Oye, papi. you like it mocha,
Come down a little closer and bite me en la boca
–Shakira, Rabiosa

She’s hot, she’s sexy and she has an incredible voice. Shakira hit the international stage in the 1990s and soon rocketed to the top. The Colombian pop singer has won two Grammy Awards, seven Latin Grammy Awards and countless others. She is a star in every sense of the word, taking her talent to astonishing heights, while never forgetting those who simply struggle to make it day to day. At the age of 18 she started her Pies Descalzos Foundation, whose … Read More »

My trailer for Out of the Shadows is ready and I want to share it with all of you.

I’m fortunate to have very talented friends who helped with photography and music. I absolutely love the sound that was specially created for this trailer. Isn’t it amazing? For me, it totally captures the Aztec feel that is the heart of my shadow warrior series.

You can watch it below or at this YouTube link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUzlEpf5SP8

Enjoy!

… Read More »

That’s the tag line for author Christie Craig. I like dark, edgy reads, but if you were to check my shelves (or my Kindle) you’d also see a lot of mysteries and stories that fall on the lighter side. And authors that make me laugh? I snap them up like candy.

It isn’t easy to write humor. It takes a solid wit and an intuitive sense of timing. Comedians practice and practice to be funny. It’s isn’t easy for the writer, either. Jokes can and do fall flat and once you’ve bombed, well, it’s hard to get that audience … Read More »

A few blocks from Ocean Beach, tucked in amongst some commercial property is a small bookstore and metaphysical gift shop, called Tree of Life . I had gone to the store to buy a particular gift for a friend. A sign outside declared chakra cleansings were available that day with Kathy Cybele. I decided to go for it.

Kathy is a warm friendly woman, who made me feel comfortable from the start. She asked me my birth date and what issues in my life I wanted her to pay attention to. I told her I was a writer and wished … Read More »

My oldest son titled this post. He told his grandma, grandpa and aunts and cousins that he would be back by himself next time. He’s reaching the age where that is possible.

We’re now sitting in LAX, getting ready to say good-bye to California once again as we head back to our home in Japan. I’m with my three sons and I know we all feel a mix of emotions right now. It’s hard to say so long. It’s never easy to part from my family, but for some reason, this time seemed even harder.

We had the best time … Read More »

A very talented friend of mine makes and sells handmade sewn items on Etsy . Her shop goes by the name Sewtype there. She’ll also custom design for you. I had her make me a camera bag and chose the material for it. You can see her selection of fabrics at her website.

I first met Christine when I saw the cell phone bags she offers on her Etsy shop. I teach in my day job and am not the most organized person. To make sure I don’t lose my phone I wear it. But I enjoy having colorful … Read More »

Hello everyone! I was invited to come on over and speak a bit about Comic Con, and while it FEELS like everyone in the known Universe is attending it, I realize a vast majority of folks have never been there. So, I’ll start from the beginning and explain why this maddening, frustrating, and expensive event has seared its soul into mine.

First off, Comic Con (or CC) wasn’t always this big. It started exploding about 2003–or 2004. Prior to that it was decent sized, but not HUGE. I’ve been going since about 1992 and it has changed massively. But now … Read More »

I read an interview with author Jayne Ann Krentz in which she talked about the ups and downs of her writing career. Krentz writes under three names for three different genres: Amanda Quick for her Regency/Victorian novels; Jayne Ann Krentz for her contemporaries; Jayne Castle for her futuristics. I was a fan of her Amanda Quick stories and every time a new book came out, I bought it. In her interview she talked about how–and I’m paraphrasing here–she sabotaged her own career. She created a Victorian series that didn’t follow the formula she had set up with all her previous … Read More »

I’ve picked up books in a trilogy where one heroine is a blonde, the next is a brunette and the last is a redhead. I call it the Charlie’s Angels’ effect. We have the sweet angel, the smart angel and the sexy angel. I’m not sure the same goes for hair color but there seems to be this need to cover all bases.

In stories, these women are all natural. In life, let’s face it, people turn to the bottle to get the hair color they want. It’s not always easy guessing who’s a real blonde and who isn’t.

Hair … Read More »

Well, mis queridas, it’s another Fancy Friday and I thought I’d put together a mix of links and quirky stuff that have come my way.

Science
Any science geeks out there? Science was never my forte in high school. I enjoyed biology (minus the dissection), got into water tables in earth science, don’t remember much of chemistry and avoided physics by taking an AP Bio my senior year. I even took another year of Bio in college to fulfill my requirements. Some sciences are simply hard to understand if you’re not wired to get them. But, when someone explains … Read More »