Matthew Peterson's Parallel Worlds

We're back in our home!

2010-07-14T12:10:00.003-07:00

Hi there! Sorry for the delay in writing here. I've sent a few newsletters out, which you can read at http://theauthorhour/newsletter.php. After waiting a full year, we're finally back in our home that was destroyed in a fire. What a relief! Now I have the huge task of unpacking. Arrg! Here's a photo of our new and improved kitchen. My wife is feeling spoiled with her suspended island chairs, wood floor, upgraded cabinets and granite counters. I guess some good did come out of losing our home.

Also, check out my latest interview on TeensReadToo

Jim Butcher interview, Easter scorpion, G-Tube

2010-04-23T10:34:00.005-07:00

Jim Butcher’s interview aired on my show last week. He’s the #1 New York Times best-selling author who wrote the Dresden Files, which was adapted for TV on the Syfy (i.e. Si Fi) channel a while ago. I loved the show but it was cancelled after the first season, despite it doing very well with viewers. You can listen to Jim’s interview at http://TheAuthorHour.com/jim-butcher/

I don’t know how your Easter vacation was, but for my wife it ended badly. We were outside on the lawn when she suddenly jumped up and started hopping around yelping, "ouch, ouch, ouch!" I thought an ant had bit her, but upon closer observation I found a tiny scorpion. I was going to take a picture of it for the newsletter but someone smashed it into nothing. So the picture you see is not the one that stung her. It’s another scorpion that I killed in our garage when we first moved into our home a few years ago. It’s WAY bigger than the one that stung my wife. She felt the pain for several days. [see my newsletter for the picture]

We’ve been waiting for this moment for around three years now... Jared finally got his G-tube removed! If you asked him what it was, he'd say it's his "second belly button" or his "plastic belly button." We used that little thing to feed him. He no longer needs it! We've been so cautious for so long, it's going to take us some time to not be scared when we pick him up or hug him.

You can read more at my newsletter: http://www.paraworlds.com/newsletter/2010-04.php

The Author Hour - Speculative Fiction (Episode 15)

2010-02-04T19:11:00.004-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_25ioIe628

Join Matthew Peterson on an episode of The Author Hour: Your Guide to Fantastic Fiction devoted to speculative fiction. Meet Mary Pope Osborne (former Authors Guild president and #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Magic Tree House series, which have sold over 53 million copies), Cory Doctorow (one of the top web celebrities in the world and New York Times bestselling author of Little Brother and Makers), Mindy Klasky (the bestselling and award-winning author of Glasswrights, Jane Madison, and As You Wish series), and Garth Nix (the New York Times bestselling author of Old Kingdom, The Seventh Tower, and The Keys to the Kingdom series, which have sold 5 million copies). These bestselling authors will discuss their books and the future of publishing.

Speculative Fiction
- Mary Pope Osborne (#1 NYT bestselling Magic Tree House series, former Authors Guild president, 53 million books sold)
- Cory Doctorow (NYT bestselling Little Brother and Makers, Boing Boing blog, #5 Forbes top web celebs)
- Mindy Klasky (bestselling and award-winning Glasswrights, Jane Madison, and As You Wish series)
- Garth Nix (NYT bestselling Old Kingdom, The Seventh Tower, and Keys to the Kingdom series, 5 million sold)

Don't forget to visit http://www.theauthorhour.com/episode/15/ to catch the bonus questions that didn't air on the live show.

The Author Hour - Magic, Mystery and Zany Worlds (Episode 14)

2010-01-29T11:21:00.002-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjtMazNVUV0

Join Matthew Peterson on a fun episode of The Author Hour: Your Guide to Fantastic Fiction filled with magic, mystery and zany worlds with Daniel Handler a.k.a. Lemony Snicket (international bestselling author of A Series of Unfortunate Events with over 60 million books sold), Brandon Mull (New York Times bestselling author of the Fablehaven series and Candy Shop War), Maria V. Snyder (New York Times bestselling author of Poison Study, Magic Study and Fire Study, which have received two Audible Editor's Pick Awards), and Obert Skye (author of The Leven Thumps series, which have received the Benjamin Franklin, ForeWord Magazine, and iParenting Media Awards). Come listen to what these fantasy authors have to say about fiction for kids, teens and beyond.

Magic, Mystery and Zany Worlds
- Daniel Handler aka Lemony Snicket (A Series of Unfortunate Events, 60+ million books sold)
- Brandon Mull (NYT bestselling author of the Fablehaven series and Candy Shop War)
- Maria V. Snyder (NYT bestselling author of Fire Study, Booksense Pick, Audible Editor's Pick Award)
- Obert Skye (The Leven Thumps series, Benjamin Franklin, ForeWord Magazine & iParenting Media Award)

Visit http://TheAuthorHour.com/episode/14/ to catch bonus questions that didn't make it onto the live show.

The Author Hour - Dragons and Creatures (Episode 13)

2010-01-21T18:03:00.004-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXZ1itgd7eY

Join Matthew Peterson on a dragon and creature-themed episode of The Author Hour: Your Guide to Fantastic Fiction with Dean Koontz (world renown author of over twenty #1 New York Times bestselling books, including Odd Thomas and Dean Koontz's Frankenstein, with over 400 million copies sold), Christopher Paolini (international bestselling author of Eragon, which is now a movie), R. L. Stine (the #1 children's author in the world with over 300 million books sold. Author of Goosebumps and Fear Street), and Todd McCaffrey (the New York Times bestselling author who is continuing Anne McCaffrey's popular Dragonriders of Pern series). When it comes to dragons, creatures, and just good storytelling, these authors are at the very top of their genre.

Dragons and Creatures
- Dean Koontz (International bestselling author with over 400 million books sold)
- Christopher Paolini (International bestselling author of Eragon, now a movie)
- R. L. Stine (International bestselling author of Goosebumps, 300 million books sold)
- Todd McCaffrey (continuing Anne McCaffrey's bestselling Dragonriders of Pern series)

Visit http://TheAuthorHour.com/episode/13/ to catch bonus questions that didn't make it onto the live show.

The Author Hour - High Fantasy (Episode 12)

2010-01-14T09:00:00.003-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EgSUFDSjmU

Join Matthew Peterson on an episode of The Author Hour: Your Guide to Fantastic Fiction devoted to high fantasy. Meet some of the most respected authors in the high fantasy genre such as L. E. Modesitt Jr. (bestselling author of nearly 60 novels, including The Saga of Recluce series), Carol Berg (winner of the Mythopoeic, Prism, Geffen, and Colorado Book Awards), Dennis L. McKiernan (bestselling author of the Mithgar series and the "Once Upon" faery series), and Diana Pharaoh Francis (author of the Path, Crosspointe, and Horngate Witches series). This episode is sure to be filled with discussions about elves, warriors, magic, and epic quests.

High Fantasy
- L. E. Modesitt Jr. (bestselling author of nearly 60 novels, including The Saga of Recluce)
- Carol Berg (winner of the Mythopoeic, Prism, Geffen, and Colorado Book Awards)
- Dennis L. McKiernan (bestselling Mithgar series and the "Once Upon" faery series)
- Diana Pharaoh Francis (Path, Crosspointe, and Horngate Witches series)

The Author Hour - Military / Hard Science Fiction (Episode 11)

2010-01-07T09:00:00.001-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyNiRfCNHoI

Join Matthew Peterson on a futuristic episode of The Author Hour: Your Guide to Fantastic Fiction devoted to military and hard science fiction. Meet the leaders of the science fiction field such as David Weber (New York Times bestselling author of the Honor Harrington series), David Drake (bestselling author of the Hammer's Slammers series and Lord of the Isles series), Ben Bova (author of over 120 novels, winner of 6 Hugo awards, and former president of NSS and SFWA), and Joe Haldeman (former president of SFWA, author of The Forever War, and winner of 5 Hugo awards and 5 Nebula awards). Visit http://TheAuthorHour.com/episode/11/ to catch bonus questions that didnt make it onto the live show.

Military and Hard Science Fiction
- David Weber (NYT bestselling Honor Harrington series)
- David Drake (bestselling Hammer's Slammers series, Lord of the Isles series)
- Ben Bova (over 120 novels, 6 Hugo awards, former president of NSS and SFWA)
- Joe Haldeman (The Forever War, 5 Hugo Awards, 5 Nebula Awards, former president of SFWA)

The Author Hour - Children's Fiction (Episode 10)

2009-12-17T09:00:00.001-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpzyglsQZKQ

Join Matthew Peterson on another episode of The Author Hour: Your Guide to Fantastic Fiction devoted to children's fiction. Meet Kate DiCamillo (Newbery award-winning author of Because of Winn-Dixie, The Tale of Despereaux, and The Magician's Elephant), Bruce Coville (author of nearly 100 books, including My Teacher is an Alien and The Unicorn Chronicles. Over 12 million sold), Peter Morwood and Diane Duane (NY Times bestselling authors of over 50 books, including the Young Wizards series and Star Trek), and Tony Abbott (Golden Kite award recipient with over 10 million books sold. Author of over 80 books, including The Secrets of Droon). Come listen to what these world-renown authors have to say about fantasy and science fiction for middle-grade children and young adults.

Children's Fantasy
- Kate DiCamillo (Newbery award-winning author of Because of Winn-Dixie, The Tale of Despereaux)
- Bruce Coville (My Teacher is an Alien and The Unicorn Chronicles, 95+ books, over 12 million sold)
- Diane Duane & Peter Morwood (NYT bestsellers, Young Wizards series, Star Trek, over 50 books)
- Tony Abbott (The Secrets of Droon, Golden Kite award, 80+ books, over 10 million sold)

The Author Hour - Young Adult Fiction (Episode 9)

2009-12-10T09:00:00.001-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTZONSGHwlA

Join Matthew Peterson on an episode of The Author Hour: Your Guide to Fantastic Fiction devoted to young adult fiction. Meet James A. Owen (Here There be Dragons, Starchild comics), Frank Beddor (NYT bestselling Looking Glass Wars novels, producer of There's Something About Mary), John Flanagan (Ranger's Apprentice series) and James Dashner (The 13th Reality series, The Maze Runner, Borders Original Voices pick) as they talk about the art of writing books for teenage and pre-teenage audiences.

Young Adult Fantasy
- James A. Owen (Here There be Dragons, Starchild comics)
- Frank Beddor (NYT bestselling Looking Glass Wars novels, producer of There's Somthing About Mary)
- John Flanagan (Ranger's Apprentice series)
- James Dashner (The 13th Reality series, Borders Original Voices pick)

The Author Hour - Urban Fantasy (Episode 8)

2009-12-03T22:01:00.005-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgq4Z69EPdc

Join Matthew Peterson on a supernatural/urban fantasy-themed episode of The Author Hour: Your Guide to Fantastic Fiction with Sherrilyn Kenyon (#1 New York Times bestselling author of the Dark-Hunter series with over 20 million books in print), Patricia Briggs (#1 New York Times bestselling author of the Mercy Thompson series), Kelley Armstrong (New York Times bestselling author of the Women of the Otherworld series and the Darkest Powers series), and Charles de Lint (musician and award-winning author of the Newford series). These popular urban fantasy authors will discuss their writing of supernatural creatures like witches, vampires, and werewolves.

Urban Fantasy and Supernatural Characters
- Sherrilyn Kenyon (AKA Kinley MacGregor, #1 NYT bestselling author, 20 million books in print)
- Patricia Briggs (#1 NYT bestselling author of Mercedes Thompson and Alpha and Omega series)
- Kelley Armstrong (NYT bestselling author of The Otherworld series and Darkest Powers series)
- Charles de Lint (award-winning author of over 60 books)

Also, last week I had a "Best of" episode with the bonus questions that never aired on previous episodes. I also had a special guest, Esther Friesner.

Nov 26 (Thanksgiving): Best of the Bonus Questions
- A collage of favorite bonus questions that didn't air on the previous live shows
- Esther Friesner (bestselling author, Nebula award winner, and editor)

The Author Hour - Vampires (Episode 6)

2009-11-18T14:07:00.003-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMK-8xuBHEo

Join Matthew Peterson on a vampire-themed episode of The Author Hour: Your Guide to Fantastic Fiction as he interviews P. C. Cast and her daughter Kristin Cast (#1 bestselling authors of the House of Night series. P.C. has won the Prism, Holt Medallion, Daphne du Maurier, and Laurel Wreath awards), Charlaine Harris (international bestselling author of the Aurora Teagarden, Lily Bard, Harper Connelly, and Sookie Stackhouse series, which is now a popular TV series on HBO called True Blood), Laurell K. Hamilton (#1 New York Times bestselling author of the Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series and the Meredith Gentry series, with over 7 million books in print), and L. J. Smith (#1 New York Times bestselling author of Night World, Dark Visions, and The Vampire Diaries, which is now a hit TV series on The CW).

Vampires
- P. C. Cast and Kristin Cast (NYT bestselling authors of the House of Night series)
- Charlaine Harris (NYT bestselling Sookie Stackhouse series / True Blood on HBO)
- Laurell K. Hamilton (#1 NYT bestselling author of Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter & Meredith Gentry)
- L. J. Smith (#1 NYT bestselling Dark Visions, Night World and The Vampire Diaries, now a TV series)

The Author Hour - Fantasy & Science Fiction Classics (Episode 5)

2009-11-12T09:00:00.000-07:00

Nov 12: Fantasy and Science Fiction Classics
- Anne Rice (International bestselling Vampire Chronicles and Mayfair Witches, 100 million sold)
- Ursula K. Le Guin (The Earthsea Cycle, Newbery/National Book/World Fantasy/Nebula/Hugo awards)
- Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson (NYT bestselling Dune, X-Files, Star Wars, Superman/Batman)
- Orson Scott Card (Bestselling Ender's Game, John W. Campbell award, multiple Hugo/Nebula winner)

Anne Rice, Ursula K. Le Guin, Kevin J. Anderson, Brian Herbert, and Orson Scott Card join Matthew Peterson on a memorable episode of The Author Hour: Your Guide to Fantastic Fiction. Meet the world-famous authors whove given us classics like Interview with the Vampire, A Wizard of Earthsea, Enders Game, and books set in the Dune, Star Wars, Batman, and Superman universes. Meet Anne Rice (one of the most-read authors in the world with around 100 million books sold), Ursula K. Le Guin (winner of the National Book Award, Nebula, Hugo, Locus, Newbery Silver Medal, etc.), Kevin J. Anderson and Brian Herbert (NY Times best-selling co-authors of over ten Dune novels), and Orson Scott Card (the only author to ever win both the Hugo and the Nebula Awards two years in a row). And dont forget to visit http://TheAuthorHour.com to catch bonus questions that didnt make it onto the live show.

The Author Hour - Quests and Adventure (Episode 4)

2009-11-05T09:00:00.000-07:00

Nov 5: Quests and Adventure
- Terry Brooks (NYT bestselling Sword of Shannara, Magic Kingdom of Landover, 30+ million sold in the U.S.)
- Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis (NYT bestselling Dragonlance series, 22+ million sold)
- R. A. Salvatore (NYT bestselling author of The DemonWars Saga, Forgotten Realms, 10+ million sold)
- Brandon Sanderson (continuing Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series which sold 50+ million copies)

Terry Brooks, Tracy Hickman, Margaret Weis, R. A. Salvatore, and Brandon Sanderson join Matthew Peterson on a quest and adventure-themed episode of The Author Hour: Your Guide to Fantastic Fiction. Meet the masters of traditional fantasy: Terry Brooks (NY Times best-selling author of The Sword of Shannara and Magic Kingdom of Landover), Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis (NY Times best-selling authors of the Dragonlance series), R. A. Salvatore (NY Times best-selling author of The DemonWars Saga and Forgotten Realms), and Brandon Sanderson (NY Times best-selling author of the Mistborn and Alcatraz series and continuing the late Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series). Combined, these authors have sold well over 100 million books: enough for each household in the United States to own a copy! Dont forget to visit http://TheAuthorHour.com to catch bonus questions that didnt make it onto the live show.

The Author Hour - Faeries (Episode 3)

2009-10-29T09:00:00.000-07:00

Oct 29: Faeries
- Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi (#1 NYT bestselling Spiderwick Chronicles)
- Melissa Marr (NYT bestselling author of Wicked Lovely, Ink Exchange, and Fragile Eternity)
- Maggie Stiefvater (NYT Bestselling author of Shiver, Ballad, & Lament)
- Aprilynne Pike (#1 NYT bestselling author of Wings, optioned Disney movie with Miley Cyrus)

Tony DiTerlizzi, Holly Black, Melissa Marr, Maggie Stiefvater and Aprilynne Pike join Matthew Peterson on a Faerie-themed episode of The Author Hour: Your Guide to Fantastic Fiction. Come listen to these five New York Times best-selling authors as they discuss the enchanted worlds they've created. Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black give insights on the final Spiderwick Chronicles novel, The Wyrm King, as well as the popular Spiderwick movie. Melissa Marr takes us deep into her dark series: Wicked Lovely, Ink Exchange and Fragile Eternity. Maggie Stiefvater shows us the beauty and dangers of Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception and Ballad: A Gathering of Faerie, while her unique werewolf love story, Shiver, gives us the chills. Aprilynne Pike delves into her debut novel, Wings, which hit #1 on the NY Times bestseller list and was optioned by Walt Disney with Miley Cyrus tagged for the lead role. And don't forget to visit http://TheAuthorHour.com to catch bonus questions that didn't make it onto the live show.

The Author Hour - Strong Female Characters (Episode 2)

2009-10-22T09:00:00.000-07:00

Oct 22: Strong Female Characters / Romantic Elements
- Diana Gabaldon (International bestselling author of the Outlander series, 15+ million sold)
- Meg Cabot (#1 NYT bestselling Princess Diaries, Airhead, Allie Finkle's Rules, 15+ million sold)
- Shannon Hale (NYT bestselling/Newbery Honor author of Princess Academy, ALA Teens' Top Ten)
- Kristin Cashore (NYT bestselling Graceling, Publishers Weekly and SLJ Best Book of the Year)

Diana Gabaldon, Meg Cabot, Shannon Hale and Kristin Cashore join Matthew Peterson on a strong female-driven episode of The Author Hour: Your Guide to Fantastic Fiction. International best-selling authors Diana Gabaldon (Outlander series, Rita Award for Best Novel from the Romance Writers of America) and Meg Cabot (Princess Diaries, Airhead, Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls) have each sold over 15 million books. New York Times best-selling author Shannon Hale (Princess Academy, Bayern series) received the Newbery Honor and Josette Frank Award, plus her book hit the American Library Association's Top Ten Books for Young Adults list. Kristin Cashore's novel Graceling is a Publishers Weekly, School Library Journal and Amazon Best Book of the Year, plus it received the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award and the SIBA Book Award. Come listen to these wonderful authors on The Author Hour. And don't forget to visit http://TheAuthorHour.com to catch bonus questions that didn't make it onto the live show.

The Author Hour - Satire, Puns and Humor (Episode 1)

2009-10-15T14:36:00.000-07:00

Oct 15: Satire, Puns, and Humor
- Terry Pratchett (International bestselling author of the Discworld series, 65 million sold)
- Eoin Colfer (NYT bestselling author of Artemis Fowl, continuing The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy)
- Jody Lynn Nye (continuing Robert Asprin's Myth-Adventures series)
- Piers Anthony (NYT bestselling author of the Xanth series)

Terry Pratchett, Eoin Colfer, Jody Lynn Nye and Piers Anthony join Matthew Peterson on a fun-filled episode of The Author Hour: Your Guide to Fantastic Fiction. Meet some of the funniest authors of our time, including Terry Pratchett (international bestselling author of the Discworld series with over 65 million books sold), Eoin Colfer (NY Times bestselling author of the Artemis Fowl series as well as the highly anticipated conclusion to Douglas Adams' The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy entitled And Another Thing), Jody Lynn Nye (continuing Robert Asprin's Myth-Adventures series and co-author of several novels with Anne McCaffrey), and Piers Anthony (NY Times bestselling author of the Xanth series). Millions of fans have enjoyed the satire, puns, and laugh-out-loud humor from their books. Now come and hear what these authors have to say on The Author Hour. And dont forget to visit http://TheAuthorHour.com to catch bonus questions that didnt make it onto the live show.

Interviews with top Fantasy / Science Fiction Authors

2009-10-15T08:03:00.000-07:00

My new radio show launched on October 15th, 2009 and includes the top fiction authors of our day, including Terry Pratchett, Meg Cabot, Terry Brooks, Diana Gabaldon, Anne Rice, Ursula K. Le Guin, Orson Scott Card, Eoin Colfer, Charlaine Harris, Kate DiCamillo, and dozens more! Catch the free online show at http://TheAuthorHour.com (every episode is archived and transcribed for your convenience). Tell your friends, family, and even your dog about it!

My TV Interview with PBS

2009-08-24T17:45:00.003-07:00

I just got back from doing a TV interview with PBS (KUAT) Arizona Illustrated. Watch it at
http://tv.azpm.org/kuat/segments/2009/8/24/kuat-matthew-peterson-author/

One Month After the Fire

2009-08-13T11:39:00.000-07:00

I’m entitling this picture, "One Month After the Fire." Sad thing is that this is only three weeks growth for my beard. I know what you’re thinking. My poor wife! Well, she had a cold sore, so our marriage is still intact. I hate shaving. I’m the type of guy who gets his 5 o’clock shadow before lunch.

Here's me shaving off that beard like a real man! I don’t suggest using a sharp knife like this to shave off a beard. My boys call that knife "the machete." They’re afraid to even touch it, and for good reason. After trying and trying to shave off my beard, my wife finally buzzed it off with an electric razor for cutting hair. Good riddance!

FiestaCon Photos

2009-08-13T11:34:00.003-07:00

FiestaCon Photos
With my house catching on fire, I forgot to post anything about the FiestaCon that I was attending that same weekend. Here are some photos I took with some of the authors.

Matt Peterson and Eric Flint

Diana Gabaldon, Aprilynne Pike, Matt Peterson

Janni Lee Simner and Matthew Peterson

As a side note.... I'm not sure if there's much more that could happen to this boy of ours! But he just got glasses. Our friends say he looks "distinguished." He's had surgery on both eyes in the past, but we always thought his vision was fine. I guess not. Now I joke that when he puts his glasses on, half of his family disappears. When he used to have two sets of twin brothers, now he only has one set. His whole life has been turned upside down!

Life Goes On

2009-07-25T10:09:00.001-07:00

It’s been nearly three weeks since our house caught fire and we’ve finally moved into a rental home! Fortunately, it’s only 1.4 miles from our old home, which means our kids will still go to the same school as before. Yeah! It’s about 1,200 square feet smaller than the house we own, but it’ll be fine for six months... if we can get the reeking pet smell to go away. I’m going to try to convert the dining room into my office. Once summer is over the kids won’t be at home, so that’ll help. It has a big backyard and a swimming pool, so that’ll keep the kids out of my hair when I’m trying to work.

Last week, Alicia got stuck really bad by a rusty nail in our house and had to go to the urgent care for a tetanus shot. Then the next day I got summoned to jury duty. When it rains, it pours!

I’ve spent the last few days backing up our family videos. Our HD video camera melted, but most of the tapes were tucked away in my office and survived. I’m finding that many of the tapes will play with just a little stuttering, while a few are causing me some grief. I had to buy a new camcorder (close to the same model) just to see if the tapes would still play. I had some of our older (8mm tapes) backed up onto DVDs, but one of the DVDs (the most important one, of course, of our wedding and first few months of marriage) refuses to work. I’ve tried 4 DVD drives and only one of them will even recognize my DVD-Rs, so I’ve been busy backing them up. I’ve got hundreds of them, so this might take a while. Well, that’s it for now.

My House Caught on Fire (no kidding)

2009-07-06T23:15:00.004-07:00

I have quite a few things to post, but I'll just post one thing for now. Why don't I post the most recent item first? Um... let's see... Oh, yeah! My house nearly burnt down yesterday and we lost almost everything. Everyone is safe and by some miracle I was able to salvage my computer (though, I've been told it'll probably die because of the acid in the smoke).

When I opened the front door, I saw a wall of thick smoke from the ceiling to the floor. I held my breath and ran in because I knew it was our new electric skillet that must have caused the smoke (I had just bought on eBay one of those "waterless" skillets that you can put on low for up to 18 hours, like a crock-pot. Mine must have been defective. All I can say is that the guy I bought it from is going to get an interesting review from me!). I didn't hear or see any fire. I guess I was dumb. I thought maybe I could just unplug it, but after a few steps (or crawls), I realized that the entire two-story house was completely filled with smoke (plus I couldn't see anything and the smoke went up my nose. Mental note: plug your nose next time you run into a house on fire), so I backtracked it out of there. I now understand how people can die just a few feet away from their doorway. It was nothing like in the movies, except for the aftereffects when we saw the damage. By some strange luck, the fire ate up all the oxygen and put itself out. Then like in Backdraft (the movie), it got superheated (so hot it melted our fire alarms into goo and popped the nails out of the drywall). Needless to say, the whole house and almost everything inside was ruined by the smoke, water hoses, and the firemen. One person roughly estimated the damages to be between $250,000 and $300,000, but we won't find out for a while what the real figure is. It'll probably take six months to rebuild.

Fortunately, 7 fire trucks showed up within minutes. When they opened the back door, the fire ignited again, but they were able to put it out pretty quickly. Half of our kitchen is gone, but the flames didn't get past the linoleum. We were VERY lucky the actual fire didn't spread. Our neighbors said they could smell the smoke for an hour before we showed up!

My wife had turned the skillet on low three hours earlier. Sad thing is that the skillet was an anniversary gift that she had accidently discovered, so I allowed her to use it early. I guess now she's getting a new kitchen instead for our anniversary (errr... Christmas, by the time it's all fixed).

What's ironic is that a couple years ago when all those bad things were happing to us in a short period of time (i.e. I lost my job of 6 years, Alicia went to the hospital for a month while I started a new business working 20 hours a day and taking care of our 4 small kids, Jared was born with all those issues and had heart, eye, testicle, gastro surgery, Jacob took poison, Alicia split her pelvis and was crippled for a month, I lost a couple years worth of money because of a fluke incident with my new business, etc.), I told people that the only thing left was for our house to burn down. Looks like it just took a little time to happen. We're all fine, though. Just tired and frustrated. We hired a public adjuster to help "fight" the insurance company for us. Already, the insurance company is giving us grief. Can you believe when we called them up (about 3 PM on Sunday), they said someone would call us back by the end of the next business day?! Didn't even ask us if we had a place for our family of seven to stay for the night! They even ended the call with, "Have a happy day!" Yeah... as we watch the smoke billowing from our house.

Cammy, the ex-Communist Russian Tortoise

2009-06-17T11:33:00.001-07:00

We got a new member of the family last month: a Russian Tortoise (at least, we’re pretty sure she’s a Russian). I jokingly named her Commie (after the old communist Russia), but my wife quickly put an end to that and renamed her Cammy (my wife keeps me in line). From the photo, you can see that she’s simply gorgeous.

One of my nieces found her while cleaning out a foreclosed/abandoned home. Cammy lives in our backyard now with our other tortoises. Samson, our 50-pound African tortoise, was very interested in her (perhaps too interested) but she ran away from him in terror. I’d be scared too if someone 25 times my weight started trailing after me. I’m sure they’ll get along... eventually. Samson is the friendliest tortoise you’ll ever meet: He eats out of our hand, comes when we call him (sometimes), and is always following us around. He even opened our glass sliding door once (it was slightly ajar – just enough for him to get his arm in) so he could come into the house!

Tortoise Facts: Many tortoises can go days/weeks without water. They get it from the moisture in their food, which consists mainly of weeds, hay, and grass. We happen to have 30-by-30 square feet of dichondra (clover grass) in our backyard, which happens to be their favorite thing to eat. Our African Spurred (Sulcata) tortoise also loves fruit and vegetables. He begs for them at our back door, but a zookeeper told me recently that he shouldn't have fruits more than 3 times a week.

Winner of the Indie Excellence Book Awards!

2009-05-11T10:49:00.004-07:00

I was just informed that Paraworld Zero is a winner of the Indie Excellence Book Awards in the DVD-Fiction category (includes the audiobook and E-Book).

http://www.indieexcellence.com/indie-results-2009.php#32

That brings the total awards/honors Paraworld Zero has received to 13!

A Mormon Author's Perspective of the Twilight Series Getting Removed from Deseret Book

2009-05-02T14:48:00.005-07:00

Originally posted HERE

I couldn't resist. Here's an interesting article about how the Twilight books were taken off the shelves of the Deseret Bookstores because of customer complaints.
http://www.sltrib.com/themix/ci_12193772

Since I'm an active LDS (i.e. Mormon) author, I thought I'd give my two cents about the whole issue. First off, I have shopped at Deseret Book (a large chain of bookstores, which are affiliated with the LDS church. They also publish some books.) and I will tell you that in general the prices are pretty high and the selection is limited to Mormon-oriented or appropriate books, pictures, etc. Since it’s a Christian bookstore, they offer books about Jesus Christ, uplifting stories and paintings, some crafts, church movies, scriptures, family and parenting materials, missionary stuff, and a small selection of fiction (mostly fantasy/sci-fi) for children and young adults, which happens to consist mainly of books from their imprint (Shadow Mountain) and other LDS authors (Stephenie Meyer, Orson Scott Card, etc.).

They serve a niche market, and their customers expect certain things from them... namely, spiritually driven material or at least suitable material for families (G or PG rated). Unfortunately, Twilight apparently doesn't fit the bill. They're still selling Twilight by special order, so they're not turning their backs completely. This is not censorship. It's business. When enough CUSTOMERS complain, businesses listen. Obviously, enough mothers complained.

Now I will say that I have read the Twilight books, and I did enjoy many parts of them. I don’t want you to think that I’m knocking the author, since I do respect Stephenie Meyer (she went to the same college as me, belongs to the same church as me, is close to my age, and even lives a few miles from me). For adults, I think the Twilight series is fine, but some material might not be too great for children. Objectionable material for Mormons (which is probably not the same for other churches) include the following:
1. Bella is a poor role model because she's shallow, self-absorbed (in most respects), is absolutely infatuated (she falls in “love” with Edward without first becoming friends or even getting to know him, but she sure notices his perfect body over and over and over and over and... you get the point. This infatuation negatively affects her life as she avoids her other friends, doesn’t want to continue with her schooling, and yearns to become a vampire and give up her life/family and possibly become a murderer to maintain her obsession for Edward), has a bad attitude toward marriage, and begs several times in book 3 for premarital sex (repeatedly says "please!" when she’s begging for it).
2. On many occasions, Edward sneaks into Bella’s bedroom (sometimes without her even knowing it) and stares at her while she sleeps. What Mormon parent would approve of a boy sneaking into their daughter’s bedroom at night to watch them sleep?
3. Dating just one person exclusively and going on non-group dates while in high school is frowned upon in the LDS church. So also is a boy and a girl being alone in a bedroom. Make-out sessions, which Bella and Edward do (or at least attempt to do) in her bedroom and other places, are also inappropriate in the LDS church. Edward is infatuated with kissing her neck. Not too many active LDS moms would like that for their teenage daughter.
4. The couple sex scenes in book 4 were not too graphic, but they are probably not the best reading material for 13-year olds, since the writing can elicit inappropriate thoughts as the main characters skinny dip and as Edward shreds Bella’s lingerie from her naked and bruised body.
5. Gruesome birth scene (ribs snapping, blood, screaming, tearing of flesh, etc.)
6. Minor swearing by the main characters. This is a bigger issue for Mormons than for most people.
7. Creepy that a 100+ year old man is obsessed with a teenager girl.
8. Drinking blood, killing, minor violence (I actually would have liked to see more... ha ha... but that's just me. A final battle would have been nice.).
9. Sexual tension between teenagers (see #1-4 above).

Though most people don't bat an eye about the above list, many active Mormons do. Twilight in itself isn't R-rated material. In fact, it's probably more PG than PG-13, and that's why Deseret Book IS STILL SELLING IT... but in a limited way. They have the right to choose which books go onto their shelves and which don't, especially since they have a niche audience and only room for a handful of fantasy books. Since the most offensive material shows up in book 4 (i.e. sex scenes between “teenagers,” albeit married ones, and a gruesome birth), that might be a reason they've finally chosen to take the books off the shelves. Honestly, it probably happened because of some outspoken mothers, but it was enough to tip the camel.

My personal opinion of the Twilight books is that they're suitable for adults and older teens. Actually, I'm not sure if I would like my teens (when I get teens) reading the fourth book, but I tend to be ultra-conservative when it comes to sexual material. I like to keep my kids away from material that may trigger feelings and desires that are contrary to the church's teachings (i.e. Bella doesn’t see anything wrong with pre-marital sex). There are so many triggers for immoral behavior and addictions to porn in this world, so why add fuel to the fire?

As for the stories themselves, I thought the first three books were only slightly above average (Sorry! I’m a guy and can only handle reading about another guy’s muscles and perfect features for so long before wanting to throw up.). Each book was better than the previous one. Bella’s immaturity, self-absorption, and infatuation got on my nerves at times, especially when Edward dumps her in book two and she becomes so overwhelmed with emotion that she faints onto the cold forest floor and remains in a dazed and catatonic stupor all night long while search parties are looking for her (reality check, please!). Jacob’s rude personality transformation from book one to book two and so on was so grating, I found myself longing to get back into Bella’s point of view, especially in book 4. Jacob really became a jerk, but he started out so nice. The bad guys, on the other hand, were all very well done. I’d say the parts with the bad guys (which were few and far between) were the main reason I kept reading.

Similar to a piano, Stephenie Meyer has mastered several important keys like characterization, introducing unique ideas that appeal to teenage girls, and creating interesting bad guys, but she needs to learn to play some of the other keys like ending a book with a stronger climax, building more suspense, bringing in the bad guys more often (more than just at the very end of each book), and using less cliched and predictable story elements. There was so much characterization/drama that the story itself almost felt like an afterthought at times. Again, Stephenie got better at this as the books progressed.

Overall, I would have liked more action and less talk about Edward's chiseled body (thankfully, the fourth book toned down the Edward-infatuation a lot). Breaking Dawn actually kept my interest more than the others, but the ending could have been more exciting with a little fighting. It was still satisfactory, but I wanted to see some blood after all the build-up. It was almost anti-climactic. She could have kept the same ending... after a little bit of fighting.

Don’t get me wrong. The books did have some good points to them, and I can see why so many people like them. They had some great bad guys and romantic tension. They also brought some unique aspects to the old and tired vampire/werewolf cliche. I did find them very predictable though. Also, the endings fell flat. Too much time was spent on the romance, and not enough on the story. I’m not sad that I read them, but romance/vampires just isn’t my favorite genre. Actually, these were the first “romance” books I’ve ever read, so perhaps romance novels all suffer from these same things. I wouldn’t know.

Foreword Magazine Book of the Year Finalist!

2009-03-12T14:22:00.000-07:00

Paraworld Zero became a Foreword Magazine Book of the Year finalist in the audiobook category. I'll find out in a month or two if it won.

http://forewordmagazine.com/botya/search2k8.aspx?srchtype=category&srchval=5

Check out my latest newsletter at
http://www.paraworlds.com/newsletter/2009-03.php

Finished Writing Book 2 in the Parallel Worlds Series!

2009-02-28T14:14:00.000-07:00

This week (Thursday 2/26/09 to be exact) I finally finished writing the first draft of the second book in the Parallel Worlds series. It will probably be called The School of Magical Learning... or simply Magical Learning.

It ended up being 96,000 words. My goal was to make it 80,000 words, but 1 of the chapters from my outline ended up becoming 5 chapters! Paraworld Zero (book 1) was 100,000 words long, so this isn't too bad, but when you compare the word count (roughly 400 printed pages) to typical young adult novels, it's a little too long. I feel very confident with what I've written so far, so I don't plan on cutting out chapters.

I tend to edit while I write, so that probably was a factor for the extra time it took for me to write it. Book 1 took 1 year, but that was with a full time job. Book 2 took me 5 months, but I had several weeks of interruptions with conventions, holidays, and school visits.

I'm very excited for the next step of creating my new author friendly website and doing my edits. I feel confident that I'll be able to sell this manuscript much quicker than the first one. My first book hit 2 bestseller lists and placed in 10 contests, but I feel that this new book is even better than the first.

Major Dental Work

2009-02-12T11:42:00.004-07:00

I just posted my latest newsletter on my site. Read it at http://www.paraworlds.com/newsletter/2009-02.php

Here's a snippet:

Thud-Thud-Thud Crash! Look, Mommy, No Teeth!

Okay, so now that the pain was finally subsiding on his ankle, he just got some MAJOR dental work done this week. They pulled out his two front teeth, gave him six crowns, and filled three or four cavities. The kid's only two years old! That’s what happens when you don’t use your mouth to eat or drink for an extended period of time (he still gets some of his food from a tube at night). Fortunately, the government footed the bill because of his special needs. I can't imagine how much that would have been. He was at the office for 8 hours. They had to get a special anesthesiologist to put him under, and the surgery took like 3 hours.

What can I say? Brush those teeth . . . even if you’re not using them!

Thud-Thud-Thud Crash!

2009-02-03T11:49:00.000-07:00

The other day I heard some loud tumbling noises coming from the stairs. I suddenly realized that my 2-year old who just learned to climb the stairs had fallen from the top all the way to the bottom. He hurt his ankle really bad, but the doctors haven’t been able to determine anything, even after 3 x-rays. He won’t put any weight on it, though, so it’s at least sprained. He won’t even go near the stairs now. What’s sad is that he kept asking to walk with assistance, because he had forgotten that his foot was hurt. Poor kid. This will set him back now on his learning to walk. Bummer.

Coincidence or Devine Intervention?

2009-01-30T09:12:00.000-07:00

The other day we finally broke down and got our air conditioning unit fixed. It's been down for a few months now. We live in Arizona, and our house would become an oven in the summer if we didn’t get it fixed. It ended up costing us $1,600, which is very bad for someone who isn’t getting a steady income and is living off of savings. Well, someone up there is definitely looking after us, since that very day a school contacted me out of the blue and asked me to come talk to their students. After my fee and selling books to the kids, I usually end up with $800 per local school visit. Well, that would cover half of my A/C bill. The next day, another local school contacted me and asked me to come visit their students. There’s the second half of our A/C bill! All I can say is that the Lord is watching over my family.

More Crazy Dreams!

2009-01-08T14:00:00.000-07:00

Okay, so in my last blog I mentioned that I had a dream that I was black. I said that next time I'll probably have a dream that I'm Japanese. I originally wrote Indian, but then erased that and put "Japanese." I must have planted the seed because last week I had a dream that I was an ancient Indian escaping from an invading tribe. Oh, boy! Make it stop! I wake up in the morning feeling like I've running a marathon all night.

Anyway, I also wanted to say that my January Newsletter is out.
http://www.paraworlds.com/newsletter/2009-01.php

I have another homework assignment for you all, and it should only take sixty seconds. Before Jan 14th, go to http://critters.org/predpoll/novelsf.shtml and click the "Paraworld Zero" button (the books are in alphabetical order), then scroll down to the bottom of the page, type in your name and email, click "Submit Data," then check your email and click on the link they send you for the confirmation of your vote. They'll delete your email after the contest is over. Have a wonderful 2009!

Don't Know if I'm Black or White!

2009-01-02T09:45:00.002-07:00

My dreams lately have been so vivid. Most of them make me feel like I’ve been running a marathon when I wake up. Needless to say, my sleep hasn’t been very restful lately. They’ve been ranging from black and white to sci-fi to drama. But the latest dream was the most unique one of all. I dreamt I was a black man escaping from prison. It occurred to me that I’ve never had a dream where I was black. I wonder if black people ever have dreams of being white. Tomorrow, I’ll probably be Japanese. Who knows!

Happy New Years everyone!

2 More Awards for Paraworld Zero!

2008-12-31T14:50:00.001-07:00

Wow, I was checking my spam email folders today and discovered that Paraworld Zero just got 1st place in the E-Book and Audiobook categories of the DIY Book Festival. That brings the total to 9 contests my YA fantasy novel has placed in! Some of the big contests are coming up, so I'm really crossing my fingers. Baker & Taylor (a popular distributor) has my 10-CD audiobook in stock right now, so that's a good sign. Amazon.com and BarnesAndNoble.com just lowered their prices as well for my audiobook, so I followed suit on my website. Go to http://ParaWorlds.com/audio/ to listen to the first chapter. It's also on audible.com and iTunes.

My Smoky, Stinky Christmas

2008-12-26T09:55:00.001-07:00

Originally posted HERE

Since this was going to be a light Christmas for us, I was shocked at how many presents my wife had miraculously come up with for our 5 boys. Turns out that she had bought a bunch of things 10 years ago when we first got married but never gave them to our kids. So even though we didn’t spend much this year, our boys still got a nice stash of toys. I gave them 14 DVDs crammed with cartoons. That’ll keep em busy for a while.

Two interesting things happened on Christmas: 1. Some secret Santa dropped off a sack of toys at our door, after we had already opened our presents. This wasn’t just a meager gift . . . this was a full blown Christmas in a sack. We decided to keep most of the toys for future birthdays. Looks like Santa dropped his sack when he was flying over our house! 2. One of my twins decided to microwave a little bean bag, and it pretty much set fire to our microwave and smoked out our entire house. I spent the night opening windows, fanning smoke, and moving around our ozone filters to get rid of the smell. It’s still pretty strong. My wife was very upset because all she wanted to do was sleep. I had only gotten 3 hours of sleep on Christmas Eve, but I wasn’t tired so I stayed up until 4:30 AM. Too much Christmas spirit lingering around, I guess! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, and I hope you all have a happy New Year.

Paraworld Zero Places in 2 More Contests!

2008-12-14T20:51:00.001-07:00

This week, Paraworld Zero placed in two contests: 1st place in the London Book Festival (E-Book category) and Honorable Mention in the New England Book Festival (Audio Book category).

That brings the total to 7 book/audiobook contests Paraworld Zero has placed in. Not bad. I'm hoping it'll place in a few more contests next year.

Go to http://ParaWorlds.com/audio/ to listen to the first chapter.

I Need Your Help

2008-12-09T15:37:00.003-07:00

I Need Your Help: Must . . . Get . . . Reviews!

Paraworld Zero is finally on iTunes and Audible (the largest audiobook website in the world). Yahoo!

Use the special links above to get it for the best price. With those links, the downloadable audiobook is even cheaper than the paperback edition. Crazy! You can also get the physical audiobook from your local bookstore (ask them to order it for you), directly from me (Click Here), or from Amazon.

My audiobook is already getting good reviews, but I need your support. If you've ever read or listened to Paraworld Zero, please do me a favor and give it a short review and nice rating on AudibleKids.com (it doesn't cost anything). Thanks for your support!

Places to Post Book Reviews: There are a ton of places online to post your book reviews, but Amazon and Barnes & Noble are the biggest ones around. Go to http://ParaWorlds.com/reviews/ for a list of sites to post your book reviews.

Also, I just sent my December newsletter: http://www.paraworlds.com/newsletter/2008-12.php

My Interview on NarniaFans.com

2008-12-04T09:28:00.006-07:00

Originally posted HERE

I was interviewed by Paul Martin, the owner of NarniaFans.com, the other day. You can read the full interview at http://www.narniafans.com/archives/1671

Paul said he might be able to help me with my video trailer. Remember a LONG time ago I said I was going to revamp the trailer and use my additional footage? Life just got in the way. I've actually had a couple people offer to help with my website, but I've been too busy to even take them up on their offers.

I have some more videos that I'll post on YouTube in the next little while. Basically videos of the panels I was on at various conventions going back to 2007. Whew! Check the video section of my website in a couple of weeks from now.

Lastly, Book 2 is coming along nicely. I hope to have it finished by the end of this month.

Florida visit and going to Utah next week... again

2008-11-24T09:58:00.002-07:00

[I wrote this over the weekend]

I'm in an Orlando hotel right now, so my Internet isn't so great. Tomorrow will be the last day of the Tri County Comic Book Convention / Jani Con. The hotel is massive and absolutely beautiful. It's the largest Marriott in the country. I've never been in such a huge hotel before. Surprisingly enough, the rooms aren't that expensive, compared to the hotels I've stayed at with all the other book events. I'm guessing that's because we're so close to Disney World, Universal Studios, etc. BUT where they get you is by the amenities. I'm looking at the breakfast menu and it's $5 for a simple orange, plus 20% service charge, $3 trip charge and tax and tip. When you're all done, you've spent like $10 for a 20 cent orange. Shouldn't oranges be cheaper in Florida? You'd think. Anyway, that's just an example (their cheapest breakfast meal will run you over $20). Needless to say, I haven't been eating at the hotel! The convention promoter was kind enough to take me out to dinner tonight.

Last night I had dinner with Lori Alan (Sponge Bob, Fantastic 4, Family Guy, etc.) and Gregg Berger (Garfield, GI Joe, Transformers, etc.). What wonderful people. Since I just did my audiobook, it was fun picking their brains. I don't plan on going into voice acting, but I'm sure I would do well with it, since doing character voices comes very natural to me, especially anime-type voices. (My biggest complaint with my audiobook was that I had more voices I could have done but no suitable characters to fit those voices–and that's after doing like 70 male voices!).

I'm surprised at how fast I was able to create friendships with the other celebrities. While I was waiting for the shuttle to take me to the hotel, I struck up a conversation with a woman and soon found out that she was Lori Alan, one of the fellow celebs for the convention. What a coincidence.

Oh, before I hit the hay, I need to mention that I'm visiting Utah next week. I might do a school visit.

P.S.

At the airport home, I met some triplet 13-year-old girls (and 2 of their younger siblings), who ended up buying my book and talking to me for an hour or two. Then on the airplane home, I ended up talking to the TV producer of PBS and a radio show in Arizona, so he's going to book me for the shows. What an eventful trip!

Too tired to write anything sensible

2008-11-10T22:43:00.002-07:00

You know you're tired when you spend 30 seconds trying to remember the name of the main character you just wrote about. AHHH! Where's my brain gone!

Looks like I'm going to Utah again at the end of this month. Hopefully, I'll get at least one school visit in before I leave. But before that, I'm heading on to Florida for the Tri County Comic Con. Should be fun. I hope to sell a lot of books.

On a totally weirdo note: I just got my 30,000th visitor today on my website: www.ParaWorlds.com (YAHOO!).

Here's a part from my latest newsletter: "Well, a few days later, the new mickey ruptured, just like the first one! This time, my wife caught it soon enough and was able to put it back in herself to keep the hole from closing until we could get yet another button that wasn't ruptured. Anyway, it was a nightmare, but he's all right now."

November Newsletter: http://www.paraworlds.com/newsletter/2008-11.php

Oh, the World Fantasy Convention was just wonderful. My panel was great. I talked about mystery in young adult fantasy. Here are a couple of photos of me with some famous authors. You can see more photos in my photo albums.

David Morrell (creator of Rambo) and Matthew Peterson

Matthew Peterson, Carrie Vaughn, & George R. R. Martin (NYT bestseller)

Our First Black President!

2008-11-05T00:46:00.004-07:00

I promise that this will be my last political blog... until next election. I don’t know what’s gotten in to me lately. I’m so not political, but I guess I’ve got these thoughts running through my mind and I’ll share them with anyone who wants to listen.

No matter which man won the presidency, America was still going to have a first: either the first black president or the first female vice-president. Just goes to show how far our country has come. I will definitely support Obama, and I hope everyone else does too.

In the end, I would rather have had Mitt Romney as president--someone who actually has a track record of getting a state out of serious debt. We needed a businessman who understands large organizations and does what he says he’ll do. Upon entering office in 2003, Romney faced a $3 billion deficit, but by the end of 2004, not only had he gotten rid of the deficit, but Massachusetts ended the year with a $700 million surplus and a $500 million surplus the next year! Actions speak louder than words in my book. Neither Obama nor McCain can even remotely say the same thing regarding the states they represent. For those of you who didn’t know this, Illinois (the state Obama represents) had the largest deficit in U.S. (3 billion dollars) a little while ago. It’s too bad that Obama didn’t help his own state out. Perhaps with his idea of “change,” he’ll change the way he did things in Illinois and help our country out of the financial crisis it’s in. He didn’t do it for the state he represented, but I’m sure he’ll do it for our country, right? Miracles can happen.

I’m not saying McCain would have been any better in this regard. Arizona is in a deficit as well, and it really irritates me. Senators don’t have the same type of power and issues as Governors, so it's not exactly apples to apples, BUT you can’t ignore the simple fact that Mitt Romney knows how to deal with financial issues, which is what our country needs so badly right now. It’s too bad that religious bigotry got in the way. I just read all the jokes the TV personalities said about Romney and polygamy (he’s a Mormon). The funny thing is that from the Republican candidates, he was the only one who hadn’t had more than one wife (i.e. been divorced and remarried). I find that very ironic.

As a side note, my wife said something interesting to me today, and I think only a mother would even come up with this thought. She said, in a way, that she’s glad McCain didn’t win, because perhaps Governor Palin can now be a better mother to her 2-year old Down Syndrome child. We have a 2-year old with a very similar condition as Down Syndrome, so I think it affects my wife to see a mother put her career before her little child. Of course, many people praise Governor Palin for doing this. As for me, I’ll just remain quiet on the issue. Everyone has their right to do as they please. Perhaps that’s why our country is in the condition it’s in right now. I’m just glad that my wife has chosen to stay home with our five boys. I know they are better for it. Being raised by a loving mother is always a better alternative than being raised by the TV and by minimum wage daycare workers who could probably care less about your child's moral and social upbringing.

One last thought. This is a free country. Regardless of the issues, we have the right to believe and vote for what we want. It saddens me to hear that people on both sides of the issues regarding the "gay marriage" propositions defaced each other's signs. Someone was "kind" enough to remove the sign in my front yard a few days ago. Probably the same people who spray painted "NO" over the "YES" on the large signs I've seen around the city. Regadless of this, Prop 102 in Arizona passed and it looks like Prop 8 is going to pass in California (a little too soon to tell, but I'm not going to stay up any later to find out). If anyone calls me a gay-hater, they're just being ignorant of the issues and ignorant of who I am. I would give my life for gays and non-gays alike.

Paraworld Zero Gets Its Fifth Award (Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards)

2008-10-24T11:46:00.001-07:00

Paraworld Zero just got a silver medal (2nd place) from the Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards in the Audio Book category. The 2008 contest had a total of 1,085 entries in 30 categories. That brings the total to 5 book/audiobook contests Parworld Zero has placed in.

http://www.independentpublisher.com/article.php?page=1250

Jared's G-tube Goes Bye Bye

2008-10-21T20:19:00.002-07:00

Originally posted HERE

This has been a crazy week. On Sunday morning, Jared, our almost-two-year-old “special needs” child pulled out his G-tube from his stomach, so my wife had to go to the emergency room for 8 hours. Evidently, the plastic bubble thing on the “mickey” (I call it his second belly button) that stays inside his body, ruptured, which allowed the tube to come out. The doctors couldn’t put the tube back in, but they were able to put a small catheter in. Then yesterday, the doctors put a larger catheter in because they still couldn’t get the G-tube in. My wife and I just tried to put the G-tube in ourselves (don’t worry, it’s legal!), but the hole in his stomach is still too small.

What happens is that the human body heals itself so quickly that if you don’t catch it fast enough, the hole will seal up without the G-tube in place. If we had caught it quicker (like within 30 minutes) we could have put the G-tube in without any issues. Problem was that he pulled the tube out in the middle of the night while he was sleeping.

Fortunately, Jared only needs the G-tube for supplemental feeding at night. The doctors want him to keep it because he’ll need another heart surgery in the next year or two.

As a side note, Jared started talking this month. He can say over a dozen words now. It’s cute to see him do the sign language and then say the word at the same time. He doesn’t realize that if he can say the word, he doesn't have to do the sign language any more. Most importantly, of course, is that he smiles and says “dada” every time I walk into the room.

Another side note: I've gotten past the 100-page mark of my book, which is around 1/3 of what the book will be. I've slowed down a bit in my writing because of Baker & Taylor, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Sony, Kitabe, SpokenNetwork, and Audible. I love all those companies, but I've had to spend time working with them to get my audiobook and E-Book distributed. So much work! I'm very pleased with what I've written so far. It's like a large puzzle. Lots more mystery, romance, and suspense. What excites me is that I'm adding things that will be the base of future books.

CLICK HERE to see the new Amazon page for the audiobook.

Moonbeam Childrens Book Awards Semi-Finalist

2008-10-10T13:14:00.002-07:00

Originally posted HERE
We'll today has been a good day. My boy got Student of the Month at his school and my audio book, Paraworld Zero, became a semi-finalist for the Moonbeam Childrens Book Awards. The contest had a total of 1,085 entries in 30 categories. I'll find out on Oct 24 if Paraworld Zero won. Listen to the first chapter HERE.

Moonbeam Childrens Book Awards -- October 2008
Semi-Finalist in the Audio Book Category
http://www.independentpublisher.com/article.php?page=1250

Paraworld Zero on the Sony Reader (eBook)

2008-10-08T10:19:00.002-07:00

I mentioned ages ago that Sony picked up the non-exclusive E-Book rights for Paraworld Zero. It's been a long time, but Paraworld Zero is finally available for the Sony Reader! The E-Book includes the same 30 pieces of chapter art that the physical book contains. Looks like Sony has it for $10.79 right now. Check it out at http://ebookstore.sony.com/.

The Sony Reader is much like the Amazon Kindle, in which you can read the E-Book on a large clear screen. The battery life lasts a really long time, since it only uses the battery when you flip to the next page. Sony has over 50,000 books on their site for the Sony Reader, so I'm glad that mine is one of them. I hope you'll take a look at it.

As a side note, SpokenNetwork.com now has the Paraworld Zero audiobook on their site. Check it out!

Also, my October newsletter is out. Go here to read it:
http://www.paraworlds.com/newsletter/2008-10.php

Writing Book Two

2008-09-25T20:27:00.001-07:00

Originally posted HERE

Nothing big here. I'm just writing the second book in the Parallel Worlds series. My goal is to make it shorter than the first book, since the first book was 100,000 words long.

I'm getting about 7 pages done a day, but I think I can increase that number. I'm very pleased with the storyline and with what I've written so far. I have about 30 pages of single-spaced notes, so I definitely know what direction I want to take the book. It's going to be a murder mystery of sorts. A lot of people did a double take at the end of my first book. I hope to have even greater surprises in book 2. The clues are all there. You just won't realize it until the end.

I just sent out almost 800 CDs to the World Fantasy Convention. Whew! What a project. And expensive. I hope it helps bring more attention to my series. I sent back the contract to Audible.com and SpokenNetwork.com. My audiobook should show up on those sites soon. Sony, on the other hand, is a never-ending battle. There's an error with the E-Book that they're trying to fix. I hope to see Paraworld Zero on the Sony Reader soon.

World Fantasy Convention Interview

2008-09-22T08:49:00.003-07:00

Originally posted HERE

The World Fantasy Convention put up an interview of me on their website, along with part of my audiobook. You can listen to it here (the interview starts at 2 minutes and 49 seconds into the podcast): http://media.libsyn.com/media/worldfantasy2008/WF08_33.mp3

I'm excited to go to the World Fantasy Convention next month in Calgary. I've never been to Canada before, so I'm not sure what my experience will be like, but I have my passport now and I'm ready to go.

I'm devoting the next couple months to my second book in the Parallel Worlds series. I really need to finish that thing! I'm proud of the outline I've written. It's going to be a murder mystery with lots of twists and turns. I'm hoping that it's unlike anything you've ever read before. Writing a murder mystery in a fantasy world allows me to do some fun and unexpected things.

The Paraworld Zero Audiobook

2008-09-10T13:49:00.003-07:00

Press Release on September 10, 2008
The Paraworld Zero Audiobook with 100 Character Voices

Parallel Worlds is proud to present the audiobook for Matthew Peterson’s bestselling young adult novel, Paraworld Zero. With over one hundred unique character voices from the author and his wife, this audiobook is geared to please young and old alike.

The audiobook comes in a 10-CD set (about 12.5 hours long) as well as an MP3-CD and MP3-DVD. The premium DVD version includes the PDF E-Book and about 4 hours of video/audio extras such as bloopers, interviews and photo slide shows. Listen to a sample at www.paraworlds.com.

Several audiobook websites including Audible.com (the leader in downloadable audiobooks), iTunes.com, and SpokenNetwork.com plan on selling the Paraworld Zero audiobook in the upcoming month. Kitabe.com just made the book available for download on their site this week.

Paraworld Zero is about a twelve-year-old earthling, Simon Kent, who stumbles upon a secret that thrusts him into a bizarre adventure filled with magic, technology and deadly out-of-this-world creatures. He discovers a true friend, confronts his inner demons and becomes the savior to a peculiar race of people, when all he truly wants is to find his way back home.

Parallel to Simon's adventures is a mystery involving a catlike spy and a magical swordsman who both struggle to maintain peace among the paraworlds. But evil lurks in unexpected places, and few people can be trusted. Their paths ultimately lead them to Simon: the one boy who might be able to prevent the biggest assassination attempt in the known paraverse. "Harry Potter meets Star Wars" – WormsScifi.com

Paraworld Zero Audiobook Formats:
MP3-CD: ISBN 978-0-9819227-1-3 for $29.95
MP3-DVD: ISBN 978-0-9819227-2-0 for $39.95
10-Disc Aduio CD: ISBN 978-0-9819227-3-7 for $49.95

About the Author:
Matthew Peterson is an award-winning short story writer, second degree black belt in karate, Eagle scout, computer programmer, and former missionary. He lives in Arizona with his wife, five boys and their giant African tortoise. Matthew’s debut young adult novel, Paraworld Zero (ISBN 978-1-59092-491-4), hit the BarnesAndNoble.com bestseller list, was honored by four book contests, and garnered many favorable reviews. Reviewers are comparing it to Harry Potter, Star Wars, and Artemis Fowl. Go to www.ParaWorlds.com to learn more.

http://www.expertclick.com/NewsReleaseWire/default.cfm?Action=ReleaseDetail&ID=23094

2008 World Science Fiction Convention (Denvention 3)

2008-08-14T10:22:00.008-07:00

Originally posted HERE

I often get so busy that my blogs become a huge info dump of my month. This time, I’ll just blog about my week. I got back from the 2008 World Science Fiction Convention (Denvention 3) safe and sound. The WorldCon was much smaller than the last one I went to in LA, 2006, but it was still fun. The ConSuite was extremely large. Lots of food and people. I met agents, authors, publishers, etc. I got some great pictures with Robert Silverberg, Lois McMaster Bujold, Connie Willis, Gay and Joe Haldeman, Carol Berg and others. Click on the Author's links to view the picture. To see more WorldCon pictures go to the “Photos / Videos” of my website (www.paraworlds.com) or to my MySpace page. I’ll probably post some of them here in the future.

On Friday, I spoke on a panel called “Publicity: Who's Job is it Anyway?” The panelists were Joy Ward, Roy Gray, Astrid Anderson Bear, Matthew Peterson, Ben Bova (who didn’t show up) and Pierce Watters. I’m including a video of the panel below. Enjoy!

WorldCon, Here I Come!

2008-08-05T15:05:00.003-07:00

I'm just about to leave for the World Science Fiction Convention in Denver, Colorado, but I thought I'd post a blog about the press release and newsletters I just sent. If you're not on my newsletter group... you best hop on board! Here's the newsletter:

http://www.paraworlds.com/newsletter/2008-08.php

Here's the press release. Basically, I'm speaking at the WorldCon in room 506 on Friday at 4 PM about publicity with Ben Bova and some others. It should be fun!

http://www.paraworlds.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=377#377

I'm sort of bummed because I wasn't able to find a roommate for the WorldCon this year. That means I'll be paying full price for my hotel. Oh, well. I've been invited to a couple of parties already, so I'm excited.

Fever, Camping, Squeaky the Frog, Comic Con, Newspaper

2008-07-28T17:06:00.001-07:00

Originally posted HERE

Life is still busy, but I thought I'd post what's been going on lately. I just got over a week long fever. I rarely get sick, so it was frustrating. I also just got back from a 5-day camping trip with my family. I played a joke on my boys this morning. Yesterday they caught a bunch of tadpoles. After they went to bed I found a frog (I named him "Squeaky" because his croak was more of a cute little squeak). Well, I hid all of my boy's tadpoles, and in the morning I told them that the tadpoles ate each other (which they do) and only one survived. I then showed them Squeaky. You should have seen their eyes!

On another note, I got invited to be the guest author at a comic book convention (Tri-county Comic Con) in Florida. They'll fly me down and pay for my stay there. It should be fun. I had to miss the last comic convention I got invited to because of my North Carolina book tour. I've never actually been to a comic book convention, so I'm excited.

Last but not least, here's a great article in the Daily Herald (a large newspaper in Utah) about one of my school visits I did in American Fork.
http://www.heraldextra.com/content/view/274370/

Honorable Mention at the Hollywood Book Festival!

2008-07-15T14:09:00.007-07:00

Originally posted HERE

I had a fever for nearly a week (got up to 104 degrees), and it just ended today (I hope). Yeah, I probably should have gone to the doctor, but I had other things I had to do instead (like take my family to Sedona for a vacation). I've never been sick for so long before, so I'm glad it's over.

I just discovered that my fantasy book, Paraworld Zero, got another honorable mention this week (that's four now!). This latest one came from the Hollywood Book Festival in the "Teenage" category. Have you heard the phrase "Always a bridesmaid, but never a bride?" I feel like my book is "Always an honorable mention, but never a winner..." It's nice to be honored, but it would be nicer to... well, you know... win!

I'm going to enter my audiobook into a couple of contests next month. I really think it has a chance at winning. I won't find out until next year, of course. That's the problem with writing contests: they take forever! I entered these book contests over 6 months ago. Out of the 6 contests I entered, I received honorable mentions in 4 of them, didn't place at all in 1 of them, and am still waiting on the results on the last one. Not bad, really. I shouldn't be complaining.

http://www.hollywoodbookfestival.com/winners.htm

Dropped my publisher, Sony Reader, Audiobook, NY

2008-07-10T16:00:00.002-07:00

Originally posted HERE

Wow! A lot of things happened in June.

1. I cancelled my contract with Windstorm Creative. Yep. It's true. Things just weren't working out with distribution (lots of orders were not getting fulfilled), I didn't get paid, and I didn't get my complementary books. It was time for me to leave and find a new publisher that could handle large book orders. Several publishers said they'd get back with me in July or August, including publishers in India, Estonia, and Canada. Several agents are looking at my book as well. No contracts have been signed yet. I'm a little frustrated with the whole deal, but I'm crossing my fingers that a big publisher will pick me up. My book was a bestseller and placed in several contests, after all.

2. I signed a contract with Sony for the eBook rights. Paraworld Zero will be on Sony's website and their Sony Reader soon. I just sent them the files today. Two other eBook companies have approached me.

3. I finished the audiobook of Paraworld Zero! It has about 100 character voices in it and is very professional. For the next two weeks, I'm selling the MP3-CD's for only $5 and the DVD-MP3 for $8. I'm shipping them for $1.50. Believe me, I'll never do this again, so buy them while they're hot. The price is going up to $30 next month. To participate, go to http://ParaWorlds.com/sample/ (ignore the coupons and prices on that page) and use the following codes when you check out: newsletter08cd for the $5 CD and newsletter08dvd for the $8 DVD.

4. Since Paraworld Zero got an honorable mention at the New York Book Festival, I decided to fly over to New York and sign books at the festival. It was fun, frustrating (my flight was delayed), but exciting. I'd never been to New York before. I couldn't believe how green it was.

Paraworld Zero gets another Honorable Mention, Sony eBook Reader, Audiobook

2008-06-23T16:50:00.001-07:00

I feel like the "Honorable Mention King!" Paraworld Zero just got its third honorable mention in the past 30 days. This time from the New York Book Festival. I'll actually be at the festival on Saturday. I'll be signing books and I might be speaking. If anyone is going to be there, stop by my booth and say hi!

Also, Sony sent me a contract last week for my book to go on their Sony eBook Reader and website. I assume that will be available soon.

And.... The audiobook will be finished this week!!! Pre-order the audiobook right now to get it half off. http://www.paraworlds.com/sample/

Status on Jared's Surgery

2008-06-17T09:23:00.001-07:00

Originally posted HERE

My baby, Jared, had four procedures done at the hospital yesterday. When they tried to take the breathing tube out, he wouldn't breath, so they had to keep him there all day. He was going to stay overnight, but he finally decided to breathe on his own.

He's home now but is in a lot of pain. They did surgery on his "manly area" (ouch) and worked on his ears and throat. Since he was already under, they decided to put tubes in his ears at the last minute. He's a little trooper. Last time he had these types of procedures, he was in pain for two months (He recovered faster from his heart surgery than the other surgeries). Anyway, I'm glad to have him home.

I should also mention that this month Jared has finally started to eat a little (he's 19 months old). He can now sit up from a laying-down position (with a lot of effort), although he doesn't roll over yet. And when we hold him up, he tries to walk... if he's motivated enough. It's very cute. He's in hypergrowth! I hope his surgery doesn't put an end to all of that. A year ago he was drinking from a bottle (finally) but after the last surgery on his "manly area," he never drank again from a bottle and refused to eat until just recently. He has a feeding tube in his stomach, for those of you who don't know.

We've also discovered that he'll need heart surgery again in the next year or two. That means they'll crack open his ribs again. Arrg. It sounds like he'll need several more heart surgeries until his heart stops growing. He's not out of the woods yet.

New School/Library site for Paraworld Zero

2008-06-13T12:06:00.005-07:00

I've done a bunch of school and library visits this year, so I put them into a video. My school/library site is http://paraworlds.com/visits

Matthew's School / Library Presentations

Paraworld Zero is a Finalist in the Next Generation Indie Book Awards!

2008-06-13T11:49:00.002-07:00

Originally posted HERE

Paraworld Zero is a finalist in the Next Generation Indie Book Awards!

http://www.indiebookawards.com/2008_winners_and_finalists.php
Look in the Science Fiction category

"Letting Go" published by Haruah

2008-06-13T11:46:00.003-07:00

Originally posted HERE

"Letting Go" was just published by Haruah. I'm not sure when the print edition will come out, but here's the online version:

http://www.haruah.com/item.php?sub_id=3240

This story is not a speculative story. Well, it's a literary story with just a tiny tiny touch of "Disney's Amazing Stories" feel at the end.

BookExpo America 2008: Day 3

2008-06-02T23:22:00.002-07:00

Originally posted HERE

I just got back from the BookExpo. Wow! Can I just say WOW! I had more movie producers and TV producers talk to me, as well as a talent agency (Gwyn Foxx) who may be interested in selling my book to the movie industry--which is good, since the other talent agency I met at the LA Times Festival of Books never showed up. I got a solid offer from a Canadian independent publisher (robotpress.net) as well as some solid interest from large publishers, including an affiliate of Disney (ModernPublishing.com). The head acquisitions director for Sony (eBooks) talked to me for nearly 30 minutes and is very excited about my book. She even offered to connect me with Richard Curtis (literary agent). When I got home, an email from another literary agent, Katie Menick from Howard Morhaim Literary Agency, awaited me. She asked for a copy of my book. The agent I met on day 2 was Jenoyne Adams with Bliss Literary Agency International. After doing some research, I’ve discovered that there are pluses and minuses with both of the agencies. I’m debating whether I should shop around for some more agents, while the excitement is still strong. Oh, I got invited to present at several school/library events and to speak on several radio stations. Not a bad way to end the BookExpo.

Now the key to all of this is follow-up. Will any of these people actually call me like they said they will? Most of them gave me their business cards, so at least I can follow up myself if they don't contact me. I’ve proven that my book is marketable (it hit the BarnesAndNoble.com bestseller list and is now placing in contests). And I have a strong offer on the table and some interest from some bigger fish. The offer from Robot Binaries & Press would probably entail a 15,000 print run with about $15,000 set aside for promotions, and a great distributor with a national sales force. The owner of the company asked me what I was looking for in an advance, but I didn't give him a figure, because I wanted to leave that to an agent.

I'm concerned about going with another independent press, however, especially because their first book hasn't even come out yet (it will come out in September, and it's called "I, robot" -- Foreword Magazine actually said it was better than the original book and movie) and because they might have shipping issues by being located in Canada. They don’t have a track record, but I know the president, Howard Smith, has spent maybe $60,000 on the first book, and after talking to him for a while I could see that he really means business and knows what he’s talking about. Heck, he spent $5,000+ for a booth at the BookExpo to promote a book that’s not even coming out for four more months! Every question I asked was answered with a positive answer such as distribution, promotion, etc.

I do have real concerns regarding the pricing of the book, however. The headquarters of Borders or B&N (I can’t remember which) sent me a letter once telling me they didn’t want to stock my book, Paraworld Zero, because it couldn’t compete price-wise with the other books. Many stores stocked it anyway because of the demand. But they told me in their letter that $14.95 is too much for a trade paperback. I somewhat agree. If you go into Borders and B&N, you’ll see some hardbacks for that price, but no paperbacks that high. Robot Binaries is selling “I, robot” for $17.95. I’ve had complaints from bookstores regarding the price of $16.95 that Paraworld Zero is currently at. I can only imagine how hard it’s going to be for a B&N or Borders to sell a $17.95 trade paperback book when all the other books are going for $5 less than that.

All those uncertainties are troubling. What if the first and second book he has lined up don’t do well? What if he can’t pay me a decent advance? The mistake I made with my current publisher is that I opted for a higher royalty instead of an advance, with the intentions of making even more money in the long run. What happened was that my publisher wasn’t vested enough in the project because they didn’t have as much to lose. I now see the value in a good advance. High advance = High interest in making the book successful (so they can get their money back). Regardless of all this, I’m betting an agent would push the Disney-affiliated company first. But I certainly like Howard's zeal. He seems to be doing a lot of the right things.

So, to wrap things up, the BEA was a WONDERFUL event! I can't say it was wonderful for most of the other authors there. Many were very discouraged. I seemed to strike gold, though. I had a wonderful pitch: "Harry Potter meets Star Wars!" I gave away about 400 books. My booth was very nice to look at as well (I had an 8x8 foot backdrop of the characters from my book). I had a laptop which showed my video trailer, and I think that's what got all of the movie peoples' attention. What's funny is that quite a few people told me that they had already seen the video trailer or that they had already bought my book. Several MySpace friends came to see me in person for the first time, including John Kremer (book marketing guru).

I was so fired up that I drove home right after the BEA (6 hour drive) and then stayed up another 6 hours working until my boys woke up. Then I realized I better get a couple hours of sleep. Oh boy, am I tired!

BookExpo America 2008: Day 2

2008-05-31T22:06:00.003-07:00

Originally posted HERE

Today I was invited to be interviewed by 3 radio stations. Several audiobook and ebook publishers showed interest in Paraworld Zero (some of them said they'd call me). About 4 movie producers showed some interest in my book (they each took a book, so that's something).

Several U.S. publishers showed great interest in my book. One publisher is owned by Disney and is thinking about doing YA books. Another promising independent publisher sought me out because they had seen my book everywhere (I guess they've been tracking its progress). I was impressed with the print runs and marketing dollars they are willing to spend. The president was very excited to meet me and left his booth to talk to me. Nice guy. Oh, the owner of Edge/Dragon Moon Press (largest sf/f publisher in Canada) stopped by. We've met several times. I really like him and his company. Too bad his publishing company doesn't do young adult novels.

A couple other publishers were extremely interested in my book, but they were too small for me to look at them seriously. I've plugged in so much money (well over $100,000) and time into promoting my book, that I won't sign with another publisher unless they give me a large advance to prove to me that they will back up my promotions and book. Ingram has placed 4 orders in the past 4 months and my current publisher hasn't fulfilled any of them.... grumble... grumble. In fact, a library invited me to speak a couple of weeks ago and they told me that they had ordered books 4 months ago and still hadn't received them. Grumble... grumble... But don't get me started on that.

On to happier things such as the last 5 minutes of the day. I mentioned to the person in the booth next to me that I hadn't seen a single agent all day, and then lo and behold an agent appeared at my booth. I read her name tag wrong and made a silly impression (she had to explain to me that she sold books to publishers), but I recovered quickly and she seemed interested in my book. She even told me that I am "a publisher's dream." I just did some research on her and she looks like the type of agent I'd like to have. I'm crossing my fingers double-time on that one. I have too much interest in my book with foreign and U.S. publishers for me to not have an agent. I will definitely pursue an agent when I get back home.

I was flattered today to hear that more people had already bought my book and enjoyed it. It's very satisfying when people mention that they've seen my ads, video trailer, or read my book. Over a dozen people specifically visited me today because they had been keeping track of my book and website. Several MySpace friends introduced themselves to me (how strange is that?!). I felt like I knew one of them so well, I even gave her a hug (she's from my home town). A whole bunch of teachers and librarians said they'd like me to visit their schools, and several people invited me to speak at book events. I have a ton of business cards to sort through.

I think I'll note lastly how impressed I've been with the people. Sometimes when I go to the science fiction or fantasy conventions I tend to see a few people who are a little strange, unkempt, and socially challenged, but at the BEA, I've seen mostly professional people. For example, I met a friend who modeled for her father's book. She and her aunt were so sweet. It brightened my day every time they came to say hi. These little social interactions made standing ALL DAY LONG more bearable. Just one more day to go...

BookExpo America: Day 1

2008-05-30T21:05:00.003-07:00

Originally posted HERE

BookExpo America: Day 1. I'm at booth 5741 in the Authors Row. The person right next to me is the voice talent for most of the characters of South Park (hard to believe that such fowl language is coming out of such a pretty girl).

It's been a very interesting day. A publisher from India said that he'd like to publish my book and will call me when he gets back to India (in about 3 weeks). There's no telling if this will actually happen or not, but he did give me his card and told me to call him if he hasn't called me by June 23rd. That's encouraging. What's funny is that he wasn't even going to stop at my booth until I got his attention. He started out very wary and didn't even want to take an audio CD. Then he relented and took a CD. Then he took my business card. As our conversation progressed, he asked me to mail him my book because he didn't want to lug it back to India, but by the end of the conversation, he asked for a copy right then and said he'd like to publish it in perhaps a 5 to 10,000 print run. How funny that 10 minutes before this, he wasn't even going to talk to me. It pays to open your mouth. Again, no contracts have been signed yet. He hasn't even read it yet! But I'm crossing my fingers. I still have publishers and agents in Croatia, Serbia, and Korea looking at my book, so I have a lot of fingers to cross.

Today, movie producers, agents, and publishers all came to my booth and spoke with me. It's a lot of fun, but I'm all alone (the person who was going to go with me bailed), so I can't visit any of the other booths! I might abandon my booth for a few minutes to visit TOR or Scholastic. I'm hoping that some more publishers and agents will speak to me. None of the U.S. ones I spoke with publish my type of book. Rights buyers tend to be very unapproachable as they walk by, but they're very easy to spot because they have orange tags and they are the only people in the convention center not carrying around a load of books.

I gave away about 150 books today, so hopefully, something good will come of that. It was nice to get the occasional comment, "Oh, I just bought your book last week," or "Oh, I've seen your video trailer on youtube." I was surprised at how many people recognized my back drop or remembered me from the L.A. Times Festival of Books. A handful of people have really been keeping track of my book and life. It was nice to meet them in person. I'm hopeful for tomorrow.

Paraworld Zero gets an honorable mention at the Beach Book Festival

2008-05-08T12:09:00.000-07:00

Originally posted HERE

My new novel, Paraworld Zero, received an honorable mention at the Beach Book Festival in Atlantic City! I didn't win a prize, but it's still nice to be listed.

Look at the Science Fiction category.
http://www.beachbookfestival.com/

BookExpo America

2008-05-07T10:06:00.001-07:00

[Press Release May 7, 2008]

BookExpo America Attracts Bestselling Author, Matthew Peterson

Matthew Peterson, author of the bestselling young adult fantasy novel, Paraworld Zero, has announced that he will be attending the 2008 BookExpo America in Los Angeles. Mr. Peterson, under the banner of Parallel Worlds LLC, will be in the Authors Row, booth #5741, between May 30th and June 1st.

The BookExpo America is held every year in the United States at alternating locations. This year it will be held at the Los Angeles Convention Center, where over 35,000 people are expected to attend. The BookExpo is a place where everyone who’s anyone in the U.S. book industry, including publishers, agents, authors, booksellers, librarians, film, audio, and foreign rights representatives, can come and network with each other.

At the conference, Mr. Peterson will be giving away free copies of his award-winning novel, Paraworld Zero, as well as complimentary audiobook CDs and DVDs. Paraworld Zero was just published in January by Windstorm Creative. It soon hit the top-50 BarnesAndNoble.com bestseller list and garnered numerous reviews. Paraworld Zero received the Flamingnet TOP CHOICE Award and was recently given an honorable mention at the Beach Book Festival in Atlantic City. Reviewers are calling it a “Harry Potter meets Star Wars!”

In addition to selling the hardback and mass-market rights to his Parallel Worlds series, Mr. Peterson will also be available to everyone interested in foreign and subsidiary rights. Agents from Serbia and Korea have already shown great interest, as well as an agent in the U.S. film industry.

About the Author:
Matthew Peterson is an award-winning short story writer, second degree black belt in karate, Eagle scout, computer programmer, and former missionary. He lives in Arizona with his wife, five boys and their giant African tortoise. Matthew’s debut young adult novel, Paraworld Zero (ISBN # 978-1-59092-491-4), hit the BarnesAndNoble.com bestseller list and garnered many favorable reviews. Reviewers are comparing it to Harry Potter, Star Wars, and Artemis Fowl. Go to www.ParaWorlds.com to learn more.

An Author’s Opinion of the Harry Potter Lexicon

2008-04-16T23:38:00.001-07:00

Originally posted HERE

An author's writing is often their baby, and with any baby, you want to protect it. Most authors today would welcome fans creating lexicons, websites, and fanfiction of their work. That's because most authors have very small audiences and would love any free promotion they could get. However, popular authors, like J.K. Rowling, have more at stake when a fan pushes the envelope.

For those of you out of the loop, Steve Vander Ark, a 50 year-old former librarian from Michigan, created an online Harry Potter lexicon, which everyone could view freely. That didn't seem to stir the pot too much until he agreed with RDR Books to print the lexicon and sell it to the public. J.K. Rowling got wind of this and is taking the issue to court in New York. She feels that Vander Ark's lexicon has little value to Harry Potter fans and that it infringes on copyright laws. RDR Books claims that they are protected under the fair use laws.

As a new author, I initially felt that J.K. Rowling was making too much of a fuss about this. RDR Books was only going to do a first print run of 1500. That would hardly make a dent in Rowling's fanbase or in her pocketbook. Heck, I gave away more than 1500 copies of my new fantasy novel, Paraworld Zero, for free! And if the lexicon truly was substandard, wouldn't that just boost sales for the official Harry Potter encyclopedia that Rowling plans to write? So the issue must run deeper than money. The issue at hand is the plagiarism and mishandling of Rowling's "baby."

Rowling's complaint that the lexicon is poorly written does not warrant a lawsuit in my mind, but her argument that the lexicon is mostly filled with quotes from her books and has little original content does raise a red flag. The American fair use laws do allow for quotations of copyrighted material without permission, but Vander Ark might have overstepped his bounds. The courts will decide on that. In the final analysis, the lexicon will not hurt book sales of Harry Potter. It will not demean Harry Potter nor will it take away any significant amount of money from Rowling. In fact, the lawsuit and media coverage will probably increase the sales of Rowling's official encyclopedia when it comes out. So, again, that leaves the sentimental and legal issues of having someone else play with your work.

How would I feel if someone wrote a lexicon about my Parallel Worlds series? At this point in the game, I'd feel flattered. Ask me this question again in fifteen years when my "baby" has matured into a teenager, and I might give you a different answer. Authors, as well as parents, can be very protective of their children.

About the Author:
Matthew Peterson is an award-winning short story writer, second degree black belt in karate, Eagle scout, computer programmer, and former missionary. He lives in Arizona with his wife, five boys and their giant African tortoise. Matthew's debut young adult novel, Paraworld Zero (ISBN # 978-1-59092-491-4), hit the BarnesAndNoble.com bestseller list and garnered many favorable reviews. Reviewers say it's a "Harry Potter meets Star Wars."

10 Things You Might Not Know About Me

2008-04-07T23:35:00.000-07:00

Originally posted HERE

Okay, I’ve been “tagged” twice now, so I thought I’d better do it. I have to list 10 things you don’t know about me.

1. My favorite color is marble blue – my wife tells me that a marble pattern doesn’t count as a color, but I’m sticking to it.

2. My favorite city is Panguitch, Utah. I laugh every time I visit Utah and see the sign for that tiny city in the middle of nowhere. It’s also the city where that looney guy from Contact is from – you know, the religious zealot who blows up the huge alien machine that cost billions of tax dollars to create. My next favorite city is Orem, UT (the Orem/Provo area was once nominated the most livable city in America... but then I moved away... and... you know... They had to take the “most livable city in America” sign down).

3. Three authors motivated me to become an author: J.R.R. Tolkien, Lloyd Alexander and Douglas Hill. Tolkien died a long time ago, but Alexander and Hill both died last year, but not before sending me personal letters. Also, Douglas Hill loved my book and gave it a blurb.

4. I got engaged to be married after 2 dates and 10 days. We’ve been married for over 10 years now and have 5 boys. We’re still happy.

5. I am an utter perfectionist and somewhat @%$!, but my office is a total mess.

6. I performed in 4 musicals, although I can hardly sing. I must have had a lot of charisma and energy for the directors to keep inviting me back!

7. I did the artwork for my book, Paraworld Zero. It was the first time I had ever done computer art and the second time I had done any art at all since 8th grade.

8. I was perhaps one of the best video game players out there when I was a pre-teenager. I would go to the video arcade with one quarter and would play games like Super Mario Brothers or Black Tiger for an hour without skipping levels or dying once.

9. I really wanted twins. I told my wife many times that she would have twins. The morning she had her first ultrasound, I told her she was eating for three. We discovered during the ultrasound that she was pregnant with twins.

10. I’m a huge scifi/fantasy addict. However, I’m too busy to watch the shows, so I’ve tape recorded every episode of Stargate-SG1, Stargate Atlantis, Farscape, Early Edition, Lois and Clark, and Battlestar Galactica... but I’ve watched very few of them. I’ve never seen an episode of Stargate Atlantis or Battlestar Galactica, but I have them all recorded.

Bonus: I had a premonition when my last boy was born. A few minutes before he was born, I felt this feeling of dread cover my body that something was wrong. When my boy was born, the doctors instantly saw that something was wrong. He was flown to another hospital where he had open heart surgery. My wife had also become crippled during labor.

500 Eager Young Readers

2008-02-22T14:34:00.004-07:00

Originally posted HERE

I just did my first presentation at a school yesterday: 500 kids in 5th to 8th grades. The PowerPoint presentation was a hit, and so were the hundreds of free audiobooks and bookmarks I brought (I practically got stampeded at the end). All in all, I thought it went pretty well, considering it was my first presentation, I was sick, and my computer refused to print the presentation, which forced me to do it all from memory. I literally finished creating the files seconds before leaving for the school (I just had to add my Yoda impression to the PowerPoint presentation!). I had a lot of fun, and now I know what to expect for my next school presentation (which will happen in a couple of weeks from now). As a side note, Paraworld Zero got a bunch of reviews this month, so I’ll share my favorite parts here:

"action packed" - VOYA

"Peterson writes an excellent cliffhanger that made me excited about the next episode." - BookLoons.com

"For a first time novelist Peterson shows a good grasp of what makes a book exciting, injecting his novel with a cracking pace, endearing characters - and the story's breakneck climax is well worth the wait." - Sci-fi Online

"Readers will delight in this first book in Matthew Peterson’s Parallel Worlds series..." – MyShelf.com

"This sci-fi/fantasy adventure pulls the reader in from the first sentence and keeps the pages turning. Filled with humor, cool new gadgets and spells, and an extremely original premise, this is one book you do not want to miss out on... Two thumbs up." - Book Chic

"Paraworld Zero held me in my seat from the first page. An exciting fast-paced adventure, chock full of magic and humor... While this book contains elements of Harry Potter and Star Wars it is still uniquely in a league of its own." - Word Weavers

"Amazing! Harry Potter step back, Simon Kent is a magic welder with a secret history.... fun adventures, cool characters, and laughable moments... Definitely a good read..." - Yellow30Scifi.com

Book Signings, Tours and TV/Radio Interviews

2008-01-28T10:59:00.000-07:00

Paraworld Zero hit the top-50 BarnesAndNoble.com bestseller list for a couple of days! Not bad for a first-time author. The past couple weeks have been very busy for me. My publicist booked 18 radio interviews back-to-back (over 5 million people heard me on the radio). NBC in Phoenix did a little blurb about Paraworld Zero (view the segment here). I was the guest blogger on a bunch of websites like FreshFiction.com. I did my first solo book signing at Borders. Well over 100 people showed up, and we sold 70 books. The employees said they weren't prepared for such a large crowd and had never seen this happen before. Finally, I went to North Carolina to be the guest author at some book events at Cameron Village Library and Pomegranate Books. About 30 people showed up at each event. I was also interviewed on a Raleigh TV show called "The Artist's Craft." It will air on prime time in a few weeks, but you can watch it now online here.

My upcoming events include another TV interview in Arizona and some school events (I'm going to California next week as well). I'll be speaking to 500 kids at the first school, so that should be fun. It's a good thing I don't get nervous in front of crowds!

New Book Trailer for Paraworld Zero!

2008-01-15T00:05:00.000-07:00

Originally posted HERE

I must first tell you that I created this video trailer myself. I am not a professional. The footage and editing is original, though. The music was created from scorefitter. The characters who modeled for the cover of Paraworld Zero were kind enough to "act" in this video trailer. Secondly, I should mention that I'll probably post an extended version in 2-3 months from now. My original vision was to have a mini-movie with voice overs, acting, etc., but I just don't have the time to create the background music and sound effects right now. The footage and most of the editing is finished. So I hope this 2-minute trailer will whet your appetite for Paraworld Zero and give you something to look forward to when I get the extended version finished.

By the way, over 5 million people will hear me on the radio this week. I did 18 radio interviews on Friday, which will be played on hundreds of radio stations across America. Whew! Oh, and one last thing... my niece wrote an essay that won her a $2,500 allowance to see the premier of The Spiderwick Chronicles in Hollywood. Good job, Amanda! I've read the books and I've met Holly Black, so I'm looking forward to the movie.

Old Newspaper Clippings of the Writing Contests I Won

2008-01-10T22:32:00.000-07:00

Originally posted HERE

For the longest time I've been telling people that I won the first writing contest I had ever entered, which was the 2004 Writers Weekly contest (I won $300 for a story I wrote and edited in a matter of hours). Well... I've been going through some of my old things and found some newspaper clippings of me when I was in 8th grade. Looks like my comment of winning the first contest I had ever entered was a true statement, but the Writers Weekly contest wasn't the first contest I had entered.

I had totally forgotten this, but I had entered and won a few contests back in 1989/1990 when I was in 8th grade. That's when I started writing my first book "The Sorcerer's Wand" (which I never completed) and later "Parallel Worlds" (which ended up becoming "Paraworld Zero"). Here are the newspaper clippings. Click on each of them to see the whole article.

. .

Two More Websites Review Paraworld Zero

2008-01-05T01:16:00.000-07:00

Paraworld Zero has received 8 reviews from websites so far and 4 author blurbs... and they've all been very favorable towards Paraworld Zero. Let's hope that lucky streak holds up. Here are the latest two reviews I just got.

"The characters are lively and the storyline is fast paced and exciting to read. It's got everything a kid would enjoy reading so you guys should definitely pick this book up..."
TheBookBinge.blogspot.com

"ParaWorld Zero is one of those rare young adult novels that all ages will enjoy ... funny, fast paced, and enough twist and turns to keep you reading all the way to the end. Don't miss this one!"
- SpecFicWorld.com
Note: this review came directly from the editor/publisher of SpecFicWorld.com, Doyle Eldon Wilmoth, Jr.

Haruah wants to publish "Letting Go"

2008-01-05T01:06:00.000-07:00

Originally posted HERE

I just got an email from "Haruah: Breath of Heaven" saying that they'd like to publish my story "Letting Go" on their site (haruah.com) and print magazine. This is a somewhat sad story that my wife just loves. The story is about a Hong Kong Orchid tree and the lives of the couple who planted it. My wife and I have a Hong Kong Orchid tree in our front yard. I've only seen three others in all of Arizona. Maybe I just don't get out enough!

Speaking of getting stories published, "Yearning to Jump" should be published this month at www.Teen-Age-Magazine.com. That story is mostly autobiographical. If you want to see how crazy I was in high school, then don't miss "Yearning to Jump."

Update: Read "Yearning to Jump" Here

My Woe-is-Me Attitude Comes Out

2008-01-04T23:33:00.000-07:00

Originally posted HERE

I am going through so many stressful things right now, I honestly have a fear that I’ll have a panic attack. I lost $27,000 last month on lucky number nine. Just kidding.... about the "lucky number nine" part (I've never gambled before), not the losing $27 G's. So this month didn't start out too great. My baby who had heart surgery will be on a separate insurance policy next month, which will end up costing more than my house payment. But enough about money issues (I'll be okay financially... especially if people keep buying Paraworld Zero.).

My biggest stress right now is the fact that bookstores are telling me that they're having a hard time ordering my book from the distributors (i.e. Ingram, Baker & Taylor, etc.) because their computer systems (i.e. Books in Print) is showing Paraworld Zero as "unavailable" or "not yet published." Aaaah! Paraworld Zero has been published! I repeat... IT HAS BEEN PUBLISHED! There's a mistake in the computer systems somewhere. So right now, the only option is for bookstores to back order, pre-order or order directly from Windstorm Creative. I know of at least 3 bookstores who have ordered about 75 copies each from my publisher, but that's only because they were willing to go the extra mile to carry my book. What about all the other stores? I'm getting an ulcer just writing this. Hopefully this will get fixed pronto.

My publicist emailed me today to say that she's already scheduled 17 radio interviews next week and some of them are national. A 48-ft billboard is going up on Jan 12th in Utah and tons of ads will commence after that. One of them will be in The New York Times (4 million readers). Thank heavens for online stores like Amazon.com and BN.com. At least people can order Paraworld Zero online. It was ranked #542 at bn.com and #9 in the "Magic and Wizards" category of Amazon.com the first day it came out. Not a bad start.

Boy, wouldn't it be nice if a large publisher came in right now and bought the hard back rights for my book? They could piggyback on all of the promotions that are going on for the Trade Paperback edition. Perhaps I’ll see if I could solicit that somehow. They’d have to act awfully fast. I hear foreign publishers are much more responsive than U.S. publishers. Oh, woe-is-me! Everything will turn out okay. I just need to have faith that it will all turn out okay. I'm clicking my heels right now and saying "there's no place like home... there's no place like home..."

Almost a Book Sense Pick and other news about Paraworld Zero

2007-12-15T23:59:00.000-07:00

Originally posted HERE

I just got back from a 4-hour book signing at Bookmaster in Phoenix. There were about 10 authors there. I only sold 3 books, but seriously there were only like 8 customers the whole day, so it's actually a pretty good statistic. One lady asked for 10 of my flyers and a bunch of bookmarks so she could give them to her friends. I was able to mingle with another author who has the same PR company as me (Planned Television Arts) and she gave me some pointers for radio interviews. My publicist tells me that she has booked me for a national radio interview and a few regional ones already.

Borders emailed me yesterday to confirm to me that they would like to have me on Jan 19th. That's a great day, since I'll be interviewed on NBC Channel 12 in Phoenix that morning. What's funny is that Joe Dana, the news reporter who will be interviewing me, is having a hard time reading my book because his wife has been reading it. And he loaned his copy of Paraworld Zero to his babysitter. I just heard tonight that his babysitter liked it so much that she's been taking it to school and telling everyone to buy it. I sure hope Joe gets it back before our interview!

An interesting thing happened to me this week. On Sunday I prayed for help in getting my book onto the BookSense Picks list. Of course, I was assuming that it would be a few months before that would ever happen. I had checked my book on booksense.com a couple times and it wasn't even listed. The next day after praying, I checked booksense, and lo and behold, there was my book... with a Booksense Picks logo next to it! I couldn't believe it. If it were true, then that would mean 1200 bookstores would be buying my book and putting it on their websites and handouts. Almost a half a million flyers with my book cover on them would be sent out. I was excited but it seem too good to be true, since my book hadn't even come out yet. So I called up Booksense to ask them about it and they didn't know what I was talking about. 10 minutes later, the Picks logo disappeared from all of the bookstore websites. Bummer. It must have been a clerical error. I'm guessing that Booksense has something in their system with a checkbox that says Booksense Picks and someone accidentally clicked it on my book. At least some good came out of this... Now my book is listed on hundreds of independent bookstore websites! And who knows... maybe it'll get that Picks logo again in a few months.

This week, my book was finally listed with Ingram, Baker & Taylor, and Partners/West. Bowker Books in Print also updated their system. Barnes & Noble finally updated the incorrect info on their site (pub date, price, and page count were all wrong), so now that just leaves Borders (their info is still wrong). Oh, and the cover image for Amazon keeps disappearing. It's driving me nuts, so I'll list it here.

P.S. Happy Holidays everyone!

Four New Reviews for Paraworld Zero

2007-12-07T20:11:00.000-07:00

Originally posted HERE and HERE and HERE

Okay, so I am working like 18-hour days right now (21-hour days for the past 2 days... yes, that's correct... 3 hours of sleep for 2 days straight.), but I need to take a break and share with you four new reviews I got for Paraworld Zero.

"PARAWORLD ZERO is the first in a new series by Matthew Peterson. Its rollicking adventure style reminds this reader of a cross between Harry Potter's adventures and those of Artemis Fowl. Colorful characters, fast-paced adventure, and clever humor make this an interesting read."
Read the full review at Reading Junky
Note: this review also made its way to http://www.teensreadtoo.com/ParaworldZero.html

"Fantasy lovers will devour Paraworld Zero, book one of the series created by Matthew Peterson...

"Matthew Peterson uses descriptive writing and likable characters to capture your attention. I was completely intrigued on the first chapter! The world he creates is incredibly unique and captivating. The only thing I dislike about the book is that I'm forced to wait to hear more about Simon's thrilling adventure. I'll definitely be looking out for more by this author. "
Read the full review at The Page Flipper

"Enticing and very entertaining, Matthew Peterson creates in Paraworld Zero a very engaging and attention grabbing first novel that both me and my younger brother enjoyed, and had us fighting over who's turn it was to read the book. We'll be eagerly looking forward to the next in this funny, unique, and imaginative series."
Read the full review at The Compulsive Reader
"Peterson deftly blends elements of fantasy and science fiction in this action packed romp. Paraworld Zero is a firm foundation for a new fantasy series sure to please young readers ages 10+"
Read the full review at The Faerie Drink Review

Paraworld Zero received the Flamingnet TOP CHOICE Award

2007-11-20T21:58:00.000-07:00

Originally posted HERE

Paraworld Zero received the Flamingnet TOP CHOICE Award (Nov 2007)

"...I greatly enjoyed the story... a must read for anyone who loves fantasy and for anyone who loves a good adventure/coming-of-age novel."

Read the full review

FantasyBookSpot.com Review (Nov 2007)

"This book follows the Harry Potter template of wizards and magic, the discovery of great wizardly power, and likely a secret destiny to be fulfilled. It combines Star Wars aspects as well, as we see space ships, laser guns, and a group that wishes to bend the 'paraverse' to their worldview. These are definitely all elements that a young adult would find very exciting, along with the camaraderie among Simon and the new friends [he] makes, some teenage crushes, and some funny scenes within the story. It's a [fast]-paced story with lots of action and character interaction among the kids. Tonya has hair that changes color with her moods, which is an element that I think can really draw in a child reader's imagination. It has plenty to offer to make it an exciting page-turner for its young adult audience..."

Read the full review

The worst day of my life

2007-11-15T23:53:00.000-07:00

Originally posted HERE

One year ago today was one of the worst days of my life. My baby was born... normally a good thing... but during his birth my wife was crippled. A few minutes before he was born I had a sudden chill go through my body, and I felt that something was wrong. There was no indication that anything was amiss. I just had this feeling.

When Jared was born, they immediately flew him to another hospital because he had a couple pounds of extra fluid in him. We had no warning. He had heart surgery 6 days later and was diagnosed with Noonans Syndrome. My wife couldn't even roll over in bed by herself. She was in a wheelchair for a month and then used a walker. During that same 24 hour period, my youngest boy took some poison and I stayed up all night with him. The previous week, I had taken him to the hospital twice because he was throwing up several times a day. A week or so later, my business took a belly flop and I ended up losing over $25,000. Yeah... Ouch!

It's been a year now and things have calmed down... but I'll never forget that fateful day. My wife had already been in the hospital for a month, which meant I was home with 4 little boys and working 20-hour days. The birth was supposed to be an end to our trials but it ended up compounding everything, especially since I had just recently lost my job and insurance. Jared is a sweetheart. He's now one years old, but he can't sit, crawl, or eat by himself. He has a wonderful smile, and he makes us laugh.

Tuscon 34 in Tucson Arizona

2007-11-13T18:45:00.000-07:00

Originally posted HERE

Well, I just got back from TusCon 34 in Tucson Arizona. This was a surprisingly fun convention, despite it being so small. I was on 3 panels:

Chicks and Money and Power and Chicks: What drives you to write?
Matthew Peterson, David Lee Summers & Catherine Wells

Killing Me Softly: Murdering your favorite characters for money and fame.
Matthew Peterson, John Ringo, Frances Robertson & Emma Bull

You made the world now you've got to write in it, important considerations when making a fictional world.
Matthew Peterson, Dennis L. McKiernan & Catherine Wells

The only bad thing about the convention was the short short notice of what panels I'd be on. They posted some info the day before the convention but then they switched it around when I arrived at the convention. I'm pretty good with impromptu discussions, so it wasn't a big deal, but it would have been nice for me to post it on my website so people would know when to go to my panels.

One thing that was amusing to me was the video game room. One of my friends from Borders, Amy Black, was in charge of the game room. There was a game called Guitar Hero. I haven't played video games in many years. At first I didn't want to play, but I decided to give it a try. Instead of a controller, you use an actual guitar with 5 buttons for strings and a knob to strum. It's very realistic. I only played it twice, but on my second try I actually beat the kid who had been playing it all morning. What's funny is that later in the day I wanted to play again. I felt like an alcoholic getting a drink after a long drought.

I used to be VERY good at video games. I was the kid at the arcade that everyone would crowd around to watch play. When I'd go into an arcade, I'd bring just one quarter with me and play for an hour (they don't make games like that anymore). I used to play the arcade version of Super Mario Brothers (much harder than the Nintendo console version) and beat it without dying once or skipping any levels. Oh, those were the days.

Frances Robertson, Emma Bull, Matthew Peterson & John Ringo

Dennis McKiernan, Matthew Peterson & Catherine Wells

Do Miracles Happen?

2007-11-05T23:11:00.001-07:00

Originally posted HERE

Some may question if miracles really happen. If you ask my wife, she would surely say YES! Two or three weeks ago she put her keys on the back of the car, and I drove a few miles away into the city. We searched and searched but couldn't find the keys. This was quite a pain, since she had just gotten some special keys that couldn't be easily replaced.

She and the kids prayed but nothing happened. Then after two weeks I felt this intense feeling that I needed to pray that she would get her keys back. I realized that I hadn't really put any effort or faith in getting her keys back until that point. The next day or two, someone from CSV (a local pharmacy) called up and said that someone had turned in my wife's keys (the pharmacy was able to track her down from a CSV card on the keys). I hadn't driven anywhere near the CSV, but whoever returned the keys, returned them to the one place that could actually track them back to the owner. My wife is one happy woman now. Miracles do happen.

Radio blurb about Paraworld Zero

2007-11-05T23:09:00.000-07:00

Originally posted HERE

Since I'm a member of NothingBinding.com, I was invited to talk on ALL THINGS THAT MATTER, a radio show by Philip Harris on blogtalkradio.com. I didn't get to talk until 40 minutes and 30 seconds into the show. Here's the link to the show.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/pharris/2007/11/06/all-things-that-matter

FYI: the ads are coming! This is the month that my book will start to be promoted. Next month will be much bigger and then January will be crazy.

My biggest fans

2007-10-28T20:38:00.000-07:00

Originally posted HERE

I gave a friend an advanced copy of Paraworld Zero. I thought this was a cute email, so I'm posting it here, with permission.

Hayden re-read the book this weekend and then Porter decided to try it last night. He's not a big reader like Hayden is, so I figured he would quit after a few pages. I caught him at 11:30 still reading. I finally made him put it away so he could get some sleep! I did take this picture of him first, though. Thought you might appreciate that both of my big kids are hooked on your book! You'd better hurry up and get the next one done!

Writers Digest Honorable Mention -- Twice!

2007-10-20T21:08:00.000-07:00

Originally posted HERE

Two of my stories were awarded Honorable Mentions in the WritersDigest.com 76th Annual Short Story competition. "Letting Go" was awarded an honorable mention for the Inspiration category and "Playing with Rings" was awarded an honorable mention in the Genre category. They're going to publish my name and story title on their site and in a book.

I actually sent in a few more stories in other categories, but I haven't received a response on those yet. It feels weird to get two honorable mentions in the same contest. There were over 19,000 entries, but it seems too good to be true -- like it's a marketing scheme to get me to buy the book or something.

I'm just a little pessimistic about this because it reminds me of a contest I entered in high school for a poem I wrote. I "won" and they wanted me to buy a $45 book so I could see my "winning" entry published. I realized it was a scheme. Everyone probably "won," and that's how they sold their books. WritersDigest.com has more credibility, but they did include an order form for me to buy the $8 book . . . which popped up warning bells in my head. Regardless, I'm happy my stories did so well.

300 Advanced Reading Copies of Paraworld Zero!

2007-10-20T16:43:00.000-07:00

Originally posted HERE

UPS delivered 300 copies of Paraworld Zero on Thursday. The official publication date is January, but I needed a bunch of books for pre-orders, bookstores, and reviewers. My publisher would handle the reviewers, but they're out of town and I just couldn't wait. Pre-pub reviewers want books 3 months in advance, so I'm already late in sending them my book. Plus, I know that I would be able to spend more time catering each press release for each reviewer... which I did. Heck, I wrote the press release myself. It's pretty good, if I do say so myself. I ran it by John Kremer (book marketing guru) and he gave it the thumbs up. I spent all day yesterday sending out about 40 books. I still have more to send, but those were the important ones.

Anyway, it was euphoric to see my book in print after all these years. I literally spent an hour staring at the cover and 30 illustrations. I'm so pleased with how the cover turned out (I did the artwork for my book, but every printer prints differently). I started writing this in 1990 (I wrote 6 chapters and then my computer died on me). I started writing it again in 2002. I finished the first draft 2003 and spent all of 2004 trying to get an agent. No luck. Then in 2005, I tried getting a publisher. The summer of 2006 (one year and one week later), Windstorm Creative called me up and said they wanted to publish my book (they were actually the first publisher I sent my book to and the last one to respond). Well, it's been a year and a half since I signed the contract and I finally have some copies in my hand. Whew! 3 more months and the world will have it as well.

A Nice Rejection from Asimov's

2007-10-10T08:40:00.000-07:00

Originally posted HERE

Getting rejections is just part of the game. I got over 50 rejections when I tried to get an agent. In fact, not a single one I mailed a letter to asked for any of my book to read. Only one publisher asked for some of my book to read when I queried them (and that publisher never responded later when I sent them 3 chapters). Ironically, the first publisher I mailed my actual book to (Windstorm Creative) said yes... a year later.

Stories are in the same boat. I've won or placed in several writing contests, but when it comes down to actually getting my stories published, I haven't had much luck. But it's always nice when an editor says something kind about your work. Here's the letter I got from Sheila Williams, editor of Asimov's Science Fiction magazine.

"Thanks for letting me see "The Boy Who Hated Water." The writing in this story is lovely, but I'm afraid the tale doesn't quite work for me. Please let me see more of your work when you have it, though."

Well, that's encouraging!

My first official published short story!

2007-10-06T00:21:00.000-07:00

Originally posted HERE

Well, I got an unexpected email yesterday from http://www.teen-age-magazine.com (online magazine for teens). They want to publish one of my short stories called Yearning to Jump. I've never submitted to this site before, so I was surprised at how quickly they got back to me.

Yearning to Jump is actually one of the few non-speculative stories I've written. It's one of those stories that mixes my true high school life with a dash of fiction. So if you want to get a feel for what I was like as a kid, read the story when it comes out in http://www.teen-age-magazine.com.

A quick synopsis would be: A man looks back at his colorful high school life and the apparent suicide of his best friend.

For the record, my best friend did not commit suicide. However, he kind of fell off the face of the Earth in the past few years. I've spoken to his wife and his mom much more than I've spoken with him, so I don't know what the deal is. Anyway, I'm excited that somebody liked it.

Life gets in the way

2007-09-28T14:04:00.001-07:00

Originally posted HERE

The morning after I got home from my grandma's funeral, my wife took my baby to the hospital. They then sent him to a bigger hospital and kept him there for three days. My wife stayed, which meant I was alone with 4 boys. I've also been distracted by lots of advertisements that I'm doing and the deadlines for them. I had to quickly make 250 bookmarks and 2 different color ads for magazines. So my days have been shot. So, needless to say, it's been very hard to get the final proof back to Windstorm. There's a tiny convention tomorrow that I want to go to at a library, but we'll see. I'm half way through with my book. I think I need to get it back to Windstorm by Tuesday or Wednesday. I don't know how I could possibly promote my book and have a full-time job. It's crazy. I really need to get going on the second book!

Final Proof and Updated Cover in my hands!

2007-09-25T14:12:00.000-07:00

Originally posted HERE

Well, I just got my final proof back from my publisher, Blue Works (an imprint of Windstorm Creative), so now I have 2 weeks to go over it an send it back to get published. I've already found a few little errors in the typesetting, but nothing too big. My grandma's funeral has delayed things a bit, but I should be able to get it back to them in time. I've been waiting for this to happen for almost 2 years now, but it came at the worst week. Now that I'm back, it should be okay.

Oh, and they really changed the book cover. The blue in the background is all gone now. In its place is a nice swirly orange thing. The book logo is gone and the Parallel Worlds logo has been changed to just text (the worlds around the P and the W are gone). The main picture is still there, so that's really the main thing I cared about. It looks very professional. The art director said that they did this because blue scuffs a lot.

Click Here to see the new front cover of Paraworld Zero.

Just got back from Utah

2007-09-25T14:11:00.000-07:00

Originally posted HERE

My grandma died a few days ago and I just got back from the funeral. It was nice seeing all of the relatives gather together. Funerals are a funny thing to watch. Everyone reacts differently to death. My family and most of my mom's immediate family were happy that my grandma was no longer in pain. They all mentioned that they knew where she was and that she is in a happier place. Others, on the other hand, don't have the same opinion and were very heart broken because they don't believe in an afterlife.

My grandma certainly led an exciting life, but she's been dying for 10 years now... longer really. Heart failure, breast cancer, kidney failure, skin cancer, paralysis from a doctor's neglect over 20 years ago (which really caused most of this, since she couldn’t walk, go to the bathroom, and even feed herself for some time). She ha pneumonia several times as well as a ton of other things I can’t think of right now. But she just wouldn't die until she finally decided to die. I’ll miss her a lot. We have lots of videos to remind us of her. One thing that I am very grateful for is that two months ago my baby, Jared, was able to hold her hand for the first time... and the last time... before she left.

My grandmother will be dead next week... probably

2007-09-13T22:38:00.000-07:00

Originally posted HERE

My grandmother will be dead next week... probably. She decided to stop her dialysis, which means her body will produce toxins that will kill her in about a week from now.

My family called her today to say goodbye... before it's too late. She will probably not be lucid in the next couple of days.

This is very sad for the whole family. My grandma has kicked death so many times. My mom has called me at least 6 times in the past 10 years to tell me that "this is finally the time. She's going to die," and then she doesn't die. But this, I think, is the real one. Every year for 6 years, we've visited Utah and taken video of her. Every year I tell my boys to remember her because this might be the last time you ever see her. I'm glad that this year we were all able to talk to her, even Jared, while we were in Utah.

For the funeral, I will be the only one to fly down, since my family doesn't need to be there. We've said our goodbyes every year for 6 years.

One of my boys, David, really took it hard and cried a lot tonight when I told them that we were going to call her to say goodbye. We've talked about death a lot in our family, since both of their grandma's have had heart failure. We spent the night watching family videos. I showed them a video of me with their great great grandmother. I remember when she died. I was their age at the time, so I know what they’re feeling.

CopperCon 27 in Phoenix, Arizona

2007-09-09T01:09:00.000-07:00

Originally posted HERE

I just got back from the CopperCon 27 in Phoenix, Arizona.
http://www.casfs.org/cucon/

What's funny about it, is that I almost missed the convention, because I thought it was next week. By pure chance, I got an email inviting me to another convention. They wanted me to give them a short bio, so I thought I'd take the easy route and just use the same one I gave to CopperCon. When I went to CopperCon's site, I saw that the convention started on the 6th. I looked down at my watch and saw that it was the 7th. My heart sank because I thought I had missed my first panel and reading. Then I realized it was just after midnight and that I hadn't missed it. Whew! So the only thing I can say is that someone up there is looking after me. Thanks!

So I did my first panel and my first reading ever.... and they were great. I knew both of the panel members from previous conventions. There were only 2 people in the audience when we started, but there ended up being 8 people when it was finished. It was the first panel of the day, so a lot of people weren't at the convention yet. I shocked myself by all the insightful comments I had to say about the Harry Potter phenomenon, our topic. My mind was working well.

For my reading, 5 people showed up. That seems like a small number, doesn't it? Well, I was expecting nobody. I've been to readings before where I was the only person in the audience. I was able to video tape the whole reading. I’ll put that on my DVD and website eventually.

I read the prologue and chapter 14 (Magic Lessons). I did all of the character voices and did a pretty good job, if I do say so myself. I even had to wipe away a tear when I finished the prologue. After the prologue, everyone commented highly about “what a great prologue” it was. I can't help but wonder if they were impressed because of my performance or because of the actual prologue. I wasn't nervous at all, and, like I said, I did surprisingly well. After chapter 14, the audience commented that their favorite part was the "dog poop" comment that Tonya said to Thorn about being able to use anything (including dog poop) to funnel the magic. I got a couple other chuckles out of the audience from that chapter.

After the reading, one of the panel members was kind enough to inform me (for about 20 minutes) that I messed up on some of the facts of the ER and medical profession. He suggested I fix those parts before the book gets published. I appreciate his advice but I think it’s too late. Also, I really don’t want to bog down the text with technical jargon. Windstorm already told me that it’s too late to make editorial changes. They’re too far into the process for that. Personally, my book is for young readers, so I don’t think they’re going to even care that the doctors didn’t spout off medical terms and procedures. At least, that’s what I’m hoping!

The next day was fun. I had a panel in the morning about the business etiquette. Again, lots of good comments from me. I don't know where I come up with this stuff. My mind was working well. Sometimes I just forget everything and I can't get a sensible thing out of my mouth, but this wasn't one of those times.

I ended the day with a panel about creating realistic aliens in fiction. It was fun and there were quite a lot of people in the audience.

I got some great pictures of me fighting with a light saber. I also rubbed shoulders with a couple New York Times bestsellers. It was interesting, since both of them mentioned issues with paying the bills. I guess even successful authors are still faced with money issues... either that or they have expensive lifestyles. This wasn't comforting to me. My greatest desire would be to be able to write full time for the rest of my life.

As a total side note... I sat behind a woman who I had seen at a previous convention. She is the spitting image of a girl I had thoughts of marrying when I was younger (I don't even remember the girl's name now -- That's how bad I am with names). She looked about 10 years older than me, though, but it was so uncanny I couldn't believe my eyes. She turned around and looked back at me about 10 times during the concert, but I just smiled and didn't say anything. Her name tag said "Cat." I'm sure I'll do a double take at the next convention I see her at.

The still small voice

2007-09-02T09:24:00.000-07:00

Originally posted HERE

Prayer - yep it's a good thing.

I wonder sometimes if people realize that prayer is a two-way communication with God and not just a one-way thing.

I spent a full day creating my first magazine advertisement. I even spent $1000 on software just so I could send it to the magazine with the proper CYMK color set (Corel Painter doesn't do CYMK but Photoshop CS3 and Acrobat 8 does). The ad would be seen by 85,000 teachers. I read over it a dozen times. I gave it to my wife to read 4 times. I had my mouse over the send button in my email to the magazine, but I just couldn't click Send. I prayed and felt like I needed to read over the text again. I read it but didn't find anything wrong. I put my mouse over the send button but didn't feel good about sending it. I prayed again and felt that I should read over the text again. I spent a whole hour stalling. Then finally, I caught the error. Right there plain as day, I had misspelled a word in the title of the ad. Both my wife and I had missed it, but I'm sure thousands of the teachers who would read the ad wouldn't have missed it. All credibility of the ad would have been instantly lost as they read the title.

Yeah, prayer is a two way communication. Sometimes the answer is just a quiet feeling: "read over the text again." It's not normally a thunderbolt.

From 1 Kings 19:11-12 we read

"11 And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake:
12 And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice."

http://scriptures.lds.org/en/1_kgs/19/11-12#

It's been 1 year since I lost my job

2007-09-01T16:57:00.000-07:00

Originally posted HERE

It's been a year now since I got laid off my job. I can hardly believe it! A whole year! How time flies. I just looked at how much money my new company made so far (it's been 1 year today), and it's over 5 times as much profit as I made working at my previous job. Wow! So now the other question I have to ask is.... where did all the money go?! I guess I'd have to ask my wife that. She's the one who spends it. We did get a suburban, playground set, swimming pool/spa, vita-mix, extended patio, table set and furniture. I basically upgraded some parts in my computer and bought some software – that's the extent of my personal spending, and that's hardly a luxury, since it was considered a business expense. Oh, I guess I did buy an HD video camera, but, again, I needed it for my book trailer.

Fortunately, we don’t really have anything else to buy. All of our long-term desires have been met. And now there is just one tiny little thing I will do with our money... promote my book. But I suppose we have invested quite a lot of money as well and given quite a lot to charity (12 to 13% of our gross). We maxed out our education IRAs, increased my life insurance, invested in mission funds for 5 boys, added money to our retirement fund and mutual funds. We maxed out our insurance deductibles last year and this year because of Jared. We did pay several thousand dollars out of pocket that our insurance company didn’t cover. We put an extra $500 a month towards the principal of our house and an extra $20,000 to boot. I have two goals now: pay off our house and promote my book.

So, momentarily, this year has been wonderful. Emotionally, it has been the hardest year of my life. I got a couple white hairs in my beard! Arrg! I sometimes wish I hadn’t been laid off my job. Life was simpler back then (I only worked 60 hours a week). But then again, we wouldn’t have any of the things I mentioned that we bought and there’s almost no way I would have any significant money to promote my book. In the end, all is good. My business is coming to a close soon. I can feel it. I suspect we’ll have enough money to live off of for a couple years, but after that.... well, I just hope my book takes off. I have some other more long-term solutions. They won’t bring in near as much money but they should be consistent and less stressful. I lost $100,000 earlier this year from a fluke incident. After thinking about it some more, I probably lost half a million dollars of potential earnings because of the incident. Oh, well. That’s life. I just read online last night of someone who lost $200,000 doing the same business I was doing. It could have been worse for me. I was able to bounce back fairly quickly.

P.S. My wife and I are ultra conservative when it comes to spending. If we can't pay with cash, we don't buy it. We've never spent a single cent on credit card interest our whole lives. That's probably why we were able to bounce back from the "incident" so easily.

Grand Desert Days Festival in Morristown, AZ (April 5, 2008)

2007-08-31T09:23:00.000-07:00

Originally posted HERE

I'll be going to the Grand Desert Days Festival in Morristown, Arizona (April 5, 2008)

Here's the invitation I received:

The communities of Morristown, Circle City, Mobile Gardens and Wittmann are hosting a Grand Desert Days Festival on April 5, 2008 at the Western Trails Ranch on Grand Avenue in Morristown. The proceeds from this Festival will go towards a community library and children's literacy program. Along with the normal events, we are putting together a special area to showcase local authors.

It would be our extreme pleasure if we could count on you as one of our local authors to accept this invitation. We could schedule you for the entire day or as long as you would want to stay meeting those that attend the event and autographing your book.

The worst sound you can ever hear after selling your van

2007-08-30T23:59:00.000-07:00

Originally posted HERE

What's the worst sound you can ever hear when you've just handed over the tile to your van you've just sold.... the engine trying to start. Note the word "trying."

Yesterday we sold our van, but when they handed us the cash and tried to start the car it wouldn't start because the battery had died. Fortunately, their friend jump started the van and they left without a word. I guess it serves us right. We haven't driven the van in 2 months.

Divine Intervention

2007-08-29T14:55:00.000-07:00

Originally posted Here

Do you believe in divine intervention? I sure do. Yesterday I was praying about what my priorities should be towards my book, Paraworld Zero. Surprisingly, the answer I received was that I should put a shopping cart onto my website so I can take pre-orders.

Today, I mysteriously received two phone calls from two different companies asking me if I am in need of a merchant account so I can take orders from my website. I have never received a phone call like that before, even though I have some websites that have received millions of visitors. On top of that, I just received a newsletter a few minutes ago that just happened to have a tiny section in there telling me what licences I have to have in order to sell books specifically from Arizona.

I'd have to say that God is pushing me in the right direction.

A blurb from Maria V. Snyder, author of Poison Study

2007-08-29T10:40:00.000-07:00

Originally posted Here

I just got a blurb from Maria V. Snyder. She was also kind enough to invite me to be a guest blogger on her blog in January. I met Maria a couple years ago when Poison Study was just starting out. I'm happy to say that her books are doing very well. I just listened to the first one from audible.com and the narrator did a wonderful job.

"Flame throwing pigeons and demonic dumpsters. Funny and imaginative."
– Maria V. Snyder (award-winning author of Poison Study, Magic Study, and Fire Study)

Paraworld Zero is now a high priority - Print run doubled!

2007-08-29T10:36:00.000-07:00

Originally posted Here

I got a phone call today from Windstorm Creative. They checked over my marketing plan and are going to run with it, full-force. This is very exciting. My wife keeps reminding me that all my lofty plans might not come to fruition without the support of my publisher. Looks like that will not be a problem. In fact, they're doubling (well, 2.5'ing) the print run. My book will also be their first 6x9 trade paperback as well. They will be supporting my book in ways that they’ve never done with their previous books. That means a lot to me.

The price of the book raised some concerns, but I think they'll find that with a larger print run, the costs per book should go down. I read from at least two publishers' websites, DAW and BAEN, that they do 10,000 print runs because at that price point, the costs go down significantly per book. One other good point about this is that I will now be eligible to enter some of the contests and organizations out there (some of them like the Campbell Award require a 10,000 or more print run). The main reason, for the increase, of course, is to coincide with the huge marketing budget that Windstorm and I have. We expect a lot of sales.

Also, January 2008 is the tentative production date. So now I have extra motivation to make this happen. I have lots of stress, but it will all turn out okay. I have a sneaking feeling that I’ll be contacted for subsidy rights from all the ads I’m placing. I just placed my first one yesterday, which will help with school and library sales. And, hey, a nice coincidence is that Windstorm is hiring a sales agent who will deal with subsidy rights. They start January, the month my book comes out. The moons are aligning perfectly for my book.

I mentioned earlier that I sometimes have the golden touch. That apparent good fortune that I have isn’t really luck. Much of it comes from faith and prayer, but the rest comes from hard work and perseverance. I make things happen. I was the number one salesman one month for a nationwide MLM. Who in the world ever makes any significant money from an MLM? I was one of the “lucky” few. A significant part of my income when I went to BYU came from an online affiliate program called AllAdvantage (I probably was in the top 5% of people who made money from that). The first month I started my new business (a year ago) I made three times as much money than from my previous job (and it went up from there). I just have a knack for making things happen. I don’t know if my book will be a success, because there are so many variables, but everything seems to be falling into place for me. “Luck” is on my side.

Participating in the CopperCon

2007-08-29T10:29:00.000-07:00

Originally posted Here

I thought this was newsworthy. Even though my book is not out yet, I will be doing a reading and I will be participating in a few panels at the CopperCon 27 in Phoenix Arizona, September 7-9, 2007.
http://www.casfs.org/cucon/

This will be my first reading and panel. I'm not usually scared in front of a crowd, so I assume I'll do fine. Plus I already know half the people there. Wish me luck!

------------------------
Here's the schedule
-----------------------

Fri 4p-5p Suite E
THE HARRY POTTER PHENOMENON with Michael Wentz (moderator), Bennie Grezlik and Matthew Peterson
Why does it succeed on such a stupendous worldwide scale? How does it appeal to so many age groups? Will it outlast a generation?

Fri 830p-9p Room 1123
Matthew Peterson Reading from “Paraworld Zero”

Sat 10a-11a Ventanas Room
BUSINESS ETIQUETTE FOR WRITERS with Emma Bull (moderator), David Boop, and Matthew Peterson
If you're interested in writing for publication, you are engaging in a business activity. Panelists discuss some do's and don't's for dealing with editors and publishers, including suggestions of things you can do to help get noticed in a positive way and things to avoid that could hurt your career.

Sat 6p-7p Ventanas Room
REALISTIC ALIENS IN FICTION with Mark Lund (moderator), Lee Hogan, and Matthew Peterson
How do you create a realistic alien? Is that an oxymoron since we’ve never seen one? Why are they typically humanoid in film but anything goes in print?

Douglas Hill was killed

2007-08-18T14:25:00.000-07:00

Douglas Hill was killed June 21st 2007 by a bus. This might not mean much to some of you, but it means a lot to me. Douglas was the main inspiration for me wanting to become a writer. He wrote nearly 70 science fiction / fantasy books for young readers. The Last Legionary series was what got me started down the speculative fiction path. I will dearly miss him. Douglas gave me a blurb for the back of my book and it will always mean a lot to me.

http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6458648.html

Strange Coincidences Between Harry Potter and Paraworld Zero

2007-07-27T11:57:00.000-07:00

Originally posted July 27, 2007 HERE

I just watched an interview with J.K. Rowling and I was shocked to hear that she got the ideas for Harry Potter 17 years ago. Holy Cow! That's the same amount of years ago that I came up with the ideas for Parallel Worlds. There must have been something in the water at that time.

I'm constantly frustrated every time I read one of her books, because we seem to be on the same brainwave. I finished Paraworld Zero before the fourth or fifth Harry Potter books came out, although I started writing my book in 1990. And when I read the later Harry Potter books, I found a few similar ideas and characters that I had included in my book.

The other day I was filming a movie trailer for my book and I had the character snap his fingers and then turn his head away. One of my boys said that he was doing that because fire was coming out of his fingers. My boy hasn't read the book, so I asked him how he knew that. He said that he saw it on Fantastic Four. ARRRG! By the time my book gets published it will look like I'm copying ideas from other people!

At least I have video footage of me when I was 14, talking a little about my book. I have the original printed version of parts of the first 6 chapters from 1990, but that doesn't mean anything to most people. I'm sure it will be a battle I'll have to go through to prove myself. As it is, I've already had to change parts of my book after I read the Harry Potter books because they were just too close together.

On a side note: the first book I started writing (even before 1990) was called The Sorcerer's Wand and it was about a boy who discovers his parents (who had died) were magical. He sets off on a journey that would end up with him joining a magical school. No joke. I do have some of that printed out from the 1980s. The computer file died on me twice and I had to rewrite about 60 pages from memory. With so many frustrations, I stopped writing it and then a little later I started Parallel Worlds, which had a similar theme. What a crazy coincidence to Harry Potter! I've said this before that reading Harry Potter (or listening to it, as was the case) was what got me excited to finish my book, so thanks J.K. Rowling for giving me a kick in the behind.

Little Miracles

2007-07-23T19:44:00.000-07:00

Originally posted July 23, 2007 HERE

Today my wife turned on the garbage disposal with her hand inside of it. You have to first understand that her fingers are very important because she plays the piano and does many other things with them. The miracle is that the garbage disposal made a sound but didn't spin. She quickly turned it off and practically had a heart attack when she realized what she had just done.

Like most garbage disposals, ours normally starts grinding away the second you flip the switch, so it was definitely a miracle that she didn't just grind up her fingers.

New Swimming Pool!

2007-07-23T19:34:00.000-07:00

The ongoing saga is Here

Well, after 6 years of waiting, we've finally decided to get a swimming pool, and we're finally extending our patio. We've had 7 pool companies come and give us their spill. It was pretty frustrating, since everyone had different opinions and many of the pool guys contradicted each other.

Finally, my wife and I went online and did some research to get the real answers from non-biased sources (i.e. from people who are not trying to sell us something).

We almost went with one company who was going to totally rip us off. They sounded good, but upon further investigation, it was all a crock. We found a dozen complaints against them last year as well. Thank heavens that we kept looking at pool companies.

So in the end, we're getting an 81 perimeter pool with an 8-foot slide. No diving board, but it will have a sheer decent (little waterfall) for the boys to jump off and crack their skulls. Should be fun.

When I was younger I used to jump off of our roof into the swimming pool. Now-a-days, everyone is so cautious about everything. Now that I'm a daddy, I am super protective. The slide we're getting has a special barrier around the ladder so the kids won't fall off when climbing.

So my wife and I spent the whole day clearing out our back yard. It was grueling work. I had to remove a fence and put it back up in a different location to keep our tortoises away from the pool area. We had to make a pathway, clear bricks, cut down trees and the worst part.... I spent hours digging in a place that I could have sworn I put a 4 inch pipe. I flooded the area and will try again. Basically, I put a 10 foot pipe under our concrete. The problem is that the concrete slab is 12 feet, which means, I had to dig 1 foot under each end of the concrete to find the pipe.... I never did find it. ARRRg. So tomorrow I'll try again.