War is Cruelty

As I embark on the next stage of my writing career, the sequels for my first two books, today's History Tidbit so perfectly ties in that I may need to add General Sherman's quote to the sequel of "No Rules Of Engagement.""War is cruelty.  There is no use in trying to reform it.  The crueler it is, the sooner it will be over."  General William T. Sherman, shortly before beginning his brutal March to the Sea.On this date in History Atlanta falls when General Sherman launches the Battle of Jonesboro.I did manage to publish "No Rules Of Engagement" on Smashwords, may need to go back in and make a slight adjustment to cover art.It is in the review mode at Amazon and Createspace.  Amazon's platform wouldn't let me download cover art for some reason so will have to go back and...

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Posted in: War General Sherman Cruelty

Beginning and Endings

Tonight, August 30, 2011, God willing, because Lord I need your help, and blessings, I am going to download my second Novel on Amazon, Smashwords, and CreateSpace.CreateSpace may have to wait for another night, depending if I have to cut and paste the entire document into their preformatted templates.I was planning all along to wait until September 11, 2011; because that is the target date my Editor and I agreed upon to get everything finished by.  We did it, except for piecing together the pieces that you have to put together when you download it.  It is done, finished.  In three different formats for three different platforms.  This will be my second book, but my first time adding a book to my existing accounts, so it is still new and unfamiliar territory.I still remember...

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Posted in: No Rules Of Engagement Writing Publishing

History Tidbit

On this day in 1786, Shay's Rebellion started in this country!1,000 farmers organized by a Revolutionary War veteran Daniel Shay, march in protest at high taxation, high court costs and the governor's high salary.  They closed down the commonwealth's Supreme Court, freed imprisoned debtors and burnt down the barns of government officials.  The rebellion lasts until January of 1787.Revolutionary War Veteran.  What would today's media call Daniel Shay in our times?  What would happen if American Citizens banded together to take our country back?And that history and mother nature repeat themselves…On this date in 2005, Hurricane Katrina slammed into the U.S. Gulf Coast, wreaking havoc through Mississippi and Louisiana.Yesterday "Whisper" became available in paperback through...

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Posted in: Shay's Rebellion Katrina Paperback Createspace

Self Publishing

Nicole Pyles has a blog where she is discussing the in's and out of Self Publishing. http://theworldofmyimagination.blogspot.com/2011/08/to-self-publish-or-to-not-self-publish.html?m=0 She mentions a response of mine from Writer's Digest dot com when I responded to a question of hers. It's worth checking out. ...

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Posted in: Self Publishing Nicole Pyles

Fear Of Success

I am in the final stages of finishing my Second Novel, "No Rules Of Engagement."  I am also on vacation so I am not pushing terribly hard to wrap things up, trying to stay relaxed and get recharged, as next week it will be back to the day job pushing rubber (Tire Wholesaler), and writer by night.  Plus I don't plan on publishing this until September 11. It dawned on me as I was re reading Amazon's publishing requirements, and Smashwords Style Guide again, I read them both in early January before publishing Whisper, that I was having this mix of emotions again. On the one hand I am so excited about releasing my second book and having two books out there in the Virtual Book Store of the World.  On the other hand I have this fear! It isn't a fear of not being good enough, Whisper...

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Posted in: Fear of Success

Playing with my family - Vacation

Since 2008 with the crash of the economy, I have seen people lose their jobs, I personally know over five people who have lost their homes and two more in the process of having to down size dramatically because they can't afford to keep the home they have.  With the volatility of the stock market since the United States' close call on defaulting on it's own bill paying abilities, and the tragic short term fix our elected Representatives choose to temporarily keep things a float on a very leaking ship. I don't see this economy getting any better.  I am on vacation with my family.  We are not going anywhere because we frankly don't have the financial means to take a real vacation.  We don't even have the extra income to pay for a hotel or motel out of town, or the gas to...

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Posted in: Vacation Economy Death Mall

Vacation and Writing

First day of Vacation. . . My wonderful wife packed up the boys and took off to shop so I could spend the entire morning finishing proofing my second novel.  Got an e-mail from a friend of mine, Michael Hays, and I think the art work for the cover is almost finished.  The letters of the title were hard to distinguish from the background art work.  So I asked if he could adjust the colors to something that popped and could easily be read. Book Club, tonight.  My daughter is coming over for dinner, and My wife will return late this afternoon just in time for me to lay down and take a nap with two cranky tired little boys.  Writing, napping, dinner, book club, what a perfect d...

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Posted in: Napping,Proofing,Vacation

Great Books

When you have read enough books that you have really come across some Great Books it effects you on many levels.One after reading Great books, it puts other books you thought were good almost to a lower level when compared against the great ones.Great Books broaden your intelligence, understanding, wisdom, ultimately making you a better person.  You can tell when conversing with someone if they are educated, or educated and well read, or something else.  ( I am making an attempt at being polite to those that are neither.)There are great stories, great adventures, and then great books.  I love coming across books, those rare gems that talk around ideas, concepts, look at things from different or skewed perspective.  I am...

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Posted in: Great Profound Intelligent Books

No Posts and Dream Car

Sorry to all of my blog follows for not posting anything.  I am in the final proofing of my second novel, playing art critique between a friend of mine and my editor, who are both helping me create a cover for my book.  My editor is also in the preliminary stages of building a movie trailer for my second book. I (with the help of my editor), am in the process of putting my first book on CreateSpace so it will be available in the near future as a paper back.  Will also be doing the same for my second novel, when everything else is completed.  Very Very busy lately.  Still on target for publishing "No Rules Of Engagement" on September 11, 2011. I did run across my dream car a few weeks ago.  I don't know who...

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Posted in: Second Novel Dream Car

Cursive Hand Writing

For a man I have very nice hand writing when I am not at work and doing ninety to nothing trying to do three things at once.  As an adult there are certain books I try to read over and over again, because each time I do deeper meanings are revealed to me as I am another year older and that much wiser.  I practice my hand writing on a big chief tablet like I used to use in second grade when I was first being taught how to make the letters of the alphabet in written form.  As a result my hand writing actually gets better from year to year.I started this off as 'For a Man' because traditionally men's hand writing is much worse than most women's for some reason.  I know some very intelligent men who can barely write and if they have to write in cursive you cannot read their...

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Posted in: Cursive Hand Writing

Bambi and Editing Tips

Disney's Bambi Lost Money?On this date in history, August 13, 1942, Disney's Bambi premiered.  The movie lost money at the box office for the first run, but began to recoup its considerable cost (over $2 Million) during the 1947 re-release.Moral of the story is to hang in there it may make money later!EDITING TIPSI also have two editing tips,The first one is by my friend and favorite author Nicholas Sparks.  I am so sarcastic!!He reads his stories backwards, sentence by sentence, when editing to trick his mind into not scanning and actually look at each word of each sentence.  Good idea!  I know that reading you get bored and start scanning instead of actually reading, especially the author reading his own work which he has already been through countless times between editing...

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Posted in: Editing Tips Disney Bambi

Flash Fiction Writing Contest

Our amazing guest judges are Crymsyn Hart, Ashley Blade, and Erica Ridley. In the Your Story flash fiction writing contest writers of all genres may vie to place by submitting their original flash fiction manuscripts (300-500 words) for a $10 entry fee, writing their stories using one of these inspirational phrases: "love poems for a girl" "best chocolate in the world" "romance village" 1st Place Winner: $200 & publication of submission on Your Story 2nd Place Winner: $150 & publication of submission on Your Story 3rd Place Winner: $50 & publication of submission on Your Story 4th Place Winner: $25 & publication of submission on Your Story 5th Place Winner: $25 & publication of submission on Your Story Honorable Mentions: The option of having their submission...

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Posted in: Writing Contest

Creativity and Smart Machines

I think one of the reasons I have gotten more creative in my private enterprises over the last two years is because my job has reached a point where it has become very critical as far as accuracy and very boring because of the nature of the stuff I have to do.  Basically my days are filled with checking packing lists against bills of lading for any errors.  Inputting said packing list into the companies' computer system.  Printing Inventory cycle count sheets for warehouseman to go and count, so later I can enter the count sheets into the computer to adjust the inventory up or down as needed.  Lastly taking packing lists e-mailed or faxed from manufacturers and pulling up each part number in the computer to see if the number is good, does it have an inventory bin and if...

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Posted in: Creativity Boring Cell Phones Software

DIVORCE AGREEMENT

THIS IS SO INCREDIBLY WELL PUT AND I CAN HARDLY BELIEVE IT'S BY A YOUNG PERSON, A STUDENT!!! WHATEVER HE RUNS FOR, I'LL VOTE FOR HIM. Dear American liberals, leftists, social progressives, socialists, Marxists and Obama supporters, et al: We have stuck together since the late 1950's for the sake of the kids, but the whole of this latest election process has made me realize that I want a divorce. I know we tolerated each other for many years for the sake of future generations, but sadly, this relationship has clearly run its course. Our two ideological sides of America cannot and will not ever agree on what is right for us all, so let's just end it on friendly terms. We can smile and chalk it up to irreconcilable differences and go our own way. Here is a model separation agreement: --Our...

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Posted in: Divorce Agreement Politics

Personal Rant SECRETS

If you ever study history to any in depth degree, certain things become glaringly obvious!1.  History repeats itself.  For those who study history maybe they can forgo repeating the mistakes of the past.2.  History is written by the victors.  Sometimes the victors relate the story of the losers for posterity, but not normally.3.  First hand, Second hand, Third hand accounts.  Who wrote the history?  Who investigated the facts?  What's fiction, what's true?  I.E.  In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue.. They should have shot that poet!4.  Nothing stays a secret forever!  People talk, they write, they record things.  In the future our blogs and saved records of e-mails will be sifted through and the truth of our times will be...

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Posted in: Secrets History Watching

Who was Jacques Louis Macie?

Jacques Louis Macie was born sometime in early 1764, in Paris, France.  He was the illegitimate and unacknowledged son of an English landowner, Sir Hugh Smithson.  His mother was his father's mistress, Elizabeth Hungerford Keate.  She was the widow of John Macie, so that is why Jacques was named Macie.  His mother was an heiress of the Hungerfords of Studley.  Studley, Hee, Hee, Seriously. On April 19, 1787, at the age of twenty-two, under the name James Lewis Macie, he was elected the youngest fellow of the Royal Society. When his mother died, in 1800, he and his brother inherited a sizable estate.  He began the process to change his surname from Macie to his father's surname, Smithson. James Smithson was a British mineralogist and chemist.  Besides being...

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Posted in: Smithsonian Bequest Congress

Walden and Fuzzy Lines

On this date in History, August 9, 1854, Henry David Thoreau's, Walden, recounting his experiment in a 2-year solitary life on the shores of Massachusetts's Walden Pond was published.  His woodland cabin was built on land owned by his friend and mentor Ralph Waldo Emerson.As Walden Pond, was actually Walled in Pond, from some ancient time in the past, the name was just miss construed after all the years.  It has become apparent to me that part of the problem that developed over many years between publishers and authors is that like the name Walden Pond, things got fuzzy.  It has become apparent that many publishers and literary agents either are themselves authors or employ authors.  This seems like it would be a conflict of interest.Just as in my previous post about Beta...

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Posted in: Walden Henry David Thoreau Ralph Waldo Emerson

Beta Readers Wanted

A beta reader is a person who reads a written work, generally fiction, with what has been described as "a critical eye, with the aim of improving grammar, spelling, characterization, and general style of a story prior to its release to the general public." The author or writer, who can be referred to as the alpha reader, may use several "betas" prior to publication.  The term "beta" is an appropriation from the software industry which uses the terms "alpha" and "beta" for software that are internal works in progress and publicly released tests, respectively (though a "beta" version may still be tested internally).  While the use of the concept and the term is commonest among fan fiction writers, it is growing in popularity with novelists, to the point where some have thanked their...

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Posted in: Beta Reader Feedback Critique

Why do you read what you read?

What Genre do you most commonly read?  Why?  Have you ever thought about it?  What makes you read something new?  Do you read a variety of different genres or subjects?I am forty-five years young.  I find things I like and that work and I stick with them.  I will buy something expensive if it is of good quality and will last.  Durability and function ability are primary concerns with purchases. With Food and Women I do not enjoy variety.  I know what foods I like and that’s what I eat, period.  Very rarely will I entertain the idea of trying something new in the area of food.  I am one of those people who could eat the same thing every night for dinner and not get tired of it.  As a matter of fact I have eaten the same thing almost every...

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Posted in: Reading Genres Why Zombie

What hath God Wrought

The Title of this post was also the first message ever sent across a telegraph line! That was in 1844.  Sixteen years before the the American Civil War. On this date in history, Cyrus West Field, along with Peter Cooper, Abram Stevens, Moses Taylor and Samuel F.B. Morse ( the creator of Morse Code c. 1830's), finished stretching the first Telegraph line under the Atlantic ocean between Ireland and New Foundland.  That was August 5, 1858, two years before the American Civil War.  The gentleman listed above were all part of the original American Telegraph Company and at the time their telegraph system was second only to Western Union.  You thought competition among communication providers was something new? The Atlantic telegraph line was officially opened on August...

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Posted in: Morse Telegraph communication

Just a word or two about Dragons

It's not that I think people from days gone by were not creative enough to dream up the idea of the Dragon, and say that it breathed fire, and flew.  I have trouble with the fact that Dragons are depicted from ancient times in the Far East, throughout Europe, and across the Americas.How is it that peoples that didn't even know of each other's existence, manage to come up with the same mythological creature with the same attributes.I could understand it if Chinese dragons were tiny and flew.  Whereas European dragons were giant like the dinosaurs and ran around smashing things with their gigantic tales and stepping on things, and the Mayan, Inca or American Indian dragons were water beasts and swam and ate people in the water.  The fact that they exist in mythology in just about...

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Posted in: dragons Naomi Novik Temeraire

No Results Yet, so more History!

Smashwords still has NOT updated its quarterly sales figures, but then again my Name is Wilson and if they are attacking it alphabetically, I may be towards the end of the list.So more History!On this day in 2004, the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty re-opens after being closed since the September 11 attacks.What I didn't know was the crown of the Statue of Liberty didn't re-open until July 4, 2009.The crown had been closed since the Black Tom explosion.  What in the world is the Black Tom explosion and when did that happen?  That was my reaction!June 30, 1916, or June 29th depending on where you look an explosion took place at 2:08AM on a mile long island that sat beside Liberty Island where the Statue of Liberty hangs out.  It appears this island which was referred to as...

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Posted in: Statue of Liberty Black Tom Explosion

Columbus leaves to discover?

On this day in history, Christopher Columbus, departed from Palos de la Frontera, with three ships the Santa Maria, the Nina, and the Pinta. As with all great adventures what was the plan and what actually happened were two different things.  The plan was to find a shorter more direct route to the Far East to more effectively trade but cutting down the time of the trip.  It was only seven years earlier that sailors were taking ships around the bottom of Africa and traversing the globe by sea for trade purposes and establishing colonies.What happened?  What they teach children in school is that Columbus discovered America!WRONG!Do you realized what an eye opening experience it was for me when I started reading history books in my thirties and realizing that what little education...

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Posted in: Columbus Santa Maria Pinta Nina History

A Penny for your thoughts

On this day in 1909 the first Lincoln penny was issued to coincide with the 100th anniversary of Lincoln's birth.  The new design was sculpted by Victor David Brenner, his initials can be seen on the rim of the coin just under Lincoln's shoulder.I was shown something as a child and it has stayed with me all these years."Find a penny,pick it up,all day long,You'll have Good Luck!"Since being a young boy I have been picking up pennies.  I am not superstitious and I know that all my blessings come from my heavenly father.  So as I pick the penny up and put it in my pocket I say a silent little prayer in thanking God Almighty for blessing me.  I ask that he bring good fortune my way, that he continues to watch over me and my family, and I thank him for the penny.  I believe...

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Posted in: Pennies Good Luck Prayer New Shoes