Saturday, February 21, 2015
Seinfeld - The Library Cop
Here are a few funny scenes from Seinfeld concerning an overdue library book. Hilarious! XD
A Quote to Remember
"The good thing about science is that it's true whether or not you believe in it." -Neil Degrasse Tyson
Wednesday, February 18, 2015
A shout out!
You know what this guy values more than money and cars? Books and knowledge.
A shout out to Tai Lopez on YouTube. Check out his channel. Keep reading.
Saturday, February 14, 2015
Happy Valentines Day
Happy Valentines Day--or maybe it's singles awareness day--to those who follow my blog. Have a great day!
Wednesday, February 11, 2015
Preview of My Novel: The Death of Kish-rin????
Here is a short preview of my fantasy adventure novel, The Jewels of the Ishamah. A horrifying scene takes place as the villain confronts our heroes with his newfound power:
(Our preview begins in the ancient temple)
Athan's fury was being unleashed now. The ground around where he stood trembled and the wind around him picked up. He then began to levitate a few inches off the floor. A hail of arrows shot high into the air at Athan by the six men and women from Arwia's clan who had chosen to join them in the temple were repelled by these forces which now surrounded him.
"Your powers combined are being used against you," Athan said.
Kish-rin then charged Athan, spear in hand.
"No, Kish-rin!" Dada cried. "Don't do it."
Athan appeared surprised by this. He drew a large dagger from the belt of his robes as he continued to levitate and lunged at Kish-rin in midair. Kish-rin's sandaled feet slid back, the wind surrounding Athan repelling him. As the wind continued to push him backward, he found himself pinned against one of the stone columns which stood at the base of several wide steps in the room, Athan's dagger thrust straight at him. He moved to the other side of the pillar--avoiding Athan's dagger.
"I shall make an example of you, young chief guardian!" Athan cried, walking around to the other side of the pillar.
Kish-rin stood prepared to meet him, his spear at the ready. Once Athan reached him he slashed his weapon at Athan's chest. Athan breathed heavily as a small horizontal cut began to appear on his chest.
The floor beneath where Athan stood began to shake. A terrible force surrounded him and Kish-rin felt forced to back away a little while continuing to hold his ground, his weapon in hand. The intense energy that Athan was drawing was frightful. He then began to walk slowly toward Kish-rin, the fresh wound just below the amulet he wore beginning to bleed a little.
Athan suddenly threw the dagger at Kish-rin with incredible strength and speed. The dagger plunged into Kish-rin's chest before Kish-rin could react.
"Kish-rin!" Narubtum cried out in horror.
"How...?" was all Kish-rin could ask, gasping in pain.
Has one of the main characters in my novel met his match? Will he die here? Read my novel to find out the answer to this and many more questions.
(Our preview begins in the ancient temple)
Athan's fury was being unleashed now. The ground around where he stood trembled and the wind around him picked up. He then began to levitate a few inches off the floor. A hail of arrows shot high into the air at Athan by the six men and women from Arwia's clan who had chosen to join them in the temple were repelled by these forces which now surrounded him.
"Your powers combined are being used against you," Athan said.
Kish-rin then charged Athan, spear in hand.
"No, Kish-rin!" Dada cried. "Don't do it."
Athan appeared surprised by this. He drew a large dagger from the belt of his robes as he continued to levitate and lunged at Kish-rin in midair. Kish-rin's sandaled feet slid back, the wind surrounding Athan repelling him. As the wind continued to push him backward, he found himself pinned against one of the stone columns which stood at the base of several wide steps in the room, Athan's dagger thrust straight at him. He moved to the other side of the pillar--avoiding Athan's dagger.
"I shall make an example of you, young chief guardian!" Athan cried, walking around to the other side of the pillar.
Kish-rin stood prepared to meet him, his spear at the ready. Once Athan reached him he slashed his weapon at Athan's chest. Athan breathed heavily as a small horizontal cut began to appear on his chest.
The floor beneath where Athan stood began to shake. A terrible force surrounded him and Kish-rin felt forced to back away a little while continuing to hold his ground, his weapon in hand. The intense energy that Athan was drawing was frightful. He then began to walk slowly toward Kish-rin, the fresh wound just below the amulet he wore beginning to bleed a little.
Athan suddenly threw the dagger at Kish-rin with incredible strength and speed. The dagger plunged into Kish-rin's chest before Kish-rin could react.
"Kish-rin!" Narubtum cried out in horror.
"How...?" was all Kish-rin could ask, gasping in pain.
Has one of the main characters in my novel met his match? Will he die here? Read my novel to find out the answer to this and many more questions.
Monday, February 9, 2015
A 5 Star Review of the Jewels of the Ishamah!
Good news! My novel that was uploaded to Amazon a week ago has received its first review. A five star review! It's also sold more than 12 copies thus far in only a week. I'm really excited to see how my fantasy fiction novel progresses from here!
I may also upload more YouTube videos I find on the subject of Amazon marketing. I'll keep you posted.
I may also upload more YouTube videos I find on the subject of Amazon marketing. I'll keep you posted.
Sunday, February 8, 2015
Carter Pewterschmidt Singing Walk Like An Egyptian (10 Hours)
LOL. Funny video. Enjoy until you get sick of it!
Saturday, February 7, 2015
Friday, February 6, 2015
Toto - Africa
I Love this Song. An oldie but a goodie from the early '80's. It really fits the mood of some of the archaeology and anthropology I'm interested in. Let the expedition continue.
Lost City of Z Review/Recommendation
There's a relatively new book out that has been promoted on Amazon.com and NPR radio. It is called The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon. I don't review many non-fiction works since I'm currently a fiction writer but I downloaded an ebook preview of it and it continues to captivate me. Mostly because it was written by an anthropologist and an interest in anthropology was partially what influenced my fictional work, The Jewels of the Ishamah.
In this book, author David Grann gives us surprising views of the Amazonian tribal people through the eyes of legendary British explorer Percy Faucet during his expeditions in the 1920's. Among his finds were that the Amazonian people were better survivalists than Europeans had previously thought--they lived off the land and none of them were starving. He eventually goes on to find elaborate ruins of cities that have been left behind or abandoned by the ancestors of the current tribesmen in his search for a lost city in the jungle.
It's a highly fascinating read for anybody interested in archaeology of anthropology. I highly recommend this book.
In this book, author David Grann gives us surprising views of the Amazonian tribal people through the eyes of legendary British explorer Percy Faucet during his expeditions in the 1920's. Among his finds were that the Amazonian people were better survivalists than Europeans had previously thought--they lived off the land and none of them were starving. He eventually goes on to find elaborate ruins of cities that have been left behind or abandoned by the ancestors of the current tribesmen in his search for a lost city in the jungle.
It's a highly fascinating read for anybody interested in archaeology of anthropology. I highly recommend this book.
Thursday, February 5, 2015
Short Review: The Martian
I just finished reading a great book entitled The Martian written by an author by the name of Andy Weir. This book is fantastic if you're a science fiction reader or just somebody interested in space exploration. It goes through the whole concept of evidence of shorelines and that Mars was once an Earth-like world but is now a dead planet.
It's not quite like the movie Mission to Mars but it's similar as it has future astronauts traveling to the red planet. I think it's a little bit more exciting than that movie, to be honest.
It's sort of a survival story of how astronauts would survive or live on Mars after landing on it to explore. My biggest problem with this novel is that the characters are a little bit underdeveloped. We don't see a whole plethora of complex differing personalities. But the story makes up for it.
I highly recommend this book. Pick it up in bookstores or at Amazon.com.
Also be sure to check out my latest novel, The Jewels of the Ishamah. Now available on Amazon for the low price of $4.99.
It's not quite like the movie Mission to Mars but it's similar as it has future astronauts traveling to the red planet. I think it's a little bit more exciting than that movie, to be honest.
It's sort of a survival story of how astronauts would survive or live on Mars after landing on it to explore. My biggest problem with this novel is that the characters are a little bit underdeveloped. We don't see a whole plethora of complex differing personalities. But the story makes up for it.
I highly recommend this book. Pick it up in bookstores or at Amazon.com.
Also be sure to check out my latest novel, The Jewels of the Ishamah. Now available on Amazon for the low price of $4.99.
Tuesday, February 3, 2015
Advice for Writers
In today's blog I've decided to give some advice and warning to any writer's who are interested.
First of all, it's important for every writer to get his or her work copyrighted before sending it off to a publisher. If you're going the traditional route with publishing it would be best to get your work copyrighted once it's finished, proofread, and edited. You can do this while querying agents since it's impossible to get published after the first query letter.
Be wary of some vanity publishers and self publishing companies. Some are better than others. Look for online reviews to find out which self publishers have good reviews. Some self publishers are there to legally rip off new writers who are desperate to get published. Some can charge criminally insane fees upwards of $10,000 or more. They start out charging around $1,000 for a contract and the fees just keep piling up from there. Stay away from these vanity presses and self publishers that have a gained bad reputation in online reviews.
Also, a site I came across years ago as an aspiring writer was Preditors and Editors: A guide to publishers and publishing services for serious writers. As you can see there's a play on words in the title there. This website at ped-ed.com will tell you all about the low fee of copyrighting your book which is only around $65.00 or 10 bucks cheaper in the United States if you opt to submit your copyright electronically. You're going to want to mail the best copy of your manuscript along with the cash or check to the U.S. Copyright Office if you reside in the United States--I imagine the copyright fees don't vary much country to country.
But Editors and Preditors also advises people to keep copies of rejection letters or emails received along with Copyright for additional protection of your work. It all depends on how soon your work will be published. pred-ed has more information on the do's and don't of publishing. Go to pred-ed.com for more info.
Even if you opt to self publish a novel or book you've written it's always best to have a copyright so that nobody steals your work in my opinion. This is the Oracle of Writing. Blog you next time!
First of all, it's important for every writer to get his or her work copyrighted before sending it off to a publisher. If you're going the traditional route with publishing it would be best to get your work copyrighted once it's finished, proofread, and edited. You can do this while querying agents since it's impossible to get published after the first query letter.
Be wary of some vanity publishers and self publishing companies. Some are better than others. Look for online reviews to find out which self publishers have good reviews. Some self publishers are there to legally rip off new writers who are desperate to get published. Some can charge criminally insane fees upwards of $10,000 or more. They start out charging around $1,000 for a contract and the fees just keep piling up from there. Stay away from these vanity presses and self publishers that have a gained bad reputation in online reviews.
Also, a site I came across years ago as an aspiring writer was Preditors and Editors: A guide to publishers and publishing services for serious writers. As you can see there's a play on words in the title there. This website at ped-ed.com will tell you all about the low fee of copyrighting your book which is only around $65.00 or 10 bucks cheaper in the United States if you opt to submit your copyright electronically. You're going to want to mail the best copy of your manuscript along with the cash or check to the U.S. Copyright Office if you reside in the United States--I imagine the copyright fees don't vary much country to country.
But Editors and Preditors also advises people to keep copies of rejection letters or emails received along with Copyright for additional protection of your work. It all depends on how soon your work will be published. pred-ed has more information on the do's and don't of publishing. Go to pred-ed.com for more info.
Even if you opt to self publish a novel or book you've written it's always best to have a copyright so that nobody steals your work in my opinion. This is the Oracle of Writing. Blog you next time!
Monday, February 2, 2015
Writer's Blog: Sample of Content from The Jewels of the Ishamah
My epic fantasy novel The Jewels of the Ishamah is now available on Amazon.com. Here is a sample of a scene from that book. This scene involves the main villain Athan and the voice of Ankidesh in his mind as he tries to unite the four magical jewels for his own gain:
Chapter 34: The Plot of a Madman
In the dim light, Athan walked toward a corner of the room at his right. He stopped and poked his walking stick at an odd tessellated image on a stone block which sat near the corner of the large room. It was an image of a golden griffin holding a tablet in its talons.
Athan stared at the image for a moment with a look of glee on his face, as if recognizing what it meant. Then he pushed the block aside with unnatural strength for a man his age. After the stone block had slid aside, scraping loudly across the floor, Athan proceeded toward the wall on his walking stick and strained his eyes in the dim light of the room. An ordinary looking tablet was fitted into the wall near the corner behind where the stone block had been. It had ancient writing carved on it. It appeared as if the stone tablet had been carved into the wall itself.
"At last," Athan said excitedly, standing before it. "The hidden stone tablet. It was here all along, as I suspected. The spell that is written upon it shall unleash the full potential of this power once I have attained all four jewels."
"Good," Ankidesh's voice echoed through the room. "Good."
"It is said that whoever utters the spell upon this tablet correctly in the Sumerian language will rule the universe as one of the gods. This tablet hasn't aged at all. It is in perfect condition."
"Yes!" the voice of Ankidesh echoed. "And I know the ritual to make it work."
"We're going to be gods!" Athan cried like a thrilled megalomaniac. "Our reign over a new world begins tonight!"
For more exciting content visit Amazon.com and search for The Jewels of the Ishamah. More content coming soon.
Chapter 34: The Plot of a Madman
In the dim light, Athan walked toward a corner of the room at his right. He stopped and poked his walking stick at an odd tessellated image on a stone block which sat near the corner of the large room. It was an image of a golden griffin holding a tablet in its talons.
Athan stared at the image for a moment with a look of glee on his face, as if recognizing what it meant. Then he pushed the block aside with unnatural strength for a man his age. After the stone block had slid aside, scraping loudly across the floor, Athan proceeded toward the wall on his walking stick and strained his eyes in the dim light of the room. An ordinary looking tablet was fitted into the wall near the corner behind where the stone block had been. It had ancient writing carved on it. It appeared as if the stone tablet had been carved into the wall itself.
"At last," Athan said excitedly, standing before it. "The hidden stone tablet. It was here all along, as I suspected. The spell that is written upon it shall unleash the full potential of this power once I have attained all four jewels."
"Good," Ankidesh's voice echoed through the room. "Good."
"It is said that whoever utters the spell upon this tablet correctly in the Sumerian language will rule the universe as one of the gods. This tablet hasn't aged at all. It is in perfect condition."
"Yes!" the voice of Ankidesh echoed. "And I know the ritual to make it work."
"We're going to be gods!" Athan cried like a thrilled megalomaniac. "Our reign over a new world begins tonight!"
For more exciting content visit Amazon.com and search for The Jewels of the Ishamah. More content coming soon.
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