creative writing

I Was Just Thinking … Quotes & Covers & Useless Experiments

/ Janna Hill / 2 Comments

I love this quote:

“There is more in you of good than you know, child of the kindly West. Some courage and some wisdom, blended in measure. If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit

And while thinking (or living out loud and flinging cake against the wall) it occurred to me:
J.R.R. Tolkien’s quote from The Hobbit may have inspired GREED, a trio of short stories. Though these stories are another genre and tremble in the shadows of Tolkien’s [other] worldly genius, it is the bent finger of that beautiful quote that lured me to my conclusion.

About GREED:
What does A Face in the Falls, August Wolf and The Sharecropper’s Son have in common?
These stories reveal the perplexities, the strengths and the weakness of people that are true to life and, like life; these stories expose the innate greed present in mankind.

“There is more in you of good than you know, child of the kindly West. Some courage and some wisdom, blended in measure. If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit

We have changed the book cover at all stores except Amazon. Call it a lopsided useless experiment. 😉

The Amazon cover

GREED Amazon
B&N, iBook’s, Kobo (and all other stores) cover

GREED ext

A Face in the Falls was first published in Unshod, An Anthology of Traditional and Contemporary Western Short Stories by AIW Press,LLC

Psst. If you haven’t read The Hobbit or want to re-read it again there is a special 75th anniversary audio/video edition for for $9.99. MeRrY ChristMas to you, huh. 😀

Thoughts on Writing (The Requirements of an Author)

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Am I still so harsh? It appears so.

Excerpt from Getting Me Back

getting me back

Thoughts on Writing (The Requirements of an Author)

Desire: A congenital need to tell the story.
Determination: It is not enough to walk a couple of blocks or run five miles on a treadmill, come prepared to hike the Himalayas and explore the abyss.
An exoskeleton: A thick skin will not suffice — no indeed. Colleagues and critics are apt in the sadistic art of shaving and burning the thickest of flesh; their tireless wheel of pumice leaving the toughest callouses raw and bleeding. They will thin your skin; get beneath it and prove your vulnerabilities. Like a flesh eating bacteria they will consume you — kill you if you let them.
A poker face: Never let them see you sweat.
Gratitude: Because no one owes you anything!
Grace: For the rise and the inevitable fall.
Pills and booze and smoke: Because it is a hard and hateful world and you are not a god-damned ant.

Behind Door Number Four (And Where the Heck is Donald Crowley?)

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I would like to think Donald Crowley would be impressed with this new cover but he (for whatever reason)  is not returning my calls.

Encase you don’t know Don, here’s a little bit about him — or rather his past.

Donald S. Crowley was a CPA by day; a bean counter; a number cruncher and a certified bore. By night he was as stimulating as the hero in his latest read with all the social skills of a brick and to make matters worse he was in love with a door. Not just any door, number four was special. Her alluring smile had caught Donald’s eye when he was just a boy and she called him by name. Despite years of therapy and medications she still called to him. Now he would risk his life to see her again and to finally know what lay behind
Door Number IIII.

Available wherever e-books are sold.

The End

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Today is the last day of November and the end of NaNoWriMo.

Crane in Saltgrass end of November

If you are one who has already or will be typing the end today — congratulations!

If you are one who threw in the towel days or weeks ago — it is not the end of the world!

The earth is still in orbit, the sun still rises in the east, the Apocalypse has not occurred (unless I missed it) and if you can pinch yourself then the Messiah has not arrived. Be thankful.

This is not the end.

This is only the beginning.

Write on!!

 

Writing for the World to Read (Tuesday’s Tell All)

/ Janna Hill / 2 Comments

Understanding & the Interpretation of Words.

English may be the most recognized language worldwide but it is also probably the most confusing.
Even in English speaking countries we have such a vast collection of dialects (or sub-forms of English) that it is not always easy to interpret what is being said. Add to that the accents, grammar arguments, idioms/colloquialisms and hell (pardon my French) – we don’t understand what we are trying to say half the time.
It is no wonder other cultures complain that English is confusing; there are too many words that have so many variable meanings.
For example: In the tiny world where I grew up a cock was a rooster… a male bird. That’s all it was!
Yo! Yo! Yo! Hold the jokes – you are in mixed company here. Besides, there is a point to this.

For me that WORD still summons the image of a rooster, a gamecock to be specific.

gamecock gray roosters.JPG

That is until something else is implied by accompanying words or a facial expression.

As writer’s all we have are words!

The reader can’t see your face and they are probably not from your neck of the woods.
While you are writing I want you to consider how your audience interprets your words; your story.

Keep it real and reel them into your scenes in such a way they don’t feel like they are struggling through a foreign film.
After all you are writing for the world to read, right?
Right!
Write on!!

Don’t Get Too Caught Up in the Color (Mad Monday)

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Friday I combined tasks because I was busy getting ready for a wild week-end. Today I’m linking the same challenges because of said week-end.

I’m tellin’ you things got cRaZy and I [might be] getting too old for that sh*t.

Anyway…

Who doesn’t love a colorful image?
Whether it is a brilliant photograph; a lively painting or a dynamic story created by stringing words together, people love color.
But be careful the details in your composition aren’t obscured by color.

Day 6 B&W compost and shovel (800x487)

Although a little purple in your prose can be captivating too much might leave the reader in a [not so pleasant] purple haze – like the one I am recovering from today. 😉

Write on!!

 

 

 

Friday’s Free-for-all (Deserted)

/ Janna Hill / 1 Comment

I’m busy today so this photo prompt serves a dual purpose/challenge.
• Seven days, seven black and white photos of your life, no people, no explanation.
• Writers write what you don’t see.

 

An empty playground could just as well be an abandoned mall or a vacant house.
Why is it deserted?
Feel the essence and let the words flow.
Write on!!

Throw Back Thursday (Feel Free to Digress)

/ Janna Hill / 2 Comments

Janna Hill with hat and flag

Sometimes our thoughts meander…
And sometimes a character doesn’t reveal a fact about their past that is somehow pertinent to their future.
In such cases feel free to digress.
Try to deviate without losing/confusing the reader, e.g. dedicate a chapter to expose what they were trying to hide, like that hideous hat I was so fond of. 😉

Write on!!