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    Crap. I missed my own ten year writing anniversary. Ten Years. Here’s what I learned.

    Crap. I missed my own anniversary. Ten years of writing came and went last week and I missed it. My first book Kevin and the Seven Lions came out on January 9, 2013. Like many writers, I wrote a manuscript and sent it to many different agents and publishers and got no response. This would have been around 2010. So…since I wrote ONE manuscript, and no one picked it up. I put it away and gave up, because that means I am a terrible writer. I was a failed writer. Yeah, that’s what I told myself. Just stupid. Note to aspiring writers, write MORE than ONE manuscript. Learn from me.…

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    Born a Crime: Stories of a South African Childhood. Audiobook by Trevor Noah

    Trevor Noah seemed to have come out of nowhere when he was tapped to replace John Stewart on The Daily Show. I admit by the time I was not watching the Daily Show as much as I once did, mostly due to just getting older and not watching television as much, and not due to Trevor Noah. I found him extraordinarily intelligent and funny when I did watch. I recently finished his audiobook, Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood. Noah tells the story of how his mother who was black, wanted to have a child and through various life choices had a baby with a Swedish white…

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    2022 The Year I discovered audiobooks. Well, maybe not discovered…

    2022 The Year I discovered audiobooks. Well, discovered may not be the correct word. Maybe appreciated more. I listened to a lot of books this year. After two years of working from home in 2022, I went back into a physical classroom to teach. Which meant I had a commute. And some days, the days I take my daughter to school, I have a 75 minute commute. An hour and fifteen minutes. After I drop her off I spend a good sized chunk listening to a book. Then I repeat the same commute at the end of the day.Since August, I have finished five Stephen King books. Billy Summers, The…

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    Surrender-40 songs One Story by Bono audiobook review

    First things first-I have been a U2 fan since 1988 and high school. Let me get that out of the way.I am well aware that Paul Hewson-AKA Bono can be seen as overbearing. I don’t care. I admire his voice, guts, and I am envious of the band he leads. The lightening in a bottle that teenage friends would meet, get together, then proceed to spend the rest of their life together selling millions of albums and putting together some of the largest grossing tours in history. That is a story to tell. What makes me respect Bono even more is to very quickly realize he wrote this. There is…

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    Happy Thanksgiving and Thank you!

    Happy Thanksgiving everyone. I hope and pray you’re able to enjoy the day. I realize today can tough for many people. I am thankful for everyone that has ever bought a book of mine, or read one, or shared one. Yes, I have a new book out, but I also have 13 others out there and I am thankful for every share and review. Thank you all.

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    My newest book–Quinton–is now available in paperback

    Quinton is now available in paperback. Things have changed at Amazon. It used to be I would get the physical copy of the book and then approve it. But now I approve a file on the screen and suddenly it is for sale. I admit, I’m not a big fan of that. So the book has been available in paperback for a few days, I just haven’t posted it anywhere. But here is me opening the box and seeing the books for the first time. Click here to get a copy of the book.

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    10 Years Since Coming Out as a writer

    Apparently today, October 30, 2022, is the 10th anniversary of Disney buying Star Wars. This post isn’t really about Star Wars. But mostly a reminder to myself that it means 10 years ago was when I first announced to my immediate social groups here on Facebook that I had written a book called Kevin and The Seven Lions. I was using the Star Wars activity that day to jump on board and say, “Hey that’s cool! But look at this thing I made as well!” And I must admit, I thought people would just “Eh?” But they didn’t. Much to my surprise a few people told me they were eager…

  • Writing

    Listening to King, Billy summers Audio Book

    With more time in the car, I’ve been listening to more audiobooks. I have unexpectedly become a fan of Stephen King. I am not a horror reader. I never made it all the way through IT. But I did make it all the way through Billy Summers, the audiobook. King is not just a horror writer, and maybe you already knew that. I mean this is person that wrote the short story that led to the classic The Shawshank Redemption and Stand By Me. The Audiobook is read by Paul Sparks. The story of a man named Billy Summers who was a gifted sniper in the military who is now…