7 Tips to Recharging Your Battery

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The quote really says it all.  I’ve been running myself down repeatedly over the last couple of months . . . years.  The pressure and fatigue build up then become harder to eliminate because you can’t carve out enough time to do it.  The greater the exhaustion, the longer the vacation that you need.  Although, we don’t really do vacations right because those always result in stress.  So, what can we do?

  1. Don’t be afraid to take a mental health day if you need it.  We’re made to feel guilty about this and we worry about the work building up.  So, try to settle assignments the day before you plan on your recovery day to minimize the stress that will greet you at the door.  Make sure not to do work or run around the entire time.  Get some errands done, but take time to rest and replenish your strength.
  2. Low key hobbies like puzzles, reading, painting, and anything else that doesn’t cause you to go running around.  While exercise and sports can give you a boost, it doesn’t hurt to have a few things to do when your body is rough shape.  This prevents you from sleeping the day away, which can throw off your sleep pattern and make you stress over not being productive.
  3. Keep healthy snacks in the room you are more likely to be in.  This reduces the times you go to the kitchen in search of food and grab things that might be too heavy or unhealthy.  Nuts and dried fruit are my personal favorites.  As I said, this doesn’t and shouldn’t stop you entirely, but the snacks help take the edge off.   This means you will grab less from the kitchen too when you go there.
  4. SLEEP!  This is very important and difficult for many people.  Biggest point here is that you can never really make up lost sleep.  If you only get 4 hours one night then you’re not going to sleep 12.  Best to do is take measures to improve your sleep such as weighted blankets, keeping the room comfortable, sleep apnea devices if needed, and making sure you have good pillows.  You won’t regain the lost hours, but you will regain your energy for the future.
  5. If your energy is being drained by thoughts and worries then find somebody to talk to.  It helps to drag such things into the light where they can be analyzed and seen for the sniveling parasites that they are.  You can talk to a therapist if you have the option or maybe you have at least one friend who is always there to listen.  Don’t recommend finding a complete stranger to vent to.  That could be awkward.
  6. Drink water!  Seltzer works too.  Seriously, why do I drink cold water and feel like it’s hitting every cell of my body?
  7. Go outside without technology.  If you bring your phone then only use it as a camera for cool stuff.  No social media posting until you get home.  Just find a place to walk around and be left with your own thoughts.  Parks are great if you’re a suburbanite like me.  Other people have forests and various swaths of nature at their fingertips.  Lucky bastards.
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Teaser Tuesday: Fizzle the Sneaky Spy

Cover Art by Jason Pedersen

Rounding out the July winners is Fizzle the Drite.  The picture doesn’t go with the cute character, but he had one of his best scenes here.  Legends of Windemere: The Compass Key is where I boosted his presence in the series.  Prior to that, he was a side character that faded away as things progressed.  Glad that’s not how it turned out because he’s a lot of fun to write.

Continue reading

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Curse of the Chapter 3

Monty Pytho

Disclaimer:  I actually misread my note that said ‘Ch. 3 Curse’.  I thought I meant to make a post about curses that come in 3’s, which I thought was odd.  So, I got the above picture and sat down to realize I read the thing wrong.  Oops.  Funny little side story there, but on to the big event.

I have a problem with Chapter 3’s.  Not counting the prologue, I always seem to trip up or slow down immensely at Chapter 3.  The 3rd book of a series too.  This has been happening since high school and it’s weird.  I noticed other people talk about having similar issue though, so decided to think more about my issue.  Then I forgot about it and mistook this for a post about magic . . . Give me a minute.

Chapter 3 hits bumps regardless of the notes and outlines.  I have to take breaks, look back at the earlier stuff, and check for what’s going on far ahead.  This doesn’t happen with the other chapters.  At least to the extent that it does here, which results in my pacing getting horribly thrown off.  I typically have to take a day to recover from this because it leaves me scratching my head.  Other times, I have to triple check my outline to see if all parts are still viable.  Occasionally, this happens later on.  Strange thing is that I noticed it happens on chapters 6, 9, or 12.  Why is this?

I think the answer lies in the following word:  TRANSITION

From what I can tell, I use Chapter 3’s and multiples of 3 as transition points from one set piece to the other.  It happens at other chapters, but I may be more consistent in using this pattern:

  1. Prologue sets up everything, so it doesn’t count.
  2. Chapter 1 introduces at least one main character, their life, and adventure beginning.
  3. Chapter 2 is where things begin to push the characters on the story path.
  4. Chapter 3 is where things explode into action and events move forward.
  5. Chapter 4 is character coming to grips with events or pushing ahead with the first challenge.
  6. Chapter 5 is continuing with that challenge or facing a new one.
  7. Chapter 6 may be where you have a character-growth interlude or move to another area.

I build things up to the 3rd chapter, which is where things come together and a lot of foreshadowing/propelling occurs.  It involves several characters, plot points, and changes to juggle in order to make the story flow.  The original flow can’t remain because events have to jog the serenity that I typically start with.  It also can’t stay at a rapid pace because characters might not grow and audiences can become desensitized.  This turns Chapter 3 into a pivot point where the story turns in direction.

This is an issue that I’ve known about for years, but never thought about until right now.  I hope figuring this out and writing about it helps me make things easier going forward.  Got a feeling that it won’t do much.  Looking at the first Tales of the Slumberlord outline already makes me feel like history will repeat itself.  Maybe that’s a big part of being an author.  Those quirky habits that stick around regardless of what you do to get rid of them.

So, have you noticed any unique patterns in your writing flow like chapters that are always difficult to write?

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Volunteers Needed for September New Release

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Funny story.  I’ve been toiling away at setting up blog posts, working, parenting, dealing with drama, and starting a new series that I forgot something.

‘War of Nytefall: Anarchy’

So, I just wrote a bumbling announcement for August 30th to kick off a month of promos that I haven’t designed yet.  You’d think I would remember this book since I finished editing it about 2 weeks ago.  I’m not on the ball here, but I can’t hold off on publishing until life settles down.  It hasn’t done so since December 2018 and I see no reason things will change in the next 5 years.  Pessimistic?  Maybe.  Still, why delay things . . . I’m just rambling now.

As usual, I’m hoping to get people willing to post a promo on their blog.  Not sure what else I can do here with my barely there funds, so this is all I’ve got.  Any volunteers would be greatly appreciated.  Thank you.

Please comment below to let me know if you’re willing to post a promo.

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Goal Post: I Knew It!

I should put this quote somewhere in my room.  It really symbolizes the week where things kept going off the rails.  Don’t worry.  Today isn’t going to be any better.  Neither will next week and weekend.  So, hold your wishes for things to be calmer for August.  Better chance of them coming true then.

The big goal was to write Darwin & the Fate Bracelet, which I started doing last Sunday.  I posted part of his debut, which most people liked.  Then, things began going screwy with finding writing time.  I had hoped to do 6-7 chapters.  I expected 3-4 because I knew something would happen.  It was 3-4 since things KEPT HAPPENING.  Unexpected request to do things on Monday cost me time.  Chaos with my son and an appointment Tuesday evening cost me on Tuesday.  My own appointment and somebody setting off a major panic attack cost me on Wednesday.  Thursday was the only day where I got all 3 chapter sections down.  Friday was a wash because my son had to stay home from camp, so I’m writing this at noon in case I can get one section done tonight.

What else went wrong?  Well, the good news is that I heard from my cover artist and the last two War of Nytefall covers are coming along.  This reminded me that I was going to release the next book around Labor Day.  I already filled September with posts that have nothing to do with the series.  Crud.  Spent an hour moving all of them to November and then an evening coming up with promo post ideas.  Been working hard on writing them up when I can’t get to the book.  I kept stumbling onto posts that didn’t get moved and everything became a mess for September and November.  October just standing there having no idea what’s going on around it.  Figured I’d finish the headache and posted the last of ‘Immortal Wars: Light, Blood, & Tears’, which ends on December 9th.  No idea what to do with Thursdays after that.  Maybe I’ll grab a random quote, post it, and write an opinion about it.

Been watching the news a bit too.  Mostly, I’m trying to get a sense how the upcoming school year is going to go.  Tired of masks, but I’m not throwing mine out until the coast is definitely clear.  Know too many people who aren’t vaccinated and run around without masks either saying the threat is over or claiming to have had the shots.  It worries me a lot because I trust people even less now.  It doesn’t help that I see people walking around without masks and wiping their noses with their hands as if it’s a hobby they’re finally getting back to.  So, I’m guessing masks are going to be coming back and there’s going to be an uproar.  Just going to do whatever I have to do to be safe and hope this thing ends in my lifetime.

Well, that was nearly political.

I started watching ‘Record of Ragnarok’ because I wanted a mindless fighting anime to put on when I needed a rest.  This wasn’t it.  The plot is about the gods of all pantheons wanting to wipe out humanity, but Brunhilde the Valkyrie convinced them to hold the Ragnarok contest.  13 mortals vs 13 gods (all men, I want to point out) with the first group getting to 7 being the winner.  I don’t like it.  The intros for the fighters are longer than the actual combat.  Fighters will clash, push against each other, and then you get either a flashback or audience conversations for 5 minutes.  It’s just backstory and talking with ultimate moves through in to be transition points.  Honestly, I’d say this was the worst thing I’ve heard of this week if it wasn’t for another show I was going to watch, read reviews, and developed a seething rage.  Won’t go into it because I’ve noticed it’s a show that is protected on social media from criticism.

Next week is my son’s birthday.  He’s hitting the big 1-2.  He also has a Mets game he’s going to with his camp.  The big birthday party is next weekend, so I’ll be busy trying to get that set up.  I hope it’s big because the RSVP stuff has been confusing.  We’re either having tons of people requiring 10 pizzas or a handful requiring 5.  Got a feeling I’ll be eating pizza for weeks, which will test my love of the food.  As long as my son has a good time and is happy.

There isn’t much else to say about next week.  I’m going to be taking the blows as they come because it’s going to be chaotic.  This isn’t pessimism.  It’s a gut feeling based on what’s happened recently.  I’m not really sure how to make a goal post on this one because I’m scared to get my hopes up.  Well, I’ll give it a shot.

  1. Birthday time with son.
  2. Write more of Darwin & the Fate Bracelet.  Hoping for another 4 chapters.
  3. Notebook work if nothing else can be done.
  4. Finish the September promo posts.
  5. Finish watching ‘Record of Ragnarok’.
  6. Find something to watch that I won’t regret.
  7. Keep the demon at bay.
  8. Take a nap.
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NEW RELEASE Book Promo – FINDERS KEEPERS by, Luke Murphy…

Chris The Story Reading Ape's avatarChris The Story Reading Ape's Blog

Back Cover Text

To beat the streets…

Calvin Watters spent three hard years on the Vegas streets, working the depths of the red light district. When a string of escort murders surfaces and the LVMPD has no answers, they realize that there is only one man they can turn to for help.

…you have to know the streets.

Calvin vowed to never return to his former life, but this new case pulls him back in. As he hits the streets, his honed survival skills kick in, and the PI must call upon his past experienceto outwit a worthy opponent.

Caught in the crosshairs.

When Calvin killed Derek Baxter, he added fuel to an ever-growing fire inside Baxter’s longtime sniper partner, Jackson North. Now North is out for revenge, but how far will the hitman go to leave his mark on Calvin’s life?

Reviews

“When…

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Questions 3: The Author Vessel/Surrogate/Avatar

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Many authors insert either themselves or a version of themselves into a story.  It could be a realistic version or even an idealistic.  Maybe you’re a side character or a cameo, but other times the author may be the protagonist.  For example, I always thought of Luke Callindor and Clyde as my vessels.  I jumped into other characters, but these were the two I put my mind into with more ease.

Avatars, surrogates, or vessels aren’t easy.  We can be too nice or too mean to ourselves when we’re the characters.  That’s why it doesn’t hurt to share wisdom with some questions.

  1. Have you ever written a story with a version of you in it?
  2. What’s one piece of advice you would give an author if they were going to use a vessel?
  3. Do you think authors should reveal a character is a vessel or keep it a secret?
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Why Am I Avoiding Working on My WIP?

Photo by Christian Erfurt on Unsplash Hi SEers. John with you today. I had a sudden awakening before writing this post, and it made me feel somewhat …

Why Am I Avoiding Working on My WIP?
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Immortal Wars: Light, Blood, & Tears Part 22

(Disclaimer: A warning to those who continue.  This is a sequel to a previous story.  Both of these were written in the mid-1990’s.  While the first one was slightly edited and vanity press published, this one has not been touched in over 20 years.  I figure I should do something with it and people may get a laugh or fright from how I used to be.  Every author comes from somewhere, so this is part of my origin.  To that end, I am deeply sorry for whatever nightmares I will inflict on the literary world and the American English language.  Enjoy?)

PREVIOUS ENTRY CLICK HERE

The Bronx Zoo is one of the favorite tourist spots of New York City.  Both kids and adults enjoy seeing different species of animals that are not normally found in their backyard.  In winter, many of the zoo’s animals are sent to warmer climates.  The fierce lions and powerful tigers are gone, but two new types of predators have gladly come to replace them.  Sort of.

“Would you stop looking at the damn seals and break someone!” hollers Cybro over the sound of his hissing lasers.  Most of the daily crowd is gone and a small, yet rapidly growing, army of police is turning into the nearby parking lot.  The cars that are already there have been destroyed and some are still burning.

“You have no patience whatsoever.  I wanted to actually walk around before we started with the destruction.  Besides, I think these are sealions.  I never did know what the difference was,” replies Draveon as he pets one of the nervous animals.

The first cop car that stops, immediately explodes when Cybro shoots the gas tank with a heat laser.  At least, twenty officers get out of their own cars while others swarm in from the street like a colony of ants.  Ten of the arriving cops are ripped apart by Cybro’s hail of lasers and bullets before everyone else has time to take cover.

“They are getting a little too close for my comfort.  Help me out here, test tube boy.”  The robot’s stomach-mounted gattling gun suddenly makes a rapid clicking noise.  Soon after that his lasers abruptly stop their low humming.

“The next time you’re upgraded, Cybro, ask for a few backup solar cells.  How close are the police?  Never mind, since it really doesn’t matter.  They will be just as dead whether they are close by or in another country,” laughs Draveon.  The two immortals walk to the top of a large flight of stairs and they jump down to the waiting cops.  Hot bullets pelt their bodies, but the immortals’ healing abilities work faster than the damage that is done to them.

“I’m going to have to avoid metal detectors after this fight!” yells Draveon when he flips one of the heavy cars onto two cowering policemen.  Three brave cops jump on the red-eyed man, but he only takes a step back in mild surprise.  He repeatedly smashes two of them together, until they look like one person, and kicks the other one through two cars and a pointy fence.

“You think that you have a problem with metal detectors?  Try being a robot going onto an airplane.”  Cybro fires electrodes from his feet, which electrocute half of an approaching S.W.A.T. team.  The other half is slowly taken out with a poisonous snare net from his chest.

“Is that a joke I just heard from you, metal man?”  The ultimate killer snaps the neck of a few more cops before a large brute of a man in full riot gear gives him a bear hug from behind.  Draveon finally grabs the cop’s head in order to flip the man over his shoulder.  Once the bulky man lands on his feet, he gets his arms ripped off.  The severed limbs are quickly thrown through two nearby cops that stopped running away in order to throw up.

“It was a joke.  Why do you ask?  Am I not allowed to make a joke once in a while?  Well, well, well.  Helicopters.  I’m going after them.  I will see you at the rendezvous point.”

Draveon fails to notice the speedy departure of his ally, but keeps on fighting the police while wearing a stoic face.  Within a few slow moving minutes, the entire parking lot is filled with the twisted bodies of dead police officers and destroyed police cars.  The distant sound of screams of terror from the fleeing survivors finally brings a smile to the large immortal’s face.

“Cybro?  Where the hell are you?” mutters Draveon while he climbs back up the flight of stairs.  A thin line of oil at the top of the stairs catches his attention and he cautiously follows it.  Little does he realize that the destruction he left behind is sinking into the suddenly liquefied concrete.  When the oil trail ends, Draveon is near the polar bears holding an empty oil drum that came from one of the police cars.

“I’ve been thinking, muscles.  At first, I wanted to kill all four of you overrated jackasses together.  Then, I remembered something important.  If I try to use my powers against your chiseled ass, I’m as good as dead.  So, it’s just me versus you without either of us using our powers,” explains Hydrana.  She silently drops behind the towering immortal and throws him into a tree by his long, black hair.

“Adriana told us that you were insane.  It looks to me like you’re only a whole lot dumber than before.  No one, with the unfortunate exception of Fate, has ever defeated me.  But if you want to take me on then I have no problem with that.  You don’t frighten me, water sprite,” laughs Draveon as he casually walks up to the small guardian.  He violently smashes his fist down on her skull, but she only falls to her knees.

“That’s the best you can do.  I’ve had more painful paper-cuts.  Anything else, Draveon?  Or have I overestimated you?”

Her answer comes in the form of a savage kick to her face, which practically shatters her nose.  Hydrana rolls up to her feet and jumps over a straight punch to her stomach.  She savagely claws the towering man in his face before she lands in a crouch.  The clawing barely stuns Draveon, so he takes his chance to knee the redhead in the chest.  The effect is something he wouldn’t have expected in his wildest dreams.  Nothing happens at all.

“How could you possibly not feel that?  That shot was strong enough to turn steel into dust!” exclaims the male immortal.

“My insanity has somehow managed to dull my pain receptors.  Your puny love tap couldn’t have hurt me no matter where it landed.  Now, do you give up?” asks Hydrana with a wicked smirk.

“No.  I must admit that you have become a very exquisite creature.  If I weren’t already unhappily married, things would be pleasurably different between us.  It will be an enormous shame to kill such a gorgeous monster like you.  But I guess it wasn’t meant to be, little psycho.”

The Neptune guardian starts to slowly circle the villain and softly moves her fingers along his chest while she whispers, “Ooooh.  Flattery.  I never would have expected such a pathetic attempt at salvation from you.  Maybe we should make some kind of deal since you seem to have acquired a sudden, and disturbing, crush on me.  Give up and I’m yours for life.  It will be a terrific experience for both of us in so many devilish ways.  So, do you give up?”

“Yeah.  Because I’ve decided to let something else finish you off.  I do have one simple question.  How do you prepare a guardian for a two person dinner?  I think in their case, it would be raw,” replies Draveon before backhanding her into the polar bear’s cold pool.  He laughs hysterically once the Neptune guardian is pounced on by two of the arctic predators.  They haven’t been feed in a while since many of the caretakers coming into work were killed by Cybro’s initial assault.  Hydrana is still screaming at Draveon as her body is being silently ripped apart.

“Are you finished, guardian?”  The red-eyed man finally stops laughing and desperately tries to catch his breath.  When the bears leave the body, it is already growing back most of the vital organs.

“When I’m back in one piece, you’re going to be dead!  Do you hear me, testosterone breath!  You’re as good as dead!” hollers the redhead.

“If I were you, I would try to be very quiet and still.  There really is no sense in becoming seconds or thirds for the bears.  Have fun, Hydrana.  I’ll see you at the warzone.”

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What is the Superhero Paradox?

Goku from Dragonball

I’ve actually thought of this issue a lot since my teenage years, but I never knew there was a term for it until now.  It may be nuanced, but the gist is:

Superhero Paradox–  Superheroes try to make the world a better place, but the seem to make the world more dangerous.

Pretty sure everyone is thinking of Batman, but I’m going with Goku.  Why?  First, the quote can be connected to this in terms of a villain getting stronger in order to defeat a hero.  Actually, War of Nytefall: Savagery revolves around this concept.  The second reason I went with Goku is I remember him leaving Earth because he felt his high level of power was attracting the villains.  He went away to prevent his friends, family, and world from getting leveled every time someone shows up to challenge him.  This is a big part of the paradox.

How does this happen?  Let’s look at the steps:

  1. Hero debuts and beats weakest enemies.
  2. Rises in strength to face stronger opponents.
  3. Defeats first the big villains.
  4. New villain arrives either to fill void or challenge.
  5. Hero gets strong enough to defeat them.
  6. New villain arrives specifically to take out hero.
  7. Hero gets even stronger to win.
  8. New villain arrives . . . You get the point.

It isn’t always so formulaic, but it revolves around the concept of heroes creating at least a few of their strongest villains.  This happens a lot in comics with a hero making a mistake that forges a villain.  Spider-Man returning with the alien suit that becomes Venom is one such example.  He wanted to make the world a better place, thought the new suit would help, and inevitably unleashed a long line of alien symbiotes on the planet.  Not very heroic if you think about it.

Another aspect of the Superhero Paradox is the damage that they cause such as in the namesake genre.  Cities can be leveled and lives can by lost, which is partially caused by heroes getting into public battles.  The destruction is rather inevitable considering the powers and weapons being used when violence erupts.  Villains don’t care if they do this and heroes can’t always knock a target high into the air instead of through a building.  We like to think they can, but that takes a lot of careful thinking and superheroes rarely find themselves in battle situations where they can take a breath.  This results in them being nearly as much of a danger as their enemy.  Sure, their presence reduces that damage and loss of life, but it doesn’t typically go down to zero.

The collateral damage can result in more villains popping up too.  Now, you have the hero’s presence and actions making the world more dangerous again.  Makes you wonder how people in comic book worlds manage to get up the morning.  Why go into work when you have a 75% chance of getting killed in a superhuman battle?  At least Dragonball typically keeps its fights in the wilderness or tournaments.

There are ways to counter act this issue.  Have there be consequences for the damage or the hero puts a lot of effort into avoiding violence in cities.  This way, they don’t make the world more dangerous by drawing innocent bystanders into the battle.  Villains will still attack cities, but heroes can try to move them away or contain them to a very small region.  There can be an initial focus on rescue and evacuation too.

Another way to handle the paradox is to give villains reasons to act that don’t relate to the hero.  They can also have powers that will always challenge the hero, who doesn’t actually become stronger.  If a hero has to win by wits instead of leveling up then they are less likely to attract bigger powerhouses who can cause more damage.  The world will again be safer because the hero’s strength is fairly low key.  This can still create a minor paradox because reputations grow with victories and there will inevitablly be someone who wants to challenge the hero.  Bane went after Batman, Kraven went after Spider-Man, and several baddies went after James Bond because their legends grew big.  It really paints a target on them.

So, what do you think of the Superhero Paradox?

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