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njc wrote:I'm going out of my gourd right now. I've replaced my cellphone but--the existing stock of slide phones are incompatible with all the apps that were loaded on my old slidephone, including yahoo mail, chrome, and the Google play store app.
So either I have a phone I can type on, that can't run my apps, or I have a phone that the apps will deign to run on, but that I can't type on.
I feel like throwing wooden shoes through the touchscreen factories ... . If I'd bought the new phones in a certain narrow time window, they would have gotten the update to the Android OS.
And I still can't schlepp my computer around with the PbSO4 battery pack. I've just shelled out money for three spare flaptop batteries. If I can keep them charged, I'll be able to use it most days (while I rehab my legs). (The problem is tying up another hand with that 28+lb battery pack.)
Norm, when you get your list of curses, send it my way. I need it. (My good guys never curse. My bad guys have yet to do so, but their character will be worse than any words they could utter.) Sorry, this is this best U-tube I could find.
I don't know njc, reading this, I think one can learn how to swear without swearing! This has #$%&^$%#$#$%&#$@&&&%$# written all over it without using one f-word. Nicely done, and well played.
That said, hope this is the last manure that the universe are going to throw at you. Hang in there!
One guy will be killed from behind with a dagger, so I'm thinking kidneys kind of area. Second guy will be killed facing the bad guy and the bad guy will use his dagger again (I think, might be sword, still trying to write this argh). Wonder if that will be able to clip the femoral artery? Because that will be freakin perfect.
Thanks njc!
Awesome info! You've given me several options how to do this - it will be either the 1-2 or the 4-5 minutes options. The last 1-3 days way I'm so going to use although maybe not this time around. And sorry, this one is for K - only good guys dies dead. The good news, you're going to find out who's the villainous villain! The bad news is, he's not dying yet. 
amy s wrote:Stabbed where? Chest? Abdomen? Neck? Shoulder?
Now that you mention it, good question!
Abdomen. I'm thinking from a lower position in an upward drive movement kind of thing.
Civilians. Check.
Kittens. Check.
Full-grown mouser. Check-ish - I think this is more dragon fodder?! 
ps - njc, that video almost got me to like cats ... almost.
Okay, I think this is more for Amy, but anyone else is also welcome to chime in (Amy likes it to correct people )
In any case, say someone is stabbed with a knife or impaled with a sword, how long before they are dead dead?
And yes K, in the next chapter not one, but two peeps will die. I hope it'll make you proud, but I think probably not. I'm still hoping though. I might even kill a horse or two or three too ..... Bad guy can't leave any witnesses behind!
njc wrote:If you're wondering where I've been ... my cellphone died, so I can't do anything unless I'm at my computer. And I won't be able to carry my computer bag for at least a week and maybe ten days. I don't expect to be able to carry both my bags (plus battery pack) for four to six weeks. I'll be using the cane probably into July, and I don't expect to be in shape to negotiate the stands of a ballpark until at least then.
And I have to see--carefully--how long drives affect me. I took an 80-minute-each-way trip for an errand, and it didn't seem to do me any harm. I'll have to push that gently, but I hope to be able to go up to Methuen sometime during their season.
(If you're near Boston on a summer Wednesday, put that on your itinerary: mmmh.org . I can't promise you'll like the music, but I'm pretty sure you'll have to pick your jaw off the floor as you walk up the seating aisle.)
Don't worry about us! Look after yourself first. We'll be here waiting once you're sorted. Hope it's soon though!
Elisheva Free wrote:I need some assistance in coming up with appropriate curse words. I would prefer to save sh*t and f*ck for when characters are either really pissed off, or really screwed, so I kind of need some in-between curse words. Elementalism (This sounds funny. I might change it later.) is the main religion and they believe in reincarnation, so I can't exactly use "damn" and "Hell" when characters are cursing. All I've come up with so far is "by the Eternal" and "Eternal's breath", but even that was half-stolen from my favorite video game series.
-Elisheva
Damn, there goes my suggestions to hell. I'll leave this to the professionals then.
vern wrote:I don't belong to any Facebook groups so don't anticipate that problem. However, if I did, I would go through a fairly large time-frame and check the number of posts by others, to especially include Mark, and get an average per day count over the long haul and then compare those statistics with a similar time-frame of your posts -- say one a month or whatever. I would then post the results (assuming they make my point of course) along with a more dramatic note to the effect you did, showing/telling Mark (and any other likeminded authors) to shove their posts into a deep dark hole and then proceed to delete the account. But that's just a not so civilized me. Take care. Vern
LOL! C'mon Vern! We can't allow facts to infiltrate the internet, now, can we? So we should all be grateful it's Janet and not you! Deep down inside, I like this A LOT though.
Janet Taylor-Perry wrote:Guys and gals,
I am a member of a number of Facebook groups. Some of them are pages for local writers' groups that I have to pay dues to. I am so pissed off. This is a conversation of Facebook with the "president" of one of those groups. As you all should know, I just released King Satin's Realm. On April 13, I was a part of National Library Week with a large group of authors. And on Easter Sunday I placed in the top 10 Mississippi Reads in the state's largest newspaper. Finally, yesterday, I had a release party and signing at a local bookstore. Yes, I posted about those things in this group. Tell me if I'm wrong to seriously consider not sending money to renew my membership in this group.
MARK
Janet: I have you logged for 6 separate posts from April 13-29 on the Guild page. We cannot have an author posting so many times. I do not want to block you, but you must use restraint. The MWG Facebook page isn't like a twitter feed. Once again, we appreciate your moderation. Thanks
4:35PM
ME
You know, I don't post for several months running and only post to announce events and book releases. No more events until June. No new releases before the fall, if then. If you notice, my new book was released on my birthday, April 14, and I had a signing yesterday at Bay Window Books. The only other time I ever post is if I share a fellow member's news. But it seems fellow members never want to share my news or accomplishments. So, rest assured, I won't post, even if I win a Pulitzer.
In my opinion, this looks like a made-up rule (have to luv them! /sarc) and a sensitive group (can't handle other's success). Personally, I have enough shit in my life so that I don't have to pay for more. Go on and win that Pulitzer. Oh, and f#ck them too.
Not as far as I know. But in general, it's true and not only for books. Depending on what you need, a few Aussies could actually pay for their tickets to fly to the US and back ... Yes, at one point, Aus was THAT expensive. It's better these days though with the whole mining boom and economy going to shit.
amy s wrote:Revs the tank. Brummmmmm. I don't rewrite anything. Someone between J and L (the artist formerly known as KSkip) merely makes the rules, refuses to change when inconsistencies are noted, and then changes his mind/forgets three books later. I think he hopes that no one will notice.
Ergo, I don't make the holes in that plot. I just drive through the tissue paper while he orders me to, "Stahp."
Brmmmmmmmm. This steering bar makes my tank go forward. Or it is the trigger to shoot. Not sure. I must experiment...
Kdot wrote:Janet (AJ) Reid wrote:Black J eat 'too amazing' for breakfast. Just saying
For the record, [K a j o]'s pre-breakfast snack consists of a bowl of amazing, one small army, and the entire Buckingham Palace. And that's on his days off.
Keep this up and I might actually start to like Ka-aah-j-oh. Love seeing a royal army in ruins first thing in the morning!
K. wrote:Don't overthink the enigma of [K a j o]. He's too amazing to contemplate.
Anyway, I can't review that chapter in terms of safety, but I will look for the other items you mentioned
Black J eat 'too amazing' for breakfast. Just saying. 
Norm d'Plume wrote:amy s wrote:Oh, the PLOTBUSTER has found another part to sink her teeth into. Kjuice nearly puts the talisman on Ingarth because she ports away from a poisoned meal and might die. She also has telepathy. Why has K-jam, the E-licker failed to mark his own DAUGHTER? Telepaths are owned by their lightbulbs. (Why would K let her walk around without a mark, waiting to be claimed by a random enemy?) (why was Ingarth able to read the K-steer at the poison banquet? A weak telepath couldn't bust through his electrostatic awesomeness. Kwaaaaan was barely able to do that and you are letting a kid get away with this?
Thank goodness I have my handy dandy decoder ring to figure out what you're trying to say...
Only thing I took away is that Amy is really looking out for the person who's initial is between J and L in the alphabet (as always, really nice of her!) and has found another hole for her tank to drive through. So, all and all, good?
Elisheva Free wrote:
I'll play it safe and use the wall for my notes.
Nope, I saw How to Train your Dragon. The secret's out!
amy s wrote:Janet, are you SERIOUS about going to War next year? I clapped in front of the keyboard when you wrote that. Will get you the dates. No strings attached. If you can go, then awesome. If not, I'll just have to head to the other ocean. But OMG, it would be FUN!
A
Don't get toooo excited yet ... mr C still needs to be convinced to either (a) come with or (b) let me go while he take care of the kids .... I'm going to try though. I'll even cry crocodile tears about how he is supporting me so much in writing this bloody book and how I appreciate it and he can't stop supporting me now ... or something. But yeah, it would be an amazing experience!!!!!! This year is out, next year stands a much better chance and it gives me time to blackmail mr C!
njc wrote:And if businesses did their accounting the way governments do (including pension contributions) their owners/executives would do serious jail time.
My favourite is when they say: any proceeds from the sale of XYZ will be taxed, losses are not tax deductible. I'm like, WHAT THE FUCK? Is this for real and legal? But yep, we're the government, do as we say, not as we do. And then they wonder why people started to open offshore accounts and what not. But instead of fixing the fucking system, they just add more complexity on top of the complexity. Then again, don't think big business is far behind the government. I have good reason to say entrepreneurs and small business. Big business can afford the really shady (probably ex-IRS) accountants. But I'll take Dirk's approach and have Amy's thread return to business as usual in three, two, one ...
amy s wrote:Way more than I ever knew. Who knew that dual citizenship was such a curse? I just pay the accountant 150 dollars (because I have a rental property) and he sends the paperwork in the mail. Janet must be filing as independent contractor and paying taxes by herself instead of being deducted. I think they have to do this once every three months. Or is it every 6? Not sure.
NJC,
Metastasis, metastasized. You got it right.
Janet, I'm working on more Alda. That comes next. I've got the outlines for two chapters. I just have to write out the story.
Nope, I'm fully employed on US terms which means I get paid a salary and tax is deducted as for everyone else. For tax purposes, I'm a resident. For everyone else, I'm an alien. Go figure. So we all better meet to make all this suffering and pain worthwhile!
Norm d'Plume wrote:Cross-border issues can be a nightmare. I used Turbotax for years and it was very easy. However, it never warned me that additional forms are required for "US persons" with foreign bank accounts. After 15 years of not filing the necessary forms, I discovered the penalties for not submitting them for years could have wiped me out financially. Had to hire a cross-border tax lawyer and redo just six years of returns. Then came even more forms for the same damn Canadian retirement accounts. New penalties vary from a minimum of $10K to 50% of the value of each foreign account.
For tax year 2016, I'll have to do an "exit" tax return, a resident tax return (for 27 days), a non-resident return (for the rest of 2016), and a Canadian tax return. Canada now demands the same disclosure of foreign bank accounts, which will include all my U.S. accounts. Because of US retirement and pension plans, I also believe I have the privilege of having to do a tax return for both countries for the rest of my life.
Make sure you do your online FATCA filing on time. That's the most important. Virtually the same information is required on form 8938, which you submit with your tax return. If you have foreign accounts (even if they're retirement accounts), you may also have to pay income tax on yearly gains in those accounts. I got away without it because of our tax treaty with the U.S., but your mileage may vary.
I haven't heard about FATCA yet, so I'm probably overdue with that one. Only the 8938 have been mentioned so far. I'm not contributing to a 401k at the moment, I'm losing my employer's contribution, but given the penalties and tax implication, I don't think overall I'll be too much worse off. We're also not thinking about buying a property or getting a green card, so when this visa expires, so do I. I really don't want to sit with this kind of shit for the rest of my life.
If you ever need a shoulder to cry on, I know half of your pain!
njc wrote:You understand why some people would like to rip the whole thing down and replace it. It has metastatized (did I spell tha tight, Amy?) We spend several =BILLION= a year in payments and time just to complete the forms. We could buy off half of Congress for that.
I support anyone who wants to do that. It's impossible to see how a complex tax system like this could ever support entrepreneurs or small business. I don't think I'm stupid, but this is almost doing my head in. It's the first time since I ever started working that I ever used an accountant. True, it's mostly due to the international aspects of it, but %&$#% am I glad I did. I have a suspicion I'm preaching to the converted though.
I hope everyone has recovered from all their hiccups and is back to their old healthy and happy selves. I'll join you towards the end of this week once I click the 'submit' button!
Sometime this week! *crosses fingers* I just need to get through the minefield you Americans call a tax system. Dear heavens and I thought the Australian one was bad. I've never been so grateful for accountants, but I still believe that any average salaried fucking person should be able to complete their income tax return without having a doctorate or an accountant with one. I know more than I did before so that I can check them, but honestly, I had to read a million guides and am not done yet. I will never complain about any income tax guide below 100 pages. Fucking 800+ pages, who the fuck reads/read that?! \endofrant I'm breathing again and looking forward to some Alda humour to brighten the dark tax cloud hanging over my head. Once this is done, I'm going to drink wine, lots of wine.
Sorry I've been quiet for a while, but I'm back to normal as from tomorrow again after a 2-week visit home. But in any case, who's thinking of entering the SS comp this year? I'm considering to do it, but only if it doesn't interfere with my progress otherwise.
I'm back (sort of, still battling jet-lag somewhat, but I should be over the worst by tomorrow)!!!!!! Anyhows, who's thinking to enter this year? I'm going to give it a go if I can find the time to do so. I really don't want this to side-track the whole thing, although I think I can manage to avoid it.
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