Goal Post: Stop The Carousel Because I Need a Nap

Posted on November 7, 2026 by Charles Yallowitz

I didn’t finish chapter 7 of Darwin & the Deadland Queen.  I tried, but Halloween was busier than expected.  I only managed to get the first section and second one started with all the distractions.  Sunday became a wash when my son decided to do his college applications, which required me to be ready for questions.  Hard to write and make sense of things when I have to keep handing over my credit card for fees.  It wasn’t until Wednesday that I managed to finish section 2, but the rest of the week was crazy busy with work and parenting.

Plus side, I will get to write today, tomorrow, and Wednesday.  So, I will have a shot at finishing chapter 7 and starting chapter 8.  This is an important transition because it moves from Act 1 to Act 2.  It’s a difficult book because of all the long breaks I’ve had to take on top of the low action opportunities.  Due to the plot, I can’t throw one action scene in after another.  I need them to work for what I’m doing and Darwin is trying hard not to be destructive this time around.  The next book will make up for it with a bunch of epic battles, but that doesn’t help me here.  I am looking forward to ending one plotline here and moving on to the next step.  If I’m lucky, I might get halfway through chapter 8 before next weekend when I won’t have any time to write.

I can’t say that I’m upset about losing writing time since the distractions during the week were for good causes.  My son had some important appointments, which I had to bring him to.  One of them gave me time to start designing the Coven of the Gray members and I’ll get to do that again this week.  The other distractions were training for work.  One was planned, mandatory, and virtual, so I was home for it.  That doesn’t mean I can write, but it meant I was comfortable.  The rest of that day was movie and lunch with my son then bringing in dinner for us and my mom.

A second training was something I tracked down and chose to do because I felt it was a necessity.  I won’t go into any details, but I found that I should get some extra certifications to help with my job.  I’m only a teaching assistant, but I’ve found that there are areas I should expand on.  Getting my Masters then teaching certification is expensive and I’m going to have my son to put through college.  For me, I want to expand my skill set even if it doesn’t mean I get to be a teacher.  Honestly, I would much rather a job where I have more one-on-one interactions with students instead of being the sole person in charge of 20-30.  I like being able to create a solid bond to help students navigate growing up.  So, I took this training to make myself better at some first aid situations.  Sure, I couldn’t finish chapter 7, but this was important.

The custody stuff is still on-going and I keep hoping I can say things are improving.  It could be in some way, but it’s hard to tell.  This situation has been chaotic and combative for a long time.  As I said, it’s been wearing on me to the point where it’s hard to get my mind out of the situation.  Designing three of the coven members this week was almost like pulling a tree out of the ground.  The information was there in my head, but it was so hard to drag it out and effectively describe it.  This happens when I’m writing too and it comes down to me going through emotional hell for so long.  Makes me wonder if I’ll heal and return to what I was creatively-speaking once the situation is resolved.

With that being said, this coming week is going to focus a lot on my son’s senior events and the custody stuff.  My writing will get attention this weekend and Veteran’s Day since I’m off.  Next weekend is the big end of season Pokemon event, so I won’t expect to get any writing done then.  It’s supposed to be cold, so we’re getting out our thermals, cleaning our thermoses, and stocking up on hot cocoa.  Thankfully, we don’t think we’ll have to be out for the whole day, so we can take a lunch break and maybe end it at the mall if we want to keep going.  I’ll admit that I’m nervous because this was the event that resulted in me getting hospitalized with a nasty staph infection last year.  I mean, I doubt it could happen again, but we’re going to be more careful.  Maybe I should try to turn the last 8 years into a story since crazy stuff keeps happening to me.

Goals of the week:

  1. See ‘Godzilla Minus Zero’ today with my son.
  2. Write more Darwin & the Deadland Queen.
  3. Work on ‘Coven of the Gray’.
  4. Lego time if I need a screen break.
  5. Reduce caloric intake.
  6. Increase walking or biking.
  7. Improve sleeping.
  8. Start looking at Hannukah presents.
  9. Think about when this went from a goal list to a chore list.
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A Variety of Closures

Posted on November 6, 2026 by Charles Yallowitz

(Originally posted on November 11, 2017. A good list to keep in mind when I get back to ensemble stories.)

 I’ve said in previous posts that one of the most important parts of concluding a series is creating closure. You need to bring things to an end, which isn’t as easy as some people think.  In fact, one of the reasons it can be so tough is because you have a variety of closure types to choose from.  It depends a lot on what you’re going for, but even planning doesn’t alleviate all the pressure.  So, what are the types?

  1. Classic Good Ending– All of the good guys get what they wanted and all of the bad guys got what they deserved.  It’s the oldest type of closure in the book.  Nothing messy and no risk of people feeling it’s a downer.  Though, you might get called out for being weak and unoriginal.
  2. Classic Bad Ending– I’m not sure how long it took for someone to write the first story where the bad guys win, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was the second type of closure ever made.  All of the bad guys get what they wanted and all of the good guys get nothing they deserved.  Darkness reigns and you leave the audience feeling a little down.  You might also get a few angry readers who feel like they just wasted their time investing in characters that were destined to lose.
  3. One Stage Ends, Another Begins–  This one is more complicated and works best when you’re going to start a new series with the same characters.  The first adventure ends with a sense of closure and the heroes move on.  Some of them head off into the sunset in search of the next adventure like how Mad Max finishes his adventure and leaves right after. Other times the hero might retire and be brought back for a new quest that is remotely connected.  Another twist on this one is when the villain finds a way to return and battle a new batch of heroes.  This one certainly has more variety than 1 and 2.
  4. Everyone Dies!–  Not a positive one since it means you wipe everyone out, which may even include the villain.  Basically, you decimate the entire cast and leave no question about it being over.
  5. The Sacrifice– It’s rather self-explanatory and requires a build up.  At the very least some foreshadowing.  This is when a hero, either main or supporting, ends the series by making a sacrifice.  Now, I’m putting this one in a separate category because it is not always an obvious choice.  There’s is a big difference between Spock sacrificing himself to save the ship and Gollum inadvertently sacrificing himself to destroy the One Ring.  Both acts bring an end to the overall quest, but the motivations are much different and require that you make it work for the character in question.
  6. Failure in Victory– Hard to explain this one.  Basically, the heroes succeed in their quest, but find that doing so actually makes the world worse.  Maybe killing that dragon cleared the path for a demon that feared it.  Perhaps choosing one love interest results in a life of misery before divorce.  The protagonists do get what they want, but then it’s revealed that it isn’t as good as they expected.
  7. Trauma– Another easy one to figure out.  The heroes win, but they aren’t coming out in one piece.  It could be that they are in a coma, missing some body parts, amnesia, or any number of possible afflictions.  You still get closure with the heroes winning, but it comes with a major downside.  It brings into question if some quests are worth taking if you don’t come out intact or even get to reap the rewards.
  8. Mixed Bag–  This works for ensemble casts where every character gets a different type of closure.  Some live happily ever after, others die in the finale, and then you have those that are in-between.  By that, I mean some live, but not happily ever after.  This is a tough one to pull off if every character has fans.  Nobody wants their favorite to get the bad ending, but you can’t always rationalize everyone surviving.  Especially if the final part is a big battle.
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Poetry Day: Those Who Divide

Posted on November 5, 2026 by Charles Yallowitz

(I mean, he does divide, but not how the poem means it.)

(The world has too many of these types.  One of the worst parts is when they get you to believe that those who truly want unity are the real dividers.)

They are the ones with voice

Born with a power

To influence and talk

Expected to lead us

Into the better world

But they always fall

Swallowed by the sins

Pride and greed

Vanity and wrath

They are twisted

By society’s pull

Their voices turn to evil

Spouting hate and fear

Causing friends to fight

And families to splinter

Neighbors become enemies

They ignore their damage

Seeing only the faithful

The ones bowing at their feet

This praise is tainted

Grown from ignorance and terror

Yet it is not enough

Drunk off power from their voice

They become the great dividers

Crying for action

And hurling childish insults

At this who don’t agree

Blindly building a void

A pit of animosity

Between our fellow man

Until the pit is all we see

And their putrid voices

Are all we hear

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The Risk of Fading Characters

Posted on November 4, 2026 by Charles Yallowitz

(Originally posted on September 2, 2020.)

This is a big challenge when it comes to ensemble cast stories.  Yes, there are those that take the reins of the story and others that float into supporting cast.  Yet, each player is important to the overall story.  Unfortunately, you can’t have them be in the spotlight for every volume.  That could result in 20 plots competing for attention if everyone has their own journey.  At best, you can put them into groups of 2 and 3 to give them more time in scenes, but that’s not perfect.  War of Nytefall: Ravenous ran into this problem and the next volume has it as well.  Is this really a bad thing?

For those who love the characters that take a step back, it will be a disaster.  Their favorites aren’t getting the attention they deserve.  Doesn’t matter that they already had at least one volume where they got to shine.  Anger might be aimed at the characters that maintain their status because they have claimed the ‘main’ cast moniker.  You hope this isn’t the case, but people are funny and unpredictable.  Some can turn on a series if you don’t cater to their whims, which you can’t avoid.  There’s a reason characters are rotating in and out of the spotlight over the course of a series.  It helps to keep things fresh and opens for more stories. People don’t always realize that characters may have a specialty instead of being a Jack-of-all-Trades.  This means that there are adventures when they aren’t going to be as useful.

Aside from keeping a series fresh and moving, you get another big benefit.  These characters that are stepping out of their limited roles can be flushed out and gain their own fan-bases.  My goal is always to create a variety of characters, so that readers can connect to at least one of them.  There’s no rule that you can’t have multiple favorites or switch to a new one.  Kai Stavros was a minor character to me until Eradication and now he has a really interesting story arch that will go on for a bit.  Decker is getting some attention in Ravenous and I’m enjoying doing that.  From the hero side, Titus and Bob get to shine a bit more.  They’ve really been in the shadow of Lost, Mab, and Clyde for much of the series.  It’s a more difficult balancing act than with Legends of Windemere because I have a bigger cast and no ‘destiny’ storyline.

I’m laying the groundwork for bigger jumps in this volume because I need a lot of heavy hitters for the finale.  That is the ultimate goal for an ensemble series.  By the end, you want every character to have changed in some respect.  If they were around for everything and remain the same then you missed an opportunity.  That or they’re really a statue and you never realized another character was lugging the thing around.  By the end of even a small series, you need your heroes and villains to be at the final stages of their journey.  If you had to phase them in and out of importance throughout the volumes then that shows you gave them the proper amount of attention.  As an author, we do need to focus on only a handful of plots or we end up with a muddled mess.  At best, we get a book that is thousands of pages long in order to cover everyone from the protagonist to the antagonist to the janitor who cleans up after the battle in chapter 4.  Poor guy wasn’t even supposed to be at work that day.

My point here is that you have to pick and choose when and where to progress with a character.  It’s a challenge because we have our own favorites.  It’s hard to push Lost into the background because I enjoy writing her, but Desirae sure as hell wasn’t going to let that loose cannon run around for long.  I guess you can make your choices depending on the actions of the villain too.  Who would they target or who would be the best choices to get in their way?  It depends on the story.  This is a personal balancing act that I could continue writing about for hours.  Yet, in the end, it comes down to what the author wants and the story needs.

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Teaser Tuesdays: Delaying The Inevitable

Posted on November 3, 2026 by Charles Yallowitz

Cover Art by Jason Pedersen

I think I want to post some humorous scenes this month.  Here is a section of Allure of the Gypsies.  Get a look at Luke and Nyx earlier in their adventures.

Continue reading →

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Gathering For Adventure: Writing An Ensemble Story

Posted on November 2, 2026 by Charles Yallowitz
Howl's Moving Castle

Howl’s Moving Castle

While people do pick favorite heroes in Legends of Windemere, there really isn’t a central hero after it reaches Prodigy of Rainbow Tower.  Luke Callindor is the first one we meet and Nyx has been raised as a champion, but that doesn’t put one ahead of the other.  Adding Sari, Delvin, Timoran, and Dariana into the mix makes things more of a balancing act than a deeper supporting class.  Every hero gets at least one story that focuses on them and they serve an important role in each book.  This is why the prophecy says there is a team of heroes instead of one.  So, what are some things to consider when writing an ensemble series?

  1. Introducing heroes one at a time can help define them to the audience.  You don’t have to juggle the origin, description, and other first appearance necessities between multiple characters.  You and the reader can focus on the one.  For example, Luke and Nyx are locked into their roles and personalities by the time Sari shows up in Allure of the Gypsies.  It becomes more about fitting the new character into an established group instead of getting all of the heroes into line. Think of it as serving a full course meal instead of a buffet.
  2. Try to give every character either something to do in a scene or a good reason for not being involved.  The bigger the group, the harder this is to do.  You really only have to sit down and think if they’re needed for the particular mission, conversation, or whatever it is.  Sometimes one of the heroes might not even care enough to be involved in whatever is going on.  There are a lot more options than people realize.  Exhaustion and getting lost are two of my favorites.
  3. Not everyone has to get along perfectly, but too much friction can be a distraction from the main plot.  It does make things easier for the heroes to be close friends or at least respect each other.  Yet, it is also realistic that people who are forced to work together might not mesh well.  This depends a lot on how the group is formed.  By choice or necessity can make things smoother, but not always.  Again, you do need to have there be some unity even among rivals or the group falls apart.  Think Wolverine and Cyclops here.  They don’t always get along, but there’s respect between them.
  4. Consider the roles of a group to avoid characters stepping on each others toes.  You usually can’t have all leaders or all rebels without things getting messy.  This can help with developing their personalities too.  One who is impulsive, but loyal can be the source of trouble.  A hero who is cautious can counter that and become the strategist.  You have the muscle, the speed, the stealth, the heavy artillery, and other roles that can be put together.  A lot of variation can be done here, but you will be called out on have a group of clones.
  5. As important as it is to evolve the group, you also need the the heroes to develop.  Both of these work together and in unison. A character’s mental health and decisions can affect the others.  You have to balance this when it comes to attention.  Some characters may be more stable than others, which helps because they become rocks for the more fluid personalities.  For example, Timoran changes very little in comparison to Sari due to their opposite temperament.  He is very calm and thoughtful while she gets emotional rather quickly.  When together, he can help her stay grounded and she can loosen him up.
  6. Never be afraid to split groups up to get stories moving quicker.  This can help flush out relationships that need more attention.  Not to mention it helps give every hero something to do over the course of the story.  You don’t want a character to be left behind or be about as important as a potted plant.
  7. Just because a story focuses on one hero, it doesn’t mean the others should be forgotten.  I make it a point to give every hero at least one moment to shine in a book.  It might not give them a lot of growth, but it retains their importance to the overall story.  Obviously, this deals more with series or short story collections.
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Happy National Author Day

Posted on November 1, 2026 by Charles Yallowitz

The picture above says it all.  Happy holiday to everyone who puts pen to paper, pencil to paper, and fingers to keyboards.  Pretty sure I missed a few.  Quill to paper could be in there too.  Voice to recorder for audio books.  You get the point.

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Goal Post: Stop Blowing Holes In My Plans!

Posted on October 31, 2026 by Charles Yallowitz

Happy Halloween!

I’m spending the holiday handing out candy and trying to make some progress on Darwin & the Deadland Queen.  The last 7 days haven’t been kind to me as far as writing goes.  Here’s the quick breakdown:

Last Saturday– I figured I wouldn’t get far because I only had 3 hours to myself.  Errands and a friend in need resulted in me only managing to write the first few paragraphs of chapter 7.

Last Sunday– Family was over, but I had a plan to write at least the first section . . . Partial power outage until 4 PM.  I couldn’t access the book to do writing.  By the time power came back, I was so frustrated and tired that I couldn’t focus.  I did manage to finish the outline for ‘Coven of the Gray’ though.

Wednesday– I had a few hours in the evening to finish the first section.  Then my laptop was forced to upgrade to Windows 11  or something.  At this point, I felt like the universe was simply out to get me.

All of the other weekdays were filled with appointments and general exhaustion.  I have a shot at get most of chapter 7 done this weekend, but I’m waiting for there to be a freak storm or Kaiju attack.  Small chance of me having writing time on Tuesday or Wednesday night though.  I’ll be happy if I can finish chapter 7 before next weekend, which finishes Act 1 of this story.  That means I can relax when the life event . . . Fuck it . . . The custody situation takes the spotlight.  Can’t go into any more details about that.

You know, I do want to say what is going on now has basically been the culmination of the last 8 years.  This has been at the core of my stress and why I have trouble writing.  The stress and frustration I feel on a daily basis has damaged my imagination.  Even when I try to force dreams while sleeping, my mind goes to the custody situation.  It used to be me running through scenarios as Luke Callindor for his series or Clyde for his.  Sometimes I simply dreamt of older things such as when I wanted to be a superhero or being teleported to Windemere myself.  Haven’t had one of those dreams in years because my mind has been trapped in the stress of reality.

This is another reason why I keep doubting my writing abilities for the last few years.  I was happy to spend some of the more painful ones editing.  I believe that was right after the custody agreement got changed, so I was adapting to the new situation.  Now, I’m just ragged on most days.  It’s kind of messed up that the most relaxing period of time I’ve had in the last year was when I was hospitalized around Thanksgiving last year.  Not that I want to go through that agony and horror again.  It’s just that I rarely get a moment to breathe while I struggle to continue writing.  The times I carve out routinely get absorbed by other people who don’t realize or accept that I need me time.  It’s always adults too, which is frustrating.

Venting results in stomach pain, so I’m going to stop.  There isn’t much else to talk about anyway.  Work was crazy busy.  My son is doing great in school and he’s spending Halloween with friends as a teenager should.  I’ll have to get a picture of him up on a post if he lets me.  Going to do a timeline of Halloween costumes on Facebook since this might be the last one.  At least one that involves his old man.  So many changes coming within the next 9 months.  Be nice if my imagination comes back after all of the chaos is over and I get more freedom.   Probably take a while.

As I said, next week is going to be messy.  Monday has appointments until late at night then Tuesday is online training.  Might not be able to get much sleep between those things, so I’ll be starting off exhausted.  That puts the Wednesday writing at risk, so I might have to brace myself for that being an evening of healing.  I can’t predict much more of that, but I do know this week and the following one are going to be hectic.  There’s no way around that, so I won’t even raise my hopes in it being easy until maybe November 16th . . . I mean the 17th since I just looked at my calendar.  If 2025 was the year of me being physically brutalized, 2026 is aiming for my psyche.

Goals of the week:

  1. Enjoy Halloween.
  2. Work on Darwin & the Deadland Queen.
  3. Work on ‘Coven of the Gray’ if possible.
  4. Online training.
  5. Finish the December posts.
  6. Laundry, I guess.
  7. Lego when I need to relax and take a screen break.
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Windemere Monsters: The Hejinn aka First Elves

Posted on October 30, 2026 by Charles Yallowitz
Antivenom from Marvel Comics

Antivenom from Marvel Comics

That’s the closest I can find to these monsters and it doesn’t really come close.  Some people may have noticed something odd in Windemere.  All of the main races have cities, kingdoms, or some central organization, except for the Elves.  The reason is because of the Hejinn.  These are the early Elves that were so evil that they conquered the world and corrupted a god.  All of them are tall with bleached skin and black eyes.  Males are rather scrawny, but they can use magic and psychic abilities.  Females are bigger with sharp teeth, adhesive skin, a tail of razor-like bone, and acidic spit.  So, where did they come from?  Where did they go?  How did modern Elves appear?

The Hejinn were supposed to be the forest nobles, but several Orc gods didn’t like the idea and added demon blood to the mix.  This backfired when the Hejinn eradicated the original Orcs, enslaved everyone, corrupted a god, turned a demon into a demi-god, and threatened to ruin everything.  It was a long time before some of the Hejinn managed to fight against their demonic nature.  A war broke out and they lost.  This was prior to the Law of Influence, so the gods stepped in to lock the demonic energy away.  Most of those who fought against their own kind were turned into modern Elves, which still have this dormant curse.  The ones that decided to stay out of the fight or try to play both sides were sent to a shadowy continent as punishment.  Those would be the chaos elves that exist closer to the curse than any of the other species.

Since that day, the Hejinn have been the boogeymen of Windemere.  People have very little knowledge of them unless they studied the ancient texts.  Elves have also decided to avoid creating a central government and mix with the other races.  They hope this will avoid anyone thinking history will repeat itself.  For that to happen, the curse would have to be awakened and Elves would have to become the Hejinn again.  What kind of author would do that to an entire species?  Hello!

Now the way I came up with the Hejinn was rather simple.  I was creating histories for some of the races and I got to the Elves.  One thing that always bugged me about them was  . . . well them.  The snobby attitude, perfect everything, and being the oldest and purest thing this side of unicorn farts.  A lot of people write Elves with a superiority complex, which could work for some.  Yet a whole race with that mentality made me wonder why they never tried to rule the world.  There’s the spark.  I wanted the Elves to have a bloody, violent history that makes them one of the most imperfect things in Windemere.  Adventures that take place in earlier times will show a distrust and hate toward them, but Legends of Windemere is far enough along that people would have forgiven them.

A little more about Hejinn society:

  1. They have one King who is usually the most cunning or has the most potent magic.  Assassinations are fairly common.
  2. There are multiple Queens with an Alpha being in charge of the Harem.  Being they are the more vicious gender, they also act as military leaders.  It is not uncommon for weaker Queens to plot against the Alpha and attempt an assassination.  Killing children of rivals is another tactic that they use in their power struggle.
  3. They worship a being called Tamarix, which is the demon whose blood was mixed into their creation.  He is not an official god, but their beliefs and alterations of his power has forced an ascension.
  4. Don’t ask about breeding.  It’s not pretty.

Is there a Hejinn hiding in Legends of Windemere?  Sort of.  Read this one:

Cover Art by Jason Pedersen

Cover Art by Jason Pedersen

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Poetry Day: Bestiary of Blatherhorn Vale

Posted on October 29, 2026 by Charles Yallowitz

(This is the intro poem to a short book of poems I published long ago.  It’s 99 cents as an eBook and $9.00 as a paperback.  Unfortunately, that was the cheapest I could make the paperback while still getting a bit of money.  Think it was only a $1 I get from that kind of sale.  Still, feel free to check out Bestiary of Blatherhorn Vale if this poem interests you.)

Set out from Meglun Port
Climb over the Ruggor Mountains
Skip beyond the Kepsler Desert
Ride along the Dalphin River
Blatherhorn Vale lies in wait

 

Wilderness pristine
Untamed by human hands
Flawless in its beauty
A hidden gem of nature
Blatherhorn Vale sleeps in peace

 

Creatures of times long lost
Lurk within this land
Long gone from the outer realms
Ancient masters of survival
Blatherhorn Vale exists in mystery

 

A single note bursts
From among the Wordross Trees
A chorus of chaos
Erupts from all around
Blatherhorn Vale begins to stir

 

Set out from Meglun Port
Climb over the Ruggor Mountains
Skip beyond the Kepsler Desert
Ride along the Dalphin River
Blatherhorn Vale has woken

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