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?

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:

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

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:

 www.rolandyeomans.blogspot.com  

 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?

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 

  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07G9XZTDC/

Do You

Listen to Music

As You Write? 

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?

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.

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?