About

423871_346512598718857_1573396409_nOriginally this blog was about fiction writing. I’m tip-toeing back in that direction again.

But during the writing of my blog-novel, Hapa Girl DNA, I came across Shawn Coyne’s book, The Story Grid, took his editing course and hung out a shingle as a “certified Story Grid editor.”

After a while I discovered that I have no desire to be an editor, so I took down my editing website.

Now I post an occasional short story here and bring you my thoughts on intelligent design, health, scientific fundamentalism, the UFO story in the New York Times, and alternatives to scientific materialism – to name a few.

I avoid politics, except to point out that we’ve been duped by a handful of corporations that control both sides of TV politics and apparently want the voting public evenly divided by hatred and rage so it’s easier to tip elections through news stories. Here’s an absolutely jaw-dropping video demonstrating how they do it to us.

My background is in science and medicine (pathology). I bailed on the medical profession at age 58. That was the best decision I’d made since I found the courage to pray again at age eleven. Haven’t stopped since. I don’t belong to an organized religion now, but I really admire the image of God reflected in many of the words and deeds ascribed to Jesus.

A few years before I took Shawn’s course, I wrote an e-book, Writing Meaningful Page-turners, based on about 80 how-to-write books I’d read over the years. You can download it, but I’ve learned a lot since then and should rewrite the thing for you.

Thanks for reading my stuff, and may your part of this simulated universe bring you love, friendship and action.

Cheers,

Morrill Talmage Moorehead, MD

283 thoughts on “About”

      • ninamishkin

        Oh my goodness, Dr. M! What a great comment! (Both here and on my own blog.) I fear I can’t be much of an inspiration, though — at least not on a blog devoted to writing popular fiction. I couldn’t write fiction, much less popular, page-turning fiction, if I tried. However, this particular agent apparently subscribes to 100 literary magazines and finds his potential clients there. And I was very lucky indeed to have a piece of (hitherto unpopular) memoir accepted for publication in The Iowa Review, quite by fluke. (But that’s another story for another time.) So mine is a hard trail to follow. But I do believe if you just keep hammering away at all possible publishing venues open to you — even online magazines for short pieces of your stuff — a door will open when you least expect it! All the best to you, too!!! 🙂

        Reply
  2. erikakind

    Thank you for following my blog and welcome in the wordpress community. I got glued to your background information and I am looking forward to reading your posts. Glad to have you here!

    Reply
      • erikakind

        Thank you, I am happy you feel like that! When you already like my blog you will love the book! I am sure that your former job was anything else than a piece of cake. I admire everyone for fulfilling those tasks. I am very grateful for you and all the other people in that job, because I could never do it! You did great and I am sure that your former job was filling you up with insights and observings. Now you can share everything you draw out of it with your readers! Wonderful!

        Reply
  3. turhh

    Thank you for your indicated ‘like’ on my blag 0021 – I too hate medicine; give me beer any day, it’s far more efficacious. You asked a question concerning “Indie Publishing” something I have never heard of; have you also looked into Amazon Kindle (https://kdp.amazon.com), it could be one way to avoid the hassle of mainstream publishers and, to be honest, the bloody patients (GP – general populace).

    Courage Mon Brave !

    Reply
    • M. Talmage Moorehead

      Thanks. Yes, I’ve read a book about Kindle that I’d probably recommend to anyone interested in selling their work. It was called, “Making a Killing on Kindle,” by Alvear.

      You know, I’ve read that humor is the most difficult thing to write. This is from your blog: “attack is the best form of capitulation.” Since you have remarkable talent for writing highly intelligent and original sounding humor, if you haven’t already done this, you might think of binding it together in an ebook and publishing it. Or take any non-fiction subject you have an interest in and write a book about it filled with your humor and wit. That could be one amazing read! It would become hugely popular, I bet.

      Reply
      • turhh

        Doctor, first of all, thank you for all of your kind attention. I fully intend to respond to all of the notifications that ‘popped’ up when I opened the computer this morning. However, please forgive me for allowing a little delay. I woke up in the middle of the night with a galloping attack of “stomach / gastric flu” – as I told the lesser half, “look at the state of me I’m stumbling around like an old man at present.” She is, of course, totally unconcerned and simply replied, “for God’s sake, you are an old man.”

        Every time I move, some idiot keeps spinning my house around me – and the worst of it is, I haven’t had a beer in weeks.

        Do you have an email address – something you would be prepared to let me have – I would like to correspond? However, if this is not something you are keen on, please simply indicate and I can assure you I will in no way feel aggrieved. I am interested in you and mainly due to your expressed professional background; and it’s a lot more interesting than some “others” who contact me!

        On the Kindle matter – I don’t know the book you allude to but I recently saw a documentary about Amazon which included a piece on Kindle.

        On writing, I have written loads of works but I don’t publish – most of what I have written tends towards corporate / technical (including some highly specific areas of medical safety such as personnel HBO treatment and Rad) / engineering documents, major tomes that, of course, the public wouldn’t be interested in nor would they be allowed to get their grubby paws on. And on the “sillier stuff,” I’ve been doing this for years, to amuse myself – and a few choice chums and chumesses – I find it very easy to do

        Look forward to your reply at your convenience – I shall now crawl off to my panadol drawer!

        Reply
          • turhh

            Thank you again – the pain in my eyeballs has almost dissipated now, but not quite – however, I think I’m almost on the mend – a pity I didn’t perform a cytopathologic test on the pork before I cooked and ate it.

            Your name Talmage is interesting and quite ancient too. A Germanic “Angle” name, possibly originating from the Shleswig-Holstein area of Northern Europe and first recorded in the South East of England, Suffolk, in the 12th Century but with indications that those who bore the name arrived there before the Norman invasion 1066 and thus possibly a lot earlier that that.

            Right, that’s about all I can manage – I feel washed out!!

            Reply
            • M. Talmage Moorehead

              That’s interesting. I had recently heard that it was french. You sound like an expert on the subject, so I’m going to try to remember what you’ve told me. Talmage was my dad’s mother’s maiden. My first name is my mother’s maiden name: Morrill. “Maiden” doesn’t sound all that manly, so there’s that to contend with. Perhaps I’ll run with scissors. No, that’s not manly, either. Oh well

              I hope your completely better before we know it. A fine needle aspiration on a pork chop? Why not.

              Hang tough.

              Reply
              • turhh

                Well not exactly an expert – and much as there are no “multi-taskers” in the world given that no human being has the metal capacity to actually perform a multi task in the true sense of the term, nor, in my humble opinion, (which in my world means I am always right), are there any ‘experts,’ other than those self designated under the infotainment media guidelines – guidelines written by people born with a condition somewhat akin to those having unfortunately undergone an hemispherectomy.

                Alongside all the other hyperbole we self assume in relation to our capabilities these days – my “Fareed’s Take” on all this is that, far from becoming smarter, we are in fact becoming more stupid by the hour. Instead of being so quick to state, “I understand,” we might be far better off saying, “I understand that I don’t really understand.” And who knows, on that basis alone we might see a lot less comments along the lines of, “I know I’ve got a novel inside me,” and more of, “I thought I had a novel inside me but after due consultation with my Doctor it simply turned out to be a small piece of lego wedged inside my anus. You know how it is, I was younger then and going through an experimental phase.”

                On the “French Connexion” and your name. Once again we fall into a similar ‘lego up the bum’ trap. At the end of the day it’s all down to the etymology game, and to be honest we can rarely get to the “bottom” of that – can we? Nearly all words and names have simply developed over the years from variant to variant and as ‘fashion’ dictated. Almost certainly the reason behind the French reference is due to the Norman influence in England as from 1066. However, the Normans weren’t themselves originally French, they were Vikings (Norsemen → Norman). The Vikings assimilated themselves into Normandy and one can well imagine, (we did this later all over the world), polite culture assimilation taking place. A gentlemanly Viking perhaps visiting his “French” neighbour and begging for the hand of that goodly Frenchman’s daughter’s hand in marriage and perhaps that goodly Frenchman replying, “well since you’ve raped her already, pourquois pas.” Just think how difficult it is for us in this day and age to get ‘them’ to make us a simple bacon sandwich, think of all the hoops they put us through just to get that simple task to come into effect. Imagine the poor Viking; him not being able to speak her language properly and every time he told her to do something her replying, “I piss on zee cat who eez your mother.” Thus, no bacon sandwiches and the need for a new language; in this case, the Norman language. In turn those bastards later decided to visit us, (and where were your lot then when we needed help eh, late as bloody usual and probably holding yet another Congress filibuster meeting on the Mayflower lend lease issue). So their Norman language got mixed into our existing Anglo-Saxon, as it was then. The end result being that your existing and original ‘Angle’ name assumed a “Frenchified” spelling variant, (Tollemache based on the old French word for a knapsack Talemache). These days few would bother to look beyond that. People are far too busy carrying around all those novels and bits of lego stuck up their bums.

                And how is this all known? Well Fareed told me and I have to ‘take’ it that he’s an expert!!

                By the way, did you know that one of the greatest contributors to the creation of the first OED was a mad American Doctor who was a convicted murderer in England. In his earlier life he had served right up at the sharp end of things during your Civil War as a sawbones – and I’m not joking either!

                Reply
                • M. Talmage Moorehead

                  Splendid recovery from the GI bug! You sound like yourself again! What a blast reading your work. Thank you for every word, especially this:

                  “I piss on zee cat who eez your mother.”

                  Nothing could be funnier. I share your concern for the poor Viking.

                  Give my best to Fareed. If infallibility were a color it would be in Fareed. What a guy to have all the details about Talemache and Tollemache!

                  If anyone reading this wants a thousand great laughs, here’s the link: http://terofarty.wordpress.com/

                  What a gift you have! Thank you for sharing you work on my blog! 🙂

                  Talmage

                  Reply
                  • turhh

                    Ah, you see as a medical man you were able to identify that I am indeed in that fuzzy state of convalescence. Yesterday, feeling better but unable to hardly read, anything I even glanced at making me feel ill and today, taking those first baby steps, and essentially using you as my scribbling crutch.

                    On the mad American doctor, his name was William Chester Morris and I think it is considered that he suffered from something like ‘chronostasis.’ Here’s a link for you, (you’ll note its American origin so the spelling will be acceptable and it won’t be to taxing to read):

                    https://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/William_Chester_Minor.html

                    And if my infallibility was coloured “Fareed,” I’d get the decorators in and tell them to paint it over; with turpentine.

                    Check your email later when you have a convenient moment !!

                    Reply
                    • M. Talmage Moorehead

                      “in Fareed” was the color I had in mind. But turpentine is organic, so it’s good.

                      Hey, are you saying that we Americans are inferior because we misspell everything and have stupid accents and low IQ’s compared to you guys? Cuz I was about to make that point myself.

                      Thanks for the interesting link. I got to hit the sac. It’s about two o’clock here and I’m running on fumes.

                      Thanks for the email, too. I’ll read it tomorrow and then spray the room so I don’t catch your GI bug. 😉

                    • turhh

                      It’s organic is it? Right, well I’ll change it to ‘white spirit’ then – I take great pride in my carbon being as large as possible.

                      On the charge of “racism,” I would have agreed but you beat me to it.

                      And as to the “GI bug,” let’s hope those fundamental nutcases get caught out by them !!

  5. Lace Winter

    Argh! It’s so frustrating to not be able to comment directly on your story posts! “Neuromancer-grey.” Ok, that’s bringing out the geek in me. 🙂 I totally understand why you’re doing it, and you are CHURNING out story like nobody’s business, so it’s working. But I’m thinking about pulling Johanna aside and telling her “Hey, you’ve got a direct line to Talmadge….”

    Reply
    • M. Talmage Moorehead

      Hi Lace!

      Thank you for your understanding and forgiveness. I feel sheepish for the comment thing, but it’s either that or not write fiction. I can’t seem to answer comments in anything but the most time-consuming way. And I know you get it. I appreciate that. 🙂

      I love William Gibson’s work. I could never write like that, but neither can anyone else, I guess.

      Reply
    • M. Talmage Moorehead

      It’s inspirational to hear you dealing so well with your seizure disorder. Some of us who feel a little blue for vague reasons need to read your blog and find out how you handle a life-threatening health issue with grace and courage. Thank you for your openness, and for putting it all out there to help the rest of us find our way.

      Reply
  11. billtonnis

    Thanks for following my blog! I read your story about having to get out of medicine…and a similar thing happened to me…but it was radio news that I needed to leave. There is new life when you follow your heart and your passions. May you be blessed in your journey!

    Reply
    • M. Talmage Moorehead

      Thank you for blessing me, sir. I can imagine how depressing it might be to work in the news industry. Just watching the news for more than a few minutes at a time puts me into a dark place emotionally. I’m glad you got out and found a real purpose in life. Kudos! I’m so much happier now, too.

      Reply
    • M. Talmage Moorehead

      You’re right. I especially liked your post, “Applying the Rules of Art to Writing.” I envy all the reading you do. You must be a gifted and efficient reader. I would be a much better writer if I read even a quarter as much fiction as you do. Thanks for understanding my reasons for turning off the comments for a while. I’ve been doing a little fiction writing again. 🙂

      Reply
    • M. Talmage Moorehead

      I’ve never met a Mike Moorehead, although it’s possible I’m related to him and don’t know it. My dad was born in 1897 and had two sisters and a brother. I’ve only met one of my cousins, so I have no idea how many of them exist. Plus I have a half brother whom I’ve never met.

      It’s interesting, that Mike grew up in Japan. My wife is 3rd generation Japanese-American.

      Reply
  14. awax1217

    An interesting take on the system which guides the human traits of life. Why someone thinks one way and then another always amazes me. Looking out of the box is a feature I am guilty of. You also appear out of the box.

    Reply
  15. charlypriest

    Glad the comment is open now, even though you´re a bussy woman so I don´t expect any response soon. Just wanted to drop by and say I´m glad you stumbled briefly by my little crazy blog, just reading your about page I find that I can learn a lot from you. I´m quite the novice writer so seeking out other writers with other techniques of writing and advice is always good.

    Reply
    • M. Talmage Moorehead

      I’m actually a dude, but hey, my POV character is a girl, so if you read that prologue to “Hapa Girl DNA” and thought it was written by a woman, that’s the highest compliment I could possibly receive.

      On the other hand, I’ve got to admit, I’m trying not to be concerned with the “voice” of the story at all. It makes me insecure and self-conscious thinking about “my voice” and how clever “my words” are supposed to sound.

      Reply
  16. thepineapplechronicles

    Thanks for the follow, best of luck on your new journey! I share the same joy for writing as you do. It takes a lot of courage to follow your true dreams.

    Reply
    • M. Talmage Moorehead

      Thanks, Andy! I sent that request to you last night and received your novel immediately. I still need to get it into my Kindle.

      This approach of yours, simply asking a new follower to send an email request for your novel seems to me to be a brilliant idea for developing an email list! Kudos! How is it working so far?

      I just recently figured out how to add a link on wordpress.com to a MailChimp free email account sign-up page. I’m not sure yet how that’s going to work.

      Best of luck to you!

      Reply
      • andyjamesmorgan

        I hope you enjoy it!

        It’s working pretty well. I also mention the offer at the back of my other novel, Vessel, in the hope that people will subscribe, and it seems to be working. I’m just using wordpress’ standard email subscription service, which seems to be doing the trick. Now I need to write more books!

        And to you 🙂

        Reply
        • M. Talmage Moorehead

          I don’t understand WordPress’ standard email subscription service. It seems to me that a very tiny minority of “followers” (less than 1%) somehow receive an email from me when I post a new blog. But 99% don’t. I don’t know why. I don’t know how to change it. Also, I don’t know how to find follower’s email addresses.

          I’ve got a ton to lean here. I’ve been blogging for two or three years now, but I haven’t found WordPress’ explanations very helpful or easy to locate. Their online helpers seem to contradict one another when it comes to email issues. Plus there is always confusion about the difference between email on wordpress.com and wordpress.ORG.

          Thank you for the information and for telling me about how well your method is working. I’ll follow your lead.

          All the best,
          Talmage

          Reply
          • andyjamesmorgan

            Yeah, I’ve not found them particularly helpful or easy to use, but I’ve not had any problems with emails going out—that I’m aware of. Email addresses can be found on the subscription confirmation I get sent by wordpress. They’re also in the stats->followers section of wordpress.

            No problem! Good luck.

            Kind Regards,

            Andrew

            Reply
          • Lace Winter

            I think the issue of some followers getting emails and some not may be configuration at the follower’s end more than yours. If you look in your ‘Reader’ and edit the ‘Blogs I Follow’ section, you can set how you wish to receive notifications, blog by blog. For folks who follow a lot of blogs, especially blogs that post many times a day, it can be overwhelming to have all of that go to email, so I suspect it’s not uncommon to either have all the new posts summarized either once per day or once per week, or even not emailed at all, and instead to go looking for them in the Reader.

            Reply
  18. meenas17

    Thanks for the follow.
    Indeed, learning the way to write stubs creativity.
    Creativity is spontaneous ,never should it be dictated by rules and forms, though they form the basis of the language.
    A writer would definitely know the basics.
    I wish you all the best in your book publishing.

    Reply
  19. Lace Winter

    I’ve just touched the surface of your writing here, barely made a ripple across the lake of your work, but already I can see that these waters run deep. Thank you for bringing yourself to my attention by following my blog, so that I can share in the joy of following yours. I have some back-reading to do!

    Reply
    • M. Talmage Moorehead

      Thank you for your generous encouragement! I’m hoping to finish my first novel before the next ice age. During that time I’m trying to collect email addresses of people who might be interested in my next book, so I can unleash a fierce campaign of one or two shy emails asking them sheepishly if they might not possibly consider looking, just glancing, really, at the cover of my second novel. 😉 Honestly, the whole idea of promoting (myself?) and selling is foreign to me and my personality, so I’ve got a steep learning curve and some personal growth ahead of me. I hope your sales are going well, Lace Winter! Beautiful name! (Link: http://lacewinter.com/)

      All my best,

      Talmage

      Reply
      • Lace Winter

        I wish sales were going well, but first I’d have to have something up for sale! I am still working on the second draft of my first novel (which is starting to look like it will include quite a few new scenes and possibly a second POV character, so it’s taking a while — nearly like plotting all over again), so in that sense I’m in the same boat as you. Well, first novel that I’ve actually finished a first draft for, anyway. I’m with you on the marketing and self-promotion, etc. It doesn’t come naturally, so I also have that learning curve. This is yet another reason I love your blog.

        Of course you may add me to your list. I believe you should be able to pull my email address from my comments.

        Reply
        • M. Talmage Moorehead

          Thank you. I’ll try to add you to my email list. You will be the third person on it. 🙂 Wooo-Hoooo!

          I read an interesting book, “Making a Killing on Kindle,” by Alvear. He says that all the social media efforts are worse than a waste of time for writers. He says that developing an email list and learning the “ecosystem” of Kindle (whatever that is) are the only things that help sell books. I have no way of knowing if this guy is right or wrong, but he sure was persuasive. I think his book’s worth a read.

          It took me way too long to figure out how to get an email link up on a wordpress.com blog. I can help you with that if you decide to do it. On wordpress.ORG they say it’s a snap, but I think going that route takes you out of the blogger’s wonderful “ecosystem” on wordpress.com.

          I know what it’s like rewriting a first novel. I’ve been at it for years. If I didn’t absolutely love the process, I’d be nuts to rewrite so many times, trying to improve the same story. Also, I’m “in love” with Johanna Fujiwara, my POV Hapa Girl. That makes it so I never want to move on to another novel, unless she’s in it. Probably makes me a sentimental fool. I’ve got no problem with that at all! 🙂

          Reply
          • Lace Winter

            Thanks, I’ll check out Alvear’s book. I just looked over some of the reviews of it on Amazon, and they get pretty heated. Sounds like a lot of good advice but a small handful of questionable tactics that really get people up in arms. I’m not sure that social media marketing is such a bad idea, though. In my day job I come across big Fortune 500 companies that I deal with who are investing heavily in social media, or in ways for their customers to better utilize social media to advance their businesses. I don’t think they would do this if their research didn’t show some value in it.

            I agree about WordPress.COM vs WordPress.ORG; I love my WordPress “family,” and while I think there are ways to do something similar with other blogs, it’s more work and I haven’t yet figured it out. Here I have my favorite bloggers in my reader, and everything is just so cozy and easy. Of course, I would love to have readers from outside WordPress, but so far that hasn’t happened (or at least they haven’t followed me; certainly I have visitors who don’t like, comment, or follow, but I don’t know who they are). Probably I need to work on my SEO. 🙂

            I guess I haven’t figured out what the advantage is of an email subscriber list over the one built in for followers in WordPress (or Facebook or Twitter, for that matter). If you have followers on these sites, they should see whatever you post, even if it’s not necessarily by email. Or do you reserve notifications to your email subscriber list for only infrequent, higher-importance notifications, such as a book release, etc.?

            And yes, I either fall in love or completely identify with my characters, too! That’s what makes it so hard to put them into unpleasant situations in stories. 🙂 However, I have a few “in my head” who are quite different from each other, with different stories about them demanding to be written when their time comes. Many will inhabit the same or similar worlds, however, so it’s possible a minor or supporting character in one novel may end up having a novel of her own later. Likewise, my current MC, Olivia, is likely to show up in minor roles in other characters’ stories. I don’t know yet if I would write a sequel for her, though; I suppose that will depend on how well her story is received. Yet another aspect of social media I love: my readers (if and when I have any) can give me direct feedback on what they’d like to see next!

            I think you may have written before on some of these same topics, so eventually I will get into your backlist and find them. 🙂

            Reply
            • M. Talmage Moorehead

              I’m too new at this to have any valid observations, but from my reading, I get the impression that “followers” rarely equal people who might be interested in buying a book. Perhaps that would be the difference between email list people and blog followers. I don’t know, really.

              All of this sure if fun, though, isn’t it !?!!

              The author, Alvear, says that social media is essential to certain types of businesses, including online services such as editors, but he makes a big case against it for selling books – claiming that he’s had extensive experience. You’ll enjoy the read, I think, even if it turns out he’s got it all wrong. You’ll be a much better judge of that than I am because of your background. I noticed all the buzz over some of the things he suggests doing, such as deliberately getting, even paying (I think) people to review your book. I figure it’s always best to be honest, so if I were to pay someone to review my book, which I can’t imagine ever doing, I would ask them to state that fact in their review. “Talmage paid me to give his novel a great review, so please ignore the following….” Haha. That would be worse than no review, I’m pretty sure.

              I need to do some writing before I turn to a pumpkin. I love communicating with other bloggers so much, if I let myself, I’ll spend an entire day doing nothing else.

              It’s nice to hear about Olivia and the way you feel about keeping her around in other stories. Now I know I’m not crazy. 😉

              Reply
            • M. Talmage Moorehead

              I wasn’t able to find your email address to add to my collection of two. 🙂

              As I was working on the problem, I came across this video that talks about the advantages of building an email list: http://www.writewithwarnimont.com/email-marketing-for-writers-1

              I thought it made excellent sense. Especially in view of the fact that my posts don’t seem to be automatically delivered to most of my followers. Unless I’m mistaken, which is quite possible, only a small percentage of my followers get email notices when I post something new. I haven’t figured this out yet, but there seems to be an obscure reason for this in the software, possibly specific to the various themes, although I’m guessing.

              One guy told me that I could find emails of my followers listed under stats -> followers, so I went there, clicked on the names and found that some of them do have emails listed and some don’t. You were among those who didn’t list an email address, unless I overlooked it after ten tries, which would be just like me. 🙂

              Reply
  21. ghostmmnc

    Thanks so much for following my blog “teleportingweena”. Glad you’re enjoying it. I’ve followed your blog now, as I see lots of interesting topics on writing, here! Will look forward to reading more! 🙂

    Reply
    • M. Talmage Moorehead

      Thank you.

      You know how they say that indie writers should consider giving away their first novel for free in an effort to get readers for their second one? Recently I was thinking maybe I should do that by posting my novel-in-progress in tiny chunks on my blog and maybe trying to collect a few emails or something in the process. If a person’s going to give it away when it’s done, why not give it away while it’s in progress?

      Then I saw how you’ve posted TWO SOULS: INTO THE FIRE in small sections on your blog. I should probably take that as a sign that I should do it. What do you think?

      🙂

      Reply
      • ghostmmnc

        I am a bit confused. You are so kind to follow my blog “teleportingweena” on wordpress, but the story of mine you mentioned is on my other blog on blogspot “teleporting*Weena” …my fault for naming them the same, I suppose.:) Anyway, thanks for taking the time to follow and notice my story! As it is a fan fiction piece, of course, there is no charge to read it. I just do it for fun, in the hopes that someone, somewhere would enjoy it! I have seen authors do this…publish their book in small installments on their blog, then when finished, offer it on Kindle, or Amazon, for free, and later for a small charge. They’ve been happy with the results. So, if this is what you feel is best for your book/novel/story…I’d say go ahead! I wish you all good fortune in your writing adventure! Thanks, again for your most kind reply, and for following my blog!

        Reply
      • robertcdeming

        Yes. I posted the last sentence or two each day for a while. It really engages people. I would like to serialize a story sometime, but I don’t think that is done any more. I am also hoping that my parallel universe self is selling a lot more books than I am.

        Reply
        • M. Talmage Moorehead

          Hi Robert. Kudos on your distinguished service in the Air Force. And thank you from the bottom of my heart.

          I hope your book sales increase. I’ve heard that collecting email addresses is worth doing. Just yesterday I figured out how to set it up on a wordpress.com blog. It’s kind of mickey mouse, but maybe people will give me their email addresses once I figure out a decent way to ask for them. Meanwhile, I need to finish my book. 🙂 So many things to do besides writing.

          Best of luck to you, Robert.

          Talmage

          Reply
  23. jenniferkmarsh

    I agree with everything you have written here; it is so true, that a lot of ‘advice’ for writing fiction seems to go against the soul’s purpose of writing in the first place. It does get on my nerves sometimes, and indeed, such an obsession over the supposed ‘rights’ and ‘wrongs’ of writing dampen the whole creative process.
    Thanks for stopping by my blog, and allowing me the opportunity to find yours 🙂

    Reply
    • M. Talmage Moorehead

      Hi Jennifer. Thanks for your insightful comment.

      I especially loved this part of your poem of the tree and bird: “Heavy hearts are full of love! Did you not know? That is why they weigh so much…”

      I’m glad you’re a writer! 🙂

      Reply
    • M. Talmage Moorehead

      Hi, Ann

      Thanks for stopping by. I liked your insightful post on relationships and how they don’t last if they’re based on using the other person. I’m still going to sign my wife up for Amway, though. (Sorry MLMers, just trying to be funny.)

      And, hey, Greenland is going to come through for you, I can feel it in the air. 😉

      Talmage

      Reply
    • M. Talmage Moorehead

      Hi, it’s fantastic to hear from you again! Thank you for the honor of tagging me for the Bookshelf Tag. I’m going to have to decline due to time limitations. It seems that at my age everything takes about three times too long to accomplish. Not sure if it’s age or time swamp quicksand. 😉

      I enjoyed reading your answers to the questions. Very interesting to hear how you felt about some of the books you’ve read.

      Thanks again for the honor. 🙂

      Reply
      • thepaperbutterfly

        No worries 😉 It did take a long time, like 3 hours XD Going to start applying for jobs next week so I’m not going to have as much free time anymore. But that’s a good thing for me. It means financial security and eventually starting a family 🙂 And then once I have a kid and work (part time) it will get more difficult to find the time to write and blog. So much to do in life, never enough time, lol.

        Reply
        • M. Talmage Moorehead

          Isn’t that the truth.

          Good luck with your job search! I hope you find something that allows you to use your creativity. And your writing talent.

          Having a kid is a full time job for three people, too, but it’s totally worth it. 🙂 And you’ll be great at it.

          Reply
  26. almondhead

    Once again thanks for your LIKES on my blog.
    I was just reading your My Show-Don’t Tell Obsession.
    I too often get paranoid about breaking the rules.
    Sometimes I realize I;ve been in narrative for several paras and I think, “I gotta get some scene in here.”
    Then I look at Neal Stephenson (Cryptonomicon, Snow Crash) and he goes on for pages without a single bit of “showing” no scenes at all. Yet people love his stuff – heck – I love his stuff.
    I think the rules are meant to tell people who don’t read much what not to do. After all, a story that was nothing but narrative could be pretty boring. I think if you read a lot, you start getting a sense for what works. But then, I’ve never published a novel, so what do I know?

    Reply
    • M. Talmage Moorehead

      Welcome to my crowd of people who have never published a novel. 🙂 I like what you’re saying and I totally agree that reading is the key to all this stuff. Stephen King said, “If you don’t have time to read you don’t have time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.”

      Have you ever noticed how single people with no kids are the ones who talk with the most confidence about parenting techniques? That’s me when it comes to writing. An infallible hack. 😉 But I sure love thinking about these things and putting my thoughts out there in hopes of someday helping my kids learn to write – if they ever take a serious interest in it.

      Hey, thanks for your interesting comment! 🙂

      I just re-read your post on the GPS woman. Dude, I love this part, too:

      “Sometimes she gets passive aggressive and gives me bad instructions.

      “’Make a U-turn. Then keep left.”

      “Make a U-turn; where? It’s a divided highway.

      “’Recalculating, recalculating. Proceed five miles. “‘Then turn right on Vincent Street.”

      “She’s stubborn too. She repeats herself.
      “’In one mile, turn right at Vincent Street.’”

      “Then I realized what the problem was. She has an Anxiety Disorder. She is afraid we’re going to get lost. Calm down, I tell her. We’ll get there. Did I mention that she doesn’t listen to me?

      “The worst thing is that she never raises her voice.”
      …

      Here’s the link, for anyone wanting to read some genuine magic: http://almondhead.wordpress.com/

      Reply
  28. Lisa V

    Thanks for following. Hoping your writing journey is going well. It’s true, at least for me, once I start obsessing over publishing and polishing, the words tend to dry up.

    Reply
  30. Ann Marie Thomas

    Thanks for following my blog https://annmariethinkingoutloud.wordpress.com/, hope it inspires you!

    I wish you the best of luck on your indie-writer journey. I saw on your profile that you want help. I have some notes from a talk I gave to my writer’s group on self-publishing and self-promotion. Some people have found them useful. It’s all based on my own experience. Email me at amt [dot] tetelestai [at] gmail [dot] com if you’d like a copy.

    Reply
  31. almondhead

    Thanks for following. I like your blog. I have also been studying fiction writing for years, Have lots of short stories and am working on a novel – damned hardest job I ever started. I do a lot of nonfiction but the boundary between non-fiction and fiction gets more blurred all the time as my blog post “My GPS Has an Anxiety Disorder” shows. Look forward to reading more on your blog.

    Reply
    • M. Talmage Moorehead

      Thank you. Your post, “My GPS Has an Anxiety Disorder” is amazing. I was actually laughing out loud. For real. Not the “lol” thing, but really sitting her laughing at my computer screen as Halo, my dog, was trying to get me to pay some attention to her. That post just kept getting better and better, as well as funnier. Those GPS women! I hear you.

      I loved this part, especially:

      “Some of my friends think I’m projecting. They say she is just a computer program and has no feelings. Sure they can say that. They don’t have to live with her backseat driving.

      “I know when she’s mad at me. She waits until I am in a hurry and all I get is this snippy “Acquiring Satellites” message.

      “And narcissistic; not a shred of empathy. Once in a while, I would like to hear:
      “‘Oh, Chuck, I see you’re asserting your independence today. Going your own way. I support that.'”

      Man, you are a talented writer, my friend. I hope you finish you novel. I know what you mean about it being a lot of work. It’s a weird kind of work, though. I haven’t figured out how to describe it. It’s way different from sitting for nine hours dictating pathology reports while your creative neurons do that passive aggressive thing you described in your previous post – which was also excellent and full of wise insight.

      I don’t think I’ve ever heard it said so clearly and so well that failing to stick up for yourself can be damaging to a relationship. Great post!

      When you get famous, introduce me to your agent and publisher. Remember the humble people from your blogging days. (Hahaha)

      🙂

      Reply
  33. Don Royster

    Thank you for the follow. I hope you enjoy the entertainment. Personally my focus is on creating totally meaningless fiction. I do think I have cornered the market. But you never know. The competition is awfully stiff.

    Reply
  35. Uncle Spike

    Hey there Newbie Spikey!
    (for your info, a Spikey is the term for folk who are part of the clan known to be followers of Uncle Spike 🙂

    Thank you… I really appreciate that as I for one, know how many interesting and entertaining blogs are out there.

    Blogging since June 2013, my aim is to deliver an eclectic offering of posts, from my ‘point n shoot’ attempts at basic photography, to the sharing of my travel adventures over the decades, as well as day to day happenings here on the farm. Oh, plus a few observations, opinions and lighter-hearted stuff thrown in for good measure.

    I normally keep to a couple of posts a day, maybe 3-4 at weekends if I have something special to share. But if you are at a loose end one day, maybe you’ll enjoy trawling through some of my older stuff too. I have added plenty of categories to help in said digging process.

    Thanks again and hope you have a great day…

    UNCLE SPIKE

    Reply
  36. rcprice

    First off, I want to say thank you for following. If you haven’t, I might not have found your blog and read this page. That was the best explanation of creativity I’ve read in a long time. As writers, we really do get caught up in the technical aspect and forget that we’re here to create and tell a story. Thanks again for the follow.

    Reply
    • M. Talmage Moorehead

      Thank you, Pedro!

      I can see why your blog won the award: http://pedroagdcalado.wordpress.com/

      Talk about interesting and inspiring!

      Unfortunately, I’m going to have to decline on the nomination due to the limits of time I’ve run into lately. It seems that I barely have time to do any work on my novel since my blog started getting visitors. I need to get back to writing before my characters forget who I am. 😉

      But thank you so much for the huge honor. I appreciate it.

      Best of luck to you, Pedro!

      Talmage

      Reply
    • M. Talmage Moorehead

      Thank you!

      I like the joy in this (from your blog):

      “I feel like I am finally finding the right path for me. My faith may not be at it’s strongest and my studying might not be completed, but a crazy lot has happened over the course of the last 6 months, a lot that we have had to accept and work with.”
      Link: http://jodysscribbles.wordpress.com/

      It sounds like you have more wisdom than some of us who are older. 🙂

      Reply
  40. Sebastian

    Hello There!
    I look forward to really diving into your blog. Also, thank you for following my blog at Faith1st Ministries. I hope it has and will continue to be a major blessing in your life. May God richly bless you as you continue to write and blog. Please continue with us on this journey and remember to have Faith 1st because the “just shall live by his faith.” — Sebastian

    Reply
  41. thelisteven

    This is lovely. Funnily enough, last night I dreamt about my years in high school and more specifically, the short stories I had to write in my English class. I login to my blog this afternoon and see the notification that you have followed me (thanks for that by the way!)…and you are a fiction writer! I’m awful at writing fiction, so I won’t take this as a sign to try my hand at it again, but I am glad I clicked through to your blog. 🙂

    Reply
    • M. Talmage Moorehead

      Thank you. I appreciate your blog and the fact that your writing is so open and honest about your horrible struggle with depression. Thank you for doing what you’re doing!

      One comment I found on your blog startled me. In physics there is an elegance of simple solutions that is said to bring a ring of truth to the minds of the few who know math and physics well enough to hear the sound. Although I’m not one of those people, I do hear a ring of truth in this bit of advice given by a stern old British gentleman to his depressed student:

      “depression is a funny thing and because it’s funny you should laugh at it. When you do find the humor or joy that exists around you in every dark moment – laugh, remind yourself of the joy, and the darkness will fade”

      Anyone interested should go read the full comment written by Zbigniew Pozarycki here: http://thelisteven.wordpress.com/2014/08/08/screw-you-depression/#comments

      It was startling to me. I don’t know how else to describe it. Imagine for the sake of fun that depression is literally a conscious being inhabiting a part of the depressed person’s mind. What power on earth could be more powerful to chase him out than the ridicule and humiliation of being laughed at?

      The mind is capable of creating multiple personalities, the experts tell us. From our dealings with nature we see everything in a spectrum or bell curve. What if full-blown multiple personalities lies on one extreme and the variable concepts of “this bad voice” or the sense that “something dark comes over me” lie on the other extreme, but both are to different degrees separate “beings” created by a single human brain? (I’m avoiding the whole discussion of “demon possession” here for comfort’s sake, but not wanting to exclude anyone from the discussion who believe such things exist. I certainly don’t know.) Wouldn’t laughter in the face of even a pseudo-being who has been “semi-created” by a sick brain be worth a try? I mean, really, the power of laughing at someone is immense. Huge! Look at how laughing in ridicule by origin-of-life scientists keeps everyone believing that the complex information in DNA could not possibly have come from an intelligent source. Look at how the thousands upon thousands of people who have seen UFO’s are kept quiet by laughter and ridicule. We’re talking powerful stuff, this sort of laughter. I’d be interested to know if you’ve tried this man’s advice yet, and if it has been in any way helpful.

      Sorry for the long comment. I’m interested in depression. I’ve been depressed in the past, so I can relate to what you’re going through.

      Reply
  42. ambient_memory

    Thank you for following my blog (Converse with Kurti)! I’m so glad to have found your blog and I can’t wait to read more on it. 😀

    Reply
      • julespaige

        Thanks I have fun – I am a poet who got drawn in to longer story telling, if you count 100 – 250 plus or minus words long. But then I put them in series… and well one of these day one of those series might make a book.

        I’ll try and stop by when I can. Family keeps me on my toes. Thanks ~ Jules

        Reply
  45. gaelsphotographyblog

    Only a quick read of your blogs so far but loving your vulnerability and self-honesty…. and … is that a Staffie running free on the beach over on the right? Love the courage of folks who ditch the day job in favour of their passion. Thanks for inspiring me 🙂

    Reply
    • M. Talmage Moorehead

      Thanks for your kind words!

      Truth be told, I wasn’t being courageous. I just hit the wall. Too much job stress combined with too much stress in my family.

      That’s my first dog on the beach. Her name was, Cortana. She was an American type Labrador Retriever who many people said looked to have a little Chesapeake Bay Retriever in her genes. She taught me about unfailing love that transcends any situation.

      Reply
    • M. Talmage Moorehead

      Hi Ema,

      Thank you for the offered nomination. I’m so tech savvy I went over there and couldn’t figure out what to do to accept your generous nomination. It was the basic linking thing that stumped me. How I can be that ignorant at this point is beyond me. But anyway, I really appreciate your kind words and your including me in that list of outstanding blogs. 🙂 Thank you.

      Reply
      • Ema Jones

        Hey, you are most WC.
        It doesn’t matter if you are new to WordPress.

        Steps to accept this award are:-

        Write a new post that contains following:-
        1. Thank the person who has nominated you i. e me by linking this post with my blog as I have done.
        http://bit.ly/1puYS3G will help you out.
        2.Write something about my blog if you wish to.
        3. Write RULES OF THIS AWARD
        4. Write 10 THINGS ABOUT Yourself : TRUE OR FALSE?
        5. Prepare a list of nominees who you think deserve this award.
        6. Update your answer of TRUE OR FALSE in a brand new post in coming days 🙂

        Reply
  47. Diwata In Lalaland

    Thanks for the follow. I really don’t know how you’ve found my blog but really, thanks it lead me to your interesting site. I haven’t read much but let me say your background make your stories excitingly different. I’m enjoying. I’ll be around to read more. 🙂

    Reply
  49. Christopher Peter

    Thanks for the follow. I visited your blog, meaning to give it a quick five-minute scan, and ended up spending half an hour reading some really interesting stuff. I like your take on writing ‘rules’ – i.e. they are guidelines and should not be lightly disregarded, but as writers we need to create something compelling first and foremost, and all those guidelines are helpful only to the extent they help us achieve that – and harmful to the extent they hinder us. Anyway, I’ll definitely be back.

    Reply

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