Understanding me

One of the things that interests me most about story telling is that every interaction between people can be considered a "story:" real or fictional, long or short, expressed or felt. And a really good story can bring teller and listener closer together, it can incite revolution, or it can calm raging wars. A really good story is capable of doing anything and is only limited by the imagination of those involved.

In trying to understand what makes a good story, I've come to realize how personal and at the same time how universal this can be. From the universal stand point a good story needs a good hook, the better the hook the more compelling it is to dive into and forget everything else that might try and pull you away from the story. The story then needs to hold the "listeners" attention. Very much like the hooks, the hold needs to persuade the "listener" over and over again how important it is to follow the story all the way through to the end. And then there has to be a payoff at the end. The "storyteller" has to deliver on his/her promises that the "ride" was well worth the "price of admission".

Yet for each of those, (hook, hold, and payoff) what makes them compelling is individual. Each person can have very different goals for their life, how and where they find entertainment, and how each element of their life provide fulfillment and enrich their lives to make them more than they would have otherwise been. Some of these individual characteristics can be categorized, like if they are just drifting though life without any real or solid goals or if they are strongly compelled to some very specific goals. Other characteristics can be much more individualized like a strong affinity for purple and pink dragons with social personality disorders which compel them to try and please those less likely to be accepting.

In order for me to become as incredibly successful as I would love to be I realize that I have to have passion, drive, and determination. The more lofty ones goals are the less likely they are to be obtained without a huge amount of dedication. Fortunately for me, I am rather extremely good at making myself into whatever I want to become (if I do say so myself). Unfortunately for me, this is only half of what is needed (at best). The other half or more that I need to succeed is determined by how well I understand my "listeners." What complicates this even more is how little each person really understands them selves and can convey it if merely asked. I like how well Malcolm Gladwell is able to explain this.

As I explore deeper into myself I realize that there are some stories that I'm not interested in. There are some stories that I just think I'm not interested in until I really look and see what the story is about. There are stories that I think I'm interested in, but leave me feeling empty and betrayed once I've followed them. And there are some stories that captivate me from the beginning and pull me through in ways that I would have never expected and bring me to places that I long to return to again and again.

I think that the better I get to understand others, the better I understand myself. Hopefully through this process I to can learn to create the types of compelling stories that for now I can only dream of, not only in the fictional novels I hope to create but in each magical interaction I have with those around me.

The Disney Conspiracy

While I call it the "Disney Conspiracy" it is really a "Hollywood" thing. The saddest part, though, is it is our children that are the victims. With each Disney child star that falls victim in a massive public breakdown a question should be asked, "Why did this happen?" Or more importantly, "Why does this happen over and over again?"

Drugs, Sex, Rock and Roll. While Disney might not really be to blame (each person has a responsibility to act for themselves) perhaps Disney should be more concerned with the image they are creating for themselves. From alcohol, meth, and other addictions that have destroyed careers and ruined lives in front of millions of disappointed fans, why haven't we learned from anyone's mistakes? And while addictions and eating disorders are a problem, they aren't as worrisome as the idolization of body parts.

As 11-facts-about-teen-pregnancy points out about 1/3 of all American girls will get pregnant before the age of 20. The 2013 US census also showed that 62% of new moms in their early 20s are unmarried. With 70 percent of the juvenile detention filled with children from broken homes, and 63 percent of teen suicides. There is a good reason for concern, especially since I have my own daughter to try and rise among such negative influence and keep safe.

So why blame Disney, or Hollywood, for this problem? It's because of the reason behind "Disney girls gone bad." And the message is simple, "You need to grow up." Unfortunately it is the misconception behind what it means to grow up that many teens loose their way, and Disney teens in particular.

Smoking is a good illustration of how these misconceptions are applied. Since the dangers of smoking are so much more greater than then its benefits it is very rare that any adult (over 20) starts smoking who has never done it before. Interestingly enough the peer pressure applied to youth to get them to smoke is to stop being a baby, or that they are old enough to make their own decisions. Most people who started smoking as a child fight hard as adults to break free from its addictive influences. Similarly Disney stars are similarly feel pressured to "grow up" in order to get new roles or just to fit in with the Hollywood party life.

As the father, it saddens me that such influences exist that teach that such behavior is "grown up." Jackson Kratz talks about how deplorable it is the way in which boy's are "taught" to be "men" in our society. As a father, worried about the world my children are growing up in, I want to tell America that it's time to grow up, get your head out of the gutter.

So while throwing around the word "conspiracy" is fun for me. I think it is important for each of us to be those crazy prophets standing on the wall, or in public places, trying to raise concern in those that walk so casually by. Whether it is a "conspiracy" or "the end is coming" or more simply "wake up," perhaps there is something to the message, and it shouldn't just be ignored.

Children need to know that they are of such infinite worth and potential, and know how thoroughly these kinds of influences can take that away from them. So many dreams are killed in the slums of Detroit where the only kinds of messages they hear are of drugs and sex. And the problems we as a culture cultivate there don't stop just by moving to Ann Arbor, or wherever, to get away. The can only be stopped in the way we choose to brainwash our children and help them to save their future.

Illuminati and banking

In 1972 Gary Allen wrote a book "None Dare Call it Conspiracy." It sold over five million copies and showed how powerful financial leaders such as Rockefeller, Carnegie, and Morgan bought the US presidency for McKinley. None of them were all that secretive in the way in which they spent their money on his behalf. Voters knew that big business was behind McKinley, and the election was fairly close considering the huge amount of money that went into McKinley's campaign.

J.P. Morgan was a financial tycoon that had learned from instruction received from the Rothschild family which his father knew personally. The Rothschild’s where a Jewish family in Germany that controlled the fate of nations through their vast wealth and the primary reason that Hitler blamed Jews and so many Germans believed him. Jewish banking was a part of history long before the Rothschild’s had taken it to new heights. In Italy it was more like getting a lone from the Mafia, asking for money from the bankers (who at that time got their name because of the banks, or tables that they did business at). And in order to insure they were repaid the Jews in that business had to use Mafia-like techniques.

Tracing banking back even further however we get to the Templar’s, a well-known connection to Illuminati, and not surprisingly banking. With "banking" came wealth and power.

Now tracing that forward to today. While Jews and bankers together form a strong backbone to the democratic party, it is not to say that the democratic party is anymore completely run by Illuminati than is the republican party. But one question that might be important to ask is, "Why isn't fiscal responsibility important to a party that has such a large banking backbone?" Perhaps the answer is already apparent to you. "Who stands to gain from America's debt?"

One of the "secret" laws in banking about debt is, "they who knows earns it and they who don't pays it." So then is it any wonder that an education system largely set up by Rockefeller, Carnegie, and Morgan conspicuously omit the training of personal finance. Big money is to be made in the ruin of others. One then can easily trace Illuminati power, for the "love of money is the root of all evil." Well perhaps not fully, no more than "power corrupts."

You might wonder how can I have a blog posting without trying to convince you to join my conspiracy. While it might be possible, it's not going to happen this time. But "conspiracy" you might ask, isn't that working together at the expense of someone else? True, but as Abraham Lincoln pointed out the freeing of slaves took place at the expense of the slaveholders. While the freedom to have slaves was protected by the United States up until that time, the freedom of the slaves to be that as equal   has been prized since that time.

We have an opportunity and a responsibility to stand up and stand together against the oppressive Illuminati (which doesn't have to actually be anything more than an idea). Just the strength of pulling together has tremendous power to overcome. So despite the fact that conspiracy exists in religion, I'm hoping that not only Jews and Mormons join me but also Catholics and Muslims (obviously I should start with those more well known for their conspiracies -- I'm pretty sure that those of each of those faiths know how much I love them) and everyone else who can believe in me. Together we can make it a better world.

The Bold Truth

With all of the blame being thrown around for government failure, and one of the biggest examples of that failure being Detroit and it's dramatic fall. Detroit once had the highest per-capata income in the nation and now it's condition might be compared to the depths of hell itself. Unfortunately for us, the biggest threat is that the rest of the nation now threatens to follow.

There might be some black people, or hispanic people, or other ethnic group that blame white people, and similarly white people will blame whoever they can. Democrats blame Republicans, Republicans blame Democrats. Those that have will defend ferociously what they have from those that want to take it from them. Why would anyone expect it to be any differently? And since those that want easily outnumber those that have, what else can one can be expected except for total depletion of wealth? Destruction has to be eminent in such a world.

Of course the Illuminati are to blame. The great house of Rothschild personally taught Cornelius Vanderbuilt and J.P. Morgan that, "The time to build is when there is blood in the streets." Once you look closely you'll see that the powerful bankers have build from this blood even when it's their own that gushed (just as in the past financial crisis that nearly crippled the world).  Is it any wonder then that they  (The Illuminati) delight in the blood and chaos that they can create.  Even when those that don't have power want blood and destruction, it's easy enough to come by. And since vast fortunes can be amassed through it, it is little wonder that disaster looms over the horizon.

But is the situation hopeless? As the world's foremost expert on Savants, one of the worlds most secret conspiracies and one that offers resistance against the Illuminati, I offer hope. The U.S. Constitution was written by the people, for the people. If the government fails it is because we have failed. Illuminati, those that "have," CAOS, etc. do not have any power that we as people don't give them.

Public school systems are a failure, especially if they are what you rely on for your education. The most important things that can be learned, can't be taught in that environment because it can't be measured. It is the "life lessons" or choice skills that happen in the heart, not the head that matter most.

The point of it all is, of course, personal accountability. Once you are ready to accept this, you can join my conspiracy to take back control of the government from the evil Illuminati. And we don't have to stop there, we can free the world from its evil grasp and win this war for the people.

Study again the U.S. Constitution and how this government was founded and feel of its power. See if it does not give you chills -- a thrill of excitement and pride. Once you feel and understand the minds and hearts of those revolutionaries, think of what you yourself can do to build upon that power. Perhaps you might think, "Are the words I'm spreading helping to divide an already cracking nation, or are they words of LOVE designed to repair damaged bonds, build and strengthen a weakened nation." Or perhaps you're doing nothing, which by its very nature is not helping the situation. Maybe you think there is nothing you can do, in which case the constitution has failed (at least for you). Those founding fathers had faith in you, don't let them down.

Hunger Games and You

"Hunger Games" is real and you are living in the capital. There are conspiracies underway: one of which will destroy your way of life, the other to keep you from having to worry about it. What would you do? Would you ignore such rumors, the people around you are so frivolous they never talk about things of real value anyway? Would you help crush the rebellion that threatens the very lively hood that your life depends on? Or would you risk your life to help people you barely know and in the process ruin your life as well as the lives of your family and friends?

I think this sounds like an incredibly exciting story. Unfortunately edits are going rather slowly, it's taking me one heck of a long time to learn how to write well. But I can easily see now why there are so terribly many mediocre books. Learning how to rise up above that is also an incredible story, with one heck of a lot of boring details.

Perhaps if I posted a lot of political propaganda showing the trivial nature of our "Capital" and all that goes on to distract us from the real problems. There are problems of people starving, struggling for any sort of livelihood, people dying that you personally could help, if you only knew that you could help. Or perhaps if I shocked you in other ways, I could grab your attention, make you sit down and listen (or read). And if I did, could I then say that I've made a difference. While that might be the kind of book I'd like to write, I would also like to make it accessible -- something everyone could read. I don't know if that would make more of impact or not.

But even if it didn't make more of an impact, if it sold incredibly well then I could use that money to make a difference (if I knew how). If I could learn how to spend my money so that I'm not just another self-centered citizen of this "Capital" I imagine exists.

Help me. Be my co-conspirators in changing this world of ours. Help me on this crusade, this jihad, not to conquer those of differing beliefs, but rather embrace them. Let us join the world, bind it together, seal it up in love. It's an amazing dream, but I think that as I learn to communicate better, I might be better positioned to achieve that outlandish goal.

I think I might be learning something ...

After reading and thoroughly enjoying Brandon Sanderson’s The Way of Kings, I was excited to find out that the classes he taught last year at BYU are available on line at http://www.writeaboutdragons.com/brandon_w2012/.

While listening to his lectures I realized I’ve missed out on some of the basics that one learns if they actually study English and writing. For example, I didn’t realize that a world mired by conspiracies was part of my setting. I knew that the Minnesota, the mall of America, and Nevis were parts of my setting but I had thought conspiracy was part of the plot. This of course made my plot (a girl searching for the truth about her mother’s death and what happens when she finds out) a lot more complicated than it needed to be (in terms of a keeping it straight in my own head as well as for the readers, as to what is happening and why). They’re still intricately connected, and thus not easily separated. But if I think of it in terms of:

Character: Sarah, an impatient, strong willed girl

Plot: Girl searches for the truth about her mother’s death

Setting: World of “supernatural” power mired in conspiracy

And the story is how all of those interact, and is of course excitingly complicated. But now making the conflict that arises from those interactions into scenes is much simpler and hopefully easier to follow. And recognizing Sarah’s progression through the complicated maze of all the problems that arise from having to live in that world I created for her should be a lot easier for the readers as well.

So hopefully those of you that bought the “limited first edition” of my book don’t feel cheated that the story is going to be so much better in the next release (and hopefully it is a lot better), because it’s always been an incredibly exciting story in my head. And maybe if I finally get good enough at sharing the story it will become so wonderful for everyone else that those “limited first editions” will become quite valuable.

And for those of you that haven’t bought this “limited first edition,” I highly doubt that I’ve sold enough that those that have bought it are worried about you devaluing their investment by also buying a copy. So if you’re worried about having missed out on this tremendous opportunity, and of course you should be, you can still buy a copy (and I’ll still even autograph it for free).

Backyard Dystopia

With Hunger Games and Divergent the popularization of dystopian stories has grown. I think the biggest reason for this is that heroes tend to standout much more in climates where there is more demand. Can you imagine for example the Lord of the Rings story if there wasn’t such pressing need for the heroic journey: the ring wasn’t actually evil and just needed to be returned to a good neighbor just down the street who’s pleased to see that his ring was found and returned?

In my story the dystopia isn’t as distant as those stories. While still a fictional story, Sarah discovers that hidden just under the surface of everyday life things aren’t nearly as pleasant as they pretend to be. The thing I really like about that is that in real life it doesn’t take that much effort to see real suffering that happens all around us. There exists in real life a real dystopia, a need for real heroes. I would like my book to be the kind of book that helps readers to feel inspired to face their problems, become the heroes that a real world needs.

I realize that my book isn’t quite where I wanted it. As I work with my editors on improving that, I hope that those have bought it already are happy to hear that it’s getting even better. One of the first problems that have been pointed out to me is that a little more motivation is needed to convince Sarah to look into the Illuminati and Savants. So I’m adding the following:

Sarah reached absentmindedly under her bed for the box that held pictures of her mother. As she pulled it out and looked at it she remembered why she had hid it away. It was too painful; she couldn’t keep doing this to herself. Though she wanted to keep her mother’s memory, she was afraid the nightmares of her mother’s death would never end.

No, even though it wasn’t a nightmare she had last night, she didn’t want to open the box right now. She knelt down to find a better hiding spot for the box, and started sliding it back under her bed. That was when she noticed a piece of paper poking out of the plastic, flower patterned wrapping. She slowly pulled back out the tin box of pictures.

It looked like it was a note card hidden on the outside of the box. She pulled on the corner, dragging it from under the thin plastic wrapping. It looked like her mother’s handwriting on it. There was a drawing of a pentagram – Sarah’s birthmark. Under the pentagram were the questions, “Why did the Pythagoreans find this symbol so important? Why did so many diverse and unconnected cultures find it important?”

And then later, when she finds that it’s not a note card but rather a piece of paper so warn and tightly folded that it was tough to see that it could be unfolded, she finds another clue that leads her to look into Illuminati and Savants. Thus she and the reader are more carefully lead to the hidden dystopia of my imaginary world.