Friday, April 22, 2016

Feet of Clay, new reviews, and upcoming works

I've finally finished Feet of Clay and it's going through rewrite now. I have no idea how this would fit in any of the genres on Amazon though. It's about a relationship, but a messed up one and people are supposed to be conflicted on if they want these people to end up together or not. So it's not romance. There's a few sex scenes in it, but I wanted to take a shower after writing them, even though there is nothing kinky or dirty about it. It's definitely not erotica.

Someone suggested Dark Romance to me and I'm not sure if that would be it either. He turns her into an addict and she turns him into an alcoholic. There's really nothing romantic about the relationship other than he really tries hard to make it work. I'll figure it out eventually.

Special Agent-Mauve got it's first 5 star review on Amazon and someone said it was both snarky and they enjoyed reading something that did not take itself seriously. That was what I was going for with it. I mean, there are attack pigeons in this book. The ending, what happens during her first mission, really happened to me in real life when my parents had us going on youth group trips. It's one of my most unpleasant memories, but I can life about it now.

Snarky and not taking life seriously is pretty much how I live my life, which isn't really that evident by my first novel, Midnight's Sonata, nor Feet of Clay. Those both have a little of me in there and are about serious subjects, but really, where I am now in life is that when life throws me a curve ball, I try to laugh about it.

I'm going to write a sequel to Special Agent-Mauve and I already have an idea for what that is going to be. My next book, after Feet of Clay is published, is going to be a fantasy novel I've had in the back of my head for years. Because really, who wants to be pigeonholed into one genre?

Sunday, April 17, 2016

Dream vomit

I dream vomited another short story. I may expand on it eventually. Everything I've published this year has been dream vomit.

I've had sleep issues for as long as I can remember. I drove my mother crazy. I'm the oldest and everyone told her babies just sleep all the time. Then I showed up and never slept. I eventually had a sleep study done and found the right medication to knock me out and keep me out. I'm not even going to discuss the conversation that was had in the surgery room when they dosed me to knock me out and five minutes later, I'm still complaining about how much it burns in my IV and they had to dose me again. I think it has something to do with being a ginger. I read an article about it years ago.

I still have nights where I don't sleep well. Monday night was one of those nights. Then the lawn guys showed up at something like, 6AM. I dreamed "Flash-A Death Story"  sometime Monday morning.

Kate is driving home from her shift at the hospital. She knows she should take a nap somewhere before she leaves, but she needs to let her dog out. The road is not well lit and she misses her turn. As she goes over the train tracks, there is no barrier or light telling her to stop, but as she crosses, she sees the train coming. FLASH. There is a white light. Another FLASH. She wakes up naked on white stairs with people talking over her. She wakes up again and she's being experimented on. Is she in hell, purgatory, or something worse?

Now available on Amazon

 photo Flash_zps9hvzwvou.jpg

Friday, April 1, 2016

Feet of Clay-A playlist

If you've read Midnight's Sonata, I'm also a musician. I play both the cello and the piano and compose. I've recently decided to teach myself the guitar, but first need to acquire one. I've been listening to a lot of music lately and thought about what "Feet of Clay" would be if told through music. I make a lot of mixed CD's for my car because not only is driving the perfect time to sing at the top of my lungs, most people I listen to are not generally played on the radio. So I decided to describe "Feet of Clay" just with music. I'm linking to YouTube videos so you can listen to them.

The setting is in a very small town and I would have to describe it with Tom Waits "A Little Drop of Poison I like my town, with a little drop of poison. Nobody knows they're lining up to go insane.

I would have to describe my main character, Taylor, with Tracy Chapman's "First Try"
Can't run fast enough
Can't hide, I can't fly.
I'm struggling with the limits of this ordinary life.
Can't say what I mean
Can't love from the heart
 Can't trust in the mercy and the goodness in the world
. Can't learn to accept that it's alright
,  To struggle with the limits of this ordinary life.

Later on in the book, when we get to know her and her problems, I think she would tell the lyrics to Tracy Chapman's Unsung Psalm to my other main character, Max. No, she doesn't die!

But I'm feeling hot and bothered under the collar
I feel the sweat breaking out on my brow
I feel the heat and I know it's the passion
The love I can't disavow

If this is a dream wake me up now
If this is a movie let's edit these scenes out
It would be a PG instead of an X-rated life
If I'd lived right

Some would call me a cheat call me a liar
Say that I've been defeated by the basest desired
Yes I have strayed and succumbed to my vices
But I tried to live right

But I have no regrets no guilt in my heart
I only feel sadness for any pain that I've caused
I guess I wouldn't bother to worry at all
If I'd lived right

Do you live by the book do you play by the rules?
Do you care what is thought by others about you?
If this day is all that is promised to you
Do you life for the future the present the past?

If there is one thing I know I know I will die
If anyone cares some stranger my critique my life
I may be revered or defamed and decried
But I tried to live right


When we first meet Max, he's definitely more like Tom Waits "Temptation"  

I know that she is made of smoke
but I've lost my way
she knows that I am broke
so that I must play
temptation, temptation, temptation
oh, whoa, temptation, temptation, I can't resist
Dutch pink and Italian blue
she is waiting there for you
my will has disappeared
now my confusions oh so clear
temptation, temptation, temptation
I can't resist

After he commits an unforgivable sin, we have Leonard Cohen's "I Can't Forget"
 
I stumbled out of bed
I got ready for the struggle
I smoked a cigarette
And I tightened up my gut
I said this can't be me
Must be my double
And I can't forget, I can't forget

My two characters have been dancing around each other, the truth has been revealed, demons have been faced, and I am almost finished. I am now at a point where decisions must be made. Max is thinking along the lines of Tom Waits "The Part You Throw Away"


Will you loose the flowers
Hold on to the vase
Will you wipe all those teardrops
Away from your fase
I can't help thinking
As I close the door
I have done all of this
Many times before

The bone must go
The wish can stay
The kiss don't know
What the lips will say

Forget I've hurt you
Put stones in your bed
And remember to never
Mind instead


I will be writing an ending soon, but this is the soundtrack so far