Frank L. Cole's Blog, page 6

The Winner and The Weirdo

Wow! I really appreciate the support of this contest. I noticed a bump in my fans of my author page. You guys must like free stuff from cool authors. And when I say cool, I'm referring to BK Bostick. So, here's how I decided the winner and you tell me if you think its fair. I took all of the recent LIKES to my page and then I added anyone who commented about the contest, whether on my blog, or on facebook, or Goodreads and then I put those names in a randomizer and selected the winner. No, not everyone who LIKED my page prior to the contest was entered, because I've done that before and it turned out the winning person no longer cared about Frank Cole anymore and never read any of my stuff or anything like that. To make a long story short, I posted the winning name and to this day they have never claimed their prize. Sad. That was like a year and a half ago. So if you've come back after your long hiatus and you scroll through the previous posts to discover you were the one who never claimed your prize, I'll still give it to you.

Those were the parameters I put in place and the winner from the randomizer is....

Amber Jensen!
Wahoo! You're the winner not the weirdo. Read all the way to the bottom and you'll discover the real weirdo.

So Amber, shoot me an e-mail with your address and I will mail you your prize. What I lucky gal.

Okay, here's the next contest and give-a-way:

1. Post a link to my facebook Author Page on your facebook page with these magic words: Check out this weirdo! Wait. No, don't do that. I'll never get any fans that way. How about something along the lines of: This guy writes cool books and has great hair (hee, hee! What a crock! I don't write cool books!) Crud muffins. Just post a link and say something that makes you happy. Then, somehow let me know. I prefer a comment or a post on my author page or blog or a package of Pull-a-part Cherry Twizzlers (my personal favorite) with a note adhered to the plastic.

Here's the Link - https://www.facebook.com/FrankL.Cole

I think if you copy and paste it in the Update your Status spot, it should work.

That's it. Do that and I'll give you an entry into the drawing. Oh, and if you're new to the world of Frank L. Cole, first off welcome, secondly just like my author page and I'll enter you as well. I'm all about sharing and caring.

And here's the prize. The winner will receive an autographed copy of Tyler Whitesides debut novel Janitors!


Yes, I am generous.
I'll announce the winner next Sunday.
Also, I'm a presenter at the 2012 Teen Author's Boot Camp at UVU and the required a short video clip of myself for their website. I basically took all of the outtakes and combined them into one clip. It's quite embarrassing, but... oh well.

Book Give-A-Way

Has it really been 3 weeks since I last blogged? Yep, the weather's definitely colder, I just turned off my sprinklers for the year, we carved up some pumpkins, told the kids my own rendition of the Headless Horseman (only made it about 10 minutes before they freaked out and slept on our floor.) It wasn't that scary.

To be honest I've been busy writing, which, if you read this blog, is what I live to do. I'm working on so many projects at once, it's really crazy. My newest book has quickly become my all-time favorite, but that's the beauty of writing. Each new book you write is like a new child. You always like the next one better... right? That's not true. I love all of my kids equally as do I my books, except for this new one. It is seriously going to earn valedictorian.... if it were human. Maybe they're not like children, but kinda. Think about it. Books make you cry. Kids make you cry. Books can make you laugh. My kids are somewhat funny. Some books really stink. HELLO!!!

I recently hung out at Authorpaloosa with my buddies B.K. Bostick and Berin Stephens. We had fun shooting the breeze, watching the long lines of fans for Jessica Day George, and being a little envious. Well, come on, if you've heard of Jessica's books, then you know she's deserving of every long line of fans she gets. She rocks!

I also saw Ally Condie, NYT Bestselling Author of Matched and soon to be Crossed which comes out in November. I know you ladies have heard of her and have slobbered over her books. Ally is awesome! So down to earth, so humble, and good grief the woman is about to blast off to another planet with how outrageously huge her books are going to be. I think I read somewhere how Disney optioned the rights of Matched to make a movie.

Here's a pic:


Notice how Ally seems a little creeped out by me? Notice how I look like that guy that sits all alone in the booth behind you at Pizza Hut eating a large pizza all by himself while arguing with the jar of red pepper flakes? That's because I am that guy and those red pepper flakes are morons.
Anywhooo.....
I'm giving away a book this week. All you have to do to enter the drawing is LIKE my author page on facebook. Many of you already LIKE my Hashbrown Winters page and some of you LIKE my Guardians of the Hidden Scepter page, I just want you to LIKE my Frank L. Cole Author page. I know! Why do I have so many different pages? It's because I'm a red pepper flake (psst! That's code for moron from this day forth.) Soon, I'll probably only have an author page, but I'll keep you posted on all of my books from there. Is this confusing? It's confused me.
Okay. Step by Step.
1. LIKE my Author Page. Follow this link to do that:  Frank L. Cole
2. Let me know you've done. You can do this by commenting on this post, or on my facebook page, or via messenger pigeon if you'd like. 
3. CROSS your fingers. 
4. I'll announce the winner on Tuesday, November 1st, at some point during the day before midnight.
You could become the proud owner of an autographed copy of B.K. Bostick's brand new middle grade novel, Huber Hill and the Dead Man's Treasure.


Now how cool is that?

What's the Deal with Fall

*YAWN* 
*STRETCH*
Back from hibernation. Good thing I ate all that bark and berries. Bears have got the idea, don't they? Sleep through the cold. Avoid the snow. Smart. You know what else is smart? I just thought of a new book title.
BACK FROM HIBER-NATION! 
Oh that's rich and delicious. 
Seriously though. Fall is officially here and I must say it may very well be my least favorite season. I don't want to sound negative and yes the color-changing leaves are cool, but when I think about Fall, I immediately remember the anxiety of going back to school. A new year of new subjects and school books and homework. Riding the bus. Never knowing where to sit. Home room. Seeing how all the pretty girls have gotten prettier over the summer while the popular guys became more popular. Realizing I'm still carrying my lunch to school in a plastic He-man lunchbox and I'm supposed to be a sophomore in high school. Yuck! I don't know how you kids do it. There's a level of stress that immediately kicks in whenever I feel the first frosty morning. 
Of course there will be sports. Football. Love it! Up until I pick a team in the family competition and I watch that team's quarterback get injured in the first game. Then I watch everyone else's teams make comeback after miraculous comeback to win every one of their stupid games while my wife and her mother shout things like "Double play!" and "He's traveling! He can't do that!" every time their teams take to the field. It's embarrassing. I do all the research, make spreadsheets, watch Sportscenter until numbers swirl before my eyes as I meticulously select my pick, while they make decisions based on how shiny their helmets are. All right, I'll probably get in big trouble for this paragraph because its not entirely true, but I guess I am just bitter. 
But the Fall television premieres, Frank! What about those? 
Yeah, I've never been much of television fan. Oh, I watch sports and movies and the Food Network, but I don't know what programs are befitting my evening hours. I can't handle drama. People dying on hospital beds, crime scene investigators, or weirdos lost on make believe islands. Week after week of more guessing and more watching and more "find out next week" and 24 episodes, etc., etc. I guess that's why I like movies so much. They end in between my bathroom breaks. Perfection. I sat down with my kids the other day and watched an episode of one of their shows and I about barfed in my hands. I don't remember what the show was called, but I didn't like it and from what I could see, neither did my kids. They just stared at the screen dull-faced, barely blinking, never laughing or cracking a smile, never repeating any of the catchy quips supposedly being said by the mini-Britney Spears wannabes dancing across the television. Don't they realize this stuff is junk?
The single saving event for the Fall is Halloween. Now that is almost worth the 3 months endurance test. I really wish grown-ups could go trick-or-treating. I want to dress up like a large slug and slime people. I want to go door to door for grown up treats. You know, stuff like: extra value meals, cans of soda, lottery tickets, paychecks, hammers, IPhone 5's, tubes of sensitive tooth paste, things of that nature. Wouldn't that be awesome? We could take our kids along with us, but they would stand on the curb with the strollers coaxing us to walk up to the houses by ourselves and reminding us to say our little chants. Then I would slime them. All of them! And shout, "Michael Vick! Why can't you win a football game!!! The 49ers man! Are you kidding me???"
I'm supposed to like the Fall. It's the end of sweltering heat. But everything is getting colder. Shaving my face hurts. Wearing hair gel becomes a nuisance because it freezes my hair. Hand shakes and high fives start to hurt because of the cold. Scraping car windows. Might as well schedule a dental exam and shoot a reindeer. And lets not forget Thanksgiving. Don't even get me started on that awful, useless... holy curdled cream Batman! Did I almost knock Thanksgiving? Turkey... Stuffing.... Food Coma.... Hiber-nation? I forgot Thanksgiving fell in the fall. 
Fell in the fall. Say that five times real fast. And what about haunted houses and corn mazes and horror movies and sweater vests? And miniature candy bars and pumpkin pie and hayrides and knit caps. And woolly socks and bubble baths and aroma therapy candles? Oh wait. Those three things are fit for any season. 
ARGH! GRUNT! GROWL! *Sigh* It's not so bad. It's all right. Therefore, in order to keep the Fall season in a positive light, I vote we forfeit the whole NFL! And school and cold and television shows and the Eagles and the Philadelphians (not the people of that great state just the football team who ruined my chances of winning the Golden Football.)
The End.

Have You Seen This?

I was just reminiscing today and I clicked on this video I made for Hashbrown Winters and the Phantom of Pordunce. I know it's the third book in the series and the newest to hit the shelves, but it is probably my favorite. There's a ghost, a girl, marbles, Whiz, Nuggets, so many good things in this story. Great fun for your little guys and gals! If you haven't picked up your copy, now's the perfect time to do so.

Here's the link to Amazon.

And in case you missed it when it first aired, here is the book trailer. Enjoy!

KSL Utah Book Festival

Howdy Ho Neighbors! So, this has kinda become an annual deal. I'll be participating in this year's KSL Utah Book Festival up on the University of Utah Campus.

Brandon Mull will be there!
Obert Skye
Ally Condie
Tyler Whitesides
Matthew Kirby
And Me, of course.

I'm in way over my head. I'm actually presenting up on the stage at 1:20 following Matthew Kirby, author of The Clockwork Three, and right before Obert Skye, author of a bazillion Leven Thumps books and so many others. I'm gonna barf. All over the stage. I don't even know what I'm going to talk about.

Last year, I went after Obert Skye and I could hear crickets in the audience because everyone left to go get their books signed by Obert. Not pretty. Did I barf then? Uh... I think they cleaned it up.

If you live in Utah and you are alive on Saturday from 10-3, you've got to attend the Book Festival. There are games and balloon animals and musical performances by Alex Boye and David Osmond.

And I'm speaking on the stage right before Obert Skye. I just said that. Did I say I was going to barf? Yep.

Here's the link to all the authors:

LINK

Like how I wrote Link? Funny huh?

And here's a map so you can drive there.

MAP

You don't even have to go all day, just from 1:20-1:45 to watch me barf on the stage. Then swing over and buy my books.

Thank you, you wonderful people!

Huber Hill and the Dead Man's Treasure

SSo, let me tell you about one of my friends, B.K. Bostick. The dude's kind of nuts, but he's hilarious! Plus, he writes awesome books. His debut novel, Huber Hill and the Dead Man's Treasure, hits the shelves in October and I can't wait for people to read this book. The writing is sharp. The characters are awesome. And the story will hook you!

Here's what he has going on with his book:


The Story:My grandpa inspired the story. He would always tell me stories about Spanish treasure hidden up in the mountains. I always imagined going on these wild adventures to find treasure. As I grew older, I realized that the real treasures were the stories my grandpa told me. I'll always remember those days sitting at his side listening as he showed old maps, books, and artifacts. If there's one theme to the story, it's that relationships with friends and family are invaluable- of much more worth than any kind of money.
The Fundraiser:Alyssa, my neighbor, was diagnosed with a Meningioma brain tumor on December 5th, 2010. The only way to get it out was through surgery. It took four surgeries to get out as much of the tumor as they could and now she's almost finished with her radiation treatments. Alyssa is an inspiration to me. Her positive outlook and attitude while facing something so terrible is truly remarkable. Because of the inspiration she's given me, I am trying to give back. I will be donating 100% of profits from all pre orders of Huber Hill and the Dead Man's Treasure along with sales during the first two weeks of launch (Oct. 1-16) to Alyssa and her family. Visitwww.treasureforalyssa.com
The Giveaway:I'll also be giving away a replicated gold coin/bookmark to each Frank Cole Follower who goes to my author page on facebook and clicks the "like" button. Go to: http://www.facebook.com/bkbostickauthorpage

Check out the Book Trailer:




And, since I love goofy videos, check out this interview BK did as well.






Come on, this guy's book has to be worth taking a look at!

Do you believe in ghosts?

That seems like a legitimate question right? The world is full of ghost stories and people honestly believe in hauntings and all that. So I'll repeat my question. Do you believe in ghosts?

I've had some interesting encounters in my life, which cause me not to rule out ghosts and creepy stuff like that.

Once I saw a ghost rummaging around in my underwear drawer. I've seen a woman hanging clothes on a clothesline in my bedroom and an old man trying to shove a pillow on my brother's face. And don't get me started on the Wallknocker who, by the way, has returned with a vengeance. Yes, I hear you. You've made yourself known. Please stop knocking! And what's with it always happening right when I'm about to fall asleep?

Don't ghosts have any sense of time?

Granted, you could probably pin the blame on too much soda before bed. Too much stress. Too many creepy books and movies. That stuff plays with your mind. The Wallknocker's probably not a ghost either. I'm betting it could be a goblin or maybe a litter of baby Sasquatches just eager for some affection.

Next question:

What the heck are ghosts made of?

Dust?

Air?

Gas? (Not that kind of gas...)

Hmmm....

That kind of gas?

Call it a writing project if you will, but I'm curious. I've seen the Sixth Sense (creepy) and according to that "true" story, ghosts make the temperature drop until you can see your breath. I don't know how I feel about that. When that one ghost was sifting through my tighty whities, it didn't feel cold in my room. Of course, I was in Alabama.

Do ghosts just hang around in the places where they've died. Can they roam free? And how is it the ghosts everyone claims to have seen are all wearing clothes? Wouldn't they be naked? Or did their clothes have spirits too that decided to come back from the dead?

If that's the case... How do you know if your clothes are capable of coming back from the dead?

Man, I think I'd want to know that.

Maybe its just me, but seeing floating clothes would be just as freaky as seeing a ghost. Now I know why there are so many hand-me-downs in the world. So many donations. You really never hear of people just burning their clothes or burying them or throwing them away. Am I the last person to realize the paranormal nature of polyester?

What about the different classifications of ghosts. You've got:

Poltergeist

...uh...

the...

... uussshh...

I'm drawing a blank. What other ghost classifications are there? I know Tolkien had a whole bunch in The Lord of the Rings, but for the life of me...

Again, for science, I need to know. Your opinions on any of my ghost related questions will be greatly appreciated.

A DELICIOUS Review

 My friend Wendy Paul has an awesome recipe book that just came out-
101 GOURMET CAKE BITES.
 If you don't know what cake bites are then let me tell you:  they are these chewy, little, cake morsels dipped in a topping of your choice (usually chocolate).  Think truffles but lighter!
You might think, really how many different variations can there be?
In her book she has over 122 pages of recipes on the different flavors and toppings you can do with just cake bites.
Can you imagine the possibilities!?!
Wait, you don't have to, Wendy already did it for you, plus she included tantalizing pictures of almost every creation.
                                                     What could be better?

This crazy picture just shows you a sample of what you are in for!  DELECTABLE I tell you! This is the chocolate peanut butter cup cake bite and this is my wife's favorite combination of flavors.  Doesn't it look amazing?

This book has very detailed instructions plus the beautiful pictures- I know Wendy worked hard in her kitchen creating these delicacies and they are all "tried-and-true" recipes.  I can't wait for my wife (yep, if I was in the kitchen they wouldn't look edible) to start baking.
Definitely a five star rating!

My Pal Tristi's new novel!

Author Tristi Pinkston is excited to announce the release of the third novel in her Secret Sisters Mysteries series.
Titled Hang 'em High , this novel takes place on a dude ranch in Montana. When Ida Mae's son invites her to come for a visit, of course she brings Arlette and Tansy along with her. They are expecting to spend the week looking at horses, avoiding the cows, and making amends in Ida Mae's relationship with her son. What they don't expect is to be stuck on the ranch in the middle of a blizzard and to be thrust headlong into the middle of a mystery.*** Help Tristi celebrate her new novel in two ways. First, come participate in the two-week-long blog contest, where you can win a book nearly every single day! All the details are up on Tristi's blog.

Second, come to the book launch!
You are invited to anAugust Authorama!Saturday, August 13th Pioneer Book, 858 S. State, Orem12 – 4 pm Games, prizes, balloons, face painting,and Dutch oven cobblerprepared by world champion cookKeith Fisher. Authors Tristi Pinkston, J. Lloyd Morgan, Cindy Hogan,Nichole Giles, and Heather Justesenwill all be there to sign books. This is one book launch event you will not want to miss!

What are you reading right now!

Man! I haven't read anything for a while! So, that's not entirely true. I've started lots of books and a few of them I got into, but something happened along the way and I lost the rhythm. Now, I desperately need to read something. Anything. But not just anything. Something I will truly enjoy. Something I'll look forward to reading every night and not just in the bathroom (sorry TMI). Here's what I've started and failed to finish:

Lost Hero by Rick Riordan (I love this guy! I loved the Percy Jackson series, and I was really digging this book. Then it got stolen out of my hotel room in Colorado.) Gone.

Tunnels by Gordon and Williams - This book is well-written, but I ran out of bath salts. K. Need to explain. I like to read while taking a bath. Is that so wrong? I ran out of bath salts. No bath salts = loss of interest in reading novels. Sad really.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid 3 by Jeff Kinney - These books crack me up, but I got sick and tired of trying to wrestle the book free from my sons.

So there you have it. Not finished. Not reading. Miserable. Nothing is capturing my attention right now. Believe me when I say I own a ton of books. But I just look at their fancy covers and sigh. *sigh*

Do you know how important it is for an aspiring author to read? Very important. The most important thing I can do. I'm trying to write right now. Finish books. Spark up new ideas and I'm drawing blanks. I need something to ignite my mind.

Help me.

What are you reading right now? I don't care if it's Harlequin romances or Gardening books or text books or Biographies of really boring people. Preferably I want to read fiction. Kids fiction. Teen fiction. Horror books. Something gripping.

I'm willing to pay for this information. I'll send the winning suggestion a signed copy of The Guardians of the Hidden Scepter because I've read that enough already.

All right. Please let suggestions roll in.