Tuesday, November 28, 2017

For Susan

written by Marc Prudhon 
when he generously donated to the Lyle Dagnen scholarship fund on #GivingTuesday 2017

This small effort of mine will try to make all see.
How much Susan Brooks Fleming meant to me.
She succored me in my darkest time of strife.
When all I felt I wanted, was the ending of my life.
She was my sister, mother, daughter, my love, but not my lover.
I know not if words exist, to express how we were to one another.
When Shakespeare wrote those words, that "All the Worlds' a Stage'
Too many times to count, her script and mine were on the same page.
I lay no claim to even a tiny piece of her talent, her souls narration.
Time and time again, her words were what gave me inspiration.
With private messages, phone calls, in bright days and nights wee hours.
We would talk of Dragons, Gods, Goddesses, and other arcane powers.
No private thing was too hard to speak, no subject under this worlds sun.
Sharing together, hours on end, yet we never seemed to get done.
One would have to say goodbye for now, cut it short at last.
When her life or mine forced us to undertake some other task.
I say now, Susan, Sis, and your alter ego Lyle Dagnen.
Ride free thru all those other worlds, Upon your Black dragon.

Tuesday, May 31, 2016

Word of the day - Mugwump


mugwumpAudio Pronunciation



\MUHG-wuhmp\
noun
1. a person who is unable to make up his or her mind on an issue,
especially in politics; a person who is neutral on a controversial issue.
2. a Republican who refused to support the party nominee, James G. Blaine,
in the presidential campaign of 1884.

Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Word of the day - absquatulate

transitive verb 
1 : to leave a place suddenly and secretly : decamp 

2 : to go away and take something that does not belong to you : abscond

Friday, April 8, 2016

Happy FryDay

Need someone to critique your work? Just ask in the comments :) 
 After all, we humans just love to opine!



Thursday, April 7, 2016

The Write Life shares all you need to know about beta readers

Writing Feedback: The Ultimate Guide to Working with Beta Readers

But you’re not finished. No, not even after you wrap up your self-edits.
It’s time to pass your manuscript off to beta readers — volunteers who provide feedback on your book. If you’re thinking about skipping this stage and just hitting “Publish,” you might want to reconsider.

Why beta readers?

Software companies release beta, or test, versions of their programs to work out kinks and bugs before releasing to the general public. Businesses offer beta versions of their courses so they can tweak the content to ensure it serves the needs of their students.
Authors need beta readers to understand how people read their bookand, like software companies and businesses, to identify confusing or irrelevant spots. Every author has weaknesses. You do too — but you’re blind to them.
Beta readers won’t be. And soliciting feedback from beta readers is your chance to address the weak spots of your manuscript before you publish and share it with the world.

Who you want as a beta reader?

As easy as it is to get them to help, best friends, significant others and family members are the worst beta readers. They know and love you, so they’re predisposed to loving whatever you write — no matter how good it is. While you might enjoy their glowing comments on your work, it won’t be the feedback you need to improve your manuscript.
Here’s who you want to enlist:
  • An acquaintance or a friend of a friend. People close to you can muddle through confusing sections or sentences to guess what you meant. That won’t give you useful feedback. Pick someone who doesn’t know you well enough to figure out your meaning.
  • A member of your target audience. If your book doesn’t resonate with your readers, you’re not going to sell copies.
  • Someone who’s not afraid to be honest. You need positive andconstructive feedback.
  • Someone who’s reliable. This seems obvious, but people can overcommit. Be conscientious of your betas’ time and priorities.
You need more than one beta reader. There’s no set number, but three to five is a good start. If you’re bootstrapping your book, find even more betas: good beta readers can mean forgoing the cost of a developmental editor.
After you have an idea of who you want, it’s time to find them.
Read more at TheWriteLife ...

Wednesday, April 6, 2016

Word of the day - CONTRETEMPS

It's WORD OF THE DAY WEDNESDAY

contretemps 
\KON-truh-tahn\
noun
1. an inopportune occurrence; an embarrassing mischance: He caused a minor contretemps by knocking over his drink.
Quotes
Pan had been amongst them--not the great god Pan, who has been buried these two thousand years, but the little god Pan, who presides over social contretemps and unsuccessful picnics.
-- E. M. Forster, A Room with a View, 1908
Origin
Contretemps is a loanword from French. Its initial element is the combining form contre- meaning "against," and its second element is the French word meaning "time." It entered English as a fencing term in the late 1600s.