L.B. Clark

To Run Out Of Air - first chapter preview

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 22:53:58 -0500

Chapter One

I watched as he crept toward the cellar door, quiet as a mouse, his Glock at the ready. He stood to one side of the doorway and pushed, easing the door open. Nothing happened. He slipped one hand through the opening and felt for a light switch. After scrabbling for what seemed like forever, he found it and snapped the cellar light on. A snarling, slavering mass of fur exploded from the darkness…

… just as Seth’s doorbell rang, pulling me out of my book and scaring the hell out of me. I jumped and looked around, almost surprised to find myself snuggled into the corner of one of the couches in Seth’s –our– living room.

Seth peered at me over the top of his own book. “Were you expecting someone?” he asked with a little frown.

I shook my head.

Sighing, Seth levered himself up from the sofa and padded toward the front door. The doorbell rang a second time just before he peeked through the peephole and then jerked the door open.

“What the hell?”

“Hello to you, too,” I heard a familiar voice say.

I knelt on the sofa so that I could lean over the back to look out the doorway and across the foyer to the front door. I couldn’t see much except Seth’s back and the pair of arms wound around his neck. Then he stepped aside to let our visitor in and shut the door, and I knew why the voice had sounded familiar.

I turned around and sat down again as Jenny Marshall walked into the living room.

“Hey,” I said.

“Hey? That’s all you got? Hey?”

I shrugged.

“What are you doing here?” Seth asked as he curled up on the other sofa again.

Jenny leaned against the back of the sofa and looked at me. “Since Elizabeth hasn’t returned any of my calls, or emails, or texts, I figured I better come make sure she was still breathing.”

I rolled my eyes and picked up my e-reader, determined to go back to my book.

“Chris thinks you dumped him but didn’t have the balls to say so.”

I looked back up at Jenny, ready to argue, but I didn’t get the chance. Seth beat me to it.

“Chris is giving her space, Jenny. He knows she’s dealing with a lot of shit right now.”

“Like he isn’t?”

“I didn’t say that.” Seth leaned his head back against the arm of the couch so that he was looking up at the ceiling. “I talk to him almost every day, Jen. We know what’s going on with him, and he knows what’s going on with us.” He turned his eyes on her. “But I’d be willing to bet he has no idea what you’re up to right now.”

Jenny frowned but didn’t argue. Instead she turned to me and said, “He talked to the school and made sure you’re going to get your internship credit so you can graduate. Did you know that?”

“He did?” I asked.

Seth rubbed his face with one hand. “He told me last night, but asked me not to say anything. He wanted to tell you himself. He was planning on calling you today.”

I glanced at my cell phone, lying on the end table between the two sofas, and thought about calling Chris. I knew that was probably exactly what Jenny wanted me to do, though, so I decided to at least wait until she was gone before I called him.

“Yeah, he did,” Jenny said, ignoring Seth. “And just so you know, he’s not the only one who’s feeling abandoned. Mom and Hannah miss you, too.”

There was no way in hell I was going to let her make me feel guilty about protecting myself, so instead of admitting that I missed them, too, I glared at Jenny and said, “Well. You’ve seen that I’m alive. You’ve interrupted a perfectly good afternoon, annoyed the hell out of both me and Seth, and spoiled Chris’s surprise. What else ya got planned for your impromptu trip to Lalaland?”

The air seemed to go out of Jenny’s sails then. Her shoulders sagged and she sighed. “I didn’t come here to fight,” she said. “I really did want to see for myself how you’re doing. I guess not being greeted with open arms set me on edge. That or not sleeping for the last day and a half.” She rubbed her eyes, and Seth reached up to lay a hand on her arm.

“Guest room’s all yours, if you want it,” he told her.

Jenny half turned and eyed the staircase. “It up there?”

“Yep.”

“Then one of you needs to scoot your ass over and share a couch. I’m lucky I made it this far. Those stairs would be the death of me.”

Her eyes widened as she realized what she had said and she covered her mouth with one hand.

“It’s just an expression,” I said, laying my e-reader aside.

I knew she was thinking about Robbie Quinn, who’d been a friend of mine and Jenny’s as well as one of Jenny’s exes. He’d taken a fatal header down a staircase a few weeks before during a magic-induced hallucination. My irritation with Jenny gone, I pushed myself to my feet and skirted the sofa to hug her.

“I’m okay,” she lied, her voice thick with unshed tears. But she hugged me back for a long time.

Seth closed the blinds and pulled a blanket and throw pillow out of the storage compartment in his coffee table. He tossed the pillow and blanket on one of the sofas and said, “You can nap here, if you want, or we can make sure you get upstairs okay.” He wrapped his arms around both of us. “It’d be kind of awesome to have two women in my bed. Again.”

Jenny giggled, and I grinned. I took a step back and let Seth hug her properly.

“Come on,” he said. “Nap time.”

Advice for Aspiring/New Writers

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 11:17:13 -0500

I haven’t posted a blog update in forever. There are a lot of reasons for this that I won’t go into. However, I’m back! At least for the moment. :)

Advice for Aspiring/New Writers

It seems like every time a writer is interviewed, he or she is asked, “What advice would you give to new or aspiring writers?”

There are as many different answers to this as there are writers, of course. One very popular one is “read.” Some say you need to read critically, that reading for pleasure isn’t enough. I’m not sure I agree with that. You can learn a lot just by reading voraciously without over-analyzing the books. You learn what works and what doesn’t, what believable dialogue looks like, and a host of other things without even realizing it, and you can put what you’ve learned to work for you.

My answer to the question about advice for new writers, since reading has been covered by so many others, is this: study poetry. Now, I don’t mean you should go and bury yourself in Shakespearean sonnets (though reading some of them isn’t a bad plan). There are a lot of different types of poetry, including the kind set to music that we call songs.

You can learn a lot from poetry and music just by listening to it. You don’t have to study it any more critically than you do the books you read. However, when you sit down to write, that’s when you need to do the critical analysis (of the books AND the poems or songs). Pay special attention to the rhythm and flow. These things that are so much a part of poetry and music are also essential to prose. Without them, your writing can be clunky and unpleasant to read. With them, your writing becomes more compelling and easier to read.

In the words of Terry Brooks, “If you do not hear music in your words, you have put too much thought into your writing and not enough heart.”

Audio

Sun, 18 Nov 2012 02:35:16 -0600

Culinary Experiments - Creamy Onion Soup

Tue, 13 Nov 2012 23:03:12 -0600

I made some awesome soup tonight that I’m going to share with anyone who’s interested. :) It’s my own version of a copycat version of Outback’s creamy onion “Walkabout Soup.”

Here’s the original copycat version:

Outback Steakhouse Walkabout Onion Soup

Ingredients

2 cups yellow sweet onions, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons butter

1 (15 ounce) cans chicken broth

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon fresh pepper, ground

2 chicken bouillon cubes

1/4 cup Velveeta cheese, cubes, diced ( compressed in measuring cup)

1 1/2-1 3/4 cups white sauce ( below)

cheddar cheese, shredded ( for garnish)

White Sauce

3 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups whole milk

Directions

Thick White Sauce:.

In a 1 quart sauce pan melt butter and add flour, cook on medium heat until the flour turns thick and comes away from the sides of the sauce pan.

Pour milk in flour a little at a time and stir constantly, add salt. Mixture should thicken and become like thick pudding.

Remember to stir constantly taking care not to let mixture lump, set aside off from heat until ready to use for the soup.

Soup:

In 2 quart sauce pan place 3 tablespoons butter and sliced onions.

Cook at low to medium heat stirring frequently until soft and clear but not brown.

Add chicken broth from can, chicken bouillon cubes, salt, pepper, and stir until completely heated through.

Add white sauce and Velveeta cheese. White sauce will be thick because it has been removed from the heat. Simmer on medium low heat until the cheese is melted and all ingredients are blended, stirring constantly.

Turn temperature to warm and let cook for additional 30 to 45 minutes.

Serve with a garnish of shredded cheddar cheese, and a couple of slices of warm dark Russian Bread.

Now, here’s what I did.

I sliced and sauted the onions. I made the white sauce more or less according to the above directions. I added the broth to the onions, and then realized that I didn’t have any bouillon cubes. So I grabbed the seasoning packet out of a package of roast chicken ramen and dumped half of it into the soup. I added the white sauce and some pepper, omitting the salt since I’d used ramen seasoning. Then I tossed in somewhere between 1/3 and 1/2 cup of shredded cheddar cheese in place of the Velveeta. I melted the cheese, turned down the heat, and let it cook for about 40 minutes. I didn’t garnish it. I really, really wish I’d had some of Outback’s brown bread to go with it, but it was pretty good with lightly toasted, white sandwich bread.

Ch-ch-changes!

Sun, 11 Nov 2012 18:32:55 -0600

Things have been crazy for me lately. In addition to getting book four in my Jukebox Heroes series (Storm) ready for publication (and published - yay!) and working on a Christmas-related project for a friend, I also landed an awesome job with a great company - in a new city. Very excited about all of the above. Probably won’t have a lot of blogging time for a while, though.

Storm - Chapter One

Fri, 26 Oct 2012 19:39:03 -0500

Here it is, folks - the first chapter of book four of the Jukebox Heroes series.

I have it safely tucked away behind a ‘cut’ so anyone who hasn’t caught up with the series can stay spoiler-free. Enjoy! :)

Chapter One

“We found her.”

The words startled me so much that I had to replay the voice mail from London twice before I got the whole message.

“We found her. She’s in Austin. I’m getting on a plane right now. I’m scheduled to get in around 1:30. I’ll call when I’m on the ground. I love you.”

My hands shook as I set my cell on the night stand. My legs felt watery and weak, so I sank down to sit on the edge of the bed, trying to process London’s message. I knew who the ‘her’ in question was – a four-year-old girl who might be London’s daughter. He’d been looking for her, with help from a special agent named Quinn, who we had met the year before when London’s ex-girlfriend had turned terrorist. Almost a year later, they had finally tracked down the little girl.

And she was here in Austin.

I glanced at the clock and picked up my cell again. London had called while I was in the shower getting ready to go to church for the first time in many years. There was no way I could go now, not unless I wanted to duck out early so I could make it to the airport in time to pick up London. I’d been looking for an excuse to skip it, if I were totally honest with myself. I consider myself a Christian and spiritual and all, but church had always made me feel farther away from God instead of closer to Him. I hadn’t been looking forward to the experience, but I’d sort of promised a friend. I’d only promised to go one day soon, though. Today would not be that day.

My mind turned back to London as I dried off and dressed. Even though we were in a relationship – a complicated one – we hadn’t seen each other in nearly three months. We hadn’t even spoken in more than a week. And he was on his way here, now.

I realized that I was looking for a cute outfit to wear and gave myself a mental kick. London hadn’t come to see me; he’d come looking for his daughter, if she was his daughter. It didn’t make any damned difference what I wore. I pulled on jeans, a short-sleeved sweater, socks, and boots, managing to strike a balance between cute and comfortable.

After I had gotten dressed, dried my hair, and talked myself out of putting on makeup, I checked the time again. I still had hours to kill before London’s plane landed, and I’d never been good at waiting.

I tried to read. I tried to watch TV. I even tried to go back to sleep. All I managed to do was mess up my hair and get fuzz on my sweater.

Finally, I gave in and put on makeup just so I would have something to occupy myself with for a little while. The last thing I wanted to do was think. I didn’t want to puzzle over my relationship with London or wonder what it would be like to see him again after all this time. I didn’t want to worry about what would happen if London found out this girl wasn’t actually his daughter – or what would happen if she was. I didn’t want to consider how strange it was that I’d ended up settling in Austin only to have London’s maybe-daughter turn up here as well.

I’m not a big believer in coincidence, and I often find myself tracing paths backward from the present to see where small or large changes in decisions or circumstances could have made a drastic difference in my life. Right now, though, it wasn’t something I wanted to consider.

My stomach fluttering with anxiety and anticipation, I slipped on my favorite hoodie, grabbed my purse, and headed out into the crisp March day. Even if I ran into traffic, I’d get to the airport far too early. I decided to take the long way – the really long way – and let the combination of driving and good music clear some of the cobwebs out of my head. The tried and true combination worked wonders. By the time I reached the airport, I was feeling a little more in command of myself. Whatever happened, I knew I’d be okay.

I was pulling into the passenger pick-up area at Austin Bergstrom when my cell rang. I didn’t bother answering it. I could see London standing outside the glass doors, cell phone pressed to his ear, so I pulled over to the curb and put the car in park. For a moment, I just stared, drinking in the sight of him. His hair had gotten longer, and it had been bleached a little either by the sun or a good stylist. He was too thin, and he looked tired.

Swallowing my nervousness, I stepped out of the car and went to meet London. As I skirted around the front of my car, he turned toward me and our eyes met. A moment later, a smile lit his face, and he grabbed me up in a big bear hug. I hugged him back hard.

“I’ve missed you,” London told me.

I couldn’t say anything. I knew if I tried, I’d start crying. So I just nodded my head against his chest and let him hug me even tighter.

We couldn’t stay like that for long. There were too many people around, too many cars wanting my space. London tossed his backpack and suitcase onto the back seat, pushed the passenger seat all the way back to accommodate his long, long legs, and climbed inside as I made my way around to the driver’s seat.

I had just buckled my safety belt and was reaching to put the car into gear when London turned my face toward his. He leaned in and kissed me, a long, searching kiss that told me more than words ever could just how much he had missed me.

He eased back, smiling into my teary eyes. “You okay to drive?”

I gave him a decisive nod and turned to face forward again. A couple of deep breaths to center myself, and I maneuvered the car out into the lane and headed back toward my apartment.

“I need to call Quinn, let him know I’m here,” London said.

“Okay.”

I listened to his side of the conversation as I drove, hearing enough to learn that Quinn would be meeting London at my apartment at some point and that he was refusing to give out any information over the phone. London hung up with a frustrated growl and rubbed his eyes.

Wanting to offer what comfort I could, I reached over to lay my hand on his arm. He shifted a little, taking my hand in his, and I drew our joined hands up to press a kiss to his knuckles.

“How’s Quinn doing?” I asked.

Quinn had been shot in the line of duty the year before and had opted for early retirement from his government job. Since then, he’d been working with London, but I’d heard very little about the man outside of what he was doing to help with the investigation. I still struggled sometimes with the memory of watching Quinn take a bullet, trying to block the memory of the pain on his face and his blood on my hands. I pushed those thoughts away now and concentrated on the road.

“He had some pretty serious nerve damage. His shoulder still gives him hell at times. But he’s doing all right.”

I took my hand back long enough to execute a tricky lane change, and then asked about Brian and Dylan.

“Are they still ridiculously happy?” I asked.

“Yeah, they are.” I could hear the smile in his voice. “I’m kind of jealous, sometimes, even though I’m really happy for them.”

“Me, too,” I said, giving his hand a squeeze.

We continued to make small talk as Austin whizzed by outside our windows. It wasn’t until I took the exit toward my apartment, half an hour later, that I finally made myself broach the subject of the girl who might be his daughter.

“Tell me about her,” was all I said.

“Quinn’s still trying to track down records. We still don’t know her name or if she’s…if she’s mine.”

“Yeah,” I said.

“But Julia showed up here in Austin with her about a year ago. She left the girl with a couple that lives here, and that’s where Quinn found her. That’s really all I know.”

I thought about that for a minute. If Julia had come to Austin this time last year, then she’d been here not long before she kidnapped Dylan in an attempt to drag London into her twisted little world. I wondered if she’d come here looking for Vanessa – the former friend of Dylan’s who’d been in on the kidnapping and had later ended up in a mental hospital – or if she’d merely run into her here. I imagined them hatching their evil plans over drinks on Sixth Street.

Knowing that bitch had invaded my town made me see red. Truth be told, I kind of liked being angry at Julia, even if the evil bitch was dead. Being angry made it easier to deal with the fact that I was the one who’d put her in the ground.

We lapsed into silence as I concentrated on driving the last few blocks to my apartment. I turned into the drive, pausing to punch in my code at the gate.

“You live here?” London asked, his tone somewhere between incredulity and scorn.

“We can’t all be rock stars living in splendid excess,” I snapped as I drove through the gate.

I knew how the place looked, comprised as it was of ugly, weathered, boxy buildings. But the rent was cheap, the area was safe, and my apartment was comfortable and pest-free. It was good enough for me, and if that wasn’t good enough for London, he could kiss my ass.

“Sorry, sorry. But when you told me you’d found a great apartment, this isn’t quite what I pictured.”

“It may not look like much–”

“But it’s got it where it counts?”

I laughed then, my fit of temper falling away. “Something like that.”

I found a parking spot near my door, thankful once again that I’d found a first floor apartment, and led London inside. He paused in the doorway looking around, and I had to nudge him aside to shut the door.

“Nice,” he said. He let his backpack slide down to settle at his feet and then pulled me into his arms. “I’ve missed you so much.”

“I’ve missed you, too,” I told him. I pushed up his leather jacket and the shirt beneath it to slide my hands over the warm skin of his back.

London took a step back and leaned down to kiss me. I stretched up on my toes to meet him halfway, but the height difference between us always made kissing awkward – at least when we were both standing. We’d discovered there were plenty of better positions for kissing.

“I really want to take you to bed and show you just how much I’ve missed you,” London said even as he took a step backward, away from me. “But….”

“But Quinn could show up at any time,” I finished for him.

“Exactly.” He grabbed his luggage and crossed the tiny living room to the open bedroom door. He set the suitcase against the wall and dropped the backpack on the bed, taking a moment to look around at the bedroom the same way he had the living area. He smiled as he spotted my archaic teddy bear nestled between the pillows on the bed.

“Does Benny approve of the apartment?” he asked, scooping up the bear and holding him against his chest, facing me.

I grinned. “He does,” I said, rescuing Benny the bear. “He especially likes the part where we can afford to live here.”

London’s expression turned serious as he stroked a hand over my cheek. “Elizabeth–”

I cut him off. “If you offer me money, I’m going to scream.”

To his credit, London just closed his eyes for a moment, took a couple of deep breaths, and then gave me a shaky smile. I rewarded him by stretching up on my toes and pulling his head down to brush another kiss against his lips.

London excused himself to the loo, and I went to dig through my delivery menus. It had been a long time since breakfast, and I figured London was probably starving, too. I was standing at the bar between the kitchen and living room and flipping through the menus when I heard the jingle of keys. My front door opened, and I smiled at the man who stepped inside.

In a suit and tie, with his hair tamed, Chris could pass for your friendly neighborhood accountant. I thought of it as his Clark Kent disguise. I’d only seen him like this a handful of times, and I’d known him for months now. Chris and I had met just a couple of weeks after I’d moved to Austin, and it hadn’t taken long for us to become friends. No one could ever take the place of my evil twin, Dylan, but Chris was a close second. He and my brother, Alex, who lived nearby in San Antonio, had managed to keep me sane in Dylan’s absence. It hadn’t been an easy task.

“Hey, beautiful,” Chris said, pushing the door closed.

“Hey, yourself.”

“Mom said to tell you she missed you in church today,” he said, crossing the space between us.

“Yeah, well. Something came up.”

“Uh-huh,” he said.

Chris took my face in his hands and pressed a warm, lingering kiss to my lips. Even with London here, I couldn’t resist putting my arms around Chris and drawing out the kiss just a little. I should have known better.

“I thought you said I had nothing to worry about,” London said from somewhere behind me.

I sighed as I pulled away from Chris. I wasn’t sure what to say. I had told London months ago that I was spending a lot of time with Chris, but that we were just friends. Things had changed, and I hadn’t bothered to tell London.

“It’s not exactly something I wanted to go into over the phone,” I said.

London’s jaw clenched, along with his fists. “I can’t believe you replaced me with this asshole.”

“Replaced?” Chris replied, incredulous. “Is that what you think? God, I wish. I really do. Beth would be better off if she could let you go. Hell, we both would.”

“Beth?” It was London’s turn for disbelief. He turned to look at me. “Does he even know you at all?”

London knew I hated almost all nicknames that could be derived from my name – Liz, Liza, Libby, and even Beth. But somehow Beth sounded okay when Chris said it. I didn’t know how to explain that, so I just shrugged.

“And where do you get off saying Elizabeth would be better off without me? Just because it’d make your life easier, it doesn’t mean it would be better for her.”

Chris cracked his knuckles and crossed his arms across his broad chest. “Think what you want, but it’s the truth. I’ve known that almost as long as I’ve known Beth. I should, since I’m the one who picks up the pieces every time you break her heart. Every single time you forgot about her for days at a time, I hoped that you’d just stay away. But as soon as you needed something, needed comfort or to feel loved, you came back. And she let you. Every. Single. Time.”

“Chris–” I began, but he cut me off with a shake of my head.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea for me to be here right now,” he said. “I’ll call you later.”

He turned toward the door, and I was at his side.

“I’m sorry,” I said.

“Hey, no,” Chris said, the anger in his voice gone, replaced by something softer. He cupped my face in his hands again. “We’re good, baby. We’re great. And you have nothing to be sorry for.” He kissed me again, a long, lingering press of lips, and then headed for the door.

Opinions - Everybody Has One

Thu, 18 Oct 2012 22:47:00 -0500

Borrowing a theme from my friend and fellow author Ed McNally, I’ve decided to compile a list of one-star reviews of really awesome books. He recently compiled reviews for the books listed on Daniel S. Burt’s “The Novel 100: A Ranking of the Greatest Novels of All Time.” Ed’s list can be found here (and while you’re over at Indies Unlimited, you should look around a bit. Lots of good content over there).

The point of these posts about one-star reviews is simply to illustrate the fact that people have vastly different tastes and opinions and that one person’s opinion should not break or make a writer’s opinion of him or herself (or a reader’s opinion of a writer or book). That said, here are some real one-star reviews of books that I loved, drawn from internet resources. The reviews remain the property of the reviewer, blahblahblah.

Note: I did not set out to find reviews with poor grammar, spelling, or punctuation; there’s just a plethora of one-star reviews with such issues.

1. The Stand – Stephen King

I heartily agree with the reviewers who find this book, too long, too dull and too boring. Luckily the bookshops on Khao San Road do trade-ins. Am I the only person in the world to think that Randall Flagg is the most tiresome bad guy ever to appear in print. What is King’s obsession with this guy ? Let’s have more psycho nurses with blow-torches Mr King and less adding another 500 pages of drivel to an already drivel filled book. Riveting, is something I’d rather do than read this again.”

2. Sandman Slim – Richard Kadrey

“Gritty doesn’t mean good. And in this case it might be translated as terrible. I have a few issues with the book, and the first is the characters. Whatshisface (I forget his name and am too lazy to hit a button on my browser) is an entirely forgettable bad-ass who loves cars, violence and drinking. That’s about it. A quest for revenge doesn’t make a person compelling on it’s own, and the added qualities of being allegedly gritty as hell don’t make him any less one dimensional.

Next is the dialogue. It is written like a eight grade play buy the kid in the back of the class wearing a Slipknot shirt. Pretty bad. the guy does not talk like real people talk, and it only adds to his blandness.

Lastly, the setting wasn’t anything fun, original, or new. I know it’s splitting hairs, especially when it comes to urban fantasy, but usually you can shove something original in.”

3. Changes (Book 12 of the Dresden Files) – Jim Butcher

“This is the book that killed my enjoyment of the Dresden Files.

It continues the darkening trend seen throughout the series, but accelerates it to maddening, breakneck speeds; in the process, destroying pretty much every one of the touchstones that make up the quirky, pulpy Dresden that I cared about.

In addition, the book just doesn’t feel well written. Despite the number of “How could he DO that?!” moments, nothing in here is actually new; it’s either cliche, or worse, a specifically Dresden cliche. He’s amped up Dresden’s catchphrases “Stars and Stones!” and “Hells bells!” get quite a workout), and brings in every backup character he can think of, if only to kill them off or to ignore them. The few places where the book surprises, it doesn’t do so with cleverness, but with blunt brutality; it’s not that you never could have guessed it, it’s that you wouldn’t have assumed Jim Butcher would do something so pointlessly cruel, yet boring.

This is a horrible book in the most pure sense of the world; it evokes a feeling of horror and despair, that something that once was fun and positive to you has been turned into something almost viscerally disgusting.”

4. Soul Music – Terry Pratchett

“I was told that this was his best. Perhaps this is true, but I will not be wasting my time reading any of the others. “Cult” writers are often over-rated, yet I cannot understand why apparently intelligent people want to read this trash. Most science fantasy is terrible. Even Tolkien was much more enjoyable when I was 9. “The Silmarillion” is shockingly bad at any age. The only joke I laughed at (and not out loud) was the one about Thelonius Monk. Also, I think that Susan’s character has definite paedophile connotations, and is generally implausible. Watch some bad TV instead and save your money.”

5. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Roald Dahl

“I read this book when I was young and was disturbed by it. It is not a kid’s book. It is a book by an adult ABOUT children, not FOR children.

This book paints a very negative picture of children. With the exception of the main character, all of the children are bad and are punished in cruel ways for their faults. Are most children fundementally bad and deserving terrible punishment, at the moment they least expect it? This book suggests it (especially to a child who might be reading it and cannot understand what “social commentary” is yet). This book fits right in with the Omen and Rosemary’s Baby. It is a child-exploitation story.

I recommend this book to adults who do not like children.”

6. The Prestige – Christopher Priest

“Woe betide the person who reads this book looking for a coherent narative. I slogged through this, hoping beyone hope that the ending would make up for endless pretentious pages of diaries & nonsensical plotting and was rewarded with … nothing. A guy runs off into the night & the story ends. Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.”

7. The Time Traveller’s Wife –A udrey Niffenegger

“I let myself down, and I didn’t have to travel through time to do it. If I could go back in time, I would tap myself on the shoulder and say, “Find another book.” That’s not entirely true. I did take some things from the tale.

I was so excited to dig into the concept. I couldn’t wait to find out about this love affair which wouldn’t be tamed by time. I was even interested in the concept of being a “close” friend with one’s self. Most of the hiccups readers complain about in this book didn’t faze me.

I believe I set myself up with such a high expectation for Ms. Niffenegger’s execution, perhaps something no one could fulfill. I’ll take the blame for that one.

However, I put all of the blame on the author for delivering a betraying conclusion. I have no problem with real life over fluffy love, but don’t sell me fluffy for 97% of the book and then bait and switch me.

I was so betrayed and hurt by the ending, I carried the bitterness with me for weeks. You can ask my wife.

If you are still intrigued to read this story, let me warn you of Ms. Niffenegger’s abuse of one-liners, a cheap reference to 9/11 which had nothing to do with the plot, and ethic characters who portrayed racial stereotypes - such a weak effort.

It’s a shame a different author couldn’t have gotten a shot at this plot.”

8. The Secret Garden – Frances Hodgson Burnett

“This is without a doubt the worst book that has ever been written. I cannot even begin to describe the sappy, stupid, pointless characters and plot. Please do not ever read this book, it is absolutely awful.”

9. Anne of Green Gables – L.M. Montgomery

“In a word: Trite. I know that sounds snobby, but come on. Anne is the epitome of a Mary Sue character. Awh, poor thing, she’s too skinny, and her red hair is too unique, and she’s just so quirky! Isn’t she just the perfect little flawed heroine!? Actually, no. She’s obnoxious. Even as a child I couldn’t buy in to this garbage.”

10. A Game of Thrones – George R.R. Martin

“I read all kinds of books, and I’m in no way an expert on the fantasy genre. However, I found this book depressing on many levels. All the characters are unlikeable, except for a couple of the children. I guess I really like a good protagonist because I found myself wanting to ROOT for someone, but I just couldn’t. As the author kills of character after character, I discovered that I just didn’t care anymore.

Also, I have NEVER read a book with so much rape in it, and I really just don’t need those images in my head. At one point, a raiding tribe pillages a community and a group of soldiers are raping a woman from behind while she is bent over a pile of corpses. I should have just put the damn book down at that point, but I was determined to finish it. I wish I hadn’t. Never again George R.R. Martin. People ought to be ashamed to compare this writer to J.R.R. Tolkien. About the only thing they have in common is the R.R.”

Music Review - Comin' Around - Elvis Monroe

Wed, 12 Sep 2012 04:34:00 -0500

The members of Elvis Monroe – singer Bryan Hopkins, guitarist Ben Carey, drummer Ryan MacMillan, and bassist Matt Nelson – are no strangers to writing or recording great music. Individually, they have contributed to more albums than I care to count, many of which met with great commercial success. As a group though, the band has spent the last year pooling their talent. The initial result is a six-song EP called Comin’ Around.

I’m not a big fan of genres – I don’t like to pigeon-hole creative works – and Comin’ Around doesn’t fit neatly into any one category, anyway. Call it pop, rock, singer-songwriter, alternative, or melodic rock – whatever you call it, it’s good music.

All six of the songs on the EP are true gems, not only when compared to the noise that comprises most of radio these days but in their own right as well. It’s hard to choose a stand out, because they are all stand outs.

The opening track, Black Clouds, is a post-relationship song that manages not to wallow in despair. It’s a catchy, up-tempo song with a beat you can’t help moving to and guitar riffs that echo in your head long after the song is over. The lyrics also offer a bit of hope and perspective right from the get-go: “Somewhere there’s a light on. Somewhere there’s a meaning for all this – pain and bliss.”

The second track, Green Light, is another up-tempo tune. This one captures the thrill of that first moment when you meet someone and sparks fly but also the point where a relationship hits a roadblock and you fight to get it back on track. All this with a danceable beat.

The EP slows down a bit on the third track, Comin’ Around. This is one of the two most emotional songs on the EP. The pain of loss and the hope for better days are almost palpable. The lyrics, vocals, and music all carry the emotion, compounding the effect until it seeps into every pore of your being.

Track four, Rewind, picks up the pace again. It’s another catchy song, but it’s also much more than that. The lyrics are meaningful as well as memorable, and it’s those and the guitar that really stand out on this song. I’m not a musician, so I don’t have the proper terms for what’s going on with the guitar in this song, but I can say it’s one of my favorite bits of guitar work. Period.

Track five, Leave Me, is easily the most emotional track on the EP. The song opens with acoustic guitar, and within the five seconds, it’s set the tone for the story the lyrics tell. Add the drums and bass, and it’s enough to give you chills. Add Bryan Hopkins’s powerful, emotional vocals, and you’ll find a lump in your throat. With the lyrics thrown in, you just might find yourself with tears in your eyes or an ache in your chest. If not, you may need to get yourself to a doctor to see if you have a heart – or to a priest to see if you have a soul. The song ends without a flourish or much warning, and I find this to be a stroke of genius, an echo of the lack of closure that comes with the sudden end of a relationship.

The closing track, Beautiful End, is aptly named. It’s a beautiful song, sad but hopeful. The song’s strength is in its simplicity, its raw, stripped-down presentation. It’s the perfect song to round out a great collection of music.

Elvis Monroe, with the help of producer Jay Ruston (and, if I’m not mistaken, various co-writers), has put together an amazing debut EP that showcases both the writing and musical talents of the group’s members. It’s an excellent first offering and I can only imagine great things ahead for both the band and its fans.

What: Comin’ Around EP

Who: Elvis Monroe

When: released 9/8/2012

Where: Amazon and iTunes

http://www.amazon.com/Comin-Around/dp/B0098WYYDU/ref=sr_shvl_album_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1347436937&sr=301-1

http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/comin-around-ep/id561063783?uo=4” target=”itunes_store”>Comin’ Around - EP - Elvis Monroe

Video - Black Clouds by Elvis MonroeFor more than a year,...

Tue, 11 Sep 2012 20:40:09 -0500

Video - Black Clouds by Elvis Monroe

For more than a year, I’ve been waiting for one of my favorite bands, Elvis Monroe, to get some songs recorded and out into the universe. Today, their EP, “Comin’ Around,” hit Amazon and Spotify, and I can’t stop listening to it. Some of the songs I’ve heard before, either live or on YouTube, but hearing them mastered and blasting from my car speakers is a whole new experience. And then there is the last song on the EP, “Leave Me.” I’d never heard it before today. It’s an amazing, beautiful song - and it should come with a warning label - Caution: will rip your heart out and make you cry. And oh yeah - listening to the EP makes me want to write. It reminded me of why certain events in my series have taken place and helped me reconnect to my characters. Strange? Maybe. But I’m not going to complain about inspiration.

PS - You can check these guys out on Facebook, YouTube, or Spotify, or you can just go to Amazon and drop five and a half bucks on their EP.

Elvis Monroe on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ElvisMonroe01

Comin’ Around on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Comin-Around/dp/B0098WYYDU/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1347413754&sr=8-2&keywords=%22elvis+monroe%22

The Next Big Thing Blog Hop - Week 12

Wed, 05 Sep 2012 02:33:00 -0500

The Next Big Thing Blog Hop is the bloggers’ version of the chain letter. Or maybe a slam book. Gail Baugniet tagged Coral at Alchemy of Scrawl, who tagged Donna of Girl Who Reads, who tagged Vickie, who tagged Jacqueline, who tagged Laurie, who tagged me (whew!). Along the way, each participant answered ten questions about the book she’s currently working on. She also posted the rules for the Blog Hop and linked to a few new volunteers who would be answering the questions the following week.

Rules:

***Answer the ten questions about your current WIP (Work In Progress) on your blog

***Tag five other writers/bloggers and add their links so we can hop over and meet them.

Ten Interview Questions for The Next Big Thing:

1. What is the working title of your book?

Not Always Black and Blue

2. Where did the idea come from for the book?

Rather than just writing an entertaining bit of drivel (which is what I’d been doing, and will continue to do most of the time), I wanted to write something serious, something that could make a difference in someone’s life. I decided to draw from my own experiences with emotional abuse.

3. What genre does your book fall under?

General Fiction or Women’s Fiction.

4. Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

The main character, Savannah: Claire Danes, as I believe she could bring the right emotion/pathos to the role.

Her abusive boyfriend, Jed: Ryan Kwanten. He plays hillbilly jerk very well.

Thomas, the friend who helps her find her way back: Chris Hemsworth. He looks good unkempt, he can act, and he has kind eyes.

5. What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

Not Always Black and Blue is the story of a young woman coming to terms with an emotional abusive relationship and her struggle to build herself up in the aftermath.

6. Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

Self-published.

7. How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

I’m still working on the first draft. This story is very difficult to write, so I’m having to break it up with other projects. I’d say it will take me a year to get the first draft done.

8. What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

I don’t really know what books might be comparable. That’s why I chose to tell this story, after all.

9. Who or What inspired you to write this book?

As I said before, I wanted to write something that could help people. My friend Ryan inspired me to move my writing in that direction.

10. What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

Reader’s might like to know that this WIP inspired a short story that was written from the point of view of Thomas - and then published under his pen name.

Tagged for next week - you’re it!

Linda Swain

Alisha M Constanzo

Aaron Speca

Friday Free For All - Jacqueline Hopkins

Fri, 31 Aug 2012 08:44:15 -0500

After a hiatus, Friday Free For All is back this week with Jacqueline Hopkins.

First, the questions.

1. What was the best thing BEFORE sliced bread?

I would say it has to be the photograph and the process of taking photos and the invention of the camera. I’m rather partial to that invention since I love taking pictures and also consider myself a photographer.

2. If you auditioned for a reality singing competition, what song would you sing?

Amazing Grace or Believe by Cher

3. What celebrity or fad do you wish would go away?

Snooki and lip/nose/eyebrow piercings

4. What punctuation mark best describes your personality? Feel free to explain why.

Semi-colon, because I can’t ever make up my mind on what I want to order to drink in a bar or what food to order in a restaurant.

5. If you had to live in another country for two years, where would you want to go?

Australia

6. What WOULD you do for a Klondike bar?

Anything!!!!!

About Jacqueline Hopkins:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Author.JacquelineHopkins

Wilderness Heart on Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/45556

Wilderness Heart on Amazon: http://amzn.to/rFdoOg

Wilderness Heart on Publish my book: http://www.publishmybook.ie/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=22&products_id=304

Wilderness Heart on Superereads: http://super-e-books.com/2011/12/wilderness-heart-by-jacqueline-hopkins/

Author central page: http://amzn.to/wSgCEk

Twitter handle: https://twitter.com/jacquehopkins

Blog: http://jacquehopkins.blogspot.com

Selling Out?

Fri, 24 Aug 2012 18:49:52 -0500

In 1957, a teenaged TV actor named Ricky Nelson took control of his destiny and became a pop musician. He recorded an album made up of songs penned by popular songwriters of the day. That album reached number one on the album charts.

Over the course of the next five years, Rick Nelson continued to record other writer’s songs, along with a very few of his own. His albums and singles were tremendously popular.

In 1964, the British Invasion changed the course of rock and roll, and Rick Nelson’s popularity waned. He chose to take his music in a different direction – the direction of country music. His new sound was the forerunner of what would eventually be called ‘southern rock’. During this time, most of the songs he recorded were ones that he had written, though he also chose to record songs penned by Rolling Stones members Keith Richards and Mick Jagger and by folk icon Bob Dylan.

In 1971, Rick Nelson was invited to play a rock and roll revival concert at Madison Square Garden. He went out on stage dressed in bell bottoms with his long hair loose around his shoulders, and after playing a couple of his old hits, launched into some of his new music. The new sound and the new look were too much for his old ‘fans,’ and he was booed off the stage.

Fast-forward forty years. The year is 2012. Music has changed and evolved and changed again. The one thing that has remained the same is that music ‘fans’ are still afraid of change. If anything, ‘fans’ have become more afraid of change. Every time you turn around, some band or artist is being accused of ‘selling out’ because he or she or they decided to try something new, to change musical direction. ‘Fans’, it seems, have learned nothing over the years.

The interesting thing about the majority of the bands accused of selling out is that they all tend to respond in the same way, the same way that Rick Nelson responded to his reception at the concert in Madison Square Garden. These bands all say that they write music primarily to please themselves. Nelson, after the disastrous revival concert, penned a song called “Garden Party” that talks about that very same thing – how it’s not possible to make everyone happy, so you’ve got to look to your own desires first.

Ironically, writing songs for their own pleasure means that these bands and artists are doing exactly the opposite of selling out.

So what’s the point of this post? What’s the moral of the story? Simple, and two-fold. One, don’t be too quick to judge a band’s integrity based upon whether you like the direction their music has taken. And two, write (or draw or paint or create in whatever medium you work in) whatever makes you happy and feels natural and right to you, and don’t worry too much about what the reader or listener or viewer, because if you put your heart and soul into something, the right people will appreciate it, learn from it, and be inspired by it.

Lightning Review - Drawing Breath

Fri, 24 Aug 2012 03:52:51 -0500

Drawing Breath by Laurie Boris

Blurb:
Art teacher Daniel Benedetto has cystic fibrosis. At thirty-four, he’s already outlived his doctor’s “expiration date,” but that doesn’t stop him from giving all he can to his students and his work. When he takes on Caitlin, his landlady’s daughter, as a private student, the budding teen painter watches in torment as other people, especially women, treat Daniel like a freak because of his condition. To Caitlin, Daniel is not a disease, not someone to pity or take care of but someone to care for, a friend, and her first real crush. Convinced one of those women is about to hurt him, Caitlin makes one very bad decision.

Review:

Don’t bother spending time reading these few words, cobbled together into semi-coherent thought. Don’t bother reading any other reviews, either. Just read the book. You’ll be glad you did.

Still here? Still want to know more? Fine. This is one of the most beautiful, compelling, inspiring, heart-rending books I’ve ever read. Nevermind the usual drivel about characters and plot and well-crafted prose. This is the sort of book where you don’t notice those things, because you’re not just reading a story, you’re inside of it. From the first paragraph to the final word, Laurie Boris draws you into Caitlin and Daniel’s lives and lets you live their story with them.

I honestly can’t say enough good things about the book or recommend it highly enough.

Rating: 5 stars

25 Random Things

Tue, 14 Aug 2012 04:02:00 -0500

There was a meme that went around Facebook ages ago in which the poster listed 25 random things about himself/herself. Since I’ve recently made a lot of new friends on Facebook, I thought I’d revisit it here.

I’m the youngest of 6 kids (and have 18 nieces and nephews…and I’ve lost count of the great-nieces and great-nephews!).
I once drove 2,000 miles (from East Texas to Los Angeles) for a concert.
I love working at and visiting amusement parks, but I don’t ride rollercoasters…or much of anything else.
I love being near or on the ocean.
Someday, I want to co-own a piano bar with my evil twin. Preferably somewhere near the ocean. Maybe a piano bar and grill, attached to a nice little inn with a kickass bakery.
I believe in God and spirituality, but am not a fan of religion.
I believe in love, but am not a proponent of marriage (not an opponent of it, either).
In the past 14 years, I’ve lived in 7 different cities in 3 states.
I believe you can tell a lot about a person by how they treat service workers (like store clerks and, especially, restaurant servers).
I hate being tickled.
If I were to go on a culinary tour of the places I’ve visited, my ‘must visits’ would include Perkins Restaurant (Memphis/Orlando), Steak N Shake (various), Umami Burger (LA), Origami Sushi (Round Rock, Texas), Earl of Sandwich (Orlando), and White Castle! (I’d also get a Cuban sandwich and some key lime pie in Key West - something I didn’t do the last time).
I love dressing up (formal wear, club wear, or costumes), but I also love t-shirts and cute sleep pants or PJs.
I want to dye my hair Aqua. Or maybe blood red.
I have an unnatural affinity for Vegemite – especially in a grilled cheese sandwich or mac n cheese.
I don’t have ‘favorites’ because what I like is always in flux.
I love playing board games, especially trivia games, Risk, and Axis and Allies.
I love watching flight demonstration teams (like the Blue Angels or the Thunderbirds or the Black Diamonds) at airshows.
One of the most awesome things I’ve ever done is climb Dunn’s River Falls in Jamaica.
I once lived in a hotel room. For three weeks. Without a job. And had to share the full-size bed with my best friend.
I don’t usually eat breakfast for breakfast. In fact my favorite time to eat cereal is in the middle of the night.
If I were to win a huge sum of money in the lottery, I’d take a world cruise. A year on a ship visiting lots of new and exciting places sounds amazing.
I tend to go barefoot as much as possible, but I love shoes and boots. And ridiculously cute socks.
I love all kinds of movies – animated movies, kids movies, chick flicks, screwball comedies, action-adventure, drama, war movies, and just about anything else. As long as it’s believable (which is not the same as realistic) and well put together – a good story told well – that’s all that really matters.
Scorpions freak me out. The creepy crawly kind I mean, not the band.
Gross inaccuracies in books, TV, or movies drive me absolutely batshit crazy.

Lightning Review - The Biker

Sun, 12 Aug 2012 02:10:40 -0500

The Biker - JD Mader

Blurb:

San Francisco is a small city with big problems. When Matt Stark witnesses his father’s murder, he decides to rid the city of one of its problems - the man with the scars. Matt is dangerous with his fists. He is good on a motorcycle. Vengeance is new to him, but he is a quick study. With the help of his childhood friend, Striker, and the beautiful and mysterious Maria, Matt decides to find his father’s killer and even the score. “The City” has many secrets, however, as Matt discovers as he embarks on a quest for justice that will make him question everything he thought he knew.

Review:

The Biker is the kind of character-driven action-adventure story that keeps you reading long after you should have shut out the lights and gone to bed. The plot is clean and simple without being brainless, but the characters are what really make the story. Each is well-defined and memorable - no cardboard cutouts here - and they are believable, living in a world made up of a full color palette rather than merely black and white. Added to that is Mader’s flair for descriptions and witty dialogue. Put all of the elements together, and you have an engaging, enjoyable novel that will neither bore you nor hurt your brain but fits Goldilocks-style into the ‘just right’ space in between the two.

Rating: 5 stars

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0076FZLLU/ref=cm_cr_thx_view

Friday Free For All - Jo Briggs

Sat, 11 Aug 2012 00:09:00 -0500

This week’s Friday Free For All is a bit late because I forgot to schedule it. Oops.

Today’s interview is with Jo Briggs.

Would you rather live without music or live without TV?

Live without TV, need my music

Would you rather go to jail for a year or live in your car for a year?

Live in my car

If you could act in one film already made, which movie would you pick?

Pride and Prejudice.

What is your favorite weird food or weird combination of foods?

Not sure it is weird but fig rolls, they are type of biscuit but not sure if they do them anywhere else but UK.

If you had a “theme song” that played whenever you walk into a room, what would it be?

Hmm anything by Coldplay..but to name one – Fix you.

If you had a million dollars, would you still eat Kraft dinner?

Kraft food I presume is microwave type dishes? If so more than likely

Pretend you are an animal in a zoo. You spy a child with some sort of snack bar treat, and it makes you want to jump the fence to get the treat for yourself. What sort of snack bar goody is worth making a break for it?

Snickers.

Jo Briggs is a reader, author, blogger, and avid Formula One fan, but not necessarily in that order. She has worked in a hospital, appeared on TV in commercials, and been a web designer. Her favorite occupation by far is turning her daydreams into books. The first book of her trilogy, Broken Strings, is coming out at the end of October. It is an angst filled romance with a bit of the erotic. To read an excerpt check out her blog link below.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Jo_witterings

Blog: http://www.jebriggs.co.uk/

Friday Free For All - M. Peters

Fri, 03 Aug 2012 00:55:11 -0500

Today I’m introducing what I hope will become a regular feature on this blog - the Friday Free For All. Each Friday, I will feature an interview with an author, blogger, reviewer, cover designer, or avid reader. These interviews…well, I’ll let you see for yourself.

Today’s interview is with author M. Peters, who writes paranormal erotica.

Let the games begin….

If you were attending a Halloween party, what costume would you wear?

Either a version of something from The Phantom of the Opera, because it’s my favourite musical (though I would alter the costume to be something that would more likely step out of the novel rather than Andrew Llyod Webber’s play, since the book is the actual story; all the rest are adaptations) or something similar to the simple costume I wore the night I met my fiancée – on which I wore a golden mask, a hooded cloak, and black clothing beneath. I think, originally, I was meant to be something from the Masquerade scene of Phantom of the Opera – notice a theme here? - but I sort of added my own spin. Instead of asking for candy, I asked people if they wanted to know whether I was Life or Death or something in between. Most people looked at me strangely and just gave me candy, with which I was perfectly all right!

If you were to get a tattoo (or another tattoo), what would it be?

Most probably, it would be very small and involve a gardenia – my favourite flower – and my fiancée’s name in Finnish, which is Reetta.

What if the Hokey Pokey REALLY is what it’s all about?

Then I guess I’ve been missing out! I haven’t done the Hokey Pokey since I was a kid in grade school. Now you’ve got me wanting to try … ah, well, the roommate isn’t home today anyway, and the cats already think I’m weird!

If you could date/marry/do naughty things with any celebrity, who would it be?

Anthony Hopkins, hands down. Yes, I know, he’s approaching his eighties, but the man is a GOD. He could read the phone book, and I’d listen with stars in my eyes.

Crunchy or creamy peanut butter?

I like either, but I was brought up on creamy peanut butter since my middle sister does not like the crunch of nuts, so invariably, I return to smooth peanut butter if the choice is there.

If you were given one round-trip journey in a time machine, when would you go?

1. Paris, sometime in the late eighteen hundreds, to a certain ‘haunted’ Opera House. I bet you see where this is going. I’d sneak into those cellars under the Palais Garnier on La Place D’Opera and see if that lake really did exist…. And see what – or who - else I could find while I was down there.

M. Peters’ debut novel, Undisclosed Desires, is available in print through Createspace and for Kindle through Amazon. It is a paranormal erotic tale that follows a vampire named Keith D’Ameron, and the man with whom he falls in love. Unfortunately for Keith, Javier Estas, the young man who steals his heart from the very moment he draws his sword on Keith, has never been propositioned by another man before.

You can learn more about M. Peters at her Facebook fan page.

SongPop & Memories

Tue, 31 Jul 2012 02:00:29 -0500

My newest game obsession is a Facebook app called SongPop. The way it works is this: you (or your opponent, depending on whose turn it is) choose a category; a snippet of a song plays, and you choose the correct song or artist from the four choices provided (a total of five times per game). Simple, but sometimes challenging.

This game is interesting to me on a number of levels. It’s fun seeing what songs and artists and genres my Facebook friends are most familiar with. It’s fun seeing how quickly I can recognize the songs I know. It’s cool to be able to recognize a song I don’t know based on the singer’s voice…or the particular sound of the lead guitar. And it’s interesting to reconnect with songs I’ve forgotten or find new ones that catch my interest.

There’s one more thing that I enjoy about SongPop - something that I also enjoy about listening to music in general: having a song spark a memory.

Many songs spark memories for me because music is such a huge part of my life. Some remind me of concerts I’ve been to. Others remind me of parties or nights out a club. Some bring back memories of my teenage years - or earlier.

“Santeria” by Sublime, for example, reminds me of countless nights at Jellyrolls in Orlando. ”Rock You Like a Hurricane” and “Once Bitten, Twice Shy” remind me of shooting pool with my best friend back in high school. And I have the vaguest memory of shaking my booty to “Shake Your Booty” by KC and the Sunshine Band when I was just a toddler.

While these memories are sometimes vague, like the ones I just mentioned, they tend to be perfect snapshots or short mental films of a particular moment.

For instance, when I hear “Your Body is a Wonderland” by John Mayer, I can see the horizon rising and falling through the window of the Rhapsody of the Seas. I can’t hear “Five O’Clock Somewhere” by Alan Jackson (with a little help from Jimmy Buffett) without thinking of Ray McGee singing a slightly altered version of it to a roomful of drunk tourists at Jellyrolls - and seeing Jason Pawlak’s face as he said, “You can’t do that!” And I will never, ever be able to hear Alanis Morissette’s “You Oughta Know” OR Elvis Presley’s “Suspicious Minds” without thinking of Matthew Nelson, without seeing him flip his hair and wink and do the Elvis point or seeing him tapping his Chuck Taylor’s in time while belting out an amazing rendition of Alanis’s song.

It’s amazing to me how music holds these sorts of memories safe in it’s embrace, just waiting for us to take them out and experience them again and again. I have no idea why it works the way it does, and even if science can explain it, I don’t think I want to know. I like to think it’s just another part of the magic that is music.

Live in the Now / Carpe Diem

Mon, 30 Jul 2012 02:08:31 -0500

My closest friend has been doing a lot of questioning and soul-searching lately, and in the course of doing so, she started reading up on Buddhism. We’ve been discussing Buddhism and Taoism and some of the tenets thereof, and the one that’s been on my mind most is the idea of living in the moment.

The basic idea is not to dwell too much on the future or the past, but to fully live each moment as it comes along. On the surface and in a general way, this makes a lot of sense to me. Worrying overmuch about the future robs you of joy or contentment in the present. Regretting the past does the same. I understand this, and it’s something that I’m learning to accept and incorporate into my life. But if you look too deeply at the idea, it becomes flawed. Why? Because some moments just aren’t worth experiencing all that deeply.

One of the texts that I read when I was studying up on this philosophy of living in the now said that we spend too much time thinking about things other than the here and now. It gave the examples of worrying about work while on vacation and thinking ahead to the evening or weekend while we’re at work. While I agree that we shouldn’t let worries about work spoil a vacation - the perfect opportunity to live deeply - I’m not so sure that thinking ahead while at work is a bad thing. If, like me, you have a job that doesn’t afford you satisfaction beyond a way to make ends meet, why would you want to experience it deeply? Why wouldn’t you want to think instead about more pleasant things that you have waiting for you after you get done with work for the day? After all, anticipation is one of the things that keeps us human beings from succumbing to inertia. If we had nothing to look forward to, how boring life would be!

On the flip side of the equation, you can take living in the moment too far and think too little of the future or the past. You can forget mistakes you’ve made and end up repeating them. Or you can neglect to anticipate the long-term ramifications of the decisions you make. Sometimes, this isn’t such a bad thing, but other times it can be devastating. I have fallen into the trap of thinking too little about future ramifications because I got so caught up in living in the moment. I’ve been fortunate enough to not have my life wrecked by the consequences, and I believe that I’ve actually benefited greatly from those times when I just say ‘to hell with it’ and jumped off the proverbial cliff. I know others who haven’t been so fortunate. I guess the real trick is to make sure there is a net to catch you when you make that leap.

For me the best way of expressing my views of the philosophy is “Carpe Diem.” I’m a big believer in spontaneity and in grabbing opportunities when they arise. I’m a big believer in living life for all it’s worth because it’s uncertain. At the end of the day, though, we still have to deal with a lot of stuff that gets in the way of ‘carpe diem’ - rent and bills and responsibility often collide with the opportunities that life throws at us.

We have to choose our paths carefully so we don’t end up on the streets. Because of this I believe the key to this whole ‘live in the now’ thing is the same as it is for anything else: moderation and balance. We have to find a healthy balance between planning for the future and living in the moment, between anticipation and contentment, between memories and dreams and reality.

I’m not sure how to find that balance, but I’m working on it. I think there are some components that are missing in my life that would make it a lot easier to find that balance. I’m working on that, too.

Book Trailer for Music Speaks

Sun, 29 Jul 2012 15:41:28 -0500

Book Trailer for Music Speaks