Tuesday, June 19, 2012

LTRRTL

LTRRTL. Six letters that define the biker culture. Live to ride, ride to live. You see it patched onto leather and inked into skin.

This weekend I reached my limit. I flipped the pressures of marriage and fatherhood the bird and took off. I rode south 400 miles before I stopped to consider where I was. There was no destination, no goal. I road for the sheer joy of riding. I rode because if I didn't, I might not like the things I would do, or the person I might become.

I live to ride. It's a passion that most people just don't get. I don't keep a shiny bike, a bike that is meant to be ridden around for show. My bike is designed to ride, day and night, night and day. It's designed to live one and out of for days at a time. I live to sit my ass on that leather seat and go.

But...

 ride to live. It makes me feel alive in a way that I can't express. I know that I am one drunk driver or blind curve away from meeting my maker. I know that there is no room for error, no cage around me to protect me. If I make a mistake, or if the other guy does, and I fail to anticipate it, I die. Is it worth it? Absolutely.

I ride 1100 miles in 50 hours this weekend. I saw the places my father grew up, and rode by the places my family had been most happy. I remembered better times, and created a memory to be cherished a lifetime. I rode to live.

Until next time , LTRRTL.

Friday, June 15, 2012

Hell to Pay 2

About 80% done with the first draft. All but the ending is complete. Really needs fleshed out, but I like the framework.

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Finally Back

Hi everyone. First I want to apologize for taking so long between posts. First my mother became gravely ill and passed away. Then I had to deal with the estate. Then, for some reason, my iPhone blogger app kept switching to an eastern european language, making it pretty useless. I put some serious time into the book and got it to the editor...and waited...and waited some more. I shared excerpts with a writers group. Finally I said fuck it, and went on vacation. We took the bike up the coast of Michigan, and it was just what I needed.

I have been really evaluating the Raising Hell project. The podiobook quality just wasn't good enough. I was done off of the first draft, and frankly, the story evolved. When I finished it and listened I wasn't happy. I wouldn't be giving you guys the same story that I will be selling on Amazon. I scrapped it, and soon I will be starting over, with the complete story. First I want to get the ebook up and selling. I have the final product in my hot little hands, and I have given it to my harshest critic to read, my wife. She's brutal. Then I want to re read it for the first time in months.

When I was younger I did some songwriting. I found that sometimes something you originally thought was cool just wasn't when you revisited it. I wanna do that. I want to put out an ebook and podiobook that I am satisfied with, and not some half assed junk that I thought was good on the first reading. I made the character of God in the sequel look a lot like Steve Jobs. Steve had one mantra, the product first. My product wasn't good enough, even for a first offering. I had to retool and improve it, to refine characters and dialog. I had to make it something...more professional. It's finally something that I can release in good conscience. I would say the Raising Hell ebook is about 95% of the way there, with minor corrections and ebook formatting being the last steps. Now I have to buckle down and get it over the hump.

Now the good news. While I was waiting on the editor I spent some time on the sequel. The first draft is about half done. In my own opinion...it rocks. It's action from beginning to end. If Raising Hell is Batman Begins the the sequel,Hell to Pay, would be The Dark Knight. We start dealing with a supernatural war, that our hero accidentally starts in Raising Hell. It has epic battles and introspective into characters. So, while my wife tears my work apart, I am working on this. I hope to post some excerpts soon.

Thanks for being so patient guys and gals, I really do appreciate it, and I will be posting more info on the ebook soon. I want to average at least a post a week, but I also want to share things that matter. If you are going to give me your time, I don't want to waste it.

It will be a while before the podiobook is done, but when it is, it will be a much better product. Sorry. The ebook will be out soon, and it will be pretty inexpensive. I, hope you enjoy it.