First, I finished reading Selso Xisto’s Particle Horizon. The rough draft of my review of the novel is done. I’m sure I’ll edit my review somewhat before I post it on June 20th.

Second, I’m still writing for Bloid News. Writing articles for them is a pleasant distraction from the Science Fiction I usually write. They publish twice a month, on the 1st and the15th.

Third, I’m still working on the content for the new website. I’m hoping the site will be a bridge between The Staff of Rahgorra and Resistance and Rebellion (working title). It should give readers “The Latest News from The Staff of Rahgorra Universe.”

Fourth, I just committed to write a short story for a new Science Fiction Anthology. I don’t know too many details. The Anthology is still in the development stages. The story I plan to write will also be part of my next project, an apocalyptic novel set in the late 21st century.

And finally, with all these other writing projects going on I haven’t really had much time to work on Resistance and Rebellion (working title). Unfortunately I’ve been away from it for so long that I’ll have to re-read everything I’ve already written to see where I am in the story. My guess is that the earliest I’ll actually start writing again will be the second week of June.

Also, I’ve been posting every other Friday. (This post is a special announcement.) My next post is scheduled for May 25th. Well, that post will probably be delayed for a few days. I’ll be at the Phoenix ComiCon on the 25th and I’m going to hold off so I can write about the convention. I hope to see you all there!

So what does that mean? It sounds like just about every muscle disorder out there!

Well in the DMFR’s defense, there are many different forms of dystonia affecting many different parts of the body and I have to assume that that particular definition was the only one the Foundation could come up with to cover all the forms of dystonia.

That being said, I’m going to try to explain my experiences with dystonia. First of all, I have Early-Onset Generalized Dystonia, which basically means symptoms usually start in a limb (in my case my right ankle) and move on to affect any part of the body. Dystonia has affected my arms, legs, wrists, ankles, eyes and tongue. Also, my dystonia is genetic. I have a cousin that also has the disorder. And a handful of relatives from my mother’s side of the family have the gene but show no symptoms.

As far as my arms, legs, wrists and ankles are concerned, I describe it like this…
If you were to bend (or straighten) your leg at the knee, normally one muscle contracts while the opposing muscle relaxes. Pretty basic science. Right? Well for me (whether I’m bending or straightening) both muscles contract! That’s right, both muscles contract, fighting against each other and causing me some serious pain. And even if I want them both to relax, they just keep on fighting each other. The only way to get them to relax is to not think about the extreme pain shooting through my leg (or my arm, my wrist or my ankle). You see my “involuntary muscle contractions” are apparently caused when the opposing muscle fires (or contracts).

Luckily, three brain surgeries when I was 12 took care of most of the symptoms in my limbs, but not all. My left foot was so contorted that I had to have reconstructive surgery on the foot itself. Now I walk with a fairly obvious limp, but compared to the alternative I’ll gladly take the limp. And as a result of the brain surgeries I do have a slight speech impediment.

I also have oromandibular symptoms. Basically my tongue (and/or jaw) is constantly moving. On bad days it looks like I’m constantly chewing a piece of gum. Medication (pills) usually calms my tongue enough that it’s not overtly noticeable.

Finally I have blepharospasms, which means I can’t open my eyes. I first had difficulty with my eyes when I was 9 or 10. Luckily, I grew out of it and the symptom disappeared. Unfortunately, the stress of the brain tumor apparently brought the blepharospasms back. Botox injections every 3 months let me lead a fairly normal life.

I’ve always been open about my dystonia (and my brain tumor, too). I’d much rather have someone walk up to me on the street and ask me about it than to assume something that is incorrect. So go ahead… Ask me anything!

As a science fiction writer I have a couple additional problems. Yes, I try to find names that describe my characters. But the names also have to be relatively exotic, and most importantly, the names have to be pronounceable. I mean I could easily call a character Mndgljkgslyisae. Yes, it certainly is exotic, but how would a reader read or pronounce a bunch of random letters like that? Plus, I’m not only naming characters. I also have to come up with names for species, languages, worlds, governments, etc.

I have an extensive database of exotic and pronounceable names that I draw on for minor characters, species and worlds. I’ve scoured books of baby names and trolled the internet to build this database. And yes, I freely admit that I borrowed from the Star Wars and Star Trek franchises. This was done to pay tribute to those influential films and it will not happen again! I’ve taken too much crap from reviewers and critics to EVER do that again!

But naming minor characters is not what this post is about. This post is about how I named the major players, be they characters, worlds, species or governments.

Some names have meaning behind them, like Chameleon, Braezun, Thrull and Tetsuko.

Some names are from people I know or used to know, like Thoi, Greb, Jency, Linu and Skuja.

A few names are inside jokes that only a handful of people will get, like Mook and Azswell.

At least one name was a mistake, Shudo.

Some names were borrowed from other sources, like Crash, Uakari, Tetsuko, Toranga, Keoki, Koobi Fora, Rupsa La and Sekigahara.

Some names… well, their names were always their names, like Obek, Danta, Aapus, Shuntai and Shuntok.

And then there are the names that I completely pulled out of my ass, like Kayo, Pujeel, Evenk and Tok.

I guess my point here is, pull good names from wherever you can find them. Just remember, for SciFi they shoud be exotic and pronounceable. Use people and places. Borrow from history, science and others (as long as it’s not Star Wars). Have fun with the names. But save the best for your main characters. You’ll notice that the names of four of my five main characters all have meaning behind them. Chameleon’s name should be obvious. Braezun is just a change in the spelling of the word Brazen. Thrull is a combination of Thrill and Skull. And Tetsuko means Iron Lady in Japanese.

What are your favorite fiction or SciFi names? Do you use “Name Generators”? (I don’t, but I have tried them.) Please let me know what you think.

Writing my article for Bloid News got me thinking (which is always a dangerous thing!) and, long story short, I bought a new domain. Once the new domain/website is up and running I’ll let you and the rest of the world know where to find it and what it’s about. But let’s just say it should help me focus my writing.

Right now I’m actively writing two manuscripts, researching and working out the story for a third and I promised a couple friends I’d write my autobiography. If you’ve read my bio you know I’ve lead an interesting life thus far. My friends want me to put it all down on paper, so to speak. But to do it right I’ll have to interview family, friends, doctors, etc. And right now that’s just not in the cards. So the autobiography is shelved for the time being.

Anyway, the new domain/website will help me focus on a single manuscript and should actually help me along. There have been a few glitches with the hosting company and although content will not be a problem, other aspects of the site will be. So I have no idea when it will be up.

I was going to write about how I come up with names for characters, species, worlds, etc. when writing science fiction, specifically in The Staff of Rahgorra galaxy. But that will have to wait until next time. For now please check out Bloid News and please see my new Commenting Policy.

• This is not a blog about writing or marketing or self-publishing. Yes, those topics will be covered on a regular basis. But this blog is actually my personal blog that happens to be on the website of the company that for all intents and purposes I control. This blog is my attempt to gain as large a following as possible by writing about my interests and passions. As such, the LAST thing I want to do is offend anyone or alienate my readers.
• I would categorize myself as a Liberal.
• I support ObamaCare. It’s not perfect—God knows it’s not perfect—but we needed to do something about rising healthcare costs and this is what we got.
• That being said, I believe ObamaCare is unconstitutional. I think President Obama overstepped his bounds. And I think the Supreme Court will shoot it down. A 6-3 vote, or even a 7-2, vote against would not surprise me.

OK, on with the story…

I’m a regular at the local bar—me and just about everyone else who goes there. So I’ve gotten to know most of the patrons. It’s generally an older crown. I’m 41 and I tend to be on the younger end of the spectrum.

I don’t usually drink. But I do a lot of my writing there during the day and I have a deal with the owners that gets me free Cokes.

Anyway, last night I went there for dinner. They have good pizza and great sandwiches. It wasn’t exactly busy, but it was pretty populated for a Wednesday night. As we all sat there, hunched over the bar, talking and drinking (Coke for me) the subject of ObamaCare came up.

The debate/argument went something like this…

Joe, who’s about my age, brought the subject up. He stated OC would only affect 15 million people. (I don’t know where he got that number from.) He stated that those 15 million people made a conscious choice NOT to have healthcare and the government should not mandate that they purchase healthcare.

Bob, who is in his mid-50s and happened to be sitting next to Joe, questioned him on the numbers and his “conscious choice” statement.

What began as a friendly conversation soon devolved into a heated argument.

Bob brought up the classic Emergency Room scenario.

Joe: Yes, by law hospitals have to treat everyone who comes to them.

Bob: OK, are hospitals in it to make money?

Joe: Of course they are!

Joe then went off on a tangent diatribe about how he was a capitalist, he hated liberalism, he hated socialism and anyone who didn’t agree that ObamaCare is wrong was stupid. And he would bring up the 15 million people again.

And then the whole argument would start all over again, with both Joe and Bob getting more and more angry and yelling louder and louder to get their respective points across.

After the third time through I decided it was time to leave. I can only assume that Bob’s next question was “OK, then who’s paying for the ER visits?” But he never got to ask it. Joe always went off on his tangent diatribe.

I don’t know what happened after that. I don’t know if it ended in a slug-fest or if they kissed and made up. Both had been drinking and I’m sure that had something to do with the argument.

My point here is that these two are both regulars at the same bar. I might not call them friends but they know each other. They’ve shared drinks. And I’m sure that they have broken bread (or at least shared a pizza) together.

ObamaCare is a divisive issue. Even I am personally torn over it. And Joe and Bob were clearly ready to come to blows over it.

If you have an opinion on ObamaCare or this post, please comment.

As a side note, any Comment that includes a link in the text will be deleted, even if the link is part of the signature. And any Comment that even looks spammy will be deleted.

Reviews of The Staff of Rahgorra have been good but not great. Most reviewers have pointed out the similarities between my story and the Star Wars franchise. And I will be the first to admit such comparisons are not unfounded. Star Wars was a huge influence on me. But I’m sick and tired of having to defend my novel.

So I’m going to provide my vision of one of the two most controversial constructs of my novel, the Galactic Security Bureau, which has been compared to the Jedi Knights.

I always envisioned the GSB as a secular organization with non-secular roots. They are part galactic police force, part modern Space Navy, part intelligence organization and part covert operations. Religion plays little if any role in the modern GSB.

Yes, their headquarters and training academy is called the Monastery. But they first occupied the Monastery when they were still known as the Shudo Monks. Over several thousand years they transformed themselves first into the Shuntai Bendu, the Justice Warriors, and later into the Galactic Security Bureau.

To me the training academy at the Monastery plays the role of West Point or the US Naval Academy, training the officers and agents of the GSB. While most of the GSB, especially the Navy, consists of enlisted recruits. True, this was not really established in The Staff of Rahgorra but it will be in my next book.

Graduates of the Monastery also spend up to a year field training with established agents. I see this as analogous to the ride-alongs rookie cops do with veteran officers. I mean, come on, I’m not going to throw totally green agents and officers into the field alone. No sane author would, unless it’s part of the story.

Finally, both the military and police forces are known to be multi-generational, with children following in their parents’ footsteps. And both cops and military officers do occasionally go bad and/or rogue, especially in fiction. Therefore, is it so outrageous that an officer in the GSB Navy would switch allegiances, but still have family faithfully serving the galaxy? I think not.

Yes, I made some mistakes in The Staff of Rahgorra. But establishing the Galactic Security Bureau was not one of them. And let me just say right now that every story in the series (and I have no idea how many novels will be in the series) will be built around the GSB or its predecessors.

If you have any thoughts or comments on my explanation of the GSB, please let me know.

A little over a year ago I got a Kindle and over the past year I have put my Kindle to good use. I’ve downloaded dozens of books, some by established authors like Steven King and Dan Simmons, but most by self-published authors. Of the self-published books I’ve downloaded, some I’ve paid for, but most have been free. I’ve found a few gems among these self-published books, and a few that I never got past the first chapter, whether from bad writing, a poor story or because they just didn’t hook me.

The way I see it, the difference between the established authors and the self-published authors isn’t necessarily the story or quality of the writing. After all, even established authors occasionally produce …well… crap.

The real difference between the two is the mistakes! Whereas the established authors’ books have almost no spelling, punctuation or grammatical errors, the books by the self-published authors generally have these errors in abundance. Some are, of course, worse than others.

I’m not immune to this either. Since publication of The Staff of Rahgorra I have found a few such errors, and I’m sure there are a few more that I haven’t caught yet. And I know I throw in a sentence fragment every once in a while.

A simple spell check, which usually includes a grammar check too, would make many of these errors glaring. But I think the real problem is in the proofreading. As self-published authors we tend to proofread our own writing. We know what we’ve written and we know what we’re trying to say, so our eyes don’t necessarily catch all the mistakes.

Personally, I use Text-to-Speech software to hear what I’ve written as I read along. Despite the monotone delivery, TTS takes the writer’s eye out of the equation. And hearing my mistakes also makes them glaring. But that’s just me.

My point here is that if self-published authors and small publishers want to compete in this new publishing world that the internet and Print-on-Demand have created, then we have to put out a product that is better than that of the larger houses. So please, spell check, grammar check and have someone else, preferably more than one person, proofread your work before you publish.

What do you think of self-published vs. traditionally published books? Do you proofread your own work? Or does someone else proofread for you? Please comment below.

For now, I’m going to try to post every two weeks on Friday. As my next novel progresses I’m sure the frequency of my blog posts will also increase. Please subscribe to my blog at the top of the right sidebar.

Also, Mark’s Blog will begin in earnest on Friday, March 2nd. At first, I’m going to try to post every other Friday. And I’m sure I’ll occasionally have special posts like this one thrown into the mix. See you on Bloid News and on Friday for the Official launch of Mark’s Blog!