While I've Been Away

Hello, Fire Enthusiasts. How in the world are you? It’s been a while, hasn’t it? If you’ve stopped by over the course of July, you know that I embarked on a book blog tour, enabling me to take Seeing Ghosts and offer it up to a larger audience than I had before. If you’re wondering how it went, I’m not really sure as of yet. I’m hoping that it continues to build momentum. Perhaps praying is the much better word here. J Anyway, more on my book later…

What else? Well, I won’t bore you with the details on work. It’s there, it’s long hours, blah, blah, blah... Who wants to hear about that? Certainly not me. *grins*

Just Saturday I finally got around to watching the film 42 – the Jackie Robinson story. It was so good. I haven’t bought it yet, but rest assured that I will. Yes, it’s a baseball movie, but it is so much more than that. It’s our history. As a Cubs fan you’d never expect to catch me wearing some other team’s jersey; however, the movie really made me want to go out and buy a Dodgers 42. My 19 year old came home while I was watching it and made a comment about hating prejudice. He said it made him want to punch people. He’s not a violent guy, so it was really out of character for him to say. I understood it. The film made my wife and I very sad. There were many trips to the tissue box, I don’t mind telling you. Later this summer I look forward to seeing The Butler. That one might be worse. I get misty just watching the trailer.

For you music lovers out there we had the opportunity over a week ago to travel to the California central coast to visit the Paso Robles Mid State Fair. We saw the Goo Goo Dolls and Matchbox Twenty and it was a heck of a show. If you listen to Matchbox and have yet to see a show, you’re really missing out. We’ve now seen them three times and it never gets old; great songs, fantastic musicianship and Rob Thomas hitting each and every one of those notes. Speaking of my oldest son once again, he calls Thomas a freak of nature. Both my boys are in band and jazz choir, so they know a bit of what they speak. He says Thomas should not be able to hit those notes consistently with those neck veins popping out like that, but he does. Perhaps he‘s just blessed with more talent than we even realized. Both band’s newest releases have been getting heavy play over here. If you have yet to check them out you probably need to rectify that, too.

Book fans, I’ve managed to get hold of some good books over the past couple of months and I will begin telling you about them over the next few weeks. I just read Horns by Joe Hill. I had heard of Hill, but had yet to read his work. I knew who his famous father was, but that was about it. So it was that I came upon this novel with no preconceived notions, but just a natural curiosity. I was not disappointed. What a wild ride. If you are unfamiliar with Horns, here’s the synopsis:

Ignatius Perrish spent the night drunk and doing terrible things. He woke up the next morning with a thunderous hangover, a raging headache . . . and a pair of horns growing from his temples.

At first Ig thought the horns were a hallucination, the product of a mind damaged by rage and grief. He had spent the last year in a lonely, private purgatory, following the death of his beloved, Merrin Williams, who was raped and murdered under inexplicable circumstances. A mental breakdown would have been the most natural thing in the world. But there was nothing natural about the horns, which were all too real...

I liked this story so much that I had it read in just a few days. I found the tale to be fresh and imaginative. The most memorable parts were how everyone just began to confess themselves to him while in his presence. Those were some of the best bits. The novel was very well written and kept my attention throughout. Do yourself a favor and don’t worry who his father is (Stephen King). It’s better if you don’t let that get in the way of a wholly engrossing read. Never once did I dwell on that fact. Mr. Hill is his own man, looks to be an incredible talent and I very much look forward to seeing what else he has up his considerable sleeve.

Lastly, I would just like to share some reviews that my latest has been getting. If you feel swayed, I’d love it if you’d pick up a copy, or perhaps add it to your Goodreads shelf.

“An interesting and complex story, filled with romance, suspense, horror and downright humour. Worth a read if you like a mix of genre.” - Karen Mead

“I loved this story, staying up to read it… The ending even brought a tear to my eye. I highly recommend this for your summer reading.” - Lisa McCourt Hollar

“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.” - Claire Rees

“Seeing Ghosts is eerie and haunting…will keep you riveted, scare the bejeezus out of you, and make you cry.” - Samantha Martin

“This is a fantastic book, and most definitely a must read! I loved how the author incorporated religion, God, and ghosts; all in a highly tasteful manner. I respected how he wrote in Anne and her son, and the ending almost made me cry. I loved the twists and turns inside this book, a few I saw coming, but for the most part it was a complete surprise. I loved the author's writing style, it's so smooth. I guess I just love everything about this book! Trust me, if you are at all interested in the paranormal genre, you must read this!” - Elizabeth Marie

We’ll talk soon. 

Seeing Ghosts Book Tour

Hello, Strangers! *laughs*

I know, I know. I’m sorry I have been mostly absent without leave these days. However, I promise you I have had every reason for it. Part of it has been me trying to turn over a new leaf these days in order to spend more time with my wife and kids. 11 to 12 hour day jobs and being an indie writer pretty much rob them of any time with me. The other part of that, which I’m afraid will continue to be the trend for the next month, is I have been gearing up for a blog book tour. I will be visiting 29 sites during the month which looks to keep me extremely busy. Many thanks to the great Roxanne Rhoads and Bewitching Book Tours for doing all the coordinating.

Here’s the lineup:

   

July 1 Urban Fantasy Investigations

http://urbanfantasyinvestigations.blogspot.com/

 July 2 Vanessa Morgan

http://vanessa-morgan.blogspot.com

 July 2 romancewithflavor.com

July 3 Faerie Tale Books

www.faerietalebooks.org

July 5 http://lauriethoughts-reviews.blogspot.com/

July 9 Reader Girls 

http://www.readergirlsblog.com

July 9 My Book Addiction 

http://mybookaddiction.com

July 10 Elfie Books

http://elfie-books.blogspot.co.uk

July 11 Butterfly-o-Meter Books

http://butterflyometerbooks.blogspot.com/

July 12 Paranormal Book club 

www.paranormal-bookclub.com

July 12 Mythical Books

http://www.mythicalbooks.blogspot.ro/

July 15 JeanzBookReadNReview   

http://jeanzbookreadnreview.blogspot.co.uk/

July 16 Seraphine Muse  

http://kasonndraleigh.blogspot.com

July 16 A Chick Reading   

http://achickreading.blogspot.com

July 17 Escape Into A Book

Eatsleepread88.blogspot.com

July 17 Cabin Goddess. 

cabingoddess.com

July 18 Musings and Ramblings  

 http://judy-ree.blogspot.com

July 18 Shut Up & Read 

http://shutupandreadgroup.blogspot.com/

July 19 www.christina-mcknight.blogspot.com

July 22 http://paranormalromancefanforlife.blogspot.com/

July 23 Mom with A Kindle

http://momwithakindle.blogspot.com/

July 23 The Next Chapter

http://costhenextchapter.blogspot.com

July 24 So Much To Write So Little Time 

http://somuchtowritesolittletime.com

July 25 http://spicedlatte.blogspot.com/

July 26 Krystal's Enchanting Reads ... 

http://enchantingreads7.blogspot.com/

July 29 Pembroke Sinclair.  

pembrokesinclair.blogspot.com.

July 30 Gimme the Scoop Reviews

http://gimmethescoopreviews.blogspot.com/

July 31 Cover Reveals 

http://CoverReveals.blogspot.com

July 31 Brooke Blogs

http://www.brookeblogs.com

Over the course of this tour there are reviews, spotlights, interviews and guest posts. I will be giving away copies of my latest e-book for those of you who have yet to bite on it. There really should be something of interest for everyone along this tour route. I hope to see you there. And when the tour is over, I promise you will be seeing me prowling about your sites once again.

So, come by and see me, won’t you?

We’ll talk soon.

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.