Pennsylvania - STOP - THINK

I love my state. I've lived here all my life and have roots going deep into these mountains back into great grandparents and beyond. My heart and soul is in the trees, the terrain, the wildlife and blocks of untouched nature.

With that said, I get sick every time there's an election of any kind. Pennsylvania isn't a tiny state, but it seems to me we are deeply segregated. There are the cities and then there are the rest of us. Unfortunately, for as far back as my memory goes, the cities have dictated where Pennsylvania goes with government. It makes me very sad.

I can't really pinpoint why there's such a distinct difference, but I have my theories. Where I live, we count on ourselves, our neighbors, family and friends. The power goes out, we pull out our generators and find ways to dig ourselves out of the ice or snow or whatever it is we're dealing with. In the cities, is it possible they count on government and other officials? Is that why they vote the way they do? They always seem driven by money and what the candidate promises to do for them without thinking of the deeper consequences.

Out here in my area, money is great, but it has never come easy and it's certainly not everything. What we want is work, a way to earn a living. A way to run our small businesses without red tape and government butting in. That's very important as we have a high rate of self employed people around my home town. We're independent and we look at things with a more open attitude, not judging someone by what they feed us in some line of bull.

My opinions I usually keep to myself, but I'm going to reveal some of them here in the hopes to make someone think beyond the surface of what they are being fed by a candidate or the media.

Some people say Clinton was one of our great presidents - the man who nearly got impeached due to his sex drive. Really?! I nearly vomit every time I see that statement. What about his terms was great? It was a time I hated to let my girls watch the news. That is not the type of person I want representing what my country stands for. Come on! It's my opinion he was riding on coat tails of presidential greatness that happened several terms before him.

Some say the Iraq war is drowning us in debt. Is it? Have you looked at all the facts in where the government is really putting tax money? Don't let some newscaster who gets paid to make ratings for their news show tell you what's going on. Look it up for yourself. Do you really think we'll be safe and left alone here in our own country if we back down? How in debt will we be with attack after attack on home soil?

Don't believe everything that comes out of a candidate's mouth. Heck, in one instance locally, a candidate has even stooped so low to change what he's calling himself after he managed to alienate quite a few hard working "rednecks" here in western PA. Is anyone really falling for the switch, Jack? I sure hope not.

This country was built on blood, sweat, and pure determination for independence. Now, it seems no matter where I look, people are looking to the government to fix their miseries - no independence about it. If we could go back in time to those beginning days, what do you think they would say if they knew what would happen in the future - our current time? Are we honoring the memory of the great people who stood up and were willing to lose everything including family and life to make our country great - a place free, safe, and for the people.

We need principles. We need a code to live by and I've been watching people whittle away at the code that had served so well since the beginning times. We allow someone to change something just because of their opinion or because of things like the "In God We Trust" on our paper money offends them.

Well, America was built on "In God We Trust" and if you don't like it, then maybe this isn't the right country for you. I don't push any religion on anyone. I don't say one person is right or wrong over another or myself. We are all entitled to our opinions and who is to say who is right? But I wouldn't expect a country to change its code of conduct or what's on its money because I didn't agree with it. Again, I say, it's what the country was built on and when you start tearing that foundation down - it's just like a house - air can't hold it up.

I have my opinion about the upcoming election just twenty four hours away and I feel my heart breaking because I'm afraid the people have lost sight of the really important things, the foundation of importance, not just the surface junk. We've been operating on the surface for too long, we need to take care of some foundation maintenance or things are not going to be pretty.

I'm prepared for and even expecting the unpretty, but I'm not liking it. I just wish there was some way to truly open the people's eyes to actually see - not just assume at a glance.

Look deeper, think harder, think carefully because our future and our children's future are truly at stake if we can't get things fixed. Think about the country as a whole, not just your family or your city.

Stop. Look deep. THINK!

Think deeper

Think deeper - beyond the obvious, beyond today.

That's what popped into my head this morning while I was watching television. You know, the election commercials, the news on the economy, all that "stuff" for lack of a better word.

I've never been a true day to day thinker. Some things have happened lately that made me realize just how far ahead I look before making decisions. I don't look at tomorrow or next year - twenty years, thirty, maybe. And I've come to realize that's why I don't stress as much as my other half does over day to day decisions. No, I stress over what people are doing to the world and what effects it's going to have on life for my kids, grandkids and so on. I worry about what we're going to live on in twenty, thirty years. Not just today. And I never count on government or any other entity to bail me out - just me.

Is it a side effect of writing the books I do? I don't know. I wasn't always this way. As a late teen and even in my early 20s everything was so devastating and day to day. Then life smacked me in the face and I had to straighten up or give up. I took the first path but it sure was not easy. It must've been somewhere around 1998 that I heard something along the lines of this:

Ask yourself if what's bothering you is going to matter in five years. If not, don't let it worry you too much and ruin the current day, if so, fix it now.

That's how I judge the decisions I have to make now. Of course there are more dire ones that don't have the luxury of not being worrying - car payments, mortgage - how to fill up the gas tank when you live in an area where you can't just walk to the grocery store or anywhere really. But in the back of my head I know those things won't be what defines me (unless I'm totally irresponsible and leave debt to haunt my family later). So those things don't dominate my life.

Anyway, my point about the think deeper thing is this, I wish everyone would stop worrying about only what's good for today and think about what's good for many tomorrows later. Any decisions that are made by us on who we vote into office and by the one who gets that privilege can't be made with such a short view of things. Not if we want what we have to continue on for our children and their children.

Oh, and you might be surprised after that statement that I believe drilling for oil and natural gas should be done here in the USA. I love nature, we need to take care of it. But we can do what we need and still be kind to nature. Honest. And here's another wild idea - ah - HELLO, we don't run Mother Nature or this planet, we're simply blessed enough to exist on it. Species have been going extinct and terrible things like drastic climate changes have been happening for much longer than recorded history.Sometimes it seems to me, from the things I hear and read, that we've elevated ourselves and our species to some godly level where we control the above. That our ignorance has caused the coming extinction of animals or what not. I don't dispute the fact we've sped things up. But I'm not able to think that without us, these things wouldn't happen.

Just something to keep a mind off the cold today...

I've done it!

Some of you know I've been working on my novel, Among the Ancients, for a few years - I believe it was started in 2005. I lost interest in it because I couldn't find the research topics I needed to strengthen the plot. I moved on. I wrote the now available Rise of the Arcadians and the upcoming Daughter of Gods. Daughter of Gods is the first of a series, but this series is different from my Manipulated Evil trilogy. It's characters are different from book to book only related to the other characters in each book. I also wrote most of Among the Ancients after finding the research I needed while writing Daughter of Gods. Then I got to the climatic scene and hit a stone wall - quite literally. I couldn't get my characters around that wall to the next step the final one.

Yesterday I took a half day of my style of rest and relaxation. It has to do with resting the mind and working the body to sore misery. I tilled up half the veggie garden of what plants were already harvested. I weeded my back flower garden, some of the front flowers, did laundry, did everything but read or think beyond what weed to pull next. While cleaning up from my outdoor escapades and getting ready for supper, an idea drifted into my head, free and simple like I'd always known it but couldn't find it. It was THE idea I needed to get past the last hurtle of the story. Last night, I finished the last little bit of Among the Ancients.

Now, to get my sore muscles moving throuh today. Then to proofread Among the Ancients, edit it, then proofread again. Then I'll send it in for publication. Phew!

If you want to know more about my novels, I invite you to www.tcmcmullen.com to read the excerpts, reviews and all the goodies.

Technology nightmares

Computers, cell phones, satellites, home phone, game systems.... Something in the air is causing interference when it comes to me and working with anything of the above lately. I've not had a Monday like this for many weeks. Thank GOD - because it wouldn't take many of these days to have me committed to the insane asylum my daughter's ring tone proudly announces instead of ringing: "welcome to the mental health hotline, if you are an obsessive compulsive press one repeatedly"... *sigh* Most of today's frustration is related to my internet/wireless/phone service provider. The satellite thing is all about the hubby changing the channel on the television without realizing it.

It once took me 6 months to realize no lines were goofed up or chewed through by some unruly critter - it was just my husband smacking some number on the remote and the television getting "misaligned" with the signal. He assured me the second time it happened that he had not done that. After looking through everything I went in, punched in the correct channel and WOW - it worked.

My DSL apparently has "bad days" here in rural Pennsylvania. Ever since the small-town ball park up the road had some excavation work done which resulted in phone lines that weren't properly marked being sliced through by a skidsteer's sharp metal bucket, we've had problems. Every time it rains more than an inch, the phone lines get full of static and the DSL runs molasses slow. A thunderstorm comes anywhere within 8 miles, I loose connection totally. Today it wasn't storming or raining, but apparently the cloudy conditions were enough to screw it all up despite the fact I don't have wireless. I've tried to tell the phone company, but each time I contact them I hear "Your computer..." even when I know it's NOT my computer. And I don't have two hours to run through all their "troubleshooting" which requires I download things, move files and in the end, screw up things to where it IS my computer and I lose days worth of time trying to get everything back in working order. So I just deal because around here, you have but one or two choices. I think come January when the sign up is due, I'll be looking at option number two and hoping they have come to availability on my road.

My other huge gripe about my current provider who is also my home phone provider and cell provider is this: I have three user names and three or four passwords written down in my little black book of user names and passwords. I put each site on an index card and have it all organized. I never have trouble with any of the other sites I deal with - which is a lot. I NEVER get into my provider's sites. I try and try, but I swear they must have fifteen sites for different things and they take great pleasure in saying "sorry, that username or password is not on file for the phone number provided." I'm the first to admit, I can screw up. I mean, I do work several jobs, run a household, and am raising three girls, two of which are teen-agers, of course I get things mixed up sometimes. I am only human. But it can't be every time and when I write it down, I'm very careful, especially with this place. And no, I don't use caps or punctuation that I miss when I try to sign in two weeks later. *humph* And what's even worse was the time it kept telling me the answer to my secret answer was wrong. HELLO, I know my mother's maiden name!! And it's not as if I could misspell it ten attempts in a row. So what the heck is going on - not a question, just a thought.

Today, I'm to the point where I can't care, I just have to deal. I scoff at their commercials that boast excellent customer service and manage to restrain myself from throwing something at the TV when I hear how "great" they are only because I like my television and couldn't afford to replace it.

Then, my daughter comes home and turns on our game system and every disk she put in came back with "disk not readable." So, did we get a frying power surge this weekend when we weren't home to scramble all our electronics? The moon isn't full, though I know 11:44 this morning was the shift from summer to autumn. Hey-maybe that was it. Whatever it was, I'm ready to throw it all out the back window (a 12 foot drop to the back driveway) and live in the dark ages again. I don't think I'm going to try turning my laptop on. Better not push my luck this Monday. If not for the ragweed and my allergies, I would sit on the back porch and read. My rocking chair will just have to do.

Signing off of everything electronic...until next time.

Rearview Mirror

One more month in the rearview mirror. Oh, August still has 3 days left but the moment school starts, it feels as if it's over because the whole routine of everything changes and it seems fall is fast approaching.

This is the first year where it seemed to change for the better. I've never been one of those parents who can't wait for the kids to be back in school. Odd, I know, but odd's not unusual for me. This year though, the day they started school, I got more work done in seven hours than I had all the previous three weeks. And it wasn't really due to the kids. It was the places they had to be on times they had to be on. It was running to get them prepared for school. It was running to escape the noise of the sawmill that moved in right next door. Maybe it was just the noise and running as a whole.

For the past four days, I've had nothing on other than the computer and a light (and the noisy constant fridge) until the girls get home. The sawmill has been quiet. All has been quiet to where I could hear the birds and wind in the trees again. And I discovered I can think in full sentences again. Silence truly is golden, I realize now after two weeks of constant saw noise, where I sat in my living room and heard roaring and shredding of logs even with windows and doors shut tight and the television on extra loud and even if I wore earplugs in the house.

It reminded me of some research I did for my second book. Noise has been used as torture along with some awfully cruel devices and tactics through the years. I've studied it a bit from as far back as they have records but I never really understood. I sure understand torture by noise fully now. And I have to wonder, is there really any getting used to it like some people say?

All I know is I'm treasuring the quiet and getting much work done from gearing up writing courses I'm preparing to teach through Long Story School of Writing and their affiliates to finishing some books for publication through Star to working on my own books and just all around getting a grip on things that seemed wildly out of control before.

Within another week, if the sawmill doesn't start its roaring 6 days a week again, I should have my life pulled out of the pit of utter chaos and back into the "normal" chaos range.

Hey, I can hope, right?

Around and Around We Go

It just hit me today that it's been a while since I posted anything here. Things have gotten a bit crazy from computer glitches to household messes and its funny how fast time can fly even when you aren't having fun.

It recently hit me that some are eagerly awaiting publication of my Among the Ancients so I'm working hard on finishing the final chapters. It's another of those story ideas that got pushed into the closet after I finished the Manipulated Evil Trilogy. I couldn't top that story or those characters from the trilogy. It took me two years to be able to move beyond that and realize I didn't need to top it. Match it - absolutely.

So, while I'm getting my girls ready for school (one a junior, another a freshman but my youngest still in the lower grades) I wonder where the time has gone. I'm reading the Earth chronicles from Zacharia Sitchin and shaking my head. Honestly, I have finished my book, Daughter of Gods - it's been finished for a few months now. Somehow, the circumstances I used to support my story seem to be in full agreement of Mr. Sitchin's hypothesis. So, since I won't be needing to change anything, Daughter of Gods is slated for publication now - as soon as I have the time to put all the finishing touches on it (I'm on chapter 12 of my read-through).

All the while, there's dozens of loads of laundry to do, school clothes to sort, corn to freeze, spaghetti sauce soon to be canned and the continuous tasks of house cleaning and my "day job" of running Star Publish.

Don't ask how I do it all - I really can't answer that, and to be honest, some weekends I best be left totally alone lest I go screaming insanely that I need silence and to do absolutely NOTHING. A person needs that once in a while I suppose :)

Mysteries and questions

I'm doing this research into ancient cultures for my latest series, Disillusionment that starts with my soon to come novel Daughter of Gods. I'm hanging onto the book just in case I stumble across something I want to add to its plot line with the reading of a few books I've finally been able to get my hands on - and possibly a couple others if I can find them and time to read them soon enough.

But I want to throw a few things I've found in my research out there. Global Climate change isn't laughed at anymore. I've also researched enough to know it happens even without the human element (we're just adding speed to it). I also know many of the oldest myths - no one knows where they came from or what influenced their creators to make them - speak of great disasters all over the world in human populations who never knew the others existed yet their stories echo some very similar ideas. It was the ancient Sumers who recorded the first "Noah" story of great floods. There are so many others from so many different areas that have pretty much the same idea. Why? Where did the tales come from?

In all of our historical record, from the rise of the modern human, we've not been threatened with extinction or anything close. (That we know of.) So why do we have so many stories about it?

Then, would someone please tell me why the great Pharos builders of the Giza Pyramids thought it necessary to create the pyramids to such precision in angels that can't be done without extreme effort even to this day? This fact is totally outside the fact that moving the stones used in making the pyramids was a feat in and of itself - then to do such precision in angles and in such a line up to match Orion's belt in the stars. Why?

Then, would someone please tell me why the Mayans had such a magnificent calendar that far surpassed any and rival the one we use today, yet theirs went far far into the future from what they ever needed? And myths about wand waving Dwarves building the temple of the Magician in one day. Why?

Why would farmers take time out of the fields to drag monolithic stones miles to set them in a circle lined with the rise of the sun at certain times as is the most common accepted explanation of Stone Henge? I've been around farmers all my life. Even with today's technology on a small farm, it takes from dusk till dawn to care for the fields. It would have taken more men and man hours to do without tractors and all the other equipment available today. Why would they have stopped to drag dangerously huge stones? Just so they would know exactly what time of year it is? As a story writer, that's far out of character for any farmer to me.

Why would these people, the builders of the pyramids and Stone Henge and many other things around the world, need such precision?

My theory - it comes back to climate change if you ask me. I had the "epiphany" last night.

If you stop regurgitating what we've been taught by experts all our lives and think with a completely open mind - envision humanity is much older than previously thought (which they are discovering clues that support this) and think that maybe, maybe mankind was around in the last upheaval (the big ice age) and survived through the turmoil the earth went through, well, that could very well explain the myths of terrifying destruction all of the cultures have despite the cultures not having contact - wouldn't it? And if humanity had survived through such destruction, what if they had been advanced, as much or more so than we are today? Maybe they would have wanted to track what made the earth fall apart so they would have warning next time, or possibly to warn their descendants. And the changes that happened on Earth were closely related to its natural changes which could be tacked by time - so using the zodiacs, the sun, all of that to precision makes more sense then, wouldn't it?

Even today, with the setting of our clocks and such, as long as we are close to the businesses, schools, doctor offices, ect. we don't really concern ourselves too much with precision, do we? So why would the ancients have done so?

I'm not one of those people who think we rule the world. We are along for the great ride on this planet. Whatever Mother Earth throws at us, we're stuck with. It's our job to cope or....well...not to cope.

Some of the old "time keepers" such as Stone Henge confuse people to their importance because they seem misaligned. But in my research, they would not have been misaligned far back in history. We just have to step further back in time than we thought possible before.

The change in Earth's precession of the equinoxes is coming soon. I've not researched that enough for the details to stick in my head yet. But maybe, just maybe the Mayan calendar ends because the known line-up of things from the Earth would end. And so maybe life as we know it changes. The climate is a touchy thing. One volcano blowing its top drops the temperatures around the world. A slight little change in tilt or orbit or lining up will do...what? And are we being stupid and blind in not looking at the great stone time tables of the ancients just because we believe they couldn't be as advanced as we are?

It's now proven that we did not evolve from Neanderthal, we actually shared the Earth with them for a while.

We've lived in a great quiet in the Earth's history for the thousands of years we know about.

Sumerian civilization just "appeared" with a fully civilized way of life that included schools, law (divorce even) and a working system for business. They also had a higher belief system. Just like that - Poof there they were. Uh-huh.

The Kings List that was once thought total fiction now has a few names that are known as true and once living beings. - Why would the other names with them be fiction? Just because we can't yet explain it?

There is study into collective consciousness. A whisper shared in all minds. In my business, shortly after I wrote my trilogy, poof there they were, books in all shapes, sizes, genres with similar topics and people wanting to read them. Even authors who never thought to write a fantasy or a book on ancients or on the understanding of life are being driven to do so.

Believe or not believe - but do so with an open mind and make your own conclusions, not from what "experts" have taught you. Even experts don't know everything.

And even if you don't believe, reading the fiction fantasy inspired by it all can be loads of entertaining fun :)

I am what I am

"You don't have to be super mom" -- my oldest said that to me one day after I had worked in the garden, answered several hours worth of emails, phone calls, set up a couple orders, worked on an author's book, cleaned the kitchen, helped with laundry and stood up to look around as if all my effort for the day had accomplished absolutely nothing because nothing was anywhere near the "done" stage yet.

That's pretty much how it goes around here. I have many people ask how I do everything that I do. And then I wonder if I do anything that I do well enough until something does reach a "done" stage and people start telling me how great of a job it is from neighbors driving by to see the landscaping to those who read my books. Yet I have snapshots I haven't yet developed from Christmas (2007) or the final painted stripe on my youngest's bedroom wall that was painted last summer or the border put up in my bathroom painted in February. I have piles of "gotta do that yet" things that have grown in the last several months. But I also have another book nearly finished, a growing garden, a newly organized office and a business that is keeping its head above a watery sea of bills - even though its just barely, it is only just begun.

I may not be the speediest person with some tasks, but what I do, I pace myself to do well. I don't rush for the sake of meeting deadlines. I let ideas simmer to create the best art designs possible. It's the way that I work, slow and steady, paced out and available to ponder things to find the absolute best in everything that I do that deals with design or creation, from books and writing to the landscaping of my yard or finishing of my basement (not even close there yet).

Yes, I handle a lot through the days. Mostly because I can delegate some jobs like doing the dishes, laundry, sweeping, cleaning bathrooms to my teen-agers and my now nine year old who I'm very thankful do so just to help me out. I guess you can say we are a household of multi-taskers and most days everything works out just fine in the end.

All in a day's work

Warm weather hits and everyone is happy. It's great to get outside. I'll admit I am a homebody. But I don't necessarily like being in the house. Given the chance, I'll leave the cozy rooms behind to dig in the dirt, trim grass, cook over the firepit, or transplant saplings.

It's not been all that calmly enjoyable yet this year. It's funny how much work can pile up, and how much one year can take from a person's strength. My daughter laughed and made the comment to my spending too much time in the computer chair when I ended up with fists full of blisters from sinking posts. "Yes," I said. "I know I do." And after a few days of back breaking work digging up sod (in places I never wanted grass in the first place) and sinking 4x4 posts below frost line level (oh, about three feet or so) to make the garden fence look nice while keeping out nasty devil rabbits since it is in the front yard. We have an infestation of rabbits who believe everything from the saplings I plant to the peas, spinach and bean plants I nurture are exclusively for them.

I like my desk and computers just fine, but there's nothing like a hard day of sweat and strain to clear the mind and soul. Guess I get it honestly, my grandfather was a farmer, my other a coal miner. We're a hard working bunch :)

Now, if I could just find time to get my computer work done, website updates, stories written and the garden planted and the house cleaned (it's been rather neglected lately and I'm a neat freak), I'll be doing good.

Inspiration

One of the most frequently asked questions I hear is "Where do you get your inspiration?"

It comes from many things, anything that moves me emotionally. People, music, a poem, another story, a storm, an argument, a walk in the woods, a movie, a game night with my kids. So much of it becomes a character and then the things around my character and sprinkles my stories with reality, yes even my fantasy.

My first book, Whispers of Insanity was begun when I was still in high school. I hated watching people judge others on their grades or their clothes or social status. Myself, I stood outside it all, not being the "in" crowd or the "out" crowd. The character in Whispers of Insanity grew from all of that to become one judged and misunderstood.

My second book came from a nightmare. The first scene in the first chapter of Gone Before Dawn (currently out of print, but I'm working on its reissue) is an embellished version of a nightmare I had. Nightmares have plagued me from as far back as I can remember. As a kid, they petrified me, as a teen and adult, I love them for story ideas and they've leant much to each of my books.

My Manipulated Evil trilogy and third story came from many different things. September 11th, the confusion and turmoil after, started it. A little of the tolerance issue I had with my first book went into the main character. The loss of one of my best friends happened while I was still writing Scorching Eden. He inspired my character, Jove, and I never got to share that with him. The soul searching after, that is what drove Scorching Eden to its finish. You know, what are we all doing here anyway?

My third story, sixth book, Rise of the Arcadians , now available, was inspired by Global Warming and human nature - what I've gotten out of studying ancient cultures - and family. I may be an only child, but my extended family is rather large. So Desire became the outcast of her huge family, but still affected by it.

My fourth story, Among the Ancients - or third, since it started before Rise, but is still yet unfinished was also inspired by global warming and mysteries such as the Bermuda Triangle and ancient cultures.

My fifth story was inspired by a small tale I came across in Sumerian myths and also by their Kings list. The brothers Enki and Enlil their hand in creating mankind, the Kings list and the impossibly long life spans of the first Sumerian rulers. What if? What if it wasn't myth, what if the life spans weren't impossibly long? And the story Daughter of Gods was born with Starlight following, now 40,000 words long and exploring the emotions of the characters touched by the gods and how they change. And that's where I'm at right now. That's why I'm a walking zombie from lack of sleep, catching myself talking to myself as my characters act out their scenes in my mind. I go to bed at night, exhausted, and all night my characters act out their story for me. The challenge for me is to feel refreshed and find the time to type those scenes out. Over ten thousand words in the past three days.

Meanwhile life goes on, taxes done, cars break down, bills come in, homework, laundry, dishes, friends over, birthday slumber party to plan, basement to finish before I can get a fully functional office. Somehow, it's all happening at once on this conveyer belt of life.

Petition to stop Amazon

It's been a wild and crazy week and it doesn't look to stop any time soon.

The question yet to be answered is if the little guy has a voice against the giant. Only time will tell. But if we all sign the petition at this link below, maybe it will help.

Petition to the Washington State Attorney General

http://www.amazontroopsurge.com/

Speak up Consumers!

When will big companies quit rolling over and picking the pockets and livelihoods of the "little guy?" Answer - When the little guy stands up and refuses to be anything less than a major unrelenting and ungiving thorn in the big guy's hind end.

And that is what I along with Star Publish and many other small publishers to not so little publishers like Booklocker and Publish America and all authors and readers must do against the mega giant Amazon.

Amazon believes they can tell us what printer to use, waving their little "purchase now" buttons in front of our faces and using them as leverage to try to make us use their printer, a printer known to create less than good quality products. It's my hunch that this is why Amazon has turned to such crazy tactics - they can't make the amount of money they want from BookSurge honestly, they have to resort to dirty tricks. Oh, if I'm wrong I apologize, but since all my questions left by phone and email have gone unanswered by anyone at Amazon what else am I supposed to think?

What else am I suppose to think now that I learn they've been skulking around cornering publishers who use print on demand singling them out and not allowing them to speak out for months before something did leak. Why would they be so secretive if they didn't think or KNOW what they are doing is wrong on so many levels?

And let me ask you - do you want to do business with someone that would do such things?

Do you want to do business with a company that puts at risk the quality of what you choose to spend your good money on just so they can keep more of it and the author who slaved over the story you want to enjoy or the information you want to study (if non-fiction) gets less also?

I realize this has happened in other industries but I'm asking - why do we put up with it? Why do we continue to give the companies who do this our hard earned money, our attention, and our support? Maybe sometimes it's because these dirty little secrets don't come out until far after the fact. That's not the case this time.

We've grabbed the flood lights. We're writers after all, this is what we're good at, and we're shouting it everywhere and asking everyone - please, let's work together and tell Amazon we won't put up with this action. Pass this information on, pass on the links I've posted here. Let everyone you know hear about what's going on.

And if you doubt what I'm saying, or have had the chance to see Amazon's nice open letter to interested parties that's not so easily found on their website and think I'm over reacting here's a link to a blog that explains all those niceties in a way that will hopefully clarify why all of us are still in an uproar. Oh, and if you have a few minutes, enjoy the April fools letter on this blog too - it's a good laugh :)
http://poddymouth.wordpress.com/

Pass it on readers, authors, and publishers alike! We all have a voice here. Let's let Amazon hear us and tell them we're not taking their abusive behavior.

I'll be waving at them in my rearview mirror and never looking back... As Star Publish LLC marketing Director Janet Elaine Smith said for all of us at Star Publish:
Thank you, Amazon, for pushing us to find a better way! -- Far from you.
The Executive staff of Star Publish LLC
--

Another interesting tidbit...

http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-amazon-does-damage-control-on-its-print-on-demand-demands/

I especially like the comments that state pretty much what I said in my first post about Amazon. They claim they are doing this for their customers, to increase speed in delivery, yet I'm hearing all over how very few people get one package even if they ordered just a few things. They don't come from one place to begin with - how are we to believe them taking all print on demand books into their system will accomplish that?

There's also a petition here: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/protectPOD/?e if anyone would like to sign it and maybe help change Amazon's crazy ideas.

Amazon Bully?

It’s been a wild and crazy few days, err, more like a week. No one told me a puppy got sick just like kids. It’s ironic when a child is sick with the bucket handy and her dog is in the chair with her, looking just as miserable.

Meanwhile in the publishing front, the world has been a buzzing with the news Amazon is changing its policies that have been the same for as long as I’ve been in this biz going on 8 years now. I’m a “if it works don’t change it” kind of person and I really don’t see the intelligence in this decision of theirs.

It seems they are trying to get a little demanding and require any books printed by POD technology (print on demand) and sold on their site with a direct buy button, must be printed using their printer, Book Surge they purchased in 2005. Hmmm, seems a little off to me. They say this will enable them to ship books faster because they will be able to print them within a couple hours, package them with anything else the customer may have ordered and all is good.

I don’t buy it.

I have purchased things from Amazon, mostly Christmas gifts when I can’t find them anywhere else. The thing that strikes me as funny is this: I purchased a handful of things, thinking it was from Amazon because that’s where I bought it from, that’s who I paid, that’s who confirmed my order. All but two of the items were packaged and shipped from separate parts of the states with different store names on the letter inside the Amazon box. So I’m not sure I’m buying that statement in their release that if a customer buys a book and a toaster they can package them together and the customer gets exactly what they want and that is why Amazon wants to do this.

My other concern is quality. Quality is very important to me as it seems to be for Lightning Source - my current printer that also is owned by Ingram, one of the largest distributors to bookstores. The fact that BookSurge has many complaints about their lack of quality does not make me feel very confident about them keeping the standards I'm used to. And like I saw stated somewhere else, if a customer orders a title from Amazon and that title arrives to the reader with a missing page or something else wrong, it won’t be Amazon who looks bad, it will be the publisher because Amazon or BookSurge will not have their name on the product. The publisher who paid them for the service does. And this isn’t even about the double work this would cause to people who are already overworked and how about that double charge to have one book with two printers?

It doesn’t help that the very thought of being forced to have two printers if I want things to stay the same as they are with Amazon stirs my Irish blood into thinking how dare you tell me where I can or can not print my books and have them listed as they have been with Amazon since I published them (speaking of my personal titles). Oh, I know, Amazon is crying out “you don’t have to do this, you can sell as a 3rd party if I don’t print with Book Surge, and Star books will still be available on Amazon, just not with the shipping specials or any of that good stuff. Don’t get me started on that 3rd party thing. It ain’t worth it.

I’m inclined to tell them where to go, truly. Amazon has never been my most favorite place for my books, but some authors with Star Publish have had much better relations. So I suppose we’ll see how it all goes.

Myself, I’m waiting for Borders to get their new site up. I’ll jump on their bandwagon real fast.

I’m also by far not the only one a little bothered by this:
http://www.writersweekly.com/the_latest_from_angelahoycom/004597_03272008.html

100th Interview

Quite a surprise it was when Joyce Anthony, author of Storm, told me the interview I returned to her was her 100th and a winner. In all my office work, organizing and reorganizing everything from actual papers to computer files, I had misplaced the interview after I answered her questions. It was more luck that helped me find it than any purposful action on my part. When I sent it, I was sure she had reached her 100th interview days before. She's forever adding new interviews, each wonderful reads from today's authors. But she surprised me with the news that I was the winner a few days ago. I'm just now slowing down enough to grab the moment I need to let you all in on it here.

Joyce's blog is here: http://joyceanthony.tripod.com/blog. Plan to stay for a while as reading the interviews is addicting. Mine is under the March 9th.

Character Curse

I'm a writer. It is the core of who I am more than anything else. Every little thought that trickles into my head becomes something, some bigger than others, some remembered more than others. I know when I'm in trouble when a character develops from these bits and pieces so strongly they will not let me alone even to sleep.

I started a new series a few months ago set thousands of years from now using some ideas spawned from "What if" after research into ancient Sumerian beliefs and the Kings List and such. The Kings List was thought fiction because the age of some of the early kings named on it was beyond possibility. Oh really? Are we sure - what if it wasn't? And Daughter of Gods began.

In the story, a little girl became a very small secondary character. Six years old, she did little but follow others. Then I started working on the second book in the series, still untitled and just a few chapters long. Within the first chapter, this six year old pops up, only now she is 16 and a rebellious teen. I have two of those - teens that is, not so much rebellious. But I can still remember my teen years (and I'll let that be all I say). So writing this teen wasn't hard at all. Then, after the fourth chapter and she proved to be a main point of view character, she insisted on being 23 - to heck with the back story, to heck with the second book in the series. Kira wants her own, her nickname, Starlight, to be the title and she's not taking no or wait-your-turn for an answer. She's even presented herself to me in a full fledge sketch (above) that took me just hours to do but will be her book cover. And she has a character to share her story with that caught me by surprise. A child I didn't even know existed of a character from the first book. Surprise, there Dane was, all grown up and claiming the mighty Danik as his mother and out for revenge only he's not a vigilante but a scholar who's been sheltered all his life in a space station and suddenly dropped on the surface of Earth. He somehow stumbles stupidly into pulling Kira out of a mess she's gotten into and then ropes her into helping him only he has no idea who she is or how close to a dangerous mess he is.

And there the story goes, nag nag nag - no consideration for book two at all despite the fact 2 does come before 3. Characters, I have come to understand, care very little for their creator or for numbers or how things were planned.

And then there is Among the Ancients, Bryce and Kynly waiting very patiently for me to get on with polishing their story. Something tells me they will be patient for a few more years, but Kira age 23, not a chance.

Star Publish Has A New Address

New Face, New Name

March 4, 2008

Star Publish remains outside the usual in the services it offers and its dedication to its authors with T.C. McMullen at its lead, but it now has a new website and business front at www.starpublishllc.com.

New and great things are coming to the Star website including authors’ blog listings, and a calendar of events. Visit Star and sample some of the most intriguing and fresh works available to readers today. Get to know the authors from the inside, who they are, why they wrote their books, and what those books offer to readers.

Don’t forget to check out the Star opportunities for writers as well. There is now an illustrator and artist on staff for original artwork in covers and interior images. As before, there is a full time staff including marketing director Janet Elaine Smith to help put books into public view.

For more information about all the opportunities for readers and writers, visit www.starpublishllc.com and bookmark it today!

Email contact: tcmcmullen@starpublishllc.com


# # #

Genre blending...

Way back (ok, it wasn’t that long ago) in the 1980s, I started writing stories. I suppose to one degree or another, I was always creating stories, either with little drawings or with actual words. I never gave much thought to doing anything more than doodling with it. Then I graduated and somehow found my way to a writing course. From there I wrote my first novel which landed fairly solidly into a thriller category after some changes suggested by an editor and agents but with a truly occult touch I couldn’t completely remove like advised. My second book stemmed from a nightmare I had as a young mother and grew in my crazy imagination to a horror thriller or suspense. Then came my third.

The Unseen was the first book of my Manipulated Evil trilogy and defied easy categorization. Was it a science fiction? Not exactly. Was it a romance? Not exactly. Was it fantasy or thriller or action adventure? Sort of. How about coming of age? In truth it was a little of all of the above despite being labeled a science fantasy. And I’m told I do that blending a lot. My latest release, Rise of the Arcadians is a little bit Eco Thriller, little bit future fantasy, little bit action adventure with dashes of romance and a drop of magic. In general though, such mixing doesn’t sit well with big publishers or stores because they are hard to put in their place. But how about for readers?

I know I love a story that has many elements all mixed together. For me, it becomes more interesting and it’s not just me who’s doing the mixing. Authors like Laurell K. Hamilton are running along the same path, not building stories to any box easily tagged, but creating variety and excitement with a complicated recipe of story elements. So, are the big publishers learning what the small publishers have been promoting for years?

As an author, I don’t think it would be possible for me to write something that slipped easily into one cozy category. My imagination won’t hear of it and readers seem to love the mixing. As head of a publisher, it’s the stories that stretch the ordinary that stay on the desk at Star Publish and often those are the mixes.

So onward I go with Among the Ancients and Daughter of Gods, not trying to squeeze them into any category, but letting the characters do what they may for my readers.

It's good

I don’t usually complain about life. At times, stresses will get to me, but that’s when it’s time to take a day and go for a hike or in the winter, go see a movie, take a breather. Life’s been good to me, not perfect, but good enough. Then all heck broke loose the last couple weeks, stretching me to the point I thought I was like some little cartoon existing just for the piano to fall on and keg of black powder to blow up on. I literally was to the point I thought another week like the last two would send me to the funny farm. (They’re coming to take me away haahaaaa!!)

Then I got up this morning, ready for battle again with companies who can’t keep records correctly and computers that can’t cooperate with programs that like to suck up RAM and freeze and the strangest thing happened.

Now, let me explain that I’ve spent more time on the phone trying to reach billing of a few companies (I won’t name names) for services both for my company and for my household than anything else the last two weeks. I got sent in so many circles it dizzied me with frustration. It was a case of one hand not knowing anything about the other or where one should be sent with a certain question. I finally got two resolved and another accidentally billed me for something I cancelled. I tried to correct it by email but was given a phone number instead. I tried for two days and couldn’t get through. So I figured today was a battle day with more dizzying circles.

Imagine my surprise when my first attempt got through to a very polite man who knew exactly what I was talking about and how to fix it, and yep, upon checking, it’s fixed. And in less than 15 minutes on the phone. That IS possible. Then my computer decided to cooperate again. I got more work done today than I did in all of the past two weeks.

So, was my sign misaligned with the stars for the start of February or something? I don’t really care, I’m just glad it’s over. I’m ready for things to begin working again so I can get back to regular work day hours with time left over for my kids and maybe even a little for me :)

A Little Respect

I don't usual open my mouth about controversial topics unless specifically asked, but over the weekend, I saw an image that deeply disturbed me. It was an image of protestors carrying signs. I won't state what the sign specifically said, but the gist of it was a deeply hateful thing against soldiers.

I don't come from a military family although I've had relatives in the military. But still, I can deeply empathize with the families and the soldiers fighting today. All I have to do is think of the images of strong soldiers in a battlefield with tears in their eyes, a soldier holding an injured child amongst chaos, children running to a mother or father they haven't seen in many months - the list goes on.

The war in Iraq is something none of us like very much. War is ugly, terrible, full of horror, but sometimes necessary. Anyone who thinks it never is should really think hard about what this world would be like if tyrants were left to overrun without opposition. Don't judge quick by what you think you know. Truly imagine it - what if everyone refused to fight?

But, I digress, my main topic here was the pain I felt for soldiers when I saw that image a second time. As my daughter said, who would say such an awful thing about soldiers? I really don't understand it and I wonder if the person who made that sign or carried that sign ever stopped to think about the soldiers fighting overseas as human beings. And did they ever stop to think that not all of them are in Iraq?

It shames me to think people in my country can think so badly of the men and women that give up everything of themselves, sometimes even their lives to protect our country, protect the rights of people, no matter who they are. Those soldiers hurt from what they've experienced. They witness horrors most of us can't even imagine and somehow keep going on, some with hearts of gold, running to help anyone, even perfect strangers, while risking their own lives.

Sure, some of you might huff and state some of the horrible things that have been done by soldiers. I say don't judge all by a few. Nothing is fully perfect. Perfection is a myth. But stop and think about the type of person it takes to leave family, home, modern comforts and safety behind to help ensure the rest of us can enjoy all those things without worry. The least we can do is thank them and be glad for their returns.

I don't know if the war is right or wrong. It wouldn't matter to me if I did believe it was all totally wrong, I could never speak so badly of those making such sacrifices to help others and protect what they believe in even if I didn't believe in the same thing.

I thank each and every man and woman out there who have put defending our country and the people before anything else. I thank their families too. I deeply respect them and wish them all the best for what they've given of themselves and hope they never once have to feel unappreciated or let down by anyone they've fought for. I can only hope others do the same for them, or at least don't do anything to disrespect them.

It's Official!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Star Publish
tcmcmullen@starpublish.com
www.starpublish.com

After Global Warming!

January 28, 2008

Can you survive? This is asked of you when you turn to the back of T.C. McMullen’s new Thriller, Rise of he Arcadians.

It’s 2122, seventy-two years after the Upheaval changed the world. Continents, world-communication, and modern technology are no longer what they once were. Society struggles to reestablish behind walls along what’s left of the Eastern United States. Darvid Squire, the leader of the citadel protecting the wall, relies on a rogue woman, Desire, for information and supplies. She knows all about the wild outer lands thought too harsh to support human life, yet Desire knows the wild lands hold secrets of old, secrets of hope.

One common enemy has risen to threaten both the civilized and the wild lands – Oceaners, a race of cannibals who swarm the continents, stripping from it resources and people. Desire must turn to her past to help her allies. Secrets of her ancestors mix with the future, creating a family saga and coming of age tale inside a thriller.

It’s been over two years since McMullen’s last release, Scorching Eden, but Rise of the Arcadians and the characters it introduces are well worth the wait. McMullen resides in rural Pennsylvania with her husband and three children. She is currently writing her next novel, Daughter of Gods, with more in a series to come soon.

For more information about this novel and McMullen’s other titles, visit the author's website at www.tcmcmullen.com.
Email contact: tcmcauthor@hotmail.com


# # #

Media support kits available electronically or by mail upon request.

Release distributed by Star Publish, an elite publisher dedicated to giving authors the best services while upholding only the highest quality for readers.

Shared Mind Conspiracy?

Last night, I settled down in front of the television under my afghan, not tired enough to sleep, so I turned to the sci-fi channel. The new Flash Gordon was on. I say "was on" because even when I'm in front of the television, I have a magazine, book, laptop, or sketch pad in front of me so I rarely just watch something.

Anyway, there's a new character in that show and when I heard his name, I slapped my forehead and thought "You HAVE to be kidding me!" Is nothing from my mind original? Is it all subconsciously known and just spit out when I think I'm being new?

Why? His name was Tarek. How they spell it, I don't know, but that's how I spell my Tarek. I assure you, "my" Tarek was born a few months ago, long before I heard the name on Flash Gordon. And it was a blend of his parents's names (I won't share yet, don't want to spoil the plot of Daughter of Gods.) This same thing happened when I was writing my Manipulated Evil Trilogy and gave the character Rania her name. I thought it sounded unique enough but within a few short months, I saw it in a few books and heard it on television at least once.

So I have to wonder, is there some thought-string we all share, the information tagging along through everyone's subconscious to spill out in clusters?

It doesn't really matter, I suppose. My Rania is still Rania and my Tarek will remain. Took me forever to come up with that combination of letters and actually like it, so I'm not going to chuck it just because the writers of the Flash Gordon series thought of it too. Though I do have to wonder if their Tarek is new or if I missed something about the original Flash Gordon because I really am not familiar with that one.

Ok, so maybe my characters' names aren't as original as I once thought and hoped they were, but hopefully they keep their individual identities just the same.

The Old and the Scary

Every once in a while to make sure things are as they should be with my listings and where my name and books are found, I run a quick search through Google or one of the other popular search engines. I also keep an eye on where my website hits are coming from to see what's working and what's not. Today, I stumbled on a few things in my search - things from a year ago, things from several years ago and EEEK. Scary to say the least. I have things at places I don't even remember being a member of. What it would take to get back in those sites and de-amateur-ize my pages, I don't know.

It's funny to look back now on where I started - an uncertain youngster not at all certain my writing was good. How I managed to stumble along, tripping over my own feet with my lack of knowledge, I'll never know for sure, except that my writing is really good, good enough quite a few people took notice along the way and lifted me up when I needed it most.

What's even scarier is to think just how amateurish what I post on the web today will be next year or five years from now. But the lesson is this - be careful what you put on the web. You never know when it will creep back out from the crevasse of time and scream at you.

Another Goodbye

Day by day, do any of us have any clue to how we are affecting the people around us - even those who don't interact with us one on one?

We've lived at our current address for ten years. From the time we moved in, I knew how lucky we were to have such wonderful neighbors. Our road is full of younger families and many kids grouped around the same ages. And right across the road was the dear couple we purchased our home from. Older, we viewed them as the road grandparents. We would wave at each other, stop to chat when we could, and watch out for each other. George was always busy taking care of his yard, his garden, or just enjoying the view. He offered yard care advice to me through the years and helped me several times in tackling things too large for me to handle alone.

I noticed recently that George's truck wasn't moving at all. This couple isn't a sedimentary couple, so this stood out to me. During the cold months, he usually drove, either their car or their truck, but I'd been missing seeing him. I'm not one to pry into the affairs of others, so I didn't ask, I just kept an eye out, hoping to see him wave again one day. Yesterday, we discovered he passed on after a stay in the hospital. Silly as it may sound my oldest daughter stood still when I told her and then said "who's going to tell my dog to be quiet?" Yes, George helped out more than we realized. He was a part of our lives even from across the road. We're really going to miss him.

Rise of the Arcadians Review

Coming Late January 2008
Rise of the Arcadians
T.C. McMullen
ISBN 978-0-9754372-8-5
Published by
Open Reign Publishing,
a division of Star Publish

She's called Scout by the men of the Citadel, where no other woman is allowed except for the few who cook and clean. In a not-so-far-future world where the earth's very surface has changed, and civilization as we know it today is only a memory, Scout mysteriously comes and goes and carries out her self-assigned mission: to keep the Citadel's fighters supplied, so they can defend the remnants of what used to be the eastern United States against invasion by the cannibalistic Oceaners. Scout has a real name, though, and a home unknown to the Citadel although it's not that far away. A home from which she has all but exiled herself, and a destiny that calls her back just when her chosen allies need her most.

Once again T.C. McMullen blends speculative fiction elements with some of Humankind's most universal and potent myths, and peoples the resulting universe with characters whose flaws make them all the easier to care about. In Desire (otherwise known as Scout), she's created a memorable yet believable action heroine on whose coming of age struggle a continent's fate depends. The people surrounding her are just as real, and the best thing about Desire - in this reader's opinion - is how her developing relationship with one special man enhances instead of changes her. There's warning here, of what our own world's future may hold if we continue on our current pathway; but there's also hope.

I do hope this apparent standalone book is really the first volume in a new McMullen series, because I definitely want to read more about Desire and her people!

--Reviewed by Nina M. Osier, author of the Farthinghome series from eBooksOnThe.Net (first volume now available in paperback from Cambridge Books)

Star Publish Changes Ownership

After almost four years as Owner & Director of Star Publish LLC
(http://starpublish.com), Kristie Leigh Maguire is retiring from the
publishing business.

Effective January 1, 2008, the new Owner & Director of Operations for
Star Publish is T.C. McMullen. Maguire will remain with Star Publish
as Publishing Consultant and an author.

A woman of all trades, T.C. McMullen has delved into areas of book
creation from authoring, editing, designing, illustrating,
publishing, marketing and teaching. She began writing professionally
in the mid 1990s after receiving her diploma from Long Ridge Writers
Group in Connecticut for completing the "Breaking Into Print" course.
Her first novel, a psychological thriller Whispers of Insanity, was
published in 2002. Shortly after, T.C. joined Global Authors
Publications as Senior Editor and Artistic Development Editor. In the
following years, she chose to go freelance with her services, working
for Global Authors Publications, Jada Press, and Star Publish as well
as providing services for individual authors for dozens of titles,
many award winning. At the start of 2008, T.C. steps into
leadership of Star Publish. To date, she has seen five of her own
titles in print including the reader acclaimed Manipulated Evil
Trilogy with two more titles soon to be released. She also offers
three writing courses at Long Story Short School of Writing. She
resides in rural Pennsylvania with her three daughters, husband of
seventeen years, and two canines to keep everything a bit more
exciting.

The year of 2008 promises to bring exciting challenges and changes
for both Star Publish under the leadership of T.C. McMullen, and for
Kristie Leigh Maguire. As Maguire stated, "I am looking forward to
getting back to my own personal writing career. However, I am so use
to multi-tasking that I created a new company geared toward authors.
If you are an author and need a customized cover for your book, a
professionally written press release, or a video book trailer
customized to your book and posted to YouTube.com, then check out my
new company, Book Covers and More!"
(http://bookcoversandmore.tripod.com/)

Where does time go....

A new year. That's what it says when I scroll my mouse over the time bar on the computer so it must be so. As I sit here typing, I can remember back to when the roll from one year to the next meant little to me, yet I can't remember what food in the fridge is from the meal we cooked three days ago or three weeks ago.

I also didn't think it's been so long since I last posted to this blog. Shame on me.

A lot has happened since October after the fun I had at the conference. First, I was offered the lead of Star Publish. I've worked with Star Publish since its creation in 2004. When I was offered the reigns, it wasn't a simple thing at all. On one hand, it was a tremendous responsibility I was asked to take on for a wonderfully set up company. On the other, Star was my main source of employment. Freelance, I do much work for others, but Star was the most consistent and yes, sometimes easiest to work for because Kristie Leigh Maguire and I knew what to expect from each other. I debated for many weeks, then decided this is what I do - publishing, writing, books - all of that is my life second only to my children.

So onward and forward I go, taking the head of a fantastic company, trusting my skills and knowledge and ready to help others not only in the designs of books but in presenting it to the world as well.

The second thing that happened is I finished RISE OF THE ARCADIANS and it is ready for release any day now. I'll let you all know when and where it can be purchased. I have my next series begun with DAUGHTER OF GODS ready for editing and the asked about AMONG THE ANCIENTS is again in motion. I apologize to all those I've spoken to recently who asked of it. I didn't realize how much attention it gained when I announced I was working on it. I jumped the announcement of it a little early and hit a few snags in its plot but have worked through those and am now well on the way to "the end" hopefully before the finish of this new year 2008.

So I welcome the new year and new opportunities and hope all of you do as well.

Conference was Phenomenal

I had very little idea of what to expect from the conference. I was pleasantly surprised when so many participated in the challenges and introduced themselves. Thank you. It was a joy to meet everyone who stopped by my board and all those who joined me at chat. It got a little sticky at times with my daughters not realizing mom was actually busy when chat time came around - alright, truth be told, that night cemented my determination to have an office and has me thinking a deadbolt, chains, and a locking doorknob will be necessary also.

I'll be back next year for the 2008 Muse Writers Conference, that's for sure. And hopefully I'll have an office I can close off to the rest of my hectic household :) If you are wondering what the heck I'm talking about, do visit my site and check out the Author Appearances page where the link is listed so you can read all about it for yourself :)

Just for fun...

Monday mornings are never the fastest moving days around my house. This morning, being so chilly when we've been used to some heat, well, it isn't helping. I'm here, all wrapped up in blankets and flannel, and found an occupier for a few minutes. http://LinkTiles.com/concentration.php For this day, September 17th, my tile is included in the puzzle, but so are many others. Just in case you're between books, taking a break, or just browsing, take a gander at it.

And now that I've let you in on it and the clock hands have swept past 9 a.m. I'm going to get to my official work and see if I can't get Rise of the Arcadians out before Halloween.

The conference is nearing!

The 2007 online writer's conference is nearing. This will be the first year I'm participating, but many of my fellow writers have presented before and are back this year. I'm really looking forward to joining them to meet new people and share what I know about the art of novel writing.

The Muse Online Writers Conference is exciting for its convenience and availability. Participants won't need to travel anywhere or shell out hundreds of dollars. I know I've gotten things in the mail about conferences I would have loved to attend, but with three kids and a skinny checkbook, it was never possible. What the Muse has done to make this available to anyone is phenomenal.

I invite you to check it out if you've ever had any interest in writing. You never know where the road may lead you.

http://www.freewebs.com/themuseonlinewritersconference/

A new perspective

Accidents happen every day. Cars are smashed, sometimes people hurt. Yesterday, on a road not far from here, one I drive at least once a week, three cousins were on their way to the county fair. They never got there. Two were killed. A 13 year old boy and a 10 year old girl. My daughter was classmates with the boy. The whole of our small community is shaken.

As hard as it is to lose someone, it's harder when it's someone young. I can't help but worry and pray for the one survivor, the driver of the car yesterday. We've all done tremendously stupid things in our lives. Most of us live on to laugh about them without being haunted by them. Just this summer at a family get together, my aunts, uncles and cousins all stood around talking about some of the truly brainless things we did. One involved fire and gasoline, another an old gun found in a barn, another the pool out by the springhouse. Truly, a few of us shouldn't have survived. We did lose a teen in our family to a car accident many years ago. My uncle was the youngest brother. He wasn't one of the lucky ones to live through something stupid. Neither was the driver yesterday. I only hope she is able to get through so the family doesn't lose all three from that car crash yesterday.

Is it good luck for some of us, bad for others, or something else? I've seen very interesting and mind teasing things in my life, put with the skills of a writer, and it seems so designed, like a plot of a book. Seemingly stupid things, totally unrelated can create a reaction or action that causes something else, something that in hindsight just had to happen, even if it was horrible. So I'm reminded of a little card I found in a book given to me by my dad. Simply: There is a reason. Some people refuse to believe it, some hang onto it for all their sanity. Myself, I'm just here for the experiences, for whatever reason.

So today my girls got extra big hugs, and I truly hope my middle daughter meant it when she said "you just have to get a perspective on death" - I always thought she was an old-soul, wise beyond her years. Or maybe my trilogy really made an impression on her because, as she says, they were needed somewhere else, they learned and did what they needed to do here. It was time to go.

A day in the life...

Rise of the Arcadians is back from edit. Now I just need to find the time to apply the edits and get all the artword ready for the cover. This year yet? Being that July 25th just hit (and that just hit me today) I really do not know. I want for it to happen this year. It just depends how much time I can scrape together for myself.

Add that into the super-productive garden this year and freezing all the veggies coming off of it despite lack of rainfall. Add to that three kids, two dogs, and one bunny coming for the daughter who felt left out with the dogs and one nagging need to write the next book and I'm spinning in my chair here. 173 single spaced pages are typed to (tentative title) Daughter Of Gods and last night it hit me, it won't be all one book. So help me, it won't be like my trilogy either, but more like a series. Yes, the very thing I swore I would never do a few years ago, somewhere around where I swore I would never write more than one book for a set of characters (hmmm, what was the three book trilogy?).

I really do need to stop saying "never."

And now I'm going to get back to work.... Until next time :)

Off to edit

I've finally called one of the three latest projects I've been working on finished and wrote "the end" on Rise of the Arcadians.

I actually finished it a month or two ago, but at the time, it just felt a bit fizzled to me, like it needed more. The ending, that is. It wasn't until I opened the file and read the last chapter again while out camping that I thought it wasn't so fizzled at all. So today I transferred the file into my desktop, skimmed through to adjust some formatting, and clicked to print. Amazingly my printer gave no protest. And now off to editing it goes just to see if I'm the only one who thought at first it didn't work. I'm also including a preview of my next book. Hopefully by the time Rise of the Arcadians goes to print I'll have a title for the next :)

It's been a while...

This way, that way, so many things to do, not enough hours in a day or days in a week. It struck me the other day as I crashed into my living room recliner just how little time there is for simple enjoyments, get togethers with friends and escapes from responsibilities. A recipe for stress? Do we all suffer from it?

I'm a writer, an author by trade and here I am, hardly able to squeeze out some creative moments at the end of the day. I used to believe it was due to my household of five, but I'm not so sure anymore. We are a busy lot, three kids going in all directions, but they seem to go with the flow more than the "typical" teens. In fact, they've been more of a help than a hinder.

This isn't to say I haven't gotten any writing done. In fact I have one, Rise of the Arcadians, finished and ready for edit and another as of yet untitled well on its way with another Among the Ancients sitting well begun on a back burner while I research more for its plot base. It's fine without that research I'm told, but I really need to do it, to set the base of the book solidly into knowing what I don't yet know. Sure, I could shoot it off to editing and start focusing on marketing, but it's not in me to do that until I'm satisfied with it. I need more time to devote to it.

There's been a discussion around my home about what we have coined "fluff." We use it both for books and for movies. I have nothing against "fluff" and even enjoy it at times. But I need more, stories that are layered with questions and puzzles to uncover. And I need much more than fluff when I'm writing. When my characters are "fluff" or existing in a plot of "fluff" I'm bored.

So what is fluff? For us, it's basically simple storylines that have one shallow purpose and no reverberating mood left when they finish. My middle daughter recently called Devil Wears Prada "fluff" but my oldest loved it. I haven't seen the movie, not one I would choose to watch really. My husband comes home every night and watches some show full of pranksters. Yes, it can be entertaining. It's also fluff.

I remember a question someone asked me when I first started with my writing. Why didn't I write children's books or some sweet romance? It's what was expected of me from acquaintances. I've always been known as sweet and quiet little me. Only a few of my closest friends expected what I do write. I have a new answer for this now. Mysteries/thrillers/horror/sci-fi/fantasy let you examine very deep life changing things from angles a character can reach and then play out for readers without seeming forced or feeling preachy. Two things I don't care to be towards others, especially readers. I have too much respect for them for that. I want it there for them to ponder if they wish or leave behind if they so choose.

Scams and Spams

I'm naturally a bit skeptic of all things. Commercials rarely sway me. Emails never do. That doesn't mean I don't take notice of them. Some very official looking emails fall into my inbox, more and more lately. They often have links in their text, promising a quick fix to some ligitimate sounding account or order problem. I sometimes find it funny when I notice those links, when scrolled over, are not the same link that will appear in the address bar. If you click on a link from an email please – PLEASE – be sure the promised location is legit. Make sure the address is as you were told it would be to start. If at any time you feel a bit uncomfortable, there’s no shame in closing that window without giving a lick of information.

It's very important to be vigilant about checking the legitimacy of things these days. You never know when someone will think it all right to trick you into giving away a password or account information. A small shop in a near-by small town (actually if Hazelton Pennsylvania is considered small, this small town would be downright tiny) recently stopped accepting personal checks. Now where I’m from, we still use paper and pen, not plastic cards for the most part even if they do hand us that piece of paper back with words printed on it. I’ve been in that little shop enough to hold full conversations with the owner who also runs the place where I discovered just how many bad checks and false bills have been passed around lately. Not the large bills mind you, but small ones and for a small business even a small loss can be devastating.

I just have to wonder why people would do it.

Does anyone know the meaning of empathy anymore? You know, feeling of concern and understanding for another's situation or feelings.

When my first daughter was born and then diagnosed with ADHD, one of the main things I did – even without knowing – was teach her to think about how her actions made others feel. Like when she took her sister’s toy or shoved her down a hill. Even a three year old can comprehend how what they do has an effect on others. Funny, 14 years later and she’s a fine and compassionate, if a bit impulsive, teen. Empathy was the most important thing I taught her.

My best friend since the first grade (no kidding) always said I should be a counselor or psychologist because no matter how a person treated me or someone else, I could see their side, how they might interpret their right to treat someone that way. Instead I became a writer though maybe my knack for seeing both sides is the reason readers love my “bad guys” as much as my “good.” It doesn't mean I agree with both sides or even one side at all. It just means I understand why they would make the decisions they do. Then react not with emotions but coolheaded decisiveness.

I just wish the rest of the world would slow down enough to learn the same – both to not rush to judgment and to treat everyone as they would want to be treated.

Not Perfect

I have a confession to make. I know I don't post often to this blog but there is a reason for that. I'm not perfect but I have a very bad perfectionism streak. Usually when I have the time to post here it's after I've done hours of writing, editing, formatting or illustrating and my brain function isn't top quality. That and I have a tendency to spell words according to how I say them (affectionately called mountain hick talk) rather than to how they are meant to be spelled when I'm tired or rushed. My fingers also like to hit keys I don't know they are hitting at times, making words which really don't fit in a particular sentence. So -- I hesitate to post until I have the time to spend 15 minutes to a half hour cleaning up my post. Is it the curse of being a published author -- everyone expects perfection with everything? Or is it my own curse?

My books are as clean as humanly possible, but they also go before at least two other sets of eyes besides mine and sit for months so I see them fresh again. Yes I do edit for others and I'm good at it, but my mind with my own work often sees "its bowl" when in actuality I've typed "it's bowl" -- yes, I know that's wrong -- its without the apostrophe is the possesive form of this pesky little word. Maybe because I KNOW that I don't actually SEE my goof?

I've also had my characters riding their creature and pulling on the "bridal" -- and flashlights throwing wicked "steaks" all over cavern walls. The first error my editor caught, the second, well, let's just say I promise to remove the "steaks" on reprint.

No matter how professional a writer, or editor -- of books, newspapers, magazines, whatever -- we aren't perfect yet I see so often someone being berated because of a mispelled word or missing or wrong punctuation. On one occasion an editor was told she should be ashamed of herself because of her mistake.

Then I came across another writer's blog with a disclaimer at the end of each post. I thought it a very clever idea.

THIS POST HAS NOT BEEN PROOFREAD BY ANYONE OTHER THAN THE OVERWORKED AUTHOR, SO PLEASE DISREGARD ANY ERRORS IN TYPING, SPELLING, OR PUNCTUATION. Thank you :)

Reviews are in!

This spring I "googled" myself as I often do to keep track of where my books are listed and things of that sort. At that time I must have viewed more than the first several pages because I came across a site - TCM Reviews. I'm not one to ship my titles off for review anywhere, especially not hard copies, but this one had my initials so I thought - What the heck. So off I shipped The Unseen, Book one of The Manipulated Evil Trilogy. Not long after, a good review was up on their site so I requested reviews for the following two in the trilogy, Scattered Souls: Book Two and Scorching Eden: Book Three.

The reviews are wonderful and reconfirm I've accomplished with my trilogy what I set out to do. My goals with telling this story was to make people think about very important and soul-searching type issues as well as thoroughly entertain them. It's wonderfully to hear from readers and reviewers from Maine to Tennessee and even Australia that someone has fully enjoyed Ravyn and Kyle's story to the fullest and are left with resonating thoughts after they turn that last page.

And to top it off the great news for this month, the Manipulated Trilogy is finding its way to bookstore shelves at Waldenbooks (also Borders) Bookstores. If you have one near you, ask about them by title and author.

If you want a peek at the full reviews for each book at TCM Reviews, pop into my home site - www.tcmcmullen.com and scroll down to "News Flash." The links for each are there.

The Wonders of Halloween

October. I was born in it, I enjoy it the most. It's a favorite month of many here in Pennsylvania because of the excellent views with the changing leaves. We've gotten some beautiful days lately, days that don't stir images of anything demented or dark. But decorations are popping up everywhere from ghosts and goblins to witches and foam gravestones. Halloween – it’s a favorite of mine, right up there with Christmas. Though Christmas wins top rank because of family gatherings, Halloween ranks because of its history and promises of mystery and intrigue.

Oh, the history. What I’ve learned of ancient civilizations I’ve learned on my own, digging in research for my novels and what I found surprised me a bit, especially because of the images and thoughts around Halloween today.

It wasn’t a holiday of evil things but rather a celebration of harvest. It is the time of year when the growing seasons come to an end. It’s a time to prepare and settle in for winter – the start of the new year by the Celtics.
Where did the images come from that we see today? It was thought on the eve of Samhain that the lines between the dead and the living would thin. Scary images and masks were used to frighten evil spirits away (though I have to wonder why anything evil would be frightened of anything).

I’ve never seen fall as the “end” of anything but rather a beginning, the same as I view the night. I’ve been told over and over how “backward” I am because I don’t truly come awake until evening hits and then my creative side soars late into the night. But I have to wonder, am I really the backward one? If fall was really the start of a new year and night seen the start of a new day, maybe I’m not so odd after all :)

Global Warming

Inside a fantasy writer's head anything can become something. Things grow like flowers in spring from an idea or happening as tiny as a seed. And then there's a whole new world.

My worlds always stay tied tightly to the world I know. I've researched cultures from around the globe - our "real" world and imagine what things would be like if different cultures would have risen to the top. What if: the climates were different. What if things of legends really did exist. All of this and so much more goes through my mind.

I began Among the Ancients a little while ago, but the characters got lazy. They need reworked. While I was thinking on them and what would cure their blight, other characters in a whole new story came storming to my mind. What sparked it - the argument of global warming.

Global warming has been mentioned for years now as a purely human caused thing. Not true. We may be making it faster, I'm not a scientist so I can't say for sure. I'm a master of fiction. But I do know from my studies that the Earth we live on hasn't always been as it is. Why would it stop changing now just because we humans inhabit it so strongly now? We aren't gods are we? Mother Nature has a plan all her own and things are going to change despite the fact we would like them to stay the same.

So. That's what the new story is all about. The changing world -- and how civilization as we know it will be transformed. At least how it may transform. Could we survive if disasters like hurricane Katrina grow more intense and frequent? What about if the continental plates shift again? And a new ice age? How strong are we as a species really?

A friend of mine believes we've grown lazy - too dependent on vehicles, grocery stores, computers and other conveniences of our lives. Maybe so. I really couldn't say. But the people in my story, they were trained to survive before the upheaval due to arrive in 50 years...

Nothing and Everything

My life is fairly boring. I know this. I don't hang out with girlfriends on a regular basis, I see movies at the theater maybe twice a year. I dislike shopping and large crowds of people. So maybe that's why I think nothing much in my life is worth blogging about.

At the same time, I'm always feeling like that proverbial headless chicken. Three kids always talking - I do only have two ears and for some reason they insist on working in unison instead of seperately. I'm also expected to often be in three or more places at once. I haven't quite mastered cloning myself yet. Shame. I also find myself fumbling with jobs that used to be simple though pleasantly challenging. Then something nasty happened. I remembered what my home was like before I spent all my time in front of the computer with one project or another. I regularly had clean dishes, clothes, and yummy meals. I grew tired of rummaging through the heap of clothes on the floor, scanning for visual spots or dirt, shaking out wrinkles, and running out the door. I also grew tired of purchasing cheap spoons because we would run out within a day if they weren't washed that evening. I also got tired of my floors looking like carpets of dust and fuzz. I once was a meticulous housekeeper. I once cooked each and every night. I once did laundry religiously, folding and hanging everything before wrinkles set in.

My husband has mentioned many times that I should look for a "real job." Funny, editing, writing, designing seemed to take up enough of my time and it sure feels like a real job. But I suppose maybe my sitting in the corner of my living room pounding on a mouse or keyboard doesn't much look like one. I haven't been doing near as much of that lately. No, I've been cooking real meals on the stove I've had for three years though it looks brand new. I've also been filling closets with fresh smelling clothes, pulling the millions of weeds from three 56 foot long flower gardens, and running all household errands. Funny, all that feels like a real job too. It sure takes a great deal of time.

Trees young and old…

Three years ago, our home and property underwent a huge change. We had over a half acre of old woods, meaning some of the trees were 50 years old and up. Did you notice the “had”? On this property we lived in a trailer built in 1977. It reached its lifespan limit and space limit with five occupants. So we chose to put in a house. I gave up my trees, but to this day still feel sick over some of it. More was cleared than we ever meant because some of the 80 to 100 foot tall trees knocked out many others when they fell. Husband was quite pleased with the huge expanse of flat, perfect grass. I hate grass. No offense, the green is pretty, but it needs weekly mowing and it really offers no real interest or benefits that I can tell.

Last week, my creative side got the best of me again and for some crazy reason I started digging holes in the boring grass, peeling it off the old woodland soil. Funny how many saplings my daughters and I found in the remaining, slowly recovering woods. We added 30 feet to the existing woodline, a bird feeder, hostas, azaleas, some old stumps. And we’ve spent more time in that little area surrounded by saplings and things we managed to drag from the brush piles than we have anywhere else lately. We have a small “marshmallow roasting fire pit” some logs to sit on, a swing too. We have part of our “old” path and old woods back after a hand saw and some hard work dragging broken and discarded tree tops out of the way.

I’ve heard from men that I’m just creating a weed area because trees take forever to grow and that I might see them before I’m beyond old. See, apparently I mustn’t know much, despite the fact I speak words like hawthorn, hornbeam, beech, ash, and tell them growth rates and average mature heights. Maples and cherry they know because those trees are worth the most money to the loggers around here. What bothers me about the men telling me “trees take a long time to grow” is the fact I watch them knock down trees as if they turn 50 years old over night. Heck, if we didn’t plant trees just because they take forever to grow, would there be any left? As for weeds, is it possible these men haven’t heard about mulch? Might explain why none has found its way into husband’s truck and into my yard yet this year.

I realize I have a lot of years to go before my woods looks “old” again. But that’s why I’ve got a few locus mixed in the bunch with some ash, quaking aspens, maples. All faster growing types. Some call those trees “weeds” of the tree species. That’s just fine with me. All I’m looking for is more shade and less grass to mow by the time I’m old. :)

A Precious Gift

A parent has so much to give their child. Love, acceptance, knowledge just to skip along the surface. But there is something I see so many parents today snuffing out for whatever reason, something natural to children, something that can set them free, take them on amazing journeys, open possibilities of dreams and assure they would never be bored. (Unless they are set on being bored that is.) It's imagination.

Imagination is a tool kids can use to escape for just a little while this crazy world we're all stuck in. To sit and watch the clouds, imagining the shapes of all kinds of things. To stare at the stars on a clear night and imagine things happening beyond our reach. C.S. Lewis, JRR Tolkein, Madeleine L'Engle, just to name a few big names, these authors knew how to carry their readers to new lands and make the story become real.

So why do I see so many children who wouldn't read one of these authors for any reason, why did the Chronicles of Narnia get a resounding "BOOOO" when the school chose it as the movie to show on rewards day? My girls loved it. I've nurtured their imaginations so nothing to them is "weird" -- it's fun.

But with more and more kids drooling over Survivor, Big Brother, Lost and the like and toys like tea sets and baby dolls no longer a big thing compared to electronic talking stuffed animals, mechanical pets and all, are we all coming dangerously close to erasing the value of an imagination?

Why shouldn't a tree limb become a horse, a backyard become another world in midieval times and a cloud become a dragon? Why shouldn't they enjoy Middle Earth and travel with Gandalf and Bilbo Baggins or Lucy, Peter, Susan and Edward in Narnia and enjoy it immensely?

I nurtured my own imagination out of boredom as a child. I admit, spending most of my time on an 1800's farm made it easy. As an adult, I'm glad it's still intact. I can see faces in the tile ceiling patters and in trees. Sure, I know it's just the pattern of bark, but it can really add some interesting aspects to a fictional story.

It's important to let kids dream, to encourage them to sail among the clouds in their day dreams maybe even more so today than it was years ago. Kids are under a lot more stress today than ever before. Nurturing an imagination to get their focus off tragedies, dangers and the ugly side of human nature could only be a good thing in my opinion.

Simple Things

Things have come in waves lately. I'll have a few days were I twiddle my thumbs, accomplishing little more than some laundry and cleaning. Then I'll have days where I have three different tasks to do simultaneously on the computer. Mostly I do ok with juggling several things at once. I mean, I do have kids, juggling tasks is mandatory for moms. And I'm not complaining really, I appreciate the work and the challenges. And I also appreciate the down times.

This morning, since we are in a real dry spell in my area, I carried water to some new plants and trees. Putting it in buckets uses less than spraying the gardens with the hose. I found myself in my backyard, surrounded by a cluster of trees, and birds. Two Cardinals fluttering in a bush, Robins, House Wrens and more. No other noise.

This was a surprise. There's been more tree-clearing and shed-building going on all over the place here and I'd gotten use to constant chain sawing, lawn mowing, tractor roaring, and nail hammering. This morning, there was none. Just the sun, a breeze, the trees, birds, my slumbering dog and me. I learned all over again why I love my back yard :)

I had work to do, had to spend the afternoon in front of the computer again, but surprisingly the entire time, scenes for my next book came alive in my mind. I hit a sticking point with it a few weeks back when life piled other things on me. Made me glad I didn't set a deadline for this story, but it seems I'll be up late typing tonight. Another good thing.

All I needed was some down time away from everything to get back on track. Life is funny that way. Sometimes we just need to take a few steps back, away from all the other stuff. Something as simple as sitting under trees and watering flowers can clear a mind more than anything else I know.

The wonderful world of research

It's odd, I know. I disliked school immensely when I was in it. They never seemed to delve into any areas of history or art, or creativity that I enjoyed. I'm not alone, I don't think, because it seems to me many artists had the same attitude about school. I do wish now that I had studied harder because many things link to others. But it's also fun learning it all now.

After I graduated, I discovered I could study into all the things no one touched in the classroom. And I found quite fascinating topics from philosophy of religions to world mysteries and psychotic psychologies. Researching these topics is a healthy boost to my imagination.

Druids seem to pop up in many areas of what I'm researching for my latest novel, Among the Ancients (http://amongtheancients.tcmcmullen.com) along with Paganism. It's interesting to ponder how different the world would be today had Paganism stayed prominent - if the ancient religions hadn't vanished. I don't claim to be an expert, far from it, but I have woven what I know into the fibers of my next book to create that possible world even more so than I did in my Manipulated Evil Trilogy (www.manipulatedevilseries.com).

I'm still studying, even as I write, and hope that the flavor of my stories improves with each new thing I discover.

T.C.

Book Signing

This past weekend, I had my first book signing inside a large name book store inside a mall - Waldenbooks in my area, also known as Borders. I can't say I didn't love the look of my books next to titles from authors I've read for years or talking with the people who stopped by. I had fun doing it, despite my introvert personality, usually I much rather like being a hermit in front of my computer and my current WIP (work in progress).

But I've been working so hard on promoting my work, I'm not getting a chance to vent my creative side in writing or my art and it's driving me a might crazy lately. It's not enough that I'm constantly picking up after and cleaning after 4 other people every day. (Yes they help, but children and hubby can't seem to see what things are strewn across the floor or where the crumbs have fallen, or - my favorite - when something spills, it all goes DOWN, nothing sticks to anything vertical - don't you know?) This was never so evident as it was last week while I prepared for the book signing. I had four days to do it all. And when I came home and looked at the house, I wanted to cry lol. It'll take me at least a week to get things back in working order.

I'm asked a lot how I balance it all, and honestly, I do not know. I take it one day at a time, try to make sure the bills are paid, sites are updated, children are fed, homework done, and somewhere in between find time to write the scenes plaguing my mind down on something concrete whether in long hand or typed (I much prefer typing, much faster for me).

And there looming ahead of me is the promise of nice warm weather, this year with an actual yard, not a rock patch. There's the flower gardens that need tended or made from scratch. When we first moved here, I did all the landscaping myself, the digging the hauling, the laying of stone, planting of plants, mulching, everything. That was 10 years ago. We put in a larger home, - manufactured home, doublewide, whatever you wish to call it in fall of 2003 (I think). It's much bigger than the trailers we lived in for 11 years. But now I need to start all the landscaping again and I'm finding 10 years can do a lot for a persons body - not much of it good lol.

So when will I find some quality time to spend with my current WIP? I guess I'll just take it one day at a time...