Telling a Story Can be Good

The Read ...

Finished James D. Doss' The Widow's Revenge.  I took a little time getting used to the change in the Charlie Moon series when Doss turned to the omniscient story-telling mode.  Still, the book remains an intricate, fast-paced read ...  with plenty of chuckles and laughs among the gruesome events.

From:

"Suspended high in the southern sky, the silvery satellite pulls a diaphanous cloud veil over her naked, pockmarked face."

To:

"Here endeth the lurid account."

the book gives the reader plenty of chuckles and laughs as the plot unfolds.  I wonder if Doss' books are featured in the stores on the Southern Ute reservation.

I don't think I'd get away with the opening above, but I'm sure Doss' many fans read straight through the prologuey first chapter to get to the meat of the story.

Web and Other Good Stuff ...

For some reason I've always ignored the gender bias stuff.  My attitude:  So if everyone tries to shove you to the back burner, ignore them and do what you want.  So, I've been rather perplexed by the recent fuss about gender bias in the publishing world.  Jeri Westerson, a mystery writer, makes some comments on the recent bruhahah in her blog:  Female vs Male Authors.

Before you're discriminated against, you have to write something.  If you needs a push to jump start your imagination, N. R. Williams runs an improvisation blog every Wednesday.  My mind always goes blank when I read the scenario, but maybe your mind is better oiled.

Bryce Elliot also regularly gives interesting writing prompt on his blog:  One Writer's Mind.

There's another reason to visit his blog -- he usually has something interesting to say.  Truth in plug:  He gave me a writing award, but I can never figure how to transfer the pictures.  [I'm not kidding when I call myself a computer klutz.]

Then, when you've written something and gotten it published, there's the problem of getting it on bookstore bookshelves.  Karen Dodd writes on 1st Turning Point above What a Bookseller Wants.  She's writing about self-published books ... but I thought her comments also applied to books published by small presses.

Progress...

Hey, I actually made some ... though not the progress I thought.  I'm giving up on writing short stories as being too much pain to bother with.  I'm comfortable writing longer pieces and that's what I'll do.  Hurray for the comfort zone!

Trivia ...

We're still laughing about a recent article on China's class problems.  The son of an official killed a girl from the country while driving drunk.  As far as we could tell.  He's still running free.  I think it's kind of nice to know that no matter how the trappings change, human beings behave in much the same ways. --  Wealth and rank have their privileges.