Doug Dillon's Blog, page 146
November 18, 2013
Animals and Paranormal Experiences
This little guy often hides in a planter just outside our door.
How a series of paranormal events, led to a synchronous happening here in Central Florida.
Today, I spoke to a friend at a community gathering who had been having a whole string of unusual occurrences going on in her life. Two of these situations involved animals, one being a tree frog. It seems that one day while driving, suddenly such a critter leaped out of nowhere and landed right on her chest. She isn’t a fan of our Florida reptiles and amphibians and nearly wrecked her car.
Because I write about the paranormal, my friend and I had a conversation about how such strange experiences can sometimes link themselves together as to have some sort of meaning.
Right after that chat, I found my wife and we drove home. But just before we arrived, a tree frog jumped on my wife’s leg and then on my hand. I immediately grabbed the critter and was soon able to deposit him in some bushes. We have no idea how that thing got into her car.
You know, I’ve been living in Florida for a lot of years and until today, never had such an in-car experience with a tree frog. The chances of such a thing happening directly after hearing about an almost identical event go way beyond the laws of probability. To Barb and me, it was a fascinating encounter with the essence of this vast universe within which we live.
If you’re interested in reading a book my wife and I wrote about the paranormal, click here.
If you like to see the first two young adult, paranormal novels I’ve written, click here and here.
November 16, 2013
The True Walking Dead in Teen Novel
Stepping Off a Cliff -young adult, paranormal, historical, romance & soft science fiction.
The St. Augustine Trilogy, Book II is finally published! First check out the book description below and then the trailer:
An otherworldly, evil and dangerous force infests America’s oldest and most haunted city, St. Augustine, Florida. Everyone living there, or visiting, is at risk in ways too horrible to imagine.
Standing between this invader and the people of St. Augustine are teenagers Jeff and Carla, the mysterious Native American shaman, Lobo, and Lyle, the homeless guy.
In their quest to save themselves and all the inhabitants of this ancient Florida city, Jeff and Carla uncover lost parts of St. Augustine history, push past the limits of space and time, and come face-to-face with what they come to realize are the true walking dead.
November 15, 2013
Perfect Book Trailer To Entice Teens & Others
Stepping Off a Cliff - paranormal, mystery, romance, history & soft science fiction for young adults and adults young at heart.
Just got the trailer for my latest book and it is fantastic. Cheree Crump from South Carolina does them for me. What an exquisite job!
Below is the book description. Check it out and then see how Cheree expertly inserted it as the text for the visuals in the trailer. She is an amazing lady who really knows how to shine a huge floodlight on a novel.
An otherworldly, evil and dangerous force infests America’s oldest and most haunted city, St. Augustine, Florida. Everyone living there, or visiting, is at risk in ways too horrible to imagine.
Standing between this invader and the people of St. Augustine are teenagers Jeff and Carla, the mysterious Native American shaman, Lobo, and Lyle, the homeless guy.
In their quest to save themselves and all the inhabitants of this ancient Florida city, Jeff and Carla uncover lost parts of St. Augustine history, push past the limits of space and time, and come face-to-face with what they come to realize are the true walking dead.
Thanks, Cheree, for a job well done.
November 14, 2013
Time Traveling Teens Vs. Alien Creature
Stepping Off a Cliff, young adult, paranormal, historical, romance & soft science fiction.
The St. Augustine Trilogy, Book II is finally published! First check out the description below and then the book trailer:
_______________
An otherworldly, evil and dangerous force infests America’s oldest and most haunted city, St. Augustine, Florida. Everyone living there, or visiting, is at risk in ways too horrible to imagine.
Standing between this invader and the people of St. Augustine are teenagers Jeff and Carla, the mysterious Native American shaman, Lobo, and Lyle, the homeless guy.
In their quest to save themselves and all the inhabitants of this ancient Florida city, Jeff and Carla uncover lost parts of St. Augustine history, push past the limits of space and time, and come face-to-face with what they come to realize are the true walking dead.
__________________
What great fun to write. Now on to Book III of the trilogy!
Time Travel, Monsters, the Walking Dead & More
Stepping Off a Cliff, young adult, paranormal, historical, romance & soft science fiction.
The St. Augustine Trilogy, Book II is finally published! First check out the book description below and the the trailer:
An otherworldly, evil and dangerous force infests America’s oldest and most haunted city, St. Augustine, Florida. Everyone living there, or visiting, is at risk in ways too horrible to imagine.
Standing between this invader and the people of St. Augustine are teenagers Jeff and Carla, the mysterious Native American shaman, Lobo, and Lyle, the homeless guy.
In their quest to save themselves and all the inhabitants of this ancient Florida city, Jeff and Carla uncover lost parts of St. Augustine history, push past the limits of space and time, and come face-to-face with what they come to realize are the true walking dead.
What great fun to write. Now on to Book III, Targeting Orion’s Children.
November 5, 2013
Teen Paranormal & Historical Book Gets Great Reviews
Sliding Beneath the Surface, young adult fiction stirs up teens and teachers. Receptivity for this book is growing rapidly.
Quotes From Sliding Beneath the Surface Book Reviews
Book reviews for Sliding Beneath the Surface on Amazon.com
(Includes reviews from reading and language arts teachers)
See below for further book information links.
Here’s the book trailer.
Sliding Beneath the Surface is Book I of The St. Augustine Trilogy 
See the links below for Further Details on This Book, Its Reviews and How It Is Being Used in Schools
Reading Motivation that Worked
The Sliding Beneath the Surface Reading Project
Reading Teacher Sparks Student Interest
An article from teacher Kathy Snyder about her experience.
A Book Series for the Reading Classroom
The multiple themes and threads that make the series of value.
The St. Augustine Trilogy and America’s Oldest City
The setting for the series in St. Augustine, Florida and how that provides a fascinating backdrop for action.
The St. Augustine Trilogy & Historic Events
Specifies the actual historic events that happened in America’s oldest city that are woven into the series.
November 4, 2013
Teen Book Explores Native American History
The Dade battle in Florida that began the Second Seminole War
Sliding Beneath the Surface for young adults is a paranormal & historical work of fiction. It places two teens directly in the middle of the worst defeat of the U.S. Army by a Native force before the time of Custer and the Little Big Horn.
Here’s the book trailer.
Sliding Beneath the Surface is Book I of The St. Augustine Trilogy
Book Description
In America’s oldest and most haunted city, St. Augustine, Florida, Teenager Jeff Golden is in trouble. Horrible dreams won’t let him sleep, and he is up to his eyeballs in terrifying, paranormal experiences.
Finally, Jeff turns to his girlfriend Carla, and Lobo, the mysterious Native American shaman, for help. But what he discovers is a lot more than he bargained for.
A ghostly presence linked to a local historic cemetery is not only threatening Jeff’s sanity but his life as well. And before he knows what’s happening, Jeff finds both himself and Carla pulled into one of the nastiest and bloody events in Florida history. It is a place from which they may never escape.
See the links below for Further Details on This Book, Its Reviews and How It Is Being Used in Schools
Description for The St. Augustine Trilogy
Reading Motivation that Worked
The Sliding Beneath the Surface Reading Project
Reading Teacher Sparks Student Interest
An article from teacher Kathy Snyder about her experience.
Quotes From Sliding Beneath the Surface Book Reviews
Book reviews for Sliding Beneath the Surface on Amazon.com
Includes reviews from reading and language arts teachers.
A Book Series for the Reading Classroom
The multiple themes and threads that make the series of value.
The St. Augustine Trilogy and America’s Oldest City
The setting for the series in St. Augustine, Florida and how that provides a fascinating backdrop for action.
The St. Augustine Trilogy & Historic Events
Specifies the actual historic events that happened in America’s oldest city that are woven into the series.
November 3, 2013
Teen Paranormal & Historical Book Explores Slavery
The slave Luis Pacheco leads U.S. forces through the Florida wilderness in 1835
Sliding Beneath the Surface for young adults is a work of fiction that places two teens, one African American and one white, directly in the middle of the event that led to the Second Seminole War in Florida. This is a rapid-fire, no-holds-barred plunge into involuntary servitude and how it figured in U.S. Native American history.
Here’s the book trailer.
Sliding Beneath the Surface is Book I of The St. Augustine Trilogy
Book Description
In America’s oldest and most haunted city, St. Augustine, Florida, Teenager Jeff Golden is in trouble. Horrible dreams won’t let him sleep, and he is up to his eyeballs in terrifying, paranormal experiences.
Finally, Jeff turns to his girlfriend Carla, and Lobo, the mysterious Native American shaman, for help. But what he discovers is a lot more than he bargained for.
A ghostly presence linked to a local historic cemetery is not only threatening Jeff’s sanity but his life as well. And before he knows what’s happening, Jeff finds both himself and Carla pulled into one of the nastiest and bloody events in Florida history. It is a place from which they may never escape.
See the links below for Further Details on This Book, Its Reviews and How It Is Being Used in Schools
Description for The St. Augustine Trilogy
Reading Motivation that Worked
The Sliding Beneath the Surface Reading Project
Reading Teacher Sparks Student Interest
An article from teacher Kathy Snyder about her experience.
Quotes From Sliding Beneath the Surface Book Reviews
Book reviews for Sliding Beneath the Surface on Amazon.com
Includes reviews from reading and language arts teachers.
A Book Series for the Reading Classroom
The multiple themes and threads that make the series of value.
The St. Augustine Trilogy and America’s Oldest City
The setting for the series in St. Augustine, Florida and how that provides a fascinating backdrop for action.
The St. Augustine Trilogy & Historic Events
Specifies the actual historic events that happened in America’s oldest city that are woven into the series.
November 2, 2013
Creating a Young Adult Book Cover
Sliding Beneath the Surface
Sliding Beneath the Surface is my paranormal/historical book that is Part I of
The St. Augustine Trilogy.
Spooky and weird it is, so how to make a cover that says this and proves really intriguing? And one that didn’t cost me an arm and leg to create.
In the trilogy, Lobo, the Native American Shaman, guides teenagers Jeff and Carla through some very dangerous paranormal events. Old Lobo, especially in Sliding Beneath the Surface, continually stresses how reality is mutilayered, infinitely so. “There are worlds-within-worlds,” he is fond of saying.
Because of Lobo and his philosophy, I wanted to find something symbolic to represent that whole train of thought. It took some time but staying in St. Augustine to write parts of the book helped me to find the answer.
While visiting Ripley’s Believe it or Not Museum in that old city, I came across a large Chinese Puzzle Ball. If you’ve never seen them, they are hand carved and contain multiple and separate balls inside–the perfect symbol for Lobo’s outlook. Lobo is a wood carver, so of course, he creates his own puzzle balls and uses one in the book to help illustrate his viewpoint.
After acquiring my own Chinese Puzzle ball, I got my son, Greg Dillon, to photograph it for me. He did a beautiful job as you can see by the book cover and his original picture. It’s so nice to have a professional photographer in the family. Click here to see Greg’s website.
As perfect as the puzzle ball was for the cover focal point, I needed to have some sort of eerie background but one that didn’t detract from the main focus. And since the book is set in the oldest and most haunted city in the United States, I wanted to use a well known building even if few other people would recognize it.
The Old Alcazar Hotel
In the end, I chose the old Hotel Alcazar, now the site of St. Augustine’s city hall and the Lightner Museum. What you see on the cover is a side view of that building.
My instructions to Michael Lynch, my book covert designer, was to add a St. Augustine-like street light, some tree branches and a little fog. And that’s what he did, capping it all off with the puzzle ball and the appropriate text. The result was gorgeous. Click here for Michael’s website.
If you would like more information on Chinese Puzzle Balls, click here.
Chinese Puzzle Balls
In my young adult, paranormal and historical book, Sliding Beneath the Surface, I use a Chinese Puzzle Ball as the focal point for the book cover. It’s not only a beautiful work of art, it also represents the multiple layers of reality that exist as viewed by one of the major characters.
What are puzzle balls?
Sometimes called mystery balls, they are handcrafted objects often made of wood, jade, mammoth ivory or Mandarin Ivory. Mandarin ivory is a blend of natural materials and is the material used for the balls in my contest.
An ancient art form, these objects have intricate carvings on the outside and multiple, moveable layers on the inside—balls within balls. Those inner shells usually number between 2 and 18 but can go as high as 42. The outside carving often consists of intertwined, painted dragons.
W
ant to Know More?Check out this article
Want to View One From All Sides?
Take a look at this video.
Want to see Puzzle Balls Being Made?
