October, 2013 | www.booksofm.com

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First, before I say ANYTHING else… Some GOOD news! So far, you’ve helped raise over $2,000 to fight hunger through DriveThruFiction.com‘s Read and Feed charity drive. Thanks for downloading the bundle! If you haven’t, you have until the 20th. I’d *really* like to see this hit $5,000!

So how have things been going? It’s been a roller coaster these past few weeks, but thankfully everything’s beginning to normalize. I *really* don’t like to take my bad mood out on other people, but I’m grateful for the time spent with friends who understand that while I’m a strong-willed person, even I have awful days. But those are behind me, come hell or high water, I’ll make it so — it’s all about the ‘tude for me. Sometimes, I just need to hang upside down to catch a different perspective. Six impossible things before breakfast. Etc. Etc. Etc.

I’m happy that the government is back to it’s normal day-to-day operations; I have a lot of friends that were dramatically affected by the shutdown. I understand it’s a politically charged topic, like many issues are these days, but it is what it is: people I care about were directly affected by this. Some worked as contractors or in other public agencies associated with different branches of the government (e.g. outside of the 800,000 figure). Others had to go back into work with no guarantee they’d get paid for that time. Hopefully, things will go back to normal for them very, very soon.

I’ve dealt with ideological purity before and the destruction those beliefs can leave in its wake. I was reminded of this last night when I was looking at some of my b-b-b-b-b-b-b-bad poetry. Wrote this oh, a while ago, but it’s fairly apropos to how I’m feeling right now about all of this political mess:

Untitled

spinning in a square pattern
his spoken word one sad vibration
of logic and the one way
of naught perception, nay
so Truth spins wayward from his line
Statistics take their place up high
emotions fall the Great fall
failing his so smart conclusions

they die the silent death
of wind and water and angel’s breath
till no more Truth exists within him
a pile of data, just one more number
un-separated from a mass
who can not distinguish “eye”
from “i”.

Told you it wasn’t *good* poetry. Heh, heh. But, if I’m looking on the bright side… I’m happy Fall is officially here. Seems like just yesterday it was 70s and sunny — and now it’s 50s and cool. I am totally and completely in love this weather!

Now, back to my to-do list. Oh, is it ever a beaut.

Mood

Caffeinated Beverages Consumed

Work-Out Minutes Logged Yesterday

In My Ears

Game Last Played

Dragon Age II

Book Last Read

Movie Last Viewed

Alice in Wonderland

Latest Artistic Project

Latest Fiction/Comic Release

Last ~~Man~~ Zombie Standing

Latest Game Release

Serenity Crew

Wedding Planners Cortex Plus

Shooting Fish

What I’m Working On

Fall, Fiction, and Feeding Heads

Sleepy Cat... So cute...

Phew! It’s been a busy last couple of weeks and I’ve neglected my blog. I should say “shame on me,” but if it’s any consolation, I haven’t even decorated for Halloween yet. Well, more than it already is, anyway. Oh, but this is my favorite season. Already made apple crumble, cinnamon rolls, and dirty chicken and gnocchi. I am eagerly waiting for the world to turn dark so homemade hot chocolate, chicken and dumplings, and pot pies are on the table. Finally got my pumpkins, but one of them has mold on it. Haven’t quite figured out what I want to carve, but I suppose at some point I’ll give in to the owl craze. Thar be paintings on my agenda.

In fiction-land… I’ve been taking an online short story workshop. Might have mentioned it before, but I’ll give a recap after we’re done to talk a little bit more about it. Some writers post about how they want to get “there,” to the point where they don’t have to hone or sharpen skills — I’m not one of them. I’m very self-aware about my work and how my emphasis on different forms of writing (or consumption thereof) affects my fiction. I’m with Michaelangelo on this one. It doesn’t matter where I am in my career or how many years I’ve written — “I am still learning.” The minute I think I’m “good” or get cocky about my abilities… Well, that’s when my work suffers. ‘Course, the opposite is true as well, because then I freeze up and the words just don’t flow. Yes, “word anxiety.” It’s a thing.

Here’s an exercise I wrote recently:

Deadwood was the kind of town that had everythin’. Well, almost everything. You see, it had a barber shop, saloon, pokey — and a whorehouse, too. What it needed was a doctor’s office: nothin’ fancy. Just a small house with one of dem picket fences and a purty l’il lawn. Instead, that good-for-nothin’ mayor cut a deal, the kind that folks are scared to talk about, on account of the people involved in it. Yep, that’s right. Mayor Wilkins went ahead and signed a contract with that good-for-nothin’ varmint: Jackson “Evil Eye” Miller. And what fer? To build a mall. Now, this mall weren’t just any collection of shops, it was built to attract them rich folk. Though the buildings were mighty plain, it was decked out like the President’s mansion when he welcomed that Japanese dignitary. E’erywhere you walked, fresh orchids and blood lilies spilled out of bronze urns. Fine silks were sewn into draperies and the names of all the stores were painted on the windows in gold and silver. If that weren’t enough frippery to impress the nobles, the stores themselves were top end. Why, there wasn’t a shop in that mall that didn’t have something interestin’ to offer folk, something unusual like sweaters made from alpaca wool or tea harvested from hibisucs. That mall was e’erythin’ gentile folk might dream of, which is exactly why Ma’s Diner was such an eyesore. Against such finery, who’d bother dropping by Ma’s dingy log cabin just to order a stack of greasy flapjacks?

I did… And my stomach’s still mighty queasy, too. What was in those pancakes? And what’s “Ma” stand for, anyway? By the way my guts feel, I’m startin’ to worry she’s actually Miller’s mom, bakin’ dead bodies in her l’il diner. Boy, I hope not. Deadwood may be a lot of things, but I shore hope folks ain’t takin’ its name too literally.

Gee, can you tell I’ve been knee-deep in Firefly or what?

In other news, want a great deal on ebooks and feed the hungry at the same time? I’m guessing you do! DriveThruFiction.com is sponsoring a Read and Feed eBook bundle. It retails for $150 but you can pick up over 30 eBooks for twenty bucks. The proceeds will be donated to Feeding America. Both REDWING’S GAMBIT and Eddy Webb’s collection SLICES OF FATE are included in this collection, but there are several others, too! If you want more information, FlamesRising.com has more details.