Grey Angel - The Hook

You gotta have a great hook. You gotta have it ready when anyone asks: "What's your novel about?" It has to draw their attention but it must be short and quick. It's a hook after all.

For a couple of years my novel's hook has/had been:

"David meets an angel. Things get very dark, very quickly."

Recently, I have been working on all aspects of actually submitting my novel to agents and publishers. Part of that task was to rework and refine my query letter, synopsis and hook. Here's my current hook:

"The angel is here to grant a supernatural ability. 

Of all the possible gifts, David is offered - death."

Wanna you think?

Good? 

Could be better? 

You're hooked!

Resurrecting a Blog

I am once again focusing my literary abilities on my novel, Grey Angel. To that end I am just finishing a course on manuscript submission, agents and publishers. A week four assignment suggests establishing an "Author's Platform" on social media. First recommendation - a blog.

It just so happens I have this little grey blog with over 1300 posts. Seems like a good place to begin. So once again dear readers, I relaunch this blog with yet another new focus - my writing. Expect my first sentence, first page and first chapter to follow soon.

I will begin with a recommendation. If you have a partial or whole manuscript lingering in a drawer somewhere, you might consider the course I am taking: The Writer's Workshop at Authors Publish. It worked for me, if only to provide motivation and polish to what I already had languishing in my "to-do" folder.

Four weeks of focus on:

                                        Preparing Your Manuscript for Publication

                                        How to Craft a Query Letter

                                        Publishers & Agents

                                        The Mechanics of Submitting

If you're interested, subscribe to the free newsletter which will get you an announcement of the next course offering. BTW, the newsletter is full of up-to-date information on publishers open to submissions.

Yes, there are many similar courses out there. If you've taken one, add a comment and let me know your experience.

It has been suggested to me . . .

. . . that I could at least keep my little grey blog alive with some of the images I have saved over the years. Seems like a reasonable request.

Therefore,

Big Man Reprise

[This post originally appeared here in March of 2010.]

About five weeks (and six years) ago I wrote a post titled Big Week. With that post I used a photo of an art work titled Big Man.

I added the following credit to that post: Ron Mueck (Australian, b. 1958). Big Man, 2000. Mixed media, 80 x 47 1/2 x 80 1/2 in. (203.2 x 120.7 x 204.5 cm). Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.

But that was clearly not enough. I get a lot of comments about the images I use on this blog but the Big Man generated a small but powerful wave of communication from many diverse places.

Yes, he does look like me or I like he, whichever. So here are more views of the Big Man, including a short video, if you are interested.

And yes, I did use that first picture, the face and hand only, as my look-alike on Facebook for several years.

This last one conveys the feeling I get sometimes when I go looking for companionship, partnership or perhaps love via an online dating service. I call it: Naked Scrutiny.

As of December 2016 that original post has been viewed over 6,000 times, the most eyeballs of any post I have made here in nearly 10 years.

Once A Weekish

The first post on this here blog was eight years ago today. A lot of poker stuff the first couple of years. Since then I have used this little grey space for political commentary, pondering on life and as recently as last month --a travelogue. Over twelve hundred posts now reside in the archives. At times, I have thought about saying farewell and letting it all go, but it seems I always want to share just one more tidbit.

So going forward, how about once a week. No more photo montages, going to skip the rock 'n roll nostalgia. Just words. I think Monday will be a good day or maybe Tuesday Afternoon.

There are a couple of interesting twists just around the corner and up the road a bit, I'll share those as I make the turn.

As the Year Draws to a Close

I have some thoughts about a musical direction for the blog in the new year but that is still weeks away. I will slowly wrap up 2013 with some of the images I have archived over the past twelve months.

Enjoy.

something else

In light of last week's revelation that political beliefs are in large part genetic. I have decided to make a change in the content of this blog.

I will still vote in every election, distaining both major parties. I will make my quadrennial third party plea once every four years. But other than that - no more political prostilizing in this blog or anywhere online. If we see each other in real life and there is enough good wine and someone just won't shut up about the blessings of the american political system, then I may, just for sport, verbally bitch slap them around but only for fun.

I make this change because of two observations I have made about individual beliefs:

BELIEFS - people hold their beliefs in the face of facts and often consider facts to be someone else's beliefs, which of course are not facts and they know that because their beliefs are either not fact based or so fact selective as to allow dinosaurs and humans to co-exist.

BELIEFS - are genetically encoded in brain development and not subject to modification, you will never convince anyone to change because at the genetic level they are not able to modify their basic view of life, the planet and other mysteries involving god, the universe and whether white chocolate is or is not actually chocolate.

Therefore, in this here blog I shall deal with other areas of non-politcal esoterica for the foreseeable future. No further mention of individuals or issues surrounding the fog of politics that in my mind are only a distractions to the real issues humanity faces.

Going Forward

I have found my blog rhythm for the near present future. 

On Monday I will have something to say, 

come Friday something to see. 

Please enjoy.

Yes it is,

a chocolate rose
and this is Friday.

Blog Update

[Warning: This is another self indulgent post about me, my writing angst and this here blog.]

Regular readers know I have been struggling with blogging for the last several months. I had nearly decided it was time to lay it all to rest after seven years. Next month, short as it is, will be my big push to finish the novel - working title: She Loathes Me Not.

I told this to a writer friend and a faithful blog reader (I read his as well). "Wait," he said "have you emptied those image folders of yours?" No I haven't but I've done a couple of months of those recently and it seems like just a lifeline to say I haven't really given up the blog. While we were talking I had opened my 'images' file on my desktop.

"What's that one?" he asked pointing to a file labeled "Strange Words." 

"Just some quotes and signs I've found on the web over the years."

"So give us a month of those."

Therefore kind readers, I will make some personal decision about my blog come March but for next month, February - my favorite month by the way, I offer you Strange Words in twenty-eight little posts.

Six Years of Blogging

A great many people think they are thinking when they are really rearranging their prejudices. -- William James

Six years ago today I posted my very first thoughts here on this little grey blog. I was in Australia at the time covering a poker tournament. Poker and my related travels dominated this blog for the first two years. Since '09 I have moved on to other thoughts close to my heart and my medulla oblongata. Along the way I have seen some of my other favorite bloggers go silent. And while I am not going to follow them down that path quite yet, there will be some slowing of the pace here. The last two years I have produced over 240 posts annually. Sure there was been a lot of imagery over words in 2012 but this year I am making a resolution to limit myself to two posts a week.

I plan to ponder the duckling a bit longer before pontificating on its future. Yes I will fail at this self-imposed limitation but I shall weekly renew my intention to blog less and write more. The current novel creeps ever closer to completion.

The end of presidential politics will help my resolve, I will soon blog about my evolving view on that subject, I hope this emerging psycho-biological perspective will motivate me to stray less into the political realms.

By goal this year is less than 125 posts, which I know is more than two a week but substantially under the five a week I knocked out last year. Hopefully the lower production will lead to a distillation of content and more thoughtful  and thought-provoking posts.

A Year End Full of Posts

Today's post is #245 for 2012. Making this the most productive year for this little grey blog ever. For the past several years I have taken a break from blogging as the days fade towards the new year.

Not this time!

All the political noise that occupied this grey space during the American presidential campaign pushed my other mental meanderings into the future. I find myself with lots to discuss with you, so December will be full of stuff and we shall go wordily into the new year.

You may anticipate a medical marijuana update, some amazing jello art and a visual & vocal homage to the holidays.

I'm Back Again

After two months of random pictures and kitty kats, I'm back. As usual I have lots to say and a whole bunch of it is political.

But I intend to register some restraint. Two posts and a couple of pictures a week. Look for political ranting on Monday and something completely different on Thursday. Except this week when my flaming cup doth overflow.

The book is going well. Got some great feedback recently and am currently shuffling the main characters around a bit. Should be back to good solid churning out of words by late this week.

May pleasant fall (or spring) weather descend upon you soon.

Why (and Why Not)

From this point forward our little blog will have fewer words. (At least that's my plan) I still have a backlog of images and art I will share but for the near future I am saving my word-smithing for the next book. (Though politics does tempt me every day) I have finally committed to one of the three potential projects I have going and hope to remain heads down on that work until it is finished. (Banishing the blog temptress is not easy)

I am not going silent here - I still need to vent periodically, but I may use the words of others and visuals to make my point more often than I sift through my own thoughts to put words to cyber paper. (Like I said that's the plan)

Thanks for listening. I hope you continue to stop by. (Oh Hell, even I don't believe I will actually shut-up)

Happy New Blog Year

I apologize to those who miss the old light-hearted posts, I liked them too. I really don't want to do a Lenny Bruce and become mired in the endless crap of American politics but... this is going to be an interesting even a historic year in the U.S. Should that not turn out to be true I will get off the political sinking ship as fast as a congressman talking to broke lobbyist. Until then...

Good news for those who are not so fond of all the political commentary, the italicized opening above represented my thoughts early in December when I was planning my year end blog break. Since then I have been thinking about this here blog and I can honestly say I haven't come to any striking conclusions. So for now, I will continue with whatever wanders across my consciousness. I am giving myself another month to ponder what's it all about going forward.

Several major anticipated shifts in my personal life have been sidetracked, put on the back burner or discarded completely. So life that was planned to be in flux is more likely to be in stasis. 

Wait! I'm sure I can be more convoluted than that...

The more things change the more they stay the same

Is it just me or does everybody see

The new improved tomorrow isn't what it used to be

                                                              Bon Jovi

2012

Best wishes for the New Year to all of my readers. Thank you for taking time from your life to stop by and share in a few of my thoughts, babbles and meanderings. I will be back come Monday with an reimagined version of Keeping Your Head in (All) the Game(s).

Another Year End Pause

"I must say lately I've been feeling a bit consumed 
by all this writing." 

For the past several months my blog has been dominated by the Occupy Movement. Elsewhere I have had myself on a very strict writing routine on another project. I have not been using the blog as a creative outlet as much as I have in the past. It would seem that my relationship with this blog is changing.

Last year I took a year end break from blogging, I am going to do somewhat the same this year. So for those who have not been fans of the political writing, there is some good news - I really hate to discard content I've had on hold the last few months, so I have half a dozen visual posts queued up for your viewing pleasure between now and the new year.

Enjoy!

---

As I look back the number of blog posts per year has risen steadily since I began here nearly five years ago.

In 2007 I wrote 40 blog posts, mostly about poker.
In 2008, I was up to 56, still mostly poker
In 2009 there were 160 posts and I made the shift away from poker.
I was up to 186 posts in 2010.
2011 will reach over 240  daily offerings before we hear Auld Lang Syne .

While I take the remainder of '11 off from actively writing the blog, I am also going to reconsider how I want to engage in this exercise with myself and with all of you going into 2012. My first post of the new year will address whatever plans I hatch over the holidays. I have been tempted to start a second all political blog but again that would take away from my other writing for which I might actually get paid.

I know I have been single minded and a bit harsh over the last several months, I literally have been Occupied. So no more politics (here) until 2012.

Peace,

Tim

A Blogging Milestone

This week we have reached a numerical milestone for this little blog. As of Friday morning we have topped the ten thousand page views per month level. This means that 10,000+ computers logged into the blog last month. Each unique log-in counts as one, so I don't actually have ten thousand readers, you probably account for multiple hits yourself. 

I have excluded from the automatic counter my own computers and any commercial hits, like those from Google or Yahoo. Also excluded are hits of less than 10 seconds, no sense in inflating the numbers with lost surfers.

The bottom line is a big thank-you to those who read my scribbling. I appreciate your time and your interest.

PAGEVIEWS LAST MONTH

10,040

Friday Sept. 16 10:40 AM PDT

Never Miss a Scintillating Blog Post Again

SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION WARNING

I know how hard it can be to wait by your computer for yet another literary eruption from this here corner of the blogosphere. Heaven forbid you should miss the story of little timmy and his pet manatee lost in the wilds of mid-twentieth century michigan. 

Fear not! You can now get an email notice when a fresh and refreshing post appears on this - your source for all things not so significant. No need to endlessly send your browser seeking for updates on Keeping Your Head in (All) the Game(s). Now the internet will call you!

Over there on the right is a brand new widget, right below 2007 in the archive list. Just enter your email eddress and the ever and always on-duty silicon gremlins of blogger will let you know when I post new and exciting bon mots of great import or otherwise. The service sends you a complete copy of each post with art work.

Sign up now!!!

Tomorrow we return you to our regular non-commercial programming.

There appears to be about a 12 hour lag between a post going live and the email notices going out, so if you just can't wait. . .

Why I Blog (updated [again])

I blog because I want my internal ponderings to be out in the world not just swirling around inside my head. I hope at times I assist others on their journey, perhaps make you smile and sense relief via my rantings or become motivated to rant right back. The pictures I include are the real pleasure; I enjoy both finding them and sharing with you.

Recently (June 2011) there has been a big jump in the number of internet friends who visit this blog for the first time. Partly this comes from several online chat rooms I have joined for "professional networking" purposes. I also have begun using the net for some other leisure activities and that means many of my new friends see the promos I put up on social networks like facebook and twitter whenever a blog post goes live. 

Not all of these new friends know that I am a fairly active blogger, so I thought it might be a good idea to introduce this blog to new acquaintances and perhaps to clarify to olde friends exactly why it is that I write this blog. [I will and have added more updates since this post first went up.]

I hope you enjoy what leaks out from my head, my heart and my soul into this blog, if not; please just block my announcements, I know I am not everyone's flavor of the month.

Here is some of what you might want to know about me before investing your time reading this blog:

-I am a writer and I often use the blog to test out ideas for articles, stories, even book chapters;

-I have a wide range of interests; some might say perhaps a bit too wide;

-I might be considered politically liberal but I often seem too annoy my lefty friends with what I write here; I have lots of olde and new readers from all walks of life spread around the world;

-I do have an advanced degree in psychology and I do sometimes write with big words; on the other hand I like to write on a wide range of topics, in particular my Saturday posts tend to annoy my old academic friends;

-when something interests me, I will often chase it around the internet for several hours or days and report back in a blog post;

-while my political posts are heavily United States oriented, the rest of my material is not, at least I hope it isn't;

-I often tell stories about things that happened to me yesterday or thirty years ago; these stories usually have a point to them, but I often forget to mention what it is;

-There have been over 500 600 700 900 posts since I began back in 2007. Should you want to know more, you can find a blogger's list (100 things about me) here.

-ADDENDUM: I got really involved with the Occupy Movement late in 2011. I am rethinking the focus of my blog for 2012. Announcement to follow. (03/12 - still thinking)


If you do drop by, I invite you to use the comments section on anything that you like, hate, don't understand, really like or completely detest. I enjoy the feedback or blowback as the case may be.

Most of all - thanks for reading. Writing is such a solitary act, it really helps to know someone is listening.

November 2012 - once the American election is over we will return to more of our regular brain candy musings and a lot less politics. I am even considering making the blog a "no politics" zone for 2013.

A Blog is Not a Life

Guilty! I offer no excuse, I have heard myself say it in various forms.

"I mentioned this in my blog."

"I have a post about that in my blog queue."

"I told this story awhile back on my blog."

I do sincerely apologize for any truncated or abandoned conversations that have sprung from my egomaniacal references to one tiny cul de sac on this infrequently traveled cyber street. Blogging like nearly every other endeavor in life has some positives and some of those other things. One of those negative qualities is the author's belief that everyone they know in the real world reads their blog and retains the essential and life altering insights the blogger believes were conveyed therein.

We really are all brilliant in our own minds. Sometimes that attitude leaks out through the keyboard.

Sorry, it will probably happen again.

--

cartoon from americanhell.com