Celebration, Come On!

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Two For ChristmasThe last thing I want to do in this joyous season is start an argument, but in order to proceed with what I want to do here, which is wish everyone Happy Holidays, I feel the need to point out that there’s a reason many people say “Happy Holidays” rather than simply “Merry Christmas.” There’s a lot going on this time of year. Let’s break it down a bit:

Chinese New Year
Hannukah
Kwanzaa
Winter Solstice
Yule
New Year’s Day (Western)
Bodhi Day (Buddhist)
Pancha Ganapati (Hindu)
Soyal (Zuni & Hopi)
Hogmanay (Scotland)
Quaid-i-Azam (Pakistan)
HumanLight (Humanist)
Dōngzhì Festival (East Asia)
and yes, Christmas.

And that’s not everything by half. So here’s the thing, and it’s got nothing to do with either being “PC” or any imagined “War on Christmas.” To automatically say “Merry Christmas” to someone whose background and customs you may not know is an example of unexamined priviledge and cultural assumptions that are as likely as not unwarranted, not to mention just plain rude. Sure, I’ll say “Merry Christmas” to family and friends in person, but even then only when I know we’re on the same page, which is not always the case. To say it here, on this blog, when I know darn well that not everyone reading this shares either my background or beliefs is to use the season as a club, not a hug. Sometimes I am a jerk, but I try not to be, and that’s the beginning and end of it.

So Happy Holidays, everyone, because no matter what those holidays are, they should be happy, and that’s what I wish for you all.

 

If This is a Race, My Lead is Dwindling

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WRITING 02Odds and ends and a few points of information that may or may not be of interest. First of all, I’ve been doing pretty well keeping ahead of the posts on Power’s Shadow, but Real Life (tm, pat. pending) has intervened and there is now what is technically known as a snag. (colloquial, (n)– An obstacle or impediment). Circumstances have persuaded me that it would be to my advantage to acquire a certain technical certification in my (other) chosen field. I won’t bore you with the details, but the reality is that I need time to study, and when I’m studying, I’m not writing. I will continue to put up installments of Power’s Shadow as long as that’s possible, but there may be a hiatus if I can’t keep up. If there is a disruption, I’ll try to keep it as short as possible, but the possibility exists, and so–fair warning. Continue reading →

To Break the Demon Gate – 2nd Incarnation

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Yamada-PS-AuthorCopy

This arrived yesterday in a big bag labelled “Royal Mail.” Author copies of To Break the Demon Gate, from PS Publishing. This is the limited edition. It’s a little unusual to have both the trade and limited edition of a new novel out at the same time, but that’s how it worked out. So we have a lovely hardcopy edition, a lovely signed and numbered hardcopy edition, and a colorful trade edition, in both print and ebook, and available in the usual places and B&N.

I have to say it’s a good time to be a reader. Options galore.

Yamada Monogatari: To Break the Demon Gate – Audiobook Release

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Yamada_BTG_cover-V06b-PrimeNow that the paper edition of Yamada Monogatari: To Break the Demon Gate is in the wild, the Audible.com edition narrated by the incredible Brian Nishii will be relased on December 3rd, so for those of you who like listening to books when you’re busy with activities that don’t leave your hands free (Like driving. What did you think I meant?), this is for you.

MUSE and WRITER Dialogues #11A

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Taylor312e-stand

FADE IN

A room that passes for an office. There are bookshelves on one wall, a motley assortment of carvings, signed storyboards, and framed magazine covers on the free wall space. On the far wall is a medieval-style heraldic wall display of a cockatrice and a banner in bad Latin “Pullus non Est.” Horizontal files sit beneath the window , and on top of those there used to be a free-standing rack holding Japanese swords, only they had to be removed because of the cats. The computer desk is on the wall nearest the door, facing away from the window. Beside that is a printer on a stand. In the base of that is a PC and PS3, not currently in use. WRITER is practicing chord changes on an acoustic guitar.

MUSE enters. From somewhere. She’s in Greek Goddess mode.

 

MUSE: I hate to say this, but you really suck as a guitar player.

WRITER: Nonsense.

MUSE: No, I mean it—you really do suck.

WRITER: Sure. But that part about hating to say it? Rubbish.

MUSE: So you admit that you suck at guitar?

WRITER: As I recall, I’ve admitted it on several occasions. What’s your point?

MUSE: So Why do you keep doing it?

WRITER: I’ll probably stop sooner or later. I have a habit of finding an intense interest that fades after a while, then I’m on to the next one. You know that.

MUSE: It’s been two years.

WRITER: “A while” is not a rigid timeframe. Might be two and half years. Might be twenty, if I live that long. Who knows? I don’t.

MUSE: So why are you wasting your time?

WRITER: I’m doing something I still enjoy. How is that a waste of time?

MUSE: It’s not even as if you’re making progress. You still can’t play a tune worth a darn.

WRITER: I beg to differ.  When I started, I was butchering songs like “Tom Dooley.” Now I’m butchering “Bad Moon Rising” and “Sitting on the Dock of the Bay.” I call that progress.

MUSE: If you were working on your book as you should be I’d call that progress. This? Not so much.

WRITER: The book’s going fine. I’m happy with it. But it’s day’s end and I don’t have anything left for it. So now it’s guitar, with what little strength remains to me.

MUSE: You have no musical talent and a poor sense of rhythm. About the only good thing I can say is–at least you’re not tone-deaf.

WRITER: What part of “I know that” don’t you understand?

MUSE: Apparently, all of it.

WRITER: It took me nearly twenty years to become a half-way decent writer. Are you going to tell me I have no talent now?

MUSE (reluctantly): No.

WRITER: You did then.

MUSE: Oh. Right.

WRITER: Always listen to your Muse. Just understand that she doesn’t always know what she’s talking about.

MUSE: I’m right about you and guitar.

WRITER: Absolutely. But I know that, someday, there’s a chance that you won’t be.

MUSE (shrugs): It happens.

WRITER: More than enough reason not to give up a dream. At least, not today.

MUSE: Have it your way. But stop pretending that an Fmajor7 is the same as an Fmajor. At least get the chord you’re mangling right.

WRITER: Working on it. It’s what I do.

 

END