BRING ME THE HEAD OF McCORD!

Hear that rumble? It is not an echo. It is a promise.

Some evils never die. They merely wait for us to grow complacent.

The Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia began on this day in 1968.

One young poet, Yevgeny Yevtushenko,

had to protest the invasion of his country else his despair would lead him to suicide.

He wrote “Russian Tanks in Prague," which was picked up immediately on underground radio in Czechoslovakia, making him a hero there and an official target at home:

Tanks are rolling across Prague
in the sunset blood of dawn.
Tanks are rolling across truth,
not a newspaper named Pravda.

Tanks are rolling across the temptation
to live free from the power of clichés.
Tanks are rolling across the soldiers
who sit inside those tanks....

The darkness which spawned those tanks is still there ... waiting, waiting, waiting.

{Oh, the lovely Kathy McKendry interviews me today!
http://imagine-today1.blogspot.com/
Check it out so her visitors don't slump because of me.}


Now, back to my small voice asking you to help keep my dream alive.


A few of my friends (not a tidal wave, mind you) have emailed me with questions such as:

Why does an undead TEXAS Ranger live in a jazz club in New Orleans?

How did Samuel lose his parents?

How did he get silver hair as a child?

Why does the vampire, Abigail Adams, hate him so?

When will you write another story of Hibbs, the cub with no clue?

What was Victor's and Alice's first Christmas after Katrina like?

What was Blake Adamson, my hero who is the clone of Jesus, like before his orphanage burned?

I answered those questions and another fun one: What if our world was invaded by aliens and it was left to Evil to defend it?

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008ZM9B8M

IN A WORLD OF NIGHTMARE DO LOVE, COURAGE, and LAUGHTER STAND A CHANCE?


SEVEN DARK TALES ANSWER THAT QUESTION



MY FATHER’S GUN


Fifteen year old Samuel McCord takes his first terrible steps down a lifetime of supernatural horror in 1815 West Texas in a tale of loss and redemption.


DARK WATERS


Texas Ranger, Samuel McCord, both saves and damns twelve year old Samuel Clemens while trying to save the boy from a creature whose home is the realm of nightmare.


MARY CHRISTMAS


When the orphan, Blake Adamson, runs away from the orphanage only to meet the ghost of Elvis and the very real Lucifer, he realizes you can’t run from your past.


LIES THAT LOCUST TELL


A fallen angel awakens in a British asylum without any memory of getting there. Worse, the asylum is being run by aliens experimenting with the inmates. What would happen if Earth was invaded, and it was left to Evil to defend it?


A DOWN HOME CHRISTMAS


Victor Standish’s and Alice Wentworth’s first Christmas together looks to be their last as all the demons of the haunted French Quarter are at their heels. What can the ghost of a Spanish Inquisition priest do to help them?


THE RIVER FACE


In a Native American tale of myth and legend, Hibbs, the cub with no clue, is taught a fearful lesson of spirit from the mysterious Turquoise Woman.


BRING ME THE HEAD OF McCORD!


Why did an undead TEXAS Ranger decide to live in New Orleans? Why does the vampire, Abigail Adams, hate Samuel so? This haunting tale answers those questions. But sometimes answers do not give peace.

Only 99 cents for 137 pages and 8 beautiful illustrations by the artistry of Leonora Roy!

WHERE ARE WE GOING FROM HERE?

Arthur Schopenhauer was born on this day in 1788. Who you say?

Don't look at me like that. Mine is just the kind of mind that remembers these sort of things.


He was the German philosopher known for his atheistic pessimism {maybe the two go together?} and for his philosophical clarity. One of the things he wrote that sticks with me is :

'Reading is equivalent to thinking with someone else's head.' And if that allows us to think outside the box of our own perspective, is that such a bad thing?



Another historical note : Today in 899, Arnulf of Carinthia was crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Formosus in Rome. But his rival, Lambert of Spoleto, kept the throne anyway. I bet Bush would have loved to have repeated that bit of history.

What did Edward Kennedy say? "Frankly, I don't mind not being president. I just mind that someone else is."



And because I'm a Science Fiction/Fantasy writer, I know the following :

Every morning since its construction in the 13th century B.C, the first rays of sunlight would on this day to illuminate the innermost shrine of the temple to --

cue the spooky music --

the Sun god Amon-Re at Abu Simbel, Egypt. Strange footnote :

because of their remote location the temples were unknown until their discovery in 1813. They were first explored in 1817. All I can say is that somebody sure had no sense of curiosity. Or maybe there was a -- again cue the spooky music -- a curse.


Hey, I'm a writer. I think like that.



I'm listening to "Born" by OVER THE RHINE. I'm getting ancient.

This innovative band favorite of mine is celebrating its 20th anniversary.

The leader, Linford Detweiler, recently did an interview with Stereo Subversion where he says he recently has started composing songs based upon his reflections of this band's long life :

"What have you done for the last 20 years? Did any of it really matter? Why are we still doing this? What are we doing with our lives?"

Good questions for all of us to ponder. Check out their website : http://www.overtherhine.com/ Just don't tell Linford I think his wife, Karin Bergquist, still has a sexy voice.

WHERE ARE WE GOING FROM HERE?

Arthur Schopenhauer was born on this day in 1788. Who you say? Don't look at me like that. Mine is just the kind of mind that remembers these sort of things.

He was the German philosopher known for his atheistic pessimism {maybe the two go together?} and for his philosophical clarity. One of the things he wrote that sticks with me is : 'Reading is equivalent to thinking with someone else's head.' And if that allows us to think outside the box of our own perspective, is that such a bad thing?

Another historical note : Today in 899, Arnulf of Carinthia was crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Formosus in Rome. But his rival, Lambert of Spoleto, kept the throne anyway. I bet Bush would have loved to have repeated that bit of history. What did Edward Kennedy say? "Frankly, I don't mind not being president. I just mind that someone else is."

And because I'm a Science Fiction/Fantasy writer, I know the following : Every morning since its construction in the 13th century B.C, the first rays of sunlight would on this day {and again on October 22nd} illuminate the innermost shrine of the temple to -- cue the spooky music -- the Sun god Amon-Re at Abu Simbel, Egypt. Strange footnote : because of their remote location the temples were unknown until their discovery in 1813. They were first explored in 1817. All I can say is that somebody sure had no sense of curiosity. Or maybe there was a -- again cue the spooky music -- a curse.

Hey, I'm a writer. I think like that.

I'm listening to "Born" by OVER THE RHINE. I'm getting ancient. This innovative band favorite of mine is celebrating its 20th anniversary. The leader, Linford Detweiler, recently did an interview with Stereo Subversion where he says he recently has started composing songs based upon his reflections of this band's long life : "What have you done for the last 20 years? Did any of it really matter? Why are we still doing this? What are we doing with our lives?" Good questions for all of us to ponder. Check out their website : http://www.overtherhine.com/ Just don't tell Linford I think his wife, Karin Bergquist, still has a sexy voice.