A Return to Old found a home

Grabled Transmissions posted a short story of mine titled A Return to Old

http://garbledtransmission.com/2013/03/24/sci-fi-a-return-to-old/

I penned that story way before Pope Benedict VI resigned from his post, so don't come to me saying I jinxed him or that my story is a true account for the end of his papacy. :-)

Where in the world is Angela?

This week I'm a guest at The Bookshelf Muse. One of the owners, Angela Ackerman is telling the world she's deep into writing her novel for NaNoWriMo. However, some evidence proving the contrary has surfaced.

Is Angela running a NaNoWrimo Fraud?

You'd be the judge of that:

http://thebookshelfmuse.blogspot.com/2012/11/nanowrimo-i-dont-think-so.html

Guest blogging at CFC!

Today I discuss Murder Weapons and their relevance in the thriller genre at the Crime Fiction Collective:

http://crimefictioncollective.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-murder-weapon.html?spref=fb

True Crime

Today I have a guest. Fellow writer Gina Fava had this wonderful idea of a blog exchange. Yesterday she hosted me at her blog, and today she's sharing some thoughts with us about True Crime:



True Crime

Two great things happened this weekend that coincided perfectly to produce this post:

1. My author colleague and friend, J.H. Bográn, asked me to guest post this week on his blog, and
2. I'm fresh off attending the 2012 New England Crime Bake.

How do these two events mesh?
When I first met J.H. Bográn a couple years ago (we'd both attended Thrillerfest V), I learned that he is the son of a journalist.  But where his mother would have the opportunity to write about true crime at every turn, the readers of J.H. Bográn's superb short stories and novels will tell you that he prefers to stick to fiction.
After attending a panel at the New England Crime Bake this past weekend entitled,  "Truth is Stranger than Fiction:  Writing True Crime," it got me to thinking as a writer, why not consider the true crime genre? 
How about these gems: 

• The Monster of Florence, by novelist Douglas Preston and journalist Mario Spezi, about a real-life serial killer who murdered couples in the Tuscan countryside,
• Lie After Lie, by news reporter and criminal defense investigator Lara Bricker, about a woman whose husband fatally poisons her over time by slipping antifreeze into her Gatorade,
• Finding Amy, by novelist and true crime writer, Kate Flora, a 2007 Edgar nominee,
• Betrayal:  Whitey Bulger and the FBI Agent Who Fought to Bring Him Down, by Robert Fitzpatrick (the FBI agent) with Jon Land.  (Learn more about Boston mobster Whitey Bulger and his girlfriend at http://www.ginafava.wordpress.com/2012/06/13/fugitive-thrillers.)

While many true crime books are based on murder cases, others delve into abductions, robberies, arsons, and political scandal.  Many stories spring from recent headlines.  Some are based on years of research into a historical case.  Aside from the intrigue that drips from the pages, lessons in FBI criminal profiling, national security, and child welfare also may be gleaned from the facts. 
The genre is factual, and legal fact-checking is a priority, so self-publishing in this realm may prove disastrous for anyone inclined to do so, as the integrity of real life victims as well as the rights of those who've committed the crimes are in play.  It's recommended to seek a traditional publisher in this vein of writing.
If you have a background in journalism, law, or criminal justice, true crime stories may be already be part of your genetic code.  I'm not sure if I have J.H. Bográn convinced to write them, but I'm certain that he's already a fan.  Either way, I'm grateful to my friend and colleague for letting me visit today, and it's been great connecting with all of his readers.  Be sure to stop by Gina Fava's Blog anytime to say hello.  Have you tried your hand at true crime writing?  Are there movies or books based in true crime that you'd like to share?

About Gina Fava:

Born in Buffalo, NY, and living in New England, Gina Fava has written award-winning short stories, and is working to publish two suspense thrillers based in Rome, Italy.  An active member of MWA, ITW, and SinC, she's also a Formula One fan and an avid blogger, and she loves to research first-hand the Italian reds that her characters imbibe. Learn more at http://www.ginafava.com/
 

The Assassin's Mistress escapes! I mean, she goes free

Well, I already professed the love to my country with a nice little blog describing a virtual tour of my five-star piece of heaven on Earth.

How could I top that? How about a free day?

Well, yeah! The Assassin's Mistress goes free, for one day only, on September 15.

Here's the direct link.

http://amzn.to/R11xhk

I'd appreciate any tweet or RT about it. :-)

Literary Fireworks for Independence Day!

4th of July Literary and Thriller Fireworks Free ebooks 2012

A group of literary and thriller authors will make their ebooks free on July 3-4 2012

Download the full list by cutting and pasting this URL into a browser:
http://amzn.com/lm/R2WOWYEBBT2Q8E

The Inevitable Blog Tour

I guess it is time I come clean and explain all those posting and tweets announcing interviews, reviews and guest blog spots. Well, as it turns out, I’m in the middle of a blog tour. Of course, new to this as I am, I failed to prepare a one place to show all. Well, that ends right now, if not for my benefit, at least to help the next author stumbling into the dark room of online promotion:

It all began on April/27, the day that I also launched my free day with Amazon Kindle Select program.

April/27: I was invited to write a blog post for Chris Redding's blog. I decided to explore about our relationship as authors with our own characters: here's the link:

http://chrisredddingauthor.blogspot....character.html

April/30: W.S. Gager's reporter-with-an-attitude Mitch Malone decided to press his luck and put professional hitman Robert I Prescott in the spot. Now, who would do such a thing on purpose? :-)
http://wsgager.blogspot.com/2012/04/mitch-malone-mondays-j-h-bograns-robert.html

May/1: Peg Brantley did a spanking deep-probing interview of me. She even coaxed a photo of my workspace out of me:

http://suspensenovelist.blogspot.com/

May/04: I wrote about Writing Companions on Debbi Mack’s “My Life on the Mid-List blog:

http://midlistlife.wordpress.com/2012/05/03/j-h-bogran-on-writing-companions/

May/07: I wrote about the hated and fearsome promotion that we authors must overcome and do:

http://murdermustadvertise.blogspot.com/2012/05/promotion-bit.html

May/10: I’m coming straight from Hel:

http://straightfromhel.blogspot.com/2012/05/outline-or-panster.html

May/15:  I explore about research at Nancy’s Notes from Florida:

http://nancyjcohen.wordpress.com/

May/23: I will visit the Crime Fiction Collective blog:

http://crimefictioncollective.blogspot.com/

June/06: Maryann Miller is putting me in the spot for an interview in her blog:

http://its-not-all-gravy.blogspot.com/

And some more to come. So come back any time for an update. 

Thanks

The Promo bit

Today I'm a guest blogger at Murder Must Advertise blog:

http://murdermustadvertise.blogspot.com

Enjoy my take on the promo bits.

The Avengers 2012

The long wait is finally over. The initial reviews were nothing short of perfect. This project spanned several individual hero movies to converge into this one over-the-top adventure. Hulk, Iron man, Thor, Captain America, Black Widow and Hawkeye comprise this Avenger initiative to save the planet, or in the words of Nick Fury: to fight the wars we can’t.

The banished Lucky appears on Earth to take possession of a power cube capable of opening a portal for an invasion army. His goal: rule Earth as a starting point to conquer the universe.

Making so many dysfunctional heroes—and their egos—work together is a difficult, even daunting, task all on itself.

This ensemble cast worked a lot better than the original G.I. Joe, of course, the first half of the movie is used fighting among themselves, but that is good character development trait. I mean, they are not the Brady bunch to just get together and form a team out of the thin air.

The advantage of the actors, having played the same roll before, gives them a confidence that transcends the screen. With the exception of Mark Ruffalo and poor Hulk that has gone through three different actors in as many movies. Still, the actor was able to hold his own. The effects of Hulk are also very good.

Is the movie entertaining? Yes, very much so. My wife and kids vowed to buy the DVD as soon as it comes out.

Does it have any negative things? A few, but they do not diminish the overall experience. The only thing that got me thinking was Hulk and the lack of explanation how Bruce Banner manages to control the beast during the final battle whereas it was a disaster the first time.

Still, I could not fail to see the similitude to Sean Connery’s final movie The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. The premise of a group coming together to save the planet is pretty similar.

A free read Short story

The great Short.Store-Me website recently published a short story of mine titled Blind Living.

The story is about a blind guy who goes to extreme measures to secure some much-needed quality time with his girlfriend.

Read it here:
http://www.short-story.me/romance-stories/434-blind-living.html

The Wrath of Titans and Gemma’s continuous on-screen deaths.

After some debate, we settled to see Wrath of Titans in 2D. However, I conceded the point it’d be the version dubbed in Spanish to please my children.

Dark times are coming; the Gods are dying because people have stopped praying to them. The now widower Perseus has open road to woo fighting Queen Andromeda. Of course, he must first rescue his father from the prison in the underworld, save his son from certain death at the hands of Ares, and destroy his grandfather Kronos. I suppose Ancient Greeks really know how to hold a grudge and keep it all in the family.

However, the Wrath of Titans offers no memorable scenes. The action scenes aren’t as annoying as the ones in Transformers. But a lot of them happen in dark places that, combined with the close-angle of the camera, make it really hard to keep track of who is winning.

Not all is bad, hidden under the special effects is a tale of forgiveness and redemption. Also, it ends with the possibility of a third installment. Liam Neeson is superb as Zeus, as with any role he plays. Ralph Fiennes plays a good Hades, this time looking less like Voldemort with a nose. Sam Worthington looks weird with long hair, but makes a decent job.

All in all, it is an entertaining movie.

Oh, and before I forget, the metallic Bubo makes another cameo, this time even longer than the first time.

The title of the post refers to Gemma Arterton’s characters. I know she’s made plenty of other movies, but if we notice the most prominent ones we find a pattern to be worried about. In Quantum of Solace, agent Strawberry Fields tries to bring rogue agent James Bond back into the saddle, only to suffer a terrible death: asphyxiation by oil. In Prince of Persia, Queen Tamina falls into a pit. Thankfully the sands of time work in her favor and she gets a reprieve. In Clash of Titans, Io dies at the hands of Calibos while Perseus watches in impotence. Thank God—literally—Zeus felt pity for his son and brought back Io to accompany Perseus. I was looking forward to watching her again, but I only got a glimpse at her gravestone; which, by the way, was written in English instead of ancient Greek.

At least, the absence of Gemma Arterton did not ruin the movie as much as Rachel Weiss’ absence from The Mummy franchise did.

Trivia Bit: Andromeda is now played by Rosamund Pike, another former Bond-girl. So that makes two of them becoming female leads in the Titan’s franchise.

Revisiting Episode 1, except this time wearing glasses

Last night I took my youngest kid to see Star Wars Episode 1. Or should I say I used him as an excuse to see the movie again, but in 3D. Well, it was the first time he saw it in a movie theater.

The oldest boys have already grown out of the franchise and the youngest is only one who still likes it. When he was four or five years old, I set “starwars” as the password for my sons’ Windows account. Since he wasn’t exactly reading then, every time he wanted to play with the computer, he’d bring the DVD box to see the title and then type the password matching the letters one by one. Needles to say, it was a big event for him.

I remember the movie garnered really bad reviews when it was first released in 1999, hardcore fans in particular were really disappointed. Now it is different and people has gotten used to it. The new generation even likes it.

Now about this 3D version, for a change, George Lucas refrained himself from adding, expanding and/or changing the movie. I was afraid he’d digitally superimpose Hayden Christensen’s face over Jake Lloyd.

So, the movie was pretty much as I remember it, although the pod race scene felt a bit longer. Maybe George did play a little bit with it, after all.

On the other hand, I think the flick has aged really well. The story is still entertaining even if it kills a few sacred cows (what’s with the midi-chlorians?) and introduced some of the most hateful characters (Jar Jar Binks stubbornly survived all 3 episodes, go figure.)

Getting re-acquainted with Qui-Gon Jinn was nice treat. He’s my favorite old-republic Jedi. It was a shame he didn’t last more than this entry, although by Episode 3 were learn he discovered a way back even if we couldn’t seen him.

Spoiler Alert (just in case there is still somebody left in the planet who has not seen it):

Near the end of the duel scene, Darth Maul has the higher ground. How come Obi-Wan was able to beat him? In Episode III when the situation is reversed, Anakin jumps up as a near-complete individual only to land a crippled. Why did the same trick worked fro Obi Wan but not for Anakin? Somehow I think the only reason is because the screenplay said so.

I leave you with this picture that is meant to be an angry Darth Vader. Why he is angry or why do I relate it to this movie is beyond me. :-)

Readers Favorite reviewed Treasure Hunt

Now it's official, RF claims my novel Treasure Hunt is "a real page-turner!".

Of course, I couldn't be more thrilled with the comment.

And here's my favorite line:

The characters are believable; the author's astute attention to detail brings the reader into the story, captivated by each new chapter.

The review is now posted the Amazon and to their official site:

http://readersfavorite.com/cat-71.htm?review=4481

Fantastic Horcruxes and where to find them

Necessary Note: I wrote this piece for a Harry Potter book club a couple of months prior to the release of the Deathly Hallows book. With the imminent release of the last movie tomorrow, I thought this post was worth to revisit this search as we are still short of some horcruxes.

After the released of the Half Blood Prince and the shattering—if not completely surprising—demise of Hogwarts’ Headmaster, many questions have come to the mind of the readers. Perhaps the more over-analyzed is the loyalty of Severus Snape. There are subtle tips spread all through the six books that could support either case on where his loyalty stands. I’ll side-step that topic for now since I think there are only two viable outcome: He’s good and will help Harry somehow; or Snape is a treacherous bastard he’ll pay dearly for it in the end.

The other such topic is whether Dumbledore is dead or alive. Thankfully, Mrs. Rowling already clarified this point claiming the Headmaster will not be doing a “Gandalf.”

Now on to a topic that offers a wider realm of possibilities.

Since the introduction of the concept of a Horcrux, I fell enchanted with the concept of intentionally ripping a soul and actually taking advantage of it. The death-cheating scheme seems to be a repetitive theme in the life of Harry Potter and his wizardly world (e.g. The philosopher’s stone, the resurrection stone, unicorn’s blood, just to name a few).

A recap first, shall we? A Horcrux is an object that holds a part of soul of a wizard seeking immortality. Lord Voldemort made a total of six:

1. The Tom Riddle Diary: Given to Lucious Malfoy, destroyed by Harry Potter during the events inside the Chamber of Secrets in Harry’s second year.

2. The Ring from Slithering: Found hidden in the remains of the house of Gaunt and destroyed by Albus Dumbledore at the cost of his right hand in the process.

3. Nagini, the snake: To be found at Voldemort’s side if not sent on special missions. (e.g. Attacking Mr. Wesley at the Ministry of Magic in Book 5).

4, 5 & 6: the objects remain a mystery: “the locket .., the cup ... something of Gryffindor's or Ravenclaw's”. (Before my inbox gets inundated, I’ll concede the locket was verified, found and destroyed by the end of the Part I)

I will not venture what the remaining object might turn out to be. I’m more interested in pointing out the possible locations of some of them.

Given the fact that the two already-found Horcruxes were hidden in places that presented some importance—or milestone—in the life of Tom Riddle/Voldemort, I’m following the other known places where the Dark Lord has been.

1. The Chamber of Secrets. Fitting as he discovered his true ancestry there. It is a place no one but him could reach. “But when?” you may ask. Either before he left school or more possibly on his brief return to a job interview with Dumbledore for the Defense Against the Dark Art teaching position. (The books show a scene where Voldemort had an interview with the Headmaster for the post; however, this was not shown in the movies I think.)

2. The Room of Requirement: as the rushing Harry Potter confirmed himself when trying to hide his Half-blood prince autographed poison book, the room is overcrowded with objects. Perhaps the five-legged skeleton is one of the keepers! As to when, I’d suggest the same timeframes as above.

3. Burgin and Burkes store: What better place to hide such a dark object than a place filled with similarly dark magic pieces? The spies have a term coined for this technique; it is called: hiding in plain site! The young Tom Riddle worked there for some time. He probably placed it somewhere. Ever since Chamber of Secrets, this store keeps popping up a lot.

4. Godric’s Hollow: Yep, right where all began for Harry. I see the place might appeal to Voldemort in the same way as the Helga’s cup and Slithering locket. If the Dark Lord could not find anything from Godric Gryffindor, perhaps hiding a portion of his soul in the place of a Hogwart’s founder home.

5. The Orphanage: A place he never liked, true. But, again, the idea was to hide them well and not many people seem to be aware of Tom Riddle humble origins.

6. The Riddle House: A possibility? Why yes, indeed! Although the one I seem less likely as he spent a lot of time there during the events of Goblet of Fire. Being too close to hidden Horcrux might endanger it.

I’ve listed six possible places for a total of three remaining Horcruxes, let’s wait to the release of Deadly Hallows and find out for sure!

Some quotable quotes:

One of my favorite quotes is:

Because I do it with a little ship, I’m called pirate; because you do it with a big fleet you’re called emperor.
In an interesting twist, the quote is not from somebody famous; however it was said to none other than Alexander the Great.

The legend says Alexander was holding court to a person accused of piracy and that the Great conqueror was pounding on the little guy, really making him feel small as a bug. The pirate stood his ground, as quoted above and it is said that Alexander was so impressed by the comeback that felt no other choice but to release the prisoner.

Another favorite quote of mine is uttered by Giancarlo Giannini in the 1995 movie A Walk in the Clouds:

Just because I talk with an accent doesn't mean I think with an accent.

Maybe because that is how I feel being a non-native English writer.

But enough with the quotes, as Ralph Waldo Emerson said:

I hate quotations. Tell me what you know.

Will the Green Lantern resurrect DC Comics-based movies?

I’m not going to pose for an expert in comic. I barely know enough to get me through a conversation without making a fool out of myself. On the other hands, motion pictures are my thing.

The past decade marked a breakthrough for Marvel. Spiderman, X-men, The Fantastic Four, Iron Man, even the not so popular Daredevil/Elektra combo performed really well at the box office. Look at the X-Men for instance; it appears they can’t go wrong. They put an older-looking actor to play a younger version of himself, and it was a hit! Now the first class broke the 100 million mark soon enough. In 2003 The Hulk tanked worst than Godzilla, but undeterred, the producers tried again within five years and the result was much more satisfactory. Now the ambitious multi-movie project of The Avengers is in the works. Thor & Captain American are all lined up and ready and we’re taking it. I mean, come on, Chris Evans is in good shape, but he already played Jimmy Storm! Couldn't they find another actor to play Captain America? And still looks Marvel will get away with it, they’re definitely soaring!

Meanwhile, DC Comic’s sole hit is Batman. Although Superman performed okay, it didn't fulfill expectations and the franchise was put on hold. There is a new rendering, following the gritty footsteps of Christopher Nolan’s Batman, titled The Man of Steel. Let’s hope he can fly.

Last weekend Green Lantern opened to 53.2 Million at the box office, but the critics were not kind to the Ryan Reynolds incarnation. It received mixed to bad reviews, and producers still counting the pennies to see if they can declare it a hit or a flop. Let’s give them another week.

The horizon looks promising with the most beautiful of super heroes, Wonder Woman. Now that the new generation is not familiar with Linda Carter’s role-defining acting from 70’s, public is ready for a fresh look. And the timing could not be more appropriate. The woman-as-action-hero road was recently paved with Lara Croft, The Bride who wanted to Kill Bill and Alice from Resident Evil to name a few. However, producers are making it for TV, early critics panned the costume, so she’s off to a rocky start. For Wonder Woman, it’s now or never.

The DC Comics vrs. Marvel is as old as comics themselves, and the jury’s still out on the verdict.

My Boy Scout adventures

The Boy Scout movement in Honduras during the 80’s was a good experience for me. The moral values combined with the hands-on learning activities were a milestone in my education.

The motto of “be prepared” is ingrained so much that to this day I still carry a pocket knife, a pen, a lighter (ok, used to be matches). I dispensed the comb because, well, a comb won’t do anything to my hair; it was a waste of space.

Nowadays, I must leave my trusted Victorinox at home when I travel. But I take comfort thinking that I do it to “be prepared” for easy pass-through airport security. J

My first camping experience was in the mountains near Siguatepeque (central area of

Honduras). We arrived mid-morning, set camp within an hour and enjoyed the afternoon with horse-playing typical of an alfa-male group.

Along with the sunset, came the first rain drops. An hour later, the hard rain flooded the camp and we had to flee to higher ground while the noisy thunders scared a few of the younger members. We found an abandoned shed, apparently it had belonged to a saw mill, but the shed had no roof.

We spent the night sitting with our backs against a fallen tree trunk and covered our heads with the tent’s nylon.

It was an adventure.

It was the only time we had to set up camp twice during the same trip.

Honestly, I can’t remember another time when I had so much fun!

So here’s to the Boy Scout movement!

Trivia: I took the following text from the fact page of Boy Scouts of America. I read the story in the official manual years ago. The story is a fascinating example of faith, or destiny or whatever you want to call life-changing events. The link is here:

In 1909, Chicago publisher William D. Boyce lost his way in a dense London fog. A boy came to his aid and, after guiding the man, refused a tip, explaining that as a Scout he would not take a tip for doing a Good Turn. This gesture by an unknown Scout inspired a meeting with Robert Baden-Powell, the British founder of the Boy Scouts. As a result, William Boyce incorporated the Boy Scouts of America on February 8, 1910.

Here is the link to the Scouts in Honduras.

Let the music play

What do you listen to when you’re writing? Besides the muse, I mean.

Is it pop, rock & roll, rhythm and blues? How about some heavy metal? Bohemian Rhapsody can do wonders for an action sequence.

Music is an integral part of my life. I listen to music while I’m driving, while I’m writing, I pay attention to score in most movies, etc. Actually, just recently I explained how I think my life feels like a movie, soundtrack included.

My personal music collection is just as varied as can be: from Beethoven to Bon Jovi, from The Doors to Lady Gaga, from Elvis to Michael Bublé. And Frank, of course, plenty of Frank.

I used to write while listening to pop singers, 70’s and 80’s most commonly, however, in recent days I’ve realized my preferences have moved towards classical melodies. Why the change?

I’m not sure. Easily, I could blame it on the fact that I’m nearing 40; but that’d be the easy way out. More than once I caught myself humming a song while, liked it or not, my fingers tapped away the lyrics. So, after repeated deletions of “Ice, ice, Baby”, “I want to hold your hand,” or “mamma mia,” I figured classical was the way to go.

What are your music-hearing habits?

My first time in New York

Have you ever been to New York?

The below link is a short blog about the first time I visited the Big Apple.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/7959963/new_york_new_york_or_the_soundtrack.html