Wish to Hek Reviews: Universal Studios, Orlando

     I’m releasing my inner geek here. I know I normally write a review about books in this blog but I wanted to change it up somewhat.  If you want a cool, different from the norm book, read the oldie but goodie, My Bondage and My Freedom: The Autobiography of Frederick Douglass.  It is devastating to read how a slave was treated back in the early history of the U.S.  As a teacher I like to keep up with some…

Debut efforts are fun reads for me; I really enjoy them. Sam Lang’s though, is one of the best I have read in a while. Did you get a chance to read his guest post a few days back?  I really enjoyed it. For me it showcased his ability to ratchet up the tension as time goes on. I know I am a few steps ahead in this story than you because I have gotten an advanced read on the material, but it is one tense series. As good as the first offering is, the rest of them just keep getting better and…

Happy Monday morning to everybody! I hope that everybody wakes up and punches the day right in the face and gets off to the excellent start that you want. What is the gist of this Monday mornings rant? The Author’s Lab/Collaboration series is. I have been fortunate to receive a number of questions as to what is going on with it and where is it we are going?

Here is what I can tell you right now: The next installment for this week is a truly amazing read from Mark Miller,…

When starting a new novel there are an infinite amount of questions to ask yourself. Other than plot, characters, world building and the like you have to find out what point-of-view you will be leading from. If you're not familiar with POV I suggest you do your homework. In a nutshell it means what voice are you writing in. Are you speaking from the lead characters POV by speaking in his/her voice as you tell their story? Or will it be a narration delivering the story in third-person as you…

Spiffy title hunh? Came to me in Church this morning, totally Divine intervention, besides I know by now most don’t think I am smart enough to come up with it on my own, hahaha. What is crawling around in my head on this subject?  Pretty simple stuff really. Werner Lind, author of a few vampire stories, has dropped an e-version of his full length novel ,“Lifeblood”.   My point is that this title is starting to finally move after laying fallow for so many years as just a…

This is the start?

In that case, I should thank Trestle Press for publishing Reprisal and thanks to the G-Man for putting me on his blog.

I don’t like to talk about myself, but I will tell you about Reprisal.

Making Plans, Making Memories is the first installment in the story of a dying town haunted by a Shadow. It is the introduction of our main character, Eddie, and his long-time friend Police Chief Canton. They are preparing a questionable plan to have a bus of…

Good morning to everyone and welcome to TGIF. I have much going on here so let’s get right to it, shall we? Laurie Bowler will be my guest today along with Lorre Lough on The G-ZONE, my blogtalk radio show, starting at 4pm EST. I also have two more posts coming at you today: Michael Koryta’s “The Ridge” and J.W. Baccaro’s “Siege of Darkness”.  To today;s  post Fangs, Inc. ! Laurie Bowler is the lead author in this latest installment of the series. It is a fun, straight…

Giovanni Gelati, blog talk radio star and co-collaborator once asked my husband, fellow author Cody Toye, if he lived in fear of waking up with me standing over him with a butcher knife in my hand.  While I can indeed shoot razor sharp darts at him with the look that is perfected over time with every married woman, I’m sure Mrs. Gelati can vouch for this; I have never caused him physical harm.  I have ways of making him attest to this point, mwahaha.

How is…

A NIGHT TO REMEMBER

By Bob Hamer

"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they've made a difference. The Marines don't have that problem." …Ronald Reagan

I spent four years on active duty as a Marine and twenty-six years as a street agent for the FBI. In retirement I’ve penned three books and have written for television. I’ve met Medal of Honor recipients and the Commandant of the Marine Corps, award-winning actors and Hall of Fame athletes, politicians and…

Hey, how is it going? What is my issue? What is the source of my angst? Why am I really royally ticked off right now?  I have a few issues with the state of “Traditional Publishing”, or as some refer to them “The Big Six”. Let me expand and explain if you can follow along with me. As a blogger I am fortunate, and I mean this sincerely, to be contacted by authors, publicists, etc. to review novels. I am happy to do this, because let’s face it, it is fun and who doesn’t like a good…

Right off the bat I want to tell you I am interviewing this author today @ 6.30pm EST on my blogtalk show, The G-ZONE. Here is the link for that:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/gelatisscoop/2011/06/17/lincoln-crisler-and-steve-piacante-join-me-for-tgif

Lincoln Crisler starts off the show at 6pm, Steve is on at 6.30. I have to hand it to the author; he can write a…

Waking to the news that one of my fellow collaborators, Big Daddy Abel, had three titles in the TOP TEN in his category made me take pause and reflect a bit. My wife made me stop though as it appeared it I may go into a seizure or something. Pausing and reflecting is not one of my many strong points. Here is the thing: as little as four months ago BDA was not doing this, the writing thing, nor was Trestle Press doing publishing on any type…

Many of you know that I am the father of eight wonderful children, and I know that I am fortunate to say the least. They are all healthy, way smarter than I’ll ever be, and I am told they are way better looking than the oldman. Thank God for my wife right, well I do every day. Okay, so what is it I am yapping about now. Here’s the deal, I have been fortunate enough to have been given another  gift of being able to work with an incredible group of authors that are extremely talented. To…

I have a unique viewpoint I think of the man known as “Big Daddy Abel”. I have been an observer of his Facebook wall, read some of his thoughts and feelings prior to his publishing the “Open Mic” series, and have been fortunate enough to have collaborated with him twice now on “The Jersey Shore Has Eyes” and our new release at the end of this week “The Edge of Cataclysmic” which is more non-fiction than fiction. Basically any of the fiction comes from me in part, even most of my stuff is…

My husband has been going nuts lately with doing the cover art; just nuts .He won’t let me alone:  do you like this font? What about this for artwork? Do you think this grabs the essence of the story? Does this jump out at you? He has a hundred of them, questions I mean. You have to watch what you say around the guy, he turns very innocent things into things that you thought they could never be. The bocce ball thing for example,” I Have Chrome Balls, Don’t You?”. Did you really think of…

One of my favorite authors, although before I was just getting hit with one novel a year from the guy, Brett Battles of “The Cleaner” series has gone all YA on us and dropped in an exciting new novel, “Here Comes Mr. Trouble”  . You do not have to ask me twice if I liked or not, “Loved It”. Okay I have been watching the DVD’s of “In Living Color” too much lately; remember the Men in Film skits? To get back on point here, I have had the pleasure and…

 I image this has happened to most writers. The glow of the computer screen keeps you company as you stare dully at the blank slate that is supposed to be your newest work. I know I have spent many hours wondering why my fingers won’t quite move like they need to. How do you get over this? There are many tactics I have tried. First I try to force it out, just to end up erasing every last word I have typed. Next I have tried writing at a different time of day, hoping to void…

Once, back in the dark ages, like about five years ago, if you wanted to be an author, you’d write a book, scour around for an agent, and, if the stars aligned, get one and sign with a big-time publisher. That’s how it worked – there was one path, one key to the literary castle. If you couldn’t follow the path, you didn’t get the key, and all you got to write were cranky letters home.

If you did land one, the agent would have to find a publisher. If not, that would be the…

B.R. Stateham is a talented and gifted author. His writing style is distinct yet he is able to write in many different genres. In “Hotel Beaumont” he decided to go the action/thriller route with yet another character that seems to be the perfect human weapon. There is a high body count in the digital short story, but he makes it all sound good, it flows, and has the right sense of judgment and execution. His narrative as usual seems to be right on…

11 reasons to enjoy Maynard Soloman

Now before you roll your eyes and say, "Another serialized PI? Puh-leez," I want to tell you why Maynard Soloman is different. I, too, had read a million incarnations of Sam Spade. Maynard Soloman might've worn a fedora, but that's where the similarities end.

Here are 11 reasons Maynard Soloman is worth a look.

1) He was forced into retirement from his career as an investigator for the Obscenities Division of a local…