If you could have dinner with a writer (living or dead), who would it be?

Copyblogger has a great segment of articles they call The Writer Files.  They've interviewed many writers, from Seth Godin to Jeff Goins.

One of the more interesting questions they ask is: what writers, living or dead, would they like to have dinner with?

Who would yours be?

Here's mine: it's a small list, with various pros and cons tied to it.

First and foremost at the top of my mind is Stephen King.  That's a no-brainer.  The King of Horror himself.  As long as we talk "shop" - i.e. writing.

Next would be Brandon Sanderson--fantasy author.  I've listened to enough podcasts and watched enough videos to give me a good sense of what he can teach, and then again he's teaching an upcoming class over at Write About Dragons.com next month.

That's all for the living authors--I know, it's a short list and I didn't even mention others such as J. K. Rowling or John Grisham.  Or even Dean Koontz.

The deceased authors, on the other hand, are a bit more interesting.

One such fellow is J. R. R. Tolkien.  Nothing more needs to be said there, do I?  Next would be John Gardner--his novel On Becoming A Novelist is a classic in my book, and a must-read for any author.

In the end, if I had to choose one, it would be the recluse J. D. Salinger.  Why?  He doesn't even write genre fiction, so why Salinger?

He is a master of dialogue, for one.  And his method of storytelling far exceeds most writers.  I'd just like to know how he approaches the craft of writing and even dialogue in general.  There's one such story he wrote--it wasn't Catcher--where we meet two characters conversing for over fifty pages, while one is in the bathtub.  And I was enthralled by it!  How in the world did he pull it off?

Ancient mysteries I'd like to know.

In the end, I'd set aside King (although if I really had to pick a living author, it might be his son Joe Hill) and Sanderson for the mighty Salinger.

Yeah, that's who I'd pick.

Who's yours?

Tales of a diabetic father: the importance of camps, for both the children and the parents

Last week, my fourteen-year-old son attended Camp Sioux--an American Diabetes Association sponsored camp just west of Park River, North Dakota.  My six-year-old daughter also attended a day camp on Tuesday.

At this day camp, two other families were in attendance, and I was struck by the notion--which both they and the camp counsellor told me--that we've been battling type 1 diabetes with our children for a long time.  My son was diagnosed in August 2001 (one month before the dreaded 9/11) and my daughter in November 2009.

Yes, a long time.

I was also struck by the notion that children with diabetes are alone in their battle.  Typically, unless they live in a larger city, they may be the only one in school who has it.  Hence the reason why diabetes camps, like Camp Sioux or Camp Needlepoint near the Twin Cities, is very important.  The children not only bond with other diabetes children, they learn to be more independent in their diabetes care.

The two families I met both had children who were just recently diagnosed.  They held some of the same fears as my wife and I had in the beginning--not that we still don't have fears, because the minute we let our guard down, life throws us a curve ball.  As you can see, the camp is important for the parents too.  I only wish there was more of a bonding time with the other parents who dropped their children off.

I'm sure they all have lessons to teach as well.

Hit a rough patch in your writing? Here are 2 simple solutions.

You've been slaving over your giant epic novel for months or years, and then you get to a point where you don't know what's next.

The diehard outliners out there will probably shout from the hilltops: "That's why you need to outline!"  However, my friend, even outliners can have this problem, because they can get to a point in their story where they simply don't know what's going to happen next.

To remedy this, you can do one of two things:

First, start something new.  It could be you're just thinking about a new idea, a short story or a new novel.  I believe it was Chuck Wendig who said (paraphrasing!) to keep working on your current project until it's done.  Great advice, for sure.  But if it's gnawing at your mind, take an hour or so and write the darn thing.

Also, it could be that your story needs a little spice.  I'm not talking a sex scene or blatant erotica.  I'm talking a change of pace.  On my first novel--a deer hunting horror story I wrote back in college--I hit a rough patch near the beginning, when the four characters were going out into the woods, because I didn't want the story to be a "Guide to Deer Hunting Techniques."  I then had a vision of a boy, out for a bike ride one final time before winter, getting into a fatal accident and all of the events leading up to that one moment.  Bingo!  I wrote the scene as I envisioned, which jarred the story in a slightly different direction.  Looking back on it now, I don't know if I'll ever keep it in but it did change the pace.

I have written stories where I change point-of-view for a chapter here and there, just to change things up.

Second, if you can't think of something, walk away from your computer or typewriter and think.  Brainstorm.  Force yourself to come up with twenty different ideas.  Don't go with your first or even your second, no matter how well you think it is.  Come up with twenty ideas.

What have you done when you've hit a rough patch in your writing?  Please comment on it.

Tales of a diabetic father: a new segment of the blog

I've been meaning to write about this for a long time, and after this last week when my two diabetic children (type 1) attended Camp Sioux, up near Park River, North Dakota, I felt the strong need to start this segment of the blog to devote to our tales of dealing with diabetes in our children.

My fourteen-year-old son was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when he was two, in August 2001.  Our soon-to-be seven-year-old daughter was diagnosed in November 2009 when she was three.

Neither my wife nor myself have diabetes.

Neither my wife nor myself went to school to learn about diabetes.

What I'm sharing in this segment is what we've learned in our many years of caring for our children.  Take what is said only as a guideline.  Make sure to get the opinion of a doctor and/or trained diabetes educator if you are unsure of how to care for your child or if you suspect they have diabetes.

Happenings In The Outhouse 14-Jun-2013 / I see dead people

A few weeks ago, my wife and I subscribed to Netflix.  We're not sure why we kept putting it off.  It's not like we rent a lot of movies, but sometimes the current television programs just stink.

The first thing I watched was The Walking Dead.  I blew through Season 1 in about 3 days--holy crap!  I am hooked.  I finished Season 2 Wednesday night and cannot wait for Season 3 to come out (I believe I may be waiting a little while).  I don't watch an enormous amount of television.  I usually watch a little while I relax for bed.

Last Saturday, I watched an episode in Season 2 (right near the middle) which really tugged at my heartstrings--yes, I admit, I was shocked and even shed a tear (for those who have seen the show know what I'm talking about so I won't spoil it).

Then, of course, there's the upcoming movie starring Brad Pitt: World War Z, based on the amazing book by Max Brooks.

Zombies, zombies, zombies.

A thought occurred to me that I, in fact, had already written a zombie novel.  It's not your typical zombie apocalypse novel, but rather more like The Walking Dead than World War Z, as it focuses on a small group of people.

It is this book that I will be editing next . . . once I complete my final edits of Beholder's Eye--for the brief moment, I am putting off self-publishing because there's a small press I know that has opened submissions for the month of June, so I'm going to try them first.  It may be a long shot (isn't everything in a publishing world a long shot?), but at least I'm going to do it and submit.  If it doesn't pan out, then it's on to self-publishing.

I have over 6,500 words written in my inspirational novelette.  I know, I know, I haven't written much this week, but it's been a busy week.  I typically write in the mornings for 1-2 hours, and this week most mornings have been filled with diabetes camps and doctors appointments.

Are artists allowed to publicly share their opinions? Or, better yet, should they?

The short answer to the first question is yes.  It's a Constitutional right--for those who live in the United States, that is.

The long answer, on the other hand, leads to the second question.

The answer to that one . . . I'm not so sure on.  We should be able to share our opinions, but at what cost?  If you publicly criticize the way your government is being run, you may be praised or you may be outcast--this depends largely on what political party is in power.

Does this mean I don't believe artists should be able to share their opinions on social views or poltics?  For me, it depends largely on what it accomplishes.  Also, some people are really good about expressing their opinions, and it is even a part of their platform (i.e. Sean Hannity or Ed Schultz).

Is it safer to take the neutral ground on such hot topics?

Take the issue on gay marriage.  There are strong supporters of it as well as strong opponents.  But if one takes a side, are you alienating the other?  If you are a strong opponent, are you seen as simply homophobic?

Something to think about.  I'm not sharing my opinions, and for the most part I keep an open mind about such things--I have this uncanny ability to view things from various points of view.  There are a number of artists who are also in this camp.

So at least I'll have company.

What if you discovered your favorite artist holds values far different than yours?

Last year, I read and published a blog post on Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game and how I thought it was so far ahead of its time, especially for being published in the mid-80's.  I've read a few other books by Card and have liked them just as much.

Then, with the release of the Ender's Game movie, there are people planning to boycott the movie because of the author's views on gay marriage.  In fact, I've been hearing tremors for a while that people have simply stopped reading his books based on this.

Yesterday, I was listening to a podcast on Stitcher and they were reading a story by Rudyard Kipling.  In the introduction, they said that Neil Gaiman was asked once who his favorite authors were and named Kipling as one.  Afterwards, he received scathing letters regarding Kipling as being a racist.

Then again, so was Lovecraft.

Yet, millions of people still read their books and both Kipling and Lovecraft are forever named in the classics.

Stephen King, by his own account, is a true blue Democrat.  How many Republican readers has he alienated by sharing his hatred towards George W. Bush?

Larry Correia, a bestselling science fiction/fantasy author, came out very strongly against gun control--an minority view when compared with many of his colleagues.  Has he been alienated at all or shunned by not including him in the industry's awards?

This doesn't include the number of actors who have stepped forward to support one political candidate or another.  Do they alienate the "other side" when they do so?

This debate is surely not over, but let's get the conversation going, shall we?  How much does an artist's view on a political or social topic cloud your judgement as to whether or not you'll ever purchase another work of art from them?  Because, in your view, buying one of their books or watching one of their movies is supporting a cause far different than yours--yes, I know you think this way.

Let me ask this: do you know the political leanings of Wal-Mart?  McDonald's?  KFC?  Ford?  GM?  You don't?  Yet you'll still buy from them.  Just because Card had a certain view on gay marriage (which, I might add, he has changed his view) doesn't mean you can't enjoy his work.  I'm sure there are plenty of Republicans who still buy books from Stephen King

Or are there?