Happenings In The Outhouse 28-Jun-2013 / Moving forward

I'm crossing my fingers.  I've never submitted anything to a small press before, but a few days ago I did.  Beholder's Eye (well, the first two chapters and a synopsis) are in the hands of a great small press, one that publishes a lot of horror and thriller novels.

It's a long shot, I know.  But at least I'm giving it a shot.  If it doesn't work out, I'll just self-publish it like I did with Guest of Honor.

No, I will not share the name of the small press.

I'm also participating in Brandon Sanderson's 2013 Summer writing class, to be seen online at Write About Dragons.com.  Originally, I had an idea for a new series of stories, but at the last minute decided against it because the idea needs a lot more brainstorming.  Instead, I'm taking the prologue to a fantasy epic novel I wrote years ago and am writing the story behind it.  It's something I've always wanted to tackle, and felt that at this time I should do so.

I'm also nearing the end of my inspirational novelette--oh, I am so close word-count wise to being a novelette.

I have a lot going on.  I'm moving forward.

What are you doing to move yourself forward in your life?

Where will you be 20 years from now?

Twenty years.  Two freaking decades.  Seems like a long time, doesn't it?

Where were you 20 years ago?  I was in college, Bemidji State University, and was probably at work on my very first novel--a deer hunting horror story that was a pure homage to Stephen King.

How about you?

Over the past week or so, I've been listening to podcasts where people are marking 20 years (or more) for something.  Dave Ramsey has been on the radio, teaching financial independence and debt freedom for a little over two decades.  Andy Andrews recently published a book he started as an audio book 20 years ago.

Then it got me thinking: what have I done in the past 20 years?  I met my wife, got married, raised a family, and have battled both type 1 diabetes (in two of our three children) and leukemia (my wife).  Now I look at what the next 20 will bring.

Are you planning for your next 20 years?

What will you accomplish?  Don't wait to start.  Do it now.  The world needs you.

Tales of a diabetic father: the dangers of sugar tabs

A few years ago, someone we know had a devastating experience.  They had a counselor come into their home to help with their young child, as they thought the child may have a learning disability.  In the counseling period, the counselor noticed some of the supplies for their older diabetic child was in easy reach of the younger child.

The counselor--although I'm sure who meant well, even though they were ignorant of the situation and could've been explained it with a simple conversation with the parents--contacted social services as she felt it posed a threat to the younger child.  Social services, in turn, immediately stormed the family's home as if they were a S.W.A.T. team.

The supplies in question were sugar tabs.

In other words, in the hands of someone who is not diabetic, candy.  Honestly, I've never tasted them but my children who are diabetic say it tastes like candy.  Sugar tabs are used when diabetics have low blood glucose levels.

Do you need to be put them up and lock them away as if they were syringes or "finger poker" needles?  No, that's absurd.  When you need them the most is during low blood sugar times, which are stressful enough without having to question the location of these little buggers.  I can see if it's a very young child and they're afraid of swallowing them.  Yes, they could pose a danger then.

But the child in question was not.

Keep in mind the ignorance of others who do not have to deal with diabetes on a daily basis.  Don't yell at them or put them down.  They simply do not know.

Educate them.  Repeatedly, if you have to.

Because ignorance is rampant when it comes to diabetes.

Help! I have stories in my head that need to get out!

Last week, I saw a Facebook post where the person said something like, "Help!  I have stories in my head and I have a full-time job!  How do I get started?"

I sometimes forget that there are other people who are not as far ahead in their writing process as I.  Some have never started--or worse, don't even know where to start.

Let's start with the notion you have lots of stories and don't know which one to pick.  Here's what I suggest: sit down with a blank piece of paper and write down as many of the ideas as you can.  Some will be more fully-formed than others.  If this takes more than one day, so be it.

When you've exhausted your list, you'll also find that you're creating room for even more.  This is the fun part of writing: coming up with new ideas.  Be a magnet for new ideas.  Also, find an easy way to collect those ideas, be it a notebook or "Stickie" or Smartphone.  Trust me, you'll want to write these down.

Look over your list.  Pick a half-dozen (or less) that really jump out at you.  There will be at least one.  Once you've narrowed the list down, ask yourself which one is the most fully-formed.  If there are none, just pick one.  I don't care how: flip a coin or draw straws or the old eenie-meanie-miney-moe.

Now that you have your story chosen, sit down and write.  Set a daily goal or x amount of words or pages.  Write your accomplishments down on a calendar so you can track your progress.  I don't care if you have a full-time job and three kids.  At one time, when my now fourteen-year-old son was born, I worked three jobs: one full-time and two part-time.  I don't recommend it, for there were days I worked literally twenty-four hours straight.

And yet I still wrote.

You can do it.  Write for fifteen minutes to start with.  Then expand it to more.

Yes, you can do it.  It doesn't matter what it looks like.  The craft of writing will get better with practice over time.

Happenings In The Outhouse 21-Jun-2013 / Anniversary!

For over sixteen years, I've had a reason to write.  Prior to having met "the reason" I wrote because I wanted to make money.  It was for selfish reasons, but everything clicked into place once I met this person.  Let me share:

Cute, isn't she?  Yes, I mean the one on the left--not the doofus on the right.

Today is our sixteenth wedding anniversary.  Two years ago, I almost lost her to AML: Acute Myeloid Leukemia.  We're still not out of the water, even though she's still in remission.  It's at least a five year wait before we know for certain.  This week has been extremely difficult because she's been having problems with her eyes and had surgery on one of them.  I won't go into detail quite yet.

Just a quick recap, I'm over 11K on a new inspirational novella.  At least I'm hoping it gets past the 17,500-word novella mark.  As of now, it's in novelette length.  It's going much better than I hoped.

I'm also going to be sending off Beholder's Eye shortly to a small press who is open for submissions.  This small press does quite a bit of horror and thriller novels, so I'm going to at least give it a shot.

I also got my rejection letter from the Writers Of The Future contest for the quarter ending on April 1st.  It was the first time I entered the contest.  I wasn't expecting to even place.  I submitted another one a few weeks ago for this next quarter's contest ending July 1st.

I'm also contemplating what to do next.  I have a writing workshop led by Brandon Sanderson: Write About Dragons.com  It starts July 1st, and I have to do a little prep work prior to starting it.  I'm also brainstorming what to work on next.

If you could have dinner with a writer (living or dead), who would it be?

Copyblogger has a great segment of articles they call The Writer Files.  They've interviewed many writers, from Seth Godin to Jeff Goins.

One of the more interesting questions they ask is: what writers, living or dead, would they like to have dinner with?

Who would yours be?

Here's mine: it's a small list, with various pros and cons tied to it.

First and foremost at the top of my mind is Stephen King.  That's a no-brainer.  The King of Horror himself.  As long as we talk "shop" - i.e. writing.

Next would be Brandon Sanderson--fantasy author.  I've listened to enough podcasts and watched enough videos to give me a good sense of what he can teach, and then again he's teaching an upcoming class over at Write About Dragons.com next month.

That's all for the living authors--I know, it's a short list and I didn't even mention others such as J. K. Rowling or John Grisham.  Or even Dean Koontz.

The deceased authors, on the other hand, are a bit more interesting.

One such fellow is J. R. R. Tolkien.  Nothing more needs to be said there, do I?  Next would be John Gardner--his novel On Becoming A Novelist is a classic in my book, and a must-read for any author.

In the end, if I had to choose one, it would be the recluse J. D. Salinger.  Why?  He doesn't even write genre fiction, so why Salinger?

He is a master of dialogue, for one.  And his method of storytelling far exceeds most writers.  I'd just like to know how he approaches the craft of writing and even dialogue in general.  There's one such story he wrote--it wasn't Catcher--where we meet two characters conversing for over fifty pages, while one is in the bathtub.  And I was enthralled by it!  How in the world did he pull it off?

Ancient mysteries I'd like to know.

In the end, I'd set aside King (although if I really had to pick a living author, it might be his son Joe Hill) and Sanderson for the mighty Salinger.

Yeah, that's who I'd pick.

Who's yours?

Tales of a diabetic father: the importance of camps, for both the children and the parents

Last week, my fourteen-year-old son attended Camp Sioux--an American Diabetes Association sponsored camp just west of Park River, North Dakota.  My six-year-old daughter also attended a day camp on Tuesday.

At this day camp, two other families were in attendance, and I was struck by the notion--which both they and the camp counselor told me--that we've been battling type 1 diabetes with our children for a long time.  My son was diagnosed in August 2001 (one month before the dreaded 9/11) and my daughter in November 2009.

Yes, a long time.

I was also struck by the notion that children with diabetes are alone in their battle.  Typically, unless they live in a larger city, they may be the only one in school who has it.  Hence the reason why diabetes camps, like Camp Sioux or Camp Needlepoint near the Twin Cities, is very important.  The children not only bond with other diabetes children, they learn to be more independent in their diabetes care.

The two families I met both had children who were just recently diagnosed.  They held some of the same fears as my wife and I had in the beginning--not that we still don't have fears, because the minute we let our guard down, life throws us a curve ball.  As you can see, the camp is important for the parents too.  I only wish there was more of a bonding time with the other parents who dropped their children off.

I'm sure they all have lessons to teach as well.