Lucinda Moebius's Blog

End Near? Doomsday Clock Holds at 5 ‘Til Midnight

By Live Science Staff | LiveScience.com

View PhotoEnd Near? Doomsday Clock Holds …

The hands of the infamous “Doomsday Clock” will remain firmly in their place at five minutes to midnight — symbolizing humans’ destruction — for the year 2013, scientists announced today (Jan. 14).

(For link to full article Click on link)  http://news.yahoo.com/end-near-doomsday-clock-holds-5-til-midnight-232147095.html

I like to imagine what the end of the world will look like.  Perhaps we will end up in a world of Utopian society where everyone lives together in peace and harmony.  Each creature being satisfied to be born, live out their days and die in their given time.  A more likely scenario, though, is we may live out our lives in times of war, famine, disease, climate change and any other number of near catastrophic events.  What would the world of Dystopia look like?  Even if we are living in a Utopia would we be happy living in a stagnant state?  These questions are why I am a Science Fiction writer.  I love contemplating the future of the world and trying to create that future in my books.

What is your vision of the future?  If you have a science fiction Saga feel free to post the ink to it below in the comments section.  Let’s share our worlds.

 Follow this link to the new  year’s Blog Hop.
 http://nyhop.blogspot.com/2012/11/iwu-holiday-blop-hop-december-10-14.html?m=1


Welcome blog hoppers to the 2013 New Year’s Blog Hop, brought to you by Indie Writers Unite.  The hop runs January 11-14.  All you have to do to win the kindle fire is TWEET.



As a group, we are offering a total of four grand prizes, but there’s more…every author page you visit will have its own giveaway.  To see some of those prizes click HERE.



As the for the grand prizes, there are four:


PRIZE ONE

8.9″ KINDLE FIRE HD
WITH HD, 16 GB, WI-FI, AND DOLBY AUDIO.
$299 VALUE




PRIZE 2


$100 AMAZON GIFT CARD







PRIZE 3

15 SIGNED PAPERBACK BOOKS THAT WILL BE MAILED RIGHT TO YOUR DOORSTEP.



PRIZE 4




30 DIGITAL BOOKS THAT WILL BE DELIVERED TO YOUR KINDLE


Visit the GRAND PRIZES page for more details…

***


HOW TO ENTER GRAND PRIZES 1-2



TWEET USING THE HASHTAG #NYHOP

It’s that simple. We’ll keep track of all the tweets and then draw for the grand-prize winners at the end of the hop. Winners will be announced on or before January 17th on this site.

RULES:



Tweets MUST include:
1. The hashtag #nyhop (This is how we track them)
2. A link to the blog hop.

You may tweet as much as you like throughout the hop.

More Tweets = More Chances to WIN!!!

***As a side note, our authors will be tweeting about the hop as well, but they are not eligible for any of the grand prizes.***

Here are some sample tweets you can cut/paste:

WIN a $300 Kindle Fire, a $100 Amazon gift card & more at the #nyhop http://ow.ly/gG8vA #giveaway #win #freekindle #freebooks #amreading

WIN FREE SWAG at the author #nyhop http://ow.ly/gG8vA prizes include a $300 kindle fire! #freekindle #free #giveaway #win

ENTER TO WIN A KINDLE FIRE at the #nyhop http://ow.ly/gG8vA #kindlefree #free #lovebooks

WIN BIG at the author blog hop. More than 55 prizes including a kindle fire HD worth 300! http://ow.ly/gG8vA  #nyhop #freekindlefire #amwriting

HOW TO ENTER FOR GRAND PRIZES 3-4

To enter to win the free signed paperback books and the free books for your kindle, you MUST visit every single author blog hop page and enter whatever contest/giveaway they are running.  Once you’ve visited them all, send an email HERE, with the subject line: FREE BOOKS.

***NOW GET HOPPING
AMAZING AUTHOR GIVEAWAYS AWAIT YOU!!!**



I’m also giving away a print copy of my book “Write Well Publish Right”.   To enter this give away comment on this pst.  Explain why you’re a writer and what skill you need help improving to make your writing better.  I will place all the names of the entries in a drawing and have an independent person draw the winner.  Make sure to leave your contact information so I can contact you.

 

What story would you create from this image?  What genre, setting, characters?  Your imagination is the limit.

Conflict is the driving force of literature. In order for a character to develop they need to be in conflict. There are seven basic types of conflict in literature. These conflicts are the driving force in the plot development and are often called plot devices. Plot devices create rising action and lead to the climax of the story. All literature uses one or more of these plot devices to tell the story. How many books, movies, stories, etc., can you think of under the following headings? (“Man” refers to man and woman). Can you think of any that use more than one of these plot devices?

Man vs. Nature
Man vs. Man
Man vs. the Environment.
Man vs. Machines/Technology
Man vs. the Supernatural
Man vs. Self
Man vs. God/Religion

Title ideas for my new trilogy;
Feeder
Hunter
Prey
What do you think?

A few tips on editing and proofreading your work.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3sQKVmySeQ

6 Tips

1.  Learn the skills of Editing and Proofreading

2.  Edit the piece multiple times

3.  Set it aside for some time between each edit

4.  Hire professional Editors and Proofreaders

5.  Review the work one more time before publishing

6.  Know your weaknesses

 

 

Isiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

 

Merry Christmas everyone!

 

I have written about the Hero’s Journey a number of times. This concept is one of my favorite elements in literature.  This model of the Hero is what touches all of us at our core.  The Hero’s Journey begins with a call.  This call can come from any source: a letter, a feeling, a witness, a crystal.  This call represents the journey.  Like many of us when we are confronted with a task we deem too difficult, the Hero is often reluctant to take up the challenge.  There are any number of reasons the Hero may not take up the Quest right away.  Perhaps he doesn’t want to leave the family he loves, or maybe the family who has kept him enslaved won’t let him go.  Sometimes it’s his own fears holding him back or he isn’t ready to accept his place in the Universe, yet.  Whatever the reason, the hero is unwilling to embark on the journey, at least until something happens to force him over the first threshold into adventure.

In order to be considered a true Epic Hero the young adventurer must be endowed with some supernatural ability.  He must have some trait that makes him special beyond anyone of his peers.  He needs to be equal to the quest put before him and so he needs to be granted the strengths and abilities to defeat his enemies. The power can be manifested in any form and can be either internal or external.  Usually the hero has a special weapon he can use to focus his power.  This can be a wand, sword, jewel or any number of special devices.  Despite the special weapon, the hero can, and frequently does, use his special powers without the aid of this device.  The wand of power is used only as the hero learns to focus and use his abilities. As he progresses through the journey he finds he needs to rely on this device less and less and often learns to focus his abilities on his own.  The step away from this crutch can be the hero’s first step from childhood onto the path of adulthood.

The steps in the Hero’s Journey can be fulfilled through many varieties of paths, depending on the plot twists of your story.  As the Hero learns to build his strengths he will go through many trials and confront his demons on a variety of levels.  These trials may include a time of initiation when he first learns about his new role in society.  I love the Cyclops’ book in the Odyssey because essentially Homer is using the Cyclops to mirror everything about Greek society and highlight how the Cyclops is the epitome of everything a Greek citizen would not be.  Essentially Homer was telling the youth of Greek society ‘if you want to live in caves without laws, live off the land without understanding the laws of harvest, not work, not participate in the governing body you’re no better than a Cyclops’.  I can just imagine all the little Grecian boys sitting around thinking ‘did he just call us a Cyclops?’  Nothing has changed much in the past oh, thousand or so generations.

The Hero’s Journey is essentially the quest given to the hero.  He has a goal he must achieve in order to return home.  The goal is really just the outward symbol for the inner journey.  The real goal for the hero is for him to find his own inner strength, to overcome whatever inner demon is lodged within his own soul and defeat the evil inside of his heart.  Every step on the journey leads to the discovery of his own weakness and eventually he gathers enough knowledge, resources and power to overcome this demon and defeat it.  In order to defeat this inner demon the hero needs to go into the inner recesses of his existence and find where the beast is hiding.  Usually this concept is demonstrated by the hero entering a cave or a cavernous underground and fighting the evil found in the darkness.  The battle here is the physical manifestation of the hero’s inner fears.  It is only when the hero overcomes his own fears can he truly confront the antagonist in the real world.

The hero needs to overcome the final obstacle facing humanity.  The hero needs to overcome Death.  In the Hero’s Journey the only way the hero can return home is if he dies and is born again.  This death can be physical or symbolic.  In this phase of the journey the hero needs to realize his fear of death is just the fear of another unknown.  He needs to accept death as just another step on the journey.  This final obstacle is the only thing holding him back from completing his journey.  Once he confronts death, and faces it down, he no longer fears what the enemy can do to him.  If the hero no longer fears death evil can no longer harm him.  “What’s the worst you can do to me?” The hero asks.  “I’ve already died and the afterlife isn’t all that bad.  Come and get me.”  The final battle is glorious because the hero holds nothing back and the antagonist is now the one who is afraid.  He no longer holds any power over the hero because there is nothing more to fear.  This is why the hero always wins, not because he’s so righteous, but because he’s not afraid.  Although the death and rebirth can vary in length of time the hero is traditionally in the tomb for three days.

All throughout this journey the hero has confronted evil, overcome weakness, and learned what it is to be a good Greek, or soldier, or American, or Christian or any other iconic symbol representing a contributing member of acceptable society.  Once he has overcome the evil he still needs to return home and clean house.  We talked about this concept in the chapter on falling action and resolution.  The hero needs to prove he is worthy of ruling his kingdom, no matter how big or small this kingdom may be.  The proverbial house cleaning is nothing more than a demonstration of his worthiness and reclamation of his throne. Although his exploits may have been well documented he needs to prove he has learned his lesson and can now rule the universe, or at least be willing to take his place in it.

Today I challenged my students to go outside and experience nature.  They were to go out and frolic and commune with nature.  We had been spending the past few weeks studying the Transcendentalist mindset and reading the writings of Emerson, Thoreau and other Transcendentalist writers.  They were to find an element of nature they found beautiful.  Once we returned to the classroom we read a portion of Walt Whitman’s Songs of Joy while reflecting on their natural element.  When inspiration hit they were to write their own song of joy.  It was a blast seeing these teenage kids running through the grass, playing tag and acting like grade schoolers.

I started pinning some of the things the students found on my bulletin board.  The students started taking it upon themselves to put their own piece of nature on the board.  By the end of the day this is what it looked like:

I hope I taught them to rise above.  It was a great day.

Here’s the first episode of “The Book Shelf”.  This is an introduction into the new writing classroom.  Click on the link to learn more.  Enjoy the Journey.

http://www.youtube.com/my_videos_edit?ns=1&video_id=C1TDoSbWcps