Rockin' the Cosmos on SoundCloud

Just to see how it might work on a computer that's not signed in to my account, I looked up the blog The Vase and clicked on the Rockin' the Cosmos icon and listened to the first song Sensurround while reading the lyrics. It was all good, better than I thought it would be. And it sounded great. But then, like I knew would happen, some Hip Hop song followed, and I don't have a clue why that happens. But I clicked on the Rockin' the Cosmos playlist that was in the right margin on that page, and sure enough the songs in my playlist appeared, so I just clicked on Song #2 which is Green Lady and it came on with Lyrics and all.

It sounded great as well. At least, to me it did. I suppose I'm biased. All my songs sound great to me. And why wouldn't they. I wrote them and arranged them. I played and performed every instrument, and I even provided the vocals. It's not like I played the guitar and bass and drums and all that. I do play the piano and organ, though. So all the instruments are played on a keyboard/synthesizer. Yeah, it's a modern miracle how one instrument can synthesize all other instruments. Not to perfection, however, but still, it makes for a close replicate. And I hope to put up my Volume 13 one day soon, which is Rockin' the Afterlife. The lyrics are already up. Now that I know how to post them on SoundCloud, the songs will soon follow.

You know I composed, arranged, performed, and recorded all these songs more than ten years ago. Some of them twenty years ago, and only now am I posting them online. Well, it's only now I'm catching up to the 21st Century. In many ways, I'm still a 20th Century man. That's weird. That's a line from one of my books. The Vase has a line similar to that. Professor Weiss tells Captain Mathias something like that during one of their meetings.

Speaking of The Vase, I sure hope that Macmillan Australia accepts it for publication. That's my last and only hope to make it in the big time of publishing. That's not really true, but in some ways it is. Anything's possible, and who knows what the future holds. It's just that, for me, the future is getting slimmer and slimmer as the days go by. I guess that's true for everyone.

Celebrating "Kick Ass Heroines" ... Really?

I have two publishers. Knox Robinson and Melange. Knox Robinson, of course, is the publisher of my two latest novels, Second Chance and Heart of a Zulu, whereas Melange is the publisher of my debut novel Killer of Killers and its sequel Killer Eyes. I appreciate both publishers, because if not for them my stories would never have reached the printed word.

But I happened to notice that Melange is currently featuring something on their website called "Celebrating Kick Ass Heroines". I have blogged so much about that subject, I'm really tired of it by now. Besides, these "kick ass heroines" may not be what the name suggests. Maybe they are not really kicking anyone's ass literally in the stories in which they are featured.

But the term got me to thinking. First let me point out that I have made it abundantly clear that strong female characters exist, and that they are a part of everyday life. I've seen plenty of them in my own real life experiences, many of whom I'm related to, and it's surely true that real life "strong" women have existed throughout history. No question.

But this "celebration" has expressed the "need" for strong female characters in Young Adult Fiction. Really? The "need"? I have been very aware that strong female characters are featured often in Young Adult fiction. Very often. So much so, that perhaps it can be said that strong female characters are featured far more often than strong male characters. At least in Young Adult fiction they are.

I may not be so well read in Young Adult Fiction, but going by the movies that books of the Young Adult genre have become, it sure seems strong female characters are the norm of late. And because of that I think expressing the "need for strong female characters" in Young Adult fiction is a little behind the times, as evidenced by (off the top of my head) Hunger Games, Divergent, Twilight, etc.

Of course there's many more, most of which I'm not familiar with, as I admittedly do not go to the theaters to see these movies, nor do I read those books. But let me make it abundantly clear, as I've already made clear many times, strong female characters do exist and have been fundamental to real life and real history, not just in Young Adult fiction.

The main point of this posting is that I think the celebrators of "strong female characters" should reconsider using the term "Kick Ass". I mean, really? Kick Ass? Have any of these Young Adult authors who want to celebrate strong female characters ever kicked anyone's ass? Ever? Do they want to? I mean do any of these Young Adult fiction authors really want to go kick someone's ass? Do they? Do they really want to see a girl, or a woman of any age get into a physical confrontation that results in coming to blows with another human being? Do they? Have they ever even seen it?

I have. Many times. You see, I'm a teacher in a Middle School, which is right at the Middle Grade/Young Adult level. The kids that I'm around every day from August through June are the target audience of these books that these authors write. And yes, I've seen plenty kids come to blows with each other. And you know what? More often it's the girls coming to blows than the boys.

Now for the lesson you "Young Adult" authors need to learn. It's not a pleasant thing. When these girls fight, they are not "kicking ass." What they are doing is kicking, scratching, pulling each other's hair, and it's a very ugly thing. Let me repeat that. IT'S AN UGLY THING to see young girls fight. So I really hope that these Young Adult stories are not glorifying the concept of "kicking someone's ass!"

As a teacher, of course, it's my responsibility to get them to STOP fighting. Have any of you Young Adult authors ever seen girls fight? Have you ever tried to get girls to stop fighting? It's not easy. You put your own safety at risk. I've seen with my own eyes a girl yank a fistful of hair out of another girl's head. I've seen with my own eyes another girl scratch the skin off another girl's face. I've seen with my own eyes girls tear, scratch, kick, pull, as if they were actually fighting in a combat zone. It's incredible. The viscousness, the brutality, the sheer animalistic, base, instinctive aggression. Did I mention it was downright UGLY? I think I did. I beseech my fellow authors. Do not glorify this.

Do these "Young Adult" authors think that women have to prove that they are strong female characters by running around and beating up other people? Or as their selected term implies, by kicking other people's asses? Is that how people prove how strong they are? By kicking other peoples' asses?

Okay, I already admitted that I didn't read their stories. It could very well be true, that in their stories, their strength comes from strength of will, from strength of character, from strong determination, from unwavering loyalty to an honorable cause, to a strong commitment to a relationship, a friendship or a family. I've used the female characters in the TV show Downton Abbey as a prime example of strong female characters. Every one of the female characters in Downton Abbey, from the Duchess to to the maid, has been a tremendous example of a strong female character.

If you're seen the show, you know them well. Violet, all eighty-plus years old of her, is stronger than anyone else on that show. Then you've got the middle-aged Cora, along with her daughters Mary and Edith, (Sybil, too) the elderly cousin Isabel, and every one of the maids and house servants, from Mrs. Hughes, Anna, Mrs. Patmore, and Daisy. All are portrayed as strong female characters, and not once have any of them lowered themselves to the point to where they had to "kick someone's ass."

Now if the term "kick ass" is just a term used symbolically, that's a different story. I mean you can say "kick ass" but not really mean someone is physically kicking someone's ass. But again, I did not read these stories, so I am not presuming that the characters in these stories actually do go around kicking people's asses. I'm hoping they don't.

I will finish this post by pleading innocence if someone is  going to accuse me of being a hypocrite. My own books feature fighting. But the people who fight in my books are not girls or women. Nor are they "young adults." My Melange-published books, Killer of Killers and Killer Eyes feature the world's greatest martial artist.  He's a full grown man who was a professional fighter, not some young adult who want to "kick someone's ass." He's on a mission of vengeance, and as the title of the book suggests, he kills killers. Only.

So to be clear. This post is about "young adults." Or Middle Grade-aged people. I'm around them all the time. I don't want to see them kicking anyone's ass. Never again. And I'm quite sure you don't either. I'm quite sure no one does.

Music Copyrighted

Submitting material to the Library of Congress for copyrights is nothing new to me. I've copyrighted all my books, right up to Second Chance and John Dunn, Heart of a Zulu. I've wanted to post some of my music to the blog for a while, and now that a couple of my "albums" have finally been digitized, I have the capacity to do it.

But first, the copyrights. I've completed the copyrights submission for the two "albums" today, which means as of today they are copyrighted. Which means I can now post the music. I've already posted the lyrics. I posted Rockin' the Afterlife years ago. And just recently I posted the lyrics to Rockin' the Cosmos.

But to post the music, you have to upgrade the website. That costs some money, but I'll be posting the music soon. Just don't pay too much attention to the vocals. The songs are good, otherwise I wouldn't post them. You'll need a little imagination to accompany the vocals, that's all. Hopefully by the end of the week both "albums" will be up. Stay tuned.

One Step Closer to Posting Music

I might have done this a long time ago, but because of the inspiration Gregg Rolie provided I got off my butt and googled for who could convert my tapes to digital formats, and I found someone in San Diego who apparently is an expert and reasonably priced. (25 bucks!) I mean, heck for that price, why not? I decided to send Rockin' the Cosmos first, since that was Volume 12 of my music.

If it turns out as well as I hope it will, I'll send volume 13. And if I can somehow post the music with the respective lyrics that are already posted on this blog, I'll be in business. Plus, it'll be a lot easier to send for copyrights, too. But I'm shaking my head. I might have done this ten years ago. I guess better late than never. Fingers crossed.

Gregg Rolie's Concert Inspired

After seeing and thinking about Gregg Rolie's concert last Friday night, I am finding myself inspired. After all, I aspired to be a song writer in the not too distant past. I did write over a hundred songs, mostly rock songs that I had saved on several floppy discs and cassette tapes. That right there shows you how long ago I did that. It was twenty years ago.

Since then, I've been focused on being a father, a husband, and a school teacher. And now a book writer. But I was inspired by a rock band before. It was the return of Black Sabbath twenty years ago, which prompted the composition of most of my songs. Then I got into writing books the last ten years, and I've found a little bit of success at that. But now with Gregg Rolie's concert so fresh in my mind, I'm thinking about going back to my music.

When I started this blog, I posted the lyrics to the last music "album" I wrote. It was my"volume 13" and I called it Rockin' the Afterlife. I had no clue as to how to post the music to go with it, so I just stopped at that point. But now that I'm inspired again, I posted the lyrics today to the second to the last album I wrote. I had never named it, I just called it "volume 12" but in the spirit of giving albums names, I'll call it Rockin' the Cosmos. The lyrics will explain why, just as the lyrics explain the title Rockin' the Afterlife.

But I know that somehow it's possible to put the music on there too. I'm still figuring out how to put the music on my computer, and when I finally got that figured out, my next step will be to copyright it and then post it onto the blog. That way, I'll have another of my creative products accessible to the public. All of the music was written and performed by me. Which is not necessarily a good thing, because all of the instruments were simulated on a keyboard.

Overall, I think it sounds good enough. My dream would be for a live band to perform it, but playing in a live band is not so easy as it sounds. For now, the simulated instrumentation will have to do, and my own singing will have to do. Don't worry. I do hit the notes and I do stay in key. Obviously, I'm no Gregg Rolie. Not even close. But like I said. I do stay in key. I had a friend a long time ago who used to sing the Black Sabbath tunes while I played them on the piano. I remember that was a blast. He was good enough to stay in key, and he hit the notes, even though he was no singer. That's what made me think I could do it. Like him, I'm no singer, but I hit the notes. Stay tuned.

Second Chance and Heart of a Zulu on Knox Robinson Website

Both of my new books are now featured on the Knox Robinson Publishing website. I was thrilled to see them and somewhat surprised because the books aren't out yet. They don't come out until August 23rd for Second Chance and November 3rd for Heart of a Zulu.

So I decided to put them up here on my blog as well. On the margin to the right. I did that today. If you click on the images you will get to the books' pages on the KRP website, but unlike Melange, you don't purchase them there. Maybe you can when they are actually released, but I'll have to wait and see how that goes. In the meantime, they look good on that website.

I know they'll be available for purchase at Amazon.com, Barnes & Nobles, and hopefully bookstores near you. I'll be thrilled to see them on a bookstore shelf. Unfortunately, there's not too many bookstores around. In my neck of the woods, at least two Barnes & Nobles stores have closed down in recent years. That leaves only one more. And this is the South Bay Area, which is a highly populated area. Maybe there's more bookstores up the peninsula, but down here in the south bay, there's only one left.

I'll be making an appearance over there to see if they'll be stocking my books. Fingers crossed on that. But if they do, I'm thinking sales will be pretty good. After all, almost everyone likes football. I just hope they like to read stories about football, too. Maybe younger people do, but I hope that's not all. Older people played the game once, like I did. And my passion is still there.

I know there's a lot of people who are enthusiasts of the Anglo-Zulu War. Just as there's a lot of enthusiasts of the American Civil War. I'm sure there's more in England, and that makes sense. The Anglo-Zulu War took place about the same time period as the American Civil War, (well, it was fourteen years later,) but it was very much akin to The American frontier West. The similarities are obvious and the adventures are too. And the John Dunn book is filled with them. Besides, it's based on a true story. Can't wait to see both of the books in print.

Time to Change Blog Name

Yes, I'm thinking about changing the name to this blog. The reason I call it THE VASE is because The Vase was going to be my first published book. But that wasn't what happened. Killer of Killers was my first published book. So the blog name should really be Killer of Killers. Or The Killer Blog, or something to that effect.

But the real reason I'm changing the name is because right now, my book The Vase is no longer available for purchase. It's in Limbo. The publisher, Penumbra Publishing went out of business. So all of their titles will no longer be available for purchase at the end of June. I went ahead and pulled The Vase from their titles already. I'm going to offer it to KRP or Melange, my other two publishers.

I could go the long route again. Meaning seek out another publisher. I did that with all my titles. Except Second Chance. I secured John Dunn with KRP, and when they indicated they would be interested in Second Chance, I went ahead and let them have it. It's not all that easy finding a publisher. So if they wanted it, which they did, I was okay with that.

So anyway, since my Killer Books are really my main books, and my first published books, I should be true to what I had originally intended. That being to name my blog after the first book of mine that was published. So be advised. Soon the blog will have a different name and a different picture up there on top. Soon.

Russians Reading Blog

Who are the Russians reading my blog? Don't get me wrong. I love Russians. All Russians are welcome to read my blog. But look at this disparity among countries reading my blog, taken from my blog's stats page. It's a big difference between Russia and the next country, which is the U.S.A. Go figure:

Pageviews by Countries Entry Pageviews Russia 132 United States 32 Germany 13 Portugal 5 South Africa 2 China 1 France 1 Romania 1 Taiwan 1

Listed Among KRP Authors

I was cruising through my bookmarked websites, and when I got to my John Dunn publisher, Knox Robinson Publishing, AKA KRP, I was pleasantly surprised to see my photo on their list of authors, and my bio posted as well. And my John Dunn book hasn't even been published yet. You have to place the cursor on the photo, and then click on my name to read the bio. Here's the link.

My bio is just a single paragraph, which is way shorter than the bios of some of the other authors on there. Hey, they gave me a word count which I didn't think I was supposed to surpass. I didn't realize that many of the other authors weren't so mindful of that word count. Some have bios that would take up an entire page.

It's cool, though, because I just used the same old bio that I have on Amazon.com, the Melange Books website author page, the Penumbra Publishing website author page, and even the Goodreads author page. So it doesn't matter. Wherever you go, you'll see the same bio on me, except for my blog, that is. And that's because my blog is first and foremost a means of promotion for my books. Three are published now, and the fourth is due out sometime in 2016.

That will be four books published which is quite a relief, because I had written those four books before I even sought representation or publication. It was only after I finished John Dunn did I start to look to get the books published. And now that they are, I'm glad I didn't waste my time.

I've got the fifth book written--Second Chance--and I'm writing two more at this time--Killer on the Payroll and Inside the Outhouse. We'll see how those go. After that? Who knows?

In the meantime, back to promotion. Buy Killer of Killers and its sequel, Killer Eyes, today. Buy The Vase, too. And look for John Dunn in the summer of 2016.

Multinational Blog

I cut and pasted the countries reading the blog this week from my blog's stats page. I did not include the United States, because I expect readers from my own country. But the following countries are curious to me. How do they know about this blog? I welcome everyone, of course, so if you live in another country, that's great. Drop on by anytime, and try out one of my books. I think you'll enjoy reading it. If you do, let me know, and thanks.

Russia	23
Germany	8
Portugal	4
Israel	3
Mexico	2
Bolivia	1
Canada	1
United Kingdom	1
India	1