Blog

My younger sister, Rebel, yes that is really her name, wrote on her blog about the experience we had with something unusual in our childhood.  Here I will recall the experience from my perspective.  When I was around 13 we put to sleep a dog that lived to be 17 […]

I have had the distinct pleasure of conversing with British author Jane Isaac via Twitter and Facebook.  She has a wonderful sense of humor and writes about murder.  We authors take the time to showcase each other so that readers can gain a sense of who we are and what […]

As I stand here overlooking the forces amassed against us, I ask how did it come to this?  I have now journeyed for two years and have faced evil at every turn.  Somehow I survived my journey north and freed those enslaved by King Yubal and aided in the freeing […]

I often refer to Monty Python as the corruptible influence to my offbeat humor.  Their influence arrived in my early teens and left around mid-college.  At age 53,  I’ve devoted 31 years to a buttoned down professional career as a CPA.  In those 31 years there was very little time […]

I have mentioned more than once, okay, okay – a thousand times that I am a member of Toastmasters International.  One of my favorite parts of the meeting is a 1-2 minute recap of actions or comments members present during our meeting. This is called “Observational Humor.”  The goal is […]

This photo started it all. A good friend of mine superimposed my head on the author Nora Robert’s body. I had made mention that I admired her website and wanted to duplicate it.  Not her body, just the website functionality.  This is how a technology wise guy armed with Photoshop […]

When readers respond to my insanity, they are enablers of more insanity.  I posed a question on Facebook on whether I should go topless at this year’s costume party with my Hottie Scottie costume. The costume package showed a young, fit and topless man in the costume.  Well I am […]

I cannot speak for all authors, but music supports my writing.  When I envision a battle scene I might just play one of the Lord of the Rings symphony music pieces, such as the Lighting of the Beacons, the Ride of the Rohirrim, or the Last March of the Ents.  […]

I was refreshed recently by a British chap who took me to new heights of bantering.  He reminded me of the old days of Monty Python’s humor.  If you tried to outdo or “one up” the other, they would reply brilliantly back.  I miss the days of old where men […]

My wife is a quilter and no, she is not that old. Somewhere in her DNA is an urge to quilt.  Many young and middle aged women are rediscovering the art of quilt making, fellowship and a lot of wine drinking.  They go off on these things my wife calls […]

Yesterday I tweeted with author Daniel Kemp @danielKemp6 who is from the United Kingdom. Here is a recap of our insane one-upmanship skills. EW – “Thanks for the multiple RT’s Hope you are having a great day or evening since you are in the UK.” DK – “Someone has to […]

Have you ever considered the fall of your own world?  My trilogy, The Chosen One of Allivar, is such a story.  Because I drafted the premise as a mythology, it had to have the basic  elements of a mythology which are: The creation story, The development of mortal thought and […]

For anyone following me you might notice around 100+ emails for blogs posts.  This is not a virus.  I am merely reposting old blog posts from Google’s Blogspot to this new blog here on WordPress.  It does not make sense to maintain a blog that is not supported by its […]

I am a member of Toastmasters International. Why? As an author, it provides me with the tools to present my stories to the public. It provides a feedback forum on my interpersonal skills, communication skills and yes, even my writing skills, because I convert my written speech to verbal. In […]

As an author I am able to converse with other authors from many countries.  My favorite is to converse with British people because their sense of humor is closer to mine than American humor.  I was raised on watching Monty Python’s Flying Circus on PBS whenever our rabbit ears and […]

As a CPA and financial advisor, I’ve done public speaking for over 20 years.  My largest audience ever was around 2,000.  The topics were of course accounting, tax, business, investments and technology.  Only those interested in such topics attend and pay any attention to my speeches.  Two years ago I […]

An independent author’s success is dependent on one thing and one thing only, the reviews of their readers. We need a review to prove people are actually reading our stories and to assist us in improving as an author.  Because of this we independent authors have to have a thick […]

I am going to go out on a limb here in the hopes of learning from fellow authors and readers.  If you read that a novel was influenced by Christian, Jewish or Islamic faith, would you immediately discard reading the book?  The reason I ask this is that many stories […]

I am currently on my fourth book of a nineteen story mythology.  I have already completed a trilogy which by itself stands alone as very entertaining and though provoking read.   This fourth book is an expansion of the history contained in the first nine chapters of the first book of […]

This month on the opposing blog edition, Female Code, is a post the lengths women go through to have a baby and all that follows afterwards.  I called this post Baby Olympics, because I finally realized it was a game between women.  If one announced she was pregnant, a race […]

I was involved, against my will, in a conversation with my pregnant daughter-in-law, daughter and wife about our upcoming grandchild.  It was in that conversation that I learned another female friend of my daughter-in-law wanted to be the first to announce a pregnancy.  My daughter had already announced she was […]

When I began drafting the mythological world of Allivar in the year 2000, I wanted to create a complex, yet original universe of characters, races, worlds, monsters, etc.  Leading the way to my influence I turned to my lack of knowledge of mythology.  I had enjoyed Greek and Roman mythology […]

Every author wants to be creative and original. In my current chapter work in progress, there are five very young children, ages three to six.  They are trying to be saved from a horrifying situation by the heroine of the story.  The heroine uses the aid of a lullaby to […]

Today I read a blog post regarding the shunning of family members due to religious beliefs.  The blog was this young woman’s way of dealing with issues in a religious family.  I admit fully that I have read the Bible in entirety and attended a large nondenominational church.  I was […]

Although I cannot speak for every author, I assume those that create an epic adventure begin with the world in which the story will revolve.  The lands, the peoples of those lands, the creatures, geography and the plot will all revolve around where the characters are in the current narrative.  […]

Name: A. R. Silverberry Book title: Wyndano’s Cloak Genre: Preteen Fantasy Adventure Publisher: Tree Tunnel Press Date of publication: 3/15/2010 Who or what inspired you to write in this genre? Every since I was a child, I’ve been drawn to fantasy literature. One of the first books I saw as […]

Ever since I was a small child I was fascinated by monsters.  Whether it was those that appeared in B-rated movies, or in novels, the battle between mortals and these monsters enthralled me.  Usually I felt it was impossible for the hero to defeat such forces, but somehow they always […]

Author – Alana Siegel Book Titles: THE CHARM (Olivia Hart and the Gifted Program, #1) THE RETREAT (Olivia Hart and the Gifted Program, #2) Genre: young adult, fantasy, romance, and adventure Publisher: Self published Date of publication: THE CHARM was published on December 12, 2011. THE RETREAT was published on […]

For my readers and loyal followers, you know I write about my very poor game of golf.  I know there is a magazine called Golf Digest.  Well, since there are copyright protections on this, I know that no one in their right frame of mind would ever create a magazine […]

I was recently asked on Twitter about my book covers for my mythical trilogy – The Chosen One of Allivar. How were they made? Where did the idea come from? I sketched art for most of my early life. I also wanted to become an architect, so visual imagination comes […]

Today’s A to Z writing challenge is the letter “S” for Slavery. Here is a definition: the condition of bondage. a state of subjection. severe toil; drudgery. In my mythology, “The Chosen One of Allivar”, all of the seven living races are bound into slavery by the actions of a […]

As a fantasy author I go on trips to spark the imagination and for research. So on my 53rd birthday I decided to temp fate – to rebel against and resist the power of father time. My ever faithful and fearless son Ryangaard, joined me on this most perilous of […]

I was born and bred in Texas. West Texas to be exact; where we are weaned on jalapenos and other flame throwing peppers. Peppers add spice and heat to a variety of dishes. Sometimes I just pop a pepper whole and suffer the burns later. Peppers are high in heat, […]

I have scientific proof that women are in fact wolves – in women’s bodies. Read here for context. Now, in additional research, I found 6 signs you are dating an alpha female: #1 She is demanding. Well, that was a hard one to discover! I guess they really are all […]

This is an actual photo of my back. Nothing was modified with Photoshop. What you are seeing is the result of a technique used today by my massage therapist. This technique is called “cupping” therapy. She places cups that suck your skin and muscles to expose the areas in need […]

You’ve met them -whether in the dealings with family, friends or colleagues. They are the philosophers of justification. What I mean by this is that any action a person deems important to themselves is immediately justifiable. All others are the ones who have a problem. I am by no means […]

I just finished reading a fellow blogger’s post about the inadequacy a man can feel when he cannot provide for his family. This primal need to provide is in our DNA. I understand some of the feelings young men are feeling today – a sense of hopelessness and desperation. Let […]

Recently, I was nominated by fellow Author Stephanie Ingram for the stylish blogger award. She just didn’t know how stylish I actually am. When I began researching other author websites on how to market and sell my trilogy digitally, I came across Nora Roberts’ website. I so admired her site, […]

Disney’s movie “John Carter” was a financial flop. It was a flop because it was marketed very poorly. It is however a very good movie in my opinion. Yes, it has action, but it has a plot that intersects the worlds and peoples of Earth and Mars. It involves war […]

I am surprised with all the technology in the world. I am also surprised what can’t be done with technology. For instance, instead of screaming foooore on the golf course, why can’t my balls have a little digital detector in it as it flies straight for a fellow golfers cart […]

I just finished reading a review by the president of my writers club on my first book “Rise of the Fallen” of the mythological trilogy The Chosen One of Allivar. She made some very astute observations of the first book of my mythology. She compared my main character to a […]

Today I got into a Facebook raillery (banter) with a long time friend and all her female friends (aka gang members). I inserted my male logic about the art of nonverbal communication. It appears one of this group of women was concerned with the lack of honesty in this PC, […]

Burger King just announced a bacon sundae. That’s right! Now, I have never tried it and it doesn’t sound right, but I love bacon and I love sundaes, so why not give it a try? I’m always open to new suggestions and ones that make money even better. Such culinary […]

Here’s a thought for new twist to the zombie genre – how about zombie golfers? Just think of the excitement! Here’s a sample of the commentary of the Zombie Invitational in Zurich hosted by Zombax. “Tom is getting ready to tee off. Oops his decaying control arm just fell off. […]

Well just when you think you’ve seen or read everything, Time Magazine has on its cover a controversial photo of a model breast feeding her 3-year old son. I’ve known parents who let kids sleep with them until they were 5 years old. But, breast feeding? When is it time […]

In the sixth grade, I was a mischievous handful for my parents and my teachers. My English teacher was Ms. Simpson. One day in the library, we boys decided to learn how to shoot paperclips with rubber bands. One of the boys hit a girl in the neck. All of […]

For many young boys, our fathers are our first heroes; they are our first Superman. We bend our backs, waaaay back, to look up at the mountain of a superman we call Daddy. We run around the house in their size 11 shoes, tripping over our own small feet constantly […]

Right here, right now it is time for me to get in shape for a bathing suit bod. Unfortunately I have gained weight by overeating and drinking during the cold winter. Then tax season keeps me sitting on my rump absorbing calories while looking for deductible expenses and eating doo-dads. […]

When I was young and newly married we could not afford a honeymoon. We waited four years and finally started looking at going to Hawaii. We saw brochures of sexy couples smooching under a crystal clear blue waterfall. We had to go just to find that picture-perfect waterfall. So we […]

Each month, I write about the DNA code of the female species. This month it was about FPR’s (Female Pheromone Release) and its effect on the minds and bodies of us men. It leads to Testosterone Overdose (TO’s) and complete and utter insanity among men. This month we have to […]