Why don't Kuwait for me? Iraq as soon as I can.

My first post from a foreign country, and when I say foreign, I really mean alien. Being a young man (Please let me keep my illusions) born and living the majority of my life in Utah, this place is... Dead. I know Utah is considered a paradise, but frankly, it is a tropical paradise compared to Kuwait. There is no (and I stress NO) vegetation anywhere in sight. No grass. No trees. There aren't even any weeds! Technically this is my third time here, but somehow I had forgotten what a desolate wasteland this is. Buildings, sand and rock as far as the eye can see (which is pretty far, considering the extreme lack of mountains).

On a brighter note, they just fixed the AC, and I now have power again, so there is something! They also have wi-fi internet that is rather expensive, considering the speeds I am pulling. And even though it is 120 degrees outside, it is a dry heat. I solemnly swear never to complain about the heat again, so long as it is dry. I much prefer the weather outside, to 90 degrees and 80% humidity. Crazy I know, but I prefer to breathe my air, not swim in it. I will never understand why the military thinks it is a great idea to have us train for a desert environment in a humid place. The food is worth the price I paid for it, which is free, but there are other choices, ranging from the likes of KFC and Taco to Baskin Robbins and Starbucks/Green Bean. They also have the most high-class port-o-potties here, complete with tile flooring, and porcelain urinals and toilets, and in this heat, I must say they are a true pleasure to use (To much sarcasm?).

The best part of this short trip through the Devil's backyard, is that even though we will be here for a little over a week, there are only 3 days of training planned, and all of the training could be compressed into 1 day, if not for the heat. Guess I am going to get in a lot of movie time.

Well, the dinner bell is playing (They just played retreat.), so I am going to eat. Take care, all!

Freedom - Poem

Freedom

The crowd gathers, listening,
To those who scream so loud,
About injustice and the war
And how they are not proud

Of the men who went to war
To combat terror's reign.
They sat we have no business there,
That we are all insane.

They burn our Flag, our Banner true,
The symbol of our land,
Not thinking of the millions dead
So that it could stand.

They call our soldiers butchers,
And protest through the night,
Not remembering men have died,
So they could have that right.

They call our country wicked,
And say that we're a shame.
Not thinking that there, people die
For saying Jesus's name.

They call our soldiers evil,
And say they shouldn't fight;
But if everyone had that mindset,
We'd lose our every right.

So think of all the people
Who fought through mud and dust.
And all the unknown soldiers
Who died for “God We Trust”.

You have your freedom easy.
You take it for granted, see,
But remember those who died for you;
Because freedom's never free.

Unknown

Is there a "write" or wrong way?

Wow! Talk about a busy few weeks! As many of you know I am going through the beginning pains of a military activation. The tearful goodbyes, the acclimation from a dry climate to a hot & humid one, and then the poorly thought out rules. No leaving post, no alcohol, and of course, no entertainment on post. But that is okay, because I truly don't have time for entertainment. But I didn't start this post to complain, so on with the show!

I have been told that I am a discovery writer, and I believe this is true... To an extent. I don't start with a written outline, or even research and notes. I do start with a story mostly fleshed out in my mind, then sit and start writing. Often times the characters will take the story in places I hadn't originally anticipated. When I create a character, I will have a rough idea who they are supposed to be, and how big a role they will play, only to learn through their dialogue and actions that they aren't who I thought they were in the beginning.

Some might be thinking, "But wait! You are the author... Don't you dictate who they are and what they do?" My answer to this is yeah/no. I create them, give them voice, and design their setting, but their actions have to be taken into account on everything they do. If I were to force their actions, it would be apparent in my writing, and I don't want that. I sometimes feel like a parent to these characters, even getting teary eyed when one has to die. I HATE killing my characters.

The one thing I feel I can force, is the scenery. It rains when I tell it too, the sun sets and rises on my whim, and the geography is laid out rather nicely. At one point in my story, I realized that there had been no rain. So, to make up for it, I created a downpour... And one of my characters ended up getting sick. A great (IMHO) delusional scene came from that. My character was fleshed out more, his motives examined, and in the end, he was a stronger character. But none of this was in my original vision of the story. There are many, many other examples of this happening in my story.

In the end, I wouldn't say I am a cut and dried discovery writer, but rather an amalgamation of sorts.

What kind of writer are you?

Back it on up!

Aaaannnnddd.... I'm back! Sorry for the long delay, but here we go!

So over the weekend my mother's laptop went down. (It was a Dell, and despite my many comments on the quality of Dell systems over the years, she has still purchased them because of their price... And has to get new ones every couple years.) Luckily she has a geek in the family (namely me!), and I got to work on it. Unfortunately the hard drive was bad, data unrecoverable by any of the means at my disposal. My sister had been using this laptop for work, and... Wait for it... She hadn't backed up her data. There is a saying I used to use when I worked in St. George as a computer technician at PC Innovation. "If you didn't back it up, then it wasn't important." Many people have their entire lives on their computers, but never consider the very good possibility that something will break, and all will be lost. I have known people who have lost all their wedding photos, years worth of financial records, and on a more personal note, I have had to rewrite the beginning of my novel 3 times, due to not backing up properly. (See how I tied that into being an aspiring author?)

With today's technology it is so easy to backup the important things, everybody should be doing it. There are many options available as far as backup suites and automated software, but in truth, the best way I have found is to simply copy the data you need to an external source. Whether that is an extra hard drive, thumb drive, or even to the internet. Thumb drives are cheap, and will fit most people's need for backup space. Those that need more room can go for an external hard drive. My preferred method is call Dropbox. What it does is create a folder on your computer. Anything saved to that folder is automatically backed up to the web. Better yet, because it gets backed up to the web, you can set it up on multiple computers, and access (or update) the files from anywhere. The next best part is that you can get almost 3 gigs (gigabytes) of storage for free! (Full disclosure: I am in no way financially tied/linked to Dropbox. I have a free account with 2.75GB of available storage. If you choose to use the above link to create an account with them, I will get credit for it. I recommend you do your own research, and choose for yourself how to go about storing your backups.)

"Well, that's all fine and dandy," you might be saying, "but that doesn't really help me back up, just tells me where to put it." I used to have a hard time with my wife. She would do a lot of photo editing, then browse the internet, get a virus, and loose her work. Naturally I was to blame, because I hadn't backed up her work for her, and she didn't know how. (Yeah, I know... I didn't marry a geek, but she makes up for it in other areas.) I created a batch file (more on that later) that would backup all of her data for her. 3 months later I checked... and she hadn't done a backup in 3 months, go fig. The moral here is, BACK UP your data!

Now I will help you create a batch file to help you backup your data:
1. Right-click on a blank spot on your desktop, and select "New" -> "Text Document"
2. Name the file "Backup.txt" without the quotes.
3. Open the file, and copy and paste the following text into it.

@echo off
@echo WARNING!
@echo This will overwrite anything
@echo in the destination folder.
@echo Press CTRL-C to cancel, or
pause
@echo Backing up files
xcopy /e /v /y *.* c:\Dropbox\
@echo Backup complete
pause

4. Save the files as "Backup.bat" (Again, without the quotes)
5. Place this batch file in any folder you want backed up.
6. Run the file whenever you want to backup.

The batch file is pretty simple, and can easily be modified to fit your needs. Say you only need your pictures backed up? In that case, change *.* to *.jpg (or *.mp3, or *.(whatever extension the file(s) have)) The batch was written assuming you have a Dropbox account, and created the folder on the "C:\" drive. If you want to backup somewhere else, just change the last of that line to the destination. C:\ is the drive letter. If you are using another drive, change C to that drive letter (i.e. D:\ or G:\)

For a walkthru on making this automated, visit here.

Questions, comments, or better ideas? PLEASE lemme know!

The Call

We know that day will come,
When the call to serve will ring.
For some it brings fear,
And some a sense of well being.

We know that day will come,
When the call to serve will ring.
For others hope will rise,
For truth & justice, and freedom bring.

We know that when it comes,
We will rise to The Call,
To leave our families, our lives,
And to fight for us all.

We know that when it comes,
We will rise to The Call,
And see that evil everywhere,
Before our feet will fall.

We are the Triple Deuce,
And to the world we’ll show:
The strength inside of us,
And give tyranny a mighty blow.

We are the Triple Deuce,
And then world will know:
That when we receive the call,
The Triple Deuce will go!

J Knight Bybee

Prequel: Chapter 1

Because I have actually had to work for a living these last couple weeks, my blogging & creativity have taken a hit (Unless you count the poem I wrote last night at midnight... Yeah, highly sleep deprived!)

If you have been following me, You know why I have been struggling. So in an effort to at least try and stay on top of this whole blogging thing, I have decided to put up the first chapter of my prequel. Please, please, please (I can beg more, just ask me) let me know what you think!






Chapter 1
Commander

Alarm klaxons rang out, echoing loudly off hallways and corridors. Rushed footsteps, and shouted commands were buried under the noise. Tension hung heavy in the air as all hands ran to their respective stations. A few paused along the port side to catch a glimpse of the war vessel that was threatening them.

"I said, Turn off that klaxon!" Star-Commander Renile screamed (the klaxons ending in the middle of his request). "Thank you," he snapped. Renile, his hair gray at the temples, and the still flashing alarm lights reflecting off his bald cap, was in a very poor mood.

Renile faced his second in command, Captain Hapter, and glared angrily. "How did they follow us? You said that warp jump would leave them behind!"

"I'm not sure, Sir. It should have worked. I don't understand how they made that second jump so quickly." Hapter's voice was strained, and Renile smiled inwardly. It was always good to keep your underlings in their place. He let none of that smile show, as he faced the mammoth display on the far wall. "Status report!"

The bridge went into a flurry of action, as everyone turned to face his or her terminals.

"Sir," an Ensign stood and saluted, "with the upgrades to the warp engines, we will be ready for another jump in about fifteen minutes.” Sweat began to bead on the younger man’s upper lip. “Sections two, seven through ten, and twenty-four are venting life support. The areas affected have been sealed, but we have lost access to some key parts of the ship. Also--"

Already bored with the report, Renile cut off the Ensign. He knew that they had taken damage. That’s war. He wanted to know if they could fight back. "What is the status of our shields and weapons?"

The Ensign, Renile couldn't remember the man’s name at the moment, and truthfully, he didn't care, glanced down at his portable screen. "With the damage to section eight, our weapons are at forty-three percent, and our shields are still down."

"Sir?!" Commander Renile demanded, angry that this lowly Ensign had forgotten to address him properly.

"Yes, Sir. Sorry, Sir."

"Divert all available resources into getting our weapons and shields back up." Renile grunted in disgust. The fool Ensign probably hadn’t even thought to do any of this. Renile knew better than to trust that men would do what was common sense.

"Yes, Sir. Of course, Sir.” The Ensign glanced down at his handheld. “It will take several days to fix the shields and get them operational. We can’t even touch the weapons until we fix the holes in our hull."

"Sir," Captain Hapter interrupted, "they are hailing us."

Renile glared at his captain before flicking his wrist at the screen.

The image of a handsome woman appeared, her brown hair pulled back sharply and forced into a tight bun. Her austere face and small nose showed none of the familial features that ran in the Renile family.

"Star-Admiral Renile," Thal Renile addressed his younger sister, "I am so glad you were able to keep up with us."

"Drop the crap, little brother, this ends now. Your shields are down, your weapons are crippled. Surrender and I will try to make sure you have a fair trial." He bristled at being called little brother. He was the elder, but she outranked him, and had him in height by a couple inches.

Thal could feel Keirin Renile's cold fuze to his bones. He had been right to defy her, to refuse to attack that frigate filled with refuges. That she would talk down to him in front of his men, just added more insult. He had earned the title of Star-Commander, and he expected to get his due.

"I will surrender when I'm dead! Those refuges didn't need to die. They were no threat, and were unarmed. You should be placed on trial."

Commander Renile turned away from the screen and gave the signal to terminate the connection.

"That was a direct order! It is your duty—" His younger sister's voice was abruptly silenced as the signal was cut.

"Sir, they are powering up their weapons. We won't last long under another bombardment. We need a few more minutes before our next jump is plotted. We won't live long enough," Hapter stated beside him.

"Well, we will just have to jump with the data we have."

"With all due respect, Sir, there’s no telling where we’ll end up." Hapter's jaw snapped shut at Renile’s look. Did the man really think he was an idiot? How could Renile have become a commander without knowing that? Jumping without having the entire route plotted could land them anywhere, including inside a planet or sun?

"Do it, or die! Or would you rather I boot you out the hatch to her?" Renile said, nodding to the empty screen.

"Plot the jump quickly, Ensign Keller." Hapter ordered.

Ensign Keller's hands flew across his terminal.

Renile sat in his chair, trying to present an air of confidence, but inside he roiled.

"Incoming barrage, prepare for impact. Ensign, it's now or never. Punch it!" Hapter yelled.

The ship lurched, and shook, then everything went white.


Okay, I lost some of the formatting on pasting it here, so please forgive me if I missed a paragraph. And please let me know in the comments what you think.

A Soldier

I passed a soldier the other day,
Talking to his family far away.
He gave his love, claiming all would be "alright"
They need not fear, he was far from the fight.

I asked him why he chose this life,
Away from his family and wife,
He said it was for their rights,
That he would always choose to fight.

That day, his words stuck with me,
That for their rights, he wouldn't flee.
He would fight for his beliefs,
For others, he delivers relief.

Months later, I would see him in the news,
There would be a fight. One he would lose.
He fought bravely, and not in vain.
Many enemy soldiers he had slain.

His friends were in dire straights
They needed help, before it was too late.
Three soldiers owe him their life,
He left behind two kids, and a wife.

I tell this tale not to make you sad,
Though I know, there are those that will get mad.
These words were written, tears in eyes,
For all those soldiers, families, lives.

A solder right now fights for rights,
Be they ours, or under some distant lights.
Even when they are very far,
Their heart sits next to all of ours.

So when you see a soldier in the street,
Make a point to give a greet.
They have families just like you,
In this country of Red, White & Blue.

Author: SGT Bybee, Jace K

Coping with Time Management (Or Lack Thereof)

Wow! I started to get a great schedule down, blogging on Mondays, editing on Tuesdays, working on my prequel Wednesdays. Thursday was reserved for tying up loose ends. By then I am with my family, and though I love my family dearly, it is impossible to work on my writing with them around. (Note: Yes, today is Friday, and I am around family. It has taken me over 30 minutes just to write this much.)

So what happened? Fridays have become my new days to blog, and no time to write or edit. (Okay, absolutely no joke, it is now Saturday morning, and I am at work... Shh, don't tell my boss.) What happened was a shift in work for this month. Instead of getting paid for my hobby (if you have been following me, you will know I am a geek!), I have been put on orders till near the end of next month. This shift has taken away nearly all my time. Never fret, I will endure, and get back on schedule as soon as possible. My WIPs are screaming for attention, and I want to work on them. Which is probably why this post is going to be so short... Ta-ta!

How do you deal with time management issues?

Confidently Humble

I have a phrase I use to describe myself. "I am the ultimate geek, minus three things: I don't wear taped together glasses, I don't wear a pocket protector, and I am danged good looking!" (Note: Last part is edited for younger readers.) Yes, I am confident in myself. I know my skills, I know my personality, and I know who/what I want to be. Why, then, do I find myself so nervous when someone is reading my WIP(Work In Progress)?

Last Monday, at my Writer's League meeting, we broke into two groups to help critique what others had brought. I had brought the first two chapters of my as yet unnamed prequel. Two others in the group brought their WIPs, and five in the group meant that not all of us were reading, some waiting. I waited... It felt like I had handed my newborn baby to a stranger. What would she think? Would she hate it? Was it even worth sharing?

Parts of my prequel are sci-fi, the first two chapters, very much so. The nice lady reading my WIP wasn't a sci-fi fan, and didn't understand much of the lingo. She gave some wonderful advice on a few terms that could use some clarifying. The next round I was able to read someone else's, which took my mind off of my own. What I read was good, and truthfully, there was little I could offer to help her. I received some good feedback on mine: A few sentence structure issues, but otherwise a good start. The next person to read mine is a real-life editor. Within seconds she was marking up my pages and writing in the margins. After page one she looks up at me, and asks if she what she is doing is okay? I'll be honest, my first thought was, If it is that bad on page one, how bad must the rest of it be? Knowing that, just as we sometimes have to let our children get hurt so that they can grow, my WIP needed this in order to get better.

Our meeting ended before she had the opportunity to finish reading. She gave me some excellent advise, and began going over what she had marked. As she turned to page three, I saw how marked up the page was, and was surprised by my own reaction: I was ecstatic! When finished, she told me she wished she had the time to finish reading it. I was more than happy to let her. In the end, she said that it was a good story and really drew her in. She couldn't wait to read the full thing.

At this point, some of you are probably wondering if I am writing this just to brag, or what the point is. I have been called conceited and cocky (Derned right!). I have also been told I am too polite, (I'm sorry). In the end it all boils down to this. When meeting and networking with other people, it is good to be confidant (not cocky), but when it comes to letting others handle your WIP, be very humble. They are not out to destroy it or you. They are there to help it grow and become much stronger.

Tell me in the comments below how you handle others reading your WIP?

The Life and Lies of Every Author

I was once asked if I truly believed that the things I write were real. Since I write fantasy/sci-fi, I had to stop laughing before I could answer. Do I believe that dragons roam the world, and elves are hiding in every forest? Of course not! But afterwords it got me thinking.

This subject came up during the recent Life the Universe & Everything event last February and it got me thinking again. As authors we can see our worlds, hear our characters, and touch their lives. Does this make them real? No more real than any of the other myriad thoughts that flutter through our minds on a daily basis. What then of the thoughts that lay behind our make-believe worlds and characters? Those can be very real.

Dan Wells doesn't have to be a serial killer or even believe that what serial killers do is right, to write about them. That doesn't change the fact that serial killers exist. I have often heard it said that an author writes what they know. (for Dan's sake, I hope he acquired his info from studying rather than experience.)

We do things to our characters, and model these worlds from the clay of our creativity. We force our characters to endure things that would make many normal people break, and then think, What else can I do to them? Part of this is necessary. You can't write a good book without conflict, and it will get mighty boring if the main character does nothing but win all the time. Sometimes it is hard to punish our characters, who want nothing more than to survive to the end of the book, and sometimes it is truly wickedly fun.

In the end, I truly believe that when an author writes, they bare a portion of their soul, or their own psyche if you prefer. Some authors are able to write scenes that would make a Marine cringe, but balk at scenes dealing with *gasp* sex. While some of this may be due to what genre is being written for (i.e. keep erotica out of the hands of YA), I can't help but believe that a large part of the scenes and scenarios that we craft are built from our own moral fiber.

Please tell me in the comments below if you have ever written a scene or story that has made you extremely uncomfortable.

Walk, Crawl, Stumble. . .

Okay, so be honest. Who looked at that title and thought, "Wait! That's backwards. You have to crawl before you can walk!" Well, in truth, normally I would agree with you, but when it comes to my writing, this seems to be the pattern I follow.

I sit down to write the story, my creative juices flowing, not like a river, but more like a steady stream. Finally after much work and effort, I hand my new work to my critique group. As thanks for my efforts, they beat, mutilate, and abuse it. With a smile, I take it back, knowing that they have my best interests at heart.

Here is where I crawl. The edits are great, and I know they are needed, but I have to stop and analyze each one. If it is punctuation: just fix it. If it is grammar: Okay, now how do I fix this? If it is a story issue: here are the hardest ones, as in some cases it is already fixed later in the story. Some I need to figure out how and where to fix it. This process is slow, and difficult, but again, necessary.

Story written, edits done, now you would think I could at least run, but no... Time to have my critique group check my query letter, send them out and wait. Receive rejections, but keep striving forward, knowing that someone will see my work, my passion, and want to take my work to the next level.

Hopefully when that finally happens, I will begin to run. Till then, my fingers will continue to tap out pages, my mind will continue to visit my wide tracks of property in la-la-land, and I will move ever forward.

First post is always the hardest.

Okay, so after three wonderful days this last weekend at LTUE (Life, The Universe, & Everything) at BYU, the advice that was most often stated was that social media- i.e. Facebook, blogging, Twitter, etc- was by far the best way for an emerging author to get their name out there.

For those who are curious as to why on Earth they would want to follow my ramblings, I'll give you three reasons. Because let's face it, three is the fairy-tale number, & it just works! 1. I will blog about what I learn as a new writer, as I try to get published, and post links to other bloggers that interest me. 2. I will keep everyone up-to-date on the status of my W.I.P. (Work In Progress), and maybe even hold contests. 3. On a different note, I will also offer computer advice. Those who know me, know that I am a true geek, and will post advice as I see it.

So to make sure I keep all my promises in one post, step one is already done. New writers should use all possible social media outlets to get their name out there and interest in their books. Also, check out Diana Shaw-Tracy's blog at http://dstracywrites.blogspot.com/.

Next, I am currently editing my trilogy, "Shadows of the Dragons" (thank you Diana for your edits!), as well as working on a prequel to this trilogy, thus far unnamed.

Computer advice? Well the best I can give you now- Trust me this fixes 80% of computer problems- turn the computer off & back on. You will be amazed at how often things will work after wards.

As a final word, any & all advice is welcome. Lemme know below!