Printing

Things continue to move along nicely. The MS should be ready for the printer by the first or second week in January. I do have to make a decision about the cover art, but that's only a matter of deciding which presentation is best when both options are great.

Of course, no matter how many times one goes through a manuscript to correct errors, there will still be some left lurking about. Found a stylistic problem yesterday and corrected it. Problem is, you can only read through a document so many times before you go psychologically blind to the content. Thankfully, I am satisfied that not many errors remain.

What a day!

Got it done today. It didn't start out that way, just thought I'd see what I might do to wrap things up with the manuscript and cover. Some hours later, maybe five or six, the MS is in PDF form ready for the printers, and so is the cover. You never know - every now and then it all comes together and the ability to simply see how to proceed and the mental set to get it done is there. And so it flows. Of course, then there are other days...

Still a lot of work to be done, the current manuscript PDF will likely not be the final document sent to the printer (although I think the cover is finished), but the setup is done, it works, and I have a printer lined up. All told, one BIG day.

Image

Somehow the image I selected did not upload correctly. I'll try again.

Moving along

Typesetting the manuscript is finished. Basically, typesetting is the process of making sure that the manuscript transfers smoothly from, say, MS Word where it was composed to InDesign where it will be prepared for printing and the addition of images and other effects. An important part of typesetting, to me, involves making sure that there are no widows or orphans and that the chapter breaks make sense and are clean and consistent with regard to font etc. chapter to chapter. The application does most of the work but you still have to go through the MS page by page because there are ALWAYS problems.

The final page count will be very close to 592. Here's a new image.

Happening Fast

Just a quick note here. Most of my effort has recently been directed to preparing Songs of Deep Green for publication. At this time I am looking at a publication date of April or May of 2010. There is new information at our site www.ardentpublishing.com on Volume II and more to come. This is a seafaring adventure unlike any you've imagined. It's exciting!

Also, check out our new FaceBook presence at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dale-B-Mattheis-Author-of-The-Alarai-Chronicles-series/195072465909

Volume II Update

It has taken a long time to sort through publishing options for Volume II in The Alarai Chronicles series, VOYAGE TO ZOMAR (Songs of Deep Green). The first step, however, was simply deciding whether to publish or not. It required time and reflection to decide where my heart was. In the end it became clear that it was very important both to publish the books already written in the series and to finish writing those waiting attention. Here's why.

I am certain of very few things in this life, and certain of nothing that seems readily apparent. The quality of the books in this series, all of them, is one of those few things. I am certain that they have a contribution to make, if nothing more than a great read that, for a period, allows one to travel to a land where daily cares may slip away. And yet, there is much more here for those who wish to seek it.

The cover for VOYAGE is largely complete, the MS needs a final thorough edit, and then it's off to typesetting and printing. Publication date? Can't say for sure at this time, but I think not long after the turn of the year.

I plan to purchase software that will make editing my website quite easy so I can update the Home Page more often. Drop in from the time to time. I hope to post images as the publication date approaches and will ask my webmaster to do a major overhaul of the Index Page graphics.

Thanks to those who have emailed me about Volume II. That prodding served to get me off the mark along with input from a person I really respect.

Cheers!

What it means to be human - Part III

In prior posts I've suggested on a number of occasions that humans, as a species, are substantially different in our origins and development than other species such as horses or dogs. I referred to humans as a hybrid species. I think that statement requires definition and clarification.

There are a number of aspects to how the term hybrid is used. The first listed definition in Webster's is the breeding of a male of one species or genus with the female of another species; a cross-bred animal or plant. Usually, however, the term cross-bred is reserved for the crossing of varieties of the same species while hybrid is used to define a mating of two different species. That is how I use the term hybrid when talking about human origins - the mating of (at least) two different species. That conclusion slowly grew over a number of decades. Problem is, of course, how do you prove something like that? At the current level of understanding of the human genome, the current state of the science of genetics, I don't think you can prove it through scientific methodology. And yet I am convinced. The question that keeps circulating in my mind is, "Why are humans necessary?"

For every environmental, ecological, niche whether in the sky above, the earth below or the seas beneath, there is some form of creature who inhabits it. Hundreds of thousands of species from the microscopic to the gigantic. And they all are purpose-driven and devised by the environment in which they originated. Designed from the ground up, cell by cell, over millions of years of evolution to fill that niche. Only a few such species can exist outside the original environment, whether it is an amoeba or a Blue Whale. What niche do we fill? What is the environment that we are designed to fill in a purpose-driven and holistic fashion. What is our species' existential gestalt? The specific environment we evolved in, and an environment that defines the boundaries of our continued existence (a tube worm living at the edge of a fumarole at the bottom of the ocean is an extreme example). Clearly, there no longer is one. Perhaps there never was such an environment. Humans are different from every other species in this regard. Drastically so.

What it means to be human - Part II

In previous posts I've argued backwards, reverse engineered aspects of human mentation using computer structure and function as the basis for the argument. It is my belief and understanding that whatever humans produce, whatever technology we invent, reflects aspects of the human mind. Everything that we imagine and in some cases translate into saleable products preexists in the mind. In that sense there is little or nothing that is truly unique. We do not create out of thin air. The creative process or talent is often interpreted as doing just that, but that talent in whatever field actually reflects an enhanced ability to mine the mainframe for data or information that previously did not exist in the artist's mind. That ability is genetically endowed. Thus human behavior as a whole

Looking back, I am astonished at the extent to which thinking about human behavior has changed over the last three decades. When I was in college, it was thought, and trumpeted, that behavior patterns were almost entirely due to how we were raised, to nurture and not nature (our genetic endowment). Now, over the last 15 years or so, due in part to a number of identical twin studies, it has become clear that just the opposite is true - that the great majority of what we do, how we act (especially as perceived by others), and what we are is genetically derived. Certainly upbringing influences outcome, sometimes dramatically, but upbringing will not basically alter the fundemental ways we interact and function. Speech habits, educational pursuits, hobbies, cultural interests, who we date and marry - they are all heavily influenced by genetic endowment. To me, from what I have come to understand about human behavior, this has become established fact. About 80% nature, the rest nurture. The exciting thing about this conclusion, what I consider to be fact, is that it allows one to examine behavior with an eye to tracing behavioral ancestry. To examine why we are so different one from another, and yet so much the same.

What it means to be human - Part I

Several days ago I posted on YouTube the second video in a planned series on my science fiction saga, The Alarai Chronicles. It was long overdue. The title is the same as this post. There is only so much you can communicate in a seven to ten minute video, and I want to elaborate on the subject here and in following posts.

What does it mean to be human? Is it such a broad and complicated topic that the effort to get my arms around it is hopeless? Perhaps in part, but I don't intend to attempt an exhaustive review. What I intend is a more focused examination on aspects of being human. Actually, given the breadth of the topic, I suspect this is what most writers do whether they admit it or not.

Even as I sit here at the keyboard contemplating the task, I am nearly overwhelmed. Just think about the diversity of the group of mammals we term human. The profound differences in size and physical appearance alone is amazing. And yet, as far as I am aware, successful breeding is possible and has occurred even at the extremes. Given that, it is not surprising that studies of the human genome reveal that we all, the entire human race, possess at least 99.9+% of the same genetic endowment.

And yet, something, somewhere along the tortuous path of our evolution forever set us apart from other species (and, I have come to believe, from one another as well in spheres other than the purely physical). Some would say the ability to reason sets us apart from other species. Others say it is our ability to speculate on the future or to attempt to manage our environment. And, of course, the sophistication of our verbal communication and being self-aware. Well thought out views, but, other than the last item, secondary to what interests me.

Actually. I find that some of the simplest creatures are quite good at reasoning, learn quickly, are flexible in approaching problems, and convey intent to their fellows in highly complex and succinct patterns. Crows are a good example, wolves are another. Both species are curious, intelligent, highly social, and communicate quite nicely. I've even seen squirrels solve complicated problems. Generally driven by the desire to fill their bellies, of course, but is that so different from the thrust of our own problem solving? So what about self-awareness?

We are all, we humans, aware, conscious, at some level from an early age that our life span is finite, and that at some point we are going to 'die'. The corollary is that, therefore, we exist. And then we cease to exist. Thus we pursue our lives with one mental eye firmly fixed on that statistically adjusted life span, leading to so many of the diseases and insanities peculiar to our race. Opinions of what lies beyond the curtain of physiologic termination are as varied and remarkable as the species itself, and well beyond the scope of this discussion. The existence of those opinions (whether in belief or disbelief) are critical, however, to our period of life and in some ways central to what I find pivotal in understanding what we are and where we have come from.

In writing Exile to the Stars, the issue of what we are as humans looms large and is threaded throughout the fabric of the book and series. Thing is, I really wasn't aware of that thread at the time of writing. That is a major clue to what defines us as human. However, This isn't about me it's about us. I want to start much farther back in time than my eye blink of an existence, or yours.

I won't be gone so long this time.

Underpinnings - 2

Writing has such a powerful influence on patterns of thought or perhaps the mechanics of thinking. It is a rigorous discipline when pursued with dedication, one that demands forethought, precise expression (to be effective), and introspection. There is no escaping the fact that your work is staring back at you from a monitor or on a piece of paper. Writing a book also takes a certain amount of time, allowing for an evolution of thought as expressed in writing. And when you write a series over a period of years, the evolution of thought is also impacted by maturation and passage through life events. This was certainly the case in writing The Alarai Chronicles. Interestingly enough, however, it wasn't until a reader pointed out the true underpinnings of Exile to the Stars, the strong current of spiritual growth, that I took note. It was true.

While the first draft of Exile to the Stars was completed in about three months, at least 25 re-writes over a period of two years lay ahead. That's what it took - two years of gaining skill in writing, all the while drilling down into the heart and soul of the story until it lived and breathed. Until it had spirit and spiritual force. But I am no longer into bandying words or using convenient synonyms - the spirit of God permeates every volume in The Alarai Chronicles. That's about as unconventional or politically incorrect a statement as can be made about a science fiction series. You know, it's about science, about space and alien peoples, not about God! That's religion! What does God and religion have to do with science fiction?

Wow. Where to start? Honestly, I must admit to being put off by the idea myself at first. How had God managed to slip into the story? Stay tuned.

Underpinnings

I've been pondering writing this for some time. I wasn't sure where to post it, but I decided to start with a note on the index page of my web site, ardentpublishing.com. continue with a longer post here, and finally post a companion video sometime in the next week or so. In short, it's time to really drill down and speak about the underpinnings of Exile to the Stars and the entire series

As stated in earlier posts, The Alarai Chronicles series encompasses the story of people, humans, struggling to survive first on an alien planet and then well beyond. The story is true to life as are the people both human and otherwise, but the series is much more than a great sci-fi story. That's what I really need to say here. While The Alarai Chronicles is an outstanding science fiction adventure series from any angle, it is also the story of inner growth beginning, as is the case so often, with a state of spiritual estrangement and profound inner loneliness generated while trying to succeed in a terran society that defines success in terms of secular values such as money and power. Just as emotional states such as joy and love will never yield to analytical inspection, only dissolve, so greed and power can never co-exist with spiritual growth.

And so, two men transported from Earth and its descent into secular debauchery start a journey of spiritual growth and the discovery of God on the planet Aketti. There is physical suffering and spiritual struggle in Exile and books that follow in the series, but great personal growth and reformation of life never occurs without these trials.

Certainly, the trials experienced by Jeff and Carl reflect my own conclusions about what it takes to grow in understanding of the true underpinnings of life: faith, love, honor, duty and fidelity. And yet, this is not the story of my personal growth, for Jeff, Carl, and many others in the series, are real and so must search out their own salvation. In doing so, they come to realize that their battles to overcome butchery and oppression on Aketti are only a small part of a universal struggle between good and evil that is being waged throughout creation and across the universe; the struggle between the forces of hell and the legions of heaven. This is the real story of Exile to the Stars and books that follow in the series. This is what has needed saying for some time. Viewing recent events on Earth, the march of evil around the globe, who would gainsay the larger battle?

Anyone who concludes from this post that Exile is preachy or moralistic doesn't understand what it takes to go on with life when the chips are down and survival itself is on the line. I'll leave moralistic nonsense to uninformed preachers and the average politician. This series is all about discovering the true power hidden in all of us.

The author

Context

What is context? We hear it mentioned on frequent occasion, e.g. something, most often a written passage or work, is lacking context. This is a word, like so many, that is often bandied about but rarely defined or examined. Or, I think, understood.

Context is defined by my favorite dictionary as, "A joining together. The part of a discourse in which a word or passage occurs and which helps to explain the meaning of the word or passage."

Textual color, breadth of insight, background--analogs of context (among others), all of which are critical to creating the sense of reality, perhaps reality, of a good story. Of course context plays a critical role in all types of writing, not only fiction. Without context you have little more than boring verbiage.

As noted in prior posts, much of what we perceive and conceive is tied to sensory input in one form or the other. Thus color, depth, sound, motion, etc., all aspects to be considered in creating meaningful context. Note the word meaningful. Certainly none of us exist in a vacuum, nor can a character or characterization in writing. We fill out our understanding of one another over time by gathering background information about the person of interest. Context. And so it is in developing characters, character strength, in writing. So what is meaningful context?

Again, it is helpful to use the example of two people getting to know one another (for better or worse). We form a nearly instant instant impression of the other and then add depth of understanding by interacting with them over time. Most often those instant impressions prove accurate, if two dimensional. This is exactly what needs to take place in writing. One simply cannot load up the reader with a vast array of character or environmental attributes in the first paragraph after introducing a character. Give a first impression--you will whether you intend to or not--add a few teasers, and then proceed with the story using the plot, the interactions of the plot, to flesh out character. Where does the character hail from? What does he do? What are his personality traits? Use the plot, the dialog, the action scenes, the confrontations, etc. to develop character traits.

It is the interaction of the characters in a story, the breadth and color of their personalities as they interact, that give life to a story. Context is a form of weaving, or perhaps the skill of writing context is the author's ability to weave aspects of personality, scene, action and background together to form the tapestry that is context. A joining together.

Liabilities

There have to be drawbacks to a serious and prolonged writing effort, right? What's that old saying about doing everything in moderation--act in excess and you will pay? Is it possible that writing day and night for months on end does not have a downside? A destructive element? I think that depends on what you might consider a downside.

As copiously noted in prior posts, intensive writing is life changing. A wife, husband, boyfriend, girlfriend, children, etc. can participate or have input to a degree, certainly their lives do, but when you come right down to it, putting pen to paper cannot be shared. Writing is a solitary pursuit that no one else can really participate in.

That never really bothered me, for at the time I started to write I was truly on my own, had been beaten down pretty far, and welcomed the opportunity to find a better place to live. Yet even so, innate tendencies of solitary reflection that existed before the fall were accentuated. Had I been married or going with someone at the time, the long, long hours and weeks of writing might well have spelled trouble. It isn't just the hours. I suspect that a compelling story line can successfully compete with any human relationship. Perhaps addiction is too strong a word, for at closure it is something of a relief to see it done and to walk away for a spell. Yet writing, and especially writing from the heart and center of inspiration, is a truly fulfilling experience (as posted yesterday).

Yes, I think there is a downside. Or so I surmise. There has to be. Perhaps it's that I didn't see much sense in the daily expectations of life before starting to write, and now see even less. But that's not correct. I do see less importance in what is highly treasured by others, but now find treasure in the small things that illuminate life with true pleasure. Or should I say the things of true pleasure in life.

As suggested at the beginning of this post, I think the outcome of intensive writing on lifestyle might or might not have a downside depending on what a person takes to the writing experience and what they come away with. I don't think I need say more.

Benefits

This is a good time to take a step sideways from rather involved topics and look at some of the benefits of writing. There are many.

It took a while to realize it, but after a few months of wracking my brain trying to get the story going it suddenly occurred to me that my memory had really improved. It wasn't all that bad to start, but memory recall time was much shorter and there was a fluidity to my thinking that had been long absent. Not only that, but it seemed that I was also evaluating conversations with a much keener ear. Mind you, writing, once you are deeply involved, can really affect sleep as well.

Again some months into writing Exile to the Stars, I began dreaming about the story. Scenes and dialog would come and go to the point that, at times, it was like a travelogue. I didn't always wake up rested, but what a wealth of new ideas. It was an exciting time.

Writing a novel, or should I say learning over time how to write, is a huge benefit when corresponding, writing essays, or putting together a resume. There can be drawbacks to that skill however. I once had a lady friend comment that my emails were too polished. Well, maybe. And, of course, writing changes your personality.

I've already commented on that huge factor in several posts but perhaps not directly. I don't think it possible that, if you become totally involved in creating characters and living with them, that you will not also be affected by what they become. If you diligently and honestly write their lives, you are also influencing your own, for the outcome of behaviors does not depend on years but on months. If, of course, you have indeed pursued honesty. What a disservice to your characters if you have not.

Conception

As noted in yesterday's post, conception and perception share opposite sides of the same coin. While perception is closely tied to (but not entirely dependent on) sensory processing, the interpretation of input from eye, ear, nose, taste and olfactory sensors, conception is related to the minds ability to form ideas or to devise schemes or designs separate from such immediate input. In simpler terms, conception or creative thought is not dependent on cues from our immediate environment. The process of creation.

Writing, if nothing else, regardless of the genre, is in one way or the other creative. Certainly science fiction writing is truly creative since the whole thrust of a good sci-fi story is to escape the mundane and usual. Of course, such a story cannot entirely escape sensory input since our moment-to-moment life is intimately connected to our senses and thus to our memories and conclusions about ourselves in life. Still, I love writing in the speculative realm for whatever degree of freedom I can obtain from conclusions which, formed over time, are so often erroneous or incomplete. The infamous baggage we all carry around. Or, put another way, I love writing science fiction because it gives me the opportunity to escape myths of reality. Having been at this form of writing for over ten years now, I can say without hesitation that the effort to escape those myths through writing has permanently affected my view of the moment-to-moment world.

How hard it is to examine and update long-held beliefs, views, and conclusions; to come to see that so much of life is no more than a web of often flimsy rationalizations woven to support whatever position in life we have sought or come to reside in. It is a delightful irony that the process of examining myths posing as reality should have been stimulated by characters created, conceived, in the mind/imagination. A very interesting feedback loop.

An interesting spin-off of this feedback loop is the effect other acts of creation have on our being and understanding. For instance, the conception of a child. What effect, if any, does the substrate of conception, the physical and emotional background in the parents minds surrounding the physical act(s) of conception possibly have on the child so conceived? I don't know, nor does anyone (regardless of what is said), but I suspect there is input in one form or the other. And there is input regardless of the profession or undertaking.

It is absolutely true that, over time, we become what we do. One little step at a time. Our percepts and concepts mutually evolve as the demands or our work, and the concessions we make to advance, daily transform us. And somewhere along the way, in the absence of cognition, we pass a point of no return where self-appraisal becomes nothing more than self-serving tripe designed to maintain the status quo.

Just think of it! Day-by-day we create what we will become. I love it! Choice, decisions, concessions, compromise, rebellion, surrender, anger, aggression--all, and more, come into play forging personality and destiny. Especially choice. Writing, any difficult, demanding, creative act is wonderful, for it gives no rest and does not accept what we know as final.

Perception

I want to get back to aspects of our thought processes that apply to writing and certainly to the basic nature of our daily existence and interaction with others. There is no more basic process or phenomena than that of perception. In fact, it may not be possible to do this concept (the other side of the percept coin) justice in writing or in any other modality. Still, like so many other people before, that won't stop me from trying.

In preparing for this post I pulled out my favorite dictionary, Websters New Collegiate Dictionary published in the 1950's. Largely untainted by contemporary political correctness, it more often than not addresses difficult words with a refreshing directness. Here are aspects of perception as defined by that dictionary:

1. Awareness of objects; consciousness.
2. a. Direct acquaintance with anything through the senses, or, b. the process of seeing or hearing.
3. An immediate or intuitive cognition or judgment, often implying nice observation or subtle discrimination. Also, the power of having or exercising such perceptions.
   

Just consider the implications of those three statements. Of course, the biggest 800 lb. gorilla is the term, cognition. That I will leave for another day, or three.

Our world, our existence, is largely defined by the personal awareness of objects around us as conveyed by our combined sense of sight, hearing, taste, touch, smell, and intuition. I say personal, for it has become abundantly clear over the years that none of us apprehend the world in exactly the same way as any other person. In our combined perception of the world, therefore, we are, all of us, truly unique. While uniqueness is highly prized, it isn't hard to take that concept one step farther and conclude that we are all in the truest sense, aliens. In the truest sense, we can never fully understand another person's view of the world. But I don't want to wander off into the foggier aspects of cognition. Let's just leave that sleeping dog lie for now with the parting shot: How can life ever be boring?

In writing, we call on our archive of perceptions, combine them with conclusions regarding the nature and course of life, massage that concoction with imagination, call on our brain to do something with it, and at some point begin typing. And so perception takes on an alternate reality as a part of the process of creation. That's what I truly enjoy about writing science fiction--perception is not limited to that which is observed or intuited from our object world. In my case, what appears to Jeff and Carl on Aketti as object reality based on terran experance is not necessarily that at all.

What I'm getting at here is that our expectations of reality based on experience often, perhaps far too often, alter the actual perceptual field open to us and thus to one degree or another impoverish our cognitive lives. What would life be like if we could simply accept what we sense without editing those perceptions with our expectations based on experience? It would be phenomenal!

This is another word that I love. The best and simplist defintion I have found for phenomena is, "The thing as it is." How beautiful. Simply accepting something as it is. Just that, no more. Looking at it, perceiving it, intuiting it, as it is without further interpretation or editing. What better way to write science fiction than in this state of mind. You might ask, "How, then, can things be different on a new world if we accept everything we sense? How can they not be if we examine what we perceive here on Earth as phenomena. Actually, who needs to go to a different world to find new beauty and inspiration? Well, I do. It's too much fun.

Does Anyone in Publishing Know Anything?

I must say that most of the agents I initially queried replied, and five or six of them were encouraging. However, in one way or the other, they all said the same thing: make the changes I suggest and you might succeed. Thing was, they all had different takes on what I should do. As the replies came in, I took the first ones at face value and set to work. The opening was too slow with too much identification of characters? Fine. Slam the first chapter with an action scene and go slow with outlining characters. The story is too long? Fine. Cut it down from 180,000 words to 90,000 words. And so on. Within a month or two the manuscript was a complete disaster. A torn-apart rag of a story.

Eventually sitting back to take stock, and reviewing many agent replies, it became clear that these folks didn't know anymore about writing then I did. One would say my writing lacked style but showed good character development. Another would say the style was great but the writing lacked grace (?). What emerged was the sense that each agent was responding according to his or her personal preferences in reading and thus expectations of an MS, rather than according to some overall standard of writing. There is no overall standard of writing to grade manuscripts by. There are standards of punctuation (within a rather broad contemporary range), of spelling, of sentence construction, and so on, but not of writing as such. Maybe that conclusion seems apparent, but it wasn't to me and I suspect many other new writers. No, writing at it's best is an amalgam of the hard-learned mechanics of writing and the plot/character inspiration that derives from somewhere within the spirit.

Viewing the smoking ruin of my story, I filed away all the agent letters and set back to work. That took place before I corresponded with David Brin, and about the time I began to write with some verve and confidence. What a relief to understand that agents really didn't know anymore than I did. In their defense, a few of them said so--they said history had shown that agents and publishers were no better at picking a winner than the average Joe on the street. So how is a guy supposed to know? You aren't. You write what you need to write.

Good Writing

Recognizing that many aspects of my writing were substandard was not an easy pill to swallow. It wasn't so much the comments received from submitted pages, they were generally so contradictory from agent to agent as to be laughable, but a gradual dawning. One agent did point out the extreme overuse of exclamation points, a sign of a very green writer. No, I think it must have been the constant revisiting of the first three manuscripts in the series that did it. Life was pretty dismal at that point, and I spent as much time as possible on Aketti to compensate. Coming back to an MS after a period away can be sobering. The euphoria of composition is diminished and a certain objectivity returns.

As noted in yesterday's post I never doubted the quality of the story, I knew it was superb, but how I presented that story did cause some cringing. It was about this time that I sent out a number of letters to mainstream science fiction authors in the hope of gaining some insight and possibly a blurb or two. I received two replies that were quite helpful. One was from Greg Bear who was tied up in his own project but still took time to say he thought the MS had promise. The second and most helpful letter came from David Brin. He made some very helpful suggestions about paragraph length and being careful not to have two characters speaking in the same paragraph. We exchanged several letters and that started a massive rewrite binge. I can tell you it wasn't only the helpful hints, but just the fact that an author that I admired took the time to correspond.

Here are a few items I picked up and refined over time:

• One voice per paragraph.
  
• Keep paragraphs short - long paragraphs can overwhelm a reader. It is especially important to control paragraph length during action scenes: short paragraphs and short sentences. Narrative is a different animal. At times you may need to lengthen both sentences and paragraphs, but only by considered intent not poetic happenstance.
  
• Do NOT overuse exclamation points. Express intensity by the context of your writing. Recall that I mentioned the importance of what you write outside quotation marks. That's context. I suspect that one could write a book without a single quotation mark, but one now and then is fine.
• Do NOT give your characters extensive powers right off and then spend the rest of the story having to defeat them. You know, if someone has such power he just waves his hand and it's all over in the first chapter. Series like that just flat turn me off. Build slowly. Reveal your characters over time. Keep the reader in suspense. This is one bullet I dodged from the start.

The list is long, but the ones above are a few of the most important. So there I was on my back at 30,000 feet with Zero's coming out of the sun...no, no, there I was madly editing three manuscripts in series. While making changes, I couldn't help but recall some of the comments and suggestions I received from agents and similar ilk early on. I mentioned they were contradictory, but at first I didn't realize that.

The Trip East

In the Nov 30th post I commented on the changes to Bainbridge Island, where I lived for over 20 years, and concluded with my decision to leave. As noted, I did so without regret and left nothing behind worth worrying about. Having sold everything in my possession except a few essentials crammed into the back of an ancient pickup, it was off to Minnesota via the northern route. It wasn't an easy trip.

That old '73 Dodge was pushing 200,000 miles and loaded to the stops. Sagging along across mountain passes and up onto the central plateau, I figured there was a good chance it would never make the Midwest. It was August, quite hot in Wyoming, and as I started the climb up onto the plateau, the oil pressure dropped toward zero. Still, it kept on running. Considering options if it did die, I decided to set up shop wherever it rolled to a stop and make a life of it. It was good to be free. But that truck ran without a hitch all the way. Funny thing. It had screwed me royally on a few attempts at vacation jaunts, but whenever the chips were down it never failed. And so we arrived in Minnesota.

Starting over is no fun, and I will confirm that starting over for the third time is even less fun. Setting up the 386 in my sister's home, I continued to work on editing Exile and follow-on books in the series while searching for an agent and also searching for a job. Neither prospect was encouraging.

In 1996 it was still technically feasible to find an agent who would represent your work to a publisher. Nevertheless, I didn't find one until one night I received a call from an agent in Minneapolis. The only good thing that came out of that contact was the encouragement to continue. It turned out she only represented herself as an agent while not even knowing the basics of how to approach a publisher. The usual promises and fees, but nothing more. Yet, the greater the disappointments the more time I devoted to writing and editing. I truly came to love Aketti and its peoples. Escapist? You bet. As noted in an earlier post, I spiritually took up residence there.

Signing up with a temp agency to take whatever work they had, I was eventually able to set up in an apartment and continued the search for some way to gain the attention of a publisher. Only gradually, after the usual tall stack of rejection slips, did I come to realize there were huge problems with my manuscript. Not with the story, but with the writing.

Intermission

I just reviewed the last post, and like it. Sometimes that isn't the case. Sort of like writing books, but in that modality the text is not published until edited over a period. One hopes.

Although I had also hoped to post daily, I don't think that is going to happen on a regular basis. In order to make ends meet, I drive a school bus morning and afternoon. That leaves three or four hours in between, but getting up at 0530 just doesn't get it for me, and I arrive home thinking more of bed than composing. Weekends should be better.

I should clear one thing up right off, though. I started driving a school bus just for the paycheck, but that was over three years ago. Now, I find driving a school bus one of the best jobs I have ever had. It would be a lost cause to attempt to convey all that I have learned from those K-12 students. Talk about creativity!

Got some stuff brewing in the back of my mind about the last post. Back soon.

Talent (Continued)

I've been mulling yesterdays' post, and find it necessary to expand the concept of CNS co-processors (or software) that was outlined. As stated there, I view this concept, and all it implies, as of great importance, for co-processors are only the tip of the iceberg when exploring computer technology as a structural analog of our own mental functioning. However, it's critical to understand that no one ever has and no one ever will write the definitive lexicon of the function of any aspect of our mental or spiritual life. Therefore, I do not imply that if one does not have a clearly defined co-processor/talent that it is pointless to pursue that interest. History is rife with examples to the contrary. Why is that? Let me start with my own decision to attend medical school.

At some level I knew from the start that while I qualified academically to attend medical school I was not suited to that discipline. It was not a compelling interest, nor did I feel any special affinity for it. A number of courses such as physiology, lab sciences and so on were fascinating, but the overall discipline/profession of medicine did not resonate with what I was. Still, I stuck it out and practiced for a number of years both as a general physician and later as a psychiatrist. So, what's the point here?

The point is that the study and practice of medicine revolutionized my view and practice...of life. NOT as I was taught in school and residency--I never really became a physician in the truest sense--but as I EXPERIENCED the effects of dealing with people within those professions employing my true mindset, that of a wanderer in search of the domain of humanity. There was no going back to what I might have been absent the medical experience. Now I would never wish to go back, for the medical period of my life, in spite of its disappointments and frustrations, added tremendous depth and color to what I have become. Do you see the point I am making here? To one degree or another, we all see life darkly and especially when in our youth although paradoxically it is often just then that we are totally convinced or life's clarity of purpose. So we learn and are run or processed through life's crucible.

Referring back to yesterday's post again, recall that I stressed that although one might not have great music memory, hand coordination, etc., if music of whatever nature is in the heart and must be expressed to preserve the spirit then it should be pursued with all diligence until it bursts out in full flower. If you wish to sing but have no voice, then search out instrumental outlets. If that is not yours, then write music or about music. If you must, you must. Life is not easy. It wasn't meant to be. But we are all blessed with one type of co-processor or the other. None of us have been excluded or passed by.

Talent Co-Processors

Here's how I look at talent. Back in the early days of computers, CPU's were pretty basic. When I purchased my IBM 386 in '93 I really wanted some mathematical capability, but could not afford to purchase a unit with a math co-processor installed. Without that co-processor, no calculations were possible. That's sort of like me. I don't have a co-processor that smooths the comprehension of the symbolic language known as mathematics. Even if I hammer away at the logic for hours and hours, the gains are very small. I do not have that talent. That really doesn't bother me, but how I envy those who have a talent for music. Musical memory, tone competence, eye-mind-finger coordination, and the ability to visualize and recall notes in the setting of a composition, not to mention vocal ability. Another, very broad, talent. One of many.

It is usually assumed that we are born with these talents and cannot attain them by effort. Largely I agree with this, although there are exceptions and variations on a talent that will never find expression without hard work, long hours, and at times bitter frustration. I'm thinking here, for example, of the person with music in his soul but little physical talent or ability to express it. Then there are talents frustrated by physical limitations such as the five-ten man with a real talent for basketball. So, what about writing?

Writing is a plethoric talent, a huge wandering stream that enters many bayous, seeps into blind canyons, and pours over roaring waterfalls. One could say that the only standard that defines great writing is the bottom line - book sales. Baloney. Not in our present world. Problem is, how do you define writing? Fiction? Non-fiction? Scientific writing? What? They are all different, and in some cases dramatically so. I think the closest I can come to a definition is the ability to clearly communicate an idea, concept, thought or construct in written form.

Finally, one man's Pulitzer is another man's dumpster darling. Having been writing now for well over a decade, I can no longer bear to read some books that are big sellers. To me the writing is so bad that the story is lost. Yet they are big sellers. In some cases it's not just about a great writing co-processor at all, but about a different ability that senses public appetites and responds with whatever is demanded. Writing skill is secondary. Turn and burn. Yuck. Gosh, did I just show partiality? Yep.

Later!