It’s my son’s birthday. Simple as that for this post. Been thinking of parenting in general, so here are some quotes to celebrate the day. I am a little disappointed that the majority of what I found was about mothers raising children. Not a lot out there for fathers, which really should change since more fathers are involved in parenting these days.
xr:d:DADziOoGv6g:71709,j:37547876368,t:22100922
A little background here: I had a really rough week and thought I’d relax with a glass of Chocolate Whiskey. Don’t criticize that choice. Anyway, I had been hydrating all day and had a good lunch, so I thought I was good. About 1/4 into the glass, the ceiling and floor decided to fight for dominance. Maybe the hour of playing Pokemon Go in the heat and not having had dinner reversed my prep. Either way, I’m a little out of it while I write this on Friday night.
Work was crazy busy because a lot of people had off on various days. Some of the kids are still getting used to the changes, so we had a few difficulties. Nothing that is out of the normal, but they are still draining when you’re handling them. Not only physical, but there’s an emotional toll as you help a student who is suffering and you can’t just wave a wand to help them. Think I ended nearly every day feeling like I’d gone through a boxing match with Mike Tyson. I mean, the monster version from the ‘Punch Out’ NES game and not the real one. I’ll be going back for more on Monday though.
Didn’t help that I had to deal with another stressful issue nearly every day. Can’t get into the details of that one, but it isn’t fun to get through a difficult day of work and then contend with more stress. By the end of the day, I was barely standing. The ones where I had my son saw me pushing to my limits in order to make sure he had fun and was taken care of. Collapsed soon after he went to bed, but it was never a relaxing sleep. The days I didn’t have him, I tried to get some editing done and it took the last of my energy. How I managed to wake up for the last few mornings is a miracle? Seriously, emotional stress caused by relentless sources really needs to be factored into my plans more often because I simply can’t keep ignoring them.
That seems like a decent enough segue to my writing world. Well, I did managed to type in edits up to chapter 3. I attempted chapter 3 last night, but the words on the page wouldn’t stay still. I’ll get to that and whatever else I can do today. My plan is type in edits then do the Pokemon Go event until lunch. After lunch, I’ll do more of the edits and eventually make dinner or bring in. Not sure if I feel like cooking even though I bought all the stuff I needed for orange honey chicken. I’ll probably go back out for more Pokemon Go after dinner, but mostly as an excuse to use a Dunkin Donuts card to get ice cream on the way home. Sound like a plan? Well, I hope it works.
I did manage to sort through my story ideas and organize them. Of course, I found that I’ve done this at least 4 other times in the past. This time, I dropped ideas that I didn’t think would work any more and noted the ones being turned into solo or short story collections. The Mylrixians (my superheroes in Windemere) are still making me nervous, but not as much as ‘Child of the Hunt’. I write fantasy, but really wanted to drop an alien adventure into the world just to show how magic interacts with non-Windemere races. In a world where people don’t like such risks, I’m not sure if I should continue that. I also need to rethink ‘Angel of Tears’, which established that there’s a portal to Earth. Not sure I want that anymore, but the entire story involves someone from our world being brought over. I also have a big character in another series that hints at Earthlings having come over from time to time. Maybe I should let the portal be vague, but I don’t really know if that’s possible.
To further explain ‘Angel of Tears’, it was about a group of pirates from inside a section of Windemere that even the gods can’t get into or see. They’re all from different worlds and time periods like a caveman, a crusader, a robot, an alien, etc. They are looking for the lost Angel of Tears whose return will clear the denizens of this area of a curse. She is the one who brought them over until she found a world (Earth) that she liked and tried to go through her own portal. She lost her memory and ended up becoming a college student who strips on the side. The adventure involves her being brought back and having to regain her memories and powers. I still like the overall concept, but the connection to Earth makes the whole thing iffy to me. Yet, the pirates all being from different worlds was a key component.
Nothing else happened this week. Last weekend, my son got to enjoy a little birthday mini-golf and pizza with two of his friends. His real birthday is tomorrow and I’ll be doing lunch and a movie with him. That’s pretty much all there is to life now. Taking it day by day and wondering when things will ease up. The Oswego trip in August should be fun and I’ll be up there in time for a baby introduction a friend is throwing. Great timing on my part as long as I don’t get lost finding my way around up there. I still plan on doing notebook work instead of book editing though. Less stuff to bring up and easier to take a break for a walk or nap.
Goals of the week?
It’s been a fun topic, so let’s just enjoy some visual examples. Yes, we’re going to start with the ‘Three Stooges’.
Years ago, I read what I thought was book one in a longstanding thriller series. After falling in love with the characters, I searched for the next …
Show No Mercy to Clutter Phrases + Deepen Point of View
(Before I wrote the stories, I made a poem for Ichabod Brooks. He was Ichabod Jones back then. Also, he was in a science-fiction story where Earth was toxic, except for a few people who could return to the surface. Ichabod was one of these divers who would go down for relics when paid to do so. He’s come a long way. Feel free to check out the fantasy short stories of The Life & Times of Ichabod Brooks.)
Ichabod Jones is a simple scruff
Living on the edge
Dangling his feet
Into the sickening fog
Peering up at the flying city
Humanity’s only home
Ichabod Jones remembers times
When man walked richest soil
Instead of echoing steel
Before the fog encompassed all
Forcing man into the sky
With nothing more than memories
Ichabod Jones breathes deep
Inhaling wisps of fog
Nothing more than a sour taste
Dancing on his gums
Instead of agonizing pain
To those that seek his services
Ichabod Jones is a diver
One of the lucky ones
Who can return to lands long lost
Charging all who wish to pay
For a scrap of forgotten time
Or a keepsake left behind
Ichabod Jones is a simple scruff
Content within his little life
Never wanting more than need
Or perhaps a flask of shine
Enjoying his adventures
Without wading in too deep
Marx Brothers
Slapstick or physical comedy is more of a visual medium, so it’s very difficult to have it in a book. So, some of these tips will need some ingenuity if you plan on going with this type of humor. That doesn’t mean it’s impossible. Just have to depend on creative description of acts and reactions as well as the reader’s imagination. If they have an even slightly immature sense of humor, you have a shot.
This is a call for beta readers for the final book in the Eternal Road series. The working title is Another Look – At the Eternal Road. I ask readers…
Calling All Beta Readers – The Last Book in the Eternal Road Series
Critique Groups As I began to write my first book, The Bloody Shoe Affair, the characters and story flowed like a river. I loved it, but I didn’t …
Seeking Feedback for Your Writing Project
Cover Art by Alison Hunt
Eradication is probably the hardest book to really go into details about. It isn’t that it’s complicated or confusing. The crazy plans of various villains in War of Nytefall are in every other volume. This one is actually fairly straightforward. So, we’ll see what I can do without using spoilers.
The vampire civil war has been on a two year truce, which has given Clyde and Mab time to enjoy their relationship. Now, the Dawn Fangs have a problem with a Duragian priest named Leo Kandrel. He is wielding a weapon called the Fist of Durag, which is a powerful sun magic weapon. It’s being used to destroy Dawn Fangs, so they are facing both exposure and extermination as Leo’s army grows. One of the worries is that the rumors of it being strong enough to kill Clyde is true, which means he could be defenseless against this enemy. Part of his time buried underground is revealed since the Fist of Durag was created in the same accident. The story also ends with the Dawn Fangs suffering two major losses.
A major plot point is that early on it’s revealed that Mab is pregnant. She tries to keep it a secret after Lost telepathically gleans it and Chastity just knows. With a big battle on the horizon, Mab doesn’t want Clyde to be distracted. Makes sense, but it also means she is routinely diving into combat to keep up appearances. Not a smart move since Dawn Fangs aren’t immune to miscarriages and other birth problems. This is another aspect that shows they can be very human even with their monstrous abilities. In fact, I felt that this gave the species a level of vulnerability that you don’t typically see in immortals.
Eradication did allow me to highlight more of the Dawn Fang team since I had most of Xavier’s people stay out of the situation. After all, the threat was primarily to Clyde, so why bother getting involved before one side takes out the other? Anyway, I got to use Bob and Luther more often as well as establishing Lost as a Vengeance Hound. This made up for Mab and Titus overshadowing the rest during the previous volume. Those two are still involved, but they were no longer sucking the energy from every scene. Definitely learned how to balance such a massive cast with this book.
As for the main villain, Leo Kandrel kept changing personalities on me. I never had the tightest grasp of him even when doing his character bio and seeing what tidbits would appear. Sometimes he would be confident and sure of himself, but then he would be on the verge of panicking. His wisdom and cunning weren’t consistent, which I realized depended on his stress levels. This is what led me to questioning if Leo Kandrel was in charge or the Fist of Durag was calling the shots. I liked how this made his fluidity part of his mystery and even had me guessing as I kept adding clues for both answers. He’s still the first villain to deliver a major blow to Clyde’s side though. So, the squirmy priest has that going for him.
What would I change in Eradication? This comes down to the one thing I was trying to push, but failed. I wanted Clyde to be more scared of the Fist of Durag than he was. It was an unknown weapon that might be the one thing that could truly kill him. I wanted Clyde to be afraid for his life, but I had made him both confident and cautious at this point. He wasn’t emotional enough for what I wanted to do and I didn’t try very hard. Makes sense since I established that he was careful with his emotions to make sure he doesn’t lose control and go full monster. My own character development arc undid my plan for this book, which is why I could only give him moments of doubt. Part of me wonders if I should have shed the whole issue and left him utterly confident.
Question time!
Three Stooges
Growing up, I remember a lot of ‘violent’ shows and movies. The ones where you have characters getting hurt, but in a comedic way. This would be slapstick or physical comedy, which, obviously, involves a lot of physicality. Examples are Three Stooges, Marx Brothers (to some degree), Looney Tunes, Tom & Jerry, and the list keeps going. A big part of comedy back then seemed to be someone getting hurt. I mean, stuff like this video were hilarious:
Nowadays, I don’t see a lot of slapstick comedy on TV or even in movies. To be fair, I haven’t been drawn to any comedies in years. Probably because I’m older, but I do see less slapstick these days. Even the Looney Tunes are more normal in more recent incarnations, so you don’t see them getting blown up and being fine the next seen. For real people, I haven’t seen anythin like the Stooges did. That’s why I wonder if it’s become an archaic and abandoned genre. Modern audiences might not like seeing people get hurt even for comedy and in extreme measures.
Then again, my son nearly falls off the bed whenever there is slapstick. We occasionally watch an old show called ‘Most Extreme Elimination Challenge’, which has people running through obstacle courses and some get totaled. They get up and walk away, but the sound effects and dramatic narration makes it funny. This was the first episode scene that had him laughing for 5 minutes:
Now, I’m guessing the art of slapstick revolves around the incident being so outlandish that it shocks the audience. You also don’t see any blood, bruising, broken bones, or anything that would signify injury when it’s a real person. For cartoons, they say somethign funny and are back either in the next scene or next episode. It’s made clear that the person being hurt isn’t going to end up in the hospital or dead. Once it hits that point, you have an action or drama scene on your hands.
You might notice that I have to use videoes for examples. That’s because I think slapstick is easier to do with a visual medium. That doesn’t mean I don’t try to have some of it in my stories. Having grown up on the stuff, I can’t stop myself from taking an opportunity to have a character get knocked off something by a branch or hit in the groin then try to waddle it off. It’s funny for me since I clearly see it in my head, but I’m never sure if it translates to the audience. Fairly hit or miss with it since comedy is subjective and even verbal jokes will get missed. Still, I think it’s worth trying to put it into my stories since it fits the tone.
Slapstick comedy also has a weird way of working better for present tense, which I’ll admit is a personal opinion. With past tense, it talks about it already having happened, so I feel like I’m being told about something that I had to be there for. Present tense is right there and I’m seeing it unfold along with all consequences. As an author, the present tense also makes me carry the residual pain and embarrasment throughout the entire chapter since it’s happening ‘live’. Of course, this depends entirely on my imagination, which differs from person to person.
I know I’m a fan of slapstick/physical comedy, but not everybody is. Like everything, it’s got fans and haters. So, what do other people think of the genre? Do you feel like it isn’t used very often these days?
