Poetree: "Petal Snow"

This is the view out my office window.

 

 

 

Seeing the bevy of white gave me an idea for some poetree.

In case you'd forgotten -- or are a new friend to this space -- while driving last fall I saw an interesting tree, one which reminded me of a skeleton hand reaching from the dirt to the sky. What a great poem that would be, I thought.

And so was born the concept of "poetree."

The idea was to start with an image of a tree, and then craft the verse around it, rather than vice versa. My first complete (picture + words) was "Fire." The next was "All In The Name Of Regress." "Skeleton Hands" is still in progress.

The collection now includes "Petal Snow." Enjoy.

Petal Snow

 

 

  



Waving naked in a wintry row, the sakura conceal their petal snow.
Clear, sweet milk to help them grow, the sakura nurture the petal snow.
When Nature says, “Commence the show,” the sakura explode with petal snow.
Despite the harsh March winds which blow, the sakura clutch their petal snow.
A bed of lush green grass below, the sakura prepare the petal snow.
And only when they decide to let go do the sakura shed their petal snow.

Castle: "A Dance With Death"

Another "Castle" review that I have to file under "better later than never." Perhaps if the show were on Saturday nights, we could watch it live. (Though this week, no; we didn't fire up the DVR until 10:10 Saturday night.)

Anyway, "A Dance With Death" represented "Castle" doing what it does best: giving us a well-crafted whodunit, with lots of interesting plot twists, and hints dropped along the way. Consider:

- We learn that the victim was a socialite who turned her life around after a near-death experience. Reasonable.
- Then, the team discovers that the one set of fingerprints discovered belongs to a woman who has been dead for a year...and coincidentally, she died in the train wreck which spared Odette, the socialite.
- Next, we learn that Barbara is a dead ringer (pun intended) for Odette. Castle starts offering his wild theories: twins separated at birth...perhaps Barbara orchestrated the train wreck to take her place.
- They note that Barbara underwent plastic surgery. Wait, didn't they mention earlier on that Odette had paid for a nose job for a friend? One of Castle's wild theories is starting to look promising.
- Finally it is revealed that Odette hired Barbara to be her "good" doppleganger. But when Odette dies and Barbara survives...

The point is, the whole Odette-Barbara sub-plot was at least as interesting as solving the murder itself. That's why "Castle" is a great show: because the writers build mysteries within the mystery.

One picky point: the whole extortion plot involving Brad (the host) that arose when he caught "Odette" shooting up made no sense. Admittedly, I'm no expert on drugs, legal or otherwise. But I'm 99% certain that heroin and insulin are administered in different ways, specifically venous versus muscular. Barbara could have claimed that she recently developed diabetes, needed insulin, and handed the needle over for analysis. End of discussion.

Other points from the episode worth noting:

- You just knew that the dinner party would blow up and degenerate into a hissy fit. It didn't matter, it was still fun.
- You just knew that Martha would somehow put Castle on the hook to resolve it.
- The writers clearly loved the name "Faux-dette," as Castle used it at least twice.
- Likewise, I'm sure the writers also sat back and chuckled after throwing terms like "eliminated" and "end of the road" into the opening scene, just before the murder was revealed.
- I liked that they gave a little more insight into Beckett's character, allowing her to admit that she wanted to be the "first female Chief Justice."

And of course, the looks...
- Castle's embarrassed, "Don't tell my mom," when he explained the "gas card allowance" from his college days.
- Castle's embarrassed, "Forget about that," after his comment about "panties on his head."
- Esposito's grimace when he put on Ryan's wedding band.
- The entire scene with Beckett, Castle, Ryan, and Lanie, when the latter explained that her dream of being a prima ballerina ended once "the girls" came along.

Next up: "47 seconds."

Funny Foto #12

This is an image of the coffee vending machine where I work.

Someone who thinks way too much about things (no one I can name comes to mind, of course) might wonder, "OK, so if I want the large Donut Shop Blend or Creamy Hot Chocolate, I am only supposed to pay $0.75?

Two Updates

Just to get y'all up to speed on a couple of posts from the past.

First, exactly one month ago, I proudly announced that my short story "Worm Herding" had been selected for the BUGS anthology from Pill Hill Press. Though they clearly are a reputable outfit, I never was a "count my chickens before they hatch" kind of guy. So I assumed it would be coming out in the near future; but I tried to keep my enthusiasm in check.

On Wednesday, I got an email containing the final mock-up. They said to not share it with anyone. But I think showing you a snippet of the table of contents should be OK.

There I am on page 28! So maybe I can start icing the champagne. Our final edits are due April 5. They offered no specifics as to when it would be available. When it is, believe me, you'll hear about it.

Second, earlier this week I made mention of the Grim Future anthology (the title is not final) that I'm contributing to. I failed to mention in that post that I only heard about it Monday afternoon, and managed to get on board later that day when someone dropped out. I have finished my piece: 1,100-ish words. Here is a little snippet to whet your appetite:

An image flickered to the screen, paused, and came to life.
    “Hello. My name is Adam Roman. I’m the project manager for the Reset Project. If you’re seeing my face and hearing my voice, then you found the satellite—which we knew would be pretty hard to miss—and were able to retrieve this memory store and recover the data after... however long it has taken for the ‘reset’ to occur.”
    It was hard to tell if the drawn-out, deliberate delivery was the result of weariness wedded with exhaustion, or just weariness.
    “Today marks the formal end of the Reset Project. Normally, when you close a project, you celebrate. You get together with your co-workers, pop some beers, laugh, look back, and maybe talk about the next project. Not this time.
    “No one is celebrating.
    “No one is laughing.
    “And there will be no next project.
    “Why? There is no one. I’m the last person alive on Earth. 


Again, when this one is made available -- probably around fall, according to Lyn -- you'll hear about that as well.

The GRIM FUTURE!

Those of you who hang on to every word printed in this space (end snickering) might notice that there is no flash fiction today. That's because I have a new project! It's a small one, but one that I think is pretty cool. I found this through -- where else -- the Internet. 

Fellow writer Lyn Midnight concocted an idea for an anthology, the title of which is still up in the air. Based on one component of it, I think "The Grim Future Anthology" is appropriate. Just don't hold me to it.

The idea is that 12 of us will create 500- to 1,000-word flash stories about "the world in the near or far future, and how it's gone wrong." Then, another 12 writers will pick up the threads and scribe 500 to 2,000 words, told from the perspective of someone witnessing the end of the world. Finally, another group of authors will wrap up each with 100 to 1,000 words on "what's next?"

There also will be illustrations involved. It sounds fun, doesn't it? I think Lyn really came up with something good here.

My contribution will be entitled "Project Reset," a short story / novella idea I'd been kicking around.

A video appears on a screen, and a worn-out man starts speaking. He explains that he is Adam Roman, the project manager for "Project Reset." What is Project Reset, you may be wondering. At some point in the future, the powers-that-be decided that we've messed up the planet so badly that there is no going back. So they embark on a project to "reset" the Earth: kill every living thing, leave behind instructions as to what mankind did wrong, and hope that in a million years (give or take) the next species to evolve into the dominant, intelligent life form heeds the advice and does a better job. Roman is the last surviving human. One he pushes the final button, and takes a cyanide pill, it really IS all over. 

I've written a 1,500-word first draft of my part. (Too long...what a surprise!) So I need to get my red pen out and whack away mercilessly.

I'm looking forward to seeing how my story evolves, and how the others turn out.

Then what? An e-book? Printed hard copies? Who knows? (Lyn said she doesn't even know yet.) That's OK. As I'm sure everyone involved would attest, we don't write to see pages on a library shelf (though that is cool). We write because we want to.

Check back for updates.

Funny Foto #11

I saw this near my house.

Though it's not very clear, that's a "For Sale" sign. On the Mercedes. In the front yard.

See? The 1% are suffering.

This Is So Cute!

A few months back, I heard a song on my favorite radio station (WRUW) called "Rocks And Penalties." It was cute, and really made me smile. 

First of all, the singers sounded young. Second, how can you not love a song with lyrics like

Don't take my word for it. Check Wikipedia. 

and

At that moment a coconut hit my head like a double-decker bus. And I saw a rainbow, and unicorns, and the Smiths, reunited. It was wonderful. They were playing "Girlfriend In A Coma." How ironic.

For the heck of if, I did some research. I learned:

- The band is named ShiSho.

- They're from Akron, Ohio, which is not too far from where I live.

- They ARE young. The band is two sisters, ages 10 and 14.

Here is a link to their website, should you wish to visit.
Here is a link to a site which has the audio track. You have to listen to it.
And here is a link to the a performance on YouTube. The sound quality isn't great. But it's still fun.

Enjoy. If you like it, please forward this to other folks whom you think would appreciate it.

Dear Diary

If you've been keeping up with this blog, you know that I've been doing some flash fiction lately. I described my entry of 3/13 as stream of conscience writing exercise. As I typed that, I recalled that I used that same term when I wrote my first book, Dear Diary, a few years back.

Drawing on my experience when I worked for NASA, I crafted a strange, silly, bizarre, twisting tale of an ordinary schlub who decides to leave his bland midwestern existence for the excitement of New York City. He gets a do-nothing job with an obscure government agency, and the fun begins.

(This is one of Ted's drawings, "Ascared Face," which goes on display at the Guggenheim Museum on October 17.)

Obviously, I'm biased, but I enjoy the book. Even today, when I read it, some portions make me laugh out loud. 

I had created a Kindle version of it a year or so ago. I had it priced at $9.99. And it sold exactly...um...zero copies. Of course that number pretty much matches my advertising budget and effort.

But all that has changed!

- I created a version for the Barnes & Noble reader, and put it for sale on barnesandnoble.com.

- I lowered the price to $2.99!!!

So if you have $2.99 that ain't doing nothing, please check it out. And if you're an Amazon Prime member -- which I think means you're cousins with Optimus Prime -- it's free.  Therefore, those of you who are Amazon Primes have no excuse.

Other than time...

And taste...

And dignity.

Flash Update

I've been busy lately. A few posts back, I made mention of my effort to copy, um, pay homage to fellow blogger Katharine Osborne, and her story-a-day for a year project. I said I would be grateful for one story per week.

Well, here it is a week later, and I've done seven. So if you haven't paid a visit to my Flash! Stuff page, please do.

Funny Foto #10

I pass this sign on my way to work every day.

I'm not sure I'd hire these guys as my defense attorneys.

If You Can Read This (Anonymously) Thank A Privacy Pro

As I have referenced in other posts, my day job is as an information security and privacy professional. Some of you may be asking, "What exactly does a privacy professional do?"

The answer is, we keep tabs on what the government and businesses are doing when they collect our personal information: how long they keep it, how they protect it, and (perhaps most importantly) with whom they share it. If you want a frightening illustration, here is a link to an article that appeared in the New York Times a few weeks back which goes into great detail about what author Charles Duhigg found out about Target's targeted (pun intended) marketing efforts. Even though understanding the marketing techniques he writes about are a component of my job, I found it to be a real eye-opener.

This article draws from Duhigg's upcoming book, The Power Of Habit: Why We Do What We Do In Life And Business.

If you're concerned, or even curious, about your personal info, you'll want to read at least the article, if not the book.
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Flash! Fiction 1

Those of you who have known me for a while know that I used to write songs. One of the things that I like about songwriting is that if you get a solid idea and run with it, you can have one done in 30 minutes. Just like that. It's magical. 

Sometimes those quick songs don't even suck. For example, everyone who has heard "Calling Dave" thinks it's a pretty good tune. Unfortunately, it's no longer available online. If anyone is really interested in hearing it, post a comment, and I can email you an MP3.

Novels, on the other hand, are not quite as easy to churn out. Even short stories take longer than 30 minutes.

Usually.

Because there is something called flash fiction. Although the definition varies, one common thread is that flash fiction are very short stories of some miniscule length, say, 500 words or fewer. In this space, I have written about literary agent Janet Reid and her 100 word short story contests. I have entered a few, but never won. That's okay. I enjoy the experience. 

In my various journeys through cyberspace, I came across a writer, Katharine Osborne, and her story-a-day for a year project. This morning I decided to try something similar. 

I'm not sure I can manage one story per day. After all, I do have to devote some time to parenting, and my marriage, and -- oh yeah -- the day job. So if I tried to put out one story a day, I don't think I would have time for any other writing. But one a week seems reasonable. 

The challenge, as with any writing endeavor, often is finding the start, the launching point. Katharine decided to base her stories on a song from her iPod. For Janet's contest, she provides five "seed" words, usually related to a book she's excited about. 

I decided to take five words from the headlines of the day's newspaper. Below is my first effort. The headlines that I borrowed from were:

"Decision Day"

"Browns' Fujita Could Be Implicated In Scandal"

"Lane Described As Quiet, Smart, Friendly, No Outcast"

"Turkey Expects Bowling Green To Return Mosaics"

The words I chose were decision, scandal, lane, bowling, and turkey.

So without further ado, I offer "Turkey Bowling."

“And with the latest on the scandal, we go to Brent Scowlcroft, live in Hinckley. Brent?”

      “Thank you, Tom. I’m standing here in front of the Fowler Lane home where the alleged incident took place. Behind me, you can just make out the court—”

      “Excuse me, Brent?”

      “Yes, Tom?”

      “Was there an incident, or not?”

      “Or, there definitely was something afoul here.”

      “Then it’s not an ‘alleged incident.’ You should have said, ‘Where the incident is alleged to have taken place.’ Isn’t that really what you meant?”

      “Oh, excuse me, Mr. Hairspray. Need I remind you and our viewers exactly who finished first in our journalism class at Northwestern, and who finished 49th?”

      “Need I remind you and our viewers exactly who is sitting in a nice comfy chair earning well over six figures, and who is freezing his ass off in the middle of nowhere for peanuts?”

      “Rot in hell, Tom.”

      “Back at you, Brent.”

      “Anyway, folks in this quiet little town—a town not named for the would-be assassin of President Reagan, they like to remind people—were shocked when they first heard the reports of the incidents alleged to have taken place in this back yard. Some are asking the authorities to show leniency toward the alleged perpetrators, two brothers aged 12 and 38. Supporters say it was nothing more than youthful indiscretion, a bad choice made by otherwise good kids. But when I spoke with Sheriff Ray Mallard, he indicated that he might not be so charitable. Roll tape, please.”

      An off-camera voice said, “Um, we don’t actually use tape any more. It’s all recorded digitally so that we can easily upload it to—”

      “What is this? Give Me Shit On Air Day? Just play the damn clip!”

      The image changed to that of a grizzled, gray-haired man wearing a police uniform and sitting behind a desk, with bullet-pocked targets and various stuffed animal and criminal heads visible on the wall behind him. Though there was no accompanying caption, like quality newscasts present, one would infer that the person pictured was, in fact, Sheriff Ray Mallard.

      “I’ve seen this kind of thing before. Take a look at this,” he said, holding up a bloody, bent tennis racket. “Do you know what this is? This is a weapon of mass deplucktion. I don’t want to hear any ‘youthful indigestion’ crap. Those kids knew what they were doing. I refuse to believe that two ball boys, a chair umpire, two line judges and a half-dozen Rhode Island Reds just spontaneously showed up in these kids’ back yard. No, 40 years of law enforcement experience tells me that this was a planned event. I need to nip this kind of thing in the bud. Today, it’s chicken tennis. Tomorrow, turkey bowling. And I won’t have that. Not in my town.”

I have also put this story (and will put future flash fiction) on a new page, "Flash! Stuff." If you are so inclined, feel free to check in on that page periodically.

Castle: "Linchpin"

Since tonight's episode of "Castle" is a repeat, I thought I would get around to sharing my thoughts on "Linchpin," which was the second in a two-part series a few weeks ago. As we all know, "Castle" is my favorite show. So I hate to bash it, but...

As I touched upon in my review of "Pandora," I understand that the writers want to build tension. But unless they're planning to whack Castle (which would necessitate a name change..."Ghost Of Castle," perhaps??) or kill off Beckett (I suppose a possibility in the early seasons; but now, she and Castle have too much chemistry) then you know that they'll get out of the sunken car. And you know someone will stop Sophia before she kills either of them. 

A few other things which I thought stretched the bounds of credibility...

When they were in the underground bunker, and Danberg was identified as the mole, he grabbed a human shield, a young lady whose whose head came up to maybe his collarbone. You mean to tell me that not one of those trained CIA agents felt that he or she was a competent enough marksman to shoot him in the head? Or, as my wife said, "Please, any one of them could have put a bullet one centimeter above his left eyebrow." Or, if I may come out of the closet as a geek, those agents, like Spock, know "that the needs of the many are greater than the needs of the few. Or of the one."  So given a choice between perhaps wounding or killing an intern (she didn't seem to be armed) and allowing a guy who wants to start World War III to escape...sorry young lady.

Speaking of not pulling the trigger, I had to roll my eyes at the very end. The rogue CIA killer spots his prey, the 10-year-old girl, about 20 feet away. He coolly walks up several feet behind her, levels his weapon, aims, and...

... takes a step in pursuit of her...

... and another step ...

... and another...

... and another.

What could he be waiting for? Oh, I know. He's waiting for Danberg to tackle him and save the day. Please!

And it probably was a little heavy handed when Sophia said, to Castle but in front of Beckett, "You can't rewrite the ending like you did with us," and then when she later -- while alone with Beckett -- broke down how the tension was what kept them interested, and once the tension was gone, so was their relationship.

On the plus side, I will say they kept me guessing. Was Gage playing Castle and Beckett, or was he being set up? Was Danberg the mole, or was it someone else?

And of course no review would be complete without a comment on a "look." My favorite had to be Sophia's icy stare when she commanded Castle to "Get in the car," followed by his obedient countenance-drop which said (without words) "Yes, ma'am."

All in all, I give it a B.

So, check back in this space sometime after "A Dance With Death."

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How Ironic!

My last entry was a guest blog from Alexis, a fellow member of the world of words. One of the things I said in the post is that I think it's wonderful how everyone in this space really seems to supports each other. And then along comes this...

Literary agent Janet Reid (whom I've mentioned here before, thanks to her 100-word competitions) just served up a beauty: the Liz Norris Pay It Forward Writing Contest. 

To celebrate the publication of Unraveling by debut author Liz Norris she is sponsoring a contest.

We're looking for a debut writer with a great voice and energetic prose (like Liz!)

We're looking for a novel that grabs us, enchants us, and keeps us glued to the page (like UNRAVELING!)

We're looking for the Next Liz Norris!

The prize is:

1. Registration for the Backspace Writing Conference in New York, May 24-26
2. Hotel for three nights (Thurs, Fri, Sat)
3. Travel stipend of $300
4. Lunch with Liz Norris' agent

The winner will be announced on the day Unraveling is published: Tuesday April 24, 2012.

Yes, I've already submitted Nightmares. I wonder if I can keep my fingers crossed for a few months?

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Writing with Integrity: A Guest Post By Alexis Jenny

I've been a writer my entire life. But I've been a member of the "writer community" in cyberspace for around a year. Something I have come to learn and appreciate is that everybody is so supportive.

- There are agents who have blogs where they dispense advice; some even offer to look at query letters and critique them.

- Likewise, all of the authors I've "met" really encourage and support others.

It's great and a very sharp contrast to my perception of the Cleveland music scene, circa 1990 -- which I tried to break into -- whereby bands seemed to feel they were competing against each other. Perhaps that was just me; but it really felt that way.

So it is in this spirit of support that I would like to share something from Alexis's blog. Alexis was very kind and posted an entry of mine the other week. I offered to return the favor.

So without further ado...

Writing with Integrity Pt. 2: Plagiarism & Libel 
When I was in college, there was a huge emphasis on the consequences of plagiarism. And I don’t mean, “If you steal someone’s essay, you’ll get reported for cheating and you’ll fail the class.”

No. If you got caught plagiarizing, you were expelled. Period.

It didn’t matter if you claimed it was accidental. It didn’t matter if it wasn’t verbatim. If you took something and didn’t cite it properly, you were done.

I loved that.

When I was a teenager, I joined an online writing community where I posted my melodramatic poetry. It was always appearing in other places by people who’d steal it. It wasn’t even that good, but having it stolen made me feel vulnerable and outraged. I can’t imagine how much worse I would have felt had someone plagiarized an entire novel of mine. But the fact is that most unscrupulous people don’t plagiarize whole works. They steal little bits. They’re sneaky like that.

But little bits can matter a lot. If someone steals your character names and the basic premise of your story, that can really kill your original work. Even if the thief’s prose is original, the ideas are stolen.

As an editor, this drives me crazy. Receiving plagiarized submissions is utterly offensive to me. I’d like not to have to Google everyone’s stories. I’d like people, in general, to be more ethical. In short, I’d like to be able to expel people from the universal writing community if they’re caught plagiarizing.

Another problem is libel. As writers, we often base our stories off personal experiences and our characters off real people. But this isn’t acceptable when you purposely create a fictional character to perfectly mimic someone you despise so you can harm their reputation through your writing. Um, duh.

Are these really such fine lines? Is this not common sense?

Sometimes I have to wonder.

About Alexis:

I'm a freelance writer living in western Pennsylvania with my husband and son. I'm also a content and acquisitions editor for Grit City Publications, a revolutionary group that publishes serial fiction and abstract art in a new medium called emotobooks. In my spare time, I read, cook, occasionally practice yoga, and almost always obsess over the AMC series, "The Walking Dead." I also like tea.

You can contact me by visiting my blog, Bunny Ears & Bat Wings: Discovery Through Writing, where you'll find excerpts of my writing life, bits of writing advice, and book reviews.