Oddities, Profundities, Profanities and Dad Stuff

Author: Justin Matthews (Page 35 of 76)

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Becca J. Campbell and churning out fiction.

Hey folks.  If you have seen some of my reviews on here, they seem to have a lean towards my friend Becca J Campbell. Click on her name to go to her blog.

Kindle 3 moved all major operates to the botto...

It is no secret that I am a fan of her fiction.  She writes very interesting characters who don’t kill everyone like most of my characters seem to do.  She has some stories that push the limits of reality like Foreign Identity.  (That link goes to my review).  Her current story is no different, it pushes reality in a cool almost-the-future-but-not-quite, human-interest, love-story, adventure way.

I wrote a review of her last short story Not the Norm (again click for the link), and said that it needed more to the story and more to the world.

Well, now there is.  Unmasked Alloy is the next installment is what I am perceiving as a serial fiction series.  Much in the “feel” of old time radio, this story gives you a sense of a self contained episode in the greater overall story.

Now, before I go any further, I have to pacify the governmental types, I received an advanced copy of this book to review, at no charge.  I am sure that she would prefer a positive review (it is) but it will be honest at any rate.

So, Unmasked Alloy is a story set in the world created in Not the Norm.  It is months later, and leaves me wondering not only what is going to happen moving forward, but what has happened to this point.

There are new characters who can play with fire and another who really could be part cyborg, think Terminator 2.  This story, while not long, does not want for lack of action.  It hits right off and keeps going until the end when you want to say, “What?!?! That’s it??!?!”  Yes, I was not excited to get to the “Tweet that you finished this book” page on my kindle.

So, in conclusion, do yourself a favor and get in on this series.  Not the Norm is at Amazon and Goodreads, with those links, and the new one, Unmasked Alloy, is on Amazon and Goodreads with those links.

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The Footsteps of My Mother…How I Follow.

Growing up I always wanted to be like my Dad. He was strong, smart, and full of a barely restrained rage that got him through the tough times. I learned many things working around the house with him and I just didn’t get other things that he really hoped were ingrown in HIS son. Alas, in several ways I am a miserable failure in his eyes.

Not the least of which has been my decisions since I started to have kids. I have tried to finish college several times now and I am very close. It just seems like things keep getting in the way and I am left being a stay at home dad. Don’t get me wrong, I love my kids and this is a fantastic opportunity to bond with them when they are young. Think how it must (and does) irk Mr. Ex-Navy SEAL, Type A+ personality Dad.

The reasons behind the stay at home part are many and they may end up their own posts. This latest round was mostly to take care of my youngest daughter. She was diagnosed with End Stage Renal Disease or Kidney Failure just before her first birthday. They told us right then she would need extensive dialysis and eventually a kidney transplant. So, through this that and the other, (I think I will write a book about this. Ebook or real? Any thoughts?) I stayed home and shuttled her to dialysis 4 times per week for 2 years. She finally got a kidney transplant last May and is now only going to the doctor once a month so I am freed up.

That is one of the reasons I am blogging now. I am working on my writing skills, I do have a couple of ideas for books that I would like to actually sell. Maybe I can parlay my blog into the cash to do school and finish up those pesky 18 credits.

Now back to my main point, I am a stay at home dad. I am following in my mother’s footsteps and not entirely my father’s. And I don’t care. I am proud to be able to take care of the house and the kids as well as the yard and the car. I can change a water pump or a diaper with equal ease, if not equal time. I can rebuild a wall or teach my first grader how to read. I can do dishes or divide fractions with my 9 year old. I can field dress a deer or wash laundry.

I am proud to follow my mother’s example and do all of these things. I am proud to be a writer and will be more proud when I am a successful one. I know what it takes to keep the house running now, and my hat’s off to those mom’s and dad’s who stay home and do it.

Now, go do something useful!
-Justin

Procrastination

I have been putting off this post for a while now. No really. I am not just saying that. I wrote the title and a few notes on October 18, 2010. I am glad that all of my posts are not this late.

It seems I am behind all over the place, especially taking last week off.  I am trying to catch up now, but the old maxim is true- it is easier to keep up than catch up.  Even the post I have for tomorrow started back at the end of September.  Which brings me to 2 questions.  1- Do you procrastinate?  Every one does to some extent.  2- Has procrastination caused you to miss out on something that is potentially good?

Back in March of this year when I was gung ho and ready to do anything I got an email from Mike Cliffe-Jones (check out his blog here) about becoming and affiliate of his book The Beginners Guide to Blogging.  I joined his “training” course and bought the book.  I then got several emails to help sell the thing.

Well it took me a few days to read the book but I never quite got around to putting out emails or promoting the sale anywhere.  Including here on my blog.  Now, the book is free from his site and I have learned a valuable lesson about internet business and getting things out to market as soon as possible.

I most definitely learned a good lesson, wait too long and the opportunity is gone.  I hate to make resolutions because they are so rarely followed. So I am making part of my business plan for 2011 “Do it now!  Opportunity won’t wait for you to get off your lazy butt!”  I am putting that in big red letters on the wall right above my desk.

Here is a challenge to you all, don’t procrastinate this year.  See what you can do if you get things done as they need to be.

I would love to read your comments below and please take the time to share on the social networking sites! Thanks in advance, you readers are why I keep doing this!

-Justin

What I want to be when I grow up.

So I am now almost 36 years old and I finally know what I want to be when I grow up.

It is right here, right now.  I want to be a writer, and a blogger.  This is the platform that I needed quite a while ago. This is the reality of what I have wanted to do since Kindergarten.   I have evolved from a typewriter, through my TRS-80, a wonderful 386 machine with Windows 3.1 and on to today.

I have finally found what I want to do.  I want to write and connect with people all over the world.  I want to have people buy and read the things that I have created.  I want to stay home and raise my family and provide everything they need, online and from my computer.

This is short, but this is what I want to do.  I am a blogger.  I am a writer.  Soon, I will be grown up.

Please Comment!  What do you want to be when you grow up?

-Justin

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