Jamieson Wolf
Number-one bestselling author
Endless Possibilities – A Poem
It’s been a long time
since I’ve wanted to
get to know someone romantically.
Normally I’m confident,
unafraid, calm, centered.
That was before.
Now I carry something with me
internally and externally.
On the outside, there is
my third leg, the metal appendage
that helps me to get around.
On the inside, it is the unseen
that I carry with me, that shapes
how I walk, how I function.
The seen and unseen
shapes the first impression
the romantic interest has of me.
More often than not, they will
take one look at third leg made of metal
and want nothing to do with me.
When they find out what is unseen
inside of me, most want less than nothing
to do with me. But every once upon a time,
there will be one person who will see
beyond the seen and unseen, and only
see what is inside of my heart instead.
And then, the possibilities are endless.
Chalice – A Poem
It can take only seconds
to break the chalice.
That internal barrier that we
keep within. It is holds our
dreams, hopes, and wishes
and is very fragile.
Every time I fall,
my chalice breaks.
It shatters inside of me,
though my body just bruises.
I jingle with the clink
of broken glass.
Later, I’m able to shake
the glass from my skin. Soon I am
surrounded by pieces of glass,
shards of them, in a pretty
smoky blue hue. When I’m done,
I get my bottle of glue.
Every time I fall,
I glue the pieces of the
chalice back together.
We Begin Again…Again!
So, here’s the thing. I find it extremely difficult to write about myself.
When I started One Step at a Time up again, after a very long absence, I began with what happened earlier this year and how I went about being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. However, something wasn’t working for me.
The blog was turning into a pity me kind of thing when my only intent (with the Cerebral Palsy portion as well) has been to make sure people are aware. That they know. I wanted to write honestly and bluntly about what it’s like to live with a disability so they know what me and millions of others go through every day.
However, writing about the time leading up to the diagnosis was proving difficult. It was wrapped up in so much angst and a lot of drama. I was also stuck. I didn’t want to write about what had happened, I wanted to write about what was happening.
When I began the blog, back when it was just One Step at a Time, I wrote about my daily experiences with CP. My writing had changed and I’ve developed as a writer. The blog felt different, but it had lost its focus. I also came to a realization. It didn’t matter how I had been diagnosed with MS. All that mattered was that I kept on living.
So I’ve taken out the posts that dealt with the diagnosis. I may write about that at some point. However, I’ve switched the focus back to what the blog was supposed to be about: my daily life and how disabilities affect it.
I also changed the name of the blog. Instead of One Step it became Two Steps. I often feel as if I am taking two steps at a time as I have both CP and MS. But I keep on walking.
I still don’t like writing about myself. I would much rather be writing a novel or a novella or a short story; but I’m compelled to write about this. Some people have called me brave, but I think of it as brave. I don’t have a choice. I have to live with MS and CP. However, if just one person learns something from what I write, if one person takes something from it, then I’ll have done my job.
I hope you take a moment and click at the link below. I’m immensely proud of Two Steps at a Time.
And if you feel like sharing the blog posts or leaving a comment, so much the better. I hope you’ll take this journey with me…Two Steps at a Time.
Some Thoughts on 69B – Download the novel for free!
I want to talk a little bit about 69B. You’ve been there, haven’t you? You know the apartment building on Carmichael Street? Yeah, that one, the scene of the murders…
69B started out as an idea. I had written the first thirty or so pages and put it aside. I had just finished writing a novel called The Other Side of Oz. I wanted to write something completely different while I waited for the novel to be edited. I stumbled upon the old manuscript and thought it would be a neat premise for a serial novel. I wanted to keep busy while I was waiting and though it would be fun.
I had no idea how long it would be, I gave myself a goal of 20, 000 words. And whereas my Oz book was magical realism, 69B would be my take on horror movies-that was the general idea. It didn’t turn out that way though. The first issue being is that people kept living.
My ordinal intent was to introduce the characters in the first part, kill most of them off in the second and let the third part be mostly about Oliver. When I began 69B, Oliver had no last name.
He was a character from two of my previous novella: 12 and 12 + 1. I wanted to find out what would happen to a guy like that. I knew that he would end up being something like Freddy meets the SAW movies. That was the intent. What came out instead was more about the characters.
My books have always been about the people that live in them. Yes, it’s about the story as a whole, but my philosophy (in reading and writing) is you have to care about the characters first. That’s true here, maybe too much. I felt kind of bad just killing these people off after just introducing them; I wanted to give some of them a fighting chance. Most of them kept living when they should have died and then the novel really took off, proving that the author doesn’t have as much control over his or her characters as first thought. Originally, I had intended to have five characters alive at the end of the novel: Shane, Justin, Rex, Barbarella, LaWanda.
Towards the middle of the novel, I thought it would be fun to see how long I could keep it going, inviting people to submit character sketches for a chance to be in the novel. I only had one person submit a character sketch and added another in myself. The interactivity didn’t pan out how I thought it would but it ended up being a blessing in disguise. The same friend that submitted the character sketch pointed out that it would be impossible to keep the novel going forever and I would eventually have to think of an ending.
So I had another idea. I would encourage interactivity another way. I would share the story. Yes, the story was free to read on the blog itself, but I’m a big lover of eBooks and I love free ones. So I offered the Acts for free download, each put up as it was done. I’m going to 69B a touch up and then offer the whole book for free as well. Why? I was writing it to have fun, so why not?
When I arrived at the beginning of Act Three, I still had no concrete idea about how to end it, but as I wrote an idea began to take shape. What if fighting against what I wanted to do, I let the characters tell me? I knew that they would prefer that good triumphed over evil. I wasn’t sure how many people would die in the end and even some of the characters I killed off worked their way back on to the pages.
A vague idea for an ending began to make itself known and I wondered how I would write it. I let go completely and let the characters tell the story they wanted, something I’m usually loathe to do. Turns out, they knew what they wanted to do all along, I just had to let them.
Did I get to every story line that I left hanging? I think so, but there might still one or two left dangling or ones that didn’t work out how I had originally intended. And that’s just how it has to be. It’s the nature of a serial novel in that it’s unpredictable, but I still had an absolute blast.
And I hope you do, too! All three Acts of 69B are now available to download in PDF format. Coming soon, the whole book in epub and mobi formats. You can download and read 69B here: www.69banovel.wordpress.com
Welcome to 69B-I hope you enjoy your stay.
The Rolulus Equation by Darren Craske
Circus conjuror and magician Cornelius Quaint is a man who wants answers and he will do anything to get them.
After defeating the Chinese warlord Cho-Zen Li and stopping his plan to assassinate Queen Victoria via a deadly plague, the warlord gave Cornelius one piece of vital information: the name of the man who killed his parents.
He knows that they were killed by the Hades Consortium but he doesn’t know why. All his life, he has been haunted by the death of his parents. Now that he knows the man’s name, he plans to hunt him down. Cornelius knows his name is Baron Remus and that he’s stationed in Rome, deep inside the Hades stronghold.
Cornelius knows that he must go to Rome and kill the man who murdered his parents.
Madame Destine, his former governess and the closest thing he has to a mother, begs him not to go. A physic and clairvoyant, she has seen that learning the truth will destroy Cornelius. She aims to watch over him at any cost. She knows that whatever he learns in Rome will be the death of him.
Once again, Cornelius Quaint becomes involved in a plot that involves saving the world in a race against time. All in a day’s work for the immortal conjuror…
I always think the newest Cornelius Quaint book in the series is my favourite, until the next book comes out and blows me away. That is no less true with the Romulus Equation, by far the best book yet in the Cornelius Quaint series. Craske always manages to surpass himself with each book and deliver a thrilling and riveting adventure.
Part of the reason the Quaint books are so awesome is because they work on so many levels: mythology, magic, mystery, thrills, chills and spills. The books are fast and furious reads, mostly because you won’t want to stop reading.
The other reason the books are so incredible is because of the characters. Quaint, Destine, Prometheus. All of them are so real, so alive on the pages, that you can’t help but fall in love with them. This is due to Craske’s masterful skill as an author.
The Romulus Equation takes the series to whole new levels, however, as Quaint delves into his past and changes his future. We also see a side of the conjurer that we haven’t seen before. He has always been willing to do what he could to protect his own neck. The Romulus Equation marks the first time that Quaint sets out to kill someone, to get his revenge.
This new Quaint is a little tougher, but no less charming and there’s no shortage of one liners either. Even though Quaint is on a mission of murder, you can’t help but wish for his success even though it could cost him everything. Takes a brave man to do that.
I’m always amazed at Craske’s skill. Just when you think the story is going in one direction, it goes in a completely different one. However, in The Romulus Equation, all bets are off. My advice to you is to get reading and hold on tight.
It’s going to be on heck of a ride!
Buy Little Yellow Magnet from Amazon and Kobo!
Jamieson Wolf has written a compelling story about navigating multiple sclerosis and cerebral palsy. His story will touch your heart, make you cry, then laugh, and inspire you. A touching memoir with a bit of magic…and tarot! ~ Theresa Reed, author of The Tarot Coloring Book
Jamieson Wolf 