Fantastic Tation M | A Short Story (Written in my early teens)

Time ago before Tation was ever regarded as the hero he is today, there were prisons in which he unfairly lived in.  He dwelled among others who had been made victims of their ancestors, and still they be punished to live in a hell that would roll over them for 15 more years. To Tation this was unfair; for this began 3 quarters of a century ago and was not his or nor any inmates fault. He decided that he would escape soon, and rescue all who had been trapped in the boxes.

   Top the hill he would ago during times of little freedom and ponder over situations of valiance and more. And on one of these day, he was consulted by his friend Dop lé. 

  “Tation my dear friend, why do you choose to sit and ponder when you could do anything in this bewildered time of loosened chains?”, she Dop lé asked.

 He only sat there for this moment, until he turned quick as fun times to face Dop Lé. “You are right… I mustn’t let this terror last no longer. I shall escape to the land of death and consult the Six to free these demeaned people. I will need travelers of sound mine and unholy strength.” And he sat up as wind flew by and ran down the hill to find such people.”

  “But Tation,” Dop lé said. “how will you escape this foul land? Guards surround the area and will kill any who dare pass.”

  He stopped in his tracks and thought an unspoken idea that had not been said since the 22nd century A.D. An idea so old and ancient that if it were to be spoken the world may crack and swallow all whole in one swoop. He could  not of said it. No, please no. “Goodbye.”

 …

  The land began to shake as waters from a far rose and were visible.  The structures of Bill Gates the Innovative,  Albert Einstein the Intelligent, Michelle Obama the Caring, and Amelia Earhart were crumbling down before all to see. The inmates shouted and scattered as one enormous crack started to form below Tation's feet. Dop lé's expression said “See you again” but her body glows in a purple aura as she became incorporeal. She was not of carbon, but of anti-matter. Tation turned around and saw his friend go into the unknown, for she was a ghost.

  “Goodbye Dop lé.” That accelerated the quake and the crack below expanded to 50 feet. And Tation dropped into the crack, never to be seen again for much time.

 As the story goes, Tation spent a decade under the ground, ever searching for a way out. He would follow the sound of waters, and end up in an abyss. Then to see where the light comes from, but only darkness awaited him. He would battle monsters such as The Trump and find deceiving fairies like Clintonian H. that would lead down darker paths.

  He often wondered how survived with the absents of food and water, but would learn much later why. All he knew that he was alive, or maybe not. This could be hell's trick to give you the idea that you'll escape, but never let you. Give illusions of the outside, then block them off as if it was our hero's fault. Tation thought this occasionally as he wondered though the rivers of rock. Though he could not let it get to him. He tried and tried to block this out, and did for some time. And on 3,651st day, he accepted that he was trapped to the mercy of hell. 

   This day he saw things he'd never encountered before. The rocks appear distorted and became monsters who wished to torture him.  The caves became floods of blood that carried him to the pool of corpses where the never to be winded up. He tried so very hard to jump out, but he felt a hand on his leg. He looked down and saw himself covered in blood and eyes grouched from his sockets.  Blood Tation dragged him further down into the pool and started to drown his body. Further and further he went until all went black, and the sensation of touch faded like melting butter. 

  He believed that his passage of becoming a spirit had been completed, but nigh this was not true. Opening his eyes, he realized that he was not engulfed by blood, but rather in air. The world was black as it had been sensing he began his journey, but there was a feeling of comfort that was in his heart. He found his self on foot with a ball of excited fire on his right, and an aura of grass on the other.  Wondering what this could be, he jiggled his right arm and found that the fire moved with him. He tested this with his left, and the grass did the same.  A blessing was bestowed upon him, but why? 

  He waved his right arm like the cackle of fire and circled the cave he was in, enlightening the whole place with a heavenly fire. He saw there were large torches meant for a giant to hold and lit them and they bursted at first and settled at second, keeping the light. 

  The cave was shining with diamond encrusted into the walls. It was a magnificent sight if not fantastical, but Tation must do more. He took the grass hand and motioned it forward to the diamond wall in front. And the aura zoomed to the wall! It did nothing but put on a show.

   Adamant diamonds are nothing more then compressed rocks, he thought. And plants can break rocks, so I need to put in more power. Tation wished to break the diamond to create a break in the wall because he felt he needed to get passed. So he straitened up his body, and shot the aura in the middle of the diamond. The cave began to collapse on it self as he pushed harder It was mental game rather then physical. Tation remembered his duty to save the inmates of Malia and the fate of Dop lé. This was his mental break, and the aura grass grew in width, height, and length and it covered the entirety of the wall. The shine was blinding as he closed his eyes and rocks fell near him not on him.

 Then he fell to the ground and all his energy began to return to his body. He breathed like a bull and he saw what he had accomplished. There was a breach about an inch taller then him that went all the way through to the diamond. He peeked to the end, but it all was a blur.

 The fire and grass auras had retreated into his arms and they had a soft glow that soothed his body. They healed all damage from the last 9 years and 364 days. Never feeling better, Tation got up and went to The Cave of Adamant Diamonds. 

  The entrance he created was grand and shiny with the diamond appearing to leek out of the cave. As he went inside, he heard the sound of a laugh at the end. Which made him run down the path, for this sound could be his way out. The sleek, silky vibrations as he ran down the perfect rock was nothing to him. He could hear not of anything but that laugh. What is it?

  When he reached the end there was a muse. A bright room with white tiles arranged in a pattern of six. One master circle embedded into the floor. And six chairs that lied above. 

   Tation attempted to see he whom sat on these chairs, but too high they were. “Come down from there you Gods of trickery!” Tation shouted. “Or I'll come up there and slain you for you wrong doings!” No one spoke and the laughing had diseased. Even though there was no sound, the room got quieter and quieter to darker. And the 6 chairs illuminated the darkened room, and there still was no body to greet Tation, but the voices speaking together. Each distinctly different on there own, and still in uni-sent. The voice ominous and  petrifying at the same time. It was heard like an owl, cat, dog, hippo, snake, and dragon speaking human language all at once.

   “TATION OF MALIA! YOU HAVE BEEN SENT THROUGH HELL, HEAVEN, AND EARTH OVER 10 YEARS. YOU DEFY ARE HOLYNESS AND SHALL BE PUNISHED EVER MORE. YOU SEEK REFOUNGE FOR YOUR TRAVELS AND HELP FOR YOU FELLOW INMATES. THOUGH YOUR JOURNEY HAS BEEN WITHOUT POINT. THE DEAL WAS SIGND 95 YEARS AGO AND SHALL END IN 5. YOU'VE GAINED POWERED BLESSED BY US, AND SEEK TO USE IT TO DESTROY US! WE GAVE YOU LIFE WITHOUT FOOD NOR WATER, AND THIS IS HOW YOU THANK US? NO. TATION, YOU WILL SPEND ONE-THOUSOUND MORE YEARS IN HELL. NO OTHER TO THANK BUT YOUR SELF. GOODBYE!”

   Tation would not stand for this as the walls collapse for what the Gods thought was to send him back to hell. He summoned his fire and grass and boosted himself up towards the chairs of white. What he saw was nothing! They were not there!

1.   “NO MORTAL SHALL EVER SEE US!”

   Tation was not scare of what was to come, and did not speak. These Gods were right, he did attend to kill them. Though they were immortal, and he was not, life would always find a way. So he did the only thing he could do. Burn. 

The collapsing room lit to a heat wave of fire as the chairs of Gods caught this now hell fire. They turned to crisp instantly and the white room became cinged in hell. Was this was the Gods had planned, to turn Tation into his own demise for hell? That was why he was given fire, but why grass? “YOU WILL BRING YOUSELF ONLY PAIN TATION. IT WAS FORETOLD LONG BEFORE YOU ANCESTORS WERE BORN. TATION THE IGNORENT SHALL ALWAYS BE AS SUCH. IF YOU DO AS SAID. ALL WILL BURN AS WELL AS THE ONES YOU WISH TO SAVE.”

He didn't listen and the fires screamed as he looked above and saw a crack. There was one mistake that the Gods made. And Tation told them. “Hey, you said goodbye.” The crack opened further and Tation flew above the chairs and through the crack. The fire followed him as he stopped expelling it, but it still came! He saw the light touch his face above him and he knew he was nearly done. He'd burned the home of Gods and all there was left was to escape. Up and up he went and then… he arose from the land and the crack began to seal. But the fire still came through the crack. He was where started in Malia in the outdoor prisons. He saw friends who had aged running away.                      

“Hell is coming!” one screamed as the fire exploded on the surface. And the trees and grass burned. All saw him as the devil. But then the crack closed and fire stopped. Tation landed on the ground with no fuego on him, but around it was. He sent the grass aura around the flame and dispelled and replaced it with grass. All was better, and the inmates came to him. And the same person who called him hell said, “Wait that's Tation. It's Tation! He's come back!” And the crowd cheered hoping he'd brought a solution to freedom. 

  He looked around and tried to spot Dop Lé, but she was gone. But that's not important now, he thought. Everyone expected him to speak and he did. “Hello, it is I Tation. 10 years ago I descended into the ground to escape this place and save you. But… I found Hell. I've fought monsters and Gods, but still do not how. Surviving 10 years about food nor water was unexpected, and it was for the better. I found what I seeked, and that was the Six. And with conflict, they gave me hope. A physical hope, and that was a way to free ALL OF YOU!” Everyone cheered again, but that got the guards' attention. In seconds they came. 

  “Hey, everyone back to your cells. Outside is done.” They were prepared to kill. But Tation walked up to them.

  “No, it is your turn to got back to cells.” 

  “Boy,” he shot his gun, but not before it exploded in fire, knocking him back. Cheering broke out again and more guards came. This was what sparked a rebellion that would end all unfair slavery.

  And Tation lived for a very long time, way after he ended the prisons.  He became a legend for all regions of the world. There isn't a soul alive who doesn't know of Tation. Though I question if what he did was worth it. They would be freed in 5 years, but the war lasted 8. Causing death and destruction.  It's only been 75 years since, and were still struggling from the war. I wonder…

 “That's not how it happened at all!” a voice called out to me. 

 “Who are you?” I asked with fear in my voice. 

 “Someone who was there.”

 “Then how are you alive?”

  “Simple, it's only been a year. Your world is a fiction. The story, Malia, and even you aren't real. And even if you consider it to be true, that legend never happened like that. It leaves out so much and changed too much. There was no “Six” and Dop Lé. Tation was no hero, just a coward who was pushed on a journey. You left out the real people like Rama and Sylvia and others. Stop spreading this lie!” then the voice left and an object dropped to the floor. I picked it up, and it was a hat. No, a beret.

 

How Viable is Freelance Writing?

 I am a blogger, author, professional cuddler (!), and freelance writer. Between my four jobs, freelancing is the hardest to get a regular revenue from. When it comes to freelance writing, you need to be constantly searching for jobs online and in person. Nobody is going to hand you a paycheck and most of the time once you submit your piece you likely will not be writing for that employer again. The key to successful freelancing is to get regular clients and create trust between you and the client. And if you break that trust, it is very hard to get back. Today on The Fabler's Quill, we will be discussing my freelancing career from how I started, the types of clients I get, how I advertise my services, and how viable it has been as an income. 

While I have been writing professionally for eight years now, I only recently decided to make it into a true career path. Not so long ago, I was working in the foods service industry. And if you have worked in this industry or know someone who has, you likely know where this is going. This is not to say that I did not enjoy the work. Oh, but to the contrary! In contrast to my co-workers who reasonably did not take pleasure in the tasks of making hundreds of smoothies a day I loved the task. I was quite the smoothie barista according to my fellow workers. I zoomed through that smoothie bar at lighting speed while taking orders on the headset and managing the in-store customers with a breeze. When customers slowed down, I was restocking, prepping, and cleaning that store like there was no tomorrow. And best of all, I was tied as the highest paid normal employee in the entire company. That is to say, I was compensated the maximum hourly rate by the time that I worked at my fourth location: $13/hr. This was the golden number. I was genuinely happy with the work and the pay. So why did I quit early last month?

Managers. Oh, food service industry managers... The mistreated underpaid managers who have too much pressure put on them. Often they are older people with children who wished they got more out of their life and refuse to see that they still can. In my half a year at Smoothie King, I had a single decent manager. My first one was an automatic miss who created an environment guided by fear at the ripe old age of 19. After a month of working with her I screamed at her face. She called the general manager and I was nearly fired. But I weaseled my way out of it, got myself transferred to another store, and got a $0.50 raise. I reported my manager in a 600 word essay and submitted the work to the higher ups. After a few weeks she was fired. Four months later and at my 4th location I screamed at another boss on camera and walked out on the job and when I picked up my last check two weeks later I learned she had gotten fired by the franchisers. It appears getting managers fired was my specialty, but I was done with the food service industry. I considered working at a pet store until I remembered that I was a published author with writing work on my resume. Having finished college only the last month, I realized that I could put quill to paper and make something more of myself. 

I decided to make an online portfolio and page where clients could contact me and hire me on the spot. Doing a little google searching, I found writerswork.com. Writer's Work is a platform for freelance writers where you  (I swear this is not a sponsorship) pay a one-time fee and get access to your very own page, a word processor with extensive evaluation technology, a list of services you can customize, and a pay system where clients can easily hire you. I created the profile with a portfolio containing my latest works that I update regularly.  

I filled in the about page and the services page. Now I had a proper platform to direct clients towards. But then the question came, how do I advertise my services? I landed on two different methods. 

Method 1: Networking

The first method may seem quite scary to writers due that a large portion of us are introverted. Luckily, I am extroverted and networking came easily to me. Networking is a great way to reach potential clients. The first thing I needed to start my journey was create a classic business card. Using Vistaprint, I made one. 

Once my 100 business cards arrived on my doorstep, I was ready to network. I searched for events in my area and signed up for two of them. Networking events, depending on who is hosting them, can cost nothing to a few hundred dollars to get in. I went to the free ones. But do not let the word free deter you as I met dozens of great people all with new ideas. Many people I met want to or have already written a book and want help writing or publishing their work. The first few networking events proved to be a a great medium to advertise my services. I have obtained over half of my current clients from these ventures. 

Method 2: Video Advertising 

Another tactic I played was with creating my own video ad to run on social media. However, I had absolutely no talent in this field. Instead of trying to make an original work, I left the task to the experts. I hired a production team on Fiverr to make my ad and gave almost complete creative freedom to the team. They produced the ad below.

Using google ads, I got my video approved to be shown. I set a daily budget of  $15 and my ad was off. This is how the rest of my clients have found me. 

I have now been running my brand for over a month. It is now time that I answer the big question. How much money am I making from freelancing? I have decided to be upfront with this detail instead of providing research data of the median and mode of how much freelancers make. It is also important to take note that I am spending money every day to promote by freelance services. The reason for this is that I am planning on expanding my work into a full-on business: Mad's Literary Services. As my work stands now, I do not have to register with the government because my business does not qualify as one yet. So while it may seem I am making a good amount of money, I am spending nearly as much to expand my upcoming business. Now, for the answer.

I have seven regular clients and have had twenty-two clients in total. Most of these were one-time clients that wanted a single piece of work. From these twenty-two clients I am making $1,900 a month. If I am able to keep this up, I will be making $22,800 a year. If this amount if viable for living is dependent on an individual's life circumstances. If you are a single person with no children living in a medium to low cost of living area in an apartment this is enough to survive. If you have children, this likely will only be viable if it was a side-hustle on top of a normal job. Personally, I find this amount viable because I live in a three person household where everyone works. It is important to keep in mind that freelancing can get you a lot more or a lot less. As it stands now my list of clients is only growing and I expect to be making a lot more in the future. Remember that this is my opinion on freelance writing's viability based on my experience in my own life circumstance. Ultimately, it is up to you to decide if freelance writing is a viable career path. I hope sharing my story will provide insight to those looking to start on this path.

Thank you for reading. Check The Fabler's Quill  for reviews, editorials, guides, and original short stories for new daily content. And keep on writing!

Artificial Intelligence: A Threat To Writers?

 The hot button topic of the day is A.I and how it affects the world. A.I. has been being used for decades, but recent developments have pushed the technology to the point where differentiating A.I. work from human work is becoming more difficult. No where is this more true when it comes to writing. I considered using A.I. to write this post and then reveal at the end the truth to make a point. However, I decided that would be arguing in bad faith. And here at The Fabler's Quill, we choose to argue in good faith. That said, will artificial intelligence replace writers or will it assist writing?

Before we can answer the question, it is clear that The Writer's Guild of America believes A.I. will replace us. The strike by the guild is all over the news. What is being promoted is that the writers of Hollywood are not being paid enough to work and hence have gone on strike in an effort to force cooperate executives to increase their compensation. While this is a part of the movement, the greater picture is that the strike is really about fear. The fear that A.I. will grow to be so efficient that writers will no longer be needed to write movies and television shows. Before the technology can grow, the guild has gone on strike in order to halt the possible transition from human writers to A.I. What we can take from this is that regardless of if A.I. can truly replace writers the fear that it will is very real. What this means is that there is already and will be efforts to stop the possible transition from happening. Attempts to stop the A.I. takeover may cause it to happen. Thus creating a self-fulfilling prophecy. The fact that writers are so scared of A.I. only alerts the public of the potential power of A.I. This could and is leading to the further development of the tech. as companies are rushing to push their products out that require writing. By striking to prevent A.I. replacements, writers may have inadvertently accelerated the speed at which A.I. improves. But this is operating under the premise that A.I. can truly match and exceed human writing. Is there any truth to such a claim?

I once again have a confession. I am a writer. This much is evident. I am also scared of the potential that A.I. has to replace me. However, I have a secret. I train A.I. One of my jobs as a writer is to assist in the training and improvement of ChatGPT. This may seem irreconcilable with my fear of being replaced. The reality is that training A.I. has in actuality eased some of my fear into manageable levels. I am about to reveal the true process of how artificial intelligence is fed information and improves upon it. 

Once I am logged into the site where I train A.I., I am given assignments. The assignments vary greatly in their method and objective. The most common type of assignment I receive is one where I am given a prompt and then am expected to create a response to the prompt. For example, "Write a history paper on the American Revolution. Include its cause, some of the major battles, the major figures, how it ended, and its effect on the future. Make it at least 2,000 words and no more than 3,500 words." My job is to then write exactly what I was given. If I do not know some of the information needed for the paper, I use approved research databases to find the facts I need and continue on. Once I have wrote the response it is sent into the system. The system then analyses the content for quality. Once the quality check is done, the information is sent to an online host filled with other trainers responses where they are mixed and matched in order to create the perfect answer to the prompt. When a user asks for a response that is similar, the system then gives them our writing. 

By telling you all this, I am putting myself at risk. What you have just read is not private information, but coveted information. I am not allowed to share what I have just written in this very public blog. However, I felt it needed that the truth be put out there. I am willing to risk one of my jobs in order to share a major part of the process of how A.I. works. But what can we make from this information? 

While A.I is in part ran by computers making calculations, the source of the writing is human written. A.I. relies on humans creating writing pieces in order to function. Without human influence, A.I. could only rely on public access information in order to create its responses. It would be fed articles, online videos, and social media posts only. While A.I. is already being fed this information it needs human writing in order to articulate in a way that seems real. If you have ever used A.I to create writing you may have noticed how life-like its way of speaking can be when operating at maximum performance. This is no accident. While humans may not be typing at ultra-sonic speed in real time, what you are reading is a mix and refinement of human made writing.  

Times are changing. Writers are scared of being replaced in the same way package shippers were scared when trains were invented. However, it is my belief that while writers may lose their jobs today, tomorrow our skills will be reallocated into the training of A.I. At the end of the day, the human touch is needed in order to make compelling stories and articles. The future of writing may not look the same as it does now, but I am not scared to see that future. Even if most of writing comes down to A.I. assisted by human beings in the future, websites like The Fabler's Quill will remain untouched by the technology. Human users want human writing. Untouched human writing will likely be able to coexist with human powered A.I. And that is why I do not fear the future, but rejoice at its potential. Don't be afraid of what tomorrow holds. Pull yourself up by your britches and embrace that sunrise. 

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The Sandman: Preludes and Nocturnes Retrospective & Review

 The Sandman holds a special place in my heart. The series was introduced to me back in college by one of my many English professors. For one of my class' three units we had to read what amounted to dozens of comic book issues. Most of these issues consisted of the first four volumes of Neil Gaiman's magnum opus. My exposure to the series prior to being assigned the work were only whispers of the name. I hadn't a clue what the series was about, where it took place, or who the protagonist was. But the moment I opened Preludes and Nocturnes I knew the future. I knew that after my class finished its reading that I was going to continue on my own to the remaining six original volumes and the extra material. I spent the next four months reading seventy-five issues, two subsequent volumes, and the prequel comic. The original 10 volumes specifically means the world to me. Each issue leaves you pondering the mysteries of life. And my love for the series  has led me to rereading every issue. Today on The Fabler's Quill we shall begin a review/retrospective on The Sandman by seeing how it holds up, what sections truly shine, what has become outdated, and the impact the comic has had on pop culture. No more delaying. Let's begin!

The Sandman is a comic-book series from the 80s and 90s that tells the story of stories. The series itself is the third iteration of the main character's namesake, The Sandman. However, each iteration of The Sandman is completely different in appearance, theming, and story. The original Sandman from the 1930s is a product of his time. Dressed in a detective noir outfit, he solved crimes and fought criminals using his gun that put enemies to sleep with magical sand. The character never received much popularity and if it were not for the success of Neil Gaiman's revival of the character the original may have been forgotten in the cavities of DC Comic's history. The short-lived second Sandman of the 70s was a complete reimagining of the character dressed in stereotypical superhero attire. He was the guardian of dreams that existed in the dream world fighting nightmares to protect the minds of children. The idea did not last long, as by the 1980s the most popular iteration of the character would emerge. Once again completely reimaging the character, the name "The Sandman" is simply but one of the character's names. He is Dream of the Endless. One of the seven forces that guide and comfort life in the universe. He is the king of his own realm known as The Dreaming. He dictates, creates, destroys, and guides the inhabitants and visitors of the Dreaming: the place where every lifeform goes in the midst of sleep. Dream is the very concept itself. He is both our dreams and the location of our dreams. He is everything we hope for and everything we fear. His appearance morphs to fit one's idea of what a god of dreams is. But to call him a god would be an understatement. He and his six siblings define nature and existence itself and without them the universe itself would shake, alter, and collapse. He cannot die, for how can one kill a dream? Dreams can only change form, but never die. As long as there is those who can dream he shall exist on and on and on. 

The story begins with Dream's capture. He is accidently summoned by a cult who wish to capture Death: one of Dream's siblings. Instead, they got the King of Dreams. Captured in a magical circle and a glass cage, Dream is trapped in the home of Mr. Burgess and his son for decades. Eventually, he escapes and returns to The Dreaming. But due to his absence, all is not well in the realm of night. During his capture, Dream's three artifacts were stolen and scattered. His ruby, his helm, and his sand. These three objects have been imbued with his essence and without them he is vulnerable. And in the hero's journey fashion that Neil Gaiman is so fond of, Dream sets out on a journey to retake what is his. He consults a mythical aid known as The Three to get hints as to where his objects have landed. And thus, he is off. But while he pursues his objects, there is another after his ruby.

First, The Sandman goes to find his sand. Gaining the help of a descendent of an old friend, Dream and the DC character John Constantine travel to an apartment where an ex of Constantine's resides. She has had Dream's sand for too long for a mere mortal. She uses the sand as a drug to fuel her desires, but decays over the years forming a barrier made of human flesh leading to her domicile. Easily surpassing the monstrosity, Dream and Constantine reach the woman named Rachel and find her nearly dead from years of overuse of dream sand. Due to her decrypted state, the only thing keeping Rachel alive is the sand. Reluctantly, Constantine allows Dream to reobtain his artifact. In exchange for ending her life, Dream gives her a fading image where she is happy with Constantine forever.

The issue described above, "Dream A Little Dream of Me," is the story that hooked me into the world of The Sandman. Its morbid undertones followed by its last promise that the next issue will be going to hell mixed with its vivid artwork is truly enchanting. The last words being Constantine singing "Mr. Sandman" leaves the reader with a sense of content. Constantine is emotionally resolved with his now departed ex. And what is to come could not be more exciting.

In one of the most iconic issues of the series, Dream travels past the mist of seasons into hell to find his helm. The Three had hinted that his helm had ended up in hell with an unknown demon. And now, Dream shall find such a demon. He is taken to the Triumvirate of Hell that consists of Beelzebub, Azazel, and Lucifer. He convinces Lucifer to summon all of the forces of hell where he then uses his sand to locate the demon that has taken his helm. In order to gain it back Dream and the demon engage in the oldest game. They manifest a myriad of creatures, places, and objects in order to triumph over each other. The game is one of outwitting the other. For example, Dream states he is a mighty knight on horse back that stab's the demon wolf. In retaliation, the demon say he is fly carrying disease, horse killing. This goes on until the demon states, "I am the anti-life, the beast of judgment. I am the dark at the end of everything. The end of universes, Gods, Worlds... of everything. What will you become, dream lord?"

Faced with the biggest threat to existence Dream says, "I am hope."

Neil Gaiman communicates a beautiful message. Naturally, Dream wins the battle of words; for nothing can defeat hope. We can take something from this interaction. Dream, the manifestation of humanities' hopes and fears wins not by simply taking what is his. He is forced into a conflict wherein if he loses he shall be a servant of hell for eternity. In all of his power, all of his wisdom he defeats malignance with knife nor gun, but hope. Hope is one of the most precious resources we have. And it is plentiful. It cannot run dry like a river or deplete like a diamond mine. Hope is eternal and it will always last. Lucifer, the prototypical embodiment of evil, is enraged by Dream's victory over hell. He declares that hell shall not let him leave; for, what power do dreams have in hell? 

"You say I have no power? Perhaps you speak truly... But-- you say that DREAMS have no power here? Tell me, Lucifer Morningstar... Ask yourselves, all of you... What power would hell have if those here imprisoned were not able to dream of heaven?" With that, the armies of hell disperse and clear a path to the exit of hell's gates. What Dream speaks of is hope within the darkness. Hope's power even in the depths of hell cannot be ignored. This is one theme that repeats itself throughout the series. And eventually, we will learn where Dream learned of the power of Hope.

Whilst Dream hunted down his first two relics, a man from DC Comic's most obscure history has been hunting for his ruby. His name is John Dee, but he was once known as Doctor Destiny: a villain from the golden era of comics. During Dream's capture, he came into possession of the ruby and used it for villainy. This is an interesting retcon that changes where John Dee's power came from and connects to the greater DC universe. The earlier issues of The Sandman would often connect to DC in ways such as these, but later on would disconnect itself for the better. But still, John Dee found the ruby again and used it to debilitate Dream temporarily. As the ruby is apart of him, it can hurt him as well.

In what is considered to be the most horrific issue in comic-book history, John Dee goes to a diner where he finds a group of people going through normal life issues. Using the ruby, he begins to make the world's nightmares real. We see this through 24 in-universe hours as the customers of the diner slowly lose their minds and kill each other in the process with John Dee sitting back and enjoying the show. After these 24 hours, Dream arrives at diner.

If The Sandman was a superhero comic, this would be the part where the hero and the villain duke it out to gain control of the McGuffin. But instead, Dream invites John Dee to battle him in The Dreaming. Entering, we see Dee's dream of being Julius Caesar before his dream is interrupted by Dream. Realizing that the ruby is Dream himself, he destroys it in order to kill Morpheus (another of his names) once and for all. No fisticuffs here. Instead, this releases the power of the ruby back into Dream giving him his full power back. John Dee is now helpless in what is my favorite shot in all of comics. Dream, back to his former glory, stands as a giant over the tiny man. The linework, the color pallet, and the framing are perfect. Making for a truly shocking page-turner. With John Dee unable to fight back, Dream kindly returns him to the waking world.

In the most discussed issue of The Sandman, we meet Dream's older sister, Death, while he "feeds the pigeons." It has been decades since they saw each other. And despite The Endless being endless and never dying, they still experience time the same way everyone else does. Now that Dream had freed himself Death is angry with her little brother. He could have called for her help at anytime, but he didn't. Instead he stayed locked away until he could escape and then sent himself onto a hero's journey all to fill a void. Dream feels that he has no purpose and and sought one in regaining his power. Death chastises Dream for his childness. She says that The Endless' purpose is to serve them: life. That that in itself is a purpose worth everything. It is then that Death shows him the beauty in their purpose. They go on a small journey where Death appears to all who's time it is. She comforts the recently departed and with the sound of her wings carries them into the unknown Sunless Lands. Gaiman paints the most moving death scene... ever seen. As the two siblings travel to be there for the departed, Dream learns the value of his mission. To protect The Dreaming and off those who dream. As I read the panel of a mother's baby being taken away I could not help but be horrified. The baby says to Death, "Is that all I get?" The baby got the same thing everyone gets: a lifetime. 

The last shot of Preludes and Nocturnes is of Dream, happy. He has learned the value of his existence and has vowed to fix his kingdom.

What a beginning to a fantastic story. The series truly was only starting and already I was hooked and needed to know more. I feel it is right to say that the first volume of the story is nearly flawless. The story, the characters, the art and everything was made to be a perfect little story that begins a train ride you never want to get off. The DC references are the only flaw in my eye. The story of The Sandman while taking place in the DC Universe does not rely on its placement to tell its story. I omitted to say that Martian Manhunter made a brief appearance in the story because I felt it unneeded. The story stands completely on its own and the DC characters were likely only put it to hook new fans into the series when it came out in 1989. However, even with them volume one remains as one of the best volumes in the series and is my 2nd favorite. As this retrospective series continues, I will continue to rank the volumes from worst to best. And until then, keep dreaming!

How to Self-Publish With Amazon KDP in 9 Easy Steps- A Quick Guide

Today on The Fabler's Quill we will teach you the easiest and least expensive method to self-publish your book. If you are strapped for cash and want to self-publish your book this method is for you. You will be using Amazon's free self-publishing service Amazon KDP.

How to use Amazon KDP

   1. Click the hyperlink above. It will take you to their page.

   2. Watch the provided video.

   3. Sign into or create an Amazon account.

   

   4. You will be asked to sign a legal agreement. In essence, you are agreeing that Amazon has the exclusive digital rights to your book. However, you still maintain the physical rights if you ever decide to house-publish your book. Agree to the terms.

   5. Click the create button.

   6. Select “Kindle e-book,” “Paperback,” or “Hardcover.” If you desire for your book to be in all three formats, you will create them one at a time under your book's page that will appear after creating your first version.

 

   7. After selecting your preferred format, you will be taken to a selection page. Follow the instructions to put in any information needed or wanted to be associated with your book. This includes things like the title, price, cover, etc. If you do not have a cover or don't know how to create one you can follow our guide "How to Design Your Book Cover." You will upload your manuscript in this process.

  8. When you have all your details finalized, you will be able to publish it. It is really that simple. Once you select “publish” your book will go through a finalization process that can take up to 72 hours. It could take as little as a few hours. And then your book is available for purchase. You will gain the option to order author copies and the option to start advertising on Amazon.

  9. Advertising: after selecting “advertise my book,” you will be taken to a page where you can sign up to be an advertiser. You will be able to select your daily budget as well create a slogan for your ad.

Some notes: Amazon KDP does not come with any direct costs. However, Amazon still wants to make their money from you. For every sale, you will be charged a flat printing cost. After that cost, Amazon will take a certain percentage of your sale for themselves. For instance, say that you charge $15 for your book. The printing price is based on how long your book is. Let’s say it costs $3 to print your book. That gives you $12. Then, Amazon will take a varying percentage from there. Let’s say it is 40%. That leaves you with a revenue of $7.20 per book. This is of course hypothetical. All of this will depend on your price, the printing price, and how much Amazon will take.

Now you have all the tools to get your book out there to the world. Good luck, writers!

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How To Design Your Book Cover - A Guide

 In all likeliness if you are in the stage of designing your book cover you have at least completed the first draft of your novel. But fear not! Creatives do not think in the same order; for, great minds do not think alike. You could be postulating your book cover from the very beginning, in the middle of your writing process or anywhere in between. But what if you are not a visual artist? You may think it impossible to design a cover from your own mind. Today on The Fabler's Quill we will go over two methods to design a perfect cover for your novel without requiring artistic skill. 

Method 1: Create a Rough Draft and Hire An Artist

Above is the cover for my first novel. I have never been the sort to understand visual art and how to create it. However, I always had ideas of what I wanted to create. The first step was to look for inspiration. I perused my mom's bookshelf to find what really stuck out. After enough searching I found an edition of We The Living by the controversial author Ayn Rand. Below is the edition I found.

I am certain that you can see the similarities. 

Once I saw the cover, it brought to mind a pivotal scene in my novel. One that takes place amongst a complex of buildings in Dallas, Texas during a dark day. I reread the scene to remind myself of the imagery and then created the alpha version of my cover listed below.

While I did design the alpha and beta versions of my novel's cover, it is clear that visual art is not my strong suit. Located within the alpha version most of the elements seen in the final version can be spotted. The general layout is the same, the text placement, the characters, the helipad, and the air-conditioner systems on top of the buildings. But how did my childish mock up get turned in the quality book cover of today?

Being fully aware of my artistic qualities I needed someone else to touch up my design to make it presentable. I contacted a friend who would go on to win awards for her art: Autumn Potter. Ms. Potter was and is a true creative genius of our time and an old friend of mine. I hired her to create the final version of my cover, but before I could do that I needed to make a proposal that detailed my creative vision. I thus created a cover proposal that detailed exactly what I wanted from the final version. Within the proposal contained the beta version of the cover. Admittedly, I created it in Microsoft Paint.

The beta version while even uglier contained more detail than its alpha counterpart. The texture of the buildings, the addition of a car, and how the characters were to be presented. Once the proposal was sent I waited patiently until Ms. Potter finished her major touch-up. 

Without any artistic skill and with the contribution of an artist, I was able to create my own cover that matched my vision perfectly and even more. Ms. Potter added the detail of the streetlights from the inspiration and it was brilliant. To summarize Method 1 you first find inspiration, conceive of an idea and make a rough version, create a proposal, and hire an artist to make the needed touch-ups from websites like Fiverr. But this is a method that in most circumstances requires money. The next method requires no purchases for those who cannot afford assistance. 

Method 2: Use Online Resources

Sympathy For The Savage Edition 2 - Hardcover was released on July 24th, 2023. With a new edition came time to create a new cover. This time I did not want to rely on an artist to finalize my cover and wanted to make something completely on my own. In order to do so, I went to one of many online cover creators. The one I chose was Amazon's Cover Creator and went from there. However, there are many free websites that offers these services. Other quality ones included Canva, Ingramspark, and Adobe. A simple Google search will yield dozens of cover creators websites that will help you design the perfect image to slap on your book.

There is a limitation to these cover creator websites, however. While easy and fun to use, they sometimes can lack the option to be creative. If you find yourself dissatisfied with what these sites offer head yourself over to A.I. generation. Using A.I, you can specify an original quality book cover that you can change and touch-up all you like.

I hope one of these methods is helpful to your cover-art needs. Feel free to reach out to me for further details on cover creation. 

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3 Methods To Create Your Own Character names - A Guide

Congratulations! You have thought up of an idea for your book. This is a giant step that no author-to-be can afford to skip. You might have the perfect setting, the perfect idea for the story, or even who your characters are going to be. But there is one problem standing in your way. "What do I name my characters?" Today we will dive into various methods that will help you name your darlings. No one method is better than another, so if one doesn't work for you try another. 

Method 1: Think of Your Loved Ones (and your hated ones!)

The most simple way to create character names is to draw from your own life experience. And this does not necessarily mean copy and paste your brother's name into your book! To begin, start with one of your protagonists and then consider the following questions. Who are they? What do they like? What are their strengths and what are their weaknesses? How much do you, the author, care about this character? Does your character remind you of anyone in your life? If you can answer one of these questions you have a basis for a killer name. Perhaps you based the character off someone you know consciously or unconsciously. If so, you have basis for a name. For example, say that one of your characters is loosely based on your cousin and her name is Stacy. You can then create a derivative of "Stacy." Create a name that is similar to its inspiration such as "Lacy," "Sarah," "Kinzie," "Samantha." The name only needs to have 1 similarity to its inspiration. It could be a letter, a sound, a rhyme, or anything that is reminiscent of its original. Keep trying new ones until you find something that resonates with your character. Inversely, for antagonistic characters think of people you hate or despise and follow the same procedure.

Method 2: Take Inspiration from Other Languages 

If looking through a list of English names isn't working for you, try to look at other languages names. One way to go about it is to think about your character's ethnic roots. Everybody has a homeland somewhere in their ancestry and it is your job to know where your characters came from. Perhaps your creation has Russian ancestry, so you research a list of Russian names. Amongst them you find Stanislav, Rurik, or Valentin! The odds are one of these names will peak your interest. 

But foreign names aren't the only way to make use of other languages. In a tradition older than Shakespeare, use modified root words to bequeath your names. This is a process wherein you identify a primary character trait and find a single word to describe it. My upcoming book under the codename "Mushroom Story" utilizes this technique in the character of Odia. She is a woman filled with hate for those she perceives to be better than her. Her name comes from the Latin word for hate: odium. By taking the root word and modifying it you can create some truly unique names that have beyond-the-surface meaning. 

Method 3: Brainstorm Names

So, you have looked at too many lists of names to count in English and beyond. Nothing, no matter how many you see, seems to work for your unique character. In such a case, you can try brainstorming! Brainstorming is the process of spit-balling ideas without thinking about what you say before you speak. Close your eyes and remember names you have heard throughout your life. Do not think about them and do not dwell on them. Remember classmates, TV shows, random names you've heard in public, bill boards, celebrities and shout them out loud! The moment you start to think about the quality of the names is the moment you slow down and we will have none of that here. Angel, Bruce, Caterina, Dave, Jamal, Kenji, Samantha, Po, Rami, Raj, Jeffery, Margo, Marge, George... and on and on and on. When you vocalize the right name, you will know. 

I hope that one of these methods will help you on your literary journey. Thank you so much for giving these methods a shot and come back again to The Fabler's Quill for free daily guides, reviews, stories, and more!

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