Goal Post: Now For Summer Break

Posted on August 15, 2026 by Charles Yallowitz

Yesterday was the last day for summer school.  That means I get 11 days before I have to go back for superintendent’s conference day.  There are two of those and then a 3 day weekend before I’m back for the 26-27 school year.  It’ll be like I never left.  Mostly because I really didn’t get a lot of time off.

This week was all about getting to the weekend.  I managed to start chapter 4 of Darwin & the Deadland Queen.  There were two evenings where I thought I could get the other two sections done, but it didn’t work out.  One of them had to go to cleaning and making a list for the upcoming father/son trip.  The other ended up being at the end of a really crazy work and post-work day, so I just collapsed until I had to get up again.  My hope is to finish chapter 4 before leaving for our trip.  It’s possible even though I have to pack, cook, shop, and help my son with a bunch of things.  I can think of two or three days that might give me the time.

I know there are other projects coming up too.  My son gave me his next, and possibly final, Halloween costume idea.  This one will require I figure out how to mold things out of cosplay clay and style a wig.  We’re trying to figure out how to create a zigzag zipper on a jacket too, but I think I have a solution.  The zipper won’t be functional, but it will look the part.  It’s going to be this:

Dr Xeno from Doctor Stone

One project I really want to make progress on is the outline for Coven of the Gray.  I added one chapter synopsis, which is weird to say.  I think this is going to work so much better with each ‘chapter’ have 1-2 coven members.  This will end up being more of a short story style to flush everyone out.  I want to do 13 stories though, but I already have three ‘pairings’.  I wonder if I should have at least one story be without a coven member such as the hero being trapped in their returning memories.  That does horn in on the powers of one enemy though.  Maybe I shouldn’t get hung up on having 13 stories and just make sure everything works out.  10 isn’t a bad number for a collection.

Keep thinking something else happened this week, but it’s really work stuff and the life event.  I should just say that the life event involves custody of my son.  Not going to go into details because it’s complicated, messy, and not something that should be public.  A lot of high emotions from all corners too.  This has actually being going on for months, but kicked up a few notches at the start of the summer.  A big reason I’m so tired and finding it hard to write.  Not only energy, but having the time and space.  We’re going to see how things go this week when I want to write and my son goes to draw.  Really going to depend on how easily we get through everything else.

Let’s see . . . I didn’t have any nocturnal panic attacks this week.  That’s good, but I have no idea why.  It wasn’t like my stress went down, especially with end of summer school stuff and the custody situation.  Wish I had an explanation.  Although, I did wake up having stomach issues a few times.  Maybe that’s the trade-off.  My weight isn’t going down either, so perhaps the fixation on that is countering the typical doom spiraling my mind does when I wake up with a jolt.  Been eating less most days and walking as much as I can with some stationary biking thrown in if I can’t get outside.  Yet, I’m not losing weight.  There’s more going on inside though, so a big part is apparently reducing my stress and getting my body out of ‘fight/flight’.  It’s been there for years, so you can imagine what a mess that’s made beneath the skin.

As I said, we have a father/son trip coming up.  Short one with only two full non-traveling days away, but I can use it.  Going to be the first one with my new car, so I need to remember it’s a smaller gas tank and weaker engine.  My phone is going to act as my GPS and radio too.  Worried that’s going to kill the battery.  Running into a current issue where the phone will stop charging because it heats up too much while I’m running both apps.  I can’t put it in front of a vent either.  So, I might have to keep my phone out of the sun at times, which means out of sight.  Thankfully, I always memorize the main parts of the route and watch for signs.  Might buy a second portable battery to be safe though.

Goals of the week:

  1. Rest this weekend.
  2. Pack for trip.
  3. Work on Darwin & the Deadland Queen.
  4. Get haircut.
  5. Cook dinners.
  6. Start plan for Halloween costume.
  7. Work on Coven of the Gray.
  8. Sleep in when possible.
  9. Lego time.
Posted in Goal Posts | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

7 Signs You’re Really A Fictional Assassin

Posted on August 14, 2026 by Charles Yallowitz

(Originally posted on April 13, 2016.)

Assassins Creed

Assassins Creed

  1. Every article of clothing that you own has a hidden weapon.  This makes doing laundry very difficult and it is not uncommon for a knife to get stuck in the lint trap.  Let’s not even get into the challenge of removing blood from silk.
  2. You don’t remember the last time your phone rang and it wasn’t a gravel-voiced man with a request or sultry femme fatale.  There was that elderly librarian calling about a late fee, but that was for one of your aliases.  So it doesn’t count.  Especially since you’re pretty sure that persona died in a bus accident.
  3. You only have two modes: charming and cold.  There is nothing in the middle and you switch so easily that you aren’t sure which one is the real you.  One time you tried to be friendly and it resulted in 17 deaths, 3 collapsed buildings, and a cruise liner getting launched into the Statue of Liberty.
  4. Before you took on your current line of work, you were in some kind of special forces where you learned all of your skills.  There’s no telling what those skills are until you need them.  In fact, you have no idea how you mastered so many things before the your twenty-fifth birthday.
  5. Every time you get into a car, it turns into a destructive chase.  This is why you walk to get your groceries, which still has the occasional gunfight in the produce aisle.  For some odd reason, you’re never arrested even though you’re caught on camera.  The few times cops get involved, they give up after a lengthy chase and forget you ever existed.
  6. If you go a week without leaping off a high ledge into water, staring through a sniper scope, or jumping through a window then you don’t know what you’re doing with your life.
  7. You’ve been to every vacation hot spot, but you have no photos or souvenirs from them.  Not even wanted posters because those mean you aren’t good at your job.
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Poetry Day: The Superior Inferior

Posted on August 13, 2026 by Charles Yallowitz

Feeding Clifford

(It really is odd that humans consider themselves the superior creature of Earth.  We come up short in so many things.  Still, it has got me wondering how other creatures perceive the planet and their place in it.)

Do cats believe
They are the chosen
Because their claws retract

 

Do giraffes believe|
They are Earth’s center
Because they have the longest necks

 

Do spiders believe
They are God’s favorite
Because they can spin webs

 

Why do humans believe
They are the highest form
When they lack what others have

 

We brag about our minds
They are the most evolved
Dividing us from the faunal rabble

 

Yet does this make us higher
Than the stronger bear
Or the faster hummingbird

 

We can change our world
Which we typically destroy
Believing we have the holy right

 

Our fanatic actions
In the name of human need
Cause harm to the global garden

 

So why are we superior
When in countless ways
We are naturally inferior

 

Do all animals believe
They are the chosen species
Because this thought is a simple fact of living?

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Return to the Henchmen Emporium

Posted on August 12, 2026 by Charles Yallowitz

(Originally posted on May 15, 2015.)

Homunculi from Fullmetal Alchemist

Homunculi from Fullmetal Alchemist

Welcome, potential evildoer, to the store where we have minions, lackeys, henchmen, fodder, and whatever other human resources you need.  You’re not a cop or a hero in disguise, are you?  Of course not.  The dogs would have already torn your throat out if you were.  What dogs?  Best you don’t ask and pretend you didn’t hear anything.  So, what can I get for you?

First timer with a powerful hero to contend with?  Wow, I don’t want to know what you did to get that racket.  Seriously, I don’t care about origins because I’m not your therapist or friend.  Now, it sounds like you need a wide variety of underlings.  I suggest getting Combo 37, which includes a small army of nameless drones, an altered death squad of three to five codenamed henchmen, and a powerful right hand assistant.  No, the gender and powers are up to you.  Grab one of those clipboards and start filling out the form while I show you around the warehouse.  Watch where you go since we had a small . . . incident and are still cleaning the floors.

Don’t worry about the drones since they’re around to get destroyed by the hero, so we’ll create an army based on the others.  Given you have a flying and beam-shooting enemy, I recommend a four person death squad.  Five would be overkill and three feels like it won’t be enough.  Might I suggest a bruiser, a reflector, a speedster, and the hot one who doesn’t do anything besides looking pretty.  Yes, I have that last one in male.  You can do whatever you want with him, but the warranty is voided if you hurt, kill, or marry him.  No, making an example of him won’t void the warranty, but we do require you give us a written explanation and the body within 48 hours.  The only reason for an extension is if you’re in jail and there are no agents to contact us.  Though, we’ll know about that simply by watching the news and our spy cameras.  What spy cameras?  Don’t worry about.  Standard issue in our business. Here, have a cupcake while we move on to your main henchman.

Now, you’re a technology-based villain as I can see from the funny gun at your hip and all the gizmos on your head.  That’s your hair?  Kids these days.  So, what kind of villain are you?  Summoned from the hell of the future to get revenge on your former master’s enemies, but he was killed soon after you arrived.  So, you have no idea what you’re doing here and are simply going for world domination?  I have a power absorber in stock that can help with your enemy and be used as a battery for any doomsday weapons.  There’s a sale on psionic henchman where you buy one and get a mindlinked one for half off.  They count as one agent since they share the same psychic space.  The only thing is that losing one means the other is useless or insane.  We’ve also had a few complaints about them trying to absorb each other in a mental war of wills.  If that happens then we’ll give you store credit and . . . refund?  Only if you can fight your way to the portal in the basement and defeat Cthulu.  He’s your uncle?  In that case, I’ll throw in a tropical island lair on your next purchase.  What if you win the first time?  That’s adorable.

Posted in Olde Shoppe Stories | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Teaser Tuesday: More Than He Bargained For

Posted on August 11, 2026 by Charles Yallowitz

Ichabod Brooks & the City of Beasts (Cover by Nio Mendoza)

This is going way back!  Before The Life & Times of Ichabod Brooks, I gave our favorite adventurer a smaller outing.  It was a single short story that was well received on the blog.  I figured it was a great way to introduce people to him, my writing style, and Windemere.  It’s called Ichabod Brooks & The City of Beasts.  Feel free to check it out since it’s cheap and a quick read at 27 pages.  Hence the short teaser created solely for ambiance.

Continue reading →

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Windemere Governments: Hero’s Gate

Posted on August 10, 2026 by Charles Yallowitz

(Originally posted on December 17, 2014.  Only covers Legends of Windemere for a bit, but it was still interesting.)

Castle Araluen from Ranger's Apprentice

Castle Araluen from Ranger’s Apprentice

For being one of the major areas of events in Legends of Windemere, Hero’s Gate isn’t a Sister City.  It’s decently sized with a profitable port and farmlands, but it’s actually a fisherman/farmer village that grew over the years.  So it still has a simple Mayor and guards system.  One man makes the rules with the help of a council and is elected every two years.

This isn’t to say there isn’t anything special in Hero’s Gate.  The Paladin Council has influence over the city because it is a few days journey from Rodillen.  This gives them an outpost to keep an eye on the other town and there has been a high level of undead activity around the city ever since the Great Cataclysm.  Any laws and influence that the Paladin Council has is restricted to those pertaining to defenses, undead, religious issues, and magic.  All other areas are off-limits to them because they are not a tax-funded organization.

That’s really it for Hero’s Gate and you’ll see that it really doesn’t come up.  A reason for this is because Legends of Windemere doesn’t really delve into the politics of the world.  I have a few future series that will examine the inner workings of certain groups like the Chaos Elves and the Dawn Fangs.  Yet, I’m rather content to leave the politics of the world in the background.  These systems may come into play if/when I need them, which is why I have them written down somewhere.  Maybe it’s because I’m tired of there always being a political story within other genres and I’m sick of the topic in general.  My stories are designed to be escapism and fun, so that’s probably why the nitty gritty of the world doesn’t get pulled in.

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The Red Ape: Orangutan

Posted on August 9, 2026 by Charles Yallowitz

(Another post from 2022.  I wasn’t doing animal facts at this point.  It was all about bringing attention to endangered animals and stirring people to research.)

I’m enjoying these animals posts, so I figured I’d do another.  Today, I thought I’d make a post about the orangutan.  These are critically endangered for the following reasons:

  1. Deforestation, which is eliminating their habitat.
  2. Poaching, especially females with children.  The children are kept as pets, so the illegal pet trade is a big problem.

Check out more on the orangutans at SAVE THE ORANGUTAN!

There are three species:

The Bornean Orangutan: Population is 104,700

The Sumatran Orangutan: Population is 13,846

The Tapanuli Orangutan: Population is 800

Clearly, these animals are in trouble and, again, it seems to be humans at fault.  Orangutans give birth once every 3-5 years, which means it’s harder for their population to bounce back from devastation.  Hopefully, something can be done.  Now for a cute video of a baby orangutan

Here’s another cool one:

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Goal Post: I’ll Remember A Title This Time

Posted on August 8, 2026 by Charles Yallowitz

This week was another wild one with appointments, high humidity, and general chaos that I should accept as the norm.  Most of that isn’t interesting though, especially the appointments.  I am trying to get something settled for my son before the end of the summer, but that’s not looking possible.  Now, my goal is to simply get it set up to cause the least amount of impact on his schooling.  Fingers crossed there.

As far as writing goes, I did finish chapter 3 of Darwin & the Deadland Queen.  I was having a little trouble getting two characters settled, especially since I had a note mentioning a third who isn’t in the outline.  I don’t have any information on this person aside from a name and rank, but another one has that rank also.  For now, I’m just tossing the mystery character away.  This is an issue with a ruler having multiple queens and me not being sure who is the alpha at which point.  Probably shouldn’t use alpha either since the wolf pack theory is false.

I wasn’t able to tackle chapter 4 like I had hoped.  The evening where I thought I could get the time resulted in me not being able to use my laptop.  My son needed to use my room and the rest of the house hadn’t been cooled off enough for me to be comfortable with writing.  I ended up dozing off on the couch with the note app open on my phone and nothing writing.  The weather and constant activity is taking it’s toll, so probably best that I not push myself.  Small chance of tackling chapter 4 this week and next weekend, but we’ll see.  If I can get 4 and 5 done before the father/son trip, I’ll be happy.  My son plans on doing some drawing on the lazy day, so I’ll try to do some writing.

There was a near disaster this week.  I kept trying to get to work early to tinker with Coven of the Gray before people arrived.  I wasn’t getting out of the house as quickly as I wanted and had to do errands beforehand at times.  One morning, I attempted to tinker while getting the room set up and nearly knocked a water bottle onto my notebook.  That would have destroyed Phi Beta Files and Coven of the Gray.  Caught the bottle fast, but that was too close.  I should stop trying to squeeze things in and just do them when I have time.  There’s only one week of summer school left, so I need to focus on making it through that.

Family is coming over this weekend and today is a Pokemon event that my son wants to participate in.  If the weather holds, we’ll be going out to the beach or something before it gets too dark.  I’ve basically accepted that I don’t own this summer and am at everyone’s beck and call.  Not the plan, which was originally getting enough writing time to finish a third of Darwin & the Deadland Queen.  It isn’t a total impossibility, but it really depends on how things go after this coming week.  There’s been major changes to scheduling and activities that got in the way.  This involves the life event and fallout from the continuing chaos, so I couldn’t have predicted it.

Maybe I should focus on resting after work and other stuff this week.  Pushing myself to do writing could result in mediocre quality.  Doesn’t help that I got a bout of imposter syndrome after every page.  Still not sure why I feel so terrible about myself, which wasn’t the situation when I began Darwin’s adventures.  Think it really kicked in around 2024 after custody schedule and work situation changed to create more stress.  I’m still trying to make the best of it, but I don’t get to write very often.  Maybe that’s it.  Feel out of practice even though I still try?

Totally off-topic, but I have no idea how I cut my toe.  Just looked down and saw it was covered in blood.  Must have happened with I went . . . somewhere.  For some reason, I feel like this is the only way this week of chaos could have ended.  Off to the goals:

  1. Bandage big toe.
  2. Handle setting up future appointments.
  3. Time with son.
  4. Work on Coven of the Gray.
  5. If possible, work on Darwin & the Deadland Queen.
  6. Last week of summer school.
  7. Lego time when I need to relax.
  8. Sleep better to reduce exhaustion.
  9. Get pizza at some point.
Posted in Goal Posts | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Doing the Author Time Jump

Posted on August 7, 2026 by Charles Yallowitz

(Originally posted on January 7, 2015.)

Prince of Persia Quote

Prince of Persia Quote

A ‘Time Jump’ is when you skip a modest length of time between chapters or books.  This can range from a day to a few years depending on the story.  Many times there are events that occur during this time and the characters operate a little differently than they did before the jump.  This tool gets used for several reasons, which include:

  • Moving the main story along to avoid filler sections.  These skipped events can be handled in short stories at a later date.
  • Altering characters to rejuvenate them to the reader.  For example, a positive hero goes through severe loss and is reintroduced as a broken figure.
  • Build mystery as you discover what happened to the characters and maybe even set up for a side switch.  Heroes can go villain and vice versa.
  • Change the world and return to an exploratory mentality.

It’s a fun little tool that can be great for a lengthy series or to skip over traveling sections during an adventure.  I’ve used it gradually in my books such as Luke’s remaining time at the academy, the heroes’ last few weeks in Haven, and the passing of months between The Compass Key and Curse of the Dark Wind.  Things happened during these moments and characters talk about them, but they really would have been nothing more than a chapter or two of filler.  Still, things had to happen during the ‘break’, so it helps to acknowledge this.

Even better, these jumps reveal something to the readers.  They are following a living, breathing world with evolving characters.  Just because the adventure is over, doesn’t mean the heroes are sitting around waiting for the author to cast them into danger again.  They have lives that operate when the big story is not going on, which gives them more to fight for in a way.  Luke Callindor is not just a wandering hero, but a warrior who is still training and will take time to help with mundane tasks if he can.  Nyx is big into researching when she can get her hands on a library while Delvin Cunningham is still trying to convince her to let him cook for her.  They ‘exist’ even when you have closed the book and the ‘Time Jump’ can help bring that to the readers’ attention.

This is not to say that it is a perfect writing tool.  As usual, you have to be careful with how you use it.  There is a double-edge sword in this. While you can push to big events quickly, you can create too much that happened and some readers will feel like they’re left out of something.  For example, some may really want to read about the gambling problem that one of the heroes fell into and is now struggling to get out of.  This is where a short story can help, but there are other things to consider.

  1. Try not to go too big with the missed events.  For example, a leader of a resistance movement, who is also the POV character, being unconscious for the biggest battle of the war can easily be met with disappointment.  Many readers who are invested don’t want to get that through secondhand accounts.
  2. Explanations of missed events should be brief and concise.  Too much complication can make it sound like a juicy story was skipped.
  3. Don’t skip explanations either.  If Timoran shows up with a missing hand then there should be a point where somebody mentions the event.

I say this about a lot of writing tools, but I think it’s important to say again.  You need to find balance between explanations, skipping time, and believable character development if you plan on doing a ‘Time Jump’.

So I open the floor to the audience’s opinion . . . unless I lost everyone during my day off.  🙂

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Poetry Day: The Snoozer and The Exhausted

Posted on August 6, 2026 by Charles Yallowitz

(A poem about two people.  One is always passing out for a nap while the other struggles to sleep.  Why do these types always find each other?)

Crisscrossed pair
Sharing the same bed
One can rarely find relief
Recovering from the day
The other passes out with ease
After napping during day

 

They barely get along
When the moon is up
The Snoozer takes her time
Flicking lights
And slamming doors
Ignoring the Exhausted’s pleas

 

Eventually they sleep
The Snoozer out in seconds
As if she has not slept in days
The Exhausted fights too long
Struggling for a blanker mind
While getting nudged away

 

Every morning
Upon the stroke of six
A battle rages on
Each one wanting to sleep in
Claiming more fatigue
Though the Snoozer has her naps

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