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In all fairness, I don't seem to either. Care to go exploring? |
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Hello and welcome. My name is Jack, and for around a decade, my "muse," whatever you conceive that to be, has been lying in a coma, rising occasionally to spout a line or two of gibberish, then falling back into oblivion. While I wait for her return, I offer reviews and this blog. Feel free to partake, but don't get too excited; the wake is still in progress. But thanks for your support, by the way. You guys are the best! Jack...  ![Merit Badge in WdC Community Hero
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| I suppose the title should really be "Who WAS I as a Writer," given the conversations I've been dispensing here, but I'm still trying, and I'm not going to give up that easily. I'm in for the long haul. But when I write, I have a certain style ~ we all do ~ and mine has always had a certain feel about it. This is a quick dissertation about where that style came from... If you're interested. I was a child of the '50s, which means that I just caught the tail end of the old Victorian manners and attitudes as they were being swept out to make room for the modern era of snatchin' and grabbin', of "Me first, and eff you!" I miss those times. More to the point, as a lifelong avid reader, I did my formative reading in the genre of adventure books for boys. This was a time when villains were cads, ladies were elegant, and the hero had perfect teeth... and since it was fairly obvious that no one else was going to write them anymore, I made it my business to write them myself. And here's the funny thing: Unless a few dozen total strangers who don't know each other are lying through their teeth for no other reason than to boost my ego, virtually everyone who reads these stories and takes the time to leave a comment or write a review, LOVES them! I have always felt humbled, honored, and blown away by turns. I had no idea that something so obsolete could strike such a chord with so many diverse people. And if that answers any questions you may have had, I'm pleased to do it; this is where I talk to you. If you'd like to discuss this, the comment section awaits. If you'd like to discuss anything else, ask a question, recommend a read, the place for that is "Scribblers' Den"  ; that's where you can "blog" to me, so to speak. I'm open for business all day every day except Thursday. Anything on your mind?Stay inspired! Jack ![Merit Badge in Good Deeds
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| Good morning, wonderful person, and I hope it finds you well! I'm here today for a couple of reasons. First is that according to my stat page, many, many people visit this blog every day; my forum, "Scribblers' Den" , not so much. The thing that immediately suggests to me is that I need to service this blog much more often. So be it. In my travels yesterday, I ran across this meme: WRITER'S BLOCK: When your imaginary friends stop talking to you. That is honestly the best description I've ever heard. I have a head full of imaginary friends, and I haven't heard a peep from them since... Let me see. I self-published The Stone Seekers in 2016, and I shopped that around for over a year after I finished it, so I'd have to say it's been at least a decade. Wherever do they go? Is there an unemployment office for characters who won't get up and perform anymore? Do they draw some kind of imaginary welfare? They must be making a living somehow, 'cause they sure ain't working for me! I talked recently about working on one story at a time, steeping myself in it, and avoiding all other distractions. I can't tell if it's going to work yet, but here's the lowdown: I have this old story, a novel really, that I was working on when something else came up, some trendy story that I have no memory of now, but it served to derail "The Orphan Princess" permanently... until now. It's a slow process, and that's deliberate. Every week I post a scene that I've previously written. It's polished in the sense that things that were plot distractions are filtered out, and each time I post a scene, I try to outline another chapter down at the bottom end. So far it's working. Will it continue? Stick around and find out!And that's what I've been up to lately. From this point on, I'll keep an eye out for things that might make interesting blog posts and try to get things up here before all that interest I spoke of dies out. So, what have you been up to lately? Stay inspired! J |
| Good morning, all, and I hope it finds you well. It finds me thrilled... overall. I was supposed to write a review today but I couldn't get my head around it, and rather than give some unsuspecting newbie a half-assed review, I decided I'd blog instead. So here I am. Now, what to blog about? Hmmm... Oh, I know! I said I was thrilled, and that's quite true. My little "let's chew the fat" forum, "Scribblers' Den" , was just nominated for a Quill Award for Best New Forum, as was I in the category of Best Reviewer. Best reviewer, me! Can you imagine? And the icing on that cake is that two of my reviews have been nominated for Best Review, so I'm chuffed, as my Australian friends say.But that isn't what I came here for. As everyone knows by now, I have been a prolific writer over a period of decades, but all that has gone away. I miss it terribly, and signed on here and began reviewing in the hope that rubbing up against the talented writers on the site and dissecting their work would snap my "muse" out of her coma. It hasn't, but apparently I'm a fair hand at reviewing, and the site has been kind enough to recognize it. Perhaps next year... but this is now, and I'm thrilled to recognized for something to do with writing, even if it isn't what I'd hoped. Of course, I can't be too put out by these developments. I mean, I knew what I was doing when I came here. My first handle was The Phantom Reviewer and "Jack's Diamonds" began life as Phantom's Gold, so I can't play ignorant now. Nor do I want to. I am quite pleased with how things have developed, and owe great thanks to you for accepting me in my role here. That doesn't mean that I'm not still trying to write, and if success should finally attend my efforts, you'll bed hearing about it here, in my forum, in the newsfeed, and anyplace else I can find to crow about it. But I'm not going to jump around like a hyperactive chihuahua shoving my half-finished projects in people's faces anymore. I've disappointed quite enough friends doing that to last a lifetime!Finally, a word about my username: I stormed out of here under a cloud a couple of years ago, and after waiting a while, wanted to tip-toe back in and turn over a new leaf. My handle in the old days was Blimprider, and some of you who had your toes trod upon by that A-hole may remember him. I couldn't very well use that again, so, the story behind holttaylor: Holt is my middle name; Taylor is what everyone I deal with invariably calls me two seconds after I say "It's Tyler, T-Y-L-E-R." And there you have it, a snapshot of me today, December 8th, 2025... For what it's worth. I hope you know me a little better now, and find me even more interesting. Have a great day, and I'll see you around the stacks. Stay inspired, Jack ![Merit Badge in Reviewing
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| Good morning, my friends, and I hope it finds you well. It still finds me struggling. Anyone who has paid more than casual attention to my scribblings here knows that for decades I was a writer until one day about a decade ago the muse left for parts unknown. That's the external story, the one that everybody sees who takes more than a casual glance. Today, I'm going to share the internal story, the one I feel and wrestle with every waking moment. This is how I view the Craft of writing: Whether your goal is to become educated or be entertained, whether your chosen medium is books, movies, TV shows, plays, comedy skits, or eulogies, all have one thing in common: None of them exist without writers. I have been a part of that community, and it's something I've lost. I feel that loss deeply, and I want with all my heart and soul to get it back. I've started story after story only to see them die in utero. My family know how bad I want this. On Father's Day I was gifted the Lore Masters Deck and on my birthday, the Story Engine Deck plus its horror supplement, Written in Ash and Bone. These are inspired prompt generators, and I'll provide a link below. But that isn't my point. I had some of these cards out playing around with them, and I realized that I don't need a prompt. I have nearly a dozen stories right here in my port that I've abandoned in frustration. They all grew from good ideas that I formed without any prompts other than my own imagination. If I can't bring those home to satisfying conclusions, what am I going to find in those boxes? Maybe if I can get my love affair with the Craft rekindled, then the cards might spark some future projects, but right now, it's all on me to fish or cut bait. These are unfinished stories that began in a blaze of glory then fell by the wayside as interest waned and boredom set in:
(If prompted for a passkey, it is ATTIC) These are completed stories that were intended to be the genesis of series, but for one reason or another, I never followed up on them:
Eight stories waiting for life, and here I am looking for prompts. Do you have any opinions on these stories all waiting to start? Do any of them intrigue you in a way that would make you want to see where they might go? I'm not saying that I'll ever finish any of them, but I don't want to sit on the sidelines watching the sand in my hourglass run out, and maybe a word of encouragement or an expression of curiosity over one or another of them would get me pointed in a direction that's more likely to lead somewhere then not. I deem it worth a look, hence this particular post on this particular morning. Any thoughts? J PS: here's that link: The Story Engine |
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