Zack's Powers

[David]

The other Zack is still there but pretty much in gibbering terror at all that has happened. The last book kind of made it clear that it was Zack's time to step up and protect them, mirror him is kind of a mess at any other demon presence or confrontation. If I remember right, its been a while since I read as well.

Mirror him is a split personality, not another person as far as I know. I am pretty sure it was explained that he created that other personality to deal with his father's torture and living inside the inroads for so long as a child.

[daniel1948]

[Ronald Dukarski]

I have read Friendzone, but I must have missed it. I have been known to sleep-read though... I'll have to 're-read the book soon and see what I missed.

[daniel1948]

Sleep-reading. That's a new one on me.

[Ronald Dukarski]

Well it's when you keep reading even when you start getting so tired you don't realize you've fallen asleep sometimes I've awoken to find I'm finished with a book when really I've just managed to touch my Kindle screen and paged through the rest of the book accidentally. I've had to 're-read pages, chapters, and sometimes even whole books to pick up what I missed. What can I say, when I get involved in a book I can't seem to put down, I don't, usually. Hey, Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas, to youuuuu.... (I know out of key, but it's the best I can do.)

[David]

I've been so tired I cant remember a word of the last few pages I have read, but I don't think I ever took it to your level!

[daniel1948]

When I was studying for my amateur radio exams (something like 30 or 40 years ago) I found the electronics theory so difficult, that after about two hours of study my brain would go blank, and I'd get to the end of a paragraph and not have grasped what it was saying at all, so I'd re-read it, and sometimes read the same paragraph 4 or 5 times and have no idea whatsoever what I'd read. That was the sign that I had to put the book down and switch to reading something enjoyable. But I never fell asleep over the textbook. And I've read books that were so engrossing that I stayed up well into the night, and occasionally all night (when I w0as much younger than I am now) reading, but again, never fell asleep without putting the book down and turning the light off. As for accidentally turning pages on the Kindle, I have a Kindle DX, so that doesn't really happen. (No touch screen.)

Christmas isn't my thing, but I hope everyone who celebrates it had a happy one.

[Ronald Dukarski]

Daniel, there are some holidays I don't get into at all either, but they come with days off, so I celebrate that. Hope you can too. As far as language and proper usage goes, when I was young and somewhat arrogant, I would correct people all the time. It was my major, and improper grammar and spelling grated on me something fierce. Until a girlfriend, soon to be ex, told me how she felt about it. It took me a while to "dumb-down" my speech enough to be accepted by the general public. Now, I'll even use incorrect speech intentionally in an attempt to keep from sounding stodgy. I think some authors may be aware of some of the errors they put into their work to make it interesting and current. More over the comparison you make between Elizabethan and modern usage, only points to what is happening now with texting being as widespread as it is. Don't you think that spelling and grammar will change in the future? Modern language is evolving, as it is only convention that makes it what it is. One of my favorite essays by Isaak Asimov is" Forget About It". In it he recommends not remembering too many "facts". Do we really need to know how many pecks in a bushel? How many hogsheads in a barrel? These were important at one time,no longer. Thing change, we must change with them , or be left behind.now, before I start sounding like a behind, I'll leave or maybe I'm too late for that.

[daniel1948]

Since I am retired, every day is a day off for me. Since I don't eat meat, I get no enjoyment from sitting in on feasts where meat is the focus of the meal. And since I live far away from any of my relatives, and my few friends are occupied with the aforementioned feasts on holidays, a holiday is for me just another day (like Sundays) when there is no mail delivery. But since I get nothing of importance in the mail other than NetFlix and the annual property tax bill and vehicle registration notice, holidays pass pretty much unnoticed.

But that does not prevent me from wishing that others enjoy their holiday celebrations, as I enjoy my retirement.

Language does indeed change. But I'll continue to be an old fuddy duddy and get upset when people write "your" when they mean "you're", and vice versa, and I'll continue to advocate for proofreading in self-published books.

In other areas, I argue for faster change: As each generation is too confounded lazy to learn the metric system, they condemn each successive generation to living with the stupidity of the imperial system.

It seems as though languages evolve towards simpler and simpler grammar, and with that simplicity comes a loss of expressive potential. Example: English-speakers learning Spanish excoriate the subjunctive mood because it's difficult for them to master because at some time in the past, uneducated, lazy, and stupid English-speakers dropped it and it slipped out of our language. But if you do study Spanish, and manage to learn the subjunctive (which is just a matter of overcoming your laziness -- anyone can learn it) you find that it is massively useful for communicating a certain kind of concept: actions or qualities that are unreal or hypothetical. My point is that the simplification of grammar that happens as people are too lazy to learn the proper use of their own language, diminishes our ability to communicate.

People used to learn spelling. Now they rely on spell-checkers, which only flag a word if it is not in the dictionary. They let it pass if it is the wrong word. Change is inevitable. But laziness leads inevitably to a reduction in the quality of communication. I suspect that Dale skips the proofreading in order to be able to write more books. Speaking for myself, I'd happily pay double so that he could hire an editor.

[Ronald Dukarski]

Daniel,I too, am retired. But to have something to do, I coach little league in the summer and drive school bus the rest of the year. It keeps me active and relevant. I try not to lecture the kids, but try to set a good example for growing up. One of my few rules on the bus is "watch your language." At the beginning of the year, I ask the kids not to swear, not because i haven't heard it before, but because cursing is not expressive enough to convey what they want to relay. It's really unnecessary words that only get in the way. In that respect, more than a few authors muddy up a perfectly good book with flowery language most of which is superfluous. (Which I guess is like the scene in Amadeus where the king tells Motzart there are too many notes in his music, CRUD! But you get my point, I hope.) I enjoy concise literature and language. As far as spell check goes, it is one of my least favorite innovations. I can't remember how many times it has put words in my mouth or really on paper, that I didn't intend. I'll often have to 're-correct (see, there's one now. The apostrophe before the re in re-correct.) It may be that any of the grammatical errors you speak of are not an author's fault at all or at least some of them. But I'm not sure this forum is the proper place for a break down of the writing style of the very person who is hosting it in the first place. If you were to do that in your review to Amazon about Mr. Power's books I think it would be more appropriate. Maybe you could ask Argy of McArgy' s pub if you can open a "critic's corner" in his forum. Anyway gotta go now see ya.