Political, Religion

What a Bunch of Chickens

I give up. I can’t sit quiet. I tried to avoid these topics, for my own peace and because I have issues controlling my temper. Plus, no one listens to me, so why bother? But, I can’t ignore these things either, so I’m going to say what I will when I feel the need to, instead of trying to hold it in.

A lot of people are trying their damnedest to convince you that Muslims want nothing more than to destroy everyone who does not follow Islam. There are Muslims who would love to see all non-Muslims dead. You bet your ass, there are.

And you know what? Just like Christians, there are a lot of Islamic bigots in the world who are probably not what you would call extremists, but who have a fear and dislike of Christians and other non-Muslim people. That doesn’t mean they will attack you, but they might have offensive things to say about you. It’s no different than how a lot of Christian bigots have such things to say about Muslims.

It’s that way with every religion (or non-religious group) on the planet. There are people everywhere who dislike other groups for whatever reason. These people are cowards. They live in fear of what they don’t understand. They want to keep the unfamiliar away because they think the unfamiliar is a threat. In other words, they’re paranoid.

But at the same time, there are just as many brave people in every group, whether religious or not, who are willing to meet with the unfamiliar and friend it. Be one of the brave people. Cowardice is generally frowned on. Don’t be a small-minded simplistic. Explore beyond your usual propaganda and find the good people in whatever group it is you fear.

Any document, article, video or whatever that tries to make you fear an entire group is propaganda. The purpose of this propaganda is to fuel your fear and hatred for whatever group you don’t understand.

There was a time when I thought Muslims were evil, but then I saw how wrong I was. It’s ridiculous to make blanket statements that cover entire religions.

Books, Reviews

On Writing, by Stephen King

I read Stephen King‘s On Writing twice before. The first time was probably in 2003 and the second time would have been in 2006. Now that I have more experience in the business of writing and have a better understanding of the things King talks about in On Writing , I decided to give it another read.

I approach my writing projects pretty much the same way Stephen King approaches his. Like King, I usually don’t draw up an outline before I begin work on a project. I like to start the story and let it go wherever it wants.

King repeats a few times in On Writing, “the story is the boss.” I agree with that. It works for me. Other writers might use outlines and steer their characters like cars, and it probably works fantastic for them. That’s fine. Whatever works for you is great.

There are other things that King and I agree on, like story morals (Sometimes there’s a moral, sometimes there’s not, and so what?) and symbols (If there happens to be symbols, they might be lifted, but if not, that’s fine.). Stories do not require morals and symbols to be good stories. Stephen King and I would agree, anyway.

I don’t agree with everything King says in this book, but a lot of it is pretty similar to my own practices and believes about writing. Unlike some other writers you might meet, King admits that he screws up sometimes and I appreciate that honesty.

On Writing is a good read and I recommend it to anyone who is struggling as a writer. There are many useful tips.

Okay, so that’s another book knocked off my to-read list. I had three more nonfiction titles lined up before I got to read some fiction again. But I’m tired of nonfiction and I want a break from it, so I moved Gustavo Bondoni’s Siege to the top of the list. I’ll start on that tomorrow.

Misc

A Blank Wall

This is the back of my office. There used to be a small desk and an end table with a lamp on it. But it felt pretty crowded with that stuff in here, so I moved it all out a few weeks ago.  So, now there’s just a wall.

I want to hang a picture there. I’m thinking the picture would be five feet long and three feet high. But not just any picture. I want a picture that would give the impress that you’re looking out the window of a tall building (not necessarily a skyscraper) in an urban area. The view would be of the streets and buildings, even houses, restaurants and gas stations, things like that.

I guess I’m looking for a picture that would show more of a community/residential area and less of a downtown commercial area. And something that’s not really artistic, but just a simple view.

I haven’t found the right picture yet.

ETA
Maybe “urban” isn’t the right word for it, but I’m not sure “suburban” is either, or maybe it’s a combination of both, “urban” and “suburban”.

Misc

…and by God, I will blog

I blog a lot. Usually once a day, sometimes a few times a day. and sometimes days go by without a peep from me on robdarnell.com or either of the social media sites I’m active on. Lately I’ve been crossposting my blog entries from robdarnell.com to Facebook and the Joke A Day Forums where I have my own personal thread, as do many other JAD Forum members. I don’t feel like explaining what JAD is, but many of us have known each other online and in person for years.

The main reason I blog is I want to keep up an online presence. I try to blog at least once a day. If I don’t already have something in mind and blogging is the next task on my checklist, I’ll just pick something random and write the hell out of it. Blogging is usually fun for me. I treat it as a hobby. It’s also good writing exercise.

There are times when I feel self-conscious and I think the things I’m posting are stupid, that the people reading them are rolling their eyes and wondering what sort of mental disorder it is that I suffer from. But often, it’s the posts that I’m self-conscious about that receive the most positive reactions.

There are people who try to tell you what’s okay and what’s not okay to post online. Don’t listen to those people. There’s a lot of things about myself that I don’t share online. It’s just stuff that I’m not comfortable sharing. But some people will share things about themselves that I won’t share about myself, and that’s fine.

You might get negative feedback, but if you want to post about it, go for it.

Music, On Writing, Writing

Another Sleepless Night

I went to bed at around eleven last night, but barely slept an hour. At around 4:30 AM, I was tired of lying awake in bed. So, I got up and went right to work.

I got five more pages into the short story. I’m on page 36 now and the total wordcount is 7,821. Seeing how it’s 6:25 AM right now, It only took me about two hours to get those five pages down. That’s pretty good. I’d like to be able to do that more often. Usually it takes me about an hour to get one page, so five pages usually takes closer to five hours to get down.

I’m going to rest for a bit, and then I’ll go at the novel.

On Writing, Writing

Another Novel Submitted

I couldn’t sleep. So, at 5:30 AM, I rolled out of bed and found a publisher that might like the 60,000-word crime thriller I wrapped up a while back. I threw together a submission package and sent it off.

This is not the international conspiracy thriller that has been at another publishing company since December 16, 2016. That one is 91,000 words. I still haven’t heard anything on that one. But that’s okay. I’ve done work for publishers and I know why it can take a long time for editors to respond to submissions. It’s nothing personal.

So, now I have two novels on the market. Let’s see what happens.