My GRL Blog Tour Volunteer Recognition – Cayman Thorn

January 28, 2014December 9, 2022 ~ John W. Howell ~ 2 Comments

Nothing fancy about walking into a bar and grabbing a stool across from the guy with the handlebar mustache who is tending. The reason you are here, the guy makes you believe you are the only one in the place. There could be people wall to wall, all talking too loud and making individual asses out of themselves, but the guy behind the bar speaks softly and only to you. You hang on his every word since each word sounds as if it was crafted on a fine workbench somewhere. The information in these words belies their beauty. There should be some pap or nonsensical construct since beauty and well-said don’t usually come in the same package. Your draw to the place results from the intelligent and profoundly moving words placed together to make the hearing well worth any effort to be there.

So this is the blog of Cayman Thorn, the person who Drinks Well with Others. Each post is as if he is writing a personal message to the reader. There is no escaping the draw-in and ultimate commitment the reader makes to the words so well written and composed. This is not your Millennia’s blog of “OMG,” “amazing,” and “it was so surreal.” No, my friends, this is the gosh, honest real thing. YOU NEED TO HAVE A BRAIN TO VISIT. If you left yours somewhere out in the rain, you might as well use the facilities and take off since you will really be bored here.

This is a writer’s place run by a writer for writers to enjoy. Sure, other artists will appreciate a visit, but don’t get in the way of Mr. Thorn when he is throwing down words. He’s got to have a lotta room cause his words are words that most words would like to grow up to be. I don’t mean they are big words; I mean they are meaningful words. Words with substance and arranged with care.

Okay, a small excerpt from his post on the 19th . . .Cayman decided not to use the internet for a while, so here he describes:

Things you believe when you can’t use Google for verification:

-Brad Pitt once played minor league baseball for the New York Mets
-Chris Christie used to be a toll booth operator
-The term “Made in America” is made in China
-If a hyena and a tanning bed made a baby, it would look like Snooki
-Neil Armstrong found a half-eaten bag of M&M’s on the moon
-Russia is two months ahead, which means they’ve already held the Winter Olympics.

Thank you, Cayman, for helping launch My GRL. This is like a concertmaster helping with a ukulele lesson, and this ukulele player appreciates it.

Blog Tour Is as Blog Tour Does-Allure of the GypsieS

December 8, 2013December 4, 2013 ~ John W. Howell ~ 7 Comments

Legends of Windemere: Allure of the GypsieS has Arrived!!!

Buy it Here!

The epic adventures of Luke Callindor and Nyx continue after their journey down the L’Dandrin River in Legends of Windemere: Prodigy of Rainbow Tower.

Reeling from his failures in their previous adventure, Luke leads his surviving friends to his hometown. With his mind frayed and his confidence fractured, Luke must face the family and fiancée he left behind. It is a brief homecoming when the vampire Kalam attacks the village, forcing Luke and Nyx to break into his lair for the key to resurrecting a fallen warrior. It is a quest that will force both young heroes to reach new heights of strength and power that they never knew they had.

Can Luke and Nyx escape the lair of Kalam? And, what role will the orphaned gypsy Sari play in their looming destiny?

Wondering what you’re in for? Check out the praise earned by the first two installments of this high fantasy series.

Review Excerpts for Legends of Windemere: Beginning of a Hero:

“I greatly enjoyed the vivid characters, the gripping plot, and the refreshingly unique writing style (present tense). ” – kdillmanjones

“This is a sophisticated and delightful read. I recommend this book to lovers of Fantasy or to General Fiction readers. The story is compelling enough to entertain a wide audience.” – John W. Howell

“One of the things that won me over was the bouts of humor. Especially in the beginning. “This is not possible! I am a Paladin!” I thought I was going to die with delight.” – C.N. Faust

Review Excerpts for Legends of Windemere: Prodigy of Rainbow Tower:

“Something I find unique about this fantasy novel that I don’t often find in others, is that the hero, Luke Callindor is rather of the unlucky variety. He does not get everything he asks for, he stumbles, falls, gets knocked down (literally)and taught lessons as he goes. This is helping him to grow into the hero that was promised in the first book.” – Ionia Martin

“Nyx is such a strong personality. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know her and more of the other characters, new and already known, with the rich tapestry of Windemere unfolding in between intense actions scenes and moments of kindness and budding friendships.” – Danielle Taylor

“Almost like the Harry Potter series. The books start out so young and innocent, but by the last book – watch out!” — Momto4Booklover

Author Biography:

Charles Yallowitz was born and raised on Long Island, NY, but he has spent most of his life wandering his own imagination in a blissful haze. Occasionally, he would return from this world for the necessities such as food, showers, and Saturday morning cartoons. One day he returned from his imagination and decided he would share his stories with the world. After his wife decided that she was tired of hearing the same stories repeatedly, she convinced him that it would make more sense to follow his dream of being a fantasy author. So, locked within the house under orders to shut up and get to work, Charles brings you Legends of Windemere. He looks forward to sharing all of his stories with you and his wife is happy he finally has someone else to play with.

Contact:

Blog- www.legendsofwindemere.com

Twitter- @cyallowitz

Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/CharlesYallowitz

Another big event to celebrate the debut of Legends of Windemere: Allure of the Gypsies ; Charles is holding a Goodreads Giveaway! The prize is a paperback copy of ALL THREE LEGENDS OF WINDEMERE NOVELS. Winners will be picked at the end of December, so go HERE: https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/73084-prodigy-of-rainbow-tower to enter the contest.

The Best Workday Is as The Best Workday Does

November 15, 2013November 14, 2013 ~ John W. Howell ~ 20 Comments

Friday is the day we have been waiting for. We started out the week on Monday and made some personal notes to self that we would never ever party like a rock star again. Look at us today. We are working our duff off so we can go out tonight for another meeting of the Bacchus Brothers Social Club. WHAT IS WRONG WITH US ANYWAY? Did we not learn a valuable lesson last week? Did we not make it home in one piece? Did we not swear to the ceramic deity that we would never cast major dispersion onto the still waters again? Yet here we are looking anxiously forward to another Friday night and weekend. I think insanity has been described as repeating the same action expecting a different outcome. Okay so here is a question:

How many think that the number of drinks we had last week will not produce the same effect as before is we do it again this week? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller? *Crickets*

I thought not. Of course the answer is, the same number of drinks in the same amount of time will produce the same results. You know the results:

Speaking into the ceramic microphone.
Calling train arrivals such as, “Poughkeepsie,” and “Pittsburg.”
Walking around with a headache so big you wish for bolt of lightning to take you out.
Hands shaking so bad people think you’ve got at least three of each.

Well, since we never learn, here is a little Haiku to help you through the weekend.

Find the light today,

Yesterday is not too clear. . .

Tomorrow is life.

Have a great weekend.

The Paperbook Collective is as The Paperbook Collective Does

November 1, 2013 ~ John W. Howell ~ 25 Comments

The Paperbook Collective has published its fourth issue and I am very honored to have a piece titled: The Story included. It begins on page thirteen and is a view of writing I think a few of us hold. This Issue has a number of wonderful submissions so go here http://goo.gl/gGC6Cf and have a look. Don’t forget you can also submit your writing or other art as well. Follow the directions on page forty-four

Thanks for reading. Have a great weekend

Margarita is as Margarita Does

October 18, 2013October 14, 2013 ~ John W. Howell ~ 37 Comments

Friday has finally arrived. If you are like me it is a welcome sight for sore everything. Even though I don’t have a traditional workweek, I still like to kick back and celebrate its close. In fact, someone asked me my idea of a good Friday. I said, “A good Friday is where I write my ass off, reward myself with a Margarita and then try to explain to my wife what I had done all day.” I wrote a little Haiku to honor that Margarita and the Friday celebration. Hope you enjoy and have a great weekend.

My Margarita,

Celebrate one for Friday. . .

Two; hurts tomorrow.

Prompt is as Prompt Does – Community Story Board

October 13, 2013October 13, 2013 ~ John W. Howell ~ 5 Comments

It’s Sunday, and time once again for the Weekly Prompt at The Community Story Board. Go here for details

http://wp.me/p3xQw1-1Ga

This week is to see what everyone can do with the word “Yesterday …”

Interpret it as you will, but the word yesterday must appear somewhere in your work, be it the title or in the middle of a sentence. Write poetry, prose, fiction, or memoir it is yours to create.

Here is mine:

“Yes sir. Can I help you?”

“I’m not sure. I think I have lost my way. Is this a hotel?”

“No sir. This is not a hotel it is a reception area.”

“Well it looks like a hotel. You actually look the front desk clerk.”

“I can assure you sir this is no hotel and I’m not a clerk.”

“Then where am I?”

“Do you remember anything about yesterday?”

“Yesterday? Let me think.”

“Weren’t you driving your car? Going to San Francisco wasn’t it?”

“Yeah. I was driving. Wait a minute. I was driving down US One and there was a dog or goat or something in the road.”

“And the ocean was to your left.”

“Yes the ocean was─ wait, how did you know?”

“Don’t worry about that. The ocean was on the left and there was a huge cliff down to the water right?”

“Yeah there was.”

“Go on.”

“I swerved to avoid hitting the animal.”

“To the left or right?”

“What?”

“Did you swerve to the left or right?”

“Let me see. To the left I think.”

“And if you swerved to the left there was nowhere to go but over the cliff.”

“But if I went over the cliff, I would have fallen hundreds of feet to the water.”

“Um. Remember anything?

“Shit. I’m dead, right?”

“You said it not me.”

“Who are you anyway?”

“I’ll give you three guesses.”

Good luck to you all.

End of the Week is as End of the Week Does

October 11, 2013 ~ John W. Howell ~ 9 Comments

Friday again. Man how the week goes by. I spent most of it editing my next book and I must say I like this one. I know you would like to agree with me, but it’s going to be a while till I get the thing out the door. Besides the fact that you will have to pick it up and read it before you agree or not, I have confidence you will.

The subject of my post today is to celebrate the week’s end with a quick Haiku that hopefully translates the meaning of Friday to most of us. Those of you who are lucky enough to avoid work can stop right here cause you will simply not get the meaning and social import of the words assembled. For the rest of us who must face the prospect of working each and every day here is my haiku homage to work.

For some work is play,

Work for others is judgment. . .

Drinkers work’s a curse.

Have a Happy Friday and Great weekend

One Hundred is as One Hundred Does

February 5, 2013August 1, 2021 ~ John W. Howell ~ 4 Comments

I went online just before the Super Bowl on Sunday to see if I could find out just how many books had been written about the Super Bowl. To most of you; the answer to this question is about as important as finding out how many calories in a hot fudge sundae. Once you know the answer then what? I had no plans to take the information and maybe justify to myself why there is room for yet another book about the Super Bowl and then go to work composing. Nope, that wasn’t the reason. I just wondered that’s all. I think the connection between being a writer and wondering about who wrote what- about- who just comes naturally. When I explain this natural wonder to others who don’t write, I get the slow back up and the patronizing nods of the head that seem to have as a purpose warding off a bigger meltdown.

Ah but I digress. (Another statement that convinces people I am certifiable) Anyway, I was not able to get the answer. I did come across some tidbits that I thought could be used during slow moments at wakes and cocktail hours. Did you know that Google has estimated that there are 129,864,880 books in the entire world? What is really interesting is to go on-line and actually read how Google came to that estimate which includes all the books published ever. This estimate was developed in spite of the fact that the ISBN system has only been available in the Western World for less than forty years. I can just see you walking up to some hapless innocent at your next cocktail reception and holding them in rapt attention. “Can you believe that there are only 129,864,880 books on the planet so I guess there is room for my next million seller.” Wow what an impact.

I also found a list of what Martin Seymour-Smith a British poet thinks are the top 100 most influential books ever published. His book is titled The 100 Most Influential Books Ever Written: The History of Thought from Ancient Times to Today. Although done in 1998 it is an interesting compilation.

My observation: The first eighty books were published prior to 1900. It is probable that none of us have working knowledge of too many of the books written prior to the twentieth century. Of course, some of them were required reading in specific courses of study (Dante’s Divine Comedy for example). The remaining twenty have familiar themes and are basically non-fiction, but here they are as published on Wikipedia.



#	Author	*Book Title*	Year Published
81	William James	Pragmatism	1908
82	Albert Einstein	Relativity	1916
83	Vilfredo Pareto	The Mind and Society	1916
84	Carl Jung	Psychological Types	1921
85	Martin Buber	I and Thou	1923
86	Franz Kafka	The Trial	1925
87	Karl Popper	The Logic of Scientific Discovery	1934
88	John Maynard Keynes	General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money	1936
89	Jean-Paul Sartre	Being and Nothingness	1943
90	Friedrich von Hayek	The Road to Serfdom	1944
91	Simone de Beauvoir	The Second Sex	1948
92	Norbert Wiener	Cybernetics	1948, revised 1961
93	George Orwell	Nineteen Eighty-Four	1949
94	George Gurdjieff	Beelzebub’s Tales to His Grandson	1950
95	Ludwig Wittgenstein	Philosophical Investigations	1953
96	Noam Chomsky	Syntactic Structures	1957
97	Thomas Kuhn	The Structure of Scientific Revolutions	1962, revised 1970
98	Betty Friedan	The Feminine Mystique	1963
99	Mao Zedong (attributed)	Quotations from Chairman Mao Zedong (Little Red Book)	1966
100	B. F. Skinner	Beyond Freedom and Dignity	1971

The entire list can be seen at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_100_Most_Influential_Books_Ever_Written

Rule is as Rule Does

January 22, 2013August 1, 2021 ~ John W. Howell ~ 8 Comments

Rule is as Rule Does

I was doing some research (ahem make that surfing the net) when I came across an article from the Guardian UK describing a number of author provided rules for writing. I have already published Elmore Leonard’s famous ten rules list back in November, but I was taken with the list of Richard Ford; Pulitzer Prize winning author of Independence Day. Here is the list:

1 Marry somebody you love and who thinks you being a writer’s a good idea.

2 Don’t have children.

3 Don’t read your reviews.

4 Don’t write reviews. (Your judgment’s always tainted.)

5 Don’t have arguments with your wife in the morning, or late at night.

6 Don’t drink and write at the same time.

7 Don’t write letters to the editor. (No one cares.)

8 Don’t wish ill on your colleagues.

9 Try to think of others’ good luck as encouragement to yourself.

10 Don’t take any shit if you can possibly help it.

I don’t think Richard warrants that if you follow these rules you will win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction, but you may be a lot happier.

Here is the link if you would like to see other lists by other authors most are quite funny.