All good

Hey everybody!  September is pretty good so far.  I got to check out a live NXT show yesterday with my brother and nephew.  We had a great view of the ring and got to see some amazing matches with talents like the War Raiders, Ricochet, Heavy Machinery, Dominik Dijakovic, Tommaso Ciampa, Lars Sullivan, Johnny Gargano, and many many more.  Outside of that, there's some interesting new projects at work and now I get to burn the midnight oil to publish my latest book projects.

I'm now just waiting for Average Joe and the Beauty: Shadow Spinner to pass the review phase on Amazon.com as I work on Average Joe and the Beauty: The Sisters That Defy Fate.  I'll soon have that book ready to go by next week, hopefully.

Life Improvements

Things have improved a lot for me since my last post.  I am in a much better state mentally and have gained some new friends, allies, and opportunities.  I now work for a big popular company that shall not be named doing work that I never thought I'd be doing.  I have to be vague about it for now, but look forward to sharing my experiences in the future.

There have been so many events for friends and family close to me and I have been so busy keeping up with all that and supporting my loved ones.  Weddings, graduations, more graduations, more weddings, and so many other events.

Though much has improved for me, there is still much work to do and much more progress to be made with myself and with how I pursue my goals.  Now out of the initial training/probation period at work, my hours have changed and so I'll have to find creative ways to make time to train at the Shaolin dojo.  And I'll need to be better at making time for writing.  I'll definitely figure it out.

Outta Snow-Where and Feeling Better

A couple of days ago I mentioned how I felt low and wanted to shake things up.  I haven't really shaken much up aside from deleting and logging out of many of my social media platforms.  But internally there is a maelstrom of change that will affect me in a big way.  That, I can clearly see even when everything else feels obscured.  I am at a critical juncture in my life after all, with only a few dollars to my name and a need, a dire need to change the direction my life has been headed in for the last three years.

That said, I've had a good last few days and that has sorted me out a little bit.  Some intimate time with a lady friend and hanging with my closest friends for a few days, simply riffing and playing some games with my four non-blood brothers.  I often forget to enjoy such simple pleasures in pursuit of whatever I'm pursuing, but these euphoric couple of days has instilled within me just how important true friendship and intimacy can be.  I won't soon forget that.

It all culminated in a wicked snowstorm that broke out just as I contemplated returning home.  Needless to say, my trip back was adventurous.  The scene above shows the conditions I walked home in.  Those 3-4 inches of snow you see were very wet, as it began as rain and shifted into the biggest snowflakes I'd ever seen in only a few hours time.  Despite being happy and beyond that, grateful, I felt that the sudden storm captured my inner turmoil perfectly.  Those same two friends I was hanging out with, I was letting down.  We'd had a plan to move out together and buy a house, but I could not keep my end of the bargain.  My recent book sales were simply too paltry to do so and now I didn't even feel that Detroit was the proper place to foster the growth that I so desperately needed.  But honestly, none of that mattered.

The old me would bask in that negativity brewing within, but now it was a simple passenger.  I had no desire to complicate things.  I felt good, my feet were cold, and it was time to go home.  That's all.

Schizophrenic Michigan weather only a few seconds after the first photo

There's a lot on the horizon now in my life.  I'm ready to let some things go and to embrace some aspects of the "real" world that I've been refusing for as long as I can remember.  For me, it's literally sink or swim, so I have to choose my next move carefully.  Absolutely one thing is certain.  It is time to embrace the real, what can be truly felt, even if it brings overwhelming hardship.  That is infinitely better than a daily dose of illusory panacea.

BW
3/2/18

Liandra and the Dream Reader is now on the blog

Just added the first chapter and will have all up by the end of the week.  This is the original version of the story with those unique dialogue attributions that I previously mentioned.

Liandra is a young girl from Lebanon who suffers from debilitating night terrors.  In her desperation to rid herself of her nightly suffering, she turns to a strange man versed in the supernatural, a dream reader.

Shaking things up a little bit

Sometimes it's just time for a change.  Wouldn't you agree?

I'm quickly approaching 30, horribly lonely, constantly feel inadequate, poor, and oh so much more.  Because of that and my constant glaring failures, I feel the need to change some things in my life.  I don't know what, but maybe this blog is a good place to start.

I think it'll be more personal ...

BW

Unorthodox Writing Style

Quite a few writers have them. Cormac McCarthy for one. He doesn't use dialogue attributions and that's exactly what I'm here to talk about today. To better connect with readers, I've been changing up my writing style for the last few years and frankly I'm dissatisfied with that. The main difference between my style and what's considered mainstream is my dialogue style. Instead of the standard dialogue attributions of he said and she said dominating my pages, I like to simply list the speaking character's name similar to a script.

Belart: "It goes a little something like this. It's easy to follow and we always know who's speaking. I find it to be simple and effective."

To me, it eliminates the repetition inherent in the use of normal attributions. It also clears up the occasional confusion that crops up when trying to figure out who's talking. Sure, a good writer can remove such confusion but this method does so effortlessly. The other problem it clears up is the need for me to be so annoyingly creative with my placement of normal attributions. I'm always thinking, "Should I place it here, so close to the last one?" "Pronoun or proper noun?" "Do I even need it at all or is it clear who's speaking." Why hassle myself like that or readers? I feel as if once you get accustomed to the style that the simple nameplate dialogue attribution will be will eventually become less intrusive than even a typical he said/she said attribution.

Anyways, since this blog is for me, my stories, and anyone happening to stop by, I plan on writing most of my stories here in the dialogue styles that I like. My next story here, will be the one I feel most confident about and it uses the dialogue style I've mentioned. I can't wait to show it off. Stay tuned for Liandra and the Dream Reader!

BW

New Page Added for Average Joe Samples

You can click the link above or this one http://belartsstories.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html if you don't feel like scrolling.