Double Shot Venti Latte'

If you're reading this, its because I've reached a focal point in my life. I haven't written any stories in a while. It angers and frustrates me sometimes. Years ago, I kept hearing of a place called The Memory Palace. I guess there's a book on this subject: the premise of this non-fiction book is how you can create your own memory palace. It can be whatever you want it to be, because its entirely created by you.

When I get frustrated, I'd often retreat to quiet places. I'd ditch myself in the library when times were tough at home. If I felt like getting farther away, I'd frequent my local Borders Bookstore. A few times I visited a coffee shop or two.

Yesterday was one of those days when all the rigamroe, all the complicated garbled mess of a mind came to a head.

I needed a retreat.

So, while at the library, I sat and read. Then I began to imagine a memory palace kind of idea. Not a palace, per say. More like a one man coffee shop. One in where I am the owner, founder, barista and patron all in one.

I imagined unlocking the door to this place on a cold september night. Then I turned on the lights, hung up my coat, turned on the machines and read the paper as the blenders swished the concotion which would later become my drink. Since I was frustrated, I relaxed. First on the outside, then on the inside.

My life has taken a few turns.

Some have been troubled times but all have been interesting and most have been real eye-opening moments. These are the moments I should be focusing on. Not all the bad stuff. And yet, we can't help it. We consume it, it consumes us. These are just thoughts, by the way.

While attending this fictional coffee shop, let's call it Rob's Brew, I began to stir my Double Venti Latte' as I picked a seat close to the wide windows displaying an empty parking lot.

A double, because I've had a shot or two in my life.

A Venti, because boy did I need to vent.

While I'm not necessarily on the verge of lamenting I am still hopeful about the future.

So I sit, sip, and burrow myself deeper into the cushion chair with the high back. It's my favorite chair. There are no other customers. There's no music playing. It's just quiet. Serene.

Yesterday, I found out that someone tried to rip me off. Thankfully the bank caught it in time but I was more than frazzled. My daily commute to work is twenty minutes and change. I was running on empty to work and empty from work. All because my card was declined. I even had to cut it up.

This is the third time that this has happened in my life. I just couldn't take it. I've also been progressing with work and trying to find ways of making multiple forms of income.

Why? you might ask.

Well, I'm going to be a father.

My wife is 9 weeks pregnant and that has propelled me into a state of compassionate fatherhood. I've been taking care of my wife non-stop and I don't mind. But I'm also thinking about our kid wriggling around inside of her. When you're faced with fatherhood, you have this overwhelming sense to provide, provide, provide.

I take another sip of what is now an iced hazelnut coffee. Two sugars, extra cream. Just the way I like it.

My head has been cramed with technical information, story ideas, finances, savings, and now preparing for the future. As an author, all I can do is write. As a husband, I hunt for more ways to provide. Working on a coupled entropenuer ideas. As a man, I'm compelled to exprese myself, talk to you guys on this here blog.

Why? Becuase I want to give you daily peeks into my head.

In the meantime, I slurp the rest of the coffee and pull up a chair. Maybe someday...you can join me...and boy...could I tell you some stories.

Relax, stay calm, don't worry, be happy.

Wearing Donnie Torr eBook Giveaway

Ladies and gentlemen, now comes the part where I do something for you, the readers of this here blog.

This was the second book I've written. Since the last two giveaways worked so well, I decided to do one for this thriller as well. So far I've gained an extra 265 new readers and hope to gain even more with the release of a new Kindle Single in the coming weeks.

"Wearing Donnie Torr" will be free on Kindle from:

-SEPTEMBER 21st through SEPTEMBER 25TH-

Here is the back cover synopsis of the book:

Deep in the Wisconsin woods, a killer waited patiently. On a cold night in 1999, the notorious Donnie Torr went down in a hail of gunfire. The threat to the town was supposedly eliminated. Now, in 2002, local writer James Dorrell has just purchased a leather jacket at the thrift store. He knows its getting colder, bleaker as the weather grows gray. But what he doesn't know is that the killer lived on, connected to the very vessel of the jacket that James now owns. With the leather fusing to his skin, his thoughts being perpetrated with malicious fantasies, and his sudden habit of sleep walking, James must discover how the killer accomplished such a curse and why he chose James to do his bidding. Better yet, James will have to figure out an ending for this horrifying tale…that might be his own.

Click Here to buy it now: Wearing Donnie Torr on Amazon

And don't forget to write a review ;)

The Old Way of Doing Things

Imagine a man. This man is a writer. This man writes two to three books. Man, naturally, wants to be published so he combs through lists and looks up every literary agent and publisher he can find. The most reputable ones he starts with first.

He sends queries to them and gets the following form comments:

"Not for me" or "Too long, trim it down" or "Too short, add more" or "I can't sell this" or "Great book, but I have to pass."

Now, at this point, the man writer is kinda crushed. He worked hard, plugged in all the things they told them to and sent them back out. No one follows up.

So time goes by and he wants to try his second book and looks up the most reputable agents. What is he supposed to say?

"Hey, remember me, that guy whose book you din't like? Guess what? That's me! I have a brand new one! This one is sure to get you flipping pages, even though you said no the first time."

To me it seems like the old way of doing things boils it down to this whole thing: You become a reluctant spammer of your own books.

Exposure is key.

Let the readers decide.

Not the industry.