Joshua Dowidat

Eerie for Thoughts: Thunder & Lightning

Hello Everyone,

First of all I would like to point out that although marvelous and spectacular and fascinating and everything else that it is, lightning is dangerous. Just needed to get that out of the way and to point out that there doesn’t need to be storm clouds for there to be lightning. In certain climates there are such things as “dry lightning” and this phenomenon exits in some areas more than others. However I am sure that we or at least most of us are all aware of the precautions necessary when the dangers of lightning increases and how to prevent any accidents and decrease the risk. If not you can find some good information on the Internet by looking up the National Weather Service or the Center for Disease Control and Prevention under “lightning-safety.” Or simply follow the links:

http://www.cdc.gov/features/lightning-safety/

http://www.nws.noaa.gov/os/lightning/resources/lightning-safety.pdf

Be safe out there this storm season. Continue reading →

Desert Music of the Cicadas

Hello Everyone,

 

Thinking about the hot desert temperatures that have already creeped up on us this summer, I would like to bring to everyone’s attention the sounds of the desert that coincide with that heat.

As I was walking through the desert the other day I was overwhelmed by the sound of the cicadas this year. Some years it seems that they are more noticeable as the dominant sound of the desert than others. I even caught one for a moment before releasing it to watch it buzz away in frustration because it flew into me and then the house, and then a car, and then the house’s window again. Each time making its little buzz of frustration louder and louder. Silly little agitated bugs. Ha!

Although this will not fit into my Eerie for Thoughts segment I feel a bit of a creepy feeling sometimes when I hear Continue reading →

Eerie for Thoughts: Old Mineshafts

Hello Everyone,

Something that the book Desert Shadows in many ways focuses on is the older mining facilities. In this story it mainly focuses on a particular time-frame and in a particular area. To not ruin anything for everyone who hasn’t read that far in I am going to concentrate on the general feelings that people often have towards these mines.

 

The Open Pit Mine Shafts:

Now I don’t know which one strikes me with a more eerie feeling so I’m going to talk about the two more common ones starting with the open pits. The thing that probably gets me the most with these is the possible accidentally fall to the bottom, bouncing of rocks and whatever other debris exist before you hit the ground. As a child growing up in the desert around these pits I found a fascination and a certain respect for these pits. First Continue reading →

Eerie for Thoughts: Places of the Deceased

Hello Everyone,

This is a subject that could go on for a while. I am going to focus on the basic idea of the sites and what makes me get an eerie feeling.

I would like to thank my brother for this idea because it’s something that I often talk about with books like “Desert Shadows” but seldom refer back too. In fact it was an aspect I was highly considering putting into the book but I never brushed the details of the area enough to find it relevant to the plot.

Curse:

Typically a curse means to cause a misfortunes to someone or some type of consequence will come if someone does something to provoke or initiate the curse upon themselves. Curses can also be those that are given to someone by accident or by a person who can grant them to their benefit from the outcome. Some Continue reading →

Writer’s Block or Fatigue

Hello Everyone,

Thanks for checking in again. To start things off I would like to give my thanks to all of the fallen soldiers for their sacrifice to protecting our country and freedom. Those who gave all so I could be here today have my utmost respect and I would like to thank them and I give my heart out to their families as well. Thank you on this Memorial Day.

 

I often see the question come up about writer’s block or similar references to not being able to think about what a character or plot line is supposed to do next. Don’t get me wrong this happens but most often I get writer’s fatigue.

Writers Block:

Most times when I read about how other authors deal with this “block” they say they do some reading, go for a walk, watch some television, or maybe just meditate. I am Continue reading →

More Creepy Crawlies: Kissing Bugs

Hello Everyone,

Today since we are moving into the summer months in southern Arizona and…well…most of the country I want to address another topic of concern. Kissing Bugs.

Triatominae

These bugs are some nasty little creatures, to me, and are probably the only bug that gives me the hee-bie-jee-bies. They hide out during the day and come out at night, although I have been hit by them even in the daylight while out tanning away from any other source of cover. Just my luck, right?

Anyways, these kissing bugs gets their nickname from the wounds that would occur on sailors while Darwin was cruising his ships around the oceans of the “New World” at that time. The sailors would have their marks around their lips because of most likely the carbon monoxide emitted from the breath that attracted the bug. They feed on blood. I know creepy right. They inject Continue reading →

Eerie for Thoughts: Pictures

Hello Everyone,

Just thinking about my upcoming photo session so I can get some pictures of me on the Internet and began thinking. I was thinking about some of the scary pictures I use as wallpaper on my computer and other types of pictures I’ve seen. Most of mine relate to an eerie feeling or what some might consider horror or just plain sick but lots of them were put on there for inspiration or to move my thought process along. Don’t get me wrong not all of my pictures are like this I do have landscape sceneries, animals, funny things and other stuff and am not totally divulged in this darker world.

The Main Picture that Comes to Mind:

The main picture that comes to my mind when I think of a scary or eerie picture is the one from the 1990 movie The Witches. For all of you Continue reading →

Desert Shadows: Characters Part 2

Hello Everyone,

Thanks again for reading and since I know some of you enjoyed the insight into my character development I thought I would share a little more.

The Tics and Peeves:

I hope I spelled that right but what I mean by this is the finer toned parts of characters when I develop their attitude or their personalities. What makes them Tic? What are their peeves? Really all those little things are what I find interesting in character development. They are the same things that make us stand out in the real world from other people. I know many of us fit into social niches of some extent but we are still separated by those things that make us, us.

When did I Start noticing this?

When I was writing Desert Shadows there were several characters that were developed more than the others. Sometimes in my random thoughts and Continue reading →

Eerie for Thoughts: The Alnwick Castle

Hello Everyone,

Happy Friday the 13th.

First off I know I’ve been doing a lot of segments lately about vampires. It just so happens I was looking at a castle that I have always admired this week named the Neuschwanstein Castle. This castle was built in more modern times compared to other castles of the dark ages. Actually started construction in 1869 making it a beautiful yet young castle. One day I hope to venture there and fulfill a dream I once had of that place. Anyway I found another castle that possesses a darker feel to it. One could maybe say it’s eerie.

The Alnwick Castle:

This castle was built in 1096 but was not recognized until it was overtaken by Scotland. The castle was almost destroyed at one point but survived leaving it to intrigue our imaginations into the present times filling in the background in notable movies Continue reading →

Desert Shadows: Characters Part 1

Hello Everyone,

Something people have asked me about is how I came up with the characters in my writings. Many times the characters are based on something that I envisioned when trying to capture an audience’s attention to feel a particular emotion or way about a character. Sometimes this is based on segments of my life where I felt a certain way and I try to put these feelings into words for the character for the audience to later relate too. I know, it sounds confusing but that’s the way I look at it. Sometimes certain influences can be from something I saw in my life or a way a person reacts to something. I will change it to make the character different from an actual person I met, but I keep the actions on a similar basis. Sometimes this gets tricky because I try not to mirror everyday life Continue reading →