Class of 2026 - A Father's Hopes

Yes, 2026. 

Earlier this month, I had my first parent-teacher night. That's not entirely true. I had my first parent-teacher night, and conference, as a parent earlier this month. (Being a teacher in my twenty-first year, I've had many parent-teacher nights.) And, even though I'm a big believer in lettings kids - especially kindergartners - be kids, I couldn't help from feeling some trepidation, amidst my excitement, as I headed to the school. It seems that the pressure surrounding kids today and the (over) specialisation they undergo in academics and sports and other extracurricular activities they are put through at much younger ages than kids were in my day, reared its ugly head into my psyche for the night. Heading to my son's school, I hoped that my son's teacher would have only good things to say about his behaviour and development and that my son, of course, would be the cream of the crop and the standard against which all other kindergarten students get measured. 

As it turned out, my son's behaviour is well within his teacher's expectations - and my expectations - and in adherence to her class rules and the school's code of conduct. Also, developmentally, Jude is doing just fine. His reading is better than some and not as advanced as others but such is the world of kindergarten. Numbers seem to be his strength - hold the jokes about numbers and Asians (which I can hear some of my Caucasian friends making) - and among his favourites are PE (well, his dad is a PE teacher, after all), music, technology (again, hold the chuckles) and his weekly visit to the library. 

Once that was settled, his son's teacher gave my wife and I a sheet of paper. On it was login information to an educational website where she'd set up separate accounts for all of her students. In each account are online books that help with reading and learning sight words. My son and I have visited that site and read many of the books and it's a joy to see his excitement when he sounds out the words and gets them right. 

What slapped me in the face, however, when his teacher gave us the paper, was the login name. It's a combination of parts of my son's name with 2026. That's the year he's scheduled to graduate from high school! High school! My son only started kindergarten two months ago and already thoughts of high school graduation are popping into my head. I guess it hit me because of how fast the last five years have gone. It's still vivid how I held my son in one hand, shortly after he was born, and when he began preschool and when he started to talk and....I could go on. Now, he's in kindergarten, which is flying. Before my wife and I know it, he will be a high schooler and a graduating one at that. 

I suppose what I'm experiencing is nothing new and common to what all parents experience especially, perhaps, with their first child. My wife and I only have one child and, probably, will only have the one child. And, while all children are precious gifts, for now, all our eggs are in one basket, so out speak. I just hope the time doesn't go by too fast and that I'm able to be a good role model and guide for my son; to help him avoid the mistakes I made, to be more fearless than I was, to be his best regardless of what 'best' means to the rest of the world. There were many things I did and choices I made that were good and right for me and I wouldn't change for the world. There were also many I regret and many more I wish I had made that I didn't because of fear and uncertainty; and my own fear and uncertainty gave in to the fear and uncertainty of others so those things I never did will always be a bit of a 'what if' for me. And, for me, the 'what ifs' are in many ways worse than the mistakes. 

I love you son. 

Falling Back An Hour

I don't get Standard Time. I don't understand it. I don't see why it exists.

Why would anyone want - why do we need  - to have shorter days and longer nights? When I was a child, growing up in Hong Kong, we used to fall back an hour in the autumn and move ahead in the spring. Now, and I must confess I wasn't aware of when it stopped happening, Hong Kong and The Philippines (where I was born) don't change their clocks. Now that we've gone back an hour here in New Jersey, my parents and other family members in Manila are ahead thirteen hours. In the summer, it's a nice and easy twelve. One of my sisters lives in England. They don't move the clocks over there, either. 

So, why do we do it here in America? It doesn't seem to make sense to me and if anyone can explain it so it's as clear as the daylight I miss, I'd be very grateful to hear from you. It just seems that people are happier and more productive when there's more daylight. Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) would be suffered less, for one thing. Also, less electricity and other energy resources would be used up because, simply, we wouldn't need it. Now, by 4pm, I 've got to open my outside light. During Daylight Savings Time (DST), I  can leave it closed until about 8pm. That's four hours less of resources being used and money I'm putting out. 

Just a few moments ago, a little after 6pm, my wife told our son that in a few minutes it would be time for bed. When she saw the actual time, she laughed and said, in Tagalog, "It's still early. " I smiled but with the switch of clocks and seeing how dark it is already, I don't blame her. We're not chicken who sleep depending on when the sun goes down and awaken when it comes back up. 

So, again, what's the pointof Standard Time? I'm just glad that, before he left office, President George W. Bush signed a bill that delayed the falling back weekend by a couple of weeks and moved the return to DST up by the same time frame. I'll adjust to the longer nights, as I do every year, but I'll be counting the days and waiting with excitement for March 9, 2014 to arrive. That, if you haven't guessed or don't already know, is when we go back to DST and when we get back to seeing the light. I just wish that those who decide when and if we say goodbye to DST see it light too. 

A Writer's Editor - RIP Monica Harris

It's strange how people affect us, impact upon our lives and leave some kind of indelible impression. And, I'm not referring to the people we've known the longest or the most intimately. Sometimes, more than we might realise at the time, these individuals are people we've met only a few times or, in some cases, only once.

I was reminded about this just a week ago when I checked my email and found one from Twitter. I get these often, as I'm sure many of you who have a Twitter account do. It's an email suggesting people for me to follow; the suggestions generated by some program that analyses trends, hashtags, followers, those who follow you, etc. Well, one of the suggestions was MHM Editorial Services (@mhmedits). It'd been a while - probably a year or so - since I'd last thought about MHM but I recognised the name immediately and my initial thought was "Don't I already follow this account?" So, I logged into my Twitter account and checked it out and, just as I suspected, I already follow @mhmedits. I further learnt, however, that MHM's account is no longer active due to the death of its account holder. Likewise, MHM Editorial Services is no longer operating.

Upon discovering this, I felt like I'd been kicked in the gut and slapped in the face. MHM Editorial was an editing business run by Monica Harris. I met her at the 2009 Book Expo America and a few months later we met at the lobby of a New York hotel where my sister-in-law and her husband were staying. My wife came into New York with me. She had breakfast with my in-laws and I had a meeting with Monica. 

A few weeks before our meeting, I'd emailed Monica the first ten pages of my novel, Back Kicks And Broken Promises. She was more of a content editor versus a line editor but she did offer suggestions in syntax and caught some typos as she made useful comments on the various red flags she found in the book's plot, character motivation and dialogue. As most editors do in this kind of situation, Monica went through these pages for free. To edit more would've required a proper business arrangement which, after considering my self-publishing budget, I could not pursue. In spite of this, Monica more than welcomed my emails that were full of general questions on publishing. She also, even months after our meeting, willingly accepted and promptly answered my questions asking for further clarification of the comments she'd made on the pages she'd read. To me, this showed a true dedication on her part of being a writer's editor; being more concerned about the writer creating the best work he or she can produce and understanding what he or she needs to do than performing quality editorial services and writer support just for a buck. 

As insightful as Monica was with my manuscript, she was also ahead of the curve when it came to self-publishing. In the last ten years or so, independently publishing one's own work has grown and become less taboo. Anticipating the growth of indie published books, Monica specialised in serving the independent author, leaving her editing posts at traditional publishing houses and forming MHM Editorial.

I didn't know Monica very well, at all. I only met her once. But, the integrity in her approach to my work and the dignity she offered me as a green first-time author, has left a lasting impression on me; so much so that, when I found out she'd died, tears pooled at the bottom of my eyes. I felt like a friend had died, albeit one with whom I'd lost touch.

I'm an indie author hoping to break into the mainstream with an agent and a traditional publishing house. Thanks to Monica, I'm less ignorant about the entire process and I feel more secure about my work and vision being my work and vision. For that, I thank her. And, whether you're an indie or a traditionally published author, I hope your editors possess the character and love of her craft the way Monica did. 

RIP Monica Harris. The publishing world, especially that of the indie author, misses you deeply. 

November - The Writer's Month

November - The Writer's Month

 

 

It's November 1st and, in addition to it being All Saints' Day, it's National Novel Writing Month, aka NaNoWriMo. I participated in NaNoWriMo last year and I 'won' it. I wasn't the sole winner. If a participant finished the first draft of a novel, at a minimum of 50,000 words, you were considered a 'winner.' Most novels, really, are 70,000 to 80,000 words long but 50,000 is absolutely doable in thirty days and becomes the seed for revisions, which can include making the novel more complex and reaching the bench mark 80,000. I'm actually in the process of finishing revisions for the novel I first drafted during last year's NaNoWriMo (Born From A Stone, book one of my Sage Of Heaven series) and I'm challenging (pressuring?) myself to also finish the first draft of another novel, Aliens Among Us, which is book one of my series of the same name.

 

I discovered earlier today that November is also NaBoPloMo. (Say that out loud a few times. Doesn't that sound like you've just come back from the dentist, tongue swollen and numb from novocaine?) Anyway, NaBoPloMo stands for National Blog Posting Month. If you're reading this, you're likely a blogger also. And, diligent bloggers, of which I am not one during the months of August through October because of a packed schedule, put up new posts several times a week, if not daily. Well, just as NaNoWriMo helps me with the discipline of sitting down to write and work on my current projects, NaBoPloMo will help me keep in touch with my subscribers. And, the goal of NaBoPloMo is for participants to post a new blog everyday. Like NaNoWriMo, NaBoPloMo has a site where you can register and get more traffic to your blog and through which you can make connections. Check it out here.

 

Really, NaBoPloMo is, in my opinion, an extension of NaNoWriMo. While WriMo is focused on writing a novel, both are about writing. That's why, with two global reaches to promote writing and reading (let's face it, both are reaching all areas of the world thanks to Twitter and other social media), November has become, for me, 'the writer's month.' Add to this that I took my first Gotham Writer's Workshop in the fall and this time of year is truly all about writing. Of course, I write all year long but there's something special about this time of year that jump starts or adds an extra spark to my involvement with words; not just as an author but as a reader, too. Maybe it's because we're going to be falling back an hour and enjoying less daylight and spending more time indoors. Maybe it's because it's getting colder and we'll be cozied up with a blanket, a warm dog at our feet, logs crackling behind you in your fireplace. Whatever it is, the next few months we'll all be spending more time inside and for many of us that means more reading and writing.

 

Good luck to my fellow writers, whether you're participating in NaNoWriMo and/or NaBoPloMo or not. After all, it's about showing up and putting the words down that gets the job done.

 

Happy writing!

Semantics, turns of phrase or outright confusion?

I was having a chat with someone recently and I said something that alluded to me being in my fifth decade. My friend commented how I'm in my fourth decade, being that I'm in my forties and not my fifties. I countered that I was, indeed, in my fifth since birth to age ten was my first decade. My friend went on to say that birth to age ten didn't count because a person is too young to at that age to know about things (relationship of self to the world, etc) and, essentially, because there are no digits in the tens column until a person reaches age ten.

This got me to thinking about other terms and phrases that cause confusion and the word 'birthday' came to mind; particularity recalling my son's first birthday party, at age one. I remember someone saying "Happy first birthday!" and I knew what she meant. My son had just turned one but, really, it wasn't his first birthday. His first birthday was when he was born, after all. 

Another one that I often have debate over, and which has caused missteps in planning get togethers, are phrases like 'this weekend' or 'next Thursday.' As many of us do, when we get together with work friends on a Monday, we share our weekend exploits with one another. Some of us use the term 'last weekend' and others use 'this weekend.' Well, which one should it be? The weekend did just end so it was the last one we all enjoyed. Or, perhaps it should be thought of as 'this weekend (that just ended).' The confusion continues when, for example, we're talking about what's going to happen in the next week or so. If, on the same Monday for example, discussion of Thursday comes, someone may refer to the upcoming Thursday as 'next Thursday' because it's the next Thursday coming up while others may say 'this Thursday' because it's the Thursday of this (the current) week.

I suppose a lot of how we think of things and refer to those things comes from our own personal preferences and the lingua franca of where you are. But, is there a 'proper' way that the above examples should be regarded? I've often wondered that. Maybe you have, too. If you have a definitve answer or know where I can find one, please let me know. If you have your own vocab conundrums, share those in the comment section.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great, today, this Tuesday and enjoy your time off this coming, next, weekend, whatever decade you're in and have a great birthday whenever it may be. 

Writing Progress

This time of year is usually my busiest. The start of school (I'm a teacher in my non-writing life), catching up with any and all changes to how things are happening at work (this year, it's all about Student Growth Objectives (SGOs) and International Baccalaureate (IB), coaching volleyball (in New Jersey, volleyball is a fall sport) and trying to find time to write. This year, there's the added responsibilities that come with kindergarten, which my son just started, and I'm also exercising more.

So, it's with equal amounts of enthusiasm and relief that today - actually, less than an hour ago - I finished going through my WIP, Sage Of Heaven, and making revisions. My manuscript will go through more revisions as I make the changes in its Word file but, nonetheless, it's getting closer to what I call a working draft; a draft I will feel comfortable workshopping to willing readers (Alex London, author of Proxy said he'd be willing to read it so I know it'll go through, at least, one exceptionally talented set of eyes which are, in turn, attached to a very talented and creative mind) and one with which I can solicit agents.  

I'm planning on having the new Word doc ready by - hopefully before - the end of this month so I can devote November to NaNoWriMo and get the first draft of book two of the Sage Of Heaven series writen or book one of my Aliens Among Us series completed. The volleyball season will be over by the time NaNoWriMo starts and I'll have more time to devote to writing so this is doable. I did write the first draft of Sage Of Heaven through NaNoWriMo, after all.

There's still loads more work to be done with my current manuscript, especially if it does successfully garner me an agent, but I am breathing a sigh of relief that its current round of revisions is completed because, honestly, I wasn't sure they'd get done before the end of the year. So, for you fellow writers out there, especially those like who are not (yet) fulltime writers and who wear multiple hats that it's difficult to reconcile each one, rest assured that if a slow poke procrastinator like me can finish something then all of you can - and some.

Happy writing all!

My Darth Vader Moment

I love the Star Wars movies and I can't wait for the new ones to start coming out in theatres and, I believe, there's also something going to happen on television. In the meantime, however, I can get my fix from watching DVDs with my son and catching the marathons that happen on TV during Memorial Day Weekend.

This past weekend, however, I got to have a real life Star Wars moment, of sorts. I call it 'my Darth Vader moment' and it refers to Darth Vader's showdown duel with Obi Wan Kenobi in Star Wars, Episode IV: A New Hope. In that scene, Vader says, "We meet again at last. The circle is now complete. When I left you, I was but the learner. Now, I am the master."

My Darth Vader moment came, of all things, during a volleyball tournament. I've been a volleyball coach since 1999 (I took time off from 2002-2003 and 2007-2008) and I got my best education under legendary multiple winning state champion high school coach Christine Drevitch, now the coach of Warren Hills, when we coached the Hunterdon Central boys team in 2001. I worked under her for just one season but I learnt so much that, to this day, I still use many of the principles she taught me. And, when I've had a rookie volleyball coach work  under me, I've taught the same principles to that person. I worked with Christine in the spring of 2001 and, after changing jobs, I'd had one or two occasional contacts with her. That was until Saturday when our schools were placed in the same pool of teams for the round robin part of the tournament. 

The way the pool rounds were set up, each match between schools ran for twenty-five minutes or best of three sets, whichever came first. If each school won a set after playing two and there was still time on the clock, they'd continue to play until the time ran out. Well, that's what happened between us. Christine's team beat mine 25-12 in the first set and we beat them 25-22 in the second. With time running out, Christine and her girls won the third set 11-9. Having lost, maybe I didn't get my Darth Vader moment. He won the duel with Kenobi after all, albeit at Kenobi's willingness. Maybe I was more Kenobi than Vader on Saturday and the next time Christine and I meet, as in the Star Wars films, I'll be the victor; although in the movies it's not Kenobi who triumphs over Vader so much as it is good beating evil and neither Christine nor I are evil.  Either way, there was a little bit of that classic student versus teacher moment and, while I did lose, I did give a good showing of myself and, without having asked her, I'm sure she was proud of her student on some level.

So, what about you? Have you had a Darth Vader moment like this? Do share.