explicit violence?

#yasaves http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303657404576357622592697038.html?mod=e2tw

"Contemporary fiction for teens is rife with explicit abuse, violence and depravity."

Contemporary? Oh? In the 4th of Baum's Oz books, Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz, the Wizard slices a man in half with a sword, forces others to step into rings of fire that badly burns them (never mind that they're vegetable people -- still people), fires a gun into attackers and hits one in the eye, and possibly burns down an entire civilization.

That was written over a century ago. Just sayin'.  Today's stories are often more about real life -- which isn't a bad thing -- but there's been plenty of darkness in youth literature since the days of Brothers Grimm.

TwisterPalooza final lap

One last chance to vote on the TwisterPalooza poll and read four very good stories -- and break a tie! I'm extending it one day, until tonight:

http://ozma914.livejournal.com/454324.html#cutid1

Birth announcement

Go to http://www.whiskeycreekpress.com/store/ and take a look at the new arrivals.  Yep.  *Does Snoopy Dance*

Being Late for Memorial Day

By now, many of you have noticed that Storm Chaser did not come out on June 1st, as I was informed it would. I still don't know why, but I've heard from another WCP author whose book also didn't come out at the same time, so this seems to be a problem with the publisher (or website) rather than me specifically. As before I'll keep you informed on the new release date; although I think I'll wait until I actually see it before making the official post. 

 

It was a rough day for me: In addition to the waiting that didn't pan out, I spent two hours in the dentist's chair getting a temporary cap put on, only to discover when the pain med wore off and I woke up that the fit isn't quite right, and I'm still hurting, and I may end up losing the tooth. So, yeah ... rough day. But a lot of people have much worse days than I do, and my column that came out yesterday pays tribute to what others have done -- what they sacrificed to give me the life that I sometimes bitch about:

SLIGHTLY OFF THE MARK

            By the time you read this Memorial Day will be over, which in a way is part of why I’m writing it. I was busy last week, you see, and sent in an unrelated column that I wrote months ago.

            I was busy. There’s a lot going on.

            Memorial Day started as Decoration Day way back in 1866, with the idea that those lost during military service should be remembered, and their graves decorated. The American Civil War had just ended, and almost every family had suffered at least one loss, so the sacrifice was fresh on everyone’s mind.

            So it’s not like I didn’t see it coming.

            Now it’s the unofficial first weekend of summer, devoted to parties, barbeques, drinking, car races, and the celebration of three day weekends.

            I volunteered to work an extra shift this Memorial Day; one of my coworkers wanted time off, but didn’t want to make someone else have to work a holiday. That’s okay by me; it was holiday pay, and although it means missing the Memorial Day observances it also frees me from the somewhat guilty feeling I get at having a day off when living military personnel are out in the field.

            Which brings me back to not getting this column in before Memorial Day. I’d worked another extra shift, plus I’ve been working on plans to publicize my novel, and there were some issues with home maintenance and family that came up during the week. I just got … busy.

            We’re all busy, these days. Life’s got a hold on us.

            But the thing is, Memorial Day isn’t about life; it’s about death. It’s about all those men and women who died over the years, in the most horrendous ways and the more terrible circumstances, to defend the very thing we complain about: regular life.

            I’ve had a toothache. I got diagnosed with acid reflux. My chronic back pain acted up. It was a rough spring. But you know what? Nobody shot me, or planted a bomb in my car’s path.

            My roof needs replaced, and my lawn mower is acting up, and I’ve been playing a frustrating game of e-mail tag with an editor. Can you imagine how wonderful those problems must seem to some serviceman who’s spent months in a hole in northern Afghanistan? I mean, a lot of those guys don’t have roofs, or grass 

... and despite modern technology, mail isn’t always waiting in their MRE pouches.

            My prostate cancer scare? Oh, please. Nobody’s shooting an RPG at my prostate, even though it sometimes feels that way during medical exams.

            Don’t get me wrong. A lot of people have legitimate problems. Sometimes you need to get your frustrations out, and it’s nice to have someone who will hear them. Needing to have a tooth capped is nothing compared to bleeding on a battlefield, but it’s still a toothache.

            I’m just asking for a little perspective.

            Now, this is the part where the writer throws in the usual platitudes. We’re talking about people who died for our freedom; who gave the last, full measure of devotion. The people without whom we wouldn’t have the freedom to do those sometimes silly, sometimes stupid, sometimes wise things we choose to do. The people who gave the complainer the right to complain, the organizer the right to organize, and the writer the right to write, and say that three times fast.

            All those clichés are overused because they’re true.

            I write, as Ben Franklin put it, “light extemporanea”, meant mostly to entertain and bring smiles. Still, sometimes I poke fun at lawyers, politicians, and others in power, and sometimes I get more serious about the issues of the day. I owe my ability to put those observations in writing to our people in uniform. Those hundreds of thousands who died gave that right to me.

            So every once in awhile, I take this stuff seriously.

           Here’s an idea: Why don’t we, just once a year, take a day out to remember the men and women 

 who died in the service of our country? Some of them may have joined up before a war broke out; some might have even died in a peacetime accident; but they all signed on knowing the military must always be prepared for war, and that they could be asked to go into harms way at any time. Some got lucky, and went through their military career without ever firing a shot in anger.

            Some didn’t.

            Why don’t we take that day and lay a flower on a grave, or plant a little flag, or at least visit a cemetery and look on those rows of headstones, read those names? It won’t lessen our own personal problems; life goes on.

            But it goes on because of them. We shouldn’t be too busy to say thanks.

No news is good news, TwisterPalooza, and Storm Chaser Quiz final clue

            I’m going to delay my official announcement about Storm Chaser’s publication and availability until I actually see it up on the Whiskey Creek Press website. It’s not there yet, but don’t panic until the day is gone. Well, you don’t panic – I’ll be panicking enough for everybody. Rest assured, as soon as I see it go live I’ll let everyone know; I’ll most likely be checking every five minutes until I fall asleep.

            Otherwise, I’ll celebrate publication day with a visit to the dentist to see about capping this aching tooth. So now I know what the first royalty check will be going toward …

            Meanwhile, please go over and vote for one of the four very deserving short stories at TwisterPalooza: http://ozma914.livejournal.com/454324.html#cutid1

            There’s only been one vote so far, and even if you aren’t familiar with the two fandoms represented (one of the stories is an original fic), I think you’ll enjoy them. I’ll be posting my weather related short story, set at the beginning of Storm Chaser, later this week.

            Also meanwhile, here’s the final clue in the Storm Chaser quiz, something meant more for local residents that will show the actual location of Hurricane, the fictional town from Storm Chaser. I’d already established that it was in central Noble County, and even produced a photo of Hurricane (or at least, where Hurricane would be).

            Only once in the book is an actual address in the town mentioned. 1432 East Prickett Street is not real (but is named in tribute to a former publisher of the Albion New Era, the newspaper I work for). However, the numerical address matches Noble County’s addressing system, so anyone familiar with how homes in rural Noble County are numbered can narrow the location down to a very small area.

            If that’s not enough – and I’ve been thinking that the whole thing’s going to be very anticlimactic – here are two short snippets from the book:

     Allie looked at him, but Chance’s gaze stayed on the narrow, hilly State Road 8 as they continued west. “The name of your hometown. What is it?”

            And then:

Moments later Chance turned right onto a narrow county road. Allie snapped a quick shot of a deer peering at them from the crest of a grassy hill. “It’s lovely here.”

“You’ve seen one corn field, you’ve seen them all.”

            That should get you there. Read the TwisterPalooza entries, please!

Storm Chaser out on e-book and paperback June 1, 2011

I learned just today that Whiskey Creek Press will release Storm Chaser June 1 -- that's Wednesday! I have some previous commitments tonight and tomorrow, but I'll do a longer post with more information about pricing, ordering, and availability Tuesday night.

Wow, it's been a long time coming ...

My turn to go weather watching

I suppose there's some irony in the fact that, just before the release of Storm Chaser, I went out on weather watch and spotted some rotation that apparently formed a funnel cloud a short time after I saw it. No touchdown, though, and nothing much bad happened.  Please keep all the people who've lost homes, jobs, and family members in the recent storms in your thoughts and prayers -- and, since it's Memorial Day, you know who else to also keep in your thoughts and prayers.

Like Allie Craine (see icon!), I had a camera with me when the storm came in; unlike her, my pictures and video don't show what it really looked like:

http://s25.photobucket.com/albums/c97/ozma914/Weather/?action=view&current=Spring2011pics142.mp4

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c97/ozma914/Weather/LowClouds5-29-11.jpg

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c97/ozma914/Weather/cloudrotation5-29-11.jpg


     Storms did widespread, but minor, damage across Noble County Sunday afternoon, with storm spotters reporting cloud rotation near Albion and Avilla. No injuries were reported.
     Most of the damage came from wind gusts blowing down trees, with over two dozen weather related incidents reported to the Noble County Sheriff's Department. Area fire departments were called out on storm watch after National Weather Service radars detected possible cloud rotation near northwest Noble County, and put the area under a tornado warning at around 3:40 p.m.
     A crew of Albion firefighters, keeping watch near CR 100 N and River road, reported rotating clouds directly over their position at around 4:15 p.m. A short time later another AFD weather spotter reported rotation over the south side of Albion, in the Orange St. area.
     Not long after, two similar reports came from Avilla: cloud rotation on the east side of that town, and a funnel cloud passing over the Avilla Fire Station.
     There were no reports of a tornado touchdown, but strong wind gusts hit the area, along with areas of heavy rain and some lightning. The wind snapped both railroad crossing gates at Albion's Orange Street CSX crossing, and brought a tree down on a house near South and First streets. Elsewhere, a tree limb was blown onto a parked car in Ligonier.
     CSX crews repaired the crossing arms later that night, joining electric linemen, highway department personnel, and volunteer firefighters in coming out on a Sunday to tackle the damage. Workers cleared trees from several roadways, including US 6, Albion road, and two different locations along CR 600N, among others. Albion and Cromwell firefighters were among those who helped clear roadways, in addition to their storm watching duties.
     A DNR Conservation Officer is credited with getting a swimmer to safety at Skinner Lake. When the tornado warning came in, the officer coaxed the swimmer in, to notify him of the danger and get him to safety.
     In addition to trees, wires were blown down in several places, resulting in scattered power outages. Police replaced blown-down warning signs at the 7th Street CSX crossing in Albion, which is closed for crossing work, and roadwork signs were also blown down on Allen Chapel Road near Kendallville.
     Wind gusts and fluctuating power are believed responsible for setting off four automatic burglar alarms around the area, including one at Truelove Brothers in Albion.

news on publishing, rejection, and luminaria

Red is For Ick was rejected by the agent who'd been looking at it. That was a particularly hard blow because she liked my query and loved the first five chapters enough to request a full, but after some time decided to give it a pass. However, she was also nice enough to give several suggestions for improving the manuscript, and I'm giving the ideas a serious look; I foresee more revision in my future.

First, though, will come my fire department history book, since we want to have it ready for sale by the Albion Fire Department's 125th birthday celebration -- which is only two years away, and in the publishing world that's a blink of an eye. The manuscript's mostly done, but I need to pick out photos to go into the book, then make a final decision on a POD publishing company and get things rolling. Emily and I are going through AFD photos anyway, as she's setting up a Powerpoint of fire related pictures that will play during our annual fish fry fund raiser, on June 8.  Proceeds on sales of the book, which is tentatively titled Smoky Days and Sleepless Nights: A Century or So With the Albion Fire Department, will go toward the AFD.

An order has been sent for the print version of Storm Chaser. I still don't know whether the e-book version will come out on June 1 or June 15, but the paperback should be available in around four weeks, or close to the end of June ... if all goes well. The print retail price will be $14.95, which should put the e-book price at $5.99.

Finally, here's a blog that leaves me feeling humbled and honored: One of my friends has given me the Luminous Luminary Laurel!

http://www.dmyates.blogspot.com/2011/05/three-exceptional-writers-receive.html

column: "Great Courses" Reads Minds

SLIGHTLY OFF THE MARK

            Now that I’m out of school and don’t have to take tests anymore, I love learning. That would freak some people out, I suppose – far too many take the end of school as an excuse to stop learning, unless they’re learning about the latest contestant to be dropped from The Biggest Losing Apprentice Housewife Chefs of New Jersey Shores.

            I suppose part of it for me is that whole book-writing thing. A lot of time goes into a non-fiction book: When I was researching my history of the fire department, I spent enough time at the library to qualify for retirement. But you’d be surprised how much research goes into novels, too. The young adult mystery I finished last year required me to learn about police and private detective work, Native American history, firefighting (well, I kinda already knew that), and how an amusement park operates behind the scenes.

            All that for a story I “made up”.

Storm Chaser required a good working knowledge of meteorology, because, hey – storms. (It turns out meteorology is not the study of meteors. That’s called, ironically, Rock-rainology.)

Like many people in Indiana, I already had some working knowledge of weather. It’s a survival thing:

“Hey, it’s 80 degrees and sunny out!”

“Take your coat.”

“But it’s 80 degrees and – where did that cloud come from? Is that – snow?”

“It’s April. Take your coat, and some sunscreen, and a life jacket.”

As a storm spotter I’d also learned certain things: Harmless scud clouds mean people are going to call 911 and report a tornado on the ground. Quarter sized hail hurts. The tornado siren is a statewide signal for everyone to go stand in their front yard.

Still, when you write a character who makes her living following disasters around the country, you’d better have some of the same knowledge she does. Despite my already well known fascination with The Weather Channel, I learned as much as I could about meteorology without actually taking a class. (They charge for those. Who knew?)

I fudged a little on the opening of Storm Chaser, because I inserted a tornado into weather conditions that probably wouldn’t produce one. (It’s not a spoiler – that’s quite literally how the book opens.) Still, I had to know the rules in order to even consider breaking them, just as I had to know the rules of a good story – including the rule about getting the reader’s attention with page one. Tornadoes are notorious attention grabbers.

Now, I told you all that so you’ll understand why I was bothered by a catalog I received in the mail. My fiancée, who I’ll call Emily because that’s her name, is just as fascinated by learning as I am, and together we ordered a couple of DVD classes from a company called “The Great Courses”.

You people who hate learning, you’d better brace yourselves for this.

The Great Courses allows you to order an illustrated lecture series – in a sense, you’re taking a college course in your own home, only without being tested or graded. Also, without getting college credit … there’s always a catch.

In other words, we were learning just for the sake of learning. Somebody get chairs for those drop-outs in the back row, who are swooning at the very thought.

There are courses on history, science, literature, even math. There will be no math in my home, by the way – you gotta draw the line somewhere. The courses we ordered had to do with history and writing. Remember that.

Okay, so I’ve set it up for you. We ordered two courses, which of course resulted in a flood of catalogs from the company, a tactic that would have done what they desired if I had the money: I’d hold up in my living room, watching DVD’s, all winter. Since I don’t have the money, I’m writing a column instead.

Ah, well. The catalogs were a kind of torture, but interesting to browse through and useful for kindling fires in January, just in case the worst-case scenario comes along. Then, one day, a new catalog came in that caused me to stop in my tracks.

Naturally, the companies have a customer list and will personalize their categories, I understand that. But this one was a bit too personal, especially since they knew nothing about me except my name and address:

“Mark, we’ve placed a course on sale especially for you! Order now and take $15 off the sale price of:

“Meteorology.”

Um …..

Okay, so I wrote a novel about a meteorologist/storm chaser, and the weather plays a key part of the story. But – how they heck did they know that? It’s not like they shot me a personalized cover every week with a different subject on it, just to cover all their bases.

What next? Will my fire history book put me on the mailing list for Fire Chief Magazine? Will my mystery net an internal memo at the FBI? Will my anti-Congress columns get me blacklisted by Harry Reid and John Boehner?

Actually, I’d probably brag about that last one.

TwisterPalooza poll

I ended up receiving four stories eligible for voting in the TwisterPalooza fic writing challenge: three fanfictions and an original fic. (I keep getting the oddest feeling that I've missed a story, but I can't find it.) I have yet to be able to work out how to do a poll in conjuction with a post here on Blogger, so I'm hoping everyone will be able to see it over at LiveJournal:

http://ozma914.livejournal.com/454324.html#cutid1

If you can't, maybe you can at least find them at their original links:
http://randombattlecry.livejournal.com/250828.html#cutid1
http://evil-little-dog.livejournal.com/544122.html
http://evil-little-dog.livejournal.com/545894.html
http://www.rosannedingli.com/rainstorms.php

Also on my post are the three fanfics Emily and I wrote in the weather theme. The voting will be open until June 3, at which time I'll post my original, Storm Chaser related short story.