Tag Archives: Gerald
Just One Reader at a Time
Just one reader at a time… My New Mantra
So I was talking with someone who I do believe enjoys reading my work, and on this particular moment we was discussing the newest piece of Flash Fiction I’d shown her. Now the story, because it is flash fiction, was an ultra short story that more or less jumped right into the action and My hopes is that it didnt let go until the end… thankfully, this reader and a few others enjoyed the story and were all quick to ask, “would there be more?” and I was nice enough to answer that I rather like the character of this particular piece of flash fiction and the story is a rather pretty good introduction to this character and his story… so needless to say I think I’ll be doing more with Ryder Blake(more on him another time).
So back to the discussion. What Im going to do is show you exactly what was said because I think it makes the story complete.
Her: Gerald y do u keep doing dat? u get me so wrapped up in reading i feel so drawn & captive & den u push my ass out of a plane wit no parachute! dats wrong
Me: See what had happen was… I only have 1000 thousand words to make a good story and thats what came out… see its my writing ploy to try and get more people to want the book I have out
Her: U still wrong Gerald
Me: Lol
See I’m just weaning you to be one of my biggest fans… you’ll be telling everyone about me lol
Her: Lmbmfao!!!!u r 2 wild for me Gerald. Welp all I gotta say know is “wean on my brother”
You see… it was an absolutely great conversation and it is something that I love doing. I think the interaction between readers and writers has to be that open that they can come to you and give you as much “grief” as necessary because you’ve written for them something that leaves them wanting … MORE. I love that! And so I say I want to win you all over One fan at a time until I have the whole world(yes, Im being facetious) in my corner of this growing Literary Empire(again… facetious! haha). But, truthfully, I do want to continue to see those who enjoy what I’m writing to the point that they do go out and share what they find with my work with those that they know.
As a writer in this new industry Ive joined, I am learning quickly that its your readers who make this so much fun and so very worthwhile. Back when I used to just write and share a little bit here and there with those I knew and they’d ask me, “why dont you get published?” I would laugh it off and say because Im really not that good… Im finding that Im really good enough; meaning that by being myself and writing from my heart and soul gives meaning to the actual work I do.
I want to thank all of those who have continued to follow me and I want to offer an early thank you to everyone who jumps aboard this train and are willing to give an Old writer new to this Writing gig a chance… All I really want to ask of all of you is … Pass it On… Word of Mouth is the greatest of advertisement for an Independent writer and we all love you for keeping our names running rampant amongst your reading friends.
My quest: to make a fan of you all … ONE reader at a Time… Are you Ready? I know I am
This is for the New Year… Thank You
And so this year is drawing to a close and I want to say Thank You to everyone… Everyone that I’ve had the Honor and Privileged to get to know and to those who have been there with Me from the beginning and Continue to support me and my Writing. I want to say Thank you and I love you to all of My family and those who I’ve placed under the shelter I call My friends… If you are those I’ve placed into that inner circle then you know I love you with all of My heart from this day until the end and that will never cease no matter what. I want to say thank you THANK YOU to My Kids I love you all beyond the words that I could ever fill up on this page and no matter what I am and will always be here for you in what ever capacity I can be… always BELIEVE that.
I wish My mother, Glenda, had a Facebook so she could know that she above all else I hold in the Highest regards… she’s always been there for me no matter what and to this day she is my bestest of best friends. I can still go to her with anything and she’ll not judge me but she will sit and talk to me and help me find that path I need to be on so that I can make my life the best it can be under whatever the circumstance.
I really Really wish that My Dad was alive, at 44 I have so many questions and I know that he would always be that Fountain of information that I could run to and dip into at any point in time. Damn, to say I miss him is an understatement because no words can ever say just what it would mean to me to have him here with us. I would love for him to meet all of his grandkids because all 3 of his kids have some and I could see him being that granddad that would have loved to have helped my mom spoil them all because she has in her own way… Gerald R. Johnson, Sr. “Daddy” I miss you and I really wish you could be here with us to usher in this next year, to know that I’ve put for that effort to be the best Me you would have wanted of Me… to be there for not only my Mom but my Sister(Kia) and my brother(Antavio) as much as I can and could be… I really hope that I’ve done you Proud.
I want to thank those who have taken the time to believe in me and what I do because I’ll be honest for as much as I love Writing and I wouldn’t never stop… if it wasn’t for those of you who actually take the time to read the stuff I put out there be it the freebies I sometimes share to the 3 books that I now have to offer for sale … you all have made this dream of Mine to be known for more than my sick sense of humor or my dry wit… to be known as a Writer has been something I’ve dreamed about more than any of you have ever known or realized… Thank you… Thank you All very much.
To Ms Dawn Rivers and Vantage Point Publishing I want you to know that this is merely the beginning and that I’m looking forward to all that we have planned for 2014 and the years beyond… Dawn you kinda saved me from the fish bowl I’d dropped Myself into and you’ve dropped me off in this ocean of Sharks and Damn if I’m not having fun. Thank you for your belief in Me and my Words… you will never know how much I truly appreciate you and the mysterious Steve… VP Publishing is my home as much as Lakeland, FL is and I love you and this business you’ve taught me so much about … THANK YOU!
To Anita Longberry… Damn how long have we known each other? almost as many years as my oldest daughter is and that’s a lot of years. Ive grown older knowing you and you’ve always accepted the Misfit that I am… Thank you for always being in My corner and thank you for all of the belief that you’ve had in me. We’ve been through a lot and I’ll be honest Im surprised in a lot of ways that you still even talk to me but Im glad that you do LOL… thank you and I love you for everything you’ve done and been through with me
I want to thank My best friend Joecephus Judge, Jr… damn Son, if anyone in this world knows me it is you. You are the big brother and you will always be a part of my life. You and I are where I coined the phrase in My books between Sydney and Jangles – from the sandbox to the lockbox – I love you, Man… You and I have been through the damn fires and we’ve always managed to be there for one another. Always remember, Doc, I gotcha no matter what… we’re like Marcus and Mike Lowry from Bad Boys… Ride Together, Die Together … Bad Boys for Life.
And there you have it… with the coming of this new year I hope to grow with what I’m doing and I hope that as I grow you all grow with me. I have plans of introducing you all to a more diverse Gerald & Damien… I want you all to be a part of every faucet of Our writings and that as you look forward to seeing more from Us that you share this with those you believe would have that same belief in Me that you do… THANK YOU ALL AND TO ALL I HOPE FOR YOU THE HAPPIEST, PROSPEROUS, SUCCESSFUL OF A NEW YEAR!!!!
To Answer a Challenge
With everything in life there comes the inevitable necessity of challenges. Life wouldn’t be worth living if we existed only upon the mundane, therefore, a good challenge is inspiring. For me, this month, my challenge has been writing a book in just 30 days. At this point it is not for anything more than a new personal achievement, but it is a worthy challenge that I’ve stepped up. There have been a few moments when I’ll easily admit I was concerned if it could be done, and that is because I know what I went through to write and finish the first book. But, even with those moments of concern I’ve kept myself focused and even on those days when I just couldn’t make myself write I made up for it by writing more the next time I sat to my computer… The Challenge is being met… I haven’t completely met it yet because for me this challenge is going to be two parts… 50,000 words for the NaNoWriMo challenge, and then what ever it takes to actually complete the book because I still want to finish it by the end of November. With each day of writing I see the climatic end getting closer and Closer and I cannot wait to see just what happens to all of the characters as they are about to turn Tampa upside down and possibly set things on fire. This story is becoming quite the tale of drama, deceit, betrayal and Murder… There’s still time to play catch up and get your copy of Tainted: the Book of Revelations before I finish up Tainted: the Book of Retribution… Are you Ready?
It’s been a Minute
Well hello, greetings, good morning, good afternoon, good evening, good night … Salutations… Hola… blah blah blah … so on and so forth hahaha.
Yes it’s been a minute since I’ve sat down and update my time here. Oh I’ve been writing quite a bit and I’ve been keeping uber busy, but I have been neglecting you select few you have taken a moment to actually try to follow with my rantings and ravings. So, let me first start by saying… Thank you, thank you select few who sit through and not only read what others write about, but you try to read through mine and you haven’t said anything negative about any of it… Yet. Thank you. Thank you for your support as I try to get yet another faucet of my writing up and running smoothly as a means of keeping my writing growing not only in tonality but in overall comprehension and that enjoyment factor. Thank you… for reading through this mish-mash of combined words that sometimes just seems to string along until it at long lasts hits a brick wall and you find yourself sitting there scratching the top of your head saying to yourself – “Damn, what in the Hell is he yammering on about this time?” – and yet like the proverbial train wreck you keep reading because … well just because… So, Thank you… Thank you… THANK YOU!!!
*putting down the megaphone*
So, yes it really has been a minute since I’ve sat and written something for my blog, but I truly have been writing. A couple of weeks ago I was looking through some posts in one of the groups I’m kind of a part of on Facebook and they kept bringing up this writing style referred to as “Flash Fiction”… oh I was intrigued and so I went on a hunting expedition to find out more about this … Flash Fiction. I was so elated to find out that its something I actually had thought of doing – wait, wait Wait… let me give you a bit of a run down of what Flash Fiction is –
What is Flash Fiction
The question what is flash fiction (FF) is a loaded one because people have strong, varying opinions as to the ‘correct’ answer. Here are three of my own:
Answer 1. A complete story in 1000 words or less.
Answer 2. A unique type of story that has been whittled down to its essence whilst remaining a complete story, with plot, narrative, character/s, conflict, and resolution.
Answer 3. One of a number of terms used to describe answers one and two. Other terms used are: microfiction, short short story, sudden fiction, prosetry, and postcard fiction.
In answer to the question: what is flash fiction, as mentioned above there may be differing answers as there is no concensual definition, mainly in relation to how many words an FF story should consist of. It is generally agreed though that 1000 words is the maximum. But FF is so much more than a short short story <— via Flash Fiction World (http://www.flash-fiction-world.com/what-is-flash-fiction.html) … Great stuff, oh yes, great stuff… and so I read on and on and on.
This was wonderful because I’d been thinking of doing some writing very similar to this and didn’t know there was not only a writing genre for it, but it was a pretty big thing. Little short stories that basically just dropped you off right into a story and got you up and running quickly but didn’t leave you high and dry. It was pretty much the full thing, but what I’m finding is if written properly – oooooh the many directions you could go with it. I’m Loving it… Loving it… LOVING IT *damn putting the megaphone down once again*
So for the last couple of weeks I’ve been plugging away learning more and more about my writing abilities and my writing needs. Yes, as an Author I have writing needs, and they are not complicated. Pretty much it’s just ideas… I need ideas and thankfully I have a brain full of those, and Flash Fiction is pretty much feeding that needy addiction. LOL. I’ve done a few in Horror, a few in Urban Lit, a couple in Sci-Fi, and of course a couple in Erotica… but my favorites are the ones I do that are pretty much a Thriller with the surprise endings… Yeaaaaaaaa… really loving those. So now that I’m doing these Flash Fiction stories I’m rolling over ideas that I’ve presented to my Publisher (Ms. Dawn Rivers of Vantage Point Publishing) and we have a few new things we’re adding to our already over full, over extended plates and looking forward to a busy 2014… Are you Ready? because I am.
Now if that’s not enough I’ve also become a part of this book writing challenge called NaNoWriMo and the premise behind this … write a manuscript of no less than 50,000 words before the end of November… and what book did we choose to write? Well none other than Tainted: the Book of Retribution which is book II in the Tainted series. Yes, yes, yes I’ve had people asking about it, I’ve had a couple tell me that they are patiently waiting on it and I’ve even had a few playfully tell me that they are going to come here and sit here with a shotgun held on me to make certain I write it out – Damn, sounds a lot like the story Misery to me… as long as they don’t hobble me I guess we’re all good LOL. So far its been a good 3 days and I’m doing pretty good I’m up almost 15,000 words… and the ball is just starting to roll.
This is what I love to do… this is what I Live to do… Writing is not just a passion for me… its what keeps the sanities and insanities in play even when Im at rest(what ever that may truly be). Writing is that magic I feel I possess that keeps me in tuned with this world. Its that one thing I long to leave behind when I’ve left this plane… its what keeps me going… its what keeps me driven… its what keeps me grounded… its what keeps me elevated… its what keeps me going when I feel that I cannot go any further. Like I’ve said before and I’ll continue to say…
I am a Writer… I am a Storyteller… I am a Mistrel of Words… I am that which I’ve longed to be and that which I shall forever remain from this day forth… I give to you that which you long for, an escape, but in doing so I’m giving you an all access pass into My mind… the mind of a Writer…
Are You Ready?
darkeschemesinwriting 