Daniel Wetta's Blog, page 9
April 25, 2015
An Artist’s Vision, Twenty-Twenty
My father, the artist Dan Wetta, now 87 years old, possibly is more productive than any other time in his life. This is my opinion, based on the fact that he has authored seven e-books and two beautiful printed books of his life’s art and cartoons in the last couple of years! Plus, he keeps painting and sharing the ways in which he sees the world. Proudly I announce, from Daniel Wetta Publishing, the artist’s latest printed book of full-color paintings and cartoons: An Artist’s Vision, Twenty-Twenty.
In this book, my dad expands on his first with more in-depth stories of his family and friends in New Orleans. We are talking about his memories of a vibrant city in the 1930’s during the Great Depression. What a cast of characters my dad has described in this book from that time! There was no virtual world then. It was physical and sensual, with the smells of beer and bread, sweat and humidity (in a semi-tropical city before air conditioning), relief from the heat thanks to sno-balls, and justice sometimes dispensed by means of a good fist-fight.
Dad received his high school and junior college education in a Louisiana seminary. When he joined the Army, he got stationed at Camp Lee in Hopewell, Virginia, and he met my mom in Richmond. That is when his life in Virginia began, and it led to his having two sons, two granddaughters, and five great-grandchildren, all in Williamsburg now, except my brother, Stephen, who lives in New York City.
What he did was to paint his life and the scenery around him. He has always been sharp on details about everything. Nothing goes unnoticed. What becomes interesting is how he displays those details. You see that in his art, of course, but you get a glimpse of his life philosophy and ironic sense of humor in his cartoons. When I was going about the business of publishing his works, I found myself laughing out loud when I was reviewing his cartoons. I hadn’t really noticed before how funny my father could be.
An Artist’s Vision, Twenty-Twenty is my favorite work by him…so far. I recommend this book to you. Yeah, I’m his son, but I guarantee you will feel a push on your heart a time or two, and also a good laugh.
April 22, 2015
2nd Edition, 5 Star Fun!
For the second edition of my first novel, The Z Redemption, I spent a few weeks updating the story for changes in technology the past three years. To be honest, there were some paragraphs throughout that I couldn’t resist rewriting for clarity or just to make them read better. I am happy with this book and proud of it. I was worried when I began to read it again after the distance of time that I wouldn’t like it or would be embarrassed by it. The opposite is true. The story holds up and is faithful to the purpose I had in writing it. I do think the second edition is better. I wrote a new brief description for it in my marketing materials:
“In this steamy and romantic suspense thriller based on true-life events in Mexico, the author tells the story of ordinary heroes who fight to save lives in the midst of the drug cartel wars. With a military coup in Mexico as backdrop, a celebrity homemaker and her lover make two countries face harrowing choices to obtain justice. A roller-coaster ride guaranteed to make an impact on your life!”
I had quite the experiences during the year I lived in Mexico. The people whom I met made life-changing impacts on me. Several are characters in the novel. They would recognize themselves. There is no criminal event described in my fiction that did not have a counterpart in real-life stories making the news. There is no act of heroism in the novel that I did not see in Mexico.
My handsome young friend Israel, a law student and Volvo salesman, got tortured and murdered horrifically by a drug cartel. His only crime was to fall in love with the wrong woman. She disappeared, and I am certain that she was murdered as well. Israel had a roommate named Enrique, also a friend of mine, who wisely got himself out of town after it happened. The kind of heroism that Israel must have summoned in his last minutes, knowing that no one would come to save him, almost runs beyond my ability to imagine. I still hate it, absolutely hate it, when I think about how he must have felt in those moments. But, damn it, I wrote a book for him to let people know that his life was valuable in the world.
Israel and Enrique are characters in the novel. Enrique becomes a strong lead character in Corvette Nightfire, and he will be on board in the third, which will be co-authored with me by Robert Selfe.
Robert Selfe
That brings me to this point: Israel and all the people I met in Monterrey not only had a big impact on my life, but they also made big changes in Robert’s (Bob). Robert Selfe has had years with me now in the novels, and he is creating characters for the third (and did this in Corvette Nightfire) that are right up our mutual tree. We want the reading to be fun, captivating, interesting and informative. The two of us are definitely having fun, and we think the readers who get into these novels will enjoy them like roller-coasters.
The Zs are urban warriors who fight without weapons. They have skills in parkour and free running and martial arts. They live by the “Z Code of LIfe,” a code grounded in the ethics of the sanctity of life. The millions of young people throughout the world who do this type of physical training are incredible athletes. I am meeting them on Twitter and Instagram, where I can see the photos and videos of their jumps and flips and the running of obstacles. In my novel, when I speak of the people who can “fly,” I am describing these real-life young men and women.
Some of them have become interested in The Z Redemption simply because it is novel to them (pardon the pun) to find fiction that incorporates this as a main plot component. I didn’t expect this when I wrote it. I’m just lucky to know people like this.
More information about the novel and how to purchase it (the e-book is cheap) can be found at this link: Click This Link
About The Cover
On the cover of The Z Redemption is a photograph of Monterrey, Mexico. In the background is the distinctive mountain, “El Cerro de La Silla” (Saddle Hill), which is nature’s emblem for the city. The couple holding hands could represent David and Ana, the main protagonists of the novel. Overhead are the “Zs,” leaping parkour-style from one roof to another.
March 26, 2015
My Days Are Numbered
Daniel Craig (alias James Bond) and I share March as a birthday month. So this month I have been posing as “Bond, James Bond” and have been feeling quite sexy. But now I have only five more days of being 007. Then I return to being a normal superhero.
And you have only five more days to be able to purchase the e-books, The Z Redemption and Corvette Nightfire, for only $1.99 each through Smashwords at the following link. The sales codes to get the discounts are ym93w for The Z Redemption and zy87s for Corvette Nightfire. You simply enter those codes in the discount block at Checkout. I like Smashwords because when you buy, you can download all of the e-book files for any e-reader device. So if you have multiple devices using different file formats, you can download one of them whenever you want after purchase. You are covered for Apple, Nook, Kindle, Android, and Windows devices. Here is the link: https://www.smashwords.com/books/byseries/13490
Robert Selfe and I have a working title for the third book: The Dark Road (El Camino Oscuro). That subtitle and title may be reversed. Old people like us remember a Chevy “El Camino,” which was part car and part pickup truck. The photo above shows an orange 1959 Chevrolet El Camino. I love it! The bad-guy-Zeta in the novel will own one, but, of course, the novel is not about cars. “El Camino Oscuro” refers to the dark web, an area of the internet inaccessible to most people and where much illegal and dark transactions take place: like mass merchandising of illegal drugs, human trafficking, and contracts for hire. And in case you don’t realize it, the novel, Corvette Nightfire, is not about Corvettes or cars. Corvette Nightfire is the name of the main character, a celebrity name for a World Series of Poker player who encounters changing destinies when he becomes involved with victims of organized crime…and with Valentina! Anyway, here are the orange El Camino of my dreams and the notice to you that my days of 007 are numbered. (Get it?)
Click here for Smashwords
Click here for Smashwords
March 18, 2015
The Road Not Taken: Guest Blog by Robert Selfe
Robert Selfe edited the first two novels of The Z Redemption Trilogy and contributed sections in the novel, Corvette Nightfire, as an author as well. Here is his interesting article on how we changed course when we were deciding what the second novel would be about. The original idea may surprise you!
The Road Not Taken, by Robert Selfe
For those of you who missed it, my first “blog” dealt with being dragged, kicking and screaming, into editing the story of David Wilson James, the lead character in The Z Redemption. This collaboration with Daniel Wetta led to the second novel, Corvette Nightfire, in which I took a more active role writing sections of several chapters at the end of the novel. My sections dealt with the poker aspect, and my writing was merely supportive. Daniel’s vision drove the novel, and I contributed my limited experience playing Texas Hold’em.
Readers know that Corvette Nightfire is the sequel, but they do not know that it was not the original idea for a sequel. When we first discussed a second novel, I had suggested a prequel: David’s background fighting the cartels in South America. I started researching the cartels while Daniel finished writing The Z Redemption. My research led, quite naturally, to the most famous drug lord of them all, the “King of Cocaine,” Pablo Escobar. There is a wealth of information available about Escobar, and when I saw that he was born in 1949, I knew our plot. Daniel and I were both born in 1949, and that was reflected in the birth year of David. I suggested parallel stories of the rise of Escobar through the drug cartels and the advancement of David through his military and government career. The sequel was set. Or so I thought.
At the end of The Z Redemption, both Daniel and I were emotionally spent. There was little humor in the novel, reflecting Daniel’s grief after the death of his friend, Israel. When we discussed the character of David, we decided that he would have a dark secret and that we would only hint at his inner demons and need for redemption. Between finishing the novel and my research into the second one, I found myself getting depressed. The more I thought about developing what David had to do while infiltrating the cartels to eventually assist in the downfall of Escobar, and the thought of having David do things which would take him through the hell of that experience, I knew I couldn’t spend a year in this state. I made the phone call to Daniel.
I should have known that Daniel would understand my situation, and, within a short period of time, he told me about the germ of an idea he had: “A gambler named Corvette Nightfire would be walking, early in the morning, into one of the large casinos in Vegas, when a beautiful young woman would come bursting out of the casino, rush to Corvette, and hand him a bag before sprinting off…”
March 12, 2015
My Birthday Sale!
Click to Purchase. Use code zy87s at checkout.
Click to Purchase. Use code ym93w at checkout.
SPECIAL Birthday Month Price!
Since it is my birthday month, I am celebrating! The Z Redemption and Corvette Nightfire e-Books for all reading devices can be purchased at Smashwords for only $1.99 each through the end of March! The great thing about purchasing and downloading from Smashwords is that you get multiple file formats so that you can read these novels on virtually anything: your i-Pad, computer, Nook, Kindle, Sony reader, Android devices such as tablets and phones. Buy once and put the novels on any of your devices!
Purchasing is easy! Click on the book photos above, or click on this link that shows the novels and the two FREE short stories. (“Awakening from the Golden Sleep” and “Nightfire!” are prequels to the two novels. They provide interesting and fun supplementary information about the characters in the novels.) Here is the link: CLICK HERE FOR THE NOVELS AND THE FREE SHORT STORIES
In the checkout page called the shopping cart, simply add these codes in order to purchase the novels for $1.99:
The Z Redemption: ym93w. Corvette Nightfire: zy87s.
I promise this is fun reading for you!
March birthday people: “You say it’s your birthday? It’s my birthday, too, yeah!” Thank you, Beatles!
Amigos en México, los encantan estas novelas si leen Inglés. Se tratan los héroes y amantes de Monterrey en la lucha por justicia in dos paises!
March 10, 2015
Killers, Heroes, and Lovers!
Ana Valdez and David James desperately manage the chaos in two nations after a military coup in Mexico! They would have little hope of preventing much larger disaster without the fiery commitment of the “Zs” and friends in high places. Not to mention passion for each other so intense that no one could subvert their trust!
They are back again in Corvette Nightfire, but this time it is Corvette and Valentina Garza who must find their way in an upside world of organized crime and disturbingly perverse evil. Monterrey, Mazatlan, Mexico City, Chihuahua in Mexico; Texas, Virginia, and Las Vegas in the USA; and Barbados in the Caribbean…exotic locales, breathtaking action, fevered passions! The first two novels of The Z Redemption trilogy!
Monterrey and Las Vegas: A Tale of Two Cities!
For free stories related to the novels and characters, Corvette mysteries and other fun items, check out http://danielwetta.com/characters-and-sample/
Enter your e-mail in the red sidebar to the left, click the white oval follow button, and FOLLOW ME! Daniel Wetta Publishing and its authors will keep you up to date with goodies and the latest news of our activities!
Tagged: Las Vegas, Mazatlan, Mexico, Mexico City, Monterrey
March 6, 2015
A Gift for my Followers!
I’ve made a discovery. People want beauty in their lives, something that catapults them, even momentarily, to a dimension of feeling and awe where tears are a perfect expression of their emotions. Someone might ask them if those are tears of joy or sadness, and neither answer would adequately describe the wet glistening. They would be tears of appreciation. What might bring this on? Maybe it would be a sunset, where the colors in the sky are so unexpected and the gorgeous end of the day is in such stark contrast to the stressful experiences of the daylight hours, that the person cries, thankful that he didn’t miss those fleeting moments of soul-stirring beauty.
What made me think of this? Yesterday I placed a photograph of a jaw-dropping sunset in Monterrey, Mexico, on my Facebook page in a post requesting people to visit my author website and become one of my followers. The response amazed me. I had done this before with pictures of my book covers or, God forbid, of me, and I don’t think anyone visited my website! But this beautiful sunset drew people’s attention and made them feel good. I received a nice number of new followers as a result, and this has made me very happy!
Followers receive my blogs, articles, videos, news and updates on what I am writing. These go to the e-mail addresses which you have provided me. I try to keep these entertaining! In the past I have included news about my novels, my father’s art, music videos, Corvette mysteries, and anything a little edgy and fun.
I have written short story “prequels” to my two novels. They can be downloaded free from Smashwords, and my website describes how to do this, but I thought that I would send “Nightfire!” to you in .pdf format with this blog post. It is my gift to you and makes it convenient for you to read it.
“Nightfire!” is a romantic crime story that reveals the mystery of Corvette Nightfire’s grandparents. In the novel, Corvette Nightfire, who the grandparents are and what they did had a huge bearing on the destinies of Corvette and his father, Rogelio. While writing the story, I did research and learned a lot about the famous running indigenous people known as the Tarahumara who are natives of Chihuahua, Mexico. Corvette’s grandparents were Tarahumara, and they got caught up in a life of crime in the drug cartel of Sinaloa. What happened to them occurs in real life in the history of these people. This is a love story and adventure that was a joy to write. I hope you enjoy it enough that you will want to read Corvette Nightfire!
To open this PDF file, simply click the link below, and you can read it on your computer. This assumes that your computer or device has the Adobe Viewer, which most have. If not, the viewer is free to download from the Adobe website.
Nightfire! The Corvette Nightfire Prequel PDF
If you do want to read this story (15 pages) on your Nook, Kindle, i-Pad, phone or other device not in PDF format, you can download this story for free in all formats from my Smashwords site. Here is the link:
Link to Nightfire download on Smashwords
Tagged: Corvette, northern Mexico, sunset
March 3, 2015
Mazatlan Daily Updates
The short story, “Awakening from the Golden Sleep,” which is set in Mazatlan, Mexico, is featured in today’s edition of the internet travel magazine, “Mazatlan Daily Updates.” The article appears under “Arts & Entertainment.” Click the link below.Link to Mazatlan Daily Updates
Daniel Wetta Publishing
Daniel Wetta Publishing announces: Now 12 books from authors Daniel Wetta, Robert Selfe, and 87-year-old artist, Dan Wetta!
Check out the new publishing web page:
http://danielwetta.com/books-by-danie...
Authors: Want to self-publish but don't want the hassle of doing it? Let's talk. Contact me here on Goodreads!
Nightfire! The Corvette Nightfire Prequel
March 1, 2015
An Artist’s Life, New Orleans Framed
87 y.o. artist, Dan Wetta
From Daniel Wetta Publishing: I just published my father’s first print book, An Artist’s LIfe, New Orleans Framed! Available at Amazon now and soon most major book retailers. This selection of his paintings, cartoons and stories focuses on his young life in New Orleans, scenes from the community of Bucktown, Louisiana (a fishing village wiped out by Hurricane Katrina), and some really funny cartoons! 202 pages, beautifully illustrated and bound…take a peek! The good news? He is still painting! Click the link! An Artist’s LIfe, New Orleans Framed Link
