2012 - The Year of Alorya

This is not one of my favorite holidays, in fact I think New Years is the most overblown holiday of the year. This doesn't take away from the fact that it's good for all of us to have new beginnings. In 2011, it was a year which brought about many new beginnings for me. As I think back to this same night last year, I thought of Alorya.
I had given up on publishing. The biggest problem I had then, was the same problem I have now. I admit, I get completely tongue tied when people ask me the simplest question: What is it about? It took me roughly 248 pages to tell the story and it would be about half as many pages to explain what it's about. Last year, I set as my resolution to get Alorya published.
On top of every rejection letter I had received, I placed a note which told me what I had done wrong. I learned to do this with job interviews and I found that it really helped. Over the course of the last few years, I had received correspondence from vanity presses which would basically take your money and give you a book. The one thing I knew more than anyone was that I was not a good enough writer to just have my book printed. I wanted to go the independent route, but I needed to go through the same trials that any author would go through to get published. I needed that round of editing, in which a professional would tell me how much they hated the story. The silver lining around that cloud was that they would also tell me how to improve it. I also needed someone to help me take the original problem I spoke of and find a solution. How do I explain what Alorya is about in under 120 pages? With the help of Matthew Ashdown, the task became more simple.

I once heard someone say that if they had a time machine, they'd go back in time and kill Hilter. I thought, if you had a time machine, why not go back in time and make sure Hitler was raised properly?

My little story of the birth of my son was built on the frame of an old Star Wars story I had been writing. Then I tied that question of what to do if you had the knowledge to prevent a disaster.

With the view inside the head of a madman with a laptop over, I thought I'd wrap this up and explain what I want to do next.

My next book has to do with the Sorcerer who holds dominion over Time.

This year, I want to market Alorya to the best of my ability. I want all of the marketing to pave the way for my second book. I'm also going to take part in a contest which has been a nemesis of mine for the last few years. (More to come on that).

I wish all of you a Happy New Year! I hope 2012 gives everyone a chance to make their dreams of 2011 come true.

Nicolas was... (by Neil Gaiman)

Nicolas was older than sin, and his beard could grow no whiter.
He wanted to die.
The dwarfish natives of the Arctic caverns did not speak his language, but conversed in their own, twittering tongue, conducted incomprehensible rituals, when they were not actually working in the factories.
Once every year they forced him, sobbing and protesting, into Endless Night.  During the journey he would stand near every child in the world, leave one of the dwarves' invisible gifts by its bedside.  The children slept, frozen into time.
He envied Prometheus and Loki, sisyphus and Judas.
His punishment was harsher.
Ho.
Ho.
Ho.
N. Gaiman
"Smoke and Mirrors"

Author copies have arrived!

My paperback novels have arrived. They look wonderful!

Milestone - Publishing

I feel like I should document the publishing of my book, Alorya.  It's not up on Amazon or Barnes & Nobles as of yet, but it should be soon.  I see the book posted on Amazon (albeit, Out of Stock) when I do an ISBN search.

All I can say is, I am not ready for this.  I wanted my site to be better.  I wanted to have book trailers ready.  I wanted to say to you, the reader, that I think you are worth the time and effort of a good quality product, as well as a good story.

I will have all of these up and ready.

I apologize that I have not gotten these up before the publishing date.

All of that being said, I really do hope you enjoy the story.

Aiden,
  We came a long way, didn't we?
Love,
Daddy

Star Wars - Who's in charge today?

I'm going to leave out the chronological order of the Star Wars movies for the sake of making my point.

While playing Knights of the Old Republic, I was able to see that their were 3 main bodies of power to govern the people.  The Republic government, the Jedi and the Sith.  It was clear that the Republic would would be the tool which would either be used by the Sith or the Jedi.  This lasted for thousands of years.

Once Palpatine is elected Chancellor, the galaxy is thrusted into over one hundred years of political chaos.  Secretly a Sith, Palpatine uses bureaucracy, a war with confederate star systems and the Jedi to fashion himself Emperor.  We Occupy Wall Street, but the Empire had a Rebel Alliance which destroyed the Death Star.  This was definitely not a sustainable government, but I'm not sure Palpatine cared, really.

Luke Skywalker and the Alliance take down the head of the Empirical government creating a power vacuum which last for years.  Imperial Remnant forces battled Alliance forces until the Alliance proves victorious, takes control of Coruscant and creates the New Republic.  The Empire, with a handful of systems, sit near the edge of the galaxy continuing business as usual.

The New Republic was anything but successful.  While the Jedi Order was able to rebuild, the New Republic had to fight internal bickering and a great bureaucracy which was strangely similar to the Old Republic.  While they squabbled, their enemies plotted.

Enter the Yuuzhan Vong.  From literally, out of nowhere, these aliens to the galaxy came seeking anything but peace.  Taking advantage of soft under-belly of the New Republic, the Yuuzhan Vong was able to cut through the galaxy with relative ease.  It wasn't until the New Jedi Order was free to act independently of the failed government that the Yuuzhan Vong were defeated.  The Galactic Alliance was a fractured government which limped along while the citizens of the galaxy rebuilt.

First Chief of State to the Galactic Alliance - Cal Omas - Removed from power by a Coup.

Second Chief of State - Darth Caedus (a Sith????) and Cha Naithal - To be fair, Jacen Solo was good at keeping it a secret that he was in fact a Sith.  Ok, so not really.  Darth Caedus and Cha Naithal did bring about the Second Galactic Civil War.  Darth Caedus was killed by his sister and Cha Naithal was disgraced.

Third Chief of State - Natasi Daala (former Imperial Admiral) - Enter the Police State.  She too left office in hand-cuffs.  Her platform of destroying all those who sought power was deemed to risky, although it was a similar platform to many of her predecessors.

The Triumvirate - Grand Master Saba Sabatyne, Senator Treen and Senator Jaxton - When I first read of Saba Sabatyne, I pictured an incompetent alligator in a Jedi robe.  The other two were up to no good from the moment they were introduced to the reader.  I've not seen the outcome of this stellar Administration, but I'm pretty sure it's not going to be pretty.

UPDATE:  This just in.  The Sith rule the galaxy, once again.  And now, to Steve, with the weather.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I've seen from my blogger stats page that my audience spans the globe, so Thanksgiving might not be celebrated in your corner of the world.

Traditionally, I use Thanksgiving as a time to spend with family over a large meal with some football on the television.  I've always taken some time in the day to reflect and be thankful for all that I have.  This is a personal and private moment, but since this is a blog post, I need every reader to know that I'm thankful for them.

I like to think of myself as more of a story teller than a writer.  Without you, I would be a story teller with an audience of none.  I would lose the desire to tell the stories.

Thank you!  Thanks to all of you who have read my blog.  I really hope you enjoy my book when it's released in a couple weeks.  While you read, I'll get back to writing my second book.

Take care!

Top Five - My favorite characters from Sci-Fi / fantasy novels

I've read a bunch of Sci-Fi / Fantasy novels, but obviously not all of them. There are some characters which are so clearly defined in there stories that they can come alive in our imaginations. Other times, you'll find writers digging into our own psyche to create a character to which we are already familiar, without needing strong character development. Prince Charming and the Big Bad Wolf are examples of those characters. Even without the aid of Disney, we already know who these characters are because they've been in our psyche since the our childhood.

I prefer my favorite characters to have a fatal flaw that they must overcome. Here are my top five:

5 - King Theoden - What do you do when your people show more allegiance to a ranger from the north than to you, their king? As if that wasn't bad enough, you are already known for being the king who fell under the spell of Sauruman the White. On top of that, your son and only heir had been killed in battle.

What he did was ride.... ride now... ride for ruin... death... and the worlds ending.

4 - Boromir son of Denethor - Everybody remembers Aragorn, Legolas and the hobbits, but who remembers Boromir? He was played in the movie by Sean Bean, which is a spoiler in itself as to what will happen to him. Boromir was the oldest and favorite son of Gondor. In Fellowship of the Ring, he was akin to a wet blanket who was constantly bringing everybody down with comments of doom. "One does not simply walk into Mordor..." he said. When the time came, he tried to take the ring from Frodo.

In his darkest hour though, he heroically battled the uruk-hai to help Frodo escape. His story is what I loved most about the first book. His moment of redemption was my favorite part.

3 - Ganner Rhysode - Introduced in the New Jedi Order, Ganner and the Jedi found themselves fighting an enemy that could not be seen in the Force. The Yuuzhan Vong were mighty warriors immune to the Jedi's greatest weapon/gift. Ganner was introduced as a privileged pretty-boy. He accompanied the Solo children on the fateful mission that claimed one Solo's life, while another Solo took his first steps down a dark path. Ganner was given a livid scar on his face which proved to be a life changing event for the vain Jedi.

After over a year of contemplation in the force, Ganner realized that he was not going to be the hero of this war. In a moment of clarity, Ganner saw that it was Jacen Solo who would be the end of the Yuuzhan Vong. He also saw that Jacen Solo would not make it out of a dangerous mission without his help.

While Jacen Solo was occupied with a strategy to defeat the Yuuzhan Vong, Ganner needed to just buy Jacen some time. The worshippers of death saw Ganner in a new light that day. They saw him as the Gate Keeper of Death. "None shall pass."

2 - Sam Vimes - I only read The Fifth Elephant by Terry Pratchett because it was Terry Pratchett. Sometimes, you don't know what a book is about, but because you like the author, you buy it. Up to that point, I had only read about the witches and wizards of discworld. I found it funny, yet utterly confusing. I needed to go back to the beginning and read the Watch books in order. Sam Vimes was Captain of the Night Watch and had progressed all the way up to Duke of Ankh. Sam was a police officer in the midst of a battle against alcoholism, the City of Ankh Morpork and a Dragon. Sarcastic and crude, Sam had ticked off the entire city from the bottom to the top. With all this in mind, the city, the Patrician, the guards and even the dragon knew one thing about Sam Vimes: He had integrity.

Throughout each of the books, it became clear that good things were happening to Sam, but he was always asking "why?". Why were good things happening to him? While he waited for the world to come tumbling down around him, he simply continued to do his duty.

Sam Vimes is a personal favorite of mine. He is not the flashiest, but he reminded me of me once.

1 - Anakin Solo - Oh, I love Star Wars too! Darth Vader! Yeah, I like Darth Vader too. He was once Anakin.... wait, Anakin who?

Yes, this is Anakin Solo. Son of Leia Organa Solo. Grandson of Anakin Skywalker, a.k.a. Darth Vader. Here on earth, that's like naming your baby Adolf.

While still in his mother's womb, he was touched by the dark side of the force. Many times while growing up, he was reminded about the legacy of his grandfather. The youngest of the Solo children, he was also the most tragic. Anakin Solo had the most powerful enemy in the Star Wars universe. George Lucas. Lucas felt that Anakin Solo's trajectory followed too closely to Anakin Skywalkers. This wouldn't have been so bad if Lucas wasn't making the Star Wars prequels at the time. From birth, it seems Anakin Solo was destined for failure.

In the New Jedi Order, Anakin Solo was the first to figure out why the Yuuzhan Vong could not be felt in the force. The Jedi had become soft and relied too heavily on the force. Mara Jade Skywalker taught Anakin to use the force only when necessary. Solo became more self reliant. As a child, he became one of the first to best a Yuzhaan Vong in combat. After many victories, he became the hero his grandfather and famous uncle had become. In Star by Star by Troy Denning, Anakin Solo was killed. Much like Ganner, Boromir and Theoden, Anakin went out in a blaze of glory. Many of us in the Star Wars universe felt robbed, but it was then that I learned the power of the writer. The storyteller is the most powerful person in the story.

Publishing Timeline









I suspect we are nearly there, so I wanted to share with you a set of tentative dates as to when Alorya will finally be published.

By the way, I just had a couple fortune cookies and had the best fortunes!
1 - The great pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do.
2 - All your hard work will soon pay off.

I submitted my first proof revisions yesterday morning, so this is what I think the timeline will look like.
11/1 - 11/4 - Finalize Proof.  This leads to the book distribution process.  (Actually, finalized 11/14)
11/7 - 11/21 - Book Distribution. 

I have said I wanted to do a publishing party and I certainly will.  It will be in Staten Island and most likely will be in December, but if worse comes to worst, it can be pushed out to January 2012.

Inspiration - Daily Life

Fantasy vs Reality

Every writer will be inspired by every day events in their life, but to varying degrees.  From a writing perspective, I took everything I experienced and skewed it into a Sci-Fi / Fantasy world called Alorya.  When I was in my teens, I lived inside my head.  People would see me as quiet or shy, but I just hadn't found my outlet for communicating this to other people.

A little over ten years ago, I was on a job interview for a company I can't remember.  I was perhaps the worst person for interviews on the planet, at the time, but the focal point was how I perceived it within my creativity.  I viewed it as a scene out of Star Wars.  The room was ablaze in red and green flashes of light, while I battled the IT Manager for a position with that company.  I would later go to my computer at some point and write about this lightsaber battle with a hypacritical Jedi to which I narrowly escaped with my life.

I write in the same way others would keep a diary or a journal, but through my eyes, it's all transformed into an "out of this world" experience.  My battles against ogres, romances with elves, and command of the force is my way of journaling life without the mundanity of everyday life.  Have you ever thought about a conversation you just had and wished you said something differently?  Maybe you miss your bus by a minute and think about the extra time you took taking that "shortcut"?  It is in this light that I view writing and creating as a fun experience and not a job.

Inspiration - Brothers Abroad

I spoke earlier about how the birth of my son was the event that made me pick up the pen to write Alorya, but inspiration comes in so many forms, at so many different times, that I'm going to write a few of the most inspiring things to happen which led to the creation of Alorya.  I want to set the tone for this post by saying that I am defining inspiration as an event that took place which made me run to my computer and start writing.  Of course my wife, my friends and family all inspire me to be the best that I can, but that's not what I'm talking about in this post.  Many of the events that take place in Alorya are taken from moments in my life to which I applied artistic interpretation.

Both of my brothers were serving their country in Iraq during the writing of Alorya.  Gabriel was in Iraq for three separate tours and Tim was away for one.  They were both stationed over seas when they were not in Iraq, so they were always away, but with different degrees of danger around them.  The main backdrop for Alorya was war.  I would think that if my brothers were hippies at Berkley during this time, the story would have been much different. 

Alorya contains three major characters which come from the warrior caste in a country called Bragar.  Whether they are members of an organized military or warriors in their tribe, my brothers were the inspiration behind their creation, as well as the main theme of the story.  I've had conversations about the use of bionics with my brother Gabriel so many times, that I thought it was a great idea to bring it into the story.  Gabe and I disagree on the use of bionics, so I was inspired to create a scenerio of bionic soldiers with both success and failure which is attributed to our conversation.  I also had numerous conversations with my brother Tim about the feeling of loss while you're away.  The friends, the family and the romance becomes so difficult to manage that it became tempting to just walk away.  I wrote about what I took from my conversations with both of my brothers about ultimate loss versus, something to look forward to when you return home.  Inspiration comes in so many forms that my brothers may not even know that the little 15 minute conversation we had on Star Wars - Knights of the Old Republic in turn became an idea for my book.

The next post will be about inspiration which came from work.

Final thoughts as I submit my manuscript

In 2006, when I asked the nurse for a couple sheets of paper, and a pen, I knew that I should take the time to remember that moment.  It was a big moment.  Today, I feel the same way.  I wanted to get this down so that I may look back at it and either cringe or smile.  I seriously expect to cringe though.

First, let me describe my nightmares.  I've had dreams all week about searching for my book on the Internet and finding it listed as the worst flop in literature since the most interesting man in the world decided to write his memoirs in invisible ink.  (Blackadder moment)  For him, I guess Dos Equis would say that it still hit the NY Times Best-Sellers, but I'm obviously not him.  Another nightmare was that I got my proof back and found that I left random notes and highlights in the manuscript.  Were those people giggling because they saw my book trailer on Tosh.0?

I hope that I come back to this blog in the future and smile though.  I've worked hard on Alorya.  At this point, I just don't want to be embarrassed by the story I was able to get down on paper.  I say that because I know the story is amazing.  Somehow, when the story gets from my head to paper, things get a little fuzzy.  I've found myself saying, "Why did I write it that way?".  After 18 Edits (3 by Editors not personally related to me), I think I have the best possible story that I can get on paper at this time.

I'm also trying to convey my worry as best I can because I want it to be evident when I read this six months from now.

Marketing - What makes sense to me?

I definitely can't be confused with a marketing expert, but recently when two friends released their first album I thought they might not be reaching their entire audience.  I wrote to them a facebook message from my iPhone and I thought my fingers were going to fall off.  The following day, I had some things come to mind that I forgot to mention.  Keeping in mind that I am a writer and they are musicians, we naturally have different methods for marketing, but I came up with a few ideas which can be useful for most of us.

• Know your audience - What do they want to hear, read or watch?
• Know your competition - What are they doing to reach their fans?
• Know your material - Is there some facet of your work that differs from or is similar to anything?

Whether you're in the stone age or the information age, you need to address these points.  The following part has to do with timing, location and current trends.

• Don't wait until your book is published, album is released, openning night at your play (whatever) to begin marketing.  You want to think about these things at most a year before publication.

I finished the first few edits of my book in 2008 and felt that it was ready for an agent.  Before I did that however, I registered the domain Alorya.com.  I joined MySpace to get into the social media movement. I even did the unthinkable and became sociable around the office.  I expect to be published in the next few months.  Get something... anything... on every form of social media and interface you can (afford) and begin talking to people about your work.  If you're not proud enough to talk about it, who will be?

• Your competion should be the established greats of the current era in your genre.  If you're a musician, Mozart is not your competition.  If you're a writer, Frank Herbert is not your comptetion.  Find out how your competition is reaching their audience and then adopt/improve on it.  Do they use the web?  Do they use PodCast? 

I looked at Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman and Troy Denning to see how they reached their audience.  I obviously don't have the budget to compete with them from a marketing stand-point, but it was a great place to find some ideas.  (Hint:  Follow them on Twitter).

• Try to set yourself apart from everyone else.  Find something unique about your work and put a neon sign around it.

"Buy my book", "Check out my book" can really be annoying.  Don't turn yourself into a salesman, just try to spread the word that you are a member of the industry and you can contribute. (Kind of like this article, right?).  The unique part of my book is that I took real life events and exaggerated the hell out of them.  What's unique about that?  Well, they're MY life events.  That's pretty unique.  I never expected to write the first or best of anything.  I'm just trying to tell the story I started writing when I borrowed a few sheets of paper from a nurse, when my son was still in the hospital after he was born.

Special Thanks to Matthew Ashdown for helping clear these points up for me.

Eyes - A Poem to my wife Regina

It has been said that eyes are windows to the soul.
Eyes like yours are beautiful stained glass windows
to the cathedral that is your soul.

The story of our love is played out along that
stained glass pane that compliments your visage.
It is the story of love, happiness, sorrow and triumph.

The cathedral of your soul is home to the breath of heaven.

You held God and the Angels breathless when you were born.

Our story hangs upon the lips of everyone whom has ever
fallen in love at one time or another.

It is the tune everyone hears when they walk home from
their first date with their true love destiny.

It is the first smell of summer jasmine during the lovers
midnight stroll.

Football - American Style

I can remember days when I couldn't sleep after a Broncos game. Sometimes, they won in such ridiculous fashion I would be up all night with adrenaline pumping. On occasion, they would lose and I would be up all night reliving the moments which would have turned the loss into a victory. One time, in 1997 I had a dream after a Bronco loss to the 49ers. The Broncos lost pretty soundly yet I managed to have a vivid dream of referees being arrested for gambling. This led to John Elway giving an Independence Day-esque type of speech and leading the Broncos back on to the field. In this dream, the Broncos destroyed the 49ers. I actually woke up the next morning sure that the loss was overturned. It wasn't.

Last night, the Broncos lost to their division rivals the Raiders. Not only did I not bother to stay up and watch it, I really didn't care. I woke up this morning and read about the loss and just didn't care. I try to analyze why I don't care about sports anymore, but I can't seem to figure it out. On the other hand, if I had seen the game (if it were on earlier), I would have rooted for the Broncos and been upset at the loss. I just don't think I would have had a problem sleeping. I think I have it figured out and it brings to mind a Bruce Springsteen lyric.

John Elway - "You took my heart when you left."

I wasn't just dreaming about the game the night before. I was actually living the dream. From 1984 to 1999, I followed the Broncos religiously. Actually, that might be a lie. I followed John Elway religiously. After that, I followed the Broncos out of habit. During the John Elway era, I saw it all though. John Elway's never ending battle against the clock. All the Bronco faithful miss you John.

Never Winter

The Chill falls,
branches rustle in the wind.
Crunching beneath my feet the leaves lie.
It's almost Winter and time for everything to die.

The living run for their homes,
wings flap, paws patter, chimneys lit afire.
Sunlight wanes giving in to darkness, we all pause to consider regret.
The end is near, the cycle of death celebrates, recruiting us all in secret.

In this time of need,
our hour of greatest despair.
We look to the north and see comfort there.

For all of our failings, in all of its subtleties,
we let pass our weakness and welcomed our demons.
The summer sun let us forget, while the fruits of the fall made us grow fat.
We laughed while we aged and slowly watched our life lines grow flat.

In the darkness while everything dies,
nothing to see in the great empty, we question our eyes.
Yet we gaze to the north with longing despair,
the blackness is pierced by a glow in the skies.

We remember he came.
We remember the hope.
We can re-enter a year and try to recycle our hurts and play our own parts,
We feel courage now and know that with him, it's never winter in our hearts.

Final Edit Received

I have great news!!

During my initial conversations with the publisher, they were asking how I received criticism.  What I found to be odd, is that I also had forms to fill out describing my book and incredibly, how I received criticism.  It brought me back to the times when I had been handing in creative-writing exercises at school.  Such hope which was shattered with a bad grade.  I always said the same thing, "Are these people nuts?!?  Why can't they understand that I did "this" intentionally and I did "that" because later "this" happens?  I don't deserve this grade because the professor doesn't understand me or my writing."

So, yesterday I got the manuscript back from the editors.

It felt like I was just punched in the neck.  I literally felt the wind leave me when I saw how badly they beat up my manuscript.

Right now, all I can say is that "I got what I deserved."  Something I couldn't say when I was younger, but it's as true then as it is now.

My job is to tell a story to the reader.  I'm sure a Sci-fi/Fantasy reader would have understood a bit more with certain aspects to the review, but that's not the point.  The book is supposed to be intuitive.  At no point should a reader have to say, "Poorly written, but I know what you mean."  I feel really good about this now.  I was worried that I would publish the book and later have regrets with the fact that readers didn't understand what I was trying to say.  With this, I can be pretty sure I'll be delivering a quality product for everyone to enjoy.

I want everyone to enjoy Alorya.  I want people who have never read the Sci-Fi/Fantasy genre to "get it."  It's actually the story of my son's first week of life translated into fiction.  When they come to book signings and see Aiden with me, I want them to see how it all turned out.

Perhaps if I just panicked a bit more?

There were a few facts about the hurricane (Irene) which raised some concern on my part.  For one, living in the NYC Metro area, we don't get many hurricane level storms.  Our city architecture was not designed to be a source of protection from a storm of that magnitude.  This is one of the reasons, I'm assuming, elected officials were telling us we had to evacuate.  As the storm progressed up the Atlantic towards us, I was concerned.
This is a little bit of insight into the type of person I am.  When something is big enough to get me concerned, I do some research on it to raise my own awareness. 

"This looks like it could be big, how will it affect me?"

Of Note:
My house is above sea level. 
I have two young children (5 and 1)
I have 2 medium sized trees in front of my house.
My house is about 4 feet above street level.
My roof is on its third layer of tile (maximum amount), and it's already leaked once this year.
My car is parked next to one of said trees.
I have no basement.
My backyard tends to flood on days when it's anything just above a drizzle.

Taking all of this into account, I decided to check the weather forecasts periodically on Friday and into Saturday.  I forget what channel I was watching, but this blond reporter in a studio smiled a great big pearly smile as she told us about Armageddon.  What the ....?

It was at this point the Facebook messages, the email, the tweets and the phone started screaming for my attention.  "Run!  Run for your lives," an irate message appeared in my inbox.  People who were very concerned for me were giving me advice on how to make it through disaster, should it come to that point.  It was great advice for the most part.  The only problem was that they were interrupting my own research on how bad this hurricane was going to be.  To point something else out about me, I don't go through the normal channels when I'm doing research.  I've already seen enough to know the anti-government / anti-media team will tell me the hurricane is just hype.  I also know the pro-government team will tell me how great it was that we were prepared this time around and that yes, in fact, everyone should go to their nearest shelter.

"Fill up your tub with water now, so if you find yourself without water for a bath, it will be available to you." 

My wife took a trip to the supermarket to stock up on some canned goods, just in case.  The shelves were bare.  Batteries had become a mere rumor, while some folks were seen stocking up on Klondike Bars and beer.  Nice!

"In anticipation of a power outage, set your refrigerators cool setting to maximum to extend food life."

By mid-Saturday, I had my plan.  I would go to my mother's with my son, while my wife would go to her aunt's with her mother and our daughter.  There weren't going to be enough beds for everyone, I thought.  My wife said she wanted us all to stick together, so rather than settle up on what we would do, we just looked outside and used our eyes to see that it wasn't so bad yet.

The Plan:
Watch Doctor Who on BBC America.
If Cable gets knocked out preventing this, we execute our evacuation plan previously stated.
Or, if at the end of Doctor Who, the storm looks like its getting worse, we'll execute our evacuation plan.

The Outcome:
All of the Doctors previous companions make him feel overwhelmed with guilt.
Mel seemed like a plot device.
Alex Kingston became much cooler in my book for her portrayal of River Song.
Oh, and we went straight to bed afterwards.

"Before the storm, take a walk around the block.  Are there any dead leaves or debris covering the sewer grate?"

So, the following morning we woke up and wondered if the hurricane had hit yet.  It became my innocent question I had asked.  "Did Irene hit yet?"  I made on all phone calls to my friends/family yesterday, but after a while it became a sarcastic question I would ask.  "When is Irene going to get here?  I'm fully prepared to panic and cry like a baby, so where is this storm?"

“For those of you in New Jersey, this WILL BE the MOST SEVERE weather you have EVER or most likely WILL ever experience to date.”  This is a 3^rd person quote of the Weather Channel.  I took this person to task, because it’s overly dramatic and doesn’t offer any advice other than to make the viewer tremble with fear.

Also on FB, hours before the storm hit, someone from Staten Island posted a picture of a tree fallen on top of the telephone poll wires.  Declaring this to be a government conspiracy to cripple their neighborhood.  I asked, “What did you do after you put the camera down?”  On the defensive, they told me it wasn’t their job and even if it was, they wouldn’t know how to fix this.  I was only checking to see if they called 411.  "Oh."

So, it’s Saturday evening and I’m walking with my five year old son, in the middle of the “hurricane” just jumping in puddles.  I asked myself, why don’t I panic?  As I watch my son gleefully jumping in the water with his Toy Story rain coat, I already knew why I don’t panic.

If I were to panic, then everyone close to me would see that the guy who doesn’t panic is panicking.  If he’s scared, then no one will be gleefully jumping in puddles.  No one will be in the house taking a nap.  I dare say, no one would think it was a good idea to DJ a party on Saturday night in Queens.  Panic is contagious, I think.  Another thing to note; if the storm was worse and my house was destroyed, it would NOT be because I didn't panic.

A Mother's Birthday

I sit beside the fire and think
Of all that I have seen.
Of meadow flowers and butterflies
In summers that have been.

Of yellow leaves and gossamer
In autumns that there were
With morning mist and silver sun
And wind upon my hair.

I sit beside the fire and think
Of how the world will be
When winter comes without a spring
That I shall ever see.

For still there are so many things
That I have never seen
In every wood in every spring
There is a different kind of green.

I sit beside the fire and think
Of people long ago,
And people who will see a world
That I shall never know.

But all the while I sit and think
Of times there were before
I listen for returning feet,
and voices at the door.

Alorya Tag Line - Poll

I need to perfect the tag line of my upcoming novel Alorya.  Can you help me decide which one to go with?

1 - You are the father of a child, evil incarnate, prophesized to commit genocide.  What do you do?
2 - What would you do if your son was prophesized to be an evil tyrant responsible for the next great genocide?
3 -  If you knew your son was prophesized to slaughter half of the world’s population, what would you do?
4 - A child, evil incarnate, is prophesized to commit genocide.  You are his father.  What would you do?

Comment with your suggestions too!  I will go with whichever garners the most support.

- As suggested by J.J. Lancer
5 - Your son is prophesied to commit genocide.  What would you do?

Book Review - by Jon Teetsell

The Silmarillion: The Epic History of the Elves in The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The first thing I want to get across is that my rating of 4-Stars is subject to the fact that I love the genre and in particular, I love the Lord of the Rings. When I read the back cover, I saw that the Silmarillion is Tolkien's book of short stories summarizing the first and second age. I had just finished Lord of the Rings and had a thirst for all things Middle Earth. This is where I would expect some of you to say "thank you, but no thank you."

The Silmarillion is for Middle-Earth lovers. Throughout the book, you'll see similarities between it and the Lord of the Rings. The thing worth pointing out though is that Lord of the Rings is done on a much smaller scale than Silmarillion. For example, the Sauron character is comparable to Morgoth. The Shelob character is comparable with Ungoliant. The stories focus on the elves, whereas Lord of the Rings focus on man.

The story of the Noldor and the men of Numenor were particularly enthralling as both Elrond and Aragorn can trace their lineage there. Galadriel is alive and well and as beautiful on paper as she is in the movies.

The truly fascinating part of the Silmarillion is that it seems like a sounding board for all that happened in the Lord of the Rings. Reading it felt as though I was perusing through the notes of a giant in my field which were left on a coffee table in his den. When I watch the Lord of the Rings with my friends, who are not nearly of the same fanaticism with the books as I am, I can play the role of "Know it All" thanks to this book. It's those little moments that make it all worth it.





View all my reviews

Catskills

Route 17 was quiet this early in the morning. Jen kept her windows rolled up, though the heat was a stifling New York heat that promised to add an equal dose of humidity.  She stared straight ahead; nothing could pull her gaze from the road. What had she just seen?  Every time the memory would try to resurface, something would suppress the image into a flash of light and the sound of children crying. She reached down to check her cell phone to find it cracked from when she fell on the tracks, in a fit of rage she flung it into the back seat.  From Rt 17, she turned onto Holiday Hill Road and made a quick left into a hidden driveway between two neglected trees. The door to the cabin flew open at her touch and she found Stan rushing over to her.

“What is it? What happened,”  he asked. She resisted his touch and sat down at the kitchen table.  “Did you find Nick and Sasha?”

She did not answer him; staring ahead, she pulled her hair frantically and began to cry.

“I’m calling the police,”  he declared and walked over to the phone.

“No,”  she said sternly. She took a moment to compose herself.  “It’s no use, they’re gone.”

“Gone,” he demanded, slamming the phone down.  His face was full of concern.  “What the hell happened down there?”

She told him what it was like driving there without him. Sasha and Nick did not come back last night from hiking in the Catskill Mountains.  Stan called the Sheriff's office and was told they had to be missing longer than a few hours before they could warrant a full search party.  Jen drove off by herself, just before midnight to the location Nick and Sasha told them they would start. Sure enough, she found their Honda Accord parked in a small gravel parking lot near the old Ulster & Delaware Railroad Company railroad tracks.  In the wooded forest, at this time of night, darkness could not even begin to describe it.  She could not see her hand in front of her face.  Without a flashlight, she used her cellphone LED to light the way ahead.

Nearly a hundred and fifty years ago, the railroad company went out of business.  Treacherous terrain caused the trains take exorbitant amounts of time just to travel up and down the mountains. During an icy winter, a deadly accident had cost the lives of nearly eighty tourists. The tracks had frozen, but this was to be expected during the peak of skiing season. Screams could be heard by people, who lived nearby, as the trains breaks failed to catch on the slippery tracks.  The odd part about the accident was that there was no crash. The train simply went into the tunnel, but never came out the other side. Without a free flowing amount of information in that day in age, the story past with the time until it became merely a legend.  Hundreds of tons of steal in that train and all of those passengers could not just disappear.  There wasn’t a sophisticated ticketing system in those days, so the passengers were just forgotten. The dramatic loss of business for the Ulster & Delaware Railroad Company and local stories turned the accident into a legend.

It wasn’t long before Jen was at the abandoned tunnel calling for her friends.  Up to this point, Stan followed the story without interuption.  “That tunnel,” he asked with doubt written all over his face.  “I lived here my whole life, there is nothing haunted about that tunnel.  The three of you came here to visit, babbling about the tunnel and full of wild stories.  It’s nothing!  A tourist trap... that’s all.”

“I was there,”  she screamed.  “I didn’t see any ghosts or anything. I just walked into the tunnel and suddenly, I was on the other side and it was already daylight.”

Suddenly, she found herself in darkness.  The immediate change in her location made her stumble and fall.  Her cell phone crashed across the ground.  She could feel the wooden sleepers with her hands as she traced them to the steel rail.  The darkness surrounded her, as did the cries of people so close she felt like she was in the center of a circle of sobbing children.

“Sasha,”  she screamed.  “Nicolas!!”



From inside the cabin, Sasha and Stan were seated on the sofa as Nicolas walked into the house, closing the door behind him.  He drove the Camry back from the parking lot near the trail feeling incredibly guilty.  He and Sasha chickened out and never went near the tunnel.  Instead, they camped out and tried to have a little time alone.  He hoped Jen would hit it off with Stan and make use of their time together as well.  Each time he went to look for her, he managed to walk the entire length of the trail, including walking from one side of the tunnel to the other.  With the aid of daylight and flashlights, he saw no sign of her.

“Any word from the Sherrif,” he asked.

Sasha and Stan shook their heads.

“It’s been two weeks,” Stan said.  “They’ve done all they can, according to Deputy Jones.”

In the tunnel, there were no remains of Jen. There was no indication she was ever there. If you ever heard her voice joined by the chorus of crying victims, you probably weren’t getting out of the tunnel either.

I found him

It was Autumn, 1992, and I had agreed to move back to Staten Island to spend more time with my brothers and sisters.  I went to school for the last time in Long Beach and made sure to find Danny McIntyre to say good-bye.
There just was not enough time to tell him all of the details of this departure, so I just told him the basics.  ”Don’t worry,” I said.  ”I’ll be in Long Beach every weekend, so I can see you then.”  That was the last thing I said to him.
About five or six years ago, I started looking for the friends I had when I was young.  The good friends were good, the enemies were good and everyone had grown up to be responsible adults for the most part.  All of my friends were there except for three of the greatest.

• Danny McIntyre
• Joe Henry
• John Deifenbach

No one had heard of them.  They were lost, without a trace.  Thanks to Social Media sites, such as MySpace and Facebook, I’ve been able to launch a search into finding these gentlemen.  For one of them, the memory that had stuck out in my mind was an interaction I had with one of my other friends in the mid-nineties.  ”Oh, Danny,” he asked.  ”Last I heard, he got in with a bad crowd and we haven’t seen him since.”
Up until today, two of them remained hidden and one of them I choose not to believe the results that I have found  (I’m still looking Joe).  Today, my search is over.  Unbidden, a search algorithm came to mind.  (Penguin & McIntyre & Kevin & Dan).  A Q & A session with Kevin’s band asked the question of ‘who was your inspiration?’  ”My brother Danny,” was Kevin’s reply.  Logic told me, that a band from Point Lookout with the lead singer of Kevin McIntyre was most likely the best place for me to look.  The fact that he also had a brother named Danny was the clincher.
Whether or not Danny had fallen in with a bad crowd is inconsequential right now.  I’ve found him.  He is doing everything that I had thought he was going to be doing with his life.  All this and I am happy for him too!  Good Luck, Dan.  I found you.  Now, I’ve got two more to go.

Update - 1

I met with the Marketing Editor for my book yesterday evening. The next phase is a Content Edit, but during the next week or so, I’m going to be setting the marketing expectations for Alorya.
The good news is he likes the book. I thought a major plus was the fact that he said he does not really like Sci-Fi / Fantasy novels, so the fact that he likes it speaks volumes.
It’s so good to hear that someone besides my friends and family like the book as well. I always get the feeling my friends and family are telling me what they want me to hear, instead of the truth. Now, I know for certain that the book is not pure drivel.

Method Writer

“What if you were given the knowledge that you will meet a genocidal maniac when they were a child; before they committed any atrocities?”  - Alorya Tag-line (2007)

I think we’ve all heard the term “method actor”, which is basically an actor who dives so completely into their role, that he actually becomes the character being played.  While classical acting focuses on the external tools used by actors, such as voice, facial expressions and mannerisms; method acting focuses on the internal tools.  A Method Actor can develop internal abilities which mimic the muse the actor is trying to portray, such as emotions and psyche.

To be honest, Alorya isn’t so much a fantasy book as it is a series of real life events which were exaggerated, and then documented in a fictional world.  Add to that the fact that I really did wish the stories of Harry Potter, Anakin Skywalker and Ned Stark had gone differently, which was the main reason I started writing a book.  I created characters which were not really extensions of me, but other people in my life.  The character I created in my own image is not really introduced until the end of the story.

When I wrote Alorya, I had to climb into the heads of people I had brief encounters with and those encounters were mostly negative.  As I passed the story along to my editors, they told me I needed to flesh out these characters.  I had the unfortunate task of climbing into the character of an ambitious murderer, which was extremely difficult.  For some time, I wanted the tag-line of my book to be “What if you were given the knowledge that you will meet a genocidal maniac when they were a child; before they committed any atrocities?”  Writing my worst fears in a journal was supposed to be a therapeutic way of dealing with my realistic problem.

Recently, I’ve been talking to my wife about the possibility of being a “method writer”.  I’ve seen stories of writers taking steroid to be more authentic when writing about that topic and at first, I laughed.  I can then think back to some really dark times for me in 2007 – 2009, and they really stand out for me.  Was it due to writing what is ultimately a very dark book?

My follow-up to Alorya will not be so dark.  It’s a story about two brothers inheriting a detective agency from their uncle.  I’m half-way through the first draft and I’m pretty excited about it.  I appreciate it if you made it this far.

Revelations during the Wedding

I knew that I was not Matt’s oldest friend. I was reminded of it often during our friendship from his other friends, but I always thought it was a good thing that friendship could endure the way it obviously had between him and his childhood friends. The reminder that set my mind down this path came yesterday during my friends wedding. JT had huddled with Matt and the groomsmen, which were all friends from the age that came when the parents open their doors to let their children explore the world. They huddled while JT told them that the first one of them was getting married and together, they will all get to this stage.
As a parent, I think to the days that come when I will open the doors for my children Aiden and Elena and when they will let their friends into their hearts. One day, I know, these friends will be closer to and know more about my children than I do. Yesterday, I saw the “driven one”, the “nice one”, the “strong one” and the “real one” hugging and for a moment, I saw them when they were young. I saw the “Long Hair” years, I saw the Hockey Years, I saw the “first love” years. It was clear that all of us were way past our Luke Skywalker years and into our Han Solo years.
During ICON 2011, I was in class which I think was called something like “Sci-Fi / Fantasy for old Rock Stars”. One thing I had learned about ICON was that the titles don’t always match the content, but this ended up being the greatest class I had taken at one of these events. The theme wanted us to think about all of those Sci-Fi heroes when they became gray and old. It was a very interesting topic, but for this blog it really comes down to the following Categories:
Years -

• Luke Skywalker - Young, talented and with something to prove. The Luke Skywalker years would be our last years of school and the first few years in our careers. Driven to succeed with a chip on our shoulder’s at trying to prove that we’re not kids anymore. 
• Han Solo - Mid-Career, established with little to prove. The Han Solo years would be from that moment when we win our first major battle in life to the moment when the gray hairs outnumber the regular color we have. Above us, they don’t work very hard and below us, they’re after our jobs. In this stage, we learn the phrase “What have you done for me lately” focuses more on the word “lately” than any other word. 
• Obi Wan Kenobi - Older, near retirement with nothing to prove. The Obi Wan Kenobi years are the years in which we advise or lead the others and hope to have a grand finish. Delegation to the Han Solo’s while teaching the Luke Skywalker’s is the basic method of operation. 

Honestly, Matt and I didn’t like each other when we first met. He thought I was a prick and I thought he was unreliable. We became friendly as time went on, but I can tell you right now the moment that changed our lives and made us allies and then friends.
We were at Komegashi with Bill O’Connell, who at that time was closer to a friend than Matt was to me. In truth, I was a prick and did not think it was possible to work with friends due to the fact that you may one day need to fight them for the same position. That day at Komegashi, we were discussing our dissatisfaction with the people we worked with, although all of us agreed that we liked working there. And then it came - Bill asked us how much money we made. Knowing it was a mistake, I didn’t see any harm in telling him and Matt. Bill was about to move to Washington and I didn’t feel threatened by Matt at all. I knew I made good money since I was making more than my acceptable range of salary. Matt maintained that he made more than all of his friends. Even Bill followed suit with the fact that he made more than all of his friends. The numbers killed us though. Bill had asked this question of the entire team of new hires before he had gotten to ask it of us. Matt and I were paid less than others who we felt didn’t deserve it. We didn’t complain. There were numerous avenues to which we could have taken, but what happened was we both became so driven to learn new things that we set out to conquer.
I taught Matt everything I knew about the hardware dynamics of PC’s and Servers. Matt learned programming while I learned databases. We were unstoppable. When we added Matt’s friends Mike and Dave to the clique, we became formidable enough to be noticed by everyone up to the CIO of a billion dollar company. As I watched the groomsmen in the huddle with the groom, I didn’t feel like a fellow groomsmen. I felt like an outsider watching the Goonies grow up and get married. Folks from my generation know that to be a compliment. These were friends who took the baton from Matt’s parents and raced their way up to the point where his career started. From here, they passed the baton to me.
Together, Matt and I had our Luke Skywalker years and began our Han Solo years. Over the course of this time, many of us joined Matt in his race during the career stage of this race, but yesterday was when we passed the baton over to his wife Rachel. Standing next to his parents, his brother and his age old friends we watched Matt and Rachel celebrate this momentous occasion and we will cheer them through the final leg of the Han Solo years of his life. Together, they will finish the race. Together, we will cheer them on. Those are the rules. We all know our parts. We all have to play them.