Another Great One

 Recently I got another wonderful review. A few weeks back I wrote about a review I got from a former policeman. He was not someone who wanted to give me a good review, but he grudgingly did (see here). I think I like these reviews from people who don't like my work. 

Thank you KCat. I don't mind at all being compared to Joseph Heller and Earnest Hemingway. I'm happy to hear that. I remember reading lots of Hemingway in high school, in Belgium as a foreign exchange student, and in college. His style never appealed to me either KCat, but Joseph Heller? That's a whole nother issue. 

I love Heller. Catch 22 is one of my faves. Sure there is an ebb and flow that can be tedious, but the writing and the plot, the characters and humor all are superb. I'll gladly let you compare me to Heller.  

It's a tad nerve wracking these reviews. I'm glad I get so many positive ones, but these reviews from folks who don't really like me, they're the best!

No Fan of the Victorian Era, However . . .

 I am no fan of the Victorian Era, however I have started receiving letters from a little group that sends them out that transport me to that time with some Letters from Sherlock Holmes. 

The group that does this is called "Dear Holmes," (see here) and really it's quite fun. For a long while, I participated in Letter Joy, which sent out representations of famous historical letters once every two weeks. It was really interesting but there was no theme to it all. One week would come a letter about a problem installing cabling in the Chesapeake Bay (turned out to be the first telegraph line or something) the next week a riot in Philadelphia, (a voting rights riot), all quite intriguing but no common thread to link it all together. In fact, in each envelope, there were two letters, and in many cases, there weren't commonalities between the two letters! After about a year I gave up on the historical letters through Letter Joy. 

Dear Holmes at leas provides a little, silly, mystery to solve. The one I'm reading through right now is about a museum curator who is writing to Holmes because of break-ins. I'm on my third letter in this case. I predict the next will be the solution. Then it will all start again. 

It's fun to get something through the mail like this. It arrives, I see it on the kitchen counter, I have to take my time, stop life for a moment, to sit down and think and read. It helps me take a step out of the regular hoi-polloi of life. 

I wish there were serial novellas of the same type. Now that I think about it, I betcha there is. Usually, if I've thought of something, some other enterprising entrepreneur has already done it (see here). A serial novella might have that same consistency of theme throughout that I like from the Dear Holmes letters. I'll let ya know!

Storytelling

We have a series of leadership training classes at the training center where I work. One of these, Speaking as a Leader, is designed to help leaders express themselves to their managers, their teams, and to their clients. What is the point of knowing tools and techniques for effective leadership if you can't effectively communicate to those you may lead? One of the modules within "Speaking as a Leader" is effective storytelling. 

I am a huge fan of storytelling to set the mood, the setting, the tone and to provide an analogy or a handrail that an audience can follow for the rest of the presentation. My former boss was a master at setting a stage in even very dry, formal, meetings around finances and the state of the company with a story that made the audience want to pay attention, listen, and find out more about the rest of the presentation. Since working with him, I've always wanted to master the technique he used so effectively. 

I have however had moments when my stories bombed. It's never a good feeling and usually, the presentation is doomed as soon as the story fails. It's as if with a good story that does the right job the presentation has a chance to be born and grow and mature, but with a bad story the entire presentation is undermined, the foundations cracking and crumbling, and everything comes tumbling down. 

What have I learned about stories? One major rule I've learned is to keep it succinct. I've learned from several failed attempts that if you try to draw out a story, add too much exposition, provide too much detail that doesn't pertain directly to the point, or if you are too tangential, then you run the risk of losing the audiences attention and when you try to transition to the point of the presentation you will have already lost them.

I believe the point of the story should be the introduction, not the first act. A prologue, not a full scene. It should be pithy and pointed and be obvious. The last thing you want is to waste time telling a story that half the folks in the audience get bored with and the other half who listened don't understand how it relates to the point of the presentation. 

I think there is no better way to engage an audience or to create a connection with those you are speaking to than telling a relevant and worthwhile story to catch their interest and allow them to see that what you are about to say may have real-world consequences. 

Best Review Yet

So, this could be the best review yet.

One of the things that is difficult when writing a mystery is giving the main character a reason to pursue the mystery themselves rather than just turn it over to the police. In the case of Vapor Trail I channeled my little brother. My little brother HATES police officers. I'm sure there's some reason for it, a bad experience or two, friends from high school he didn't like who became police, I don't know the specifics, but in the case of that mystery, I took his approach and had the main character despise the police. Well, that got under the skin of one of my readers.

I do wish I could write to Stephen and let him know that I, personally, love police. I'm very much a Blue Lives Matter guy in today's day and age. Truth is that I have several close friends who have all become police and I like and value the work they do. For several years I worked with a company that provided dash mounted video cameras and I got to see behind the scenes what police have to deal with day in and day out. I even have a concept for a novel about what of the more grizzly scenes I saw. So, I get it, Stephen. I understand the world of police and I support you all.

That being said, thanks for the best review ever. The fact that I had him hating my character but liking my writing says alot. I hope he does read this. Glad he liked the writing.

Bubbles

"Thin line between heaven and here."

Because of work, life, and school demands I have not had enough time to read for fun. I have still been writing for fun. In fact, I'm hoping to release a book of short stories soon, so my writing life is still going full bore. And I've started writing this blog again, so if anything, my life has changed positively for writing, but not as much for reading.

Great Reviews

I hope you won't mind a bit of egotism. I've been getting some wonderful reviews (here) and would love to share them with someone. These are all for Vapor Trail (here).

5.0 out of 5 stars Conspiracy theories and murder
Reviewed in the United States on August 13, 2020
A former soldier finds himself dealing with conspiracies while investigating his boss's death. This is another Jack Reacher style thriller and it's done very well! I like a good thriller and this one is very well-written. The pacing is consistent and the characters are great. Hannah has a great writing style that's easy to follow and he wastes no time in throwing readers into the action. It's definitely a book that I'd recommend checking out if you're into this type of story. I'd also recommend it to those who are curious or looking for something different.

I don't mind hearing "Jack Reacher style thriller." I'll take that all day.

5.0 out of 5 stars Military thriller
Reviewed in the United States on August 21, 2020
A well written military thriller with interesting characters (the protagonist took a little while for me to wrap my mind around, truth be told), and a good dose of real-world conspiracy for good measure.  Death, murder, and conspiracy are intertwined and complicated by family ties and friends past and present that keep you guessing and on the edge of your seat.

I enjoyed the intensity of this story and would recommend this book to anyone who tends to read in this genre!  

"Interesting characters" and "good dose of real world conspiracy" . . . those are things I can accept.

5.0 out of 5 stars Nice page turner
Reviewed in the United States on August 9, 2020
This military thriller was quite a page turner. I thoroughly enjoyed it. The book was laced with conspiracy theories yet the plot was well done and easy for me to follow.

"Page turner". . . . thanks! Glad to hear it.

5.0 out of 5 stars Different in a really great way
Reviewed in the United States on August 18, 2020
I have a love/hate relationship with this book. The writing's impeccable while the story just kept on growing and growing on me until I couldn't put it down. It just took me some time to get into the character's head but that's probably me. All in all, I love this story and highly recommend it.

WOW! Impeccable writing! I'll take that all day every day!

5.0 out of 5 stars You'll love this mystery that must be solved.
Reviewed in the United States on August 19, 2020
Vapor Trail by Dick Hannah has well-developed characters and is full of unexpected twists. It provides a unique look into security and military and fitness buffs will enjoy the exercise and running. If you're into Dick Francis or Lawrence Sanders then this is the book for you.

And I'll take "unexpected twists" . . . this is a review I love.

5.0 out of 5 stars A mystery to follow
Reviewed in the United States on August 23, 2020
Very intense with interesting plots. it took a while for me to guess around but very engaging. Great dose for my sunday coffee!

How did they know that I like coffee, and especially sunday coffee so much!

Does an ego good to hear so many good reviews in the past month or so.

Strangest Thing She's Ever Read

I follow a tweet called "@men_write_women." It's a series of samples from authors and readers who have read books about women or that include women written by male authors. Usually the posts are ridiculous writing of women by men.

Last nights post was especially strange. in face when I showed it to my wife she said "That's the strangest thing I've ever read."

The passage from last night was:

Standing in the middle of the bedroom, we take off each other's clothes.

He has a light, fumbling brutality, which several times makes me think that this time it'll cost me my sanity. In our dawning, mutual intimacy, I induce him to open the little slit in the head of his penis so I can put my clitoris inside and fuck him.

Not sure what a "light, fumbling brutality" is. Sounds to me like a contradiction. A "heavy, fumbling brutality," sure I can see that. "A thick, fumbling brutality," also sounds plausible. but a "light" one I don't get.

Then there's the "It'll cost me my sanity" line. Why? In what way does a "light fumbling brutality" lead to a loss of sanity?

Finally there's the absurd idea of being able to open the slit of a penis to allow a clitoris in to fuck it. Ludicrous. I don't even think it's possible and I can't imagine it would be enjoyable in the least.

I think my wife had it right . . . strangest thing I've ever read.

Character, Character, Character

In writing classes we are always taught that it is character that moves a reader to continue with a book or story. The plot can be wonderful and intriguing and engrossing but without a compelling character the reader will probably put the book down.

I think it's very interesting when I read a book about character(s) and the author has slammed so many at the reader, the reader can't help but be compelled by at least one.

When I was in high school I read The Fountainhead and loved it. I thought it was the best book I had ever read. I loved the struggle that Howard Roark went through and how he fell for Dominique. Then I saw a tweet last year that basically said that Ayn Rand novels were perfect for teens but that adults should see through them. I put that theory to the test.

The theory (at least in my case) was correct.

I didn't care about Howard or Peter or Dominique or any of them. Their motivations were insane to me, their caring was silly, their struggles seemed false.

Now I'm reading WEB Griffin's, The Lieutenants. I would have sworn I had already read this book, but now, reading it, I don't know if I have. But what's funny is that there may be one central character (Sandy Felter I'm guessing), but there are twenty or more characters just as central to the plot as Sandy. So even if the reader doesn't like Sandy, there's bound to be one of the other twenty that the reader will like.

This is the type of book I might write next. This National Novel Writing Month I may finish out Sunset Perfect, but somewhere on the horizon there is a multi-character novel just waiting to be released.

Things Have Slowed . . .

Things may have slowed, but it's still trickling . . .just in the wrong way.

What's that mean?

I'm writing . . . in fact I'm writing alot. But I'm writing for work not for fun. I'm writing a white paper about my new company and our newer tools and solutions. This is absurd for many reasons.

I am the newest member of the company and yet I'm the one who is tasked with writing about it. That doesn't say much about my colleagues I suppose, but I like to think it says volumes about my abilities and the confidence my boss/bosses have in me.

I say, "in me" and not "in my writing" because they haven't seen any of my writing. So it must just be confidence in me.

I just wrote:

How can this ability affect a single contractor? The Houston Area Safety Council has trained 1,043 people for one of our Houston Area Contractor Members in the past 365 days. For the past year this contractor benefited from 6,735 courses in which a Basic Plus or Basic Plus Refresher course was already taken for other sites. Assuming the $25 dollars per unit price and the same $28/hour average from before, this contractor would have paid $168,375.00 on the Basic Plus and Basic Plus Refresher courses and would have had to pay $565,740.00 which translates to a total savings over the year of $734,115.00.

Not my most compelling writing.

Here's the next most silly part . . .

I've never written a white paper. Nope . . . never written a white paper. I've written oodles of term papers, and tons of marketing material, but never blended the two into one to make a white paper. It's taken a bit so far, but I'm making progress. The sad part of all of this is that its taking away from my daily ration of writing that I might put toward writing Sunset Perfect.

I'll get back to it though . . . National Novel Writing Month is closing in.

Good to be Back

I've posted it before (see here), but persistence is more important to writing than any other factor. I've been writing this past weekend and it feels good to get back into writing.

Coolidge said it best when he talked about persistentness and pressing on.

At the moment I'm outlining things. I found a terrific outline coaching webpage based on the snowflake method. It's here.

It's nothing miraculous, but it's a nice format, detailed, and should help when the serious writing begins. One of the things I like most about it is that the author writes, "take and hour and write a character page for your main character."

This is a small thing but it hit me quite perfectly. No one has said, "take an hour" like that. It won't take me an hour, but having the order to "take an hour" some how helps. I've gotten through steps 1 and 2 and have completed two character pages on step 3. Already I can tell this work before the novel will have positive affects on the writing of the novel later.

Who knew someone telling me to "take an hour" could be so powerful.