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Story shard – April 4th, 2013

From time to time I write out bits and pieces of a story.  Most of the time they go nowhere but sometimes they are the kernel of a short story or novella.  They can be anything from a sentence to a whole chapter.  This will be the main point of this blog.  Read along, comment, correct.  I won’t be offended.  It’s just exercise after all.

 

April 4th, 2013 (supernatural business implications)

When considering a profession in the darkness elimination field one should be aware of the many opportunities and pitfalls involved with these.  In the past it was argued that one monster is another, is another.  But should you really take this attitude?

After all vampires are not subject to the same lunar conditions that werewolves are and mummies shrug off silver bullets and stakes to the heart.

Don’t even get me started on ghosts and demons.  Rather this presents an opportunity to discuss these in two broad categories; the physical and psychical.

The physical opponent is one you will be able to beat down time and again and it just matters the amount of firepower you are willing to invest into this or whether you use a specialized tool.  The psychical will require an investment into research and into mental preparation.

For the CEO thinking of launching such an enterprise it would behoove them to expand the hiring net out to include scholars, police officers, certain types of criminals, scientists, and the generally adventurous types.  Plus of course the requisite support personnel (accountants, secretaries, weapon smiths, salesmen, etc)

Too often it is that a lack of fore planning at the start of such a venture leads to lack of operating capital or lack of job opportunities.  Thus a well balanced support team is just as vital as the actual fighting team.

Marketing is also vital to the nascent evil fighting team.  How exactly do you market your skills out to the public at large?  Do you take out ads in national press outlets?  “Hello, we kill monsters.  do you want to learn more?”

The need is clearly there but how to connect the end user with the service provider?  Mostly it would involve going out and scouring news sources for news of the strange, for unexplained deaths and occurrences and putting in a lot of leg work.

You don’t just walk up and ask if they have a monster problem.  Develop them slowly.  Allow them to realize and come to terms with their problem and then let them reach out to you for help.  Making them admit that they have a problem and need help to cope is often the hardest step in the process.

Earliest memories

A popular theory of psychology holds that events in one’s childhood will mold an individual’s character for life and determine how he acts.  As these theories ebb and flow so much, it is somewhat difficult to gauge whether this is true or not.

However, if this is true, I do wonder what my earliest memories have done for me.  I suppose the more vivid and traumatic memories stand out the most.  My memories don’t go as far back as most people.  I think I can go back to when I was 5 years old.  Colombia.  I do recall some older boy pushing me into a pool for some reason and nearly drowning.  I recall being yanked out of the pool by my arm and sputtering out a lungful or so of pool water.  I had nothing to do with the water for at least 5 years and was somewhat of a late bloomer as far as swimming.

But is that necessarily the reason for my slow swimming development?  Does the fact that I never learned until I was ten tie into this event or rather to the fact that in those intervening years I was busy moving to the States and assimilating into a new culture?

Do people often use their pasts as excuses for their present or their future behavior?

Oh my!

This is going to be primarily an excuse for me to write short stories, paragraph of ideas, or even just sentences that have been knocking around in my head.  From time to time I will do actual blogs about actual topics.  I will post some sketches when I have something decent looking to post.

New posts will come when they come.  Please be patient as I’m still figuring it all out.