tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3546477542650006798.post8186045457142014922..comments2023-10-28T05:55:51.592-04:00Comments on Rick Bylina: MMWUC: Writers are Driven by StoryRick Bylinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10493557860835710721noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3546477542650006798.post-20196281259991925932012-06-05T00:36:22.794-04:002012-06-05T00:36:22.794-04:00'The road' offers great inspiration for st...'The road' offers great inspiration for storytelling. One can also draw on the experience of a long haul to describe everything from stress to fatigue. <br />I had a project in Philadelphia that kept me there for five years, but hearth and home remained in St Louis, 900 miles away. Every four day weekend I could wrangle found me in my trusty Dodge PU and on the road for 15 hours. Two stops for gas. <br />Illinois is pancake flat for the most part, like central Ohio, and supports a healthy deer herd. Being so flat, long guns aren't allowed, only pistol and shotgun, and sneaking up on a white tail in a field ain't so easy. Many deer wind up in someone's headlights. Drive at night during the rut, you're liable to have one charge your vehicle. <br />One of my cross country treks caught me on the road when the twin towers went down. I'd taken a side trip for some trout fishing down in the ozarks, where people instantly looked sideways at anyone they weren't related to by blood or marriage.<br />That trip back to Philadelphia was the longest drive I ever took. Almost no traffic, nothing flying overhead, an very little coherent news on the radio. I had trouble buying gas at first. Seems the people in Arkansas believed they needed to save their supplies for the people who lived there. I had to convince a little old lady who ran the only station in the area that I wasn't going to drive my truck into the Southern Baptist church down the road in Pineyville.<br />When I finally reached the Pennsylvania turnpike, I found few cars, no trucks, no highway patrol, just an erie, open road. Then a limo blew past me doing over 100 MPH. Then another, and another. The last one that passed me took the I-83 exit south to DC at a clip that would make any NASCAR driver proud. I guessed the politicians were trying to get back to the Capital.<br />A good chunk of a distopian trilogy I'm currently editing takes place on the road, driving or hiking. Anytime I need inspiration for how the characters should feel, in danger, isolated, fatigued, stressed, and in the dark, all I have to do is recall that terrible day on the road.Don McCandlessnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3546477542650006798.post-34226712170535558492012-06-04T12:12:07.788-04:002012-06-04T12:12:07.788-04:00Shelia...Truth be known, the cow is named after my...Shelia...Truth be known, the cow is named after my new niece. Two month old Carli Joy.<br />- - -<br />I flew on American Airlines on Friday. Yes, it is true. My arms are tired.Rick Bylinahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10493557860835710721noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3546477542650006798.post-78644295816135332052012-06-04T12:10:35.701-04:002012-06-04T12:10:35.701-04:00For some reason Blogspot hates Shelia. So this is ...For some reason Blogspot hates Shelia. So this is what she wrote.<br /><br />Shelia Rudesill has left a new comment on your post "MMWUC: Writers are Driven by Story": <br /><br />Great blog. Hope to read more about Carli Joy in the future. How did you get home? <br />- - - Find her novel at - - -<br />http://tinyurl.com/83qwe6lRick Bylinahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10493557860835710721noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3546477542650006798.post-87222326496529015252012-06-04T01:12:19.923-04:002012-06-04T01:12:19.923-04:00I knew inspiration must have been lurking out ther...I knew inspiration must have been lurking out there for you somewhere, Rick! And I'm happy it grabbed you by the neck. :-) I can already see some bizarre events unfold. Unlike me, you don't need to be hit over the head by inspiration. <br /><br />I had to total a Nissan X-Trail on the the Pan-Americana in Chile to get a novel out of the 3000 km road trip, cut short when we were squashed between two trucks. Don't know why it took me over a year to come up with the right title: Crumple Zone. Should have been obvious...Edith Parzefallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12861941454295101808noreply@blogger.com