Hey it's a New Year 2024 and it's time to set some goals!

 January 14, 2024

Instead of starting off that it has been so long since I wrote a blog entry, I will stop and say that it’s good to be back.  2023 was the first full year, living with Meli.  Our relationship is growing, and I am grateful each day that we are together.  Last year, we went to some concerts, Mark Anthony at Prudential. It was the first and last time I saw him.  Juan Louis Guerra at MSG which was a great show, Cheap Trick, Santana, Smithereens, and Duran Duran.  We also went to a Jets preseason game, NASCAR in the Poconos, IronPigs baseball.  Trips to Costa Rica, Mexico City and a week in Maine.  Of course, there were the trips back to Long Island.  We finally saw a CC performance, a drag show.  We went out to dinner many nights and took up hiking, bike riding, joined a gym and have been working out consistently for close to a year.  I ran a half marathon and a 5-miler last month.  I finally got into fly fishing.  We had visits from family and hung out with friends.  My second novel in the Bombastic Adventures in the Arizona Desert trilogy will be published by Imzadi this year.  Last year, an audio book of Black Market Bones was published.  And our home has a new roof and siding and lots of plants and books.  So, that is a brief summary of where we are at.

But this is a time of reflection as well.  And this is where I am.  Yesterday, I had a coaching session with John Joseph, former singer for Cro-Mags, Iron Man, a plant-based guru.  It was an intro session. We need to know we can work together and what was supposed to be a half hour turned out to be close to one hour. I told him, I’d like to get back on task.  My writing time and output has been minimal, and it’s been this way for months.  I get in maybe 10 minutes a night and consolation were that is ten minutes more compared to not writing at all.  Walter Mosely writes every day for hours and I was thinking, so can I.  I used to get up and write before starting my real job.  I finished a novel, not in the trilogy, that takes place in Ireland.  But since my wife is here, life is different.  She likes to have breakfast together each morning.  Most mornings, I clean the dishes, make breakfast, eggs, turkey sausage, we eat together, and I warm up her car and scrape the windows off of any frost.  I used to drive her to work, and I am grateful that she’s driving.  This saves a lot of time.  But what am I doing with the extra time?  I will be honest, not much.

Last year, I made the foolish decision to go back to Facebook.  It’s different compared to when I was on it back in 2017.  There are now reels and there are the same friends who are making the same comments, sharing new pictures, happy for those who are expecting or been promoted or other positive or not - life events which should we shared.  But most of it is whining, political or religious banter, regurgitating of old garage bands, reliving the romantic past, but it was the reels that did me in.  Months later, I got off FB.  It was difficult. There were a few aborted attempts.  It’s been months since I’ve been there.  Formerly Twitter, X was back in my life as well, but again I realized I was in a place that was wasting my time.  It’s taking me away from my goals and I am encountering posts that I don’t need to be exposed to.  It all boils down to time management. 

It is Sunday morning.  I woke up at 5:00.  I want to start waking up earlier, before Meli, so I can write. One of the suggestions John made.  Mission accomplished.  It’s more than two hours since I started and I am happy.  John said many things yesterday and I will hire him for more coaching sessions, but he said, I love what I do.  He also writes and is focused on his projects, meals, workouts, and goals.  I am getting back.  I haven’t had a drink since January 1^st.  Meli and I are on the road to transitioning to a plant-based diet.  This year looks like it will be more productive and just think, my phone is tucked away in the drawer to avoid any distractions.

Thank you for reading this,

Mike

 

      

My Novel Killer Commute will be published by Monk Press

7/25/14

You may recall my novel was published by Champagne Books a couple of years ago. After getting it back and making the necessary edits and the needed tightening; the novel is much better than before.  Once it's available I will post a link. For now here is the link to Monk Press.

http://monkpress-mike.blogspot.com/

Let's start a new country

1/1/13 10:05 Ronkonkoma

For the past twenty two years I have spent New Year’s Eve with Ali and her family.  Honestly, there are times when we’re driving there on New Year’s Eve and think of the parties, the lunatics and fireworks, and packed crowds in Time’s Square, but this is one family tradition we are maintaining.   When her grandparents were alive, we’d spend the evening at their house, eating Christmas cookies, having a hardy Italian meal and playing Italian cards.  Nana had a tendency to cheat.  Last night Ali held back a card and won a round.  After the ball is dropped, the first morsel of food we eat for good luck is Italian sausage which cooked in the oven a half hour or less.  The oily thick scent of simmering meat and popped champagne poured in wine glasses are prepared for the countdown.  Since Nana and Pops passed, we have spent New Year’s Eve here, at my in-laws.  We keep the tradition, we have the meal and play the cards, and the following morning wake up as if it was a Sunday morning;  looking at the peaceful world of their sleeping neighbors.  There are some changes this year - Ali made breakfast this morning, in the past her mother would make it.  I have not seen my mother-in-law this morning.  The house is different as well, they expanded the kitchen, a table with bar chairs are around it and a small TV plays in a corner - CNBC.  We discussed politics, the fiscal cliff…Hilary Clinton, our family, for instance what happened to so and so’s son and where are they now?  I woke up thinking this can be any other New Years day.  But each New Year brings all of us the opportunity to make changes. I can take a step in a positive direction; I can make some transformations and set new goals. 

For instance this Christmas break has been spent with my family, but also I worked many hours in my room editing the novel.  If you bought the novel from the publisher; I am sorry.  Sorry that they would consider it worthy for publication.  Sorry you spent your money – all twelve of you.  That includes the conductor on the train.  I will apologize to each of you.  There were so many mistakes, and edits - which were clearly not my doing.  Sentences had simple misspellings.  vague sentences would float in the middle of a page.  There was the poor grammar which I know is not my strongest aspect of my writing, but a knowledgeable editor will make corrections.  It was not uncommon for me to cringe and get pissed off - roll my eyes thinking how and why would anyone publish it?  Did they read it?  My book would be the perfect example - why many E-Publishers are not professionals.  The one who accepted the book - cared about one thing, selling books not about publishing good works that were worthy of their readers time or consideration.  I take responsibility as well, I was looking for a publisher who printed books as well as E Books.  I should have scrutinized the book before they said it was ready.  And I am grateful they did not promote this book or that many copies sold.  It's embarrassing.  It’s in my past.  Thank you Danielle for an exceptional job at editing – you made this work more polished. I will be more diligent than letting this go with fly-by-night operation.  I have learned a valuable lesson.

The past year and a half have been difficult for my family.    But it is in the past.  My wife is free of cancer.  My youngest had her tonsils removed with the hope that her epilepsy will be diminished perhaps alleviated altogether.  So I am looking forward to this year.  I am keeping a positive attitude and have set some goals. 

One of my goals is to forge a closer relationship with my son.  We share little with one another.  There is no catch in the back yard since he doesn't want to have a catch.  Rarely is there a time when it’s just the two of us.  Two weeks ago after the first service at church, I found Joe sitting in the hall where Sunday morning classes are.  He looked bored, just staring at the wall.   I had twenty minutes before the second service where I was the reader, and asked Joe if he wanted to take a walk to the beach.  Our church is more than 200 years old, behind it are acres of county preserved woods that lead to Mount Sinai harbor.  At first there was the usual reluctance, wanna go for a walk? “Naahhh,”  Come on…we can find the witch’s house.  I knew this would entice him and he appeared to have no other options since his friends were not around. 

We walked through the chilly woods, stepping over large stones washed up and rolled in the path after the rain storms.  It was a little tricky to walk over them since they were covered by leaves.  We had a deep discussion on religion, death, heaven and he said, “I forgot the word…it’s a long one…” 

“Reincarnation?”

”Yes, that is the one.  Tomo (our new kitten) reminds me of Elphaba (his cat that was hit by a car) and I think it may be her, he does a lot of similar things as Alphaba did.” 

I thought of my response but didn't say it, animal species have similar behaviors, the lions clean themselves the same way a residential cats does, but this would have been cold.  I was impressed my son considered reincarnation and saw his cat in this kitten.  I remember walking to high school  and looking at the robins in the grass and thinking what lives they lived before they were birds.  We discussed Hinduism and Buddhism.  

“Well, God has given us the gift of life and he put us here to serve a purpose."

  

Joe is the artistic type, he reminds me when I was his age and could spend hours drawing, and sketching or day dreaming about a movie or story I wanted to create.  The winds were light, but I knew we needed to head back to church. 

  

While we walked up the hill back to church I asked Joe, “Do you think God punishes people for doing bad things?” 

“No, he said, Isn’t that what some people believe?  There are two books in the Bible and one believes God punishes.” 

“Will, it's sort of true, there is the New Testament which describes the story of Jesus. And the Old Testament which is what you’re referring to.  They believed you had to follow ancient laws and if you did not, you would be punished.” 

“Jesus is God’s son,” Joe said. 

“God is love.  He gave us his only son. He is and the difference between the two books, the old describes the messiah coming and the new tells the story of Jesus and those who believe in him, their sins are forgiven.”

We headed back into church where Emma and Bella were downstairs waiting to watch children in the nursery, I asked they come up and sit with me if there are no children.  Eventually they came upstairs and we sat in the last row.  When it was time for me to read I wanted to take the opportunity to discuss what a deep conversation I had with my son.  I read and looked out at their faces from the pulpit and blessed the reading….

Newsday publishes my essay

http://www.newsday.com/opinion/oped/a-commuter-s-ticket-to-inspiration-1.2610397

Finding time to write: A transition

Finding the time to write takes discipline and time management. Most of us are inspired by thoughts of escaping the family by writing poetry in sealed cards, think of Raymond Carver. When I shared the news that my novel was released, I received a collection of expressions. Surprise was the first, followed by questions such as, “Where do you find the time to write? I didn’t know you wrote? What is the novel about? Do you think they’d make it into a movie?” This brings me to this essay. I have loved writing since I was a boy; I’d sit on top of the staircase landing and write stories or draw. The stories were not important to me, it was the fact I was using my imagination and could feel this simmering joy. I was tapping into a force, some call it Zen others the force of God, creating…whatever it was, I was at peace in the world in my little corner on top of the landing.
For many years I followed the paths that other writers made. Like Kerouac I joined the Navy and worked as a merchant marine. I was also a house painter, construction worker, farm hand. I had some short stories published and poetry. But I was avoiding the practicality life. Being responsible for my actions, my savings, pursuing a college degree and finding a career were not acceptable. I was the grand escape artist who wanted to live many lives, experience the rush of life and barely survive; I wanted to suffer for my art until a friend told me life should not be about suffering. After years of running I realized I was lost.
Life blesses us, we adapt to our struggles and surroundings. I settled down, married a beautiful articulate woman and we began to raise our children on shared principles like respect and love. My writing eventually drifted back to the weekends and only when the chores and bills were paid. If I was lucky I wrote for a few hours on Saturday. The more children we had the less time there was to write. With four children, my passion to write was transferred to watching my loves become amazing individuals.
When my hours changed at work and I was frequently late. My boss suggested leaving the house earlier, but I was already on the road for an hour and a half each way. I could leave at 6:45 to start at 9…but he also suggested looking into the train. What a great suggestion. Commuting was a blessing. I discovered the lost time and could use the ride to write. One night while on the train I was alone in the cabin and realized anyone could take me out and there would be no witnesses. That moment was the inspiration for Killer Commute. I don’t complain if the fares go up or if there are delays. The train has salvaged my simmering joy.

Running shakes off the Blues

I try to run every other day. Mornings are best, but when I feel days have passed and a little sluggish, I’d get home after work and go out for a 3 mile run. Avoiding the blues, lethargic, even sick, I push myself and get out. Running is not difficult for me, there’s not a lot pain. This summer there were extreme humid days and I should have skipped those days, breathing was difficult, my muscles ached since they were not receiving the rich oxygen; I stopped running and would walk losing time and feeling the pressure of getting on the road to work. Of course the spring and summer are best. Getting out with a long sleeve t-shirt that soaks up the sweat is best. My sneakers are light and I try to run in shorts as often as possible. My faded orange baseball cap had sucked and dried up layers of white sweat stains. Sometimes I assume strangers look at me and guess if I played ball. Thoughts swirl back and forth, and there have been some satoris or awakenings during some runs. My writing has been effected in a positive way, the ideas of a scene – how it would develop - the narration, a character emerges or a scene shifts and when I get home I try to remember it all. When I travel I like to run in different cities, there’s an intimacy with the streets and the landmarks that only a runner can have. At home, there are a few occasions when I go out for long runs, to the end of the Port Jefferson harbor where the boats and ferries pass through a narrow opening…big rocks…the desolation of shells and abandoned wrecks. Those runs are rare, but when I get one in, I feel a closer connection to God and send off prayers in the salty breezes.

Promotion with a purpose

It’s a new year. Not only that, but it’s a new decade. We can shake off the…what would you call the last decade – darn it’s not like the sixties or the seventies. The two thousands? And now getting into the tens and elevens and such. I made a promise to myself that I would look into ways to promote Killer Commute beginning this month. Here’s the thing, we get so excited about the potential – the endless possibilities that our future holds. But when it gets time to work…some of us falter. I’m guilty of it. Like I said I made a promise to myself. This time it’s going to be different. I proved I can write a novel. I proved that I can get it accepted. Let me add a few stories were accepted for some web sites as well. All of this takes time, and now is the next bold step. Promote Killer Commute and myself as a novelist. I think of my grandmother who said, “Self praise is no praise.” But this is different. I’m not praising myself, but instead the novel. It’s a great book that appeals to a large segment of our society – the commuters on the train.
I’m writing this on the train. I’m not in my usual seat with Mike the cop across the aisle from me. Just put my iPod in my ear since we’re approaching St James and there’s one character that gets on and used to sit next to me. The ear phones are in, and listening to Echo’s A Promise. There are a lot of people getting on. And guess what…he sits next to me.
Let’s talk about dedicating time. This is what I need to follow up on. So Champaign mentioned I should get into chat rooms or something similar. Mention the book. There is also an article in the Daily News that pertains to commuting and this would be a great outlet. I will submit the essay to the Long islander. I can talk to Katherine at work since she used to work there. My friend who is sitting across from me doesn’t know why I’m not talking to him. Dude, I’m working here. “I’m walking here!” Ratso Ritzo yells out and bangs the hood of the taxi. We’re in Smithtown and I’m babbling. I don’t mean to waste your time with babble. So there’s the article in the Long Islander and the Daily News. I will locate some mystery chat rooms. Come to think of it, perhaps an interview with my friend across the pond? Next week I plan on speaking at Toastmasters about writing the book and getting it published. There’s a few things right there.
So what does it take to promote? It takes some assistance from others. What about my Father-In-Law who does PR for the school district? I need to ask Ali what she thinks.
Before you know it, the novel is published. This is anticipated for a June 2010 release. Before then I would like to have some book stores lined up for a reading and signing. Any yet Champaign wants us to focus on the EBOOK. The almighty EBOOK that would be more profitable for all of us. There are a few Kindle readers on the train, but by far most of us read books. We like feeling the weight of a book in our hands, creasing the papers, lending it to others and eventually storing it our shelves.
“I’m jumbled up…maybe I’m losing my touch…but you know I didn’t have it any other way…” Echo and The Bunnymen - Rescue.
My friend sat down right next to me. Don’t know why, but I got up and moved my seat across from him. The train is going to be packed. I should move my bag that’s on the seat next to me. I should. If someone asks I will move it.
So, where will I start? Putting together a list of mystery book stores in the area. These includes Pennsylvania and Mass….check web sites for Mystery Press readers groups and share the good news about Killer Commute….a unique mystery for the commuter…
We’re pulling out of Kings Park. I get off in Huntington, but I really don’t want to lift my head up. My fellow commuter is just hanging on and waiting for the moment when we can make eye contact and he can say something about my laptop and he can tell me about his and his music and his music systems for his DJing gigs – I heard it. Let me write and look up a few times…
”What are you writing?” You must be busy with work.”
The train is moving through a slight snow shower. Blowing white strands on the rusty tracks. Inside the commuters are maintaining the silence. Stuck in their distinct worlds, caring less about the person just inches from their bodies. Northport…and this is where the most get on board. They are waiting outside the door, and slowly making their way inside, walking up the three steps.

Next day, and I’m home sitting in the dining room typing this. One of our cats is cleaning herself in the sun flowing in like a stretched rectangle. It’s quiet in this house. At this moment. Today is Bella’s birthday. She’s the youngest and so full of life. I want to prove to all of my children our dreams can be fulfilled with hard work, being responsible and faith in God…live a life with purpose…