A Rejection Letter for my Quince Flash Fiction Story

Well, I got a response. Unfortunately, the response was a rejection letter. 

Dear Thomas Kepler, 

Thank you for sending us your flash fiction story, "Perchance Beneath a Quince Tree". We appreciate the chance to read it. Unfortunately, it's not quite the right fit for Every Day Fiction. 

Please find attached some feedback from our editorial team. 

Thanks again, and best of luck placing this story elsewhere. 

Sincerely, 
all of us at Every Day Fiction 

Anyone who submits must be prepared for a rejection letter. That's what I've learned through the years. Also, there seem to be only two reasonable responses: 1) submit to another publication, or 2) shelve the work for a while (or forever).

I'm traveling for now, so my response will be the latter until I get back home.

Here are the notes regarding the rejection. (And, it is important to say that many publications don't bother with personal notes due to the volume of submissions or due to the possible adverse reaction from writers.

"This is unique and there are some lovely moments, but I found the story a bit hard to follow."

The main character of "Perchance Beneath a Quince Tree" also found her "story" a bit hard to follow, since her untrained magical talent slipped her from one alternative universe to another, and she's struggling to get back home to her husband and children. The whole purpose of the flash fiction story was to embody that wonder and elusive experience.

That being said, EDF has a responsibility to its readers--and if that if to provide stories a bit easier to follow, well, OK. One of the good points of shelving a story for a while is to read it later with the editor's criticism in mind. One possibility for a rewrite is to use the flash fiction story (with limited word count) as a basis for an expanded story that doesn't have to be so compressed.

Well, on to other writing. I even have an idea to use the main character of this story in another tale.

Looking Back at Revision

For me, revision is an intuitive process. When I say that, though, I should add that I feel that intuition is mind working at a fine level of the intellect. Intellect and “feeling” work together, each augmenting the other.

The revision of tightening (deleting), expanding (adding), and polishing (substituting) works first on what feels right, but there is always the quiet voice of the intellect providing the reasons for the feeling.

As I’ve mentioned before, I tend to write my beginnings many times before moving on. Those rewrites are where I emphasize tone and word flow. Once the words create the tone (once the tone feels right), then I move on to finishing the rough draft.

Below, I’ve provided two excerpts from my Wattpad page where the story “A Murmuration of Dragons” is posted as two parts, the first being the finished story (unless I change it), and the second being the first draft of the story (and by that, I mean the story after I’d established tone and then pushed through for the first time).

With this short story, I see the revision has focused the prose more on tone and immediate experience rather than backstory, even though I am filling in and establishing the reality of the story. I think the revision works more to move the story to its climax by establishing an emotional context.

Other readers might like the original, actually! This post is a closure for me. I’m looking forward to moving on to another project, another story--at least, for now. Read, enjoy, and maybe even read the other stories posted on Wattpad. They are the two shorter stories of the three short story ebook "Who Listened to Dragons."

Excerpt from the revised (completed) story

Garden lore says "weeds for the wildwood," that every vegetable patch should have a spot uncultivated, that "wholly wild is holy wild." Perhaps craft elders felt the same and left Dragon's Head untouched. Superstition runs deep, even when "as dead as magic" is the common wisdom nowadays, for who has seen magic? Yes, there are stories, but who has seen magic? Our mouths do not always speak our hearts, though, and words may veil rather than reveal. Perhaps that was the way of it on Half Street because Dragon's Head was let be, and the oddity of that neglect was somehow too strangely idle a thought for busy tradefolk.

Caul said that suited him fine, Caul who ate and drank the sky above Dragon's Head, either that or nothing. He certainly slept sky, all those nights up there alone, earth for his bed and stone for his pillow.

I wouldn't admit to be looking after him from my perch on Old Jin's roof, not me, of Fingers fame and all of twelve years. It didn't take much minding, anyway. Somehow I knew he was safe when he climbed those bare bones, riding his dragon, whinnies and all.

The need to survive can birth strange and wonderful alliances, and one of boy and stone was not exceedingly strange. Who has not played at being king on the mount? Seed planted wild must root deeply, and dreams dared in sunlight burn an invisible flame.

Excerpt from the unrevised (rough draft) story

Such had not happened, though, had apparently never occurred to some greedy guildsman or ambitious matron. Dragon's Head was just let be, and the oddity of that neglect was somehow too idle a thought for busy folk, which Cobb said suited him just fine. Sometimes Cobb would look at me as he rode the stones, but he never waved and I never thought to wave at him. Cobb was a strange one, one we looked after--or would have, if he had ever needed it. He didn't, though. I think Cobb ate and drank sky. He certainly slept it, all those nights alone on Dragon's Head.

My gut told me a lot about Cobb, or maybe it was my heart. I knew that when he climbed onto those bare bones of stone and rode the dragon he was safe. It wasn't that I knew he felt safe; somehow my gut told me he was safe.

I knew in my bones he was safe on Dragon's Head, knew that he knew in his bones he was safe. No children ever challenged him sitting there in plain sight. It was as if he were veiled by wings of forgetfulness. I saw him, though, and I'll never forget what I saw.

It was a strange alliance, boy and stone, but the need to survive can birth strange and wonderful alliances. Seed planted wild must need root deeply.

I've found it an interesting process to publish a rough draft and then another, polished version of the story side by side. I don't know if I'll do this again. Probably not, but doing so has given me the opportunity to reflect some on how I create as a writer. I doubt if how I write and revise is unique, but self-reflection isn't such a bad thing.

Until the next post, good reading!

Abandon Your Writing

The only perfect aspect of one's writing lies in the silence between the words. All else is approximation.

How well we approximate determines our worth as writers, but to be spot-on requires the words to lead to the silence from which the vision arises.

This is approximately what I meant to say.

I've finished the short story "A Murmuration of Dragons"--at least, I've finished a handful of drafted revisions. It's not quite right yet, so I'm going to abandon it for a while and write something else. Maybe I'll work on another short story, maybe continue with my novel, maybe both.

I'll come back to "Murmuration" when the memory of the words dims and the silence between the words increases. That's where the real story exists. It's there, complete and perfect, like a pristine mountain lake that perfectly reflects the sky. I just have to keep removing or replacing those words that muddy the water; therefore, of course I'll come back and work on the story some more in a few days or a few weeks. I'm giving it time so the mud settles and the silence, the blank spaces between the words, is revealed.

You may read the story as it is. I wiped my feet at the door after my tramp in the mountains, but a little mud (some might say a lot) stuck to my boots. Those footprints before the door--they are mine. They follow me everywhere. I rarely escape them, no matter how hard I try.

   

Draft 2 Complete--and Unification Continues!

Wattpad link for "Murmuration"

Draft 2 of "A Murmuration of Dragons" is now finished, although there are more revisions to come. It's a process. I've posted the story on Wattpad twice: the revised story and the original Draft 1, so anyone interested in seeing the changes can look.

Creation is a higher order thinking process called synthesis, a combining of possibilities into something new. The best beginning point for this process, of course, is the field of all possibilities at the source of thought. That way a writer or any artist has more choice.

This short story began as just that--a short story about a character called "Cobb," son of a cobbler. It transformed during the creative process, though.

1. Cobb became a secondary character, preceded by Fingers, a pickpocket.
2. Third person, focusing on Cobb, changed to first person point of view, from Fingers' perspective.
3. Cobb became the character Caul; Fingers became the character Gnossos, telling about his youth, when he was called Fingers.
4. The chararcter "Trot" was removed, and the character Old Jin was just mentioned in the story.
5. The "murmuration" idea was introduced to the story.

The short story will now also most likely be a prelude to the prequel of the novel The Stone Dragon. The prequel is titled A Mage That Gathers, and is about the youth of Alma-Ata, who is old in The Stone Dragon. Also, I may write the prequel from Gnossos' point of view, eight years after "Murmuration," or I may alternate between chronicles (reports to the Order of Thom) by Gnossos and third-person limited narrative of Alma-Ata.

This synthesizing, or taking diverse elements and creating one story, is an interaction of inner possibilities and, in the revision process, the existing reality of the words on the paper. I enjoy it, although I have to be careful I don't enjoy it so much that I never finish a project--a fantasy version of Apocalypse Now, off in the jungle (field of all possibilities) with no road home.

Enjoy the story at Wattpad.

Finished Draft 1 of "A Murmuration of Dragons"

Well, I've finished Draft 1, so now I have a completed short story. You can now read the end of the story. I'm proud that I've finished one time through, and am eager to begin revision. Revision is always a fun (and necessary) part of the writing process.

I've added the ending of the story and changed the original order on the Wattpad platform so that there are now two parts: the completed story that I am revising, and the original draft. That way you can see changes as they progress.

You can read both versions and follow the revision at Wattpad.
"A Murmuration of Dragons"

XXXXXX XXXXX XXXXX 

 Starlings return from the fields, wheeling the darkening sky. Be wary of hawks, be wary of the cutpurse, but when magic comes to Half Street, be especially wary of dragonfire.

 Being the chronicle of Gnossos, Supplicatory to the Order of Thom, Thomikos

XXXXXX XXXXX XXXXX 

I'm also going to give myself a new experience today. The local library has a writing time every Wednesday from 9:30 to 12:00. I'm going to show up and work on the draft. Maybe I'll post a blog on the experience. Meanwhile, enjoy what I've done so far!

Book Review: The Reluctant Dragon, by Kenneth Grahame

"The Reluctant Dragon" was published in 1983 as a children's book. The story came originally from Kenneth Grahame's collection of short stories Dream Days, published in 1898. The book edition is illustrated by Michael Hague, who also illustrated publications of The Wind in the Willows, also by Grahame, and The Secret Garden, authored by Frances Hodgson Burnett. The publisher was Holt, Rinehart, and Winston.

I found this grand book at our local public library.

The tale is one full of whimsy about a lazy and easy-going dragon, a boy, and St. George. For children (and for adults who need the learning), the lesson is that differences can coexist, and that it's a lot more pleasant getting along than fighting. A secondary lesson is that reading and scholarship can be useful.

Michael Hague's illustrations are lush and full of medieval extravagance. Children can view them and not be bothered with all the realism that Chaucer chose to include in the Canterbury Tales. The colors are gilded with the aura of times gone by, and the detail just begs for taking the time to look closely.

Hague's romanticism and lightness also lend themselves to a dearth of realism. For instance, the Boy reads in a bedroom entirely too elegant for a shepherd's soon, both in size and decor. Also, although perhaps appropriate for a children's story, the dragon is not, as it states, one of the earnest dragons. Hague's illustrations paint the dragon as entirely avuncular. That's the only word that fits.

This book, though, is a friendly tale filled with humor in both text and illustration. It's a world any child or adult can enter, and upon leaving, exit with a light step and a happy heart.

WTF? My Short Story Morphs Again, This Time to First-Person POV

Jordan Kerbow @ deviantart

I suppose there's an easier way to write, like planning, like outlining, like sketching.

I've even done it a bit. However, this story keeps plugging along, and then something starts bothering me, something just isn't strong enough, and then I see a new way--and it's . . . okay, start over.

Actually, I love the process, but I would like to finish this short story by the end of the year!

I realized, waking in the middle of the night, that I didn't want to tell the story from the third-person limited point of view. I needed another character to witness the event and to tell how it happened.

So, hello Fingers, the pickpocket, who told me this morning:

I like the roof on Old Jin’s place. It’s pretty high on th’ hill, not as high as Dragon’s Head, but still high enough t’ see th’ sky when th’ sun’s goin’ down, gulls in from th’ sea, lookin’ for bugs, starlings on their way to th’ woods t’ roost, watchin’ out for hawks.

He's told me a bit more, and I've got a few things to tell him. And this, at dawn this morning, is all I have to tell you.

Book Review: The Desert and the Blade

I've read all of S.M. Stirling's Emberverse novels, and The Desert and the Blade is the second of the series that I've awarded a "five-star" rating. The other novel was the first of the series, Dies the Fire.

The Desert and the Blade is a novel where Stirling finally achieves "epic" status in the novel's tone, action, and pacing. A large book, the hardback being 612 pages, the action covers conflict on land and sea. New (or old) cultures are described, some first seen in the recently published short story anthology set in the Emberverse.

The magical realism in this novel, which follows the third generation heroes after the Change, is believable and powerful because of its understatement. The laws of nature have changed, and manipulations can be achieved by those adept--carried out with equal measures of purity of intent and clarity of consciousness (in the case of the protagonists). The evil sorcerers are just plain possessed.

New alliances are formed in this novel between the East and the West, a new quest follows, and there is a satisfactory sense of closure at the end of the novel, even though more novels and adventures will continue. This is a pleasant change from The Golden Princess, which was mostly backfill and set-up for this novel.

I would suggest for those reading this novel to read the anthology The Change, stories written by Stirling and others. Stirling has adopted some of the characters from these stories and incorporated them into this novel to good effect.

Besides Stirling's intrigue and battle action, his description of Generation Three of the Change is especially pleasing to read. It is a new world, folks, and Stirling fills the pages with verisimilitude. Dies the Fire was peopled with real characters from the late 20th century who were dealing with understanding and surviving the Change as best they could, with bravery and intelligence. This novel brings new challenges and mysteries, and its characters use new tools fit for a new world.

Enjoy the journey, and be sure to bring your sunscreen.

My Short Story Morphs: "A Murmuration of Dragons"

Photo source: The Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Creative writing is not only cognition: seeing from the inside out; it is also synthesis, seeing possibilities
from the outside in. This has happened with the short story I'm currently working on, "Magic Comes to Half Street."

It's new title is "A Murmuration of Dragons," and here's how the title and story change happened.

I ran across the video embedded below while goofing off on Facebook. My short story was lively in my awareness, even if in the background at that moment, and I thought, "What if the starlings were dragons?" A vision filled my mind, thousands of dragons afire with the setting sun, swirling around and above the main character of the story, a foreshadowing of future events and a visual representation of hidden forces at work.

How could I deny such a serendipitous gift?

A murmuration is the combining of "thousands of tiny starlings coming together to swoop and twist across the sky – morphing into one three-dimensional pattern after another; an aerial ballet performed with an amazing synchronicity as the tiny birds move like one huge shape-shifting organism," according to Ecology Global Network writer Penny Stalling's article "Mind-Blowing Starling Murmuration."

We'll see how the new wrinkle to my story works out. I'm optimistic.

Murmuration from Islands & Rivers on Vimeo.

Rough Draft Finished of "Magic Comes to Half Street"

Well, I've been writing mornings, and I just finished the rough draft of the fantasy story "Magic Comes to Half Street." It takes place in the Dragons of Blood and Stone universe, the same universe as my novel The Stone Dragon and the short stories in Who Listened to Dragons.

Here are some fragments from the end:

A door opened, a hoof clacked upon pavement, life stirred. Fire was behind the veil, gone, yet not quite veiled on the knoll.

Cobb looked to the sky, to the west, and a second sun winged its way to the mountains, already small with distance.

“In the mountains the dragon will not be bound. There is a veil between magic and the world, one we see or make. It is stronger here in the Empire, but now not so strong at Dragon’s Head, I think.” 

All dawns are the first day of creation. We are sunlight, we are aware. We are consciousness, meant to fly.

And now to make the short story better, to burn away the veil of lesser words until the right words burn brightly, accurately. Or at least to try.

Starting a Story, the Process

I'm not sure how others start a story, whether it's a short story, a novel, or a saga. Different

Dragon's Head, Bjorn Baklien, Flickr

ways, I suppose.

I know from my experience that I tend to start writing, whether with some outline or notes or not, and then I rewrite the beginning over and over until it feels right.

I've got this sense of the story, this feeling, and somehow I have to manage the words so that they flow in accord with that feeling. That sounds kind of mysterious, and maybe it is, I don't know. I do know that there's a point when I feel (that word, again!) that the tone created by word choice is what I want. Then I just blaze away, getting the piece written one time through.

Then comes the fun part--and I mean that. I get to rewrite. That's like cleaning the window. The first part, the beginning, is like busting a hole in the wall and installing the window. OK, the window's in, but all that dust and fingerprints and sales stickers . . . clean that off, make it disappear!

What remains is the view, and a wonderful one, I hope.

Right now I'm working on a short story, a fantasy set in the same reality as my novel The Stone Dragon. The story takes place on Half Street, an area on a hill above Oldtown, the hill spined with rocks called Dragon's Head. I've rewritten the beginning three or four times. I think now maybe the tone of the beginning is what I want, what I need.

Who knows, though? I guess I should know, but I'm going to have to let some time pass before I'm sure. I can keep pecking away at the story, though, in the meantime.

To be alone on Half Street was not easy, even for a boy of ten familiar with its nooks and crannies. Too many guildspeople hurried the pathways, shouldering tools or cloth samples or even newly tooled shoes, as Cobb's father would. Too many wagons or barrows stirred dust or mud or dirty snow, depending on the season, for someone always needed a chimney cleaned, a door squared, a cracked tile replaced. Someone always needed a son to deliver a pair of evenngi slippers to an impatient lady, or a boy to feed the fire beneath the dye pot.

 That's the current beginning of the short story that's had the following titles: "A Dragon's Scale," "Dragon Dreams," and "Magic Comes to Half Street."

Now I feel I can write Cobb's story. I've managed to break through the best wall for the right view.

As for Cobb? Right now he's at Dragon's Head:

An odd place it was, a knob of stone still shaped by wild, what the builders and masons should have considered a challenge or an affront" . . . but the stones have not been cleared, "apparently never occurred to some greedy guildsman or ambitious matron of the crafts. Leave Dragon's Head alone, and it will leave you alone, Cobb thought, and he didn't even consider the oddity of the thought. How and why would a tangle of rock at the crest of a hill leave you alone?

What fun!

The Next Fantasy Story Is a Rewrite

Now that I've finished A Day Out with Mom, I want to spend some time writing some fantasy short stories set in the Dragons of Blood and Stone universe, eventually to compile them into a collection, Tales of the Stone Dragon Inn. It's like going on a journey in the universe of my imagination, five hundred to several thousand words at a time!

Here are some stories I've written and need to polish:

• a baker who conjures the spirits of his ingredients
• a sea dragon in a woman's body who has forgotten her true self
• a magician with the horrible power to grant to others what they really want
• a healer who starts with the soul . . . and a window
• a child who finds a beast within the river willows

Which one will I work on first? I don't really care! I'll make them all easily accessible (some were written a while ago and stuck in corners) and then set aside the time.

The world of the imagination is real. It just has that dreamlike quality of those times and places when we finally arrive for the first time at a long-awaited destination, at dawn or sunset, sky filled with wind and fire, the path before us and children in the distance, calling and laughing, expecting and unexpected guest.

Copyright 2014 by Thomas L. Kepler, all rights reserved 

Image Location

I Enter a Fun Flash Fiction Contest (How's That for Alliteration?)

I've entered a writing contest, winners determined by reader votes.

Every week the independent publishing blog for writers, Indies Unlimited, has an informal flash fiction contest for its readers. You can vote on the winner, voting deadline today, 5 o'clock PM Pacific time.

A writing prompt of text and photo is provided, and the submission must be no more than 250 words. I submit a story every now and then when a prompt gives me an idea that will fit into a story that could be used in a collection of stories I'm writing set within the Dragons of Blood and Stone fantasy series. When I finally gather enough short stories, I'll publish a collection titled Tales of the Stone Dragon Inn.

Winners are determined by vote, so I'm giving my readers here a chance to read some short, short stories, to observe some writers having fun, and to provide you a chance to vote on your favorite story. Sorry this is such short notice, but I've been busy taking education classes for a couple of days.

This week's topic was "The Great Dessert Riot."

Here's the link to the voting blog post. That link also provides a link to the contest short stories, which are in the comments section.

Have fun. My entry isn't titled, but I'll call it "Piety" if I use it for my short story selection. Enjoy.

Copyright 2014 by Thomas L. Kepler, all rights reserved

If No One Reviews Your Book, Did Anyone Really Read It?

In the month of July, twenty-five e-book copies of I Write: Being & Writing and twenty-two copies of Who Listens to Dragons, Three Stories were downloaded  during the July book promotion at Smashwords.

The idea is that the free books would be market leaders that draw readers to buy other books by me. For instance, my e-book Who Listens to Dragons, Three Stories now sells for $0.99, the low price seeking to lead readers to the higher priced novel, The Stone Dragon, which is set in the same fantasy universe.

All readers who downloaded my books are kindly urged to review them. 

Even bad reviews can lead to more sales. My young adult novel, Love Ya Like a Sister, was reviewed and given a "one star" rating, and later I was asked via email what I thought of the review. I wrote back that as an author, my opinion was not important, but as a career school teacher, some of the comments in the review were naive. These comments were ones such as "Events in the novel might give kids ideas" and "Kids don't really talk like that."

As a 30-year teaching professional, I've heard and had been told all kinds of things. In the novel, I didn't need to make up anything that might not really happen. The reviewer felt I was offended and removed the review from online. I was disappointed, actually. Would a one-star review saying, "Young people wouldn't really do those kinds of things," and "We don't want to give kids ideas" hurt sales? I don't really think so. The review revealed as much about the reviewer as the novel, and such comments certainly can pique the curiosity.

I'll be interested in how many reviews result from my participation in the Smashwords promotion. Although promotion can take time before the pay-off delivers, I'd like to think that there is some objective way to measure the success of giving my books away for free.

Copyright 2013 by Thomas L. Kepler, all rights reserved

Nymph's Heart: a book review

Let's see . . . Juan Ponce de Leon, a water nymph, a Jesuit priest, the Fountain of Youth, hurricanes, the Everglades, and the Chosen One--along with three timelines: 1567, 1926, and 2005. That'll do it.

Archeologist William Rombola has written a creative novel that is part fantasy set in Florida, part mystery, and all adventure. The woven strands of the three timelines are artfully joined, and the main characters are fresh and fascinating in their backgrounds, personal history, and actions. Rombola also doesn't tell too much at once but lets the action gradually reveal character.

Because this is a do-it-yourself novel, there are lapses in proofreading and formatting that distract at times, but I found the concept and development of the novel sufficiently captivating to easily surge through to the end. I mean, Ponce de Leon is the bad guy.

The basic premise of the novel is that Miami is one screwed up town because an ancient corruption has not been cleansed from the land. Although this sounds like a hackneyed concept, the originality of the setting and characters make for a lively story. Also, Rombola's background as an archeologist adds verisimilitude to the places, people, and events of the novel.

Even without the guiding hand of an old-hand editor, this story is memorable, enjoyable, thoughtful.

Copyright 2013 by Thomas L. Kepler, all rights reserved

"River's Daughter": my flirtation with erotica

First of all, when looking up a definition of erotica, I had to try to spell it three times before getting it right--and, dang me!--I just misspelled it again (and fixed it).

"River's Daughter," one short story of the collection Who Listened to Dragons, Three Stories, is the second of four fantasy short stories that I have so far written that explore the concept of the "water elemental," the incarnation of the essence of water.

The collection Who Listened is now available for the month of July for free.

Each of the four stories will match the water elemental's personality to the season. The first story was subsumed in the novel The Stone Dragon, where the protagonist Glimmer meets a water spirit in the winter as an ice naiad. "River's Daughter" is a water elemental during spring, when the world is growing and life is beginning. 

The ice naiad in The Stone Dragon expresses its "love" as chilling cold. In "River's Daughter," the "love" is that of impregnation, of the desire to quicken with life. This led me, as this post's title states, to "flirt" with erotica in order to concretize that "spring flood" in human form.
 .
Here are definitions of "erotica" from the Free Online Dictionary:

• Literature or art intended to arouse sexual desire. Well, the subject matter includes sex, but the intention in writing, the goal, was not arousal. Is the procreative energy of nature sexual? I guess the literal answer, according to biology, is yes . . . 
• (Fine Arts & Visual Arts / Art Terms) explicitly sexual literature or art. No, descriptions are suggestive, using indirect or metaphoric description. I wanted to put into human form that power of life desiring to reproduce itself.
• Literature or art dealing with sexual love. A longer inquiry into what is meant by dealing is necessary, but the short answer is yes. The anthropomorphic depiction of water in spring flood as a woman does deal with sex and reverence for life. I suppose that can be ascribed to sexual love. (Mr. Webster defines anthropomorphic as ascribing human characteristics to nonhuman things.)

Hence I see my flirtation with the erotic as a stylistic necessity--as Mr. Webster defines flirtation: experimenting with or coming close to reaching or experiencing. 

Excerpt from "River's Daughter":

"He trembled at the sound, the old woman forgotten, his horse and gear forgotten, all forgotten but the song. It entered him, filling his veins with a fiery nectar. He stumbled, drunk with the pounding of his heart. Awkward, blinded by the liquid singing, he left the woman, pulled to the river."

I don't believe I've given too much away. I haven't even mentioned the foil to the river spirit!

This story and two others are available for free this July at Smashwords: Who Listened to Dragons, Three Stories. 

Enjoy your summer reading.

"T 'Uk's Dilemma": a free fantasy short story about Post-traumatic Stress Disorder

The 4th of July is a celebration of a declaration of freedom, of fighting for a cause and defending what we believe in.

One of 3 short stories that I am offering for free this July is called "T 'Uk's Dilemma." At a little over 1,000 words, the flash fiction is a look at two of the characters in the novel The Stone Dragon, the Tucker brothers.

They are a tragi-comic pair of brothers who, out in the middle of nowhere, own two inns, each on the opposite side of a stream, and who compete for business with one another. "T 'Uk's Dilemma" explains how their eccentric behavior came to be and precedes The Stone Dragon chronologically.

T 'Uk finds himself torn between a warrior's obligation and the Way of the Sisters of Hospitality, a tradition in which his mother had raised him. Also, in The Stone Dragon, some characters practice the Silence of the Saints, a form of meditation.

Having practiced Transcendental Meditation most of my life and seeing how effective TM is in dealing with Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, the short story is a study of just how life-changing the stress of violence can be to the mind. I tried in the story to find a metaphor to convey the fracking a mind can experience by overwhelming events.

This short story and two others are available for free now at Smashwords: Who Listened to Dragons, Three Stories.

Free and Discounted Books During the Summer/Winter Promotion at Smashwords

For this July, my four books available at Smashwords will be free or discounted.

All you have to do is to go to the book's page, use the coupon, and download the e-Book. Smashwords formats the books for all platforms--e-readers, pads, and computers. Kindle (mobi) format is included.

Here is my Smashwords author page link, a handy portal to all my books. Download coupons are listed at the book sites (SW100 for 100% off and SSW75 for 75% off).

These books are available for free:

• I Write: Being & Writing (an introduction to consciousness-based writing & education)
• Who Listened to Dragons, Three Stories (an intro to the Dragons of Blood & Stone universe)

 These books are available for 75% off:

•  The Stone Dragon  "Tom Kepler uses Glimmer's story to examine the nature of magic, of power, of consciousness, of the grand adventure of becoming." 
• Love Ya Like a Sister (a young adult novel, called "gritty" by some, where values prevail)

That means that all my books distributed through Smashwords are available either for free or for $1.00.

The sale will last for the entire month of July. You will find many Smashwords authors participate in this summer promotion.

Enjoy! And please review my books. Reviews are the life-blood of an author because of the insights they provide readers.

Back to Writing? Maybe a Short Story About a Selkie . . .

Stamp from the Faroe Islands

I have this idea that's been on the back burner for several years. 

The story idea is set in the Dragons of Blood and Stone universe, and it's about a selkie. A selkie is a mythological creature of the sea, a seal that can transform into a human being.

The last quarter of school will begin on Monday, and I'm going to try writing again. My most successful adventures in writing while teaching have been to set myself a low, attainable goal . . . and then to stick to that. For me, the key to success is to make the goal low enough that it is easily attainable; then I tend to exceed that goal most weeks and to just barely attain it during a few time-critical points during the school quarter of teaching. I've written three novels this way, two of them published and the third awaiting the summer for a major transformation rewrite. I also haven't written on a creative piece this school year--a major Situation (with a capital S).

My goal for this quarter: to write Monday through Friday at least 120 words a day, for Saturday and Sunday to write at least 200 words per day.

That totals 1,000 words per week, so when the school year ends, I will have written at least 10,000 words. That may not seem much, but my short story "Who Listened to Dragons" is under 9,000 words, and my writing experience with that story was that it was long enough to feel a good, sustained creative flow during the initial writing. When I wrote my novels, the goal was 200 words M-F and 500 on weekends, so I'm being realistic, considering my current teaching responsibilities.

A sustained, creative experience is something that is important to me. I tend to get moody if I don't write regularly. Blogging or non-fiction doesn't seem to provide me with the emotional nurturing that creative writing does. This is no slam to those forms of writing. I am expressing my very individual experience. For many years, I wrote poetry; now, I've focused more on the novel and short story genres.

Sustained, refined attention on language within a particular written piece, I think, allows me to maintain an internal environment that is creative in the most elemental form of the word: engaging in creation. This engagement is positive, nurturing, evolutionary; and it stirs and integrates me through the use of language: memories, sense experience, intellect, emotions, and my sense of self.

For me, this experience can be likened to opening a door and entering a new environment, my "secret garden," and thanks to Frances Hodgson Burnett for her 1910 novel The Secret Garden. Sometimes that door (or portal for science fiction and fantasy fans) is open and awaiting my entry, sometimes a light knock is required, and sometimes I feel like I'm opening the door with my face. In all cases, especially the last, gentle perseverance is required--and a lively awareness of the wonder of creation and the field of all possibilities.

No wonder I get somewhat grumpy when I don't write.

The plan is simple. I'll start Monday. Wish me luck.

Copyright 2013 by Thomas L. Kepler, all rights reserved

Tom Kepler Writing: Thanksgiving Week Free Downloads

For the week of Thanksgiving, I am offering free downloads of my books that are available at Smashwords. 

I am thankful to have the opportunity to make my books available, and I'm happy to share this offer with my readers.

The procedure for a free download at Smashwords is to link to the book's page (link provided below), and then "buy" the book, using the coupon code in order to download the book for free.

I Write: Being and Writing: My latest book, this is a compilation and rewrite of blog posts about writing. I address the relationship between the writer, the process of writing, and the written word. The coupon code for a free download is TV99H.

"I write." We have to consider both words in that declaration. We have to expand the container of knowledge, the mind, and also develop our writing skills. Learning how to write is a life-long process. It is one that demands dedication and humility and perseverance. It is one that requires a certain knack that is an integration of skill and comprehensive thinking. One might say, "As we are, so is our writing."

 The Stone Dragon: This is my fantasy novel that could be called "consciousness-based" fantasy because it explores the relationship between consciousness and magic. The coupon code for a free download is WR28H.

Dream magic is the most dangerous of magics because it is so difficult to control.  Apprentice mage Glimmer—Not a Glimmer of Magic—realizes this when he discovers that his apparent lack of magical talent is because his magic manifests only when he is dreaming.  His first attempt at dream magery conjures a dragon, and just before dying in dragonfire, Glimmer, in desperation, locks the dragon within the stones of his master’s house.  How, though, do you live in a house that is also a dragon?  And how can you even sleep—knowing that dream might slip to nightmare?

Love Ya Like a Sister: Be your own man. That’s what people say. But what if that includes having three girlfriends at the same time—and trouble with the law? My first novel published, LYLAS takes a "gritty" look at the world of teens, a young adult novel for grown-ups (in the words of two reviewers). The conflicts in the novel are met by a young man and his friends, and family, friendship, and personal integrity ultimately prevail. The coupon code for a free download is WG57A.

"The author has described Love Ya Like a Sister as young adult chick lit with a male protagonist. While that seems like a strange description, it’s a good one. Although chick lit should have a protagonist who is a chick, that is the only reason this book couldn’t be considered chick lit. It has the other defining elements, primarily being 'a personal and foible-filled journey toward self-understanding and self-awareness.'"  Big Al's Books and Pals

Who Listened to Dragons, Three Stories: Set in the same reality as the fantasy novel The Stone Dragon, three short stories continue the magic of the novel. Two brothers--one the strange one, the other the brother of the strange one, desert and wyrm, river's daughters or river nymphs, soldiers or assassins, retribution or abomination . . . Visit a land where magic makes all things are possible.

I enjoyed exploring other possibilities in this universe, considering magic, geography, and history. I plan to eventually write more short stories for this series. The coupon code for a free download is XP37E.

"[The stories] silently work their way into your brain so that odd images and thoughts and layers of meaning hover around like smoke for days afterwards. Highly recommended." Goodreads Review

May you all have a happy and restful holiday, and if you enjoy reading my books, please write some reviews. Many thanks.

Copyright 2012 by Thomas L. Kepler, all rights reserved