Goal Post: Halloween In The Rearview Mirror

Posted on November 1, 2025 by Charles Yallowitz

First, I want to post the link to my son’s Chorus trip fundraiser.  They are performing at Disney World next year, so they’re doing a fundraiser.  It’s just a donation thing, but I figure I would post the link and see what happens:

Donation

Now . . . What in the world happened this week?  It was a full week of work, but things were crazy with Halloween yesterday.  That holiday always creates a weird vibe in schools because the kids are gearing up for the fun.  Many teachers are too, so it can become a clash of energies on the actual day.  It’s definitely been worse though.  A bunch of other stressful work-related things probably added to the vibe.  At least we’re doing a virtual day next Tuesday, which can help.

Writing-wise, I did manage to get one section of Darwin & the Joy Path completed while my son hung out with friends.  That was last weekend, so the week wasn’t nearly as kind.  I was hoping to get some writing done on Wednesday, but a storm on Thursday forced me to use that time for errands.  The actual day of the storm would have been good for writing, but I . . . was driving through it for an appointment.  Let’s just say things weren’t on my side once Monday hit.

To be fair, I couldn’t wrap my head around the last section of Chapter 6.  I realized I had dangerous trees again.  Yes, they’re traveling through an eerie forest where there are barely any animals.  Yes, there is fog everywhere and trees make for good obstacles.  I just can’t keep having them fight the damn things, so I needed to come up with a new threat to close this part of the story.  Didn’t help that a character basically shows up and is no longer needed, which is how it was supposed to go.  Only I made an actual history for this tertiary character and they don’t even get to speak.  This one is entirely on me, but I have a brain itch to still find a way to get their history noted in the text.

My writing goal is to get through Chapters 6 and 7 this weekend.  It’s possible since 7 is a downtime chapter after an action-packed one.  Not that it’s boring, but it has more dialog and a set up for Chapter 8.  If I’m lucky, I might be able to start 8 and even get a little written during the week.  I won’t get my hopes up though.

Starting to wonder about my writing style too.  I keep wondering if it’s more simplistic than when I started.  Can’t exactly explain it.  I still use as many big words as I can without losing comprehension, but my stories kind of feel lower key.  Trying to find a way to explain this without making it sound like a negative.  Almost like the stories I’m writing might be better for teenagers and those who aren’t hardcore fantasy fans.  Maybe those who simply want a story to casually read and relax with.  Pure escapism that can trigger deeper thought if the reader wishes it to.

I think one source of fear is that I see so many readers attack stories for not being deep enough or being ‘standard’.  Everyone wants something new and surprising, but go out of their way to find a reason for a story to not be categorized as such.  Since my stories are follow traditional hero patterns with character-specific twists, I think I’d be an easy target for this criticism.  On the other hand, my son has been talking about what he likes about Beginning of a Hero and the simplicity is kind of what is drawing him along.  He isn’t getting confused by the story and characters.  Then again, he isn’t very far into the story, so that could change.  Maybe I’m looking at him as an example of what my target audience should be.  Not that I know what that would be.

Next week shouldn’t be too busy and I might be able to sneak some writing in on a few days.  I won’t hold my breath though.  The week after is going to be a wash because it’s the BIG Pokemon event for the season, which will run from Monday through Sunday night.  I will accept that right now and not get my hopes up.  Anyway, I’ll try to focus on January blog posts (minus the Tuesday stuff that I haven’t figured out yet) and working in my notebooks.  Need to make some progress, right?

Goals of the week:

  1. Write more of Darwin & the Joy Path.
  2. Clean the bathroom.
  3. Spend time with son.
  4. Don’t eat too much leftover candy.
  5. Catch Pokemon.
  6. Improve sleep since my anxiety has been causing issues.
  7. Puzzles!
  8. Figure out a show I can watch.
  9. Finish more January blog posts.

Son’s Halloween costume since I apparently never posted it before:

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Happy Halloween!

Posted on October 31, 2025 by Charles Yallowitz

It’s the usual today.  Bunch of memes I found on Google and a music video of one of my favorite Halloween songs.  Took a lot to hold off on it until today.

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Poetry Day: Speeder

Posted on October 30, 2025 by Charles Yallowitz

Google Image Search

(We’ve all seen people like this.)

I saw you

Nostrils blazing in my rear view

Your tongue licking your lips

As you rocket by me

Windows shaking in your wake

Those around you are fools

Inching along at fifty

Kissing bumpers as they go

You are a true mastermind

Finding the smallest gap

And plugging in at eighty

Ignoring the honking horns

The highway is your playground

Nothing can stop you

You are invincible

Until your car hits the overpass

And you keep sailing on

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Hard Science Fiction

Posted on October 30, 2025 by Charles Yallowitz

(Cracks knuckles) (There is no emoji for that one.) Hi again, Gang. Craig with you for another dive into the speculative genres. So far we have …

Hard Science Fiction
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Questions 3: Ghosts and Hauntings

Posted on October 29, 2025 by Charles Yallowitz

Coming to the end of the ghost month, I think I’ll open the floor to people.  If you don’t believe in ghosts then don’t feel obligated to answer or give a long comment about why they don’t exist.  I’ve walked into that one before and it isn’t fun.  This is all about fun.

  1. What is your favorite ghost story?
  2. Have you ever had a paranormal experience? (Think hard)
  3. If you were a ghost, what would you do?
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Teaser Tuesday: Needing a Challenge

Posted on October 28, 2025 by Charles Yallowitz

Cover Art by Alison Hunt

(A short and ominous scene from War of Nytefall: Savagery.)

With a half-hearted swing of his arm, Alastyre decapitates two of the Dawn Fangs that jump on him from the rooftop. The third fighter is grabbed by the face and held aloft while the hunter admires the unique collection of buildings that make up Nytefall. For years, he has tried to imagine what Clyde’s kingdom looks like, so the reality has been a constant source of amusement. Instead of dark streets and eternal night, the island is bathed in sunlight and more reminiscent of a tropical paradise than a crypt. He notes that every Dawn Fang has built a home or business using the architecture of their homeland, which makes him wonder why these citizens never attempted to return to the mortal world. With a  shrug, he twists the head off his flailing sparring partner and examines the snarling face before tossing it into a cart. With a tired sigh, Alastyre wipes his hands on his bare chest and turns to see if his latest display of strength has had any effect on his audience. All of the silent Dawn Fangs stare ahead and stand at attention like they have been doing since he left the fortress. He frowns and at how they are ready to be called on to fight the monster in the name of their leader regardless of their low chances of survival. Glancing at those standing high atop the fortress wall, he can see that his special prisoners remain unfazed by the carnage.

“You look disappointed,” Kai says after he gathers the last of the severed heads. Gently placing them in the cart, he goes about stacking the bodies in a collection of coffins. “They know Clyde is alive and believe he will save them. The deaths of their kin only fuel their desire to stand strong until salvation arrives. Those brought over from Nyte are the ones showing any amount of wavering, but they are taking strength from Xavier and Nadia. You need to make an example today. Not what you did to Chastity and Archillious. While their heads being mounted on the wall had an initial shock, the impact has already disappeared.”

“I was hoping that the death of twenty brave citizens would get the job done,” Alastyre admits in a low voice. His eyes fall on a young Dawn Fang, the halfling already brandishing the axe blades that come out of her wrists. “They are scared, but not enough. I thought their spirits would break as easily as their flesh. There are fools who believe Dawn Fangs are mortal in how they think and feel. Not driven by hunger, but by emotions. If that is the case then I will have to attack their hearts.”

“What do you have in mind?” the spymaster cautiously asks. The thought of the killer stumbling onto the true way to destroy a Dawn Fang makes him shiver, but a sneeze helps him hide the reaction. “I mean, decapitation is how you defeat a vampire. Just because their hearts beat doesn’t mean destroying them will be effective. Perhaps symbolic, but that will only work once and fade much like the wall display.”

“I meant that I should deal an emotional blow.”

“I see. Sorry for my foolishness.”

“No, I understand why you would think so literally.”

“May I make a suggestion?”

“Of course.”

“Defeat one of their heroes in combat.”

“And who did you have in mind?”

Find out who the victim will be in War of Nytefall: Savagery for 99 cents!

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Ghost Month: The Poltergeist

Posted on October 27, 2025 by Charles Yallowitz

Poltergeist

This could be the most famous type of ghost because of the movie.  At least it’s a name that people recognize.  So, what is a poltergeist in terms of folklore?

With the name originating in Germany, poltergeists are spirits found across the globe that caused physical disturbances.  Their most common activities are making noises and moving stuff around.  Sometimes they simply move an object when nobody is looking, but other times they will hurl it in anger.  Other stories talk of them attacking people through mysterious bites or even tripping.  Flickering lights, foul smells, and sudden fires are considered signs of a poltergeist even if they are not done consciously by the ghost.  A person could see how these ghosts are the most physically interactive ones out there.

Now, a poltergeist isn’t tied to a dead person.  They could be considered a spirit born from strong emotions of a living person.  Many stories tie them to teenagers who are suffering from depression and/or anxiety.  If this is the case, a poltergeist would be a manifestation of emotional turmoil.  It could even be that the people who conjure them have some level of telekinesis or psychokinesis, but can’t consciously access these abilities.  So, a poltergeist is created by the subconscious to unleash these powers.  Of course, this is all theory.

Poltergeists have been tied to a lot of hoaxes as well.  It seems fairly easy to rig things to move using finishing line, magnets, and/or shadows.  Not sure how I feel about this because I know many ghost stories can be chalked up to hoaxes or misunderstandings.  It would be why many people don’t believe in them, which I think the poltergeist perfectly encapsulates.  There have been so many fakes that most would never believe such a thing exists.  The possibility is denied, which means any evidence that it could be real simply points to another hoax.  Not like a poltergeist is going to get offended and jump on the news to declare its existence.

This makes me wonder why people are so quick to say ghosts don’t exist.  I have a few theories:

  1. Many require tangibility to believe something.  You need to see it, feel it, hear it, or have some sense trigger it.  Ghosts may do that at times, but in ways that a rational mind can put on another source.  Not like you can grab one, so it’s something fairly impossible to prove.
  2. Religion ties much of the supernatural into God, angels, and demons.  This results in other paranormal entities falling outside of a person’s belief circle.  It could even go against their beliefs, which many don’t want challenged.
  3. The existence of ghosts can bring in difficult questions about the soul and afterlife.  I think many people go with either Heaven/Hell or nothing.  There are other ideas about what happens after we die, but becoming a ghost is typically seen as a negative.  You are either being punished or have become trapped.  You can’t move on to the true afterlife and join your loved ones.  A ghost is simply stuck on Earth with no way to truly interact and communicate with those around them.  It sounds like Hell and believing it’s a possibility can shake a person to their core.  Better to feel like that isn’t an option at all.

Odd question:  Anybody think they’ve ever encountered or seen the aftermath of a poltergeist?

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Happy National Pumpkin Day

Posted on October 26, 2025 by Charles Yallowitz

The picture above speaks for itself.  Happy National Pumpkin Day whether you look the spice, pie, carvings, color, or the Great One.  Enjoy.

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Goal Post: Injured

Posted on October 25, 2025 by Charles Yallowitz

I was trying to think of a catchier title, but that was really the highlight of the week.  I can’t talk about the specifics, but I took a surprisingly bad hit to the stomach on Wednesday.  It didn’t cause any bruising and nothing is broken.  I even went to work on Thursday, but needed to take Friday off.  The issue is that my abdomen hurts if I sit for too long and get up.  It also starts to ache, feel bloated, and I get gassy about 30 minutes after I eat.  So, it’s been tough doing much of anything.  This means that day off was spent entirely on recovery and figuring out what my temporary limits are.  Would have been nice to get writing done, but couldn’t focus.

Speaking of writing, I only made it through half of chapter 6 last weekend.  I thought I could get the rest done, but I lost Wednesday and Thursday evenings to the injury and other appointments.  So, Darwin & the Joy Path is not as far along as I thought, but that could change.  I’m going to try to get one section done tonight before bed, which could open the door for me to get through the last section and chapter 7 next weekend.  Again, I don’t think I’ll finish writing this book before 2026, but I would like to at least get halfway done, which means finishing chapter 9.

That isn’t to say I wasn’t totally unproductive.  Got a bunch of posts typed up for January since I had some plans for that.  Worked a bit on the ‘Phi Beta Files: Junior Year’ story outlines.  It’s really tough juggling this one since I never have time at work to tinker like I had hoped.  So, I have to read what I already set up and go through the biography notes to make sure I cover the bases.  Each of the 6 books will have 10 short stories that cover the overall plot.  This one has a recurring villain taking over the mercenary academy and Phi Beta figuring out a way to get rid of her.  Keep in mind that this is a combo of fantasy, military academy, and college comedies like Animal House.  Stories are getting more serious as the characters mature though.  I say knowing the 5th book is the Spring Break adventures right before the really dark Senior Year.  Look, I’m 45 and I doubt I’ll live long enough to write all of these, but I just want to get the ideas on paper.  My son can figure them out if he succeeds in designing video games and wants to use what I leave behind.

I want to slide into something more positive, but I guess it wasn’t one of those weeks.  Not that it was miserable, but a lot of stressful events occurred.  Facing a rough situation that requires I work with someone else.  That other person isn’t communicating with me and is making this more of a competition.  So, the overall situation is getting tense and a third party is suffering for it.  I’ve reached a point where I’m tired of being nice and the general door mat.  This has resulted in me pushing back and the other person is digging in their heels or going full ‘no contact’.  All of this comes with a deadline too.  I know their favorite tactic is to run down the clock in the hopes of their ideas and desires being accepted in the final hour.  Guess that’s easier for them than negotiating in good faith and finding a compromise.

Speaking of running down the clock, I remember why I didn’t get as much writing done as I had hoped.  A friend invited me to watch the ‘NY Giants vs Denver Broncos’ game.  It was the first time in a while that we were both free to get together.  That’s more important than writing a chapter section.  Course, it would have been nice for the Giants to NOT make NFL history in the worst way possible.  Plus side, the pizza was good and we had a great assortment of Doritos.

This coming week has a bunch of appointments and ends on Halloween.  I’ve got my son for the first half of the holiday and then he goes to his mom that evening.  Good chance I can get writing done during the week too, which could give me a cushion next weekend for doing something else one afternoon.  Going to have to see how my stomach is doing too because I have to be sure it’s nothing more severe than internal bruising.  Fingers crossed on that one.

Realized I haven’t been posting what I’m watching on TV, but I haven’t been streaming anything exciting.  Right now, it’s an anime ‘My Dress-Up Darling’, which is probably considered a YA Rom-Com or slice of life.  I’m struggling to find anything that’s really grabbing me though.  I keep looking at hour-long shows, but I typically don’t have the time to watch even one episode on weekdays.  This puts ‘Reacher’ and ‘Black Sails’ on the backburner until maybe holiday/winter/spring break.  Pretty sure I don’t have many anime fans who read and reply here, which is where I tend to find shows that can match my school year schedule.

Goals of the week:

  1. Write more of Darwin & the Joy Path
  2. Tinker with ‘Phi Beta Files’.
  3. Time with son this weekend.
  4. Halloween!
  5. Rest up and keep eye on stomach issues.
  6. Work on January blog posts if time is short and empty.
  7. Puzzle work.
  8. Pokemon Go as usual.  It’s Part 2 of the Halloween Event, but it looks like next weekend is low key.  I’ll take it.
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Ghost Month: Ghost Animals

Posted on October 24, 2025 by Charles Yallowitz

Google Image Search

Another one that is self-explanatory, which makes one wonder if the people who hunt ghosts aren’t that original.  Anyway, this can be broken down into two categories:

Ghost of Deceased Animals

It’s the spirit of an animal that died such as a beloved pet or one that suffered a horrible demise.  Both require strong emotions to create the ghost.  It’s usually the first category though because of the love people have for the deceased pet.  This brings up an interesting question of if the animal’s emotions are what made it stay or the ones still held by the human who is having trouble letting go.  If it’s the latter, one could say that these are healing spirits that stick around in the hopes of helping their former owners recover from the loss.

Spectral Creatures

Hellhounds, black dogs, ghost cats, phantom horses, and harbingers would all fall into this category.  These aren’t animals that had a life prior to death.  Some of them came from Hell while others simply exist with no backstory.  In olden times, cultures saw these creatures as bad omens and warnings, so the harbinger title could be used for most in this category.

I think the possible existence of ghost animals also brings up an interesting philosophical question.  If an animal can become a ghost, does that mean it has a soul with clear emotions?  We already know that animals feel things, but most people tend to think it’s on a lesser level than humans.  Yet, we can see that human and animal ghosts don’t act differently.  Both can interact with the physical world at times, take clear forms, and be created from strong emotions.  Any of the ghosts that don’t take on a clearly defined form could even be an animal.  For example, nothing says a ghost orb in a forest couldn’t have been created by a deer being killed by a hunter.

So, what do other people think about ghost animals?

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