S. Evan Townsend's Blog, page 68

An Embarrassing Moment

Time once again for the 52-week blogging challenge. Today's prompt is "My Embarrassing Stories."

Hmmmm, that would be embarrassing.

Okay, here's a story that is kind of embarrassing and also funny. I've never been a big sports guy up until I found my love for University of Washington Husky football. So in my early 20s (in the early 1980s) when I was in college (for the first time) I paid very little attention to sports.

I was working at pizza place in Bellevue, Washington. Bellevue is a suburb of Seattle and there are a lot of people living there, or near there, who have money (Bill Gates lives close to there, for example). One time a woman came in named "Nordstrom" (based on her credit card) and she was wearing a diamond ring with the rock the size of an almond.

We didn't deliver. One night it was slow and a guy called in a pizza. I asked for his name (as usual) and he told me something. I have no memory now of what it was. So I cooked the pizza.

The guy who came in was amazingly tall. Bushy blonde afro (he was white) Way over six feet. The woman with him, who was probably 5'6", looked tiny next to him. (She was also gorgeous). So the guy pays for the pizza with cash and because it was slow, I said something to him like "Wow, you're tall."  He said, "Yeah." So, I said, "You have think of playing basketball." And he smiles and says, "Yeah, I've thought about it." And takes his pizza and leaves.

So the assistant manager comes up to me and says, "Only you would as Jack Sikma if he plays basketball."

Now even I knew Jack Sikma played for the Seattle Sonics. I said, "That wasn't the name he gave me when he called in the pizza."

Oh, and he's 6'11".

So, Jack Sikma, wherever you are, sorry about that. I really did not realize it was you.

The Speculative Fiction Cantina with J.S. Burke and V. R. Craft

Today on the Speculative Fiction Cantina we welcome writers J.S. Burke and V. R. Craft.
J.S. BurkeJ.S. Burke

J.S. Burke is an author, artist, teacher, and marine biologist, studying creatures of the dark abyss and diving on coral reefs. She writes and draws the Dragon Dreamer science fantasy series, with its dragons and undersea world.

Her stories blend imagination with real science and author experiences. Living on a ship far from shore, she learned to walk with the sea. The Dragon Dreamer series grew from her years at sea, a fascination with the alien, intelligent octopuses, and a love of dragons. She lives in Georgia.

J.S.'s Books:

Dragon Lightning
The Dragon Dreamer
J.S.'s Links:
Website Facebook Twitter Amazon
V. R. Craft
V.R. Craft always heard you should write about what you know, so she decided to write a book called Stupid Humans, drawing on her previous experience working in retail and her subsequent desire to get away from planet Earth. She has also worked in marketing, advertising, and public relations, where she found even more material for Stupid Humans. Now self-employed, she enjoys the contact sport of shopping at clearance sales, slamming on the brakes for yard sale signs, and wasting time on social media, where she finds inspiration for a sequel to Stupid Humans every day. 
V.R.'s Books:

Stupid Humans
Fail to the Chief (by W. T. Fallon)
V.R.'s Links:
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From Today's Program: Did a supernova give birth to our solar system?
Listen to Today's Program at 6:00 PM ET / 3:00 PM PT or in archive here.

My Biggest Fears

Wow, February already. I remember when it was Election Day.

Back to the 52-week blogging challenge. Today the prompt is "My biggest fears." I sort of did this earlier, but about global things, not personal things. So I'll do this for personal things.

My biggest personal fears are . . . death and taxes. Well, mostly death. Although taxes are inevitable. And every year I fear I forgot something and the IRS is going to come down on me like a ton of bureaucrats.

I don't like spiders much, especially big ones.

I'm not a fan of big aggressive dogs. When I was younger (maybe 8 years old) a St. Bernard chased me and tried to jump on me. That pretty much made me decide I didn't like big dogs. I've gotten better now. But if they are barking I still don't like them.

Black ice. I hate ice you can't see on the road. You're driving along and suddenly have no grip. My first car accident was caused by black ice. Yes, I've had more than one car accident.

So that's a pretty good list. What are your biggest fears? Comment below.

February

Today is the first day of February.

I remember when I was a kid growing up in the Snake River Valley in Idaho (which was 4,500 feet elevation) that February was always the coldest most miserable month of the year. Here in Central Washington State where I love now, February is always variable. This year it's starting out cold and sunny. There is wind in the forecast but as we say here, the wind doesn't blow, it sucks.

This has been the snowiest year since 1996-97, if I remember right. Usually it snows, then melts, then a month later, snows again, then melts. This year we've had snow on the ground since the first snow in late November. I remember I put the snow tires on my car on a Monday morning, and it started snowing that afternoon. Luck? No, I read the weather forecast.

I'm kind of sick of this winter. I want to be able to drive again and have a clean car and not freeze when I walk from the car to a store (or Starbucks).

And I'm very glad to see the sun today. Just sure it won't last and we'll be back to our normal gloomy winter weather.

The Speculative Fiction Cantina with Beth Barany and Alan J. Field

Today on the Speculative Fiction Cantina we are pleased to welcome writers Beth Barany and Alan J. Field.
Beth BaranyBeth Barany

Award winning author, Beth Barany writes in several genres including young adult adventure fantasy and fantasy romance. Inspired by living abroad in France and Quebec, she loves creating magical tales of romance and adventure to empower women and girls to jump into life with both feet and be the heroes in their own lives.

In her off hours, Beth enjoys walking her neighborhood, gardening on her patio, and watching movies and traveling with her husband, author Ezra Barany. They live in Oakland, California with their cat named Leo, a piano, and over 1,000 books.

When not writing or playing, Beth runs her own company helping novelists as a book midwife, coach, and teacher to help them write, market, and publish their books.

Beth's Books:

Henrietta and the Battle of the Horse Mesa 

Christmas Magic, A Christmas Romance Collection: Two Touchstone Series Books

A Cupcake Christmas (A Christmas Elf Romance)

Beth's Links:

Website/Blog
Facebook
Twitter
Goodreads
Instagram
Pintrest
YouTube

Alan J. FieldAlan J. Field

Having practiced as a lawyer in New York for more than 20 years in the entertainment and high technology space, I knew it was time to step back and write what I like to read about: gripping international thrillers that laser beam on relevant geopolitical issues of the day.

I live in northern New Jersey with my wife and four children, myself being a South Jersey transplant. They keep me busy enough which made completing my first novel all that more incredible. I know this is just the beginning as I begin the next journey of writing a sequel.

All my prior published legal articles aside, this is my first crack at fiction. Sharing my story with others has been a thrilling and satisfying experience.

Alan's Books:

The Chemist

The Bridge to Armageddon (coming early 2018)

Alan's Links:

Website/Blog
Facebook
Twitter

From Today's Show: Neutron Star May Confirm 80-year-old Quantum Prediction

Listen to today's program at 6:00 PM ET / 3:00 PM PT, or in archive here.

What is a Fashion Accessory?

I get the feeling when I pick up blogging prompts/challenges, that they are aimed at women. So in the 52-week one I'm doing now, the next prompt is "Your biggest fashion accessory." Yeah.

Listen, I'm an old, grumpy, and overweight guy. I don't do fashion. I do comfortable.

About the only fashion accessory I have are my shoes. I wear running shoes no matter what. After four years in the military and 20 years in the corporate world, I'm done wearing shoes that aren't comfortable. So even when I wear a sport coat, I wear running shoes. Because they are comfortable.

What I do is I go to Big 5 Sporting Goods (I don't know if they are a national chain) and buy an ASICS gel running shoe. They usually cost about $50. It was so nice when a Big 5 opened in the town I live in. Before I'd have to travel to Spokane or Tri-Cities to buy shoes.

It takes a few days for them to break in. I have weird feet. My arch is very high. So I have to get the shoes to conform to my feet. But when they do, they are oh-so-comfortable.

So if you see me, no matter where I am, I will be wearing running shoes. And believe me, I don't run. I barely walk.

The Speculative Fiction Cantina with Andy Peloquin and Mysti Parker

Today on the Speculative Fiction Cantina we are happy to welcome writers Andy Peloquin and Mysti Parker.
Andy PeloquinAndy Peloquin

I am, first and foremost, a storyteller and an artist–words are my palette. Fantasy is my genre of choice, and I love to explore the darker side of human nature through the filter of fantasy heroes, villains, and everything in between. I’m also a freelance writer, a book lover, and a guy who just loves to meet new people and spend hours talking about my fascination for the worlds I encounter in the pages of fantasy novels.

Fantasy provides us with an escape, a way to forget about our mundane problems and step into worlds where anything is possible. It transcends age, gender, religion,race, or lifestyle–it is our way of believing what cannot be, delving into the unknowable, and discovering hidden truths about ourselves and our world in a brand new way. Fiction at its very best!

Andy's books:

The Last Bucelarii (Book 1): Blade of the Destroyer

The Last Bucelarii (Book 2): Lament of the Fallen

In the Days: A Tale of the Forgotten Continent

Andy's Links:

Website/Blog
Facebook
Twitter
Google+
Amazon
Goodreads

Mysti Parker

Mysti Parker is a wife, mother, author, and shameless chocoholic. While her first love is romance, including award-winning historical and fantasy romances, she enjoys writing flash fiction (the weirder the better) and children's stories. When not writing fiction, Mysti works as a freelance editor and copywriter. She also reviews books for SQ Mag, an international speculative fiction eZine. She resides in Kentucky with her husband, three children and too many pets.

Mysti's Books

Serenya's Song

Hearts in Exile

No Place Like Home

Mysti's Links:

Website
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram

From today's show: Huge Ice Reservoir or Mars.

Listen to today's program at 6:00 PM ET / 3:00 PM PT or in archive here. 

Time Management

I'm not sure I have time for this but it's time for another 53-week blogging challenge. Today's prompt is "Time Management." That's it. No clue what they mean.

Time management has never been my strong suit. I tend to run on deadlines. As in "oh, the deadline is approaching, guess I better work on that."

I've gotten better since I've started doing freelance. I rarely procrastinate freelance assignments unless I have one that takes greater priority. But I still just do what needs to be done and play it by ear. I use the calendar in Outlook to keep track of appointments and such, but not for any kind of time management.

When I worked in the corporate world, I still wasn't good at time management. I still just did things based on deadlines. The problem with the corporate world is plans tend to be interrupted by fires. So I just stopped making plans.

How are you at time management? Comment below.

The Speculative Fiction Cantina with Anthony Caplan and Matt Posner

Today on the Speculative Fiction Cantina we are happy to welcome writers Anthony Caplan and Matt Posner.
Anthony CaplanAnthony Caplan

Anthony Caplan is an independent writer, teacher and homesteader in northern New England. He has worked at various times as a shrimp fisherman, environmental activist, journalist, taxi-driver, builder, window-washer, and telemarketer, (the last for only a month, but one week he did win a four tape set of the greatest hits of George Jones for selling the most copies of Time-Life’s The Loggers.)

Currently, Caplan is working on restoring a 150-year-old farmstead where he and his family tend sheep and chickens, grow most of their own vegetables, and have a small apple orchard.

His road novels, Birdman and French Pond Road, trace the meanderings of Billy Kagan, a footloose soul striving after sanity and love in the last years of the last century. Latitudes – A Story of Coming Home, released in the summer of 2012, is a young boy’s transformative journey overcoming dysfunction, dislocation and distance. Savior, a dystopian thriller, published by Harvard Square Editions in April 2014, reached the top spot on the Amazon list of psychological suspense books. And his latest, The Victor's Heritage, features a teenaged heroine in a dystopian thriller one reviewer called “a definite must-read, no matter your age!”

Anthony's Books:

The Victor’s Heritage

Savior

Latitudes - A Story of Coming Home

Anthony's Links:
Website Facebook Twitter
Matt PosnerMatt Posner
Matt Posner is an independent author and teacher from Queens, New York. He writes in multiple fiction and nonfiction genres.
Matt's Books:

School of the Ages 
Squared Circle Blues
How to Write Dialogue  
Matt's Links:
Website Blog Blog Facebook Facebook Facebook Twitter Twitter Pinterest
From today's show:  X-ray Technology Could Speed Deep Space Communications.
Listen to today's show at 6:00 PM ET / 3:00 PM PT or in archive here.

My Favorite Book

Once again it's time for the "52-week blogging challenge" and today's prompt is "My favorite book." I assume that means my favorite book that I haven't written. Naming your favorite book you have written ( Treasure of the Black Hole ) is like naming your favorite child (he knows who he is).

So what is my favorite book I haven't written? I was thinking The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein. But to be honest, I haven't read it in years. And while I like Starship Troopers (also by Heinlein) it's a pedantic juvenile (what we call YA today) and not really "favorite book" material. (Forget the horrible movie. And I guess they're making another movie based on Starship Troopers. It will probably also be horrible.)

The book I have probably read the most is The Princes Bride: S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure by William Goldman. Why, because it's a fun read and I like its message ("life isn't fair"). And you have to read the non-story parts to get the full effect.

Yes, there's a movie version, and while I enjoy the movie, it's not nearly as good as the book.

So, I guess my favorite book is The Princes Bride.

What's yours?