Home Town Author and other writing news

A local newspaper interviewed Midland, Ontario author, Wade Shatford.

Shatford writes in the genre of “dark fantasy,” in which grim and adult themes are incorporated into the traditionally child-oriented school of fantasy.
“I read fantasy a lot as a kid,” he said. “Dark fantasy is a platform for people who have grown up with this genre and take a literary twist on it.”
...
Self-publishing through Amazon has become popular for aspiring writers. Shatford said it is a simple process of uploading a manuscript to the site.
“There’s a million books up there and it’s up to you to generate interest,” he said. “And some people have really hit home runs with it.”
Shatford said he hopes his books will be among the home runs. He recently sold a copy in England.
“Go, Internet, go,” he said. “With the press of a button, worldwide exposure.

His Amazon page.  From the Goodreads page for one of his books:

I set out to write `Heart of Darkness' with a dragon and an anti-hero set on revenge. Metaphorically, the book is about weapon proliferation in both society and internationally.

I have downloaded the Amazon sample for the book and will update this post after I have read it.
Added Later: I finished the sample. I went in expecting poor formatting or spelling but the book feels professionally edited and I have no complaints.  The story, too, was clear and I read the sample quickly. In the part I read - no spoilers because it was only the sample - the man who eventually became a monstrous king started as a boy who went through terrible privations and hardship, losing more and more of his family and learning to kill before he was ten.  It felt a lot like Con Iggulden's series about the rise of Ghengis Khan, although the hardships that worthy faced were somewhat based in reality.
It was all well-done but not my type.  If you like Iggulden's books for more than the historical aspects, this book might be for you.  I wish I could get over the sub-genre or whatever my problem is because I think it is well-written, again, just not my type.
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It is time to apply for the M Literacy residencies in China and India in 2017 if you are interested.
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Apparently, People of Colour destroy Science Fiction - new kids with their hip lingo; it seem this is positive.
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Darwin Day was a few days ago.  Scientific American has a book out describing the minds of histories great personalities and describes Darwin as a worrier.  On this blog, I have looked at the uncertain link between mental illness and creativity and also at studies which show the early loss of a parent is a common factor among histories geniuses. An excerpt from the book:

Studies have shown that the loss of a parent in early childhood can significantly increase the risk of both depression and anxiety later in life. And Darwin was profoundly affected by the way his mother died—quickly and inexplicably—according to Janet Browne, author of a highly acclaimed two-volume biography of Darwin. Darwin worried incessantly that he or his children had inherited a weak constitution from his mother’s side of the family, and he knew from her experience that sickness could quickly turn deadly.

TWIC: Sci Am, writing, libraries, surveillance and more

I have read Scientific American on and off since 1986 and love the history of the magazine.  I buy individual issues now and then but mostly depend on the free content my newsreader picks up.  I notice that sometimes Sci Am will repost content from a few years previous once in a while and I have started making a blog post on content that seems really familiar, only to look back and see I wrote about already.  I don't know if this article is new or not but anytime you hear about Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi  you should expect the report is a few years old.  I see he is still active but also eighty years old. With that caveat, here is an excerpt:

Here are eight ways of describing creative people that take into account their paradoxical nature and process.

Creative People Are...

Mindful Daydreamers
They are master observers of human nature-- and they use much of that material for their creative work-- but they are also able to turn inward and let their minds wander and imagine new worlds.
Imaginatively Gritty
They are intensely gritty, determined, and good at persevering against obstacles, particularly for imaginative worlds they are motivated and inspired to make a reality.
Passionately Introverted
For things they care deeply about, they have a lot of passion but they can sometimes come across as introverted when engaged in their activity because they are in flow focusing intensely and ignoring outside stimulation. Similarly, creative people can seem very extraverted during a performance because they are fully engaged with their passion, while offstage they came seem quite introverted.

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Sci-Am also has examples of 'almost brilliant inventions' reported on during their 165 year history.  From that link, I clicked on two other links to find the actual slideshow. One image from 1865:

I have become a fan of the steampunk genre of fantasy these days and these attempts at patents are therefore doubly enjoyable.
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What should you leave out, or allow to remain implicit in your writing?  Scientific research writing requires that every step, every idea by clearly stated and connected to recognized work.  In other situations, it may be beneficial to leave appropriate sized gaps that the reader must fill in.  These could be descriptive detail allowing the reader to add familiar images or imagine him/her-self in the story.  Or a gap in a chain of logic that the reader needs to think through to reach the same conclusion.  The challenge becomes making that gap the proper size.  Medium.com looks at the process:

This week, I came across an insightful piece about writing in The New Yorkerby writer John McPhee, who shares stories about his life as a staff writer and teacher of non-fiction writing but he also helpfully narrows his piece to the art of “omission.” What to leave out. The dictate of the Green # (see articlefor reference). Not just for publishing reasons (we need more space so get cutting) but also, for the sake of the reader engagement and involvement. Parse your story down and let the reader build it up.

The link to McPhee includes this excerpt:

Writing is selection. Just to start a piece of writing you have to choose one word and only one from more than a million in the language. Now keep going. What is your next word? Your next sentence, paragraph, section, chapter? Your next ball of fact. You select what goes in and you decide what stays out. At base you have only one criterion: If something interests you, it goes in—if not, it stays out. That’s a crude way to assess things, but it’s all you’ve got. Forget market research. Never market-research your writing. Write on subjects in which you have enough interest on your own to see you through all the stops, starts, hesitations, and other impediments along the way.

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Nanowrimo is coming!

Oooh yes, let’s talk about planning boards, shall we? What’s your preferred strategy for such things? https://t.co/IQogS4vodi

— NaNoWriMo (@NaNoWriMo) September 11, 2015

@NaNoWriMo pic.twitter.com/WWpOQm9smj

— Kitty Chandler (@mightybattlecat) September 11, 2015

The Kitty Chandler Tweet should include the stereotyped image of a detective looking for links on a bulletin board full of clues.
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Many people get their books online. what should libraries do now?  One thing is to promote the privacy of citizens.  One library offered TOR nodes - a means to disguise or hide where the person is online - and the Department of Homeland Security has asked them to shut down.  I don't know precisely how this relates to the subject of this blog, but I love libraries and I like this attempt for them to stay relevant.  My son has enjoyed LEGO hour at the Penetanguishene library and I hope we will always have good reason to visit.  And that people can legally maintain anonymity online.
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What would you add to a cctv surveillance sign? The images below are from the first page of a search for "cctv warning":

One man is fighting back against the suspicion-mongering these signs encourage with these additions:

SO TRY TO LOOK REALLY COOL
DON'T SUSPECT YOUR NEIGHBOR: REPORT HIM!
FEAR THE UNKNOWN - MONSTERS ARE REAL
DRONE STRIKES AUTHORIZED 7PM - 5AM
AWARD-WINNING SECURITY THEATRE
YOU'RE PROBABLY GUILTY OF SOMETHING

I would add the following:
"Apt 602 man, quit picking your nose [and scraping it off with the railing]"
"Apt 103 man, why do you take the elevator to 50_ when the husbands in those apartments living there have left for work?"
"Think of the Children!"
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Top scientists and the arts:

The image is from Price Economics. From the article:

The paper’s authors also compared these values to the rates of artistic or crafty hobbies among the U.S. general population. The “average scientist” as measured by the Sigma Xi survey wasn’t any more likely than the general population to have an artistic or crafty hobby. But they were much more likely to be a musician or a photographer than the general population, and also less likely to be writers, visual artists, or performance or theater artists.

and:

Artists get a lot of practice letting their mind “wander.” And some of the great scientists of history employed techniques very similar to those used by the world’s greatest artists. Charles Darwin had a particular favorite meditative walk, and Benjamin Franklin gained his best insights in the bath.

Via Marginal Revolution

Paley at the Creationism Museum

Not William Paley who might have approved, but Nina Paley, who did not.  Ah, that's too harsh.  She very much approved of the craftsmanship:
Paley is very open minded about sharing content and I have already included a link, but let me point out that the image below has been shrunk.  To see it full size, follow the link.

"Like the rest of the Creation Museum, this quilt was good looking and well made. That the content is batshit makes you appreciate the craftsmanship all the more."

In her post, she frequently describes the workers are professionals who work for money and have likely made similarly weird and historically inaccurate stuff for Vegas.  A fair point.

As my reader knows, I also blog about creationism/ evolution and don't want to cross contaminate the two blogs.  I may write more about Paley's visit but at creationevolutionbusan.blogspot.com

Happy Darwin Day!

How to connect my two obsessions?  Well, the word creationist sounds like something this blog would investigate.  And:

It's #DarwinDay! Celebrate by being consumed by insecurity and sitting on your best ideas for years! Also: BARNACLES!
— Ed Yong (@edyong209) February 12, 2015

I'm going to look at this tweet -an excellent description of Darwin's twenty years of tweaking before finally publishing his theory - as recognizing that I can still finish either of the two Nanowrimo novels I have first drafts of.  Well, nearly done first drafts of.
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Answers in Genesis, a Young Earth Creationist group has tried to hijack the day by asking for "#darwinwaswrongday" Tweets (Darwin was wrong day).  Evolution proponents, typically more scientifically literate, appeared better able to do the hijacking and have produced a huge number of Tweets spoofing AiG.  My own submission suggested that Darwin (a city in Australia) was wrong about the parking plans for a local hospital.  Not all that funny, except for using the name in another context.

Creationism mocking contest going on

The Sensuous Curmudgeon has announced a creativity challenge - my two favorite subjects in one!

"Something even more illogical and contrary to reality than creationism is ________________."

Let's see:

1. Fan death (Wikipedia link)
2. open doors in South Korea but 'energy-saving regulations' focused only on minimum and maximum temperatures.  (hmm.  Not as funny as #1) (Gangwon Notes link)
3. _________________________

Go for a walk

Updated July 2015:

Open Culture has an article on the value of walking. It is based on the research on the same people in this 2014 post so it fits best here but is good as a reminder for me.

Oppezzo and Schwartz speculate that “future studies would likely determine a complex pathway that extends from the physical act of walking to physiological changes to the cognitive control of imagination.” They recognize that this discovery must also account for such variables as when one walks, and—as so many notable walkers have stressed—where. Researchers at the University of Michigan have approached the where question in a paper titled “The Cognitive Benefits of Interacting with Nature” that documents a study in which, writes Jabr, “students who ambled through an arboretum improved their performance on a memory test more than students who walked along city streets.”

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This makes intuitive sense but it is nice to see the numbers that back the idea up.

Walks make you more creative.

While Oppezzo and Schwartz didn't test for the mechanism behind why walking leads to more ideas — that's for another study — they did form a few hypotheses. It might be that walking takes a fair amount of attention, so you don't have as much mental energy available to filter out uncommon ideas. It might also be that walking lets you make broader associations or spreads your area of focus. How to walk more

Courtesy of the American Psychological Association.People who went for walks had more original thoughts.
Thankfully for us office workers, the positive effects of the walk aren't reliant on trotting around an idyllic California campus: The Stanford researchers found the same creativity-inducing effects when people walked on a treadmill in a dark, windowless room.
So even if you're stuck in a cubicle, you can insert walks into your workday. 

My hero Darwin knew the value of a good walk.  The story was, he would get so involved in his thoughts that he deliberately left a set of pine cones on the path and would knock one away with each lap.  His mischievous children would sometimes replace them so he would walk further.