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.

Rewrite of Books and Songs

 I have spent most of my time revising, re-singing, re-recording, and reposting my songs that I haven't had a lot of time to post on the Blog about my books. It's fun, though. Both are fun. That is, writing books is fun and writing music.

The funny thing is, I started writing music as a teenager so many years ago. I really only started writing books about ten years ago. So that makes sense that I've written 145 songs and five books.

Actually, I started writing my first book when I was about 8. That is I was eight years old. It was a child's effort of course, and I never finished it. But in college I actually started to write and illustrate a graphic novel.  You know....like a comic book. I almost finished it too. I got three or four "issues" done, (or was it two or three) I can't remember. That is I did the art, the writing, and everything.

But in the real comics worlds a comic book is a collaborative effort. Meaning there's a writer who writes the story. Then there are THREE artists who illustrate the story, (the penciller who creates the storyboard, then the inker who inks it, and then the colorist who, you guessed it, colors it.)

Of course there is the editor, the editor-in-chief, and the letterer who puts in the word balloons and such, and probably a lot of others also.

There are some artists who have done it all alone like Jim Lee and Frank Miller and others who excelled at doing that. They are legends who took over for the prior legends....those being Jack Kirby, Stan Lee, Steve Ditko, Gene Colon, John Romita, Neil Adams, John Buscema, Jim Steranko, Jim Starlin, and the list goes on.

So, my graphic novel effort took a big pause when I got married. 

But way before that, I had started writing songs on the piano. I had a piano in my house and I had taken piano lessons, so I knew how to play it. And soon enough, I started writing some very good songs. I had written a dozen songs or so in those early years. I did not have the means to record them so I had to remember them in my mind over the years. But remember them, I did.

And then the technology caught up to me. I had become an art teacher, and I was married with a son, and there was a huge "Yamaha" store not far from my house. I dropped in one day and bought one of those Yamaha portable keyboards and bingo, the music flowed. 

I wrote the equivalent of four albums in the space of a couple months. (Yes, those albums are indeed Volumes 1, 2, 3, and 4.) As I said, I had already written a dozen songs for Volume 1, but I wrote a few more and put a total of 15 songs on Volume 1. Then I wrote enough songs for three more albums.

Then I bought another Yamaha portable keyboard, an even better one, and over the next few months I wrote the music for Volumes 5 through 13. After some years of just letting them sit on cassette tapes, and being unable to find a singer to sing them, I decided to sing them myself. 

Finally I wrote the songs for Volume 14 and all volumes are on SoundCloud now and can be accessed on the right margin of this blog. I think the songs are great, (if not the singing.) But I sing in tune and in key. So it works. And I am content. I am back to the books now. I will continue to revise Killer of Killers, Killer Eyes, The Vase, John Dunn, and Second Chance until new publishers step up. 

I'll keep you posted. Just don't hold your breath on those. I won't.

Writing Improved

During this "hiatus" stage which three of my novels are in right now, I've been rewriting each one over and over again, improving the writing, or the prose, or whatever you want to call it. And I have succeeded beyond even what I had thought possible. At this point the writing for Second Chance, The Vase, and John Dunn are many times better than what they were for their first publications.

Not to say anyone who bought and/or read any of those three books will have enjoyed it less for having done so. But I'm a perfectionist. As all artists should be. I don't settle. Meaning I don't content myself for any job I've done on anything that might have been done better.

I had already established to myself that the more I reread and revised any of my books, the better it became. So I didn't stop. Until they were published. But then, with those three books, the publishers went out of business. So that meant, to me, anyway, I had another opportunity to make those books even better. So for the last several months, I've been doing just that. And I've rewritten all three by this point. I just finished Second Chance, and I am very proud of how that came out. Now I've returned to The Vase. For the umpteenth time. And I'm making that one better than ever.

I've taken a break from John Dunn, my longest novel. Not to worry. I've rewritten that one at least three times over since its original publication, and it too is way better than it was for its first appearance in the book world. And when I'm done with this current rewrite of The Vase, you can bet that I'll return to John Dunn and make that one better still.

I'm doing the same thing with my music. I had written over a hundred songs during my musical creativity years, which was about twenty years ago. It lasted until about fifteen years ago. Which means for about five years of my life I dedicated my creative self to creating music. Before that I was more into creating art, as in drawings, paintings, and sculptures. But I switched to music for those years, because I had a musical background, having played the piano and keyboards for a rock band in the early days of my life. I didn't get too far into composing music at that point, however, so when I dedicated myself to writing music, the creativity flowed.

Now, these years later, I'm doing the same thing with my songs that I'm doing with my books. I'm making them better. I guess the proper term is rearranging them. As the songs remain basically the same, but with some "editing" so to speak, which is making them way better.

It's an interesting point in my life. My older son is grown, my younger son is a teenager, and I have more time to work on my personal goals. One of which is to put all my songs into the "albums" that I had originally envisioned them to be. I have only one on SoundCloud right now. Click on the Rockin the Cosmos icon in the right margin of this blog and you can hear it. It's Volume 12 of my collection of songs. I have another one ready, the Rockin the Afterlife album, which is Volume 13.

What I consider to be "ready" is when I have all the elements finished, which includes the vocals. And I've only put vocals on three of my "albums" so far. Volume 2, Volume 12, and Volume 13. That means Volume 1 and Volumes 4 through 11 are still in need of having the vocals included before I can call them ready. Volume 12 is "ready" and that's why it's over there for anyone to hear. Again, my singing sucks, but if you can get past that, I think the musical compositions are very well arranged with catchy tunes, and an intriguing "concept album" format.

And all the while, I'll keep making by books better. Who knows. They may get published again, and if they do, they'll be better than ever.

Carl Deuker's Gym Candy - Good Book

Gym Candy 

After reading John Coy's Crackback, I read Carl Deuker's Gym Candy. And it's another good book worth reading. Like Crackback, it targets teenage boys, or high school boys, and especially those boys who play football. It really has an important message: stay away from steroids.

It's a message I hope all boys listen to, and not just football players. I know guys who lift weights to stay in shape, but they want to do more than just stay in shape. They want to build up their bodies. So they take steroids. You see, the human body can get only so big no matter how much you lift. But some men, (and I've known some personally) want to get more than just big. They want to get huge. Like Arnold Schwarzenegger huge. Or Dwayne Johnson huge. And the only way anyone can get that huge is from taking steroids. So they do it. And then they get huge and they are happy.

Crackback

But, to me, it's not worth the risks. Those risks are depicted in Deuker's Gym Candy. And those risks do include life threatening risks. I remember seeing Lyle Alzado's video after he was diagnosed with brain cancer. He admitted to being on steroids for most of his professional football career. Yeah it made him huge. And it made him ultra aggressive. And I suppose it made him a great football player. But he was dead before he reached fifty years old. I am glad I never used steroids. Because I am well over fifty now, and still healthy. And by the way, I still lift, and I'm pretty big for it. But I'm not huge and I don't need to be. I'll take normal big over the abnormal huge any day if that means I get to live longer than forty-eight years.


So yeah, having a great story is great for a book, but having a great message is also great, and that is the case with Carl Deuker's Gym Candy.

Second Chance
1st publication's cover

And btw, Gym Candy features a running back as the main character. Like you would think it would. Coy's Crackback and my football book, Second Chance feature a defensive back as the main character. So that was interesting to me. Bottom line is this: Crackback and Gym Candy are great books. And not just for MG/YA audiences. For all audiences, like Second Chance. Here's to hoping Second Chance gets a second chance at publication.

Fingers crossed.

Crackback by John Coy is a good book

Crackback by John Coy is a good book to read. It's about a high school football player but you don't have to like football to like the book. It seems to target the high school reader which would make it an MG/YA book as far as genre is concerned. And John Coy is a great writer for that genre.

What makes it more interesting to me is that the main character in Crackback is a defensive back like the main character in my football book, Second Chance. You would think that football stories might feature quarterbacks, like Troy Aikman and Tom Brady, or running backs like Emmitt Smith and Barry Sanders. But no. It's a defensive back. Like Tony Belmont in Second Chance.


The difference is the main character in Crackback is a high school player. Whereas the main character in Second Chance is an adult playing with high school players. Of course that turns out to be a big mistake, as he finds out. But that's the story in Second Chance. That's the plot. And what a story it is. What a plot. And throughout the story I cover several different football games. Not just high school football games. There's a pick up game in the beginning and then there's some city-run flag football games too, because the main character, Tony Belmont works in the city's parks and recreation department, and they run the flag football leagues. I played in those leagues for three or four years, so that's where I got the idea for that.

And I cover the games with a lot of detail. All of them. Anyone who ever played football will appreciate the way I relay those games to the reader. It's like you're actually in the game playing. I must say that my style of writing is not necessarily for high school kids. Not if John Coy's book is the template for high school readers. My book, Second Chance, reads like my other books.

That's not to say a high school reader can't understand it. It might be geared for a high IQ high school reader, but who said some high school kids don't have high IQs? Yes, even football players can and do have high IQs. And it's probably those high IQ types who read in the first place.

As for Crackback, it's a very easy book to read. Even if you can't read well. Clearly, the author, John Coy, deliberately made it readable for all kids. Which is good thinking on his part. What's the use of writing a book for kids if kids can't read it? But you don't have to be a kid to enjoy Crackback. It's a football story, like Second Chance, but it's also a story about a teen boy going through the trials and tribulations of high school life.

And that high school life includes the acne, the girlfriends, the parents, the uncles, the other boys in the school, the pranks they play, the teachers, and their classes, and homework. The whole picture of high school life is depicted in Crackback, and Mr. Coy didn't miss a thing. Makes you remember your own high school days. Almost to a tee.

As for Second Chance, Tony Belmont only interacts with high schoolers on the football field. He's not into teen-aged stuff, since he's no longer a teenager. But everything catches up to him. I'ts what makes the story interesting.

So now that the first publisher went out of business, I'm hoping Second Chance will get a  new publisher. Whether that will be JustFiction Edition or some other publisher remains to be seen.

Zulu War Enthusiasts - the Nicest People in the World

In a couple Zulu War forums, online, I have posted about the imminent release of John Dunn; Heart of a Zulu, and its availability for preorder on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. I have received some emails from some of the people on there, wishing me well, and expressing interest in the book.

I am amazed, really. These are people I've never met. These are people who don't know me from Adam. All they know is that I share a common interest (The Zulu War) with them, and I have written a book about it. It's stunning. So much niceness I can't say I've ever known. At least not from strangers.

I'm still overwhelmed, a year later, how the great Ian Knight was so kind to me. As was another man who is a reviewer for the British Army Magazine. And others who had contacted me back then when I first solicited for reviews. The nicest people anyone could ever know.

It goes to show. My guess is that most, if not all, of these Zulu War enthusiasts are from England, or South Africa, or Australia, etc. Let's just say they're mostly British people or of British descent. Whether they live in the UK, Australia, or South Africa isn't important. That they are such great people is important. I've never known a group of people so nice as they have shown to be.

It makes me glad I wrote this book. Today, for example I was contacted by a man whose family had adopted the great grandson of Prince Dabulamanzi. The man told me some things about what he had learned about Dabulamanzi, and I was glad to respond that those were indeed things that I had incorporated into my book. He said he wanted to write a review of the book which will appear on many websites. Hopefully that will prompt several sales. 

So moving along, I will continue to try and find websites or outlets of some kind that cater to enthusiasts of the Zulu War. I wonder if here in America, Civil War enthusiasts are just as nice. I've met some. One was a college professor I had at San Jose State. He was nice. Well, I got an A in his class. But I deserved that. I earned it. Whatever. He was still nice. Like I said. It goes to show...

John Dunn; Heart of a Zulu now available for preorder

Order your copy today. As of now, on Amazon and on Barnes & Noble online stores, you can preorder you copy of John Dunn; Heart of a Zulu. It's official release is July 11th. But you can get your copy shipped today if you order right now.

It's the book of the ages. At least for me. It's the book I've been writing about on this blog for at least three or four years now, maybe more. And though I didn't work on it continuously for that long, it really was a book five years in the making.

It's my longest book. My most researched book, and the only book I've written that's based on a true story. And what a story. If you liked the movies Little Big Man, or A Man Called Horse, or Dances With Wolves, then you will most assuredly like this book. Like those movies, it's about a white man who lived with the indigenous tribes. But these tribes weren't native Americans. They were native Africans. And unlike those movies, this story is a TRUE story.

Yes, the American public was fascinated with those stories. Who doesn't remember Dustin Hoffman growing up with the Cheyenne? And who doesn't remember Richard Harris living with the Sioux? And who doesn't remember Kevin Costner becoming one with the Sioux?

Well those were all fictitious stores. The REAL story was a man named John Dunn who lived with, became one with, and intermarried with native Africans, and not just any native Africans, but perhaps the most famous of all Native Africans -- the ZULU.

Only the Zulus managed to wage a war against the British Empire. And they had their share of success in doing it. Sure, the inevitable defeat came about, but still, no other tribe in Africa could have done what the Zulus did.

And John Dunn played a big role in it. For most of his life, he lived among the Zulus. He was a real person, in a real story, and now that story is available in a new Historical novel. Order John Dunn; Heart of a Zulu from Barnes and Noble or Amazon today!

John Dunn; Heart of a Zulu almost ready

My publisher contacted me today, telling me the pre-orders for my John Dunn book are almost ready. Readers can go to Amazon.com or Barnes and Nobles online, but not quite yet. For now, I'm ordering some copies directly from my publisher, along with (I hope) some copies of my football book, Second Chance.

And the reason for that is I would like to do the overdue bookstore signing. It's where an author promotes his book(s) of course. There's not a lot of bookstores anymore. Three Barnes and Nobles were near me some years ago, and now only one remains. That's the result of online shopping I guess. Which is a shame. The old "brick and mortar" bookstores as they are called now. They are few and far between now.

I prefer the "brick and mortar" stores, really. I know that online you can browse from the comfort of your own home, in your underwear, or whatever, and buy whatever catches your fancy with an order online, with shipping costs, and the ever present tax. But what about browsing through real books, looking at covers and reading the back cover, and maybe an excerpt from within?

Oh, yeah. You can do all of that online, too. I guess the only thing you can't do online is take a physical book to the check out stand and pay the cashier and have it immediately. Online you pay with your credit card and then wait for the book to come in the mail. Thus the shipping charge.

Either way, the money doesn't come to me. Or very little of it does. The publisher, being the one who put up the money to publish the book, gets the lion's share. Then of course the online sites take their cut. Which leaves precious little money for the author. But that's the way of things.

The big money for the author is when Hollywood comes calling. Which is why I've wondered aloud often here on the blog about that happening. And in my mind's eye, and the blog's eye, I've considered actors and actresses to play the roles of the characters in my books.

As for the John Dunn book? I've already picked an actor for Dunn. Henry Cavill, or course. And his first wife, Catherine Pierce? Candace Patton from the Flash TV show. They are a match made in Hollywood, if you ask me. Well, for the lead male and female roles in my John Dunn book anyway.

I'll keep you posted when the online ordering is ready. Stay tuned.

Galley was good, but there's always something

Like I said, there's always something, and the more you look the more you find. First I found the space in the word presented. Then I found a missing end quote. Today I found an indentation that was further than the normal. Anyone might consider these to be typical typos. But the funny thing is, all three of these "typos" were not in the file I sent from which the PDF file was converted.

I guess things like that happen, which is why the author is supposed to check for it. In the process of checking, I found the name Utshingwayo used twice before he was supposed to be introduced to the story, and before that I found an s was used for the plural of the word  Zulu in a dialogue where the language was isiZulu. I advised Dana of all these in the hopes that she will correct them before the printing begins.

Actually, I haven't advised her yet of the indentation error. I will wait on that until tomorrow, because today I already sent an email about the name Utshingwayo. If that can be changed to the name Qetuka, it will be fine. But I don't want to inundate her with more than one email in a day, so I'll wait until tomorrow for the indentation thing.

And since tomorrow is the last day of April, and the day all files are supposed to be completed, I'm hoping all corrections will be made and I can be confident the John Dunn book is error-free once and for all, and ready for printing.  Fingers crossed for that.

I really will be satisfied if the John Dunn book is as error-free as my Killer of Killers book. And all before it's publication, too. It took a second edition for the Killer of Killers book to be error-free. But I'm okay with that. I'm a perfectionist. As all artists are, or should be. And being so, I take pride in my art being perfect. Whether it's a book, a painting, drawing, or sculpture, or a musical composition, it's perfection for which I strive. Nothing less.

Because in art, perfection can be achieved. And if the artist isn't driven to achieve it, then why the heck would anyone want to check it out? They wouldn't. Without total commitment to his or her art, said art is not worth checking out. Whether it's a drawing, painting, sculpture, book, or song. That's the way it is, and that's the way it should be.

Waiting for the next Dustin Clare Movie

Dustin Clare. Where the heck is he?

This is not the best photo of Dustin Clare, but with the proper director, I believe he could make a great Trent Smith, the world's greatest martial artist, as portrayed in the novels Killer of Killers and Killer Eyes. After all, he stole the show in Spartacus, in which he played Gannicus, a champion gladiator in Ancient Rome. And because he portrayed a very convincing champion gladiator, I believe he could play a very convincing martial arts champion, too.

But where is Dustin Clare? He had a very small part in the TV show Strike Back. A very small part. Pretty much insignificant. But at least it was an appearance. Where the heck is he? I mean in the popular STARZ TV show Spartacus, this guy STOLE the show. He was great in that show, and he did steal the show. No other actor held a candle to him. I would have thought his performance would have drawn the notice of some movie producers. But apparently no movie producers were watching.

Meanwhile, actors like Jason Statham, Matt Damon, Keanu Reeves, and Vin Diesel, keep rolling along with tough guy parts in movie after movie. Even old guys like Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Bruce Willis keep playing tough guys despite the fact they're past their prime.

I know Dustin Clare has fans out there. He's got plenty of fans who clearly wish he'd be in some other role than the insignificant parts he's been scraping off the bottom of the movie role barrels since the final cut of Spartacus. Maybe he just needs the right vehicle. And my two Killer stories could be it for him. In Killer of Killers, the world is introduced to Trent Smith, the greatest martial artist since Bruce Lee. I even paid Lee a mention in the book as a sort of honor to his memory.

The story doesn't end there. It picks up in the sequel Killer Eyes, in which Trent meets a pretty tough chick, of whom I gave mention in yesterday's post. It could go on. I may or may not write a third Killer book. I've been so focused on my John Dunn book of late, I haven't paid it much thought. I did start a third one, but that doesn't mean I'll finish it. Maybe I will.

In the meantime, I'd like to see Dustin Clare kick some ass in another movie besides Spartacus reruns. Killer of Killers would be perfect for him. or maybe, as one reviewer put it, the role should go to a REAL martial arts champion. Well, I can't argue with that. It's all about the acting. Or maybe it isn't. After all Bruce Lee wasn't coming down with any Oscars for his movies. But he didn't have to act when it came to fight scenes. That was his expertise. But it doesn't matter. Whoever Dustin Clare's agent is, he's got to get his ass in gear, and get Dustin into another TV show or movie.

What's he waiting for?

The Preface to John Dunn Heart of a Zulu

As I said I would do in yesterday's blog post, I have cut and pasted the Preface to my soon to be released book John Dunn Heart of a Zulu. A Preface is supposed to pique curiosity in a potential reader. I hope it succeeds. I think it will be a couple months before the book comes out. I'll have a better idea on that when my publisher sends the new publishing schedule on Monday. So without further ado, here it is, the Preface to my upcoming book, John Dunn; Heart of a Zulu:

Preface

      It was a 1990’s documentary about the Anglo-Zulu War in which I first heard of John Dunn. I was intrigued to learn about a white man who was born in Africa, lived with the natives, and advised a Zulu king. And the more I learned, the more his fantastic story struck me like an African version of an epic tale from the American West.

      Fictitious stories of a white man living with Native Americans have been featured in Hollywood movies for years. Little Big Man, A Man Called Horse, and Dances with Wolves come to mind. Although John Dunn: Heart of a Zulu is a work of historical fiction, most of the events in the story are true, and I believe the overall storyline captures the essence of who John Dunn was and what he experienced in the years between 1856 and 1879.

      During that time period there were two Ondini kraals in Zululand. The original Ondini kraal was located near the coast at Hlalangubo. The royal kraal at Ulundi, which Cetshwayo built after his coronation, was also called Ondini. It was located within sight of Nodwengo on the Mahlabatini Plain. Because portions of the story take place in each—and to distinguish one from the other—I opted to retain the Ondini name for the original Ondini kraal near the coast and use the name Ulundi for the royal kraal on the Mahlabatini Plain.

      I used Zulu words frequently in the story, which brings me to the issue of spelling. During my research, I discovered that different literary sources contained different spelling of Zulu words and Zulu names. In fact, almost every Zulu word and Zulu name I encountered had been spelled differently in different texts, books, and online material. For this reason I included a glossary in which I listed the isiZulu nouns used in the story. I did not include proper nouns on this list. I did, however, include a separate list of the historical characters—British, Zulus, and colonists—who play important roles in the story.

      As the primary source in the writing of this story, I used John Dunn’s autobiography John Dunn, Cetywayo, and the Three Generals as edited by D. C. F. Moodie. As a secondary source, I used Cetshwayo’s notes from A Zulu King Speaks as edited by C. de B. Webb and J. B. Wright. I also referenced Zulu Rising; The Epic Story of iSandlwana and Rorke’s Drift by Ian Knight, Who’s Who in the Anglo-Zulu War 1879 Volume 1: The British and Volume 2: Colonials and Zulus by Adrian Greaves and Ian Knight, The Washing of the Spears by Donald R. Morris, Like Lions They Fought by Robert B. Edgerton, The Zulu War by Angus McBride, and Charles Ballard’s thesis on John Dunn, (courtesy of the local History Museum, Durban.)

      My objective in the writing of this book is singular: to entertain the reader. Thus, this work should not be used for research purposes or as source material for any historical information on the period or the people included therein.

No "Foreward" for Fiction - but yes to a "Preface"

You don't put a Foreward in a fiction book. I read that you can, but it's not typical. Mostly the Foreward is written for nonfiction books and by another author, meaning not the same author who wrote the book. This other author is supposed to be well known and highly regarded in whatever genre the book falls into. The well known author is supposed to have a high opinion of the book. This author, perhaps, is not even an author, but an authority in the field in which the book is written. And as such, this person believes the book is good enough to meet his or her standards and is worth the price of purchase and therefore is worth reading.

For my book John Dunn Heart of a Zulu, I don't want a Foreward. First of all, it's not a nonfiction book, so it should not have one. The alternative is a "Preface." A fiction book, particularly an Historical Fiction book should have a Preface not a Foreward. A "Preface" is something that the author of the book has written him/herself. And in this "Preface" the author writes things like why he or she wrote the book, what inspired him or her, and who might have helped him or her, so that means the acknowledgments can go in there, too.

A Preface isn't necessary, really, as it's not a required part of any book. But for Historical Fiction, I have come to believe that having a Preface is preferable to not having one. Other fiction books, like Thrillers, Suspense, Horror, Romance, etc, don't need a Preface. But Historical Fiction, in my opinion, is better if you have one. Especially if that particular Historical Fiction is based on a true story, in a true time period, involving events that are true and global, like wars and such.

Even though the Anglo-Zulu War didn't involve anyone in America, it was still "global" in the sense that it affected people on two different continents. So yes, my book John Dunn, Heart of a Zulu does have a "Preface." Since it's based on the true story of John Dunn, and involves the true events leading up to and including the Zulu War, I'd say it's global. Totally.

I will be perfecting my Preface today. Fortunately my publisher has just advised its authors that the new publishing schedule is going to be sent out this coming Monday. I replied that I had taken advantage of this extra time perfecting the manuscript. Which I am still doing. So I will let everyone reading this know when the updated schedule is in and when to expect the updated publication date of John Dunn Heart of a Zulu.

In the meantime I will be perfecting the Preface. Perhaps I will post the Preface here on the blog to give my readers a "sneak peek." It's just the Preface after all. but another purpose of the Preface is to intrigue potential readers, and make them interested in reading and buying the book. So I think I'll do it. So check it out. It should be posted on here tomorrow. Until then.

Fiction vs. Reality

I was so bothered by that movie Patriot's Day which showed the Islamist terrorists doing their dirty deeds. But my own book, The Vase has Islamic terrorists, too. But The Vase is fiction. The terrorists in The Vase are fictitious. All deaths that occur in The Vase are fictitious deaths. And because it's all fictitious, it's entertainment. That was one of my points in yesterday's post. Fiction vs. reality.

Sometimes fiction represents reality. Like the movie Patriot's Day. It represented real events. Those deaths and maiming really did happen. Sure war movies that depict real battles could be considered representations of reality. Like the movies that are about real battles. The movie Zulu, starring Michael Caine is one of those. I mention that one because that movie is about the battle at Rorke's Drift, which took place during the Anglo Zulu War. It really happened.

So those actors in the movie Zulu did represent real people, and many of those people did get killed. But that was like a hundred and fifty years ago. And my soon to be released book John Dunn; Heart of a Zulu will have not just the battle at Rorke's Drift in it, but three other battles from that war, too. And all were real battles and the people who fought those battles were real people. I included real English soldiers and real Zulu warriors in the book. And of course, John Dunn was real.

So what is entertainment? When it comes to books, a good plot with action, conflict, humor, and good writing is necessary to be good. What I don't like is something too outlandish, or too far-fetched. I've complained often that a female fighter beating up every male fighter she comes across is a little too far-fetched. I still don't accept the premise of these super female fighters wholeheartedly. It's too far-fetched. I still believe a woman can be a strong character without resorting to fighting and killing. To me, fighting and killing is a male thing. Using your head intelligently, however, to solve problems in ways that don't involve violence is not just a male thing. It is also a female thing. And I might wager it's the superior way.

So why wouldn't a story feature a strong woman who solves problems with her intelligence rather than with guns? In my book, John Dunn, Catherine Pierce is such a woman. Why does Hollywood seem to think women have to be violent? I say women don't have to be violent. And I say I'm right. Is there anyone who disagrees with me? I didn't think so.

Rewriting The Vase

With another chance to find a publisher for The Vase, I am taking this opportunity to improve it even more than I already had over the years. Well, I'm not really rewriting The Vase. I'm just making sure all of the prose is as it should be. I've spent the past couple days reworking the first page. And a lot of that was just the first paragraph.

There was nothing wrong with the writing. It's just that it could have been better. And I'm making it better. It was the second book I had written. And it was the book where I really learned how to write a novel. I remember when I wrote my first book, Killer of Killers. I had to have my publisher republish it with a second edition, because after I learned so much with The Vase, I wanted to go back and redo Killer of Killers. I was fortunate my publisher for Killer of Killers was willing to put out a second edition. It's so much better than the first edition in terms of correct POV and such.

The Vase was good for POV and all, but the editor for that publisher had his own ideas of how to present the story, and I wasn't in full agreement. I didn't argue with him, but now that that publisher has folded, and I'm seeking a new publisher, I want to rewrite the parts that he had changed, and make them the way I had originally wanted them. Maybe not all the parts, but some anyway.

Mostly with this rewriting, I'm just maximizing the writing style. If there is something that I'm not satisfied with I will rework it and rework it until I am satisfied. After all, The Vase is the most original story of all stories. Not just stories that I had written. I mean of ALL stories ever written. No other story in film, books, or TV feature the concept of ancient historical scenes being recorded in the grooves of ancient vases. And the fact that one of those scenes is straight out of the New Testament makes the story in The Vase more intriguing that any other story you can imagine. Why? Because it presents proof that Jesus Christ really existed, and more to the point, it's proof that Jesus Christ really existed in the way that the New Testament presented him as existing.

So for those reasons, The Vase should have maximum appeal, not just to Christians, but to all peoples of the world. In fact, the main characters in The Vase are not even Christian. They are Jews and Muslims. There's just one Christian in the book, and that's the Pope, who really only makes a cameo appearance in the story's climax. So yeah, the book should appeal to all people and to all faiths of the world. Well, there are no Buddhists or Hindus, but that doesn't mean they can't enjoy the story too.

The strange thing to me is that I'm taking so long just to rewrite a single page. That's how intense I am about making this book as good as humanly possible. I did that for my Killer books and I did that for John Dunn. Actually, I may go back to the John Dunn book, because it seems that Dana of KRP is yet to have time to edit it. I submitted it last Monday, but she's not had time to get to it yet.

That means I will have more time to see if there is anything more I can do for it. I did everything I could think of already, but you never know. There's always something. I'll get back to it after I'm done revising The Vase. That is if Dana still hasn't edited it yet. And if she has, that just means I'll have one more shot at it myself.

So that's the latest update on my books. This year will be another big year for me. Can't wait.

Martial Arts Stories Rule

I've always loved stories about martial arts experts. More to the point, I've always liked characters who have displayed unusual talent in many different areas. But they have to be tough. Like the typical Hollywood tough guy from years ago. When I was a kid there were a lot of them.

Clint Eastwood was terrific as "the Man with No Name." Yeah, I'm talking about the spaghetti westerns. He was cool as Dirty Harry, too.

But the list goes on when referring to tough guy actors from the sixties. Sean Connery was tops as James Bond, of course. William Shatner is the one and only James Kirk, and hands down the best ever starship captain. Robert Conrad is the only James West.

Robert Mitchum was a tough guy's tough guy, as was Anthony Quinn, James Coburn, Charlton Heston, and Charles Bronson. These guys make today's wannabe tough guys look like cupcakes.

Of course, you have the classic tough guys like John Wayne, Burt Lancaster, Robert Ryan, and Kirk Douglas.

Then you have the suave tough guys. Sean Connery would be in this category too. (He's the only one who makes both lists.) But included in this list you have guys like Robert Vaughn, Robert Redford, and Yul Brynner.

 These guys are tough guys that actually LOOK like tough guys. There are other guys who've PLAYED tough guys, but in my book they don't cut it. This might offend some people, but to ME they don't look so tough. They include Humphrey Bogart, James Cagney, Richard Widmark, and Edward G.
Robinson. Those guys don't look like they can beat up my mother-in-law. But the other dudes? Those guys are badass dudes. I didn't list them in any particular order. It's just that the good old days of real tough guys is over. Today you have softies pretending to be tough guys.

Sometimes they can pull it off. Brad Pitt made a decent Achilles in the otherwise horrible movie Troy. Vin Diesel makes a good tough guy in his movies, and Jason Statham is an authentic tough guy in his movies, but that's about it. I'm hoping Dustin Clare can be a tough guy, too. He was the best actor in the recent Spartacus show, and I've blogged often that he might be a great Trent Smith in my novels, Killer of Killers and Killer Eyes. What does the future hold?
We'll see.

Improved Map of Zululand

I've made some improvements on my Zululand map. I made the locations of iSandlwana and Rorke's Drift more accurate for one thing. And I positioned the text for the Buffalo River better. I also added the location of the Mangeni River. No other map that I've seen had that river on it. I thought it was important to include the Mangeni River, because it played a role in the famous battle at iSandlwana.

Major Dartnell had his mounted division patrolling in the vicinity of the Mangeni River when he located a regiment of Zulus. It was then Lord Chelmsford divided his 3rd Column to reinforce Dartnell, and of course as any Zulu War enthusiast knows, that's when the Zuluas attacked the British camp at Isandlwana. And then other Zulu regiments attacked Rorke's Drift.

So all three changes to my map are directly related to the Battle of iSandlwana, and the subsequent battle at Rorke's Drift. So here's the  map. Can't wait to see how it looks in the book.

Sports - Africa - Books

I have two books coming out soon. One is a a sports book and one is a book that takes place in Africa. The sports book, Second Chance, a Football Story, is a novel about football. So if you like football, you'll like the story. If you don't like football, you'll still like the story.

A lot of guys and girls too, btw, like playing football at the park on the weekend. Or they sign up to play flag football with teams from their jobs or just with their friends. I have pick up games in the book, and park games, and high school games, too.

The story is about a former high school football player, but he plays in pickup games, and refs the park and rec games. There are a lot of fun characters in the story. There's Tony Belmont, the MC, and his girlfriend, Cindy, his best friend, Jimmy Nolan, and the gang of friends that play together in the pickup games: Sean, Rocky, and Joe. These are names from my past. Guys I played football with and against.

The African book is based on a true story. If you have an interest in the Anglo-Zulu War, you'll find this book very interesting. The main character is a true historical character. He's John Dunn and the story is about him. Basically, it's the true story of John Dunn. Still, there's some fiction in it, but John Dunn and the Zulu War are not fiction.

There's a large number of Zulu War enthusiasts out there, just as there are American Civil War enthusiasts. But the number of novels about the Zulu War are far fewer than novels about the Civil War. I hope my book will fill that void.

I'm working harder on this book than I have on any other book. It's longer than any other book I've written, and it may end up being my last book. It depends on a few things, but the time and effort I've put into this book is mindboggling. All the research, the real settings, the real people, getting everything right is far more difficult than any book that's about characters that an author just made up.

It's not like I didn't have to research anything about high school football, I did. But it's not as deep as a book about real people and real events. That's got to be done right. So we'll see.

Second Chance is due out in a couple weeks. John Dunn is due out in a couple months. I hope you will purchase both of them. Stay tuned.

Bookstore Signing - Library talk

I would like to appear at a bookstore for a book signing day. That way, I might promote sales of my upcoming book Second Chance. I'll include my other two books, Killer of Killers and Killer Eyes. If John Dunn is out by then I'd like to include that one too. The Vase is not available right now, so no use having that one there. But with the three books already under my belt, it should be good. Although the genres are strictly different. Sports and Martial Arts Thrillers.

But that doesn't matter. If I have John Dunn, Heart of a Zulu there in addition to the others, it will feature three distinctly different genres. And if I have The Vase there, it would be four. I suppose the only thing that matters is will anyone be there to buy a book? I would hope that on any given day there would be, and on a day when buyers can get the signature of the author it will make a difference. I've seen people coming to these kind of events just to get an author's signature. So there you go.

Will keep you posted.

Created a Map of Zululand

Most every book I've read about the Zulus and the Anglo-Zulu War has included a map of the area. Sometimes two maps or more. I wanted to have a map included in my upcoming book, John Dunn, Heart of a Zulu, as well. But I didn't want to trace any other maps, or copy them. I wanted it to be all original art by me.

So I google-mapped South Africa and traced the satellite image of the region, particularly the rivers, towns, and Zulu kraals which factor prominently in the story. And of course the battle sites. I had to do a lot of research to locate the positions of some of the Zulu kraals which had not been included in any map that I had ever seen. Particularly Cetshwayo's two kraals, Ondini and Mangweni. I'm wondering if any of the prior authors even knew where they were. I have to believe they did, but for whatever reason they weren't in any of their maps.

One point about the kraal called Ondini. The name Ondini was given to two of Cetshwayo's kraals. One was before he became king. According to John Dunn, in his autobiography, John Dunn, Cetywayo, and the Three Generals, the original Ondini kraal was in the vicinity of Eshowe and "near the coast."  Eshowe is on every map I've seen, and is still in existence in modern day Zululand.

But again, Mangweni and the original Ondini were never portrayed. I researched and learned where the Mangweni kraal was and I'm confident I have positioned it correctly. As for the original Ondini kraal, I believe I positioned it correctly as well.

The second Ondini kraal was Cetshwayo's royal  kraal he built after he became king, and it's also called Ulundi. No problem for finding that location since the final battle of the war was fought there. Thank goodness for computers and the ability to make my map look professional. The final version is completely rendered on the computer. It will be an excellent map to which readers can refer when reading the story. Look for John Dunn, Heart of a Zulu this coming this November!