Popping In

I remember the good old days when I had the time, energy, and inspiration to blog 5 or 6 days a week. Of course then i was simply a dreamer, a wanna be writer.Some of those dreams have come true and with every one that does my time dwindles away.

I'm not complaining so much as I am explaining my absence not only at this blog but yours as well. Soon my freelancing football gig will end for the year, and my Lettuce Is The Devil proposal package will be polished and in the hands of my agent so I hope to do better.

I've also been promoting Whispers by doing a few interviews around the blogosphere.

Today I'm at ONE THE FRONT PORCH :musing of a southern belle talking about french prostitutes, and who would win in a showdown between Andy Taylor and Matt Dillon.

Yesterday I was at This Writing Life talking about writing and motivation.

I'm going to be stopping by a few more blogs so I'll keep y'all posted on my whereabouts and I'll try to stop in and visit y'all as well.

Get It For Your KIds but Make Sure You Read It As Well

Some months ago I was lucky enough to score an advanced readers copy of this book.

I loved the book and finished it all too quickly because I simply couldn't put it down. At 38 I'm far older than its intended audience but I connected with Joshua right off the bat. Here is a description of the book I stole from Amazon.

Joshua Reed is used to moving around since his dad became an Army recruiter and the Vietnam War broke out. But their newest home, in the mountains of Pennsylvania, feels special somehow. Josh has started to make a new friend, his dad has finally allowed him to get a dog, and Jack-with his strange glowing ears and the way he seems to understand Josh's feelings-is like no other dog Josh has ever seen. But in Vietnam-era America, conflict is never far away-even on the homefront. When a local boy is killed overseas, the town turns on the new army recruiter. And when a few late-night disturbances all point to Jack, it will be up to Josh to fight for his dog, his family, and his new home.

Beyond the fact that the story captivated me I loved the book for it's ability educate and shed light on a time and mindset that few kids today have thought about. Given the first person POV Danette did an outstanding presenting the dilemma from several different angles. I passed the the book to my boys (8 and 10) and they loved it as much as I did.

Danette is a blog friend of long standing and while I've enjoyed her previous books, me & jack is one of those titles that I am eager to stand on the roof top and shout about. 

Pappa Bear

Father's Day is fast approaching.

I feel somewhat obligated to point this fact out since Dad's Day doesn't garner to same hoopla or media push as Mother's Day. Of sure we get a few sales in our honor. On things like lawnmowers, power tools, and rototillers. Things to make us do more work.

Why don't they slash the price of vacuum cleaners and washing machines for Mother's Day?

I'll tell you why. Because women would get pissed if we bought them those things. No we get force fed jewelry commercials and spa packages.

Here at the post office mail picks up in the days preceding Mother's day. Thick pink and other pastel colored envelopes color the mail as sons and daughters mail off profession of their maternal love and thanks.There is no spike in mail for Father's Day.

I'm not bitter, or even fishing for a father's day present myself. Just stating the obvious.

Actually this year I am giving my wife a present. Two days of rest and relaxation as me and my boys are headed camping for the weekend. Hopefully the fish will be biting and the temps will not get to high above 100.

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I would like to thank to two particular father who had absolutely nothing with my own entry into this world.

Charles Posey and Charles Gramlich both showed my e-book Whispers some love in recent blog posts and I thank them for helping spread the word.

Should you wish to pick up your own copy of Whispers you can do so here or here for the low sum of 99 cents.

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And speaking of Dad's, the main character in Christopher Moore's novel A Dirty Job is a hilarious one.

I'm a big fan of Moore's brand of quirky macabre humor and A Dirty Job novel only added to my fandom.

From Bookmarks Magazine

It's certainly original. Even the harshest critic can't begrudge Christopher Moore his vivid imagination, satirical plots, and humor. Like a good sleight-of-hand artist, Moore builds up a huge reserve of goodwill to pull off his most demanding trick yet: laughing at death.

So you getting your dear old pop's anything exciting. Might I suggest a book or three? There is always a starving author  out there ready to share a good tale.

Read A Dirty Job? What did you think?

Cracking Up In Amarillo -- A My Town Monday Post

A desert is defined as an area that receives less than 10 inches of rain a year.

Here it is June 12, nearly half way into the year and Amarillo has received exactly .68 inches of moisture since January 1st. At this rate we'll have an entire inch and half of moisture before baby new year next arrives.

Just this afternoon my boys and I rode bikes to the nearest city park, where I snapped this picture.

I'm not sure how often the city is watering these days but I water every other day and still this is a crack from my own lawn. The clothespin is there to give perspective to the width and length of the crack.

 

Luckily not all of my yard looks this way, but this patch is on a slanted south side of my yard. Not only does it bear the brunt of a full days sun without shade but the ground is so hard at this point the water tends to run off rather than soak in.

Along with no rain. we have had high temps with many days above 100 already this year and summer isn't even officially here.

We've had even higher wind speeds than normal which have fueled dozens of wildfires leading to 2.8 million acres burnt statewide and more than fifty homes in the Texas Panhandle alone.

Cattle prices are starting to drop because ranchers are selling their herds due to a lack of grazeable ranch land.

It's been a hot brutal year here in Amarillo while other parts of our country have dealt with floods and deadly tornadoes. Not sure who pissed off mother nature but somebody buy that gal a sic pack of wine coolers and tell her to chill.

For more My Town Monday posts visit the official MTM site or check out these links.

Jim Winter -- The return of Giant Jesus in Cincinnati, Ohio. 

Debra Bures cleans out a room and discovers the past in Village of Peninsula, Ohio

Barrie Summy stops to smell the roses following a school visit in San Diego, CA

Help Me Buy A New Shirt

I've made it no secret that despite being a native Texan, I am a diehard Nebraska Cornhusker fan and yet I sit here typing up this post wearing a t-shirt that reads "I AM A BOILERMAKER". Yes, Purdue is one of my beloved Huskers Big 10 conference rivals so while it feels a tad traitorous there are three reasons why I am able to actually wear the shirt.  (And yeah I realize this is a crappy picture but I haven't mastered the art of the self portrait just yet.)

1) It is booty and pirates loves booty. I won the short by winning my blogging pal Phats' basketball bracket back in March.

2) It is black and gold. The colors of my fave NFL team ... The New Orleans Saints.

3) Purdue is the alma mater of the man, the legend, the best QB in Saints history Drew Brees.

In other news my mini collection of stories is now up and available at Amazon for reading on your kindle or PC. Actually it has been up for a while but I was waiting on Barnes and Nobel to make it available for the nook as well. Not sure what the hold up is but since they are taking their sweet ass time I figured I'd go ahead and announce it's availability on Amazon.

If I'm being completely honest, I'm putting these stores out there for myself more than anything else, but it is my hope that for the low sum of  99 cents Whispers worth your time and money as well. The stories are fairly short but I hope you will enjoy them and if so please mention Whispers on your blog, facebook, and twitter accounts. I''ll be indebted to those who help me spread the word.

If you do not have a kindle but would like to read the collection you can download a free kindle app for either your smart phone or PC.

What Are You Doing Here

Today, I am blogging over at my other joint.

The subject?

Good food, new books, old recipes and a dash of sexual  psychotherapy.

JOIN US FOR THE FUN.

Feeling Rather Impish

I started this year with a number of goals. As we approach the halfway mark of 2011 I am faced with the reality that I have failed every last one of them.

And yet ... I don't feel like a failure.

Circumstances have changed. New opportunities have present themselves. Oh I could still stand to drop a few pounds but researching and writing a food book, especially one with a  decadent nature like Lettuce Is The Devil, is not exactly conducive to weight loss.

And while my humorous women's fiction novel involving bull semen, a nymphomaniacal senior citizen, and a woman who believes sex is ruining her life is on hold and not complete I am excited my soon to be released project titled, Whispers. The stories in Whispers are some of my personal favorites and two of them may be familiar to very long time readers of this blog but for a mere 99 cents I hope many of you will check them out upon their release.

I have not maintained my reading goals either and this is the one area that bothers me. But I hope to free some time and remedy this soon.

I did gather up the family and go see the latest Pirates of the Caribbean movie. I was eager to see Ian McShane portray Blackbeard but sadly his performance didn't quite live up to me hope.

Overall the movie was decent enough. Not as good as the first movie, way better than the turd of a third installment, and about on par with #2 in the franchise.

But I'll tell you what is good. The HBO series Game of Thrones.

 I have not read any of George R.R, Martin's writings but this series sure is making me want to. Then again HBO seems to be the only purveyor of good story telling on television and I am a fan of their current series Treme, and Boardwalk Empire and I loved Rome and Deadwood as well. True Blood is a bit too cheesy for me taste and I enjoyed The Sopranos for a season or three but I found those last few season boring, but I applaud HBO for bringing viewers something other than CIS Hoboken.

So tell me. Are you watching Game of Thrones? Treme? CIS Hoboken?