Freebies & Tumblin' Dice

Just an FYI for anyone who may be interested, or knows someone who may be, my novel, Mindjacker, and all my short stories are available for free download today thru tomorrow (midnight) on Amazon. Just click on any of the covers on the sides of this blog to get to them. If you do read any, I hope you find them at least entertaining, and of course I sincerely thank you!

Downloaded (to my nook) TUMBLIN DICE by one of my favorite authors, John Mcfetridge. Been wanting to get to this novel for a while now, so I'm psyched to be reading it. I 'm 5 chapters in, and really digging it. Rock-n-Roll, lots of musical references, cool characters, great delivery and dialogue, bad guys, and crimes. Doesn't get much better than that, for me at least. 

You can check it out at B&N, or Amazon HERE and get more info on John over at his site HERE

The Obituarist by Paul Waters

I have been a follower and fan of Paul Waters' BLACKWATERTOWN blog for some time now. It is very entertaining, he's a great host, and has some really interesting and loyal followers. The long, drawn out sickness and eventual death of my dad, had kept me out of the blogging loop for a good stretch, and I was very surprised and excited when I read yesterday that Paul had a new story available in eBook format. I downloaded it to my nook ($2.75) yesterday and finished last night, and glad I did. You can find out all the details via Paul's blog post HERE. Big-time congrats to Paul and best wishes his way.

I posted the below review on B&N, Amazon US & UK

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Entertaining Read! July 26, 2012

By Sean P. Reardon

The plot description piqued my interest (very original) and the sample pages sold me on this story. Really glad I read this and it rated very high on the entertainment meter. It was a quick read and I finished it in one day. Once I got into it, I had to keep reading to get to the end (always a good thing for me) This story is very well written and Paul Waters' s style of delivering this particular piece reminded me of Donald Westlake, and also Colin Bateman. Both are authors I really enjoy reading. Along with the good story, what really did it for me was the banter and relationship of the the two main characters, the personal thoughts and asides of the main character, and the humor (of which there is plenty. It was also a nice bonus to get an insiders view of the newspaper / media business, and to learn a bit more of WW2 from an English perspective. I highly recommend this story and look forward to future works from the author.

Sandra Seamans @ Do Some Damage

If I had to pick a blog that helps writers more than any other blog, I would have to go with Sandra Seamans'. It is a tremendous site and is updated all the time with valuable info of all kinds. A big thank you for this Sandra.  You should surely check out an interview with her that is featured over at the Do Some Damage site to find out more about Sandra, her blog, writing, and especially her new story collection COLD RIFFS, which is pictured above. Best of luck, Sandra, you are on of the good ones!

You can find the interview HERE

The Dead Girl & The Broken Nose

Followers of this blog may, or may not, know I am into the sport of lacrosse, big-time. I coach, play, and follow it with a passion. It is a fast moving, exciting, contact sport. It kind of mixes all the best aspects of hockey, soccer, basketball, and even hurling.  Well, just when I thought that 2012 could not be any worse, my wife and I were at Harvard University last Sunday watching my son play in a tournament, and she gets hit in the face with a lacrosse ball , which was moving at least 70 MPH.

It was like she got hit by someone with a sniper rifle. For better, or worse, she had on sunglasses, which probably saved her eye-socket / eyeball, but her nose was not so lucky. She has / had a great nose! I had to give her my tank-top to stop the huge amount of blood pouring out, and it ended up almost 100 % saturated by the time we reached the first-aid tent. Luckily, she fractured the bone between her eyebrows ( yes, it was right between the eyes) and not the cartilage part of the nose. For the first couple days, she looked like Jessica Alba after Casey Affleck gave her "the beatdown" in The Killer Inside Me. I'm happy to report she is doing much better 8 days later, and the break was so clean, she might not need surgery... Fingers crossed. She's a terrific person, and I only wish it was me who got hit, but even more thankful it was not my son who got it.


In other news, I watched a really good movie last night called THE DEAD GIRL.

It's one of those stories I really dig. 5 different sub-stories that all relate to each other as it moves along. It has a great cast with some really excellent performances, most of all, I think is by the late Brittany Murphy. If you can catch it on cable or Netflix, it's def worth a look.

Savages by Don Winslow Kicks Ass!

Read "Savages" by Don Winslow on my nook and finished it in 3 days. It's one of those novels, for me at least, that I could not put down. I really, really dug this story, but what made it for me is Winslow's style. The narration technique is 100% my favorite and I don't know what you call it, but I liken it to Bret Easton Elllis, Chuck Palahniuk, and even John McFetridge. Savages is one of those cool, hip, smooth as silk type of stories that pulls you in and takes you along for a great ride. I want to see the movie, but just from the trailers I have seen ( after I read the novel ) I get the feeling that they changed a lot of stuff and it has potential to be a big let down. But, if my wife wants in, I'll probably part with the cash.  Def going to read more of Don Winslow's novels in the future. Savages was well worth the $12.00 (ouch!) I paid to download from B&N and provided more than enough entertainment and escapism for that price. Highly recommended!

Jarrett Rush @ AToN... & Savages

Another quality story is up at the A Twist of Noir site. This one is titled LIKE CANDY, and it's written by a new to me author ( which is always cool) named Jarrett Rush.  I liked this story right from the start and even more as I read on. Check it out HERE

After a visit to Jarrett's blog, I also found out he has was offering a free download (via Smashwords) of his 8K word short story REUNION, and I downloaded to my nook. His blog can be found HERE

From the moment I saw the trailer of Oliver Stone's latest movie SAVAGES, I knew it was the kind of movie I would dig. Then, I find out it was based on a novel by some cat named Don Winslow. Well, I'm ashamed to say I had not heard of Mr. Winslow, but I did some internet recon and I think he is most def my kind of author. I just downloaded the sample of Savages to my nook ( 11.99 seems kind of steep, but I figure I'm going to buy if I dig it) I was hooked after the first chapter which consisted of:

"Fuck You"

Sold me right then, and I only needed to read a couple paragraphs of Chapter 2 to know I am going to really, really dig this novel. The writing style is right up my alley. Now, I have to read it fast, so I can see the movie while it is in theaters.

Col Bury's at A Twist of Noir

Good friend and fine writer, Col Bury, has a new story on display over at the A TWIST OF NOIR site. It's titled, LOSING TRACK, and it is a very entertaining, one of his best, in my humble opinion.

Check it out HERE