writing rarely brings in "fat stacks" and fortune in this business really favors the persistent and the ones who really and truly love the art of creating and sharing stories.

10. Here are some reference books that I've found extremely helpful in my own road to publication. These all link to the ebook versions:

Smashwords Style Guide (this book is free)
Building Your Book for Kindle (this book is free)
The Essential Guide to Getting Your Book Published
The Author's Guide to Building an Online Platform (this is only available as a paperback book)
2015 Writer's Market

I hope these tips are helpful if you're considering publishing. As I mentioned before, I highly encourage you do research publishing and publishing options to decide what's right for you.

That's all today. Take care, and have a great week.

Bye!

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Awkward

11/21/2014

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Is it just me, or does the week before Thanksgiving seem awkward? You can feel the holidays approaching – it seems to be in the very air surrounding you – but they aren’t quite here yet. Maybe you’re like me, and got an early start on Christmas shopping so you have a room of wrapped presents, but it’s still too early to put the decorations up. So there they sit, and wait, until the right time arrives.

But you don’t have to be crazy-organized like me to feel it. Even if you haven’t started on the shopping yet, you can feel it coming. The days are shorter and cooler (or just downright cold this year!). The trees are becoming bare. The ads say hey, get ready because it’s coming. It’s on television, on the radio, on the Internet, and in your inbox. In fact, we do have one radio station already playing Christmas tunes all the time, but I haven’t had the heart to tune in for too long yet. It’s still just a bit too soon. It’s not time for turkey in the oven or trimming the tree, not just yet. But it sure isn’t summer anymore either, and it’s obvious that Halloween is weeks past! And so, we hang in limbo and wait. It almost feels like the calm before the storm, even if it’s a storm of celebration.

It will come. It always does, and it won’t be much longer. So take stock and get ready, because next week, Holiday Season 2014 opens – whether you’re ready or not!

I'll tell you one thing that isn't awkward: I have the concept for Book 2 of The Earthside Trilogy worked out! It came to me last night just before I fell asleep. Let me tell you; a virus is trouble whether it's biological or technological. And yes, the cyborgs are coming. Why? Because I want them to, that's why. And they're awesome. I don't have a title for Book 2 yet, but I have a feeling it will be coming soon.

That’s all today. Take care, and have a great weekend.

Bye!

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Patience - or Lack Thereof

11/20/2014

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One sure cure for patience is being sick. I've been struggling with a virus this week that's left me feeling like a chew toy. I pushed through for a few days, but last night I couldn't do it anymore. I'd had it with being sick. I'd had it with everybody's shenanagins. I'd had it with people and things and everything in life that aggravated me, which was plenty. Attitudes. Slackers. Bad drivers (that's pretty high on the list). People pulling stunts. Or worse, people just being themselves. When you haven't been able to eat and you've had a headache for 3 days, all of life pisses you off. And you can only stand and hold it in for so long before it all comes out.

So yes, I've crashed. I actually slept most of today, and it seems to have helped. Staying home was probably good for me too, given the fact that the dragon was awake, alert, and ready to breathe fire on anybody or anything for any reason. I can stand up to a lot of things, but a virus seems to be my last straw. Especially when I've had it for five days. At least I had sense enough to stick to my personal policy of staying off social media when I'm not in the best of moods. And the news. That usually doesn't help frayed nerves, either. So that's why I haven't been online much lately. I've been sick and tired. And then I got sick and tired of being sick and tired.

Well, at least it seems to be passing. I certainly hope so. It's just a shame that we can clean up a virus on our computers faster than a virus in our body. That's just messed up. Oh well.

That's all today. I hope you have a Happy Friday tomorrow and a great weekend.

Bye!

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Random Fun Facts

11/15/2014

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Some of my more popular posts on Twitter and Facebook seem to be the "Random Fun Facts" that I post. I normally post these when I realize that I haven't posted in a few days, but I can't think about anything to post about because, well, life is boring. Well, since I seem to be there again, here's an entire entry of random fun facts that you might not have known about me:

1. I'm a borderline introvert/extrovert, and I lean more toward the introvert end of the spectrum. My life requires me to get out and about a lot, and I usually do ok when I get started. But I do tend to avoid social functions just because I'm more comfortable socializing with people in small groups than in large, open scenarios like parties.

2. I don't like to travel. Most people don't believe this, but it's true. I intensely dislike packing, and my patience for strange beds and bathrooms runs thin after a few days. I usually make the best of it when I do have to do it, and from time to time I don't mind getting away - but generally, I'm a homebody and, well, I like being at at home.

3. I like basketball. The funny thing is, it's not a 'like' that I actively pursue or even try to feed. But if a game is on and I catch it, I'll watch it until it ends - whether I mean to or not!

4. I know how to fish. I learned how at the last place I worked at. I haven't done it in years, nor was I ever any good at it, but I was taught how to do it.

5. I also know how to shoot a bow. Ditto above. I liked it a lot, but this is something that I haven't had a chance to develop. especially since I don't hunt and the one and only archery range in town is waaaaaaaaaay across town in an area I never go to. It looks pretty cool every week on Arrow, doesn't it?

6. I don't like red poinsettias. My maternal grandmother died in December, and everybody sent us red poinsettias. I mean everyone. The things were everywhere. I really have tried to get over it the past 27 years, but still there's something about them that somewhat revolts me.

7. I used to be a musician. I played the flute in high school and the first two years of college. In fact, I met Rick, my husband, in the college marching band. I liked music, but at best I was only a mediocre musician no matter how much I practiced or tried to get better.When upper division college classes and other changes in my life forced me to prioritize, I finally faced the reality that I could get better at other things but I'd never get better at that, so I let it go.

8. I also used to do counted cross stitching. In fact, I entered a cross stitch of a wizard and dragon in our State Fair in 2009. I didn't win a ribbon, but I did a lot of projects for a few years. I don't have as much time for it since I started publishing my writing, but I do dabble in it occasionally. I hope to get back into it and maybe even enter another exhibit in the State Fair again someday.

9. I don't have a bucket list. I think this is a lousy attitude to have. We need to focus more on living, adding to our wisdom and life experience, and making the most of the gift the Lord gave us - not on checking things off a list just so we can say we did it.

10. I'm allergic to pecans. Actually, most people should know that, but they keep forgetting. I get raised eyebrows at this revelation every time, whether it's the first or millionth time I've told the person this fun little fact.

So that's it - 10 facts about me that you may or may not have know.

That's all today. Take care, and have a great rest of the weekend.

Bye!

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Helpful Tips

11/13/2014

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Folks, we need to have a talk. Over the past few months, I've seen and heard things that, quite honestly, make me look like a normal, well balanced, perfectly adjusted human being. I don't know if you read my last blog entry, but if you haven't then scroll down and you'll see that in my latest work in progress, I landed an alien army in the National Mall. If that looks normal, then we have problems.

Mind you, this isn't a "shame on you" entry (those don't work anyway). Nor is it advice. You can take or leave advice, and it's been my observation that people choose the "leave it" option roughly 100% of the time. Consider this a friendly heads up, as if I were a friend telling you that I just overheard the latest gossip, and they're saying that:

1. If you've talked the talk, then you better be ready to walk the walk. In other words, if you've been bold and sassy enough to get in my face and tell me to calm down and get my crap together when I've had a hard time, then you painted a bullseye on yourself, and that's a shot that life always takes. Not that I or anybody else is wishing bad things on anybody, but life is a series of peaks and valleys, and we all have down times. And believe me, everybody is watching with great interest to see if you're the bada** you claimed to be when we were down. Words lie, actions speak truth - and we're watching and listening.

2. Beware your feelings. They can get you in plenty of trouble, because they're the devil's favorite tool. What's right doesn't always feel that way, and sometimes it can seem wrong. Seek wisdom instead of feeling good, relief, or escape. Feelings fail. Wisdom doesn't.

3. Find some internal motivation. It may be nice to demand that people rise to a level that's helpful to you so you can relax and bask in laziness. The problem is that they don't stop growing at your convenience threshold - they keep growing to their own level of convenience, and they have the annoying habit of applying it to places that you don't appreciate. Co-dependency puts you at a dangerous disadvantage, especially when they come to the inevitable conclusion that you need them but they don't need you.

4. Play favorites less obviously. I addressed this in my "Do This At Your Own Risk" entry earlier this year, so there's no need to rehash it. Suffice it to say that this game has only become as obvious as the Eye of Sauron in Mordor (for you non-fantasy types, that means that God and everybody can see it). Losing discretion in this area is like the giant handing Jack the ax to chop down the beanstalk, and I've had some experience with collapsing beanstalks and the rise and fall of giants. I trust that you understand the image and are smart enough to know what this means.

5. Just because winter is coming doesn't mean you can throw seeds any old place and not reap a harvest. The whole "reaping and sowing" thing from Galatians 6:7 is figurative. We're talking about energy, not farming folks. Every thought, word, and deed is sending out energy and you can only get back what you put out. Energy doesn't have dormant seasons or take breaks. It runs the universe, so it's always in motion. So don't lose your attentiveness.

And a bonus tip - mind your driving. "Driving is a privileged, not a right" isn't just a saying when you're reluctant to hand the keys to your teens; it applies to you too. I know we're all crazy-busy and have places to go, things to do, and people to see. However, when you get behind the wheel of the car, you have one and only one duty: operate the motor vehicle. You do not talk on the phone. You do not text (that's illegal in SC anyway, and you deserve the ticket you get for it). You do not worry about being late, fret over what to make for dinner, or stare at the interesting shoe lying in the median. You don't rubberneck the wreck in the next lane caused by the igit that ignored this advice. You don't daydream about winning the lottery and telling everybody to go to hell. You operate the car, and that's it. The 100 deadly days of summer have nothing on the 60 chaotic days of Christmas, and I've already seen too many insane maneuvers on the roads. Concentrate 100% on driving until you reach your destination, and then feel free to resume your frantic activity when you're parked. Ignore this tip at the risk of giving Jake from State Farm a holly, jolly Christmas with a heck of a bonus from your rates going up at best; and your family members learning that funeral homes don't decorate for the holidays at the worst (because The Grim Reaper doesn't celebrate Christmas, folks).

That's all. Just a few tips in an effort to make you aware and hopefully help you restore your focus.

Have a Happy Friday tomorrow and a wonderful weekend.

Bye!

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Being Human Again

11/11/2014

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I've had several people ask me lately how I'm doing these days. I found it interesting, because I really didn't know how to reply. Most of the focus has been on Rick and his family in the wake of his father's death. During his father's final months and at his death, I didn't say much because frankly, I didn't have much to say. What was there to be shared anyway? What insight could I offer from a step outside? It seemed these were questions that Rick could answer better.

Still, I appreciated them asking, and I did tell them that. The truth is that I'm just starting to feel human again. See, I watched the reaper take my parakeet and my father-in-law away a piece at a time through two of what I believe are the most horrible ways to go: over months of cancer with Ollie, and over years of dementia with Rick's father. And I had to deal with the loss of each piece of them being taken away, one at a time, until there was little or nothing left. That left me feeling less than human. You put on a brave face, you stand up to it, but the whole time you're stewing inside, thinking oh dear reaper, if I could just take your scythe and have one good swing at YOU.

And ax to grind with the Grim Reaper is one you will never indulge, or win. And I understand that death is an undeniable and unfortunate reality. I understand it happens. But why it had to happen this way, I will never get. That's one of those "you won't get it this side of Heaven things" and you have to learn how to be ok with that. I think I am finally getting that it is what it is, and I have to take what I can learn from it and move on. The world keeps turning, and we all have little choice but to keep going with it.

I know these experiences are what lead to The Earthside Trilogy. I know it was all the "what if's" of what it all meant, and how it would change me that created that tale. And yet, all along, there was a part of me that knew that, in these moments of feeling so alien and disconnected with myself and reality, perhaps I was more in tune with my humanity than ever before. It does change you. I'd think something was wrong if I didn't see the world differently now. If I walked away from even this the same old Sherri with no new perspective on life and an appreciation of the blessings that make it what it is, then I really would be alien and completely disconnected with the world.

I think this excerpt from the final chapter of Fracture sums up the questions and frustrations that I've been grappling with. One thing about knowing a writer is that you get to ride shotgun on the issues we're grappling with. Fiction isn't a mirror image of what we think and feel, but it's a pretty good reflection of the major issues. I hesitated to share it because I didn't want to leak a surprise at the end, but I think this gives you enough to get the gist without giving too much of the plot away. The setting is a congressional hearing on the "miracle healings," and this is the scene where the main protagonist, Kalea Kerner, blows the lid off everything they thought they knew. Enjoy!

Congressman Vickers banged his gavel on the table. “Order! Everybody, calm down!”
“Enough of that!” Kalea shouted,throwing a bolt at the gavel. Senator Vickers shouted as it singed his hand. He dropped it just as it exploded. Kalea walked in front of the bench where the congressional panel sat gaping at the glowing woman standing in front of them. “You think you’re safe, but that’s a lie. You watched people die, and you call it normal. You watch others heal, and you pass it off as a trick of cameras and sweep it away. You don’t have any idea what you’re really looking at.” She walked to the center of the chamber, standing in the middle of the windows floating in the air from various projectors beaming from the study teams’ tablets.

“Six months ago, I was just Carson Kerner’s niece. What did it matter that he rose from near death to grab my ankle? His wife and children had it worse. All you wanted from me was the juicy details you could get from the only witness.” She waved her hand, sending the window flying toward the ceiling..

“It’s the same with all of these. Sidney Sinclaire was just a daughter-in-law,” she said, that window on the floor. “Bennett Burke was just a cousin,” she said swiping it toward the wall where the image flew inches over the head of a gaping reporter. “Just a nephew. Just a son in law. Just a neighbor. Just a friend. Just a babysitter. Just a medical assistant. Just a computer technician. Just a psychiatrist.” She said, waving her arms and flicking her wrist to send the images flying around the room. She threw out her arms, the static from her fingers sending the rest of the images scattering around the room. “What would they know? They were just a step outside of societal concerns over grieving rites. They had miracle healings, and you didn’t notice them until the miracles faded and you were left to wonder why, what just happened, but even then you didn’t see.” She opened her hands, spreading out a wide electric current that she threw to the tablets on the study members’ table, shutting off every tablet and making the flickering images floating wildly around the room wink out. “I’ll tell you what they were. They were the strong ones. The ones with perception. The ones with minds open to the truth. The ones who really and truly knew that more was going on. The ones who accepted what everybody else denied – that your world has changed and there’s no going back. Not now, not ever.” She dropped her arms, causing the electrical current to swirl out into the ceiling, where the lights flickered before resuming normal illumination. “Your world is in pieces and you’re too blind to see how it’s really ending.”

“Kalea,” Annaliese said softly, “I did hear you. I was trying.” She stood, motioning to her teammates sitting at the table with her. “We all did. That’s why we’re here. To give you a voice.”

Kalea hugged Annaliese. “I know, but surely you must see that they won’t listen. They’re too blinded to their own man-made causes.” She walked up the center asile. “But you will listen now.” She threw open the door. “Who wants to take a walk with me? I have something to show you outside.”

“Get back in here!” Senator Vickers shouted.

Kalea turned, her eyes silver. “Do you really think that will work?” She turned, crooking her finger. “Don’t you want to see what the rest of the world is looking at right outside your door?”

Annaliese fell in step behind Kalea, followed by the study members. Slowly, the Senators and Representatives rose and fell in, followed by the reporters and others in the chamber. Kalea threw out her arms, sending bolts of energy ahead of her to blast open the back door of the U.S. Capitol. She stepped outside on the top step, a cold breeze causing her scarf to billow behind her. Kalea raised her arms, sending up energy bolts that crackled as they connected with the satellites orbiting the planet overhead. A purple glow lit up the sky, showing the National Mall filled with millions of pairs of silvery eyes staring back at them.

“Behold your true army...You will listen to them now, or you will die.”

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The Off-Season Adventures of My Muse

11/7/2014

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I like to imagine that my muse is on a nice vacation when I’m on writing breaks, like the one I typically take at the end of each year. Perhaps he’s visiting the museums and monuments in Washington D.C. , happy to be unencumbered by planning and brainstorming the portions of Fracture that take place up there like I had him working on during my visit in September.

Maybe he’s at The Grand Canyon, or taking a break from the see-saw weather by enjoying the warmth of Phoenix and Scottsdale, Arizona. Or perhaps he’s enjoying the seasonal perfection of fall in the Smokey Mountains, with the joys of the Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge areas in Tennessee, where we imagined the adventures of Obsidian in the fictional town of Tanger Falls that I created in that area. Maybe he decided to skip the crowds and head to Myrtle Beach, or to enjoy the history of Charleston or Savannah. Maybe he really wanted an adventure and jetted to San Francisco. Or maybe he was content with a peaceful day hiking one of the nice state parks here in town. I like to imagine that he’s enjoying an escape to a place that I also liked, whether near or far. The world is full of wonders, and I know I’ve only seen a small fraction of them – but what I have seen is amazing. And, of course, there’s no place like home too. Who knows? My muse may well have skipped the adventures and wonders of the world and decided to go into hibernation instead. I certainly worked him hard with Nonstop to Nowhere, Obsidian, Fracture, and a host of other short stories, articles, and blogs over the past 10 months.

As for me, I also spend my time on break with other pursuits. The major fall housecleaning has taken priority over the past week. Next week will no doubt see me returning to writing promotion and reading. I’m considering a return to some crafting projects, too – it’s been a while since I had time for that. I seem to find ways to fill my time when my muse is on vacation, but I guess that’s a good thing. Sometimes, the best way to feed inspiration is to take a break from the writing and to just live for a while.

That’s all today. I hope you have a happy Friday and a wonderful weekend.

Bye!

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Ideas

11/5/2014

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As the midterm election season ends, I’d like to ponder on the concept of ideas – as in some are good and some are bad. I think we’ve seen plenty of bad ones in political campaigning, but the truth is that we’re all subject to both whims of brilliance and whims of “what the heck was I thinking?” A brain is a wonderful thing when fully utilized. It creates the entire world as we know it. The trick is activating the functions of wisdom and discernment to let us know what’s brilliant, and what’s best left alone.

Before you say it, I know that some people are better at the wisdom/discernment thing than others, but my point here is that none of us hit the mark 100% of the time.

Case in point: Writing Fracture in August instead of waiting to do it now for National Novel Writing Month (as I originally considered) was a good idea. I had mixed feelings on whether it was a good idea to write it so soon after Rick’s father passed away, but looking back, I see that not only was it good for me, but it was good for the story as well. In fact, I just checked my planning notes, and it came out a lot better than I planned. I don’t think I could have written that particular novel if I waited until now to do it, and I can see that writing while the inspiration was running was the best thing for Fracture and perhaps the entire Earthside Trilogy. Now I have a great start to the story and a better base to work off of than I planned.

However, my decision to not cut my hair anymore wasn’t so brilliant. I learned this in Washington D.C. when it became apparent that conditioning treatments and repair shampoos can only do so much for split ends before they become a problem. I fought with my hair, I struggled with my hair, I was appalled at a picture they took at the conference that caught me from behind when I saw how it actually looked, and I immediately came home and got 3 inches cut off. The funny thing is, nobody noticed but Rick. Either people didn’t notice it, or they were too nice to say anything. Or they were curious to see how long it took me to realize it. It doesn’t matter. The point is that the lesson is learned – I need haircuts every now and then, even if I don’t care for them any more than the birds care for a wing and nail trim.

I think (or at least hope) that in most cases the good ideas outweigh the bad ones to tip the scales in a favorable way. We want to think that we have more good ideas than bad ones, or at least that we learn from the bad ideas and go on to make better ones in the future. That’s the goal, anyway. Nobody’s perfect, but hopefully we learn from our failings to become better people. Or to make new mistakes, at least.

I suppose my point is that the political ads that made us nauseous over the past few weeks probably did so because we realized, at least at a subconscious level, that the flaws we saw in others were reflecting back on us in a subtle way. Politicians aren’t perfect; it’s just easier to see and scrutinize their imperfections. Because face it, we all put on our best behavior when we want something, and revert back to our true selves once we get it (or don’t get it and realize we wasted our time putting on an act). OK, maybe not as bad as politicians, but you know what I mean. And we all slip up with bad ideas, at least every once in a while. We all need a measure of grace, and you tend to get back what you give.

That’s all today. Take care, and have a great rest of the week.

Bye!

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The Up and Down of It

Being Thankful - And Awesome

Publishing Advice

Awkward

Patience - or Lack Thereof

Random Fun Facts

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Being Human Again

The Off-Season Adventures of My Muse

Ideas

Escape Reality

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