tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62330039468849860462024-03-10T12:18:02.089-04:00Rhobin Lee CourtrightOn reading, writing, and the mind's quirksRhobinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08627825512017360508noreply@blogger.comBlogger422125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6233003946884986046.post-11869714834992539892023-07-31T12:41:00.000-04:002023-07-31T12:41:17.056-04:00A Change in Location and Life StyleThings have changed since November. Bill suffered a stroke and our son wanted us nearer to him in Traverse City.
At the end of June, I bought a condominium apartment in the city and we moved in on July 1st. Luck came my way as the old house was only on the market for two weeks. The condo is only about a third the size of the house, so I had to downsize and get rid of a lot of stuff. However, it has been a good move. I am now five minutes from my son's house rather than ninety minutes, and I live across the street from Traverse City's Civic Center Park. <div><br /></div><div>So most days I can sit on my balcony and watch young men and women on their skateboards and scooters going up and down ramps and doing jumps and tricks; plus, the park has a mile walkway around its perimeter. I am now walking five to seven miles a day and the park is full of black, grey, and brown squirrels. I even saw a skunk once. Plus they have an outdoor theater where special events take place. </div><div><br /></div><div>It is quite a change from the silence of my house where I seldom saw anyone even while walking and only heard the periodic road noise of trucks. Here it is noisy. The traffic in Traverse City is heavy, but I don't have to drive much as I am within walking distance of everything I need including my bank, dentist, eye doctor, doctor, and hair salon. I do drive to the grocery store, but it is only three blocks away.
So while I am still adjusting, I love it. I still have to get rid of a lot of stuff, some of it valuable, but have time for that.
</div>Rhobinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08627825512017360508noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6233003946884986046.post-6756012756973396762022-11-22T15:59:00.006-05:002022-11-22T16:04:35.238-05:00<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyiL3b5EubBifQa5gRkyzsjfF4QU2vI4sbK_zJ1cH40cRvT81Y7XVKzpMpCFh8o5FfdH0_jgEC-v_w-1HyOy8XceHREFmZ49wvhRR3ODAlBT6ZH8tk42HawPBQgf8aqgdMIicEhOorwLmxoaLlOkbN5-zegxTC3pMUzfyzeUjuSN1fr9x6tLQTAtfu/s4608/20221120_093459.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2072" data-original-width="4608" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyiL3b5EubBifQa5gRkyzsjfF4QU2vI4sbK_zJ1cH40cRvT81Y7XVKzpMpCFh8o5FfdH0_jgEC-v_w-1HyOy8XceHREFmZ49wvhRR3ODAlBT6ZH8tk42HawPBQgf8aqgdMIicEhOorwLmxoaLlOkbN5-zegxTC3pMUzfyzeUjuSN1fr9x6tLQTAtfu/w507-h242/20221120_093459.jpg" width="507" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"> Back porch on Sunday morning. Such fun driving to work over the weekend. </span><p></p>Rhobinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08627825512017360508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6233003946884986046.post-47244434376850134272022-10-22T00:00:00.144-04:002023-08-01T10:07:04.263-04:00Villainous Characters<p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">This month's topic is about villainous characters who might have reached redemption and how did I go about making this happen?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">In my first novel, the fantasy story of <i>Magic Ageis</i>, one man, Eldin, is a childhood friend of the character Ottillie. He is a royal guardsman, although his father is an aristo, his mother's family disavowed the pairing, making Eldin a bastard. It has rankled within him. He is guiding and guarding her on a trip to the southern province when a royal messenger arrives and gives Ottillie a message that the king and his family have been killed and Pertelon is invading the eastern coast along the river. Ottillie tells him he must go and inform the eastern garrisons to be on alert. He leaves but does not do as she asked, instead he goes back to court and works for the current regent who wants to become king.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Months later when Ottille goes back to the court she learns what he has done, but also accidentally overhears him talking in a circular staircase. She cannot recognize who he is talking with, telling Eldin he must kill the new king, Warrick. She learns he has been working for the Pertonalese. She waits until he comes down the staircase alone and asks him why he has committed treason. He replies, 'To improve my status!" He pulls a blade on her neck but knows he cannot kill her because of his love for her. Her feelings for him allow her to tell him to escape--to get out of Kaereya, their homeland. He does.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">In the book <i>Acceptance</i>, Eldin is mired in the Pertelonese court but is not held in high regard even after doing some spying for the current King Clement. He is given the assignment of watching the previous king's son, a young man consider a dolt. Eldin knows the new king usurped the previous reigning family. But Eldin, still wallowing in his guilt over his actions in Kaereya, suddenly swears fealty to the dolt Prince Uilleam. Eldin goes on to prove his loyalty to Uilleam and even saves the idiot's life. It turns out Uilleam is not a dolt, but a smart young man playing an act to save his own life. Eldin thus, although forced to leave his home country and a ruined reputation, becomes an important supporter of King Uilleam.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">It took two books, and although Eldin's reputation remains repugnant in Kaereya, he has proved his loyalty and worth in Pertelon.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Often, villains have a strong background of different types of abuse that makes them develop into an evil person. Depending on their mental background they can revert to descent people.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Visit these authors' blog to see their take on this topic:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="https://dbator.blogspot.com/2022/10/round-robin-blog-fest-october-2022-our.html">Diane Bator </a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="https://www.skye-writer.com/blogging_by_the_sea/view/698/redeeming-our-villains" target="_blank">Skye Taylor</a> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="http://lynx-sis.blogspot.com/2022/10/can-villians-ever-be-heroes-have-any-of.html" target="_blank">Judith Copek</a> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="http://mizging.blogspot.com/2022/10/villainous-characters-and-redemption.html" target="_blank">Connie Vines</a> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="https://aj-maguire.com/2022/10/22/about-villains-october-2022-round-robin/" target="_blank">A.J. Maguire</a> </span></p><p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="https://wp.me/p3Xihq-2KA" target="_blank">Dr. Bob Rich</a> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><br /></span></p>Rhobinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08627825512017360508noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6233003946884986046.post-37322396661969402572022-09-24T00:00:00.131-04:002022-09-25T11:03:00.354-04:00Character yes and nos.<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxEqEGPCTSccsuQgG0TP0lQbvm7QnevFTF3PoIiIHd1oVRHwsDc1AdlKGwM7FboKP45o6UcBtdO4k-Q5RGOJ0wWWdmSyi8twJEcA0V91QtZpKNqcPICUY6YtoeLO2EVZvNHtG6HHrqfz2oOur-jMVrLVEfS_eW6kJCjfJWha48_wijlMosNVdRxVAM/s375/roundrobin2.jpg" style="background-color: transparent; clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="375" height="161" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxEqEGPCTSccsuQgG0TP0lQbvm7QnevFTF3PoIiIHd1oVRHwsDc1AdlKGwM7FboKP45o6UcBtdO4k-Q5RGOJ0wWWdmSyi8twJEcA0V91QtZpKNqcPICUY6YtoeLO2EVZvNHtG6HHrqfz2oOur-jMVrLVEfS_eW6kJCjfJWha48_wijlMosNVdRxVAM/w161-h161/roundrobin2.jpg" width="161" /></a></p><p><span style="background: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">This month's topic is how characters are defined in writing
and what do I leave to the reader’s intuition? Is there anything I never tell
about a character?</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style="background: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Well, writing is all about the story's purpose, and the
characters must work to carry out that purpose. So, of course, the reader needs
to understand the characters and think of them as real people, either good or
bad, for them to carry out that purpose. At the same time, readers pick
up hints about the character's personality from their own experiences. They
also get hints from what the character wears, does, and says. While some traits
of a character must be made, such as appearance, manner of speaking, and tone
of voice, often the reader has their own perspective on a character’s behaviors
that develop as they read which makes the reader part of the writing process.</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style="background: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Characters fall into categories. The main characters are
those the reader needs to know intimately as they are most important in the
story. Supporting characters help or hinder the main characters in some way the
reader can relate to, and placement characters, who often remain unnamed, just
help create the fictional world as a real place.</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p>
<span style="background: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">Is
there anything I never tell about a character? Absolutely. The character
doesn't need a biography. The reader doesn't need to know everything, only the
pertinent information for developing the character as a real person and
supporting the story's purpose</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white;">Please visit these authors' blogs for their views<br /> on this topic:</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; margin-top: 12pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 105%;"><a href="https://www.skye-writer.com/blogging_by_the_sea/view/697/defining-our-characters" target="_blank">Skye Taylor </a></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; margin-top: 12pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 105%;"><a href="http://mizging.blogspot.com/2022/09/characters-readers-intuition-and-deep.html" target="_blank">ConnieVines</a> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://bobrich18.wordpress.com/2022/09/24/secret-dossier/">Dr.Bob</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt; margin: 12pt 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://aj-maguire.com/2022/09/24/september-round-robin-character-creations/" target="_blank">A.J.Maguire </a></span></p>Rhobinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08627825512017360508noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6233003946884986046.post-26435384881993837182022-08-27T00:00:00.131-04:002022-08-27T08:57:38.276-04:00Developing Characters As Individuals<p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: left;">This month's topic is how do you create your
characters--their quirks, habits, values, and what part they will play in the
story, etc.? Do you have a process, or do they come to you instinctively?</span></p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyiL1T4vBe80VmLaVdjifT_-CEqqbWI9tRY-Y-OMMEm26Jo_YZFbJ5BEMZa3H0Oh90mAijdvNm34ZRT2bGlIR-yWsFg7mACfK1wvF-vbMYUZK8BRlfePHnG0QZzoIcxFnGWpyHyDM8ZkirSHQawy4DZLW6WO96zZlGnfCl4xuf8HQceiM9Nc4wanbp/s1350/sunflower%20girl.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1350" data-original-width="955" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyiL1T4vBe80VmLaVdjifT_-CEqqbWI9tRY-Y-OMMEm26Jo_YZFbJ5BEMZa3H0Oh90mAijdvNm34ZRT2bGlIR-yWsFg7mACfK1wvF-vbMYUZK8BRlfePHnG0QZzoIcxFnGWpyHyDM8ZkirSHQawy4DZLW6WO96zZlGnfCl4xuf8HQceiM9Nc4wanbp/w283-h400/sunflower%20girl.jpg" width="283" /></a><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14pt;"><br />Generally, ideas about my characters start when I'm just
thinking about a new</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;"> story's plot. Once the story's idea is in place, then only
the main characters get established with backgrounds, although sometimes they
just appear. Being developed from my mind means my process may have an instinctive
basis. Yet, based on the plot, many of the problems they will face have already
evolved. Once this background is established, I start looking at the characters
and try to add the essences that make them different.</span></p><p><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14pt;"><br />We all have different quirks, habits, and values. Some are
due to our genetics, and some come from how we were raised and the many
different experiences we have enjoyed or endured. With each of my characters, I
develop a background based on both the good and bad experiences in their past
and how these have affected them.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14pt;">This doesn’t seem to be a set-in-stone process. Stories
change, and as they evolve this often changes the characters, too.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0ZOIWqoq0tGEXuP0EEoR-Z1Ne7VUCBxUWCBfNkqv0deSdWtIt2TmFTk8ZakYY58_rBiXENNJdWyxex5j3OJr0nB3MZRZQ20TSdIgAXhHnLQhn9XQ9iYyrKihruZONgDtEam7ZlbTbUwO9UouyBuL7yzb1qGMXvKcXDd1xvtjBia0l1FQBgPdaEY6W/s375/roundrobin2.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="375" height="162" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0ZOIWqoq0tGEXuP0EEoR-Z1Ne7VUCBxUWCBfNkqv0deSdWtIt2TmFTk8ZakYY58_rBiXENNJdWyxex5j3OJr0nB3MZRZQ20TSdIgAXhHnLQhn9XQ9iYyrKihruZONgDtEam7ZlbTbUwO9UouyBuL7yzb1qGMXvKcXDd1xvtjBia0l1FQBgPdaEY6W/w162-h162/roundrobin2.jpg" width="162" /></a></span></div><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14pt;">Most writers have a good understanding of people and how they
differ, but creating a character also involves much imagination. However,
keeping our knowledge of the real people in our lives out of our stories is an important
principle in writing. So is borrowing characters from stories we’ve read</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span><p></p><p>
</p><p><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14pt;">Of course, the pleasure of a series of novels is that the
characters are already somewhat developed, but that doesn't mean they can't
change somewhat in attitude, beliefs, and commitments. For me, they seem like
friends.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14pt;">Check out more posts on this topic with the following writers:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://www.skye-writer.com/blogging_by_the_sea/view/695/creating-novel-characters" target="_blank">Skye Taylo</a> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><a href="http://mizging.blogspot.com/2022/08/how-do-you-create-characters-are-you.html" target="_blank">Connie Vines </a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><a href="http://www.fionamcgier.com/blog/creating-whole-people-from-thin-air">Fiona McGier </a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://bobrich18.wordpress.com/2022/08/27/hatching-people/" target="_blank">Dr. Bob Rich</a> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">
</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://annestenhousenovelist.wordpress.com/2022/08/24/round-robin-august-2022/" target="_blank">Anne Stenhouse</a></span></p>Rhobinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08627825512017360508noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6233003946884986046.post-44469783065967053342022-07-30T09:46:00.252-04:002022-07-30T14:19:53.306-04:00Where Do Characters Come From? What Happens to Them?<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2TkqFuV4xKFFQTRn9xx61AClpeCywzngw7LcXdPWtpmUambNnJX06Tioz8VgLneH979FI3V_PUt96-R6S2gX7Ewwl0yuQBYnkY8J1evmAYUT9A6DD0s-XoDPtDxsrmdWl9eHdO6N7tfs3oc1rtYJ-FgwMaQBequ-YW-7XMAt8p4-YfFJccyJK6TIw/s375/roundrobin2.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="375" height="115" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2TkqFuV4xKFFQTRn9xx61AClpeCywzngw7LcXdPWtpmUambNnJX06Tioz8VgLneH979FI3V_PUt96-R6S2gX7Ewwl0yuQBYnkY8J1evmAYUT9A6DD0s-XoDPtDxsrmdWl9eHdO6N7tfs3oc1rtYJ-FgwMaQBequ-YW-7XMAt8p4-YfFJccyJK6TIw/w115-h115/roundrobin2.jpg" width="115" /></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">We have a number of related topics to choose from this month: the inspiration behind our characters, characters we have just killed off, our characters' names, or aspects about our characters that were cut from the story. Also included were deleted scenes and characters who didn't make it into the story.</span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Ideas on Characters:</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">All stories have to have characters, human or not, or there can be no story as dialogue and action have to come from someone's viewpoint. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Many books have had animals as characters, like the story of <i>Bambi </i>(not the 1942 movie versions, but the original 1928 translation of the Austrian version written by Felix Salten), </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">or</span><i style="color: #222222;"> t</i><span style="color: #222222;">he story of </span><i style="color: #222222;">Black Beauty. </i><span style="color: #222222;">And, of course, many fantasy and science fiction novels have non-human, human-like characters.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">But where do my characters come from? I'd have to say my imagination, although I will admit my mind sometimes works behind closed doors. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">I remember a long-time ago, before I started writing, I was having repeated dreams about someone I'd never met in real life. She inspired me to begin a story. During the writing, she changed and evolved into a somewhat different person-character than the dream one, who has never visited me again. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Sometimes ideas for stories occur first, either from imagination or occasional contemplation of problems. I might understand what I want a character to be like in a story, but before they can come into being, they have to have a name, which I imagine makes them individuals in my mind. So in those instances, I know a character's personality before I met them, but once I know them by name, they often change. </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: georgia;">I've written about </span><a href="https://www.rhobincourtright.com/2021/04/naming-storys-characters.html" style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia;">character names</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: georgia;"> before and where they come from, and why some names can never be used--which is part of the selection process. I've also written a post about </span><a href="https://www.rhobincourtright.com/2021/11/evil-characters.html" style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia;" target="_blank">evil characters</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: georgia;"> and how I name them. </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Character's death:</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">I've never had a major character die, but some minor ones have; mostly this shows the effect on the main character. The story often continues with how the main character moves on from this devastation. I've also read stories where the ghost of a previous character haunts the main character. That also can prove interesting. I will say that in one of my books a minor character who died is shown alive in another time warp of the story's universe. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Deleting Characters and Scenes:</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Writing is time-consuming and sometimes arduous. Cutting a scene is difficult, but I've done it because the scene did nothing for the story. I cannot remember ever cutting a character from a story. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Visit the following sites for more perspectives on these topics.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: .25in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: list .25in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN"><a href="https://www.skye-writer.com/blogging_by_the_sea/view/693/murder--names-and-deleted-scenes">Skye Taylor </a></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: .25in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: list .25in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN"><a href="http://www.marcibaun.com/blog/" target="_blank">Marci Baun </a></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: .25in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: list .25in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN"><a href="http://www.helenafairfax.com/blog" target="_blank">Helena Fairfax</a> </span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: .25in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: list .25in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN"><a href="https://bobrich18.wordpress.com/2022/07/30/killing-my-darlings/" target="_blank">Dr. Bob Rich </a></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: .25in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: list .25in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN"><a href="https://annestenhousenovelist.wordpress.com/2022/07/30/round-robin-july-22/" target="_blank">Anne Stenhouse</a> </span><span lang="EN"> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: .25in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: list .25in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span lang="EN" style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><a href="http://lynx-sis.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Judith Copek </a></span></p>Rhobinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08627825512017360508noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6233003946884986046.post-67365191809800353852022-06-25T07:07:00.009-04:002022-08-08T12:35:14.678-04:00Do I use current issues in my writing?<p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkEDBD6j8cJBN2f7v3_x54vSs3HHUZuDOs-jGwykDFwHxJdzwDOSWM4YztQHxGpe8x3HKYatwFqiUZtisf-u2PC_Tq1QIcT89Zkk6GuWeumD44FM8dVpq7XYoEO5f8c3K7fnTnA40KSg9wccgCX-IiL2AXOw8sWyjlF_GZIL0Mq_bkjd-bWW2OF9sm/s375/roundrobin2.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="375" height="156" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkEDBD6j8cJBN2f7v3_x54vSs3HHUZuDOs-jGwykDFwHxJdzwDOSWM4YztQHxGpe8x3HKYatwFqiUZtisf-u2PC_Tq1QIcT89Zkk6GuWeumD44FM8dVpq7XYoEO5f8c3K7fnTnA40KSg9wccgCX-IiL2AXOw8sWyjlF_GZIL0Mq_bkjd-bWW2OF9sm/w156-h156/roundrobin2.jpg" width="156" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br />This
month’s topic is about using current social, political, or environmental problems
in any of your stories or if you have ever thought about doing so? Why or why not? Such as:</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Do you ever include politics in your
stories (why and how?)<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Do you ever address topics like
discrimination or race relations?<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">After your characters with or
against law enforcement and do you include the current climate of anti-law
enforcement in your writing<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">have you incorporated gay/lesbian
characters? <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">how does the current economic
climate feature in your books?<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Have you ever included current wars
in your books?<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Has terrorism ever appeared in any
of your stories?<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Do any of your characters address
going green/global warming?</span></li></ul>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">I thought
I would say no to all of the above because most of my stories are fantasy or
science fiction; but then, after some thought, I realized I did deal with some
of these issues but in very minor ways. For instance, in <i>Dragoons Journey</i>
the setting has humans living within enclosed habitats on a planet still
developing an inhabitable climate. While starting their expanse into the outdoors world,
it is mentioned that they should avoid the problems of human contamination of Earth and continue to live in habitats. From another perspective, future humans might have to adjust to living in constructed habitats if the projected
dire consequences predicted for Earth’s changes come true. So perhaps I was
forecasting changes to come?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Then I
realized that both my Black Angel and Homeworld series are filled with politics.
Yet these are not today’s politics. The Homeworld series also shows the female
gender losing the equality they’ve worked so hard to gain in our cultures. The conflict between those who rule and those who must follow the rulers’ edicts seems to be
prevalent in all societies.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Overcoming
problems is one feature that makes writing and reading interesting. Readers have their concepts of
what life is like in the contemporary world and what types of problems there are, so they can relate to almost any issue. (Which is probably a good thing.)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">So yes,
I’ve dealt with politics, global warming (future), and other current issues in
an incidental manner, but not as a direct issue in any story.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Visit these authors to see their answers to this question:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="https://www.skye-writer.com/blogging_by_the_sea/view/692/current-social--political-or-environmental-in-your-writing" target="_blank">Skye Taylor </a></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="https://aj-maguire.com/2022/06/25/current-politics-and-fiction-june-round-robin/" target="_blank">A.J. Maguire </a></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="http://dbator.blogspot.ca/" target="_blank">Diane Bator </a></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="http://mizging.blogspot.com/2022/06/do-current-events-hot-button-topics.html" target="_blank">Connie Vines </a></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="http://www.marcibaun.com/blog/" target="_blank">Marci Baun</a> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="https://annestenhousenovelist.wordpress.com/2022/06/25/june-round-robin-through-a-glass-darkly/" target="_blank">Anne Stenhouse</a></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="https://bobrich18.wordpress.com/2022/06/25/currant-fairies/" target="_blank">Dr. Bob Rich </a></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: #222222;"><a href="http://lynx-sis.blogspot.com" target="_blank">Judith Copek </a></span></p>Rhobinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08627825512017360508noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6233003946884986046.post-3304818317764497332022-05-28T00:00:00.094-04:002022-08-08T12:36:52.431-04:00Stalled Writing. What do I do?<p><a name="_Hlk63753602"><span lang="EN"></span></a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span lang="EN"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW63kxIP7kuTiY21YpJxQa1kp82rbClSAy-01Wm2FRPtHQbmLXqo1pecarp_-Vt-zK_ixR6kdtPZOl8erJrgFTArwnvEL-R_HpxcqdKKFO84uPO61Xid3rDVLTvQ40L6htdMlbJgLoaVXZGhfXfz9bUAzQJ_T2wwDYvDoCjhDyH0CxxgCQ8VfNV22F/s375/roundrobin2.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="375" height="189" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW63kxIP7kuTiY21YpJxQa1kp82rbClSAy-01Wm2FRPtHQbmLXqo1pecarp_-Vt-zK_ixR6kdtPZOl8erJrgFTArwnvEL-R_HpxcqdKKFO84uPO61Xid3rDVLTvQ40L6htdMlbJgLoaVXZGhfXfz9bUAzQJ_T2wwDYvDoCjhDyH0CxxgCQ8VfNV22F/w189-h189/roundrobin2.jpg" width="189" /></a></span></div><span lang="EN"><br />Writing is enjoyable but can be difficult, and making each story and each character different can be challenging. I imagine all writers run into writing blocks where they can't decide which direction the story should take next. Sometimes I know that I have to take a break from my writing and clear my mind before I take a story further...or even start a new story. </span>Matter of fact, I've been on a bit of a hiatus from writing for a while as other important projects have been interrupting my story imagination.<div><br /></div><div>One of my favorite projects to start when my writing is stalled is painting, whether a piece of art, a craft project, or even painting a room. Sometimes these projects take precedence over writing. My granddaughter recently graduated and my daughter asked me to paint her a box. I've painted many boxes. Why boxes? I don't know, but I still have a few more to paint. My granddaughter called hers a keep-sake box for her odds and end. I also have a few rooms that need painting and updating.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpsFp0W4po7bbNgNk4-iKrQ4TdZNeDxIf5__ijqXXyz1SfhxISbYh-Iv4WVUUWg2P84wtq1IdluZ4QCyIWCiU9IUhk3VZnXneJXGMpOowLoSDyxXDVq-FFRvyUU3mezZjY7NRxryeHTrsy9SQaYvBhMzFqSwMOp-sRizucFMDKGFglIgSZvotIoL-L/s943/grace%20box.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="681" data-original-width="943" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpsFp0W4po7bbNgNk4-iKrQ4TdZNeDxIf5__ijqXXyz1SfhxISbYh-Iv4WVUUWg2P84wtq1IdluZ4QCyIWCiU9IUhk3VZnXneJXGMpOowLoSDyxXDVq-FFRvyUU3mezZjY7NRxryeHTrsy9SQaYvBhMzFqSwMOp-sRizucFMDKGFglIgSZvotIoL-L/s320/grace%20box.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><p><a name="_Hlk63753602"><span lang="EN">Gardening is another project that takes up time during the summer. There is always lots of weeding to do. Like when painting walls, I like weeding because it doesn't consume the mental process, so often my mind wanders to story possibilities and does engender new ideas and new characters.</span></a></p><p>So lately, my projects have kept me from writing. I have a long list of books to work on but my enthusiasm has been missing.</p><p><br /></p><p> Please visit these authors for more views on this topic: </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="https://www.skye-writer.com/blogging_by_the_sea/view/691/digging-out-of-a-slump" target="_blank">Skye Taylor </a></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="https://bobrich18.wordpress.com/2022/05/28/writing-life-writing/" target="_blank">Dr. Bob Rich</a></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="http://mizging.blogspot.com/2022/05/stuck-in-your-story-favorite-ways-to.html" target="_blank">Connie Vines </a></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="https://annestenhousenovelist.wordpress.com/2022/05/28/round-robin-may-2022/" target="_blank">Anne Stenhouse</a> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="https://dbator.blogspot.com/2022/05/round-robin-blog-fest-may-2022.html" target="_blank">Diane Bator </a></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="https://aj-maguire.com/2022/05/28/may-2022-round-robin-when-im-stalled/#comment-1552" target="_blank">A.J. Maguire </a></span></p></div>Rhobinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08627825512017360508noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6233003946884986046.post-18343554601125498452022-04-23T00:00:00.069-04:002022-04-24T08:56:10.450-04:00How Much and What Do I Read?<p style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbQGEtxgAhHabuP017t-xvOsl6SM_GBcPWjnFWpL6yWVBTRuBeqV7R0U3VtPZwq1Yc7iKPHjH9cL4zusmaY_WkXJCgpk2aumHjm6FIHAXsNx0U9QU8wNbS4dlmzpUEjL2q2PexQkUdOAn17_7ha_22A4z9YY1-I_GsdBompkjqx4-XLUAPHpdi8bKL/s375/roundrobin2.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="375" height="172" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbQGEtxgAhHabuP017t-xvOsl6SM_GBcPWjnFWpL6yWVBTRuBeqV7R0U3VtPZwq1Yc7iKPHjH9cL4zusmaY_WkXJCgpk2aumHjm6FIHAXsNx0U9QU8wNbS4dlmzpUEjL2q2PexQkUdOAn17_7ha_22A4z9YY1-I_GsdBompkjqx4-XLUAPHpdi8bKL/w172-h172/roundrobin2.jpg" width="172" /></a><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">This month's round-robin question is about how much reading I do, both for
pleasure and for a work in progress.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">I love to read and love my Kindle! My Kindle has more than 40 books on it, and I carry it with me all
the time, along with a recharging cord and adaptor for electric outlets. I read during breaks at work, or while traveling (if not driving), and while in bed before sleeping. I've already worn out two Kindles. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">I also read a lot of non-fiction, mostly in historical or science genres, but some are on various other topics like gardening, art, writing, psychology, and more. When I'm gone, I sometimes wonder what will happen to my 1000 or so books. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">In the novel category, I love to read fantasy, contemporary romance, historical romance, or just historical stories, mysteries, and even general fiction. Becoming immersed in a story is satisfying as it generates all types of emotions, and becomes relaxing at the end when all (or most) problems are resolved. Stories I love I read multiple times.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">I also read a lot of non-fiction. (Why do we call in non-fiction? Isn't there a better name, like factual or informative books? Something without the 'non' moniker.)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">In history, I love reading about the earliest civilizations. In this category, I've read the<i> Sumerians: A History From Begining to End, and I </i>was fascinated by all the knowledge provided about a civilization existing from 5000 to 2000 BCE. I learned they came up with the concept of a 24 hour day, a 360-degree circle (a sexagesimal system which we still use today in our timekeeping), the year was split into 12 segments, they had a written language (cuneiform), they identified all the planets although the Greeks and Romans named them, and developed the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zodiac">zodiac</a>. They had mathematical calculations to predict the future position of planets, multiplication and division tables, square roots, geometrical exercises, financial and loan contracts, and much more! I was so surprised to learn what humans knew over 4000 years ago and at the very beginning of humans living off the land in one location rather than roaming! Learning is one of the pleasures of reading!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">I've read many</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"> non-fiction books for background information on stories I have had in progress. For instance, for my novel </span><i style="font-family: georgia;">Constantine's Legacy, </i><span style="font-family: georgia;">I read numerous books on the Roman Empire, the Carolingian dynasty, and the dark ages that are now known as the early middle ages. While the novel is fiction, many facts about the era were needed. Not much fiction is written about this era, but like the Sumeria, I think much more information is now available.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Because I like to write science fiction, I also need some groundwork for basic science in those novels. While some science can be fictional, it cannot be science from this age, or else the book turns into fantasy. Admittedly, I've written fantasy, but sci-fi is different (or should be—I've read a few that were based more on fantasy than science—but that's writing for you). So </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">I've also read information for story background data on how to bioform a planet for future inhabitation,
how different police departments work (for books in a contemporary setting</span></span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">—</span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">although policing has changed with time, too</span><span style="font-family: georgia;">), and about various military ranks, and more
on other various story topics</span></span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">I have to admit reading for me is more than a hobby—more like a passion.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Read more on this topic at the following author's sites:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><a href="http://www.marcibaun.com/blog/" target="_blank">Marci Baun</a> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><a href="http://mizging.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Connie Vines</a> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><a href="http://www.helenafairfax.com/blog" target="_blank">Helena Fairfax</a> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><a href="http://dbator.blogspot.ca/">Diane Bator</a> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><a href="http://www.skye-writer.com/blogging_by_the_sea" target="_blank">Skye Taylor</a> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="https://wp.me/p3Xihq-2BH" target="_blank">Dr. Bob Rich</a> </span><o:p></o:p><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span></span></p>Rhobinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08627825512017360508noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6233003946884986046.post-49839122079571384302022-03-19T00:00:00.204-04:002022-03-19T00:00:00.229-04:00Message Within the Story<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjIHKLwYNkBUflHD0lPBjilzRJNPWt_A07bS3whqSnfocRI0HP40bGAg59CXnCNA5alNCTJWh6n4CQSkNIVuN2wtD8m185Azj3CYOtwqXzjzEj65DwM26R8guBJ6k0srDy24tPmmlLb6szgkFQhUTzSFXzqJHwzk4Dfhv_ISfupvW8BE1W6lv4Lim3f=s375" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="375" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjIHKLwYNkBUflHD0lPBjilzRJNPWt_A07bS3whqSnfocRI0HP40bGAg59CXnCNA5alNCTJWh6n4CQSkNIVuN2wtD8m185Azj3CYOtwqXzjzEj65DwM26R8guBJ6k0srDy24tPmmlLb6szgkFQhUTzSFXzqJHwzk4Dfhv_ISfupvW8BE1W6lv4Lim3f=w191-h191" width="191" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">The tension in all stories is achieved by the adversity the characters must overcome. This is what keeps the reader's attention and keeps them reading. This tension delivers messages about facing challenges, overcoming difficulties and differences, discovering love, and how to become an ethical and understanding person. The plot will also contain a message about how the characters reach a final resolution. </span><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Can a book have other messages? Messages that the reader must intuit? I think so, and in part, those messages might be what attracts the reader. What is amazing is that different readers can comprehend these messages differently.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Stories tell readers so much about humans, their characteristics, faults, and virtues. We are all different but all alike. A story can also reveal why individuals act the way they do. So reading might teach the reader understanding and how to deal with certain situations and people. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">I think all of my books have these messages. The funny thing is that I probably didn't plan or recognize all the messages, not even as the author. In the Black Angel series, it is about the heroine finding herself after her mind has been destroyed. In the Homeworld series, it is about finding a home. In the Aegis series, it is about belonging and acceptance as the person you are. In Constantine's Legacy, it is about discovering a world-changing lie that cannot be stopped.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">For other author viewpoints on this topic, visit the following posts:</span></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; line-height: 15.4px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><a href=" http://www.skye-writer.com/blogging_by_the_sea" target="_blank">Skye Taylor</a></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; line-height: 15.4px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><a href=" http://www.marcibaun.com/blog/" target="_blank">Marci Baun</a></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; line-height: 15.4px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><a href="http://mizging.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Connie Vines</a> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; line-height: 15.4px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><a href="http://dbator.blogspot.ca/" target="_blank">Diane Bator</a> </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; line-height: 15.4px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><a href=" https://wp.me/p3Xihq-2A9" target="_blank">Dr. Bob Rich</a> </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; line-height: 15.4px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><a href=" http://www.helenafairfax.com/blog" target="_blank">Helena Fairfax</a></span></p></div>Rhobinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08627825512017360508noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6233003946884986046.post-36693496102214789812022-02-19T00:01:00.147-05:002022-02-19T12:01:53.688-05:00Clandestine -- Arcane Revenge <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgU19D9wsAKnIZeDMne6iOkWwd3ZZPDi68FLMXuvuNC9AxNhBY9lS4n8Vg1eDq2XLKY8qbsRgu-KYTGtWL5ntqv0pG2a7sOdeXJlBVnVm2RfZJSAOqOayqBAdcR22rBSHu63V2TxgOxurapf8Cfxt80nGTqL24wylSOxQmHnDqQZS5X4vvkFiiaJe2K=s375" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="375" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgU19D9wsAKnIZeDMne6iOkWwd3ZZPDi68FLMXuvuNC9AxNhBY9lS4n8Vg1eDq2XLKY8qbsRgu-KYTGtWL5ntqv0pG2a7sOdeXJlBVnVm2RfZJSAOqOayqBAdcR22rBSHu63V2TxgOxurapf8Cfxt80nGTqL24wylSOxQmHnDqQZS5X4vvkFiiaJe2K=w217-h217" width="217" /></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">This month's Round Robin is to d<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">escribe a flawed character you might use as a heroine or hero in a story. How did they become so flawed? How might their flaws affect the story and what will happen to them?</span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><i>Arcane Revenge</i>'s anti-hero was once a good man, but what he has endured changes him into a conniving, hate-filled person who wants revenge.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: medium;">I've been working on the <i>Arcane Revenge</i> story for a while. It has been a slow stop-and-go process with long hiatuses between writing episodes. This is a science fiction story about a rich man who was attacked, his well-known handsome face destroyed with acid, and declared an escaped prisoner. He ends up as a slave crewman on a spaceship. Much illegal finagling went on for this to happen. The ship, the <i>Klester</i>, was later damaged and abandoned with the ship headed for a collision course with the moon. The prison crew (more like slave), whose use by non-government ships had become illegal, was left aboard. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Unexpectedly a solar patrol ship investigated the <i>Klester</i>'s problem as it was on its destruction course. </span></span>It was an unfortunate procedure, but companies were
responsible for the deconstruction of their unstable ships, but it was cheaper to
have the space police destroy them. If the <i>Klester</i> was purposely disabled, the
company would still pay. Plus they could not let the ship crash into the moon. By chance, t<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">his patrol found the prisoners and saved them. The legal crew had already safely shuttled to another ship and their names shortly disappeared from all records. Two of the nine found prisoners aboard the <i>Kester</i> were dead, six were supposed to be in a prison facility for minor crimes, but the seventh was a person missing for seven years—Carson Riese—the very wealthy owner of the now-defunct Riese Shipping.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Riese wakes in a hospital feeling depressed, hopeless, and detached from everyone and everything. Then he learns his family will visit him, and thinks, </span></span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Oh God</i><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">.<i> His family? They wanted to visit
him? Probably to tell him Riese Shipping no longer existed and his wealth was
gone. </i>His detachment turns to anger as he knows they have consumed his wealth although none had been named in his will. Plus, he knew that just before the attack on him, he had sold the ship that became the <i>Klester</i>. He had recognized it, so whoever trapped him knew exactly who he was. Now he doesn't want anyone to see him, not with his destroyed face. While his anger increases he thinks of ways to destroy those who destroyed him. He would make them pay somehow.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">The problem I've run into is how to allow Carson to take revenge but remain, or return to, a basically good person, or at least one an audience can relate to without disgust or hatred. I still have not decided how the story will end, but want to have as many devious revenge and hopeful redemptive twists and turns within the plot as possible.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium; text-indent: 0.5in;">However, writing this post has made me reread what I have done and maybe even inspired me to finish it</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Please read these author's post on this topic:</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="http://mizging.blogspot.com/2022/02/flawed-characters-in-your-story-whats.html" target="_blank">Connie Vines </a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="https://www.skye-writer.com/blogging_by_the_sea/view/688/flawed-character-to-hero-or-heroine" target="_blank">Skye Taylor </a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="https://annestenhousenovelist.wordpress.com/2022/02/18/round-robin-february/" target="_blank">Anne Stenhouse </a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="https://www.marcibaun.com/2-19-22-flawed-characters-round-robin/" target="_blank">Marci Baun </a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="https://dbator.blogspot.com/2022/02/round-robin-blog-fest-february-2022.html" target="_blank">Diane Bator</a> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="https://bobrich18.wordpress.com/2022/02/19/the-perfect-protagonist/" target="_blank">Dr. Bob Rich </a> </span><span lang="EN-AU"> </span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href=" http://lynx-sis.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Judith Copek</a> </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p><br /></p>Rhobinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08627825512017360508noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6233003946884986046.post-78841874830270639802022-01-22T00:01:00.279-05:002022-08-08T12:39:00.220-04:00COVID and Writing<p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"></span></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjQQj0OZeAkkNqwwszK1WBL_kOG5ZM084imAySCQ9pYrz-k2vzPJH3MZERFAUPwUQ0fdhi9PRVtPrrSJvoOkSeR6VV1LYESkSbkroELP5r6Ll43Og0mE6BQhwQBpHaqL0R5UfYPPmmutIYLECEMAqHmfMpth6p3zExZjoBfM6bvggyLwtOTBuhRp5z3=s375" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="375" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjQQj0OZeAkkNqwwszK1WBL_kOG5ZM084imAySCQ9pYrz-k2vzPJH3MZERFAUPwUQ0fdhi9PRVtPrrSJvoOkSeR6VV1LYESkSbkroELP5r6Ll43Og0mE6BQhwQBpHaqL0R5UfYPPmmutIYLECEMAqHmfMpth6p3zExZjoBfM6bvggyLwtOTBuhRp5z3=w200-h200" width="200" /></a></span></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;">This month's topic is how I am dealing with this COVID pandemic in my writing. My problem is I'm not...writing that is. Although fully vaccinated, for most of late 2020 through June of 2021, I've been at home. </span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">While I've got books in progress, I have not made much writing headway. </span>Generally speaking, I had been home in front of my computer most of the time during the last decade, even teaching online, but somehow it now felt different, isolating. </span></span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">Then a Dollar General opened up a mile down the road. I applied for part-time on the weekends, and because few want that time, I got the job. For the first time in two decades of living in Luther, I'm meeting many of my local neighbors, people I never knew. And I enjoy talking with them although I'm having a terrible time remembering all their names. As an added benefit, I'm walking two, three, or four miles within the store whenever I work. Since my local road is too icy to walk and the weather way too cold, I'm still staying in good walking condition</span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">...plus it gets me out of the house!</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">With the suggested topic for this post, I began thinking about the idea of writing a story with COVID as part of the setting or topic. This led to some convoluted ideas, and I concluded that I don't think I would write a novel with COVID in the background as so many are dealing with the issue day-to-day and might be reading to escape the reality of COVID. As I wrote that down, I thought, but then again, maybe it would help them deal with this new world, its COVID threat, and the resulting social issues of the illness: limited healthcare availability, death of family and friends, </span></span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">isolation, vaccination, </span></span></span>masks, and other disease-induced pandemonium. </span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">Any contemporary story would be marked historically by the mention of the pandemic, yet all contemporary stories are marked by time. Jane Austen's novels were contemporary romance stories (maybe the first?) as were Betty Neels, but today those stories are historical romances, so any contemporary story should mention COVID, right? Any mainstream story would probably be dealing with COVID, and the resulting social defiance and unrest. I couldn't do it as a historical novel yet, because the ultimate effects are not yet known. Then again, maybe a setting using the 1918 pandemic might work. What other genre might work? Horror? Mystery? Those are both out of my writing realm. </span>Maybe I could translate the pandemic into a science fiction story? </span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">As you might note, I'm a little confounded by current times and issues. I hope this pandemic ends soon. Maybe I can return to normality, but I'm thinking a different normality lies ahead. So maybe just a short story...or two...or three? <br /></span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">Please visit these authors and read how they would deal with this topic in their writing:<br /></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="http://mizging.blogspot.com/2022/01/writing-contemporary-novels-how-do-you.html" target="_blank">Connie Vines</a> </span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="https://www.skye-writer.com/blogging_by_the_sea/view/687/including_covid_19_in_your_writing" target="_blank">Skye Taylor</a> </span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="https://annestenhousenovelist.wordpress.com/2022/01/22/round-robin-writing-of-the-pandemic/" target="_blank">Anne Stenhouse</a> </span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="https://www.marcibaun.com/including-covid-in-your-contemporary-stories-round-robin-1-22-22/" target="_blank">Marci Baun</a> </span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="https://dbator.blogspot.com/2022/01/round-robin-blog-fest-january-2022.html" target="_blank">Diane Bator</a> </span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href=" https://wp.me/p3Xihq-2wY " target="_blank"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">Dr. Bob Rich</span></a></span></span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="http://lynx-sis.blogspot.com/2022/01/how-are-my-characters-dealing-with-covid.html" target="_blank">Judith Copek</a> </span></span></span></p><div dir="auto"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://helenafairfax.com/2022/01/22/fiction-writers-and-covid-plus-8-recommended-pandemic-novels/" target="_blank">Helena Fairfax</a></span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></span></p><div dir="auto"><br /></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span></span>Rhobinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08627825512017360508noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6233003946884986046.post-30817947098190598432021-12-18T00:00:00.045-05:002021-12-21T15:43:28.133-05:00My Family in My Writing<div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">This will be kind'a short as our electricity has been out two days and is expected to be out at least another day and this computer or the wi-fi router may quite at any minute.;</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span><span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiHdf-nGJA_vDNU3IMQf9TyivPikwdeu6zqVCCvDqJ5xGZO9YHeYu7rJWCIpLdeG2brSqN5rlmGxIIXZxCqC3H_QiDZJR4DJrid5b4R-CvSwKxhKiSRnMGf_eiZ1bUGLx2PGkYmuqLAH6Vf5umkPourDVJ94OOvJ6SYSLdkJSBNtbLRHDebnWSfDA9C=s375" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="375" height="188" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiHdf-nGJA_vDNU3IMQf9TyivPikwdeu6zqVCCvDqJ5xGZO9YHeYu7rJWCIpLdeG2brSqN5rlmGxIIXZxCqC3H_QiDZJR4DJrid5b4R-CvSwKxhKiSRnMGf_eiZ1bUGLx2PGkYmuqLAH6Vf5umkPourDVJ94OOvJ6SYSLdkJSBNtbLRHDebnWSfDA9C=w188-h188" width="188" /></a></div><br />Have I ever used one of my siblings as a character? No. They might not like the book or the character (even a heroic one) if they recognized I used them. However, they and everyone I know well affect my writing, probably unconsciously. They are the persons who taught me about human characteristics: personalities, emotions, behaviors, how they react to both good and bad situations. So while none of my characters are based on them, they are the basis for all I know about people. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span><span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Sorry I can't write more, or even put down the participant's list (I will include this as soon as I can get on my own computer) but I did want anyone to think I hadn't forgotten the post. Only circumstances have interfered. I am glad that without electric or heat we don't have snow or very sub-zero temperatures. I will visit all participant's blogs as soon as electric comes back. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Here is the list of participants in this month's round robin:</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="https://annestenhousenovelist.wordpress.com/2021/12/18/round-robin-december/" target="_blank">Anne Stenhouse </a></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="https://bobrich18.wordpress.com/2021/12/18/have-my-family-experiences-affected-my-writing/" target="_blank">Dr. Bob Rich</a> </span> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="http://mizging.blogspot.com/2021/12/translating-family-experiences-into.html" target="_blank">Connie Vines</a> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="https://www.skye-writer.com/blogging_by_the_sea/view/684/how_does_family_influence_your_writing_" target="_blank">Skye Taylor</a> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="https://www.marcibaun.com/family-experiences-and-writing-round-robin-12-18-21/" target="_blank">Marci Baun </a></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="http://lynx-sis.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Judith Copek</a> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="http://dbator.blogspot.com/2021/12/december-round-robin-blog-fest.html" target="_blank">Diane Bator </a></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="http://victoriachatham.blogspot.com/2021/12/family-experiences-in-my-writing.html" target="_blank">Victoria Chatham </a></span></p></span></div>Rhobinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08627825512017360508noreply@blogger.com4Michigan, USA44.3148443 -85.60236429999999116.004610463821152 -120.75861429999999 72.625078136178843 -50.446114299999991tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6233003946884986046.post-35288076835819124482021-11-20T00:00:00.212-05:002022-07-26T10:18:05.977-04:00Evil Characters<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKO-HmI_DcmBc7YF9k395MpKaK68avun2IluuvF61B8LvPBteGLmQKgibeddevUZAw0g9q22bUBRP6j8VlZLkuPG943wqgveKnEjIFnNXLHT_DpKFmNjRhJwQuitfDMsClQW3VZpZYxgs/s375/roundrobin2.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="375" height="156" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKO-HmI_DcmBc7YF9k395MpKaK68avun2IluuvF61B8LvPBteGLmQKgibeddevUZAw0g9q22bUBRP6j8VlZLkuPG943wqgveKnEjIFnNXLHT_DpKFmNjRhJwQuitfDMsClQW3VZpZYxgs/w156-h156/roundrobin2.jpg" width="156" /></a></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBfQf3_cVIZHKqlovD63lCLRVd6ZHhR8DoJ2CeMAqEBItbBqKQaQyyXYoXIscBcAVMK40dsDSbhyphenhypheno2y4dq8bplR5gK23ROy1mlu0cFWLIHJIqPCS4Qsg68AhZy6OdD1tu13fvqJY-T7Q4/s743/wanted+poster.jpg" style="clear: left; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="743" data-original-width="518" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBfQf3_cVIZHKqlovD63lCLRVd6ZHhR8DoJ2CeMAqEBItbBqKQaQyyXYoXIscBcAVMK40dsDSbhyphenhypheno2y4dq8bplR5gK23ROy1mlu0cFWLIHJIqPCS4Qsg68AhZy6OdD1tu13fvqJY-T7Q4/w222-h320/wanted+poster.jpg" width="222" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="<a href="https://www.freepik.com/vectors/poster">Poster vector created by freepik - www.freepik.com</a>" target="_blank">Evil</a> bings</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">This month the topic is to describe a flawed or evil
character you have used or might use in a story. How did they become so flawed? What
part will they play in the story and what will happen to them?</span><div><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">All of my stories have evil
characters, or at the least self-serving motives over friends or family, or anyone else's needs.</span><p><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">In <i>Stone House Farm</i> the rejected fiancee of the hero and an ex-husband of the heroine want retribution. Not getting what she wants (his wealth and prestige) leads the ex-fiance </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">to try to kill
the man who didn't want her, and the ex-husband tries to get more money from his ex-wife. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">In <i>Rogue's
Rules</i>, there are two evil characters. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">One is Morgan Dachs, who,
to save his life and ship, traded thirteen fellow crewmembers to a slaver. Morgan's uncle-in-law, Durrant Rosche, uses the powerful Dachs name, and their
wealth, for his personal gain. While they were bad, in Angels Tread readers
learn it was another powerful person who was controlling them. And Admiral Ries
Vaughn used his rank and power to get whatever he wanted.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">In <i>Constantine's Legacy</i>, a high-ranking priest has a fraudulent document made that says Emperor Constantine the Great gave the Church his lands in Italy when he moved the court to Byzantium. He ends up trying to kill the story's hero who knows the truth.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">The judgment on the good or
evil of a person depends on many things. The world's human populations are complicated
as well as their history. What's good in one country can be evil in another. During their early development, people lived in tribes
whose individuals helped protect each other, but often annihilated other
tribes. Our history shows this tendency continues between certain populations
and countries. Individuals have the same tendencies. How each person is raised
and their mental outlook has a great influence on whether they are considered a
good or bad person. And certainly, like the Earth, they have polar opposites
that can switch from good to evil or vice-versa for their own survival.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Part of writing is showing
how a character's history and his or her outlook will develop how they can become evil. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">On the other hand, I have witnessed strangers bestowing great kindness. I
was once ringing up a customer's bill, but her card wouldn't cover the cost.
The man in line behind her said he'd pay it. And he did—over eighty dollars.
This works in writing stories, too, as it shows how a character's behavior lets
the reader judge their goodness or evilness.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Please visit the following who are also discussing this topic:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><a href=" http://annestenhousenovelist.wordpress.com" target="_blank">Anne Stenhou</a><a href="https://annestenhousenovelist.wordpress.com/2021/11/20/round-robin-that-flawed-or-evil-character/">se </a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="https://bobrich18.wordpress.com/2021/11/20/the-necessary-spanner-in-the-works/" target="_blank">Dr. Bob Rich</a> </span> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><a href="http://mizging.blogsphttp://mizging.blogspot.com/2021/11/flawed-or-evil-characters-in-your-story.htmlot.com/" target="_blank">Connie Vines</a> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://www.skye-writer.com/blogging_by_the_sea/view/683/flawed_characters___love__em_or_not" target="_blank">Skye Taylor</a> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://www.marcibaun.com/flawed-or-evil-characters-round-robin-november-20-2021/" target="_blank">Marci Baun </a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><a href="http://dbator.blogspot.com/2021/11/round-robin-blog-fest-november-2021.html" target="_blank">Diane Bator</a> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><a href="http://victoriachatham.blogspot.com/2021/11/the-baddie-in-books.html" target="_blank">VictoriaChatham </a></span></p><p class="xmsonormal" style="margin-bottom: 10pt; text-autospace: none;"><o:p></o:p></p></div>Rhobinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08627825512017360508noreply@blogger.com8Luther, MI 49656, USA44.0402885 -85.682558515.730054663821157 -120.8388085 72.350522336178841 -50.5263085tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6233003946884986046.post-91386967196366610132021-11-11T08:20:00.002-05:002022-08-08T19:09:29.468-04:00Stone House Farm released!<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwthx2gEEutMh_ntVyP_X-MiXmCy2RwEMnl7mi2AsRnpxpz6X0-ollMiwdLCr6kzJZWxoYcy-RQvA07yH3uNlzyfbjKR8pHks4d2MnHPJ5WNcuBVwdzkh2FMIfI9spuPTX4Mz1qci7ypM/s450/SHF+front+cover.jpg" style="clear: right; display: inline; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="300" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwthx2gEEutMh_ntVyP_X-MiXmCy2RwEMnl7mi2AsRnpxpz6X0-ollMiwdLCr6kzJZWxoYcy-RQvA07yH3uNlzyfbjKR8pHks4d2MnHPJ5WNcuBVwdzkh2FMIfI9spuPTX4Mz1qci7ypM/s320/SHF+front+cover.jpg" width="213" /></a> <br /><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">This is a sort-of contemporary romance novel as it is set in 2009, when I originally wrote it. It is set in Manistee, Michigan, near the shores of Lake Michigan. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Here is an excerpt from the story's beginning:</span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Amanda pushed through the glass front door
expecting to have to plow past secretaries and assorted office henchmen, but as
luck would have it, Wade Preston stood in the reception area talking with his
partner, Edward Van Haitsma. Wade’s height and dark hair made a strong contrast
to his partner’s shorter frame and fair hair. Both were good looking by
anyone’s standard. Wade held a stack of papers. The two men looked as if they
had just finished a heated discussion.<br /></span></span><span style="font-family: georgia; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: medium;">“Whatever you want!” Van Haitsma said as
he turned and walked away, his shoes pounding an upset rhythm on the refinished,
highly polished oak flooring.</span><br /></span><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span> </span>Preston’s fiancée, Melissa Rillema, stood
nearby with her arms crossed. A pout marred the perfection of her face. Since
only the woman’s mouth moved, without a hint of frown lines, Amanda snorted,
suspecting cosmetic injections. Melissa would make a perfect wife for Wade. Two
beautiful, congenial rich rats running in a social superiority maze. Melissa’s
long blonde hair rippled about her shoulders as she turned her head to glance
at Amanda, then back to Wade who had walked over to her.<br /></span></span><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span> </span>As she strode forward to interrupt the
couple’s private interlude, Wade looked over at her, anger etching his face.
She checked her step before charging ahead. Hell, he had to expect a storm
after the letter he sent her. As Wade watched her approach, his face firmed
into what Amanda privately called the bulldog behind the businessman’s mask. It
infuriated her to have to spend her precious lunchtime taking care of this
matter. This time, she would talk to Wade Preston face-to-face and make her position
clear.<br /></span></span><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span> </span>“Mrs. Carter, how can I help you?”<br /></span></span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>He recognized her?</span></i><span style="line-height: 200%;">
His voice and demeanor were politely bland, but remnants of anger lingered in
lines around his handsome features. He called her by her married name,
something she had discarded after her divorce.<br /><o:p></o:p></span></span><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span> </span>She held Preston’s gaze with
determination. As a freshman teenager in high school with hormones and the
idealism of innocence, Amanda’s dream world starred the senior quarterback,
Wade Preston. Back then, he had been oblivious of her.<br /></span></span><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span> </span>“It’s Ms. Blanchard, now. You can help me,
Mr. Preston, by accepting the fact that I do not want to sell my property. Not
now, and not in the future. Furthermore, I will not let you steal it from me.”
Heads turned toward the sound of her angry tones. Most looked like employees
and quickly looked away when Amanda stared back at them. Wade’s face deepened
in color, his mouth and jaw set, his eyes darkening.<br /></span></span><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span> </span>She waved the envelope under his nose. He
took it, looked at the address, and pulled the sheets from inside. His brows
scrunched lower as he read.<br /></span></span><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span> </span>“You’ve received an offer at a fair-market
price,” Wade said, his voice firm, low and controlled. Her temper eased
slightly seeing the wrinkle between his brows as he looked at her letter.<br /></span></span><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span> </span>Melissa smiled pityingly at Amanda. “I
would think in your dire circumstances, Wade’s offer was manna from Heaven.”
Her tone one of pure condescension.<br /></span></span><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span> </span>“Stay out of this,” Wade said with a
fierce gaze at his fiancée. Amanda thought Melissa’s smile more smirk than
compliance and doubted the woman had even heard her lover.<br /></span></span><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span> </span>“What could you possibly know about my
situation?” Amanda said. “And how does any of this involve you?”<br /></span></span><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span> </span>The smile never faltered. “I understand it
is a very generous offer.”<br /></span></span><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span> </span>Amanda’s rage fired anew. Melissa had no
part in this, and her opinion was not only unneeded but also unwanted.
“Generous if I were willing to sell out what my family has worked generations
to build. I’m not.” Amanda turned back to Wade Preston, grabbed the letter from
his hand, and clutched it in her fist.<br /></span></span><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span> </span>His frowning gaze turned to Amanda, his
brows lowering until they nearly touched. “I don’t know what you are alleging.
As I said, this is an offer at a fair market price for your property.”<br /></span></span><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span> </span>“You missed the threat of an eminent
domain seizure. I don’t care what dirty tricks you try with the bank, or the
county Planning Department, or the Commissioners, or the township board. I will
fight you every step of the way.”<br /></span></span><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span> </span>“Then you better hire a lawyer,” Melissa
cut in with a practiced tinkling sound that substituted for a laugh.<br /></span></span><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span> </span>“Melissa…” Wade’s tone held a warning and
his scowl deepened.<br /></span></span><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span> </span>Amanda kept her regard on Wade, hoping her
expression said I am not backing down. If not pumped with so much adrenaline,
she would never have felt so defiant, but Melissa’s confidence ate at her
self-assurance. Her diffident side advised retreat. Having said what she
wanted, she turned on her heel and swept out of the office, escaping any
further humiliation.</span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Imagine Amanda finding Wade a chapter later lying in her snow-covered orchard unconscious and shot!</span></span></p><p>
</p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>Rhobinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08627825512017360508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6233003946884986046.post-55860698481219131872021-10-23T00:00:00.157-04:002021-10-23T10:48:09.720-04:00Scariest Halloween<p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipRv7oRSc6Jf37LRYE_Yv2rW1OEpz8se_i8qIDoCT6ftbliHR_uTDq68Aqq7J3wCC6NWpmMCRi_GQGETvXE7PiLrdxpVHGgALZVnG-QZKSNKTmElNjxghn4351jAdid5ndTrXqCji1RBM/s249/B%2526W+rnd+rob+logo.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="249" data-original-width="248" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipRv7oRSc6Jf37LRYE_Yv2rW1OEpz8se_i8qIDoCT6ftbliHR_uTDq68Aqq7J3wCC6NWpmMCRi_GQGETvXE7PiLrdxpVHGgALZVnG-QZKSNKTmElNjxghn4351jAdid5ndTrXqCji1RBM/w210-h211/B%2526W+rnd+rob+logo.jpg" width="210" /></a></div></span></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Halloween was always an adventure for me<span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">─</span>walking the neighborhood in the dark of night<span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">─</span>what could be scarier? Yet, I was always with </span><a href="https://www.rhobincourtright.com/2010/10/halloween.html" style="font-family: georgia;">my brothers and sisters</a><span style="font-family: georgia;">, and because of the costumes didn't think any neighbor would recognize us. It was fun pretending to be hobgobblins. </span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">But as per the post previous to this one, I've experienced very strange things happening on Halloween. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Now, because I live in the country outside a village on the backside of nowhere Michigan (but a beautiful area and friendly community), I no longer have trick or treaters coming to the house. I loved those who came to our door in Lansing, Michigan, and in Harvester, Missouri. Yet the scariest Halloween was crafted by my husband and the neighbor across the street on Teel Street in Lansing</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: medium;">─</span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif">a neighborhood street with no businesses on it</span><span style="font-family: georgia;">.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">A few cars had been cruising down our neighborhood street at a very fast pace. It was dark and too many children still walked the sidewalks and frequently made unexpected street crossings. Bill and Dick decided to slow some speeders down. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">They made a fabric ghost and strung it between the two trees opposite each other on the street with drawstrings attached. When a car came by going way too fast, they dropped the ghost on the car's windshield (only to a couple cars). One driver slammed on his breaks but kept going. Shortly a cop car showed up. A driver had reported someone threw something on his windshield. Bill asked, "You mean the one going way faster than the twenty-five-mile speed zone?"</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">The cop looked up and saw the ghost hanging, smiled, but said, "Don't do it again," and quickly left. No more speeders that Halloween night.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">It just shows you what good hobgobblins can accomplish.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">On the other hand, I made my daughter's witch-princess costume and took her to the local mall where a costume contest was taking place. She came away with first prize! Halloween is supposed to be fun!</span></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdkZNXUxbWklNUjh__QFMDVMCZDk7N4wOwELDTifNcdeq5-fDvyUSWptUeZmrWeJjI3l5gf57hREvb_-bPLM64aiZHMFSeIVaGCq7UjFdGZxAqdaB9XOhMYKL7lRxKmEGcROfKNQae40A/s976/Halloween+1977+Karen.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="976" data-original-width="643" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdkZNXUxbWklNUjh__QFMDVMCZDk7N4wOwELDTifNcdeq5-fDvyUSWptUeZmrWeJjI3l5gf57hREvb_-bPLM64aiZHMFSeIVaGCq7UjFdGZxAqdaB9XOhMYKL7lRxKmEGcROfKNQae40A/s320/Halloween+1977+Karen.jpg" width="211" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Meridian Mall, 1977 best costume</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="https://www.skye-writer.com/blogging_by_the_sea/view/682/halloween_memories">Skye Taylor </a></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="http://victoriachatham.blogspot.com/2021/10/things-that-go-bump-in-night.html">VictoriaChatham </a></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="https://www.marcibaun.com/halloween-memories-round-robin-october-23-2021/">Marci Baun </a></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="http://mizging.blogspot.com/2021/10/halloween-memories-good-bad-or.html" target="_blank">Connie Vines </a></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="https://bobrich18.wordpress.com/2021/10/23/hallo-ween/" target="_blank">Dr. Bob Rich </a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="https://annestenhousenovelist.wordpress.com/2021/10/23/halloween-round-robin/" target="_blank">Anne Stenhouse</a> </span></p><br /><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Rhobinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08627825512017360508noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6233003946884986046.post-39541083040261494282021-10-16T00:00:00.319-04:002021-10-16T00:00:00.217-04:00Halloween 1995, Dad's Dying<span style="font-size: medium;">“Hello?” I mummer, the phone’s ringer woke me from a deep sleep. My eyes squint to look at the clock: seven.</span><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">“Mom?” It’s Karen, my daughter. My mind clicks awake. This is Sunday, early morning for us. This is Karen, who I started phoning in the afternoon after waking her all too frequently at ten o'clock on Sunday mornings because of our locational time differences. Her voice is all-soft and tense, something is wrong voice. I’m instantly alert. “Grandma has been trying to reach you. It’s Grandpa. He’s dying. She tried to call you but couldn’t get through.”<br /><br />I calm Karen while briefly profaning my mother for worrying my daughter. My mother, who has called my number weekly for decades without a problem. I curse myself. Mom must be in a real state if she cannot dial the phone. I tell Karen it will be all right. "We have expected this. It’s for the best." I hear the tears in her goodbye. She hangs up.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">“What was that?” Bill asks from the bathroom door. He has showered and stands in the bathroom doorway drying himself. I explain. </span><span>“What do you want to do?” he asks. </span><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">“Call Jim.” I looked up my older brother’s number and dialed the Tampa exchange. “Jim?”</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">“You got the call too, huh?”<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">“Yes. You going?”</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">“God, Robbie, I don't know what to do. You know how Mom gets. I’ve been up there so many times when Dad's been dying. I can’t afford to take more time off work for my father dying when he doesn’t.”<br /><br />“I know.” I’ve not been able to go all the times my father had been supposedly dying. I’ve received many calls telling me to expect Dad’s death, only to wait days to learn he pulled through one more time. I listen to Jim tell of his dilemma at work. I listen, but my thoughts slip into another channel. Dad has been dying at least six times in the last ten years. Each time was very serious, the doctors telling my mother he would not pull through. Memories flash through my mind.<br /><br />Shortly after I was married, Dad lost an eye in a freak accident with a dropped baby aspirin bottle smashing into the bathroom sink. The emergency room would not touch him. They made an appointment with him for a specialist. The specialist could not see him for two days. Well, with glass embedded in his eye, he could not see any way, but by the time the doctor saw him, it was too late. They tried to save the eye, but for the year it was left in, he was in such pain that afterward, he could remember nothing of that year. From then on he had a glass eye.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">I remember on a phone call Dad told me he and mom had been at an event, and he went into a restroom to rinse the eye off, as sometimes things got in it. A man using a urinal ask if he were some pervert who liked to watch or if pissing embarrassed him. “No,” Dad told him. “I need to remove my eye.” The guy laughed in disbelief and wanted to see it happen. Dad told me with laughter clear in his voice, that he shrugged and took out his eye. The guy shouted and rushed from the restroom.<br /><br />Years after that accident, he had five bypass heart surgeries in a time when you stayed in the hospital for weeks. At the time of the first one, I lived in Lansing, and I waited with my family in the waiting room for the long surgery. A migraine started and I remember little. On the way home I had to have Bill pull to the side of the road, so I could vomit. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Then it was discovered he had emphysema. World War II soldiers smoked. It was the times, it was the war. My Dad smoked three packs a day until he lost his eye. While taking the pain medications he stopped smoking and stopped drinking a few beers (6-pack?) every night. Nothing tasted right.<br /><br />That had been years ago. The lung specialist said the heart surgeon had to have known. “They had to physically lift these lungs out of the way to get to the heart,” he told my parents. “They had to have seen.” </span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Too late again. Five years or more had gone by since the heart surgery and the emphysema had advanced. They gave him six months to a year to live. He lasted another decade, plus between bouts with pneumonia, he and Mom made trips to the Veterans Hospital in Detroit when the drugs became too expensive for him to afford. Dad had been self-employed, so had no pension, no health plan. Dad drove, scaring Mom because, with one eye, his depth perception was gone.<br /><br />Years ago, when urban renewal had taken his Citgo service station, they gave him nineteen thousand dollars because that was all the property was worth. Riverfront property, one block off the town’s downtown area and on the main highway coming through town. It angered me. The town screwed him. Urban renewal destroyed my hometown as I knew it, and took the only livelihood I could remember my Dad having. For God's sake, what was he going to do? </span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">He got a job. He may or may not have been happy at it, I was living out of state and raising my own family, and time slid by unobserved. When he became too ill to work, he baked bread and peddled it around town to working women. Even his doctor took payment in bread. I think the doctor liked honey whole wheat best. Pies, cookies, great French bread, you name it, he made it. He taught my son Chris to bake during summer visits. My Dad never retired.<br /><br />My intellect tells me nothing stays the same, but my heart believes nothing changes. The man who just yesterday swung me into his arms when I ran to him yelling “Daddy, Daddy” might be dying. It was hard to fathom. I haven’t heard a word of what Jim’s been saying for several minutes. Blanking out a conversation like this happens to me a lot. “Tell you what Jim. You’ve been there when I couldn’t. Let me go up and see what is happening. If things look really bad, I’ll call you. Okay?” We exchange a few more words and hang up.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSmKxCDT2t7W3lgxg_aeNKfq1r6Jjqyp2Mps90KEp-PmX12CIDYCO9VJrcK6kfaYCGDJ8IiWjqgWxYfy97kIf7NU_wO2SVXQsQgA7lZyOsMwtaZoKnJRGWFsjLeswaGFi0WhXvvLTHDpM/s561/Dad+and+kids.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="431" data-original-width="561" height="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSmKxCDT2t7W3lgxg_aeNKfq1r6Jjqyp2Mps90KEp-PmX12CIDYCO9VJrcK6kfaYCGDJ8IiWjqgWxYfy97kIf7NU_wO2SVXQsQgA7lZyOsMwtaZoKnJRGWFsjLeswaGFi0WhXvvLTHDpM/w415-h319/Dad+and+kids.jpg" width="415" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Dad and four of his five kids -- that's me on the right.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />Bill has been listening. He has to work and can’t come with me. I’m grateful because I want to be alone on this trip, I prefer experiencing my sad moments in private.“Give me the phone and I’ll get you tickets.”<br /><br />After Bill gets the tickets, I call my new employer and let him know I’d be gone. A few hours later I leave Lambert Airport in St. Louis headed for Metro in Detroit. After reaching Detroit, I’m an hour's drive from home in Fenton. The small post-war brick house looks the same, a little shabby, but welcoming. Mom looks the same as my last visit: worn, her dark brunette now silver-white. Her eyes are sad, but she is glad to see me. The last few years show. You have to respect someone giving up everything to care for another person. I always think I subconsciously suspect them too; wonder if I could do it, would do it; maybe, but grudgingly.<br /><br />Juli, Patty, and Doug, and his wife Jan are there, the hometown family. I remember Jan lost her mother not so long ago. I wonder if I remembered to send a condolence card; hope I did. I’m so bad at carrying through on social graces. These are the ones who carried the brunt of family concerns, visited the hospital, planned holidays, birthdays, done the day-to-day things only they and Mom know about--like mow the lawn, paint the house, fixing this or that.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">"Come and see Dad,” Mom says. “I can’t keep pajamas on him. He kicks and shoves his way out of them. He doesn’t want anything on." She sounds so very normal. I don't want to go into the room.<br /><br />He is laying in the small family room on a hospital bed. It began as a bedroom he had built on after the house’s original two bedrooms were inadequate with four children. One more would come, but Jim would be graduating and joining the Navy shortly after that. Pat and Juli enter. I suddenly realize I’m involved in a death watch. It seems so totally archaic. I want to leave. I don't want people, family, to watch me die. I am embarrassed for myself, nervous, and uncomfortable. You’d think I was the one waiting to die.<br /><br />I stand by the bed looking at Dad. Mom says he has been dozing. A sheet covers him. His oxygen tube is missing. He must not need it any longer. His eyes open. "My God, Robbie!" he says half rising and then collapses back into the bed. His eyes close and in minutes he is asleep. I say nothing. What am I supposed to do? I greet Jan. I love incurably kind and comforting Jan. She can keep a conversation going with such ease. I suppose it’s a good thing. Doug can be very reticent. As can I. We talk, our voices low, around a sleeping man. Mom says, “Go ahead, Robin, talk to Dad, he can hear you.” I am speechless. What could I possibly say in front of everyone? The kids are fine, bla, bla, bla.<br /><br />Meaningless drivel? The often trivial deliberation involved in everyday exchanges? I say nothing. Hours go by in which Dad remains the same. We change rooms, move to the tiny living room and conversation normalizes with the general catching up between visits too far apart. Funny things that have happened, kids have been kids. We laugh. We’ve done this every time I’ve visited. It’s familiar, it’s normal. Mom perches nearby, fluttering between the bedroom and the living room. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">In the back of my mind, my Dad's presence constantly lingers. He threads through our conversation. Dad anecdotes; everyone’s words echo “and Dad said,” or “then Dad.” The phone continually rings. Mom and Dad’s friends from a lifetime of living in the same town call. Food arrives at the door. Emogene brings a platter of cold meats and vegetables. She and her husband Howard were host and hostess at my wedding reception. Howard has passed on. Emogene is so shrunken and bent over with osteoporosis I’m surprised she can lift the huge platter she carries. Her smile remains exactly the same. Her voice holds the same cheeky buoyancy I remember. Others come, commonly saying, “I just can’t believe it. He told me he felt fine just the other day when I asked.”<br /><br />Dad's common phrase was, “Feel fine, couldn’t be better,” even when he could hardly draw a breath. Even to the doctor. Even to his daughter. “Every day you wake up is a good day,” he’d tell me.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">One of Dad’s fellow members of the American Legion arrives, another World War II survivor, grey now, shorter with age. He refuses to come in, his eyes water so bad he can’t speak. Just passes me a dish of food, waves away a thank-you, and leaves, one of the last of a dying breed.<br /><br />It strikes me there is a generation passing here. My Dad turned seventy-five in April, and never thought to see seventy. Five sisters predeceased him, all before reaching sixty-five, most from cancer. They lived harder lives than I have had to live. I remember my Dad speaking of his Dad bringing home a bag of potatoes or a fifty-pound sack of oats in payment for a day's labor. That’s what he and his sisters ate that week. His dad took his children frogging and sold the frog legs for two cents each to Detroit restaurants. When Dad told the story it was an adventure, but actually, it was scrimping by during the Depression. He had a baby brother lost to measles. My Dad was lucky in many ways to have lived this long. He had been on duty Sunday morning at Hickam Field in the middle of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Mom comes into the living room. The Hospice nurse has arrived, and it’s the one my mother particularly likes. The nurse puts a diaper on Dad who has been lying naked, sheet and covers kicked off. He doesn’t rouse. Before the nurse leaves, she and my mother chat, everyday inconsequential things interspersed with what will happen and what to do when it does—facts and information. The bureaucracy is as involved with the dying as it is with the living.<br /><br />More hours pass. Evening comes. Mom insists on making dinner. No one eats much. I try sleeping on the living room couch and hope lack of sleep doesn’t bring on a migraine. I don't know where everyone else is. Occasionally, voices drift into my bouts of sleep, waking me. Midway through the night, I give up trying to sleep.<br /><br />Juli is sitting with Dad. She has been giving Dad pain medications, coaxing them down a throat that is probably only working by reflex. “No. He swallowed them himself,” she says. “He seems to be doing better.” She gives him water. I look at Dad remembering the horrendous coughing, the excruciating pain, the emaciated body; all part of emphysema. He doesn’t cough now, just breaths very lightly. How much weight can you lose without dying? I bet Dad doesn’t weigh a hundred and ten pounds. I decide not to call Jim, but I hope Dad doesn’t wake, remembering he can’t even sit comfortably. The cartilage between his bones is gone --that cushion that makes moving, sitting, or standing endurable. Maybe I’ll call Jim in the morning. Let him sleep for now. I draw a chair up next to Juli. She talks and I guess I do too. She has seen lots of death. She worked on the oncology floor at McClaren Hospital in Flint for years before becoming a surgical nurse. Couldn’t pay me enough to do what she does, but Juli seems to love it.<br /><br />Doug comes in. He stands at the head of Dad’s raised bed and whispers in Dad's ear for several minutes. He pats Dad on the shoulder and says, “Fly with the eagles, Dad.” </span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Dad has an eagle’s nose and I think he became one in our minds. Doug steps away and Dad wakes, his eyes popping open. “Huh?” he shouts looking wild-eyed above his head. He falls immediately back into sleep or whatever it was he was in. I don't know if Doug saw as he left the room. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Patty comes in. With only a small lamp on, the room is dark and warm, almost cozy. We three sisters talk in our usual comradery. I find myself petting my Dad's feet that are in easy reach. Feet generally are not attractive, but Dad's are beautiful. Thin, long, high arched, the toes perfect in size and order. They are cool but fleshy pink in color. When I mention this, my Mom, who has joined us, quips, “A good understanding.”<br /><br />Doug returns. “I called Jim.” Oh shit.<br /><br />“Told him death was eminent and Dad would probably be gone before he gets here.”Not true. Dad is doing better. His color even looks better. Don't tell me he is going to do this again. I’m afraid to even contemplate it. Could he pull through? I feel buoyed at the thought but counsel myself to expect the worst. I try calling Florida. No one answers. Jim must be on his way.<br /><br />The hours pass. I am tired; feel the cold, shaky burn of exhaustion radiate through my abdomen, through my bones. So does everyone else; I can see it in their faces. I realize I probably look as bad as they do. Can’t sleep</span><span style="font-size: large;">—</span><span style="font-size: medium;">don't want to, anyway. Want to be somewhere else. We gather around the bed again. Everyone takes turns talking to Dad. I finally blurt out something meaning I love you and burst into tears. That was unexpected. I cover my eyes with my hand and pull myself together. Now my jaw aches.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Bill calls. He has talked to our children. They are both okay. He has arranged airline tickets for them to come to the funeral. He is fine. The cats are fine. Went out and got Halloween candy. I’d forgotten. Today is Halloween.<br /><br />Nine o’clock in the morning. Jim and his wife Gail arrive looking duly sober. I meet them at the door, Juli and Pat are close behind me looking over my shoulders. “Come and say hi to Dad,” I say. Jim blanches white. They come in and sit in the living room. I explain what has happened, while everyone talks at once. Even Juli thinks Dad looks better.“Damn,” Jim says. “Damn. They put a notice on the board at work, Jake's Dad is dying. Collected money. Lots of money. What am I going to tell them now?”<br /><br />“It’s going to happen, you are just here early,” Mom tells him. Jim slowly recovers from the shock. “You know, Robbie, paybacks are hell.”<br /><br />“I didn’t know how else to tell you.” Bane of my life, blurting out whatever, but calling him was not my fault. Two hours later Mom comes and gathers us. “It’s happening.”I wonder if Dad wants everyone watching him end his life’s journey. I don’t. Give me privacy. I think of a friend who died walking home from trout fishing. I wonder if he missed seeing or hearing his family one last time? Wonder if he looked up into the sky for a last glimpse of sun and clouds. I think that’s what I’d like to see. Let my family remember me when we last had a good conversation.<br /><br />Juli, Patty, Doug, and Mom crowd around the bed, talking to Dad. They urge Dad on. Urge him to make the final transition. I know Dad wants this, wants to escape from the pain he has hidden for years from friends and from us. Mom is great. “Go John, just let go, fly with the eagles.” He still fights, drawing breath after breath. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Jim and I sit quietly on the couch. Jim turns to me. “I feel kind of lucky. It’s not every guy who gets to see their old man draw his last breath,” he says. “I’m glad I came when I did.”I don't know what I said, or if I even answered. This is taking forever and I’m disgusted with myself for thinking that.<br /><br />“It’s over,” Mom says, “he’s gone.” It seemed like there was a collective sigh of relief. We leave the room, each trying to find a moment of privacy. I feel myself crying. Mom hugs me, and Pat. I hug them back. “I’m not crying for him, but for myself,” I explain.<br /><br />Things settle down to a sniffly, teary, depleted silence. Except for Mom. She rises babbling a list of things she must do. Call Hospice. Call this person or that person. Her way of dealing with her grief. Hours pass. The body can’t be taken by the funeral home until the Hospice nurse arrives and determines if the coroner should be called. The coroner? Yes, Hospice patients are allowed to die at home, but no one is supposed to help them along. It’s several more hours before the nurse can come. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">In the meantime, Juli bathes Dad. “I’m not leaving this for someone else to do,” she says. I reluctantly help her. “Actually, Dad had it pretty easy,” she tells me while she dries his body. This was easy? When we are done, I call Bill and tell him. He has already made arrangements. Karen is on her way and Chris should arrive sometime in the evening. Chris calls a short time later. He doesn’t have a suit. He is doing a Fellowship at the Culinary Institute of America. “Since Grandpa influenced your decision to become a chef, I think he’d like you to wear your Fellow’s jacket.”<br /><br />“You’re sure?”</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">“Yes.” I’m too tired to worry about other people's expectations of how we should appear.<br /><br />I’m getting antsy with the body still lying in the house. Don’t know why, Dad is beyond pain or caring. The hearse from the funeral home doesn’t arrive until five, and it is already dark out. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Jim and Doug are out on the porch, stopping Trick or Treaters and giving them candy before they reach the door. Jim told me he was having fun scaring the shit out of the kids. “Hey kid, you want to see a dead body?” Is this another one of Jim's tall, pull-your-leg tales? I expect many parents bypassed our house that night. Who would take their kids to the door of a house with a hearse outside, even on Halloween?</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Jim gets his penchant for stories, mostly true but with slow gag lines, from my Dad, who every night over dinner told us stories. Funny experiences from his childhood, from the war, from work, mostly true but slightly slanted. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">With time and distance from childhood, I realize everyone has a different perception of events. A totally different reality. I often wonder about my Dad’s stories. He never mentioned the horror of what he saw on December 7th or those of the following years, not until recently, when he wrote an account of that day and some of the other events of the war and of his life. They were different from the childhood stories I heard, although each story brought a strange deja-vu of family dinner. If my house ever caught fire, I’d grab that loose-leaf book first. He wrote poetry too, but most of it was for the Consumer's Power linemen who came into the gas station to get their trucks serviced. As a young ‘lady,’ I didn’t get to read it, but not from choice. I remember starting to read once, but Mom pulled me away. “No, you don’t read that.”<br /><br />Where Jim gets his twisted humor, I suppose. Then I think of Dad dying on Halloween. He would enjoy that. Something within the genes, then. I often feel I am the only humorless one in my family. Never thought up really good pranks, never enjoyed those played on me.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">It was Tuesday afternoon before we could go to the family viewing. The morticians took years off Dad. I know it is makeup. Wax? Dad lays in a simple pine coffin looking like he did before emphysema ravaged him. It was a blessing to see him like that. After the ceremony part, he would be cremated. The Legion friend returned, bringing a flag to cover the coffin. Flowers were arriving and being arranged by the funeral home personnel.<br /><br />One arrangement held small paper crows among the flowers. Dad believed one crow, among the many who came to eat bread dough gone wrong that he dumped in the backyard, was his dad, Carl. He called them Carl and the boys. Later, when I eventually arrived home in Missouri, and we got out of the car in the driveway, for the first time I noticed a crow sitting in the tall sycamore tree in our backyard. More deja-vu. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">We went to dinner that evening at a local restaurant, then returned for the evening’s public viewing.<br /><br />Wednesday was strange. The funeral home is full. I don't count the numbers, it doesn’t matter, but it is noisy, the room filled with talk, even laughter. No hushed viewing this. Laughter frequently bounces off the walls with some tale about my father’s past doings. I walk by the adjoining funeral parlor. It is quiet and somber; a child’s funeral. I think how hard it must be for these mourners to hear even the muffled noise coming from the adjoining parlor.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">We went back to the house after the viewing. Jim wanted a picture of me with Karen. I hate having my picture taken, but Karen and I arrange ourselves next to each other. Hearing movement behind me, I turn my head shocked to see Bill walk out of the bedroom. Jim takes the shot. "Paybacks are hell, Robbie," Jim says. Now there will be this picture of me floating around looking like death, head turned and mouth flopping open. Bill has his sheepish grin on. He likes giving surprises, I’ve never liked surprises. I even read the last chapter of a book right after the first chapter, since I like to know what I’m starting.</span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_SpRWZaZQH64Hgx_ougmkcE3FbPbR2mGrJxAJ52z7KfpZHqsz6UGkds4fHmmItzPoociHBIw6Kai9TfTLIZZNfAXsA0qhhW2Gk8IhBpTbEwmu-g6wEoO8b6XN4CoZ2wdJWuhAqZTXod0/s450/paybacks+are+hell.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="280" data-original-width="450" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_SpRWZaZQH64Hgx_ougmkcE3FbPbR2mGrJxAJ52z7KfpZHqsz6UGkds4fHmmItzPoociHBIw6Kai9TfTLIZZNfAXsA0qhhW2Gk8IhBpTbEwmu-g6wEoO8b6XN4CoZ2wdJWuhAqZTXod0/w394-h245/paybacks+are+hell.jpg" width="394" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Paybacks are hell.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Back at the funeral home, it isn’t as hard to view him in his coffin. Dad now has a scouting pin on his lapel. Years ago he was troop club master for the local area. Later I learn my brother pinned it on him. Maybe I’m just past feeling, but I know part of it is because of the people around me. Sharing experiences, sharing life. We all sit through the service. It ends so fast.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">We left my mother looking part relieved, part grieved, and still shocked. Already lonely, but the core of strength that has seen her this far remains. Chris and Karen are back on planes to return to their lives. Bill and I are on Southwest headed back to St. Louis. Of everything, I can’t help but remember Dad's feet.</span>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p></o:p></p></div></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Also see: <a href="https://www.rhobincourtright.com/search?q=pearl+harborurvivor" target="_blank">To Honor a Pearl Harbor Survivor</a></span></div>Rhobinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08627825512017360508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6233003946884986046.post-28608033380974708862021-09-18T00:00:00.160-04:002021-09-18T13:09:56.473-04:00What Do I Like to Write?<p><span style="font-size: large;">T</span><span style="font-size: medium;">his month's round-robin is on what other genres, besides novels, do I like to write. Well, storytelling is what novels are about, and I like to write in the genres of science-fiction, fantasy, historical, and romance. While my stories can have a question or mystery involved, I don't think I would be good at writing a mystery novel. I do like to read them, though. In the fiction arena, I also have tried short stories and some flash fiction which tends to cover that ah-ha moment.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKO-HmI_DcmBc7YF9k395MpKaK68avun2IluuvF61B8LvPBteGLmQKgibeddevUZAw0g9q22bUBRP6j8VlZLkuPG943wqgveKnEjIFnNXLHT_DpKFmNjRhJwQuitfDMsClQW3VZpZYxgs/s375/roundrobin2.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="375" height="197" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKO-HmI_DcmBc7YF9k395MpKaK68avun2IluuvF61B8LvPBteGLmQKgibeddevUZAw0g9q22bUBRP6j8VlZLkuPG943wqgveKnEjIFnNXLHT_DpKFmNjRhJwQuitfDMsClQW3VZpZYxgs/w197-h197/roundrobin2.jpg" width="197" /></span></a></div><p></p><p><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: medium;">Yet reality calls to me, too. I like writing personal essays which also give me the chance to be creative, although in non-fiction, truth, as it is known, should prevail. Everyone has events in their lives or the lives of close ones that need to be shared. These can range from tragic events that can help others in similar situations cope with their problem, to family stories such as <a href="https://www.rhobincourtright.com/2020/12/short-story-non-fiction-christmas.html" target="_blank">"The Pin"</a> which I wrote about and investigated, or another post "<a href="https://www.rhobincourtright.com/2017/08/who-was-edna-ruth.html" target="_blank">Who Was Edna Ruth?</a>" about my grandmother. Other stories can involve family memories which can seem like fantasy stories to readers but might also help bring back memories of their own past. These can also give warnings or cures to upcoming generations about problems they might face. These can be personal, family, or community events. Currently, the media has recalled many 9/11 memories of those personally involved. Personal narratives not only help others cope but also help keep a record of history.</span></span></p><p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;">I also like to write informative articles which range from book reviews to 'how-to' articles, which most of these round-robin articles fall into. Writing letters use to fall into this category, but few people now send letters as they prefer to make calls, texts, or emails, that are faster, easier, and more personable. However, the information is lost once the call is finished. It is from my father's letters that I learned what it was like to be a soldier in WWII, and letters throughout history have given readers new insight into that time. This type of communication includes diaries.</span></p><p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;">I don't know how many people write in diaries today but I have periodically written my life's events since the early 1980s. Now I can go back and read about many things that happened that I have forgotten.</span></p><p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;">Please visit these authors and read about their thoughts on this topic:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="https://www.marcibaun.com/round-robin-genres-beyond-fiction-9-18-21/" target="_blank">Marci Baun</a></span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="https://victoriachatham.blogspot.com/2021/09/september-already-round-robin.html">VictoriaChatham </a></span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="https://www.skye-writer.com/blogging_by_the_sea/view/681/what_else_do_i_write_besides_novels_" target="_blank">Skye Taylor</a> </span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="https://mizging.blogspot.com/2021/09/writing-in-multiple-genres-hows-and.html">Connie Vines </a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="https://bobrich18.wordpress.com/2021/09/18/writing-nonfiction/" target="_blank">Dr. Bob Rich </a></span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"></span></p><p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;">
</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="http://lynx-sis.blogspot.com/2021/09/what-genres-besides-novels-do-i-write-in.html" target="_blank">Judith Copek</a> </span></p><p><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>Rhobinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08627825512017360508noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6233003946884986046.post-31420130721952195502021-08-21T00:00:00.148-04:002021-10-01T13:48:14.701-04:00Similar Character Habits and Words?<p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif">This month's round-robin topic is if the</span> character in different stories share habits or favorite words. I have to say, yes, some of mine do. It probably has to do with how my mind works. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKO-HmI_DcmBc7YF9k395MpKaK68avun2IluuvF61B8LvPBteGLmQKgibeddevUZAw0g9q22bUBRP6j8VlZLkuPG943wqgveKnEjIFnNXLHT_DpKFmNjRhJwQuitfDMsClQW3VZpZYxgs/s375/roundrobin2.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="375" height="153" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKO-HmI_DcmBc7YF9k395MpKaK68avun2IluuvF61B8LvPBteGLmQKgibeddevUZAw0g9q22bUBRP6j8VlZLkuPG943wqgveKnEjIFnNXLHT_DpKFmNjRhJwQuitfDMsClQW3VZpZYxgs/w153-h153/roundrobin2.jpg" width="153" /></span></a></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">I've noticed some of my characters have very similar characteristics in they are very independent women who love men who are accepting of that. Three are warrior women, Jezlynn in the <i>Black Angel</i> series, Kissre in <i>Acceptance</i>, and Xandra in <i>The Nanite Warrior</i>, and Maera in <i>Home World Reax</i>. And Kissre and Xandra both have leg wounds that are reinjured during the story. Hmmm...how did that happen? I didn't notice it until I reread the books. At least I know the women's personalities are very different overall.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Another thing I've noticed in re-reading my books is that I have a lot of grimace-smiles my characters make. Someone once told me there is no such thing, but I think there is--an upward lift of the lips on one side and downward on the other. Smiles yes, but not entirely happy ones. Plus many of my characters have smug reactions. I wonder if this happens because maybe I have these habits? I do hope not.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Writing fiction isn't easy because the writer must mix fact with their own mental fantasy, so I suppose similar situations and character reactions are inevitable--until the writer notices it.</span></div><div><p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Check out these author's take on this subject:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="https://annestenhousenovelist.wordpress.com/2021/08/21/round-robin-august-2021/" target="_blank">Anne Stenhouse </a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="https://www.skye-writer.com/blogging_by_the_sea/view/680/do_authors_have_favorite_traits_or_words_" target="_blank">Skye Taylor</a> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="http://www.victoriachatham.com" target="_blank">VictoriaChatham </a></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="http://mizging.blogspot.com/2021/08/are-you-appearing-in-your-stories.html" target="_blank">Connie Vines</a> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="http://dbator.blogspot.com/2021/08/round-robin-blog-fest-august-21.html" target="_blank">Diane Bator</a> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="https://beverleybateman.blogspot.com/2021/08/habits-in-your-writing.html" target="_blank">Beverley Bateman </a></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="https://bobrich18.wordpress.com/2021/08/21/well-i-just-dont-know-repetitions/" target="_blank">Dr. Bob Rich</a> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="http://www.fionamcgier.com/blog/part-of-me-in-my-characters-oh-my" target="_blank">Fiona McGeer</a> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="https://helenafairfax.com/2021/08/21/6-ways-to-avoid-repeating-the-same-old-words-and-phrases-in-your-writing/" target="_blank">Helena Fairfax</a> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="http://lynx-sis.blogspot.com/2021/08/characters-habits-or-favorite-words.html" target="_blank">Judith Copek </a></span></p></div>Rhobinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08627825512017360508noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6233003946884986046.post-81537128779290347942021-07-17T00:00:00.158-04:002021-08-29T07:03:57.977-04:00Throwing Away Words<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKO-HmI_DcmBc7YF9k395MpKaK68avun2IluuvF61B8LvPBteGLmQKgibeddevUZAw0g9q22bUBRP6j8VlZLkuPG943wqgveKnEjIFnNXLHT_DpKFmNjRhJwQuitfDMsClQW3VZpZYxgs/s375/roundrobin2.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="375" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKO-HmI_DcmBc7YF9k395MpKaK68avun2IluuvF61B8LvPBteGLmQKgibeddevUZAw0g9q22bUBRP6j8VlZLkuPG943wqgveKnEjIFnNXLHT_DpKFmNjRhJwQuitfDMsClQW3VZpZYxgs/w212-h212/roundrobin2.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>Have you ever experienced wishing you could unsay something
you've uttered in haste, without thinking, or in temper? Luckily writing helps
you do just that, but it can often leave the feeling of the former scenario. <p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Writing is often hard. Thinking up words and writing them down takes
mental energy and time. Throwing them away can cause me doubts such as am I sure this is the best thing for the story? Have I deleted wording? Yes! Not only paragraphs but sections of numerous pages. Of course, the decision to remove wording is because I think it will make a better, more unified story. Not a few word changes in a sentence for clarity, but discarding several sentences, paragraphs, or even pages because they do not add to the reader's knowledge of the character, the plot, or the setting. Leaving those sections of wording in, no matter how large or small, makes the story ramble and may create disinterest in the reader so they quit the story. </p><p class="MsoNormal">The writing process requires me to think about the story's purpose. Thoughts like: Where is the story going? Does this section add understanding of the character or expand their character? Or does this character need more clarification or purpose? Are they needed? Sometimes it raises the question should I change the plot and purpose?</p><p class="MsoNormal">Either in the writing process or editing process, when a section slows my reading I ask myself what is its purpose? How does this wording affect the plot or the character development? Or does this wording add to the setting? </p><p class="MsoNormal">I do keep ejected wording in a separate document just in case I change my mind, but I have discovered I usually don't. I have never thought whether that wording might lead to another story or work in another one in progress, but maybe I should have. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">When the words involved do not apply to the plot, setting, or to the
development of the character, it's just wordiness. In that case, it's better for the story and for the reader to get rid of it.<o:p></o:p></p><p><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="https://annestenhousenovelist.wordpress.com/2021/07/17/round-robin-dropped-stitches-scenes/" target="_blank">Anne Stenhouse </a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="https://bobrich18.wordpress.com/2021/07/17/gathering-dust-excised-adventures/" target="_blank">Dr. Bob Rich</a> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="http://www.skye-writer.com/blogging_by_the_sea" target="_blank">Skye Taylor</a> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="http://mizging.blogspot.com/2021/07/cutting-scenes-yea-or-nay-by-connie.html" target="_blank">Connie Vines </a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="https://www.marcibaun.com/deleted-scenes-round-robin-7-17-21/" target="_blank">Marci Baun </a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="http://www.victoriachatham.com" target="_blank">VictoriaChatham</a> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="https://beverleybateman.blogspot.com/2021/07/deleting-scenes.html" target="_blank">Beverley Bateman </a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="http://www.fionamcgier.com/blog/delete-scenes-or-even-words-oh-my" target="_blank">Fiona McGier </a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="https://helenafairfax.com/2021/07/17/kill-your-darlings-5-tips-for-cutting-and-editing-scenes-you-love/" target="_blank">Helena Fairfax </a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><a href="https://helenafairfax.com/2021/08/21/6-ways-to-avoid-repeating-the-same-old-words-and-phrases-in-your-writing/" target="_blank">Judith Copec</a></p>Rhobinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08627825512017360508noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6233003946884986046.post-80953443993990832272021-07-04T00:00:00.061-04:002021-07-04T00:00:00.179-04:00In Defense of Home World Aginfeld<p style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjspE2TMiHetZxTOMgYyMfcwpuu3_hsgoTlAmVKWti8s7tA2C5nEiaUNKdgEd3NggnDO-CBqFEhblCLccR1kBTrtf5eP_JOjuApiOpM_cGNjL1ivplwKO9TI2aFRfYuR7-mqiSjmjAc898/s576/HW+Aginfeld.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="384" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjspE2TMiHetZxTOMgYyMfcwpuu3_hsgoTlAmVKWti8s7tA2C5nEiaUNKdgEd3NggnDO-CBqFEhblCLccR1kBTrtf5eP_JOjuApiOpM_cGNjL1ivplwKO9TI2aFRfYuR7-mqiSjmjAc898/s320/HW+Aginfeld.jpg" /></span></a><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">One reader's comment about Home World Againfeld called the story trash and spoke of repeated rape of the heroine character because she was forced into the marriage, and when the female said she loved her husband, it was a case of Stockholm Syndrome, plus that the colony should have been annihilated. Well, okay, everyone has the freedom to voice their opinion. I have no problem with that… I also have that freedom.<br /> <br />My science fiction stories are often laced with facts from history, and how, if something has happened once, it can happen again. </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Yes, the heroine, Alix, is forced into marriage. She agrees because she is under a death sentence for robbery. Today the United Nations (UN) and many countries state that forced marriage is a type of slavery where unwilling participants are joined in a binding ritual. I believe this.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Declaration_of_Human_Rights" target="_blank">Universal Declaration of Human Rights</a> was adopted in 1948 by the UN General Assembly and according to Wikipedia, "Is an international document that enshrines the rights and freedoms of all human beings. It was accepted by the General Assembly as Resolution 217 during its third session on 10 December 1948 at the Palais de Chaillot in Paris, France." Since then the UN Human Rights Council in 2013 has adopted documents against childhood marriage, or an early or forced marriage. </span><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">However, forced marriage still happens in many places today, including Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. And, while forced marriage is now banned in the United States and many European countries, <a href="https://www.blogger.com/#">it still happens here according to the National Consumers League</a>. </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">So far, no existing country has been decimated</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"> because of this issue.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span> <br />Same with slavery, the first slaves arrived in the North American continent in 1619 at Jamestown, Virginia. Slavery was a major issue of the Civil War and was abolished on September 22, 1862), which led to the 13 Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Even that was delayed in Texas until June 19, 1865, which became the Juneteenth celebration. </span><span>While it was abolished, racism still remains a huge problem. Some of it resulting from slavery and </span><span>racial profiling. And slavery is still prevalent in the U.S. in the sex trafficking industry. This only goes to show you that what has happened in the past can reemerge. Those types of circumstances are clearly defined in the story </span><i>Home World Aginfeld.</i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"> <br />So why is it happening in the story of <i>Home World Aginfeld</i>? Didn't the reviewer read the story? The colony is under attack by the Colonial Pact, the very company Earth governments established to help supply colonies so they could survive on alien planets until the population could bioform their world into a living outdoor habitat. The Colonial Pact stored some of the colony's human embryos until Aginfeld's population could leave their ten constructed habitats. After the embryos were requested back by Aginfeld, within years the colony knew the embryos had been altered, causing sterility. Now the colony's death rate is higher than the birth rate. As the planet is nearing a finished bio-formed world, the Colonial Pact is waiting and instigating problems that will lead to the colony's dying out... meaning the Colonial Pact will claim and sell the planet's land for staggering profits.<br /> <br />Yes, the heroine was forced into marriage, but she also initiates change within the colony. In the end, the heroine's husband lets her go, but she chooses to return.<br /> <br />Lastly, if past problems and situations are not exposed in writing, whether in fiction or non-fiction or if the situations are wiped from history's recall, their consequences will be forgotten—until they reoccur.</span><p></p></div>Rhobinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08627825512017360508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6233003946884986046.post-69767365544832180512021-06-19T00:00:00.051-04:002021-06-19T11:03:53.379-04:00Keep it, change it, or delete it? Writing in progress.<div class="separator"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKO-HmI_DcmBc7YF9k395MpKaK68avun2IluuvF61B8LvPBteGLmQKgibeddevUZAw0g9q22bUBRP6j8VlZLkuPG943wqgveKnEjIFnNXLHT_DpKFmNjRhJwQuitfDMsClQW3VZpZYxgs/s375/roundrobin2.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="375" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKO-HmI_DcmBc7YF9k395MpKaK68avun2IluuvF61B8LvPBteGLmQKgibeddevUZAw0g9q22bUBRP6j8VlZLkuPG943wqgveKnEjIFnNXLHT_DpKFmNjRhJwQuitfDMsClQW3VZpZYxgs/w212-h212/roundrobin2.jpg" width="212" /></a></div><p> <span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">This month's topic is about how do I recognize and
overcome plot problems or failures? It doesn't matter whether you are a pantser
(just start writing and keep going until you finish) or a plotter (plan out
everything before beginning to write) the story can change.</span></p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium; mso-ansi-language: EN;">First off, I'm a bit plotter and a bit pantser. I start
out with an idea but perhaps not an overall purpose, think about the characters
and their personalities, and some of the pitfalls they will encounter in the
story. It is usually a thread that keeps weaving through my mind until I start
writing. Once I start writing, the rest just seems to happen, but during that
process, the purpose or goal may change several times.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Continually rereading and rewriting 'finished' sections
and chapters as a story progresses through the writing phase helps me recognize
plot problems or deviations and allows me to change them before they become
obstacles. While doing these multiple rereadings I often come across passages
that need fixing or eliminating. Some sentences or paragraphs serve no function
or the function I want them to, however, as an author, I can become too involved
in my writing and miss important issues.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium; mso-ansi-language: EN;">What types of issues? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Well, I know all description is important as it describes
locations, character actions, and the character themselves. It also reaches out
to evoke the reader's senses, helping pull them into the story. But too much
can overwhelm the purpose and even bore the reader. I need to ask myself if it
is expansive enough to explain but succinct enough to not crush its purpose. </span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS_yLDcYSwGoLcfBj6rAAkkodvjzEzqs7JkJi_TBIZsAzE3J6ykG_liLQ75W4nagKohivU8yMczT2j2-4WSnUbpOSJO6WY2wguy8Bj_F5rdKff4h4JTk4A2JV-9iPsRF_7UEk7fXDtY4g/s640/glasses-1246611_640.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="423" data-original-width="640" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS_yLDcYSwGoLcfBj6rAAkkodvjzEzqs7JkJi_TBIZsAzE3J6ykG_liLQ75W4nagKohivU8yMczT2j2-4WSnUbpOSJO6WY2wguy8Bj_F5rdKff4h4JTk4A2JV-9iPsRF_7UEk7fXDtY4g/w320-h211/glasses-1246611_640.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">I also like to check the waves of tension and drama within
the story, releasing them to rebuild again which also allows me to give subtle
hints of forthcoming trouble through situations or character introspection.
Sometimes some information needs to be deleted. </span><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Spending hours building a scene
to either drastically change or delete it is frustrating. Hopefully, it helps
improve the quality of the finished piece.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">No wonder my eyes are worn out.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Please visit these sites for more opinions on this topic:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="https://www.marcibaun.com/round-robin-plot-problems-and-failures-june-19-2021/" target="_blank">Marci Baun</a> </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="https://www.skye-writer.com/blogging_by_the_sea/view/677/finding_and_overcoming_plot_problems" target="_blank">Skye Taylor</a> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="http://mizging.blogspot.com/2021/06/how-to-recognize-and-overcome-plot.html" target="_blank">Connie Vines </a></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="http://dbator.blogspot.com/2021/06/june-round-robin-blog-fest.html" target="_blank">Diane Bator </a></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="https://beverleybateman.blogspot.com/2021/06/plot-challenges.html" target="_blank">Beverley Bateman </a></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="http://lynx-sis.blogspot.com/2021/06/plot-failures-they-happen-and-you-can.html" target="_blank">Judith Copek</a> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="https://bobrich18.wordpress.com/2021/06/19/when-the-plot-goes-to-pot/" target="_blank">Dr. Bob Rich </a></span></p></span><p></p></div>Rhobinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08627825512017360508noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6233003946884986046.post-42460715661023574842021-05-22T00:00:00.306-04:002021-05-22T18:43:22.426-04:00Does Writing Change the Author?<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKO-HmI_DcmBc7YF9k395MpKaK68avun2IluuvF61B8LvPBteGLmQKgibeddevUZAw0g9q22bUBRP6j8VlZLkuPG943wqgveKnEjIFnNXLHT_DpKFmNjRhJwQuitfDMsClQW3VZpZYxgs/s375/roundrobin2.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="375" height="182" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKO-HmI_DcmBc7YF9k395MpKaK68avun2IluuvF61B8LvPBteGLmQKgibeddevUZAw0g9q22bUBRP6j8VlZLkuPG943wqgveKnEjIFnNXLHT_DpKFmNjRhJwQuitfDMsClQW3VZpZYxgs/w182-h182/roundrobin2.jpg" width="182" /></a></p><div style="text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">I do
believe my writing has changed me in many ways, starting with how it has
expanded my mind no matter what genre I'm writing. I think having to make up
characters and their behaviors helps develop empathy, especially the characters
with bad intentions because I have to think about what made them behave the way
they do. It also has expanded my ingenuity since I have to think about
different situations and how I can make them relatable, compelling, and
sometimes unique.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Writing a
fiction story requires imagination, but every story also needs a basis in
reality. After all, writing a story means creating believable characters and
how they interact with other characters. It requires the writer to ask
themselves questions about what will happen in the story. How will the
characters react? What will result from their actions? How will they overcome
their adversities? For this, authors must develop empathy for both their good
and bad characters to make them understandable to the reader.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Writing often requires research, even for fiction. I've had to
research Michigan police from city to county to state levels in requirements
and practices. I've investigated quantum physics and how to bioform a planet,
along with how would a spaceship work. I've also researched history for <i>Constantine's
Legacy</i>. So I learn by writing, too. Interestingly, writing also helps
memory.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Even writing a creative non-fiction narrative or an academic essay
requires digging through one's memory and doing research. So writing exercises
the brain and helps it stay healthy. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Mental growth is probably inevitable for writers. Studies of the
brain have shown both reading and writing involve different regions of the mind
working together, so, at the very least, writing is a good brain
exercise. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Neuroscientists have also studied the effects of writing and reading
on the brain. The</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px;"> online article </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">"</span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/6233003946884986046/4246071566102357484" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><span style="color: blue;">Creative Writing and Your Brain: The mind works in mysterious ways when it is creating a fiction story</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">,</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"> by Jenni Ogden, PhD.,</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px;"> in </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px;">Psychology Today</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px;">(2013), o</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">ne line </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">caught my attention. It said: "Creative writing is one of the
best exercises we can do for our brains." Interesting as it kind of supports my comments. This is after
explaining that the brain does not construct the mind but cooperates with the body
to 'create' our mind and help us build memories.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Writing has also changed my physical world, allowing me to become
an adjunct professor teaching academic writing. Yes, I had a degree in business
communications, but the fact I was already an author had an effect in my hiring,
too. So reading and writing always achieve something!</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Please read the following author's views on this topic:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="https://www.skye-writer.com/blogging_by_the_sea/view/676/does_writing_change_the_author_" target="_blank">Skye Taylor</a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="https://annestenhousenovelist.wordpress.com/2021/05/22/round-robin-may-2021/" target="_blank">Anne Stenhouse</a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><a href="https://www.marcibaun.com/does-writing-change-the-author-round-robin-5-22-21/" target="_blank">Marci Baun</a> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="http://dbator.blogspot.ca/" target="_blank">Diane Bator</a> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="http://mizging.blogspot.com/2021/05/does-writing-change-author-by-connie.html" target="_blank">Connie Vines</a> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="https://wp.me/p3Xihq-2jz" target="_blank">Dr. Bob Rich</a> </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="http://www.fionamcgier.com/blog/are-you-harder-on-yourself-than-on-others" target="_blank">Fiona McGie</a>r </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="http://lynx-sis.blogspot.com/2021/05/does-writing-change-writer.html" target="_blank">Judith Copek</a> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="https://helenafairfax.com/2021/05/22/5-ways-writing-has-changed-me/" target="_blank">HelenaFairfax</a> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="https://beverleybateman.blogspot.com/2021/05/does-writing-change-author.html" target="_blank">BeverleyBateman</a> </span></p><p></p>Rhobinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08627825512017360508noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6233003946884986046.post-30345461076170944762021-04-17T00:00:00.280-04:002021-05-18T18:43:47.749-04:00Naming a Story's Characters<p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKO-HmI_DcmBc7YF9k395MpKaK68avun2IluuvF61B8LvPBteGLmQKgibeddevUZAw0g9q22bUBRP6j8VlZLkuPG943wqgveKnEjIFnNXLHT_DpKFmNjRhJwQuitfDMsClQW3VZpZYxgs/s375/roundrobin2.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="375" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKO-HmI_DcmBc7YF9k395MpKaK68avun2IluuvF61B8LvPBteGLmQKgibeddevUZAw0g9q22bUBRP6j8VlZLkuPG943wqgveKnEjIFnNXLHT_DpKFmNjRhJwQuitfDMsClQW3VZpZYxgs/w200-h200/roundrobin2.jpg" width="200" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">This month's round robin is about how each author chooses the names for their characters. In real life, names can be odd identifiers as spellings change and odd names occasionally show up. </span><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">For instance, my legal spelling is Rhobin. Where did the 'h' come from? Not even my mother knew. My brother spread the story that a drunk midwife misspelled the name on the birth certificate as my father said to name me for the bird which was just outside the window while he and mom were deciding on a name. Supposedly she visited a bar across the ally. My brother, who was born at the same facility, gave me the nickname Beergarden because of the story. Although I love him dearly, <i>grrrr! Older Brothers!</i> Why do I use Robin? Because everyone tends to pronounce Rhobin as row-bin rather than rob-in. Okay, enough about me.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">So based on real-life names, fiction names can have a wide swath of usage.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">From all of my reading, I know character names are important. In some instances, they can indicate the period or place of the story's setting, or the ethnicity of the character.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span>My first caveat in naming characters for me is to not use the name of anyone I know—no family members or friends' names unless they are very commonly used names. But, if I did want to use their name, I would certainly ask if it was all right and describe the character to them. Do I think they would be upset or offended if I used their name? Maybe if used without permission. Yet as mentioned some names are so common that with a different surname the character would be just another person with that name, so</span><span> it would be okay. While I know many people named Tom, I've used it in a story, but he was an honorable character and, of course, had a different surname. Come to think of it Tom might have represented my now deceased uncle.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">It's my evil characters that I try to avoid offending anyone I know by not using their name. Usually, that character receives an entirely made-up moniker.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">In my Aegis fantasy stories, the character naming is different. I've researched many historical names and now have a thick folder of names by country and ethnicity. In it, I found Celtic names seemed to fit my characters best. This is odd because my son just did 23andMe and found out we are 80% Celtic.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Many of my characters in my science fiction books are also made up although I'm sure some historical names used today will also be used in the far future. The key in made-up names is to make sure the spelling clearly expresses the pronunciation.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">That's why I use my folder. Luckily, for my historical book, <i>Constantine's Legacy</i>, I already had a list of Frankish names. The problem is they can be hard to pronounce. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Even with these caveats, I can search for names that just seem to fit my characters.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><a href="https://www.skye-writer.com/blogging_by_the_sea/view/675/what_s_in_a_name___how_do_we_name_our_characters" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;" target="_blank">Skye Taylor</a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> <br /><a href="https://annestenhousenovelist.wordpress.com/2021/04/17/round-robin-character-naming/" style="font-size: 12pt;" target="_blank">Anne Stenhouse </a><br /><a href="http://victoriachatham.blogspot.com/2021/04/whats-in-name.html" style="font-size: 12pt;" target="_blank">Victoria Chatham</a><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> <br /></span><a href="https://beverleybateman.blogspot.com/2021/04/choosing-character-names.html" style="font-size: 12pt;" target="_blank">Beverley Bateman</a><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> <br /></span><a href="https://helenafairfax.com/2021/04/17/tips-for-choosing-your-characters-names-writetip-editingtip/" style="font-size: 12pt;">Helena Fairfax </a><br /><a href="https://bobrich18.wordpress.com/2021/04/17/name-game/" style="font-size: 12pt;" target="_blank">Dr. Bob Rich </a><br /><a href="https://www.marcibaun.com/whats-in-a-name-round-robin-4-17-21/" style="font-size: 12pt;">Marci Baun </a><br /><a href="http://lynx-sis.blogspot.com/" style="font-size: 12pt;" target="_blank">Judith Copek</a><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> <br /></span><a href="http://mizging.blogspot.com/" style="font-size: 12pt;" target="_blank">Connie Vines</a><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> <br /></span><a href="http://www.fionamcgier.com/blog/protect-your-name-dont-piss-off-an-author" style="font-size: 12pt;" target="_blank">Fiona McGier </a></span></p></div>Rhobinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08627825512017360508noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6233003946884986046.post-26162295346226446772021-03-31T13:00:00.036-04:002022-08-08T13:16:56.237-04:00<div class="separator"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcGGs_2BOGcVmy8wkAWkaU-kc-SQJPA5brDd183Irgv4hn0JFSoipXPtfWk-FChCgjw6riIdgVXX-vVz_g2nsNAf12ARGJQIu1co8hjv_1uyzDjDVJ5G5Mkf-cipG2H37_kefPQghe2zYH9A8LMd5sLvTIZGS6IONXjOxvi8bzxPAI9wbJaGeGBcXt/s306/Sleeper%20Awake.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: white; clear: right; float: right; font-family: georgia; font-size: large; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="306" data-original-width="206" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcGGs_2BOGcVmy8wkAWkaU-kc-SQJPA5brDd183Irgv4hn0JFSoipXPtfWk-FChCgjw6riIdgVXX-vVz_g2nsNAf12ARGJQIu1co8hjv_1uyzDjDVJ5G5Mkf-cipG2H37_kefPQghe2zYH9A8LMd5sLvTIZGS6IONXjOxvi8bzxPAI9wbJaGeGBcXt/s1600/Sleeper%20Awake.jpg" width="206" /></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Dr. Bob Rich<br />Modern History PressISBN-10:1-61599-556-0<br />ISBN-13: 978-1-61599-556-1 <br />ASIN: B08VQ8V411February 2021<br />Science Fiction</span><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><div><p style="border-color: rgb(94, 79, 64); box-sizing: inherit; color: #5e4f40; margin-bottom: 1.75em; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">After the Cataclysm that ended life as most people knew it, a new world emerged without waste or hydrocarbons. A world using only natural energies and one with a much lower population. Only one million people are allowed on Earth at any time, and this is controlled by reproductive regulations. Women select the fathers of their children, and men must earn credits to earn status as possible fathers. Much of this was set about by a man named Tony who is revered as a prophet today. Twelve hundred years ago he invented a universal computer, Artif, that serves all of humanity and is overseen by the Control, a group of humans. Artif gives everyone help and guiding advice. The Control also manages who can have children. Tony also invented the implant that is placed in every human. It allows them universal communications. A person can talk to another person thousands of miles away without leaving the home or literally appear in a very realistic image.</span></span></p><p style="border-color: rgb(94, 79, 64); box-sizing: inherit; color: #5e4f40; margin-bottom: 1.75em; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Flora Fielding awoke from cryogenic storage hoping a cure for her cancer had developed in the time she was asleep. Instead, she found she was 1433 years in the future. It is now 1312 years after Tony. In her cryogenic space, a ball floats. It announces itself as Artif with the feminine voice that woke her up. Flora learns the world is drastically changed, but after so long in cryogenic sleep, why did the Control finally decide to awaken her?</span></span></p><p style="border-color: rgb(94, 79, 64); box-sizing: inherit; color: #5e4f40; margin-bottom: 1.75em; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">SLEEPER, AWAKE is a very imaginative, creative, and believable story loaded with ideas on how the world of humans might change to save not only the Earth but also everything living on it. The characters are well portrayed, but even in this utopian future remain very human. It also serves as a strong warning of why we need to promote life-style and environmental change.</span></span></p><p style="border-color: rgb(94, 79, 64); box-sizing: inherit; color: #5e4f40; margin-bottom: 1.75em; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /><br /></span><p></p></div><br /></div>Rhobinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08627825512017360508noreply@blogger.com0