Phil Sanderson's Blog, page 2

…of Action Stars and Trigger Pussies

Being a huge fan of action films, I could not help but envy my many movie and television heroes for their brutal bravery and decisive victory over various devilish bad-guys!  Some of them were so convincing on screen that if I would have bet my paycheck, I would have gladly declared that they were hard-core staunch advocates for gun rights!

But reality has set in…and I’m glad my paycheck is still intact.

I hate to admit how wrong I was.  Many of these action stars I have loved and admired through the years are nothing more than totally disappointing trigger pussies!

Here is a list of several:

Sean Connery:  I saved the best for first.  I am a HUGE James Bond fan.  And I am the first to admit that Sean Connery, hands-down, is the greatest actor to portray James Bond, ever.  And I really do not believe anyone is ever going to top him in this most legendary role.  As for his gun politics, he has been quoted as saying in an ad for the BBC:  “It is said that a total ban on handguns, including .22s, would take away innocent pleasure from thousands of people. Is that more or less pleasure than watching your child grow up?”  Quite eloquently stated, though it does serve to tarnish his James Bond image like a dirty diaper would if resting on a table at Pizza Hut next to a large Pepperoni with extra cheese and banana peppers.
Sylvester Stallone:  Rambo himself was quoted as having said:  “Until America, door to door, takes every handgun, this is what you’re gonna have. It’s pathetic. It really is pathetic. It’s sad. We’re living in the Dark Ages over there.”  Grant it, he was living over in the UK when this comment was made in response to the death of Phil Hartman.  So I’m hoping we can chalk this one up to peer pressure, though I would highly doubt it.
Arnold Schwarzenegger:  Before he went into politics, the Governator used to be a strong supporter of the 2nd Amendment.  But I guess he started reading shittier books and reports that somehow changed his view.  He put his pen to work, supporting the U.S. ban on assault weapons and the Brady Bill.  His famous words in Time magazine:  “I’m for gun control. I’m a peace-loving guy.”
Michael Douglas: This seems sort of hypocritical since he got his first major prominent role playing a cop on The Streets of San Francisco.
Mark Harmon: He plays a Marine on NCIS.  How many Marines do you know that believe in gun control.  There may be a few, but its hardly anything to be proud about.
Liam Neeson: This famous action star has a particular set of skills…holding press conferences must not be one of them.  He was quoted as saying:  “It is the right to bear arms which is the problem. I think if the Founding Fathers knew what was happening they would be turning in their graves with embarrassment at how that law has been interpreted.”  I wonder how many other Americans wanted him to go back across the pond to Ireland after having made such a statement.
Matt Damon: Earlier, I said that I was saving the best for first.  I lied.  Sean Connery was tied for the last trigger pussy on this list:  Matt Damon.  Here are some of his thoughts on the matter:  “The stand your ground law, I think is, is, is, I hope that they would revisit that. I mean I lived in Florida for five years, so we can’t have a world you know where people are putting guns in their pockets walking around looking for, thinking you know, that they’re the neighborhood watch. You know, I mean we have a police force for that and we should leave the novices at home.”  Speaking of novices, you think we may need someone to prepare his speeches for him?

These seven most surprising actors believe in gun control.  Yet they take on roles where they literally run around, waving guns all over the place, to and fro.

Am I saying that I feel we should boycott these actors and their movies?  Absolutely not.  I may not necessarily respect their politics where the 2nd Amendment is concerned.  But I do respect their work as actors.  After all, they handled their roles convincingly enough to make me feel major disappointment upon hearing their true-to-life feelings on the issue of gun control.  What is the job of an actor?  To act, or to support gun rights?  I rest my case!

However, these actors are not getting off that easily!  I’ve listed the trigger pussies…now I need to make a list of the grade-A action heroes who really do and / or did support the 2nd Amendment.  These are the ones who we truly admire because they walk the walk in and out of their action roles!

Brad Pitt: “America is a country founded on guns. It’s in our DNA. It’s very strange but I feel better having a gun. I really do. I don’t feel safe, I don’t feel the house is completely safe, if I don’t have one hidden somewhere. That’s my thinking, right or wrong.”
Angelina Jolie: “I bought original, real guns of the type we used in ‘Tomb Raider’ for security. Brad and I are not against having a gun in the house, and we do have one. And yes, I’d be able to use it if I had to … If anybody comes into my home and tries to hurt my kids, I’ve no problem shooting them.”  Damn!  Nothing sexier than boobs and guns!  Brad Pitt is a lucky man!
James Earl Jones: Darth Vader himself would rather carry a Smith & Wesson as opposed to a light saber.  Either way, the Force is still with him!  Many of us probably remember him playing a director in the C.I.A. in the Tom Clancy movies.  This is what he had to sensibly say about gun rights:  “The world is filled with violence. Because criminals carry guns, we decent law-abiding citizens should also have guns. Otherwise they will win and the decent people will lose.”
Bruce Willis: The Die-Hard star is another one who lives the example of the 2nd Amendment.  His words:  “Everyone has a right to bear arms. If you take guns away from legal gun owners, then the only people who have guns are the bad guys.”
Ice-T: Ice-T once got a bad reputation for a song he wrote called “Cop Killer” that glorified killing cops.  Many people do not understand that it was in response to the police corruption associated with the Rodney King beating.  He went on to star as a cop in the hit show Law & Order SVU.  This is what he had to say about gun rights:  “The right to bear arms is because that’s the last form of defense against tyranny. Not to hunt.”
Joe Montegna: The Criminal Minds star got caught talking impressive gun lingo:  “I’ve shot pretty much every handgun caliber you can think of, and the .45 ACP is perfect. It has mass, the recoil is a little more, you get a lot of push, but you don’t get a lot of torque. And it’s just the aesthetics of it—it’s old school—it’s what I carry on Criminal Minds.”
Clint Eastwood:  The best for last!  Dirty Harry himself has commented:  “I have a very strict gun control policy: if there’s a gun around, I want to be in control of it.”

My advice to readers of this article:  Don’t let your panties get into a wad just because some action stars are total gun pussies.  Simply support and appreciate the wonderful job they do on screen; after all, much of it actually works in favor of supporting the 2nd Amendment, which they later turn around and bash.  But what do people remember more, their comments or their movies?  In my personal opinion, I say their movies!

And lastly, continue respecting those action stars who boldly live the tale after the credits have rolled.  After all, they are the ones who continue to fight the good fight between their various action films.

Long live the 2nd Amendment!

Fiction, Not Prophecy…

By now, all of us have heard about the Orlando shooting in a gay nightclub called “The Pulse”.  This shooting took place June 12, 2016 and has been called the nation’s worst terror attack since 9/11.

But little do many know of the coordinated attack on four different Veteran Affairs hospitals in my novel, 2018: An Uncivil War.  The one in my novel was reported as “the second worst (terror event) in the history of the United States”.    The awful event in my novel took place on Feb. 20, 2016 and served as the straw that broke the camel’s back.  As a result, the U.S. government elects to ban guns throughout the entire nation, sparking what becomes known as the Second American Civil War.

Several of my readers had already commented to me that some of the events predicted in 2018 have already come true.  The embarrassing truth of the matter is that I have since moved on to writing another novel and have not really kept up with it.  However, upon hearing this news about “the nations worst terror attack since 9/11”, I could not help but look back into my novel and compare dates.

After doing so, it is safe to say that yet another prediction (in the event that the readers just mentioned were correct) from my novel has come true (or at the very least this single one).  But I never claimed to be Nostradumbass when I started writing this body of work.  I instead simply looked at current news events, mostly attacks on the Second Amendment, and put together what I felt was a really cool story in the forefront of it all.  However, as a former journalist, I interviewed some people who had relevant knowledge on all the topics I would face therein, and I asked a lot of good questions and received equally good answers.  After these interviews and intense research, it was simply a matter of taking all of the information, piecing it together in what I felt was the most realistic context possible.  I even paid close attention to the dates for each event, trying my best to think how long it would take for escalation of conflict.

But I’m no prophet, no, siree!  I cuss way too much for that.  Some people even snicker when I claim to be a Christian.  I’m certainly no psychic.  I don’t know when I’m about to get the Tennessee trots until I’m trotting along to the closest toilet, trying my best not to leave a trail.  What I am is a dreamer who wants to be a bestselling author.  That is the only self-incriminating claim to guilt I am willing to make in this blog article.

Who in the world would have ever known that I would have gotten the date correct within only four months on the second worst terror attack in American history?

I’m not the only author who has predicted such an event.  In the novel Debt of Honor, Tom Clancy wrote about an angry Japan Airlines Pilot who crashed his Boeing 747 commercial airliner into the U.S. Capital during a joint session of Congress.  Many people claim that by doing so, he predicted the events of 9/11.  His novel was written in 1994, less than 10 years before this notorious day in history.

Folks, all of this is not prophecy, but only good fiction.  Writers like myself and Tom Clancy believe in doing our homework prior to getting to the fun work of writing our stories.  And, yes, sometimes we write about stuff that ends up happening.

Many people probably wondered why he wrote about a commercial plane crashing into a government building.  Most likely, it was for the simple fact that it created a powerful, unforgettable image in the minds of his readers.  But maybe it was because he felt there were major weaknesses in airport security.  Anything is possible in fiction.

I wrote about the attacks on V.A. hospitals, because of weaknesses in the security I witnessed as a veteran receiving care in those facilities.  To add insult to injury, veterans are not allowed to carry weapons on the premises.  Part of me understands the reasoning behind this.  The last thing anyone needs is a veteran with severe post-traumatic stress disorder pulling out a gun and shooting people in the hospital.  But what if another veteran — this one, armed — was closer to such an individual than one of the V.A. police officers?  Couldn’t that possibly prevent more lives from being lost?  After all, most veterans are trained to be marksmen, sharpshooters, and shooting experts.

I’m not sure how Tom felt while watching airliners crash into the Twin Towers on his own television after having written about something so strangely similar; but I personally feel horrible about all the lives lost and harmed in the tragedy in Orlando; I also prayed for God to somehow comfort the families of each deceased individual from that needless bloodshed.  I imagine Tom Clancy felt just as horrible as the rest of us, or maybe even more so, as he watched events unfold on that awful September day in 2001.

However, as a writer of a fascinating and predictive body of work taking place in the not-so-distant future, I cannot help but wonder how many more events from the novel may possibly come true.  I encourage all readers to pick up a copy of my work and watch with the same level of interest as me and some of my existing readers who are doing the same.  If you purchase my novel, I have no doubt you will find yourself intrigued from start to finish!

 

R.I.P. Christina Grimmie

Before today, I hate to admit that I had never heard of Christina Grimmie.  And I still have not even watched her perform.  But I know all that I need to know…some whacko out there selfishly and needlessly snuffed out a young talent.

I read the details just now on the internet:  Details of Grimmie’s shocking death are still forthcoming, but according to police, she was shot during a post-concert autograph signing/meet-and-greet at Orlando’s Plaza Live Theater. The 27-year-old suspect, now identified as Kevin James Loibl of St. Petersburg, Florida, apparently targeted Grimmie, traveling to Orlando commit the crime and somehow making it past the venue’s security screening with two guns and a knife. After Loibl fired at the singer, her brother, Marcus Grimmie, heroically tackled Loibl at the scene. The suspect then fatally shot himself. Grimmie died five hours later at an Orlando hospital.

She obviously cared for her fans as can be witnessed from the above-mentioned actions.  Yet one of them got through security and committed an atrocity that is affecting perhaps millions of people emotionally.

You do not have to necessarily be famous to be killed in such a manner.  I have a daughter and two step-daughters; and it disturbs me to know that people like that exist in this world.  It makes me fear for their safety.  And forgive my insensitivity by using words like “whacko”; but when such a person takes away a life that was not his to take away, I feel that I should be allowed to use whatever the hell word I want to use.  And let it be known here that if anyone ever harms anyone in my family in such a way, I will use every resource out there to exact my revenge up to and including torture, mutilation, and all out murder to avenge the loss.

It is now getting to the point where it is not safe for artists to perform their creative endeavors without fear of insanity tragically befalling them.  And this is pure bullshit.  Why don’t these people get help?  I understand that they sometimes may not realize they are sick.  But what about people that know these people?  Why don’t they intervene by contacting the proper authorities?  If such had been the case with Kevin James Loibl, perhaps Christina Grimmie would still be alive to grace her audience with another angelic performance.

So I wish to express my most sincere condolences to her family and pray for God’s comfort during this most difficult time.  Rest in peace, Christina Grimmie.

 

The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly about “2018: An Uncivil War”

2018: An Uncivil War is the novel that started off my career as a fiction writer, author, and budding novelist.  It is a very special work, in my own humble opinion.  And it will also hold as special a place in my heart as I hope it will in the hearts of those who have read it.

The work seems to be getting good reviews overall, with only one poor one to date:

5-Star Reviews (on Amazon):
By Amiya Powell on May 1, 2016

An honest and realistic portrayal of just how close the United States is to a second civil war. We are a nation divided, and the distance grows every day. From purchased politics and global distractions, to the listless masses content to experience life from a computer screen, we have been trained for generations to ignore what is right in front of us. We shrug at the tumultuous undercurrent beneath our feet and will continue to do so, until it’s outside our front door threatening to swallow us whole.

Phil Sanderson brilliantly presents both sides of the 2nd amendment issue, but the story goes much deeper than that. It is about the value of life and humanity, and preserving ideals that lift us up. It is about an awakening of social consciousness to the fact that the future is our responsibility- not the government’s, not ‘the powers that be’- ours.

Phil Sanderson writes like he has lived every moment of this tale.Through a detailed and robust narrative, the characters and concepts take shape beyond the pages. The action scenes are exceptional- tense, harrowing and fueled with adrenaline- while his vast historical and military knowledge add to the realism. I’m sure I’ll be reading more from him in the future.



By James Darden on November 22, 2013

What a great book, i haven’t finished reading, but had to jump on here and give my review. With over 400 to 500 pages.

2018: An Uncivil War is worth the price. Phil Sanderson writing is remarkable. and yet fearful, understanding what could happen is very frightening.Nation collapses into chaos,and government is divided.As a reader you are also divided, who right? what side will you take? The people! The Government. Phil brings out points that will make you think about events of today that may effect tomorrow.




By Pamela L. Bradshaw on March 10, 2014

I love mysteries and this book filled that criteria, but it also had a lot more in the book that would attract other readers also. it is not just about war. This book kept me glued to it from the moment I picked it up until the moment I finished it. Surprisingly I have found a new author to add to my favorites. I have told all my book reading friends they need to get a copy and I am now telling you that you need to check it out. Please if you are not sure whether you will like it or not. Try it you won’t go wrong. You get involved in the characters lives from the start and you can’t help but want to help them all the way through!



By anna on September 11, 2013
It appears as though the author lived these events….so real,so true,hard to put down……enjoyable/easy read.


4-Star Review:
By S. Z. Smith on March 25, 2014

I found Mr Sanderson’s book very interesting and it seems to be true of what is happening today. The threat of the government taking our guns and the repercussions from this seem to be playing out in today’s world. I found his characters interesting and I could relate to them. I did get a little lost during the discussion of gov’t and the gov’t officials. But overall I found it interesting and the fact that is was broken into 3 sections gave a time to prepare for what was coming next. I hope Mr Sanderson has not seen into the future and written out our fate to come.


2-Star Review:
By Vicki Arnold on October 13, 2014

too long, story dragged along at times


As you can see, all reviews except the last are very favorable…and that one by a person who does not know to capitalize and punctuate sentences.  But another writer has offered me similar advice saying that much of my prose was overly descriptive and unnecessary.  But yet a different writer loved the fact that I included the description.  So I am learning that it is really a matter of taste and preference.

One thing remains clear to me about 2018: An Uncivil War .  There are good things, bad things, and ugly things about my novel.  So I will break some of these things down for you.  Some of these you may know, others perhaps not.

The Good:

The good thing about my first novel is the noble approach taken to show both sides of the gun rights argument.  Stuart Milligan represents the pro-gun rights side of the argument.  He is a gun club owner in Memphis, Tennessee, as well as a former Marine Corps officer and war hero from the first Persian Gulf war.  Terrance Crawley is a Memphis police detective in the same city and represents the anti-gun rights side of the argument.

Another good thing about the story is that it offers a little bit of everything for everyone.  If you love action, this is definitely the book for you!  If you like romance, this book has plenty of heart and soul to keep you happy.  If you like humor, you are sure to get a good chuckle here and there from several different scenes.

Finally, this first novel serves to paint a picture of a nation radically and structurally torn over the issue of gun rights.  It also serves as a warning to corrupt governments as to just how severe a mistake it would be to disarm a nation of its right to bear arms.  Some readers have even claimed that some of what I have predicted in my manuscript has already come true.  To be quite honest with you, I’ve been so busy working on my next novel, An Interstate Ghost Story:  The Girl on the Highway, that I haven’t had time to research these claims.

So as you can see, there are some good things about 2018 that serve as true potential for future productions.  However, I have vowed that the only way I will write a sequel is for this one to become a New York Times Bestseller.  And so far, I don’t seem to close to achieving this any time soon.  But who knows what the future holds?

The Bad:

One bad thing about this novel is that it did not do nearly as well as I had expected it would.  I thought I had a sure hit with the subject material, being that there is a wealth of controversy over the issue of gun rights versus gun control.  So far, to date, I have sold maybe 150 to 200 combined print and digital copies of my novel.  Sells have to be much better than this in order for 2018: An Uncivil War to grace the New York Times Bestseller list.

Another bad thing about this novel is the lack of Character Viewpoint.  When I wrote it, I had not been taught this very crafty technique.  However, the story still reads well in spite of it.  But part of me wonders if its reception would have been much better had I utilized this creative technique.  I am considering a second edition of the story, sectioning everything off according to viewpoint.  I’m not sure when I will do so, but it is likely to happen within the next five years or so.  These are some bad things, but hardly enough to hold back a great story!

The Ugly:

The ugly thing about this novel is the ugly truth it expresses and foretells.  It partially personifies a corrupt government.  It also exposes one major possibility as to what could happen if a country weakened itself in civil war.  I don’t wish to reveal any spoilers here, but suffice it to say the old adage:  “United, we stand…divided, we fall.”

With all of this considered, you have the good, the bad, and the ugly things about 2018: An Uncivil War.

If you have not yet read the book, you can purchase digital copies on AuthorHouse, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords.  The first three retailers mentioned also sell print copies.  E-Book copies published by Phil Sanderson Enterprises are only 99 cents a copy.

For more information on me and my writing, please visit my Official Website.

 

 

 

Release Date for “An Interstate Ghost Story: The Girl on the Highway”?

When will An Interstate Ghost Story:  The Girl on the Highway hit the shelves?  This is a very good question and not one that can be answered with any well-deserved specificity at this time.

I learned from my very first novel not to announce deadlines before their time.  Doing so puts unnecessary pressure on me as a writer.  Because in the event that I do not finish the novel by the specified time, then I will be faced with one of two very difficult decisions, neither very profitable.

First, I could go ahead and meet the deadline and release an unready product to the market; or I could take the risk of announcing that the book’s release has been moved back…maybe the readers who were initially excited for it will be forgiving; maybe not.  But the latter category of readers is what worries me the most.

I can say this about my upcoming horror thriller:  It is almost halfway finished.  All I have from my second edit is just one of three parts left to polish.  And then I have only two full edits left.  I would like to say that I could finish in time for publication to e-book by Halloween of next year (I’ve always wanted to release a horror novel on Halloween!).

But realistically, life happens.  Unfortunately, I am unable to sustain me and my family off the profits earned from my writing.  I am currently attempting to diversify this income by opening new channels such as creating audio-books from my current print and digital ones and by bringing these digital ones to new stores in the book sales market.  All of this while working a full-time job that I may not be able to maintain much longer due to spinal injuries suffered while in the Marine Corps.  So how can I effectively predict a date.

The last thing I want to do is look like Nostradumbass before the entire world’s blogosphere!  But suffice it to say:  No one more than me wishes to release this novel as soon as possible.  Because my family and I certainly need the income!  However, I owe it to readers everywhere to release a fictional work that will exemplify the best writing I have ever accomplished.  I’ve said in previous articles that this book will be a defining one for me, and I meant it.  So I absolutely refuse to rush it.

In the meantime, I can continue to share news and occasional snippets with you here and elsewhere on the world-wide web.  One thing that can help me too is feedback from each of you.  Lately I do not get very much of that.  However, large numbers of people are visiting my articles here according to WordPress statistics.  If I am doing something right, please let me know what it is…and it is especially important to do the same if I am — on the other hand — doing something wrong.

In summary:  I look forward to unveiling a full look at the Girl on the Highway as soon as I hit the “publish” button sometime within the next two years.  Oh yes!  It should definitely be published by 2018, which is of course a very special year for me due to my previous novel!  And once I hit that “publish” button, you will be the first to know as long as you keep your fingers on my pulse here.

Thank you all for your continued interest in this most-humbled writer and the work known as An Interstate Ghost Story: The Girl on the Highway.

Note:  We will conclude the 4Ws of Excitement articles next Saturday with the final one:  Where in the Real World Does this Haunt Occur?  In this blog post, we will look at the real-life setting where the story occurs and will also include a picture or two.  So please do not miss out!  If you haven’t done so already, you are welcome to check out the first three chapters here on Raw, Raving Rants from a Struggling Writer.  Here is the link:  http://tinyurl.com/zqcpk8x

 

What Expectations Exist from the Story of “The Girl on the Highway”?

An Interstate Ghost Story: The Girl on the Highway has been in production for about two years already and probably has a couple more years to go before finally seeing the light of release.  So needless to say, there are some expectations floating around, not only by myself, but also by others.  Some have been teased by the video I have featured on the home page of my official website, others who have followed me since reading my first novel, and finally others who simply follow me on social media.  There are many people interested in this bold tale I have written.

Bearing this in mind, I will do my best to examine every possibility of expectation and address each.  If for any reason I miss one, WordPress fortunately has a very effective “comment” feature we can use to fill in any possible holes I may have left in this article.

However, the first place to begin is to describe the story synopsis:  When numerous people begin dying on Interstate 65, the troop commander in jurisdiction must determine and resolve the source of the accidents.  When he exhausts all conventional means of investigation, he turns to a disgraced paranormal investigator in a last ditch effort to uncover any possible supernatural angles.

Reader Expectations:  On the cover, I boast the subtitle:  “A Southern Horror Tale by Phil Sanderson“.  Thus, readers probably expect a story that will “ring true” like many of the existing ghost stories in Alabama such as those featured in books by local writing legends like Kathryn Tucker Windham.  With such in mind, I have done my absolute best to feature characters to whom the reader can relate.  By the end of the novel, I want the reader to be definite best friends with each character.  I also have done my best to make each ghostly encounter as realistic as possible.  I’ve never experienced ghostly phenomena myself, but have talked to many people who have.  And I’ve also read about such encounters and the physical conditions surrounding them.  All this has been included in my story.
Highway Patrol Expectations:  Two of the characters in my story story are indeed Alabama state troopers.  And my story is dedicated to state troopers all over the United States.  Therefore, they are expecting me to weave a tale in which they can be proud and appropriately honored.  I have attempted to do this by exploring the risks involved in the lives of Capt. Stan Winston and Lt. Amanda Heath.  Both have occupational and / or personal stakes in every endeavor they partake throughout the story.
Author Expectations:  I learned some valuable lessons from mistakes made marketing my first novel, 2018: An Uncivil War.  And I will definitely not repeat those same mistakes.  I also did not learn about character viewpoint until after I had released that first story.  So all of the pieces are in place for me to deliver as perfect a story as I know how.  Also, what Beethoven did with counterpoint in musical composition, I have done with story plotting.  There are several intricate plots weaved into The Girl on the Highway; and they all work together to form an extremely exciting and satisfying story conclusion.  So I expect this story to open doors for me that have remained shut long enough.
Agent Expectations:  Agents look for horror stories that are well-written, fast-paced, and have enough of a draw to put vast amounts of money in the coffers of the publishers with whom they work.  This novel, when I am complete, will achieve all of this.

As you can see, there are quite a few big expectations from my upcoming horror novel.  I did not even list the expectations of my family which have not changed since the writing of my first novel.  Many people wonder why my story has not yet been released.  Hopefully, after reading this article, they will better understand why.  An Interstate Ghost Story: The Girl on the Highway is not the type of  southern horror tale that one rushes to the market.  It is more like a special saddle that has been crafted for a special horse rider.  One whom wants to ride off into the sunset and live happily ever after.

 

Who is the Ghost? And Who Seeks Her?

An Interstate Ghost Story: The Girl on the Highway is more than just a fictional Southern folktale.  It is a story of redemption, love, and — most importantly — justice.  The central thread holding it all together is the inclusion of solid and easily-identifiable characters.  This article will give you the perfect introduction to some of these major keys of excitement.

Cliff Rodger:  The protagonist is a disgraced paranormal investigator who was busted for using props on his reality ghost investigation series on the Discovery Channel.  Executives immediately fired him, cancelling his series before the ink was dry on the termination of his contract.  Now, the failed investigator struggles to reclaim his credibility by taking any contracts he can find.  Cliff hears about a major accident on Interstate 65 and theoretically ties it to the legend of the “Girl on the Highway”.  After finding out that the Alabama Highway Patrol has been tasked to make the highways safer, he contacts Stan Winston, the troop commander in charge.  Surprised and grateful upon receiving the offer, he accepts Stan’s contract to investigate I-65 for any possible paranormal phenomenon.
Amanda Heath:  Lt. Amanda Heath is the assistant troop commander to whom Stan has delegated the task of determining why so many more accidents have been occurring within their jurisdiction along I-65.  She succeeded in making a name for herself despite the sexual derision of many of her male peers.  After Cliff is hired to investigate, she is assigned to be his host in Montgomery, giving him anything he needs for his effective and efficient investigation and opening any doors to him that may prove necessary for successful completion of his duties.  However, she also happens to be a former fan of his cancelled show.  She and Stan both watched Ghost Stalkers together during their lunch breaks.  She had been enthralled during the televised investigations and even found herself physically attracted to Cliff.  Stan never believed any of the science, but enjoyed the show’s captivating premise and also found Cliff to be very intellectual and charismatic.  However, he always teased Amanda for believing in ghosts at all.  Amanda was one of many who took it hard when news abounded of Cliff’s fraudulent conduct.  She has lost every ounce of respect for him and despises the thought of working with him.  And she has no problem letting him know during their very first meeting.  Alas, she also no longer believes in ghosts.
Stan Winston:  Capt. Stan Winston is a former Marine who eventually became a state trooper and quickly climbed the leadership ladder, obtaining authority as the troop commander in charge of Troop G in Montgomery, Alabama.  As mentioned above, he has been tasked to make the highways safe.  The areas of responsibility of all other troops consistently see far less accident occurrences, drawing major concern towards Stan’s troop.  Having implemented his own personal investigations into physical potential causes of accidents and reporting the results to his own superiors, he feels at a complete loss as to how this excessive number of mishaps continue to occur year after year.  Thus, he has decided to finally think outside the box, and hire Cliff Rodger to investigate the notorious legend of the “Girl on the Highway” in hopes that doing so will maybe give him some answers along with Cliff’s possible solutions.
The Highwayman:  This notorious serial killer who has yet to be captured occasionally positions corpses on the highway causing his own detestable brand of peril.  His methods do not cause but a small fraction of the mayhem that Capt. Winston is investigating.  But it is not certain whether or not he has any connection to the ghost girl haunting I-65.
The Ghost Girl:  Not much is known about the “Girl on the Highway”.  Witnesses give two vastly contradictory descriptions of her.  The first description is of a pretty, blonde-haired girl who wears a winter overcoat.  The second is a horrific entity that looks more like a zombie.

As you can see, two of the story’s main characters are state troopers.  An Interstate Ghost Story:  The Girl on the Highway is being written in dedication to these brave highway warriors all over the United States.  Of course we never like seeing flashing blue lights in our rear-view mirrors; but their unarguable contribution to highway safety far outweighs our inconvenience of getting well-deserved tickets for speeding in far excess of posted speed limits.  All attempts have been made to portray state troopers as heroically as possible in this body of work while telling an intriguing story that I’m confident will keep you turning the pages to the very end.

Note:  I wish to thank my daughter, Isabella, for proofreading this article and sharing her thoughts to make it better.  Also, you are happily invited to read the first three chapters of this story here:  http://tinyurl.com/zqcpk8x

 

 

 

 

 

 

An Interstate Ghost Story: The 4 W’s of Excitement and Intrigue!

Thousands of people eagerly await the release of An Interstate Ghost Story:  The Girl on the Highway, my horror novel that has been a long time in the coming and is now only perhaps halfway through the development process.  But I simply cannot rush this one out before it is ready for ULTIMATE SUCCESS!  I’ve done it once before and was entirely unsatisfied with the result.

But what I can do is give you bits and pieces of valuable information that will surely whet your appetite as the impending day creeps forward!  In doing so, I submit to you the most revealing look at The Girl on the Highway yet:  The 5 W’s of Excitement and Intrigue!

I will blog five articles, each written on a weekly basis through the month of April.  They will be titled as follows:

April 9:  Who is the Ghost, and Who Seeks Her?
April 16:  What Expectations Exist from the Story of “The Girl on the Highway”?
April 23:  Approximately When Will the Book Hit the Shelves?
April 30:  Where in the Real World Does this Haunt Occur?

I have but three (huge, to me; small, for you) favors to ask in all of this.  Please help this most humble writer in getting the word out and creating even more excitement than I could ever hope to do on my own.  My family and I are coming to depend upon my writing more and more as my disability (degenerative disc disease in my neck) worsens, continuing to threaten my ability to work in physically-demanding environments.  There simply are not enough well-paying administrative positions available here in Alabama.  Thus, I simply ask:

Please engage with your fellow friends and followers on Social Media.  If you are reading this on Facebook, Google+, Twitter, Instagram or Pinterest, please hit the back button and send this link to your Wall, Retweet it, or Share it in whatever most creative way possible to everyone you know.  And please help me sell this novel!  Put your own spin on the excitement.  If you can do this, my family and I will be most grateful to you and very happy to see that there are still good people in the world who reach out to help others.  I also wish to thank my wife, brother, and sister for being my most engaging followers to date!
Please engage with me on my own social media.  I am on Facebook :   http://tinyurl.com/zw6ubws ;  I am on   Google+ :  http://tinyurl.com/jfm6hdy ;  I am on Twitter :  https://twitter.com/phil_writer ;   I am on Instagram :  http://tinyurl.com/gwlueby ;  And finally, I am on Pinterest :  http://tinyurl.com/z9p4hb9 .   Please comment too!  I am thankful for all the “Likes” and “Thumbs-Ups” I have been getting.  But sometimes it is fun to hear comments and answer questions as well.  Note:  Because WordPress obviously runs on a sub-standard engine, some of the links are not clickable above.  But feel free to right-click on them for a clickable link.
Finally, please support me by buying my books, right now on Amazon and Barnes & Noble and about to be released on Smashwords, Kobo, and various others.  I also occasionally mark down my work to create more of a Win-Win environment for all involved.  By keeping up with me on Social Media, you will always be the first to know of these fabulous opportunities.

Please enjoy this journalistic look at what is shaping up to be my most promising and defining literary work to date!  And God bless all of you!

Mind Your Grammar, Young Man!

The self-publishing industry certainly has come a long way since The Joy of Cooking was self-published in 1931.  But we still have leaps and bounds to clear before we can feel 100 percent legitimized in the same writing industry with traditional publishers.

Certain traditionally-published authors have run the SP industry down, but nine times out of 10 it has always been a case of BBRMM (bird-brain-running-motor-mouth!).  “These authors only need money, not talent, to produce a book that will sell in the same market as mine!” seems to be a common buzz phrase among these egocentric bigheads.  As much as we hate to deny it, this is pretty much true.  But on the other side of the coin, I have read some pretty dismal books by traditionally-published authors.  Who all has read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo?  The movie was amazing!  But the book pretty much improved my nap-time for the days I tried to read it.

This is why I have started tweeting advice that sounds like it comes from your old English teacher…you know the one I’m talking about!  The one that was a bit too heavy for the skinny-ole high-heels she wore…when she came around, you instinctively grounded yourself for a possible earthquake.  “Watch your double-negatives, young woman!”  On a bad day, she may have even popped you with a ruler making you ask: “What the hell are you doing with a ruler in English class?”

Back to my point:  As self-published authors, I feel that we have a firm obligation to legitimize the industry.  Just as Frodo had to bear that scary, mysterious, and shiny golden ring, we have to shut the naysayers down before they can even get one negative little word about SP authors out from their snobby little lips.  And we do this, by commanding the English language, not letting it command us.  Sure, the rules are there for us to follow; but we don’t have to play “bitch” to these rules…we can grab the rules by the horns and make them our own personal bitches!

I’m not saying that we all need to go out and buy style manuals or anything else like that.  Actually, a good grammar book is all you need.  And you can actually buy those on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, and other fine book sellers out there.

I’m just saying:  “Make sure to check your word usage, punctuation, subject-verb agreement, and the rest of the sordid crew.”  In other words, at least demonstrate that you know how to properly form sentences; or you at least know a good editor who does.  If you wish to buy all the extras, then go for it!

Clint Eastwood once said in a very famous role:  “A man’s got to know his limitations.”  Well, a writer does too.  If they know without a doubt they sucked at grammar and have never come to terms with said suckiness, then they better be ready to shell out some money for an editor who can make them look like the next Gillian Flynn or Stephen King.  The only other option is to make the rest of us SP authors look like the same type of noncaring dung-heaps; well, at least to close-minded, pompous authors who have made it in the TP industry and have grown a little too big for their own britches.

My final point is that we do NOT have to be perfect.  Lord knows, I most certainly am not.  Even the most famous TP authors have made mistakes in their writing…mistakes that have made it past one or more editors on their staff into glorified print.  We have that same right as well.  It’s called being human.

My main point is that I have read some work by SP authors, which were completely riddled with grammar errors.  The story and characterization was about perfect!  But the grammar brought it down and turned me off from the start.  And I never wanted to finish the story.  I’m just saying that we need to be better than this if we want to be held in the very same regard as most of our bestselling traditional authors out there.

After all, don’t you want to make your old English teacher proud?  She’s probably elderly now; still wearing those same-ole skinny heels that have been super-glued more than a dozen times since you last saw her.  If she falls in shock at a good many simple rules you violated in a single work of fiction, she may not be able to get back up!

United States: A Much-Needed Enema!

I’m personally no huge fan of Donald Trump, but a potential win at the polls could rid us of quite a few aggravating and annoying liberal celebrities.  So I hate to admit that I am almost willing to go out and vote for him this November.

The only way I could be any happier of a confirmed Trump victory would be if all actors (except Samuel L. Jackson — because I am a HUGE Avengers fan!) would promise to never work in or benefit from our nation ever again.

So far, the list of celebrities and promised destinations is small, but seems to be getting bigger as November draws near.  And Miley Cyrus recently made the news claiming she will jump on the bandwagon with these others in the likely event that a comb-over potentially graces U.S. currency.  But this is not the first time I’ve ranted about the spoiled brat here on this blog.

Now, let’s discuss each celebrity individually.

Rosie O’Donnell to Canada:  I’ve never been a huge fan of ROD.  Nine times out of 10, when her lips are moving, it is a serious case of bird brain running motor mouth.  In the pic above, she certainly looks ready for a move to the nearest Canadian / U.S. border detention camp!  I bid you, au revoire!

Cher to Jupiter:  I always thought Cher was kinda cool in a hippy sorta way…but she has obviously gotten caught with her hand in the ganja jar again, claiming that she will depart this nation for a relocation to outer space.  But it’ll all be okay!  Elvis will be there to keep her company!

Eddie Griffin to Africa:  Now all we have to do is hope all the other cockroaches in the nation will follow him to Africa.  The only bad thing about that would be the loss of exterminator jobs, which could potentially impact the economy.

Barry Diller to no particular destination:  The only advice I can offer is “do not forget to pack your depends”!  Because this old man is clearly full of shit.  Cannot even specify a destination…yea, your heart is clearly behind THIS empty promise!

Samuel L. Jackson to South Africa:  I will definitely miss this guy more than I miss Bob Ross.  Though I think that Bob Ross would have had a bunch more gumption than to run away from some “shitty-ass problems” that are “motherfuckin’ birds now”.  My advice to Sam J. is simple:  “What would Col. Fury do?”

Jon Stewart to another planet:  I have mixed feelings about Jon.  The guy has an amazing sense of humor, but a totally misguided sense of direction.  And he has CLEARLY been eating from Cher’s cookie jar.  My advice:  “The song was Lucy in the Skies with Diamonds, not Lucy in the Skies with Dumbsass…”

Omari Hardwick to Italy:  Such a dapper-looking young man!  Hell, I don’t know too much about him and am at a loss for words.  My advice:  “Good riddance.  And have a canoli on me when you arrive in Italy!”

Katie Hopkins (British Columnist) to United States:  Not sure that I understand this one, though the chart above says volumes!  I can especially agree with the notation about the mouth since she has been caught making statements like:  “I am the new Jesus.”  Too bad John Lennon wasn’t around to steer her away from that one!  I think I read somewhere that she is a Trump supporter, so she probably doesn’t belong on this list; though my predecessor included her on it for some strange reason.  So in this case a bunch of turds may get out, but one may be getting in.

Miley Cyrus to nowhere in particular (unless they have plenty of inflatible penis around!):  We are all, no-doubt, certain that Billy Ray is very proud of his daughter and will miss her very much…NOT!

I’ve already expressed words of advice to many of these individuals on the topic of migrating away from the country that has been better to them than they perhaps deserve. In summary: