F. P. Dorchak

Speculative Fiction (New Weird) Author

Leisure

Can Reading Make Us Happier?

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Wow. Who Knew? (Deutsche Fotothek‎ [CC BY-SA 3.0 de (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/de/deed.en)], via Wikimedia Commons)
Wow. Who Knew? (Deutsche Fotothek‎ [CC BY-SA 3.0 de (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/de/deed.en)], via Wikimedia Commons)
To be totally honest, when I read this long article, about how reading can make us happier, I thought two immediate things:

1) It’s the New Yorker, so they’re looking to fill issues. And they love long articles.

2) It’s another article making much to-do about nothing…yet trying to also pump up reasons to read.

Wow. To make this simpler…do you really need to be “preached to the converted” about how doing anything you like or interests you is going to make you feel happier? Improve your quality of life? To throw around such deep analytical considerations, such as how reading a book “splits us into two parts as we read,” or “the state of reading consists in the complete elimination of the ego,” while promising “perpetual union” with another mind….

To me this is what this article is really about: whether or not your “forcing” another to read for “medicinal” purposes or not, once you are reading, you’re going to continue reading something that interests you…otherwise—forced or not—you’re simply going to stop. I would. I am one of many.

Oh, and this “prescription” has a new name: “Bibliotherapy.”

I’m not saying there isn’t a lot of good in this article or all it talks about, and I get it that researchers love having things to research…what I am saying is that doing anything that interests you or that you like doing will improve your well-being, whether it’s reading, walking, or skydiving.

That’s all.

 

 

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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Starting A New Novel

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Heading Back Into The Woods.... (By Anne LaBastille, 1938-, Photographer [NARA record: 1422473] [U.S. National Archives and Records Administration] [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons)
Heading Back Into The Woods…. (By Anne LaBastille, 1938-, Photographer [NARA record: 1422473] [U.S. National Archives and Records Administration] [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons)
As I finish up Voice and consider which new novel to start, many thoughts run through my head. On the one hand, there’s the part of me that just chompin’ at the bit to get ready to start…then there’s this other voice that questions: can I do this again? Will it be as good as my previous efforts?

What do I want to spend the next two-three years of my life working on?

Yes, three years.

I write novels part-time, since I hold a day job. Now, I’ve managed to whittle a little off that over the years, so it’s more like two-and-a-half years, and I haven’t worked anything brand new start-to-finish since ERO, so, really, who knows how much more effective I’ve become. Voice, set to be released this summer, was originally written in 1997-1999. So, in the interests of readers like Mandy and Edie, I’m going to try something a little different…if it pans out. I’m going to try to do a little outlining. I’ve tried this before, and it failed. And by “failed” I mean I began just staring at blank screens and sheets of paper. It became too much like my tech writing life: work. So, I’d been blocking the outlining effort. Once I realized that and just organically began writing…just sitting down to the keyboard and writing whatever came to me…then it all worked.

So…I may try a hybrid approach and see how it goes…if it goes any faster. I know, technically, it shouldn’t be about getting things done faster…as long as the quality doesn’t suffer…but I really would like to get more efficient at putting books out! So, let’s look at it as being more efficient. When it’s all said and done, I figure were I to write full-time it would take me about a year to write what now takes me two-three. And, I really do like living the lives of most of my characters (not the bad guys/gals) and the story itself, so I’m really not in any huge hurry….

…in fact, as I write this…perhaps it’s become more of a habit than a necessity. After all, for most of my writing career the goal has always been to get a novel, any novel—just one—out there, for chrissakes. But, now, since I’ve gone full-monty Indie and have four-soon-to-be-five novels out, there is no urgency to hurry…to kill myself as it were…in getting these books out there.

And, if I (or my readers) really get antsy to release new work, I can always compile my better short stories and publish those…which is something I’ve considered over the years. That may very well happen, especially the more I think about it.

So, for now, I’m mulling over which project to start next. I think I know which one I’ll start…have actually begun looking back into it (it’s already partially begun, back in 2011, actually), but getting Voice out is still consuming my time and efforts (have to complete the back cover copy, incorporate Mandy comments, get the cover art done, format it for e-book and trade paperback—and keeping up with blog posts!). And, once I get it out there, I’m going to do my best in better promoting it and my other works. I know, all the traditionalists scream I should have already been doing all that months ago, but I never make things easy on myself and I hate being told what to do. I’m just me…trying to squeeze in writing and promotion into all the other things I have to do in a day…with little-to-no-real-budget. So, it is what it is, maaan. And the good thing about Indie publishing is that no matter what you do or don’t do, a book is not going out of print unless the world ends or the publishing arms goes under. So, new is new to readers who discover a book at the onset of its release…or years later. It really doesn’t matter. And I want to enjoy my life and significant other rather than burning the midnight oil and killing myself trying (like I used to) to complete a novel then hit every frigging promotional/marketing milestone dead on. I’ll get to it when I can physically get to it.

So, I guess I answered my own questions, huh?

Oh, by the way, I’ll be at the following events in Colorado Springs and Denver this year:

Colorado Springs Pikes Peak Library Publish Your Own eBook Panel, October 10, 2015

Denver’s MileHiCon47, October 23-25, 2015

I may be contacted at fpdorchak at fpdorchak dot com for review copies, interviews, speaking engagements, and whatnot. If you want some cover art.

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Voice–An Erotic Tale of Nonphysical Love

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Voice. (© 2015, F. P. Dorchak and Lon Kirschner)
Voice. (© 2015, F. P. Dorchak and Lon Kirschner)

I must admit, this cover near brought tears to my eyes!

Here—at last!—is the title and cover for my sexy new paranormal/ psychological mainstream (erotica?) novel, due late July/early August! Yes, the genre is mixed, but it will make for quite the steamy summer read!

Voice.

The cover is yet another awesome, amazing, incredible, extraordinary effort by Lon Kirschner, of Kirschner Caroff Design Inc., out of East Chatham, NY! Lon did my ERO cover, and he continues to deliver extraordinary results! I first met Lon through author/teacher/musician all-around-Renaissance Man Marc Schuster, and Marc’s book, The Grievers.

I love everything about this cover!

I love the artwork. The spacing. The blackness. I love the blue of the lady and my name…what Lon did with the title—look closely at it and you’ll see the Adirondack Mountains…see and hear loons on the lake…smell the must of the woods—and the mysterious woman against the black background simply gives me chills.

This cover is absolutely stunning!

It packs a powerful, emotional punch to me on levels I simply can’t explain. Don’t want to. I want it to rip my innards, my soul apart…I want to feel the impending torment, tribulation, and mystery this artwork foreshadows….

I just can’t stop looking at it.

I love all my covers, but I have to say…this…may well be my favorite.

Check out this post on Lon’s work.

Not only am I psyched by revealing the cover artwork, but also finally being able to voice the title of this novel out into the world! It has been a real effort keeping it under wraps! It feels so goood!

Despite the paranormal/supernatural elements, this is the most mainstream effort I’ve ever produced. As I’ve mentioned before, it also features some quite explicit sex scenes and is not for the easily offended. Voice is a density of story…a love story…one of families…and a search for meaning in one’s life. Pain. Redemption. It has supernatural/paranormal elements, but not in a “monstery” way. In a deeply psychological, maybe even uncomfortable way. It may actually make you squirm a little as you sit and read it. It is a story I could not put down…could not put away. Sixteen years in the making, it kept whispering to me…calling out to me. It is my most daring effort. It will be sad to let it go…to stop working on it…stop thinking about it….

It touches me deeply…largely, perhaps, because of the setting…the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York, where I grew up and continue to visit once a year. I so love that region, with its ancient mountains and dark, mysterious waters (another novel is forthcoming about this region and the dark, foreboding waters…). But I also love the characters…so flawed…so well-meaning…so enigmatic. It’s about what seemingly normal people who are conflicted…in love…do. How they wrestle with their demons. What they might do in the dark corners of their lives away from prying eyes….

What do you do in the wee hours of the night…and is it something you’re proud of?

It is fair to say I’m in love with this story.

Sigh.

The current status of Voice is that I am inputting copyediting redlines from my final reader. I then have to have the manuscript formatted for both e-book and trade softcopy (yes, I am doing both, the e-book first; I also hope to create an advance order selection on Amazon). The formatting could take as little as a week or as much as 2-3. So, this puts it at a late July or early August release. Stay tuned!

And in the next week or so look for a “faux interview” with me by one of the characters of Voice!

As always, feel free to use and e-mail and plaster the cover graphic around the globe—but, please, give proper copyright attribution to Lon and myself. If you’d like the actual files, request a review copy, e-mail me at fpdorchak at fpdorchak dot com, and as soon as they’re available, I’ll send them out!

And, write up a review once you’ve read it! Send me the link!

Thank you all for your support!

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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.