I've talked about the acting methodology for Ghost Little's universal story structure. It borrows from how Pixar builds its movie plots, with a few modifications. That's how everything clicks at a high altitude for the story. Lower down though, I've implemented something else: the Dan Harmon Story Circle.

Each chapter in each book begins with an outline governed by a story circle. It's worked to great effect, in particular with introductory chapters, which are self-contained stories by design, as well as each book's starting point.

I'm also using this tool to elevate the offer of free books to invite new readers into the story-sphere. 

However, just as I'm working on a modified Pixar story structure, I want to see if there's anywhere Harmon's story circle should be changed.

You've stared down the barrel of your Facebook timeline. You've felt the blood hot in your fingertips. Awareness has to be spread. It's an election year. Election years are horrible. People without the mental fiber to form thorough thoughts give way to medieval skull bludgeoning. The effort is simpler. The effect is similar. It works great on Facebook, too!

It's a waste. Not a total waste. Keeping atrocities top of mind, and who is responsible for them, is vital for remembering who the villain is. Social media does its job there.

But how can we assure the proper people receive the proper message?

Let's run an exercise.

If you're a functioning adult with a heartbeat (and if you're a functioning kid with a heartbeat, congratulations for getting this far), you can glance to the top of this page and notice a statement regarding writer's block. The suggestion "let's run an exercise" follows.

Writer's block because the writing-action has nothing to do with writing. Statistically speaking, writing is only 49% writing, at most. Nobody in the world is technically a "writer," by the strictest definition.

Writer's block is a myth because

This is a recurring segment, "Whiny Questions, Simple Answers," where I gather the whiniest question I come across on the internet in a given week, and provide a straightforward answer.

This week's question again concern the recently-released Warcraft movie.

It was not well-reviewed. It was not well-attended. Most videogame movies share this welcome. So, the question is as you'd expect.

Taking a look around planet earth’s current economic climate, you may notice skills in traditional, detached, consumerism remain coveted. Selling a smartphone app that simulates a fidget spinner is a responsible financial investment in 2017.

Time requires recognition. We need weeks and months. We need weekends and birthdays. We need start dates, end dates, buzzer-beaters, and summer haircuts.

When did we lose the ability to rest?

It's a matter of public knowledge that George Lucas both created and damned the modern American "geek." He created it with Star Wars in 1977. He damned it with Star Wars in 1999.

While the crippling effect The Phantom Menace has had on global society cannot be understated, that's a story for another time. Today, I address a hypothetical.

What if Jim Henson had lived and George Lucas had died?

Ghost Little officially re-launched a few months ago. It has been home to roughly 20 blog posts, each featuring and four original book samples availalbe for download.

Some posts were fantastic. Some were good. A few were inadequate. Without the site's re-launch though, there would have been no inadequate posts, good posts, or fantastic posts. Without the sight of the inadequate posts gracing our presence, the barometer for quality would not have been set.

And most important, the book samples—Ghost Little's reason for existing—would not exist. They would be as real as anybody who only plays an eletric guitar plugged into headphones.

This is a recurring segment, "Whiny Questions, Simple Answers," where I gather the whiniest question I come across on the Internet in a given week, and provide a straightforward answer.

This week's question again concerns the recently-released Overwatch. We covered Overwatch's comparison to its competitors last time. This time the question is about its microtransaction structure and total-luck loot drops.

June 7, 2016: (post delayed from its usual Monday slot due to the death of Muhammad Ali over the weekend.)

Muhammad Ali is dead. He was 74. He was the Greatest of All Time. There is a fantastic op-ed on him The New York Times.

What casual knowledge does a random person possess, concerning Muhammad Ali?

Among all the obituaries, thinkpieces, and craggly monsters spitting hate from the cheap seats, what do we really know about Ali? We, meaning, people, off-the-cuff knowledge, removed from immediate influence -- and perhaps incorrect.

I'll start with myself. I won't say I know a lot about Ali. I bathed in Sports Illustrated for my childhood and I absorbed a decade of SportsCenter during ESPN's good years. I was told what has to be Ali's myth. To me, much of it is too unbelievable, set against a modern backdrop, especially. Nevertheless, that is as remarkable a story as what is perhaps true.

So, let's begin.

On a hot day flushing down into a cold night's quickening coil, a seahorse, a praying mantis, and a penguin walked into a bar.

They did not arrive together. They had never met one another before. Upon meeting though, they discovered they have something very particular in common.