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.

         

(I thought you might like to see a design or emblem I've come up with over the years... relating to the Stone Island Sea Stories.  There is a chance you could be seeing it in different forms as time moves on.)

Wow!  I can't believe it's been over half a year since I last posted.  You have to believe me when I say I did not plan to take such a long break.  It just sort of happened.  Nor can I blame other things in my life for preventing me from being here time to time.  For one reason or the other, I always found something else to do when at the computer or other things to do away from the computer.  Hopefully, as we get into the winter months I'll get back to posting on a somewhat regular basis.  I would like that to mean at least weekly, but if I can do so once or twice a month I'll not be to disappointed in myself.

A few updates for you.  All three of the Stone Island Sea Stories are now available at the Well Read Moose in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.  I'm planning to republish the first two books by the end of this year or very early into the New Year.  There are a handful of errors that will be corrected.... although that doesn't mean others will still exist, and want to bring the price of those two in paperback format closer to the price of the third book.  Read that as "cheaper!"

And, if anyone tried to visit my web-site over the summer, they may have found an error code and the statement that they were not authorized.  Turns out the hosting folks had made some changes and changed the landing page from "home" to "index."  While we don't have to include "home" or "index" on the link, whether we click on it or type it in, its presence is understood, and evidently it was looking for, trying to go to the wrong one.  And yes, I've even update the sight at least once since it is once again operational.  However, that doesn't mean it doesn't need updating again...which I'll hopefully due in the near future.

Lastly, over the past month and a half or so, I've taken part in four craft fairs at various high schools in the area.  I can't say I did really well in terms of sales, but at each I did well enough to more than cover my share of the funds required to rent the booth.  I usually team up with other local writers and members of Spokane Authors and Self-Publishers.

If I manage to get back on track with posting regularly, I expect to continue with excerpts from the Stone Island Sea Stories, as well as discussing all aspects of writing, including marketing.  And as always, I don't claim to be any sort of an expert... I'm simply passing along what I've learned and what I've discovered.

Late last summer or sometime in the fall, the big name company that handles the web-site for Spokane Authors and Self-Publishers announced they were "migrating" the site to a new hosting service, and that the transistion was supposed to be seamless or painless.  When it happend, I discovered it was not, and that apparently we'd need to change the URL to go forward.  Balked at that, and for the more recent time being, we've been back to the old hosting set up, which for me works just fine.

Logo for Spokane Authors and Self-Publishers.  I didn't do this one, a former member of the group did, several years ago.

Additionally, last fall, the company I have my own web-site through announced they would make the same migration fo hosting services.  Since the change actually occurred, I haven't done anything with mine.

Today, I get an e-mail, stating the SASP site has now been migrated, and a couple choice and usually unprintable words came to mind.  But I had a few things to update and thought I'd give it a try.  There were a couple hick ups, but I found what  evidently was key to getting the new hosting system to work.  The changes, and updates I made actually showed up when I next visited the site as any web surfer would do. Huzzah!!!


Logo for the Stone Island Sea Stories. I did the original ship drawing, daughter photo edited into this.

Decided to try my own site, which I hadn't updated since last fall some time.  It basically worked the same way, and the couple of updates I made came through as well.  A couple of more things I don't need to worry about/fight with in the future.  Only thing now is it looks like SASP will start having to pay a little for it's e-mail set up that's connected with the web-site.

On a totally different subject, it appears our decent fairly warm weather will disappear over the weekend.  The weather guessers are talking snow and day time highs below freezing.  However, it might give me a chance to check out the new show shovel/pusher/plow.
More next time,
Dave

Or so it seems.
While I didn't have any place to go or things to do outside of the house this past weekend, I did have my own at home "to do" list.  Surprisingly, I got a good chunk of it done.  And as usual, I ended up saving most of the effort for today.  Got a new edition of the Corvair Club's Rear Engine Review put together and sent out via e-mail to members and others that I happen to send it to.  Also printed out the handful of copies that still get sent via the USPS and will drop them at the Post Office on my way to work in the morning.  If you are interested in seeing it, check out the club's web-site, linked above.  I don't do the web-site, so I can't guarantee the web-site person has it up yet.  It still might be the last issue, labelled June thru October that you'd find there.  The new one is for November 2016, just in case.

Also did some updating on the Spokane Authors and Self-Publishers web-site,primarily to add an author's bio and the information about his book.  If my ambition holds for another half-hour or so I'll be up-dating some things on my Stone Island Sea Story web-site as well.  It's been a while since I've updated the list of what I've read on the site.  Just went through a lot of older posts here on Live Journal in an attempt to put a list together.

Stormie being her usual vivacious self!

As usual, I'd be farther ahead than I currently am, but took time off to watch the Seahawks game.  Stormie (our Quaker parrot) found it interesting but a bit frightening as it was Seahawks vs Eagles, and either one would find her a small but tasty meal.

Cover of COMMANDER, which I finished reading last week.

As far as reading goes, I finished Commander by Stephen Taylor last week and have started in on Hornblower's Historical Shipmates.  At the beginning I find it a bit dry and scholarly, but nonetheless, interesting, well-written, and meticulously researched.  I'm proud to say I know the authors, if even only via the internet!

This is what I'm currently reading!
Dave

So on my last visit here I noted that we had automatically been updated to Windows 10.  For the most part things are working smoothly, and I've noticed a couple of areas that seem to work better than before.  In the "old" days, it seemed that if I went back to a folder for a second time, perhaps after selecting a picture or item to attach, I'd have to use the scroll bar at the side in order to move down the file.  Or, I'd have to click on something before I could just use the wheel on the mouse to scroll down.  Now as soon as I get to the folder, I can move up or down as needed using the wheel.  Convenient!

At the same time, other things are in different locations and I'm still getting used to where to find them.  I have found it easier to get to the FTP locations of the two web-sites I work with. Mine and that of Spokane Authors and Self-Publishers.  But, I can't seem to log in to mine, so what you see if you go there is what was there before the update.  I've been able to work with the SASP web-site pretty much as normal, although it seems to want to log out on it's own.  Now the site will come up as if I've logged in, but it won't let me do anything with it.  Guess I'll have to have the family computer expert (daughter) come by one of these days.  Probably something really simple, but for folks of my generation, perhaps not.

Got signed up for Medicare a few weeks ago and last Tuesday took the day off from work to go to a seminar about it.  Great reason to take a day off, and the event was held at the local casino, so can't beat that.  Learned a lot and the presenters managed to somewhat simplify a rather complex enitity. They timed it around and invited folks who were in the area of their 65th birthdays.  My thought is that it would be nice to present this information a bit earlier, say around and individual's 64th birthday.  Knowing what I know now a year earlier would have eased some of the apprehension of the past year.  I would have been more aware of what was going on and wouldn't have worried so much about all the advertising I was getting about signing up with this company or that company.  As it turns out, the process is pretty straight forward for me.  As a Miltary retiree, I've been covered by Tricare.  Now at 65 I sign up for Medicare and Tricare becomes my secondary insurance.  I don't have to hunt for a company in order to have that.

Finished reading Wolf of Britannia by Jess Steven Hughes last week.  Good book and just getting interesting.  I'll have to find and read the next part of it.  My overall opinion is that perhaps it could have had a couple more read throughs before being published.  At times it seemed as if the author was trying too hard.  Just started a more modern work, something by James Patterson called Zoo.  Got it as a door prize at this month's SASP meeting.  I have a feeling I'll like it too!


"Coming Ashore" painted in the barracks at NAS Whidbey Island, not long after returning from cruise aboard USS Forrestal (CV-59)
Dave

At first thought I was going to call this, "Self-Publishing Basics."  That doesn't work as this isn't a "how to" post.  Better, I suppose to go with "Basic Self-Publishing."  But as I begin, I realize that what I'm doing and what I want to talk about is really a rudimentary form of Self-Publishing... hence the title of this post.

Anyway, yesterday I mentioned that I was sharing a Short (Science Fiction) Stone Island Sea Story for any that might want to read it.  I put up a link to my web-site where you can find it, and as well I've e-mailed it to a number of folks on my contact list.  At the same time I'm busy printing out copies to send to those who I do not have electronic contact with... as noted last post I'm sending it in lieu of cards or a family newsgram.

Usually when we think of self-publishing, we realize that at some point, the professionals get involved.  We might sign on with a self-publishing service and assistance company to do the truly complex work for us.  At the very least we go to Kindle, Nook, or other on-line publishing and marketing firms to get out work out to the masses.  We quite often hire professional editors, cover designers, cover artists, pursue ISBNs copyright registration and so on, trying to produce a book that is truly equal to those from the traditional publishers.

In this case I have no intention of producing anything marketable or even of selling it.  It's a gift, something to send to family, friends, and perhaps a few others.  While I could have posted, e-mailed, and printed out copies of it in manuscript format, I wanted something a little different, something that at least imitated a published book.

Okay!  No problem!  Change the orientation from portrait to landscape and give the page two columns.  Change the font and font size to something that resembles a typical printed book while justifying both sides of the text.  Now I'm not real good at headers and footers, so my first thought was to leave fairly wide top and bottom margins and print the text on one pass.  I planned to use a second document with narrower top and bottom margins and just put headers and footers (page numbers) on it.  I'd rerun the already printed pages on the other document to include the page numbers and other stuff.  Now I could probably have used the computer to generate that stuff, even with the fact that I would now have two pages per sheet of paper.  (Four if you count both sides of the page.)  And for the e-mailed and posted copies there wouldn't have been that much of a problem as they stay in numerical order.  But to print it as a pamphlet, one must alter the order of pages so that when it's all done it can be stapled with in the middle of the page and folded over to create a little booklet.  I suppose I was a bit intimidated by the prospect of trying to convince the computer that it should allow page 24 to the left of page 1 on the first sheet, and on the back of the sheet, page 2 and page 23, and so on.

Ended up setting narrow top and bottom margins, spacing down two lines and then putting the header in as a part of the text.  At the bottom I moved the bottom two lines to the next page and then went back and added the page number.  That way, as I created the print version, I could move the entire page and page numbers, headers, etc wouldn't disappear or show up where they weren't wanted.  Then of course I had to figure out the correct sequence for the pages.  (I used to do the Inland Northwest Corvair Club's Rear Engine Review) like that so I had a basic idea of how to do it.  Usually though, I'l draw a little diagram, much like you are looking at a book end on, with the pages tending to fly up or close.  Then I can number the pages in order and see just how the relate and what order they should be in.  Normally the last page will be on the left hand side of the first sheet, and the first to it's right.  As pages count up, 1, 2, 3, etc, they will alternate from left to right.  Meanwhile they'll alternate on each sheet with the last page, next to the last, etc, zig-zagging through the document in descending order.  24, 23, 22, 21, and so on.  Hopefully it will end up with final page meeting in the middle.  With this project, pages 12 and 13 are on the final sheet.  Then it's just a matte of having a long armed stapler, which I do, stapling and folding them.

I'm also using colored paper for the "cover," and I was trying to print a number of copies at one time.  Great, except I'd get the count or sheets wrong and the colored sheet would end up as an internal page.  Ended up doing one copy at at time and loading one sheet of colored paper on top of the white, each time I started a copy.

So in this case I guess I'm the author, the publisher, and the printer.  Maybe even the distributor?  Not going to mention "wholesaler" because I'm not selling... I'm just sharing.

Again,
Merry Christmas, (belated) Happy Hanakkuh, Happy New Year.  Happy Holidays!
Dave

With my second book coming out any day now, I got to thinking that my largely home-made web-site could stand a bit of an upgrade.  Over time I'd crammed so much information into the first or home page that it was cluttered.  For those viewing it, it may have proved difficult to find things.  I ended up creating new and separate pages for each of the books, and buttons on the home page so one can get to them.  I've also renovated the arrangement of the buttons, and as well, have included the entire button regiment on all primary pages of the site.  I hope these revisions make the site a little more viewer friendly.
Dave

Hello,
I'm back with some more thoughts on marketing.  Here are some details about my web-site.  If anything else, take a look and let me know what you think.  To top it off, here are links to the next two installments from the interview with Anne Mini.
Dave

Web-sites and Marketing

            From time to time over the past few weeks, I’ve been talking a little about marketing, or selling one’s books once they are published.  The last time I was here, I spoke a little about using e-mail and having a blog to enhance one’s marketing efforts.  Rather than speaking theoretically, I decided to point out what I’ve been doing with the computer, the web, and the internet as I strive to make myself and my work more widely known.

            In this day and age, authors are continuously told they need to have a web-site, long before they are published.  And yes, I have one, thanks to my daughter who made it as her senior year project in high school.  She did a very nice job of it, and I often received and passed on to her, the kind remarks of those seeing it.  With a change in computers, computer operating systems, and a quest to make the site a bit more user friendly (for me), some of the aesthetics have been lost.  Still, the web-site does what I want it to.

            I believe that one’s web-site should be the central point, the focus of his or her on-line presence.  A visitor should not need any links or URLs beyond that of a person’s web-site in order to connect with that person.  The web-site should contain the links to take the visitor to other places on the web or internet connected with the person in question.  Beyond that, those connections should be readily apparent, visible on the first or home page of the web-site.

            Should you choose to visit my web-site, here is what you will find upon arriving on the home page.  You’ll discover buttons or links taking you to my other internet locations as well as other pages on my web-site.  At the very top of the page you can go to my Live Journal or Blog, my Facebook Page, and my Amazon Author Page.  You can also go to a biography page, a “writing” page, an “other” page, and pages for links and contacts.  While on the first page you will find a brief explanation of what I write, the statement that my first book, Beyond the Ocean’s Edge: A Stone Island Sea Story has been published, and several routes to purchase it.  That first page mentions where it is available in the local area and lists any upcoming author events such as signings or readings.

            The “bio” page contains basically the same author biography as presented on the back cover of the book, although with some recent changes it is more up to date.  The “writing” page contains excerpts, the first chapters of each of the Stone Island Sea Stories.  “Other” contains reviews that others have written of my work, reviews I’ve written, and a list of what I’ve read over the past few years.  The list was getting a bit unwieldy, so I now only include the latest twenty-five items.

            The “links” page will connect people to sites and pages that I find to be of interest, both in regards to writing and also the age of sail.  From here, one can go to the web-sites of USS Constitution, HMS Victory, and the USS Constitution Museum.  A person can also find links to the Pacific Northwest Writers Association, Spokane Authors and Self-Publishers, the Historical Novel Society, and Anne Mini’s Author! Author! Blog.  Anyone who desires to get in more direct contact with me can go to the “contacts” page and find out how to do that.

            Presently I am not set up to sell directly from my site, but who knows, that may change as time goes on.  I may find it worthwhile to set up with PayPal or some other system and be able to sell signed copies directly, should there be a market for them.

            One thing I do is to try and keep the site up-dated.  When I schedule a signing or other author event, I try to get the information on the site as quickly as possible.  I also try to keep other portions of the site current as well.  I want any visitors to notice at least a small change in the site when they come back again.  Hopefully that will encourage them to make subsequent visits.  As a web-user, I find it a bit disheartening to visit a site, often several days or weeks after my first visit and discover that nothing has changed.

            Quite often when one goes to an author’s web-site, what one actually finds is that individual’s blog.  I’ve been told that that is the current trend, or the way a great many people set it up.  Perhaps if I had waited and started the web-site and the blog all at the same time I would have ended up doing it that way.  However, once I had what I have, I wasn’t about to change and start over.  I did, however include a link to my Live Journal (blog) page at the very beginning of the web-site.  Again, this goes back to my earlier statement that one’s web-page should be the central point of one’s on-line presence.

            Once more it appears that we’ve reached my standard length of posts, so I’ll end for now.  Next time I’ll talk a little about my Face Book Page and a bit on how to get people to visit one’s web-site and other internet locations.

Well, I tried the book signing thing again yesterday.  Sat there for two hours and actually signed and sold a copy.  Great!  Also had a lady I know from work come by and ask about the book as being suitable for her 13 year old grandson.  She's going to check with family, so perhaps there is another sale.  (Every one helps!)  Upon arriving for the signing, discovered that the store had sold one copy previous to the signing.

Spent the earlier part of the day north of town.  Each year one of the members of the Inland Northwest Corvair Club hosts "Cider Fest" at his rural home.  Folks brink classic cars, something for pot luck, visit, drink freshly pressed cider (and other stuff).  Besides leaving with a gallon of cider, I left with one less book in my in car stock.  Yeah, sold one!

Also getting a few e-book sales via Kindle and Nook.  (You can check my web-site for information as to how to order, if you are interested.)

Last week I finished reading C. C. Humphreys' Vlad: The Last Confession.  It's a great read, about the historical Dracula.  No "I vant to bite your neck!" stuff, but still, plenty of blood and down right cruelty.  However the story was written with the aim of helping the reader to understand the real Dracula, regardless of how he may be perceived these many centuries later.  My current reading is something a bit lighter... The Modern Fae's Guide to Surviving Humanity, edited by Joshua Palmatier and Patricia Bray.  (jpsorrow and pbray)  So far I've read the first two or three stories and have enjoyed them a lot.

While here and while I have your attention, I should mention that today marks two great Anniversaries in Naval History.  October 21, 1797, USS Constitution (Old Ironsides) was launched in Boston.  October 21, 1805, the British Fleet under Lord Nelson defeated a combined French and Spanish Fleet at Trafalgar.  Sadly, Nelson fell and died that day.

Also over the past few days, I've joined the Historical Novel Society and now have an author page on Amazon.

Time to end, I guess, and get on with other things.  Need to update the web-site and do some other stuff while the day is fairly young.  Monday and back to "WWI" will be here before you know it.
Dave

Since I'm posting today, it should be evident that I survived the first week of work following my vacation.  Now in a perfect world, one would go back after a little time off and resume work at a normal pace.  It should be like having a  regular weekend.  In reality, it doesn't work that way.  When I went back to work last Monday, I soon discovered that the lady janitor was ill.  Now I couldn't do anything in those areas designated for female use... locker rooms, etc.  But her absence did mean that I was tasked with doing more in other areas... laundry (towels) and the like.  Thus, for the first three days of the week, I ran myself ragged trying to keep up with what I could.  Thankfully she returned Thursday, although a bit weak from a stomach virus.  Friday she was pretty much back to normal.

Finally broke down and bought a new mouse for the computer yesterday.  For the past few weeks the old one would hang up and not want to move to the right.  I cleaned the rollers inside several times and nothing seemed to help.  It was really getting frustrating, so I went ahead and got a new one.  This should be a lot better as it is one with a light that tracks movement, rather than the traditional roller ball.  Nor does it need a mouse pad.

Finished reading Terry Brook's GENESIS OF SHANNARA: THE ELVES OF CINTRA at work Friday.  Now I shall be on the lookout for the final volume in the set... I think it is THE GYPSY MORPH.  I'm not quite sure what I'll take to begin reading tomorrow, but perhaps I'll revert back to some of my Horatio Hornblower collection.  I haven't read Mr. Midshipman Hornblower in quite a while.  If anyone checks the list of what I've read on my web-site (www.stoneislandseastories.com) you may notice that it is not mentioned there.  I did read it sometime before I started reading during my lunch break at work, and thus did not list it.

I may have mentioned a time or two that I had won second place in the Author! Author! Great First Pages Contest.  A couple of days ago, Anne Mini posted my first page and gave it a thorough going over.  Lots of helpful remarks and advice, as always.  If interested, you can see it at www.annemini.com  I don't have the address for the exact post, but as of today, one only needs to scroll down through one additional post.  By the way, she is beginning a series on synopsis writing that might be of interest to any and all writers.  While I'm thinking of it, the first page I entered in the contest was from my second book, SAILING DANGEROUS WATERS.  It's posted on my web-site as well, but the one there is a much earlier version.  Personally I liked it like that but realized that it contained a lot of elements that are apparently a turn off of agency screeners and agents.  Thus, I did a bit of revising to try and eliminate those problems.

And yes, if anyone is wondering, I have made a bit of progress on DARNAHSIAN PIRATES over the past week.  I haven't had the chance to get to it every day, but I am well into chapter seven now.

That should be about all for today, possibly this week.  I'm thinking to run out to work for a little bit.  Realized that the sweeper doesn't have enough of a charge in it to enable me to do the tennis courts tomorrow morning.  Thought I'd go check the water level in the batteries and plug in the charger.
Or, I just might be lazy, call, and see if someone there can plug it in.

Dave