Oh little angel
Oh little angel
You were born as this gender
With you it was not consulted or as if to even ask would be inferior.
You are but innocent and for that alone you must suffer
But still your temper's
So tempered
As if by some means, some miracle from the divine you were not in any real danger.

But you were in danger, you were in the threshing floor,
milestone around your neck, in the deep,
in the dark on the streets
by all the nashing teeth.
how did you even get so far.
Mental, physical, emotional, literal painful scars.

Oh little angel what big beautiful eyes you had, the innocence of which shared by all young kids.
But don't cut the cake
Dad hasn't come home it's late.
It's strange.
See the look in his eyes, whose is that, something have changed.
And you will never get back that day.
Not even if you traverse the galaxies and stars, it's gone away.
And you wanted to cry, but how could you have known.
You needed to save those tears because it would be a lifetime of pain away before you would ever find a real home...

It wasn't your fault,
oh little angel, it wasn't your hand around the knife that made the real mark.
Did the only thing you could. Your In charge
now. Keep everyone alive
despite
the pain, battle, dark.
Oh little angel look how far
You have come.

Casey Thomen:

Walked a few houses down to pick up a friends mail, these are the pics.

These are from this morning. We walked to a friends to get his mail and took more. Post when I can.

Novel Review
Title: The Star Agency Book 1 of The Star Agency Chronicles
Author: R.E. Weber
Before I get into the pro/con of the book I wish to express a few thoughts. 1) I usually avoid series books. They tend to drag out over years and years, the author in some cases dies or alters too much of the story etc. However in this case the synopsis seemed very interesting and I like science fiction so I gave it a go. 2) It surprised me how much Weber and I thought alike. In all three of my published book (published under DeWayne Watts and sold on Amazon) I insert Star Trek references. I started watching Star trek at age 6 and in all of my books I weave it in the conversations of the characters. Weber did the same and it brought a smile to my face each time. So I assume that Weber enjoys Star Trek. He also inserted a single reference to Star Wars, but hey my son likes Star Wars.
Pros:
Character Development: I was able to jump right into the story; it was a quick start to ‘feel’ for the characters. I was able to reach back to when I was 13 and identify with Theo and put myself in his place. I was also able to understand his relationship with the other characters in the book. As I read I became Theo, but back to when I was 13. I believe any reader could easily understand Theo and agree with the things he did. His interactions with Jules and his aunt were very real and spot on. I have had in my past similar relationships. Later in the book his relationships with other important characters was also very easy for me to get into.
Plot: As with all stories there are flat spots, or transitions that seem to move slowly. Although Weber had them early on and a one later, they were far from dead flat spots. He kept me engaged and moving forward. I thought that was interesting, regardless of what needed to be narrated to move the plot he kept it moving. This is very difficult to do as a writer. You have areas in the plot that detailed narrative must be written and some authors go flat line dead. He never hit the flat line. For example sometimes readers will ‘skim’ because the narrative seems to move slow, although he had slow spots I was never tempted to ‘skim’, he kept me fully engaged. He developed the plot well and as I mentioned moved the reader forward.
Dialog: It took me a few pages to get that this was written in United Kingdom English and not American English. In case you may be wondering, there is a huge difference, just set the native language on your computer to British English and you will notice. After I realized that it became easier to understand certain phrases and wording. I watch a lot of movies out of the UK and some from the north of England that use heavy Gallic, so I was able to understand the use of non-American wording. The dialog was well written and kept true to the primary characters.
Narrative: Weber did a very good job on the narrative, very interactive and involved. A few flat spots, but nothing that stood out as dead. He kept me engaged and intrigued.
Cons:
Character Development: Nothing of serious note. He did a good job drawing out the primary characters.
Plot: Again noting negative.
Dialog: Just one single little point. At two places he used ‘movie’ dialog from American Television from the 1980’s. What is that? In the 80’s it was very popular to have a character say “Oh I will….I will” It was a reparative statement to emphasize or stress a point. It was very much in use in the 80’s but fell away over time. This was the very first time I have seen it in a long time. Although it does not detract from the plot, it is easier to use that phrase then to use narrative to describe the character expression or body language to add the stressor. But again it did not detract; it was just a surprise to see it in a modern novel.
Narrative: As with dialog only one point. He makes three references to the Cheshire Cat. “Theo smiled like a Cheshire Cat” as example. This was a serious shortcut to describe a ‘mischievous smile’ or ‘cynical smile’. In essence a shortcut to describe how the character was smiling. But here is my point, when a book is being sold on a worldwide scale using a reference that is native to a certain country will be lost on some in other countries. Also “Alice in Wonderland” is not being read by younger readers and the above phrase is in the book and not the movie. So even if someone may have seen the movie the phrase may be lost, a reader of Weber’s book may not get the point of the Cheshire Cat. Also when the recent incantation of the movie was released there was a documentary released on American Television that exposed the author of “Alice in Wonderland” as a child predator and the story is about his activities (hidden within the story) and he also wrote it to entice two  girls that lived in his area. The documentary went into grave detail about why he wrote the story. Since I suffered a horrible childhood (My account ‘David’s mark’) and I watched the documentary when I see this phrase in the book I skipped it. On that note this is more of a personal pick. However I to refer back to the fact that on a worldwide scale this phrase would be lost on many.
Final Thoughts: Weber did an awesome job for a science fiction novel I could not write sci-fi. Since I love Star Trek many have encouraged me to try to write sci-fi but I know I can’t. Weber did a great job and I will buy the rest of the series. He really opened a door to a new sci-fi saga. I told my son that his book was equal to the start of the Star Wars series (not like it but as good as). I also feel that this is worthy of movie quality. We need a new sci-fi movie series. Also I think that this series is a perfect YA series, Young Adult. I have tried several times to write a YA series aimed at boy’s ages 10/11-13/14 but I can’t write myself there. Weber DID it. He wrote a perfect adventure series for that age group. I was taken back to my childhood and really poured myself into this story and the whole time I was reflecting back to the Hardy Boy’s novels I read when I was young. I would love to see Weber also include this in the genre of ‘Young Adult/Sci-fi, I believe the young kids would eat this novel alive, it is a perfect YA adventure series.
Well done Weber and I enjoyed this very much.

Saturday morning January 23rd 2016. I took a yardstick to the snow at 7:05 and we got just under 9 inches. Last snowfall this big, 2002.

At 1:30pm we had 7 inches on the ground. It is now 5:45pm and still snowing. I figure about 9 inches by the morning. I'll post in morning and let ya'll know.

Let Your Yes Mean Yes: Will there be a Sequel to “Still With Eyes Closed”
 
About three times a week I’m asked either in person on online when the sequel to “Still With Eyes Closed” will be released. Sometimes I’m simply asked if I am working on it. The short answer is “yes I’m working on it” and in reality I am. But as with all things there is a big but here, and it smells.
In total more than 6,000 copies of all three of my books are in the hands of the worldwide public. 1) Either they bought a hard copy. 2) They bought an eBook version. 3) They took advantage of Amazon Kindle promotions or 4) I gave them a hard copy in exchange for feedback.
I want to focus on number 4. Some have kept their promise and left feedback in exchange for a hardcopy of one of my books, whereas others…I want to examine 2 principals, letting your yes mean yes and theft.
 So there are currently about 50 or so people out there who have obtained a free hardcopy of one of my books that gave their word, or made a promise, that after reading it they would leave feedback. Those that I see on a regular basis have told me how great and wonderful the book or books were. I remind them to leave feedback and I get “Oh I’ve not forgotten.” “I have just not had time.” “I thought I already did.” The excuses go on. So first letting your yes mean yes, if someone does not like something they MAKE the time to tell as many as they can, no excuses. But if they enjoyed something, well excuse after excuse. What has happened is they gave their word or made a promise and have broken it, in effect lied. Second point theft, the book or books were given in EXCHANGE for feedback instead of money. If you fail to pay for something you have stolen it. Regardless of the view expressed by the thief or the justification made, theft is theft. So by taking the book and promising to leave feedback and never doing it the person has lied and stolen.
Many of those who have done this are close friends and a few family members. They all sing praises of the books, but then offer justified excuses why they forgot. Some of these people I see several times a week, others are outstanding members of the community, doctors, church leaders, professionals, professors and as I said some very close friends.
Now the effect, it has been very discouraging to me to constantly hear “Oh I intend to.” “I’m sorry I forgot again.” “Yeah great book and I want to leave feedback but I never have an extra 3 minutes in my life.” (That last one contained sarcasm.) These excuses have been going on for over 2 years. Because authors need feedback to help generate new sales I have been very discouraged by the constant broken promises and theft’s for over 2 years now and it has put water on the fire of my writing. I deeply desire to complete the sequel to “Still With Eyes Closed” but I am totally hurt and disappointed in how ones have treated my kindness. I am not mad at them or even upset with them, but disappointed and let down. I can overlook those whom I do not know on a personal basis, but close friends, and these friends still call and ask me for favors. I will continue to lend them a hand, but if they never intend to let their yes mean yes then simply stop lying to me and tell me that you just wanted a free read.
I will finish the sequel and only one person on Earth will get a free copy, my editor, signed. No one, no matter who they are or how many false promises they make will get a free copy. Of all the aspects of being an author I feel this is the hardest to deal with, being lied to by friends and others so they can steal a copy of my book. It makes me feel taken advantage of and used. So as I stated, no more free copies. When I ran my end of year Amazon Promotion in 2015 I stated in this blog that it would never happen again, and it will not.