F. P. Dorchak

Speculative Fiction Author

Fun

Donnelly's Corners 2015

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Donnelly's Corners, July 14, 2015
Donnelly’s Corners, July 14, 2015

The first stop on my trip to upstate New York, the week of July 13th, 2015 was Donnelly’s Corners Soft ice Cream, at the corner of State Route 86 and 186, between Saranac Lake and Lake Clear (the address is 1564 State Route 86, Saranac Lake, New York). No trip to upstate New York is complete without a stop here! I wrote about Donnelly’s on my trip last year, so see that post for more in-depth information.

Know it. Love it. Donnelly's Corners Soft Ice Cream Flavor Schedule, 2015
Know it. Love it. Donnelly’s Corners Soft Ice Cream Flavor Schedule, 2015

Last year I arrived at Donnelly’s on a Tuesday, and this year turned out to be no exception! Tuesday means the two-flavor twister is vanilla and either red or black raspberry. Black raspberry and vanilla are my favorite Donnelly’s flavors! This was not planned, but worked out beautifully!

Donnelly’s consistently gets great reviews. Check out the Yelp pages.

Donnelly's Corners is a Very Special Place. Upstate New York Registry of Very Special Places, July, 2015.
Donnelly’s Corners is a Very Special Place. Upstate New York Registry of Very Special Places, July, 2015.

They’re open 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. The shack closes down after Labor Day weekend.

Donnelly’s Corners is also on the registry of “Very Special Places” in upstate New York.

So, you have the rest of the summer! Make at least one stop at this iconic upstate New York landmark! I’ve been going to it since the 1960s! There is no better ice cream!

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Stand-up Paddle Boarding!

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Don't I Look Positively Sporty? Keystone Lake, Colorado. Stand-up Paddle Boarding, July 25, 2015.
Don’t I Look Positively Sporty? Keystone Lake, Colorado. Stand-up Paddle Boarding, July 25, 2015.

I’ve heard of stand-up paddling boarding (SUP) for a while, but have never done it…until Saturday. My wife and I did an impromptu trip up to Silverthorne, Colorado, where we also visited Keystone and Keystone Lake (actually more of a pond). It was at this lake that I finally got my feet wet (and that was all—okay, my shins—that got wet!). We ate lunch at The Edgewater Café, then went over to the rentals, at the Adventure Center Ice Rink (the lake is an ice rink in the winter; we’ve skated there). A half hour costs $25 and an hour costs $40. All the “sport” boards were out, so I initially used the “extra floaty” one (my instructor said I could try the sportier model when I came back, if I wanted). It was more stable and less apt to spill me into the drink. My instructor, friendly and bright blue-shirted Patrick McNally, from Woodbury, Minnesota, showed me the ropes. As I stood up on the board—in water—for the first time, I was really unstable…but as I carefully tooled around for a few minutes I found, huh, this didn’t seem so bad! So me and the extra floaty board went out into deeper water. I took it out all over the pond. I found paddling to be like canoeing—but standing up—then, when I got home, I did a search and found these techniques—which, curiously, don’t mention canoeing at all. No matter, when I used the canoeing “J”-stroke, things went extremely well.

When I returned after the half hour, I asked if I could try one of the sportier models (yeah, I’m already getting cocky), and Patrick (big smile on his face) comes over and says sure, he was wanting to get me out on one, anyway, so we went over and snagged one. He gave me a little more instruction, which was slightly different, and this time when I went out he wished me luck in a way that seemed like more of a “sentence” then fun! Turns out these sportier boards are more responsive, but also go faster and are easier to tip. Yup, noticed that right off. You’re also lower in the water. But, after getting used to the differences, I took that one out for a spin, doing a quicker tour of the lake. Yes, it is faster, and yes, it is more responsive. Even my wife commented on how much faster it moved, though it didn’t really seem like that to me.

But…I never fell over!

Though, in all fairness, I must admit that by now my legs were getting a leettle tired (and as I write this, my calves are sore…), and I very nearly almost took a spill at one point. All the 3-D balancing of the board like that does eventually tire you out if you’re not used to it. I’m on my feet most of the day and work out, so I’m not weak down there…but, all that fine tuning and constant 3-D adjusting for about 50 minutes, well, started to get to me (the paddling didn’t). So, given I almost toppled, I called it a day and brought ‘er in.

But I’ve found a new way to play in the water! This is something I’d definitely want to do again!

To check out Keystone Lake SUP, stop by the Keystone Adventure Center, at Lakeside Village, 195 River Run Road, Keystone, CO 80435. Phone is 800-354-4386.

Tell Patrick I sent ya!

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Canceled Voice Pre-Order

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Need I Say More? (By Granny Enchanted [CC0], via Wikimedia Commons)
Need I Say More? (By Granny Enchanted [CC0], via Wikimedia Commons)
I decided to cancel the Amazon pre-order of Voice, initially expected to be released August 7th. Turns out I only had one pre-order (and it’s a friend of mine and we’d already talked), I still have a lot to do, my proofer is still hard at work, and, well, I’m getting a bit burned out.

So.

I’m gonna take a break from my Voice redlines all of next week. I need to air my head out. Have a lot of things going on and there’s no real reason to [once again] force myself to meet some arbitrary deadline of my own making when there’s no real need. I just thought I’d try it. It’s a cool function.

Voice will get released when it’s ready. Apparently now’s not the time.

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Loons

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I love loons!

They are my favorite bird!

You may have noticed that with my “imprint” logo on my novels. Let’s talk a little about them, since I like them so much. Loons populate other regions, but, since I’m from the Adirondack Mountains, that’s where I’m focusing.

The loon population has more than doubled since the 1980s…bouncing back from when Adirondackers used to shoot them for sport, because they ate the same fish humans also used to catch…and then there was also the DDT poisoning in the 1940s and 50s that also killed them off. Yet, though loons have bounced back, there’s still today’s mercury poisoning. More than half of all male Adirondack loons have a moderate-to-high risk of mercury poisoning. This is not a good thing! The weird-assed thing about mercury poisoning and loons, is that mercury turns the birds into “bad parents” and causes them to produce fewer eggs. The affected loons also end up not spending the needed time in their nests keeping their eggs warm, then don’t take care of their chicks when they hatch…sometimes flat-out abandoning them altogether. Mercury is a neurotoxin, so it depresses the loons, makes them lethargic.

But, doom and gloom aside, loons, author William H.H. Murray wrote in 1869 that loons are “are the shyest and most expert swimmers of all waterfowl.” Loons can weigh up to 14 pounds and have serrated bills that can tear into anything it clamps down on. And, boy, can they put up a fight! According to the October 2013 Adirondack Life article, “Loonscape,” Gary Lee (an ex-NYS Forest Ranger) says, “Anything the can get hold of, they’ll bite it.” Lee says that during his work with them he’s been bitten on the forearm and thigh and they’ve gnawed on his pockets and jacket hems. In Lee’s own words, a male once gave him “a pretty good gash” another time.

The name “loon” comes from old English (“lumme” or “lummox“) or Scandinavian (“lum“), meaning “awkward” or “clumsy.” Their feet are located at the back of their body, so they don’t get around well on land, and their take-offs from water can be a bit clumsy. But here are some other neat facts about loons:

They love to hang out on the water all day with their best buds!

They have the coolest calls! Their hoots and tremelos make you go introspective…especially when you hear them at night or early, early morning…with a wispy fog on the lake before you….

They live almost exclusively on water…they avoid land except to nest and mate.

They dive under water and can hold their breath for 90 seconds! Dive down as deep as 200 feet!

Have a cool, red eyes that change in intensity…brighter when mating or defending their territory! Annnd this (somehow) helps them see underwater.

Loons carry their babies on their backs—which is so neat! What a neat ride on a lake, no?

I already mentioned they can weigh as much as a cat, which is because they have solid bones [versus hollow ones most birds have]. Besides allowing them dive under water, the heavy bones also allows them to lay lower in the water when floating. Kinda a real “badass” look!

And loons are one of the older species of birds: over 100 millions years old. Sure, they’re all supposed to have descended from the dinosaurs, but still, they’re an older species of dinosaur—I mean bird…

So, there’s a lot to like about loons and how they’re so scrappy and substantial in form, which I feel models the books I put out…scrappy and haunting…diving under the obvious into the depths of life. And how cool to meet up with some friends along the way and hang out and tell stories! And the gnarly red eyes…the tremelos of thoughts that make you think a little deeper into your own souls….

Loons. I love em.

Wailing Loon Horizontal Red Eye (F. P. Dorchak, Lon Kirschner)
Wailing Loon Horizontal Red Eye (F. P. Dorchak, Lon Kirschner)
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Tragedy

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In The Darkness Do We Seek Light? (JiNKY Lim, A Silhouette of Sadness, [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons)
In The Darkness Do We Seek Light? (JiNKY Lim, A Silhouette of Sadness, [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons)
Why is it so much of what we read is tragic?

Why don’t we read more uplifting work?

Can tragedy also be uplifting?

Here’s the thing, for the most part (and there are exceptions) most people don’t like to read about daisies and butterflies. Alluding to the Seinfeld joke, we don’t like to read stories about nothing. Where nothing happens—nothing bad happens. Humans love conflict. Love the Human Spirit overcoming obstacles.

In short, we love conflict.

And the stories we write have to have some element of conflict in there. I mean, really, would you love to read about a girl who gets up, brushes her teeth, does her hair and makeup…goes to work, has a great day…comes home, eats dinner, watches some TV, then goes to sleep?

No. I really doubt you would. Where’s the fun in any of that?

What you really want to see is some action, tragedy, conflict!

You want to see her having trouble sleeping for a reason to be discovered later in the novel, walking around in the dark and surprising an intruder. You want to see this girl not being a pushover, and kicking ass as all her pent-up rage about her cancer-ridden mom dying in the hospital takes over her adrenaline-pumped-slight-but-spunky frame. You want to see her get through all the police legal tape, getting into work late and not talking about it, only to have a coworker discover her early morning activity on the news and broadcasting it to the office. You want to see her office stalker go wide-eyed and suddenly back off…also noticing the subtle defensive wounds and bruising her on her arms…and the knowing steely look our heroine is now giving him as he notices her eying him….

Yeah, that’s what you wanna read. Admit it.

So, that’s why novel writers have to write about tragedy and conflict and things that aren’t so nice and easygoing. Cause writing about good days just doesn’t cut it. Sure, good days are great for real life…but there’s an inner need for striving and overcoming obstacles in our DNA. Our souls. Reliving parts of our past, when we felt more alive and were not such an office drone. Or maybe it’s the excitement of such stories that hearkens back to other [reincarnational…yes, I went there…] lives where we had such conflicts. Maybe tragedies are hardwired into our genetics and we just can’t be helped but be stirred by them.

Or maybe they just make for more fun, exciting reads by the nature of the beast.

Write A Review!

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Strength and Protection In Cooperation! (By Deep silence (Mikaël Restoux) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons)
It’s a Team Effort! (By Deep silence (Mikaël Restoux) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons)
I don’t like to prod readers into doing this every time I talk about books, but I think doing a blog post about it is okay.

Writing reviews helps authors!

Reviews help get the books out there, and if you really like the work, give a great review, that only helps more (though an argument can be made that even bad reviews gets your work out there: “there’s no such thing as bad press“…). It’s all about word of mouth…passing on information through your own personal network. When you love a movie or book you talk about it, and that’s all we’re doing, here. But in writing this stuff down you preserve it for future and continued use. It’s the gift that keeps on giving!

It helps keep authors afloat!

People do read them. I even read them. It’s what can initially get someone to buy a book…and buying books keeps authors in business. Sure, you can pass books on to others, but if you don’t buy books…authors don’t get paid—especially Indie authors who do not get advances.

Now, this next part will sound a bit odd…but, if you like a book and write a great review it can balance out negative reviews. I know, sounds self-serving, but I hadn’t even considered this part of reviews until I read a post by ex-agent on the topic. Buuut…it’s true.

You’re not going to please everyone.

When I read reviews I always compare the ratio of poor reviews to the good ones in anything I’m researching. Bad books notwithstanding (of which your book very well could be but hope it isn’t…), negative reviews are written for different reasons…not just because a book is “bad”…some people are just mean-spirited. Some people are jealous. Some people are the competition and perform less-than-savory practices (some business competitors—I’m not saying authors would or have done this, and I certainly hope they do not—but some business competitors have actually paid people to write negative reviews; Amazon does crack down on this practice whenever discovered). Some people just trash everything…are always looking for ways to beat down another in any way possible…it’s the only feeling of power they feel they have. That’s a sad thing. I’m not even sure most of these people are even aware of their behavior.

And all that said, as authors, we need to avoid responding to such negativity, as Craig Stone discusses, and let the readers handle those negative reviews. So, please resist the temptation to respond to the angry and the negative. Let it go.

But…if you truly enjoy something…write it up! On Amazon, Twitter, Goodreads, et cetera! On your own blog! Just write it up anywhere public! Don’t let the mean-spirited squeaky wheels get all the attention And if you do write up a review, please pass the link my way (see contact info below). If you’d like a copy of the cover to go along with your review, contact me and I’ll send you a file of the cover art. As long as you properly attribute the work and cover art, you can freely send it to anyone and everyone!

It’s hard to get your name out there loud enough in today’s world. It’s even harder for Indie published authors who have even fewer resources and “brand name appeal.” Don’t get advances and promotional budgets. Anything you can do to help your favorite author is a Godsend. Get your friends to write reviews…get them to post blogs, do interviews. Send e-mails! Tweet it up!

Again, thank you all in advance for everything!

Contact me: I may be contacted at fpdorchak at fpdorchak dot com for cover graphics to include on reviews, for interviews, or speaking engagements. Do you have a favorite radio station? Contact them about interviewing me—I’ll give away free books!

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