It Was a Dark and Stormy Night

Charles Schulz's Snoopy had many personas, including, but not limited to, World War I Flying Ace, Joe Cool, Legal Beagle, and my favorite, Literary Ace/World Famous Author.  Snoopy considers himself a literary ace, even in the face of the daunting stream of rejection letters he receives for his work, which always seemed to begin with that same, cliched line … 

As the Literary Ace, Snoopy encompasses many of the experiences those of us who write face as we bang away on our typewriters (or computers), hoping for inspiration and that next, big idea.  He is a good reminder not to take ourselves too seriously, not to take rejection personally, and to keep on trying, even in the face of writer’s block, rejection, and negative feedback.

There is a Snoopy cartoon strip that reflects most of the frustrating situations many writers encounter throughout their careers.  In fact, I have recently been finalizing a short story and, every time I read it “for the last time,” I make another edit.  Maybe I'll finish it some day, or maybe continue editing it into infinity.

Since my move to Northern California, I find myself only an hour's drive away from the town Charles Schulz called home for over 30 years, Santa Rosa.  In addition to the whimsical Peanuts statues around the town square,

the town hosts a Charles Schulz Museum that I could not resist taking my dad to visit when he was in town last year, since we both grew up reading and enjoying Peanuts comic strips. 

The museum contains displays and murals of the famous comic strips, an exhibit showing Schulz’s work history in the comics, and even a display of the office where Schulz created much of his art.

This mural is made up of thousands of tiny Peanuts comic strips.

Dad even got some cheap, yet valuable, advice from the expert, herself.

We somehow missed the famous ice rink and the Warm Puppy Cafe, but that’s just an excuse to make another trip.

As I continue to write, I’ll remember the trials and tribulations of Snoopy, Literary Ace, and try to keep a sense of humor!  

Angela Crider Neary is an attorney by day and writer by night. She is an avid mystery reader and especially enjoys reading novels set in interesting locales. She was inspired to write her first mystery novella, Li'l Tom and the Pussyfoot Detective Bureau: The Case of the Parrots Desaparecidos, by one of her favorite areas in San Francisco, Telegraph Hill. To learn more, visit her on Facebook and Amazon.

#NewRelease: DARK MOON RISING by Debut Author Michael Gonzalez

 When a disastrous quake strikes the Moon, only eight survivors remain. One man rises to lead the others to safety, only to discover an alien base beneath the Moon’s surface. Can the small band of humans trust the aliens to help them back to Earth, or will they bring global genocide instead? Will Earth live to see the Dark Moon Rising?

In the beginning...

My first published book, "Dark Moon Rising" began life decades ago when as a child I watched with the eagerness of Christmas as men journeyed to the Moon during the Apollo missions. I sat mesmerized as Neil Armstrong took that "giant leap for mankind."

My fascination with space and space travel never abated. However, I had to put my wild imaginings on hold during the twenty very serious years I spent in the Army.

It was 1998 when I read Asimov's "I Robot" that the thought pierced my mind, "perhaps I could write a fiction story."

Now, don't misunderstand me, I never thought I could be an Isaac Asimov, and in truth I would not want to be. I want to establish my own niche.

Regardless, the story started off, believe it or not, as a World War Two adventure. However, when a friend of mine, also a veteran, read my first fifty chapters he made an interesting observation; “People with a military background will understand you,” he said, “others will be lost.” I reread the thing and discovered I had written for a rather small audience.

So I started over. That original story still exists. But it's saved on a floppy disk!

A short time later I was having a discussion with a California visitor to the museum where I'm employed, and he mentioned the Earthquakes they have there. Somehow that got my imagination creaking forward. The dust and cob webs fell away and before long I started to write.

My wife asked me: why? Did I write in the hope of publication or was I writing for my own amusement? The truth was I had no idea. I did enjoy the writing process and I was relearning a lot of what I been taught in school. Doing the research was time consuming, sometimes frustrating, but ultimately rewarding and always enlightening.

The entire story is not about a single person, or a single place. It is rather the story of a time, a time in the not so distant future.

Our science is, today, close to creating a true quantum computer. Once on line it will be capable of simulated intelligence. It could, through existing networks, take control of all aspects of human life. The worldwide power grid, food distribution, water purification and distribution, communications, everything.

It will have the power to create its next generation of computers, smarter, faster, and build it. This new computer will build its own next generation machine. This process will continue and the machines will reproduce in greater numbers, each smarter than the last. In thirty days’ humans could become ... obsolete.

The only alternative is to insure those computers are … human, with a human since of morality, with human compassion, with human comprehension. And of course, human emotion.

The self-aware thinking machine of the future must be us. As I outlined the entire story I realized that it was longer than just one book.  So I divided it into five sections.

As I wrote I was amazed how the story and the characters developed, morphed, and grew. This happened with each book as I wrote. So the overall story changed as well.

During the process I kept everything on a thumb drive; the story itself, all my notes and research, everything!

Then it happened, as we all knew it would. I left the little drive in the pocket of my shirt and it went into the wash!

My heart stopped as I pulled the dripping little instrument from the pocket of the shirt. There, utterly soaked, was the icon of countless hours of writing and research. Years of my life reduced to a soggy piece of plastic hardware.

I shook it with sufficient "G" force to drive it into the floor like a javelin - then plunged it into a bowl of rice.

I lit a candle, fell on my knees, and prayed for my small piece of technology.

My prayers were answered, and the data remained intact. I then transferred everything to a new thumb drive and learned to back up my precious data on multiple devices.

The day came when I thought I was ready to send my manuscript out to various publishers in both the US and the UK. The result is a collection or rejections from two continents.

Then synchronicity reared its head. Carl Jung defined synchronicity as the simultaneous occurrence of events that appear significantly related – but have no discernible causal connection.

The mother of the assistant of the wife of a departed friend of mine was identified to me as an editor. I asked her to read my story and she did. Her suggestion was that I have it professionally edited and suggested Julie Wilcox.

I thought editing would be an exercise in futility, after all I had already self-edited the story dozens of times over the span of several years.

Nevertheless I swallowed my pride and sent the manuscript to Julie.

Upon completion of her work, and the return of the manuscript, I was shocked and amazed at all I had missed, the many errors I had made, the embarrassing misspellings, the not uncommon appearance of poorly constructed sentences. I cannot overstate the importance of a proper editor, it is an absolutely necessity.

When Julie emailed my story back to me she also informed Cheryl Pierson, the editor-in-chief and Co-owner of Prairie Rose Publications. Cheryl is the mother of the assistant of the wife of a departed friend of mine I spoke of earlier. She read the story again and to my great shock offered me a contract!

One of the few compromises I had to make was the book's title, originally I called it, “Under Mare Insularum.” It was pointed out to me that for a large portion of the population that title means nothing. It might as well read, "Ελληνικά για μένα!" She explained that the title had to hint at the story line and entice a fan of science fiction to read the book.

Cheryl has been in the business of publishing far longer than I have been published. As my dad used to say, "Always go with the advice of a professional."

Well, here I am. I am about to be a published author. My next goal is to become a successful published author.

To that end I hope all of you will read my story, and then place a review of it on my website, on Amazon, and all the other various outlets.

I of course hope you will enjoy my story and so sing its praises, this will ensure the publication of the four remaining stories in the "Unborn Galaxy", and open the door for the release of my fantasies and other SF stories.

I can now answer my wife's question, “why?”

I hope to bring people along on the journeys that I have created. I hope, like me, they can escape the surly bonds of Earth and venture away with me to places yet unborn and to lost worlds beckoning to be discovered.

You will have to face the great unknown, there will be danger, new and vicious creatures, evil in many forms. There will also be people of supreme dedication and loyalty among the ranks of the good who stand against evil that it does not thrive.

There will also be love. For wherever humanity goes love always go with it, and that dear reader is the key to our success.

Find Dark Moon Rising on:

Amazon  •  Barnes & Noble  •  Kobo  •  Smashwords

 

I mentioned Asimov's I, Robot inspired me to begin writing science fiction. What sci-fi story has inspired you in some way? To celebrate the release of my debut novel, I'll give an ebook of Dark Moon Rising to one of the people who answers that question in the comments.

 

A lifetime spent in the US Army serving his country and its people saw Mike awaking to harsh realities and extreme conditions in forward deployed outposts, on two continents, every morning for twenty years. He took up writing on a whim when friends commented how well he told the stories of his adventures. While writing those stories, he realized, they might be of interest to other veterans with similar histories, but few others. Where might he go, he asked himself, to give vent to his imagination, which by virtue of his profession had be so long imprisoned? Where else might one’s imagination lead but to the doors of science fiction, fantasy, and romance? In these arenas, while leaning on his own experience, he has set his characters to strife beyond the past, and the now, to struggle into the future.

Find Michael on his website, Facebook, and Prairie Rose Publications.

Writing the Dash

The Dash is a well-known poem by Linda Ellis, which you can read HERE. The poem describes how our lives are encompassed by the dash between the dates of our birth and death on our tombstone. However, well before our tombstone comes into play, the obituary announcing our death becomes a summary of how we lived our dash.

The death of my father on February 16^th brought home to me just how dry most obituaries are; they tend to be more a recitation of facts rather than a joyous celebration of the life represented. In my opinion, there are two primary reasons for this: First, for the individual(s) writing the obituary, the death of their loved one is still fresh and thinking outside the box is next to impossible when mere thinking is a struggle. Second, I think there is an impression that an obituary must be solemn. I beg to differ. A few days before my father’s death, my husband showed me this obituary. I loved it! Now, this sort of tribute wouldn’t work for straight-laced Aunt June, but shouldn’t your loved one’s obituary be a reflection of who they were?

When I sat down with my sister and my niece to write my father’s obituary, my mind went blank. What information did we need to include? Is there a standard obituary template that needs to be completed? My family teased me, wondering why they were having to help me, a published author, with what was basically a writing project. Well, as I mentioned above, it had been less than eight hours since my father’s death and I was still reeling; I could barely complete a coherent thought much less find a way to sum up the life of the man I loved so dearly. However, as we worked, the facts came together and there was even one sentence that summarized Daddy’s life:

“Jimmy loved woodworking, model trains, gardening, dining at the Cracker Barrel and performed as an extra in the movie Fried Green Tomatoes.”

This was a good start, but for me, it wasn’t quite enough. Yes, Daddy really was an extra in Fried Green Tomatoes, but that was just a one-time thing and while he enjoyed the experience, it was not one of the things that defined him. My brain is always working on my stories, refining and tweaking them long before I ever begin putting them down on paper and it did the same with the obituary. When I went to the funeral home the next day to finalize the arrangements for Daddy’s memorial service, I changed that one line to read as follows:

“Jimmy loved woodworking, model trains, African Violets, the Blue Angels, dining at the Cracker Barrel and large strawberry milkshakes with whipped cream and a cherry.”

I love this sentence because it encompasses all of the great loves of my father’s life (outside of his family, of course).

When my brother-in-law died a couple of years ago, we included Pepper, his faithful canine companion among the list of survivors. Allen and Pepper were buddies, it was only right that Pepper be included.

So, I say, if/when you are tasked with writing the obituary for one of your loved ones, let us see who they were. Did your dad complete the crossword puzzle – in INK – every day? Tell us! Did your ninety-three year old grandma routinely kick your ass in Sudoku? Tell us! If you get the honor of writing their dash, let us see how they lived it.

As for me, I want to be remembered as the cool mom and wife who loved video games, fictional characters (find out which ones HERE), writing, and who always kept her family guessing as to what she would do next.

Garrus Vakarian from the Mass Effect video games. Who needs a book boyfriend when you can have a virtual one?

 How do you want to be remembered?


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