Folklorama

Folklorama, the world's largest and longest-running multicultural festival, is on again, like every year, from August 1st to August 14th in Winnipeg. With 45 pavilions they are expecting about 425,000 visitors. We used to go more often, but now we like to get in maybe a couple shows, perhaps three. We, of course, like the shows and also the food. We usually go for supper and then watch the show. Years ago we used to try to get in three shows a night, but that is too much because you have to rush to get from one place to another, since the pavilions are spread across the city. And most of the time you have to stand in line to get in. You can’t really enjoy the pavilions. Now we go to one a night. If the pavilions are close together, we might make it to two of them, but I like to sample the different foods, so one show a night is better.
We wouldn’t mind going to more pavilions, but it costs $6.00 to get into one pavilion. Then if you want to eat something (the food is not cheap for what you get), then it gets expensive. In my opinion, if they wouldn’t charge so much to get in then people may go to more shows and maybe spend more money inside.
They sell passports 12 pavilions for the price of 9, $54.00. That helps a little, but we don’t really want to go to 12 pavilions. We’ve seen most of them and in reality it is pretty much the same every year. There are some new ones once in a while; we like to check them out. The new ones this year are the Sudanese pavilion, the Ethiopian pavilion, and the Dakota Ojibway Tribal Council pavilion. We haven’t made up our mind yet which ones we’ll be going to, we are leaning toward one of the more exotic pavilions. We’ll see.



Click here to get your travel guide.

Icelandic Festival in Gimly, Manitoba

On Sunday we went to the Icelandic Festival in Gimly, a quaint little town on the west coast of Lake Winnipeg, population around 1600. We’ve wanted to go for years and we finally did it.
Everything pretty much happens by the waterfront. We parked close to the Viking village, right on the lake. People are dressed up as Vikings, they have their tents set up the way the Vikings used to live, and they even slept in those tents during the festival. It was quite interesting. I donned a chain mail outfit and changed into a fearsome Viking Warrior with sword and shield for a few minutes. That shirt made from metal rings was damn heavy. It is no easy feat to get out of it again. Lucky I’m still so agile. You have to use the force of gravity to let it slip off your body.
They have tables set up on Centre Street where merchants sell their stuff.
We had lunch at the Country Boy Restaurant right on First Street. 2 Pickerel fillets with fries and a great salad for $10.95. Generous portion and well worth the money.
There were quite a few people at the Festival. The weather was hot. We almost didn’t go because it rained in the morning and the forecast called for rain. Good thing we weren’t intimidated by the weather people. As usual, they were wrong.
In the afternoon we watched a fighting demonstration by the Viking warriors. Pretty awesome. I’m happy I didn’t live in those days. Men going at each other with swords, hammers, knifes, Axes…No thank you. I’d rather write about those days.

Cirque du Soleil

We went to see Cirque du Soleil (Which means 'Circus of the Sun' in English)on Friday. Great show. We loved the acrobats and the music. The theme of the show was ‘Allegria’. The only thing we didn’t like was the fact that there was too much time spent with the clowns. Maybe I’ve lost my sense of humor, I thought they were silly, but I guess kids loved it. Kids always love clowns. Oh to be a kid again with that sense of wonder and when everything is funny! I remember when I was young I loved the movies with Jerry Lewis. I thought he was the funniest guy around. When I took the kids to see a movie with Jerry Lewis years later I thought it was a stupid movie. I didn’t find it funny. Actually neither did my kids. Maybe that type of humor was great for the fifties and sixties and people’s sense of humor has changed. Just look at the music these days. I never listen to the radio anymore except for news and possible a talk show. The music is loud and horrible to me. I cannot understand what the singers are singing. If they don’t scream they mumble the words. I’ve seen the singers on TV when they try to swallow their microphones. Okay, I have a bit of trouble hearing. One of the perks of getting older and, in my case, years of working in a noisy environment. But then have somebody explain to me why I have no problem understanding every single word when I listen to Jim Reeves, Marty Robbins, Anne Murray, Barbara Mandrell, Elvis Presley, Dean Martin, Rita McNeil, Bonnie Guitar, Merle Haggard, Kenny Rogers, Freddy Fender, Willie Nelson, The Carpenters, just to name a few. (I guess I just gave away what kind of music I like.) Besides, those artists had great and distinct voices. You always knew who was singing just by their voice. The artists these days? They all sing (scream…mumble) the same type of music and none of them can actually sing. Their voices are flat or rough. None of them have beautiful singing voices like Bing Crosby for instance. I know that is my opinion, but when I see guys on stage swinging their guitars, jumping around like chickens and screaming on top of their lungs, come on…that can’t be great, even though a million teenagers will disagree with me. By the way, I never really cared much for the Beatles, but I have to admit they did write some great songs like ‘Yesterday’. At least the Beatles were dressed nice in suits and they looked clean, which can’t be said for many of today’s performers. Can’t they afford at least a clean pair of jeans without any holes in them? Okay, I’m old-fashioned…a dinosaur. I still hold the door open for a woman and I shake hands when I meet someone and say “Pleased to meet you.” I don’t say ‘Hey’ and spread my fingers because I’m too lazy to lift my hand. I dress up when I go visiting; even shopping (not a suit, just nice clean pants and a clean shirt, clean shoes) and I don’t wear pants that hang so low that the crotch is between my knees and the crack of my ass shows. I don’t have a ponytail and I don’t wear any earrings either. I leave that up to the women. There is nothing more ridiculous than a fat, old guy, half-bald, with a gray ponytail and an earring. Same goes for a skinny guy. I have news for that person: I doesn’t make you look any younger or more handsome.
Anyway, it is a hot day, 28 C right now. It is 4 pm as I write this. I spent the morning in the garden watering and picking some beans and lettuce. The grass needs cutting but it is too hot. Maybe tomorrow. Of course tomorrow it is supposed to go up to 31 degrees.
I just checked the temperature in Las Vegas. 40 C. I’m glad I am here in Winnipeg, 28 degrees seems cold (Who am I kidding? I’m sitting here in my sunroom sweating.)
When I have time I keep on writing. My current project is another volume in the Xandra series. Actually it will be two books. Book Four and Five. There are just too many ideas in my head for only one book. But that is okay. That’s how it usually goes. I start with just a vague idea but as I keep writing more ideas pop into my head and suddenly there is so much that I can’t stop at around 60,000 or 70,000, sometimes not even at 90,000 words, which are already too many words for an ebook.
Book Four of ‘The Xandra’ tells the story of Rob Cameron, a character who was mentioned briefly in Book One (Daughter of the Dark). He didn’t have an important part in that story, but he is the main character in Book Four. The events are told from his viewpoint. So far I’ve written 41,000 words.
Book Five will take place on the fifth planet of the star system in which The Xandra-World exists. I’ve already written 18,000 words but I got sidetracked when I began to tell Rob Cameron’s tale.
I’m already wondering if there won’t be too much material for only two books. Now that I’ve introduced Rob Cameron and a few other characters there might be enough for three books.
When I started writing about the fifth planet I wanted to tell the story of the original research team and I was limited by the number of researchers on that planet. In Book One I wrote that 10 researchers under a Professor Tennenboum were stationed on Planet Five; five men and five women. I introduced more characters to make it more interesting. I couldn’t very well add more researchers because their number was fixed through Book One, but I created a construction crew and suddenly I had more material to write about.
The space station sent down another team. The story of that team was told in Book One, and I’m not sure yet if they will appear in Book Five. It depends on where the story leads me.
The story of the second team also set the grounds for further books. I mentioned the climate, animals, native inhabitants, and other conditions that exist on the fifth planet. In addition to that, I wrote a short story ‘For the Love of Arilee’, which appeared in the digest ‘Sweet Challenge’. That story took place 300 years in the future of events in Book One. That also set some rules and conditions I must adhere to when writing any future books. Sure, I don’t have to create a world from scratch, but sometimes it is easier to write something totally new than putting a story into an already existing world.
In Rob Cameron’s story I have to make sure I follow the timetable in Book One.
Even Book Two (Mother of Light) and Book Three (Goddess of Life) influence what I am going to write in Book Four and Five (possibly even Six). But I’m having fun and it provides me with a certain challenge. Keeps my brain from going senile and stale.
Well…back to the novel.
I can't believe this is already July 25. I haven't posted anything for over a month. Where is the time going? Somebody please tell me. I wish I could slow down time.

Tapestry of Dreams

My Anthology 'Tapestry of Dreams' is finally available from Fiction Wise after its publication by MS Fiction two years ago. Somehow it fell through the cracks and it never made it to Fiction Wise. The book contains eight of my short stories, including one of my favorites 'Sarah's Gift', a love story but also a Time travel story.
Some of the stories I wrote years ago, like 'Luugus', a Science Fiction story that takes place on a remote planet. Luugus is the name of one of the moons. When Luugus shines dreams become reality. Originally I wrote that story as a radio play. Yes, that's how long ago it was. They used to have radio plays in those days. The year was 1958. That version was written in German. I rewrote it many years later, translated it into English, added some new stuff and put it away again. When I took it out of the drawer and dusted it off, I rewrote it again, added some more stuff and ended up with the version it is now.
Le-itha is another old story. This one I also rewrote and switched the chapters around to make the story flow better. I also added a bit more erotica to bring it up-to-date with what readers like these days.
Right now it is at number 57 in sales with Fiction Wise, but I hope that my fans who buy from Fiction Wise discover 'Tapestry of Dreams' and make it move up in the charts. I haven't checked Fiction Wise for a while, so I don't even know when it was put on that site. It may already have been higher up and already slipped down again. I hope not.
My next new book is scheduled to be published in September. Stars in Chains, Book One, Slave. Book Two 'Liberator' will be out in October. After that I guess I'll have to promote a little more than I've been doing now. All of my books have slipped in sales. That's how it is these days. There are so many books published every day on the net by zillions of publishers. If a book isn't constantly mentioned it falls into oblivion. Sales are all about promotion. Some of the books that sell well are not necessarily better than the ones that don't sell. E publishing is fast moving. Here today, gone tomorrow. There is always a new kid on the block. It is important to stay in the lime light. Anyway, perhaps readers will also check out my other books. They are all still available. You can check them out on my website 'Herbert's World'.

Click on this link for Fiction Wise if you want to check it out.

After the Storm

What a crazy week and weekend. I managed to finish planting and seeding my garden, balancing between the sunshine and the rain. Thursday I seeded my lettuce and carrots while it rained and I'm glad I did, because that was the last comparatively dry day. It looked like rain in the morning but I was determined to finish my garden. I usually pick up a yard of topsoil to fill up flowerbeds and also for my seeding, because when the soil gets clumpy it is difficult to seed. I prepare the beds and then I spread a thin layer of topsoil. That way seeding is fast and the seeds get tamped down nicely. I don't have to worry about air pockets. I'm a firm believer in raised beds and this year it paid off again. We had a terrible downpour and thunderstorm Saturday. The walkways in my garden were filled with water but the beds don't get drowned out.
My tomatoes and peppers survived the downpour (we even had a bit of hail) and the rest we'll have to wait. Hopefully the seeds didn't get washed away.
The tomatoes I raised in the basement are doing fine and are holding their own among the plants I bought. Next year I will seed more varieties and maybe I won't have to buy any plants. I'll save the seeds from the ones I have. It's not that difficult to do that. I found the information on the internet and it worked for my Sugar Snack. Last year I found only one plant by accident. Guess what: This year I saw them again at Home Depot. The plants didn't look much different from mine. Even though they were a bit leggy. Leggy tomato plants are no problem. I just strip the bottom leaves and bury most of the stem under the soil. It will grow roots and make the plant stronger.
That was quite some storm we had. Many streets in Winnipeg were under water and many basements were flooded. Living in the Rural areas is not so bad. Our ditches were full and we had quite a lake in the back yard, but as long as we don't get a power outage we're okay. We need the power for our sump pump. If the power goes then we may be in trouble.
The grass is growing like crazy, especially since I put on the fertilizer a couple of weeks ago. I cut it last week Wednesday because it was too windy to work in the garden and I'm happy I did. When the grass is too long I have to bag it and take it to the dump, but after spreading fertilizer ($150.00 worth) it is a good idea to leave the clippings which contain fertilizer. As soon as it dries up I'll be sitting on my lawn tractor. It's one of those things: If you want it nice you have to work for it. If I want a nice yard I have to put fertilizer on the grass, which means cutting it more often, which means more work, which means less time to write.
I'm working on Book Four of 'The Xandra' but it is slow going. I have to re-read what I wrote last year to get back into the story, but somehow I can't seem to get into it yet and the writing is slow. I'm not at home yet on the fifth planet of that star system and the characters aren't living yet in my head but slowly I'm getting the feel for the story and as soon as it comes alive I will be spending more time with it. Maybe it's just the chapter I'm working on right now, because I have plenty of ideas and something of an outline already written. It's just a matter of time. Too many other things going on right now which are more important.
Maybe my brain needs a bit of a break. I wrote so much last year, and sometimes it is hard to leave the world that occupied you for so long and move to the next one.
One more note: My weather vane became a victim of the high winds. It bent and is just hanging there. Well...back to the drawing board. I hope the wire doesn't break when I straighten it out. I'll have to make it stronger.

The Martin House

Finally...the Martin Birdhouse is up. My new birdhouse is better than the old one and it has a new feature: a weathervane. I didn’t want to spend the 50 bucks it cost to buy one so I built my own out of plywood. I used part of a flower fence for the base and parts from an old light fixture to make it rotate. I cut the letters N S W E out of plywood and then I painted everything black. And the best part...the thing actually works. Now I know where the wind is blowing from.
There are no hinges for the doors on this one. The doors lift in and rest inside a slot at the bottom. I’m quite proud of my new design. It will be easy to clean out the house in the fall.
Getting the house on to the pole was not an easy task. Like everything I built it turned out large and heavy, but with my wife’s help, a rope, and a lot of moaning and groaning we managed to straighten out the pole with the birdhouse on top without it falling onto our heads.
A pair of swallows already checked it out but they left again. Perhaps it is too new for them. But I don’t have to worry about tenants. I didn’t even have the doors in place yet when a nosy sparrow made its first inspection. Now it sits on one of the perches and is calling for its friends to come and move into the new apartments. There are twelve apartments and they are nice and roomy.
I also put up the finch feeder and the humming bird feeders. Yesterday we saw the first North American Finch. The weather is getting warmer and the birds are coming back.
I tilled my garden and I’m ready for the planting and seeding, but that won’t happen until the end of May. The size of my garden is about 850 sqft. Seems large but sometimes it is almost too small for the vegetables I want to grow.
My wife always tells me I’m planting too much, but we manage to eat it all. What we don’t eat we give away. There is nothing better than fresh picked beans and homegrown tomatoes. And we love the peppers. I usually plant about 50 pepper plants. In the fall we make sauce and salsa and freeze it.
I tilled in 33 pounds of Clay buster and 50 kg of dehydrated Alfalfa Pellets, which are actually rabbit food. They are a wonderful organic fertilizer. I’ve been using Alfalfa pellets for years in my garden. In addition I tilled in 8 bags of leaves. Last year, in the fall, I tilled in the same amount of leaves and they have decomposed over the winter. I should have good soil this year.
My tomato plants are coming along nicely in the basement and should have developed plenty of roots when it’s time to set them into the garden.
Here is a picture of my new Martin House:

Time flies

Where has the time gone? It is already May. The weather has been lousy for the last week, but it is supposed to be better. I used the time to build a new Martin’s House. I took the old one down to give it a new paint job, but then I discovered it was rotting away. A new paint job wasn’t going to do the trick. So I decided to build a new one. We haven’t had any Martins breeding in it for years, only Sparrows, but they are more loyal than other birds. They hang around all winter and provide us with much entertainment. I feed them and they eat a lot. They are also quite messy, but what do you expect? They are birds. We have a Canary and are used to it.
The Juncos are gone now for some time. The Pelicans are back. They fly over our house in their daily circle and the other day I heard Cranes calling as they flew overhead.
I’m almost finished with the birdhouse. It took me a week to build it. I used the old birdhouse as a pattern, but when I put it all together the pieces didn’t quite fit so I had to do quite a bit of re-measuring. I stained and painted every piece before I assembled them to make sure the wood doesn’t rot as fast as the old house. I also made it a bit fancier. It weighs a ton and I hope my wife and I can put it back onto the pole.
As soon as it is totally finished I will take a picture and put it on my blog.
We’ve been busy also in the yard. Cleaned all the fallen branches and I managed to burn them yesterday. It was a perfect day for it after the rain we’ve had. So now I can till my garden, put in some fertilizer then wait until the end of May or beginning of June to seed and plant, depending on the weather.
I started some tomato seeds in my basement. They’ve sprouted and are growing nicely. I’ve never done it before, because I usually buy all my plants, but last year I couldn’t find the cherry tomatoes I’ve been planting for years ‘Sugar Snack’. I managed to find one plant in a nursery where I was told they’ve never heard of it (It is one of the strange mysteries I experience once in a while. I am keeping a log of them and maybe I’ll put some on my blog one day). I saved the seeds, hoping I could grow my own plants. I hope they’ll have enough roots so I can transplant them into the garden.
My trilogy ‘Web of Conspiracy’ has been accepted by MSFiction and will by published sometime next year.
I also finished my other novel ‘Epsilon’ and I sent it in under the title ‘Lizard World’. The total word count is close to 180,000 words, too much for one book, so I made it into 3 books.
Book One: Epsilon. Book Two: Epsilon City. Book Three: Lizard’s Tooth.
The trilogy is part of a planned series ‘The Spider Wars’. The Forerunner of Lizard World is ‘Outpost Epsilon’, which described events 15 years earlier.
I also designed covers for Book One and Book Two. I don’t know if they will appear on the published book but I enjoyed making them.
The Lizard in Book Two is actually from a picture of an Iguana I took in Mexico. The rest I did in the Paint program with endless patience.

More signs of Spring

A couple of days ago we had over fifty Robins in our trees. Must be the same flock that passed through last year, only this year they are about two weeks early. The Juncos (a type of Sparrow) are also back. They are busy cleaning up the grass of all the bird-seeds the winter birds have littered onto the ground. We've also seen a few Blackbirds in the feeders. Last night it snowed a little, but today the snow is melting away. Maybe it will stay away now.
Yesterday I went to a Tropical Fish show put on by our local fish club 'The Winnipeg Aquarium Society'. It was quite interesting and it gets me fired up again. I have three tanks set up. One of the aquariums is a 100 gallon tank and is full of Guppies. Nothing else. They breed freely. I also have one 20 gallon tank with 4 African Cichlids. I used to belong to the WAS over 30 years ago, in fact I was the Program Committee Chairman for a couple of years. In those days I was deep into fish. I had over 30 tanks in my basement, but then I sort of lost interest. Too busy working for a living, not much time for hobbies.
Of course, now I spent most of my time writing. I guess we do whatever we feel is most important.
These are pictures of 2 African Cichlids and a Discus that were on display. Seeing beautiful fish like this is enough to wet my appetite again for getting back into the hobby.

Spring is here

Today (March 29) it was 17 degrees Celsius, but a bit windy. I also saw my first Robins. About ten of them sat in our trees in the yard. This is early. Last year I saw my first Robin April 12th. But everything is early this year, even Easter.
I'm still busy with editing my novel. I changed the title again, but I think this will be the final title. 'Web of Conspiracy'. It is the most appropriate one. It describes pretty well the scope of the story. Books One and Two are finished, ready to be sent in. I'm almost done with Book Three. Maybe tomorrow I will finish editing it.

Spring News

Hard to believe that Spring is here already. The snow was already gone but last night we received some snow again. It will probably melt away by the weekend. As fast as the time is moving along, my editing is going slow. I put aside my long novel Epsilon again, because I have to write some more stuff for the third book to make it longer.
Also, I'm still struggling with the titles. I think the hardest part of writing a story is to find the right title for it. When I started writing Epsilon it was only meant to be one book and the title for it was already chosen before I even began writing, but then it turned out to be so long (165,000 + words) so I needed to make it into three book. And that's where the problem began. I think a finally have it though. The series will be called 'The Spider Wars', in case I want to write more books. This trilogy will be Lizard World, Book One - Epsilon; Lizard World, Book Two - Epsilon City; Lizard World, Book Three - Raptor's Tooth. So far, but I may change that again.
I decided to have my Contemporary Thriller 'Tarnished Valor' published as an ebook. It was supposed to be my breakout novel into the print publishing world, but I have to face reality. I tried to find an agent for the last two years. Nobody seems interested. I'm not getting any younger and if I want to see the book published I can't wait years to find an agent and then a publisher. The background of the story is the Iraq war, which is actually over now. The US have pulled out of Iraq and moved into Afghanistan, which means my book is in a way time-sensitive. In my opinion it is good story, a murder mystery and more, and I don't want it to get moldy in a drawer (hypothetically speaking since it is on my computer), so I contacted my publisher MSFiction if they were interested and they are. The story contains little Erotica so I wasn't sure if they wanted to publish it.
Since the book is 180,000 + words I had to make three separate books out of it and it worked out quite well.
I'm finished doing the final edits of Book One and have started Book Two. It is a slow process. Writers who write books on how to write stories always suggest to put a story away once it is finished and not look at for a month or even longer and then read it again.
I have to agree with that. I haven't looked at Tarnished Valor for over a year and I thought it was polished enough for publishing. Well, what a surprise when I started reading it again. I still found spelling mistakes and a few parts that needed more polishing, even changing. That's why it is taking me longer now to edit it again. I pride myself to send in a polished manuscript free of error. It is not as easy as it seems. Our brains are funny that way. We might read a sentence with misspelled words or even missing words. After reading for a longer time our brains will just fill in the missing words and not notice the misspelled ones. You can't put your trust in word processors because they don't always pick up the wrong words.
The trilogy will be (so far) 'Web of Deception', Book One: Death of a Hero. Book Two: Traitors and Patriots. Book Three: Tarnished Valor.
On another note, Orion, the Hunt was on number 6 position in sales for the last 20 days with FictionWise on March 22. Orion. Symbiont of Passion was numer 7 on March 13. So my books are still selling even though I haven't anything new out since last year with Symbiont of Passion. My other books have slipped far down on the scale. Advertising is everything and I haven't done any.
Yesterday I took down our Martin house (There are never any Martins in it, only Sparrows). I wanted to give it a new paint job, but as my wife and I let down the pole it was mounted on, I lost my grip on the pole and it came crashing down. Needless to say, the house got damaged. Then I discovered the wood was rotting away, which means I will probably have to rebuilt the whole thing. More time taken away from my writing, but I love watching the birds outside, so building this birdhouse is priority. It needs to be put up before the birds start breeding.
Today I will be filtering 3 batches of wine so I can bottle them next week. I've made Australian Cabernet/Shiraz, Chilean Merlot, and German Piesporter (white). They are made from Kits. I like them better than the wines you can buy and they are much cheaper. I'll also be making some beer. They've raised the price of beer $1.25 a case of 12 last week. It is getting too expensive. I still don't know why Alcohol is so expensive in Canada. I was in Germany last year and I couldn't believe the reasonable prices there. You can buy a bottle of fairly good wine for three Euros which is about $5.00. The same bottle would cost in Canada about $15.00 with Tax. And that is the problem I believe. Taxes. Anyway, enough griping. I think I'll drink a glass of wine for lunch. Or maybe a bottle of homemade beer. Darn, I can't make up my mind. Ah, what the heck, at these prices I'll have both. (Just kidding). I'll probably have a can of alcohol-free beer or a cup of tea.

Back again

It is March the fourth today and still winter. It's a miserable day outside. Minus 4 Celsius and cloudy. Good day to stay indoors. We got back February 22nd from a holiday in the Mayan Riviera. If anyone is interested I wrote a review on tripadvisor. I do that every time we go on a holiday. Just click on the link.
With our long winter it is always nice to get a break and go south into the sunshine and swim in the ocean. I took a lot of pictures, a few with my book covers in mind. My 2-book novel 'Stars in Chains' is scheduled to be released in September and October of this year. I designed covers for them. I don't know if they'll be used. That is up to my publisher. I don't have a good program that lets me design covers the way I envision them.




I'm still working on the edits of my three-book novel 'Epsilon', which I changed to 'Stars in Chains'. I want to make sure there are as few mistakes as possible when I submit it. Right now I am cleaning up all the inconsistencies. I'm also adding more stuff to the individual books, since originally I wrote the novel as one book, but it turned into over 160,000 words. Much too long for e-publishing. More explanation need to be put into each book for the reader to understand certain scenes. For instance, in the second book I am explaining Epsilon City, but that explanation is missing in book one, since I separated the chapters. The story is told from three different viewpoints, but in the end all of the characters get together, and even during the course of the story some of the characters interact with each other. It made sense in the book as a whole, but not after each character had his own book. But I'm managing to fill in the gaps.
I can't wait to get started again with the continuation of Book Four of The Xandra, no title yet, but I'm not going to rush with 'Epsilon'. I've learned to be patient. It pays off in the end.
My books aren't doing well at FictionWise because I haven't published anything lately. It seems readers forget about you quickly unless you offer them something new once in a while, then all of sudden all my books are beginning to sell again. I don't have any idea how my books are doing on my publisher's site MSFiction, but even there I have nothing new. I'm hoping that my Anthology 'Tapestry of Dreams' will be available on FictionWise soon. Somehow it never made it to that site, but it is available from MSFiction.

Epsilon, the first draft

I made it. I finished my Science Fiction novel 'Epsilon'. The final count so far is approximately 148,450 words. Now begins the editing. Of course, it will have to be published as two volumes. I'm happy with the ending. It leaves room for a sequel, but the story itself is finished. In case there are sequels I'm preparing for it and I am calling the series The Spiderwars. This novel will be 'Epsilon Book One' and 'Epsilon Book Two'. There are already ghosts haunting my brain for a sequel, but they are only nebulous ghosts with no substance so far and they will stay like that for a while until I have finished writing Book Four of The Xandra.

The Mystery of Numbers

No, that is not the title of my new book. It's about mysterious things, in this case numbers.
I walk into the bedroom and the clock on the night table shows 3:33. I wake up at night and look at the clock...3:33. Yesterday when I finished writing on my novel 'Epsilon' for the day and before I closed down I checked the word count. Guess what? 133,333 words. I'm not making this up, it happened.
Before this I used to see 12:12 when I walked into the bedroom. I woke up to 2:22 or 4:44 or 5:55. When I got up in the morning it was 7:11. Not once but many times. Was I supposed to go to the 7-11 store?
What do these numbers mean? I don't know. Strange? You tell me.
To come back to my novel I'm currently writing. Yes, that's right, I'm at 133,333 words right now. Still not finished with it. I probably will have written 150,000 words before I'm done. I can see the end already. It's still a bit foggy but coming into focus. New ideas keep popping up. Who knows I just might have to write a sequel to this one. But before I do that I want to finish Book Four in the Xandra series.
My books haven't been selling too well lately, mainly because I've neglected posting excerpts on the groups and also because I haven't had anything new published, except for 'Orion, Symbiont of Passion'. That's one thing with e-publishing. Things are moving fast, there are new novels and novellas coming out every day and the readers are choosy. My problem is I can't seem to write short books any more. When I began writing 'Epsilon' I never planned to write such a long novel. Now I have to make two books out of it because it is too long for one book. It would be different if it were a novel to be published in print. I haven't done anything with my contemporary novel 'Tainted Valor'. It is 180,000 words long and almost too long for even two volumes. Where to stop the first part and start the second part? The whole novel is connected, just like 'Epsilon'. It would almost be necessary to publish both parts at once. Would readers go for that? I don't know.
I'm still looking for a publisher for 'Tainted Valor', a print publisher that is. I've sent inquiries to four agents but they were not interest. My last inquiry was to John Grisham's agent. I got back a nice letter, wishing me good luck. Perhaps I'm reaching too high. I'll probably end up having it published as an e-book. I was hoping for more. (Sigh).
My book 'King Cobra' which was published by A1AdultEbook isn't doing well. It got a good review but I have a feeling it wasn't erotic enough, even though it had nothing but erotica in it. That was the reason I sent it there in the first place. I've checked out their other books and their best sellers all seem to deal with women being enslaved and used as erotic objects, torture, and other stuff I don't write. The other thing about A1AdultEbooks is the fact that you have to be a member to buy there. I think many readers don't like that. My book doesn't get the exposure I was hoping for on that site. Perhaps I should advertise it more.
I like MSFiction, my main publisher, because they, in addition to selling my books on their site, they also make them available on FictionWise and other sites, which gives my books exposure to more people. And when I have something new published my other books also keep on selling. And if you want the book in print you can buy it through Lulu.
I still don't know when my two volume novel 'Stars in Chains' will be published. Probably not until next year.

Avatar, the movie, and other stuff

We went to see the movie Avatar. Wow, what a movie! It blew me away. I've actually never seen a 3D movie before. Not everyone liked the movie, though. Some reviewers say that the plot is thin and predictable. They don't get it. It wasn't about the plot, it was about the visual display and the visuals were just stunning, to say the least. The aliens were fantastic, beautiful and exotic, and the planet itself with its flora and fauna breathtaking. I know I'm using a lot of superlatives here, but that is the way I feel about the movie. It was a wonderful experience. Anyone who loves Fantasy and Science Fiction should go and see it. Go to enjoy the experience and don't try to tear apart one of the most spectacular movies ever made. Nothing is ever perfect and one can find faults in everything. I never go to a movie or read a book with the thought in the back of my mind that I want to find things that are wrong. I go with the intention to enjoy and I overlook inconsistencies and scientific impossibilities. Some people will tear apart anything and they miss out on a lot of wonderful experiences.
I’m not very critical. Usually I sit back, relax and enjoy, but there are not many movies that I want to see these days. Most of the comedies are stupid and not funny. I’ve never cared for slasher-movies. The action movies are so overdone that only kids believe them, but they are too young to watch them. The stuff on TV isn’t much better.
I was disappointed in the last Star Trek movie. They made Kirk such a bumbling idiot. The scene where Doc is chasing him with the needle was absolutely idiotic. Spock meeting him in the cave on an alien planet...unbelievable, even for me. The sense of wonder wasn’t there.
Even ‘Terminator Salvation’ left me disappointed. It wasn’t bad, but I liked the series much better. Maybe I just missed Arnold. His character made the movie.
We watched ‘The Eraser’ the other day again for lack of anything descent on TV. Still loved it. Sure, it is overdone, but there weren’t any never-ending car-chases, or stupid jokes while the hero is fighting for his life, no super smart women who beat up men and make them look like idiots. The only cute line was the scene where Arnold’s character shoots the alligator and says, “You’re luggage.” I thought that was funny. But that’s just me.
Speaking of TV. So what do I watch? I like ‘2 1/2 men’, The Big Bang Theory (Yes, I like that one. It is silly, I know but I find it funny. Go figure). Modern Family is funny. I also watch Flashpoint, NCIS: Los Angeles, The Mentalist, The Good Wife, Criminal Minds, CSI: NY, Medium (Love that show). We also watch Survivor and The Amazing Race. Once in a while, we watch ‘Numbers’ and ‘Cold Case’.
We used to watch all the CSI shows, Ghostwhisperer, and Heroes but got tired of those. There are only so many hours I want to spend watching TV. In the summer, we hardly watch TV, except for the News. We watch that every day.
I’m waiting for Lost. I hope they bring back the last 3 hours from last year because I missed them.

About Orion, Symbiont of Passion

Hello visitors. Thanks for stopping by. Symbiont of Passion is the second novel about Agent Orion. The first one was 'Orion, the Hunt'. In 'Symbiont of Passion' Orion is sent to Bakker’s Planet to solve the enigma of the 'Mongo', a creature that lives in symbioses with the native population. Orion is more than human. He is a carrier of the 'Ancient Memory' which makes his mind immortal. On Bakker's Planet he meets beautiful Azalee, an artificial construct who has much in common with Orion. His journey takes him deep inside the mountains, away from the snow-covered exterior of the planet, where he takes part in the fertility ritual of the natives and where he experiences the power of the Mongo. After taken prisoner by ruthless slave traders, he escapes and brings the people responsible for almost creating a war between two planets to justice.
Symbiont of Passion is an erotic Science Fiction novel, so be warned.
It is available from MSFiction.
Please, feel free to visit my website Herbert's World to read some excerpts and check out my other books.

Good Morning and Happy New Year

Wow, already five days into the year 2010. Today is my dad's birthday; maybe I should say was my dad's birthday. Were he still alive he would be 108 years old. People do actually get that old. Most of us of course are programmed by nature to die much earlier. The main character in my novel Orion, Symbiont of Passion, is a mortal human, but his mind is immortal. An alien immortal. If you want to find out more read the novel.
When I checked FictionWise today I found that the novel has slipped from the number six position to number nine, but that is still okay.
Even though I've been writing a lot, I won't have anything new published for a while. My two-volume novel 'Stars in Chains' won't be coming out for some time. Too bad about that, because readers tend to forget about you unless something new gets published in certain intervals.
Right now I'm at 117,000 words with Epsilon. There are still so many ideas in my head that I can't seem to finish the novel, but I'll have to end it soon. Could the reason be that I like the world I created so much? Epsilon is an interesting planet, populated by dinosaurs, giant intelligent ant-like and bee-like beings. Alien intelligent spiders and reptilian races challenge the presences of Humans on Epsilon. I wasn't going to have any erotica in that novel, but I've changed my mind. Somehow Erotica managed to sneak in, but I kept it light. Sex, like religion, is part of living. How can you ignore it?

Goodbye to 2009

The first decade of the twenty-first century is coming to an end. I remember when we left the twentieth century. It seems like only yesterday. I know that is an old phrase, but it is so true. These last ten years have gone by like a flash. When I look back I must say I actually managed to achieve a lot when it comes to my writing. I published my first story 'The Anniversary Gift' in 2005 (Sweet Revenge by Midnight Showcase) and my first book 'The Xandra, Daughter of the Dark' in 2006.
To date I've published 7 novels, 5 novellas, 1 short-story-collection (Tapestry of Dreams) and 5 short stories in various digests.
I also sold this year a two-book novel 'Stars in Chains' to MSFiction, publishing date not yet known.
In addition to the published ones I wrote a 180,000 word contemporary novel 'Tarnished Valor'. I'm still looking for a publisher (Print publisher) for that novel. Long novels like that are hard to sell as ebooks, unless I break it into two-volumes, which might eventually happen.
My new novel 'Epsilon' is coming along quite nicely. I managed to write some more since last I posted. I'm at 110,000 words right now. I will have to make two books out of that one as well. By the time I'm finished I will probably pass the 130,000 word mark.
I've proved to myself that I can accomplish a lot if I stick to it and not listen to other people who think it is a waste of time to pursue something that does not produce any money. They don't understand that success is not measured by the amount of money you get for your efforts. Success to me is anything I start and finish. If I can make a few people happy with what I write then I have achieved what I set out to do...share my creative dreams with others.
Some people golf, some play hockey, some people just watch sports played by others, some play soccer, some play football, or ride bicycles. There are others who paint, take pictures with their cameras, play an instrument, read books, etc. I write. It is as simple as that. Writing my stories takes me away from every-day-life into the world of the imagination where, no matter how many problems the heroes encounter, eventually everything always turns out right. Of course, that is up to me. I control what happens. (That's what you think, buddy. He...he...he). Sorry about that; just one of my characters popping in to undermine my wonderful essay.
I hope you all have a great year-end and a successful 2010.
Happy New Year.

Merry Christmas

Well, it's Christmas again. It seems this year just zoomed by. My two-book novel 'Stars in Chains' was accepted by MSFicion, so far I don't know when it will be published. I checked Fictionwise last night and discovered that 'Orion, Symbiont of Passion' has reached number 6 position in sales. I didn't even know it was already available at Fictionwise. It is exciting in a way, but the sales amount to so little money it is hardly worth it. So anyone wanting to buy it, please go to the MSFiction site. At least from those sales I profit a little. Fortunately, I don't depend on that income, otherwise I'd be standing in the 'Soupkitchen-line'.
On some other news. I passed another milestone. I'm at 102,000 words with my novel Epsilon. I hope to finish it early in the new year.
I'm looking forward to working again on my other novel, as yet no title, except for 'Book Four in the Xandra series'. As I mentioned before, so far I've written about 20,000 words; just the beginning.
I hope everyone reading this has a Merry Christmas and spends it with family and people they love. I know it is a Christian celebration, but the message it carries applies to everyone. Peace on Earth and Good Will to Man. Wouldn't it be nice if instead of all the hate that exists on our planet we could all get along, no matter what we believe, no matter the name of the god we pray to?
Unfortunately, Christmas has been so commercialized that its real meaning seems to have been forgotten. Perhaps we can all take a few moments tonight and tomorrow to reflect on what Christmas is really about. To reach out and embrace each other, to see the other person as just another human being and forget about religion, skin color, honor, patriotism, duty, greed, and all those other things that create the problems we are facing every day.
Merry Christmas.

Hi

Welcome visitors from Love Romance Cafe. I promised you a free copy of 'Orion, the Hunt' just for visiting my blog. Just send me an email hegro@shaw.ca and mention your visit. Please, feel free to check out my books on my Website 'Herbert's World'. Perhaps you'll see something you like. Should you, by chance, already have 'Orion, the Hunt', then ask me for a free download of one of my other books. If you are a visitor who just stumbled across my blog, the offer stands also for you.
Hope to hear from you.

Right now I am busy writing my Science Fiction novel 'Epsilon'. I just crossed the 87,000 word barrier (not a special barrier. I just call it that for lack of another word). There is still much more to write until I'm finished. I don't know yet how I will end the novel, it is still a secret, even for me. That's the fun of writing. I never really know where the story will take me. I have ideas in my head, but they are still vague. All I know is that in the end everything will come together. It always does.
With Christmas shopping and other things to do, I don't write as much as I would like to, so the story is moving slowly ahead, but that also gives me time to reflect on it and fix some inconsistencies that sometimes happen.

Hello and welcome

Thank you for visiting. Remember me next Christmas was one of my first published stories. It is still among my favorites. It takes place in the future of the trilogy 'The Xandra'. I love the world I created there and decided to write a fourth book in the series. This time I'm following the colonists and scientists who became stranded on the fifth planet in the system. So far I've written about 20,000 words, but I put the novel aside to finish 'Epsilon'. I'm at 80,000 words right now, but there is still more to write before I'm finished.
Don't forget to visit my website Herbert's World and check out all of my other books, including the Xandra trilogy.