The Boss Gazette
A Publishing Deal / April 20 2024
I'm excited to share that I've just signed a contract with Three Ravens Publishing for my next book, Entry Level. You can see the promo art above. There was a lot of debate about going the self published route because I wanted to get another book out to the world one way or another. Then I found them, they found me, like people running through a field in an antidepressant commercial.
I've blabbed about this book before but I'm thrilled that it will make it to the public. It's a combination of humor, fantasy, coming of age, sci-fi. It's all the things I like rolled into a book.
It was also the book out of five novels I pitched to friend that go the most votes (tied with Paradigm but broken by my nieces and her friends). So it was destiny for this one to be the next.
I've also been working on a new Metal album while I've waited on this book deal to finish. You can check that out here. EL CARO.
For now, get your brains ready for Entry Level. Go read the Cosmic Ark series if you can't wait or listen to my podcast.
Thanks for the support.
I've blabbed about this book before but I'm thrilled that it will make it to the public. It's a combination of humor, fantasy, coming of age, sci-fi. It's all the things I like rolled into a book.
It was also the book out of five novels I pitched to friend that go the most votes (tied with Paradigm but broken by my nieces and her friends). So it was destiny for this one to be the next.
I've also been working on a new Metal album while I've waited on this book deal to finish. You can check that out here. EL CARO.
For now, get your brains ready for Entry Level. Go read the Cosmic Ark series if you can't wait or listen to my podcast.
Thanks for the support.
New Year, New Book / January 1 2024
We made it? Is that what you're supposed to say when it hits January? There are many holidays and parties crammed into the end of every year, then the barren winter of no party holidays for a while. Could we not have spread this out for the sake of livers everywhere? Dry January anyone?
Anyway, I have exciting news. (If you haven't seen the new banner up top) If you have seen the banner then you know that I have a new novel coming out in 2024! Entry Level is the name. It will be available in paperback, hardback, e-book, and audiobook. I don't have a date yet but I'm hoping by summer. You know how much time these editing things take...
You can get the idea of the artwork in the banner. Here's a blurb about the story.
It’s 1990, and Leo Sanford has just been expelled from Central Baptist University for creating an explicit topiary of the female figure using a push mower on the front lawn of the quad. After a humiliating ride back to his hometown of Westshore, Michigan, his father suggests Leo join him as a traveling clothing salesman. As partners, they could travel around the Midwest in their wood-paneled station wagon with the mannequins, sporting the latest fashions, as backseat passengers.
Instead, Leo opts for an entry level job at All the Hits Video Rental. He spends his shifts covering for his boss’s irresponsible son and trying to work out his vacillating friendship with Tressa, a waitress with a popcorn addiction, who works at the diner next door.
During an especially dull shift, Leo finds an alien portal opening in the adult section of the video store, just behind the hanging beads. Defending himself with only a pair of rollerblades, he enters an alternate universe at war. To get back home, Leo must promise to act as a messenger between the worlds, and return again with a pack of Lucky Strikes and a box of Lemonheads.
Hopefully that sounds as fun to you as it was to write. I really enjoyed coming up with this book. It's a (fictional) combination of childhood memories of rollerblading around town, to the video story, and wherever else, and a strange alien world that's much different from previous books.
This one has more humor and some emotional touching moments as well.
Please follow me on all the social media (my links are above and I've added Instagram and Youtube) save this website, whatever you gotta do to see when Entry Level becomes available.
Many good hopes for the new year for all of us.
Anyway, I have exciting news. (If you haven't seen the new banner up top) If you have seen the banner then you know that I have a new novel coming out in 2024! Entry Level is the name. It will be available in paperback, hardback, e-book, and audiobook. I don't have a date yet but I'm hoping by summer. You know how much time these editing things take...
You can get the idea of the artwork in the banner. Here's a blurb about the story.
It’s 1990, and Leo Sanford has just been expelled from Central Baptist University for creating an explicit topiary of the female figure using a push mower on the front lawn of the quad. After a humiliating ride back to his hometown of Westshore, Michigan, his father suggests Leo join him as a traveling clothing salesman. As partners, they could travel around the Midwest in their wood-paneled station wagon with the mannequins, sporting the latest fashions, as backseat passengers.
Instead, Leo opts for an entry level job at All the Hits Video Rental. He spends his shifts covering for his boss’s irresponsible son and trying to work out his vacillating friendship with Tressa, a waitress with a popcorn addiction, who works at the diner next door.
During an especially dull shift, Leo finds an alien portal opening in the adult section of the video store, just behind the hanging beads. Defending himself with only a pair of rollerblades, he enters an alternate universe at war. To get back home, Leo must promise to act as a messenger between the worlds, and return again with a pack of Lucky Strikes and a box of Lemonheads.
Hopefully that sounds as fun to you as it was to write. I really enjoyed coming up with this book. It's a (fictional) combination of childhood memories of rollerblading around town, to the video story, and wherever else, and a strange alien world that's much different from previous books.
This one has more humor and some emotional touching moments as well.
Please follow me on all the social media (my links are above and I've added Instagram and Youtube) save this website, whatever you gotta do to see when Entry Level becomes available.
Many good hopes for the new year for all of us.
Wooly Worm / September 4 2023
I saw a wooly worm that was more black than orange. That's supposed to mean a longer, harsh winter. In the middle of an extra hot summer, this is not something to tease me with. I won't be excited three months into scraping the windshield every morning, but right now I could use a cold, brisk day, some soup, leaves falling, maybe a football game on TV.
I've been learning how the human body does not like to get overheated. Seems obvious, but it bothered me a lot less when I was 18. I've been reading some novellas lately because my attention span is for shit. I'm between projects, mapping out my next novel with the first chapter mostly done. In between musical projects. Sweaty all the time. All I've got are a few pages before bed. I read "The Mist" by Stephen King. Old but enjoyable. I also read "A Psalm for the Wild-Built" by Becky Chambers. It was a very good, calm, pensive look at life and purpose as discussed by a Tea Monk (Monks that travel around with a tea cart to give people a place to chill and talk) and a Robot that had left humanity hundreds of years ago and has come back to make contact. There is no war. No I-robot scenarios. Just a straight up, good conversation. It was refreshing to say the least. I'll be reading more of her in the near future and you will probably hear about it here.
I've been rewatching the Venture Bros. (Adult Swim show that started in 2003 and just concluded it with a final movie last month) I remembered why I liked it in the first place. When you get past all the absurd situations, and rough, dark humor, you see a series chalked full of characters that are failures. They all fail in their own ways. Their issues taking center stage in different episodes and I find it all the more enjoyable to root for them to succeed even a little. Just a little win is all we ask sometimes and that's all most of them get, a little win. But if you tie this back to the Becky Chambers book, it's not about being a big success. To quote it directly: "You keep asking why your work is not enough, and I don't know how to answer that, because it is enough to exist in the world and marvel at it. You don't need to justify that or earn it. You are allowed to just live. That is all that most animals do."
Somehow that's inspiring to me. Maybe it is to you too. I don't think capitalism agrees.
On the podcast side of things, I'm still doing The Stocky Man. Due to a glitch in the site I use for my releases, last week's was queued up but didn't go out until today. So go check it out. Start at the beginning if you haven't listened to the first couple.
And while you're at it, try to exist in the world and marvel at it if you can.
I've been learning how the human body does not like to get overheated. Seems obvious, but it bothered me a lot less when I was 18. I've been reading some novellas lately because my attention span is for shit. I'm between projects, mapping out my next novel with the first chapter mostly done. In between musical projects. Sweaty all the time. All I've got are a few pages before bed. I read "The Mist" by Stephen King. Old but enjoyable. I also read "A Psalm for the Wild-Built" by Becky Chambers. It was a very good, calm, pensive look at life and purpose as discussed by a Tea Monk (Monks that travel around with a tea cart to give people a place to chill and talk) and a Robot that had left humanity hundreds of years ago and has come back to make contact. There is no war. No I-robot scenarios. Just a straight up, good conversation. It was refreshing to say the least. I'll be reading more of her in the near future and you will probably hear about it here.
I've been rewatching the Venture Bros. (Adult Swim show that started in 2003 and just concluded it with a final movie last month) I remembered why I liked it in the first place. When you get past all the absurd situations, and rough, dark humor, you see a series chalked full of characters that are failures. They all fail in their own ways. Their issues taking center stage in different episodes and I find it all the more enjoyable to root for them to succeed even a little. Just a little win is all we ask sometimes and that's all most of them get, a little win. But if you tie this back to the Becky Chambers book, it's not about being a big success. To quote it directly: "You keep asking why your work is not enough, and I don't know how to answer that, because it is enough to exist in the world and marvel at it. You don't need to justify that or earn it. You are allowed to just live. That is all that most animals do."
Somehow that's inspiring to me. Maybe it is to you too. I don't think capitalism agrees.
On the podcast side of things, I'm still doing The Stocky Man. Due to a glitch in the site I use for my releases, last week's was queued up but didn't go out until today. So go check it out. Start at the beginning if you haven't listened to the first couple.
And while you're at it, try to exist in the world and marvel at it if you can.
Book Reviews and New Podcast / August 14 2023
It's about time for a "what I've been reading and enjoying" list for the year. Even though they're a biased part of Amazon, I do enjoy Goodreads for keeping track of books I want to read or have read, as well as the yearly reading goal. Just don't get too intense about it. Read because you want to.
Looking at my list, I did a lot of rereads this year. I think because once I read Cloud Cuckoo Land (which I posted about back in January, it's great) I hit a bit of a dull streak. Nothing terrible but nothing that struck me.
So, I reread a few that did hit me.
Dark Matter - Blake Crouch. This is the epitome of his writing to me. It's fast paced, has a good amount of action, but this one hits the emotional and thoughtful sides as well. It's got some of the multiverse aspect which we see a lot of but it was published in 2016 and just nails the whole different versions of life aspect.
The Gunslinger - Stephen King. This used to be my least favorite of the Dark Tower series but I enjoyed it more this time around. I had the ambitious idea that I would read all seven books again but that didn't happen. I made it through two and a half and gave up. If you haven't read this series, it's worth it. It definitely has his classic horror elements but also adventure, sci-fi, and whatever else you want to call it.
The Fisherman - John Langan. Great horror. Some historical parts. A sad dude learns to fish after the death of his wife but finds something super fucked up in the process and learns the history through a story told to him that covers the entire middle of the book.
I also hit up some graphic novels that I really enjoy.
Locke and Key - Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez. These are so good. They became a not so great netflix show but should be read in the graphic novel format for sure.
The Graveyard Book - Neil Gaiman. I've read the book version of this and enjoyed it. Now I've read the graphic novel version, also good. Only complaint on this one is the artist changed for each issue and I liked the first artist the best so it just felt a little -not as good- each issue even though it was the same story.
As for new stories. I've done a bunch of submissions recently on a bunch of projects. I'm very hopeful we'll see one or two of them picked up to be published but there are no guarantees unless your name is James Patterson. Then they can't stop you even if they want to.
I have started a new story on my podcast Storytime with Scott Boss. (also on Apple) It's one I wrote in 2019 called "The Stocky Man." A humorous take on the Slender Man myth/story. The Stocky Man makes me laugh too much. It's been hard getting through some parts on the recording because I'm giggling like a child and having to retake over and over. It's got some rough humor as the Stocky Man keeps asking the main character, Andrew, to kill people and describes the ways he could do it, all while Andrew doesn't listen to him in any way but can't get the Stocky Man out of his head. Anyway, head over and check it out. Just not around your kids.
Looking at my list, I did a lot of rereads this year. I think because once I read Cloud Cuckoo Land (which I posted about back in January, it's great) I hit a bit of a dull streak. Nothing terrible but nothing that struck me.
So, I reread a few that did hit me.
Dark Matter - Blake Crouch. This is the epitome of his writing to me. It's fast paced, has a good amount of action, but this one hits the emotional and thoughtful sides as well. It's got some of the multiverse aspect which we see a lot of but it was published in 2016 and just nails the whole different versions of life aspect.
The Gunslinger - Stephen King. This used to be my least favorite of the Dark Tower series but I enjoyed it more this time around. I had the ambitious idea that I would read all seven books again but that didn't happen. I made it through two and a half and gave up. If you haven't read this series, it's worth it. It definitely has his classic horror elements but also adventure, sci-fi, and whatever else you want to call it.
The Fisherman - John Langan. Great horror. Some historical parts. A sad dude learns to fish after the death of his wife but finds something super fucked up in the process and learns the history through a story told to him that covers the entire middle of the book.
I also hit up some graphic novels that I really enjoy.
Locke and Key - Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez. These are so good. They became a not so great netflix show but should be read in the graphic novel format for sure.
The Graveyard Book - Neil Gaiman. I've read the book version of this and enjoyed it. Now I've read the graphic novel version, also good. Only complaint on this one is the artist changed for each issue and I liked the first artist the best so it just felt a little -not as good- each issue even though it was the same story.
As for new stories. I've done a bunch of submissions recently on a bunch of projects. I'm very hopeful we'll see one or two of them picked up to be published but there are no guarantees unless your name is James Patterson. Then they can't stop you even if they want to.
I have started a new story on my podcast Storytime with Scott Boss. (also on Apple) It's one I wrote in 2019 called "The Stocky Man." A humorous take on the Slender Man myth/story. The Stocky Man makes me laugh too much. It's been hard getting through some parts on the recording because I'm giggling like a child and having to retake over and over. It's got some rough humor as the Stocky Man keeps asking the main character, Andrew, to kill people and describes the ways he could do it, all while Andrew doesn't listen to him in any way but can't get the Stocky Man out of his head. Anyway, head over and check it out. Just not around your kids.
Start to disappear / July 22 2023
Oh, social media, how we need thee and how thee tortures us. At least, that's where I find my relationship with it. So, you don't have to have it, but then you don't see what your friends and family are up to. Sure, you can call, and text, and go to a dang potluck or Superbowl party once in a while, but social media makes it easier to see the new baby without having to lie to some new parent's face that the baby is just not that cute. (If you're a friend who recently had a baby, know that I'm not talking about you, this was a joke, probably)
Social media is also a great way to promote your works like all the books and music I'm writing. There's no better way than for my book cover to pop up on your feed with a link to click and purchase right on the spot. But that means it works that way for EVERY person and EVERY company/publisher/evil entity. And it's not about quality, it's about getting it in your face and hope for the impulse buy.
Have you shopped online ANYWHERE lately? So much crap and also some of the things you want and need. But so much crap you didn't know you needed.
What's the question a lot of us ask someone after they've bought the thing that keeps popping up in their newsfeed? Is it actually good? And they have a couple options. They can say "Yeah, it's good." Which probably means it wasn't good but they don't want to admit the impulse buy brain won that day. Or they can say, "No, don't waste your money." This is the honest friend which we all need more of, but, does this honest friend have good taste in art? There's another rabbit hole. Maybe they don't like it but you will. They could also say, "It actually was really good. Glad I got it." And that's so great, because now you know that......it could be good if their taste in art is similar to yours. If you're in the right mood to consume this art. That it's not going to a pile with all the other things you said you'd read/watch/listen to.
Thank you for indulging the stream of thought I go through daily.
On to real things.
I've been working on submitting books for my next publication. I have a lot to pick from and I love them all. It's hard but I'm going to make sure I have a new book out next year one way or another. Likely with an audiobook version as well.
I have been working on a hardcore/metal album under my band, EL CARO. This one is called, Imported from America. It takes a lot of shots at cults, politicians, billionaires, and discusses how people can get forced into bad situations/beliefs because those around them latch on at their weakest moments like during a miscarriage or other awful event. If you lean on the heavy side at all, follow this link EL CARO and/or follow EL CARO on whatever streaming service you use so you're alerted of the new album when it comes out in a month.
The next music I work on will probably be more in the rock genre like the last Scott Boss album .
As for book teases:
I'm currently editing Entry Level which I've discussed before but here's a quick pitch you can hand off to your friend who loves to publish books:
It’s 1990, and Leo Sanford has just been expelled from Central Baptist University for creating an explicit topiary of the female figure using a push mower on the front lawn of the quad. After a humiliating ride back to his hometown of Westshore, Michigan, his father suggests Leo join him as a traveling clothing salesman. As partners, they could travel around the Midwest in their wood-paneled station wagon with the mannequins, sporting the latest fashions, as backseat passengers.
Instead, Leo opts for an entry level job at All the Hits Video Rental. He spends his shifts covering for his boss’s irresponsible son and trying to work out his vacillating friendship with Tressa, a waitress with a popcorn addiction, who works at the diner next door.
During an especially dull shift, Leo finds an alien portal opening in the adult section of the video store, just behind the hanging beads. Defending himself with only a pair of rollerblades, he enters an alternate universe at war. To get back home, Leo must promise to act as a messenger between the worlds, and return again with a pack of Lucky Strikes and a box of Lemonheads.
Another book I just finished is titled: Father's Wishes.
Eliza Newport lost her father just a week ago. His last remaining boxes sit at the foot of her bed, full of junk that somehow he considered an inheritance. As she digs through them, she finds an old compact she had as a teenager. She flips it open just like she did back then, only now, it’s her father’s face in the mirror instead of her reflection, and he’s speaking to her, asking her to do things for him, things that may help him move on from the dark place he’s in.
As crazy as it is, she wants to help him, only, with each task he sets upon her, she feels something more sinister in his requests.
Hopefully those sound interesting to you.
I'll keep writing, you keep reading, and we'll all keep moving through life. Thanks for reading.
Social media is also a great way to promote your works like all the books and music I'm writing. There's no better way than for my book cover to pop up on your feed with a link to click and purchase right on the spot. But that means it works that way for EVERY person and EVERY company/publisher/evil entity. And it's not about quality, it's about getting it in your face and hope for the impulse buy.
Have you shopped online ANYWHERE lately? So much crap and also some of the things you want and need. But so much crap you didn't know you needed.
What's the question a lot of us ask someone after they've bought the thing that keeps popping up in their newsfeed? Is it actually good? And they have a couple options. They can say "Yeah, it's good." Which probably means it wasn't good but they don't want to admit the impulse buy brain won that day. Or they can say, "No, don't waste your money." This is the honest friend which we all need more of, but, does this honest friend have good taste in art? There's another rabbit hole. Maybe they don't like it but you will. They could also say, "It actually was really good. Glad I got it." And that's so great, because now you know that......it could be good if their taste in art is similar to yours. If you're in the right mood to consume this art. That it's not going to a pile with all the other things you said you'd read/watch/listen to.
Thank you for indulging the stream of thought I go through daily.
On to real things.
I've been working on submitting books for my next publication. I have a lot to pick from and I love them all. It's hard but I'm going to make sure I have a new book out next year one way or another. Likely with an audiobook version as well.
I have been working on a hardcore/metal album under my band, EL CARO. This one is called, Imported from America. It takes a lot of shots at cults, politicians, billionaires, and discusses how people can get forced into bad situations/beliefs because those around them latch on at their weakest moments like during a miscarriage or other awful event. If you lean on the heavy side at all, follow this link EL CARO and/or follow EL CARO on whatever streaming service you use so you're alerted of the new album when it comes out in a month.
The next music I work on will probably be more in the rock genre like the last Scott Boss album .
As for book teases:
I'm currently editing Entry Level which I've discussed before but here's a quick pitch you can hand off to your friend who loves to publish books:
It’s 1990, and Leo Sanford has just been expelled from Central Baptist University for creating an explicit topiary of the female figure using a push mower on the front lawn of the quad. After a humiliating ride back to his hometown of Westshore, Michigan, his father suggests Leo join him as a traveling clothing salesman. As partners, they could travel around the Midwest in their wood-paneled station wagon with the mannequins, sporting the latest fashions, as backseat passengers.
Instead, Leo opts for an entry level job at All the Hits Video Rental. He spends his shifts covering for his boss’s irresponsible son and trying to work out his vacillating friendship with Tressa, a waitress with a popcorn addiction, who works at the diner next door.
During an especially dull shift, Leo finds an alien portal opening in the adult section of the video store, just behind the hanging beads. Defending himself with only a pair of rollerblades, he enters an alternate universe at war. To get back home, Leo must promise to act as a messenger between the worlds, and return again with a pack of Lucky Strikes and a box of Lemonheads.
Another book I just finished is titled: Father's Wishes.
Eliza Newport lost her father just a week ago. His last remaining boxes sit at the foot of her bed, full of junk that somehow he considered an inheritance. As she digs through them, she finds an old compact she had as a teenager. She flips it open just like she did back then, only now, it’s her father’s face in the mirror instead of her reflection, and he’s speaking to her, asking her to do things for him, things that may help him move on from the dark place he’s in.
As crazy as it is, she wants to help him, only, with each task he sets upon her, she feels something more sinister in his requests.
Hopefully those sound interesting to you.
I'll keep writing, you keep reading, and we'll all keep moving through life. Thanks for reading.
We must sell / March 17 2023
My god with the advertisements.
Right? You've seen them. Everywhere. I try to watch a 15 second clip online and it's got a 30 second advertisement. I scroll social media and have to learn what's real and what's "sponsored." It's starting to feel about 50/50 at this point, which completely defeats the purpose of going to check on what your friends have been up to.
Podcasts... I listen to some bigger podcast and some smaller, but they all have advertisements. Some, it feels like every 10 minutes and it's hard to ever get in a groove. Because I will skip the commercials. You know I will. But then I have to time it right to not land two sentences in to the next segment.
You buy a new phone or computer and it's loaded with bloatware (advertisements).
Even your Google searches. That's something to really pay attention to. And that part scares me a little. If I'm searching for something, rather than giving me the actual top result, I get three "sponsored" results that are trying to piggyback off what you actually want. A lot of times those results are even made to look like the thing you're looking for.
Hey Google, show me Bossman Inc. Apocalypse Shelter Steel Doors. And you know this product. Everyone knows this product. It's a very specific brand and the ONLY brand you should use for this purpose. But what do you get in your search results?
Bossy End of Times (composite) Steel Doors.
Who's the Boss Diecast Metal Bomb Shelter Trap Door
Like a Boss, Fully Aluminum and fiberboard, Shelter Door.
Then, somewhere below all that trash, is the actual product you wanted. Did you ever make it there?
I got a survey the other day from our cable provider, promising to enroll me in a chance to win $100 or some BS. I had a minute, I went to filling it out. Now, I'll say, in the past, a survey to me, meant questions about things to get your opinion or preferences. THIS one however, was just an advertisement. It went something like this:
Question 1: Did you know we offer phone service?
Question 2: Did you know our phone service is 4x more awesome than your current phone service?
Question 3: Did you know our network is so amazing, you'd be an idiot to go with anything else, including not bundling your internet with your phone service?
Question 4: Is it true that you only stay with your current service because you're a stupid asshat that will never amount to anything?
Something like that at least. And that's not a survey by the way. That's an advertisement. Boy, do I hope to win that $100 gift card that probably doesn't exist.
It's all capitalism at its finest, isn't it? The joke about the Chinese balloons flying over us with the message "We've been trying to reach you about your car's extended warranty" is only funny because it's so close to the truth.
Is there a point to this rant? Maybe. All I can say is, it's more important now than ever to be aware of what's going into your brain on the daily. Protecting your mental health, we've all learned (or are learning), is very important.
Maybe 1,000 years from now, we'll have evolved to the point that we can handle all this information at once, but right now, we can't. And if you've read my books, I find it unlikely we'll be here in 1,000 years. (Not because we've found a way to live in space, sadly, but the other reason)
If we were here in 1,000 years, I feel like we'll be the full encapsulation of that evolution shirt that shows man going from ape, learning to stand straight, then slowly bending, then hunching over a computer, until we become complete Advertisement Neanderthals. Just swiping away, and wading through swarms of commercials like prehistoric bugs.
There may be hope. I've met some of the youth of today (did that sound as 'old fogey' of a sentence as I meant for it to?) and they seem less and less keen on just sitting on social media and getting advertised to. They'd rather join a stream, Twitch, Steam, whatever it's all called, and WATCH somebody else play video games, than scroll, and fight their way through advertisements on social media like some of us still do.
Does that leave us hopeful that we'll evolve not to become the Advertisement Neanderthals, but something a little better, a little wiser, that puts controls on how much commercial the human brain can handle?
It might. But the waves will overtake us all anyway.
In the meantime, check out my Podcast. I've got a few sessions of my novel, Lila, left. You can pick up from the beginning if you haven't started yet and basically enjoy a whole audiobook novel for free, with NO ADVERTISEMENTS... At least outside of me occasionally mentioning my books. Goddamn it. They've gotten to me too...
Right? You've seen them. Everywhere. I try to watch a 15 second clip online and it's got a 30 second advertisement. I scroll social media and have to learn what's real and what's "sponsored." It's starting to feel about 50/50 at this point, which completely defeats the purpose of going to check on what your friends have been up to.
Podcasts... I listen to some bigger podcast and some smaller, but they all have advertisements. Some, it feels like every 10 minutes and it's hard to ever get in a groove. Because I will skip the commercials. You know I will. But then I have to time it right to not land two sentences in to the next segment.
You buy a new phone or computer and it's loaded with bloatware (advertisements).
Even your Google searches. That's something to really pay attention to. And that part scares me a little. If I'm searching for something, rather than giving me the actual top result, I get three "sponsored" results that are trying to piggyback off what you actually want. A lot of times those results are even made to look like the thing you're looking for.
Hey Google, show me Bossman Inc. Apocalypse Shelter Steel Doors. And you know this product. Everyone knows this product. It's a very specific brand and the ONLY brand you should use for this purpose. But what do you get in your search results?
Bossy End of Times (composite) Steel Doors.
Who's the Boss Diecast Metal Bomb Shelter Trap Door
Like a Boss, Fully Aluminum and fiberboard, Shelter Door.
Then, somewhere below all that trash, is the actual product you wanted. Did you ever make it there?
I got a survey the other day from our cable provider, promising to enroll me in a chance to win $100 or some BS. I had a minute, I went to filling it out. Now, I'll say, in the past, a survey to me, meant questions about things to get your opinion or preferences. THIS one however, was just an advertisement. It went something like this:
Question 1: Did you know we offer phone service?
Question 2: Did you know our phone service is 4x more awesome than your current phone service?
Question 3: Did you know our network is so amazing, you'd be an idiot to go with anything else, including not bundling your internet with your phone service?
Question 4: Is it true that you only stay with your current service because you're a stupid asshat that will never amount to anything?
Something like that at least. And that's not a survey by the way. That's an advertisement. Boy, do I hope to win that $100 gift card that probably doesn't exist.
It's all capitalism at its finest, isn't it? The joke about the Chinese balloons flying over us with the message "We've been trying to reach you about your car's extended warranty" is only funny because it's so close to the truth.
Is there a point to this rant? Maybe. All I can say is, it's more important now than ever to be aware of what's going into your brain on the daily. Protecting your mental health, we've all learned (or are learning), is very important.
Maybe 1,000 years from now, we'll have evolved to the point that we can handle all this information at once, but right now, we can't. And if you've read my books, I find it unlikely we'll be here in 1,000 years. (Not because we've found a way to live in space, sadly, but the other reason)
If we were here in 1,000 years, I feel like we'll be the full encapsulation of that evolution shirt that shows man going from ape, learning to stand straight, then slowly bending, then hunching over a computer, until we become complete Advertisement Neanderthals. Just swiping away, and wading through swarms of commercials like prehistoric bugs.
There may be hope. I've met some of the youth of today (did that sound as 'old fogey' of a sentence as I meant for it to?) and they seem less and less keen on just sitting on social media and getting advertised to. They'd rather join a stream, Twitch, Steam, whatever it's all called, and WATCH somebody else play video games, than scroll, and fight their way through advertisements on social media like some of us still do.
Does that leave us hopeful that we'll evolve not to become the Advertisement Neanderthals, but something a little better, a little wiser, that puts controls on how much commercial the human brain can handle?
It might. But the waves will overtake us all anyway.
In the meantime, check out my Podcast. I've got a few sessions of my novel, Lila, left. You can pick up from the beginning if you haven't started yet and basically enjoy a whole audiobook novel for free, with NO ADVERTISEMENTS... At least outside of me occasionally mentioning my books. Goddamn it. They've gotten to me too...
About time / January 22 2023
And we're back. New year, new you. A little late to the new year part, aren't I? I've been doing other things like starting a new novel reading on my podcast you can check out on Apple or Spotify (as well as Stitcher and Google if you use those)
I also did an appearance on Writers Not Writing podcast, run by Not a Pipe Publishing. It was a great interview and conversation. Check it out if you haven't yet. They are also on the other podcast platforms if you like to hear more.
I've done some traveling for work to begin the year which has given me some good time to read. I just finished The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi, and have moved on the Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr. The first one was okay, quick a semi-entertaining. I preferred Old Man's War if you want to check out John Scalzi. As for Cloud Cuckoo Land, I've heard nothing but great things and I'm about 20% in and it seems possible they're right. We'll find out.
What I don't understand is how people get on airplanes without books or earbuds or anything. I sat near a guy that just kept huffing and swallowing, resting his head on the seat in front of him, then pulling it back as if he wasn't given the flight duration way in advance and had no idea he'd be sitting there that long. It's possible he had a fear of flying and I should just shut up with my observations and go back to my book, but people watching is half the fun of travel. Maybe he was mad that there weren't any interesting people to watch.
On another flight was this Brazilian dude who refused to wear his shoes and was in shorts and a t-shirt in 20 degree weather. When I got off the flight he was in the bathroom and his shoes were still left behind. I wonder if he ever put them back on? What a mystery.
Anyway, check out the podcasts, read some good books this year (I recommend making a reading goal/challenge on Goodreads for keeping track), and keep your eyes to the sky, unless you're crossing the street, then you should probably be aware of your surroundings.
I also did an appearance on Writers Not Writing podcast, run by Not a Pipe Publishing. It was a great interview and conversation. Check it out if you haven't yet. They are also on the other podcast platforms if you like to hear more.
I've done some traveling for work to begin the year which has given me some good time to read. I just finished The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi, and have moved on the Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr. The first one was okay, quick a semi-entertaining. I preferred Old Man's War if you want to check out John Scalzi. As for Cloud Cuckoo Land, I've heard nothing but great things and I'm about 20% in and it seems possible they're right. We'll find out.
What I don't understand is how people get on airplanes without books or earbuds or anything. I sat near a guy that just kept huffing and swallowing, resting his head on the seat in front of him, then pulling it back as if he wasn't given the flight duration way in advance and had no idea he'd be sitting there that long. It's possible he had a fear of flying and I should just shut up with my observations and go back to my book, but people watching is half the fun of travel. Maybe he was mad that there weren't any interesting people to watch.
On another flight was this Brazilian dude who refused to wear his shoes and was in shorts and a t-shirt in 20 degree weather. When I got off the flight he was in the bathroom and his shoes were still left behind. I wonder if he ever put them back on? What a mystery.
Anyway, check out the podcasts, read some good books this year (I recommend making a reading goal/challenge on Goodreads for keeping track), and keep your eyes to the sky, unless you're crossing the street, then you should probably be aware of your surroundings.
One more for the year / December 14 2022
Well, have you read it? I've signed and shipped a bunch of copies. You can still get yours, just send me a message on here or my Facebook page.
We're approaching the end of the year and once again it's a time of reflection. I remember saying early on I planned to write two novels in 2022, submit my other novels to a bunch of publishers and agents, and promote Return to the Belt as much as possible. I mostly accomplished all of that. More promotion is always good but the GMA bookclub isn't calling for an interview for some reason... If you know anyone, put in a good word would ya?
I did start a podcast this year as well. I've taken the last month or so off to continue to promote the book but I'm planning to do a new novel in January and do weekly releases of chapters of it read by me for your ears. That should be fun.
Now to think about new resolutions for 2023. I think the biggest downfall is comparing yourself to others. I'm probably not going to get all buff, create a new tech start up that quickly makes me a billionaire, or learn deep sea scuba, but I do have goals. I just don't know if I'm ready to post them yet. I've got a few weeks to think about it.
Do goals work for you? Or do you just do things as they come? Whatever works. Just remember to hold onto the things that make you happy and take a step back to take care of yourself.
Many good things to come in 2023. Follow my pages for updates, check out the podcast, and look to the sky just in case anything comes falling.
We're approaching the end of the year and once again it's a time of reflection. I remember saying early on I planned to write two novels in 2022, submit my other novels to a bunch of publishers and agents, and promote Return to the Belt as much as possible. I mostly accomplished all of that. More promotion is always good but the GMA bookclub isn't calling for an interview for some reason... If you know anyone, put in a good word would ya?
I did start a podcast this year as well. I've taken the last month or so off to continue to promote the book but I'm planning to do a new novel in January and do weekly releases of chapters of it read by me for your ears. That should be fun.
Now to think about new resolutions for 2023. I think the biggest downfall is comparing yourself to others. I'm probably not going to get all buff, create a new tech start up that quickly makes me a billionaire, or learn deep sea scuba, but I do have goals. I just don't know if I'm ready to post them yet. I've got a few weeks to think about it.
Do goals work for you? Or do you just do things as they come? Whatever works. Just remember to hold onto the things that make you happy and take a step back to take care of yourself.
Many good things to come in 2023. Follow my pages for updates, check out the podcast, and look to the sky just in case anything comes falling.
Release Day! / October 23 2022
It's here, friends! Return to the Belt, the final book in my Cosmic Ark series is out today. A lot of work goes into this behind the scenes for a book release besides just me writing it. Big thanks to Stefanie Cobb for the beautiful artwork for the entire series. The best way to view this art is with the book in hand of course.
Big thanks to Rogue Phoenix Press for publishing the series and sticking with it until the end.
If you want a recap of the story so far, remember to check out this episode of my podcast, Storytime with Scott Boss.
As always, if you want a signed copy, send me a message on here or on my social media and we'll get it done. I will personalize it or write any ridiculous message you desire for a family member or friend.
Enjoy the end of the series.
Big thanks to Rogue Phoenix Press for publishing the series and sticking with it until the end.
If you want a recap of the story so far, remember to check out this episode of my podcast, Storytime with Scott Boss.
As always, if you want a signed copy, send me a message on here or on my social media and we'll get it done. I will personalize it or write any ridiculous message you desire for a family member or friend.
Enjoy the end of the series.
Podcasting / September 5 2022
The release of Return to the Belt is coming soon, but the Podcast with a teaser chapter and recap of the first two books is out now! Click that link or the ones above for Spotify, Apple, Stitcher, or Google podcasts. Or just search Storytime with Scott Boss on the apps. Make sure to like it, heart it, whatever you have to so it will let you know when I release another one. The algorithms do not like when I post links on the Facebook and such. They very much prevent me from sharing that with anyone.
I'm recording some short stories now and will be releasing a couple a month as part of the podcast. I'll also be giving some details about the stories, why I wrote them, and what inspired them, as well as weaving in some songs for you to listen to. I'm going for the overall experience since there are such long periods between novel releases.
If you want some real thoughts, it's been raining a lot. It's slowly starting to get cooler, a little at a time at least. I'm excited because fall is my favorite season. It's time for the introspective feelings, the creepy and haunting thoughts that come with Halloween, all of that stuff. I even made the first batch of pumpkin spice syrup for the season. Though I am ready for it to stop raining. Fog is creepier. Just give me fog or give me death.
See you soon with a new book and new podcast episode out.
I'm recording some short stories now and will be releasing a couple a month as part of the podcast. I'll also be giving some details about the stories, why I wrote them, and what inspired them, as well as weaving in some songs for you to listen to. I'm going for the overall experience since there are such long periods between novel releases.
If you want some real thoughts, it's been raining a lot. It's slowly starting to get cooler, a little at a time at least. I'm excited because fall is my favorite season. It's time for the introspective feelings, the creepy and haunting thoughts that come with Halloween, all of that stuff. I even made the first batch of pumpkin spice syrup for the season. Though I am ready for it to stop raining. Fog is creepier. Just give me fog or give me death.
See you soon with a new book and new podcast episode out.
Consume, devour, repeat / August 21 2022
Time keeps passing. I've been slowly working on a couple projects.
1. A podcast. But no, not like that. I'm not getting on to share political views, talk about the horrible world, or sports. I'm moving Storytime with Scott Boss to a more easily digestible place. This will include higher quality audio. The video side of it was fun and simple, but as a listener of different podcasts and audiobooks, subpar audio can ruin the whole thing. So, I'll be doing this on my studio microphones and even fitting in some of my own music for the transitions and themes.
2. In conjunction with that, I'm writing and gathering some short horror stories for the month of October, leading up to Halloween. There should be something new and creepy for you every week that month. One story I'm excited about is called Chimes and it's fun and rather horrifying at the same time. It's based on the lyrics to a metal song I released in 2015. EL CARO if you swing to that end of the musical spectrum.
3. We're finalizing the manuscript and artwork for Return to the Belt, coming in September. I will definitely do a Podcast with a reading from that and a recap to catch you up.
4. A metal album because that's just what I do. This one is called Collapsing Stars. Art of any kind is a great outlet for all your feelings. This is definitely one of mine.
5. A new novel, this one will be called Exiles. The short of it: Another planet is against death penalty or even much imprisonment. If you commit a bad enough crime, you get exiled, and what better place than to exile to than Earth? We follow a lady who was dropped on Earth (wrongly accused you ask? Probably) and has to learn life here and hope there's a way to get back home. Should be fun.
Anyway, keep an eye out for the end to the Cosmic Ark series: Return to the Belt as well as the podcast coming in September.
1. A podcast. But no, not like that. I'm not getting on to share political views, talk about the horrible world, or sports. I'm moving Storytime with Scott Boss to a more easily digestible place. This will include higher quality audio. The video side of it was fun and simple, but as a listener of different podcasts and audiobooks, subpar audio can ruin the whole thing. So, I'll be doing this on my studio microphones and even fitting in some of my own music for the transitions and themes.
2. In conjunction with that, I'm writing and gathering some short horror stories for the month of October, leading up to Halloween. There should be something new and creepy for you every week that month. One story I'm excited about is called Chimes and it's fun and rather horrifying at the same time. It's based on the lyrics to a metal song I released in 2015. EL CARO if you swing to that end of the musical spectrum.
3. We're finalizing the manuscript and artwork for Return to the Belt, coming in September. I will definitely do a Podcast with a reading from that and a recap to catch you up.
4. A metal album because that's just what I do. This one is called Collapsing Stars. Art of any kind is a great outlet for all your feelings. This is definitely one of mine.
5. A new novel, this one will be called Exiles. The short of it: Another planet is against death penalty or even much imprisonment. If you commit a bad enough crime, you get exiled, and what better place than to exile to than Earth? We follow a lady who was dropped on Earth (wrongly accused you ask? Probably) and has to learn life here and hope there's a way to get back home. Should be fun.
Anyway, keep an eye out for the end to the Cosmic Ark series: Return to the Belt as well as the podcast coming in September.
The end of the story / June 1 2022
For those that like to binge, I finished two of my stories on Youtube: The Graveyard Gazette and Color Changing Door. Graveyard is a novel and Color is a short story. The links are to the playlist, so you can watch a part at a time or just let it roll. Both are fun and a way to get a little more of my stuff while we wait on the release of the final book of the Comic Ark series, Return to the Belt. Coming September 8th!
Now is a great time to brush up on Interstellar Islands, then The Night Chasers. They are both available wherever you get e-books. The links I posted are to the paperbacks but you can find each format from there. The audiobook for Interstellar is down to $7.50 on Audible as well.
Since the third book marks the end for this series, I'm focusing on other things as well. Editing my other novels for more submissions, doing storytimes, and reading a lot. Here are some things I've read recently.
The Hollow Places - T. Kingfisher. This is just great horror. Truly terrifying. I know it says this on pretty much every horror novel you see but this one is. Unsettling. All in a good way. Worth a read if you like that kind of stuff.
Chasing the Boogieman - Richard Chizmar. This is written as true crime but was actually fiction. It was a really weird take on Richard's life and town that he grew up it, complete with "real" pictures of the victims of a serial killer. He tells you that it's a fictional novel at the beginning, then spends like 400 pages convincing you it isn't. All that oddness aside, it was very enjoyable. Just a weird take to use your own name and history.
The Storyteller - Dave Grohl. Once Taylor Hawkins died, I realized it was time to pick this up. I'd been wanting to read it and that was the very sad push I needed. It was totally worth it. Great stories, great experiences and hardships. It always manages to find humor and maybe a lesson as well. This is great to break up and read a chunk a night for just another cool Dave experience.
11/22/1963 - Stephen King. I've gotten a lot of recommendations to read this one and I just never did being that I'm really not a fan of reimagined historical events. None of that mattered. This was a great book. It was long and you still kinda wish it was longer. I don't know how he does that. The Stand, Under the Dome, IT, The Dark Tower series... I've gotten bored and worn out on 200 page books but somehow, Stephen makes all the pages worth while without getting lost in the weeds.
Thanks for reading. I'm always plugging away at my stuff, still looking for more good homes for my stories.
Now is a great time to brush up on Interstellar Islands, then The Night Chasers. They are both available wherever you get e-books. The links I posted are to the paperbacks but you can find each format from there. The audiobook for Interstellar is down to $7.50 on Audible as well.
Since the third book marks the end for this series, I'm focusing on other things as well. Editing my other novels for more submissions, doing storytimes, and reading a lot. Here are some things I've read recently.
The Hollow Places - T. Kingfisher. This is just great horror. Truly terrifying. I know it says this on pretty much every horror novel you see but this one is. Unsettling. All in a good way. Worth a read if you like that kind of stuff.
Chasing the Boogieman - Richard Chizmar. This is written as true crime but was actually fiction. It was a really weird take on Richard's life and town that he grew up it, complete with "real" pictures of the victims of a serial killer. He tells you that it's a fictional novel at the beginning, then spends like 400 pages convincing you it isn't. All that oddness aside, it was very enjoyable. Just a weird take to use your own name and history.
The Storyteller - Dave Grohl. Once Taylor Hawkins died, I realized it was time to pick this up. I'd been wanting to read it and that was the very sad push I needed. It was totally worth it. Great stories, great experiences and hardships. It always manages to find humor and maybe a lesson as well. This is great to break up and read a chunk a night for just another cool Dave experience.
11/22/1963 - Stephen King. I've gotten a lot of recommendations to read this one and I just never did being that I'm really not a fan of reimagined historical events. None of that mattered. This was a great book. It was long and you still kinda wish it was longer. I don't know how he does that. The Stand, Under the Dome, IT, The Dark Tower series... I've gotten bored and worn out on 200 page books but somehow, Stephen makes all the pages worth while without getting lost in the weeds.
Thanks for reading. I'm always plugging away at my stuff, still looking for more good homes for my stories.
Hey kids, who's ready for Storytime? / February 12 2022
Happy new year! Oh, sorry. I was a little late to that part. Lot's of things going on; writing, editing, submitting, writing music, and now, I'm doing a Storytime on my YouTube channel. I'm going to be doing a weekly story reading from Bossman Studios. I'll do one 15-30 minute video a week until the story is done. Today, I'm starting with "Color Changing Door," a short story of mine about two friends who like to play in the yard of this old junk house in the neighborhood, until one day, they notice the door is bright yellow. As if it was freshly painted while the rest of the house was not. Of course they have to go in and check it out, but what they find is not the inside of some dilapidated house, but something different all together. I guess you'll have to go to my YouTube channel and find out.
I'm going to shoot for Saturday or Sundays to post these including part II next week.
Other stuff that's going on; the end of my Cosmic Ark series is coming. It's been sent off to the publisher, editor, and the artist.
From there, I'm still pitching many of my other novels to get published elsewhere.
I'm starting to feel a little bit hopeful about 2022. It's probably a bad idea. But what are humans but a pile of hope? How'd we get this far without it?
See you soon on the YouTube.
I'm going to shoot for Saturday or Sundays to post these including part II next week.
Other stuff that's going on; the end of my Cosmic Ark series is coming. It's been sent off to the publisher, editor, and the artist.
From there, I'm still pitching many of my other novels to get published elsewhere.
I'm starting to feel a little bit hopeful about 2022. It's probably a bad idea. But what are humans but a pile of hope? How'd we get this far without it?
See you soon on the YouTube.
One last one for the road / December 30 2021
It felt fitting to do one more post before the year ended. Not so much a recap but man...it's been another weird year. I'm not going to look back at the hopeful feeling I had beginning 2021. I can just think about 2022 and go from there. I'm about two years behind on goals I set in 2019, not for lack of trying but lack of things being normal. I can only say, "I hope we're looking better in the spring" so many times. It's odd because I've written five novels since the pandemic began, and they all don't include pandemic lifestyles. They harken back to better days when characters would go to a concert in chapter five and you wouldn't read about it in a book and go, "Well, that's a choice."
I think I'll just keep writing as if we're living in a "normal" world again. After all, it's fiction and I get to decide that.
I just watched "Don't look up" and it made me wonder if it was written back in 2019 and felt really clever and snarky, because it was, it is, but it was still painful. Everything was too close to the truth, hell, it was the truth, and it didn't leave me with any good feeling but just more of those same feelings running on a wheel like rats in my head. That being said, Leo is just so good. J-law too and others in the movie, but Leo...man.
I really think Entry Level, my latest novel, is a story the world needs right now. There are no pandemic elements. Woo.
That being said, I finished some new music as well. The album is titled, "We were the plague" and it very much is themed on how the Earth is just ready to shake us off like the fleas we are. If you like the heavier stuff, check it out here. I'm putting the artwork below because it's pretty.
Anyway, back to editing and submitting works. I have a few horror ideas on deck but maybe we've seen enough of that and need something else.
I think I'll just keep writing as if we're living in a "normal" world again. After all, it's fiction and I get to decide that.
I just watched "Don't look up" and it made me wonder if it was written back in 2019 and felt really clever and snarky, because it was, it is, but it was still painful. Everything was too close to the truth, hell, it was the truth, and it didn't leave me with any good feeling but just more of those same feelings running on a wheel like rats in my head. That being said, Leo is just so good. J-law too and others in the movie, but Leo...man.
I really think Entry Level, my latest novel, is a story the world needs right now. There are no pandemic elements. Woo.
That being said, I finished some new music as well. The album is titled, "We were the plague" and it very much is themed on how the Earth is just ready to shake us off like the fleas we are. If you like the heavier stuff, check it out here. I'm putting the artwork below because it's pretty.
Anyway, back to editing and submitting works. I have a few horror ideas on deck but maybe we've seen enough of that and need something else.
Starting and Finishing / November 21 2021
Hello. It's been a while. Sorry about that. I was mapping out a new novel, as I previously mentioned, then the next thing I knew, I was writing it, then it was done. It's called Entry Level. I hope it will see the light of day with some lovely publisher. It's funny but heartfelt at the same time. It sums up what we all wish the world could be. It's also based in a video store in the early '90s (I know I spent a lot of time in video stores growing up. What about you?) The problem is, an alien comes through the adult section and everything goes downhill from there. If you'd like to know more, please write a strongly worded letter to your senator. Is that how it works? I'm not sure anymore. I need to get back to submitting my works. I haven't been rejected in a while and I'm feeling ready to be hurt again.
So, that book's first draft is done. I'm doing a final read-through of book three of The Cosmic Ark Series (Interstellar Islands, The Night Chasers, and ___) Then it's going to my wife for a final lookover before I send it to the publisher and the next editor. I'm guessing somewhere around summer you'll know what happens to Marlow and crew.
If you've ever taken the time to read my stuff and share it, many thanks to you. It's a hard cruel world out there getting more people to read your books.
Of course, just finishing a novel wasn't enough because I have another waiting. I've got to do something with these ideas that bounce around in my head all day. This one is going to mix a few fantasy elements/settings into a sci-fi novel. I'll keep it readable. Just keep an open mind. I'm always going to focus on the people more than the science.
I've been messing around with this space simulator to help wrangle big ideas. I first used it on a book I wrote last winter, now this one is based on an Earth-like planet with a group of populated moons orbiting it. Here's an image of what it may look like below. Nerd out if you will.
So, that book's first draft is done. I'm doing a final read-through of book three of The Cosmic Ark Series (Interstellar Islands, The Night Chasers, and ___) Then it's going to my wife for a final lookover before I send it to the publisher and the next editor. I'm guessing somewhere around summer you'll know what happens to Marlow and crew.
If you've ever taken the time to read my stuff and share it, many thanks to you. It's a hard cruel world out there getting more people to read your books.
Of course, just finishing a novel wasn't enough because I have another waiting. I've got to do something with these ideas that bounce around in my head all day. This one is going to mix a few fantasy elements/settings into a sci-fi novel. I'll keep it readable. Just keep an open mind. I'm always going to focus on the people more than the science.
I've been messing around with this space simulator to help wrangle big ideas. I first used it on a book I wrote last winter, now this one is based on an Earth-like planet with a group of populated moons orbiting it. Here's an image of what it may look like below. Nerd out if you will.
The great awakening / September 15 2021
If a man blogs in the woods and nobody is around to retweet it...
Can I admit that I kind of hate social media? It used to just be a time waster with updates from bands and people I liked and cat videos. Now it's an all consuming rage fire about five posts in. Filled with glorious vengeance, I click to the comment section to see if the person sharing the misinformation has already been told off by a random friend/follower or if I need to be the one. After reading ten long rants from people going back and forth, I realize it's not worth it and I go back to check my email and make sure my most recent story submission was turned down so I can send another out.
But social media is vital for sharing things more now than ever. Unless you do that old method of keeping track of websites for your favorite artists, how else do you find out about things you like? The algorithms are evil and annoying. It's likely if I post on my Facebook that I've written something on here, the majority of my followers will never see it unless I get others to share the post or use some gimmick.
But let's not be a poopy pants all morning. It's early. I don't timestamp these posts but it's just past 6am after waking to the sounds of my dog gagging out some puke at 5:45. She's fine, but it's hard to go back to bed when you've ushered her to the porch in your underwear, holding her blanket under her face to attempt to catch anything she gags out.
I'm slowly in the process of mapping out a novel. (can you believe it?) I've found one that I've written and another I've plotted out a bit really may land in the Young Adult section. This was not on purpose, it was more the idea that led there. But now I have to give it another read through and figure out how young adults may feel about the story that wasn't intentionally written for them.
I'm also trying to live that quote about making art whether it's good or bad because it's good for the soul. I think I just murdered that quote right here in front of everyone. Sorry Kurt Orwell, or Stephen Gaiman, or whoever said it. I think we all need art in a time where it feels like the last thing we have time for. It's about the only thing some of us have left. That and dog puke. We have plenty of that if you need it.
Can I admit that I kind of hate social media? It used to just be a time waster with updates from bands and people I liked and cat videos. Now it's an all consuming rage fire about five posts in. Filled with glorious vengeance, I click to the comment section to see if the person sharing the misinformation has already been told off by a random friend/follower or if I need to be the one. After reading ten long rants from people going back and forth, I realize it's not worth it and I go back to check my email and make sure my most recent story submission was turned down so I can send another out.
But social media is vital for sharing things more now than ever. Unless you do that old method of keeping track of websites for your favorite artists, how else do you find out about things you like? The algorithms are evil and annoying. It's likely if I post on my Facebook that I've written something on here, the majority of my followers will never see it unless I get others to share the post or use some gimmick.
But let's not be a poopy pants all morning. It's early. I don't timestamp these posts but it's just past 6am after waking to the sounds of my dog gagging out some puke at 5:45. She's fine, but it's hard to go back to bed when you've ushered her to the porch in your underwear, holding her blanket under her face to attempt to catch anything she gags out.
I'm slowly in the process of mapping out a novel. (can you believe it?) I've found one that I've written and another I've plotted out a bit really may land in the Young Adult section. This was not on purpose, it was more the idea that led there. But now I have to give it another read through and figure out how young adults may feel about the story that wasn't intentionally written for them.
I'm also trying to live that quote about making art whether it's good or bad because it's good for the soul. I think I just murdered that quote right here in front of everyone. Sorry Kurt Orwell, or Stephen Gaiman, or whoever said it. I think we all need art in a time where it feels like the last thing we have time for. It's about the only thing some of us have left. That and dog puke. We have plenty of that if you need it.
Have you read it? / August 4 2021
I hear the call (from readers) for Interstellar Islands to be made into a movie. I totally agree. I've always pictured it as a movie. The fun part would be figuring out who should play whom. Of course, this would all be in my imagination at this point. All the no-budget movies I've made with friends always starred my friends and I'm not sure they should play all these characters, but they do work for free, so that's worth something.
I'm not sure I'm up on who the cool actors/actresses are at this point in time. I'm going to need to crowd source. Petition? Something. Nobody should let me cast though. I'd pick Keith David for something even if he doesn't fit. We'd add a character for him because I liked him in childhood movies. But what about Tony Hale as Marlin? Or as Sam the Astronaut? So many choices. Only because I like them. It wouldn't be hard to find an evil, old white man to play Robin. Not that he's evil in the book. Or is he? Hopefully you've read it. I do think Danai Gurira would make and awesome Isolde.
Send me messages with your Interstellar dream cast. Go to my Facebook page and leave a message. I'd love to hear your thoughts. Or you can message me on here. If you need to catch up, listen to the audiobook or read the e-book or paperback, go here to find all formats, then send me your cast list.
The conclusion to the series comes next year and as always, I'm working on submitting other stories. If you've read everything and need something to listen to in the meantime, head over to check out Groove Carnival, my band with my friend Mike. We're working on a new music that's going to funk your socks off. Is that possible? That sounds like what happens when you don't change your socks for days during the summer. Why are you even wearing socks? It's too hot out for that. Ignore that metaphor. Have a lovely day.
I'm not sure I'm up on who the cool actors/actresses are at this point in time. I'm going to need to crowd source. Petition? Something. Nobody should let me cast though. I'd pick Keith David for something even if he doesn't fit. We'd add a character for him because I liked him in childhood movies. But what about Tony Hale as Marlin? Or as Sam the Astronaut? So many choices. Only because I like them. It wouldn't be hard to find an evil, old white man to play Robin. Not that he's evil in the book. Or is he? Hopefully you've read it. I do think Danai Gurira would make and awesome Isolde.
Send me messages with your Interstellar dream cast. Go to my Facebook page and leave a message. I'd love to hear your thoughts. Or you can message me on here. If you need to catch up, listen to the audiobook or read the e-book or paperback, go here to find all formats, then send me your cast list.
The conclusion to the series comes next year and as always, I'm working on submitting other stories. If you've read everything and need something to listen to in the meantime, head over to check out Groove Carnival, my band with my friend Mike. We're working on a new music that's going to funk your socks off. Is that possible? That sounds like what happens when you don't change your socks for days during the summer. Why are you even wearing socks? It's too hot out for that. Ignore that metaphor. Have a lovely day.
Shipping out / June 22 2021
I gotta start with a thanks to all who ordered a copy of The Night Chasers. I was more than happy to be the guy holding up the line at the post office shipping out all the signed copies. Though, there was an angry lady that came in about halfway through them stickering my packages and said something along the lines of, "My dog's in the car. I didn't think it would take this long." Huff, huff... Small town joys. Big thanks as well to anyone who purchased the e-book or a physical copy from Amazon. I personally have never been one to care about getting an autograph from someone. I prefer a picture or maybe just a few strands of their hair for my lab. A toenail clipping? I don't know, that's gross. You've gotta ask yourself: How much would one of Kurt Cobain's toenails sell for at this point? Probably more than both of my books, signed on ebay. Just saying. If that's your plan? Good luck. I look forward to seeing pictures of you holding the book. We'll get some more collage action going. If anyone wants to create a time lapse video of them reading the whole book with their reactions to each part, that is up to you. It sounds like a lot of work.
Since was just Father's Day, I'm working on a short story about a dead father who appears in his daughter's compact mirror and gives her tasks to do, to take care of his unfinished business. Very heartwarming stuff.
Anyway, I hope you have your copy or are getting it soon in the mail. Book three is written and IS the conclusion to the Cosmic Ark series. Look for that next year. Much love to the people.
Since was just Father's Day, I'm working on a short story about a dead father who appears in his daughter's compact mirror and gives her tasks to do, to take care of his unfinished business. Very heartwarming stuff.
Anyway, I hope you have your copy or are getting it soon in the mail. Book three is written and IS the conclusion to the Cosmic Ark series. Look for that next year. Much love to the people.
The Night Chasers / June 6 2021
The Night Chasers is out! I should probably make that font bigger. Okay, done. If you haven't read any of my updates yet, this is the sequel to last year's Interstellar Islands. Both are published by Rogue Phoenix Press and you can read them for $2 if you like e-books. But, even better, you can get a physical copy through Amazon or a signed one through me. Send me a message. Also, for those scorned George R. R. Martin fans, no worries, the third book is already written. Everybody dies. (Or not)
If you've read Interstellar Islands, read on, if not, this might spoil a little.
The Night Chasers follows Marlow, Zane, their new baby, and Belters of all kinds as they try to start a new life on the planet Wyan. Lana came back to the Belt after years away with the promise of a better chance. But, as we learned at the end of Interstellar Islands, Lana had a secret she left out about the other breed of aliens that live over the mountains in the darkness, The Night Chasers, as they're known by the locals. This book takes us through their journey to figure out how to protect a group of non-violent herbivores and hopefully come out on the other side alive. If you enjoyed the adventure and exploration of the first book, you should enjoy the same from this book, but this one has a bit more action and sets up the third (and final) book of the series.
Please go check it out and feel free to send me a message.
As always, please leave feedback on any sites, Amazon, Goodreads, Etc.
If you've read Interstellar Islands, read on, if not, this might spoil a little.
The Night Chasers follows Marlow, Zane, their new baby, and Belters of all kinds as they try to start a new life on the planet Wyan. Lana came back to the Belt after years away with the promise of a better chance. But, as we learned at the end of Interstellar Islands, Lana had a secret she left out about the other breed of aliens that live over the mountains in the darkness, The Night Chasers, as they're known by the locals. This book takes us through their journey to figure out how to protect a group of non-violent herbivores and hopefully come out on the other side alive. If you enjoyed the adventure and exploration of the first book, you should enjoy the same from this book, but this one has a bit more action and sets up the third (and final) book of the series.
Please go check it out and feel free to send me a message.
As always, please leave feedback on any sites, Amazon, Goodreads, Etc.
Calm before the norm / May 17 2021
Are things really getting back to normal? It's hard to believe, but it would be nice to get out and share my books in person. The audiobook for Interstellar Islands is out. It's cheaper if you've already purchased the book. Hopefully some of you have listened to it and have heard the teaser at the end for The Night Chasers, coming in June. I'm slowly editing the stuff mentioned in my last update and hashing out some short stories. I think most will be of the horror variety. I always compile those but they're rarely long enough to be novels.
I've been filling my creative banks by catching up on some movies on my to-watch list that was growing over the past few months.
Here's a quick list and short review of ones I've seen recently.
Synchronic (Netflix) - I loved what these guys did with The Endless, so, I was pretty hyped for this. It was enjoyable but not great for me.
She Dies Tomorrow (Hulu) - Ugh. This was like one of those movies you're supposed to get and if you don't you're just not cool enough, but fuck that, this was just awful to me.
I Am Mother (Netflix) - A cool idea, cool setting but just didn't play out in a way that made much sense or I cared about.
The Mitchells vs the Machines (Netflix) - For family movie night, definitely a winner. Just fun. Animation is a bit different in a good way. It probably helps to have a daughter that's growing up as well. You'll understand if you watch it.
Horns (Netflix) - I've seen this a few times. I'd just reread the book. Book is better, but movie is fun in its own way, especially when he turns the reporters on each other.
Stowaway (Netflix) - I was looking forward to this one. I did not enjoy it. Outside of the setting and the moral dilemma it posed it was just not good.
Existenz (Crackle) - Oldie recommendation from somewhere. Did not age well. There's probably a reason the Matrix took off and this didn't despite the comparisons.
Rocketman (Hulu) - I'm not a fan of people breaking into song in the middle of scenes in movies. My wife is. I did enjoy this movie since the songs were good Elton songs and it was a great way to not just show a quick studio clip every time they wanted to showcase a song.
Shaun the Sheep: Farmageddon (Netflix) - I really enjoyed this one with the kids. Watching with them gives a different perspective to how and when we watch things. I would've never given this one a second glance while scrolling but it was pretty enjoyable and they don't use words to do it.
The Princess Bride (Disney Plus) - Seen this many times when I was younger. You still pick up things when you watch it again. I remember being a kid and even then being like...this movie is really strange, cheesy, poor sets and the awful rat things...and somehow it's still great.
Arrival (Hulu) - I watched this a little further back, but I had to mention it because I thoroughly enjoyed it. Very well done for me. I can't say much of what I loved about it without spoiling it, but it paced nicely for an overall slow movie. It hits you in the feels by the end.
Maybe you saw something on this list you were considering, maybe you're saying, "Why is he watching all those terrible movies? He should watch___." Well, feel free to send me a message in my contact section, or on the Facebook with something that I have to watch! I'll look it up, add it to my list and who knows, I might end up watching it. Though, the NBA playoffs are starting and I care about that too. Trying to keep balanced over here.
I've been filling my creative banks by catching up on some movies on my to-watch list that was growing over the past few months.
Here's a quick list and short review of ones I've seen recently.
Synchronic (Netflix) - I loved what these guys did with The Endless, so, I was pretty hyped for this. It was enjoyable but not great for me.
She Dies Tomorrow (Hulu) - Ugh. This was like one of those movies you're supposed to get and if you don't you're just not cool enough, but fuck that, this was just awful to me.
I Am Mother (Netflix) - A cool idea, cool setting but just didn't play out in a way that made much sense or I cared about.
The Mitchells vs the Machines (Netflix) - For family movie night, definitely a winner. Just fun. Animation is a bit different in a good way. It probably helps to have a daughter that's growing up as well. You'll understand if you watch it.
Horns (Netflix) - I've seen this a few times. I'd just reread the book. Book is better, but movie is fun in its own way, especially when he turns the reporters on each other.
Stowaway (Netflix) - I was looking forward to this one. I did not enjoy it. Outside of the setting and the moral dilemma it posed it was just not good.
Existenz (Crackle) - Oldie recommendation from somewhere. Did not age well. There's probably a reason the Matrix took off and this didn't despite the comparisons.
Rocketman (Hulu) - I'm not a fan of people breaking into song in the middle of scenes in movies. My wife is. I did enjoy this movie since the songs were good Elton songs and it was a great way to not just show a quick studio clip every time they wanted to showcase a song.
Shaun the Sheep: Farmageddon (Netflix) - I really enjoyed this one with the kids. Watching with them gives a different perspective to how and when we watch things. I would've never given this one a second glance while scrolling but it was pretty enjoyable and they don't use words to do it.
The Princess Bride (Disney Plus) - Seen this many times when I was younger. You still pick up things when you watch it again. I remember being a kid and even then being like...this movie is really strange, cheesy, poor sets and the awful rat things...and somehow it's still great.
Arrival (Hulu) - I watched this a little further back, but I had to mention it because I thoroughly enjoyed it. Very well done for me. I can't say much of what I loved about it without spoiling it, but it paced nicely for an overall slow movie. It hits you in the feels by the end.
Maybe you saw something on this list you were considering, maybe you're saying, "Why is he watching all those terrible movies? He should watch___." Well, feel free to send me a message in my contact section, or on the Facebook with something that I have to watch! I'll look it up, add it to my list and who knows, I might end up watching it. Though, the NBA playoffs are starting and I care about that too. Trying to keep balanced over here.
Out of the cave / April 21 2021
Man, finishing a novel is rewarding but the process wears you out. A quick run down if you don't know the details.
Interstellar Islands came out last August 2020, the first book of the Cosmic Ark Series. I wrote the follow up, The Night Chasers at the beginning of 2020 right before the world exploded. Then I'd started my next novel idea, Paradigm (not related to Interstellar), right before the pandemic started. Then I realized things weren't changing much, so I rolled with my next novel idea, Ocean City. I took a little break in the fall, then started on ANOTHER novel idea called, The Edge. I finished that last December and realized I needed to get to work on the third book of the Cosmic Ark series so it would have time to sit and be edited over the next year. As of last night, I finished the first draft of that. I won't name it as to not spoil too much since book two isn't out. But if you like stats, since the beginning of 2020 I've written five novels totaling 384,000 words. And, I think I'm done for a while. I'm going to focus on editing and submitting them. I like all of them and I think they all should be published. So...let's find some publishers, eh?
The audiobook for Interstellar is coming out soon. I'll need some thoughts on that if people want one for The Night Chasers.
Also, The Night Chasers is coming out in June, just over a month. Be ready friends. I'm taking a break for a minute but there are many things you haven't read yet.
Interstellar Islands came out last August 2020, the first book of the Cosmic Ark Series. I wrote the follow up, The Night Chasers at the beginning of 2020 right before the world exploded. Then I'd started my next novel idea, Paradigm (not related to Interstellar), right before the pandemic started. Then I realized things weren't changing much, so I rolled with my next novel idea, Ocean City. I took a little break in the fall, then started on ANOTHER novel idea called, The Edge. I finished that last December and realized I needed to get to work on the third book of the Cosmic Ark series so it would have time to sit and be edited over the next year. As of last night, I finished the first draft of that. I won't name it as to not spoil too much since book two isn't out. But if you like stats, since the beginning of 2020 I've written five novels totaling 384,000 words. And, I think I'm done for a while. I'm going to focus on editing and submitting them. I like all of them and I think they all should be published. So...let's find some publishers, eh?
The audiobook for Interstellar is coming out soon. I'll need some thoughts on that if people want one for The Night Chasers.
Also, The Night Chasers is coming out in June, just over a month. Be ready friends. I'm taking a break for a minute but there are many things you haven't read yet.
Musical history / February 28 2021
In 2006, when I was living in Miami, I finally was getting good enough at the guitar to play the kind of music I liked: Heavy music. Up until then I'd been recording and self releasing some form of a pop/rock/hard rock combo that probably drifted into emo a little more than I'd care to admit. I called that "band" Oracle. The music was okay, the singing and recording was pretty rough. So, in Miami, in the summer of 2006. I finally cranked out a heavy, screamy, kick-you-in-the-face, kind of song that I'd been wanting to write. I told a friend at work and he told me I should just flip around the name of my current band to make the next one. Oracle became= EL CARO. The translation means, the rich or expensive, not "The car" thank goodness. But, rich is truly an oxymoron for a one man heavy band that doesn't tour. Anyway, I went on to complete an album titled, A New Affair, back in 2006. Then I moved from Miami to Huntsville Alabama. I got a small obsession going with Dante's Inferno. So, I wrote the next album as a weird experimental collection of things I titled, Benvenuto Alla Tomba. Or, Welcome to the grave.
It kept going from there. Rough recordings, me cranking them out anyway. I finally got my friend Kimber to join on vocals for EL CARO album #5, Burn Your Halos. Neither of us were great at that point, so together, we were mediocre. But it was all fun. This continued for albums #6-10. Kimber, me, and sometimes random other friends pitching in. The point was, get some aggression out. Whatever it was that pissed you off that week, put it into a song. Something the world keeps looking over, put it into a song. Something that sounds like a horror movie/story that doesn't belong anywhere else, put it into a song. So I did. I pulled in my friend Dustin for the next few albums, singing the parts I couldn't quite reach with my range.
This has continued to last year, where my most recent EL CARO album released in October (#14 for those keeping count) Human Virus is out on BandCamp. Written during the middle of 2020 when I realized, I wasn't going anywhere, I may as well write something heavy, something angry like the track Asleep in our privilege or maybe something introspective like The Walls.
Recently, all those releases got me inspired to go back and re-record some of those older songs from the first 6 albums and attempt to do the recordings a little more justice. Can I capture the same emotion as I had when I wrote them? Who knows, but it will be fun. It will be a creative outlet, and that's what matters.
The point of this post? Not everything has to lead to something. I know no one will stumble along EL CARO and decide to give me piles of money to do more. I release these albums for the same few people over the years that even like this kind of music, but more so, I release this music for myself. I was always told it's uncool to drive around listening to your own album and you know what? Fuck whoever said that. I will continue to be the weird guy driving around, singing and screaming along to his own songs until I don't have a voice anymore.
Because it makes me happy. And at times, I can convince myself, that that's all that matters.
It kept going from there. Rough recordings, me cranking them out anyway. I finally got my friend Kimber to join on vocals for EL CARO album #5, Burn Your Halos. Neither of us were great at that point, so together, we were mediocre. But it was all fun. This continued for albums #6-10. Kimber, me, and sometimes random other friends pitching in. The point was, get some aggression out. Whatever it was that pissed you off that week, put it into a song. Something the world keeps looking over, put it into a song. Something that sounds like a horror movie/story that doesn't belong anywhere else, put it into a song. So I did. I pulled in my friend Dustin for the next few albums, singing the parts I couldn't quite reach with my range.
This has continued to last year, where my most recent EL CARO album released in October (#14 for those keeping count) Human Virus is out on BandCamp. Written during the middle of 2020 when I realized, I wasn't going anywhere, I may as well write something heavy, something angry like the track Asleep in our privilege or maybe something introspective like The Walls.
Recently, all those releases got me inspired to go back and re-record some of those older songs from the first 6 albums and attempt to do the recordings a little more justice. Can I capture the same emotion as I had when I wrote them? Who knows, but it will be fun. It will be a creative outlet, and that's what matters.
The point of this post? Not everything has to lead to something. I know no one will stumble along EL CARO and decide to give me piles of money to do more. I release these albums for the same few people over the years that even like this kind of music, but more so, I release this music for myself. I was always told it's uncool to drive around listening to your own album and you know what? Fuck whoever said that. I will continue to be the weird guy driving around, singing and screaming along to his own songs until I don't have a voice anymore.
Because it makes me happy. And at times, I can convince myself, that that's all that matters.
In the future, there will be Interstellar Islands? / January 23 2021
Okay, so I know it's called Science Fiction for a reason, but it's pretty exciting when an actual scientist comes up with a theory that gets published in the New York Post, that basically describes the book I published last year (and wrote a year and a half before that).
Read this article if you didn't see this on my social media. Dr. Pekka Janhunen is saying how we could colonize the asteroid belt and mine Ceres and pretty much the plot of Interstellar Islands. Pretty cool. I'm sure his version would be more plausible than mine. That being said, I'm finishing recording the audio book for Interstellar within the next week. It will be a bit before it comes out but if you need to hear the story again to see what our future is going to look like, hehe, that would be a good chance before the sequel comes out this summer. Also, I'm working on book three shortly after finishing the audio book. I'm making notes and my wonderful wife has spent lots of talks discussing characters and plot lines. Is book three the end? I don't know, because I haven't written it yet. It's possible.
Anyway, I'll try to write another blog soon. In the mean time, I'm still looking for homes for four other novels.
I need a catch phrase sign off like Ron Burgundy. Stay classy asteroid belt. Until we colonize.
Read this article if you didn't see this on my social media. Dr. Pekka Janhunen is saying how we could colonize the asteroid belt and mine Ceres and pretty much the plot of Interstellar Islands. Pretty cool. I'm sure his version would be more plausible than mine. That being said, I'm finishing recording the audio book for Interstellar within the next week. It will be a bit before it comes out but if you need to hear the story again to see what our future is going to look like, hehe, that would be a good chance before the sequel comes out this summer. Also, I'm working on book three shortly after finishing the audio book. I'm making notes and my wonderful wife has spent lots of talks discussing characters and plot lines. Is book three the end? I don't know, because I haven't written it yet. It's possible.
Anyway, I'll try to write another blog soon. In the mean time, I'm still looking for homes for four other novels.
I need a catch phrase sign off like Ron Burgundy. Stay classy asteroid belt. Until we colonize.
Chocolate laxatives / January 6 2021
Read the title of this post again if you haven't. Man, that seems like a bad idea. You know when you run out of treats at home and just get that craving? You can't go anywhere. Stuff is not as accessible as it was before. So, what do you do? Do you pop a couple extra chocolate laxatives and live with the results? Something to think about. I'd personally only stock bad tasting laxatives, so you only took them when you needed to. You can always stick them in a spoonful of peanut butter like I do for my dog. That would probably counter the laxative... anyway, enough of that talk. I posted a new blog for your enjoyment. It's about pooping without your phone... dang it. Never mind. Guess I wasn't done with potty talk. It's hard with kids around, okay? They think potty talk is the funniest thing still. If you work the words, Poop, Potty, Pee-pee, or anything similar into a song, they die laughing every time. It's like being one of those comedians known for a catch phrase. I'm sure Jeff Foxworthy is sick of talking about rednecks, and that other Jeff dude is sick of saying "I keel you" through his dummy, but that's what got them known. I guess in the end, potty talk can still be funny at any age if you're creative enough. It's like Jim Gaffigan talking about food. He still finds a way to observe it that I haven't thought of yet.
The audiobook recording has begun and my vocal cords are doing okay so far. Thankfully I get to warm up reading princess and Spiderman stories to my kids before bed each night. Anyway, I need to go "Get 'r done" ... sorry, that was worse than the potty talk.
Side note: Have you seen The Platform on Netflix yet? Pretty gory. Not for the weak of heart or stomach but very strong message within it. I'm a fan of horror if it can pull that off.
*New shipment of physical copies of Interstellar Islands is in. If you still want a signed one, send me a message.
The audiobook recording has begun and my vocal cords are doing okay so far. Thankfully I get to warm up reading princess and Spiderman stories to my kids before bed each night. Anyway, I need to go "Get 'r done" ... sorry, that was worse than the potty talk.
Side note: Have you seen The Platform on Netflix yet? Pretty gory. Not for the weak of heart or stomach but very strong message within it. I'm a fan of horror if it can pull that off.
*New shipment of physical copies of Interstellar Islands is in. If you still want a signed one, send me a message.
End year resolution / December 29 2020
Does anybody make lists of New Years resolutions and ever look back on them? I feel like the joke is always that they're forgotten by February. Mine were going well up until March and man...some still happened and others, it was just tough. I'm curious how hesitant people will be this time around. What was that skit on Mad TV? Lowered Expectations.
Anyway, year in review. I finished the sequel to Interstellar Islands back in January. It should be out summer 2021. I wrote three other novels since with all the-- Not going anywhere or doing anything. The recording for the audio book for Interstellar Islands is starting soon. It's a bit of a daunting task.
Also, I'll be amping up the blog. Maybe that will be a resolution. Feel free to share yours or anything you'd like to hear me blog about in my contact section.
(I sold out of my last order of physical copies but more should be here soon. If you'd like a signed copy, send me a message on here)
Anyway, year in review. I finished the sequel to Interstellar Islands back in January. It should be out summer 2021. I wrote three other novels since with all the-- Not going anywhere or doing anything. The recording for the audio book for Interstellar Islands is starting soon. It's a bit of a daunting task.
Also, I'll be amping up the blog. Maybe that will be a resolution. Feel free to share yours or anything you'd like to hear me blog about in my contact section.
(I sold out of my last order of physical copies but more should be here soon. If you'd like a signed copy, send me a message on here)
Birthday wish / November 11 2020
Being born on Veteran's day makes people think you're a veteran. You know, like Yankee Doodle Dandee born on the 4th of July? Maybe. I don't know. So, when you're younger they ask what your birthday wish is. Or ask you to make one when you blow out your candles. But you don't know what the hell you want when you're younger. A pony. An ice cream cone. The crunched up goldfish that fell between the couch cushions. Could be anything at that age. My wishes at 18 do necessarily line up with my wishes in my 30s. But nobody asks now. I wish everyone the ability to self reflect. To be able to step back and ask themselves if what they're doing is truly a good thing for themselves or others around them or just their fellow humans. It's really hard to admit you're wrong. To admit you just didn't know any better. But instead of cancelling everyone or getting cancelled, maybe we could learn from our mistakes, admit we made them and move on with better knowledge.
This sounds like a confession or something. Sorry, no juicy gossip. I will say, I just wrote one of the strangest scenes of my life. A group of star worshipers on another planet go out on a boat, get naked, watch a meteor hit the ocean in front of them and wait to get "baptized" by the waves.
If you want to give me any birthday present, please buy my book and share it with someone, anyone. Much love.
This sounds like a confession or something. Sorry, no juicy gossip. I will say, I just wrote one of the strangest scenes of my life. A group of star worshipers on another planet go out on a boat, get naked, watch a meteor hit the ocean in front of them and wait to get "baptized" by the waves.
If you want to give me any birthday present, please buy my book and share it with someone, anyone. Much love.
The shallow breaths / October 4 2020
So, I must have slept through the month of September. I was finishing editing on a novel and plotting out another but all in all, taking it easy. The process takes time and is challenging but not as challenging as getting an angry four-year-old to stop crying in the park when everyone is passing you, covering their face as if he has the plague. It's a real concern and no judgement on them, only, trying to get him to chill out was even harder knowing it was freaking everyone else out. It's like being rushed when you have to pee, being told to come up with an answer to a simple question when someone's yelling it at you, thinking of something funny to say to the girl you're trying to impress...(Don't go with "Why weren't you born ugly?" by the way.) You've probably had that time when you needed something really simple to happen: Child to stop screaming, and you just couldn't make it happen. So instead, you walk out of the park with them under your arm, headbutting you with their Black Panther helmet, the damn cute rubber ears on top poking you in the eye. You're supposed to just speak calmly, to the child or to yourself, take a deep breath and complete your task. But deep breaths aren't always possible. Sometimes you have to work it out through those pissed-off shallow breaths.
The skill then, is not how you perform when you've had time to take the deep breaths, only the shallow ones.
The skill then, is not how you perform when you've had time to take the deep breaths, only the shallow ones.
The reviews are trickling in / August 15 2020
Trickling...poor word choice. I've seen a lot of support from friends on social media with the release of my first novel Interstellar Islands. I've signed way more copies than I planned on. So, many thanks to those that requested that. If you've bought a physical copy online and want me to sign it, please contact me and maybe we can work something out. If you are more local, please contact me, I still have a few in my possession.
I love to see pictures of you holding a copy, so please send them. I'm making a collage for my bathroom. Or website. I don't know yet.
I still need more reviews on sites where you buy the book, like Amazon and Goodreads is always great for reviewing, marking that you're reading it or that you've read it. All of those things help. I know that's where I look when I'm looking at books that sound interesting.
Last thought, do you run a blog? Website? Local newspaper? Want to interview me? Or discuss quarantine recipes? Whatever, let me know. Follow the contact page up top to send me a message.
I love to see pictures of you holding a copy, so please send them. I'm making a collage for my bathroom. Or website. I don't know yet.
I still need more reviews on sites where you buy the book, like Amazon and Goodreads is always great for reviewing, marking that you're reading it or that you've read it. All of those things help. I know that's where I look when I'm looking at books that sound interesting.
Last thought, do you run a blog? Website? Local newspaper? Want to interview me? Or discuss quarantine recipes? Whatever, let me know. Follow the contact page up top to send me a message.
Release day / July 29 2020
My debut novel, Interstellar Islands is out! All the links are above. But you can click here or here or here or here or here to buy. If you want to watch the trailer, you can click here.
Are those enough links for you? The first chapter is on my stories page here as well as Rogue Phoenix Press' website.
It's a very exciting day. I'm taking a break from finishing another novel to promote. Hopefully you'll buy it and love it. Hopefully you'll share it with people because that is the way to get me out there. Writing reviews after you read is also great. Goodreads and Amazon are great places to do that. Add it to your reading list and share it with friends and I will forever be your friend. And if you know that movie studio that needs a fresh, new idea to blow millions on...send them my way.
Are those enough links for you? The first chapter is on my stories page here as well as Rogue Phoenix Press' website.
It's a very exciting day. I'm taking a break from finishing another novel to promote. Hopefully you'll buy it and love it. Hopefully you'll share it with people because that is the way to get me out there. Writing reviews after you read is also great. Goodreads and Amazon are great places to do that. Add it to your reading list and share it with friends and I will forever be your friend. And if you know that movie studio that needs a fresh, new idea to blow millions on...send them my way.
The little deaths (or the day you can no longer chase squirrels) / June 29 2020
I know my dog is thinking about that day a lot. She's down to three good legs. Ten years old and a healthy enough sixty pounds. She moves pretty fast still despite the bad wheel. It might just be another reminder to do the things you enjoy while you can. It's a daily reminder for me that the hiking buddy I've had for the past ten years will not be hiking with me anymore. The sweet pirate costume she has that the neighborhood kids love to see on Halloween and the random other cold days we'd be going to the park, is all but useless now. Unless she's just going to wear it around the house to go from couch, to cushion, to under the table during dinner and underfoot when we're cooking.
It's one little death on the way to the final one. One less thing she can do.
I want to leave it here but you can keep reading if you like.
The opposite is true. Despite the little deaths I face in my own life as I get older, there are little births too. Learning a new recipe, or discovering a new food that I love. Teaching my kids something that makes their lives better. Even new skills can be learned up until the day you die.
If we don't counterbalance the deaths with births, we grow stagnant. Depressed. Or just feel like failures at times. At least I do. Can you teach a ten year old dog new tricks? Probably not many, but what about us?
(Speaking of little births, look at the banner for my novel, coming soon!)
It's one little death on the way to the final one. One less thing she can do.
I want to leave it here but you can keep reading if you like.
The opposite is true. Despite the little deaths I face in my own life as I get older, there are little births too. Learning a new recipe, or discovering a new food that I love. Teaching my kids something that makes their lives better. Even new skills can be learned up until the day you die.
If we don't counterbalance the deaths with births, we grow stagnant. Depressed. Or just feel like failures at times. At least I do. Can you teach a ten year old dog new tricks? Probably not many, but what about us?
(Speaking of little births, look at the banner for my novel, coming soon!)
Motivation / May 25 2020
It's such a strange thing. Sometimes it's just there ready to go. Others, you have to coax it out. Others, there's just nothing you can do. I've been working on three different creative projects and sometimes I want to do one, sometimes the others. Sometimes I want to do jack shit. And while that is okay, it's always a fear that I'll get too far away and not want to go back. There's probably some deep rooted psychological issue there. Feel free to psychoanalyze. We all have demons. You just have to come to terms with your own. I feel like a lot of us have had to do more of that lately. You can go out, put on the public show you're used to putting on, then come home and let loose just a little. Instead, it's been months for some of letting loose further and further. Everything's coming to the surface. What better time to deal with it. We just need the motivation.
Update: Getting closer to the release of my debut novel, Interstellar Islands. It's about some of the last people on Earth getting rescued by a group inhabiting the asteroid belt in their own little utopia. (Interstellar Islands--Get it?) But is it a utopia? Is it a rescue? Find out in August. Also, part two is completed as it will likely be a trilogy. So, if you end up liking it, there will be more.
Update: Getting closer to the release of my debut novel, Interstellar Islands. It's about some of the last people on Earth getting rescued by a group inhabiting the asteroid belt in their own little utopia. (Interstellar Islands--Get it?) But is it a utopia? Is it a rescue? Find out in August. Also, part two is completed as it will likely be a trilogy. So, if you end up liking it, there will be more.
On the web / May 6 2020
First off, I have a new short story published by Bandit Fiction. Go check it out. My wife thought it was going to be sentimental when she first read it. Well...you read it and decide. It's fiction. Everything I write is fiction but gosh darn it if there isn't truth in fiction. And right now I see so much fiction in truth it pains me. You have to wonder if there's a point in arguing on the internet. Does it get anyone anywhere but mad? Does anybody ever change their viewpoint because somebody posted an article in the middle of their thread about proper chicken keeping that totally proved everything they thought about chickens was a lie? No. They double down. They get mad that person would dare. So, it begs the question, is crusading worth it? Probably not. Is unfriending people worth it? It's a weird line that I'm unable to define so I stay frozen like Windows Vista. Just kidding. I didn't have the worst experience with Vista like some did.
Anyway, go read Haunted Melody. I think it's worth your time. If not, what are you doing here?
Random thing: I replaced the name Jack with the name Jeremy for a character in a novel I'm editing. Turns out I'd used the word Jack in more places than I realized and it cracked me up when the characters ordered a Jeremy and Coke, had a Jeremy Skellington tattoo, and went home to Jeremy Off. Get it? I hope so.
Side note: I've been drawing up ideas in my daughter's giant princess coloring book for my next novel. Trying to map out the city because it's kinda weird. She woke up the next day and said, "Dad, this is a really cool drawing. Is that a farm?"
She wasn't mad that I used one of her pages. It's good to have support sometimes. Writer, musician, and now sketch artist, I must be a Jeremy of all trades.
Forgive that last line.
Anyway, go read Haunted Melody. I think it's worth your time. If not, what are you doing here?
Random thing: I replaced the name Jack with the name Jeremy for a character in a novel I'm editing. Turns out I'd used the word Jack in more places than I realized and it cracked me up when the characters ordered a Jeremy and Coke, had a Jeremy Skellington tattoo, and went home to Jeremy Off. Get it? I hope so.
Side note: I've been drawing up ideas in my daughter's giant princess coloring book for my next novel. Trying to map out the city because it's kinda weird. She woke up the next day and said, "Dad, this is a really cool drawing. Is that a farm?"
She wasn't mad that I used one of her pages. It's good to have support sometimes. Writer, musician, and now sketch artist, I must be a Jeremy of all trades.
Forgive that last line.
Pandemic? / April 21 2020
Someday we're going to look back on this and remember something. You think of other historic tragedies and you remember where you were. For Covid, some of us are going to remember being home a lot, others being on the front line. It will be amazing the difference, being mildly inconvenienced while watching Netflix and ordering food out rather than going out, and going in day after day, wearing a mask and trying not to bring it back to your family. Then, of course there is everybody in between those two scenarios but I feel like I was born for the first situation. Stay at home. Write. Create. Cook. Play with kids. It's not always convenient but I'm getting a lot of creative things done. Have you heard of all my side musical projects? Gentlemyn or EL CARO? I'm cranking out ideas for those while I finished the first draft of my sex robot novel. That's totally not what it's going to be called or even what it's about all in all, but I think it's fun to say.
I'm debating short stories next, or another novel. I've got a good plotting going for a fantasy-apocalypse novel and then another one for a sci-fi idea about a city in the middle of the ocean. I'm not sure which way to go. The big crazy ideas are fun but so are the little ones about basic people doing basic things when something weird happens to them. This is how I read, going between simple stories like Kelly Braffet's Last Seen Leaving, to epic ones like the Red Rising trilogy.
Anyway, feel free to contact me with your thoughts. Go read a blog or two if you feel so inclined. Check me out on the podcast from February in case you missed it. Flat Tire.
I'm debating short stories next, or another novel. I've got a good plotting going for a fantasy-apocalypse novel and then another one for a sci-fi idea about a city in the middle of the ocean. I'm not sure which way to go. The big crazy ideas are fun but so are the little ones about basic people doing basic things when something weird happens to them. This is how I read, going between simple stories like Kelly Braffet's Last Seen Leaving, to epic ones like the Red Rising trilogy.
Anyway, feel free to contact me with your thoughts. Go read a blog or two if you feel so inclined. Check me out on the podcast from February in case you missed it. Flat Tire.
The virus is inside / March 5 2020
I hope you bought enough toilet paper. (Looking at you people of Walmart that cleared the shelves) Does it even cause diarrhea?
Anyway, no time to talk, working on a new novel about sex robots. Go read a blog.
Anyway, no time to talk, working on a new novel about sex robots. Go read a blog.
Interview with a hermit / February 23 2020
You kind of have to be a hermit to write. At least a little. I'm past the age of people wanting to go out all the time, though I'm not sure I was ever at that age. If you're reading this page, you will like to know that I'm on a >> Podcast << Click there if you want to listen to me talk. There is an interview and after, I read a short horror story of mine. It's over and hour of pure joy. Or could be for somebody. Click the link. Do it! You can download it later, find it on your phone and then regret never listening to it as you delete it to clear space for another app that adds filters to your already beautiful pictures. Did you see that? That was sucking up. Just click the link.
Putting pen to e-paper / January 24 2019
The technology is slowly catching up, or going backwards, depending how you look at it. I really want a device I can type on that doesn't have a back-light but still connects to Google Docs for auto-saving purposes. So much screen staring burns the ol' retinas. Have you tried the blue-blocker glasses? I'm thinking about them like I think about a nice roast beast after a long day in the coal mines. (I've never worked a coal mine)
I have a short story being considered for another compilation but these things notoriously take lots of time. By the time a book comes out you may be a completely different person than you were when you wrote it. I was inspired for a novel--that is hopefully being published soon--years.......ago. I saw a dead cat in the road and wondered if the little girl who lived at the house in front of it would see it and run out into traffic to try to save her cat. I just finished a final edit of this story and saw the "little" girl the other day and she's almost as tall as me. Maybe that just makes me old.
More thoughts on that to come. Be real. Go check the blog and comment if you will.
I have a short story being considered for another compilation but these things notoriously take lots of time. By the time a book comes out you may be a completely different person than you were when you wrote it. I was inspired for a novel--that is hopefully being published soon--years.......ago. I saw a dead cat in the road and wondered if the little girl who lived at the house in front of it would see it and run out into traffic to try to save her cat. I just finished a final edit of this story and saw the "little" girl the other day and she's almost as tall as me. Maybe that just makes me old.
More thoughts on that to come. Be real. Go check the blog and comment if you will.
Horses, so many horses / January 13 2019
Like an old car, the year is officially rolling...slowly...downhill. But once you pop the clutch, you should be able to grind it into first and get heading up your first hill. That's all the car analogy I have for you. I do need some controversial topics to bring up. Apparently, that's how you get hits. I don't know any celebrities, outside of meeting Yngwie Malmsteen repeatedly at Barnes & Noble back in the day. He's notoriously consistent with his hair, chains, outfits, and his ride. (Old school Ferrari) So there's not much to write. Some people become celebrities by making stupid videos on YouTube. The most hits I ever got were for this Limp Bizkit parody of the song Nookie, back when they came out with the Nook e-reader. I've avoided fame (and copyright infringement) on that, so it's probably for the better. Both of those may still be in my future.
I could "leak" some nudes online but I'd probably just lose my Facebook profile and then how would my friends and family get to see pictures of my kids? Those don't sound good in a sentence together.
You don't want the quick fame though, do you? I know I would've made a terrible famous person at 17. Shout out to Justin Bieber for... well, I don't know. Does he have a face tattoo yet? I don't listen to popular music by choice. I'm old. If it can't fit on an 8-track... what was I saying about the war?
Getting back to the title of this post, there used to be a lot of horses around town before we had cars. I wasn't there but I've seen the TV shows. I'm assuming they were filmed live and are a truly accurate representation of those time periods. Parking was easier I'd bet. But the road apples were another story. My car has the power of 167 horses. This is not that impressive in modern standards and if 167 horses showed up to challenge me to some kind of power battle, I would probably lose. If 150 horses showed up, I'd win the race but lose the clean up portion if even half of them had to go. I probably should've called this post: The Ramblings of a Desperate Man.
Writing update: I finished editing "The Witch's Garden" (Novel coming out this year) and turned it over to my wife/editor. The story is full of humor, sex, magic, heartbreak, and a little horror. Or, at least that's what I tried to stuff it with. It may turn out to be a heartwarming tale about two bunnies who become friends and overthrown the government. You know how editing can go.
I could "leak" some nudes online but I'd probably just lose my Facebook profile and then how would my friends and family get to see pictures of my kids? Those don't sound good in a sentence together.
You don't want the quick fame though, do you? I know I would've made a terrible famous person at 17. Shout out to Justin Bieber for... well, I don't know. Does he have a face tattoo yet? I don't listen to popular music by choice. I'm old. If it can't fit on an 8-track... what was I saying about the war?
Getting back to the title of this post, there used to be a lot of horses around town before we had cars. I wasn't there but I've seen the TV shows. I'm assuming they were filmed live and are a truly accurate representation of those time periods. Parking was easier I'd bet. But the road apples were another story. My car has the power of 167 horses. This is not that impressive in modern standards and if 167 horses showed up to challenge me to some kind of power battle, I would probably lose. If 150 horses showed up, I'd win the race but lose the clean up portion if even half of them had to go. I probably should've called this post: The Ramblings of a Desperate Man.
Writing update: I finished editing "The Witch's Garden" (Novel coming out this year) and turned it over to my wife/editor. The story is full of humor, sex, magic, heartbreak, and a little horror. Or, at least that's what I tried to stuff it with. It may turn out to be a heartwarming tale about two bunnies who become friends and overthrown the government. You know how editing can go.
Highlight reel / December 26 2019
Man, it feels good to be in print. Is that how you say it in industry speak? My horror-short-story "Shortcut" is out on this awesome anthology from breaking rules publishing. Many thanks to them for taking me in off the street. Click here to go get you a copy, or at least see my name listed on the index so you'll know I'm not lying. I'll post a picture when I have a copy in my hand.
To follow up on my last post, my 500 word story got turned down so I'll be putting some makeup on it and posting it on the "stories" page here. Makeup is industry speak for stuff people wear to cover blemishes. I haven't figure out how to get it on paper without making it all goopy yet. If I knew that, I wouldn't be running a free website.
Anyway, I do have a thought that I'll probably expand into a blog soon enough.
Social Media is a highlight reel. Am I the first person to say that? No. But it's an important thing to remind ourselves of every day. If we can't remember that, we should probably get off social media. I hope you got all the crap you wanted for Christmas. I got one fancy pair of underwear that I'll be wearing forwards, backwards, and sideways until I get another on my birthday. They should really sell these things in multi-packs or something so you don't have to go commando while you wash them.
To follow up on my last post, my 500 word story got turned down so I'll be putting some makeup on it and posting it on the "stories" page here. Makeup is industry speak for stuff people wear to cover blemishes. I haven't figure out how to get it on paper without making it all goopy yet. If I knew that, I wouldn't be running a free website.
Anyway, I do have a thought that I'll probably expand into a blog soon enough.
Social Media is a highlight reel. Am I the first person to say that? No. But it's an important thing to remind ourselves of every day. If we can't remember that, we should probably get off social media. I hope you got all the crap you wanted for Christmas. I got one fancy pair of underwear that I'll be wearing forwards, backwards, and sideways until I get another on my birthday. They should really sell these things in multi-packs or something so you don't have to go commando while you wash them.
Give it away, give it away now / December 9 2019
I've been writing a lot of things, and I do mean things. I wrote a 500 word story for a competition. That was hard. Try fitting a story into 500 words. It was about porch pirates. If they don't like it, I may post it here. You know, sloppy seconds and all. I also wrote a 5,000 word story for a compilation. Hopefully they like it. It's about two young friends who play around this abandoned house a lot and one day notice the door is a bright yellow color like it's been painted, only the rest of the house is still junk. They soon learn the colors of the door change and when you go in, you may find different things. What else? Still working on the follow up to Interstellar Islands (coming out August 2020) I'm ahead of the game people. I'm about 40,000 words into that. Being published is a bit of an addiction now. Just need one more hit.
Thanks for not getting my hopes up / November 28 2019
New blog with a short (unintentional) mention of Thanksgiving. This year I'm thankful the Detroit Lions aren't giving me false hope. Sometimes when we get to the Thanksgiving game, we may still have a chance to make the playoffs. Those hopes are quickly dashed against the rocks as our titanic of a season sinks because of one bad call or stupid play. But not today, no, we suck enough at this point that most of us gave up hope long ago. Some say we should've given up before the season started, but we have the false hope of the home team pride. Look, it happened for the Chicago Cubs, why not us? As I write this we just threw a 75 yard touchdown. I need to turn this off before they get my hopes up. You should too. Go read the new blog, or an old one.
Thoughts / November 8 2019
New blog up once again. You'll love it. If you don't, learn to lie to me convincingly. That being said, we could all use a little more honesty.
I just finished Queer Eye in Japan. The last episode really got me. Not to spoil it for anyone, but it felt like near the end the dude was finally able to express himself and to stop holding back who he really is. And, as Chris Cornell said, "To be yourself is all that you can do," or something like that. Also, it made me think of the movie Garden State, when Zach Braff, (forgot his character's name) was standing out in the rain and you could just feel what he was feeling, whatever that feeling was, it was nice. Go be yourself. Another song, Kevin Max- Be. "There's no one who does it quite like you." For me, that means making peanut butter toast with bacon and cheese. For others it may be the way they fold towels. What did I tell you about the blog?
I just finished Queer Eye in Japan. The last episode really got me. Not to spoil it for anyone, but it felt like near the end the dude was finally able to express himself and to stop holding back who he really is. And, as Chris Cornell said, "To be yourself is all that you can do," or something like that. Also, it made me think of the movie Garden State, when Zach Braff, (forgot his character's name) was standing out in the rain and you could just feel what he was feeling, whatever that feeling was, it was nice. Go be yourself. Another song, Kevin Max- Be. "There's no one who does it quite like you." For me, that means making peanut butter toast with bacon and cheese. For others it may be the way they fold towels. What did I tell you about the blog?
Thoughts / October 14 2019
First off, the blog has been moved to a blog section. (fancy that) Look to the sky, or just the top right of this page and travel there. You can make comments now. Yay. The big announcement is I've signed with Rogue Phoenix Press for my first novel, Interstellar Islands. It's likely going to be a trilogy, and if you're like me you go, "Oh, of course, another trilogy." Nobody has asked it to be one, nor did I plan to make it one initially. I just started writing and said to myself, I said "Son, you can fit all of this into three parts of one novel." Then as I got to writing, a lot of things had happened and I didn't feel prepared to tell them all under one digital or paperback roof. So, the next idea fully formed about at the point I signed my deal for the first book. When the second book formed in my head, the third followed it not far behind. Maybe you love trilogies. I for one expect that there better be something to say, some story to tell or why bother? Just know that that there is a good reason for every word I'm writing. I've just started the official beginning of book two after months of plotting. If you piss me off in the next few months, you may get to be a character that dies! *Editor's note: We will not allow Scott to do this. **Editor's note: Scott is the editor, he may be lying.