It’s a space iris. I bet you weren’t ready for that. It’s a space iris. I bet you know right where it’s at, because it’s right above these words. See it up there? Yeah. That’s a space iris. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Some people call it a space pansy, but that ain’t what it ain’t not. Some people yell for more reeds, but that’s a little better but still doesn’t hit the right spot.

Oh, no. It’s a space iris. I’m sure you weren’t ready for that. No, no, no. Oh, no, no, no, no. I bet you weren’t ready for that. It was living by a rock.

It was a smooth rock with a soft beat, ’cause there’s nothin’ like that old time rock’n space iris to fill your day with some crocodile tears.

By the way, I’m available to do strange images and write nonsensical postings on your blog too. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Anything for a buck. Er, a hundred bucks. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Anything for a hundred bucks. Almost.

So, enjoy the space iris. Bet you’ll never tire of that. See how it glows. See how it doesn’t move because that would have been cool but I really didn’t feel like animating it. But, I could animate some strange image for you. Two hundred bucks. Maybe fifty bucks. Make an offer. I’m here all night.

Oh, yes, the space iris will stay just a little bit longer. If the union don’t mind and the crew doesn’t mind, and the overtime pay is good–like a hundred bucks or more–than the space iris will be hanging out some more.

The space iris. It’s so cool. You gotta get your own. But your own is not your own because your own is still mine and you can’t have mine. But you can grow you own. You can take a picture of your own, and I’ll make it into a space iris of your very own. A hundred bucks. Maybe fifty. Send two hundred just to be sure.

Oh, the space iris will keep going and going, like an Energizer bunny, banging and banging and rockin’ and rollin’ all night with Lithium or something. Who knows? Mr. Sandman, that’s who. He puts sand in your eyes when you’re sleeping at night and you wake up with sandy eyes and you can’t see your space iris. But, it’ll still be there, so don’t ask for any refunds, because I can’t control what the Sandman does to your eyes. Don’t be afraid. Send him a lover, and he’ll never fade. Oh, Venus. Your space iris is on its way. Don’t you worry now. Don’t dream it’s over!

Oh, the space iris. I bet you weren’t ready for that!

Step 1. Start your post with a picture. Check.
Why? Apparently people judge your post by the picture or something. Or they think a picture means the article is better. Or they just come to look at the pretty picture and read the article because of it. Or they don’t read the article at all but instead buy something from your site that reminds them of the picture. Who knows, really? People are predictably unpredictable.

Step 2. Pick a niche for your blog and stick with it. Oops.
Why? People don’t look for diversity. They look for utter sameness. Or, rather, if they come looking for shoes, they don’t really want to read about scarves. Or do they? What if the scarf matches their shoes? Then they have an outfit. They want to look nice, don’t they? Why wouldn’t people want to read about different things? So what if they come looking for photography tips and you talk about gardening? That’s related! If they can grow a nice garden, then they can take pictures of it. And, if they can take pictures of it, they can blog about it. And that means they can have their own gardening website where they can promote gardening products which means they’ll also be interested in affiliate marketing. See? What do the gurus know about sticking with topics? Eh? Anyone? Hey? Are you still listening?

Step 3. Post ads related to your niche and promote products related to it. Okay.
You can figure this out on your own, no? So, you could post ads about gardening or photography or niche gardening or scarves because it’s all the same, no? I mean, you might want a nice scarf to shield yourself from the sun while gardening. You can see how everything is related, no? And, when you’re gardening, you might be thinking about your novel, so you might be interested in materials to help you improve your writing or market your book, right? So, you can go to other niche blogs and read about one topic at a time, or you can come here and read about a variety of topics.

Or you can just see me post silly pictures and write nonsensical articles with them, as I seem prone to do.

But, it’s all good.

So, April showers did bring May flowers!

Too bad it’s raining right now, and is supposed to do so for the rest of the week.

This is what arrived in the mail yesterday:

What is it?

Well, it is a Battlestar Galactica Hasbro Titanium Series 4 Diecast Mini Cylon Raider [Classic].

I’ve wanted one of these since I was a kid. My parents took me shopping, or, more likely, they went shopping and dragged me along. Anyway, we went down the toy aisle, and there were two things I wanted, but I could only pick one. I wanted both! I guess you can figure out which one I didn’t pick…

I suppose that sometimes you remember, and still want, those things you couldn’t have. So, ever since then, I’ve wanted a Cylon Raider. Of course, nowadays, those “classics” sell for big bucks, especially if you want them in good, like-new or new-in-box condition.

So, I was buying some stuff I needed and I came across this miniature. That’s nice because it is (mostly) what I wanted, and it’s a miniature which is a plus because it won’t take up a lot of room and it’s pretty low-cost as well which is a definite bonus these days. Sure, I probably shouldn’t have bought it, but the 30-year desire to own a Cylon raider culminated in that moment.

Of course, someday, perhaps when I’m rich, I may come across the actual model I longed for oh so many years ago, new-in-box, and I will grab that one up too.

Until then, I have this little guy.

In case you hadn’t noticed, I was away for the weekend. You may not have noticed, as I had posts, such as they were, scheduled to appear on both days of the weekend, since I would otherwise not have had the means by which to post them. On the other hand, if you follow me on Twitter, you may have noticed my absence, since I wasn’t there to tweet anything.

Anyway, I took my computer with me and, while I didn’t have a lot of time to work on things, I did do some work on a website and also my story I’ve been working on. (Here too.)

As far as the story goes, right now I’m still working on the outline. Previously, I’ve essentially just gone ahead and written things as they go. I mean, I had a general direction and certain things in mind, but I would let thing unfold as I wrote them. With this story, I am doing an outline first, so everything is planned in advance. That should save me some amount of tweaking later, as hopefully it will allow me to create a story that makes sense ahead of time so that I won’t have to go in later and fix the inevitable loopholes that seem to come up otherwise.

That being said, I don’t think it is necessary to always have an outline, though you should have a general plot in mind. For example, I have another story in progress (I say “in progress” though I actually haven’t written anything new for it in a couple years) that I wrote as it went. I had a general idea in mind, but I let the characters go and do what felt natural for them to do. And, that worked very well.

So, I think the outline vs. no outline debate comes to whatever works best for you as the author and/or what works best for a particular story. Different writers have different approaches, and I don’t think there is a one-size-fits-all method. Go with what works. If what you’re doing isn’t working for you, try something else. Or, if your usually method isn’t working for your current story, try a different one! Don’t let your creativity get bogged down by methodology. Your plan of attack for writing a story should be one that best suits crafting and writing that particular story and not one that chains your creative energies. A story that never gets finished due to poor planning is little different from a story that never gets finished because of too much planning!

At any rate, I think the outline method will work best for this particular story, especially since (a) there is an extensive backstory that I need to keep straight and (b) this is a “prequel” so I have to keep in mind the things that will happen in the “main” story.

My outline is roughly something like this:

Beginning
Middle
End

Naturally, the middle is the bulk of the story and the beginning and the end are the shorter portions. I know the ending; I just need to flesh it out more. But, that’s going to depend on what occurs in the middle, as to how the ending will precisely work out. I’ve spent a lot of the time on the beginning, working out everything that happens there and sets the story in motion. So, with that in mind, this is what my outline really looks like:

Beginning - some stuff happens
Middle - what the frak happens here???
End - stuff happens and the story ends

The middle is the bulk of the story, as I mentioned, yet I don’t know precisely what all will happen there! I know some portions, as I’ve already written them before I started developing an outline, but it’s a matter of figuring out where to fit them in.

The biggest issue is the timeline. Originally, the story was going to cover a period of a few hours. Now, however, I’ve changed that. The beginning takes place years earlier. Then, there’s a portion that would need to take place over a period of a few months, and then a portion and the ending which would take place over a matter of hours. What I need to figure out is how best to transition that. I guess Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade did that, with the opening taking place when he was a kid, and then later following up years later. Maybe I should watch that again or look for a novelization…

A picture says a thousand words, no?

Almost in focus!

It is some variety of a cinquefoil. Not sure anymore what type.

It’s a pretty low maintenance bush. You can virtually ignore it and it keeps on going. Used to have two of them, but now just one. So, it’s obviously not invulnerable!

It is also a member of the rose family!

“I can chase the red laser dot underneath flickerin’ lights.
I’ll soon catch that laser’s beaming sooner or later.
Gonna be a dog in motion, all I need’s some doggy goggles!
Run to where the dot’s goin’, St. Elmo’s pointer…”

Not what you think.

Or, maybe it is.

But, most likely not.

And, that’s all I have to say about that.

At the edge of the universe, where the backdrop is a deep red instead of black, because of a red doppler effect, the purple space bubbles rise up. No, there is no up in space. But the purple space bubbles head in what they think is up, as compared to the position of the camera taking pictures of them. So, they are heading upward from the perspective of the camera.

Yes, I made all that up. I don’t have a camera in deep space taking pictures. Or do I?

I’m feeling a bit deja vu. Wait, I have done space bubbles before.

I think I like these new ones better.

But now that the older ones are retro, geesh, I can’t decide…