11.18.19

i dusted my guitar yesterday and pumped air into my bicycle and rode the river for a while. god willing i might meet some old chords and new friends and find my way back to source. a dusting off may not go a great distance but i'm telling you...every creative effort makes a moment a little brighter for me and you. and that's something to love about life.

Journal # 05.31.16

The mercury climbed to triple digits yesterday, and i went to see a film with a friend. My car was black and when i got back it had melted. The movie was about human relationships and all the actors cast as themselves. One of them died on screen so we could get our money's worth. Well he was killed.  You were talkin to me in the parking lot and i was too shy to ask if we could take it to the sidewalk, so i stood there mindless holding my breath. I had no money left and the sun cooked my car. We could not decide if we were happy or not that the actor got murdered. Because it was a movie, we paid so we could weigh human lives like gods. Yet we had no say on the thermostat, and alternated from too hot to too cold and back. I was worried we would be hushed cause you kept talkin during the film and i shoulda hushed you myself but you were too goofy to be hushed. I coulda died in the dam parking and bled sno-caps for all i cared.

Journal # 03.01.15

Sunday. The girl scouts are out! With their buttons and badges and bake sale tables. Cute, cute, cute. I had to buy some cookies. I asked the girls which ones were the best? All except one was pushing 'the lemonades! the lemonades!' Well, lemonade isn't just a drink anymore. It's a godawful shortbread cookie with a high fructose lemon-flavored frosting. I guess little kids have different taste buds. I almost spit mine out, but I didn't want them to see. I had to jay walk to get to the other side of Broadway so I could get that crap out of my mouth. I almost got struck by a car. Not very girl-scoutlike behavior.

Sunday. Church comes in other forms. I like show up to gatherings of friends. We congregate. We sit in a circle and talk about what matters. We talk and listen to one another. Sometimes this is enough. Religion is not necessary in the presence of faith. Faith is a personal matter. I lost it for twenty years, but my faith has been restored. How lucky, to dwell in the sunlight of the spirit. Yes, I have my forays into the darkness. But not by choice anymore. Not by choice.

Journal # 02.16.15

Monday. I almost had an anxiety attack after spending most of my night creating the first edition paperback for Daughter of Darkness. I had the surreal feeling that I was no longer on earth. The same feeling precedes vertigo. I went for a walk, to get away from the screen. I watched some comedy on adult swim, after the walk. Old episodes of Drinky Crow and Arrested Development. The walk and the laughter really helped.

9am. I completed the project. Immediate relief. I went and met a friend for coffee at Peet's. The barista there remembered my name and my order. A latte with almond milk on ice. I don't know how she does it, but she always makes my day. I think she was elected Northern California barista of the month last month. She wears a name tag, so I can address her by name, too. What a poor memory I have for names. Today my eyes were so screen-shot, I couldn't even catch her name. I asked if I could borrow her photographic memory for a day. She waitlisted me behind about forty others.

Here is how the description of my novella reads on the upcoming 'dust cover' (the back of the paperback)...

Ame always knew she was different. The voices in her head reminded her all the time. Anti-psychotics couldn't stop them. Her abduction from her home to the underworld was foretold. She enters the sordid heart of present day Oakland, California, a world misshapen by a culture of fear, and takes her place within a divergent tribe of people with extraordinary capabilities.

Her heart beats fast. Curiosity soon replaces suspicion and apprehension. Life has changed into something mysterious and wonderful. She no longer feels so alienated. She forms a bond with Freddy, the one tasked to kidnap her and bring her home. Through him she meets a tall and brazen American chick, and a sister, in Bless. Then finds companionship in a young blood with a skateboard and a serious ice cream sandwich habit.

Her new friends and associations nurture her, in fearless fashion, toward a purpose far greater than she could ever have imagined. Together they roam the streets, encountering humans and spirits, mercilessly exacting a toll only humans can pay. The alchemy is in her blood.


There is a free sample of my ebook offered here << GRAND THEFT LIFE... >>
(when you get to the page, click on the cover image and you can read the first two chapters).