Patrick Tylee's Blog, page 2
January 12, 2017
My Kid Should Be President For a Day
Although I keep reminding myself to ignore the newsfeeds with their negative prattle and constant rhetoric, it tends to draw me in. For some odd reason, I feel the need to know what’s going on in the world. But what’s going on just ends up bending those feelings in the wrong direction.
What’s far better is to just find joy in the present moment.
I took the opportunity this morning to treat us to a father & son breakfast. Just had to leave a little early to make it to (ugh) Micky D’s. The boy got to sit up front in the truck, as he is big enough now to fend off any errant airbag deployment. He appreciated the improved view. Our conversation focused on topics outside the vehicle, things out in the world as it passed by. The falling moon made a game of slipping in and out of the clouds on the way to the horizon.
“Oh, that looks so cool now. Look!” he said a few times, pointed finger blocking my view of the traffic.
At the restaurant, the McWaiter stood with our tray of colored proteins, patiently waiting for us to fill the shared drink cup with high-fructose corn syrup and FD&C Orange #3.
We had yet to choose a booth. Mo picked out a table in the very center, between two large overhead flatscreen TVs. Newsfeeds. Uh-oh.
I was deliberate. My attention would be on my happy child, not on Marco Rubio’s angry scowl as he failed to paint Rex Tillerson into a corner about Vladimir Putin.
“That’s funny,” boy said.
“What’s funny?”
“They let you have an extra hash brown instead of the biscuit, but they gave you a pack of jelly anyway.”
I nodded, and decided to eat the jelly straight out of the package, just to show him it’s okay to be weird.
“I want to be President For a Day,” he said.
His eyes were on the TV, where a red-faced man with a blonde combover gripped the podium.
“What’s that?” I asked. “You want to be…?”
“President For a Day. I would make all kinds of laws.”
Perhaps the savory scent of politics has found the little flat nose of my son.
“Like what?” I asked. I began to ponder.
Gun control? Minimum Wage? Tax reform? Building The Wall?
“National Chicken Nugget Day.” he said.
“Chicken what?” I asked, itching to know what Martha MacCallum was saying about retired General James Mattis.
“National Chicken Nugget Day, Double Recess, and Half-Day Fridays.”
I heard it all, but my stupid adult brain couldn’t keep up with the childlike wisdom.
“What about recess? At school?” I asked.
“Yeah,” he said, “Double Recess. Twice as long. It’s over too quick.”
“And Half-Day Fridays,” I agreed.
“Half-Day Fridays,” he said, “to get a head start on Saturdays.”
President For a Day dedicates National Chicken Nugget Day as August 19th.
That did it.
For the moment, I had been freed from the chains.
Those two TVs ceased to exist in our world.
And I could envision it – my ten year old could effectively run the country, and the citizens would be all the better for it.
I can’t wait to see him this afternoon, to tell him that the President-Elect of the United States took his advice.
National Chicken Nugget Day is August 19th.
wait..
this other website says November 13.
May 25th?
April…what?
Oh, please!
There are twelve days assigned to NCND.
Stop, Patrick. Stop. Stop. Stop
Just pick one and make a calendar appointment in your phone.
TAKE POTUS4aDay OUT FOR NUGGETS
SAVE
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October 31, 2016
Book Giveaway Winners!
Now to begin prep for my three days at the Tucson Comic Con.
Patrick
October 3, 2016
Goodreads Book Giveaway for REBELLION
Don’t wait, CLICK HERE to go to the link for the Goodreads Book Giveaway.
Enter to win one of three copies of REBELLION, the sequel to WISDOM.
Trapped by immortality as a nine year old, the hybrid girl longs to grow up. She steals a woman’s body, gets pregnant, and gives birth to a monster. Now an evil king, the powerful son threatens to destroy what’s left of humanity. The corrupted Wisdom controls the mind of nearly every clone. But they’ve learned one important thing from the humans, how to forgive.
Did you do it? Great! I hope it’s you that wins! Hundreds of people usually sign up to score a free copy. Can’t wait to mail them out.
While you’re here, go to my Books page to find my brand new children’s sci-fi:
Mrs. Tricker is Not Herself
Now available at Amazon! Only $5.99 for an interactive paperback, including puzzles. Order one for the mid-grade reader in your family or as a gift for a friend.
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September 28, 2016
September 26, 2016
Book Giveaway - REBELLION
Announcing the Goodreads Book Giveaway Contest for REBELLION, the exciting sequel to the award-winning WISDOM.
The contest opens for entries on October 1st and runs through the 22nd.
If you haven't read WISDOM yet, now is time!
Get it on Amazon, B&N.com, or on Apple iBooks.
Thank you for reading my books. It's my hope that you'll become a fan.
September 25, 2016
Indie Publishing – My First Children’s Book
In May of 2013, I completed the first draft of my indie published debut novel Wisdom. Next step: EDITING?
Surely, there couldn’t be anything wrong with my masterpiece, could there? Right, Shirley?
Taking the advice of the professionals at The Editorial Department in my hometown of Tucson, Arizona, I pushed the manuscript away for a month. It’s important to ‘forget’ what you wrote as an author. You remove yourself from the creative aspect, so you can begin to see the words and scenes with a critical eye.
But what else do I work on for thirty thumb-twiddling days?
I decided to write and illustrate my first children’s novel, the sci-fi adventure, Mrs. Tricker is Not Herself.
In this mid-grade story,
A fourth grade boy suspects his teacher has changed since her vacation to Space Camp.
He gathers proof, but no one will listen, not even his parents.
Now Mrs. Tricker threatens to take him to the Space Camp in the forest.
But he can change too, and sometimes that’s what saves you.
The one-hundred twenty page paperback includes several Bonus Pages which make the product interactive. There’s the Mrs. Tricker Word Search, Mystery Questions page, and a crossword puzzle. After those is a short story: Waiting For the Draedle.
This is my first time using CreateSpace for the publishing. I have to say, the process is straightforward, and the finished book is very high quality. After several versions with printed proofs delivered to my mailbox, I settled on the final approved draft. A few clicks and a credit-card payment, and the first order of 100 copies is on the way.
Mrs. Tricker should be available on Amazon within a week. I’ll post on FB and Twitter when there’s a link.
Yours,
Patrick
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August 3, 2016
Better Than Friendly Competition
Wow, it’s been far too long between my posts here.
I’ve been super busy with rewrites to my third manuscript, UNIMAGINARY, and with the first draft of FOREVER PROCULA.
(Here’s the cover of the bound manuscript for my pre-read group. The actual published cover will be something along these lines…)
Today, I submitted an entry for a contest called #PitchWars. Winners (I assume there will be up to 150 or so of us) are given the chance to plug into a mentorship program. The winning authors are paired with a specific mentor that chose the author’s manuscript from among the entries. The mentor guides the author through edits and storyline fixes. The mentor also helps with smaller, though equally important things like query drafts, elevator pitches, and synopsis. If the author puts in the work, the mentor then assists with presentation to a chosen literary agent, and then on to an acquisition editor at some publishing house.
What I find truly encouraging is that this entire project is managed and promoted by the competition.
Author Brenda Drake spearheads the effort, and I can tell you that there’s ample evidence of A LOT OF EFFORT.
Brenda’s own novels include Thief of Lies and Touching Fate. Please do check them out!
I know how much work it takes to author, edit, rewrite, and promote a couple of books. There’s not much time left to help out everybody else with hopes to be successful at the same thing. But here she is, my competition, giving me a chance for a leg up in a very tough market.
This is something that I have noticed in the world of authors. More than in ANY other profession that I’ve been blessed to earn a buck with, this group of people will go out of their way to help another author make it just one rung up the ladder (and there are many rungs!)
A huge help has been to connect with other writers. Of the three national groups that I belong to, the most action I see is with Sisters in Crime. Through the many opportunities to engage the more experienced and successful competition there, I’ve learned some valuable lessons, without having to bang my head on anything.
For instance, FOREVER PROCULA was meant to be written for the genre of Adult Science Fiction. However, through the help of the Sisters in Crime members, I discovered that since the story has elements of Fantasy, it would no longer qualify as Sci-fi. Therefore, I’ve had to restructure the entire manuscript as a Mystery/Suspense. The sweet and tender Claudia here looks the part in the gothic theme. You’d never guess that an astronaut from the future is on the way to stab her to death. Uh-oh! Was that a spoiler? Nah…
So, I just have to say a BIG THANK YOU to Brenda Drake her helpers, and the volunteer mentors that have made #PitchWars such an excited and valuable opportunity for us, the competition. I hope you all sell every book you print.
Me next!
Patrick
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May 5, 2016
50% OFF eBook Titles for Mother's Day!
Of course you do!
You know a mom who loves to read on her Kindle or other e-Book.
Or maybe you'd like to buy her a Kindle or e-reader and need something to load on it.
Great ideas! She'll love it!
How about saving 50% on WISDOM and REBELLION?
Here’s how…
Go to MyBookOrders.com using the link at the bottom of this post.
Choose Rebellion. Add to Cart.
Enter the PROMO CODE = rebelmom2016
Instant 50% savings off the retail price!
But don’t forget, if Mom hasn’t read Wisdom, she’ll need that first.
Good news is, there’s a smokin’ deal on Wisdom, too!
Choose Wisdom. Add to Cart.
Enter the PROMO CODE = wisdombday2016
Thank you so much for buying my books!
https://secure.mybookorders.com/Order...
#mothersday
#ebook
#promocode
April 10, 2016
Wisdom Awarded Bronze Medal IPPY for Excellence in Independent Publishing
Birthdays of family; their anniversaries; when I started this or that employment over the years…
I’ve just never been good at it.
So, I record those dates in my ‘smartphone’. Now I don’t have to try to commit them to memory.
Then I lose my phone.
Ugh.
There’s one date that has, so far, stuck with me.
January 7th, 2013.
Not like it’s from when cars were carbureted or anything, but the data has been moved from short-term to long-term storage in my fatty, gray thing.
You see, during the year before 01/07/2013 some wild, imaginary characters travelled through time to tell me their story. Their lives were…hurting, and joyous, riddled with guilt, and…complicated. There was no way that I could listen to their stories anymore and remember all of it.
I had to start writing the stuff down.
Otherwise, you know, I’d forget some of the details.
And I felt that it would be a disservice to these people were I to ignore their plight. They had gone through so much.
This was the day I began to write Wisdom. Originally, it had a different title, but during my journey to interview extraterrestrials, I met one that had come from the back of the room, so to speak. She was the wall-flower. While learning more about her, it became clear to me…
If she thought it necessary…she would murder you.
You, your family, your species.
Perhaps to mollify any dire urge she might bare toward my kind, I decided to give her top billing. I also made a commitment to myself and to the readers of this story: I would spare no expense and stop at nothing less than professional quality for all aspects of what would become my debut science fiction novel.
Wise investments pay off.
I am honestly humbled and so very pleased to announce that Wisdom has been awarded the Bronze Medal for Excellence in Independent Publishing, Science Fiction Category from a foremost publishing services firm, the Jenkins Group, and their monthly digital publication, Independent Publisher dot com.
http://www.independentpublisher.com/a...
It would’ve been unthinkable to gain this level of recognition without the generous and skilled efforts of so many other people who contributed to the success of Wisdom.
Namely:
Deb Bates, fellow author and dear friend who never failed to encourage me.
Erin M. Hall, my content editor and fellow sci-fi enthusiast.
Anne-Marie Markowitz, my content/copy editor. Her professionalism is worth more than I can afford.
My pre-read group: Philip, Janet, Pat (GeekyPat), Louise & Julie.
Ignacio Mascaro of Crimson River Productions, London.
Arvin Budhu of Arcangel Images, London.
(and little Ella, who adorns the cover as well as the trailer)
Hillcrest Media and Mill City Press, the team that put it all together.
and mostly, my dear wife Chris who got me hooked on that terrible, terrible TV show Castle. Yuck.
Thank so much everyone!
#ippyawards
#sciencefiction
http://www.arcangel.com
http://www.crimsonriverproductions.com
http://www.hillcrestmedia.com
http://www.patricktylee.com
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January 20, 2016
Meet Me at Mostly Books in Tucson
Mostly Books is where readers in Tucson go for adventure.
Please stop by on Saturday, January 30th at 2pm to meet me there!
Save it in your calendar now. Check out this link to the event.
I’ll be reading the scene ‘Saint Varten’s Park’ from WISDOM.
After that, I’d be so pleased to sign your copies of WISDOM and REBELLION.
Mostly Books is at 6208 E. Speedway at Wilmot Rd.
You can call them at 520-571-0110.
Here’s the link to the map.
HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!
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