Mr. Blog

6/19

Welcome. If you have found your way into this blog it is either because you have run into me or because someone I know has told you about this web page. My novels are selling modestly but my feedback from the readers have been enthusiastic. I got tapped on the shoulder this weekend twice by two different male individuals during a high school graduation party and their feedback was very complementary. One of those individuals stated that “A Tale of Light and Darkness would make a great movie.” He thought it was great. It blew his mind. The other individual stated that he had just completed reading both books in one week. Now that’s aggressive reading. He loved both of them. A third female individual who had also recently finished reading “A Tale of Light and Darkness” asked me this past Sunday if I was writing a sequel to “A Tale of Light and Darkness.” I’ve started it, perhaps I’m half way, but summer is tough because I do have many hobbies. If you pick up one of my novels from Amazon enjoy… because one common thread of feedback about them from many of the readers is they can’t put them down once they start. Spark of Fire is every bit as good a novel but it is a very different novel from A Tale…

8/15/18

Something unusual happened a few days ago that continued through last night and through until today. For the last several years I have been getting up in the middle of the night during the peak Perseids meteor showers that take place every year in August. There are two peak nights that hypothetically one should be able to see from 100-200 meteors per hour. Those nights are about the 12th or 13th of the month. I have never seen this many myself but several nights ago I tried again.

It was a beautiful night and I saw 37. Some that were absolutely spectacular. I told my partner Norma Jean about them the next day and she said, "You should have woken me up. I would have liked to have seen them also." The following night I woke up at about 1:15 and decided to go outside again. I dressed quietly in the middle of the night and started to walk out and happened to look outside. Low and behold a tiny Orb was bouncing up and down next to my neighbors trailer. I watched for awhile and then after convincing myself that it was indeed a bouncing orb, I decided to wake Norma up so she could see it.

Excited about it I woke Norma up with an, "Get up, you have to see this. Hurry before it goes away." Norma got up and threw a dress on quickly. She knew something strange was happening due to my voice and excitement. She watched as I pointed out the orb to her. It wasn't that big but we did both see it for several minutes. I've seen bigger ones but it was definitely bouncing and both of us saw it. Norma said, "It must be Cathy, coming to visit Bud," our neighbors. Cathy passed about 2-3 months ago. Our next door neighbors were a nice couple that were both in their 70's with Bud being a little older, perhaps closer to 75.

"Lets go outside and get a better look at the orb," I said. Norma returned, "are you sure we want to go outside?"  To which I said, "yeah, don't be scared." We opened the door and I walked out first. Norma was pretty hesitant, she followed but I had to coax her earnestly. When we walked outside it was gone. The night was really cool and after several minutes of attempting to view meteors with no success, Norma went inside. It wasn't long after Norma went indoors that the owls started to hoot.

I stayed out for awhile longer. Every now and then I would look for the orb and I never saw it again, however, I continued to hear two owls hoot and talk to one another. The owls were on the trees next to the neighbors trailer. Both very close to where I had seen the orb.

After waiting nearly ten minutes to see one shooting star I decided to wait for the second one which came about five minutes later. I made my second wish and said two prayers in the process. One prayer was for a friend Marcella who was battling cancer after a surgery and the other was for my daughter-in-law, Maribel who also just went through a difficult operation and is still in the hospital. The owls continued to hoot the whole time I was out there. I stayed out a total of 15 minutes, It was cool.

This morning when I woke and started to move around the house after a good stiff cup of coffee I looked over to Bud and Cathy's trailer just as two ambulances were driving up to their house. Shortly thereafter there were two cop cars that followed. Norma said, "I'm going to go check on Bud, to see if he is alive." For some reason, I already knew the answer but I was hopeful that I was wrong. Norma by her tone of voice also was hopeful that her gut feeling was wrong. I didn't walk down even though several months before I had done just that in a similar case when Cathy passed. Norma Jean came back a little later saddened and reported to me that Bud had indeed been found dead.

There are many things in this world that we don't understand and death is one of them. My novel, "A Tale of Light and Darkness" highlights many situations that have occurred to witnesses about orbs and owls. In my novel the scenes are based on events just like what I am reporting to you that have happened in the past to people that I have known. A Tale of Light and Darkness is certainly deeper than just owls. It's about life and death and the struggle of good and evil. It's introspective throughout on a platform that is cultural and deep.

There are strange things that occur everyday, however, seldom do we capture or witness the events. This is an event that just happened to me, believe or don't believe that is always the option but I witnessed something unusual and I can't for my life explain it. For those that have read this blog and not "A Tale of Light and Darkness," get a copy and read it.

Todays CBS news report stated that reading has dropped off 30% since 2003. Go figure. I have two great books available with a population of readers that is declining as I write this blog. It's too bad really.

First Post: Hi, welcome to my blog. It's with great pleasure that I kick off this meeting deep in the inside bowels of the web. I want to thank you for taking the time to surf my pages. I will be posting into this blog as time permits with updates from time to time. This will be my venue for updates and author general information. If you return from time to time you will get a free ride into the center of my mind. I'll let you into my thoughts and provide some kind of entertaining tidbit. For those that know me, you know that sometimes I have a lot to say... sometimes. In this case and within I will be free style writing and if you haven't figured it out yet, let me let you in on a little secret. I love to write. On the other hand, if you would like to contact me with information and feedback about the books, my writings or any common question regarding any of my writing, etc. Please refer to the contact page and fill out the information and provide me with your feedback. I will get back to you as time allows. Again thanks for your precious time.

I'm a firm believer that my novels are worthwhile and thrilling to read. If you are from New Mexico you will certainly identify with some of these characters. If you're from the city, let me warn you... I don't write about city folk. This is the west, the wild west and my characters portray the back woods and the wildness that still exists in New Mexico. I call it the last frontier, not because I came up with the term, but because I recently heard someone from the East coast refer to New Mexico as the last frontier in the U.S. I'm borrowing her opinion and her phrase. The term fits well and my novels certainly depict what most outsiders can't see from the outside.

The characters within my novels are strong and well developed. I don't know about you, but I am tired of version 10 of the same stuff on mass distribution movies and such.  I offer and present to you new characters that you will both love and hate in these novels. Characters with depth and real heart exist throughout my novels. In my opinion, this is a unique breath of fresh air coming your way and for the reader, my novels are a trip, a wild ride through a world that you might not be familiar with.

"A Tale of Light and Darkness" is deep, it is introspective, and it is complex. It is a real page turner. One of my beta readers read it in one day. At times it is an allegory about our modern times. At times it becomes a challenge to your belief system. In the end perhaps its even motivational but that is because the forces of good and evil are pitched against each other. Can there only be one winner? Although this is truly an enjoyable read it's also thought provoking. It will make you think. It also has a fright factor. There are some scenes that will challenge you in a New Mexico kind of old cultural way. The plot in part is very similar to the stories I grew up hearing as a young child, however, this novel is way deeper than the old cultural stories of my youth.

"Spark of Fire" on the other hand was written as an adventure into the world of horses. It is a book that rough houses within this world. Strong men and wild women live inside this novel. Some topics inside this novel are adult. So I wouldn't provide your twelve year old with this novel, unless you want them to grow up real fast. It is, no pun intended, racy at times. The fictional characters are right out of Northern New Mexico. They have real faults and real ambitions. They seem more real then not and they sweat real throughout the novel. They are tough and they are calloused. They will bring a smile to your face sometimes. You will smile with them and cry with them. Sometimes you might challenge their thinking, but let me tell you, more often than not there is someone out there that is just like my characters. For the love of horses. Enjoy, this is a solid and good read.

For those that live in the area, you will even more so... identify. I hope you enjoy the hard work associated with putting two books out, because they have been long in coming. Writers like myself have a passion. Writing is a labor of love. Both books for different reasons are fun and thrilling reads. The books are very different from each other. They portray two distinctly different worlds. I  hope you enjoy them. If you'd like, and you have a will; you can provide me with feedback about your feeling or impressions about my characters on my contact page. The first blog reader who has read this far and reads any one of my books for the first time and provides me with a somewhat detailed feedback about any one of my characters will win a bottle of wine and an autographed copy of my next book which is a sequel of "A Tale of Light and Darkness" upon its release a year or so away. For now adios amigos.