Goal Post: Made It Through Another One

Posted on March 20, 2021 by Charles Yallowitz

Full disclaimer: I’m writing this on Thursday and may add stuff on Friday if anything exciting comes up.  It’s really going to be work, help my son with a project, help a friend put some furniture together, and then bed.  So, I think my week has peaked as far as I can tell.

Not that there was much to crow about.  It was a busy week of work with me having to be on my toes.  Both physically and mentally, but things should settle down next week.  It’s a week before Spring Break starts.  Not that I’m going to get too excited since it gets engulfed by Passover, which eliminates most of my diet.  To be honest, I tend to cheat near the end because I get sick of Matzah.  Still, it will be a much needed period where I don’t have to wake up early.  I can get some biking and father/son time in as well as the final edit of War of Nytefall: Savagery.  Geez, I should just write this post as one giant paragraph the way my mind is going.

Part of the issue I’m having is that I’m simply drained.  This was an exhausting week because of everything that happened.  Aside from the stuff at work, my son went back to school full time.  I bought a bunch of rewards (LEGO sets!) that he can earn if he gets through the week without an anxiety breakdown.  So, I started every morning earlier than usual to get myself ready and put all of my initial energy into helping him to remain calm and happy.  It worked though because he made it through without even a hint of a potential incident.  This was a rough way to begin because I then went to work and came home to dive into homework, which was a fight at times.  Projects and tests are coming up with Spring Break heading our way.  It’s 9:20 PM and I’m barely able to stay awake right now.

I mentioned that I began doing a final edit of War of Nytefall: Savagery, which has been moving rather well.  It’s not for continuity, so I’m moving faster to make sure everything sounds right.  This is more to put my own mind at ease.  I’ve got 13 chapters to go and I should be able to get it done early into the break.  I can get a little editing time during the week too.  Depends on how much I do tomorrow as well.  If I can pull off another 4 chapter day then I’ll be done with enough time to work in the ‘Brian Hunter’ series.  Really need a title chapter there.  ‘The Peacekeeper’?  That is the group that he works through.  Only book titles I have right now are ‘Arctic Heart’ and ‘The Narcissist Path’.  ‘Order of the Uncaged’ might be another.  I might do the titles for the books and then stop to focus on the next big series.  At least when I’m home.

I’ve been watching an anime called ‘Noragami’, which is fun.  I’ve seen the manga around and knew of the story.  A god without a shrine wants to become the greatest one around, so he takes jobs for 5 Yen.  That’s a simplified version.  There’s a girl whose soul keeps leaving her body and spirits who can turn into equipment for the god they work under.  Overall, it’s a curious series that I’m enjoying.  I haven’t fallen asleep at any point, so it’s definitely further ahead than ‘Scrapped Princess’ that lost me several times.  Part of this could be fatigue levels too.

Yeah . . . Not much else to talk about.  Kind of feel like there should be, but my brain is failing me.  I need to turn in early again to make it through tomorrow, especially with the furniture building.  At least there’s going to be pizza there.  Hmmm.  I almost remembered something.  Was it the Keys of Eden story?  I’m playing around with changing it from a boy and girl to a boy with his transformed father.  I don’t write many father/son stories and most of the relationships I have in that arena are strained.  Best one I have is Ichabod Brooks with his son, who has never made an appearance.  Maybe I can add a female bodyguard for the prince, so this becomes a trio?  That might get in the way of investigating a father/son relationship though.  It’ll be one where they aren’t trying to overthrow or hurt each other too.  What is it with father/son stories always having them fight for power?

Goals of the week?

  1. Work and make it to Spring Break.
  2. Editing War of Nytefall: Savagery
  3. Book titles for other series
  4. Passover prep
  5. Watch more ‘Noragami’.
  6. Biking
  7. Start thinking of June poetry topics.  Maybe series promos on Mondays?
  8. Consider buying a new satchel since this one is falling apart.  Eh, that can wait.  Though, I can’t figure out where to find good anime ones.  These are also called messenger bags.
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A Message on Dawn Fangs from Gabriel the Destiny God

Posted on March 19, 2021 by Charles Yallowitz

By Kayla Matt

Hello.  I am Gabriel.  I am Windemere’s God of Destiny as well as the Lord of Hell the Fire Realm and the Chaos Void.  This is why they call me the Tri-God.  Some of my may know me from the series, Legends of Windemere.  If not then consider what I said as my formal introduction.

With the looming arrival of War of Nytefall: Savagery, I have been asked to answer a question.  Since my position is to forge the destinies of Windemere’s citizens, people wonder where the Dawn Fangs fall into my plans.  It’s understandable.  My job is to maintain the balance between good and evil as well as fate and free will.  Such powerful creatures can clearly tip the scales in one direction, so I must be keeping a tight rein on them.  That is very logical and filled with common sense.

It’s also not my reality.

First, I must explain what happens when a mortal turns into an old-world vampire.  That was their fate.  Once they have died and become undead, they are no longer under my rules.  I set them to possibly become vampires if certain decisions are made, which is the extent of my power.  Going further would be overstepping my bounds.  This helped to make sure free will did not get overrun by destiny.  Any influence I have over vampires was choosing those they may interact with or champions that must face those that had become too powerful.  It was the best way to work with such creatures.  It was also the fate that I had for Clyde who was no longer under my eye once he was turned.  Not for anything more than entertainment when he got himself into trouble.

Then, the Great Cataclysm happened.  I did not plan that event, so all of the changes made by it were not of my design.  This includes the Dawn Fangs, who started out existing beyond my influence.  If Clyde chose to turn an old-vampire into a Dawn Fang or a mortal was made into one then that was not my decision.  I could only sit back and watch to make sure things did not get out of control.  While I loathe to admit this, I was forced to trust in Clyde’s desire for his people to live in peace with mortals.  There were attempts to weave their destinies, but nothing remained.  Like before, they were considered dead even though they were alive.  At the very least, the Dawn Fangs had been taken off their path by the power of a third party.

This is not to say that I have no control.  Like before, I could choose champions and threats to challenge the Dawn Fangs.  I eventually learned that I could also have minimal influence over the fate of the womb-born.  It was more where they might go and be interested in, which I could only make once they developed their powers.  Even then, my success rate is fairly low.  My sole success is to prevent them from entering any of my existing prophecies that I cannot afford to lose.  Would I say this is frustrating?  Yes, but I cannot let that lead me to mistakes and breaking the Law of Influence.  I can stretch our only rule, but that has limits.

There are some who believe Clyde is an anti-destiny being.  These are people who are born to shift Windemere back to the center when destiny has pulled too many strings.  They are very rare because they are only born when needed.  Clyde’s actions have altered many destinies, but not on as grand a scale as one would expect from an anti-destiny.  For example, the previous one had many feats and undid the greatest prophecy of Windemere before rising to be the God of Destiny.  Yes, I am talking about myself.  That is the type of action one would expect from such a being.  Clyde is impressive and changed the landscape, but not on the same level.  Besides, anti-destiny beings only show up when the God of Destiny has made mistakes and I have been cautious.  I do not expect one to ever arise.

Darwin Slepsnor: Hi, everyone!  Hope to see you in 2022!

Gabriel:  Does anybody else feel a chill?

Posted in War of Nytefall | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 16 Comments

Ready for Work for Hire?

Posted on March 19, 2021 by Charles Yallowitz

Over the years, people have stated to me that they want to do certain types of editorial work. These statements usually occur after the person hears …

Ready for Work for Hire?
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Immortal Wars: Light, Blood, & Tears Part 10

Posted on March 18, 2021 by Charles Yallowitz

(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

A soft, muted crash brings Miracle out of a light sleep.  Her green eyes slowly focus on the warm body sleeping next to her.  The ebony-haired immortal starts to absentmindedly toy with Fate’s dark, blond hair before he rolls onto his side in order to face her.  Miracle’s only reply is a friendly, playful smile and a very sweet kiss.

“Why are you awake?  I always thought you were a deep sleeper,” whispers Fate as he kisses her smooth neck.

“Things change.  A small noise woke me up.  You know, I’m still worried about you.  How are you feeling?  I know that you aren’t tired.  Well, that was before you started the first part of our vacation,” says Miracle before she nestles her head under her boyfriend’s chin.

“I’m better.  Calm, relaxed, and in the company of a beautiful goddess.”

“Flattering words like that are not going to get you out of trouble.  Not this time, anyway.”

“What trouble am I in now?  I’ve been sleeping.  Before you closed your eyes, you said that there was nothing wrong.  I don’t snore, drool, or even talk in my sleep.  So, what’s wrong?”  Miracle gives him a hard kiss on the lips and pulls as close to him as physically possible.

“You didn’t do any of that in your sleep.  The only thing you did was purr like a little kitten, which is cute.  As for six hours ago, it was perfect.  I’m thinking more of the past six months.  The ones where I felt like you thought of me as the bubonic plague.  How do you explain that?”

“Do I have to answer you right this minute?”

The Venus guardian’s reply is a combination of both words and actions.  She lets out a weak, girlish laugh that makes Fate smile.  But his face abruptly changes, when Miracle snaps two of his ribs with her legs.  Even though he heals in a few minutes, the guardian pushes himself away from the smiling girl.

“I guess saying that I’m sorry won’t help me.  Well, I was dead for a couple of days.  Can’t blame that one on me,” mentions Fate as he gets to the edge of the bed.  Miracle turns her back on him, so he has to hug her from behind.

“Then you were away with Hydrana for a month fighting Mindtrigger’s immortal hunting robots.  Those kinds of excuses I understand because we didn’t control those events.  But, what about when you and I were on the sun base?  Even when we moved into this room, you ignored me more often than you spoke to me.  As your girlfriend, I have a right to know why.  And you will tell me unless you want to heal more than two broken ribs.”

“No need for violence.  I was thinking about the guardians’ future and us.  I still think that I’m not cut out for this leader thing.  My whole life, I’ve never been anything much less a leader.  Why do I have to be something now?”

“Not this topic again.  Face it, Slane.  You need some type of ego.  You’ve done a lot since Solix died.”

“What?”

“You’ve kept Adriana’s team in check.  On several occasions, you have had to do it on your own.  You also kept the four of us together and alive.  Solix put the best one of us in charge.  Now, I have a question for you.  A serious question.”  She faces Fate and presses the boy’s neck with her fingers.  A soft, blue tattoo of a comet appears on his skin, which shines some light onto Miracle’s tanned face.

“Solix gave it to me.  He used this sword to burn the mark into my body.  The sword is attached to the throne, but only I can use it.  It electrocutes anyone else that touches the hilt.  Infinity found that out the hard way when he sat in the throne and brushed his hand against it.  The problem is that I haven’t figure out how the sword actually works,” Fate replies.

“Oh.  I’ve always wondered about that thing.  I’m getting dressed and you should too.  I want to have an early breakfast in the habitation building.  There are some Plutonium tulips coming in and I want to see them open up.”

“What’s the big rush?  We’re on vacation, Kelly.”  Miracle gets out of bed and opens a large cylinder.  She pulls out her uniform while Fate goes to another cylinder to get his fresh, clean uniform.

“So, what did you decide about with us?” mentions Miracle as she puts on her red and black clothes.

“Usual stuff.  Doesn’t really matter,” he says in a rather casual, but slightly nervous, voice.

“Seriously.”

“Well, I do have one minor question.”

“Which is?”

Before Fate can open his mouth, the door swishes open and Infinity tumbles onto the thick carpet.  Some large, bleeding marks are on his head and his breathing is stuttering.  In a few places, his costume is torn by a piece of protruding bone.  Frost particles are tangled into his hair.

“Infinity?  He’s unconscious.  Get him onto the bed!” orders Miracle.  Fate carefully picks his friend up and lays him down on the unmade bed.

“There are pieces of ice and some water on him.  It looks like Hydrana attacked him and won.  But that doesn’t make any sense,” mutters Fate as he goes to a computer screen.  With the touch of a button, a schematic of the sun base appears.  Four yellow dots show where each guardian is at the moment.  Three of them are in one room while the fourth is slowly moving around the sun base as if it was confused.

“I think I know what has happened,” states SEAS.

“Talk to us and make it good,” says Miracle.

“Good is not the correct word.  I told Hydrana that four of our enemies were heading toward Earth.  Adriana, Tegam, Cybro, and Draveon to be specific.  She had discovered that they were planning a trap for all of you in an attempt to regain the sword of light.  So, she made a plan to take the Mars weapon and go to Earth.  She spoke of confronting her parents before going into the trap.”

“A suicide run?  How did Infinity get involved in it?” asks Miracle.

“And, why didn’t you tell me about the problem?” Fate adds.

“Because you were supposed to be on vacation.  Besides, I had assumed that she would tell you about the problem immediately.  Instead, Hydrana mentally snapped and talked about confronting her parents, proving herself to you, and then she beat Infinity into immortal pulp.”

“She’s probably going after the sword.  But her condition probably hinders her until one personality takes control.  Whether it is the good one or the bad one, I can’t say at this time.  I’ll wait for her in the space skimmer bay as a last resort.  Try to stop her in the armory, Miracle.  You actually know what she went through and I’m not in a very forgiving mood right now.  As for my vacation, it is officially over.  Not that I had any time to start it,” claims Fate as he pulls on his crimson boots.

“Remember to be gentle with her because she is still a guardian.  No matter what she’s trying to do, Hydrana is still one of our friends.  Try to make sure that you do not forget that fact, Eddie.  This entire thing is your fault for mentioning her parents and yelling at her,” states Miracle.

“Thanks for your help.  Just go and we’ll place the blame on me later.  Good luck and be careful.”

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Teaching Clyde a Lesson

Posted on March 17, 2021 by Charles Yallowitz

Yahoo Image Search

As I’ve mentioned, War of Nytefall: Savagery works differently than previous volumes.  It has more of a quest feel to the story, which isn’t something that plays to Clyde’s strengths.  If he can’t hunt it down and fight it then he comes off as a little lost and confused.  Then again, that’s kind of the point here.  Probably helps that I felt the same way while writing this book.

With Clyde needing to become stronger for the first time in years, he has to battle some alien emotions.  The idea that he’s weaker than someone and that he has to be cautious or afraid throws him off.  It leads more to impatience and frustration at his own failings instead of despair.  That does push him forward, but not in as smooth a way as my other characters.  Sometimes it felt like I was dragging a filthy dog to a bath and it was battling me every step of the way.  Clyde desperately wanted to battle his way to the end, but that wouldn’t be much of a story.  Mestra doesn’t work that way either since it’s supposed to design itself around strengthening its visitors.  So, how do you make a Dawn Fang like Clyde stronger?

Well, that’s a tough one to answer without giving the whole thing away.  It revolves around an internal issue that has appeared due to this past and overall personality.  This isn’t told to him outright either, so there’s a lot of guessing and wrong moves.  In fact, a big part of this book is to show that Clyde isn’t infallible.  He’s stumbled a bunch in previous adventures, but not to the extent that he’s going to here.  Hopefully, this brings out a more human side of him that people tend to ignore.  They see the fangs and terrifying strength, so they forget that he has feelings.  This means that this story is going to be a personal turning point for him.

I think when trying for an internal lesson to be taught instead of a physical one, you run into a lot of doubt.  It’s difficult to know how well it comes across.  Did I have Clyde put up too much resistance?  Did I make the lesson clear to the audience?  Does he even use this knowledge once he’s out of the training?  Unlike a new skill, learning something about yourself isn’t something that you can easily demonstrate.  Not without it feeling unnatural like openly declaring this difference.  It requires a change of personality, but not too big that you lose the character.  The only people who can say you truly got it right are those who read the entire book.  That makes it a very shallow opinion pool at the start, especially before you publish.  Doubts and worry won’t go away that easily from this path either since you can’t entirely trust your own instincts.  At least, I don’t think you can 100% because you know what you’re aiming for.  If it’s a little off the mark, who would notice?

One trick that I added to this training is giving him a partner.  This gives me a mouthpiece to criticize his decisions and suggest possibilities.  Of course, you have to read the book to see who gets to join him in Mestra.  This character helped me out a lot even though they were in an awkward position.  Being the companion, I couldn’t let them do much, if any, of the heavy lifting.  Clyde needs to face the challenges and put in the work to learn his lesson since it definitely isn’t to let others fight his battles.  So, I guess I switched out one complication for another since I had to let this person run up to the line and then stop before taking over.  They could only go further if it made sense for Clyde to ask for them to do so.  This isn’t so much obedient, but closer to being backup that you have to politely summon.

Overall, I did have fun writing this since it was new and posed some challenges for myself and Clyde.  Has anybody else written a story where an internal lesson had to be learned?  How did you do it and did it succeed?

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Some book love

Posted on March 16, 2021 by Charles Yallowitz

coldhandboyack's avatarEntertaining Stories

Will O’ the Wisp got some book love recently. I love the idea that these older stories still attract readers from time to time. Pete from this book makes occasional appearances in The Hat series, and I have plans to have Patty show up as well.

Will O’ the Wisp

by C.S. Boyack

“Will O’ the Wisp” is a YA paranormal tale that focuses on fifteen-year-old Patty Hall. The Hall family seems to have been cursed, and Patty is determined to find out why. I love that this story is set in the 1970s. The high school dance and well-placed details of that era brought back some memories. The strained relationship between Patty and her mother is realistic, and Patty’s rebellious side is portrayed nicely, especially with wearing her leg braces. That side of her not only showed her determination, but her inner strength that’s needed to overcome evil. There…

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Teaser Tuesday: The Perfect Being #vampires #fantasy

Posted on March 16, 2021 by Charles Yallowitz

Cover Art by Alison Hunt

We’re back with Teaser Tuesday!  Why?  Well, War of Nytefall: Savagery is on the way and it’s time to get some hype going.  Let’s start with the very beginning of the newest volume, which gives us a big look at the new baddie.  Also, an older baddie isn’t starting off in the best position.

Continue reading →

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Mestra: The Vampire Training Grounds

Posted on March 15, 2021 by Charles Yallowitz

Yahoo Image Search (Hyrule?)

About a third of the action in War of Nytefall: Savagery happens in the long lost island of Mestra.  Well, it isn’t really long lost.  Those connected to it knew where it was, but the door got taken away.  Due to events in Nytefall, a familiar figure has appeared to give it back.  That will be a fun surprise for Friday.  Still, what exactly is Mestra and why is it important?

Historically, Mestra is the training grounds for the vampires of Windemere.  If one wanted to become stronger, they would enter through the doorway and appear on the island.  One could return at any point or be sent back once they completed the challenges that are laid out before them.  It’s a curious place too because it’s always a little different.  It isn’t even clear if the locals are the same for every visitor.  This is because the gateway reads the vampire and Mestra changes to hold the optimal challenges for the person to become stronger.  There is more to it than that, but you will have to read the book to get the details and the reason why it was taken away.

In terms of the story, this was a headscratcher for a while.  I needed Clyde to go off training somewhere to become stronger.  I also realized he was incredibly powerful, so it couldn’t be a series of physical challenges like my original idea.  There was also the issue of his personality and that of his opponent.  If the newer monster could get to Clyde then the fight would happen very early.  We’re talking short story length.  If Clyde wasn’t in a place that he had to earn the way out of then he’d leave as soon as he got frustrated.  We’re back to short story length.  The best option that I could find was crafting an isolated land with a single way in or out that nobody knows about.  Also, I had to give it a guardian strong enough to whack Clyde on the head if he tried to run off.

Even after I created Mestra and was comfortable with the surroundings, it was a challenge to get it to work.  Clyde isn’t a questing character.  He’s a warrior, a hunter, a thief, and a brawler.  This required that he be a student, a wanderer, and an adventurer.  I didn’t think his personality would be that much against it, but he really hated the situation.  Who could blame him?  He’s training while his friends and loved ones are stuck dealing with a terrifying monster.  So, there’s a lot of impatience, mistakes, and rushing when it comes to this story.  Mestra may get slightly shafted here too because there’s not true exploration like there could have been.  It didn’t make any sense for Clyde to be curious about things and wander off his path, so I tossed a bunch.  This also turned it into an oddly short story type of adventure with him traveling into a new challenge every other chapter.  Still, it did all merge together nicely.

I think Mestra will be something that I keep in my back pocket in case I have a story where a vampire wants to become stronger.  It could work again.  Maybe I could have a local from there cross into the rest of Windemere.  The worry I have here is that I’ll stretch out a concept that is only useful for this scenario.  Guess it all depends on how well people take to it next month when War of Nytefall: Savagery is released.

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Don’t Talk Like That: How to Write Good Dialogue–Name Dropping

Posted on March 15, 2021 by Charles Yallowitz

Good advice for those struggling with dialogue.

Harmony Kent's avatarStory Empire

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

Hi SErs! Harmony here 🙂

Today, I’d like to take a look at dialogue. Because this is such a large topic, I plan to break it down over a few posts. As the post title suggests, we’ll look at ‘name dropping’ within dialogue today.

‘I’m sorry, Jake, and sorry to be bothering you on a Sunday. But this situation can get dicey and needs a steady hand. I trust you, Jake, and that’s why I’m asking you to step in. You know, Jake, when I was a young lawyer I learned that we don’t always get to choose our clients, right?’

The above quote comes from a recently published book by a big-name traditionally published author. I believe this is the first ever time I’ve actually seen a name used THREE times in one single piece of dialogue. It’s bad enough used once in…

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Odd Question about Fantasy and Languages

Posted on March 14, 2021 by Charles Yallowitz

This will probably be quick and I’m sure I’ll get plenty of strong opinions.  Now, I have a future series that involves a school for mercenary groups.  This takes place in Windemere, so it’s fantasy-based.  It’s based on the group of friends I had in freshman year of college, which turned into a fake fraternity.  Seriously, it was just a name we gave ourselves and then hung out.  Still, it was fun and led to bonding with some memories that I cherish to this day.  The name?

Phi Beta

There was a ‘Kappa’ at one point, but it got shrunk really fast.  Again, this was nothing official and plenty of fraternities have those two in the name.

The original title of this series was the ‘Phi Beta Files’, which I’ve brought up from time to time.  It can be a little bit of a problem.  One issue that I never really voiced was using Greek letters in Windemere.  Some days I don’t mind it because I take names and words from other languages already.  The characters are speaking English too.  Then there are days when I can’t shake the feeling that something is off about using Greek letters without an explanation for them being there.  I know I have a samurai culture that will be introduced way down the road, which is explained by hints that a person from another world showed up to start the civilization.  Do I do the same with the Greek alphabet showing up?  Do I even need to give it a real explanation?  I guess I fear the backlash that seems to come from anything that could be seen as controversial.

Another issue is that I’ve found if I remove ‘Phi Beta’ from the story, I stop feeling like it’s about that group.  The characters are still the 4 idiot boys who are determined to not flunk out and manage to succeed through cunning and chaos.  Yet, not having those two letters as their group name really shifts my mindset.  Maybe because it’s so close to my memories, which could be the sign that I have to keep the series as the ‘Phi Beta Files’.  See how my mind is going in circles here?

Figured that I would open the floor to see what people think.  As I said, I’m sure there are some strong opinions on this.  I’m terribly at designing my own language, so that’s not an option.

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