Coincidence or Devine Intervention?

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!

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!

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!

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

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!

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

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