Speculative Fiction

In the writing world, numerous success stories can be found of fans who have turned their writing into contemporary masterpieces. Author E.L. James like the Twilight series so much, they wrote the 50 Shades series. Last week I was reminiscing about a project that begin some twelve years ago that did not evolve, and I began reading about the "fan fiction" which drives a number of successful spin off series.

Star Wars and Star Trek are two of the most popular, allowing evening the novice writer to be able to compile a story based upon the loose collection of characters, in a world which has been established - but not yet fortified on it's boundaries.

Website FanFiction.Net chronicles a lot of speculative writing, and the pitfalls as well.  Writers who have created characters, fleshed them out and developed stories, don't want to see their hard work copied, even plagiarized. But apparently they are comfortable with endless computer games based on their premises - have you ever counted how many Star Wars games there are?

About twelve years ago while with the computer game company, I attended the preview of a game that enthralled me so much, I wrote about it at a number of game sites. Fast forward, I have now started writing my own speculative fiction, using some of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) characters as background for my own story.

Speculative fiction is back in vogue.

Recalling The Soundtrack To My Teens

Three years gone, the soundtrack to my teenage years still resonates.

Vale "Doc" Neeson.

#whitescarves.

If You're Going To Write

If you're going to write,

...you should give up your love of sailing.  There will be time for that later.

...you should give up some relationships.  There will be time for that later.

...you should give up your country.  There will be time for that later.

...but you should always remember your blogging password.  There won't be time for that later.

Back to our regularly broadcast schedule.

#amwriting

One Man's Demons

Demons.

The demons that live inside of all writers, are the Demons which they write about.

Injustice. Infidelity. Loss.

Some pain is arguably viable - the ridges of skin from a burn.

Some pain is arguably invisible - the soul of parents with missing children.

Some fathers write about the loss of their children to foreign forces.

Others write of the loss of their predecessor.

One man's demons, is another chapter of the Major Project.

Write For The Message

Some writers have full time occupations until their income allows them to give it up. I received a check last week and based on it's value, it may be a while before I give up my

Stephen King worked in a laundromat writing in the morning before he went to work.

There is hope for me yet.

We write not for the money but fot the message.

But the money will make the message a lot more fluent in publication. 

Not For The Money

The Major Project.

I will have a major book release by the time my life is over.

Not for the money.

Not so I can walk into a book store and see my name on the spine of a series of books.

Not so I can be on television of have a major motion picture based on the book.

But so my children will know just what their Father went through.

The Writing Power of the Dark Side

Laying in bed on Thanksgiving Eve this week, I came to the realization that not much writing has been accomplished in the past year.

The major project - not yet completed.

The prequel - title and idea only.

It would appear that I write better from the Dark Side, when there is disharmony in the galaxy.

Apparently, I have not yet understood the Writing Power of the Dark Side. 

My Favorite Photograph

When I was a child, my parents divorced. As a teenager I visited my father at his place of work one time and saw a photograph of my brother and I on his desk. It was an old photograph, taken when we first started school. 

When I asked my father about it he said "It's my favorite photograph."

Earlier this week I was sitting at my own work desk when an employee asked about a photograph of my own daughters. The phrase rolled off my tongue.

"It's my favorite photograph."

And in a moment of revelation, I learned yet another thing about my own parents divorce. My father's favorite photograph was just that, because,  that is all that he had.

The young girl in my photograph will be 21 in about three weeks. It's been four years since we spoke on the phone, and nine years since I have seen her. I have no idea who she is now.

With reverence to Ringo Starr, now, all I've got is a photograph.

Some Days Are Harder Than Others

Some days are harder than others.

The writers copy of Chicken Soup for the Soul: Angels and Miracles arrived today.

I cannot even look at the cover without crying.

My first copies usually go out to community organizations, libraries, and my Alma Mater Villanova College.

Not this time. They'll be going out to those who carried me through the story.

Anthony, Dave Parker, Judith, and one other.

One copy will be held back for his children,  to read of their father impact.

One copy will be held back for my children, to read of the impact of their father.

Vale Mark Goodwin.

Delta Airlines Leaves a Disabled Soldier Behind on 9/11

On September 11 2016, Delta Airlines completely forgot about a 75 year old disabled retired serviceman at Los Angeles International Airport. After being booked on a commuter flight from San Diego to Los Angeles, with connecting flight to Australia, +Delta Airlines dropped the ball when the original flight was late to leave the terminal.

Forgot to document his emergency contacts.
Forgot to document he needed a wheelchair.
Forgot to call his local family, when requested.
Forgot to advise on rebooking his connecting international flight.
And while they did give him a bed for the night...
Forgot to feed him.

Shame on you +Delta  Take a good look at the disabled soldier you left behind on 9/11.

Halfway

Halfway to the finish line.

The first 50 has been great.

The next 50 look to be awesome.

Third Book in 2016

Which Australian author has signed for a third book this year?

:) 

The Spirit Of America Goes Out to First Fans

International copies have gone out to the First Fans.

Domestic copies go out next week.

It's a wonderful day to be Straight out of El Cajon.

Protecting the Writing Time

     Nothing I like better on a Saturday night, my designated writing time, then tending to the necessities of the business week.

     I might write during the business week to make amends.

There Was Another

     In the United States, the last week of November signals the beginning of the "holiday" period. It starts with Thanksgiving, runs through Christmas and New Year, and finishes up somewhere around Superbowl Sunday.

  This year, the house was empty for the first real time, not a child to be had, not a potato mashed, not a turkey carved, not an arrival recieved.

  I could not have asked for a better window in which to complete two major articles that were approaching their deadline. By July 2016, you should be reading about an American Pioneer, but not the one whom you might think.

  It turns out, there was another.

Sweet Home, Chicago.

Sweet home, Chicago.

Four days in the Windy City.

I could have done with five.

The End of the Eclipse

There is a document beside my desk which has a list of goals upon them. One of the goals relates to the current project with an end date.

  The end date has passed and the project is not yet complete. Stephen King, on the hand, is about to release his third book this year.

  I could manufacture all sorts of excuses - but they would be just that. Unlike my counterparts, I can sense when there is a disturbance in "the force". It can be pinned down to a single event, a date, where everything in the writing world, changed. It became, an eclipse to productivity. Two years later, I am no further out of the "darkness" and struggling to write.

  Write, I must, for without writing, there will be no end to the eclipse.

Thank You Seti@Home

Thank you to the Seti@Home project out of Berkley University, who have honored me as their User of The Day.

15 years, 1 million research units, 52,000 computing hours and the search continues.

#seti #setiathome #thankyou

Has It Really Been Ten Years?

  Has it really been ten years since my flight touched down at LAX?

  Has it really been ten years since Adam and I sat around Toscani's complaining about the public holiday surcharge?

  Has it really been ten years since the sun came up over the bay and set over the mountains?

  Has it really been ten years since Dad BBQ-ed lunch?

  Has it really been ten years since the drive up to Toowoomba to see my Godsons?

  Has it really been ten years since I put a sail on the water?

  Has it really been ten years since the last bout of "tickle wars" with my daughters?

  Sadly, it has really been ten years. 

10 Years On - Running the Gauntlet

You see we've got a problem, you and me. We don't like each other much but we have to take a trip together. Now you can come along peacefully or you can be a pain in the ass. But I'm warning you: You mess around and I'll put the cuffs on you. You talk dirty - I gag you. You run - I'll shoot ya. My name is Shockley and we've got a plane to catch. Let's go.