Category: Essay

  • Guest Interview on H. L. Burke’s Website

    Saturday is Random Interview day on H. L. Burke’s website. Go take a peak at the wacky questions she asked me and my answers. While you’re there, check out her books. She’s written some great ones.

    And don’t forget, STAR TOUCHED is available for pre-sale now.Facebook startouched banner

     

    Sign up for my newsletter so don’t miss out on announcements and giveaways.

  • STAR TOUCHED: The Countdown Has Begun

    Great news: STAR TOUCHED will be released October 1, 2017 and is now available for pre-order through several book sellers.Startouched front cover2

    Eighteen year old Tatiana is running from her past and her Star-touched powers eight years after a meteor devastates earth’s population.

    Her power to heal is sometimes overshadowed by the ability to create ravaging fires. Fleeing the fear induced persecution of those like her, Tatiana seeks refuge in a small town she once visited. This civil haven, in a world where society has broken down, is beginning to crumble. Tatiana is once again left with the choice to flee or to stay and fight for the new life she has built. Only by harnessing the very forces that haunt her can Tatiana save her friends… and herself.

    “A unique and finely crafted debut novel, the characters touched my heart as I was drawn into their plight and compelled to finish!”

     — New York Times bestselling Author Maria V. Snyder

    Pre-order your copy today from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Books-A-Million.

    Don’t forget to sign up for my newsletter so you hear about contests and giveaways.

  • Dog Care the A-Z List

    If you love dogs be sure to review this A to Z list.

  • The View from the Trailer Park – Those Lips, Those Eyes. ‘Wonder Woman’

    The View from the Trailer Park – Those Lips, Those Eyes. ‘Wonder Woman’

    Great review. I just saw the movie yesterday. It is a great and long overdue movie.

  • PARIS AND BACK AGAIN

    I don’t normally write about traveling, but at the end of March and beginning of April I had the pleasure of taking my first trip to Europe. I got to spent nine wonderful days in Paris, France. I won’t bore you with all the details and everything I did, but here are some the highlights.

    First, I want to say that I felt safer walking the streets of Paris at all hours than I ever have in any US city. Sure I kept a lookout for pick pockets, but that’s not the same.

    20170327_200400The Eiffel tower was neat. I had a great view from my hotel room. In the evening, they make it sparkle for a few minutes each hour.

    There are enough museums in Paris to keep you busy for weeks, so I had to pick and choose. In college I studied art and architecture, but seeing them in a book or a slide is nothing like standing in the midst of these creations.

    The Orsay Museum had some of my favorite painters: Monet, Renoir, and Degas, along with other great impressionist.

    20170329_151357

    Orangerie Museum built two rooms just for Monet’s last waterlily paintings. Each has four HUGE paintings. He was nearly blind when he made them. While notable, I still like some of his earlier paintings better.

    Speaking of Monet, for me a trip to France had to include a visit to his house and gardens in Giverny. 20170401_101611I just may need to get my paints out again.20170401_103253
    20170329_17255620170329_172239

    Walking through the Louvre I got to see lots of cool sculptures and paintings. The scale of some of them surprised me. Theodore Gericault’s The Raft of the Medusa felt like I could step onto the raft. (16 feet wide x 12 feet tall) If that wasn’t stunning enough, directly opposite it in this narrow hall was Delacroix’s Death of Sardanapalus. (Also 16 feet wide x 12 feet tall)

    My photos came out so distorted because there was no room to back up for the picture. BTW, the Mona Lisa is just as dull in person as it is in pictures. Rembrandt’s portraits were much more impressive.

     

     

     

    Notre-Dame Cathedral was spectacular and sad at the same time. Most of the paintings are fine, but some are peeling from the walls. Others are so covered with dirt and soot that I didn’t realize the paintings were there until I got right up to the wall. Soot can be removed. Sadly, the peeling sections are probably too far gone to repair.20170328_174614

    Sainte Chapelle’s stained glass was stunning but it was the floor tiles that caught my eye. Who knew there were so many wolf/canine motifs?

    Want to see something different and a little creepy? Visit the Catacombs. Yes, those are real human bones.20170330_123926

    From eating wonderful food, seeing the sites, and sitting on the banks of the Seine working on a story, I had a fantastic time.20170330_171708

  • Take Back Your Calm

    Feeling stressed? This will help.