Saturday, June 27, 2009

Tattoos


A very close friend of mine is contemplating having a tattoo engraved upon her body. The only problem is that she can't decide what she wants. She has settled on a couple of things including a gecko, but she can't find a good enough pattern, apparently in the shops to suit her fancy. (She'd very fancy, BTW.) Here is the story of my tattoo.
In the third or fourth book of the Series, my lead character goes off on hiatus to Rome and ends up in a very bad situation, locked in a mental ward with two very fancy, very new tattoos. Of course, these tattoos were of my own imagining and fit his personality perfectly. So with my birthday approaching last year, a friend asked me what I wanted for my birthday and I said "I want a tatoo." This was step one.
Step two: Friend says OK, but I'm going with you to get it so I can watch. (A little sadistic? No, just contemplating the process prior to trying)
Step three: Looking for the perfect tattoo. Went on line. Checked a couple of sites, found the perfect tat.
Step three: Said to friend "Found tat."
Step four: Friend arrives and takes me to the parlor.
Step five: Tattoo guy says "Hey I like that one."
Step six: Lots of pain.
Step seven: Voila! Tattoo done.
So I think that my friend should just get on with it. And it makes me wonder when she accuses me of being a whiner and a complainer and unable to endure pain. But hey, there's pain and then there's PAIN.
I would compare a tattoo to a scrape and burn that kind of oozes onto your skin over a period of time. It's not like getting your leg chewed off by an alligator! So keep it in mind, the next time you hear me 'whining' and 'moaning', I've probably had my hand caught in the blender while making margaritas and keep in mind as well that I'm not complaining about the pain, I'm complaining about losing the rita!

Reflections Playlist by Mark+Ramsay on MySpace Music - Play Playlist Songs & Download Tracks

Reflections Playlist by Mark+Ramsay on MySpace Music - Play Playlist Songs & Download Tracks

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Thursday, June 25, 2009

Life and Death


I used to fear death a great deal. It all started a long time ago, right after I was born, but my first real memories of thinking about death come around age twelve when I learned that that the turn of a new millennium was going to occur in my lifetime and that this was something that only happened every 1000 years. I planned on being there for it, but not too long afterward because I thought that my age in the year 1999 was so ancient of days that I would not be living much longer than that. Now its almost ten years gone now and I'm older than ever. When I was 16, I was half as old as my mother and by the time I was 32, I was catching up with her and now... I am older than my mother by about 20 years!!! I only know that, after having several close calls with Death, I will avoid it for a while longer. Live long and prosper. (BTW that's a little fairy cake made by favorite little fairy)

Monday, June 22, 2009

The Sheer Joy of It


What I am so happy about? I just went to a new dentist and for the first time in my life, I actually came away smiling. My insurance paid all but $5, he used laughing gas, he fixed my tooth in less than an hour and he told absolutely horrible jokes that were funny.


At least I know where my fear and loathing of dentists and dental work came from. My most memorable dentist visit was while serving in the military. The tooth wouldn't come out and the dentist climbed into my lap and locked onto it... before the novacaine took effect. Now keep in mind that these fellows, though fledgling dentists, are commissioned officers. The event was not only memorable due to the excruciating pain, but because of the immortal words I uttered to this venerable man of medicine. I said "What the f*** are you doing in my lap?!" Then I punched him in his ribs. He gave me more novacaine and my face was numb for three days.


Hmmmmmmmm. But today I am happy, happy, happy and who knows? Dr. McLean might even be that anonymous dentist I punched out all those years ago. ;) Hurrah for Dr. McLean!!!

I'm even looking forward to going back for a cleaning and X-rays next month. And you know what else was great about the good doc and his staff? They didn't come into the room looking like they were prepared for the next shuttle launch. That always makes you feel a little insecure when the staff comes in wearing helmets, paper suits and rubber gloves. You start getting a little paranoid and when they turn on the bright lights, you suddenly have flashbacks of all your alien abductions where the Grays were firing up their various probes. >:O

Friday, June 19, 2009

Epiff Annie's

Well, another week has passed and gone with it are a number of glorious sunsets, beautiful sunrises and at least one rainstorm. Today is a holiday in our fabulous state which is, as they say, a whole ’nother country. I’ve spent a lot of time this week getting my second book The King of Terrors ready for publication on Amazon.com in paperback form. I have come to the conclusion that it will never be perfect and will simply have to face the world with all its little faults and imperfections intact as we all must do. As it stands ready for criticism, I must give it a life of its own and hope that it can stand up to the opinions of strangers without whom it would have little meaning. The point of writing is to have someone read it. With this frightening inevitability in mind, writers send their children, their books out into the world to face the unknown. We can only hope that they may find more favor than fault with their readers and establish themselves a place in the world of literary works deserving of at least some bit of praise now and again. My work may appeal to a wide audience and especially to persons who are not necessarily interested in conspiracy theories, ancient secrets revealed, Templars, the Holy Grail, the Ark of the Covenant, etceteras because it has a wonderful love story embedded in it, along with a few spicy scenes between the leading characters. It has action and adventure along the lines of Indiana Jones and it has mystery and intrigue on the order of such writers as Stephen King and Dan Brown combined. There is something for everyone. It has been a very trying experience, editing the story, but still a work of love as I am entirely devoted to my characters and their demands. The books were a life study for me with many realizations coming from seemingly nowhere. The epiphanies I received and the strange understanding of things heretofore mysterious to me made the writing an almost spiritual journey. It is my understanding that many writers have this same sort of experience and are forever trying to share with those who do not write. I have no idea if anyone has ever managed to give anyone a real description of it though I have had a few friends and non-professional editors/reviewers comment on the fact that many of my characters and/or their actions or ideas conveyed some personal meaning to their lives. I am always honored to hear these comments, though I can’t answer their questions concerning the how or why of it.

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Stormy Weather


You may have heard of the song "Stormy Weather"? All romantic, right? Well, I went off for two days to my bat cave and when I returned my gazebo had decided to go on an adventure all by itself and visit the neighbor's yard. That's the second gazebo in less than two years!! I don't know why they are like that... you love them and cherish them and then, what do you get? No goodbye, no adios, amigo, no nothing, just up and gone! I guess I'll get over it... someday. Sniff.

Monday, June 8, 2009

Poetry


One of my fellow authors at the Kindleboards.com recently opened a thread for me, he said, to display my limericks and rhymes. It is, of course, open to everyone, readers and writers alike and not limited to limericks. Any and all poetry is subject to enjoyment and/or ridicule from the readers/authors... all in fun naturally. An old friend and fan who dates from my very early writing career recently found me on the boards (actually, she was there before I was because she owned a Kindle and I still don't). Anyway, after posting a few rhymes in a friendly banter exchange, a strange thing seems to be happening. Another author/reader thinks that she is me! (Or I am she or is it her?) Anyway, I was absolutely thrilled to see that the readers of this bizaare little thread put enough thought into it to draw conclusions about the originators of the bawdy poems. I have since played it up that this particular fan is my stalker who follows me around, adoring me. This again, is done in fun and is absolutely not true, but rather another unabashed attempt at self-promotion on my part.
I have always loved to read and write limericks. A rather harmless habit, one must admit, although more brain-squeezing than chewing fingernails or twisting hair. I did talk my old fan into writing a limerick of her own and she showed surprising talent in this little-appreciated literary genre. In other words, I was quite pleased with her work.
If you want to read these terrible rhymes and judge for yourself have a looksee at the Kindleboards.com under the Book Bazaar and look for the thread on Limericks.
I have reduced my Red Cross of Gold II:. the King of Terrors to just $.99 for a while simply because it is undergoing a bit of typo correction and the corrected version will be a while in coming. By no means are the typos destructive to the storyline, they simply need to be corrected for aesthetic purposes and because I will soon be releasing the book in paper on Amazon.com and I want it as perfect as possible in case any of the major publishing houses, agents and/or film makers happen by... (crosses fingers).
Wish me luck. Happy reading and thanks for stopping by. Brendan

Friday, June 5, 2009

Rhythm, Rhyme and Harmony

If you travel around the web and you want to see something absolutely awful, go to Kindleboards.com and look at the Book Bazaar Forum under the Poetry thread and you'll find an original limerick that I was coerced into writing by my fellow author, Edward Patterson. You will also find a number of interesting comments and threads for bargain books on Kindle where most of my books are now published. I am currently trying to get the final edit on King of Terrors, the second book in the Red Cross of Gold Series so that I can publish on Amazon.com proper in the paperback section for those of you who want to hold a real book in your hands. I have also dropped the price on said Kindle book for a time while I am cutting the final edit. Thanks for stopping buy... I mean by and keep on reading until you find the answers because, trust me, they are out there.

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Reviews

Reviews. What are these... really? I had always thought... in my feeble mind, that reviews as posted on sites such as Amazon.books and Amazon Kindle Boards concerned themselves with remarks and comments concerning the so-called readability of the book, i.e. were the characters believable? were the settings first rate or not so hot? was the action exciting? did it keep the reader's attention? would you recommend it to your friends?

I have given many reviews and have always spoken to the issues listed above. However, it has been brought to my attention lately that reviewers should base their reviews on something called "the rules", which apparently include a great deal of criticism directed at spelling, word usage, formatting, grammar, punctuation, so on and so forth. These topics, I believe are editing issues and should be addressed in forums and boards such as Kindle Boards "Book Bazaar" where I heartily agree that any opinions of readers is highly valuable input even if we might not want to hear it. These comments can be helpful when editing and correcting and when writing future epic giants.

I am still firmly convinced that Reviews should be recommendations/non-recommendations to other potential readers for the book in question... period (pardon the pun) and not comma-tary on grammar, which as aggravating as it is to some people of higher learning, is not as important to to the general populace as it should be.

Monday, June 1, 2009

Introduction


My name is Brendan Carroll. I'm a fulltime writer/author with a 40+ hour job working for the State of Texas as a hobby (to pay the bills). I'm an Indie author with a total of nine books now ready for your reading pleasure on Amazon.com at the Kindle Store.

My novels are a sort of super-series of 28 adventures centered on the adventures and misadventures of Chevalier Mark Andrew Ramsay, the only Scottish member of the Immortal Council of Twelve, Ordo Militi Templi, Red Cross of Gold. He is commonly called the Knight of Death or in French, which is the Order's formal language, l'Chevalier du Morte. He works as an assassin and alchemist for the thousand year old chapter and is about 837 years old at present. He makes the gold that the Order needs to operate its private army and when someone needs to be killed, he does that as his primary job. He holds the Secrety of the Key of Death for the semi-immortal members of the inner grand council and he also holds the divine Mystery of Alchemy which allows him to make gold from base metals.

Mark is a simple Scotsman who wants nothing more than to be left alone, but his life is turned upsidedown when an assassin's mission sends him to America to retrieve or eliminate a traitorous apprentice to the Order's Grand Master. The members of the inner circle cannot desert, nor can they simply leave the Order. It is a lifetime commitment and deviations will not be tolerated.

In America, Mark temporarily becomes disoriented after a vicious assault and he forgets who he is and what he is doing there. While he is trying to regain his memory, he meets and falls in love with one of his captors. Keeping company with women is strictly forbidden by the Primitive Rule of Order for the Templars which states "The company of women is a dangerous thing and has led many men from the path to paradise".

Needless to say, he suddenly finds himself embroiled in a life and death struggle as he attempts to fight off his captors who are bent on extracting the secret of immortality from him while his own Brothers of the Order come looking for him, considering him a traitor to the Order. An old enemy is determine to take his head back to Italy in a box, his new-found love wants him to stay with her and give up the Order and his loyal apprentice and friends are trying to help him, but he doesn't know which way to turn.

Things get pretty sticky for him and the outcome looks even bleaker when the Grand Master, himself, shows up in Texas, ready to do battle for the sake of the Order.

Happy reading. Brendan Carroll