Tonight on the blog: Fat Duck and the Hay Bale, my physical labor weekend, Greeks may be losing their Country, Zachary Pill a boy wizard and a dragon, my upcoming appearances, David Espinoza - review of From My Cold Young Fingers, and more…
Fat Duck and the Hay Bale: Those of you that are live near me know that I have three really great kids…who aren’t the greatest at following up with their chores (we’ll talk about that another timeJ). Because of this, my lawn is usually one of the last in the neighborhood to get spruced up in the spring (we have weeping willows that shed branches like my dog Patsy sheds fur, for instance). But we have finally gotten most everything squared away EXCEPT for the bale of hay that I left on the front lawn beside the pond this winter. Of course, we’ve already discussed how Fatty dislikes the water, so I was hoping that he and his like-minded friends would use the bale as a wind break from the terrible gales that sweep off from our seven-acre back field. The bale was a semi-successful and used about one fifth of the time this winter. Of course, it remained all spring and was just starting to grow a little moss on the edges when I finally gave up on child help and “thought about” moving it myself. As you all know, Fat Duck and I have had an ongoing “disagreement” of where his feathery butt belongs during the day. Well, this past week it almost seems he has “seen the light” and decided to stay OFF the porch during the day. Unfortunately, his replacement perch is on top of the hay bale. So, my wife and I have now accepted this new two-part lawn ornament. Fat Duck and the Hay Bale stay as is.
My weekend: This has been a physical labor weekend. Yesterday was cool in the 60s but today was beautiful in the 80s here in Maine. This spring we’ve had flooding like I’ve never seen in my fifteen years living in this home. The seasonal pond on the side of our well flooded and water actually rose up to touch the fieldstone edges about 3/4 of the way around. It is a dug well, and having unfiltered surface water seeping into drinking water is never a good thing. So, yesterday and today, my fourteen-year-old son and I shoveled more than half a truckload of sand into the area surrounding the well. The other half will, hopefully, be finished tomorrow. Later in the week, I’ll loam and spread grass seed, solving the problem until a REALLY BIG flood comes along, which I hope will be never.
The Perfect World (Tim’s take on recent news): It is incredibly dangerous for any entertainer (writer, actor, artist or performer) of any type to share opinions that can be construed as either too liberal or too conservative. For a fiction writer, it would be the equivalent of cutting out half of your audience. So, in the interest of assuring everyone that I’m not likely to offend either side, I’ll say I am a registered Republican but I often vote for liberals. In short, I think I’m often a moderate middle-of-the-roader like many Americans. I believe that politicians should be held accountable for what they say, and if someone from either side lies, we need to accept it (not make excuses) and hold them accountable. All that said, I will try never to get overly political.
My news commentary tonight (very short after the above ramble) is about the GREEKS who may no longer be able to control their own country’s economy. Yes, you heard me right. It looks like Greece is on the verge of total financial collapse again after the European Union already bailed them out once or twice. Now, if they are going to get further financial help, it looks like the EU might actually take over their tax collection and public spending policies until the mess is cleaned up. This is a sad time for economies all over the world, including ours in the US. The global meltdown was real and remains with us, contrary to what we’ve been hearing in the news. Most of the major economies in the world are still on their knees and struggling to find a way to recover. How long will it be before China or some of our other debtor nations decide they “need” their money back. What will the US do then? File bankruptcy? I’m not optimistic that a solution is at hand, but I absolutely disagree with every Republican and Democratic answer I’ve heard so far. We need to fix our own financial mess, and we need to do it without forcing retirees to eat dog food (I purchased a home from the estate of such a man) and without forcing toddlers to forgo medical treatments because their parents still owe medical bills to the local hospital (it happened to someone in my extended family.) I don’t have the solution, but it’s not going to look pretty on a bumper sticker and it sure as heck won’t be easy to vote for. Let’s keep our eyes on Greece…and, please, wish its people well.
Zachary Pill, The Dragon at Station End: Carrie Rourke at Focus House has asked me to spend a few minutes once or twice a week and talk about a past, current or upcoming project. Please email me about any subjects that interest you (past characters, questions about why I did or didn’t include or exclude scenes, whatever) and I’ll get to them in an upcoming blog.
Tonight, I thought I’d talk a little about the first book in my Zachary Pill series. It has literally swallowed up thousands of my hours over the last five years, but I think you will all appreciate the end result. Zachary Pill is a boy that wakes up one day to find that his entire family isn’t from Earth and isn’t human. He also learns that his father is a wizard. That knowledge comes just before bats attack them at their Boston apartment. Suddenly, Zachary is left alone to wonder why first his mother and now his father have disappeared and why creatures from another world want him dead! I’d like to tell you that things get easier for Zachary after that, but all I can say is that he has a tough road ahead. Werewolves, ghosts, orcs and trolls are all in his future, as is the discovery that at any moment he could forever be turned into a dragon!
Tim’s upcoming appearances: For those of you that have been waiting for me to break loose with some information about my “rough” childhood, please check out either of the two blog interviews upcoming (or maybe already up) at both of the following:
David Espinoza, thank you for your kind review…
««««« (5 out of 5 stars) May 27, 2011 by
This review is from: From My Cold Young Fingers - Advance Reading Copy (Paperback)
When I read the description I was interested right away. Then after reading comments on amazon I knew I had to buy this book. From My Cold Young Fingers is a very interesting story that I have recommended to numerous friends. When I started reading this book I felt the need to keep reading, onto the next page, and that next page did not let you down nor did it have you saying" this is a good place to stop" I really had an addiction to this book and the interesting plot Tim Greaton put in for this book and his characters. I could picture this a soon to be Hollywood motion pictures.
For those of you that want to know more about David and his great movie/web company, please email him at: David Espinoza david.movieediting@live.com
In the next blog (Wednesday June 1st): My movie review of “I am Number Four,” a really sad story from my past, an update on “Ripped From My Cold Young Fingers,” and more…
Thanks for hanging with me :-)
Please have a great beginning to your week!
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