Steiner’s School Supply Store: Free Pencil For Every $100 Spent

School Supplies

Welcome to my little store, which has all of your school supply needs.  We open near the end of the school year to help people get their shopping done before the summer.  Don’t worry because the magic lasts for a full year.  Have a look around to get the basics and whatever you might need in the future.  I can even give you a quick tour of our departments and highlight a few best sellers.

First, we have our writing implement area, which includes pens, pencils, crayons, markers, quills, and charcoal.  Anything that needs to be sharpened is able to do so automatically, but we do have sharpeners as well.  Those are if you need to borrow a mundane pencil and want it to be perfect.  Here we have a marker that can absorb up to 500 colors, which requires that you press the tip to whatever hue you want to save.  It can be changed through voice activation, but a list can be rolled out of the side.  If crayons are what you need then we have these regenerating ones, which regain their original size overnight.  As for pens, our bestseller is this one that has ink for red, green, blue, and black . . . It isn’t magical, but people from the 80’s and 90’s are obsessed with it.

Notebooks are another necessity.  We have single, triple, and full schedule subject books.  Each one is no thicker than a paperback children’s book, but they can hold a full year of information.  All paper is removed without frayed edges and you will never run out.  For our multi-subject models, you simply state the section you need and then open the notebook.  Our higher end models even come with a spell that will create a table of contents, so finding older material for studying will be easier.  For those who like to study through osmosis, we have headphones that can be connected to the notebook and you can listen to the information as you sleep.  As for binders and folders, we have a variety of colors, but their only special abilities are organization, keeping copies of papers in case you lose them, and preventing the forms from tearing.  All standard issues.

This is our art supply section where we have paintbrushes that get clean with a simply dip in the water.  This prevents mixing.  Our water color cases have barriers to keep everything separate and the same goes for our pastels.  All scissors are very sharp, but enchanted to not pierce skin no matter the pressure.  They also fall to the ground like a lead weight if thrown, so they will not go further than an inch.  Here are our glue sticks that are always colored to let you know where you have put it.  They do not adhere to skin like all of our glue products, which do harden to the strength of cement.  If you must take apart what you put together then there is a recipe for a salt, water, and sugar mixture that will dissolve the bonding.  This is our wall of stamps, but we can make personalized ones as well.  There’s nothing magical about them.

Other best sellers include the following items, which I hope you consider.  These are erasers that can be used on any writing as long as it was done within the last 10 minutes.  I would suggest getting a pack of three since they can run out.  This is a tape dispenser, which can cycle through clear, masking, packing, and duct.  I would be careful with this because it can stick to skin and other objects.  I would recommend our index cards, which can record information spoken to it.  Much like the notebooks, they can work with the headphones.  They can also hover and flip over to show you if you remembered the information correctly.  Finally, we have an unbreakable ID tag and lanyard, which can be summoned to your hand with a snap of your fingers.

So, what would you like?  Oh, you’re a teacher.  I recommend getting this package, which includes a small coffee thermos that holds up to 20 cups at a time and another thermos that will always be full of the alcohol of your choice.  It also comes with a pillow that you can scream into and receive a soothing scent as well as a box that never runs out of aloe-infused tissues.  Enjoy your summer and good luck next year.

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World Rainforest Day

The rainforest is a vital biome of Earth.  For those that don’t know, it is a warm, rainy forest typically found around the equator.  There are some other really cool facts about rainforests:

  • Rainforests cover about 7% of Earth’s non-oceanic surface.
  • They contain 50% of all terrestrial lifeforms.
  • They store at least 250 billion tons of carbon, which is good for the environment.
  • 10% of global greenhouse gases are created by rainforest destruction.
  • The Amazon is the world’s largest rainforest and is believed to contain more than half of the world’s ‘uncontacted’ tribes.
  • The Amazon is nicknamed the ‘lungs of the world’ because of the amount of CO2 it absorbs and O2 it emits.
  • Rainforests hold many medicinal plants such as quinine for malaria, vincristine for leukemia, and even Novocain.
  • About 25% of Western medicines comes from the rainforest.
  • Forests in general are natural water filters.

It is very important to preserve our rainforests in order to keep our world inhabitable.  This is true even if we don’t live near them because the water and air they provide can travel to everyone.  We lose approximately 150 acres of rainforest every minute, which drives us closer to our own extinction.

Below is a full episode of Netflix’s ‘Our Planet’, which is narrated by David Attenborough and is about jungles.  Jump around and take a look or watch the whole thing at your leisure.  It’ll show how amazing this biome is.

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Goal Post: I See The Finale!

Only one week left before the 24-25 school year is officially over.  Got students Monday through Thursday and then final meeting on Friday.  After that, my son and I jump right into Pokemon Go-fest and relax.  I’ll be back with my students after July 4th for the summer, so it’s a brief break.

This past week was fairly tiring.  More than I realized since I had a drink last night and it wiped me out halfway through. It wasn’t even strong or big, but it punched me in the stomach and forced me to lie down for a bit.  I could have been a little dehydrated too since it’s been getting hotter even with a little rain.  We have an extreme heat warning running from Sunday at noon until Tuesday evening.  I’m going to get my Pokemon time in before the heat comes in and then depend more on the mall until things subside.  I have my son for a bit this afternoon too, so that will have minimize my time in the heat.

Even with everything going on, I somehow managed to type in a chapter of edits for Darwin & the Beast Collector.  It was a big one too.  Helped that I had Thursday off, but I had a lot of errands and chores.  Slipped in a few pages here and there until it was done.  Still had time to watch two episodes of ‘Fubar’ before I needed to sleep.  This means I might be able to get 2 more chapters done this weekend.  Today is going to be iffy with me having time with my son, but tomorrow shows more promise.  I might get some done on Thursday too since I don’t have any appointments on that day, the heat will be much less, and there isn’t a Pokemon event I’m interested in.

Pretty sure I have changed my editing plans too.  I have 13 chapters to go and my goal is to finish it by the end of summer school, which means I can start writing a new book the week before school starts up again.  This feels better because I still need time to get my head back into the writing game.  Editing is easy compared to putting words on a totally blank page and having them make sense.  I haven’t done that in so long that I get anxious just thinking of it.  With other events coming up, I really hope I’m up for the task and haven’t lost as many of my skills as I fear.  Writing isn’t like riding a bicycle where you can jump right back on.  At least, it doesn’t feel that way.

I think I’m going to use my summer mornings while I wait for students to arrive for outlining too.  Best to use as much time as possible since I’ve been barely active in this arena for so long.  This means that I’m going to push the ‘old posts’ idea into September, which isn’t bad.  I have so many old posts that went unnoticed because I had no audience, so I don’t mind reviving them.  I might start on that during the times I have my son and he’s doing his own thing.  That or when we take a trip in August, which will give me something to do while he’s drawing.

Not really sure how much I should plan for the summer since the weather is starting to worry me.  We had a bunch of rain, especially on weekends, for about two months.  Then, it was decent weather and now we’re heading into a heatwave for a few days.  After that, we’re supposed to get storms for a few days.  Good weather after that . . . Then, I have no idea, but it’s all over the place.  I don’t like the idea of being cooped up inside even though I can get writing done.  This type of weather pattern drains me and gives me headaches, so writing becomes a challenge.  That means only 1 chapter section a day and I’m already expect to go slow out of doubt and anxiety.

On the plus side of things, my son is done with his tests and is basically through with 10th grade.  His summer hasn’t really started since the students still technically have school through the 26th.  So, he’s going to be sticking to the usual schedule while I have to go to work.  Thankfully, I can use my lunch breaks to swing by the house and eat with him before heading back.  I’m looking forward to these breaks since work is 4 days with 3 of them involving field trips.  None of them on the day that will reach 100 degrees, which is a small favor.  Really dreading combating that weather.  You can tell that it’s been a focus lately since everyone is worried.

Haven’t mentioned book sales in a while . . . Because there aren’t any.  99 cents didn’t make any difference.  No reason to change it back since a higher price won’t bring in readers.  I picked a really difficult dream as a teenager.  Though, I guess more people were interested in reading unknown authors back then.  Felt like the 80’s and 90’s had more names rising to the top of the fantasy genre.  Now, it’s the same ones with a few blips of new ones.  At least from my perspective.

So, goals of the week?

  1. Finish the school year.
  2. Pokemon Go-Fest events with son.
  3. Stay cool and hydrate in the heat.
  4. Type in 2-3 chapter edits of Darwin & the Beast Collector.
  5. Make some urgent calls.
  6. Contend with my nemesis.
  7. Finish watching ‘Fubar’ and start an anime.
  8. Bike on the days I can’t walk.
  9. Appointment with sleep doctor and hopefully get good news.

Ran into these guys yesterday on my walk too:

Duckies! Mother flew off, so I hope she came back

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Coming Back From Writing a Villain

Villains are always fun to write.  They can be over-the-top in all sorts of ways that the heroes and supporting cast can’t get away with.  Still, there are times you write a nasty, horrible villain that makes your skin crawl.  What do you do to come back to normalcy after writing a scene that doesn’t involve them dying horribly?

Now, I had a villain in Legends of Windemere named Stephen Kernaghan.  I felt dirty every time I wrote him because he was designed to be the most loathsome of the antagonists.  Manipulative, arrogant, murderous, and it was made clear that he had raped others.  Even the other villains had issues with him, but he was too powerful for them to take out.  He was also the main antagonist’s son, which didn’t help.  I looked forward to the day I wrote his death scene because I needed to walk away every time I was done with him.  This happened even if I wasn’t done with the scene.

So, what did I do?

  1. Took a walk if the weather was good or used my exercise bike.
  2. Got together with friends if they were free.
  3. Played a violent video game and imagined Stephen as every enemy.
  4. Played a calming video game if my son wanted to watch.  This was usually a Lego game.
  5. Watch a TV show or movie.
  6. Since I was married at the time, I would spend time with my wife if she was available.
  7. Run an errand if I was desperate.

Surprisingly, taking a nap didn’t help because I would only dream about dealing with Stephen.  That and I still had undiagnosed sleep apnea, so a nap would cause me to wake up groggy.

So, what methods would you use to get back from writing a horrible, disgusting villain that makes your skin crawl?

Posted in Thoughts | Tagged , , , , , , | 16 Comments

Poetry Day: Rushing to the Reaper

You son of a bitch, Death.

(Sometimes it does feel like society is designed to have us continue moving at our top speed.  We are guilted for relaxing unless we are of a certain age or tax bracket.  We ignore that a lifetime of rushing ahead causes damage.  Well, here’s a poem about that.)

We move too fast
In everything we do
Planning every minute
To ensure all gets done
As if death is at our door

 

You see it on the road
People weaving into harm
As if the reaper
Is racing up behind
When he is waiting up ahead

 

We do it to our children
Pushing all they do
As if doom has them on the list
Planning to take them
Unless they speak at two

 

All our actions center
On what tomorrow holds
And how to get there fast
Skipping over days like leaves
Crushed beneath a funeral march

 

The quicker that we move
The faster we reach our maker
Who may ask us to our face
Why we never slowed our pace
And listened to the wind

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Curated Writing Content: Accessible Ebooks

Greetings! Liz Gauffreau with you today. I think it’s safe to say that all authors want more people to read and enjoy their books. (I know I do!) …

Curated Writing Content: Accessible Ebooks
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Numbness’s Effect on Writing And Ways to Recover

The graphic above from a Google Image Search pretty much covers emotional numbness, which is a problem.  In fact, it seems to be a growing issue with more people getting stressed out and pulling away from general society.  No, social media doesn’t count as all the human contact that you need.  So, what effect can numbness have on an author?

A really big one because this means an author won’t be able to access emotions when writing certain scenes.  Happiness, sadness, anger, and the like will be flat on the page since one won’t be able to stir them even slightly.  Yes, you can use the proper words to bring the emotion across and an experienced author might be able to get a spark within a reader.  Yet, there was always be something lacking for a reader who is drawn deeply into the book.  It can stand in contrast to anything written without the numbness, which makes the issue even worse.

Keep in mind that I’m not saying an author has to go into a rage to write anger or weep to create sadness.  I mean, being able to sense the emotion on some level and remember or imagine what it feels like on a deep level.  With numbness, you can have trouble pulling at the emotions with ease.  Forget jumping between them if you have different characters feeling different things at the same time.  You’ll have a struggle without realizing it and your writing will suffer.  If not flat then you’re going to have a lot of jerkiness within the scene.

Unfortunately, most people need to have their numbness pointed out by those who care about them.  It isn’t something you can easily be aware about because you hit survival mode and simply keep going through life.  Dealing with the stresses and not getting a break for an extended period of time gets away from you.  The numbness comes on gradually too, which means it’s easy to fall into the abyss.

There are a few things to do for recovery or even avoiding the problem in the first place:

  1. Always take time to relax and do something fun.  Get your mind off your stresses for even an hour because they aren’t going away through fixation.  This could be taking a midday walk, watching a movie every Friday evening, jigsaw puzzle time before bed, or whatever activity helps you relax.
  2. Maintain some social connections beyond social media.  Since most of human communication is nonverbal and paraverbal, we need to interact with other people to get the full effect.  Adulthood isn’t the best for getting together with friends unless you hit retirement or everyone is on the same schedule.  So, joining local groups that share your interests can help.  For example, I go out to play Pokemon Go every Wednesday evening with other players for a weekly event.  Even if I’m not talking much, I’m socializing.
  3. Being healthy in general can increase your mood.  Exercise, meditation, sleeping the proper amount of time, and eating healthy can all increase your emotions.  This will also reduce any physical maladies that cause stress.
  4. See a therapist if needed and possible.  Yeah, I know insurance makes this a challenge, but even a monthly visit can have positive effects.

So, what do other people think of emotional numbness in general and with writing?

Posted in Thoughts | Tagged , , , , , | 12 Comments

Guest Post – Esther Chilton – The Secret Dragon – Pre-Order Launch – #newbook

I want to welcome Esther Chilton to Fiction Favorites. Most of you know Esther as a fun blogger who puts up some interesting prompts. She also blogs …

Guest Post – Esther Chilton – The Secret Dragon – Pre-Order Launch – #newbook
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Revisting Animal Characters

Denise here to revisit a favorite subject of mine animals, and writing. When I was young, I was drawn to books about animals and that hasn’t changed.…

Revisting Animal Characters
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Teaser Tuesday: Abandoned Ship

Cover Art by Jason Pedersen

(A fun excerpt from Prodigy of Rainbow Tower.  Nice to put something with Fritz Warrenberg on the blog.)

Luke smiles before vaulting over the railing to the deck below. He sees that Nimby and Fritz are already waiting on the escape raft. Luke takes a cautious step onto the simple craft and signals for the sailors to start lowering them into the river. His stomach lurches almost immediately after the current starts to pull the raft towards the wreck. A hard gulp keeps Luke from throwing up and he takes one of the long poles that were strapped to the floor. Fritz steers with the rudder while Luke and Nimby stand ready to push them to safety with the long poles. A simple shove is all it takes for them to keep the raft a safe distance away from the muddy coast.

“Keep up the good work, guys,” Fritz says as the raft comes around the side of the River Scout. “The current is on our side, so we should be there in a minute.”

“This is just what I needed after Hero’s Gate. I can finally stretch my legs and get some abandoned loot,” Nimby announces, his face beaming.

“I think I’m going to vomit,” Luke groans. He leans over the edge of the raft, putting his face a few inches from the water. Luke’s face is drenched as the water suddenly rises up to hit him.

“You’re helpless on the water, Luke. After all this time, I would have thought that your stomach would have adapted to the motion of the river,” Nimby claims. He pushes the raft away from a tree with all of his strength. “Have you been taking the ginger pills?”

“Yes, but this kind of travel is a lot rougher when on a small raft. How close are-” starts Luke.

Luke tumbles into the water as the raft is suddenly washed against the capsized ship. He splashes about and sputters while his friends go about securing the raft. A heavy stone with a chain tied around it is quickly shoved into the water. The other end of the chain is securely fastened to a bolt on the side of the craft, which Luke grabs before the current can drag him under the wreck. Fritz takes his time picking up the oil bags and Nimby helps him hop to the shipwreck. They carefully climb their way to the hole in the side of the shipwreck and are about to enter when they stop for a second as if they forgot something.

“What happened to Luke?” Nimby asks, looking around.

“I thought he went on ahead as soon as we landed,” Fritz replies, adjusting the oil bags on his back.

“I don’t think he went ahead of us,” the halfling contends.

Fritz scratches his head and sighs. “I stopped the raft, tossed over the anchor, and he was gone when I turned back around. He usually leaps in without waiting for the rest of us. Still, he would normally say something.”

“True. I wonder where he went,” Nimby nervously mutters.

“He could have fallen off the raft because nobody warned him that we would be hitting the broken ship,” grumbles a voice from behind them.

“I doubt that, Fritz,” Nimby says with a friendly laugh. “Luke is too agile to fall off the raft. He might be a little sick right now, but that would just be embarrassing for him to tumble into the water because of a minor jostle.”

“I didn’t suggest that scenario,” Fritz admits.

“I did,” Luke growls. Both of them turn around to see the half-elf standing behind them on the raft. He is drenched and looking very angry. Nimby gulps while Fritz tries hard not to laugh.

“We’re sorry,” they say together.

“I’m sure you are,” Luke snaps, joining them on the wreck. “I want both of you to prepare the ship for burning while I will search the ship for survivors. Maybe I can find a clue as to what happened here. Captain Higgs thinks it might have been an attack.”

Fritz nods and makes a swift salute. “We’ll call for you when we’re ready. Myilia told me that I have to set up a path of oil to this hole. This way we can light it and not have to run out of the ship.”

Three feet of cold water meets them when they drop through the hole into a room fringed with dense shadows. Scraps of wood and various articles of clothing are floating on the surface of the still water. All of them feel the slight incline of the room as they wade their way to the door. The hallway is even darker than the room with no torches or lanterns to provide light. As their eyes adjust, they can see a few pale bodies floating facedown in the water at the lower end of the hallway. Luke is about to light a torch when Fritz pinches his leg. The gnome points at his nose in order to get Luke to sniff the air.

“I smell oil,” Luke whispers.

“Does this mean we should light it up and leave now?” Nimby asks, disappointed that his looting was stopped.

“We should check the ship for survivors just in case,” Luke says, letting his eyes adjust to the gloom of the hallway. “You two go back out to the raft and move it away in case the oil ignites by accident. Only one of us should stay in here because it will be very hard for us to escape in a group. I want to be able to get out of here as soon as possible if things go wrong.”

Fritz begins throwing the oil bags out of the ship. “Why do you have to go?”

Luke sighs as he turns to his friends. “There are many reasons. Most importantly, I don’t need a rope to get through that hole in the hull like you two. Just get moving and I will tell you the others later.”

“I hate it when he uses our height against us,” Nimby grumbles. He uncoils a rope from his shoulder and ties on a grapnel. With little effort, the halfling throws and hooks the grapnel to the hall.

Nimby and Fritz head back to the raft as Luke makes his way down the watery hall. The smell of oil becomes stronger as he reaches the far end of the ship. He gingerly moves around one of the bodies before stumbling away from a quick moving form hiding underneath the corpse. The river shark disappears into another room as Luke allows his heart to calm down. He bends down to examine the body and finds that the sailor’s tight face is stuck in a horrified scream.

“That’s strange. It looks like he was paralyzed and then he drowned where he stood without putting up a fight,” Luke whispers, standing up and scanning the hallway. “Captain Higgs was right. This was an attack.”

This adventure and more available as 99 cent eBooks!

Posted in Legends of Windemere, Prodigy of Rainbow Tower, Teaser Tuesday | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments