F. P. Dorchak

Speculative Fiction (New Weird) Author

Leisure

Round and Round She Goes….

by

English: Roller skating around 1905
Image via Wikipedia

This weekend my wife and I did something we haven’t done in a while.

We got funky.

We got wild.

We kicked it up a bit.

We…roller skated!

We literally hadn’t done this in some 20 years!

Now, some might wonder, “Gee, was it like riding a bicycle?”

Well, sure, if that bicycle had Wheels of Death  roller skates on its wheels.

Wheels of Death.

You think I jest, but it’s weird strapping wheels onto your feet and expecting anything to be “normal.” Counterintuitive. Asking for trouble. It’s worse than slapping boards on your feet and plummeting down a slippery slope of frozen water.

But, it’s fun!

Now, in all honesty, I did think I’d pick it back up again rather quickly.

Yeahhh…didn’t happen.

No…it took a little while to get acclimatized to the whole…thing. Fun, yes, but it didn’t come back as quickly as I’d imagined it would. Last I remembered, I’d picked it up rather quickly (which I do remember being wowed by, at the time, so it really must’ve happened…), and had been zooming around that rink 20 years ago like a semi-pro in near no time. This did not happen this time around. Of course, I could have been heavily romanticizing the past, too, but see parenthetical statement above.

In any event, flying around in circles, with all ages and abilities in what quite seemed like a Roller Derby kill zone was cool. As I watched those more experienced than I, I tried to remember, to emulate, the body motion, the technique. Once or twice I quite emulated a Looney Tune cartoon than an experienced roller skater. And, weird person that I am, as I’m doing all this, I’m also thinking Hey, this must be creating new neural pathways and renewed muscle memory, because it’s, essentially, new activity–something I haven’t done before, in that it’s been 20 years….

It was then I alternated between all four limbs flailing wildly about and my legs spreading wide into a into a Chinese split the hard way–an inflexible, flat surface also coming up right quick before me.

Okay, be focused and in the moment, and all, but keep the philosophical musings for non-life-threatening situations.

So, my wife and I skated around separately, because (in my own words) I told her “You don’t want to be linked to me, skating around here.” In true wifely fashion, she overruled me, grabbed my hands, and she (show off) skated backwards, as we skated in unison. Of course, my words did come back to haunt her, as, I think on our second pass, “something happened,” we lost our symmetry and what grace we momentarily revelled in, and she was quick to cut me loose. Couldn’t blame her. Was doing the same, myself.

Love only knows so much sacrifice, you know.

We continued our hour or so of skating, laughing and amazed at how much fun this was and why the heck hadn’t we done this more?, when the lights went up and our rink time was over. A little sore, quite excited, we left the rink. As we removed our Wheels of Death, we were both reliving the moments on the rink, hoping to do this again–sooner–some day. We went out to eat afterward, both admitting to not admitting how sore various parts of our anatomy were…but genuinely happy they were. It was our badge of honor. No pain, no gain, maaan.

BTW, neither of us fell.

Read Across America, You Sneetches, Thar!

by

Read Across America

Earlier this week, I again read in one of my niece’s classes for the NEA Read Across America readathon. I’ve done this a couple times and really love it. It’s fun to sit, surrounded by all those inquisitive and wiggly little minds, their wide-eyes focused upon you in amusement and wonder! So attentive, openminded, and engaging! Their giggling energy rippling throughout their numbers (for they are legion…). Their playful laughter!

And to have my niece lovingly snuggle against my leg as I read…priceless.

It’s fun interacting with a roomful of them, listening to their surprisingly smart comments and “takes” on things. I try to remember what I was like at their age, and sometimes I can. I do remember the wonder I had for the world of words, of reading, I did a fair amount of it. I read about a book a week, through high school, sometimes more (I had chores and other, outdoorsy, stuff to do, too, you know…). I loved being transported away with words. Loved the images. Loved the medium itself…I did and still do really love books. Love not only their words but how they feel in my hands. Look on a bookshelf. Not a substitute for actually living one’s life, it was cool to know you could learn so much from books, even fiction. New words. New ideas. New places. Stretch one’s imagination….

And doing these reading sessions with these wonderful children brings such joy to one’s heart! If only for but a few moments, it takes me away from my worries and deadlines and minutiae. It puts me into their world. Their world of wonder and naiveté, chock full of what-ifs and clean slates!

Those who have stars upon thars!

I am so glad, that for however long I’ve done and may do it again, I’ve been able to bring a measure of joy to these youngsters! That however minute, I had some impact upon their collective lives. That I made a bunch of children I don’t even know (and one I do…) laugh and howl and oooh and ahhh. Listen to the words translated from a book, through my voice, meet their ears. Enter their minds.

And then I brought out the cookies….

11/22/63 – Not What You Think!

by

11/22/63
11/22/63 (Photo credit: cdrummbks)

Stephen King is, hands down, my favorite author, and this Force of Writing proves his power. It brought tears to my eyes.

I’m not going to give anything away, but it’s not exactly about what you may think it’s about. And that is one of the reasons why I love most of his work (not his angry, mean stuff, like Full Dark, No Stars, which I chose not to finish…and it was a hard decision…)–specifically, his nonfiction and supernatural work. For the most part, whatever he writes about, he makes you care about it, both the characters and the story. This story (yes, it’s long…but is it, really?–and the research!) simply draws you in. Makes you wonder just where the hell he’s going with it. Yellow card? Black card? Green card?  WTF?! He weaves and creates entire lives in ways few authors do–or are allowed to, in today’s publishing world. It’s simply magic. Could he have cut a couple hundred pages?  Perhaps…but then 11/22/63 wouldn’t be the incredible piece of storytelling it is. It actually seems to me that the length of the story itself is directly analogous to its effect on the reader. Getting lost in another world…another’s LIFE.  And how can anyone say that the life of a loved one is ever too long?

Because when it’s over…you’ll miss it.

How To Read–Read Like You MEAN It!

by

You’d think, okay, I think we’re past that now, F. P., considering I’m reading your blog….

But, are you–really?

Sure, there’s pleasure reading, but that’s precisely what I’m not gonna talk about. No, I’m talking about more intellectual reading. How to read like you mean it. How to gain some valuable in-depth insight into what you’re eyeballin and apply it to the world around you.

But I got crib notes.  Yeah. I read this guy’s blog, see, he’s a college instructor, and I like what he has to say.  Though it’s oriented toward the college student, it’s quite germane to the serious reader. It struck a chord in me, because it’s how I write. My writing attempts to get behind the scenes in life, and not only do I attempt to entertain, I attempt to entice. To mentally engage readers on a Zen level. Get you to think about what may be going on just outside your peripheral vision, behind your back, in that dark and oh-so-hidden “back room” ever somewhere. And as I read this guy’s blog, I realized, I was excited there are still people out there instructing on the art of reading–even if it’s for a literature or a college course of study. Pleasure reading is fine and has its place (and I certainly enjoy it when I find something called “free time” [unintelligible utterance]…), but even in my fiction, I always strive for a little more. Layer in some nuances and what I like to call “whatnot.”

I love to get people to think.

To imagine.

Cause, if you–we–don’t…we don’t go anywhere. Advance. Reach for just a little more. We settle for less…remain in the horrendous status quo. And though I’ve just applied this to writing and reading, it most aptly applies to living.

Yeah, most of my musings do.

So, peeps, I introduce you to Marc Schuster, and his blog Abominations. Marc teaches writing and literature at Montgomery County Community College in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and is published in a couple places (check the link), but his second novel, The Grievers, is due out in 2012, and I’m hoping to get an ARC for review (love the cover!).

So, enjoy Marc’s posts, be entertained, gain insight, think about your world and the words that flash before your bright and engaging eyeballs to illuminate your mental interior…

And read like you mean it!

Tattered Cover Press—A New “How To Print A Book”!

by

Isn’t this just cool?!

The Tattered Cover Book Store, in Denver, Colorado (one of my favorite bookstores) puts on display the newest way to print a book (trade, not hardcover)–the Espresso Book Machine, or EBM!  There are many advantages to print-on-demand over the offset-type printing currently used to print books, not the least of which is immediacy, printing when needed, less physical inventory to warehouse, etc., though (to me, anyway) part of the fun of discovering a book is physically browsing the book.

Anywho, neat to watch! Enjoy!

Fiction! It’s What We’re Reading!

by

According to today’s USA Today article, fiction is the go-to dominator!

Fist pump (no, not “bump“)! Into the air!

Some people get down on fiction–it’s not real, what’s it purpose?–but it has it’s place.

Non-fiction, the article says, is being beat out by escapist reads and the Internet. Many are trying to forget about the daily minutiae and uglies (even if reading about nasty stuff, like the Dragon Tattoo series…) around them and are using the Internet to find out about “real stuff.” Apparently, and according to USA Today’s weekly top 150 numbers, fiction went up from 67% in 2007 to 78% in 2011. Wow. That’s just cool!

You can read the short article, so I won’t regurgitate it, but I love that fiction is making a comeback. I write fiction, and think it’s important to read fiction. We all need to escape…to dream…to divert our attention for relaxation. Fiction can help us see “around” events…maybe open our perspectives to other thoughts and considerations we’re not able to in our daily grind, our workplaces. Places where others are constantly pushing deadlines and white noise at us so fast and furiously we just don’t have time to think on our own. In reading fiction, we do have time to ourselves…because in reading, you are thinking. You are by yourself and can even be considered to be doing what I call “active meditation.” Yes, you may be “doing something,” like reading or walking or working out, but while you’re doing these things your mind is freewheeling and chillin, and it’s in these moments we might find our “ah-ha!” moments, not to mention just allowing our minds free range and the ability to unwind instead of always reacting and being inundated by other peoples’ opinions.

Reading gets us away from all the clutter in our lives. Though you can now read on many electronic devices, reading can keep you from all that constant and unrelenting e-everything. Now you just focus on this story in front of you and get engrossed in it!

Fiction also inspires, and in today’s world of “Haveta do this and that,” there may seem to be little room for inspiration of any kind. We’re always marching to someone else’s drummer.

I’m sure I might be missing one or two other reasons for why reading fiction is important, so feel free to drop a comment or two. But if we don’t relax, don’t escape from the stressful, we don’t unwind…we don’t become “better” in any sense of the word. It’s like anything else. Things break after unrelenting stress is applied, they never get better.

So go on, pick up a good–fictional–read…and get lost!