Goal Post: Plan Meet Open Window

Posted on September 5, 2026 by Charles Yallowitz

A . . . single . . . paragraph.

That is the only progress I made with Darwin & the Deadland Queen.  I had started the chapter section a while back and meant to finish it last Sunday.  Never happened because stress and allergies caused me to be bedridden.  It was like everything hit me at once and my body just gave up.  No fever and no tests came back positive.  Crawled back into my pajamas and flopped onto the bed to sleep the day away.  If I wasn’t sleeping, I was staring at the ceiling fan trying to focus on thinking through the section.  Probably for the best, but it was frustrating.

The rest of the week wasn’t author friendly.  My students came back on Monday, so I had to get back into that groove.  Special education has the fun addition of kids and teachers needing time to reacclimate.  So, there was a lot of chaos since we had to remember systems, schedules, and make adjustments.  Not to mention meetings, assemblies, and new faces.  I was tired by the time I got home and then had to take my son to Pokemon or an appointment.  It was always 9 PM by the time I got to do things for myself, which meant no writing since I had to call it a day at 9:30 PM.

My son started his senior year too.  So, last weekend had a lot of prep work for that, including a little supply shopping.  His schedule is interesting with the heavy subjects at the start and then electives for most of the day.  This year has the added headache of applying for colleges too.  We’re trying to navigate the timing and what is needed, which is difficult with other things going on.  I need to look into FAFSA and other things while he needs to start asking for letters of recommendation.  On the plus side, he’s going to be in charge of a few things, which should be good for his independence and responsibility growth.

Another factor this week was court.  I won’t go into details about it, but things happened and the life event will continue.  No idea how long this will go or how it will end.  Fingers crossed that things work out.  Either way, I was too exhausted to write or do more than eat pizza after I got home.  By the time I regained my energy and will to go outside, I had to run errands.  This is when I found out that they were having a free ZZ Top concert in the park and got caught in the traffic on the way home.  It was pouring for the entire time I was out too, so I got home tired again and drenched.  This is when I got the single paragraph written and then had trouble knowing where else to go.

This weekend might only see me finishing the chapter section.  It’s a 3-day one, so I might finish chapter 5.  There’s a big Pokemon event all weekend, but I don’t plan on being out for the whole day.  One issue is that I wrote a character into a corner and I don’t know if I can draw out his rescue any longer.  He really ran into the trap fairly quickly, which makes sense for him.  This isn’t sitting right for me because I imagined this bigger before I fully designed this character.  It’s a supporting one and I was hoping this was their big scene, but they might be more minor than I planned.

With any luck, I’ll have an easier week.  This might be the only ‘normal’ one that I have since the next two are messy.  One has a medical procedure and the other one has the next court date.  School year is only a week in and I keep having to take days off for things, which I hate to do.  Stress will probably trigger a collapse at some point too.  That’s why I need to use this coming week to take it easy as much as possible.  If I can get writing done then I’ll see it as a bonus.  Still, the goals are going to be:

  1. Finish chapter 5 of Darwin & the Deadland Queen.
  2. Buy supplies for Halloween costume.
  3. Go to bed early.
  4. Remember allergy meds.
  5. See ‘Coyote vs Acme’.
  6. Try to get some walking in to relax.
  7. Lego time to relax.
  8. Just relax when I don’t have anything big to do.
Posted in Goal Posts | Tagged , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Questions 3: Writing While On Vacation

Posted on September 4, 2026 by Charles Yallowitz

I know many people will claim that they never stop writing or that they write while they’re working ‘real’ jobs too.  If you’re in that boat then you are very fortunate.  For many, the daily grind and responsibilities of adulthood make writing even a page a challenge.  One can go months without making progress because they have work, kids, birthdays, anniversaries, appointments, errands, food prep, sleep, exercise, extended family, friends, sickness, and unexpected surprises that drain time.  I’m sure I missed some categories, but it feels like writing for adults is a battle for focus, energy, and time to be aligned enough to do anything.  That’s why true vacations can be an amazing reprieve even if it’s for a weekend.

Here are some questions to consider and maybe help others;

  1. Do you plan your projects for a vacation?
  2. What type of vacation do you take to focus on writing?
  3. What is one non-author item you would take on a writing vacation?
Posted in Questions 3 | Tagged , , , , , , | 14 Comments

Poetry Day: The Sleepy Destroyer

Posted on September 3, 2026 by Charles Yallowitz

(An old poem I found on the blog.  In college, I owned an N64.  My friends and I loved to play Super Smash Bros.  The problem came about that I was destroying people . . . routinely.  First, they banned Link then Samus Aran and it kept going until I was forced to use Jigglypuff.  I still kept winning.)

Excitement coursing through my veins
As my fingers strike the buttons
And slam the stick
My enemies fly and fall
Their screams echoing
Through the speakers
Even with my handicap
A body made of pudgy fluff
Threatening to fall asleep
Instead of fight
Yet this creampuff destroys all
From gorillas to bounty hunters
All have been decimated
By Jigglypuff
And the local King of Super Smash

Posted in Poems | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Two Wolves In A Character: Not Were-Wolves

Posted on September 2, 2026 by Charles Yallowitz

Many of us have probably heard the story about the two wolves inside you.  It can vary with what each one means, but it’s typically a good one and an evil one.  The one that wins is the one you feed.  It’s associated with Cherokee folklore, but it could also have come from modern Christian evangelicalism.  Either way, this can be fairly helpful when creating a character that isn’t one dimensional.

First, what do we mean by ‘feeding the wolves’?  The simple explanation is that the version of you that gets used the most will become the stronger one.  For example, if you act bad more often then this path will be your more likely decision.  It becomes your developed nature and will affect other aspects of your life.  Morality, personality, relationships, world view, career, and everything will be influenced by you being more bad than good or vice versa.  So, the feeding is what kind of creates your mental/emotional foundation.

Of course, you can switch with a lot of work.  If you start running into problems while being bad, you might try to atone.  This means feeding the good wolf more and starving the bad one.  It doesn’t result in the bad one going away completely, but it can change all of those aspects I previously mentioned.  Many people who walked a dark path find a way to return to the light through focus and work.  Keep in mind that you’re going against your developed nature here, so it isn’t easy.  One slip revives the other wolf and can push you back further than a single taste moves you ahead.

In terms of fiction, you need to think about the actions of your characters.  Even if they are pure good or pure bad at the start, they can slide to the opposite direction.  This can create a deeper character with nuance, but you have to be careful about pushing them too far.  It might be fun to have the noble hero do bad things because they are forced to, but you can’t do it too often without corrupting their nature.  You have to shift their thoughts, words, and actions as they move along the spectrum of good/evil instead of having them stay in the same place.

You have to consider the pace of change as well.  Certain actions (murder, rape, noble sacrifice, love, etc.) are big enough that they can cause a huge leap to the other side of the coin.  These tend to be major plot events, so you typically can’t use them often.  Instead, you can get further with smaller actions caused by minor decisions.  These can shift the character without them fully realizing it until they reach one of those big ones and find the decision isn’t as simple.  This happens in real life where people steal little things they need to survive.  As they continue without getting caught, they might try for bigger needs and maybe a few wants.  It doesn’t make them evil, but it does change their developed nature due to desperate need.

This isn’t that foreign a subject though, but we might not think of it.  Definitely not with the wolf analogy.  It’s really the corruption of a hero or the redemption of a villain.  The target of the plot has to change their behavior and the perceptions of others.  That second part is important because those around them need to notice when they are either falling or rising.  I think this means you can use the ‘wolves’ of one character to influence the feeding and starving of those in another.  You can really get a domino effect in an adventuring party if one stumbles and takes the others with them.  It can also lead to a full fracturing of the heroes or even a villain group.

Finally, you can use this analogy to help with balance or maybe imbalance.  An author who keeps this in mind will pick up on when a character is acting too much out of their nature.  This can help them change decisions to be more inline with the character or to change their behavior going forward.  Otherwise, you might have things be inconsistent and readers will repeatedly drift out of the story.  They won’t take the hero or villain seriously if those characters aren’t stable.

So, what do other people think of the ‘two wolves’ use on character balance?

Posted in Thoughts | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Teaser Tuesday: Begone Foul Beasties!

Posted on September 1, 2026 by Charles Yallowitz

Here is a Chasing Bedlam teaser since it’s been a while.  Enjoy the carnage!  Keep wondering if I should post the final book section by section one day.  The third one would be an issue since it was clearly a shot at 2016-2020 political and social figures, which wouldn’t go over well in today’s climate.

Cujo

Cujo

Continue reading →

Posted in Bedlam Series, Chasing Bedlam, Teaser Tuesday | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Windemere Governments: Everthorne

Posted on August 31, 2026 by Charles Yallowitz

(Originally posted on December 2o, 2014.  Only covers Legends of Windemere for a bit, but it was still interesting.)

Lake Town (Duh)

Lake Town (Duh)

This city may have been mentioned, but it doesn’t make an appearance until Book 8.  This means I should explain the Northern Sister City a bit.  Everthorne sits on the craggy northern coast of Ralian.  It is nestled in a swath of cleared ground between the Swamp of the Sun and the Ice Fields.  The swamp is home to various were-creatures and is perpetually warm and bright.  It even glows at night.  The Ice Fields are home to the mammoths and Ice Goblins who herd them.  To the south is a long region of hallucinogenic briars that take a day to traverse down a solitary path.  These surroundings make it difficult to visit Everthorne and trade is equally challenging.  So this is probably the poorest and weakest of the Sister Cities.

The reason Everthorne is included in Serab is because it is the only northern port.  They are maintained by the Duke and kept afloat, but there is only so much that can be done without them giving up all government control.  Even though the populace wishes for this to happen, the ruling party refuses.  They fear that another cataclysm will occur and leave them on their own, so removing their personal system would leave them susceptible to chaos.

The rulers of Everthorne are called the Pillars and they’re similar to the Grand Counselors of Gaia.  Each member is in charge of a certain area and may be a specialist.  There’s no way to be sure because the only known Pillar is the King who is more like a Lord, but refuses to change the title.  When these people meet, they wear billowing robes and masks to hide their identities.  Even their voices are disguised.  New Pillars are recruited by a mask appearing at the new person’s house with instructions.  Only the King knows that an immortal oracle lives under the castle and watches the future of the city.  That is why Everthorne will never truly fall.

The problem with this system is that the Pillars tend to fight for their own interests and rarely come to an agreement.  Laws that pass are usually done by setting up a meeting at the last minute to get some of the opposition to miss.  Not knowing who is a Pillar and who isn’t, this is a very risky maneuver and is not always successful.  In fact, it’s lead to some terrible laws that were immediately removed upon the next meeting.  To this end, the Pillars tend to be desperate and will jump at any chance to make progress for their city while retaining their anonymity.

Posted in Legends of Windemere | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

My Favorite: The Tiger

Posted on August 30, 2026 by Charles Yallowitz

(Reposted from 2022.  Although, I’ve now read there are 5,574 tigers in the wild instead of the 3,900 below.  So, progress has been made.)

I love tigers.  They’re always my favorite at the zoo with red pandas coming in second.  So, I’m well aware of how endangered they are.  Only 3,900 left in the wild with breeding programs trying to fix that.  3 subspecies are extinct too.  Tigers are killed for the following reasons:

  • Habitat destruction
  • Reduced food supply
  • Poaching

In other words, it’s humans again.  Should I even point that out?  I think it’s pretty well-established that most, if not all, endangered species are in their position because of what we do.

HERE’S A SITE WITH PLENTY OF INFO!

Now, how many tiger species are there?  9 subspecies with 3 of those being extinct.  Though, there is debate on if it’s 2, 6, 8, or 9.  Let’s go with the bigger number for more pictures.

Bengal Tiger

Amur/Siberian Tiger

South China Tiger

Indochinese Tiger

Malayan tiger

Sumatran Tiger

Extinct- Javan Tiger

Extinct- Caspian Tiger

Extinct- Bali Tiger

And that’s the 9 subspecies.  There are also white tigers, but they’re mutations from Amur or Bengal tigers. Now, a video:

Posted in Animal Posts | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Goal Post: Trip, Work Return, and Mayhem

Posted on August 29, 2026 by Charles Yallowitz

The first few days of this week was a trip to the Finger Lakes, which went well.  Saturday was a drive up and we made it with good timing.  Sunday was a day at the Strong Museum of Play, which was really us on the second floor enjoying the video game areas.  Monday was a walk through wetlands and then resting in the room.  My son worked on his art while I fiddled with Coven of the Gray.  I forgot an important page for Darwin & the Deadland Queen, so I couldn’t work on that.  Either way, it was relaxing and had a fun time hanging out with my son.

Unfortunately, the lower stress levels didn’t last.  The ride home was rough, but a bigger challenge was getting back in time for my son to have dinner AND make a virtual appointment.  It didn’t feel like it would be a problem, but I hit traffic at various points as well as Waze giving me issues.  Had a few other situations that required us having to find a rest stop quickly.  I made it back with thirty minutes to spare though, but I was exhausted by the time I got home.

Another situation popped up that made me upset.  I can’t go into details on it, but I really am getting frustrated.  I understand that sacrifices need to be made, but it wears on me when I feel like I’m the only one being asked to do so.  Not to mention decisions being made without talking to me in the first place.  This issue continued for a while and I did agree to do what was asked of me.  Of course, something else happened because part of the first decision resulted in me basically stepping out of another situation where I was apparently the only one stopping it from collapsing.  You know, people should really stop putting me in cornerstone positions while also sidelining me.  That really doesn’t work out unless I stretch myself thin.

Anyway, work started on Wednesday too.  It was teachers only for two days, so I got my new schedule.  It’s the same as last year with a 9:10 break and a 1:30 lunch.  I’m going to try really hard to stay away from the vending machine.  Need to bring my own water, but I do wish I could figure out a way to refill it and keep it cold.  Reusable ice cubes won’t last in my lunch bag all day.  That’s probably a minor issue with everything else on my plate this school year.  All of our kids go to work sites, so it’s going to be a busy, exciting, and slightly scary time.  This is on top of my own son stepping into high school as a senior and setting his sights on college.

I did try to work on Darwin & the Deadland Queen when I had a moment.  Think it was Thursday evening, but I couldn’t get the section done.  It was a challenge to get things started because I had a nonverbal character and it was supposed to be a game of ‘cat and mouse’.  The situation wasn’t kicking off right because of how this character acts, so I had to do a small job to just after the incident started.  I forgot this takes place in plains instead of a forest too, so the ‘hunting’ tactics I imagined had to get tossed.  A lot of writing a sentence or two then sitting back to think.  Made it maybe a page before I had to go to bed, but I stopped right before it got exciting.  I’ll be happy if this can make it over 3 pages since I just need the action to last long enough to make sense for another character to appear and finish everything.  That’s going to be my goal for today.  If I’m lucky, I’ll get to write the last two sections of chapter 5 tomorrow.  One is a talker and the finale is a chase scene with Darwin, so it should be okay.  Doesn’t help that the notes keep mentioning a wagon that I destroyed two chapters back . . . Oops.

The rest of the week will be getting back into work with students there, my son going back to school, and a court date.  Needless to say, I’m going to be exhausted fairly quickly.  The following weekend has a big Pokémon event, but not one that I feel inclined to spend the entire day at.  Probably just the morning, go get lunch, and go home to write with a possible return near the end.  Chapter 6 is another 4-parter, so I doubt I could finish it this week.  I need to start thinking of posts for November too since my blog is set up only through October.  Anybody know of some good author/life topics?

Let’s set the goals and then post a few Finger Lakes pictures:

  1. Write more of Darwin & the Deadland Queen.
  2. Get back into the work mindset and clothing.
  3. Court.
  4. Help son get ready for work.
  5. Make art supply list for Halloween costume.  Need leather needles and thread or whatever.
  6. Tinker with Coven of the Gray.
  7. Pokémon for fresh air and exercise.
  8. Grocery shopping for things I can bring for lunch.  Yogurt mostly.  My lunch is too late in the day for salads to make it, so it’s usually yogurt and Nutella sandwich.  Joy.
Posted in Goal Posts | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

What Drives Your Heroes?

Posted on August 28, 2026 by Charles Yallowitz

(Originally posted on January 11, 2016.)

Hero Quote

In The Mercenary Prince, Delvin Cunningham goes on his adventure to prove to himself that he has what it takes to be a champion.  Luke Callindor starts his adventure to prove he deserves his famous surname.  Nyx has been raised to save the world while Fizzle is more interested in protecting his friends.  Sari has become a hero out of fear of being left behind by her remaining loved ones, Timoran Wrath is honor bound to stand by the others, and Dariana knows no other path.  All of these characters hold the role of protagonist in Legends of Windemere, but the all have different reasons.  Many times these reasons change as a story progresses.

Looking over the reasoning, I think there’s always a level of selfishness within a hero’s inspiration.  He or she either do it for themselves or do it because they feel like they can’t trust anyone else to do it.  This might not be as bad as it sounds since things are never as black and white as we’d like to think.  Yes, it’d be easier if a hero was truly good and that was the end of it.  That tends to be boring too.  As much as people want the boy scout in real life, it seems we don’t really like them in fiction.  We also tend to distrust them in real life because ‘nobody can be THAT good’.  Supposedly.

So an author has to really think about what to do as far as why the character is a hero . . . or not.  To be honest, some characters simply fall into their role as you write.  For example, Luke and Nyx were planned.  Timoran and Delvin kind of just happened as I outlined along.  The point still stands that there are different reasons for different heroes, which one should consider in the case of an ensemble cast.  It has to be natural too and not forced because that can simply ruin a character.

So, what drives your heroes?

Posted in Thoughts | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Poetry Day: The Toilers

Posted on August 27, 2026 by Charles Yallowitz

Boromir telling the truth

(Yeah . . . I want to change the title of this poem, but I find the potential accident too funny.)

In weather sweet or sour

They are found at work

Sweating in the fields

Or wasting in the cube

They push to carry on

Exhausting mind and body

With a spirit barely held

They labor through the yawns

Forgetting broken dreams

That will always haunt their sleep

A longing eye looks out

Briefly to the world beyond

They wish to stop their work

If even for a moment

To enjoy what little time they have

Before they die in vain

Posted in Poems | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments