While planning Do I Need to Use a Dragon?, I considered the different type of deliveries that advice can come in. Specifically, the ways other people have tried to convince me to follow their writing advice. I realized that there are kind of three categories that work off personality in a way. Instead of defining them that way, I thought of a way to describe the attitude. First up is:
This advice is gold!
I would put this at the top of the confidence and arrogance chart. Now, an author might not be this for every interaction. They can jump around depending on their confidence. Yet, all of us have those handful of tips and tricks that are at the core of our tool belt. It could be for writing, editing, promoting, or anything. These are ideas that never steer us wrong. So, we talk as if there is no possible way they can fail. After all, we’ve never heard of them going wrong.
Of course, this can be false because it only means the advising author hasn’t experienced this concept failing. That can be partially due to luck, the book being written/promoted, contacts, and any number of factors. This actually will fit more in with the Wednesday topic because this category involves an unfortunate addition. The author is ignorant of the chance of failure. This can be on purpose or by experience, but there is nothing to shake their confidence in the advice.
You can kind of tell when this is going on too. As with anything, an author who wants to share this kind of tip won’t wait to be asked. They’ll see an opportunity and dive in to voice their opinion. It can be a rough delivery made with the intent to be helpful, but also a little in the realm of wanting recognition. There’s a ton of pride with any author when it comes to their favorite, highly successful tricks. To the point where most of us don’t even realize that we push them so much. Nature of the best since we get wrapped up in our own processes, which become mental fortresses. You don’t want someone else’s methods to take over your own ideas and be called a copycat, right?
It’s hard not to put a negative spin on this when you’re looking from the outside. The giver tends to be pushy and openly arrogant, which can be off-putting. Yet, one can see where they’re coming from if they think about it. As I said, this is an author swearing by a tip that has never failed them. It’s more than them putting their word and reputation on the line. They are trying to share a concept that is pure gold in their life with other people, which has a level of kindness. Not every time, but it’s there more often than we are able to notice. Much of it will depend on how things go if the trick fails for the person who takes the advice. This can lead to the author becoming either defensive or reflective on why it wouldn’t work for someone else.
In Do I Need to Use a Dragon?, I tried really hard to avoid going this strong on my opinions. I didn’t want to come off as pushy and arrogant. Not easy to do and I doubt I succeeded 100%. There are always some things that I get passionate about such as third person present tense writing. So, I will brace myself for people saying I went a bit too far in some places. Nobody is perfect, which will be a perfect lead in to Wednesday’s category and where I tend to place myself.
The title pretty much says it all. Finished a pile of puzzles, so I figured I’d share them here. Not sure how to tie it into Do I Need to Use a Dragon?, but maybe just click on the link anyway. Still time to get the eBook for 99 cents.
Music
Dracula Puzzle
Black Cauldron Puzzle
Lego Paint Puzzle
Flintstones Puzzle
Edgar Allan Poe Puzzle
Harry Potter Puzzle (Missing a Piece)
James Bond Puzzle
I put the James Bond one at the end because this one was a near disaster. First, you can tell that there isn’t as big a variety of colors as one would hope. That meant it took a while to put together. Second, I had trouble getting wax paper under the puzzle. So, I tried to glue it without and get the paper under a little later before it stuck to the table. It had only been 10 minutes and parts got stuck. I was trying to get the puzzle free when it FELL OFF THE TABLE! Keep in mind that the glue is still drying and it kind of folding into itself and into chunks. I had to rush to get it separated before the pieces were permanently stuck together. Ended up getting a few large pieces kept together and put on the oaktag that you see since I had no time to pull fresh wax paper out. Took me another two weeks to put the puzzle back together with many pieces being warped. So, the puzzle doesn’t look as pretty as it did the first time.
Oh, I’m also annoyed that I had that bootleg Harry Potter puzzle in my closet for two years to find a piece was missing. Damn thing didn’t have a poster or clear picture either just like the Black Cauldron one. So, both were massive headaches.
Do I Need to Use a Dragon? is still 99 cents. I’ve only sold 19 copies since it debuted on July 3rd. Haven’t received any reviews yet. Still, I guess this is to be expected with no promotions beyond this blog. Really hitting a point where I’m just releasing a book into the void and hoping for the best. I mean, ‘thoughts and prayers’ are used for everything else around here, so why not personal book success?
As the title says, I’ve reached the middle of the summer school period. That doesn’t mean I’m halfway through summer though. I get 18 days between the end of this program and the start of the new school year. 12 of those should be with my son, which means I get 6 days to write and prepare for the next adventure. Technically, I’ll only have 5 because I already plan on getting together with a friend on one of the days. Might be 4 if I make plans to hang out with another. I need some level of socialization, especially since I can’t do much of it during the school year. Opposing schedules is never fun.
Overall, the summer has been a rollercoaster. Work has been good, but there have been a lot of challenges. It’s not a regular school day with bells, all of the usual rooms, and lots of kids in the building. For most of the day, it’s just our little Life Skills classes. This can throw a few kids and even some adults off. So, we have to be ready for anything and adjust as changes occur. It’s been working out well so far, but I’ll admit that I’m fairly exhausted some days. Eh, that’s probably the health issues more than the work.
The big event for this week was us holding a small Farmers Market. We maintain a small garden and watch over a bigger one made by another class. Enough vegetables grew for us to put together a small event, which included homemade dressings, lemonade, and iced tea. To be fair, most of what we had was lettuce, basil, and cucumbers, but the community is always happy to visit for the kids. Some retired staff members showed up as well, which was great. Best part is that the rain held out until we were done and got everything back into the building. A bigger Farmers Market is coming too.
My son is enjoying camp, but not really talking much about it. He turns 14 next Friday, so I guess he’s hitting that stage of teenager life. Only way to get a lot out of him is if I ask about Pokemon Go. As long as the weather is good, I take him to the park for some catching. This means I’m getting more exercise than I planned since we’re talking about walking around for at least an hour. This is on top of the biking, which I’m doing nearly every day for 15-20 minutes.
Writing-wise, I don’t have a lot to report. Darwin & the Beast Collector is maybe 1/4 done. I managed to get a few chapter sections done on the days that I didn’t have to pick my son up. This really just helped me finish Chapter 4. I’m hoping to get 5 & 6 done this weekend. I’m having some motivation issues again, but I think that still stems from Darwin being a different type of hero than Luke and Clyde. There’s definitely action, but not as much and that’s creating a lot of dialog scenes. I know this specific story is one that builds into a spiral of mayhem and carnage around the 2/3’s mark. Another cause for my uncertainty could be that I’m not writing at the same speed that I used to. The time of writing 2-3 chapter sections every days is over. Now, I might get a single chapter done during a week. So, it feels like everything is taking longer.
My health is possibly getting better or not. I thought my blood pressure was getting lower, but it was back to being high when I went to the doctor. It was down again when I took it back at home. Really hoping it was nothing more than ‘white coat’ syndrome. I haven’t been hit by the fatigue of last Saturday yet, so I’m hoping my body is getting used to the medication. Guess we’ll find out as time moves on.
There is one other health thing that I’ve been looking into. Years ago, I was diagnosed with SLEEP APNEA. I have an oral device instead of a CPAP (Breathing) machine, but I have a feeling it isn’t doing the job. My divorce through a monkey wrench into the sleep apnea therapy too, so I haven’t done anything about it in years. Now, I think it’s time I got another sleep study done. Why? Because I was reading about how sleep apnea can cause high blood pressure, coughing, fatigue, enlarged heart, weight gain, and a whole laundry list of problems. It’s possible that getting the sleep apnea under control is the lynchpin to me wrangling everything else. Fingers crossed, especially since it takes a long time to get a sleep study set up.
I want to talk about what I’m planning for next week, but I don’t have much. Writing when I can is a given. With my son’s birthday next week, I’m really just focused on making sure the small party works out. I need to take some time this weekend to get a few things taken care of. Thankfully, there’s only one day with an appointment and that shouldn’t get in the way of anything else. Yeah, I’m not really leading an exciting life. At least, I can’t share the stuff that would be juicy. Not without causing a lot of trouble for myself and others.
Goals of the week?
Celebrate son’s birthday.
Write at least 2 chapters of Darwin & the Beast Collector
Work on Lego Rivendell when possible.
Biking.
Pokemon catching with son.
Getting enough sleep.
Continue watching sodium intake.
Hydrate, especially since it’s going to be hot later in the week.
Finish setting up the Crunchyroll account for anime.
Strange question: Should I do a Sunday post about sleep apnea? It wouldn’t be until August 6th. Not as interesting as my usual Sunday randomness like endangered animals, Lego, and random memes. Still, I’ve noticed how little people know about this and how horrible those with it can be treated. Just want to know if there’s a curiosity here. Nobody seems to care on my Facebook page.
Welcome to our author store. First, please know that Do I Need to Use a Dragon?is available as a Kindle eBook for 99 cents. This has nothing to do with our products, but we have to put a promo in this post somewhere. By the way, you will find that authors love poking holes in the fourth wall. A good smack to the fingers will get them to stop for a time, but they’ll try again eventually.
Now, we can help design the author that you wish to purchase. It is a strange concept, but we assure you that it works. Once you have your author, you must only keep it alive and capable of writing. They’re kind of like houseplants, but they cry, get distracted by a variety of objects, and don’t really need sunlight to survive. They warning about mental stability? Oh, there are no refunds. Every author is somewhat crazy, so mental instability is a part of the package. Otherwise, your author might decide to become something else entirely. So, what would you like?
Good to hear that gender and body type aren’t important. Still, skim through this catalog just to give us a general idea. Let’s start with genre. We have the always popular romance authors with a subcategory of erotica. Don’t worry. They may write about love and sex, but that doesn’t mean they indulge in such things themselves. Some may write out of a yearning, which is up to you. Here are our crime drama and historical fiction authors, which require you pick a specialty. On the roof is where we keep our science fact and science fiction authors because they need fresh air more than the others. Down those stairs and beyond the hallway full of traps are our fantasy authors. We need to keep them locked up because they keep trying to either run away on adventures or scurry into the vents where it’s dark. That causes such a mess because that’s where we keep the horror authors. Please don’t get too close to the vents.
Let’s go over to our personality department. This is where you can decide how your author will act. For example, they can be incredibly overconfident in their abilities or they can have so much doubt that they’ll cry after every paragraph. I’m sorry, but we don’t provide a healthy level of confidence. The best we can do is make it that they’ll begrudgingly accept advice and have mild panic attacks after every stage of writing. We also have packages that revolve around the sociability of the author. They can be very friendly and big into talking about themselves. They can be standoffish, but nice once you get beyond their defenses. We have hermits, social butterflies, talkers, silent types, need to experience whatever they write types, and mediocre writers who are more talented at selling themselves. That last one is fairly popular, especially in these days of social media. Oh, there is also our procrastinator model, which we’ll get around to ordering eventually.
The fun part of author creation is this department, which is the quirks. Forget what your author is going to write or their personality. It’s the odd things that they do, which will get people talking. I know what you’re thinking. Coffee addiction or alcoholism is the way to go. Those are the classics, but we have more than that. There can be a love of anything that your author indulges in. Pizza, herbal tea, Skittles, caramel cold brew M&Ms, and whatever else you can think of. We have a wide variety of ‘lucky’ items that authors will cling to out of an unfounded superstition. We recommend get multiples of one item in case they lose the first one. Just put the new one somewhere to make them think they lost it. Works best with pencils, erasers, and pens. You’d be surprised how authors never realize that they use the same ones for years.
Finally, we do need you to fill out a few forms. This is a living creature you are taking into your home. It might not be very active or friendly, but it is alive. So, you need to promise to provide it proper food, water, space, and supplies. Love and affection? I guess you can, but that’s not necessary. These aren’t dogs, cats, or goldfish, so they can exist on those things coming mostly from the voices in their head. Oh, please remember to nod and act like you understand if your author cries about their characters not listening and changing the story. Telling them that the characters aren’t capable of doing that just makes them agitated and surly. So, what kind of author would you like?
One more time, please remember to pick up a copy of Do I Need to Use a Dragon?for 99 cents from the semi-living author behind this blog post.
(No idea what triggered this poem. I’ve seen this in fiction at times, but I don’t know if that’s what I was going for. An eternal mystery.)
It starts with an explosion
From both sides of our world
And a whistle cuts the air
Shattering our eardrums
Forcing our nerves to curl
As we see a jagged tear
The sign of Earth’s corrosion
People gather in the street
Staring at the shredded sky
Whispering and worrying
Holding their loved ones tight
All feel that death is hurrying
To claim them as they die
Abandoning their cherished meat
A wind begins to howl and moan
Grabbing leaves right off the trees
It grows stronger by the second
Feeding the hungry tear
The endless void starts to beckon
People fall upon their knees
Hoping they will not face death alone
Another whistle screams
The famished tear entombs all life
Its heated bowels devour the globe
That spawned it by mistake
Created by an ambitious probe
Acting like a serrated knife
Ending our creator’s dream
Writing a book like Do I Need to Use a Dragon?boils down to giving advice. That’s fairly easy for people to do. What isn’t easy is to take advice. Kind of makes one wonder how these kinds of books become successful in the first place.
The truth, in my opinion, is that people don’t like being told what to do unless they are asking for help. So, reading a ‘how to’ book means they are looking for advice. The same goes for when an author gets beta readers, proofreaders, and editors. One can accept this advice because we were asking for it. Makes perfect sense because it means you are in control of the situation and have a plan. It isn’t an unexpected handing off of an opinion that may feel like a slap in the face.
It really does feel like an attack when you’re given unsolicited advice. You’re just minding your own business and somebody suddenly interjects their opinion. It wasn’t asked for or expected. This makes the advice come off as a criticism and possible insult. With artists, they can easily wonder why advice would come their way without warning unless the giver had issues with their work. Even if what is being said has merit, there is a highly likely chance that it will be ignored out of shock or pride. It’s no longer about improving, but about maintaining control.
The opposite is true of giving advice. Whether we’re asked or see an opening, most people will at least ask to offer a suggestion. This is because we want to help out of genuine care or for a boost of pride-induced serotonin. It could also be that we see an opportunity to get some attention as an expert or knowledgeable. Whatever the reason, people do love sharing what they think and know, especially authors. After all, writing a book is basically showing off what’s in our head. Even fiction has this aspect of sharing in the hopes of getting recognition.
I think a lot of this involves human nature and psychology. We have to understand how to approach a person with unsolicited advice, which could be as simple as asking. Nobody likes to be ambushed with opinions, especially if they’re trying to create something on their own. Intruding on the creative process can throw a person off and make them become highly defensive. That’s more human nature because we’re treading into the territory of ego and control over ones actions. It doesn’t seem that way, but it really is a big part of accepting advice. Probably at the core of why it’s easier to give advice than it is to receive it.
Considering this issue, I tried my best to make Do I Need to Use a Dragon? more laidback and casual. Even if a person bought the book, I didn’t want to come off as aggressive and pushy. That can turn a person off to an opinion as well. So, I had to be aware of tone as I wrote this book. At times, I needed to control my excited and passion on a topic to make sure it wasn’t going into the realm of aggressive. Not an easy task because most people can’t pick up on when they’re doing this. Whether it be speaking or writing, humans can be pretty dense when it comes to their own delivery. In our minds, we’re being strong and inspiring, but the reality is that we could be terrifying and annoying our target. This is why I had to pause and recheck my word usage/tone as I got further into a topic.
Legends of Windemere 