Wedding Anniversary Vacation

Hello, Fire Enthusiasts. I hope you’re enjoying the summer, for those of you in the northern hemisphere. For the rest of you, you’ve had your summer. As soon as we’re finished with it we’ll give it back. We promise!

My wife and I just returned home from an extended 23^rd wedding anniversary weekend that we spent in beautiful San Diego, California. We live in the central valley, so it’s a bit of a drive – about 5 hours – but well worth it. If you haven’t been, San Diego is something close to paradise. It’s warm in the summer, but not terribly hot.

We left on Thursday morning at about 9 am, once we had taken the youngest to his summer school class. He’ll be a sophomore next fall. He and his nearly 19 year old brother stayed home. More on them later…

We pulled into San Diego in mid-afternoon and got ourselves checked in. We then headed for the Glass Lamp district. It’s a great section of shops and restaurants. We visited there twice during the weekend. At night the area comes alive with people pouring in for dinner, drinks, entertainment – or all of the above. We stopped at the Hard Rock. There’s a large mall there where we got some shopping in. I actually came across a real book store! I picked up Joe Hill’s Horns and had that sucker finished as we pulled back home on Sunday. We checked out this dueling piano bar that my wife had heard about. I had been to the famous Savannah Smiles in Georgia, so I knew what to expect. It was really fun, and my wife got a kick out of the music and the hi-jinks.

On Friday, we headed for Coronado Island and the famous Del Coronado Hotel. Neither of us had been there before. The place was built in about 1888, if memory serves. The film Some like It Hot was filmed there, and it was the real inspiration behind the novel Bid Time Return – which in turn beget the film Somewhere in Time with Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour. It is one of my all time favorite movies. We took a ferry to the island, rented bicycles and stayed for the afternoon, catching some sun (too much for me as you’ll see in later photos) and some great food. Speaking of great food, we were back at the Gas Lamp for dinner that night. I had a big steak, paid entirely too much for it, but it was worth every morsel. *smacks lips* So good!

On Saturday we headed inland to meet my wife’s niece and her husband and young son. They live there and were kind enough to take us out for lunch. Okay, you see the beer, but I swear there was pizza, too. Later that day we hunted for a restaurant I had seen on Diner, Drive-Ins and Dives.

It was a fantastic weekend. As many of you know, I have spent far too much time being glued to this laptop, so it was great to get away – just us. I plan to spend more time away from these keys than I have in the past. I’m not quitting this crazy indie business; however, you won’t find me here quite as often. I meant to take a photo of the large television we had in our room, but forgot to. We never turned it on once during our four days there. We did read, but the rest of the time we just bonded…

Now, back to the kids: Although my boys and I have the house alarm app on our iPhones, my youngest opened the sliding glass door without turning it off first, causing the alarm company to call in. Neither one of them knew our password, so the alarm folks had to call the police. *slaps head* It was only the second hour that we were away. We were happily on the road, blasting the tunes and enjoying our break. My oldest had to show them their photos hanging on the wall in order to get them to leave. My oldest sent text messages, and was pretty pissed off that we didn’t answer our cells. *grins* Then…. They both left Saturday morning for northern California to the Van’s Warped Tour. We had warned them they we were going to be gone, and the care of the house and the cat was their responsibility. They gave my mother the clicker for the garage, but (the youngest again) had locked the door, causing my mother to be locked out and unable to check on poor Jones. Jones survived, of course, but it was the second strike against them. *laughs* Perhaps we’ll need to wait another decade before trusting them again, huh? ;) #fail

We’ll talk again soon.  

Celine & Jesse - Together Again

The Greeting: Hello, Everyone. Thanks for dropping by. As customary, I hope you and yours are well.

The Update: I continue to take time away from the hustle and bustle that is the indie life. My new book Seeing Ghosts continues to pick up good reviews which makes me very pleased. It isn’t selling like bottled water on hundred degree days, but it’s doing alright. Thank you for that. I can’t take too much time away as I must begin planning for the big July book tour that I’m doing. If you don’t see me around for much of the summer, that’s why.

The Relaxation: In the meantime I have been reading a lot. I have read three books in the past weeks with my limited time. All have been really good. I was planning on telling you about them, but I haven’t had the time to give them proper justice. Rest assured that I will. Instead, my wife and I just got back from the theater where we took a stroll with two of our favorite characters in modern film, Celine and Jesse.

The Movie: Before Midnight is the third chapter in the series that first began nearly twenty years ago with Before Sunrise. Nine years ago it was followed by Before Sunset. All three films are the work of stars Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy and Director Richard Linklater. The series has become so special and such a labor of love that the two stars once again joined in the creation of the screenplay as they did with Sunset.

The Disclaimer: If you haven’t seen the films before, you’re really going to want to catch up. If you don’t, the film will just come across as unsettling. It has its tough and sad moments. However, if you are invested in these characters and their lives – which we’ve literally followed nearly every step of the way – I think you’ll really appreciate the ride.

The Catch Up: In the first film, Celine and Jesse meet on a train in Europe. Sensing a connection the strangers get off the train and explore Vienna for about a day. At the end of their adventure, they are no longer two strangers, but a couple. Unfortunately, they cannot be together forever and must part at the end with hopes of meeting once again in the not so distant future. The second film carries the tag line: “Is there someone who lingers in your memory – someone who makes you wonder what might have been?” This time around, they meet in Paris. Jesse has written a book detailing a character’s love and loss, mirroring his own loss at never having reuniting with the woman who stole his heart in Vienna - Until he turns and sees her. Rather than an entire day, this time they only have an afternoon to decide if “lightning strikes twice”, and whether or not it can be bottled. (Now go see those films. I’ll wait…)

The Next Chapter: Jesse drops off his son from his first marriage at the airport after their vacation together in Greece. We follow him out to the car to find Celine waiting there, along with their twin daughters. Life has been good to them, mostly, but issues linger. It is killing Jesse that he only spends days a year with his son, but there isn’t anything to be done about it. Celine is feeling pressured to give up her dreams, believes that Jesse blames her for his regrets and the choices he’s made, and worried that the relationship is coming to an end. At a dinner scene they and their friends take a great deal of time, asking the question whether love is real or just a fairy tale.

The High Points: We’ve seen so much of Europe in this series and Midnight doesn’t disappoint. We are surrounded by beauty, geography and history. Yet, it is really the dialogue that is the heart of these films. We literally follow them around for tens of minutes without edit and it is the selling point. In film we are accustomed to following the characters around as they wake up, prepare for their day, fill their day, fight, make love and fall asleep. However, never do we get the entire unedited picture. This series acts as if it were a documentary of two real people; people we’ve fallen in love with. They are oftentimes graphic with their humor, subject matter and language, but they are real. After all of these years they still love each other. It’s just a different kind of love. One that is real and all too familiar to each of us who have been in a committed relationship that has spanned decades.

The Final Note: If you haven’t seen the films, send the kids away, find a place on the love seat and catch up. Then get to the theater and see the latest installment. Will it be the last film? Who knows? I’d kind of like to see how Celine and Jesse are doing as seniors. But not yet. We’ve all got a lot of living to do before then.

We’ll talk soon. 

One Week Later

Greetings and salutations, Fire Enthusiasts. How in the world are you? I’m okay and I hope you are, too. You and yours, that is. We never want to forget the “yours” part of that equation. Each of us have loved ones that are standing by us, and/or waiting for us to turn off the laptop and rejoin them on the couch or patio. I certainly do. More on that later…

Well, the latest e-book is out there, as you probably already know. I certainly have spent much time, discussing, promoting and teasing about it, ad nauseum. Right? Don’t answer that! *laughs* At least it feels that way to me. Suffice it to say that I have sold a few copies, and the reviews it has so far have been nothing but positive. I don’t have to tell you that I am ecstatic about this. Is it perfect? No. Is it going to get some negative reviews? Yes. You can’t please them all, right? However, at the end of the day, I am very happy with the way the story ended up. It hits all the targets that I was aiming for.

So, what now? Well, I will continue to promote it. In July the book and I will be doing our first big blog tour. I am very excited about it, and look forward to meeting new people and taking what I do out on the road, as it were.

However…

I have really stretched myself this year as I produced the book and prepared for its promotion. At the same time, I transferred positions at the day job where I am essentially now an acting manager for one of my company’s auxiliary facilities. It’s a solid 11-12 hour day (and some Saturdays) where I am both manager and front-line supervisor. It hasn’t been easy.

So…with all of this in mind, I am going to re-evaluate how I spend my time. I’m not leaving, but you probably will hear from me a lot less – at least until July. You see, for about five years now I have been making my day job and my writing career the top priorities in my life. Only a complete idiot would do that. *raises hand* My wife and teenaged sons (18 and 15) have been low priorities for far too long, and I am now rearranging their place in that order. I have an anniversary coming up this month (23 and 25 years altogether) and I am setting things right today before I don’t see another one.

In the meantime, I have actually been watching television again. Have you seen some of these great new shows: Castle and The Big Bang Theory? *laughs* I’m kidding, of course. There is some truth to that joke, however. I maybe watched one movie a week. Beyond that, with what little time I had, I was seated at the dining room table with my fingers all over my mistress the laptop.

I’m reading a bit more and wondering when I’m climbing back on my treadmill. *stares at bulging waste line and sighs* I’m listening to two new albums that came out last month. How many Jamie Cullum and Thirty Seconds to Mars fans do we have out there? They both have great new albums out. Perhaps I’ll come back next week and tell you about them. We’ll see.

I will be back here next Monday with another post. I don’t plan on missing those.

Everything’s all right. Send me a line if you’re worried.

Thanks again for everyone’s help with the promotion of Seeing Ghosts. I adore you all for it. *hugs and high-fives*

We’ll talk soon.    

Seeing Ghosts Release Day

Hello, Paranormal Enthusiasts. Yes, I said it again. I just can’t help myself now.

Today is the day.

I won’t take up any more of your time with teasers or anything else regarding my new e-book. I’m not going to explain how the book came about, how the book took its shape or how the wonderful and multi talented author Maria Zannini crafted the fabulous traffic-stopping cover. The time for all of that is over. Perhaps I’ll revisit some of these things in the future. Just know that Seeing Ghosts is very special to me. It is scary, but not pure horror; romantic, but not gushing or erotic. I call it a paranormal romance because it is firmly defined by all things paranormal – with a healthy dose of romance. I hope you’ll like it as much as I do.

My thanks to all who take a chance on it, and to all who’ve encouraged and cheered me on as we’ve come to this exciting and nerve-wracking moment in time.

You can find the e-book here on Amazon.com or you can find it here on Goodreads in order to put it on your shelf for another time. If you like it, I hope you’ll tell the world. *high fives and hugs*

Paul Herrera finds himself bequeathed a mysterious old house near the California central coast by a deceased aunt he never knew. The woman who shows it to him is the spitting image of his wife, taken from him three years before in a senseless car accident which also took his unborn son. While he deals with the ghosts of a past he cannot let go, there are new ghosts Paul must deal with - alone for the week in the expansive two-story house that he will soon discover holds many secrets. Eventually, he will see that he is surrounded by ghosts as he struggles to hold onto the only thing that he has left in this world - his sanity.

We’ll talk soon.

   

One More Week...

Hello, Fire Enthusiasts. Thanks for dropping by. Life continues to be crazy here. How about you? You know, we writers ought to be hospitalized for juggling as much as we do. Do you agree? We’re all doing the same things. We sleep little and spent time with our loved ones very infrequently. Instead, we’re married to our word processors or paper and pens, putting our stories down and editing them until they are just right.

I took that new position at work, and although I no longer have to get up at 3 am, I’m still working 11-12 hours, with some occasional Saturdays in there just to make it worse. Then I’ve got this new book coming out in a week, hoping that I’m doing enough to get it noticed in a giant sea of books that are equally as good if not better. It’s tough, isn’t it? Then of course I have to take the virtual broom and swat the part of my brain that doubts I’m any good at this, or that I am very good, but no one is going to notice. Do you spend any time doing that? Fighting off the demons in your head that try and get you to quit? I do. I know I’m doing it, too. Perhaps it’s our way of preparing ourselves for the negative possibilities. Either way, it isn’t useful.

So here I sit, spending an hour before work and maybe another hour afterwards, trying to get the word out, network or just visit my buddies out there in the world who are doing much the same things and in need of encouragement. I haven’t been on my treadmill in weeks, I’m barely getting any reading in and I’ve barely touched the house.

Yeah, we’re all crazy…but dedicated as hell! J I hope everyone out there is doing well. I thank you for stopping by, as always. I adore you for that. I’ve been visiting your places as I can. I mostly follow by e-mail however, so if you’re not using that feature, leave me a comment somewhere and I’ll come by for a visit.

Before I go, I’m going to leave you with another excerpt. I know many don’t like to read them. It’s only about 400+ words, and it’s a bit of high drama. I apologize for the language…

  

“Wake up!” a voice suddenly commanded. The owner of the voice must have kicked the bench, too, because I felt myself leap into the air. It was Patricia, leaning over me, wearing one of her patented scowls.

“What do you want?” I shouted at her, sitting up. God knew how little I had slept this time.

“It’s nothing to do with what I want! It’s what your aunt wants!”

“My aunt died, Patricia! I don’t give a shit what Casper the not-so-friendly ghost wants.” Even I was shocked at how convincing I sounded, but I figured it was best not to think about it. These few moments this week working off of pure adrenaline had been like good liquor buzzes. Indeed, they worked for me in many ways.

I stood. She took one step back, but that was all. “Just state your business.… In fact, I don’t even care why you’re here. Get the fuck off of my property before I have the police drag your ass off!”

“Nice try!” she shouted back. “I’ve every right to be here as you do.”

She was right. There wasn’t anything I could do about her being there.

Patricia straightened up as I stood before her, poised. She squinted at me while she measured my resolve. Finally, a weak smile appeared over her face.

“What?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest.

“Flora wants you to prepare yourself. It’s time.” She turned on her boot heels and walked off the porch. “It’s good you’ve sent the others away.”

“Time for what, Patricia? Oh, and the others will be back. They’re with Thomas. No one is going anywhere.”

Patricia spun back to me. “Thomas? My, you are a trusting fool, aren’t you? Mister big shot. You don’t have the first fucking clue!”

“Go to Hell!”

“Yeah, maybe,” she said, nodding. “But I won’t be the only one! Your pastor will be there, too. Why don’t you tell him I said that and see whether he disagrees? Go ahead. I fucking dare you!”

Struck dumb, I simply watched her resume her march back to the guesthouse. Words floated inside my head, but I couldn’t make sense of them. A voice seemed to be asking me why I’d really felt it so important that Jason accompany his mother. I had no clue.

“Be ready!” Patricia yelled back before taking the last few steps and disappearing inside her house.

The longer I sat there the more I seemed to know something. Or suspect it. I glanced left and looked through the trees toward The Queen of Heaven Cemetery, as if being called by it.

“What is it?” I asked no one as I continued to stare at the cemetery. Eventually, I gave up on finding the answer and headed back inside.

The book is available now, if I have piqued your interest. If you want to wait until next Monday and help me make the biggest splash possible, that would be very lovely of you. On the other hand, if someone wants to buy my book, who am I to advise them when to do it? J Cheers, you guys! And hang in there.

We’ll talk soon.

A Disclaimer: Romance?

Hello, Fire Enthusiasts. Today I would like to talk a bit about romance, or perhaps a lack thereof. You see I have been using the word with regard to my forthcoming novel, and am unsure whether or not I actually should. I suppose we could talk about ad campaigning, and there’s certainly some truth in that. However, on the other hand I run the risk of ticking some readers off if they think there’s some bed-hopping or hot and steamy action going on. Let me set the record straight right now. There isn’t.

On the other hand, the condition of the heart is at the very forefront of the story. Two main characters have had their hearts broken by the separation of death. One took the wrong road in reclaiming what was taken away from them; another simply did nothing but attempt to allow the wound to scab over enough to face tomorrow. The plot of the novel takes us on a journey to see whether love might have its day...

“A dollar and a half for your thoughts,” Anne asked, catching me in mid-thought. She held her glass of wine in her right hand and lightly swirled the remaining contents.

“What?” I asked, glancing over at her smiling face.

“A penny for your thoughts sounded a tad cheap, so I thought I would up it for inflation and cost of living.” She sat back. “You were grinning just now. What were you thinking about? Something good?”

“I don’t know,” I lied, and then spooned the last of my dessert into my mouth. I fought the urge to lick the bowl. It was that good.

“Yes, you do!” Anne said. “You’re a terrible liar.” She set her glass down and folded her arms across her chest. “Give it up, mister!”

I glanced at Jason, who was watching the exchange with a curious look on his face, then back at Anne and shook my head.

“Must have been something good,” Anne said, refusing to let it go.

“Do you two need me to leave the room or something?” Jason asked.

“No!” I said, perhaps a little too loudly. A twinkle sparkled in Anne’s eye, so I kept my eyes off her. I suppose that made me even more suspicious-looking.

From my peripheral vision, I saw her stand and grab the plates to take to the kitchen. Leaning to my ear, she whispered, “Hmm?” and I knew I hadn’t heard the end of it.

“You know she’s never going to let that go, right?” Jason offered in a whisper when she left the room.

“I was afraid of that,” I mouthed to him.

“Good luck,” he mouthed back.

He got up from the table just as his mother came back to retrieve the fudge, strawberry and caramel toppings to put away. Fearing being alone with her, I quickly jumped from the table and followed Jason. For the next few minutes I was his shadow, and when he made a move to leave, I grabbed for his shirt, keeping him beside me. As if sensing this, Anne sent her son upstairs to get showered. I turned to him, feigning panic. He just grinned and waved melodramatically at me. When I turned back around, Anne was waiting for me with a devilish grin.

“Hi,” I said sheepishly.

“Hi there,” she replied. “How’s it going?”

“Fine.” We said nothing for a few moments. I snaked past her and began setting up to wash the dishes.

“That’s all you’ve got?” she asked. “After I went and made all of this food.”

“I told you it was fantastic!” I said without facing her. “Are you kidding me? I haven’t eaten this great in years!”

“Thank you, but that isn’t what I wanted to hear.” I could hear her move to the counter by the refrigerator and pour herself another glass of wine. “I want to know what you’re hiding.”

I filled one side of the sink with soap and hot water and bided my time while I attempted to think of a possible response. I filled the sink with dishes. “Why don’t you go sit down and relax?” I offered. “I’ll clean the kitchen.” I was stalling and we both knew it. I still couldn’t look at her.

“No, thanks. I’m fine right here.”

I felt myself growing embarrassed now as I anticipated her reaction. Perspiration formed on my forehead and it had nothing at all to do with the hot water I stood over.

“My, you are turning a bright shade of red,” she said before sipping from her wine.

“Please, Anne,” I pleaded, still not looking at her. “You don’t want to hear this.”

“Apparently I do.” I didn’t have to turn her direction to see her grin. Her voice said it all.

I sighed, utterly defeated.

“Come on,” she goaded me.

“I was wondering what it might be like to be Jason’s step-dad,” I said at last.

“That’s it? You don’t want to be with me. You only want to hang out with my kid?” Slowly I looked her way. She was grinning just like I suspected and kept her eyes on me over the top of her wineglass.

“Don’t be silly,” I said and looked for something to throw at her. A dish towel came in handy. I quickly grabbed it and tossed it her direction. She moved out of the way, but it would have missed her to her left anyway.

“I thought you were good at baseball. Jason said you were.”

“My throws are not usually that poor - only when I’m terribly distracted.” I sighed again, leaning against the sink and shaking my head at this incredible turn of events.

“What?” Anne asked. She lowered her glass and put on a more serious look, although still quite pleased with herself.

“Are you sure? I mean, are you really sure that you want to…”

“Oh, I’ve agreed to nothing,” she interrupted. She bent over and retrieved the rag from the floor, then approached me. I clammed up when she got close, but didn’t move an inch.

“Relax,” she said. “I just wanted to make sure you were interested. Now I know.” She laid the towel upon my head. “Now, hurry up and finish the dishes.”

“Yes, dear,” I said from inside the dish towel.

“Practicing already?” she asked as she stepped out of the room. “I like it.”

Is it romantic? I believe it is. Should it be considered a romance, albeit one of the paranormal kind? We’re two weeks away from discovering what the readers think. So far, the returns have come in favorably, as the following review demonstrates:

“This is an amazing book. I found it hard to put it down. Throughout the book I felt tearful, happy, terrified and surprised by a few twists. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves a good ghost and/or romance story...” My thanks to “Angelbear” for the review. I appreciate it more than you can know.


Seeing Ghosts is set to release on Monday, June 3rd. If you can't wait, the book is already available. *evil grins* I quietly posted it on Amazon a week ago so I could proof it. I guess I'm terribly sneaky that way. ;)


We'll talk soon.

This Post is About You, My Friends

Hello, Fire Enthusiasts. How are you? Well, I hope. You ladies and gentlemen have been awesome of late, and I really want to offer you a shout-out. In fact, I hope to demonstrate that commitment by not talking about myself this week.

Really? You ask. It’s true. I mean it when I say that I don’t like it always being about me. I know that you stop by to check in, as you are able. I’m very grateful for that, and adore your visits. However, this time it’s going to be about you. There will be plenty of time in the next month to update you on my latest book, or to offer new excerpts – and I will. Just not today.

Instead, I want to thank all of the writers and bloggers out there who shared their sites with me, whether it was revealing my cover; sharing my synopsis; promoting my sites; promoting my Facebook event page – or a combination of those things. You guys rock. I hope I managed to visit those posts and thank you and your readers there. Please tell me if I failed to do so, and I will launch right over. Unless I saw the tweet or Facebook status, I may not have known when it went live. 

Seriously, thank you.

Beyond that, I have been so busy with finishing this new novel, as well as working so hard at the day job as I transition to the new position, that I haven't had the time to visit your sites. Hopefully you have seen me drop by recently as I play catch up. If not, say hello and I'll head right over.

Lastly, I want to offer my pal and author Stant Litore a shout out. I haven’t had the time to do much reading of late, but during this hectic time I did manage to read his fabulous novel, Strangers in the Land. You may recall me saying in the past that I don’t care for zombie novels, but with Litore that’s okay - that isn’t what he writes. Oh, there are most certainly zombies in his stories (in fact, there are literally hundreds of them, if not more), but I defy you to call him a zombie writer. He is anything but that. As he told me recently, "it's always about the living more than it is about the dead."

There are so many good books out there that we cannot possibly read them all. Sometimes I like an author’s work, but too many other books keep me from going back to take another bite, as it were. When the writer is brilliant or doing work that shakes the foundations of what has come before, I find myself running back to them. This is the case with Litore. I loved Death Has Come Up Into Our Windows and continued to be impressed with What Our Eyes Have Witnessed.

However, just when one might have thought that the bar had been raised too high already, I read Strangers in the Land. My friends, this one is epic!

The Synopsis: Four must stand against the dead. The aging prophetess Devora. Hurriya, the slave girl. Zadok, a legend among warriors. And the widower Barak, who has sworn to defend his homeland from a migration of walking corpses greater than has ever been seen.

Devora is all too familiar with the unclean dead. She was there when her mother was pulled screaming from her tent by zombies. And when her mother rose, famished for flesh, it was Devora's hand that ended her hunger. Now Devora has struck an uneasy alliance with those she fears most among the living. Yet the strangers in the land must stand together if they are to rid the land of its curse.

Litore really outdid himself with this newest chapter in his Zombie Bible series. I’m not sure I have the words to express how utterly impressed I am with it. It is easily his best work, and as I said before – the bar had been raised pretty damn high. It is truly remarkable. The story is sweeping, gut-wrenching and heart-breaking. Anyone who absently calls it a "zombie" story deserves a slap to the head. That is only a small part of what this book truly entails. The prose is perfect, very often reading like poetry and I wouldn't have changed one word. I told Litore that I wished I had written down some of his sentences to show you, but I was too busy in the adventure that is Strangers. The work is on the long side, but you won’t notice.

Whether you enjoy zombie or not, if you like intelligent stories that are dark in nature, you absolutely must do yourself a favor and get into this series. This one reads as if it were one of the unearthed Dead Sea Scrolls or some lost tome to be discovered long hidden in the depths of the Vatican Library.

Convinced yet? Well, how about this: the author tells me that What Our Eyes Have Witnessed can be yours free if you sign up for Amazon’s Daily Kindle Deals e-mail. Follow this link and begin the adventure. I keep coming back. I think you will, too.

Once again, I thank all of you for your support and encouragement.

We’ll talk soon.