Update on Progress

Update on Progress:

It's been a long time since my last post. I wanted to bring you up to speed on my work for the revision of book one.

Here goes:

"The short version is:

I've completed my portion of the editing (yay!) and now the first three chapters are complete of the proofreading process. In addition, I'm making final tweaks to the cover.

The slightly longer version (sorry, it's a little long):

Whew! Completing the editing (before it goes to the Editor) is HUGE! I've added in new material (to help show the main character better and to deepen her arc. I've put things into "third person limited", meaning any thoughts which are read, can only be Lucy's. Past-tense should be fixed. Plus the following:

Style,
Grammar,
Overuse,
Readability,
Cliche,
Sticky (I've kept to between 40-49.9% most of the way),
Diction (except in some dialogue places),
Echos (much better),
Dialogue Tags,
Consistency,
Pacing (decent),
Pronouns

With all that work, I still need to have a Proofreader, Editor, and Beta Reader.

Why? Because I still miss things. And, like an inspector in a factory, the second, third, and fourth set of eyes help. Anyway, onward we go. Almost there." 😊

This excerpt was taken from my Facebook post. But I wanted to expand on a few things...

"Sticky"

This refers to conjunctions in a sentence. Meaning words that join other words together to make a sentence. (For example, if; that; the; a; just; etc.)

There are many of them and the goal is to have a sentence's length to be 40% of them or less. (I don't worry about it while blogging because I want to give the effect that I'm talking to you in conversation.)

The percentage I went for (unless I was super close to 40% anyway), was between 40-49.9%. This number may change as the editing progresses and it might end up being closer to 40% but for right now, that's where I'm at. The sentences seem to flow well. (I've had my proofreader say that the book reads better.)

"Diction"

Diction is quite clean. Except in some dialogue spots. That's because we don't necessarily speak with perfect dialogue. So it looks more authentic if the errors are there when someone is talking.

"Echos"

This category displays words that are close together. This is where I would get the thesaurus out and change what I needed to. The goal was to bring those repeating words down to 10 or less for every 500 words or less. Didn't always happen but I'm pleased with the results thus far.

From here on out, I'm relying on my team to help me through the rest. And so far, my proofreader is doing a fantastic job! I can't wait to have this complete, copyrighted (for the revision), cover complete and published so you can take a look at how my writing has evolved.

Anyway, I hope you have a fantastic day!
Mark

It's My Birthday! - You might enjoy this

Well, today is my birthday and I'm in a giving mood. I thought to make a change I'd share some things that have happened on this day, April 25th.

Firstly, I was born April 25, 1970. My mom named me after a family friend. I'm guessing she really liked the name. Anyway, years later I discovered that I was born on St. Mark's Day.

Now neither mom nor I realized this and I certainly wasn't named after him. But I did find it interesting. Perhaps there's a spiritual significance there, I don't know. (I'm a spiritual person in my beliefs, I don't follow Christianity.)

Some things that do happen on this day in the name of St. Mark are:

Italy:

In Tresnuraghes, a small village in Sardinia (Italy), a traditional Sardinian feast is held. Local shepherd families in this predominantly pastoral community offer sheep and oversee cooking them in a gesture of thanks to Providence. Other families offer bread as Thanksgiving or for favors desired. Hundreds of people, mostly from the said village, but a large number of other people as well, eat and drink to satiation together.^[1]

Venice:

Saint Mark's Day (Italian: Festa di San Marco), also known as the rosebud festival (Venetian: Festa del bocolo), is a festival in Venice held on 25 April celebrating Venice's patron saint, Saint Mark. On this day, men traditionally give a single rosebud to the women they love.^[2][3][4]

According to legend, the tradition originated in the 8th century, when a man of low social standing is said to have fallen in love with a noblewoman from Venice. In order to win her father's approval, he became involved in a distant war. He was mortally wounded in battle but managed to pluck a rose from a nearby rosebush for his loved one. A companion was entrusted with returning the blood-stained rose to his lover.^[4][5][6]

Lithuania:

In Lithuania, St. Mark is considered the guardian of earth and harvests. There was a ban on eating meat in order to have a good harvest. People avoided "touching the earth", i.e. no plowing or digging, to give the earth a rest before the upcoming hard work of planting and harvest.^[7]

Mexico:

In Paraíso, Tabasco, Mexico, Saint Mark is celebrated on the 25 April due to his patronage of that city.

Pretty cool huh? I certainly didn't realize that.  So let's carry this theme of "On This Day" and see where it leads us...

Other things that have happened on this day, April 25th:

• 1660 English Convention Parliament meets and votes to restore 
• Charles II
• 1792 Guillotine first used in France, executes highwayman Nicolas 
• Pelletier
• 1846 Thornton Affair: Open conflict begins over the disputed border of 
• Texas, triggering the Mexican-American War
• 1945 "Elbe Day" - the US and Soviet forces meet at Torgau, Germany 
• on the Elbe River during the invasion of Germany in WWII
• 1953 Francis Crick and James Watson's discovery of the double helix 
• structure of DNA is published in "Nature" magazine
• 1954 Bell labs announce the 1st solar battery made from silicon. It has 
• about 6% efficiency.
• 1990 Hubble space telescope is placed into orbit by shuttle Discovery

Wow! There's a lot going on, right? My only wish is that the Guillotine wasn't first used on this day. I mean, it's not something I want as a "notable" event, if you catch my drift...

But I do love the fact that the Hubble space telescope was placed into orbit, so I guess that makes up for it.

Now, besides photography one of my interests is in aviation. Some of the things that happened on this day in aviation history are:

1868 – Birth of John Bevins Moisant, American aviator. He designed, built and flew the first metal aircraft, an experimental aluminum plane, in 1909.

1940 – Hermann Förster is the first German night fighter pilot to shoot down a British bomber during World War II. Flying a Messerschmitt Bf 109D-1, he downs a Handley Page Hampden laying naval mines off the coast of Schleswig-Holstein.

1966 – Death of Corrado Gex, an Italian aviator, politician and first pilot authorized to land on a glacier; he was killed in the crash of his Pilatus Porter while attempting to land near Castelnuovo di Ceva in Italy.

1972 – Hans-Werner Grosse sets a sailplane distance record of 908 miles in a Schleicher ASW 12.

1980 – A contingent of American military aircraft embarked on a commando raid April 24, known as Operation Eagle Claw, to rescue a group of American hostages held by Iran. On April 25, a U.S. Marine Corps Sikorsky RH-53D Sea Stallion (shown above) and a U.S. Air Force Lockheed EC-130E Hercules collide during an evacuation effort; eight servicemen are killed and five other Sea Stallions are abandoned at the site.

2009 – First flight of the Boeing P-8 Poseidon, a modified 737-800 with an anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare role.

Once again, pretty cool stuff! The last one is notable for me since I work for Boeing.

In the paranormal world, Oliver Cromwell was born on this day in 1599. It is said that he haunts Basing House in Hampshire. 

https://europaranormal.com/ghosts/the-ghost-of-oliver-cromwell-1599-1658/

Well, I hope you enjoyed this journey into history. Have you ever wondered what happened on your birthday?

Mark

Update on Dream, Recurring

It's been over a year now since I launched Dream, Recurring and during that time I have seen so much support from so many people.

What has happened is that I have discovered the character arc of Lucy not as deep as I want it to be. Back in 2016, I wasn't aware of that. The theme of "forgiveness" is something I discovered that I wanted to enhance, also, something I touched on last year but didn't know to take full advantage of. Making it more pronounced is something I need to do.

Plus, it appears there is some "clean up" which is needed in the book.

The GREAT news is is that the STORY itself is rock solid. So I'm not changing anything where that's concerned. 

What it will mean is a better connection between reader and characters. Plus a theme that should leave you with some kind of positive impact.

Fixing this in book 1 will enhance the rest of the series, helping to make it an even better tale to read. (At least that's my opinion. Lol.)

In addition, each book thereafter will have a theme of its own:

The theme of book 2 is "Love"; book 3 "Faith" and book 4 "Enlightenment".

All of this is under the Paranormal story you have enjoyed so much.

Book 2 is almost halfway done with the theme already in it.

Plus, when book 1 is ready for its updated revision, I will announce a week where you can get an eBook copy for free.

It will be the last time I release a free copy of one of my novels, preferring instead to do $0.99 promotion after that.

I hope you will come to enjoy this new version as much as I am enhancing it.

As for the release date for the revision is concerned, I'll let you know closer to the time so you can take full advantage of it.

Thank you again for your incredible support over this year. I know without you, I wouldn't be able to become a better writer.

Mark

Destiny Tied To Your Story

"Destiny Tied To Your Story"

As we move through this thing we call "Life", we will meet many people. Some stay around for a while, yet others are here for a lifetime.

Sometimes you meet someone where the connection is so deep and profound you are left wondering "was that real". Some of these people are only in your life for a moment and then they're gone.

If someone is no longer there, it's okay.

I've had this happen more times than I can count. Sometimes, I've been that person that has entered a life, only to leave it a short while later.

Julia Roberts has said it the best. "Their part in your story is over."

Are they bad people? No. It means you were meant to spend a brief moment in the sun with them before they (or you) moved on.

www.markcanniff.com

Have an amazing day!

Mark

Living The Life of Your Dreams

To forge a good life, you must undertake many challenges. Rising above them and learning to harness your dreams will make you great.

Find what inspires you and go do it! :)

www.markcanniff.com

This is just a short post to hopefully keep you inspired to create your dreams. We all have come here to do something rather special, so wouldn't that be awesome if you were able to do it?

I will publish something soon that talks a little about following your passion and maybe finding ways to earn a living from it. 

Hope you have an amazing day!

Mark

#love
#inspire

Rachel Poli Interview

Well, here is the last of the interviews up to this point. Rachel Poli was a very gracious host and I loved the questions she asked about my writing process.

From here on out, I'll post the interview on my other blog and then let you know that one has come up, in case you wanted to check it out. (Actually, just like I'm doing now. Except it won't be every day. Rather only when comes up. Lol.)

Here's the link:

Mark Canniff Media

I hope you enjoy it!

Have an awesome day. :)

Mark

The Reading Bud Interview

Wow, okay. So this interview I enjoyed for many reasons. One of them was the question about my five favorite authors.

The Reading Bud is a fantastic website that takes great pride in bringing publishers and authors together for the sole purpose of presenting good reading material for the reading public.

I felt humbled to have such an opportunity. 

If you would like to check out the blog, then hop on over to:

Mark Canniff Media

And enjoy! :)

Hope you have an excellent day!

Mark