Military Dogs Considered “Equipment”?

Posted: March 7, 2012 in Dogs, Military
Tags: , , ,

Today I read a blog post written by author and U.S. Army soldier Kevin Hanrahan that was so inspirational to me (and a bit troubling) that I immediately took action. Kevin Hanrahan is author of Paws on the Ground (pending publication) about U.S. soldiers and the faithful dogs that protect them in Afghanistan. These dogs find Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) and have saved countless lives.

As a proud Guardian member of the ASPCA I have a soft spot for all animals, particularly dogs (I have three of them in my family), and with Kevin Hanrahan’s permission I am sharing a snippet of his story (and a couple of great photos) here at Sharkbait Writes.

Image credit: Kevin Hanrahan, used by permission. Source - Soldier Writer: Balancing the Sword and the Pen

It has come to my attention through Mr. Hanrahan’s recent blog post that these brave and heroic dogs are officially classified as “equipment” by the U.S. Department of Defense.

Hanrahan states the following three startling facts about retired military working dogs:

  1. Retired Military Working Dogs are stranded at their final duty station.
  2. Military Working Dogs receive no medical benefits after retirement.
  3. Military Working Dogs receive no recognition for their faithful service.

I found this unbelievable that military working dogs were treated so rashly after retirement. Many of these dogs have died protecting our soldiers. The first thing I thought about was the contrast between dogs serving in our local police departments and those serving in the military. From what I understand police dogs are considered members of the police force and are treated as officers. Why would federal law classify these heroic dogs as mere pieces of military equipment?

I encourage you to please visit Kevin Hanrahan’s complete story on his blog by clicking on the link below. In it will be a call to action, which I have already taken part of. Let your voice be heard.

Click Here: Support the Bill that Recognizes Military Working Dogs as Members of the Armed Forces!

Thank you for taking the time to read Kevin’s post… this hard-working pooch will thank you! 🙂

Image credit: Kevin Hanrahan, used by permission. Source - Soldier Writer: Balancing the Sword and the Pen

Adventures in Self-Employment: Part 2

Posted: March 6, 2012 in Business, Lifestyle
Tags: , , , , ,

First off… you’ll notice that I changed the title of this post. It went from “Balancing Hats of the Self-Employed” to “Self-Employment & Balancing Many Hats” to “Adventures in Self-Employment” which I find fits this story best overall.

Anyway, in Part 1 of this blog post I wrote about my adventures in self-employment at an early age and my rise and fall as Godfather of an underground candy redistribution enterprise. I went from a kid selling stationary door-to-door in my neighborhood to pushing candy like a crack dealer in high school (and getting shut down by “The Man” in the process) only to find myself flipping burgers in the fast-food industry and eventually getting assimilated into an office drone.

I’ve always wanted to be independently employed, and while I’ve enjoyed most of the traditional jobs that I’ve had, there’s just something about self-employment that has always picked at my soul. The entrepreneurial bug bit me again in 1997 while I was living in Austin, Texas and working as a tour operations assistant at a privately owned international bird-watching tour and travel agency. My best friend called me one day to tell me about an exciting business opportunity that a friend of his introduced him to. He told me that it was a legitimate business that has been around since 1959 and the potential to make big money was staggering. He sounded like an infomercial, but I listened to him give me the basic formula of how this business worked where you owned your own product distribution business with access to a huge catalog of household products, electronics, jewelry, food, etc., etc. It sounded like door-to-door sales to me. I wasn’t interested.

My friend further explained that the cool thing about this business is that if you got enough people in your network, you would earn commissions off the people in your network. The more people in your network, the more passive income you would make. The whole idea was that every independent business owner in the network would buy their basic household products from their own business. If you needed laundry detergent, paper towels, vitamins, batteries, etc., instead of going to the local Wal-Mart, you’d just order direct from “your” company. Plus, there was an extensive catalog of affiliate big name brand partners that you had access to for radios, CD players, telephones, even TVs… all at a discounted rate because you were buying direct, cutting out the middleman. All you had to do was convince your friends and family to start their own product distribution business, buy from themselves and get others to join up under them and so forth. If you had enough people in your network, you eventually wouldn’t have to work because you would be living off of the commissions of your network.

The whole thing sounded interesting, but it also sounded a bit complicated and too good to be true. However, I figured I would give my friend the benefit of the doubt and at least meet with him and his “business sponsors” for a demonstration of the parent company’s products and more details on how exactly this business worked. So, that weekend I drove two hours with no intention of actually agreeing to anything. It was more out of courtesy to my friend than anything. After all, we went to high school together and had been friends for several years.

I have to admit that I was impressed with the product demonstration, which mainly consisted of household cleaners and detergents. After selling me on the core line of products, Mr. and Mrs. Business Sponsor explained the ins and outs of the business network with a nice little drawing of circles and legs linking to other circles with their own legs linking to other circles. My name was in the top circle. Mrs. Business Sponsor asked me if I knew three people that I thought would be interested in starting their own business on a part-time basis and making some extra money. The theory would be that each of them would then get three other people to participate, and those three people would get three people, and so forth. Mr. and Mrs. Business Sponsor then explained how commissions from product sales were distributed. I don’t remember exactly what those percentages were but it all made sense and looked good on paper. The parent company also paid every independent business owner directly, which apparently was a problem back in the day when the business sponsors were responsible for distributing commission checks.

So, with all of this explained, there was only one main question that I had. What was the name of this company? When they told me it was Amway, I was ready to walk out the door. This was the same company that had people selling soap door-to-door, right? Yep, it was the same company. I had heard of Amway before and it didn’t have a great reputation, but the company had been around since 1959, was still going strong, and apparently had gone through a lot of changes including incorporating technological improvements. They now had a website where business owners could process orders, track commissions, etc. After taking a few days to think about it, I signed up and paid my set up fee and also purchased a product start up kit at a discount. This kit also had several samples to use for demonstrations.

After getting an assumed name license for Jireh Distribution and opening a small business checking account, I began my training. My friend and his sponsors helped me get started. I attended business meetings, met some other Amway business owners higher up in our network, and started demonstrating Amway’s core products to my family, friends and coworkers. They particularly loved the detergent and would even reorder from me when they ran out of product. I made a few bucks from commissions, but nowhere near enough to quit my job (kind of sounds like my book royalties 🙂 ). My friend said that I needed to get some people to start their own Amway distribution business and get them to do the same thing before the money started rolling in. My best friend’s, sponsor’s, sponsor’s, sponsor (no I didn’t stutter) had recently quit his high paying job at DuPont because his network was so big that he didn’t have to work a traditional job anymore. That was encouraging I guess, but the three people that I thought would be on board weren’t interested.

I ended up attending an Amway convention in Kansas City that summer with my friend and his sponsors who I quickly became friends with. I think some of the sponsor’s sponsor’s sponsor’s sponsor’s sponsors were there too. We spent the weekend in Kansas City attending seminars and listening to testimonials from notable Amway business owners that had succeed in the business. We heard a lot of rags to riches stories. Each of these “Diamond Level Business Owners” had arrived in their million dollar luxury coaches and had them parked where everyone could easily see them. We arrived in an old minivan.

The convention was a lot of fun and it was even a bit inspirational too. As Christians we enjoyed some of the biblical principles that were incorporated in operating the business, so it almost felt like a retreat at times. We came back home to Texas energized with new strategies to build our businesses and I even managed to convince another friend of mine to start his own business. Awesome! However, he was the only person that I could convince. My other family and friends just started to get annoyed and wouldn’t answer my phone calls and would even avoid me because they thought I was either going to try to sell them something they didn’t want or need or try to convince them to join the business. My friend’s sponsor suggested that I try some cold contacting techniques that we learned. This basically involved approaching total strangers. Seriously? They wanted me to approach total strangers? While I was filling my car with gas one day, I decided what the heck. I approached a total stranger pumping gas on the other side of the gas pump, which resulted in the lady looking at me like I was completely nuts. She nonchalantly took my business card anyway. That was the one and only time I tried selling Amway to a total stranger.

Now some of my friends and family were still buying stuff from me because they liked the products, but I wasn’t very good with the whole multi-level marketing thing. After several months of work my multi-level network commissions totaled about $75 and my direct sales weren’t worth the time and effort either. When family and friends stopped reordering their products from me, I stopped caring and eventually quit the business. I told my best friend that it was nothing personal, and I did enjoy owning an Amway distribution business at first, but I kind of liked having friends outside of the business too. I was getting tired of having to talk about Amway all the time. I could only imagine what my friends and family thought. The one thing I learned very quickly is that the Amway business is a very high pressure sales business which I did not want to have anything to do with anymore. I’m not knocking Amway in general because their system works for the right people and their products are actually pretty good… It just wasn’t for me.

So, after taking off my small business hat, it was time to switch hats again and get back to working as an office drone. The following year while living in Austin, my friend told me about another business opportunity that he had started. This time it was a sure deal and he had already made $2,500 the first month! He said it was an independent business type of deal, and if I was interested he could guarantee me a spot on the team if I wanted it. He had already talked to the franchise business owner. I would have to move back to my hometown though.

After a lot of thought and prayer, I decided to put in my two-week notice at my current job and left the Texas capital city to move back to my hometown in the south Texas crossroads. Three days after I started this “awesome” business venture that my friend convinced me to quit my job in Austin for I realized that I had made a huge mistake… and my job in Austin had already been filled!

So, what was this new business opportunity of doom? Tune in next week for the next installment of “Adventures in Self-Employment” right here at Sharkbait Writes.

Cheers!

Posted: February 29, 2012 in Blogging, Horror

This is the first time I’ve reblogged anything before. After reading my friend Jason McKinney’s post, I just had to share with my readers. I couldn’t stop laughing. Enjoy (at Jason’s expense) :-)!

Jason McKinney's avatarZombie nightmares and werewolf dreams

A good friend suggested I blog about a funny thing that happened to me and she was right.

Those that know me know that my birthday was on the 19th and the only thing on my list was a laptop. As love would have it, my wife okayed me to get one. It’s a great little laptop, a Dell Inspiron 1525, and in the almost three weeks I’ve had it, I’ve grown to love it to death. It’s great! Except for one thing.

See below.

And this is what my wallpaper looks like.

My choices on Craigslist were limited as I had X-amount to spend and most available were over that. I found five that met my needs, emailed the owners and in three days only one returned my query. The choice was obvious so a selection was made. Again, I love it except for that damned cover.

Replacement covers were out of my price range so I decided…

View original post 469 more words

Adventures in Self-Employment: Part 1

Posted: February 23, 2012 in Business, Lifestyle
Tags: , , , , , ,

One of my goals as a working professional had always been to eventually leave the traditional workforce and operate my own business. I did just that in September of last year, and let me tell you as enjoyable as it has been, I’ve worn many hats up until that day that has completely transformed my vision in life. It’s been like an ongoing balancing hat trick while travelling down the different avenues of tradition employment, attempting one self-employment opportunity after another, maintain some sort of social life, finding time to write, trying to nurture myself spiritually, leisure time, paying the bills, and finding a way to balance it all out without going completely insane.

Building a business requires you to wear many hats to produce that all important stream of cash flow to pay the bills and save for the future. It requires a ton of hard work and a lot of trial and error. Working through those challenges has been part of the fun I’ve had working for myself, and I don’t regret my decision to leave my traditional full-time job in the rear view mirror. Living as an entrepreneur is something that has been a part of my DNA ever since I was a kid. However, daydreaming about what it would be like to be my own boss is one thing; making it happen and being successful at it is another. There is a lot of planning, research, and patience that goes with the territory. You also have to consider the fact that being self-employed often means working 12- to 16-hour days without depositing a dime in the bank account. A positive attitude and a strong vision is what makes a difference between keeping the momentum and pushing forward and feeling sorry for yourself and giving up. I’ve learned very quickly that you have to persevere, have faith and take it one day at a time in order to start seeing the fruits of your labor. And before you know it, those 12- to 16-hour penniless days will start to produce that all important revenue stream.

The Birth of an Entrepreneur

I was born to be an entrepreneur. I don’t expect to be the next Bill Gates or Steve Jobs, but I’ve always had that entrepreneurial itch. Just ask anyone I’ve worked with over the years. Ever since I was a kid selling lemonade in front of my home in the suburbs up until my recent career in the newspaper industry, I’ve always wanted to be my own boss. And I have made quite a few attempts in my life, some more promising than others, but they all eventually failed. The important fact is that I have never given up on that professional goal.

My first business venture involved a program developed for kids to learn business skills and personal responsibility. I can’t remember exactly what the name of this program was, but I do remember there was some sort of Captain America type motif in the marketing material. Anyway, my job was to sell stationary door-to-door to my neighbors. It was basically very similar to a school fundraiser, but instead of trying to raise money for a school function, my sales pitch involved the fact that I was learning how to run my own business and trying to sell enough to earn prizes. My “profits” were the prizes offered by this company, just like a fundraiser. I had a lot of fun doing it and sold a lot of overpriced stationary. I did that for about a year before I felt the prizes just weren’t worth the work; I wanted cold hard cash!

Make Me an Offer I Can’t Refuse

When I was a freshman in high school I started a “candy redistribution business” that was very successful while it lasted. My high school in Austin was located on the corner of a busy intersection in the middle of a business district. There was a grocery store across the street, so during my lunch breaks and after school I would go to the grocery store and stock up on multi-packs of Jolly Ranchers, bubble gum, and other candy that was available in bulk. I would then resell my merchandise as individual pieces of candy and made a big profit! Then a “friend” of mine took notice of my growing enterprise and decided to start up a “candy redistribution business” of his own, but he sold his merchandise a nickel less than me, thus stealing my customers. I now had competition that resulted in a nasty little price war, which cut into my profits and my relationship with this so-called friend. My solution? We formed a partnership, brought prices back up, covered more school territory and split the profits… that is until the school authorities found out about our little “illegal” operation. They shut us down and even seized our candy! Damn bureaucrats! So much for playing video games at the arcade across the street after school! That didn’t stop us, though. We just got stealthier in our sales and distribution techniques. That’s right folks! I was a rebellious candy-selling little mobster nerd! I wasn’t going to let “The Man” cut into my video game budget!

I probably would have had a whole underground network of candy-pushing mobsters with a couple of teachers on my payroll (maybe bribes with a chocolate bar or two would do the trick). But alas! At the end of my first semester as a freshman, my parents decided to open up a restaurant in my home town two hours away. Imagine the possibilities if I could have stayed in that school in Austin to continue my underground candy resell business! I could have had a global network by now with the Sharky Bar™ in every supermarket (that’s candy, not booze… although).

The Traditional Employment Bandwagon

Moving to the South Texas Crossroads away from my candy toting mob in Austin was just a bump in the road to small business ownership. It was only a matter of time before I put on another hat in search of the American dream. I was determined to never give up and keep trying until I found something that would keep me out of the status quo. I hadn’t even started my first “real” job yet and already knew that I didn’t want to be a worker drone, but I eventually got on the traditional employment bandwagon and did just what many of you reading probably did… I took a part-time job working at a fast-food restaurant. That lasted six months until money mysteriously disappeared out of my register and I was terminated. I later found out that the owner’s granddaughter and one of the crew leaders was stealing money, but I and a few others were fired for it. That was my first impression of the traditional workplace which took a bit of a toll on my self-esteem. The franchise closed later that year. That put a huge smile on my face. Justice! 🙂

During my junior year in high school I signed up for a business co-op program in high school, landed my first office job as an office clerk (gopher) at a chemical plant and was quickly transformed into an office drone. I worked in various industries and eventually made my way back to Austin to work for a birding tour company and travel agency. It was while living in Austin that the entrepreneurial bug bit me again. My best friend back home encouraged me to check into this awesome small business opportunity that was a surefire way to make good money working for ourselves. After explaining a little bit about how this business worked, he invited me to a meeting with his business sponsor. I did a little bit of research and discovered it was a legitimate business opportunity and I took the bait.

Next stop… Amway!

Versatile Blogger Award: Seven Random Facts About Sharkbait

Posted: February 17, 2012 in Blogging, Social Networking, Writing

That’s right, folks! I have recently been awarded the very prestigious Versatile Blogger Award. Okay, it’s technically one of the blogging community’s answer to the chain letter, but my friend Christina Esdon was so thoughtful enough to pick little ‘ol me! Thanks, Christina!

 So, what is a versatile blogger anyway (pulls out dictionary)? Aha! (Points index finger up) That means I’m adaptable and inconsistent. Okay. Well, I guess that’s a pretty good definition of me. You never know what you’re going to get when you read my blog.

Now that I’ve been given such an esteemed award, I guess it’s only proper to give my “thank you” speech. (Clears throat) I’d like to thank all of my supportive followers for putting up with—I mean—reading and commenting on my blog. I’d like to thank my wonderful family, my fellow bloggers and authors, all of my friends on Twitter…

– 20 minutes later –

… my mailman, my accountant, my bookie, my mechanic, my— (taps on microphone). Hey, is this thing on? Okay, fine. I can take a hint.

As a recipient of this highly exalted award, I am required to fulfill certain duties:

  1. Nominate 15 bellow bloggers for The Versatile Blogger Award.
  2. Display the Versatile Blogger Award (see picture above) with pride.
  3. Thank the blogger who nominated you in the post with a link back to their blog.
  4. Share 7 completely random (and hopefully true) pieces of information about yourself.
  5. Include this set of rules.
  6. Inform each nominated blogger of their nomination by posting a comment on each of their blogs, tweeting them, or sending smoke signals. Whatever floats your pirate boat.

My list of nominees can be found at the bottom of this post, and who can miss seeing that beautiful badge of pride at the top of this post? I will continue to proudly display this award on my site.

Cradles “Versatile Blogger Award” in arms and sings a song to it.

Ahem… um. Sorry about that! I just got lost in the moment there. Anyway, you’re probably wondering when I’m going to stop flapping my lips and get on with the seven random facts, because that’s why you started reading this post in the first place right?

Leans over and whispers in imaginary agent’s ear, “Nosey bunch aren’t they?”

Seven Random Facts about “Sharkbait”:

1. I drool a little bit when I see an exotic sports car or muscle car. I’ve always been an exotic sports car and muscle car enthusiast ever since I was a little kid playing with Hot Wheels cars. There’s just something about the roar of a muscle car’s V-8 engine and the scream of the V-12 engine of an exotic sports car (a.k.a. super car) that gets my heart throbbing. It has always been my dream to own a Ferrari, Lamborghini or a classic muscle car, particularly a Corvette Stingray. One of my dreams came true during the Summer of 2009. On my way to work every day I would drive past a black Corvette Stingray parked in front of a body shop. The Corvette had a “For Sale” sign on it tempting me every day for weeks. Finally, one day after work in May 2009, I decided to stop and take a look at the car. The next day I test drove it and the rest is history. The car fit me like a glove! Well, it turns out this dream of mine turned into a nightmare! But, I’ll save that for another post!

2. I collect dragons and used to sell them. While I don’t drool over dragon collectibles like I do sports cars, as a fan of the fantasy genre dragons have always been a part of my life. I have a fairly large collection of dragon figures, many of which I added when my mother and I went into business together selling stuff at the local trade show. It only lasted a couple of years, but it was fun while it lasted. The best thing about having access to a warehouse full of dragons imported from China (like everything else) was being able to purchase items for my own collection at ridiculously low prices. My favorite (pictured here) is one of a knight battling a dragon that is protecting its treasure. The battle occurs on top of a castle. Concealed within the castle is a complete chess set. The knight and dragon are actually attached to a removable lid that reveals the chessboard underneath.  

3. I used to play Dungeons & Dragons with my brother when I was a kid. That’s right, I’m a D&D nerd! I haven’t played for years, but it was one reason my brother and I got along so well (on the most part) when we were kids. My brother taught me how to play D&D when I was around eight years old. He and his friends would play all day and all night going on fascinating adventures simply by using paper, drawing maps, and rolling dice. As corny as it may sound to those who don’t understand the game, it was such a great way to use my imagination. Think World of Warcraft without the computer screen, mouse and keyboard. You actually have to use your imagination when playing the game. And no, we didn’t sacrifice animals and worship the devil when we played either.

4. Speaking of animals, I have had a number of unusual pets. I grew up in Austin, and the first house my parents bought was on the outskirts of the Texas capital city. This neighborhood was still under development, and we had a huge back yard that led into an “enchanted forest” that had a mysterious cave in it. Plus, the forest that surrounded the neighborhood was home to lots of creatures for my brother and I to catch and bring home. My mother absolutely loved the critters we brought home too! Can you hear the sarcasm in my voice? They ranged from snakes, lizards, spiders, insects, you name it. We didn’t care if they were poisonous either! My dad eventually bought us a boa constrictor, which remained in the family for about 10 years. Her name was Rosie, ate the Easter Bunny’s offspring for lunch (T.M.I.?), and was scared of thunderstorms. There are a few entertaining stories that go along with this new addition to the family which I’ll eventually write about in another post.

5. For someone who is fascinated with sharks, I am deathly afraid of swimming in the ocean. And before you ask, my nickname “Sharkbait” actually has nothing to do with that. Some folks think my nickname comes from getting bitten by a shark. Nope! It’s very simple. You can thank Steven Spielberg for my fear of the ocean waters. That’s right, as irrational as it may sound, the famous Carcharodon carcharias (Great White Shark) from the 1975 blockbuster hit is the reason you won’t find me swimming in the ocean anytime soon. Ironically, though, I’ve always wanted to get in a cage and lowered into a tank infested with sharks. Go figure!

6. I am addicted to video games. Okay, maybe addicted is a bit too strong of a word to describe my joy of video games. I grew up in the 80’s where video arcades were very popular, but after getting my first home video game system (you guessed it… it was Pong!), I was hooked! I have a decent collection of video games dating back to the late 70’s all the way to today’s first-person shooters and role playing games. I also own an old Intellivision (Mattel’s answer to the Atari 2600) home video game system, which still works and I continue to play to this day. That’s me in the photo playing Bump ‘N Jump on my Intellivision (I still have that game and still play it). Video games can be a distraction that is sometimes hard to overcome when trying to write a novel. However, playing my NASCAR games actually inspired some scenes in my book Pursuit of a Dream (Book 1 of Victory Lane: The Chronicles). So, my addiction actually paid off there.

7. I’ve had an awkward (but funny) moment with a former President of the United States. In 2008 President Clinton was in town campaigning for his wife Hillary Rodham Clinton. I went to go listen to the President speak, but the auditorium (shown in background of photo) was at full capacity. There were still hundreds of people outside wanting to hear the President speak, so President Clinton suggested that the rally be taken outside. He spoke from the back of someone’s pickup truck. It’s not every day you have a former President visit your town (at least where I live), so it was kind of cool that the President made this last-minute change.  Shortly after I took this picture of President Clinton, I shook his hand, and as I was releasing my grip a young lady asked if she could take a photo with him. The President acknowledged that it was okay and kept a firm grip on my hand even as I was pulling away. I just stood there patiently waiting for the President to let go. President Clinton didn’t release my hand until after the picture was taken. So, needless to say that was kind of awkward, but it was kind of cool shaking hands with a President of the United States, even though he held my hand hostage for a few moments. 🙂

Okay, so there you have it. Those are seven bites of information that probably resulted in many of you wondering why the heck you are following a nut like me in the first place. Now for the hard part…finding 15 other bloggers that haven’t already been nominated for the Versatile Blogger Award and hopefully participate just for the fun of it.

After much scrupulous research (and numerous distractions), in no particular order I have my list of nominees for the 2012 Versatile Blogger Award:

Jesse James Freeman – Billy Purgatory: I am the Devil Bird
Shelli Johnson – Small as a Mustard Seed
Karen DeLabar – Writing on the Rocks
Thea Atkinson – Gonzolink: Because I Write What I Want
Virginia Lee – Dagon’s Blood
Sara Furlong-Burr – Starving Novelist
Tess Hardwick – Riversong
Dannie C. Hill – A Writer’s Life in Thailand
Sheilagh Lee – Fear Not the Darkness
Cara Michaels – I am Definitely Literate
Michael R. Hicks – Writes So You Can Have Fun Reading
Carolyn Arnold – A Writer’s Journey
Al Boudreau – In Memory of Greed
Eden Baylee – Fall into Winter and “campaign chairperson” for #IndiesUnite4Joshua
Jeff Bennington – The Writing Bomb

Update: Honorable mention…

Thaddeus Howze – A Matter of Scale. You are officially on a Versatile Blogger list bud! Cheers! 🙂

Okay, some of the above mentioned nominees have already been nominated, but that should be an even greater honor for them, right?

Thanks again to Christina Esdon for nominating me for the Versatile Blogger Award! To my readers (well, for those who managed to keep reading this far), be sure to check out the above listed blogs.

Cheers!

Pursuit of a Dream Is Free Through Feb. 11

Posted: February 9, 2012 in Fiction, Publishing, Writing
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,


Who doesn’t like getting stuff for free?

This week I’m having a special free giveaway to promote my first book Victory Lane: The Chronicles – Pursuit of a Dream. The e-book version is currently available exclusively for the Kindle as part of my trial run with Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing Select program, which allows Amazon Prime members to borrow one eBook per month through the lending program. Amazon also allows up to five free promo days per 90-day period, and since the end of my 90-day KDP Select period is coming up, I decided to take advantage of it. So after figuring out how to make my book available for free, I launched my promo campaign, which began on Tuesday.

Your feedback is appreciated.

So, why am I giving my book away for free? What’s the catch? The only catch is that by offering my book for free to my readers I’m asking that you simply return the favor by giving me some feedback on what you liked and maybe disliked about Pursuit of a Dream. I’m looking for honest feedback to help me grow as an author. Getting honest feedback will help me gauge what my readers like and dislike about the book. This will help me improve as an author and produce quality content in the future by continuing to write in a style that you like and make adjustments on certain aspects of writing that you may not like. This can only result in a more enjoyable experience in future books.

After reading Pursuit of a Dream, if you would like to leave feedback you can do so in a couple of ways: 1) You can write a review on my book’s page on Amazon, or 2) You can post your feedback on my book’s page on SharkbaitWrites.com. Reviews on blogs are nice, too. 🙂 Also, be sure to “Like” my book on Amazon.

Campaign results in Top 5 spot in Sports Fiction category

So far, after some promoting on Twitter and Goodreads, over 135 people have downloaded Pursuit of a Dream, which I’m very grateful for. During this promotion, my book has reached as high as the No. 3 spot in Top 100 Free e-books in the Sports Fiction category on Amazon. Granted, there aren’t that many sports fiction books listed for free right now, but it still puts a smile on my face to see my book there. My last free promotion was through Smashwords, which only generated about 10 downloads, so you can imaging how pleasantly surprised I was to see the great response this promotion has had.

What if you don’t have a Kindle?

If you don’t have a Kindle but would still like to read my book,  you can also read my book on a number of Kindle applications available for PC/Mac, iPhone, iPad, and any device that has the Android operating system. I’ll include it in the list of links at the bottom of this post.

For those who have already downloaded my book to their Kindles and Kindle apps, I thank you very much and hope you enjoy reading Victory Lane: The Chronicles – Pursuit of a Dream as much as I enjoyed writing it. I plan on working on Book 2 of Victory Lane: The Chronicles later this year while I continue to work on my first supernatural horror tentatively titled The Devil’s Nightmare.

Below is a list of links where you can take advantage of my free book promotion along with  links to where you can follow me on Twitter, Goodreads, and Google+.

Links:

Download My Book on Amazon for Free
Download a Kindle reading app
Stalk me on Twitter
Hit me up on Goodreads
Join my circle of friends on Google+

Cheers!

Indies Unite to Help a Fellow Author’s Son

Posted: February 2, 2012 in Cancer, Charity, Lifestyle, Social Networking
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A Young Man’s Fight With Cancer

About a week ago my friend and fellow author Eden Baylee sent me an email about a young man who is battling Leukemia. His name is Joshua, son of Maxwell Cynn, author of .45 Caliber Jitterbug, The Collective and CybrGrrl. Joshua is a 21-year-old with three and a half years of a 4.0 GPA complete toward a degree in philosophy. Just recently Joshua was diagnosed with Acute T-cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia. The cancer has spread to every part of his body. Joshua is a fighter, though. In fact, when he was told about the course of chemotherapy, his first question to the oncologist was, “How will I go to class?”

Joshua will not be returning to school, which devastated the young philosophy major. Max, a proud father, states in his blog that Joshua is the most brilliant man that he has ever known. He insists that’s not just the words of a loving father, but his peers and professors agree. Joshua would have been the first member of Max’s family to graduate from college.

The day after Joshua started his chemotherapy a couple of weeks ago, his heart stopped. Thankfully, the doctors, nurses and technicians in the Intensive Care Unit were able to resuscitate him. Joshua’s diagnosis with Leukemia is by no doubt a life changer for him and his family. Even with insurance, the cost of treatment is very expensive. Joshua also has a college loan that needs to be paid, a loan for a college degree that he was worked hard at earning but may never have the opportunity to complete.

To help pay for Joshua’s treatment, Max is putting all the proceeds from his book sales into a fund to pay for Joshua’s treatment. He also has set up a donation link on all of his websites that will go to that fund. Any donations beyond the cost of Joshua’s treatment will go toward paying his student loans. Joshua has asked that anything beyond the cost of his treatment and college loan be donated for Leukemia research.

To read Max’s complete blog post regarding this devastating turn of events click on the link below:

Max’s Blog Post

Indie Authors Unite for Joshua

In an effort to support Joshua and his family, Eden Baylee, author of Fall Into Winter, started an Indie GoGo campaign to help fund the high cost of cancer treatment and to help with Joshua’s student loans.
The goal of this campaign is to raise $10,000 which will pay for some of the medical expenses not covered by insurance. By donating to this campaign, you will help reduce the cost of prolonged cancer treatment. As a thank you for donating, the IndieGoGo campaign is offering some amazing perks for your generosity. Not only will you get your choice of a copy of Maxwell Cynn’s book CybrrGrrl or The Collective, but depending on your donation you will also get your choice of many other books and/or services that have been donated toward this cause.

For full details on how you can join us in helping a young man win his fight against cancer and also help a fellow author, click on the campaign image.

My Commitment to This Campaign

Many of us, if not all of us, have been affected by cancer in one way or another, whether it’s through a family member, friend or battling cancer ourselves. I watched the horrible effects of cancer when my grandmother passed away a couple of years ago and a friend and co-worker’s son has also had to endure the difficult fight against cancer. Cancer research has always been important to me, which is why I try to donate to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Center when I can to help find a cure for cancer. So, naturally when Eden asked me if I wanted to donate anything towards the IndieGoGo campaign she was organizing, I told her I would be more than happy to join the army of indie writers to help support Max’s son Joshua.

I have donated two copies of Pursuit of a Dream and five author spotlight interviews. Furthermore, I have decided to donate 100% of all proceeds from sales of Pursuit of a Dream that are purchased between now and the end of the campaign.

What You Can Do To Help

If you would like to help out there are a number of ways you can do so. You can either purchase one of Maxwell Cynn’s books, The Collective or CybrGrrl or you can visit Joshua’s IndieGoGo campaign site and donate there.

As a thank you for your generous donation at the end of the campaign you will receive special perks from a number of books and services that indie authors have donated (including myself) to help Joshua in this time of need.

For full details on this IndieGoGo campaign, please visit Indies Unite for Joshua. As of this post, we have already raised $1,384 of our $10,000 goal, which is awesome! Thank you for everyone who has already helped out, including those authors who have donated books and services.

(Update: We reached the $10,000 goal on Memorial Day, and as of May 30 we have raised $10,320 for Joshua!)

Thank you for those who have contributed and considering helping Joshua out. God bless you all!

Steve Umstead Scores a New Sci-Fi Fan

Posted: January 30, 2012 in Book Reviews, Fiction, Publishing
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A Review From a Sci-Fi Newbie’s Perspective

Gabriel's RedemptionMy normal reading usually consists of fantasy, horror, and thrillers, but I decided to try out the SciFi genre with Gabriel’s Redemption. After reading the first chapter I immediately grew interested in the story, while a bit confused at first with some of the technology, such as “neuretics” and “Mindseye”. However, as I continued to read further, it all started making sense, which actually made for some interesting reading. I loved the technology presented in Gabriel’s Redemption. Umstead does an excellent job of creating believable technology that isn’t too far-fetched.

There’s a lot of back story in Gabriel’s Redemption, but while some have noted that it was too slow-paced, I’m the type of reader that enjoys some good back story. I think Steve Umstead did a good job of giving me just enough back story without resulting in information overload. If you are the type who expects action from the first page all the way through the end, a little patience goes a long way. Umstead definitely rewards that patience with some great action and a satisfying ending! I finished reading Gabriel’s Redemption with a smile on my face.

My only complaint (which is a very minor one) is that I wish I could have learned a little more about the title character Evan Gabriel, but since this is part of a trilogy, I believe Umstead gave me just enough information to keep me interested. In a way, this is a positive note because I cared enough about Evan Gabriel to want to get to know him more in the story. The last pages of Gabriel’s Redemption leads me to believe I’ll be getting just that in the coming books.

I’m certainly looking forward to continuing this Sci-Fi adventure with Gabriel’s Return and Gabriel’s Revenge. All three books are also now available in one complete edition titled Gabriel’s Journey.

This series is highly recommended for all Sci-Fi fans and those just trying out the genre for the first time. You won’t be disappointed.

Gabriel’s Redemption is available for all major e-reader platforms, and now in print:


About the Author:

Steve Umstead has been the owner of a Caribbean & Mexico travel company for the past ten years, but never forgot his lifelong dream of becoming an author. After a successful stab at National Novel Writing Month, he decided to pursue his dream more vigorously…but hasn’t given up the traveling.

Steve lives in scenic (tongue-in-cheek) New Jersey with his wife, two kids, and several bookshelves full of other authors’ science fiction novels. Gabriel’s Redemption was his debut novel, published in February of 2011; Gabriel’s Return, the second in the trilogy, launched in August; the finale, Gabriel’s Revenge, book 3, hit the virtual shelves in December.

Jumping Out of a Perfectly Good Airplane

Posted: January 26, 2012 in Leisure, Lifestyle

The Bucket List

My friend D.C. McMillen posted a blog about her bucket list the other day. On that list, she included that she wanted to go skydiving. My first reaction was, “Are you nuts?” Of course, I have to admit that I came very close to actually taking part of a skydiving trip with some coworkers back in 2000 when I was working in the Human Resources Department at an inbound customer service call center.

Skydiving Not For Me

One of the escalated help desk operators had the bright idea of getting a bunch of us together to take advantage of a group rate skydiving adventure. At the time we had about 800 employees, so surely he’d be able to sucker—I mean convince—enough of us to go along with him to get the discounted rate. He recruited one of the administrative support staff to help him with this effort. She eventually got around to me and stressed how much fun it would be to go skydiving as a group. We would even get a video of us plummeting to our death…I mean they would capture all of the fun we’re having while skydiving. She stressed that we would get a great rate if we got at least ten people to go (or maybe it was eight; I can’t remember exactly). Now, I’m all for a good adrenaline rush (I’m a huge fan of high-speed roller coasters with loops), but I draw the line when it comes to freefalling from an elevation of thousands of feet.

Needless to say, I didn’t do it, and I was teased for being a chicken by those who decided to go, including the guy who organized the event. The small group of coworkers went on their freefalling adventure the following weekend. Just a mental note: if you believe in the philosophy of “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again” skydiving is probably not for you.

Who’s the Chicken Now?

The following Monday morning, my coworkers that went skydiving that weekend told me all about their exciting trip and how much fun it was. One of them showed me a video of her freefall, and I had to admit it did look like fun. I asked if she had any video of the guy who organized the skydiving trip and she just laughed. Why was she laughing? This guy who acted all macho and told everybody how much of an adrenaline rush skydiving would be didn’t follow through himself. He chickened out! What’s more, is that he chickened out while he was on the plane as everyone else jumped out the plane. Yeah, I gave him hell for that! 🙂

A Perfectly Good Airplane

So, I guess part of the moral of this story is if you are going to plan some high adrenaline pumping adventure with some friends and coworkers, make sure you have the guts to follow through yourself. Otherwise, you WILL NOT be allowed to live that one down. On that note, I promise to never ask you to go skydiving with me, because of this simple fact…I will NEVER jump out of a PERFECTLY GOOD AIRPLANE!

Here’s a video I found on YouTube of people skydiving with an inflatable shark! 🙂

Video credit: joust76 / YouTube.com

I’ve Been Tagged. So Here Goes…

Posted: January 21, 2012 in Lifestyle, New Year, Social Networking


I normally don’t participate in Internet chain games, but when I read that my friend D.C. McMillen tagged me, I figured what the heck. So, without further ado, it’s time to follow through with my commitment and answer these questions. I’ll then randomly choose two friends to tag at the end of the post.

WHAT HAS BEEN THE HAPPIEST EVENT OF 2011?

I had one roller coaster of a year, so I’d have to say that my happiest moment of 2011 was 11:59 p.m. on January 31, 2011. I brought in the new year in the reception hall of a funeral home. No joke. Remember, I used to be an obituaries coordinator and advertising sales rep. One of my old business clients invited me to a New Year’s Eve party. Don’t ask where we chilled the champagne. 🙂

WHAT WAS THE SADDEST?

My grandmother passed away in September, so that was definitely the saddest moment of the year. She was 85 years old, and up until the time of her passing had never been sick enough to require a doctor in her entire life. She also had a lot of pride of never missing one day of work throughout her career.

ONE UNLIKELY THING YOU WENT AHEAD AND DID?

Respond to a “Tag” chain game. Oh, you mean in 2011. I think the most unlikely thing I did in 2011 was quit a job that I enjoyed at a company that I previously saw myself retiring from.

WHO LET YOU DOWN?

I want to say certain individuals that I worked with, but ultimately I’m responsible for my thoughts and feelings, regardless of how I feel I was treated. Forgiveness is very important in my book.

WHAT MADE YOU LAUGH?

I have a pretty good sense of humor and love to laugh, so considering that I spent a lot of time laughing in 2011, it’s hard to narrow it down to just one. Although, I can tell you my Jack Russell Terrier tends to make me laugh quite a bit by the things she does. For example, after she eats she always exerts a little petite belch. It’s so cute. LOL!

WHAT MADE YOU CRY?

After putting a lot of money into replacing the brake system and suspension in my ’81 Corvette, after a few weeks of enjoying the new brakes and suspension I stepped inside the black “Bat Mobile”, turned the key, and…well that’s when the tears began to flow. The car wouldn’t start, and I was out of money. Sigh. That’s what happens when you buy a 30 year-old car. You fix one thing and something else dies. My therapist says that it will all be okay. The withdrawal ticks should go away too.

TELL US ONE THING THAT MADE YOU PROUD OF YOURSELF.

I think my proudest moment was after leaving my career in the newspaper industry. It felt like a free fall at first, but then when I chose to dedicate my time and energy to building my own business and also focus on writing, a sense of pride filled my soul. It’s a good feeling.

TELL US ONE CHALLENGE THAT YOU OVERCAME.

The greatest challenge I overcame was quitting a job after six and a half years of employment and stepping into the unknown. I have a very supportive family and lots of supportive friends that have helped give me the courage to pursue my dream of working for myself, which has also given me much more time and energy to write.

IS THERE ANYTHING YOU’D LIKE TO CHANGE IN YOUR LIFE IN 2012?

If I could just wave a magic wand and make it happen I think the one thing I would change in my life in 2012 would be to have a successful small business and (okay, two things) have a book published that many would enjoy reading. Success doesn’t mean wealth, by the way. Although, since we’re dreaming here…I’d have a successful business that brings in millions of dollars in revenue, I’m living in a 7,000 square foot home, drive a Ferrari F-430 Spyder, and I’m dating Sandra Bullock.

And then I’m slapped back to reality where I’m poor, peddling a Schwinn, and single. 🙂

TAG! YOU’RE IT!

Okay, now that I’ve fulfilled my end of the tagging bargain, it’s time to choose two writerly friends to carry the torch. Drum roll! I’ll reveal my choices after a short commercial break…


Now that you’ve visited Carolyn’s site, bought her book, and came back here to find out who I’ve chosen to tag (drawing names out of hat)…I have selected Karen DeLaBar and Tess Hardwick. Your mission, should you choose to accept it is share your own answers to the questions posted in this blog and then tag two other bloggers (optional, of course).

This message will self-destruct in 5…4…3-

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