Tuesday, August 16, 2022

Really stupid words, Chapter 20.







A reader (and legendary writer) friend pointed out after one of these complaints that there are no stupid words. I suppose he’s right, mostly. But, as I said when I first started posting these whiny gripes, people have an annoying habit of taking perfectly good words and using (misusing) them in stupid ways. The result is communication that is imprecise and often incorrect, all from feeble attempts to sound important or clever or trendy.

I continue, then, to test my curmudgeonly conviction that by pointing out stupid words—or the stupid use of words—that we all might think more carefully about what we say and write.

Imagine yourself at a restaurant. The kind with tables and chairs where someone shows up and says, “May I take your order?” Almost without fail, someone will respond, “I’ll do the (enter selection here).” Then, more likely than not, someone else will say, “I’ll do the (enter selection here).” The trend may well continue around the table, with everyone (except me) saying they will “do” their choice of food.

“Do?” What are they going to “do” to it, or with it, other than eat it? I guess you could “do” other things with the food, but few of them seem appropriate in public.

People used to say “I’ll have” or “I’d like” or “I’ll try” the menu item of their choice. Those phrases make sense to me, they mean something. “I’ll do,” on the other hand, sounds stupid.

Maybe I’ll feel better after I eat. I guess I’ll “do” a burrito and see.



Tuesday, August 2, 2022

Coming Attractions.

This Thy Brother, sequel to my earlier novel, Father unto Many Sons, is slated for release by Five Star later in August. The book picks up the story of the Pate and Lewis families as they work to establish themselves in a new land in New Mexico, and follows the wayward Pate brothers who left the fold in the earlier book.

A few months later, in October, Five Star will release With a Kiss I Die. This love story follows an emigrant girl leaving Arkansas and a Mormon boy in Utah Territory as they attempt to find a life together despite opposition from all directions. This Romeo-and-Juliet-like story ends in southern Utah at Mountain Meadows.

Shortly after the first of the year comes a collection of my short fiction from Five Star, Black Joe and Other Selected Stories. Included is the Western Fictioneers Peacemaker Award-winning title story, two Western Writers of America Spur Award winners, and several other new and used stories.

Also lurking, with publication dates pending but uncertain, are two original novels from Speaking Volumes, Rawhide Robinson Rides a Wormhole—A True Adventure of Bravery and Daring in the Weird West, and a novel set in the mid-twentieth century, Silver Screen Cowboy. 

More to come.