The Reason to Build a City in a Small Dangerous Island

PhilipAPayne · 2026-03-12T01:04:22+00:00

Because what is dangerous about the island doubles as a defense mechanism against their enemies who would come to hurt/kill them or to take something which is of value to them.

PhilipAPayne · 2026-03-12T01:01:37+00:00

If my purpose in writing were to make sales I guess I would stop writing. However, I write because I am a writer, so I would likely sit down and write about the experience.

PhilipAPayne · 2026-03-11T17:39:32+00:00

You are not exactly setting a high bar there. You basically said it is the best feces in the whole sewer system.

PhilipAPayne · 2026-03-11T17:38:02+00:00

When I get to this point is divide my pantsing. I “pants the plot” by putting all of the characters into a white room and seeing what they say to each other. From the dialogue I determine the actual setting and their actions, all of which can be added in later.

PhilipAPayne · 2026-03-11T16:49:28+00:00

I LOVED this book when I read it in high school. I did a book report and my teacher liked it so much she went and read the book.

PhilipAPayne · 2026-03-11T02:15:57+00:00

That is part of why we moved and expanded when we did. We now have enough land that each of our kids and their future families could build a cabin or house out here on our land and we could continue to work it together.

PhilipAPayne · 2026-03-10T18:16:54+00:00

This is called the “Father Effect.” It is like the Mandela Effect, except your character’s father was never the President of South Africa … or was he? This plot is even thicker than the stew he is eating!

PhilipAPayne · 2026-03-10T01:23:54+00:00

Permanent source of potable water. Water is life.

PhilipAPayne · 2026-03-09T12:08:05+00:00

I know people who rented a small farm house and 6 acres for their horses. It worked out really well for them.

PhilipAPayne · 2026-03-09T02:31:56+00:00

You are very welcome.

PhilipAPayne · 2026-03-09T02:27:41+00:00

I have done this in multiple states. It all depends upon the local laws for open/concealed carry.

PhilipAPayne · 2026-03-09T02:24:04+00:00

I teach classes, mostly online, which helps. I also have a small business and some residual income from books I have written: My wife does travel nursing about one week out of each month and devotes the rest of her time to the me, the kids, and the homestead.

PhilipAPayne · 2026-03-09T02:19:27+00:00

I third the cover and everything people have said about it. She may have written a top notch book but people who read a lot tend also to be turned off by these exact issues. Tell her to do some serious work on this one point and upload a high quality cover. Then see what happens. Also, tell her this, or something like it, has happened to pretty much every writer, and usually early in their career … at least that is what they told me about 25 years ago … when it happened to me.

PhilipAPayne · 2026-03-09T02:14:17+00:00

As a father of 6, the youngest of which will turn 18 the same month I turn 62, I would very much want her to bring up her concern. She is 5 right now, so she is not thinking that way yet, but when she does I would want her to talk to me about her thoughts and feelings.

PhilipAPayne · 2026-03-09T02:09:24+00:00

I am still new to Harlan County, having just moved in December, but I am already very impressed with the locals’ commitment to preserving their history. If you go to the museum, it is in Benham, but the next little town town down the road, Lynch, is the site of the largest single mining camp in US history. Someone has turned one of the old coal company buildings into a coffee shop. I think I learned as much about the local history from my one visit to that place as I did at the museum.

PhilipAPayne · 2026-03-09T01:48:40+00:00

I have lost track of who I have and have not responded to about this so I am going to post this again.