Christmas Eve

Live and learn; click on the title of this blog and review the meaning of Christmas Eve. I was more than a little surprised. I guess after all these years of celebrating this day I forgot its true meaning and significance.

I must say that this Christmas season is different than most. I find myself anticipating celebrating with family tonight and tomorrow more than I can ever remember. You would think with the economy in the dumps and no one being able to afford giving presents this year that I would be in a funk. Just the opposite has occurred. Each family member is making a special Christmas dish to be shared with a liberal sprinkling of good cheer and happiness because we still have so much to be thankful for.

I find myself also thinking strongly of family that cannot be with us during our celebrating. I can only hope that they too have a loving, sharing and wonderful Christmas.

The men and women serving our country in the military also come to mind. Without them protecting our freedoms the world over, we would not be able to worship and celebrate according to our faiths. I pray that each and every one of them return safely so they too can celebrate Christmas with family and loved ones in the years to come.

I could write page after page expressing good wishes for all the oppressed people of the world who will not be able to celebrate the season, but suffice to say, they are in my thoughts. I would also be remiss if I did not mention all of our animal friends in the world who suffer from abuse. Please be kind to animals. They were here long before us and in all probability, they will be here long after we are gone.

Well, there you have it. What started out as an expression of Christmas spirit has turned into a dissertation of the ills of the planet. But, such is the way of being an author. Once started, never stopped.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, everyone!

Write on,

Mittster

Well, Tweet My Twitter

As the title implies, I love talking dirty to myself. In reality though, I thought I would write a few comments about Twitter and how it has impacted my Web Life. Yes, I said, Web Life. You know, the place everyone reading this blog lives to the chagrin of everyone else who lives in boring reality.

As suggested by my publisher, my book promotions are centered around three Websites: Twitter, Facebook and a Website dedicated to my books. Facebook is certainly the most fun, whereas the Website is just a showcase. Twitter is mostly serious, which took some getting used to. Nothing much funny going on there - just people trying to be noticed by somebody who is somebody. In Twitterland, the nobodies prevail, but occasionally somebody will surface who has thousands and thousands of followers. I am trying to be one of those people.

I Tweet my Blog on Twitter everyday (there I go getting dirty again. Sorry!), and I have about 300 or so followers - mostly writers, publishers and an assortment of weirdos like myself. The trick is to get people interested in what you have to offer. I obviously haven't learned the trick yet, but if I am one thing, it's persistent! In theory, the harder you try at something, the better chance you have of succeeding. The reality may be different, but I keep moving forward no matter the weight on my shoulders.

Also, in theory, Twitter can connect you with the elite and powerful. My problem is that I wouldn't know what to say if or when I did meet them. Well, that's not quite accurate; I did have a short connection with Anne Rice, but she didn't offer to introduce me to her publisher. Perhaps she tired of my platitudes and idol worship. After all, she is my favorite author.

After the holidays are over, I plan to have a video made and submit it to YouTube featuring my book Evil in the Mirror. I look at it this way - why not make my Web experience even more exciting by having four places to live!

I'm just saying,

Mittster

The 800-Pound Gorilla

The wonderful thing about having a blog that most people don't read is that I get to say almost anything I want. I could say some things that would force Google to boot my booty off-line, but that would be counterproductive.

This blog makes me absolutely no money, so I can't lose what I don't have. I thought about ringing the perimeter of this blog with advertising like the Big Gorilla Blogs, but I hate it every time I accidentally click on one and end up in a mystic ad land that refuses to let my back or shut down icons work. I end up pushing my finger hard and deep into the computer tower off-button just to escape, and then I have to deal with the re-start-up fiasco.

I do use this blog to promote my book, but the nineteen people who read my blogs have already bought the book, so the promotions mostly look on blind eyes. That's OK, though; I do get an occasional lol, lmao and such.

At least now I can start promoting my new book and give my small following something new to look at. Unfortunately, they will get bored quickly and I will have to try to be funny again to keep their attention. That too is OK. Humor is the only paycheck for unknown, newbie authors. I'm not complaining, laughing far outweighs crying, and I don't waste Kleenex.

So what keeps me going down the lonely, newbie author pathway? I'll tell you something - there is no one answer. Passion for writing is the main thing, but ego is another. Most will not admit to the latter. I freely do, because it's my blog and no one reads it. I refuse to write two murder mysteries and let them become obscure in the bowles of Amazon. My ego won't allow it. There is also the matter of fame. Yes, I want fame and fortune and I want them now! There, I've said it and I feel much better for it....

There are a few of the nineteen people who read my blogs that wish it would just fade away. You know who you are! Forget it, this blog will be up and running till the day I go to the big blog in the sky. Unlike writing a novel, which takes months and sometimes years to write, blogs are here and now. It's self-gratification to the extreme. It's like Meg Ryan in her famous scene in When Harry Met Sally.

Oh, crap, now my secrets are out. Ego, Fame and Eroticism are great motivators also....

Write on,

Mittster

Anti-Christmas

I watched South Park last night like a zombie. The program was about Christmas, but of course it was anti-Christmas. Click on the title of this blog, and after some commercials, you too can see the Christmas program that starts out with a talking turd.

Normally, I would watch South Park and laugh my butt off, but this time I was unable to find the humor. Come on, a talking turd, sick Jew jokes, and Christmas in hell featuring Hitler, Dalmer, Hussein and other assorted infamous mass murderers? Have the South Park writers lost their minds? I think not. Why? Because Christmas today pretty much sucks, that's why, and this episode of South Park illustrates just how much. After realizing the parody, I was able to laugh till it hurt.

In order to really appreciate what Christmas used to be, you need to read Charles Dicken's A Christmas Carol or see the original movie. Now that's what I'm talking about! A Christmas where Scrooge finds his grove and shares his wealth, and Tiny Tim finds love everywhere. Food and gifts made by loving human hands are given with joy and love. The smell of roasting duck mingles with pine scent from a real Christmas tree as carolers' voices singing Silent Night drift into the house from outside. I remember this kind of Christmas as a child.

Now I have visions of people being trampled to death in a department store rush for good deals on merchandise. Television crammed with commercial after commercial trying to sell the newest electronic toys and such. Outside Christmas lights that can be seen from outer space and Christmas cards that say little and mean less. Kids who wake up Christmas morning and are disappointed because they didn't get as much or what they wanted, while their parents suffer through massive hangovers from celebrating Christmas Eve too much.

I, for one, salute South Park for saying and showing what most of us feel. Today's Christmas is a sham. There is one bright spot though. I also salute the people out there who celebrate Christmas in the spirit that was intended - loving, gentle folks who know how to love and be loved just as Christ intended. I am going to join those people in wishing you and yours a wonderful Christmas season.

I'm just saying,

Mittster

Merry Christmas

I grew up wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and feeling good about doing so. Now, I am confronted with what is, or is not, politically correct, and the prospect that saying, "Merry Christmas," might offend some people. Does that mean that all the years I wished even a passerby on the street a Merry Christmas that I was offending them? In all those years, not one person ever said that they were offended. Does that mean they didn't say anything because they were afraid I would be offended? It's all so confusing.

Well, I have the answer to this dilemma. I am going to wish everyone who reads this blog a very MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR! If it offends you, get off my blog and go Bah! Humbug! yourself in the pie hole.... Politically incorrect? Indeed, and I prefer it that way.

Write on,

Mittster

The Man and the Author

If you click on the title of this blog, you will find Candace L. Bowser's candid interview with me recently. I found this young freelance author and novelist delightful. If you have a chance, after reading the interview, click on her Website at the bottom of the page. Better yet, read one of her captivating novels! Her writing and research capabilities are astounding! Personally, I am glad she is not writing murder mysteries.... I would certainly have some stiff competition!

I am just saying,

Mittster

Day Stalker Is Published!

Click on the title of this blog to see what authors live for. It's like an actor seeing their name on a Hollywood theater marquee! Day Stalker is my second murder mystery and I guarantee this sequel to Evil in the Mirror will keep you on the edge of your chair. If you think Evil was hard to put down, wait until you dive into this one! No brag, folks, just plain truth.... The last book in this series will be out in May 2011. It will be titled The Phoenix Code and promises to be a wild finish to the trilogy.

My next book after Code, will be Vectus, and it is scheduled for an October release. It will be a standalone murder mystery delving into the supernatural. What you think is impossible proves to be not only possible, but absolutely terrifying in all its possibilities. The storyboard is finished and as soon as Code is completed, I will get cracking on this next thriller!

I love it when a plan comes together!

I'm just saying,

Mittster