Future Fortune

Future Fortune
by James M M Baldwin

Went out in the world, my future to seek
Broke open a cookie, my fortune to peek
Great expectation my hope did withstand
An entrance I made and Oh it was grand

My stature the press quoted as fine
Till I tripped on my feet, fell on my behind
Oh yes I wanted to be a big superstar
But instead here I am living in my car

Rejection

So, you're a writer? Undoubtedly you've received a rejection letter. (unless you're some type of wonder-child) Maybe if your writing exhibits some hint of promise, you've been lucky enough to receive a personal rejection, and if you're real close, you might have even received some type of constructive criticism or a short note of advice. However, most rejections are the standard "form letter." Believe me, I've had my share. Before the end of 2012, I received my 145th rejection letter, 99th on this particular project.

I've studied how to write a query, with its various required parts. Less than a page including genre, word count, hook, pitch, and author bio. It takes some work to put one together. But no, this is not about the parts of a query. This is about the parts to a form rejection letter.

Part 1- "Thanks for offering us your project." This is the part where they subliminally tell you how great "they" are and how smart you were to try and get them to represent you. It's the "We know we are soooo great" part of the rejection.

Part 2- Right after letting you know how wonderful they are, comes the "No thanks. You Stink." Some subtle, others not so much. They say things like;
"I cannot take on projects unless I feel strongly about them. I'm sorry to say that it didn't happen with this one."
"I am afraid I must pass."
And the most common. "It's not quite the right fit for our Agency."

Part 3- "This is subjective. Now, please go bother someone else with your dreams of becoming published." Typically, they say, "This, of course, is just my opinion and others may feel differently." Duh! Thanks a lot.

Part 4- The final part is usually the, "Good luck when you find someone else to bother." There are variations on this too. There's " We wish you every success." or "I hope you find a great agent who will represent you with the enthusiasm that you deserve." If wishing me good luck actually gave me any luck, I'd be published a dozen times by now.

Finally. If you have received any of these common form rejections, take some solace in the fact that the dear agent at least had the courtesy to copy and paste. One recent rejection I received consisted of a mere three words. "Not for me." Wow! That took some thought. I should feel lucky they took three seconds to trash my hopes and dreams.

Have you ever received a form rejection? Did it contain all four parts? Did it contain anything unusual? Anything funny? Let me know. I'd love to hear from you.

Jim

A Joyous Day Called Christmas

A Joyous Day Called Christmas
James M M Baldwin

In the darkness of the winter solstice
Under the stillness of a moonless night
Comes a joyous day called Christmas

In a gorgeous spectacle of brightness
In A Luminous season of gladness
Comes a joyous day called Christmas

Among selfless acts to help the helpless
Amid gracious hope for the hopeless
Comes a joyous day called Christmas

While precious children lie restless in slumber
As a gifted songstress sings a wondrous hymn
Comes a joyous day called Christmas

As witness to a sinless child born of justice
In an ageless promise of righteousness
Comes a joyous day called Christmas

Life's Autumn

Life’s Autumn
James M M Baldwin

Silver sunlit rays traverse a lavender sky
A fragile hand clings to life

Purple clouds trimmed in gold hide a setting sun
Hope remains amid enthusiastic prayer

Copper hues dapple autumn leaves
Disease enforces its penalty

Birds speckle the sky departing for southern lands
Loved ones visit but return whence they came

A season ends
Death claims its prize

A distant star lights the dark
A wandering soul finds an eternal home

Ten Scariest Movie Villains

As a speculative fiction author, I dabble in horror. Two of my best are Twisted Fate and Dream Hunters. Though the second leans more toward science fiction, the dreams contained in the story are pure horror. Today I came across a list on AOL of the ten scariest movie villains. Some of them I hadn't heard of.
Here's the list.
10. Ghost Face from Scream
9. Angela Baker from Sleepaway Camp
8 Jigsaw/Billy the Puppet from Saw
7. Chucky from Childs Play
6. Pennywise the Clown from Stephen King's It
5. The Firefly family from House of a Thousand Corpses
4. Michael Meyers from Halloween
3. Jason Vorhees from Friday the Thirteenth
2. Leather Face from Texas Chainsaw massacre
1. Freddy Kruger from Nightmare on Elm Street

I wasn't familiar with the Firefly family or Angela Baker, but the video clip from Sleepaway Camp looks intriguing; a bullied child takes revenge.
Another list from YouTube listed as top ten horror movie villains (doesn't mention scary)adds Norman bates from Psycho, Jack Torrance from The Shining, Regan from the Exorcist, and Hannibal Lector from Silence of the Lambs. They also had the Xenomorphs from Alien, but if your going to have that, you also have to put in the predator from the Arnold Schwarzenegger Predator movie. That one however may be less horror and more action/adventure. If I'm including action adventure, I might want to add Heath Ledger's Joker from the Dark Night and maybe even Darth Vader from Star Wars.

What do you think? Did I leave someone out? Who's your scary favorite?

Jim

Dark and Lonely

Dark and Lonely
James M M Baldwin

A skeletal shell
In a damp and musty grave
In a long forgotten cemetery.
Once the seat of knowledge
For a strong brilliant man.
Worms have left me vacant
Without thought
Without impulse
Without sensation.
Shakespeare's Hamlit
raised me in one hand,
Alas poor Yorick
I knew him well.
Poison liquid in a bottle
Puts me on crossed bones.
I'm out of my skull
Perhaps bone-headed.
In dishonorable proceedings
I am skullduggery.
In metal music
I'm 'Eddie the 'ead.
In Mayan Myth
I'm crystal quartz.
As Lord Byron's cup
I hold the wine.
Get it through
your thick skull.
A wooden shell
To incase the brain.
I never frown
A toothy grin.
My orbital sockets,
Adorned long ago with watery blue eyes
Now only stare;
Vacant, dark, unblinking.
In life, muscle and skin gave me emotion
Joy, anger, passion
No longer.
Sunken cheeks
Exposed teeth
Have left only one expression:
Death.

Writer as Artist

In an e-conversation, a friend of mine, Doug Sasse, asked if I've noticed the similarities between writing and drawing?

This really got me thinking because, as an artist and a writer, I've often pondered this.

In both mediums you are telling a story. You put thousands of little marks on a blank surface to produce a final product. Both forms take hours to produce. You know what they say, "A picture is worth a thousand words." But there is one major difference between the two. With writing, the reader spends hours, days, sometimes weeks absorbing your work. On the other hand, with a painting or drawing, you spend hours and hours producing the work and the viewer usually gets the entire story in a few seconds. Sometimes they might spend a minute examining the work, but never much more.

Continuing our conversation, my friend clarified his opinion on the subject with the following.

Both mediums start with an idea or a subject. You sketch in broad strokes, blocking in the structure. Structure is important in both mediums. Each element has to not only stand on its own, but work with the other elements to be successful. I think they call that Gestalt. Drawing uses different values of light and dark, just as does character development. But then once the basic structure is in place, you refine, refine, refine, until you've completed all of the details. Drawing is a right-brain exercise; writing is, to a large extent, also a right-brained exercise, requiring intuition and creativity. In the end, both mediums create something artificial that, ironically, enhance its creator’s ability to see the world, while providing the viewer a greater appreciation of reality.

I'd like to thank my friend and fellow Nebraska Writers Workshop participant Doug Sasse for initiating this dialogue and giving my cause to think.

What do you think?

Jim

Rain on a Tin

Rain on a Tin Can
James M M Baldwin

Some scoff at my empty cans
"They're an eyesore"
"They're garbage"
"They're ugly"

Some complain about the rain
It'll drench my clothes
It'll ruin my new shoes
I just washed my car

The rain brings my empty cans to life
A gentle pinging lullaby
A distant rumble adds the bass
The rhythm slows and rises with the storm

Rabbit Hole vs. Worm Hole

When the going gets tough, some people bury their head in the ground like an ostrich. (I don't know if ostriches actually do that but I saw it in a cartoon once) Sometimes it's easier to hide from a problem than confront it. A rabbit will lay perfectly still, hoping to avoid conflict. But if trouble gets too close, it will go for its hole. The rabbit is quite smart. Remaining undetected is better then becoming coyote dinner. The rabbit however, will always be a rabbit and more than likely will eventually become the dinner for some carnivore. Rabbits don't usually die of old age. As they slow down, they're no longer able to outrun the predator. The rabbit's main defense against extinction is to make lots of little rabbits before the unavoidable day of painful demise.

Instead of remaining inactive and waiting for your chance to escape into the rabbit hole, and eventually becoming eagle chow, there's another option. The worm hole. No. Not the tiny holes made by slimy legless creatures, but the wrinkle in time and space. In a precursory move, if you jump into the worm hole, you'll arrive at a new destination. The problem will have never existed. It won't have time to follow. Your exotic new destination might have its own problems. A new predator might be larger and have sharper teeth than the coyote. But at least you made the decision to act on your circumstance and did something to change it.

Now, if I only had the courage to take my own advice. Which are you more likely to do in times of trouble? Rabbit hole? or Worm hole?

Jim

Happy People, Happy Village

Happy People, Happy Village
James M M Baldwin

Blue covers the heavens like an upside-down sea
Wooly clouds gather like guests at a tea

A white sun coaxes the dull to a colorful array
Stubborn buds burst into a fragrant display

Emerald waves roll toward distant green meadows
Swaying arms sway from a row of old willows

Oaks and maples line a creek, sparkling like glass
A bushy tailed squirrel forages for seeds in the grass

Birds sing a merry song, filling the trees
Butterflies float on a gentle fragrant breeze

A bunny chews in a field of bristly pink thistle
A dragonfly darts like a heat guided missile

Giggling young girls jump rope, skip, and sing
Dressed in sundresses of green, white, and pink

Bare-chested boys play ball as they stroll
Shouting for joy as they tumble and roll

An unsteady woman walks a large hairy beast
It pulls her along, she holds tight to its leash

Young lovers exchange a passionate embrace
Overeager to complete the love that they chase

A child stops playing… she points at the skies
A comet strikes Earth… and everyone dies