Young Readers @Solsticepublish

Tonight at my youngest daughter’s middle school they were having a Science Fair/Author Expo.  Starting with the science side, I must say I was impressed.  There were no baking soda volcanos like when I was that age.  They had a vast array of experiments.  There were: “Does Color Seen Impact Memory”, “Does Barrel Length Effect Impacts of Guns”, “Do Pills or Capsules Deliver Medicine More Efficiently”, “Which Teeth Whitener Works Best”, “What Beverages Cause the Greatest Tooth Decay” and my favorite, “Which Energy Drink Makes Plants Grow Best”  (the winner far and away was Red Bull, in case you wondered.)  Presentations have come a long way since I colored on Bristol board with pencil crayons.  Photos and graphs abounded while some set up laptops running a film of their experiment in progress.  Science is well and good but I wanted to see the booths about the authors.  Part of the reason was that my daughter was there but I also wanted to see what tomorrow’s leaders were reading.  You can imagine my delight when I saw that close to ¾ of the writers chosen were in some form of Fantasy genre.  My own daughter chose J.K. Rowling.   Others chose writers like J.R.R. Tolkien, Suzanne Collins and Stephenie Meyer.  They were represented by multiple students as well.  As part of the display, the student would dress up as a character from the book.  My daughter was dressed as a Hogwarts student but I was pleased to see a number of characters with fake swords and some form of magic.  Fantasy is alive and well.  I have always contended that Fantasy will always have a place in literature.  People want to escape to another world where their troubles don’t exist.  Fantasy is a great place to just that.  It was nice to see the different subsections of the genre such as Urban, Paranormal and Epic all displayed with pride by their student representatives.  These are tomorrow’s Young Adult and the future Adult readers.  They are setting their foundation in the worlds of make believe.  I have said many times that Fantasy is for the dreamers out there. We can learn something from these students.  Imagination is the first step to invention or “Thinking outside the box” as it were.  By honing their minds now we will have the future inventors of the world.  All their imaginative creations can be traced back to their readings in these formative years.  It makes me proud to be a Fantasy writer.  Dream big, students.  Dream big. 

Fixing the Garage Door @Solsticepublish

If you read yesterday’s blog you’ll see that my garage door opener stopped working and an electrician said the wiring was not the problem.  Today the garage door repair person came.  I told him the opener would trip a breaker if plugged in but he had to see for himself.  He didn’t test it on the plug I had checked out.  He tried it on the plug in the garage where my freezer is plugged in.  It tripped the GFI on that unit as well.  There was just one small problem.  That unit did not have a reset button!  I went downstairs and checked the breaker box but nothing was tripped.  I returned to the garage and searched in vain for a reset.  In texting my wife, she insisted that there was one.  I am actually hoping to be wrong on this one and have her come home and just point it out.   It is better to look like a fool than to pay for a new outlet.  Meanwhile the garage door repairman was having trouble figuring out the problem with the opener.  He said to me, “The problem seems to be when you plug it in, the power shuts off.”  Really?  After an hour that’s what you’ve come up with so far?  I knew that when I was dangling from the ladder yesterday!  I told you that before you popped the outlet on my freezer!  So he went to his truck and called his office.  Their solution was to change out all the electrical components of the opener.  Dollar signs flashed in my head.  Then I thought about it.  What choice was there?  I needed it fixed and I certainly had no solution to the problem.  I’m just thanking God that it is bitterly cold out and the freezer won’t thaw during the day.  So I told him to fix it.  After a while he came in and said everything was changed out and working fine.  He showed me how to resent my remotes and open the door manually in the future. (It worked the opposite way of my garage door at my old house.  That was the reason it would not work when I was pulling the cord.  It’s a good thing I waited too because the cord was attached to a little piece of plastic which I would surely have broken by pulling too hard.)  Then it came time for the bill.  I had purposely called this company because they installed the unit when the house was built.  The service man asked, “How long have you lived here?”  I answered, “2 ½ years.”  He looked at his sheet and said, “The parts have a 3 year warranty so all the electrical was free.  It will just cost $65 for the labor.”  My first good news.  The crescendo of the “1812 Overture” was playing in my head as victory was finally mine.  I wrote the check with the bells of triumph still ringing in my ears.  He would have to leave before something happened like his dispatcher saying they were wrong about the warranty.  I handed him the check and he left.  Now if only I could reset the blasted freezer.

Broken Garage Door Opener @Solsticepublish

So today my garage door opener decided to stop working.  I reset the breakers in my basement and nothing changed.  Next I inspected the garage door opener and saw that it was not receiving power.  Following the cord back to the GFI plug I saw that it had tripped.  The plug is in the ceiling of my garage and it is about 12 feet high.  I used various poking devices to try to reset the GFI but it was no use.  That led to the part I feared and dreaded.  I would have to go on a ladder to get at it.  Ladders themselves do not scare me.  I happen to have a problem with vertigo and my balance is not good at all.  So the little orange light stayed on, as if it was laughing at me way down on the ground.  Finally I mustered up my courage and brought out the ladder.   The next problem was that the car was parked under the plug.  I tried to manually release the garage door in order to open it.  It would not budge.  The best I could do was place the ladder next to the car and reach over.  To complicate matters, the closest point to place the ladder was directly beneath the garage door opener.  I climbed the ladder and bent my body between the car and the opener.  It quickly became apparent that I would need to go to the top of the ladder to reach the plug.  That was right next to the opener and impossible to stand on.  The plug was also several feet over above the car.  So I had to put one foot on the ladder and one knee on the top of the car to get under the plug.  The ladder began to slide as I shifted my weight toward the car.  At last I was in position.  Then my vertigo started making everything move around.  I wasted no time.  I reached up and reset the GFI.  At least I tried to.  I pressed the button and nothing happened.  Again and again I pressed it to no avail.  Then I unplugged the garage door opener and tried it.  The GFI reset perfectly.  Then I plugged the opener back in and it tripped again.  I inspected the wires as best I could and they looked fine.  So I tried it one more time and the GFI still tripped.  Then I lost my balance and hung onto the car for dear life.  I don’t know if the ladder wobbled or I did but there was movement.  I contorted my body and managed to slide down the ladder, collapsing on the ground with the world spinning around me.  When I made it to my feet I called the electrician who did our wiring on our 2 ½ year old house.  He said he would be over.  After arriving he told me that my wiring was fine and that I needed to contact the company who installed the opener.  After calling my builder I was given the number of the contractor.  Upon calling him I found he only supplied the parts and I needed to call the service department.  By the time I was able to contact them they said it was too late in the day to come out.  So after all that I have an appointment for tomorrow morning.  And the story continues…

Italian Food @Solsticepublish

I had some relatives over tonight somewhat unexpectedly.  It was great to see them but the first thought that came to my mind was that it was close to dinner time and I had nothing defrosted to feed the number of people I had over.  My solution was not so different than the one many of you would reach.  Pizza.  Ah, what a glorious invention pizza is.  You have an entire meal in the palm of your hand.  You have your bread, vegetable, meat and dairy in a neatly sliced circle of heaven.  Unless you are cooking it is usually the cheapest way to feed a good number of people.  A five minute car ride to our local pizza place and dinner was ready.  As I ate I couldn’t help but wonder what people did before there was pizza?  A quick look on line showed that the term has been around since the year 997 A.D. in Italy.  The item itself has various origins but seems to be credited to the Italians for the most part.  So let’s just say for convenience that pizza came about at that time.  Since then it has grown into a staple, a comfort food and a delicacy.  Italian immigrants brought the sensation to the new world and it exploded into our culture.  Few foods have had the impact of pizza.  Still, there’s a lot off history before 997 A.D.  What did people feed to houseguests before that?  It looks like the Italians come to the rescue again with pasta dishes like spaghetti, ravioli and lasagna.  While many Italian dishes take considerable time to prepare, a humble pasta and sauce is an inexpensive relatively easy meal to make on short notice.  It simply involves boiling some water and tomato sauce.  Italian food has become a mainstay in American culture.  Different ethnic foods have niches.  There is Chinese (Americanized) Food, Mexican (Americanized), Indian, Tia, Vietnamese, French, German and the list goes on.  They all represent different tastes many people sample from time to time.  With the exception of Mexican food, none of them are staples of weekly life in America the way Italian food is.  Perhaps it’s the tomato sauce?  Perhaps it’s the cheese?  Maybe we just like dough in some form and people wanted more than plain bread.  Whatever the reason, people love Italian food.  They especially appreciate it when they have many mouths to feed.  So sit back and have a slice of pizza, a piece of lasagna or a bowl of pasta with some friends or family.  Italian has become a big part of the new American Cuisine.

A New Interview @Solsticepublish

The Page Walker blog has done me the honor of performing and posting an interview with me.  There are some questions here that I do not usually get asked.  http://t.co/EEPwcRLSez  Take a few moments to read it and I think you’ll find it most interesting. 

My Guest Post @Solsticepublish

The good folks at “Mama Knows Books” blog were kind enough to do a piece on me.  There is a blurb about the book but also the story of bringing “Quest for the Red Sapphire” to press.  There is a never before posted excerpt from the book as well.  You can read it at this link:  http://mamaknowsbooks.blogspot.com/2014/02/guest-post-quest-for-red-sapphire-by.html
Sandy Sanford did a marvelous job and I hope you enjoy the piece

Interview With My Publisher @Solsticepublish

An interview with Melissa Miller, CEO of Solstice Publishing, www.solsticepublishing.com

Are you a founding member of SP?

Melissa - Yes. I started Solstice Publishing on my own in 2008 under another name and in 2010 I changed it to Solstice Publishing.

Could you please tell us how SP began?

Melissa - Solstice began because of my love of books. I started out as an author and then became a publisher the following year.

Do you work with agents?

Melissa - Yes we work with or without an agent.

During the publishing process, how many people at SP actually read an entire book besides the assigned editor?

Melissa - The EIC who decides to accept the book, then the editor, and the proofreader also read the entire book. So three people.

Is there any disadvantage being characterized as a “Midwestern Publisher?”

Melissa - I don’t believe so. We are an E Publisher. Everything we do is online so I don’t feel that your address in any way helps or hurts you in today’s epublishing industry.


Do you have a virtual staff with everyone in different locations communicating via email?

Melissa - Yes. We use Go To Meeting for face to face video meetings, Basecamp for project management, Facebook for chats and messages as well as emails and text messages for everything else. With all of the technology available to us today it’s not hard to have staff in different locations of the world.


An interview with Kate Collins COO of Solstice Publishing, www.solsticepublishing.com

Are you a founding member of SP?

Kate – No, but I’m thrilled to be part of it now. There’s something very exciting about working with people who have a clear vision of the future and an idea of how to get there. Melissa knows where she wants Solstice to go, and it’s a privilege to be able to help her get it to that level.

I see you are an author as well as the COO of Solstice. How and when did you make the transition from writing to publishing?

Kate – I was an author first, and then Melissa gave me the opportunity to work with her at Solstice. I think it’s given me a unique perspective on what happens on the business side that many authors don’t get.

Do you work with agents?

Kate – Yes, we have a few agents whose clients have signed with us. We have far more unagented authors, but that doesn’t matter to us. Having, or not having, an agent is a personal choice for each author.

How many people are working for SP today?

Kate – We’ve got about twenty or more people, counting all our editors and proofreaders. There’s a whole amazing crew that works on the books that the authors rarely interact with.

You’ve done some recent reorganization at SP. Can you describe the company’s current structure?

Kate – We’ve got an amazing staff now. Our Editors in Chief do a wonderful job in reading submissions, answering author questions, and the like. It makes it easier for me, as COO, to help Melissa grow the company. We can spend more time finding opportunities to promote the titles on a daily basis now.

How would you characterize SP publishing today?

Kate – Growing, expanding, and thriving! Melissa’s done a great job in the recent changes, making it easier for all of us to get things done and help out the authors even more. We’re all big on communication, and the new chain of command really keeps the flow moving towards getting the titles released.

How do you attract new authors?

Kate – The normal venues of social media, and referrals by our authors. They’re our greatest asset, and best referral network.

On average how many submissions do you receive each month?

Kate – That varies so much! We really can’t put a number on it. One month can see three, the next have 20.

How does your staff choose which to publish?

Kate – That depends on the EiC that reads it and what they feel makes a good book. We’ve got a general guideline to go by, but it’s up to the individual Editor in Chief to make the call.

Is there any disadvantage being characterized as a “Midwestern Publisher?”

Kate – I didn’t even know there was such a thing! LOL. We’re a publisher. Period. Sure, we’re not one of the big 5 out of New York City, but we’re growing. Given the nature of communication now, it’s just as easy to email someone or ask them a question on FaceBook over sit down at lunch in Central Park and make a deal over a couple of drinks.

Do you have a virtual staff with everyone in different locations communicating via email?

Kate – Yes. In some ways, it’s an advantage. Our staff is able to work at different times, making it so someone’s available to talk with authors outside of what many would think of as normal business hours.

How many authors have you contracted with?

Kate – Probably around 200 currently, but the number fluctuates from month to month as new authors are accepted.

How many books do you publish each year?

Kate – That varies so much! It’s impossible to give an accurate number.

How many active books do you currently have?

Kate – Best estimate is around 400 titles out right now. We release new books almost every month, though, so it’s pretty fluid!

Are your contracts for authors or for individual books?

Kate – We contract each title separately, instead of by author.
I noticed that you have a rather long list of books optioned for film. How do you work that, and what are the steps?

Kate – We’ve been approached by production companies who had interest in some of our titles. Due to confidentiality agreements, we can’t say more.


Book links:
Amazon – Kindle/Daughter of Hauk: http://www.amazon.com/Daughter-Raven-...

Amazon – Kindle/Son of Corse: http://www.amazon.com/Corse-Raven-Chr...

Amazon – Kindle/Mark of the Successor: http://www.amazon.com/Mark-Successor-...

Amazon – Kindle/Kick the Can: http://www.amazon.com/Kick-Can-KateMa...

Amazon – Kindle/The Strength Within: http://www.amazon.com/Strength-Within...

Amazon – Kindle/Looking At The Light: http://www.amazon.com/Looking-The-Lig...

Amazon – Kindle/A Stab at the Dark: http://www.amazon.com/A-Stab-At-The-D...

Amazon – Paperback/Daughter of Hauk: http://www.amazon.com/Daughter-Of-Hau...

Amazon – Paperback/Mark of the Successor:

http://www.amazon.com/Mark-Successor-...

Amazon – Paperback/Son of Corse: http://www.amazon.com/Son-Corse-Raven...

Audio Book:
http://www.amazon.com/Daughter-Hauk-R...

Twitter: @DaughterHauk

FB: http://www.facebook.com/pages/KateMar...

Blog: http://www.katemariecollins.wordpress...

Shopping at Kmart @Solsticepublish

It seems that every retail store is trying to cash in on either internet sales or phone sales.  More and more, my inbox fills with “on line only” and “mail order” offers.  As a person who does not get many opportunities to shop in stores, I have been taking greater advantage of them.  Just recently, however, I actually went to Kmart to buy some shoes.  I really love these particular shoes and they are the only ones who carry them.  When I heard they were on sale, I made a trip to the store.  As luck would have it, they were out of my size.  I eventually found a store associate and was told that I could place an order in the store and they would be delivered to my house for free.  That sounded fair enough.  So I placed the order in the store after buying my daughter some shoes.  On her order I was given a coupon for $5.00 off my next shoe purchase.  So I tried to use the coupon on my shoes.  They said I could not use it because the order was being placed for shipment to my home.  I was disappointed but figured it was not a big deal.  When I returned home I noticed the wrong size had been ordered.  I tried to call the store but they had closed for the evening.  So I called the phone sales department.  They said they could not cancel the first pair of shoes but I could order another pair and when they both arrived I could return the wrong size in the store.  I wasn’t happy about putting out twice the money but at least I could now use my coupon.  When I brought it up I was told it was an “In Store” coupon and that I could not use it for shipment to the home.  This was one of those points you have in life where you either blow your top or laugh.  I chose the latter.  When I was asked what was so funny, I responded that the store said I could only use it for shipments to the home and now they were saying I could only use it in the store.  They had to see the irony there.  In my most polite voice I asked that they check with their supervisor and see if they could make an exception.  In the end I was allowed to use the coupon.  I soon had two emails saying my orders had shipped.  This should be the end of the story but it is not, sadly.  Yesterday I received an email saying one of the orders had been canceled and I would not be charged.  (Even though I had already been charged.)  It turns out when they ordered the correct sized shoes, they put in some address in Iowa that didn’t exist instead of Nebraska.  The wrong shoes arrived and the right ones were cancelled but not refunded.  So I called again and was told I would have to order again but that they were no longer on sale.  I didn’t laugh this time.  In a bothered but calm tone I told them it wasn’t my fault they couldn’t transfer the shipping address from one order to the other and I wanted the price they were when I bought them…and my coupon!  Skipping to the end, they finally have ordered the shoes that I have paid 3 times for and have nothing to wear.  If only they had stocked my size in the store, none of this would have happened.

I Was Watching Grease... @Solsticepublish

My mother was a double major, Music and English.  As a result we grew up as kids watching every musical in the book.  We would watch Camelot, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, West Side Story, Godspell, The Sound of Music, The Blues Brothers the Beatles movies and pretty much any movie with Bing Crosby.  If there was a soundtrack for it, chances are we watched it and even owned it.  I was watching the movie “Grease” today.  That was always tuned in if it was on.  Its funny how many subtle and often inappropriate jokes were made in that movie that I never picked up on in my youth.  I was watching it with my twelve year old daughter and was wondering how many of the comments were going over her head and how many she actually understood.  It’s not the kind of question you ask because it forces you to explain all the hidden meanings and that would be one long conversation for no reason.  Still I watched her and wondered.  I think children have been exposed to much more adult subjects at an earlier age than I was.  Perhaps I lived a sheltered life but I think a good number of parents would agree with me that children are aware at an earlier age to things like sex and drugs than we were.  By the same token, my father told me that we were exposed to much more age inappropriate subjects than he and his generation had been.  The point was driven home for me a few years back when I was driving with my son and I was listening to the Beach Boys.  He told me that, “Their music isn’t much different from 50 Cent.  They just don’t swear.”  I am no expert on 50 Cent.  I do know that there is a world of difference to me between his styling’s and those of the Beach Boys.  From my son’s point of view, though, he saw them as the same.  It is not so dissimilar to my father lambasting my music as “junk” when compared to Frank Sinatra, Miles Davis, Tony Bennett and a slew of others.  It seems to be the nature of things that each generation takes music and pushes the envelope a little farther than it had previously been pushed.  Think about it.  In the 1980s you couldn’t have had a song like “I Kissed a Girl” by Katy Perry.  It never would have flown.  In the 1970s you couldn’t have had Madonna being…Madonna.  In the early 1960s you couldn’t have had AC/DC singing, “You Shook Me…”  The list goes on.  It kind of makes me wonder what my daughter will be watching with her children one day and hope to not have to explain.

Criticism Is Not All Bad @Solsticepublish

There is a school of thought when it comes to book reviews that only five star reviews are desirable.  In a perfect world everyone would love your work.  I, however, am not a member of a perfect world.  That’s okay with me.  Not everyone is going to love your work all the time.  It is the nature of entertainment.  Take a famous singer for example.  That person may have 5 number 1 hits on their album, but there are songs on it that did not go number 1.  In fact, many of the other songs probably didn’t even get played on the radio.  That artist worked hard on those songs.  Maybe they were some of their favorites on the album.  There might be a bit of a sting when you put your heart into something like that and people don’t appreciate it.  That doesn’t take away from the fact that the singer was quite proud of those songs.  Steven Tyler from Aerosmith was once interviewed for a documentary and footage was shown of the band’s record producer putting down some of the songs for the new album.  He was indignant.  In the interview he explained that each song is like your baby that you have created and someone is criticizing that offspring.  It hurts.  I can understand that.  Anything that attacks your baby is upsetting.  People may love a song he never thought much of and detest the one he was most passionate about.  None of that matters to the creator.  If it’s your baby and you love it…that’s all that matters.  I have been fortunate to have mostly positive reviews.  The negatives that were pointed out were either simply a difference in taste or perhaps something I might want to look into for the next book.  Criticism can be very helpful when taken in a constructive way.  It makes you better at your craft.  I would never have even been able to compose a book if my father was not so hard on me about my writing.  My writing would have been abysmal if my teachers in school had not demanded more from me.  When I have a review with parts which are unflattering, I take it with a grain of salt and look at it from a larger perspective.  Is this just not the person’s cup of tea or do they have valid points.  Whichever it may happen to be, I am grateful someone took the time to review my work in the first place and then take the time to write a piece on it.  The most amazing part of reviews to me is that people see parts of the book which I never gave much thought and find it the reason to love the work.  Then areas I painstakingly researched and plotted out were “skimmed”.  Everyone sees different things in art.  You could be looking at a book or a painting or listening to a song.  As long as it speaks to you in some way, then my efforts have touched your life.  I can think of no greater gift an artist can bestow.  As for the reviews with criticism, each of those reviewers has expressed a desire to read the next book, “Sapphire Crucible”, which is currently being edited.  They couldn’t have disliked the first book that much.

Phone Calls and Flower Shopping @Solsticepublish

Well it’s Valentine’s Day again.  In case I could have possibly forgotten among the countless jewelry and Victoria’s Secret commercials, I received another reminder today.  It was not from my wife, mind you.  I came home this evening and listened to my answering machine.  I have one of those messages where the machine speaks and says the number you have reached and to leave a message.  There was a message from a stranger saying they wanted to make a reservation for Friday night and to call them back at a certain number.   I shrugged it off and deleted it.  The next message was from the same person asking why he hadn’t received a call back yet.  I chuckled and deleted the message.  The next message was from the same person.  This time he was furious.  He said he was never going to eat there again if we didn’t call him back and make a reservation.  The fourth and final message was him again saying he couldn’t believe that no one was calling back.  Right after I deleted it, the phone rang and the caller ID said it was the same person.  I picked it up and said, “Hello?”   The person immediately hung up.  I guess he didn’t want the reservation after all.  I have this habit of always having to work on Valentine’s night.  When you go to the grocery store at 9:30 on Valentine’s evening the floral department is pretty bare.  One year a guy literally tried to pull the last rose out of my hand after I had picked it up.  It wasn’t much of a rose, but I was the one who had it and it was the last one in the store.  I had to get a store associate to help me get him to let go.  Lesson learned.  Ever since then I have bought my wife roses the night before and either given them to her then or put them in a vase after she was asleep so she would see them in the morning.  This way the selection is always good and everyone is happy.  I picked up my youngest daughter tonight on the way to the store to help pick them.  I am a traditional red rose guy.  My wife never complains and they just seem right.  Tonight my daughter said, “This year get her white ones.”  I said I wanted red ones.  She pointed out that the red ones looked wilted already and the white ones still looked fresh.  Then she pointed out how mad her mom would be if the roses died in a couple of days.  I have to say, she was right.  So after a long debate I finally bought the white ones.  I know different colored roses are supposed to mean different things.  I have no idea what white means and hopefully my wife doesn’t either.  She is my life.  When I feel like I am going to falter, she is right there to hold me up.  She is my rock and I could not imagine life without her.  Happy Valentine’s Day to my darling wife and to all of you.  I hope your flower shopping goes well.

Fear @Solsticepublish

I was paying bills today and my wife texted me asking what I was doing.  When I told her she jokingly said, “That sounds like fun.”  It reminded me of something I learned in Persuasion Class back in college.  It is the one appeal that is stronger in advertising than any other.  I am referring to the fear appeal.  It has a stronger draw than sex, desire for gain and basic need combined!  I noticed it as I was paying the bills.  I wasn’t paying because I wanted to give my money away.   I wasn’t paying out of a need to make to payee happy.  I wasn’t paying because doing so is something basic humans need to do.  And I certainly wasn’t doing it because it made me feel good about myself.  I was paying bills because of that fear deep down inside.  You know that fear.  “What if I forget to pay this and they start calling me!  Or maybe it will end up on my credit score!  We can’t be having that now, can we?  So even though they weren’t due for another week or so, I paid them now so I wouldn’t have to worry about it in the future.  The fear of the consequences made me pay the bills.  Advertisers have been tapping into this for years.  It works so well on us because it strikes that common human trait…fear.  I love life insurance salesmen.  Their opening line is always, “If something happened to you, is there enough insurance on you to take care of your family for the rest of their lives?  No one is actually going to say “Yes” in their heads because you never will feel like you have enough insurance to take care of your family.  Then you start to worry about all the horrible things that could happen to your family if something happened to you.  Once the fear is there, the salesman or commercial as it may be shows you how “affordable caring for your loved ones can be.”  Kind of evil…isn’t it?  Even if you buy the policy, you still will worry that it won’t be enough.  I have mentioned this before in blogs but car repair places are the same way.  They tell you “It doesn’t have to be fixed now but I would do it soon or it could cause an accident.”  My favorite, of course is, “You need to have this done to make it safe to drive.”  When you hear that you immediately start imagining all the horrible things that could happen to your family in the car.  If you have the means, 9 times out of 10 you have the repairs done.  Again, you don’t do it to feel good.   You do it so you won’t worry when your family is in the car.  Isn’t it funny how advertisers and salesmen like to stress the fear of loss to someone close to you?  In general, people will forgo what could be called luxury expenses for themselves.  When it comes to those you love, however, the checkbook is open.  Let’s face it.  The insurance salesman doesn’t say, “Hey, if you die without enough insurance I bet you’ll feel stupid.”  Actually you won’t feel anything.  You’ll be dead!  Now the ones you leave behind, that’s where the fear strikes.  I wish this method was not so effective but it is.  In fact I just remembered another bill I need to pay.  I better do that quick!

Doctors and Editors @Solsticepublish

It’s been over two weeks that I have been sick and I have been to my family doctor several times.  After rounds of steroids and antibiotics not helping I went to a specialist today.  Apparently I have a sinusitis, bronchitis and laryngitis.  Put that all together and they say it is like the “Croup.”  Now I hear that word and it doesn’t sound like it’s so bad.  There effects, however, are terrible.  I can barely speak and when I cough I sound like someone who is a chain smoker.  I’ll have to look this up on Web MD later.  So what did the specialist do for me?  He gave me another round of antibiotics, steroids and an inhaler.  It is not my place to second guess the medical establishment.  I hold them in high esteem.  Sometimes, however, it seems like they’re fishing in the dark.  If there’s the slightest problem they throw antibiotics at it.  I’ll see how this goes but so far none of the medicine has made a significant difference.  I had mentioned the other day in my blog how my 12 year old daughter has been such a help shopping while I haven’t been able to speak.  She’s at school right now and I need to pick up my prescriptions.  That should be fun.  I tried picking one up last night at the drive through.  I had to open my car door and put my mouth right next to the speaker for them to hear.  Then they misunderstood what I was saying and I had to keep repeating myself in a softer and softer tone as what little voice I had faded.  After five tries they finally understood my birthday and were able to tell me…that the medicine was not in the store and I had to come back today.  Seriously?  After all that?  I know they have to make sure you’re the right person before dispensing information but that seems like a lot to go through to find out you are wasting your time.  It’s not the pharmacist’s fault.  It’s just frustrating.  Fortunately, the one thing I can do at this time is writing.  There is plenty of editing still to do on “Sapphire Crucible” so I can stay busy without saying a word.  When you edit your book it’s amazing how many changes need to be made.  Sometimes you feel like you should get credit for the things you did right.  Still, most of the changes are minor and often times not necessarily errors but ways to make the book flow better.  Editors are kind of like doctors.  Even though they may be doing something to you that hurts at the time, they have your best interests at heart and you need to remember they are there to help.  While I do my edits, I will dream of the good old days when I could speak freely and wait for those days to return.

2 New Interviews and a Review @Solsticepublish

I have been honored by three more blogs.  First I have an interview on “Between the Lines” at http://wp.me/p47cK4-it.  I want to thank them for having me as a guest. They run a first rate blog.  Then “Stealing Pages” wrote a piece on me as well.  You can read it at http://stealingpages.com/2014/02/07/author-interview-rival-gates/.  I love doing interviews for different sites because the questions can vary so much.  Most exciting is a book review done on “Mary’s Cup of Tea”, another great blog with a huge following.  The review was most flattering and a solid representation of “Quest for the Red Sapphire.”  It is listed here.  http://www.mmbearcupoftea.com/2014/02/quest-for-red-sapphire-book-review.html.  Thank you to Mary for the kind words.  Check out all these pieces for more information. 

New Author Interview @Solsticepublish

Today is a short blog but it contains two pieces of good news.  The first piece is that I received the editor’s copy of Sapphire Crucible today.  Now I will make revisions and send it through for a final read.  This is just another step toward the publishing of the long awaited sequel to ”Quest for the Red Sapphire”.  While I am on the subject of book 1 in the series, I have my second piece of good news.  The blog “Between the Lines” has posted an interview with me about it.  Check it out at http://betweenthelinesbookblog.wordpress.com/2014/02/08/author-interview-rival-gates/
I love sharing these interviews with my fans.  Happy reading!

Toboggan Rides @Solsticepublish

With the recent snowfall I noticed one of the neighbor children with a sled trying to ride down a small slope in his yard.  He tried and tried but was unsuccessful.  The snow simply wasn’t deep enough for the deep cutting blades of his first class toboggan.  It made me stop and think about my own childhood.  My siblings and I would see a good dusting of powder and head for the big hill in the park.  I swear the thing was a mountain.  We would climb up and try to stay out of the way of other kids sliding down.  We didn’t have the super cool sleds but then again, neither did anyone else.  We used garbage can lids, sheets of plastic, a shovel and sometimes things we invented in the garage.  There was no status to maintain on the hill.  Everyone brought what they had and made do.  If you wanted to slide sitting down, the garbage can lid was the way to go.  Put it upside down on a steep hill and you were flying.  The only problem was that there was simply no way to steer.  You had to sort of slide in a general direction and hope not to hit anyone or anything.  After some words of wisdom from my brother I learned you could alter your direction by placing a hand in the snow behind you as you slid and use it as a rudder.  It worked reasonably well.  There were of course those impacts you saw coming that you could do nothing about.  Often times it was another rider on a collision course with you.  There were two options and you had to act fast.  Run into the other rider and hope you just bounced off one another, or bail out and tumble down the hill.  Neither plan usually worked out well.  With the speeds involved there were very few “bumps” and a whole lot of collisions that would wipe at least one of you out.  That would fill the suit with snow pretty fast.  Bailing out was worse.  You were guaranteed to take a fall and then you became a slow, large moving object half way down the hill in danger of being hit several times.  If you liked to lay down on your way down the hill you went for the plastic sheet.  They were cheap to buy and usually came in neon colors which was always fun.  You laid down face first and held up the front high enough to buffer the snow but low enough to see over.  That sheet went a lot faster than the can lid.  There was practically no resistance.  It had some of the same dangers but at least you could steer by leaning one way or another.  The most crashes happened when you hit a bump and couldn’t see what was ahead of you.  Often your hat would slide over your eyes and if you tried to adjust it, it meant letting go of the sheet with one hand which caused you to go off course and usually crash.  Riding the shovel looks cool in the movies but in practice is a bit too rough on your private parts as you are bouncing down that hill and it is jamming you between the legs.  It hurts to think about.  Invariably at the bottom of the hill some genius always had a busy roadway.  So even if you made it down safely, you usually had to bail out to avoid going into the street.  And do you know what we did after we reached the bottom?  We marched back up the hill to do it again.  There were almost never any adults and the general rule was to stay out until it was almost dark or you had too much snow in your suit to stay outside any longer.  You don’t see things like that these days.  Instead you see a $75 toboggan getting stuck on a 4 foot hill.  Give me back the old days. 

Snow and Zombies @Solsticepublish

Today is our first Snow Day of the year.  The kids are off from school.  The roads are nearly empty, and there are about 4 inches of snow on the ground.  Compared to other parts of the country, we have had a very light winter here in Nebraska.  It has been bitterly cold, make no mistake about that.  But this is the first serious snow we have seen all year.  Being from Michigan and having grown up in Canada I tend to laugh when the weather man starts to freak out before a single flake even forms.  Businesses close “Due to the expected bad weather”.  Really?  Just the thought of snow sends people into a panic.  I pictured two people fighting over the last gallon of milk at the grocery store last night.  It makes me laugh.  Don’t get me wrong.  4 inches of snow is no fun to drive around in but it isn’t like getting a foot of snow or sometimes two feet!  That was insane.  It was like the world was ending.  I spoke with my father the other day and he said the Detroit area of Michigan had already received 50 inches of snow this winter.  Before this storm we had received a total of 6 inches all year.  I can’t imagine being in Detroit right now.  They are bankrupt and cannot afford to send snow plows out.  According to my brother who lives in the area, the accidents have been out of control.  On a totally different viewpoint, have you ever seen “I am Legend” with Will Smith.  If you haven’t, he is the lone survivor in New York City after a zombie apocalypse.  He goes to great lengths to prevent the zombies from finding his home.  I always wondered what he does in the winter.  He drives and walks all over during the day.  When the snow builds up, wouldn’t the zombies be able to follow his tracks back to his brownstone and pay him a visit?  Also, the zombies were barely wearing any clothes.  Wouldn’t they die from exposure in a city with no heat in the winter?  Have you ever noticed in zombie movies that they never seem to dress warmly?  I mean they are zombies but you have to stay warm if you’re going to search for brains to eat.  Then again, maybe the half-dead nature of zombies makes them impervious to cold?  It doesn’t make much sense to me but then again neither does the notion of a zombie apocalypse.  Still, I think there is a better chance of that happening than having the roads plowed in Detroit.  It’s too bad about that city.  It was once a beautiful place.  Oh well, I’ll stay nice and warm here in Nebraska with my four inches of snow.  I noticed that I have a lot of readers in the Palo Alto region of California.  Hi to you all.  You probably are wondering about all this snow talk.  Just be thankful it is not a problem where you are.  Well, the kids have finally left their beds and want some attention so I will leave you for the day.  I still wonder about those zombies, though.

Tax Time @Solsticepublish

Well, it’s that time of year again.  Not Groundhog’s Day.  Not President’s day.  It is officially tax season.  I like to get my taxes done early so I know where I stand.  Many people like to do their own taxes, which I understand.  Years ago I used to do my own as well.  Now there are so many different deductions and so forth that I don’t trust myself to get it right on my own.  I tried going to those little cubicles set up in major stores and having them do my taxes.  It didn’t exactly comfort me that the person doing my taxes was only doing this for two months of the year.  The rest of the time they were gym instructors or what have you.  So I decided some time ago to go to an actual accountant.  It doesn’t cost much different than the cubicle guys and I have someone who does tax work 12 months of the year doing my taxes.  If nothing else it gives me piece of mind.  Since I have been going to the same person for so long, he does my son’s return at the same time for free.  I used to see nice returns.  Then we started owing on our taxes out of the blue.  That’s not fun.  You go over every deduction but the government still wants more.  What happened?  My income hasn’t changed that much.  A year ago we found out that my wife wasn’t having enough taken out of her checks.  I am from the school of thought that says, “It’s better to overpay than to have to come up with a lump of cash to pay later.”  My wife, on the other hand believes, “Why should I give the government an interest free loan for a year?”  Both are compelling arguments when you think about them.  Last year was a nightmare, however.  As soon as I was done at the accountant’s I called my wife and told her to increase the amount taken out of her checks.  She was not happy with me but did do it.  Somehow, only the federal deductions were increased and this year we received a small refund from the Federal Government but owe slightly more than that to the state.  Taxes are weird.  It didn’t help that my one daughter turned 17 and we lost a credit for her.  How is that fair?  It’s not like she turned 17 and I kicked her out of the house.  She is as much of an expense as ever.  How come I magically lose a deduction for her?  To all you parents who thought you beat the system by having a child born before the end of the year (e.g. December) and had an extra year of deductions, it’s not true.  You just lose the deduction a year sooner to make up for it.  Uncle Sam gets you one way or another.  Overall I lucked out.  It could have been a lot worse.  Still my wife and I disagree over the time to pay our taxes.  It’s a tough question.   I just hate writing the government a check.

Author Interview @Solsticepublish

The good people at Nordie Writing About Books have been kind enough to interview me and post the results.  You can follow it here at http://nordie.wordpress.com/2014/02/01/author-interview-rival-gates/ .  I hope it sheds a little more light on me and my writing.

Laryngitis @Solsticepublish

As a writer I have come to appreciate many great things.  I especially love being able to express myself through the written word.  There is just so much you can convey to others when you sit down and think about what you want to write.  Thankfully that is a gift I have not had to sacrifice (except during the occasional computer failure).  During this week, however, I have had to go without the ability to speak because I came down with several things including laryngitis.  Imagine going to the drive-through pharmacy and they can’t understand your name to get your prescription.  I had to go get my twelve year old daughter and have her talk into the microphone just so I could get my medicine.  We needed some things at the grocery store and I had to have her ask the clerk where to find something and then do all the talking at the checkout.   It would have been easier if they had asked questions that could be answered with “Yes” or “No”.  Instead, they asked things like, “Will this be paper or plastic?”  I pointed at one but they didn’t get it.  Fortunately my daughter knew the answer.  Then they asked, “How did you want to pay for this?”  I held up my check-card and the lady asked, “Credit or debit?”  Oh man!  I started making the swiping gesture.   She just said, “Yes, I know you want to swipe it but how do you want it processed?”  Next I made the words with my mouth but she still couldn’t understand me.  Fortunately, my daughter stepped in.  “He said he wants to use it as credit and have it put in paper bags.  Also, we could use some help out to the car with our purchase.”   What a godsend!  I patted her on the head and then hugged her.  She thought nothing of it and calmly led the clerk after the transaction to our car where she told me to get in and she would tell him where everything went.  I could not have made it without her.   My love is writing but I have sure missed talking this week.  My wife finds it a refreshing silence from my incessant rambling.  With my birthday last Tuesday, family called and could not understand me on the phone.  I was shouting and they kept asking, “What?”  It was like one of those commercials for the cellular carrier when they would ask, “Can you hear me now?”  What is hardest of all this is that I need to rest my voice so my throat can heal.  That is one tall order.  Imagine communicating with others without speaking.  I have a new found respect for deaf/mutes   It’s as though I am speaking another language except I’m not speaking.  This has gone on for nearly a week and I for one am more than ready to have it end.