Turn - the TV show

I'm enjoying the AMC TV show called Turn, which is about the American Revolution and the spy rings which the Americans used to gather intelligence about the British and their military movements. It's taken some wrong turns, lately with how they took the character of Major Hewlett out of the show, but at least they didn't kill off the character. He was one of those British officers who upheld honor and was a good guy, even though he was on the "bad" side of the conflict.

And then there's Captain Simcoe who is a bad guy through and through. He's murdered people, and even though he was arrested for that, the British have now placed him in charge of Roger's Rangers. They had made Robert Rogers a bad guy, and I guess he still is, but now he's working for the Americans. Not because he believes in the cause, but he was betrayed by the British high command, so that was enough to turn him around. He's a tough guy, and so is Simcoe, and both are turning out to be very hard to kill. Both have been shot, stabbed, and hunted, and neither seems capable of dying, despite all the attempts on their lives. You're actually rooting for them to get killed.

Meegan Warner as Mary Woodhull

Episode Seven was particularly entertaining for me. You have a female character named Mary Woodhull, (pictured left) played by Meegan Warner. She's a typical colonial housewife, but not so typical. She's feminine, and attractive, but she proved to be more than you thought she was. And I liked it. She shot Simcoe, (but he didn't die of course,) then she did kill one of the Rangers, and an observing colonial was impressed, saying to himself that she's running these Rangers around in circles. And she was. And the way it happened was believable. At least to me. I was very much enjoying that episode. And that from a guy who doesn't generally believe in a woman playing the role of a "tough guy." Meaning a tough guy that beats up people, including other tough guys. I'm not a chauvinist. I just don't believe that women want to be tough guys. Sure they should be assertive and self confident and independent, but I've often asked the question, do women want to beat people up? Do they? Do women want to go around killing people?

I don't think so. I don't doubt there are exceptions, but I just can't believe women want to do that, or see other women do that. I don't buy it. But in the case of Mary Woodhull, in that episode of Turn, I was a believer. And the actress pulled if off. Great acting.



Heather Lind as Anna Strong

You know, there's another great female character on Turn. The character's name is Anna Strong, played by actress Heather Lind (pictured left.) She's another assertive woman, and a strong character, pardon the pun. Unlike Mary Woodhull, she's part of the spy ring, and what a great job she's done, and at great peril to her life.

Both of these women Anna Strong and Mary Woodhull are turning out to be great characters, strong, assertive, independent, and at the same time, they're not running around beating up tougher men, and killing off tough guys. (Well, Mary did kill a Ranger.) The point is they're not running around kicking everyone's ass, as if they're Bruce Lee, but they don't have to do that to prove how tough they really are.

It's believable and entertaining. It's how strong women should be portrayed, and I'm enjoying this show very much. Keep it up writers and actors in Turn. Doing a great job.

Great Endorsements, but Can't Post an AIS

I tried to post the attachment of the AIS to Second Chance here on the blog, but it wouldn't let me. It turned out that only photos or images can do that. It's more than an image. It has a lot of text on it, as well as the image of the book's cover. Too bad, too. Because I finally taught myself how to put the image on there. You have to insert a "text box" onto the document, and then you insert the photo or image. No sweat, really. I wish I can show everyone. It's a publisher's way of introducing their books to bookstores so the bookstore can decide if they want to stock it in their store.

I like my Knox Robinson Covers. Not only are they top notch cover designs, but they include the endorsements on the covers, which I think is very important. As Dana says, if those endorsements are to appear on a book's cover, it's vital that they are from nationally recognized authors who are published by well known houses. And you can't be more well known than the Big Six. (But now that Random House and Penguin have merged, they're more recently known as the Big Five.)

And the authors I have endorsing me are published by Random House, Hachette, and MacMillan. Those are three of the five.The other two are Harper Collins and Simon & Schuster. So, yeah.

Here's Second Chance, a Football Story. It's got the endorsement of two nationally recognized authors: Carl Deuker and John Coy. Carl Deuker is a great sports author who has written several great sports books, including Gym Candy, as listed in his quote there at the top of my book's cover. But he also wrote Payback Time, Runner, Heart of a Champion, and Night Hoops. Several more great titles are to his credit.

I must credit John Coy, however, as being the first great American sports author to support me. John Coy has also written several great sports books. Including Crackback, Box Out, Top of the Order, and Strong to the Hoop.

Both of these great authors seem to have a great range of sports understanding, meaning they don't just write about football. They have also written books about baseball and basketball. As for me? I'll stick to football, thank you. That's my sport. Will I write any more books about football?  I just might. I love the game, as I've explained very clearly in a recent post. So never say never.

Which brings me to my John Dunn book. I love history, too. I love learning about great empires. Like the Roman Empire and the British Empire. And the John Dunn book covers an episode in the history of the British Empire. It's actually also an episode in the history of South Africa.

Here's the cover to the left, and you can see that the endorsement of the great Ian Knight is now on there. Talk about nationally recognized. Well, Ian Knight's recognition goes way beyond that. His recognition is global. This great man is the world's foremost authority on all things Zulu and the Anglo-Zulu War. He's written several books on the subjects. I was remiss not to have read them. But I'm correcting that huge flaw right now. I've purchased and am now reading the book that is credited to him on the cover of my book. Zulu Rising; The Epic Story of iSandlwana and Rorke's Drift. And I'm glad I am. I have found some new information in that book, and I've emailed Mr. Knight asking him if I should use it in my book, which is being edited right now.

So times are great for this small time author. Small time I may be, but with the endorsements I've received for both of my Knox Robinson Books, I couldn't be better supported. Here's to hoping readers and book buyers will also give me support. Fingers crossed.

Another Endorsement for Second Chance

 

 

American authors are proving to be just as nice and considerate of their fellow authors as the British have proven to be. I had posted a few months ago, that American authors weren't as nice as their British counterparts because they weren't responding to any email requests. It's not about getting their endorsements. It was just getting a reply to an email. Most American authors would act like I never emailed them. Meaning no reply. No response. Nothing.

The British authors, on the other hand, were very nice and did more than just answered an email. They went out of their way to read what I sent, enough of it, anyway, to send an endorsement. And it's not like it had to be an essay. No. Just one or two sentences. That's it.

I talked about the world famous Ian Knight and his endorsement of my John Dunn book, and another great individual named A M Banks, a reviewer for a couple British military magazines. But when it came to Second Chance, almost all American sports novelists just ignored me. Like they were all that. Well, they should know that compared to people like Ian Knight, they are not all that. They were snobbish in the sense that they did not respond at all. Wouldn't give the proverbial time of day.

Finally one great man did. John Coy. He is nationally recognized and has been published by at least two of the Big Five publishers: MacMillan and Random House. Scholastic Press, too.

Tim Green, another sports book author, at least replied to me and gave me an understandable reason why he couldn't do it. But hey, at least he gave me the time of day, right? So that's cool. He didn't act like he was too high and mighty to communicate with a lowly author like me. I appreciated that.


Today, another great man has responded with an endorsement. Carl Deuker, author of several great sports books, like Gym Candy and Payback Time, both about football. I will probably buy them, too. Same with Crackback by John Coy. I already bought Ian Knight's book, Zulu Rising; the Epic Story of Isandlwana and Rorke's Drift. It's a long book, and I'm half way through it. To the left, you can see Mr. Deuker's quote on the cover of Second Chance. I was mildly surprised Dana chose Mr. Deuker's quote for the cover instead of Mr. Coy's, but I suppose it doesn't matter. Both quotes will be on page one of the book anyway, along with Walter Knight's quote, a fellow author from Penumbra.

I would like to post an AIS soon, too. It's an Advanced Information Sheet which is used to send to bookstores so they can see what books to buy. As soon as Dana at KRP gets the image of the book's cover on there, I'll show you what it looks like. Can't wait for it to happen. Stay tuned.

Football Season is Upon Us

Football season is near. Training camps are underway. The first games will be next month. And next month my football book, Second Chance, a Football Story is going to be published. It is due to be released August 23rd. And I am happy about that. If you like football, you will like this story. Why? Because it's about football. And several different levels of football are portrayed. Sure, everyone knows about the NFL. In my book, I don't use "NFL" but I do mention professional football. And there's a couple scenes in the book where a group of friends are watching pro games on TV with beer and pizza.

I mention college football, too. I don't actually show any pro or college games. I just talk about them in the book. What I do show in the book mostly, (three full games and the second half of another,) is high school football games. That is the focus. High school football. And there's a lot of it. I had to be sure I had the high school football rules right. There are some differences between high school rules and pro rules which I'm more used to, and probably a lot of people are more used to. But I had to be sure I had the high school rules right. With three full games portrayed in my book, and the second half of another, it was very important I had that right. The plot of the story is the high school games. It's what drives the storyline.

There's a city parks and recreation flag football league portrayed in the story, too. The main character is actually a city parks and rec employee, and it's his job to organize and referee those parks and rec flag football games. It's a major part of the storyline, too, btw. And there's at least two or three city flag league games portrayed in the story.

There's sandlot football, too. As early as chapter one. If you don't know what sandlot football is, I will tell you. It's when a group of guys, (or gals) get together and play a football game. There's no refs, no pads, sometimes not even a football field. Maybe it's at a park, and sometimes it's on the street. If it's on the street, it won't be tackle. But if it's on a grass field often the guys play tackle. Even without pads. It can be brutal. It can be painful. But it sure is fun. That is if you love the game of football. And a lot of people do. So much so, that football is America's number one sport. It has been for a long time. It's my favorite sport, that's for sure. It always has been.

Not just my favorite sport. It's one of my all time favorite things, period. Sure, I have a wife, I have two sons, (both of whom play football, btw,) and even a mother-in-law. Sure I'm a teacher with hundreds of students and a classroom, (two classrooms, actually, one for drawing and one for ceramic sculpture,) and sure I love all of those things. Sure I love art, (being an art teacher, that's a given,) and sure I love music, like everyone else. (I even write and compose my own music!) And sure I love writing about things that fascinate me, like great heroes who are magnificent martial artists, like Trent Smith in my two Killer books. And sure I love history, which is what propelled my book about the true life story of John Dunn, and even my Middle East thriller called The Vase.

Yes, I love all of those things. But football is right up there at or near the top of all things I love. So one day I wrote a novel about it. You know already how it came about, because I've blogged about it before. I had a dream. No, not like MLK. I had a dream about football. Several dreams, actually. Since high school, I've said many times, I've had recurring dreams about football. If you want to get into the psychology of it, it's probably because my own football experiences were never fully realized. I never reached my full potential. Bad decisions and bad luck were large parts of that.

I had some minor success at the high school level, but I fell far short of what I should have accomplished. And mostly, it's my own fault. Sure there were the bad luck injuries. But again, had I made better decisions, who knows if those injuries would have happened. It affected my later bad decisions. I might have played in college, but I didn't. Bad luck? Bad decisions? They went hand in hand in my case. Sure I played sandlot football. A lot of sandlot football. And my last hurrah, so to speak was a stint in a city parks and recreation flag football league.

But again, it was far short of my potential. Okay, that's the psychological angle behind my recurring football dreams. Which led to the story in Second Chance, my football novel. I dreamed it. When I woke up, I thought, wow, that was like watching a movie. So then I thought, I should write it down. I did. Then I thought, I should write it as a novel. I did. And now it's being published. So that's the history of how Second Chance, a Football Story came about. It's a great story. If you like football, you'll love this book. Watch for it next month. Stay tuned.

John Dunn - Heart of a Zulu cover is in

Here it is!

At first I wondered if it was appropriate, but the more I looked at it the more I liked it. One thing to remember is it's a hardbound book. And a cover like this is appropriate for a hardbound book.

It's a Zulu mask. And John Dunn has the heart of a Zulu. He spends a good deal of his time with the Zulus. Although the book is not about Zulu masks, the Zulu mask symbolizes the Zulus, and that is the point. Just like the football player on the Second Chance cover symbolized the sport. It didn't have to be the exact main character of the book, just as this cover didn't have to feature the main character of the book, John Dunn. After all, the title of the book features the main character of the book. John Dunn. And the gist of the book, Heart of a Zulu.

John Dunn would not have survived a week in Zululand if he didn't have the heart of a Zulu. He did, and thus, the book's title. This is a great time for me. My football book is coming out next month. I have another sports author who has agreed to endorse it. That's great. And Dana is going to put John Coy's endorsement or an excerpt of his endorsement on the cover, like I wanted. It's all good.

Stay tuned.

Second Chance completed and submitted

I finally finished the final draft of Second Chance-a Football Story and sent it to Dana (the publisher at Knox Robinson Publishing) early this morning. By early I mean four in the morning, which is when I corrected the last and final typo. At least the last one I found.

I made so many improvements and corrections, too. For instance the high school football leagues, (as they're called here in California) are called conferences in New Jersey. And the state championships at the high school level are divided into North, Central, and South. They are more accurately North Jersey, Central Jersey, South Jersey, but I used North Jersey and north state interchangeably.

Another correction I made, due to some diligent research on my part, is being sure to portray the high school football games according to high school rules and not NFL rules as I am more used to. For instance, kickoffs that reach the end zone are not allowed to be returned. They are automatic touchbacks. And another one that was more surprising was that missed field goals that reach the end zone or are kicked through the end zone are also ruled touchbacks.

So below you can see the cover design, since Dana sent it to me yesterday. I like it, and my brother and my sons like it, too. I only wish the featured player wasn't a kicker. I wish that because the main character in the story is not a kicker. Which automatically means that guy on the cover there is not the main character in the story. Also, there looks to be some space on top that is begging for some text. Hopefully Dana will put one of the endorsements there. Seeing as there's room, I hope she does. But whatever. It's a good cover. So football season is coming up, and the release of Second Chance should correspond with that perfectly. Here's to hoping the sales are worthwhile.

Oh, if you're interested in buying a copy, stay tuned to this blog. I will put in here an image of the cover and link it to the place where orders can be made, like I did for my other three books, Killer of Killers, Killer Eyes, and The Vase. Stay tuned.

Football, the Greatest Sport

For me, football is the greatest team sport. It's the greatest game, period. I have always had a passion for football. I played whenever I could. I would rather be on a football field, playing football, even in a sandlot game, than anywhere else and doing anything else. That's what football meant to me. My wife thinks I should have been a football coach. And I did dabble in it for a bit.

It's weird that my own high school football experience was cut short, but that's another story from a long and distant past. The story that is current, which is the story that has me excited, is my new upcoming novel called Second Chance. It's not a biography, no. I didn't do any of those things in the novel. But I did dream the story. You see, for forty years I had been having a  recurring dream about football. Particularly high school football. Not necessarily of things I did back then. More like things I might have done if I had been a wiser teenager.

I don't suppose I'm the only person who could have done things better as a teenager. But I continued to have dreams about football that might have or could have been. And one day I had a dream about a football player who gets a second chance. It wasn't me. It was a dream, but it was a dream as if I was watching a movie. And when I woke up, I thought to write it all down. After doing that, I thought to myself that it was about time I wrote my fifth novel, and it was going to be about football -- more specifically about the football dream I had. And I did.

I had procured a publisher for my book John Dunn - Heart of a Zulu, and when I mentioned that I had just completed a sports novel about a football player, my publisher was interested in publishing that, too. And because football starts in August, that was the date my novel was pegged to be released. Even ahead of the John Dunn novel.

So I've been working very hard on it the last couple months, and I'm glad I have been. Because I'm not a newbie when it comes to getting published. I've already learned to go over and over and over that manuscript before it's published. And I have. And Second Chance - A Football Story is as pristine a manuscript as you can get. I won't say it's perfect. Typos have a way to stay hidden. So I will read it one more time and submit it on Monday for this August's publication.

I'm very pleased at this point. Because after this, I have my John Dunn book to polish up. Even though it's already polished up. Doesn't mean it can't be more polished up. Gang way!