A New Milestone

I am excited that my first book is now available in print!

It took some planning, some writing and a whole lot of revising, but I finally have Acting: From First Audition to Final Bow finished. Well, as finished as a book ever gets. As has been pointed out before, an author never really finishes a book, he just moves on to the next one.

Once I was done revising the book I had to format it for print. That was trickier than I thought it would be, but with much persistence I got it done.

If you or anyone you know would like to learn about acting, you can purchase the book HERE.

Of course, you can still get the digital version in a variety of formats HERE. You decide what you want to pay for the digital version!

BOOK REVIEW: Priority Target

Priority Target by Ethan Jones is the first of “The Carrie Chronicles.” While I found it exciting, even fun, I did have a couple of problems with this story.

First, in the final showdown (such as it is), some of the description, though detailed, is difficult to follow. How, for example, does someone driving an American vehicle deliver a side swipe with his left arm to someone in the passenger seat?

Second, the final showdown is not a showdown so much as a mistake. Responding to his anger more than the situation, the villain inadvertently sets up a chain of events that brings about his own demise. He ends up a candidate for the Darwin Awards, and the heroine is simply along for the ride. The book ends with Carrie O’Connor getting a “new” assignment to the same country in which she started, chasing the same McGuffin she was assigned on her previous mission.

I did enjoy the book, but I do sincerely hope Ms. O’Connor will get to actually do something in Book Two.

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I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. If you are an author and would like to have your book considered for review CLICK HERE.

Epic Days

by Bruce Carroll

I remember Maria (long i), the 22-foot sailboat my father bought when I was a child. As a family, we sailed Maria many times on False River and even spent the night aboard her. Later Dad would keep her moored at his dock on the Tickfaw river. Eventually, he sold her to a young man named Michael.

As my father's illness progressed, he slept more and more and responded to less and less. I was fortunate to be present at his last epic day....

A Friend Plans a Surprise

Doug was (and still is) a family friend. And like my father, Doug enjoyed sailing.

My father was dying. As his body betrayed him, he grew steadily weaker. He went from walking to shuffling, to using a walker or sometimes even a wheelchair.

Family and friends came to visit him in his last days. Doug shared how he was looking forward to purchasing a boat, a 28-footer. He told my dad he would bring it by and tie up on his dock. But there were delays in procuring the boat, and Doug began to seriously doubt if my father would live to see the new craft.

Doug called Michael. Would Michael agree to bring Maria to my father's place so he could get one last look at her? "Let's do it," Michael said.

So the two of them set about bringing Maria to my father for one last inspection. But trailering a boat from out of town to a local marina, putting it in the water and motoring it to its destination takes time. Time was a commodity which was rapidly running out for my father.

They got Maria moored and came into the house, but Dad was sleeping. His bed had been moved into the living room when it had gotten too difficult for him to climb the stairs to the bedroom. Michael approached the bed and gently put his hand on my father's shoulder.

My father opened his eyes.

"We brought the boat," Michael said simply.

My father sat up. He was suddenly very animated. "I want to see it," he insisted.

"Would you like the walker or the wheelchair?" my stepmother asked.

"I want my wheelchair," he said. "Alan Barrett," he called my stepbrother, using both his first and middle names, "come work this elevator."

The river is known to spill over its banks sometimes. For that reason, the house is on stilts. My father didn't simply want to look out of the window or go onto the deck and see the boat. He wanted to go out to the dock and see it up close. We got him downstairs and wheeled him onto the dock. The photo at the top of this article is one we took.

"It's not my boat," Doug explained, "but it's a boat."

"It looks familiar," my father joked.

After visiting for a few minutes, we all figured my father was tired. But he told us he had to go to the bathroom. Fortunately, there was a bathroom downstairs. We wheeled him to it and he did what he needed to do.

When he had finished. I figured he must be really tired. But he wanted to visit with everyone on the covered patio outside, so I wheeled him over to where friends and family were chatting. He talked, laughed and joked with us. My stepbrother (the same Alan Barrett who had operated the elevator earlier) approached, handing out beers to whomever wante one. I took one and turned to my father. "Want a beer?" I asked him.

"Yes, I want a beer!" I handed him mine, and Alan gave another to me.

Dad talked and joked and laughed for quite a while. And though he hadn't been eating or drinking much, he finished about two thirds of that beer.

Eventually most of the guests left, and I wheeled my father back upstairs. It was approaching eight o'clock, the hour at which he had been falling alseep for weeks. But my fahter was not done with his epic day.

"I wanna watch a Jackie Chan movie," he suddenly announced. We were surprised. But at his insistence we located his DVD of Mr. Nice Guy and put it on. He stayed awake for nearly the whole movie, finally going to bed around ten.

~ ~ ~

My father's decline was rapid. He never again had the sort of energy and interaction he had that day.

Looking back on it, it occurs to me that everyone should have one last epic day. Of course, none of us knows when our last day will be. So the next time you are having an epic day, cherish it. After all, that is what epic days are for.

Download Acting: From First Audition to Final Bow FREE!

BOOK REVIEW: Of Myst and Folly

Leah Cutter’s Of Myst and Folly captures a dreamlike quality which is sometimes nightmarish, sometimes intriguing and occasionally even tedious.

The dreamlike feel of this book is so complete, I cannot be sure if some things in the book are mistakes or an attempt to further the surrealism of the narrative. One character named Basad is referred to as Basar a mere nine paragraphs later. Dragons are described as six-legged, then as having four feet.

If you enjoy wyrd stories, you may enjoy Of Myst and Folly. The story has no surprises and the action is hampered by the dreamlike narrative. A fun read, but probably not a story that you will long remember.

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I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. If you are an author and would like to have your book considered for review CLICK HERE.

Lessons from the Dying

Today's post is very personal. Reading this, you might think it happened long ago. It actually happened last week. We are still facing my father's imminent death.

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My father's life was nearly over. His blood just decided it didn't like his body anymore.

All of his mental faculties were intact, and his pain was manageable. Except when he was getting blood transfusions. That caused him unbearable pain. His condition being terminal, he had decided, "No more transfusions."

He was in hospice in his home on the bayou in Louisiana. A former architect, he had designed his waterfront home himself twenty-two years earlier. It was here he would live out his days. It was here he would die.

I was staying with him and my stepmother. He had had a particularly rough day, and had decided to lay down for a nap.

I got my laptop and was trying to get some writing done when he got up to go to the bathroom. The family had agreed that as long as my father could do for himself, we would let him. I watched him out of the corner of my eye as he shuffled along. He went in and shut the door.

It was perfectly normal at this stage of his decline for him to take some time in the bathroom. This evening was no exception. I listened carefully as I typed in case he should need me.

At length, I heard the toilet flush and the sound of running water as he washed his hands. Soon the door opened and he shuffled back to bed. He slipped himself under the covers in his usual, slow manner.

He lay there a moment as I continued to work. (Well, work may be a strong term, since I wasn't getting much done. But that's another story.) Then I heard him speaking.

I looked over at him. He wasn't talking to me. He didn't seem to be talking to anyone, just laying there with his eyes closed, talking. Then I realized hew was praying.

I got up and went to his bedside. I wanted to hear his prayer, to pray with him. "Teach me to be a true disciple of Christ," he murmured, "and grant me the strength to do Your will." He paused a moment, the fingers of his right hand carefully folded over his left fist, then added, "Amen."

I stood in silence. I could barely comprehend what had just happened. My father -- my dying father -- was praying for the strength to do God's will. For a long moment, I could do nothing. Finally I managed a whispered "Amen."

He opened his eyes. For a moment, we held each others' gaze. "That was a beautiful prayer," I told him.

"Thank you," he said, smiling weakly.

My stepmother heard us talking, and called downstairs, "What's he saying?"

"He was just praying," I called back.

"I was praying," he said, "and God answered my prayer through Bruce.

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BOOK REVIEW: Effie's Senior Year

Four Reasons to Like Effie's Senior Year by Tracy Marchini

4.) All six of Effie's misadventures are included in this one book.

     4a.) I like misadventures.

3.) Effie is a great character

     3a.) Okay, she's not anyone I would aspire to be like.

     3b.) On the other hand, as the fat, insecure girl she perceives herself to be, she is a believable character.

     3c.) Marchini does an excellent job of getting the reader inside Effie's head.

2.) Effie has come a long way by the end of these six stories.

     2a.) Even if she doesn't realize it.

1.)The lists were clever.

     1a.) And fun.

     1b.) And awesome.

     1c.) And a great way to show the reader what Effie is thinking (see 3c. above).

What I Didn't Like About Effie's Senior Year

1.) Effie's potty mouth.

     1a.) No, I do not consider myself a prude.

     1b.) Yes, I did talk that way my senior year, so you could say it's realistic except....

     1c.) Some of the swears seem like they were forced into the text with a shoehorn, as if Marchini felt her book wouldn't sell unless she made some magical quota of swear words. In fact, Effie's sister Ophelia has at least one unauthentic-sounding swear as well.

     1d.) Don't get the idea that it's all swears. They actually make up only a small portion of the book.

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I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. If you are an author and would like to have your book considered for review CLICK HERE.

Who is This Guy?

Here are a few random (and not-so-random) facts about me:

• I enjoy iced tea, but not coffee.
• I try to eat healthy, but I am foiled by the M&M's in the trail mix.
• Speaking of foils, I took fencing in high school.
• I am easily distracted.
• I prefer a phone call to a text message.
• I love a tall glass of ice water on a hot day.
• I like hot days. I was born in Louisiana, you know.
• I'd like to wear contact lenses, but they make my left eye go lazy.
• I'm definitely not a morning person.
• Occasionally, I enjoy a walk all by myself.