S. Evan Townsend's Blog, page 70

'Tis the Season

Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah. 

The Speculative Fiction Cantina with Pamela K. Kinney and Randy Anderson

Today on the Speculative Fiction Cantina we are pleased to welcome writers Pamela K. Kinney and Randy Anderson.
Pamela K. KinneyPamela K. Kinney

Pamela K. Kinney gave up long ago trying not to listen to the voices in her head and writes bestselling horror, fantasy. science fiction, poetry, and nonfiction ghost books. Three of her nonfiction ghost books garnered Library of Virginia nominations and her horror short story, “Bottled Spirits,” was runner up for the 2013 WSFA Small Press Award.

Under the pseudonym, Sapphire Phelan, she writes erotic and regular paranormal, fantasy and science fiction romance. Her erotic urban fantasy, Being Familiar with a Witch was awarded the 2013 Prism awarded by the Fantasy, Futuristic and Paranormal chapter of Romance Writers of America.

Pamela and her husband live with one crazy black cat (who thinks she should take precedence over her mistress’s writing most days). Along with writing, Pamela has acted on stage and film, and done paranormal investigations (episodes of Paranormal World Seekers for AVA Productions), and is a member of both Horror Writers Association and Romance Writers of America. You can learn more about Pamela K. Kinney and her pseudonym, Sapphire Phelan at http://www.PamelaKKinney.com and http://www.SapphirePhelan.com.

Pamela's Works:

Spectre Nightmares and Visitations (paperback, ebook)
"Pick Up Date" (short story by Sapphire Phelan)
"Give Me Something Good to Eat" (short story)
Pamela's Links:
Website Blog Facebook (Pamela K. Kinney)Facebook (Sapphire Phelan) Twitter Pinterest
Randy AndersonRandy Anderson
In 2011, Randy began his literary adventure when he published his first book, On Making Off: Misadventures off off Broadway, a memoir of making theatre in New York City. His second book, Careful, a coming-of-age tale set in Ecuador, was released in 2014. On October 11, 2016 he launched his time travel series Time Phantom. The next two books in the series will be released in 2017. He is also working on a literary trilogy where each book is a collection of short stories that tell the story of a disheartened pastry chef and his family. 
Before writing books, Randy ran a small New York theater company from 1999-2004. During this time he produced over three dozen productions and events. He was a co-producer of The Unconvention, a political theater festival during the 2004 Republican National Convention. Plays he's written include; New Year's Resolutions, Homelessness Homosexuals and Heretics, Testing Average, Kill The President, Armor of Wills, and The Dwelling.
Randy's Books:

Time Phantom: Amsterdam 
Careful: A Novel
On Making Off: Misadventures off off Broadway 
Randy's Links:
Website Facebook Twitter
From today's show: Giant Metallic Asteroid May Have Water.
Listen to today's program at 6:00 PM ET / 3:00 PM PT or in archive here.

Music of My Heart

[image error] Back to the 52-week blogging challenge and today's prompt is "Music of My Heart." Not quite sure what they mean by that.

I already did a blog post on music that had me put my iPhone on "shuffle" and write down the three songs that came up.

So, Music of My Heart. I guess I'll just name some favorite songs/pieces.

It's almost Christmas and one of my favorite bits of music is the "Hallelujah Chorus" from Handel's The Messiah. Actually, ironically, The Messiah is probably more appropriate for Easter than Christmas as it follows all of Jesus's life, death, and Resurrection. But it is traditionally performed at Christmastime.

Another favorite piece of mine is the "Flower Duet" from the opera Lakmé by Léo Delibes. The link is to one of the best performances I've found of the duet. I just wish it didn't have French subtitles. The beauty of it is transcendental. If you don't like opera, give this a try. You'll change your mind.

But I have eclectic taste. Probably my favorite rock song is "We're an American Band" by Grand Funk Railroad. It's just a powerful, hard-hitting rock song. Also hard hitting is "The Immigrant Song" by Led Zeppelin. If you listen to the lyrics you realize it's about Vikings.

I usually don't like cover songs, but this version of The Immigrant Song is amazing.

Speaking of covers, did you know that Jimi Hendricks's "All Along the Watchtower" is a cover of a Bob Dylan song? Still one of my favorite songs from the 60s. Hendricks's "Foxy Lady" is amazing, too (I can't find a good version on YouTube).

And then there's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana.

So that's some of my favorite music. What's your favorite music?

I Don't Believe It.

According to the Blogger stats on my blog (that you're now reading), I've had 236,991 lifetime page views. And I've had 244 of those today. And that's with a total of 14 followers.

I don't believe it.

Take a look at this:

That's a screen capture of the page views for my blog posts from a few days ago.

I really doubt 115 people looked at my post from 12/2/16. And the longer a post is up, the more fantastical the page views become. For example, my post for 11/13/16 supposedly has 279 page views as of now.

At first I thought it was referrer spam. But that's pretty easy to spot.

When I look at referring sites, it's mostly Google (this is from today):


So I don't get it. But I really doubt all those people are reading my blog. If they are, great. But it seems too good to be true.

There are Still Nice People Out There.

Yesterday my wife and I were going to Pasco, Washington, to interview someone for a freelance story I am writing. About five miles north of Pasco on Highway 395, we got a flat tire. The outside temperature according to the car was 5 degrees and that was without the windchill. And the wind was blowing hard. I thought I didn't want to change a tire in below zero windchill. So I called AAA. They said it could take up to two hours for them to get there. I settled in for the wait.

About five minutes after getting off the phone with AAA, a small pickup stops in front of us, turns on his emergency flashers, and backs up. Out comes a young man dressed warmly carrying one of those crossed tire irons and a jack. He came up to the window and asked if we needed help. I said we did. I got out of the car and opened the trunk, got out the temporary spare and the lug wrench (none of the ones on his tire iron fit). He jacked up the car, took off the tire. I put the flat tire in the trunk and by then he had the spare on and was tightening the lug bolts. He lowered the car. I offered him money but he wouldn't take it. He got in his pickup and drove off. I never even got his name. It was too cold for conversation.

My wife took a picture of his pickup (above). I have no idea who this guy was. But I want to thank him for his help. There are still nice people out there.

The Speculative Fiction Cantina with Natalie Silk and Brian Pigg

Today on the Speculative Fiction Cantina we are happy to welcome writers Natalie Silk and Brian Pigg.
Natalie Silk

Natalie had fantastic dreams about a girl and a special pendant when she was twelve and wrote them down. She turned those dreams into short stories during her years in junior high, high school, then college, and beyond. Some would call it tenacity—she would call it insanity—for never giving up her passion for sharing her stories with the world.


Natalie's Books:


Stars’ Fire

Snowfall’s Secret

"Synapse" (short story in Project 9 Vol. 2 )

Natalie's Links:

Blog
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest

Brian PiggBrian Pigg

I was raised in St. Louis, MO by teachers. I was an avid fantasy reader as a child and played a lot of Dungeons and Dragons. I moved on to the Army, got two bachelor degrees, and worked for a time as a construction laborer. Now, I work in IT in Kansas City, MO.

Brian's Book: 

Metamorphosis by Decree

Brian's Links:

Website/Blog
Facebook

From today's show: Mysterious X-ray Blasts.

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

One Million Dollars!

Back to the 52-week blogging challenge. The next prompt is "Your biggest pet peeve." Well, I already discussed that here: slow drivers. Or I guess I should say drivers going slower than conditions require.

So the next prompt is "Oh, to win a million dollars."

I hate to tell you, a million dollars doesn't go very far these days. Now $10 million, I'll get excited.

If you put $1 million in investments and earn 5% per year, that's only 50,000 a year. Now that's not bad but you won't be living like a millionaire by any means. Of course, that maintains your principle.

If you decided to use up your principle over 20 years (let's say), at 5% interest you'd still only get $76,421.51 per year. And then what do you do when the 20 years is up, because now you're broke?

Now $10 million, at 5% interest, is $500,000 a year. Now you'll have a very nice lifestyle. Maybe not yacht-buying lifestyle, but still pretty nice.

If you decide to use up the principle over 20 years (why would you?) that'd be $764,215.12 (I am rather surprised that's almost exactly 10 times the million dollar figure). Again, after 20 years you'd be broke.

What you ought to do with $10 million, is invest it and try to live off of $250,000 year, re-investing the other $250,000 a year. Then if there's a bad year in the stock and bond market, you have some built-up principle to get through it.

If I won a million dollars, I'd probably stick it in the bank (or, actually, the stock and bond market) and let it grow so I have more principle when I want to finally retire. I know, I'm boring.

Maybe I'd buy a 2018 Corvette ZR1 first.

The Speculative Fiction Cantina with W. Clark Boutwell and Matthew Graybosch

Today on the Speculative Fiction Cantina we are pleased to welcome writers W. Clark Boutwell and Matthew Graybosch.
W. Clark BoutwellW. Clark Boutwell

W. Clark Boutwell, although a long time resident in Alabama, was born in Chicago in 1948 and raised outside Philadelphia. An avid solo hiker and backpacker for over fifty years, he picked up mountain climbing in his forties. He obtained his MD from Northwestern University in 1972, and trained primarily at CHoP. He is a pediatrician and continues to provide intensive care for sick newborn infants in America and has done so on four continents and seven countries. Having seen the Southern Cross from Mukinge Hill, the sunset at Hale’iwa Bay from a seat on Jamieson’s porch, the midnight sun on Beaufort Sea ice, and moonrise over the Himalayas, he is finding that writing is quite an adventure.

Clark's Book:

Outland Exile: Book One of Old Men and Infidels

Clark's Links:

Website/Blog
Facebook
Twitter
Nuine

Matthew GrayboschMatthew Graybosch

According to official records maintained by the state of New York, Matthew Graybosch was born on Long Island in 1978.

Urban legends suggest he might be Rosemary’s Baby or the result of top-secret DOD attempts to continue Nazi experiments combining human technology and black magic. The most outlandish tale suggests that he sprang fully grown from his father’s forehead with a sledgehammer in one hand and the second edition of The C Programming Language in the other—and has been giving the poor man headaches ever since.

The truth is more prosaic. Matthew Graybosch is an author from New York who lives with his wife and cats in central Pennsylvania. He is also an avid reader, a long-haired metalhead, and an unrepentant nerd who plays too many video games.

Without Bloodshed (2013) is his first published novel, and followed by Silent Clarion in 2016. He is currently working on Blackened Phoenix. He has also written several short stories, among them "The Milgram Battery", "Limited Liability", and "Tattoo Vampire".

His day job is software development, and we’re not sure how he remains sane. We could ask, but we suspect he’d say, “I’m not sane. I’m just high-functioning.”

Matthew's Works


Silent Clarion

“Limited Liability” (short story)


Without Bloodshed

Matthew's Links:

Website
Blog
Facebook
Twitter
Google+
Tumbr
LinkedIn
Instagram
Pinterest
Amazon

From Today's Show: Waves in Uranus' Rings

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

An Unforgettable Day

My 1999 Camaro SS (with aftermarket wheels)Back to the 52-week blogging challenge. Today's prompt is "An unforgettable day in my live."

Well, I suppose I could talk about when my oldest son was born.

Or the day I got married.

Or the day I got left at the bus station. Oh, already talked about that.

But I'm going to talk about: my first day driving on a racetrack.

I signed up for a High Performance Driving School through the BMW club of Spokane. They didn't care what you drove, as long as it wasn't an SUV. I'd seen four-door BMW M5s driven on the track. Of course, M5s are screaming fast, especially for a sedan.

At the time I had a blue 1999 Camaro SS, stock. I had to rent a helmet from the driving school and I showed up bright and early on a Saturday morning. They put me in the "D" group (of four groups, A, B, C, and D) which were people who've never driven on a racetrack before. I was slightly insulted because I considered myself a pretty good driver. Then I got on the track with an instructor.

And it was both amazing and very difficult. The concentration required was overwhelming. One mistake at 130 mph could be fatal. But it was so much fun.

Then I was amazed to learn: it was a two-day event. I thought it was only one day. So I came back the second day. By about noon, the D class were lining up in order of speed. I was number two. A guy with a BMW roadster was number one; I had more horsepower than he, but he had more skill. On later driving days, I would be able to keep up with him. Also, the D-class had thinned out a lot as people got tired and went home.

It was the most fun I'd had with my clothes on. I was hooked. I went to a lot of those schools over the years, only stopping when I became a writer because of the costs involved. It wasn't the $300 fee. It was tires and brakes and keeping the car maintained. This got worse when I upgraded my car to a Corvette. Even though the Corvette has a lot more power than the Camaro, the Camaro was more fun to drive because you had to work to keep it going fast. The Corvette just went fast (sometimes too fast although I never put it off the track).

So that was an unforgettable day. Actually, two days. What was your unforgettable day?

Luke Cage

I finished watching all the episodes of Luke Cage last week. Luke Cage is one of the Marvel/Netflix series, after Jessica Jones and Daredevil. For some reason I went in assuming it was going to be a prequel, but it takes place after Jessica Jones and Daredevil (both of whom get mentioned, but not by name).

I really liked Luke Cage. While there was good action, the characters drive the story. And there were some very interesting characters from a corrupt politician (played by Alfre Woodard) whose cousin is a the head of a gang, to Cage himself, played by Mike Coulter, who exudes a quite calm and confidence. You immediately want to like the guy. And Rosario Dawson is back as Claire Temple, after playing that character in Jessica Jones and Daredevil.

Each episode built and built to a final climax. My biggest complaint was the last episode got a little preachy.

One thing I also enjoyed was how music was infused into nearly every episode. The action centers around a night club that has live music performances. Because I don't listen to Soul or R&B or Hip Hop, I don't know if the performers were actual famous performers, but the music was so good, I suspect they were. But it added another enjoyable dimension to the show. Here's a website that talks about the music in Luke Cage. But it doesn't seem to be complete.

The other two Marvel/Netflix series took place in Hell's Kitchen in New York City. Luke Cage takes place in Harlem (it's mentioned he moved there from Hell's Kitchen). I've never been to Harlem so I have no idea how accurate a portrayal of the area the show is. But you are dragged into it along with Luke.

Luke Cage is very good, very entertaining. If you have Netflix, I urge you to check it out. The first two episodes are a bit slow but after that, it's an amazingly good show.

The Netflix/Marvel series are in the same universe as the Avengers movies. But these series are so much better than the movies. They delve deep into the back story of the characters, and they have the time to let you get to know them well. And they tend to be a lot more serious than the movies. So please don't write them off as comic-book shows.