Saturday, October 26, 2013

A New Beginning, and a New Adversary

    

      Finally, after years of stopping and starting, and then months of editing, Spiderstalk was out the door and it was time to figure out what to do next. After giving it serious thought, I decided the only rational course of action was to buy a shiny new laptop.

      My previous laptop had served me well. It delivered two novels and an anthology of short stories, and that ain’t nothing to sneeze at. But the poor thing has been getting pretty long in the tooth. It has been getting slower to boot, slower to call up programs, and its Geek Squad warranty has expired. It wasn’t an easy decision, but I knew the time had come.

      So I gave the laptop to my wife and bought me a shiny new model with twice the power, memory, and a discreet video video card. Hey, I also do my own covers now so I need that video processing power. The fact it can also run all the cool 3D games out there is just a happy coincidence. Yep, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

      Anyway, I discovered my new laptop also came with a shiny new operating system called Windows 8.1. So it was with great enthusiasm that I fired it up and dove in to my new computing experience. And after about an hour of playing with my new toy, I formulated a helpful mental picture that conveys my impression of Microsoft’s new OS.

      Imagine that Bill Gates sticks his head out of your computer screen, sticks his thumbs in his ears, wiggles his fingers, and gives you a big wet raspberry right in the face.

      Yep, that pretty much sums it up. What kind of boneheaded company puts new “features” in an operating system and then doesn’t tell the customer how they work! I almost had to shut the machine down to exit a full screen app! Then I had to go to Youtube to figure out how to do it in the future. Why am I having to go to Youtube tofigure out how to run my operating system?! And what’s with the toobars that pop out of the side of the screen when my cursor gets to close? Seriously? How the hell is this an improvement over Windows 7?? The whole point of changing things is in order to improve them. Where is the improvement? And for God’s sake, explain the changes you made so we’ll know what the hell is going on! And what is this “app” nonsense anyway? Apps go on cell phones! On computers they are called PROGRAMS!

      GAAHHHH!!!!

      Oh well, I’m sure in a year’s time I will be competent with it and couldn’t imagine using anything else. (yeah, right) But the important thing is finding the stories this new baby will crank out…and if a little 3D gaming gets done on the side, no harm done :)

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Now Available! Spiderstalk!





    Life hasn't been kind to Adam Sellars lately...

   Over the past year he has broken up with his fiancee, barely survived a terrible car wreck, and had his brother's family vanish while he lay unconscious at the hospital. The only thing he has left of them is a frantic call in his cell phone's voice messages, along with the blurry photo of a spider.
 Since then he has been a crippled shell going through the motions of life with nothing but the search for his brother to keep him going.

   But Adam is about to discover things can still take a turn for the worse.


   Much worse.


   His quest for his lost brother has brushed up against a very dark corner of the world and something has come out of that darkness with an unholy vengeance. Something unbelievable. He can't fight it, he can't hide from it, and not even the police can protect him as his world descends into chaos.


   His only hope lies with a mysterious pair of strangers who have appeared out of nowhere with an offer of aid. But they have their own agenda, and his survival may not be their top priority. Now Adam must keep his wits about him and learn to believe in himself again as events send him on a collision course with a monster more horrific than he ever dreamed possible.


   Spiderstalk is now available at Amazon.com