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New Release Spotlight: Amber Wardell
3 weeks ago
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Meet Rick Frost
It was supposed to be an adventure in the wilds of Alaska, a test of manhood for all the 14, 15, and 16-year old signed up on the school trip. But the whole prepackaged thing was nothing more than a long hike through some pretty trees. That is until Rick Frost and his friend Ben Nakni see a plane about to crash into the forest. A real adventure has just found them.
The only survivors of the crash are Robert Blair and his daughter Alexis, who just happens to be the hottest teen actress in Hollywood. She was on her way to make a movie in the Katmai National Forest when the unthinkable happened. Rick and Ben pull Robert and Alexis out of the wreckage just as a team of assassins arrive to finish the job.
The crash was no accident. Someone wants Alexis Blair dead and that puts Rick Frost in the cross hairs. He wanted an adventure; he got a wild ride through the unforgiving wilderness of America's last frontier.
America, meet the newest action hero to arrive on the literary scene: Rick Frost!
The only survivors of the crash are Robert Blair and his daughter Alexis, who just happens to be the hottest teen actress in Hollywood. She was on her way to make a movie in the Katmai National Forest when the unthinkable happened. Rick and Ben pull Robert and Alexis out of the wreckage just as a team of assassins arrive to finish the job.
The crash was no accident. Someone wants Alexis Blair dead and that puts Rick Frost in the cross hairs. He wanted an adventure; he got a wild ride through the unforgiving wilderness of America's last frontier.
America, meet the newest action hero to arrive on the literary scene: Rick Frost!
My first YA adventure novel, RICK FROST & THE ALASKAN ADVENTURE, is coming out May/June of 2011.
Monday, September 27, 2010
No, no, and no
I wrote to a friend today that I have no energy, no motivation and no inspiration for writing right now. Some call that writer's block. It's not writer's block. And yes, I know you are going to re-read that last sentence in the Arnold "Kindergarten Cop" voice, because I know I did.
Writer's block means that a writer can't come up with something to write. That's not my problem. I have about twenty-five somethings to write sitting in files on my computer. Some are half-written outlines, some are barely-started first chapters. Most are in the form of a "back of the book" style synopsis. By the way, I love writing those; I know I won't get to do it for my own books some day but I still love writing them.
My problem is that life is dragging me down. The old adage for writers is BIC, which stands for Butt In Chair. That's the cure-all for writer's block and writer's lack-of-energy-or-motivation-or-whatever-it-is-that's-keeping-me-from-writing. But I can't put my butt in the chair. I want to spend time with my son. I like spending time with my wife. And I have to get up at 5:30 every morning to get ready for work which means no staying up late to write.
Sigh. Ok, just a vent posting today, but at least it's writing something, right?
Writer's block means that a writer can't come up with something to write. That's not my problem. I have about twenty-five somethings to write sitting in files on my computer. Some are half-written outlines, some are barely-started first chapters. Most are in the form of a "back of the book" style synopsis. By the way, I love writing those; I know I won't get to do it for my own books some day but I still love writing them.
My problem is that life is dragging me down. The old adage for writers is BIC, which stands for Butt In Chair. That's the cure-all for writer's block and writer's lack-of-energy-or-motivation-or-whatever-it-is-that's-keeping-me-from-writing. But I can't put my butt in the chair. I want to spend time with my son. I like spending time with my wife. And I have to get up at 5:30 every morning to get ready for work which means no staying up late to write.
Sigh. Ok, just a vent posting today, but at least it's writing something, right?
Monday, May 31, 2010
Memorial Day
I read about twenty to twenty-five blogs a day from agents, publishers, interns, writers and publishing geeks. Today, one blogger posted an interesting quote regarding the celebration of Memorial Day. After talking about how much he respected and admired those who serve now and have served in the past, he correctly stated that today is an occasion to honor those who have died in the service of our country. Then he wrote:
I replied to his email and wanted to post to you all what I wrote to him. I wasn't angry at him. Far from it. I just wanted to point something out. I said that if we didn't ever need Memorial Day, it would be because of the men and women we honor on Memorial Day that it was no longer needed. So, the need for it would be even greater. Because if we ever stop honoring those who have given us such great lives and tremendous freedom, then we might need to honor a whole new generation of heroes.
Memorial Day is to honor those who have died to give us that which we so easily take for granted. They don't ask for anything accept to be remembered. If we ever forget them, we will indeed have to remember others who will need to fight and die to regain that which we let slip away.
Happy Memorial Day and God bless those who have given "the last full measure of devotion."
"But wouldn't it be better if, someday, we didn't have a need for Memorial
Day anymore?"
I replied to his email and wanted to post to you all what I wrote to him. I wasn't angry at him. Far from it. I just wanted to point something out. I said that if we didn't ever need Memorial Day, it would be because of the men and women we honor on Memorial Day that it was no longer needed. So, the need for it would be even greater. Because if we ever stop honoring those who have given us such great lives and tremendous freedom, then we might need to honor a whole new generation of heroes.
Memorial Day is to honor those who have died to give us that which we so easily take for granted. They don't ask for anything accept to be remembered. If we ever forget them, we will indeed have to remember others who will need to fight and die to regain that which we let slip away.
Happy Memorial Day and God bless those who have given "the last full measure of devotion."
Friday, May 28, 2010
Happy Memorial Day
Its a speech given dozens of times in and around Cape Girardeau, Missouri. The time is "Our Lives, Our Fortunes, Our Sacred Honor".
The speech starts out like this:
It was a glorious morning. The sun was shining and the wind was from the southeast. Up especially early, a tall bony, redheaded young Virginian found time to buy a new thermometer, for which he paid three pounds, fifteen shillings. He also bought gloves for Martha, his wife, who was ill at home.
Thomas Jefferson arrived early at the statehouse. The temperature was 72.5 degrees and the horseflies weren't nearly so bad at that hour. It was a lovely room, very large, with gleaming white walls. The chairs were comfortable. Facing the single door were two brass fireplaces, but they would not be used today.
I suggest you read the rest of it. The author of the speech is R.H. Limbaugh, Jr. He is the father of Rush Limbaugh, conservative talk show host. Ignore the political associations and read the speech in honor of Memorial Day.
To all those who have served and who do serve... thank you. You are the real heroes.
The speech starts out like this:
It was a glorious morning. The sun was shining and the wind was from the southeast. Up especially early, a tall bony, redheaded young Virginian found time to buy a new thermometer, for which he paid three pounds, fifteen shillings. He also bought gloves for Martha, his wife, who was ill at home.
Thomas Jefferson arrived early at the statehouse. The temperature was 72.5 degrees and the horseflies weren't nearly so bad at that hour. It was a lovely room, very large, with gleaming white walls. The chairs were comfortable. Facing the single door were two brass fireplaces, but they would not be used today.
I suggest you read the rest of it. The author of the speech is R.H. Limbaugh, Jr. He is the father of Rush Limbaugh, conservative talk show host. Ignore the political associations and read the speech in honor of Memorial Day.
To all those who have served and who do serve... thank you. You are the real heroes.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Self-Publishing, The E-explosion and Golf
My dad once said that pretty much everything in the world can be related to golf. Which might explain why it's such a popular sport. Because it's too damned hard to play well for that to be the reason.
I've subscribe to almost thirty blogs about writing and the publishing industry. Included in that list are blogs by agents, interns of agents, publishers, interns of publishers, and writers. Sorry, I haven't found a blog by an intern working for a writer... yet. If you read the posts from these blogs over the last two weeks, you will see an absolute tsunami of words written on either self-publishing, e-books, e-publishing, and the predicted death of tradional publishing houses. I've even written about it. Had to, apparently it's an unwritten thing that if everyone in the industry is writing something then you have to write it (Have you seen any books about using a character's knowledge of either history or some obscure area of study to find a mysterious object that will solve an age-old riddle and save the world in the process? Didn't think so...)
Most people are either saying that the publishing sky will fall in the next five years and that everyone who wants to publish a book in that time span needs to immediately start emailing Amazon or some other e-publishing group, or that they aren't sure what's going to happen and people should just wait and see (but, man those are some ominous clouds on the horizon so might want to check for an umbrella). All this fervor reminds me so much of the phenomenon that was Michelle Wie.
For those have been living under a rock for the last decade, Michelle Wie burst onto the world sports scene in 2000. At 10 years old, she qualified for the Women's U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship. She'd been playing golf since she was 4, and at 10, it seemed that everyone had already crowned her a Hall of Famer, and perhaps the greatest female athlete in the history of the world. In 2002, she qualified for an LPGA tournament at the tender age of 12. Golf writers were going ga-ga, sports journalists were drooling, and the advertising agents already were on Michelle's dad's speed dial. In 2005, Nike and Sony signed her to sponsorship deals worth over 10 million dollars. She even tried to qualify for the men's US Open. But a little something happened on the way to legendary status.
Turned out Michelle either wasn't as good as everyone thought, or that she didn't care as much we did. She has never won a tournament. She has played well, sure, but all that Hall of Famer stuff is waaaaay in the future. She's not even in the Top 15 professional female golfers in the world right now.
Self-publishing sounds great. But remember, writing isn't a 100-meter dash. It's a marathon. If you want to be good at it, don't let some flash in the pan thing lure you into sprinting before the finish is in sight. Be patient.
I've subscribe to almost thirty blogs about writing and the publishing industry. Included in that list are blogs by agents, interns of agents, publishers, interns of publishers, and writers. Sorry, I haven't found a blog by an intern working for a writer... yet. If you read the posts from these blogs over the last two weeks, you will see an absolute tsunami of words written on either self-publishing, e-books, e-publishing, and the predicted death of tradional publishing houses. I've even written about it. Had to, apparently it's an unwritten thing that if everyone in the industry is writing something then you have to write it (Have you seen any books about using a character's knowledge of either history or some obscure area of study to find a mysterious object that will solve an age-old riddle and save the world in the process? Didn't think so...)
Most people are either saying that the publishing sky will fall in the next five years and that everyone who wants to publish a book in that time span needs to immediately start emailing Amazon or some other e-publishing group, or that they aren't sure what's going to happen and people should just wait and see (but, man those are some ominous clouds on the horizon so might want to check for an umbrella). All this fervor reminds me so much of the phenomenon that was Michelle Wie.
For those have been living under a rock for the last decade, Michelle Wie burst onto the world sports scene in 2000. At 10 years old, she qualified for the Women's U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship. She'd been playing golf since she was 4, and at 10, it seemed that everyone had already crowned her a Hall of Famer, and perhaps the greatest female athlete in the history of the world. In 2002, she qualified for an LPGA tournament at the tender age of 12. Golf writers were going ga-ga, sports journalists were drooling, and the advertising agents already were on Michelle's dad's speed dial. In 2005, Nike and Sony signed her to sponsorship deals worth over 10 million dollars. She even tried to qualify for the men's US Open. But a little something happened on the way to legendary status.
Turned out Michelle either wasn't as good as everyone thought, or that she didn't care as much we did. She has never won a tournament. She has played well, sure, but all that Hall of Famer stuff is waaaaay in the future. She's not even in the Top 15 professional female golfers in the world right now.
Self-publishing sounds great. But remember, writing isn't a 100-meter dash. It's a marathon. If you want to be good at it, don't let some flash in the pan thing lure you into sprinting before the finish is in sight. Be patient.
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