...and now I sit at my computer, though not the one I usually use. No, that one is deciding I use it way too much and developing a glitch. I am not sure what else it can be. I am going to have to salvage all I can off it and wipe it clean, give it a fresh start. It is definitely better than the alternative: Finding a big sledge hammer and seeing how plastic reacts to the sudden impact of 350ft.lbs. of pressure administered at close range. I know, that would be a waste of the thousand dollars I spent acquiring it, but at times, it sure is tempting.
Hello, Self! I call myself "self" when I talk to myself, because no one else can call me "self". It just wouldn't sound right somehow. Just as it wouldn't sound right if I called someone else "self". You may call yourself "self", but you nor I can call anyone but ourselves "self". Kind of seems a little "self"-ish. ;D
OK, so you may think I could be a little stoned, but I assure you I'm not. I'm just waxing philosophical of sorts. Letting my mind (or what's left of it, anyway) wander, as it is apt to do, sometimes at the most inconvenient times.
I have been writing. I joined a website called "BookRix.com" and have posted the items I had written. The admin there also has contests on occasion, and I have been inclined to write new things and post them there. Some have gotten pretty good responses, though none enough to be "best seller" variety. I still think I have potential. I also think some others think I have potential, though I'm not sure if the others think that I think I have potential. I think. Do I think? Am I supposed to think? I know that at times, thinking has gotten me in trouble, but then again, not thinking has gotten me in trouble, too. So, do I think, or do I not think?
Right now, I am doing an exercise called "free writing" That is when you just start typing, and whatever comes out is what you write. It could make sense, or it could be meaningless. The point is, just write. No matter what you happen to write, as long as you write. Right? I know, I am the only one reading what I'm writing, so what's the point, right? The point is, dingbat, that I am writing for me. Not you, and most certainly not someone else, but me. In the end, all a writer can do is write for him/her self. If a writer constantly writes to please another person, then eventually the one doing the writing will go insane, blow their brains out or take a long walk off a short pier. Because they are making up things for other people instead of exercising their own demons by putting them down on paper (or digital file, as the case may be).
OK, I'm going to close this down and post it now. I'll be back eventually. Take care, self!
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Thursday, May 12, 2011
Here We Go Again...
So, it appears that I am not real good at this blogging thing. Well, it's not like anyone is reading them, so they are mainly just a form of a personal updating system.
I have moved. From Texas to Mississippi. My Mother moved back from England and offered me the chance to not have to work the job that was wearing my back out to near disability, so I accepted.
I have enrolled in a course from Long Ridge Writers Group. I feel this will give me the skills I was hoping for in the college classes.
Not much else going on right now, so I will get back to doing what needs done.
I have moved. From Texas to Mississippi. My Mother moved back from England and offered me the chance to not have to work the job that was wearing my back out to near disability, so I accepted.
I have enrolled in a course from Long Ridge Writers Group. I feel this will give me the skills I was hoping for in the college classes.
Not much else going on right now, so I will get back to doing what needs done.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
After a month and a half...
Hey, there! I know, it has been some time since I last posted. Life and all, ya know?
Anyway, I was inclined to withdraw from the BA courses, mainly after taking into consideration the amount of the loans required to pay the tuition and the future potential problems of having to repay them. So, now I am just struggling through trying to make myself find the time to continue writing on my book, and someday, I will be able to get professional help. Then, maybe some other day, either I can get published or even try the self publish option again. Time will tell....
For now, I will continue to keep adding to "Challenge of the Velah" and beef up my word count. At this point, I have about 16,000 words, and must aim for about 50,000. So you can see, I have a LONG way to go!
Well, that's all for now. I will try to not be so long for the next time.
Anyway, I was inclined to withdraw from the BA courses, mainly after taking into consideration the amount of the loans required to pay the tuition and the future potential problems of having to repay them. So, now I am just struggling through trying to make myself find the time to continue writing on my book, and someday, I will be able to get professional help. Then, maybe some other day, either I can get published or even try the self publish option again. Time will tell....
For now, I will continue to keep adding to "Challenge of the Velah" and beef up my word count. At this point, I have about 16,000 words, and must aim for about 50,000. So you can see, I have a LONG way to go!
Well, that's all for now. I will try to not be so long for the next time.
Friday, December 3, 2010
Orientation for Classes Almost done!
Well, week 3 of classes is drawing to a close. I have thus far done all my assignments, and all that's left is posting my final "survey" of how the orientation went for me. In all, I think it mostly went well. I also took a workshop to get pointers on how to use PowerPoint and Excel and be able to make presentations using them, and I am sure I did well in those, too.
I am scheduled to begin my real classes on Dec. 14. I guess I will find out after that just how determined I really am to get this done. It can only help me, ya know?
I am scheduled to begin my real classes on Dec. 14. I guess I will find out after that just how determined I really am to get this done. It can only help me, ya know?
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Second Blog
Well, here I am again! I have completed my first week of orientation for classes to pursue my BA, and only 3 weeks to go till I actually begin the course. I have added links to Amazon.com so people can search for my book, as well as anything else that strikes their fancy. For my book, just search for "John T. M. Herres". If you click the title,Life Through My Eyes: A Collection Of Poems, you will go directly to the page on Amazon. 
So, anyway, on with my current project. I am in process of writing a book called "Challenge of the Velah". It is a sci-fi book, though I did not know that when I started it. The synopsis I wrote for it is this:
"A man has been unwittingly caught up in a battle of survival between the Heskah race and the evil Sakalel, who are intent on annihilation of the more passive race. The man finds he is destined to be the Velah, or 'The One Who Intervenes' and must face the Sakalel warriors and try to save his new friends from extinction."
Sounds kind of interesting, huh? I began it, as with most things I have written, because the first sentence was roaming around in my head and would not leave me alone until I jotted it down, then it kept expanding. I wrote several paragraphs then quit to pursue another story that hit me titled (at least for now) "A New World To Live In", which is about a new form of Zombie Infection. I was excited about this concept, but it left me and I found myself trying to force the story. When this happens, all is lost. Now, when I do get back to it, I will have to completely revamp it.
When I showed a new acquaintance some of the poetry I was getting ready for the publishing I had engaged, I happened to mention the "...Velah" story, which at that point in time was still just a few paragraphs and showed no signs of being a sci-fi story at all. She requested to see it, and told me she was excited to find out what happened next. My interest was renewed with this favorable criticism, and words began forming again. I now have just under 14,000 words in it, and am not even half way done.
However, I sent it off to a publishing agent, and they said, although they were interested in working with me, I needed to get a professional critique done to it first so we could have a starting point. Let me tell you, it is awfully difficult to find someone who will help out with an unfinished manuscript. The most all only want an excerpt containing the first part of it, but they want it to be a finished product. As for me, I would like to find out before I finish if I have to totally change it, or even rearrange parts of it. The one person I did find who was willing to work with it told me to send part of it and he'd have someone critique it. I wanted it to be as best it could be, so I ran the Word Processor grammar check on it. I will recommend to anyone NOT to do that. I had to change so much of it that it was not a story anymore. In fact, the guy sent me an email that said it looked like "detailed notes in story form." He also told me that they could take it, expand it to about 80- or 90,000 words to make it ready for publication. For $14,000.00. I don't know about you, but I don't have that kind of pocket change. Hell, I have trouble sometimes coming up with $14.00! I wanted to send him the same excerpt from before I ran the grammar check, but decided I would try to doctor it myself while still trying to complete it.
That is when I decided to explore the benefits of getting a college degree behind me. I figure, if I major in English, the vocabulary as well as the ability to be grammatically correct will be a lot easier to bring to mind. After all, it has
been about 28 years since I graduated High School, and I also explored in depth the ins and outs of Alcoholism, which needless to say, destroyed most of my usable brain matter.
So, that about concludes this episode of my story. Thanks for reading, and check back for more updates. Remember, check out my website, which is linked on my profile page here, and look for my poetry book on Amazon.com, Barnes and Nobles website, and a few others. You could Google my name to find other possibilities. Till Next Time; Later!
So, anyway, on with my current project. I am in process of writing a book called "Challenge of the Velah". It is a sci-fi book, though I did not know that when I started it. The synopsis I wrote for it is this:
"A man has been unwittingly caught up in a battle of survival between the Heskah race and the evil Sakalel, who are intent on annihilation of the more passive race. The man finds he is destined to be the Velah, or 'The One Who Intervenes' and must face the Sakalel warriors and try to save his new friends from extinction."
Sounds kind of interesting, huh? I began it, as with most things I have written, because the first sentence was roaming around in my head and would not leave me alone until I jotted it down, then it kept expanding. I wrote several paragraphs then quit to pursue another story that hit me titled (at least for now) "A New World To Live In", which is about a new form of Zombie Infection. I was excited about this concept, but it left me and I found myself trying to force the story. When this happens, all is lost. Now, when I do get back to it, I will have to completely revamp it.
When I showed a new acquaintance some of the poetry I was getting ready for the publishing I had engaged, I happened to mention the "...Velah" story, which at that point in time was still just a few paragraphs and showed no signs of being a sci-fi story at all. She requested to see it, and told me she was excited to find out what happened next. My interest was renewed with this favorable criticism, and words began forming again. I now have just under 14,000 words in it, and am not even half way done.
However, I sent it off to a publishing agent, and they said, although they were interested in working with me, I needed to get a professional critique done to it first so we could have a starting point. Let me tell you, it is awfully difficult to find someone who will help out with an unfinished manuscript. The most all only want an excerpt containing the first part of it, but they want it to be a finished product. As for me, I would like to find out before I finish if I have to totally change it, or even rearrange parts of it. The one person I did find who was willing to work with it told me to send part of it and he'd have someone critique it. I wanted it to be as best it could be, so I ran the Word Processor grammar check on it. I will recommend to anyone NOT to do that. I had to change so much of it that it was not a story anymore. In fact, the guy sent me an email that said it looked like "detailed notes in story form." He also told me that they could take it, expand it to about 80- or 90,000 words to make it ready for publication. For $14,000.00. I don't know about you, but I don't have that kind of pocket change. Hell, I have trouble sometimes coming up with $14.00! I wanted to send him the same excerpt from before I ran the grammar check, but decided I would try to doctor it myself while still trying to complete it.
That is when I decided to explore the benefits of getting a college degree behind me. I figure, if I major in English, the vocabulary as well as the ability to be grammatically correct will be a lot easier to bring to mind. After all, it has
been about 28 years since I graduated High School, and I also explored in depth the ins and outs of Alcoholism, which needless to say, destroyed most of my usable brain matter.So, that about concludes this episode of my story. Thanks for reading, and check back for more updates. Remember, check out my website, which is linked on my profile page here, and look for my poetry book on Amazon.com, Barnes and Nobles website, and a few others. You could Google my name to find other possibilities. Till Next Time; Later!
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Welcome to my new Blog
Greetings and Salutations! My name is John Herres, and I am an aspiring writer. I currently have one book in print, having self published, and am in process of writing 3 other stories. I have never done a blog before, so am learning as I go. I hope anyone who is reading will cut me a little slack for being an amateur. I guess I will begin by telling a little about the Poetry book I have published.
My book is called, "Life through My Eyes". It is a collection of 23 poems ranging from life experiences to observations to "flights of fancy". The interesting thing is, when I began investigating the possibility of getting self published, poetry had not even crossed my mind. I was looking into trying to get a new story I had started published, even though it was no where close to finished. They called to check, one thing led to another, as they say, and I decided to put poetry in a book.
At that point in time, I only had about 8 or 9 written, the last having been around 2 years before, and the first around 2004 or so. The company told me I needed at least 20 to make enough to make into a book, so I began thinking, and the poems began hitting. It seems that poetry is the main thing I can write without putting too much thought into it. A couple of sentences pop into my head and when I put pen to paper, they just flow right on out there.
Any way, I will post some of those poems so you can see I may not be so shabby, and later on, I might try to put some excerpts from one of my book attempts. You can visit my web site to see some samples of my writing, and if you do, I ask that you consider signing my Guest Book to let me know what you think.
My book is called, "Life through My Eyes". It is a collection of 23 poems ranging from life experiences to observations to "flights of fancy". The interesting thing is, when I began investigating the possibility of getting self published, poetry had not even crossed my mind. I was looking into trying to get a new story I had started published, even though it was no where close to finished. They called to check, one thing led to another, as they say, and I decided to put poetry in a book.
At that point in time, I only had about 8 or 9 written, the last having been around 2 years before, and the first around 2004 or so. The company told me I needed at least 20 to make enough to make into a book, so I began thinking, and the poems began hitting. It seems that poetry is the main thing I can write without putting too much thought into it. A couple of sentences pop into my head and when I put pen to paper, they just flow right on out there.
Any way, I will post some of those poems so you can see I may not be so shabby, and later on, I might try to put some excerpts from one of my book attempts. You can visit my web site to see some samples of my writing, and if you do, I ask that you consider signing my Guest Book to let me know what you think.
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