A Week Of Planet Hopping And Low On Fuel

     Greetings. After a long week of jotting across the galaxy from planet to planet, I have returned safely home to Earth. Currently, I am still in orbit above the atmosphere of our blue ornament. I even had an alien troll hot on my heels. Have you ever had a week like this?

     First came some frigid temperatures similar to those of deep space. Freezing rain and sleet slicked up everything outside my igloo. Ten inches of snow decided to join the chorus and the melody echoed the loss of summer paradise. I even crash-landed my parent's red-colored shuttle into a snow bank. I felt a little like Luke Skywalker climbing out of his downed snow speeder. My father arriving on the scene was the closest thing to an Imperial Walker as it gets. Fortunately, I escaped.

     Our local Optimist Club was hosting the 32nd Annual Arts & Crafts Show at our local civic center. This event always draws gift shoppers from an eighty mile radius of southern Missouri and northern Arkansas. West Plains Writers Group had a booth slot for our authors to sell their novels and promote the group. Can you guess what happened? Yeppers. You hit the nail on the head. It was canceled due to the bad weather. Good news is, our local library will be sponsoring an event on Saturday, December 21st. As of now, there will be five local authors committed to be there. All total, I believe nine books and most of those being fiction; speculative fiction, historical fiction, science fiction, etc. If you're in the area come out and say Hi. There will be refreshments available as well. Don't forget. Books make great gifts. Our authors write for all audiences.

     After months of procrastination and life circumstances I finally finished my outline for the third Matakeo novel last night. My brain was energized by a substance we call java here on Earth. I am off to a great start with 4300 words typed. At this point in the time continuum, I have not come up with a name for it. Never fear, it will sneak up on me like a Legion with a cloaking device when I least expect it.

     Over the course of star charting and calculating my hyperspace jumps this past week I managed to brainstorm several spin-offs from the original series; the Black Jack Squadron and two others involving future offspring from some of the main characters.

     I have contacted a local artist about working with me to make the people and planets of Matakeo come to life. I have confidence that this may very well work out for the artist and myself. 

     In the very near future I will have some author interviews here on, In My Corner of the Galaxy.

     *I will be Guest Author at Oz-Con 2014. Hope to see you there. 

       

What You Give Is What You Get

Sitting here tonight in my recliner listening to an "Axel Rudi Pell" tag on Pandora Radio. My mind is so cluttered it is hard for me to release my thoughts to engage the outline for the third story in the Matakeo trilogy. Have you ever had a day when your brain felt like mashed potatoes and the only thing missing was the gravy? Yeppers. Actually, the milk separated from the flakes weeks ago. lol

Well, last weekend I offered Matakeo: Echoes of the Future as a free download for five days on Amazon.com. 589 readers took advantage of this offer. Without biting my nails, I eagerly await to see how many reviews may come from this little adventure. Even if the reviews are few and far between I hope many enjoy the story and want to go on to Matakeo: Dark Horizons. 

Shortly after my last blog entry, I learned how to effectively use Twitter. That's right. I discovered hash tags. Okay, I know it is nothing new. Have I ever mentioned that I was born a blond? Yep. True enough. 

My time over the past four weeks has been consumed; in a good way but consumed nonetheless. I had given of myself to the point of exhaustion, yet would have gone another thousand miles to help others. Now comes the sanctuary of rest and peace. A renewal of focus upon God. A refreshment to enable me to prowl upon the unsuspecting thoughts and sentences hiding in those cerebral caverns housing that third story to complete the trilogy.

Have a good evening.

An Echo Blade is a Matakeo's weapon; ground shaking.

My First Blog in this Big Ol' Galaxy of Ours

     This is my very first blog. Well, sort of. Once upon a time, I attempted to do one at another site but never really pursued it. So, here I am again. Let me give a little information about who I am.
     
     I was born in 1965 at Redondo Beach, California to an awesome couple. By the time I reached the fourth grade I could run like Forrest Gump. It was nearly ten city blocks from Lomita Elementary to my families house and on a normal day there would be at least three other kids chasing me. I think they wanted to harm me. Randy, my best friend who lived at the very end of our dead end street with his grandparents, was always ready to play "super heroes" with me. My brother and sister would join in. We always defeated the villains. Those days came to an abrupt halt when my father retired from the Los Angeles Police Department. We were leaving the Sunshine state.

     My parents relocated me to the ShoMe state a month after celebrating my twelfth birthday. Talk about culture shock! From Cali to a small town; population 4700. Good ol' Ozarks. When I was younger I lacked the maturity to see the gems found here in southern Missouri. Now I would not trade it for a million dollars. I have found sanctuary.

     Circa 1983, I began to listen to music that had a story to tell. Sex, drugs and rock and roll beats had no appeal. I wanted music with substance. Progressive flows with melodic voices. Guitars that conveyed a feeling of joy, sorrow and repentance. Influenced by this Heavenly Metal, I discovered a talent deep within me that tried to emerge through poetry. I put it on the back burner for many years. In 2002, I began toying with the idea of writing my first novel.

     Science fiction has always been wedged into my heart solidly. I could go on for hours about all the shows, movies, books and music that have inspired me but honestly, you would not want to waste your time reading all through the night and into the next day; or millennium.

     All my life I have been in love with science fiction and astronomy. Early on I was held spellbound by "The Big Three"; Asimov, Clarke & Heinlein. I create believable characters in phenomenal circumstances, composing action, adventure, mystery, intrigue and the treatment of science in stories that I believe the reader will be captivated by.

In my spare time I enjoy reading and spending time with family. I love Soundtrack and Progressive Rock music. When I have extra time beyond all my priorities I do enjoy playing science fiction based video games. Mass Effect is epic.

Many of the technologies we enjoy today had been beautifully created many years before in someones science fiction story. I strive to be one of those prophets of literature. At times in life, I have had the odds stacked against me, I kept myself humble when the cards fell my way and always give thanks to the Creator for his love and favor.