CW | CW Hawes - Part 2

My Favorite Things

The Sound of Music has so many fabulous songs in it that the musical has to be one of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s greatest productions.

The song “My Favorite Things” exudes positivity. A training exercise for the children on how to get over the speed bumps of life. It also works for adults.

I simply remember my favorite things
And then I don’t feel so bad.

At its base, “My Favorite Things” represents an Epicurean approach to living day to day.

When the dog bites, or the bee stings, or when I’m feeling sad, all I have to do is remember my favorite things and at least some of the pain goes away.

This is the Epicurean approach: happiness via pleasure is already ours, we just need to reduce or eliminate the pain to realize it.

If you look at the things that Maria says are her favorite things, they aren’t even things she owns — they are things that simply bring her pleasure.

Rain drops. Kitten whiskers. Girls in white dresses. Snowflakes. Cream-colored ponies. Silver-white winters that melt into spring.

Life is full of pleasurable things we don’t even own. They just exist. It’s pain that prevents us from seeing them. Reduce or eliminate pain, and the pleasure is ours.

How do we reduce or eliminate pain? By remembering all the good things we have that aren’t even ours. But we have to force our minds past the pain to remember them. That is the work we must do to achieve the good life. A life of pleasure that brings us happiness.

Nothing happens without work. There are no magic wands. In the midst of pain and sadness, remember the good things, the things that bring you pleasure — and happiness will be yours.

Comments are always welcome! And until next time, happy reading!

CW Hawes is a playwright; award-winning poet; and a fictioneer, with a bestselling novel. He’s also an armchair philosopher, political theorist, social commentator, and traveler. He loves a good cup of tea and agrees that everything’s better with pizza.

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2024

Today is the second day of the new year. I trust yesterday was a day of feasting and good cheer. It certainly was for me.

This year I’m not making any resolutions. I don’t think I’ve ever completed a single New Year’s resolution. So this year – phooey. I’m not making any.

In fact, I’m not even setting any goals for myself. Not a single one. I’m tired of goals. They remind me of work and I’m retired.

I have projects I’d like to complete:

- - - Set up a Kickstarter campaign for the ninth Pierce Mostyn book.
    - Write a new Justinia Wright mystery.

And that’s it. Anything else I do, will be done for the joy of doing it. No more goals for this guy.

You see, last year was fairly momentous. I had a significant shift in my thinking. Namely, that the chief end of man is to pursue pleasure and avoid pain. In doing so, he achieves what we all want: happiness. And I want nothing more than to be happy throughout all the days that remain to me.

So no schedules. No goals. No resolutions. None of that stuff. It’s don’t worry, be happy. Il Dolce far Niente. The sweetness of doing nothing.

More and more I’m finding how sweet doing nothing truly is.

Comments are always welcome! And until next time, happy reading!

CW Hawes is a playwright; award-winning poet; and a fictioneer, with a bestselling novel. He’s also an armchair philosopher, political theorist, social commentator, and traveler. He loves a good cup of tea and agrees that everything’s better with pizza.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider buying me a cup of tea. Thanks! PayPal.me/CWHawes

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Fast Away the Old Year Passes

Fast away the old year passes,
Fa, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la!
Hail the new, ye lads and lasses:
Fa, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la!

—Thomas Oliphant

Fast way, indeed, the year has passed. This is my last post for 2023. Next week is 2024. And I decided to write this post while smoking Sutliff Ready Rubbed (a simulacrum of the old Edgeworth Ready Rubbed) in my BBB Own Make Pot.

Fifty years ago I took up pipe smoking and have been a pipe smoker ever since. A pipe is a boon companion, a faithful friend. The pipe and tobacco are there for “when I feller needs a friend.” And who doesn’t need a friend every day in these troublesome times?

Earlier this year I once again took up my pipe after a lengthy hiatus. And I’m glad I did. It is indeed a boon companion with which to enjoy peaceful contemplation.

I also gave up my adherence to Stoicism; largely adapting Epicureanism in its place.

And further, I decided marketing gurus can go to perdition.

I’m sick and tired of them trying to sell me the latest marketing gee-gaw. Very little of their crap works. The tried and true marketing techniques are freely available on the internet.

The problem is that the tried and true techniques require work. And because of that, the gurus promise the suckers magic wands which require no work. And many are they who quickly part with their money to get a magic wand.

Well, I’m done with that. I be a sucker no more.

Oh, I’m still writing. I have just stopped giving a fig about how much or how little I sell.

At 71, with about 14 years left to my life (given the averages), I’ve come to the conclusion that there are more important things than selling books. Writing them, for one. Contentment, for another.

Hail the new year, all you lads and lasses. Time is precious. Fifty years ago I didn’t think of death. Today, death is constantly on my mind. I don’t fear it. Death, after all, is part of living. It’s just that the old fellow is a lot closer to me than he was 50 years ago.

Isaac Asimov, when asked what he’d do if he knew he had only one more day to live, said, “I’d write a little faster.” I’m with Isaac.

So in the new year, I’m going to do my best to write a little faster. Ill health has slowed my production down quite a bit. But things are looking brighter. I hope that brightness allows my pen to move faster.

Books and stories are the legacy we writers leave behind us when we pass on. Even so, most of us, the vast majority of us, will be quickly forgotten. Nevertheless, it is my hope that my heirs and maybe their heirs will keep my memory alive and make a few coins for themselves in the process.

So my friends, do whatever it is that makes you truly happy. Don’t waste time at Vanity Fair buying the gee-gaws and trivial ephemera. Because those things don’t bring true happiness, they just provide a fleeting high.

And if you don’t know what makes you truly happy and content, then do your darndest to find out. Because death awaits, and you don’t want to find yourself old and not ever having truly lived.

Comments are always welcome! And until next time, happy reading!

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Stepping Up To The Plate

It is a well-known old saw that the home run kings in baseball also tend to be the strike out kings.

Sometimes we writers are like the proverbial home run king. We step up to the plate and expect our latest piece of writing to be that blast out of the park that wins the game.

And when it isn’t, we get all depressed that we struck out.

It doesn’t matter what we’re writing: poems, short stories, blog posts, plays, or the grocery list. If we don’t hit it out of the park, we become depressed at our “failure.”

The difference between we writers and baseball’s home run kings, is that writers too often give up. The home run kings don’t.

However, let me propose a different approach. We writers would be better off to picture ourselves as the initial lineup.

The purpose of our first work, doesn’t matter what it is, is to get on base. To get some name recognition. The money, scoring a run, will come later.

The job of the second batter in the line up is to move the runner into scoring position. And that is the purpose of our second piece of writing. It furthers name recognition. And builds reader attention.

Our third work is the one that may score the run. If not, perhaps the fourth one will.

In any event, we keep trying that tried and true plan of getting on base, moving the runner over, then bringing him home.

Michael Anderle did much the same thing I’ve written above.

Using the minimum viable product approach, because he didn’t want to spend a lot of money or time on his books if they weren’t going to get on base, Anderle published 3 books in one month and then a fourth the following month.

As it turned out, they were a hit and he went on to build a giant publishing empire.

Now most of us won’t become millionaires from our writing. But we can gain name recognition and maybe a few bucks if we work it right.

The formula is simple: get on base, move the runner over, then bring him home.

If we try for a home run every time we publish something — we’re going to have a lot of strikeouts and probably lots of disappointment.

And who wants that?

Baseball and writing. Yeah. It works.

Comments are always welcome! And until next time, happy reading!

If you enjoyed this post, please consider buying me a cup of tea. Thanks! PayPal.me/CWHawes

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Lone Star Blog Tour

Note: The tour is over, but you can still read the reviews and check out the books. Lots of good reading in the Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles. Reading you don’t want to miss.

We’re in the final days of the Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles Lone Star Blog Tour.

Take a visit of the Lone Star Literary Life Tour page for links to all of the reviews and to enter the giveaway. That’s free stuff, folks. And who doesn’t like free stuff? Especially when it’s good free stuff.

Ruthie Jones wrote a great review of Death Wears a Crimson Hat. Read it on her blog, Reading by Moonlight.

Karen Siddall wrote a marvelous review of Ten Million Ways to Die. Read it on her blog, Boys’ Mom Reads!

It’s so very satisfying when readers pick up my book and get lost in the story and fall in love with the characters.

To bring someone happiness and pleasure is a very great joy.

So head on over to the blog tour page, read the reviews of all the books, enter the giveaway, and most of all — read the books!

The Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles series features some absolutely amazing writing. So get moving to Magnolia Bluff today.

Comments are always welcome! And until next time, happy reading!

If you enjoyed this post, please consider buying me a cup of tea. Thanks! PayPal.me/CWHawes

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Nine Years and a Blog Tour

Nine years ago this month I published my first four books. And the subsequent adventure has been very interesting to say the least.

That I’m still writing and publishing is a testimony to perseverance and perhaps just doggone stubbornness.

In the past 9 years I’ve witnessed many authors come and go. And some of them were super writers. Which makes me sad to think of all that talent going unused. But that is the way it goes, unfortunately.

I haven’t gotten rich. In fact, I’ve yet to rich $5000 in royalties from my books. Nevertheless, I’ve had a lot of fun. I’ve written stories that have provided entertainment for the folks who read them.

And when the dark days come, and they do, the days when you wonder is it worth it, I read a few of the reviews I’ve gathered over the years and tell myself — yes, it’s worth it. Telling the stories that collect in my head is worth the work to make them available to others to also enjoy.

We writers have a tendency to work alone and for indie authors, at least most of us, I don’t think that’s a good thing.

After 9 years, I think working with an active group of likeminded writers is the key to success. You probably won’t get rich, but you will have the support to keep on going and the advantage of working together to promote each other — and that is a definite key to success.

Lone Star Blog Tour

I am very fortunate to be one of the charter members of the Underground Authors.

The group was started by the late Caleb Pirtle III. His initial vision was to get together a group of writers who were actively writing and publishing to cross promote each other’s work.

Now, we not only promote each other’s books, but we also write a multi-author crime series: the Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles.

Going on right now is a blog tour of the series hosted by Lone Star Literary Life. Here’s the link for you to check out the tour: https://www.lonestarliterary.com/content/magnolia-bluff-crime-chronicles-underground-authors

Going Forward

Next year, my intention is to launch a Kickstarter campaign, write the next Justinia Wright mystery, start a new series, and write some short stories.

Whether I do the above, or decide to do something else — I do know I’ll be writing.

Because as Harlan Ellison said, “Writers write.” It’s as simple as that. And I’m a writer.

Comments are always welcome! And until next time, happy reading!

If you enjoyed this post, please consider buying me a cup of tea. Thanks! PayPal.me/CWHawes

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Bye Baby Bye is Here!

The latest addition to the Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles is Kelly Marshall’s Bye Baby Bye, which releases Wednesday, 22 November.

Last year we met Madison Jackson, a conservation officer with the Texas Department of Fish and Wildlife.

In the attempt to seek justice for a brutally murdered young girl, a victim of sex trafficking, Madison herself becomes the victim of sex trafficking.

Justice tells the story of Madison’s harrowing attempt to find justice for the dead girl — and to free herself from sex slavery.

Now, a year later, Madison’s young daughter is missing. Madison can only assume that her drug cartel husband, even though in prison, has ordered the kidnapping.

Meeting after meeting with government officials bears no fruit. In a last ditch effort to find her daughter, Madison, with a few friends and Texas Rangers, returns to Mexico.

“This novel…is a quick read that is well-paced and boasts emotional heft…an effective thriller.” —Kirkus Reviews

Get your copy on pre-order today!

Bye Baby Bye goes live Wednesday, November 22nd on Amazon.

Comments are always welcome. And until next time, happy reading!

If you enjoyed this post, please consider buying me a cup of tea. Thanks! PayPal.me/CWHawes

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A Magnolia Bluff Deep Dive with CW Hawes and Richard Schwindt

Recently I sat down with my fellow Underground Author, Richard Schwindt, and talked about the Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles series: its past and its future. We also talked about my writing.

I had a lot of fun in this interview. Richard asked some thought-provoking and probing questions. A few not easily answered.

Give the video a watch. You’ll learn about the creation of Magnolia Bluff and where it might be headed. You’ll also get to know me a bit better.

The Underground Authors’s short story anthology, Beyond the Sea, is on Amazon. Proceeds go to charity.

You can find my latest contribution to the series, Ten Million Ways to Die, on Amazon.

And the entire series is on Amazon.

Richard Schwindt’s books are also on Amazon.

Comments are always welcome! And until next time, happy reading!

If you enjoyed this post, please consider buying me a cup of tea. Thanks! PayPal.me/CWHawes

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Inflicting Pain — We Love It

This post is going up on Halloween. So happy Halloween to all who celebrate.

And if you’re catching this post the day after Halloween, then a blessed All Saints Day to you.

One thing that seems to be ingrained in us, part of our DNA, is a desire to inflict pain. And if we aren’t inflicting it, we love to watch someone else or something else dishing out pain to another.

I think that’s why the small screen, the big screen, and video games have become so violent. It is our love of dishing out copious amounts of pain to others. We love doing it and we love watching it.

Our indifference to others who are suffering is part of this human trait to inflict pain and suffering. It’s the flip side of the coin, so to speak.

Over on the Threads that Bind blog, I posted an article describing several rather nasty methods of torture. Torture being nothing more than our desire to inflict pain taken to the next level. Take a look at the link below:

Oh, the Pain! The Pain!

The article makes for good Halloween reading and could be a resource for writers.

Epicurus believed eudaimonia (the good life, a life of well-being, a life of living and doing well) was a life of continuous pleasurable experiences that was free from pain and distress.

In other words, according to Epicurus, reducing or eliminating all pain and distress from our lives goes a long way to our achieving that ultimate state of pleasure which is the good life.

And isn’t that what we seek each and every day? The absence of pain? Of course it is.

We take painkillers; over-the-counter and prescription.

We might use illegal drugs to kill pain and induce a temporary state of euphoria.

We buy things to give ourselves to lift our spirits.

We may even inflict pain on others because we get a little high watching them suffer.

Where people get Epicurus wrong is that they miss his point that virtue is an intrinsic part of achieving the state of happiness, which is a life of pleasure and an absence of pain. For Epicurus, pleasure is only good if it doesn’t bring about any pain.

For that reason, he didn’t advocate marriage or having children because both too often bring pain into a persons life. The same with having sex. It isn’t bad, it just results too often in pain. So it’s best to avoid it.

I believe Epicureanism is a fitting philosophy for Western first world people seeking meaning and purpose in life. It fits well with our sensibilities. We want lives free from pain and filled with pleasure. Epicurus shows how to get the good pleasure that never produces pain.

A pursuit of Epicurean pleasure might also eliminate, or at least diminish, our love of inflicting pain on others. And that just might make this world a little better. Who wouldn’t want that?

Comments are always welcome. And until next time, happy reading!

If you enjoyed this post, please consider buying me a cup of tea. Thanks! PayPal.me/CWHawes

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Ten Million Ways to Die — Now Live!

If you’ve ever had children, or gotten a puppy, or kitty, you know the feeling I have of love towards my newest baby: Ten Million Ways to Die, the 18th book in the Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles series.

It might seem silly to some to equate a book launch with a newborn human, dog, or cat, but you see there are people, real people, within the pages of that book. And they are the children given life by my imagination.

In this virtual world in which we find ourselves, where people fall in love with AI apps, I don’t think anyone should find it strange that people can and do fall in love with the people they find within the pages of a book.

People love their dogs, their cats, their children, their spouse, their partner, Mr. Darcy, Heathcliff, Eudora and Doc, Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin, and Klara.

And so it is with authors. At least some authors. Doyle grew to hate Sherlock Holmes. Christie hated Hercule Poirot. But I think most authors have an affinity for, if not love for, their characters. Their virtual children.

I know I do. I love Tina and Harry Wright of the Justinia Wright mysteries. And Bill Arthur of the Rocheport Saga. Plus Pierce Mostyn, Dotty, and Helene of the Pierce Mostyn Paranormal Investigations series. And Lady Dru and Dunyasha from the alternative history world of Lady Dru Drummond.

In my opinion, if an author doesn’t love his characters with an intense love, then neither will the reader.

So today, I give you a story involving two characters I love dearly: Harry Thurgood and the Reverend Ember Cole.

Ten Million Ways to Die is a mystery in which amateur sleuths Harry and Ember must solve a murder in order to get police detective Reece Sovern off their backs.

Ten Million Ways to Die is also the story of the blossoming love between Harry and Ember.

But the story is also a tale of revenge, justice, and misguided love.

Ten Million Ways to Die is live today on Amazon.

It’s also available on Kindle Unlimited. If you’re a KU subscriber, you’ve already paid to read the book. So go ahead and do so. You don’t want to waste your money, do you?

You can listen to me read a scene from the book here: https://youtu.be/kIpDKf2VkwE

Comments are always welcome. And until next time, happy reading!

If you enjoyed this post, please consider buying me a cup of tea. Thanks! PayPal.me/CWHawes

Justinia Wright Private Investigator Mysteries on Amazon!

Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles on Amazon!

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