J Lloyd Morgan's Blog

Review of Trouble Blows West by Monique Bucheger

2013-06-17T06:47:00.001-07:00

I thoroughly enjoyed the first Ginnie West adventure, “The Secret Sisters Club” and so I was looking forward to the second book of the series, “Trouble Blows West.” It didn’t disappoint.

I’ll openly admit I’m not exactly the target audience for this series, which is middle grade, especially girls. I kept the audience in mind when I read the book and found that Bucheger has a remarkable ability to write in a way that connects with her readers. The chapters are short, and there are a lot of them. The wording is to the point, yet vivid. These are all elements that middle grade readers are drawn to.

And speaking of drawing, the new covers are really nice. They do justice to the feel of the book.

As for the story, like Anne of “Anne of Green Gables,” Ginnie is a character you can’t help but love. She’s feisty and sometimes does things without thinking them through—but there is an honesty in her actions. She’s the type of main character you like to cheer for.
This book deals a lot with the subject of bullying, an important topic indeed, and Bucheger gives some great insight on it—but it’s done so in a non-preachy way.

I highly recommend this book to middle grade girls, and their parents to read. I think even reading the book together will give people a chance not only to enjoy the book together, but open a dialogue about bullying and what people can do to stop it.

In addition, author Monique Bucheger is holding this wonderful promotion for not only her works, but several other authors. Check out this information below!

MONDAY:
June 17: The Fictorian Era: Spotlight
June 17: Roseanne's Spot: Review of The Secret Sisters Club

June 17: J. Lloyd Morgan: Review of Trouble Blows West

TUESDAY:

June 18: Braden Bell: Spotlight

June 18: Tristi: Review of Simply West of Heaven

June 18: Tina Gower:

June 18: Mikey Brooks: Interview

WEDNESDAY:

June 19: A Hero's Journey: Spotlight

June 19: Kimberly Griffiths Little : Review of The Secret Sisters Club

June 19: Jen Greyson: Spotlight

THURSDAY: (BOOK BOMB DAY)

June 20: In Brief: Blog Post

June 20: An Author In Progress: Overview of all 3 books.

June 20: A Book A Day: Review of Simply West of Heaven

June 20: Marathon Writer: Spotlight & Interview

June 20: Angela Carlie: Spotlight

June 20: David Farland: Shoutout

FRIDAY: REDEEM the FREE and Almost free books :)

June 21: Ordinary happily Ever After: Review of Simply West of Heaven
June 21: A Writer's Ramblings: Spotlight
June 21: Pauline Toohey: Author: Interview

SATURDAY:
June 22: James Duckett: Interview
June 22: Author Andrea Pearson: Spotlight
June 22: The Clan of the Stone: Spotlight

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Camping is fun if you like to pretend you're homeless

2013-06-13T08:15:00.002-07:00

I’ve never quite understood why people love to go camping. For people who don’t know me, they may say, “Maybe it’s because you’ve never really been.” To which I respond, “I’ve camped more than you can imagine.”

One of my accomplishments I’m proud of is earning my Eagle Scout ranking. There are many things I learned in scouting that I still use today. In addition, I got to do things I never would have had the chance to do before. I learned how to cross-country ski, shoot a rifle (and even hit a target!), go whitewater rafting, and build a pinewood derby car.

I also learned I don’t like camping. It was something we did a lot—in fact we went on a camping trip once a month, every month.

I’ll admit some of them were okay. One of the better ones is where we hiked only about a mile into the mountains into this small valley that was filled with wildflowers. It was spring and so it wasn’t too cold or too hot. We played a game of “capture the flag” which was epic in scope.

And then there were other ones. One winter we hiked into the mountains, again, (I grew up next to the Rocky Mountains) and built camp in the snow. Some of the scouts made snow huts / tunnels to sleep in. I shivered the whole time we were there. I don’t think I slept at all. The fires we built were hard to keep going because we didn’t have a lot of dry wood. That, and we had to dig a pit in the snow for the fire. Once the fire would get going, it would melt the snow around the pit, causing water to go into the pit and put out the fire. Frustrating!

See how fun this looks?

The toughest camping trip was a hike into the Unita Mountains. I don’t recall how many miles it was, but it was quite the distance. We planned on being there three days. We camped next to a lake and for the first couple of days, everything was fine. There was a small island not far from the shore, and four of us boys wanted to sleep there the last night of the trip. The problem? How to get there.

We considered building a raft—but we didn’t have a way to lash fallen trees together. One of the scouts realize that the water wasn’t too deep between the shore and the island—we could walk there and the water would only be up to our waists. So, holding our backpacks over our heads, we walked to the island and made camp—thinking we were all awesome and tougher than the rest of the scouts who stayed on the shore. We started a fire and set our wet clothes out to dry and then called it a night.

Unita Mountains

I woke up to thunder that was so loud that it shook our tent. For the first time on the trip, it started to rain—and Mother Nature seemed to make up for any rain we would have missed over the last few days.

My waterproof watch told me it was a little after two o’clock in the morning. My friend, Tom, woke up as well. We noted how the rain was really coming down hard—and then realized our clothes and backpacks were outside.

We waited through the night, and the rain didn’t let up. If anything, it got worse. And we faced yet another problem: the scout troop was leaving at first dawn to go home. We couldn’t wait out the rain—we had to hope it stopped. Which it didn’t.

As soon as the sky started to brighten, we heard shouts from our leaders on the shore, telling us we needed to hurry and come back. I wasn’t sure why we had to hurry—it wasn’t like they were going to leave without us.

Once we got brave enough to look outside our tent, I understood why. The lake level had risen. In the downpour, the four of us on the island packed up our camp as quickly as we could. Our possessions were soaked, which made our packs even heavier.

My friend Tom went first to walk through the lake. The water had risen enough that instead of being at his waist, it was up to his neck. The distance wasn’t too far, but it was even harder now that the wind was blowing, causing waves to splash up while trying to hold an extremely heavy backpack over your head.

The four of us made it back to shore—exhausted. Yet, it was now time to hike back to the cars. It took us a good part of the day. I was cold. I was wet. I was tired. I was so sore, I had to force one foot in front of the other to keep moving.

When we finally arrived at the cars, I literally kissed one of them. That night, I was never so grateful for a warm, comfortable bed.

So, when my wife hints that she would like to go camping, I hope you can understand my reluctance.

Don’t take offense

2013-06-08T16:40:00.000-07:00

I’m calling people out on a phrase that is uttered far too much: “Don’t take offense, but…” What often follows is something pretty offensive. And if, as the receiver of such a comment, people get upset, the speaker of the offensive comment defends what they said by stating, “I told you not to take offense!”

I’ll openly admit I tend to use analogies to help understand the world around me. Some people are annoyed by this—though I’m not sure why. In the case noted above, an analogy would be person A telling person B, “Now, don’t get hurt by this,” and then slapping person B upside the head. When person B says, “Ow!” person A response, “I told you not to get hurt!”

I’ve been accused of being overly tactful when trying to speak to people about a concern. I even had one employee tell me, “Just tell me what’s wrong. I can take it.” I guess I tend to go with the concept of “A soft answer turneth away wrath.” (Found in The Bible, Proverbs 15:1)

For full disclosure, I have to confess that I’m guilty of sometimes not keeping my tongue in check when I get really frustrated.

My wife and I were married for nearly five years before we had our first daughter. It wasn’t that we were waiting, it’s just that for whatever reason it took us five years of trying. (We ended up with four lovely daughters, so I can’t complain.)

One day at church, an older, bald gentleman sat down by me and said, “You’ve been married a few years now, right? When are you two going to have a kid?”

Without hesitating, I responded, “When are you going to join The Hair Club For Men?”

He looked startled for a moment. “It’s none of my business, is it?”

I pointed to my nose.

He got up and walked away.

Maybe if he would have started his comment with “Don’t take offense, but…” I wouldn’t have gotten upset.

Oh, who am I kidding?

High School Comments

2013-06-06T18:13:00.001-07:00

Writing novels is an exercise in solitude. I spend a lot of time alone with my keyboard and the words on the virtual paper in front of me. I’ll admit that if I don’t pop my head up once in a while, self-doubt can begin to creep in.

Questions like, “Is this any good?” or “Does anyone really read this stuff?” or “What the heck am I doing?” are common. So, when I get an opportunity to go out to schools to talk about creative writing, I jump at the chance. And recently I jumped all the way to Virginia.

My awesome niece, Samantha (who I wouldn’t dare call as “Sammy” in a blog—no, I’d never do that!) was able to get me an invite to speak to her high school English class. While I was up there, my sister-in-law had another friend who taught English at a different high school and I was asked if I could go there the following day. Which I did, gladly.

It was a blast to talk with the students. My presentations are very interactive, and I got a lot of wonderful questions asked of me. At the end, I was given some nice thank you notes and comments from students.

One thing I love about high school students is their honesty. I thought I’d share some of these comments for others to enjoy—keeping in mind that they may have taken some of what I said differently than I intended.

And I’m totally cool with that.

Most of the notes were very polite and thanked me for coming. A few students got a bit more, well, creative.

“Thank you so much for coming and speaking to us. I had a story in mind that I wanted to write over the summer. I now have great, new ideas on how to go about it. Thanks a bunch.”

“Thank you so much for coming and talking to us about creative writing. It was very informative, but in a fun way! Good luck with your books!”

“Thank you for coming! You’re super funny.”

“Thanks! It was very inspirational, do what you want and not care what others think.”

“Dear Mr. Morgan, You are one of the few guest speakers I’ve actually ever listened to. It was fascinating.”

“Thank you for keeping us involved because in most other presentations I would fall asleep. It was also very enjoyable because of your jokes.”

“Never give up! Let other’s criticism drive you to show them they are wrong.”

“Thank you. By the way, all your books are probably banned in China.”

“The Mirror of the Soul” reviewed by Jandy Salguero

2013-06-03T03:52:00.001-07:00

I was delighted to read the following review by Jandy Salguero on my novel The Mirror of the Soul for a couple of reasons.

First, she truly enjoyed the book.

Second, since she has studied French history and cultural trends of the period, it gives the novel credibility.

She wrote: “I had no clue what The Mirror of the Soul would be about, but the setting of France near the hundred years war caught my attention (I have a BA in French and have studied lots of French history and cultural trends of that period). The themes and beliefs of the characters are indicative of a time when the masses were kept uneducated in many ways.

The writing seamlessly pushed me from one chapter to the next, with the tension building as I went. In the end, it was a beautiful story of love, hope, and renewal that made me fall in love with the simple faith of the protagonists and cheer for their success.

This book is appropriate for young adults. I look forward to reading other works by this author.”

Here is the official description of the book:

“In the Dordogne region of France after The Hundreds’ Year War, there are rumors of an object falling from the sky. Soon after, the abbot at the Abbé St. Pierre announces that he has been given a gift from God: a large diamond that glows when it is touched. The diamond divine, as it is come to be known, can cure the sick, wipe away people’s sins (past, present and future) and even grant eternal life—for a price.

The Mirror of the Soul is a story of corruption, greed and redemption based on the song of the same title by international recording artist Chris de Burgh.”

From June 3, 2013 until June 7, 2013 the Kindle version is FREE! You can download it by clicking here.

A print version is also available and can be purchased by clicking here.

I’ve Been Banned

2013-05-30T12:44:00.003-07:00

People often mistake authors as those who sit all day in front of a computer and dream up wonderful worlds and characters. I hate to say it, but it’s not quite like that. Actually, it’s not even close to that.

Most of the authors I know either A) write whenever they get a chance in between all of life’s demands or B) force themselves to write each day—even a little bit, sometimes having to postpone other activities to make sure the writing is done or C) spend time on social media sites stating they should be writing.

What’s not included in this list is the networking authors do with other authors. This is in the form of writer’s guilds and critique groups and even just emailing that author friend with a request of “Hey, will you read my book and tell me what stinks?”

But wait! There’s more! It’s called “promotion.” Seriously. Most authors don’t start writing a book with the thought of, “Oh! I can’t wait until my book is out so I can spend time and money trying to get people to buy it!” This is a sad truth: you may have written the best book ever, but if no one knows about it, they won’t buy it.

What’s one of the best ways to get word out to the most amount of people as possible? As of this moment in time, it’s social media—or using the internet.

For me, I have a blog (uh, you’re reading it right now) a website, a twitter account, and another big social networking site which I won’t mention by name. Why? Well, they sort of banned one of my books. And I’m not 100% sure why. The book in question is “The Night The Port-A-Potty Burned Down and Other Stories.”

What was the reason it was banned? Well, the only thing I was told was that it was because of “bullying.” Yeah, really. “Bullying.” For the life of me, I can’t figure out why they would think that. Well, that’s not 100% true. I posted this following photo of me with the book.

Maybe, just maybe, my T-Shirt was threatening enough to be considered bullying. Or perhaps, someone thought I was inciting violence with the title of the book. (The story that inspired the title actually condemns the person who burned down the poor, defenseless port-a-potty.)

Regardless, I’m now going to wear the badge of an author who has had his work banned. That’s almost as big of a bragging right as being an award-winning author. Hmm. Maybe I should put that on my bio: “J. Lloyd Morgan is an award-winning, banned author…”

Copy cat?

2013-05-27T09:58:00.000-07:00

I was listening to Pandora internet radio the other day and a song started to play that I thought I recognized, but I wasn’t sure. The music was familiar, but different than I remembered. Once the song played a bit more, it was not the song I thought it had been, but I couldn’t recall what song it reminded me of.

For a couple of days this bounced around my head until I figured it out. I found both songs on YouTube and played them. Yup. I was right. They were similar.

That got me thinking of other songs I’ve heard or heard of that either copied another song (intentionally or not). Some of these songs were subjects of lawsuits, which I won’t get into.

However, check these out for yourself. I created these so the original song plays AFTER the one that was “inspired” by it.

I’ll start with the songs that got me thinking about this in the first place:

Must See Movies--From A Certain Point Of View

2013-05-23T13:19:00.000-07:00

I read a recent article on SyFy’s “Blastr” page (yes, the “e” is left out of the word on purpose) about 14 upcoming movies. The list said that 10 of them are a “must see” while 4 of them you should “avoid.”

SyFy is owned by NBCUniversal, who also owns Universal Pictures.

For giggles, I decided to see which pictures were recommended and what company produced them.

Here is the list:

(Avoid) After Earth Sony Pictures / Columbia Pictures

(Must See) Man of Steel Warner Brothers

(Avoid) World War Z Paramount Pictures

(Avoid) The Lone Ranger Walt Disney Pictures

(Must See) Pacific Rim Warner Brothers

(Must See) The Wolverine 20^th Century Fox

(Avoid) 300: Rise of an Empire Warner Brothers

(Must See) Elysium Tri Star Pictures

(Must See) Kick A** 2 Universal Pictures

(Must See) Riddick Universal Pictures

(Must See) Ender’s Game Lionsgate Films

(Must See) Thor: The Dark World Walt Disney Pictures

(Must See) The Hunger Games: Catching Fire Lionsgate Films

(Must See) The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug Warner Brothers

I wish I could say that I was surprise that both of the pictures on the list from Universal Pictures were on the “Must See” list, but I’m not.

Man, I’m getting jaded in my old age.

I’m not stealing ideas, really!

2013-05-19T19:26:00.000-07:00

As a novelist, I sometimes worry that I’m subconsciously “borrowing” characters, settings, and / or plotlines from other writers. After all, how many original ideas are there? I honestly try to create new things, but I’m sure if someone did a close analysis, they could point out how I’d been influenced by previous works.

Then came the summer of 2013.

I like to watch movies, so when it came time to pick out the movies I’d spend my time watching I smiled when I realized something: many of the big summer releases were based on books, plays, TV shows, toys or comics from years gone by.

Here are some, starting from the most recent creations and going back in time:

My Little Pony: Equestria Girls

Based off of toys first created in 1983

The Wolverine

Based off of the comic book character created in 1974

Star Trek: Into Darkness

Based off of the TV show created in 1966

Iron Man 3

Based off the comic book character created in 1963

The Smurfs 2

Based off the characters created in 1958

Man of Steel

Based off the comic book character Superman who first appears in comics in 1938

Lone Ranger

Based off of the radio program that first aired in 1933

The Great Gatsby

Based on the book published in 1925 (5th time this book has been made into a movie!)

Last but not least:

Much Ado About Nothing

Based on a play from 1623

Well, if Hollywood can outright remake other people’s stories, I shouldn’t worry if some of my work is influenced in some way, shape or form things I’ve read or seen.

People DO judge a book by its cover

2013-05-15T14:33:00.000-07:00

One thing I heard time and again from people at a recent writer’s conference was how much they loved the covers of the new editions of my books. That was nice to hear, especially since I had more of a say than ever before with their design. I looked around for an illustrator and tried to find one whose style matched what I had in mind.

I came across Roland Ali Pantin and noted that his previous work matched the look I wanted. I gave him some ideas and he came back with a few options.

For the sake of curiosity, I decided to post some of the rough draft covers of The Waxing Moon and The Zealous Star. This was the first suggestion from Roland.

It was a good try. Really. I didn’t like the blood on the sword, the plate helm, or the full moon in the sky—after all, the name of the book is The Waxing Moon. He gave it another try:

This was better with the waxing moon in the corner, but the guy on the cover wasn’t how I pictured the main character. I send Ronald some picture ideas for how I imagined the lead character and we agreed on this one:

Next, for The Zealous Star, the lead character, Diantha was to be the focus. Roland came up with this basic idea:

I thought the woman looked a bit cartoonish, and nowhere in the book is there a wolf with red eyes. Still, it was a good first attempt. I wanted more of a red motif, and gave more detailed points about the redheaded Diantha. This was the second try:

It was pretty darn close, but I asked him to lose the mask, change the moon in the sky to a starry field, because you know, the title is The Zealous Star, and wanted her shoulder covered up so it matched her outfit in the story better. This gave us the final cover:

Lastly, on April Fool’s Day, I posted this fake cover and I fear that some people actually thought I was being serious.

What’s Your Priority (Boarding)?

2013-05-13T10:22:00.000-07:00

It’s all about priorities, isn't it? There are so many things vying for our attention right now, we have to be choosy how we spend our time.

Some things are a given: we need to eat and sleep.

Some things are more pressing that others: pick up the kids from school or take a nap.

And then there are priorities where we need to make a decision on which is more important: do we do the laundry or go buy groceries?

I just returned from a writer’s conference which was so far away, I had to take an airplane to get there and back. I observed something rather interesting in the process: priority boarding.

When I checked in for my flight, I was able to do so from my home computer. There was an option to upgrade my “flying experience.” I was curious, so I checked it out. For an extra 50 bucks, I could hang out in the Delta Sky Lounge (or something like that). That didn’t appeal to me at all, maybe because I’d never been in one so I wasn’t willing to spend $50 to find out what it was like.

The second upgrade option? For an extra $10 I could bump up my priority boarding. I’ll admit: I don’t understand this at all.

And here’s why: I’m taller than average at 6’3”. Even if I was of average size, I’m not convinced I’d find the seats on the plane more comfortable than the seats in the waiting area. Why would I want to pay extra to move from a fairly comfortable waiting area to a cramped airplane seat sooner than I have to?

Now, I can understand there may be some exceptions. Some carriers don’t have assigned seats. I’ve never flown on one of those. Also, some people are very particular about where they store their carry-on luggage, so they want to get on first—but is where you store your carry-on so important that you are willing to sit on an airplane up to 30 minutes longer than you have to?

For this last trip, I waited until the final boarding call before I got on. As I sat with my legs stretched out, I watched as people stood in line for up to 20 minutes, often jockeying for position so they could get on the plane just that much sooner. It baffled me.

Maybe next time I go to the dentist to have work done, I’ll see if I can pay them extra to have them slow down—you know, really take their time as they drill into my teeth. Dentists should jump at the idea because heck, it’s working for the airlines.

Just Sing

2013-05-07T20:26:00.003-07:00

Have you ever met someone that just knocks your socks off with their personality? That recently happened to me, and from someone I’d least expect. On a trip to Utah for a writer’s conference, I had a day open to spend with my mom. One thing we did was to visit my Great Aunt Mildred. She’s my dad’s mom’s brother’s wife. Yeah, it took me a moment to figure that out too.

When my mom first told me it would be wonderful to visit her, I acquiesced, mostly because it seemed like something my mom really wanted to do. Please don’t think ill of me when I admit I didn’t think that visiting a fairly distant relative I’d never met before was the most entertaining of choices.

Oh, and did I mention that she’s 95?

We took the 30 minute drive to her house, and I quizzed my mom about how she got to know Great Aunt Mildred. The story goes that my dad introduced my mom when they first started dating, and they hit it off.

Within a few minutes of talking to this wonderful lady, I understood why. I kid you not when I say I would have never guessed she was 95. She was as sharp as a tack and had a heck of a sense of humor. She had the cutest dog named Penny, and it was clear they kept each other company.

Mostly I listened as my mom and my great aunt swapped stories. At one point in time, Mildred told us of how she had a friend who was younger than her and always complaining about getting old. Her friend was a spry 91. What she said next blew me away.

“Do you know what I tell my friend to do each morning?” my Great Aunt Mildred asked. “I tell her to get up and sing. Just sing. It doesn’t matter if you don’t know the words—make them up. It doesn’t matter if you think your voice is bad—just sing.”

If that’s the key to living to be 95 and as amazing as my Great Aunt Mildred, you betcha I’m going to be singing every morning. And yes, I’m not afraid to make up my own lyrics.

Awareness

2013-05-01T08:12:00.002-07:00

“Why would anyone give away something it took them years to create?” This question kept running through my head as I considered offering the kindle version of my first book The Hidden Sun for free for a short period of time.

Granted, that question doesn’t truly reflect the dilemma—after all, eBooks don’t require printing costs and Amazon handles the delivery, so it’s not like I’m giving away the only copy ever created.

There are three things that convinced me to offer the promotion:

1. Even if you have created something people will enjoy, they can’t enjoy it if they don’t know about it.

2. I’ve heard from other authors who have series the success stories they’ve had from offering the first book for free.

3. Maybe, just maybe, people will like the first book enough to buy the next two in the series.

So, how did the promotion go?

Fantastic!

Thousands of copies of The Hidden Sun were downloaded.

Even during this short period of time, people read it and posted positive reviews like:

“I have been reading some new author books lately and this was the very best one yet! Just the right mixture of characters, plot and action. A must read!”

“Really enjoyed getting to know the characters and falling into the story. Loved the picture painted as the story unfolds.”

“Really great book! Has a little bit of everything and great characters to pull you through. I couldn't put this one down! Highly recommended this one!”

And yes, I even sold a number of copies of my other books.

Alas, The Hidden Sun is no longer free. That’s right. You’ll have to spend a whole 99 cents if you want to download the kindle version.

How to get a free copy of The Hidden Sun

2013-04-26T08:36:00.000-07:00

Do you like free stuff? Do you like to read? Well, you are reading a free blog, so I think you already qualify! From April 26th until April 30th, 2013, The Hidden Sun (the first book in the Bariwon Chronicles) is free to download to Kindles and Kindle applications.

Wait! You don’t have a kindle? Well, if you have a smartphone, you can download the Kindle App for free! No foolin’! Wait! You don’t have a smartphone? Well, you have a computer or you wouldn’t be reading this. Did you know you can download the Kindle program for FREE on your computer? True story! You can do it by clicking on this link.

I’m offering The Hidden Sun for free as part of a totally awesome promotion hosted by Andrea Pearson. Full details about the other books that are free or discounted can be found here.

Why am I offering The Hidden Sun for free? For a couple of reasons. If you like it and enjoy it, you’ll certainly love the 2nd and 3rd books in the series. The second edition of The Waxing Moon was just released!

In addition, the 3rd book, The Zealous Star, just came out. Seriously! So, the complete trilogy has been released. If you like to read a series back-to-back-to-back, this would be a great time to start.

Lastly, if you like the books, mine or other people’s, do them a little favor in return and post a nice review on Amazon and Goodreads. It doesn’t take much time, but it makes a world of difference for an author.

April 25th is Spam Day

2013-04-25T16:32:00.001-07:00

Before I got married, I hung out with some great guys. We had lots of fun crashing dances, playing racquetball until we were so tired we couldn’t move, and being overall silly. We found lots of things funny—one of them was Spam. I’m not talking about unwanted emails. This was way before those were even invented.

No, I’m talking about the mystery meat found in a blue can with gold letters (which happened to be my high school’s colors now that I think about it—coincidence?)

While going to college, I was invited to a picnic with a bunch of other people my age. It was one of those where we would bring something to share, and provide our own meat that would then be barbequed at the picnic site. Lots of the manly men brought big T-bone steaks and the like. I brought a can of spam. And it was the hit of the party.

Later, when I started dating my then yet-to-be wife, I declared one day there were three things she must do in this lifetime:

1. Date me.
2. Watch “Star Wars” (She’d never seen it.)
3. Eat Spam.

So, on April 25, 1991, I cooked her up some Spam. She was too polite to say what she really thought of it. However, it must not have been too bad, because every April 25th, we eat Spam.

In fact, as I write this, I can smell it cooking in the other room…

Change my name?

2013-04-20T19:38:00.000-07:00

There’s a commercial playing on the radio right now where a woman’s voice says, (and I’m paraphrasing so I don’t get sued), “I just got engaged! I’m so happy! I wonder if I should change my name?”

I’m sure if I did massive amounts of research, I could list the social reasons some women in some cultures change their last names to match their husband’s, but that wouldn’t be my point of this blog.

I, personally, am a huge fan of marriage. I’ve known people who have had marriages end in less than pleasant experiences. It breaks my heart. After all, when you get married to someone, there is a huge amount of trust required. If a marriage ends, for any number of reasons, I’m sure there is a pretty powerful feeling of betrayal.

It may be oversimplifying things when I state that in order for a marriage to work, both people involved have to be 100% committed. That means a lot of compromise. Sometimes people see some of the compromises as surrendering their freedom, or giving up things they don’t want to part with. I get that. But I also think that what is gained from a successful marriage significantly outweighs any perceived losses.

As I stated before, it takes two people to make it work. I’ve seen friends that try and try and try to keep a marriage alive, but the other person, by either action or inaction, make that impossible.

When I worked in banking, I often helped couples who had just gotten married with their accounts. On many occasions, the couple stated they wanted three checking accounts: a joint one, and personal ones for their use only—you know, to keep the money they earned away from their new spouse. I would have to bite my tongue because I didn’t (and don’t) agree with that thinking.

Sometimes marriage is called “becoming one” or you’ll hear a person refer to their spouse as “their better half.” That’s important. Successful marriages are when two people work hard toward a common goal. I’m not suggesting that they have to agree on everything, or even like every little thing the other person does.

I’m sure there are those that will disagree with me, but I think a woman should change her last name when she gets married. Sharing the same last name is a symbolic gesture—that the couple is in this together. It helps with the mindset of “Okay, I’m willing to give up part of me to be committed to the marriage.”

Now, the name change may seem sexist, but I think a husband should actually give up at least as much as their wife, and probably more. He needs to be open with his feelings. He needs to let her have complete access to all the finances—made by both people. He needs to be willing to give up a chance to watch a ballgame to instead spend time with his wife. He needs to find out what is important to her and do all he can to make sure she’s happy—just as she does all she can to make him happy. To be clear, these sacrifices and compromises are only of value when they help the couple grow together.

I read a book where a husband and wife got married. She didn’t change her last name. They had triplets. They gave two of their kids his last name, and one of the triplets her last name. He agreed to do this to “make her happy.” But, in my opinion, it’s only going to cause a division—not only that, but a lot of confusion for the children later on in their lives. So, was that a compromise truly meant to bring the family closer together?

Why should you listen to anything I’ve written here? Well, I’ve had some experience in this field. I’ve been married for over 21 years. It’s not always been easy, and there were certainly growing pains, but it’s been worth it.

Big Announcement!

2013-04-18T07:44:00.001-07:00

I am delighted to announce that the final book of the Bariwon Chronicles has been released! It’s titled The Zealous Star.

But wait, there’s more!

In conjunction with the release of the 3rd book in the series, new editions of The Hidden Sun and The Waxing Moon are being released as well! The books will be available right away from Amazon.com in both Kindle and print versions.

The newest editions of The Hidden Sun and The Waxing Moon include extras like insights into many of the various secrets hidden within their pages, as well as a side by side comparison of the final draft compared to one of the first drafts of the book.

The print version of The Zealous Star has these same features including some deleted scenes.

For all the information, including how to order, click on this link.

Here are the new covers!

A faraway kingdom.

A beautiful princess.

A courageous hero.

A ruthless villain.

An impossible choice.

The kingdom of Bariwon is at a crossroads. A new leader threatens to take control of the throne which could throw the land into chaos. The Hidden Sun is an epic tale of courage, heartbreak, battles and redemption.

A faraway kingdom.

A brave warrior.

An unexpected danger.

An ancient secret.

A desperate plan.

Fear is running rampant in Bariwon. The people of a small village near the northern mountains have vanished. Newly commissioned royal guardian Snapdragon is sent with a scouting party to investigate. His responsibility is to protect the non-soldiers, including Seraphina, a stunning young nursemaid. When the party arrives, they make a shocking discovery. During the chaos that follows, Snapdragon discovers his feelings toward Seraphina are more than protective. Soon, he is forced to make difficult choices that will impact the future of everyone in Bariwon.

A faraway kingdom.

A beautiful warrior.

A relentless enemy.

A deadly threat.

An epic conclusion.

The kingdom of Bariwon is under attack. It is the greatest threat to the kingdom in a dozen generations. The best warrior in Bariwon isn’t allowed to defend her kingdom—because she’s a woman. When she decides to take matters in her own hands, her actions could either save the kingdom she loves … or destroy it.

When core beliefs conflict mandates

2013-04-15T14:05:00.002-07:00

I believe everyone has a core belief system—inner rules they follow that guide their actions. This core belief system can be formed on personal experiences, ideas and philosophies taught to us by others, and even what I believe is basic human nature. While people can point out exceptions, I dare say most people feel it is wrong to walk up to a complete stranger and kill them for no reason aside that they could.

I’ll admit that many of my core beliefs come from my religious affiliation. One that I feel most strongly about is that everyone has a right to choose their actions, but they are also ultimately responsible for these same actions.

It’s taken time and distance to realize something I really struggled with while working in banking. One of the companies I worked for micromanaged its employees to death. Examples? As managers and supervisors, we would do observations on our tellers to make sure they did everything they were supposed to do including using the customer’s name at least three times, greeting them with a warm smile (not a fake one—who determines that?), making sure that none of the tellers were sitting while a customer was being helped, even if they weren’t the one helping the customer (there was even talk of removing all the chairs), making sure every customer was offered a financial review or a new product, and ensuring the hoop earrings worn by females were no more than 1” in diameter—I even had a regional manager who carried a ruler with her to measure when she did surprise inspections. All of this is true.

And then came the other side. The company would set “goals” for us each month—which of course was a wrong use of the word. It wasn’t a goal as much as an expectation. These goals consisted of number of checking accounts opened, loan amounts, and even customer satisfaction reports. Where did these “goals” come from? From suits in a boardroom who based it on the previous year’s performance, plus a certain percentage increase.

One co-worker of mine got transferred to a branch that had been short staffed for a long time and had terrible numbers. He got it running and blew his goals out of the water—compared to percentage increase over the goal. The problem? When you have a goal of 2, and you get 6, that’s a huge percentage increase. For my branch, if I had a goal of 100, and I got 110, or 4 more than my friend, my percentage increase was much smaller—and therefore he became a superstar, for a little while.

Because he’d done so well, they gave him a bigger, more prestigious branch. After his first full month there, he didn’t make his goals. The result? He was put on warning.

Anyone that works for big business can share similar stories, much to my dismay. But how does this relate to core beliefs? Consider this: if you believe that you have a right to choose, and are responsible for the things you can control, yet you work in an environment where you are not allowed to choose because of the level of micromanaging, and often you are responsible for things completely out of your control, something’s got to give.

Review of "The Mirror of the Soul"

2013-04-10T12:28:00.001-07:00

This review was posted by author Tamara Ward recently:

"J. Lloyd Morgan writes a story that transcends the written page. In Mirror of the Soul, expect to find a great story, wonderfully complex characters, heart-palpitating conflict with twists in the plot that will completely shock you, and a spine-tingling ending that also will make you pause and consider how the message of the book relates to your own life. And speaking about that, the book’s message, sometimes you read a book with a message and it comes off as clunky or preachy – staged. Not so with Mirror of the Soul. Morgan is an expert storyteller and the message of his story never gets in the way of the story.

Beautiful. Masterful."

Meat Pie

2013-04-02T09:30:00.000-07:00

I just completed a “Seminar in Fiction” class for my Master’s degree. During the class, we were assigned to write several very short stories based on our choice of prompts. At one point during the class, my professor noted how my stories were “sweet” and “feel good” and wanted me to write something out of my comfort zone. This short story, “Meat Pie,” was my response.

Meat pie

“What’s the difference between a butcher and a doctor?” my boss asked me for the hundredth time.

Fighting off a sigh, I responded, “I don’t know, what?”

“A butcher can grind up his mistakes!”

I gave an obligated chuckle and went back to my work. It was my turn to grind the hamburger. My boss brought over another bin full of steaks that had been on display too long and were turning brown. I pushed the meat into the grinder’s hole. Using something that looked like a small baseball bat, I shoved the various pieces into the corkscrew innards of the machine. What came out the other end was hamburger.

Dad cranked the handle on the small meat grinder, driving more of the meat inside to be forced through little holes. He was making something he called “meat pie” which I thought was weird. Pies usually had fruit filling.

“Ah, son,” he said when he noticed me, “you don’t want to watch this. Go upstairs and play.”

I hadn’t thought of that moment in years. Why had I remembered it now? Probably just a random connection my mind made because of the similar events. Before getting the job in the meat department, my only experience with grinding was when my dad ground up meat at home. At the butcher shop, we used meat from cows, not pigs, which made me wonder why it wasn’t called beefburger instead.

The meat pie was served like a normal pie. It was a triangle shaped piece cut from the round baked pie. Instead of whipped cream, my dad covered it with brown gravy. I was hesitant to try it—he’d often made meals from his latest kills. I liked venison, but didn’t care for pheasant. The taste of the pie was different than what I expected, but it wasn’t bad.

My boss swore.

I looked up from the grinder. He was standing at one of the tables we used to hand cut steaks. “What’s the matter?” I asked.

“I just ruined this filet. Slip of the hand.”

He was getting older. His arms, especially his forearms, were thick. But his hands had a slight tremble to them. I’d noticed over the last couple of months he made more and more mistakes when cutting.

Swearing again, he brought the ruined cut of meat over to me and tossed it into the grinder. “Shame,” he said, “that was a beautiful piece.”

My responsibility before going to bed was to make sure all the doors were locked, the thermostat was turned down and there was food in the dog’s bowl. I went through the routine, but stopped when I went to fill Lucky’s bowl. It was still full.

“Lucky!” I called out. There was no response. Usually he came running when I called him. Come to think of it, I’d not seen him all day. I checked the backyard, but he wasn’t there. I called out his name again, but instead of Lucky answering, my dad did. He told me to come downstairs.

“Yes, Dad?” I asked.

My father was sitting in his den, a room filled with pictures of him hunting. On one of the walls was the head of a deer he’d killed and had mounted. He was sharpening one of his skinning knives.

“Son,” he said without looking up, “I made a mistake when I backed up my truck today.”

Pandora’s Box, indeed

2013-03-26T13:00:00.000-07:00

This blog may sound like an advertisement for the online radio website called “Pandora.” It really isn’t. They aren’t paying me a dime, but I wouldn’t mind if they did! However, it is a blog about musical preferences and why people like what they like.

If you’ve not heard of Pandora online radio, I’m actually surprised. It’s becoming more well known, and I’ve even seen car commercials that state one of the features on the vehicle is Pandora.

What makes Pandora unique is that it is a mixture of radio and your own personal playlist. When you get started, you type in the name of a musical group or song or genre. Pandora randomly picks a song based on what you chose.

And now for the fun part: you, the user, can give it a thumbs up or thumbs down. If you give it a thumbs up, the song will go onto a list that Pandora will play again for you at some point in time. Thumbs down? It won’t play that song again. Pandora will then select a song for you similar to the one you liked, based on something like 400 different attributes. The more songs you like or dislike, the more Pandora narrows down your musical taste.

Pretty cool, huh?

I’ve been listening to Pandora for years. It started in July, 2005, so it’s not all that new. I’ve been introduced to songs and artists I’d never heard of, but end up liking. Even more strange is that there are songs from certain artists that I love, and some songs from the same artists that I can’t stand. Can I explain it? Not really. It’s just that I connect with some songs more than others.

Most of my playlist is from the 80’s, though I have songs from the 70’s, 90’s, and heck, some from the 60’s. I’m sure if a human were to analyze my likes and dislikes, they would scratch their head. I’m sure some of the songs I’ve liked share the exact same attributes as some I’ve given a thumbs down to.

I’m actually a bit afraid to analyze deeper into why I like what I like. How does my taste in music relate to my other personality characteristics? Is there some sort of trauma from my life that makes me hate certain songs? If I define what features in music I’m drawn to, will I feel obligated to like music with the same features?

Pandora’s box, indeed.

The Mirror of the Soul

2013-03-21T13:25:00.000-07:00

There have been a few moments in my life where I have literally stopped all activity and said, “Whoa!” (As in extreme awe.)

One of those moments was the first time I heard the song The Mirror of the Soul by Chris de Burgh. Yes, I’ve been a huge fan of his for many years, but time and again, some of his songs will transcend above the rest and make a deep personal connection.

I was working for corporate America when The Mirror of the Soul was released. The underlying message of the song resonated with me.

Back then, I directed political programs often and I came to know several of the politicians pretty well. I recall one time the Governor of Connecticut calling me by my first name when she came for one of her visits—it was almost surreal.

While there are some really good people who are honestly trying to make a positive change by becoming politicians, I’ll have to admit I met my fair share of them who were power hungry. Often their bluster and stubbornness on some issues where like little children throwing a tantrum because they didn’t get their way. It jaded me when it came to faith in many of our leaders.

In addition, I worked for a company where nothing was ever good enough. Everything I did was questioned, though our results were outstanding. It was always a matter of more, more, MORE! And of these people who strove for power, they were some of the most unhappy people I’d ever met.

The final lyrics from The Mirror of the Soul are: “All through the world, there are many others who always follow everything they are told by men with rules and regulations, using old superstitions and tales to assume control; But all their dreams of glory, all their schemes and stories, will come to nothing after all. Because a power greater from the world’s creator gave us love to light the mirror of the soul; Only love can light the mirror of the soul.” These words gave me hope.

And now, one of my dreams is coming true as my novel based on this wonderful song is set to be released in April. I only hope I can touch at least one person with my story the way Chris touch me with his.

Interview on "The Good Word"

2013-03-09T06:29:00.002-08:00

I had the wonderful experience of being interviewed on “The Good Word” radio podcast.

The interviewer, Nick Galieti, asked some fascinating questions.

During the interview, I talk about my anthology The Night the Port-A-Potty Burned Down and Other Stories as well as discussed my next book, The Mirror of the Soul.

In conjunction with this interview, I’m giving away two signed copies of The Night the Port-A-Potty Burned Down and Other Stories.

Here is how you can win:

Email me at author (at) jlloydmorgan (dot) com with the answer to the following question: What is my favorite baseball team? (The answer is given during the interview.)

I’ll randomly select a winner on March 23rd. You can listen to the podcast by clicking here.

Working off the clock

2013-03-02T08:18:00.002-08:00

“Why aren’t you getting this?” would be a question I’d sometimes think, but not say out loud when training newer TV directors. At times, I’d get frustrated with those would kept making the same mistakes over and over. And then I realized something one day: I was measuring the employee based on what I expected of myself. Looking at the situation objectively, the newer directors were actually doing quite well. And it was unfair for me to judge them based on an unrealistic standard.

Granted, I was the Operations Manager and (this won’t sound very humble, I fear, but alas. . .) a darn good TV director. I’d been told by others I had a talent—a gift even. Before I left TV, the directors I worked with were very good—significantly better than most of the directors I’d worked with over the years.

When I left TV (in order to be able to keep commitments to my family) and started working in banking, I faced this same attitude from the other direction. However, my managers and leaders weren’t more skilled, per se, as much as completely “devoted” to their job. (Meaning that they had very little in the way of a life outside of work.) I’d learned that a work / life balance is not only important, but necessary.

Often it is the people who live for work that get promoted. In turn, they fall into the trap as I did as an Operations Manager—they expect everyone to be like them. The irony is that the average worker is often better at their job because they have balance; it lets them be more productive while they are working.

One way these out-of-balance managers manifest their addicted to work behavior is to ask / force their hourly employees to work off the clock. I saw this first hand when I worked at Albertson’s while in college. It happened at Cablevision when I worked there. (I never asked my employees to do that.) I’ve read stories about lawsuits against WalMart for the same practice. In each case, the company was sued, and lost.

I recall a time when I was on a conference call while working at a bank. Our leader asked us managers what we were doing to have our employees hit their sales goals. One manager said she told her employees they had to wear their name badges when they went to lunch and hand out at least three business cards. The leader praised her for the idea and said he wanted all of us to do the same. He even wanted us to track how many business card each employee was handing out each day during their lunch.

Unafraid to speak up when I feel something is wrong, I made it clear I thought it was a bad idea because the employees were off the clock during their lunch and we couldn’t, legally, require them to wear their name badge and hand out business cards. I got all sorts of “push back” (a term they used a lot at that job) because this was a great way for the employees to exceed their goals and make a bonus.

I didn’t budge. There are lines that shouldn’t be crossed. In the end, because I refused to do it, other managers joined with me and we stopped it from happening.

So when I read the reports from the WalMart spokespeople who state, “Only a small percentage of employees have ever been told to work off the clock. We can provide dozens of people who will testify they’ve never been told that.” My response? “Congratulations. However, telling even one person to work off the clock is one person too many.”

When it doubt, freeze it off

2013-02-23T10:33:00.000-08:00

“Dude! What happened to your nose?” A middle grade student recently asked me.

Yes, it seems that some young people that age have very little in the way of tact. One of his fellow students said, “Shh! That’s rude!” I knew exactly what he was asking about.

On the bottom, right side of my nose is a divot—a smallish crater. It’s shown here in a very unflattering picture of my nose:

(Side note: when I took this photo, I labeled it “nose pic.”)

Why does it look like someone took a scoop out of my nose? Because someone did, sort of.

A couple of years ago, I had what I thought was a zit forming on the bottom of my nose. Growing up, I had acne pretty bad, and even now that I’m 40ish something I still get them time and again. I didn’t think much of it until it wouldn’t go away. Even worse, it would scab over, the scab would fall off and it would start to bleed.

I’d never experienced anything like that before, and so I decided to have a dermatologist check it out. After looking it over, she said, “Ah, it’s a precancerous lesion.” I think it’s a safe bet that no one wants to hear a doctor say the word “cancer” in any shape, size, or form. “Don’t worry,” she said casually, “We’ll just freeze it off.”

Perhaps I’m alone in feeling this way, but I don’t relish the thought of having any part of my body frozen off, for any reason.

A moment later, she came back with what looked like a can of WD-40. “Hold still,” she told me unnecessarily. The sensation was odd. At first, it felt akin to having an ice cube placed against your skin. And then, the pain began. I felt my eyes start to water and I grabbed the side of the examination table quite tightly.

“Wow,” she said. “I think you’re the first man I’ve done this to that hasn’t cursed.”

I looked at her with my watery eyes and said, “I just didn’t do it verbally.”

She and her nurse laughed. And then she gave me the instructions, “The area will scab over and then fall off. Don’t pick at it.”

“Got it. No nose picking.” She and her nurse laughed again. I handle pain with humor.

Sure enough, the doctor was right. The scab fell off on its own. However, in its wake, it left the crater I noted earlier—something I wasn’t expecting. It’s kind of under my nose, so it’s not glaring, but still, it’s not normal. I notice it every time I look in a mirror. But it’s part of me now.

So, how did I respond to the student that pointed it out in front of the class? I told him, “You know how Pinocchio’s nose grew bigger when he told lies? Well, as it turns out, when you say rude things to teachers, part of your nose may fall off. I learned this the hard way when I was your age.”

He didn’t say another word the rest of the class.