May 30, 2013 | Uncategorized |
I am lucky. I get to meet talented people who share my love of writing. Over the next few weeks, you will get to meet several. The first is Ms. Shannon Brown.
At the age of 8, Shannon wrote The Year Santa Forgot Christmas, a story that won acclaim from her third grade class and teacher. By the age of ten she had moved on to become the editor and chief, art director, and sole writer for Meow, a lifestyle magazine for cats. (Sadly no copies are known to exist.)
Normally you won’t find me reading Young Adult. I won a copy of Shannon’s most recent work, Rock’n’Roll in Locker Seventeen. Because I know Shannon and have heard her read parts of an upcoming book, I had to read it. Think Storage Wars meets Elvis Presley but funny and with major motion picture possibilities. It is a funny novel about a teen who discovers a missing rock star.
What would happen if you discovered what really happened to the world’s most famous missing rock star? In 1964 Ricky Stevenson had it all. He was riding the top of the charts, he had fame, fortune, and more, but then one day he vanished. Thirty years later the truth is discovered by a 17 year old boy. Where has Ricky been and why? All will be revealed when you read Rock’n’Roll in Locker Seventeen.
Shannon has three other novels in the works. She is completing a prequel tentatively called After the Music and a sequel, Facing the Music. She is also working on a stand-alone novel called Parlor Tricked.
Her other interests include digital photography, reading, graphic design, listening to music, watching movies, playing video games, trying to figure out how to turn her cats into the next viral web sensations, and spending too much time surfing the web looking at other peoples pets. Shannon lives in Dublin, California and graduated from Chico State University.
Shannon has had previous works published in the Las Positas Anthology, The California Writers Club Tri Valley Anthology, and the Saturday Salon Literary Harvest.
My autographed copy of Rock’N’Roll in Locker Seventeen is tucked safely away. If you want your own copy you will find it available as an e-book or paperback from Amazon and other retailers.
Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/RocknRollInLockerSeventeen
Twitter – @lockerseventeen
May 21, 2013 | Uncategorized |
I am not a big fan of the Red Cross.
I am a tremendous fan of the Red Cross Blood Donation Program. My wife is one of those who have cards for donating regularly for twenty, maybe thirty years. I was a sporadic donor until I learned about Platelet Donation. I never have to make an appointment, they call me. Unlike whole blood you can give every few weeks. I get calls that almost always begin with, “Mr. Cramer we have a desperate need for AB+ at Children’s Hospital. Can you come in….”
These two men are platelet donors.
Here is some information about platelet donation:
“During a platelet donation, a small portion of your blood (about 1/4 pint at a time), is drawn from your arm and passed through a sophisticated cell-separating machine. The machine collects the platelets and safely returns the remaining blood components, along with some saline, back to you. After the donation you can resume your normal activities, avoiding heavy lifting or strenuous exercise that day.
A single platelet donation can provide enough platelets for a full therapeutic dose for a patient in need. In fact, some platelet donations yield enough platelets for two or three therapeutic doses. By contrast, it takes four to six whole blood donations to produce a single therapeutic dose.
Many patients who need platelets are undergoing chemotherapy or organ transplant and have weakened immune systems. A platelet dose from a single donor reduces the patient’s exposure to multiple donors and is therefore preferred by many physicians.
One platelet donation can be worth from 12 to 18 whole blood donations.”
Here is a link to the Red Cross – http://goo.gl/VQgV2
Think about donating. Ask about donating platelets.
If you decide to donate platelets, they will test you. If you qualify, plan on spending three hours or more. They have Netflix so you can watch the movie of your choice.
May 14, 2013 | Uncategorized |
Adrian McKinty is an Irish novelist currently living in St. Kilda, Australia. Below is a posting from his blog I found interesting and want to share. For the complete article click on http://adrianmckinty.blogspot.com/ and scroll down to Sunday, May 12, 2013.
15 Things I’d Like To Ban From Contemporary Crime Fiction
Crime fiction has gotten very dull lately hasn’t it? I should know because I get inundated with galleys and review copies and most of them are beyond tedious, without a spark of wit or a well turned phrase in any of them. And the cliches, Jesus the cliches. And the violence. Especially violence towards women and children…It’s almost impossible to read some of this stuff and it makes me wonder how and why these authors ended up writing it. Were they pressured by editors or a feeling that this is what the market demands? I wonder if they ever get embarrassed. I know I get ashamed when I find myself falling into cliche or hacky situations or when the dialogue sounds tinny and false. I’m guilty, I’ll admit it, but I can’t be the only one, can I?
1. Clever serial killers
2. Stupid serial killers
3. Child Murderers
4. Serial Rapists
5. Everything from Scandinavia
6. Torture Porn
7. Working class stereotypes
8. Architects
9. Gallery owners
10. Books with recipes
11. Detectives baffled by basic scientific facts/mathematics
12. Detectives who solve crimes with magic or fairy dust (Lizbeth Sallander, the BBC’s Sherlock etc.)
13. Detectives who solve crimes with cats
14. Cops who haven’t heard of Ernest Hemingway or other basic elements of contemporary culture (this is an extension of #7 above).
15. Super villains. I’ll explain this one. There’s an entirely fallacious belief out there that gets repeated all the time (I heard JJ Abrams repeating it on TV not ten minutes ago) that a hero is only as good as the villain is bad. The hero is supposedly ‘defined by the villain.’ This is utter nonsense. In a well made narrative you don’t even need a villain or a decent McGuffin you just need a good story and fascinating characters. JJ Abrams worships at the throne of Spielberg but he should remember that the shark in Jaws only appeared on screen for about two minutes and its Spielberg’s best movie. And sometimes the most interesting part of the journey is the voyage the hero takes inside his own head. Nach innen geht der Geheimnisvolle Weg, as Novalis said. “Inward goes the way full of mystery.” You know?
…
Of course with a good story, good dialogue and good characters you can break all the rules above and have yourself a terrific book. But still…you know what I’m talking about… and if you have your own ideas about things you’d like to ban or cliches you’d like to kill please don’t hesitate to let me know.
May 13, 2013 | Uncategorized |
Four weeks from today Jim Kennemore and I will be back in Ely, Nevada. We will be on our way to Marseilles, Illinois. Saturday, June 15, 2013 is the 11th Annual Illinois Motorcycle Freedom Run. The run is to honor our fallen heroes and to support our troops. Visit the web site at http://ilmotorcyclefreedomrun.org/
The Wall
The Middle East Conflicts Wall Memorial is located in Marseilles, Illinois. The names of the soldiers killed in action during the previous year are etched into the granite slabs right after Memorial Day, and those soldiers and their families and friends are honored at the annual Illinois Motorcycle Freedom Run on the third weekend in June. The ILMFR supports the Wall, and the etching of the names, with donations from supporters all over the county.
If any of you care to join Jim and I, just let one of us know. We’ll take a northern route so we can stop in Montana and visit SLPD & HPD retirees, Patrick and April Erskine.
May 12, 2013 | Uncategorized |
The last day of this Great Ride was not a lot of fun, especially the last two hundred miles. Earlier I mentioned “bug bites” and how much they itched. They didn’t go away, daily a few more appeared. I called Kaiser hoping for a prescription. “No Mr. Cramer, we can’t do that. This could be a serious allergic reaction and you must be seen soon.” They scheduled an appointment for the next day. 550 miles made for a long last day as I headed home.
Now for some good news, no rain, no hail, no wind, and no blowing sand. Crossing from Utah into Nevada, a memory from another ride returned. A few years ago as we approached the Utah state line and a gas station, Larry Eade and I were running on fumes. Ahead of us JAK did not stop.
In the background is a blue sign with “Next Services 83 Miles”. JAK had no more fuel than Larry or I. He didn’t stop. We pulled in to the pumps. JAK came back a few minutes later to inquire why we had stopped.
Two signs stuck in my mind during this ride, the one above and one on I-70 a few miles from Green River. “Next Services 100 Miles”. With a range of 135 miles on the Ultra, I pay attention to signs like these.
Leaving Ely: The Loneliest Road in America
This is indicative of the 259 miles from Ely to Fallon. I made it in exactly 4 hours, an average of 65 MPH. During those four hours, I made two gas and water stops, and twice for photo ops. I might have exceeded the speed limit once or twice.
About half way across Nevada I passed a woman riding a bicycle with camping bags. My thought, She must be one tough lady. Wow! Minutes later, I saw a herd of wild horses grazing alongside the roadway.
About a half hour from Fallon, Nevada a van stopped in my lane and a motorcycle stopped in the oncoming lane. As I rapidly decelerated my first thought was; Oh my God, there’s an accident, I hope it isn’t a biker. It wasn’t.
It’s a steer. I didn’t take another shot. It came at me and the Ultra. I jumped on and rode away.
A tradition is lunch at Jerry’s Restaurant in Fallon. They were so busy I had to sit at the counter where I downed two iced teas before ordering. I saw the biggest and best looking open faced chili cheese burger ever. It was smothered in onions. I want that chili cheese burger! Regrettably, I thought of Larry Eade and what he would say to “Gravy Boy.” I ordered a chef salad.
From Ely to Fallon the temperature hovered around 90. Leaving Fallon it shot up to over a 100 and stayed there.
I hit the only truly bad road of the entire trip as I crossed into California. The road became bumpy and in need of serious “Road Repair”. The last 200 miles were by far the worst, worse even than the rain and hail. Those were adventures, and the hail was certainly a new experience. I found the California highways dangerous and unpleasant.
At home, I found my missing boots on a stool. Handy so I wouldn’t forget to pack them. Oh, well, my sneakers got a good workout. I quickly changed into a bathing suit and jumped into the pool.
I put 4278 miles on the Ultra over thirteen days.
I hope you have gotten a wee bit of pleasure from my ramblings. Thank you all being such a great audience.
Four weeks from today I will be back in Ely, Nevada. Jim “JAK” Kennemore and I will be on our way to Marseilles, Illinois.
Since you can’t hear, I will be sure to come by and pick it up!
I like the idea to feature a writer on your blog, George. You’re right about Shannon being a good writer. She has me hooked on PARLOR TRICKED. Can’t wait until she publishes it.
So, is your copy you have locked away a hard cover or paperback? Mike
I agree, Shannon Brown is one very talented writer. I, too, have enjoyed her readings in class. I’d say it’s time for me to buy her book. Thanks for the reminder.