Whatever, Dude

I’ve worked myself up over the past year and I’m pretty proud, even though it’s a measly two, of the paying publications I’ve gotten. In my opinion, I worked pretty damn hard to get to that point.

I’m a flighty person by nature. With my interests in art and writing, I sometimes run amuck like an ADD kid without meds. For me to rein in and shake a finger at myself and concentrate on one thing…

It’s an accomplishment I’m darn proud of. One thing I pride myself on is thanking those who have gotten me this far. Without the push in the back, I’d still be dabbling in writing without regard of getting anywhere.

And I mean anywhere.

I would have at least a half a dozen unfinished novels, no short stories to speak of, and I certainly wouldn’t have my artwork in demand. Okay, maybe the artwork’s just in demand by one author but if she didn’t like it, I wouldn’t have a second gig, right?

I started this blog to mark my progress. I’ve steered clear of anything regarding home life and whatnot because honestly, running the dirty laundry out to the world isn’t my style. I’ll tell you I’m married for over twenty years now to the man who stole my heart and have a fantastic son who shows the same talents in art as I have. Yep, very proud of that.

So why don’t I talk about them? It’s not part of the deal I have here. This blog can be described as a pretentious self-absorbed writing log. Here I endlessly talk about how cool I am.

Great concept, right?

Wait…Do I really do that? Sure I’ve written a Cheeky Review or two but even that has tapered off to a mild chivalrous slap on the cheek then an all out MMA fight I’d planned it to be. I guess I’ve tamed down a little or maybe I’ve found a great circle of internet friends who whip and beat my writing technique into shape with a wooden paddle strapped with silk. It hurts at first but the lush fabric takes the sting out of it.

I do talk about what I’ve written too, more of a reminder of what I still have to finish.

So onto the purpose of this blog post:

There is none.

Surprised? Should you be?

Let’s just say that some events as of late have made me realize I’m tired of feeling slighted. Even if it’s my overactive imagination dreaming up things that may or may not be there.

My plan of attack over these superfluous allegations of may-not-be?

I’m going to write. I’m to toss my work into the fish tank and I’m going to reach for the stars this year for a novel publication.

Try and stop me, King Nothing. You’re on Notice.

Hitting the Mark

I was going to do a post, once I realized how long it had been, on how I designed my book art depicted on the blog but something better came along.

Another success has landed in my lap. Pulp Empire has taken the booty! Yarrr! The work formerly known as Buckle Me Swash has been accepted to be put into their Pirates & Swashbucklers Anthology. I renamed it The Mark of the Brotherhood. Sorry to disappoint those who loved the original. I’m thinking about doing a parody swashbuckling story with the old title.

I love a good parody.

Back to the original intent of this post. When I started my journey to get published, I really didn’t know what life had in store for me. I knew I was prepared for any rejection letters that came my way. I got them before and in hindsight, I can see I didn’t deserve publication back then. Saying that doesn’t take the bitter taste out of my mouth that the words on the submission form of “we’re into launching new artists” meant nothing considering I’d never seen this magical ambrosia being employed by the certain company.

That’s not important to my life now. I reached for the sun and got burned.

Lesson learned.

Time to play with the clouds for inspiration and hone my craft. It needed it, looking back at the travesties I’ve created.

Having a writing group helped that and when that kind of faded into the sunset, a new group of cowboys came to the ranch. All is well in the world.

I haven’t heard anything on the Oceans Anthology yet but they’re hard at work trying to catch up with the loads of submissions they received. So instead of waiting around, the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pens pointed me in the direction of Electrik Milk Bath Press looking for art submissions.

When I had decided that writing would be my course, I gave up on my artwork. Sure I dabbled here and there but I didn’t give it its due. J.A. Belfield changed that for me when she asked me to design her book cover.

Thank you for that because now I’m giving both of my loves their due.

I opened one of the paint programs I never used and played around with it. First I took some images of my gorgeous cherry tree in my front yard, the concrete bench, and my sidewalk laden with falling blossoms from said cherry tree. I watercolored the image, warped it, and recolored it in places using the programs I knew. Then I knocked myself dizzy playing with the newer program.

Here is the end result:

I like the paint program I used. The only downside is you can’t layer anything. One layer to work with, that’s it. This forces me to go old school, just like when I worked on canvas. I think I like that and might have to experiment more when I create another cover for the most excellent J.A. Belfield.

On the writing front, I’ve created two new pieces:

The Case of Mr. Wolfe. A twist on Little Red Riding Hood told like an old Sam Spade story. It’s for a contest on Scribophile but once it’s complete, I’m shopping it out.

Head Story. I have no title for this one beyond the working title. This, too, was for a contest. I made it a bit of a paranormal horror flick set in Central America complete with a shrunken head and voodoo medicine man. When the contest is complete for this, I think I might expand it a bit. 2k words just doesn’t do it justice.

That’s it on my front.

So what are all my peeps up to?

The Naked Edge by David Morrell

The suspense thriller is a slow tease. Sometimes it reveals a little bit just to crook a finger at you and send you in another direction. The best give you enough to keep you turning the pages, or in this case, pushing a button.

The Naked Edge is an eBook novel by David Morrell. Unlike the rest of the novels he’s created, this one is only available electronically. Innovative? Maybe. Shocking? Not really considering where the industry is trending. While the eBook sales aren’t beating books sales, they are increasing. No, check that, they’ve passed paper sales since the original posting of this review on Gnarrative.

Take into account the money involved in publishing a wonderful dead tree ink-infected treasure. Why wouldn’t a publishing company venture into it? Profit drives the market. For a person of Morrell’s caliber to go in this direction says a lot. It’s not about giving in or pushing sales of eReaders. It’s about being ahead of the game. However, the profits to the writer aren’t improving with this money saving venture. The eBooks are cheaper to produce but the consumer wants in on that savings as well.

On to Morrell’s latest offering to the reading world.

The book introduces Cavanaugh, the main protagonist, and his wife Jamie. A retired protector, Cavanaugh’s mundane life is interrupted by—for lack of a better way to put it—his past life. The chaos that ensues turns the story into hyper drive. Interesting to this section is the back and forth of the PoV. Not from the persons with Cavanaugh but the ones trying to take him out. This is the reader’s first insight to the antagonist Carl. It takes a good span of the book for him to be drawn out and his relationship to Cavanaugh to be revealed. Of course the premise of the story gives it away somewhat.

While the multiple PoVs are a way to give a broader scope in the story, it becomes a little overindulged in places. For example, we see the depths the main antagonist—Carl—will go through to reach his ultimate goal by the callous way he kills. However, we are shown, through casual vanilla characters, in vivid detail as an airplane explodes in midair. The passage before, and Carl’s previous actions, gives the reader enough to what happened to his victim.

Great cinematic detail, but a bit cumbersome to read. It leaves little to the imagination giving too tight of a control in the writers creation.

Even with that little quirk, we get the exceptional research and outstanding writing expected from Mr. Morrell. The characters, as a whole, are well developed. They leap from the digital page and compel compassion—on both sides. On one hand, you witness the destruction of something Cavanaugh has just inherited—Global Protection Services. He goes from someone who reluctantly takes on something bequeathed to him to a man fighting to keep it afloat. The human element explodes as one by one other protectors fall. We see a transition from Cavanaugh, through the writing, analyzing everything. The people he comes across are described in painstaking detail. It falls in line with his former work. You can’t protect someone if you’re not aware of your environment. We come to understand his revelation to his childhood friend Carl’s behavior. No matter how depraved someone seems, hindsight compels us to analyze what we could have done to prevent that person from straying.

The cat and mouse games are extraordinary. The way Carl is painted stroke by stroke gives the reader the insight to the warped sense of wanting acceptance. A person who craves attention by going to the extreme. The compelling part is, though he’s the proverbial bad guy in the book, you can’t help by feel the slightest twitch of remorse for his situation. Does he get what karma’s dealing out in the end? Absolutely, but it doesn’t deter from the sickening human factor he exhibits.

A word of caution to those stuck in the past: If you’re looking at the cover art of the book, calculating the knife factor and adding the cat versus mouse ratio to equal the next installment of Rambo, back away from your eReader. David Morrell does not subscribe to the cookie cutter thriller.

You can follow David Morrell through his website or interact in lively discussions on his Facebook page.