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NEW RELEASE

LEAVE: And Other Stories Short and Shorter

I’m happy to announce the release of my fifth book, a short story collection entitled: LEAVE: And Other Stories Short and Shorter.

Within the collection, there are 30 stories new and old. Some are short in length as are traditional short stories, and some are shorter in length, as are the more contemporary flash fiction stories. Some were written as recently as this past winter; others, as long ago as the early ’90s. Many have been published previously on my website and other places, but there are several new stories that have not yet been released until now.

Continue reading “NEW RELEASE”

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An Introduction to Author MB Bissett

In my last post “Hey Reader, What’s Your Angle,” I invited you all to share a link to a book that you’ve reviewed that provides some insight, via your writing, as to how you apply your critical thinking strategy towards the books you read.

I’m so happy that MB BLISSETT was kind/brave enough to take me up on the offer; for, not only did he introduce me to THE FEVER by Meg Abbott with his interesting and insightful review of her work, he introduced me to a new eclectic world of creativity and intellect that can be found all throughout his website.

After reading his review that I introduce here, I strongly urge you to then head straight to his About page as it is most interesting and entertaining – I read it and I feel a strong kinship with his outlook toward writing and his literary taste.

Comments are closed here so that you can share your thoughts directly with MB at his website.

MB Blissett

the-fever

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs posits that when base needs are met, then your desires become more refined. Which usually means that your fears probably work on the same level. If you’re not risking death every single time that you give birth, then you’re worried that they will live to be healthy adults and when they’re healthy adolescents, you’re worried about any number of factors. Within the haunted house of parenthood and adolescence, Megan Abbott knows where the ghosts live and shows them to you.

The Fever ably captures the beauty and passion, the terror, the contradictory desire for freedom and privacy, the secrets that women keep from themselves and one another. She uses social media and how it intertwines and defines the worlds of young people subtly and effectively. In the iconography of the modern world, the online video is the sermon, the blowing of the whistle or in this…

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Marvel Shmarvel – the real Super Heroes are the Volunteer Readers for #TeamLibriVox

And the Super Hero In Chief at LibriVox is the…

Amazing…
Spectacular…
Sublime…
One And Only…
Able To Read the Densest Tomes Without Once Tying The Tongue…

Mr. Bob Neufeld

Seriously folks, if you love classic literature and love to listen to classic voice actors, you need to check out Bob Neufeld’s grand body of work.

Seriously folks, I’ve been a fan of Neufeld’s ever since I found him at the beginning of my First Commitment to Emerson (yes, that’s still a thing – stay tuned).

Seriously folks, I just finished Neufeld’s reading of a Heart of Darkness and I’ve never experienced the book so deeply and movingly. More to follow on this reading.

Seriously folks, go to his page, load up your Kindle with all books Neufeld has narrated, and spend your summer, like intend to, listening to the greatest literature being read by one great voice actor.

And you can do it all for free.

You’re welcome, folks.

Seriously…

 
 

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Heroes of Dystopia – A Serial Saga

Hercules Gone Mad

It’s been over a year since I released my first novel The Sea Trials of an Unfortunate Sailor and I am excited to be able to finally announce my new project — Heroes of Dystopia – A Serial Saga.

There are many reasons I am excited about this project.

For one, it is an opportunity to for me to explore political, societal, technological, war, mental, and many other issues important to me in a serious and, hopefully, an interesting way.

I am also pleased to be releasing it as a serialized saga, which means that the saga will be realized as a series of books, and each book will be released as a series of parts. Writing a serialized saga enables me to think long term and in strategic ways, while also being able to stay tactical and keep the writing fresh and, again, hopefully, moving quickly along.

The first book in the saga is Hercules Gone Mad. The first part of the book, Rebels for Love, will be available soon. Meanwhile, you can read an excerpt of it here.

If you have any feedback, and I hope you do, let me know about by leaving me a comment here or on my facebook page.

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New Writing Project

We’re getting close to going live with my next writing project. In anticipation, I just want to let you know that it’s gonna start getting a little more political and controversial around here.

With that, a word or two should be mentioned about how information on public pages, such as this, are now managed by facebook. Because fb has been having such a hard time with its valuation since it went public, it is struggling to find new ways to make money. One way they’ve implemented is to throttle all public posts, such as this, in an effort to get the owner, such as me, to pay fb to promote them. Consequently, my posts here are hardly reaching any of the 13K plus subscribers to this page. While it has always been a rather subdued crowd here anyway, fb has found a way to doubly subdue the mood. That said, it still is incumbent upon me to offer interesting and engaging content for you all to enjoy. That’s my charter and challenge to myself: to write stuff you want to read. It is my hope that my new writing project will meet that challenge. Stay tuned…we’ll find out soon enough.

~~~~~~~~~~~

who are the heroes
heroes of dystopia
who will rise the dawn

[This post originally appeared on facebook]

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Short Verses and Other Curses #3

(a third round-up of my haiku and other diminutive discourses posted here and there throughout the cybersphere)

*

I have no answers
I know just that grass will grow
and that leaves will fall

*

destroy to create
say the gods and demagogues
pain’s higher purpose

*

think and I ignore
say and I start to wonder
do and I believe

*

when everything hurts
each thought, each breath, each step, each…
then nothing can hurt

*

it’s not the disease
it’s the dis ease found within
the mind is the cure

*

low, gray clouds advance
footsteps crack like breaking bones
the wind’s chill churns deep

*

each quest has an end
each question has an answer
stay still; stay silent

*

time is everywhere
and moves in all directions
clocks mislead us all

*

existentially
to exist means to suffer
it’s the angst of choice

*

sometimes, to be heard
it’s best to remain silent
to be seen–vanish

*

it’s the irony
it’s the humor and folly
life’s absurdities

*

the shield or the sword
cower safe behind despair
or attack with joy

*

the wind fuels the flame
the light sustains the shadow
life’s paradoxes

*

the pine’s evergreen
or the maple’s sudden fall
flare comes with a cost

*

who’s the next Gibran
who’s the next Kurosawa
can twitter tell me

*

each morrow’s a chance
what becomes becomes what was
is is all there is

*

struggle through the din
yield not to the damning knell
onward to the calm

*

absence is sublime
the void becomes the proxy
memories feint truths

*

dismiss this missive
for to me alone it speaks
a lone I must heed

*

Tear me into pieces
and throw me to the wind
release me to the currents
never to be whole again

Each scattered bit of me
soon forgotten as a whole
will never forsake my spirit
and will forever retain my soul

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Short Verses and Other Curses #2

(a second round-up of haiku and other diminutive discourses of mine posted in various places throughout the cybersphere)

*

Primal December
I ache for those pagan days
Saturnalia!

*

It’s those voices;
those penetrating and perturbing voices;
ethereal voices spoken from faceless mouths;
Yes, those voices.

*

how I view the world
requires not my eyes to see
my life’s perspective

*

long and dark-filled days
the light that once pleased now pains
still, faith guides my way

*

tho’ beyond my ken
speak unto me with thy tongue
whispered words betray

*

land between rivers’
nine year death knell rings no more
lies alone prevailed

*

Now is not so bad.
But, it always seems
to be a little better
as Then.

*

Surround me with such things
Erudite things
Simple things
Things of pleasure
Things of pain
Any thing
That can both
Take me forward
And can bring me back
To where I long to be
And to where I forever dread

*

minds provoked, pursued
the beating and burning heart
graves settle but dust

*

the blood turns not red
until the wound has occurred
truths are bound by scars

*

the slow burning fuse
the flash of the fireworks
none live less the spark

*

mete me with wisdom
mete me with the hidden way
blind, I find no bliss

*

empirical lust
a burning need for knowledge
cant douses the flame

*

Love’s arrival
demands Epiphany’s flourishing trumpet.

Love’s departure
requires no such song.

*

forge forever on
tho’ dark death rewards us all
forge forever on

*

whither journey’s end
is that which eludes me
yonder shall I go

*

from mind to matter
believe it and it shall be
you determine you

*

sing out savior songs
dance free amongst the cherubs
listen for the wind

*

if we chance to win
we must also chance to lose
both promise rewards

*

who among us all
leave no footsteps in the sand
who can bar the tide

*

the word is as told
its telling built empires
deconstruct it all