Coverscroll.com

Got myself on Coverscroll.com, a site with just covers. Here's a screen, 'Manna-X' is on November 19th, about halfway down...

Still working on 'How to', got a few 'eureka' moments...

Iron Writer and Nanowrimo and Life

Life and Nanowrimo (and Iron Writer for its part) is keeping me away from here.
So, here's a post.
Did Weekend Quickie #10, you'll find it here, along with some others which are just as nice :-)
Still working on 'How to', and it's coming along fine, so fine. 50,000+ words is easy, but it has to be the RIGHT words. Beginning is here.
And here's my 'take' of Iron Writer's Challenge 39, if that's what takes your fancy :-) This'll be included in 'Dani's Shorts 2' in about 4 months.

39 - Like father…

(can of Campbell’s Alphabet Soup, the phrase “Live long and Prosper”,  2000 year old Map of the Earth, empty Snuff Box)

"Why can't he be like other boys of his age, play Angry Birds, or collect football cards?"

Don chased his wife around the house as she put the ironed clothes away to their places.

"Do you really want him to be like all the other boys? That's not the guy I used to know. Whatever happened to the 'my boy will be different' speech?"

They had now moved to the kitchen and were getting the lunch ready. She opened a can of Campbell's Alphabet soup and shared the contents out into three bowls. Don put the first into the microwave and set it off for 1 minute 30 seconds.

"Gone. Especially when he starts collecting every Star Trek collectable he can find, wears those poxy suits everywhere we go and says that stupid phrase 'Live long and prosper' whenever he leaves a room!"

Their son came into the room wearing a red 'guess-who-will-be-killed-in-the-next-scene' Star Trek security guard shirt and a Geordi La Forge VISOR (Visual Instrument and Sensory Organ Replacement) device over his eyes. His mother waited for the microwave to 'ping', took the bowl out, put it on a tray along with a spoon and handed it over to her son. He left the kitchen, but not before…

"Live long and prosper."

"See?"

"So he has some…eccentricities."

"Eccentricities? Eccentricities! That boy needs help. We should call a psychiatrist."

"What? No way, darling, we're not calling a shrink. Our son's just going through a phase, that's all."

"Like the cutting and scribbling phase?"

"That was 10 years ago, Don. Perfectly normal for a five-year-old."

"What, taking my antique globe down from the shelf and scribbling all over my priceless copy of Agrippa's 2,000-year-old Orbis Terrarum which was wrapped around the top? Why couldn't he draw on walls like any other kid?"

"How was he to know that map was priceless? It was your fault for leaving it out like that."

Don slammed his palm on the counter.

"It was five feet up on the top shelf!"

"He's a good climber, isn't he? His P.E. teacher says he's doing well."

"What? I don't care what his P.E. teacher says! He's not the one whose 17th century snuff box just got turned into a James T. Kirk communicator!"

"You must admit, the lid does flip open like one."

"What?"

"Besides, you never used it for anything, it was always empty."

"It's an antique! Not a toy!"

Don's wife passed him a ham sandwich.

"Thanks. Look, I don't care what you say, he's not right in the head. I'm calling Doctor Leanstein."

"If you must, darling. But really, I think you're just as much to blame as anyone."

He put the phone down before having a chance to dial.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I'm as liberal as a wife can be, but there will come a point where I'll have to make a stand."

Don stood up in his pink negligee and matching silk brassiere and knickers.

"What are you talking about?"  

A post

I have a few minutes. How are you?
Didn't win the October WEbook challenge... I think my story wasn't scary enough, it was just a 'trial'. I would be happy, however, to be in the Top 5 in November. My 'first chapter' has already 132 views and 4 and 1/2 stars out of 5, so even if I don't 'get' anything, I've had some nice feedback which I can use later.
Working on the rest of the book at the moment. Is it just me? I found an anagram for 'vampire'..."I'm a perv." Yes, there will be vampires/cannibals in this one, and 3 stinky witches, and battling tribes, and hopefully a lot of laughs/giggles for you :-)
Still writing up all the challenges and weekend quickies on Iron Writer. Check out my latest Quickie :-)

Why am I still writing?

After losing one of the Iron Writer Equinox finals by 1 stinking vote (in a cut-short vote), I had thoughts of stopping.
...but (apologies to those who wish me to stop) I realised after a few days that no matter what, I like writing, and there are a growing number of people who like my writing. Even on WEbook, the latest website I'm trying out, there's an 'audience' for my stuff. Tonight I got a few more ideas, and I also realised that only I am having these ideas...for example, my family was arguing about how to say their.names in 'rhythm clapping'...strange, but hey. That got me thinking...

(musicians start arguing)

"No, it's 'dah dah de dah de de dah dah', always has been, always will be."

"What? Are you crazy? It's 'dah dah de de dah de dah dah'. That's how it's played."

"You are so wrong, my learned colleague."

"Learned colleague, my arse. You're always 'dah dah de dah'ing when you know for a fact that it should be 'dah dah de de dah de dah dah'!"

"Oh, 'de de dah tippy tippy dah dah'!"

"How dare you swear at me! 'De dah tippy dah de de tippy tippy dah dah'!"

"Don't you bring your mother into this! I hardly knew her!"

...now who else would get that kind of idea! :-) It's in the next book :-)

How to write (basic outline)

Thought I'd do a post on this, some basics, kind of like a computer program...remember, anyone can write, it's just a case of whether you can write anything 'good'...

1. Write something.
2. Read it. Did you puke? If you did, go to 20
3. You didn't puke? Wait until tomorrow...
4. It's tomorrow. Read it. If you puked, go to 20
5. So you thought it was pretty good? Go to 10
6. Rewrite what you wrote earlier.
7. Is it any good now? If so, go to 10
8. Ah, so it sucks? But it didn't make you puke? Mmm, let me think...
9. Stop fooling yourself, go to 20
10. Place your writing somewhere, jottify, WeBook, wherever you can get feedback from strangers.
11. Was the feedback good? If not, go to 1
12. Okay, so you might have something...
13. Write some more
14. Read it. Did you puke? If you did, perhaps the first was a fluke, so go to 20
15. Try writing in another genre or style, or take a writing challenge, ie. Iron Writer or Writers Write prompts.
16. Read your writing. If it was good, write more, go to 18
17. It wasn't good? Pick the best, they are your writing styles, and stick to them until you feel you can extend yourself to others.
18. Go write a book and market the shit out of it.
19. Sit back and dream...
20. Live your life. Go back to 1 when you feel like picking up a pen.

Halloween story on WeBook 'Same Old John'

Put a Halloween story up on 'WeBook', 749 words (500-750 word competition). In only a few days it got  4 stars and 5 nice comments. Win the ipad Mini? Don't think so...but who knows?
Go there and have a read if you wish :-) (maybe this wil take you there...if not, search for 'Same Old John'...
http://www.webook.com/submission.aspx?p=ac05a0fccfcc4e5289f5f14cd6ef7ddd&st=a6efdfaa87da44b7b3ca1faa71881fbe

Lots of hits for Dani J Cailr on Iron Writer...

Looks like I'm helping 'Iron Writer' more than I think I am! :-)
If you look at the Iron Writer's website stats for October 2013, you'll notice here that the 1st real page is the Challenge 11 (my first win) which got over 10,000 hits in October (it was in May 2013). Then, the 2nd real page down there's the Autumn Equinox Final (which I lost by 1 vote due to sloppy management of rules and website) and finally the 3rd real page is the Autumn Equinox Hemingway Bracket (which I won)...'Dani J Caile' has a few friends :-)