Book Blog and Music Blog

As I reflect on this blog and its contents, I'm reminded that I started it as a writing blog. That was because I had begun to write some novels, and fancied myself a writer. It wasn't any hubris on my part. It was prompted by my San Jose State University professors who were mentoring me during the two years I spent in the Teaching Credential Program over there. Often, it was required to write reports of varioius kinds. Actually more than often. More like it was constant. And then some years later when I was in the Master's Degree program majoring in Education, report writing again was constant. And both times the professors were telling me that I was a good writer. (Which probably explains why I was getting straight As throughout those programs.) So I had been only a moderate reader during my life, but I liked the idea of writing some novels about things in which I had an interest: Martial Arts heroes, Football heroes, along with a story about The Vase, and another interesting topic about which I had learned which was the true story of a historical character named John Dunn. And after some moderate success which saw all five novels published, I returned to an original interest wich was music. I had always been a musician, and I loved music as much as the next guy, but I also had a knack for writing original tunes. I would dabble on the piano during my spare time and write my own songs. I was never too serious about it, because I never envisioned myself becoming a professional musician or song writer. Nevertheless, I found myself writing new songs, one after another as if I were a conveyer belt putting out new songs by the tons. In a couple years, had written enough music to fill 13 conventional albums. And after a failed attempt to find a singer, I ended up being the singer. There were two reasons for this. I had briefly played with a band, all of whom wrote their own songs. I didn't want to play their songs. I wanted them to sing my songs. But they insisted that anyone who writes a song must sing his own song. And then I remembered an old friend who would sing some of our favorite songs while I played on the piano. Now that guy wasn't a singer, but he actually did sing the songs in key and he hit every note. So I thought if he could do it, why can't I? So I did. And like books, revising took place. And more revising. And yes even more revising and then writiing more songs for a 14th album. And now I am content that even though I still don't consider myself a singer, (like my friend wasn't) the singing is still in key and I am still hitting every note, and the songs are complete with a full band in accompaniment, and the vocals in place. And this blog can now be about both... the books and the music. It's on... (One caveat. This blog does not allow paragraphs. I have five paragraphs formatted in the draft I just wrote, but when I publish the draft all of those paragraphs disappear into one giant piece. Maybe I'm missing some formatting thing.)

Okay Back to the Books

As I indicated, I have revised and/or re-sung a lot of my songs, which can now be heard, not only on SoundCloud (Volumes 1 - 14), but on Spotify, YouTube, Pandora, and many other platforms, (Volumes 1 - 5). Yes, I still want to revise and/or re-sing some more songs on albums 6 - 13, but that will have to wait. For now I want to get back to my books. I had revised the heck out of all five books already, but as I revisited The Vase, sure enough, I found more prose to revise. And so that means the same thing must be true for all of them. Which I will do. So, here we go again. Starting with The Vase, which I still hope to republish one day.

Revised Albums 1, 2, 4, and 8 too

I talked about revising albums 9 and 11, but I also said I was going to keep at it, and I have. I have revised other songs on other albums, too. Mostly I'm resinging the songs, since my singing can only get better each time, and it has. But I've made some minor adjustments as well, mostly toning down some of the volumes, and rearranging some of the instrumentation. So, yeah, with that in mind, writing music isn't so much different than writing novels. Revise, revise, and revise, and the end result is a better work of art. I suppose it's true for everything. At least in the art world. Glad I'm an artist.

Revising Albums 9 and 11

I figure I've revised the hell out of my five books. I'm sure there are more improvements I can make and I will. But I have spent the last two weeks improving my music during this summer break. I've resung many songs on Volumes 9 and 11. I have always conceded that I'm not a singer. But that doesn't mean I can't try and make efforts to improve. I believe I have. The songs on Volumes 9 and 11 are great songs, and when I listen to them I'm amazed that I'm the one who wrote them. And now, with the improved vocals, they're even better. I will keep it up. It's what I do.

Finished Revising The Vase

I know. For the umpteenth time. The writing is as polished as can be. I originally wrote this story more than ten years ago. It was well written then, but like anything, the more you do something the better it gets. And the better you get at doing it. So after all these years of revising, polishing and making the story catch up to the times, the manuscript is ready to go. Now if only an agent would request to read it, I am confident said agent will be impressed. It's an uplifting story. It features a topical issue, and has a lot of conflict. But it has a happy ending. And when finished reading it, the reader will feel good about the world. That's what I wanted and that's what I achieved.

The Vase - a novel of suspense in Nazareth

This blog is named after my second novel. The Vase. It has nothing to do with my first novel. Killer of Killers. My third novel, Killer Eyes, is the sequel to Killer of Killers. But The Vase is the novel I expect to hit the big time. And for many reasons. Like all five of my novels, it's excellently written. Even more so since I've revised it time and again even after it's original publication. The same is true for all the five novels I've written. But The Vase has a topical premise. Which is the conflict that is happening right now in Israel. I wrote the book way before the current conflict. That doesn't matter. The conflict in Israel has been ongoing since 1948. And it seems to be a conflict that will never be resolved. I wrote the story because the premise of ancient recordings being viewed in modern times was a premise that had never been done before. Only in my book, The Vase, has this premise been explored. Still, it takes more that an original premise to make a great novel. It takes great writing, and great characters, and a great storyline. Well, forgive me for saying so, but The Vase checks all of those elements. The story is great. The characters are great. And the writing, espcecially after all the revising, is outstanding. I still believe in this book. As soon as it gets published again, it should be marketed correctly this time, because I'm shooting for mainstream publishers. And then...it will make a splash. And once it does, then back to my music. Can't wait to resume the writing of Volume 15. (Yet to be named.) I've written four songs on it so far, but right now I'm focused on republishing The Vase. Hopefully an agent will see in it what I see. We'll see.

The Beekeeper puts John Wick to Shame

Just saw the latest Jason Statham movie. The Beekeeper. My reaction? Move over John Wick. Adam Clay takes over. And move over Keanu Reeves. Jason Statham isn't just an actor like you. Jason Statham is the real deal. Look, I had already posted about how disappointed I was with the last two John Wick movies. Sure the first two had me buying in. But the last two, well, the last two plain sucked. John Wick became a pussy. Anyone could be a John Wick. But only Jason Statham can be an Adam Clay. The movie even had a female Beekeeper, hired to kill the original Beekeeper. And like in real life, the man prevailed, and it was no contest. And hey, I am not a sexist or a misogynist. I am a realist. Sure there are some women out there who can beat up some men out there. But when it comes to the BEST male fighters versus the BEST female fighters, it's not going to be a contest. And in this movie, that's the way it was. Adam Clay had no problem taking out the female Beekeeper. So, like in the John Wick movies, it's a world-building premise. In the John Wick movies, you had the fictional assassins in their fictional world with their codes of conduct and the markers and the Continental, et al. Beekeepers are a fictional society above the law, used when the law doesn't work. And that means these guys are the top of the top of the top in regards to fighting ability. And that's my cup of tea. Like my own character from Killer of Killers and Killer Eyes. The top fighter in the world is Trent Smith. In The Beekeeper, the Beekeepers are the best. The one flaw in this movie was that the female Beekeeper seemed to be a loose cannon type of character. Firing a minigun at anything moving in her effort to kill the other Beekeeper (which included responding policemen) was over the top. Nevertheless, Adam Clay took her out, and in great fashion. Now I don't want to give the wrong impression. To avoid any misunderstands, I have said it over and over again, there is such a thing as STRONG female characters. But to prove you are a strong character doesn't mean you have to go around beating people up, or killing dozens of people, whether they deserve it or not. As a matter of indisputable fact, there is no woman in the world who can win a fight against Mike Tyson. All right? There is no woman in the world who can win a fight against Brock Lesnar, all right? All right. Bottom line? The Beekeeper is the best movie I've seen in a long time. Thank you Jason Statham.

The Vase - Revising to keep up with the times

I had originally written The Vase almost twenty years ago. I had used the electronic devices in the story that I was most familiar with at the time. Like iPods, earbuds, phonographs, and cameras that took traditional photos. But the years have passed and now I have a familiarity with the devices of today. Intead of iPods, it's all about iPhones. Instead of earbuds, it's all about AirPods. Instead of phonographs, it all about online listening platforms. (SoundCloud, Spotify, Pandora, etc...) Instead of traditional photos, it's all about apps on your laptop computer. So... I had a lot of revisions to do. I have to keep up with the times. But the story still holds. It's a great story.

Revising The Vase (Again)

With the horrid events of the current times, I believe The Vase is a more apt story than ever before. I seek no fortune and no fame, but it's a story that has everything to do with what is happening in Israel at the moment. For those of you who do not know, the story in The Vase, as it explains above is about the conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians. I may not be an Israeli, and I may not be a Palestinian, but that doesn't mean I can't write. I can. And I can come up with a very interesting story, which I have. The Vase. I will finish revising it, to make it a better-written book, and maybe, just maybe, I can get another agent. Years ago, when I had an agent, she was unwilling to work with a story that involved terrorists. Hopefully that's not the mindset of all agents. Let's see.