How I Miss You in 2014

Here we are at the 2014 edition of the

In truth, I don't really have a lot to add to what I said in 2012 and 2013. I don't have any new people/blogs to add to those lists, and I figure if you want to see who I talked about before, since they are still the same, you can click the links and go back and look.

However, I do want to highlight one blog in particular that I miss, because it's not coming back.

A few months ago, we lost Tina Downey of Life Is Good. She was having some health issues, but she didn't really let on as to how serious they were, so it came as quite a shock to pretty much everyone who knew her online, I think, when she died. We weren't expecting it, and we weren't prepared. Not that you can ever really be prepared for anyone's death other than your own. I listed Tina last year in my "blogs I would miss" section of this blogfest and, now that she's gone, I do miss her. I miss her joyous outlook that she held to despite her health problems. I miss her posts about what it was like to adjust to moving to the United States. I miss arguing with her about math. I miss her comments.

I think, considering her last post was within a week of her death, that she probably misses blogging. She had no intention to quit. It's too bad the world wide web is still only the world wide. I'm sure that once we figure out how to go beyond, we'll find that she's out there somewhere still blogging away, and we'll have tons of posts to catch up on.

This blogfest has been brought to you by Andrew Leon (that's me), Alex Cavanaugh, and Matthew MacNish. You can find the other participants on the list below:

"I spend my time thinking about you..."

How many years has it been? Three? Is this really the third year of the

I think it is.

Do you have bloggers you miss? People who have just faded away and quit posting? Or post so rarely, now, that it's hard to tell they're still here? Well, this is the time to let them know that you miss them. Officially, you should pick the top three whom you miss, but I'm not much of one for rules, even if I helped make them up. Just let us know the ones who are most important to you and, then, let them know.

Also, if there are any bloggers you would miss if the disappeared, let us know who they are, too.

Join your hosts, Andrew Leon (yeah, that's me), Alex Cavanaugh, and Matthew MacNish, and sign up today!

Let Me Count The Ways...

...That I Miss You.

I've been bashing my head over this for weeks, trying to figure out who to include and how not to include anyone that I listed last year, but you know what? Screw that. I'm just going to list the people I list, no matter if they were on last year's list or not. I'm  not even going to go back and look. So...

The blogs I miss:

1. It's the world, dear... -- Bess' blog was one of the first blogs I found and started following back when I first started blogging. That I am still blogging and she is not seems somehow... wrong. She had this great way of describing life in New York that both made me want to go there and be glad that I'm not there at the same time. And she knew how to put hipsters in their place.
2. Concrete Pieces of Soul -- J, the author of the blog, is one of those bloggers that always had some interesting perspective or slightly off-normal way of looking at things. At least she did before the baby. Who knows how that is now, but I hope all is well with the new family and that she makes it back at some point. Her blog name is great, too.
3. English Major versus the World -- Another great blog name and a theme after my own heart. Neal was someone that would really get into books and examine them. His blog was definitely not a cheerleader camp. He would take a book, break it up, look at the pieces, and tell you exactly what he found there, good or bad. Or both. I hope he's not gone for good, but it's been since June, so...

The blogs I would miss (so don't go anywhere):

1. Elizabeth Twist -- Writer, Plague Enthusiast: Elizabeth has one of those quirky blogs which often teeters on the edge of horror. When she writes, she's always interesting, and she hasn't been writing enough, lately, so I hope she doesn't move up to the other section of this list, next year.
2. Briane Pagel -- Okay, so, actually, Briane has so many blogs that I could fill up this whole list with them, so I'm just going to list him as a person. Usually, when I'm doing my blog reading thing, I scroll down the list to wherever I left off (the oldest post) and work my way up (to the newest post), but Briane is one of those people that I stop for and read his posts right then, and I really just don't do that. Because Briane is prone to long, rambling posts, I think he doesn't get enough attention, and that's just too bad, because Briane has a lot of good things to say and tells great stories (like about how he exploded (yes, exploded) a garage door). Also, he's a great supporter of other authors.
3. The Blutonian Death Egg -- Actually, Rusty's blog is in danger of moving to the other list since his posting has become, well, sporadic, to say the least. It's too bad, because Rusty has a different way of looking at things that can make people go, "huh, I never thought of that," and I like that. He needs to do more of those posts about the things he thinks about, because those are the best!
4. Life Is Good -- Tina just has a great way of communicating and often tells stories about her childhood (see this year's A-to-Z posts). Well, all kinds of things, actually. They're always interesting, and I would definitely miss her blog if it went away.

Special Mention:

The Museum of Joy -- This was a blog I have missed because I thought it was gone, which was because it was gone, except that it was actually only moved. But no one knew that. Jericha has a way of always looking at the world as if she's seeing it for the first time, and it's pretty neat to read her thoughts about that. So, if you used to follow her, you can do that again, and, if you've never visited her blog, you should.

Okay, that's it for me, folks. It's time to go check in on some other blogs that people miss or would miss. If you have a favorite(s) blogger, you should really let him/her know. It's the kind of thing that can really lift someone up and, maybe, keep him/her from disappearing. Spread the appreciation around!

Here's the list of participants so that you, too, can check out the blogs people (would) miss:

Vampires: Day 2 -- "Locked In"

Beyond "Choose Your Own Adventure" books, second person perspective isn't used much in fiction. There's good reason for this. If it goes on for any length, it bogs itself down and becomes repetitive. When the only personal pronoun you really have access to is "you," it gets more than a bit tiresome. There have been only a few novels of any note written in second person -- like Bright Lights, Big City, which was also adapted as a film -- but I do think the format can work well in certain short story settings. A couple of years ago, I had my creative writing class play around with the format (you can find their 2nd person stories in Charter Shorts), but, although I got some good results from it, I decided I'd leave that alone for the foreseeable future and just get them proficient with third person. Some of them are quite proficient with first and third but enough are not that it's better not to muddy the waters by trying to have them write in second.

Anyway... I did my own story along with them (because I often do that), so I'm going to share that with you today. I have, actually, shared it before, but it's been a couple of years, and my blog readership has changed quite a bit since then, so most of you probably haven't seen  this before. I hope you like it.

Locked In

You wake up slowly. But not gradually. Not smoothly. You wake up in fits and starts realizing that hunger gnaws at you. It is with annoyance that you realize that you’ve slept longer than you had intended. A lot longer if the hunger pangs are any indication. Your previous exertions must have taken more out of you than you had thought.

You climb out of what passes for your bed, grimacing at the stiffness in your limbs. Yes, you have, indeed, slept longer than you had intended, and your body cries out for sustenance. Idly, you wonder what the date is. Not that it really matters. Dates don’t mean anything to you.

You climb the stairs leading up from the cellar into the darkened interior of the house you make your dwelling place. How lucky you were to have found it flits into your head, but you correct yourself. Fortunate, not lucky. You don’t believe in luck. And you did pay the agent handsomely to find a house that suited your needs. Yes, you were fortunate to have found such a perfect house. The sheet-draped furniture looks ghostly in the darkness, vaguely reflecting the dim light sifting in from outside. The twinge of a smile hints about your lips, but it is not related to the décor. Tonight, you have no time for ambiance. Tonight, you feel the need only for the hunt.

You feel the setting of the sun, and you step outside, pulling the door closed behind you. You don’t bother to lock it. Few are foolhardy enough that they would try to enter your sanctum, and you would welcome them if they did. Welcome them in the way that a spider welcomes a fly that enters its web. There are children still at play outside. They freeze at the sight of you, sensing your presence in the same way a hare senses the hawk above as its shadow passes overhead. Although they are wise to fear you, they have no reason for that fear. You know better than to hunt where you live. Not that they aren’t… tempting.

As you move slowly down the steps of the house that everyone tries to avoid looking at, the children relocate to the front porch of a house at the other end of the street. You move in that direction for no other reason than that it brings you pleasure to see them squirm. Squirm like vermin in the dirt when a stone is moved or like termites when a rotting log is suddenly split open. This time, the smile is not fleeting.

It’s been too long since you’ve had a young one, but the desire is alive in you, tonight, thanks to those children. If the humans didn’t get so worked up over their missing young, you’d partake more often, but you have to be more than careful to not be discovered when you go after the young. Still, every so often, you can get away with it, and tonight will be one of those nights.

You move through the city, all of your senses alert in a way that no human’s ever can be. You are as much a part of the night as the darkness and the wind. And, like the wind, you flow from place to place being felt but not seen, leaving a quiet shudder in those you pass by, the angel of death, and they never know of their good fortune on this night. How magnanimous you feel, allowing them to go their way, keep their petty, fleeting lives.

Finally, you find what you are looking for, a gathering of young ones. And in a church, which makes it so much better. They will probably think that their faith, that the church itself, will protect them, and, once, long ago, it would have, but so very, very few people have faith anymore. It’s the ones that think they do that you enjoy the most. It makes it so much more… fun.

There are a couple of dozen people inside the little church. A matronly woman and a few of the teenagers in a small kitchen. A young man hardly older than a child himself in an office with another of them. The rest are in the chapel watching a movie. Two of them, thinking themselves clever, have sequestered themselves back in the pews to make out. Young lovers in a church locked up tighter than a drum. You wonder if it could possibly get any better. Of course, you will kill them all.

The locked building is of no hindrance to you, and, reveling in your power, you decide to play the part of the cat and toy with your food, first, before you feast. After all, you have no idea how long it will be before another opportunity like this one will present itself, so you should make the absolute most of it.

You creep along the ceiling allowing a hint of your presence to wash over the pitiful humans below. You smile as they grow restless and uneasy for no reason that they can understand. When their fear reaches ripeness, you drop down amongst them bestowing panic upon them like a benediction. You exalt in the chaos and screams and reach for one of them, the one with long, flowing blond hair.

You bare your fangs at her, preparing to sink them into her smooth, warm flesh that pulses with life, but she passes out in your hands. With a growl, you fling her aside. There is no pleasure without the struggle; you’ll come back for her when you have finished with the others. You reach for another, but you are suddenly and unexpectedly pierced with pain.

You can’t figure out what is happening. The pain is incomprehensible, piercing through your back into your heart. Slowly, and with full awareness, you fall to the floor, sprawled out on your face. You hear one of them, “Is it dead?” And another, “Why doesn’t it turn to dust?” And, “This isn’t Buffy, stupid.”

“Go get my copy of Dracula from my office, Tom.”

You feel confident that is the young man. You can now feel his faith, true faith, washing over you in revolting waves, sickening you. But you can’t move. You lie frozen on the floor, helpless, and you find yourself wishing that you had some deity to pray to. You begin to hope fervently that they believe the stake has finished you off. You have a chance if they just toss you out like this.

It grows quiet. The silence is a torment. The silence of the true grave. Faintly, you hear the turning of pages. There is mumbled talk of beheading and burning, and you wish you could scream. How pitiful… taken by your own prey. They lift your body and begin to drag you to the small graveyard behind the church, and you know that you go to your final resting place.

Note One: "Shadow Spinner: Collection 2: The Man with No Eyes (parts 6 - 12) is just released and many of the parts (about 10) from 13 - 34 are still FREE! today. Pick up the collection and grab the freebies. You can see the list on yesterday's post.

Note Two: Don't forget about the "Oh, How I Miss You" blogfest! Click the link to read about it and get to the sign up list. It will be here soon!

Oh, How I Miss You Some More

Last year, I started a thing. If you want to read about how I started a thing, you can go here and, then, go here. You can also see the bloggers I chose last year (some of whom may be in this year's running, too) if you follow that second link.

At any rate, here's announcing the 2nd Annual "Oh, How I Miss You" blogfest.

Here's the spiel:

The bloggers we miss… and the ones we would miss!

Do you have a couple blogger buddies who aren’t posting as often? Those who’ve pulled back and seem absent from the blogging world? Do you have blogger buddies you are grateful they are still around and would miss if they vanished? Now is your chance to show your appreciation and spotlight them!

List one to three bloggers you really miss and one to three bloggers you would miss if they stopped blogging. Then go leave a comment on those blogs.

Our blogger friends are special – time to let them know!

And here are the sponsors:
Andrew Leon (oh, wait, you're here already, aren't you?)
Alex Cavanaugh
Matthew McNish

Blogging is kind of a weird thing when you think about it. Why people blog and why people read blogs. It's all a weird sort of dynamic. But, the truth is, we can get attached to people through it or, at least, to their blogs. And, sometimes, they quit doing it. The reasons why people quit are probably even more numerous than why they began in the first place. But, for some, maybe they quit because they just didn't feel appreciated. Or because they thought no one cared. Whatever the reason, though, if it's someone that you have really appreciated, someone who has had something(s) to say that have touched or helped you in some way, let them know. And, if you have people that are still blogging but you wouldn't know what to do if you didn't have their blogs to stop by a couple or few times a week, let them know, too. It's that thankful time of year, so go say, "Thanks!" and "Hey, I miss you!" or "Don't go anywhere, because I would miss you if you did!"

Sign up below!

Oh, How I Miss You Blogfest

So I was thinking...
Yeah, I do that from time to time. Usually, it's dangerous, but, this time, it actually worked out.
So I was thinking, "Boy, there are some blogs that I used to really love to read, but the bloggers have disappeared. I sure do miss them." And that thought lead to another thought which lead me to talking to Alex Cavanaugh and that lead to dragging Matthew McNish into all of it, and that lead to the

It's a pretty simple idea in all actuality, and I'm surprised no one else thought of it first. Here is all the official spiel:

Oh, How I Miss You

November 16, 2012

Hosted by Alex Cavanaugh, Matthew McNish, and Andrew Leon

The bloggers we really miss...

and the ones we would really miss!

Do you have a couple of blogger buddies that aren't posting as often? Those who've pulled back and seem absent from the blogging world? Do you have blogger buddies you're grateful are still around but would miss if they vanished? Now is your chance to show your appreciation and spotlight them!

On November 16, list one to three bloggers you really miss and one to three bloggers you would miss if they stopped blogging, then go leave a comment on those blogs letting them know.

Our blogger friends are special; it's time to let them know!
The sign up list is down below all the news. Make sure you don't miss it!

Item #1: The Great Review Contest
As far as I can tell, since no actually came back and said, "Hey, I left a review," I got four new reviews during the contest. Using super secret technology to choose a winner, also called having my wife pick a random number, Rusty Webb is the winner of the free e-book! Yea, Rusty!
I'm grateful for the four new reviews I got. I can't say how much. This review thing is tough, so every little bit helps. Thank you all so much!

Item #2: Shadow Spinner
I'm about to hit my rollover on the first part of Spinner, "The Tunnel," and that means I'll get five new free days for it! Woo hoo! But before that happens, I have one FREE! day left that I want to use up. No sense in letting those things go to waste, right? So, today only, Monday, October 22, I'm making

"Part One: The Tunnel" FREE! Because that's just the kind of guy I am. Also, because part two is nearing its rollover date, also, I'm gonna throw it onto the FREE! train along with part one. That's "Part Two: The Kitchen Table" for FREE! for one day only! If you haven't picked them up yet or know someone that hasn't, make sure you drop by and do it! Don't forget to click the "like" button when you do!

And now back to the blogfest!

Sign up on the linky list below:

Blahgfest Humbug!

So... today is the day of the infamous

being hosted by the Grumpy Bulldog himself.

Today being Thursday, December 15. At least it is as I write this; although, I can't say with any certainty that this will get posted on Thursday. I suppose we'll see. It's just been one of those weeks where I haven't had time to get everything accomplished, so this may well bleed over into Friday.

Anyway...

I really love Christmas. It was a magical time when I was a kid and one of only two times in the year when I was pretty certain that I would get to see all of my cousins and family. That being as it is, the task of coming up with 12 things I don't like about the holidays seemed a pretty daunting task. If my wife hadn't started throwing out ideas, I may not have been able to do it. By the way, she says that she gets credit for at least half of this post.
heh

12. The United States Postal Service: I had to go to the post office this morning on business unrelated to shipping anything. But I had to wait in line anyway. There were about two dozen people in line when I got there. One postal worker. Yes, one postal worker. I was there early (not by choice), and they are always busiest right after they open, so you'd think they'd plan ahead about things like that, but, no, it's the post office. People can wait in line. We should be glad to wait  in line, in fact. This is why the post office isn't going to make it. It's not just the internet; it's because no one, and I mean no one, wants to go to the post office. The only place that might by worse is the DMV. Oh, gee, both government agencies...
Anyway... about halfway through the line, a woman got to the window with a big bag of parcels she needed to mail. At that point, they finally brought out a second postal worker. Not that that sped anything up, because the second person almost immediately got bogged down with some issue with a customer and was still with that same customer when I finally left. The post office is no one's idea of fun, but at Christmas, it's a very special kind of Hell. In fact, I think that is one of the levels of Hell.
The only reason that the Post Office is not higher on the list is that I pretty much avoid it. Today was one of those rare exceptions.

11. Wrapping: I do... I hate wrapping presents. Ever. Christmas just compounds the issue. The main reason is the waste. I understand that children love to open presents (it's part of the Magic), which is why I'm willing to do it. But I wish that presents for adults could just go unwrapped. They can be in the shopping bags. It serves sort of the same purpose. My wife tells me I'm just wrong.
Then there's the part of it where I'm spending a lot of time and effort on something that's just going to get ripped off in a matter of seconds. It's like making the bed. Why even bother? My wife tells me I'm just wrong about that, too.
Plus, I suck at wrapping.

10. Making room for the Christmas tree: I hate rearranging furniture. Part of that goes back to my childhood when my mom would decide every couple of months that the furniture needed to be rearranged for no good reason. This included moving the piano upstairs once. And another time moving the washer and dryer upstairs (so that they would be closer to my parents' bedroom). And all sorts of other things. At any rate, I hate the whole process of making room to bring the tree in which is just going to be undone when the tree goes back out.

9. Food: Not that I hate food, it's just that there's so much more of all the stuff you shouldn't eat being provided pretty much everywhere. It's like everyone becomes secret food agents: XX7 -- license to eat.

8. Time: This one is related to the food in concept. Time is finite. Stop trying to cram so many activities into the few weeks leading up to Christmas. It's not like time gets fatter at Christmas, unlike people (who gain up to 10 lbs the last 6 weeks of the year); there's not any extra to go around, so stop trying to cram so much into it. The events are just an excuse to offer up more food that no one needs, anyway.

7. Music: I hate to list this one, because so many other people did, but there's way too much bad Christmas music. And why do they play the same stupid songs over and over again. Does anyone over the age of eight like "Run, Run Rudolph"? Seriously. Stop playing all this crap. And, with a few exceptions, you can skip any artist's Christmas album. Mostly, these don't have anything to do with the artist; it's just the music industry moguls squeezing more bucks out of people while someone (>cough< Bieber) is popular. Compilations tend to be a bit better, because the artist picks a song s/he/they really like, and do just the one. You may get a few bad songs on a compilation, but you tend to get a few real jewels, too.

6. Money: There's not enough of it, and it becomes really apparent in the month of December. Let me give you an example of what December is like:
Back in the early 90s, the (then) owner of Marvel Comics tried to bankrupt the company. And he almost succeeded. It went like this:
Ghost Rider was an incredibly popular series, so he thought he could make more money if Marvel produced another six series just like it.
The Punisher was an incredibly popular series, so he thought he could make more money if Marvel produced another three or four Punisher titles.
The Uncanny X-Men was immensely popular, so he thought he could make more money by throwing an X into the title of anything and everything that wasn't Ghost Rider, The Punisher, or Spider-Man.
The problem was (and is) that the pie was only so big. Increasing the number of titles Marvel produced, especially all at once, didn't increase the size of the pie, it just meant that people had to start buying different pieces. It didn't make people happy, and Marvel imploded, along with the rest of the comic market, in the mid-90s.
Christmas is like that. The pie, like time, doesn't get fatter just because it's Christmas. We budget for presents all year to make sure we have those covered, so it's not  the presents I'm talking about. It's all those other things that people want to convince you to spend your money on just because it's Christmas. Just stop. I don't want jingle bell earrings nor do I know anyone I want to buy them for. Maybe once my daughter has her ears pierced that will change, but, then, we'll have that budgeted into presents.

5. Telemarketers and charities: Stop calling my house! See the previous entry. Not only do I not have extra Christmas money laying around; in fact, I have less. Because of all the other extra expenses that pop up this time of year. Like the heating bill.

4. Controversy: I'm not coming down on one side or the other on the whole "is Christmas a religious or a pagan holiday" thing. The truth is it doesn't matter. I'm just tired of people arguing over it. This is supposed to be the season of goodwill toward men no matter from what angle you come at it, so everyone should just act like that and let other people celebrate the way they want to. Personally, I don't put an X in my mas (I wouldn't want Marvel coming after me), but if other people want to, for whatever reason, go ahead. This country is supposed to be about freedom and freedom of expression, but, most of the time, everyone spends their time acting worse than my kids. (Yes, I'm looking at you democrats and republicans.)

3. People: They're everywhere. Here's the thing about people, and this has been proven, meaning there have been actual studies done around this phenomenon, and it has been shown to be real, is that the more of them you put together in one place, the lower the collective IQ goes. People are stupid enough as it is; we don't really need large gatherings to bring down the intelligence even more. And this includes the roads. I hate driving anywhere during December, because driving also does something to intelligence. Or entitlement. Or something.

2. Commercialization: Really, it's getting to the point where the only way my family can celebrate the holiday the way we want to celebrate it is to avoid it. Or, at least, the way it's presented out there in the world. Whatever happened to the season of giving? Oh, yeah, that's right; we've turned it into the season of buying. That's all it's about anymore. Buy BUY BUY! And then go out and but some more. And take your family out to eat a few times while you're busy buying. See how all of this stuff flows together. But the pie still isn't any bigger.

1. Length: When I was a kid, Christmas started the day after Thanksgiving. It was like a law. Like the blue law. It restricted when Christmas stuff could be sold. Not the blue law, that just meant you couldn't buy stuff on Sunday, but the Thanksgiving/Christmas law was like that. You could go into a store the day before Thanksgiving, and it would be just like any other day of the year. The day after Thanksgiving, it was transformed into a Christmas wonderland. Like Magic. It was wonderful.
Now? I hate (HATE) seeing Christmas decorations out on the shelf with all the Halloween stuff. It's just wrong. And there's no magical transformation of, well, anything anymore. It's all just this long process from the beginning of October through the end of November until it's all there in December. No magic for the kids. No anticipation. No waiting to go look at all the wondrous Christmas displays. It makes me sad.
The thing is, it's really just this one thing that I hate about the holidays. Except that this has happened because of the whole commercialization thing. I could drop numbers 3-12 completely off the list, in all reality, because, although annoyances, I can deal with them. But these last two... they kill my spirit. Christmas should be a time of joy and generosity and MAGIC. And we've taken that all away.

So... there's my list. I haven't made it through all of the others, yet, but I will try to get to them all over the next couple of days.

Merry Christmas!

Paying It Forward -- A Blogfest

Today is the day of the Pay It Forward blogfest hosted by, um, you know, some people somewhere. Actually, I do know who's hosting it, but I don't really want to tell you. I mean, we're supposed to be highlighting some under the radar type blogs, and the guys putting this show on don't really fly under the radar. These are the guys doing the fly-bys of the tower. So, yeah, I'm not gonna mention them by name or link. >shrug< Chances are you already know anyway.

It's a cool idea, and it sounds easy enough. But it's not. I mean, it's not just supposed to be blogs that people may not know about, but it's also supposed to be blogs that you really like. Hmm... okay... blogs I really like that people may not know about. Three of them. Sure, it could be more, but, really, do you have time to go through every blog on my list? I didn't think so. Especially with everyone else doing this today. Not that I have time to do that, either.

So I'm tweaking the criteria just a bit. I'm going to list the blogs that, when I see they've posted, I absolutely must read. Yeah, I'm admitting I don't always read every post that everyone does from each blog that I follow. But, you know, I do have kids. And writing to do, and, sometimes, I just run out of time. I do my best. I'm not going to list every blog that I always read, because, honestly, some of them don't fly under the radar. One in particular I can think of that I would like to mention, but I'm just not going to. So take heart! Just because your blog isn't on this list, it doesn't mean I'm not reading every single post, it might, but it doesn't necessarily mean that. I suppose this is kind of like how, in a firing squad, they load one of the guns with blanks.

Anyway... here's my list. Go check them out.
(Oh, and these are in no particular order.)

Grumpy Bulldog's Blog: Rogue Mutt is kind of always amusing in his surliness. Mostly, though, I'm listing him because he just moved his blog address, and, having just moved for real, I know what kind of a pain that is. And he moved, like, to a whole new blog city! So, yeah, if you haven't checked his blog out, go do it.

Barbara Kloss: She's smart, and she has a book I want to read. That should be enough.

Concrete Pieces Of Soul: It's a great title. And she's getting married. But I just enjoy her blog.

It's the world, dear: One of my favorite blogs. Especially when she rips into hipsters. All about life in New York. And I'm waiting for her book!

Serendipity's Library: My favorite blog of quirkiness and home to the freakiest doll since Chucky. Even though she refuses to be my best blog friend, I still haunt her blog.

The Blutonian Death Egg: Possibly, the greatest name in blog history. And he did the cover of my book (check it out). But I was reading his blog way before that, and so should you.

So, yeah, more than 3, but they're the ones I stop for. Always something interesting and well done. If they're worth my time, I know they're worth yours!

Oh, and just one more... she's kind of absent of late (with reason), but she has a great blog: Small World, Big Dreams. Normally, I wouldn't send anyone to a blog where the owner isn't posting regularly, but Alyssia's is worth the time, anyway.

Random Rant

I'm going to let you all in on a little secret. I can be obnoxious. I mean really obnoxious. And I don't mean the kind of fun obnoxious; I mean the kind of obnoxious that makes you want to hit said obnoxious person. Mostly, these days, I have that under control. It's taken a long time, though.

For instance, when I "discovered" music when I was in high school, I dominated music everywhere I went. Except, you know, that crap they play in elevators and department stores, and the only reason I didn't was because I didn't know how to go about changing it. I carried a tape deck with me all the time, rarely using headphones. I sang along with the radio when I was on the phone pretty much throughout high school. I took control of radios and tape decks in my friends' cars without regard to what anyone else might want to hear. I'd even make people sit in their cars long enough to finish whatever song was on, even if it was on a tape.

No one ever (and has never) said anything to me about my behavior. In fact, I kind of became the music guy, and people just let me do that. They knew I'd have music to listen to when, generally, they'd forgotten to bring anything. It was years before I realized that there was anything wrong with the way I behaved. It makes me wish someone had said something to me about it back then, especially about the singing on the phone. It's more than a little bit embarrassing at this point in my life.

So... not obnoxious because I was trying to be or trying to be funny, just obnoxious because I was obnoxious. The other really obnoxious behavior I had back then (in high school) was correcting people when they were wrong. Especially with grammar. And I don't mean when I was in a conversation, because that's somewhat acceptable, but I would pop into conversations completely independent of myself and correct people. Ob. Nox. Ious.
But, again, just trying to be helpful. And I didn't realize, at the time, that people didn't really appreciate that sort of thing. See, I was kind of under the impression that people would be grateful for being corrected. I mean, I don't like being wrong, so, if I say something that's wrong, and you point it out to me, I tend to be more like, "oh, I didn't know that. Thanks!" Other people... not so much. Not a way to win friends and influence people.

Fortunately, I did wise up (mostly) by the time I was out of high school.

I did say mostly. Because I'm about to unleash a little bit of obnoxious.

I hate (HATE) the way people misuse the word "random." HATE IT! Did I mention that I hate it?

There are these constant posts titled things like "5 Random things on a Friday" or those blog awards that say to list "7 Random Facts" about yourself. Oh! My! Gosh! These things are NOT random! NOT NOT NOT!

Maybe I wouldn't be so sensitive to this if I didn't live with a teenager who fancies himself to be random. And he's totally not. I can see it in his face when he's trying to be random. We'll be talking about something, and he will pause, thinking, and, then, pop out with something about a completely different topic. But, you see, he stopped to think about it. Weighed it. Made a judgement about what would seem the most random thing he could say and, then and only then, said it. That whole process takes all the random out of it. I lost track of the number of conversations we had with him over a couple of years explaining all this to him. He's finally stopped doing that. Just in time for his younger brother to begin fancying it. >sigh<

I really don't understand the worship of "random" currently running through our culture. It's as if something is made inherently better by being random. The problem being that none of these things are, actually, random. But why do we even want them to be?

I have quit following more than a few blogs due to the overuse of these "5 Random Things" posts. Things that were clearly related to each other, immediately cancelling any randomness. Or introduced by "here are some thoughts I was having." Again, NOT random! Or "here's what I did last night." NOT RANDOM!!! If it's not going to be random, don't call it random!

I think, though, my favorite are the awards that say to list some "random" things about yourself. How many people do that? My guess: none. Because, before anyone lists anything on those things, they decide what they want people to know and list only those things. Nothing listed is random. In fact, other than Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, not a lot in life is random. Even things that may seem upon casual inspection to be random. But that gets a little metaphysical, and I don't want to go there. The thing is, if you really want to list random things about yourself, you'd have to make out a list of all the things about yourself (or a gosh darn lot of them) and then choose randomly (and blindly) from the list and print whatever came up. The good and the bad. Not really sure we have a lot of people willing to do that.

Maybe the problem is that people don't know what random means? So... here I am, breaking in on conversations all over the blogosphere, correcting everyone, releasing the obnoxious inside. Here is what random means:

random: proceeding, made, or occurring without definite aim, reason, or pattern

I just want to point out the word "reason" in the above definition. Seriously, how much do you do without reason being involved in some way? Well, okay, maybe that is valid for teenagers, especially the ones in middle school, but still... It certainly doesn't apply to anyone sitting down to write a blog post. Reason immediately begins its work to help you formulate your thoughts and get them down on paper, so to speak. So, for the LOVE OF GOD, stop using the word "random" just to make it sound like you didn't put any thought into your post! This isn't college where the freshman girls are showing up to class completely made up while trying to look like they just woke up that way. No! This is junior year where everyone (everyone!) rolls out of bed 5 minutes before class and drags themselves across campus in sweats or whatever they could conveniently get into and not get kicked out of class for indecent exposure. Stop TRYING to be random! The fact that you're TRYING negates the whole thing!

Okay, rant over. I guess. Man, it feels good to get that off of my chest. I'll put the obnoxious back in the box, now.

And, now, for something completely random...
Oh, wait... I mean "and, now, it's time for something completely different." But that's a topic for another conversation.

If you're still here after all of that, I've been interviewed over at Cally Jackson Writes. Yes, she has put me in her hot seat. You should hop over there and check it out!

Before I go, I do want to remind everyone about the Pay It Forward Blogfest. There's still time to get signed up for it if you click the linky I left. I'll be posting my three picks on Friday... once I figure out what they are. It's the whole "under the radar" part that makes this difficult for me, so I'll be hopping around to the blogs I follow over the next couple of days trying to determine which ones I think fit the description the best.

The House on the Corner

So... The big news of the day, at least for me, is that The House on the Corner: First Person Edition is now available! Yes, I am excited. The proof looks SO good. Of course, Rusty Webb had a lot to do with that, since he did the cover art. The very spectacular cover art, I might add. Actually, not might add, because I did add it. I hope at least some of you will decide to pick it up and try it out. Currently, it's available through CreateSpace for $14.99 and for the Kindle for $2.99. You know, $2.99 isn't much. I'll have it set up for the Nook, soon, and I'm going to look at Smashwords, although I haven't used them before, so I haven't made any decisions about it, yet. Oh, and Goodreads. Which I'm on, but I only just learned I can sell through there, too, so I have to work that out. Autographed copies can also be available directly through me if you are PayPal capable. The book's supposed to be available through Amazon itself, also, but, for some reason, it's not showing up, yet. >shrug< It's better if you buy the physical copy through CreateSpace, anyway.

[Edit: The House on the Corner is, now, also available on the Nook for $2.99!]

Here's what I need from you guys... yeah, yeah, I know, but, really, there is something I need from you. I mean, other than just buying the book. It would be great to get some reviews. Preferably good reviews. :) Good reviews would be awesome. Especially on Amazon. So, yeah, this is what I'm asking: if you buy the book, read the book, like the book, please review the book. On your blogs would be great, but posting on Amazon and Goodreads would be awesome. Really awesome. Now, if you don't like the book, well... I'm not going to say don't review it. Because, you know, if you hate it and think it's the worst piece of crap ever written, it would be kind of wrong to just keep that to yourself. But I'm pretty sure it's not that bad. Of course, I'm biased. I mean, it's not Tolkien, but it's better than... well, I won't name names, but it's better than a lot of the traditionally published stuff out there right now. By "a lot", I might mean most.

Okay, I'll (mostly) be finished talking about The House on the Corner (for the moment).

As some of you might know, there's this blogfest thing going on. You know, this one:



Some of you are new followers from the blogfest, and I've picked up a few new blogs to follow, too, although I haven't had time, yet, to get around to as many as I would have liked. So far. It had something to do with trying to get the formatting finished for the Kindle edition of House. At any rate, I plan to spend more time making the rounds next week, now that I have the bulk of the work for House finished. Although, I didn't plan the timing, it seems to me that this is a good time for all of this (House becoming available for public consumption), since this is, theoretically, the purpose of the blogfest. Cool, huh? Interestingly enough, part of my participation in the Platform-building blogfest has included a re-evaluation of some of the blogs I already follow. What does that mean, you ask? It means I actually quit following some of them. I know! Horror of horrors! I exercised that "quit following" button. It's kind of a weird feeling. But! I just want you to know that I didn't do this indiscriminately. There were criteria. Things like it having been months and months since a post. I mean, if your not gonna post, there's nothing to follow anyway, right? Never responding to comments. And I don't just mean my comments. I mean if people leave comments but the author of the blog never responds to anything... well, let me just say you have to have a very, VERY interesting blog for me to follow you if you're not going to be involved with your followers. There were other things, but those were the main ones.

At any rate, the reason for dropping some is so that I have room to add more. heh Unfortunately, time is sort of finite, and I can only fit some many blogs into the time I have. Once I get that technology perfected for freezing time, I promise to follow everyone's blog. No, really, I do  promise! We're working on it. However, with the news that the Higgs boson particle probably doesn't really exist after all,  there may be some delays in the completion of the project.

Oh, and last (but not least), I received a blog award from Jennifer over at Serendipity's Library. The

I love Jennifer's blog. It always full of wacky fun, especially when she whips out Charlotte, the creepiest doll in the world. Check it out. I dare you.

And, now, I'm supposed to pass this one on to 5 other blogs with fewer than 200 followers and encourage them to do the same. So...

1. Has to be Rusty Webb. Even if he hadn't just done the cover art for my book, he'd be my pick for top slot. He always (well, pretty much always) has something interesting to say, even when he does things like title his posts "Most Boring Post Ever." And, really, he's just an all around nice guy who actually encourages dialogue in his comments.

2. Because she has a blog that is always full of useful information shared with excellent writing on the side, Alyssia Kirkhart over at Small World, Big Dreams. Really, her following does not reflect the quality of her blog.

3. Because she shares her Magic Eyes, Amanda Leigh Cowley. You'll have to stop by her place on the web to see what I mean.

And, well, actually, that's gonna be it. Everyone else I would award this to either already received it or has more than 200 followers. However, if I find 2 more blogs I think are deserving during the blogfest, I'll pass it on in a belated fashion.

That's it for me... for now, at least.

Another Day, Another...

Blogfest!

Bess Weatherby is hosting a blogfest that starts today.

 I  think I may have acted rashly in signing up for it. See, this 'fest is all about setting goals, and I'm just not much of one for any kind of long-range goal setting. Ask my wife. She hates it. She likes making plans and lists, and I'm not that kinda guy. Okay, well, I do, sometimes, make lists. Because, I'm finding, that I'm forgetting more and more things that, once upon a time, I would never have forgotten. I blame it on my kids, and I know that I'm right to do so.

I do have a list of writing goals sitting next to my computer. It's a list. Things I need to work on. In fact, I had to get up in the MIDDLE of the NIGHT, last night, and add something to it. I HATE that. But, as I was falling asleep, I had this thought. A really good thought. And my brain kept telling me that I was going to forget about it if I didn't get up and write it down. I kept telling my brain that I wouldn't forget, because it would remember, but it kept saying, "No, I won't remember. Get up and write it down." I argued with my brain for a long time. Maybe an hour. I lost. I got up and wrote it down. My first thought this morning when I got up was that idea. Without looking at the list. So I was right, but I still lost the argument. Here's a one word teaser about the idea: zombies!

Okay, so... the blogfest has two parts:

1. What your current WIP looks like:

Darn, I don't what that means. I don't even know what my current WIP is. I mean, does The House on the Corner count because I'm not quite finished with my revision? I'm almost finished. I'm actually slightly behind schedule on that. I wanted to be finished with it by the end of May. All of the major re-writing is finished. I just have to finish going through it making word corrections and such.

Or is my current WIP Brother's Keeper? I mean, that is my next major project. I'm also behind on that. Because, originally, I had intended to start it in February, but that was a goal I set back before I started blogging and revising, and, see, that's why I hate long-range plans. They never work out the way I want them to. At any rate, the first chapter of Brother's Keeper is posted up in the tabbies at the top, but I'm not much further than that.

2. What your writing goals are for the summer:

Okay, writing goals for the summer... that's... difficult. See, I have these parasites that hang around all summer interrupting me constantly. I'm not one of those people that can write in bits and pieces. I have to have solid chunks of quiet without interruptions. It's annoying. However, I'll give it a shot.

a. Have the manuscript for The House on the Corner: The First Person Edition ready by the end of the day June 17 (I actually wanted that to be June 10, but, I think, since I have all these end of the school year parent/teacher conferences, that I'm not quite going to finish that, this week).

b. Have some sort of cover worked out for The House on the Corner: The First Person Edition by June 24. That's going to be a hard one. I have no artist, and I don't really know how to turn any art I may decide to do into a cover.

c. Starting next week, do (at least) 2000 words a week on Brother's Keeper. I'm not sure how that will work since I'll have afore mentioned parasites running loose.

d. Post 2-3 times a week on the blog.

Those are the have to's. There are some other things I'd like to do, but, looking at that list, it might actually be too much considering there will be swimming lessons in there, music lessons, and, um, I'm not even sure what else.

So there you have it. I wish everyone else doing this the best of luck with both the setting of the goals and the achieving of them!