Event Booked: Undawnted is Signed Up for Sonoran Dawn Studio's Autumn Wonders Book Event

Want to meet the person behind the story? 

Here's your chance to meet and greet with the novelist, and other writers/authors. 

December 4th, 2021 at 6pm, Arizona Time, DL Mullan will be available as a participant in Sonoran Dawn Studios' Autumn Wonders Book Event. 

Be sure to friend Sonoran Dawn for updates and to host your own time slot: https://www.facebook.com/sonoran.dawn.7

During this event, Ms. Mullan will introduce you to her creativity, personality, and writing. 

So join her and other creative minds for this afternoon and evening presentation. 

We hope to see you there! 

Have a great and wonderful day. 

Never Take the Advice of a Person with an American Flag as Their Profile Pic

That response was literally written under a reply I gave in a writer's group.  

A writer wanted to change all her characters from one racial profile to a diverse group of characters. That sentiment is all well and good, but what do you know about other ethnicities? 

Have you researched, interviewed, and experienced that culture?

Since you haven't taken the time to find out that my profile picture is from my genealogical blog: Our Rugged Individualism, where I have denoted family members who have been in the service of the United States in one capacity or another, I seriously doubt you would take the time to do so with someone else.  

For the sake of history, I have an ancestor who came over on the Anne in 1623. Over 397 years has my family been in North America. I have listed him and others in my 1776 Patriot Project after I discovered direct relations to the American Revolutionary War.

But I guess doing genealogical work makes me ineligible to speak about any topic under the sun, not to mention having my family members born under the red, white, and blue since the inception and dedication of our nation. 

That must be enough evidence of my supposed guilt (of what?) to convict me of utter mental incapacity. 

If you feel that people who are patriotic in any way to the United States of America are absurd, then why are you living in the United States of America? 

Asking for a friend. 

To me if you do not like your country and fellow citizens of that country, the question would be: why are you here? and  moreover: why haven't you left? 

There are many nations on this Earth that hate their citizens so much that they put them to work in the fields (Venezuela), kill them for their skin color (South Africa), and place them in death camps for their religious beliefs (China). 

Why not join one of those fun places? Since you are so enthused that you have picked up where Hitler left off... The United States helped defeat the Nazi regime. People forget. 

So if you make fun of people who are Americans, disabled, female, and from survivors of the Bolshevik Revolution (wow! triple minority status), doesn't that make you the bad guy? The intolerant? The bigot? 

Writers cannot have those immature hangups. Writers have to be authentic persons independent of the mindless fads and fixtures that derail our culture from the endless track of possibilities. 

If you do not know a race or its culture, then why are you writing about them? Writers write from what they know. Those are the rules. So if you don't know, you go out and gain experience. In writing, knowledge matters. 

Today's writers ignore simple guidelines. That separates the good, seasoned writers from the unprofessional, immature writers who give other writers a bad name in independent publishing. 

And, the attitude of discrimination means you don't have the aptitude or temperament to be a writer. You're too caught up in what's in to realize that it is already out. 

Real writers and published authors cannot afford to be ignorant, biased totalitarians. That type of behavior is counter to the creative mind. Yet social justice has produced a whole generation of writers who are so intolerant of others in the name of tolerance (ironic) that someone with knowledge and experience is treated as a leper. 

Is that my finger?

Anyway, I wish people would understand how foolish they look when they pull this crap on experienced professionals. Ignorance is a choice. I choose to counter cultural ineptitude by calling it out. 

Get out of your safe space and learn about other people. 

Have a great and wonderful day.

Seasonal Reads Program Link Ring Submissions

Are you an author with a seasonal read that would fit into Undawnted's reading program?

What Undawnted is looking for: two authors/books for each season.: spring, summer, autumn, and winter. Fiction, Nonfiction. Poetry. All good to go.

For example:
Winter... holiday stories, or Valentine's Day love story
Spring... nature, or Celtic Heritage
Summer... novellas action/adventure
Autumn... horror, vampires, werewolves, oh my! 
 

Undawnted wants good quality writings with a PG-13 and less rating, if it were a movie. Good clean fun. Good stories. Fun characters. True love stories (no erotica, please).

Links to other authors blogs and websites are a must so that the link is not broken.

If you believe your creativity fits the bill, then please contact DL Mullan via her Undawnted Facebook page through the Private Mail feature.

     

Want more information? Check out the Winter Frost Seasonal Reads page on the menu to the right. 

Thank you, have a great and wonderful day!  

 

_____

Undawnted has updated our Seasonal Reads program, please visit our Unleashed Materials: Publication Classification page. 

 

We are no longer doing the link-ring to other authors and artists at this time. 

 

Thank you for considering Undawnted for your reading and entertainment needs. 

 

Learn. Grow. Master... with Undawnted. 

An Authentic Reality Deserves an Authentic Writer

Are you living an authentic life? The Existential philosophy of the mid-20th Century asked questions like this one. A few thousand years earlier, Diogenes a Greek Cynic philosopher questioned the role of society and the validity of its psychological constructs.

Is your suspended belief interfering with you living the life you have always wanted to live?

The Ancient History Encyclopedia on Diogenes of Sinope reveals:

According to Diogenes society was an artificial contrivance set up by human beings which did not accord well with truth or virtue and could not in any way make someone a good and decent human being; and so follows the famous story of Diogenes holding the light up to the faces of passers-by in the market place looking for an honest man or a true human being. Everyone, he claimed, was trapped in this make-believe world which they believed was reality and, because of this, people were living in a kind of dream state. He was not the first philosopher to make this claim; Heraclitus, Xenophanes, and, most famously, Socrates all pointed out the need for human beings to wake from their dream state to full awareness of themselves and the world. Plato's famous Allegory of the Cave is devoted to this very theme. Diogenes, however, confronted the citizens of Athens daily with their lifelessness and shallow values, emulating his hero Socrates whom he never met but would have learned of from Antisthenes. Although it seems many people thought he was simply mentally ill, Diogenes would have claimed he was living a completely honest life and others should have the courage to do the same.

As we write, we search for truths in the people around us, the culture we live in, and within our own reality. If Diogenes as was the Existentialists on the road to somewhere, it was not the argument about being housebroken, but a deeper meaning of discerning our own reality as a fiction.

Humans live in a fictional world we have developed for our safety and security. The real world is the shadows we see on the wall in the back of our cave as Socrates described in his Allegory of the Cave. Writers need to separate what is reality and what is the social constructs we have devised for ourselves and our progeny.

Are you an honest person? Do you live honestly? Or, are you wrapped up in the social constructs of censorship, identity politics, and psychological terrorism? 

American society and culture have been created for the benefit of a few. Divide and conquer, problem-reaction-solution create trigger moments of psychological harm and devastation. Without the psychological terror repeated on the news, in entertainment, and parroted in individual lives, these tactics would be ignored. We have a social construct where we have been told to fear reality because the shadows outside the cave are terrorists just waiting to do us harm. 

Identity politics are the divisive analogies being taught to children as well as adults. You are in this box. You are in that box. You cannot identify in opposing boxes. Race, religion, and many others are the artificial construct. When we realize how damaging these politicized boxes of dishonesty have become, isn't it our duty as writers to expose the falsehood? 

Diogenes did take his philosophy too far to the edge, but today's Roman culture and society, our decadence has swung the pendulum of discourse in the opposite direction toward Nero's mayhem. We need a balance. We need to correct the psychological terrorism of identity politics. 

The only course is to eliminate the censorship that surrounds this social construct of public mythology. I recently debated some points from the Entertainment Industry. The online magazine, Variety, has posted some inventive and erroneous negative social constructs that undermine our society. In these rebuttals, I discovered how Penske Media Corporation's Variety will not debate a topic but rather triggers individuals into the Divide and Conquer scheme. I called them on this dishonesty. 

What I discovered while investigating this claim of censorship was that the accusation is not unfounded. I too was censored because my beliefs did not coincide with social dishonesty. After being censored twice in the comments section, I did a screen capture: 

As shown, my first reply was revised mid-sentence. The censor removed my article title and link. The second was calling Variety out on the deceptive practice, which then was removed in its entirety. 

The original post was also censored by the removal of a link. 

I have discovered that the censorship in our news media, entertainment, and online debates stem from the social constructs of identity politics and psychological terrorism in order to cocoon humans, in this case Americans, into Socrates' Cave. A false reality is a dishonest reality. Humans are not meant to live an inauthentic life. 

How do we reconstruct our reality? The course we are on now has damaged people's understanding and perception of what our culture and society does. Not for dishonesty's sake, but our individualistic social constructs have furthered the human species while still allowing for varying viewpoints. 

As a writer, I observe the world around me. I poke the bear. I slide open the envelope to see what awaits us on the other side of this life. Humans cannot go forward by going backward into this tyrannical world view of dystopic socialized conformity centered on the premise: inclusionary Social Darwinism. 

Neither Diogenes nor Socrates would approve of furthering that type of dishonesty. 

So as a writer, who are you going to be? Diogenes looking for an honest man? Socrates searching beyond the Cave for reality? 

Or, are you going to write the socialized identity politics that further divides society into Nero's mayhem?
 

 -~o0o~---oOo---~o0o~-

Original Content, Articles, and Reviews related to this topic:

• The Entertainment Industry is So Woke that They've Become a Broke Joke
• The Entertainment Industry's Late Night Shows are Ignorant Dribble 

Storytelling: Character Development

When I am in writer's forums and groups, I see concerns about how to write believable characters. 

One of the exercises I like to employ is writing in fanfiction. Every once and awhile, another person's universe intrigues me. I have written for Babylon 5, which is online. It needs a good polishing but I can still live with it. 

In that universe, I can play with characters. I can use the already made universe to stretch my writing muscles without having to do all the heavy lifting. I can see how close I can come to recreating the characters of someone else. 

I make note of my thought processes. What do I need? What am I missing? How close can I get? 

I then take what I learned trying to mimic and apply those lessons to my own creative world building. 

I implement the same brainstorming ideas to develop original characters in a universe I created from scratch.

Writers can use any character out of literature or film they wish to try their hand in character development. 

That is one exercise, but character development is a more involved process than one exercise. To make three-dimensional characters, a writer has to take the time. Write a description. Give your character some real life quirks. Don't make your characters perfect. 

And, have fun with your characters. Show their sense of humor, pet peeves, phobias. A character should reflect the time and place s/he is being written for. So take different aspects of people and a little of yourself, a character needs to be built for the task at hand... make your character worth the read.

Character development does not have to be a dirty job. Create exercises that appeal to you and brainstorm a new character. When a writer takes the time, characters can virtually write the novel themselves. 

I actually prefer a feisty and spirited protagonist... it makes writing less complicated. 

Have a great and wonderful day!

Marketing: The Language of Symbols

I have been assisting others lately develop their marketing strategies from blogs, websites to book covers. In reality, what I am doing is helping develop an author's language of symbols. The letters and words I am typing now are in fact symbols.

Did you know the letter "a" is the symbol for an ox? 

Humans are hardwired to understand and translate the abstract language of symbols to convey information in a short amount of time. It is an efficient system, but also one that can be used for negative purposes. Go to any corporations website and translate their symbols, or marketing logos. What does that corporation tell you without saying a word? Then you will understand the language of silent hypocrisy.

As artists and writers, we use symbols to tell stories. When it comes to brand creation, most artists and writers cannot translate themselves into a marketing strategy. That is where I usually find myself: in between the creator and true genesis. 

So how do artists and writers step out of the shadows to show their readership/audience in symbols what they and their products are all about? 

Writing about Marketing today! 

The Undawnted logo is a great example. It has a Saturn motif. Saturn is the old bearded man that likes structure. Yet, if one takes a closer look, I have shadows in the eye of the storm. I like the paranormal so I threw that symbolism in there, but I also like science and science fiction. So the swirl is indicative of a galaxy spinning around a galactic center of beings and perhaps an Einstein Rosenbridge. The rings could be of a Saturn like planet, but in this case, the rings symbolize the expansion of creativity and consciousness across the universe. 

So look how much I said in that logo for Undawnted: Imagination is Fearless, after all. 

There are some unwritten rules about blogs and websites that many artists and authors shove to the side, so I will help translate those items:

• keep it simple
• only have 2 to 3 clicks to anywhere on your site
• declutter, you don't have to put everything in the menus when a link will do
• white space is golden
• be conservative

When I explain these items, I get blown off. If I go to sites of artists and authors with their Twitter and social media feeds on the side, that is too much input for me. As your audience, I am looking for YOU... not your feeds. I could care less. 

I want access to your writings or your art pieces. And, I want them as soon as I click onto your site. So take down all the noise and replace the noise with a link. 

A blog/website comes down to what you want me to know... in the first five seconds I am there. Are you trying sell me your Twitter feed or your book/art? 

Symbolism takes a hen peck approach. If your main focus is to sell me your works, then don't sell me the secondaries of Twitter and social media. Prioritize. 

If you write and sell writing services... get two different blogs or sites. You can interweave and link to create a support mechanism for both your inventions. I began with art and writing on this site. When I focused on what Undawnted was all about, I moved the art off and created: Sonoran Dawn Studios. Bingo! 

Now if someone needs design and publishing services, that person goes to www.SonoranDawn.com. 

If someone wants to read something unique from every topic under the sun, that person comes to Undawnted. 

Perfecto! 

Always keep it simple. You don't want your blog, website, or logo to look like a Jackson Pollock painting. You want to look like Da Vinci: with style, grace, and purpose. 

I hope I have explained this topic well. 

When you endeavor on a path of marketing, be sure to visit other artists and authors' websites. See what they have done to market themselves to a wider audience. Have a list of what you like and what you don't like. 

Then sketch out what you want then find someone like me to help you translate your world to the universe of readers and connoisseurs of your unique art form. 

If you can do it yourself, even better. I encourage artists and writers to learn other modalities so they are less inclined to pay for services they don't need or want. Services should be there to enhance what you already have, not leave you penniless. 

So do some basic research. Learn what a great marketing strategy is. Ask for help. Get only the services you require. 

Sounds easy, but takes a lot of work!

Have a great and wonderful day!!!  

Welcome Authonomy Friends

Sad day to know that Authonomy, an online writing community I have been involved with for nearly eight years, is closing at the end of September 2015.

We have shared our hopes and aspirations of being published authors. We have laughed, cried, and cheered. 

Now welcome to my new format.  Please browse around and leave a comment. 

It is nice to know in the vastness of the world wide web that writers connect no matter the medium.

Thank you!

Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head

The North American Southwest is in for a rainy few days.

The clouds, actual real clouds, have inundated the skies causing the sun rays to weave in and out of them as well as give some passing showers. Nothing too heavy, rain to make the day feel soggy. 

I have spent my weekend watching Babylon 5, seasons 3 and 4. Pivotal, prophetic, and masterful, this television show from the 1990's is a gem. I wish more science fiction shows would be so informative. What is happening now is history repeating itself and MJS loved to write from historical context.

When I write, I love to base some of my aspects on writers I believe have a very keen intellect when it comes to human nature, historical perspective, and philosophical inquiry. I remember as I write what makes me want to watch the show more, or reread a section of a novel. 

MJS of Babylon 5 and Timothy Zahn of the Star Wars Extended Universe are two of my favorites. Not my only favorites, but if I feel I am stuck, I can always pop in a DVD or read a chapter and feel better about what needs to be done in my story. 

Inspiration is key. It is priceless. Anything that removes a block is just as awesome. 

Have a great and dry weekend!