An Announcement

An Announcement:

I am sure many have already noticed, but I have removed the Ballad of the Emerald Bard from the website.  Why you may ask?  The time has come for the next phase in Deeya’s life.  I am going to publish the Ballads into novel length collections of short stories.  These new editions are unedited (as Blogspot’s policies stated I could not publish “adult” content and still have AdSpace), extended editions that fit together better now that they no longer have to be broken up in serial format.

What this means is, soon, you will be able to buy hard cover, physical editions, as well as a digital edition for you Kindle.  On top of these new versions of the stories, which are radically different, there will be brand new stories!  In the first Opus, the first story is now a much better introduction to the character, showing her range, secrets, and morality.

Anyways, stay tuned for more info!

--Dan

She's Been There, from the beginning....

“Well there’s a piece of Maria in every song that I sing.
And the price of a memory is the memory of the sorrow it brings.”
– Mrs. Potter’s Lullaby - Counting Crows

Many lyrics over many years have resonated deeply within me, from Counting Crows’ songs especially.  Mrs. Potter’s Lullaby has a few I quote quite a bit, but the one I just quoted above, has a very specific meaning to me....

A Character's Story

Everyone knows, by now, that I truly love writing and creating characters.  Its one of the true joys of creativity, to be able to really get into a story and work through it.  What most don’t know is, the character of El’Mindeeya Do’Katal, the Emerald Bard, has been around for quite some time, probably close to a decade, and only just recently has she been truly captured in a high quality picture.

She started off as just a name.  Deeya.  Such a simple beginning, but I loved how the name sounded.  It sounded almost elvish, but it was used in other ways first.  In fact, before we go any further, let me go even further back.

(poem) - The Rewrite Struggle

There is nothing like a rewrite
To make one feel odd
Pushing text in a different way
In order to get a different nod

Different drafts
Are entirely other beasts
As opposed to writing
An entirely different feast

To keep the main idea
Is the absolute key
While removing bad content
And letting the story free

The real question is
Will it all work
Or by changing the story
Will it do nothing bur irk?

Such is the life
A writer has to live
While balancing on the edge
One cannot afford to be passive

This body of work
Is mine to tame
If I cannot work it out
It will be even more lame

But I shall not put down
This ever so epic tale
Because I believe in Deeya
Enough that I shan’t fail

Buried Secrets
Has arrived again
A new format for the tale
Is being achieved under my pen

I refuse to loose readers
Because of bad choices for a first draft
I am not sailing this ship
As if it were a raft

No,
The story will be told right
For this
Is my eternal fight

To conquer my writing demons
To challenge myself in every way
And win
Upon this very day.

--Dan

--Want more Poetry?  Check out my Poetry Collection Page!

What's in a Name?

So what IS in a name?  Sure, it might be a quote from a play from a very long time ago, but in the end, it has meaning within the play.  To me though, it has a different meaning.  If you lined all my best friends up, and asked them to call me over by my name, they’d call me by 2 or 3 different names.

As with most things in my life, even the simplest things, there’s some grandiose story that goes along with everything.  Its like...nothing in my life can ever be simple.  Not even my name....

The Beauty of What I Do

Part of me wants to truly believe that art lives within everyone and that anyone could recognize and appreciate beauty.  Unfortunately I know that just isn’t the case.  The world is an ugly, ugly place, full of violence, hatred, and so many things that should make anyone ponder what everything is all about.

Fact is, beauty is something rare, even if it is all around us, and it should be cherished.  One of the greatest beauties in the world is simply to create.  I’m shocked to say this, but There was a country singer who said something truly amazing the other day as I was watching TV.  He said, “If I couldn’t do this for a living, I’d still do this.”  I thought about that quote and instantly applied it to myself.



The problem is...I don’t do this for a living.  I sure wish I did, but yeah...this is most definitely a hobby.  There’s so much I want to do with writing, so many stories to tell, that I know I am simply enjoying writing, and that I enjoy it enough to do it no matter what.  No one knows how truly blessed I am to be able to do this as much as I do.

Luckily with the wedding over, Lisa and I are finding ourselves a bit more time to get down to what we need to be doing.  In the weeks leading up to the wedding, I got seriously behind on my blogging schedule, and I still have tons to do to catch up, but at least I’m getting the opportunity to.

Writing has always been something I’ve loved to do.  I’ve always had a fantastical imagination, and one of the true joys of such an imagination is to share the stories, share the dreams.  The idea that I can write something, and someone else read it, and it affect their lives is something truly extraordinary, and beautiful.

And I honestly say that from experience at both ends.  I’ve read such wonderful things in my life, that have opened up my heart, soul, and mind to things beyond reality, giving me new dreams and old friends.  I’d like to think I’m working towards that goal of doing the same for someone else.

Beyond all of that, though, is me just having the time to do this, the time to create.  Time that I use to full advantage, and a wife that doesn’t see it as a waste of time.  Even if I never see anything out of it, she is truly appreciative of the art that I make here, and the writing that I do.

I might have just married the perfect woman for me, but I know that deep down, I will always strive to deserve her, because I never feel that I will.  I am humbled and awed by her so many times each and every day.  She believes in me and pushes me in every way, even if she doesn’t understand the vision, simply because she believes in me and trusts me.  And I know, that I will forever be sure that I earn that from her.

Creating is something amazing, and I get to do it on a daily basis, and share it with you, my readers.  Whether or not I succeed in doing it entertainingly enough is in your eyes, but the fact that I get to try is all because of Lisa.  “I don’t do this for a living, but I still do it.”  And that is something truly wonderful.

The Joy of Homemade Bread

There’s something wonderful about doing nice things for people that could use some nice things done for them.  Recently, I started making my bread homemade by hand.  It tastes better, lasts longer, and is just plain awesome when you get down to it.  Especially considering how honestly easy it is to make....

Cooking and baking are crazy little things, so many things can go wrong, and frankly people are just afraid or lazy about the prospect.  I don’t really blame them, I’ve always been kind of scared to make my own bread, when its already decently cheap from the store.  I guess that changed when I first ate at Panera Bread.

An Essay on Writing - Part 1/2 (To plan a story)

How far should one go to create a backstory for a novel?  There are so many examples of how far some people have gone and its so hard to choose the distance one should take.

In my fantasy novel, I am currently writing, I knew I had to create a new world.  I then narrowed down that the action will take place only on a specific continent, so I mapped that out and just kind of glanced over some interesting places the characters were going to visit.  Then I had to try to figure out what kind of fantasy it was, did it have dragons, did it have griffins, or was it just like earth, with no real fantastical creatures?