Tag Archives: by your side

Blog, Opinion, Upcoming Projects

Ain’t Got No Razzle-Dazzle

Sun-Maid Raisins prints nuggets of advice or motivation on their box tops. It’s typically a random mix. However, every message this week has been the same.

SunMaid Raisins-Razzle Dazzle

I sure as hell don’t feel that I have much razzle-dazzle, but I’m flattered that someone thinks so and reminds me on a daily basis.

The past seven months have delivered a steady supply of crises and complications in my professional and personal lives, all of which have affected my health.

In late September 2022, a colleague at my day job died suddenly at the age of 42. The ripples of that loss have not yet abated. We’re still feeling it and stress levels have been high, but we’ve brought in help and made enormous strides. That’s all I can say about that.

Unfortunately, a few weeks before he died, I began experiencing a few health issues, which have since been exacerbated by extreme stress. I’m managing it with help, but I’ve been in a dark place for seven months and counting. Anxiety and depression have been frequent companions for most of my life, but this is worst they’ve ever been. Every day I hold onto hope that it will get better with time, patience, and taking the proper actions toward recovery.

Of course, recovery would me much easier were it not for for a recent family complication that has landed on my shoulders. Again, I can’t say much about it, but this could evolve into a critical situation in the near future and erode even more of my writing time.

Another complication that presented itself even before all of the above was the 2021 announcement from the small press that published my paranormal mystery novels (Testing the Prisoner, By Your Side, Like Mother, Like Daughters) that they closed shop and are no longer accepting submissions. Although they’re leaving all current titles on the market for the time being, they are no longer working with the writers to promote, run sales, or otherwise keep the books viable.

In light of this, I’m preparing to publish second editions of Testing the Prisoner (2009) and By Your Side (2012) over the next year. I’m taking the opportunity to re-edit both books, tweaking them just enough to strike a balance between my writing style of the time and my writing style today. Both will undergo a facelift with brand new covers by a local comic book artist.  As for Like Mother, Like Daughters (2018), I’ll tackle that once the first two are finished. Stay tuned for more info.

I am pleased to report that my detective story, “Pearl of Great Price,” will be included in the crime noir anthology, Hard-Boiled and Loaded with Sin by Hawkshaw Press (an imprint of Devil’s Party Press). The book is slated for release on June 26, 2023.

Hard-Boiled and Loaded with Sin Book Cover

Also, my science fiction comedy tale, “See You Around the Cosmos, Sweet Cheeks!” took Honorable Mention in the 2023 NFPW Communications Contest. Click here for more information about the National Federation of Press Women.

I was disappointed to learn that Delaware publisher Cat & Mouse Press retired their annual Rehoboth Beach Reads short story contest after ten years. The contest had a fantastic run and I was honored to have two stories published in the contest anthologies Beach Nights (2016) and Beach Secrets (2021). I also had two stories included in Beach Pulp (2019), an open call anthology that pays homage to the detective and SF pulp magazines of the 1930s and 1940s.

Finally, my YouTube channel has not been updated with new content  in nearly a year and is suffering from abandonment issues—again. I recorded a reading of “Pearl of Great Price,” which will posted to my channel when the book goes live in June or thereabouts. I plan to record other stories and updates that will go live soon as well.

That’s where I’ve been for the past several months. Peace of mind has been at an all time low, but as always, I press forward.

I hope all is well with you and yours and that you remain safe and healthy while navigating these bizarre and dangerous times.  Don’t lose your razzle-dazzle!

Articles, Blog, Gratitude, Technology, Writing and Publishing

Pass a Microsoft Exam, Buy a Car…

I’m excited and relieved to report that on Tuesday, May 31, I passed the second of three Microsoft exams toward my Enterprise Administrator Expert certification.  After taking the next week off to remind myself how it feels to have a life, I’ll begin studying for the third and final exam. If all goes well, I’ll schedule that for the end of July.

Later that same Tuesday, after months of research into various midsize SUVs, I traded in my 16-year-old Hyundai Santa Fe for a 2019 Hyundai Tucson. I’m still learning all of its “bells and whistles” and while it’s only a four-cylinder engine (where the Santa Fe was six), the Tucson is a smooth ride with excellent handling.

Hyundai Tucson
Pass a Microsoft exam, buy a car!

Hyundai Tucson

So what’s new on the writing front? Unfortunately, not much since the time I had previously dedicated to writing is now consumed by taking Microsoft courses and studying for exams.

However, I managed to complete a new ghost story in April called “Where the Skeletons are Buried” involving Miranda Lorensen, my psychic-medium character who was last seen in my 2018 novella, Like Mother, Like Daughters and her ghost hunting team introduced in my 2013 novel, By Your Side. Work with these characters again was like reuniting with old friends. “Where the Skeletons are Buried” is being shopped around.

I’m also re-outlining the next full length novel involving Miranda and her team. One of the original plot threads, while compelling, gave me pause in light of our current sociopolitical climate. The more I developed that part of the story, the greater was my discomfort. So, I scrapped it and am moving in a different direction.

Lastly, I’m waiting on responses about two different short stories from two different editors and a publisher that accepted a detective story from me last year for publication this year has completed their move from Delaware to California and should be ramping up their operations again in July.

Stay tuned for more updates on these projects.

Blog, Opinion, Works in Progress, Writing and Publishing

Getting Back on Track

So I recently finished a short story about a young man who buys a haunted Camaro—and inadvertently destroys the life of a paroled car thief. The story is now in the hands of critique partners and happens to be the only writing project that I actually finished this year. If you followed any of my previous updates, you’ll know that 2017 has kicked the shit out of me and in doing so, caused my writing output to plummet. 
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Going into 2017, I promised myself not to write any more short stories this year so I could focus on the first draft of the SF novel I started writing last year. Four chapters into the first draft by April 2016 and the novel ended up on the back burner for a home renovation, a Kickstarter to fund a new anthology, the release of said anthology, and writing six new short stories for contests and anthologies.
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As productive as that was and as proud as I am of those stories, the SF novel languished. Then came 2017 and I set my sights on finishing the first draft by December. Four more chapters were written between January and May… and the novel was again sidelined while I edited submissions to a new anthology, finished a month-long home renovation, then watched my summer collapse along with the roof at my workplace as a result of a severe storm. I want my summer back, damn it!
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So, to get my writing chops back in shape, I cranked out the aforementioned short story about the haunted car—just so I could feel good about finishing something this year.  I thought I would then return to the SF novel…
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Instead, I’ve spent the past week crafting the plot synopsis for my next full-length Miranda Lorensen novel. Almost there. I spent more time working on it in my sunroom this evening—and peeking up every so often to watch a tiny bunny roam around my neighbor’s shed. Who can resist bunnies?
If all goes as planned, this novel will tie directly to the novella that my publisher accepted back in June. The novella, Like Mother, Like Daughters, addresses some aspects of Miranda’s life mentioned in my novels Testing the Prisoner and By Your Side. 
 
I jotted down a quick jacket blurb for the novella recently. It needs work, but…
 
Psychic-medium Miranda Lorensen and her daughter Andrea set out for a “girls night of ghost hunting” at the home of Andrea’s closest friend, Wendy. When Andrea Lorensen stumbles over Wendy’s dead body in the woods, the shock triggers Andrea’s own latent abilities as a medium. Against her mother’s wishes, Andrea decides to ensnare Wendy’s killer with help from the other side.
Meanwhile, Miranda travels to Salem, Massachusetts to speak at a paranormal investigators conference. When she is invited to participate in a local ghost hunt, Miranda encounters a spirit that leads her to the truth about her past life.
Like Mother Like Daughters title
Now, hopefully, the novella will be released next year with the novel to follow a year or so later. My concern is that as of 2018, it will have been FIVE years since my last novel. Yikes!  
 
During that time, I’ve been focused on short stories and editing anthologies, which has proved fruitful. My publisher and I have released two volumes of the Middle of Eternity speculative fiction series, my work has placed high in a few local contests, and I’ve been published in a handful of other wonderful collections such as the ReDeus mythology series and Beach Nights. I firmly believe that short stories and novellas are nutritious parts of a well-balanced writing career. 
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As much fun as those projects have been, a few solo publications are definitely needed within the next year. While Miranda has earned a modest fan following–and several readers have contacted me to ask when to expect her next adventure–people have short memories these days so I hope all of this works out as planned! 
Blog, Book Signings, Writing Contest

Of Home Renovations, Work Disasters, and Book Signings…

In a previous post, I discussed the recent home renovation project that consumed most of June for me. I painted a large portion of my second floor through the middle of the month and the renovation was completed as of June 29 with the installation of new carpet! Now, approximately 80% of our second floor has new carpeting.

Since then, I have been busy reassembling our dining room and library with little or no time at all for writing. In fact—and to my chagrin—my SF novel-in-progress took a back seat for the entire month, but that wasn’t entirely unexpected to be honest.

New Carpet-Library

New Carpet-Hallway  New Carpet-Stairs

Empty Bookcases

Bookcases Filling Up

To make matters worse, a severe storm struck my area on July 1, causing a partial roof collapse at my workplace, accompanied by flooding and a natural gas line rupture to the generator that provides power to a portion of our IT equipment in the event of a main power failure—which also occurred.

As a member of our IT Infrastructure team, I was called in to assist with disaster recovery implementation, an activity that required participation not only from my own immediate team, but various members of our corporate parent’s IT group as well as vendors of the two or three of the major hardware and software platforms we rely on.

After a continuous 50-hour conference call, during which I slept no more than 4-6 hours, our systems were restored and business was able to resume. Unfortunately, the disaster occurred on my birthday, forcing me to cancel all plans with my wife and family. A final critical issue remained outstanding into Monday that I was not able to resolve until July 4…so that holiday was also lost.

It has been a brutal four weeks, friends. I am exhausted to the point of burn out and as of this writing, we are still working through new and unexpected problems, while I’m still working to put my house back in order.

On a high note, the Bethlehem Writers Group announced the winners of their 2017 short story contest and I am proud to have taken an Honorable Mention (as I mentioned before!) with my story “So Hungry…,” which will be published in the fall edition of the Bethlehem Writers Roundtable online magazine.

Also, I look forward to my book signing at Browseabout Books in Rehoboth Beach, DE on Thursday, July 13 from 11AM to 1PM. The titles available for purchase at the signing include my paranormal mystery novels, Testing the Prisoner and By Your Side as well as the speculative fiction anthologies Somewhere in the Middle of Eternity and Elsewhere in the Middle of Eternity, and of course, Beach Nights!

Lastly, I will be meeting with Firebringer Press publisher Steven H. Wilson next week to discuss the release of my paranormal mystery novella, Like Mother, Like Daughters later this year.

Once the mayhem subsides, I hope to return to work on my SF novel in progress and resume some semblance of a normal routine.

Enjoy your summer!

 

Audio Books, Blog, Book Signings, Writing Contest

Of Home Renovations, Writing Contests, and Audio Books…

For me, this summer has begun with a challenging and exhausting home renovation. We’re repainting an area of the house that has not been touched in 14 years—specifically, our library.

With five packed bookcases, two recliners, two tables, and more “stuff”,  and the fact that the library shares ceiling space with the adjoining stairwell and hallway, it’s no wonder that we left it alone for as long as we did. However, the carpet is in dire need of replacement and I thought that since we’ll need to move furniture to make that happen, I might as well repaint these areas.

 

As of this writing, I have patched and sanded where needed, primed, and applied the first coat of paint. The second coat of paint will be applied tomorrow evening and then I can clean up. After that, it’s touching up the window trim and inside the hall closet. The carpet installer will be out next Monday to measure for the estimate and provide samples. It’s a family-owned business and we had them out last June to replace the carpet in our bedroom–which I also repainted a few days in advance. They did a fantastic job and as such, we called them first.

On top of this, two high-profile projects at my FT job are keeping me busy and will consume part of my upcoming weekend and well as my summer. As you might have guessed, I have not written at all this week and probably won’t next week either,  but over the past two to three months, I did manage to write three more chapters in the first draft of my SF novel-in-progress while also editing submissions for Meanwhile in the Middle of Eternity, the third volume in our series of speculative fiction anthologies.

The first volume is called Somewhere in the Middle of Eternity (released in 2014), and the second, Elsewhere in the Middle of Eternity, was released last August. Our third collection has a tentative release of summer 2018.

On the short story front, I have two submissions out into two separate contests. The first is the Rehoboth Beach Reads Short Story Contest in Delaware, sponsored by Cat & Mouse Press and Browseabout Books. I won second place last year and my story was published in the resulting anthology, Beach Nights.

I already had a new story ready to go by the end of 2016 for this year’s contest, which is themed Beach Life. Winners will be announced around August 7-8. Watch this space for updates!

The second story is a paranormal tale set in New Mexico and was submitted to the Bethlehem Writers Roundtable annual contest. I was informed last month that the story made into the final round of judging and is now in the hands of NYT bestseller Carrie Vaughn to select the top three winners. Winners will be announced by July 1, which would make a marvelous birthday present for me! Stay tuned.

Lastly, when Podiobooks merged with Scribl.com, I was disappointed to see that the reviews for my audio books did not migrate over… then I stumbled upon my audio books at LibriVox and not only do they have the older Podiobooks reviews, but new reviews that I had not seen before. My exciting discovery for the week!

Click here to listen to Testing the Prisoner. 

Click here to listen to By Your Side. 

 

 

 

 

Blog, Book Reviews

A Marvelous Review from the Land Down Under!

I just happened across this recent Goodreads review for my novel By Your Side from a reader in Australia. It made my weekend!

Indy Fernandez rated it Five Stars – It was amazing

Shelves: read-2017
This book has chills, thrills, suspense and even light hearted humour. Will keep you engaged from start to finish, a very well written novel, I applaud the author Phil Giunta as the story is intriguing with characters that are portrayed with so vividly you are caught up in their nightmares.
By Your Side by Phil Giunta