Leon Stevens's Blog, page 27
December 30, 2024
Music Monday: In Memoriam
We most many musicians in 2024 (Wikipedia List) but I chose to list a few of the names that would be immediately recognizable.
Toby KeithRay St. GermainKris KristoffersonLiam PayneQuincy JonesGreg KihnTito JacksonIs there any I missed that you would have included?
-Leon
Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words, and his latest sci-fi mystery, Euphrates Vanished.
My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/
Free books? Sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter and choose one or more!
books.linesbyleon.com/Newslettersignup
Sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter and receive a free book!
Oh, pick me!
C’mon, space stuff!
December 29, 2024
Songs for a Sunday: Morning Runner / The Inbetweeners / Closing Credits
It’s always a fun when you accidentally hear a song that catches your attention.
I happened to start watching a series called “The Inbetweeners”, about four l friends in their last year of high school. They are awkward, crude, horny, and striving to be, but thinking they are, the cool ones.
So yeah, high school kids.
During my teen years it was Porky’s, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, The Breakfast Club, and every other coming of age John Hughes film. So, if I was in my teens in 2008, this would be a must see.
The series ended rather abruptly after 3 seasons, but I discovered there was a movie released in 2011. True to form, it’s and entertaining and humorous but a very cringy, awkward watch. It was a good way to wrap up the show.
Let’s talk about closing credits.
I don’t know when filmmakers started adding extra content during the closing credits and at the end, but I do remember being the last in the theater usually because we were listening to the music, but eventually people stayed so as not to miss a usually humorous addition to the movie.
So, while watching the closing credits of The Inbetweeners Movie, I heard the song, Gone up in Flames, by the band, Morning Runner.
They remind me of the band Train, and only released one album before breaking up.
-Leon
Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words, and his latest sci-fi mystery, Euphrates Vanished.
My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/
Free books? Sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter and choose one or more!
books.linesbyleon.com/Newslettersignup
December 28, 2024
2024 Writing Wrap-up
Was 2024 a good year?
Book sales wise, no. I was down 50% from last year, and with one more book in my catalogue, that’s disappointing to say the least.
All my blogging stats were up, though.
My most popular post continues to be this one…
…but, it hasn’t translated to any sales of my poetry books, so I must conclude that readers don’t like the poems, or they just like free poetry, I suppose.
I wrote 312 posts this year which totaled 139K words. That’s two novels worth.
I also finished my novella, so let’s add 30K to that. I’ll be spending the next week reading it one more time before sending it to my editor.
Do I have any goals for 2025?
I’d like to finish the third book in my Orion Arm Alliance series faster than the others, but we’ll see. I hope for more books sales, of course, with minimal monetary output.
I hope to continue writing entertaining posts for everyone and reading what you are creating.
Here’s to a productive new year.
-Leon
In case you missed it:2024 Writing Wrap-upThursday Thoughts: Origin of Boxing DayTuesday Top Ten: Christmas Eve HistoryMusic Monday : Copycat or Coincidence?Songs for a Sunday: Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night SweatsHope you enjoyed the recap! Feel free to share it with others.
Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words, and his latest sci-fi mystery, Euphrates Vanished.
My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/
Free books? Sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter and choose one or more!
books.linesbyleon.com/Newslettersignup
December 26, 2024
Thursday Thoughts: Origin of Boxing Day
Today. Boxing Day. Why do we call it that? There are several theories to the origin of the so-called holiday.
in the 14th century, parishioners would box up their leftovers to hand out to the needy on December 26. Most were thankful for the handout, but many complained that the turkey was dry and the figgy pudding too figgy.
Another theory is that people would partake in fisticuffs, on the 26th, to entice the out of town relatives to go home.
The most likely origin is that on the day after Christmas, people would box up the crappy gifts they received and head to the mall, receipt in hand to return them and get something they actually wanted. The first evidence of this was when Joseph packed up two of the wise men’s gifts (he kept the gold, of course) and took them back to the local Frank & Murray’s department store.
Speaking of actual boxing, when was the first sanctioned boxing match?
On January 8th, 1681, the 2nd Duke of Albemarle organized a fight between his butler and a butcher. They took to the ring, one with napkins wrapped around his hands, the other with some flank steaks that were in dire need of tenderizing.
What prompted this fight? Some say the Duke was bored of the theater, “Shakespeare this, Marlow that, blah blah, same stories, different cast”, and decided to create a 15 minute sportscast, but the likely reason was that the Duke was just a jerk.
-Leon
Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words, and his latest sci-fi mystery, Euphrates Vanished.
My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/
Free books? Sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter and choose one or more!
books.linesbyleon.com/Newslettersignup
December 24, 2024
Tuesday Top Ten: Christmas Eve History
Family gatherings over the holidays can create memorable events, usually it’s the argument over who will carve the dry turkey, or who invited, “that guy”, but history shows that many things happen before Santa breaks into our homes, raids the fridge, and re-gifts what the elves got him last year.
Top Ten Christmas Eve events
10. 597: England adopts the Julian Calendar. Rumor has it that it was only because the kids wanted to open their presents early.
9. 800: Charlemagne is crowned Holy Roman Emperor, and with that honor came a lifetime supply of Rice-a-Roni and a couple of Amazon gift cards.
8. 1223: St Francis of Assisi assembles 1st Nativity scene. Unfortunately he ran out of camels and had to put Gaspar on a stuffed oryx.
7. 1492: The Santa Marie runs aground of the coast of Hispaniola. Columbus blames the WAYZ app for not showing the reef.
6. 1656: Dutch astronomer and mathematician Christiaan Huygens creates the first pendulum clock. Later, he is found staring at it in a trance but also had given up smoking.
5. 1741: Anders Celsius introduces Centigrade temperature scale much to the ire of Daniel Fahrenheit who argued that zero was a stupid starting point for anything.
4. 1814: The war of 1812 is ended when the Treaty of Ghent was signed in Belgium. Unknown to the signees, two clauses was snuck in, giving the country sole ownership of the waffle, and outlawing the pronunciation of the letter h in several British dialects.
3. 1818: First known Christmas carol, “Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht”, is sung in Austria. The next year, the song “Oma wurde von einem Rentier überfahren” was the top hit.
2. 1914: British and German soldiers met in “no-man’s land” to exchange gift, smoke, and play football in the Christmas Truce. No one touched the fruitcake though.
1. 1989: Japanese scientist achieves -271.8°C, coldest temperature ever recorded. His Canadian colleague comments, “Yeah, but it’s a dry cold.”
-Leon
Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words, and his latest sci-fi mystery, Euphrates Vanished.
My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/
Free books? Sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter and choose one or more!
books.linesbyleon.com/Newslettersignup
December 23, 2024
Music Monday : Copycat or Coincidence?
There are bands that sound like other bands, whether it is on purpose because of the influence a group has (Greta Van Fleet / Led Zeppelin) or just a blatant rip-off (Greta Van Fleet / Led Zeppelin).
This isn’t a Greta Van Fleet post, though. This is, though, if you are so inclined*.
Music Monday Sept 19: Love or Hate
I heard this song the other day, not on purpose, but entirely by chance. I knew of them from the 80s, but never followed them because, well, they’re not that good.
But there was something familiar about the verses that made me think, “That’s not a cover, but I’ve heard that before.”
I think it’s pretty easy to figure out, but I’ll put it at the end so you can have that in your head instead.
-Leon
*Clive from “Take it Easy” has previously made his opinions known.
The better one:
Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words, and his latest sci-fi mystery, Euphrates Vanished.
My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/
Free books? Sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter and choose one or more!
books.linesbyleon.com/Newslettersignup
Sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter and receive a free book!
Oh, pick me!
C’mon, space stuff!
December 22, 2024
Songs for a Sunday: Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats
Nathaniel David Rateliff is an American singer and songwriter based in Denver, Colorado, whose influences are described as folk, Americana and vintage rhythm & blues. Rateliff has performed with a backing band called the Night Sweats for an R&B side project he formed in 2013.
-Leon
Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words, and his latest sci-fi mystery, Euphrates Vanished.
My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/
Free books? Sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter and choose one or more!
books.linesbyleon.com/Newslettersignup
December 21, 2024
Weekend Wrap-up Dec. 21: Finally!
If you live above the Tropic of—Cancer. Yeah, I had to look it up. I never remember which one is which. Anyway, after six months of declining vitamin D opportunities, the days are finally going to get longer.
We won’t notice it for a while, though, and it only increases by a minute a day gradually adding a few seconds until the peak of three minutes by mid-February before slowing again until the summer solstice.
How much vitamin D can we get from the sun? According to facts:
“8 to 10 minutes of sun exposure at noon produces the recommended amount of vitamin D.”
That’s good for 6 months of the year, but in the winter when we are all bundled up with less that 5% of our skin exposed, we would have to be our in the sun for more than 2 hours. When it’s -30 C, that’s not going to happen.
Luckily, thanks to science, we have sunshine in pill form. How much should we take? I’m not a doctor, so…that’s on you.
-Leon
In case you missed it:Weekend Wrap-up Dec. 21: Finally!Free Book Friday Dec.20Weird Wednesday: Fantastical Stories of Dubious TruthTerse Verse Tuesday: Can AI write poetry?Music Monday Part II: My favorite Christmas song.Hope you enjoyed the recap! Feel free to share it with others.
Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words, and his latest sci-fi mystery, Euphrates Vanished.
My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/
Free books? Sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter and choose one or more!
books.linesbyleon.com/Newslettersignup
December 20, 2024
Free Book Friday Dec.20
Just the current book promos and review ops today.
The story behind Free Book Friday:I’ve met many authors and readers during my time marketing, cross-promoting, and blogging. I think writers have a responsibility to inform readers about all the indie authors out there in the very crowded world of book publishing. You can’t do it alone, and why would you when you have a supportive group available?
Readers don’t just read one author – they stick with their favorite genres. Therein lies the power in cross-promotion. If one of my readers buys a book from an author I promote, then chances are there will be a reciprocal effect, or so is the hope. Do I want to boost sales? Of course I do. Do I want to boost other’s sales? Why not. It’s called karma.
Some free book offers require a newsletter sign-up, which is a small non-monetary price to pay to try out a new indie author.
Reads From StoryOriginStoryOrigin allows authors to advertise their books to each other’s audience. I hope you have been able to discover a new favorite!
Free Books/KU
Review Copies (These are free!)
Sign up to review Euphrates VanishedSign up for an Advance Review Copy of A Matter of SabotageReview copies: Like reviewing books? Try my two poetry collections: Lines by Leon and A Wonder of Words
Newsletter:Sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter and receive a free book (poetry or science fiction): Leon’s Newsletter
Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words, and his latest sci-fi mystery, Euphrates Vanished.
My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/
Free books? Sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter and choose one or more!
books.linesbyleon.com/Newslettersignup
December 18, 2024
Weird Wednesday: Fantastical Stories of Dubious Truth
If you are a frequent reader of my blog, you know that I lie a lot. Not on purpose…well, yeah, on purpose, but for entertainment purposes only.
I have wanted to compile what I believe are my best blog posts, from historically inaccurate origin stories to all my self interviews, into a single volume that I could share with my newsletter subscribers, who, despite me including links to my blog in my bi-weekly mailings, don’t often visit.*
It is not a published publication, not to say it is riddled with typos, but each post is as it appeared on my blog, so I think I have created a new genre: Casual Fiction.
If you are reading this, you already have access to all the posts here on my blog, so not to worry, you’ve probably already read them.
*I think this might be the longest sentence I have ever written
-Leon
Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words, and his latest sci-fi mystery, Euphrates Vanished.
My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/
Free books? Sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter and choose one or more!
books.linesbyleon.com/Newslettersignup
