Hobbit Birthday's Eve

All---

As we all know, on their birthdays, Hobbits hand out presents to their party guests.  Tomorrow's my birthday, and so I'm going to hand out presents.  Seriously cool presents.

But, hey, tomorrow is more than my birthday.  It's also the birthday of writing and blogging friend Frances Garrood, author of Dead Earnest and The Birds, The Bees, and Other Secrets.  When we found out we shared a birthday, Frances suggested we throw a blog party -- and we are!  So be sure to stop at Frances' blog and join the fun on the 18th.  Come and your favorite literary character and give us a brief reading!  Join the fun!

Now for the presents!


First of all the winners of the prizes from my Reader Feedback contest!

The winner of an item from the Cafe Press Store is... Summer Ross!  Summer, I know you had mentioned liking the bear once before, so I thought I'd send that you, but if you have an alternate choice, just let me know!  We've e-mailed before, so just drop me a line with a shipping address!

The winner of the Nevetsized Aesop's fable, printed and signed is... Domey Malasarn!  Domey, just let me know know either in comments or e-mail or whatever what Aesop's fable you'd like me to Nevetsize for you!

But what kind of birthday presents would they be if the only presents were prizes from a contest that was already established?  That would be ridiculous.

So there's more!

Way more!

I randomly selected one of my blog followers... The mice were with us.  The number that popped up was Number 42.  I counted back that number of followers, and.... Anthony Pacheco, you've won your choice of items from the Cafe Press Store.  Take a look, see what suits your fancy, and then drop me an e-mail with your choice and a shipping address!

But that's not all either.

Four more prizes!

The quick version:

1) Comment here for a chance at, "I Need This."
2) Comment on author profile stories for increased chances at Notes from Underground.
3) Friend me on Facebook for a chance at Genre Wars.
4) Comment here and at Frances Garrood's blog during the party on the 18th for a chance at The Dog of the North and/or A Razor Wrapped in Silk!

The details:

In honor of the upcoming Notes from Underground anthology, including my story "Terminal Instar" and a whole lot of other, excellent pieces, every one who comments on this post between now until the end of the weekend will be entered in a drawing for a signed, printed copy of "I Need This," the story I wrote which won my inclusion in the anthology.

Anyone who has commented on any of the author profiles in overcoming will be entered to win a copy of the Notes from Underground anthology, signed by me, once it is released in early March.  One entry for every story you've commented on!  In case you've missed any, check out the list:  RJ Ellory, Gary Corby, Marilyn Meredith, RN Morris, Michael Malone, Ryan David Jahn, Deborah Swift, Jennifer Hillier, and Aliyah Whiteley.  You want to have read these anyway!

Trying to catch my breath here.  It's not easy being a Hobbit.

Okay, two more!

Anyone who friends me on Facebook (or is already a friend) by a week from my birthday will be entered to win an electronic copy of Genre Wars, the first Literary Lab presents anthology which included two of my stories, "The Best Medicine" and "Death, Be Not Me."

And finally.

Anyone who comments on this post or joins the birthday at Frances Garood's will be entered to win either electronic or new print copies of  Tim Stretton's Dog of the North or R. N. Morris' A Razor Wrapped in Silk, because I just think it's insane that more of the world doesn't know these books.  Comment in both places and if you win you will win both books!

Quick recap:

1) Comment here for a chance at, "I Need This."
2) Comment on author profile stories for increased chances at Notes from Underground.
3) Friend me on Facebook for a chance at Genre Wars.
4) Comment here and at Frances Garrood's blog during the party on the 18th for a chance at The Dog of the North and/or A Razor Wrapped in Silk!

And now this Hobbit is worn out.  Happy Birthday Eve, everyone!

.Nevets.

Soundtrack for this crazy party has been provided by Metallica, because that's how Hobbits roll.

Reader Feedback Time - With Prizes!

 All---

I've deleted about four blog posts that I feel unprepared to actually write tonight, as much as the topics are weighing on my mind.

But I've been thinking about asking some questions anyway, so I figured that this would be as good a time as any to ask for feedback on a few different questions.  And, to make it even more fun, I'm offering prizes.  Two prizes, in fact: one, an item from the CafePress store; the other, a custom printed and autographed story, Nevetsizing the Aesop's Fable of your choice.

Here are my questions -- one entry counted for each question you answer in the comments here, on Twitter, or on Facebook.

1) White writing on a black background, as I have it on the blog: how is it for you as a reader?

2) Most of the people who follow the blog are writers.  I'd love to get some ideas from non-writing readers on what might encourage them to follow a writer's blog.

3) Right now, I know I have followers who visit my Blog from the US, Canada, the UK, Denmark, Australia, South Africa, and India.  There are probably a few others I know that aren't coming to mind.  But my stats also show pretty respectable number of hits from a few other countries like South Korea, Brazil, Netherlands, and France.  My instinct is to think those others are bots or spam trolls.  But if you're checking my blog from somewhere other than one of the countries in bold, I'd love to hear from you!  Even if you want to stay anonymous, a quick shout-out would be awesome.

4) Which of the flash fiction pieces posted on Nevets-QST.com is your favorite -- and why?

Yes, that's up to four entries!

Yes, I said I will Nevetsize an Aesop's fable of your choice if you win.

And, yes, that is the Mandarin chorus version of Avril Lavigne's "Girlfriend" that you hear playing in the background.

.Nevets.

The Nevets Paradox

All---

Well, there are actually many Nevets paradoxes, but I was struck by one today.  More on that in a moment.

First, just wanted to call your attention to some of the tweaks to the blog layout.  Nothing major, but I moved the popular posts widget up, updated the features authors widget, and changed Twitter widgets.  Also, I added new widgets, one of which will link quickly to stories that have been posted on the blog, and the other which tracks some of the erstwhile educational posts I have put up. Hope these changes are positive.

Second, Nevets.QST-featured author Gary Corby is hosting a contest on his blog in which you can win a copy of The Pericles Commission with the nifty Australian cover.  If you don't have this book, you enter.  If you just like collecting, you should enter.  If you want to have a piece of Down Under, you should enter.  And, even if you don't want to enter, you should go check out Gary's blog.  He's always entertaining and has a great variety of posts about everything from his experience as a new writer to ancient history.

Alright, now onto the the paradox of the night:

I don't do sequences well.  Really, at all.  I don't think linearly, so point-A to point-H is just how I think.  The whole ABCDEFGH  thing is beyond me.  I think of states, not transitions between states.

When I'm writing that shows up in that if I had my way my book would be a collection of extended scenes with no transitions between them.  I hate transitions.  Mind you,  I'm not just talking about pedantic transitions such as, "He took the train to Chicago."  I'm talking about entire chapters of material about what happens in between.  I personally couldn't care less about how the process of development.

In life, it shows up in that I don't do the whole life is about the journey thing.  No way.  I don't do journeys.  Life is about the present moment and the destination.  Period.  Oddly enough, that's essentially how my memory works to.  I remember different things, but not the necessary steps in between them.  I remember a time when I didn't know A and then I remember knowing A, but I don't remember learning about A.  For instance.  Or, more commonly, I collapse all the states in my memory and don't even remember that at one time I didn't know A.

My emotions work the same way.  There's on and there's off.  There's no building or receding.

It's all states.  No transitions between states.

But here's the thing.

The only thing I  hate as much as I hate linear sequences is stasis.  Every state must be a dynamic state, with enough energy to change into another state.  I may not think about the changing, but I know I need there to be  change.

It often makes little sense.  For instance, I know that Rose and I are not in the living situation we want to be in forever.  We have no immediate plans of  chance, but we know we don't want to stay in our current state.  As much as I cannot think in terms of the steps required to transition into another state, I also go insane if I feel like we're not heading towards a transition.

This evening, I finally began to understand a little more how it works.  It's like how I imagine motion.  I've talked on this blog before about the fact that my mind doesn't do spatial thinking well.  One of my limitations is that I cannot imagine motion.  If for instance, I try to think about a car driving down the road, all I can do is picture the car on the road with a sense of motion that is implied but not visually apparent.

That's really how I do life, too: I need my states of being to have a sense of change that is implied even if it is not literally planned out.

In a practical way, it's also how I end up writing.  Most every scene I write, and most of my short stories and flash pieces, has an underlying sense of impending change that is far stronger than any actual transitions I write.  It's both a strength and a weakness.

I haven't really thought about it, but you can probably find traces of that tension in some of the characters and stories I've written.  

As a matter of fact, I didn't plan this, but here's a spontaneous contest: find something convincing in a story that I've posted here, or on www.Nevets-QST.com, or on FlashyFiction.blogspot.com, or one of my stories in Genre Wars, that has a character or a plot element reflecting this struggle with state and change, and I'll send you your choice something from the CafePress store or a signed, nicely-printed copy of one of my stories.  Hop to it!

.Nevets.

Soundtrack for the writing of this blog post provided by Kan-Johnny-Eight.

Happy Holidays

All---

My blogging will continue to be sporadic until after the New Year.  Between family activities and trying to take advantage of time off work to make some progress on various writing projects, my time for the blogosphere will be limited.

That said, I wanted to say I hope you all had a merry Christmas, if you celebrate it, and that you have a great New Year, if your calendar year changes at the same time as mine.

I also wanted to let you all know, since you've been with me through this process, that yesterday morning I took and passed the state's written exam for EMT certification.  Now all that's left is waiting for the state to complete the processing of paperwork, and then I'll be an EMT-B in the state of Indiana.

Also, in case you have some Christmas cash, don't forget about the goodies you can get for yourself or your loved one at the Nevets cafe press shop!

Such as...






And more!

Alright, back to holiday stuff and writing stuff. Hope you're all doing well!

.Nevets.

Grab the Brass Ring!

All---

I have a rally deep and meaningful post that I was going to do today, but it was a long day at work, and I had EMT class after that, so I'm going to save deep and meaningful for tomorrow.

Instead, I'll quickly remind you that you can click here to Nevetsize your Halloween!  A ghost story, written by me for your specifications.  An audio recording of me reading it.  (I've done radio and voice acting!)  And either the greatest coffee mug ever or the greatest teddy bear ever.  (See them at CafePress.)

And I figured this will be the night I'll introduce the November contest.  This November 6th, it will be the 10th anniversary of when Rose and I got engaged.  To celebrate that, I'm going to write a blogsclusive short story (500 - 1000 words or so) outside my usual realm of experience: a romance.  Some flash  pieces I've written have prompted Lori, Deb, and a few others to suggest I should try such a thing.  Well, I finally am, and I will post that story here sometimes between the 6th and the 13th.  There's enough going on that I want a flexible deadline for this.

BUT, NEVETS! you say.

But what? I say.

BUT YOU SAID IT WAS A CONTEST! you say.


And it is! I say.

Here's the contest part.  It's not a blogfest, and it's not an experiment, but anyone who lets me know they're going to do it, then writes a story completely different from what they normally write, and posts it to their blog with a link back here, will get their post cross-linked and will have a chance to be one of five randomly selected winners, each of whom will receive a signed copy of my own story and a Nevetsized item yet to be determined.

BUT, NEVETS! you say.

But what? I say.

BUT THAT'S SO GENEROUS! you say.

Generous is how I rollz! I say.

Hey, 11/6/2000 was an early Christmas for Rose and me.  I'll make it an early Christmas for you, if you take the chance on stretching your writing muscles.

.Nevets.

One More Day!

All---

There's still a chance tonight to have a moment of your life Nevetsized! Check out the contest link the sidebar. If you want a sneak-peak at what the shirt may look like you can check this out:

www.cafepress.com/nevets_qst

I'm still hopeful to get a black shirt working, but you can see a grey one there. Also, you can see some other stuff that's been Nevetsized -- a coffee mug, a tote bag, a cap, and, yes, a teddy bear.

.Nevets.