Looking for submissions

Hope everybody had a great Thanksgiving!

I'm almost finished with my novel (actually it will end up as a novella, a bit shorter than a novel.) When I got near the end, however, I got a good case of writer's block in trying to figure out how it will end. When that happens, I usually quit for a while and let my subconscious go to work and figure out a solution. That has always worked out fine for me.

Sullivan's Short Stories is again looking for submissions. We're multi-genre, including horror, fantasy, sci-fi, romance, humor, suspense, mystery, and western. Also looking for poetry, nonfiction, and commentaries.

Submission guidelines are on the site.

H is not a vowel

An horse, an horse, my kingdom for an horse.

I can't imagine why, but some writers treat H as if it's a vowel. It's a consonant, folks, a consonant. But you'll still see some writers, who should know better, write "an hospital," "an handsome man," or "an hospitable lady." It is correct to use A before all words beginning with H with one exception: it is correct to use AN when the H is not pronounced, such as in "hour," "honor," or "heir."

Whether to use A or AN before a word depends not so much on the spelling of the word, but on the sound of the word. For example, European, eulogy, and uniform all begin with vowels, but it is correct to use A before those words because they start with a consonant sound. A European, a eulogy, and a uniform.

Sources of information: 1.) Prentice-Hall Handbook for Writers; and 2.) Purdue University Online Writing Lab, grammar, punctuation, and spelling

The PC Crowd

This entry isn't about writing. I'm going to go off topic here and talk about political correctness. I'm angry because I've discovered that the PC Crowd has added the Islamic Radicals to their list of groups that must not be offended.

What, exactly, is political correctness? From what I gather, it is supposed to promote anti-sexist and anti-racist speech and behavior codes, with the aim of righting past wrongs of racism and sexism. But PC goes far beyond that. It blames the white European male for all the evils of the past, and sets out to punish him. In essence, the PC crowd believes that two wrongs make a right.

In the beginning of the PC movement, most white males jumped on the bandwagon. Most white men are decent, fair-minded people, and they believed that righting the past wrongs of racism/sexism was a noble cause. But as it became more and more obvious that they were being targeted as the villains who were responsible for all things evil, more and more whites began to jump off the bandwagon, leaving only the ultra-liberal whites.

Many decent white men, especially in the media profession, have lost their jobs because of innocent remarks. True, some made stupid, unthinking remarks, but the vast majority did not intend to be hurtful or malicious. Probably the most well known personality to lose his job was sportscaster Howard Cosell. Cosell could be pompous at times, but it was obvious that he was a decent man. He was not a racist.

White women are not totally immune from the fascism of PC, either. One teacher lost her job merely from using the word "niggardly" in her classroom.

The PC crowd is using fascistic methods to further their cause. In doing so they raise the ire of white males. Some whites are beginning to rebel, and there are even a few fledgling anti-PC groups starting up.

Is PC an organized group? Does it have a leader? Who sets the rules? It seems that PC is a loosely organized group without an appointed leader. The group consists mainly of ultra-liberal politicians, some black leaders who see all whites as evil, feminist groups who see all men as evil, and editors in the media who set the rules of conduct for their broadcasters and reporters.

The rest of us aid the PC crowd because we don't dare to say anything or do anything that might offend them. Well, don't include me. I'm going to upset them because I don't believe in same sex marriage, ILLEGAL immigrants, or Islamic radicals (all of which is supported by the PC crowd.)

I'm neither republican nor democrat. I'm neither liberal nor conservative. I don't like George Bush, Dick Cheney, Hillary Rodham Clinton, nor Ted Kennedy. I'm an Independent. And I'm off to look for one of those anti PC groups.

Dating Singles

Daylight saving time

I can never remember whether we're going on daylight saving time or going off it. Anyways, come Sunday we set our clocks BACK one hour (fall back). My stupid computer fell an hour behind LAST Sunday, so this coming Sunday it'll be right. I hope.