Red Wolf's Room

I've been reading science fiction novels such as Doorways in the Sand by the great Roger Zelazny; it's about alien possession and the copyright date of my book is 1976.  With older science fiction books, readers today notice obsolete things such as rabbit-ear televisions or the absence of the internet and the increased use of the mail system.  With that in mind, I noticed something in Doorways in the Sand when the mentor to the protagonist discusses scientific revolutions, "that a big new idea comes along and shatters traditional patterns of thought, that everything is then put together again from the ground up [...] After a time, things begin looking tidy once more [...] Then someone throws another brick through the window.  It has always been this way for [humans], and in recent years things have been coming closer and closer together."   Doesn't that sound like what's happening today in 2017 with the constant production and improvements in technology,...

I was asked how The Goblin Tunnels series has helped me in my writing. For those of you unfamiliar with The Goblin Tunnels , I will fill you in: The Goblin Tunnels began as a series of photographs on Convozine (a site which no longer exists) by Victor Garibaldi and was continued by Éric Soucy.   It is a photo-series that depicts an alternate dimension accessible through public underground tunnels.  I have lent my writing to some of their work.  You can find the series here . When I began writing for The Goblin Tunnels, I never thought about the genre it fit into.  I simply tried to incorporate the same mood Victor and Éric's photos contained and went with that.  I have always been one to feel art first and then try to explain it with words.  I often search for the perfect song to help me write in whatever mood I'm in or need. Thinking back, the series has helped me: explore different themes and formats (including plays, letters and di...

When I was young, I had an epiphany: I could change a story I had read or seen or heard.  I could re-write it and make the characters of a story change direction, multiple times if I wanted.      Some mornings, I would get up to find my mother watching television.  She would stumble upon a movie and watch it without knowing beforehand what the movie was about.  Sometimes I would join her because I loved the mystery and newness of the movie, but other times I refused no matter how good it appeared to be because I had been burned before by the unsatisfactory ending.  I think that this subconsciously added to my drive towards writing.  In writing, I can have my revenge and create satisfactory endings for my readers because I know how they would feel if I did not write that type of ending. Of course, a "satisfactory ending" is different for everyone and different for each story.  Having everyone live at the end may not be the best thing for t...

  *Spoilers Ahead One Night at the Call Center by Chetan Bhagat is narrated by Shyam, a call center agent in Gurgaon, India. We learn about him and his call center colleagues (Priyanka, Vroom, Esha, Radhika and Military Uncle) and see how their lives are turned upside down in one night while they’re working their shift.  When they have reached the end of the road, they get a call from God which helps give them a push to take control of their lives. The Characters: Shyam is the narrator who feels inadequate and has low self-esteem; he aspires to become team leader of his group at the call center in hopes Priyanka will want him again. Priyanka is the ex-girlfriend to Shyam; she is under pressure by her mother and family to agree to an arranged marriage; she is working at the call center to earn money towards her B.Ed. Vroom is the best friend to Shyam; he hates his call center job; he used to be a journalist and has a crush on Esha. ...

This is one of my favorite episodes, mainly because it diverts from the usual Quantum Leap story line of Sam Beckett changing someone's life or several people's lives in order for himself to leap home.  For those of you who have not seen this episode, do NOT read on because there are spoilers.  And you do not want this episode spoiled!  ***Spoilers Ahead*** I never realized all the clues that pointed to Al not being Al.  In fact, on my first viewing, I only noticed one of the clues and thought it was a goof.  Boy, was I kicking myself at the end!  Having watched so many episodes, I should have noticed the clues.  At the end, Sam mentions a few of the clues, but I want to provide a more complete list: Sound: when Sam is with the Sheriff after Tully's death, "Al" speaks off-camera and instead of the usual background chords that play when he appears, there is haunting music Visual: The Sheriff and Mary can sense "Al's" presence throughout ...

Maps are fun.  They give us a way of seeing a place and all its details before beginning our exploration.  The book I reviewed in my previous post, "Paris was the Place" , talks about maps and the narrator-protagonist describes Paris and how its streets are laid out.  Here is Paris's subway map: Image source: https://about-france.com/paris-metro-map.pdf Subway maps are also interesting, especially those of Paris and Japan.  I haven't traveled very much, so when I was playing the video games Nancy Drew: Danger by Design and Shadow at the Water's Edge , the maps were a bit daunting.  There are just so many stops! Nancy Drew Paris Subway Map I'm a writer, so why am I going on about maps?  Well, because maps are useful for writing; you can map out your story or create a map to help you visualize the world you're creating.  Sometimes, the ideas won't come to me or I struggle to write a scene with the right words, so I turn to design ...

*This post contains spoilers I enjoy listening to TED talks. I find them informative and the speakers captivate my attention by using a creative way to deliver their speeches. One such TED talk was "The power of story" by the writer/poet Susan Conley. A few days after listening to Conley’s talk, I was checking out the “Bargain Books” section at Indigo and picked up a book that had an interesting title: Paris was the Place. It was only after reading the story’s description on the book’s jacket that I decided to buy it. Then my eyes caught the author’s name and I laughed at the coincidence. I always search for books by certain authors; never have the books found me.    "Paris was the Place" is full of life.  It's 1989 and the protagonist, Willow Pears, teaches poetry at an academy as well as at an immigration center for girls.  She becomes involved in one of the girls' lives at the center which leads to the question of where the l...