A Sad Time

It's a sad time for our family. My father-in-law died early Monday morning. It was sudden, totally unexpected.

I apologize for the lack of content to my blog at this time. Added to the sadness of losing a family member is this horrible cold I have.

It's a miserable week in our house. :o(

Victory is Mine!

Some of you may recognize my title as a quote from Family Guy. Stewie is so cute and so apropos much of the time.

What is my victory? Remember that fantasy novel I started writing way back when? You know, the one with the dragon and the dragon hunter, a four-armed mercenary and some killer mermaids for good measure? Well...I finished the rough draft! Woo-hoo!!

I am almost halfway through a final re-read before passing the story off for critiques. The word count ended up being over 104k, a personal best. I started writing this novel in November '09 and it was officially done about 3.5 months later. I'm relieved it's done and already drafting sequel possibilities.

In other news...

I'm revamping my website. This will be a major process but, meanwhile, this is what I've got: website. Opinions are welcome.

Happy reading, writing, and blogging!!

Are Self-Published Authors Rejects?

I posted a poll several months ago in regard to self-published authors. The question I asked was, "Do you assume self-published authors have been rejected by traditional publishers?" The results have been in for over a month and I just haven't posted them. Here they are:

Yes, always.	3 (5%)
Usually.	11 (21%)
No, never.	16 (31%)
I don't care. I like books.	21 (41%)

The majority just don't care. A book is a book and they love them. However, some of the comments my previous post received were very interesting. Click here to view the original post.

~Photo Friday~ A Day Late but the Ducks Are Cute

I should have posted this yesterday; I apologize for my tardiness. This pic was taken August 30, 2009 at Burt Lake in Northern Michigan. These half-tame ducks took food from our hands. They were so cute. :o)

~Regency Wednesday~ Cant

A simple definition can be used here. Cant is slang, vernacular common to a certain class or region, commonly the underworld. In this case, I'm talking about the speech common to the Regency underworld.

What a great opportunity to plug one of my favorite books, the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. A dictionary of Buckish Slang, University Wit, and Pickpocket Eloquence. Seriously. It is probably one of the most informative books I've ever read. While I don't use slang very often in my own writing, I have had occasion to use some words. Heck, I've used some of them not even realizing they were slang. :o)

A few random entries from the aforementioned book (imagine quotes around these):

• Addle Pate. An inconsiderate foolish fellow.
• Bread Basket. The stomach; a term used by boxers. I took him a punch in his bread basket; i.e. I gave him a blow in the stomach.
• Brother of the Quill. An Author. *
• Clanker. A great lie.
• Cull. A man, honest or otherwise. A bob cull; a good-natured, quiet fellow. Cant.
• None-Such. One that is unequaled : frequently applied ironically.
• Rum Doxy. A fine wench. Cant.
• Smithfield Bargain. A bargain whereby the purchaser is taken in. This is likewise frequently used to express matches or marriages contracted solely on the score of interest, on one or both sides, where the fair sex are bought and sold like cattle in Smithfield.

*I just had to include this one. heehee :oP