by krj | Jan 12, 2016 | misc
I spent the last couple of days thinking I needed to say something, that I wanted to say something. Now that I’m sitting in front of the keyboard and staring at the monitor, my fingers and my brain aren’t communicating; I don’t know what to write. What is there to say about Bowie that hasn’t already been said? What could I, who never met him, never saw him in person, and much to my chagrin, never saw him perform live, possibly add? That he affected my life in ways he never knew. I’m sure I’m not alone in expressing that sentiment; rather, I’m likely one of millions of voices shouting the same thing. But it doesn’t make it any less true. He was an inspiration to me in so many ways. I don’t even know where to begin… I still can’t believe he’s gone. We are all richer for his life and the gifts he gave to all of us–music, movies, raising social consciousness, laughter, inspiration. The least we could do is celebrate those gifts and the life of the man who gave them to us. Thank you, David Bowie. Thank...
by krj | Jan 28, 2014 | Books, misc, Projects, Writing
It’s amazing how time can get away from you, especially if you’re in a place where you’re not taking much care to watch how it’s flitting by. Or speeding by. The last post I wrote here said I finished writing the sequel to Omni in 2012. Yes, 2012. As it so happens, the world didn’t end. Just like the world didn’t end, the sequel to Omni (Omni 2: the Omniing—no, that’s not the title; it’s an inside joke) wasn’t published. That means, of course, that I still haven’t completely finished the book. How is it that I finished writing a book more than a year ago, yet haven’t said anything further about it, let alone published it? Good question. Indulge me for a moment as I recall a quick story. Years ago, when talking to a gentleman I opened the conversation with, “Hi. How are you today?” (I actually wanted a response–it’s not a greeting, damn it.) His response was roughly thus, “Interesting. I’ve had an interesting day.” As we continued to speak he told me the meaning of his response. “When I was training, I was taught that when you’re having a bad day and you don’t want the other person to know, you say you’re having an ‘interesting’ day.” With that in mind, 2013 was interesting in a lot of ways. However, in just as many ways as it was painful, last year was also a time of exponential growth and unexpected positives that, on the whole, turned what could have been a festering, rotting pile of rubbish into a pretty—albeit small—flower bed. It’s not often you get dealt...
by krj | Aug 30, 2011 | Books
At long last, Omni is now available! Omni is a thriller with a fantasy twist. It’s a story of action, intrigue, and cool powers. When reality fails to follow the laws of physics… Ryan Sutter is an average guy who finds himself in an impossible situation. What should be a regular day at work becomes a struggle for survival as Ryan finds himself thrust into a dark government underworld where mystery and intrigue are the norm. Death lurks around every corner, nothing is as it seems, and government agents wield powers that defy the laws of physics and reality. Omni is available now at the following stores (this page will be updated as additional stores/versions become available): Amazon Kindle Store Smashwords Barnes &...
by krj | Aug 3, 2011 | Projects
Because I like to do things backwards, let’s start this two-topic post by covering the second topic first. Logical, right? I received the preliminary work from my cover artist yesterday, and even though it’s “just a few placeholders cobbled together,” I’m blown away. Part of that, of course, is just seeing cover art for your own story. That’s a feeling that’s difficult to describe, but I’ll try: it’s awesome. Oh, that wasn’t so difficult after all. I only had a couple of suggestions for him in regards to changes for the art, and I can’t wait to see how he incorporates those changes, and even more so, where it goes from there. Once he massages it all together, colors it, and puts the finishing touches on it, I think I’m going to have a piece that really stands out from some of the other books out there. Even though it’s only the first draft of the cover, he’s already managed to nail a few of the things I wanted. I’m not going to pretend that people buy books strictly based on the cover (I’m sure there’s some small percentage that does, but they’re just that: a small percentage), but the cover should tell the reader a few things about the story. It should give them an idea of what’s happening in the story, perhaps introduce them to the setting and some characters, and most importantly, impart a feel that the book strives for. It’s the latter that I think has really been nailed, even though it’s the first draft. That’s a great feeling to see that. Although I’m excited...
by krj | Jun 12, 2011 | Projects
To this point I’ve done little other than wax philosophic on the blog, be it about publishing or writing, so I figure I should take a moment to mention something about what this is all actually about: my stories. Seems like a no-brainer, and yet it’s easy to get distracted by other things. At this point I’m unsure of the title, else I’d actually share it. I had a title for it when I originally wrote it, but the story ended up taking a turn because it’s a seat-of-my-pants story (see my post on the writing process and outlining if a little more explanation is necessary). Because of that change, and because I’m still not through my most recent (and second-to-final) revision, I haven’t yet settled on a title. I’m not worried about it, though. While titles don’t necessarily come to me, I’m feeling confident about one coming to me for this one, assuming I don’t go with my original one. Regardless, as I’ve danced about the subject matter a bit, here’s a little about the book itself. It’s something of a contemporary fantasy married to a thriller, but it’s very light on the fantasy elements because there’s no vampires or werewolves or anything like that, just some people who happen to have extraordinary abilities, albeit in somewhat limited fashion. There’s no crazy mutant powers here, just telekinetics, telepathy, and other similar things. You could almost use the old D&D term of psionics, but it’s not going that far. The story follows a couple of characters who, after an attack on a small town, are trying to find out...
