FS: Author Blogs

Remo Jackson: Up From the Depths is really finished

2012-04-29T21:03:02Z

Not kidding, the story is done, concluded, finished, terminated, what have you. I've gone back and checked to make sure its listed as 'this story is finished' but it still shows it as in progress.

Trust me, the story is finished. The epilogue ends the book.

I've contacted the webmaster here on FS and hopefully that issue will be fixed.

Thank you all who sent me an email regarding that problem.

Kingkey: posting

2012-04-29T20:17:03Z

I'm sorry I haven't posted lately I had two Major Lung surgery's Then when I was feeling better I slipped and broke my Elbow so it's hard to type one handed

Robert McKay: A "new" character

2012-04-23T16:14:25Z

Today I'm posting two short stories featuring an Albuquerque private detective named Kim Il-chae ("Juchae" and "Munchkin's Money"). These stories - as with all my stuff - occur in my Carpenter universe, but unlike the Carpenters she isn't a Christian, and unlike my other stories these aren't romances. My initial idea was that eventually Kim (she goes by her family name, since most Americans are utterly incompetent when it comes to anything foreign) would become a Christian through her relationship with Darvin Carpenter(she helps him out in a couple of the Carpenter stories), but so far all I've done with her is these two shorts, and a novel which I'll post later
on.

Writing entirely from within a woman's head proved both easier and more difficult than I thought. In some respects I did it without any effort (two or three women have looked at my Kim stuff, and they tell me that overall I got it right). But I think I tried too hard, and so there were things in all three Kim stories that weren't right, and it's only after I recently went through all three again that I'm confident that I've eliminated what wasn't right. And at that I may still not have done a completely complete job of fixing the problems. :)

But I do love Kim Il-chae. I love her sense of humor, her toughness, and her way of expressing exasperation with unusual phrases (I wish she wouldn't cuss when she's downright mad, but as I said, she's not a Christian, and I don't allow the actual vulgarities into the record). I love the fact that she's half Korean (both my daughters are, which isn't surprising since my wife is Korean). I love the way she can be utterly professional when it's necessary, and utterly hedonistic when there's time to relax. I've never cared for bubble bath, but I've got my equivalents. :)

Robert McKay: Adown - the story behind the story :)

2012-04-16T17:28:48Z

This week I'm beginning a new non-Carpenter book (though as y'all will remember they still take place in the Carpenter universe). The name is Adown, for reasons which the story itself will make clear.

This is the beginning of what was supposed to be a single novel but grew into a series, which then stalled. I still want, someday, to finish the story, but right now I'm barely writing anything, and have no idea when or if I'll pick up the story of the Hudsons again.

This is, like all the non-Carpenter stories, explicitly Christian. In addition, this one draws from actual history - it retells, here in Albuquerque, the story of Charles and Susannah Spurgeon. You can find plenty of information about Charles (and considerably less about Susannah) in any number of places, but here are some basic facts.

Charles Spurgeon, who was born in 1834 and died in 1892, became famous as the "prince of preachers" while serving as a pastor in London. He was still in his teens when he became the pastor of the New Park Street Chapel, an old and honored Baptist congregation. The church grew rapidly, and after a remodel of the building left the people will still insufficient space the church built a brand new meeting house, the Metropolitan Tabernacle (the church took that name as well). During his ministry this church was the largest single congregation in the world, and people were so eager to hear Spurgeon preach that occasionally he'd instruct the members to stay home one Sunday, whereupon non-members would pack the building.

Spurgeon's published sermons run to over 60 volumes, and publication ceased in 1917 because of a paper shortage - there are still plenty of sermons which have never seen print. In addition he wrote many other books. Most if not all of his output is available through Pilgrim Publications of Pasadena, TX.

Susannah was a member of the church and thought poorly of Spurgeon when he first came to be the pastor. But before long she came to love him, and he to love her, and they got married. They were devoted to each other till his death. After the birth of her twins, their only children, she was largely an invalid for the rest of her life, enduring long separations later in the marriage when Spurgeon's health required him to spend the winter in southern France. Finally, in 1892, she was able to travel with him, and so was there when, after falling down a stairway, he died.

There is little information out there about Susannah Spurgeon, who surely was one of the toughest and wisest women of Christian history. She had to have been both in order to endure what she did, and be a good wife to her famous husband. Though Adown shows both POVs, in a real sense it's about Cassie Hudson, Cassie Hudson that was (in the southern phrase), who represents Susannah Spurgeon. I admire Susannah, and wish I knew more about her. By taking some liberties with history, I was able to sort of satisfy that desire in writing this book.

Robert McKay: Proper English

2012-04-02T17:32:22Z

Every writer has his own style, of course. Faulkner didn't write like Hemingway, who in turn didn't write like Lovecraft, who in turn didn't write like Charlotte Bronte. But every writer - if he is a writer, and not a pretender - knows how to write properly.

There are books out there - with famous names on the cover, and famous imprints on the spine - which contain clear evidence that neither the author nor his editor know how to handle the English language. I'm not talking about such idiosyncrasies as odd notions of where to use semicolons, but actual incorrect English.

For instance, there's the incomplete sentence. If there's one thing English teachers inveighed against when I was in school, it was sentence fragments. But today they're all over the place, and I can't figure out how anyone can ever write or read one without instinctively wanting to fix it, by connecting it to the rest of the sentence.

In addition to problems with correct English (and no, I'm not going to multiply examples ad infinitum ad nauseum - that's not my purpose here) there is the loss of vocabulary. This is very apparent in the media, which seem to know only one word for something that has broken. During the BP oil rig leak (it's not a spill unless the material is in a container and spills, which didn't happen in this case; herein is another example of my point) I never heard a single talking head on TV speak of a burst pipe, nor a broken one, but always of a "busted" pipe. Surely someone somewhere in the vast conglomerations that constitute American media empires could have dug out a thesaurus, and provided a list of synonyms, but clearly no one did so. Nor did anyone catch the fact that "busted" is a colloquialism, a casual usage, which is incorrect English and not appropriate for people who purport to be purveyors of reality to their viewers.

I hope that no one who posts his work here on Fine Stories is incapable of using English correctly. A "writer" who can't use English is fundamentally not one whit different from a "carpenter" who doesn't know how to use a level or drive a nail - he's a fraud. If you don't know how to use English, then you're not a writer. You may do something with words, but it isn't writing - just as a "carpenter" who doesn't know how to use his tools might manage to accomplish something, but the result isn't carpentry. I devoutly hope that everyone who here presents himself as a writer is competent in the use of the language, for that is the sole tool a writer possesses.

Years ago, when the Worldwide Web wasn't even 10 years old and when people spoke of the Internet they meant ftp, gopher, and e-mail, I encountered in cyberspace someone who claimed to be a writer. On one occasion he said something to me - I have no idea what, now - and I replied to it. He sent me back an angry message, castigating me for responding to what he hadn't meant. It turned out that what he had intended to say was the exact opposite of what he had typed. That person might have been any number of things, but he was no writer; no one can legitimately claim to be a writer who is so unable to use his mother tongue that he says exactly contrary to what he wants to say.

Because of my computer situation (which I won't go into here) I'm able to post my stuff, generally on a weekly basis, but it's just not feasible for me to read others' writing (I am trying to figure out how to overcome the disability, but haven't yet conjured up a workable plan). I hope that what I'm missing is good writing, rather than poor writing. I would hate to think that people are posting here in English who just don't know how to speak English.

Of course no writer is perfect. I certainly am far from perfection. I catch errors every time I go through something I've written, even if I've already proofread it a dozen times. But we can improve.

And aside from the hackneyed advice about how to improve (practice, practice, practice), there is an invaluable aid to writer well. One must read. Someone who never reads, will never be able to write - at least not well. No matter how many classes someone takes in creative writing (I am afraid that there is such a thing as writing which isn't creative - it infests Madison Avenue; the writing in the average ad is abysmally awful), if he never reads anything, he'll never be able to write anything that's worth his trouble. And he certainly won't ever write anything that's worth the trouble of trying to read.

Therefore, read. I could name author after author, but tastes differ, and what I enjoy others might find tedious, irritating, or incomprehensible. I shall, therefore, only recommend one name, because of all the authors I've ever read he had the most comprehensive command of the English language. I speak of William F. Buckley, Jr.

Now it may be that I'm the only one who's ever been to this site or ever will come here who agrees with Buckley's politics. That's all right - you needn't even read his political stuff to learn from him (though you can certainly learn from what he wrote on politics). Read his books on sailing. Read his books on his daily life. Read his novels (they're not as good as the sailing or mini-biography volumes, but still...). Read his English. Pass over, if you wish, his occasional Latin or French phrases (that's what I do, since I don't speak French or Latin, and would rather be mute than learn French). Examine how Buckley used English. Note not merely the $64 words, of which he had an abundance, but the ordinary words, and the way he used them. Don't emulate him, necessarily (I especially urge you not to emulate his use of the passive voice - that's the most flabby, pretentious aspect of the English language), but learn from him. There are right and wrong ways to put words together into sentences, just as there are right and wrong ways to put together an internal combustion engine, and if there's anything you can learn from Buckley, it's the right way to do it.

Celtic Bard: Reign of Madness news

2012-04-02T01:45:23Z

Reign of Madness is now out in trade paperback. See http://jmfhildebrandt.livejournal.com/ for details and about my thoughts on what I am working on.

Celtic Bard: New Future Distorted

2012-03-22T00:14:15Z

All right people, I finally finished up the next chapter of Future Distorted. It is on the short side and those of you on Finestories only get the slightly edited version (due to graphic sexual content not allowed on FS). For further on this see my external blog at http://jmfhildebrandt.livejournal.com/. I got a couple of other things to say there as well, so give it a look.

Robert McKay: Who I am & where I come from & all that stuff :)

2012-03-19T16:37:56Z

It occurs to me that there might be one person somewhere in the world who's interested not just in my stories, but in the guy who writes them. I know I get interested in authors (though the only one I'd ever even think of asking for an autograph died when I was not quite a year old), and while I'm by no means as famous or interesting as even the least famous or interesting published author, I though I'd say a bit about myself anyway.

I was born in 1960 in Hawthorne, California, which is part of LA (but not part of Los Angeles, a distinction which may be dying out now, but which was very important when I was young). As far as I know I've never been in Hawthorne since then. I lived my first 10 years in various parts of LA - I only remember specifically McClaren Hall, which is part of the juvenile system, a foster family in Glendora, and finally the foster family who raised me from the time I was 5, in Azusa.

In 1970 we moved to Clayton, Washington, which is about 25 miles north of Spokane. We lived there for three years, and then moved to a place we'd had for years in Lanfair Valley, which is in the Mojave Desert of California. It's the desert, and especially Lanfair Valley, that I consider home, though my "hometown" is Goffs, which we could see from our "new 20" - a place we bought south of Hackberry Pass in Fenner Valley, where we moved in a trailer house, and put in a septic tank and water tank. We hauled our water 10 miles from Goffs, which was south of us - the best water I've ever tasted.

I went to school, while living in the desert, in Needles, which is famous for three things. First, it's frequently the hottest place in the country during the summer (120 isn't uncommon...and since the city's right on the Colorado River, the humidity can be 90% or higher), Snoopy's brother Spike lives there, and it got a mention in a song by Three Dog Night. Otherwise it's undistinguished, though it was, being only 40 miles from home, the closest town of 5,000 people. We shopped mostly in Needles, though we'd sometimes go over into Arizona and up the river to Bullhead City. Bullhead is across the river from what is now Laughlin, Nevada, but at the time was just the other side of the river.

In December of 1977 we moved back to Clayton. It was there that I graduated from high school (the first time we lived there I went to Clayton Elementary, in a brick building going back to 1914, but for high school I had to ride the bus into Deer Park). Two weeks after I graduated I was in the Air Force, going through basic training at Lackland AFB near San Antonio, Texas. I went to tech school at Sheppard AFB, near Wichita Falls, Texas, and then went to Osan AB, Korea.

I was in Korea for a year, and while I was there I met and married my wife, in August of 1979. We came back to the States in December of 79, and I spent the rest of my time in the Air Force at Tinker AFB, in Midwest City, Oklahoma.

After I got out of the Air Force in the summer of 1982 I got a job in Oklahoma City, which lasted a few months - until I was in two wrecks in two months, couldn't afford another car, couldn't ride the bus because there wasn't any, and couldn't ride with anyone else because no one on my shift lived anywhere near me. After some dislocations we wound up living with my aunt and grandmother in Cisco, Texas. It was while there that I became a Christian, in January of 1983. I surrendered to preach in March, and preached my first sermon on Easter Sunday evening that year.

Meanwhile we'd had a daughter, in 1980, and our second daughter was born in 1983 while we were living in Cisco. Then in October of that year we moved to Marlow, Oklahoma, where I began writing for a Christian apologetics paper. We were there until 1986, when I became associate pastor of East Tawakoni Baptist Church in Texas.

We were there for about 18 months, and then a combination of church finances and church politics caused me to resign. We moved to Garland, which is a suburb of Dallas, and I got a secular job. After a bit we moved to Farmers Branch, into a nicer apartment, because our finances had improved. We stayed there until 1989, when we went back to Marlow, to the same job.

The Southern Baptist Convention took over the organization in 1991, but my duties remained essentially the same - research, writing, and speaking. During this time I became the pastor of First Baptist Church, Rush Springs, and we moved into the parsonage there. It was a small church (the big church in town was First Southern Baptist) so necessity as well as choice kept me working full-time for the apologetics ministry. I was the pastor there for 18 months or so, resigning when it became clear that the church just wasn't interested in doing anything different than it had been doing for years. Sadly, the church disbanded not long after that.

During this second period in Marlow I began first reading, and then writing, poetry. A number of my poems appeared in an online journal called Autumn Leaves. It ceased publication when the editor died, and now that her husband has died as well the site (www.sondra.net) may no longer be up. I haven't yet found an outlet for my poetry, but I do have submissions in here and there, and hope to find somewhere I can publish again.

In 1996 and 1997 Southern Baptist politics spat the apologetics ministry out, and in 97 we left Marlow and moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, where we've been ever since. Perhaps a year after we came here I became an elder of Albuquerque Sovereign Grace Baptist Church, while working a secular job. I was with that church for two or three years, and then moved to Heritage Christian Fellowship, a nondenominational church where I've been ever since. My last pastoral position was with ASGBC - my "preaching" has taken other forms.

In late 2004 I found myself in an emotional upheaval, one result of which was to remind me just how much I love my wife. I decided to write two or three short stories about our marriage, and resurrected a character I'd tried out a couple of years before, and gotten nowhere with - Darvin Carpenter. In his original incarnation he was much rougher, he had been in the Air Force and married a Korean lady, and was now a widower. In the new version he began never having been married, he's never been in the military, and he's emphatically not a hard boiled character. Obviously you can read all about him in the stories I've already posted, and the ones I'm currently posting. :)

Those two or three short stories turned into a furious spate of fiction that lasted until 2009. After I finished The Chief in that year my output slowed way down - I've only completed one Carpenter novel in that time, and the one currently underway has been moving very slowly for several months now, in contrast to earlier books which I wrote in two or three weeks.

Also part of what I call my fiction "spurt" were several romance novels, which take place in the Carpenter universe though they focus on other characters. Some of them are very good (or so I think), and some of them aren't so great - none of them, in my estimation, are quite as good as some of the writing I've done in the Carpenter series.

And that's my biography, such as it is, and FWIW. :)

Remo Jackson: Chapter 90

2012-03-17T18:43:59Z

Chapter 90 effectively ends the saga of Up From the Depths. While there are still unanswered questions as to who lives and who dies, that is best left for another day.

I want to thank all of you who continued reading it although there wasn't a set posting schedule. What you have read is the 'beta' version of the novel that had heavily redacted and edited chapters. None of the chapters no matter how long they were, were the full length chapters as they appear in the novel.

This was done to generate interest and feedback to determine if this was something to legitimately seek real world publication.

While the planned end of the novel was chapter 100, that has changed given the shortened chapters as they appear here on this site.

Not to worry, you the reader didn't miss out on anything major that affected the overall storyline. If you read it from start to finish, you know what's it about and hopefully enjoyed the ride along the way.

The epilogue will close out some of the character plot lines but does leave open the possibility of a second book. Doing a second book remains to be seen based on time constraints and real world issues that will, obviously, affect writing and research.

To all of you that sent me feedback, thank you.

Your efforts are very much appreciated and I read each and every single one that came my way.

I want to send out a big thank you to all my proofreaders and editors. Without you, this story would be a convoluted mess.

DormDad: OK Life sucks!

2012-03-13T01:50:17Z

I was wondering what else life could throw at me me this year and I got illness, major back pain and more Government trouble. I am sorting through that and the bombshell drops. My brother is diagnosed with prostate cancer. By February 13th he is gone. Family are like crows on a carcass. My thought sell it all split it up and go. After all of this I have not kept up my writing. Shame on me. Will try to rectify that. Coming out with new story that I hope you will enjoy.

Robert McKay: Enjoying

2012-03-05T17:24:34Z

Without planning on it, I wound up reading through most of the Carpenter novels. This morning I finished Life Is Short, the next to last finished book, and I'll soon begin reading Sweet Home Alabama, the last one I wrote.

Part of this is proofreading, of course. No matter how many times I go through my stuff, there's still room for improvement. I still find typographical errors, and I often find things that I can rewrite in a better way. I'll find things that need clarification, and stuff that's simply superfluous (Strunk and White insist that writers omit needless words, and they're right).

But I also enjoy reading my own work. I don't know how common that is among writers, but I like reading about Darvin, Cecelia, and Darlia. I don't often go back to my other stuff (that is, the stories that take place in the Carpenter universe but aren't about the Carpenters), but over the years I've reread my Carpenter novels several times, and always enjoyed it.

The benefit for y'all is that when I come to post each book, it'll have had another review, and consequently it'll be better than it was before I reread it. :)

Remo Jackson: Up From the Depths is now complete

2012-03-01T19:02:21Z

Up From the Depths is now complete with the last few chapters with the editors.

This version is what could be referred to as the 'Beta vers. 1.2' which means the rewrite to the rewrite but not the final rewrite.

Does that make any sense?

Over the course of receiving notes, input and edits from my team of editors and proofreaders, some minor changes were made that I feel add to the storyline. These changes have been inserted as noted in the previous blog post.

Now on to the final edit and with luck, possible real world publication. I will be submitting query letters to a few publishers and researching more into self-publishing to determine what the best option will be.

Thank you to all my editors for their hard work, without them, this would still be a half-assed attempt at a zombie apocalypse novel.

Thank you to all my readers, the 5 of you who actually send me emails about the novel. You know who you are and I hope you have enjoyed the wild ride that this work has taken you on.

Robert McKay: Where the titles come from

2012-02-27T20:19:24Z

I've given the titles of my novels, some of which I've either posted or am posting here (the rest I plan to post, with one probable exception). But it occurs to me that, since I'm not posting the title pages, the titles may puzzle some people (or not, but I sure don't know). I am, therefore, giving here the sources of the title, first for the actual Carpenter books and then for the ones that are in the Carpenter universe, but aren't Carpenter stories.

CARPENTER BOOKS
1. Half-Life
From the title page: "The half-life of plutonium is 24,000 years." --Glenn Seaborg, co-discoverer of plutonium." And from the book itself, where Darvin tells Cecelia, " I love you – for a million times the half-life of plutonium." I can't post this one yet for reasons I may explain another time, and probably won't in any event.
2. Red Hawk
This one's simple - the story recounts Darvin's first trip to Red Hawk, OK, since he left in the 1980s.
3. A Wall of Fire
This comes from the epigraph: "'For I,' declares the LORD, 'will be a wall of fire around her, and I will be the glory in her midst.'" (Zech. 2:5 NASB; unless I specify otherwise all quotes are from this version)
4. Where You Go
This also comes from the epigraph, which is also a quotation from the Bible, this time from Ruth, which is one of my favorite books: "Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God." (1:16)
5. Something
Again the epigraph, but not the Bible this time. It's Edward Abbey, in a Time-Life book on the desert (IIRC the title is Cactus Country) quoting what a friend once told him: "There's something about the desert."
6. Angels’ Hands
We're back to the Bible again, this time Psalm 91:11-13, which says, "For He will give His angels charge concerning you,/To guard you in all your ways./They will bear you up in their hands,/That you do not strike your foot against a stone./You will tread upon the lion and cobra,/The young lion and the serpent you will trample down."
7. Unalienable Rights
This comes from the Declaration of Independence, where Thomas Jefferson wrote, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness..." I find that I didn't create a title page for this one.
8. Dead and Over
This comes from something Darvin says about his friendship with Straight: "It was a friendship which probably should never have existed. But it’s over now – dead and over."
9. Do Not Despise
We come back to the Bible here, which supplied the epigraph for the book: "See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven continually see the face of My Father who is in heaven." (Matt. 18:10)
10. A Strong Woman
The epigraph here is Proverbs 31:17. The title isn't a direct quote from the epigraph, this time: "She girds herself with strength/And makes her arms strong."
11. The Chief
This one refers to Darvin, who has become the chief of police in Red Hawk for a year.
12. Life Is Short
This one came, believe it or not, from Stephen King. In Firestarter a helpful man says to Charlie's father, "Life is short and pain is long and we were all put on this earth to help each other." The serial murderer in my novel quotes only the first part of this, and uses it to justify his actions.
13. Sweet Home Alabama
Lynyrd Skynyrd fans will recognize this - it's the title of one of their most famous songs. I used it ironically, because the book takes place in Alabama, which on this occasion proves to be anything but sweet.

NON-CARPENTER NOVELS
1. Flower In the Wind
Alan McGee says to Alison, his new wife who has just left prostitution, "You’re fragile, I know, a flower in the wind. And I don’t want that wind to blow the petals off."
2. Genesis
The narrator's name is Genesis Carter.
3. Adown
This is the Hebrew word for lord which Sarah used when addressing her husband, Abraham. Cassie Hudson uses it as an endearment when talking to her husband Yirmeyah.
4. The Walking Wounded
Karin Seguín says to her OB-GYN, who's still mourning her dead husband, "I guess we’re the walking wounded – me, you, and Kevin."
5. One Flesh
Now we come back to the Bible, which provides the epigraph. It's Genesis 2:20-24, and I won't quote it since it's a fairly long passage.
6. Hadassah
The main character's name is Hadassah Garvin, that being Esther's original name in the book of that name.
7. High Flight
This is the title of a poem by Pilot Officer John Gillespie Magee of the Royal Canadian Air Force, who died in World War II. I've loved the poem for decades, and when I came to write a novel featuring two characters who are in the US Air Force I immediately thought of the poem. If you remember the days when TV stations went off the air at midnight you have likely heard this poem - they would frequently play someone reading it before ceasing to broadcast for the night.

Allan Kindred: reposting second chances

2012-02-24T04:22:03Z

I just reposted Second Chances because the way I had it set up it didn't format correctly. Hopefully it will come out better. As for other people doing a chapter it's looking to be more trouble than it is worth, but if for some reason somebody wants to do a chapter we can work it between us and then I would post it with the notation of who wrote the chapter.
Or something like that.
I will continue to add to it. Thank you for reading.

Lance Manne: A Common Man...A Hero!

2012-02-22T02:20:49Z

“Time, it doth so quickly pass. One blink, we are in our youth. Another blink, we are old and feeble.” LM

I went to a ceremony last week, honoring a World War II veteran. He received the French Legion of Honour medal. This is the highest honor that France bestows. This medal originated with Napoleon Bonaparte. It was designed to be a medal for all men, not just the nobility. To earn the medal, one had to exhibit merit or bravery.

I drove the roads of France, last year, as I took this old soldier back to the scene of his youth. We tried to find the road where the sniper had fired upon him, but too much had changed over the last sixty seven years.

It was powerful to see this old soldier stand, on wobbly legs, and received his medal. I could not help but think, of the many young men that never made that trip back home.

I told him that he received that medal, not only for his actions, but also for the many that gave their lives, so that we might be free.

Allan Kindred: my latest posting - second chances

2012-02-21T22:36:40Z

I don't like the way it laid out. My fault. I should have called part one, chapter one. I should have called part two, chapter two and I should have called story one, chapter three. So when it comes to other people doing a part of it they would in aspect be writing a chapter so they will all need to come from the same place and build towards the same goal, which is helping ghosts fulfill their second chance and get into heaven. Magical objects and adventures can be a part of the overall journey.
I'm not sure if this qualifies to be turned into a universe.
Anyway, I'm slowly learning and getting back up to speed.
Thank you for your patience and I am willing to listen to any and all ideas.
Allan Kindred.

Stultus: More Updates...

2012-02-21T14:01:36Z

I often forget that this Blog exists. I keep my main author Blog (see Forum link on my Author page) updated at least once a week (often more) and I try to also update my SOL Blog whenever I have a new posting.

I've been tweaking older stories lately. I've written about 70 but not all of them are suitable for FS. As I've reedited, some of these stories ought to get posted here - sooner rather than later.

I've been in school most of the last year and my writing time these days is minimal. New stories get posted on SOL first... then later to Lit and also here.

Celtic Bard: New Chapter

2012-02-19T05:49:05Z

I have a new announcement going up on my external blog at http://jmfhildebrandt.livejournal.com/ regarding a new chapter being posted and what I am hoping to work on next for you all.

Terriblethom: Brain Fart

2012-02-13T17:09:52Z

Well I am at an impasse as to the final books of both stories. Oh Hell No as well as The protector. I have decided to just drop it for awhile and write a Zombie Story. Maybe that will help get me back on track. Hang in there readers I will get them finished.

Remo Jackson: Coming to the conclusion and some minor changes

2012-02-13T17:33:17Z

Up From the Depths is coming to a close and with that there are some minor changes.

One is with the character or Deke Mills, a captain with 1st SFG(A) and OIC of ODA141. His last name remains the same but his first has been changed to Declan and he is referred to as Deck for short.

The other minor change is with the SEAL team, Team Shark. They will remain Shark but are now part of SEAL Team 3, Shark Platoon, Detachment Golf. This breaks down their configuration into a smaller unit and adds a bit more realism.

You may notice these references in the upcoming chapters.

There are also some interesting twists and developments that will happen as the story winds down to its end. If there are characters that seem to have short segments in these future chapters, don't worry, more detail of what happened to them will occur in Book 2 in the form of a flashback.

All that remains to be seen is who will live and who will die as we march towards the conclusion.

Wandering Lanes: What's Happening? - Not a lot!

2012-02-10T10:21:31Z

I've been told off by Gnume for not keeping everyone up to date with the progress of my work ...

It's like the old sign, Danger Bulldozing in progress, except there is no Danger, I'm not progressing, I seem to be dozing and the sign is Bull!

I've just started chapter 8 of Mages of Zorba'n (don't worry if you think you've missed the first seven, you haven't. I'm trying to get the story written first before posting)

I have to also apologise to my proof-readers as I've not sent them anything since before Christmas. It's me at fault not them and I'm happy to send my work to them if they're prepared to take me on again? (I will be emailing them directly)

So I'm sorry for the delay and please bear with me in this.

WL
(If you're checking this after reading the SOL blog pages, this is exactly the same message ... well except for this part that is!)

Celtic Bard: Please Read

2012-02-07T08:10:33Z

I have a new announcement on my external blog at http://jmfhildebrandt.livejournal.com/. It has to do with Reign of Madness as well as an explanation of what I have been up to lately and what my plans are as of now. There is also a snippet of something I have been working on but have not yet finished. Something new for the Magic at War Universe, unfortuately, and not anything most of you have been waiting for. Sorry about that. Give my x-blog a look and you will get more details.

Robert McKay: On the content of the non-Carpenter novels...

2012-02-06T17:26:58Z

As y'all know by now, I've started posting my non-Carpenter stories as well as the Carpenter series. The non-Carpenter stuff is related to the Carpenter books - they all in some way connect to the Carpenters' church, and in some of them the Carpenters make an appearance. But unlike the Carpenter stories, the non-Carpenter stuff is explicitly Christian fiction (the Carpenter stories aren't un-Christian, but it's about people who happen to be Christians, rather than having an explicit Christian message).

I've been reviewing these non-Carpenter stories, and found some things in them that I'd forgotten I wrote. It's nothing I'm ashamed of - but at the same time I realize that it's a bit stronger, sometimes, than you'll find in books that issue from Christian publishers.

I've never submitted anything to a Christian publishing house, but I've conversed with people who have, and it seems that there's an unwritten standard that excludes anything "controversial." It seems, based on what these individuals have told me, that Christian fiction publishers only accept books which are sweet, uplifting, and don't deal with some of the difficult issues that face the church.

I refuse to write that way. Like it or not - and I don't - the church has to face such things as prostitution, teenage sex, adultery, hypocrisy, and unmarried mothers. Like it or not, these things are sometimes in the church - not because they're part of Christianity, but because human beings comprise the church, and act like human beings.

And even if these things didn't come into the church, the church would still have to deal with them because of the Great Commission. Jesus commanded His people to go, and wherever they go, to make disciples. He didn't say that we can go everywhere that people are upright and moral, but just that we are to go everywhere. That means that our message goes to prostitutes, teenagers who are having sex, adulterers, hypocrites, and unmarried women who have children.

And so for the church - and Christian fiction - to ignore these things is to first ignore the reality of the world as it is, and second to pretend that Jesus didn't say what He said (or, if you want to reverse the formulation, that He said what He didn't say). In my opinion Christian publishers, by choosing to omit books that face such matters from their catalogs, are eviscerating the Christian faith as it appears in the books they issue.

I don't dodge such matters - in part because I'm not, after all, ambitious about publication. If someone were to offer to buy one of my books, and publish it, I wouldn't turn him down - but my purpose in writing isn't to get into print. It's to write. It's the writing that's important to me. Publication, if it ever comes, will be gravy.

And so in my non-Carpenter books you'll find a biker who's whored and done drugs and sold drugs and fought and quite possibly killed someone. You'll find a woman whose father raped her, and who wound up a prostitute, and after she marred a good Christian man fled from him and returned to prostitution. You'll find married couples who, in their conversations with each other, don't pretend that they never have sex. You'll find people who struggle with sexual desire. You'll find, in short, real people.

Because of this, though nothing in anything I've ever written is pornographic or close to it, there is some strong material. There are subjects which, to put it bluntly, parents ought to be discussing with their children instead of being either lazy or cowards and letting the schools do the job. There are things which are proper for parents to discuss with their children - but not for me to discuss with other parents' children.

And so some of the non-Carpenter books will have an age rating on them (I appreciate the fact that Fine Stories permits this). It's not that they're wicked, but rather that I'm not going to expose someone's child to something that it's the parents' business to talk to that child about.

And since that's what I wanted to say, I'll stop typing now. :)

Autumn Writer: A Poll: Left or Center?

2012-02-03T02:34:08Z

I have been presenting my poetry on a centered format. Recently, a few readers have said that the have a tough time, visually, with the centered format and requested left-justified. Others, however, say they they like it centered.

I like centered, myself, but I like what readers like even more. So, you would be doing me a great favor by letting me know which you prefer.

AW

Lance Manne: Walking on thin ice.

2012-02-02T13:14:24Z

Last week, I had a little difficulty in completing my schedule for writing in “Canoeing.” At the beginning of the week; I had decided to take a walk with my son. The sun was shining and the day was relatively warm, for our part of the country. We both grabbed a walking stick and headed down a wildlife trail.

We soon came to the creek, which I really enjoy. A week before, I had witnessed a special sight. The setting sun had filled the sky with glorious colors. A house in the distance looked like an old rugged cabin. The water was rushing through the creek, along the snow covered banks. Unfortunately, I had forgotten my camera, or I would have had a great picture.

On this trip, I found the creek to be mostly frozen. There was an open spot, but it was only about three inches deep. We sat on a fallen log and enjoyed the scenery. I wanted to explore the creek a little more, so I began to walk, slowly along the edge, tapping my stick as I tested the ice. People have been dying around here, because of the warm weather and the thin ice.

The ice felt strong and I thought I could spot the thin areas. Suddenly, my left foot broke through the ice. My leg went all the way in, up to the top of my thigh. My right leg completely folded and I landed with all my weight on my right foot. The ice under my right foot held. I believe my right knee was hyper-extended and my right foot was badly bruised.

I have been hobbling every since. My son helped me up and I gingerly walked home. My foot is all purple and very sore. I guess that’s what makes life so interesting. You never know what is around the corner.