Three Possible Covers for Second Chance

Even though the cover design will ultimately be the publisher's responsibility, it's kind of fun looking over stock photos of possible cover designs. Especially since it's my own book. And football is one of my favorite things, after all, so there's that element to this, too.









 I still like this photo with the standing dude in the football uniform. I've posted it a few times before.

 I like the pose, I like the uniform, but the color should be changed to dark green and the number to twenty-four.

I like this one too. It's the same dude from the other photo with the lights behind him. But here the jersey is red. So you can see the colors can be changed, apparently with no problem.

Since there's no number visible, this might be the one to go with. I like the pose, I like the football in his hands, and I like the black background. Still, I like the one with the lights behind him too.

I'd be happy with either one.

Now this is an interesting one. Again, the jersey number and color would have to be changed. The reason it's interesting to me is because the theme of the story is present in this cover.

The guy has his back to the viewer. His head is lowered. You don't see anything else. And with all that space on top, you have room for text, like a title and author name, and whatever else the publisher might want to put in there.

As for the story's theme? Well, it ended up being something the main character wasn't too happy about. It was an event, or series of events that led to his downfall.

But nobody dies. And there's no violence. At least no violence that takes place off the football field. There is a lot of football action, much of which could be considered violent.




But is it a book kids could read? Profanity might be a problem with kids reading it. But some kids cuss as much as any football player. So it might not really be a problem.

Would I want my own kids to read it? Sure. But, my kids are over thirteen. So I would say readers of this book should be a 7th grader at least. I suppose that makes it a PG rated story.

So which cover do I prefer? Right now I'm thinking to choose door number two.

Arrow Show Reverts to Bad Writing

When it comes to the hero of a show being falsely accused for crimes he didn't commit, or for being hated by the community he's been saving for years, well, that concept is getting old. We saw it with Spider-man for ages. You had the newspaper man J. Jonah Jameson hating Spider-man for no reason, and his crusade to have Spider-man killed or arrested was never ending.

We saw it with Arrow in season one, when the police detective hated the Arrow for personal reasons, despite the Arrow saving his life, his daughter's life, and countless others. But then in season two, we saw the detective overcome that hate. Which was a good thing. He even sided with the Arrow and they were unofficial partners in the war against crime.

So what's the problem? In season three, the detective has regressed. In season three he's back to hating the Arrow and this time, he finally arrests him. And despite his own daughter being the Arrow's ally, and defending him, this detective dude can't let go of his hate, which, btw, is based on a ridiculous assumption that he, (the detective) was right about him all along. But wait. He wasn't right all along. He was wrong all along. He had come to realize that in season two. But in season three he comes to realize that he was right in season one, even though he was wrong. Sheesh...

So the detective, (now a captain) has regressed. And it's back to square one. All the growth of the detective character is flushed down the toilet. Come on. I was appreciating character growth. It's something that makes a story worth watching. But to erase all of that? It makes the story  boring. It's bad writing. Can't the writers think of something new? A new conflict? It's like the repeated, never ending, and ever old J. Jonah Jameson's obsession with hating Spider-man. The guy never grows, his character never develops and the repeated story line of his crusade against Spider-man is more than tired. It's rusty. It's boring.

I would think that after someone saves your life, not once, not twice, but multiple times, and saves the lives of your loved ones, and saves the lives of countless innocents, over and over again, you might find a reason to stop hating. But no. Not in these ridiculous story lines.

Sheesh...

Not One for Politics

I've said it before. This is not a political blog. Nor do I make references to politics in any of my books. I have found that discussing politics brings out the worst in people. Just why that is, I'm not so sure. I've seen an incredible lack of courtesy in people who are political. On every aspect, and on both sides of the political aisle. The way people behave while discussing politics is repugnant to me.

I am not political. Really. I've stated that I am against guns. Or more accurately, that no one should have a gun. But since so many people do have guns, then I'm willing to go the other way and say everyone should have a gun, like in the days of the Old West. Of course, I believe in the equality thing. Meaning, equal pay for equal work, equal rights for all, etc. And equal access or equal non-access to guns!

As for my characters. Like me, Trent Smith, in my Killer Series, is not political. Like me, however, he hates guns, which might be considered a Liberal thing. But he most definitely believes in capital punishment, which might be considered a Conservative thing. Other than that, there is no reference to Trent's political ideology. He's just a guy who believes in justice. Straight up and simple.

As for the characters in The Vase, you have the Palestinian family of the main character, Muhsin Muhabi, and they are not much into politics, either. They are agnostics, meaning they are not devout Muslims, or radicals, or extremists. All Muhsin wants to do is protect his wife and son, since he's already lost one son to the violence extremism can wreak.

Professor Weiss, Captain Mathias, and Mary Levin could be called Israeli patriots. They work for Shin Bet, and you can bet they do a good job. It's my perception of all Israeli government officials that they do a good job or their nation will cease to exist. The way I see it, the Israelis have no room for error. Not with their very existence hanging in the balance.

Which is one of the reasons I wrote The Vase and made it take place in Nazareth, Israel. It's the perfect setting for a potter, a religious war, and conflicting viewpoints. Talk about the need for conflict to make a great story, the setting of contemporary Nazareth can't be topped.

Martial Arts Novels

I'm hoping that martial arts novels can be as popular as martial arts movies. The reason is obvious. Martial arts movies are very popular, and they have been for a long time. Bruce Lee movies back in the 70s were part of the rise in popularity for martial arts movies, and that old TV show with David Carradine, Kung Fu, was another reason for the rise.

And since then, martial arts movies have been coming out quite regularly. And always with success. I saw the latest one, The Man with the Iron Fists, and it was good. Martial arts novels aren't too numerous, however. I've heard they are in China, but here in America, there are just a few. I tried to read them, but lost interest. Don't know why. Mostly they are about police detectives or some private investigator, or something like that. And I just didn't get into them.

I found someone who wrote martial arts novels while searching for them on the internet, but they seemed to be self-published novels, and the formatting seemed very unconventional. Doesn't mean they weren't good, but, again, I couldn't get very far when I tried to read the samples. Maybe those authors can't read much of my book, either.

But my debut novel, Killer of Killers is more than just a martial arts story. It's also a love story. A compelling one, too, but with a lot of action, a brooding hero, and a deep theme. When I started writing it, I wasn't too concerned about including a theme, but as the plot unfolded, the theme seemed to spring out. So I went with it. I don't want to put in spoilers here, which would happen if I explained the theme, but it's one that people face their entire lives.

And the bad guys? Well, they may not be so bad after all. Interesting, yes, but evil? Well, again, I don't want to include any spoilers here. I'll leave it to the readers to decide.

Theme

Killer of Killers is already published. The Vase will be soon. But The Vase is so different. It is more of a suspense novel. But it has a theme. So does Killer of Killers, but The Vase has a different kind of theme. You have to read it to see, but I think it's a theme that promotes brotherhood and good will.

I think the world could use a little more of that. Not just in the Middle East, but everywhere. In every country and in every community. Some places are filled with it already. I know, I've seen it for myself. Some places are void of it, and I've seen that, too. Hopefully, The Vase can help make the world a better place. Well, it's got to get published first. I'm working on it. Stay tuned.