National Chocolate Candy Day

Posted on December 28, 2025 by Charles Yallowitz

Today isn’t about vanilla.  It’s about chocolate.  For those who can enjoy it, I hope you can get a bite.  For those who can’t, I hope you can find a tasty substitute and share in the joy of the day.  (All memes found in Google Image Search.)

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Goal Post: When Did Saturday Get Here?

Posted on December 27, 2025 by Charles Yallowitz

So much happened this week that I kept thinking it was Saturday ever since Thursday morning.  That means, I repeatedly thought I forgot to write a goal post when 8 am went by with nothing.  Keep in mind that my weekday posts go up at 10 am, so I was clearly disoriented.  Going by the calendar on my laptop, phone, and several paper ones in the house, I’m right this time.

Part of the confusion stems from so much being crammed into 7 days.  Last weekend, I had my son and family came over for the traditional Hanukkah latke party.  There was also two Pokemon Go outings that day and we relaxed on Sunday.  Showed him a movie called ‘Kung Fu Hustle’ and let him play his newest video game while I continued to heal from my ordeal.  All of that sounds like a lot, but it was only during a single weekend and I’m sure I forgot a few things.  Probably the usual tense interactions with certain entities . . . Oh, and getting ready to return to work.

That’s right.  After a little more than a month away, I finally got to go back to work on Monday.  I still had my last wound care appointment, but I made it in and got to see the students before the break.  Made it in time for the last birthday party one will spend with us and before a few started their vacation early.  I wasn’t able to run around and pushed myself a bit too hard.  Still had the energy to help my son with homework and take him out for Pokemon Go.  All of that might be why I hit Tuesday night exhausted, but I feel like all of the discomfort and pain was worth it.

Speaking of my healing, I had my first day of no pain or discomfort since before Thanksgiving.  Sort of.  Technically, it was Thursday since the wound area didn’t give me any trouble even after a walk.  Not happy about a scar being there even though I think it’s shaped like a ‘Y’.  Have to go by touch since I can’t see it.  Anyway, I did have a nasty sinus headache on Thursday due to the temps dropping fast.  So, my full day of no pain was yesterday.  I’m trying to avoid taking painkillers since I was on them and antibiotics for so long.  Give my system time to recover, especially the good old defective digestive system, which took a beating.

Probably should mention the writing progress in regards to Darwin & the Joy Path.  I only had three days to write, so I finished chapter 11.  At this rate, I’ll finish 75% of chapter 12 before the break is over.  I was hoping that doing Pokemon Go early in the morning would give me more time.  Didn’t expect the cold to make a mess of my outings and drain me even when indoors.  Normally, I would tackle a second chapter section in the evening, but I was always too tired.  Instead, I started outlining the penultimate volume of ‘Phi Beta Files’.  My brain keeps telling me a fantasy world shouldn’t have Greek letters, but it’s based on my freshman year of college group.  It was called ‘Phi Beta’, so I want to keep it that way.  By the time I write or publish it, there will be hints that people from Earth have traveled to Windemere at times.  This could also be a big hint to such a thing as well.

It snowed last night and into this morning, so it’s messy out there.  Probably won’t try to go anywhere until after lunch to give the roads time to get cleared.  That means writing this morning, which could allow me to get a second section done this afternoon.  Chapter 12 starts with a talking scene to give a break before the action continues.  That should make things easier, but my mental and physical endurance still suck.  I keep doubting myself as well.  Every challenge Darwin is facing takes 2-3 chapters to get through and I can’t tell if that’s a good or bad thing.

I have my son this coming week, but the weather and me not being 100% means we will take it easy.  A few appointments stops us from going far from home too.  Still, the cold weather is perfect for relaxing and getting important indoor things done.  We aren’t sure what’s going on for New Years Eve either.  A lot of possibilities, but much of it depends on what the kid is doing.  Having everything up in the air might not be a bad thing either.  It means I can recover more and get ready for going back to work for a full week, which might be taxing on me at first.  Sounds like I’m milking this mess, but I still have issues due to the scar being sensitive.  Damn thing sits right on a clothing seam too, so it’s impossible to avoid aggravating it if I’m walking around all day.  At least the bleeding is over.

Anyway, time for the list of goals and then I can finish watching ‘The Mighty Nein’.  I’m enjoying it, but I think I like ‘Legend of Vox Machina’ better.  One reason could be the latter started with the heroes already together and the former is showing how they came across each other.

Goals of the week . . . Final list of goals for 2025:

  1. Write more Darwin & the Joy Path.
  2. Rest up when possible.
  3. Time with son when he’s here.
  4. Start working on March blog posts.
  5. Get a daily walk for both Pokemon and exercise.
  6. Work on ‘Phi Beta Files’.
  7. Puzzle time.
  8. Flip off 2025 during its final seconds.
  9. Avoid saying 2026 will be my year or anything similar.  Next year better approach me real slow and play nice.  Already getting a sense that chaos is in my future.
  10. Probably should do a little grocery shopping.
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Planning The Escape

Posted on December 26, 2025 by Charles Yallowitz

Phil– “I have a question.”

Eric– “We’re about to start the plan and now you have a question?”

Phil– “It’s a simple one about timing.”

Eric– “Fine.”

Phil– “Why are we doing this the day after Christmas instead of right before or on?”

Eric– “Because the guards were partying last night, so their . . . guard is down.”

Phil– “Got it.  I’ll start sawing through the bars.”

Eric– “Now, that was Plan C.  We aren’t using that one any more.”

Phil– “When did we have multiple plans?”

Eric– “Since Louie kept changing his mind.”

Phil– “Who’s Louie? There are only two of us breaking out.”

Eric– “He’s our outside contact.”

Phil– “You mean the guy who is going to push the laundry cart we’re hiding in?”

Eric– “That was Plan L and that guy’s name was Ralph.  Ralph got put in solitary for a fight.”

Phil– “So, what is the plan?”

Eric– “We’re going to sneak out of our cell at dawn.”

Phil– “Not at night when it’s dark?”

Eric– “No because the guards will have gotten over their hangovers by then.”

Phil– “You’re really depending on everyone who works here being heavy drinkers.  I would think those working today would be more careful.”

Eric– “Amelia says those who come after Christmas are always tired, hungover, or terrible at their jobs.”

Phil– “Who’s . . . Never mind.  So, we sneak out and don’t cut any bars or hide in any laundry.  Is this the sewer plan?  I didn’t like that one.”

Eric– “That was Plan S and we flushed it.”

Phil– “I’m going back to bed.”

Eric– “But you wanted to escape.”

Phil– “I’m rethinking my choice in breakout partners. Unless you give me a good reason to stay with you, I’m out.”

Eric– “I’ve already got us tickets to the Bahamas and a car filled with money from my last heist hidden in the forest across the road.”

Phil– “Fine.  I’m back in for now.  What do we do after we sneak out of our cell?”

Eric– “We keep sneaking, but doing it without looking suspicious.  Don’t whistle or put your hands in your pockets.  Just casual walk towards the exit.  Once we’re close enough, we start a riot.  Now, Luther and Maurice are going to be there to shank us, but not in a lethal way.  As the guards come rushing in, we’ll sneak through the door and make a run for the exit.  If anyone sees us, we can drop and show we’re injured then escape later from the infirmary.  I call it Plan K for Chaos.”

Phil– “What if nobody notices us leaving while we run out?”

Eric– “Then we get in the car and drive away.”

Phil– “What about the whole bleeding issue?”

Eric– “I have band-aids in the glove compartment.”

Phil– “I’m out again.”

Eric– “Aw, man. We never do what I want to do.”

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Merry Christmas

Posted on December 25, 2025 by Charles Yallowitz

Hope everyone who celebrates is enjoying the holiday.  For those who don’t, I hope you get good seats at the . . . Wait, movie tickets are too expensive.  I hope you enjoy sleeping in and not having to clean up wrapping paper.

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7 Tips to Having a Story Take Place in Prison

Posted on December 24, 2025 by Charles Yallowitz

The Green Mile

Being that I haven’t written a story like this, but I did apparently outline one for far in the future, I’m going to do the best I can.  These are all opinions as usual.  It’s also why I try to be as general as possible.

  1. If you’re writing a story that takes place in the real world then it helps to do some research on actual prisons.  Not only how they are set up, but the cultures that emerge within them.  How do prison hierarchies work?  What about the guards?  Were cigarettes really used as currency and are they still?  So many questions that you can ask yourself and find answers to for some authenticity.
  2. Another piece of research can be finding interviews or anything written by those who have spent time in prison.  Find a variety, including those who are in for life, to get several ideas on the mentalities of inmates.  You can’t have them all acting, thinking, and feeling the same thing.  Best way to figure out the variations is to find the sources, which can even include conducting an interview yourself.
  3. Guess we’re going for a third research tip, which would be to look into prisons in the past.  This really helps fantasy and historical authors who are probably not working with modern facilities.  So, looking into medieval dungeons can help.  Not to mention finding out how often torture was actually used outside of prisoners of war.  I notice that some authors will always include a torturer even if it’s not necessary.
  4. Inmate protagonists need to have some level of relatability and positive traits to be fully effective.  This means, you need to be careful about why they are in prison.  A thief can be easier to get readers to support more than a murderer while a child rapist shouldn’t be ANYWHERE near the protagonist side of a story.  All of this requires thinking a little about what the point of the story is.  Survival, redemption, and escape may best be done by those of non-violent crimes while a violent offender might only work for a story about accepting responsibility.
  5. The prison guards don’t always have to be corrupt.  In a story where they’re the antagonists, you don’t have to make them evil.  A criminal protagonist would see them as adversaries, but they can still be good people.  It might make it easier to get readers behind your ‘hero’ if all of the guards are corrupt or assholes, but that could be seen as unrealistic.  Having the guards do their jobs, which runs counter to the desire of the inmate, can be just as effective.
  6. One thing I feel about prison is that you need to hold onto hope in order to make it through the experience.  Even if you’re there for life, you need to hope for something or you’ll just waste away.  It could be freedom, peace in prison, or anything that allows for the protagonist to continue moving forward.  This sense of hope will also appeal to readers.  We all require some level of hope to move on whether we realize it or not.
  7. Rape doesn’t always have to happen in a prison story.  Whether it be the evilest of inmates or a degenerate prison guard, you don’t have to put this into the story.  I’m not saying this to discount the reality where it happens.  I couldn’t get exact numbers since the sites I went to noted there is major underreporting, which I’m realizing is a common problem with all forms of rape.  My point here is that throwing it in because you think it belongs there isn’t good enough.  This becomes a major plot point and needs to be handled as such.  You can’t just move on from it.
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Legends of Windemere 1-15 for $15!

Posted on December 23, 2025 by Charles Yallowitz

Legends of Windemere 1-15 Covers by Jason Pederson

Dive into the series that started it all!  What began as Luke Callindor’s quest to become a hero spirals into a battle between prophesized chosen and an evil that makes the gods quiver.  Bones will break.  Hearts will shatter.  Souls will crumble.  All in the name of protecting Windemere from another age of darkness.

Enjoy the adventure this holiday season for 99 cents each!

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Prison Stories: Tales From The Slammer

Posted on December 22, 2025 by Charles Yallowitz

Shawshank Redemption

Something dawned on me one day.  A lot of stories either start, take place entirely, or spend some time in a prison.  It could be any genre too.  So, what is it about the prison setting that draws people to it?

In terms of fantasy adventures, this is a common place for the heroes to meet each other and develop a mutual goal.  That would be escaping or survival.  I think this would carry into any genre.  People find themselves in the same situation and will band together to increase their chances of survival.  Sure, you can have different factions appear in a prison and some people will be loners by nature.  Still, you tend to see some type of society appear with currency, hierarchy, and rules.  At least in fiction since I’m not sure how prisons work in the real world.

Another aspect of the prison story is that the readers are made to feel sorry for the protagonists.  Maybe they were falsely imprisoned or their crime wasn’t horrible enough to devoid their humanity.  It could even be that there are eviler (That’s a word!?) people around, so they are ‘heroic’ by comparison.  Either way, there is a level of sympathy for the person being in prison.  So, the readers root for them to either regain their freedom or at least survive in some semblance of peace.  This is a universal desire regardless of your situation too, so it touches on something at our core.  I mean, we all wish to be truly free, survive, and live in peace.

From the other side of the scenario, you can have a story about the guards who are there to do their job.  This might be easier to relate to since they aren’t criminals and are usually only depicted as corrupt when their the villains.  Prison guard is a job that one can see comes with a lot of stress and danger. Another position where one hopes for survival, especially if the inmates take over.  Even if it’s not that dire, you can use the setting for a psychological tale examining human nature.  Can one be a guard and still see the prisoners as full humans?  Is sympathy allowed?  It is probably easier to figure out in the real world, but not when you barely know about it.

I think the setting appeals to readers as well because it’s a place that most don’t want to find themselves.  It isn’t like being in a natural disaster or a dystopian landscape because ending up in prison is a real world possibility.  Sure, we all follow the rules and do our best not to get arrested.  Living a normal life means you don’t get in any trouble, but the threat is always there.  Not even on a conscious level, but a subconscious one that urges us to stick to the rules.  A story taking place in prison makes us consider how we would handle the situation and subtly accept that it’s entirely possible.  Maybe this is a bit farfetched, but I think it does have some basis in truth.

Personally, I like the prison story in small doses or based more in reality.  I’ve seen a bunch where it drags on for a while or the guards are cartoonishly corrupt.  I prefer it to be used as a starting point or a temporary situation the heroes have to escape.  Although, I do enjoy stories where the prison is taken over by the inmates or there is some other disturbance, which turns it solely into a setting.  This is probably why I haven’t really tried a prison story yet.  My heroes tend to be temporarily captured and put in a dungeon or made into a slave until they escape.  I believe one of my series does have a prison setting at one point for a good chunk of a story, but it’s not the full thing.  Not sure why I can’t get heavily into such a setting.

What do other people think about prison setting stories?

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The Olm a.k.a. The Human Fish

Posted on December 21, 2025 by Charles Yallowitz

These sensitive creatures live in caves and can be found in Central and Southeastern Europe. They are a type of salamander, which lives in total darkness.  They are listed as vulnerable due to habitat destruction.  Water pollution and the terrain above their caves being changed can alter the chemistry of their environment.  They are not quick to adapt, so the population decreases.

What are some facts?

  • Olms are 100% aquatic.
  • They are blind, but have acute senses of hearing and smell.  They also use electro-sensitivity to find prey.
  • They typically lack pigmentation.
  • Their skin is translucent, which means their organs are visible from the outside.
  • A subspecies called ‘Black Olms’ live near Slovenia and get their name from their coloration.
  • It has three toes on its front legs and two on its back legs.
  • Olms are also called proteus, cave salamanders, white salamanders, and human fish.
  • Their exact location are the underground caves and pools of the Dinaric Alps.
  • They swallow insect larva, small crabs, and snails whole.
  • Olms have teeth that create a barrier to prevent large pieces of food from falling out of their mouths.
  • After eating a lot, they can store nutrients in their livers in case food becomes scarce.
  • An Olm can go 10 years without eating by reducing their metabolic activity and reabsorbing their own body tissue.
  • They retain the frilly gills and tail fins of their larva stage.
  • Olms can live 68-100 years, which makes it the longest living amphibian.
  • They were once thought to be baby dragons.

Some pics and videos from the Internet:

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Goal Post: Progress and Latkes

Posted on December 20, 2025 by Charles Yallowitz

Where to even start?  I made progress in a lot of ways, which might be why I’m tired.  Well, that and continuing to heal.  That takes a lot out of me, especially when certain entities stress me out so much that sleeping becomes an issue.  I’ve had to use the Zzzquil at times just to ward off full exhaustion.  Next week should be better.

As far as writing goes, I did make a good amount of progress.  I finished chapters 9 and 10 of Darwin & the Joy Path.  My speed is still one section per day due to appointments and not being able to stay seated for long.  With the holiday break coming up, I might be able to do 2 a day if I don’t do have appointments.  I’m still going to take an hour to get fresh air and play Pokemon, which usually gives me a recharge.  Not sure if I’m physically and mentally at that point, but we’ll see.  Means I’m either getting 1.5 or 3.66 chapters done before things are done.

I will admit that I’m having some trouble figuring out the first part of chapter 11.  The notes I have are . . . Well, I seem to have thrown about five issues into a section that will range from 3-6 pages.  This is the beginning of the next challenge of the Joy Path too, so they still have the rest of chapter 11 and all of 12.  I will try to take some time this weekend to list the threats and see if I can combine or minimize.  The loose rocks and quakes can be part of the background since it’s a dangerous mountain climb.  Not sure what ‘launched to’ means since the last word got smeared.  At least I have until Wednesday to figure this all out.

I’m going to be finishing up the February posts and maybe set a few up for March tonight since I have the time.  Possibly jump back into ‘Phi Beta Files’ since I finally figured out the adventures for penultimate volume.  Can’t remember what I had for the finale due to it being induced by fatigue and medication.  A friend suggested I go back into the hospital to see if it all comes back, but I don’t think insurance would cover that.  Not going to hunt for the bacteria that brutalized me and ask for another round either.

So, how’s my health doing?  The drainage wound has finally healed to the point where I don’t need it packed.  I can take care of it at home while it finished closing.  This past week was frustrating though because the nerves and blood vessels started growing in, which is a good sign.  Just means bleeding easily and feeling itchy, which sucks because I can’t scratch without making it bleed even more.  Still, it means the nightmare I’ve been dealing with since the week before Thanksgiving is nearly over.  One more appointment to make sure things are good and that’s it.  Means I can also go back to work this week even though it’s only for two days.  Get to see my students and coworkers before the break, which I mentally needed.

With the holiday break starting this week, I will have a bunch of free time.  I don’t get my son until the second half, so I’ll get writing done while he’s with his mom.  That’s really it considering the cold weather and I will still be a little injured.  This break and the one in February are usually lazy ones because it’s too cold outside.  The mall is an option, but it gets crowded and you can’t do much there unless you spend money.  I don’t know if I should say I need a lazy period since I’ve been sitting on my rump for so long.  Guess it is different when you do it to relax instead of being injured.

Oh, I nearly forgot that I mentioned latkes.  Since it’s still Hanukkah, we’re doing our usual latke party today.  Always tasty and there tends to be enough leftovers for me to get extra meals.  Hoping to make at least one of my work lunches out of them.  They’re so easy to bring and reheat since I go plain.  This event also means family will be over, which is nice since I was out of commission on Thanksgiving.  Not that my son and niece weren’t hanging in my room with the Nintendo Switch.  I can actually get out of bed and go downstairs without unrivaled agony this time.

So, what are my goals of the week since I’m nearly healed?

  1. Latke party today.
  2. Spend time with son.
  3. Write more Darwin & the Joy Path.
  4. Finish February posts when free.
  5. Work on ‘Phi Beta Files’ outlines.
  6. Puzzle time.
  7. Binge ‘The Mighty Nein’ once the final episode is out.
  8. Catch Pokemon for exercise.  (Can’t use bike yet.  Need full heal for that.)
  9. Get car taken care of.

Oh yeah.  Some great friends sent me get well gifts including Amazon gift cards.  I got myself some simple things like a new baby name book, a long-sleeve shirt, and a 3-CD set of rock songs (arriving in about 2-3 weeks).  There were two things I got that I wanted to share.  The sweatshirt was one I was excited to stumble onto and the satchel is something I’ve needed for years since my old one has been falling apart:

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Species of Creation

Posted on December 19, 2025 by Charles Yallowitz

(Here’s the partner poem for the one I posted on Wednesday.  Enjoy.)

Opposing half our nature
Many create
Crafting monuments
From nature’s bounty
Or pulling wonders
From thin air

Driven by an urge
To create a lasting piece
In the hopes
Of making Mother Earth
More beautiful
Than when we arrived

Farms for food
Gardens for serenity
Reviving nature
After others destroy
It is their blood
To reverse some damage

Even art
Can aide creation
Inspiring acts of good
Educating
Against destruction
As the cycle of humanity spins on

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