Dance on Fire

Books, Reviews and Giveaways

2012-01-23T00:00:00.000-08:00

Hello there, Fire Enthusiasts. How are things? I am well once again. I am no longer irritating everyone around me with a perpetual clearing of the throat. Thanks for asking. Actually I do want to thank everyone for their kind notes, whether here or on any of the other social networks, I certainly appreciate anytime I am mentioned, especially when folks are asking how I’m doing.

Today, I have come to you to speak about other people's books. I managed to get two novels read since the last time that we spoke. Before I get to them, I want to tell you about some e-books that we are giving away at Kings River Life Magazine.

Many of you may know that I write magazine articles for an E-zine from my neck of the woods. I do one about once a month, and they range from local events in my town to restaurant reviews to pet rescues. This week, on the advice of my fearless Editor-in-Chief, we took a look at the state of publishing and some of the great writers that are out there, myself excluded. She didn't ask me to stay out of it, I just chose to. This was not so much about me, although my writing has certainly benefited from the exciting times that we live in. Instead, I just wanted to celebrate and feature several of the great voices that I have discovered and reviewed in these pages. You no doubt will recall Carole Gill, Erin Cole, Marissa Farrar, Lorelei Bell and Phil Tucker. If you have yet to read their works, visit the magazine with the above link and enter for a chance to win an e-book.

Author Coral Russell and Amador Lockdown.

If you like ghost stories or ghost hunters, then this will be right up your alley. It is the interesting take on ghost hunting and what could happen when you fool around with that sort of thing.

Here’s the official blurb:

Something has moved into the Amador Hotel. Hector, Marcos, Bev, and Tony of the Paranormal Posse are called in to either debunk the haunting or get rid of whatever is causing the problems. With the surprise arrival of Hector's son, he tries to keep his professional and personal lives separate, but whatever is haunting the Amador Hotel has other plans.

I found the story to be well done. It takes place in the American south-west and is heavily flavored with Hispanic references, including language, food and culture. I found that to be a nice change and well thought out, adding a nice spice to an already interesting ghost story. You will also get the perspective of the ghosts in the plot, which I liked. It is given in small bites, so if you find yourself not quite catching on, just give it time.

Being that I knew very little of the actual work of ghost hunters, I found it intriguing to see that there is more than simply walking around “haunted places”. We get to see them giving tours, doing research and speaking to witnesses, using expensive equipment and eventually doing a lockdown where they and several others spent the night. That last decision might have been a bad one, but you'll have to find that out for yourselves.

The story takes a left turn at the end which was quite a different payoff. We go quickly from hunters to questions of possession, where the material takes a very dramatic twist, making Amador Lockdown well worth your time.

Author Greg Sisco and Thicker Than Water.

Welcome to the Greg Sisco channel! *laughs* Having just read One Night Stan’s, which I’m still buzzing about, I went right to his take on vampires, which was the original book that caught my attention to the work this incredible author is doing in the first place. Little did I know!

Sisco has informed me that he has many things going on for this year, but nothing else for me to read at the moment. That’s for those of you who might start worrying that I have become infatuated with his writing. Well, let me tell you that there’s a reason why I immediately launched into his other novel just as soon as I had finished Stan’s, and that it only took me about two days to finish. He’s that frigging good.

Here's the synopsis:

Tyr and Loki are not your teenage sister’s vampires. Their skin is not covered in glitter. They do not drink the blood of possums instead of humans. They view humanity as a secondary species; they have mastered the skill of manipulating and seducing women; and if you find yourself in a room with them, don’t expect the opportunity to say goodbye to your loved ones.

Since the Crusades, the Blood Brothers have waged war on all things wholesome. They have terrorized mankind with their hedonistic and brutal theatrics every night for a thousand years.

Thicker Than Water, the first novel in the Blood Brothers series, spans from Tombstone, Arizona in 1893 to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1999. After Tyr sparks a feud with his domineering brother by impaling him to a wall and abandoning their relationship, a story unfolds weaving together vampires, brothel owners, gunmen, prostitutes, and buckets of innocent blood in a twisted orgy of sex, murder, revenge, romance, betrayal, and brotherly love.

Once again, it isn't necessarily the subject matter that drives my appreciation for what this author is doing, but the exceptional writing. When it's this good it really doesn't matter what the story is. That was my problem with Stan's. I didn't want to know about strip clubs nor did I have any business in one. Once I got that first "taste" of the place; however, I just couldn't walk away. You may find yourself tired of vampires, or perhaps you don't like the subject at all. I guarantee you'll like this; it isn't what you're used to.

A few specific thoughts:

Many readers take issue with flashback scenes, but in this case, I doubt anyone will even notice. They are handled in a timely and well thought out manner, as if in the hands of a master. The plot takes us back and forth from there to present day as if it were a symphony, building towards its ultimate crescendo. Thankfully, the story does not end here, but simply takes a breath, pausing as we prepare ourselves for the next movement in the Blood Brothers series.

Another moment of brilliance occurs as we "see" the best human to vampire transformation I have ever experienced, but I don't want to give anything away. You're going to have to trust me on this one.

On that note, much of the thrill of this story has to do with the reveals. They are not the biggest surprises known to man; however, the plot unfolds in such a way that you may find yourself not thinking ahead, but giving every sight, smell and texture its opportunity to do its work and transport you there.

Last year, the author put up a blog post where he said that he wanted to return vampires to where they rightfully belonged. I can assure you that he has done that in spades. I’m serious folks! As the author himself warns, these are not your teenage sister's vampires. The baton that was brought to us by Bram Stoker, handed over for a fabulous reinvention by Anne Rice, now comes through the murky waters of the vampire romance sub genre, held clean and high overhead by Greg Sisco.

We'll talk soon.

An R-Rated Kind of Week

2012-01-16T00:00:00.000-08:00

Hello, Fire Enthusiasts. I come to you in much better health than I have these past few weeks. The fever and ill feeling are a distant memory, but when my allergies kick in, as they did during the holidays, I usually drive everyone around me crazy for weeks by clearing my throat incessantly. *clears throat*

I wish I could say that I was glad to be back at work this past week, after having those two weeks off at Christmas. Yes, I know; few are usually pleased about being back at work. What I mean by that, however, is my partner at work was transferred, leaving me alone, just as I was the week before Christmas (which contributed to me running myself into the ground). I supervise the Packaging Floor at Sun-Maid Raisin Growers of California, as many of you know. What used to be an 11 hour day is now 12 thanks to this move. I have to be in the office by 3:30 am, since there is so much that needs to get done, and it's all on me now. 120 plus employees, few moments of peace and every cell phone call come to me. *sigh*

The reason that I tell you this is due to the fact that it just makes everything that I am attempting to juggle that much more difficult. I'm working on my third novel, but haven't touched it since my vacation ended. I'm saving several blogs to visit each and every day in my e-mail, but spent all my free time trying to clear through them. Although I had a few things to promote this week, I did very little due to time constraints.

There has been some good news, as my publisher informed me that I should expect the edits on Dance on Fire: Flash Point at any moment. Just that alone will make 2012 a year to remember, and I can't wait to share my sequel with you.

In spite of having very little time, I did manage to get some reading done. I want very much to tell you about it; however, the material is as R-Rated as it could possibly be, so if this is not your cup of tea, I'll just see you next week...

As I was saying, for those of you still with me, I just finished reading a marvelous crime drama by Author Greg Sisco. It is entitled One Night Stan’s and when this incredible piece of fiction is turned into a film (as it surely must be), some things will probably need to be scaled back in order to avoid the dreaded NC-17 rating. It is very good; however, it does contain the roughest language imaginable, mutilation, murder, mayhem and is rampant with sexual situations.

One might ask, why in the world did I read such a novel? What originally caught my attention from this author is a novel about vampires that has a great eye-catching cover, entitled, Thicker Than Water. I'll be reading it very soon, if not next; however, before having an opportunity to read it, I noticed a teaser chapter of Stan’s that he posted and, although that harsh first chapter pretty much epitomizes the entire book, I found myself sucked in by the excellent and often-times brilliant writing.

Now that you have been duly warned, let’s get to the material. As I often do, I will let the author set up his own novel:

Welcome to Scud City, the worst town in America.

The kind of town where when a suitcase packed with money goes missing, college dimwits, punk rockers, a crooked FBI agent, a serial killer, a stripper addicted to torturing men, an un-killable Russian, and a nightclub owner who thinks he’s Frank Sinatra all find themselves in a twisted web of sex, murder, and drugs in pursuit of a nest egg none of them deserve.

And welcome to One-Night Stan’s, the worst strip club in Scud City. Where the floors are linoleum, the air is cigarette smoke, and the night ain’t over till somebody’s a corpse.

Kicking off at sunset and ending at sunrise, One-Night Stan’s is brutal anarchic fun packed with savage violence, anonymous sex, and all those other things nice people don’t laugh at.

Like most people, I’m a sucker for action films. I'm just usually not one for gangster stories or crime dramas. Yet, when the writing is this good, I just have trouble saying no. Though quite graphic, I simply couldn’t stay away. I had to know how it ended.

Taking place over the course of one long and brutal night, One Night Stan’s takes a hard look at the underbelly of a place called Scud City. It contains more villains than one can keep track of, but then in Scud City, there are few innocents. There are no loose plot ends neglected; incredible characters that are so believable that you'll find yourself ducking behind or fleeing altogether; and dialogue that you will not question.

The story is extremely rough, but, if you can stomach it, one of the most amazing stories I have run across in a very long time. It is far from predictable and I dare you to try and anticipate what comes at each and every turn. In fact, forget it! Just sit back and be blown away as I was!

As I mentioned, when this incredible tour de force is turned into a film, just imagine a screenplay written by the brilliant Aaron Sorkin (West Wing, A Few Good Men, The Social Network), directed by Martin Scorsese (Goodfellas, The Departed, Shutter Island, ) and you very well might have an idea of what you will find right now on paper should you venture to the area in and around Greg Sisco’s One Night Stan’s.

We'll talk soon.

Back at Work

2012-01-09T00:00:00.000-08:00

Greetings, Fire Enthusiasts. As always, it is very good to see you... Hmm? Yes, I can see you there. See. *waves* You look great, by the way.

Wow! That wasn't creepy, was it? Practically everyone's got one of those cameras now, so you never know if someone really is staring back at you. I promise that I'm not. In fact, that was what I was trying to tell you. If you're reading this, then that means that it is a new week, second week of January, and I am back to work. Two glorious weeks off and I was sick! Sad, isn't it? Oh, well. There's no use crying about it. My allergies kicked in, as you probably already know. That was Christmas evening. Soon the fever hit, knocking me to the couch for days. I got a lot of dvds watched, but not a whole lot of writing done until week two. You would have thought that I might have caught up on blogging at least, but for several days I couldn't seem to keep too many cognitive thoughts together. So, no; not really.

Actually, I did manage to get some blogging done, and hopefully, many of you noticed me hanging around. I have been putting into practice what I learned at the tail end of last year, which was how much more efficient it is to have posts actually delivered to my e-mail. Now I no longer have to go hunting through time lines, looking for points of interest. Of course, now every time I check my my e-mail I end up having 50 new messages! *laughs* The good news is I can easily manage all of that. Since I can't visit 20 sites a day (certainly not while I'm back to work), I simply visit the posts that speak to me, or perhaps ones where I feel guilt for not having visited in a long while.

When I did feel better, especially during the second week, I began getting up at 7:00 am and hitting trusty laptop while the house was still very quiet for a few hours. While we're waiting for those edits to come in on Dance on Fire: Flash Point, I have set the vampires aside for a while while I work on something to do with ghosts. I have mentioned it before, but I have always wanted to tackle the subject, and things seem to have aligned wonderfully for this to be my next project. I managed to get about 10,000 words done, plus a bunch of research, so we'll see how it goes. For the most part the book is writing itself.

Lastly, I did manage to get a little reading done, too. Last week, I reviewed books by Red Tash and Jerry McKinney. This week, Author Erin Cole's Grave Echoes.

As Amazon's synopsis reads, "The nightmare is real…Kate Waters suffers from narcoleptic hallucinations, which recently involve her unreachable sister, Jev, and a mysterious key. When Kate receives the terrible news concerning Jev's fatal car accident and acquires the strange key from her visions, she unlocks her sister's world of perilous secrets involving witchcraft, poltergeist, and a heartless killer determined to get back what is his. The danger lies in whom to trust.Terrifying paranormal encounters, a trailing wolf, and an attempted murder of one of Jev's friends, forces Kate to turn to the one she fears most, the priestess of Jev's coven, Thea. She challenges Kate's beliefs and provides her vital clues about her sister's murder, but will Kate overcome her fears before anyone else dies? To do so, she will have to trust in a world where the possibilities are unbelievable and the consequences are deadly."

Cole does a masterful job of pairing a paranormal ghost story with a good old-fashioned whodunit. Her protagonist Kate finds herself surrounded by ghosts, a fine mystery and enough potential candidates for our unidentified subject responsible for her sister's death than we can shake a witch's broom at. When I read, I tend to fly through a novel in hope, not of deciphering the mystery, so much as simply enjoying the ride. Perhaps some of you might pace yourself, endeavoring to attempt to solve the puzzle before Kate does. Good luck. Cole does a great job of dangling enough circumstantial evidence and red herrings about that, if you're anything like me, will find yourself convinced of guilt from nearly every character in this novel at one point or another.

I have read quite a few paranormals as well as a few mysteries in my adult life; however, this very well may have been the first time that I have seen the two joined. I worried at one point that the paranormal was going to take a hard left turn toward the end, but that did not prove to be the case. At it's heart, this story is definitely a mystery. There just happens to be enough of the ghosts and dark magic to keep the paranormal fans interested, all the while taking the reader along for a well-written, well constructed and well-plotted ride.

One last thing. Today is the 68th birthday of guitarist, song-writer, producer and Led Zeppelin founder, James Patrick Page. I was a late-bloomer when it came to rock music, missing out on the mighty Zep until introduced at Live-Aid in 1985. After that, I immersed myself in their music and never looked back. They are my all-time favorite band. Because of that, while in high school, many of my friends called me Jimmy Page. One or more still do, all of these years later. So hilarious!

Happy Birthday, Jimmy. Long live the king!
We'll talk soon.

A Couple of Reviews

2012-01-02T00:00:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year, Fire Enthusiasts!

I'm currently on a two week vacation from work, as some of you may know. It came at a good time, since I ended up catching that cold that many of you were sweet enough to offer well-wishes for. I particularly enjoyed reading your medicinal concoctions from the top shelf which promised to get me back on my feet. Bless all of you for both, my dear friends.

You'll be happy to know that I did, indeed, sleep a lot and spend couch time watching dvds. I typically get 6 hours a night and maybe 7.5 on Friday night (Saturday is my one day to sleep in). When the cold hit, I slept 12 hrs. The second night I slept 11. I'm rarely cold, so when I started feeling chills on Christmas Day evening, I knew I was in trouble. Advil finally helped, but I spent a lot of time wrapped up.

Since Santa had brought me my traditional stack of movies, I caught up on both old and new films. I watched the classic Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. Still love that one. I saw X-Men: First Class and came away impressed. I finally saw Cowboys & Aliens. It was a bit long, and obviously unsettling because it is so genre-bending, but otherwise good. I finally saw Spielberg's Artificial Intelligence. Still don't get that one. I love Spielberg, but there was probably a good reason why I avoided that one for so many years.

Since I didn't feel much like trying to write, seated on a stiff chair at the dining room table, when all I really wanted to do was bundle up on the couch, I did try to catch up on some reading, too. However, trying to read with itchy and watery eyes wasn't easy. I do want to thank everyone who held a contest this past fall/winter. It seems as if I won nearly every one of them. Not really, of course, but what I did win caused my TBR pile to fall over. Literally! Lol!

With that in mind, I would like to share with you a couple of recent books that I read.

The first one is from Author Red Tash and entitled This Brilliant Darkness. I found it to be a wholly captivating and imaginative short novel that incorporates elements of science fiction and horror; mixed with great pacing; gripping suspense; and smart, witty and believable dialogue. Interestingly, it is often told in short, quick paragraphs, as if reading long-form poetry.

The story revolves around a mysterious star that suddenly shows up over Bloomington, Indiana. Its appearance seems to be causing some people to hear and see things that are quite out of this world and draws them all together for some wonderful revealing. Soon, a monster shows up who watches the main characters and bides his time before he acts out some preconceived plan. The main characters begin to be given visions and manipulated as if pawns between the forces of light and darkness; of good and evil, to be more precise.

The novel was full of moments of beautiful description and nice touches that brought me fully into the story, and had me walking right beside the rich and fully developed characters. As I alluded to previously, reading these short impact paragraphs with their rapid fire poetic-like versus had me discombobulated initially; however, I soon learned to accept and even appreciate the artistic style.

The second piece that I have recently read is by Author Jerry McKinney. It is entitled Feed, and completely restores my faith in horror’s potential when it comes to the subject of vampires. I write vampires, too, so the subject is near and dear to me. My series is an attempt at crafting something new for the subgenre. McKinney’s short story does this in spades.

The story begins with the main character finding himself bitten by the woman that he followed home. She feeds him her blood and he finds himself unable to stop drinking. Soon he needs more and there things begin to move very quickly and spiral out of his control. Soon, he finds himself alone to figure it all out. He struggles with the position of being half man and half monster, and must learn to control himself and to operate safely out of the watchful eyes of society, prowling the seedy back alleys, shady parts of town and the fringe characters that he finds there.

I could say more, but really do not want to unintentially give any of the surprises away. The beauty of this tale is the fact that for the beginning I fancied it being the same old-same old. The only thing that made it different was the writing. I was totally immersed as the character struggled through his new existence. I could see the sights and smell the foul stench, of not only his haunts, but his actions. The pacing was also very well done.

The pay-off came with a twist, and man was it good! What we thought we knew was suddenly tossed out of a second-storey window where we, along with McKinney’s main character, had been peeking through. We were all duped, let me tell you.

With an unexpected twist and writing that reminded me of the best of Clive Barker, McKinney surprised me and made me an instant convert. Beware reader, Feed might mean more than you think it means.

I hope you had a very Happy New Year. If not, have one! It only just started anyway. Happy writing. Happy reading. *sniffle* I've got to get back to that couch.

We'll talk soon.

Aftermath

2011-12-26T11:49:00.000-08:00

Hello, Fire Enthusiasts. How is everyone? Did you survive the weekend of family, food, presents and fun? Well, I didn't.

I'm sick. What follows shall be my Last Will and Testament...

Okay, perhaps that's a bit far fetched. I'm not great, but I'm not dying, either. My problem, along with many others, is that I suffer from allergies. I take my shot and attempt to stay away from smoke, perfume, candles, etc. I had been doing so well; however, it finally hit me. The last week before Christmas was so busy that I'm guessing that I was in a weakened state and an easy target.

In any event, I neglected to schedule a post before Monday morning. That is why this one is coming so late. With that in mind, and the fact that so many have yet to get back into the swing of things - I'm guessing - I'm just going to drop in to say hello and drop back out. My couch is calling my name, as is the mountain of dvd's that Santa brought me. I would much rather take this first day off of my two week vacation to catch up with all of your blogs, but I know myself, and the last thing that I want to do is be sick for the entire two weeks. Therefore, I plan to take these first couple of days easy...

So, if you have been by recently, what follows will be old news, and I'll just see you next week. If you have not been by in a while then perhaps you might like to view the vlog post that I did last week. It's short, and shows me feeling good and unsuspecting what might happen in a week's time.

I also did a guest post over at Layers of Thought for my new best friend Shellie Nunn. ;) In it, I discussed "dreams" and the 20 years that it took for my novel to see the light of day. If you know that story already, and chances are that you do, we're also doing a giveaway which has another week. I'm giving away some e-books and one autographed softcover. I hope you'll come by and check it out.

Anyway, you guys, thanks for stopping by. I'm going to go now.

If I survive, we'll talk soon.

*grins*

Christmas Vlog

2011-12-19T00:00:00.000-08:00

Hello, Fire Enthusiasts. Since it is the holiday season and all of us are either super busy, or perhaps checking off of the 'net for the remainder of the year, I thought that I would do another vlog post. It's only about three minutes long and hopefully will amuse you.

We'll talk soon.

The Dance on Fire Chronicles

2011-12-12T00:00:00.000-08:00

Hello, Fire Enthusiasts. How have you been? Are the holidays treating you well? I hope so. They can be a trying time, can't they? I wish you all the very best: good health, someone to love and to be surrounded by family and good friends.

I just discovered that I had had a few more positive reviews to add to my collection while I wasn't looking. That's always...wonderful. So, while I await the edits on the sequel to my crossover vampire novel, I thought that I would share them with you, along with the synopsis for each book in what we might be calling The Dance on Fire Chronicles. I don't know about that yet; not sure I like it or not. If you've got something better, I would love to hear it. Seriously. Let's make this place as interactive as we can, huh?

"There are some elaborate reviews (on the Smashwords site), so I don't think I need to add my own. Instead, I'll just say that this is my favorite Vamplit Publishing novel. Read it! You will love the characters, especially the vampires, and the storyline is more than enjoyable." Author Wendy Howard.

The following is the synopsis for my debut, "Dance on Fire":

EachMay, the Central California town of Kingsburg celebrates its Swedish heritagewith the annual Swedish Festival: a weekend event where the town puts on itstraditional dress, culminating with a dance around a Maypole on Friday, and aSwedish pancake breakfast and parade on Saturday. The town with a population ofover 11,000 residents draws thousands more to the event. This year, twouninvited guests also converged upon the unsuspecting town.

Nathaniel is a vampire. He wanderedinto town, bothering no one; feeding upon stray cats and other vermin, wantingnothing more than to have a place to rest his head. Vincent is a secondvampire, and the one responsible for "making"Nathaniel. He has been searching for his long lost “son” for well over twocenturies. Vincent’s goal is to take Nathaniel home or kill him. Nathaniel hasoften wished for death, wondering why God ever allowed this punishment: to walkthe earth undead and unable to be redeemed. Does God remember the little boyfrom Romania who watched his parents die, was raised by the murdering vampire,only to become one himself? What does God think of Nathaniel and could thereyet be redemption for one outside of heaven?

Ten days before the start of theSwedish Festival the most tumultuous week in the history of Kingsburg has begunwith two vampires leaving death and destruction in their wake. Kingsburg PoliceDetectives Mark Jackson and Michael Lopez, Barbara and the entire Lopez familyfind themselves drawn into something that threatens to destroy them all orleave them scarred forever.

Ina marriage of the classic horror story and the Christian themes of goodconquering evil and redemption, "Dance onFire" is the account of characters being drawn into the fire and thesupernatural forces around them watching as they burn.

"I didn't like this novel at first because it started out like a choppy crime novel - you know where you get a piece of the story for each character and it goes back and forth with short paragraphs. Eventually the writing became elegant, especially when the flashbacks and vampire details were included. I enjoyed that quite a bit. I thought it was a strange combination though. It took a while to get into it, but I did end up liking it in the end." Julie from Goodreads.

Now, you might wonder why I posted Julie's review. It's because I liked it. She didn't jump up and down, shouting from rooftops that she had just read the most brilliant book ever; however, she didn't hate it, either. I choose to latch on to the parts where she wrote that the writing was "elegant" and the fact that she "liked it". She gave the story a chance, which is all that one can ask. The fact that she liked it when it was over is a win in my book. I hope many more will give it a chance as well.

The following is from the forthcoming sequel, tentatively titled, "Dance on Fire: Flash Point":

Five years after the death of their only child Tiffany, Steve and Angie Rosen receive an unexpected guest to their Morro Bay, California home: their daughter. She comes with a tale of having suffered a terrible head wound in the fire that took their Kingsburg home, causing her loss of memory and migraine headaches that she must hide from daylight in order to prevent.Tiffany's reemergence is treated like Manna from God. However, her story is only half true. Tiffany is a vampire and no longer the daughter that the Rosen's missed so much. She sleeps during the day and hunts for human blood during the night, and she has come back not to be reunited with her parents. She has come back to enact a twisted revenge upon the town of Kingsburg and those who ruined the plans of her master, the notorious vampire, Vincent. And she is not alone.

Five years after the terrible events that reshaped the Swedish Village, Kingsburg lies unsuspecting as five vampires descend upon her with a great evil in their black hearts.

Five years after old wounds have finally healed and the old fires were thought extinguished, Police Chief Michael Lopez and Officer Mark Jackson and their families find themselves surrounded when fires blaze anew. The good vampire, Nathaniel, has pledged his service to these people, but he is no longer among them. He lives high in the Oregon mountains near the California border, seeking whether God might have a place in His kingdom yet for him.

When Nathaniel discovers that Tiffany has returned, will he be too late to stop her? And will his desire to protect his friends destroy what God has begun in him?

It will all begin with a "Flash point".

Vamplit Publishing is hoping to bring this second chapter of my story to you in early 2012. When it does, you will be the first... Okay, I'll be the first, but then you guys. *grins*

We'll talk soon.

The Historian

2011-12-05T00:00:00.000-08:00

Hello, Fire Enthusiasts. How is everybody? It's a busy time, I know. On top of everything else that we always have going on, we now have the holidays fast approaching. If nothing else, I wish you all good health and safety for you and yours during this crazy-busy time.

Guesting:

Does everyone know author Red Tash? I had the pleasure of making her acquaintance during the Halloween Coffinhop this past October. Since then, I have grown to consider her a good buddy of mine. Now that I have completed reading the book above, I look forward to reading Tash's novel, This Brilliant Darkness. Before I get to today's review, however, I wanted to let you know that Red invited me over to her blog for a guest post. Noticing that my debut novel was a crossover, bridging both horror and Christan themes, Red encouraged me to discuss how the two concepts could mesh together. If you have the time, I encourage you to surf over and show her some love.

The Review:

I just completed reading Author Elizabeth Kostova's epic novel, The Historian. I realize that I am behind the trend on this, since the novel debuted in 2005; however, if you have yet to hear about this ground-breaking novel, I would like to invite you to join us as we search for Vlad the Impaler. Not the historical long-dead Vlad, mind you, but the very much alive Vlad Dracula.

Here's the description according to Amazon.com: "To you, perceptive reader, I bequeath my history....Late one night, exploring her father's library, a young woman finds an ancient book and a cache of yellowing letters. The letters are all addressed to 'My dear and unfortunate successor,' and they plunge her into a world she never dreamed of-a labyrinth where the secrets of her father's past and her mother's mysterious fate connect to an inconceivable evil hidden in the depths of history.The letters provide links to one of the darkest powers that humanity has ever known-and to a centuries-long quest to find the source of that darkness and wipe it out. It is a quest for the truth about Vlad the Impaler, the medieval ruler whose barbarous reign formed the basis of the legend of Dracula. Generations of historians have risked their reputations, their sanity, and even their lives to learn the truth about Vlad the Impaler and Dracula. Now one young woman must decide whether to take up this quest herself-to follow her father in a hunt that nearly brought him to ruin years ago, when he was a vibrant young scholar and her mother was still alive. What does the legend of Vlad the Impaler have to do with the modern world? Is it possible that the Dracula of myth truly existed-and that he has lived on, century after century, pursuing his own unknowable ends?"

I may have done a lot of whining these past few weeks about the length of this novel, but I assure you that it was only because of my lack of time to read, and had absolutely nothing to do with this marvelous story.

The Historian takes its readers on an amazing journey for both the historical and real-life Vlad Dracula in the most charming and imaginative way: the letters and actions of three generations of Dracula hunters. These hunters are not armed with advanced weapons, nor are they muscle-bound or skilled in any way for this job. Instead, they are armed with little more than their wits, carefully evaluating and analyzing the clues of history, surrounded by dangers of every sort and passionate about ending Dracula's reign of terror.

Some might suggest that the novel is too long, but anything less would have been the cheater's way out, spoon-feeding the reader the necessary clues, and racing us through not only history, but country after amazing country.

What we have here is a wondrous adventure that is thrilling, suspenseful and, at times, very dark. Although she writes frequent moments of great horror, Kostova navigates these waters with a masterful touch that leaves us not with a simple horror tale, but a historical novel that delivers all of the goods; including humor, romance and heartbreak - perhaps in a way not seen before. Often, she would take her "camera" off of the impending violence or intimate moment. In the hands of a lesser artist, it might have come across as a poor job. I remember moving on to the next chapter in those instances, thinking to myself that what I had just read was done perfectly. I recall one moment very clearly. A character held a dagger directly over the heart of a new vampire that had once been his friend. He did the deed, but we never saw it happen. It wasn't because Kostova left the scene too soon. Instead, she held the moment for us as if it were a fine wine meant to be savored, while she described so much history that came together in one instant, leaving us more than satisfied.

Whether you believe the title of the book refers to the task Dracula sets up for some of his victims; the three generations of flawed but beautifully created characters that cast aside everything in their pursuit of the fabled monster; or Kostova herself who does a superb job of juggling adventure, intrigue and centuries of human history - The Historian does not disappoint.

Just remember to take your time. It's meant to be savored.

We'll talk soon.

The End of November

2011-11-28T00:00:00.000-08:00

Hello, Fire Enthusiasts.

As I pen this note to you, I am enjoying the first of four fabulous days off. We had a good Thanksgiving Day as we visited my family for early dinner and followed that up with dessert over at my sister in law's house for my wife's family. Dallas didn't ruin my day, but did slow my digestion with that lucky win. *sigh*

Friday will be spent decorating the house for Christmas. I'll get up early and hit the lap top until my family awakens. Once I've cleared my virtual desk a bit and enjoyed some coffee, I will begin. My oldest is a senior in high school, so this could very well be the last time that he is home to assist. Check off another milestone, right?

On the reading front, my TBR pile has recently grown exponentially, thanks to the Halloween Coffinhop and a bunch or sweet people who have given me copies of their hard work. I'm looking forward to seeing what these great people bring to the literary table. I still only have time to read a little at work and then again before bed. Unfortunately, I started reading Elizabeth Kostova's The Historian. I really like it so far, but didn't realize it was so long. *sigh* Thankfully, I'll have time off during Christmas. This should enable me to get some of the pile reduced. I'll definitely review anything that I like. If I find something that I don't care for, I may just scurry away quietly. If you want to see what I plan to read thereafter, find me over at Goodreads and say hello.

As far as writing is concerned, I am in good shape. I have no writing deadlines at the moment, having just completed two magazine articles recently. Although I am still awaiting the return of my edits for the sequel to Dance on Fire, I have begun outlining a new project that I am very excited about. I won't say much about it so soon, but will say that it is definitely horror and nothing to do with vampires this time. The vampires will return, of course. There's at least one more book in me on that subject (not counting the one enduring edits at the moment).

Lastly, I'd like to say that I am so impressed with everyone who competed in the race that was National Novel Writing Month. I stand and applaud your efforts. *literally stands and applauds* Congratulations. Whether you finished your project or just nearly finished it, it took a lot of commitment - more than I could have given.

I'm glad that NaNo is over for another reason, too. I miss you guys. Can you come out and play now?

Please?

*grins* We'll talk soon.

Help Wanted: A (Sexy) Assistant

2011-11-21T00:00:00.000-08:00

Greetings and Salutations, Fire Enthusiasts.

How is everyone? Unless we bump into each other on Facebook or Twitter, I don’t get that opportunity to ask. J So, how are you? I ask because I also want to remind myself that these pages shouldn’t be about the incredible blossoming career of the big-shot writer from the little town in Central California – although that would be totally frigging awesome!!

Okay, enough of that.

Help Wanted: An Assistant:

He or she must be media-savvy and fluent with all devices, gizmos and programs. The job pays very little, but the promise of future earnings is potentially very high. The good news is there is no office to report to and one can work from the convenience of their own laptop and/or device. She? Who am I kidding? The applicant must be male, because working with any attractive female would simply be too distracting and the author must be busy writing at all times. Sorry, my female friends. You are all far too attractive and distracting and, um,…

See, I already forgot what we were talking about.

I know all of you are in the very same boat as me. All we wanted to do was write our stories, right? However, it soon became at least one blog that we needed to maintain, followed by a place to promote (Facebook, Twitter, Google +, etc.). From there, new friends began to invite you to other places. For me it was Horror groups and Horror Social Media destinations. If you are a reader or simply want to find the readers in order to market your book, then you’ve been to Goodreads, Shelfari or some other reader-friendly sites.

Of course, many, if not all of us, are now trying to figure out how in the world we’re supposed to maintain our writing and reading schedules with so much time now needed to devote to promotion. In fact, I spotted at least two posts this past weekend questioning that very thing.

I’d love to hear from you this week on this subject. How much time do you devote to promotion? What have you realized needs to be your priorities? Where do you draw the line?

Another question beckons: If we spend less time promoting ourselves on social networks, what about promoting our friends and neighbors?

Thankfully, many sites do a pretty good job of automatically pasting your posts on other sites. Many of you are better at this than I am. Unless a site, post or Network automatically prompts me, I may not know how to get it to post for me. That’s why I say that I’m still learning some of this stuff. If we can program and schedule these things more efficiently, then that gives us more time during the week to promote the works of others.

For me, I am in a constant state of re-evaluation. Every few months or so, I see what works and what doesn’t, and I tweak what I do. While I have a break at work, that’s when I manage my #WW and #FF on Twitter, as well as participate in the Novel Publicity Karmic Friday Chain on Facebook. Everything else I do at home. Unfortunately, for Twitter, if I haven’t conversed with someone in a while, the FollowFriday App. doesn’t pick them up anymore. I try and catch some of these folks during the week (when I see there activity) and toss them a random greeting. For blogs, I try and follow by e-mail notification, where possible. This way I leave their note in my Inbox so I can get back to it that week. I used to go down the blog list, but I rarely get time for that. It’s hard enough finding time to visit the blogs during the week as it is!! And blog hops? Those are great, but you are definitely going to spend your week visiting only those participating in the hop. Have you noticed? In order to share the love, I try and take time off between hops.

Before this post becomes book number three, I’m going to walk away; however, I really would like to hear how you good people manage your time on this subject. Perhaps we’ll help each other. By the way, after every sexy applicant was disqualified, here's who I ended up with. I can see he's going to be a lot of help.

We’ll talk soon.

A Life Not Worth Living

2011-11-14T00:00:00.000-08:00

Hello, Fire Enthusiasts.

My run of discovering fresh new up and coming authors continued this past week as I completed the most amazing novel by Phillip Tucker. As you can see it is entitled Crude Sunlight.

The Plot:

Thomas has come to Buffalo, New York in order to clean out his brother’s apartment. Henry went missing, and everyone has long-since given up hope of his returning. There are strange photographs left that reveal an odd thrill-seeking activity that Henry and others were engaging in: trespassing old abandoned buildings. Videotapes taken during these excursions reveal not only the odd activity, but something else. Something horrible.

Thomas soon meets the other principles: Julia and Eric; and one way or another, they have all been touched in a very negative way by whatever it was that happened during a visit to the old abandoned State Mental Hospital. Thomas discovers that Henry never came out alive, although, during his own visit below the hospital, something of Henry indeed remains. And it’s coming for Julia.

The original four trespassers: Julia, Henry, Eric, Jimmy, as well as Buck (a friend of Thomas), Michelle (the estranged wife) and even Thomas himself are all flawed and scarred characters that seemingly will gladly give up their worthless and meaningless lives as not worth living once they have been properly poked and prodded by the devouring darkness.

My thoughts:

Using gripping and oftentimes elegant prose, Tucker tells a most imaginative ghost story that spans several generations, claiming one victim after another, as each willingly hands over their lives to the ghoul before. No one is spared, and even Thomas finds himself perilously close to succumbing as well, as he attempts to make things right with a brother he hardly knew, at the expense of a wife that will not wait forever for him to decide just what it is that he wants out of life.

Although I currently write vampire fiction, it is the promise of a great haunted house story which calls out to me. Some of my greatest disappointments have come from the much-promised ghost story which kept me enthralled for 75% of the adventure, only to leave wanting as it failed to deliver the goods. Crude Sunlight did not fail to deliver the goods. It didn’t end the way I had hoped, and it may not end the way you would think it should, but man does it end.

Being a do-it-yourself debut author, Tucker informs me that he is going back in to clean up a few things in the novel. I noticed them, too, but they were not enough to distract me as I barnstormed my way through.

Taking his readers from the slums of early New York to modern day, and to the very pit of hell, Tucker weaves a tale that pulls no punches and lands each and every one. And when he is done, we are not left with a book that we can simply close and add to our bookshelf, but one which continues to haunt, asking the reader not only what just happened, but also how closely we might mirror the victims and survivors of the incredible debut novel from author Phil Tucker that is Crude Sunlight.

Author Phil Tucker can be found on Facebook and his fantastic debut can be found on Amazon.

Another Author Event:

Before I go, I would like to share with you a photo from my most recent author event which took place this past Thursday. Myself and authors Lorie Ham and Marilyn Meredith met at the Sanger, California Library. We shared a bit about ourselves and read excerpts from our novels. I sold a couple of copies which is always great and people showed which was a plus. *laughs* Sadly, I neglected to bring my camera, but I'm grateful that my wife's niece was there to snap this one. Thanks, Lee.

We'll talk soon.

Trying to Read Again

2011-11-07T00:00:00.000-08:00

Hello, Fire Enthusiasts. I have come before you this week to discuss books. Yes, I know. We're always discussing books. In fact, it's why we're all here, isn't it? The issue for me, you see, is I have very little time for it.

Those who have known me for a while know that I have an 11 hour day job which gets me out of bed at 3 am. After work, it's all about house, family and whatever current laptop work I might have. I endeavor to get to bed before 8 pm, hoping to both catch up on reading as well as tire myself out. Unfortunately, what usually happens is I end up staying on the laptop much longer than I should, thus erasing my reading time.

Over the course of my year, I go through spurts where I read a lot, and enjoy the heck out of it, discovering new authors, new voices and new ways of writing. It really is very important, and I certainly have taken note of some of the greats and how they adore other writers and their work.

So lately, I have gotten back into the groove of reading. Today, I come to you with a couple of new voices that I have enjoyed recently. The first is my buddy, Lorelei Bell. Her and I did a book exchange. If you read about my recent vacation, the one thing I left out is the fact that I took my Kindle along on the journey, and read Vampire Ascending.

First, let's allow the author herself explain the set up: "Sabrina Strong is a Touch Clairvoyant who needs a job after her father dies. Bjorn Tremayne of Tremayne Towers in Chicago has hired her to find out who murdered his life-time mate, Letitia.

Sabrina is not thrilled about the aspect of working for vampires in Chicago, but she needs the money, and she also wants to find the gorgeous and mysterious vampire who has been turning up in her dreams. Is he the one who bit her when she was ten, marked her for his own, and turned her mother so long ago?

Little does Sabrina know that her whole life is about to change as her best friend's fate intensifies the desperate need to find the murderer and, consequently, brings her into contact with a rogue vampire, Vasyl."

Okay, that's really only a bit of a tease, because the novel is really much bigger and ambitious, and it needs to be, if we are to follow the series. Before we begin, I must tell you that I am an old-school vampire fan. Pushing the envelope a bit is okay, but go too far, and I'm out of here. You can probably guess that I have gone nowhere near Ms. Meyers' vampires. I mean no disrespect to her or all of those who adore her work. It's just not my particular cup of Long Island Ice Tea. Another thing I really do not do is read fantasy. When it's great, it's Tolkien. When it's not... Let's just say that I grew up with Horror and leave it at that. Having said all of that, when Bell began revealing her werewolves, elves and shape-shifters in her tale, I began to get worried. However, let me tell you, it worked. Bell makes no apologies for her characters or plot; she simply told her story, and did so very well. In a less-skilled writer's hands it could have been silly. With Bell at the helm of this tale, it was more a case of: Seriously, guys, this is how it happened. By the end, I had bought in and was ready for the next installment.

In fact, being a writer of vampires myself, there was more than one occasion where I asked myself why I had not thought of a particular bit of action, character trait or plot device that Bell was using with great success.

If you like your skies overcast, the sound of chainsaws at work, your music well past heavy metal and your films filled with gore, then this may not be your book. On the other hand, if you like your paranormal in the PG-13 vein and to be trailblazingly different; a strong yet flawed female lead character; a complicated supporting cast of villains, heroes and antiheroes; a good helping of romance; and a twisting suspenseful plot that will keep you turning pages, then I may have just the book for you.

Lorelei Bell is extremely talented and you can find her at Lorelei's Muse.

Before I go, I really want to tell you about another buddy of mine. This guy has been great. When I least expect it, I'll notice that he has retweeted some bit of promo of mine. He also seems to be one of the most positive guys that I have met out there on the web. In any event, I would like to introduce you to Mark Souza. I had the opportunity to read one of his short stories recently, and I'd like to share it with you.

Once again, we'll let the author tell it: "Sean has popped the question and dreads the drive across the bleak Kansas landscape on Valentine's Day to announce his intentions to his fiancee Janet's parents. When he sees a sign for a corn maze, he pulls in for a momentary reprieve. Little does he know what a mistake he's made."

This is a story that one can read very quickly because it is short and gripping. This was the first of Souza's work that I had ever read, and I was hooked by his tight, believable prose right away. The "signposts" within his story were perfect. He didn't give too much away, but just enough to make one pause momentarily, knowingly. We didn't know what was coming. We only knew that we had to find out what it was. I will definitely be back for more and will never, ever stop the car on any long stretch of road. Ever.

If you would like to see for yourself what happens when you do stop the car on such a road, the story is free on Smashwords. You can also find the author at his website here.

I'm currently reading something else at the moment that is quite good, but I shall keep it to myself for the time being. How do you folks find time to read amongst all of the writing and promotion while the dishes and laundry pile up around you? Is daily reading as important as daily writing? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

We'll talk soon.

Why I Seemed to Disappear from the Earth

2011-10-31T00:00:00.000-07:00

My brother and his bride

Greetings, Fire Enthusiasts.

Coffin Hop: I want to thank everyone for participating in the First Annual Coffin Hop this past week. It has been a lot of fun visiting nearly 100 sites and trying to win some of the real great stuff that was given away. I hope you all left with arms full of loot. It ends Halloween night, so you still have time.

After the loot is all put away, I look forward to building up those new relationships, and also, reading some of the writing that was promoted during the week. I still don’t read as often as I would like to, but what I have read has really been top notch. I have been so pleased with the quality. Agents and Publishers should really be fired for letting some of your work slip through their fingers!!

Tybee Island beach house

We had some great views, didn't we?

Where did you go? As some of you might have noticed, I appeared to drop off of the face of the earth there for a while. I would like to take a few moments to explain where I was. I accompanied my parents to Georgia for my brother’s wedding. We were gone a week. Part of the time we stayed in their home near Atlanta, and we spent the other part, five hours away near Savannah. We spent a few days in a beach house on Tybee Island which is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean.

James Sr, Eric, Leslie and me

The adventure began as we left on Tuesday the 11^th from Fresno, Ca. which is in my back yard, essentially. We flew into Salt Lake City and spent an hour awaiting our next flight to Atlanta. After the week was over, we flew from Atlanta into Dallas/Fort Worth. You should have seen me with my nose pressed against the glass, while I surveyed the ground for Arlington, Texas and the location of God’s football stadium. *grins* Okay, scratch that. We’ll just refer to it as the Jerry Dome. No? Okay, the home of the Dallas Cowboys. In any event, I saw it. How could I not; it’s so large that one could see it from space! We then flew from there back to Fresno, and I was finally home.

We played a round of golf. I took 2nd. Not bad since I hadn't played in forever. It rained on us. Can you tell?

The bummer out of the whole trip was my family was unable to accompany me. Both my kids had school, obviously, and school events, and my wife is a teacher. I never could get comfortable with the Eastern Time Zone. I just kept reaching back to the west with both my heart and mind, waiting to call home or text the kids when they got out of school. And I hated Monday night. If I have to wait until 8:30 to watch the Monday Night Football game, I almost don’t care anymore!! I don’t know how you people do it! *grins*

Now, although I was only gone one week, I had to disengage the week before, in order to get prepared. I had to write and schedule two Monday posts, write a Halloween-themed article for Kings River Life Magazine (it was on black cats). This was on top of getting the house ready, preparing my day job to be left in the hands of others, making arrangements, getting packed, etc., etc. During that week, I did no blogging at all. The only thing that I did was Twitter #WW and #FF. In fact, I barely promoted anything, including my own novel or posts. Then, the week I got back was spent catching up. Once again, I did no blogging.

Why am I telling you all of this? It is because many of us feel compelled to do the same amount of promoting, sharing, encouraging, cheering, posting, Tweeting, reTweeting, etc., but it isn’t always easy or even an option from time to time. We just do what we can. That’s what I did during this period, although I was not happy about it. Thankfully, I am not only back, but all caught up.

Do what you can, my friends. Every little bit helps.

Before I go, I really just want to wish my brother and new sister-in-law the very best. Love you guys!

We’ll talk soon.

1st Annual Coffin Hop

2011-10-24T00:00:00.000-07:00

Greetings and salutations, Horror Enthusiasts. Wait! Horror?

Yes, that’s what I said. Since it is the build-up for Halloween, I thought this would be a bit more appropriate than the usual.

First of all, allow me to take a moment to apologize for disappearing off of the face of the planet these past few weeks. Everything was fine. There was nothing to worry about, and I will be explaining it all in another week. In any event, I'm back, and very excited to be participating in the first annual Coffin Hop.

This week we have nearly 100 blog sites, hosting all of your All Hallow's Eve thrills and chills. We've got shorts, book teasers, quizzes, scavenger hunts and so much more. Perhaps most importantly of all, each and every one of the sites is hosting giveaways. I will only be posting Monday, like always, giving everyone plenty of time during the week to visit all of the sites. The hope is that you will feel as if you just got out of Disney's Tower of Terror ride, escaped with your life like George and Kathleen Lutz from 112 Ocean Avenue in The Amityville Horror or are simply the last person standing at the end of any horror film - whatever floats your boat! You should also be walking away with some great stuff, too.

That is, if you actually get away. [Cue Maniacal Laughter]

This week I am sharing a very brief snippet of my debut vampire novel which was published by Vamplit Publishing. The e-book was published in February of 2010. It has been getting very good reviews, both on the web as well as in print, and we're very excited about that. It is currently tied for the highest-rated novel in the horror category in the Smashwords store. I promise you that you will definitely survive the experience.

May 4, 2008

11:59 a.m.

The great beast paused in the dark and sniffedthe cool spring air as if welcoming in the fragrant bouquet from a glass offine wine held below his nostrils. Hands casually held inside the pockets of abrown leather coat, long single strands of his dark hair leaping and dancing inthe light breeze, head held slightly elevated, he breathed deeply so as not tomiss a single delectable whiff.

After allof these many years, he was close now. Before, he simply had a sense of it;perhaps one might call it a fool’s hope. Now he could smell it, taste it.

He was veryclose indeed.

The breathwithin it now spent, devoid of any flavor; the beast released it and stoleanother.

Cold,penetrating eyes pierced the moonless night as he was on the move againstrolling languidly, almost if in a hypnotic trance eastward through the peachorchard. Had he already become intoxicated by the scent? Perhaps not the bloodthat led him, but what the blood was speaking to him. His eyes swept across hisfield of vision obscured as it was by the trees’ thick canopies. With eachadditional step, more of the approaching town was revealed: multi-coloredlight, the spectrum of sounds, the differing shapes of buildings. Looking wasunnecessary, however. At this moment, he was as finely tuned to the worldaround him as he had ever been before. Ahead where the small town the clues hadled him to met the open country, a coyote prowled cautiously, desperatelysearching for a morsel. To his far left was laughter. Actually, it was morelike giggling: the squeals of drunken hyenas, intoxicated with the blood andflesh of their kill. Although in the case of these young men, much too young todrink, it was Budweisers that they were killing. He could actually detect thefaint sound of the beer sloshing within the long-neck bottles held in the handsof these who probably thought themselves safely undetected among the rows ofthe raisin vineyard. This night, at long last, after much searching, longing,nothing could escape the beast’s notice.

He pausedyet again, this time kneeling low to the earth that lay below his heavy ridingboots. Though quite minimal, the scent of blood was now sweet and heavy in hisflaring nostrils and parched throat, awakening a deeper hunger within him, asif that could be possible. The sensation seemed so new to him. It felt sovirginal: like that first bumbling attempt at lovemaking; that first night awayfrom home; that first bloodletting.

Yet, it wasnone of these. It was the sweet taste of revenge. The beast would have to salvethat hunger with something else tonight, he knew, and perhaps tomorrow as well,but not for very much longer.

Claw-likefingers dug slowly and confidently at the ground until a tiny leg emerged. Itwas followed by another, and then a shriveled face. They stopped digging andwrapped themselves around the tiny head, where nails all too similar hadrecently gripped and snapped away the last of the cats’ life. Without athought, the beast pulled the corpse from the shallow grave. He did not need tosearch for the wound that had drained the last of the creature’s life, but hedid. He longed to see the wound. Howcould he not? Was this not what had been driving him, filling his days? Andnow, he would do nothing but enjoy it to the fullest.

He bent thepathetic little neck back until there was an awful crack. His expression showedlittle knowledge of the sound of it. When he found the matted place where coldlips such as his had drank, when he could see the bite that had drawn theblood, he brought it quickly to his mouth and blew away the dirt with a sharpblast of dank air. Now he did the unthinkable. He licked the wound, long andslow like a lover would the breast of his beloved. Then the great beast smileda horrible thin smile as he looked up from it.

“Atlast,” he whispered, nonchalantly dropping the dead cat and gazing up towardthe small town before him. He spoke as if to the entire population.“Nathaniel,” he declared, gritting his perfect white teeth as he did. “I haveyou at last. And when I am through with you the insignificant souls of thisplace shall gladly hand you over to me!”

The vampireimmediately headed off into town, setting events into motion.

Kingsburg,California. It is a rural agricultural community in the heart of the SanJoaquin valley, the richest agricultural valley in the world, so states thecity’s official website. It was incorporated May 11, 1908. It has a populationof over 11,000 and lies twenty miles south of Fresno, and nearly halfwaybetween San Francisco and the city of angels.

It is thehome of Sun-Maid: the largest and most well-known raisin plant in the world.The gold medal Olympian Rafer Johnson was raised here. The actor Slim Pickens,who rode a nuclear warhead in the film, “Doctor Strangelove”, was born here.

The SwedishVillage, the signs read and the police cars and police badges proudly proclaim.The style of the buildings’ architecture, the baby blue and yellow colors ofSweden, as well as the frequent sighting of the traditional dress from one oranother of the downtown business owners further testify to this. Signs atvarious points along the city limits greet strangers with the Swedish Word:Valkommen. It means exactly as it sounds which is “welcome”.

Every thirdweekend in May thousands of people converge on Kingsburg for the SwedishFestival. It is a time where nearly the entire town puts on its traditionaldress and a show for the weekend, with the highlights being a dance around theMay Pole on Friday night and a pancake breakfast and parade on Saturday. Thisyear marks the 43rd annual celebration and the town’s centennial anniversary. The festivities were set to begin in ten days.

The Giveaway:

I am offering a few free copies of the e-book, as well as a couple of autographed copies of the softcover.

How to win:

What one needs to do to win one of these is to comment here and tell me that you'd like to be entered. Secondly, post somewhere about the Coffin Hop so that others will find us. Lastly, please leave your e-mail address so I may contact you. YOU ONLY NEED TO PROMO FOR THIS ONE TIME AND HOWEVER YOU CHOOSE.

If you are on on Twitter: promo the main page and include @danceauthor so I will see it.

If you are on Facebook, Google+ or a blog: paste one of our cool posters on your page and tell me about it. I'll find it. You do not need to visit each site along the tour, but we encourage you to visit as much as you can. You won't be sorry.

If you are one of the sites participating this week, you are eligible to win, and do not need to worry about promoting because you are already doing that. Just remind me.

So that's it. Visit some sites, grab some bling and meet some new people. I'm looking forward to joining you...until the end.

We'll talk soon.

Blog on Fire Award & Embarrassing Questions

2011-10-17T00:01:00.000-07:00

Greetings, Fire Enthusiasts. I come before you this week to share with you more embarrassing tales and anecdotes about myself. Well, perhaps not, but that’s what typically happens when I do this.

A couple of weeks ago, my buddy, Kelly Polark, bestowed the Blog on Fire Award to yours truly. Yes, I know. We can take that quite literally on this blog. Now there's lots of fire! Anyway, Kelly's a great lady, and a true rock n’ roll rebel, as Ozzy might suggest. Therefore, I do whatever she tells me to do. Now, when she fulfilled the obligation for this award on her blog, she combined it with another. Since I just recently shared some random things with you good people, I thought I would simply follow Kelly’s lead and do as she did.

So, here goes:

1) Do you think you are hot?

A) Wow! Picture me staring back at you silently, my eyes blinking twice as in a cartoon. Truthfully, I was a late-bloomer. I was a skinny, jeans, rock n roll t-shirt kind of guy. I didn’t date in school until the end of my high school career. I’m comfortable with my looks now, but never really thought much about them and still don’t. I’m more of a personality guy. I’m the guy with the good attitude who will keep you laughing. I’m 42 now. The only women who think I’m hot is the above 50 crowd amongst my employees.

2) Upload a picture or wallpaper that you are using at the moment.

A) Currently, I have two avatars that I am using. The first one is my “official” author picture from nearly two years ago now. Are you getting sick of it yet? God knows I am! I usually grow out the beard during the holidays. Last year, my wife asked whether I was planning on doing that again. I replied that I wasn’t, because seeing the author photo made me feel as if I had worn it all year. The other photo is a shot of flames. I think it’s cool. As much as I might like to change one of both of these, the budding marketing person within me realizes that you have to assist your customers by changing very little, if anything. Doesn’t it drive you crazy in the stores, when you look for the packaging that you are accustomed to, only to realize that nothing is familiar any longer because the packaging has changed?

3) When was the last time that you ate chicken meat?

A) Interesting question. This is easy because I could eat hamburger every day of the week, but with chicken I find myself tired of it after twice a week. At the time that I penned this post, I had last eaten chicken at an event in town. My wife and I went down there. I had ribs while she had the chicken. We shared, of course. The weather was nice and there was a relatively famous jazz band there.

4) The song that you listened to most recently?

A) This one is tough for me to answer because I have a jukebox in my head which plays continually. As you might have gleaned from this blog, I listen to a wide array of tunes, leaning mostly toward hard rock. Although I am currently listening to some Incubus (Thanks, Tara), Chickenfoot and Superheavy (Yeah, I’m surprised, too), what I have playing in my head right now is “Closer to the Edge” by 30 Seconds to Mars. And not the shorter radio single, either. I hate short versions of songs with a deeply-seated passion that burns like a well-fed industrial furnace... *calms self* Sorry. What were we talking about again?

5) What were you thinking of as you were doing this?

A) *laughs* Well, it wasn’t like I was writing this post while at work, hoping against hope that my employees wouldn't come by the office, disturbing me with their needs and questions, and keeping me from finishing this… ;)

6) Do you have nicknames?

A) *laughs again* Yes, I do, but none that I would like to share with you. *sticks out tongue* Okay, okay. I give up. First of all, I write my stories as James Garcia Jr. because that is what it reads upon my birth certificate. I also do it out of respect for my dad. All of my friends, however, call me Jimmy. Now, I couldn’t possibly leave you before giving you something juicy, so I will leave you with the following. Since you only know me from the words that I leave you with each week, or perhaps from my fiction, you most likely have no idea that I can throw a fit. J Some years ago, thanks to some whining that I was doing about who-knows-what, one of the ladies at work began calling me Jimmy-Sue. Some of the other ladies took that and ran with it, and to those great friends of mine (Brenda, Cheryl, Debbie & Liz *waves*), I have been Jimmy-Sue ever since.

Will I come to regret having told you this? Perhaps. As I mentioned above, I may not be “hot”, but I try to be fun.

We’ll talk soon.

2011-10-10T00:01:00.000-07:00

Greetings, Fire Enthusiasts. How are all of you today. Oh! There's a light knocking on your door. It almost sounded like more of a scratching than actual knocking. Other than me, who would come calling so late at night? Anyway, I'll wait here while you see who it is...

Relax. There isn't really anyone at your door. I was only messing with you. You see, I have come before you this week to tell you about a cool blog hop that is going to take place during the week before All Hallow's Eve from October 24th to the actual thinning of the veil.

Okay, okay. I'll stop. You know, you're not any fun at all. Besides, I'm an author; we're supposed to me demented on one level or another. Come to think of it, most of you are writers, too. Aren't you? If it pleases the court, notice I didn't accuse you of being demented. *whispers* It was implied.

I haven't yet decided what I plan to do for this event. As you know, I usually only post on Monday. I could re-post a bunch of reviews or snippets of my novel. If I post too often I won't have the time to visit the blogs of others, so we'll see. I'm taking a week off from work soon - at the end of the month I'll tell you what that was/is about - so there will be plenty of time to think my plans over. There will definitely be a contest at some point during the week. I will be coming to your house and washing and detailing your car... Are you kidding? I don't even do my own! Of course I'll be giving away copies of my novel. I see you frowning there. My little crossover vampire novel is currently the highest-rated horror novel on Smashwords, so there. *bares fangs* ;)

The point of all of this, just like anything else, is for the exposure. We writers get to meet other like-minded writers and, more importantly, we will use this fun time of year to reach like-minded readers. Each one of the sites will amaze, surprise and perhaps even shock with their content, and there stands to be some very cool giveaways.

Had enough of the hop badges yet? Good. There's more. I like them, too.

You know, I thought she was better looking last night. Must have been that second Crown & Coke. What? It's too cold for beer here in California now. Okay, I don't drink that much, you guys. I kid.

In hopes of whetting your dark appetites for the blog hop, I am leaving you with another, very brief snippet from my novel. In this scene, the heroes have locked themselves in the Kingsburg Police Department. The young distraught dispatcher has been sent home. Or so we hoped. The evil vampire is still hot on the trail for the other vampire Nathaniel, who is inside with the heroes.

4:58 a.m.

At long last, Vincent had located the correct key, turned it in the lock and gained access. Before entering fully; however, he leaned toward the ground with his left hand and retrieved something that he had placed there. Michael could not make out anything yet. While Nathaniel held his ground beside him, Michael glanced nervously from door to door, deliberating and calculating in his head whether or not he believed that the last door between them and the vampire might hold. It seemed too much to hope for.

When Michael tore his eyes away from the what if’s and what might happens of his deliberations, the vampire had reached the other side of the large lobby window.

“What’d he just drag in here?” Michael whispered the question. He waited for the reply, but none came. “Nathaniel?”

“You may wish to turn away.”

With still surprising little effort, Vincent reached up and slammed the object against the glass. In horror, Michael cursed as the lifeless body of Lainie Bishop struck the glass with her back and head. The blow did nothing to the thick bulletproof glass, but it collapsed several of the plates that had once made up her beautiful skull. There was a sickening squashing sound as some of the contents inside were loosed. There was very little blood, however.

For good measure, Vincent pulled her down and slammed her three more times in some sick, twisted rhythm as if she were simply the door knocker of an even larger castle.

“She did not seem pleased that she was being sent away,” Vincent broke the silence between them. “So I decided to invite her back inside.”

My God! Barbara stifled her cry as she entered the room just in time to witness the carnage. “What kind of monster are you?” she screamed, just not able to hold back her outrage at the sight of the dead woman’s hanging limbs. Whatever blood she had remaining stained the glass in dark splattered rivulets.

All three in the room turned to look at her as she did so. Both detectives were wondering just the same thing. Though some had seen some of what the vampire had been capable of, some getting a very close and personal taste of it, it was only Nathaniel who really knew.

“He is the great beast,” Nathaniel said. “There is nothing that he is incapable of.”

I hope you will join my fellow Coffin Hoppers and I this upcoming Halloween for chills, frights, shocks and treats. There's still time to join the hop. You can find it here. If you don't feel like hosting, I hope that you will hop, run or crawl along the different sites. I'll see you there.

We'll talk soon.

2011-10-03T00:01:00.000-07:00

Greetings, Fire Enthusiasts. I come before you today to inform you that I have, at long last, finished reading Drood by Dan Simmons. It sounds as if I am complaining, doesn't it? Not at all. I simply bemoan the lack of reading opportunities each day, coupled with my attempting to read a 900+ page novel. The novel was very good. Yet, at only 30 minutes a day, the challenge took forever.

The Novel: Having never before read historical fiction, I really had no idea what to expect; however, having gone on this adventure, I really am ready for the next one.

Drood takes us back to 19th century Victorian England to the real world of the great Charles Dickens. We become immersed in his life and the body of his literary work, as told by his friend, collaborator and rival, Wilkie Collins. I knew about many of Dickens' works, but I had no idea that he left an unfinished work, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, nor did I know of the train accident that nearly killed him at Staplehurst.

It is at this incident that we are introduced to the diabolical Drood. He is the disfigured and menacing specter that begins to haunt Dickens, get between he and his good friend Collins and ultimately drive the two apart. In the beginning, Collins swears that the character does not exist, but is merely a figment of Dickens' great imagination; however, soon Drood becomes all-too real, making Collins his slave in more ways than one, aided by the author's out of control addictions. Or does he?

I thought the novel was quite good, but very long. Many reviewers that I have seen insist that the novel could have done without half of its mass. Perhaps. It can't be easy to take real people and events and spin a fictional tale between them, especially one filled with murder, intrigue and dark-doings. If you like dark tales in a historical setting, this is your book. Mr. Simmons was masterful, I thought. He didn't show us Dickens' world, he absolutely took us there.

TBR Pile: Now that I have a taste for reading once again, I look forward to the next thing. Many of you, my fellow Indie and small publishing-house authors, have asked me to read your novels. Some have given discount codes in hopes that reviews may spring forth from them. As long as these books of yours are not 900 + pages, I'm ready. *grins; rubs hands together* There are a few on my book shelf as well as many more lining the virtual shelf of my Kindle. I love discovering that your writing is just as good, and often better, as the writing that lines the shelves of the few bookstores remaining in this world. I promise to get on this immediately...

A Word: Before I go, I would like to leave you with some food for thought, and God knows it is as much for me as it might be for you. I found it within the pages of Dan Simmons' novel and it struck me like a well-landed blow to the jaw. Many of us push ourselves extremely hard in this writing endeavor. Rather than prep you any further I invite you to read it for yourself and see how it strikes you.

"When the last autumn of Dickens's life was over, he continued to work through his final winter and into spring. This is how all of us writers give away the days and years and decades of our lives in exchange for stacks of paper with scratches and squiggles on them. And when Death calls, how many of us would trade all those pages, all that squandered lifetime-worth of painfully achieved scratches and squiggles, for just one more day, one more fully lived and experienced day? And what price would we writers pay for that one extra day spent with those we ignored while we were locked away scratching and squiggling in our arrogant years of solipsistic isolation?
"Would we trade all those pages for a single hour? Or all our books for one real minute?"

I thought Mr. Simmons' was brilliant with this. It was a book within a book.

As Wilkie Collins might ask, "How did it strike you, dear reader?"

We'll talk soon.

Why Vampires?

2011-09-26T00:01:00.000-07:00

Hello, Fire Enthusiasts.
After having had some fun for the past two posts, I thought that a bit of an update was in order. I spent some time these past few weeks doing rewrites on the sequel to my debut novel, Dance on Fire. It has a name, but I try and not use it that often, lest someone steal it. *laughs* We have yet to decide whether we will name the series or not. I think we'll be having that conversation soon. Perhaps The Dance on Fire Chronicles or something. We'll see.

I submitted the manuscript to Vamplit Publishing a week ago. This one is a bit longer than the debut. It currently sits at over 118,000 words. I added a little bit of this and a little bit of that. I didn't keep time with this one. That was a lot of work. If you've read it you know what I mean. I would love to tell you more, but that will have to wait until we are no longer calling it a manuscript and actually calling it by name.

I would like to take a moment to thank everyone who has read Dance on Fire. The reviews are very good. As of this writing, it once again claims the top spot as the highest-rated novel in the horror category on Smashwords. I have a Discussion Tab on my Author's Facebook Page as well that lists those reviews and many more.

While I have you here I thought I might take a few moments to answer the question: Why I Write about Vampires.

The truth of the matter is I never set out to write a vampire book. Although I find myself drawn to Lugosi's classic, it took several attempts before finally getting through Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire. That was more to do with where I was then anything to do with Rice's masterpiece.

Instead, the crime novel that I was writing simply went that direction all on it's own volition. My dad is retired KPD (Kingsburg Police Department) and I grew up reading horror novels. Those two pieces of inspiration teamed together to get me where I am today. Now that I have written the first it is only logical that I continue the story. I envision a third chapter in the series; however, I plan to wait and see whether there might be a demand for it. If so, I would be happy to set pen to paper, as it were. If not, then I will simply wait a while before proceeding.

I would like very much to write other genres, but that is when things get tricky. If I decide to write a romantic comedy or drama (stories that I definitely have within me), do I press on or create new websites and a nom de plume?

I guess we'll cross that bridge when we get there.

We'll talk soon.

Ten Random Things About...Me

2011-09-19T00:01:00.000-07:00

Hello, Fire Enthusiasts. Last week we had a bit of fun with a flash fiction piece. This week we have yet another challenge. I was“tagged” by one of my newest buddies along the world wide web, Diana Murdock. She asked me to list 10 random things about myself. Hopefully you will find them amusing you. They are in no particular order.

1) I have massive Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. Okay, massive is probably too strong of a word. I’m most definitely not Mr. Monk here, although that was a great show. My partner at work might disagree. She loves moving my papers around and a doing a host of other irritating things, all in the name of attempting to get me to “get over it”.

2) I’m a frustrated guitar player. I fell in love with rock and roll back in the heavy metal days of the very early eighties, just as the Hair Bands were beginning to take off. Unfortunately, I was already too old. By then, I was working after school and just never had the time to make the instrument part of me. I walk around with a couple of guitar picks in my wallet, just in case. I believe I’m missing a few strings from when my oldest son used to play it and I have yet to restring it. The following photo is quite similar.

3) Having just told you that I was a hard rock guy, I really shouldn’t confess some of the music that sits on the virtual shelf of my iPod. My first show was Kiss in ’85. I saw Iron Maiden, Motley Crue, Scorpions, AC/DC, Poison, Ratt, Van Halen, Sammy Hagar to name a few; however, I also listen to Air Supply, Bee Gees and Neil Diamond. *hangs head in shame* Okay, I love them – don’t judge! ;)

Here's a photo taken of me with Van Halen back during the Balance Tour. I'm in the dark shirt at the bottom middle.

4) The trend of me being weaker than previously thought continues as I confess that although I grew up with Friday the 13^th, A Nightmare on Elm Street, John Carpenter movies and profess to write horror that I’m most comfortable watching romantic comedies. My wife doesn’t even have to be in the room for me to do so. I can watch them over and over again, and frequently do.

5) My politics lean toward the right, yet one of my favorite television shows was the left-leaning, The West Wing. I remember watching the first episode since Martin Sheen and Rob Lowe were starring in it. When it was over I had to resist the urge to awaken my wife and inform her that the new show had some of the best writing ever. Of course, it didn’t hurt that it was an Aaron Sorkin creation. That guy is brilliant!

6) As many of us did back in the day, I once sported very long hair. I either looked like the late Ronnie James Dio (Black Sabbath, Rainbow and solo artist) or that I was wearing Darth Vader’s helmet.

7) I can sing, although I never had much training. If I weren’t so busy I would probably join our church choir. I did sing in my old church, but that was well before I realized I could string a few words together and people might like to pay their hard-earned money for them. ;) I can do some low range, but I am more comfortable in the higher ranges. Think: Journey alum, Steve Perry.

8) I like Crown and Cokes during the winter months, but I can drink Long Island Ice Tea’s year-round.

9) Many of you know already, but I am an Administrative Supervisor for Sun-Maid Raisin Growers of California. The lady on the red box– that’s us. The job has me up at 3 am, in the office by 4 am and keeps me there for 11 hours a day during the week.

10) Many of you know this already, but for those who are new to these pages, it took me twenty years to write my first novel. I love telling people this because it makes their eyes light up. No, I started writing when I was in school, but later set it aside as my wife and I started our family, etc.

We'll talk soon.

Two Reviews

2011-09-15T00:01:00.000-07:00

Hello, Fire Enthusiasts.

Yes, I know, it's only mid-week, and this makes three posts in one week. No, I didn't lose my job, giving me a whole another eleven hours in my day with which to play with. And, no, I haven't hit my head or anything... Are you going to let me tell this or aren't you?

What? Oh! My apologies. Sometimes I just argue with myself this way. The doctors have informed my caregivers that I will be perfectly peachy just as long as I properly take my medicine... :)

I posted Wednesday and am posting this revised version because I wanted to share with you two wonderful reviews that my novel received from Adriana Noir over at Ink in Faded Hues and from Lorelei Bell over at Lorelei's Muse. Both ladies were very kind to spend their time, not only to read my little vampire tale, but also to post reviews. I would love it if you would surf over and take a look. If you don't know Adriana or Lorelei, perhaps you will say hello and see what makes them tick; perhaps even make them new friends of yours.

Adriana's review begins, "This truly was a spectacular read from an author that I fully expect to see emerge as one of horror's rising stars..."

Lorelei's review states, "I especially like that he told the background of his two vampires throughout the story and it helped not only hold your attention, but also developed the two vampires.

Although I am itching to tell you more, I think it better if I defer to the ladies...

We'll talk soon.

Barbara, Nathaniel & the Underwear Challenge

2011-09-12T00:01:00.000-07:00

     Hello, Fire Enthusiasts. I come to you this week with something new. My good buddy Author Lorelei Bell over at Lorelei's Muse asked me to join in with this challenge. If you are not familiar with the following characters, they come from the pages of my debut novel, Dance on Fire. You will find some sexual tension between Barbara Lopez and the vampire Nathaniel in those pages, but for the most part, the following piece of flash fiction is a bit of a stretch for them both.

     Or is it…

     It was nearly 10 pm, she was barefoot and dressed only in a Michael Bublé concert T-shirt and a pair of white lace panties beneath that, and Police Chief Michael Lopez’ wife was doing the unthinkable. She traipsed into the dark kitchen, lit only by the steady glow of the Microwave LED and poured herself a third glass of White Zinfandel.
     What’s the harm? she thought as she retrieved the bottle from the refrigerator, refilled her glass just a bit taller than usual, finishing the remainder of the bottle. Jerod and his dad were gone on an overnight fishing trip, the twins were fast asleep and the Dan Brown novel was simply too good to put down now.
    As she walked back out of the kitchen, she happened to notice the answering machine steadily blinking a red number 1, signifying that there had been a message at some time during the evening that she had missed. She frowned, but released it, knowingly. Probably when I took my shower, she thought. She tapped the play button and lowered the sound by clicking the down arrow on the volume control. It was a message from the school. Report cards had come out and Jerod had neglected to show them to her.
     Barbara shook her head as she set the wine down on the dining room table, flipped on the Dining Room light and headed for Jerod’s room to collect his report card. She wasn’t upset with her son, because his grades had always been consistently good. She knew that it was the fishing trip with his dad that had caused him to forget to show off his grades.It took no time at all for her to locate his backpack. It was heavy with books, but she found two envelopes quickly enough. One was his grades; the second had hearts drawn on it by a girl’s unmistakable hand. Suddenly, the mother in her didn’t care about the grades anymore.
    When she got back to the Dining Room, she found a vampire standing there. He was holding his hands out as if preparing to grab her by the throat. “Shit!” she cried and the envelopes flew from her hands.
   “My apologies,” he said.
   “Nathaniel,” she shuddered. “You scared the crap out of me!” Absently, she leaned over and retrieved what she had dropped, her T-shirt riding up.
   “I am…sorry,” He managed, momentarily distracted.
     Barbara suddenly stood straight up. Realizing how little she was wearing, she glanced about as if searching for someplace to hide. She tugged at her T-shirt which stopped below her hips, although just barely. Next, she realized that she wasn’t wearing a bra. She crossed her arms in hopes of hiding this fact.
   “Please sit down,” Nathaniel said, pulling out her chair with his left hand. “I see that I have come at a bad time.”
   Glancing at the offered chair, Barbara realized that the table would at least give her some measure of coverage, so she quickly sat down. “Why are you here?” she asked.
   “I told you that I would watch over you,” he replied. “Sometimes I do so without alerting you to my presence. What do you have in your hand?”
   “What?” Barbara asked.
   “Your hands. You seem to be holding envelopes.”
     Barbara glanced at her hands. She had forgotten them. She felt dizzy now, too.
   “What do you have?” he asked.
   “Jerod’s grades,” she answered, attempting to steady herself. She set both down, the simple white atop the dark yellow envelope.
   “Both of them?” he asked.
   “Not this one,” she replied, opening it and taking out the folded note within. She unfolded it and began reading. It didn’t take long for her eyes to widen.
   “What does it say?” the vampire asked.
   There was a pregnant pause as she took it all in. “It appears to be a silly questionnaire.”
   “What does it ask?”
   *"What do you call your underwear/undergarments? Do you have any commonly used nicknames for them?"*
   “Really?” the vampire asked, surprised. “And what did young Jerod answer?”
   “Apparently he hasn’t answered these yet. Thankfully.” She shook her head.
   “How would you answer?” he asked playfully.
   Barbara stared at him. It wasn’t like him to play like this. Before she could stop herself, she uttered the following: “Chonies.”
   “Chonies?” Nathaniel repeated.
    Barbara glanced at her wine as if it were betraying her.
   “I thought that was a Spanish donut?”
   Barbara laughed. “That’s a Churro!”
   “Oh,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. “What more does it say?” He was standing beside her now as if attempting to read over her shoulder.
   *“Have you ever had that supposedly common dream of being in a crowded place in only your underwear?”* she read. “I feel like that now.”
   Nathaniel snickered. “What was that?” he asked.
   “Nothing,” she replied, reaching for her wine and taking a big sip.
   Nathaniel leaned close and read, *“If you were a pair of panties what color would you be?”* “White,” he said. “It’s what you are wearing now, I believe.”
     Barbara spat out the wine. It sprayed the top of the Dining Room table. She quickly stood, reached for a handful of napkins from the holder on the Lazy Susan and began cleaning up the mess. The move caused her shirt to ride up again.
   “See,” Nathaniel pointed at her. “White.” Barbara recoiled, immediately sitting back down. Nathaniel laughed. He slid the paper closer to him, avoiding the spilled wine. “Let me see what more there is. *Have you ever thrown your underwear at a rock star or celebrity? If so, which ones? If not, which ones?* Hmm? *Are you old enough to remember Underoos? If so, did you have any? Which ones?”*
   “Wait,” Barbara stopped him. “You skipped one."
   “Did I?” he asked, glancing over the list.
   “Yes. This one. *You're out of underwear, what do you do?”* She glanced up at him.
   “Ah, yes,” he replied, knowingly. “I skipped it because it does not apply to me.”
   “Why?”
   “I do not wear any.”
     Barbara glanced down. It was purely reactionary, with no forethought whatsoever. Nathaniel’s crotch was a mere foot from her face. When she caught herself staring, she slapped both hands over her face in embarrassment. “Oh my God!” Nathaniel reared back and laughed. Barbara peered through her splayed fingers at him. “What?” she asked in another octave.
   “You are so terribly easy, my dear,” Nathaniel said, shaking his head. “I assure you that I was only joking. Just how is it that Michael would ever dare leave you alone?”
   “Shut up!” Barbara took the paper and slapped the vampire on the arm.
     He grabbed his wounded arm in mock protest and then quickly snatched the paper away from her before she could strike him again. He glanced at the list as Barbara reached for her glass. *If you could have any message printed on your underwear, what would it be? How many bloggers does it take to put panties on a goat?* “Don’t you think you have had too much of that already?” he asked her. She had, but she shook her head dramatically, taking a big gulp and draining what was left.
   “Was that the end of the list?” she asked, wiping her lips with her right hand.
   “I think we have had enough of this as well. Let us just get you to bed.”
   “Oh?” she asked, arching her eyebrows.
   The vampire took his eyes off of the list momentarily and stared back at her. “Oh, please,” he exclaimed, motioning toward her chest. “You think you are cold now!” Barbara immediately crossed her arms at her chest once again. “So easy,” Nathaniel smiled, glancing back to the list one last time. “I do have one question for you, however. I have seen goats in my time.” He glanced her way, mischievously. “I’ve seen panties. Just what the hell is a blogger?”

     Thanks for taking the time, you guys. This underwear challenge gave me the opportunity to post something fun, rather than the usual stuff. I hope you enjoyed it. Part of this challenge was to pass it along to someone else. I didn’t have the time to twist your arm…er, convince you to share the fun, but I hope some of you will think about doing so. I hope you will.

     We’ll talk soon.

Safely Treading Water

2011-09-05T00:01:00.000-07:00

(Source: Beachpicturesblog.com)

Hello, Fire Enthusiasts. I'm not the greatest swimmer in the world.

What?

Yeah, I know. I meant to do that.

What I mean to say is it may not take that much for me to cramp up, succumb to the sharp cold or become overwhelmed by the tide. I can swim some, but long distances or storm-whipped waves are going to prove too much for me...

You see, I'm doing the best that I can here, but I go through periods where it can all be a bit much.

I am on Facebook, Twitter, Get Fanged, Shelfari, Goodreads, Dark Media City, Linked In and now Google Plus. I don't tell you that so you can immediately look me up there, although it would be great if you did, and many of you have already done that. No, even as I created my G+ profile last week, I was thinking to myself, "just what in the hell do you think you're doing?". I already hadn't been blogging! I post once a week now, and that seems to be just what the doctor ordered. No, I mean to say that I have failed to visit as many blogs as I would like. I know that I can never keep up with everything and everyone, but I feel some measure of stress if I don't.

Now, I'm supposed to be giving my second novel a edit/rewrite before getting it back to Vamplit Publishing (Hello, Gaynor. *waves*), I need to be working on my next article and I work too...darn many hours. Yeah, that wasn't what I wanted to write there. It wasn't nearly as satisfying as the word "damn" would have been. *laughs*

How are you all doing with "everything" that you wish to be doing? How are you finding that balance?

My hope is that by touching base with all of you, via any number of the social networks that we'll stay connected, show each other some love and simply be there. If you don't see me on your sites, I hope you'll see my mention of you on #WW or #FF on Twitter; my "like" of your posts and comments on FB; etc., etc. That's what I hope anyway.

In the meantime, I really needed this long Labor Day weekend, and I promise you that I didn't just sit here on trusty laptop. I need to, but then again, I don't really need to. Do I?

It's when I try to that I feel like I'm drowning. And that isn't helping anyone, is it?

Before I go, I had a bit of a thrill this week. I saw on Twitter that one of my favorite authors was going on a helicopter trip. All I said to her was to have a safe trip. I had never interacted with her previously that I can recall. A few hours later I was checking trusty iPhone when I saw the following note: Patricia Cornwell is now following Danceauthor.

My mouth is still hanging open. Okay, that isn't the prettiest image, but you get the point. She had less than 100 that she was following and I am in that group. It was and is very humbling.

These shelves are loaded w/ Cornwell books.

I hope everyone had/is having (whatever the case might be) a great weekend.

We'll talk soon.

Monday Morning Musings

2011-08-29T00:01:00.000-07:00

Hello, Fire Enthusiasts. How was your week? Mine was busy, as always, but also quite rewarding, as you'll see.

Many thanks to my buddy, Ellie Garratt. She hosted the Star Trek Blogfest last week. It was very cool, reading through each list and meeting new people. It was also educational for me, because I never paid much attention to any of the other Star Trek series or films. My allegiance was always to the original cast. It wasn't intentional. It's just how it all worked out. Anyway, I gained a bunch of new followers out of the blogfest who I look forward to getting to know better. *waves to new friends* If I missed any of your blog posts last week it was because it took me three days to get through the Star Trek posts. I believe it was nearly fifty.

On Friday morning, I happened to come across a Facebook Page entitled, Novel Publicity. They were doing a chain where you posted the link on your page, along with a simple sentence which alerted participants that you knew the rules of the game and intended to play along. Next, we posted on the Novel Publicity post and then headed off into cyberspace to meet new people. It took quite awhile getting through the list and saying hello to everyone participating; however, by the time it was all said and done, my author's page on Facebook had jumped nearly 100. Out of that number I did manage to find a few familiar faces that I already knew. Although only a few appear to share my darker genre, I think there are many that we'll find share some things in common, and will end up being friends out of the deal. I plan to join again next week if I'm able. Perhaps I'll see you there.

On the reading front, I have been reading Drood by Dan Simmons. It is a huge book that I picked up at Borders when we were in Monterey, California last month. It is the story of real-life Charles Dicken’s supposed infatuation with a mysterious character that ends up consuming the last years of his life. Unfortunately, I only have about a half hour each night to read, and although the novel is very interesting and intriguing, I can’t find any other time to read. No matter how good the novel is, I read in bed before going to sleep, since it helps to tire me out. When do some of you writers find the time to read?

Speaking of writing, by the time that you read this post, I should be doing an edit/rewrite on my second novel, the sequel to Dance on Fire. It is currently entitled, Dance on Fire: Flashpoint. Before I do that, however, I need to get going on my next article for Kings River Life Magazine. I’m writing about a very talented gentleman that composes, performs and leads choirs. His music has been played all over the world. He teaches and actually leads worship in our church. It should be interesting.

How are your stress levels, my friends? I’m not going to repeat myself here; most of you are aware of my day and little time I have to do anything. A week ago, I took most of Saturday and Sunday to clean my house–I had neglected it that much. Now, with the work that remains on my novel, plus the itch inside me to begin writing book three, I am really beginning to need to clear my desk, as it were. It may be time yet again to reevaluate what takes up my time.

How about you guys? Kids are back in school, so do we have more time to write or less?

Anyway, I hope you all have a great week. I hope our paths cross more than once, whether it be the blogs, Twitter, Facebook or any of the other social networks. Are any of you on Google + yet? I'm not, but would like to be. Do we still need to be invited? If anyone knows the scoop on that, I'd love to hear it.

We'll talk soon.

Star Trek Blog Fest

2011-08-22T00:01:00.000-07:00

Hello, Star Trek Enthusiasts...

Wait! Did I just write, Star Trek? Yes, I did.

We're skipping the whole Fire Enthusiast thing for one week while we instead celebrate the phenomena that is the Star Trek Universe. This blogfest is being hosted by my good pal, Ellie Garratt. Many of you probably already know her, but if you don't, you really should introduce yourself. If you have stumbled here and would like to see more Star Trek thoughts, please surf over and check out the other entries at Ellie's blog.

Now, I must tell you that I am not the biggest Trekkie in the world. Not by a long shot. I grew up watching the original television show with my dad. When the original crew reunited to begin doing films, I came along for the ride; however, that was about all. I never got into the Next Generation or any of the other shows. I did watch the big reboot by J.J. Abrams and liked it.

In any event, here is an eclectic look at Star Trek through my eyes in no particular order:

(1) I was born March 22, 1969. This was William Shatner's 38th Birthday. He has been many things and has gone by many names: he was Bob Wilson, terrorized by a gremlin on a plane in the Twilight Zone episode, Nightmare at 20,000 Feet; he was T.J. Hooker in the 80's; he has been Denny Crane in the television show, The Practice; and although he later became Admiral, he will really only ever be Captain James T. Kirk of the Starship Enterprise.

(2) In one of the saddest moments, the Enterprise is destroyed in Star Trek 3. With our heroes safely away, the ship is put through its self-destruct paces in order to take out Klingons and swing the advantage back into Kirk's court. I do love Christopher Lloyd's reaction as he realizes that his men are about to be killed. You can watch the scene here:

(3) Now, my wife didn't think this would be a very good idea to post this next one, so I hope everyone takes this in the fun spirit that it is given. I just watched it for the first time in a long while and I think it is hysterical. If you have never seen the skit William Shatner did on SNL, you really much check it out:

William Shatner SNL skit Get A Life 1986-12-20 by efly2020

(4) Once again, I don't know each and every villain in the Trek Universe; however, not only is Ricardo Montalban's Khan a great Star Trek Villain, he may very well be one of the great movie villains of all time. I loved his timing and his facial expressions, and he had some great lines to deliver:

"Surely, I have made my meaning plain. I mean to avenge myself upon you, Admiral. I deprived your ship of power, and when I swing around, I mean to deprive you of your life."

"I've done far worse than kill you, Admiral. I've hurt you. And I wish to go on hurting you. I shall leave you as you left me, as you left her; marooned for all eternity in the center of a dead planet... buried alive! Buried alive...!"

"[quoting from Melville's Moby Dick] To the last, I will grapple with thee... from Hell's heart, I stab at thee! For hate's sake, I spit my last breath at thee!"

(5) And if you haven't guessed yet, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan is my all-time favorite in the series. I can watch it over and over again. There should even be a 24-hour channel or, if nothing else, a one day a year event where they loop it. Okay, perhaps I'm going a bit overboard, but I think the film had everything. Great action and dialogue. Good drama. And not campy at all. I think it has also aged very well, thankfully. So I will leave you with the poster.

My thanks to all who pay me a visit. I look forward to checking out your thoughts as well.

I usually end posts with "We'll talk soon", but obviously this week I must close with the following...

Live long and prosper.

Writing & Reviews

2011-08-15T00:01:00.000-07:00

Hello, Fire Enthusiasts. It strikes me that I rarely discuss any writing on these hallowed pages. There’s a good reason for that. You see, I haven’t done any.

Well, I shouldn’t say that. I usually write one to two new things a week; however, those are blog posts like this one or the articles that I write for Kings River Life Magazine. Unfortunately, I am in the middle of projects, so I haven’t really begun my third WIP. As soon as the edits are completed for Dance on Fire: FlashPoint, then I shall begin writing book three.

Many of you are writing all the time. Many are working on several projects at once. Many are engaging in 30 day marathons like NaNo where you write that novel in one month. Many are writing flash pieces each and every week.

I envy you guys. Kind of sounds like Kevin Spacey’s character in Seven, doesn’t it? I assure you that it is only coincidental. *grins*

Perhaps this will change, my not writing more regularly. At the moment, I spend much of my time networking, leaving precious little time for anything else. It is hard enough trying to get readers to find my crossover vampire novel without that. It’s very good, too, I’m told. It seems to get great reviews all over the place. I just have to keep getting the word out.

With that in mind, I thought I would share some of the reviews that I have been getting...

"I love what Garcia has done with Dance on Fire. ...The characters are drawn with depth and substance. Garcia has a gift for dialogue that “shows” more than “tells” the reader about the characters. I was also struck by the imaginative storyline which builds tension to the dramatic, bittersweet climax. Garcia mixes a horror thriller with deep suggestions about the nature of grace and providence and leaves you thinking about these concepts long after the book is finished." --Pastor Ed Ezaki

"I particularly love the start, you do not need to be told that this guy is bad news. From there on it never lets up and keeps you wanting to read right up the ending. Well thought out and well crafted." --Author Mathew Bridle

"I thoroughly enjoyed Dance On Fire... The plot was skillfully developed and strung together with such grace, I wasn't really sure what was going to happen in the end until the conclusion. Garcia teases the reader in a variety of directions, and, like any good mystery, although you search for clues, nothing is revealed until the end. I liked the treatment of the vampire as both light and dark, and this book dealt with both sides believably." --Author Angela Love

"The plot is superbly written, I loved how it also took the form of a mystery while you follow the detectives trying to solve the bizarre murders. You won’t be disappointed in the growing tension which builds up to a dramatic climax. Don’t let the genre titles of horror or Christian put you off, if you love vampire stories, you’ll enjoy this book!" --Author Jennifer Wylie

"...Let me commend author James Garcia, because in his adept hands he has made this thoroughly engrossing novel an exceptional read. I loved it!" --Author Carole Gill

"Garcia uses strong verbal details; there is no stone left unturned in this novel. He takes his time developing his characters, weaving them together in a written structure that is multicolored, and part of a plot that is spiritual, sensual, intriguing, and stimulating. There are subtle twists and turns that keep one turning the page, whether a paranormal aficionado or not." --Michelle Cabezut, Fresno Magazine

"I thought using the time of day instead of chapters really added to the pacing. The final battles at the homes and police station were exciting and well detailed, putting me in the action along with the characters. I'll have to admit what I found extremely compelling were the flashbacks to Romania and the Poienari Fortress. The crumbling fortress, the cold, the master vampire - all these things tugged at my particular kind of horror. A really good novel, and a thrilling read." --Author Timothy Hobbs.

Many thanks to those reviewers as well as to all of the others who have taken the time to read my little book. I really appreciate you more than you know.

I hope to reward that allegiance that you have offered me with each new work.

We'll talk soon.

Crazy, Stupid, Love

2011-08-08T00:01:00.000-07:00

Hello, Fire Enthusiasts. How was the week? Mine was rough, but that's what I get for only working three days the previous week and then attempting to get back in the swing of a five-day week, after having taking off on vacation. Right? It was great, though, and I really appreciate all of your comments. Thanks.

This week I had an article about a new local restaurant which is situated along our river here in the Central Valley of California. The problem was that I had my deadline and I had my subject; however, I could not get a hold of them. Thankfully, just as my editor and I were preparing to punt and do something else at the last minute, I finally heard from them and everything came together quickly. I'm glad it did, not only because I had the deadline, but because it's a great restaurant and really nice people behind it. If you are curious about this magazine, feel free to check it out. It is called Kings River Life Magazine and it's a free on-line mag.

Other than that, I'd like to tell you a little bit about a real good film that my wife and I saw this past Saturday. As you have already guessed, it is called Crazy, Stupid, Love. If you don't like chick-flicks, don't worry. This isn't one! It has so much more going for it than just the run-of-the-mill Rom-Com.

Steve Carell is a husband and father who finds out at dinner that his wife has cheated on him and she wants a divorce. That was pretty much how he got the news, too. His wife, Julianne Moore, doesn't love the coworker that she slept with, but she doesn't love her husband either.

Carell moves into his own place and then begins to pick up the pieces, except he's not doing very well at that. He meets a ladies man, Ryan Gosling, who decides to take him under his wing and shape him up.

The film is loaded with twists and turns and, were it in the hands of lesser filmmakers, might have turned out very badly, Instead, I think it is a hit.

Kevin Bacon is the coworker who wants to be the new man in Moore's life. Emma Stone is the woman who meets Gosling, but spurns his interest, instead choosing to wait for her boyfriend's proposal (a surprising appearance from singer Josh Groban). Carell's son is not-so-secretly in love with the family babysitter, who in turn secretly loves Carell. You can see how this could have gone badly, but I promise you that it all works. I have purposely left spoilers out. I'm usually great at anticipating those, but was floored at some of the things that take place.

Do yourself a favor, if you have not yet already done so, and see this film.

We'll talk soon.

Vacation, Part Two

2011-08-01T00:01:00.000-07:00

Hello, Fire Enthusiasts. How was your week? I hope it was as good as mine. If not, I hope you will rectify this very soon. There isn't much summer left.

The view from across the bay

A couple of weeks ago, I told you a little bit about my family and I planning on going on vacation. It wasn't the biggest vacation we've planned; we've done New York City, Hawaii and a couple of cruises in the past. However, having just gone to NYC this past March, and hearing about potential high school band trips to Hawaii and NYC once again, we decided as a family that we would simply attempt to get away from the heat.

Riley, Me & Rian

We live in the San Joaquin Valley which is Central California. We're near Fresno. Although this has been a very mild summer, we can get near 110 degree temperatures. Having Sun-Maid Raisin Growers of California close for year-end inventory made it a perfect time for our family (my wife is a teacher) to get away.

Truth is I love the Beatles, but hate that stupid song!

The beauty of living where we do is the fact that there is so much to do. We are only several hours away from both northern and southern California, and places such as the mountains or the coast are closer still. This time we chose to be near the water, so Wednesday afternoon, after I got off from work, we hit the road, heading for Monterey, California.

Captivated by the Jellies

If you have read Steinbeck, then you no doubt know a little about our destination. If you like visiting aquariums, then you most likely have heard of the world-famous Monterey Aquarium.

Still going strong, 23 total years together

We arrived Wednesday evening and did not leave until Saturday afternoon. In between we visited the aquarium, shopped, spend a half-day in Santa Cruz at the Beach Boardwalk (If you've seen The Lost Boys, then you know the place since they shot the film there), ate a lot, had a several drinks, enjoyed 60 degree weather and never once touch a computer.

The winner of the tournament took the photo. Just sayin'

Enjoying dinner at Bubba Gumps. The drink was good, too.

If you have yet to take any time off, I want to encourage you to do so. I missed my computer and both #WW and #FF on Twitter, but I know my family appreciated the time I spent with them.

Am I the only one who thinks it's a bad omen to shape a pool like a coffin?

We'll talk soon.

Kingsburg Library Event

2011-07-25T00:01:00.000-07:00

Hello, Fire Enthusiasts. How was your week? Mine kind of sucked! Can we use that kind of language here? *flips through by-laws* Lol! Actually, the week was pretty busy, which is rather normal. It was mostly Friday that was the worst; leaving such a bad taste in my mouth. Picture 11 hours at work, no lunch, a work-phone that never stopped ringing and very little production on the Packaging floor. You guys know I work at Sun-Maid Raisin Growers, right?

Anyway, I didn't post today to whine about what has past. There were some good things that took place. My son had a concert Monday night with some of his buddies and did well, as always. The young man has skills! Then on Thursday evening I had an author event at my local library. It is about this that I wanted to share with you.

I joined the Chamber of Commerce last year in anticipation of this sort of thing. You'll recall that my novel is about vampires loosed in my hometown, so I have a built-in audience if I can only reach them. I attempted to get something going with the library before, but it was slow going. However, in May, while sharing a bill with Lorie Ham and Marilyn Meredith of Kings River Life Magazine at a library event in Fresno, I happened to meet a member of the Kingsburg Friends of the Library. That meeting led to this past week's event.

I freely admit that I was a bit nervous. I do safety meetings at work where I have to speak publicly - that wasn't the problem. I had also done a couple of things before, but this time it was all me. Needless to say, everything worked out well.

We had about twenty people come out which was great. You always worry that no one shows, you know? I was given no outline as to what to do, so after I was introduced, I began by telling them about myself. I told them who I was, what shaped me and how I came to be sitting before them. Then I read the synopsis to Dance on Fire. I then opened the book and read what amounts to be the prologue. We did questions and answers, too. I've been pretty lucky so far, in that the questions have always been good and thought-provoking. Nothing ridiculous or too repetitive...so far. Anyway, how could I complain? I never thought I would really be doing this.

Before I forget, I told the group that I felt it was important that we were all there, supporting our local library. In this day of tightening budgets, it is a shame to think of losing our arts in the schools and to have our libraries close. It was my discovery of horror novels in my teenage years that led me to be sitting before them. Without libraries and book stores, I might never have come to be a writer.

I met new people, got reacquainted with some old friends and was joined by friends, family and co-workers. I sold some more books and hopefully laid the seed for future fans. (By the way, the e-book version of my novel is 50% off at Smashwords until the end of July. See the link above.) One thing that I take very seriously is what I feel to be a responsibility that I have. Since I dreamt of being a writer for my entire life and am now having that dream realized, I hold the eyes of every young person that I meet and do my best to convince them to chase their dreams. Especially the teenage girls. I know how the world and young men try to get them to settle.
I tell them, either by my words or in the body of my autograph, to dream big and then to do everything in their power to chase that dream.

I hope you guys are doing that, too.

We'll talk soon.

Vacation, Part One

2011-07-18T00:01:00.000-07:00

Hello, Fire Enthusiasts. I trust you had a great weekend. Anytime that I don’t have to get up before God does, which is what my day job asks of me, then it’s good. (Lord, I apologize for that there.)

Well, after having discussed this new restructure plan of mine for two weeks, I thought it best to talk about something else. How about vacations? My next library event is this coming week, so there isn’t much to discuss there. I have yet to begin rewriting Dance on Fire: Flash Point, so there isn’t anything there either.

Who among us has been on vacation yet? Anyone? Where did you go? Was it a working vacation?

As many of you may recall, we went to New York City this past March for my oldest son’s High School Wind Ensemble. They played Carnegie Hall, and the trip was fantastic! However, with more trips like that coming, we’re not going to go crazy this year with any large trips. There is already talk of another potential New York trip next spring for the High School choir, followed by a Hawaii trip the year after that. I’m also heading to Georgia this coming fall for my brother’s wedding. Unfortunately, everyone - including mom the teacher –will be in school then, so I’m going alone. Well, not completely alone, my parents are coming with me. With that in mind, it appears that we will probably only be taking mini vacations for a while; which is perfectly fine.

We live in the California Central Valley. At the moment, it isn’t a lot of fun because we can get quite a few 100+ degree summer days. What is good about it is the fact that we are only a few hours away from a lot of great places: Los Angeles, San Francisco, Yosemite, the Giant Redwoods and Sequoia National Park, and the central coast. And since it’s been a while since we’ve last been to the coast, that’s where we’re heading in a few weeks: Monterey, California. For Steinbeck fans, you’ll recognize the place as the home of cannery row. It is also the location of the world famous Monterrey Aquarium. There’s a lot of great places to eat, to shop and to, most importantly, simply take in the coastal view and air.

Now, here’s the question: do I take trusty laptop with me? We’re staying for three to four days. That’s quite a lot of time away from my computer. Do you take yours when you leave town? Using trusty iPhone to do a lot of networking is okay, but it isn’t the easiest thing in the world from such a tiny screen.

In any event, I’m calling this post part one because I plan on posting again after we get back with several photos from our time away.

We’ll talk soon.

One Week Later and other updates

2011-07-11T00:01:00.000-07:00

Hello, Fire Enthusiasts. I hope everyone is doing well; busy reading, writing, editing, promoting, selling, etc. Wherever you find yourself, I hope you are happy. If you simply love to read and talk about books, I hope you have found some great stories out there. If writing is your dream, I hope your dreams are coming to fruition. I know mine are.

Last week, I wrote of attempting to turn over a new leaf with regard to networking. I just found that with my limited amount of time, that I was spending way too much time posting items that few were reading. It wasn’t a matter of me throwing a fit or being upset about it or anything. It was simply a fact. And I think I knew why, which was: I hadn’t been visiting anyone’s blogs either.

So I decided that I would instead focus on writing one piece per week and spend the rest of the week doing promotion for it, as well as to visit the blogs of others. Hopefully by this time many, if not all of you, have already caught me prowling about your pages. *winks*

Once again, please don’t think of this as me being upset. I want to know what you guys are up to. I want to help promote not only my stuff but yours as well, as I can. Not only have I read some of your books this year, but I have adored them, too. I was missing out on a lot things that you guys were up to, and I do not like that. The upside of me more closely following the blogs and doings of others is the wonderful fact that people returned the favor and visited me. Hopefully, this will be a new direction and not simply a recent and short-lived fad...

Updates:

This month my edits are supposed to return to me for Dance on Fire: Flash Point. Beyond that, I have two articles that I wrote for Kings River Life Magazine: one was on my town’s community band, which holds concerts in the park; while the second article is a profile of the Kingsburg Police Chief. That one will be going live this coming Saturday. I also just had a review come out Saturday that I did a few months ago on the delightful novel Menopause in Manhattan by my buddy Anne Kleinberg. My editor is always looking to do reviews and was good enough to want to use this one.

Other than that, I simply press forward. I have two library events coming up. The first will be in my hometown which is the site where my novel takes place. If you have yet to read my novel and you like e-books, then you are in luck! *grins* This month, Smashwords is having a sale. You can get my book for almost nothing. If you would rather have the signed softcover version, send me a note. I'm sure we can work something out. *grins again*

We'll talk soon.

Networking Responsibilities?!?

2011-07-04T00:01:00.000-07:00

Hello, Fire Enthusiasts. Hopefully, fire is not the operative word where you live now that it is blazing hot in most places and, more importantly, fire season. The only thing that I want burning are my poor characters…in a manner of speaking.

Today, I thought I would go over some of my networking responsibilities. I use that word because I feel a desire to assist others since I like it very much when you all assist me. I have mentioned many times that it isn’t easy with the crazy schedule that I am keeping, mostly due to my 11 hour day job. I may be selling a few books now, especially now that I am doing author events; however, I don’t feel that it should relieve me of any duties to my buddies out there in the blogosphere.

I write one to two blog posts (such as this one) a week for myself, an article or two a month for Kings River Life Magazine and once in a while I write a post for Something Wicked This Way Comes. If I do not have any pressing deadlines, then I typically focus on catching up with comments that are left for me on anyone of several of the social networks: Facebook, Twitter, GetFanged, etc. If I have read anything of late, then I update Goodreads, Shelfari and Amazon with the information/review. Beyond that, I try to promote my novel a bit.

With the time that I have left, I usually focus on Twitter first, by re-tweeting particularly interesting or noteworthy tweets of others. On Wednesday and Friday I do my best to participate with Writer Wednesday (#WW) and Follow Friday (#FF), by listing the links of my friends, mates, buddies and secret crushes (just checking to see whether I still had your attention… Or was I?).

With Facebook, I try to “like” the pages of others as well as comments of note. I especially enjoy dropping people a line on their birthdays. This past year on my birthday, it was such a thrill, having so many people reach out to me. It was better than any gift I could have received.

Lastly, as time permits, I try and visit the blogs. I hate to simply say “hello” and vanish. If the post attracts my attention, I like to leave a quick note of some merit.

That’s basically where I’m at for the moment. How do you guys do it? Do you feel the way I do about blogging and networking with/for others? How do you guys manage your blogosphere day?

Notice that I didn’t mention anything about writing fiction? Soon the edits will arrive in my e-mail for Dance on Fire: FlashPoint. When they do, I'm going to need to make time for those. Then I need to begin working on the next WIP. *sigh*

I guess that I really shouldn't complain, should I? After all, I am living the dream.

Aren't I?

Oh, and Happy 4th of July, America.

We'll talk soon.

Something Wicked This Way Comes

2011-06-27T00:01:00.000-07:00

Hello, Fire Enthusiasts.

I hope everyone had a great weekend. For me and my crazy schedule it is a time to catch up on some much needed sleep, attempt to take care of some stuff around the house, spend a little extra time with the family (hello, dear. *waves*) and, of course, to catch up on some extra stuff on my trusty laptop.

I'm currently waiting for my edits on Dance on Fire: Flashpoint to return to me. The talented Sue Midlock has created the cover art. I was involved with this one which was a pretty cool experience. I have a few other things that we can talk about in the near future, too.

In the meantime, however, I would simply like to tell/remind you about another blog that I occasionally write for: Something Wicked This Way Comes. You might remember the Ray Bradbury novel or perhaps the quote from Shakespeare's MacBeth. This blog is operated by Vamplit Published Authors and it is the home for dark and twisted book and film reviews, and also a place to showcase whatever we've got cooking at any particular moment.

Recently, I have managed to find some time to get some reading in. I read two fantastic novels and reviewed both of them there. One was Stop Me by Richard Jay Parker and the second was Seed by Ania Ahlborn. If you like that sort of thing, you really should investigate further by surfing on over and checking out my reviews. As a teaser, I can tell you that I will next be reviewing the 1980 classic, The Changeling. If you're like me and had yet to see this incredible film, then I hope you'll join me later this week where we'll be discussing it.

We'd really appreciate it if you came by. Many of you already have and we thank you.

We'll talk soon.

Happy Anniversary, Dear

2011-06-22T00:01:00.000-07:00

Hello, Fire Enthusiasts

So I had a polite quarrel with a sister in law once, before she and I had become family. You see my fiancé and I were planning a Friday wedding for June 22, 1990. I say “we” but it was mostly my wife who did the work. I just want to make sure that I give the credit where the credit is due…

In any event, nobody gets married on a Friday was the argument. No, we needed to wait one more day and get married on Saturday which would have made more sense. I suppose that was a pretty good argument, except for one little thing. At the heart of the matter was the minor detail about that Friday being our two year dating anniversary. We met at junior college and became really good friends, until I went and fell in love and messed that all up. Thankfully, God was in the thing. When she told me that we would only ever be friends, I didn’t get mad, and we parted as friends. Over that summer, the woman who would eventually become my wife missed our time together and looked me up. She did not have my phone number, but managed to locate it through a friend of my brother. She called me June 22, 1988.

My friends, I may not be the most romantic guy in the world, but I am a little bit, and I was not about to get married on my two year anniversary plus one day. Hell, no! We became husband and wife on a Friday evening in my brother in law’s backyard in front of God and a large group of friends and family.

I tell you this because I want to acknowledge the woman who has stood beside me on this incredible journey that I suddenly find myself in. She knew that I was a writer when we met. During the course of our marriage that dream remained only that while two people became one flesh, and then eventually became a grand total of four. And after all of these years we find that the writing dream did not die, but simply waited.

I’m a published writer now. People are reading my words each and every week. Although I am all too often found sitting before my laptop after my very long and tiring day job, my wife has given me the space to do this, applauded my successes and loved me still.

I love you, too, dear, and I thank you for this and so much more. Happy Anniversary.

We’ll talk soon.

2011-06-20T00:01:00.000-07:00

Hello Fire Enthusiasts.

How is everyone? You know, I feel badly that I have done such a poor job of visiting your blogs. I typically see many of you on Twitter or Facebook and that’s great. However, one of the reasons why I left my spot at Wicked Writers was to free me up to do other things. I have been less successful with blogs, but I’m endeavoring to improve.

One of the reasons why I have been so busy is because I have really been doing a lot of events. Some of you may have seen a post or two concerning this fact, perhaps not. I have been asked to share how some of this has come about, so I’d like to take a few paragraphs to explain, if I may.

First of all, be aware that my ground is fertile. I wrote a vampire novel which takes place in my hometown. Not only did I mention Kingsburg, California, but I also used the neighboring towns and did a fair job of mentioning the valley in which these communities are located. I didn’t always feel that way about my area. People did not seem to notice me until I began doing events. I just want to make sure that folks understand because it isn’t the same thing as having written a western in Hawaii, for instance.

In any event, here’s how I have been able to start signing books:

Year One.

I spent the first year attempting to build a presence on the ‘Net. I covered most of the social networks. At some point or another I began writing for three blogs. During this time I garnered some reviews there. Six months into this effort, I had my local high school as well as a local magazine review the novel. The magazine review opened up an opportunity to write articles as the Kingsburg Beat Writer for a local on-line magazine that had just started up. Anticipating the soft cover version of the novel coming out, I joined the Kingsburg Chamber of Commerce and attended mixers.

Just as the first year was coming to a close my novel came out in soft cover. I began giving and selling copies, as well as attempting to garner reviews with it. I am in the first six months of this second year and I have been covered by my city newspaper (the Kingsburg Recorder), briefly mentioned by the newspaper in the largest city in my area (The Fresno Bee) and now reviewed in this month’s issue of Fresno Magazine.

Six Months into Year Two:

Being a member of the Chamber allowed me the opportunity to sell my novels in their building. I then partnered up with Pamela’s Boutique, a local shop in town. I had met the owner at my first mixer and she offered to sell copies in her store. Working for Kings River Life Magazine gave me an opportunity to attend my first library event. Then it was time for the annual Kingsburg Swedish Festival, a street fair of sorts that is the main draw of the year for us. I had a booth there and sold about 30 copies. Next, a wonderful group of ladies picked up my novel for their book club and then invited me to come and share my story with them and talk books. Recently, I had what promises to be the first of many author events at Pamela’s. I sold another 13 copies there.

(That's James, Sr. in the center)

The Next Six Months:

Armed with the excellent review from Fresno Magazine, I marched up to Fresno to speak with the big three: Barnes & Noble, Borders & Bereans. So far I have hit the corporate wall. They want me to e-mail corporate offices, see how many copies I’m selling and to know about return policies, etc. Vamplit Publishing is a new company which is building a firm foundation for itself and has a great stable of authors; however, we are not yet in a position to meet some of these requirements. I’m thinking that I’m going to back off a bit and focus on the smaller book stores in my area. I’m guessing that they will be more receptive. I have another library event planned for next month in Kingsburg, too.

So this is where I find myself, my friends. Things have gotten really exciting. The sequel to my first novel should be coming back to me shortly so that I may make some corrections. It should be published this year in both e-book and soft cover formats. I have already begun planning book three, although I am torn between wanting to pen book three of the trilogy and wanting to write something different.

(That's my great friend Mike, who I have known since grade school. He and his family came down to visit his parents and kept the surprise from me until he walked into the shop. Seeing the Graham family was the highlight of the night.)

As always you will be among the first to know.

Thanks so much for your interest, support and constant enthusiasm.

We’ll talk soon.

Wednesday Morning Musings??

2011-06-15T00:01:00.000-07:00

Hello, Fire Enthusiasts. I’m a little late posting this week. I usually try and have at least something posted for Monday. I’m still trying to figure out just what it is that I can handle at the moment. I had hoped to do a much better job visiting other blogs, but that still seems to be the one thing that I am having trouble doing. I’m sorry about this, by the way. I feel guilty as hell when I don’t know what’s going on with my blogger buddies.

Many of you know why this is and I hate to go over the same boring stuff: I work an 11 hour day job. My wife and sons have been very good about the fact that dad is married to his laptop every day, but I don’t have to like it. You know?

So I spend the little time that I can afford keeping up with article deadlines and promotion for Kings River Life Magazine, writing blog posts for myself, staying on top of Twitter and Facebook and now doing author events. For my next post I will discuss these events that I have been doing in detail, along with some of how they came about. I thought about doing a video blog for that one, but am unsure that it will work out. We’ll see.

In the meantime, I wanted to tell you about a book that I just finished reading last week. Me, reading? Yes, it can happen! It is very rare, however. In any event, the novel is entitled Stop Me. It is a serial killer story that was done very well by author, Richard Jay Parker. I have had the pleasure of speaking to Mr. Parker via the ‘net a few times and he seems like a really good guy. More importantly perhaps, he wrote a very good and very unique story, and I would like to tell you about it.

To read this review, please visit the Something Wicked This Way Comes Blog. It is a second blog that I contribute to, although far too infrequently. If you have yet to hear of it, then this is your chance to check it out. It is the home of several Vamplit Publishing authors. I don’t contribute as often as I would like, but I am hoping to do better in the future. The following is a teaser to get you to check out the review:

           howdy doody,

           on vacation

           slim, attractive, dreadlocked babe with a fun sticky-out bellybutton, likes rabbit fur

           forward this email to ten friends

           each of those friends must forward it to ten friends

           maybe one of those friends of friends of friends will be one of my friends

           if this email ends up in my inbox within a week I won’t slit the bitch’s throat

            can you afford not to send this on to ten friends?

We’ll talk soon.

Monday Morning Musings

2011-06-06T00:01:00.000-07:00

Hello, Fire Enthusiasts. Happy Monday! No? *sigh* I agree with you. For most people there is no such thing as a happy Monday. If you are one of the few, good for you. If you are one of the majority (including me), then here's hoping that Monday will go easy on you.

My friends, these are exciting times. I'm doing author events now which have been marvelous. A big review just came out for me. The indications were that it would be favorable. Little did I know how favorable it would be!

I could tell you about this, as well as everything else that is going on; however, although this blog was designed as a vehicle for me to promote my work, even I don't want this site to become some sort of shrine to me. Let's keep the head/ego from getting too large, okay? Since I have a couple of events at the end of this week, there will be plenty of time for updates later. I will definitely fill you in on those details soon. For those who can't wait, please check out my Author's Facebook Page.

In the meantime, let's talk some music.

Most of you know how much music means to me. It is with that in mind that I would like to take a few moments to share my current playlist with you. It includes some old and some new.

Billy Joel: I don't know why, but I have been on one heck of a Joel kick for the last month or so. Although I appreciate most of Mr. Joel's catalog, I find myself drawn to everything that he recorded during the seventies. Some complete albums I already owned: Glass Houses, The Nylon Curtain and The Stranger. However, thanks to iTunes, I have been able to pour over that catalog and pick up several songs that I did not own. I have been playing the hell out of several cuts from Cold Spring Harbor, Turnstiles, 52nd Street and of course Piano Man.

SIXX: A.M.: If hard rock music is your genre, then you either know the tunes already or you recognise the name. Nikki Sixx is the bass player from Motley Crue. Apparently a book that he wrote which detailed his excesses ended up pushing him toward creating accompanying music. He did that and had a hit with "Life is Beautiful". However, it was only recently that I found a new album, quite by accident. It is called, This is Gonna Hurt. Being ever on the hunt for new music I thought that I would give it a shot. I was impressed with the musicians as well as the music. For the curious, check out the song "Lies of the Beautiful People".

Sammy Hagar: Yeah, I know. I just read his book, so now I've got his tunes stuck inside my head. Well, you'd be right. However, it's not his greatest hits that I find stuck there, but other stuff that I never really gave a chance. I've gone back and bought some of his earlier works from albums well before Three Lock Box, Standing Hampton and VOA. I bought a few songs from nearly every album, but find myself really playing Ten 13 and Not 4 Sale. I really love "Deeper Kinda Love", "Little Bit More" and "Tropic of Capricorn", but there's a lot of good stuff on the album named after his birthday in October. On the second one, "Halfway to Memphis" and "Things've Changed".

Warrant: So there I was a few weeks ago, looking for something new and I ended up stumbling across something old. I had five Warrant songs on my iPod and "Cherry Pie" was not one of them. Just sayin'! I can't stand that song. I feel demeaned just listening to it. However, I love "Uncle Tom's Cabin", "Heaven", "Down Boys" and "Sometimes She Cries". As my finger was going for the play button, I seemed to recall something about original singer Jani Lane being in some sort of trouble, so I wondered whether he was still in the band or not. It only took a moment to realize that this was definitely not old Warrant. I think I even frowned at the difference. Immediately, my finger began heading for the stop button. Yet, one second led to another and I was still listening. It may not have been the old stuff, but what I was hearing was damn good. Instead of turning it off, I tried another song. Then another. Folks, not only did I buy a few of those songs, I bought the whole thing!! If Rock music is your thing, try "Innocence is Gone" and "Sex Ain't Love". If you like the classic hair metal or power ballad stuff, try "Home", "What Love Can Do" and my absolute favorite, "Life's a Song". I love that some of the old bands that I grew up with are still rockin'. But I also love it when something old becomes new like this. I hope you'll give Warrant's new cd, Rockaholic a shot like I did. I can't turn it off!

That's not exactly true. I turn it off sometimes and play classic Billy Joel instead. ;)

Thanks for "listening".

We'll talk soon.

My Take on a Couple of Newer Films

2011-06-02T00:01:00.000-07:00

Greetings, Fire Enthusiasts. I hope everyone is doing well these days. I hope you are happily reading, writing and living.

My wife and I spent part of last weekend’s three glorious days off watching a pair of films, and I thought I would tell you about them.

The first film was Thor. We saw this one in the theater. We were looking for something to see as a family and we ended up choosing this one. Now, I must tell you that I grew up with Marvel Comics, so I was well acquainted with the mythology. However, considering the subject matter, I was not all that convinced that the filmmakers would be able to pull it off.

Thankfully, I can report that the film was pretty good. Even my wife thought it was okay, which surprised me. At first the film was too serious, but once the action turned toward Earth, we began to get some humor in the story which made it a good experience. If you like the Marvel films then I would recommend this one. It is definitely better than the terrible Hulk films.

This brings me to what I would call a disappointing film, Love and Other Drugs. Everyone and their mother knew that both Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway were going to be very naked in this film, but I guess I didn’t expect them to be completely naked most of the time. On top of that was the storyline of his brother who had no redeeming social qualities whatsoever. Also, seemingly every dirty word in the dirty-word handbook was used, and used frequently.

My hope going in was that although the film was R-rated, the payoff would be well worth it. Unfortunately, though it is interesting to see Hathaway’s character deal with her affliction and sweet to see her and Gyllenhaal’s character together, I found most of the film difficult to watch with my wife in the room. We've seen some things and heard some language in our twenty-plus years of movie-watching together, obviously. I just didn’t feel that this one was worth it.

Please don’t misunderstand, I’m no angel. My eyes like to see eye candy like the next guy. However, as a body of work, I did not feel as if the story (which was a good premise) warranted the huge amounts of profanity and nudity that ended up in the final version of the film. I expected more from Edward Zwick. He’s the director who gave us Glory, Legends of the Fall and The Last Samurai.

Okay, I’ve said my peace. What do you folks think? Have you seen either film yet? If so, do you agree or disagree with me? How so? Am I making too much of Love’s nudity? As an amusing aside, a day later I caught a commercial for a showing on television of Hathaway’s film, The Princess Diaries. She looked so innocent and sweet in that, but I was suddenly picturing her naked. I almost jabbed out my eyes! Lol!

We’ll talk soon.

Monday Morning Musings

2011-05-30T07:37:00.000-07:00

Hello, Fire Enthusiasts. Happy (long weekend) Memorial Day to you and yours.

Before I get all carried away I just want to give a shout-out to all of those who have worn a uniform for the United States or its Allies. You have sacrificed much for freedom, all too often sacrificing all that you had to give.

Forgive me, my blogosphere friends. I have been away too long. Things have been hectic at work, seemingly each week being worse than the last. On top of this, I began to attend/host author events which took up a bunch of time. Therefore, you have not seen me prowling about any of your blogs in a very long time. I hope to make up for this real soon. I visited several posts Saturday night and hopefully this trend will continue all long-weekend long.

For those of you who follow the Wicked Writers Blog, you may have already read this, but I just resigned and posted my last this past Friday. My leaving had nothing to do with drama of any kind. I simply needed to reevaluate the amount of time that I had each day and how I hope to dedicate it. I have written nothing new in well over a year while I focused on PR and Networking, and this needs to change...

...On that front, I just mailed off the contract for Dance on Fire: Flashpoint. I'm told that my edits will be in my hands (okay, my hard drive) sometime in July. Once that has been completed, I will have no new fiction to offer anyone, and will need to rectify this. It's either going to be Dance on Fire 3 or something else. I have some ideas for something other than vampires, but have yet to decide for certain. We'll see.

As to author events, I did a library event in Fresno, California because it is close to my home. A day later was the start of the Swedish Festival which was Friday night and all day Saturday. This took place last weekend. This past Thursday I attended a book club in town which had read my novel. It was a great time and I thank those ladies immensely. By the end of all of this I had signed and sold about 32 copies of my novel.

The subject of doing two other events at local libraries has been broached; however, in the meantime, I am definitely doing an event June 9th at Pamela's Boutique in my hometown. It is currently the exclusive home to my novel. It is going to be a meet & greet with wine! I can't wait.

What else? I can tell you that I am being reviewed in Fresno Magazine in the June issue. I haven't seen it yet, but I understand that it is favorable. *wipes forehead*.

Many may recall that it sounded as if I was contemplating not necessarily quitting writing, but certainly backing off everything that I was attempting to juggle. There was simply too much! Had these recent events not turned out so well, I just might have done that. For all of you who have offered words of encouragement or bought copies of my novel, I thank you. It appears that my writing has an audience after all and I will continue to endeavour trying to reach them.

We'll talk soon.

An Eventful Weekend

2011-05-23T00:01:00.000-07:00

Hello, Fire Enthusiasts. I hope everyone is well and had a great weekend.

If you didn't hear from me on Twitter for #WW or #FF and haven't seen the familiar flame avatar on your blog in a while, I assure you that I am alive and well. I have just been treading water over here...

In my day job, we have been so busy. I have been working 11 hour hectic days. The kind of days where you want to slam your company-issued cell phone into the nearest wall, due to the volume of calls that you end up taking. You don't, of course. But you really, really want to. *sigh*

On top of this I had my first events as an author, and the build-up and preparation for these were taking all of my time. In fact, I didn't touch my trusty lap top for 48 hours between Thursday and Saturday night. It must be some sort of record!!

The first event was Thursday evening at a library in Fresno, California which is about 25 minutes north of me. I joined authors Lorie Ham and Marilyn Meredith. The three of us also write articles for Lorie's Kings River Life Magazine. Each of us spoke a bit about ourselves and then read a bit from our novels. We had about eleven guests attend, which was way more than I thought we might get. They were an enthusiastic crowd and asked some good questions. I had fun interacting with them and felt that it was a positive first experience.

Friday afternoon I checked in for the Kingsburg Swedish Festival. It is my hometown's big event for the year, and an event that I attended as a child. Now I was a vendor. I was given the spot directly in front of the local branch of the Fresno County Library. I met new people and surprised local friends that had no idea that I was a writer.

Now there is special significance for those who have yet to read my novel. The plot takes place in my hometown and occurs 10 days before the Swedish Festival in 2008. So perhaps now you can see why I have said that if I can't sell a book about vampires in my town, then I might not be able to sell it at all. Thankfully, it was a great event. I worried that I would speak to few and sell fewer still. However, armed with 43 copies of my book, Dance on Fire, I now only have 11 remaining.

After spending a year building a web presence, followed by attacking newspapers and magazines and now followed by holding author events, I feel confident that there is enough there to continue on. Had this weekend bombed, I would have felt compelled to back down.

Thanks so much to all of you who have encouraged me to continue chasing the dream. I hope you are doing the same, and that my progress encourages you in return. In other news, I just mailed my contract for Dance on Fire: Flashpoint. I am anxiously awaiting my edits to arrive so that book 2 will see physical and virtual bookshelves everywhere.

We'll talk soon.

Author Events

2011-05-18T00:01:00.000-07:00

Greetings, Fire Enthusiasts. How is everyone? I have been busier than you-know-what, and it doesn't seem to be getting any easier. In fact, it's part of why I am coming to you today. I have a couple of author events this week and I would like to tell you about them.

The first one is an event with three authors on Thursday. I live near Fresno, California and we are holding the event at the Cedar/Clinton Branch of the Fresno County Library. As well as being authors, each of us write for Kings River Life Magazine, so it will be great getting the three of us together.

The second one is Friday evening and all day Saturday in my home town of Kingsburg. It is the third weekend in May, and anyone who knows the valley knows that it is time for the annual Kingsburg Swedish Festival. If you have read my novel, Dance on Fire, then you are aware that Kingsburg is a small town with a Swedish Heritage that we like to maintain. It is the biggest event of the year for us, drawing very large crowds. I will be there, manning an information table downtown, promoting myself as well as KRL Magazine. I will have copies of my book on hand to sell and sign.

I’m looking forward to these events. It is the next phase in Operation: Get The Word Out. Phase one was to create a presence on the “world wide web”. I did that, somewhat successfully. I’m all over the net and garnered good reviews; however, I don’t know that I sold very many copies of the e-book. Phase two was to promote the paperback version of the novel. I was reviewed/featured in magazines and newspapers and even placed my novel in a couple of stores. Again, I sold some copies, but still did not get the response that I was hoping for.

It isn’t as if I was expecting to sell a copy of the novel to every man, woman and child in my little part of the world; however, being that it is a vampire novel (big sellers these days) and is set completely in my hometown, I thought it might get more support. Perhaps it will, but getting the word out hasn’t been easy.

For those who have given me advice regarding setting up a table or preparing, I thank you. I will be sure to report back sometime thereafter, with photos.

We’ll talk soon.

300 Blog Limit

2011-05-15T00:01:00.000-07:00

Hello, Fire Enthusiasts. It's good to see you. I hope you feel the same way, too.

I come to you today because I just realized that there was a limit to the amount of blogs that one can follow. Imagine my surprise. Perhaps many of you have already faced this dilemma; perhaps many of you are about to hit this mark.

Obviously, there is not enough time in most people's day or even week to be able to follow along with each and everyone of 300 blogs; however, at least in my case, I try and visit periodically. I bet everyone feels the same. For writers, we know how difficult of a proposition it is for others to understand what we go through on a daily basis, so it's great if we can support one another.
So, here I was, happily following along with everyone who elicited some reaction out of me. Sometimes I would follow because I felt some connection with someone's blog, sometimes it was because what the person was doing was really cool or noteworthy, sometimes it was simply a gut-instinct to regularly visit. Of course, sometimes I was following someone else back.

In any event, now I am trying to figure out how to get around this 300 number ceiling. Any thoughts?

Does anyone already have the answer to this?

Some of you folks are doing such cool things that I really want to remain a part of it. Many do reviews that I would like to know about. Many of you write novels and I have either bought a copy already or am hoping to, or I simply want to continue encouraging you in your hopes, aspirations and dreams..

Is the answer that we must stake ourselves to one another on each of the social networks and try and keep up that way? Is there just a procedural thing that we must do to get around this number?

I hope there is an answer to this because I'd hate to have to make difficult decisions to unfollow some just to make room to follow others. I study my follower number just like the next person and my heart dips just a bit when the number decreases. I'd hate to do this to others, too.

Anyway, thanks for whatever input anyone might have with regard to this subject. In a great many ways I am still just a newbie.

We'll talk soon.

Author Event Advice?

2011-05-10T00:01:00.000-07:00

Hello, Fire Enthusiasts. How is your week? Good, I hope.

In the next few weeks I have several scheduled author events. It’s kind of a make or break month for me. You see, my novel is about vampires loosed in my real hometown of Kingsburg, California. In the novel the vampires show up a couple of weeks before the Swedish Festival. It is a real event which takes place on the third weekend of May. My point is, if I can’t sell this book in this area, I’m guessing that it might be time to close up shop, in a manner of speaking.

We’ve discussed this before, but I have an eleven hour day job. Life was busy before I restarted writing and found myself blessed with a published novel. I went from this blog to adding two more (although I rarely help with that third one) and then took on a job as an article writer for a local on-line magazine, Kings River Life as the Kingsburg writer. All of this, plus keeping active on all of the social networks is too much; however, I have been doing it because I’m 42 years old and feel as if I should hustle, attempting to see whether I might be able to make something out of this writing career.

Notice that I didn’t say anything about keeping up with housework, being a good dad and husband, etc.

In any event, I definitely wouldn’t quit writing, but I would most likely scale back. There’s no way that I can maintain this pace.

However, this is not why I have come to you today. Since I am embarking upon my very first series of author events, I would like to hear from those of you who have already done some of these for advice. Do you have any words of wisdom for me? I was thinking about buying a table which would be longer than a regular card-table, something to give me a bit more room. I was thinking about covering it with two tablecloths: one a long neutral one, and another a much smaller one, giving me a splash of dark red or maroon (going with the blood visuals, don’t’cha know). I have ordered several acrylic book displays. I am planning on buying a couple of baskets for my business cards and magazine bookmarks. I am also thinking about making up some binders with either short stories of mine as well as some of the articles that I have written for the magazine.

Am I missing anything? I have a library event and a book club that I am doing, but I am also doing an outdoor festival for two days.

I know that a few of you have done similar events and could share a few insights. I’d love to hear them.

We’ll talk soon.

No Mother's Day This Year

2011-05-08T00:01:00.000-07:00

Hello, Fire Enthusiasts.
Yours truly is a fool!
Why did I call myself that, you may ask? It's very simple, really. I only posted once last week on this blog and I was contemplating what my next one should be when it occurred to me. Of course the subject should be Mother's Day.
My mother reads this blog as she has time, so I'd like to take a moment to wish her a Happy Mother's Day. That's her in the photo above, standing beside her "man" (just kidding, Mom). Many of you, my dear readers, happen to be mothers, so I would very much like to wish you a wonderful day as well.
However, a friend of mine, someone that my wife and I used to attend church with in a neighboring town, will not be celebrating this year. Instead, she will be burying a daughter.
Thursday night, on her way home from her job at a nearby hospital, she was hit by another car and killed instantly. She was 43. Her mother may never celebrate this particular holiday ever again...and it's very sad.
I share this with you not to bring down your holiday, but to simply reaffirm how precious life is, and how tenuous.
Mothers, give your children an especially long hug this year, no matter how old they are. Children, love your mothers. It only takes a moment, and you'll be glad you did.

Happy Mother's Day.

We'll talk soon.

Tuesday Musings???

2011-05-03T00:01:00.000-07:00

Hello, Fire Enthusiasts. I typically have some sort of post for Mondays; however, with last week being brutal at my day job, and the weekend being a bit odd, I had nothing and had to scramble to figure something out for Tuesday.

I’m quite certain that no one wants me to post the first thing that popped into my head. I thought about posting an update on where I’m at concerning my second novel, but, sadly, I have no new news on that subject; the book is in the hands of my wonderful publisher. When I hear, then you will be the first to know.

I could post something about the Bin Laden news, but I try to keep this blog about books, film and music, and that’s about as diverse as I think I’d like to be, so that was out.

So, since it’s been a while, I decided to simply offer another snippet of my crossover vampire novel, "Dance on Fire". I’m keeping it very short, something to whet the appetite and nothing more. I hope you like it...

Barbara lowered the book onto her lap with a sigh in spite of the heat of the seduction. What the hell am I doing reading this drivel? she thought to herself. She thought of Pat Conroy’s Beach Music. That’s what she really wanted to read, but she’d read it five times, and once this year already. With another sigh, she slammed the romance novel closed and tossed it onto the other side of the couch.

Just then, a sound traveled down the hall.

She turned her head and waited. Looking over her right shoulder, her eyes stared at one spot on the wall which stood between her and the nursery, as if they might penetrate the paint and drywall and insulation and see what might have made the noise. She furrowed her brow. Her ears probed the quiet night for the identity of the disturbance.

Nothing.

Barbara did not want to get up. It was getting late, and she had already logged in a full day. Jerod was away, Michael was still not home and the twins were asleep; why did she need to get up? The only reason to get up now was to turn out lights, double-check locked doors and climb into bed. That was all.

And yet there she was lifting herself off of the couch and heading down the hall for a bed check. She straightened her simple white T-shirt upon standing up. The bottom of her pink pajama bottoms fluttered over the thick beige carpet and her bare feet as she headed for the nursery. When she reached the door which was only half closed, she quietly pushed it back open. The cool breeze hit her with a start, giving her gooseflesh.

The nursery window was standing wide open.

Dear God!

The room was dark except where the street lamp from the next street over shone against the open space and the fluttering curtains. She bolted unthinking for the nearest crib; Robbie's. Barbara clutched the sides of the crib and peered down into it. In the civil twilight she could barely see him, but enough of him to know that he was fine. She touched his tiny pink face. He was warm and still asleep. Good! she thought. She quickly turned and went to check on her daughter. She was equally asleep. The only one concerned in the least about the open window was their mother. She put her hands to her breast, trying to force herself to calm back down.

Barbara turned her attention toward the open window, the curtains still dancing there.

The window must have come open, she thought as she walked over to it, as incredulous a possibility as it was. But how?

The thin curtains began to beat against her face as Barbara reached out to close the window, as if they could somehow know of her intent and were trying to prevent it. Nimble, delicate fingers stretched outward and took hold of each side of the sliding window. As she did so, she thought of how frightened she had been. Barbara had never known a fear like she just felt when she first saw the open window. There were stories in the newspaper all of the time concerning child abductions, and for one very terrible moment she had considered her twins might be the next to grace those headlines.

But now it was over.

She never noticed the missing window screen.

Barbara stopped in mid-maneuver and was struck dumbfounded for a brief second. Everything suddenly moved in slow-motion. She almost asked herself the question: "Why did I stop?” Her right wrist suddenly hurt. She followed the discomfort signal back to the nerve ending which had sent it. There was a hand on her wrist, and now on the other one as well. The realization brought her back to her senses. There was someone coming through her window. She looked up. There was a face now, adorned by long flowing black hair that the wind was playing with. There was a twisted confident grin and piercing, penetrating eyes. It was a terrible face. She did not know the half of it; she hadn’t seen the accompanying teeth as of yet.

She screamed.

The infants awoke with a start and immediately began to cry. Strangely, Barbara could not hear them.

Her hands went numb under the pressure of the vise-grips which held her fast. Interestingly, she somehow noted, they were bitingly cold.

She screamed again.

The owner of the hands laughed heartily and continued to hold her as he pulled himself through the window and straightened up. She marveled momentarily at his height.

Barbara's eyes stretched wide at the sight; the long flowing dark hair, the leather coat, the heavy riding boots.

She immediately recognized that this was the same figure that she had seen the night before when she had visited Tiffany.

“Madam,” he spoke to her suddenly. “Your children seem to be crying!”
That was when she finally heard them.

Barbara shuffled backwards with the thought of someone hurting her babies, all along trying to free herself from his grip. Her feet tangled as she attempted to jerk herself free and she lost her balance. The vampire still did not let go of her.

“A pity!”

“Who are you?” she tried to gain some composure by speaking to her attacker as she got back to her feet. She continued to attempt to shake free of his grip, but could not. “What do you want?”

“So many questions!” he laughed.

As he spoke, Barbara took the opportunity to try once more to free herself with one last violent shake of her arm. “Let me go!”

“As you wish.”

Barbara suddenly became free and fell down. She let out a cry as the momentum snapped her head back as she hit the floor, biting her lip.

“There!” he laughed, resting his hands at his sides above her. “You are welcome.”

Barbara did not hear the intruder's sarcasm, nor did she wait to see if the pain in her throbbing head would subside. Not her, not a police-man's wife. Instead, without as much as a thought otherwise, she pushed herself to her feet and toward her crying children.

“Well!” came a voice from a heartbeat behind her. “What precious little throats they have!”

This time she heard everything loud and clear. Alarms went off inside her head, making the pain a hundred times worse than before. There was no time to escape with her children. Instead, she spun to attack.

The vampire had her before she could scream. Those cold, claw-like fingers had her arms at the flesh just above her elbows and were pinning them to her body. She tried to let loose a cry but could not. The pain this time made her bite into her lower lip. The vampire lifted her off of her bare feet with little effort and then brought her close. Suddenly, green eyes which seemed black as pitch to her in the dark, widened and focused immediately upon a trickle of blood upon her full, red lips.

The vampire pulled his face back in another terrible smile, exposing ivory white fangs. The sight made her shiver and she finally was able to let out a cry. “Careful,” he whispered tenderly. “You'll spill it.”

The vampire did not notice the woman's revulsion as he pulled her closer still. Ignoring her, seeing only the crimson red upon her lips, he brought them down to him and licked them clean with a slow sweep of his rough tongue.

We'll talk soon.

The Film vs The Novel

2011-04-28T00:01:00.000-07:00

Hello, Fire Enthusiasts. How has your week been?

I thought I would tell you about something that happened this past weekend. For Good Friday, my wife and I took a rare day together, leaving the kids at home (not that they noticed). We started with a late breakfast, did some shopping, saw a movie, did a bit more shopping and then completed the evening with a great Italian dinner. It was a wonderful day and something that my wife and I should do more often; especially having been together for nearly 23 years.

It's the film that we saw that I want to discuss. We saw The Lincoln Lawyer.

I'm not the biggest Matthew McChonaughey fan in the world and, thankfully, he only removed his shirt the one time (Lol!), but I enjoyed the film. It had an all-star cast that included Marissa Tomei, Ryan Phillipe, Josh Lucas, John Leguizamo, Bryan Cranston, Francis Fisher and William H. Macy. For someone my age or older, you'll also be surprised to see a familiar face as Michael Paré makes an appearance. Country music star Trace Adkins also co-stars as does Michaela Conlin who plays Angela on the hit series, Bones.

On top of the great cast, it is a good story, based on the novel by Michael Connelly: Criminal defense attorney Mickey Haller(Matthew McConaughey) operates around Los Angeles County out of a Lincoln Town Car. Haller has spent most of his career defending garden-variety criminals, until he lands the case of his career: Louis Roulet (Ryan Phillippe), a Beverly Hills playboy and son of real estate mogul Mary Windsor (Frances Fisher), who is accused of the brutal beating of a prostitute. But the seemingly straightforward case suddenly develops into a deadly game of survival for Haller.

I thought the film was very good. In many films we spend most of the time trying to figure out what is going to happen, and who the guilty party might be. In this one, we find out who is guilty very early on, and then need to watch and see how Haller must get out of the corner that he is trapped in.

My wife, on the other hand, was not a fan. Why, you ask?

It was because she had just read the book...

The book is almost always better than its film version. Basically, the only ones who might dispute this are people who refuse to read. However, regarding those who love both mediums, this is hardly a debate at all.

Rather than spoil your viewing of the film, if you have yet to see it, I won't take any time to reveal what was so different or altered from the book. I only want to discuss the two mediums. What are your feelings with regard to this subject? Do you read the book first or watch the film first when there is a choice? Why?

Are there some examples where the book wasn't better than the film? I'll stir things up right away by declaring that, since I did not grow up with Tolkien, my initial experience of LOTR came from Peter Jackson's vision. I did finally read the books, but I did not like the staggered approach to time. I didn't care for reading about half of the Fellowship, only to have to go backwards in time and see what the other half of the Fellowship was doing at the same time. It was disconcerting.

I would love to hear what you think.

We'll talk soon.

Menopause in Manhattan

2011-04-25T00:01:00.000-07:00

Hello, Fire Enthusiasts. I hope you had a fantastic Easter, a great long weekend or both. I know I did.

As promised I would very much like to tell you about this fantastic book that I finished a little over a week ago. As you can see the novel is entitled, Menopause in Manhattan. I'm afraid that there are no vampires in this one, nor are there werewolves, ghouls or serial killers of any kind. Instead, there are simply men and "women of a certain age".

Why, you may wonder, did I read such a book? Well, frankly, it's because of many of you. You see, being a writer myself, I know how hard this business can be. I know the odds of writing that "Great American Novel", if my friends from other countries will excuse the expression. So, I try and keep an open mind when it comes to my friends and their books. If nothing else, I know that buying a copy of your novels helps you...and I like doing that.

Unfortunately, it isn't often that I manage to find the time to read.

Thankfully, I found the time to read this one. If you have yet to meet Author Anne Kleinberg, please allow me to introduce you to her.

According to her website which you can find here, Anne Kleinberg came to the writing of Menopause in Manhattan through an altogether different route. A friend and editor suggested that she write a murder mystery, with a cook at the center. Although Anne was reluctant at first, an idea was hatched.

The attempts to fulfill that original request soon became a story about a 50-year-old woman who goes through some major changes in her life.

Anne grew up in Laurelton, Queens New York. Her junior year was spent overseas at Tel Aviv University which sparked her love of Israel.

A few years later, she went back to school (Fashion Institute of Technology) in Manhattan where she earned a degree in interior design.

Anne pursued that design career in New York City; however, she suddenly decided to start over in Israel. "Call it epiphany (or) call it lobotomy," she says, but she packed up her shih tzu and her drafting table and off she went.

A restaurant review that she wrote for the Jerusalem post led to a career as a lifestyle journalist, where she wrote about food and people. That led to editing and translating books which then led to writing cookbooks. She’s written four to date, and Menopause in Manhattan is her first novel.

The following is the blurb about the book:

"Welcome to New York City, and the world of publishing, interior design, fashion and food. As Elie Sands turns 50, she seems to have a charmed life. Executive editor of a top design magazine, she’s married to Philip, a furniture tycoon, and she’s the mother of two accomplished young women: Lexi, the “good” daughter, who’s newly married and living in Jerusalem and Chloe, the “wild” one who’s a marketing maven in her father’s company. Elie is an avid cook, lives on Central Park West and owns a house in the Hamptons. Syd Sorenstein is Elie’s mentor and upstairs neighbor. A chic, opinionated financial adviser, widowhood has not extinguished her lust for living. She’s a workout fanatic and world traveler who does exactly as she sees fit, with little interest in what others think. Elie’s other dear friend is Michael Delmonico, partner of Daniel. He’s entertaining and flamboyant, self-centered and hopelessly disorganized, but has an eager list of clients waiting for his interior design services. Syd and Michael despise each other, but they both adore Elie. Life is good. Or is it? Elie makes a distressing discovery, Syd’s reputation is threatened and Michael gets shocking news from his past. Instead of easing comfortably into middle-age, each is forced to deal with unforeseen challenges, unresolved issues and reassessing what lies ahead."

I met Anne on the blogosphere last year and followed her progress as she worked on editing and then the formatting for this novel. Upon its release, I found myself purchasing a copy due to several factors. The first was wanting to support a buddy. The second was my desire to read something new. Lastly, with lingering memories from having just visited New York City this past March, I was intrigued by a return to that wonderful city - even if only within the virtual pages of her book.

Perhaps because it was from an author I know or because I'm just a big softy, I don't know, but I thoroughly enjoyed this book. With life-like characters that I loved being surrounded by and some of the most realistic dialogue I have ever read, I just couldn't get enough of this novel.

Kleinberg wove her wealth of experience and learned skills into a story that I found to be rich in detail. Consistently, we get the best and worst of interior design, food and fashion; as well as the feel of both New York City and Israel, which all work together to enrich the plot and transport us right into the heart of this tale.

When I informed Anne on Facebook about how well I enjoyed her novel, she told me that she worried that there might be too many Jewish references, but I thought it was handled very well. Did I understand every little thing: no. However, I wanted to read something fresh and new and I got just that. The Jewish culture presented in the novel was just one more beautiful strand of detail.

It is difficult to pin down just which genre this novel fits with. It gives you the tender warmth and emotion of Nicholas Sparks, but also a flavor of things that perhaps only Kleinberg herself could deliver with such a diverse background.

If you find yourself in a place where you'd like something new to read, you'll find this gem over at Amazon.com in the Kindle store for only .99 cents. I was intrigued from the first chapter, loved the way she handled flashbacks, laughed aloud several times and felt as if I had gone on a grand adventure. It may be if you're anything like me, you'll feel as if you are stealing and want to give this great writer more money. Hopefully she's hard at work on the next one!

We'll talk soon.

Easter Week

2011-04-22T00:01:00.000-07:00

Hello, Fire Enthusiasts. Whether you observe Easter or just celebrate the break this week provides, I’d like to wish you all the best.

This week has been crazy busy for me at my day job. I work as a supervisor of the First Shift in the Packaging Department for Sun Maid Raisin Growers of California. You know, the raisins with the lady on the red box? Yeah, that’s me. In any event, the employees had to use up their 2010 vacation before April (for me, that is about 120 of them), which never happens, so we had to stretch as thin as we possibly could, which made things rather stressful; attempting to run production with a skeleton crew. I survived the experience, as I always do, but there is always concern until the week is over. The last week before the Christmas shut-down is much the same - in that we are trying to squeeze in so much production and special projects in before the two week break.

With this in mind, I had little time to write anything this week until now. I will, therefore, be using this weekend to write that book review that I promised you that I would for Menopause in Manhattan. I’d like to start reading something else, too, but we’ll see. I’m still sitting on Patricia Cornwell’s latest as well as a few of your novels, my blogosphere friends.

Without getting all gushy on you about my favorite film from last year, my family picked up a copy of the Academy Award winning Best Picture, The King’s Speech on DVD. I saw it Thursday night. I should have waited for the weekend since I had to get to bed (you'll recall how I'm up at 3:00 am and am in the office by 4:00 am), but I couldn’t help myself. I reviewed this film twice last year; once for this blog and once for Kings River Life Magazine. If you have yet to see it, you can check out my review here. Or just see it! I won’t fault you for it. ;)

So, what else?

Well, I have several author/writer events planned for the month of May. I have a Street Faire in a neighboring small town near my own in Reedley, California. That one is for the magazine that I write for. After that I’ll be in Fresno, back in my own town for a book club that I’m doing, and then there is the annual Kingsburg Swedish Festival during the third week. If you’ve read my novel, Dance on Fire, then you recall that this is the big event for the year. With any luck there might be some vampires.

I have another author event in June; however, it’s going to be at this point that I think I’ll finally know whether all of this hustling is paying off or not. If so, I shall continue with some modifications. If not, then we’ll slow this train down... However, I don't want to end this post on a downer, so we'll just reserve judgement until then and see how things go.

In the meantime, enjoy the rest of your week. I know I will.

On the other hand, my sacrifices are nothing compared to His. Just sayin'.

We'll talk soon.

Monday Morning Musings

2011-04-18T00:01:00.000-07:00

Hello, Fire Enthusiasts. Happy Easter Week to you and yours, whether you are religious, simply enjoying a week off from school or work, or looking forward to a long weekend.

I thought that I would take a moment to do a bit of PR for a buddy of mine, Anne Kleinberg. She is the author of a marvelous novel that I just finished reading Saturday afternoon, entitled: Menopause in Manhattan. As the title may suggest, it is not aimed toward the teenager demographic; however, though it is about "women of a certain age", I found it warm, funny, engaging and moving. I liked it so much that I am going to give it an extensive review and just thought I would give you a head's up.

If you have a moment and think you might be interested in adding to your Kindle's collection, take a quick glance at the reviews that Anne is getting already. If you need a break from all things Paranormal, now's your chance. At .99 cents how could you possibly go wrong?

Now for a bit of hardward to give away. My good friend, Carole Gill over at Bloody Good Vampires, and the author of The House on Blackstone Moor just received a blog award that she is now sharing with me. It is called: The Liebster Blog Award. The idea is to recognize those who have contributed to blogging. It is geared toward those who have less than 300 followers.

So, with that in mind, I have selected a mix of older and newer buddies of mine who span the spectrum in terms of the subjects that they blog about. We've got a little bit of everything with this group and I hope you'll pay them a visit and get to know them.

Kelly Polark

Lorelei over at Lorelei's Muse

Maria Zannini over at Tales of Other Worlds

Michele Shaw

DiscConnected

Thanks again, Carole. For anyone interested in a great, dark read, see my review of Carole's novel that I did over at Something Wicked This Way Comes here.

Why Do You Write?

2011-04-13T00:01:00.000-07:00

Hello, Fire Enthusiasts.

You know, it dawns on me that many of us who are writers are probably going through much the same kinds of trials and tribulations: there are those who pound away at the keys, hoping to complete their novels, but not entirely sure that they’re ready for public consumption; there are those who have a completed manuscript, but are struggling to land an agent who will give them the chance that their work needs; and there are some, like me, who already have a published novel in the marketplace, but struggle getting the word out.

Now, I didn’t write this post in order to enact some sympathy. What I really wanted to do was hear how others are handling whatever part of the game they find themselves in. This isn’t about me, it’s about us.

Why do you write?

I ask myself this question, too. I love to write. I have many stories that seem to want to come out of me. My problem is I don’t have enough time to do everything. I work eleven hours a day. It’s a day that begins at 3:00 am with the alarm, 4:00 am in the office and one which doesn’t end until about 3:00 pm. Considering that I need to get to bed at about 8:00 pm, that doesn’t leave a lot of time for the fiction writing that I do, the blog posts I do every week, the articles I write for a local magazine, plus housework and relationships with my wife and teenage sons. I’ve been attempting to do it all since I started so late in life (this began after 40 years of age), but I can’t possibly keep this up forever.

How about you? Are you writing because you love it and can’t dream of giving it up? Are you writing because you are trying to live the dream of being published?

Thankfully, I wrote the sequel to Dance on Fire while I was going through the process of editing and preparing it for publication. It is titled, Dance on Fire: Flashpoint. Soon, I will have to make some difficult choices. As I write this post I have yet to receive my edits, but they will be arriving any day now. When they do, I am going to have to clear some time for making those corrections, as well as to do some rewriting that my publisher and I have discussed. When that part of the job has been completed, I will need to immediately turn my attention toward writing the next novel.

What difficult choices have you had to make? Can you see some point of decision on the horizon which will cause you to hit the brakes and head in another direction?

I’m not as of yet sure what my next project will be. I have a third book in the Dance on Fire series that I would like to begin writing; however, having lived with these characters for twenty-plus years, I would very much like to venture off the beaten path and go in another direction. It would still be horror, but it would have nothing to do with vampires. Yet, that brings us to another point of decision: do I have a choice what I write next? Perhaps either my publisher or my audience will dictate what is next. Were I Uncle Stevie (Stephen King), I could do whatever I wanted, because of the sheer size of my audience. I hope I get to choose my next project. On the other hand, being forced to write book 3 would be a good thing, wouldn’t it? It would mean that my audience is growing and demanding more… *sigh*

There’s so much to consider.

We’ll talk soon.

Wicked Writers

2011-04-11T00:01:00.000-07:00

Hello, Fire Enthusiasts. How's Monday so far? Not a fan? Me, neither. I like them only when they are holidays...or when it's 3:00 pm and my eleven hour day is over. That's when I usually like them.

As some of you know I am a member of the Wicked Writers Blog. One of the first things I did when I got started doing PR for my writing last year was to do a guest post. It was a huge thing for me. Back then I didn't know what in the world I was doing. Now I mostly know. *grins* Sometime thereafter I was asked to join as a regular and handle the every other Friday duties.

In any event, I have met some great people over there and I thought I would take a moment to give them a shout-out, not only for the confidence-building and inspirational stuff that they are doing for writers all over the globe, but also because my partners in crime are a great bunch of wonderful people.

Writing from seemingly every Fictional Genre, coming from every imaginable background and bringing varied styles and tastes are the following writers:

(Ladies First)
Anastasia V. Pergakis
Carole Gill
C.J. Ellisson
J.D. Brown
Sharon Hamilton

I have a school-boy's crush on them all. Thankfully, they all live so very far away...except Sharon. ;)

David Sartof
George Allwynn
Gregory Marshall Smith

I was going to say that I have a man crush on these guys, too, but I'm not quite liquored up enough for that!!

Everyone of these talented writers inspire and hold me accountable, whether they know it or not. Sometimes this writing game is too much and I feel like pulling the plug; however, each and everyone of them has a similar story which keeps me going. I thank them for this.

If you haven't heard of the Wicked Writers I hope you'll surf over and give us a look. Our writers go from Romance to Fantasy to Horror to Erotica and everything else in between. I try and stay away from the Erotica, myself. I giggle too much! Okay, not really. We follow a prompt all week long and our goal is to help others with their writing...hopefully helping our own writing at the same time. Beginning Monday, we will ask where the best and worst places are to write. I'm up this coming Friday. I just looked up our prompt Sunday afternoon. I like to give myself a day of so for inspiration to strike. It usually doesn't take me very long...

I hope you'll come by and make yourself at home. We'd love to see you there.

We'll talk soon.

Who's Your Team?

2011-04-05T00:01:00.000-07:00

Some of you Fire Enthusiasts may have noticed that it is baseball season once again. In spite of everything that I know, I find myself continuing to place both my heart and soul behind a team that seems destined to break both. We have essentially the same starting line-up as last year where we didn’t hit at all, losing more games than we won. In fact, the team was never over .500 which gives you a great indicator as to how the season ended up. There are so many more things I could list, but for now let me simply give you the bottom line: my beloved Chicago Cubs have not won a World Series since 1908.

Yes, you read that correctly. It’s been 102 years. Not only this, but they haven’t even been to a World Series since 1945. You remember the year World War II ended, right? It was in all of the papers…

Some of you might be wondering how in the world it could be that a California kid could end up following the Cubs. Although I grew up following the New York Yankees, along with my Dad, something happened in my teens that caused me to place my allegiance with another team. It was called Cable Television. When cable came to my little town it gave me an opportunity to catch baseball games more often. There were two stations that showed nearly every game: TBS and their Atlanta Braves or WGN and their Cubs.

During the 1990’s, the Braves were perennial winners, winning division after division and going to the series many times and ultimately winning one of them, if memory serves. However, during the late 1980’s, they were a very sad team and their stadium attendance reflected this fact: the place was deserted. On the other hand, though the Cubs were not exactly winning anything, Wrigley Field was always packed. Couple this with the fact that they played most of their games during the day, one could see how I could find myself hooked.

If you wonder why it is that this team could be so pathetic over the years, rarely even winning their division, I can only tell you that it is a very long and sad story. They have had some opportunities, but something always seems to impede them. In 1984, before I was a fan, they won the first two games of their play-off by wide margins, only to lose three straight in San Diego. In ’98, they won a one game play-off with San Francisco to get into the play-offs, but lost to the Braves.

In 2003, the team had a great year. They went to the play-offs, once again playing the Braves, but this time beating them handily in their own house. The party stretched from Atlanta all the way back to Chicago, and in fact all across the country as Cubs fans rejoiced. Little did we know the horror that awaited us all. That year the team blew a 3 games to 1 lead in the best of seven series. Five outs away from the World Series, a fan, Steve Bartman, reached out for a foul ball that probably couldn’t have been caught by the left fielder anyway, causing the team to lose their composure and their focus, and ultimately giving up 8 runs that inning. Then they lost game seven.

If I seem a little grumpy as 2011 progresses, you can safely assume that it has more to do with the Cubs than it does dismal book sales!!

Before I go, what baseball team will your household be rooting for? Perhaps I’ll be rooting for your team this year.

Lord knows, I end up having to choose some other team to root for during the play-offs.

We’ll talk soon.

Special Agent Seeley Booth & Riley??

2011-04-03T00:01:00.000-07:00

Hello, Fire Enthusiasts. I just thought that I would share a little something with you. I do what I can to keep the virtual spiderwebs off of this blog, but, as I've said before, it isn't easy when I'm up at 3:00 am, in the office by 4:00 am and work 11 hours a day.

So, while I was contemplating what I could do for a post, we suddenly received a text from our son...

You see, Riley traveled from our home in Central California with the Kingsburg High School Concert Choir, Women's Choir and the Jazz Choir (of which our son is a member) and traveled down south to Anaheim. It is the spring trip and it is called: Music in the Parks at Disneyland.

As of the time that I am writing this note, I assume that the trip has been great fun, but my son won't be arriving home until very early in the morning, when I am too deeply into my R.E.M.'s to notice. Mean, right? We'll be leaving the truck at the school and he will be driving himself home at 2:00 am or so.

However, as you can see from the photo, while the kids were having free time at Disneyland, he ran into a familiar face at the California Screamin' ride. We watch all of the "Bones" re-runs religiously in our home, so he knew exactly who the actor was when he ended up in line with him; he just couldn't pronounce his last name...

"Excuse me, Sir," my oldest son asked. "Aren't you David from 'Bones'?"
"Yes."
"Would you mind taking a picture?"
"No."

And the rest is photographic history.

We just went on the New York trip with his Wind Ensemble last month. See an earlier post, if this is the first you've heard about this. We've gone to Disneyland so many times that we decided to stay home for this trip. He doesn't need mom and dad hanging around all of the time, so we pick and choose when to go. In any event, we were sitting in a restaurant in Fresno, having lunch, when my wife's cell phone vibrated with a message that we would be buzzing about for the entire day.

Just thought I'd share it with you.

We'll talk soon.

The Adjustment Bureau

2011-03-29T00:01:00.000-07:00

Hello, Fire Enthusiasts. I just wanted to share with you the film that my wife and I saw this past weekend: The Adjustment Bureau.

Last year, over on the Something Wicked This Way Comes blog, we were asked to submit what film we were eagerly anticipating for the coming year. I know I should picked out some horror film, intriguing drama or Marvel film, being that I was such a comic book nerd when I was a kid. I still have a shelf full of X-Men, Daredevil, Thor, Captain America and The Avengers, to name a few. with all of the Marvel Studios films that have been coming out these past few years, you would have thought that I would have been stoked for one or more of those for sure.

Instead, it was this film that caught my attention. It had little to do with Matt Damon starring in it, although I do like his work. Though I am enamored with Emily Blunt, she wasn't necessarily the reason either. I'm not a huge Science Fiction guy, so the fact that the film was based on the writing of Phillip K. Dick, the great writer whose work eventually brought us the films, Blade Runner and Minority Report also wasn't the big factor. So what was it exactly?

I'm about to tell you...

The Adjustment Bureau, for those who are unfamiliar, is the story of a secret group whose sole purpose and responsibility is to keep tabs on human kind and make sure that they do not destroy the world. Okay, that might be overstating things a bit, but one of those chasing Damon's character and Senate hopeful, David Norris, told him exactly this as they revealed themselves to him.

The man, played by Mad Men's, John Slattery, tells him that when their group stepped back and allowed humankind to govern themselves, it led to the dark ages. Stepping back once again much later led to wars, the great depression, etc. Had they not stepped in that last time, during the Cuban Missile Crisis, mankind might have finally done themselves in.

You see, David Norris, is four elections away from the white House. He was directed to bump into Emily Blunt's character, Elise, only to give him the necessary push to help him deliver a great speech on the eve of an election loss, thus propelling his career. He was never supposed to see her again.

When he does bump into her again, it supposedly causes ripple affects which the bureau cannot allow. They reveal themselves to him, and warn David never to reveal their group to anyone, lest they wipe his mind. Not only this, but promise that seeing Elise will ruin her "plan" as well as his own.

The reason that I loved this film was because it had a perfect balance of drama, humor, intrigue, science fiction and romance. I love that! It had good direction and quality, but not overdone special effects. It also had a great supporting cast which also included Terrence Stamp, and a scene-stealing Anthony Mackie, as well as some cameos from well-known personalities from the world of politics and the news.

If you like stories with a great combination of everything like I do, then I think you should plan to see this film. It has been out for nearly a month now in the US, so don't take too long.

We'll talk soon.

Computer Problems

2011-03-27T00:01:00.000-07:00

Hello, Fire Enthusiasts. I have a question for you: how much would you just love to meet a hacker in a dark alley and give him a pounding that he would not soon forget?

I ask this question because after much work and heartache, my laptop is finally working well once again after being a problem for nearly a month.

It all began earlier this month when I caught a virus called: System Tools 2011. It acted as if it was an antivirus program that had detected a virus. It claimed that my laptop was infected with multiple viruses. It immediately attempted to get me to go to a website which would allow me to purchase the software which would solve my problems.

Yet, the main problem was that it itself was the virus, and it was simply trying to get money out of me.

It took me three afternoon/evenings to be rid of the virus. I'm not much of a hacker myself. In fact, I love to quote Samuel L. Jackson in Jurassic Park in these areas: "PLEASE! GODDAMMIT! I HATE THIS HACKER CRAP!"

After I was rid of the virus, it took me many attempts to clean the laptop because I began to have consistency issues. I would run a scan of the machine, only to find issues, but not be able to fix them all. Just when I thought it was working perfectly, it would lock up on me or act extremely slow. It was quite frustrating.

If you have noticed how inconsistently I have been posting or commenting on the posts of others, this issue is the cause of most of this. We also had a New York City trip which began just days after the virus attack, followed by my allergies flaring up. I'm hoping to be back to my old self with regard to blogging, etc. We'll see.

For those of you who might have been like me, a bit slow to double-check the security of your machine or home network, do so. If you have yet to back up your hard drive, do that , too. I got lucky...this time. You never know what might happen, especially with how busy most of us are. For me, I work too many hours (11) and have to get up too early in the morning at 3:00 am. This gives me precious little time for blogging, Promotion and post/article writing. When I want my laptop, I don't want to worry that it might not be safe.

It is a lesson for us all.

We'll talk soon.

Sammy Hagar Autobiography

2011-03-22T00:01:00.000-07:00

“Hello, Baby!”

I’m, sorry. Today’s post is about rock musician Sammy Hagar, so I couldn’t resist borrowing his opening from the song, “Good Enough”. It was the first song on the first album that he made with Van Halen, 5150. For some of us, we had yet to hear anything from the new group and many were unsure whether they would be any good anymore without Diamond David Lee Roth. When those two words opened the album, followed by Eddie’s horse-sounding guitar effect, it really grabbed our attention. Speaking for myself, I recall being shocked at how fantastic the album was. I started calling my friends before I had even flipped it over to side two. [Editor’s note: I know Sammy stole the idea from The Big Bopper, by the way. Please, no hate mail.]

In any event, I just bought and devoured Sammy’s autobiography, Red: My Uncensored Life in Rock. It only took three evenings for me to finish that book. I grew up listening to man, so I was keenly interested in everything from his stints with Montrose, Van Halen, Chickenfoot and all of the solo work that he has done. I have seen him perform in the Fresno, California area four times: the For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge tour with Van Halen, the Balance tour with Van Halen, the Marching to Mars solo tour and last year at the Big Fresno Fair. I didn’t see him there, but I have had the pleasure of visiting the Cabo Wabo Cantina down in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. I have nearly every album/CD of his, and where I don’t, I have all of the best cuts from iTunes.

The above photo was taken behind Fresno's Selland Arena. The band is standing across the back row from left to right, Eddie, Sammy, Michael and Alex. That's me kneeling in the middle of the front row. Standing on my left shoulder is my wife's niece, Lee, followed by my sister in law, Imelda. Kneeling on the end and in front of Alex Van Halen is Lee's husband, Daniel. I just wanted to give them a shout-out.

The book was an extremely fascinating read and went very quickly. I suppose many books are really simply recordings that are later transcribed and this was no exception. The co-author, Joel Selvin, seemed to simply write what Sammy said and cleaned up very little, if anything. Having heard many interviews and attended many of his shows, I am extremely familiar with Sammy’s conversational style, so it did not take long to put myself in the room with the man as he recounted his life’s story.

The book begins with a foreword from Michael Anthony, the long-time, but now former base player for Van Halen, who became fast friends with Sammy. In it, he details how he met the brothers and then eventually Sammy, and how it all fell apart. “He is the most upbeat, positive guy in the world. He loves life. He only happens to be a singer and play music, too. And another thing-he’s no bullshitter. If Sammy says it happened, it did.” I knew before beginning the book that it was something that was only going to tick off Eddie Van Halen further, but after reading what Anthony had to say, my appetite for the book was whetted.

It is hard for me to believe that Sammy does anything but tell the honest and bitter truth, whether it be the amount of partying, his life with his first wife that was so difficult for everyone, the dirty details on all of his philandering, to the relationships with all of the rock royalty that he came across over his long and continuing career. When I read those words, it seemed to me to be one of the most genuine things that I have ever encountered; he sugar-coated nothing. When he was an absolute idiot, he told us so. He details his bad decisions and seemed to give all credit where it was due.

What I really loved about the book was the behind the scene moments, such as when he bumps into famous rockers like Van Morrison, Sly Stone, Miles Davis, Stephen Stills and a couple of the members of The Grateful Dead which were fairly hilarious moments.

Other things that I ate up were the moments of inspiration when a creative spark brought a song out of nowhere. “One night, on the drive home,” Sammy said. “I was listening to this tape where Eddie had written the music and noodled the verses on guitar. He was trying to show me the phrasing of the verses, but he couldn’t, because he couldn’t play the rhythm of the thing, and I started singing it in the car. We didn’t have a chorus, and I just busted out with it, 'Best of Both Worlds'. It hit me hard, right when I was pulling in the garage. Bang. The chorus hit.” I would have loved to have seen more of that, but overall, Sammy does a great job of going through all of the highlights of his career.

I was amazed that Sammy totally expected the phone call that he received from Eddie Van Halen. He told his wife about it. "'They're going to call me, you watch.' Who else were they going to get? There was Ozzy Osbourne, Ronnie James Dio, and me."

If you follow music closely, you no doubt have already heard the stories that Sammy claims to have been visited by aliens and that they either uploaded or downloaded something into his brain. It has been all over the Internet and social networking. When I got to that part of the book, I had to stop and make certain that I had read it correctly. I'm rather indifferent to the whole alien question, neither believing or disbelieving, so I just giggled and continued on my way. I just wanted to know about the music!

I loved the book; however, I cannot recommend it for everyone. It is definitely not for anyone under age because it was definitely uncensored. In fact, I wish it had been a bit censored. I could have done without all of the sordid rock star/groupie details! I couldn’t have also done without the rock star language, but I suppose it is what it is. If you are anything like me, and love Sammy’s music, whether it be in a band or as a solo artist, grab a copy of this book, pour yourself a Waborita and sit back and relax. You won’t be getting up for a while.

Unless it’s to pour yourself another drink.

We’ll talk soon.

Author Leigh Russell

2011-03-18T00:01:00.000-07:00

Hello, Fire Enthusiasts. As I have often lamented on this blog, I do not have the time to read as often as I would like. I was never one to swallow multiple books whole each and every week, but there were most definitely several authors that I would read faithfully and would indeed devour their books just as soon as I got them into my hands.

Over the years I have tried to stay current with Patricia Cornwell, Michael Slade and Clive Barker. I fall on and off of Uncle Stevie’s bandwagon, picking and choosing as he releases new novels or novella collections. Recently, I have begun to reading the works of those of us newbie authors. I have read Michelle Stinson Ross, Carole Gill, Jennifer Wylie and Talli Roland to name a few. And there’s many more I want to read, just as soon as I can make time for them.

This month I have had the pleasure of reading an author who I think must be well on her way. Her name is Leigh Russell. Leigh has a blog and can be found on the other social networks as well. I follow her and she has been kind enough to say hello on a couple of occasions. From what I understand she is doing very well and it will not be long before we will have to be contacting “her people” should we wish to reach her.

But enough of that. Let’s get to the books.

The following is the synopsis that can be found at Barnes & Noble: "D.I. Geraldine Steel expects the quiet town of Woolsmarsh to be dull. She quickly discovers she is wrong. The park is a place where children play, friends sit and gossip, people walk their dogs, or take a short cut to avoid the streets. But in the shadows a predator prowls, hunting for victims. A woman sees the killer and comes forward as a witness—someone whom the killer must stop at all costs. For D.I. Geraldine Steel, it is a race against time to find the killer before he strikes again, as public pressure mounts with the growing death toll."

Leigh’s debut, Cut Short introduces us to Detective Inspector Geraldine Steel, who works major crimes in England. She is a tenacious inspector who treats her work as more important than herself; yet, she longs for a regular life as most of us do. She’s simply torn. We are also introduced to a well-rounded cast of characters that continue on along with her.

In this story, the serial killer terrorizes a community, across both classes and multiple nationalities. I thought it was a great touch. More than that, I appreciated that we did not walk with a doppelganger Sherlock Holmes, more brilliant that anyone else on Earth, able to hunt down the killer by clues that not even we can see. Instead, we have a flawed and troubled person, following dead-end clues until she ultimately latches onto the real ones that close the case. If you are interested in real detective work, where the police actually sit through stakeouts and gain little; or seem to be grasping at straws more often than not, then this may be your writer.

I found Cut Short to be a fantastic read, taking me only days to finish. I thought it to be well-written and well-paced, with a fresh batch of intriguing characters to go along with a fresh tight plot.

Her second novel is Road Closed.

Once again, from Barnes & Noble: "When a man dies in a gas explosion, the police suspect arson. The Murder Investigation Team are called in to investigate, but the case takes on a new and terrible twist when a local villain is viciously attacked. As the police enquiries lead from the expensive Harchester Hill estate to the local brothel, a witness dies in a hit-and-run. Was it coincidence—or cold-blooded murder? The Murder Investigation Team has problems of its own—and so does Geraldine Steel. A shocking revelation threatens her peace of mind as the investigation races towards its dramatic climax."

It took longer for me to warm up to this story, but by the time I had finished it, I got it. And I felt I got Russell. I realized what the author was doing with her two novels. The second one had its big opening, but then it moved methodically, slowing building to that crescendo. This wasn’t an author who had struggled to find a “good idea” for her second novel, but one who was intent on keeping everything real. Once again, no Sherlock Holmes, but real police procedure and tenacity. We got thieves who baffle the police, eventually committing murder and then degenerating further, seemingly doing anything they please and well beyond the grasp of investigators.

During it all, we find our troubled heroine continuing to deal with personal loss and troubles of the heart, seemingly married to her work, pushing everything else away.

Just as the original police had been unable to crack the slew of robberies, so the team of Detective Inspectors struggle solving the murder case. From dead-end clues to witnesses who refuse to cooperate, the action slowly builds to its proper conclusion. I daresay we do not get many plots like this one. From serial burglaries that eventually graduate the thieves to murder; from victims that begin to take matters into their own hands, albeit only partially successfully – I look forward to what Russell has up her sleeve with the third installment, Dead End.

Being from the United States, and a Californian at that – remember that Lead Zeppelin removed the “a” from their name so the "thick" Americans wouldn’t pronounce them as Leed Zeppelin – I found I did trip a few times with some of the “British” words or expressions; however, I eventually caught on and it certainly did nothing to dissuade me from continuing. You shouldn’t have any trouble either.

We read Patricia Cornwell’s Kay Scarpetta series faithfully in my house. This Geraldine Steel is just as three-dimensional; someone that you are equally pull for as well as want to sit down and give a lecture to, especially as she works herself ragged and drinks entirely too much.

Well done, Leigh Russell.

Before I go, I shall leave you with a taste of what it coming later this year...

"When the corpse of Abigail Kirby is discovered, police are shocked to learn that the victim's tongue was cut out while she lay dying. Then, shortly after coming forward, a witness is blinded and murdered. Meanwhile, Detective Inspector Geraldine Steel's work life helps her cope with the personal, as her flirtation with the pathologist on the case is helping her to deal with the the newest shock in her life—finding out she was adopted at birth. When Detective Sergeant Ian Peterson uncovers a shocking secret about the serial killer they are pursuing, will the discovery come soon enough to save Geraldine Steel from a similar dreadful fate?"

We'll talk soon.

Sunday Morning Musings

2011-03-13T00:01:00.000-08:00

Hello, Fire Enthusiasts! How have you been?

I was going to wait until Monday to post; however, too much has been going on, so I decided to start a day early.

I apologize for having made myself scarce of late. Allow me to explain.

First of all, we just got back from New York City!! My oldest son's high school Wind Ensemble were invited to send in an audition cd for the opportunity to be selected for the 2011 New York Wind Band Festival at Carnegie Hall. They did so and Kingsburg High School was officially invited. We have known about this trip for nearly a year, and it seems as if we have been fund-raising since then as well. Lol! [That's the four of us at The Statue of Liberty and my youngest and I on the Bow Bridge in Central Park. The original Highlander was filmed there, so I had to visit].

I will not recap all of the trip for you in these pages; I am in the process of writing a journal/article of the six day adventure for the magazine that I write for, Kings River Life. When it goes on-line, I will be sure to post a link for those who are interested. Not only did they perform at Carnegie Hall, but we visited The Empire State Building, Grand Central Station, Ground Zero, The Statue of Liberty, Times Square, Rockefeller Center, they performed in Central Park and we attended The Phantom of the Opera.

Let me tell you that it isn't easy to chaperon groups of students when there is so much to distract; however, even though my wife and I often ended up with large groups, it was a lot of fun. You haven't lived until you have tried to navigate 60 people (46 students) through the New York Subway System.

Three days before we began our trip, with an magazine article deadline staring me square in the face, my trusty laptop caught its second virus. The first one I caught took a quick check of my iPhone and an hour to be rid of. Unfortunately, this new one took three afternoons before I had gotten rid of it. Trusty laptop is still a bit slow and locks up on me on rare occasions, but for the most part I am back in business. Being really busy, I had allowed my security to lapse and had failed to keep up on updates and preventative maintenance. If you have been like that, too, I would suggest rectifying this immediately.

In the meantime, I hope to be getting back to a regular schedule soon. I have one article appearing today on Cancer Volunteers in my hometown, I'm finishing my journal on the trip for next Saturday's edition, I know that many of you will not believe it, but I have actually been reading lately. I am reading Leigh Russell's novels (Cut Short & Road Closed) and am nearly finished with the second one. You should see a post mid-week with those details/reviews.

Lastly, I might need to go back to New York. I didn't have any issues there, but once I got back to the California Central Valley I certainly do. The blossoms are killing me!

They're beautiful, but deadly.
Sounds like some of you. ;) JK!!

We'll talk soon...

Super 8 Debut Albums Blog Hop

2011-02-28T00:01:00.000-08:00

Hello, Fire Enthusiasts. So, I was looking for something to post for Monday. I had thought about posting another teaser of my novel. I have done two or three so far. I know some would say that if they wanted to read the novel, they'd buy it. Therefore, I wasn't exactly keen on that idea. I probably will do so at some point, but in the meantime, I found something much, much better. The Super 8 Debut Album Blog Hop, hosted by DiscConnected.

Super Debut Albums? Are you kidding me? I'm all over that.

Now, before we get all crazy, we have to slow down before beginning. Some "debuts" were not debuts at all, but "major label" debuts. By that I mean that the artist or record company hit the restart button on either their material or career. Metal Health by Quiet Riot was pretty darn good, if you discount those Japanese releases. That Jagged Little Pill that Alanis Morissette gave us was kick ass, as long as you forget those Canadian releases that preceded it. Then there is Room For Squares by John Mayer and The Sound of White by Missy Higgins, but each had one or more EPs before hitting it big.

In any event, let's get to the list, shall we?
My criteria: Is it a real debut? How many of the tracks did I skip? Finally, do I continue to play the hell out of it!

Van Halen: I love the Kinks, but after Eddie and the boys covered "You Really Got Me", injecting it with power, you'd almost never want to play your version again. From "Runnin' with the Devil" to "Eruption" to "Little Dreamer" and "Jamie's Cryin'", the album set the table for a monster career.

Shake Your Money Maker: The Black Crowes hit it big in 1990 with this powerhouse. It's got a bit of everything, including some huge hit songs: "She Talks to Angels" and "Hard to Handle" might be the most well-known; however, some of the other tracks are my favorites. "Sister Luck", "Could I have Been So Blind" and "Thick N' Thin" help round out this classic.

Songs About Jane: For me, the bloom has come off of the rose a little bit. Maroon 5 is a bit too safe these days, seemingly making the same music over again; however, "Jane" is a brilliant record. Had they wanted to, they could have released nearly 6 or 7 songs as singles. As it was, they toured for years on just that one album.

Dawn Patrol: I'm still playing Night Ranger to this day. This album came at the beginning of my adolescence, and at the beginning of the hair band explosion of the eighties. "Don't Tell Me You Love Me" and "Sing Me Away" were the big hits on this album, but there's also "Eddie's Comin' Out Tonight", "Young Girl in Love", "Night Ranger" and more.

The Blizzard of Oz: Ozzy has a fantastic catalogue of great songs, but there was definitely something special going on while he was recording and writing with the late Randy Rhoads. What they accomplished with this album as well as Diary of a Madman was magical, making it easier to take that he was no longer in Black Sabbath.

Asia: It almost shouldn't count when a band is formed like a high-priced mercenary squad, but that's what we got here with this supergroup. John Wetton, Carl Palmer, Geoff Downes and Steve Howe all came from other successful groups of the 70's. "Heat of the Moment", with it's infectious drum and guitar work was a staple on a young MTV. "Only Time Will Tell", "Time Again", "Wildest Dreams" and more make this a classic debut.

The Doors: William Blake wrote: “If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear as it is - infinite”. Aldous Huxley took the quote and wrote a book, and James Morrison and The Doors labeled their band and the rest is history. From "Break on Through" to "The End", this is a album that not only started something huge and groundbreaking, but blew The Doors off of the joint!

Boston: Just like the last music blogfest that I participated in, where I proclaimed that the list was only ever going to be about nine of the ten best songs because "Stairway to Heaven" was going to be number one, the same thing holds true here, There is no doubt in my mind that the greatest debut album ever is by Boston. Each of these songs can stand on its own. There's not one track that should be skipped. It is the second best-selling debut of all-time to Appetite for Destruction by Guns N' Roses. I didn't list "Appetite" because I only ever listened to half of its songs. Listen to classic radio long enough and you will eventually hear all 8 of these Boston tracks. And isn't it fitting that this blogfest is entitled Super 8? That's what the debut from Boston should be nicknamed.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope this has sparked some memories and inspired some to investigate these great albums for themselves.

We'll talk soon.