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Tuesday, April 30, 2019

Z is for ZOUNDS!

ZOUNDS!

circa 1600, oath of surprise or anger,  
contraction from God's wounds!


 "Under certain circumstances, 
profanity provides a relief 
denied even to prayer."
 - Mark Twain


I have Elu, the Apache shaman,
teach both McCord
and his son,
Victor Standish

that profanity shrivels
your quiver of words

and what does that
hobbles your mind.

What hobbles your mind,
limits your thinking.

And your wits are all
that stand between 
you and the world.

 
It seems that "F--k" has become the duct tape of modern dialogue.

Without it, Samuel L. Jackson would be almost mute in most of his non-MCU films!

 That fact is even satirized in the comedy, The Hitman's Bodyguard.


Do you use profanity in your books?  

Does it bother you when you 
read it in other books?

Does it add the illusion of reality 
to novels, do you think?

Monday, April 29, 2019

Y is for YEOMANS



Hey, if you had a last Name 
that started with Y, 
you would have used it today, too!


I am asking you today 
if you use an author bio 
at the end of your book.

Do you think readers 
want to know 
about the author 
who wrote the book 
they've enjoyed?


Here's the one I use:
 

Roland Yeomans was born in Detroit, Michigan.  

 But his last memories of that city are hub-caps and kneecaps 

since, at the age of seven, he followed the free food when his parents moved to Lafayette, Louisiana.   

The hitch-hiking after their speeding car from state to state was a real adventure. 

Once in Louisiana, 
Roland learned strange new ways 
of pronouncing David and Richard 
when they were last names. 

 And it was not a pleasant sight when he pronounced Comeaux for the first time.

He has a Bachelor’s degree in English Education and a Master’s degree in Psychology.   

He has been a teacher, counselor, book store owner, 

and even a pirate 
since he once worked 
at a tax preparation firm.

 Now, he is a rare blood courier.

So far, 
he has written 42 Kindle books,
19 paperbacks with a 20th in the wings



and has produced 28 audio books,
the latest being 


 You can find Roland at his web page:
 or at his private table in Meilori’s. 

The web page is safer to visit.   
But if you insist on visiting Meilori’s,
bring a friend who runs slower than you!


Do You Include an
Author Bio
in your books?

Sunday, April 28, 2019

Do You Write to Music?



This is the musical theme
I listened to as I wrote of
the star-crossed lovers
aboard
the flying steamboat, 
Xanadu,

when I wrote my latest 
audio book:

THE NOT-SO-INNOCENTS
ABROAD 


Do You
Listen to Music
As You Write? 

Saturday, April 27, 2019

X is for X MARKS THE SPOT



The world is older than Man, 

and sometimes if you listen with your heart, you can hear it hum with mystery.






But the map is not the land.

There is no X THAT MARKS THE SPOT in life.

Perhaps that is why we've never glimpsed that giant compass in the corner of the Atlantic.


Those moments, those people 

that shape the course of our futures come upon us unawares and are only seen in retrospect.

We usually only recognize their preciousness when 

they slip past us and run like fairy dust through our grasping fingers.


So we should walk circumspectly 

knowing there are probably hidden treasures all around us ... 

people, pets, our own healthy bodies even ...

which we will only notice by their absence in our lives.


The "X" which marks the magic in our lives is invisible ... 

but all too real nonetheless.

HAVE YOU MISSED ANY 
"X's" IN YOUR PAST?

Friday, April 26, 2019

W is for WORDS


“Words can be like X-rays 
if you use them properly.
They’ll go through anything. 
You read and you’re pierced.”
Aldous Huxley


The words we use to ourselves 
can drastically alter how we feel 
about ourselves, our lives.



We keep ourselves company 24/7. 
 Doesn't it make sense to be 
good company to ourselves?


I have found that replacing just one word for another 

has made a real difference in how I feel about my daily routines.


I replaced HAVE with GET


 Take:

I HAVE to go to work tomorrow.

Now, I say:

I GET to go to work tomorrow


I possess a job to go to when so many are jobless.

I HAVE to go to the dentist tomorrow.

I GET to go to the dentist tomorrow 
when so many cannot Afford dental care.

 
"Oh, jeez, I can't go with you tomorrow.  I HAVE to clean the bathroom."

I GET to clean the bathroom when so many are homeless 


Try it.  

You will see the climb of the day 
to be easier.


Are there other words 
that you could replace?

Take NEED versus WANT

Wants can be delayed
and often should be.

Needs have to be attended 
to right away.


Thursday, April 25, 2019

V is for VOCABULARY


“We have too many 
high sounding words
 and too few actions 
that correspond with them.”
Abigail Adams 



 “A man with a scant vocabulary 
will almost certainly 
be a weak thinker. 

The richer and more copious 
one's vocabulary
 and the greater one's 
awareness of 
fine distinctions 
and subtle nuances of meaning, 
the more fertile and precise 
is likely to be one's thinking.

 Knowledge of things and
knowledge of the words 
for them grow together.
If you do not know the words, 
you can hardly know the thing.”

Henry Hazlitt



One of the really bad things 
you can do to your writing 
is to dress up 
the vocabulary, 

looking for long words 
because you're maybe 
a little bit ashamed 
of your short ones. 

This is like dressing up 
a household pet 
in evening clothes. 

The pet is embarrassed 
and the person who committed 
 this act 
of premeditated cuteness 
should be even 
more embarrassed.”
Stephen King,


 The limits of my language 
are the limits of my universe.”
Goethe 

HOW IMPORTANT
DO YOU THINK 
VOCABULARY IS?