.

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Economics 101: Inflation

c2011 (S)


Inflation is a simple economic tool which will be used to wipe out corporate and public debt, destroy the wages and savings of the middle class, and make life intolerable for the poor.

Presently there is an 'official' inflation rate here in Canada, last quoted at about 3.7 % in news media. This rate leaves out 'volatile' items such as food and fuel. The actual rate is much higher. After the rent is paid, what do poor people buy, other than food and fuel?

Since 2006, I have repeatedly asked the Ontario provincial government to raise disability rates by five ercent per annum for five years. According to the government, I do not exist, therefore there is no problem. I say that because they have never responded to any of my questions, concerns, or letters and communications.

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty has promised to double electricity rates in ten years, and effectively to double police wages in fifteen. Mr. McGuinty has come close, very close, to doubling spending over the course of his mandates, from about 60 billion to over 110 billion dollars per year. He wishes to campaign 'on his record,' but his record on issues related to poverty, disability, and other social issues is dismal.

Recently in Sarnia there was a forum on the government's review of social assistance in the province. This effectively takes it out of the election, as all a candidate has to say is, 'That's under review, and we're going to take positive steps to alleviate the situation.' End of story, right? Presumably, this means after you win the election, right?

As for forums, it is a case of 'divide and conquer.' I say that because all the little patronage appointees, all the little highly-ineffective social service agencies, go out to such forums and their view is quite a narrow one. For them, it is just another opportunity to push their own agendas, and quite frankly to solicit more funding for their pet projects, which is after all their full-time white-collar, bourgeois employment.

We end up with a lot of promises from Mr. McGuinty and his kind, giggling all the way to the bank. We end up with more 'community outreach mental health programs,' and more 'drop in centres,' and more 're-entry into the workplace' programs, and 'supports for assisted living nursing home visitation programs,' and the list is fucking endless.

For that reason, I must respectufully resubmit my demand for a five percent increase per annum for five years for the disabled, the mentally ill, the permanently unemployable, and working poor families in this community and communities all across the formerly great province of Ontario.

There is really only one way to deal with a bully, and this kind of economic fascism is a kind of bullying: you beat the living crap out of them and make them respect you. I of course mean that figuratively and symbolically as opposed to any real physical violence. For that reason, I will be conducting a highly-effective shadow campaign during the course of this election, on behalf of the disabled and other under-represented groups in the province. When you consider the numbers, the disabled should be electing ten members to the provincial legislature, and yet we do not have one fucking half-decent rep in Queen's Park, with perhaps the exception of my good friend and colleage of some years. I refer to Mr. Michael Prue, of the New Democratic Party. Michael has worked long and hard for his constituents, as well as the less fortunate across the province, and I thank him for that.

With a tame media, which in Great Britain sees no connection between the Brixton riots and the trillion-pound austerity program, a government can essentially do anything that it wants.

The fuck stops here, Dalton.

I say that because this and preceding governments have ripped off and defrauded the disabled alone, by an estimated $42.5 billion dollars over the course of the last fifteen years.

You reap what you sow, Mr. McGuinty--and you, 'Mr. Promise-Maker,' have been sowing nothing but a mighty big case of the vapours. That's the word from Ontario's half a million disabled people.

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Good for What Ails You.



Howard Watson Trail, Sarnia.

c2011 (S)


After decades of research, only one substance has been proven to improve brain function. The substance is oxygen. The best way to suck up some extra oxygen is to get outside and ride a bike, or whatever. I never run, so that rules that out. You could walk or something.

That was not my highest priority when I set out cycling today. Summer is winding down. I want to strengthen up my lower back and knees, which will help me cope with the middle-age aches and pains that winter brings on. A few years ago, my knees were giving out on stairs and things like that. Cycling has helped, although it really isn't a cure. I always laugh when I see guys ride with their knees sticking way out to the sides. (Raise the seat.)

After biking about five kilometres, I was ready to go home. This leaves some energy to go cycling tomorrow. I was sitting in my reclining-rocker armchair, trying to figure out what to make for dinner, and all of a sudden a bunch of ideas floated to the surface of my mind. Some might say that's the only mind I've got, but to heck with them anyway. They can write their own blog posts about my brain.

It was surprising how effective my subconscious mind was at finding dumb little things that I had filed away years ago. Stupid little things, like a book I read on Morgan sportscars, which some readers may know had an ash frame and hand-built bodies. There's a motor-cycle with a sidecar in the story--and Morgan started off with three-wheelers based on motorcycle components.

My novel, provisionally titled, 'Maintenon Takes a Vacation,' is set in England in 1927. I came up with a few other things as well, and while I jotted down some minimal notes, I'm still not sure how it all relates. If I had reams of material, some of this would be almost unwelcome. But with only 31,000 words down, the project was stalled to some degree.

What I have is enough to go on. A friend was saying that he had 'visualized' his book over many years, and somewhere along the line, I might have mentioned 'game theory' in terms of writing a story. Simply put, one choice, whether it's a character, a situation, or a plot point, eliminates some other possibilities further down the road.

Now at least I have something that fits in with what I already have down, and I'm going to take some imaginary paper cutouts and 'game' this thing out in my head. It gives me more options. Also, I had kind of forgotten my technique of 'character rotation,' and there is food for thought there too. I've got a few pages of notes from the last three months, and I'll mine through that. Some of those squiggles must mean something.

Once I have a basic sequence of events, (and figure out who is the killer,) then I will be on the way to finishing the book. Incidentally, I already have the last line written...it's a good line, but also a bit of a groaner.

To make a long story short, oxygen is good for what ails you.



Wednesday, August 17, 2011

New Release: 'The Shape-Shifters'

c2011 (S)


We are pleased to announce the release of our new paranormal comedy romance, 'The Shape-Shifters.'

In this book I deliberately downplayed the supernatural elements to the extent that talking animals and changing from one form of being to another is as natural as breathing to some of the characters.

As usual, there is a very real and very human story at the heart of this 76,000-word full length novel.

I wrote this in the winter of 2008, and have since worked it over numerous times to bring it up to professional standards. The only variation would be the Canadian or international spelling of words like 'metre,' and of course 'labour, neighbour, rigour,' etc.

Those of you who have your own works will appreciate the feeling of achievement that comes from a successful launch, and we know you will be supportive and wish us all the best from this new book.

Review copies are of course available upon request, in all formats. Drop us a line on Facebook or Twitter and let us know your name, e-mail, and preferred format.

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Formatting My Novel.

c2011 (S)


After editing my fifth novel, 'Shape-Shifters,' the next step is to prepare the thing for formatting. (Because this file has been around since 2008, and it has been through a few crashes and software upgrades, this involves the 'nuclear option' for cleaning the source file of all glitches and bugs.)

This entails grabbing my bio from the short story folder, and copying and pasting in the front matter from another book. Then I simply change the title and ISBN number. I went to Collections Canada's website, where I have a publisher's account. I get my ISBN's for free. That being said, Smashwords and other publishing platforms also provide ISBN's, often at no charge. Smashwords just bought another 50,000 ISBN's according to a recent blog post by founder Mark Coker.

What I do then is to save the document as a .txt file. Then I hit the ctrl and A keys, and save the whole thing again with my mouse...paste that into a new document, (a .doc file.) Since the default on my program is a .docx, and Smashwords requires a .doc, I don't really need the .docx. 'Save as' a .doc file. Paste the .txt novel into it. Take the .docx and stick it into the recycle bin. It's there in an emergency, otherwise it's a hazard on the desktop. Right now, I have a .doc file with the file name, 'Master ShapeshiftersAug1111.doc.' I don't want to put time and labour into the wrong file, and in the past I've had problems with version control--you want to upload the most recent, updated version of a file, each and every time.

Use 'find and replace' to remove all space-bar indents. Click find, hit the space bar five times, click replace, and enter nothing. Click 'replace all,' and this should remove all of them. Turn on pilcrows to look for little dots made by the spacebar.

Otherwise it just makes you look dumb.

The title of the book is right at the top, and it is 14-pt. All chapter titles are 12-pt. The subheadings are 12-pt. There are three spaces between chapters, and no more, 12-pt Times New Roman, and 12-pt lines. Paragraphs are defined with a .25 indent, first line only, and spacing is single, at 1.0. There are links fore and aft. My bio is very short.

I use three asterisks as scene breaks. There is one 12-pt line before and after, and the break is centred, as is the front matter, with no indents. Chapter headings, the bio, have no indents. On my last upload, the only problem was that my marketing image was too small. This time I made sure the image is 600 x 900 and I have full confidence of nailing the Premium Catalogue with the simple click of a mouse.

As soon as it's published, download Kindle and Epub versions, and check them out using Kindle for PC and Mobipocket reader for the Epub. Check every bleeping page. Trust me on that one. It's worth doing.

Once you are sure the file is clean, simply save it as a .html and upload it to Amazon. By clicking on all distribution channels, (Smashwords,) and with your ISBN number, you're good to go. The global e-book market awaits you.

Notes: I'm holding back on my fourth novel, and probably my sixth novel, both science fiction, until a later date. I have over 30,000 words on my seventh novel, detective fiction, and I need to get back to writing and submitting short stories, which is obviously part of a credible overall marketing strategy.

My Amazon account is separate from Smashwords. Goodreads, Lulu, Google Books all have their own source file requirements, so read and check all that stuff carefully. When uploading to Google Books, the file name is your ISBN number with no spaces and no hyphens. It's not as complicated as it sounds. One thing at a time and a little focus is all it takes.

Anyway, the last thing I do is turn off spell check and grammar check, and turn off the pilcrows. All I would add is, 'and proof-read the book as many times as you can stand!'

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Ready for Formatting.

c2011 (S)


My manuscript for 'The Shape-Shifters' is almost ready to go. I edited about 130 pages today, and what was once a little bit daunting is now a source of one big effin' grin.

The story's basic premise is a simple one, 'You can't change who you really are,' but of course the reader has no idea of who anyone is when they begin reading. As in all of my stories, the genre is just a vehicle for telling a story, a very human story, about relationships.

As I format, naturally I leave spelling check and grammar check turned on. I plan on going straight to the nuclear option in terms of wiping clean my source file, and lately I've been nailing the Smashwords meat-grinder with alacrity.

I have my ISBN and a decent cover. While there is no reason to hurry, with over two and a half weeks to go, I wouldn't mind taking a couple of days off and going somewhere.

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Editing: Before and After.

c2011 (S)

This is another excerpt from 'The Shape-Shifters,' in the process of editing.

Before:



“If you don’t have any money,” said Nathan. “I can get you a motel room, put it on my card.”

Jean just slumped in the chair, not answering him right away. Defeat was visible in his posture.

“He’s staying with me,” said Janet firmly. “I’m not putting up with any arguments on that score.”

Nathan and Polly exchanged a quick glance, a small smile stealing over each one’s face.

“Well, this may not be the best time,” began Polly. “But Nathan and I have an announcement to make.”

“Really?” asked Janet, perhaps quicker on the uptake than Jean, who had been through so much tonight.

“Huh?” he said. “What? I’m sorry?”

But it sunk in, what they were trying to say.

Nathan stood up and Jean got up and shook hands with him.

A sudden wide grin transformed his features, if only momentarily.

“Really?” he asked, looking in approval from one to the other of them.

“We’re a couple now,” announced Polly.

Standing up, she was stunned to discover that Jean had stepped in close and was giving her an impulsive hug. She grinned beside his shoulder into Janet’s eyes.

“Well! Mister Gagnon.”

She said it in confusion, slightly nonplussed by the outpouring of emotion from the man. Janet stepped up and gave Polly a quick hug too.

After:

“If you don’t have any money,” said Nathan. “I can get you a motel room, and put it on my card.”

Jean slumped in the chair, not answering him right away. Defeat was visible in his posture.

“He’s staying with me,” said Janet. “I’m not putting up with any arguments on that score.”

Nathan and Polly exchanged a quick glance, a smile stealing over their faces.

“Well, this may not be the best time,” began Polly. “But Nathan and I have an announcement to make.”

“Really?” asked Janet, perhaps quicker on the uptake than Jean, who had been through so much tonight.

“Huh?” he said. “What? I’m sorry?”

What they were trying to say finally sank in.

Nathan stood. Jean got up and shook hands with him. A sudden wide grin transformed Jean's features.

“Really?” he asked, looking in approval from one to the other.

“We’re a couple now,” announced Polly.

As she rose, she was stunned when Jean stepped in close and gave her an impulsive hug. She grinned beside his shoulder into Janet’s eyes.

“Well! Mister Gagnon.”

Polly found the outpouring of emotion from Jean a little overwhelming. Janet stepped over and gave Polly a quick hug as well.

“I’m so happy for you guys,” she said.

***

Which is better? Hopefully the second example, right?

Basic copy editing.

c2011 (S)


This is an excerpt from 'The Shape-Shifters.'

Sergeant Cournoyer was dreaming in his warm bed, snug in the arms of Orpheus, when his wife slapped him upside of the head. He awoke groggily, in a half-drunken state. The prescription sleeping pills he used occasionally for insomnia often had this effect on him. Grace handed him the phone with a dark look, as a quick glance at the clock showed it was after twelve. Oh, God, just this once she had been trying to sleep instead of reading half the night.

“Yes? What?” he asked.

It took a minute to sink in. What the voice was telling him was right off the wall…but maybe not!

“What? Where?” he asked, a little more lucid now.

Then Sergeant Cournoyer slammed the phone down without ceremony and leapt out of bed. At this time of night, and since it wasn’t his shift, he whipped open the closet door and reached for a pair of jeans and a western shirt. Pure muscle memory took over.

His hands knew the routine.

“I have to go, Honey,” he said over his shoulder as he rammed his legs in one at a time.

Here's the edited version. Bear in mind this is my second time through the manuscript!

Sergeant Cournoyer lay dreaming in his warm bed, snug in the arms of Orpheus, when his wife slapped him upside of the head. He awoke in a half-drunken state. The prescription sleeping pills he used occasionally for insomnia often had this effect. Grace handed him the phone with a dark look. A quick glance at the clock showed it was after twelve. Oh, God, just this once she was trying to sleep instead of reading half the night.

“Yes? What?” he asked.

Still groggy, it took a minute to sink in. What the voice was telling him was right off the wall.

“What? Where?” he asked, a little more lucid now.

Sergeant Cournoyer slammed the phone down without ceremony and leapt out of bed. At this time of night, and since it wasn’t his shift, he whipped open the closet door, reaching for a pair of jeans and a western shirt. Muscle memory took over. His hands knew the routine.

"I have to go, Honey,” he said over his shoulder as he sat heavily on the edge of the bed and rammed his legs in.


Notes: I wrote this in the winter of 2008, (I think.) There are all kinds of little writing errors in it, which can be disturbing on the one hand, and kind of uplifting on the other. What it means is that I have learned a lot by studying blogs, websites, and the work of other, far more competent authors. I'm taking out semi-colons, looking at every dialogue tag, removing adverbs, tightening up word count, sentence structure, and keeping the words in their most logical and economical order.

Basic copy editing is far more than checking for spelling errors and typos, or using the grammar checker on the word processing program. I can remove words from a sentence, and grammar check has no problem with it. I can put words in, and grammar check has no problem with it. But which is best? Each sentence involves a series of value judgements. The basic premise is to make it easy to read, and make it a pleasure to read.

The third time I go through this book, I will still be changing things. But when we run out of things to fix, she's done and ready to go. Projected publishing date for 'The Shape-Shifters,' is on or about September 1. In the meantime, I have to get my ISBN, format, and finalize the marketing image. I've already written a pretty good blurb, although it could use some fine tuning. I will go through this book as many times as I need to.

Thursday, August 4, 2011

A Blurb: 'Shape-Shifters.' (Coming Soon.)



Preliminary cover design concept.

c2011 (S)

Widowed Janet Herbert has two small children to raise. Out of work and with unemployment benefits running low, she needs a knight in shining armour to sweep her off her feet and carry her away on a big white stallion. The stranger in town is very handsome—and so very, very French. But the more she learns, the more uncertain she becomes. Jean Gagnon has just done seven years for a crime he says he didn’t commit. Worse, everyone in town seems to think he has a half a million dollars buried somewhere out there in the rugged hills of the Ottawa Valley. When a shape-shifting coyote shows up to steal his money, his life and his girlfriend, Jean Gagnon’s survival skills are put to the supreme test. For Jean to prove his innocence and live in peace with his neighbours seems well-nigh impossible. You can’t always turn yourself into a stag and bolt into the forest when things get sticky. This paranormal urban fantasy is available in multiple formats from Smashwords and from Amazon US, UK and DE. Please rate, review, add tags, or just click on ‘like,’ for ‘Shape-Shifters.’ Thank you.

Notes: I would imagine this will be tweaked over the next month before release, but it doesn't look too bad so far.