Movie review: The Time Taveler's Wife

Hey everyone,

Ok, so I finally got to see The Time Traveler’s Wife last night, but before I get into what I thought, let me give you some of my past with this particular story.

In 2007 I was deployed aboard the USS Bataan for the first six months of the year. Needless to say there’s not much you can do on ship other than work and gym and eat. Oh yes, there’s sleep too but that’s a given as long as there were not any operations to occur.

During my deployments as a Marine, I got a lot of reading done. I think during my first deployment in ’02, I read close to 32 books, all of novel length. My second I came close to matching that but I want to say I really only got to 20. It took me about one week to read The Time Traveler’s Wife and I absolutely loved every bit of it. It will pull your heart from your chest so be prepared for tears.

The movie, though still gave me that achy feeling, didn’t quite impress me as much. As with longer works turned into movies, there’s so much missing that the reader knows made the story grand. They hit all the major topics and scenes but in my mind a lot of the smaller aspects of the story is what made me hurt when I finished it. Not the bad hurt but the kind you get when you finish one of those great stories and know it has truly ended, leaving you feeling a little alone because those characters are gone from your life.

If you’ve seen the movie before the book, give yourself some time before reading so you won’t get lost in how it jumps the various scenes of the characters’ lives. If you read the book then prepare yourself for a movie that just doesn’t have the amount of time to get all of the book into it. I will not say don’t see the movie…I liked it, but I LOVED the book.

Take care and I’ll talk some more later!

Creature of Habit

For those of you who are not familiar with some of the inner aspects of my life, I am a father of a son with an autism spectrum disorder. I'm blessed in the sense that Jeremy can talk and function -- more so than he did two-plus years ago -- and he constantly makes progress ever day. But, as some know, there are aspects of autism that will most probably never go away. One of these for Jeremy is his routines. Each day is scheduled as much as can be without driving everyone crazy (that is an exaggeration but you get the idea) and there are some things that you just don't break in his routine or else you he will let you know--sometimes it is an unpleasant experience when he informs you of the break in his routine.

I tell you the above, not to preach or even come close to acting like I have some mass expertise in autism, but to tell you about one of our weekly routines and how though it was nowhere near the usual morning, you still have to stick to some routines.

One of our weekly routines is on Saturday morning, Jeremy and I drive around Slidell, Louisiana. On Saturdays, I take Jeremy and on Sunday, his pawpaw takes him. We do this because Jeremy loves to wake early in the morning and on the weekends we do this so the others can sleep for just a little longer. So I have Saturdays and Jeremy and I usually go fill my truck up with gas for work the next week, get a car wash (and yes I've had to wash the car on rainy days--again, some routines you don't break), stop at Sonic for one of those frozen-crack-concoctions I love so much (the frozen mocha java chiller), then we might drive around some more but it usually ends in McDonald's for the family and then we go home to eat.

Today we followed routine, yet it was definitely a day when routine didn't follow us. Last night the temperature was somewhere in the teens and stayed that way until early morning. Now usually Jeremy and I are up around 7:00 am --on a good day-- and on our way, but because of the temps, we pushed the trip until close to 10:00 so that it wouldn't be too cold and end up with a sick child in the house. First routine broken and yes I paid dearly for that one by him running in the room ever minute, on the minute, to tell me it's time to get up and "let's go, daddy!"

We departed and went to the gas station to fill up and get our car wash. Much like on a rainy day, the car wash was not worth the money. I was not surprised at all. We pull in to the car wash and stopped on signal as usual--Jeremy anxiously awaiting the cleaning bar to sweep across with pressured water, soap and the other cleaning steps the wash makes. If you'd ask Jeremy he could recite each step of the car wash all the way down to the pay box telling you to pull into the wash verbatim. The presoak went as planned and the truck was covered in a light coat of soap. The next pass would have been the pressure washer coming across to spray the soap away…Of course the car wash had been out in the elements so as you can guess, no water came from the wash. Such was the same for all the passes except when the rinse came across and finally the soap was cleaned from the truck. Then the air dry kicked on and such was our car wash--a beautiful waste of money.

Luckily the lack of wash did not cause Jeremy to remind me of the break in routine and I thank God for that. I think McDonald's helped with that.

With that said, have a great weekend and if you get a chance, let everyone know what habit you are a creature of!

Coming soon from Moongypsy Press

The Book of Absolute Truths (a novelette)


SUMMARY:
If someone wrote you life’s story, would you read it?

When a vagrant enters Randy Moreland’s used book store and thrusts an ancient book into Randy’s possession, Randy finds out his life story is not what he expected.

The vagrant insists that Randy get rid of the book by any means necessary, not to even read the cursed tome. But Randy is unable to help himself as he finds the book is writing his life; his life as it is happening. The book even tells Randy of his wife’s current affair that occurs while he is at work.

Unable to catch his wife in the act and not knowing if he wants to learn more secrets about his life, Randy tries discarding the book in the river only to find there is more to The Book of Absolute Truths than its title suggests. Truths that could cause a man to kill himself or the ones he loves.

Find out more about this and other stories at http://www.TrentKinsey.com

Coming soon from Moongypsy Press -- Who's to Blame by Trent Kinsey

Who's to Blame
a short story by Trent Kinsey

SUMMARY:
When John Williams' daughter dies of cancer, he closes his heart to everyone, including his wife. No longer feeling like he can write children’s stories, he squanders his retirement money sitting on the couch engulfed in his loss. After John’s investment portfolio crumbles with the stock market, he takes his agent’s offer to write the biography of the reclusive author Mark Edwards. The problem is Mark does not want a book written about him.

John’s wife, Lisa, leaves him because of their constant fighting, and John learns from Mark how much blame plays a role in a person’s life. As John learns more about Mark and the author’s own personal loss, a viral outbreak occurs causing the infected to become aggressive, deadly and extremely hungry. John finds himself torn between wanting to make sure his wife is alive and the fear of becoming one of the infected.

The infection spreads and no one knows how to fight it, what caused it or who to blame.

Find more at:
http://www.trentkinsey.com

Let's Celebrate Veterans Day

Today is a special day. For many, it’s a sad day, but for me it’s a day for celebration. Today is Veterans Day.

But how can you be in a festive mood on such a somber day of remembrance?

It’s really not that hard once you put it all together.

We have lost so many lives of those serving in war today just as we have of those serving in the past. And, in addition to those who’ve died fighting any of the wars, conflicts, battles and operations America has taken part in, we are losing those who fought and made it home alive. Each year we lose more and more of the living history that has not only helped protect the freedoms of not just Americans but other countries as well. We might have won the war, be we are still losing in the end.

Again, you might ask “How can you be happy on a day like today, remembering what loss America takes?” My answer is simple…

Not only do we pay homage to the veterans of past and present, but during the month of November, we too celebrate what we have to be grateful for. Why not start that celebration today?

We have hundreds of thousands of troops serving in contingencies, operations and war every day. I celebrate their lives so their sacrifice is not in vain. In addition to serving in harm’s way, we have millions serving or will be serving stateside, waiting to take part and carry the torch passed to us by the greatest generation. That is definitely cause for celebration.

The fact is, we get so caught up in the losses we have taken over the years, it becomes harder to see that there is so much to be thankful for during this day. So much to celebrate.

Yes, it is a sad day, but they did not live sad lives and when those of this generation come home, they need us to be there with smiles on our faces and open arms to take them in until they are whole again. They need us to love and be happy and celebrate their return; to listen to their stories.

For if we only focus on the losses, why is it worth fighting for?

The Zombie Cookbook: New recipes bring great flavor to a dead subject

The Zombie Cookbook edited by Kim Richards
My rating: 4.8 of 5 Panic Attacks

The world has changed its view on the monsters of yesteryear. Women now swoon over vampires and werewolves are the heroes of their own tales; the reader sympathizes with these characters instead of fearing and wishing them dead. It seems there is only one constant in modern monsters: Zombies are zombies are zombies. And their hungry!

But if that is to be true, how does the world of zombies survive without becoming completely boring to the readers? Though a new title such as The Zombie Cookbook helps, what really keeps the idea of zombies “fresh” in the mind of readers around the globe is its collection of stories, poems, sketches and recipes which orbit around a subject everyone can sink their teeth into: Food!

“It goes to show that some cliché’s never die,” said Karina Fabian, author of Cookbook tales My Big Fat Zombie Wedding and Wokking Dead.

Fabian, who disagrees that the subject of zombies seems to be taboo in the publishing world, said that titles such as Pride Prejudice and Zombies and World War Z—The Zombie Survival guide have helped to bring the “dead” subject back to life. Though she said she’s not looking at changing the readers’ perceptions of zombies, “What I hope to give the world of zombies…a good, long laugh. That gives me time to run away!”

But readers should not run away from The Zombie Cookbook. Within its pages are stories such as:

Secret Ingredient—There’s a zombie in the kitchen! That may be the case, but when spaghetti-eating zombie Clete takes a job as the assistant chef at the L-Double-J ranch, he’s not the one you need to watch out for. It’s a tale of catering and culinary revenge. Would you have added the secret ingredient?

Express Cuisine—Zombie attack on a speeding train--is there really any escape? Fight, hide, jump--none of it can stop you from becoming...Express Cuisine.

Brain Food—Ah, domestic zombie bliss! It’s the Undead Cleavers mixed in with a little Arsenic and Old Lace. Can’t tell you much about this story except that the ending will surprise you as much as it did Thelma!

And many others.

Each story, recipe and poem is well placed. The stories have full characters that readers can relate to and a pace that keeps the reader moving. Before too long the reader is lead through the 84 pages as if no time has passed at all.

I didn’t become a fanatic of zombies until my wife began her fascination with them. Soon after, zombies began popping up all over the place and now we have a cookbook to accompany the pride and prejudice, giving us something to munch on while making our way through the various survival guides and Resident Evil games. To sum up my impression of The Zombie Cookbook (Damnation Books, September 2009) is six simple words: I can’t wait to see more!

Note:
- The Zombie Cookbook can be purchased at
Damnation Books and more can be found about it at:
http://www.zombiecookbook.net/.

Bite Me by Donaya Haymond: How do you give bad news to a werewolf married to a vampire?

Bite Me by Donaya Haymond

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Donaya speaks to the part of me that has been in the back of mind since my time in middle school and I have to admit, I only wish I could have done what her characters do in her awesome tale Bite Me.

Though Goodreads only lets you go 4 or 5, I really give Bite Me 4.6 stars.

The characters, mystical in nature, are still confronted by real problems faced by many in today's society. And though it is not an action-packed story, it maintains a steady pace that before you know it, it's over.

What makes it even better is it is part of a series, but you don't have to have the first book to understand what is going on. Donaya has a way of re-introducing the characters that her followers are already familiar with in a way that allows new readers to know what is going on without boring fans with information they already know.

I am looking forward to seeing what she comes up with next and how far this tale can continue.

View more of my Goodreads reviews >>