The New Cover

Here's what the new cover will look like. It's called "Heirloom Returns"... as though you couldn't tell or didn't know already! lol. I hope you like it... enough to tell your friends!

Excerpt from: HEIRLOOM'S RETURN

This excerpt comes from my newest book, Heirloom's Return. It's a sci-fi novel that centers on a bomb attack from the future that will devastate the United States while Stephen Hathorne and his wife, Robyn attempt to discover the cause of the Bermuda Triangle, only to find that they were the ones responsible centuries ago. It involves a lot of political intrigue, including dealings with Osama Bin Laden. Although concentrating heavily upon Muslim society, there's still the naval flair that I'm known for, with trips across the Atlantic in an old-style wooden vessel.

In this excerpt, Xerxes Alim (the baddy) enlists the aid of a fellow scoundrel:

Recently, his work had attracted too much attention. Alim guessed he had neatly taken care of that with Bin Laden’s help, another pawn on his larger-than-life chess board. Alim smiled, remembering the look on the man’s face as he accepted “payment.”
Alim responded in well-spoken Arabic, linguistics being one of his many talents. Although he spent his life in Paris, Arabic was natural for him, having the ancestry.
“Sheep, heh? I’m not accustomed to eating your victims, Halil.”
Halil almost choked with laughter. Spitting out some partially-chewed Kharouf, he beamed happily at Alim. “You saw the news article, no?” Wiping his soiled mouth with his robe, he added, “It must be a crime for someone to enjoy their job as much as I.”
Halil laughed haughtily at his own joke.
Alim merely sat and enjoyed the man’s viciousness. Finally, after his lunch partner’s laughter subsided, Alim posed a proposition to Halil, the point of their lunch. Alim rarely did anything without a plan.
“I would very much like to make you an offer, Halil.”
Recognizing a business deal, he got suddenly quiet and listened with eagerness.
Alim continued, “How would you like to make more money than al-Bashir could only dream of paying you?”
“I’m listening, my friend.”

Detail is the key

Detail is so important. The more detail a writer includes, the more believable their story will be. That's not to say that detail is all you need. Elements of style and dialogue, plots, character development, etc. are also very important... in fact, essential.

Dan Brown is a writer whose novels include a great deal of detail. Reading these stories will help you refine this method. Now, Dan is adept at many different aspects of novel development, but detail stands out. After reading his novels, I was able to use detail more effectively in my own writing. Start with his first novel, Digital Fortress and see how it differs from subsequent novels. Whereas there's not much change (because Dan is good at his job), there's a subtle refinement as his novels progress. As there always is when someone spends the time and effort to research something as all-encompassing as a novel. He is growing as a writer.

Detail. I can't emphasize it enough!

Well, here it is Sunday and lots of free time to create new worlds of fancy in my writing. And, I can't think of one damn thing! lol. Happens. Most people think that writers just sit down at the computer and splash away at their word processors whenever. I'd like to be that way, sure. The fact is you simply have to be in the mindset for it. As you've doubtless heard before, there must be inspiration. Does Walmart have any, I wonder? And is it on discount?

It occured to me that you may be interested in seeing my first book. Why? Because, I have nothing to do but capture past glory right now. So, bear with me. Ok, I've successfully loaded it. This is a great story. And not just because I wrote it. :) Everyone I've asked to be critical of it just says that it was a little hard to follow... that the story jumps around alot. I figure that's mostly due to the fact that the characters are dealing with several time periods. Incidentally, can you imagine how hard it is to maintain consistency on a time travel piece. Oy vay!

Another good part of this book is that its educational. It tells about early Florida and the people who lived here. We also get a glimpse into Charleston, Yorktown and Salem, too. It covers three different time periods in St. Augustine and one in its future, the late 21st century. But, the real cool side issue is the natives of Florida and how they feared the changes about to take place with the coming of the United States. You also get to see the object of Ponce de Leon's luckless searches for the Fountain of Youth. The mystery deepens with natives who are centuries old.

Can you tell I love to tell this story? Alright, that's all the time we have for bragging! lol. Back to work...

Welcome to my first ever blog entry!

Writing, to me, is this ability to express yourself without being locked up for it. lol. I mean really. Writers have to be of a certain grade of human. It's not necessarily better. I, by no means am tooting my own horn here. But, there's a kind of ability to visit other worlds without the benefit of space travel that just extends from a writer's mind. You might have seen these people with a tendancy to just stare at walls? Well, they're not all writer's, I guess. But, they are all special. Jokes aside, you all have my understanding of the greatest gift a person can have... that of storytelling. It's an art that never seems to go out of fashion. For as long as imaginations exist, so will writers. Welcome to my blog, guys and gals! I will do my best to entertain you.