A year of projects and a new movie, part 2...

Thanks for stopping by again :-)

So we've already talked about three new paperback releases: The Santa Shop (Samaritans Conspiracy book 1), Red Gloves (Samaritans Conspiracy, book 2), and The Santa Shop, Anniversary Edition (expanded by 40%, including the extended ending written for Hallmark Studios.

 

Under-Heaven final print version is also in process and will be coming to paperback within the next 6 to 8 weeks.

 

The Zachary Pill fantasy series is also working its way toward print release: Of Monsters and Magic

 

With Dragon Fear

 

and Against the Troll will all be available in paperback within the next couple of months.

Zachary Pill, The Dragon at Station End (the entire trilogy) will be released in hardback right around the same time. 

 

What about brand new releases? The final two episodes to Her Yearning for Blood will be available soon.

 

 

 

 

Also, book 4 in the Zachary Pill series is also working its way toward a Spring/Summer release.

Finally, I mentioned a soon-to-film movie. Unfortunately, I am not able to release details except to say it is a found footage project from a production company based out of Boston and New York. A well-known Hollywood actor/renown singer is funding the project. I came in as a story/script advisor and ultimately came to rewrite large swaths of the script. My son has been asked to join the filming crew, and we're all very excited to see it move toward completion and ultimate release.
 

You've got a lot of great days ahead of you. Make them count!

It's an overcast Monday here in Southern Maine. It seems that we've had a lot more rainy days this year, which of course doesn't upset the ducks too much.

Speaking of ducks, one of our domestic breeds disappeared for a few days two weeks ago, and when she came back it was with five little ducklings trailing behind. Over the next week, one disappeared.

Then last week, two more went missing...on the same day we saw two blue herons coming and going from our pond. A little quick internet research confirmed that ducklings were on the menu.

That day, I caught the remaining two babies and put them in a bird cage that used to house a parakeet. Each morning they sit near the water so their mother can see them.

Each night we bring them back on the porch or in the house. We hope they'll be large enough to let free in another couple of weeks.

Have a great Monday, everyone!

Her Yearning for Blood, TRIPLE-LENGTH, Episode Four available at Amazon & Barnes & Noble!

Available on both Amazon and Barnes and Noble! This 80+-page episode begins to illustrate how the vampire virus is responsible for not just zombies but also the feared werewolf species.

Evan and Kayla fight for their lives, while Thomas prepares the dangerous wolf-satiate ceremony to save his beloved queen, Belinda.

Here's a small excerpt:

Screams emanated from one of the brick corridors leading to the right, the larder. Apparently, the cooks were playing with the food again.

Having no patience for minutiae, he ignored the shrieks of terror and descended another stairway that ended at a concrete hallway—Death Row as some members of the clan had come to call the burning chambers. An apt term.

He marched past several guards and stopped in front of Belinda’s steel door. The guard readily moved aside.

“How is she?”

“A lot of screaming, sir, but there are still words.”

Thomas pounded. “Belinda, can we talk?”

“Fuck you!” came her shrill voice. “Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you!”

“I’ll take that as a ‘yes.’” He opened the door and likened the odor to condensed sewer air pumped through a hose.

At least a dozen corpses were piled against one wall. Blood and gore covered the entire room. Limbs from at least three humans littered the furniture, floor and bed.

One head had been stripped and now, stark white, smiled at him from where she held it in her lap. She sat in a lotus position on the floor with her back against the farther concrete wall.

The skin on her face was black and cracked, and her arms had open wounds that were well beyond healing. At that moment, Thomas would gladly have cut his own arteries to feed and heal her if it would have helped.

I don’t know how you have managed to remain conscious, my love, but thank heaven you have!

Belinda placed the skull on the floor beside a clump of intestines and got to her feet. Her movements still retained a certain grace.

She stretched as if waking from a deep slumber. The movement caused skin to crack and slough off both her arms.

She wiped the bloody flakes away like dried residue from a mud bath. Her once crystal blue eyes were now speckled with red.

She stared at him.

Thomas bowed. “Your Highness, it is good to see you.”

“Much as it would be pleasant to look upon road kill,” she snapped.

“You will always be perfection to me,” he said with utter sincerity.

It gratified him to see a fleeting smile cross her cracked lips. 

“I don’t know how much longer I can fight, Thomas.”

“You have been so brave, Your Highness. Just a little—”

“Bullshit, bullshit, bullshit!” she screamed. The cords of her neck rose as she struggled with emotions that he could not begin to imagine. “It’s time to light the fires. Burn me before I lose every shred of dignity!”

“Never!” Thomas stated.

She snarled and crouched, ready to leap at him. Though her chains were still intact, he almost didn’t care.

He had pledged his never-ending loyalty and love to this woman, and her valiant fight against the burning made him realize all the more why it was imperative that she live. She would be a magnificent queen when the vampires wrested power away from the humans.

“We found the rogues.”

A dozen expressions of anger crossed her face before she was able to regain control.

“I’m beyond fantasies, Thomas. My time has arrived.”

“Your Highness, we found several, maybe an entire clan of rogues in Groacherville, Maine. Carlson is with them now. I have dispatched other teams to join him.”

“Carlson needed others?” Her lips curled with revulsion.

“I believe he has and continues to perform his duties admirably.” He paused. Thomas hated to give her reason to doubt, but Belinda deserved the whole truth. “But the rogues have captured him. The other two members of his team were killed.”

Her eyes widened.

“They possess the secret?” she asked with an awed hiss.

“It appears so, Your Highness, which would explain how they defeated our soldiers. Longevity equals strength.”

A charred tongue swept across blackened lips. “So it’s true. All these years…”

“I am attempting to negotiate with the rogues now, but if that fails, by morning I plan to attack.”

Belinda raked a hand through snarls of dark hair. She pulled out a clump and flung it to the floor.

A piece of attached bloody scalp made a splattering sound. Thomas averted his gaze.

“My mind is like a mine field,” Belinda hissed. “No matter what I think about, focus on, it wants to explode.”

“I hope to have the rogues in custody by morning.”

“I’ll be a raging, mindless monster by morning!” Her shrill voice could have shattered glass. “Willpower is no longer enough!”

Thomas’s eyes shot up to stare into her bloodshot orbs. “You’re not suggesting…”

“Bring me a satiate, Thomas. And you better do it fast!”

“It’s forbidden. If the Council—”

“Whether you believe I am needed for our clan’s salvation or not, I am hours from the burning.”

“If it got out, the Council would destroy everyone in Boston. The whole clan—”

“Our clan, Thomas! Had you and I not held this group together after the uprising, there would be nothing. The Council owes me—owes us—this much!”

With that, Thomas’ beloved grabbed the chains that kept her at a secure distance from him and screamed. Her arms tightened with muscle she had acquired over the hundreds of hours they had sparred…and played…together.

The cords on her filthy, bruised neck sprang out like wings. Impossibly, the chains snapped and danger crouched like a demon between them.

He was only three steps from the door, but she could easily have reached him before—

“My mind,” she said, “all that I am, hangs from the tiniest scrap of flesh.” She grimaced. “Rage boils like an angry river in my mind, my love. I could kill you. I. Need. To. Kill. You.”

She dropped to a seated position and hugged her knees.

“But you have always been my salvation, Thomas, the only thing that has made this brutal life worth living. Leave now—and bring the wolf-satiate or not. Either way, know that—I. Love. You.”

“Your Highness.”

Her body shook violently.

“Belinda—”

“Go, fool,” she said through gritted teeth. “Go now!”

Thomas blinked away a tear and bolted for the exit. In movements too fast for a human to follow, he surged through and slammed the steel door behind him.

A body struck the other side. Belinda’s wails of fury accompanied sounds of pounding fists and claws scoring across steel.

Thomas turned to the startled light-haired vampire. Average height, maybe in his late-thirties, the guard had a boyish look to him.

“You have been with the clan for one month, two?” Thomas asked.

“I was turned seventy-three days ago, sir.”

“Good!” Thomas grabbed his chin and squeezed it painfully. He stared into dark amber eyes and pushed against the new vampire’s will. “You are going to do something for me and will say nothing to anyone in or outside of this clan. Do you understand?”

The guard’s eyes had glazed over. He nodded.

“You will drive to the forest…”

Thanks for reading the excerpt. Angelica and I are very proud of this series. You can get the first three episodes (it says only Episode One, but you'll find bonus Episodes Two and Three inside) right here at Amazon:

 

 

And Episode Four--over 80 pages--is just 99 cents!

 

See it Here!

 

Her Yearning for Blood, Triple-length (80-page) Episode Four coming within the week...

Hi, Everyone:

 

As promised, Episode Four of "Her Yearning for Blood" is a whopping 80+ pages, and it hits bookstores within the next week. The first episode is FREE everywhere!

 

 

In Episode Four, not only is jealousy and rage flowing like beer in the little town of Groacherville, Maine, so too is danger. While Evan finds and battles the Dillon berserker, Kayla has her hands full with Carlson from Boston. In the midst of his life and death battle with the zombie, Evan encounters the vampire equivalent of kryptonite. Meanwhile, Paul falls prey to something even worse.

  

 

Against her will, Kayla is forced to call the Boston clan of vampires and learns they are willing to dissect every "rogue" vampire in Maine if that's what it takes to uncover Evan's secret to longevity. As tensions in Boston continue to boil, the brutal vampire leader Thomas invokes a forbidden wolf ritual in a last ditch effort to save Belinda, his queen, from the final flames of death.

 

Episodes Two and Three are just $.99 each, or for $1.75 you can get all three!

 

Interview with talented Marla Blowers, author of the Young and Naive series....

Today, in the forum, I’m pleased to have my friend Marla Blowers.  She’s here to talk about her writing journey, the Young and Naïve series, and a little about her upcoming project.   Tim Greaton: It’s great to finally have you here in the forum, Marla. As writers, we’re used to putting characters in difficult circumstances, but you lived through a period that not even our characters have endured. Could you tell us about it? Marla Blowers: I was raised in the Midwest, Nebraska to be exact. I wasn’t an only child but I came along so late that I am actually closer in age to my nieces and nephews. I will share one very memorable time in my childhood, and one that I am sure most children have not experienced. Thank God! At a very young age I ran onto a highway and was hit by a truck. I spent a month in traction and then wore a body cast. I basically had to learn to walk all over again. I can remember the ride to the hospital and throwing up in the emergency room. I celebrated a birthday in the hospital, one young boy messed with the levers on my bed and my legs dropped down. My sister also snuck a puppy into the hospital as a gift, of course it didn’t get to stay there but I had it to look forward to when I got home.   Tim Greaton: Since you can’t write one hundred percent of the time, what hobbies keep you busy in your off hours?  Marla Blowers: I love to sew! Not mending but actually designing a garment or item. I have sewn since I was in Junior High. I still even have some of those patterns I used way back when and they were only .65 now you can pay $18.00 or more for a pattern. You name it I have probably sewn it. I also have an embroidery machine and if I could I would embroider on anything. Unfortunately, or should I say fortunately for some relatives and friends, not everything will fit into the hoop. I have read you can embroider on toilet paper but that just seems like a waste. (She grins) Tim Greaton: I often get emails asking me when the next book in one or another series is coming out. Apparently, I need to take some lessons from you. It seems like you went from one book to three in now time. Do you have other works stashed away in a closet waiting for release? Marla Blowers: Funny you should ask. I just pulled 3 manuscripts out of cobwebs just a little over two years ago. I was saddened every time I came across them and a few times almost tossed them out. But finally I decided I needed to do this for me. So in March of 2011, I began working on them, and in August of 2011 my first book was published. Eight months later the 3rd one was on the market. So to answer your question currently nothing but clothes are in my closet.  Tim Greaton: I love how imaginative writers can be, but you’ve taken it to a whole new level. Could you share how your creativity occasionally spills over into the non-writing world?  Marla Blowers: For a few years, whenever my husband or I were supposed to pick up someone at the airport (including each other) we always dressed up in silly costumes. For example, he picked me up at the airport and he was dressed up like a devil with a pitchfork holding a sign that read ‘Whenever you go, everything goes to hell’. And once I dressed up almost like a hooker to pick him up. It really wasn’t that bad but for me it felt pretty daring. The funniest one however was a time before 9-11 when you could go all the way to the gate to meet the arrivals. My husband and I were there to pick up my sister and her husband and we cross dressed. I was dressed like a real nerd in yellow pants and glasses with tape holding them together. My husband wore a bright orange mumu, bright red lipstick, swinging a purse on one elbow. He also had a 5 o’clock shadow. The best part was watching people’s reaction to us. They truly didn’t know if we were for real or not. They kind of looked at us out of the corner of their eyes. My sister however was appalled and tried to pretend she didn’t know us. She didn’t even want to walk out to the car with us.   Tim Greaton: (Takes a minute to stop laughing.) I’m glad I wasn’t in the middle of a drink, Marla. Is there a book or a story that impacted your life?   Be sure to see the rest of Marla's fascinating interview at the Tim Greaton Forum

Flapping jaws: how to write sizzling dialog….

As writers, we are constantly seeking the perfect ingredients for that magic stew called the popular novel. What I mean, of course, is that we want the most possible readers from our genre or category to be so engaged, so smitten that they are willing to leave positive reviews, tell their friends and—dare I say it—buy the next book. As always, I encourage writers to follow their own instincts and their own voices, but maybe the following tips will give us all something to think about.

One of the easiest ways to captivate readers is to use authentic dialog in a gripping, tension-building way. I know, it’s easy to say something like that but doing it…well, that’s another thing entirely.

Or is it?

A few years ago, J.A. Konrath, bestselling author of the Jack Daniels series and other books, said that liberal use of white space was key to writing popular fiction. I read that line several times before I realized just how liberating and probably true that statement was. As applied to dialog, that might mean our characters should stop making long declarations of anything. No more tedious explanations, no more long history lessons or discussion about backstory, no more forcing our characters to bore our readers.

Instead, our characters should speak in short bursts like most of us do in real life.

 

Another great dialog teacher was the late Jack Bickham, professor  at the H.H. Herbert School of Journalism at the University of Oklahoma.  Jack wrote a number of how-to books for writers as well as 75 published mostly successful novels. He likened effective dialog to a tennis match. Each character gets her or his turn to hit the ball. Wait for the other character to hit the ball back, and so on. How long does a tennis ball stay in any player’s court? Not long, obviously.

Effective dialog is fast and hard, just like a good tennis match.

It’s also important to note that dialog should serve your characters and your plot ONLY. We have all been on that phone call that just wouldn’t end, where maybe both parties were passionate about one subject or another. You speak about it for several important minutes…but then it’s over. You’ve talked it out yet the conversation drags on and on. You look at your watch and are ultimately relieved when the last lame words are spoken.

You can’t let the lame part of conversations enter your fiction. Always start and end your conversations on the passion. Cut the rest…or better yet, never write it.

What about all those everyday moments, some of you are saying? People really do talk about pets, kids, hairstyles…blah, blah, blah. Books aren’t written about the boring parts of life. We live enough of those. A novel is supposed to show us snippets of the good stuff, the important stuff. If your readers want boring, they will find a family member and invite them over for coffee and fruitcake. In the meantime, you must keep them entertained.  

So what we have learned so far is that dialog should be limited to short bursts of important stuff, and should be quick like a tennis match. Now we’re experts, right?

Not quite.

 

Dialog should also reflect character and mood. Elmore Leonard has been known to visit police stations so that he can effectively mimic crime dialog. Todd Finley, Associate Professor of English at East Carolina University, advises his students to go out into the world and eavesdrop at coffee shops, restaurants, airports. The goal is to learn how to reflect the nature of a place, a situation and a character.

What that means is that a professor in your story will likely use very few contractions. A contractor will likely use a lot of contractions as well as clipped sentences using words of an Anglo-Saxon, guttural origin. While a young woman in love would more likely dip into the lyrical romantic phrases of a Greek/Latin origin.

Let’s say we ran into our contractor out on the sidewalk. He might say, “S'been great seeing you. Have to get back.”

Our professor might say, “It is so pleasant to see you, Samantha. I hope your work with social services is turning out to be everything you hoped it would be.”

And we see our young woman in love a few minutes later: “Oh, it’s so wonderful running into you. Did I tell you how amazing Stephen's and my last date was? The stars were out, and we strolled through Longfellow Greens. The flowers smelled like perfume and the warm breeze carried the sound of crickets from nearby fields….”

 

But remember, our conversations don’t just reflect people, they reflect situations. Let’s say we saw the same people during a low-level emergency:

“Steer clear of the north plaza.” Our worker points. “Just in case.”

While our young lady might say, “I have to contact Stephen. I’d be so worried if he traveled to this side of town. He’s in the city a lot for his mortgage work.”

And our professor: “I have often thought using those cranes was too dangerous for the inner city. More engineering studies should have been done before the deconstruction.”    

Okay, so we can see that personalities and situations will determine engaging dialog. But what types of dialog idiosyncrasies DON’T you want to introduce into conversations? Leave out the meaningless habitual words and phrases. There is no need for “Like, such as,” or “I mean” to be dotting your dialog landscape. Let’s try a couple of the above conversations with these lame additions:

“Like, yeah,” the contractor said. “Good talkin' and such. I, like, have to get back.”

And our young woman: “Oh, it’s so, like, wonderful running into you, Samantha. I mean, I’ve been looking forward to telling you, like, how great Stephen’s and my last date was….”

You get the point. It’s true that people really do talk like this. We, however, do not want to muddle our dialog with these clunkers. Of course, you can always flavor a character’s dialog with a few of these fillers, but do it sparingly and make sure not to bore your readers with too much. How much is too much? If you have to ask, you’ve probably already gone overboard.

 

Finally, let’s talk about content.

How do you know when dialog is important enough to show on the page and when it isn’t? This is an easy question when you start attuning your mind to the big picture. Let’s say you’re writing a novel about a missing dog. By all means, dialog pertaining to dogs makes sense.  But let’s say you’re writing a murder mystery and pets have nothing to do with the crime or the people involved. Would you then do this?

“Stacy, this is Detective Burns. He needs to ask you some questions about the bloody blouse you found in the bathroom yesterday.”

“Sure, Sam. I’m happy to help. By the way, how is your cat Lacey. She was so cute at the picnic last month. I just wanted to hug…”

Obviously, conversations sometimes do go this way, but not in good fiction. How about this one?

“Tabby, it’s your mom. I tried stopping at your house yesterday, and that sweet golden retriever that lives beside you came up to say ‘hi.’ He wiggled his tail and…”

Now this one isn’t quite so easy. It seems to fit. People say those kinds of things. You might argue that it gives depth to the character or the scene. But as a general rule, you would still want to nix that line. It would be better like this:

“Tabby, it’s your mom. I tried stopping at your house—”

“What’re you doing at my house? I don’t want to see you!”

So, now you can see the difference. Sharp dialog is easy to spot. It always goes straight to the heart of your story.

 

And that brings us to our final point of the day. Good dialog is not just about short, snappy comments whipping back and forth between well-imagined characters. Good dialog is more about choosing important moments. And important moments are almost always about conflict. Did you see how much quicker we were drawn into the mother-daughter conversation when we realized they were fighting? That’s always true.  

If you said to a literary agent that you wanted to write dialog between two people enjoying dandelions on a Colorado field, I’m guessing she would roll her eyes and make an excuse to move on. If, however, you mentioned you wanted to write a scene about two brothers fighting over a dead uncle, I’m guessing she will be pulling out her notebook and making arrangements for a meeting to learn more.

So let’s leave the speeches, the lame fillers and the boring stuff in general on our cutting room floors. Great dialog sizzles. It’s short. It’s important. And it encapsulates the personalities of your characters in brilliants bursts worthy of bestseller lists and Hollywood.

Do you have any dialog-improving advice?

 

Vampires and Mormons are the same thing....

Whoa, please don't roll over me with a religious paving wheel just yet. I have spent a fair amount of time in Mormon churches and, though I am not nor have ever been a member, I have found the people in its congregations to be among the most sincere, least hypocritical and kindest I have yet to meet. Unfortunately, that doesn't change the fact that a very well-known family of vampires were based on a real-life Mormon family.

We are obviously talking about Stephanie Meyer's Cullen family from the enormously popular Twilight Saga. If you remember, they are the vamps who don't drink blood and who genuinely seem to care about the humans around them. Stephanie Meyer comes from a devout Mormon family, and in a recent interview she says she subconsciously imbued the Cullins with the same close-knit unity and moral virtuosity that she had grown up around.

In many ways, I think this is one of the most exciting features of the hybrid fiction that is making its way to mainstream pop culture. Harry Potter, Star Wars, and Hunger Games are other great examples of fantastic, otherworldly stories being humanized in unique ways. I, for one, hope we see many more Twilight-style successes in our future.

If you'd like to read more about Stephanie Meyer, she did a fabulous interview with Oprah Winfrey. You can find it here:

 

 

 

Interview with author Kim Mullican about her novel Yoder's Farm....

 

Today, Kim Mullican has joined us in the forum to talk about her Amish novel Yoder’s Farm as well as as well as a horrifying real childhood event and lots of other great stuff. Let’s not keep her waiting.   Tim Greaton: Hi, Kim. It’s great to have you with us today. Now, some interviews start off slower than others, but I absolutely have to jump right in and ask you why you pause with a distant look in your eyes before talking about one particular relative? Kim Mullican: I was brought up on a farm where hard work was a way of life. I always knew my grandfather was a little crazy, but when the FBI raided our farm, I discovered just how crazy he was. He was hauled off in shackles. That moment changed me forever.   Tim Greaton: That had to be shocking. But you’re close to your father, aren’t you? Kim Mullican: My father is a dreamer. He always encouraged me to fight for what you want and to reach for the stars. He’s now my biggest fan. He travels the US talking about my books every chance he gets.      Tim Greaton: In the interest of digging up the juiciest stuff, what do you think our readers would find most surprising about you? Kim Mullican: I am an avid angler. My husband and I spent our honeymoon at a state park in Southern Indiana and spent nearly every waking moment on the boat fishing. While many women would cringe at the thought of smelling like fish, having dirt under your nails and wearing no make-up at all, for me it was the perfect honeymoon. My husband planned the perfect honeymoon for us as a couple. It was great bonding time. I’m also a compulsive baker, which my friends love, but my scale does not. I find it comforting and therapeutic for some reason. I think it stems from growing up poor and hungry. I’m always trying to feed people . . . sometimes against their will. Tim Greaton: It’s obvious that you are a strong person. Where do you think that comes from? Kim Mullican: Growing up on a farm, I learned early on about hard work and work ethic. You certainly could not skip feeding the animals or tending the garden. If the zombie apocalypse ever happens, I will be able to survive off the land, shoot with precision and fashion a bomb out of duct tape, peanuts and a fuse. Okay, maybe the last part is more of a MacGyver fantasy, but you get the point. Tim Greaton: A lot of us are guilty of stuffing failed projects into a drawer and revisiting them every once in a while. That’s not true for you, though, is it? Kim Mullican: Oh no… I have no drawer. If something sucks, I trash it. I erase all evidence of it on my computer and refuse to discuss it again. I prefer denial. A good dose of denial can be healthy. Right? Tim Greaton: But you haven’t really destroyed every single past work, have you? Be sure to see the rest of Kim's spectacular interview at the Tim Greaton Forum

Do you have free solar panels on your house yet?

Back in the 1990s, Germany embarked upon a national solar power program. After the Fukushima  Daiichi nuclear plant disaster, caused by 2011's Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, Japan too has proclaimed a desire to move away from nuclear power.

(Photo: compliment of SolarCity website at http://www.solarcity.com/residential/how-solar-works.aspx)

Now for my readers who are hopping up and down about the statistical safety of nuclear power, I'm not here to argue that it is either good or bad. In fact, the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster may well have killed no one. It's true, the earthquake and subsequent tsunami killed somewhere between 16,000 and 20,000 people, but the official estimates of radiation and nuclear plant related deaths range from somewhere between 0 and 100. Japanese health officials further state that the long-term cancer risk to Japanese children in the radiation impact zone has been increased by only one percent. 

The original point is that Germany's advanced solar program has brought them to a point where, at sunlight peak on some days, solar power now provides upwards of 50% of the power they need at any given moment. It is not uncommon for solar power to provide 20% of their energy needs over a 24-hour period. In short, for them solar power is making a huge difference. Japan may soon move in the same direction.

But what about the United States? That's what we're here to talk about.

By now, you're all aware that I'm a novice tech buff...or a geek in many circles. Some of you might also know that I spent three years in a failed battle with a northeast utility company fighting the installation of HIGHER voltage power lines through some residential neighborhoods and beside a school in my area. Throughout that fight, I presented legal briefs, made technical arguments, spoke at legislative hearings and conducted cross-examinations of witnesses, including a certain utility-tied, preeminent electromagnetic expert. I'm thinking he found that session quite grueling if not a little embarrassing. I was able to do all of that simply by researching not just electromagnetic fields but also the U.S. electrical production and distribution system, which is expensive, antiquated, inefficient and in some cases just plain dangerous.

Of course, this all leads to a simple pitch for solar power. Why? Because, contrary to many beliefs, solar voltaic technology is already advanced, stable and has proven itself to effectively provide power to both large commercial sites as well as to single-family homes. It is also affordable (free to install in many parts of the country through solar leasing companies). Let's talk about specifics.

So what do these systems cost? That answer varies tremendously from home to home, and of course is largely determined by the features installed. SolarCity's installations average $27,000-ish. Some homeowners claim to have purchased all the parts needed for a full self-installation for somewhere in the low teens.

But the option I wanted to focus on is leasing. If you live in a state where SolarCity, SunRun, Sungevity or other companies install leased solar panels, you can save money while also having a full solar voltaic system installed on your home...for nothing down. Literally, you invest zero but your savings begin as soon as the panels are installed. With these leases, you simply make a lower energy payment than before to the solar leasing company instead of to your previous electrical provider. Your lease includes maintenance and can be extended indefinitely as well as passed from homeowner to homeowner. In most markets, that would be a sales advantage.

I don't know the average homeowner's energy cost savings, but any amount would be a good amount. SolarCity says that if you pay at least $115 in electricity, there will be a savings through them. 

So how do you find a solar energy leasing company? Here are the websites for the three largest in the country:

SolarCity http://www.solarcity.com/, SunRun http://www.sunrunhome.com/sunrun-advantage/how-sunrun-works/sunrun-total-solar/, Sungevity  http://www.sungevity.com/.

You could probably find others in your area simply by doing an internet search for "solar energy lease providers." Home Depot, Lowe's and probably other home improvement chains have arrangements with many providers, so you might start by asking your local store how to get a savings and installation estimate.

Of course, you can also purchase a solar energy system outright, and you might even choose to install it yourself. That means shouldering the entire cost up front or arranging for financing, but with the federal solar tax credit, it would certainly be the most cost-effective method in the long run. However, it is a little daunting for most homeowners and would require you to maintain the equipment, which is pretty good but sometimes can fail.   

To wrap things up, we have all been walking the slow-step when it comes to technology change. But the new techtrepreneurs are quickly changing that, and maybe it's time we stepped into the revolutionary currents sweeping across our world. Space exploration, virtual reality, jetpacks, electric cars and, yes, solar energy to power our homes are all becoming mainstream. Support these new industries...especially when they can improve your life and save you money.

Why not pick up the phone and call a solar energy company now?

 

Want to fly your jetpack to work? They're here!

The Martin Jetpack has been a novelty aerospace item since the early-2000s. You might have seen them being tested on TV news programs, science forums and there have even been fair-style rides where the unit was tethered to the ground by men on either side. But we're not talking about those early years. Instead, we're talking about a real-world functional piece of flying technology that would have left Leonardo da Vinci and thousands of other engineering and flight aficionados pressing their foreheads to the ground in thankful meditation and prayer.

 

In 2013, inquiries are being accepted from military and large commercial companies who are willing to purchase the packs (for a reported $100,000 each) with a beta-testing rider, which simply means that this functional wonder now needs to have many thousands of test hours in real-world conditions to be deemed safe in the mainstream. By selling these to only government and commercial entities with a limited "test" liability, the Martin company will be able to fine tune any bugs so that they can start shifting the units to the masses, hopefully in 2014.

 

A couple of interesting little facts about these amazing units: First, they are not actually jetpacks; they're actually more like fan-driven, personal hovercrafts with gasoline engines. They use a person-to-computer-to-jetpack interface, which simply means that the pilot provides input to a computer, which then safely controls the flight...sort of like autopilot on steroids. The packs themselves are about 5 feet tall, 5 1/2 feet wide and weigh just shy of 300 pounds. You have to use the legs for landing because the average person could not control that much weight. The controls can be set to a maximum height, so that the pilot does not accidentally go to high, which is particularly handy because flying over a certain altitude requires a parachute for safe landing. Apparently, upside-down and face-first landings are frowned upon. Lower altitude flights can land just fine using just the gasoline driven fans.

 

So what could you do with your own personal jetack...other than make payments I mean? Well, one of these units can reportedly travel 60 miles per hour. It has enough fuel for 30 continuous minutes of flight, which if you do a little quick math means that you could make a one-way trip 30 miles before refueling, or you could make a fifteen-mile trip and return before settling down at your neighborhood gas pump. 

 

I say we should all save up for our Jetsons-style transportation that could be available to everyone as early as 2014. In the meantime, buy stock in the company, if for no other reason than to make sure the units make it to the mass production line :-)

 

Finally, the future we have been waiting for has arrived...at least part of it. We still have to wait a bit on the human-like robot servants and restaurants in space :-)

 

Be sure to check out the great videos at the Martin Jetpack website. Needless to say, I'm a huge fan of the company and the product.

 

http://martinjetpack.com/

 

 

L.M. Boelz, author of Syeribus Creatures of the Night, joins us for an interview....

	Today, in the Forum, Lin Boelz is here to talk about her novels and stories. I have a feeling we’re in for an interesting interview. Lin. Lin, would you like to have a seat now?
Tim Greaton: Seriously, it’s great to have you here, Lin. I have often compared the process of creating a story to preparing a stew. This analogy works particularly well for someone with your interests, doesn’t it? Lin Boelz: I do love cooking. In my spice cabinet alone I have over 140 different spices. Recently I have gotten into making my own canned goods and cheese. Rather than your stew comparison, I would probably say cake. I love baking. I have gone so far as to order ingredients from Africa, England and India to bake a recipe that caught my eye. Tim Greaton: Your mother had a difficult childhood that turned into a fascinating method of raising children. Could you tell us about that? Lin Boelz: My mom lost her mother when she was five and was adopted by an aunt who had no children of her own. Her aunt turned out to be like Cinderella’s evil stepmother. Consequently, my mother’s childhood was filled with all work and no play. As a result, when she had kids of her own, she made up for lost time. When Dad would leave for work, the four of us, including Mom, would play hide and seek and tag in the house. Yes in the house, running and jumping on furniture. Tim Greaton: So when you weren’t all running and playing together, did your family have any difficult times? Lin Boelz: I remember one Christmas when my dad had lost his job. We barely had enough money for rent and a few groceries. That year, we all drew pictures and wrapped them in homemade paper. Though hard at the time, it is the Christmas that we now remember fondly and talk about the most. We learned that it is not what you own on the outside but what you own on the inside that matters: the gift of family love stays with a person for a lifetime. Tim Greaton: We’ve already talked about your international recipe fetish. Do you have any other pastimes that you’d like to share? Lin Boelz: Gardening is another of my hobbies; it ties in well with my cooking. I have started an herb garden and use the herbs to make medicine instead of taking manmade drugs. I also have a soapwort plant; I make soap out of the roots. I like to be close with nature. Tim Greaton: People often say your writing makes it easy to visualize themselves in your scenes, which is a tremendous compliment. But there’s another comment you often hear. What is that? Lin Boelz (grins mischievously): Some readers say I have a dark side. Tim Greaton: I know you have a some works currently with retailers. What are those? Lin Boelz: In all, I have nine short stories, a variety puzzle book, and two novels currently available. Syeribus Creatures of the Night is a two-book series. Vampire Dolls is a standalone novel. Tim Greaton: So what else can readers expect in the near future? Lin Boelz: I have two novels and short stories coming out by the end of April. I’m having an especially great time producing one project I pulled out of moth balls recently. It’s called my Prepper & Survival E-zine, where I share what I have learned about preparing for short- and long-term disasters. Tim Greaton: Writers are always fun to hang out with because they seem to have the best stories about their pasts. Something happened to you when you were seventeen. Do you remember what I’m talking about?   See the rest of Lin Boelz fascinating interview right now at   www.TimGreatonForum.blogspot.com