Three Pet Peeves

And we're back with the 30 day blogging challenge that I'm doing once per week.

Today's topic: three pet peeves.

Only three?

Okay, here goes:

Number one: slow drivers. The driver who is doing five miles an hour (or more) under the speed limit for no apparent reason. Sometimes in the left lane. Sometimes passing a truck so no one can get around them. Just the other day I was in a hurry and I got caught behind a pickup truck doing 25 mph in a 35 mph zone. To top it off, he made the green light but I didn't. If he'd been going at least the speed limit, we both could have made it.

Number two: Blatantly bad grammar in writing. You see this all over Facebook: "to" instead of "too"; "your" (or "ur") instead of "you're"; confusing "their," "there," and "they're." Typos I can understand (I do it all the time) but just not apparently caring is what drives me nuts.

Number three: Confusing "bring" and "take." This one drives me so nuts I did a blog post on it. Basically, if you're going you're taking, if you're coming, you're bringing. As I grew up in Idaho, no one got this wrong. I moved to Washington State and everybody gets it wrong.

So what are your pet peeves?

The Speculative Fiction Cantina with Co-writers Jack Keely and Briar Lee Mitchell

Today on the Speculative Fiction Cantina we are pleased to welcome co-writers Jack Keely and Briar Lee Mitchell.

Jack Keely

Jack Keely

Some claim that Jack Keely is the son of a celebrated spiritualist. Others insist that he grew up in the wagons of a traveling carnival. In any case, he has always been an aficionado of the arcane, the peculiar, and the eccentric. He spent four years exploring the haunts of H.P. Lovecraft in the historic city of Providence while obtaining his degree in illustration from Rhode Island School of Dsign. After an additional two years of study at Cranbrook Academy of Art, Keely began a long and checkered career illustrating dozens of books, including the best-selling "Grossology" series by Sylvia Branzei. He recently completed the cover art and interior illustrations for The Whistlebrass Horror, a tale he co-authored with Briar Lee Mitchell. The duo is currently at work on a sequel, The Whistlebrass Stormwatcher. Jack Keely is said to spend most of his time behind the chained gates of the Keely family manse. Although the moldering old house appears to be abandoned, a light can often be seen at night in the library windows. On such evenings, if their hearing is supernaturally acute, passersby are likely to hear the rhythmic thwack of a typewriter or the scratch of a pen across a sheet of drawing paper.

Briar Lee Mitchell

Briar Lee Mitchell

“Write what you know” is the classic advice given to authors. Briar Lee Mitchell definitely seems to adhere to that maxim. The polar setting for Briar’s "Walking on Mars" serial echoes her experiences in the world’s coldest climate as a guest at McMurdo Base in Antarctica. Warming up on Andros Island in the Bahamas helped her set the scene for Dark Lights. She and her dive partners were offered $100 rewards from the Navy base there should any of them find a live torpedo out on the reefs. The Big Ass Shark author recently donned a wet suit to climb into a shark cage in the northern Pacific. Then Briar and her stalwart search and rescue dog, Thor, patrolled the Georgia woods and succeeded in helping the police locate and recover a missing person. The experience will no doubt fuel her future fiction. When not engaging in her edgier pastimes, Briar creates digital paintings for a diverse list of clients ranging from Warner Bros. to the U.S. Air Force. Her work has been featured in films, video games, and exhibited at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. She also spends a lot of time floating in her Florida pool watching clouds drift by and imagining mayhem.

Their Books:

Whistlebrass Horror

Apparitions

Whistlebrass Storm Watcher (coming October)

Their Links:

Jack's Website
Briar's Website
Briar's Facebook

From Today's Show: Europa May Have Enough Energy to Support Life.

Listen to today's show at 6:00 PM ET / 3:00 PM PT, or in archive here.

Red Hot Summer Author Giveaway

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My Life in Seven Years

Back the the 30-day blogging challenge that I'm doing in about 30 weeks.

Today's topic is "My Life in Seven Years."

This is interesting. Seven years from now I'll be 62 years old (the year will be be 2023) getting close to my 63rd birthday.

I don't see how much will have changed by then unless my writing career really takes off and people start buying my books in droves. I'll still be living in the same town, most likely, I'll still be doing freelance work, probably, and I might even still be living in the same house. I like my life as it is right now, and I don't want it to change, much. I wish I would lose some weight and be more healthy. But that may not happen. Of course, if I don't lose some weight and get healthy, I may no live seven more years.

But will I have a flying car in 2023? Or just one that drives itself (how boring)? Will my children be helping me with my contact lens computer/phone/television ("No, dad, blink once to select, twice to open the options menu!"). It will be interesting to see where technology will be in 2023. If the robots haven't all killed us by then.

Spring into Books Giveaway Almost Over

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The Speculative Fiction Cantina with Cris Pasqueralle and Chana Keefer

Today on the Speculative Fiction Cantina, we are please to welcome Cris Pasqueralle and Chana Keefer.

Cris Pasqueralle

Cris Pasqueralle

Author Cris Pasqueralle is a retired NYC police officer who has always dreamed of publishing a novel. His love of fantasy fiction was inspired by his daughters and led to the fulfillment of his dream with The Destiny Trilogy. Cris lives on Long Island NY with his wife and two daughters.

Cris's Books:

Destiny Revealed 

Paths of Destiny

Cris's Links:

Facebook
Twitter

Chana Keefer

Chana Keefer

Chana Keefer is wife of one, mother of four, and best selling author of four. Though raised in Texas, she and her family reside in southern California with several reptiles and a spoiled Siberian Husky who reminds her how to savor every moment. Chana earned a degree in Broadcast Journalism but decided she really wasn’t that fond of the news. Also, many moons ago, she worked as a model, actress & voice talent. Chana brakes for old barns, hot chocolate chip cookies, classic movies and mind-boggling storm clouds. Her dream vacation is to explore New Zealand on horseback with her family… with Peter Jackson as their personal guide.

Chana's Books:

The Fall (The Rapha Chronicles: Book 1)

Servant of the King: Memoir of Modern Apostle Kemper Crabb

One Night with a Rock Star

Chana's Links:

Website
Blog
Facebook
Twitter

From Today's Show: Lasers for Interstellar Travel Could Have Other Uses.

Listen to today's show at 6:00 PM ET / 3:00 PM PT, or in archive here.

My Commute

Back to the 30-day blogging challenge (that I'm doing once a week). This week's topic is "Your commute to and from work." Or in my case, from and to work. I'll explain.

As a writer, I work out of my home. So in a way, my commute to work is walk down the stairs into my office and start working (after checking out Facebook, of course).

But it's more than that. To prevent cabin fever and to actually interact with humans, I first make a commute from work to Starbucks, then from Starbucks back to work. I do this nearly every morning (yes, I've added up what it costs and it's frightening).

To the Starbucks I go to (which is not the closest one; I go to the one by the Interstate because you see more interesting people) it is just over five miles. I have on the way there two stop signs. One stop sign is at a busy road and sometimes you wait a while to have an opening to cross it. The other stop sign is just getting out of my neighborhood.

Getting back there's two stop signs, also. The first as getting onto the road that is the longest part of the trip, and the other is crossing that busy street again.

But, here's the thing: I'm never in traffic (unless there's a back up behind a slow-moving tractor). Crossing that busy street is the most stressful part of the trip. Sometimes you have to deal with local drivers (I've lived in this town for going on 17 years and I still call them "local drivers") who take miles and miles to accelerate to the speed limit, if they ever bother to do so.

So my commute is pretty easy. I'm a lucky guy.