Worth A Second Look eBook Giveaway

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

I've been working on this manuscript for a while and just recently I was able to release it to the Kindle. Since this may be your first time visiting this blog I decided to surprise you and everyone else who owns a kindle with a special treat.

The new book titled "Worth A Second Look" will be free on Kindle from:

-AUGUST 25TH through AUGUST 29TH-

Here is the back cover synopsis of the book:

In 2009, people were introduced to stories of hit men, specters, crooks, playful spirits and empowered heroes. Now, a new batch of stories have come alive.

Come to a place where mice gain the ability to speak, where super humans work middle class jobs, where a mythical man grants chances to feeble victims and where science has created murder rooms or genetically mutated monsters. Discover worm holes, the supernatural and a bit of lunacy. Encounter the unexpected.

You heard it here first, folks.

Five whole days of the book absolutely free!!

Get your Kindle and boot that sucker up because 20 new short stories from yours truly are just dying to get on that thing!

Click here to get your ebook: Worth A Second Look on Amazon.

The Death of a Short Story

I'm slowly learning that ideas, the ones that are malformed at least, must die.

William Faulkner once said, "Kill your darlings."

What he meant by that is that if your story is not up to it, whether it be a lack of character, theme or passion to write it, then you must get rid of it, my friend.

I'm in the midst of editing my short story collection which was over 60,000 words. After typing in the corrections for the last week and a half, half of the manuscript is finished.

And I've been able to trim 1,642 useless words. I can honestly say that those words were just fat. They needed to go. But, not only did I play snip-snip with my manuscript but I also decided that of the twenty stories which have been collected, one of them had to go.

It was a three paged story called A Rusty Decision. It was based off of a dream I had but that dream wasn't able to support a plot. I guess it was just me experimenting. Anyway, that story is now gone. And yet, I don't feel the need to replace it with anything. So, if this collection is one story light, then that's okay with me.

The important thing is that I'm on the right track, making progress and am amazed at some of the helpful/insightful edits that a friend of mine has made.

Here Today, Blog Tomorrow #6

Today I woke up at 10:30am. Man, what a night. I had this weird dream where I was in a warehouse sitting in a chair and I was getting a lecture from Jerry Lewis and Paul Newman on how to be a succesful con man. I'm sure there's a good story in there somewhere.

Last night I was under my quota. I only wrote 425 words. It felt like just getting those words out took forever.

But, at 1:00pm today I finally sat down and took a good hard look at my second short story collection. There are four or five that are really easy stories to write. So I write them. When I'm done, I've now got two finished short stories and I've written about 1,579 words. The good part is that even if the story doesn't flow well, at least now I have something to work with.

After that, I kick up my heels and relax, watching more season 3 of Prison Break.

I have some coffee and my missus returns home.

We clean the apartment and I call my brother. Here and there I go back to Crime City on Facebook to wreak havoc.

Later, I make my way to the bookshelf and pick up a copy of The Best American Short Stories 2008 with Salman Rushdie as the guest editor. This is one series you can't get on the kindle which is, yet again, another reason why I think the eBook will never replace the good-old-fashioned hardcovers and paperbacks. It's pretty good. It's getting me back into the rhythm of what a short story is supposed to feel like and what you are supposed to take away from it.

The night ends with the wife and I watching The Town on DVD.

Because I wrote close to 2,000 words today, I feel no need to write tonight. Plus, I have a job I have to get up for in the morning.

Y'know, back two weeks ago, when I had this job through this temp agency called Spherion, they set me up with one seemingly good job. Then, through a series of miscommunication and dimwitted phone calls, the full-time temp to perm job at Netflix turned into a on call 3am two days a week suckfest. Anyone looking for a job should avoid this Spherion Staffing at all costs. You will make pennies, while they promise you profit. It just isn't worth it.

Man, I remember when I showed up there at 3am one day. Me and some other guy were the only ones there. We chatted for a bit while it snowed about how annoying the unemployment office is, how hard it is to find work and just how some people like to string you along. I told him right then and there that I needed something better. Maybe this is it. Hope he's doing well.

Wherever that guy is, I wish him well.

As for me, I've got a job to do.

Where Have You Been?

The video that you see above is an adaptation of the classic story "Where are you going, where have you been?" by Joyce Carol Oates.

Ever since high school, this one story has followed me around. The first time I read it, I couldn't understand anything about it. I didn't know there were many layers to this one little story. The second time, much older, I was told that for a few extra credit points we could draw a representation of the story. That picture, I guess, is lost to time. Fortunately, In 2007, in my intro to fiction class, our teacher said we could do a short film for 30 extra credit points. I jumped at the chance. The films were only supposed to be 5 to 7 minutes long. Three other students jumped at this too. This short, however, was 13 minutes long which was way over the time allotted. But my teacher liked it so much he didn't care.

Hope you enjoy. Select the annotations for some trivia facts.

I played Arnold Friend while my girlfriend played Connie.

Have you ever read this story before? How did you feel when you read it?

"Reading is the sole means by which we slip, involuntarily, often helplessly, into another's skin, another's voice, another's soul." — Joyce Carol Oates

"N."

There are few things in this world that scare me...or at least get under my skin. When I was little, I'd run out of our neighbor's living room if they were watching a Freddy or Jason movie. But I can watch those today like they're nothing. Hell, I walk in to each of the Saw movies to see if it will give me an upset stomach. Not so much. I still get shivers when I see the old woman reaching out for Jack Nicholson in The Shinning though. That hasn't changed. That movie always scared the piss out of me. Also Pet Sematary. Looks like Stephen King was the only one who could successfully get under my skin.

Recently I've been combing through two of his works. Duma Key on audiobook, helps pass the time on the drive to and from work, and I've been reading his collection Just After Sunset. Some of those stories hit a note here or there. But the one that really struck a cord, which disturbed me, was "N."

In that story, King takes a thing like OCD and twists it so much, he almost has you going for a bit. I'm sure all of us have OCD on some level or another. I usually trot back to my car to make sure it's locked or the backdoor to someone's house. But I think that sort of thing is commonplace. Just double-checkin' is all.

But the story is creepy.

So, for a pre-halloween treat, please enjoy this animated short of 25 episodes based on Stephen King's story. Sleep tight.

"It is not wise to find symbols in everything that one sees. It makes life too full of terrors." ~ Oscar Wilde

Miles From Ordinary

You know what the mark of a true writer is?

We're misunderstood.


Sure, we have our shortfalls. But we keep on trudging on in our imaginary worlds. And it's only until we have something printed that we truly experience the fruits of our many labors. There are times in which I feel like the character Miles, from Sideways. He's got the stuff, he works hard at his stories. He's a pretty normal guy. But every time he comes in contact with someone, things are out of place. They live in a very different world than he does; where drinking heavily, not having to work for anything, and having multiple relationships is the norm. But, he's just a guy trying to get his book published. In the end, isn't that what we all want? A printed form of our world, one that people can visit?


Current word count of F.W.I.W. Short Story Collection - 66,214


"You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you." ~Ray Bradbury

Time to Clock Out!

Tomorrow, I dive right back into the pool of words. I figure I'll have just about enough time to shell out the "Clocks" short story. One thing I've learned is that if you are writing a short story and nothing is coming - stop. Take a week. The idea will grow branches then you can just pick and choose what goes into the story.

Also, when you write - just write. Don't think. The first draft, I've found, is the shell of the story. You don't have to get it right the first time. Build a foundation for something to stand on and you are all set.

Writing = A pain and a joy.

He makes it look so easy.

"Being an author is like being in charge of your own personal insane asylum." ~Graycie Harmon