Perfect, Episode Twenty-seven now online.

Perfect, Episode Twenty-seven ♦ Twelve Gauge

Out on the plains, George meets a new, best friend. Can he use it when he needs to?

Curious about the hardware? Don’t know what a coach gun is or how it differs from a shotgun? Check out the Stoeger Coach Gun Supreme (good photo, just copyright protected), Cowboy Action Shooting or there is ALWAYS Wikipedia! (the above photo taken by “Commander Zulu" and used there). Such images were inspiration when writing this episode.

Showing

Every writer has loathed the phrase "show don't tell" at some point in developing the craft. It can be one of the harder skills to master - but it takes so long to show something when I can just tell the reader what's happening. True.

Writers need to balance many things, and yes, moving the story along is one of those things. Just don't do it at the expense of your reader's connection with the story nor insult their intelligence. Show them the world and what's happening in it. Let them decide what it means. That's the way I like to think about showing instead of telling.

I really like this quote from Immediate Fiction: A Complete Writing Course by Jerry Cleaver:

Showing: Are the characters acting and talking as much as possible? Are you creating a moment-by-moment, word-for-word experience that's happening right before our eyes with no general statements or summaries? Showing means we always have something we can picture in our mind. It's visual and almost always scene with dialogue.

What can be simpler than that? I mean, in terms of understanding what we need to be doing in our fiction.

Perfect, Episode Twenty-six

George and Anita are leaving Hannibal. Find out where they are going next and how they will get there in

Perfect, Episode Twenty-six ♦ Night Riders

Perfect, Episode Twenty-five

Finally! It's ready and available online.

My apologies for the delay - had some personal issues that put me behind a couple of days. Friday postings didn't seem to attract many readers. I'm looking to see how posting on a Wednesday pans out. After today, I'm planning to post every other Tuesday starting on 15 April 2014.

BTW, learn about the necklace in the photo here.

So, let's catch up with George and Anita Winston (fka Luis Antas & Avinashika Joshi) in Hannibal on the Mississippi. It's a couple hundred years or so in the future (from the time you read this): they live in the Perfect Age, a time without paper, a time with instantaneous access to information via a chip implanted in the skull, a time when three governments control the planet - and jostle for control.

But George and Anita are leaving that all behind. Hannibal on the Mississippi is a way station as they hunt for their guide west. Into the Great North American Wilderness Park - an uncivilized land stretching from the Mississippi to the Sierras and Cascades.

Last time, Mary said, "I am told trade beads are always useful." She curtsied and left George and Anita to figure out what to do next. They are also trying to solve a clue: "Be cautious. In Hannibal. Like Tabeau wrote of York."

Find out what happens next in:

Perfect, Episode Twenty-five ♦ Trade Beads