Ever read those little dedications at the start of a book? Here’s what I think, what I did, and what I regret.

I have read some dedications/intros which made me laugh, some that made me sad and others that must have been inside jokes because I sure as shit didn’t understand them.

The first one I wrote was decidedly a mash of people I’m related to, people I’ve known for a long time, my webmaster/good friend, my martial arts training family and someone who lives thousands of miles away, but her support with my writing/blogs has always been amazing.

I also managed to squeeze in a couple of inside jokes/Easter eggs and what I thought was a funny line that may come across as obnoxious if someone doesn’t know my self-deprecating, ironic and sarcastic sense of humour.

Here are some explanations for that paragraph at the start of King of Spades. If you are ever writing a book or paper etc. and you want to know what not to do…or maybe get some ideas, here ya go.

We all gotta thank mum first, right? So that’s what I did. Under THANKYOU, the first line of the dedication page says this:

“Mum, who taught me to be a legit bada$$.”

Yup, tacky dollar signs and all.

…But this woman actually is all those meme/affirmation posts you see on your social media platforms, particularly the ones which say:

“A Police recruit was asked during an exam ‘what would you do if you had to arrest your own mother?’ The reply was ‘call for backup.'”

“The only person who wants you to succeed more than you is your mum.”

“I was raised in a family where women made it happen with or without a man” (this is not a shot at men. This is about the fact that anyone can do anything without anyone else’s help!)

The start of the Darkrose Novel series was written with a pen and lined paper. My mum then saw me lock myself away for hours in front of a computer, and supported my dedication to all the ideas I’ve ever had from writing, to painting, to performing, education, jobs and more.

The other personal-looking mention in there is “My Domo.”

Nope, not some sexy Italian guy I had a fling with on a Contiki tour. This furry kid is a wise one and he’s been with me for a long time. His usual evening routine was eating his expensive-ass prawn catfood then coming and laying across my hips like a saggy, purring belt as I wrote the scaffolding of the third book in the series. He still looks forward to me sitting around and actually being still, and generally wants me in his line of sight at all times. He bites me, kicks me and licks me until he saunters off down the hall doing a (I shit you not) catwalk strut.

The other mentions in the dedication/thank you paragraph are friends who haven’t rolled their eyes when I excitedly yelled, “OMG, that happens in book2!” I did this, and still do this, whenever scifi/advanced tech stuff I’ve written about becomes apparent in the real world…Or when protesting coverups and “conspiracy theories” became fashionable enough to be reported on by the well-known media.

The latest thing I got a kick out; there is a public protest and descent on a classified installation in the forthcoming book – the bones of which I wrote almost two decades ago. When I started writing the Darkrose Novels, I placed MDS HQ at Area 51/Groom Lake/Papoose etc. and, as everyone probably knows by now, there was that…strange ‘gathering’ at Area 51 in September 2019 that originally started as a Facebook joke.

The “RAID ON AREA 51.”

Mainstream media documented it as a bunch of people running around the desert being weird, and I guess it was, but watching streams from independent media told me more about the actual attendance headcount, and there were more interviews with a diverse range of people.

My favourite part were the memes which accompanied this event…especially “Me, leaving Area 51 with a list of places my girlfriend wants to eat,” and this one:

The last line in the dedication inside King of Spades is one I probably would have worded differently if I had to do it again because text can be flat and I’m not sure it comes across as I meant it to sound. This is not where I got the idea, but I saw this Pooh pic later and it’s pretty much how I meant it…

Sort of a joke, sort of funny/cute, sort of a war cry, but not really. I’m not sure who made the Pooh pic above but I see it everywhere and I’ve even texted it to a friend when they asked me if I was planning on attending the martial arts grading later that day. It was just a funny thought… :\ and now it’s in a book for all the world to see and judge. (ha!)

I don’t think I will make the next dedication/thank you as long. The right people know they’re appreciated and maybe I’ll just make a funny observation or quote some well-respected philosopher or world leader…you know, for my fiction books about state-sanctioned murder and a secret agency that helps control the world… 😉

TLDR: My mum is badass.

*Make your dedication personal/funny/sentimental but all of these things at once can look like a dumpster fire. Get a copy of KOS and judge for yourself! 😛

*Inside jokes are cute but can sometimes isolate.

*There is so much more to writing then physically spending hours clacking keys. Be proud of your process and why not give those who supported you a mention? They will get a kick out of it and know that you want to tell the world it wasn’t a solo effort.

KING OF SPADES is available at these places and more:

https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B07HKNCJ26?ref_=k4w_oembed_Co5Bj9a5fXgua8&tag=kpembed-20&linkCode=kpd

 

https://www.bookdepository.com/King-of-Spades-Ever-Eden/9780648052401

https://books.apple.com/us/book/king-of-spades/id1273946073

https://www.booktopia.com.au/king-of-spades-ever-eden/ebook/9780648052432.html

RED COWBOYS STUFF:

The **RED COWBOYS Title Trailer is a simple lil thang, just to whet the appetite of those hanging on and missing Agent Cleo Darkrose and Agent Trent Starr. Red Cowboys picks up where King of Spades left off.

All content is no copyright infringement intended. All posts are opinion only and are subject to change due to experience, kicking ass and learning how to adult more effectively. If you don’t like it, don’t let the door hit ya where the good Lord split ya. Elements of original content may be reproduced with expressed permission from Ever Eden.

TBH the first thing it reminded me of was constantly being asked about Marilyn Manson in my younger days. \m/

Why am I writing about this unfortunate event and not a writing tip or excerpt from KOS? Because it has been the stand out event of my week, forced me to do things I don’t like to and taught me some stuff.

I think I’ll add a new blog category called “Wisdom/shit I have learned” and make notes to self/write about what I learned/re-learned/was reminded of because I need my own reality show but I am not willing to make a sex tape.

So, the pain was instant. I had an idea that it was a possibility of a cracked rib or badly strained muscle I was going to be nursing for a while later. I then, in true Ever style, grit my teeth and proceeded with what I was doing for a few reasons. 1. I had gone against my better judgement and put myself in a situation when others made the decision not to…and I had committed. 2. I was probably just being a baby and my size, gender and skill level needed to produce results, because fuck failing. I wanted to show that the other person was wrong about whatever possible assumption they made about me/ my skill level etc in order to be treating me the way they were. and, 3. My ego. (The one I thought I didn’t have.)

Reason One: >>Just because you chose to be in a situation does not mean you have to stay in it.<< Sounds simple but it literally goes consciously ignored eg; when you’re walking home at night and hear footsteps behind you but don’t want to turn around to check because you might look stupid to some poor innocent guy trying to get home too. Or when you didn’t move seats on the train because the person who sat next to you was clearly a weirdo and now they are asking where you live. Or when you’re in a relationship that you probably shouldn’t be in but you suck it up cos mama didn’t raise no quitter.

I had a gut feeling not to commence the situation in which I was injured but I did it anyway. I might even say I allowed the situation to begin the way it did because I was trying to be nice too by giving someone a chance.

Two: This is going to be a hard one unless you’ve happened to express an opinion about anything on social media…but I realized that I don’t have to represent (yo!) If someone wants to be a jerk, be sexist or discriminatory or think they are better than you, you don’t have to prove anything. You can just say “yeah, nah, I choose not to engage anymore,” and fuck what they think about that. This has been my go-to for my own sake of peace but the other night…I wanted to prove so bad that I could handle something that was always going to injure me.

And Three: The Ego I thought I didn’t have. It flashed for a second even with the pain and being unable to breathe, I was able to flip the situation and dominate…but then I had a second of clarity where I thought that if I had indeed broken a rib and I continued, it might puncture something. So I chose to end what I was doing, apologized for the inconvenience because the other person clearly wanted to keep going, and took myself out of the situation to assess the damage. I was fortunate that it only took me a couple of seconds to conclude my ego was not worth it.

The details: it turns out that when you fracture your shit, it means every single inhale is painful. For the first 90mins I could only take very shallow breaths because the pain was bad. This later changed to me being able to take a full breath if I concentrated, tried to ignore the pain and slowly inhaled with my back straight. It was hell to reverse out of a tight car space and drive myself to hospital – which I forced myself to rather than sleep it off. The shitty ER was the busiest I’d ever seen one and it was a horrible tiring experience where people had to bother me a lot and touch me, continually check my lung capacity and blood pressure and Xray my tatas then fucking refuse to give me something to eat in case I required surgery. I was told to breathe deep even if it hurt or I would get a chest infection. I returned home at 3:30am high on painkillers, had a shower (because ew hospital germs) and then slept.

Things have been going pretty well besides the unexpected jolt of pain when I hiccup, yawn, move wrong etc. I spent the days after gaming online and eating chocolate/caramel spreads from the jar. I am pissed off that I probably can’t train for a while and performing is out of the question but…it could have been worse.

The verdict, as of today is they want a CT SCAN done tomorrow to double check because they are STILL(?!) not 100% sure on the diagnosis they gave me three days ago…Because the potential fracture has not shifted bone and “changed the cardiomediastinal contour”, apparently the shot of radiation I got wasn’t enough to identify it. A CT scan is needed to see a fracture.

 

 

 

TLDR:

*There was once a rumour that Manson removed a rib so he could suck his own c**k.

*You don’t have to stay in a shit situation.

*You can choose not to engage

*Your ego is not worth it.

*I am a badass.

*Medical staff are messing me around…grrr

 

 

 

 

 

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All content is no copyright infringement intended. All posts are opinion only and are subject to change due to experience, kicking ass and learning how to adult more effectively. If you don’t like it, don’t let the door hit ya where the good Lord split ya. Elements of original content may be reproduced with expressed permission from Ever Eden

 

King of Spades. Yuh, soooo original…

If you haven’t read the book/don’t know the mythology, I could be the most unimaginative person with access to a keyboard.

King of Spades has always been titled King of Spades. There are reasons for this and I will start the mythos entries with this one because, why not?

Alan Pierce, the conspiracy theorist leader/grandfather of the Truth For Life movement is nicknamed “SpadeMan.” Early in the first installment (King of Spades) Agent Starr recalls learning about the Spades symbol from decks of cards and the ways in which it was used during war.

SpadeMan’s group has essentially declared ‘war’ on the establishment through blogs, alternative media, protests and other, and wanted a sign that united them as their members are situated all around the world.
The Spades symbol is also used to identify dedicated members of the movement through tattoos and jewelry to display commitment, and to act as a flag to others who share similar opinions.

Why Alan J Pierce is the “king“…

At some stage it made sense because having a figurehead in our current times can seem mythical and have a slightly ridiculous slant. His followers in the Darkrose novels range from level-headed regular people who share his point of view…as well as others who like to get a little cray. I assume it was these types of people who created and spread the nickname, and it stuck with some pockets of the movement until it got back to Alan Pierce who enjoyed the title.

Alan Pierce/SpadeMan began his notoriety on The Outside by founding a movement which gained traction because of sincere concern over encroaching police states and worldwide erasure of civil liberties but…then he got a little too drunk on power and his insider knowledge that originally drew people to him in droves.

In writer’s groups and various blogs etc. the advice is to not create a book title that can get easily lost among billions of websites and entries which contain the same keywords but…meh. My name alone gets me buried under reams of “romance” and a tonne of smut. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that, if you build it they will cum. Ha!) If I had to start again maybe I would have considered another title but as the mythology of the Darkrose Novels continues, the importance on the spades symbol is made more clear so it is fitting.

 

TLDR: *King of Spades the title refers to Alan SpadeMan Pierce, a conspiracy theorist with insider knowledge who is a main character in the first book.

*I don’t care that it is a well-known phrase.

*The main pic is an ACE of spades…but I took that pic and I like it 😛

KING OF SPADES is available at these places and more:

https://www.bookdepository.com/King-of-Spades-Ever-Eden/9780648052401

https://books.apple.com/us/book/king-of-spades/id1273946073

https://www.booktopia.com.au/king-of-spades-ever-eden/ebook/9780648052432.html

 

RED COWBOYS STUFF:

The **RED COWBOYS Title Trailer is a simple lil thang, just to whet the appetite of those hanging on and missing Agent Cleo Darkrose and Agent Trent Starr. Red Cowboys picks up where King of Spades left off.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All content is no copyright infringement intended. All posts are opinion only and are subject to change due to experience, kicking ass and learning how to adult more effectively. If you don’t like it, don’t let the door hit ya where the good Lord split ya. Elements of original content may be reproduced with expressed permission from Ever Eden.

Kinda. Actually, she probably would’ve been annoyed if I’d divulged this fact until the last few years. Here are some thoughts on how I broke the news to family that I am the majestic, not ungoddess-like, creator of a character that smashes skulls and says “motherfucker” a lot. (see above pic for details of my deity nature while at Ikea looking for a wine glass.)

My family is not safe from swears.
What did they expect when us children were exposed to a rusty school playground in a crappy neighbourhood, the TV late at night and the dreaded (insert scary music here) internet?

It is what it is, and I am mostly of the opinion (like the Joe Rogan) that I don’t think someone should be too punished because I personally don’t like the sound their face is making. Words are words and this language is amazing. There is sometimes a time and place for certain ones (maybe I should have titled this post “Don’t say c*nt in your wedding speech,”) but overall, if you want to write FUCK on the first page of your book, knock yaself out, idc.

We swore growing up. We had degrees of swears in our house too. And some rules my mum had didn’t even make any sense. We weren’t allowed to say the “C” word, or fuck, and “bastard” (even though the Simpsons said it,) was frowned upon for some reason.

As we got older though, we were allowed to call things bitches and dickheads and assholes (oh my!) and this was counted as a win when we were playing video games or fighting over who gets the last cookie while the parentals were out.

To this day, saying fuck in my mum’s house is a no-no, so I did wonder what I’d be in for when the beings who unleashed me on this planet happened to read my books. As I have written about in the past, there is a little nervousness when you wonder if the people who know you in real life will think the portrayal of a character in your books (or their sexytime 😉 ) is really about you and your fantastical alter-ego or life, and not about the research you’ve done or how certain aspects are being used to build a character.

The signed copy that I gave my dad says THIS:

I am fortunate (unfortunate at times too, let’s face it) to follow indie author groups on social media and see many samples of writing that involve ‘taboo’ words. Usually I can understand how the author used some to aid in characterisation or to make some dire sentence or a threat (for eg.) more jarring. However, as with the time and place notion of using these words, if the whole story is spiked with four letter words strung together and not much else…it does wear thin and becomes almost nonsensical. It also loses its effectiveness in scenes where the author is wanting a gut reaction from a reader in the case of a frightening circumstance or a dangerous character.

If an author thinks potty-mouth adds to the heart of the character or they want to use it to create tension, humour or other, I don’t see anything wrong with it. I don’t believe in warning labels on literature so let’s not go there. Although, I suggest not writing a children’s book and calling it “Little Sally Fucked Up.” (*quick Google to make sure this isn’t an actual book…but, shit, it should be. And nooooo, don’t google this phrase yourself. Trust me…ugh.)

So far I haven’t had any complaint from my mum or anyone else. When writing a character who has seen a lot of death, been responsible for some and was raised in a predominately military-esque environment, there are a lot of things (not just language used) that wouldn’t run parallel to say a female character in a romance novel… Which is why when my friend gave it to her 90 year old mother, the first thing I said was “Er, it says fuck a lot,” to which she replied that her mother wouldn’t care because she has read her daughter’s smutty romance novels 😛

I guess it all depends on your experience in the world of books?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TLDR: *My mum says shit now.
*Use swearing in your books if it sets a mood, builds character or other but don’t fucking overdo it, ya dumb bastard.
*You should probably be aware of your genre’s expectations eg: don’t write a YA book and refer to someone in it as a c*nt.

*A 90 year old person read King of Spades and thought it was rad.

KING OF SPADES is available at these places and more:

https://www.amazon.com/King-Spades-Darkrose-Ever-Eden/dp/0648052400

https://www.bookdepository.com/King-of-Spades-Ever-Eden/9780648052401

https://books.apple.com/us/book/king-of-spades/id1273946073

https://www.booktopia.com.au/king-of-spades-ever-eden/ebook/9780648052432.html

RED COWBOYS STUFF:

The **RED COWBOYS Title Trailer is a simple lil thang, just to whet the appetite of those hanging on and missing Agent Cleo Darkrose and Agent Trent Starr. Red Cowboys picks up where King of Spades left off.

 

 

 

All content is no copyright infringement intended. All posts are opinion only and are subject to change due to experience, kicking ass and learning how to adult more effectively. If you don’t like it, don’t let the door hit ya where the good Lord split ya. Elements of original content may be reproduced with expressed permission from Ever Eden.

 

 

Are you Cleo? No, I have addressed this before. Here are some new thoughts…because, why not?

A few days ago Destiny 2 (a game, for those whose feet remain thoroughly in RL) moved available platforms and was made F2P (free to play) for a time, involving some new content. I had ummed and ahhed about it for a while but free things are good…so I decided to be consumed by it last night for more hours than I care to admit to.

You know the drill, you start a new game and if it has characters which can be modified…you are off down the rabbithole and end up not actually playing the game until your character is perfect.

I tried to keep it to a minimum this time. Lately, I haven’t played many games where I am given the option to modify anything too specific about my game character(apart from things like hairstyles etc in Borderlands.) But I remember what it was like to get so engrossed in building a stupid SIMS character and their damn mansion, that I was only able to afford because someone whispered ‘Rosebud,’ the game was considerably lacklustre afterwards. (imo)

So, is it the control factor we like? ….Muahaha I can make my own people~! > : D

Or…

This is how I would look and dress… if I didn’t have to work a corporate slave gig in the day time. I want to be completely different in game! I want blue skin all overrrrrrr!

Or…

Nah, I’ll be more honest, I will make it resemble me but, err, I can edit genes! Therefore….*adds extra height, bluer eyes, better bone structure…smaller ass…

Or…

Didn’t really think about it, just selected the characteristics that appealed most when I had a choice of a few…

...Then found out I may have been subconsciously describing some kind of residual image I still had of myself from a long time ago? *AHEM* – pay no attention to the person in the picture above.

(This concept was pretty cool when mentioned in ground-breaking film The Matrix – the part where Morpheous tells Neo, “Your appearance now is what we call residual self image. It is the mental projection of your digital self.” )

As previously mentioned, Cleo Darkrose was never me in any of those ways. Despite the descriptions in the novels, there are only a few factors based on me and those ones just help me with logistics when writing for her. For example, can a woman my height actually land an effective kick that height etc. (It’s been fun trying!)

How do you select your character traits in-game? Which games have the best choices?
How do you create your characters in your writing?

Who do you want to be? 😉

 

 

TLDR: I am not Cleo Darkrose. I also play games online. How do you create your characters/have you thought about why you gravitate to the choices you make regarding them? Is there a reason? Or just one that is hidden somewhere in your subconscious?

Also, play Destiny 2.

 

All content is no copyright infringement intended. All posts are opinion only and are subject to change due to experience, kicking ass and learning how to adult more effectively. If you don’t like it, don’t let the door hit ya where the good Lord split ya. Elements of original content may be reproduced with expressed permission from Ever Eden.

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