Tag Archives: writing

Sunday Afternoon Ramblings- Thankful #21

November 21, 2010 D.A. Adams 1 Comment

I’m thankful for my passion. In all facets of my life, I’m a passionate person. It’s what makes me a writer and a teacher because my passion for language drives me to share it with the world. It’s what made me a decent football player. I wasn’t the most physically gifted person and was certainly under-sized for a lineman, but my passion pushed me to lift weights and run mountains and push my body to its limit to be the best I could be. Passion is what makes me a good father because the love for my children fills up my heart and spills over the edges. There’s no containing the passion I have for my sons, and I’m thankful every moment of every day that I have gotten to experience that level of pure love.

Of course, being a passionate person does come with a few disadvantages. It’s not something that can be turned on and off at will, so when I’m upset, the passion amplifies my emotions and I get really upset. It sometimes makes me hard to be around because I get so consumed with whatever I’m doing that the rest of the world disappears. And when I get hurt, the pain is deep and enormous because it too is amplified. Those things sometimes make being a passionate person a difficult burden to bear, but I wouldn’t trade.

I don’t do anything half-heartedly. When something sparks my passion, I’m full throttle, head down, no-looking-back 110% going for it. That doesn’t mean I always succeed, but it does mean that anytime I fall short, it’s not from lack of effort. In every aspect of everything in my life, I am passionate, and to me that is one of my strongest positive attributes. I live my life to die with no regrets, and a major part of that comes from allowing my passion to stir me. I realize that some people who don’t know me very well may be surprised to hear me describe myself as passionate because I often come across as so laid-back and mellow, but underneath that calm exterior is a highly emotional person who squeezes every drop I can from life. Still waters run deep, and I’m thankful to be such a passionate person.

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General Posts, Ramblings of Thanks

Saturday Morning Ramblings – Thankful #20

November 20, 2010 D.A. Adams Leave a comment

I’m thankful for Red Sky at Dawn. That book was written under some of the most difficult conditions possible and turned out to be a pretty good book. It was written one to two pages at a time each night between 2-4 AM after I had put in at least a twelve hour day at work. Some nights, I had to pinch my thighs to stay awake long enough to hit my page goal, but I knew that if I didn’t at least get the rough draft finished before Finn was born, the odds of me ever finishing it would have been slim. I learned a great deal about my threshold for pain and endurance with it.

I also found my voice with that manuscript. The narrative moves swiftly, barely allowing readers time to catch their breath between intense scenes, and some of the intimate moments with the characters are very powerful. The Battle for Hard Hope is one of the best fight scenes I’ve ever written, and the chapter arc where the captain saves Master Sondious is one of the best pieces of prose I’ve created. I have noticed a few typos and minor errors in the manuscript, but I’ll chalk that up to the time-frame in which the book was edited. When all five books are complete, I’ll polish out those mistakes for the next edition. Personally, I feel like those minor flaws don’t take away from the book, but they do bug me.

Overall, I’m grateful for Red Sky. It’s a strong work from the opening page to the final scene, and I am proud of if as a literary work. I’m thankful that it will be one of the legacies I leave behind for my sons.

www.thirdaxe.com

General Posts, Ramblings of Thanks

Monday Afternoon Ramblings – Thankful #15

November 15, 2010 D.A. Adams Leave a comment

I’m thankful for The Brotherhood of Dwarves. That book will always represent to me my rebirth as a writer. Graduate school killed my creative drive and stifled my voice, so when I began writing the book, I hadn’t written much of anything in three years. The reason why the first couple of chapters are the way they are is because I was unsure of myself, taking baby steps out of the gate to get my bearings and find my voice. Other than superficial polishing, I’ll not change those chapters because of what they mean to me.

Overall, Brotherhood is a good book. The story is tightly contained, the characters are real, the plot twists are solid, and the climax is powerful. By the middle, I had knocked off all the rust and had found my voice, and some of the writing in the second half really crackles. It’s not perfect and has some flaws, but in total, I’m proud of it as a story.

Brotherhood may never receive the attention it deserves, and the series may never be successful, but I will always be proud of the accomplishment of finishing the manuscript, polishing it, getting it to print, and promoting it. I accomplished something special with it, overcame a lot of odds along the way, and created something my children can be proud of.

I’m grateful for that book, for the journey of bringing it to life, and I will always be thankful for the feelings of accomplishment and fulfilment the book has given me.