Look at the Big Picture

Have you noticed that most of the people around you have either tunnel vision or blinders on?Let me break this down for you.  You have to look at the big picture no matter what you're doing.  In life it is the little things that you do every day that makes the biggest impact on your life and where you end up on your journey.  In doing these things you do day to day, you have to focus at what you're doing but keep in the mind the bigger picture of what is really going on around you.  How does what you're doing impact others?  Your spouse?  Your family?  Your co-workers?  The company you work for?The really big picture starts with our Father, God.  He designed and created us to walk and talk with him, to be with us and have a relationship with us. ...

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Posted in: God priorities Sucess Big Picture

Gone with the Wind

On this day June 30, 1936, Margaret Mitchell's "Gone with the Wind" was published.She won a Pulitzer Prize in 1937 for this book.  Between the time she published it and December of 1936, in six months she sold 855,000 copies.  Without Television or the Internet!  As I have mentioned in previous posts, more people read back then.  Even fast forward twenty years to the 1950's and the average high school student had almost twice the vocabulary that our children have today.  855,000 copies!  How many of us Indie Authors would like to see six month sales figures like that!  I published my first E-book in January of this year and have a grand total of 48 sales in my first six months, but "Whisper" can't hold a candle to "Gone with the Wind".I wanted to share this...

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Posted in: Gone Wind Sales Published

Thinking Outside the Box

I was sent one of those E-mails where it is a story, you don't know if it was made up by somebody or true.  I generally tend to believe most outrageous stories to some degree because in my life I have seen over and over again that true life is more outrageous, more cruel, more over whelming and creative than any writer can ever dream to be.  This is one of the reasons if you ever read any of the adventures of Jack Aubrey, by the Great Patrick O'Brian, everything that happened in the books came right out of the pages of British Ships Logs.  As he put it, he could never come up with adventures to compete with true life.The Story from the E-mail, Paraphrased.A Texas man walks into a New York City Bank and asks to have a loan for five thousand dollars.  The bank clerk says...

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Posted in: Problems outside Box Writing Bank Loan

E-Readers, Writers, and Reading

I did an awful lot of research about how to publish a book as I spent the better part of a year writing the rough drafts of my first two novels.  ('Whisper' and 'No Rules of Engagement') To write a book is a major accomplishment and don't let anybody ever tell you any different.  Does it seem as if everybody is writing a book?  Well it might!  There is an explosion of stuff being written and published at this time.  Why?  Because we can!!!  Since printing presses were created and jobs formed into norms of the industry, such as Publisher, Editor, Proof Reader, Literary Agent, Etc. these people have controlled what got printed and what did not.  Honestly I hate to think of the master pieces that didn't get published that should have and some...

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Posted in: e-readers write a book publish ideas

Time Management and the Art of Writing

As a manager who has held the same position for many years, I would say that I am good at time management, at my job.Let me preface this first line by saying that the reason I have been in the same position for so many years is not because I am inept, but because I have risen as far as I can in the company short of trying to buy the place from the owners.  So I am pretty much stuck until I can get enough books written and enough of a following of fanatical readers that I can stay home and do this full time with no drastic cut backs to my very meager existence.Secondly, I am good at time management when it come to my job and what I am required to do at work on a daily basis.  To say that I have things down to a tee, and a routine would be an understatement.As far as Writing goes,...

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Posted in: time management writing editing art

Marvels of Technology

When I got to work today, we had no power due to power outage caused by severe storms that ripped through Kansas City in the early morning hours of Monday June 27, 2011.Our corporate headquarters is located in Hazelwood, MO.  That's where the main computer system for the company physically resides and the phone service is out of.  I don't entirely understand how the system works but if one side is down and the other is up and running everything as far as computer orders, phone calls, etc. flips to the other side.  So our St. Louis side was swamped essentially doing double duty with phone calls for their order entry department and computer orders being stored by the computer system.  When out lights were finally restored just before 11:40AM, half a day's worth of orders...

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Posted in: Computers Phone power Strategic Air Command

Curve Balls and Escapes

Lately in my life and events related to me by friends about their lives or people they know, it seems the world is losing its ever loving mind.In baseball there is a pitch that is referred to as the curve ball.  It comes in straight and hot like a fast ball but just before it hits the plate it surpasses a critical point between speed a rotation and its path will curve.  If done properly it is extremely hard to hit this ball.  It is designed and executed to get a batter swing at what will end up being a ball if they don't swing.Life throws curve balls!  Events and situations designed to get you to swing and when you do there is nothing there.  The result is a strike for what would have been a ball.Everybody I know escapes in one form or another from time to time. ...

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Posted in: curve ball escape book drugs problems

James Rollins - Devil Colony Released

James Rollins Newest Sigma Force Book just released and as usual my best friend and greatest fan, Phillip Woody, who feels every aspect of life is a competition when it come to me, and as usual it's a race to see who can reach the end of the book first.  He will probably win as I actually have a real job and he is an outside salesman and can go park somewhere and just spend the day reading the book and drinking energy drinks!  My only chance is life actually throwing him some curve balls so he can't park and read, because I still read faster than he does. Oh I'm taking the day off from blogging and editing my book to read this book and to try and beat my friend.  I don't understand his need to compete at everything, but since he does, I have to play also, it's a flaw in both...

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Posted in: James Rollins Devil Colony Released Phillip Woody

Raising the Questions

What is it that makes a book GREAT!It's the questions!Being well written helps.  If it is grammatically correct, the reader isn't distracted by errors they stumble across.  Miss spelled words lower the opinion the reader may have of the author's knowledge of words, and this sticks with them.  A good story is a plus, and a base requirement to a good book.I am finding more and more that how the story is told is almost as important if not more important than the story being told.  As I have been using almost every spare moment I have editing, correcting, rewriting pieces of my second book, I have become a much more critical reader.  It seems lately when reading other authors books I am catching mistakes, noticing the elements of style they use, or don't use.  I notice...

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Posted in: questions great book What makes

Indie Book Lounge Interview

Tomorrow, June 19, 2011, Father's Day, I will have an interview posted about me and my book Whisper, and what's to come.  Please check it out at, http://www.indiebooklounge.com/ For those that read my blog and have not read my book, and are interested in reading it, goto http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/38922 click to buy, then at Check out use code TB43E to download it for FREE!  Then please come back to Smashwords and leave a review of my book when your done reading it! Oh Yeah, Tell all your friends about it...

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Posted in: Free Book Interview Smashwords Indie Lounge

Indie Book Lounge Interview

I almost forgot! Sunday goto http://www.indiebooklounge.com/ and check out their Interview of ME!! Also I did forget to post the Picture of Burt Munro's 1920 Ind...

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Breaking the Light Barrier

When I first read books about how to write science fiction there seemed to be a lot of discussions about which method of traveling faster than the speed light was correct or not correct.  There are arguments that you can't use faster than the speed of light because it is scientifically impossible to go faster than the speed of light.  If you want to use the same characters and have them travel about the universe and have different adventures you have to have some means of crossing these vast distances without them being cytogenetically frozen or animated, because frankly a ship of sleeping people isn't very exciting to read about.Plus anybody who is a Star Trek fan knows why Deep Space Nine failed, because the ship didn't move.  Part of the excitement is some monstrous ship...

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Posted in: Invercargill Burt New Zealand Indian speed light

Evolution of an Author

Not so long ago, I was jotting down story ideas, writing character descriptions, writing scenes for possible books I someday would possibly write, while I dreamed of writing a book.  In other spare moments I read author interviews, writing lessons from writers, and writer's blogs to gather what nuggets I could about this allusive goal I would someday go after.  I focused on the authors who I enjoyed reading their work.  Several of the authors I respected and considered established and successful wrote that until you write a million words or finish around 10 novels at approximately a hundred thousand words each you're not really a writer yet.  Now at the time I honestly thought, "How high and mighty we think of ourselves.  Really, a million words?  If you...

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Posted in: editor million words pencil Lewis Black

Characters Real or not Real

I find when conversing with my friend Phillip Woody, who by the way came up with the title of my second book, and my editor about characters in the book and why they do this or that or what is going to happen to them, that I discuss the characters as if they were alive and real people.  It bothers me in the same way that some people will relate what happened on their favorite TV sitcom and this character did this or that like they are real people and that really happened.  Because I know they are characters and not real.  Yet when I catch myself defending a character or saying 'No they wouldn't do that, because of this . . .' then I get that feeling like OMG am I becoming a nerd who exists in some altered state of reality.Through computer social networking I am coming in contact...

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Posted in: Characters Writers Tools Beware

My Interview Indie Book Lounge

The following is the questions and my answers that comprised the interview of me. I am to be the featured Indie Author on the website http://www.indiebooklounge/ on June 19, 2011, which is a Sunday.  IBL Interview questions: 1.  What was the first book you read that inspired you to become a writer?     "Enders Game" by Orson Scott Card and all of James Rollins Books.2.  Did you try the traditional publishing route before going indie and if so,     what was that experience like?     I did two or three years of intense research into publishing do's and     don'ts and what it would require to be traditionally published.  Then     I came up with a plan.    ...

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Posted in: Interview Indie Book Lounge Author

Summer colds and Tooting

I have the remnants of a cold I had last week.  I keep thinking I'm feeling better and then wake up to a day like today were I'm stuffy as if I have the flu.  You still have to get up and go do all the wonderful things you need to do.  I think part of it is allergies on top of a sinus infection and an ear infection, but I am not a doctor and don't like or believe in doctors anymore (it a personal choice), so I will suffer and let my body kick this.  I used to believe in doctors and medicine until I got old enough to realize it's a business and a racket, otherwise medicine would be free and doctors would still do house calls.If they had the cure for the common cold, my reoccurring ear infections, or Cancer they wouldn't release it because there is too much money to be made...

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Posted in: Whisper Tooting Rant Indie Book Lounge

In My Minds Eye - a comment left about my post.

Kevin is a close friend and inspiration to me, so when he left a comment on on my post I wanted to post it so it appear and everybody can see it.  Thank You Kevin. In My Minds Eye said... This one made me cry. Vivid picture in my mind of those times and how blessed I am to be living in this generation, however; saddens me too, agreeing wholeheartedly with your comments "when I see shades of the early Nazi party in one of the current political parties of this country." Does make me angry!. God Help me to stand together with my fellow Americans and say "Enough is enough!" We DO need to get tough and not let things get so far away from us that our children will have to try and stop what we blatantly ignored. Blessings to you Tom! Keep up the great writing! You're number one Fan!!! Kev...

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June 7, and still alive!

It dawned on me this morning what it would have felt like to be a foreigner in France on June 7, 1944.  D-Day is over!  You are in a foreign country, you're alive.  You have no idea how long you will be here.  Hell you have no idea if you will survive the war.Imagine what that must have felt like to participate in such an event, such a dramatic pivotal point in history and survived.  Faced with the unknown, being in a foreign country and looking forward to surviving long enough to see other countries and someday even the chance at returning home.You will not return the same person you left as.  There would be no way to go through what those people did and not have it totally change who they were, how they thought about things, and their view of the world. ...

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Posted in: Freedom Nazi Socialist Enough Tough