Monday, January 30, 2017

Good-bye Poetry Journal

Today, I have to retire one of the two poetry journals or notebooks or workbooks- whatever you want to call it. I have this weird thing where I write poetry on paper with pen. Not that I don't write poetry on the computer because I do just that is not the norm. This sweet little notebook has no lines and is spiral bound and cost me two bucks at Wally-World.

The no lines are important and hard to find. Unless of course, I want to shell out a bunch of money for a sketchbook. I bought this notebook two years ago and there are three empty pages and it is time for retirement. Yeah that is another weird thing, I never completely finish a notebook. I always leave a few pages because I always like to make sure the same poem is in the same notebook. In the time I had this I have written poems for a National Poetry Month challenge, two poetry classes, various poems because I wanted to write a poem, notes on chapbook creation, poems for my Halloween book

My handwriting is pretty bad. It is a mixture of cursive and print. I swear the older I get, the worse it becomes. I kid you not, I even have a hard time reading what I wrote. These pages here are the first draft. There are some pages with arrows, scribbles and  words in the margin.

When I was younger, I wrote poems on whatever was handy- napkins, paper plates, scraps of  paper, margins in school notebooks. Over the years, many of those are long gone. I think I may have one in a shoe box but that is probably degrading over time.

Sometimes, when I am looking for something else, I come across one of these old journals. I find myself rereading it. Then BOOM, I lost an hour or two.  But rereading those old notebooks, I learn something. I learn about how much my writing has improved over the years. I can visibly see the progression.

Anyway, should I ever become famous, these will be valuable to some scholar writing their dissertation and looking for insight. That is if they can read my handwriting.

Before signing off, I just want to share with you that I have gathered all the stories for my upcoming short story collection Sanctioned Shadows. I am going to start final revisions tonight. Once they are done, I will decide the order and begin preparing the book for publication. I am shooting for February or March of this year.

Till next time...

Thursday, January 26, 2017

Syringe

The black cat with the white diamond on its forehead wobbled through the rain soaked street. The smell of blood brought him to a dying man beside a green dumpster.  Vertigo needed the blood. Birds, mice, and human blood all made him sick. He would just take a little bit to take the edge off but even that was too much sometimes. The man reached out and tried to stroke his wet fur.  Vertigo backed up and stepped on a syringe. A tiny bit of warmth spread into his paw. His hunger subsided a bit.

Vertigo watched the life vanish from the man’s eyes then  crept over to the four inch gash in his stomach and licked once.  It flooded his system, everything inside woke up. The itches started;  his eyes watered. His throat flared up and breath became harder to come by.  He collapsed beside the dead man.

Vertigo awoke with bright lights surrounding him. A woman in bright pink scrubs with a jovial cat and dog heads  stroked his fur, “Don’t worry, we are going to get you better and find you a new home soon.”

She accidentally touched the wound on his neck. Vertigo  hissed, howled then sunk his fangs into her wrist. Beautiful, wonderful, delicious blood filled his mouth. She screamed. Vertigo’s throat swelled shut, and he collapsed.

The smell of rot roused him awake. His dead heart pumped his dead blood through his veins once again. It was dark with only a sliver light coming from above. He looked and saw dozens of cats, dogs, and even bunny rabbits decomposing in some kind of pit. Weren’t these animals supposed to be burned? At least that is what he read somewhere or saw on the idiot box.

How long has it been since he turned? Ten years and he went in anaphylactic shock everyday. And everyday he would die then wake up.  He has walked onto busy highways and was hit fives times and then come back fresh as a daisy several hours later. He pestered known cat haters in the neighborhood. They would shoot him with some large deer rifle and he would die and then come back a little while later.

He was done with it. But how, how does one die when you are a vampire cat?

Vertigo looked for a way out and saw a rat dart into a crack in the wall. The syringe, he stepped on it. Was there only a drop of blood? It was almost enough. He followed the rat through the sewer and back out into the world, his hunger brought his world out of focus once again.

The cat wandered the streets until he got to the abandoned state hospital just outside of Philly. People groaned and growled inside. A skinny bum wearing a ratty coat was propped up  against the wall. His cracked feet poked through worn sneakers. Jackpot! In his arm was a dirty syringe. Dirty or not who cares? The man had his eyes closed.

With his mouth, Vertigo pulled the plunger and until the syringe was full and then yanked it out. Blood squirted out and dripped down his arm. The cat took the syringe and placed it sideways so the plunger was against the wall and needle outward. Taking his paw, he forced the blood through the needle. His mind and senses became sharper. He waited for a reaction. There was none.

Like a junky, he lay on the ground with pleasure and listened to the faint heartbeats of the humans in the building. He was free and ready to live  the eternal life his old mistress had given him before she was staked all those years ago.


***
Hey all, It's been awhile since I posted a story (okay I posted one at Christmas). This is flash fiction and is only 617 words. I took a free flash fiction writing class and this is one of the stories I wrote for that class. What do you think?

Tuesday, January 24, 2017

Global Warming? Tuesday in January

This is how our winter has been- we get a little snow, then within in the week it is gone. For this winter season we may have had maybe 6 or 8 inches of snow all season. Yesterday it was in the forties in the morning and then it rain, sleeted and I woke up to quite a bit of snow this morning. I saw a report somewhere it was about three to four inches for my town. Right now, it is almost forty with the snow already melting. Tomorrow should be close to fifty. I have lived in this part of Pennsylvania for almost sixteen years and it is cold and snowy (not Alaska snowy but enough snow to look like winter). The last two winters have been mild. Although, I think this January was even warmer.

Enough about the weather.... (and politics for that matter, I think I need a break.) I decided to hide Suburban Vampires until further notice. With this gone, I took the adult content warning off. I am hoping to have more web traffic as a result. What am I going to do with it? I still love the idea and I should finish it (that and fifty other projects I've got going on). I also thought maybe I should turn it into a screenplay and sell it to the CW or Netflix. For some reason I just never have this drive to write a screenplay. I know how to write a screenplay but maybe I need some motivation. On one hand, I am not sure if I want to be a screenwriter. In one way. it would be pretty awesome and in another way, I just don't think I am cut out for it.

I think about screenplays a lot. It is more like I daydream about screenplays. Sometimes though it does seem like my stories may actually fit better for the screen. Like the Gerry Meyer stories (the demon chick) they seem like they would fit nicely on TV because there is a lot of ways it could go.

Speaking of writing, I am working on all sorts of self improvement habits to help stay focused as a writer. One them is revising by last novel, I wrote. I am slowly working on completing stories for Sanctioned Shadows and the other day I actually wrote- not a blog post, school work or anything else but an old story that needs to be finished. I am trying to focus more on writing projects than doing stupid stuff like playing Candy Crush or wasting time on Facebook. So far so good, but then again I have been really trying for the last week. You should ask me in a month how that's going.  I plan on posting a new story here this week! So that is something to look forward to.

That's about all. Till next time...

Sunday, January 22, 2017

Jet Star Jockey by JM Scott FREE until Jan 26 2017

Hey all, I wanted to let you know that Jet Star Jockey is FREE on all markets until January 26, 2017.

I can't believe the book has already been out a year. Some of my older ones have been out for three. I am still proud of this book as it was a year long project that really explored both art making and poetry making.

And I won't make another one like it. I am, however working on a poetry calendar that I should have ready sometime in the fall.

Slowly, I am working on finishing Sanctioned Shadows. I have written some new stories for it. I am still revising those stories and then I have to move the final planning stages of the book. When I first started working on it, I didn't feel like I had enough stories. It's not like there is a set rule or anything, it just didn't seem right to me at the time. Like it wasn't plumpy enough.


Well that's about for now, please enjoy the following sample from Jet Star Jockey. Till next time...



Friday, January 20, 2017

Make America Great- er

I just watched the inauguration. And Donald Trump said that we ( as we the people) will not be ignored. Funny, too because I do not think congress actually listens to any of us. Sorry but Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell do not represent any of my thoughts. And they are leaders in congress.  I shut off CNN as the prayers started.

But there are three things that can be worked on this country to make America Great-er. Because I believe America is already great. Even with the our shitty history and current state of affairs. Maybe I am idealist and maybe I believe too much in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

How to Make America Great-er:

First remember the words Thomas Jefferson wrote in the Declaration of Independence, "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." These should be our guiding principles.

Universal Health Care

Life. For some of us the ACA is not affordable. The deductibles and premiums are too high. And if we don't have health insurance,  we lose some of our refund. Here is a fix and it is universal health care.  I know it sounds SCARY, LIBERAL and SOCIALIST.  When it comes to government, the GOP like to claim they are fiscally responsible. If that is so then why does America spend more on healthcare then other nations with universal health care?

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Developement say, "the overall level of health spending in the United States is so high that public spending on health per capita is still greater than in all other OECD nations..."

Our current system is wasting money. So much for fiscally responsible.

Who will pay for it?

Obviously,  it is not free. ALL WORKERS pay Medicare tax. It doesn't matter how much you make. You are  16 and work part time, you are paying Medicare. You are a making six figures, you are paying medicare. Even self-employed people pay Medicare.

Currently, your share of Medicare tax is a set rate of 1.45% of income. Your employer pays 1.45%

How much is insurance taking your out of your paycheck?

Let's raise the Medicare tax to 5% for both worker and employer. These numbers are an example only but I hope to illustrate a point.

At 10.50 an hour/ 40 hours a week you make $420 gross before taxes. 5% is $21. $84 for a month and $972 a year you would pay into Medicare. That is you alone.

At $30 an hour/  40 hours a week you make $1200 gross before taxes. 5% is $60. $240 for a month and $2,880 a year you would pay into Medicare.

Again how much are your premiums?

I know someone who pays $9000 a year for employer offered insurance for a family.  His employer chips in additional  $6000 a year for the insurance.

With universal healthcare, YOU would be saving money and business will be saving money.

And think about it, you could go to the doctor without worrying about not paying the bills. You could get treatment for cancer without begging your family, friends, and strangers for money to pay for it. You could get the script you want to help you quit smoking.  Or get that fungus looked at and finally wear sandals again.

It's not scary, it is our right to life.

Fixing the K-12 Public Education System

There are some public schools which are awesome and there are some that are not. I know everyone is bitching about college costs. I know I feel it too, I am a college student and with an impending graduation, I will have more college debt than my house is worth. And I am going to pay on them because I signed  a paper saying I will. Plus, in addition to my creative writing degree, I am taking communication classes so I can put my degree to use.

When I was younger, I moved around a lot because my Dad had a job that was only available at certain businesses. Before the first move, I was in the same school district in PA from Kindergarten to a fourth of fifth grade. I moved from one district in PA to another in fifth grade and other then the people everything was pretty much the same.

Then I moved from PA to Delaware after fifth grade. In sixth grade, I went to an inner city school because my district participated in busing. In 1991, it was safe there were no shootings or anything but they literally had nothing except for one overhead projector and maybe a tv. The standards were much lower. In seventh and eighth grade I went back to the suburbs and the standards weren't any better. School was simple, in fact I did't have to do much to get an "A."

In 1993, we moved from Delaware to New Hampshire. And suddenly the standards were much higher. I actually had to work and do a lot of work. While at Merrimack, I took a lot advanced classes which brings us to 1997.

In 1997, we moved from New Hampshire back to Pennsylvania. After my new high school figured out what to do with my transcript,  I learned I had enough "credits" to graduate but I had to go to school because I need certain amount of classes. Quakertown was a hell of a lot easier. Not as much as Delaware but easier than NH.

I have no idea how to fix it. Here is what I believe the goal should be all schools should offer the standards. One student should not be behind in a district because he or she moves from a poor performing district. We need to look at what makes the good schools good and then each district needs to make policy that help achieve that goal. Kids in the inner city have to deal with violence and poor buildings. And this is different from kids who go to poor rural schools. There is not a one stop fix. There has to be one goal, to provide good education in good, safe schools.  We need to listen to people who come different schools and have experience in education and try out new ways to help the bad schools.

I know what I experienced while I was in school but I am not an expert on anything.

Take Religion out of Politics

Liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Here is a big one, taking God out of Politics. We have the freedom of religion (you know in the First Amendment right before the Second Amendment). That means we also have the freedom of no religion,

How can a government rule if it caters to religion or even one denomination of Christianity or Islam or whatever.

People who are against same sex marriage say it is against God. Who are you to say?

Why is there this push for more religion. "No birth control- against my religion" but aren't you imposing  your religion on someone else? Maybe that person is a Satanist, atheist, Pastafarian what ever.

If God is real, than he will take of the judgement. That is not your duty.

The good lot of us follow laws because they are moral laws based on our society deems as right and wrong. We don't need a God or Gods telling us otherwise. Because it seems like religion is filled with contradictory statements.

For the government to be fair and impartial then it must govern without religion but what is right or wrong. And if congress would listen to us (and there are some that do) then we wouldn't be ignored.

Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. I believe in this, I always have believed in this. 




Wednesday, January 18, 2017

Into the Garden by JM Scott Free Until Jan 21 2017

Hey all, I just wanted to let you know Into the Garden: Acrostic Poetry Collection is FREE in all Kindle markets until January 21, 2017.  Why not grab a free copy, today?

Here is a free sample from the book, enjoy!

Elderberry

Ectoplasmic sunrise, bats lost in
Light, black leaves falling.
Dapper folk square dance to
Extinction. Stonehenge looms in fancy dreams.
Revive that night when the
Blue moon wore a halo, an
Eerie silence settled in the frosty fog.
Ready for what comes next?
Ravenous ravens and
Yellow bellied penguins fly together, strange happenings come tomorrow.

Sometime in the Middle of January

Hey all, I have been wanting to write a blog post for days now and I am not sure what happens. One is time itself is escaping me. There are days where I have no idea where hours just go. I have a post planned that I even did research for, I just need to sit down and write it. Of course, isn't that always.

I am slowing working on finishing the stories for my upcoming ebook, Sanctioned Shadows. I took this free flash fiction class and I have five flash fiction stories. The class said no more than 500 words, I took a bit of liberty with it but there are no stories over a 1000. I had this idea of writing flash fiction stories in the form of news releases but I have not done it yet.

Last term, I took my last fiction workshop and I thought I would be able to write more but I did not do that either. I think I am kind of hard on myself. This term I am learning about how to market my writing. So I made some changes to this blog from the header, to streamlining the categories now you can find what you are looking for easier.

There is always so much to do and I do have plenty of time but for some reason, I am always in the clouds or in lala land. And believe it or not, I have cut down my Candy Crush time a lot where I am down to playing it once or twice a day, which I find acceptable. I hate wasting time. Now I just need to cut my Facebook time down by fifty percent and my nap time down.

That's about all today, I will try to write more. I have a bunch of poems ready for posting and I want to either write a story or find one that is short, I may use one of new ones.

Till next time...

Saturday, January 14, 2017

Derecho Makes an Appearance

Fixating on an over-sized wood
spider hiding in between the green nylon
rain fly and the gray tent, my eyes
open as hazy humidity
builds on the rocky pathway.

By noon, my clothes are drenched
from the absence of rain
burns on my skin
reach forbidden flesh.

The haze hangs crooked
over the hemlock
and something chirps
unseen, fire snaps and spits
male June bugs buzz
and slam around the LED lantern
they come uninvited
like Derecho

You take your freshly whittled
spear made from a dead tree branch
jab the juicy June bug
fire roast him
to see if he would POP.

Derecho lumbers
through the woods, rips
the sky open, plays with  high
voltage, exposes pink and violet
battle scars from warring
cold and warm fronts.

The tired, almost retired Derecho,
comes to camp in the valley nestled
next to the Susquehanna
River where he’s not
welcome to warm by the fire
that still burns.

The fire recedes,  the rain stops
clouds follow Derecho as he travels east
and fireflies blinkblinkblink
in between the rain fly and tent.

* According to NOAA, (http://www.spc.noaa.gov/misc/AbtDerechos/derechofacts.htm) Derecho are widespread windstorms that typically spawn severe thunderstorms and windstorms.

Monday, January 9, 2017

WOW Look a Survey!

Who loves filling out surveys? I know I do! And do I have a surprise for you... it's a survey.

One of my classes this term is to learn how to market my books/writing. One of the biggest and most effective ways is to find who your potential audience would be. And-  I have no idea but I have a starting point which is better than last week when I felt like I threw my stories in the air hoping for someone to catch it and love it.

So I created a survey, through Survey Monkey. It's ten questions and it will not take very long. It is also anonymous, your IP address will not be recorded. I am not selling the information but only using it to market my writing better.

If you have a few minutes, please take the What and How You Read Survey

Thank you.