As we get into the New Year, I find myself involved in a number of things. Spokane Authors had it's monthly meeting yesterday, so I went to that.  I'm also working on the second edition of our catalog, which lists books by all current members.  Should have had it out a couple of months ago, but....  Anyway, hope to have it out later this month or maybe next month.  The original plan was to do a new edition each year, but that might change to every year and a half or so.
You can find the current catalog by going to the Spokane Authors website.  Near the top of the Welcome or Landing page, it should say, "Books By Our Members."  Clicking on that should get you to the catalog as it is now. Note, the email shown in the catalog no longer works.  Use: [email protected] instead.  Who knows, you might discover a new favorite author.  (I've read works by several of these folks, and find some to be weill worth reading...
Dave Mc

So I think most of you know that I do monthly newsletters for two different groups or clubs.  One is the SPOKANE AUTHORS LITERY GAZETTE, and the other is the REAR ENGINE REVIEW for the Inland Northwest Corvair Club.  My goal is to have them out to members and interested parties by the first of the month, or within a few days of the first of the month.  I suppose I compare it to having a magazine subscription where you would get the January issue, for example, in late December.  So that is what I try to do, or atleast within the first few days of January as per this example.

Sometimes I'm not always successful, but this month I seem to have it all together for a change.  The January REAR ENGINE REVIEW has already gone out via e-mail and the handful of copies that go out via USPS are set to go.  I'll put them in tomorrow's outgoing mail.  I'm really close to having the LITERARY GAZETTE ready as well.  I'm waiting for a colleague to try and solve a problem that cropped up and if successful I can get them sent in the next couple of days.  I'm shooting for Friday for mailing the few copies that go through traditional mail.

The fact tht only a handful of copies go via so called "snail mail" is one of the differences I've noted over the years when doing newsletters.  Way back when, it was a matter of printing up copy after copy, corrolating, stapling, closing up, addressing, and applying postage to a whole bunch of them.  It cold literally be an all day processs.  Now most folks in the groups have e-mail so I can send them that way.  There might be one or two people in each organization that don't have email, and a few like to get a printed copy even if they do get it via the internet.  Still makes it a lot easier than having to deal with numerous copies being printed, plus the postage to send them all.

Here is the pic that I used for the cover of the REAR ENGINE REVIEW.  It was taken by a fellow INCC member back in 2016 and is of his Corvair in Spokane's Manito Park the day before Christmas of that year.  I thought it conveyed a feeling of Winter and the New Year, so....  Thanks John!

Anyway, if you should like to see the actual newsletters, the one for Spokane Authors eventually ends up on the website: Go to NEWSLETTERS and select the month desired. (Issue in this discussion will probably show up over this coming weekend, once it's done and sent.)  We currently do not have a web site for the Corvair club, but if anyone would like to see the REAR ENGINE REVIEW, send me your e-mail and I'll send you a copy.  I'm also debating posting it here or on Facebook, etc.

So the presentation I talked about in the last post was recorded on video, and I didn't think to include the link there.  So here it is!
DAVE'S SPOKANE AUTHORS PRESENTATION:..

Well, I ended up going nearly two years between posts on here.  I've managed 4 in less than a week, so maybe that's a good sign.  I also noticed that it's been a while, about a year or maybe more since I updated anything on my website.  That has been corrected.  I just finished updatinga portion of the "Home" page.  Have more to go on it, and other pages and place need work too.  But I'm getting to it.  As always, I hope to keep it going.


Back in November, I was the presenter at the monthly meeting of Spokane Authors.  (We used to be Spokane Authors and Self-Publishers, but a couple of years ago we decided to simply call it Spokane Authors.)  Anyway I talked a little aboe character names, so I thought I'd include my notes for that presentation, just in case anyone is interested.

I’ve been a member of Spokane Authors for twenty or so years, and over those two decades I’ve had the opportunity and privilege to speak on several occasions.  Generally, my presentations have been stand-alone events, not connected to any of my other presentations or to anyone else’s presentation.
           Recently I concluded my presentations, infrequent as they are, should connect and build on one another.  I decided to construct a series of talks taking us from when we realize, “hey, maybe I’m a writer,” through the art and craft, the process of writing, exploring editing and refining our written work, investigating options for publishing, and eventually looking at marketing.  I’m not sure how many presentations it would take to do that, and since I  only speak on occasion, I don’t know how long it will take to reach the end.  I don’t claim to be an expert or an authority, but as they say, I’ve been there, done that!  Maybe you will learn something along the way.  As always, we need to remember that what works for me may not work for you, and vice versa.
           My presentation in January was the beginning.  Then, I spoke of the uniqueness of the individual writer, talked about writing decisions we make, even when we don’t realize we have a choice, and I shared a little of how the writing process works for me.
Nearly a year later I have the chance to continue.  I can take several paths through  the process, and art and craft of writing.  I had a couple of ideas in mind and let Sue know.  She suggested I follow one of those ideas and speak about NAMES!  Primarily character names, but we might explore other areas where names are involved, if time allows.
           Usually when we talk about characters, we refer to people, human beings, but characters can be more: animals, animated beings, artificial life forms, alien life forms, mechanical or electronic entities, and so on.  For the most part we’ll focus on humans, or perhaps near humanlike entities as characters
           The most important thing we can do for a character, and for our reader, is to give that character a name.  Having a name secures the character’s place within the story and seeing that name on the page or screen lets the reader visualize that character as a unique individual.  Even if all that’s available is the character’s name, the reader will distinguish that character from any others.  The reader might also create a mental file for that character and add more information about him/her/it as it becomes available.
           If our story is at least semi realistic, we want names that are real, that fit the time and place of the story.  A name should fit the character’s nationality, ethnicity, any religious affiliation, gender, and perhaps even generation.  (First names common in our younger years are not always common today.  Today’s younger people often have first names that would have been strange or unusual in our younger days.)
           Decades ago, the idea for the story that would become the Stone Island Sea Stories  floated around in my mind.  I knew the main character was a Royal Navy Lieutenant, but it wasn’t until I sat down to write that I realized he needed a name.  Since even as a teenager I saw this as what might be historical fiction, I wanted a name that would fit him and the time of the story.  So, I went to a most obvious source, a list of the Presidents of the United States.  I understand  most of those individuals were of English, or at least British decent.  I searched through the list and “PIERCE” caught my eye.  It is relatively short, easy to pronounce and spell, and yet does not scream “PRESIDENT!” as soon as it appears on the page.  (Others on the list might do that, and when first seen, cause the reader might wonder of familial ties between the character and that particular holder of the highest office in the land.)
           I tend to talk about characters, primarily adult male characters, by last name.  I was influenced to write in large part by C. S. Forester and his Horatio Hornblower stories.  He generally talked about Hornblower, rather than Horatio.  I also served twenty-two years in the United States Navy, and those who have served know the Armed Forces operate on a last name basis.
Even so, one should have first names for main and major secondary characters.  What if we write a scene where one or more of these individuals are in private, friendly, or relaxed conversation, address each another by first name, and we record such conversations as dialogue? 
To come up with a first name for Lt. Pierce, I went to another obvious source…. Kings and other males of the Royal Houses of England and Great Britain.  I chose the name Edward as Pierce’s first name.  While it and the others are names of kings and princes of the realm, they are also, for the most part, commonplace names that we are all familiar with.  We likely know or have known individuals with those very names.  Some of us might bear one or more of those names ourselves. (Andrew, Charles, Edward, George, Henry, James, John, Phillip, Richard, Robert, William, and more.)
           As I worked on the story, both as a teen and more recently, I followed the same basic process for naming characters.  Sometimes a name popped into my head, and at other times a lot of thought went into naming a character.  I used the list of presidents, the list of kings, signers of the Declaration of Independence, signers of the U. S. Constitution, and  other historical figures.  Sometimes historical figures become characters in the story or are mentioned but do not appear.  At other times their names simply suggested names for various characters.  I’ve also based character names on celebrities, authors, and even names of other authors’ characters.  (If I thought a name source was too obvious, I modified it slightly.  Forrest instead of Forester, or Cartney instead of McCartney, for example.)
           Character names are also based on family, friends, co-workers, and shipmates from my Navy days.  Sometimes the appropriate name just popped up, and on occasion I invented a name or two. A name’s source isn’t always what you would imagine.  Cook’s Mate, later Ship’s Cook Franklin isn’t named for Benjiman Franklin or Franklin Pierce.  Years ago, a co-worker told me her maiden name was Franklin.  I filed the information away and when it came time to create and name that character, I used it.

           Depending on what we write, we might decide to make up or invent names for our characters.  I did so in two short stories about The Unseen Visitors that appear in our two anthologies.  I once saw where a schoolboy had signed the name “Noah,” but added a hook to the “h,” so the character named Noak came in to being.  Other names in the story are based on the characters’ occupations or positions.  We have  Cap (Captain),  Knowon (Number One), Scyophf (Science Officer), Reddschurt, and Machitgoe (Engineer).  Yes, a little bit of Star Trek lore entered into the stories and the names.  If you have read the first story from 2017, Andy the night janitor is me.

           Some of the Stone Island Sea Stories take place in a different but very similar world.  Places there are often equivalent to, locations here.  The Independent Lands of Vespica are equivalent to the United States of America.  “Independent Lands,” because that is what their “Founding Fathers” decided they were.  “Vespica” because there the newly discovered “world” was also named for an Amerigo Vespucci, but they used his last name instead of his first, and over time it morphed to “Vespica.”

           Like America, Vespica was inhabited when “discovered.”  The first Original Peoples nation we meet first are the Kalish, a name derived from, and hopefully in honor of the Salish.  The first Kalish individual we meet is their Dream Chief, Shostolamie. I wanted something that sounded like Snoqualmie, Skykomish, and more.   Kalish individuals within the story include the mother/daughter duo of Bessie and Cecelia, named for a Native America mother daughter duo, Bessie and Celia, whom I remember from my early childhood in Alaska.  We also meet or are made aware of Night Fisher, Fred, and Two Dogs.  That  final name is probably not politically correct and based on an old joke I cannot repeat here.
           Elsewhere in that world, Europe becomes Baltica, Great Britain is Grand Triton, France is Gallicia, Spain is Cordoba, and so on.  The Mediterranean Sea is simply the Central Sea.  At that time, the Mediterranean was home to the Barbary Pirates who preyed on merchant shipping of many nations, including the U. S.  Early in the Nineteenth Century, the U. S. sent a naval expedition to deal with the pirates.  As a part of that operation, the United States Marines fought an engagement at a place called Derna, along the coast of Tripoli.  That action is commemorated in the Marines Hymn with the line, “…to the shores of Tripoli.”
           Likewise, the Central Sea was  home to a powerful and ruthless group of pirates.  I recalled a particular map I had, where Derna  D E R N A is spelled D A R N A H.  I added “S I A N” to it to come up with Darnahsian Pirates….the title of book three.
           To name the various city/states the Darnahsian Pirates operate from, I decided to create names.  Crossword puzzles and word find puzzles can be of great help in doing this.  We expect answers in a crossword to be real words, often they are multi-word phrases.  When they are written together without spaces between the words, they can appear to be a different word.  As a quick, consider the two-word phrase, “I’m on.”  We have an apostrophe and a space between the two words.  But in the puzzle, we’d  printed “IMON,” and that might appear to be a word we could use as a name.  We could also modify it, add letters, change letters, etc., to come up with what we want.
           Word find puzzles are better.  These are the ones with a grid of supposedly random letters and a list of, or a set of clues to the words we are supposed to find.  Words can be horizontal, vertical, on either diagonal, and can run in either direction.  When solving these, it’s common to discover real words that are not a part of the solution.  It’s also possible to find letter combinations that are, or  are almost, pronounceable but not actual words.  We can use these as is or modify them to make them more pronounceable, more realistic.  Names thusly created include, Al Posavido, Mendaseth, Mepacula, Atolofan, and Catamugen.  There is also a place known as Masig, a name arrived at by modifying the actual word, “sigma.”  I simply swapped the two syllables end for end.
           In creating words and names this way, I’ve tried to make sure the word or name is pronounceable, and not just a collection of letters.

           I consider myself  an organic, or seat of the pants writer.  I don’t normally create an outline or other written plans before starting a story.  But as I worked on book two, and realizing there were a large number of characters, I found it beneficial to create a list.  Doing so helps me in three ways.
           ONE:  Fewer random duplicate names.  (Yes, some characters have the same name, but that was by design, and they have different first names.)  Two rather minor characters, known by last name only, ended up with the same name.  (Dobbs.)  By the time I realized it, the book(s) had already been published, so I left it alone.
           TWO:  Spelling consistency.    I originally spelled a character’s name N E W B U R Y, but when he came back into the story after a long absence, I wasn’t sure of how I’d spelled the name and had to go back and see.  The list simply saves time.

           THREE:  The list also helps me track characters’ movements from place to place or ship to ship as the story progresses.  It keeps me from confusing which characters are where.
(If anyone wants to see the list, let me know and I’ll e-mail you a copy.)

BTW, the list of characters is on my website, under "research," I believe.

         

At long last I'm posting here, and I hope to keep it going, if I can.  I don't plan to post every single day, but I'll be happy if I can get to doing so once or twice a week.  I'm also hoping to set things up so posts will also go to Facebook and Twttter, or X as it's now known.  That may let some of you know that I still (or once again) post here on occasion.
Looks like those functions are working.right now.  If I think to do it, I can put the links to posts here in the respective accounts there.



Seems that not that many folks use LJ these days, but I find it to be fairly easy and simple.  And I have the account, so why not use it.
Dave Mc

Since I've posted so rarely over the past couple of years, I thought I should mention that I'm an independent (self-published) author.  I've written three Age fo Sail/Naval Adventure stories that have a slight Sci-Fi touch to them.  I have hopes for more in the series.  They are available on Amazon as paperbacks or on Kindle. Here are the cover pics!


I wrote the oriiginal version of these stories when I was in high school in the mid to late 1960s, inspiredd to do so after reading several of the Horatio Hornblower stories by C. S. Forester.  Life happened and it was the beginning of this century before I got back to them.  If you are wondering, don't remember from when I was on here a lot, or have forgotten, I paint my own cover illustrations.

I think it will take me some time and practice to get back to posting.  A lot of it seems familiar, but I'm relearning...
Dave Mc

Nearly two years now since I last posted.  I did not intend to be away that long, and hopefully I'll get back to posting on a more regular basis.  I've also been remiss at keeping my web-site up to date, but have my fingers crossed I'll get back to that on a more regular basis as well.
Seems that when I'm on the computer, I'm checking email or working on newsletters for Spokane Authors and the Inland Northwest Corvair CLub.  Also do a web site for Spokane Authors and manage to stay up on it most of the time.

Over the last month or so, I've participated in a few craft fairs at local High Schools.  In most cases I did well enough to cover my share of the cost for the booth.  Definitely not getting rich doing that, but as long as I break even, I'm happy.  I'm not trying to earn a living selling books and prints of my paintings.  I'm more interested in having people read and enjoy them...and what I hear back is that most people do enjoy the Stone Island Sea Stories.

Seems that A. I. is becoming more and more a part of life these days, and in many cases I do not care for it.  I see articles posted on Facebook all the time that appear to be written by A. I. and it seems they all follow the same formula, no matter what the article or story is about.  At times I wonder if A. I. doesn't really stand for "Absurd Idiocracy."  And don't get me started on Auto-Correct!  Yes, ti's nice when it point out an error, but when it makes a correction that isn't needed and you end up posting the error with out realizing it.... One reason I prefer to work on the computer rather than a phone,  Spell check and Grammar Check will tell me of an error, but it is up to me to make the correction.  And at times Grammar Check in particular doesn't understand the angle or slant someone is writing from and will suggest a change that isn't needed.  If I want it as is, I can leave it.  But if I'm on the phone, Auto-Correct will make the change whether I want it or not.  If I don't catch it, I notice it the next time I happen to see that post or entry.

Now that I've posted again in nearly two years I'll get back to doing so on a more regular basis, and maybe my posts will have some sort of coherence in the future.  Today I'm just trying to remember how...
Dave Mc

Just realized I haven't yet posted in the new year, so here goes...

Today I have what might be a household maintenance tip.  It all started when I took a shower last night and discovered the drain was clogged.  By the time I got out, the tub was filled nearly to the top, having water in it as if I'd taken a tub bath.  Being late at night I decided to wait until this morning to try and remedy the situation.
I finally decided the only way to proceed was to use some of the liquid/chemical drain cleaner, but there was a problem.  In the preceding 8 or so hours, the water had not gone down at all.  Instructions on the jug of drain cleaner say one should remove standing water down to the level of the drain before pouring in the cleaner.  But darn, that's a lot of water that needs to be removed.  I was thinking to use a bucket and pour it down the toilet bowl, but that would have involved a lot of pails of water and a lot of time.  No doubt I would have made a mess.  Then I rememembered that I used to have a short length of pipe, probably 18 inches long and 2 inches in diameter that I'd bought to use as a breaker bar when working on my Corvairs when I needed a bit more leverage.  Well, why not put that down to the drain opening and pour the cleaner through it.  The drain cleaner sinks in the water and the pipe would keep it in place so it doesn't dissolve and disperse through out the water in the tub.

I couldn't find the pipe, but I did find an extension for the hose on my old shop vac.  It was a little smaller but it was all I had.  Stood it in the drain and held it as I poured about 1/3 of the jug of cleaner down it.  I was able to get it to stay up right by itself, after pouring.  At first it look lilke nothing was happening, but upon checking a half hour or so later, the water had finally drained out of the tub.  Something to think about if you are ever faced with the need to remove vast amounts of water due to a clogged drain.
Dave

Figure I'll try to get one more post in for the year!  Hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas, and I wish you a Happy New Year.

Here's something you may find interesting to contemplate.  As I type this post, sitting here at the computer, I'm traveling east at nearl 750 miles an hour.  That is simply a rough guess of the Earth's rotational speed where I live.  We are in the vicinity of 45 degrees north, and my quick figuring shows a rotational distance o f17.900 miles.  Divide that by 24 and you get 746 some odd miles, the speed I'm currently traveling.  Those of you closer to the equator would be going faster, roughly 1,000 miles per hour, or more simply because you travel farther in a 24 hour day, roughly 25,000 miles.  Mean while, Santa, Mrs. Clause, the elves, and reindeer are hardly moving at all.  It still takes them 24 hours to rotate about the earth's axis, but they are following a track they can walk in mere seconds.

Then have you wondered how fast the earth is travelling around the sun?  Consider it's 93,000,000miles from here to our star, and the diameter of earth's orbit would be twice that.  Compute the circumference of the orbit, divide by the number of days in a year and then divide by 24 for distance earth travels each hour.  Hard to believe we are traveling that fast and yet have no sensation of it.  Or could it be that we are not moving, but that everything else moves in relationship to us?

Here's to a great 2024, and I hope I'll be able to stick with a better routine and schedule of posting in the coming year.
DAe

As most know, I write what most people call Age of Sail/Naval Adventure stories, although my are unique in having a slight Science Fiction touch.  It should be obvious that I also enjoy reading stories of a similar nature, including the Hornblower tales by C. S. Forester, the Master and Commander or Aubrey/Maturin stories by Patrick O'Brian and more.  And let's be honest, there are a lot more out there, and I've read parts of them.  Two that are in my mind today are the stories of Richard Bolitho and Nicholas Ramage, by Alexander Kent and Dudley Pope respectively.

So imagine my surprise when I read an article in our local paper a few days ago.  It was a special interest feature about a couple of young boys, third graders if memory serves, who created and started something called "Dapper Wednesdays."  They started wearing suits and ties, dressing up on that particular day.  They got support from members of the school staff and eventually an article written that was published in various papers around the country.  The coincidence I refer to has nothing to do with their decision to attend class while dressed to the nines, but to the names given for the two boys.  According to the article, one's last name was Bolitho, and the others was Ramage.  While it is possible those actually are their last names, I wonder if those weren't chosen to provide a bit of privacy for the boys and their families.  Maybe the writer of the article was a fan of Naval Adventure/Age of Sail?

Happy Holidays! Merry Christmas! Happy New Year
Dave