F. P. Dorchak

Speculative Fiction Author

Writing

Boulder YMCA Author Talk

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Author Talk, Mapleton Center YMCA (© F. P. Dorchak, January 17, 2017)
Author Talk, Mapleton Center YMCA (© F. P. Dorchak, January 17, 2017)

Yesterday I had the honor of speaking at the Boulder Media Women’s (BMW’s) “Author Talk” session (also known as “Spoken Word”) at the Boulder, Colorado Mapleton Center YMCA. It’s a cozy gathering that invites authors to speak and discuss their work, with profits from some of the book sale going to the Y to support the Y’s scholarships, which is pretty cool. I didn’t realize that the Y did that. I’ve used a YMCA a couple of times, years ago, so it was nice to help them out in their scholarship with a couple of book sales.

Of note: one gentlemen there and I had been at the same unit when I’d been in the Air Force. He’d been there at the start-up of the unit, and I’d been there nearly fifteen years later. Small world!

The event was organized by BMW’s chair of the Boulder Valley YMCA readings, Jyoti Wind, who met we when I arrived. I had an hour and started off with a reading from The Uninvited, then talked about what I write, gave an overview of my work, how I think (as a writer), how I write, that kind of thing. The audience had so many good questions I was never able to complete my presentation! I love those kinds of presentations! Afterwards, Jyoti, myself, and a couple of others met for lunch at Turley’s Kitchen, a short walk away from the Y—and the Y picked up my tab. Thanks, Mapleton Center YMCA! Following lunch, I visited a good friend of mine and her husband who live nearby. We had a great afternoon chat, had some ox tail soup—which I’d never had before and was great, Karen, I’m not kidding! Karen is quite the “food scholar,” as she brands herself, and has a cookbook, Nature’s Wrap: Cooking in Leaves; Recipes From Around the World.

Overall a great day! Thanks BMW and Mapleton Center YMCA for having me and picking up lunch (and thanks to those in attendance for your time, interest, and stimulating conversation!), and thanks Karen and Wen for a wonderful afternoon chat and dinner!

White Rock – Garden of the Gods – and Time

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White Rock, Garden of the Gods? (© F. P. Dorchak, 2017)
White Rock, Garden of the Gods? (© F. P. Dorchak, 2017)

I think this might be White Rock, in the Garden of the Gods. As I’ve mentioned, I haven’t kept good notes from that January 1st, 2017 day I went out and took these. But I like the perspective from which I took it. It has such a neat, prehistoric look and feel to it. Many times when I go someplace—any place, really, it just depends if my mind “goes there”—I always wonder what that location looked like millions of years ago…and what it will look like in the far future.

Damn, am I ever really in the moment?

But what if considering the past and the future is being “in the moment”? If that moment is really only a perspective, if that “spacious moment”…that “spacious present” some Great Thinkers talk about really is all that…would not that mean that “present moments” really expand out into other moments? Cross and permeate chronologies? And if there really is no Time…the forward chronological progression of successive moments…that it’s all a Human Perception as I believe it is…than wouldn’t this make sense? That the moment is far more voluminous than we give it credit for? It’s a concept that actually expands in ways we have little perception…or maybe we can, if we allow ourselves to be open about it?

Yeah. If I’m not thinking about writing, I’m thinking about weird shit.

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F. P. Dorchak Colorado Author Interview Circle (CAIC) Interview

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This is an interview I did a year ago. It was my first ever YouTube/video interview and it was such a blast hanging out with these two guys! Cody I’d just met for the interview, but Aaron Michael Ritchey I’ve known for bit and he’s always a trip. Always. And every time I meet him he’s grown another inch. Because he’s tall. And charming. And…he’s Aaron Michael Ritchey.

Thank you, Aaron and Cody, for including me in your CAIC interview circuit! You two are great dudes, and I had fun!

So.

Here it is.

Merry Christmas To All!

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Merry Christmas! (© F. P. Dorchak, December 22, 2016)
Merry Christmas! (© F. P. Dorchak, December 22, 2016)

This year has been head-spinning in many ways…many good ways! But, man, has it just flown by! Time is…fleeting, as The Rocky Horror Picture Show says. The past (in certain terms) is behind us and the future (in certain terms) before us. So where does that leave us?

In the present moment. All we really have is the present. So is it really any wonder that Christmas packages are called presents?

I enjoyed as much of the present moment as possible throughout this year, and I hope the rest of you did, too!

And I know there are other holidays out there. I wish you all the peace and love and joy you also celebrate.

I thank all of you who read and followed my blogs, Instagrams, tweets, LinkedIn, Pinterest boards, About Me, and Facebook. I thank all of you for reading my stories, short and long. I thank all of you for being my friends and family. I thank all of you for being who you are and remaining true to who you are.

I thank all of you who—in your own, sometimes most personal ways—for helping create a better world for yourselves and everyone else. Many of you perhaps don’t even realize this. Doing so can be as easy as keeping good and positive thoughts in your head…as well as doing the more public acts. The point is, doing good in the world is as easy as doing good for yourself and your immediate circle of influence, because everything affects everything else.

I thank my wife, Laura, for her love and in being the kind and gracious person she is. For staying with me…and for continuing to put up with me and all my weirdness. Es.

I thank my family—both near and far, nuclear and extended—for being themselves and continuing to put up with me and all my weirdness. Es.

I thank all my friends—both close and acquaintance—for being themselves and continuing to put up with me and all my weirdness. Es.

I thank all of you who invited me to all the literary events I went to this year. I am ever humbled by your invites! Thank you!

I thank Lon Kirschner for his incredible cover art! Thanks, Lon!

I thank Mandy Pratt for all her efforts and dedication (which continues!) on editing and proofing my short stories. Thank you!

I thank all my writing friends for being who you are, for writing your wonderful blogs, for writing stories that are important to you. For being open and supportive to the rest of us who are not at your levels-of-success (i.e., thanks for not being snooty). Thank you!

Any group or individual I may have missed, it was not intentional. I thank you, too!

To those of us who require a little extra work in various aspects of our lives…I wish us all the very best at becoming and being the best person we can be throughout the rest of our lives!

So, I send out massive amounts of love and peace and joy to all on this day that many of us celebrate for many reasons, not all of them religious.

Peace.

Love.

Joy!

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Give The Gift of Fear!

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I Can't Wait To Play With You.... (© F. P. Dorchak, 2016)
I Can’t Wait To Play With You…. (© F. P. Dorchak, 2016)

Okay, I know, it’s the holiday season…Merrry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and all that…and that being the case, I am shamelessly self-promoting a wonderful gift—for yourself.

The gift of fear!

Yes, what better way to say “I love me” than to give yourself a story to scare the unmentionables out of you! It tells your self, “Self…I trust you SO much that I will allow you to scare the unmentionables out of me!”

Why is that?

"Clowns," © F. P. Dorchak and Lon Kirschner, 2016.
“Clowns,” © F. P. Dorchak and Lon Kirschner, 2016.

Because you know you will be there to comfort yourself, keep you safe, and tell yourself how freaking brave you were to read a scary story all by your lonesome…at night…with but a lone, meager light on to illuminate the pages. Well, okay, it’s an e-story, so you don’t even need a light!

Ha! Be brave!

Might I recommend, oh…I don’t know…a clown story?

How about “Clowns“? It’s short, sweet (in sooo many ways…), and spooky. And it’s got five stars (from two reader reviews—come on, let’s add to this tally…)!

And if clowns aren’t your bag, might I suggest some other stories?

So, come on—don’t be skeered! Or, actually, be very skeered! Skeer the unmentionables right out of you! Buy some skeery stuff! And I’m not even talking for other people—do this for YOU.

You deserve it!

Because, with all you’ve been doing for everyone else this Holiday Season, don’t you deserve a little something extra just for yourself? Go on…indulge. I won’t tell…especially if you do it in the dark. It’ll be our little secret! Give yourself…

The gift of fear!

Come…Play With Me…. (© Jan C J Jones & F. P. Dorchak, 2016)
Come…Play With Me…. (© Jan C J Jones & F. P. Dorchak, 2016)

Disclaimer: the opinions, claims, and shameless self-promotion of the author are not necessarily (but probably are) those of the author or his publishing house (again, the author). The author probably isn’t even very funny or a good writer (though he can take some cool pictures, if you’re not into his writing)…but come on, at least try his one freaking short short story single—it’s only $0.99! You can’t go wrong! You spend more than that on, well, anything else in your life and probably won’t even get half the fun out of all that other stuff as you will out of this short story!

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL!

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Clowns (fpdorchak.wordpress.com)

Short Stories–What Have I Learned?

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Upon Reflection.... (Photo © F. P. Dorchak and Jan C J Jones, 2016)
Upon Reflection…. (Photo © F. P. Dorchak and Jan C J Jones, 2016)

After spending the past year going back over all my short stories, what have I learned?

I’ve learned I was a young testosteroned-fueled writer, writing about sex and violence and all-things-weird. There are definitely some things that are going to remain hidden, but those I’ve released and will release 2017 in my short story collection are the best of my efforts.

I’ve learned that all is not all as it seems.

That the veil between our present and the past (and for that matter, the future…) is far thinner than many realize. Well, I already knew this, but as I ventured back and relived my stories—hell, my life—though I may not have remembered writing some of these things, wow, I was instantly transported to and reliving my twenty-something, thirty-something selves! My teenager self! It was weird. In a very real way…my stories are a reflection of my life. Who I was…what I wrote about. How I wrote. How I felt. It’s like I remembered everything, and was as easy as sliding on a well-worn, “experienced” glove.

Isn’t aging fascinating?

There are different perspectives to the decades of our lives. If you’re in your twenties and thirties, wait until you hit your fifties. If you’re in your forties and fifties, wait until you hit your seventies and eighties. Perhaps “wait” is a bad term to use…do not “wait” for anything—live. Live your life to its fullest. And that doesn’t mean becoming an extreme sportster, never sleeping, or being impatient with people and things. It just means being the best person you can be and being in the moment. Discover and understand who you are…and be true to that. Internalize it. Then do what you’re made to do. Discover and explore your hidden little talents…do you secretly like to dance? Do photography? Visit with the elderly? If so, then be that person. Be fully aware of your present moment.

Perhaps others have other derogatory terms for aging, but I do find “the process” fascinating. The shell of our body shows age first…but the soft, chewy center also shows changes—if you admit to it. I don’t believe it’s so much about “staying young at heart,” as it is to be who you are…and you should change as you age. You should wisen…but also keep your sense of wonder, your sense of adventure about you! Retain your elements of joy and fun! It should not just be six and twenty-year-olds who remain physically and imaginatively active and alive! If you’re “not like that,” then try to develop a sense of adventure and curiosity, if you have any interest in doing so at all. But to place so much importance on youth…of being a person you were in the past…is assigning all the power of who you are to the past and dismissing who you are in the present.

If we were meant to be twenty forever we would forever be twenty.

And, no, I would not want to do it all over again. I had a fun and exiting journey…a truly wonderful life…but I am ready to move into my present’s future. To find new adventures, new perspectives. Though elements of that Past Me remain, I am not that me any longer…and some of those short stories (two immediately come to mind) are actually kinda hard to read because of the events that inspired them. But most…most were wonderful with which to reacquaint myself!

I learned (perhaps “re-experienced” is a better term) that I’d taken chances writing my stories. I learned that just because someone tells you to “Do these 12 steps to get published!” does not mean you will get published. That just because you do anything will get you more of anything. It’s a little trickier and fickle-r than that…and metaphysical….

I learned that I am not above incorporating “awkward topics” (e.g., sex) into my work for the proper telling of a good story. Or a little violence…if it’s absolutely necessary. I don’t like writing about violence, especially for extended periods of time, which was why I left writing straight-horror (I call my current work “paranormal fiction”). But all good stories involve elements of conflict…some romantic and emotional…some physical and violent. I’ve written in both arenas.

I have to be true to the stories I decide to write.

A corollary to this is that I am not my stories or their characters. I have a vivid imagination. Period. I read, I observe, I learn. I try to portray things as realistically as possible, so that readers can walk away and think, “Yeah, that really could happen!” If I am compelled enough to write something up, I sometimes have to go places I don’t like to go. Just like all of us out there in our daily lives and jobs sometimes you have to do things we don’t particularly like doing.

And you just can’t please everybody.

I learned that I had not read all my short stories out loud, which I learned later in my writing career to do. It could have saved me some embarrassingly obvious issues! #OMG

I learned (it was actually pointed out to me by Mandy, my copy editor) that I use car wrecks a lot in my stories to off characters. Huh. No shit. I really do? Never realized that!

I also learned that in my short stories I used the name “Phil” a lot. It was a placeholder for a name. “Philip” is my middle name. Not an ego thing, it just kept me from having to “think hard” for character names at the moment.

So, my retro/introspective complete, I’m moving forward! I have new work I’ve started, new stories to tell…and I do have to get this short story collection out there (which will have some brand new stories in it, like “A Beautiful Summer’s Afternoon,” a new story I’m currently working)….

Thank you all for your support, and have an outstanding “Holiday Season”!

Short Story Links

Links to all my posted short stories are here.

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