Kraken: Blog

One of the 'joys' of writing is winnowing down the rough drafts to remove all the extraneous details that either don't move the story along or, worse, slow down the flow. It shouldn't come as any surprise that I have literally hundreds of pages of material I removed from the first two books before either began posting. Most of the removed material are details about such things as designing vent trees to go along with the layout and installation of indoor plumbing, detailed descriptions of septic tanks to include how they work and sanitation cautions, various methods of smelting and purifying gold, how lime is made from limestone, etcetera. You get the idea.

The scene in Chapter 15 on the development of hand grenades was originally just over two pages. Of course that was much too long and of no real interest to most folks as it's really nothing more than foreshadowing of something that won't happen until much later in the series. So, I removed most of it leaving a few short paragraphs that were hard to follow as I tried to differentiate between gauge and shot. Then I got lazy!

I asked myself how many folks know or care about the exact definition of shotgun gauge versus shot size? "Self," I answered, "Not very many! We'll just simplify the whole thing and just use gauge."

And, that's what I did, making the few paragraphs neat, clean, and easily understandable without a lot of thought and rewrite.

Man, was I WRONG!

Turns out there are a lot more readers who care about such things than I ever envisioned. The response to the scene was almost instantaneous and negative, in a very nice way. Every email I received on this, and there were so many I'm still trying to respond to them all, was politely worded and strove to explain to the village idiot why using gauge was wrong and the difference between gauge and shot size.

All I can say is Mea Culpa!

I've rewritten the offending paragraphs and they are now posted along with some other corrections found by eagle eyed readers.

To all those who emailed me and/or provided their thoughts in the Comments, my sincere thanks!

Being an 'old fart' is tough! Don't let anyone ever tell you different. The weather here has been dreary, chill, and extremely damp all of which aren't that unusual for this time of year. For the first time though the old arthritic joints, breaks, and muscles let me know that the warm, dry, and sunny environment of the desert southwest would be much preferred. I'm still in good health, for my age, but the years are definitely beginning to show their effects. And yes, all that is to explain why I missed my normal Friday posting. As the old saying goes, 'Into every life a little rain must fall'. I can only hope that in the future it's a warm gentle rain.

I've submitted Chapter 15 to the mods and it should be up soon for your reading enjoyment.

My thanks to 'guns97' and 'davidl150' for letting me know forehead was a single word, not two words, as well as the other 'gotchas' that didn't seem to make it from my brain to my fingers and onto the screen. :-)

Fair warning - Refuge concludes in two weeks as there are only two chapters and the epilogue left.

Never fear though as Retreat, Book 3 in the Robledo Mountain Series, will start posting in early April.

The next chapter has been submitted to the mods and should be available for your reading enjoyment soon.

Many of the emails I've been getting have asked about a playlist for the all the songs in both books. If you're interested in hearing the songs as you read you'll find playlists for each book near the top of the FACTS page on my website. Here's a direct link to the FACTS page.

https://pcallenbooks.yolasite.com/facts.php

Keep those comments and emails coming - I enjoy reading both and I certainly learn from both the good and negative comments.

Chapter 13 of Refuge has been submitted to the moderators and should post soon for your reading pleasure.

One of the more common questions I get in emails is what is a Kraken?

Well, back near the dawn of civilization - you know, back when there were only three TV channels to choose from and those went off the the air from roughly midnight to six AM except for Friday and Saturday nights when they played movies from the 40's and 50's.

As a young boy, one of the first movies I can remember watching was about a Mediterranean island nation that used a mythical giant sea creature to destroy would be invaders. The yell of, "Loose the Kraken!" was heard throughout the movie.

The only problem with the Kraken was that it couldn't be controlled. Once loose, it was just as likely to attack the 'good guys' as it was to attack the invaders. It was also easily sidetracked and tough to put back in its pen when the attack was over.

I discovered, to my horror, that my muse is much like the kraken in that old movie!

When I'm ready to write, outline anchored in place, siting in my chair with seat belt firmly fastened, I give the mental command, "Loose the Kraken!"

When the smoke clears and I finally regain control a story has appeared on my computer screen. Most of the time it actually resembles, to one degree or another, the original outline. Of course, since my muse is a bit ADHD, there are the odd bits and pieces that don't seem to be related to the story at all but, in the main, the story is there.

Did I mention that I'm a bit OCD? My muse being ADHD is a bit disconcerting!

There you have it. Like my muse the Kraken is a mythical creature, untamable, a bit ADHD, and just as likely to destroy my carefully constructed outlines as Paul and Anna's enemies.

Until next week, stay safe, and enjoy the story.

First the important stuff! Chapter 12 has been submitted and should be posted soon.

My continued thanks to Guns97, CoullPert, and yellowperil, who once again spotted bad grammar, awkward sentences, and perilous punctuation. Their corrections, through Chapter 11, have been made and revised chapters posted.

On a side note: Chile or Chili?

I've received more than a few emails regarding my spelling of chile. Most of these emails insist that the correct spelling is chili and point to various dictionaries as proof. However, I was raised in New Mexico and in that State the spelling is chile.

Senator Pete Domenici, on the floor of Congress in November 1983, stated for the Congressional Record, that chili, "that inedible mixture of watery tomato soup, dried gristle, half-cooked kidney beans, and a myriad of silly ingredients that is passed off as food in Texas and Oklahoma. The different tabascos and jalapeno sauces added to the mixture do little good and in most cases simply cause a casual visitor to suffer great gastrointestinal distress."

"Contrast this to New Mexico, where ordering a bowl of chile is a delightful experience . . . Hospitable as we are to all visitors, we have chile that is mild enough to make a baby coo in delight, or hot enough to make even the strongest constitutions perspire in a sensual experience of both pleasure and pain.

"I could go on and on about the wonders of red and green chile, but in reality, all I wanted to do was inform Congress on the correct way to spell the word."

~ Domenici, P. 1983. The correct way to spell chile. Congressional Record 129 (149) (Nov. 3) ~

Regional competition and humor aside, in New Mexico, chile is the correct spelling when referring to the capsicum peppers and food items made from them. Chili is the term used for a protein based food dish such as chili con carne.

In Britain, I understand, for both the pepper and the food dish, the spelling is chilli.