A few lines from BOOK THREE

"A blind rooster gets more sleep," Tobiel said after Tehtena had finished sharing Solomon's comments. Not even the most romantic story could not keep him from making his funny remarks. "And so does his whole neighborhood," Deborah added, chuckling and squeezing her husband's hand.

A few lines from the trilogy

I should have felt it sooner, sensed it long before you confessed your love to me. But then, does a blind rooster crow at the first faint sign of dawn? Will it not have to feel the warming rays of a fully risen sun to know that the morning has come? Thus my heart did not break into song until your precious words removed all doubt that my night, at last, had ended.

— — —

"Even on sunless days the shadow of death falls sharply across my path. Only you, my beloved, can soften its edges."— Tehtena

— — —

When your looks have faded and your last lover has discarded you like a torn garment, come to me, for I have always loved the hidden you.

Twitter & Facebook

Like many other writers and artists, I have a Facebook page and love seeing the number of "likes" go up. Besides, few things spur me on more when I get lazy than to imagine that 2000+ 'fans' will be disappointed with me if I don't finish my novel or do not give it my very best.

From time to time there are initiatives on Facebook that help people get more "likes", but there are other ways as well. One of them is Twitter.

I have a lot of followers on Twitter—roughly 13,200 at the moment—and I've got so many because I always take a proactive approach. I regularly look at the list of followers of other writers and follow those I find interesting. If they follow me back, I introduce myself with the following message:

Thanks a lot for the follow, (insert name here). Please let me introduce myself: https://www.facebook.com/pages/MakedaQueen-Makedas-Sister/115244978463 & http://ruppertlindemann.jimdo.com/oil-paintings-drawings/ Nice 2 meet U! :)

True, many on Twitter do not like DMs (Direct Messages), but they do not mind a simple, friendly introduction like this. In fact, most appreciate such a convenient way of getting to know who I am and what I do, and roughly one in ten will "like" my page while visiting it. Needless to say, I always ask them for a link to their FB page so I can return the favor.

I have met tons of great writers and artists in this manner and treasure even those who did not "like" my FB page. I am sure you will have a similar experience if you use Twitter this way. It takes a little bit of work, but is well worth the effort.

Some thoughts on writing

If you are a writer, you are actually making movies. Only, your audience is given nothing but close captioning on a blank screen. Your viewers see only words in front of them, yet those words will create images in their minds that surpass anything projected onto a screen. They even provide a soundtrack to amplify and enrich your story (yes, a well-told tale creates music in the soul). And not only are you the director, the cinematographer and the scenic artist, but disguised as you characters, you also play every part in your film, and you do it so well that no one recognizes you. It's quite a project and a challenge, isn't it? So take your sweet time and make it an Oscar-worthy masterpiece. :-)

Having fun with homophones...

I was shocked to learn that Odysseus himself was inside the Trojan Whores. And I thought he was always faithful to his wife, Penelope. ;-)