Blog of Berin

The Return of Share the Love

2012-02-01T11:19:00.001-09:00

Okay, so this blog post is part of a contest. Blog about it and I'm entered in it. Well, I'm actually excited about this one because last year, I was one of the winners. What is it, you ask? If I blog and tweet and all that stuff about the Storymakers conference coming up in May, I could be one of three winners to sit at a table with some of the conference VIPs. Last year, I sat between James Dashner and Larry Brooks and got to chew the cud with them for an hour.

I suppose I should backtrack and explain what Storymakers is. Its a fantastic organization that I'm a part of. It consists of LDS authors as a sort of guild/support group. Every spring, though, they have an awesome conference for writers here in Utah. I haven't been to a lot of conferences, but I have to say, if you're a writer, this is the best one I've ever been to. There are lots of fantastic classes taught by great teachers. For instance, this year Kevin J. Anderson will be one of the guests. So, if you live in Utah or can get here by plane, train, boat, or stage coach and you write books, you should check it out. You can register and find out more about it here: http://ldstorymakers.com/conferences/registration/

For those who want to get in on the 'Share the Love' contest, here's the link to that: http://ldstorymakerauthors.blogspot.com/2012/01/show-your-love-for-ldstorymakers.html

Oh, you're probably wanting some advice with this posting. Here it is: if it's below freezing, don't go outside with wet hair.

To Do

2012-01-25T11:47:00.000-09:00

I still haven't figured out what exactly to blog about. I want to make sure I bring up topics that are unique and might be useful to someone, though. Maybe that's why I don't blog very much.

Anyway, I reached a milestone in my life this week that may be of some use to others. It's an old concept but new to me. You see, I've always been able to keep a list in my head of the things I need to do and been able to get them done. Lately, though, I've been finding more and more things are being forgotten or 'spaced-out'. Is it that my memory is getting worse? I don't know, maybe. But I think a lot of it is that there are just more things to do. Between family, church, a music career, and a writing career, it's harder for me to keep all the little things I need to do straight.

So, here's my epiphany: a to-do list. Now, you're probably saying, "Well, duh." But hey, this is a big revelation for me. So this week, I've been making lists on my iPad and deleting things when I finish them. And you know what? It's working. I'm actually remembering all the little things I need to do (like blog).

Before, I'd sometimes be sitting at my computer and thinking, "Now, what was that thing I needed to do?" I would think and think until, when I couldn't remember it, I'd play Spider Solitaire. Then, as I got up from the computer, my memory would return but by then it was too late.

So, my advice is, keep a to-do list. It works.

This message brought to you by Procrastinators Anonymous whenever we get around to it.

Time Gangsters is on Blog Tour!

2012-01-08T09:19:00.001-09:00

Starting today, there is a blog tour for Time Gangsters, my new book that is slated to come out February 14th. Here is the schedule for the next few days:
1/8/2012    http://www.bradenbell.com/index.html
1/10/2012    http://ldsretailers.blogspot.com/
1/10/2012    http://shirleybahlmann.blogspot.com/
1/11/2012    http://dianasamazingbookadventures.blogspot.com
1/12/2012    http://www.bendingthespine.blogspot.com/
1/13/2012    http://jlloydmorgan.blogspot.com/
1/13/2012    http://www.NicolesYABookHaven.com
1/14/2012    http://familyreads.blogspot.com

Be sure to check out their reviews once they post them. Braden Bell's is already up, so definitely visit his site.

This is the beginning of an exciting time for me. Of course, there's also a lot of trepidation. Will the reviewers like it? Will readers like it? Or will it just get used as a door stop and paper weight? I know I liked the book and enjoyed writing it, but it's a whole new thing to wait to see what others think. I'll post more about the tour later.

Where things are

2011-12-12T15:14:00.000-09:00

I'm not one much for New Year's resolutions. I think if we really want to make a change in our lives, we need to just commit to it and do it no matter what time of year it is. That said, I have set a goal for 2012 to submit four books for publication. Now, it doesn't mean they will be accepted, but hopefully at least one of them will.

Sounds like a lot, doesn't it? Well, I've been busy this last year. One thing I've learned as a writer is that it takes a while for a book to go from concept to print. About one year or so to write and edit and another year once it is accepted by the publisher. So, while Time Gangsters went through the works of getting published, I didn't wait. I wrote three books in 2011 and those are three of the ones I plan to submit.

In January, I plan to put out a spin off story set in the same universe as Dragon War Relic. It has different main characters, though, and takes place in Alaska. Of course, it won't be complete without a few cameos from Doug, Gar, and the three Elves (Kerk, Sprock, and Bob).

Then in May, I'll be meeting with at least one agent to pitch the other two stories I've written this year. One is a kind of dystopian/fantasy/steampunk story called (for now) Slave of the Sphere. This story has been a struggle because it is not comedy. It is catering to my life-long desire to write epic fantasy. I foresee this book becoming a trilogy at least (I hope). It is about a world where they have figured out how to capture the magic of magicians (called Arcanians) and have turned them into slaves to use their power to create energy for their cities and machines.

The other book I'll pitch is one I just finished draft 1 last month. It has he working title of Memoir of a Teenage Sidekick. It is a first person story from the perspective of Seal Boy, the side kick to a superhero named Walrus. But Walrus is captured by a league of super villains and Seal Boy must find a way, without powers, to rescue him.

And then for my fourth book, I want to dust off my 2010 manuscript of Scepter of the Ancients, which is the sequel to Dragon War Relic. I'm hoping by then that I'll start to have enough of a following that it will warrant the publication of the sequel.

So, that's my plan. Why am I telling you this? Because I've found when goals are shared, they have more power. This will help me work at it a little harder to make sure it happens. It means I'll have a busy year, though. Of course, on top of that, I need to try and come up with a couple more first drafts to stories so that I'll have something to submit in 2013. A writer's work is never done.

Time Gangsters Cover Art is here!

2011-12-05T10:38:00.000-09:00

Here is the new Time Gangsters cover art. I'm excited, but what do you think?

In other news, Time Gangsters is slated to go to press this Wednesday, December 7th.

Also, be on the look out for a Time Gangsters blog tour coming in January, from the 8th to the 21st.

No More NaNoWriMo

2011-10-29T13:24:00.000-08:00

In honor of Halloween: I'm baa-aack! I know, scary.

Anyway, I thought, since so many people are gearing up for NaNoWriMo next month that I'd give my two bits on the subject. You don't know what NaNoWriMo is? Stinks to be you. No, just kidding. It is an abbreviation for National Novel Writing Month. It is where writers and aspiring writers challenge themselves to write a 50,000 word or more novel during the 30 days of November. There are websites and social groups that get together to help those people meet their goals and stick to task.

I did this back in 2005 for the first time. From that 50,000 word jumble of chaos, I ended up with the beginnings of my first published novel, The Dragon War Relic. I learned a lot of great things about myself during my experience. Probably the most important thing was: what it takes to write a novel. It takes a lot of time and patience and persistence. But, if you take the time, it can be done; that was the next most important lesson. There is a great sense of pride when we take on a difficult task and persevere long enough to create a finished novel.

I've written about his before, but I also learned that I'm a discovery writer. I think NaNoWriMo caters more to discovery writers because you're just supposed to sit down and start writing come what may. And no looking in the rear view mirror and going back to fix things. Since then, of course, I have learned that if you want character arcs and plots that make sense, there does need to be some kind of planning. Oh, and it is okay to have an outline to do it, but not necessary. Fortunately for me, I didn't.

As much as I honor NaNoWriMo for the start it gave me, I don't think I'll ever do it again. Why? Because it taught me how to focus and write. I can now do that whenever I want and for however long I want. When I'm in my normal writing mode, I put out about 12,000 to 15,000 words a week anyway, which is about a NaNoWriMo pace. I don't need to see how many words I can write in a month because I now know. Just last month I completed a novel and the second draft within 30 days. Of course, I'm not always going at that pace because I also have to take the things I've drafted and then polish them up in hopes of publication. In fact, the second draft usually takes me longer than the first because I have to spend a lot of time working out some of the issues and plot holes that I discover.

So, if you aren't a writer yet and want to be, NaNoWriMo can be the right kick in the pants to get you started. Just remember to be nice to your family and take a break every now and then to let your creative juices get flowing again.

Moving forward

2011-09-01T08:54:00.001-08:00

I've decided to turn this blog into my writing blog. I just started another one for music here: http://singlereedadvice.blogspot.com. Now, you may ask, why in the world would I be writing another blog when I don't even write in this one very often? Good question. I'm not making any promises, but I mainly wanted to separate my writing stuff from my music stuff.

Okay, so you see from my last post that progress is being made on Time Gangsters. Last that I heard, it is slated to come out in February, but that date is still subject to change. I just finished another draft of it and I am really excited about how well it's turning out.

As for other projects, I'm a little in limbo. I had my big dystopian/steam-punk project going well but I've discovered a few fatal flaws. I'm letting it sit for a while so that I can brainstorm with it more and see if I can find ways to resolve the problems. I still think its a good story, so I'm not giving up on it. And, of course, I have no shortage of new ideas, I just need to decide which ones to develop. I have a new idea for a sci-fi comedy with an adult protagonist. I think it's a fun idea, but I'm not sure how well a middle-grade type of story-telling with work with adult characters. I have no problem with it, I'm just not sure how marketable it will be.

Soon, I hope to get a few Myrick the Messenger short stories out. One will be coming out in an anthology, but I have two others I need to polish and post.

Time Gangsters Preliminary Cover Art

2011-08-22T19:06:00.000-08:00

Here's some exciting news: I have some preliminary cover art for Time Gangsters. I'm curious to see what you people out there think. Let me know of any suggestions you may have, too.

Writing Momentum

2011-05-14T13:02:00.000-08:00

I'm not dead. It may look like it, though, since it's been a while. It's not that I'm out of things to blog about, I'm just busy. I'm in the middle of a new project that is a kind of dystopian/steam punk/fantasy. Also, I had a lot of reading to do the last couple of months. I suppose I should get around to writing a bunch of reviews, but here are some the books I've read recently:
Imprints by Rachel Ann Nunes
Pathfinder by Orson Scott Card
Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson
I Don't Want to Kill You by Dan Wells
The Monster Hunter books by Larry Correia.

It seems like there were more, but I can't remember them.

Anyway, I've thought about getting away from blogging about writing because, well, every writer and their dog and their dog's fleas has a blog about writing. What can I, a lowly jazz musician, say about writing that hasn't been said? Well, I thought of something: momentum.

Over spring break week, since I didn't do any teaching, I gave myself a challenge to see if I could be a full-time author for a week. I wrote 23,000 words. I probably could have done more, but it took a day or two to get my mind working. The funny thing was, the next week, in spite of being back into my normal teaching schedule, I added another 18,000 words. I was surprised when I saw that because I didn't think I could have written that much. Then I figured out the secret: my mind had writing momentum.

I thought back to when I would write sporadically. I would stare at the screen and hash out a few words here and there. I was lucky if I could get 1000 words in a couple of hours. When I have momentum, though, like over the last few days, I am able to get over 2000 words in two hours of writing.

So, the moral of the story is this: write every day. I know that's nothing new. But a big reason for me is that when I'm consistently working on a project, my mind is working on it even when I'm not writing. Then, when I sit down to write, the ideas just seem to flow. There, my two bits.

Star Scout Rising by Gary Darby

2011-03-21T08:36:00.000-08:00

I recently received and read a book called Star Scout Rising: First Trail by Gary Darby. I always look forward to the opportunity to read young adult sci-fi since there is so little of it out there. Star Scout Rising is about the adventures of a young man named Del Baldura, where he and his team are finishing up their Star Scout training. Star Scouts seemed to me to be like a cross between boy scouts and jedi knights. Their job was to explore the galaxy and make things safe for future travelers.

First off, I was excited to see that the book was published in Alaska. I know, that's not really a big deal, except I'm a third generation Alaskan and little things like that get me excited. There were even a few Alaska references in the novel.

Something else I really liked was the fact that it was a clean read: no swearing or other stuff to have to put up with. So, this officially gets the Berin Stephens Big Toe Up award for being something, as a father, I would have no reservations about my own kids reading.

I have to admit, it took me a while to get into the book. It wasn't until about the half-way mark when I found it hard to put down. In my opinion, the book could have used a faster start by being more streamlined. I felt like there was too much time spent with the villain, Peller, and the side story with Dal's uncle. Those stories didn't even tie in directly with Dal's yet (probably in the sequel) and slowed down the read. Some of those chapters are what I call "Council of Elrond" chapters - a lot of information but no action. But, I do advise people to stick with the book, because it does get good and exciting later on.

Gary's knowledge of military procedure was impressive and well detailed. A couple of minor complaints, though, are, 1: I thought they were a little too detailed at times (slowing things down), and 2: the use of all the abbreviations. It often took me out of the story as I had to sit there and try to remember what TL, LS, and CG meant. It might have been handy to have a table in the back of the book to help those of us non-military types to remember what those things stand for.

Something else I liked, military jargon aside, was that this was easy to understand sci-fi. Science fiction has a little bit of a stigma that it is filled with complex scientific terms and principles. This book didn't have that, which to me is a good thing. It might better be classified as an adventure that just happens to take place in outer space (kinda like my book, which is really just a comedy . . . set in outer space . . . with elves).

But overall, this was a good start to a new series. I look forward to more adventures of Del and his intrepid band of Star Scouts. It reminded me of the first science fiction book I'd ever read: Lucky Starr and the Pirates of the Asteroids by Isaac Asimov.

You can purchase the book here:

Amazon

Kindle

And here's Gary's blog: http://starscoutrising.blogspot.com/

Too good to pass up

2011-03-21T08:14:00.000-08:00

As a sax player, I couldn't pass this up. I stole it from David West who stole it from someone else. FYI, professional saxophonists do not hold Kenny G in high regard, so the Elrond reaction shot is classic.

Mr. Monster by Dan Wells

2011-03-19T05:38:00.003-08:00

Recently I finished Mr. Monster, Dan's sequel to his 2009 hit I Am Not a Serial Killer. Just for the record, I am not normally a fan of horror novels. The main reason why I read the first book was because it was a Whitney Award nominee. Mr. Monster is also a nominee for this year, but I actually wanted to read this one because of how good IANASK was.

Dan didn't disappoint. At first, I'll admit to a little disappointment because I wanted to get right into the demon slaying side of things. That didn't happen for a while. Instead, we got John Wayne Cleaver's struggle with the wannabe serial killer half of his psyche that he calls "Mr. Monster". And then I realized the name of the book and began to enjoy that the protagonist and the antagonist, for the first half, were the same person. Don't worry, though, a demon still shows up toward the end, allowing for John to reach into his dark side once again to defeat it.

I began to ponder John's "list" that he uses to keep Mr. Monster under control. Here are some of the things on his list:

I will not hurt animals.
I will not burn things.
When I think bad thoughts about someone, I will push the thoughts away and say something nice about that person.
I will not call people 'it'.
If people threaten me, I will leave the situation.

Okay, I don't have any temptations to be a serial killer (I hope), but how many of us have a darker side fighting to get out? Don't we all have a weakness that can take us down a dark path? We can learn something from John Cleaver. Perhaps we all need to make a list specific to our own faults. For instance, if we feel temptations to steal Hostess Ding Dongs, we should make a personal rule to stay far away from places that put out tempting displays of them and not to call them "my precious" (okay, sorry, that's a long story).

Back to the book. Once again, I was sucked into it and found it hard to put down. I did like the first book a little better but not by much. I now am anxiously waiting for a chance to get my hands on the third book of the series: I Don't Want to Kill You. I heard him read the first couple of chapters at Life, the Universe, and Everything in February and it sounds fantastic.

Warning: there is violence, some disturbing mental images, and mild swearing, so this is not a book for those who don't care for that sort of stuff.

Of course, now I need to figure out the name of my inner demon. I can't decide if he's Mr. Munster or Mr. Addams (du-du-du-dut. snap snap).

The Scorch Trials by James Dashner

2011-03-12T10:26:00.001-09:00

Man, I've been busy. I've been reading my butt off. Okay, maybe that's a little hard to do, but it sure feels like it.

Once again, we are in the Whitney Awards season. You can check out more about them here: http://whitneyawards.com/wordpress/. This year, I'm tackling the adult speculative category, even though it has several books that are also considered young adult. The first nominee I've read, and have been wanting to read for quite some time, is The Scorch Trials by James Dashner. Other books in this category include Orson Scott Card's Pathfinder, Brandon Sanderson's Way of Kings, Dan Wells' Mr. Monster, and Rachel Anne Nunes' Imprints.

I loved Dashner's 2009 hit The Maze Runner. The Scorch Trials ended up being a worthy successor to the first book. I have to admit, I liked Maze Runner a little better, but many of the things I enjoyed about it were expertly continued in its sequel. For one thing, James makes it incredibly hard to put his books down. I lost a lot of sleep because I kept saying to myself, "Just one more chapter, it's short." Then, three hours later . . .

This book continues the adventures of Thomas, Teresa, and the surviving members from "The Glade" in book one. They now have the task of racing across a hot, barren landscape known as The Scorch. They encounter and battle people with a disease called the Flare, whom they call Cranks. In the process, they learn more about the mysterious group WICKED that put them up to all this, but they also end up with more questions.

You know that scene in Jurassic Park when the guy is in the utility building trying to turn the power on? And then that blasted velociraptor jumps out of the wall and makes you wet your pants? Well, this book gave me that same experience. That's the first time a book has ever made me jump like that. I muttered several unflattering insults toward James (like 'clunk head' and 'shuck face') for doing that to me. I won't tell about where it is, but if you like things that scare the pants off you, this book will do it. But in a good way (just keep your belt cinched tight and your pants should stay on).

This book was fun, intense, and exciting. I should warn, for the faint of heart, that there is violence and some mild language. The worst thing about this book is: I now have to wait several more flippin' months for the flippin' sequel.

The Story That Won't Go Away

2011-02-14T10:39:00.000-09:00

Don't you hate it when you get a story idea that just won't leave you alone? I've got one of those right now. It forced me to write out an outline up to chapter 18 today. The problem is, I have too many other projects going on. I decided last week to do another draft of Time Gangsters, plus I have a short story that I need to do final draft of and submit before the deadline next month. On top of that, BYU's Life, the Universe, and Everything (LTUE for short) is this weekend, where I'll be doing six panels, a reading and a signing in addition to all the other cool classes they'll have.

By the way, how do you pronounce LTUE? My daughter thinks it should be 'Lute' but I think it should be 'Latooie' (like patooie but without the p). Any opinions?

About my story idea, it started as a dream two years ago. I had forgotten about it but fortunately wrote two pages of notes. I stumbled upon them on Friday and read them. They reminded me of the cool world of the dream and got my neurons firing. To sum it up, it's a dystopian/fantasy/steampunk/comedy. I know, I know, I have a problem with just sticking with one genre. Actually, I'm not sure about the comedy part, since so far the images in my mind are kind of bleak and violent. I'm sure there will be humor though, since I can't write anything without it.

Anyway, I'm excited about this idea. Writers go through the gamut of emotions where one day we think our idea is the next Harry Potter, and another day that it is the biggest load of garbage in existence. I'm still in that 'Harry Potter' stage with my excitement level. It's like a new toy at Christmas right now. I just don't have time to work this all out this week! But I'll try to relax, let things come as they come, and keep taking notes. Then, once I have a rudimentary story idea mapped out, I'll follow my advice from three days ago and write out the character arcs and story arc.

Oh, and I also have a blues band gig on Saturday night up in Murray. That means I can't neglect my sax chops, either.

Storymakers: Share the Love

2011-02-13T19:50:00.000-09:00

I am a member of a fantastic group known as the LDS Storymakers. Every spring, they host a great conference held in Utah where writers and fans can come and soak up two days of intense knowledge about the art of writing. I attended it for the first time last year and was blown away. I had just joined the organization and, quite frankly, hadn't heard about it until my book was about to come out. I wasn't sure if I wanted to join any groups, but I decided it wouldn't hurt to try it out for a while. All I can say is that I'm hooked. The other members of Storymakers are excellent people who are very free with advice and help for a newby author. If any of you are interested in writing and are anywhere near Utah, I strongly advise you to check this conference out. You can find more info here: http://ldstorymakers.com/conference_2011.php

Also, if you do plan to attend, they are having a "Share the Love" contest this month. If you do some of the things I'm doing here, you are entered for a chance to have dinner at the conference with authors James Dashner and Larry Brooks, as well as editors and agents such as Sarah Crowe, Marcia Markland, and Becca Stumpf. Oh, and the grand prize winner gets a 30 page manuscript review by Sara Megibow. You can get more information here: http://ldstorymakerauthors.blogspot.com/2011/02/show-your-love.html

Cursing Query Letters

2011-02-11T09:12:00.001-09:00

I have so many other things I've been working on that blogging just isn't high on my priority list right now. But there is something that I just learned that I want to share. I know for some people, they're just going to say, "Well, duh," but this was a big revelation to me, a discovery writer.

I finished a draft in December of Time Gangsters and started working on writing a query letter for it. First off, I do not know much about query letters, so I did some research on what things you need to include in one. I needed to come up with a good 'hook' for my book, plus describe the characters and how they arc, the conflicts and the consequences. As I mapped out those things, I realized that my query letter was describing things better than how they actually worked in the book. With a loud groan, I realized that I needed to do another draft of my book to make it match the hype of my letter.

Cue February. New draft done. Begin writing query letter again. Lo and behold, I have an epiphany on how I can improve the character arcs even further. With gritted teeth, I realized yesterday that I need to do another draft because the idea was just too good. It made me wish that I had thought of this when I first started writing the book. It might have saved me a few rewrites.

Then I thought, "What if I wrote a query letter for a book before I wrote it. Then I'd have to figure out things like character arcs and conflicts and all that stuff ahead of time." See, some of you are saying, "Well, duh." Okay, but keep in mind that I am naturally a discovery writer. I can easily spin out stories and have no idea about what is going to happen next. It's fun to write like that, but I'm reaching a stage in my development where that is no longer enough. I need to think through things and maybe even do an . . . this is a naughty word in my vocabulary . . . outline. (gasp!)

So, that's my wisdom for the week, er, month: write a "query letter" for your book before you write it. Not that you would actually submit it, because nothing turns an agent off faster than, "Boy, do I have a million dollar book idea for you." It doesn't necessarily have to be in a query letter format either, but just some jotted notes on who your characters are, what they need to learn and improve with, the conflicts they face and how those conflicts can make them better people, etc. So, good luck and make those ou . . . out . . . you know, that 'O' word.

When Stories Don't Work

2011-01-01T12:23:00.000-09:00

I have been studying how to make my stories better. Lately, this new knowledge has been helping me to see when story elements don't work. Of course, I'm still trying to figure out what does work, but I figure this is a step in the right direction.

For instance, this morning I was watching a Star Wars Clone Wars episode with my son. Now, I've been a huge Star Wars fan since 1978 (I grew up with Luke Skywalker - we were kids together) and was real excited when I heard about a cartoon series coming out set in the Star Wars universe. For some reason, though, I have not been able to get into these shows; they just don't capture my interest. I have to force myself to sit through them, but the kids like them so I just can't delete them from the DVR.

The episode I saw today helped me see a possible reason why I can't get into them. It was episode 3.8 "Evil Plan" [warning - spoilers follow] where R2 and C3P0 are sent on a mission to get some special fruit. Anakin sends R2 with C3P0 to be the "responsible" one on the trip. The two droids manage to get the fruit, but then another droid that was working for a bounty hunter tries to persuade them to go to a "droid spa." R2 insists that it wants to go while C3P0 wants to stick to the mission. They split up. C3P0 gets captured and interrogated by the bounty hunter while R2 enjoys a luxurious cleaning at the spa. Since C3P0 was clueless, the hunter decided to send his minions to go get R2, who just happened to be getting out of the spa.

Now, this bothered me on several levels. First off, it immediately struck me as out of character for R2 to want to abandon the mission for a little luxury. At least in my mind, R2 is a responsible, no-nonsense character who would stick to the mission, no matter how small, no matter what. And then, for R2 to frivolously spend the remaining credits that Anakin charged him with keeping track of also goes against its character. Also, it seemed way too convenient for R2 to still be in the area for when the bounty hunters came back to retrieve him. Lastly, C3P0 dropped the cylinder of fruit in a part of town with a lot of foot traffic. It was still there later when the episode ended, so they could just go pick it up and take it back to Anakin. No one stole it, kicked it, ran over it, or threw it away after what had probably been hours in their time. That was a convenience that stretched credibility.

So, why did they do that? As a writer, their reasons seem clear to me. They needed something, first of all, to split up the two droids. Then, they needed something that would keep R2 in a convenient place for later. Now, I understand this dilemma: when you need your characters to be in certain places so that plot elements can happen. Our challenge is to do this in such a way that it seems natural. In this case, it seemed very unnatural because it violated R2's character for me, and thus, caused me to disconnect from the story.

How could they have solved their situation? Many ways of course. One, they could have had C3P0 abducted while the sales droid pestered them, then R2 could have gone off to try to rescue his buddy. One problem with that plan is R2 is the smart one and would try to contact someone for help. In order for that scenario to work, R2 would have to somehow be blocked from finding help. Or another idea would have been for both of them to be captured and then, once the bounty hunters couldn't get anything from C3P0 they would turn to R2. I think the reason they didn't do this is because they wanted to show the contrast between C3P0 being tortured one second and then switch to R2 enjoying the comforts of the spa. That's not a bad idea, but they had to contort the character to make it happen. I think this was a "darling" that the writers put in that needed to be killed.

What makes us enjoy stories is seeing characters that we can relate with overcoming obstacles in order to become better people. It just doesn't work when the characters have to be changed in order to make a plot work.

Save the Cat!

2010-12-14T09:27:00.000-09:00

I recently finished reading the Save the Cat! trilogy of books by Blake Snyder called: Save the Cat!, Save the Cat! Goes to the Movies, and Save the Cat! Strikes Back. These are advice books geared toward writing movie scripts but I have found them very informative in helping my novel and short story writing.

I don't even know where to begin to describe all the new epiphanies they gave me, but I'll start with this one simple thing: All stories are about transformation. Maybe this is old hat for some of you, but I have a tendency to think of interesting situations and then throw some characters in to see how they do without any thought of what it will do for the character. Yeah, sometimes I accidentally do get some kind of a character arc going, but it has mainly been hit or miss. I talked more about this in my last blog entry when I discussed character arcs.

The most useful thing I got out of it was what he calls the "Blake Snyder Beat Sheet". It's where he breaks movie plots down into 15 beats, or plot points, that virtually every successful movie follows in some form or another. What he does in Save the Cat! Goes to the Movies is apply his beat sheet to 50 popular Hollywood movies to show how this is true. That was very useful to me, since I learn best by example than with pure theory. You can download a copy of his beat sheet (among other things) at blakesnyder.com under the "tools" tab.

For fun, I tried it with a few movies I've seen recently: How the Grinch Stole Christmas (with Jim Carrey), The Santa Clause (with Tim Allen), and Avatar (with really tall blue dudes). Sure enough, it worked. It also opened my eyes to deeper meanings in the movies that I didn't see when I just sat and passively watched. It made me realize that I need to incorporate some of these elements into my own writing.

What are those elements, you may ask? First off, that the character needs to change from the beginning to the end of the story. Also, a story, in order to resonate with us more, needs to have some kind of theme that is stated near the beginning.

I could go on and on about several other little things I learned. Maybe I'll save some of those for future blogs. The bottom line, though, is that if you want to gain more insights into your writing and story telling, you must read at least the first Save the Cat! book. I wish I'd learned about it earlier in my writing career.

Character Arcs, I Get It! . . . I think

2010-12-09T10:05:00.003-09:00

This week, I've had an epiphany (isn't that such a cool word?). For the last several years, and more recently from my writing group, I've kept hearing about the need for character arcs. Well, I think I finally get it! (okay, so I'm a little slow)

I think one stumbling block I've had before this new realization is the old saying: character + problem = story. It's a very simple formula, and I like things that are simple (I'm very simple-minded), but I've come to the conclusion that this formula is too simple. True, it works, but what is it that makes a story stand out and stick with us? What makes a story great? I think I know the answer now, though as I continue to learn of this concept, that might change.

It's taken a combination of things to help me learn this. Most recently, my writing group (with Bryan Beus and Steven Gashler, thanks guys) have been asking me what my characters' arcs are. I always had the brilliant answer of, "Idunno." Wasn't it just good enough that my character was stuck into some insurmountable situation and we get to see them figure a way out? Well, it does work to create a "fun" story, and there are plenty of books and movies that follow this formula. But is it even necessary to make some kind of philosophical statement, too? Probably not, but isn't it also nice to write a story that sticks with people and causes them to want to read more of what you have? Most definitely. And we do this with the arcs.

Lately, during my morning exercise bike routine, I've been rewatching my Babylon 5 DVDs. This series has always stood out to me and until now I didn't quite know why. Actually, a couple of episodes I've recently watched stood out as good and bad examples of what I mean. In season 4, there was an episode called "Intersections in Real Time." It's where Captain Sheridan is being held prisoner. To make a long story short, the end of the episode finished with him in the exact same position he had started. I let out an audible groan when it was over. I couldn't believe I had sat through (actually, I pedaled) that whole thing. What a waste of time!

Towards the beginning of Season 5, there was another episode called, "The Long Night of Londo Mollari." I groaned as it started. This episode did not have any fancy explosions or high excitement.We got to spend most of the episode inside the dying brain of Londo. How boring could that be? It actually ended up being a great episode. Why? Because Londo made a journey and came to the other end of it a changed person.

Another reason I think I've always gravitated toward simple "character with problem" stories is because most of our television series do this. Characters might make a small arc during one episode, but by the next week they were all reset back to square one. Very seldom do we see series characters learn and change. That is why a couple of my favorite shows have been Babylon 5 and Star Trek: Deep Space 9. I could go on about this, but I won't for now.

Now, the third thing that has helped me on my quest to understand this is the Save the Cat! series of books by Blake Snyder. I'll do another blog about this later, but in Blake's beat sheet (outlining) method, he builds in the concept of character change. He points out that what resonates with the audience is not only the A story (plot - the sequence of events) but also a B story that contains some form of spiritual lesson. I'll probably go into this more in my next blog.

Okay, so now the old formula is all messed up. Since I really like formulas, though, I've been trying to come up with a new one. How about this: Character (from beginning of story) divided by Situation That Forces Change equals Character (at end of story). Or, more succinctly: CharB / Change = CharE. Hmm, maybe it needs to be inserted into the quadratic formula somehow.

So, what I think I've learned is that stories are not about fancy worlds or great action sequences, though those are fun, but they are about exploring the human condition in order to see how people learn and grow. I'd appreciate any thoughts others have on this, and other "formulas" for fiction. I'm not sold on my formula being the right one, but it's a place to start. Please feel free to leave a comment.

What's Happenin'

2010-12-04T06:01:00.000-09:00

Here I am. I'm back. First off, I know this is late notice, but I have a book signing Saturday, December 4th at Confetti Books and Antiques in Spanish Fork from 10 to 2. If you haven't been there and you're in the neighborhood, you should check it out some time. They have a lot of rare items that you won't find anywhere else.

I have finished the third draft of Time Gangsters. Now, I want to start submitting it this month and see where it goes. Also, I'm doing several short stories for fun and for anthologies. One is a sort of super hero story that is kind of gloom and doom. Another is a new Myrick adventure called "The Crypt of the Undead Sorcerer and Other Vacation Spots". I need to come up with a third and keep it under 5000 words, but I haven't come up with anything yet.

Oh, and December 11th, I'll be playing up in Salt Lake with Randy Mundy and the Mundy Mourning Blues Band. I don't know the details yet, but check back here or on my web page for more info later if you're interested.

Book Signing: Dragons and Fairy Tales, Sat Nov 20 from 5 to 7

2010-11-19T04:50:00.000-09:00

Come to the book signing at Dragons and Fairy Tales Bookstore in Eagle Mountain this Saturday. I'll be there with Dan Wells (I Am Not a Serial Killer, Mr. Monster), Howard Tayler (Schlock Mercenary), Larry Correia (Monster Hunter International and Vendetta), along with Daron Fraley, David West and others.

Location:
3535 E Ranches Parkway Suite A
Eagle Mountain, UT 84005
Phone number is: 801-

789-5014

Agent Contest

2010-11-01T09:13:00.000-08:00

For those of you who have a finished young adult novel that you're shopping around, check out Chuck Sambuchino's blog. They are having the "Lucky Agent Contest" where you submit 150-200 of the first words of your novel and an agent looks at it. 3 winners chosen.

The Bent Sword - review

2010-10-25T10:09:00.000-08:00

I recently finished reading The Bent Sword by Stephen Gashler and loved it. I know, it could be pointed out that I'm biased since Stephen is also in my writing group. However, I wanted to read his book before I met him when I saw one of the book trailers he created: thebentsword.com.

The Bent Sword was an enjoyable romp, following the adventures of Steffin who is on a quest to gather a party of adventurers to defeat the evil Lord Bore (and boredom - the most evil force on earth). One problem, Lord Bore only exists in his own mind; or does he? Steffin soon encounters others who were at one time only in his own mind. If they are real, does that mean Lord Bore is, too?

In Steffin's attempts to become a hero worthy of legend, he has several humorous events that make the book fun and entertaining. A few times I wanted to wring Steffin by the neck for being a little dense, but fortunately his friends keep him out of anything life ending. I especially loved the interaction between Steffin and his large 'side-kick' Sir Mammoth.

This book was not only fun, but gets the 'big-toe up' award for being a clean read. It is definitely worth reading and can be found here. Oh, and be sure to check out The Bent Sword: The Musical at the Provo Theater. More info here.

Passion

2010-10-09T04:54:00.000-08:00

A while ago I blogged about the 10,000 hour rule. That's where they found that, in order to be a world-class expert at something, you need to spend 10,000 hours doing it. If that doesn't seem like a lot, then think about it as taking 417 days straight (about 1 year and 2 months) of doing nothing but your chosen subject. That means no eating, sleeping or potty breaks. Now are you overwhelmed?

Well, there's another part to the formula, and that's passion. No, not the romantic kissy-face kind, but the kind that lights you on fire so that you hardly want to do anything else. I often tell my students that there are two secrets to success in music (Those of you who have not signed the non-disclosure agreement need to stop here). Secret #1 is practice (i.e. 10,000 hour rule) and Secret #2 is have fun (passion).

I began to ponder this more as I've struggled to balance my two careers: music and writing. I realized a few months ago that I no longer had the passion for music that I once had. Tragic? Maybe, since it's still the way I make my living. I found myself preferring writing over practicing my ax (yes, my ax is a sax, hence my other website: saxmyax.com). I still enjoyed playing my saxophone and clarinet, but I had to almost force myself to do it. I began to worry, because I used to love spending hours with my instrument. What was wrong with me?

So now I have a passion for writing. That has carried me through writing about 400,000 words so far this year. I sometimes can hardly wait for an opportunity to get back to my writing computer so that I can continue work on my next novel (currently: Time Gangsters). I realized that the writing passion supplanted my music passion after I got my first royalty check. I did the math and found I was making about 30 cents an hour writing. My logical brain said, "This is a stupid waste of time." My artistic, creative brain said, "Let's get back to work on the next novel."

Maybe another name for this could be 'fun'. If we are going to put the quantity time in (10,000 hours), we need to really enjoy it. It doesn't matter if we want to be a musician, writer, computer programmer, or horse manure shoveler, if we want to be an expert at it, we need to find the passion to help us get through all those hours.

I know on my way to the 10,000 hours of music, there were dark times; times I wanted to quit. There are times when all the learning and practice can begin to seem dull and uninspiring. That's when we need to look back to why we started this project in the first place and remember our passion. It can carry you through, and when you reach the other side, you will be better for it.

This is the challenge for all of us: to find our passion in life. There can be more than one thing we are passionate about and if that's the case, then we just need to find ways to balance them. My passions in life are faith, family, music, and writing. By pursuing my passions, though, I find myself living a fun and fulfilling life.

Oh, and for those of you worried about my waning passion for music, it's back. I had to force myself to put my sax down yesterday so that I could get back to writing. Of course, I'm in the dreaded 'editing' stage right now. I now have to use my sax as the reward for a good writing session.

I'm not dead . . . I think

2010-09-24T10:12:00.000-08:00

So, what has Berin Stephens been up to, you ask? Okay, you probably didn't but I bet you were going to. I have been busy, so don't worry about things not moving forward. Here's where we stand:

The Dragon War Relic is still out there, but we need to get more sales before book 2, Scepter of the Ancients, can be published. So tell your friends, family, acquaintances, dogs, cats, and anyone else who will listen that they need to buy my book. What? Do you want to see me on my knees begging? Don't answer that.

I am currently working on the second draft of Time Gangsters. This is taking longer than planned. I had hoped to have it done by the end of October. That's still possible, but so far I've only been able to do about 2 chapters a week.

I've resumed work on a short story I wrote a while ago called The Privy and the Princess. I plan on this becoming a short story serial that I'll release in ebook formats. The first one or two stories will be free to see if people like them, and if there is enough interest I might continue with more adventures for a small fee. We'll see.

I'm also planning to revamp The Galactic Adventures of Doug into an ebook format (also for free). I might make a few adjustments first, though, like change the title.

And, of course, new ideas are hitting me all the time. I have a tendency to take two opposing genres and to try and mesh them together (hence: The Dragon War Relic). I was remembering when The Lord of the Rings movies were still in the casting stage. An Internet rumor began to float around that they were thinking about casting Sean Connery as Gandalf. Of course, I instantly became excited about the idea. Imagine Connery coming on scene and saying, "The name is Gray. Gandalf the Gray."

As the little wheels in my brain remembered this, they began spinning. What if Gandalf wore a tuxedo and carried a Walther PPK? What if we took the Lord of the Rings characters and placed them in the world of 1960's European espionage? Well, I had fun mixing those two realms together. Unfortunately, I have too many other projects to work on right now. But this does show you an example of how my twisted little brain works.

Review of the iPad

2010-09-11T20:07:00.004-08:00

I know just about everybody has reviewed the iPad by now, but I thought I'd write about my impressions from a writer/musician perspective. I've had mine for about two weeks.

I mainly wanted something to read ebooks and pdf files with. Also, I thought it would be nice to have a device I could write with when I was on the go.

Ebooks: the other ebook readers (Kindle, Nook) are now a lot cheaper and for pure reading I think they are better. The "liquid paper" look they have can be read in sunlight and they are lighter in weight. The iPad is awful to try to read outside. I heard they were a problem in sunlight, but they are hard to read with any outside light. Maybe on overcast days, it might be okay. Outside reading was one of the things I had hoped to do with my iPad. I would say for this function, the other ebook readers are better.

If you just want to read pdfs, it does that fine with several different apps, including iBooks. This was the burning question for me when I was researching the iPad, but it took a long time before I found a review that mentioned that the iPad could do pdfs.

I bought one app (iAnnotate) that allows me to load pdfs into it and then place comments, make red marks, and other things for editing purposes. I can then email the edited pdf back to my computer or writing group members where the markings and comments can be read in the newer versions of Adobe Reader. For me, this is wonderful and makes the iPad a useful tool. Score one for iPad.

I do like the bigger screen (as compared to the other ebook readers), and have converted some of my music to pdf. I haven't used it for this yet, but I'm thinking this could be nice if I get all my jazz lead sheets in it, then I won't have to lug six volumes of books for alto and tenor whenever I have a jazz gig. Oh, and I found out it also plays music, too (who knew?).

As a portable writing tool, I hoped it could be used like an AlphaSmart, only smaller and with more uses. Kinda like an electronic Swiss Army knife (is there an app for that?). The good news: it does work. I used iWorks Pages to start a Kerk, Sprock, and Bob story. However, it probably took 2 to 3 times longer to write it. The touch sensitive keyboard works, but is too sensitive for my tastes. It takes some practice to get used to. After a while, you can type marginally well, but you have to keep a close eye on it to make frequent corrections. The auto-correct feature sometimes guesses correctly what word you just butchered, which helps. I figure I would only use this if I was away from a computer but had something burning inside of me that needed to be written, but don't plan on typing your entire next novel on it.

Now for web surfing, I didn't think I'd be that excited about it. Actually, it's pretty cool. When I have long lists of email to go through, it's nice to kick back and read it like reading a book. It's also great for reading newsletters and long web pages. The built in Safari browser does just about everything your regular computer can do: except Flash. That IS annoying, since so many websites are very flash-dependent. Visiting SyFy.com was pretty much useless.

I have some struggles with controlling it with the touch screen. When web surfing, I sometimes try to touch a link, but I either touch it too long, or not long enough, or I flat out miss the target.You have to be really precise to get it to do what you want. I have small fingers, too, which makes me wonder how someone with big fingers gets along with it. At least when surfing, you can expand the view so your target is bigger, but I also have problems controlling some of the apps. It makes me feel like a ham-fisted klutz. Of course, there are other times when I just barely bump something I don't want to, sending me to some page I didn't want.

My other fear is the apps. There are a lot of free ones out there, but some are scaled down versions of pay apps. They have buttons on them to upgrade, and I'm always afraid I'll accidentally push one and end up buying it. When you initialize our iPad, you have to give them a credit card number, so it seems it would be easy to do this. However, whenever you do download an app it asks for your password so hopefully I won't end up buying something I didn't want. So far, I haven't had any unpleasant surprises. I am a little concerned that it takes Apple about 3 days to inform me that I bought an app and that my credit card has been charged.

So, bottom line? I love it. Of course, I'm also a techno-geek and love anything electronic with buttons. The TV remote is like a security blanket to me. The iPad disappointed me in some ways, surprised me in others. My biggest frustration is not being able to read it outside. Second frustration is the difficulty controlling the touch screen. Other than that, the iPad is a fun device with a lot of bells and whistles. But if you want something to read ebooks, then go with a Nook. Why Nook? Even though it might not be as fancy as some of the others, it at least still can support your local Barnes and Noble bookstore, where a Kindle does not contribute to your local economy.

Review of The Hidden Sun

2010-08-23T07:39:00.002-08:00

When I was asked to review The Hidden Sun by J. Lloyd Morgan, I wasn't sure what to expect. It sounded kind of like a fantasy since it was set in a medieval-style kingdom, but when the book arrived in the mail I found out it wasn't. Even worse, as I started to read it, it began to look like a romance. Ugh.

After reading the first few chapters, though, I was hooked. The Hidden Sun ended up being a pleasant surprise and a nice book to read while on vacation. The nice thing about being on vacation at the time was, when I found myself not wanting to put the book down, I didn't have to. I could keep reading and no one could stop me! I wish I always had that luxury when reading.

And the book wasn't a romance, though it had some romance in it (but not enough to make me nauseous). This was a political intrigue book with interesting and enjoyable characters. In fact, I enjoyed some of the characters so much that I got mad at what the author did to them. But then, that was what ended up sucking me in. It created a great emotional response, which is what every author wants to do. I also enjoyed the action and sports scenes which added another dimension to the novel.

I don't want to go into detail about what happens, because that would ruin the surprises, and there were many. A lot of the story revolved around the Book of Law and how the various characters, both good and bad, worked with it or tried to subvert it to their own purposes. It seemed to parallel what we see today going on with the U.S. Constitution, whether that was intentional or not.

There was a recurring theme throughout the book, having to do with “the sun playing hide and seek.” This, of course, does relate to the title. Also, there were a lot of symbolisms with the various character names. You can read about them on J. Lloyd Morgan's website: http://www.jlloydmorgan.com , but don't do that until after you finish the book.

As far as age group, this could be read by anybody, but the political stuff probably won't appeal to readers until in their teens. This book does get the official Berin Stephens Big-toe-up award for being a clean read.

An interesting moral dilemma comes up in the book and is worth noting: sometimes doing the right thing can be very difficult and at first seem to be the wrong thing. This is the dilemma the characters face and is one we often face in life. But don't worry, doing the right thing does work out in the end. Or sometime . . . anyway . . . maybe in the next life.

I highly recommend this book for not only being a clean read, but also a thoroughly engaging story. So go get it. Now. Are you still here? Why are you still reading? Go, git, you should be clicking on Amazon right now: http://www.amazon.com/Hidden-Sun-J-Lloyd-Morgan/dp/160911437X

Time Gangsters done!

2010-08-18T12:47:00.000-08:00

I just finished the first draft of Time Gangsters. I'm pretty pleased with how the story turned out on a first draft and I'm hoping that it won't require as much reconstructive surgery as my other novels have. There are still some time paradox issues to deal with/explain. Overall, though, I had fun with it.

So here's my plan. I'm going to have my writing group work it over and beat it up. Then I'll do the second draft and put that out to my alpha readers. That should give me enough info to have a solid third draft that I can submit to publishers. My goal is to get it out by November. We'll see.

I set a goal to write three books this summer. Well, I wrote two books, and there is one week left . . . I guess I better get writing.

Why I Read What I Read

2010-08-15T14:32:00.000-08:00

One sad thing about becoming a writer is that I have less time to read and more things to read. I also read a lot slower now because I'm analyzing everything. So that means I need to be more choosy about what I pick up.

I'm still reading some national releases but lately I've been focusing on local and LDS authors. Why, you may ask? (Actually, no one's asked but I'm saying it anyway) Mainly, because they're clean. Clean meaning no sex, minimal swearing, and no graphic violence. That's not to say I never read books that have some of that material, but as I get older (i.e. crotchety and set in my ways) I find that they make me more and more uncomfortable.

When I do read mass market books, I mainly focus on YA (young adult) and middle grade books (Rick Riordan, J.K. Rowling). I can enjoy the stories without having to deal with those other things. Is this real life? No, but I get enough of real life while dealing with real life. I read to escape.

Recently, there was an article in the NY Times (http://nyti.ms/9oXbwk) about how adults are starting to read more YA. It listed several reasons, which I agreed with, but feel like it missed the most important one. Maybe its because I live in a mostly religious community, but I've talked to a lot of adults during my book signings expressing that they like to read YA for the same reasons I do: because it's clean.

Okay, back to the local authors I've been focusing on lately (like James Dashner, Daron Fraley, David J West, Michael Young, Frank Cole). For one thing, it's nice to read something by someone I know or have met. It has a little more meaning. It's nice to read their book and be able to pop them an email and discuss it with them. And these people write back - it's awesome.

Now for my third reason: because it's where I want to place my vote. The marketplace takes votes by where people put their money. The money also supports the "community" that you want to support. I want to support the community of authors who write clean, entertaining material.

When I lived in Alaska, this was a little more obvious than here in the "lower 48". If you bought stuff online, you were supporting the economy of South Bend or Chicago, or wherever you ordered it from. If you bought it from 'Bob's Sushi and Fishing Gear' up the street, you were supporting your neighbor. Sure, it might be a couple dollars more than if you bought it online, but it kept money circulating where you wanted it: your community.

The clean book community is where I want to circulate my money. Sure, the books are a little more expensive because many of them are published by small presses, but it helps keep some of my fellow authors going. Many of them, in turn, have returned the favor by buying my book.

My hope is that we can get this market to grow. I believe, which is why I write the way I do, that there are a lot of people out there who just want good, clean, fun entertainment. Case in point: what's the highest grossing movie so far this year? Toy Story 3. It's made almost 400 million clams. It's rated G. It contains nothing offensive (unless you are offended by evil Care Bears).

Hopefully in the next week or two, I'll blog a little more. I want to do a series about the challenge of writing clean humor. I need to finish my current project first, so bear with me.

Cannonball Fiore vs Buffet R13

2010-08-03T14:40:00.000-08:00

I just had the opportunity to try out a prototype Cannonball Fiore. It is a soon-to-be released intermediate line clarinet that has incredible playability with a low price tag. I was able to put it up against a Buffet R13 and my good ol' Yamaha 72CS using my Combs LC3 mouthpiece with a Vandoren Traditional 4 reed.

First off, about the R13, I haven't been a huge fan. They are great clarinets, though, but usually don't appeal to me. The one I just tried was an exception. I even liked it better than my Yamaha. It had a crystal clear tone and nice ergonomics. The tone was on the bright side, but not too bright.

I first put them through the paces with Rose #9. As I switched between the three, I kept thinking, "This is the better one." Then I'd switch to the next one and think, "No, this is the best one." That's how close these instruments were. After several rounds, I settled on the R13 sounding the best, but just barely. The Cannonball had a nice, rich dark tone, which I usually prefer, but I loved the pristine sound of the R13.

For test two, I played "The Girl from Ipanema". Once again, all three sounded great. I ended up liking my Yamaha the best. It had a brightness between the Cannonball and Buffet. The Cannonball came in second due to its dark tone.

Specifics about the Cannonball: It doesn't have the interchangeable barrels and bells like the Piacere or Veloce, but didn't seem to be an issue. It did have the neck strap hook built in which is a nice feature for me, since I have to use one when I play clarinet. The pitch was even throughout the instrument and the tone remained consistent as well. The throat tone Bb was a little stuffy as usual, but it was on the R13 as well (and it's downright annoyingly stuffy on my Yamaha). As I mentioned earlier, it had a rich, dark tone. The finger ergonomics were nice, too, with some of the same features as on the Piacere and Veloce, like a flatter register key. I will give the edge to the R13, though, for ergonomics; it just seemed to fit my hand better. The Cannonball bell was hard to get to go on all the way, and once it was on, it was really hard to get off. This would be an issue that could cause bent keys, but it is also something easily fixed by a good repair tech. So if you get one one like this, make sure to get it adjusted.

Overall, I gave the edge to the Buffet. If money were no object and I were in the market, I would have gone with that one. Here's the kicker, though. The Cannonball is an intermediate model yet held its own against the Buffet and Yamaha pro models. What this means is, you can get something that plays almost as well as the industry standard Buffet R13 for half the price or less. That's something to think about.

All three clarinets played well, the only thing that really differentiated them was personal taste.

"Heroes of the Fallen" by David J West

2010-07-12T08:59:00.000-08:00

I recently finished reading Heroes of the Fallen by David West. I'm not big on historical fiction, but after talking to David about it at the Storymakers Conference in May, I was intrigued.

First off, I'll talk about the setting. It takes place in the last days of the Nephite Kingdom in America. To Latter Day Saints (Mormons), this is toward the end of The Book of Mormon. David, though, weaves a lot more interesting stuff in with it to create a whole new and fascinating world. For instance, he expanded upon the Nephite world by bringing in Phoenician traders. At first glance that seems incongruous and impossible. However, I remember reading articles showing evidence that Phoenician traders did come to America. In this book, these traders brought other cultures with them from the old world, even a manuscript of Homer's Iliad.

Another thing that only was briefly in the book yet piqued my interest was the mention of a large man with six fingers on each hand. There have been rumors of hidden archeological digs in America with 7 foot tall skeletons with six fingers and toes.

Anyway, David did a remarkable job of bringing these disparate elements together and creating a colorful and rich world. Is it realistic? Probably not, but fun anyway. What would really be cool is if some Viking warriors showed up, too, but that would be about 500 years off.

Then there's the main character, Amaron. He is loyal, hard-working, spiritual, and can beat the holy crap out of the bad guys: what's not to love about him? I keep wanting to call him "Conan the Mormonian".

Even though there are some spiritual events depicted in the book, it didn't come across as preachy or religious. It felt more like a fantasy to me. In spite of this book expounding upon events from the Book of Mormon, I think fantasy lovers of all faiths would enjoy it.

I had a little problem keeping up with all the characters and story lines, but then I also have a lousy memory. I had to quit reading for a couple weeks when I was about half-way through, so when I came back I had problems remembering who was doing what.

I enjoyed this book, but will say that it has some violence and some mild swearing. It would be safe for teens that don't mind a little bloodshed. Overall, I found it exciting and fun. I hadn't read any good sword-wielding books in a while, so this one filled that need in me. After all, I cut my reading teeth on Conan the Barbarian and John Carter of Mars.

My biggest complaint about this book: it ended too soon. I guess I need to pull out some old Robert E. Howard stories until the sequel comes out.

100th post!

2010-07-12T08:06:00.000-08:00

I can't believe this is the 100th posting here. I know I don't post often enough. Well, I think I have a good excuse for the last few months. I have been writing like crazy. I've finished a final draft of book 2, Scepter of the Ancients, and a draft of book 3 (currently titled Book 3 -- I know, creative). I even have part of book 4 done.

Meanwhile, I've started two other writing projects. I started a book where the main character is a shoulder angel. You know, those guys that sit on your shoulder and tell you not to give in to temptation. Only this one has a wonderful record of 0-21 so he has been delegated to a desk job. And his name is Larry. I ended up putting this book aside, though, because it was tending toward being for an older audience. I feel like I need to stick with middle grade/young adult right now. Plus, I need to do some research, like finish C.S. Lewis's The Screwtape Letters.

So, I started another book and so far have 9 chapters of it. It's working title is Billy Versus the Time Gangsters. I know it's a super cheesy title and it will more than likely change. I am discovery writing it so I still don't know what's going to happen.

Okay, now for the good news/bad news. The good news is that Cedar Fort liked Scepter of the Ancients. The bad news, or at least the way I read between the lines, is that it's not yet financially feasible to publish a sequel. In other words, The Dragon War Relic needs more sales in order to warrant a sequel. This doesn't surprise me. The Dragon War Relic has been getting really good reviews, by the few people who have read it, but it still hasn't been widely read. It still seems to be plugging along at a slow pace, so we can always hope that word-of-mouth will get it to take off still.

The reason why I've temporarily left the Jared and Doug books is due to the advice Cedar Fort gave me. I need to get my name out there more. So, I'm working on the gangster book in hopes that it will get me some more name recognition. I hope that will help The Dragon War Relic get more sales. Then, with luck, Scepter of the Ancients will see the light of day. I also started a short story series that I want to get out into some of the e-publishing arenas.

So, in spite of my sporadic blogging, I have been busy. I sometimes wonder if I should hang up the writing towel, because it is not a very efficient way to make money. But once the writing bug gets in the blood, it's hard to stop. I'm learning so much and having a blast at the same time. I see it as a lot better than a lot of hobbies that only cost money. At least this one has a little bit of return for the effort, even if it is only about 30 cents an hour.

Precious Metal

2010-07-01T07:24:00.003-08:00

Okay, typically when a concert review is done it's not by one of the members of the performing group. So what. Last night, June 30th, I performed with the Timpview Wind Ensemble at the Covey Center for the Arts in Provo, Utah. I had a blast. I think that had to be the most fun I've had performing in a wind symphony. I've had other great experiences with wind symphonies, like touring Europe and Australia, but this was great because the music was fun and the musicians were fantastic to work with. Plus, it was only a little over two weeks from beginning of rehearsals to ending concert.

First off, the purpose of the concert was to perform the Utah premier of D.J. Sparr's Precious Metal: A Concerto for Flute and Winds. It featured local flutist Marianne Cutchins who played absolutely beautifully. I wish my flute-playing daughter could have been there, but she was at girl's camp. The piece itself was in three movements and represented the materials that flutes are made out of: silver, platinum, and gold. This was not your typical toe-tappin' type of piece. It's purpose was to evoke the idea of the different metals. Parts of it were aleatoric (for you non-musicians, it means either random or determined by the performer).

I enjoyed the piece at an emotional level. The effects were interesting and intriguing. My only complaint is that we didn't have a lot to do in the saxophone section (other than count rests). It would have been fun to pipe in with some multiphonics during the aleatoric parts of the second movement. It was one of those pieces, though, that a recording could never do justice. It has to be seen and experienced live in order to get the full impact of the effects.

As far as the other music, we played: Sound the Bells by John Williams, Suite Francaise by Darius Milhaud, Folk Dances by Dmitri Shostakovich, and Windriders by UVU professor Marden Pond. Dr. Pond's piece was in commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the Pony Express. It was a great piece with nice effects and had some toe-tappin' parts. A small ensemble also played a relatively unknown version of a piece for winds and percussion by Felix Mendelssohn called Overture for Winds, Op. 24.

Something I had not experienced before was being able to play in small group on a piece by William Walton called Facade. It was written for alto sax (played by yours truly), clarinet, flute, trumpet, cello, percussion, and narrator (done by Diane Dabczynski). We did four little character pieces that accompanied Diane reading the poetry of Dame Edith Sitwell. These were fun, quirky, and I got to let loose with my "schmaltz" gene. I love playing in that old 1920's style.

Kudos to Dr. David Fullmer for putting this fantastic concert together in such a short time. He pulled in some of us who teach at UVU and others from BYU, as well as several great local musicians. It's a blast to perform with professionals of their caliber.

"The Thorn" by Daron Fraley

2010-06-16T13:16:00.000-08:00

I recently finished The Thorn by Daron Fraley. This book was very thought provoking for me and made me realize a whole new angle to fantasy.

Now, I don't know if Daron would consider it fantasy or not. This book is a little tricky to classify. "Speculative fiction" may work the best. I view it as a fantasy with a "magic" system based on spirituality and faith. What made it so intriguing to me is that, as a spiritual person myself, I believe in that form of "magic" in the real world. For instance, instead of a character trying to get direction from a crystal ball or consulting with a mystical oracle, they would get down on their knees and pray. To me, that's a real world power that all of us can access. I thought it super cool to read about people with powers that we can use in our real daily lives.

In a lot of ways, The Thorn seemed like an Old Testament story expanded into a narrative. Even though the story takes place on a planet named Gan, the culture felt like it came right out of the time of Moses. This is also a nice break from a lot of fantasy that puts the setting in a medieval European feel.

There are a couple of cool "magic" items: a crystal sword (found from a vision) and a thorn encased in glass. The Thorn was reminiscent of some of the relic stories from after the New Testament times. It could also be analogous to the Arc of the Covenant from the Old Testament.

The story itself involves a young man from an enemy tribe who is befriended by two of his "enemies". They build a strong friendship of brotherhood and faith as they seek to find a way to stop a war between the tribes.

There are a few places where the tension lets up a bit. The tension does return, so don't give up on it. You'll be pleased. There were plenty of good action scenes and battle scenes for the combat junkie like me.

I guess, so that I can sleep at night, I'll make my own classification for this book: a spiritual fantasy. I enjoyed this book a lot and highly recommend it.

Review: The A-Team

2010-06-12T16:20:00.000-08:00

I caught the matinee of The A-Team with Howard Tayler (of Schlock Mercenary fame) and Dan Wells (author of I Am Not a Serial Killer) on Friday. It was nice to go to a movie with some people I know instead of just sitting in a corner by myself. My schedule finally coincided to be able to attend with them.

Anyway, here is my take on the movie: it was okay. There were some funny moments and good action scenes. My biggest complaint was the language. I really hate it when they take something that used to be clean and kid-friendly and make it more "gritty" for the modern audience. That's what brought my enjoyment level down from "good" to "okay" because I don't like cringing through the whole movie.

Some of it stretched reality, but so did the original TV series. Also, some plot elements were pretty predictable, which took my enjoyment down another notch.

For fans of the original series, you will want to hang out until after the credits; there are a couple of enjoyable cameos there.

My favorite scene was when Murdock was looking out the window of the Hummer and wearing 3D glasses. I probably will get the movie on DVD when it comes out so that I can put it through my Clearplay machine. That way, I might be able to enjoy it more without all the foul language.

Recent Links

2010-06-12T15:47:00.000-08:00

Things have been busy, especially since I set a goal to write a book in a month. In two weeks, I have half a book, so I think I'll make it.

Meanwhile, some great things have been happening with The Dragon War Relic. I thought I'd put here some of the links that have recently mentioned my book:

For starters, the Alaska Star at http://www.alaskastar.com/People/. Of course, this is my hometown where I lived for over thirty years. Also, my grandfather homesteaded there in the 1940's, so that is where my roots run deep. I miss the area horribly: you can take the boy out of Chugiak but you can't take Chugiak out of the boy. So, a hearty hello to all my friends and relatives in Chugiak/Eagle River.

Michael Young, author of The Canticle Kingdom, did a review and an interview of me. You can find it here: http://www.writermike.com/. You should check out his book, too. I did a review of it earlier, but if you are looking for a fantasy that is out of the ordinary, it's a great book to check out.

A place called "The Jacket Flap" has reviewed my book and is giving it away in a contest (cool). You can find it here: http://www.jacketflap.com/megablog/index.asp?postid=556557

My book is in another contest on Sheralyn Pratt's website here: http://www.sheralynpratt.com/

SherMeree's Musings also did a review of it here: http://shermereem94.blogspot.com/2010/03/dragon-war-relic-2009-berin-l-stephens.html

I've been mentioned on a few other blogs, like M.R. Bunderson's and Frank Cole's. Frank's book Hashbrown Winters is a great read, by the way.

Of course, we can't forget the great review from Jennie Hansen, even though it's been a while. http://www.meridianmagazine.com/books/091202mystery.html

Lastly, there are a few nice reviews on the Amazon sales page.

I'm LOST

2010-05-24T11:43:00.000-08:00

I might as well join the party and blog about ABC's Lost.

There was a lot of pressure to land this big ship, and I think they did a reasonable job. There were expectations of having several questions answered. Like, what is the island? What is the strange light in the middle? What's this alternate universe thing that's happening?

I don't think any of those questions were given definitive answers, which might drive some people nuts. But Lost has always liked to throw things at us to make our brains explode, and this final episode managed to still do that.

At the same time, there was closure. All those tragic love affairs were resolved and people were able to get back together again. We find out who ends up with whom (that whole Jack-Sawyer-Kate-Juliett quadrangle was a little annoying). And the self-improvement that people went through was also satisfying. Sawyer/Ford ends up a decent person. Jack fulfills his mission in life. Locke is redeemed.

Then there is the element of faith and afterlife that comes up. I'm still trying to wrap my brain around that, but it made for some food for thought. Of course, I tweeted that the next LOST series will be called "Lost: the Afterlife". Where the gang gets stranded on a mysterious cloud.

The ending of the show did create for an emotional ending. By this point, though, I had already said goodbye to all my favorite characters. Locke had been dead for a while, Sayid was gone. Jin and Sun's demise was the saddest to me. And I still miss Mr. Eko. Whatever happened to him?

There were a lot of other dangling threads, like what happened to the plane the others escaped on? What happened to the island after Hurley took over? etc. I think they provided enough other closure that those things can remain mysteries. I, for one, don't have to have every question answered to enjoy the show.

Iron Man 2

2010-05-07T14:12:00.001-08:00

I know, everyone and their dog is reviewing this movie. I'm just one of the dogs, or maybe one of the fleas on the dog.

Iron Man 2 gets the official Berin Stephens Big Toe Up (everyone else does thumbs). Very seldom, after a movie ends, do I want to turn back around and see it again. With this one I did, and I was almost willing skip a bathroom break. Of course, I had to get back out to the car and let the kids get some air. Actually, they went to see How to Train Your Dragon since I wasn't sure how safe IM2 would be for kidlings.

As far as content for kids, I was surprised at how little offensive stuff was there. It could have almost passed as a PG; almost. There was some language, Lord's name stuff and mild swear words. I heard an 's' word and there were a couple of bleeped f-bombs (which were actually pretty funny). There was some skin exposure, but most of what we saw was also in the trailer. And, of course, there was some innuendo weaved in throughout. There were no bed room scenes, thank goodness. It's just frustrating that with a few minor changes, this could have been a PG. For crying out loud, super hero movies are supposed to be for kids (and big kids like me).

Okay, to the movie itself. My biggest fear was that they would do a character reboot and we would totally lose the character arch that we saw Tony go through in IM1. Granted, Tony is back to his irreverent, fun-loving stuff, but he's still the man IM1 ends with. We get to experience a new character arch for him that expands and improves him even more. Many sequels have failed because they didn't do this right, but this time they nailed it.

And conflicts? Plenty, and not just the ones we were expecting. We start off being introduced to "Whiplash" and we find out why he has his grudge. To keep things interesting, though, they bring in more sources, like: the US government, Pepper, Colonel Rhodes, Hammer, and, most interestingly, Tony's body.

This movie had plenty of action, too. The car race was great. Also, in the trailer, we caught a glimpse of a great battle with Tony and War Machine fighting off a hoard of robot drones. The full scene didn't disappoint and has to be one of the greatest movie super hero fight scenes of all time.

So, that's my take. For parents who are wondering if they should take jr, check out kids-in-mind.com for more details. I look forward to being able to see this on DVD with Clearplay filters in place.

Cannonball Clarinets

2010-05-05T10:47:00.000-08:00

I've mostly been blogging about writing and book things, so I guess it's time to talk a little about music again. A few weeks ago, I got a chance to try out three new Cannonball Clarinets, 2 Piacere and 1 Zeloso, along with 11 barrels and 11 bells. You can visit their website here: http://www.cannonballmusic.com/arezzo.php. To summarize my experience: I was impressed.

I started off with the gold-keyed Piacere with my Combs LC3 mouthpiece and enjoyed the dark tone. It was also nice to have a built in neck strap hook, since my hand cannot play clarinet for long without using a strap. I also enjoyed the thumb key, which is flattened out more like a sax octave key and is more ergonomic. The main feature that stands out with these clarinets, though, is the interchangeable barrels and bells. When a clarinet is purchased, you get two barrels and two bells with it. You have an opportunity to choose between three designs of each, which gives you a lot of tonality options. The bold designs of the barrels and bells do stand out visually, but that just contributes to the uniqueness of these instruments.

Another feature that is usually found on more expensive clarinets, like the Buffet R13, is the auxiliary Ab/Eb key. Since I'm not used to having one, I didn't use it much, but it was nice to have. It was a little bit of a reach for my small hand, though.

The gold-key Piacere was nice, but I didn't like it better than my Yamaha 72CS. I think, though, that it was an individual thing, because when I tried out the silver-keyed Piacere, I liked it better than my Yamaha. As far as I can tell, though, the two Cannonballs were the same except for the key color. The gold-key had a few issues that bothered me, like a stuffy throat tone Bb (my Yamaha has same problem, though) and the low Eb, forked low B and low E had raspy tones. The silver-keyed didn't have these issues, so I think it was just that particular clarinet.

Do these models compare to the R13? It's hard for me to say, other than I usually like my Yamaha better than R13s. These Cannonballs are a heck of a lot cheaper than R13s, though.

The Zeloso was also impressive for a student level instrument. It was a lot clearer than most student instruments, though, obviously, wasn't as good as the Piaceres. I also tried out the hard rubber Cannonball mouthpieces, which seemed stuffy to me, but compared to most stock mouthpieces, they played okay.

If you are in the market for a clarinet, definitely give the Cannonball a try. I can't give any recommendations about barrel and bell combinations, other than they do give you a good tonal palette to choose from. Hopefully, I'll get another chance to study the barrels and bells more at a later date to get a better idea of what they do.

Storymakers Conference Part II: Dave Wolverton

2010-05-01T11:29:00.001-08:00

The highlight for me at the Storymaker's conference was the two-hour workshop I attended with Dave Wolverton/Farland called "Writing for the Masses". I was going to put up a summary of my notes, but someone else beat me to it and did it better than I would have. You can find it here: http://tpmills.wordpress.com/2010/04/30/david-wolvertons-workshop-at-lds-storymaker/

I came out of that workshop thinking, "Crap, now I need to go back and re-write my latest book." I'm going to have to at least go back through it and see if I can improve its "mass appeal". Now, my initial thought was that I really didn't care if I wrote for the masses, I just wanted to tell my stories my way. Wolverton pointed out that that was fine, I just won't sell a lot that way. Things that sell follow the formulas that have been successful. People who strike out on their own paths rarely hit, if ever, the NY Times bestseller list.

It reminds me of the conflict between musicians: the artists versus the pop musicians. Many of us who are jazz saxophonists have a strong dislike for the music of Kenny G. Why? Well, its formulaic, repetitive, and sappy. It also makes lots of money. Those of us working in the trenches, practicing our butts off, can't even get paid for a lot of our gigs, so naturally, there's a little jealousy there. Does that make Kenny G wrong for making money doing what he enjoys? No. But it sure would be nice if more people appreciated some good ol' hard swingin' jazz.

Anyway, that's a decision we need to also face as writers. Do we want to adopt the predictable formulas? Many literary types consider popular styles of writing to be "trash". Do we want to write trash? Wolverton brought this up and said we can write "trash", but let's make it "beautiful trash".

He talked about the "try-fail" pattern that is important for safely increasing the stress the reader feels. I've always felt the try-fail pattern made things too predictable, so I've sought to disguise it. I wonder now if I've disguised it too much.

He didn't explain the try-fail pattern, but in a nutshell, it is where the protagonist makes at least three attempts to solve their problem. Each time, they fail and get thrown into a worse situation. Then, the last time, it looks inevitable that the villain will win and take over the universe, but our hero somehow pulls off the miraculous victory.

Throughout this process, Wolverton pointed out, the reader's stress levels keep increasing. To compensate for this, our body releases endorphins which are related to morphine. The higher the stress for the character, the higher the stress for the reader. Finally, when the hero conquers all, the reader gets this great rush that can drop them below their normal stress levels, thus causing a greater relaxation. It's cheaper than a plane ticket to the Bahamas.

The bottom line, no matter what form of art we pursue, it needs to create an emotional response in the audience. If it doesn't, it will be boring. I remember reading a negative review for the movie Charlie, where the reviewer said the movie "manipulated the audience's emotions". I wanted to say to them, "Excuse me, but all movies seek to do that. The ones that don't are major flops." I've also taught my music students this principle. A musical piece that doesn't grab the listener's attention will quickly put them to sleep.

Reminds me of a joke: What do you get when you play New Age music backwards?

A: New Age music.

Storymakers Conference Part I

2010-04-26T13:09:00.000-08:00

Wow, what a weekend. I attended the 2010 LDS Storymakers Conference held at the Provo Marriott on Friday and Saturday and got my brain filled to overflowing. I took 18 pages of notes to try to hold it all in. Of the writing conferences I've been to so far, this one has been by far the best. There were nine class sessions with six classes for each one. I couldn't even begin to make it to all the classes I wanted to attend. I'll start off with some of my initial thoughts and I'll have to release other ideas as they come to me later.

NY Times bestselling author David Wolverton/Farland was the keynote speaker on Friday. He quoted Kevin Anderson, when someone said to him how lucky he was to be so well published, Anderson said, "The harder I work, the luckier I get." Wolverton then added his twist to it, "If you want to be struck by lighting, you have to go out and stand in the way." These statements were made about writing, but they apply to many areas, music included.

Something else that stood out to me was when he talked about the importance of staying healthy. He didn't elaborate, but it struck me because I think that is a big reason why I can write today when I couldn't ten years ago. When I took a class a few years ago from Orson Scott Card, he said the same thing. Jazz musicians Eric Marienthal and Gordon Goodwin mentioned it as well when they came here in February. There's a theme here (note to self: can-o-worms this idea for later blog post).

Something I heard several times was that comedy is one of the hardest things to write. I feel like that is the only thing I can write. It's easy. Of course, people who barely know me can't believe that I have a sense of humor. The young men in our church are all afraid of me and don't want to ask my daughters out because I look so cranky all the time. I can live with that.

One last thing for now, I feel like I have no idea how to really write. I'm a musician, not a writer. I barely know what verbs and nouns are, let alone other parts of speech. I'm sometimes a little embarrassed to say that I'm a published author, since I don't feel like I really know what I'm doing. As I got a chance to meet and talk with other published authors, though, I found a lot of them feel the same. We mainly just want tell stories. I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels this way.

Next time, I'll try to break down some other things I learned from the various classes I attended.

About my book reviews

2010-04-20T12:40:00.000-08:00

I thought I should mention a little about my philosophy about book reviews. I am not into giving 3 or 5 star ratings, since that is only a meter to measure my enjoyment level. Someone else may read something I love and absolutely hate it. Which one of us is right?

For instance, I just wrote my review of Wings. I am not a romance reader, so it did not appeal to me. Someone who likes teen romance may love it.

I learned this back when I taught music appreciation at the University of Alaska Anchorage (Eagle River campus). One student would love Brooks and Dunn while another hated them, but loved P Daddy. They would argue that their musicians were better than the other person's. I would have to chime in and try to convince them that Michael Brecker is, like, the greatest musician EVER. I failed.

So, my goal is to help people decide if they or their children would enjoy the book. My opinions come out, but I try to give people an idea of what the content is so that they can make an informed decision. Anyway, I hope that my reviews will be of help to someone. I'd be interested in hearing feedback from anyone I've helped or hindered.

I also have my rating system, which I will some day explain in more detail. It is my attempt to give people an objective analysis of the contents of books. I don't create one for every book I read, though, since it slows down my reading quite a bit and sometimes I just want to enjoy a good read.

"Wings" by Aprilynne Pike

2010-04-20T12:20:00.001-08:00

I recently read Wings by Aprilynne Pike. I must admit, I liked it better than I thought I would, but it still didn't appeal to me very much. But I'm not into romance literature, either, especially teen romance. Overall, it struck me as a kinder, gentler Twilight, though I still have yet to read Twilight to be able to say for sure (romantic vampires? doesn't pique my interest).

Should junior read it? As a protective parent, I say no. It was mostly clean, but there were a few things that bothered me. For one, there was some language and the 's' word was used once. There was no sex, per se, but there was one scene that I thought unrealistic. It had the two teens making out and getting, um, tempted to go further. Then the girl, Laurel, says she doesn't want to do that now and the boy, David, just turns the hormone machine to instant off. I certainly hope young girls don't believe guys can stop on a dime like that. As a parent, that scene bothered me because I would never want my daughters getting that close to temptation. That's when problems happen.

What I did like about the book was the mystery of who Laurel really is and the gradual discovery of the world she comes from. That's what kept me reading, not the romance fluff. I also liked the character. Since we homeschool our kids, I appreciated the positive and realistic light it showed homeschooling in. I've also flirted with being a vegetarian (I'm now a recovering vegetarian), so her being vegan appealed to me as well. There was some good action toward the end, too. I like action. Especially when there are explosions. Of course, there were no explosions here. Bummer.

Overall, the book was well written and thought out. I suppose older, more mature teens would do fine. It is one, though, that I strongly suggest parents read, too. My daughters read it before I did, but I trust them to know what dating situations to avoid, so I don't feel the hormonal scenes effected them. Both of them didn't care that much for the book, but neither one of them liked Twilight, either. Probably the only way I'll read the sequel is if it is nominated for a Whitney Award. That's the only reason I read this one.

"I Am Not A Serial Killer" by Dan Wells

2010-04-17T10:40:00.000-08:00

Okay, I'm way behind on book reviews. Here's another one from a few weeks ago:

I do not like horror: books or movies. However, I'd been hearing a lot about I Am Not a Serial Killer by Dan Wells, plus it was one of the speculative fiction nominees for a Whitney award. I decided to bite the bullet and give it a try. I usually don't do well with horror. When I was a kid, I couldn't even handle 'Leave it to Beaver' because I just knew Beav would do something stupid. I would scream at the TV, "Don't do it Beav!" But Beav would do it anyway. So, if that stresses me out, horror things do it even more.

I didn't think of counting up violence and gore incidents until I was halfway through, but Serial Killer did have some gory stuff in it. I'd guess that I would rate it around 150 for violence and gore. Maybe another 10 to 15 for language, since there was some minor swearing in it. Other than that, it was pretty clean (no sex or drugs). It does go into some detail on how to do an embalming, which made me a little squeamish. What bothered me the most were a couple of scenes where the main character, John Cleaver, wrestled with the temptation of doing violence to someone.

That said, I had a hard time putting this book down. It was very well written. There was an outer struggle of John versus what he first thinks is a serial killer but later finds out is a demon. In the process of his investigation, though, an inner struggle emerges between him and what he calls 'Mr. Monster'. John fears that he may be turning into a serial killer himself and struggles with temptations of violence. These conflicts kept the book moving forward and my interest piqued.

My recommendation? It's a great read, but if you don't like gory scenes and psychological struggles, it probably isn't for you. If you like action, mystery, or a good old fashioned 'David versus Goliath' story, then you'll like it. I wouldn't recommend it for younger teens, but for older teens and up, as long as they know what they are getting into, it will be fine. Unless they stress out while watching 'Leave it to Beaver', then they might want to reconsider.

My Own Funeral

2010-04-16T09:53:00.000-08:00

I had a weird dream the other night. I was dressed in a black suit and setting up chairs in a church. After I finished that, I had to wrestle one of those huge Hollywood movie cameras, the heavy old fashioned ones, into the building in order to televise the event: my funeral.

I felt frustrated that no one would help me as I then had to roll an upright piano into the room, set up the coffin, and put out the guest book. At that point, people started to arrive.

I realized that I had a small problem: I was not dead. Things were not going as planned (don't you hate that?). What was I to do? I couldn't just send everybody home and say, "False alarm. Maybe next week." I had a crowd and TV cameras expecting a show.

My solution? I parked the coffin below the podium, got into it, and kept the lid open. Once the service started, I made wise-cracks during the speeches and eulogy. Problem solved.

James Dashner is Evil

2010-04-12T13:21:00.001-08:00

I read The Maze Runner by James Dashner recently and came to the conclusion that he is evil. Each night, I planned on reading just a chapter or two before going to bed, but nooooooooo. Before I knew it, an hour and several chapters would go by and I still wanted to keep reading. Doesn't he know that I need my beauty sleep?!

Seriously (I'll try, anyway), The Maze Runner is one of the most incredible books I've read in quite a while. At first, I was baffled as to why. The subject matter is not normally something I would be interested in. I normally want light and funny. The Maze Runner isn't either of those; not even close. So I would say that this book is not for younger readers or those prone to nightmares. There are some very dark and scary images created. In fact, I had some really weird dreams after reading (i.e. don't read at night if you can help it). They had something to do with walls closing in on me while I was being chased by some cross between a cow and a slug (aha! There's another part to his diabolical machinations – to give me bizarre dreams).

So why do I like it so much? I've pondered that for a while and kept asking myself this as I kept turning pages into the late night hours. For one thing, he does something similar to what I do: write short chapters with some kind of 'cliff hanger' ending that propels you forward. I call these Frito Lay chapters, because you get to the end and say, “Just one more, just one more.”

The story begins with a boy named Thomas who finds himself with no memories of his past and in the middle of a community of teenagers with the same problem. They are surrounded by a maze that changes every day and closes at night while these monstrous things, called Grievers, patrol the maze. Dashner explained on his website that he wanted to mix The Lord of the Flies with Ender's Game. I think he did that pretty well. Of course, I hated Golding's premise in Flies that boys, when left without adult supervision, will turn evil. I appreciate that Dashner took the opposite philosophy; that people are inherently good and will seek to do the right thing.

As far as my rating system goes, I give it a: L-8/S-0/VG-110/AD-0. The L is language, which was technically pretty clean, though there was a lot of swearing. Dashner used made-up swear words to avoid the real ones. The other 8 instances, I believe, were all 'crap'. The book had some fairly violent and gory sections, hence the 110 rating. Broken down, it scored 83 for violence and 27 for gore. And, of course, there was no sex or alcohol usage.

I highly recommend this book for those who don't mind a little violence and want a good, suspenseful read. I would suggest it for older teens and up, though some younger readers may be okay with the scary imagery. I suggest that the parents read this book first if you have a question about whether or not your child can handle it. I can't wait for the sequel.

There, now that I'm done reading it, I can get caught up on my sleep.

Why I Want an iPad

2010-04-07T14:55:00.000-08:00

Everyone else is writing about this new device, so I thought I'd join in. I know I mentioned that I was next going to blog about James Dashner's The Maze Runner. Next time, okay?

So, why do I want an iPhad, er, I mean iPad? Well, when the Sony ebook reader came out, I was intrigued. Probably because I'm a gadget addict and anything electronic with buttons on it fascinates me (Ooh, shiny!). I looked at one and liked the idea of being able to easily read ebooks on something besides a computer screen. You can't take a computer, even a laptop, into bed at night and snuggle up to it. I know some people love their Macbooks enough to do that, but not me. Anyway, then I looked at the price. $500? You gotta be freakin' kidding! All it does is read books? So I passed.

Later, I got to thinking that if it were a little cheaper and played mp3 files, I might go for it. They did gradually come down in price, but I still didn't want to pay $200 for something that could only do ebooks.

Then I started checking out the iPod Touch. It was small and could do ebooks and music, but the screen was too small to see much. As it is, I do have a Blackberry that can do ebooks, but I quickly decided that I would rather have a much bigger screen.

Then Steve Jobs made his big announcement. The functionality of an iPod Touch on a larger screen. Perfect! I drooled with anticipation. Then the price came out; $500+. Drat! A little on the spendy side for me, but with all the apps available, it might be worth it.

So I made a shopping list of features I want: be able to read pdf graphic files so that I can put music pdfs on it, be able to load via USB or SD card, to have a word processor that would be good enough for when I get writing ideas while on the road.

A funny thing happened on the way home today. My car somehow swerved off the road and landed in the Best Buy parking lot. I don't know how it happened. Honest. Okay, my wife didn't believe that either. Anyway, since I was there, I figured I might as well go in and see what this new gadget was like.

As an ebook reader, I think it will be great. It was easy to read and operate. I didn't try out the music functionality, but I'm sure it's fine. The web surfing went well, though that is not a feature that I must have. I knew going in that it didn't have a USB port, and I forgot to ask about the adapter that you can get for importing digital pictures. I was wondering if it can be used to import other data. I did ask about the pdf graphic function and the guy didn't know. From the Safari browser, pull up a text pdf on the internet and it looked fine. I couldn't think of any sites that had graphic pdfs off the top of my head, so I left it at that. Besides, others were waiting for their chance to drool on the new machines.

The big disappointment was the touch keyboard. Maybe it can be adjusted, but it was too sensitive for me. I ended up typing a lot of characters I never intended. Perhaps it just takes practice, like picking up a new instrument, but I'm getting too old to learn new tricks. The ergonomics were a little compressed, too, but I expected that.

Will I buy an iPad? Not yet. For one thing, iBroke. If I had the money, would I still buy it? I don't know. The keyboard thing is a big issue for me, and it defeats the purpose if you have to lug around an external keyboard. Do I want one? Heck, yeah. After all, it has 'buttons' (so to speak) and it's cool. Plus, it's shiny.

The Adventures of Hashbrown Winters

2010-03-29T13:27:00.000-08:00

Okay, I know I'm not doing well at keeping up on this. I have so many things to blog about that I'm not doing any of them. For now, I'll do a quick review of The Adventures of Hashbrown Winters by Frank Cole.

This book is definitely kid-friendly. I didn't even bother counting swearing or violence incidents because it is very clean.

I found this book a fun ride, but if you are into serious books that have to make perfect sense, then it's not for you. It takes place in a fantasy land called Pordunce Elementary; fifth grade to be exact. It's a zany world where almost every child, in order to be somebody, must have a nickname. So, in addition to following the exploits of Hashbrown, we get to meet Snow Cone, Whiz, Four Hips and Hambone.

This is one of the funniest books I've read in a long time and is a quick read. It's mainly intended for a younger audience, but those of us who are still kids at heart will enjoy it.

Next up: The Maze Runner by James Dashner.

The Canticle Kingdom by Michael Young

2010-03-15T12:52:00.002-08:00

This weekend I finished The Canticle Kingdom by Michael Young. It is a fantasy novel that combines magic with music. As a musician, I have often tried to think of story lines that did this, but I haven't come up with anything that works. Michael did.

First off, I would give this book a clean rating, meaning I would have no problem letting my kids read it. There is a little violence, but nothing very extreme or gory. There is nothing even close to resembling a swear word.

The Canticle Kingdom weaves post World War II Europe and America with that of a magical fantasy land. We first start off with some German craftsmen who make a music box. It goes through several hands and causes mysterious disappearances around it. Meanwhile, we also meet Johann and Brigitta, two youths who live in the Canticle Kingdom. They begin an adventure in their realm that seemingly has nothing to do with the one going on in Europe. I was intrigued and wanted to keep reading to see how these two worlds would come together.

This book was refreshing because it was a magical fantasy without the cliche. As much as I like Tolkien, it seems too many books rely upon the type of world he created. The Canticle Kingdom gives us a new perspective on fantasy that is truly unique.

Oh yeah, beware the Ides of March.

Percy Jackson: Book vs Movie

2010-02-27T15:08:00.000-09:00

I've been meaning to blog about the Percy Jackson books by Rick Riordan for a while. I just finished the series in January. I finally was motivated to read them because people kept telling me that my book reminded them of the Percy Jackson books.

First off, as I mentioned in my top ten books list, I loved the books. They were, for the most part, good clean fun. There was a consistent humor underlying the whole series that Harry Potter lost. The books managed to keep this lightness in spite of the heavy save-the-world-or-die aspects of it.

It was a fun romp through Greek mythology. I love mixed genres, so I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the Greek myth world getting mixed up with our 21st century one. I also like the fact that Percy Jackson was a do-something hero, unlike HP. He made decisions and took action without waiting for Hermoine to tell him what to do. If Percy and Harry went one-on-one, I think Percy would kick Harry's butt (ooh, movie idea! Kinda like alien vs predator).

So, today, we splurged and took the family to the Percy Jackson movie. Waste of money. Should have waited for the DVD. Now, I knew the movie would be quite a bit different. I just didn't realize that the entire plot would be changed. And the new plot wasn't all that well thought out. They should have just called this a "Re-envisioning of Percy Jackson."

My first complaint is that they made some of the monsters a little too scary-looking and detailed. I'm okay with them upping the age of the characters, but a large part of the Percy Jackson fan base are middle-grade readers. For instance, the Medusa scene went on too long. It was like, "Ooh, look at this cool special effect we can do with the snakes. Look, look, and keep looking for a really long time." The scene could have been more effective and suspenseful if we only got a quick look at the Medusa. But as it was, I think the scene was too drawn out for younger viewers (there was a whole row of them sitting in front of me). I would guess this is a big reason why the movie is not faring as well at the box office as expected. Message to Hollywood: MAKE MOVIES MORE FAMILY-FRIENDLY.

Maid and butler. Too much of the backstory was just told to us, instead of showing it or weaving it into the plot. For instance, when Chiron was first showing Percy his "cabin".

The antagonist was completely changed. This may not be a problem if they are not planning on doing any more movies, but if they are, they are going to have to completely re-write the plots to match the fact that they changed the villain in the first movie. If this is the only film, I think they dropped the ball. This could have been a profitable franchise like Harry Potter.

The pearl search became a major plot point that took up most of the film.

Capture the Flag. Who made up those rules? While Percy was duking it out with Annabeth and the other reds, someone else could have grabbed the flag. And then to have everybody stop and let him pick it up like "hail the conquering hero"? The objective is to capture the flag and take it to your base, not watch Percy kick butt and then, because he's such a nice guy, let him win.

Where did that woman come from at Auntie Em's? She was a total Star Trek red shirt, with no other purpose than to show us how dangerous Medusa was.

Keys in the visor of a car on display? Very convenient.

There were many little things left out of the world that could have been left in and not taken up any more time. Thalia's tree, strawberry fields, etc. They didn't need an explanation, but they were a part of the ambiance of the books that would have been nice to have. Mr. D. strolling through Camp Half-blood could have been entertaining, too.

It seems like there were other things, but I don't remember them now. I'm going to have to start taking a notebook to movies with me so I can jot them down as they happen.

Now, there were some things I liked. Grover did manage to provide some good comic relief. I especially loved his comment about the music of Nashville. Grover kept the movie at least mildly entertaining.

Even though this was a major change from the book, I liked that the reason why the gods didn't communicate with their children was because of a law from Zeus. The thing that bothered me the most about the books was the whole concept of the gods just having children with mortals and not caring much about them afterward. We have too many mortals doing that in our world today.

The special effects were good and almost invisible. Of course, I think this and other movies many times rely on the effects too much to tell the story (anybody hear about Star Wars I, II, and III?). But still, I'm a sucker for a pretty picture.

Percy Jackson's character came through mostly the same. His telling his step-father off was out of character (and a little maid and butler again), but other than that, it was close.

I liked the location of the entrance to Hades. Sometimes we find truth in fiction.

For more information, I did post on my website under Book Ratings my score for language, sex, and violence for the books. As I said, they are relatively clean. The seemingly high language score is mainly due to the use of the H-E-Double-toothpick-hounds that kept getting mentioned. If someone wants to get technical about usage, there really wasn't any swearing in the books. But the word was there.

Peaks Jazz Part 2

2010-02-21T06:01:00.000-09:00

I didn't take as many notes on Saturday, I just went to soak things in. There were a couple of themes that emerged, though.

I mentioned last time that Gordon Goodwin talked about the 10,000 hour rule. At another clinic done by Chase Baird (saxophone) and Steve Lyman (drums), I asked them how much time they practice. Steve mentioned the 10,000 hour rule again and said in his younger days he started out doing 2 hours a day, then later up to 6. I was glad they brought this out, since I don't think a lot of kids today really know what it means to practice. They think that a half hour a day will get them there. That's a start, but to get to the level that these guest artists play at, they need a lot more.

Gordon Goodwin did another clinic talking about his experience at writing and arranging music for animation (Warner Brothers, the Incredibles). I only heard the very end since I went to hear my daughters performance with the Orem High jazz band, but Gordon made a great statement. He said, "Video games are time bandits." In other words, they steal time from us that they don't give back. I have to confess that, for a while, I was addicted to computer games. I still play them here and there for a few minutes for stress release (spider solitaire anyone?), but not the hours on end like I used to. I find that I don't have time to do that anymore because I have more important things to do. I've got a music career to maintain and a writing career I'm starting. When you finish a computer games, what have you accomplished? So you make level 10,000, so what? Can you get a job or make money with that? The thing I've found with writing (or music practice) is that I get the same satisfaction as having conquered some game, AND I have something to show for it. I've also increased my skills in a marketable area.

Since the Olympics are on, we keep hearing stories about how these athletes have to dedicate a tremendous number of hours a day in order to get to their skill level. Is being a musician or writer any different? Okay, we don't get to earn expensive medals when we're done, but we don't have to retire at 30, either. But we need that same mindset, a willingness to put time and focus into our craft. Something else Gordon Goodwin said at the end of his clinic yesterday, "Perseverance and hard work are worth more than talent." From my experience watching students over the years, I whole-heartedly agree. I've had students with all kinds of talent levels, but the ones who have gone on to experience success are the ones who were willing to put the time in. Not a half hour a day, but two or more.

Eric Marienthal gave a great clinic in the morning. My frustration with is was that people kept asking him simple questions about saxophone equipment and fundamentals that their band teacher or I could have answered. Here we have one of the greatest jazz saxophonists on the planet and he is being asked about the difference between metal and plastic mouthpieces. He did have a few pedagogical approaches that were interesting and I need to experiment with.

Back to my theme of the day, though, Eric demonstrated, again, the importance of practicing. He really emphasized technique, and even has a two hour routine on his website that is very technical. So, again, time on task and smart practice were things he brought up.

Well, there are a few thoughts from yesterday. My dilemma now is, what do I do on Monday? I want to practice for three hours, but I also want to keep writing my novel. Decisions, decisions.

Peaks Jazz Day 1

2010-02-19T18:26:00.000-09:00

Okay, I'm geekin' out. And for this episode, I'm going to go back to my musical roots instead of writing about writing. Today, I went up to Thanksgiving Point to hear clinics given by alto saxophonist Eric Marienthal and tenor saxophonist/super arranger Gordon Goodwin. Both men offered some great advice to young musicians and gave me some material that I can use for teaching. Here are some of the things they said:

Eric Marienthal: Most important thing about practicing is constantly using a metronome (see? told ya). We need to play with our instrument, not at it. When you sit down to practice, have a plan. He also talked about motif practicing, which is something I also teach. What you practice isn't as important as how you do it. Playing professionally is all about playing in time and in tune. If he doesn't have much time for practice, he at least does long tones. The more time you put in, the more automatic things become.

Gordon Goowin: If you want something, you have to go get it. Have a plan when you improvise (or what I tell my students is to have a strategy). We need to train our brain to think spontaneously. A big thing that really stood out, though, is that he talked about the 10,000 hour rule, something I just blogged about! He also mentioned that to be musicians (or writers, for that matter), we have to have understanding spouses (boy, have I been blessed in that department).

So, I guess there are principles here that can apply to writing. I feel that my musical training has been a great help to my development as a writer. You have to be disciplined to make yourself practice. Same thing with making yourself sit down to write. Dang, I still turned this into a writing thing; I guess it's what's on my brain.

Clueless in Hollywood

2010-02-14T09:24:00.001-09:00

This is something that has been eating at me for a while, so I'll go ahead and rant about it. First off, a disclaimer. When I mention 'Hollywood' here, I'm using it as an abbreviation for the less than brilliant people there. Granted, there are some geniuses and good people there putting out good things.

Now that that's out of the way, here is something that confuses me. In the retail world, when you create a product, you want to make something as universally useful as possible so that it will appeal to more people. Or at least, the companies that care about quality do. It comes down to bottom line: the more sales, the more money you make. Why doesn't Hollywood get this principle?

I've been stewing about this since The Land of the Lost movie. When I heard about it, I got excited. I grew up watching the old Sid and Marty Kroft version and loved it. It had freakin' dinosaurs, for crying out loud! Every kid my age at the time loved anything about dinosaurs, even if they did look like sock puppets. So, here was my chance to share something from my childhood with my kids.

Not so fast. Then I saw the trailers. My excitement decreased. It was looking like it would be a raunchy, dirty movie. I still held out hope, though. Then, once it came out, I checked the Kids-In-Mind website, which told me that it was NOT a kid-friendly film, nor was it even adult friendly. Suffice it to say, I never saw it.

The week before, the SyFy channel had a marathon of the old TV shows. It was interesting to see that a lot of the episodes were written by the same people who wrote the original Star Trek shows. I think the first episode was even written by Walter Koenig (aka Chekov). Anyway, my younger kids loved the shows (the teenagers just rolled their eyes). This made me realize that Hollywood really blew it. They could have written a really dumb script for the movie and could have been reasonably successful if THEY HAD ONLY MADE IT FAMILY FRIENDLY. As it was, by making it a raunch-fest, the movie didn't pull in enough box office to cover the cost of making it. It cost 100 million, and it pulled in 64 million. Ouch.

Okay, so Hollywood made one mistake. Well, a couple of other movies pop to mind: The Brady Bunch Movie and The Beverly Hillbillies. I never saw them, but they were both rated PG-13, which in my mind translates as family-UNfriendly. They also both flopped. However, my kids love the old TV versions of those shows, and if the movies were cleaner, perhaps Hollywood would have received a good return on investment.

And then there's TV. Last season, they rolled out the new and improved version of Knight Rider. When my youngest son caught wind of that, he got very excited. A talking car? How cool is that to a young mind? Well, I watched the first episode and saw that it was NOT a kid show. Surprise of all surprises, the show did not survive long.

I think that is also what brought about the demise of Star Trek: Enterprise. At least with the other four series, I could watch them with my kids and not have to worry too much. Enterprise was not like that. Some of the episodes were okay, but I didn't know if they would be child-safe until after I watched them. I think this is one of the reasons why the show didn't get the ratings they wanted. At the same time, some of the episodes were very thought-provoking and well-written. They were just a little too violent and risque for a broader audience.

I don't even want to launch into the new Battlestar Galactica. I could rant about that for a long time.

Now, if Hollywood wants to make a gritty movie about warfare in the trenches with all it's inherent grit, fine. I don't have a problem with that, even though I don't want to see it. What really gripes me is when they take what was originally a good, clean idea and decide that it needs to be dirtier. To my knowledge, this formula has never worked. So why do they keep trying it? It seems to me, either they are really stupid or else they have an agenda, but that might be a topic for another time.

Drained from LTUE

2010-02-13T18:20:00.000-09:00

I spent all day today at "Life, the Universe, and Everything" symposium (LTUE) at BYU. It's a great place to rub shoulders with some of the hot names in sci-fi and fantasy. This year, we had Brandon Sanderson, James Dashner and Brandon Mull. Plus, there are several other writers (like me) who happen to live in the area and participate on the panels. It's a great place to learn some of the inside tricks and information about being a writer. There are also discussions about the sci-fi and fantasy genres.

I made it to panels about style in sci-fi, fantasy without magic, becoming an idea factory, why Mormons and fantasy, soft science SF, Brandon Sanderson's address, and the Writing Excuses podcast. I participated on panels about influences on writers and NaNoWriMo. I did a book signing today and even a "reading", even though the only person who showed up for it was my daughter.

So, it has been a full day and full weekend. I now need to relax and process all the information I took in. LTUE is basically like a second Christmas for writers.

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things . . . Books

2010-02-11T12:01:00.000-09:00

I can't believe Rodgers and Hammerstein didn't have a verse about books. At least they got the schnitzel in there. Anyway, today I'm going to attempt to list my top ten favorite fiction books. This is partially in preparation for a panel I'll be on tomorrow at BYU's "Life, the Universe, and Everything" symposium. It's called LTUE for short, so my daughter pronounces it 'Lute' and I pronounced it 'LaTooee'. The panel I'll be on is titled, "What influenced me as a writer." I'll maybe write more on that after the panel, but for now, you will be privileged to read my current top ten list (subject to change without notice, some items may not be available for purchase, contents may settle during shipping, residents of CA and NY add sales tax).

I'm cheating a little and lumping series together as one book, but here we go:

#10. The Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazney. Fantasy. I have not read this series in over 20 years, but I remember I really liked it at the time. It's been put back on my "to read" list, which is a mile long. I don't remember enough about it to say why I liked it, all I remember is that it intrigued me and left an impression.

#9 The Belgariad/The Malloreon by David Eddings. Fantasy. I've read this series twice, but it's been 20 years since the last time as well. Eddings probably has had the most impact on me as a writer. I love the lightness of his stories and the interaction of the characters. And even though these are big, thick books, they still have a YA feel to them and are mostly clean.

#8 The Warlock in Spite of Himself and subsequent books by Christopher Stasheff. Sci-fi, in spite of the title. About a man who lands on a medieval style planet and is thought to be a warlock because of his advanced knowledge. I mainly loved the lightness and humor between him and his epileptic robotic horse.

#7 Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. Sci-fi/comedy. So this book is a similar genre to my own. The tongue-and-cheek wit of Douglas Adams is a great form of escape.

#6 Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson. Epic fantasy. I mainly picked this series up because he is a local author. Well, it turns out that he is also an extremely talented writer. I also love his Alcatraz books, but I still haven't read books 2 and 3, so they didn't make the list, yet. In Mistborn, Brandon creates an interesting and complex magic system that is believable and characters that are intriguing and lovable. There's also a little tragedy in there, which for some reason also appeals to me. It would be higher on my list, though, if it were a comedy. Like maybe if the allomancers used colored M&Ms instead of metals.

#5 Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan. YA fantasy. I've recently started reading more YA, partially because that is the genre that I write in. It may also be because I'm trying to recapture my youth, I'm not sure. Of course, another nice thing about YA is that it doesn't have all the sex, violence, and language that authors of adult books seem to think everybody wants. Anyway, the Percy Jackson books appealed to me because they were fun but not heavy. I didn't feel down and depressed, like after reading about a character with the initials of 'HP'.

#4 The Mars series by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Sci-fi/Fantasy. Again, I haven't read these for a while, so their rank may change when I do. These were some of the first books I read as a youth (in addition to his Tarzan, Pelucidar, and Venus series). I guess the swashbuckling adventure is why they are still near and dear to my heart.

#3 The Stainless Steel Rat series by Harry Harrison. Sci-fi/comedy. Again, my favorite genre. These are all told in a wacky first-person, tongue-in-cheek style. The humor is what mainly appeals to me, though it's also fun to see how "Slippery Jim" DiGriz pulls off his various heists.

#2 The Lord of the Rings by you-know-who. Epic fantasy. I know, I know, this book is probably on just about every fantasy geek's list. I am no exception. The Hobbit was the first fantasy book I read of any kind, and it pulled me away from the Hardy Boys forever. As far as Tolkien's influence on me as a writer, I think it was actually negative. I loved the world he created and wanted to create my own like it. I got so caught up in "world-building" that I neglected little things like character development and plot. I've since then realized that I am no freakin' Tolkien, so I don't let myself spend too much time on world-building any more. But as far as the man who started it all and fired up my imagination, I still tip my hat to him. Except I don't wear hats, even when it's below zero.

And now (imagine drum roll here) for my favorite book/series of all time: The Elenium/The Tamuli series by David Eddings. I liked it for the same reason as the Belgariad, except I enjoyed having a witty adult main character. As much as I like YA lit, it's nice to be able to read a character that I can relate with age-wise. That's probably one of the reasons why The Incredibles is also my favorite movie.

So, there you have it. I'm probably leaving out something important, but, oh well.

The 10,000 Hour Rule

2010-02-07T08:39:00.000-09:00

Several times after playing a gig, someone has come up to me and said, "Oh, you're so talented." My response to them us usually, "No, I'm not talented. I just found something I enjoyed and stuck with it until I accidentally got good at it." The more I think about it, though, the more I find my statement to be true for all success.

I recently read the first half of a book (because the Orem Library wanted it back. I hate due dates) called The Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. One of the things that piqued my interest was when he discussed the 10,000 rule. In a nutshell, what they've found for people to become an expert at something is that it takes 10,000 hours. At first I thought, "That's all?" Then I started doing some math, which is pretty challenging for a music major who can only count to four.

In the book, Gladwell mentions a study of musicians (that got my attention)where they wanted to see how much time it took studying the instrument to become 'world class'. Now, we've always been told that to be good at music, you have to practice a lot. Well, what they found is that, surprise, it takes about 10,000 hours of practice. This is nice in that now we have a quantity and not just some vague 'practice lots' advice, but it is also daunting when you figure out what it takes to get to the magic 10,000.

Okay, here's my math, as faulty as it may be. I figured that by the time I graduated from high school, I had about 2000 hours. Some of these kids in the music study were reaching 10,000 by the time they were 20. Not me. To do that, they had to get to the point where they were practicing 6 to 8 hours a day as teenagers. I then figured that while I was in college as a music major, I was putting in about 1000 hours a year (probably more, but I was doing a conservative estimate). It took me all of my high school and college years to finally hit 10,000 by my late 20's.

Of course, this does not only apply to music. Gladwell also brings up a few examples of other experts who had put 10,000 hours into their study by the time they were in their early 20's. Anyone ever heard of some dude named Bill Gates?

Okay, time for more math (if my brain doesn't explode). In the last four years, I estimated that I've put in 2000 hours into writing. I'm not sure how much from before between high school and college, but I probably have a few thousand hours there. But I don't think I've hit 10,000 yet, and I definitely don't feel like an expert at writing. To break down these last four years, I figured I was doing about 10 hours a week for 50 weeks (my year only has 50 weeks because I like nice, round numbers without those extra fiddly-bits attached). So that means 500 hours a year. To hit 10,000 hours at that rate would take 20 years. (depressed yet?)

Actually, I think this is good news. Talent has nothing to do with it. What trumps talent is perseverance. Additionally, though, whatever field we want to become an expert at, we need to enjoy it. It would be more like a prison sentence to spend 10,000 hours doing something we didn't like. I feel blessed that I've found things I enjoy and don't mind putting in the time. I guess that's part of our life's mission is to find what we love and can put the time into. We can all become experts.

Top ten TV shows

2010-01-31T13:49:00.001-09:00

A couple of weeks ago I listed my top ten movies. This week, I'll go through my favorite TV shows. I'm finding I trend toward comedy and science fiction, go figure. Anyway, here they are (in reverse order):

#10 The Greatest American Hero. Super hero comedy, gotta love it. I mainly enjoyed Robert Culp's character and the humor of not having the instructions for how to use the super suit.

#9 Babylon 5. The continuing saga kept this series interesting. Events would actually change character's lives instead of having a reboot at the beginning of each episode.

#8 Star Trek Deep Space 9. I know this wasn't the most popular Star Trek series, but it is my favorite because of the saga element similar to Babylon 5. The first couple of seasons tended to meander like typical Star Trek, but the last few seasons (with the Dominion War) were very exciting. Plus, it had my favorite Star Trek character of all time: Vic Fontaine.

#7 Eureka. Sci-fi comedy. The only series on my list that is currently running. The plot a lot of times is a little predictable (or it would have been higher on my list), but Sheriff Carter is a great character surrounded by some very intriguing personalities. I describe it as Mayberry meets X-Files.

#6 Get Smart. Spies and comedy. Granted, the show could be pretty dumb at times, but it was all tongue-in-cheek. Sometimes I like a show that is just so dumb it's funny. Don Adams was my idol when I was a kid.

#5 Star Gate SG1. Sci-fi comedy. It took a few seasons to find its stride. It technically isn't a comedy, but Richard Dean Anderson kept a lightness to it that was fun. Ben Browder tried to continue that and did okay.

#4 Star Gate Atlantis. In a lot of ways very similar to SG1. I liked it a little better, though, because of the banter between Rodney McKay and Col. Sheppard.

#3 MASH. Dramedy. You were never sure if an episode would make you laugh or cry or both.

#2 Home Improvement. Flat-out funny comedy. I never get tired of watching the reruns. They make me laugh even when I know the punchline ahead of time.

And now, the moment you've all been waiting for. The greatest television show of all time: The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. This was a bizarre mix of genres, which I loved. It was a western/sci-fi/comedy starring Bruce Campbell. It started life along side the first season of X-Files, but only made it one season. But it was a fun romp through the wild west that never took itself too seriously. I like that in a show.

As far as the ones that didn't quite make the top ten: Star Trek, Star Trek The Next Generation, Battlestar Galactica (the REAL series from the 70s, not that Sci-fi channel fake), Bewitched, The Cosby Show, Hogan's Heroes, Beverly Hillbillies, Magnum PI, Farscape, The Red Green Show, and The Muppet Show. Sadly, other than Eureka, there's really not much on TV these days that really fascinates me. I guess I'll need to blog about that in the future some time.

By the way, I saw Avatar again. It still holds the #2 spot on my movie list.

Dragon War Relic characters

2010-01-22T08:31:00.000-09:00

I've started this post several times at night when my brain was functioning like Jello. Actually, Jello probably would have been able to think more clearly than I. Anyway, I'm trying it in the morning this time before my brain becomes another gelatinous mess.

I've had several questions from people about how I created my characters. The short answer is: I don't know. It comes down to the fact that I'm a discovery writer and I just sit down and improvise. The characters, like Athena from Zeus, seem to pop out of my head fully formed. I don't do any long work sheets to figure out where they were born or what their favorite food is. Details just come to me as I write. I've said this before, but I feel like I access the same part of my brain when I write as when I improvise jazz.

Okay, now for the long answer. I still had to make some decisions about the characters, so here's a break down on some of those decisions:
Jared: He's a lot like I was as a teenager, except he's smarter, more motivated, and a lot less messy. I wanted someone who was kind of an anti-Harry Potter. Not that he's the opposite, but I wanted him to be a good student who could figure things out on his own, unlike good ol' HP who needed Hermoine's help. I also used the color code theory on personality, so I made Jared a blue.
Doug: Color code: yellow. He was pattered after some guys I knew in California and in college. He might be a little dated, since he would have fit right in with California culture in the 80's. He's also a little like I wanted to be as a teenager but was afraid to be.
Gar: Gar is a blue-red. He's also a little like I am now as an adult. I wanted someone who was serious and fun. My kids first compared him to Hagrid, but in my mind he's a little more like Ford Prefect from Hitchhiker's Guide.
Kayla: She is the hardest character for me to relate to. Naturally, I kept unconsciously making her docile like an angel, but I wanted her to be contrary to the stereo-typical angel, to be kind of a snot. What finally helped was that I cast an actress to play her part in my mind, but I won't say who. Of course, I'm still having this struggle with her in The Scepter of the Ancients. She's a red. Maybe that's why I struggle with her since I'm a white.
Sprock: Of course, he's a big fan of Mr. Spock from Star Trek. But where Spock is outspoken and unemotional, Sprock is shy and very emotional. He's an extreme white.
Kerk, Sprock, and Bob: These three were originally just supposed to do comic relief cameos, but somehow they inserted themselves into the story. So between them and Doug (and Gar, to some extent) I have a cast of comedians and one very, ultra-serious person for them to make fun of.
Tyke: Of course, you don't know who Tyke is. He was a character who was cut from one of my failed drafts for book 2. My daughter, though, said he was one of her favorites, so I need to figure a way to get him back in. He's a former Angel fighter pilot (from the Angel-Demon wars) who now drives an air taxi on Angelon. He's also not your typical Angel: unshaven, sloppy robes, and dare-devil.

Let me know if you have any more questions.

Top ten movies of all-time (according to me)

2010-01-12T10:48:00.000-09:00

I finally went to see Avatar last weekend, which has forced me to have to rethink my top movies list. At first, I thought that it might be my new number one, but there were still a few things that bothered me about it. I'll still put it in my top ten, but I need to see it again to be sure of where I'll put it.

Here's my list thus far:
#1. The Incredibles. Avatar didn't quite unseat it. The whole idea of a middle-aged superhero just appeals to me. What keeps it on top for me is the totally freakin' awesome soundtrack.

#2. Avatar. This is a tentative ranking until I can see it again. The CGI was incredible, plus the story sucked me in. I'm still a little bothered about wanting to cheer for the aliens in the end, though.

#3. The Fellowship of the Ring. This is my favorite of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. I think Boromir is the one who did it for me. For some reason, I like the tragic hero.

#4. The Empire Strikes Back. Best of all the Star Wars movies. It's nice to see the good guys get whooped every now and then, as long as you know they'll get back up and win.

#5. Ironman. Just a well-done superhero movie. I liked the character arch that Tony Stark went through. Now, I hope the sequels continue the arch and don't have him returning to his sordid ways, but I'm afraid they will.

#6. Star Wars: A New Hope. I still get tingles when Han comes out of nowhere to blast Luke free.

#7. Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan. Great bad guy. Enterprise gets the snot knocked out of it. I don't know why, but I think that's cool.

#8. Spiderman II. In this case, it was the tragic villain. Had that a little in the first movie, but I felt more for Doc Ock. Also, Peter had to make up his mind about who he really was.

#9. The Magnificent Seven. Coolest western of all time.

#10. Men In Black. Just a good ol' fun movie.

That's the list for the moment. I'll probably change my mind again tomorrow.

A little vacation

2010-01-03T08:11:00.000-09:00

I hope my faithful readers aren't too disappointed in my lack of blogging, but I needed a break. And it felt good, too. Of course, I did work some more on The Galactic Adventures of Doug in 3D and will do a third draft this next week. Then, if things are going right with it, I'll try to put episode one up on Saturday. It's a different approach for me, since it has Doug as the point-of-view character and it's in first person. It's fun to write in his voice, though, so I hope it will be fun for the readers, too.

Our family news of the week was that we took our oldest son to the Missionary Training Center in Provo on Wednesday, December 30th. That's part of the reason for my little break, since we wanted to spend some time with him before he left for two years. He'll be going to Dallas Texas, Spanish speaking so he'll have to develop some Spanish chops while at the MTC. We're very proud of him, though, and know that this will be a big growing experience for him.

Starting tomorrow, I need to figure out how to balance my life. I still need to keep marketing my book, but I need to spend less time on that now. I have to put some attention to my music business, since I'm starting to pick up more students. I also want to get back to working on the sequel to The Dragon War Relic. My goal is to have another draft done by February.

Speaking of goals, I thought I would philosophize about New Year's resolutions. My take is: don't do them. Not that we shouldn't be trying to improve ourselves, but why wait until New Years? I believe that if you find something in your life that you want to improve, just do it, don't wait for some magic date. The best time to pursue a goal is when you are motivated.

survey

2009-12-22T10:44:00.002-09:00

Online Surveys & Market Research

Busy time

2009-12-14T20:01:00.000-09:00

I haven't been able to come up with any creative blogs lately. I've had book signings every weekend and have been doing lots of Internet promoting of my book. Also, I'm finishing up the semester with my UVU students. I'm hoping after this week things will open up more.

This Friday, I'll be doing a book signing at Confetti Antiques from 3 to 6. I'm working on getting another one set up somewhere else on Saturday, but I haven't heard back yet.

The Galactic Adventures of Doug had to be put on hold but I plan to restart them this week. I've decided to take a different approach from the one I started with.

The Galactic Adventures of Doug (in 3D)

2009-12-05T10:02:00.000-09:00

Yesterday I started working on a new project. Of course, I'm also swamped with marketing book 1 and editing book 2, but I thought, what the heck. I decided to start working on a series of short stories with Doug (a character in my book) as the main character. I would post these on my website every so often. I wrote the first installment, but I need to write several more before I get an idea of where the story is going. I'm going back into my discovery writing mode, so I don't know what's going to happen until it pops out of my brain. I don't know when I'll start posting these, but I hope to get them going later this month.

Until then, do the Havoc Stomp.

Call for Reviews

2009-12-02T12:52:00.000-09:00

I was wanting to put a plea out to all my friends to have you post reviews at the online book sites, like Amazon, B&N, Borders, or Goodreads. Of course, I want positive reviews, but do feel free to be honest. I know as a writer that I can't please everyone, so not everyone will like what I've done (it's the same in music).

Also, I'm looking for quotes I can put on my website. If you want to give me a quote containing what you liked about the book, your first name and last initial, your age (optional) and your "area of expertise", I'd greatly appreciate it. The best ones will go up on my website. By "area of expertise", it could be your real day job, or something like, "Lead singer in polka band" or "Underwater basket weaver" or "Elf Expert". You get the idea. Be creative and have fun with it. You can email me or leave a comment on The Blog of Berin.

There is now an official magazine review of my book. It's at: http://www.ldsmag.com/books/091202mystery.html .

Lastly, there are less than two weeks left in the $20 Borders Gift Card Giveaway. The odds are pretty good that you will win. For more details, see my previous blog post.

Contest Time: $20 Borders gift card

2009-11-23T08:32:00.000-09:00

It's contest time. I'm doing a drawing on December 14th for a $20 Borders gift card. To enter, send me an email to author@berinstephens.com, or use the form on the contact page of my website. All I need is a return email address. If you're the winner, I'll contact you by email to get an address I can ship it to. Now for the bad news. This is for residents of the United States only, but it does include Alaska and Hawaii.

Also, I'm curious to see what the readers think the Dragon War Relic is. There are a lot of relics and artifacts in the book, but which is THE relic? Include your guesses with your entry.

Some of you may wonder what I'll do with your email addresses. I will not sell them or give them away to anyone. That's just plain rude. I might start a newsletter in the future, but only if I can come up with quality material to send out. And, if I do create a newsletter, it will be once a month, not every flippin' day.

Tell your friends, and may the best man/woman/elf/ogre/dwarf/dragon/angel/gourdo/squemish/etc. win.

Where are all the Gene Kellys?

2009-11-15T15:56:00.000-09:00

I planned on going to bed early last night. After a morning book signing, an afternoon matinee, and an evening performance, I was exhausted when I finally dragged into my home at 10 pm. I made the mistake of turning on the TV to a local PBS station which was showing "An American in Paris". I stayed up until midnight to watch it.

I was immediately sucked in by the music. First of all, I've played a version of the Gershwin score when I was a member of the Anchorage Symphony. Secondly, several of the other songs have become some of my favorite jazz standards, like 'I've Got Rhythm', 'Our Love is Here to Stay', and 'S Wonderful'.

The other thing that stood out to me was Gene Kelly. As a kid, I loved "Singin' in the Rain". I still enjoy it as an adult. Watching "An American in Paris" reminded me of what an incredible talent Gene Kelly was. For one, he was an incredible athlete/dancer. Watching his tap dance moves and how he worked his environment reminded me of Jackie Chan (only much better looking). Also, the guy could have been a great wide receiver or DB in the NFL. The dude was buffed!

Of course, he was famous for his dancing, but he could also sing and act. He presented a charming and warm character who could break out into a song at the drop of a hat (literally).

It makes me wish we could see more movies and people with talents like that. Now, all we get are actors that are all fluff and no brains and movies that are all special effects and no story. It makes me wonder, where have all the Gene Kellys gone? Maybe Pete Seeger should add another verse to "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?".

2B an Author part 2

2009-11-13T13:08:00.000-09:00

The biggest hurdle I faced when it came to writing was strategy. I had taken some writing classes and read several books and I tried to follow the advice they gave. It didn't work. I kept getting stuck.

My biggest problem is that I'm a perfectionist. I would write a chapter, then want to go back and write and rewrite until it was the finished product. Of course, by then, all forward momentum was lost. I started four or five novels this way that ended at chapter three or four.

The other problem was that I had been taught that you are supposed to outline your stories. I would come up with outlines, but they never seemed to work for me. I figured that I must be a failure at writing and gave up for a while.

My daughter discovered an event called NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month. Three years ago, we both decided to do this together, you know, so that we would have someone to commiserated with when we got frustrated. The main objective of NaNoWriMo is to write a 50,000 novel in 30 days (November, usually).

When I got started, the perfectionist in me said, "Let's go back and fix what we just wrote." In which I would have to answer back, "Quiet, we don't have time for that!" (Yes, I do have conversations with myself).

It turned out, in order to stay on schedule, that I had to turn off the perfectionist voice (it whined a lot, but eventually settled down to a whimper). This led me to find out that I am what they call a 'discovery writer'. Most of the time, I have no idea what is going to happen in the next chapter until I write it. This makes it exciting for me and can lead into unpredictable situations. There are also plenty of pitfalls, too, which I will maybe go into another time.

My main point is, though, that you, the aspiring author, needs to find a method that works for you. You might be an 'outliner' or you may be a 'discoverer' or somewhere in between. What you need to do is to try different writing approaches and see what works best for you. Just because some famous writer uses a certain approach doesn't mean it will work for you. We're all different. So, do some research and find out how different writers approach their art and then try their method for a bit. If that doesn't work, try something else until you find something that works.

2 B an Author

2009-11-12T12:01:00.000-09:00

Now that I'm getting out and meeting people at book signings, I'm constantly hearing how they wish that they could write a book. I say, just do it, don't wish for it. Anyone can write a book. Now, getting it published and sold are something else, but the first step is to get the book written. It can never get to those other stages if it is a bunch of ideas floating in your head.

I think there is a great reward just from writing the book, even if it is never published. If someone makes a quilt, are they disappointed if it doesn't make the front cover of a quilting magazine? No. They are proud of their accomplishment and feel they have something to show for the time and love that they put into it. Writing a book is the same thing.

I must confess that I used to spend a lot of my spare time playing computer games. I finally realized, though, that after I finished a game I had nothing to show for all that time spent. Once I got hooked on writing, I found it to be just as addicting and satisfying AND I had something to show when I was done.

It doesn't matter if the book can't be read or understood by anyone else. The first draft of The Dragon War Relic is pretty laughable (and not in a good way), but I learned so much from the process. In fact, I'm kind of curious to go back and read that first draft, but I'm afraid I might become nauseated.

Once I had hammered through my first book, then a lot of the writing advice and books that I had read started to make sense. When I read them before writing, they helped a little, but I couldn't understand a lot of what they were talking about. Afterwards, I would reread some of them and they would suddenly become clear.

So, don't wish to be an author, be one. Don't worry about it being perfect. What would happen if an Olympic gymnast decided they would never do the parallel bars until they knew they could do them perfectly? They would never learn.

Next time, I'll explore some ideas on writing strategies.

The fun begins

2009-11-08T19:28:00.000-09:00

Okay, I'm getting nervous. Tomorrow morning I start the "Costco Tour" (should I make tour t-shirts?). I'm nervous because this is entering the realm outside of my comfort zone. As I've said before, I just want to write. This getting out and meeting people and trying to sell my book scares me. Now, I know I can do it, because I've worked sales before, but it runs against the grain of my shy, quiet nature. For those who know the color code, I'm a white. Very white. I don't want to rock the boat or upset people. I just want to live in my own little world in peace. I just keep telling myself to act naturally, to be friendly and make eye contact. I don't need to go act like a super salesman.

On another note, this week I'm also doing another show at the American Leadership Academy. It's called 'Stuck in the 70's' and is under the direction of Rick Lunt. The scary thing about it is that I know most of the music and remember when it came out. It's fun though, even if there are no Tower of Power tunes.

Still sane

2009-11-04T08:50:00.000-09:00

Okay, I thought this week would be the lull before the storm. Boy, was I wrong. Next week, of course, I start my big push to see if we can get my book to sell. I really don't know what I'm doing and it scares me to death.

I would rather be writing right now. I have that draft finished for another book but no time to do anything with it. It's going to have to wait while I do stage three of being a writer. Stage one is where you actually get to write. Stage two is where you have to become an editor. Now, stage three, I have to go out and sell the thing. It boils down to this: if you want to be a writer, you have to be able to do all three areas well. I have yet to see if I can pull all of them off.

So, this week I'm trying to get word out about next week, which is pretty much taking up all my spare time. I just hope I don't completely stress out and go bonkers. But for now, I'm still sane (I think).

Book 2 draft 1

2009-10-26T19:39:00.000-08:00

I finished a draft for book 2 today. It's still pretty rough, but I think it has a workable story. I have two other attempts for book 2, but neither of them fully worked. The second attempt ended up being two books in one, so I took one of the ideas and used it for this third try. I'm thinking of pulling book 4 also out of that second attempt. I also have an outline done for a book 3.

Now that I have a functional draft, the real work begins. I think of it like having a clump of clay on the pottery wheel. First, you have to get the clay there before you can work with it and mold it into what you want. The first draft is just a lump of clay.

When I went to the UVU writing symposium last month, Brandon Sanderson talked about the importance of rewriting. He quoted James Michener, who said something to the effect that he was not a very good writer, but he was a good re-writer. That gave me hope. I don't have to have a perfect first draft, I just need to have a good story that can be molded and shaped into a good novel.

Lost Symbol by Dan Brown

2009-10-23T14:35:00.000-08:00

I know, everyone and their dog and their dog's fleas has written a review of Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol. I'll start off with what I think is unique to my review, which is my rating system. I've been tweaking it through the last several books I've been reading,so here is my rating for this book:

L-209/S-12/V-67/A-3.

Explanation: L is language, with more points being given to harsher language. S is for sex, V is for violence and gore, and A is for alcohol and drugs. The lower the number, the lower the incidents. My goal is to help people and parents to decide if the book is for them.

Review:
I liked the book, but it was also a bit of a let down. I feel Brown just plugged a new setting and factoids into the same formula he used for The DaVinci Code. Of course, his method of short chapters and trickling out of plot information makes it hard to put the book down. The chapters are so short, they are almost like Doritos, making you say, "Just one more. Just one more." It almost became laughable at times, because Robert Langdon (main character) is always going from one predicament to the next with hardly enough time to catch his (or your) breath in between. Sometimes the constant peril seemed a little too much.

One thing that bothered me was that sometimes Robert Langdon seemed a little too much of a skeptic and a little slow on the uptake. Some of the riddles I solved before he did, and he's supposed to be the symbology expert.

Bottom line: Will I let my kids read it? No. Even though the story was exciting and had interesting historical bits (with Dan Brown's twistings)it had way too much language for my taste. This is why I like young adult books better. You don't have to wade through all that garbage.

Origin story

2009-10-23T07:15:00.000-08:00

Every super hero has an origin story. I am no exception. Of course, I still don't have any super powers, other than playing saxophone. And I'm still waiting to hear back from George Lucas about my application to the Jedi Academy. Anyway, I thought I would let people know about how I became a writer.

One day, I was busily engaged in a game of spider solitaire on my computer when I accidentally bumped the 'Start' button. I noticed a strange program. In a moment of curiosity/foolishness, I clicked on it. I strange program invaded my screen, filling it with a wide expanse of whiteness. At first, I was frightened. What could this new thing be? Was it malevolent, benign, or holy? I stretched forth a frail and trembling finger and touched the keyboard. A letter appeared! I tried it again, and another showed up. It was amazing! I could type words into it and they would magically appear on the screen. I was ecstatic. I typed several more words onto the screen in a rash of pure joy. Then, it happened: I misspelled a word. Flaming red streaks appeared across the screen, chastising me for my foolishness. What was I to do? Of course, years later, I learned that this program could magically fix those words with the click of a button. You don't even need whiteout! (I ruined several computer monitors before I figured that out.)

My exploration of this mysterious program continued for days. I kept typing words into it and it would remember them. Finally, after several weeks of this, I had a whole collection of assorted words. I printed them out and sent them out to other people. At first, these other people told me that I was a loser and that I should not quit my day job. I persevered. I battled on, I entered more letters into the magic program and I changed several more. I sent the manuscript again, and, miracle of miracles, someone liked it! Now you know how I became a writer.

Blessed life

2009-10-21T11:55:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I was complaining about how busy life had become for me. Getting one book ready for publication while trying to write another one is very time consuming. Now, I also have to factor in getting out and selling the first book at book signings. Then, on top of that, I have my "day" job of teaching music, which requires me to keep my music chops in shape and to teach lessons. There are also lots of recordings I need to make right now. Anyway, I was stressing out about all the things I need to do until I stopped and realized something. These are all things that I enjoy doing. I'm busy doing the stuff I love, how cool is that? Other people spend all do doing things they hate. I realized that on top of being blessed with a wonderful wife and great kids, I have occupations that I enjoy too. I am truly blessed.

Decision made

2009-10-19T12:48:00.000-08:00

Okay, so my blogging has been pathetic lately. Even though my novel is out the door and being printed, I've been focusing my energies during this break to try and finish a draft of my second book. That seems to be taking up all my writing energy. I want to finish it before November because once that month hits, I'll be having to devote a lot of time to selling my book.

I made an executive decision (for those who know me and my inability to make decisions, please don't faint)last week that right now, the balance between writing and music needs to tip heavily towards writing. I have a window of opportunity to live a life-long dream of being a published author. My plan is to devote the next few months into getting my book rolling. I hope that after it does start moving on its own, I'll be able to relax a bit and put attention again back to my music. Down the road, I plan to spend mornings being a writer and afternoons being a musician. To me, that's the best of both worlds. We'll see what happens, though.

Writing update

2009-09-27T12:41:00.001-08:00

I just finished my last read through and edit list yesterday afternoon on The Dragon War Relic. Now the book will go to print on October 1 and should hit stores in November. It's been a busy few weeks, where I've been putting in around 6 hours a day working on this (in addition to my teaching time). So, you'd think that I'd be burned out. Instead, I can't wait until tomorrow when I can start writing creatively again. The last couple months have been focused entirely on editing, which I have decided is not fun. The creative artist in me has been dying to get out. So, tomorrow, I'll let my muse loose and see what happens.

Of course, there have been some other things of import that have happened this last week. For one, my son got his mission call to the Texas Dallas Mission, Spanish speaking. I also went to a writing conference at Utah Valley University on the 24th which I'll write more about later. And, my daughter went to homecoming last night after she and my other daughter did a marching band competition in Payson. I'm hoping this next week will be a little more calm.

Sorry

2009-09-20T20:06:00.000-08:00

I know a few weeks ago I said I would do a jazz article and a writing article each week. Well, I haven't kept up with that goal, but I think I have a good excuse. This last week, I was making the final edits to my book. That took a lot of time and I had a deadline. That's done now, but this next week I'll be trying to get my other stuff caught up that I let fall behind while I was making edits. I still hope to have two new articles next weekend, but no promises.

Writing Discoveries #3: Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained

2009-09-13T18:48:00.000-08:00

This weekend provided a shock. I was just curious to see if my book was listed on Amazon, so I checked. It was there. I felt a strange mixture of elation and dreadful fear. Sure, it's exciting to have something you've worked so hard and so long on finally see the light of day. But then, people will start reading it, and giving opinions. What if it flops?

I know. It's a sign of my insecurities. I still feel like a novice when it comes to writing. I've grown by leaps and bounds, but I know so little about how to truly craft a good book. What I do have, I believe, are interesting characters and an interesting setting. I hope the plot, which has seen several major overhauls, will also be interesting. When you put something like this out, it is a major investment of self, and it can leave you open for emotional injury. I think that's why I'm scared.

At the same time, I could have gone the safe route, just leave the manuscript, unsubmitted, on my hard drive where no one could read it. That way, I wouldn't open myself up to the emotional risk. And I'd always wonder what it would have been like to publish a book. Sure, the book could flop, but it could succeed, too, and if I had never taken this risk, I would never have had a chance to find out.

The one thing I know for sure, though, is that I could not have done this without the guiding hand of the Lord.

Press date

2009-09-09T07:41:00.000-08:00

I found out yesterday that The Dragon War Relic goes to press on October 1. I'm excited about it, but also nervous. This process of getting a book ready for publication has been a tremendous learning experience. For one thing, writing a book is a lot more work than I thought. I don't even know if I'll pull in minimum wage. But at the same time, it is so rewarding to be able to express myself creatively. That's one of the reasons I enjoy doing jazz improv so much.

Also, I've started a Dragon War Relic fan page on Facebook. Anybody who wants to join is welcome to.

Writing Discoveries #2

2009-09-04T10:20:00.001-08:00

Plot happens. Or at least, that's what they say. And I guess they're right. The question is, how good of a plot?

Now, I am by no means an expert at plot, but since I feel it is a major weakness for me, I've been studying it quite a bit. I've read a few books about it to help me understand it better. Now, whenever I read a book, watch a TV show, or a movie, I analyze the plot and look for what worked and what didn't work.

The thing I've been focusing on in my own writing is making sure things happen for a reason. For instance, when I was working on my sixth draft, I realized that an important chase scene didn't have a purpose. When I asked myself, "Why are the bad guys chasing the good guys?" The answer came back, "Because I want an action scene here." Wrong answer. I had to go back into the scene and give the baddies a reason to be chasing, and now there is more suspense because of it.

In Revision and Self Editing by James Scott Bell, he mentions finding the three O's in each chapter: Objective, Obstacle, and Outcome. By keeping track of these three elements, I've also been able to improve the quality of my plot by making it more exciting.

The biggest challenge is trying to think of a plot that people can't predict, but at the same time is set up well. That's a delicate balancing act which I will not claim to have solved.

Jazz Improv Masterclass #2

2009-09-04T08:12:00.000-08:00

[Last week, I talked briefly about the five elements of a good jazz solo. This week, I'm discussing an important concept that underlies all five of them, especially tone and style. I'll get more into detail on each of the five elements starting next week.]

Listen, listen, listen. That's what we hear when we go to jazz clinics. Did you ever wonder why jazz instructors pound that point in every time? Do you think it might be important?

It is. When I started, I was like most students. I liked to play jazz, but I didn't like to listen to it. I preferred the popular music of the time (and I'm going to date myself here) like The Cars, Duran Duran, and Oingo Boingo. When my teacher suggested I start transcribing, I did the tenor solo on Duran Duran's Rio. I missed the point.

Several years ago I went to a clinic with jazz trombone legend Carl Fontana. At the time, I was frustrated with how difficult it was to get my students to listen and transcribe. I asked him if he knew of a way to get them to do it. He answered in his cantankerous way, "You force them!"

I have had several students move on to become fantastic jazz players and improvisers; some even have gone professional. Part of the formula, of course, is hard work and practice. Another element, though, was that they all listened to jazz. A lot. And I didn't have to force them. I have NEVER seen someone who became good at jazz who was not a fantastic listener. No one.

So, the moral of the story: if you really want to be a good jazz player, you must listen. There is no other way. Now, I really can't force you to listen, though. YOU must decide to do it. YOU must take control of your education and development. Until you do, you will just be another one of the many mediocre players in the world.

Stand out. Listen. Learn. And besides, once you get into it, the music IS pretty darn good.

Assignment: Find some jazz to listen to. Ask your teacher for some suggestions, or contact me. There is plenty of jazz on the radio (like KUER 90.1 in the evening in Utah). Also, a lot of libraries have jazz CDs that can be checked out.

Jazz Improv Masterclass #1

2009-08-29T13:40:00.001-08:00

What does it take to play a good sounding jazz solo? A master's degree? 20 years experience? Super human powers?

I have great news for you. A good sounding jazz solo is not rocket science and anyone can learn to play one. I like to break jazz solos down into 5 principles that I'll outline today. I'll go more in depth into each one in future articles.

Principle 1: Tone
How to do this correctly is different to each instrument. Some don't even have to worry about it. However, for wind players, this is the first thing people hear when we play and people evaluate how good we are with in a few seconds. Fortunately, with proper guidance, tone can easily be learned. If tone is not one of your strengths, all you need to do is to get help from your band director or a private teacher who can show you the fundamentals of good sound.

Principle 2: Time
One of the biggest errors beginning improvisors make is to try to cram too many notes into their solos. As they do this, they have little or no regard to time. This is an easy fix. Just keep track of the beat (tap your foot if necessary) and make sure your rhythms lock in.

Principle 3: Style
This one does take a little time to learn. The first step, though, is to be aware of it and not just rattle off lots of notes. This entails being aware of articulation and rhythmic patterns. The best way to learn this is by listening to the jazz greats. Listen closely to what they do and then imitate it.

Principle 4: Energy
Another fairly simple fix, but is more difficult for some people than others. A lot of it has to do with personality. Shy people, like me, have a harder time getting in front of people and blowing out. Trust me, though, it is a lot less embarrassing to get up and play a bold solo than a wimpy one. And if you don't feel bold, fake it.

Principle 5: Notes
What is the number one fear people have when improvising? Playing wrong notes. The thing is, though, I've heard plenty of good sounding solos with tons of wrong notes (they did have good tone, good time and energy). I've also heard solos with perfect notes that sounded awful (because they lacked the other principles). The problem with notes is that it takes a long time to learn all the theory. You mainly have to get started by learning your major scales well.

But for now, don't stress about the notes, just get started and have fun.

Assignment: Find a blues play-along and the corresponding blues scale. Then play around with the scale in time with the play-along. If you need a blues play-along, contact me, and I can get you one.

Writing Discoveries #1

2009-08-28T19:37:00.000-08:00

One of my dad's favorite movies was Gumball Rally, a 1976 film about an illegal car race from New York to LA. One of the racers, the owner of a red Ferrari Daytona Spyder, hires an Italian driver (played by Raul Julia) to help him win the race. The first thing the Italian driver does when he gets into the car is grab the rear view mirror, yank it off the window, throw it out of the car and say, “The first-a rule in Italian driving: what's-a behind you, doesn't-a matta.”

For years, I wanted to write a novel. I would get started by writing two or three chapters, then go back and revise. You see, I am cursed with the perfectionist gene. I couldn't stand having an imperfect chapter sitting there. The problem was, after I spent all that time trying to tweak and fix it so that it was perfect, all of my forward momentum on the novel was lost. I don't know how many books I started this way.

Then the concept of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) came to my attention. The idea was to write 50,000 words in 30 days. When I tried it, in order to meet my daily quota, I had to not spend much time on what I had previously written. My perfectionist gene screamed at me. But a miracle happened: I finished a novel. It was awkward, confusing, and worst of all – imperfect. At the same time, it was wonderful. I had actually finished a novel! The secret? What's behind you, doesn't matter.

Now, I know that at some point you have to go back and fix things. That's called editing. When writing, especially the first draft, you are not an editor. You are a creator. You need to first get the lump of clay onto the potter's wheel so that you have something you can mold and work with. We can't take just a little lump of clay and work it and work it until it is the perfect part of a vase. We need to get the whole lump on the wheel first before we start shaping it into the form we want.

So, my first major discovery was applying the, “What's behind you, doesn't matter,” to writing. It freed me up. It taught me to turn off my perfectionist gene long enough so that I could get a manuscript out. And, yes, my perfectionist gene still whines at me when I ignore it, but I let it have it's way in the second draft. This keep it very happy.

Assignment: Just sit down and write whatever comes to mind. It doesn't have to make sense. Just push forward and don't look back.

Weekly Articles

2009-08-28T13:39:00.000-08:00

I've set a goal to produce two articles a week that I will post here on my blog. One will be a jazz educational article on improvising, called Jazz Improv Masterclass. I originally envisioned this to be a podcast, but time has become too limited to produce it in that form. But I thought I could at least release the planned lessons as short articles. Later, I hope I can get back into recording the lessons.

The other article will be about my adventures while learning about writing. I am by no means an expert at the craft, but I feel I've learned several things that could benefit other people trying to get into the art. That article will be called Writing Discoveries.

Friends (not the lame tv show)

2009-08-27T12:29:00.000-08:00

I thought I'd post to let people know that I can be followed in other ways. A couple of months ago I started doing Facebook (or is that Phazebook?) which can be addicting. If you want to follow that, my address there is www.facebook.com/berin.

I also have a Twitter account, but no followers yet. I do have it set up so that what I Twitter goes to my Facebook. I plan to start putting more "tweets" in now that that is set up. You can find me at twitter.com/berinstephens.

I just started a Goodreads account as well. I'm still exploring that, but it looks fun. I'll need to transfer my reviews from elsewhere to that site. If anyone wants to befriend me there, they can.

Then, of course, there are the good ol' websites, www.berinstephens.com and www.saxmyax.com.

Balance

2009-08-25T10:51:00.000-08:00

I'm reading through 2 to 3 chapters a day in my book and making a detailed outline as I go. It will probably be around 40 pages (single space) when I'm done. I think I also want to do the same thing to the Harry Potter books, just so I can do a deep analysis. I finally finished Da Vinci Code, but my deep analysis was abandoned when I got hooked into the story. I want to learn mystery-suspense from Dan Brown and world creation from Rowling. Now, if I can just find a way to make myself read Twilight. . .

I'm also getting time to practice sax again. It feels good. I spent last week brushing up on my bari chops since I had a rehearsal Saturday with the Salt Lake Jazz Orchestra (Jerry Floor's band) subbing for DB. This week, I'm focusing on tenor sax and R&B playing.

It's so nice to have all my students in the afternoon so that I can organize my mornings better. Of course, once my UVU students start up, that will completely change things.

This indecision's buggin' me

2009-08-19T08:27:00.000-08:00

Now that school has started, my teaching is all shifting to afternoon. That gives me mornings to write or practice. I try to do both, but it seems after I do one, my creative brain needs a break and the other doesn't happen. I feel like I need to go back through my manuscript and write out a new, more detailed outline. I want to make a "bullet-point" outline so I can see each thing that happens and make sure important plot points line up.

But then I practiced sax for an hour and a half yesterday (no writing) and it was so much fun. I got the latest Smartmusic update which had several new Gordon Goodwin charts in it. Temptation.

It's done!

2009-08-14T17:20:00.000-08:00

I finished draft 7.0 today. Now I need to fix a few things to make a 7.1 by Monday. Of course, I realize the work has only just begun, but it's still a significant milestone. I made several tweaks to the plot which I think will make more sense and streamline things more. I also came out about 10 pages less, though I'm sure there's more fat to trim.

I've been spending 4 to 6 hours a day on this, which I can do this time of year because I have fewer students. Next week, my teaching load should increase, which I need because the money is getting thin. It will be nice to be able to be a musician again.

On the music front, not much is happening, except I'll be performing "O Divine Redeemer" in church on Sunday.

Draft 7

2009-08-09T17:38:00.000-08:00

I have been editing and writing like a madman the last couple of weeks. My editor wants me to finish this draft by the 15th of August so that we can start into the heavy duty editing that needs to be done for publication. So it's exciting . . . and scary. I feel blessed to have the opportunity to be published, but my training is in music, not writing. I keep reading these books on how to write, which helps to highlight all the things I don't do right. I realize my book is not going to be high art, but I hope that my writing won't get in the way of telling a good story.

Current Progress

2009-07-18T09:47:00.001-08:00

I haven't posted here for a while. Facebook tends to get more attention right now since I can do a quick comment on it more easily. I know, I shouldn't be so lazy.

As far as writing goes, I finally finished making an outline of the sixth draft of book 1. I needed to do that so that I can quickly see the plot. Now I plan to write a new outline from scratch, using the main gist of the original but working the plot elements into the story better. Or, at least, that's the plan. As I've mentioned before, I have too many "band-aid" fixes and this is the only way I can think of to work them out. You could call it a "re-imagining" of book 1.

Musically, things are getting interesting. I've started playing with a blues band based out of Lehi. Also, the nine-piece swing band we've been trying to get off the ground for the last couple of years has a couple of dances coming up. We'll be playing the Apollo in American Fork on July 31. Yeah, I'm getting busy, but still not making any money.

Freedom Festival

2009-06-29T08:41:00.001-08:00

Performed with the Wasatch Winds last night at the Marriott Center in Provo. It was for the Freedom Festival. I played alto sax. This year, the keynote speaker was Matt Holland, the new president of UVU. He gave an interesting speech about Abraham Lincoln. I looked over and saw Jeffrey Holland, his father, only a few feet from me. On the stand behind me sat Sen. Orrin Hatch and several other local political figures. Alan Osmond was there as well, since his sons were the other musical entertainment.

As far as writing goes, I'm going back to book 1. I'm in the middle of writing book 2 and have some good momentum, but I feel a need to get started on book 1 again to fix several plot issues. I don't know why, but I decided to follow my gut instinct.

Finally in step

2009-06-26T14:10:00.001-08:00

It's taken me a while to get back into a rhythm after going to Alaska. I just finished chapter eleven today for book 2. I've been able to write a chapter every day this week. I just finished the book Conflict, Action and Suspense by William Noble. Now, I want to go through The Da Vinci Code and analyze how Dan Brown creates and maintains his suspense.

I'm still not hitting on all cylinders musically, but I'm doing better. I'll be playing on Sunday for the Freedom Festival fireside at the Marriott Center again. I did it last year when Glenn Beck was the speaker. It's symphonic/patriotic music with a seat close to the action. Of course, I have to go in a couple hours early for sound check.

Review of Up

2009-06-16T11:52:00.000-08:00

When I first saw the trailers for Disney/Pixar's Up, I thought that it didn't look very interesting. Some cranky old guy riding in a house carried by a bazillion balloons? But then, I thought, Pixar has yet to make anything but a good movie. In my opinion, Bugs Life, Wall-E, and Ratatouille, were good, but not great. But then the Toy Story movies, Monsters Inc., and (my all-time favorite) The Incredibles were all phenomenal. So I decided to give Up a chance.

I wasn't disappointed. One thing I realized is that Pixar is masterful at developing character. From the previews, I did not care too much about the old man. I had no way of connecting with him. The first five minutes of the movie created that connection and got you to really care about him, and even want to cry for him. This is the essence of a good story. A movie could have the greatest plot in the world, but if you don't connect with the character, it's boring. Because of their character development, Up was not boring.

I can't name them all, but there were many little things that happened that made you think, "I can relate to that." The humor was based on real life, even if some of the plot seemed incredible. All in all, I highly recommend this movie and it is well worth watching at the theater.

Recently, I found out Pixar is starting to work on their first live action movie, John Carter of Mars, based on the books by Edgar Rice Bourroughs. Since these were some of my favorite books when I was a kid, I hope they continue the same story excellence they've shown with their animation.

Alaska vacation

2009-06-06T21:56:00.000-08:00

I had all sorts of grand plans for things I'd get read and written during my vacation. It's not happening. That's okay, I suppose it's allowed to enjoy a vacation, which I am. I've seen some old friends in the After 6 Orchestra (which I used to play in and direct) and friends in a group called Power of Ten, which is a Tower of Power cover band. Next weekend will be my 25th class reunion (go Chugiak!).

The problem I'm having is that I am sorely tempted to stay. It is so beautiful here; the weather is almost perfect (for now). It's hard to believe I ever left. This place feels so much like home. Utah is fine, but it's not home, yet.

Facebook, Alaska, two new book ratings

2009-05-29T09:39:00.000-08:00

Okay, I tried facebook. It can be darn addicting. It's fun to connect with people that you have lost contact with, but it can end up taking a lot more of your time than you plan. I'll try to keep control of myself, though.

We're excited to be heading to Alaska tonight for a couple of weeks. It's been almost four years since I've been there; the longest streak in my life. I miss it a lot and there is a danger that I might not return to Utah.

I have ratings for two more books added to my website. The first one is, Fablehaven: Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary. This is book four of the series, and I have enjoyed the series quite a bit. This book, though, didn't seem to keep me as excited as the 2nd and 3rd. I don't know why, it could have been something I ate. There are some cool character developments, though, that young adults should enjoy. I recommend it.

The other book is Time of the Twins by Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis. I got to meet Tracy Hickman in February and realized that I hadn't read any of his Dragonlance books. I decided to give them a try. The original series was okay, but I had a hard time getting through this one. I couldn't relate to any of the characters very well. But it could be just me, I noticed it is well-loved on Amazon.

Conduit

2009-05-25T11:07:00.001-08:00

I went to the Conduit sci-fi/fantasy thing in Salt Lake on Friday and Saturday. These things are great resources for writers, where we get to rub shoulders with some of the best writers in the area. Some of the people there this year were Brandon Sanderson, L.E. Modesitt, Dave Wolverton, and Howard Tayler. I was on a panel on Friday about when to use and not use grammar rules. I, of course, am not an expert on grammar by any means. My main suggestion was to ignore grammar during the first draft, otherwise, it can make us lose our creative train of thought.

Tonight, I'll be playing a big band gig at the Apollo, a dance hall in American Fork. I'll be playing first tenor with the Moonlight Serenaders.

David Copperfield

2009-05-19T10:36:00.001-08:00

On Saturday, I took my wife and oldest daughter to see David Copperfield (the magician, not the book) at Kingsbury Hall in Salt Lake City. It was a birthday present for my daughter, since she loves magic. It was a lot more fun to see than I thought. I've seen some of those tricks on t.v., but seeing it live is a whole new experience. You know the illusions are not being created with the camera since it's all right there in front of you.

It got me thinking, why do we like magic shows? For me, I'm looking to see if the magician screws up and reveals the trick. And then, the other part is to see if I can figure out how he did it. It's the ultimate mystery.

As far as writing goes, I have started a third draft of my second book. So far I'm three chapters into it. I'll be on a panel on Friday at Conduit in Salt Lake talking about grammar; like I know anything about that. Personally, I think grammar is over-rated.

Angels and Demons movie

2009-05-15T12:41:00.001-08:00

I saw Angels and Demons (or is that Angles and Deacons?) this morning and it will be the subject of my second movie review. I would have to classify this movie as 'okay'. It wasn't wonderful and it wasn't bad. The biggest problem is that it didn't really engage my emotions. That could be because I just read the book, so I had a good idea what was happening. I've been analyzing and trying to figure out why it didn't move me very much, and I think a big reason was because the antagonist didn't seem to have strong motives for their actions. In the book, it was clear, though, and I thought the ending pleasantly surprising. The movie, though, lost it somewhere. Probably because, for the sake of time, they cut too much out.

A lot of the cuts in the plot and characters made sense for time and simplicity, and for the most part, I think they did well at streamlining. It's just that they needed something to make the antagonist's actions make more sense, even if it was something not in the book. Towards the end of the movie, I got a little excited when I thought they might end it with a different surprise ending, but they didn't. The betrayal at the end just didn't have any teeth.

Of course, one of my main concerns about movies is content. Angels and Demons got a Kids in Mind rating of 1.7.3. I have no idea where they got the '1' rating for sex, since the worst thing that happened was that the protagonists held hands. The '3' language rating was probably deserved, though I don't remember much. Of course, we hear so many of the 'd' and 'h' words all the time, it's easy to block them out. The worst aspect were the gory scenes, so the '7' is well deserved. This was not a movie for the squeamish. One trick that worked for me was to almost close my eyes so that the screen was blurry. That way, I could see enough of what was going on without the vivid detail (call me a wimp). Overall, though, I think the movie was a kinder, gentler version of the book which had a lot of language issues and was more gruesome.

Bottom line: See it if you don't mind gory deaths and are mildly in need of entertainment. Otherwise, wait until it's on DVD where it can be watched with a Clearplay filter.

Improving writing

2009-05-14T16:27:00.000-08:00

I thought I should go over what I'm doing to improve my writing chops. Even though I'm getting a book published, I still feel behind the curve as a writer. I recently finished reading 20 Master Plots by Ronald Tobias. I feel plotting is one of my major weaknesses, so I'm trying to learn how to be better at it. A few months ago, I also read a book called Plot and Structure by James Scott Bell. Now, as I read through books, I take notes on the main scenes and plot elements so that I can study them.

Right now, I'm reading Revision and Self-Editing also by James Scott Bell. He has an entertaining way of discussing these rather boring topics. So much so, that I find myself wanting to read the editing book more than Fablehaven 4.

I also just finished a short story today. It's a sequel to my story "Sacked" that was published in the UVU speculative fiction journal Warp and Weave (Spring 2009 edition). I hadn't planned on writing a sequel, but an idea hit me so I ran with it. I don't know what I'll do with it yet, though. I mainly wanted to write something to get my muse working again. I've been so focused on music the last couple of weeks, that my writing had stopped. Tomorrow, I plan to get back to work on book 2.

20 years

2009-05-13T11:42:00.001-08:00

Today marks the twentieth anniversary of being a newly-wed. And they have been twenty great years with my best friend in the whole universe. So, tonight, we're going out to dinner.