The Goal Post Before Halloween

Posted on October 29, 2022 by Charles Yallowitz

I swear that I did one of those yesterday.  Was the week so crazy that I’ve lost all concept of time?  Probably.

Wish I could share the excitement, but it was really just things being busy once I went back to work on Tuesday.  Work and parenting were the usual.  Really nothing that is worth reporting in regards to that.  Left me too tired to do much in the evenings besides finishing the December posts.  The plan was to dive right into some outlining, but that took me until Thursday night.  Friday night is when I wrote this up because I sensed that I wasn’t going to have time on Saturday.

I think I mentioned that I got my flu and covid shots last Friday night.  Did that knowing it could knock me out for the weekend.  I had enough energy and focus to get a bunch of the posts ready.  Even better, I had the house to myself last Saturday and that meant no distractions.  That is until I got a low grade fever and exhaustion, so I crawled into bed around 10 AM with no intention of getting out.  Took me Saturday and Sunday to get through the comedy specials I had saved up.  Lots of napping, which wasn’t a bad thing in the long run.  Left the house on Sunday for some reason, but damned if I can remember what it was.

Monday was an off-day from school for me and my son.  This was for Diwali.  We had some plans, but he dropped a surprise project on my lap.  Had to take care of part of that like we’re doing today.  Thankfully, we got enough done to make it to ‘Black Adam’ and get to some video games.  Probably should go more into depth here.

How was ‘Black Adam’?  I liked it.  Not a perfect movie and certainly had its flaws.  The characters felt like they had more dimensions and the effects were better than I’ve seen in other superhero stories.  It did feel like the movie was supposed to be longer and I’ve heard it was chopped down to go from R to PG-13.  Not sure why critics tore into it so much since it set out to be a superhero popcorn flick and that was what it was.  Black Adam himself showed some level of growth, so it was nice to see a movie where the central character changes even if they possess god-like power.  I’d recommend for anyone who wants something just for fun and hasn’t been jaded by other franchises.

I won’t be getting any writing done this weekend.  My son is here and we have a bunch of stuff to do.  Homework, video games, Halloween prep, and I’m trying to convince him to give ‘Beetlejuice’ a try.  We’re both looking forward to trick-or-treating on Monday and are hoping it doesn’t rain.  His costume is ready, so I’ll try to post a picture here next Saturday along with the character he’s going to be.  He loves it and I’m fairly proud of the work I put into it.  Going to be a good holiday.

This brings up the question on what to do next weekend.  Part of me wants to take the time to make paperbacks for as many of my books as I can.  I probably need a full weekend to do that since there are so many.  Yet, I kind of want to tackle either the ‘Phi Beta Files’ notebook or the next Slumberlord outline.  Hard to decide, especially since I wanted to start writing that book during the holiday break.  I really should tackle the paperback project and try to get those all done before December.  That way I can make an announcement in time for the holidays and watch zero sales come in.  Guess we’ll see how many people really show interest in paperbacks.

Anything else going on?  I’m going to try a recipe called ‘Ice Cream Bread’ later today.  We got chocolate ice cream and rainbow sprinkles.  The videos I’ve seen make it look really good.  Fingers crossed that it works too.  If it fails, I’ll have a carton of ice cream to eat, which isn’t bad.  I’ll also have a giant container of self-rising flour, which is about as useful as an ingrown toenail to me.  Takes about an hour of prep and baking, so maybe I’ll do it right after breakfast.  Depends on how busy the kitchen is since we have a full house for a bit.

That really does it as far as the past, present, and future.  I’m not treading water as much, but I don’t feel like I’m going anywhere.  Not in regards to the writing thing.  Kind of hoping for one weekend where my son doesn’t have to study for a test, work on a project, or have an event.  This is what happened last school year where most of our time was spent on work and people around us kept making plans.  It really is around 8th grade where the workload becomes crazy and adults start pushing for kids to ‘grow up’.  We really do rush children into maturity as if a part of us wish we could go back to have some of that youthful freedom.  Guess it’s to prepare kids for how adulthood is about work, bills, maintaining the house, and leaving little time for real fun.  Not that I’m regretting growing up or feeling a little bitter about rarely getting a moment to breathe.

Goals of the week?

  1. Halloween!
  2. Help my son study and finish projects.
  3. Get my son clothes for an upcoming Bar Mitzvah.  (Not his.)
  4. Look into his holiday present.
  5. Laundry.
  6. Make ‘Ice Cream Bread’.
  7. Makes a list of January blog post ideas.  (Maybe set up teasers and poems.)
  8. Start in on ‘Phi Beta Files’ notebook during free periods.
  9. Get things ready for paperback creations.  Need to list all of the books and make sure I’ve got the formatting down.
  10. Video games.
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Monster Month: Indus Worm

Posted on October 28, 2022 by Charles Yallowitz

Indus Worm

Here we are at the final day of monsters.  I remember stumbling onto this guy years ago, but promptly forgot.  For any fans of modern fiction, the Indus Worm might make you think of the Graboids from ‘Tremors’ or the sandworms from ‘Dune’ or ‘Beetlejuice’.  Odd combo there.  So, what is the mythological version?

These white worms live in the Indus River and appear in ancient Greek writings.  They are also called the skolex and horrible Indian Worm.  They are said to be the only creature inhabiting the muddy depths of the river.  Obviously, they resemble a worm and were originally said to be around 10 feet long.  That size has been altered depending on what the tale needs them to do.  Indus Worms have an upper and lower tooth, which are square and are 15 inches long.  Some versions smell of the rotting flesh they’re digesting.  Finally, they are too thick for a child to hug and their skin is two fingers thick.

You can tell from the picture that the Indus Worm is carnivorous.  By day, they stay in the water and burrow through the mud.  Maybe their white skin made them susceptible to getting burned in the sun.  It was at night that they would be dangerous.  They would attack from below and could grab even animals as big as cows and camels.  So, a human would be a snack.  They don’t devour prey right away.  Instead, they drag them underground to eat when they get hungry.  Some stories do have them grabbing animals that are drinking from the river . . . Huh.

The Indus Worm is prized for the oil it produces, which is so rare that only the king of India is allowed to have it.  The oil is very flammable and can consume wood and animals with ease.  This made it perfect as a siege weapon.  You can only put out Indus Worm fires by throwing clay and garbage over the flames.  That makes it very dangerous, especially during a battle where you won’t have time to get those things.  The oil was kept in clay pots and thrown into cities like grenades.

So, how do you get the oil?  You capture the worm on a chain using either a lamb or a kid (baby goat!) as bait.  They you kill it, which makes sense.  After that, you hang the Indus Worm corpse for 30 days and keep basins underneath to catch the oil.  You get 5 points of oil per body.  Doesn’t really sound like a lot from a large beast, but this may only be for the smaller, original versions.

Now, there is a real creature that could explain the Indus Worm.  You may have picked up on the hint as well.  A predator that lunges out of the river to drag prey away.  That would be a crocodile.  Oil was extracted from crocodiles to use on burns and food because it has more fat than fish oil.  What about the white skin?  That comes from one report and albinism has been recorded in crocodilian species.  They are rare, but someone could see one lurking in the muddy waters and think it’s a worm instead of a reptile.

And there you have the last of our monsters.  Hope you enjoyed it.

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MKTG #21 – BookStores

Posted on October 28, 2022 by Charles Yallowitz

Hello, SE’ers! It’s Jan here to talk about another marketing avenue for Indie Authors. Unless you live in a tiny town, there is most likely a …

MKTG #21 – BookStores
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Poetry Day: Creators

Posted on October 27, 2022 by Charles Yallowitz

(This was a newer version of a poem I wrote in high school, but lost.  I think I did another version when I spent a summer in Israel back in 1998.)

It is an itch

Embedded

Within our blood

An unquenchable thirst

To leave a mark

A scar

A glimmer of our existence

*

We are all creators

Whether by hand

Or voice

Mind

Or seed

Even the great destroyers

Do so to create

*

Many ask why

Explain the itch

Rationalize

Your irrational desires

They refuse to note

They do the same

Yet in a different way

*

This is an urge

Placing us

Above the standard beast

For while all think

And act

Only man creates

For creation’s sake

*

This ability

Is our true nature

Pushing us

Beyond acts of survival

For it is not enough

To survive

A human must create

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Monster Month: Oozlum Bird

Posted on October 26, 2022 by Charles Yallowitz

Oozlum Bird

Pretty hard to find a picture of this creature that was clean enough for the blog.  You’ll see why later.  The above is actually the Oozlefinch, which I’ll get into later too.  So, what’s an Oozlum Bird?

Coming from the folklore of Australia and Britain, the Oozlum Bird is said to get its name from the Old English osle.  That’s the blackbird.  It’s described as . . . a bird.  Sometimes it has a beautiful tail and other times it is featherless.  It has powerful wings unless it only has one wing.  They can fly lazily or go at supersonic speeds depending on the version.  They can be a large bird or a small bird that is related to the ostrich.  The descriptions were all over the place, but there was one thing that always turned up:

The Oozlum Bird flies in an odd way.

So, what are the variations?

  1. The first story I found was that the Oozlum Bird flies backwards.  This is either to admire its own tail, use the tail to keep dust out of its eyes, or it wants to know where it’s been.  This seems to be the original version out of Australia.
  2. The Oozlum Bird can be used to describe an argument going in circles.  Why?  If startled, the bird will fly into the air and begin making circles that will grow tighter with every turn.  Eventually, the Oozlum Bird flies . . . up its own butt and disappears, which is why I was having trouble with pictures.  The Weejy Weejy bird does this as well because it only has one wing.
  3. Debuting in 1905, the American version is called the Oozlefinch and is the unofficial mascot for the US Air Defense Artillery.  You’re probably laughing after ready the last entry, but this version is different.  It has large, lidless eyes that can turn 180 degrees, including inside, which allows it to see everything.  Seeing inside is connected to a good leader needing to have self-reflection.  The bird is also featherless and flies backwards like in the first entry.  The Oozlefinch flies at supersonic speeds and drags enemy bombers out of the sky.  So, it is seen as a protector and good luck charm.
  4. W.T. Goodge wrote a poem describing the Oozlum Bird.  It was large enough to carry a man. Of course, it flew backwards, but maybe didn’t really fly.  It stayed in the air and let the earth turn beneath it.

The Oozlum Bird is more of an oddity than anything with specific legends.  Heavy drinking may be responsible for most sightings and the tales kept going.  That’s because a backwards flying bird that may fly up its own butt is comical.  So, there have been poems, movies, and running gags in some shows.  It appeared that a person from one culture would hear about the Oozlum Bird and then take it home where it would turn into a new version.  Though, I can imagine ‘backwards flying bird’ is a fairly common jump to make for a weird creature.

The bizarreness doesn’t stop people from trying to figure out the physics of this creature, especially flying up its own butt.  I found sites talking about how it possesses a small black hole in its rectum, which explains it disappearing with a big bang.  Others said it’s a portal to the Oozlum Bird’s home dimension or the dream world.  Feel like the sky’s the limit when coming up with theories here.  That might be why the Oozlum Bird spread to multiple areas.

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Guest Post – Jacquie Biggar – Letting Go The Defiant Sisters book 1 #newbook

Posted on October 26, 2022 by Charles Yallowitz

I’m so happy to have Jacquie Biggar as a guest on Fiction Favorites. Jacquie is a Romance author who writes stories and characters in such a way that…

Guest Post – Jacquie Biggar – Letting Go The Defiant Sisters book 1 #newbook
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Writing that First Draft

Posted on October 26, 2022 by Charles Yallowitz

Greetings, Storytellers. Diana here with NaNoWriMo looming on the horizon. Whether you’re participating in the writing marathon or not, I thought I’d…

Writing that First Draft
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Free PDF: Raven’s Wrath

Posted on October 25, 2022 by Charles Yallowitz

Yahoo Image Search

This was the finale, which I wracked my brain on for a while.  Mostly, I wanted to make sure all loose ends were tied up.  This included things from the first book, so I had to go back a bunch.  I went for a post-apocalyptic action horror here, which might have been inspired by how the ‘Resident Evil’ movies went off the rails.  I still tried to have there be suspense and mystery.  Still, it was nice to give a real ending for Dawn Addison even though she never got officially published.

Raven’s Wrath

The world has been twisted.  Destruction has washed across the globe and left madness in its wake.  Yet, there are specks of civilization and sanity out there.  A young girl named Kara is determined to get there after losing everyone.  Journeying through the chaotic wilderness is a death trap for a child, especially with rumors of psychotic reality-benders roaming the area.  She is fortunate to find help from a woman who may attract more danger than she wards off.  Will Kara regret making friends with the mysterious traveler named Dawn?

RAVEN’S WRATH PDF

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Lisa Burton visits to introduce the latest Hat Series book: The Midnight Rambler…

Posted on October 24, 2022 by Charles Yallowitz

Originally posted on Chris The Story Reading Ape’s Blog: It’s so cool to be back here once more, Chris. You’re looking fit… and hairy. You must have …

Lisa Burton visits to introduce the latest Hat Series book: The Midnight Rambler…
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Monster Month: Yale a.k.a. Centicore

Posted on October 24, 2022 by Charles Yallowitz

Yale or Centicore

Let’s get the obvious out the way.  Yale the college is named after this heraldic beast and they have a few around the campus.  Most notably, it shows up on the banner for the University President and above the gateway to the Davenport Campus. Yet, the college has a bulldog as it’s mascot, but I guess it’s easier to get a costume made of that.  I mean, the bulldog is such a common mascot that it’d be hard not to find one when needed.  We’re going to use Centicore for the rest of the post though just to avoid confusion.

I found two name origins though:

  • It comes from the Hebrew word ‘yael’, which means ibex.
  • It comes from the ancient Greek words of ‘ealen’ (^ over second e) and eilo (^ over the o), which mean roll back.  This is in connection to the horns.

The description of the Centicore is rather straight-forward.  It is a goat or antelope with the tusks of a boar and tail of an elephant.  They are either black or tawny colored.  The biggest identifier is that they have horns, which can be swiveled.  So, they can aim their horns in any direction including each one going in a different direction.  Some stories say that these horns can furl when not in use.  As far as size goes, they are as big as a ‘water-horse’.  That caught me off-guard since it had been a while since I’d seen the term.  For those who don’t know, that’s another name for the hippopotamus, which is odd.  The pictures I found showed a slender and lean antelope while the description makes it sound like it should be large and hefty.

Of course, I found some variations from the more common depiction.  Some versions gave the Centicore the body of a bull.  Another gave it the body of a lion with the snout and tusks of a boar.  Yet, the rotating horned antelope is the version you’re going to see the most because of its popularity.

Pliny the Elder, a Roman philosopher, first mentioned the Centicore in his Natural History series.  He claimed it was from Ethiopia.  From there, it moved into Eastern European mythology and heraldry of the British Royal Family.  It was seen as a symbol of defense.  Anyone who has looked at British heraldry symbols in passing has probably seen it and thought ‘goat’.  I know I did, so I was surprised to see that this figure was something more.

The Centicore began being used as a heraldic symbol with Henry VII because his mother, Lady Margaret, was from the Beaufort family.  They inherited a heraldic legacy that included the Centicore.  So, this beast ended up getting used more often.  For example, they are found on the roof of St. George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle.  It was also used as one of the Queen’s Beasts, which were 10 heraldic statues used during the 1953 coronation of Elizabeth II.  They represented her genealogy and that included the Centicore.

And there you have it.  A fairly simple creature that has an interesting past and continues to appear from time to time.

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