Blog Hop Post & Tags

I was tagged by friend and published writer/blogger AJ Scudiere as part of a blog hop to promote fellow writers. My instructions are to go to page 7 or 77 of my work in progress. Count down 7 lines and starting with line 7, share 7 lines. Then tag 7 writers. I don't know as many novel writers as she does, so I'm going to tag 6 friends who are all extremely creative story tellers in some way. Following the excerpt from my in-progress "The Four Horsemen," is a brief bit about each of those 6 people.

        Raspily he inhaled between lips inflamed and distended from days of triple-digit exposure. He had no provisions, not even a bone-dry canteen he might have half-submerged in a muddied puddle left by the monsoon which, only just, had both covered him with the ochre dust broomed forward of its thunderhead, and rinsed him clean of all but his sins. Even if the July Arizona sun had not evaporated the pitiful remains of the rain before the man could have even palmed a bit of water, his hands were so devoid themselves of moisture that the skin cracked and bled whenever flexed. Cracked until they bled. Then, drying, cracked and bled again.
   Cracked as the scorched earth that shimmered all around him.
   And bled as inevitably as his soul emptied.

Mark Morton, MFA, is the lead quitarist and songwriter of the music monster known as Lamb of God. The man smokes quitars! http://www.lamb-of-god.com/home. LOG had been nominated four times for a Grammy, including "Ghost Walking" for Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance for 2013. Say no more!

AJ Scudiere, of course, tagged me. Check her out at http://www.ajscudiere.com/blog/tag/smart-chickens/.

Speaking of quitars, Grammy Nominee Luis E. Villegas is a genius Latin Jazz guitarist/songwriter and one of the nicest people I know. What I don't know, is of anyone else who comes close to doing what he does, with the possible exception of Ottmar Liebert. "Cafe Olé" is one of my favorite albums. Check him out at http://www.luisvillegas.com and https://www.facebook.com/LuisVMusic.

Tamara Shure Roth Stafford is a fellow novelist, one who has writing in her blood. She's an actor's writer, one with deep empathy for the characters she creates.

Screenwriter Doug Amaturo taught me how to write the modern action-thriller. No one has done more to help refine my voice in that genre than him.

Comedian, writer, actor Jeff Cesario has written for Dennis Miller Live and The Larry Sanders Show, and appeared on the first Bob Hope Young Comedians special alongside Jeff Dunham, Jeff Foxworthy, and Betty White. Check him out at http://www.jeffcesario.com/index.html.

THE NEXT BIG THING BLOG HOP

There are the books everyone has heard about: Twilight, Hunger Games, Fifty Shades of Gray. But what about all those books written by people you’ve never heard of? Some of them are treasures, just waiting to be found, and that’s what this blog hop is all about: the books you might not have heard about, but that you might end up loving.

This blog hop is like a game of tag. One author posts and tags five other authors who link back to their website the next week and tag five new authors. If you follow the blog hop long enough, you’re bound to find some books you’ll love! Maybe you’ll even discover a book that ends up being the next big thing.

I was tagged by A.J. Scudiere. You can learn more about her novel-in-progress Inertia, and her published works by going to one of the links below after the last question. 

Here's a little info about my current project:

1: What is the working title of your book? The Chancellor Mechanism.

2: Where did the idea come from for the book? It came from a screenplay I wrote called "Red Ice." I always wanted to write a novel, so I used the screenplay as an outline for the novel. The idea for the screenplay came from a long-time friend, Mark Vasconcellos, who saw a program on Discovery about the Russian Diamond Fund vaults in the Kremlin Armory.

3: What genre does your book fall under? Popular thriller.

4: Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition? Tyler Oakland (male lead) could be Aaron Johnson ("Nowhere Boy"), David Kross ("War Horse") or Jamie Bell from The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn. For female lead Valeria Malinina,  Chloe Moretz would certainly "Kick Ass," as would Abbie Cornish from "Sucker Punch."

5: What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book? Newly minted CIA operative Tyler Oakland, and Valeria Malinina of the Russian Federal Security Service race across Europe to recover $145 billion worth of diamonds stolen in a ferocious armed attack on the Kremlin, and to prevent a coup of the Russian government.

6: Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency? Whatever it takes!

7: How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript? About two of inconsistent writing. I had to learn good writing habits!

8: What other books would you compare this story to within your genre? Tom Clancy's The Cardinal of the Kremlin.

9: Who or What inspired you to write this book? Novelist Robert Ludlum and his book The Matarese Circle.

10: What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest? This story is more than just action and kicking ass, of which there is enough. It delves into the mind of Tyler Oakland and his motivation for joining the CIA - what makes him tick, what his character needs to accomplish, and what his wants and needs are.

If you're on Facebook, you can add the page for The Chancellor Mechanism at www.facebook.com/pages/The-Chancellor-Mechanism/195168487160252

About A.J. Scudiere:

A.J. recent novel Phoenix AND novel #3 God’s Eye) Just got top honors at the USA Book Review Awards for 2012. (2 out of 6 awards given in Suspense.) You can find out more about A.J. and the Intelligent Suspense novels she writes at www.AJScudiere.com and follow the snarky Smart Chickens blog at www.SmartChickens.com or search ‘Smart Chickens’ on iTunes for the podcast.

Isabella and (not) Chicken Pox

Here is an email  my wonderful-mom sister-in-law had a few months ago with my brother Jeff about my niece Isabella...

Hi!  Remember last night I was telling you I was impressed that Isa knew so much about 'something?'  Chicken pox!  We were talking about being sick and she mentioned chicken pox."                    

"What is chicken pox?"  

Isa:  "Chicken pox is when you don't feel too well and you have tiny red spots all over your face." 

Claudia:  "Oh, so what should you do when you have chicken pox?"  

Isa:  "You need to stay in bed a long time."  

Claudia:  "And after staying in bed for a long time what happens?" 

Isa:  "You get all better, but you have to drink a lot of water!"  

Claudia:  "Oh, I remember when I was a little girl like you, and I got chicken pox, and I had to stay in bed for a long time and I couldn't go to school."  

Isa:  "Yeah, when I was a little girl like you I had chicken pox and I couldn't go to school either."  

Claudia:  "Oh, you remember when you were a little girl?"  

Isa:  "Yeah"  

Then she got dressed.  I asked her if she felt sick and then she said, "A little, but I don't have chicken pox! See? (points  to her face) I don't have spots on my face!" 

More Funny Things People Say And Do

1. "When I was your age, I had to walk to school. In the snow. Uphill. Both ways!" It seems like everyone's dad said this. They must have lived in a world painted by Salvador Dali, since, even though this memory was suspect, it remained persistent in the face of the obvious skepticism of their children.

2. Dr Weil is a syndicated newspaper columnist. A recent column of his was titled is "For healthier diet, avoid deep-frying." Really now?!

3. During a TV news conference in Los Angeles soon after I moved there, a police sergeant described the LAPD's response to a particular incident something like this: "We have 6 patrol cars, 10 officers, 2 helicopters, and1 K-9...dog." As opposed to what - a K-8...dog? A K-9...cat ?!

4. My Uncle Bob isn't the biggest fan of watching basketball games. He says you should start them with the score 100-100 and with two minutes left on the clock.

5. A few years ago, Channel 9 in Los Angeles ran an item on firefighter cooks and how some in LA were selling cookbooks to raise money for charity. During an interview, one of the firefighters was talking about the importance of a good-looking meal. He said, "presentation of a meal is 90%, so if you make a meal look good, that's half the battle right there."

6. Why do kids prefer the box the toy came in over the toy itself? Is it just something about boxes, like my niece Isabella seems to think?


















October 2006




















December 2007


7. I was flipping through the channels on TV one day and there was a special on how certain fried foods were made. An employee of Frito-Lay was describing the making of Fritos and their unique taste and said, "that's the taste we like to see in a Frito." I guess if you work at Frito-Lay, your taste buds have to be good at visualizing.

8. English Muffins promote, on their packages, "hearty nooks" and "tasty crannies." Hmmm. More visualization problems here. How can things like holes or spaces be tasty? You cold fill them up with butter - or, better yet, peanut butter - but then they wouldn't be holes or spaces anymore. Furthermore, wouldn't it be the just the butter or peanut butter that is "hearty" and "tasty?"

9. On my family's annual beach week at Long Beach on Oak Island in North Carolina, my brother-in-law Steve and I used to go down to the pier - a mile away - to get sausage biscuits for breakfast. Well, three years ago, some very wise investors bought the property and tore down "the longest pier in North Carolina," the only pier with "reef balls." Reef balls? Sounds like a rash you might catch when you've been standing in the surf fishing too long.

Anyway, the investors broke the property up into five lots, which have been on the market ever since. The only way that was a wise investment was if they bought Beana's, the only other place nearby to get a half-decent sausage biscuit, since the longest/reef ball pier was deconstructed. Well, even though their biscuits aren't all that - they're undercooked and the sausage patties are too small - early this month when we were at the beach, I had to satisfy my craving, so I drove down to Beana's, about three miles away at the other end of Long Beach.

A lady that works there - I don't know if she's Beana, or a waitress, or what - had bought her two kids in to help out. The older one, a girl of about eleven or twelve, was writing the specials of the day on a dry erase board. She had just written "Cheeseburger and French Fries," when her mother walked by and saw what was on the board. "No, no," she said, in a thick southern accent. "We don't call them 'French' fries, because we don't like the French people." Hmmm..."the" French people. Thank God we're not dealing in hyperbole here. "French," of course, by the way, was pronounced "Free-unch."

On another note, my cousin Melissa used to refer to her two grandmothers as "city grandma" and "country grandma..."

10. So back to the "country"...

One morning at the beach, I went to Food Lion to get some groceries and to pick up the Charlotte Observer - Charlotte, of course, being the closest urban area with a newspaper worth picking (literally) up. I must clarify here, that the reason I wanted the Charlotte Observer wasn't for the quality of news reporting (we had cable and Nancy Grace - another story WAY altogether for that), but for the quality of the crossword puzzle. Yes, I am addicted to the crossword puzzle. Thanks, Mom. To be fair to her, though, she says it helps the brain function better.

Anyway, I asked the cashier if they sold the Charlotte newspaper there, and the man said, "Oh, that's a little too advay-unced for us around here. I might have to git out the Webster's dictionary. But ahll read the sports page."

You couldn't script those two scenes, because reality is truly stranger than fiction.

P.S. That was "advanced," for all of you who don' t speak Southern.

P.P.S. I think I need to do more crossword puzzles.

The Neighbor's Dog

The neighbors across the street have a little bark monster. Or so he used to be. I was just walking by and he was standing in the garage looking at me and didn't make a sound. I forgot the little mutt mix had on one of those collars that shock you when you bark. I suppose I should be thankful since he used to bark at anything and everything, and when he started, he didn't stop. If there was a delivery truck next door, he'd bark until the truck left. God forbid there were landscapers around. Then a new neighbor moved in, complained, and the collar went on.

The neighbors, very nice people, would leave the dog in the yard when they were at work. It's a bit distracting for a writer to have a bark monster right across the street, but he's an "outside" dog. Not that that makes it right. As many times as I'd wish that dog would be quiet, I never went over to complain, and after one night last summer, I figured he could bark as much as he wanted to.

It was about ten o'clock at night and the little guy just wouldn't stop barking. Not wouldn't, but wouldn't. I was waiting for him to go hoarse. It was crazy. I looked out the window and there was fire department truck in the street. Not a fire truck, but a department pick up. The neighbor works for the city, so I thought maybe it was work related. After an eternity, the barking finally stopped.

In Arizona in the summer, you have to watch out for rattlesnakes, especially out on the edge of the city where we live. I almost met this one the hard way when I was weeding one day. The picture is a little blurry, but I figured just getting any picture would be enough!

The firemen that came to take him away said he was pretty young, only about a foot long. Only. However, they said these are the most dangerous because they haven't learned to bite quickly without releasing all of their venom.

Well, as it turned out the neighbor's dog was barking at a rattlesnake. I guess it was okay, venom-wise, that the snake was older, since that meant that if anyone (including the dog) got bit, the snake wouldn't have injected all of its venom. However, this rattlesnake was six feet long and five inches in diameter. Six feet long! He wouldn't have bitten the dog; he would have eaten him.

All I have to say, besides "snakes, I hate snakes," is take the shock collar off!

Simple Pleasures

1. Walking barefoot in the surf.

2. Finding money (the paper kind) in a suit you haven't worn in a while.

3. A baby's smile.

4. A child running into your arms.

5. A puppy wagging his tail at you.

6. Falling asleep to the sound of rain on the roof.

7. A rainbow.

8. My nieces' pictures on the computer screensaver.

9. Catching every green light on your way somewhere.

10. A stranger (especially a good looking one) smiling back at you.

Yard Sale

There are few things more year-round Saturday-morning American than the garage/yard sale. To make it even more fun, organize your community and have a few neighborhood sales a year. Just encourage people to haggle. It's fun!

Remember, the idea isn't only to make money; it's to get rid of dust-collecting stuff. Figure out what an item you're going to sell is worth, then lower the price. Now be prepared to lower it again when people haggle. Sometimes I think if people don't haggle, then you should encourage them to do so by saying something like, "Well, it's my sister's and she wants $40 for it but if you ask, I'll let you have it for $30, as long as you don't let her know."

Here's a person who obviously hasn't bought a paperback for under six dollars in a while (which means she doesn't read very much)...

"How much are the books?"
"The hard backs are a dollar and the paperbacks are fifty cents."
"Fifty cents?! It's amazing how much yard sale prices have gone up."
Gone up? What do go up to fifty cents from? A quarter? Some people...if it's not twenty-five cents they won't buy it. Some people will come up to your sale and ask for a price on something and if it isn't twenty-five cents, they will walk away. Walk away. Needless to say, she didn't buy anything.

Hello...? Haggle...!

"How much are the books?"
"The hard backs are a dollar and the paperbacks are fifty cents."
"How about a discount?"
"Okay. How about you buy five and you get one free?"
"Excellent. I might have to get a bunch."
"Great. Here's a paper bag."

A big paper bag.