Goal Post: Heading Into a Pre-Birthday Weekend

Posted on April 6, 2024 by Charles Yallowitz

This was a crazy week even though I only had 4 day so work.  Don’t even know where to start, but I’ll do my best.

Parenting

I only had my son on Monday in regards to the Easter break.  It was really cold, so we didn’t get a lot of Pokemon Go in.  Bunch of homework too.  The rest of the week was kind of the same.  He went on a field trip to see ‘Hamilton’ on Broadway, which he says was fun even though it was pouring.  Got to take a boat around the harbor too.  Beyond that, he had a lot of tests and assignments.  Most of it happened after my time with him and now I have him for the weekend.  Pokemon Go and a birthday brunch is all I’ve really got planned now.  (Birthday is next week.)

Work

Lots of stuff was going on, including an earthquake on Friday that I didn’t feel.  The rest was fairly normal for what goes on in for me.  Biggest change was that our Life Skills students started Unified Basketball.  This is a team with Gen Ed and Special Ed students playing.  I’m helping with the practices by being TA support for the special education students.  Not an easy gig since they spread out through the gym to do different things, so I have to run among them at times.  I’m with another TA and one of the coaches helps, but I’m on the move a lot.  They’re all having fun, which is the important part.  Looking forward to the games, which start later this month.

Writing/Editing

For those who only care about this, I don’t have much to report.  I didn’t edit as much as I had hoped last weekend, but it wasn’t too bad.  Had to stop halfway through chapter 9 of Darwin & the Halfling Hunt.  That leaves 9.5 to go and I’m hoping to tackle that half this weekend.  Not sure if that’s possible since I have my son and we want to do a bunch with the decent weather.  Won’t panic too much since I think I can still get this book done before a father/son road trip at the end of the month.  Aiming to print Darwin & the Angry Elf in time for that.  Gives me something to work on while my son does some art during our downtimes.  If not, I’ll go back to working ‘Phi Beta Files’.  Wish I had more writing time in general, but this year hasn’t been friendly towards my imagination.

Future

We have the solar eclipse on Monday, which my son gets out of school early for.  I’m out regular time, but will get home for it.  Hoping to do some Pokemon Go after homework and the eclipse.  Then, we have my birthday on Tuesday, which won’t be a really big event since we’re doing a family thing this weekend.  Wednesday is off for Eid, so my son and I will get to do a little extra Pokemon Go.  Gives me time to get my car checked out for the trip too.  After that, it’s just work and editing with some biking thrown in.  At least, that’s the overview.

I keep thinking there’s more going on, but probably not.  I’m really just pushing ahead to make it to Spring Break.  Watching ‘Brooklyn Nine Nine’ is the excitement.  Really think I’m forgetting something beyond work, parenting, eclipse, and basketball practice.  I get the feeling that this entire year is going to be a brutal slog to the end where I don’t produce anything new.  Editing will be it.  Maybe I’ll get lucky and finish all of that over the summer then dive into writing Darwin & the Joy Path in September.  It’s entirely possible.

Goals of the week?

  1. Celebrate birthday . . . Meh.
  2. Parenting.
  3. Working.
  4. Sleeping.
  5. Biking.
  6. Crying at times.
  7. Maybe some puzzle work.
  8. Work on May blog posts.
  9. Do absolutely nothing unique and special because I barely have the time to decompress much less enjoy life.
Posted in Goal Posts | Tagged , , , , , | 11 Comments

The Struggle for Mastery

Posted on April 5, 2024 by Charles Yallowitz

Yoda

Mastery is a strange concept.  It’s something we always strive for, but not everyone has the same definition.  Even within the same field, people may see some as masters and others may see those same people as still learning.  Ego comes into play a lot too.  Almost like mastery is similar to perfection in that both are impossible.

Speaking of perfection, I believe that’s where some conflicts come into play.  Many believe that to be a master, you need to have perfected your craft.  There is nothing else to learn since you know it all.  I’ve found that this comes primarily from those outside of the field in question or just starting out.  For the first group, they sees masters as those who are confident and make whatever it is seem easy.  For the second group, it’s not knowing the details of the path and seeing those far ahead as achieving perfection.  Once you catch up, you’ll see that mastery still has space for learning and mistakes.

With perfection not being the goal, one could fear that mastery is a bigger struggle than we think.  How can we know we’ve become masters if we aren’t perfect?  Can’t believe our supporters since they might just be trying to keep our spirits up.  Can’t believe ourselves since we might be suffering from inflated egos.  Especially in the arts, there are no solid metrics to tell when you can start calling yourself a master.  That might be the whole trick to it too.

Perhaps a real master is one that doesn’t realize or accept that they are one.  They possess the skills to excel in their field, but are always evolving and changing.  Mistakes still happen and they grow from those experiences.  Due to always trying to improve, this person retains a level of humility that prevents them from announcing or acting like they are masters.  They still give advice and help others, but are quick to ask for the same when they have doubts.  Yes, mastery shouldn’t mean that one lacks all doubts since that’s our mind saying we might be making an oopsie.

All of this makes me feel like my own struggle for mastery is simply in my head.  At least, it isn’t really about mastery.  Accepting that I need to always improve, my struggle is to gain the level of skill to reduce my doubts and increase my confidence.  Not eliminate my doubts completely, but to be able to keep them in check enough to make them work for me.  As far as the skills, the mastery of those is to always remember that there may be something to learn in the future.  To never settle for what I am now and to grow in order to nurture my stories or whatever I am working in.  Sounds oddly poetic, but I’m having trouble putting it into exact words.

So, what do other people think of mastery and the struggle for it?

Posted in Thoughts | Tagged , , , , , , , | 17 Comments

Big Changes With Amazon’s Vella Program

Posted on April 5, 2024 by Charles Yallowitz

Greetings to one and all. Beem Weeks here with you again. This month, I am giving an update on the state of Amazon’s Vella program. I have written …

Big Changes With Amazon’s Vella Program
Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Poetry Day: Icarusian Idols

Posted on April 4, 2024 by Charles Yallowitz

Icarus

(Guess a downside to poems going in alphabetical order is that you can get some that are similar.  This is about how people seem to enjoy others failing.  We do love to see famous people and heroes fall from grace.  Not sure why.)

Humans love their heroes
Especially when they fall
Nestor is a footnote
Remembered only by the sages
While Achilles thrives eternal
Known for how he died

 

I wonder why this is
That we praise amazing men
And fantastic women
Supporting them to heights
Secreting saliva
In dark anticipation

 

Our idols coated gold
By the worship they absorb
They tarnish in the sun
Blind to their spiral
Goaded on by faithful
Entertained by self-destruction

 

Genuine respect
Twists so abruptly
Into savage disdain
As if the fall
Is the inevitable finale
The idol’s only reason

 

So I sit
Waiting for the news
Who will tumble next?
Falling into the abyss
Expecting to be saved
By the prayers of wolves

Posted in Poems | Tagged , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Walt’s Whistling Woodwind Summoning Shoppe

Posted on April 3, 2024 by Charles Yallowitz

Hello and enter!  We have so many options for you and are happy that you have chosen us for your shopping.  Each of our instruments is carved from the purest of elder woods and core metal.  This is where they get their power.  Please note that you need to play for at least 30 seconds to complete the summoning.  What?  Oh, this is for your child’s high school band class.  Well, you can still buy an instrument, but we will ask that you sign this waiver and have the teacher contact us.  I’m sure they would like to have a few control batons on hand in case of an accident.  Now, here is the list and take your time.

  • Flute– Calls forth a gentle breeze that smells of strawberries and vanilla.  Cracked notes will change scent to boiled liver and sardines.
  • Piccolo– Summons a dog-sized lizard that will obey 90% of all commands.  Player will turn green and gain pointy ears.
  • Oboe– Summons a cat made completely of crossword puzzles.  Writing down an answer makes it stronger, but it will explode once all questions are completed.
  • Bassoon– Summons a duo of baboons that will protect the musician from all danger until the next sunrise.  They will occasionally try to get the bassoon in order to play a note and dispel their partner.
  • Ocarina– Summons a fairy that will demand that you listen to everything it says.  You will only be able to speak in yells, screams, and grunts until you let her talk.
  • Saxophone– Summons a full, spectral jazz band.  They won’t allow you to play with them.
  • Fife– Summons a cartoon animal that will do your bidding.  You must keep playing to maintain control or it will go wild without obeying the laws of physics.
  • Bagpipes– Summons a Sasquatch who will have a message from Nessie to stop calling her.  He will still run errands for an hour as an apology for her rudeness.
  • Recorder– Summons a powerful Chinese dragon to carry you off to a magical land where you will be the guest of honor at a grand feast.  (Only works if you play Hot Cross Buns, When the Saints Go Marching In, and Mary Had a Little Lamb without any mistakes.)
  • Didgeridoo– Summons a platypus.  Nothing magical or special about it.  You just get a free platypus.
  • Mizmar– Summons a warm rain that will cause flowers to bloom on any wooden surface that is touched.  If not stopped within 30 minutes, a desert will appear in a 5 mile radius with the new oasis at its center.
  • Xun– Summons a chicken to lay eggs until midnight.  Very useful given the price of eggs these days.  (The chicken has a 2% chance of being the size of a house and may attempt to eat anything they mistake for corn.)
Posted in Olde Shoppe Stories | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 17 Comments

Codes, Oaths, Vows, & Pledges

Posted on April 3, 2024 by Charles Yallowitz

Hi, Gang. Craig with you again, and this time I have something fun. I like coming up with things that can serve all genres of stories. I write all …

Codes, Oaths, Vows, & Pledges
Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Questions 3 and Looking Back at ‘The Merchant of Nevra Coil’

Posted on April 2, 2024 by Charles Yallowitz

Cover art by Jason Pedersen

This is the 8th volume of Legends of Windemere.  The funny thing is how this book was not really planned and came about because I needed something to happen to make volume 9 work.  The Merchant of Nevra Coil ended up solving a lot of issues that I saw appearing down the road too.  Guess you could call this the maintenance book of the series, which sounds rude.  Still, it prevented a lot of trouble.

The basic story is that the champions go to the new city of Nevra Coil, which was built by the gnomes.  It flies and is very high-tech.  I worried about that because this is a fantasy series and the gnome inventions weren’t in your face yet.  This was a city built entirely on their techy culture, so it bordered on science fiction to a few readers.  Anyway, Yola Biggs (ugh) the exiled Chaos Goddess shows up to cause some trouble.  Some of the champions are turned into their action figures, which a gnome has been selling for profit.  Others are mind-wiped and left in an asylum to keep them out of the way.  A race is on by the one champion would avoided the curse and a few supporting characters to get the lost figures back in time to revive them.  Sounds messy, but I’m trying desperately to sum things up without dropping spoilers.

So, what did this solve?

  • It gave one champion a time to shine on their own.
  • It brought more closure to the Kira/Sari/Luke Callindor plotline.
  • Delvin was prompted to commit to the actions, which created volume 9.
  • Brought some closure to a previous character that people missed.
  • Created more of a foundation for Stephen Kernaghan going insane.
  • Established that the champions were actually famous instead of it coming out of nowhere.
  • Locked in the awkwardness of a confrontation that would happen within 2 volumes.
  • Introduced Fizzle to how human society doesn’t always take care of the less fortunate and allowed him to grow.
  • Gave Yola a chance to do more than be comic relief and make her role in a later book more sensible.  I realized that if I didn’t have these events happen, her being involved in a fight would make no sense and her ‘defeat’ would make even less.

That’s a long list and probably reveals a bunch.  This was a difficult book to write in general too.  I originally thought I would have it be in short story form with each champion, Yola, and a few others getting a section.  I dropped this idea because the format wasn’t used before and wouldn’t be used after.  So, it felt like I would be making this volume awkwardly stand out for no real reason.  By focusing on a few characters, I was able to make it work.  Still had a lot of juggling and heavy-lifting to do because I needed to cover a lot of ground.

Another positive of this book is that it combines with volume 9 to create a good break between champion temples.  Three have been done and there are three more.  So, I wanted to avoid the repetition and stopped after the magic number 3.  It showed that destiny can be derailed for a bit and even put at risk.  Another reason I used Yola the Chaos Goddess because she would do something that could ruin the plans of both Gabriel the Destiny God AND Baron Kernaghan.  Glad I had her in there the whole time and found the perfect use for her.  Probably why I always enjoyed thinking back about this one and volume 9 because they were born from chaos.

Would I change anything?  I think I rushed a bit on a few of the stories because I didn’t think all of them through.  It isn’t very noticeable, so it’s more me thinking of stuff after the fact.  Everyone did get a good amount to do or be done to them.  I established a lot of world building and foreshadowing.  Still, I always got the sense that I could have done more here.  Maybe I’m just getting greedy.

Let’s juggle some Merchant of Nevra Coil questions:

  1. Do you think magic-fueled machines work in fantasy?
  2. If you were transformed into a toy, what would you do?
  3. How would you feel if you learned that nobody cared that you existed?
Posted in Legends of Windemere, Questions 3 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

No Rest For A Hero

Posted on April 1, 2024 by Charles Yallowitz

I forgot what made me think about how certain heroes never get to rest.  Might have been when I was watching ‘Highlander’ Season 1.  I remember a character telling the protagonist that he can’t stay out of the contest of immortals forever.  He would one day be drawn back into battle.  Yeah, that sounds right.  I mean, we can all think of heroes who never get to retire.

This is probably a really big issue in American comics.  These un-aging heroes have to deal with a constant flow of villains.  Many end up getting a rouges gallery of repeating foes, who are always up to evil.  There may be moments where the hero can take a breath, go on a date, attend school, or be given a semblance of normalcy.  I’m sure this is to make sure they remain somewhat relatable.  Still, it isn’t long before they are thrown back into the fray and having to save the day again.

In fiction, the heroes usually muster the willpower and desire to do what they always do even if they are getting tired.  They might have moments of weakness, but they rarely fall completely.  Those that do end will get replaced by a hero taking up their mantle until they return somehow.  So, it comes off more as a marketing attempt to freshen up a long series instead of a natural end.  Again, this is more common in American comics as well as some long-running TV shows.  It plays hard on the concept that a hero doesn’t get a chance to rest or achieve a normal life.

Another level of agony that is heaped on protagonists is that the adventures can all happen in a tightly packed timeline.  I remember reading how some comics are said to always cover 13 years.  No matter what, it has been 13 years since the superhero set off on his new career.  Works for a while until you do the math to find that they are getting into multiple adventures in a 24-hour period.  So, you need to spread stuff out, which comes with its own threat.  That would be fatigue because a person can only go hard for so long before they crumble.  Really does suck for a hero to not get any rest when you start to think of the timeline, which is why I prefer having an ending planned.

Fantasy is strange in that many of the genre’s heroes have a final goal and will achieve some form of rest.  Either a happy ever after or they die, but they do reach an ending instead of having to trudge through multiple adventures.  Even a D&D campaign will inevitably reach a finale because characters become so powerful that they no longer find challenges.  I guess this is why stories where heroes don’t get any stronger or villains match them without it going too far allow for extending the series.  Doesn’t really work in fantasy as often as other genres though.  Maybe due to the nature of questing involves self-improvement and getting stronger.

Personally, I prefer to see my heroes get some rest.  Not a full retirement at times, but giving them some periods of downtime.  This helps them stay fresh and makes it clear that they are doing some self-care.  Otherwise, readers might wonder how they are healing from physical and mental damage.  Throwing healing spells at everything comes off as a cop out, so you need to do something to let them relax.  It doesn’t even have to be in a story, but to have time pass with them not seeing any action.  For example, an adventuring party gets half a year of resting before they are called back into action.  This also allows you to bring them back with either some new toys, having lost old gear, or them needing to get back into fighting shape due to getting lazy.

What do you think about heroes who don’t get any rest?

Posted in Thoughts | Tagged , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

What’s Happening in the Writer’s World–April

Posted on April 1, 2024 by Charles Yallowitz

Jacqui here at Story Empire with the April edition of “What’s happening in the literary world?” What used to be a simple process of penning what we-…

What’s Happening in the Writer’s World–April
Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Happy Easter!

Posted on March 31, 2024 by Charles Yallowitz

The title says it all.  Happy Easter!  Enjoy these funnies.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 13 Comments