New Look
The Collings Zone has been given a much needed facelift. Ever since the move from blogger to wordpress the look of the site has been very inconsistent. I was using the default wordpress theme for the blog, and all the non-blog pages on the site were still using the old blogger look.
The siten now has common look and feel, with only a few low-level pages still on the old template. Some of these I’ll eventually change, others such as my Star Trek and Superman fan fiction I may not bother.
Hope you like the new look.
Anyone who has had to write any Jet SQL for an Access database is probably well aquainted with frustration. The way it nests its joins is horrendous for one thing, but here’s a little trap that caught me up recently.
I was using a subquery, and attempting to ensure that it only returned one record (as required by a subquery within a select) by using the SELECT TOP 1 notation. I received the following error message:
At most one record can be returned by this subquery.
This seemed strange, as I had specifically told it to only return one record. It turns out that when Access sees two records that it considers ‘equivilent’ it will ignore the 1 that you placed after the TOP and return multiple records. There are various ways to try to overcome this. You could try to aggregate the data using GROUP BY to ensure that there is ano equivilence, but Allen Browne describes a very useful workaround to this behaviour on his Microsoft Access Tips for Serious Users. If you place the primary key of the table in the ORDER BY clause of the sub-query, then Access can determine an exact ordering, and therefore no two records will be considered equivilent. This works a treat.
Source Used
- Microsoft Access Tips for Serious Users Provided by Allen Browne, March 2007. Updated February 2009.
The Discomfort Zone
This month I’m participating in a blog chain with some wonderful people at ChristianWriters.com and today it’s my turn to write. We are discussing stepping out of our comfort zones in relation to our writing.
When I first read the subject for this chain I was a little puzzled. Could I think of something to write on such a subject? After all, what could be uncomfortable about writing? Writing is fun. Writing is my leisure activity. It’s what I do when I want to have a little ‘me time’ (not that you get much of that with two young children). Writing is that creative flow that pours out of a person because they simply can’t not write. It’s in the blood.
But this raises the important question – is there more to it than that? What happens when writing moves beyond that place? Up until now, writing fiction, for me, has been a pleasure activity. It has been primarily for myself. All my life, however, I have dreamt of taking it to the next level – publication. Why is it that we have this desire to get our stories published? Is it just vanity? I don’t think so. I tend to be an introverted person who woud rather sit in the shadow than take the spotlight. I think it comes down to one simple thing: a story is meant to be shared. Otherwise it isn’t really a story is it?
Taking that first step, from writing purely for youself, to seeking publication opens up a whole world of discomfort. Firstly there is the inevitable critiquing. Seeking the opinions of others in order to improve your work. I know very well the benefit of this process. I was taught it at school and I’ve seen it in action. Just as with software testing, you need to get a fresh pair of eyes to put your writing through its paces, to look at it with an objective (and hopefully more experienced) eye. Dispite all this head knowledge however, there is always some hesitance. What if the person critiquing the work pulls everything apart and messes up the story? What if they want me to change something that I consider important? What if the result of the improvement no longer looks like my story anymore? What if the improvement to this novel messes up my plans for the fourth sequel down the track? These kinds of fears would seem quite natural. Afterall, our writing is our baby. We’ve nurtured it from an embrionic idea, to a healthy bouncing first-draft. It is extremely tempting to think that the story is finished and ready to go at this point. However, if we are ever to see our story reach its full potential, we have to allow it to finish maturing into adulthood. Even the process of finding somebody who has the necessary skills, and is willing to make the significant commitment to critique a novel-length work is a daunting thought. I hardly know where to start.
That is the first step into the discomfort zone. After that, it gets even scarier. The whole process of publication seems very daunting and mysterious. Who do you call? Do you talk to a publisher? An agent? Where do you find such people? I know that there is information to help with this kind of thing – but most of the imformation seems to be American in nature. Does it work the same here in Australia? We have a much smaller publishing industry, and almost nothing of a Christian publishing industry. I am sure I will find the answers when I seek, but the process itself is daunting.
Beyond that, if a publishing deal is succesfully secured there comes the final step into the discomfort zone – marketing. I understand that this is becoming an increasing responsibility of an author. How could someone like me, with a full-time job, a wife and young kids possibly market a book? Would anybody even be interested?
So, the more I look into it, the more I realise there is a big scary world out there. The road to publishing success looks like a difficult one, and it seems that writing the book may in fact be the easy bit. I am currently standing on the threshold of this big step. I have written a first-draft of a novel and want to take it further. This is the path I must travel if I want to take this dream seriously. So will it be worth it? Well, if something that I write can touch someone, entertain them, inspire them, or make them think, then yes, it will all be worth it.
Finally, I’d like to show from my own experience that stepping into this discomfort zone can bring unexpected benefits to our writing. About ten years ago, I was participating in a course at my church, to determine out abilities and spiritual gifts. It came up that I had a gift for writing and a desire to share spiritual truths through writing. The pastor running the course suggested to me that I should try my hand at writing devotional articles. My first thought was ‘that isn’t my genre. I write fiction, and mostly science fiction’. However, I took up his challenge and discovered a gift and passion that I hadn’t known existed. My blogging has stemmed out of that encouragement. So, let us never be afraid to leave our comfort zones as writers. There is more out there than we realise.
The journey begins…
Follow the chain…
- Ruth Rockafield — 1st July
- Nina Rose — 4th July
- Edward Lewis — 6th July
- Tracy Kraus — 7th July
- Kat Connolly — 8th July
- Linda Yezak — 9th July
- Lynn Mosher — 10th July
- Nona King — 11th July
- Victor Travison — 14th July
- Janalyn Voigt — 15th July
- Sheila Hollinghead — 16th July
- Adam Collings — 17th July <– You are here
- Liberty Speidel — 19th July
- Traci Bonney — 20th July
- Chris DePew — 25th July
- Sandra King — 26th July
- Chris Solaas — 27th July
- Suzanne Hartmann — 28th July
What I learned from The Circle
I’ve just finished reading ‘The Circle’ series by Ted Dekker. If you haven’t come across it you must check it out. This four-part series combines a modern-day thriller with an epic fantasy, and a bit of science-fiction thrown in for good measure. This is all wrapped around a powerful spiritual metaphor.
In addition to being a great story with interesting characters, The Circle really made me think. Here are some of the things that I learned from reading.
Book 1 ‘Black’ gave me a new perspective on the absolute horror of sin, and the extent to which it has poisoned this world, from what God originally planned.
Book 2 ‘Red’ challenged me to ask myself the question, “If I had been alive when Jesus walked the earth, would I have been his disciple, or would I have condemned Him as a heratic?”
Book 3 ‘White’ reminded me just how much God loves those that we tend to think are far from Him, and how He is calling them to Himself. It also spoke powerfully about Jesus’ command to ‘love your enemies’.
Book 0 ‘Green’ continued the theme from book 3, and highlighted the fact that our struggle is not against flesh and blood.
As for the story, I still have many un-answered questions, but not to fear because there is still the Paradise spin-offs, and The Lost books.
Happy reading!
Adam.
Send in the Diplomats
It was a triumphant scene. The great compaign was over. The tribes of Israel were settled in their new homeland. The trbes of Reuban, Gad and Manasseh had chosen lands on the eastern side of the Jordan River, but they had faithfully fought side by side with the other tribes until all had rest. Now they were returning home with the blessing of the nation’s leader: Joshua.
“When they came to Geliloth near the Jordan in the land of Canaan, the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh built an imposing altar there by the Jordan. And when the Israelites heard that they had built the altar on the border of Canaan at Geliloth near the Jordan on the Israelite side, the whole assembly of Israel gathered at Shiloh to go to war against them.” Joshua 22:10-12
How quickly things turn. The western tribes were angy because they thought the eastern tribes were setting up a rival altar to the official one at Shiloh. They thought their neighbours were abandoning God to create their own new belief. They were all set to discipline the eastern tribes.
Fortunately, before they started fighing they sent Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, to go and try to sort things out. Given the chance to speak, the eastern tribes explained that this alter they had constructed would not be used for sacrifices, it was a monument to show all in the future that they too followed the Lord and were a part of his inheritance. Phinehas was pleased with this explanation and there was no war.
It can be so easy to jump to conclusions when we are angry. We often “go to war” without first sending in the diplomats to assess the situation and get a clearer picture. May that’s why James, who knew Jesus as Lord, saviour and brother, wrote:
“Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry” James 1:19
Just imangine how more peaceful out homes, workplaces, nations, and even churches, could be if we followed this advice.
The Ameteur Approach
If you’re an ameteur writer like me then you may find yourself sometimes feeling a little envious of the professionals out there. Those are the people who get to write stories all day as a career, and even get paid for it. Don’t get me wrong, I would never call their job easy, and I know there is a lot more to it than just ‘the fun bits’. There is research, editting, and all of the business aspects of publishing and marketing a novel. But sometimes, just sometimes, I wonder what it would be like to put aside my stable income from software development and just be a novelist full time. (Then I look at the mortgage and the power bill, and thank God that I have a regular predictable income.)
For better or worse, we ameteurs have chosen to make writing a hobby rather than a career. It makes it harder to find time to write, and even if we do succeed in getting a book both written and published, we will never keep up with out output of stories that a professional would. Could it be however, that there are advantages to the ameteur approach? For a start ameteur writing is a great way to practice, and develop a talent.
Several months ago, novelist and blogger K.M. Weiland wrote about the importance of daydreaming. In her article she pointed out that it can be sometimes difficult for a busy writer to make the time for this essential creative activity. As I listened to the podcast of this article I began to realise that my ameteur approach gave me a little advantage in this area.
Between work, home and kids, I don’t often find much time for writing. I’m lucky if I can get a good solid “story date” once a month. Because of this, I tend to do a lot of thinking about my stories in between writing sessions. I do a lot of creative day-dreaming. It’s what makes me feel like I’m still a writer, even when I’m not doing much writing. I find the best time for this is when I am walking to and from work. I always park my car a good fifteen minutes walk from the office. This is because I’ve found a free carpark in an adjoining suburb, and I flat-out refuse to pay money just to park my car. As an added benefit, I get my 30 minutes of excercise each day. Much of my novel has been sorted out in my head during this walk. In fact, over the last year I have mentally ‘written’ several sequels to my novel walking to and from work. My most creative moments seem to come out of this type of activity. Even as a teenager I would make up stories while going for walks with my family, to type up later.
There are many advantages to being an ameteur writer, this is just one of them. We write simply because we love it. If some day a publisher sees enough promise in our work to give it a go, then that is an awesome bonus.
I seem to have writing on my mind a lot lately, and this has certainly come out in my blogging (it is in fact one of the reasons I have resumed blogging regularly.) This will all culminate on the 17th of July when I take part in a blog chain with some other great people from ChristianWriters.com.
Phone Blog
Today i am blogging live on my nokia n95 using free wifi at McDonalds. It is hard to type on the numeric keypad and rather pointless but I must admit that it gives me something of a nerdish pleasure to know I can do it. We took the kids to meet the cast of The Fairies this morning. They loved it. Later.
Greating Writing Blog
I recently stumbled onto a fantastic writing blog from a link on twitter. The blog is called ‘Wordplay: Helping Writers become Authors’ and it is written by K.M. Weiland, who has two published novels under her belt.
Some of her posts are traditional written articles (with matching audio podcast), and others take the form of video episodes. I have found the articles that I’ve browsed tonight to be inspiring and insightful, so I thought it was worth sharing here.
Also, if you sign up to receive email notifications from the blog, you get to download her eBook titled ‘Crafting Unforgettable Characters’.
I suggest that anybody interested in writing should check it out.
http://wordplay-kmweiland.blogspot.com
It seems only yesterday, when in a computer store in Hobart, my father found a colourful box on the shelf. “King’s Quest” was the title of the game. “I’ve heard of Sierra,” he said. “Apparently their games have very good graphics. You kids will like this.” When we returned home after that trip I put the disk into the floppy drive of our XT and was immediately immersed in the world of Daventry. I knew straight away that adventure games were the genre for me. My friends thought these games were too slow paced, but with the world, the story, the exploration, the puzzles, this was my kind of adventure.
Twenty years later, adventure games are still my chosen genre. Sadly, during the mid to late nineties, adventure games went out of fashion and faded away into obscurity. Watch out though, because adventure games live on. Ameteur programmers and hobbyists are re-creating these classic games. One in particular that has gained a lot of press recently is a fan-made sequel to the King’s Quest series. This game is The Silver Lining. This game has faced many legal obstacles. Recently however, Pheonix Online have reached an agreement with Activision (the current owners of the Sierra intelectual property) and the first chapter of the game will be released in ten days.
The developers have blended the classic feel of the Sierra adventure game with modern 3D technology to make something that still feels like King’s Quest, but is still a game of the twenty-first century. In fact, if Sierra were still making adventure games today, I can well imagine that this is just what their games would be look like. The user-interface is very similar to the classic sierra icon-driven system. The scenes are still static rooms around which the characters move, but the characters are modelled in 3D, and there are complex camera moves during cut-scenes.
It seems that the strong fan reaction may have been the thing that tipped the scales in favour of this game, ultimately moving Activision to grant permission to Pheonix. It just goes to show you the power of a bunch of twenty and thirty-somethings, who have never grown up.
Let the quest continue!
Finding royalty free music online can sometimes be a challenge unless you want to fork out lots of money. I’ve come across a good site called Partners in Rhyme. They provide a reasonably wide selection including some free options.
Royalty Free Music and Sound Effects Download the music and sound effects you need for your multimedia project today at Partners In Rhyme.
