Guest Author: Mystery Novelist Frank Say

Today, it's a pleasure to feature Frank Say, author of "Nine Lives." He is currently working on the second book in "The Lake Pontchartrain Mysteries" series (with "Nine Lives" being the first book in that series). Here is some information about Frank, and the story behind how he became a writer:

Frank Say has spent most of his life in South Western Pennsylvania. Some years ago, Frank had a strange but exciting idea for a story and would tell his future wife about his idea on occasion. After hearing the story several times, she finally said, "Well, why don't you do something about it?" With no formal training in journalism or writing and no one else interested in the idea other than him, Frank began compiling an outline. The outline quickly grew into three handwritten marble composition notebooks with scenes, characters and chapters. That was back in 2001.

The name of that story was "Nine Lives" and after completion of that process, Frank came to a wonderful conclusion: He absolutely loved writing!

"Nine Lives" was published in 2008. Not slowing down, Frank began work on his second novel, "The Thirteenth Sign," which will be the second book of the series, "The Lake Pontchartrain Mysteries." Overindulging in late-night horror movies as a child, Frank has a love of all things supernatural and paranormal and that is where you will find his writings.

Recently listed in the 2010 edition of "50 Great Writers You Should Be Reading" produced by The Author's Show, Frank is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh and currently lives in South Western Pennsylvania with his wife and cat.

"Nine Lives" is available via Amazon Kindle here.

To keep up with Frank's latest happenings, please visit his website: http://www.franksay.com/. There should be more information coming soon regarding his second book, "The Thirteenth Sign," as well.

Click here for an interview UCW Magazine conducted with Frank recently.

What happened to getting it right?

An interesting story found on Yahoo! News' Daily Brew, about the Bunny/Cop traffic sting. We can presume from the context of the story that it happened during the Easter weekend, but you couldn't tell from the Yahoo! story itself because it wasn't reported. It did mention "9:30 a.m." and the total number of tickets issued, but nowhere did it mention anywhere about when it happened. You don't know for sure unless you click on the original source itself, where it states when it happened.

But why can't the Yahoo! News site get that right?

Then in the story about KFC Thailand, Yahoo! News' Daily Buzz reported that the company used Twitter to post an inappropriate message, whereas other media outlets were reporting that KFC Thailand had used Facebook. Hmm. Yes, I know it's still social media, but don't they check their facts on Yahoo!? Also, multiple sources indicate that the earthquake magnitude was 8.6. Yahoo! News had it as something else.

Whatever happened to getting it right?

Easter Bunny a part of the police operations!

Kudos to the Nanaimo police for recently coming up with a creative way to catch drivers using their cell phones. According to news reports, they were using an Easter Bunny for their traffic sting!

Yeah, apparently, on Good Friday, they had a sergeant dressed up as a giant Easter Bunny and standing at several intersections known for having a lot of accidents. His job was to spot violations and radio ahead to officers waiting down the road! You might think people were upset about the way the police went about it, but apparently, quite a few drivers waved, honked their horns, and even approached the Bunny for photos once they realized it was part of a police undercover assignment!

A pretty creative method for an undercover sting, so kudos to the Nanaimo police for that.

PS - Guess what the "Bunny" got as a reward afterward?

Feature: Toronto composer/guitarist Roger Chong

One of my favourite composers, Toronto's Roger Chong, recently made Tandem Magazine's "Music Feature of the Week." Roger's a terrific person and a wonderful composer, so I'm super happy for him. Check out the interview here!

I already have a copy of his new CD, "Send a Little Love," which is scheduled to be released in May! It's a fantastic CD, and you can check out a few samples here.

Roger was kind enough to spend a few minutes chatting with me earlier this year. It was a big thrill speaking with him as he shared some interesting stories about his life and song titles. Click here for the interview.

"Philadelphia Story" by Bruce A. Sarte - Buy Kindle only $2.99

This fantastic detective fiction novel is available on Kindle for only $2.99!

Here's the blurb:

When private detective Lance Carter sipped his cup of coffee while admiring Independence Hall he had no idea where the day’s events would take him. With each sip of the blazingly hot brew his past comes closer and closer pulling him back to one moment in time that he thought was a closed case.

Together with his partner, Linc Diesel, Carter’s well-meaning conscience keeps digging holes that the two of them can’t fill.Who knew that a ten-year-old girl could bring the full force of Philadelphia’s Asian Mafia down on top of them?

Follow Lance as he roars through the city streets of Philadelphia while he battles the pain of lost love, missed opportunity, good deeds gone wrong and the ultimate battle with the seedy underbelly of Philadelphia!

Excerpt from "Philadelphia Story":

  

“Jennifer? Yes. She is not your average girl,” he rolled the word around his mouth. “She isn’t a whore at all, Lance Carter. She has something I need and I will get it from her if I must cut it out of her.” 

“If you hurt her…” I growled.

Ming crouched down so close to me that I could see the disdain in his flat brown eyes.

“You think you can try and stop what I am doing. Your government think that maybe they can lock me up? Throw away the key, as you say?”

He laughed. “You can never challenge someone like me, someone as strong as me.” He beat his chest with his fist. “You don’t have it in you Carter.” He looked me up and down. “You are weak, just like every other American. Soft and weak.” He stood and backed off. “I’m just as American and honest as you. You sold out your best friend, didn’t you? Just to save your girlfriend, right? Who is worse, Lance? Me or you? Me for taking people who want money and giving it to them -- at a personal price, yes. Am I evil for taking people who want the companionship of a pretty young woman and giving that to them -- again at a price. Everything has its price…” He was quiet for a moment and then his voice was lower, more grave in tone. “Am I worse then the man who killed your girlfriend and your best friend because of your lies? Because of your inability to take action? I take action Lance. I know about your precious Carolyn, Lance. I know about Tommy. Do you know how I know?” 

I stared at him with a new intense hatred. I didn’t know how he knew but I knew he was going to tell me. I hadn’t thought of Tommy in years and their deaths had nothing to do with one another. Except, of course, me.  

“Because I was there. I made sure Carolyn got what she needed to end her suffering. I made sure she was dead. But you Lance… you failed. I made sure that Tommy didn’t suffer anymore in that hospital bed, what did you do Lance Carter? At least I succeed in what I do. So who is the better man, Lance? Who?” He tore open his shirt to reveal a tattoo of an Asian inspired dragon holding a torn American flag in its mouth. “Yes, Lance I’m red, white and blue and I don’t care. I’m just like you. Red, white and blue and tattooed.” Next he rolled up his sleeve to reveal another tattoo. This time it was Chinese lettering on his arm with a Chinese flag above it. “I love my country and I love yours. Red, white and blue… I’m your all American nightmare…” he stopped one more time, searching for the right thing to say. Once he had found it he looked at me and slowly spat the words at me, “Mother -- fucker!” 

Now the smile broadened, “Wade, Maurice… kill this shitbird.” He turned and his foot falls were heavy as he walked away down the corridor.

Guest Author: Christian Chick Lit Writer Camy Tang

I got a chance to speak with author Camy Tang back in March for a radio program that I contribute to regularly on CJSF 90.1 FM. Camy and I discussed a bit about her new novel series "Protection for Hire" as well as how she got ideas for her "Sushi Series" featuring four cousins who had to fight the stigma of the infamous family title "Oldest Single Female Cousin."

She also talks about how she enjoys giving writing tips to her readers.

For all aspiring writers out there, never give up! One thing Camy mentions in the interview was the fact that she spent several months writing full-time and really focused on it, and she eventually got published! A truly inspirational story.

And oh... she says that Hawaii (where she's from) isn't as glamarous as people think! ;-)

Click here for the interview.

Click here for an excerpt of "Protection for Hire."

Beer Makes Men Smarter?!?

A special thanks to Toronto's Rick Jessup for submitting this New York Daily News story about how researchers at the University of Illinois found that men with a couple of pints of beer were better at solving brain teasers than non-drinking men!

The stat that jumps out is how the drinkers finished their brain teasers in 12 seconds while it took the sober men 15.5 seconds!

Well, that solves the mystery of why some guys are better at Sudoku than others... gotta drink more beer!

For submitting this story, Rick deserves special mention on this program, which takes place two minutes in. Thanks, Rick!

Review of "Fess Up, Jessup!"

Long time no post on here! In any case, Happy New Year to all my lovely readers!

Here's the long-awaited review for "Fess Up, Jessup!"

Enjoy!

Interview on Review Carnival

I had a chance to talk to Review Carnival recently about writing, and here are the interview highlights.

The good folks at this particular blog review several books--and interview authors--every month, and they basically do all kinds of genres.

Support the Leukemia Society today!

Bucks County Publishing is excited to say that the fundraiser for the Leukemia Society is going GREAT! Keep sharing this with your friends and help raise some serious money! For every purchase of "Fess Up, Jessup!" and the titles on BCP--paperback OR kindle--between NOW and Sunday, Dec. 19th, BCP will donate 10% tothe Leukemia Society!

Click here for all the details!

Joe Klein Interview

I had a chance to speak with Joe Klein on the phone this week in regards to getting information for the book I'm working on. Klein, now the Executive Director of the Atlanta League (a position he has held since its inception in 1998), gave a lot of great insights on the Cleveland Indians organization from when he was there.

One interesting thing he shared with me was the fact Pat Gillick liked knuckleball pitchers. It was ironic that two knuckleballers--Tim Wakefield and R.A. Dickey--shut down the Phillies (Gillick's current team) last Sunday and Monday back-to-back, sending Philadelphia to its slump (three shutout losses to the Mets).

Review of "Oh So Close, Canada!"

I was fortunate enough to have hockey writer Joe Pelletier review a copy of "Oh So Close, Canada!"

Here is a link to the review.

Mr. Pelletier, a published author himself, reviews hundreds of hockey books every year, and has an informative blog about hockey history.

Book Project Update #1--Interview with Mr. Gillick

I had an opportunity to speak with Mr. Pat Gillick on the phone earlier this month to talk about my book project. Gillick, a special advisor with the Phillies, was very cordial and took the time to go over the questions I had. After briefly introducing myself and talking about the British Columbia area codes and hard vs. soft covers, we got right down to business.

Here is an excerpt of the interview.

KP: I've read before in the papers, in both the New York Times and Seattle Times where you were quoted as saying Tom Candiotti did his job in Toronto. Can you elaborate more on how he helped your club in '91?

PG: The thing about Tom is he was realy the ultimate professional. He was someone who set a standard on our club by example, the way he conducted himself in the clubhouse, on the field. He set a great example for the other players on the club. Tremendous work ethic. Great passion for the game. He was not only an excellent player, he was an excellent teammate, and therefore really a joy to have on the club.

KP: Was there a lot of concern that Candiotti had pitched in Cleveland where there was no history of success, going to Toronto where there was a winning tradition?

PG: From an experience standpoint, Tom was a little bit different style of pitcher in that he was a knuckleballer and the rest of the people we had were fastball pitchers. As far as their style of pitching, they had very different styles, which was one reason we liked to have Tom on the club, was the variation of styles.

KP: Did he take any of the young pitchers under his wing? Like Guzman or Timlin or Wells?

PG: I don't recall any specific players but again, Tom was a real professional on the field and so consequently had an impact on a number of players on our club. He was always a very positive, upbeat person.

KP: When the media and fans in Toronto talk about your acquisitions, like Cone or Henderson, they say it's a success because the Jays won the World Series with those guys, but Candiotti was a bust. How do you respond to that?

PG: The 1991 series against Minnesota, I don't think Tom had a particularly good series. I think that's what they were focussing on. He didn't have the type of series we expected of him. But, all in all, we were happy with Candiotti in the way he performed and conducted himself. ... I thought probably in 1991 we were going to go a little bit further than we had in '85 and '89. But it was a thrill, not only for me but the players and the fans, to go back to the playoffs after being out of it for a year in 1990.

Baseball book project in California

It's been a productive trip to California thus far.

I got a chance to do a sit-down interview with former big-league pitcher Tom Candiotti on Saturday as part of my research as I try to complete a baseball book project I have going on. Tom was nice enough to chat baseball with me for an hour just before he was set to work the D'Backs-Padres game at Petco. We chatted about his knuckleball and his major-league career, and even about one of his ex-teammates, David Wells, whom he called "a great teammate" and "a fun guy to be around."

I've also had the opportunity to correspond with a couple of former major-league general managers to get more material for my book. They were also kind enough to respond to my interview requests and provided insightful information. Overall, it has been a productive week.

Will keep you posted once something new develops!

Book Signing Event at UCLA - Saturday, April 24th

KP will be having a book signing at UCLA on Saturday, April 24th, from 10-11 am and 3-4 pm.

Come out and show your support!

A free bookmark will be given out and KP will be signing books for everyone!

Email KP at kpwee1@yahoo.com for more details, or look up "KP's Book Signing in LA" on Facebook!