Why Does a Character Invent and Why Bacon Bits

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Why does your steampunk main character invent. Many stories I’ve read treat the inventor as a genetic freak. It’s in their blood to invent, their parents were inventors.

Think about Marconi. His father was an aristocrat. Now some minor royalty did dabble in the sciences but that was considered below the dignity of many of the upper levels of society.

Or take Thomas Edison. His father was a exiled political activist, a lighthouse keeper, and a carpenter. Not an inventor.

Inventors have to eat. They would have to have other jobs, or a sponsor. There was no well fare in the late 1800s. The most complex things at the time were the railroad, the telegraph, and guns.

Railroads and telegraphs were tied together. They needed the telegraph to signal down the rail line to prevent trans from running into each other.

To make things for the rail road you needed a big foundry. Not something a single person could do. The world of telegraph was a hot bed of activity. Back stabbing was common. And Western telegraph companies were ruthless.

Weapons were another hot bed of change in the 1800s. Look at some old Remington catalogs and it looks like there were new versions of rifles and hand guns each year. There were also lots of independent inventors.

What you don’t see is a lot of inventors working on clocks.

Your main character could start out as a gun smith and then work his way into a gun maker. There is a difference. Things like fast firing guns would appeal to soldiers. The finance guys in the government hated them. They cost too much money for all the ammo the guns used. That’s one reason they used muzzle loaders in the civil war.

The search for an Editor and a Spin on Bacon and Eggs

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On writing Steampunk

Writing is hard. Even little things like finding an editor are more difficult than they should be.

It’s not that there are not editors out there. There are thousands of editors and people who call themselves editors out there. I ‘m looking for a good one. It would help if the editor doesn’t cost much. I’ve asked other authors, I’ve looked in steampunk books for the names of editors, I’ve gone to editor sites.

I don’t want just anyone. I want an editor I can communicate with. I don’t want a service where they assign an editor from a stable of editors they have on tap. Done that, got a usable edit out of them, but that was all. I got no reason why the editor did what she did. I don’t even know the name of the editor.

I’m going to pay $2000.00 to $3500.00 for the edit. Why does it have to feel like I’m dealing with a dating service. Or worst like an escort service. OK, that was cruel. But it’s so hard.

I’ve started to reach out to others (people advertising writing courses) but that’s going no where.

Am I being too picky asking for an editor with a name, someone I can talk to? $2,000.00 for what I’m told is a weeks work should buy me some slack or email time.

Or am I just jealous of the writers I talk to that go on about how they work with their editors and how the editors helped them?

Should I just except that all I’m ever going to get is a package deal from a no name editor? Or should I risk getting taken by an unexperienced person who just decided to become an editor, but comes off as a great editor?

Writing is a lonely job, business, or hobby. Does every step have to be this hard. Do I have to get taken every time I turn around?

Recipe follows add;

Buy my book

Recipe

Bacon and eggs
Eggs and Bacon
Bacon, Eggs and Bacon
Bacon Eggs, bacon and bacon
(You know where this is going)
Bacon
Bacon
Bacon
Waffles topped with eggs benedick and bacon
bacon
bacon
wonderful bacon

2 eggs
2 strips of bacon
onion
bell pepper
Cheese

Heat skillet on stove to medium heat. Add a dash of oil (olive).
Place bacon on one side of pan.
Crack eggs and let them drop into pan on other side of bacon.
Cook the way you like.
How boring.

Try this.

In small bowl beat eggs until no egg white shows. Do more than just break yokes.
Chop bacon cross wise into one third inch wide strips.
Chop a little bit of onion into quarter inch squares.
Chop a little bit of Bell Pepper into quarter inch cubes.

Heat a little oil in skillet at medium high heat.
Add bacon, onion, and bell pepper to skillet.
Cook until onion and bell pepper are soft. (once you add the eggs the vegetables stop cooking).
Add eggs. Make sure meat and vegetables are well distributed.
After a minute add cheese.
Cook until eggs are firm not runny (done).
Fold in half.
Serve.

You can make this will just bacon, but the vegetables add color and taste.

Stay strong, write on, and have a healthy breakfast with bacon.

Professor Hyram Voltage

Finding an editor, Beta Readers and Grilled Cheese and Bacon Sandwich

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After several months of dealing with family issues I’m back to looking for an editor. My experience with editors is approaching the experiences I’ve had with software programmers. To find an editor I dug out a bunch of Steampunk books and looked to see who edited them. About half were edited by a publisher, so that is no help. Most of the rest did not give credit to the editor, even if the book cited the formatter and cover artist. I got the feeling that the author didn’t think much of the editor.

I have found a copy editing service that is cheap. But I am looking for an editor that I can establish a relationship with. I don’t want a service where I get an editor that they have taken away the editor’s name and given her a number and I will never know the editor’s name. Also I would have no guarantee that I would get the same editor for the next book. I want a human being I can talk to, but knows what they are doing. I would also like an editor that has helped the authors that she has worked go on to earn an award with the book she edited. I guess I’m just dreaming and about to get stiffed again.

Beta Readers

For years I have been looking for Beta Readers. Other authors say go to Facebook or writers groups. Facebook is a big place. The other day I found a blog that listed several places to find Beta Readers. Email me and I will send you a copy of the blog or direct you to the blog.

I joined the Facebook; Beta readers and critique partners, group. Watch it there are two other groups that have names that are almost identical. I have gotten three authors who volunteered to Beta Reader my second book. Now if I don’t terrify them with the violence in my story I will get some needed feed back. I have been working on this book for a long time, but I know there are things I can’t see that need fixing. At least I spell checked the book twice before I sent the book to them.

All this time I was looking for Beta Readers and there were dozen of places to find them. It’s just the authors I talked to said they were out there. I needed a map.

Recipe is below add;

Grill Cheese and Bacon Sandwich

Ingredients

Bread (I like the boraro rolls I get from the local Mexican grocery store)
Butter
Bacon (I like turkey bacon, meatier, bigger after cooked)
Cheese (I like mild cheddar cheese, long horn is good to. American cheese may not even be cheese.)

Directions
Take two slices of bread, or slice the roll in half. Butter one side of bread.
Cook bacon in skillet. Cover plate with paper towel. Place cooked bacon on plate to drain.
Wipe skillet clean with another paper towel.
Grill the buttered side of one piece of bread. Place cooked bread to one side.
Grill the buttered side of the other piece of bread.
While the second piece of bread is cooking place cheese on grilled side of bread. Then place bacon on top of cheese.
When second piece of bread is done Place the grilled side on the bacon.
Lower heat under skillet to medium.
Place sandwich on skillet. Cover sandwich. (I use a deep lid from a big pot. This helps the cheese melt without over cooking.)
When that side is browned flip sandwich over and recover.
When other side is brown remove from skillet and eat.

Stay strong, write on, and have some comfort food.

Professor Hyram Voltage