John Cleese on Terror Alerts

(This was forwarded to me and I was going to simply forward it to a few people, but I HAD to share it.  John Cleese is hilarious and I think everyone needs some laughs.  Although, I’ve found evidence this is from 2011 and somebody merely added Syria to it for it to sound modern.)

The English are feeling the pinch in relation to recent events in Syria and have therefore raised their security level from “Miffed” to “Peeved.” Soon, though, security levels may be raised yet again to “Irritated” or even “A Bit Cross.” The English have not been “A Bit Cross” since the blitz in 1940 when tea supplies nearly ran out. Terrorists have been re-categorized from “Tiresome” to “A Bloody Nuisance.” The last time the British issued a “Bloody Nuisance” warning level was in 1588, when threatened by the Spanish Armada.

The Scots have raised their threat level from “Pissed Off” to “Let’s get the Bastards.” They don’t have any other levels. This is the reason they have been used on the front line of the British army for the last 300 years.

The French government announced yesterday that it has raised its terror alert level from “Run” to “Hide.” The only two higher levels in France are “Collaborate” and “Surrender.” The rise was precipitated by a recent fire that destroyed France ‘s white flag factory, effectively paralysing the country’s military capability.

Italy has increased the alert level from “Shout Loudly and Excitedly” to “Elaborate Military Posturing.” Two more levels remain: “Ineffective Combat Operations” and “Change Sides.”

The Germans have increased their alert state from “Disdainful Arrogance” to “Dress in Uniform and Sing Marching Songs.” They also have two higher levels: “Invade a Neighbour” and “Lose.”

Belgians, on the other hand, are all on holiday as usual; the only threat they are worried about is NATO pulling out of Brussels.

The Spanish are all excited to see their new submarines ready to deploy. These beautifully designed subs have glass bottoms so the new Spanish navy can get a really good look at the old Spanish navy.

Australia, meanwhile, has raised its security level from “No worries” to “She’ll be alright, Mate.” Two more escalation levels remain: “Crikey! I think we’ll need to cancel the barbie this weekend!” and “The barbie is cancelled.” So far no situation has ever warranted use of the last final escalation level.

— John Cleese – British writer, actor and tall person A final thought -“ Greece is collapsing, the Iranians are getting aggressive, and Rome is in disarray. Welcome back to 430 BC.”

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 19 Comments

Goodbye, Futurama

futurama_cast_decal_3__73284

Cast of Futurama

Tonight we say good-bye
To a charming cast of characters
And one smelly lobster
Resurrected after death
Only to be killed again
Yet Family Guy lives on?
So I’ll sit back at ten
With a beer and popcorn
Fighting memories of Fry’s dog
Because I don’t want to carry tissues
Waiting for the final joke
Though I’m sure there will be tears
From a show that made me laugh and cry
My parting line
Will be to those that ended the fun
Bite my shiny metal ass, losers!

Posted in Poems | Tagged , , , , , , | 32 Comments

Syndicate Spotlight #1: Beginning Of A Hero

Check out Beginning of a Hero’s Spotlight on The Literary Syndicate. Thanks to, Papizilla!

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

I have smote thine enemy

Victory for The Squirrel Queen! All joking aside, big congrats to Ionia for beating the Big C.

Ionia Froment's avatarreadful things blog

Fireworks 123   For four long years the woman battled the demon. The demon known only as “C” violated her body, dimmed her future and messed with her mind.

She fought this demon with the strength of her army. When she was too weak to fight, too tired to resist the demon’s advances or too negative to be positive she relied on them to battle it for her. Were she the soppy type, she might be wiping her eyes on her chain mail at the moment. *Hold on I have something in my eye…

Okay, all better.

 

So back to the story. The woman fought this vile beast year after year. The demon would weaken, but refuse to relent. Just when she thought it may tire and leave her be, it would come back again, stronger than ever, somewhere else.

Gathering all the love she had been storing, she forged a…

View original post 64 more words

Posted in Uncategorized | 11 Comments

The Missing Factor

Biking and thinking about what I can do for marketing made me realize the difference between the first time around and this time.  I have used more of Twitter, Facebook, and marketing sites.  That’s good and has helped a lot.  It’s exposure, but I think it’s also missing something.  More that I’m missing a piece of my puzzle and I realized it after a post from The Ranting Papizilla.

When Beginning of a Hero came out, I went nuts on guest blogs and interviews.  For Prodigy of Rainbow Tower, I did this in the hype stage.  It helped for a big immediate boost since many people who supported me the first time have been incredibly quiet.  I think I lost friends because they didn’t like my first book.  Anyway, I haven’t done much in the way of guest blogging and interviews lately.  One issue was time with the toddler being home all day.  Other is I’m bloody exhausted . . . gee, wonder why I’ve added ‘bloody’ to my repertoire.

So, does anyone know sites that I can contact to do an author interview?  What about guest blogs?  I know I’m a pain on that front because I ask for a topic instead of writing whatever I want.  So, any thoughts or ideas?

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 29 Comments

The Broken Lovers

warring tigers

Enemies in literature can come from anywhere.  Childhood rivals, slighted strangers, or simple ‘Me bad guy, you good guy’ syndrome.  There is one that isn’t used too often and I couldn’t even find an example.  Sleep deprivation might be an added factor into that.

Lovers turning into enemies.

You would think this is an easy one to find examples of, but I found a few stumbling blocks.  One is that people are more interested in ‘enemies turning into lovers’.  The other is that a lot of people don’t know what enemy means.  Seriously!  Han Solo & Leia?  Ron & Hermione?  These aren’t enemies.  They simply don’t get along at first.  The only one on a few lists that I found that came even close was Spike & Buffy, which many people want to forget.  Oh!  Buffy & Angel can be my soul example here even though there were mitigating circumstances.  For those that don’t know, they had sex, Angel lost his soul (worst STD ever!), and he went back to being a murderous vampire.

That’s the other thing with this scenario.  It’s always something turning the lover evil like mind control, loss of soul, for their lovers own good, etc.  I can’t think of a coupling where one simply turned on the other because they just started hating them.  It’s always a third party or one does an act that would make real world serial killers throw up.

There are a few non-third party scenarios I can think of to use this:

  1. Unrequited Love–  This is the easiest because it’s already one-sided and the emotions aren’t returned.  You can have the one in love turn ‘evil’ to get what he/she desires even if their obsession isn’t interested.  An amount of crazy stalker and obsession is required for this and you can go really far if you want.
  2. I’ve Had It With Your Shit–  I have not seen this one ever done, but I can see it happening on a low-scale story.  Somebody trying to get away from a lover that is obviously wrong for them.  It wouldn’t be action-packed, but with one clinging on and the other wanting to get away, you have a lot of drama.  The trigger event can be something small or big, but it’s probably smarter to go for a series of small issues to give it more distance.

Wow.  That’s really it.  The idea that lovers can become enemies isn’t a very popular one without that third party influence.  Maybe because divorce is so prevalent and everybody fears it.  Nobody wants to read about two people who went from loving each other to despising the ground they walk on.  At least that’s what it seems because I still can’t figure out a pure ‘I no longer love you and wish to destroy you’ couple.

Posted in Thoughts | Tagged , , , , | 33 Comments

eReader News Today Pre-Numbers Verdict

Kenshin Himura (How I feel)

Kenshin Himura (How I feel)

So, Legends of Windemere: Beginning of a Hero was on the eReader News Today newsletter yesterday.  They posted it as a .99 cent book after I submitted and sent a follow-up email a month later.  I assume they’re busy, so a follow-up email helps remind them and bring attention to your submission.  Anyway, the results are . . .

110 sales over two days.

Here is where things are going to get confusing for people.  This is a great number, but it isn’t much bigger than what I was doing before.  So, I have no idea what effect eReader News Today had.  They only take a percentage of what is bought through them and I have no idea what that could be.  I was still tweeting and Facebook posting, which nets a few sales.  I won’t know for a few days what the actual effect is, so there will be a follow-up at some point with exact details.  Keep in mind that they take 25% of the royalties earned through them.

I have to admit that I was not thoroughly impressed, but this site was pumped up a lot to me.  I probably had extreme hopes for this because I know other authors that used it to great success.  Kingmidget used it and got 400 on day 1 and 100 on day 2.  I do have some thoughts on what happened:

  1. Genre could be a factor.  The comments on associated posts mentioned the seafood book and no others.
  2. I was showcased on Labor Day, so people might not have been near their computer or paying attention.
  3. I was the second book on the list, so the book above me got to be the post image.  Exposure is always important and this is just a roll of the dice.
  4. I noted a few people mentioned they had seen one or two of the books listed before.  I could see other people seeing those comments and assume there is nothing interesting in there.  Again, roll of the dice.
  5. I was a .99 cent book and people appeared to be more interested in the free eBooks.  This is accepted and I’m not going free for this because free sales have not gone in my favor.

Would I recommend this site?  If you want to get a boost for a free sale that you’re planning in a month or willing to go for a .99 cent pricing then go for it.  Your luck and timing could be better than mine.  The challenge with eReader News Today is that they require the following:

  • 4.0 overall star rating on Amazon.
  • .99 cent or free pricing.
  • Have at least 10 reviews on Amazon.
  • Be available on Amazon

That first requirement is the tough one to get because you can’t control the reviews.  Well, you can, but that’s cheating.  So, if you find yourself meeting those requirements and want to give it a shot then enjoy.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 31 Comments

Papi Talk!… With Charles Yallowitz

Always happy to work with Paizilla and be part of his blog. Check out his newest endeavor.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Why Do You Do It?

blogging

I was wondering what to post and a thought came into my head.  I’ve seen it asked across the blogosphere, but I’m still curious.  Not about the origin.  I’m curious about the continuation.

Why do you continue to blog?

I started here to promote my books and had no idea what I was getting into.  I have delved into poetry, guest blogs, music videos, short stories, and various other whims to post about.  I have joined groups and guest blogged.  So, is it the versatility and book promoting that keeps me posting more than once a day and commenting every chance I get?

I thought about this for a bit and I don’t think it is the act of blogging that keeps me going here.  I think it’s because I’ve made friends.  Not acquaintances, but people that I would consider true friends.  I care about many of you and am happy to have your your support.  I try to explain this to people on my side of the internet and nobody seems to understand how you can be friends with people you have never met.  Well, you talk, comment, and bond.  It’s these interactions that keep me coming back to WordPress and posting even if I get no comments because I simply wasn’t interesting.

So, that’s why I stick around much to people’s chagrin and hurled vegetables.  Why do you continue blogging?

Posted in Thoughts | Tagged , , , , , , , | 41 Comments

Want To Be Listed Here?

Get listed on this new Literary site!

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment