Good Night and Good Luck
I’m leaving Facebook and Twitter for the foreseeable future. I will not delete either account, but I will not be responding to messages or tweets. Over the course of the last several months I have found it increasingly difficult to deal with all the distractions and detriments that social media has brought onto me. I know it is my choice whether to participate in social media or not which is why I am making the choice to step back from it for the time being. I will not post personal updates on Facebook and I will not respond to messages or comments on any posts. I will not post tweets or respond to tweets directed toward me.
I have found it is best for me to ignore all of the negativity that swirls in and around social media. This also goes for any and all conversations I may see in things that I participate in such as online conversations via Facebook, Yahoo, CNN, or any other comment generating media such as chat rooms and even online games. While I may still visit such venues from time to time to keep up with the progression of the world, I will not engage in any sort of contact with any other person through these mediums. If my feelings on this worsen, I will cease visiting news outlets as they too are a generator of negativity and in today’s internet culture, only seem to serve the “Internet Troll” and not the ordinary citizen.
The few exceptions in this will be the posting of updates pertinent to my chosen profession(s) as an author / editor / ghost writer / content reviewer. Any photos posted on either my personal Facebook page, Twitter, or my Author page(s) will be solely for further developing my business. Any and all business related correspondence should be directed to the following email address:
Only business related emails will receive a response. All others will be discarded. To further isolate myself, you may not receive a response from me at all, but from one of my writing partners or my producer.
In the event of an emergency, I may choose to respond to correspondence. However, no one should assume that I am constantly watching my email or that I will visit any of the websites previously listed. My immediate family should already know how to reach me in the event of an emergency.
The internet is a wonderful place. However, it is also populated with horrors and unseemly characters that many of us would never allow into our own homes. It is pretty much the electronic version of the real world. Just as most of us would never voluntarily walk down a street in a violent neighborhood, I am choosing not to visit places on the internet that would ultimately do me harm. To me, this violent place has become social media.
In several instances of simply trying to become part of the conversation, I have been labeled as unpatriotic, antireligious, and irresponsible. I’ve also been called various racial slurs that I will not reproduce here. I have been demeaned for going to college and I have been made fun of for reading books. I have been called a “fag lover” because I believe that marriage should be between two people who love each other and not just a man and a woman. I have been called anti American because I never wanted any of our military people to go to Iraq to die in a pointless war. I have been called a towelhead because I said we should not automatically assume that Muslims were behind the Boston bombings. I have been called “Chinky” and “Gooker” because I actually have no problem with the Asian community. I have been told “Go back to Mexico” because of my surname. I have been called a pedophile because I enjoy Japanese animation. Apparently, you cannot do anything in this world without someone hating you.
Over time, it’s become quite clear to me that there is no way to win at this. There are only certain levels of losing. Some people are so set in their ways that no amount of proof of something one way or another will get them to change their minds. It wasn’t that long ago that everyone thought that the Earth was the center of the universe. Yet, so many were so set in their ways that they refused to see the truth. Years later, the same thing happened when people figured out that the Earth wasn’t flat or that it revolved around the sun. Again, people were in denial over this. Nowadays, we see these things and accept them as fact because scientists have studied and proved them to be true.
For most people, you are either one way or another. There is no room for middle ground.
It is because of these things that I am choosing to no longer be part of the conversation. If any of my past statements didn’t sit well with you, consider this a gift as you won’t have to hear from me for an extended period of time. If you never noticed me before, you’ll not realize I am gone now and your life will not change. Very few people will actually care that I am no longer around. I can think of maybe two who might see my exit as negative. Sadly, most will either not care or actually be happy that I am no longer around. Again, consider it a gift.
If and when I come back, it will be on my own accord and not because of anyone else. I am not doing this for anyone else. I am doing this for myself. I want to do the things I love such as reading, writing, painting, drawing, and going back to college. I don’t want people to call me insane or make fun of me because I suffer from mental illness. My doctors have previously encouraged me to be more social and to go out more. In this case, I have to dismiss their suggestions and concentrate on just being me and not exposing myself to a group of hateful people who do not even realize they are prejudice.
I know people may read this and assume I am lumping everyone together. I am not. I never have. It would be like me saying something like “The world is full of bad parents.” People are offended by this. They never take the time to think about the statement. They never sit and think to themselves “Am I a bad parent?” They immediately assume I am talking about everyone. Why don’t they take the time to review their own record?
Do you raise your children to be good and honest people? Do you care for you kids? Do you feed them, cloth them? Take them to school? If so, then the above statement doesn’t apply to you. So, why are you offended?
Are you part of a group of hateful and prejudice people? If not, you should not be offended by my statement. If you are, then that is not my problem. It is yours and you need to look inside yourself and figure it out.
It is with this that I am signing off of social media. I do not know if or when I may return. Until then, I leave you with the words of Edward R. Murrow. Goodnight and good luck.
Ladies and Gentleman, I Give You…Americans!
And these, my worldly friends, are Americans.
Notice the immaturity in their responses as well as their unwillingness to see more than 5 minutes in front of them. Yes, the American is an interesting creature; one that votes for a president because they affiliate themselves with a political party and not because that candidate has their best interests in mind.
Yes, Americans…more than willing to say that everyone should follow a certain set of rules…except themselves, of course. Special exceptions for them!
Oh, yes. Americans…so upset about supposedly nothing being done to lower the deficit, yet refuse to do anything about it themselves. Indeed, they are a strange people. Only they would immediately assume a Muslim or an Asian was responsible for the bombings in Boston with absolutely NO proof.
Only they would disrespect the office of their leader by offering him snide remarks and heckles instead of actually calling or writing their own senators and congressmen to take part in the democratic process. And yes, they will mock me as well for saying these truths and still not offer any solutions to the problems we face in our country today…like perhaps seeing the bigger picture on things like abortion where we should respect that fact that it is the woman’s decision to have the procedure or not and none of their business. After all, I don’t walk into their homes and tell them how to live or what to believe in. Heck, if I did, they would probably shoot me…which would be fine because they might have seen me as a threat…which is strange because although they have the right to shoot me if i enter their home, a gay couple has no recourse when they tell them they cannot get married.
And why can they not get married? The bible, that’s why! Yes! Americans look to a 2 thousand year old text; a collection of stories passed down for generations and still try to apply all the rules in it to life as if it applied today. They say no! You cannot marry because in the bible it says a man shall never lie with another man as he does a woman. And yes, only Americans would then conveniently ignore the part where is says we should sell our daughters into slavery. They’ve also cherry picked a few other things that they think we should ALL follow, even though not all of us follow that religion, but hey…they’re AMERICANS so we should never question THEIR ideas, right?
Only within America is it considered bad to, god forbid, change your mind about something! That’s right, folks! Only in America do you get branded with the name “Flip Flopper” for changing the way you see the world…unless you go from disagreeing with them TO agreeing with them. Apparently, that is just fine.
An interesting and sometimes hilarious bunch, these Americans are! Only they would take to Twitter after seeing the movie Olympus Has Fallen and begin spouting hateful things like “Fuck all the gooks!” and “Fucking Asians should all die! Kill them all!” and think it were perfectly fine. After all, hey! Freedom of speech, right? That means I can say anything I want, right? In America, we’re free to do what we want , too! In fact, one could say those are one in the same…but then again, just because I have the freedom to run full speed into a cactus doesn’t make it a good idea. The same can be applied to freedom of speech. Sure, you can say anything you want…but should you? Calling for all Asians to be killed is technically freedom of speech…but wait…we have Asian Americans. Should we kill all them, too? Guess that’s not such a good idea after all…so let’s instead say KILL ALL THE MUSLIMS!
But wait…there are Muslims that are also American citizens. Should we kill them as well?
But hey, this is still America! A country where if the terrorist is white it must mean he is mentally ill…or it was the fault of violent video games or metal music. Yeah, that must be it… because if the terrorist was brown it MUST mean he just hates America and therefore he and everyone like him should die! Right?
In American…right?
So, I hope you all enjoyed the tour as much as I did. I’ve done this tour a handful of times and I must say, I still find myself surprised at the end of it! Americans…so quick to judge, so quick to bash others, so quick to tell all the “niggers” to go home…even though the white man brought them all here by force. Hold on, I need to look up the word irony.
Ah, yes! Here we go! Irony! Bitching and complaining that American jobs are leaving the country…while at the same time complaining that the Chinese-made goods at Wal-mart are still too expensive.
Oh, those crazy Americans! I always have to deal with their petty threats. They’re always saying I’m unpatriotic by saying these things and they feel the need to make the same old threats to me. One even told me that if I loved China so much, why don’t I just move there…posted from his Chinese-made iPhone.
Lindsay Lohan is At It Again
So…I like Lindsay. As a person, I mean. One thing I cannot figure out for the life of me is this. I’ve been driving nearly 20 years and I have never once caused an accident. She manages to do it several times over the last few years. So far she’s had a couple of DUI’s, clipped a cop car, clipped a pedestrian, etc.
All this in a span of maybe 4 years?
Hasn’t a single judge once thought to themselves “Alright, maybe we should revoke her license for a couple of years.” Not that she would listen, but every subsequent incident would have that tacked on to it as well. I keep hoping she will get her life together. I really do. Like any other human being, I don’t want to see bad things happen to her. I truly thought she was on the up and up after she completed some required probation work. How is it possible no one has put a damn leash on her? Someone needs to just start taking her by the hand and tell her no! No driving, Lindsay.
I don’t want to think this, but maybe she will finally wake up when she’s flat broke and a full blown alcoholic. I’d hate to see her at 30 with absolutely nothing to her name. It seems we always end up seeing famous people who come into a lot of money end up losing it all. Kind of like Vince Young the football player. He signed a contract for 26 million dollars his rookie year and now it’s all gone. How is it possible for someone to blow through 26 million? How stupid do you have to be to let all that money go? You’d think Vince would have hired someone like a financial adviser to help with all that dough. I know I would if I didn’t know how to handle my money. Reports say that his agent and an adviser swindled out of most of the money, but they claim he just goes on spending sprees. Spending sprees aren’t so bad as long as you have something to show for it. Buy a house? That’s fine! At least you could later turn around and sell it.
Just a little annoyed because it feels like I’ve heard this same story a thousand times. Young person gets famous, gets money, then throws it all away with poor decision making.
International Money Pile in Cash and Coins (Photo credit: epSos.de)
Aurora, CO Shooting – There is No God
I keep hearing and seeing people say things about what happened in Aurora, CO at The Dark Knight Rises premier. People seem to be saying the same thing.
What a tragedy!
How insane!
At least, this is what they say about the people who were killed. A bunch of others were injured, but luckily they made it out alive. Many others got out unscathed. As I said about those that got out with only minor injuries…lucky.
I also keep hearing people say “Thankfully God was watching over the survivors!” They also post things on Twitter and Facebook saying essentially the same thing.
God was looking out for them!
God protected them!
God wasn’t protecting anyone.
How can I say such a heartless thing? I don’t see it as heartless. I just see it as the truth. I find it fascinating that people say that God was looking out for the survivors. Screw the survivors. What about those that died? Who was looking out for them? Nobody…because there is no God.
God supposedly looks out for people that truly believe. He looks out for people that live good lives. What does that say about those that were killed? Where they bad people? Did they break laws? Were they evil? Criminal? Only they truly know what kind of lives they led.
And then there’s the shooter, a 24 year old guy named James Holmes. What about him? Police say he thought he was the Joker. Before this, he was apparently a premed student. Not such a bad thing. It’s interesting to think about though. How do you go from being premed to killing innocent people in a crowded movie theater? One thing we can probably say for sure is…he knew what he was doing.
He knew he was going somewhere where the crowds would be large and held in a confined space. Anyone who is familiar with a movie theater knows that in most cases, you walk up s short walkway, then travel up a few steps to get to your seats. Once you’re settled in and ready to see the movie, there are only two ways out: the emergency exit or back the way you came. Fact is either way you have to go back down those steps to get there, to get out. James knew this. He knew people would be stuck up a handful of steps. He knew how they would be seating. He knew once the film was going and people were into it, it was going to be a turkey shoot.
And then there’s God. Did God see the evil inside this person? Did God stop him from accumulating all those weapons? The body armor? The gas mask? Did God try to stop him from going into that movie theater? Was he up there in heaven looking down at him while he slaughtered women? Children? Good people who probably had nothing against him? No. He didn’t. If God was there, looking over the bloodshed, he knew what was happening. He knew people would die.
God looked over that scene and he didn’t seem to mind.
And what’s happening now? James is getting exactly what he wants. Everyone is talking about him as if he were a celebrity. He’s all over the papers, online news sites, Twitter, Facebook, Google+…everywhere. We’re giving him exactly what he wanted.
God bless the survivors? The victims? No.
God bless no one.
Getup Get God (Photo credit: prettywar-stl)
Related articles
- Police confirm at least 14 dead, 50 injured after movie theater shooting in Colorado (minbcnews.com)
Data used in the article was sourced from CNN.com.
Article by Ruby Jones (@Ruby_M_Jones), Emily Carmichael (@Executive_Emily) and Richard Allen (@RichardAllenRH).
Proofs Are In
I am sitting here holding my book and thinking the white paper over creme was a good choice. I like the way the cover came out. I didn’t want it to look overly polished. I wanted to give it an older, sort of used look. I’m not sure people will understand that though so I am considering updating the cover slightly.
“Last Night” Will Be Free Friday
Just putting it out there that “Last Night,” my short story that asks you to reexamine what friendship really means will be free for one day only on Amazon. It’s usually $.99 since it just a short, but on Friday March 16th, 2012 it will be 100% free. Reviews of the story posted on Amazon will be welcome as well. Thank you again for the continued support.
Ruby is Blowing Up!
She is currently #40 in Humor – Amazon Best Seller list and moving up strong. If this keeps up, I can see her breaking the top 100 overall very soon so lets keep those downloads going!
http://www.amazon.com/We-Are-All-Retarded-ebook/dp/B007EVYCWA/
Last Night is Free on Amazon…Really!
That’s right. It’s really free. Help get Last Night to #1 by telling everyone you know about it and downloading it. You don’t even need a Kindle reader to do it. You can use the Kindle computer reader or even the cloud reader. Just download! Download! Download!. Unfortunately, each account can only download it one time each so please do what you can to spread the word.
When I mean free, I don’t mean free after some dumb rebate or anything like that . I mean free as in completely 100% free. No delivery costs, no extra stuff to do. Just go to Amazon, look up the book, click order, you will see where it says FREE and then just like that it will give you the option of where to have it sent. Again, you can have it sent to a Kindle device, the cloud reader, or the kindle for computer reader. Heck, there are even Apps for devices like iPads, iPhones, and Androids out there as well.
It’s not a very long read either. It’s all of 17 pages so it’s short and sweet. I’ve gotten great reviews from scholars and a couple of hate reviews from trolls so you know it’s good stuff. For a shortcut to book, you can click here. Once you read it, make sure you got back and give it a review if you have time or at least a big “Thumbs up!” so people will be encouraged to check it out! You can also visit the Facebook event by clicking here.
Thank you all for your continued support of my work and once the Rumbling Heart Series is ready to come back, I will work on trying to get those free on Amazon as well.
Cover of Last Night
Super Bowl on NBC.com
I gotta say the best thing that NBC did was to offer the super bowl free via streaming on NBC.com. I’ve been checking it out and the quality is pretty damn good. They also have something called the Twitter war which is a little fun and the Giants have been winning it for the most part. Again, if for some reason you are somewhere without a TV, go to NBC.com and the link is very visable, you can’t miss it.
To NBC, good call on doing this for those of us that don’t watch Television.
Everything
Anyone that knows me knows I’ve had my fair share of good and bad relationships. Unfortunately, most of them have been bad and to an extreme degree. I guess you could say that while I can’t call myself an expert on the subject because no one really can, I will say I’ve learned a few things through my failures. There is one thing in particular that I want to focus on though and there is a big reason for it.
I’m not going to name names for obvious reasons, but I was going about my day and noticed a little spat on one of the more popular social networks between a man I knew and his girlfriend. It was made public that he was in the dog house for various reasons. Not wanting to be outdone, the girlfriend felt the need to offer her side of the story in her own way; also on the social network.
Now, I know him a lot better than I know her. Regardless, I refuse to take sides because only the two of them know exactly what’s going on in their relationship. Having been through similar events, I know better than to buy anything that is spilled out onto something like a social network because usually you only get bits and pieces of the story. Still, people who see those things are more than willing to start taking sides and of course, people begin commenting which only escalates the matter, making things worse.
My advice on this matter is plain and simple: whenever you argue with your significant other, keep those arguments between the two of you regardless of what it’s about.
I know sometimes tempers can flare and things that we will later regret can be said, but when you start posting things on places like Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Blogs, etc., you’re only asking for trouble. First off, it’s no one else’s business but yours and your significant others. I know some people may argue that with me, but that is 100% true. I don’t care who you are. The argument that you are having with them has NOTHING to do with your mother, your friends, your cousins, your co-workers. Perhaps it might be about them, but the fact is it ultimately has to be worked out between the two of you.
Spreading your business around to other parties will only create boundaries within a relationship which will eventually grow. Soon, they will become so big, you will not be able to get past them and others who know about the arguments between you and your spouse / boyfriend / girlfriend will begin to judge without even realizing it and it’s not their position to judge.
In a relationship I was previously in, my ex felt the need to tell her family, not just her mother, but her aunts as well, about virtually every argument we ever had. The sad thing about it was she made it out to them that all we ever did was fight which soon made them question why we were even together. There were good times in there. I must admit not as many as I would have liked, but there were some. Sadly though, when the relationship did finally end, according to her family, I was the devil incarnate because all they knew was I was the man who left her after putting her in jail. They never knew my side of the story. To this day they don’t. I learned the same thing on my end. Because of the trauma I suffered at her hands, I revealed some details to my family and now they have this idea that she is this completely evil woman. I don’t believe she’s an evil person at all. She just had some problems that she needed to resolve. In the end, we both knew we weren’t right for each other. Looking back at it all now, we both know that there are times when we need to keep certain things between the two of us. It’s simply no one else’s business and it never should be.
I guess what I am trying to say is think before you speak the next time you feel like venting to a friend or family member about your significant other. It’s ok to be upset with them. When you are with someone, it’s a given that you will eventually get into an argument here and there. I’ve found that the best thing to do is to not EVER cut off the lines of communication. The “Silent Treatment” doesn’t work. Trust me. I made that mistake. I was an idiot for trying it. It’s dumb and childish and it’s one of my biggest regrets. If you find yourself upset with your spouse, talk to them. If your spouse if upset with you, put the damn TV remote down and listen to them. Talking to them for 15 minutes is more important than a stupid football game. Sometimes just letting them vent to you can solve an argument. Sometimes they just want to feel that you are still on their side. Remember, you are supposed to be that one person that they can turn to for anything in the world. The moment they feel they can no longer talk to you is the beginning of the end, but take heart in knowing that it’s not too late.
I often think about how I would redo some of my failed relationships. There is one in particular. I guess you could say she was the one that got away. I know we shouldn’t regret certain things, but I regret losing her. I can make excuses for myself by saying I was young, I was only 19, etc., but that won’t make things better. Looking back, I know why I lost her. She accepted me for who I was and didn’t ask me to change a single thing about myself. My problem was I was so caught up in what other people thought and I was too busy talking to others that I neglected her feelings. Still, she stuck by me as long as she could till one day she couldn’t take it anymore. I don’t blame her. I really don’t. That girl is married now, living a good life and I’m happy for her. Still, that doesn’t take away my regret.
The next time you argue with your man or woman, look at them and think about what you are about to say or do, even if for just 2 seconds. Think about how they are going to react to your words and actions because although you may not think much about it, your very next words can and will stay with them for years after. Believe me. I still remember the last conversation I had with that girl and I will probably remember it the rest of my life. Remember, if you truly love them, you accept them for who they are. You love them for everything that they are. You love their light and you love their dark. As I’ve said before, you will argue. There is no way around it. There are certain things that should stay between the two of you. Just make sure when you look at them and you feel that anger, make sure you see everything. Remember why you are with them and remember and hope that they are thinking and feeling the same thing, and that they are still there with you not because they have to be, but because they want to be.
Twitter Killer
People on Twitter may kill me for this one.
I will never follow 25k people. Ever.
Why? That’s something a retard would do. Yes, I said it. Let the hate mail and unfollows begin.
Let’s face it. The only reason people follow 25k are because they are wanting those 25k to follow them back. Thing is those 25k people are only following back for the exact same reason. The thing about Twitter though is to have people follow you who actually read your tweets and when someone is following 25k people…come on, do you really think they give a damn about what you are tweeting? Their twitter feed is so filled with spam, it’s probably nearly impossible to decipher one tweet from the next. Yes, I know there are apps and so forth that can help, but still. The chances that you will get noticed and added to said app are slim to none. I used to be like many of those people, desperate for followers, wanting to get as many as possible, but I am breaking from that. I have slowly been dropping my follows down to people I actually interact with. Of those that are left, I generally do read their tweets, at least from time to time so if I follow you, rest assured it’s because I actually read your tweets and NOT because you are following me. That number will continue to decline. I am going through my lists and if I see someone with a ridiculously large number of people they are following, I am more than likely going to drop them. I have maybe 1 or 2 exceptions to this rule. Why? Those people I am actually close to and have known for awhile and I actually do speak to them beyond twitter.
As for everyone else? Sorry, but I refuse to play this “Follow me and I’ll follow you back!” game any longer. You can hate me now. You won’t be the first.
Image via CrunchBase
Amazon Author Biography
I spend a little time and worked on the biography on the author page I have set up on Amazon.com. It seems pretty solid and I think I will leave it as it is, but I wouldn’t mind a little feedback. I tried as much as I could to focus on the work and how it came to be. Although I don’t have any reservations about keeping many of my personal details out of it, I still wanted to make the page about the books so that could be focused on and not so much on me. I figure if people really are that interested in the work, then they will eventually want to find out more about me. That will come with time. Have a look at the page here and let me know what you think.
I duplicated this data for the Smashwords bio page as well which can be viewed here.
Many Thanks
I just want to take a moment to thank all of my Twitter and Facebook followers and fans. Because of your continued support, I have cracked the top 50 on Smashwords.com. Of all the authors up there, as of this moment I am currently #42 most popular / viewed which is a terrific achievement. Hopefully, we can keep it going. It would be amazing to crack not only the top 10, but maybe even become #1.
Be sure to tell all your friends about the free work I offer there which include copies of the original Rumbling Heart as well as Recorded Butterflies which is the 2nd book in the series. There is also a new short on Smashwords as well called On The Way Home which is written by one of the RH characters. Its sort of a tiny peek into what you might expect to see from the 4th and final installment in the RH series.
One additional work on there is a short called Last Night about a struggling writer and a conversation he shares with an ex athlete. While it may not seem like much in the first few pages, by the end, you will find yourself questioning not only the narrator, but also the decision that he makes regarding his friend. You will either nod your head or be completely shocked. At about 5600 words, it’s a short read and it’s free so be sure to give it a look.
Ty all again for the continued support and I hope to keep you all entertained.
UPDATE!
I’ve moved up in ranking, currently sitting pretty at #12. Top 10? Let’s hope for it!
http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/richardallen
On The Way Home cover
Recorded Butterflies is Now Free
I’ve dropped the price for Recorded Butterflies to free via Smashwords.com. Currently, Rumbling Heart is also free so you can download both books for absolutely no cost to you. Head on over and check it out while you can. You can download it as a PDF or you can DL a file that will work with your Kindle, Nook, and several other popular eReaders. Thank you all again for your continued support of my work and I look forward to feedback. Be sure to follow me on Twitter @RichardAllenRH
“Emily Martin” Release Date Set
On Tuesday, September 27th, Emily Martin will be available for purchase from BN.com, Amazon, and Smashwords.com. A Facebook event has been created which is located here. Thank you all for the continued support as I look forward to getting more feedback on this next installment of the Rumbling Heart series. With just one more to go, this book will bring several things into perspective and get you all set for the final book.
Emily Martin switches gears a little and tells the story from the perspective of John Allen’s best friend, Emily. With just one last installment to go after EM, this book gives readers an inside look into Emily’s mind as she reveals what she really thinks about John, Olivia, and even the meddlesome Donna as she journeys with him through one of the most difficult times in his life. While giving her two cents on virtually every detail of John’s life, Emily is also dealing with her own problems as someone from her past comes back into her life, looking only to cause major issues for her. Being the woman that she is, she finds a way to cope, albeit a questionable one, and soon that decision sees her walking down a path she never thought possible.
Full with intrigue, heartache, loss, and at times, laugh out loud humor, Emily Martin will take you by the hand and show you a side of her you never knew existed, and when the final two chapters are upon you, you will see something so unexpected, you will find yourself begging for the final book as you will not be able to wait to see how it all ends.
Rumbling Heart is Free on Smashwords
That’s right. The one that started it all is now free on Smashwords.com. The direct link to the book is right here. I would greatly appreciate it if you were to download the book for free to please also let Amazon know that my book is going for $0.00 on Smashwords so that it could possibly be lowered to Zero on their site as well. My writing pal Melissa Foster just had massive success when she offered her book for free and since then, it has hit #1 on the Kindle book lists. It would be amazing to be able to do the same thing with my work.
You may be wondering how exactly to let Amazon know that the book is free elsewhere. Here’s what you do. Check out the book on Amazon here. Scroll down to where is says Product Details and there, you will see a link that says “Tell us about a lower price.” Click it. Then, just fill out the data it asks for which is not much. There small window you will see will look like this.
The Link you would want to post there is this one:
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/81600
And that’s it! Enjoy the book. I enjoyed writing it. Feel free to let everyone know and I look forward to seeing your reviews on Amazon. Thank you again for all the support.
Last Night
On a whim, I wrote a short story of about 5700 words. I’m not trying to sell it at all, just did it for fun. The link is right here. You can share it all you want. Enjoy.
Questions and Comments on Rumbling Heart – Part 2
“Do you listen to music when you write and if so, who do you listen to?”
I do listen to music a large portion of the day. Depending on what I am writing depends who I choose to listen to. My play my writing pretty close to the chest and I have found, at least for me, the best way to get good work from me is if I almost live what the character is going through. Obviously, I cannot go through certain events like death and breakups and other forms of heartache on a personal level everyday, but I purposely put my state of mind in those situations and let them play out so I can see what sort of reaction I can bring out. Based on what I am trying to feel, I play music that gets me there faster. Obviously, if i wanted to express a joyful mood with my character, I will play more upbeat music while at other times, say when I want to feel what it’s like to have my heart broken by someone, I play much more somber music. While I am just free writing, I generally put on some sort of classical piece, generally something with a piano. I find the instrument quite comforting and I hope to learn how to play it some day. I obviously have my favorite bands and musical acts, but they aren’t who some would expect. When I was a teen, I listened to a lot of Nirvana and Pearl Jam and other alternative bands. While I do still listen to them, I rarely do while I write. Lately, it’s been a lot of Tool, The Delgados, Olivia Lufkin, Caroline, Velvet Revolver, and The Smashing Pumpkins. That’s just a small portion as I tend to listen to all kinds of music.
“What’s with you and Lisa Edelstein? Is she really your FB friend? Does it have anything to do with your book?”
One day, I was playing around with an idea. I watched all of the people I normally conversed with on Twitter and thought to myself “Who would play that person in a movie about their life?” The first person I remember thinking of was my twitter pal Melissa Foster. I looked at her photo and it reminded me of Lisa Edelstein who played Dr. Lisa Cuddy on House. I wrote a small tweet similar to “I choose @Lisaedelstein to play @Melissa_Foster in the movie about her life.” I went on to write other somewhat funny comments about other people, all of them flattering. I got a lot of positive feedback and some of my tweets were retweeted. Melissa got back to me and asked why I said that and I told her she reminded me of Lisa. Soon, our conversation shifted and it became “Lisa Edelstein would be a great Megan for my book Megan’s way.” We both liked the idea so it sort of snowballed from there. Melissa retweeted the tweet and I supported her by continuously retweeting something similar. Soon, I found that a handful of people were behind the idea and it went from there. Coincidentally, that was the same day that Lisa Edelstein started up a personal facebook account. Before I knew it, both Melissa and I were added to her account as friends. It was pretty interesting. Obviously, Melissa and I don’t know Lisa personally and many other people were added to her account as well, but it was sort of funny that the same day I created the tweet was the same day she did that. I think that’s why the idea took off so well because people were already talking about her. I later found out that Melissa was able to talk to one of Lisa’s people about possibly getting her a copy of Megan’s Way to read so she could consider taking a role in the film which is being developed about the book. She and I both know it’s a long shot, but it would be pretty amazing to look back at this a year from now and see it happen and think wow, I played a role in getting Lisa to do this film. As far as a connection to the book, there isn’t one. I did this essentially as a way to give a head nod to my friends on twitter. I wasn’t trying to make my name bigger by doing this.
“Chapter Five is hard to get through because of the material it covers. Was all that real? Did that really happen to you?”
As with all writers, we take certain aspects of our lives and put them into words that sometimes end up in our books. I will say this concerning chapter 5 and the entire book really…it’s all fiction. The book is fiction. Some of the things that happen in 5…did they happen to me? I really can’t say because people may make assumptions about other people in my life and I do not wish to cast certain others in a negative light. It was never my intention to make certain people from my past look bad. Fact is only those people who were there during those years know what happened to me. A few others I have spoken to may know, but that is for their ears and their ears alone. It’s a matter of public record that yes, I did suffer abuse while I was in my 20’s, but to what extent, I will not say. It’s not something I generally talk about unless I am being bothered by it and the person I choose to talk to had prior knowledge on said events. As far as the person who is looked at as evil in that chapter, the person who some might associate that character with in real life is a good and decent human being. Fact is we were simply toxic toward each other and that is ultimately what caused the issues. As far as that link is nowadays, we are civil. We do not talk all that often, but we both agree that being away from each other was the best thing we could have done. I still care for that person a great deal. You cannot spend that much time with someone and not care. I forgave them for what they did and I, by no stretch of the imagination, am innocent of any wrong doing during that time in my life. We both made very bad decisions. We also do not want them to haunt the rest of our lives. We can both look back at that time and think about the mistakes we made and know that we learned from them so we could hopefully avoid those issues in our future endeavors. In a future work, I may allude to more of that situation, but I have not decided yet.
“Is it true that you dreamed the entire book?”
For the most part, yes. The core idea for the book came from a lucid dream I had. It was so vivid that it stuck with me for days. I ended up writing the dream down as it was just something that wouldn’t leave me alone. I found myself having the dream over and over to the point where I thought about writing it down as more than just a blog post. That was really how it all got started. Through the process of writing the story, I continued to have dreams surrounding the book and I sort of just let those dreams write the book for me. Oddly enough, the original person I saw in my dream was not what ultimately led me to developing a character that came from it. While I saw that person, I heard someone else’s voice. Once I figured out whose voice that was, they are who became that character to me and I took it from there. Through the months I spent writing, I kept dreaming of that person and it was as if they were guiding my writing and helping me to develop the story. It was unlike anything I’d ever experienced in my life. It’s one thing to dream of an idea, but it’s something else to have that person come to you again and again through the course of the writing process. I guess it can be attributed that once I figure out who that person was, I spent a good deal of time studying up on them and reading about them so it makes sense that I would have dreams about them every now and then. However, the dreams at one point were virtually a nightly occurrence. Even now as I am finishing up my followup to RH, I still have dreams of them and they aren’t letting up. I guess when I stop having those dreams, I may not want to write anymore. I can’t really say for sure.
“Will your next book offer anything else regarding the development of relationships between that characters?”
Yes. The story will continue, and in my next work Recorded Butterflies, relationships will be tested and everyone of the characters will go through something that will change their lives forever. One character in particular about halfway in gives up the ghost on something so tragic that it might change the way my readers look at them. I spent several days constructing how I would write it and I think I do it a great justice with the words I use and the way I weave the telling of that arch. I hope that the readers will notice the absence of a particular word through the entire telling of that arch and appreciate the way I managed to exclude it. Also, at the end, something so explosive will happen that it will leave the readers breathless. I promise though, as soon as I am done with RB, I will immediately start work on the next book to follow it because there will be huge questions that people will want answers to. It’s not a cliffhanger, at least to me it isn’t. A cliffhanger leaves you wondering what something could possibly be. I, on the other hand, provide you will an answer. The only question after that is how is the aftermath handled.
“In the book, you make small references to religion. Are you religious? Why did you make those references?”
I do not follow any religion. I did when I was a kid, but that was sort of forced. As an adult, I tend to ask more questions and that seems to piss off some religious people. As with other matters, I don’t wish to make people angry on that front. I just don’t understand some of the things people take as fact regarding it. I’m not exactly against religion. I look at it this way: if religion helps you get through your day and makes you a better person, then I say have at it. As with most other things in the world, it’s the few bad apples that make religion difficult for the rest of us. As long as you’re not out killing people or forcing your beliefs on anyone else, I am ok with it. I think of myself as agnostic. I’m not really sure what there is and if there is something, I will accept it as long as scientific proof exists. The religious mentions in the book are played against the characters themselves. There is a little more to those images and I leave very very subtle cues that some people may not pick up on as I don’t generally make everything literal. While no character has come out and said that they follow any particular religion, I’d like to believe that they would at the very least be somewhat spiritual; some more than others. There is one particular image that is given in the book that will play out across the entire series of books. Religion will be explored more in the next couple of books, in the third most notably.
Be sure to catch part three.
RB possible cover
Recorded Butterflies Almost Here
I did a massive amount of work on the next book yesterday. My eyes finally began to fail me after editing and revising 162 pages. I found myself rereading certain parts 4 and 5 times which wasn’t bad, considering toward the end I started missing things so it was a good idea to stop. I am back at it today and I am hoping I will be done with all edits and revisions in no more than 2-3 days. At that point, it’s back to figuring out cover art.
I’ve also been exploring other means of advertising my work. Someone gave me the idea of making a small video using only sounds and words to draw additional attention to them so I am looking into that. To create such a video is rather easy. While it’s far from the best video creation software, Windows Movie Maker should work just fine, but I am also looking into other free software to use. I’ve also considered using my own voice as a mini narrative to accompany the images. I will be using only images that I’ve created and photographed and a few Public Domain images. I may also create some video. Thankfully, my trusty digital camera shoots video, both standard and widescreen at up to 720p so that should work out well. I think if i can pull it off, it will change the game a little for me so I have to make sure and do it just right. I’ve also discovered a man by the name of Kevin Mcleod. He creates royalty free music and some of his stuff is quite good. All that the asks is that you give him a mention which I would be more than happy to do so if I decide to use music, it will probably be from him.
The Facebook page is doing alright, considering I haven’t really pushed it all that much. For those interested, the link to it is here. Feel free to visit and “Like” it. I’d appreciate the it greatly.
To follow will be a short write up on a few points concerning my first work Rumbling Heart. Be sure to check out that post as well.
Holy Twitterkins
Image via Wikipedia
Apparently a tweet i sent out is getting retweeted like mad. I made mention that @Lisaedelstein should play @Melissa Foster in the movie of her life. It morphed into Lisa playing Megan in #Megan’s Way…and it just keeps getting retweeted. Wouldn’t it be amazing if Edelstein actually took the role and did an amazing job? I could watch that film and think “Wow, I helped make that happen.”
To Murder a Child…
I’ve been getting a lot of feedback about the article I did on Casey Anthony and I must say, most people have made some very good points.
The original article can be found here.
So that I do not have to keep constantly making this clarification, I’ll say it here for all to read. The article was intended to encourage debate regarding the media and the way we view it and absorb it’s contents. It was never meant to condemn or condone the actions of Ms. Anthony so please do not assume that was it’s intent. That being said, I welcome any and all comments related to the article with open arms. As a few others have said and as I stated in the article, we may never really know what happened to Caylee. It’s quite possible that Casey did have, at the very least, a small role in her demise.
While I am, as I said, open to criticism and debate, the death threats…yeah. Not cool. If you thumb through the notes, it was suggested by a reader that I have a child only so that it could be murdered so I could know what it felt like to lose a child. Not only was the comment very assuming, but it actually condoned the murder of yet another innocent kid. I must say, quite frankly, that’s no way to further your cause. If you disagree with my article, I am fine with that. Debate is good. Suggesting that children should be murdered just to prove a point…well, that’s just sick.
Be sure to check out this petition to enact what will be known as “Caylee’s Law.”
Cool Cat keeps his cool about the Casey Anthony verdict
RB Editing
It’s moving along nicely and with minimal issues. In fact, the only problem is when I leave twitter and Facebook up while I am editing because it’s a pretty big distraction. When I close them out, it’s smooth sailing. The girlfriend has been off with her kids on a mini vacation and she hasn’t had cell phone service so I can’t really speak to her, although I’d like to. I am using the time though to continue working so I am trying to make the best of her being away.
I’ve already loaded descriptions for this next work into Barnes and Noble and Amazon. Being that this is going to be a shorter work, I am thinking of a starting price of $2.99 but I’m still figuring that out. This book will pick up where RH left off so it should boost the sales of that work as well so I will see how I feel when it comes to that. To those who have expressed interest in proofing this work, some first revisions are done and I am looking to have a couple of people go over those chapters. Please keep in mind I am looking for more feedback than a simple “it’s good” or “I liked it” so please keep that in mind when asking me for copies. Obviously those copies are not the final draft so if you do some proofing for me, chances are there will be changes in the final work so be sure to ask me for your free copy once its officially released.
Sample Cover Art
Rumbling Heart 