Using the MBTI as an author

 

Unfamiliar with the MBTI? Take a free online version here:

https://www.16personalities.com/

or https://practicalpie.com/myers-briggs-type-indicator/

 

What is the MBTI?

·         Great 2 minute video!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoQi9Mvqip0

·         It is based on the work of Carl Jung (Yep… The dude who brought you the Hero’s Journey!!)

·         The MBTI does NOT tell you which dichotomy you have. It tells you which you prefer. Think right handed / left handedness.

·         Harry Potter: https://screenrant.com/harry-potter-characters-mbti/

·         Avenger Clips: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzCov8YyaXA

 

I or E: The Battery: How do you “recharge?”

            Introvert (charged by alone time or time with people who are an “extension” of self)

            Extrovert (charged by community. Lots of friendships, though perhaps not as deep)

S or N: Data Intake: How do you take in the world around you?

            Sensing (prefer to see the specific, tangible (5 senses) world. The small parts build the whole)

            iNtuition (see the big picture, the whole is seen first and then the parts)

T or F: Decision Making: How do you come to a decision?

            Thinking (Make decisions primarily based on rational thought and best practices)

            Feeling (Make decisions primarily on emotion and relationships)

P or J: Work First, Play Later OR Play First, Work Later?

            Percieving (Tend to want to collect all the data possible and delay making decisions)

            Judging (maybe a better term today is “closure”) (Move to decision quicker and seek to get closure)

 

Taken from: https://medium.com/@AddsTake/understanding-myself-part-ii-mbti-491129c4db42

These four areas make up 16 types. If you already knew how that math worked you probably know you prefer S and T!

From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myers%E2%80%93Briggs_Type_Indicator#/media/File:MyersBriggsTypes.png

Taken from: https://www.toolshero.com/psychology/myers-briggs-personality-test/

 

So…. Authors….

-1. Helps keep characters in character. ( https://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/out-of-character/ )

-2. Keep characters different! ( https://www.kmweiland.com/myers-briggs-and-writing-my-characters-personalities/ )

-3. Builds Conflict! ( https://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/4-places-find-storys-best-story-conflict/ )

                -a. Internal conflict of personality vs need in a situation

                -b. Differing personalities (or two who are identical but with different goals!)

                -c. Give your character their worst nightmare!! (i. e. Introvert speaking or an extrovert isolated)

-4. Allow your characters to surprise you!  ( https://writingcooperative.com/how-to-create-characters-for-your-novel-using-a-personality-test-19643ef4794b )--> Take the MBTI as your character to find out more about them!

From: https://www.well-storied.com/blog/character-personalities

 

 

 

 

Middle Grade Fiction

 

Chattacon Presentation - View It Here

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 Chattacon Presentation - View It Here

I led a breakout session today at Chattacon. ( https://chattacon.org/ ) on Middle Grade Fiction. Why I am by no means an expert, I have spent my time in my writing career learning this genre and it's close counterpart: Young Adult. For those who were there and would like the slides or for those who are interested in the presentation I have included the link here. Let me know in the comments if for any reason the link does not work.

Chattacon Presentation - View It Here

The ugly link:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1I6dfXAnOkgLdbdG869TYa6nMFl98i8ATF57enqL7GPw/edit?usp=sharing

Chattacon!!!

 

GO TO THE MAIN SITE NOW! - CLICK HERE

GO TO THE MAIN SITE NOW! - CLICK HERE

Friday, January 14th - Sunday, January 16th 

I'm excited to be on several panels during Chattacon.

Friday I am hosting a panel on Middle Grade Fiction. More to come about this for sure and I'll try and post my resources here as well. 

GO TO THE MAIN SITE NOW! - CLICK HERE

I will be promoting my latest MG Fantasy!  Freckles: The Dark Wizard

"Anyone who has ever survived middle school will enjoy this. The magic is cleverly original, and RumpleBottom (which is dodgeball plus magic) is suitably vicious. The author knows middle school from bottom to top. Human nature doesn't change much, magic or no magic." - John McBride

I will be at Chattacon!! 

I am super excited on Saturday to be doing a panel with the highly sought after MD Cooper. Her work is fabulous. The panel is on character development. I hope if you are in the area you can attend! Chattacon is a great con and this will be a superb panel.

original image Source

See her Good Reads here - or just google MD Cooper!

I'll also be doing a fun panel on Dune with a great local author who also works at UT Chattanooga. Check out his blog here!!

ETHAN'S BLOG

In addition, I'll be in a panel regarding Self, Small Press, or pursuing an agent in regards to publishing. Those who read my blog know that is something I've started writing about a lot recently.

Oh! And shameless

 self-promotion!!

My Chattacon Profile (you know... to prove I'm actually invited...):

https://chattacon.org/person/jerry-harwood/#

And be sure to check out my latest!!

Freckles: The Dark Wizard

(Self Published)

Twelve Hours on the Block

(Indie Press Published)

Easy, Healthy packed lunch

Quick Meal Prep Pasta

 

Here is one I can make in less than 15 minutes. I usually make two days worth, but you can flex the recipe to make it for however many days you want. 

It is delicious, fairly healthy, and good when reheated in the office microwave (I hate microwaves).

Ready? Okay. Did I say this was a quick meal prep for a busy night? I did. Okay... then make sure you don't judge my dirty stovetop. This recipe is made in a "normal" house. If you own a glass stove top, that means a little burn around the edges most days.

Pot #1: Prep noodles per package directions (or precook and reuse the pot for pot #2 recipe. Then it is a 1 pot meal).

Pot #2: Sauce

    - Chop an onion and set in pot with a little olive oil (or butter). Add a teaspoon of garlic and sauté. (I sometimes use a bit more garlic.... measure with your heart).

- Add cherry tomatoes, cover and steam on medium heat (5.5 on my front eye). I usually do about 8-10 per serving

- Steam until the skin is wrinkly like one of those wrinkle dogs (see picture to left). When you get there, mash it up all together.

- Add noodles and stir

-serve with a bit of parmesan cheese and a meat. I dice some fully cooked sausage. If serving for dinner, heat the sausage before serving.

Yep.... That is it!!  You are done!!!! Trust me, you will love it. And it can be crazy adaptable with different proteins (I love shrimp) and noodle types. I used whole wheat spaghetti here but love some penne also.

My Easy (yeah... seriously...) Lasagna

 SEE THE WHOLE RECIPE HERE

I know I have said it before, but it bears repeating. I love food and I love cooking. I hate recipes that require four hundred steps. Especially the ones claiming "Best Hamburger You've Ever Eaten from Simple Ingredients You Have IN Your Kitchen." Then, as you scroll through the forty pages of how they mother brought the recipe over on the Mayflower and why they like wooden roller pins but plastic cutting boards, you come to some instruction as follows: "Take three hairs from a Muskrat and twine them together with nylon rope and the innards of a carefully marinated field mouse." Okay, it may not be that drastic. But you know what I mean. That recipe that claims to be simple, but in reality involves an hour of prep, tons of ingredients, and you have to be a trained chemist to make it.

Want to be a chemist? Shameless plug for my chemist friend's mystery series!

I keep my recipes simple. I don't spend hours on something already done pretty well commercially. I also don't skimp on deliciousness to be organic, vegan, or gluten free. In fact, if you have a few extra jars of gluten, send it my way. I'll mix it in. But enough intro. Here is the recipe:

THE INGREDIENTS:

- Lasagna Noodles (Duh)

- Your favorite Pasta Sauce (I like MIDS marinara or MIDS Sausage)

- 1lb ground Itallian sausage

- 1/2 to 3/4 lb ground beef

- pack of mozzarella cheese (usually 16oz but recipe is flexible)

- tub of Ricotta cheese (mine was 14oz. Again, flexible. We aren't chemists!)

- one onion (I like the Vidalia)

-one egg

- tblspn of minced garlic (or use fresh garlic, or garlic powder. I love the jar ready to use and it lasts forever in the fridge)

- Italian Seasoning (This one has salt and pepper already in it. If not, might add a little of that)

Ten Ingredients. I know. But trust me, it is easy. I have divided these steps up into three parts. The longest is the meat sauce. DO the other two in and around that prep.

PREHEAT YOUR OVEN TO 375 degrees

THE MEAT SAUCE:

    -1. Chop up your onion and sauté 

        There are LOTS of theories about chopping onions. Here is mine. I cut the ends off. Throw them away. I cut the first two layers. It is easier to peel away two layers than one. I throw them away. Wasteful? Maybe. Onions are cheap and you can buy them in bags for under $3 or individually for under $.50. Not worth crying over.

    I saute mine in a tsp of olive oil. If you don't have that just throw them in with the meat. If cook ahead of the meat, only saute till they turn clear (2-3 minutes).

-2. Add the sausage and hamburger into your pot. Brown meat.

-3. Add pasta sauce (I usually use 1/2 to 3/4 of a jar as I like my lasagna meaty and not super saucy. But you do you.)

THE NOODLES: 

-1. Follow the box instructions. I lay them on wax paper after to keep them from sticking. Others butter them (yummmm.... butter....). Or just have impeccable timing.

THE CHEESE:

-1. In a bowl, mix the Ricotta, 2-3 oz mozzarella (a fist full), an egg, and some Italian Spice (teaspoon or to taste)

ASSEMBLY!!

Spray your pan (I used an 8x8, but you can make it in a longer pan too) with cooking spray (or not).

Lay down a little sauce, then noodles, cheese mix, meat sauce, mozzarella, noodles, cheese mix, meat sauce, mozzarella, noodles, meat

Honestly, I probably do this a bit different every time. It is flexible. I would suggest ending with the meat to cook. Don't worry, you'll throw some cheese on top at the end.

COVER and cook 25 MINUTES

UNCOVER, ADD MOZZARELLA CHEESE (Parmesan optional) and cook an additional 25-30 minutes (cheese brown and bubbly)

Now.... LET IT SIT for at least fifteen minutes. This is critical. Then enjoy!

My family eats our salad and salivate over it.

Target is not yet ready to fight Agism.

 For those who know me, you know I am a straight, middle - aged white guy. That's right. The one everyone loves to hate these days. Not only that, but I'm employed, volunteer at my local firehall, go to church, and dare I say it... even give money to charities. I know... quite the villain, right?

Original Link

Well, as many of my friends point out, there is nothing I can do about it. But I have been inspired by recent movements in the political world. And, as my friends will also tell you, I am cheap. My wife fussed at me a while back for only making cabbage when it was on sale. That's right, I waited until $.79 cabbage went on sale for $.64. 

Original Link

My moment of emancipation from the shackles of prejudice came at Target. I was in line behind an elderly man. He was very personable and he and I chatted at length over the old "WPA" vs the new "stimulus to stay home." His opinion was that the government should pay people to work rather than pay to not work. His monologue ended when the cashier asked him if he was having a good day and began scanning his items. I thanked him again for his service in the military (Vietnam Veteran) and watched as he pushed his buggy to the end of the check-out area. There he told the lady he wanted to access his senior discount. "Access" was his term and I thought it was spectacular. Not "Can I have?" but "I'd like to access my senior discount."

And right there, holding some must-have clearance halloween candy I realized this man hand placed his thumb on the next critical issue. Access. Because of my age I had been denied access to an American privilege: the discount.

As I stepped up to the counter I followed my new mentor's lead. 

"I would like to access my discount too please."

"What discount?" came the question from the cashier.

"I'm a volunteer first responder and a teacher."

"None of those people have discounts."

"Okay, I also identify as a sixty-five year old man."

The cashier stopped scanning and looked up at me. Then said, "You can't do that."

And there it was. Target, and perhaps America, is not yet ready for age identification. Last time I tried it was in the late eighties. I suggested that I was already twenty-one. We were not ready then, either.

Like you, this great sadness led me to do what all Americans do when sad. Google. Search the internet for like-minded people, to build social connections, and hopefully make our voices heard. Turns out, I am not alone.

Emile Ratelband, age 69, sued the state suggesting his birth certificate was mistaken. It said he was 69, but he identified as 49.

See his story here or Here

Now at this point, I had a choice to make. Continue searching for other lost souls who identify a different age and seek to campaign for change, or read this cool article I found on 25 dumb lawsuits. Knowing I had to go to work soon, I did the latter.

25 weird lawsuits

Here are a few of my favorites where the plaintiff won.

Jian Feng sued his wife for lying about being ugly. What? Yes.... Apparently when they had their first kid the conversation went something like this:

Jian: Can I hold my child?

Wife: Yes, here you go."

Jian: "Wait a minute, you know how every parent says their kid is beautiful? I can't - this kid is ugly."

Wife: "That is your son."

Jian: "No way. You are good looking and I am good looking. You must have cheated on me with some really ugly dude."

"Wife: "No, but I never told you I spent over $100,000 on cosmetic surgery. I used to be ugly as (bleep)."

Jian: "That's it. I want a divorce and am suing you for $120,000 for lying to me.

And he won....

Next we have Daniel Dukes, who in 1999 decided to self-identify as a whale. He proceeded to try and swim with a whale and... surprise... you swim with the killer whale... you sleep with the fishes at Sea World. The family sued the park for failure to put up proper signage. They apparently needed a sign that said something like: 

Attention anyone who identifies as a whale. These whales, while the same as you in spirit, may be bully whales and can cause damage to your self-esteem and spinal cord if you choose to swim with them."

Original here

And last, there is the suit by David Roller - He claimed that David Copperfield stole his God-like powers.

Now, not to be conspiratorial, but there is debate if this lawsuit actually happened or just the musings of Roller. Of course, it should be said, that the first thing David Copperfield would do with God-like powers is get rid of whomever gave them to him. Classic cover-up story. 

And the second thing he would do? Obviously, change his age. Ageism has no impact on the wealthy, wizards, and those with god-like powers. For the rest of us, we must wait patiently still at the mailbox for our AARP cards.

Big Foot Hunting Licenses!!

UPDATE!! 

I"VE BEEN TO THE RESEARCH MUSEUM!!

My family asked me what I WANTED TO DO. This is rare. I usually get asked if I would like to do something. Seldom do I get to choose. So, naturally, I said I wanted to day trip to the nearest BigFoot museum. 

My closest one is in Cherry Log, GA right outside Elijah.

I met a little resistance at first, but the 13 year old won the day with her decision to accompany me on my day quest.

When you pull up to the museum you immediately know you are in Sasquatch country. You are in the valley between several mountains, one side being a national park. Just inside the door is a board where people have pinned their personal, local sitings.

Inside, you purchase your museum tickets (a mere $8 per attendee). Then your host opens the velvet rope and lets you into the exhibit. This will not be the last time you see red velvet though. Among other items, the museum hosts a certified plaster butt print of a BigFoot sitting on the velvet cloth. 

In addition, there are small tv screens with eyewitness reports. We saw national guardsmen who entered the woods for a seek and rescue operation (downed helicopter - the museum had some of the wreckage). At the crash site they came face to face with several "Wild Men."

There is the very convincing man in his Carhart overalls (also on display) that met a BigFoot face to face in his tree stand. He had a harrowing experience outrunning it and its friend back to his truck. 

But lest you think this is all for show, they also have casts of footprints, verified pictures, recordings of BigFoot at night (thats the one that took one of my family members from a 3 to a 6 on the "I Believe scale"). There are historic accounts from around the world, newspaper clippings from all over, maps, and this great listing of BigFoot diet preferences:

sorry for the poor film quality. There is something about Sasquatch research that leads to such fuzzy filmography. But I promise this sign was not a fabrication. It was really in the museum.

My family all left captivated. Everyone, whether it was the one who said they were a "1" or me (I went in as an "8" on the "I Believe" scale) came out more a believer.

And the good news is that these museums are all over the country. People who love BigFoot (one man we saw a video of witnessed BigFoot 40 years ago and is still on the hunt for a second glimpse) want to share their findings. 

Here is the one I attended:

Expedition: BigFoot!

But there are many, many more around the country and around the world!

Yes, we did go on from the museum to visit an authentic mine. We panned for gold and saw how miners lived in the 1800's. Yes, we ate southern style (fried chicken, cream corn, green beans, pot roast, mashed potatoes, fried okra, cornbread, etc...) at the Smith House. We even walked the town square in the little nearby town of Dahlonega, GA. But on the way home the talk was still all Sasquatch.

I for one, can't wait for my family to grant me another day to decide our path. It may be a while, but if there is one thing a true believer must have - it is patience.

ORIGINAL BLOG POST:

 

Buy the Bumper Sticker Here

Finally!  A state with some sense for increasing revenue AND giving people what they want!

And what is it people want, you ask? Stimulus checks? Better jobs? Lower interest rates? 

Hell no.

Big Foot. Stuffed and mounted over the fireplace.

And Oklahoma, once the land of the pioneer looking to make a new life for him and his family, has opened up yet another great opportunity. They have legislation on the table to provide an official Bigfoot hunting season.

Watch the video here!

In January, 2021, Oklahoma Rep. Justin Humphrey made a move that will place him on Mount Rushmore one day. He introduced a bill to the state legislature to open up licenses for Bigfoot hunting season.

There seems to be some debate whether the Big guy even exists. I did a quick google search and came up with incontrivertible truth. Incontrovertible  coming from the Latin: Incontro meaning "super fuzzy" and veritable meaning "out of focus picture

You may not be convinced, but be aware that the FBI have an actual file on the Big Guy. This article tells you all about it... well... except like any good conspiracy the forms are redacted and you have to subscribe to the History Channel newsletter to read all about it.  Link Here

The good news for you and I is there appears to be no test for belief. The casual hunter and the dedicated Bigfoot man of lore and legend alike can apply for a license, so long as it is the appropriated season.

Read the article here!

Now, I know what some of you are thinking. Hey! Isn't Bigfoot on the endangered animal list? I mean... how many of them are there? Depends on who you ask. But the bill as it is currently given only allows for trapping. It doesn't, however, come with a $25,000 reward.

Now, one expert I heard from says there are actually thousands of them. Just saying. And apparently they like to sneak around at night, look in your windows, and eat your chickens.

Local Bigfoot sightings in Tennessee AND a museum!

This is probably wise and will certainly help people from shooting their mother-in-laws or ex's thinking they had the actual famed beast in their sites. And it will keep the environmentalists at peace with the fact that we in America still want to know the answers to the great questions: Does God exist? When does a cupcake become a cake? And is Big Foot real.

I for one am a believer. And I will definitely be loading up the wagon and hitting the trail to Oklahoma if and when season opens.