Goal Post: Halfway Through The Summer Session

Posted on July 22, 2023 by Charles Yallowitz

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?

  1. Celebrate son’s birthday.
  2. Write at least 2 chapters of Darwin & the Beast Collector
  3. Work on Lego Rivendell when possible.
  4. Biking.
  5. Pokemon catching with son.
  6. Getting enough sleep.
  7. Continue watching sodium intake.
  8. Hydrate, especially since it’s going to be hot later in the week.
  9. 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.

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Welcome to Alex’s Author Shoppe! No Refunds for Mentally Unstable Products!

Posted on July 21, 2023 by Charles Yallowitz

Google Image Search

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.

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Homonyms with Harmony, Part 5–Commonly Misused ‘B’ Words

Posted on July 21, 2023 by Charles Yallowitz

This post explores the origins of homonyms—words spelt and pronounced the same but with different meanings. We’ll discover how we use them in …

Homonyms with Harmony, Part 5–Commonly Misused ‘B’ Words
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Poetry Day: The Famished Tear

Posted on July 20, 2023 by Charles Yallowitz

Skyscraper from Ghostbusters

(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

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Giving vs Taking Advice

Posted on July 19, 2023 by Charles Yallowitz

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.

So, how will do you give and/or take advice?

Also, pick up a copy of Do I Need to Use a Dragon? for 99 cents as an eBook or $20 as a paperback.

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An AI Test Drive

Posted on July 19, 2023 by Charles Yallowitz

Once upon a time, my father decided to retire. He was fifty years old and had been a successful businessman who earned that right. It was important …

An AI Test Drive
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The ‘Do I Need to Use a Dragon?’ 99 cents Sale is Still Going!

Posted on July 18, 2023 by Charles Yallowitz

Cover by Alison Hunt

Just 18 days left to get Do I Need to Use a Dragon? as a 99 cent eBook!

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Experience Needed to Write a ‘How To’?

Posted on July 17, 2023 by Charles Yallowitz

While writing Do I Need to Use a Dragon?, I was wondering about the entire concept of ‘how to’ books.  I went over a lot of this already, but there’s one aspect that I didn’t really touch on.  That is the difference a ‘how to’ vs writing a fiction book.

Why do I think this is something to consider?  I’ve run into many people who talk about the rules of writing.  They make blogs and videos around the topic.  They go on about various aspects of writing and declare their advice.  These people dive into conversations with the air of a professional and stand their ground on their opinions.  Many learn a lot from from them or at least alter their thinking.  There’s just one catch:

Some of these people have never written a book.

It’s a weird type of person to run into.  They are so opinionated and knowledgeable about the aspects of writing that you are sure they’ve at least finished a manuscript.  Instead, they’re spending most of their time reading up on writing and discussing it.  Some will say that they’re still working on their first draft, which is fair.  Others will admit that they haven’t actually written anything, but want to some day.  That’s fair too, but it gets weird when this comes from someone who is giving advice as if they’ve gone through the process yet.  Maybe they hit a comfort zone of learning about writing and they get enough attention being an advisor instead of an author.  Yet, you would think they would at least write a ‘how to’ book.

And that’s where I start to wonder about Do I Need to Use a Dragon? and other books like it.  Now, I’ve written and self-published around 27 books.  So, I’ve put my advice into action.  If it’s a known author who wrote the book then you definitely feel like you’re reading tested advice.  Other times, I found that a person wrote a ‘how to’ book on writing after studying the topic or teaching it on the college level.  There weren’t any signs that they published, but they studied the works of others.  This isn’t bad, but it does mean that the advice comes from a different source.  They’re not showing what they found has worked for them, but noted trends and tricks in others.  So, how could one categorize these?

  1. Tested– I’m trying to think of a better word, but I’m stumped.  Basically, this kind of ‘how to’ book would come from someone who has put their advice into practice.  They are talking from personal experience, so there is an intimate knowledge with the material.  You may also have some bias here too.
  2. Observational– This type of ‘how to’ is from a person who hasn’t done the activity, but has researched it.  They have picked up on trends and tricks, which they are sharing with readers.  This isn’t to say it is lacking in strength, but it will have a more clinical and distant tone.  It also has less of a chance of personal bias unless the person sticks to a specific author.  These ‘how to’ authors are also more likely to criticize and use examples of what not to do than the previous person.
  3. I Read It On the Internet– A third type that I’ve run into a few times.  They haven’t written a book or done any real research.  Many times, this person is someone who wants to write, but never got out of the discussion phase.  They’ll spout whatever they see on the Internet such as ‘show don’t tell’ and ‘kill your babies’.  There won’t be any explanation to those too.  Yet, they’ll see an opportunity to write a book and self-publish it.  This will get them a little money and confidence.

Now, I really don’t have a problem with the first two.  They come at the ‘how to’ book from different angles.  The third one might work if the person is earnest and trying to help, but my experience is that they simply want to get on a soapbox.  Again, personal experience, so there could be some out there who have done their research.  Though, wouldn’t that put them in the second category?

It’s funny writing about this because I genuinely felt like I shouldn’t be writing a ‘how to’ book.  Do I Need to Use a Dragon? was a challenge because I had to write as myself instead of a character.  This resulted in me wondering if my experience as an author was enough to warrant such a book.  I definitely wasn’t in category #3 and didn’t research enough to be in #2.  Yet, there remains a stigma around self-published authors that they aren’t ‘real’ authors.  I still feel that imposter syndrome at times, which is why this book became a bigger challenge.  I had to write with confidence while wondering if I’m worth listening to.  Not a fun juggling act.

So, take a look at my mental meanderings for 99 cents on Amazon Kindle.

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Moral Copying

Posted on July 17, 2023 by Charles Yallowitz

Ciao, SEers! We’ve been discussing famous authors and their styles. So far, we discussed apps that compare our writing to famous authors (find that …

Moral Copying
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Happy National Ice Cream Day

Posted on July 16, 2023 by Charles Yallowitz

I was going to do another animal post, but then I saw that it was one of the most important national holidays ever.  You can’t go wrong with ice cream . . . Well, you can if you’re lactose intolerant, but they make lactose-free brands too.  My first real job was at a Baskin Robbins in the summer of 1999 and I still scoop ice cream the same way.  So, I always have a fondness for this dessert.  Don’t indulge nearly as much as I used to, but I like to treat myself at times.  Probably take my son out for some today.  Hope everyone can get in on the fun even a little bit.  Of course, we need some funnies too.

Choco Taco!

I caught some of these videos on YouTube and Instagram.  They’re kind of fun to watch and show some amazing skill:

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