I slept in. Now I’m paying the price. I haven’t even brushed my goddamn teeth—the only way I could make it to boot camp fitness was to throw on some clothes and drive like a bat out of hell.
“BOX JUMPS!” our instructor yells.
As I hop up and down on my thirty-inch crate, I suddenly realize I’ve made a grave mistake:
I’m wearing gray sweat pants.
People leer at my jouncing and bouncing, award-winning peen with envy, lust, or an avaricious combination of both. I stop exercising, but it’s far too late.
“IT’S PERFECT!” a soccer mom screams. “GIRTH, UPCURVE…I’M BETTING IT’S ALSO GOT A HEALTHY DOSE OF MELANIN, WHICH WOULD PREVENT IT FROM LOOKING LIKE A GROSS-ASS MOLE-RAT!’
Vajeens and wieners expel gallons of fluids, mingled with spurts of horned-up saliva. In the blink of an eye, I’m swept out of the studio and onto the street, screaming my ass off with dozens of other bystanders who are now caught up in the torrential flood.
One of them manages, “Damn you, Kent! DAMN YOU AND YOUR WIENER-HIGHLIGHTING GRAY SWEATPANTS!!!” He tries to keep yelling, but it’s lost in a mess of glub-glub-glubs.
Fuck. FUCK. All I wanted was to start my day with a challenging workout. Now I’m gonna drown in a river of sex-juices.
No options left. So I open my eReader to a Kent Wayne novel, activating its mind-bending reality distortion powers. Magic flash.
The WHUP-WHUP-WHUP of a nearby chopper cuts through the air. I sputter and gasp, narrowly avoiding a floating Prius and an uprooted stop sign, then spot Giada De Laurentiis leaning out from the helicopter, staring down at me as the skids draw abreast.
“I said godDAMN!” she bellows. “Look at that beautiful he-slut fuckpig!”
“Stay back!” I gasp. “My wiener wreaks havoc on untrained minds!”
“I’ve shielded my psyche with a year of meditation, just so I could enjoy your girthy upcurve!” she assures. “Also, I’m hooked up to a backpack IV so I won’t get dehydrated!” She leans down from the helo and extends a hand. “Come with me if you want to smash!”
I grab hold of her arm, grinning like the cat that got the motherfucking cream. This is WAY better than some lame-ass box jumps! Kent Wayne wins again! HEH heh heh!
Have you unthinkingly rushed into a group exercise class, wearing a pair of sweatpants that highlight your unbelievably gorgeous, hydration-depleting genitals? Never fear! Buy my books and summon a Food Network hottie that will put your junk to good fucking use!
Get A Door into Evermoor here: A Door into Evermoor. Get Weapons of Old here: Weapons of Old Get Kor’Thank here: Kor’Thank: Barbarian Valley Girl. Get Echo Vol. 1 on Kindle here: Vol. 1 on Kindle. Vol. 2 on Kindle here: Vol.2 on Kindle Vol. 3 on Kindle here: Vol. 3 on Kindle Vol.4 on Kindle here: Vol. 4 on Kindle Echo Omnibus here: Echo Omnibus Echo Vol. 1 & 2 Combined Edition here: Combined Edition Musings, Volume 1 is available here: Musings, Volume 1 Here’s the miscellaneous gear that I use to try and become an uber-human: Optimization! 
Hold on! I just got approved to be an Amazon affiliate! If you’re going to buy ANY product from Amazon, and you’d like to support my efforts for absolutely free, then simply click on one of the Echo links I’ve provided—they’ll send you to Echo’s Amazon page—and THEN buy whatever product you wish. Amazon gives me a small referral fee each time this happens! In this manner you can support my books, musings, zany ads, or my adventures along the noble path known as The Way of The Man Child WITHOUT spending any more money than you were already going to! Should you do this, I vow to send you a silent blessing, causing your genitals to adopt the optimum size, shape, smell, and death-ray attachment of choice that paralyzes your enemies with fear and envy! Entire worlds will bow before your nether parts! 
#Kindle #KindleUnlimited #writingcommunity #writer #booktok #writerscommunity #writing
Dirty Sci-Fi Buddha 
You’re just such a visual writer man. It’s just so much being pictured in my head and the blooming of cum trees makes me like… smell your story. I just… it’s a lot. But I’ve never said that I’ve smelled a story before and that’s a lovely new word combo.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, lol! It’s how I edit. I try to arrange everything so when I read through it for the umpteenth time, the sensations pop up in my brain. If I do it right, it’s almost on par with a really strong remembrance.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I don’t know…older ladies are pretty popular in certain circles…😏
I definitely need the ereader, but just in case I forget it and I’m caught in a deluge, I’ve decided to wear an inflatable life vest wherever I go. Also might invest in a jetpack…🤔😂🤣
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m thinking of ditching YA fantasy, write an account of my real-life experiences, and subsequently invent a new genre: porn-horror-comedy 😂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Despite the urge to dive into a porn/horror/comedy, I shall fulfill your wish! 😂 In book 2 I got to futz around with pirates and ships, now I’m going deep into the sky culture of Aerie Denir. It’s a range of mesas (a bit like the ones in the American southwest) that I envision as taller, much more numerous, and surrounded by forest and plains instead of desert like in the United States. I briefly mention hang-gliders (skyfoils) in book 2, but I wanted to build a society around elevation and flight, which would coincide with the metaphorical ascent of Jon’s character. The inhabitants are humanoid, but they’re a little bit avian in that they have feathery plumage on their shoulders, membranes between their arms and ribs (if they need to bail out of a glider, it’s possible for them to wingsuit over to a buddy’s, then climb on using a trapeze bar-like tether that can drop from the back, but this is super dangerous and considered a last-ditch resort). The span of mesas is kind of like a county, while each mesa (festooned with vertical orchards, flatland farms, and rope-bridges, swings, nets, catwalks, and caves for residences, shops, and governance) is like a town or a city. I figured the fantasy genre is known for world-building, so that’s kind of my impetus for fleshing out the structure and culture of Aerie Denir. Plus it’s nice that the symbolic nature of flight and height coincides with the last leg of Jon’s inward journey.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m pretty surprised you’re that far as it is! I think that means you’ve read about Syfaedi Kysaire, who grew into one of my favorite heroes with one of my favorite exchanges of dialogue I’ve thus far written. I didn’t set out for this story to focus on representation, but as the personal dynamics and themes became satisfactorily solid, I saw natural opportunities to start fleshing out more representation that would stay true to the themes and maintain the flow. No spoilers, but I really, REALLY enjoyed Syf being realized as a kickass leader and communicator, not just a badass fighter and strong personality. As far as the world building, I think that was probably the primary focus for me in book 2. With book 1, there were multiple devices I’d never done in long-form (specifically 1st person), but also romance, Jon’s balance of dorkiness and sweetness, non R-rated humor, and fantasy-world speech. Evermoor is noticeably different from traditional fantasy, and I didn’t want to weigh the flow down with lengthy descriptions of the minutiae, but I still want to convey a sense of culture and history. That meant for book 1, I really focused on dialing in the speech and word choice, to try and evoke a high fantasy feel while still expressing personality and nuance and not making people into fancy-mouthed caricatures (I feel like that happens a lot in fantasy, where the “fanciness” of the speech becomes pretentiously clunky, and exacerbates an even worse issue, which is that the characters are one-dimensional stereotypes–meatheads, snobs, cowards–who happen to be navigating a fancy-sounding environment). Honestly, the speech was probably my first focus in the first book–I wanted it to be adventurous, a little romantic, and something I would genuinely want to hear if the circumstances were right. So with the fundamentals from book 1 in place, I wanted to flesh out the novelty of Evermoor, and go beyond just the regular elves/dwarves/halflings, to include the food, races, and especially the ecology. As far as the vocabulary, whenever I slip in an exotic or little-used word, I try to really make sure that the context makes it fairly self-explanatory. (Microsoft word kept trying to spellcheck “gaol” even though it’s a legit word). Anyways, I appreciate that you’re going ahead with the read! There’s a lot of complex stuff in there, and it’s also a YA book, so I had to make sure that upon closer inspection, I felt like it could hold up, but at the same time, the story would move fast enough to satisfy a teenage reader, which is pretty hard to gauge, I’m not gonna lie. 😅
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m also a pretty fast reader. I remember as a kid I’d make my mom angry by staying up at night, reading under the covers with a flashlight. Then later, in my early twenties, I had the brief-lived, truly dangerous habit of sneaking in a bit of reading at stoplights.
I’m honored that I’m at the top of your list! But as I tell everybody, I won’t mind if you stop reading for any reason. I have a bit of a different view than most authors, in that I don’t get bent out of shape if someone doesn’t read my books, even if free, because it seems a lot of them think their books are like personal favors. I see it as a two-way street, because a book takes a lot of time to read. If it’s entertaining enough to where people want to invest that much time, then I’ve succeeded. But if someone isn’t entertained, I don’t want to subject them to the same experience I endured when I read stuff as a kid that I didn’t want to, simply because it was “highly recommended,” a “classic,” or some other reason that was supposed to justify my lack of personal enjoyment.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m glad I could get a laugh! Yeah, it would kind of defeat the purpose if you read my book out of duty and not because you enjoyed it. It’s not a school assignment, lol!
Syfaedi was kind of an unplanned character, insofar as how much I was originally going to write about her. Originally, the water stuff wasn’t going to be that big a deal, kind of a minor transit, but I happened to stumble upon a docu-series called the Lost Pirate Kingdom on Netflix while I was writing about her, which delved into the Caribbean pirate community during the 1700s. There’s a lot of hearsay and idealization in the anecdotes passed down on how pirates acted, but I saw the opportunity for their democratic process and their conflict with slavery to play into my story. She also wears a six-pistol harness like Blackbeard, and one of her dialogues is based on a supposedly epic historical exchange between a pirate and slaver.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s got some well-produced dramatized sequences, although most of pirate lore is spotty, so it probably misses the mark on the actual details, which I don’t mind. I found the broad strokes pretty interesting.
I didn’t plan for Syf’s clumsiness when she was hitting on Idinia–a lot of times I just immerse myself in the vibe and the characters speak through my keyboard. If you’ve got that far, I feel comfortable revealing that Syf’s exchange with Deybau was inspired by a similar exchange between a pirate named Sam Bellamy and a merchant captain named Beers (I misspoke in an earlier comment and said he was a slaver). The dialogue is very old-timey, so I had to heavily modify it for my characters and themes, although I managed to keep a few phrases of the old speech in my version. It’s also an alleged speech, as is much of the specifics of pirating history, so it’s definitely not something to take as gospel. I did, however, have a blast writing it for multiple reasons. I wanted to paint Syf as a multifaceted leader, capable of critical forethought, good judgment, administration, and communication; not just to her crew, but specifically against someone who was openly disagreeing with her. I’ve spent a lot of time in that piece of my imagination, cheering to her words along with Jon and her crew, and also reciting them to no one in particular in my empty condo, partly to make sure they sounded right to me, and partly because they fired me up 😁
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m not a fan of flirting either, lol! I feel like it’s some weird contest to see how clever and personable I can be, without revealing anything too profound or subversive because that’s not part of the game. My thoughts spend a good amount of time in the profound and subversive categories, so I’ve often felt the gears stalling in my brain when I suddenly realize a girl is flirting with me. It’s kind of stressful, honestly.
I really enjoyed that documentary! Fair warning–there’s a pretty gross reenactment of a syphilitic wiener being treated with some kind of archaic plunger/needle device, if I remember correctly, in one of the later episodes. Not really sure why they felt it was necessary to put it in there, but after it caught me off guard, it was good for a laugh. You and your husband have caregiver backgrounds, so maybe it’ll be ho-hum for you guys, though.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I agree. It’s kind of a BS game of deception where I have to try and evoke resonant attraction by putting up a facade. Ironically, I feel like fiction, though an outright lie, is much more honest in nature, because through the lie, it’s trying to convey an archetypal truth or clarified theme. A lot of flirting, in my opinion, is kind of the opposite, in that I’m putting on an act for generally shallower purposes. In my 20s, I was kind of interested in the topic from a mechanics perspective, so I read a bit on the pickup artist culture, and it was pretty slimy from what I remember. Decades later, I spoke with a friend who knew about it and was dating around, and he told me that some of it has evolved into a more honest methodology, in that the principle thing is being secure with oneself, because that will attract other secure people, and to become comfortable approaching in an easy manner and saying something honest and straightforward like “I think you’re beautiful, can I have your number?” While it may not always work, the theory is that it will work on straightforward, honest people who you want to be around. The other stuff will work as well, but it won’t work on people who are straightforward and honest, so it will probably set up future complications. That seems to make sense to me, so if I ever get back to being a frequent flirt, I’ll stick with the straightforward approach. That’s kind of what I was trying for when I wrote Syfaedi’s exchange with Idinia, although it was also fun to make her vulnerable after being so confident and forceful.
I never even thought of the lack of wieners, but now that you mention it, I’m sure some would appreciate it, lol! A couple years back, I was situationshipping with a Midwest mom, and she commented that she wished that men would just put a description/measurements of theirs on their dating profile so she could know what she was getting into. Also, another lady I was seeing clued me into a whole range of considerations besides length and girth, to include color and angle as well. After an in-depth dialogue about the subject, my confidence was boosted to sky-high levels! 🤣
I’m glad you enjoyed the dustup with the kehcraws! When I was a kid and me and my friends tried to play D&D (think we played a grand total of one actual campaign), we’d take a break from endless character creation sessions by playing Magic the Gathering or the board game Dungeon, which was basically a bunch of figurines fighting monsters and collecting treasure in a dungeon labyrinth drawn on a board. I always felt that exploring a dungeon was a classic, iconic piece of roleplaying culture that I wanted to evoke in a fantasy book. As far as the wave, that came from two things: I saw a photo of a giant wave touching the clouds, and I thought it would be badass to see that in real life, and even more badass if it was a regular occurrence like in the Jadewisp Breaks. I’ve also been casually interested in surfing, but mostly for the purpose of one day surfing through a barrel of water during the sunset. One of my philosophies in writing is to try and amp things up as much as possible without infringing on the rhythm, so I combined the two into the classic “escape from the enemy by plunging into something more potentially dangerous” storytelling device. And, in the spirit of amping things up, I threw in sea serpents and life-threatening injuries.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I heard an interesting take on that on a podcast, attempting to clarify the generalized difference between how attraction works for men and women. When men see sex, the visual element is where they focus, but women want to know why they’re having sex, what caused them to be so attracted to each other that they decided to do it. That’s probably not true in every case, but I immediately resonated with it and felt like it explained a lot.
I don’t think I misplaced a name, but the typos mysteriously have all been corrected, even though Amazon says they only update if you buy the newest version of a book. Nice to see you’re still reading! I thought from your earlier messages you were going to take a break so you could catch up on some TBR books, but I’m happy to hear that it’s entertaining enough to keep at it! Now that I know where you roughly are, I can say that writing the dance scene was pretty challenging, but it was also really fun. I never knew Cyndi Lauper could give me the feels until I saw this Kevin Smith-directed episode of Supergirl where Supergirl’s adopted sister is going through a mutual breakup with her girlfriend, so they’re moping around to some sad music as they’re facing the prospect of one of them moving out, then her girlfriend is like screw this, changes it to All Through the Night, and they share a cheery dance and have some breakup sex to end things in a positive, upbeat way. When I was a kid, I liked Kevin Smith for his now outdated nerdy subversiveness, but he always put a surprising amount of heart into his emotional moments, and it definitely came through in that scene. As soon as I saw it, I knew I had to use it somewhere, so that’s where some of the inspiration came from. It was also nice that the lyrics fit with the thematic elements.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I saw your review! Thanks for reading and posting! Also, thanks for your constructive criticism!
I totally flubbed the Terrrelly thing, lol! Because when I first drafted Jon’s impression of Idinia, I just straight-up wrote she was Indo-Pakistani, then later edited it to account for the dimension hopping context to “I’d guess Indo-Pakistani, if I was back on Earth.” As far as Knifelock, it seems I misjudged that as well, because I remember thinking I haven’t mentioned him in hundreds of pages, plus Jon is remembering bits and pieces to include Erany and Alijyar’s names here and there along with other little details, so I thought using Knifelock’s name would fit his fragmented remembrance, and also serve to remind the reader that this guy is still in play, even though he’s been absent for a decent stretch. It gets tough for me to gauge because I’m viewing the flow of events through two perspectives–one is the drafting perspective, which throws off my perception because I read 500 words way faster than I draft it, and the other is the editor’s perspective, which towards the end is really trying to nail down an organic rhythm and flow, but it can never duplicate the first-time reader’s perspective, because I’ve spent way too long with the story at that point, so I can only guess at what that feels like anymore. The obvious answer is beta readers, but I gave up on that a while ago because too many of them come with an urge to fix something just because they’re beta readers and not in the spirit of making it more readable, and I decided it wasn’t worth the trouble.
Thank you for your opinions, regardless of what anyone else says about em! I think part of why writing appeals to me is because I get to shape mine into what I feel is the very best and most entertaining representation of them, and I enjoy the feel of putting my opinion out there when my expression is on point. So no offense to your daughter, but nobody gives a poop about nobody else supposedly not giving a poop about yours. Your self-expression isn’t about mass consensus; it’s about you inscribing your own unique perspective onto the narrative of time and space, as some might say at certain points in my book. It’s part of why I don’t bring up writing too much around family and friends, even though I could talk about it ad nauseum upon request. If the fates direct them to read my stuff, then so be it. But my self-expression is for me alone, and I’d rather not have a barrage of input on what would resonate with them specifically.
And thanks for your compliments on my creativity! It’s a good thing I do this in private, because when I describe what I’m planning to do with some friends, they give me a puzzled look, so I stick with more easily explainable details like age of sail ships fighting with magical cannons, or trench-walking Texas-sized sea-monsters that are strong enough to change the tides. I feel like the stuff I’m conceptually interested in is far enough out there that in a writer’s group, I’d get similar reactions. There’s been quite a few times while I’m writing when I think man, I haven’t seen anything like this anywhere else, so I need to make sure I nitpick it so if someone dove deeper into it I’d be able to explain what’s happening at a philosophical level. Complicating matters is that a lot of times I write dialogue and realizations through implications to maintain the pace. By that I mean I don’t fully express when Jon or someone else processes a realization, instead he just speaks with the understanding (or lack thereof) of that knowledge nested in his reply. So that way, not only do I speed up the pace, but I also feel like I’m respecting the reader’s time and intelligence, if that makes sense, because I don’t spell things out if I don’t have to.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m not trying to be the annoying devil’s advocate guy, but I agree with you in some respects, but probably diverge with you on others on the topic of accepting input. I used to hold the attitude of owing an obligation to others because of what you mentioned, the money factor, but later I changed my mind to writing for my own fulfillment first and foremost. The practical aspect of that is that I have enough money coming in from other sources so I can choose to write things as I want to write them, on the timeline that suits me (if you want to generate regular, salary-comparable sales in this industry, it’s best to go romance or erotica, and pump out a novel every three to six months). At this point, I want to write something that I would have loved to read as a kid, and that evokes emotional resonance in me to the point where I have no problem believing that it would be awesome to see on screen, and though it may sound cocky, warrant massive sales (once again, in my own mind). The thing about accepting input is that I believe enough in my manuscripts at this point that I’m not threatened by people who aren’t fully on board with my stuff (Mitzy Shore, famous founder of the Comedy Store, said if everybody likes you, your material lacks substance). Your input happened to be valid and with the characterization, something I wanted to do anyway, since to this day, even though I’ve read The Hobbit multiple times, the only Dwarf I can distinguish in the party is Thorin. (To be fair, I heavily skimped on describing Lanctom’s villagers and most of the sailors, because I felt like it would unnecessarily slow the pace and it’s already a pretty long book). The bottom line is that if someone gives me input, I’ll give it a listen unless it’s toxic (I’ve blocked or stopped responding to plenty of people because of that), but ultimately, I’ll listen to my heart when it comes to the final decision. I remember my ex actually got bent out of shape when I was writing Echo, she didn’t like something in it, and I decided to leave it in anyway. I gave her a listen, but at the end of the day, my reasoning was nothing more than “I think it’s cool, so I’m leaving it in there.” (That’s my last informal rule of writing–even if it doesn’t hew to the themes and development, if you think it’s too cool to leave out, then it deserves to be in there). As far as achieving widespread appeal, that’s a tricky thing, in that it seems to be arbitrary at heart. The most stark example of this is Moby Dick, which wasn’t seen as great until after Melville died. Also, especially in today’s day and age, there are plenty of “stars” who are ultra popular/rich/what-have-you within a niche audience, while being completely unknown to the greater populace. The idea of a star isn’t as clearly delineated today as it was in the 80s, when if you made it as a movie star you couldn’t go out in public anymore. My point with that is that there are some niche successful people that hold absolutely no interest to me, and it’s led me to realize that I don’t need to cater to a criteria of widespread consensus, especially with examples of era-specific appeal like Moby Dick or Lenny Bruce and Charlie Chaplin, who would be seen as duds in today’s comedy world. The widespread consensus to me really depends on hitting a resonance with a specific era and culture, and that’s elusive enough for me to no longer constantly pick at my writing trying to iron out weaknesses, and instead focus more on what I’m really trying to say and convey. If I was going for that widespread appeal, I suppose I would try and generate metadata on trends and solicit tons of beta readers and try to concoct a formula that checked the boxes, but that would turn writing into something I wouldn’t want to do anymore.
Honestly, your complement about not necessarily being in the mood to read my book, but the book being solid enough to make you want to read anyway, is one of the greatest I could receive. I remember going through tough times as a kid, but a good story was enough to pull me away from all that and send me into another world. Looking back on it, it was an awesome gift to receive, and I’m super happy I could play a part in doing that for someone else!
Apologies if any of that came off as standoffish or browbeaty (I can never tell when I’m even partially disagreeing with someone at length, especially in text, if it’ll rub them the wrong away) and apologies if I come off as hypocritical, because I remember that yes–I have said I want to be rich in the past from my books. I still do, but it’s not the only way that might happen, and with my books, it’s the expressive freedom and personal criteria (write something I want to have read/read presently, and also write it so that I believe just from the manuscript alone, I don’t have a problem believing it can be a big movie/show and/or warrant massive sales), that come first. In my current situation, I get to have absolute control over my writing, and I want to truly revel in that, if that makes sense. Because if/when my writing takes off, I may ironically and wistfully look back on these days, when I didn’t have to deal with studio execs, agents or lawyers, lol!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m a little confused as to why someone would try to impose rules on your poetry. In my mind, poetry is the innovative edge of written communication, where the page is used as a visual medium more than in any other form. It also purposefully breaks from logic and structure, in order to favor artistic expression and evocative feeling. Since that’s the case, I don’t see why someone would try and focus on logic, structure, or tradition, since the primary goal in poetry seems to be to evoke feeling in a way that breaks from logic, structure, and tradition more than any form of writing.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I found that seemed to be a common thing with English professors, although I’m undecided as to whether it was a bad thing. There’s probably validity to the idea that learning the rules is a good stepping stone to creating better ones or breaking them in a way that helps get your point across. But in most instances, I felt like they were of the opinion that we were meant to serve the rules, not the other way around, although I could easily be mistaken on that, because I was pretty immature when I was taking English classes. I can sympathize as well, because if I was teaching kids who struggled to communicate information in a basic manner (rudimentary essays), I would probably try and teach them more rules to clarify their writing.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The ironic thing is that the people who came up with those styles weren’t following the rules, they were creating them. For me, it’s all about resonating with what I’m writing, and hopefully passing that resonance on to others. I’m sure you’ve noticed that I break the rules in my stuff, where I’m switching between first person and third person, or using the white space in the page as a visual medium (I only did this once in A Door into Evermoor, but I did it multiple times in Echo 4). It’s kind of weird; when I first started writing, I was trying to unlearn some essay-type stuff like don’t start sentences with “and,” don’t use sentence fragments, and don’t use run-on sentences. At first I just saw that fiction authors did that stuff all the time, so I had to start asking why they did it and what made that stuff work. I started to realize that even in fiction, there is a rhythm to writing, which, much like music, can catch a reader’s attention without necessarily being sound in content. For example, I don’t really care at all about the Great Gatsby, but the rhythm and word choice are captivating enough to where I can enjoy reading it. I’ve actually had to wikipedia the plot after reading it because I wasn’t paying attention to what was happening, only to how it was being conveyed. It really is about what rhythm I’m trying to put together, in my opinion. A run on sentence will distract the reader from the specific details and put more focus on the single-gear pace, which can be useful in certain instances. Like in Echo 3, Atriya teleports, and because Echo is ultimately a story about dissolving boundaries and merging with transcendence, the description of the teleportation reflects that in his perception, so a run-on sentence with a mishmash of psychedelic descriptions is how that was achieved both rhythmically and thematically. I think it’s fine to learn rules, but it’s always important to remember what they’re ultimately for, and the constructive potential in modifying, recreating, or breaking them.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m on the same page as you, as far as evoking something. My brother has an MFA in media arts, and hangs around with other academically trained artists. It’s a world that seems almost insulting to me, in that the principle justification to me seems to be that they’re pushing the conceptual boundaries of art theory. One example would be a pair of broken glasses in an empty room. Another would be his girlfriend shouting you don’t understand at an audience over and over. It’s really an insular community that kind of incestually caters to its own insular members in my opinion. When rich people buy a fine art piece from them, the value is usually determined by a desire to have something that other rich people don’t. The shallowness of it was demonstrated to me when my brother made a sketch, then his girlfriend (who spends energy building up art world rep) puts her signature on it and it sells for a few hundred dollars because they think it’s from her and not him. He once told me that the dirty secret in this world is that while all the artists publicly look down on pop culture, they secretly love it. It kind of cemented my decision to write stuff I could personally resonate with, and while I may throw in some cool devices or innovative structure here and there, I always want to make sure it’s in service of as visceral and entertaining a story as I can write. I have no interest in producing a theoretically and conceptually brilliant piece of writing that can’t entertain people who don’t have advanced degrees in literature.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s kind of what cemented my belief that since I have my needs taken care of, I don’t want to create headaches by prioritizing my writing to make money. Obviously, I am attracted to the idea, but I’ve kind of trial and errored my way into pursuing advertising and exposure to the degree that I am willing. Back in 2018, I used to write two ads a day, do one musing a day, and also respond to messages three times a day. Definitely not my thing. It’s also why I don’t want to write a screenplay (can’t feel resonance in the scenes in that format) and why I don’t want to work with other writers, because I am SUPER picky about how stuff happens in my story, and I don’t want to deal with the equivalent of a veto-empowered beta reader.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That kind of attitude is probably what contributed to me becoming introverted. Koreans are always in each other’s business, trying to subtly show they’re doing the right thing or telling their peers what they should do. I’m guilty of it myself, which is sometimes why I don’t want to hang around people–because I feel the need to try and fix them, and I’ve learned the hard way that if they’re ready to fix something and I’m going to be involved, they’ll usually come to me or there’s going to be signs that I’m meant to be involved. So I’d rather not project that or be subject to it. And my limited experience with writing groups seems to be they’re a complicated bunch; most of the time, people are there because they want external validation, but a lot of times they want to get validation by fixing something that isn’t broken, so they can experience the vicarious satisfaction of having “earned” worth because they made a tangible contribution. My buddy says that’s not how his was, but at this point I trust my own process enough to know that I’m almost certainly never going to be in a writing group or work with a co-author.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Interesting, I never considered the legal ramifications of non-fiction 🤔 I use a pen name because I feel it’s freeing, in that the things I write won’t be tied to me as a person who stands for this or that. Maybe you could write it as fiction or under a pen name?
LikeLiked by 1 person
That makes it tricky. It can definitely get frustrating when the justice system does not prioritize justice, but who can afford the proceedings that may or may not bring it about. Those kind of things nudge me toward a deeper trust in a benevolence underlying existence, one that accounts for short-term unfairness and misfortune, because I would live in misery if I personally tried to right the wrongs I’ve been dealt. I’ve been in similar situations, where I could have pursued official means to try and balance the scales, but I was faced with the same question of whether I wanted to involve myself in such an obviously biased proceeding that would severely drain me regardless of outcome.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sounds like the therapy business is a great way to express that and realize your experiences and views! Eventually, I hope that circumstances will change so that it can also be expressed in your writing 😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s a good, honest conversation to have with oneself, whether or not to pursue an officiated manifestation of justice or whether to go down another path, depending on what the signs are showing you. It’s really about a prioritization of perspective, in my opinion, in that what is truly important? Is retaliation the most constructive approach, or is it better forgotten, or held off on until a later date? I think it’s always case by case, and in yours, it seems like it wasn’t the best option.
I hope your life will calm as well! Gotta expand on naps, Halloweens, and Thanksgivings!
LikeLiked by 1 person
That sounds like a pretty mature consideration of the long-term effect, which in general seems to outweigh the short-term, in my opinion. I’m going to interpret it as a clarification from the universe for your business aspirations and how you can differentiate yourself from other providers, and offer a level of nuance and understanding that is specifically ignored in a field that tends to be ignored in general.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think it started when I was young and insecure, and I read this comic called Preacher (groundbreaking at the time, but it hasn’t aged well), where this Irish punk rock vampire stumbles upon a bunch of broody, emo, vampire-wannabes and after they make fools of themselves, he says, “Too much time on their hands. Leads to poetry.” So as someone who was looking to look down on others, I took that to heart because I didn’t understand how poetry could be entertaining. Then I realized rap was poetry later on, and I like some rap, so I grudgingly shifted to the idea that I like poetry if there’s a backbeat. After I started writing, I started realizing how important rhythm is to evoking emotion. I can write in clipped sentences, which would convey being ultra focused on a practical task or some kind of emotional suppression, like “Red car. Sedan. Two passengers. Old man, middle-aged woman, both dressed in winter jackets.” or I could convey a state of disorientation or lack of cognitive organization by using a lot of “ands” As in “The snow was cold and there were deer and things were burning and I was scared and” I also watched Shel Silverstein do this minutes-long spoken word poem about magic tricks where he flipped cards toward the camera, and his performance was absolutely captivating. It was like watching a mind-blowing movie where all you can think about is the movie for the next few hours. Anyways, I realized poetry is where rhythm is a crucial element–I can screw up a sentence or paragraph or even a chapter, but it’s really not that forgivable in a poem. Part of it was also I read a quote from Stephen King that said books are also visual mediums, and the white space in the page is an element to telling the story. All that combined changed my previously negative view on poetry.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Of course! I realized at a certain point that everyone references this mysterious “flow” in writing they have to try and capture. When I first started editing, I would reference it myself without any other qualifier than it feeling right to me. But as I kept editing, I started to define how that came about, and nowhere is it more evident than in poetry. Authoritarian rules like “adverbs are bad” or “passive voice is bad” completely miss the point. Stephen King, despite saying those very things in his book On Writing, made me curious so I re-read some of his stuff only to find it full of adverbs and passive voice. There was one group of Harvard writer/students who gave themselves a masturbatory pat on the back after combing through their manuscript and taking out every adverb, which I found ridiculous. In my opinion, everything is reflected through a character’s perception, so if they’re feeling short and focused, I’m going to describe things in a clipped manner. If they’re feeling loose and contemplative, I’m going to write in a less-connected, more free-flowing style. If they’re disoriented and scared, then I’m going to try for jumpy, paranoid descriptions. There’s a bunch of rules out there, but I can’t find one that supersedes the idea of understanding who the character is, understanding how events and themes are reflected through whatever’s happening to them, and writing descriptions accordingly. The rest of it can easily transform into a literary religion-lite.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ironically, when I first sent some samples of Echo to a friend who was interested in writing, he pointed out that there was too much repetition here or there. Being new, I took that to heart, but it was actually the start of me learning to value rhythm and poetic impact, because when I replace a word with a simile I have to consider the connotation and syllabic meter, or flavor, so to speak. That’s still a very significant part of my editing and writing process.
I can understand the emphasis on grammar from a certain point of view–if people are new to writing, their first priority should be to make themselves intelligible. It just seems to bleed inappropriately into fiction, where the primary goal is to be felt. I remember watching Life of Pi and not understanding what was happening, but still being incredibly entertained. I figured it out later, but that didn’t stop me from enjoying the movie when I first watched it. It actually parallels my existential view on life–if it can only be understood and insufficiently felt, then it is an incomplete understanding, if that makes sense.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you on the compliments! I have definitely grown in my confidence as a writer, partly because as narcissistic as it sounds, I have come to occasionally enjoy re-reading my books as my own fan! I know you mentioned Lyderea’s whip a few times, and before I forget to elaborate on it, I wanted to say that when I first envisioned the relationship between Evermoor and Earth, it was going to be much more on the nose, in that items would physically transform when they crossed over, while still keeping their symbolic value. I originally envisioned a pen for Jon that would transform into a sword when he went into Evermoor. And I was going to make guns turn into whips, to do some kind of commentary on tools of oppression. That idea didn’t resonate when I started drafting, so I focused on other elements. However, I wanted to create some kind of narrative scaffolding for the Rosecraft Blade and Ailura Qartesi–so they wouldn’t just be a pair of random ultra-powerful weapons floating around in Evermoor–so I threw in that explanation of the seven Great Weapons. Then I brought the idea of the whip back, because it fit Lyderea’s MO of oppression, and, of course, I asked myself the question of how can I amp this up, which led me to make it into a nine-headed scourge, which also squeezed the life out of people while torturing through laceration and breaking their bones. I felt like that was a good amplification of thematic context that hewed to the spirit of what I was trying to do, and also, I was like damn, that sounds super nasty and I’d never want to fight someone with that thing, lol!
Also, maybe my spidey-sense is off, but I felt like I passed some kind of existential checkpoint when you said with WEapons of Old, I’d sold you on the idea that my work deserved widespread success. It helps affirm my own belief in that dream, so thank you for the kind words! I’m looking forward to a future where I can see a movie with magic pirate battles and world-in-the-balance standoffs where wyverns and skyfoils are dogfighting in the background! 😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you!! I’m glad I could entertain and elicit a laugh, and I wish you the utmost happiness in what comes next for you! You’ve gone through a lot to clarify what you want, and you deserve to have that materialize in your life!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s awesome! Not only in regard to progress, but I also like your attitude of who knows what will happen 7 years from now. I used to view that kind of uncertainty with suspicion and paranoia, but it’s been made clear to me that it can turn out for better stuff, and, if I’m being leap-of-faith about it, WILL turn out for the better. I’ve conversed with another mother who had similar challenges to yours, but wasn’t as deprived of resources or time. Kudos to you for recent successes, positive aspirations, and future outlook!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I definitely can’t imagine being in that kind of situation, and I definitely can’t imagine dealing with folks who gave up on you when the going got tough. I remember one of the things that truly angered me about my ex was with each dog that we got, there was a period right afterwards where she would fold and start wondering if we should send it to the shelter. Not only was I the one doing the training and housebreaking, but she was the one who pushed to get each dog before we got it, which really, really did not do good things for my view of her character. In certain cases, like breaking the four minute mile, I believe a chunk of someone’s contribution comes from simply upending what others think isn’t possible. You seem to be going a step beyond, not just innovating new solutions and redefining consensus limitations, but also being ready to implement that into something that can help more people. That’s a pretty nice combo!
LikeLike
Erring on the side of compassion is what I prefer as the default mode. For a while, I did it out of a feeling of obligation, being influenced by a quote I read when I was a kid that went something like “you gotta be one of the good guys, because there’s way too many of the bad.” Not only is that automatically transactional in the sense that you already owe a debt, but it easily leads to elitism, which is arguably nested in the statement through implication. Nowadays, I like erring on the side of compassion because it feels natural and right, and also because I’ve refined my knowledge of my own boundaries and intuition. So where before I could be driven to do things mostly out of guilt or a chain of duty-shored logic, now I can better navigate when I shouldn’t do something for no obvious apparent justification, and trust that the reason will make itself clear in the future. There’s obvious adversities that need to be tackled sometimes regardless of personal preference, but I strongly believe that life shouldn’t be lived through a perspective where personal motive is dominantly comprised of peer pressure or societal imposition.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I have some pretty inconclusive beliefs about humans being social by nature. I’ll probably strike common ground with you in that I believe most humans must have consideration for society, whether it’s out of care, need, or even from selfish desire. If there’s any dominant trait I would ascribe to humanity, it’s variance across individuals, and variance within individuals throughout their lives. So much like sexuality, I believe humans have a wide variance for their preferred relationship with society. Some hate it, some love it, some feel obligated toward it, some see it in a Machiavellian light, as a functional tool and nothing more, some become hermits, later or earlier in life, then switch and become social (there’s an interesting phenomenon of modern-day reclusion in Japan, Korea, and other countries where people live in a single room for years at a time, to the point where the government is offering stipends and programs in an effort to get them to socialize). But while consideration for society at some point in life is probably unavoidable and necessary, I believe caring for society is a tricky thing that can easily become unhealthy, in the same way that caring for a corporation or the military is not the same as caring for a real person, and the people that take that attitude often get hurt because corporations and militaries do not care for people as individuals and will move on without a second glance.
As far as humanity’s fundamental nature, that starts getting existential if you break from a Darwinian model (which I happily do, because I have an open personal bias that not everything is survival-related or a mutational effort to offer an evolutionary advantage). I’m not sure if you have any appetite for this rabbit hole, but I’ve been casually interested in UFOs my whole life, and VERY interested since 2017 when the New York Times broke the story on the Navy footage of the TIc Tac craft, which the government has admitted as being real and unexplainable in capability. So before this topic gets explored, I find it useful to delineate “tiers of believability,” to avoid mixing the far-out speculation with the more easily verifiable and agreed-upon. The first tier of believability (most believable) is that there are craft of unknown origin that defy the known laws of physics. I think almost everyone if not everyone agrees on that. The second tier of believability–where most agree by implication–is that these craft originate from non-human intelligences. Beyond that, there are reports from insiders that the craft operate through consciousness, with implications that physical reality arises from consciousness and not the other way around, and that humanity was either engineered by non-human intelligences, or altered by them during our evolution (a rumor I find fascinating is that Jimmy Carter, who was apparently determined to find the truth about UFOs partly because he experienced them himself, cried after finding out that major religions were programs instituted by non human intelligence that were intended to try and tamp down violence in humanity, he was intensely religious so this came as a shock to him). Anyways, I don’t want to go too deep down that rabbit hole, so I’ll tie it back to my main point of my beliefs about human nature being fairly inconclusive. Before I can be more deterministic in my view about human nature, I think I’d have to have a clearer idea about the nature of reality, specifically about the relationship between consciousness and matter, as well as some basic idea of what UFOs are. Without some reconciliation with our known physics (first tier of believability), and our evolutionary history (several tiers further out), I’m pretty wishy-washy about what makes us tick. But as mentioned before, it seems that similar to dogs, humans are characterized by intense physical variation, and especially intense mental variation throughout groups of individuals.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Kudos to your sister-in-law for acting as an individual rather than a set of instructions! I absolutely respect your perspective. I think it’s functional and is probably calibrated for maxing out net fulfillment, comfort, and positivity.
My view on social behavior (and hence human nature) is kind of weird, as you can probably tell by the things I’ve referenced. For me personally, I need a better understanding of causality to make more definitive conclusions about human nature, and hence behavioral design. That’s why I’m interested in reconciliation of physics, consciousness, and existential philosophy. I want to see anomalies accounted for, as well as view phenomena as holistically as I can. There’s a tendency to go down rabbit holes with that stuff, so I guess another way to phrase it would be I’d like to mull causes (fundamental pillars of reality) which can iterate into symptoms (human nature to human behavior). I heard a fascinating take on the topic of reconciling the standard model, quantum physics, consciousness, and UFO observations yesterday, in that the guy was saying he suspects we are about to move past Aristotelian science (based on induction and deduction, or data trends and educated guesses derived from mostly reliable, consensus-based thought mechanisms) into what he called science 2.0. He wasn’t convinced it would equate to a theory of everything, but it seemed like he believed it would be a step closer toward it. It resonated with me–I think if humanity doesn’t get set back through devolution or disaster, that would be the direction we move in, if I had to guess.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think I can relate. I’m not in to politics for what I think is a similar reason, in that I don’t feel any pull toward it, and I’ve been given no indication that it holds any potential for me. That’s not to say that politics aren’t important, but every time I talk to my friends about that stuff, I don’t feel energized in the slightest. It always seems like powerless-feeling people targeting supposedly more powerful people for not using their power in an appropriate manner. I always got the vibe that I should be outraged and complain to others about it, and try to inspire them to complain to others. I’m not discounting that that can’t be useful in some situations, but until I resonate with it and feel like there’s something productive there for me, I think it would just be a waste of energy for me.
LikeLiked by 1 person
No worries–if you don’t want to talk about UFOs, that’s perfectly fine! Most people don’t, so I tailor my responses to minimize the rabbit-hole nature of the subject and try to keep it relevant to the point I’m trying to make.
As far as the religions failing to stem violence, I’d agree with that. I forget who the reference was, but it’s well into the farther reaches of believability (past the consensus-heavy agreement that there are craft out there that can break the laws of known physics, then the less-agreed upon but still heavily accepted implication that they originate from non-human intelligence), but there was speculation I heard that stated there was more interference during humanity’s early years, then when we acted in ways that were unexpected and unproductive, non-human intelligence backed off. It’s not quite the Star Trek prime directive, in that they still interfere, but more on the fringes. According to some, the crash retrievals are drone craft or piloted by drone AI-bodies, which makes sense to me, because why would you crash if you have unimaginable levels of precision? The speculation is that crashed craft are like easter eggs, kind of like throwing a quantum computer to a bunch of cavemen. They might be able to understand a bit of the external design, but their worldview is way too primitive to build a working theory of the interaction of the internal components. Just like there are tiers of believability to the information, there are tiers of reputability to folks in the community. The first tier of reputability (most reputable) belongs to career defense and intelligence officials (multiple decades in the service), along with esteemed scientists who have done solid work in other fields. A good amount of these folks are saying that consciousness is integral to operation of the craft, and that’s why we have a hard time reverse-engineering them, because our theories of causality (physics) don’t have any place in them to account for consciousness, which goes back to my analogy of throwing an easter egg in the form of a quantum computer to a bunch of cavemen.
I’d also think that if religions formed in the way I mentioned, then the originators definitely didn’t think it would inspire Catholic indulgences, where you could buy your way into heaven. I would go so far as to say that without the mystical aspect (omnipotence/benevolence is everywhere, in all of us, at every time) all religions to include Buddhism are transactional in nature, where you must trade inconvenience or suffering for unquantifiable virtue (in Buddhism, you must meditate and yoga your way out of karmic debt so you can become enlightened). That doesn’t ring true at all to me. I don’t believe I came to exist so I could spend my life paying off a debt, in perpetual danger of falling deeper into it, with contradictory nebulous sets of rules as my only guide to doing so. Given the mystical premise, the focus becomes more on appreciating what’s in front of you (since omnipotence/benevolence is right here, right now) instead of cutting yourself off from it by chasing lack-born, externalized alleged solutions. It is remembering and relaxing into your power and chosen adventure, rather than pretending you’re arbitrarily stuck in a horror story.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I kind of struggle to communicate what I mean by appreciating the moment. Like most of the subtler things, I think it lends itself to a lot of subjectivity. I believe that even though someone is outwardly striving or planning, they can harmonize with a present-moment resonance that’s indicated by a mix of intuition and feeling. Only the individual can fully determine if they’re appreciating the moment or not. To be reductive, it’s being in the zone. It can happen during strategizing or fantasizing or an all-out, last-ditch sprint. So in the interest of clarity (and I know I’m putting a lot of personal parameters on this which can easily turn into a rabbit hole where it exclusively and only applies to me), appreciating the moment is harmonizing with a transcendent, present-moment resonance. It is an internal state, characterized by a feeling of existential rightness (doing exactly what I need to be doing, at the exact right time, in the exact right place, which is why I like dancing so much because it’s a very apparent manifestation of those principles) and/or inspiration. So regardless of outward pain or struggle, regardless of apparent mental machinations, I believe the most optimal way to exist is to move into harmony with a transcendent resonance that exists throughout all of reality, that lets itself be known through intuition/inspiration/emotion, and that is what I characterize as being present. I believe that by definition and nature it goes beyond words, which I think is why perhaps the most comprehensive way to refer to it might be poetry, which can use words as signposts rather than constraints.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s awesome! Yes, I am obviously of the opinion that being present is more fulfilling and emotionally more rewarding, but if I had to revert to a purely logical view, I can do that as well, in that I don’t know how or when I’m going to die, empirically we seem to be insignificant (the vastness of existence compared to the tiny influence we seemingly exert), so I’m going to adjust my perspective to reflect that evidence and focus on enjoying the moment, rather than getting caught up in the delusion that something is important enough to sacrifice my internal peace and appreciation for. Or I can approach it from a question of design: am I here to mentally live in the future and the past, either destroying my peace out of concern for what may or may not happen, or regretting what has already happened and I’m trying to somehow make up for it? Maybe. And in that case, my reward would either be restricted to after I die, or it would come in fleeting glimpses between bouts of strife. But I’d argue that’s a cruel design, and I have no interest in honoring it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Maybe jogging can take bellydancing’s place! I use my notifications to reply to comments, so hopefully that will keep things coherent in my head if comments get scattered on the actual page.
The negative experiences, in my opinion, become a tricky thing to navigate, in that they immediately present a couple of unconstructive options. One is to wallow in the negativity, and amplify and shore it up through a web of supporting evidence or ruminating on the gall of the universe/perpetrators. The other is to try and completely deny it, which just amplifies it for me. I think my primary mechanism is acceptance that it’s negative, which can be subtly but significantly different than wallowing or amplifying it. For example just admitting, yep this sucks, in a spirit of matter-of-fact, that’s-how-things-are-right-now, versus this sucks and the people behind this deserve to pay, they’re wrong in their actions which stems from their corrupt worldview which needs to be remedied through misfortune and suffering…that can become an endless rabbit hole in my mind. The key component for me is the emotional resonance. The vibe is of acceptance and relaxation into the circumstance, rather than resistance, denial, and powerlessness to effect immediate change. And that’s what’s most important to me–the words and sentiment don’t really matter, it’s the emotional vibe and resonance. If I’m joking around with my buddies about fucking over someone who deserves it, I think as long as the vibe is lighthearted and amusing, that can be constructive. If there’s bitterness and venom in there, that’s a different story which can lead to us feeding each other’s rage. A relatively new component that helps me out (I’d say over just the last year) is the reflection that negative things, given time, have turned into positive things for me. So that helps speed things up for me personally, because I don’t have to rely on faith as much, and I’m more supported by trust.
LikeLiked by 1 person
“Award-winning”! “Floating Prius!” Giada de La-dee-da! You’re killing me here! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m particularly proud of adding in that floating prius 😂
LikeLiked by 1 person
You’ve hit a high bar in this one! Your context is perfect for it. I wonder if the Japanese realized the Prius/Priapus possibility when they named the car? I have to add that your “soccer mom” trope is a geyser of wicked joy that keeps on erupting. Doff of cap from here.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Haha, that’s awesome! Soccer moms have always been my thing, and since I’ve started writing, I’ve occasionally wondered how others would see that. 🤣
LikeLiked by 1 person