JamesSavik

The Summer Job The summer he turned sixteen and moved into the new house, Phillip Wright got a summer job at the YMCA. He was assigned to sweep, mop and do a lot of the work that would otherwise tie up the staff during their busiest season. Phillip was unaware that his father had pulled strings to get him the job. Phil Senior was an associate in a big firm involved in a huge international case that had been going on for years and showed no sign of a fast resolutio

Phillip Wright is starting over in a new town after a horrific tragedy with a new home and life. Can he pick up the pieces?

I am very much in favor of subplots. They fill out and add life to a story. I call them “threads”. Artistically woven together, they make a stronger, more complex story. Some of the stories I’m cooking up are a central plot complimented (or complicated?) by several subplots or threads.

I’m offline except for my iPhone due to ice storm wiping out the local power grid. Stuck here in the dark I have tried to read stories but can’t. An ad pops up and you can’t dismiss it. I was concerned as some of the ad companies are slimy and play games to keep their clients in your face. Thought you might want to look into it. I do hope all is well or, at least better than it is here. -JS

Phillip is 16 and new in town with his first job: working for the Y. With no friends and his Dad stuck in London (or was that Hong Kong or Singapore?), he resolves to make a few. One of the new fiends older brother Andy is known to be a real asshole and, he wants to have a talk to Phillip.

Horrible writing advice... Heroes wear white. They ride on high white horses and have shiny plot armor. They are, of course, interesting because who wants to read about a bum, right? Heroes should be flawless role models because seeing them overcome their petty human experience is just plain boring. Villains wear black. Their horses don't really like them. They don't get shiny plot armor because the writers guild demands it! They aren't very interesting because they're just plain old evil and no one really cares how they got that way. Furthermore, they always have henchmen or perhaps lackeys and are linked to shadowy nefarious plots. Dynamic characters are passé. They confuse the reader, so we shouldn't use them despite, real people having to learn and grow. It confuses the reader when heroes make mistakes and do things that aren't heroic and might be considered dastardly, cowardly or just plain wrong. It's even worse when a villain does something to show virtue and integrity. This whole line of writing should be saved for litany fiction since nobody really reads that stuff. Role Reversals- Everybody hates it in a story when the hero and the villain reverse roles. It's too complicated for the modern reader that has a 15-second attention span before they change the channel. Besides, the guy in the black hat saving the girl would be just plain un-American. So remember: always write what's expected. You can't go wrong pandering to your audiences' shallowness and stupidity. Throw in some populist political ideology for good measure to prove you're woke and, you can't go wrong. After all, it's worked so well for Kathleen Kennedy's Star Wars and the new Doctor Who. For Terrible Writing Advice, check out my buds channel:

I was part of a collaboration back in the day- probably ~2006 or so? I don't remember exactly. It's hosted at Awesomedude and turned out to be a neat little mystery story. We started out with a roadmap that provided: General setting Brief character sketches A few basic ground rules A first chapter to set the tone The work came out pretty good but, your roadmap and ground rules need to be tight and someone needs to basically be the trail boss. If you are writing any genre, you don't want to throw your co-authors too many curves. Some authors may be touchy about stuff like bad language, sketchy situations, drug use, underage drinking or abuse. Work this out upfront, or you end up wasting time squabbling over it. Anyway, a link to it ;>> https://awesomedude.com/collision/

The Blight Before Christmas Twas the blight before Christmas and all through the land, Everyone was sneezing and coughing by damn, A Chinese virus has arisen in our winter of discontent, That kills grannies and grams and makes us insolent. Our solons so wise want to write us a check, To make us all right, To help us through this accursed blight, Just as soon as they pay off every other soul on the planet, We'll get our lump of coal, god dammit. They shovel the cash to Egypt, to Paki

When it comes to science and technology, never say never. Never is a very long time and, we don't know everything. Last one to Proxima Centauri is a Tribble turd.

If you knew Mary Sue Then you'd know why I feel blue With Mary, my Mary Sue Oh well, I loathe you, gal Yes, I loathe Mary Sue! Mary Sue, Mary Sue I'm so fucking sick of you Oh, Mary, F-ing Mary Sue Oh well, I loathe you Yes, I loathe you Mary Sue Mary Sue, Mary Sue Annoying, bitchy, perfect Mary Sue Oh, Mary, f-ing Mary Sue I'm so f-ing sick of you Die horribly perfect Mary Sue!

Not just WW1. The Germans needed a big win on the Eastern Front and unveiled their new Panther tanks. The Soviets rolled out a lot of new toys too. The Germans waited too long and the Soviets were dug in too deep.

Starry Starry Night Starry Starry Night So cold and clear and bright and bold Tell me the secrets I long to know Shine away the darkness in my soul Wash away my fear in your radiant glow Starry Starry Night Take me from this frightful place Hold me in your timeless grace Wrap me in your radiant embrace Show me God's own face Starry Starry Night Please show me that I am wrong Believing love is only pain Remind me that I am yet strong Keep me sane despite the pai

This is an incredibly difficult decision for the victim and his friends. Many times, the victim is emotionally paralyzed. Friends might only suspect something is going on and the victim will minimize it. I fell. I walked into a cabinet. What seems like it would be an easy answer from a distance is a lot more complicated the closer you get.

Thanks- it's NOT the easiest thing to write. Keeping all the characters straight is... a challenge. 🤪 < help me!

i. The bus ride to Arrowhead Lodge was quiet. Almost everyone either napped or talked quietly. Alan handed the bus driver a tape of his first show so Led Zeppelin played at a modest volume all the way. I had hoped that Matthew would catch Chip Daniel's eye but, Chip was enjoying Danny’s company. Matthew was sitting with Rich chatting quietly. Aaron and Rocky were sitting a row in front of Philip and Robbie MacDonald. Jacob Porter and Tommy Holloway were napping. Steven, JJ,

I find myself watching Perry Mason now and then. Of course its dated but, it does a good job with its 5 act structure and presentation of a great murder mystery: character, motive, method, opportunity. You can change those elements and move them around but, they have to be there or the whole structure collapses. Some of the best ones are quite old

This young musician is well worth a listen...

I cringe when movies are made of the sci-fi classics. Unless they are done well, they turn out like Verhoeven's rape of Heinlein's classic Starship Troopers. (If I ever catch that prick in a dark alley.) He took a great source, excellent cast and made a joke out of it. What did he come up with? Doogie Himmler. If a studio and a producer does one of these classics, they must respect the source. Verhoeven DID NOT even read the book and it showed. Dune has been done twice already: first by Lynch in 1984 and again in 2000 as a Sci-fi channel miniseries (before they went completely to crap). Neither were perfect but, the Lynch adaptation has become a cult classic despite its wanderings from the novel. I hope the new one is good. Heck, I want it to be great. Good sci-fi that makes money encourages studios making crap to take a chance and try to do better. So far, I like what I see. I want them to focus on the story. It's good enough. Don't make the mistake Disney made with the Star Wars franchise and Witch Kennedy made and try to make it a vehicle for something else. That failed miserably and ruined what was a multi-billion dollar franchise.

Starry, starry night Paint your palette blue and gray Look out on a summer's day With eyes that know the darkness in my soul Shadows on the hills Sketch the trees and the daffodils Catch the breeze and the winter chills In colors on the snowy linen land Now I understand what you tried to say to me And how you suffered for your sanity And how you tried to set them free They would not listen, they did not know how Perhaps they'll listen now

I've recently discovered something interesting. I'm shocked that I've never run across them before. I really enjoy prog rock and I'm shocked that I missed them until now. The link isn't unpacking right: it Marillion and the album is Brave. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ov2-jWtU-tg

I put my recipe for Shrimp Creole in my blog.

Cajun food is a lot like jazz. There are some basics but, there a lot of ad lib going on. Some of the old recipes were designed to vary significantly depending on what you had on hand. For something like Jambalaya the rice and spices are constant but, it can be loaded up with anything from sausage, hamburger meat, shrimp, deer meat, etc. It's how a Mom could feed a lot of kids based on what's in the kitchen. It's not hard to do, fun and you come up with some absolutely delicious stuff. I'm going to take you through making Shrimp Creole. It takes about an hour and it looks and tastes great. It's a good recipe for company you like. They'll sure come back. You need: _________________________________________________ 2 pounds shrimp- (peeled and de-veined works best as it skips a time-consuming chore. Thawed if frozen). 2 cups chicken broth 1 can Rotel 1 small can tomato paste 1/2 cup sliced celery 1/2 cup sliced green peppers 1/2 cup diced onions 3 cloves of garlic, crushed (optional- a few green onions sliced) 2 tablespoons flour 1/2 a stick of butter 1 tablespoon creole seasoning 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper [salt & pepper to taste] ____________________________________________________ Start out by preparing your vegetables. Onions, green bell pepper and celery are the base for a number of creole dishes ranging from red beans & rice, étouffées, gumbo and others. Make sure your shrimp are ready to go. They need to be thawed out if they are frozen. Next it is time to make the roux. Roux is a gravy base. It is the base of numerous Cajun recipes. Once you start cooking, it thickens up. Roux is easily done but you have to pay attention to it. If you burn it, it's wasted. Take the pot you are cooking in and apply medium heat. Melt a half stick of butter and then put in the flour- stirring frequently. At first, it will look like this: As it cooks, it will smell very good. Stir it and keep stirring. Don't let it sit still. You don't want it to scorch. It will gradually darken to a peanut brown color (we call this a blond roux for étouffées). Eventually it will cook to a darker color like this: When the roux is this color, it's ready. Now dump in your vegetables, garlic last. Continue stirring and sauté all of your vegetables in the roux. This takes about four or five minutes. Once the onions are translucent, add in two cups of chicken broth, 1 can of Rotel and the tomato paste. Add in your spices now. Stir this all together and make sure the paste dissolves good. Bring the pot to a hard boil and then reduce heat and simmer covered for thirty to forty-five minutes. It will look like this: After simmering for at least a half hour, add in your shrimp and stir them up. Let it continue for another five minutes as the heat in the pot will cook the shrimp. Remove the pot from heat and let stand 5 minutes. Serve over rice. Pairs well with white wine, garlic bread and you can garnish it with fine chopped parsley.

I like 5 better than 6. It just seems more playable.

Burbs rats, spoiled brats, so cool in backwards hats, Basket brawls, drunken crawls, endless country-music drawl, Nerdy dips on acid trips trying hard to be tragically hip, Nursery rhymes, capital crimes, side by side in the urban grime, Telephone crews, the cheapest booze, novel writers selling shoes, Macho men, studying zen, so they can slaughter their kin, White trash, hopes smashed, Jesus freaks seeking cold hard cash, Skater kids, Freudian id, broken drunks on th

Cousin Phil Cousin Phil is a Southern-ism indicating that rather useless, lazy, alcoholic dull cousin that most families only acknowledge reluctantly. He is the inspiration for this classic bad opening for a novel: The plan was simple, like my cousin Phil. But unlike Phil, this plan just might work.