The Truth About Writing

WEbook? How about WEcrook?

Status: Busy with stuff.

Watching: Fan-Based Collective Time Travel.

Listening To: Nothing at the moment.

Reading: Midori Days manga.

TOPIC: ANOTHER SCAM IN PROGRESS.

I joined another social networking site for writers--thinking it would be cool to ham it up with other writers and see what's going on.

That was three days ago.

What I discovered was a slick scam designed to steal the rights of every author connected with Webook and give very little in return.

As a precaution, I removed all of my outlined projects and have posted warnings on every social networking site there is--about Webook's costly right stealings; which are more complicated and complex.

But let's just say that if you do go through Webook, you won't be able to reclaim your rights to your work or on anything else you submit.

In fact...? They make it so that you no longer have any right to what you've spent years working on; once you become connected to their website.

So pay close attention to what Webook is throwing at you. You may end up regretting it later--if you're not careful and wary.

First, they claim that--for $5--you can get a literary agent after going through 4 rounds of voting.

But what they don't tell you is that there is absolutely zero guarantee that your book will be picked up!

And all the while, you'll be wasting more money trying to "get in" the front door of a literary agent--rather than just spending a small amount of money sending out query letters.

(This way...at least you'll get a generic rejection letter--instead of wasting funds doing it this way.)

Oddly enough, no writer magazine, book, or online site has ever mentioned Webook as being a "realiable", "trusting", and "auspacious" site that GUARANTEES absolute publication or literary representation.

Believe me...I've checked. I spent a few hours going through every site that I could think of, to pull any information on Webook.

And one site--Wikipedia--offered a disturbing premise on what Webook really is: "An online version of American Idol."

Much like "Operation Teen Author" (which offers teens the chance to become nationally best-selling authors for the low, low, price of $2495.00 (that is no typo by the way--they do charge that much!), Webook is nothing more than a vanity-press operation which is obscured in a media cloak of deception.

How do I know this?

One article in The Writer (March 2010 issue), tells writers that, "there is no magic pill to getting published."

And that goes for websites as well.

There is no 'magic pill' website that will do the same.

Bottom line?

Webook is a social networking site that's stamped with the words "SUCKER" and "VANITY PRESS on it.

It won't get you any closer to becoming published, or have tea and cookies with a high-profile agent.

In fact, it will ruin you on so many levels than it is designed to help.

So if you want to save yourself, and your works...?

AVOID WEBOOK!

WARN EVERYONE YOU KNOW ABOUT IT AND STAY AWAY!!!

Schuyler Thorpe


PS: After its launch 3 years ago, Webook declared last month (January 2010) that they had their first winning author; a sucker whose book isn't even being published by Simon and Schuster; a top-level publishing company located in good ol' New York.

Normally, such a valued company would announce a new acquisition, but after some digging, I discovered that the author and the book hasn't even been picked up yet and ready to become published!

So Scam #2 was successful after all. And one person's dream, one person's book, will never see the light of day.

I tried to contact the author and tell him the truth, but he wouldn't listen to me.

He's still convinced that he's getting published!

THE SLUMP OF 2009

Status: Just milling about.

Watching: Smallville, Season 6.

Listening to: Icon of Coil, VNV Nation, Infected Mushroom.

Reading: Star Trek: To Rein in Hell.

TOPIC: ONE CRAZY YEAR.

Some things change, yet some things still remain the same.

Reflecting on this past year, it was a pretty crazy one: Living with my in-laws for 5 months, getting our own place, and finally hitting a wall with my writing that has left a lot of unanswered questions, along with many unfinished journeys.

I haven't written much since September-October with my Airwolf novel and I'm still in a meloncholy state of mind: Where I want to write, but I'm not motivated enough to even start.

I've been trying to go over why I can't and my mind keeps drawing a blank. I'm beginning to wonder if being homeless againt for the second time in 15 years had destroyed some or all of my confidence in my abilities as a writer.

If being severely stressed out and severely depressed from those 8 months of being homeless--and at the mercies of both my wife's ex-friend and my in-laws--had something to do with the fact that I cannot produce a large amount of material for my writing.

I do know that it can be changed. I can feel it. At the edge of my perceptions, I can sense something's about to break free within me.

My writing obsession will eventually overwhelm me and nothing will be able to stop me from doing what I love most: Which is writing.

But I think it's going to take a little more time. But by then, I should be in full Writer Mode and putting away the pages like I always did these last 8 years. :0)

Sky

LAWSUIT FILED AGAINST STEPHANIE MEYERS.

Status: Writing on a variety of book projects.

Watching: James Bond movies from my PS2.

Listening to: Whatever's burned to my PC.

Reading: CHEEKY ANGEL manga.

TOPIC: PLAGIARISM ABOUNDS...

Like JK Rowling, Stephanie Meyers was recently handed a lawsuit--charging her with plagiarizing one of her books; from another unauthorized source.

Of course, Meyers denies that she plagiarized "anything" from her books, but one has to wonder why people like her can get so defensive about it--if they didn't do it in the first place?

Like Bush's supporters have famously said over the years: "If you're not worried, what do you have to hide?"

Plagiarism is becoming something of a growing epidemic within the publishing world these days--with more and more examples popping up over the past five years. (Or more.)

With the advent of the internet, it has become more and more easy to simply "lift" material (copyrighted or otherwise) from people's personal websites, or other different websites and claim it as your own--once the finished project is completed.

Stephanie Meyers and JK Rowling are most likely guilty of such crimes--which makes their claims of innocence all that more suspect.

No one in their right mind would think that either just didn't happen to dream up their book series independently and without any such public "influence".

If they did--as they claim--it's a load of crap. There are a lot of internal and external influences which makes coming up with something original all that much harder.

People these days have either fallen off of or gotten onto the band wagon--for that one, small, trip towards fame, fortune, and glory.

They constantly want to emulate their favorite authors, movie stars, and the like--and don't have to put in a whole lot of work doing it.

Writing a novel is becoming all that more challenging to do--because it is all too easy to fall prey to cheating and stealing your way towards the end of any given book project.

But denying it just casts a cloud over you--the author--and makes it all that more difficult to be seen as both credible and original.

Sky

***

"Twilight" author accused of plagiarism

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – A writer plans to sue "Twilight" author Stephenie Meyer, accusing her of plagiarism by lifting passages from an obscure book she wrote called "The Nocturne" and using them in vampire romance "Breaking Dawn," an attorney said on Tuesday.

J. Craig Williams, who represents "The Nocturne" author Jordan Scott, told Reuters by phone that the passages in question involve few word-for-word similarities but that the two books have similar plot and character points.

Meyer's publisher, Hachette Book Group, called the accusation meritless, saying "The Twilight Saga" is entirely Meyer's creation and that she knew nothing of "The Nocturne."

"Breaking Dawn," which came out in 2008, is the fourth book in the series of novels about a teenager, Bella Swan, caught in a forbidden romance with vampire Edward Cullen.

The "Twilight" books, which the publisher says have sold 70 million copies worldwide, are the basis for a movie series from Summit Entertainment. The first film, "Twilight," has earned more than $380 million at worldwide box offices, and the second, "New Moon," hits theaters in November.

In "Breaking Dawn," Bella marries the blood-sucking Cullen and the book follows Bella through a difficult pregnancy and her new life as a vampire.

In a cease-and-desist letter Williams sent to Hachette Book Group, he provided comparisons from the two books of a wedding, a sex-on-the-beach episode and a passage where a human-turned-vampire describes the wrenching change.

As another instance of similarities, Williams pointed out that characters in both books call their wives "love."

Hachette Book Group said in a statement that Meyer's books "have been a phenomenal sensation" and that "it shouldn't be surprising to hear that other people may seek to ride the coattails of such success."

Williams said Scott plans to file a copyright infringement lawsuit against Meyer this week or next in U.S. federal court.

"I think the fans have to read both books and make up their own mind, like a judge is going to have to," Williams said.

He said Scott does not plan to seek monetary damages.

Scott made chapters from "The Nocturne" available online as she was working on the vampire book, which she wrote in her teenage years and released in book form in 2006, Williams said. He said he did not know how many copies the book sold.

FITS AND STARTS

Status: Living with the in-laws. (Week 13)

Watching: Stargate Continuum.

Listening to: Nothing.

Reading: Books, books, and more books!

TOPIC: SOMEWHERE...A CHARACTER IS SCREAMING AT ME.

I dunno.

For the past couple of months, I've been trying to write a novel--Starchild Crossfire--and not getting anywhere with it as a result.

I strongly suspect that my living situation is at the core of my writing difficulties, but I am also finding that I miss writing on our PC.

All of my books are still stored there and I desperately want to continue writing, but I'm finding that I cannot.

The past several months has been a bit of test of both wills and chaos--making me wish that I was somewhere's else entirely.

But that hasn't been so and I've been forced to make do.

I have something like 60 to 70 pages completed, but nothing seems to be working as I originally thought--forcing me to start over a number of times already.

I have a strong suspicion that I'll continue making mistakes and false starts with the book until we get into our new apartment. (Least, that's the plan.)

But what I want is a good beginning for the novel. That's all I'm concerned about at the moment.

Schuyler Thorpe

A VERY IMPORTANT PUBLIC SERVICE MESSAGE!

Status: Living with the in-laws. (Week 10)

Watching: Nothing.

Listening to: Recorded Music.

Reading: A bunch of mangas.

TOPIC: RABID FAN BASES

While I still have the strength and energy to type this out (sick once again--due to stress and a lot of other factors in my life), I wanted to touch base on the rabid fan issue.
Yes...

The RABID FAN.

Recently classified by scientists as an offshoot of the Homo Sapien race of mammals--rabid fans are an eclectic group of harbingers whom have this little nifty power to make their cousin species' sick with aggravation and deep-seeded annoyance

Why?

Because rabid fans can.

Their unique power structure stems from their obssessed love for any particular book or fad which has consumed their sad little lives--which ends being very badly for them.

They cannot discern reality from fantasy--having hooked onto the idea that their target in question will somehow respond and give back what was stolen from them in the first place:

Their lives.

How can you spot a rabid fan a mile away--or anyone else showing symptoms of unnormalcy?

A rabid fan's behavior is a dead giveaway. If they are acting completely out of character or seem to be fixated on something beu-faux specific...?

Steer clear of them and their little armies of gnawing teeth and explosive anger.

You don't want to get them angry. Not one iota.

They seem to believe that whatever made them rabid in the first place, might reciproctate and give them their undivided blessings in retrospect.

By saying, "Thank You!"--for hanging on and making the target's life all that less enriching and more self-important.

Rabid fans can be found dwelling in special groups, borrows, or tidy little holes with chains of flowers and other fauna designed to enhance their little abode--while showcasing a lot of their choice items which is the soul reason why they are rabid in the first place.

Rabid fans are easily spotted by their sharp claws, gnawing teeth, beady little eyes, and choice apparel reflecting why they are so rabid in the first place.

It can be a phrase, a word. a singular title, or even a picture of their dwelling fixation and undying love.

To say something bad about the rabid fans' target of affection (or love) is to invite disaster.

In such dreaded scenarios, the offender is usually found with their arms and legs ripped off at the seams, their impersonables torn completely away from their bodies and their clothes left tattered and in shreds.

In some documented cases, rabid fans have been known to take a trophy part of their targeted aggression and have it on display for the whole entire world to see.

Why?

Rabid fans don't like their god or goddess taken down a peg or beaten into a nice and juicy pulp.

So they have been known to congregate into tightly woven circles; throwing up all kinds of deflector-shield technologies in order to preserve or protect The One from his or her untimely critics or flame-bots.

Rabid fans often have been reported to not have much of a social life and one has to wonder if personal hygiene or grooming is ever required.

So far...

Scientists the world over have yet to confirm or document the inner workings of a rabid fan--only suffice to say that without some on-hand experience in dealing with them...?

All that is written here is pure speculation and shouldn't be taken with a grain of salt--for fear that angering these undomesticated rabid fans will somehow trigger and emotionally aggressive response.

So, the next time you run into a rabid fan or their base, please, please, please...!--give them a wide berth and go about your own lives.

If you ever value them.

End documentary.

ATTACK OF THE CLONES

Status: Living with the in-laws. (Week 8)

Watching: Nothing.

Listening to: Absolute silence.

Reading: A bunch of mangas.





TOPIC: STUPID THINGS WRITERS DO

Spend some time on Yahoo! Answers (Specifically the Books and Authors section) and you'll see a rather disturbing pattern currently on display: Wannabe writers asking about whether or not their vampires (or vampiress goddesses) are good enough.

Or if the whole book will past muster.

Or asking for ideas on what to do next with their vampires, or if their idea is good enough in the first place.

Judging by the current atmosphere of Twilight fanatics, one doesn't have to be a super genius to figure out where all of this monotony came from in the first place.

Yes...

We can blame Stephanie Meyers for it.

For inciting a riot amongst teenage girls desparate to emulate her in every way and going to great lengths to copy what has been a Greek tragedy in its own right.

By destroying the vampire lore in the process.

Meyers has made a mockery of the legends and stories behind the supernatural icon which spawed Bram Stokers Dracula in 1897 by giving us two completely unbelievable characters that did little to reinforce the power and majesty of the vampirac lore.

All Edwards wants to do is fit in and what Bella has is an insecurity complex worse than a nerd in a class room full of hot teenage girls.

But the love aspect just destroys what it means to have a respectable vampire novel on your hands.

Meyers failed to reinforce the stories and legends behind her vampire characters themselves as she went with her book--instead...she successfully made it a campy experience that makes most veteran writers want to dip their heads into an acid bath--just to get rid of the stinging embarrassment of having to be around her later on!

Her rabid girl fans will--undoubtedly--defend her and her works until the end of time, but what she's done won't take away the stigma of having created a sappy love affair on par with the 90s TV serial of Beauty and the Beast.

But what irks me, is now I'm seeing cloned books popping up with the same Twilight-like plots which emulate the same sappiness which has plagued much of Meyer's early vampire works.

And the questions that are being asked is in the same generalization as: "Will this sweet and sappy vampire book honor the same dip shit writing that my mentor-in-training (a.k.a: Stephanie Meyers) put out not too long ago?"

In other words, will their cloned books fly in the same manner of the original?

Most likely not.

It's fun to write about vampires and twisting a little of the lore around--to come up with something new.

But completely distorting the whole concept so that it can be turned into one big, teenage love affair (along with poorly constructed dialogue and equally weak characters)...?

Ann Rice wouldn't dare touch it.

What Stephanie Meyers has forgotten and what her fans seem to be amiss on, is that when writing in a particular genre, you have to take particular care in not upsetting the status quo.

The balance which is based stories, legends, and myths of a particular paranormal icon.

FOR THOSE OF YOU WANTING TO SELF-PUBLISH

Status: Living with the in-laws. (Help! SOS!)

Watching: Nothing.

Listening to: The "f"-Word. (Cooking show.)

Reading: The Death Star. Page 327.

TOPIC: SELF-PUBLISHING AND WHAT IT MEANS


Self-publishing is nothing new. According to Writer's Digest, it's been around since the days of John Milton.

Defenders of self-publishing routinely point to such historic works like Aeropagitica as a celebration of the practice.

Businesses that offer such services can be traced back to newspaper ads from the 1930s--where they suggested that 'chapbooks' filled with poems would make excellent gifts or close friends and family members, but also warned against the idea that this route would lead immediately to fame and riches.

Because they are right.

Self-publishing is a gamble which shouldn't be taken lightly.

Even though print-on-demand (POD) and digital technologies have greatly improved the quality and layouts of self-published books since the 1990s--self-publishing still remains a "last resort" for those of us whom have failed to capture the attention and imagination of the mainstream publishing network.

But if you are considering self-publishing, then consider the following statistics:

• Very few self-published writers actually make enough money off their writing these days to sustain themselves.
• The average books sold in the United States comes to about 500 copies.

(So if you really wanted to make it--you'd have to sell ten times that amount or even fifty times that number--if you ever hope to go over the top.)

• The reported number of on-demand and short-run books in 2007 was 134,773; making the total number for that year (projected U.S. output) to be around 411,422.
• Fewer than 20,000 new books published make it into the chain stores.

(Which is why it is so important to shop around for alternative routes to pitch your books. Remember: Chain-stores--like Borders--cherry-pick what they think will sell and what might be a passing curio. If you ever looked at a chainstore's shelves--you'll notice that there isn't much space to be had for new books. And there's a lot of 'piling' to be had--or stacked books; one top of the other.)

• Sales by smaller publishers and self-publishing outlets reached an impressive $14.2 billion dollars in 2005. (The mainstream's bottom line for the same year--total--was about $26 billion dollars.)
• Authorhouse published nearly 1 out of every 20 U.S. titles in 2008.

So what does it mean to be self-published?

It means that you alone take control of every aspect of the development of your book: From content all the way down to marketing and publicity.

It has nothing to do with the vanity-press stigma--which so many critics of self-publishing and their supporters try and lump together as being one and the same.

Because it isn't.

Self-publishing is where you take control, vanity-press is where you pay someone else to do all the work and take most of your book rights away.

But if you do consider this route, you have to realize that no one else is going to step in and save your bacon.

You alone are the pitchman, salesman, and expert on what you've written and self-published.

If you want to make money, then you're going to have to stop making excuses and start getting your rear in gear.

But also be prepared for failure. So many self-published authors I know are obsessed with perfection, they don't consider failing while on the job to be a clear cut option.

I'm choosing self-publishing under my own imprint because I don't want to have to wait for the rest of my life for agents and publishers to decide if I'm good for them.

I already know I am. Now.

I'm choosing self-publishing because the odds of getting traditionally published is virtually impossible.

Why waste my life away beating my head against a brick wall?

We all know that agents reject 99% of all submitted query letters. We all know that 80-85% of all publishers require agent representation before being picked up. (And there is no guarantee that this will happen either. Keep in mind: Publishing mainstream depends on how the economy is doing and how much money consumers are spending. But since the economy is in the toilet and the mainstream is currently in a restructuring mode to survive this deepening recession...? Your chances of getting 'tagged' is not going to even show up on their To Do list.)

Self-publishing is my last resort. I've spent years doing the agent-train and getting absolutely nowhere with their generic response letters, and having been represented by 2 agencies in the past.

I'm quite capable of doing all the hard work myself and I can pitch my books like the best of them.

But I do it in my own way. I don't follow any of the concurrent models in use today; to pitch my works in under 90 seconds flat.

The other thing about self-publishing is that you have to invest your time, money, and effort into what you want to do with your unfinished book.

Why did I highlight the money word?

Because nothing is for free anymore. You want to take the cheap route--with half-assed cover art, cheesy editing, and poor writing (because you didn't want to spend the money necessary; when it could've made the difference?)--?

Be my guest.

If you want to take the self-publishing route with any hopes of being picked up sometime before you hit the Big 7-0--then you had better start writing like you mean it!

You had better start thinking like a bonifide professional and start spending the time, money, and effort to make sure that your books are in the best shape possible!

YOU ARE NOT GOING TO BE TRADITTIONALLY-PUBLISHED--NOW--SO WHY WORRY ABOUT WHAT MONEY IS COMING IN OR GOING OUT?!?

Think about what your career--as a successful writer--is going to be about...and start making every attempt to reach those set goals!

Money is just a tool for us to use--not to hoard or covet like it's the best Danish Blue cheese around. (Which is pretty good I might add. Expensive wedges of heaven--but well worth the pocket change.)

• If you want to be published--later--by a traditional publisher, then start early.

Get yourself a professional editor and have him or her do the work. Because paying them what they are worth, will make all the difference in the world--and your odds of getting picked up later a bit better than they would be if you queried an agent with a book that looks like a copy-cat edition of Atlanta Nights.

Having your friends or family members doing it is just asking for the Grim Reaper to come and take a swipe at you before you're actually ready to kick the bucket.

They aren't professionals and wouldn't know jack about editing, grammar, or even proof-reading. (Especially true--since 36 million Americans (or 1 in 7) can't read past the 5th grade reading level.)

• Cover art is the #1 make-or-break, deal-shaker that can (and will) affect your overall book sales.

Picking a cheesy template cover from the 1990s or using off-the-shelf, first-generation (3D) computer software--to grace your book with--isn't going to impress your target audience any.

Get a professional cover artist to do the work. On average, some of the going rates are between $500 and $1000 a pop. (Or more.)

You can gripe all you want, haggle over price, but if you are really serious, investing any amount of money into your books will have nice payoffs for the future.

The question remains: Are you willing to go the distance? Well? Are you?

• Distribution is key to your success as a self-published author.

If you can find a good distributor, then your odds of reaching a much larger audience is better than those self-published authors whom are struggling to gain a bigger foothold in the money game.

Lastly, the one thing that self-published authors do the most (and make a habitual mistake doing) is querying agents soon after they get self-published.

Why is this such a bad idea?

Well...duh!

Agents thrive on money. But in their Rules of Acquisition operates on the principle of more. So much more dinero, that it often boggles the mind.

If you're self-published and you are thinking about going the traditional route, then you have to show these same agents that you are worth every penny pitched.

And by doing that, you're going to have to have some pretty impressive sales figures to get any agent's attention.

Say, 5K self-published books sold to start?

Which means...

You're going to have to buckle down and start making yourself known.

Much like myself. I've spent the last 7 years pitching my books, WIPs, and whatnot to my prospective audience. I've done it in such a way that I am literally attracting new readers to my blogs every day.

And it's not in the tens of thousands which some boastful writers claim, but in the the upper hundreds to the low 1000s each month.

I'm happy with that. I can live with the knowledge that my work and life experiences are reaching these people and then watching as those numbers increase over time.

Because--in order to be successful--you have to offer something that people will read time and again.

That's how you gain recognition and exposure these days.

That's how you become successful.

NEW ADDRESS. (1 DAY LEFT.)

Status: Still packing and moving things. Nearly complete.

Watching: News.

Listening to: Taped music.

Reading: Kushiel's Scion. Page 716.

TOPIC: NEW ADDRESS.

After today, I won't be here accessing the net or writing.

I can't say when I'll return.

But feel free to write me or my wife! :0)


New address:

Schuyler and April Thorpe

PO Box 1634
Everett, WA 98206

Sky

ZOMBIE NATION MEETS TWILIGHT. (4 DAYS LEFT.)

Status: Still packing and moving things. Nearly complete.

Watching: News.

Listening to: "Dead Silicon"-by PTI; "Brave New World"-by Covenant

Reading: Kushiel's Scion. Page 716.

TOPIC: FORKS ARTICLE ON 'TWILIGHT'

Just so everyone knows--the use of the town of Forks, Washington for the Twilight-series, has nothing to do with the setting for Zombie Nation: Outbreak Zero.

It's just a coincidence that I happen to use the setting for the initial choice place for the book. When I started the book last year, I just wanted something different for a book. And so I looked to my own state for inspiration--since I am a resident of Washington.

I thought Forks would suffice and have Emily commute back and forth to her defense arts classes in Port Angeles.

But by the looks of things...Port Angeles will most likely be where all the action will be taking place--before and after the virus sweeps the world and turns most everyone into flesh-eating zombies of otherworldly origins. :0)

Emily Rose Jordan won't be returning to Forks until many years after the world calms down to some degree. (But it won't mean she's out of the woods just yet.)

Anyways...

Here's the article

***

Visitors flock to timber town for Twilight's magic

FORKS, Wash. - Pounding rain and heavy mist are constant in this timber town where logging's decline left a graveyard of rusting timber mills and unemployment. Businesses shut down. Parts of the local high school were condemned. Families started to drift away.

Until an unlikely cast of vampires breathed new life into the town.

"I fell in love with it," says 18-year-old Samantha Cogar, who dragged her grandparents on a 2,500 mile roadtrip to Forks from Louisville, Ky., earlier this summer. "I can't wait to go back."

Cogar is one of thousands of visitors who have flocked to Forks in response to "Twilight," the hottest series to hit shelves since "Harry Potter." Set in Forks, on the gritty edge of the Olympic Mountain Range, the books have captured the hearts of readers around the world.

In a town framed by towering Douglas fir, hemlock and spruce and the occasional western red cedar, where rough, blue collar edges are tangible, the unexpected attention seems to be a second chance for the economy. Inspired by a world of make-believe, "Twilight" fans are bringing the town back to life.

Four years ago, Author Stephenie Meyer introduced the world to Bella Swan, a 17-year-old who moves to Forks and is torn between the love of classmate Edward Cullen and best friend Jacob Black. But before long, she realizes something isn't right: Edward is a vampire and Jacob, a werewolf.

Readers were hooked, and three more "Twilight" books followed. "Breaking Dawn," the fourth and final book of her "Twilight" series, came out in July and has remained at the top of best seller lists ever since. Teens throughout the country celebrated the release of the book by dressing up as characters from the series for midnight parties at bookstores — much the way "Harry Potter" books are launched.

As the pages kept coming, the series' cultlike following increased. Before long, fans started showing up in Forks, looking to see if magic would spark when imagination collided with reality. What they found was a two-stoplight town where more than a foot of rain falls each month. A place where success is measured in sweat and four-wheel drive.

But Forks was quick to embrace the frenzied fans.

Forks' "Twilight"-inspired turn has been nothing short of magical, Marcia Bingham, executive director of the Chamber of Commerce, says.

"We've probably had more than 100 people a day," says Bingham, who has eagerly watched as van after van of giddy readers — mostly female — pull up in front of the town's visitors center.

For many fans, the line where reality ends and imagination begins is starting to blur, says Michael Gurling, who caught inspiration from the tourism boom and started his own Twilight Tours.

After enlisting a few locals, he asked for help in picking out houses that could serve as stand-ins for the book's famous Forks' stops: Bella and Edward's houses, a field where vampires play baseball. Other locations, such as the police station, where Bella's father works, and the hospital, where Edward's father is a doctor, play their own parts. They chipped in, providing cruisers near which fans may take pictures and reserving a spot for "Dr. Cullen" in the parking lot.

"The most popular spot is probably the beach, in LaPush, where Bella finds out the truth about Edward," says Gurling.

On a recent Friday, Gurling's van headed out of the visitor's center parking lot — packed, as it is most every weekend, with teenage girls. Outside the stand-in for Edward's house, a sign on the door says "Cullens" are volunteering a blood drive.

"It's not quite how I thought it would be," says Yena Hu, a University of Washington sophomore who made the four-hour trek from Seattle to visit. "They're always talking about all the windows — and in the book, the house is on the water."

But it's surprising how much Meyer did get right, considering she'd never been to Forks when she wrote the first book. A quick Internet search revealed Forks was one of the rainiest places in the world, and from her home in Arizona, the stay-at-home mom began rewriting history.

While locals are accepting of their newfound fame, they're all too aware of the mania that is continuing to grow.

Almost everyone has a "Twilight" story: the teen who dropped his library card, only to discover Twilighters had found it and kept it; the cheerleader who has out-of-town mothers stop her on the street offering cash for her uniform; the Quileute native, who heads to LaPush to chop wood and sees giddy teenagers snatching up driftwood as souvenirs.

Jessica Hartman, an 18-year-old who works at the town's pharmacy says "Twilight" has more than doubled profits for the corner store.

Flipping through a guest book for Twilighters, the recent Forks High School grad smiles as she touches signatures from around the globe — Europe, Asia, South America. They're all here, recorded in the tattered pages that spell out the town's fame.

Spurred by the boost in tourism and influx of money, are businesses eagerly trying to cash in on the craze.

Wander down the town's main drag and you'll see "We Love Edward and Bella" signs in store windows and a Forks' Speedway sign welcoming "Vampires and Racers."

Restaurants have started offering Twilight-themed options: Subway's "Twilight Special" which oozes marinara and the ever popular Bella Burger at local hangout Sully's Drive-in, which comes with special sauce and pineapple.

Stacks of Twilight T-shirts sit behind almost every counter in town.

At Sully's, 32-year-old Eleanor Currit waves a pair of plastic vampire teeth in the air — a standard side for any customer who orders the Bella burger.

"When I go back to my book club, I'm definitely going to have bragging rights," she says. "The women in my group are honestly crazy about these books."

Currit, a stay-at-home-mom with a master's degree in English, says being in Forks is like opening a page of the book and jumping in.

"This town just has a pretty primal way about it," she said. "It's really a mysterious beauty."

While the fourth and final "Twilight" book was released earlier this summer, Gurling, a former National Park Guide, says he thinks the release of the "Twilight" movie, set for early November, will only generate more attention for Forks.

And while some long for quieter days, others say "Twilight" might have been what this town needed.

"It seems like we're Twilighting all the time," says Charlene Cross, the town's florist. "But at the end of the day, it makes you feel like we're part of something bigger — and I think that makes it worth it."

Sky

2014 RELEASE DATE? (7 DAYS LEFT.)

Status: PACKING AND MOVING STUFF INTO OUR NEW 10X10.

Watching: News.

Listening to: "Caanan"--by Mindless Faith; "Sons of Plunder"; "Land of Confusion"--by Disturbed

Reading: Kushiel's Scion. Page 716.

TOPIC: TANKING DOLLAR AFFECTS OVERSEAS EXCHANGE RATES.

Thanks in part to the foreclosure crisis, the credit crunch, and now the government's insistence that American taxpayers shell out an additional $700B to bail out Wall Street and the failing financial system--the dollar is dropping worse than a teenage girl's skirt at the local prom.

That is having an aggravating affect on overseas exchange rates and it's been making it a challenge for me to pay my editor the money required for The Starchild.

By my estimates, I'm either at the halfway point or I'm nearly done--I've left the final amount up to Linda Culshaw as a courtesy.

We never haggled over what was agreed upon. But this book project of mine is the most important thing to me since Leonardo da Vinci invented the flying machine.

A lot of people don't understand why I would pay an editor to edit this gi-normous novel of mine--because the current thinking says: "Money should flow towards you--not away."

Unfortunately, not many writers these days understand the gravity of their current situation; especially when it involves the traditional book publishing industry.

Last year alone, the industry put out almost 412,000 titles--up nearly 30% from 2006 by my calculations--and that number alone is a cause for worry for first-time authors looking to break into the publishing industry.

With 5 million authors who are serious writers--that gives each first-time author a 12.13% chance to get snagged by a mainstream publisher on the first try.

Or a 1.93 million to 1 shot.

Not very good odds, are they?

No. Not when you have 4,000 publishers in North America alone dealing with over 1.5 billion e-mailed and mailed submissions on a yearly basis alone.

This is what you have to go against as the first-time author. But everyone says that you cannot pay an editor to do the work for you. You have to have a professional mainstream editor do it.

'Lends credibility'--or so I am told.

'Increases my chances of being picked up by one of the big gun publishers'--I keep hearing.

Right.

You just keep telling yourself that.

See, most writers whom dream big dreams end up getting burned in the end by something we call REALITY.

Believe me...I was one of them.

But then I realized that my chances of getting published were planted somewhere next to the temperature of absolute zero (-412F) and as some people know..?

I embarked on my own journey towards getting published.

And have had many setbacks as a result.

Even being homeless, I intend on picking up an auxiliary battery generator this coming month and I'll be using it to power my computer for 2 or 3 hours--so I can finish my books.

However, the continued drop in the dollar has put another possible obstacle on my way to getting the book published.

I kept saying it'll be another 4 years before I can get the book done.

Unfortunately, it may be until either 2013 or 2014 before I can finally bring The Starchild to full circle.

This is affecting me after all--you know. And I suspect that Linda may want me to pay just a little more to make up the difference in the rate exchange. Me paying her $50 a month here doesn't translate automatically to $50 in Aussie currency when she gets it.

I know the amount won't be a whole lot. $100 more tops--if I'm short $3-$5 each transaction.

But--as I may remind everyone reading this--I'm investing money in what I believe will be a modest breadwinner for myself and my wife of 7 years.

Like I've told everyone I know: "I'm not just doing this for myself anymore. I'm also doing this for the woman I love."

So I'm making sure that I have the best product out there and the best book written to my given ability.

Not the mainstream's.

Sky

NOT MUCH TIME LEFT...(10 DAYS LEFT)

Status: PACKING, PACKING, AND PLAYING PAX IMPERIA WHILE I DO IT.

I did get in some writing on The Vampiress Hunter though. 18 new pages of titilating stuff for future readers to pore over.

Watching: Nothing. TV's screwing up again--so it's going to be D-U-M-P-E-D.

Listening to: Lots and lots of taped music while we pack.

Reading: Kushiel's Scion. Page 716.

TOPIC: CHAOS REIGNS

I can't stay on for very long these days. Even after we had lost the internet for a few days this past week, I spent some needed time writing.

Just to *write*.

I just don't know when I will get back to it.

Presently, I spent yesterday helping my wife pack her stuff up and mine. We got most everything broken down and boxed. But we only have ten days left before we have to leave here.

It'll take us five to get everything ready. Three to move things into a new storage unit--if my aunt comes through for us. I just found out that my grandmother--on my father's side--passed away this past January.

I only met her once--when she and my aunt came up to give me my father's things--pictures, photos, his service records from his tours in Vietnam so many years ago. (He died in 2004 of throat cancer.)

But my aunt won't say how my grandmother died. She said it was quick and sudden--that's all she knows.

I worked a little bit more on The Vampiress Hunter.

Added a few new chapters.

But on the 25th, I'm going to be posting one last entry here. It's going to be for my new mailing addy.

Anyone is welcome to snail-mail me. Just to drop me a note, say hi, or whatever. I'm way past the stress threshhold nowadays.

I just want to get the fuck out of here as fast as possible. We're both strained and exhausted from having to deal with an uncaring management and a complete tool to boot.

I just want out so we can start over again. It may be several years before we can do anything with our housing situation. Things up here aren't good at all.

I have my inlaws stressed out, my mother wants me to still sell everything I've owned and collected these past 34 years and move back to Vermont.

She won't even say why.

All she keeps giving me is the run around--but I don't need (or want) to be pawned off yet again and be dumped in an unhappy living situation because my family finally got what they wanted.

I'm not doing it!!!

I'm an adult now...I can't make my own fucking decisions!

On another front, April may finally be pregnant. I know I've had false alarms in the past, but this seems different somehow.

It'll be just really bad timing if it is. Good news for us--as we've been trying for 7 years--but the fact that we will be homeless in less than 2 weeks time...?

Isn't going to help matters much.

I'm still in appeals with Social Insecurity. They claimed that I am now cured because of my past job history and the fact that I can write a book.

I am sooo seriously considering suing these assholes for just being stupid...

But now I have to find a way to save up the $1000-$2000 needed for pro-bono work. Because--as I keep finding out--no one will take the case unless it's a money-related money matter or a backpay issue.

Hopefully, in 5 months time, I'll have the money saved up and a lawyer to represent me on my disability problems--not because I can do this and that.

Having Factor Five Leiden has complicated things a great deal more than I thought.

Sky

WRITING QUOTES (20 DAYS LEFT)

Status: Working on the storage unit angle--still hashing out a plan on how to fit everything in.

Haven't wrote anything on my books. Maybe some writing this coming Wednesday...?

Watching: Nothing.

Listening to: Lots and lots of taped music.

Reading: Kushiel's Scion. Page 555.

TOPIC: QUOTES FOR THE MUSE

Thought some people might like these quotes I found on the internet.

These are for the writer. Not for normal simpletons whom can't wile themselves around a stanza, a haiku, or a verse of prose. :0P

***

An original writer is not one who imitates nobody, but one whom nobody can imitate. ~ François-René de Chateaubriand

The writer is a spiritual anarchist, as in the depth of his soul every man is. He is discontented with everything and everybody. The writer is everybody's best friend and only true enemy — the good and great enemy. He neither walks with the multitude nor cheers with them. The writer who is a writer is a rebel who never stops. ~ William Saroyan

A writer — and, I believe, generally all persons — must think that whatever happens to him or her is a resource. All things have been given to us for a purpose, and an artist must feel this more intensely. All that happens to us, including our humiliations, our misfortunes, our embarrassments, all is given to us as raw material, as clay, so that we may shape our art. ~ Jorge Luis Borges

Everything of value about me is in my books. Whatever extra there is in me at any given moment isn't fully formed. I am hardly aware of it; it awaits the next book. It will — with luck — come to me during the actual writing, and it will take me by surprise. That element of surprise is what I look for when I am writing. ~ V.S. Naipaul

Try to put well in practice what you already know; and in so doing, you will in good time, discover the hidden things which you now inquire about. Practice what you know, and it will help to make clear what now you do not know. ~ Rembrandt

Do not confuse "duty" with what other people expect of you; they are utterly different. Duty is a debt you owe to yourself to fulfill obligations you have assumed voluntarily. Paying that debt can entail anything from years of patient work to instant willingness to die. Difficult it may be, but the reward is self-respect. ~ Robert A. Heinlein

As far as service goes, it can take the form of a million things. To do service, you don't have to be a doctor working in the slums for free, or become a social worker. Your position in life and what you do doesn't matter as much as how you do what you do. ~ Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

Take a commonplace, clean it and polish it, light it so that it produces the same effect of youth and freshness and originality and spontaneity as it did originally, and you have done a poet’s job. The rest is literature. ~ Jean Cocteau

Happiness in this world, when it comes, comes incidentally. Make it the object of pursuit, and it leads us a wild-goose chase, and is never attained. Follow some other object, and very possibly we may find that we have caught happiness without dreaming of it. ~ Nathaniel Hawthorne

Words ought to be a little wild for they are the assault of thoughts on the unthinking. ~ John Maynard Keynes

History does not always repeat itself. Sometimes it just yells, "Can't you remember anything I told you?" and lets fly with a club. ~ John W. Campbell

By striving to do the impossible, man has always achieved what is possible. ~ Mikhail Bakunin

In my books I have lifted bits from various religions in trying to come to a better understanding; I've made use of religious themes and symbols. Now, as the world becomes more pagan, one has to lead people in the same direction in a different way... ~ Patrick White

Any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through, and still knows where his towel is, is clearly a man to be reckoned with. ~ Douglas Adams in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Like the wind crying endlessly through the universe, Time carries away the names and the deeds of conquerors and commoners alike. And all that we are, all that remains, is in the memories of those who cared we came this way for a brief moment. ~ Harlan Ellison

Every failure is a step to success. Every detection of what is false directs us towards what is true: every trial exhausts some tempting form of error. ~ William Whewell

Mediocrity knows nothing higher than itself; but talent instantly recognizes genius. ~ Arthur Conan Doyle

To save the world requires faith and courage: faith in reason, and courage to proclaim what reason shows to be true. ~ Bertrand Russell

I never lose an opportunity of urging a practical beginning, however small, for it is wonderful how often in such matters the mustard-seed germinates and roots itself. ~ Florence Nightingale

Poets say science takes away from the beauty of the stars — mere globs of gas atoms. Nothing is "mere". I too can see the stars on a desert night, and feel them. But do I see less or more? The vastness of the heavens stretches my imagination — stuck on this carousel my little eye can catch one-million-year-old light. A vast pattern — of which I am a part... What is the pattern or the meaning or the why? It does not do harm to the mystery to know a little more about it. ~ Richard Feynman

The pen is mightier than the sword if the sword is very short, and the pen is very sharp. ~ Terry Pratchett

The poem... is a little myth of man's capacity of making life meaningful. And in the end, the poem is not a thing we see — it is, rather, a light by which we may see — and what we see is life. ~ Robert Penn Warren

The true secret in being a hero lies in knowing the order of things. ... Things must happen when it is time for them to happen. Quests may not simply be abandoned; prophecies may not be left to rot like unpicked fruit; unicorns may go unrescued for a very long time, but not forever. The happy ending cannot come in the middle of the story. ~ Peter S. Beagle in The Last Unicorn

I am not a novelist, really not even a writer; I am a storyteller. One of my friends said about me that I think all sorrows can be borne if you put them into a story or tell a story about them, and perhaps this is not entirely untrue. To me, the explanation of life seems to be its melody, its pattern. And I feel in life such an infinite, truly inconceivable fantasy. ~ Karen Blixen

Experience is never limited, and it is never complete; it is an immense sensibility, a kind of huge spider-web of the finest silken threads suspended in the chamber of consciousness, and catching every air-borne particle in its tissue. It is the very atmosphere of the mind; and when the mind is imaginative — much more when it happens to be that of a man of genius — it takes to itself the faintest hints of life, it converts the very pulses of the air into revelations. ~ Henry James

When we lose the right to be different, we lose the privilege to be free. ~ Charles Evans Hughes

I have never looked for dream in reality or reality in dream. I have allowed my imagination free play, and I have not been led astray by it. ~ Gustave Moreau

I always work on the theory that the audience will believe you best if you believe yourself. ~ Charlton Heston

Imagination is the queen of truth, and possibility is one of the regions of truth. She is positively akin to infinity. ~ Charles Baudelaire

If we have learned one thing from the history of invention and discovery, it is that, in the long run — and often in the short one — the most daring prophecies seem laughably conservative. ~ Arthur C. Clarke

All human beings are also dream beings. Dreaming ties all mankind together. ~ Jack Kerouac

If you're a singer you lose your voice. A baseball player loses his arm. A writer gets more knowledge, and if he's good, the older he gets, the better he writes. ~ Mickey Spillane

You imagine that what you can't understand is either spiritual or does not exist. The conclusion is quite wrong; rather there are obviously a million things in the universe that we would need a million quite different organs to understand ... someone blind from birth cannot imagine the beauty of a landscape, the colors of a painting or the shadings of an iris. He will imagine them as something palpable, edible, audible or olfactory. Likewise, if I were to explain to you what I perceive by the senses you do not have, you would interpret it as something that could be heard, seen, touched, smelled or tasted; but it is not like that. ~ Cyrano de Bergerac

Technology adds nothing to art. Two thousand years ago, I could tell you a story, and at any point during the story I could stop, and ask, Now do you want the hero to be kidnapped, or not? But that would, of course, have ruined the story. Part of the experience of being entertained is sitting back and plugging into someone else's vision. ~ Penn Jillette

Philosophy is based on speculation, on logic, on thought, on the synthesis of what we know and on the analysis of what we do not know. Philosophy must include within its confines the whole content of science, religion and art. ~ P. D. Ouspensky

Try to remember this: what you project
Is what you will perceive; what you perceive
With any passion, be it love or terror,
May take on whims and powers of its own.
~ Richard Wilbur ~

A man is not idle, because he is absorbed in thought. There is a visible labour and there is an invisible labour. ~ Victor Hugo in Les Misérables

Mistakes are part of the game. It's how well you recover from them, that's the mark of a great player. ~ Alice Cooper

Almost all our misfortunes in life come from the wrong notions we have about the things that happen to us. To know men thoroughly, to judge events sanely, is, therefore, a great step towards happiness. ~ Stendhal

The success of most things depends upon knowing how long it will take to succeed. ~ Charles de Montesquieu

I don't want to express alienation. It isn't what I feel. I'm interested in various kinds of passionate engagement. All my work says be serious, be passionate, wake up. ~ Susan Sontag

At no time are we ever in such complete possession of a journey, down to its last nook and cranny, as when we are busy with preparations for it. After that, there remains only the journey itself, which is nothing but the process through which we lose our ownership of it. ~ Yukio Mishima

The explorers of the past were great men and we should honour them. But let us not forget that their spirit lives on. It is still not hard to find a man who will adventure for the sake of a dream or one who will search, for the pleasure of searching, not for what he may find. ~ Sir Edmund Hillary

I believe that the Universe is one being, all its parts are different expressions of the same energy, and they are all in communication with each other, therefore parts of one organic whole. This whole is in all its parts so beautiful, and is felt by me to be so intensely in earnest, that I am compelled to love it and to think of it as divine. ~ Robinson Jeffers

If you cannot make knowledge your servant, make it your friend. ~ Baltasar Gracián

What is wonderful about great literature is that it transforms the man who reads it towards the condition of the man who wrote, and brings to birth in us also the creative impulse. ~ E. M. Forster

Sky