Penumbra Publishing Going Under

Received notice recently that Penumbra Publishing will be undergoing a "business model change" whatever that means. But the bottom line as far as I'm concerned will be that it's no longer going to be a publisher. Which means the rights to all of their books will be released to their respective authors.

So as soon as this summer, Penumbra will no longer be the publisher for The Vase. Which is somewhat coincidental. This summer will be the debut of my new publisher, Knox Robinson Publishing, which is publishing Second Chance in August, and then Heart of a Zulu in November. I suppose I can offer The Vase to them, and all will go on as before.

But with KRP publishing two books of mine already this year, I'll no doubt have to wait until 2017 for The Vase to be published. Sheesh, The Vase has gone through the ringers. Here's the history of The Vase. First, it was accepted for publication by Aberdeen Bay which is another POD publisher. I didn't accept that contract. Instead I went with Virtual Tales, and signed a contract with them.

But then Virtual Tales underwent their own problems and released the rights back to me. Then Cogito Media offered a contract for The Vase and I signed it. But then during the editing stage, several of the Cogito staff, including my editor and the acquisitions director resigned and the editor even told me she was suing Cogito. So much for them.

Since Cogito broke the terms of their own contract, I went ahead and signed with Penumbra. All went well for a while, even better than well, since I learned a heck of a lot from a man named Grayson Little who taught me all the finer points of writing novels in the 21st Century. And in case you didn't know, writing novels today is a lot different than writing novels in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries. I applied that knowledge to all of my novels. Thus my style is up to par with what is expected in novels today. And that was all thanks to Grayson Little.

Okay. So that was then and this is now. I will request a letter from Penumbra which will signify that all rights to The Vase are reverted to me. Then I'll ask KRP if they want to publish The Vase. But first, I'll use this opportunity to improve the writing even more. That is always something I like to do. Use every chance I get to make the writing even better.

So I'll make it as good as I can, and then move on. First, however, I'm making Second Chance as good as it can be, and then I'll do the same for John Dunn, Heart of a Zulu. They will be awesome books, and I can't wait for those to be published. Stay tuned.

Eternal Life and/or Immortality in Literature

In movies and literature, the concept of immortality is used often. You see it everywhere. Of course, ancient civilizations celebrated the concept with their mythic gods. The Greek gods, the Norse gods, and other mythic gods of which I'm less familiar, but the concept of immortality is ever present in them all. Then of course, you have the Christian belief in the resurrection of Christ and being "saved" by Christ will grant everlasting life. That one's in the Bible.

And over the years, the concept has been revisited time and again in the movies, in books, and the way to which this is brought about is through various means. Technology, magic, science, and the good old vampire methods, which began with Dracula. Actually, the vampire storyline has entertained the eternal life concept over and over. You had Barnabus Collins, in Dark Shadows, and countless other variations of the vampire story, up to and including the horrible Twilight series which warped and twisted the mythos in a horrible way. But whatever. The vampire thing has been made into more movies and more books than any other twist on the immortality concept.

Then you have zombies, but that's not really immortality. They're dead! Just reanimated. They're walking dead bodies, like the TV show calls them. The Walking Dead.

The first time I saw the concept of eternal life and/or eternal youth in the movies, other than the Greek gods, and Christianity, was the movie "She" which starred Ursula Andress as an Egyptian queen who had bathed in a magical fire, which gave her eternal youth. I was intrigued by that movie, and I had never forgotten it. The premise was great. The fire was caused by a meteor that struck earth in a remote area, which resulted in a temporary blue fire. And if you walk into that fire, your body is changed to where it never ages from that point on. The meteor strikes once every five thousand years or so. But the blue fire only lasts about ten minutes. Of course, the Egyptian queen met a ghastly end at the climax of the movie, when the meteor struck again. It turned out that going into the blue fire a second time takes away your immortality. Sorry for the spoiler. But the handsome protagonist, who was also the love interest of the queen had the opportunity to bathe in the flames himself for the first time. And so he gets immortality. But without the love interest, what was the point of living forever? That was the paradox.

Anyway, it's a concept that fascinates all of us. We love life. We don't want to give it up. We would love the opportunity to live forever, as young men or women, in our prime. And that concept is in my Killer Series. Killer of Killers and Killer Eyes. So if you haven't read my Killer Series, I should tell you it's more than just a martial arts action adventure. It's more than just a love story between Trent Smith and Samantha Jones. It has to do with the drug named Eternity. Yeah, the Eternity Drug. It stops aging. How? It's explained in a very scientific way. I researched the concept and came up with the most logical way for science to conquer the aging problem. I ought to get a patent on it, really, because the way I explain it in the book makes sense. Why haven't the scientific experts figured it out? I gave them a head start in the book, so maybe they will.

So you might ask what happens to Trent Smith in the book? You'll have to read both of them to find out. The story is wrapped up in Killer Eyes. But that doesn't mean the story can't continue in a third episode. Read Killer of Killers and Killer Eyes. It's a new and fresh take on the age old concept of Immortality. And in my opinion, it's the best take on the concept of eternal life, eternal youth, and immortality that has ever been written. Imo.

Second Chance nearing publication date

It's May already, and August is approaching fast. August is the month my fourth novel will be published, Second Chance, a Football Story. But Second Chance is not the fourth novel I've written. That would be John Dunn, Heart of a Zulu. That one is being published in November.

The reason is simple. August is the month football season begins, and football fans are thinking about football. I am in that club. I've been a lover of football for almost as far back as I can remember. Since I was a little tyke. I remember being about seven or eight years old when I would watch football games on my parents' black and white TV. I would watch whatever game was on. College or pro, I couldn't tell the difference back then. It was football. And I loved watching it on TV.

Then I started playing. I was only eight or so when I was playing in a game with high school boys. They were all giants to me, but I was out there running around being in the game. Those boys were nice enough to let me believe I was on their team. They never threw me a pass, but that doesn't mean I didn't make plays.

I did make a couple plays that I remember to this day. I remembered from watching those football games on TV, defensive players would bring down an opposing runner by throwing themselves horizontally at the runner's feet, and then the runner would trip over them and fall down. Now that's not the proper technique of tackling, and it's not taught by any coach, but it worked, and I took that knowledge with me into that football game.

So I was only about half the size of these older boys, and it was a defensive play, where the opposing team ran a sweep around the left end. (My left, that is.) Remembering that type of tackling technique, I ran out there to meet the runner, and I threw my body horizontally at the runner's feet. Sure enough that guy tripped over my body, and I made the tackle! I felt great for having tackled a much older boy who was easily twice my size in both height and weight.

I was proud of myself for doing that. The boys on my team were impressed by my fearless act. But it didn't stop there. Now, again, those boys were never going to throw me a pass on offense, but I'm out there running patterns anyway. And on one particular play, a pass got deflected high into the air. I was in the perfect position to catch the deflected ball on the run. And I did.

So I'm running for the end zone, but being a little kid, the high school boys were a lot faster than I was. But one of the boys on my team made a block that enabled me to go all the way. Of course, it was a great feeling. In that game with the big boys, I made a solo tackle, and I scored a touchdown. The players were not patronizing in the least. It was all legit.

Well, I grew up, and my football career had successes and disappointments, and ultimately I wrote my football story. It's called Second Chance - A Football Story. It's not my football story, mind you. But it is a football story that came to me in a dream. I woke up and wrote it down, and now it's a novel that will be published this August. Right on time for football season.

Stay tuned people. It's another book coming to you from your friendly neighborhood author: Mark M. DeRobertis. The author of two martial arts action adventures, one suspense story in the Middle East, one Historical Fiction based on the true story of John Dunn in South Africa during the Nineteenth Century, and a contemporary football story.

So what's next? Maybe my MG/YA thriller/fantasy or my third Killer installment. We'll see.

Jon Snow Back to Life in Game of Thrones

Talking about characters and heroes dying, well last night Game of Thrones brought back a character. Yeah, brought him back to life. I am glad Jon Snow is back, but the way it happened was kind of simple. A well known witch, who had said she did not have the power to raise the dead, was talked into trying to raise Jon Snow from the dead.

Okay, so she goes and wipes the Jon Snow corpse clean of the blood, which I was thinking at the time that the dudes in there should have already done that. Whatever. Then she puts her hands on the corpse's torso and prays in some unknown language. After finishing, she leaves, thinking she failed, and so does everyone else. Then, of course a zoom in of Jon Snow's body shows his eyes suddenly open. Come on. As simple as that? The witch simply prays and then the body comes back to life? To me, it's not very good writing.

No. For something as extravagant as coming back from the dead, there should have been something extravagant in the way it was made to happen. I would have had the witch slice her wrists open and drip her own blood into the wounds, but only after taking some magical potion, which, of course turns her blood into a life renewing substance. And then using some kind of mystical light, since, you know, her god is called the "god of light."  That would have been a little more dramatic. And maybe a bit more mumbo jumbo thrown in for good measure.

But the way they did it was just too trite. For me. It was a lack of imagination. But I'm glad the guy's back. Let's see if he's the same guy or changed for the better or changed for the worse. I hope he's not changed, unless it is for the better. We'll have to see how that plays out.

As for Cersei, it seems she might be changing into a good person. Like her brother did. You would have thought that she would be filled with hate and thirsting for revenge against all the people who wronged her, but no. She seems humbled and at peace with herself. That was refreshing. I liked it. Maybe she's changing into a good person. I also like that Jamie, her brother is a good guy now. They were both pretty evil people back when the show started, but I like it when villains turn into good guys. I remember in the 60s when professional wrestling had good guys and bad guys, and every now and then the bad guys would become good guys.

No, I'm not a pro wrestling fan, never have been. I just remember names like Pepper Gomez and Ray Stevens. They were on TV a lot, and as a very young boy, (very young) I did watch them sometimes. I can't remember which ones were the villains and which ones were the good guys, but it was nice when the villains became good guys. It's cool in the movies, and TV shows. too. Let's see what happens next.

Game of Thrones - The Characters Die

I like to watch exciting shows on TV or the movies, and the main reason for that is to see great characters in action. It's why Batman, Superman, Spider-man, The X-Men, James Bond, etc. are popular stories. But when you kill off the great characters, what then? No more stories.

So this is why I'm mostly not a fan of Game of Thrones. Yeah, I'm watching it anyway. But my favorite characters in that show are all dead. So now what?

My favorite character in GOT was Ned Stark. He was killed off in the first season. My next favorite character was Robb Stark. They killed him, too. I liked Lady Stark. They killed her. I liked Jon Snow. They killed him, too. I liked Tywin Lannister. He got killed. I liked Oberon Martell. He got killed. I liked Robert Barratheon. He got killed. I liked Stannis Barratheon. He got killed. I liked Myrcella and she got killed. And I liked that White Walker dude, and even he got killed!

Okay, I hated Joffrey. At least they killed him. But I also hate Denaeris. And there's no way they'll kill her. I hate those sister assassins in Dorne. They may or may not get killed. Have to wait on that one. And who doesn't hate Cersie? I think everyone does. But will she get killed? Probably not.

So who's left to like? I like Jamie Lannister. Which is weird. Because he was a hated character at first. Now, he's a good guy. Maybe because of Brienne the warrior woman. I like her, too, btw, and that could be a good pair in the future. Who knows? I never read the books. So I don't know. At least those two are still alive, but for how long?

I can't stand Arya Stark, and I'm sure she won't die. And her sister, whose name I forget, she won't die. And that fat dude who's got the chick from the Wildlings along with her baby. They are both very annoying characters, so I doubt they'll die. But they're not heroes. They're just filler characters imo. The only heroes left are Jamie Lannister, minus his right hand, and Brienne, the big warrior chick. I really do like them both. So if one or both of them get killed off, for me, there's no one left. It will be a hero-less show. And that won't be cool. Just have to keep watching and see what happens.

Game of Thrones is Back

So Game of Thrones season 6 premiered last night. I like the series overall, but individual episodes really are not self contained shows. Meaning if you were to watch a single episode, it wouldn't be very enjoyable. It's the conglomerate of shows, adding up to one episodic experience that makes Game of Thrones something to be watched. So if I had only seen last night's episode, it wouldn't have been something that made me think, "Wow, what a show. I've got to see all of those shows."

But as a continuing story, it is just another show. A lot of shows seem to be following that pattern. Not all shows. Walking Dead, for example, continues to make each individual show interesting unto itself. Banshee, too. But not Game of Thrones.

Many of the shows today continue to take their stories to places I don't agree with, and it is bothersome. But what are you going to do? Write your own story? That's a good idea. Write your own story. That way, the story will go the way you want it to go.

And talking about writing your own stories, I'm still improving Second Chance, and will continue to do so until it's published in August. Same thing with my John Dunn story. I'll keep improving that one until it's published in November. As for my other WIPs, they are pretty much on hold until the other two are done. Because now is the time to do it. Not later.

Banshee Falls from Grace

Watching this fourth and final season of Banshee has been a total disappointment. Total. I had said before that Banshee, after its first three seasons, had replaced Star Trek, tos, as my all time favorite TV show. The fourth season began on the wrong note, as I had said, but I was willing to see how it panned out. I've just watched the third episode, and it's not looking good.

First of all, the premiere episode of season four began with one of my favorite characters, Rebecca Bowman, already dead, slain by an apparent serial killer who had already killed two other girls, using the same disgusting MO. And we had to deal with the main character, Sheriff Lucas Hood no longer being the sheriff. He had slinked away, living like a mountain man, resembling Grisly Adams, with a full scruffy beard, long unkempt hair, and the works.

The story has it that he's feeling sorry for himself, blaming himself for his friend's kidnapping. Oh, he's so sorry that he gave up trying to find him. But it gets worse. Now, in episode three, Lucas is arrested for the murder of Rebecca Bowman. It's all bull crap writing. Shockingly bull crap writing. I mean, they changed everything I liked about the show.

To put this in perspective, it's as if Star Trek, tos, had a fourth season, (which it didn't,) but if it did, Captain James T. Kirk was no longer the captain of the Enterprise, wasn't even in Star Fleet anymore, was not a hero anymore, because he was living on some obscure planet all by himself, looking like Grisly Adams, and Lt. Uhura was murdered by a serial killer, and her dead body was dumped on some obscure planet naked and gutted like a fish. Meanwhile, Mr. Spock has been kidnapped by the Klingons, is being tortured, and no one but Nurse Chapel is trying to find out how to get him back. Scotty is the new captain of the Enterprise, and to top it all off, James Kirk is arrested for the murder of Lt. Uhura, as if no one could realize that, hey, um, serial murders are not something James Kirk would do. Yeah, see what I mean? It's total and complete Bull Crap.

No. No. No. Banshee has fallen from grace, and worse than that, it's fallen into the shit can. I've been dealing with my favorite shows doing things wrong with the writing, but usually, like Arrow, they somehow recover. I don't know how Banshee can recover from all this crap. I think it's impossible. Even if it does pull out of the shit can, it will still have that lingering shit smell on it. Which is too bad. I had liked it so much. But alas, Star Trek, tos, has now resumed its place, for me anyway, as my all time favorite TV show. Kudos to Star Trek, tos. Number one, now and forever.