WELCOME TO NOVEMBER
I don’t think it’s my imagination. As you get older, time speeds up. It’s a physics law of some sort, a little known scientific fact that many of you younger folks probably don’t understand. Trust me, it’s true. Now into my 68th year, I can say without hesitation that time is going at warp speed for this old man.
Well, this is a blog about writing, not time, so let’s get started.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Truth is, I’ll never know all there is to know about you just as you will never know all there is to know about me. Humans are by nature too complicated to be understood fully. So, we can choose either to approach our fellow human beings with suspicion or to approach them with an open mind, a dash of optimism and a great deal of candour.” Tom Hanks
THOUGHT OF THE DAY
As we start out on this writing journey, I think it is vital that we build relationships with our readers. There are many blog writers who follow this blog, and I think you understand this concept. I have always tried to respond to every comment made on my blogs and my articles. It’s the least I can do if someone has taken the time to write to me, but more importantly, it is building a relationship that hopefully will last a lifetime. Now, some of you may see that as self-serving, and I suppose it is to a certain extent . . . but still, writers are in the people business, and as such our job is to connect with people. I thoroughly enjoy meeting new people. True, some people bug the hell out of me, but for the most part, I find people fascinating, and I love having online relationships with people around the world. It is one of the true joys of my writing journey.
DO YOU REMEMBER?
Do you remember what it was like just starting out in this blogging world? How important it was to gather new followers, and how exciting it was when someone actually committed to your blog?
Well keep that memory in place as you say hello to my friend Linda, who just started her first blog, The Creative Corner. I invite you…I ask you as a favor…to stop by and follow her. I guarantee you are going to learn more about cooking and other crafting endeavors than you ever knew before, and as an added bonus you are going to enjoy some quality writing. Please follow this link.
TO ALL WOMEN READING THIS
Here’s a recent article by a friend of mine…Deb…who has an important message for all women. Please take the time to read it and internalize it. You are all important to me.
ANOTHER SOCIAL MEDIA SITE
I’m late to this party, but for those of you just as tardy as me, I invite you to take a look at Flipboard. I have had good returns by downloading my articles on that site, and you just might find it worthwhile as well. Follow this link to sign up at Flipboard and thank you, Linda, for the original suggestion.
THE FIRST NOVEL BY A DEAR FRIEND
I call her my Lil Sis, but her real name is Cynthia Cahoun, and she recently published her first novel, “Marina’s Broken Grave.” I just happen to believe it would make a great Christmas present.
FANSTORY
When I have some spare time I like to check out Fanstory. It’s a little-known site where contests are constantly being offered to writers, kind of a laid-back site where there is little pressure and you can hang with other struggling, and successful, writers. Check it out if you’ve got a hankerin’.
THAT’S IT FOR TODAY
My latest novel, “Shadows Over A Hangman’s Noose,” is still on schedule for release late November. For those of you who follow the “Shadows” series, I think you’ll be happy with the results. Here is an excerpt from that new novel:
I’m no psychiatrist or psychologist. I don’t know a damned thing about how the human mind works, why one abuse victim will become a counselor while another will become an abuser, why serial killers snap and feel a need to destroy innocence, or why one day a soccer dad buys an AR-15 and unloads a magazine in a crowded mall. All I know is the aftermath stains us all forever, and the whys will visit us in our dreams until the day we draw our last breath.
The second case I had as an army investigator was a child abuse case, a little nine-year old girl in the hospital for a broken arm, doctors and nurses suspicious about bruises on her upper arms. They made the phone call that dragged me out of bed at two a.m. on a muggy night near Fort Hood, Texas. The girl, curly blond locks pasted to her forehead, her mother holding her good hand, told me she fell down the stairs and she was so sorry she bothered everyone, and mom nodding and saying her daughter was just clumsy like her mommy, laughing with a little too much nervous energy to appease me.
I coaxed an address out of her, drove to the off-post housing and found dad, a master sergeant, sleeping the sleep of the innocent. He wasn’t too happy, me waking him up, and he was even less happy when I mentioned the bruises on his daughter’s arms, and he was downright pissed when I asked him if he had anything to do with those bruises. He pulled his right arm back, fixing to turn out my lights with a massive punch, and I snap-kicked his kneecap.
That was ten years ago. The master sergeant is still in prison on three counts of child abuse, a history of beating his three kids in some confusing attempt to quiet the demons only he could see and hear.
No, I’m no psychiatrist. All I know is the stain never goes away, and rabid dogs need to be shot.
GOTTA GO
Thanks for stopping by. See you next week. Happy Writing to all of you!
Bill
“Helping writers to spread their wings and fly.”
Billybuc
Artistry With Words 