Arguments, Arguments Everywhere

I have three off case positions, two Ts and a K.

A friend of mine was asking for “solid argument topics” and of course, as a speech and debate coach of some years now, I was prepared:

The Electoral College—bad or so evil that you must say it's eeeee-vil?

Stop and Frisk in Schools—necessary or a good way to meet friends?

Nuclear Power—safe resource or our best chance for mutant powers?

Immunity for Police Officers—why or why?

Civil Disobedience—morally justified in a democracy, or a great way to get that flatscreen you've been eyeing?

Feel free to argue any, all, or your own topic in the comments section.  You will be graded on evidence, analysis, logical conclusion and the number of times you manage to site Breitbart without cracking up.

Also, bonus points for anyone who understood the caption without resorting to Google or Google-like options.

What? Me? Worry!?

Jokes on us!

I am of the sneaking and growing suspicion that what Trump actually meant when he said "We'll build a wall!" is "I want to be president and will say anything to do so regardless of how asinine it is, and once I'm in you'll look really foolish for electing me to do these implausible and impossible things!"

Veterans Day 2016

Out of respect.

Veterans suffuse my life.  Granddad McCandless served, and so did my dad, Robert.  Uncles and cousins, countless friends and associates have taken an oath, shouldered a weapon and stood a watch.

I've thanked most of them throughout the years—or at least meant to.

Two of my closest friends served in three armed services.  Yes, you read that correctly.  Whatever their other faults, this is very much their day, when they are recognized for their actions, no matter how mundane, in service to their country and specifically to me. 

They continue to challenge, support, cajole, mock and laugh at and with me.

Thanks lads.  FAOBM!

About Last Night

Say hello to my small-handed friend.

Last night totally happened.

It’s a thing now, and we have to face the consequences.

This morning, some of us felt scared or angry or frustrated.  Some of us were elated and excited and pumped up.  This morning, the Earth continued its rotation and the sun “came up”.  The air was still breathable, water was still wet, and basic laws of gravity and motion remained in effect.  My boys were cute.

The fundamental truth is that we all woke up in the same United States of America.

For those who “won,” congratulations.  I mean that sincerely, and I hope that the country and the world sees but prosperity and hope through your win.  For those who “lost,” I’m deeply sorry.  I sincerely hope that you will continue working to try to make the country, and the world, a better place.  America works as long as we make it work.

These are not the end times, or the start of a golden Utopia.  There is no movement the likes of which the world has never seen.  It’s only through a very narrow lens that history appears to be an inexorable march from event to event.  Nothing was meant to happen.  It required hard work, effort and investment of time and thought.

Win or lose, that’s the America we were in yesterday and 24 hours hasn’t changed it.

It will be OK.

Now, a word from our Founding Father:

In these sentiments, Sir, I agree to this Constitution, with all its faults, — if they are such; because I think a general Government necessary for us, and there is no form of government but what may be a blessing to the people, if well administered; and I believe, farther, that this is likely to be well administered for a course of years, and can only end in despotism, as other forms have done before it, when the people shall become so corrupted as to need despotic government, being incapable of any other.

Benjamin Franklin

Speech to the Constitutional Convention, September 17, 1787

And, Shockingly, I'm Sick

The Writer, formerly known as Well.

Whatever my middle son decided to pick up as this seasons illness has finally hit me.  I had high hopes that when everyone had it but me and my oldest son, I was going to be safe.  Alas, no such luck.  I went to sleep last night with a tickle in my throat, and woke up this morning coughing, sore everywhere, and with far lower energy.

All this on the first Monday after the evil, vile, terrible, icky, smelly Daylight Stupid Time has finally ended.

I can barely work up a meaningful huzzah.

Huzzah.

See?  I can’t even get up to exclamation point level, and this is an internet blog.

Have a great day.  I’m thinking I may head home.

Reviews, Reviews and More Star Reviews

Not all reviews are this good.

I've really shifted how I give reviews since I became published.

I used to be pretty brutal on books that weren't excellent.  That was only how the story impacted me personally, rather than how the book achieved its goal of entertaining me over the course of the story.  When I entered into review groups, I saw how the star system was far more important.  Amazon used to consider a three-star review as favorable, but has since switched it to being marginally unfavorable.  This is made even worse because it’s (nearly) impossible to get a five-star aggregate.  The more reviews you have (good) the more under five stars you can achieve (bad).  So if a book was only moderately entertaining, a series of three-star reviews, one or two four or five stars and whatever mean-spirit allows two stars reviews will center the book around 3.5.  Amazon considers anything under four stars to be a mediocre-to-crap product.  That’s fine and dandy for toasters and food processors, but it’s a world of difference for books.   

Since then, I’ve changed my perspective on giving reviews and stars.  Three stars is my hard floor—I try to not go below that.  You’d have to actively work in a genre that I hate with characters that offer nothing and a story that lulls me to sleep to earn something less than three stars.

I boil it down to the following:

1 - Are the story and the characters solid and consistent?

2 - Did the story maintain my willing suspension of disbelief?

3 - Was I entertained?

4 - Were the typos/grammar issues minimal?

Fantastic book!  Great characters! Clever twist!  Two Stars!

The last I'm willing to cut more slack than most people.  Even the Big Five publishers release books with typos/grammar issues in them.  So, finding a dozen to twenty shouldn't bother anyone.  Also, I’m not writing the review for me.  I know what I think of the book.  I’m writing the review so that others can gain decent insight into whether or not this is a book they would enjoy.

Enjoyment is, after all, the goal of any decent author.

If a book hits all four, then at a minimum, I'm going to give it four stars and likely five.  A worthwhile story, one that was entertaining and reasonably consistent, should get four to five stars.  It is, as far as helping another author, the absolute least thing I can do.  It doesn't hurt me, or my reputation, to give someone a helping hand, and since reviews aggregate, this is the one thing that I can do to help any author.

Plus, I know first hand that other reviewers will be less kind, even if they don’t mean to.  I’ve received rave reviews that gushed about dialogue, characters, plot, etc. and couldn’t say enough good things.  I couldn’t pay people to write reviews like that.  Then—three stars.

This doesn't mean my review won't point out flaws or stumbles.  I don't need to white-wash or pull punches when discussing any failings (as I see it) with the book.  But if a story can manage at least the first three, then likely I'm going to give it four stars.

Good News and Bad News

And scream, and scream, and scream . . .

This is a good news / bad news kind of post.

The bad news is that my publisher is closing doors.  A form email went out to all the authors over the weekend letting us know that Wild Child Publishing is shutting down.  I’m not quite certain what that means for the books currently out there, so I’ll keep you posted.

The good news from this is that I’ll do whatever it takes to make certain Tears of Heaven and Hell Becomes Her are still available for purchase . . . somehow.  CreateSpace is the most likely source, and I’ve worked through that before to produce Xavier and Bear on Crabby Pond.  That experience will definitely come into play when working out how to get the books back up.

The other bad news is that I’m not certain about reviews and current links and so forth.  It’s starting to sound like a lot of work that I’ll have to do to keep everything flowing smoothly.

On the other hand, the other good news is that this might free me to update/change the cover for Tears of Heaven.  It’s a fine cover, but it doesn’t quite go with what I’m working on, and won’t line up with the third book.

Another potentially good news is that, should I ever become famous, those initial run prints of Tears of Heaven and Hell Becomes Her would be considered rare collectors items so long as they have the Wild Child imprint.  If you've been holding out on purchasing the books, now may well be your time!  Buy early.  Buy often!  It's an excellent investment as I can assure you I'm a wonderful writer with a real future—at least that's what the roadside psychic said, right before a sixteen-wheeler plowed through her stand.

Not mad.  Just disappointed.

Funny, you'd think she'd have seen that coming . . . what with the horns and all?

Ahhh, yes, that’s the final bit of bad / good news—Company of the Damned.  I’m not quite certain how this will impact the release of the next Del book.  Obviously, the book will not go through Wild Child’s editing process.  Unless a book series is selling like crazy, most publishing houses won’t take on a book in the middle of the series.  That means that Company of the Damned will most likely have to come out as an indie.  That, in itself, isn’t problematic, but it will certainly limit the number of platforms the book can be released to.

Meanwhile, progress continues on Forge of Heroes, the novella that I’m editing/updating from my fantasy novel The Blood of Heroes.  I managed to nearly complete the next chapter over this weekend.

Stay tuned!