Things to Do in Denver When You're Un-Dead by Mark Everett Stone

I love creepy creatures. Name one. There's a 97.3% chance that I'm interested and ready to geek out over it. I have a crazy imagination and still haven't grown up. Reading allows me to be dropped in that wicked fairy tale and soak it all up. Which leads me now to type to you about Mark Everett Stone. No, that's not some new slang for a gargoyle, but a friend of mine on Twitter and fiction author.

Mark Stone has wrote this pretty awesome book called, "Things to Do in Denver When You're Un-Dead." The book has been well-received by readers, other authors, newspapers, and reviewers. I'll leave it up to Mark to describe the story to you, below:

 "For ten years Kal Hakala has been the Bureau of Supernatural Investigation’s top man, the longest surviving agent in its blood-soaked history. The World At Large has no idea that The World Under exists. And its vampires, demons, zombies, and mythic monsters are growing increasingly restless. In all Kal’s time with the Bureau, there has been no case he couldn’t crack, no monster he couldn’t kill. Then a plague of zombies comes to Denver, along with a vicious serial killer dubbed The Organ Donor. A childhood encounter with a legendary monster has left Kal with an endless supply of rage and hatred for all things Supernatural. But now the target is on his forehead, and the Un-Dead don’t die easy. The Bureau has some aces of its own—a few magicians and a cyber-ghost. Unfortunately Kal is a perennial loner ... And the World Under is wise to His tricks."

Now, come on... doesn't this sound like a fun read?

So... Where to Buy "Things to Do in Denver When You're Un-Dead":

Ebook Format:

Amazon.com 

Smashwords
Trade Paperback and Ebook: 

Barnes & Noble
Trade Paperback: 

Amazon
Also available on iTunes as an iBook

You can follow Mark Stone on Twitter: @MEverettStone
Or visit his personal site: http://markeverettstone.com/

Disclosure: I did this promotional blog entry without any compensation.
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Guest Spot Blogger: Ian Fydell, author of "Breathing Space: Book One Of The Exodus Trilogy"

I've made a lot of friends of Twitter.  Meet Ian Fydell, a science fiction author that wrote up a guest blog post for yall to read...
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How many of you have ever looked up at the stars and wondered what's out there? I bet many of you have. When I was seven years old my parents took me to see a movie some of you may know. It was a "little" film called Star Wars. I can remember pulling up to my house and when I got out of the car, I lagged behind and stared up at the stars wondering...was there a Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker out there battling for control of the universe? Or were there other forms of life somewhere in space...and that's where it all started for me. Later on in Junior High School, my English teacher would encourage me to continue writing as I did well in creative writing assignments. This was before we had computers at home and I remember handwriting many short stories and sharing them with my teacher and family members. Before I knew it, along came my teen years. Friends, cars and girls took up most of my free time. In my junior year of High School, I had met the girl I'd eventually marry. Flash forward a few years and I was working a full-time job, then came children, a house with a mortgage and big responsibilities. Writing was always in the back of my mind, but I never could find the time to write. Unfortunately, one day at my job I was severely injured by a piece of machinery. This injury forced me into a new role...Mr. Mom. It was a tough adjustment going from bread winner to bread baker. It was a stressful time in my life and I was told I should look into a hobby. Playing sports and working out weren't an option because of my injury. One day it hit me! I thought, why not go back to that time when I was a seven year old kid who loved to look up at the stars and dream.
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Breathing Space: Book One Of The Exodus Trilogy takes place in the year 2095, and the Earth is in severe ecological decline. Pollutants, wars, deep mantle mining, and everyday disregard for our planet have finally taken their toll, and now earthquakes, droughts, volcanic eruptions, and plagues are regular occurrences. Within a few decades, a century at most, Earth will no longer be habitable. Terra-forming and conservation efforts have been ineffective; it's just too late to stop the decline.

The novel's action focuses on veteran Air Force Captain John Lewis, commander of Triton Station, an American space habitat dedicated to sending out probes to nearby stars in an attempt to find habitable new worlds. John is a troubled man faced with a daunting task, plagued by memories of his life back on Earth. Especially haunting are the recollections of his participation in the Third World War, and of those he lost during those dark days.

It takes 17 years, but the quest to find a new Earth pays off: a probe locates a habitable planet eight light years away. The Exodus-class probe transmits a video-feed back to Triton, allowing them to see what it discovers. The new world is teeming with life, including (to their wonder and dismay) a primitive species of aliens who appear to be the builders of a series of amazing pyramidal structures. The U.S. government immediately clamps a tight security lid on the discovery. After weeks of debate, the President and his advisors decide to put together a small advance team to explore the new world and to forge an alliance with its natives. 

Given his decades of leadership experience and previous knowledge of the Exodus situation, Captain Lewis is tapped as the team leader. After a brief but intense period of training, the team heads for the new planet, Exodus, in a cutting-edge faster-than-light vessel that appears to have been reverse-engineered from alien technology.  After a six-month flight, they arrive to find much more than they'd bargained for. 

             

A malfunction strands them in a sea of tall grass hundreds of miles away from their intended landing site. As they make their way across the plains, they encounter a variety of animals, including intelligent felinoid predators. Eventually the team makes contact with the primitive Toborg, furry hunter-gatherers who appear to have constructed the great pyramids observed by the Exodus probe.

Soon after, they find that they are privileged to make first contact with not just one alien species, but two. The protectors and mentors of the Toborg, the highly advanced Zeta Reticulans, arrive several weeks into their stay. The Zetans are spindly humanoids with large heads, gray skin, and huge almond-shaped eyes who closely resemble the gray aliens of UFO lore. The Zetan spokesman reveals details of humanity's origin and history that were previously unknown to the humans, including the fact that Earth is one of only a number of planets with human populations. Seventy thousand years before, the Zetans saved humanity from a fate similar to the Toborg's. They remain in danger, however: two malevolent alien species, the Skreeeyep and the c'Cassra-fik-pta, plan to invade Earth and enslave Terran humanity. The Zetans are aware of the U.S. government's plan to start colonizing Exodus, and approve of the plan if for no other reason than to save some of the human population from the invaders. 

As a parting gift, the alien gives Captain Lewis a pyramidal ark containing various blueprints for more advanced faster-than-light drives and other tools they can use against the invaders. It is during the six-month ride back home that John Lewis discovers that the Zetans themselves aren't all that they pretend to be...
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I spent almost a year writing Breathing Space and about three more months of working with my publisher on editing and cover design. After it was all said and done, I was nominated as a finalist in the 2011 Next Generation Indie Book Awards in the Science Fiction/Fantasy category. The Long Island Authors Group recently accepted my application after reviewing my book. I also signed over 200 copies of my book at Book Expo America NYC and made several guest appearances on Sci-fi talk shows such as, The Kevin Smith Show, Cover to Cover and That Sci-fi Show. I will also be a guest on the VRO show on 8/24 @ 9pm and from 10/13/11 - 10/16/11. I will sign copies of my book at Comic Con NYC. My dream is to see the pages of my trilogy leap onto the silver screen and entertain moviegoers just as I was entertained when I was a seven year old boy. 

I am not a fan of "predictable endings." Why should the guy ALWAYS get the girl...why does the good guy ALWAYS have to win? When reading my trilogy, I warn my readers to expect the unexpected. If you'd like to order a signed copy of my novel, you can go to my website, IanFydellExodusTrilogy.com or you can purchase a copy from Amazon.com or Barnesandnoble.com. Feel free to check out the website for news, interviews and more about me. I am also on Twitter: @IanFydell and Facebook: Fans of Breathing Space: Book One Of TheExodus Trilogy. Feel free to contact me, I'd love to chat with you.

#fsincentivized @kimmyxoxo : Let me tell you about Falling Skies...

And you're like, "What is Kim talking about?"

 (see my hat! I've joined Twitter's @2ndMass )

I got selected by Klout to be part of the social media campaign to promote Falling Skies on Twitter.  These are my honest opinions, I wasn't paid or anything.  I got my "survival kit" today that included a free hat, compass, map, backpack, and mini poster.  We are ranked by our "social influence" tweeting out the message about the show.  At the end of this, the person ranked 1st place wins a walk-on role on the show complete with airfare and hotel!

I am currently in the top 10 and trying soooo hard to move up.  Follow me on Twitter: @kimmyxoxo and pretty, pretty please RT/retweet out my tweets that are marked with the #fsincentivized if you have a Twitter account.  It would help me out so much.

Now let me tell you about the show!
Falling Skies is a new sci-fi series on TNT. It's freakin' awesome!

The show takes place in Boston after aliens have invaded and taken over the world. It focuses on a group of people calling themselves 2nd Mass, as in 2nd Massachusetts, that are fighting back.

The aliens look pretty slick, movie quality in my opinion.  There's the 6-legged aliens and then the 2-legged ones.  The aliens have started kidnapping the kids and equipping parasitic looking harnesses on their backs that completely brainwash them into slaves.

How painful does this look?

(credit: http://twitter.com/2ndMass Follow them for clues &insider pics, tell them @kimmyxoxo sent you! )

So why should you watch?

Stars Noah Wyle as Tom Mason, a father of 3 boys that hasn't let the invasion completely jade him.  He wants the aliens gone, but still has a heart. His oldest son has been kidnapped by the aliens.  Perfect mix of sweet, strong, and maybe sexy too?

The sons are complete cuties.  You may recognize Drew Roy from ICarly/Hannah Montana.  He's obviously growing out of the teenie-bopper type shows and did well on as Hal Mason on Falling Skies.  He's bitter, sarcastic, exactly how you expect a guy this age to act.

The thing I like about Spielberg (OH HOLY! I FORGOT TO MENTION THIS SHOW IS BY SPIELBERG! You should probably check out this show just because of this fact alone!) is he "gets" kids.  He shows kids in a realistic view.  I also sorta appreciated the kids are carrying around guns bigger than themselves.  You don't see that sorta thing too much on TV, but hey, that's what would happen if an alien invasion happened.  The youngest son on Falling Skies is beyond adorable.  Having a 6 year old son myself, I see a lot of him in this kiddo.

 (credit: http://snowlullaby.tumblr.com/ )

I enjoy the story-telling process.  The first episode starts off slow, but you need that in order to introduce the characters, the situations; otherwise why would you care about them.  Falling Skies isn't dumbed down.  They want you to think, to connect the dots.  There's plenty of action of course to balance this out.  By Tom Mason picking to keep 'A Tale of Two Cities' foreshadow something?  Maybe symbolic since their group is called the 2nd Mass. Is there some sort of fight between the aliens themselves as they are two different kinds?  I don't want to spoil anymore!  There's ton more I could go on and on about, but ummm, I think this blog post would end up being really long.

If you missed the first episode, you still have a chance to catch it this weekend on TNT at:
11pm EST on Friday
10am EST on Sunday

If you already IN on this show, it regularly airs at 10pm EST on Sundays with a repeat airing of the same episode at 12am EST the same night. 

Picturing Weight Loss... literally

I'm pretty visual, so thought maybe seeing this would motivate me, but for some reason, goal weight doesn't look that much different than current weight.  Agree?

World Autism Awareness Day...

is April 2nd if you didn't know.  I wouldn't know if I didn't have an Autistic son myself, but it was this month last year when our little world changed.  Last year in April is when Sam quit talking.  It's also when he quit looking at people and started the moaning and quit playing with toys and and and...  I could go on forever. 

It all finally hit me seeing him around other people at Dylan's birthday party.  He wasn't just shy or being stubborn; something was tragically wrong with him.  I wish it didn't happen.  I wish I knew why it happened.  I wish I could freeze time to have the other version of my Sammy back.  It still feels like I have had a child taken away from me, like I've lost him.  I'm being honest, but don't get me wrong; I still love him to pieces and believe in him.  I don't want pity and I hope everyone else can and will take Sam for what he is, what he can aspire to be, and see how sweet and awesome he really is.

I swear this boy is like the real-life Caillou, he'll never grow a full head of hair. Ha!

I try not to be down about it.  I don't let his Autism consume my every living moment and thought.  I think more to making all of our lives as normal and happy as possible instead.  I'm not in denial by no means.  Therapies and diets won't completely fix my Sam, but slowly will alleviate some of his issues.  He's not going to be "normal" and I'm getting to the point where I'm okay with that, because, well, I have to be.  I celebrate all the little things he has progressed to do.  Life is going to continue to go on.  I choose to be as positive and optimistic as possible.

I miss this. Holding him on my lap, no squirming, totally content.

 

Now I'm not Mary Frickin' Sunshine, but I refuse to live my life as a Debbie Downer.  I still have my days and moments.  I don't enjoy scrapbooking anymore for instance.  It outright sucks to document the times when everything was fine and knowing it will never be like that anymore.  It also sucks trying to scrapbook the present, because it just reminds me and starts those negative thoughts.  There's only so much I can do and I'm trying my best everyday to better Sam.  Dwelling over every new study and news article isn't going to change anything for us, except make me more depressed about what I can't change.  Even if Sam gets worse with age, every little thing is gonna be alright, because when you think about it, it really does get to the point where you can accept that it's alright.

It's my mantra.

Now onto actual awareness... I don't tell every person on the street that Sam is Autistic.  Sure, workers in the church nursery know, close friends, and of course my ,family; but I don't feel the need to tell every single person.  I'm not embarrassed.  If he has a meltdown around someone that doesn't know, then oh well.  He starts saying LA LA LA over and over again non-stop, again, oh well.  I do a little trick my Grandma taught me: Just smile and nod - smile and nod.  I don't care what people think of me.  No, really, I don't.  I don't feel it's my job to run around educating everyone about Autism either.  But for the sake of this blog post about awareness; there are some things I wish people did know, things I wish were common knowledge to everyone, like:

• There's a quote somewhere out there that basically says this:  "You've seen one person with Autism, then you've seen ONE person with Autism."  This is true!  That's why it's called the Autism Spectrum.  Every person with Autism has different traits and behaviors.  Some are worse than others. How you have seen one Autistic person behave in a Lifetime movie, is not how ALL Autistic people are like.

• Speaking of movies, Autism does not mean my child will grow up to be like the Rain Man.  

• It also doesn't mean my child will be some prodigy like you have seen on The Discovery Channel that can figure out any math equation, memorize every baseball stat, or can paint an entire city view with one glance.  There's a reason these people are documented on these type shows, because they are unique situations.
  

 

I asked Sam to smile for the camera and this is the huge, cheese grin he gave me!

• Autistic people are capable of having feelings and most do express and show feelings of love.  Sammy can give hugs, smile, and laugh.  Just because an Autistic person isn't looking at you or saying anything, doesn't mean they aren't listening and comprehending.  Lots of Autistic adults go off to college, get married, and raise children of their own just fine.  Maybe not ALL Autistic children will grow up able to be a member of productive society, but it has been done.  Sam is not brain-dead.  With the early intervention we are receiving, I have high hopes for my son.

• Many Autistic people do understand the word "no."  Sam is diagnosed in the moderate to severe range of Autism and understands this.  He may not behave like I would always wish, but he is capable at times when he wants.
  

• I have heard many times said to me, "Oh he's Autistic, he has no fear."  This is not true.  For example:  Sam is a climber, but he does understand he can fall and hurt himself.  If he didn't, he wouldn't teeter on the edge.  He would fall down all the time, every time.  He's a boy!  That's how boys are!  If he hurts his hand on something, he doesn't immediately go and do it again. And sometimes, he does, but he's just "testing the waters" so to say.  He tries to figure out how much he can do before he does hurt himself, but that's a part of learning and his personality. 

Sammy & Cliff - my handsome men

• All Autistic people are NOT alike, in Sam's case he is generally good-natured and not violent.  Just because he's Autistic, it does not mean he is a complete menace unable to be disciplined.  If he is misbehaving and pushing a kid, I want to know so I can try my best to correct this in him.  I don't use his Autistic behaviors as an excuse because I think he's some "special angel" which grants him some pass allowing him to get away with anything.  I know he can be naughty just like any of other kiddo.  Maybe he can't help a lot of things, but it doesn't excuse violence towards others.  But there's also a line of what some think is misbehaving where I see as just fine, like with him opening and closing a cabinet door for an hour.  It's fun to him.  He knows exactly where to stop the door so he won't squish his fingers too.  Yeah, I'm aware it's annoying, but he's not hurting anyone by doing it. 

• Just because I have one Autistic child does not mean all my children will develop Autism.  I think I read that my new baby only has like a 2 - 8% chance of being Autistic.  Yes, I worry that it could happen and I will love him just the same as I do with Sam should that occur, but Brett's not totally destined to be Autistic.

• But the number one thing that I wish people knew is that Autism DOES exist.  I didn't invent it to have an excuse why Sam doesn't talk or acts the way he does.  I don't want to hear things like, "Well Einstein didn't talk til he was 5" or whatever.  Or "Sam's just taking his time."  Or "If you would refuse him things until you forced him, he would do it."  I'm not being lazy and I spend a ton of time with Sammy.  Don't tell me that you think he seems fine after spending some time with him.  I'm not exaggerating for kicks and attention.  Ask yourself, why would I want Autism for my child?  Why would I take him to these doctors and spend all this money and time?  I would LOVE for him to be like other typical children and our ultimate goal is for him to resemble something close to that as possible. 

I sometimes consider making pamphlets to hand to the people unaware of what Autism really is with all these points above, but I've come to realize people don't care unless it affects their life.  It really is easier and allows me to live happier to continue to just smile and nod, smile and nod.

2011!

Happy New Years!

{image from brainz.org}

I always try to make resolutions that are specific and can actually be accomplished.  For 2010, I kept it simple but meaningful and vowed to raise money for the Alzheimer's Association and walk in my Grandpa's name in our county's Memory Walk.  Thank you to all my friends and family that supported me.

For this year, I again want to keep it simple.  I'll have a new baby in tow along with my other 2 rambunctious boys. I'm still not sure if Cliff will be in night classes yet for work either.  Ahhhh!

#1:  Eat at home more!
It's borderline ridiculous how much we spend on take-out and going out to eat.  I completely blame pregnancy for this happening so much lately!  I want to find more recipes we all will like and are fast to make.  I want to find more options for Sammy to eat too since he's on the GFCF diet. 

#2:  More books for the kiddos!
I want to hit up more garage sales and get some new books in the house.  Dylan does Book It! for school and we've hit about 40 or so books and I'm running low on new ones to add to his list that are on his level.  Sammy has also quit eating and destroying books and really loves them.  I have tons for him at the moment, but Dylan's selection is seriously lacking.  If you have any books to recommend in the kindergarten - 1st grade level that boys will love, let me know!

#3:  Be more positive
I'm not a complete grump-a-lump or anything, but I want to feel more peace and happiness.  I figure the only way to feel that way is to act that way, right?  I am pretty sure this year will be tough for me - Dylan going to school, Sammy starting all these therapies for Autism, and then throwing in new Baby Brett to the mix - I don't want to go crazy!  So I'm going to look for the bright side in situations from now on - or at least try!

Happy Birthday Papa

Today would have been your 92nd birthday.  I can't remember how you sounded when you said my name anymore, but do still remember how you would say, "Shit, Billie!", which in a funny way cheers me up for forgetting the latter.

I would steer the tractor sitting on your knee while you would sing and whistle "Zippidy Doo Dah" in my ear. Yup, I still remember that.  You would put barrettes in my hair everyday for school, even though you were missing your right arm.  You could drive a stick, cut a steak, tie a tie - there was nothing you couldn't do.  I can still smell you - Old Spice, onions, fresh cut grass, and gasoline.

There will always be a hole in my heart that no one will fill.  I think to myself it would all be easier if it hadn't felt like you were already taken away from me early due to Alzheimer's.  I wish the greatest man in my life could have really met and given me his blessing when meeting the man I would marry the day I announced I was engaged.  Thank you for always making me feel like a princess, Papa.  You'll always be my Superman.