The Curious Case of Phineas Gage

Phineas Gage

In 1848, Phineas Gage was a foreman, efficient, capable, and smart, employed to clear a railroad route through rocky terrain. He and his crew broke up rock formations by drilling holes down into them, filling the holes partway with gunpowder, and very carefully inserting a fuse. The hole was then sealed with clay and/or sand, which was tamped in place with a rod to concentrate the force of the blast towards the rock when the fuse set off the powder.

On that day, September 13^th, apparently no one added the sand. As Gage tamped down the charge, he turned to address the crew, putting his head straight above the hole.

The Brain and Memory

The human brain is the most complex structure in the known universe. If you are reading this, the odds are you have one of these amazing devices atop your shoulders, along with all your memories,* and your consciousness and your personality. There are some distinct oddities about this organ.

Unforsaken reaches ScreenCraft Semifinals

Unforsaken began as a 1500 word short story, Saguaro Flat — 1909, written for the Palos Verdes Library’s 2017 November Writing month. Audience reaction when it was read at the Library in early 2018 inspired me to adapt it for film. The resulting 45 page script was entered in ScreenCraft’s 2019 Short Screenplay competition. It reached the quarter finals this summer, and in late September, I was informed that it made the semifinals.

The logline is simple: Young greenhorn encounters a wounded desperado in the desert.

New From Wyzard Hill Press 🌜🗜🌛

Just gone to press: Tales For a Blue Moon, 18 far out, unique short stories and a cover to match by J Guenther. Here’s what they’re about:

A church looks forward to its annual Blessing of the Animals: “There’s a lot of interest again this year. We’ve already received twenty or thirty phone calls and a dozen anonymous notes shoved under the rectory door . . . ”

Adolfo wages his own private war in Arma Virumque Cano: “Hey! You!” the man said, waving a knife in his hairy fist. Alarmed, Adolfo stared at the knife . . .

A planet’s culture is dying in The Eight Times Cut Stone: “The old language of our planet is dying. If you people stay here, it will soon pass away, and we will speak only your Anglic language . . . ”

Silver Dream Sails Again

Available on Amazon

After a long interval that followed Sail Away on My Silver Dream going out of print, it’s now available again under the Wyzard Hill Press imprint–new cover, new interior, and a few minor changes in the text. I designed this cover myself to replace the World Nouveau Books design.

I’ve also made a few notes towards writing a sequel. More on that later. If you ask, I’ll let you know what title I have in mind for the next book.

🌛🗜🌜
Wyzard Hill Press

 

 

Picking an Imprint

It’s often a good idea to use an imprint name rather than your own when self-publishing. One problem with this is finding a name that hasn’t already been used. Even an inactive publisher name can result in confusion, and there are a jillion inactive publishers. Somewhere there’s a government list of publisher imprints. I’ll add it here if I can remember it.

Here’s a list of names I investigated:

Suffixes for Imprint:
.Press
.Books
.Publishing
.Publishers
.Publications
.Productions
.Studio
.Librofactorium
.Editions
.Ink
.House
.Media
.Group
.Novels
.Shop
.Works
.Lit
.Literary
.Codices
.Codex

checked as of 7 october 2016: (★★★★ = top rated)

★ Bauxedron Books
★ Secret Folio Press
★★ Inkadinkado Books
★★ ink on vellum press
★★★ Bluebell Valley Press
★★★ Moonlit Garden Press
★★★ Pod Bay Door Press
★★★ Silver Dream Publications
★★★★ Besserberg Books
★★★★ Kafkatopia Press
★★★★ Berengaria Press

Available but Rejected
Cryptology Press
ink & vellum press
ink on vellum books
Librorum Press
Myspionage Press
tomecula press
Zeundrom Press ← named after one of my characters

XXX ★Adamantine Press
zzz calliope press
XXX Centaur House
XXX Centaurus Press
XXX Chronicle
XXX Clandestine Press
XXX ★Clockwork Press
XXX ★Fahrenheit
XXX ★Firepoint Press /Fire Point Press
XXX Firewalk Press USED
XXX Galaxy Press (nutjobs)
XXX ★Gondwanaland
xxx Green Hill Books
XXX hierophant press (“priestess &”)
xxx Hilltop Press
xxx Hill House Green
XXX Labyrinth Press
XXX ★Librorum Prohibitorum Press
XXX Minotaur Press
xxx nostradamus press
XXX palimpsest
xxx Peninsula Press
xxx powhattan
XXX Rambling Rose Press
XXX Realm Press
XXX ★Sabre (dublin used)
XXX Serpentine Press
XXX Arachniz (~Arachnid, taken)← named after one of my characters
xxx catalyst
xxx codex
xxx spilled ink press
xxx spattered ink
XXX Squid Ink Press

something related to book/genre eg.
Uncategorizable Press

other terms:
pages
books
Ink
volume
tomecula
scroll
codex

A More Wretched Hive of Scum and Villainy

Yes, that’s our objective of the day: to turn your novel, novella, novelette or short into a hive of scum and villainy.

Stories of any length thrive on villains. The more wretched, the better. For without him or her, there is no conflict in your story (excepting stories about the hero versus himself– tales full of inner angst, bitterness, self-doubt, flatus, etc.) Without conflict, your tale will be blah. Good antagonists make good stories, and a good antagonist is bad.

How to Villain:

Human Brain. the Ultimate Puzzle

The human brain is probably the most complex system on this planet, the ultimate puzzle. Understanding the brain may help us make sense of some of the strangeness in human behavior. The problem is, we can’t take the brain apart to find out how it works. It’s not like an auto engine. The scale is different, the materials dissimilar, and the structure is, well, organic.

Brainstorying–The Garden of Forking Paths

The writing process, whether for novels or film scripts, has been characterized by many metaphors. Examples include building a bridge, painting a picture, hanging a clothesline, mapping an unexplored territory, opening a closet, making a sculpture, building a house, laying pipe, mining, surfing, riding a horse, and hunting.

All of these fail at some level. Here I propose another metaphor, knowing full well that someone else may have already suggested it. In fact, in a way, someone has:

Jorge Luis Borges

That ingenious Argentinian author, Jorge Luis Borges (~HOR-hay Lu-eez BOR-hays), wrote a story called “The Garden of Forking Paths.” The tale concerns (1) a lost labyrinth and (2) a nonsensical book rescued from the fire by a fussy executor.

SPOILER ALERT; READ THE STORY BEFORE THE FOLLOWING MATERIAL. OR READ ON IF YOU AREN’T GOING TO READ The Garden of Forking Paths.

Writers’ Rite

A friend says: “How you write so many books is beyond my understanding.”

My reply may be of general interest, possibly even helpful: