A Birhtday Wish @Solsticepublish

I was looking at the History Channel web site to review the date March 29.  The most significant event was the United States pulling the last of their combat troops out of Vietnam.  On the birthday front, former president John Tyler was born.  (It is sad that I never knew he was a president. I guess that’s what happens when you grow up in Canada.)  Supermodel Elle Macpherson was also born on that day.  There is one man who towers above all the others who was brought into the world on that day.  That man is my father.  I have been blessed to have positive traits from both my parents but it is from my father I inherited my ability and love of writing.  He was a technical writer for a good part of his career and then a magazine editor.  My mother explained it best when she said, “Scientists have a message they want to get out so your father goes and talks to them.  He understands what they are saying and writes it in a form that most people can understand.”  I have to say, one of the magazines he edited and wrote for was Atomic Energy of Canada.  I read his articles and still had no clue what he was talking about.  As a boy I remember wanting to watch a comedy show like MASH or Happy Days at night but my father was engrossed in something on PBS.  So I would go up to my parent’s bedroom and watch on their television while lying on the bed.  During commercial breaks I would look at the wall in front of me and it was completely filled with awards for his writing and editing.  There were so many awards that some were simply sitting on the floor.  I was always dumbfounded by the sheer volume of accolades.  Not only is my father a great writer but he was recognized as such in his field.  That is a difficult goal to attain.  When I first told him I wanted to be a writer I was young and he told me to make sure I had another career to support myself with while I wrote.  It sounded harsh but was true.  As I have recounted in the past, when I wrote my first chapter of “Quest for the Red Sapphire” at 13 I proudly displayed it to my father.  He crumpled it up and deposited it on the ground while stating it was inferior.  I’m not going to lie, that hurt.  It wasn’t like today where every child on my son’s soccer team received a trophy whether your team won or lost.  Dad would not let age be an excuse for subpar work.  I could not see it then, but he was inspiring me to be a better writer.  I studied hard and worked at my craft for years.  When the book was finally published my father told me it was well written and he was proud of me.  I had waited most of my life to hear those words.  When they came I knew they were sincere.  He is not a man to give false praise.  In middle school we each had to write a paper about who we would like to grow up to be.  I said I wanted to be my father.  Though I draw a pale comparison to him, I still wish I was more like him.  For the time being, I will be happy being myself and having him still in my life. 

Character Profile: Bander @Solsticepublish

Now that we have talked about Rander Greenlith it is time to talk about his fraternal twin brother, Bander Greenlith.  The two young elves could not be more different.  While Rander is scheming and devious, Bander is simple and easily manipulated.  Rander is small and frail.  Bander is one of the largest elves and possesses relatively great strength.  Rander always thinks of himself first while Bander cares about other people.  He is loyal, trustworthy and thinks in only the most basic terms.  While Rander covets money and power, Bander wants nothing more than good food and plenty of it.  When Bander is first introduced he is completely under his brother’s control.  For their entire lives, Bander has been the muscle backing up his brother’s threats and actions.  The result is he hates Linvin at first.  His only reason for this disposition, however, is because Rander instructed him for as long as he can remember that he loathes Linvin.  Some may mistake Bander for a person who lacks intelligence.  That is far from the truth.  Bander has a brain.  He just seldom uses it for anything complex because he has no interest in such endeavors.  His thoughts are plain and uncomplicated.  He works as a lumberjack and asks for nothing special in life.  In a way, he is probably the happiest person in the book for that reason.  Bander is told to go on the quest by his brother and happily obliges.  Deep down, though, he knows Linvin and Anvar need his help.  As the story progresses no character grows as much as Bander.  The more he is exposed to his cousin and uncle, the more he thinks for himself.  Though he learns to be an ample warrior, he shows that he is caring and likable.  More and more his new found independent thinking conflicts with Rander’s plans.  Friction takes place with both his brother and Linvin.  Bander becomes confused and struggles to decide which side to take in arguments.  He has to use his intellect at last and he is not used to doing so.  One of the best parts of having Bander in the story is his comic relief.  He has no use for deep conversations and often adds levity to tense situations.  If you were looking for a good-natured person to sit down for a meal and a drink with, Bander would be your man.  Though intricate thoughts are a stretch for him, the world would be a much happier place if there were more people like Bander in it.

Character Profile: Rander @Solsticepublish

In “Quest for the Red Sapphire” Linvin Grithinshield and his uncle Anvar Greenlith realize their chances of success on their quest will be better if there are more people in their party.  Unfortunately some very underhanded things have transpired and finding people they can trust is proving difficult.  As a last resort they turn to Linvin’s quarrelsome elf cousins, Rander and Bander Greenlith.  Today we will focus on Rander.  Out of the two fraternal twin brothers he does most of the thinking and talking.  Being slight in size even for an elf he has sharpened his wits to take advantage of situations that come along.  Rander likes to manipulate people and in doing so get what he wants.  His webs of deceit are spun mostly around his mother, Caritha Greenlith and his brother Bander.  Both of them take his word at face value when it is rarely worthy.  Rander abhors work and will do almost anything to get out of doing it.  Most tasks are somehow shuffled over to Bander’s plate.  Though Rander is a master of twisting words, he does so only to his own benefit.  Anyone else who gains from his intrigues is purely coincidental.   Rander has many things he despises.  As a proud elf he hates all other races especially the dominant race, Humans.  Growing up in poverty he also resents affluent people.  He never believes they deserve their wealth as he vaguely hides his jealousy.  That brings up the subject of Linvin.  Rander absolutely loathes him for all these reasons.  Linvin is big and strong where Rander is neither.  He is also rich and has no worries about money.  Rander cannot say that about his life.  Linvin is half human and his elf mother is viewed by the Greenlith family as a traitor for marrying a human.  On top of all that, Linvin is triumphant at whatever he has tried where Rander has yet to taste success.  When that is all added up it makes for a spiteful, resentful and uncompromising individual who hates Linvin above all others.  As youths, Rander convinced his brother to help him fight Linvin when the families were brought together.  It bred a similar feeling of hatred from Linvin toward the twins.  Linvin could not understand why they were so vicious to him but he was leery of trusting them; especially Rander.  The young elf only agrees to go on the quest when Linvin offers a big payday upon their return.  Greed is a trait Rander has in great supply.  Nothing so far makes Rander sound like the kind of person you want watching your back and for the most part it is true.  Nevertheless, Rander will undergo changes on their trek.  They do not happen right away but the person first introduced in the book is vastly different from the one at the end.

Character ProfileL Anvar @Solsticepublish

Anvar Greenlith is a complex character.  He’s Linvin’s uncle, his mother Jelena’s brother and his father Dirk’s best friend.  Anvar was actually friends with Dirk before he met Jelena.  Anvar and Dirk used to carouse the local drinking establishments in Fraylic in their youth.  After Anvar introduced Dirk to Jelena, the two fell in love and were wed in spite of fierce Greenlith family resistance.  They had only one child; Linvin.  Anvar was a good friend and confidant of Linvin’s throughout his life.  As a result, Linvin was the only one of Anvar’s nephews who had the privilege of calling him solely by his first name.  Anvar visited Linvin on occasion in Valia and was the only person other than Jelena in on Dirk’s plans for Linvin and the Red Sapphire.  When Dirk disappeared, Anvar kept an especially close eye on his sister who was unconcerned about her own safety.  He disagreed with bringing Linvin home as he felt it might force the hand of someone after the staff and key she hid.  Anvar was right to be worried as she was poisoned.  It fell to him to deliver the bad news to Linvin along with the staff and key.  Then he had to convince Linvin to go on the quest or else find himself dead like his parents.  Anvar has the benefit of knowing every detail of the story from the beginning.  In order to keep his nephews in the fold he chooses the time and place to divulge the information.  Anvar can talk without end and still have secrets he keeps.  Nothing is shared until it is necessary.  He is cunning and manipulative in a good way to get the party to do what is necessary.  Anvar is hard on the twins as they continue to question Linvin’s leadership and cause problems.  He is, however, especially hard on Linvin.  His closest remaining friend and pupil has enormous ability and potential.  In order to reach that potential Anvar must be overly critical of Linvin so he will stop acting rashly and think before he puts a plan into motion.  Whenever Linvin makes the slightest mistake, Anvar is there to criticize his choices.  He hates to be so hard on Linvin but his eldest nephew needs the tough love.  Linvin has been able to ignore his shortcomings for so long that he does not see them.  Only harsh critiques of his plans will enable Linvin to grow into the man he needs to become.  Anvar is also an Orange Magician.  It is the second most powerful level of magic and has been hidden from the family for his entire life.  Magicians are often viewed as freaks by society and he had enough trouble as an elf blending into a human world.  His powers will prove to be of great benefit in the party’s travels.

Character Profile: Linvin @Solsticepublish

Linvin is the protagonist of “Quest for the Red Sapphire” and its main character.  At the age of 12 he was sent away by his parents from the Kingdom of Sartan to the Kingdom of Valia in order to be trained by the Master of Warfare, Sedemihcra.  All Linvin was told was that he needed to be trained to do something of great importance and his father would send for him when the time was right.  Linvin ended up spending more than half his life in Valia.   After coming of age, Sedemihcra thought he would benefit from the practical experience of joining the army.  He moved up the ranks at an unprecedented rate and eventually found himself as Commander of all Valian Forces.  The story begins with Linvin leading his small army in a last bloody victory over the Marsh Goblins to Valia’s south.  Linvin is proud and a great warrior but feels ashamed at what he has become.  Then a letter arrives saying his father is missing and he must come home to run the lucrative family trading empire.  Linvin resigns his commission and heads for Sartan.  His mother wants him to settle into an aristocratic life of peace but Linvin has other ideas.  After setting the company right, he moves to the town of Missandor, away from the family mansion and sets up his own home in a tree there.  Soon his Uncle Anvar arrives at his door with news that his mother has been killed by poison and that the killers are probably on their way to visit him next.  It is explained that Linvin was meant to be the next master of the Red Sapphire.  It is a gem of legend that gives its master power unrivaled by any other mortal.  Linvin must flee for his life and find the gem before the assassins catch him or find the gem, themselves.   As a character, Linvin has many strengths.  I wanted him to be someone who could stand up against difficult odds and still have a chance to come out as the winner.  There were just too many protagonists out there in books who were weak and frail.  They always need to be saved.  I wanted Linvin to have all the boxes checked off for a hero.  He even has a fatal flaw.  He is headstrong and sometimes acts without thinking matters through.  If he stops and plans he almost always wins.  When he rushes in he usually has an error in judgment and gets himself and those around him into trouble.  I laughed because one reviewer of “Quest for the Red Sapphire” said that Linvin was too perfect and they actually found themselves rooting against him.  The whole point of Linvin is that he is supposed to be a great man and prove it in order to be worthy of the Red Sapphire.  He is not perfect by any means.  Linvin is simply meant to be that one person who you can save the day.

The Edits Are Nearly Done @Solsticepublish

Responses to my cover reveal have been very positive.  It excites me and spurs me to finish my edits.  Editing is so much different from writing.  When you are writing you are wild and free to do whatever you want with all care is thrown to the wind.  Writing is a huge rush of creative energy and one of the greatest joys I know.  In a sense it is like owning a Ferrari.  When you are out driving it (Which I have never actually done) you feel alive and exhilarated.  The problem I have always been told with cars like that, however, is that they tend to spend a lot of time in the shop.  The more you drive your Ferrari, the more work needs to be done to keep it going.  Editing is a lot like having the car in the shop.  It’s not fun.  It’s work.  You must go over every word you have written and have it write.  This is your last chance to make any corrections before your fans see and judge your work.  It is no time for having fun.  I say again, it is not time for fun.  Nevertheless, every time I get into the edits for “Sapphire Crucible” I find myself caught up in the story and forgetting myself.  Then I have to go back and reread the section from an editor’s perspective.  That is the reason the edits have taken so long.  I expect to have them finished this week.  After that it will be a short step to the publishing of the book.  I can’t wait.  When you’re working on that Ferrari in the shop, all you can think about is taking it out on the open road again.  I just have some adjustments to make to have this baby purring like a kitten.  If you want to be up to speed when “Sapphire Crucible” comes out you need to read “Quest for the Red Sapphire.”  It’s a great novel in itself and sets up the racetrack for the sequel.  I hope you all come along for the ride!

The Edits Are Nearly Done @Solsticepublish

Responses to my cover reveal have been very positive.  It excites me and spurs me to finish my edits.  Editing is so much different from writing.  When you are writing you are wild and free to do whatever you want with all care is thrown to the wind.  Writing is a huge rush of creative energy and one of the greatest joys I know.  In a sense it is like owning a Ferrari.  When you are out driving it (Which I have never actually done) you feel alive and exhilarated.  The problem I have always been told with cars like that, however, is that they tend to spend a lot of time in the shop.  The more you drive your Ferrari, the more work needs to be done to keep it going.  Editing is a lot like having the car in the shop.  It’s not fun.  It’s work.  You must go over every word you have written and have it write.  This is your last chance to make any corrections before your fans see and judge your work.  It is no time for having fun.  I say again, it is not time for fun.  Nevertheless, every time I get into the edits for “Sapphire Crucible” I find myself caught up in the story and forgetting myself.  Then I have to go back and reread the section from an editor’s perspective.  That is the reason the edits have taken so long.  I expect to have them finished this week.  After that it will be a short step to the publishing of the book.  I can’t wait.  When you’re working on that Ferrari in the shop, all you can think about is taking it out on the open road again.  I just have some adjustments to make to have this baby purring like a kitten.  If you want to be up to speed when “Sapphire Crucible” comes out you need to read “Quest for the Red Sapphire.”  It’s a great novel in itself and sets up the racetrack for the sequel.  I hope you all come along for the ride!

False Holidays @Solsticepublish

It’s officially spring.  So how did we celebrate that in Nebraska?  With blistering winds and cold temperatures.  It always amazes me that people see the date on the calendar for the start of spring and just expect it to be sunny skies and instant warmth.  To those of you in warm climates this probably doesn’t apply.  In the slightly colder places, however, the weather man makes a big deal all week long about the first day of spring.  Then it rolls around and nothing has changed.  It’s almost like holidays or special occasions.  My birthday comes every year and I feel about the same as the day before.  New Year’s comes every year and after the ball drops in Times Square I just sort of say “OK, that was great,” and go to bed.  The first day of summer, fall and winter come and there is no dramatic shift in the weather or anything else in the world.  I really don’t see the significance.  Do you get a day off from work?  Usually not.  Does the environment make a rapid change?  Almost never.  Why is there such a fascination?  There are just all of these events on the calendar which serve no real purpose except for keeping track of time.  Yesterday it was 60 degrees here and tonight it will be in the teens.  A date on the calendar circled has nothing to do with any of that.  Then there are the holidays that just make no sense to me.  St. Patrick’s Day is the biggest bar day of the year.  People take it off from work (and the day after) so they can go drink as much as they can and find their way home without being arrested.  Never having spoken with St Patrick I can’t tell you for sure what he would say but I can’t believe this would be the way he wanted his holiday spent.  Then there’s Sweetest Day.  It is Hallmark’s copy of Valentine’s Day.  Anyone dating or married over two years has pretty much abandoned this one.  As for Valentine’s Day itself, forget about going to a nice restaurant.  You’ll either not get seated or have terrible service.  Flowers and candy jump up in price.  Yet, if you don’t observe it and play the game you end up as the bad guy.  There’s not much good fighting that battle.  All these dates have been commercialized for profit.  I mean seriously, why do we even celebrate Columbus Day?  There are sales in the stores and banks close.  But Columbus didn’t prove the world was round.  He didn’t find a passage to the Far East.  He didn’t even discover the Americas.  The Vikings alone had him beaten by several hundred years.  Yet every year stores have their big Columbus Day Sales.  It’s all about money and keeping track of time.  When was the last time the groundhog was right on February 2nd?

Character Interview @Solsticepublish

My good friend Jessica Walsh kindly gave me a Character Interview slot today on her blog “Musings”  The main character of “Quest for the Red Sapphire”, Linvin Grithinshield, is interviewed.  Jessica is a class act and did a wonderful job.  I thank her for all help.  Check out the interview here:  http://snowtigra.blogspot.com/2014/03/character-days-linvin-grithinshield.html

Contest @Solsticepublish

My wonderful publisher has a pretty cool contest going on right now.  Check it out here and win some free stuff!  http://store.solsticepublishing.com/contests/

A Break From Editing @Solsticepublish

I am in the middle of edits for “Sapphire Crucible”.  Before starting on them I was reminded of something Frank Sinatra once said.  The essence of the statement was that it was difficult to go out night after night and sing the same songs with the same enthusiasm as he first had in singing them.  The bulk of this book has been done for over 25 years with many revisions along the way.  Naturally I expected in editing that it would be laborious and painstaking.  It turns out that I could not have been more wrong.  I have spent the vast majority of my time over the last year promoting “Quest for the Red Sapphire”.  As great a book as it is, I find myself wanting to spend more time on the 3rd book in the series. (I will withhold the name so as not to give anything away.)  It was a new and exciting project even though the story has been done in my head for decades.  Now it has come time for the edits and I found myself dreading the dissection of my work. To my surprise, most of the major changes have been worked through between my editor and me.  As a result, reading the story is like finding an old friend again and catching up on the past.  There were parts and subtle nuances I had forgotten over the many years.  Though I have a great deal still to read, I find it new and exciting to read the story. “Sapphire Crucible” is probably my favorite in the series of books I have planned.  There is mystery, intrigue, romance and more action than you would think could go into a book.  I actually had to pull myself away from editing to write this blog.  It all serves to remind me how lucky I am that I am able to write.  The entire process is a joy for me.  First I come up with the story, lay it all out in order and then write it.  Afterward I reread it and fix any glaring errors.  Then I send it to my publisher and it is assigned to an editor.  The unseen holes are fixed and then I get to read it once more before sharing it with the world.  I love storytelling and writing for me is exactly that.  Others can paint or draw or sing or play an instrument.  I have been blessed to be able to write.   Many people can write.  I am one of the lucky few who actually get to do it.  For me there is nothing more fulfilling.  With that in mind, I will happily return to my editing.  Make sure you are brushed up on “Quest for the Red Sapphire”.  “Sapphire Crucible” is going to blow your mind! 

COVER REVEAL @Solsticepublish

Today is the day I reveal the cover of my newest book, “Sapphire Crucible”.   It should be out within the next month.  I am so excited to share this with you.  May the whet your appetite!  You can see it here:  http://www.rivalgates.com/blog.html

My Guest Blog @Solsticepublish

Today I have the distinguished honor of being a Guest Blogger on MichaelSciFiFan.  I chose to write a piece on the relevance of Fantasy Writing.  Other genres are getting quite a bit of notoriety at the moment and I felt compelled to state my case for the theme I am passionate about; Fantasy.  You can read the piece here:  http://www.michaelscifan.us/relevance-fantasy-writing-rival-gates/http://www.michaelscifan.us/relevance-fantasy-writing-rival-gates/  I want to thank Michael Long for being so accommodating in his blog.  He runs a first rate site and I encourage everyone to check it out.  Tomorrow is the cover reveal of “Sapphire Crucible”!

Edits For Sapphire Crucible @Solsticepublish

The final edits are back on “Sapphire Crucible.”  I am so excited to read it but I have to stay focused on looking for errors before it goes to print.  It’s pretty cool if I do say so myself.  Talk to you soon.

Grocery Store Gimmicks @Solsticepublish

You have to give them credit.  Grocery stores have tried various things over the years to try to get us to buy at their particular establishment.  When I was younger I can remember the store my mother went to having a point system.  You received a certain number of points for every purchase.  When you collected enough points, you traded them in on a piece of tableware.  Being a young boy I failed to see the allure of the prize.  People, it would seem, really like “Free” things and this program was no exception.  In spite of numerous large purchases, I believe the only thing we every earned was a butter dish.  To my mother’s last day I don’t believe we ever used it.  When I moved to Michigan, double-coupons were all the rage.  If you had a coupon, the store would double its value as long as it was not over fifty cents.  This sounded like a great idea.  We always bought the Sunday paper and would clip any coupons we thought we might remotely use.  Then we would go to the store and the troubles would set in.  Many of the products we had coupons for were new and were not yet on the shelves. Many of the coupons for products in the store were for fifty-five cents off and therefore would not double.  Coupons quickly changed to having shorter and lifespans.  Before long you had less than two weeks to use the coupon or else it would expire.  Coupons were great but they were never on the items on sale.  I think the grocery stores planned it that way.  The problem with coupons is that you can’t live on the products you have coupons for.  Seriously, how many shampoo and conditioner sets, toothbrushes or pain relievers does a person need?  Even if the coupon is for food, you are only buying parts of a meal.  If you want something like meat, there is no coupon for that.  All the same, we religiously used our coupons as well as possible and looked for the ever elusive dollar off double coupon ads which came along every so often.  It wasn’t until we moved to Nebraska that double coupons made sense.  They didn’t have them out here.  If you had a coupon for a certain amount off, that was what you received.  The astonishing thing was that the food was less expensive here.  It turns out in places where they double coupons; they also jack up the price of food.  That means if you are not one of the lucky people to have the right coupon, you are actually paying MORE for a product because of the coupons.  The concept worked for the stores in Michigan because most people didn’t have a coupon for everything and then they would get their margin.  The latest trick in the grocery store playbook is the discount on gas scheme.  There are two ways of doing it.  With the first you receive one penny off per gallon of gas at their gas station for every ten dollars you spend on groceries.  You can bet that’s built into the price.  The second method is to only have discounts on gas if you buy certain items.  Maybe they have five cents off on two boxes of pancake mix.  The problems are, 1) you only need one box and 2) the brand you usually buy is fifty cents cheaper per box.  Then you have to do the math in your head to determine if it is worth buying.  The only ways to beat the system are to have a coupon for that product or to have them price match a different store where it is on sale.  Deep down, though, is that drive to save on gas.  There’s always a gimmick to get you in the store.  One way or another, they get their money.

A Blustery Day @Solsticepublish

I watch a recycling bin slowly tumble down the hill on which I live.  The stop sign across from my house is shaking back and forth as remnants of long fallen leaves chase one another down the street.  It is a blustery day here in Nebraska.  That is hardly uncommon but it is always noteworthy.  The weather man says the winds are gusting to 50 miles per hour.  While no hurricane, it gets light objects moving.  I stand by my window on my day off and watch the spectacle unfold.  When a particularly strong gust rattles the windows I take increased notice.  They shake for a few moments and then the wind dissipates.  Up the hill a trash can just blew over and is lying in the street.  A plastic bag rolls for a time and then stops.  Then the wind pushes it on once again and sends it frolicking along down the hill.  It pleases me that the temperature is 44 degrees and there is no snow being driven by the wind.  All at once I am reminded of my childhood.  One of my favorite books from the time I could remember was “Winnie-The–Pooh and the Blustery Day.”  If you are not familiar with the story, it revolves around a stuffed teddy bear named Winnie –The-Pooh and his friends in a magical place called the Hundred Acre Wood where they come to life. (In England, where it was written, that must be a big stand of trees)  To sum up the story, a wind and rain storm comes along and raises havoc with Pooh and his friends.  Their good friend and creator, Christopher Robin, comes along and helps save everyone in the end.  I never grew tired of hearing that story.  It was especially good when I would cuddle by my mother and listen to her read the various parts with different tones of voice.  Everywhere we went, that book came with us.  My oldest brother and sister would go to high school on the other end of a long, grand bridge.  After they were dropped off in the morning my mother would take the off-ramp from the bridge on the way back and take me to a park by the river.  In the days before car seats I sat on my metal lunchbox and was belted in.  We would often go sit under a tree and would unpack out breakfast snack from the lunchbox.  There were sandwiches and a thermos full of milk.  They were wonderful picnics.  Afterward she would take me over to the swings and push me.  There was no one else around except for a stray fisherman.  It was just Mom and I and I could not imagine a more wonderful time.  If it was windy, raining or snowy we had our picnic in the car and she would read Winnie-The-Pooh to me.  Even though I could not read, I would say the words along with her from memory.  She would laugh as I pretended to read the story to her.  My mother had the most beautiful laugh.  When we were done we would go home and go on about our day.  But for that brief time, it was just the two of us and she was giving me her full attention without anyone else to disturb us.  Years ago I drove across that same bridge and saw they had built a casino where the park used to be.  I was sad.  The park was gone.  My mother was gone.  Now only the book remains.  And so I watch the wind blow from my window.  I think of my mother and all that she gave me.

Why Daylight Savings @Solsticepublish

It’s Daylight Savings Time again.  Once again that time of year has come about when everyone sets their clocks forward one hour in order to have longer days.  It is observed by Europe and most of North America.  It is not observed in Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Arizona in the United States and the Province of Saskatchewan in Canada.   Why do we do this?  Those areas seem to get along fine without it.  The common answer I hear is that we are somehow benefiting the farmers.  The farmers I talk to, however, tell me it is more of a hindrance.  They explain that most farmers are used to getting up at a certain time (Usually at dawn) and going about their business.  The “extra hour of sunlight” we gain in the evening is really just stolen from the morning.  As a result, farmers are actually impeded to a certain degree by this blessing.  Another common misconception is that Benjamin Franklin came up with the idea.  Ancient Romans were adjusting water clocks long before Ben was around.  He did write an anonymous letter when in Paris suggesting that Parisians wake earlier in the day to use more sunlight and preserve candles.  That’s about as far as his part in this goes.  Time was not even standardized until the 1800s when the railway necessitated a regular time setting in order to track arrivals and departures.  Though several people suggested one way of advancing the clock or another, the practice was not adopted until 1916 by Germany and Austria-Hungary to curb the use of coal during war time.  Britain and many other countries soon did the same and the United States jumped on board in 1918.  Not long after the war we did away with it and brought it back periodically over time.  It did not really stay until the 1970s when an energy crisis caused a desire to use less electric light.  We have used it ever since.  Maybe I’m just missing that hour of sleep I didn’t get last night, but how is this beneficial?  Traditionally retail and tourism have benefited the most from the change.  Later hours mean more business as consumers are more likely to shop late than early.  That’s all well and good but is the change really necessary?  At Christmas time I never seem to have a problem going to the store when it is dark out.  I admit that travel is easier in sunlight but many travelers leave early in the morning already.  The days are already growing in length as we move toward the Summer Solstice.  Why do we keep doing this?  I said it already.  The reason is tourism.  That, in turn, means money.  More light in the evenings leads vacationers to spend more time using their money before bed.  That’s the secret answer.  It’s all just another way to get more money.  The rest of us are just along for the ride on this one.  So when you’re waiting extra-long for that fireworks display to start because it isn’t dark yet, remember someone out there is getting a few more sales.

New Age of Homework @Solsticepublish

The other day my twelve year old wanted help with her homework.  My schedule is pretty hit and miss so this job usually falls to my wife. (Thanks)  When my daughter pulled out her homework I could not believe the volume.  Her backpack was bursting at the seams.  She’s in 6th grade and had homework in every subject.  We worked on it from before dinner till bedtime.  What surprised me most was that most of the answers were not in her textbook.  We were expected to go on line to find the answers.  Social studies and history both required internet work.  I was exhausted by the time we were done and I was only helping.  Even in college, the answers for the homework were always in the textbook.  Isn’t that what a textbook is for in the first place?  The only times we needed to consult outside sources were projects or papers where we did research at the library. I freely admit that I didn’t have a resource like the internet so handy but this seems like a bit much for 6th grade.  I talked to my wife about it and she said that the homework is like that every night.  My daughter’s attention span is short but such a daunting mound of work for one night is ridiculously difficult to accomplish.  She often has a hard time finishing.  In sixth grade I rarely had homework that took more than a few minutes.  Is school harder now?  Are they trying to teach more than we learned?  I don’t have the answer.  Maybe the school she goes to is harder.  Maybe all schools are like that now.  What I know for sure is that there is an awful lot of homework for a young age.  I admit this would not be an issue to me if I wasn’t affected.  I was mostly blind to the matter until I was confronted with it.  Now I see the volume of work being dropped on my child and I become agitated.  It would be one thing to have the students combing through the text but they are expected to find outside sources for their answers.  That seems a bit unreasonable.  My older daughter in high school doesn’t have anywhere this amount of work.  She usually can do her homework in about an hour.  It was like that for me as well.  Looking at it objectively, maybe the teachers are being hard on them early so they will develop good study habits that will benefit them down the road.  Maybe that is the case.  All I know is its Saturday night and I have to help with social studies so there isn’t so much work to finish tomorrow.  You can bet the answers aren’t in the textbook.

Taking Time To Write @Solsticepublish

The last couple of days I have put marketing of “Quest for the Red Sapphire” down for a bit.  I didn’t work on edits for the sequel, “Sapphire Crucible”.  In loading some files from my Documents file I spied the one titled “Book III.”  I have been so caught up with the other two books that I hadn’t looked at it for a while.  It couldn’t have been that long since I worked on it.  Maybe it was a few weeks or a month, I thought.  When I opened it I saw the last date the file had been saved.  It was November 9th, 2013.  I had gone almost four months without writing anything new on that book.  It blew me away.  I have been so caught up with promotion and production that I never made time to do my favorite thing; writing.  I cleared my schedule and sat down to write.  It had been so long since I worked on it that I had to reread parts to figure out where I was in the story.  I go over some part of the book every night before I fall asleep.  It is the key to my thorough writing.  By going over it in my head over and over, I can find flaws and fix them before I ever type it.  That way I can sit down at the computer and let the story flow through my fingers.  The point in the story where I left off was in between major events and I had to storyboard the sequence to get it right.  Once I was there I set to writing.  It was like I had found an old friend and was catching up.  I hadn’t written for the love of writing in so long that I had forgotten how exhilarating the process can be.  It was a chapter of almost entirely dialogue.  Laying it out properly requires the skills of a choreographer.  Each step must lead seamlessly into the next.  It was slow going at first.  Since I love the work, though, I didn’t mind.  Then I found my groove and the words flowed like water.  The book is nearly complete with perhaps 2 chapters to go.  It was the happiest I have been in a long time.  Promoting and editing are fine and necessary.  They are an important part of the publishing process.  There is no feeling on this earth, however, like finishing a chapter or major section of a book you are writing and sitting back to read your words.  What you have created seems impossible and fills you with immense pride and joy.  I have a great deal of other work to do but I must not forget what brought me here.  It is important to take time to write.

My New Interview @Solsticepublish

Today author Elizabeth McKenna was kind enough to interview me for her blog.  There is a short biography on me as well as the interview and an exempt from Quest for the Red Sapphire.  It also has links to my various sites as well as places to buy the book.  The link to the interview is http://elizabethmckenna.com/2014/03/05/meet-author-rival-gates/  Let me take this moment to thank Elizabeth McKenna for giving me this wonderful opportunity and exposure.

Real Fat Tuesday @Solsticepublish

Today is Fat Tuesday for Roman Catholics.  It is the day before the start of Lent when traditionally the sugar in the house was used before the fasting period.  These days it’s an excuse to buy super fattening special doughnuts made for the occasion and eat what you want.  So I decided to talk today about something Americans are obsessed with; fat.  It was back probably around 2001 when I was watching Entertainment Tonight with my wife and they showed a poll of several thousand women.  They asked them, “If you could have any star’s body, who’s would you choose?”  At the time the overwhelming first choice was Britney Spears.  As soon as they said that my wife said, “Ha, I bet she’s not happy with her body.”  I was confused and asked why.  She said, “No woman is 100% happy with her body.”  That floored me.  That can’t be true, I thought.  My wife is perfect.  So many women are absolutely beautiful.  How could that be?  Ever since then I have taken a non-scientific poll of female friends and asked them if they were happy with their body.  Nearly every one of them told me they were too big here or too small there or there was too much fat in this area.  I didn’t see what they were talking about.  Then I started listening to my male friends and they were unhappy with their bodies too.  They had the same list of complaints except in different areas.  The biggest difference was that men were usually less inclined to do something about their weight.  Our society condemns anyone overweight.  Women are particularly held to an unfair higher standard, it would seem.  They are expected to look like some size 0 supermodel.  In the movie “The Devil Wears Prada” the main character is ridiculed for being a size 6 which I am told is not very big.  I have always been heavy.  When I was having a health screening for my insurance I was shown a chart stating just how obese I had become.  As bad as I felt about the number, I looked at where I needed to be in order to be “Normal” on their list.  At 6 feet tall I needed to weigh 135 pounds.  When I was starving in college for lack of money I wasn’t even that light.  The old excuse is that “I’m big-boned.”  Well, I do have broad shoulders and a large frame.  I am still way overweight right now but those tables they use to figure your weight do not reflect different body styles.  It’s like saying, “Every vehicle should have a 4 cylinder engine for better gas mileage.”  What about big sedans?  What about SUVs?  What about trucks?  We can see the wisdom in that but are harshly judged by those tables.  I think they are purposely adjusted to make people pay higher health insurance premiums and frighten them into losing weight so they won’t have as many trips to the doctor.  Lighter people in good physical condition tend to lose fewer days of work.  It’s not like I try to make poor choices when I eat but as many of you know, it is hard to eat healthy.  In the morning I am usually in a rush and have a bagel on the go.  Recently I saw that my innocent little bagel had 600 calories in it before I even put cream cheese on.  That’s over a third of my daily allowance of calories in a few bites.  I’ve tried cereal but I am usually hungry an hour or two later.  The bagel seems to stick with me longer.  Since restaurants are the places that display the calorie content, let’s stick with them for lunch.  If I get a Jimmy John’s sub, it’s nearly 1000 calories.  I might as well have gone to McDonald’s where I can buy my grand-daughter a Chicken McNugget Happy Meal with the same number of calories.  I will work on my weight, but in the meantime I won’t look at the calorie content in restaurants.  As I seem to enjoy saying, “Ignorance is bliss.”

KNOWING and BELIEVING @Solsticepublish

There are 2 states of mind humans have in relation to the world.  There are the things you BELIEVE and the things you KNOW.  Webster’s defines these terms as such: BELIEVE = “To accept something as true, genuine, or real.”  KNOW = “To be aware of the truth or factuality of :  be convinced or certain of.”  Is it better to BELIEVE or to KNOW?  Conventional wisdom would tell you that KNOWING is better than BELIEVING because it is something you are sure is so.  Take a book for example.  Before it is published you may BELIEVE that it will have broad appeal.  Belief is good but it is much better when the book is published and sells well.  Then you KNOW that it has broad appeal.  Often times like the one just shown you must have BELIEF in order to KNOW.  In another example, you may BELIEVE you are going to get a promotion at work.  There is much less stress, however, after you KNOW that the job is yours.  KNOWING sounds like the thing to have and that is often true when the result is positive.  When you KNOW something good is about to happen or has happened it can bring joy and happiness.  Prior to their transpiring, you are left with BELIEF which always leaves room for doubt.  So KNOWING is better…End of blog.  Now stop for a minute and consider a different point of view.  It is said that “Ignorance is bliss.”  How is that relevant, you may ask?  What if the KNOWING is not a positive?  Perhaps you BELIEVE you are sick and then you KNOW you have terminal cancer?  Were you not happier before you KNEW the facts?  What if that book comes out and is not well received?  Weren’t you happier when you BELIEVED it would be well liked?  Say you don’t get the promotion.  Weren’t you more jubilant when you BELIEVED you would get it than once you KNOW you didn’t?  There are many positives in this world and many negatives.  BELIEVING and KNOWING trade places frequently in our delicate balance of happy and sad.  You may BELIEVE you will live to be 90 but what if you KNEW you only had two weeks to live?  Your perspective would be different.  KNOWING is a great thing but it takes all the uncertainty and mystery out of a situation.  There are things you need to know.  Most of them are common sense things.  KNOWING is often seen as good because of the lack of surprises.  If we only went through life concentrating on things we KNOW, then change would be very rare.  People inherently want to BELIEVE something.  Often they want to BELIEVE something good like their favorite sports team will win their next game.  KNOWING is good but it doesn’t see you through the tough times because the outcomes are not always positive.  BELIEVING gives us what we need for those times.  What is it that BELIEF gives us?  Hope.  BELIEF is the product of hope.  In order to carry on through adversity, you need to BELIEVE that it will get better.  That BELIEF comes from a deep hope for better times ahead with perhaps a touch of KNOWING thrown in for credibility.  What is KNOWN is yesterday’s news.  What is BELIEVED makes tomorrow’s headlines.  In the end, the more you BELIEVE, the more you will KNOW.

Reality TV, Stop the Maddness! @Solsticepublish

I think reality television is taking over the world.  In the 1960s the shows were mostly situation comedies and spy dramas.  That included everything from My Favorite Martian and Leave it to Beaver to the Avengers.  In the 1970s and 1980s everyone seemed to be a private detective or police officer.  We’re talking about shows like Charlie’s Angels, Canon, Columbo, The Rockford Files, Berretta, Hawaii 5/0, Hill Street Blues, Simon and Simon, Magnum P.I, T.J. Hooker, Miami Vice and the list continues.  In my whole life I don’t think I have ever met a private investigator.  Yet television had us believing every other person was one.  There were also more comedies thrown in during that time like The Cosby Show, Family Ties, M.A.S.H., Happy Days, Cheers, Night Court and so on.  The 1990’s were filled with dramas like 90210, Melrose Place, The X Files, ER and then something happened.  An obscure show called “Survivor” appeared in the late 1990’s in which people were left out in the elements and forced to compete for a million dollar prize.  Along the way they would lie and cheat and swindle one another while voting out members of the “Tribe”.  I realize this show has been a huge success and some people may not like this opinion but I find the entire premise revolting.  It is the ultimate example of the worst parts of human nature and makes our entire species look downright evil.  Enough said on that point. Little did anyone know at the time that this was but the first volley in what would become a war of Reality Television.  Moving into the new millennia, we soon had Big Brother and The Bachelor.  The fledgling cable networks have recently become involved with multiple gold mining shows, fishing shows, military boot camp, pawn shops, auto restoration, singing shows, modeling shows, designer contests, cooking shows, decorator shows, home building or remodeling shows, matchmaker shows, oil drilling shows, moonshine shows, Amish Mafia shows, pregnant teen shows, eating shows, traveling shows, investor shows, garage sale shows, the Kardashians (Don’t get me started) and even one about a rock singer renovating RV’s.  Those are just the ones I can think of off the top of my head.  The basic premise behind all of these shows is that there is not a script. (Though I’m sure there is one.)  Supposedly the people are just being natural while on film.  This quickly reached the saturation level and has now reached flood proportions.  It seems like every channel now has at least one reality show.  I used to love watching the History Channel.  There was always something on about some war or a historical event of some significance.  The other night I turned it on and Pawn Stars was on.  I scanned ahead on my cable box and saw that it was on for 3 hours and then 2 hours of American Pickers was coming on.  What happened to programing?  Are we destined to end up watching ordinary people wander around and do ordinary things?  Worse yet, are we going to see poorly staged “real life” events that just so happen to transpire while the cameras are rolling?  Television has hit an all-time low.  Worse yet, other countries and cultures around the world will see our programing and think that’s what America is like.  I can only hope it dies off sooner than later.  Thank God for books!