The blog tour continues

The blog tour continues...the bus has rolled over to two more blogs:

Check out my interview over at 'The Writer's Life'
Check out another interview over at 'Laurie's Thoughts and Reviews'

On a related note, I will be appearing on Senior Voice America's radio show, 'Health, Wealth, & Wellness' this Wednesday, 2/6 at 5:10pm.  The show has been archived at the Senior Voice website (here); my segment starts on the streaming player at minute 65 and runs through minute 78.

Interview at Examiner.com

Park the car, I've arrived at my first blog stop - check out my interview at the Examiner.

Has grammar lost its relevance?

Has grammar lost its relevance?

As an author, grammar is, of course, a very big part of what I do, as it constitutes the process of writing.  Looking outside of my little world, however, it seems to me that grammar is eroding in the wider spectrum of society.  The way I see it, there's a number of things at work in this process, and we risk much by not acknowledging the slow creep of change around us.

Not to sound like a cranky old man, but when I went to school the approach to the English language was much different than it is today.  Now, to make things clear, such a statement might sound like I'm at least two hundred years old, but, sarcasm aside, I went through grade school in the 1970's.  Not that long ago, I would think.  I went through junior high and high school in the early 1980's.  I mention this, because I think it has some relevance to the discussion.  The education I remember in a class we called 'English' was still very much focused on grammar, vocabulary, and spelling.  Yes, there was reading, and papers, but there was also a weekly vocabulary list, which doubled as a spelling list.  This was part of the curriculum straight up to high school (tenth grade).  Part of this study included grammar.  I remember doing sentence diagrams - and hating them - as well as analyzing sentences to identify nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, subject-verb agreement, etc.  I won't hesitate to admit this was a struggle for me, but I felt that when I was done with it, I knew how to write a well-structured sentence.

In today's world of education, much of this rote drilling has gone away.  I've seen it first hand with my own kids, and I know they're not some strange exception to the learning experience.  The school district in which we live is also considered very good, and, just to be clear, overall I'm satisfied with the education that's been conducted in the schools.  The problem, I believe, is systemic to the greater education system.  Vocabulary and spelling seem to fall by the wayside at the end of grade school, and sentence diagrams are not discussed.  I took it upon myself to teach my kids what I knew of grammar after a little experiment that unfortunately proved my suspicions.  I pulled out some Madlibs one night and figured to have some fun, while sneaking in a lesson. Not only my kids, but their friends as well, had no idea of grammar beyond nouns and verbs.  Adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, were all Greek to them.

What happened?  Back in the 1980's schoolwork was done by hand.  Computers were very expensive, word processing programs often ran on dedicated machines (I first did word processing on a Lanier desktop), and those initial programs for the most part lacked spell and grammar check.  In today's world computers are omnipresent, and a great deal of work is done electronically.  It would seem that computers would catch a student's grammatical errors, but that makes several assumptions.  First, the grammar check needs to be turned on.  Second, the user needs to understand what all those wiggly lines under their sentences mean.  Third, if the student does open the grammar check to review the written text, will the student understand what the grammar checking is referencing, when the student hasn't been taught grammar in the first place?

To me, this is the same insidious process debated when I was school, when the concern revolved around calculators.  The argument was that calculators would take the place of individual understanding, so that people would be trained to push buttons rather than think.  An over reaction?  I don't think so.  Today, several retail chains have adopted the practice of displaying charts to explain the savings on sales percentages, a rudimentary calculation.  Still an over reaction?  Here's an experiment: next time there's an opportunity to make a cash purchase, see if the person behind the register knows how to make change.  

Is it a matter of an evolving social state?  That's something that remains to be seen.  I think there is a change at work; it would be silly not to think so.  The pace of communication has increased by leaps and bounds over the last two decades. We went from having actual conversations to one sided communication, realized in texts, facebook updates, tweets, and scrolling news feeds on cable news channels.  In previous times a thought was expressed in as much space as it required.  Today, outside constraints form the rule.  Character limits, working with tiny phone keyboards, and the commingled emergence of a pseudo-language consisting of acronyms and butchered words have all but eliminated the 'sentence' from modern communication.

The latest Blackberry OS/devices not only have predictive software for words typed on small keyboards, but predictive software to complete entire sentences.  If that trend continues outside of Blackberry to other devices - as it most certainly will, given competitive trends - the micro-communications (text, tweets, etc.) we exchange in the future might not even be of our making.  Our devices will be talking in our stead, exchanging predictive sentence forms with each other.  It's an unsettling prospect, considering that the written word of an individual can be as unique in its expression as an individual's spoken word.  Consider this: if our comments and communications are homogenized, is there any 'communicating' left in communication, or will we be reduced to the likeness of fax machines?

So, what's at risk?  For most people, any concern would most likely be dismissed as an alarmist over-reaction.  I would say we shouldn't be so fast to dismiss the ramifications of this change.  Look at memos in the workplace, notices in businesses and restaurants, even some newspaper articles.  Often such things are riddled with spelling and grammar errors, some of them to the point of being unintelligible.  When I entered the publishing world, I read post after post of editorial standards advising authors to be wary of basic grammar and spelling.  I used to think this was sarcasm, but I've come to realize it's just another facet of the problem.  Theirs vs. there's?  Too, to, two?  You're vs. your?  Its vs. it's?  When the basic structure of a language is not embraced, the language itself faces the dilemma of losing relevance.  What's the use of traffic laws, if people are allowed to disregard them?

The greatest legacy of a civilization is the body of literature it leaves behind.  Cultural values of a people can be expressed in art and sculpture, in the sound of their music, but only the written word allows the subtleties and depth of a culture's values and ideals to continue through time.  Without passing along the knowledge to use the written word properly, the ability of a society to maintain its ideological and cultural identity begins to erode.  We have a legacy to impart to the future, we just need to remember that we will be responsible for effectively conveying that legacy, something we won't be able to do if we let our language fall by the wayside.

'Oddities & Entities' Virtual Book Tour

'Oddities & Entities' Virtual Book Tour

The time has arrived for my tour of the blogosphere with my second book, 'Oddities & Entities'.  The scheduled blog stops run through February and March as follows, and I will update specific links as the dates come along.  The tour information is also available at Pump Up Your Book.

Here's the schedule:

Monday, February 4 – Interview at Examiner

Tuesday, February 5 – Interview at The Writer’s Life

Wednesday, February 6 – Interview at Laurie’s Paranormal Thoughts and Reviews

Thursday, February 7 – Guest Blogging at Lori’s Reading Corner

Friday, February 8 – Interview at Books Books the Magical Fruit

Monday, February 11 – Book Review at Beauty in Ruins

Tuesday, February 12 – Guest Blogging at Delphina Reads Too Much

Wednesday, February 13 – First Chapter Reveal at Beyond the Books

Thursday, February 14 – Interview at Blogcritics

Friday, February 15 – Interview at Book Marketing Buzz

Monday, February 18 – Guest Blogging at Precious Monsters

Tuesday, February 19 – First Chapter Reveal at As the Pages Turn

Wednesday, February 20 – Interview at As the Pages Turn

Thursday, February 21 – Interview at Literarily Speaking

Friday, February 22 – Interview at Review From Here

Monday, February 25 – Interview at Pump Up Your Book

Friday, February 28 – Interview at The Book Connection

Monday, March 4 – Book Review at Laurie’s Paranormal Thoughts and Reviews

Tuesday, March 5 – Guest Blogging at The Story Behind the Book

Wednesday, March 6 – Interview at Between the Covers

Thursday, March 7 – Book Review & Book Giveaway at Urban Girl Reader

Friday,  March 8 – Book Review at Deal Sharing Aunt

Monday, March 11 – Book Review at Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks

Tuesday, March 12 – Interview at Beyond the Books

Wednesday, March 13 – Guest Blogging at Moonlight Lace & Mayhem

Monday, March 18 – Guest Blogging at Bibliophilia, Please

Wednesday, March 20 – Book Review at My Cozy Corner

Friday, March 22 – Guest Blogging at Literal Exposure

Monday, March 25 – Interview at Broowaha

Friday, March 28 – Interview at American Chronicle

Starting 2013 on a good note...
It's nice to start a new year on a good note, so I'd like to share some flattering news.

My short story, "Conquest's End", serialized in the Spring 2012 issues of 'Bewildering Stories', has been chosen for their 2012 Annual Review, the 'Mariner Awards'.  Selected from nearly four hundred published titles for the year, this is a real honor, and a welcome addition to my writing resume.

A sweeping tale of high fantasy, "Conquest's End" was also chosen for the Spring Quarterly Review 2012 of 'Bewildering Stories'.

Check it out at http://www.bewilderingstories.com/anthologies/AR12.html

Complacency: a strange creature indeed

Well, well, 12/22/12, and we're still here.  Not that I take 'existence' for granted.  Quite the contrary.

It's been a few months since the last essay I've posted to this blog, but that doesn't mean my thoughts have been idle.  I had a few ideas I've been considering as a good points to re-enter the blog routine, but some of those incubated past their apparent expiration dates.  I was going to step over one of my ground rules and discuss some politics before the presidential election, but that passed - maybe for the better.  I might just go back to that as we slide into 2013 and the nation's finances become (hopefully) center stage.  

However, one idea that kept resurfacing was the concept of complacency.  I'll be didactic for just a moment, to keep things nice and clear.  Merriam-Webster defines complacency as (1) self-satisfaction especially when accompanied by unawareness of actual danger or deficiencies, (2) an instance of usually unaware or uninformed self-satisfaction.

I find complacency to be the most insidious of human shortcomings.  It's a characteristic, or issue, I've dealt with in much of my fiction, because I think it touches upon a basic philosophical aspect of being human: in our efforts to find a notion of stability and security in the great unknowns of existence, we want to believe that the way in which we live is not subject to change, particularly if the state of living happens to be somewhat appeasing.  The dark side of complacency, though, is just what it's definition suggests - that satisfaction with a current state of being is illusory, while change - in all in its anarchic incarnations - lurks just around the corner.

Indeed, there are many problems lurking ahead as we round the corner to 2013, but I'll focus on two in particular.

The idea of writing a bit about complacency hit home after Hurricane Sandy.  I live on Long Island, New York, but I was fortunate enough not to sustain any damage to my house. Power went out, but again I had the good fortune to have power and connectivity services restored within forty-eight hours of the storm.  When I was able to see more of the world around me, I came to realize the degree of my good fortune.  Within days, though, the stark reality of multi-hour gasoline lines and the looming prospect of people possibly freezing to death in the frigid nights following the storm were a bit of a shock.  Not just to me, but to many people I know, such things seemed surreal - these were realities that happened somewhere else, not in our area.

Complacency had reared a bit of its ugly head.  Should anyone have been surprised at the damage suffered by Long Island, Manhattan, and coastal New Jersey?  Not at all.  Emergency management officials, climatologists, and weather professionals had all expressed concern after Hurricane Katrina slammed New Orleans that the New York-New Jersey area was even more susceptible to damage from a major storm.  Just look at a map.  Long Island's south shore looks out over the vast expanse of the Atlantic, and the south shore forms a nice funnel with New Jersey's coast to trap storm surge water and amplify its effect.  Nevertheless, the attitude prevailed that something of such scale could never happen here, and that abatement efforts were perhaps futile given the scope of vulnerable areas.  

It's not a matter of denial.  Denial would constitute the simple belief that it can't happen.  Complacency tells us it won't happen, because it hasn't happened before, and since it hasn't happened before, there's no reason it could happen.  It may seem subtle, but it's more than a semantic difference, and a recent event highlights that difference.

Moving ahead, we are confronted with a very different, but no less shocking event, the horrifying shootings at Newtown, Connecticut.  The scale of affected people may be much different than Hurricane Sandy, but the impact is perhaps more devastating.  We knew Hurricane Sandy was coming.  On the other hand, no one expected the tragedy of Newtown.

Or should we have expected such a tragedy?  Days before Newtown, there were multiple shootings in a mall in Oregon.  Before that, the movie theater shootings at a showing of 'Batman'.  Prior to that, the shootings in Arizona that targeted Gabby Giffords. 

Need the list continue?  Or should it be taken from the opposite perspective, and taken as confirmation that mass shootings are not a question of if but when.  The same can be said of Hurricane Sandy's impact on New York-New Jersey.  It really wasn't a matter of if, but when.  

All the troubles that beset us are not coming as surprises, but manifestations of low outcome scenarios made real.  On the other hand, maybe they're not such low outcomes as we would like to believe.  Insert 'complacency' here.  The examples go beyond what I've mentioned here.  Japan thought it was safe against tsunamis - to a point.  Areas of the United States that never saw flood damage, have seen massive flood damage - hence the growth of flood insurance.  The same goes for wild fires.

So, if complacency underlies so many problems, is there a common cure?  In a way, there is, and this is what makes complacency such a curious creature: it is a generalized process underlying specific situations.  Until there is a serious discussion about gun control, we will be plagued by mass shootings.  Until coastal over-development is addressed as a major concern in future land projects, coastal floods will be devastating.  Until elected officials can have a serious discussion about government over-spending, economies in many countries will creep ever closer to calamitous recession and bankruptcy.

If there's a common thread, it should be self apparent.  At least by now, that is, and it's something that takes the conversation straight back to that initial definition of complacency: we have to see through the illusion of our self-satisfaction to see the true nature of the dangers ahead.  Complacency urges us not to look our problems in the face, because doing so not only forces us to acknowledge the problems, not only forces us to acknowledge our own hand in their creation, but forces us to accept that we must have a sobering discussion about changing our ways.  Complacency needs to evolve, so that we are complacent with the nature of change itself.

Until then, our messes will continue to pool about us, and their dark waters rise ever higher.  It sounds grim, but it need not be.  If there's a thread of hope, it comes in the one thing we possess as a species, and that is the conscious ability to adapt, to not only accept change, but embrace it and bend it to our advantage.  

After all, if we lacked that capacity, humanity never would have spread across the globe, and we would have vanished long ago.  The message for 2013 is that we still have windows of opportunity, we only need to be brave enough to pursue them.

And so, on that note of guarded optimism, we ring in a new year.  Happy Holidays!

Waking for the change of year. . .

Well, well, here we are in the month of December, and I have once again found myself on the tail end of things.  I must apologize, because at the advent of this blog my intention was to post monthly, but it's rather obvious that this plan hasn't quite worked out.  As the saying goes, Life is what happens when you make plans, and Life has certainly stepped into me over the last few months.  Distractions have come in the form of some 'ups', and also as some 'downs'.  Most notable of the 'downs', and certainly something which I feel obligated to mention out of respect, was the loss of three close family members, each more unexpected and tragic in their departure from the world we know.  

In honor and memory to: 'Poppa' Joe, 'Unc' Kay-Werner, and Brendan, the three of you are in my thoughts every day.  

Now, if you care to bear with me, I'll try to rewind and highlight some of the 'ups'.

In the publishing world, awards are announced in two seasons, Fall and Spring.  So, as this Fall came along, I was very happy to come away with six national awards.  Adding to the National Indie Excellence Award I won in 2011, I am now honored to say that my two books, 'Remnant' and 'Oddities & Entities', are now the recipients of seven national literary awards - three for 'Remnant' and four for 'Oddities & Entities'.  This Fall I received three award nods from the 2012 Readers Favorite Book of the Year Awards, and another three nods from the 2012 USA Book News Best Book Awards.

So, there I am in Miami back in November with my books and the two Bronze medals I received in the Readers Favorite Awards.  This was an exciting day, because the night before the USA Book News Best Book Awards were announced for 2012, revealing another set of award nods.  To win even one award in either contest is a great honor, but to win three awards in each contest was something quite beyond all of my expectations.

When I set out on this crazy adventure to be an author, I had a few goals in mind.  One, and a perpetual goal, is to write stories that not only entertain but have literary quality.  Second, was to get published in the first place, something I achieved through short stories and then books.  Third, was to build critical acceptance of my writing through professional market reviews, and I've been fortunate to receive such acceptance.  Fourth, and perhaps the most dream-like of my goals, was to have some awards to set myself apart as a serious author.  Now, not that I take myself too seriously, because I really can't believe that's me holding two award winning books with my name on them, but after all the work it took to get to this point, I would like to at least pause for a moment of satisfaction.  

Ahh.  Okay, back to work.

For specifics on the awards, you can take a look at the new pages I added to this blog for my books.  While you peruse those pages, you might notice something else new as well - I had the pleasure of making book trailers for both books.  These, combined with a mobile version of my website that I put together, are part of the ongoing effort to expose my writing in as many ways possible.

Speaking of exposure, 2013 is going to mark my first serious endeavor to garner serious exposure for my books, and my writing in general.  Toward this goal I have several efforts loaded with excitement, and, as things move forward, I will either put up posts for appearances/blog stops, or perhaps add a page to this blog to keep things together.  As always, my main home on the web is my website, www.rolandallnach.com

Barring the end of the world as we know it in the next few days, I'm looking forward to what the future might bring in my publishing pursuits.  I've been working to get to the point where I feel I have something compelling to spur the interest of the larger reading world.  Between the reviews and awards, I think I'm getting to the point where I have the confidence to ask people to invest their time in my books.  To me, as an author, the commitment of readers is a matter of trust, and a matter of great responsibility.  It's something I take very seriously, and I hope my efforts translate to the page.

That's all for now.  Fare thee well, 2012, you were without doubt one of the more interesting orbits around the sun.  Happy holidays!