Another One Bites The Dust / Happenings In The Outhouse 01-Nov-2024

Last week, I read a blog post from an author I follow and . . . well, I'm not going to name this author nor even imply if it's a he or her.  Anyway, this author went on a raging post of blatant BS about why they are voting for a particular candidate and, once again, is completely blind to the one they're advocating for.  This author's spouse is also an author, and is quite a bit more vocal about it.

To put it mildly, I am blacklisting this author from my reading list.  What's disheartening is that I have learned a lot from them from Kickstarter campaigns and other writing courses--oops, did I say too much?  Maybe it will narrow down who it is?

I don't care.

Much like other authors that I have written off for their blatant ignorant political views, I am adding another one to that list (I already unfollowed and written off the spouse, who is a LOT more focal).  I deleted the RSS feed for the blog, will scrub them off of my social media feed, and will not have anything more to do with them.

Period.

Am I being dramatic?

Again, I don't care.  Politics and the entertainment field do not mix.  No matter what side of the aisle you are on, they do . . . not . . . mix.  Period.

Rant over . . .

Questions / Happenings In The Outhouse 25-Oct-2024

"How's the book coming along?" someone is bound to ask me.  At any time.

My reply is usually, "Which one?"

"Oh," they will respond back, "you have more than one?"

*sigh*

Although it has been a while since publishing my last novel (July 2023), I still write every single day.  My focus this year has been compiling short stories, learning more of the writing craft, and submitting these short stories for publication.

I still have over 30 published works.

Now, when I look to 2025, my focus may change once again and you may see more published works.  I'll still do short stories and work at publication that way, but you may see other novels being published too.

Reviewing Feedback / Happenings In The Outhouse 18-Oct-2024

Another short one today.

Over the weekend, I submitted a few more short stories for consideration for publication.

I'm going through the ones that are left open, adding in a bio as well as an afterword for each one.  I'm reviewing previous feedback and am surprised at how well some were received.

Keep moving forward.  Keep learning.  Keep having fun at what you love to do.

What's In Mind For The Rest Of 2024 / Happenings In The Outhouse 11-Oct-2024

At the start of the fourth quarter of the year, 2024, I'm mindful of what I have left to be done . . . as well as looking forward to what my plans for 2025 might be.

Wow, 2025!  Hard to believe with so much going on, in my personal, work, and creative life.  Seems like yesterday it was 2000 and then 2010 and 2020 . . .

But before we look to the future, to 2025, we have three more months left of the year.  My focus this year has been short stories, getting as many written as possible, and submitting as many as possible for publication.  I have gotten tremendous feedback, despite the lack of offers, but I can feel myself becoming a stronger writer.

Learning is a huge part.  I have taken a number of educational classes taught by the prolific Dean Wesley Smith.  One major class, which has had a huge impact, are the depth classes.  Those gave me a whole new perspective on stories and how they're told.

I'm going back through all of the short stories I have written since the middle of 2023 (there are a ton of them!) and adding in a bio along with an afterword.  It's been great fun rereading some of these stories and possibly coming up with a new series for a few of them.

Show Up Like It Is The First / Happenings In The Outhouse 04-Oct-2024

Last weekend, my wife and I, along with two of her cousins, went to the final Minnesota Twins game of the season.  They were already out of the playoffs, so either winning or losing the game didn't matter for their team's standing.

However, if that game was someone's first time at a Twins game, whether the players played to win or lose, they should always play as if it's someone's first time there.  Someone may have spent their entire lives wanting to go to a game, even saved for the trip.

The same goes with musicians and concerts.  They should always play as if it's their first concert for someone, their first experience.

Authors are also not immune to this.  Every story should be written as if it's someone's first time reading your story.  Don't treat it like a throwaway story.

By the way, the Twins lost that game too, six to two against the Baltimore Orioles.  Was it a throwaway game?  Some have opinions.  I'll keep mine to myself because I had a good time and, not being a sports fan, I don't like criticizing another player for something I could never do.

Diabetes in Books, Movies, Etc. / Happenings In The Outhouse 27-Sept-2024

First, I have already compiled a list of blog posts concerning diabetes for you to gander.

Done?  Good.  Let us begin . . .

Take pretty much anything, from lung cancer to diabetes and from firearms to plumbing, and the portrayal of it can be either done well or poorly.  Stephen King wrote in his book On Writing that if you have a great knowledge about plumbing and love science fiction, how about writing from the POV of a plumber in space?  Interesting concept, for sure.

Now, one can write very rudimentary and broad about a given topic, but when it comes to specifics, please get your facts right.  In firearms, Glocks do not have safeties like other handguns (they are in the trigger) and there is no hammer to cock back.  I have nearly stopped reading books because of an error like this.  It's annoying!

How about diabetes?  Trust me, I have more knowledge about it than I know what to do with.  But with my children, living with it day-after-day, they know more than me.

One of my daughters recently read a book where the main character had type 1 diabetes (T1D) and the author got it completely wrong!  Not only wrong, it was so wrong on so many levels that a simple Google search would fix many of the problems the author had.

I am currently writing a short story where the main character is a nuclear engineer on a spaceship.  I know virtually nothing about being a nuclear engineer, or being on a spaceship for that matter, but I'll gloss over what I need and that's it.

It's all about the story anyway.

But if you're writing about someone with diabetes and if their blood sugars are in the 70's, it's probably not the end of the world.  If it was in the 20's, yeah, that's an emergency and nothing else matters for the diabetic.  Also, when it comes to diabetes pumps, again, please get the facts right.  They're not all the same and each has their little . . . quirks.

QR Codes (Ways To Hinder An Easy Buy) / Happenings In The Outhouse 20-Sept-2024

Ever since one of my daughters went off to her first year of college, we have visited her a few times, to take her to brunch/lunch, and to bring her things that she needed.

One thing I noticed lately was on one of these visits, when we took her to lunch.  It was our second time at this restaurant--one featured on Guy Fieri's Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives--so we knew the food was good.  But the main difference I noticed between this restaurant and others was that the menu could only be accessed by a QR code.

Okay, you may ask what's the big deal?

The big deal is: what is someone doesn't have a smartphone?  Also, when I asked a few people who were of the older generation, they didn't have a clue what a QR code was.

During our last visit, we took our daughter to a diner for brunch.  I had the French toast, which was like eating a cinnamon roll.  My wife had a pancake that was as big as her plate--she couldn't even eat it all.  But in order to reserve a table, you had to scan a QR code and reserve a table.

Hmmm, again, same question as before.

How's this for an interesting concept: I get why a restaurant owner may want to run their business this way, but in doing so it alienates a segment of the population.  And if you're alienating a segment of the population, what other barriers are you putting in place that hinders an easy buy?