How about that?

Man!

I had completely forgotten that I have a blogger.com account.

Maybe I'll start writing here again.

On US

I don’t think America has anything to be ashamed of or apologize for with respect to what we have done for the rest of the world. Americans don’t want to be at war but, when you are, you can’t be soft about it. If you are—sometimes—you face situations you cannot deal with. We are in that situation now. Colin Powell once said, “There is nothing in American experience or in American political life or in our culture that suggests we want to use hard power.”

America never laid claim or dominion to any nation in Europe after the war. What other country can make that claim? Not many. Once the war was over, we helped rebuild those nations. We did the same thing in Japan. Yet, we still draw anger and hate from other countries in the world. Admittedly, a lot of that ire stems from perceived decadence in our lifestyles, exemplified by the actors, musicians, and politicians that have somehow become the face of our country. It took a terrorist group—using hard power—beheading and American journalist to get our president off the golf course long enough to read a strongly worded statement to a group that has threatened the safety of Americans on a number of occasions.

Now we are backed into a corner. Because of a soft administration. U.S. policy has changed. We make deals with terrorists. We try diplomacy with people who will never hear what we are saying. Diplomacy is a thing, and in many cases a good thing. But there is a time when words cease to inspire, when nations lose their resolve, when the world descends into war, and all that is left is the patriot's love for their country.

The Job

I recently submitted a proposal to get some copywriting work with a company that designs websites. Part of the submittal process was to answer a short questionnaire. The first question was "Where do you feel like you are with your writing?"

I'd like to share my answer.

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Imagine you're driving on a nice, cool and sunny day. Imagine then that you discover that you have a sizable obstruction in your nose. You commit to removing it and select the appropriate finger based on entry angle and nostril. You go at it. You've selected technique. It's between catching it in the crease under your fingernail, or just dragging it out with the pad of the fingertip. Then, on the horizon, there is a car headed toward you. At that point you have two options. Hurry and get the job done before the oncoming driver can see you, or just keep plowing on oblivious to the opinions of the other driver.

And that's where I feel like I'm at with my writing. The process isn't pretty, but it gets the job done and I don't mind people seeing it anymore.

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I hope I get it.

Old

Half of my life ago, I could stay up until 3:00 A.M. and wake up at 6:45 A.M. just feeling really annoyed that I had to get up at all. Now (twentyish years later) I--under the same scenario--feel like I've awoken with the symptoms of the common cold, a brain tumor, and intermittent heart attacks. 

What’s up with that?

In the works...

So I've decided to write a novel.

Originally, I was going to write a short story based on a writing prompt provided by Ethan Smith (who, incidentally, doesn't take enough credit for the idea). I kind of fell in love with the characters and the story just kept growing. So I kept writing it. It just kept growing until realized that it couldn't be a short story.

I have the entire first book plotted and the--tentative--ending of the second book written. The first draft should be done by mid-March. What I have so far is the first five chapters, the outline up to chapter fifteen, the ending and the main fight scene. I'm estimating it to end at around 100,000 words (more or less if needed... the story will just grow as it needs).

Now will anything come of it? Pfft! I don't know. I'm going to make attempts to get it published. If that doesn't work out, I'll publish it on Amazon for free.

No matter what happens with, I love the story. I can see it playing out in my mind when I think about it, and I know how each character will react to any situation. Best of all, I'm having fun writing!!

The story takes place in the fictional world of Armain (hats to Martin Young and the phenomenal world he created all those years ago).

The story is about two warring brothers--Weiss and Alessandro. The world views Weiss as powerful, ruthless and evil, while Alessandro is considered powerful, just, lawful and good. Weiss kills Alessandro and claims his holdings, but before he can take over and rule his new kingdom, he has to keep a mutual promise he and his brother made. Whomever ultimately wins their feud, would take his brother to their homeland for burial.

So, I'm gonna stop writing this and go work on that... and re-watch the Exorcist in the background.

Short Fictions

Well, today I decided to take all of the short stories down and publish them on Amazon.  Right now, they are in the final stages of revision.  Hopefully they will be ready by the end of the month.

On a different note, I've started a novel.  Its a fantasy book based on a story spark by Ethan Smith.  I hope to have it finished by the end of March, and revisions by April. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it, but we'll see!

Look for me on Kindle and Amazon soon!!

Publishing update...

I have decided that I will be publishing my short stories on Kindle and Nook.  It will be a collection of ten stories or various lengths.

They will be published for free.

I will get a little credibility for the publication and I will reach a larger audience by providing it for free.

It's unlikely that I will ever support myself with a writing career, but this will allow me to get a wide variety of critiques.

So, somewhere around April, I will be published.