Paid In Blood

Hi folks. How's the brain frying going. This heat is almost unbearable. I thought about taking a break between selling forklifts, moving and having a garage sale. This is me having one of Arby's famous sweet teas and reading Mel Odom's new book called Paid In Blood. I just started it so I can't tell you much about the story just yet. I do know Mel is a top notch writer who does his homework. Here is the link to Amazon if you wish to read the rave reviews.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1414303068/102-2800583-7628901?v=glance&n=283155

Have a good one and God bless.

A Good Lesson Learned

The moving is getting closer…
While digging and culling through "stuff" last night I came across some books I wanted to keep. They were writing books, thirty-one of them to be exact. Yes, that’s right, thirty-one. They range from “how to” on newspaper columns to creating characters for fiction. Vowing to not buy another writing book until I actually have at least one chapter of a fiction story on paper, made my heart sink. It was a real eye opener seeing those thirty-one books boxed up. They have been purchased over the better part of twelve years.
Kicking myself for the money I had spent on them, I realized what a tremendous lesson. I learned that what I’ve got to do is stop dreaming and fantasizing about writing and start actually writing.
This lesson can be applied to more that just my books and writing though. In life and in anything I want, I must take what ever it is by the horns, wrestle it to the ground, and force it to submission, and hopefully when the cloud of dirt settles, it will still be what I want, but I’m guessing it’s the journey not the destination that will be the best part.
Maybe, if you’re struggling with a goal or a dream, you can benefit from this lesson too.

My vow right now is to not buy another writing book until I have something (1 chapter) down on paper.

Good day and God bless!

Working the Magic

Folks if you're a writer and struggling or just want to polish up on some writing skills; Mel Odom - Oklahoma author - has a new blog called Working the Magic. Mel talks about what exactly goes through the writers mind (at least his) while plotting and writing. In his first post he delves into the world of plot, characters, setting and backstory. The second post offers up some good insight on genre, and lists good examples to support his ideas. I've taken a couple of writing classes from Mel and I'll be the first to tell you he is a first rate guy who knows his stuff. He's written over 100 books and still going. So take a look. I'm currently reading his Hunters of the Dark Sea and it's a dang good story so far.
Here is the link to working the magic http://workingthemagic.blogspot.com

Night Fall by Nelson DeMille

Well folks we found out last week that we’ll be moving back to Mustang. (I’m doing cartwheels of excitement – no joking… literally) I’ve wanted to move back since the first day we were here. We’ve been slowly culling, packing and moving some things into storage. We’re planning on doing it all over the next month, so hopefully this won’t be a big deal.

The reason for our move back to Mustang as some of you may already know is because of Belinda will probably be working in the Mustang School district. It’s not 100% yet but we are walking on faith. It seems all this was just dropped in our lap and doors started opening.

This means I’ll be driving 10 miles to work instead of 35 miles. Gas savings, less wear and tear on the car, more time with the family, it’s a no brainer.

While packing I came across a book I read a few months ago. It’s called Night Fall by Nelson DeMille. The book starts out in 1996 with a man and a woman who are married but not to each other, they witness and videotape TWA flight 800 exploding over the ocean. 230 victims perish in the crash. The government deems the crash to mechanical failure but the videotape may tell another story.
On the fifth anniversary of the crash ex-NYPD detective John Corey and his career FBI wife Kate Mayfield decide against all pressure from their superiors to privately re-open the case. They both hunt for the crucial video that will once and for all answer the questions left open so long ago.

DeMille does an excellent job weaving two real life catastrophic events together (one mentioned here and one not). This is one darn good story that will keep you turning the pages.

Things I liked about the book: The setting and the alpha male personality of John Corey.
Writers who read this will do well to study and try to copy DeMille’s 3 dimensional characterization.

Things I didn’t like: the plot line was a little thin; though it’s a good story.

It gets 3 out of 5 stars from me. (Some content may offend some people otherwise I’d give it a 4 star rating)

This book has some strong sexual content at the first but that’s pretty much it. I think Demille put it in to make the story more plausible.

He is releasing another book soon that will be related to Night Fall. Click his link to the right and check it out. I can hardly wait until it hits the shelves.

2nd. Annual Fireworks Fundraiser a big success!

The 2nd. annual MUMC Fireworks Fundraiser was a tremendous success! We would like to thank MUMC Congregation for all of your support. It was a tough few days battling the heat, price shoppers, and at times being slammed dunked with about what seemed a million customers. Thank you for your patience with having the fireworks stand and the big P.O.D.S. container in the way. They both will be gone in a few days. Thanks go to Warren & Becky King for donating the pull camper. That sure came in handy in the dead heat of the day for the kids to take refuge in. God blessed us with dry weather for most of the days we were open, but even with the rain on the 4th, it didn't seem to slow the customer's enthusiasim. We would also like to thank all of the people who donated their time selling, hauling product, stacking and even bringing ice durring the heat of the day, it's greatly appreciated. We have not got an official total of what our take will be yet, but stay tuned. I know we made more gross sales than last year and that's a good thing. Come and join us when you can and God Bless.

Wolf Pass - A book review -

Wolf Pass
By Steve Thayer
Mystery

It’s 1962 and a Wisconsin railroad engineer is shot dead by a sniper’s rifle from over 600 yards away. Only one man in Kickapoo County could have made that shot and it’s Deputy Sheriff P.A. Pennington, a former military sniper from World War Two.

Flash back to World War Two – Pennington is sent on a suicide mission to the Bavarian Alps to stop vital train shipments of Nazi gold and other precious cargo.

This is a good fast read for summertime enjoyment. The book also involves some JFK hints of assassination and a somewhat good plot of revenge. If you’re a writer, try not to pick this book apart.

My Personal Book Rating
3 out of 5 Stars

1 = Poor, Don’t recommend
2 = Fair, Would recommend to some people
3 = Good, Would recommend to any reader
4 = Excellent
5 = It doesn’t get any better than this