Never Ever

Never say never. That saying always bugged me. Yet, people feel compelled to quote it —a lot. I know what they are trying to say, that you shouldn’t make claims which might not be accurate in the future because no one really knows what the future holds—that is true. Others use the saying to assert there are no absolutes in this world. That is absolutely not true. But either way, the saying itself is contradictory, so it can’t be used as a truism of any sort. Besides, there are definitely some things that I can unequivocally state that have never, and will never, happen.

I’ve never had a maiden name. Never will. I’ve never been pregnant and never will be. I will never be a kid again. I’ll never know what an elephant is thinking. And I’ll never forget how many grains of sand are in the world because I’ll never know.

Admittedly, the preceding list is probably not things to which the saying refers. None of them are even a possibility. Still, there are other things that technically could happen but I’m certain will not: I’ll never visit China, or the moon. I’ll never live in a space capsule. I’ll never be elected President—because I’ll never run. I’ll never jump out of a perfectly good airplane, never bungee jump just for the fun of it, and I’ll never win the gold medal in anything at the Olympics.

The point is there are plenty of instances where saying never is entirely appropriate and acceptable. So, ‘never say never’ is a saying I never use. Usually anyway. I realize I’ve used it twice in this post.

I was running all of this by my four-year-old grandson earlier today, and he thoughtfully offered another enlightening observation; “And you’ll never be a millionaire.” I told him he was right. Probably. But then, you never know. ~

Bruce A. Borders is the author of more than a dozen books, including: Inside Room 913, Over My Dead Body, The Journey, Miscarriage Of Justice, The Lana Denae Mysteries, and The Wynn Garrett Series. Available in ebook at www.amazon.com/Bruce-A.-Borders/e/B006SOLWQS and paperback on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Books-a-Million. Bruce A. Borders is a proud member of Rave Reviews Book Club.

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TALES ABOUT TAILS Blog Tour with W.J. Scott

As part of the 4 Wills Publishing "Tales About Tails" blog tour, this blog is hosting Author W.J. Scott.

Finding Silver Linings in Silver Wishes

One of the attributes required by an author is perseverance. My children’s chapter novel, Tails, Book One, Silver Wishes Series, endured many pit stops over several years, before finally becoming a book I was proud to share with the world.

I’ve realized there is often a silver lining to be found in setbacks. Golden information awaited me at the end of the rainbow. Yes, I had to trudge through trenches of disappointment and rejection (strongly suspicious that the mud sticking to my boots was tainted with a mixture of unicorn and troll poop). In retrospect, valuable lessons were learnt that enriched my story or helped me grow as a writer.

v    Verify that anyone professionally assessing your manuscript has experience with your specific genre, and they possess credentials that back up their claims (Literary Awards, Work Experience, Testimonials from trusted sources). A non-fiction author assessor is a mismatch for Children’s Fantasy; they may understand where the commas go, but lack the skill set to understand the genre and readers’ expectations.

v    Believe in yourself and your story.

v    If others let you down, brush yourself off and find another way.

v    No one cares as deeply as you do about your story so you need to make it happen.

v    Find a skilled editor in your genre (structural as well as copy editing).

v    Assemble a team of beta and proof-readers. You are too close to your work to pick up the errors.

v    Polish your manuscript until the light shining off the pages blinds you – before pushing the ‘publish’ button.

v    Celebrate the birth of your book!

https://www.amazon.com/Tails-Silver-Wishes-Book-1-ebook/dp/B078FX66QD/

http://www.tails-wjscott.com/

http://www.authorchildrens.com/

https://twitter.com/WendyJayneScott/

https://www.facebook.com/ChildrenAuthorWJScott/

http://www.hieroglyph.ws/

Please share your ‘silver linings’ in the comments.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Wendy Scott has a New Zealand Certificate in Science (Chemistry), which allows her to dabble with fuming potions and strange substances, satisfying her inner witch.

Wendy writes fantasy and children’s novels.

One of the creeds she lives by is to always – Live a life less ordinary!

Gold Medal Winner: The Wishing Shelf Book Awards UK 2015.

Silver Medal Winner: International Readers’ Favorite Book Awards 2016.

Finalist: The Wishing Shelf Book Awards UK 2016.

Gold Quality Marks: BooksGoSocial 2017.

Treat Award Blue: Rave Reviews Book Club KCT International Awards 2017.

Please visit http://www.authorchildrens.com/ to learn more, read Wendy’s blog, sign up for her newsletter, or to leave her a message. She loves hearing from readers.

Pen Names

Fantasy ~ Wendy Scott

Children’s ~ WJ Scott

Romance ~ Wendy Jayne

This tour sponsored by 4WillsPublishing Author Services!

Canis Latrans (Coyote)

Growing up in rural Oregon, I was quite accustomed to seeing various wildlife, including coyotes. These days, seeing a coyote or two in my daily travels is still pretty normal and I usually don’t pay that much attention. Except for the other day.

I was working. Driving the truck downtown Portland. At first, when I saw the coyote, walking leisurely down the sidewalk, I thought it must be a dog. It had to be a dog, I told myself. Why would a coyote be running around the city? Especially, downtown.

But the closer I got, the more I was convinced; it definitely looked like a coyote. Still, I wasn’t positive. It was dark and headlights do not always show things clearly. But then, stopping for a red light, I got a better look. Wise to the city ways the animal paused under the streetlight, waiting for traffic to clear. Being just a few feet away, I was certain this was indeed a coyote.

Then the light changed and we both took off. As I lost sight of the coyote in my mirror, I again started thinking that it had to have been a dog.

But now, I was curious. Doing a search, I was surprised to learn that coyote sightings in the Portland area are common with upwards of 2000 sightings per year. However, these sightings are usually on the outskirts of town or in the suburbs, not downtown. Still, with a thriving coyote population, seeing one in the busy part of the city was not out of the question. When I was a kid, coyotes never even made it close to Portland. Apparently, times have changed. There is now an estimated 500 or more living in or around Portland.

Okay, so I guess I wasn’t imagining things after all. Good to know. I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised though. The part of town where I saw the coyote was near where I pick up my load—of garbage. I think a transfer station is sort of like a buffet for coyotes.

I still find it odd, however. I’ve always considered coyotes to be more of a rural creature, not really an urban one. But since we’re providing them with fine dining establishments these days, I guess they’ve discovered it’s easier to find a good meal in the city than in the country. ~

Bruce A. Borders is the author of more than a dozen books, including: Inside Room 913, Over My Dead Body, The Journey, Miscarriage Of Justice, The Lana Denae Mysteries, and The Wynn Garrett Series. Available in ebook at www.amazon.com/Bruce-A.-Borders/e/B006SOLWQS and paperback on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Books-a-Million. Bruce A. Borders is a proud member of Rave Reviews Book Club.

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Mileage May Vary, Or Not

Time for a new pair of boots. Seems I’ve walked holes in the soles—again. Boots typically last me about a year. Been that way for most of my life. And it doesn’t seem to matter what brand I buy, I get about a year out of them. It’s been a little longer than that this time but only by a month or so.

To a lot of folks, a year may not seem that long for footwear to wear out, but most people do not wear one pair continuously. I do. I own just a single pair of boots at a time. I wear them every day no matter where I’m going or what I’m doing, from the time I get up until the time I go to bed.

I’ve often wondered just what sort of “mileage” I get with my boots and now, thanks to the Heart app on my phone I can see exactly how far I walk each day, week, month, or year. And since I always wear the same boots, I know that every step, every mile recorded was taken in those boots.

What I’ve found is that I walk an average of about 3,600 steps per day. That’s around 1.5 miles, which translates to 547.5 miles per year. While that seems like a lot of walking, (to me) I know it’s nowhere close to the recommended 10,000 steps, or 5 miles, per day.

But really, that amount of walking is just not feasible for me. No, not because I don’t have time, or that I’m a truck driver and we don’t like walking, or the fact that I’m old. No, the reason I can’t walk more than I do is simple. My boots just couldn’t take it. They’d never make to the year mark because apparently, I’m only getting about 550 miles to the pair. ~

Bruce A. Borders is the author of more than a dozen books, including: Inside Room 913, Over My Dead Body, The Journey, Miscarriage Of Justice, The Lana Denae Mysteries, and The Wynn Garrett Series. Available in ebook at www.amazon.com/Bruce-A.-Borders/e/B006SOLWQS and paperback on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Books-a-Million. Bruce A. Borders is a proud member of Rave Reviews Book Club.

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