HUNDREDS OF DOLLARS!

Hundreds of dollars of prizes are up for grabs.

Now, you can join AUDIBLE ( http://www.audible.com/offers/2749 )

FREE for 30 days

and

still keep my audiobook for FREE!

Cool, huh?

But what if you already belong?

 

That's where my contest says

THANK YOU 

for the honest review.

VICTOR'S AUDIOBOOK CONTEST!

 

After 10 honest reviews are posted for

THE LEGEND OF VICTOR STANDISH audiobook -

on its Amazon page

 

 

http://www.amazon.com/The-Legend-of-Victor-Standish/dp/B00EF39FEU/ref=tmm_aud_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1381873415&sr=8-1

I will draw from those 10 names

for

an autographed 8x10 photo of Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L Jackson, Clark Gregg,

and

the genius behind MARVEL COMICS

THE ONE, THE ONLY

Stan Lee!

Signed in person with a blue,black, silver sharpie.

Also the winner of this contest will get a COA stating that the autograph is authentic

ALSO

 And

 

{Can't wait for THOR 2: THE DARK WORLD?}

 

MORE!

 

WHEN 5 REVIEWS

ARE RECEIVED ON AMAZON

 

I WILL DRAW FOR:

 

 

That's right: an AUTOGRAPHED IAN SOMERHALDER

photo!

 

ONE OUT OF FIVE CHANCES!

 

How cool is that?

 

And for listening for FREE and writing what you really think

of Victor's audiobook on Amazon!

 

What are you waiting for?



THE LAST DAY & BIG NEWS!

THE LAST SHAMAN has hit #87 on Amazon's PAID Best Sellers List!!

http://www.amazon.com/THE-LAST-SHAMAN-ebook/dp/B00534OEL4/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1344193707&sr=1-1&keywords=THE+LAST+SHAMAN+ROLAND+YEOMANS

In solidarity with victimized Diana Krall ...

Alice & Becca have decided to be clothing-challenged as well on this LAST DAY

TO GET THE RIVAL FOR FREE!

http://www.amazon.com/THE-RIVAL-chapter-STANDISH-ebook/dp/B007JOUJ60

Alice wanted to know the address of the studio executives who forced Diana into that cover shoot.

Becca warned that fat heads would probably spike Alice's cholesterol levels.

THE CONTEST TO WIN SCARLET'S AND ROBERT'S AUTOGRAPHS LASTS TIL SEPTEMBER 1ST!

1.) Liking THE RIVAL on its Amazon's pages gets you one entry.

2.) Posting on the contest or a review of THE RIVAL ON AMAZON gets you 2 entries.

3.) Downloading END OF DAYS gets you THREE ENTRIES!

http://www.amazon.com/END-OF-DAYS-ebook/dp/B0082ZJD08/ref=pd_sim_kstore_5

(Alas, END OF DAYS will never be free. The 13 illustrations within prevent me from offering for nothing.)

{Diana Krall rehearsing at Meilori's}

THE CONTEST with one rival ... THE RIVAL!

THE RIVAL has huffed & puffed its way to #29 on AMAZON!

Thanks to all of you who have helped.

You know me.

I seem compelled to do a contest for my books.

Ah, Alice strongly urged it while eyeing my fingers.

I will never think of finger sandwiches the same way!

Simple rules:

1.) "Like" THE RIVAL

http://www.amazon.com/THE-RIVAL-chapter-STANDISH-ebook/dp/B007JOUJ60/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1344051382&sr=1-1&keywords=THE+RIVAL+ROLAND+YEOMANS

and comment here that you did so. That gets you ONE entry.

2.) Do a post of my contest or a review of THE RIVAL on Amazon.

That gets you TWO entries! Let me know here.

3.) Download END OF DAYS (which picks up where THE RIVAL leaves off)

http://www.amazon.com/END-OF-DAYS-ebook/dp/B0082ZJD08/ref=pd_sim_sbs_kstore_6

and comment here that you did so. THAT GETS YOU THREE ENTRIES!

And really with the 13 beautiful interior illustrations by Leonora Roy, you will already be a winner just to be able to see those fantastic images.

Prizes:

An autograph of Scarlet Johansson!

An autograph of Robert Downey, Jr!

Drawing to be held SEPTEMBER 1ST! How cool is this?

And here is one of the 13 lovely interior illustrations to END OF DAYS:

WRITE THE SIZZLE NOT THE STEAK

Eric, a friend and co-worker,

dropped by my apartment today to lend me his DVD of SHERLOCK HOLMES: GAME OF SHADOWS.

He spotted my collection of movie memorabilia on the walls.

He hushed in a breath. With trembling fingers, he touched a small card by the door.

It was a card containing an authentic piece of fabric from the black body suit worn by Scarlett Johansson as the Black Widow in IRON MAN 2.

He looked at me as if I had the Shroud of Turin on my wall.

"She wore this, man. Her bare flesh touched this. Her DNA is on this cloth. Her DNA."

"Ah, Eric it could have been worn by her stunt double, or it could have been cut from the trimmed pieces of fabric on the floor when they made the outfit."

"No, man. This card certifies with a hologram and shit that this piece of cloth is from Scarlett's suit. Oh, man, it touched her body."

"You need to get out more, Eric."

"Hey, I go out plenty. Just not with Scarlett."

"Well, neither do I."

"Yeah, but you got her DNA."

And as he hung the card back up sadly on my wall, I realized what I would get him for Christmas :

an autographed photo of Scarlett.

After all, in touching the picture to sign, she would have left some of her DNA on it, too. It would repay him for giving me the autographed photo of Angelina Jolie.

Guys. We are a strange breed.

And what does this have to with the art of writing?

Well, it gives you a little insight into the bizarre psyches of two friends. And it also teaches us an important lesson in how to write.

Eric read into the card more than the words on it.

It said the cloth was from the body suit worn in the movie. But in his mind, Eric could see Scarlett putting on the skin-tight suit.

The words said little, Eric's imagination suggested much more. The readers who turn the pages of our books are like Eric in that our words will suggest to them a whole canvas of images if we choose the words with craft and lyrical style.

Write the sizzle not the steak.

Listen to the words of Stephen King:

"Good books don't give up all their secrets at once. Fiction is the truth inside the lie."

Just another way of saying, "Sell the sizzle not the steak.

Let the reader smell the aroma of the cooking plot, hear the sizzling of approaching danger, and taste the ashy flavor of death in the air like smoke from a gutted home.

You see, the most important things, the crucial things are hard to wrap words around. Haven't you felt it?

You ached to say the right thing to a grieving neighbor, a dying friend -- and the words that came to you were so meager --

like having a foot long square of wrapping paper to somehow put around a two foot wide gift.

Stephen King put it this way :

"The most important things are the hardest to say.

They are the things you get ashamed of, because words diminish them --

words shrink things that seemed limitless when they were in your head to no more than living size when they're brought out.

But it's more than that, isn't it?

The most important things lie too close to wherever your secret heart is buried, like landmarks to a treasure your enemies would love to steal away.

And you may make revelations that cost you dearly only to have people look at you in a funny way, not understanding what you've said at all,

or why you thought it was so important that you almost cried while you were saying it.

That's the worst, I think. When the secret stays locked within not for want of a teller but for want of an understanding ear."

And because Stephen King writes in wisdom like that, we buy his books.

And that's what's so important about our blog friends.

You understand what it means to want to express the haunting images inside your head by crude things like the written word.

I understand. I'm one of you. And I am reaching out to you as you are reaching back to me --

from the confines of the solitary confinement of our minds, held prisoner by the limitations of the written word.

Neither one of us totally understands. But that's all right. Sometimes it's good just to be silent with a friend in the night.
****
The darkness is gathering, growing stronger in this world, and only the light of brave, caring hearts stands in its way.

WRITE THE SIZZLE NOT THE STEAK

Eric, a friend and co-worker, dropped by my apartment today to lend me his DVD of THE WOLFMAN. He spotted my collection of movie memorabilia on the walls. He hushed in a breath. With trembling fingers, he touched a small card by the door.

It was a card containing an authentic piece of fabric from the black body suit worn by Scarlett Johansson as the Black Widow in IRON MAN 2. He looked at me as if I had the Shroud of Turin on my wall.

"She wore this, man. Her bare flesh touched this. Her DNA is on this cloth. Her DNA."

"Ah, Eric it could have been worn by her stunt double, or it could have been cut from the trimmed pieces of fabric on the floor when they made the outfit."

"No, man. This card certifies with a hologram and shit that this piece of cloth is from Scarlett's suit. Oh, man, it touched her body."

"You need to get out more, Eric."

"Hey, I go out plenty. Just not with Scarlett."

"Well, neither do I."

"Yeah, but you got her DNA."

And as he hung the card back up sadly on my wall, I realized what I would get him for Christmas : an autographed photo of Scarlett. After all, in touching the picture to sign, she would have left some of her DNA on it, too. It would repay him for giving me the autographed photo of Angelina Jolie. Guys. We are a strange breed.

And what does this have to with the art of writing?

Well, it gives you a little insight into the bizarre psyches of two friends. And it also teaches us an important lesson in how to write.

Eric read into the card more than the words on it. It said the cloth was from the body suit worn in the movie. But in his mind, Eric could see Scarlett putting on the skin-tight suit. The words said little, Eric's imagination suggested much more. The readers who turn the pages of our books are like Eric in that our words will suggest to them a whole canvas of images if we choose the words with craft and lyrical style.

Write the sizzle not the steak.

Remember Stephen King from two posts ago?

"Good books don't give up all their secrets at once. Fiction is the truth inside the lie."

Just another way of saying, "Sell the sizzle not the steak. Let the reader smell the aroma of the cooking plot, hear the sizzling of approaching danger, and taste the ashy flavor of death in the air like smoke from a gutted home.

You see, the most important things, the crucial things are hard to wrap words around. Haven't you felt it? You ached to say the right thing to a grieving neighbor, a dying friend -- and the words that came to you were so meager -- like having a foot long square of wrapping paper to somehow put around a two foot wide gift.

Stephen King put it this way :

"The most important things are the hardest to say.

They are the things you get ashamed of, because words diminish them --

words shrink things that seemed limitless when they were in your head to no more than living size when they're brought out.

But it's more than that, isn't it? The most important things lie too close to wherever your secret heart is buried, like landmarks to a treasure your enemies would love to steal away.

And you may make revelations that cost you dearly only to have people look at you in a funny way, not understanding what you've said at all, or why you thought it was so important that you almost cried while you were saying it.

That's the worst, I think. When the secret stays locked within not for want of a teller but for want of an understanding ear."

And because Stephen King writes in wisdom like that, we buy his books.

And that's what's so important about our blog friends. You understand what it means to want to express the haunting images inside your head by crude things like the written word.

I understand. I'm one of you. And I am reaching out to you as you are reaching back to me -- from the confines of the solitary confinement of our minds, held prisoner by the limitations of the written word.

Neither one of us totally understands. But that's all right. Sometimes it's good just to be silent with a friend in the night.

****
The darkness is gathering, growing stronger in this world, and only the light of brave, caring hearts stands in its way.



Never say that I don't offer a public service here. So if you want the legs and tummy of Gwyneth Paltrow, go to this link (I tried these blasted exercises, and now I'm walking like the Penguin in BATMAN) :

http://shine.yahoo.com/event/the-thread/leg-exercises-from-hollywoods-hottest-trainer-1684894