Monthly Updates
SUmmer Catch UpIt's that time of year again when the summer days bring a sense of lazy heat and I spend a lot of time catching up on what slid past during the spring. In this case it was the excerpt that I never had the time to post over the past few months. It is now posted, albeit from my original manuscript and not the published one. Those who have read the published book may see where there were some editorial changes between the two. I am also trying to catch up on housework that managed to slide by while I was involved in re-education to change careers and while I was working extra hours during the whole Covid 19 stage one while several of my co-workers were away on medical leave of absence. The excerpt this month is from chapter 10 of Separated Soul. As for my facebook readings those are still being posted once a week with tiny 3 minute or so excerpts from one of the three published books. All in all, I have been extremely busy these past few months, but I think everything will start to calm down a little now that I am beginning to catch up with everything I have to do.
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BUsy Days in Busy Times?As strange as this may sound, the past few months have been exactly that, however things seem to be easing up a bit with my former day-off schedule looking more normal. This will hopefully mean that I will have the time to post a chapter segment this month. I'm sorry I ran out of time last month but I was a more than a bit over-tired due to my work schedule. This month I will definitely try to make sure it is posted. I am also posting small snippets of filmed readings I have done for chapters of my books on my author's facebook page for anyone who is interested.When I have had some time I have been rediscovering old television shows I loved, and still love, such as Space: 1999. You know, back in the eighties I thought that stood for 1999 A.D. but they never actually indicate that it is this era at all. For all I know it stands for A.E.A. (After Earth Amalgamation.) Something Commander Keonig says in one of the episodes I recently watched has given me the impression that they are NOT using our current Era calendar at all. Any reader of either Andre Norton or Alan Dean Foster will know that Science-Fiction dates vary from era to era even in a novel series. I guess that would mean the show is still based in the future. As a long time doll collector I cannot help noticing that there is no mention of any dolls from the series or action figures being made. Possibly this is because it pre-dates Star Wars, the film epic that began that form of merchandising. Pity, Martin Landau's face would have been perfect on a doll; it's so easily identifiable. Oh well, I have several things still to do at home before I go back to my job, so I will end this post. For all those who decide to check out the videos on my facebook I hope you enjoy them.
Busy DaysAs some of you may have already discovered I recently posted a small reading on my facebook page. This was a decision I made due to the Coronovirus and the impossibility of holding public readings of my books at this time. What I posted was a small 3-4 minute reading from chapter one of Escape to Ellse Where. Sorry, no famous faces doing the reading, just me. As for the rest, I am more than just a bit busy and must apologize for how slow this post has been in coming. I am working at my job quite a bit right now, still doing re-training to switch careers, and yes I am preparing another book for publication. Specifically I am working on preparing the sequel to Escape to Ellse Where. I am also working on edits of a novel that cover's Feline's adventures in another galaxy and which fits in between Separated Soul and Secret Sorcerer. I am currently looking for an agent for that one. I sometimes wonder if anyone has yet made the connection between my spelling of Ellse where in the books and Ellesmere Island? There is one, but it may not be that noticeable until the third Ellfaerran Diaries book is published. It looks like I'm running out of time again. I will have an excerpt from chapter 10 of Separated Soul posted as soon as I have a chance. Stay Safe.
Busy Times and retrospectionI suppose I should explain that title for this post. As writing is primarily an alternate form of income for me, and not the primary I should state that I currently work in a place that has been deemed an essential service by the Canadian government, as such I am busier than a one armed paper hanger right now due to the fact that I did not request leave of absence during this time. I was raised with a very strong sense of duty and, yes, loyalty to my employers and people I am close to.
The retrospection comes in with the full moon shining in my window last night reminding me of why I became a writer in the first place. Those who read my books know that the moon, or specifically one lunar deity, is a recurring character in several novels. Added to this was my brother uncovering a large amount of photos from his youth that were taken at my parents house. He began saying "do you remember..." about the pictures, which I did not as I was never there when his friends came over. I was always a story teller of the Hans Anderson variety from my youngest days, my mother has clear memories of me climbing on top of my doll house at the age of four and telling my assembled dolls and stuffed animals fairy tales of my own creation. This made me popular with my peers in elementary school but as soon as we moved into middle school and hormones kicked in for my peers there was a massive shift leaving me outside looking in. I picked up a pen, and never looked back. Being one of those people who lack the requisite hormones to feel any of the physical forms of attraction to others I felt alienated in a hormone driven group of teens. Yes, I can feel emotional attraction but I am content to let things be as the physical means nothing to me. Instead I use the emotion as fuel for my characters. My sense of alienation grew as I progressed through school and my brothers friends were careful to come over on days they knew I was at classes learning to make porcelain dolls, as such I possess no memories of the times that meant so much to my brother, but I have a wealth of imaginary worlds from which my books are created. Scratch the surface of any writer and you will find that sense of watching the world from the outside, without being one of the players. Keep healthy everyone, and stay safe. Mild case of HermitSorry about how delayed this post is for March, but I've been dealing with a mild case of the Hermits. As a naturally reclusive person I am not the most social at the best of times, but every so often I develop an overwhelming desire to cut off all contact with my fellow humans except for necessary things such as going to work. My family calls this "a case of the hermits." Unfortunately I underwent a severe amount of emotional and verbal bullying in my adolescent years that lead to me turning inward. One benefit of that inward turn was the development of my need to write. I lived in a fantasy world of my creation, and later I became a spectator and reporter of that world. The downside was my tendency every time I was introduced to someone to ask myself "does this person hate me, loathe me, or just not care?" I always considered not caring to be the best I could expect. Never once did I consider "liking" to be in that list. I sometimes wonder if that lead to the reclusive nature I developed in my twenties. The last time I had a case of the hermits was in 2015, when I stayed at home for three months without going out once. Not bad, that was five years ago. Back in the early 2000's I had a case like that every year, once it even lasted for six months. I guess what I'm trying to say is that people should think about how they treat their peers, bullying is not just physical force and sometimes words can do more permanent damage than fists. I guess I've been fretting about this since February when the anti-bullying campaigns came into play, which could have set off this year's case of the Hermits. It seems to me that verbal and emotional bullying is actually on the rise, and no one truly seems to be aware of it. Even some of the people I saw wearing the anti-bully pink shirts this year were speaking to others in a verbally bullying way. People should be aware that there is more than one type of bully. Not everyone who suffers through that becomes a writer, some curl into a fetal ball as their minds become self destructive.
Season of ChangeAs one can guess January was a month of New Year's resolutions for me. I resolved to keep looking for an agent for my remaining unpublished books, some of which I posted snippets of during the Christmas season on my excerpt page. The main part of that resolution was to look outside of my Native Canada for an agent. I also decided to sneak in a few changes here and there for fun. Two changes are also on the excerpt page, this time with this month's offering, specifically the book image next to the text of the excerpt and the text itself. Eagle-eyed readers will notice that the La Lune dress is no longer draped over the back of the chair behind the book although it is still there, however they may not notice that the text is actually from my own file of the book, not the cleaned up publisher's version, as my initial copy contained a differentiation between Psychic and verbal dialogue that disappeared somehow in the published text. I will apologize in advance if I am a little late posting at the monthly change-over this year; I already know that I will short on time over the next six months or so with writing, working, and upgrading my degree to enter a new profession (as well as writing.) I will do the best I can, but please forgive me if it may be almost a week into a month before I can get an update done. Until next month, happy reading.
Happy New Decade: 2020Well here we are in a brand new decade full of bright new hopes and resolutions. Yes, I have posted a piece of Secret Sorcerer chapter nine in which both Marigold and Prosaica are introduced a bit more fully and will hopefully make the bits of the unpublished books I posted during the Holiday season easier to understand. I am as busy as ever with both my writing career, the job that supports my writing career, and re-education to begin a new career path to take the place of my current job, however I am not neglecting my writing as I have a number of books completed, such as all three of La Lune's personal series, books one and three of Prosaica's series, and books one and two of a series pertaining to Marigold's missing kin. I also have three children's books completed, but unpublished, and a Narrative poem about Llaeron that is also complete. As for books Two and Three of the Ellfaerran Diaries and Book three of Moon Child Memoirs they are also completed except for final edits. As for books two and four of Prosaica's series (which is also Sapphire's series) they are currently in the process of being written. All I truly require right now is an agent to help me place all this written material with the correct publishers and to give me some help with promoting it as that is one thing I have very little time to do. Hopefully this will be the year, or at least the decade, when all the puzzle pieces fall into place to bring my characters to the world stage. As this decade buds like new greenery on a sprouting plant I hope my writing blooms with renewed vigor and brightens the homes of several readers. Enjoy the year to come, I know I mean to.
Seasonal Gifts With the holiday season upon us I have decided to give all those who visit my website's excerpt page a couple of little gifts, specifically tiny snippets from two unpublished books I am currently writing (please excuse typos as they are still rough copy texts) the first from Feline's time in Keldrean's Galaxy that comes between books one and two of Moon Child Memoirs and the other from the same series but from a book set much later, specifically in the not so far future. I hope all who read them enjoy these small glimpses into the adventures of Feline and company with the Parapsychologists own galaxy, the Adlamar Spiral, and yes I did base its location on M81, the first galaxy I ever saw in a pair of binoculars. Happy Reading and Season's Greetings.
DEcemberDid you ever have one of those days when you realize that you must be living a cursed life? I know that's how I feel today. Probably not a good time to consider composing this update, but so it is. Well, okay maybe my life is not completely cursed, but a Literary agent helping things along a little would certainly help mitigate the feeling. I guess the feeling comes from the fact that things have been going along quite well until I ran smack into an unexpected ( and metaphorical) brick wall in the advancement of my alternate career path. To be blunt, as much as I love the creation of writing and concocting worlds known only to me until I release them with my pen, writing just does not support anyone who is not a multi-billion best seller.
I generally deal with the situation by pulling off my bookshelf old friends like Miss Read with her gentle view of 1950's village school life, and Alan Dean Foster's rather warped fantasy Spellsinger for a good laugh and a bit of social analysis, I also turn to a rather sweet penguin named Opus from Berke Breathed's Bloom County, recently resurrected much to my happiness, to Johnny Hart's unusually modern cavemen in B.C. and to T.K. Ryan's unusual look at the old west with erudite Poohawks taunting, and sometimes aiding, dopey Cavalry men and cowboys in Tumbleweeds. Part of the cursed feeling comes from the fact that I can't seem to find T.K. Ryan's comic in book form anywhere but second hand stores. All of the above are currently on my table either waiting to be read or in the process of helping me through my crummy mood. Fortunately Llaeron, La Lune, and company have not abandoned my creative mind. They are all clamoring to come out of my pen for people to read. I'd better get back to them. Just as an added little note to yesterday's bout of minor depression that people of an artistic nature are prone to fall into from time to time, I ended the evening by watching my favourite Cliff Richard movie: Take me High (I can't remember the title it had in the United States, only that it was different.) That film always puts me in a good mood. Oh, by the way, if anyone is interested a few of the Ellfic female characters were inspired in varying degrees by the female lead in that film. The Two Ronnies shows were also a very strong source of character inspiration, they are also another depression eliminator for me as are Man About the House and Last Of the Summer Wine. Did you notice they're all British? There must be a link there somewhere. Then again, most of the depression fighting books I use are American or Canadian (Letter From Wingfield Farm) so maybe there isn't. BUsy DaysA fairly short post this month as I have very little time these days to work on the computer. I apologize for the brevity of the latest excerpts from my books, but I've been squeezing in typing time when I get a rare chance, as such the amount of text from my books is now somewhat condensed in comparison to earlier excerpt posts. That being said I hope you enjoy the latest excerpt and possibly find a clue to the situation at the start of Secret Sorcerer. Hopefully this is only a temporary situation and the excerpts will start to enlarge again as time goes on. One of my favourite holidays is now past and once again I donned La Lune's dress for the Trick-or-Treaters in my neighborhood. That is actually how I developed the character, through the creation of a Hallowe'en costume to amuse the local children. La Lune's whole history and story came from the sewing of that costume. As for some of the others, they found their creation, or their world's, through my love of porcelain doll-making. (Yes, the proto-type of Porpoise stands in my doll cabinet.) That's all for this month as the clock is telling me that I'm running out of time again.
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AuthorHello, I am a writer of High Fantasy utilizing ancient myths mixed with modern anthropological discoveries to create the worlds in which my characters live. Please join me in my journey to uncover those mystical worlds of myth and pre-history. Archives
June 2020
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