Writing is an evolution by a writer

When an everyday writer finishes his/her first book, they think it is the greatest story ever written but the realization sets in that just because it is, no one has ever heard about it or you. So you start an author platform by going on social media. Let me tell you, it is a slow process, especially now days when there is so many out there writing books. If you are smart, you won't spend all your time on social media trying to garner followers but get back to what you love... writing. You have to love it or you wouldn't waste your time being a writer. When you have have written your second book as you go through editing it or having it edited, you will find that it is better than your first book. How do you ask? Your evolution has started. Most people do not start out writing their best book. I'm sure Stephen King had some of his earlier works in his opinion ready for the trash can. Once he found out what works, he cranks them out one after another. He has found his niche (style) that works for him. You have to find yours, copying someone else won't work, but once you have your style, each book will be better than your last. I may never write a bestseller but each book I write, I feel is better than the last one. A true writer's evolution into a well known writer, at least that is what I hope I have become. I have put all that I learned into writing "Saddle Spur" and believe when it is finished, everyone will agree it is the best one written by me so far. Once I complete it have it edited, I will go back to writing "IronHearts" Got to keep the writing flowing. So all you aspiring writers out there, here is Stephen King's advice "Keep writing and reading to become successful" My additional advice is after you have written the best book get back to writing and let time tell where or not it is the best. You might surprise yourself by actually writing the best book ever written.

Talk back, I'm listening as always just not here everyday.

Too busy writing to blog- I apologize

I know the past few posts have been about President Trump but I haven't been posting a thing recently. I have been busy writing "Saddle Spur" featuring "Wildoats" the horse of my main Character John Howard Strum. Their adventure from Alabama to Oregon in 1870. I am trying to make it historically accurate as I can, hence I have to do a lot of research to get it write besides having to make the story interesting and compelling for the reader. This is my first time in trying to write such an adventure book of this nature. Normally, I write straight fiction books making it all up in my head since most are set in the near future or future. That is easy to do I have found out but having an adventure in the old west even fiction, you need some truism to be believable. I know in the old westerns, they didn't worry about how accurate it was but I do even if the characters are fictional. As soon as Saddle Spur is complete, I will get back on finishing "IronHearts" My story set in today's times, just fictional characters that have hell to pay to survive.
So this is my status right now. Every since I had Wildoats playing a bigger role in the Saddle Spur story, I have had to rewrite most of it while checking to insure each event or scene is correct.

Have a great day. Talk back, I'm listening as always just not on social media that much. 

Concerns of my wife about President Trump

Last night, my wife and I were sitting up having a few drinks. The conversation covered various subjects then it went onto politics. I asked her what concerned her the most about Trump becoming President. This was her answer, "I am not concerned with the rights of women being trampled upon, even removal of my voting rights. What concerns me more is the fact that the Republicans want to roll back laws and even eliminate EPA to allow businesses to pollute even more destroying the planet for our children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. We have a lot of those. About Trump, "he is a ticking time bomb that would start World War III in one of his tirades, destroying this planet for future generations, maybe even eliminating them entirely.  We were entrusted this planet by our past generations, to make it better and pass it onto our children and to learn to live in peace regardless of religion, color and gender.  If humans are truly the advanced species, they owe it to themselves and the other inhabitants of this planet to allow each to live and not be destroyed in one of the rages of man.  I couldn't disagree with any of the points she raised. I like it getting a woman's prospective on this election. Everyone with a half a brain knows Hillary was less than truthful about her emails but she was calm under fire and didn't explode just because someone questioned her. I would feel better knowing we have a calmer person in the White House with their finger on the button. 

Talk back, I'm listening. Tell me how you see the 2016 election shaping up.       

Reflections of a blogger

Thanks to all those that dropped by my blog during the 2016 Cherish Blogfest. It was nice to see you. Sorry I wasn't able to drop by every site on the list, my volunteer activities limited my time on here. 

As I write this post, it gave me thoughts to reflect upon. Why does anyone blog anyway? Most people blog to sell you something, others blog about their point of view on different subjects including politics, books and their health conditions or what they had for dinner. I started blogging back a few years ago when I found out that as an author, I had to present myself to the public. Along the way, I found I enjoyed talking more about other unknown authors and their books than I did about my books. Then I started doing reviews of other's books since I read a lot. I have made a lot of online friends and others that I will call associates. I tend to follow back anyone that follows me whether I find their post interesting or not. I even comment more on various posts on LinkedIn,Facebook, Blogs and even on GoodReads. It is interesting on GoodReads that I have even started chatting with other authors in their discussions where you ask why they write and other questions. A question for other authors, do you engage in such discussions?

Time spent on social media will always reduce the amount of time an author has to write but I try to balance that with writing and my activities where I do volunteer work realizing both are equal important in my life.

Talk back, I'm listening as always! Have a great week!

Cherish Blogfest 2016 post-Cherished Item

 It took me a long time to find my Cherished item. My real most cherished item is my wife, children, grandchildren and great grandchildren so I had to select something after agreeing to do the Cherish Blogfest 2016.

My wife discovered during the winter that she had talents she never knew. Normally she does not have the patience to create something. It was tedious work but she found her abilities and patience to do this. She started with old horseshoes, cleaned them up and then painted them. Some black, some silver. Using leather she attached all the beads and feathers creating a beautiful wall ornament. In the center is our last name made from wooden blocks. To me it is something special she created for us.
I showed two views, the top one is trying to show the entire item with a slight close up in the second picture to see more of the details. Thank you for dropping by my blog and you can follow me if you wish. I normally follow the sites I visit.

 Drop by and visit other blogs taking part in this blogfest. I am sure they will enjoy having your company.

A Poem "Thoughts from Afar" by my wife-S.J.Moye

My wife is a better poet than me, I have to agree. She wanted to post a poem to share with the world she wrote in 1981. Previously she had only shared it with family and a few friends, until now. Previously untitled until now. Copyright - 1981 by S.J.Moye
She wrote this in Ireland when she was 21 for her younger sister she jokingly called "Duffet". She left the states with a 13 month old son and a 6 week old daughter. Leaving her close knit family behind finally got to her, ergo the poem.
(the picture is of my lovely wife with our granddaughter, Elizabeth).

"Thoughts from Afar" by. S.J.Moye

All night long
the gale winds blew

whisking my thoughts 

from Ireland, to you

Dreams of times

of days gone by

in the dead of night

I hear the blackbird cry

My thoughts stop

as I lie and listen

she sings a song

of the love she's missing

Alas, she's finished

off she flies

thoughts stir of you

as tears fill my eyes

I hear your voice

in the howling wind

Oh my, I can see you

I'm home again!

We kiss, we hug

we laugh, we cry

we reminisce

of days gone by

We're walking in 

the summer sun

I reach for you

and off you run!

Further and further

your now out of reach

I stand alone

on the sandy beach

Yak, Yak, Yak,

the magpie screams

awakening me

from a long winters dream

So, all night long

the gale winds blew

whisking my thoughts

from Ireland, to you...

Copyright-S.J. Moye  

Talk back, I'm listening

Learning To Stutter by Sherm Davis -blog tour

Welcome to my tour stop of "Learning to Stutter" by Sherm Davis, presented by Elite Book Tours.  To follow the full tour, please visit here.

LEARNING TO STUTTER IS FREE ON JULY 4, 5 AND 6!

BUY NOW @ AMAZON!

Kenneth Kocher seems to have it all - a good heart, a sense of humor, decent looks, and lots of money. What he doesn't have is something most of us take for granted - freedom of speech. Kenneth lives with a severe stutter which has wreaked havoc with his life since childhood.

After much embarrassment, pain and soul-searching, Kenneth realizes that to free his inner self he must accept the fact that he cannot be cured, and that he must learn to stutter with grace. Along the way he meets another stutterer and a young widow who are both dealing with the stumbling blocks in their own lives.

Using an experimental syntax to portray the neurological component of the syndrome, the novel gives the reader a unique view of stuttering from the inside out.

Amazon | Createspace

PRAISES FOR "LEARNING TO STUTTER"

This is an extraordinary book. It’s the inside dope on stuttering. And if one person was born to tell the story, it’s David Sherman. And does he have a story to tell. The plot is consummate, the writing proficient, the pacing skillful, with a clarity of detail that renders it very realistic. After awhile, I found myself caring about all the characters, even (or particularly) the minor ones, oftentimes because they reminded me of myself, and were therefore incredible familiar. It is a reflection of the author’s versatility –as educator, in math and Language Arts, as musician and writer –and diversity –Jewish, New York born and bred, having resided all over the world –that some parts of the writing even speak to the Oriental in me. As each of the characters, stuttering and non-, go about their lives, problem-solving, adapting, you cannot help but see the parables at a universal level. Resonant, poignant, and ultimately elucidatory, this book get an A+ from me.

---- Ling T., Guatemala

In addition to those who struggle with dysfluency and their friends and family, I highly recommend this novel to educators and speech pathologists to ensure their understanding of the multi-faceted impact that this neurological syndrome can have on one’s identity.

---- Shari Mayerson, MS, CCC-SLP

EXCERPT FROM "LEARNING TO STUTTER"

Why is the name so difficult? Perhaps because there is no way to reach into the verbal bag of tricks which every person who stutters carries with him in a desperate attempt to seem normal. Word substitution (the favorite of all stutterers who block more on certain sounds than others) is impossible when the name is fixed and finite. Linking the end of one sound to the start of another to increase fluidity is impossible also, because the name begins with a specific sound, and most stuttering occurs on the initial syllable of a word.

But the great author, unaware of Kenneth Kocher’s internal trauma, was in a hurry, and only scribbled his name and gave a cursory nod before moving on to the next person in line. It was only as he was walking away that KK realized that he was fixating on his own name, and hadn’t said a single word to one of his personal heroes.

On the heels of this humiliation, he still had one more errand to run, and it was better to get it over with early in the day. When he entered the toy and game store, he really didn’t know what he was looking for. He walked up and down the aisles of the small shop, but couldn’t find anything that struck his fancy. Finally the shopkeeper, a jovial man in his fifties, horseshoe bald with a red pate and dramatic waxed moustache like the character from Monopoly, came over and played the part.

“What are you looking for, son?”

“A gift for my six-year-old nephew,” was the sentence that formed itself with perfect clarity, sonority and resonance in his brain. But just after the sentence was formed, he scanned ahead and found a stutter reflex embedded in the /g/ in gift. Automatically, he sought to substitute a synonym, but in this case he couldn’t even substitute the word present, because the /p/ was his nemesis, the hardest sound in the lexicon and one to be avoided at almost any cost. So he got past the opening vowel and then hit the hard /g/ like an electric fence. His larynx locked and he started pushing against it with brute force, but it wouldn’t budge. His face and neck started twitching, and his left eye was blinking out of control. The harder he pushed, the harder he jerked and twitched.^[1]

Finally he caught hold of himself and let go of his breath. Inhaling anew, he substituted one sound for another. “^Ssssssomething fffffor mmmmy nephew.” It was stilted and spasmodic, but got the point across, more or less.

He could see the surprise in the storekeeper’s face, but he was used to seeing this. All his life, he had been watching people try to figure out how to respond to his twisted speaking voice.

“Well,” the man said, maintaining an amiable front, “what is your nephew like?”

The second interaction of the day, and it wasn’t going well, either. He was floundering in a neurological rut, and he couldn’t make it stop. His larynx slammed shut on its own accord, his left arm shot into the air like it was connected to an invisible string, and the muscles in his face and neck began quivering under the strain. He pulled himself together and responded slowly, too slowly, “^~I…. ^d-d-don’t know. I nnnnnever see him.”

“Hmm,” the shopkeeper tugged at his moustache. “That makes it a bit more difficult, but I’m sure we have something. Are you looking for something educational, mechanical, sports-oriented, or just plain fun?”

He shrugged his shoulders. “Sssomething he ‡can ^g-grow into.”

The paunchy man nodded sagely from behind his suspenders and his bowtie. “I’ve got just the thing,” he said, and went into the back roozm. The shopkeeper returned with a magnetic construction set, simple enough for a young boy but advanced enough for his father to enjoy as well, and handed him the box. “What do you think?”

KK nodded his appreciation and gave a thumbs-up, too taut to say anything. On other days, he might have made the effort to ask the man to gift-wrap the box, but when a day began like this, every word was precious.

“This is a gift for a nephew who lives far away?” the man deduced. “Would you like me to wrap it for you?”

Exhaling a sigh of relief for the man’s telepathy and compassion, KK nodded his head and handed him a credit card. Walking out of that toy store, he was unable to even thank the man. Cursing himself and vowing to never shop in a store again for as long as he lived – he’d shop online instead – he stuffed the gift in his backpack and started power walking through the streets.

OTHER BOOKS FROM SHERM DAVIS

This bilingual English/Spanish collection contains pieces ranging from flash fiction to folktale. Set in New York, New & Old Mexico, Guatemala, Italy, and the future, eight morsels of Zap Fiction lead off the collection, and five longer stories close it out. The Spanish translations, the product of a team of professionals, are as true to the original English as possible. 

Buy NOW @ Amazon | Createspace

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

David Howard Sherman Davis is a writer, musician and international educator who has taught in five countries on four continents. Born in Brooklyn, New York, and raised on Long Island, he currently lives by Lake Atitlán in Guatemala. His journalism and fiction have appeared in the United States, Canada, Guatemala, and online. 

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