An Article and An Interview

Hello, Fire Enthusiasts. How's your Monday? This is a great Monday for many, since in America we celebrate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King with a holiday. My company isn't closed, so I am unfortunately working. Although I do not have a post about the good Doctor, I definitely believe that some time should be spent in reflection of where we've been with regard to equality for all, and how much farther we need to go. Not only that, who will the next peacemaker be?

The reason why I am posting this morning is due to the fact that I had a good writing weekend, and I would like to share it with you.

I was interviewed on Sunday by Lorelei Bell, author of the novel, Vampire Ascending, on her blog: Lorelei's Muse. I hope you will take a moment to see the questions she asked me, as well as read my responses. While you are there, take a look around the place and see what you think. Perhaps you'll find yourself giving her a follow, too. She also has a new novel out that seems to be going places. I'm hoping to pick up my copy very soon.

The other thing that happened for me was the posting of my newest article for the on-line magazine, Kings River Life. I'm writing for the magazine, you may recall, in order to get my name out there. Having said this, know that I take this position very seriously. Sometimes the assignments that I am given are cute and light-hearted. However, very often the assignment is incredibly important or worthy of sharing.

This month the subject of my article is the C.O.P.S. organization. Concerns of Police Survivors is a national organization with local chapters all over the United States. In February 2010, a Deputy and Police Officer were both gunned down in Minkler, California, simply attempting to serve a warrant. My article explains how the Central Valley C.O.P.S. rushed in to assist the families in their time of need. The President of Central C.O.P.S. has a heart for this work because he, too, lost a son in the Line Of Duty.

If you find that you have some time, perhaps you can give each of these a measure of your time. Enjoy your day, whether it's a regular Monday or a special one.

We'll talk soon.

The Day The Music Died

Hello, Fire Enthusiasts. I hope everyone is well and that the New Year is still being good to you.

I come to you today to announce a change to my blog. Perhaps for some it will be something to celebrate. For me, however, it is a bit sad. I have taken down the music player from this site.

Knowing me the way you do, you must expect that this would bother me some. For me, music is essential. It lifts up my spirits and carries me away. Where some require absolute silence in the morning until they have grown accustomed to the sun, I am quite the opposite. If the house were empty, I would immediately crank it up! With the music player, what I was hoping to do was to simply give the visitor an overall experience: this is me, this is what I write, these are my fellow writers and newest friends, and also this is the music which currently moves me.

Unfortunately, I have just come to realize that I might have been the only one who thought this was a good idea.

This past week on Wicked Writers, we spent the week discussing what we did and did not like about other people's websites. Can you guess what the consensus was? That’s right: kill the music! I can't be sore with my friends at Wicked Writers Headquarters; it turns out that my wife wasn’t a fan, either. In fact, even I must admit that the constant reloading each time I added a comment or navigated about the blog drove me a bit nuts as well. So, bowing to the whims of the masses, I have done exactly this.


Those who are older than I believe The Day The Music Died to be February 3, 1959, and they wouldn't be wrong. That was the terrible day that the plane which carried Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and The Big Bopper crashed just shortly after takeoff, killing all aboard. Those closer to my age might think the day music died to be when AC/DC’s Bon Scott passed away, Led Zeppelin's John Bonham died, when Stevie Ray Vaughn’s helicopter crashed or perhaps when Freddie Mercury succumbed to bronchopneumonia resulting from AIDS. In the case of my wife, the day to have been when INXS’ Michael Hutchence’s body was discovered in that hotel room (and just what did happen that night, only God knows).


In any event, the music is gone. Perhaps when I am selling thousands of novels and I can break all of the rules that I want, I shall bring it back… It's a joke, folks.


On the other hand, if the removal of the music gets me more visitors, new followers and more comments, than I am all for it. Hopefully, it will, because I miss the music already and it’s only been a few minutes.

Take care and have a great weekend, everybody. I’ve got to go get my iPod now… ;)

We’ll talk soon.

The Hating Game

Hello Fire Enthusiasts. How is the year treating you so far?

At the end of last year, I did a little bit of complaining about how I couldn't read the way I would have liked to. With all of the writing I was doing last year, and still am, I could not possibly devote any real time to reading. It's a shame really, because I really love to read.

In any event, I did manage to get some reading done during the holidays. Although I have new books by Patricia Cornwell and Pat Conroy on my radar, I finished the year by purchasing the works of many of our blogosphere buddies. The last one that I read was so good that I thought I might spend a few moments telling you about it.

As you have already guessed, the novel I read was "The Hating Game" by Talli Roland. For those of you who know me well, not to mention know what kind of novels I write, you may be wondering how I came about reading this particular novel. Well, I'm about to tell you; however, let me first allow the official blurb to describe the book's plot:


"When man-eater Mattie Johns agrees to star on a dating game show to save her ailing recruitment business, she's confident she'll sail through to the end without letting down the perma-guard she's perfected from years of her love 'em and leave 'em dating strategy.

After all, what can go wrong with dating a few losers and hanging out long enough to pick up a juicy £200,000 prize? Plenty, Mattie discovers, when it's revealed that the contestants are four of her very unhappy exes.

Can Mattie confront her past to get the prize money she so desperately needs, or will her exes finally wreak their long-awaited revenge? And what about the ambitious TV producer whose career depends on stopping her from making it to the end?"

Okay, now let's get back to how a horror-reading guy ends up reading "The Hating Game". Well, truth be told, I love romantic comedies. An Affair To Remember, Casablanca, Notting Hill and Love Actually are just a few of my favorites. I love these and many more. Yet I don't love every single one of them in this genre, especially if they are simply retreading the same old ground. What I want is originality.

Those aforementioned films had it, and this excellent work of Talli Roland's has it as well.

From the reality television game show subject matter to the strong-willed lead character, I found the story to be fresh and timely. The Hating Game as a show sounds like something we might see with next fall's television line up. I also found the unfolding drama to be well-paced and the twists and turns difficult to anticipate. There wasn't one instance where I felt that Roland had become lazy or had taken an easy way out with regard to plot. Her characters are layered and believable, and I felt as if I knew many of them.

I'd like to talk about writing now. Often, we authors do ourselves a disservice by attempting to show off with our mastery of language. As readers, when this occurs, we can find ourselves "tripping" over words that are either out of place or suddenly several grade levels higher than we had thought we had been reading just paragraphs before. Roland doesn't do this. Her prose is so well-written that it is akin to eating comfort food after a difficult day. It is the perfect combination of education and wit and clarity, as if she agonized over each word.

Another thing that I commend Roland on is the quality of the edit. I found no errors in spelling, grammar or formatting. I have bought other novels from some of our blogosphere friends, and they have had formatting errors which brought down my enjoyment. If there were errors, I was so engrossed in the plot that I didn't notice.

This novel is something special. It is a wonderful piece of fiction, and, once again, much different than other books that I have heard of or read. I found it to be an excellent effort and look forward to seeing what Roland has planned next.

We'll talk soon.

Stylish Blogger Award

Hello, Fire Enthusiasts. Happy Monday! Yes, I know. There's no such thing. I thought I might give it a shot, you know?

Well, perhaps it still can be.

How, you ask? I was blessed by my good friends Carole Gill, from Demon Vampire Horror and J.D. Brown with The Stylish Blogger Award. My thanks to them for having thought of me. I would like to nominate a few of you as well, but first a bit of business. In order to accept this award, I must reveal 7 things about myself:

1) The easy one is the fact that my first novel took twenty years to write.

2) Our cat is named for "Jones" from the film, "Alien". He looks like that cat, too. Likewise, all he does is hide whenever the damned aliens come around.

3) I'll be making my first trip to New York City this year when my son and the Kingsburg High School Wind Ensemble plays at Carnegie Hall.

4) I can go from W*A*S*P, Ozzy Osbourne and Iron Maiden to Barry Manilow and then back to 30 Seconds to Mars in the blink of an eye and dependant upon my mood.

5) I write horror but don't really watch scary movies. I would prefer to watch a romantic comedy.

6) I sing high notes in the Steve Perry (Journey) and Freddie Mercury (Queen) range.

7) I could go weeks without food, a few days without water, but would curl up into a ball and die in hours without music.


And now, without further ado, here are the ten bloggers that I nominate:

A Bourbon for Silvia

Laura Marcella

Jessica Brooks at My Thoughts Exactly

Michele Shaw

Lorelei over at Lorelie's Muse

Jen over at Jennifer Wylie

Chasing the Dream

Almighty Heidi at Aliens Have Invaded My Brain

Alex J. Cavanaugh

The Missing Word

I know it's a little bit of work, but I hope you will have fun with it. Thanks for the light you all have added to my days. Take care and have a great week.

We'll talk soon.

From One Jimmy to Another

Hello, Fire Enthusiasts. How's your Sunday? I just thought I would take a moment to give a little shout-out to one of my favorite Jimmys in the world: Jimmy Page.

Today is James Patrick Page's 67th Birthday and I just wanted to mention it.

I play a little guitar, but mostly for fun. I picked it up too late in my teenage years and have never had time to get better. If there is one in the room, however, it will begin calling out to me until I step over and pick it up. Jimmy Page is one of the reasons why I first thought to strap one across my chest, although I could never hold it as low as he does...nor play it as masterfully.

Although I was born in March of 1969, the year that the mighty Led Zeppelin began to take flight with a massive debut album before the year started, and soon to follow with the brown bomber, Led Zeppelin II, it would not be until 1985 that I would discover them. I was a fan of Def Leppard. I remember people comparing the way they spelled their name with the way Zep did. I thought of Zep as being these old guys who were on their way out as hair metal was on it's way in. Little did I know.

When Phil Collins of Genesis fame played his "Against all Odds" song before a closed curtain, I had no idea that my taste in music was about to be blown wide open. He finished playing to good applause and then suddenly introduced three friends: Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones. I understand now that their might be a bit of bad blood between Collins and Page over the quality of the set that night, but it doesn't matter to me. When the curtains finally pulled back, and the world seemed to explode in my ears, I simply had to listen.

I've been listening ever since...and The Song Remains The Same.

Thank you, Jimmy. And Happy Birthday.

Paperback Vlog Announcement

A Surprising Treat

Hello, Fire Enthusiasts. It's Monday and that means that my two week vacation is over, and that I am back to work. Many of you have read that I have to get up extremely early for my day job, so you know that I am a little sad that I am back to the grind. On the other hand, after being away for as long as I was, if I didn't get back soon, I probably wouldn't. Am I right?

Therefore, rather than talk about it being Monday, I'd rather discuss what I did for New Year's Eve. No, I didn't drive from California to New York City to watch the ball drop in Time's Square. I didn't drive to Las Vegas to see the band, 30 Seconds to Mars, which I really wanted to do. If my teenagers had been a bit older, we would have done exactly that. I didn't paint my town red, nor did I party the evening away. What's the big deal then, you ask?

Well, it gets back to my previous post. New Year's Eve was my wife's birthday; and it is so every year, in spite of what she may tell you. ;) In any event, what we typically attempt to do is to take some time for ourselves, go to a movie and have a real quality dinner. Long story short, we had a great afternoon/evening. What I really want to share with you, however, is the film we attended.

If you have yet to hear, The King's Speech is a wonderful film about the terrible stammer that practically debilitated the Duke of York (Colin Firth) and father of Queen Elizabeth II. Reluctantly elevated to the throne after his older brother abdicates, freeing him to marry a divorced socialite, King George VI battles through to find his voice with the assistance of an unorthodox speech therapist named Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush).

Weeks ago, this appeared to me to be one of those smart Oscar-worthy films that no one would want to see outside of the Academy; however, every week, this film seemed to be generating more and more positive buzz. It is rare that hours later I find myself unable to stop talking about a film, but it had everything. My friend, the Author Nicole Hadaway, mentioned on her Facebook page that the film had "no dull moments/no wasted scenes" and she couldn't have been more right. I already thought that Firth and Rush were great in everything they did, but there were also awesome performances by Guy Pearce as Edward VIII and Helena Bonham Carter as George's wife. I usually don't like anything that Carter does, but she was brilliant.

In fact, the entire film is brilliant. It has humor, it has wit, it has powerful moments that will bring tears to your eyes more than once. When the screen went dark for the final time, I was actually hoping for another scene. Our audience actually clapped and that rarely happens. Hopefully, this is the year that Mr. Firth walks away with that Oscar that he lost out on last year.

See this movie, folks.

We'll talk soon...