Don’t miss my FREE GIVEAWAY for WITHOUT THE LAMPSHADE on Goodreads to September 21

Did you ever wake up under a chicken coop covered with overnight droppings? I have. Have you ever barbecued yourself on a hot stove? I did. Have you ever come home smashed, ending up the unintended clown for your daughters’ sleepover? I did. Were you ever so hungover you forgot your own name? I was. I once went with my brother-in-law for a haircut, an excuse to go to a bar, and lost him for three days. I almost fell off the roof of the Peabody Hotel, smashed, looking for the famous ducks.  

WITHOUT THE LAMPSHADE - How I Learned to Love my Brown Martini is my tale of boozing through roughly twenty-five years of my life, performing some hilarious antics that defy belief. In a quarter century I made it my job, a career, if you will, to pursue hard drinking in lieu of becoming the typical working stiff. It was more important to get to the bar for the first drink than work late for advancement. But I was still lucky, mostly finding people and companies that drank as much as I did. I was a happy drunk that has one hell of an adventure to relate.

                                                          

Sign up to get your FREE BOOK here.

                                                   Thanks and good reading!

EXCERPTS from my new book, WITHOUT THE LAMPSHADE-How I Learned to Love my Brown Martini

The sales manager of this company [in Des Moines] came to Memphis to interview me, and he stayed at the Peabody Hotel where I worked in the basement for the TV station. I had to get into the hotel and up to his room without anyone seeing me. It took some finagling but I was able to get away without anyone knowing what I was doing. He was a great guy and we hit it off immediately and I was asked to come to Des Moines for another interview. In those days most of the planes landing there were DC-3s.

The minute I got off the airplane in this cold, desolate looking place I reached the conclusion that I didn’t want to be in Des Moines, Iowa. I was brought up in the South where the weather could be challenging but I would rather spend the rest of my life in Jackson, Tennessee than one day in Des Moines. I would also come to understand a saying passed around by this company’s alumni: “It’s a nice place to work if your family can afford to send you.”

Journey with me boozed up to sobriety in WITHOUT THE LAMPSHADE. It’s a trip on Amazon here.

EXCERPTS from my new book, WITHOUT THE LAMPSHADE-How I Learned to Love my Brown Martini

We had out-of-town friends visit us regularly in Memphis, but our favorites were ‘Warren’ and ‘Jessica,’ not their real names, from Norfolk, while in the Navy; remember Baxter’s Barn? They wanted to go to the Peabody and see the ducks, then go to the roof where there was dancing. We were too late to see the ducks this particular night so we proceeded upstairs where the band was already playing. The Peabody roof bands were featured regularly on CBS radio nationwide.

A friend of mine who had one of the finest radio voices I had ever worked with, “Harry Rhodes,” not his real name, was doing a band broadcast on the network that night. Harry rarely committed a blooper but this night he was somehow rattled when introducing the show and said, “And now CBS presents the music of Benny Firestone coming from high atop the Potel Hebody. He repeated that three more times before getting it right. The drunks didn’t know the difference.

Journey with me boozed up to sobriety in WITHOUT THE LAMPSHADE. It’s a trip on Amazon here.

EXCERPTS from my new book, WITHOUT THE LAMPSHADE-How I Learned to Love my Brown Martini

Eventually I moved over to WREC-TV (later to become WREG), Channel 3, with studios in the basement of the Peabody Hotel. The Peabody had its own stories. It was, and still is, famous for its ducks that swim in the fountain in the hotel lobby. Every evening they are put to bed by their caretaker by rolling out a red carpet that stretches from the fountain to the elevator bank. Apparently this feature brought in visitors from all over the world, some not so good for these innocent fowl.

The ducks are marched into the elevator on the carpet and taken to the roof where their penthouse was located. No one but the caretaker is allowed to ride with the ducks. The next morning the procedure is reversed and the ducks are returned to the fountain through the elevator, via the red carpet to the fountain. You are allowed to stand around and observe but you can’t get too close to the ducks. Unfortunately this kind of protection would prove inadequate in a mindless display of stupidity.

The hotel was hosting a group on one occasion, which I believe was a bunch of college fraternity alumni; my memory is vague since this has been almost fifty years ago. The Peabody had a mezzanine that surrounded and looked over the lobby, and a cluster of the frat guys had congregated around the mezzanine with drinks in hand. The ducks were still innocently swimming in the fountain entertaining the guests. As usual, there were several people standing around the fountain looking at the ducks.

All of a sudden a barrage of drink glasses began to hit the fountain and some of the ducks, even guests. They were coming from the drunks on the mezzanine, and the volley went on for several minutes until security stepped in to stop the chaos. My recollection is that some ducks might have been killed, others injured. No guests were hurt. The frat guys were questioned but no one would give up the culprits. In my lifetime I have been on many drunken tears but would never do something like this.

Journey with me boozed up to sobriety in WITHOUT THE LAMPSHADE. It’s a trip on Amazon here.

EXCERPTS from my new book, WITHOUT THE LAMPSHADE-How I Learned to Love my Brown Martini

The wrestling matches were in their glory during this period (late 1950s), and I worked camera, eventually directing the show. Our cameras were in the balcony of the auditorium where the matches were held, and had to be carefully attached to the protective railing. Advice given to all cameramen in setting up was, “if you accidentally drop the camera during setup, you might as well go over the side with it.

Journey with me boozed up to sobriety in WITHOUT THE LAMPSHADE. It’s a trip on Amazon here.

EXCERPTS from my new book, WITHOUT THE LAMPSHADE-How I Learned to Love my Brown Martini

Eventually I left this station to work for a competitor in Memphis, and for more money. However, Channel 5 did have its moments, one of which turned out to be a very famous one, at least as the future would dictate. I met a very young, and still on the way up, Elvis Presley, one night. He just walked into the studio and said hello. He had asked the receptionist if he could see the studio, the door was open and we weren’t on the air, so he caught me in the middle of setting up the next show.

He very politely asked if I would give him a tour of our studios, which I readily agreed to. By this time the engineering crew was congregated around the window from the control room to the studio trying to get a good look at Elvis. Actually, I was embarrassed, since our main studio where we were at the time was converted from the offices of an old bank building and looked like it. Since this was my first job in television and these were the pioneer years, the 1950s, we were just beginning to make the rules.

I showed him around, explaining that almost everything live he saw on the tube from this station came from this studio. There was also an announcer’s booth, a small cooking show studio downstairs, and a stage on the second floor with an auditorium for special events. But we still did the bulk of our “productions” from this area that was not much bigger than a large living room. Hey, this was the beginning of TV, where it all started.

But Elvis seemed impressed, and, that said, I still cannot tell you just how much fun I had in this oversized playroom, because we were just learning what television was all about and still setting the guidelines. Guidelines we changed on a daily basis to make things more entertaining for the public. This often included mistakes that completely broke up the crew, but as the guy in charge, I had to remain cool in the chaos. However, there were a couple of times when it was so bizarre that I almost lost it.

Before the King left the studio, he reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a Zippo lighter and showed it to me. He asked me if I thought something like this would sell with his picture on it. It was Colonel Parker’s idea, he told me. I replied that I was sure anything with his picture on it would sell. He thanked me for everything and even graciously waved to the control room crew before leaving. I had taken him in to meet them and he was fascinated over how we produced shows.

It wasn’t until later I realized that at this point he had not yet appeared on the “Ed Sullivan Show.” That was September 9, 1956, when 60 million viewers watched the birth of the “King of Rock and Roll.” Elvis garnered a whopping 82 percent of the television viewing audience. If he had been on the “Ed Sullivan Show” before coming into our studios, I’m sure it would have been a huge let down. But he did leave appreciative and the next time I saw Elvis Presley was on the “Really Big Shew.”

Journey with me boozed up to sobriety in WITHOUT THE LAMPSHADE. It’s a trip on Amazon here.

Goodreads the GOOD site for writers

Goodreads, the site where readers go for the best books to read, and writers go to promote the books they write, recently attained the title of the world's largest book-focused social network, fifty million reviews. You want to go to Goodreads.com when you're looking for the latest in fiction and non-fiction but there's so much more which you will soon discover. Make friends, let others know what you're reading and vice versa, Set up a bookshelf for the future. This is truly the home for readers and writers.

Huff Post recently ran an article about Goodreads Giveaways, which is a great way for new writers to get their books into the hands of interested readers. I ran the promotion and had 285 requests for my book. Probably would have had more but only ran for a week giving away only two books. The Huff Post writer  suggests 30 days and as many books as you can afford to give away. On my next giveaway I plan to run for 30 days and offer five books, but that's your decision.

EXCERPTS from my new book, WITHOUT THE LAMPSHADE-How I Learned to Love my Brown Martini

As a smaller fish in a larger market, I was offered a job at WMC-TV, Channel 5 in Memphis, but would have to start as a studio cameraman, and because of my experience in photography, also as a nighttime newsreel photographer. While in school it was necessary to put the heavy drinking on hold, but spending the day in classes and the evenings working and studying left no time anyway. This random discipline in abstinence would come in handy when I finally decided to give up the drinking life.

This was only momentary until one night a couple of guys from the station talked me into going out and having a few drinks at an after-hours place. Fortunately it was Friday and no school the next day, so there was no reason to curb my intake, resorting to the old habits of drinking until I couldn’t move. My friends brought me home to a very unhappy wife who left me at the front door in a lump. Somehow I managed the control to not do that again for a while.

Journey with me boozed up to sobriety in WITHOUT THE LAMPSHADE. It’s a trip on Amazon here.

EXCERPTS from my new book, WITHOUT THE LAMPSHADE-How I Learned to Love my Brown Martini

I would compare my discharge from the Navy with the day several years later when I would find out I didn’t have prostate cancer after switched biopsy records had proven the diagnosis wrong. Relief with a capital “R.” The incident almost resurrected my boozing habits after years of sobriety. And I cannot recall any other occasion that brought me this close to the bottle, but I can say that during this one time and in every other instance my wife, Barbara, was there as my support.

Journey with me boozed up to sobriety in WITHOUT THE LAMPSHADE. It’s a trip on Amazon here.

EXCERPTS from my new book, WITHOUT THE LAMPSHADE-How I Learned to Love my Brown Martini

I find it interesting how some guys know just how much to drink when they are out trolling the bars and know when to stop, or at least slow down, when they meet someone interesting for the evening. If they are on the prowl they instinctively realize they are about to score and drinking into unconsciousness will not get the job done. I, on the other hand, seemed to relish my find so much that I had to celebrate it with more booze. Even if we made it back to my room it was usually lights out pretty quick.

Journey with me boozed up to sobriety. It's a trip in WITHOUT THE LAMPSHADE on Amazon here.

EXCERPTS from my new book, WITHOUT THE LAMPSHADE-How I Learned to Love my Brown Martini

I cannot count the number of bad influences I am supposedly guilty of, but I know deep down in my liver that they all were adults, of a sound mind—at least most of them—with the ability to make decisions on their own. But I carried the mantle with enthusiasm and in most cases with pride. Although I have to admit that in several instances I was the first to shout, “It’s time for a drink.” That was like a call to action for me that had become the most important thing in my life.

You can buy my book on Amazon here.

EXCERPTS from my new book, WITHOUT THE LAMPSHADE-How I Learned to Love my Brown Martini

On one [Navy Shore Patrol) patrol my partner, who wasn’t much bigger than me, and I were pulling this hulk of a swabbie up the gangplank of a destroyer when all of a sudden he bolted and fell over the side into the water. The Officer of the Deck was an Ensign who said to leave him there because they had something to fish him out with. Apparently he did this every time he went ashore. As we were leaving someone had moved a hoist to that side of the ship and the swimmer was being brought aboard.

You can buy my book on Amazon here.

EXCERPTS from my new book, WITHOUT THE LAMPSHADE-How I Learned to Love my Brown Martini

My boss, a full [Navy] lieutenant, would make periodic trips to Anacostia Air Station in Virginia just outside D.C. and not far from where my wife and daughter were living with her sister. We were on our way to Anacostia one evening with the Lieutenant in the back seat, and me in the front of the SNJ trainer. It was already dark and about halfway to D.C. he lost the lights in his cockpit.

We were using the radio beacon for navigation so it was relatively easy for me to take over flying the aircraft, since he had given me some basic instructions in the past. Just before entering the approach to Anacostia, we lost the radio beacon, and due to my inexperience we veered off course and ended up in Pentagon air space. We were immediately welcomed by four military jets that escorted us down with one on each side. Nothing like an official welcome to the U.S. Capital.

YOU CAN BUY MY BOOK ON AMAZON HERE.

EXCERPTS from my new book, WITHOUT THE LAMPSHADE-And Free Books

I had to thank Braddock for saving my life once while I worked for him. On weekends I went to Washington, DC, where my wife was staying with her sister and brother in law until we could get a place in Norfolk. On one such weekend, I was scheduled to get a free ride to DC on a MATS (Military Air Transportation Service) plane. But Braddock had work for me to do, so I missed the plane ride and would leave later with friends by car.

I watched the MATS plane take off out my window thinking how easy it would have been to fly to Anacostia Naval airport and my wife living close by would pick me up. I watched this hulk in the sky, barely at the end of the runway, but about 300 feet airborne, shudder with no warning, turn slightly to the left and plunge to the ground where it was immediately engulfed in flames. No one survived, and it almost made me reconsider the religion business.

GIVING AWAY copies of my book, WITHOUT THE LAMPSHADE at GOODREADS here.

Free Books

GIVING AWAY copies of my book, WITHOUT THE LAMPSHADE at GOODREADS here.

EXCERPTS from my new book, WITHOUT THE LAMPSHADE-How I Learned to Love my Brown Martini

One thing that happened before I left [the Naval Station], a film company was making the film, “Beneath the 12-Mile Reef,” in Key West and contracted to use the church parsonage as the location for several scenes.

Robert Webb, director of the “12-Mile Reef,” whom I had met at the parsonage, was looking for extras for a scene where Gilbert Roland is brought up with the bends. He asked me and a couple of my Navy buddies to stand on the dock and display our shock when they rushed by with Roland on a stretcher. We did, but guess we weren’t horrified enough, since the scene was cut from the movie. Webb did hire me to clean up and put the parsonage back in its original condition. He paid me $84, big money in those days.

You can buy WITHOUT THE LAMPSHADE here.

Watch for my FREE BOOK GIVEAWAY starting JULY 25/SCROLL DOWN

EXCERPTS from my new book, WITHOUT THE LAMPSHADE-How I Learned to Love my Brown Martini

During my stay in Key West I tried all the bars, especially Kilroy’s, where a lot of the locals hung out and it was said that Ernest Hemingway sometime frequented. The writer had a home in Key West where he lived and wrote for ten years, producing books such as “A Farewell to Arms” and “To Have and Have Not,” whose locale was Key West. Hemingway’s cats were still at his home, leading me to believe, along with a later experience covered here, writers preferred the calming effect of felines.

You can buy WITHOUT THE LAMPSHADE here.

Watch for my FREE BOOK GIVEAWAY starting JULY 25/SCROLL DOWN

EXCERPTS from my new book, WITHOUT THE LAMPSHADE-How I Learned to Love my Brown Martini

Jacksonville [Florida) was uneventful except for an incident at a whorehouse. I met some friends at the Naval Air Base there from Jackson, Tennessee and naturally we had to go out and get plastered. I ended up obliterated, passed out in this den of iniquity, and don’t remember anything after that. But I do vaguely recall before the darkness settled several barely dressed women seductively walking around me. You can see how out of it I was because I don’t remember being the least bit aroused.

You can buy WITHOUT THE LAMPSHADE here.

Watch for my FREE BOOK GIVEAWAY starting JULY 25/SCROLL DOWN

EXCERPTS from my new book, WITHOUT THE LAMPSHADE-How I Learned to Love my Brown Martini

Jackson [Tenn.] was also the first place I ever smoked pot. I was with two older friends and we were working a roadhouse on the outside of town. One was the bouncer, the other was the doorman, and I was the photographer. All the men there were with someone else’s wife, so no one really wanted their picture taken but I persisted, coming up with a library of photographs I would later discover could have been very valuable.

I bummed a cigarette from one of my buddies and after a few minutes I was the happiest one there, except I didn’t know why. This was in the late 1940s when the street term for marijuana was “reefer,” and when they told me that’s what I had just smoked, I still didn’t know what it was. It would be several years before I tried that again.

You can buy WITHOUT THE LAMPSHADE here.

Watch for my FREE BOOK GIVEAWAY starting JULY 25/SCROLL DOWN

EXCERPTS from my new book, WITHOUT THE LAMPSHADE-How I Learned to Love my Brown Martini

Highway disasters around this small town [Jackson, Tenn.] were more numerous than you might expect, partly due to the fact that you weren’t able to go into a restaurant or bar and buy a drink. You had to buy a bottle, usually a fifth, and hide it while drinking, so most were inclined to finish it off before the end of the evening. It took years for these dry regions to realize they were killing off their citizens.

You can buy WITHOUT THE LAMPSHADE here.

Watch for my FREE BOOK GIVEAWAY starting JULY 25/SCROLL DOWN

EXCERPTS from my new book, WITHOUT THE LAMPSHADE-How I Learned to Love my Brown Martini

After several drinks, my dance floor agility improved dramatically and the two of us were even enjoying ourselves. [At fraternity dance] But once I get started with the booze, there is no slowing me down, so I was relatively plastered when the dance was over. My date and I were descending the steps of the Jackson Country Club when I, by then almost completely impaired with the wobblies, stepped on the back of her formal and pulled the front right off her boobs. 

You can buy WITHOUT THE LAMPSHADE here.

Watch for my FREE BOOK GIVEAWAY starting JULY 25/SCROLL DOWN

EXCERPTS from my new book, WITHOUT THE LAMPSHADE-How I Learned to Love my Brown Martini

I was so smashed when I returned home one night from an SPO [fraternity] party that I fell asleep on our space heater situated between the front door and my room. It was winter and in use. There were vents on the top much like those on air vents in current homes, and when I woke up the next morning in my bed, I looked like I had been barbecued. My dear mother had quietly moved me off what could have eventually produced 3rd degree burns.

You can buy WITHOUT THE LAMPSHADE here.

Watch for my FREE BOOK GIVEAWAY starting JULY 25/SCROLL DOWN

EXCERPTS from my new book, WITHOUT THE LAMPSHADE-How I Learned to Love my Brown Martini

It was, in fact, Des Moines, Iowa where I really learned to drink, working for a large publishing conglomerate. When first being interviewed for the job, having just been introduced to the martini and after my second one, they made me an offer. In my condition, it was necessary to excuse myself and go to the bathroom before answering. I had to sit on the “john,” without purpose, except to use my pen and a piece of toilet paper to figure whether they were offering me more money than I was making at the time. They were, just barely.

 You can buy WITHOUT THE LAMPSHADE here.

Watch for my FREE BOOK GIVEAWAY starting JULY 25/SCROLL DOWN

EXCERPTS from my new book, WITHOUT THE LAMPSHADE-How I Learned to Love my Brown Martini

This is the first excerpt I've posted from my new book, "WITHOUT THE LAMPSHADE-How I Learned to Love my Brown Martini." I'll have random posts from the book in the future so keep an eye on The Dunning Letter.

The very first paragraph:

It all came to an abrupt halt one dreary Sunday morning almost 35 years ago. It was raining and I was looking out the window of our twelfth floor high-rise in College Park, Maryland, trying to settle my stomach after another night of non-stop drinking and smoking. This had been going on for over twenty years and I had gotten very good at it. Yes, booze and cigarettes had become my comfort zone. Nevertheless, I had just decided to give up both of these nasty habits…cold turkey.

You can buy WITHOUT THE LAMPSHADE here.

Watch for my FREE BOOK GIVEAWAY starting JULY 25/SCROLL DOWN

Booze, fun and sobriety

WITHOUT THE LAMPSHADE-How I Learned to Love my Brown Martini has just been published and is available at Amazon.com. You can enjoy it in both Kindle and the paperback edition.

During the period covered in my new memoir of some crazy drinking days, my expectations were that I would not live past the age of fifty-five based on the amount of booze I drank and the number of cigarettes I smoked. When I shared this with friends and relatives, and they saw me in action, they agreed. Somehow I made it to eighty-four and decided I was meant to chronicle these hilarious years of inebriation. 

If you are looking for a few hours of laughs (incidents like, after boozing all night waking up under a chicken coop covered with overnight droppings) with a vignette here and there of sheer reality, take a look at, WITHOUT THE LAMPSHADE-How I Learned to Love my Brown Martini. Buy it at Amazon.com. 

Thanks for reading!

Drinkers...Here's the new book I promised

WITHOUT THE LAMPSHADE-How I Learned to Love my Brown Martini has just been published and is available at Amazon.com. You can enjoy it in both Kindle and the paperback edition.

During the period covered in my new memoir of some crazy drinking days, my expectations were that I would not live past the age of fifty-five based on the amount of booze I drank and the number of cigarettes I smoked. When I shared this with friends and relatives, and they saw me in action, they agreed. Somehow I made it to eighty-four and decided I was meant to chronicle these hilarious years of inebriation.

If you are looking for a few hours of laughs (incidents like, after boozing all night waking up under a chicken coop covered with overnight droppings) with a vignette here and there of sheer reality, take a look at, WITHOUT THE LAMPSHADE-How I Learned to Love my Brown Martini. Buy it at Amazon.com. 

Thanks for reading!

Drinkers...Have I got a book for you

Watch out for my new memoir, WITHOUT THE LAMPSHADE-How I learned to Love my Brown Martini. If you are looking for a few hours of laughs (incidents like, after boozing all night waking up under a chicken coop covered with overnight droppings) with a vignette here and there of sheer reality, watch this blog for the official publication date and availability. It will also be offered on Kindle. Coming very soon. 

New vampire book must read #ian1

Hello book enthusiasts…#ian1

Arizona isn’t quite ready for an oversexed, bisexual housewife, who suddenly becomes a supernatural creature with a mission to kill targeted Arizona politicians in my new novel, NYMPHOMANIA BLOODLUST. Amy Rogers is a nymphomaniac vampire who bites her way through several politicos, including the Governor, along with innocent citizens. Add to that Arnold “Arnie” Barber, a 65 year-old Midwestern snowbird turned werewolf, spawned for the same objective, and you have a paranormal war going on in Phoenix, Arizona.

NYMPHOMANIA BLOODLUST is a soft-horror novel—described so because the several vampires and werewolves are amateurs—mixing the violence of preternatural beings with the escapades of Amy Rogers as the hot-to-trot vampire who must satisfy her sexual needs along with the insatiable desire for blood. The book starts and ends in the Superstition Mountains, just southeast of Phoenix. The mountains and Jacob “Dutchie” Walzer’s Lost Dutchman Mine have been a great source of interest to tourists, hikers and greedy prospectors, some of which have suffered the wrath of these rugged cliffs and valleys.

Please tell your friends and neighbors and you can buy Nymphomania Bloodlust here.

Bleeding Earth by Kaitlin Ward

From Amazon

Lea was in a cemetery when the earth started bleeding. Within twenty-four hours, the blood made international news. All over the world, blood oozed out of the ground, even through the concrete, even in the water. Then the earth started growing hair and bones.

Lea wishes she could ignore the blood. She wishes she could spend time with her new girlfriend, Aracely, in public, if only Aracely wasn't so afraid of her father. Lea wants to be a regular teen again, but the blood has made her a prisoner in her own home. Fear for her social life turns into fear for her sanity, and Lea must save herself and her girlfriend however she can.

Pebbles crossed the Rainbow Bridge today

Pebbles, the Queen, in better health

Our 15-year-old senior citizen, Pebbles, a domestic long hair feline, crossed the rainbow bridge today after several months of problems with arthritis, hyperthyroid, hypertension, kidney failure, blindness and some dementia. You might ask, wasn't she ready to go long ago? The answer is an emphatic "no," and I know this because...my wife, Barbara, has worked with animals for several years as a professional practitioner of Tellington TTouch. She has monitored Pebbles during all her medical experience and made the decision for euthanasia only last week.

I want to emphasize how important it is to know the right time for euthanization because many times animals are allowed to suffer when it would be much more humane for them to take that hike across the bridge. The first person you should consult is your vet; after working with your animal(s) for a while they will have a sense of when the end is drawing near. Talk to your pet sitter, for he or she has a regular one-on-one experience with your pet and will probably recognize the tell-tale signs. And of course, your day-to-day observations are the most important factor.

The Rainbow Bridge

Pebs was a rescue, as were all our fosters to adoptions. We're suckers; once you got em, you just can't give em up. If you have adopted you know the potential issues that come from animals that have been mistreated or were feral. But that's the whole idea, to give them a new and better forever home. Pebbles took over the household with her seniority, which all the other cats respected, although at times may have challenged it. She loved to play with toys and went crazy with a paper ball ball in the bath tub. She also loved a feather and continued to play with that until only yesterday.

Cats are one of the most calming of beings you will ever experience. My wife, Barbara, says, "How can you get upset when you look at a cat?" My mentor writer and good friend, Bill S. Ballinger, famous for his mystery novels and TV screen plays had his cat Little Boy who sat right beside him when he wrote. While our cats--there are three remaining, Teddy, Mickey and Minnie--don't sit with me when I write they are a constant presence that gives both Barb and me laughs and a sense of relaxation. Every writer should have a cat just to stay sane. Folks, all they want is to be loved.

Fang Chronicles: Amy's Story: A Vampire and Shifter Romance

From Amazon:

Amy is hot on a story as she tries to discover what life is like for teenage girls living on the street. When her disguise almost gets her killed, she’s saved by one of New York’s most eligible bachelors. His private life is filled with secrets and his story sparks Amy’s interest. Discovering the truth lands her in a world of vampires and werewolves that she never dreamed existed. She also never dreamed she could truly love a man or vampire but Marcus shows her the light. Now the two must fight the one person who can destroy their chance at love. With the help of Marcus’ clan of werewolves the war begins.

See it here.

BLOOD OATH by Christopher Farnsworth

From Amazon:

Zach Barrows is a cocky, ambitious White House employee until he's abruptly transferred out and partnered with Nathaniel Cade, a secret agent sworn to protect the president. But Cade is no ordinary civil servant. Bound 140 years ago by a special blood oath, Nathanial Cade is a vampire. On the orders of the president he defends the nation against enemies far stranger-and even more dangerous-than civilians like Zach could ever imagine.

Impure by J.R. Bailey

From Amazon:

Koristad Altessor, son of Arach the Black Guardian, is a young, driven necromancer who wants nothing more than to take vengeance upon the villainous vampire who caused the death of his family. But it is not long before the child of darkness is recruited by an order of righteous warriors who are dedicated to protecting the innocent from wicked magic users and unspeakable monsters. Koristad and the lightwielders are about to begin an unforgettable journey to the truth. Koristad sets out to carve a path through the darkness of his bleak world. Ac-companied by Peril, a naïve and innocent lightwielder, Koristad rises to face the challenges that lie ahead-including a erce battle with a barbarian intent on seeking his own revenge. Unable to call upon his magic powers out of fear of being pulled back into the world of the dead, Koristad must rely on his own strength as he realizes there will never again be one like him. After the necromancer and lightwielder are tasked with protecting an ancient artifact, a long extinct bloodline of mages reemerges. Suddenly, Koristad and Peril are fighting for more than they ever imagined, including their own survival.

Amazon.com 

In the supernatural world what is shapeshifting?

Lon Chaney Jr. as Wolfman

Shapeshifting is the ability of something--like a human being--to change its shape into another form or being--like a werewolf. The process can be initiated through an outside force, an act of will, or through involuntary means. In my book, Nymphomania Bloodlust, to be published soon, Arnie Barber, a midwesterner from Chicago, is attacked by a werewolf in the Superstition Mountains and later experiences the involuntary transformation.

The change-over to a werewolf is slow and very painful for the human being whose body is converting into an animal. The skin is stretched to accommodate a larger size, the fingernails shift to claws, as well as the toenails. The feet grow to a hideous size as do the hands and the face contorts into a muzzle with a snout. Of course, if the individual is wearing clothes when the shapeshifting begins, by the time it is complete they are literally ripped to shreds.

Shapeshifting has even been used by Hollywood in movies as a plot device. As an example, the Beast's transformation at the end of the movie "Beauty and the Beast. But nothing equals that of the werewolf which most of us can remember as Lon Chaney, Jr. regularly changed into "The Wolfman" in the movie of the same name. 

Hybrid vampires have more fun

In my novel, Nymphomania Bloodlust, due to be published any day now, I wanted to make my two antiheros the kind of vampire and werewolf that would be capable of dealing with any person or situation. To do this I researched the paranormal and came up with a kind of archfiend that would defy any obstacle that stood in its way. It's called a hybrid, which means simply that it is the super power of the supernatural.

Both my vampire, Amy Rogers, and my werewolf, Arnold Barber, were given super strength, super speed and super healing. The vampire, alone, received mind compulsion, immortality, pyrokinetic powers and daytime walking. I couldn't stand the thought of putting my gorgeous vampire, Amy, in a coffin to spend the night alone. I did make sure not to take advantage of these powers to allow the two beasts to do anything they wanted to.

Hybrids are a supernatural crossbreed between two different species, showing up in the TV series "Vampire Diaries" as a cross between a vampire and a werewolf. In Nymphomania Bloodlust they are simply a cross between two human beings and an unknown force from another world. In each case their hosts were a spectral presence emanating from  mysterious portals in the Superstition Mountains. My book will bring it all to life for you.

Bloodsucking Fiends: A Love Story by Christopher Moore

From Amazon:

Jody never asked to become a vampire. But when she wakes up under an alley Dumpster with a badly burned arm, an aching back, superhuman strength, and a distinctly Nosferatuan thirst, she realizes the decision has been made for her.

Making the transition from the nine-to-five grind to an eternity of nocturnal prowlings is going to take some doing, however, and that's where C. Thomas Flood fits in. A would-be Kerouac from Incontinence, Indiana, Tommy (to his friends) is biding his time night-clerking and frozen-turkey bowling in a San Francisco Safeway. But all that changes when a beautiful undead redhead walks through the door...and proceeds to rock Tommy's life -- and afterlife -- in ways he never thought possible.

The Accidental Vampire by Lynsay Sands

From Amazon.com:

Ever since an accident turned her into a knockout vamp, Elvi Black's been catching her z's in a coffin, staying out of the sun, and giving up garlic. She knows there's more to being undead than what she saw in Dracula, but she can't very well ask her mortal friends about proper biting etiquette. But when her neighbors placed a personal ad for her in the local paper, she never imagined she'd meet Victor Argeneau, a vampire who could have his pick of any woman—dead or alive.

Rich, powerful, and drop—dead gorgeous, Victor's the perfect man for a novice neck—biter like Elvi. He's willing to teach her everything he knows, but he'll have to do it fast. Someone's out to put a stake through her new vamp life, and only Victor can keep her safe—and satisfied—for all eternity.

Watch this blog and Amazon.com for my new vampire novel, Nymphomania Bloodlust, by Jack E. Dunning

Quinn's Undying Rose by Tina Folsom

From Amzon.com:

Vampire bodyguard Quinn has lived the last 200 years as a playboy trying in vain to forget the only woman he has ever loved: his human wife Rose, who he believes to be dead.
But Rose is very much alive. Now a vampire herself, she has lived in hiding from Quinn all of these years, having faked her death to hide from him a terrible secret--one she knows would drive him to kill her.

When a powerful and evil vampire threatens to destroy Rose's--and Quinn's-- only living descendent, she has no choice but to come out of hiding and ask for Quinn's help. As Quinn struggles with the shock of Rose's reappearance, and they reunite to battle a common foe, they rekindle the flames of their past. But will the passion that reignites between them be enough to overcome the secret that separates them?

Watch this blog and Amazon.com for my new vampire novel, Nymphomania Bloodlust, by Jack E. Dunning

The mysteries of the Sedona vortexes

Sedona vortex sites

Sedona, Arizona is just a short drive from Cave Creek, where we live. My wife and I have made the trip several times during our 23 years in the valley of the sun, and have returned home each time feeling very relaxed and rejuvenated. On each occasion we visited at least one of the Sedona vortexes, those cryptic portals that provide mystical energy and send one away wondering what just happened. What happened is often a matter of interpretation

First discovered in the 1950s by Paul Bryant, these phenomena appeal mostly to the New Age believers, but there are many lay folks like my wife and I who think they do have spiritual powers. Not in the sense of religion's spiritual, but the "within us" kind of ethereal feeling. But the non-believers are also attracted to Sedona for the beautiful red rock formations that surround this quaint town. On your first visit you will stand in awe at what surrounds you.

The site, "Sacred Destinations" says all this vortex power or energy is "...located where hypothetical alignments called "ley lines" intersect with one another." Alfred Watkins, an amateur archaeologist and antiquarian "...noticed that straight lines could be drawn between ancient sacred sites like Stonehenge and Avebury and hypothesized that these lines were ancient trade routes." The New Age movement adopted ley lines into their philosophy defining them as "...magnetically-charged sources of cosmic energy."

You'll have to see for yourself and if you do, here's a vortex map to follow.

Reading that Vampires do exist

"Vampires: The Occult Truth," by Konstantinos,  claims proof that creatures of the night do exist. Amazon.com says "The author reveals the occult truths about these creatures, including actual first-person encounters with vampires of all types—the ancient undead of folklore, contemporary mortal blood drinkers, and the most dangerous creatures of all: psychic vampires who intentionally drain the life force from their victims."

Sounds like reading "about" vampires is almost as eerie as reading a vampire novel. Did you know there are four types of vampires? You'll read about vampire legends from around the world, discovering their history as you go. Konstantinos also exposes the threat of 20th century vampires which feed on psychic energy.  And there are blood drinkers out there today, covered in my earlier post on Sanguinarians. You can also learn how to protect yourself from Vampires...that is, if you really want to. Read it.

What is a paranormal portal

"Light in the Dark Paranormal" reports that "The paranormal community has adopted it {portal} to mean an entrance or exit to a world inhabited by supernatural beings." That's a lot scarier than its normal definition of a large door or gate to a building. The internet picked up on the word defining it as the "...point of entry to the World Wide Web." In my new novel, Nymphomania Bloodlust, I use portals to create supernatural creatures.

These portals are in the Superstition Mountains just SE of Phoenix, Arizona, where there is already considerable mystery existing surrounding those who enter the mountains to search for the Lost Dutchman's Mine but never come out. In my book, a sinister being uses two portals to create a vampire and a werewolf to kill off targeted Arizona politicians. And one of the main characters in the book uses a portal to solve the mystery.

Physicist Lisa Randall theorizes that portals to other dimensions really exist, and she is trying to find them using the world’s largest particle accelerator in Switzerland. But I'm not sure just how mysterious a portal would remain if we were able to explain it scientifically. Then, Randall might just come up with theories that are even more strange than what we have today. In Smithsonian Magazine "She thinks an extra dimension may exist close to our familiar reality, hidden except for a bizarre sapping of the strength of gravity as we see it."

LITDP says "...many are convinced that Stonehenge in Britain is really a portal to both the past and future, as further encouraged by the recent archaeological discovery of more of the structure buried underneath the visible surface." In some cases old wells abandoned are thought to be portals into the unknown. Sedona, Arizona, has four major portals that thousands of tourists visit annually. It is even believed that your house could have a portal. More on all of this later.

Tired of rejection? Agents ignoring you...Publishers out of reach?

I was tired of rejection and sick of literary agents who never reply or publishers who take forever to give you a simple answer "We're not interested." During all this time I thought anyone who self-published their book was something of a loser who was just desperate and spent a ton of money on a vanity press. Then I found Amazon's CreateSpace,but on the outset it looked just too good to be true. Well it wasn't and I just received the final proof of my novel, Nymphomania Bloodlust, and it looks beautiful.

I did spend $99, my choice to buy my own ISBN. Otherwise, zilch, nada, didn't cost me a nickel. And the final product is as classy as anything I have ever seen in the book store. I did it all with technical help from my wife, because she is better at the basics than I. But any computer 101 person could master the CreateSpace process and if you get in trouble you just go to their "Contact Support" for answers. That is also free. There is paid tutoring but I was never in a position to need that.

I had and still do have complete control over everything and CS even handles distribution to book stores, book distributors and other methods along with featuring your book on Amazon.com as well as Kindle. Sound like it's too good to be true? Well it is but for the first time this rrangement refutes the old axiom of "If it sounds too good to be true it probably is." And I already have a lineup for book promotion that I am sure will make my book sell, which I'll discuss later.

If you are struggling take a look at CreateSpace. You won't be sorry.

The Vampire Tapestry, a novel by Suzy McKee Charnas

Stephen King said “scary and suspenseful” and “unputdownable,” and Peter Beagle, author of The Last Unicorn, “The best vampire novel I have ever read.” That, alone is good enough for me but there is more mixed with anthropology and a sleep research lab. Edward Weyland has been involved in years of vampire investigation, not for the supernatural aspect, but for the biological side of this paranormal anomaly. But he  makes a near-fatal error, is imprisoned by a power-mad Satanist, and has to take great steps to insure his endurance. Read it.

Have you experienced a spirit portal?

Vortex

When first moving to Arizona over twenty years ago, I was immediately fascinated by the mysterious tales of the Superstition Mountains and Jacob “Dutchie” Walzer’s Lost Dutchman Mine. The Superstitions, just outside Phoenix, Arizona, have been used as the setting for many suspense narratives, documenting those who have gone in to the mountains but have never come out. And they are known for their mysterious vortexes, or spirit portals found there.

"A vortex is a mass of energy that moves in a rotary or whirling motion, causing a depression or vacuum at the center.... These powerful eddies of pure Earth power manifest as spiral-like coagulations of energy that are either electric, magnetic, or electromagnetic qualities of life force," according to Page Bryant.

Supernatural Magazine says "Some psychics believe that on average most homes contain at least one of these portals." I did a quick check in my house without success but haven't given up yet. Here are more specs you might use to locate one in your surroundings:

According to SM, "In technical terms a spirit portal is a region of space that has a 4 dimensional vibratory frequency, where this region of 3 dimensional physical plane and the 4 dimensional etheric plane merge into each other through the aid of an energy vortex. In simple terms a spirit portal is a doorway in the physical world that allows free access to and from the spirit world."

You are dealing with mass energy in high concentrations creating a spiral vortex which can be both positive and negative in nature. Sedona, Arizona, has four known portals that are visited by thousands of tourists each year. We have been there and I can confirm that you definitely feel the energy surrounding you. The strongest in Sedona is the Airport vortex.

I plan to have more later on locating the portal where you live.

Are you a Sanguinarian?

If you are a Sanguinarian you won't want to miss my new novel, Nymphomania Bloodlust, that will be published this month and available on Amazon.com, including Kindle. According to By Light Unseen, "Sanguinarians describe themselves as human beings with a compulsion, or need, to consume blood for reasons other than erotic or emotional satisfaction." In other words, it's a physical thing and they also react negatively to it being spiritual.

Sanguinarians can be so addictive as to view themselves in an alter-ego, unable to keep anti-social impulses in check, and actually have to work hard to prevent believing themselves to be the "Beast." These people "...are not merely blood fetishists, because they do report this physical need to drink blood."

There are a few sites available for Sanguinarians--I was surprised by the limited amount of 7,320--but most of them I viewed appear to be sincere in their approach. These folks feel they have been given a backseat by the "explosive" growth of Psivamp (or Psychic vampires), and Otherkin (or people who identify as partially or entirely non-human). But those are another story for later.

BLOOD BLADE by Marcus Pelegrimas

Cole Warnecki is a video game designer who rushes off to British Columbia and finds himself chasing after supernatural monsters. This is a world most aren't familiar with but are fascinated over that Marcus Pelegrimas, Blood Blade's author, escorts you through in the freaky paranormal debut of his book. Warnecki survives an encounter with a nasty werewolf by the name of Full Blood, then takes a new job with the Midwestern Ectological Group that zips him off to Chicago to do battle with insane vampire Misonyk, who infects people with vampiric spores and encourages them to drain victims dry. Lots of gore and wisecracks for the comical side. Check it out on Amazon.com.

Exploring the supernatural

Vampires and werewolves are in a world of their own, the world of the supernatural and, admit it or not, many of you are "bewitched" by the unknown. Now there are some who might fear the thought of the unexplored, but still are attracted, at least somewhat, to its exotic side. In other words, given the chance, most of us could get wrapped up in a good paranormal book about the demons of the other world that can be fascinating with their excursions into uncharted ways.

The vampire, which is the archetype of the supernatural, evolved into its own out of the industrial revolution when the population in Europe was redefining itself. In most cases the vampire is cast as villainous, according to By Light Unseen, but in some cases it can be the antihero, as I have done in my new novel, Nymphomania Bloodlust, to be published this month. Please look for it on Amazon.com and ask for it in your bookstores.

My antihero is Amy Rogers, an Arizona housewife, through whom you experience the transformation of a beautiful, sexy young woman into the monster that creates havoc throughout the metro Phoenix, Arizona area. She must, for her master, eliminate targeted Arizona politicians and some of the ways she employs are diabolical but sometimes comical. She's joined by a snowbird from Chicago who becomes her werewolf partner in the political carnage.

Next, I am going to review one of those not well know authors of vampire lore, but one who deserves promoting.

Happy New Year 2016 from The Dunning Letter!