The Apple Part 2

Well.

Did you have fun describing your plate and your table?

I hope so, because now I have another exercise for you.

I want you to picture a sharp knife on the table beside the plate.  Next, you’ll describe the knife in detail, and maybe mention the person the knife belongs to , and how long ago it was sharpened.

Once you’ve done that, I want you to describe a person at the table.  Describe their eyes, build, height, hair color, and whether they are standing or sitting at the table.  If they are sitting, describe the chair.

Sound like fun?  You can be as detailed as you want to be, or as brief as you want…but you must have some kind of description.

After that, I’d like you to describe the person slicing the apple with the knife.  Include in your description the person picking up the knife, because the knife didn’t just magically appear in your person’s hand.

Feel free to take as many words as you’d like to describe it to your satisfaction.

Once you’ve done that, pat yourself on the back…you’re well on your way to writing!

Keep reading, too!

Michael  (T. M.)

Describe What You See

How is your writing going?  Got something for me?

Wow…I asked you to write some simple sentences.  How hard can it be?

Okay, let’s try this.  There’s an apple.  It’s a deep, ripe red.  Its stem is still attached, and there are no blemishes on the apple.  The light gives it a shine in spots.  Have you pictured the apple in your mind?

Good.

Now, picture the apple sitting on a plate.  Just a plate, nothing else.  What does the plate look like?  It could be a fine white China plate, or it could be a cheap, gaudy, plastic plate from the dollar store.  Open your word processor, and describe the plate you see in your mind.

I’ve described the apple…the plate is your job.

Once you’ve described the plate in words to your satisfaction, picture the plate sitting on a table.  What kind of table?  It’s in your mind’s eye, so you describe it.  Make it so that anyone reading can see the table, too.

Is there anything else on the table besides the plate and the apple?  How about a knife?  A napkin?  What kind of knife, and what kind of napkin?

Describe what you see.

That’s writing.  You describe what you see detailed enough that the reader can see it in their mind’s eye.

That makes the reader feel as if they’re in the story.  They can relate.  They understand.

Now, practice your descriptions.  Pick an object, and describe it sufficiently, so that anyone will know what you’re talking about.

And,  keep reading!

Michael  (T. M.)

Discovery!

I have discovered something.

I am now able to listen chapter by chapter to Mama Told Me Not To Come.

I haven’t been able to do that before…at least, I don’t think so.

Patrick Peterson is performing the book, which is the first in the Justice Security series.  His vocal characterization of Louie is just as I heard it in my head.  Dexter is spot-on, and the narration is outstanding.

I’ve been blessed by both performers on my Audiobooks.  Scott O’Neill does a great job, too!

I realize that it won’t be available to you, the reader, until probably late December…but it’s going to be worth the wait!

Still no word from the publications as to any of the short stories.  I believe that when I finish with MacArthur Park, I will take it straight to Amazon for your availability.

And maybe it can become an Audiobook!

Stay tuned, and I’ll keep you posted on everything in the “T. M. Bilderback” story universe!

Keep reading!

Michael  (T. M.)

Bibliography - What It Means To Me!

Bibliography.

A fifty-cent word that means “all the stories an author has written”.

Occasionally, I’m asked if there is any certain order that my stories should be read.

Yes and no.

I’ve tried to keep each story as a “stand-alone”, individual story.  With one “sort-of” exception:  The end of Mama Told Me Not To Come is supposed to lead directly into Jackie Blue.  However, I wrote Jackie Blue as a “stand-alone” novel that, hopefully, didn’t require the reader to have read Mama Told Me Not To Come…or even If You Could Read My Mind.  A character from If You Could Read My Mind makes a comforting cameo appearance at the end of Jackie Blue.  However, the reader's enjoyment is multiplied if they have read Mama Told Me Not To Come.  It just isn't required.

Now, having said all that, it definitely helps to have read all of the stories in order:

1.       If You Could Read My Mind

2.      Mama Told Me Not To Come

3.      Someone Saved My Life Tonight

4.      Jackie Blue

5.      Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go

6.      Saturday In The Park (Waiting for acceptance or rejection by publications)

7.      MacArthur Park (Being written now)

Those are the stories in the “Nicholas Turner” and “Justice Security” series.  Both series take place in the same unnamed city, and a team-up between the two is in the works now, and is called Hell’s Bells.  They are all listed in the order in which they were written, and I suggest that the reader read them in order, but it isn’t necessary to do so.

I do have other stories that are definitely “stand-alone”:

1.       The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald

2.      Gold

3.      Hot Child In The City

4.      Don’t Come Around Here No More

Those are the only four that I can talk about, because they are all available to you, or are being considered for various publications, and will be soon available to you.  I have others in the works that I have mentioned here previously, but I’m not going to talk much about them…yet.

A word about MacArthur Park:  It was a request, to see if I could actually come up with a story for that song.  I credit Patrick Peterson, the narrator for The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald and Mama Told Me Not To Come, for passing along the suggestion from one of his co-workers.

I think that Patrick’s friend will enjoy the story.  It’s a Justice Security story, but it’s a story with unexpected twists.  I’m having a ball writing it!

Okay.  I’ll shut up now.

Keep reading!

Michael  (T. M.)

I Had To Do It!

I had to do it.

I had to accept a part-time job in the real world.

Jules Renard said, “Writing is the only profession where no one considers you ridiculous if you earn no money.”

That is a true statement.

But, the fact remains that one must eat, and have shelter.  Which leaves only one alternative.

Get a job in the outside world.

So, I did that.  The hours are good, and leave me time to write.  The job is fun, and not too demanding.

I like that.

So, if you make no money…or, not enough…with your writing, you must do what I did, and find something else to do that someone would be willing to give you money to compensate for your time.

Unless, of course, you’re Stephen King, or Janet Evanovich, or James Patterson.

In the meantime, please write a few sentences this weekend.

And keep reading!

Michael (T. M.)