Pretty much. Of course, there are some personal questions that I won’t answer, but I feel like tossing myself into the woodchipper. Author, parent of special needs child, divorcee, occasional Lego builder, and a few other titles I can toss in there. Keep in mind that I am at work, so it might take me a bit to get to the comments. I will answer them all as long as they don’t cross into ‘too personal’ territory.
You know I had to do this one since my name is on it. Couldn’t find a free picture for it though. The other issue I had was that everything involved King Charles the III. So, who are some other famous (or infamous) Charles/Charlies in history? I didn’t put Manson in this. Want to make that clear.
Charles Barkley
Charles Bronson
Charles Darwin
Charles Dickens
Charles M. Schulz
Charlie Chaplin
Charlie Day
Charlie Parker
Charlie Sheen (I grew up watching his comedy movies)
King Charles I
What other famous Charles/Charlies are out there? I wasn’t sure if I should add Chuck or other versions of my name like Carlos. That would have included Chuck Norris, so you can’t claim him in the comments now.
Well, I’m glad I didn’t make any lofty goals for the week because it was crazy. A lot of chaos ensued, so even sleeping was a challenge. My day off on Tuesday helped, but I was a zombie when hanging with my son. Exhaustion so bad that I started wondering if I was sick. That really set the tone for the week as well, which means I never got anywhere close to my writing.
With this weekend being the big Pokemon event of the season, I won’t be getting any writing done. I thought I might in the evening, but I’m going to be tired. With things going sideways in other aspects of my life, it was really nice to get together with a bunch of people and work towards a shared goal. Forgot my problems every evening I was out in the cold, so a full weekend will be worthwhile. It might even clear enough stress that I can get extra writing done this coming week. With no appointments, I might even finish chapter 8 of Darwin & the Joy Path before next weekend. It’s a noble and lofty goal, which is possible.
The other side of the coin is that this is the last full week before Thanksgiving, which can be dicey. Tests are coming for my son while students in general begin getting antsy about the holiday. Think we have a field trip as well. I’m going to try to get extra sleep like I did this week to avoid total collapse. True, I had to go back to using Zzzquil, but it isn’t as bad as it was before. The goal here is to have enough energy to doing writing on Wednesday and Thursday nights as well as enjoy next weekend with my son.
Speaking of the younger generation, I did get him a new video game, which I snuck onto the Switch last weekend. It was something I promised him for the holidays, but he’s had a rough go of things lately. So, he got his present early and is loving it. It’s the newest Pokemon game, which is a sequel to the one that got him into the franchise. I’m having a blast watching him run into situations and have to escape these massive, aggressive Pokemon only for more angry ones to pop up. One could say this is a little gift to myself and the reason why I said he can only play it when I’m free to watch the comedy. He has no problem with that because it’s an extra set of eyes seeing things on the screen.
Blog-wise, I almost finished the January stuff, but I need to pick the ‘Top 5 of 2025’. It isn’t a pretty list since it’s my older posts that do better. Already did a ‘Top 5 of All Time’, so I want to stick to this year. I’ll see what I’m working with before I make a final decision, but I should probably wait until halfway through December too. Gives me more time to figure out the Tuesday promo issue, which might be another rehash of the origins I did long ago and again in 2023. Wish I had another idea, but promoting books doesn’t seem to be a thing any more.
Almost forgot that I have to start preparing an idea for a work pot luck the day before Thanksgiving. All of the TAs do a little feast around this time of year, which is a nice community building thing. I’ve had an idea for a main dish for a while and the timing allows me to put it together. I’ll have the weekend to cook up one of the ingredients and can use the classroom oven to put everything together.
You know, it looks like my life is just a series of side missions, but I don’t know what the main mission is. I don’t want to say it’s simply to survive because that sounds really boring. It was always the ‘be a published author’ dream, which doesn’t seem plausible these days. I can’t even carve out enough writing time. When I do get the time, I’m usually exhausted from work, home stress, and the machinations of various narcissists I can’t escape. Something has to give at some point, but it might be years before any of the obstacles are in a position to be removed.
Goals of the week:
Shrek
It doesn’t always have to be a major quest or a wild adventure. Yet, groups have to start somewhere even if it’s prior to the book. Authors need to consider the beginning when they go with ensemble casts. After all, it sets the tone of setting, characters, action, and just about everything.
(A short poem about something I’ve wondered about for years. Given wars, diseases, resource inequality, wealth inequality, education inequality, and a whole list of other barriers, I’m assuming this happens every minute.)
How many stories have been lost?
Because the dreamer died too soon
Or they never had their chance
These lost stories of adventure
And love that cannot break
Tales of screams and laughs
That touch the human soul
All of them are gone
To never gain a second chance
Drifting to oblivion
With their creator’s soul
Hi, Gang. ✋ Craig with you once again to continue our deep dive into the speculative genres. We’ve covered Supernatural/paranormal, Fantasy, and …
Soft Science Fiction
Posted by Joy York Many of us have grown up accepting that books have basic genres: mystery, romance, sci-fi, historical fiction, biography, horror, …
How Literary Trends Are Evolving
Google Image Search
Pretty sure we can all think of at least one story that begins in jail. Many stay within that setting too. It isn’t only fantasy as well. There is something about a prison story that appeals to readers. Maybe it’s about redemption or survival. I should do a post series on that, but today I’m going to stick to adventures that begin in prison. Sorry.
I kind of did this with War of Nytefall since you first meet Clyde when he’s in prison waiting for execution. That isn’t really what I’m talking about though. A prison meeting for a party is when everyone is thrown into jail together. It doesn’t matter if they know each other or not. They are now in jail with no clear sign that they are going to be released any time soon or at all. Similar to, and possibly jumping off from, the bar brawl opener, the jail beginning has several benefits:
So, what do you think of adventures starting in jail?
Google Image Search
This is going to be a short post because it’s more of a rant.
So, I used to set up interviews with my characters. I did this two ways in the past:
The biggest issue I had as my series progressed is that most people weren’t reading the books. So, nobody felt like they should or could ask a question. I repeatedly said that they can ask a general question since this was to get people curious enough to buy and read the books. Only a handful did so. I had other people say they were just waiting to see what others said. In other words, my attempt to get interaction crashed and burned.
This hit me kind of hard back in the day because it came off as people not finding the characters interesting. Not outside of their stories, which meant my goal to make them relatable was a failure. A notable exception was Ichabod Brooks who always garnered questions, but rarely got book sales. That was a rather rough failure to accept since I couldn’t figure out why he was popular and still never sold much.
I’ve noticed for a long time that blogging isn’t as interactive as it once was. So, I doubt character interviews will do any better. Considering trying to put myself out there for questions, which I’ve done in the past. Doubt it will go any better.
All of this makes me realize how much authors, regardless of their hermit-like lifestyle, typically require some interactions. Whether it be with fans or other authors, we do need some type of book-based interaction to make us feel like we are connecting. It can’t always be the sales and reviews of books. Most people don’t review books and sales barely exist for most indies these days. Blog interactions are probably the best way to go, but I feel like blogging is a shadow of itself.
You can tell I’m frustrated and wishing I had some idea on what I could do to garner any attention. Not just for sales, but writing in general. I don’t get to talk to anyone about my stories. Can’t promote the ‘Slumberlord’ books since I don’t have cover art, money, or time to publish. Given that it’s a core Windemere book, I refuse to make it a blog story like I did with ‘Bedlam’. Maybe the day I get to publish Darwin & the Fate Bracelet will be when I can revive the interactions, but I need something in the meantime.
Anyway, this was a little rant about an old tactic that part of my keeps considering bringing back. Almost like a bit of masochism. Maybe I’ll try a ‘ask the author’ thing next Tuesday.
Legends of Windemere 