Why do writers fall in love (or become infatuated) with one or more of his/her fictional characters? It’s an easy trap for a writer to fall into since the writer must fully understand his/her characters to write a story of substance. A writer literally goes inside the head of his/her characters to explore what makes them tick, what they feel, think, and so on and so forth. In my situation, one of my characters has taken on a near “human” form. Case in point: Shane Davison is not only the lead character, but he’s also the narrator and voice of CLIPPED WINGS . He can be a real twat, but I’ve got a deep inner connection with him. He’s part me, part Holden Caulfield, part Scout Finch, and many other teenage characters from well-read and loved coming-of-age novels. Shane is a cocky (oops, I can’t use that word, it’s copyrighted — that’s another story altogether: see here ) teenager who lounges on my sofa as I write. He knows he’s the central figure of the fictional novel I’m writing, so he has no fear of NOT being featured in any (all) scene(s). But, he gets testy when I cut scenes or chapters in the editing process. He doesn’t throw a hissy fit or anything along those lines; instead, he pouts and won’t speak to me. Okay, I admit; I enjoy the silence when he’s pissed off, it beats those endless wild tangents he so enjoys to torture me. When I ask him to be quiet, his feathers get ruffled and he won’t talk even when I need his input or opinion. I hate when he goes into one of his teenage mood swings. Whatever possessed me to write a coming-of-age novel of a spoiled, self-centered, egotistical teenage boy? Why couldn’t I’ve drafted a charming little story filled with lollipops, unicorns, and rainbows? I hate to say it, but I wrote about a subject I knew. CLIPPED WINGS is a personal story, one that has been with me for nearly five decades. A story I knew needed to be told, but I didn’t have the guts to pursue it. I suppose I wasn’t willing to put my feelings, my fears, and most of all, I didn’t want to expose myself in such a public manner. I suppose a vulnerability can empower or destruct, depending on how one approaches a situation. Through Shane’s character, I found a voice to tell my story, an autobiographical/memoir sprinkled generously with huge chunks of fiction. By creating Shane, I distanced myself from a past that had haunted me for a long time. In the narrative, Shane becomes the vulnerable one, not me. He takes the heat, not me. He takes the fall, not me. Okay, possibly I’m hiding behind Shane, but I’m finally exposing an injustice that should never have happened, but it did. I can’t say with a clear conscience that I’m in love with Shane's character, but I do admire the way he tells his (our) story. We share an unspoken bond with a tale inspired by actual events. Maybe Shane didn’t exist in the actual series of events that unfold in the novel, but as a team, he and I tell one hell of a story. Currently, CLIPPED WINGS , the novel, is being edited and is scheduled for release in spring 2021. I would like to hear your thoughts. Leave a comment in the Comment Box at the bottom of the page. Dale Thele Bestselling Fiction Author Stories with an LGBTQ+ Twist corrupting readers since 2008 Don't miss another blog post! Get new blog post notifications and new book/story releases sent directly to you by email. Click here to subscribe .

Photo by Pixabay What happens when you have goals mapped out and are on track to completion? Then, out of the blue, LIFE circumstances get in the way. Completing your goals comes to a screeching halt. You put your goals on the back burner so you can deal with whatever annoying crap LIFE has pitched at you. LIFE can be a real bummer. That’s what happened to me recently. I had my goals set to wrap up a manuscript by a specific date. Each step was finely detailed, and I had carefully calculated the time allocated for each. The completion date was within my sights. Everything was going smoothly, I had convinced myself the manuscript would be completed on time — then Whammo! LIFE unexpectedly dumped a poop pile of crap on my well-oiled plans. I received notification of an available apartment I wanted. I’d waited over a year for a vacancy. Not only was it a location I wanted to live in, but the apartment was for an immediate move-in. I was confronted with making a hasty decision to either accept the apartment and put my goals on hold for a month or better. Or pass on the apartment to complete my manuscript and wait an additional year for another vacancy. I signed the lease and wrote a check for the security deposit and the first month's rent. Five weeks later, I’m writing this post from my desk in the new apartment. I’m back on schedule with my manuscript; however, I had to revise my initial goals. The past five weeks taught me a valuable lesson. Life didn’t whack me up the side of the head with an obstacle; it was a blessing in disguise. First, I got a new apartment. Second, I had time away from the manuscript to realize the needed revisions. Third, I arrived at the conclusion that life isn’t all that bad. Take what life throws at you, deal with it the best you can, then move on to living. I suppose how we approach LIFE all boils down to attitude and perception. Our attitude is how we react to LIFE’s setbacks; perception is how we view those unexpected bumps in the road. No matter how we respond to LIFE’s little challenges, either meeting them head-on or choosing to ignore them, eventually, we have to deal with the consequences of our actions. I try to maintain a positive attitude; sometimes I deviate, but for the most part, I like to think I’m a positive individual. As for my perception, I prefer an optimistic approach — though sometimes, I neglect to remove my rose-colored glasses. So that’s how LIFE threw a wrench into the works, and I came out unscathed. I hope and wish you the best if LIFE dumps on you. Remember, without LIFE, there’s no LIVING. I would like to hear your thoughts. Leave a comment in the Comment Box at the bottom of the page. Dale Thele Bestselling Fiction Author Stories with an LGBTQ+ Twist corrupting readers since 2008 Don't miss another blog post! Get new blog post notifications and new book/story releases sent directly to you by email. Click here to subscribe .

Photo by Pixabay You’ve plotted your historical fiction short story. You’ve performed the research to the minutest detail, so the story is historically correct. The words of your story unfold in your editor and suddenly your initial story and your research meld together to reveal your story isn’t fictional at all. Has your muse tricked you or are history (reality) and fiction (make-believe) related in some way? Mark Twain said, “The only difference between reality and fiction is that fiction needs to be credible.” In my current fictional novella, WIP: MASKED IDENTITIES , a historical fiction short story is interwoven within a contemporary storyline. The interior story takes place in 1890 London and focuses on a developing relationship between two young men from opposite sides of the tracks—so to speak. Their relationship is prohibited by Victorian law because they are of a homosexual persuasion. I selected springtime, initially the second week of April, for the interior story because spring is generally the season associated with romance. A note: the Victorian story is not a full-on gay romance but a budding attraction. In the story, two men meet by accident at a public place. I researched popular establishments where young London gentlemen could accidentally meet, yet be believable. I narrowed my options to three popular locations doing business in April 1890. Since I’ve never set foot in London nor did I live in the Victorian era. I reconstructed a map of London out of 15 pages of typing paper which I taped onto the wall behind my desk. (Google Search and I became quite good friends during the four months spent on online research.) I marked each potential location on my crude map to comprehend their proximity. The marked locations included where each young man resided, possible meeting sites, etc. I decided on the locations for each scene. First was a trendy pub frequented by young Londoners after an evening performance at a nearby theater. My research turned up playbills for the theatrical productions at the chosen theater during April. I further discovered actual images of the production reviews in archived newspapers of the period and an original menu from the pub where the first meeting occurred. The second meeting was at Hyde Park, and later, the young men crossed the street to the Queen’s Horse Guard Barracks. While in the barracks, the young men are rounded up in a raid organized by Scotland Yard. This is where research (history) and story (fiction) head for a collision course. There was an actual raid on the barracks, substantiated by newspaper accounts and (old) Scotland Yard records. The raid occurred one week before the date I had arbitrarily selected for my story. I checked the playbills for the theatrical production at the Queen’s Palace Theater and discovered one of the most successful theatrical productions of 1890 played at the theater during the same week of the barracks raid. I moved the story setting up one week to correspond with the historical data. Other than the fictional characters in the interior story, the short story depicts actual events and business establishments per historical records. I thought my story was something I’d concocted in my imagination until my research data proved otherwise. The remaining research fleshed out terminology and slang phrases and recreated a similar writing voice of that used in under-the-counter “smut” stories sold during the Victorian era. After completing the first rewrite, I submitted the manuscript (through an author friend via her ex-boyfriend) to the Royal Historical Society, London, England. After several emails back and forth with the Society, my manuscript was verified as being historically and technically accurate.  Was it a coincidence that my made-up story paralleled events in history? Or, are there no more original stories to tell, only the art of retelling? Or, in a past life, did I live in Victorian London? Or maybe, “It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man’s fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area called the Twilight Zone.” — Rod Serling , introduction to the 1959-1964 TV Series. MASKED IDENTITIES (fictional novella) Brooke thought she had read every book in Grandad’s extensive collection of fiction until she stumbled upon an unfamiliar title. Curious, she delves into the book, to realize her own relationship with her boyfriend of four years parallels the Victorian short story she is reading Ezra and Christian. Can a story of infatuation between two men provide the answers to salvage her floundering relationship? Beta Readers are currently evaluating the manuscript. Anticipated to be released later in the year. I would like to hear your thoughts. Leave a comment in the Comment Box at the bottom of the page. Dale Thele Bestselling Fiction Author Stories with an LGBTQ+ Twist corrupting readers since 2008 Don't miss another blog post! Get new blog post notifications and new book/story releases sent directly to you by email. Click here to subscribe .

Photo by Pixabay Took the big plunge and moved my blog and web pages from WordPress to Wix . Why? I have nothing against WordPress; they are a huge blogging host, and they’ve been around for a very long time. Previously, I was hosted on WordPress; before that, I was with GoDaddy . Both had service options I liked, but neither had all the options I wanted in a web host. Was it too much to ask for: 1. a host that offers a clean design without all the sidebars found on WordPress 2. web pages along with a seamless integrated blog 3. easy to update on the fly 4. mobile friendly 5. MailChimp integration 6. Event scheduling and guest registration 7. SEO options 8. Google Webmaster Tools 9. Google Analytics 10. Affordable web hosting 11. All the service options I need in one place - one hosting company Yup, I want my cake and eat it too. Searching articles written by authors of hosting suggestions led me back to WordPress. Do all those authors get kickbacks for recommending WordPress? However, I ran across several mentions of Wix, so I checked it out. Wix offers paid and free hosting options. What impressed me most about Wix are the broad variety of template choices. I’m not a big fan of templates. I tried templates years ago and spent hours toiling over and tweaking the scripts to get them to work accurately. So, It impressed me when I discovered Wix's easy-to-use templates - select and drop the application options into the template. Then, if I wished to customize the applications or the template, it too was a snap. I played with a template for nearly a day; I paid nothing upfront to customize a complete website from a template. The process was so easy I was sold on Wix and I signed up for a premium account. No long-term agreements: I opted for a month-to-month basis to give Wix a spin. So far, I’m more than pleased with Wix. I have everything I want and more from one hosting company at an affordable rate. When it comes to hosting needs, everyone has different requirements and needs. For me, Wix has far exceeded my expectations. I may have just found my ideal hosting company with Wix. For the time being, I will continue a mirror blog on WordPress ; however, that blog will eventually be discontinued. I would like to hear your thoughts. Leave a comment in the Comment Box at the bottom of the page. Note: This is not a paid endorsement for Wix . UPDATE: the WordPress mirror blog has been deleted. This Wix blog is my only blog. Updated on March 18. 2023. Dale Thele Bestselling Fiction Author Stories with an LGBTQ+ Twist corrupting readers since 2008 Don't miss another blog post! Get new blog post notifications and new book/story releases sent directly to you by email. Click here to subscribe .

Image by Pixabay What is a story within a story? Wikipedia defines it as "a literary device sometimes referred to as a frame story or a frame tale or a frame narrative in which one character within a narrative narrates. The inner stories are told either simply to entertain or more usually to act as an example to the other characters. In either case, the story often has symbolic and psychological significance for the characters in the outer story. There is often some parallel between the two stories, and the fiction of the inner story is used to reveal the truth in the outer story." Within my novella entitled MASKED IDENTITIES , the frame story is a book the protagonist (Brooke) reads to herself. The idea is similar to the NeverEnding Story, the 1984 West German fantasy film based on the novel of the same name by Michael Ende. However, unlike NeverEnding Story, Brooke does not interact with the characters inside the frame story. So, the question I am often asked is why write a story within a story? Like many of my story ideas, the story idea came to me in a dream. During my waking hours, I contemplated the story concept and found a desire to further explore the story idea. Was it possible to expand the concept into a cohesive and interesting story? First, I wrote the frame story. A period tale of Christian and Ezra in 1890 Victorian London. I wanted to separate the two storylines, so they were distinctively different, yet they would have similarities. Two young men became the primary characters, not just any lads, but gay men. The intent was to bring to light homophobia and the challenges gay men face in today’s world, which was not so different from 130 years ago. The timeline of the story was arbitrarily set in the first week of April for two reasons: (1) springtime is usually depicted as a season for love and (2) to contrast the freshness of spring against the bleak backdrop of London during the time period. However, I did not want the story to take place on Easter weekend (April 6). I did a little research into theater playbills from April 1890 and found one stage production which matched my intended story. I changed the date to Friday and Saturday, April 18 and 19 which historically coordinated with a popular staged presentation at the Queen’s Palace of Varieties Theatre, Poplar. As with all aspects of the interior story, historical facts and events were important in keeping with the story. I had no intention of changing history, but to use history to further the interior story. After completing the frame story, I wrote the exterior story featuring Brooke and Chase in present-day. The story begins with Brooke discovering an unusual book in Grandad’s library and begins to read it. At this point, the frame story starts. The manuscript moves back and forth between the exterior story to the interior story; all the while, Brooke recognizes similarities between her life and that of Christian and Ezra. The similarities are intended to suggest that gay and hetero relationships are not as different as one might think. One of the many similarities between the two stories is that Brooke cannot understand why she fell for Chase initially. Chase knew from the start that he and Brooke were not of equal social standing, but he fell for her anyway. Ezra falls head over heels for Christian, even though Christian is not the kind of man he desires. A universal theme here? Love is unexplainable; it happens, and it doesn’t always make sense. Brooke’s epiphany comes when it dawns on her that she and Christian are a lot alike; both come from influence, money, and personal traits. Chase and Ezra are from backgrounds where money was tight and have similar personality traits. Gay and straight similarities again. Tensions rise between Christian and Ezra in the frame story, at which time Brooke realizes she doesn't want to lose Chase and she wants to patch things up with him. She learns a valuable lesson from the tale of Christian and Ezra, to not put off telling someone you love them, or the moment may pass and it is too late. Chase has to make a decision, at a time when he is frustrated and angry. His heart tells him one thing, yet his head says something to the contrary. Earlier in the frame story, Ezra deals with a similar personal dilemma with Christian. Love is love, no matter if it’s in today’s world or 130 years ago across the big blue pond. Gay or straight, love can be confusing, challenging, and frustrating. That is how MASKED IDENTITIES became a genre-complicated hetero-contemporary story wrapped around a gay-historical tale. MASKED IDENTITIES is available in ebook and paperback HERE . I would like to hear your thoughts. Leave a comment in the Comment Box at the bottom of the page. Dale Thele Bestselling Fiction Author Stories with an LGBTQ+ Twist corrupting readers since 2008 Don't miss another blog post! Get new blog post notifications and new book/story releases sent directly to your email. Click here to subscribe .

Photo by Pixabay This is probably the most asked question of writers. Without a story idea, the writer has nothing to write about. The only occurrence I can recall a writer wrote about nothing was T he NeverEnding Story (Die Unendliche Geschichte ) by Michael Ende. He wrote of The Nothing . Writers find inspiration in diverse ways. Some writers get ideas from something they see, a result of brainstorming, and some have found inspiration from reading other writers' works and they sense the story should go in a different direction. There are infinite ways a writer comes up with ideas. As for myself, I find my ideas in real-life situations or through nighttime dreams. Let’s take Harvest Moon my favorite piece of writing to date. It’s a short piece of fiction, a whopping 1300 words. The idea came in a dream. When I woke up, I jotted down as much of the dream as I could recall. One marvelous fact about my dreams is that they repeat each night until I get all the details on paper. Some folks may call it my muse. I accredit my dreams as being stubborn. Whatever the case, the dream reoccurs over and over until I get all the details recorded. I never had the dream again once I’d gotten all the details. That’s how Harvest Moon came to be. Another short story entitled Roadhouse Friday came while dining at a local family restaurant. I was people-watching, which is one of my favorite sports. But, when I watch I enjoy making up their backstory. There was one autumn evening at one of my favorite restaurants when I found the customers to be more diverse than usual. Maybe it was the fried mushroom appetizer, but backstories just popped into my head as I watched the patrons. That’s how Roadhouse Friday came to be. My novella, Masked Identities , came as a dream. However, the story idea came in two parts making it rather complicated to understand. The first part was the story of 1890 London of two gay men. The idea was intriguing but seemed to be an incomplete story. It replayed night after night and each morning I jotted down the details. Then the dream stopped. I tried to force the dream to return, but it wouldn’t come. Instead, a new dream took its place, a contemporary story of a college girl and her boyfriend. Again, each night the dream replayed and each morning I captured the details on paper. This went on for about a week, then that dream stopped. Confused. I racked my brain trying to understand the two-story ideas, and what did they have in common? After several days, I realized their connection, two unique stories from different time periods, different locations, with different characters yet they were similar stories. At that point, I visualized structuring one story within another story. That’s how Masked Identities came to be. My current work-in-progress (WIP) is my debut novel, Clipped Wings . The underlying idea came from real-life experience, while the fictional parts came from dreams. This is the first manuscript I’ve written where the ideas came from real life and nighttime dreams. Combining the two has been interesting and challenging, but it makes for one helluva story. I suppose the lesson to learn is that it makes no difference where story ideas come from, as long as the ideas evolve into a story in which a reader can lose themselves in the writer's imagination. I would like to hear your thoughts. Leave a comment in the Comment Box at the bottom of the page. Dale Thele Bestselling Fiction Author Stories with an LGBTQ+ Twist corrupting readers since 2008 Don't miss another blog post! Get new blog post notifications and new book/story releases sent directly to your email. Click here to subscribe .

Photo by Pixabay I would like to hear your thoughts. Leave a comment in the Comment Box at the bottom of the page. Dale Thele Bestselling Fiction Author Stories with an LGBTQ+ Twist corrupting readers since 2008 Don't miss another blog post! Get new blog post notifications and new book/story releases sent directly to your email. Click here to subscribe .

Photo by Pixabay Writers are often considered quirky, eccentric, weird—you get the idea. No matter how deranged you may think writers are, famous writers had set routines they followed religiously. Can we prove or disprove their bizarre routines? After all, they were famous. There’s the old saying: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it . Maybe there’s something to these strange habits of famous writers. Isabel Allende began each of her novels on the same day: January 8. J.A. Jacobs author of Drop Dead Healthy writes while walking on a treadmill. Walking pales in comparison to Kurt Vonnegut’s preferred fitness habits. The Slaughterhouse-Five writer walked and swam every morning, and claimed to do pushups and sit-ups all the time. Haruki Murakami takes things a step or three further with his routine, which includes a 10-kilometer run, 1500-meter swim, or both, each day. While Ernest Hemingway, Charles Dickens, Virginia Woolf, Lewis Carroll, and Philip Roth wrote by standing. In Stephen King’s earlier days, he used drugs and alcohol to write better, so much so that he doesn’t remember writing Cujo. Maya Angelou rented a hotel room in her hometown every month. She’d go in at the crack of dawn, write until the early afternoon, then take her work home to look it over. Angelou asked the management not to enter her room, except to remove the paintings and other decorations. Instead, to occupy herself while she brainstormed, Angelou kept crossword puzzles and a deck of playing cards handy. Thomas Wolfe wrote while leaning over a refrigerator. Some authors prefer to write lying down as standing up, like Ernest Hemingway, Edith Wharton, Charles Dickens, Virginia Woolf, Lewis Carroll, and Philip Roth were all known to write while lying down. Truman Capote was, as well, but that’s hardly the strangest thing about his routine. Capote was certainly a persnickety writer. Not only did he claim to be a horizontal author and could not think unless lying down. Capote had more superstitions than most people could keep up with. He wouldn’t begin or end a piece of work on a Friday, would change hotel rooms if the room phone number involved the number 13, and never left more than three cigarette butts in his ashtray, tucking the extra ones into his coat pocket. Both John Cheever and Victor Hugo thought writing in various states of undress was beneficial. Cheever may have written in his underwear for practicality, given he had but one suit at the time, but Hugo had other motives. The Les Misérables author gave himself only a few months to write The Hunchback of Notre Dame . To ensure his success, Hugo had his valet remove all of his clothes from the house. With nothing to wear except a large gray shawl, it forced the author to meet his deadline. James Joyce wrote lying on his stomach in bed, with a large blue pencil, clad in a white coat, and composed most of Finnegans Wake with crayon pieces on cardboard due to his failing eyesight. John Steinbeck, who liked to write his drafts in pencil, always kept twelve perfectly sharpened pencils on his desk. He used them so heavily that his editor had to send him round pencils to ease the calluses Steinbeck developed on his hands from the traditional hexagonal ones. Agatha Christie munched on apples in the bathtub while pondering murder plots, and Flannery O’Connor crunched vanilla wafers. As for myself (I’m not a famous author, yet), I have a few quirks. I compose my rough drafts with a fountain pen and cheap Composition Books. I’m not superstitious, but I ring a brass bell before I write, warding off negative vibes. A silver pendant of St. Paul (patron saint of writers and teachers) hangs around my neck. I’m protestant, but why take a chance, right? So, I think we can agree, writers are a strange breed of kookie. We hide dead bodies in our attics and kill our darlings, yet we write fantastic prose. In my humble opinion, I say do whatever makes you feel more confident when you write. If what you do hurts no one, why not? Is it worth tempting fate and possibly pissing off the muse? I would like to hear your thoughts. Leave a comment in the Comment Box at the bottom of the page. Dale Thele Bestselling Fiction Author Stories with an LGBTQ+ Twist corrupting readers since 2008 Don't miss another blog post! Get new blog post notifications and new book/story releases sent directly to your email. Click here to subscribe .

Image by Pixabay Most writers have a daily goal to write a set number of words. Those goals can vary between writers. Here are examples of some famous writers' daily word count goals. Ernest Hemingway: 500 Words Stephen King: 2,000 Words Jack London: 1,500 Words Tom Wolfe: 135 Words Mark Twain: 1,400-1,800 Words W. Somerset Maugham: 1,000 Words Anne Rice and Arthur Conan Doyle: 3,000 Words As you can see, famous authors have different word count goals. How are your daily word count goals working out for you? Are you achieving your goals? How much of your daily writing gets “red-inked” or pitched into the trash? What percentage of your writing is salvageable? So, my question is: Are daily word count goals productive or counterproductive? Setting word count goals motivates a writer. A writer enthusiastically begins the daily writing routine, working diligently until reaching a predetermined number of written words. This approach can be intimidating or counterproductive, especially if the writer is experiencing writer’s block or unsure what should happen next in the manuscript. In determining a daily word count, would an individual who writes by hand share the same daily word count goal as someone who uses a typewriter or even a word processor? Writing by hand is a much slower process than using a word processor. However, it’s been shown that handwriting increases creativity and deepens thinking , keeping the brain sharp and increasing comprehension . ( Oxford Learning ) Time restraints are essential for setting word count goals. Some writers have more time than others. Suppose you work a full-time job and have a limited amount of time you can allow for writing. The same is true for a stay-at-home parent taking care of a child or homeschooling. Unless you are a full-time writer like the ones listed above, you may not have the time to devote to your writing. How about quantity over quality? A daily word count goal may produce a set number of words, but is it your best quality work? It takes time to cultivate a quality manuscript. So, is one sacrificing quantity over quality by limiting oneself to daily word counts? I’m not saying daily word counts are right or wrong; only YOU can decide after weighing the pros and cons. As for myself, I’m a proud pantster who writes in fountain pen on paper, and I do not set daily word counts for myself. However, each morning when I sit down at my desk I set a goal for that day—maybe it’s completing three chapters, maybe just one, I don’t set a word count for myself. Of course, I’m not a New York Times best-selling Author either. But I do crank out a book or two every so often. My point is that maybe you should take a closer look at daily word counts. Are they working for you? If so, kudos to you. But, if you’re like me, an individual who has found a process that works for you yet goes against what’s being preached, congratulations. Writing is personal; each writer has their way of doing things. There’s no right or wrong way to write; just get the words down in whatever way suits you best. (Yes, this post title is a spoof on One Republic's - Counting Stars ) I would like to hear your thoughts. Leave a comment in the Comment Box at the bottom of the page. Dale Thele Bestselling Fiction Author Stories with an LGBTQ+ Twist corrupting readers since 2008 Don't miss another blog post! Get new blog post notifications and new book/story releases sent directly to your email. Click here to subscribe .

Photo by Pixabay You may already be in one of my stories I say this not as a warning or to shock you. When I develop a story, I have a basic plot (and subplots) in mind. For any plot to occur, there must be at least one character. I imagine someone I know or someone I’ve seen as an actor on TV or in a movie who might fit the role. From there, I craft the character, taking characteristics from different people to produce a character profile. Usually, I start with someone I know in real life, from my present or past, as the base personality, and then I build on that until I visualize a character that best suits the story. From there, I Google-search for a photograph that best fits my image of the character. I then attach the photo to a character profile sheet describing the character. The profile includes a physical description of the individual’s likes, dislikes, dreams, fears, etc., until I have compiled a complete character profile. Rarely do I use the attributes exclusive of one individual. When crafting a character, they are a composite of qualities from many diverse people. Sometimes, I craft a character(s) out of the blue. Take, for instance, my novella, MASKED IDENTITIES . The interior story's two characters (Christian and Ezra) are entirely made up—two fictional characters from 1900 London, England, without connection to anyone from the real world. However, I researched popular names of the period, clothing, and hairstyles, including facial hair. In my upcoming novel CLIPPED WINGS , most of the characters are composites of real-world people. Shane Davison, the 18-year-old narrator and protagonist, is loosely based on me and some of my real-world experiences. I base other characters in the novel on real-world people from my past and present. I made up only a few characters with no specific individual in mind. So, when you read something I’ve written, don’t go searching for yourself as a character. However, should you recognize an aspect or trait within one of my characters, embrace the recognition, knowing that maybe, just maybe, you were part of the inspiration for that character. I would like to hear your thoughts. Leave a comment in the Comment Box at the bottom of the page. Dale Thele Bestselling Fiction Author Stories with an LGBTQ+ Twist corrupting readers since 2008 Don't miss another blog post! Get new blog post notifications and new book/story releases sent directly to your email. Click here to subscribe .

Photo by Pixy Point-of-View (POV) in literature is the narrator's position in relation to how a story is told. A story's POV sets the tone and mood of how a story unfolds for the reader. There are four basic POVs: 1. First-person point of view. First-person is when “I” am telling the story. 2. Second-person point of view. The story is told to “you.” 3. Third-person point of view, limited. The story is about “he” or “she.” 4. Third-person point of view, omniscient. Sees and knows all. A POV can also be combined with any of the others. Some stories are told using several POVs throughout the life of the story. So, why is POV important to a story? It depends on the kind of story and how the author best feels the story should unfold. Myself, when I began writing the novel CLIPPED WINGS , I experimented with different POVs. The manuscript wasn’t working for me resulting in severe “writer's block”. Not until I tried writing in First-Person did the story flow freely. That’s when I knew I must tell the story in First Person POV for several reasons. 1. The novel is a personal story told by an 18-year-old searching for answers. How better to draw the reader into the story than to have him tell it in his own words? 2. The entire novel hinges on Shane’s (the protagonist/narrator) perception of the world around him, giving the story a one-sided view. 3. Shane views the reactions of people and situations without the aid of an outside narrator filling in the blanks. Everything is up to Shane to figure out in his own time and on his own terms. 4. Shane does not know what other characters are thinking, so he’s left to make assumptions . Without an outside narrator, it pulls the reader into Shane’s head and his limited logic. 5. Shane offers many of his own thoughts and opinions, which he justifies through numerous flashbacks from his earlier life experiences. 6. The reader is free to disagree with Shane and to make his/her own assumptions and predictions about situations, other characters, and the direction the story is going. 7. Shane relays conversations (dialogue) between himself and other characters. He recalls what he hears , maybe not what is literally said or implied by other characters. The First-Person POV works best in this situation, drawing the reader into the story—or rather into Shane’s head. If the novel were drafted using one of the other POVs, the story may not have provided the essential components required to develop into a personal, emotional, and moving narrative. I would like to hear your thoughts. Leave a comment in the Comment Box at the bottom of the page. Dale Thele Bestselling Fiction Author Stories with an LGBTQ+ Twist corrupting readers since 2008 Don't miss another blog post! Get new blog post notifications and new book/story releases sent directly to your email. Click here to subscribe .

Photo by Pixbay For the younger generation who have grown up with computers, smartphones, iPads, etc, there was a time when there were no computers. Yes, I’m referring to the “ dark ages ” before email and texting. When we communicated by snail mail, phone (connected by wires to a wall outlet) and yes, we even spoke to one another in person (face-to-face)—can you believe that? Scary ain’t it? My first foray into computing was a Commodore 64. I waited outside in a long line at Service Merchandise to order mine. People lined up nearly around the building for their turn to place an order for the first affordable home computer. None of us knew anything about computers, except for maybe making punch cards for binary computers at universities or major employers. We were entering an uncharted and exciting era into the unknown. The Commodore 64 was revolutionary at the time, one could create data lists and play games. We were amazed and entertained by our new home computers. Then a new must-have innovation burst into our homes—the Web TV. By hooking up a converter box to the TV one could access the Worldwide Web right from the comfort of our living rooms. With a simple keyboard on our lap, we could write and send emails from our television sets and surf Web TV-compatible websites. Web TV is where I discovered webcam sites. For hours upon hours, I was intrigued by watching ordinary everyday people broadcasting images of themselves from their homes. The “live” pictures refreshed about every 15 seconds. Depending on the traffic to the webcam site and the internet speed. Frequently, the images froze, and I’d have to reboot the Web TV. Rebooting was slow because of a dial-up connection. I will never forget that hideous Web TV music that played as the unit gradually linked to the web. After a couple of months of no sleep because of my addiction to watching webcam sites, I wondered if I too couldn’t do the same. All I figured I'd need was a tabletop computer and a webcam. So, I ordered a computer from an ad on Web TV. My new IBM-compatible computer was delivered by UPS on Christmas Eve in 1999. I tore into the shipping box, unpacking my first real computer. So excited, I set it up and attached the cables on the floor instead of on top of my earlier purchased computer table. Plugging the cord into the electric socket, I flipped the power switch—nothing happened. There were no blinking lights, no humming motors, zilch. Well, I think I cried for a little while, disappointed I’d spent my hard-earned money on a piece of worthless junk. To top it off, it was Christmas Eve, and I’d waited nearly a week for my custom build computer to arrive. Disappointed, I gathered the packing materials of styrofoam, plastic bags, and waded paper. Then, I happened to stumble upon a sheet of paper with red printing. “For Customer Service Call 1-800-XXX-XXXX.” Of course, I immediately dialed the number. An amazing and patient service tech guided me through the disassembly of the entire tower. Unidentifiable computer parts lay all around me on the floor. It worried me I’d not be able to put it back together properly. After all, until that evening, I’d never used a real computer, let alone taken one entirely apart. By dawn on Christmas morning, I had ultimately reconstructed the tower (with the help of the service tech). Lo and behold, the computer worked. All night on the phone and with a bad case of cauliflower ear, I’d unassembled and reassembled my first computer tower. Building a website was my next challenge. Knowing absolutely nothing about coding, I rapidly self-taught myself through many hours of trial and error—and a LOT of failures. At the time there were few books on web design and WYSIWYG editors were extremely expensive. Somehow, through diligence (sheer stubbornness) and endless hours of frustration, I launched my first 3-page website on the afternoon of February 26, 2000. Pages filled with random moving gifs and smart-ass sayings. Don’t ask me if I understood how any of my codings worked, all I can say is that I had a webcam site of my own making. There were a grand total of four visitors during my initial hour of broadcasting. The webcam site changed and grew over the eight years of its online life, growing from one webcam to six webcams in my condo, operating from three computers. Countless people aided me along the way to better understand web design coding, but mostly, I’m self-taught. It’s been 11 years since I operated a webcam site. Today, I prefer a quiet and very private home life where I can write tales of made-up characters and the predicaments they find themselves in. Over the years, I’ve continued to make my own websites, reflecting the various paths my life has taken. Life isn’t static; it’s always in flux and transition—or that’s how it's been for me. Please visit the website I completed this past weekend, my umpteenth website design: https://www.dalethele.com . I would like to hear your thoughts. Leave a comment in the Comment Box at the bottom of the page. Dale Thele Bestselling Fiction Author Stories with an LGBTQ+ Twist corrupting readers since 2008 Don't miss another blog post! Get new blog post notifications and new book/story releases sent directly to your email. Click here to subscribe .