Not my Monkeys, not my Circus

What Should I know about you as an Author?

Firstly, your personal likes and dislikes are your business, not mine.

A young author I follow doesn’t hesitate to share her opinions on social media. In her latest rant, she defends the government spending billions on 87k more IRS agents. Her argument is that they need the money to automate the IRS.

They are hiring 87 thousand more IRS agents trained to use guns and be prepared to shoot citizens. They are trained to do the dirty work. If there is an uprising, they will be on the front lines.

That’s not automation; that’s an army paid for by your tax dollars to go after the middle class who cannot afford expensive CPAs and Tax specialists.

Her rant is not formulated around the facts. Her rant is a concoction of half-truths created to sell the plan to the American people. (the check is in the mail…)

Your predilection regarding political affiliations is, again, your business. Again, how you feel about court rulings and specific candidates is your business, not mine.

• What genre do you write?
• Have you won any awards?
• What other books come close to your style?

You often see tweets or rants from authors who have no problem telling you that you should feel the way they do. I am reminded of schoolyard bullies poking each other in the chest while saying stupid shit like, ’it takes one to know one.’

Here is my free advice. Before you post a rant, challenge yourself to take the other side and do your best to defend it.

If you consider that the media’s job is no longer to inform but to drive ratings or clicks, you will quickly see that they use emotional triggers to accomplish that goal. Journalism is dead. Stories must drive ratings even if they are fake news.

Money is the driving force. We will miss the larger picture if we are at each other’s throats over men in girl’s showers. The political class is raping the country, selling it bits and pieces at a time to the highest bidder.

If a story about men in the girl’s locker room is broadcast, men with daughters will go ape shit. You don’t mess with daddy’s girl. The distraction will take several news cycles, and politicians will have buried the proverbial body by the time the dust settles.

Most of the things people will burn a city down for are fake news ginned up by the media for ratings. Ratings equal advertising dollars. I worked in the industry for years; trust me on this one grasshopper.

A perfect example of this is the current war. The Russians have the same DNA as the Ukrainians. They are most likely related in many ways. Now, you have some megalomaniac shell a girl’s dormitory, and you no longer have logical thinking humankind on the battlefield. What you have created is chaos on a massive scale, with each side only ‘feeling’ hate for the other. The rage over war atrocities will drive the very worst in mankind to sideline their humanity over their animalistic tendencies toward violence. Putin and other world leaders know this and use it.

We are so desensitized to man’s inhumanity that they just possibly should torture puppies. I would bet that act would cause kids to pick up arms and fight to the death.

This is how our media controls you. “Democrats are for killing babies! Republicans want to keep all women in the kitchen barefoot and pregnant!”

Neither is true, but if you tell a lie often enough, people will believe it. If they buy the lie, they will vote to put the devil in office, even if he promises to kill you. Yes, hate is much stronger than logic. The media has been successful in destroying Trump. If Biden or Trump were to tour the country handing out $100 bills to people for their vote, how many would not take the money? How many would take the money and lie to them and vote for the other guy anyway?

Ruminate on that last paragraph for a while. How many do you think will look in the mirror and question what kind of person they are? How many would care?

Politicians want to keep their power, which makes no difference if they are an R or a D.  

If you, as an author, take a side, you chance losing half your potential audience.

That, my friends, is why I suggest before you get worked up about an issue, dig deep and make an honest effort to argue the other side.

If you are forced to argue for something you oppose, you must learn the other side. Once open to the idea that you could be mistaken or your previous arguments came from a news report and not from facts, you will see how we can be divided as a people.

A substantial glaring example is race. I know well over 600 people, personally, as in I have shaken their hands, had dinner with them, etc. Out of all those folks, I know nobody who judges people by their skin color.

We are simply not a racist country. Yes, there are knuckle-dragging inbred monsters out there, but they are in the minority of mankind.

Those who willingly use the R-word are probably the ones who should look into the mirror.

Riddle me this… What would the world be like if we just shut off the cable news, the TV news, and so on? What if there were only news feeds that were not designed to trigger people?

‘Arizona is going to be wet for a few days. Heavy rainfall expected.’

What if opinion programs designed to stir up your emotions were canceled?

What if calling someone a racist was tantamount to screaming fire in a theatre?

As a writer, it is easy to write dystopian novels. Why? We are living in one right now. It’s all about money and power. Those at that level only care about their portfolio, not you or me.

My latest novel is on hold because today’s events interfere with my natural writing style. Yes, you can isolate yourself, but eventually, you will be exposed to the stupidness in the world. That ignorance will drive you to blog about it rather than write your novel.

The last advice I would offer aspiring writers or even established authors is this, get rid of the distractions. Take the smart speaker off your desk. Leave your phone in another room.

Think back to how some of the authors of years ago might have accomplished their novels. One author had a shack in the woods. I was thinking about creating a giant tree house with a ladder that I could pull up to stop all intruders.

In truth, I am considering building a cabin on some property I have that is relatively remote. Cell phone coverage is spotty, so that would do away with intrusions by smart speakers, spam calls, and of course, those attempting to sell me an extended warranty.

Now, what do you know about me?

• I am dedicated to the craft of writing.
• I go out of my way to assist other writers or authors.
• I stay informed, I vote, and then I let it go.
• I do not form opinions by what I hear or see from the media.
• I do my own fact-checking. Most online fact-checkers are an opinion of biased individuals.
• Where politicians are concerned, I never vote straight ticket.
• My personal feelings about someone do not predicate how I will vote; their actions do. What are their policies? How do they see Americans vs. the rest of the world?

We all have biases. Once you accept that truth, you can begin to see why the ‘other side feels the way they do. How they think does not make them right or wrong, it is just how they feel.

There is no such thing as your or my truth; there is only ‘the truth.’ Some will go to war over nothing more than a half-truth or how they feel.

If you choose to pontificate on social media, be ready to fight with those that follow you and be prepared to lose potential customers. Arguing with idiots is a waste of time.

There was a meme with some milk advertisement regarding the names of the cows from which the milk came. Some fuck wit posted the following. “I couldn’t help but notice that all those names are girls’ names. Misogyny is alive and well at this company.”

Since I don’t argue with unwise people, why should I spend my time attempting to tell her that milking a bull might get you a BFF? It is almost as if people are looking for a fight.

I often feel like starting a group on social media… “What offended you today?” the world is changing and not for the better.

A man attacked a lady in plain sight of several people. Instead of stopping the attack, the bystanders pulled out their phones and attempted to capture the whole fight on video. Once the video is captured, the first to upload it wins. Is that the game? Is that the brave new world we are living in?

Think before you speak. Read history before you espouse your feelings. If you take the time to attempt to argue their point, that puts you way ahead of the rest. Distinguish the facts from more than the TV or Radio. Knowing the difference between a cow and a bull is also good.

As always, Happy writing!

-TW

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Saving your Retirement Dollars

If your email is like mine, you are inundated with scary emails about Biden stealing your 401s.

Again, if you are like me, you skip over them as they are nothing more than clickbait to sell you some service.

There is a reality to the grim state of our country and the economy. Left unchecked, many will lose their retirement dollars and sadly will depend on social security as their only source of income.

With retirement age not too far in the future, we see that with the current prices of everything, even sitting at home will be costly.

You might be tempted to blame Putin for the state of the world, but not so fast. Energy costs were already skyrocketing before February 24^th. Just like Under Obama, energy costs were much higher; however, we have reached new highs.

The world economy revolves around energy. That is why China and India still build and maintain coal-fired power plants. Sure, they are dirty and pollute and might even be the cause of climate change, but…They don’t have anyone screaming at them about the environment.

That dirty air does not just hover over the place it was created. No…it travels on the Jetstream just like the dust from the Sahara Desert pollutes our air in Texas and elsewhere.

Removing inexpensive energy availability from a country forces large companies to take their business to countries where dirty air is not a problem. They also search for cheap labor (slave labor), and we look the other way. 

Addicted to our tablets and phones, we ignore that SLAVES made them.

What about your retirement?

You don’t care about where the technology comes from as long as it works and entertains. You might care about the price of gas as it takes three times the amount of money that it did just two years ago to fill up your tank. Many are still Ridin with Biden, even though inflation is clearly his doings. The cost of goods and services are also much higher because energy costs are much higher.

He campaigned on killing fossil fuels, and he is doing it. Damned, the torpedoes.

You might have noticed that your mailbox has new credit card applications in it on a weekly basis, if not daily. Get this phenomenal rate of 17.9% on credit card rollovers vs. the 24% you have currently.

Why do you suppose these great offers are hitting your mailbox now?

As the cost of ‘everything’ skyrockets, people still must live. They need to get to work or keep the lights on or food on the table. While many Americans could not come up with $500 cash on a bet, they still must have the means to survive.

The money predators are there to assist you in your time of need. From Pay Day loans for those without much credit to introductory offers to those with credit, they are there.

The first time you revolve credit from purchasing gas, you are sinking fast into the abyss of debt that you might never get out of.

The cost of that gallon of gas will increase exponentially as you continue to revolve dept.

Along comes the cheaper credit card, and you see relief. No, it’s just a slower death.

What are your options?

The cheapest option is to rob your savings account. The kids don’t need to go to college. Trade school still works, and we need plumbers, electricians, and so on. You don’t really need that dream vacation that you have saved for since your wedding…do you?

At .05 % interest on your savings, it is truly the cheapest money you have access to.

Your burn rate or how quickly you run through your paycheck before the next one comes in will assist you in determining what expenses you can cut.

Do you need Netflix or Cable? Do you really need to run the air? Your ancestors didn’t have such things; do you really need it?

How warm can you stand to have your home before you are just miserable?

Do you really need to take that trip to grandmother’s house, or can she use zoom or face time?

Eventually, if things don’t change, your burn rate will exceed what you make.

Is a second job necessary? What will the long-term costs be to your children who are forced to be raised by the internet, TV, or the other kids whose parents are working two jobs? Will your child grow up to be the next mass shooter? It did look like fun in the video game.

With the rent or mortgage increases thanks to higher taxes, your retirement nest egg, that 401, looks rather attractive.

Sure, you can pay off the credit card bills, but if you don’t change the calculus on your burn rate, again, you are prolonging the result.

Borrowing from your 401 is horribly expensive money but not as bad as credit card interests.

Those of us close to retirement might use our homes as a way out of debt, opting for less expensive places to live, like a mobile home. They are horribly energy inefficient and not what I would call an attractive place to retire. They are, however, an option.

Is Biden coming after your retirement?

No, but the feds know that curbing inflation is going to require dollars that are not printed, flowing back into the ‘system.’ Where are those dollars? Yep, your savings and 401 and every other bit of capital that you have saved, including that in your home.

They are not forcing you to take those measures, unlike other governments might, but they are limiting your options.

The good news is, if they push too hard, they will kill the golden egg-laying goose. The Feds have an idea of just how hard they can push by how much money is still tied up in 401s.

“Good News?”

Yes, they don’t want to totally kill the American way of life, just cripple it enough so you and everyone else will become more dependent on government handouts. The way of life the Boomers grew up with will be gone, just like those who survived the atomic age.

Their end goal is socialism in a much larger format than what we have now. Make no mistake, we are a socialist country. If you can afford it, you pay for those who cannot. Park outside a WIC office on a Friday. Those with new cars parked far away from the front of the building. Those mothers with Boyfriends, yeah, they stay in the car.

It’s not just WIC; it’s the healthcare industry along with every government handout program. Your tax dollars fund each and every person crossing the border illegally. They get a swag bag with a smartphone, tickets to the city of their choice, and god knows what else. I wonder if they get an autographed picture of the president?

Where is my free phone or free stuff? If I sneak into Mexico and then cross back into the US and claim I am from Brazil fleeing oppression, will I get free stuff?

If you want to save your retirement dollars, cut your burn rate now before you must. When Time Warner and Netflix, and others scream at the government, they will back off. Stop spending money that you don’t have to spend.

We are in a war, and money talks.

-Best

Time Wasters That Keep You From Writing.

Greetings fellow bloggers, writers and those that just follow me.  Today I thought I might spend a little time with you talking about …time…

Have you ever chimed in on a conversation on social media? 

My personal feelings on Facebook are, it is a great way to keep up with family and friends without actually calling them.  Let that sink in.

The simple facts are very few people have 681 real friends.  I would define what a friend is but, I don’t think that is necessary.

My friends are the people on my favorites list on the phone. Everyone else is an acquaintance.

Yes, there are hundreds of people that I know, chat with online, and so on but, I usually don’t require their phone number.  Truth told, I don’t have the time to visit with many friends.

Scanning through social media has turned into a pastime that unfortunately zaps time away from other things.  Way back when, I used to teach a class on time management.  

In the business world today, they attach different names to it but Scrum is the latest tool.

From timeboxing to working in sprints, this is a high-pressure environment for programmers.

Where the program breaks, and the world of missed deadlines occur is a failure to take into account the human equation.

The smart phone and social media are two stumbling blocks. 

Not long ago I hired a landscaping crew to clean out the weeds, remove and replace dead plants and so on. The PM, or in this case the team lead, walked back and forth between the front and the back of the house.  As soon as he disappeared, his workers would stop working.  The cell phones came out of their back pocket.  It was almost laughable. They weren’t talking, they were playing games or checking social media.  The job took much longer than it should have.

The human factor can only do so many sprints before their mind needs to focus on something else for a while.

There were many time-management tools in the day.  As a manager of many programmers, I kept a spreadsheet of where they each were on their part of the project.  Hiring from sourced talent, if I got a dud, it was easy enough to replace them.

That by the way, is why most companies hire from such firms. They get 6 months to see how you will perform.

I would never work in a scrum environment. While the tool is meant for projects that might change with scope creep or unforeseen issues, the pressure on everyone involved comes down to time.

In our writers’ group we have writing sprints, which was taken from Scrum but, the sprint is just a way for you to dedicate time to your craft, or hobby.

Most writers that fail are those who have piss poor time management skills.

On my desk was an Alexa, my phone and some clutter that has shown up over the years.

Alexa had to go.  While a nice tool for some things, the screen displaying news feeds and so on was distracting.

The phone must be face down.  I don’t want to see anything that will cause me to deviate from my task.

Alexa has a ‘do not disturb’ function, use it.

I shut my office door to keep the distractions at bay. The phone is silenced and my list of what I want to accomplish is in front of me.

People ask me how in the devil I manage to crank out so many novels.  Time management is key.

I watch very little TV. Most of what I see is mindless dribble aimed at those with the functional IQ of a houseplant.

It is no wonder why so many shows have piss poor ratings.

If you are trapped into watching TV, examine the writing, the structure of the story and yes, any arcs.  In this way if I am stuck watching shows aimed at fifth graders, at least I can learn something from it.

Where this all started was a friendly post on Facebook.  Someone was reaching out for assistance.  I offered some advice. There were many who chimed in on my advice. Several gave very bad advice and attacked me in the process.  Delete post, and go back to my task at hand.

I live in the world I create most of the time.  Before I nod off, the story I am creating is running through my mind.  I don’t plot a story; I write from a stream of conscious.  If the ideas that pop up in the wee hours of the morning and I think there is a chance I will forget them, I get up and make notes.

Stephen King once said that he doesn’t keep a notebook with him.  If an idea pops into his head and he forgets it, it was most likely not any good anyway.  He also said a notebook like that, is just a book full of bad ideas.

I write very much like him but, I do keep a notebook. A simple three- or four-letter tickler, to have the MC fall into a crack in the ice at the end of a chapter is gold.

Best -TW

Where are you?

No, I don’t mean physically; I mean something else.  Where are you mentally, spiritually?

With the attack on the capital ten days ago, I was in a rather dark place.  Removing the news,  the TV, and all of my social media friends who were ready to lynch half the country, I needed to get away.

Where the hell can you go?

Besides teaching myself new skills and taking care of a lot of things that need taking care of, I am ready for a change.

Today, my background picture, is of a castle, most probably in Scotland.

By the fog behind it, I suppose it is by a lake or lock.

The rolling hills are covered in dew or possibly frost, but man, are they green.  There is an interesting dichotomy between the castle and some tiny frame house in the foreground.  I have no clue what the little round buildings are with pointy roofs; maybe one of you knows.

Anyway, my mind has been on that farm or those green hills a better part of the day.

I wrote one of my novels where the characters were in Scotland.  I loved the research, and I went so far as to find people to speak with.  Truth told, much of my lineage comes from there. 

I did the DNA thing with Ancestry.  Be careful what you sign up for.  You might not want to know.

It is all fodder for stories.  While we wait for the cure or whatever will come to be, the best we can do is keep a stiff upper lip and push on.

Where are you?

Are you ok?

Are you keeping your wits about you?

Are you exercising and eating, right?

There are stories out there.  There is fodder for your stories and your novels if you are writing one.

When my characters are busy, asleep, or hiding, I find other things to occupy my hands and my mind.

Carpe Diem.

-Best

TW

What an Honor!

So, I just looked at my sales for the first of this year.  Last year was good; 2021 looks like it might even be better.

When you realize how many different authors are out there, I am humbled by the purchases.

Before I go much further, allow me to thank you!

Currently, I have no campaigns going.  The news has ‘befuddled’ the creative side of my brain.  I see the remarks on social media, and it hurts. So much of what we hear and read is for some political agenda.

In their angst, and the media’s craving for ratings, they have not only injured the creative side of many people’s brains, but they have hurt the people who they claim to serve.  To regain some sense of normalcy, I find that it helps if I leave my phone somewhere away from me.  The phone is constantly blaring news feeds from CNN or some other site, all with some tease. I don’t need or want the distractions.

The burdens of the pandemic, friends that have passed, and the unknown all play a part in how we deal as a nation and as a people.  The vitriol and animus from the media and the elite class is revolting.

How do we survive the virus and, oh yes, the pandemic?  The virus being politicians.

I escape through my novels and others that I read.  To be a good writer you must read a lot.  Even the books you think are terrible, read them. As you read them before you throw them at the wall, ask yourself why they are so terrible.

In that way, you can make your writing better.  I champion self-awareness, even in my slightly naughty novels.  It is imperative that you know why you like or hate something.

One thing you might try if you too are like I am, go back and read something you wrote when all was well.  I look at the titles that people are buying and remember the stories with fondness—some of those stories I might revisit at some future date.

I find that when I read them, invariably I think of new ways to make it better.  I also enjoy what I write, so it is a win win.

Writing is much like any other activity. Suppose you play a musical instrument or even video games that require some amount of talent.  It will come back to you. I don’t really want to call it muscle memory but, it kind of is.

As to the people buying my work. Thanks again.  If you like it, please leave a review for me.

Reviews are essential, and few leave them.

Here is the kicker, if there is something you didn’t like, contact me via my website at www.authortwscott.com. Go to the contact page and tell me where I missed something.  Many of you have taken advantage of that portal, and I appreciate it.

Feedback makes us all better writers.  Since I am now president of a writer’s group, I have many beta readers, which helps. I love giving back to the community and friends; that is what we are.

Whether I know you personally or though this site, we have that in common.

For now, I am off to another world where the news of the day will be a distant memory.

It is rather funny when you think about it, I dream about my characters.  In many of those dreams I am those characters.

Yes, I lived through the sixties.

Take advantage of every moment you are alive.  Make your mark in history, (in a good way).  I choose to do so through my art and my novels.

Much Love -TW

Why do customers put your book down?

Hello fellow readers, writers, and humans…  If you are none of the above and reading this, um, is your planet more evolved than this one? 

I will assume that only humans are reading this, so on with the reason for the blog.

Firstly let me tell you folks in the states, Happy Thanksgiving.  I hope that you had an excellent quiet time with your bird of choice.  Yeah, it was different this year.  Crazy uncle, whoever was not at the table poking his fingers in the air telling us how stupid we were for voting a certain way.  That might be a COVID blessing.

I read a lot.  I write a lot.  I spend more time in front of the keyboard than I care to admit.  One question that comes up often regards marketing their book.  They have the best novel ever written.  After years of trying to get an agent, they stopped wasting time on query letters and just published on Amazon, where Jeff and company make more money than the author if it sells.

The problems are many.

Firstly because of programs like KDP, people don’t value books like we used to.  I could have lived in a bookstore.  When half-price books came into vogue, I came close to living there.  Spending $20 on a book was nothing, especially when you are used to spending a lot more on college textbooks that were hardly ever used.

Along came Kindle and Kindle Unlimited.  Before we knew it, people who still read would not dream of spending $20 on a book when they can find something for free that is close.

KDP and others have programmed the reading community to value the written word as nothing.

Do you remember when Napster and similar music streaming services were online?  Musicians much like authors, should be paid for what you enjoy or consume. I won’t confuse you with too much more of the music industry. I will say that price is one reason your novels do not sell.

Statistically speaking, a new independent author earns $10 the first year. If you knew that going into a book project, would you still do it?

The numbers are sobering, but they put things into perspective.  Writing is hard.  Anyone can tell a story, but can you write the story as a real novel? 

Confusion on the reader’s part is one reason many books get placed back on the shelf. They are standing at the bookshelf in a major book store, and they see the spine of your book.  What is on the spine?

Your pen name, and the Title.  There might also be some color in the artwork.

Let’s assume that by magic, you picked the right fonts, colors, and Title intrigued them.  I am not going to lie and tell you the size and feel of the book doesn’t matter; it does.  Not very much but in the physical bookstore, everything matters. Suppose you could incorporate a certain scent in the pages that would be cool.

When the cover is opened, what do they see?

Her breath was haggard from the nightmare.  The tangled sheets must have been why she felt as if the trees in the forest had captured her—falling to the floor, pulling herself from the fabric, Priscilla headed to the bathroom.  Had she looked behind her, she would have seen the muddy footprints on the carpet from the forest floor in her dream.

Meh, never start a story with a dream scene but, I kind of like it.  Would that cause you to read further?

How about this one:

Silence filled the cabin of the craft as the engines ceased to function.  The gauges warning low fuel were still flashing an amber warning.  Steve knew they would be cutting it close, but, he never dreamed he would be tens of thousands of miles from his rendezvous with the space station, and no fuel. 

The asteroid that pulled them off course was not detected by the agency. Laden with supplies for the station, the one thing they did not have was fuel.  They had a week to figure out if they were still on course. Then they had to figure out how the space station stops them from heading out into the void between galaxies.

Hmm, I like that hook too.

Yes, the hook, as in fishing, is essential.  The hook is your bait.  Once you know who your audience is, you write for them. 

In our critique group, we have several different authors who write in other genres.  The second hook would not be well received by many of them as science fiction is not their thing.  In the first hook, we can guess that magic of some kind is involved.

A strong hook and a non-confusing story is only a small part of the process.

From POV to story structure, we are only scratching the surface of writing a novel that will sell.  My advice to writers is this.

Sit and write your story. Don’t worry about any of the ‘stuff’ that must be part of your novel to be any good.  Just tell the damned story.  Too many overthink it and never get the first story published.

Once you get the story on paper, stuff it into a drawer and start something else. Come back at it with fresh eyes months later and edit it. I always have what I call a manifest right after the title page. It includes all the pertinent information about the characters, places and so on.

I am close to 40 novels published, and I keep going.  Why?  Practice.  The story is the easy part.  Think of something that excites you, put yourself as the MC, and write the blooming story. Vomit it out until you wretch, and nothing more comes out.  Store that manuscript in a safe place and then write another. Don’t think about publishing an unvarnished attempt at a story.  Let it age.

When the next novel is finished, put it in that drawer and then read it as if you are seeing it for the first time with a fresh look at it.  Yes, have your red pen handy and make notes, lots of notes.

Wait, her eyes are green in this scene and blue in this one…  The list of issues will be mind-boggling.

Tackle them one at a time.  You will learn that you have to flesh out other characters and scenes that were very clear in your head.  Now a few months later, you have no idea what you wrote.  That is a good thing.

I had no one to assist me when I started this journey.  I made all the mistakes, and yet I am still here, still writing.  I am attempting to lift others on the same road as I travel. Why?

Why not?  I know many who are so competitive that they would not lift a finger to assist another writer.  That is sad. When you draw that last breath, what will others say about you? 

Some will say…’ it matters not.’

With as many novels and works of art that I have out there, I hope to be more than a footnote in history. Would I change anything that I am doing now if I knew nobody would care?  No, I care.

When I write you my lovelies, and I am not just spitting niceties into the wind. If I can lift you up in some small way either by my words, works, or actions, then that is a life well-lived.

One of my characters in one of my novels said. “When I slide into the grave, I want to have left it all out there on the field of life.” 

That was one of my early novels I need to go back and re-write.  I loved it, but I know I can do better.

I hope you got something out of this blog.  Take care, and have a great weekend.

Much love -TW

Reviews, Feedback and yes, some Assholes

One of my favorite little bathroom books is a quick read called ‘Dear Asshole.’

The authors are Jillian Madison and Michelle Madison. 

Before I became an author, I was known well for my ‘Dear Shithead’ letters.  When someone gave me this book for my birthday, they knew I would appreciate it.

Dear Shithead, letters never made it to their intended audience as written.  Instead of sitting around fuming over the world’s injustices and stupidity, I would take to the keyboard and write.  They were probably rants in truth, but they never saw the light of day.

Many, too many of them were directed at my boss, who only had the position as he was a good liar. I think he had pictures of his boss with someone’s wife, but that is another story.

If you need to vent, writing such a letter is an excellent way to do it; just don’t hit send.

Now, on to the reason for this post.

I research a lot of stuff for my writing.  Part of that research is to look at what other books are available in that genre.  Lastly, I look at the reviews.

Here is some ‘shithead’ advice from someone.

“Just because you can write, does not mean you should.”

I love how people who write shit like this always post under a pseudonym.   Firstly, Asshole or Shithead, pick your adjective; you suck. 

No, this was not written to me or one of my novels.  One day, as there are shitty people who build themselves up by criticizing others, such a comment might be directed at me. 

Have you published a book?  

It takes guts to write a book, believe in that book, and then put it out there for assholes to write negative shit about.  I am perfectly ok with constructive criticism.  I welcome it.  Any writer should; that is how we improve our craft.

It can cost an easy $1000.00 for an editor to read your book and fix things.  Most self-published authors might make $10 the first year.  Now, the cover art is another bugaboo in that you can spend $500 on.

One of my author friends spent over $5000 to get her book on the market, and it is just sitting there.   In truth, unless you can score an agent or are very rich, it is a tough market.  If you can afford to navigate the shark-infested waters of predators, your novel is not going to be up to the quality of one published by Simon and Shuster.

This particular author has it for free on Kindle Unlimited, which is the kind of abuse he is getting.

If you cannot say anything nice, or at least constructive for your free read, keep your mouth shut!  That is why people write books like Dear Asshole.  You should get that book and read it in front of a mirror.  I would wager more than one of those pages will apply to you.  Just try to put yourself in someone else’s shoes before you write bullshit poison pen nonsense.

This world needs much more love and a lot fewer assholes!

Ever notice how you might be in line at the store, and everyone is polite.  You get in your car, and those same people will run you over while flipping you off.  That is the world we live in, and we need to change it.

Whew!  For you authors, if you would like constructive criticism as time permits, let me know.  With NaNoWriMo in a day or so, my time is limited but, I believe that a rising tide lifts all ships.

I donate a lot of time to local writers groups.  That is what I think we all should do.  Lift each other up instead of using them as a stepping stone to lift yourself while on their backs.

I know people who will Beta Read for a whopping $20… Can you imagine someone who will do that?

Yes, I have used them.

For you authors, realize that objectivity is not going to be your strength.  Also, understand that other authors will give your novel a one-star review because they have written something that competes with yours.  Yeah, some people suck!

I ignore one-star reviews, especially if they are under a pseudonym. Let’s face the facts; we give a percentage of the book away for free.  If they look inside the cover and buy it for a whopping two dollars after reading some of it, and then give it one star…sorry, that is unbelievable.  

I hope you find this post informational and inspirational. 

Much Love -TW

Hello!

This is a short blog just to let you know I am thinking about you.

Not edited or pretty, just a nice thought. Today I woke up to the nauseating sound of the alarm clock. There is no real reason to have it on but since COVID and business dwindling my give a damn seems sluggish.

Earlier I wrote about each day of lockdown until we got over a month. People, it October 15th and now we are hearing about re-infections.

Here is what I know about vaccines. The idea of a vaccine is to turn your body into an antibody factory. That is correct. The dead virus is introduced into your body causing the factory to turn on and create antibodies that will attack the virus with that strain of RNA. Hmmm. If there are re-infections that would lead us to think one of two things.

A: There is something special about this virus that is more powerful than antibodies.

B: The virus has mutated just enough that your antibodies don’t match that strain of RNA so, your body once again has to come up with new Antibodies.

Did I say two, how about a third idea?

If you are wearing a mask and, you become infected, just maybe by breathing your own air, you are saturating your body with the virus. As it multiplies, you keep sucking it back in to your body and your system is overwhelmed.

Finally after the better part of a year they tell us it is airborne. The mask you wear looks like a screen door to the raw virus as it is .004 nm . Once married to your breath, moisture the mask will blunt it on exhale but it will not stop it completely.

If you can smell anything through your mask, it is ineffective at protecting you.

While I would love any honesty out any government, I feel there is much they are not telling us.

I spent years in the medical complexes working with doctors, scientist and so forth. I left that mess to work in forensic computing.

Now, I am writing to you and fellow writers, while opining on the state of affairs.

Much Love -TW

The Hook

Did you ever want to sit down on a rainy day with a cup of hot tea, maybe some lemon and honey, and write?

I used to make up stories to entertain my friends, then when babysitting, it was for someone’s kids, then my own.  Rabbits were a favorite.  Writing for children is pretty simple.  Hook their emotions and tell the story in fifteen minutes.  That’s it.  Sure, you can toss in some visuals to aid in the storytelling process, but there is damned little to it.

If I want to tell you a story and I want you to read past the first few lines, what must I do?

I need you to give a damn.  Not about me; you already care for me in some way as you are reading this.  Possibly you have followed me enough that you realize if I am writing it, you might learn something.

Your mom didn’t raise a fool, did she?

Yes, I am about to cast a few pearls into the winds of time.

In 2018 I wrote this entire series about a crew of space-faring people who become lost in time, not space.  Improving my writing craft, I read some of my older work and had to ask myself, why didn’t someone tell me this?

During the first few lines, I need you to meet the MC, and I need to get you to care about them.

In a previous blog, I spoke about a novel where the author hooked me quickly.  Check out the blog on Where the Forest meets the Stars.  Even the title is riveting.

How do you write a hook that would make me care about your main character?

The hook is about Internal Conflict.  What are they afraid of, and what do they desire?

Example

Sally went to the high school football games with her friends.  They were much more outgoing than she was.  Braces, pimples, and two visits from the boob fairy had her dressing in baggy clothing.  While her friends secretly admired her figure, they would never tell her the truth. They craved the attention of the boys and were in no mood to compete with her.  Sally wore no makeup and was an introvert. The drab baggy clothing assigned her a threat level of three out of ten.  None of the boys would look at her, well not for very long.   

Dragged to the game by her one friend who cared about her well-being, she tried to get Sally to speak with boys. Even at the local A&W, Sally lets the other girls do the talking.  She was much more comfortable in her room with her books.

She liked Johnny’s chiseled chin and the few hairs that sprouted here and there.  His blue eyes caught hers, but she didn’t speak.  The awkward silence mixed with the butterflies in her stomach as their eyes were doing the talking. It was not until his attention was diverted did her stomach simmer down again.

“Why didn’t you say something,” Jenny asked?

Most YA is written in the first person for that reason.

We know just enough about the characters to relate.  We all remember our first social interactions, and some of you might understand why Sally was reticent about wearing a sweater that would take their attention away from the acne and braces.  Yes, some of us want to be liked for our minds.

What is her internal conflict?

Why doesn’t she wear a sweater like her friends?

Why doesn’t she put on makeup, even if she had to put it on during the bus ride to school?

While you could build your hook around an external plot-driven event, I would choose character-driven, and there are reasons for it.

Your audience will play into this, but first-person vs. third-person gets your audience closer to your characters.

Again, an internal conflict vs. external allows the audience or reader to know your character much sooner.

As my craft changes and improves, I will be sharing those lessons on this blog.  If you have not hit follow yet, my goodness, why not? 

There are ten novellas of the Hole In Time series.  Question… I wrote these as lunchtime reads.  Ten to fourteen thousand words is easy for those of us to eat and read at lunch.  Should I leave them as updated Novellas, or should I concatenate them into one tomb and re-publish it as a rather large book?

I hope you all are staying safe and using your time wisely.  Much Love -TW

The Business of Writing

Oh Crap, tell me this isn’t a blog about business…please??

It’s true; we are writers, we want to write.  It is tough enough to conjugate words and have them make sense.  Writing is equivalent to weaving a ten thousand piece puzzle together when half of the pieces are blank.   The dog might have eaten some of the pieces, but yet we press on.

Do you want to make money with what you write?

If the answer is yes, then you must accept that writing is a business.  If it is, you need a business plan.

It is not enough to have ideas for stories.

From marketing to paying for your parts of the process you are not strong in, you must be willing to make sacrifices.

I am asked how much time should I spend marketing, and when should I start?

Do you know the answers?

In this very blog, I started a story about the Three Hundred.  Few of you took the time to read it, so guess what, it is a failure.  If I cannot entice someone to read a story for free, what hope do I have of getting someone to pay for it?

That is the first lesson; failure is part of the business plan.  Failure is a good thing as it gives us feedback.

I would tell you to keep tossing shit at the wall and see what sticks but, shit is probably not the best adjective I could find.

Cast your pearls out into the winds and see what seeds land on fertile ground and take root.

Either way, the lesson is, don’t stop.

If you have a passion for writing, write.  As for advice from me to you, write what you love or are passionate about.  If the Three Hundred stirs your juices (speaking to myself), write the damned story.

If this were to be a novel, when do you suppose I should begin to market it?

“The Three Hundred, a story of the last few humans to survive before mankind destroys the planet.”

Ok, I need to get this on social media and wet appetites.  Yes, when the title and the concept are in your mind, blog about it, tweet about it, and invite your readers to peek behind the scenes as the story develops.

With this action, you build a base of followers, who when the story hits the book stores will be the first to buy it.  They might also be the first to leave you reviews.  Reviews are a good thing.

Keep all your receipts because this is a business.  Trust me on this; when you make over $600 from Amazon, the government will be looking for their share.  They will know about it as you will be issued  a 1099.  Just claim it and move on. The federal prison on tax evasion is no place to write your next novel.

When the story takes form in the way of the first few pages, begin exciting your followers on Social media.

Dedicate time each day to marketing.

From Social media to web site design and content, it is all necessary.

One problem with social media is your eggs are in a basket that you don’t control.  The @twscott823 twitter account was suspended for no apparent reason.  I went to tweet about something, and it did not work.  I have many followers who were not easy to come by, and Twitter just suspended it because God only knows why.

Yes, I have appealed to the robot in charge.

Knowing that social media can be fickle and unpredictable, what can you do?

First, you must put your eggs into a basket that you control.  Web sites are a good one.

I am looking at paying for advertising on Amazon, which kills me.  I pay them to market my books that they keep a good chunk of—cost per click.  You could spend upwards of a $1 a click for a three dollar book that there is no guarantee that the “clicker” will purchase.

In business, we call this a loss.

I am currently exploring all the angles. What is the least expensive way to get my novels in the hands of those who would read them?  As I learn more, I will share it with you here.

#amwriting is not just a hashtag; it is who I am.

Much Love -TW