The Artist Behind The Cover & The Legend of the Firewalker Update

***Available through Amazon.com and for the Kindle and Nook on Oct 31, 2013

Hello everyone! Thank you so much for your support and well wishes for the launch of The Legend of the Firewalker. I am truly grateful for your support!!

The Legend of the Firewalker is still scheduled to be released on Oct 31, 2013 and I can’t wait for you guys to read the book. Today, I wanted to give a special shout-out to the artist behind the book cover, Baub Alred.

Baub did an amazing job bringing my vision for the cover to life and I enjoyed the end result so much, that it actually inspired a scene that appears in Chapter 20 of book one.

You can find Baub at www.baubalred.com and you can also check out his artwork in his book, Exquisite Charm, by clicking here.

Next week, I will be giving everyone a sneak peek at what’s inside the book. Chapter one of The Legend of the Firewalker will be posted right here!

Thanks again for your support!!

The Legend of the Firewalker will be Released on Halloween!!

Hello everyone! I am so excited to announce that The Legend of the Firewalker will be available for purchase on Oct 31, 2013. The book will be available as a paperback through Amazon.com and downloadable for your Kindle and Nook devices. I will announce other places you can find the novel in a few weeks. 

I want to give a special thanks to my editor. She did such an amazing job. This is what she had to say about the book.

Dear Steve, 

It’s terrific! I love your wise-cracking hero, who finds himself thrust into these bizarre circumstances with no real guide. And I love the set up of the supernatural world and these well-defined characters. The supernatural conflict and the relationships that took root here will be able to take you through book after book. That eerie, spirit realm where everything is gray except for the people – sound doesn't behave as it should – and objects are frozen in place, is really imaginative and creepy. It’s got a strong cinematic feel and it creates tremendous atmosphere.  In short, you’ve done some terrific world building here that’s highly imaginative and peopled with appealing, interesting characters we can care about. Well done!  

Thank you Rhonda and I can't wait for you guys to also read the book! Also, I'll be posting chapter one soon!!

The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones & The Legend of the Firewalker Update

Hello everyone! Before I get started with my review, I wanted to provide an update on The Legend of the Firewalker. The first book in the series is still with my editor and it looks like I will have an update on the release date in about a week. I am so excited to release the first book and can't wait to share the story with you guys!

So, on to the Mortal Instruments! I thought the beginning of the movie was really fast-paced and didn't give the viewer enough time to connect with the characters first before throwing them into life-threatening danger. Why should we care about the impending danger or threat when we don't even have a feel for the characters yet? This probably wasn't a problem for those who have read the book or series and probably would explain why I didn't actually care about the outcome of the love triangle until the very end of the movie.

Overall, I thought the movie's special effects were okay and that it was jammed packed with so much action that it left little room for character development. As I mentioned before, by the end of the movie, two hours and 10 minutes worth, I finally felt a sense of the characters and became invested in wanting to know their fate. I am now curious to how the sucker punch to the romance-angle between lead actors Lily Collins and Jamie Campbell Bower will play out.

I give Mortal Instruments: City of Bones 3 out 5 stars, and I hope the DVD has plenty of extras including commentary on how the book was adapted to film.

Percy Jackson: The Sea of Monsters

Sorry, no update on The Legend of the Firewalker yet, but hopefully there will be one by the end of the week! So, until then, on to the review!!

I've been wanting to see a new supernatural or super-hero type movie, so I finally gave in to see Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters. The movie received an IMDb rating of 6.5/10, which surprised me, and 38% Rotten Tomatoes. As soon as the movie started, I could tell that the film was geared toward a younger audience. I found most of the humor or jokes in the film to be cheesy, however, the young adults or children in the audience found them quite funny. I thought it was a stretch that Logan Lerman was supposed to be a teenager in this film and on-screen appeared to be in his early twenties.

Overall, I thought the special effects were great and that the movie would be a nice one to take the family or to treat that young person in your life to a movie. Based on the reactions from the young people in the audience and the special effects, I give Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters 2.5 out 5 stars.

The Legend of the Firewalker...Finally Publishing Book One!!

Hello, hello, hello!! It's almost been two years since I've posted anything on my blog or said anything about the novel I was working on. However, the day has finally arrived and I reemerge from the ashes like a red hot phoenix!

After I finished writing The Legend of the Firewalker, I had no clue what was ahead of me as far as rewrites, and more rewrites. Not to mention proofreading and copy-editing, beta readers, book cover design, marketing, ISBN numbers, book layout, copyrights, print on demand, and the list goes on!

Let's just say I was overwhelmed and slowly, while working full-time of course, I gained a foot-hold about the self-publishing process and the day has finally arrived for me to publish my first novel...yay!!

And I do want to give a shout-out to Joanna Penn for her wonderful website for writers and authors at www.thecreativepenn.com. Joanna is the author of the Arkane series, and her website really helped me out a ton!! She even bothered to answer some of my questions directly through twitter which I am very grateful and have favorited, along with several other resources from her, on my twitter page if you want to check it out.

As for The Legend of the Firewalker, it will definitely be released this year and as you can see, the book cover for the first book in the series is gracing the banner above...woohoo!

I am so excited to start blogging again as well and I have relaunched my blog in preparation for all I have in-store for promoting the first book. In a few weeks, I will announce here the exact release date and where to find it, but until then, please check out the book cover and the new decor!!

Captain America: The First Avenger

Hello again...I am still here! It's been awhile since I've blogged on movies I've seen. I have been diligent with editing my novel, but I admit I still make time to watch a movie or two. ;)

I saw Captain America a while ago, the second day it was in theaters to be exact, but I still feel like giving my two cents on the movie. Chris Evans did a fantastic job portraying Steve Rogers and not once while watching the movie did I think of his previous roles; he was Steve Rogers not Johnny Storm aka Human Torch - Fantastic Four.

Hayley Atwell's performance as Peggy Carter, Captain America's love interest, was good, but I just wasn't feeling the character in the movie.

I thought the special effects and action scenes were done well unlike Thor, which in my opinion, was a little over the top.

The Avengers movie, set to be released May 2012, was set-up very well at the end of the movie.

79% of the reviewers at rottentomatoes.com liked the movie and I would have to agree that Captain America is solid blockbuster entertainment.

Captain America Trailer

MIA But Finished My Novel....YAY!

I apologize for taking a hiatus, but I think it was necessary to finish my novel. Yes, I am at least done writing and when it was all set and done, I even added another chapter. So where am I now with "the book", the way I refer to it to family and friends, editing and more editing and editing some more...lol!

When I started writing "the book", I was in uncharted territory having never finished a book before, but I was determined to get the story out of my head and on paper. I promise you half way through "the book," I felt like I owed it to the characters, my friends, and family that have read every chapter along the way to finish! Now, I am already hearing the dreaded words, "When will you finish the second one?!"

OMG...Lord help me! :)

As many writers already know, which I am just learning, my work is not over. It is just the beginning as I edit and edit some more. I still plan to self-publish and I am hopeful to still get this book out the door by the end of the year if not sooner. I have a date in mind, but dare not say!

I hope all goes well with editing, so I can finally share the story with the e-publishing world and the title, which I am keeping under-wraps for now as well. I can tell you that I loved writing the story and the characters, but what writer doesn't say that about their work?

In addition, when it was all said and done, my final draft before editing was a little over 100,000 words and I never thought that I could write so much and create a world and characters that I have fallen in love with.

I hope to share the book title and the release date soon!


Cheers!! :)