"Talks Funny" meets "Big John"

Christine Walter sponsored a short story writing contest recently. The story had to be based on one of the images on her blog. She offered to sketch something of our choice as the grand prize. It just so happens my upcoming book has a character by the name of Maynard Woods that I would like to have sketched. He is a forester and the classic image of a mountain man--without a gun.

One of the images titled "Talks Funny" caught my eye and reminded me of an old story called "Big John." It is also part of the reason Maynard exists in "The Singing Stones of Rendor". If you google "Big John" you'll find various  renditions to the story. I've always wanted to retell it, so I concocted my own version. It is a classic with a violent twist at the end. You may suffer some whiplash.

The contest didn't draw enough entries, but Christine enjoyed my story enough to post it on her blog. Since the thing has been around so long I can't really take much credit for it.

I want to thank her for her kindness and interest in my writing.

Here's the link to her blog and the story: http://www.christinewalterart.blogspot.com/ Enjoy.

By-the-way, Christine's artwork will be in a a feature film titled "8 Stories." It is about 8 people stuck in an elevator and based on a book by Stephanie Fowers.

I'm thinking it will be a romantic comedy, if her website is any hint.

A "Minor" Revelation.

First, an update on the status of publishing "The Singing Stones of Rendor", the cover art is nearly done. We will upload the book to Amazon soon afterwards. Hopefully mid November. 

A prequel, tentatively titled, "The Tenebrous Witch," will follow later and be offered for free. It still needs professional editing and a book cover. More about this later.

Secondly let me 'splain somethin'.

Delinquent is not the word I'd use for someone who doesn't post on his blog on a regular basis. When I was in the navy there was a word used to describe those who were late meeting their qualification requirements--DINK. It's a good contraction for "delinquent.

My pathetic excuse is simply that summer was upon us and the weather was beautiful. Other than a 3 week patch of 100 degree temps we've had a mild summer. I'm all for balmy days and cool nights.

I was well on my way with book 2, "The Loom of Kanarrah," when my muse interrupted. I'm now finishing up the first draft of a prequel to the Singing Stones of Rendor. It started out with the full intent of making it a short story, but it got out of hand. It is currently standing as a novelette. I expect it will be about 25-30,000 words, or about 100 pages, The plan is to offer this for free on Amazon.

A charming 12 year old red-headed girl read the first half of the draft. I asked her to read it because the main character is her age in that section. She is an avid reader and loves fantasy, so she was a natural for what I hoped to get as feedback--that of a 12 year old. She loved it.

Her enthusiasm for it surprised me. It isn't a YA story--at least it isn't meant to be. I'm writing with adults in mind. That said, I've heard and read about Warner Bros. studios developing Bugs Bunny, et. al. as cartoons for adults. As a kid those were my favorite.

Perhaps my audience is wider than I thought.

On another note, the League of Utah Writers held it's annual conference in September. They had a new category in their contest this year. So, I entered "The Singing Stones of Rendor" in their "Novel" category. One of the requirements prohibited any published works which meant a delay in putting it on Amazon as planned

Naturally I had hoped it would place well. It didn't take first place, but it did come in at number 2. There is just nothing like having your work recognized as "good" by your peers. My next goal is to have the book recognized as "good" by my readers. That is the crown every author looks for.