Cancelled due to weather: Speaking and Book Signing at Book Lovers.

My speaking engagement at Book Lovers has been cancelled for Tuesday due to weather. I'm bummed but we'll reschedule for another day.  Now out to shovel the lovely white stuff. :-)

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I'm so excited to be speaking and signing copies of Whispers from Forbidden Earth at Book Lovers on Tuesday 1/27.

Time: 6:00pm
Place: McGinnis Sisters Specialty Foods, Monroeville PA.
I'll will be disussing the popularity of fantasy in mainstream media.

If you live in the Pittsburgh area, come on out. I'm looking forward to meeting the folks at Book Lovers!

Je Suis Charlie!

Now more than ever, never be intimidated! Never back down!

2014: I Choose to Focus on the Good

2014 was literally the best of times and the worst of times throughout the world. On this December 31, 2014, I choose to look back at some of the remarkable moments that brought us all together as one people. Please join me in praying that in 2015 goodwill overcome evil, trust and acceptance would replace bigotry, and that peace will finally reign. From Kathy and I, Happy New Year!

Alzheimer’s Awareness Month: For My Grandma, Jenny

The memory is as razor-sharp as the day it happened many years ago. I walked into my parent’s living room and saw her, my sweet grandma Jenny. She sat on a high-backed wooden chair in the middle of the room, her wrists tied to the armrests with dishtowels.  Her uncomprehending eyes followed me. She didn’t speak. She hadn’t said anything beyond nonsensical mutterings for a long time.

I remember stopping at the sight. It hurt like a fist to my chest. Whether I said anything, I don’t recall. We had all noticed subtle signs years earlier—confusion and forgotten names. Maybe we were all too busy, wrapped up in our own lives. Grandma was just getting older. My grandfather, John, was a proud, strong man. He never let on that anything was wrong even as grandma became more withdrawn. Then his own health failed him and my grandma’s condition became obvious. By then it was too late. Her dementia had turned debilitating and violent.

This all unfolded in the mid 1980s. We didn't understand dementia and Alzheimer’s like we do today. I encourage all my friends to know the warning signs for their loved ones:

* Memory loss. * Repetition.  * Language problems. * Personality changes. * Disorientation and confusion

 

I wish we could have done more. I come from a proud Italian heritage where family always comes first. Family takes care of family. My parent’s did a wonderful job caring for grandma until the end. We all pitched in. When grandma passed, I had the clearest image of her soaring on wings like eagles through the clouds. I imagined her running like a child, FINALLY free and full of joy.

Time has eased the pain as time always does. I cling to that image of grandma just as I cling to the good memories: sitting around the kitchen table with the salami and capicola, the cheese and wine, Christmas Eve and the Feast of the Seven Fishes, homemade pasta drying on the dinning room table, homemade ravioli, grandma in her apron, always smiling. Those are the memories I will always cherish.

You can read more inspiring stories from other Helping Hands Press authors:
http://www.gelatisscoop.blogspot.com/ 

Veterans Day four years ago…a moment I will never forget

On a special Veterans Day four years ago, the 304^th Public Affairs Detachment, based out of Seattle, WA, came home from a year’s deployment in Afghanistan. My son, Jason, finally came home. Jason said at it was a moment he'll never forget. For our family, it meant his seat at the holiday dinner table wouldn’t be empty any longer. We wouldn’t have to wait for those brief weekly phone calls from halfway around the world.

For many of you who don’t know him, I thought I’d introduce my Army veteran, Jason Venturini. Jason served two 12-month tours overseas. First in Iraq with the 316^th Expeditionary Sustainment Command, Pittsburgh, PA. Then in Afghanistan with 304^th Public Affairs Detachment.  

Mark: I know you weren't in a combat unit, but for you and other Soldiers in your units, what was the hardest part of deployment?

Jason: There are many ways to approach this question so I’ll give two separate, yet equally relevant answers. 1) While overseas, especially in my second deployment I was more worried about issues at home: my family, friends grieving for lost loved ones. I actually felt a lot of guilt over there. 2) I will always say that the hardest part of a deployment is coming home. Less than 1% of the American population has ever experienced combat deployment, but they are always ready to give their opinions about you or the war, usually both. The hardest thing is truly coming back to an unsympathetic culture.  

O Canada, We Stand on Guard Alongside Thee

On Wednesday October 22, there was no Canadian team present, but my Pittsburgh Penguins opened their NHL hockey game against the Philadelphia Flyers with the singing of “O Canada” following the terrible deadly shooting in Ottawa and the storming of Parliament Hill earlier in the day.

 

Very classy gesture, Pens, I thought. Then I watched as the dreaded Flyers beat up on the Pens. My publisher is in the Philly area, so I’m sure he loved the game. I won’t hold it against you, Gio.

To be honest, I didn’t think any more about the game or national anthem until the next day when a groundswell of Canadian gratitude started flowing back.   

When the Characters in Your Story Whisper to You

Let me start out with a disclaimer and then an announcement. First the disclaimer: I am not crazy . . . I think. Announcement? Well, I’m excited to announce that my latest installment in the Colony Zero series is out on Amazon! I hope you will check it out.

For the Children was the most challenging story I'd ever written. The author before me in the series, Mark Carver, wrote a terrific story, Hammerfall. Only one problem: Mark ended his story with my character, Christopher Ransom, storming Colony Zero with a platoon of soldiers. I envisioned Chris escaping to Earth and wrote my draft story accordingly. There's a little scientific law that states a person (or character in my case) can not be on two different worlds at the same time! I had TWO WEEKS to rewrite my entire story before my deadline. The clock was ticking and I was totally stumped. It literally took me three days to write the first page of the new story. I could hear the wind whistling in the space between my ears. Then Lieutenant Lisa Clarke appeared on the pages of my story and she took my hand. 

Okay, admittedly this sounds freaky. I don't know the name of the young lady in the pic, but that is the image of my Lisa in every way. She guided me, showed me things through her eyes. She told me she knew the beautiful Zero, Althana. She revealed her past to me and shared her pain that helped shape the outcome of my story. Without her, I would never have delivered the story on time.

I hope you will take the time to meet Lisa. I’m very proud of For the Children. I could never have written it without her.