It is not the teller, but the tale-

There existed an era before the Internet, television, and even the telephone. It was a time when stories and ideas were conveyed through writing. Letters, books and scrolls. You have probably seen printed books, written on paper. They are still common, though I wonder if that will remain the case. That, however, will be another story.

Printing is even a relatively new invention. Machines that did the work of the scribe. The scribe. A person devoted to the hand copying of letters, books and scrolls. Tediously placing ink on paper or thin animal skins, the stories and ideas of the past were maintained and transmitted. New stories and ideas were added, over time.

There existed an era before that. A time out of time, in which storytellers collected and passed on by word of mouth the ideas and stories of the past. The divisions we are familiar with did not exist. Science, religion, history, and fiction were all melded into the stories handed down from the past. Into the mix were added new tales to teach and to remember.

I am among those who tell tales. I am a story teller. It is a delightful task, and a mystical experience. Mystical, because I intentionally open myself to the sense of all of that history, and even prehistory. I suspect not all tellers of tales open themselves in this way, but I have a mystical bent. I feel that it enhances my experiences, and hope that it adds dimension to my tales.

Some years ago I would sit late at night and write by candlelight. I would use a pen which had to be dipped into ink to charge the nib for writing. I did this intentionally, writing by the same light that untold generations before me used to write. I did this intentionally, using a technology that was archaic. Pens of metal, pens of glass. Even pens of quills plucked from birds, though those are surprisingly difficult to use.

I was intentionally reaching back across history while writing into the future. Standing hand in hand with a long line of the tellers of tales, stretching from campfires eons dead through the moment of my life and onward into an unknown and little guessed future. I felt it, mostly because I wanted to feel it. Mysticism is rooted in the imagination.

In a discussion with atheists who happened to be scientist, or perhaps scientists who happened to be atheists, I recalled to them a documentary I had watched that described the telling of tales in remaining societies that exist outside of the world of the written word. People who teach their children with spoken words as they sit around camp fires. The tales told contain the whole world.

I proposed that the story is the primary mode by which humans have come to know the world for a very long time. My scientist friends agreed, but seemed to be of the opinion that a more 'scientific' mode of communication would be better. I am not sure what they meant, but they missed my point. I was suggesting that if they wanted their precious science to be known, really known, by the whole of humanity, it would have to be given to them in stories.

They seek to cleanse their science of that which is mystical, hoping to purify it and remove the stain of such artifacts of the past. That is unfortunate, and sad. I believe that science has much to contribute to the tale, but a story devoid of mystery becomes nothing more than a list of words. Yet the ongoing tale has been made strong by the order and structure given by science. We all err if we discount too readily any aspect of the tale.

Indeed, the tale grows rich and diverse in our modern time. It is informed by many disciplines, each a wealth of knowledge. It is made broad by so many modes of telling the tale. Technology has made the world small enough for us to experience a great deal of it in the short span of our lives. By making it small it has made the world even more vast in our experience than the world of mysterious unknown in which our precursors dwelt.

Technology has given us tools to tell the tale in ever changing ways. The transition from scribes tools to printing presses was revolutionary in human history. The transitions of our own day will bring forth revolutionary changes that will challenge the imagination. Yet the imagination is powerful, and will embrace these mysteries and distill them into marvelous tales. Whatever the tools, the storytellers will be there to gather the past and hand it on to the future.

News from the Edge of the World-

One of my readers reminded me that I haven't done an update on my current novel in progress. It is the fourth novel in my Edge of the World series. Up until recently I had been making good progress on this novel, and regular updates were occurring as I wrote. Then changes came upon me.

Good changes. The Endless Move to Medford, Oregon, had another phase begin. Our plan had been to sell our home in Felton, California (near Santa Cruz) and move to Medford to ease our retirement life. Living in Medford is a lot less expensive. Additionally, we anticipated buying two homes, one for my wife, my mother-in-law, and myself. Another for my daughter and her family. Hopefully, with a situation to provide temporary housing for my sons, should they need a fall-back position.

The first phase had some bumps, and consumed the better part of a year. Selling a house in a bad economy is challenging. That challenge was met, and we got moved. We bought a house, and for a time lived all together in too little space. That was phase two. Phase three began about two months ago, and we eventually completed the purchase of a second home here in Medford and got my daughter's family moved in.

Phase three, unfortunately, consumed a surprisingly large amount of time. That challenged the writing process, which fell by the way-side. Additionally, cold weather moved in. My place of writing has most recently been my van, the Mobile Man Cave. It was quiet, and away from the crowded house in which we all lived. Phase three cleared the house and allowed me to 'move in,' but the change left me without the privacy of my little cave. I am still getting settled, and reforming my writing habits.

On the positive side, I have been collecting notes and developing my plot lines. I have made minuscule progress, but progress nonetheless. Now the Holiday season challenges my work. That, and I still don't have a place of my own. The departure of my daughter's family has caused a flurry of re-decorating and moving stuff. I am still trying to find a place of my own to use in winter months.

The work will continue. Book four will get a name, and be brought to a point of conclusion. The tale will be left with several directions which can become additional books, depending on how things progress in growing my readership.

That has proven to be a great challenge. I have faced some discouragement in learning that my paltry beginning marketing efforts have netted few results. For a naturally reclusive person this social networking is a difficult task. Lacking funds, I must market at a grass-roots level. That is not a bad thing, just not particularly fast.

During this process I have discovered an online community of self-published writers. Some have gained a degree of success, after considerable time and effort. Most are where I happen to be. We are essentially hobby writers seeking to make something of our work. When I elected to accept that perspective I overcame my discouragement. I could continue in that vein, and strive to gain a readership over time.

It is unfortunate that I cannot easily transition into a retired person able to rely on an additional writing income. I now have two homes to pay for, rather than one house paid off that was rather overloaded with family. This new situation is much better, but I need income. I am looking for work. Writing would be preferable, and I would gladly put in the hours pounding the keys if I could make the money needed. Unfortunately, it does not look like that will work.

So, book four will progress, and be finished. I will continue. However, the Endless Move to Medford is demanding my finding employment. That will impact my writing. Until my readership increases and funds allow me to pour some more resources into marketing, my writing will remain a hobby. A pleasant hobby, one which has put me in contact with some very nice people, but still a hobby.

Spread the word! I don't mind stocking shelves, or any one of a number of jobs I have recently applied for. I would rather, however, be writing. Writing stories you all would enjoy reading. Michael Lockridge, at Barnes and Noble online. Adventure is waiting!

Reading on Mobile Devices-

I switched to electronic books for a number of reasons. The cost became reasonable, the experience proved pleasant, and it became possible to carry a library wherever I went. That portability has gone just a bit further with the purchase of my first smart phone. In this case an Apple iPhone 3GS. Not cutting edge, but a nice tool.

I just finished reading the fifth volume of Randolph Lalonde's Spinward Fringe series. A space opera, a sub-genre of science fiction. The first volume is free. I read the first four volumes on my Nook, and enjoyed the experience both for the quality of the work and the quality of the reading experience on the Nook. For the fifth volume I decided to try the iPhone. I downloaded the iPhone Nook reader application and was ready for truly mobile reading.

Granted, the screen is small. However, the fonts are readable, and I can change the phone to landscape mode (held sideways) to make it seem a bit more book-like. The phone screen is back-lit, which can be nice in low lighting. The Nook screen is more like paper, and not back-lit. You have to read it like a book, with a light source. However, you can read the Nook in full sunlight, like a book. Phone screens tend to wash out in full sunlight.

The small screen was not problematic. The only problem is turning "pages" a bit more often. That simply requires a tap or swipe of the screen with one finger. That is not terribly difficult, and becomes routine very quickly. One night I wanted to read in bed. My wife was already asleep and it was dark. I fired up the iPhone, turned down the brightness, and read in comfort. The phone fit well in one hand. Delightful!

Since I carry my phone just about everywhere, I had a book to read anytime I wanted. That was quite convenient. Though the Nook allows me to carry a huge library with me at barely the weight of a paperback novel, it is still large enough to require someplace to put it when out and about. The phone was less of an issue. I am accustomed to carrying it, and hardly notice it when not in use.

I recommend ebooks highly, and trying out using any of you mobile devices that can serve as a reader. Many of you have such devices. Even if you have a Nook, or a Kindle, or one of the other ereader devices, try your other smart devices out as readers. You will get more out of the tools you have chosen and add versatility to your life.

You can get free reader applications that will download to your computer and your mobile devices. For example, the novels I have written and published with Barnes and Noble can only be read on a Nook reader or any epub friendly reader. Kindle readers cannot read my books. However, if you have a mobile device that can download the free Nook reader from Barnes and Noble, you can download and read my books.

Using similar creative applications of applications, you will find yourself free to download content from a great many sources. (My books included, I would hope.) These are tools that can allow you greater freedom in shaping your own life and how you live your life. Power to enhance your own experiences in your own way.

So, try new stuff. Write about it. Share well.

Spam Maggots

So, did I mention I have been learning to promote my book? Yes? Well, I won't mention my book again this week. What I am learning about right now is Social Networking. This does not relate to Social Security, which is often in the news these days. Neither is it about Socialism, which might or might not be the same thing. No, this is about reaching out and meeting people both online and in real life.

I have spent part of the last week probing various blogs and web sites seeking people who might want to know about my book, which I said I wouldn't mention until at least next week. I tried to find blogs related to fantasy adventure and reading and things like that. Well, mostly those two words in particular. I found some. I read them. I posted a response here and there and a link to my book. The one I am not mentioning.

It was slow going.

I have been the recipient of SPAM over the years. Indeed, I have been constantly surprised by the number of people on the Internet interested in the size of part of my anatomy, how many people think I need reproduction Rolex watches, and how much I want to work from home, (which I pretty much do now.) So, I didn't want to become a Spammer. That would be bad.

Still, I sought a tool to assist me. One quite affordable was my thought. I found one. It was free. I find free quite affordable, so I downloaded it (after checking reviews and finding out if anyone had been killed or maimed by this particular software.) I tried working with it today. It really is a good tool for what I am doing.

Now what I don't want to do is leave a general comment in broken English with a very obviously unrelated link attached. That, I do believe, is SPAM. Not good. However, if I actually read the article, and deem the writer as one who might genuinely want to read my book, that is not Spam. Not really.

I tried to be respectful. For example, I read the article by a lady who was a writer and reader of fantasy literature. She should have been a good choice. I discovered that she was coping with a mental illness, and that the writing was as much a therapy and compulsion as anything else. I did not post there. Sure, she might like my book. You know, the one I am not mentioning. However, it just did not feel right.

It felt like SPAM.

Even so, I used the software to find a lot of sites. Interesting sites. Sites where I could leave a nice message relating to the material being covered and also refer to my book. Yeah, that book.

So, as I move on in my Spam-free adventure and get to know this software I might just eventually write a review. Some of you may have works you want to promote. Without Spam, of course.

Meanwhile, if you feel the need to drop a link to your site or product in the comments below, feel free. Just comment first in fairly sound English, with a related and nicely presented link. Oh, and don't post anonymously. I won't authorize anonymous posts with unrelated links.

That would be SPAM.

A funny thing happened on the way to publication-

Today was pretty productive. I have completed the final edit on all three finished novels in my The Edge of the World series. I need to get them into epub format, so I researched that. I found a plug-in for Open Office (after a lot of "buy our product" web searching) and got it downloaded and installed. Being free was a good thing.

Next I selected a file to turn from a odt file to an epub file. The file happens to be a short piece I wrote as a give-away once I am published. I then viewed that file in the Adobe Digital Editions reader. It looked pretty good. I moved the file onto my Nook ebook reader. It looked pretty good there, as well. Not bad, so far.

That done I then established a Facebook presence for my work. That went pretty well. Next, a web site. I just went with a free Google site, and it is just a framework at this point. Still, I got a lot done.

Then, it happened. Now, a while back I had to change my title. The original title of volume one was The Inn at the Edge of the World. That's because the story begins at an inn, which happens to be in a place called "The Edge of the World." I liked it. It scanned well. It felt right.

Subsequently I learned that someone else had written a book called The Inn at the Edge of the World. I considered going ahead, then I learned that the book was becoming a movie. So, I changed my title. I shortened it to The Edge of the World. I even decided that the name could be the overarching title for the series. Yeah, that should work.

So, I am doing some follow-up research on my chosen title. What did I find? Yep. Mr. Anderson beat me to it, both for a starting title and a series title. Great.

Looks like another title change. Maybe Choo Choo Charlie and the Train Robbers. That wouldn't relate at all to the story, but at least it isn't taken. Just a second. Hmm. Well, that particular title is clear, but Choo Choo Charlie is a property of Hershey's. Crap.

On another note, I figured I would use this blog as my primary blog associated with my efforts and publishing my works. I am probably doing this all wrong, but being ignorant and somewhat obtuse gives me great freedom.

I can't wait to see what happen next.

Thoughts on the creative process-

Humans are creative creatures. Some more so than others, but as a species we are very creative. I have most recently been exercising my own creativity writing my "Edge of the World" series of fantasy adventure novels. Many people I know are creative in other ways, but the compulsion to create is rather common among humans.

What is created is not necessarily common. It is fresh and new. It is creation.

My daughter, Beth, is a quilter. She has a knack for selecting and combining patterns and colors that is quite magical. My wife, Linda, is a decorator. Sadly, I have been unable to provide for her the rather expensive canvasses necessary to fully exercise her art, but she does phenomenally well within the limitations of our current circumstances. She would have much greater freedom if I had been gifted with the ability to create wealth, but that has proved to be a gift that is lacking.

I can, however, write. I have done so from childhood. Had I the courage and foresight to follow that natural ability I might have had a writer's life, but I took different paths and am only now striving to turn a hobby into a profession. The paths I have traveled have been formative and informative, and I do not regret them.

The "Edge of the World" series began as a short story, a piece of what is called "Flash Fiction." A very short story of just a few pages. I had an image in my mind, and if I had developed my skills in drawing I would have sketched it. I did not have sufficient skill in drawing, so I wrote that story. It was later published in my blog, Short Stories by MLockridge.

Subsequent experiences in my life revealed I had an issue with depression. I sought counseling for this issue, and the counselor provided tools for me to use. One tool was to start a project and see it to completion. Apparently the focused effort would aid in managing depression. In this case it proved to be true.

I decided to take my short story about The Edge of the World and turn it into a novel. I sat down and wrote. I wrote a lot. Over 100,000 words. I edited and polished and finished the work. Along the way I got the depression under control and as far as the exercise was concerned, I was done.

However, the story continued past the end I had selected. So, I began the sequel. Like the first novel it flowed from me rather smoothly. I think it did so because I had spent so much time over the years just thinking about the story and a lot of the writing had been done rather informally in the back chambers of my cluttered mind. I just had to drag the first volume out and dust it off. The second was almost as easy.

Now that I had two novels I started seriously contemplating publication. I knew that the traditional route to publication was arduous and long. I just didn't need something like that in my life. This whole thing was intended to aid in managing depression, not cause it. So, I searched for other ways to do this.

With the advent of the Internet a lot of options had opened up. Self-publishing electronically and being listed in a major catalog looked like the right thing. Barnes and Noble offered such a program, and at little cost. This might just work, I thought.

In researching I found a lot of friends on the Internet who were at various places in this same process. I studied their models for doing this business and read some of their works. One thing that I observed that would make this whole project somewhat lucrative was having more books in the series.

More writing. The third novel did not flow so easily. It was more work, with more thinking and more editing. Indeed, I need to give it at least one more run-through to comb out the tangles and give it a nice shine. The third novel led to the beginnings of a fourth, which in terms of small volume electronic publication meant a few more bucks. Also, I really am enjoying the process of building a series of novels.

I began the fourth novel yesterday. However, I decided I needed a tool for creating something from scratch. This book has not been bubbling on a back burner of my brain for a considerable time. So, I checked on tools I could use. Fortunately, the Internet gives me access to a lot of back burners in a lot of bubbling brains, and I learned that I already had the tool I needed.

I write in Open Office, a suite of free tools downloadable on the Internet. I found that some people use their presentation software to do storyboarding. This is a bit like outlining a work, but more graphic and a bit easier, at least for me. I began writing slides which can be displayed a number of ways, and I can move them around on the screen. Pretty cool.

The tool I needed was right there in the suite of software I already used, and it was free! (Thanks to the several people who recommended this suite to me. Consider this "paying it forward.") I have spent several hours working on my storyboard, and it is going great!

I figure I will have enough to work with in another day or so, which will (I hope) be a sufficient break from the editing of the third novel to allow me to return to it fresh and ready to work. If all goes well I will be able to upload the first three novels to Pubit and get them out in the Barnes and Noble catalog.

Of course I will also have to get a Facebook fan page set up with the hope of having a few fans to read it. Also, a web site of some kind. And there is all of the promotion work I will have to do myself because I don't have a traditional publishing house backing me. Oh, and accounting, assuming I actually see some revenue from this adventure.

Whatever happens, I am not depressed and I am having fun. It seems like I have already won. If others enjoy the work and I make a few bucks, that's cool as well.

Knitting together a story-

I am near the end of my third book in the fantasy adventure series I am writing. Still not published, but getting closer every day. I had just resolved a scene and come up with a next scene, kind of an interlude. I have the final scene of the book finished in my mind. In between was a gap. What to write to fill that gap?

Due to some recent real-life matters largely beyond my control (much like life in general) I had some time to kill. The writing has been good in this time, since it has been productive. However, I rather like having something to do with my hands when I just "sits and thinks." I sometimes whittle to fill that need, but this winter I took up loom knitting.

So, being in need of some sittin' and thinkin', I took up my loom and began to knit a bit. It works wonders. I wrote the interlude in my head, or at least got a good outline with some flesh on it. I wrote the final scene and did a rewrite, also in my head. Dropped the knitting to make some notes. Picked up the loom again and started looping yarn and turning the stitches with the little hook.

While I looped and stitched I thought about my story so far, and some other stories that had influence on the tale. Tale. "Spinning a yarn." Yarn is used in knitting. Hmmm. Hercules is in a recent scene, though not really Hercules. Just a guy loosely based on Hercules. One primary character is a Pinocchio. What stories to look at in my memory and imagination for that next scene?

Snow White? Perhaps. Sleeping Beauty? Yes, that will work. A previous scene in the series would serve as foreshadowing for that idea. You know, where a hint of 'what is to come' is dropped into the story and later comes about and you as the reader go "Ahhh, yes!"

So I sits and thinks and sits and knits and this outline forms in my head and I drop the knitting and make notes and then I take up the loom again and knit on as I thinks.

The knitting is working really well. I can't cut myself, don't have to sharpen anything, and I don't get wood chips all over the place. When I need to drop the work to make a note or something it is a bit less involved, since I wear a protective glove on one hand when I whittle but don't when I knit. I don't have to find a safe place for the knife, take off the glove, yada yada.

The masculinity thing is no issue, since I have a creative mind and have read lots of stuff and I am as good at justification as anyone else. For a lot of centuries in a lot of cultures men were weavers and tailors and textile manufacturers more so than women, so who is to say that my knitting isn't a manly thing? Also, I can use manly colors to make manly scarves and blankets. Manly.

Now I have my bridge scene in mind and notes made, but I am making some progress on the blanket piece I am working on so I keep knitting. It is pretty relaxing, just looping and stitching and stuff... Oh. Here's an idea. Yes. I will make a note. Hmmm. That won't fit into the framework of book three.

I just knitted myself into book four. Cool! I think that book four should be about four scarves, three hats and at least one full-sized blanket long.

I need to pick up some more yarn!

The Future of (my) Writing-

When I got my Nook ebook reader there were a lot of free books offered. One was from the Spinward Fringe series by Randoph Lalonde. I read this book and hope to get on to read the rest of his series. His style of writing is interesting, and I enjoyed the story. Good pacing, lots of action, shallow characters which (at least some of them) display a potential for development over the series. In the case of action packed space opera, shallow characters are not an impediment.

Indeed, depth of character development can severely impact pacing, and some readers just want the story to move along. Indiana Jones is not a particularly deep character, and any depth is developed over the whole film series. The story is action, plus a lot of pretty good comic bits.

Back to Lalonde, and the future of books. Lalonde offers his books in electronic format, and keep in touch with readers through his blog, Facebook, and other developing media options. His works are evolving, and he recognizes that. He has reached a point where the series provides a living, and enough money to hire professionals to help polish what might previously been considered a finished work.

Yes, his whole series is getting a polish. Since it is electronic media, it is possible to update the original works after the fact, and for free. Essentially, you get version 1.0, plus updates. We have grown accustomed to evolving media. Computer programs get updated all of the time. They evolve. Books learning how to evolve is a natural development in a universe where plasticity is the norm.

I am not sure what model my own work will follow as I move from writing to publishing. I don't know that I have the chops for the 'big league,' where you pitch to an agent and if you land an agent they pitch to the publishers and maybe you get a nominal contract and maybe you get a good promotion package. I really don't have the patience to work so hard for potentially so little. Probably for nothing.

These days, however, we are seeing a writers minor league which is more than community college classes and writers clubs of various forms. Publishing is easy through a growing number of venues. Sure, you won't see any million dollar advances, but the likelihood of that remains small even for established big league writers.

If I can put my work out in an epublished minor league format and get some return for my efforts, I think that is great. If my work is really worthwhile I suspect it will eventually fetch me something more than a cup of coffee and a sandwich. I at least intend to try.

Book two of my series is approaching completion of the first draft. Then I go back, polish book one, and then polish book two, as I write the third installment. Additionally, I am compiling a lot of my short stories to publish along side these other works.

I am making progress. I am writing as if it were my career. I find it fulfilling unlike any other previous professional endeavor. My past jobs were jobs. This is more, and I am motivated.

Lalonde is doing pretty well. Minor league? Arguably so. Still, a minor league salary to play the game of your choice is not a bad thing.

I think I will go for it.

Pens and other anachronisms-

I have a fondness for pens. Most particularly, fountain pens and dip pens. Dip pens are those very rudimentary writing instruments that you dip into an ink pot to charge the nib, and have to dip periodically as you write or draw. I have on occasion sat by candle light and written with such a pen. It was satisfying to share that experience with so many writers over many hundreds of years.

Over the years I have owned quite a number of pens, though none were particularly high-end forms of the art. That pens became over time art forms in themselves is not particularly unusual or strange. Perhaps that is part of the attraction, that these ever-so-practical daily tools can be things of great beauty. Anyway, I have owned quite a few.

Sadly, over the years I have used pens less and less. I find that the keyboard serves me much better for the actual act of writing. My wife cannot believe the speed of my typing when I am in the throes of writing. In all actuality I am not that fast on the keyboard. When my thoughts are flowing, however, the clicking can be furious.

My pen related motor skills have deteriorated over time as I have taken pen in hand less and less often. Like any other skill, use of the pen requires time and patience. My penmanship has deteriorated from a not particularly high level to a difficult to read scrawl. I must concentrate to physically write, and sometimes even forget how to form cursive letters.

From a practical perspective, this is not much of a loss. The keyboard is currently the mode of written communication. When I was in junior high school nearly half-a-century ago I elected to take typing classes. Keyboard writing was not common then, and few males elected to learn the skill. Children in the current era grow up keyboarding, cultivating a more ad hoc skill with sheer volume of use.

How many young people know nothing more of pens than the common stick pen that is sold by the dozen, and thrown away when it no longer has ink? Many adults my own age, or near to that age, are not aware of the pen as art. Such pens are expensive, and belong to a declining culture. A fine writing instrument can only be appreciated by those who practice fine writing, who value paper and ink and the very lines themselves.

They shall be kept alive, as are many anachronism and symbolic items from past eras. That is encouraging. The more beautiful representatives of the art form shall be elements of sophisticated and rare collections, viewed and appreciated by ever declining numbers of people. Like the charred stick from which they came, pens will simply become curiosities from another time.

From what I have seen, the physical keyboard is on the same path. Only a limited number of communication devices (cell phones in particular) now have physical keyboards. The keyboard as art has not had the centuries necessary to mature, and may never attain the status of the fine art pen. Oh, there have been attempts, and good ones at that. However, the time of the keyboard may well be ending.

From the most practical perspective, these transitions are not bad. The purpose of writing, no matter what the mode, is communication. Changes in the interface between ourselves and our communication technology will necessarily evolve, and only those evolutions that allow us to get the job done will survive. It is difficult to speculate what those evolutions may involve. They are happening fast, and in such volume that I cannot follow all of it.

We will each of us hold to the mode of communication that works for us. Some of us will be so bound to a mode that is falling behind the evolutionary curve that we shall fall out of the current center of human culture. Like little old ladies with excellent penmanship but nobody left to whom to write, we will drift to some cultural eddy and practice our anachronistic skills until we fade from history altogether.

The river of time flows rapidly, and none of us knows where we shall eventually wash up. So, if you happen to find me in some cultural backwater, banging away on an ancient keyboard or dipping a rusty pen in a bottle of aged ink, treat me kindly.

Confessions of a logophile-

I am a logophile. I love words. In my youth I developed a voracious appetite for reading, and satisfying that appetite led to a significant exposure to words and their applications. I read broadly, though it has (sadly) been mostly in my native tongue of American English. Not exclusively so, and I have tasted and enjoyed words from a number of languages. However, most of my experience is in English.

Over the years I read books from different times and different places. Lots of different words used in lots of different ways. I had a youthful fondness for some of the loquacious styles in which richly flavored words were served in complex and convoluted sentences. I suspect I thought that these effusive writings somehow smacked of intellect, and I fancied myself an intellectual.

Oh, not intellectual enough to focus on my studies and really learn the depth of something. No, I grazed widely, but not particularly deeply. If this pasture was good, the next would be even better. I accumulated words as I grazed, and my vocabulary became a wonder. I admired it greatly, and supposed myself to be a great communicator.

I could score very high on those Reader's Digest vocabulary quizzes. I was erudite in my erudition, and most proud of that. Yes, I could really sound profound.

The passage of time has put my delusions in perspective. My dear wife has often challenged me, and rightly so, on my complaint about the communication skills of others. She points out that my loquacity often causes me to fail entirely to communicate, and that speaking (and writing) from a vocabulary so far from ordinary renders my thoughts opaque rather than clear.

A work associate once called my personal compendium of learning "Doctor Lockridge's Wading Pool of Knowledge." It was quite broad, but not very deep. It's funny, because it is true.

Oh, yes. The "Doctor Lockridge" thing. It is a nick-name given in mild derision of my ponderous vocabulary being lobbed around my place of work. A jail is a rather fundamental sort of place. Plain speaking really does serve better in such an environment, but I had such expansive habits in my speech by then that there was little hope.

It took eleven years of constructive criticism to beat the excessive verbiage from my jail related writing. Oh, the wit was appreciated and the abundance of detail recognized, but it took me quite some time to learn that good police writing is "as colorless as water, as dry as the Sahara wind." That phrase is my own invention, and an example of what my poor supervisors were up against.

Words have flavor, spin, subtle nuance. They are dynamic and alive. They are fun, and particularly inexpensive to play with. On the other hand, if miss-used or poorly applied words can cost you a great deal. Jargon is a blessing and a curse, and specialized vocabularies are serviceable in communication only between initiates. When used to exclude, words are less valuable and often hurtful.

Why my little confession? I was trying to put into words some ideas for my blog, Philosophy on Purpose. The prose were becoming ponderous, and I realized that I danced a fine line. I wanted to communicate my ideas, but poorly chosen words would get in my way. It was starting to look like a logo-jamb, and not a blog of distinction. I needed to think, and thinking gave rise to confession.

My name is Michael Lockridge, and I am a logophile.

Thoughts on Blogging-

My Internet friend Willow has a very nice blog. She has 1201 followers at the time of this writing. Her blog combines excellent writing skills with very fine photographs. It is largely about her home, Willow Manor, and her life there. Now, success cannot simply be measured in numbers. I suspect a lot of bloggers have utilized "tricks" to make their numbers stand out. Still, 1201 followers is a pretty impressive number for a personal blog.

Many of the numerically successful blogs I have visited have several elements. The overall appearance is clean, professional and inviting. There are plenty of pictures, and many are "eye candy" quality. The pictures themselves are well composed and attractive. A visit just to look at the pictures is worthwhile.

Another element is good writing. Crisp, well written prose, with a sharing personal quality. You feel welcomed in, and it is like a nice conversation with a long time friend. Not too long, but full enough to seem fulfilling in the reading. If poetry is used, it must be of good quality. Hallmark style poetry (which I think is derivative of some of the works of Emily Dickenson) will not do. Original works are especially appealing.

These places are just nice places to visit. Warm. Comfortable. Appealing.

While I would love to have a massive readership, I tend to write my blogs as a shared mode of exploring ideas. I do not know if that is as appealing as great food images and recipes. Based on numbers, apparently not. However, a larger number of readers could provide more feedback, and aid me in refining my thoughts. That alone makes expanding my readership appealing.

I do know that I value blogs. I like to see things from the perspective of other eyes, hearts and minds.

Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, and YouTube have opened a level of sharing that is quite rich. It also provides some contact points for linking blogs. Ideas are published raw and fresh and unfiltered. No editors other than the writers. No marketing directors deciding what will be seen by whom. No economics involved, other than the reader deciding where to spend their time.

I would love to have the readership of a mighty newspaper column writer. My erudite opinions out there shaping the world. However, I haven't earned that, in the blogosphere or anywhere else. Those writers usually had to claw their way up through a very competitive industry, eventually earning the print space to do a little of what I can do right now on the Internet.

This would be a great way to make a living. Some try to do that, using tools to draw hits on their blogs and encourage people to click on the ads. Unfortunately, the ads are generally the best content of those blogs. Even though I did include ads (mostly because it was easy, and I actually could use a few bucks) the revenue is not the purpose of my work here.

I love thinking, I love writing, and I love reading. Blogs are good for that.

Thanks for reading. Feel free to write something.

My Ideal Job-

I have been using What Color is your Parachute to aid me in finding my next career. It is a useful tool, one that has stood the test of time. There are a number of exercises in the book to aid the reader in assessing their desires and skills. There is quite a bit on networking, making the contacts necessary to find work. All in all, a good reference for the job seeker.

What I have been doing for the past month is not the best job search technique, according to the book. I have been using job sites to find and apply for work. This is relatively simple, and easy to do from home. Most of the other suggestions are good. The best require superb networking skills and a lot of luck.

What I would like to do is more like a hobby or retirement project than a real job. I would really enjoy traveling around, documenting my travels on video and in writing. I have studied a number of highways and routes in the United States, and would love to document these roads and the places found along them.

I visualize a vehicle that is small enough to park in a single parking space, yet can be lived in for weeks at a time. This vehicle is outfitted with camera mounts to allow for video capture while on the road, and enough electrical storage to allow for operating cameras and computers in remote locations. The equipment must be portable, to allow for using motel rooms as editing studios as well as a break from camping.

How can this activity provide income? Well, a monetized web site associated with the adventure could provide some. DVD sales could provide some income. Books about the highways and byways and what is discovered along the way could also provide income. Amazon provides an outlet for such products and the resources to bring them to market.

The market, that is one real issue. How much of a market is there for such travel adventure documents? Enough to provide the income I need? With my pension and other household incomes we can cover costs, but will have little beyond just surviving. I need another income source.

If it were just me, I would do this. I would make it happen. However, it is not just me. I still have a family to care for, even if I have retired from law enforcement. So, I seek a less adventurous source of income, one that will probably keep me from such an adventure.

That is not bad. I love and enjoy my family, and where we live is a very nice place. Still, the road and adventure call to me. Perhaps I can find a next career that will allow me to fulfill this dream of adventure, and still provide for those who love and depend on me.

I won't stop dreaming, and I certainly won't stop writing. I believe I can find a way.

What color is my parachute? Even after reading the book, I don't really know. I do know I am better equipped to find a job than I was before I read the book. I have found jobs before, even though none were particularly fulfilling.

Maybe this time will be my time.

More technology, more learning-

Well, part of the learning here is that I just can't seem to cut and paste as I would like into this editor. The lesson? Perhaps I should do a lot of my blog writing here.

That, however, is the issue. I am learning to use my Samsung netbook. Small, portable, somewhat limited but great for staying on the Internet and grabbing wifi sites. I want to be able to write in any location, however, not just net linked locations. Blogger is on the net, and so is not a first choice for my editor.

Also, I want to be able to write my novels, short stories, blogs and such anywhere using this nice little machine. So, I must master my software and do a bit of writing.

To initiate my Microsoft Office Suite trial package I had to connect this machine by cable. It went well, but I was not made confident by the necessity. Can I trust it out in the field? Time shall tell.

I tried the Notepad program for plain text editing, copying the text and pasting to Facebook and MySpace. It would not paste here. I had to do a lot of editing in the other editors to finish, and even so the MySpace copy was not well formatted.

I have a lot to learn. I don't mind. Learning is fun. I suspect I will find this little Samsung my constant companion, and the platform for some interesting work.

Learning Curve-

I purchased a Samsung N130 Netbook computer today. I really felt ubergeek using it along side my desktop. Actually, I was just configuring the little thing while checking my reader and my email. Still, it felt pretty uber.

It felt so uber that I wrote it up. Then I came here to paste the document and found a bit of trouble. Not yet sure what, but I can't seem to paste into this document. Something more to learn.

I selected this Samsung for the price (under $300) and the size. It is small enough to take with me just about everywhere. I have the flexibility of going online in more places, and I can work on writing more often. It is far from a power house, but it is a useful tool and not particularly costly.

My desktop will probably need to be replaced in two more years. I expect to get a larger format laptop for a main computer, and this little rig will be my knock-about take anywhere machine. Until then the desktop will remain, my primarily gaming machine and general work horse.

I was tempted to get a nook book reader, but they are hard to find and this really is more useful. I may not have the free cash when a nook becomes available, but I think I can work it out when the time is right.

A Nintendo DSi was also tempting. However, I game on my desktop machine, and we have a Wii in the house. Though some DS games are tempting, I just don't really have the time. I can game quite a bit, but I do need to do a few other things.

Like write. Oh, and I do need to find a job.

Some semi-related thoughts-

I entered into blogging largely as a means to reach out and "network" to promote my writing. My short stories blog was intended to showcase some of my very short fiction, hoping that in time I might get something out there that would bring me revenue as well as providing an outlet.


Then I started blogging my adventures in barbecue, and tried to get serious about my personal philosophy in blog form. Lastly I created this blog to catch "Everything Else."


Needless to say, this blog has probably been my most active. Part online diary, part sandbox for ideas, this blog became the central blog of my little blog universe. Changes in my life and work schedule distanced me from the short story writing. Oh, there will be more. At present there is little compulsion to sit down and write.


As to philosophy, I just don't seem to have the need to sound profound, to work diligently to build a system of thought that captures my world view. The blog will remain, a place to put such works as I ultimately am driven to produce that fit into the context of "philosophy." However, I just am not driven to philosophy as I was in my youth.


Barbecue. Now that is an area I have not abandoned. Changes in the household, however, have altered the process. I need to regroup and focus on the barbecue adventure. Perhaps I should expand the scope of the blog, since there have been some recent explorations in cooking that were not related to the barbecue. We shall see.


So, back to Everything Else. I have given some thought to the idea of being more diligent in the journal/diary aspect of blogging. Recording every day, a record of the doings of the day. The sameness of most days tends to wash away such a compulsion, but I think that the discipline to find something in each day to record might compel me to think about each day.


I am somewhat restricted in that recording too much detail of my work days could cause issues with the Sheriff's Office for which I work. I am sure that our tech crime people frequently scan the works of employees as part of their duties. I cannot state that as a fact, of course, since I have nothing to substantiate such a claim. However, it is difficult to imagine that they do not.


Indeed, the Internet is full of tales of blogs and social sites adversely affecting individual people as far as employment goes. So, my work news will be general at best. A jail is a great source of interesting stories, but sharing them could prove problematic.


What of other aspects of my life? Well, over the course of the last year I have resided in the jail parking lot during my work week. I have sheltered in a tent that fits in the back of my truck. A surprisingly comfortable way of living, at least for me.


Recently, we were directed to cease residing in the parking lot. Though I was just sleeping days there, being on the night shift, some issues came up and I and the other camper were directed to stop sleeping here. I now day sleep in a state park, using a seasonal day use pass.


To be quite honest, it is not bad at all. I sleep near the sea, and the park I use has little traffic at this time of year. Having to set up camp every day, rather than once each week, is a little bit of extra work. Having an ocean view every day is a pretty good compensation.


Will there be sufficient details to share? I shall look for them, and we shall see.


Now, life with the family. We have nine people living in the house. Four generations. Are there family issues? Of course. Is this the place to air them? I don't think so. That aspect of the diary certainly won't take place here. However, I think I can watch for things that can be shared.


Perhaps I will take a page or two from the blogs of some other bloggers I follow and blog the household and family activities. That will have some very positive consequences. We will have a record of our lives together. I will be compelled to watch for blogable events, and record them. I may also be compelled to follow through on some projects so that I can share them.


More pictures, of course. I know that I seldom take the time, and I need to do better. There are plenty of fine blogs I follow that provide the example. I need to follow through.


So, let's see.

Expand My Barbecue Adventures to include other foody explorations.

Keep open to expressing philosophical thoughts in Philosophy on Purpose. Perhaps try to give it a monthly essay or something.

Discipline myself to create at least one story each month for my short story blog.

Strive to come up with a daily entry to Everything Else. Look at my life and write it down.

Sounds good. If nothing else, the road to Hell will be a little less bumpy.

The Wheel of Time-

The Wheel of Time is an epic fantasy adventure tale written by the late Robert Jordan. It currently stands at eleven books in the series. Robert Jordan died prior to completion of the whole tale. Heroically, he made sure that the balance of the tale was handed down to his wife and others to insure the completion of the work. Refering to either (or both) of the links above will provide more details, should you be interested.

I met the author several years ago at a book signing here in Santa Cruz, California. I have a signed copy of the tenth volume in the series. These books are of unusual size, all of them exceeding the size of a standard novel by at least half, and often more. This is a lot of reading. A lot of really great reading.

I am currently reading the series again. I have read it several times over the years, mostly when a new volume was being released and I wanted to refresh my memory. With the next volume coming out in October or November, I want to be ready.

There will be three more volumes, bringing this series to a total of fifteen books. If they manage to produce one volume each year I might be able to rest on this rereading to simply read them as they come out.

If not, I will be reading the whole thing at least one more time. I probably will do so anyway, somewhere in the future. It is very good, and worth reading many times. As with Lord of the Rings, and even Harry Potter, reading an excellent work again is worth much more than reading a multitude of lesser works.

Perhaps I will become motivated to get back to my own writing. Not just the short stories over at

shortstoriesbymlockridge.blogspot.com

but also my novels. I have completed the one, but not yet published. I have begun a sequel to the first in what will probably end up a trilogy. I am currently stalled, but not forever. It calls me, and I can't stay away forever.

For now, though, I read. I have eleven volumes to get through in just a few months.

Ah, the sublime agony!

Highway 395-

I just completed a Google Document project, a virtual tour of Highway 395. This project had several goals. First was to learn how to use Google Documents.

I found Google Documents to be a positive experience. I could work on the document on any Internet connected computer. I did not have to haul the document around on a thumb drive, email it to myself, or otherwise do much of anything. I started, edited and maintained the document on Google.

It is easy to share, as well. I have an Internet document, accessible to other Google users. If I wanted to I could open the document to modification and editing by other Google users.

The interface is easy to use, and adequate to my purposes.

My second goal for the document was trip planning. I hope to travel highway 395 from the deserts of California to the border between Washington and British Columbia, either next year or the year following. This provided a nice planning tool. Not all of my planning is in the document, but it is a beginning. A dream, and a plan.

My third goal was to share the document. I am doing so through the link at the top of this blog. Contact me via email or comment to gain access. If you have feedback regarding the document, the idea or any other aspect of realizing this dream, feel free to comment here and share your thoughts. I hope to email some friends and family as well, and involve them through my blog and this document.

My final goal was to work on integrating my blogging and the planning of this trip. I wanted to use the various tools and learn to use them better.

This was a fun and interesting project. I believe that using Google Documents allowed me to build my dream of travel, explore use of Internet tools, and share my dream with other Internet users. I suspect that this is just the beginning.

On Journal Writing-

Call it a personal log, a diary, a journal. It is essentially documenting your life. I have kept a journal since January of 1973. There are spans of many months, perhaps even years, in which I did not make any entries, but it was still my journal.

I know something about journal writing.

That being said, I have also learned a bit about journal writing over those many years. How can a person do something like that for so long and not learn something?

The largest lesson learned has been regarding an error in personal philosophy. I determined many years ago to live a transparent life. I don't like keeping secrets, and never had any intention of living my life for other people. As the great philosopher Popeye said, "I yam what I yam."

So, I determined to record all of me for those coming after me to read.

I failed to take into account that even those who love me might not be able to handle all of me.

You see, there are several types of journals a person might keep. Cathartic journals, where complaints and injuries might be exposed and (theoretically) healing might begin. Erotic journals, where the sensual and sexual aspects of the self might be examined and explored. Journals of personal history. Philosophical journals, in which the writer develops a way of thinking and living.

Following my theory of transparent living I put it all into my journal. Thoughts, dreams, fantasies, personal history, excerpts from things I read that I found valuable and note worthy.

I invited my wife, Linda, to read my journal and get to know me. I learned that some aspects of myself should be edited even for someone as close to me as my wife. Some portions of what has been written have troubled her, and adversely affected our relationship. Perhaps not a fatal wound, but one that has left scars.

It seems that I have never been good at understanding other people, even those whom I love and who love me.

Now my journal writing has spilled over into the blogosphere. Fortunately I have learned a few lessons. Catharsis has a place, but not here. Eroticism also does not have a home in this blog. Oh, there might be a venue for such things, but not here. Some thoughts might be recorded here, but not all thoughts.

My hand written journals remain in a box, all thirteen volumes. My digital fourteenth volume is carefully stored away. Linda has challenged me to edit the thing so that my grandchildren can safely read it. Perhaps she is right. It might not be a kindness to inflict an unedited grandpa on them.

Maybe I should just get drunk and burn it all. My journal served me in many ways, but it just may better serve as fuel for a nice fire at this point in my life. It could be a living funeral pyre, a celebration of fire and smoke and ash. As the smoke would rise and thin my life would truly become transparent.

In the end it is just ticket stubs and playbills. Just programs saved from games long ended.

So, if you are just starting your log, journal or diary, keep in mind your purpose. Divide your efforts, to ease the editing process when the day of reckoning eventually comes upon you. If you have your cathartic, erotic and other dubious writings separate from your other work, editing will be much easier and the fire much smaller.

Your children and grandchildren don't necessarily need all of you. Just give them the best parts.

Dream Job-

One of the exercises in I Could Do Anything If I Only Knew What It Was: How to Discover What You Really Want and How to Get It by Barbara Sher is to describe your dream job. Since I have not yet figured out what I want to do, though I am pretty much grown up, I purchased that book and did most of the exercises.

Of late I have been assessing my desires and dreams and my current life. I think I have found my dream job. Unfortunately, I just don't see it making enough money to actually do.

I really would enjoy traveling around and seeing the United States and visiting just about every campground and campable place along the way. I would love to assess the campgrounds and publish those assessments.

There are, of course, complications to doing dream jobs. They are called Dream Jobs for a reason. They aren't our real jobs. We get real jobs to pay bills and clothe the family and keep a roof over our collective heads. Dream Jobs are dreams.

Still, it is a great dream. Of course, this particular dream job has evolved out of recent events. My setting up camp at work to avoid having to commute home in the morning after working all night. I really didn't camp a whole lot before this. Some, but not a lot.

Now, having equipment and experience, I realize I could do this quite a bit. I could travel and camp. I like to write, so assessing the camps I visit would fit well. A man without a family and a mortgage and a LIFE could do this.

Still, it is a dream with appeal. I have to wonder, could I do this?

Probably not. However, I sure will keep myself open to some way to make it work.

Sometimes dreams do come true. Right?

People who need people-

In reading my book on getting a literary agent, I learned about writers networking. A big part of the publishing process is involvement in the writing community. It is building a network of people to aid in the writing process by reading and critiquing your work. It is doing the same for them. It is building contacts and making friends.

I find this a bit daunting. I am far from a social being, and this is very challenging. Perhaps even a bit frightening and distasteful. Frightening because it is not comfortable. Distasteful because I really do prefer a lot of solitude.

It is also a lot of work, in addition to my writing. I am having to assess the whole process, and where I might fit within it. Had I a natural need for people, a social nature, it would be easier. Perhaps even desirable. As it is, I find it troublesome.

The process of getting published through the traditional routes is long. That in itself is not the problem. Jumping into the whole culture so late in life is a big deal for me. Getting the book read, getting feedback, and rewriting. Getting it into the hands of an agent, which in itself is a large task. Getting feedback (if I am lucky) and rewriting.

The publish on demand prospect is appealing, if only because it requires less in the way of networking and such. However, it is not generally a good path for those seeking real exposure.

I would be challenged to build a website and promote my book, largely on my own. I might find some readers, but really could not expect to get the book "out there" as well as the established pipelines of publication.

Then again, publishing is changing, and these new avenues and methods are part of that change.

There is no hurry. I must remind myself that writing the book was a goal in itself. It was a tool to overcome depression. It was largely successful, and has aided me a great deal just for that reason.

To be quite honest I find the self-publishing and marketing process more interesting. Perhaps it is because I can do so much of that through the convenience of the Internet. Not to mention that I would not be compelled to face the challenge of interpersonal interaction.

Ultimately I will face the challenge of stepping out of the comfort zone of isolation. It would be better if I hungered for the fellowship, but I do not. I am concerned about investing myself in others, and having my resources committed to them.

Perhaps that is what I really need. People.