In January

Esoteric Thoughts

 

What If Other Planets Replaced Earth's Moon?

Amazing, isn't it?

I Try to Keep It Pronounceable

I was perusing the blurbs of some of the new sci-fi romances over on Amazon, and I discovered one odd fact. In many cases, if the male is the one who's from another planet/galaxy, his name is unpronounceable.  More often than not, it also has apostrophes in it. Examples: K'norr,  Gra'dish en Me'vahu, Myr

Now, I will admit that I've tried to keep my characters' names from becoming too tongue-tangling. In several cases, I resolved that issue by giving them a "similar" name. In other words, I took a familiar word, then changed one or two letters. (Ex: Ryan - Rion). But in most instances, I've made the attempt to keep the monikers one syllable in length.

However, there have been a time or two when someone's asked me to help with the pronunciation of a name. The one most frequently asked? AEQUANA. The A and E are combined Greek-style, making my mermaid heroine's name either "Ee-quana" or "Eh-quana". Either way is fine. And either way, it doesn't make any difference as long as a reader wants to read one of my books.

Zen Observations

Do not walk behind me, for I may not lead. Do not walk ahead of me, for I may not follow. Do not walk beside me, either. Just leave me the hell alone.

The journey of a thousand miles begins with a broken fan belt and a leaky tire.

It's always darkest before dawn. So if you're going to steal your neighbor's newspaper, that's the time to do it.

No one is listening until you make a mistake.

Never test the depth of the water with both feet.

It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others.

If you think nobody cares if you're alive, try missing a couple of car payments.

Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes.

If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you.

If you lend someone $20, and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.

If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything.

Some days you are the bug, some days you are the windshield.

The quickest way to double your money is to fold it in half and put it back in your pocket.

Timing has an awful lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance.

A closed mouth gathers no foot.

There are two theories to arguing with women. Neither one works.