Jam Sessions available in stores!

Buy Jam Sessions Here!

REVIEWS:

I read this book with my class, and the kids and I loved it. Phillip's story is so relatable without being cliche. He is a main character who is so much like many of the kids in our school, and my students connected with him immediately. There were moments of laughter and a few tears, and we enjoyed all of it! My class is asking for a sequel! In addition, the author donated a class set of books to my class. He is both talented and kind. Thank you, Mr. Harwood.

    - Michelle Gildersleeve        

And you can buy a classroom set for under $3

 HERE: TeachersPayTeachers

 

I just finished this book, and thoroughly enjoyed it. I am a mental health therapist and worked with adolescents for several years. I highly recommend this book to parents of preteens and for any middle school aged child (or younger) that is experiencing anxiety, feeling isolated, bullied, or going through upheaval. Being a middle schooler is difficult. It could also be very helpful as preventive maintenance - a way to open a dialogue with your preteen about how to handle the roller coaster on which they are about to embark.

It’s a page-turner that kept me engaged. I really cared about the characters, and actually became emotional while reading the epilogue. You have to buy this book. It can help us all grow lenses on how to help young people in their struggles. I think I may buy several to hand out as gifts.

        - Dino Smith

Jam Sessions by Jerry Harwood caused flashbacks to my own middle school life. I was bullied, and my anxiety was definitely going strong during those years. I love that Jam Sessions explores the real life difficulties and the real life successes that kids go through in middle school.

This is an easy read. Short chapters, with light but still talented writing, creates a great little book with a lot of great lessons. I wish I had some kids in my life that were in this part of their lives. I’ll keep this one on hand, for when they get to this age.

A little side: I love that this author makes this book available for classrooms because I think the story would be great for middle schoolers to read. I know it would be relatable and give them things to think about.

- Jessica Belmont

 And you can buy a classroom set for under $3

 HERE: TeachersPayTeachers

Lillian Brummet reviews my Twelve Hours On the Block

 Twelve Hours On The Block was released in 2020 by author Jerry Harwood and his publisher (ThreeRavensPublishing.com). The dark, brooding cover (designed by Tracy Lundgren) looked at first to be an alley at night in a less-than-desirable area of a large city. However, upon reading the first few pages I realized that it was, in fact, a view inside of a penitentiary.  

 

In this sci-fi fantasy, graphic, pulp fiction style novel newly incarcerated Eli, meets fellow inmate Tay when reality fades away and they face a crazy wild adventure, keeping their sanity with light hearted banter and references to mutually appreciated TV shows and movies. The scene opens one evening in a SunnydalePenitentiary cell-block, where a carnivorous, seemingly super powered fellow inmate known as Hummbingbird kills a guard and starts a gruesome fire. From there, the night just gets weirder. Musical chanting spells, inmates uprising and hallucinations... or are they hallucinations? 

 

One of the most uniquely imaginative tales I have read, interwoven with ancient mythology and lore in a crafty way. While this is not a genre I would normally turn to, I am glad to have had the opportunity to do this review, and experience this author's interesting style and creative techniques he used in producing Twelve Hours On The Block.

Out of curiosity I visited Jerry's Amazon Central page, his blog (Jerry's Circumlocution) and his website. There, I learned that he has written, co-written or collaborated on numerous books including his first book Jam Sessions, a collection titled: Dragons & Dribbles (cool cover image on this one), and many others.  If you have time to visit his blog you'll find that it periodically shares interviews with other authors, short stories, recipes, book reviews and more. 

 

Interestingly, Jerry is the son of a school teacher, and he also spent time in that field. He has, in fact, had an adventurous life - according to his bio: "Jerry has backpacked Europe, taught in a Ukrainian University, worked in Rwanda after the genocide, is a first responder, sort-of remodeled a VW Thing, and has a love for Cherry Coke Zero that is only surpassed by his love for his wife, six children, and grandson".  

~   Visit Us @: 

http://BrummetMedia.ca

Our Author Central Page on Amazon 

Conscious Discussions Blog

Interview with Nathan Timmel

 

Today, we have an opportunity to talk to Nathan Timmel. Nathan has written the book, We Are 100.  

 

First, let me thank you for joining me. I appreciate you giving me your links and I want to share those with our readers.

 

www.nathantimmel.com

We Are 100

 

Can you tell us a little about yourself and what led you to start writing?

 

Oh boy… that should be an easy question, but the truth is, I don’t remember. It’s just something I’ve always done from childhood. Ever since I could ham-fistedly grab a crayon, I was scribbling out words, then sentences, then paragraphs, and finally stories. So, I can’t really pinpoint a time when, say, my version of a John Keating inspired me, or the first story I ever wrote, because it’s been so long. I’ve just always been someone who has tried to get my thoughts out of my noggin using the written word. 

 

 

Where do you get your inspiration, information, and ideas for books?

 

 

Professionally, I’m a stand-up comedian. I stand on stage and yap funny stuff into a microphone. 

My wife and I love stand-up comedy. I have to confess I googled yours and found myself laughing.

See Nathan's Comedy

So what led you from comedy to writing?

But, being a fella with thoughts that aren’t always humorous, I needed an outlet for things that wouldn’t get a laugh. We Are 100 became a conduit for thoughts of mine that wouldn’t work in a comedy club.

 

 

What are your hobbies and do they ever play into your writing?

 

Because I’m a comedian, writing is my hobby. I spend a lot of time sitting in hotel rooms, and use writing as a way of being productive. Instead of watching TV, or drinking, I pound away at the keyboard.

 

 

What advice would you give someone who wants to be a writer?

 

I guess the only thing I would say would be to write, write, and then re-write. You won’t know what you’re capable of until you hunker down and try.  

 

 

What is the best advice you have ever been given as a writer?

 

I had an English Lit. professor in college that explained that there was an audience for everything. Everything. Just because one person doesn’t like your story, doesn’t mean another person won’t love it. So, write the stories you want to write; don’t write what you think other people want to read. Don’t chase an audience, create it.

 

How many hours a day do you write?

It varies… I write when I have an idea. I’ve never written for the sake of “getting my reps in.” If I have nothing to say, I’m not going to force it.

 

 

What is your favorite part about writing?

The editing. While I enjoy barfing an idea out onto the page, to me the real fun is going back and honing it; making the words crisp and pointed. 

 

What does literary success look like to you?

The simple act of accomplishment is a form of success. You finished something, which is fantastic. When I finished my first book, I had a thousand people tell me, “Yeah, I’m thinking about writing a book, too.” That was over a decade ago, and only one person followed through. It’s one thing to fantasize, and another to put in the effort. So, if you write a book, that’s success right there.

 

 

Please tell us about your current release.

 

We Are 100 is a thriller that asks: what happens when someone of means organizes and weaponizes people at their wit's end? 

 

Everyone feels powerless at some point in their life, especially when bumping up against large institutions. But what if you could take on a district attorney that refuses to prosecute rapists? What if you could exact revenge on the bank that incorrectly foreclosed on your house? 

 

Vengeance is an interesting fantasy, but when it becomes real—when it becomes violence—there are consequences. 

 

We Are 100 toys with your moral compass. It makes you question whether or not the “bad guys” are really the villains, since they’re acting as vigilantes against actual evil.

 

 

Can you read / provide us with a small excerpt?

 

In the sample you’re about to read, a man named Stuart Francart is making his move. 

 

One year ago, he took on a position as a janitor in order to gain access to a pharmaceutical company that wronged his family.

 

No one noticed him. People went about their business, typing away on keyboards, taking phone calls, and shuffling paperwork. In a way, wearing a janitor’s uniform was like wearing Harry Potter’s cloak of invisibility. If you weren’t wearing a suit and tie, you were “less than,” and therefore not worth looking at. Maybe that wasn’t the case on some of the lower floors, Evan mused, but it definitely was up in the penthouse.

Evan generally pushed his cart down deserted hallways at night; having to navigate people in a hurry was challenging, but not horribly so. When he arrived at the boardroom door, Evan took a deep breath. He could still back out now, if he really wanted.

Instead, Evan turned the handle. Though he was quiet as he entered, all heads turned to greet him.

“Excuse me, we’re in the middle of a meeting here,” someone said, but Evan wasn’t sure who. His concentration was elsewhere.

After parking his cart, when he turned to face the group of six men and three women, the gun was level in his hand.

“Evacuate the building,” Evan stated, his voice monotone.

 

 

What exciting story are you working on next?

 

Right now, I’m focusing on my recording my seventh stand-up comedy album. After that, I have another nonfiction work bouncing around my noggin. 

 

Who are your favorite authors? 

 

Jon Krakauer, Michael Lewis, and Malcom Gladwell.

 

 

What’s your favorite under-appreciated novel?

I don’t think Michael Perry’s Population 485 is widely-enough known. It’s really worth a read.

 

Any plans for the upcoming holiday?

 

I plan on telling the world that my book would make a great Arbor Day gift. Take that, trees!

 

 

What part of writing and publishing was most difficult for you?

 

Oh boy… I’d have to say the most difficult thing was getting the margins correct. Every time I uploaded the book, a glitch in the system would add page breaks where there were no page breaks, words would get cut off… 

 

Translating a Microsoft Word Doc into a publishable book is a pain in the tuckus. 

 

But it’s worth it in the end.

 

 

One more time, where can someone go to purchase your book?

Add your links here again

 

The book is available on Amazon, found here…

 

Or you can always click through my website, at nathantimmel.com

Easy Cowboy Salsa

 

First - credit where it is do. This is a recipe adaption of the one HERE

She has several great ones listed on her site worth checking out. Hers is "Texas Caviar." I think I have deviated enough that mine does not deserve that title. However, mine does not necessitate roasting and shucking corn. The ingredients are simple and easy to assemble (no cooking on this one). I will eat on it for a week. Here is my version:

INGREDIENTS:

Two Red Peppers (diced)

Jalepeno (or 2) chopped small

Cilantro chopped (3/4-1 cup)

Large red onion diced (or 2 small)

1 can Black Beans (drained)

1 can Black-Eyed Peas (drained) (sometimes these are not in the bean aisle)

1 can Rotel (I like the original)

1 can corn (whole kernel, not cream corn)

1/2 tsp garlic powder, salt, and pepper (or to taste)

3/4 cup Italian Dressing (I prefer Olive Garden. be sure to shake well first!)

That's it!!  Mix it all together and refrigerate. Best if it can marinate a few hours.

Interview with John-Michael Gariepy

 

Interview with 

John-Michael Gariepy, 

Author of 

Winning Streak: 

Tales and Trivia of the 

40 Most Popular Board Games.

Follow Gariepy on Twitter

Follow Gariepy on FaceBook

Visit Gariepy's website

So I went over to the website, popcornroulette.org, and found it a fun site to peruse. I especially got caught up in the discussion about "Can Lobsters be Immortal."  Our readers can check that site out here: 

popcornroulette.org

But today we are focusing on promoting your book, Winning Streak: Tales and Trivia of the 40 Most Popular Board Games.

The Book Landing Page is: www.winningstreakbook.com

 

Can you tell us a little about yourself and what led you to start writing?

I was always a creative kid who liked to entertain. So I spent a lot of time in theater groups and singing in choir. I went to college for dance, and was pretty good at it.  You’d never know it now because I’m such a big guy and terribly out of shape.  But if you threw a pair of tap shoes to me, I’d tap circles around you until I start gasping for breath.

At some point in college I picked up writing and began to understand I was on the wrong path.  I wanted to create my own stuff instead of replicate other peoples’ work.  It would take years before I had enough experience to choreograph, so I put down the tap shoes and picked up the pen.  I admit, there’s a part of me that wishes I stuck with it.  A decade seems like a much shorter amount of time when you’re in your 40s.

Yes it does. I won a writing award in High School and swore writing would be part of my life. But I didn't pick it up as a serious hobby again until I was in my mid-forties  Now, I usually ask if people have hobbies and how those play into their writing. However, your hobby seems to also be the subject of your work?

 

I’ve always been fascinated by board games. Ma wallpapered houses for a living, she’d drag me along, and I needed to find ways to entertain myself. I’d put together puzzles, read children’s encyclopedias as literature, and play a lot of board games by myself, keeping score for each ‘player’.  Classic games like Monopoly and Upwords, as well as the Milton Bradley flashes in the pan, like the F-16 combat game, Screaming Eagles, and the Rodney Dangerfield licensed game, No Respect.

 

Since I spent a lot of time studying board games one-on-one, I guess I was priming myself to become a board game reviewer. I talked board games on three defunct podcasts, and the occasional review popped up in my blog.  But even after reviewing three hundred plus games, I still have a fondness for the clunky, flawed, Milton Bradley games of my youth. That’s one of the reasons I started writing about popular games.  As backwards as a game like Monopoly is when compared to stellar modern games like Pandemic and Carcassonne, it’s still one of the most commonly played games. And that’s because for so many things it does wrong, it does a surprising number of things right. And that’s worth acknowledging. We can’t improve if we downplay our past successes.

 

 

Do you write full-time or around another job? How do you schedule your time to write?

 

I’m a security guard, and I work third shift. Every now and then I get caught up thinking about switching jobs, but then I remind myself that I’m currently working my dream job.  I get paid to sit, and take an occasional walk.  And my boss encourages me to write.  If I’m writing, that means I’m not sleeping.

I had never thought about a security job on third shift as being a great place to get some work done? But that makes sense, that your boss would want you to stay alert. I remember a security guard at a plant I once worked at did puzzles all night.

I don’t think I can advertise third shift security work enough to anyone who wants to seriously write. I know a lot of people think it’s dangerous to be a security guard, but all of the buildings I guarded were well-fortified with alarm systems. My bosses are more concerned about roof leaks or the boiler melting down.  An actual event that I need to respond to might happen once a month.  In the meantime, I write without interruption, and I get paid.

  

Please tell us about your current release.

 

Winning Streak uses the incredibly flawed Best Board Games of All Time list on Ranker and digs into each entry. There’s straight reviews in there, often for games I thought the general public might be less familiar with, such as the Battlestar Gallactica board game. With games like Stratego, I instead dug into the history of the game, and then the potential secret history of the game (Stratego might have evolved from a couple of older Chinese board games, but it’s difficult to say.)  Some games, like with Operation, I mostly cracked jokes. And with some games there’s already been so much said about the topic, so I jumped off the rails and told a different story all together. For example, I took a deep dive into the ill-fated Monopoly game show from the early 90s produced by the makers of Jeopardy, and tried to understand why it was such a miserable flop.

This isn’t a straight book of reviews or a history lesson. I’m a goofball, and it shows in my writing. This is a walk past a library shelf of board games as told via bathroom reader. And it’s got over one hundred pictures in it, because I’m bad at limiting myself.

 

I always love Bathroom Reader's. In fact, I think I have read almost every one of the Uncle John's out there. Can you provide us with a small exert of your book?

 

#38 – Operation

The Operation commercials always make the game out to be a farcical romp. Leering over this horror show of a body that is our unlucky patient, however, is as tense and nerve wracking as using your amateur skills to perform a real-life appendectomy with a gallery of doctors watching and tens of thousands of dollars on the line. Maybe more so. No amount of fake money is worth the stress of never knowing when the buzzing beehive in your patient’s nose will unleash.

Of all the crazy maneuvers in which your skills as a fake surgeon are requested, I’m most perplexed by the rubber band which you must remove, turn around, then replace in the opposite direction all while touching nothing, ever.

“Well, it’s not good Sam. It turns out your heart is upside down. I’m afraid we need to operate. Now I’m not going to lie to you. This won’t be easy. I need to open up your chest, remove your heart with a pair of tweezers, spin it around, then put it back inside without grazing any other part of your body. If my tweezers so much as touch anything, then your nose will explode. Needless to say if that happens, I won’t collect my standard fee of $200.”

 

That is great stuff! I really do wish you the absolute best in promoting the book and inspiring others to love board games. I know at my house we always enjoy game night. Before we close, let me give our readers your link one last time. If there was a first place you would want them to go, where would that be?

Htpps://www.winningstreakbook.com

Htpps://www.winningstreakbook.com is the book’s landing page.  There’s a fun video there where I mostly flip board games into the air.

Hopefully no one will step on the little pieces walking to the fridge or bathroom at night! Thanks again for being with me.

Interview with Price Doom

 

Today, we have an opportunity to talk to Price Doom.  

Price has written the book, Weatherman

 

First, let me thank you for joining me.  I appreciate you giving me your links and I want to share those with our readers.

 

Amazon

Twitter

Facebook

 

That is great.  Can you tell us a little about yourself and what led you to start writing?

 

Growing up I didn’t have many friends and was bullied quite often, so I wrote to escape the isolation and the anxiety that comes with bullying. 

Bullying is such a huge issue in schools. As a teacher I see it everyday. In fact, it was the topic I chose for my first book. When did you start writing books as a way to cope with anxiety?

I started writing stories in 4^th grade and didn’t really stop. I tried many times later in life to stop writing as I would spend countless hours writing characters and scenes and saw how much time that was taking away from living my life. I have since learned to balance my time where I can enjoy writing and my life. 

 

That work-Life-Write balance is so important. What advice would you give someone who wants to be a writer?

Write every day, no matter what, even if it is only a sentence or two. The more you do it, the easier and routine it becomes. Writing is like exercising. Once you stop, your form goes away. 

 

That is good advice. I know all writers, but especially young writers need that type of encouragement. What is the best advice you have ever been given as a writer?

The best advice I got was from an editor. She told me never worry about page length, and that not all stories require three hundred pages. I was always trying to hit that page count, trying to force subplots and dialogue, and because of that, my stories were not well told, and quite boring; the more I had, the less interesting the story and characters were. Once I took her advice, the pressure disappeared, and I was able to just write what I wanted, and not worry about the structure of a traditional novel.  

 

Do you write full-time or around another job? How do you schedule your time to write?

I used to write full time, but that made my writing stale, and I lost interest, and I felt my writing would improve if I did something else for a profession. When I started working full time as teacher, I was able to connect with people and have new experiences (good and bad). More importantly, I was living in the moment. All of those helped my writing, especially creating scenes that require human connections. I write three and half hours a day every morning. In the evening, I spend an hour rewriting/editing what I wrote. At night, usually before I sleep, I think about what I will write the following morning.

 

What is your favorite part about writing?

My favorite part of writing is when the characters take over the story and I no longer need to lead them. The characters know the way to the end and have already accepted their fate. All I have to do is follow along. 

 

What exciting story are you working on next?

I was planning on writing an epic love story about an affair, but every time I attempt to write it, I get bored, so either I am not ready to write it yet or it is just something I am not interested in. I have started outlining my next story, which is a continuation of Weatherman. It is not about the character, rather an exploration of the world that I created for him. Weatherman’s solar flares had shot into space and affected an astronaut repairing a satellite. The astronaut becomes a superhero with different abilities than what Weatherman had. The astronaut spends his life only using his abilities to protect his family, who never find out about it. I have never written in the superhero genre before, but am I looking forward to the challenge.

 

I have a lady in my writing group that writes love stories. Are you involved in any writer groups?

No, I would like too though. I have just spent some much of my childhood and teen years not being included or accepted. A part of me still has that insecurity if I joined a group or community I’d be rejected. I am always open to recommendations. 

For what it is worth, I have found most writing groups I have been a part of to be very accepting. I have been part of several that came through memberships such as the Atlanta Writer's Group or Southern Children Writers and Illustrators. Those groups will actively help you locate a group and have very active boards to scan and use to network. I'm also in a local group. We have writers with agents and writers who never publish outside our collections. It is a great way to find that encouragement to write everyday. 

I appreciate you taking some time to answer my questions and I hope you the very best on promoting your new work, Weatherman.

To my readers, go check out the book: Amazon

 

Borrowed Lives

 

 Today's prompt was to write a story where a ghost appears to someone doing an everyday task. Since there are no story-a-day police I ignored it and wrote this little tale. The story itself is an okay first draft (write one story every day, so never really edit them. They should have edit-a-day in June?) But I love the idea of this first line. I think it would make a great opening to a mystery or crime novel. I've got it down in my thoughts notebook and hope to make use of it soon.

Borrowed Lives

    by Jerry Harwood

People have made good lives out of borrowed ones before. That’s what I read once and suppose its true enough. I’ve borrowed a few lives in my day. I once got a Banana Split at my hometown soda shop just because the lady behind the counter thought I was some boy who hit a home run in some regional tournament. Funny thing is, I don’t even play ball. And in college I got to go to a sorority dance with the most beautiful girl I’d ever seen just because her boyfriend, my roommate, broke up with her the morning of the dance. She even kissed me at the end of the night and then asked me back to her place. I freaked out after the kiss and made an excuse to leave. Just left her there on the steps of Founder’s Hall. Still today, that was the best night of my life and it was borrowed. I wonder every day what would have happened if I had not walked away. I suppose nothing. After all, it was a borrowed night. Yes, a person can make a good life out of a borrowed one.

“This is it. This is the room. They won’t even let us clean inside. They just set the trash outside and we collect.” Simon and I grew up together. As kids we dreamed of being astronauts. I suppose a janitor and file clerk were as close as we could make it. But our lack of rank hadn’t stopped us from being explorers. Couple nights a week we roam the halls.  Most of the time all we find is some engineer’s expired diet bars or some unrecognizable data sheet. Once we found some blueprints to an inflatable space station. It was a draft model and looked like one of those giant bouncy houses just without the clown head on top. But tonight, our hopes are high.

“I heard them talking about this one at lunch. Don’t think they recognized I was there. It is a prototype but they said they have already had success.” Simon said as he picked the lock. In the movies there are always electronic key cards. But we have found the most interesting rooms still use the old deadbolt. Picking a lock was a skill I never mastered but Simon took to it quick when we were in high school lifting cars. Probably good I never did. Landed him jail time and a janitor position. Simon popped the door open.

Inside there was a round table. Hovering over it was a hologram of the earth. “Whoa! This looks like something out of Tony Stark’s Iron Man movie,” Simon said.

I concurred and then added, “What does it do?”

Original Source

“I don’t know. Heard them say ‘gateway’ and sounded like something you might see on Stargate or – what was that show they jumped realities trying to get back to their own?”

“Sliders? That show was the bomb. So what do we do with this thing?”

“Don’t know Jimmy. Thought you were the college grad?”

“Community. They don’t cover Tony Stark Doesn’t-exist-yet tech there. Hell, we still had to use the Duey Decimal System in the library.” I said. As I did I raised my hand up near the hologram of the earth. It began to rotate. “Whoa, look at this.”

Simon took a turn swiping his hand across and giving the earth a rapid spin. I raised my hand in a stop motion and the globe stopped. Above it stood a date: March 14^th, 2018.

“Is it… a time machine?” Simon asked.

“I don’t think so. Look.”

On the table there was a couple sitting outside a café. The woman was yelling at the man while showing him something on her phone. I looked up. The map was on Seattle, Washington.

“I have an idea,” I said. Without waiting for Simon to agree I moved the globe over to Texas and put my finger on HoldDale Community College. Then I spun the globe forward. Every time I stopped it, the date above changed. I rotated it to December 19^th, 2019. It was hard to move within a set date. It would jump ahead to December 20^th, but I finally got it to 10pm. Carefully, I zoomed in on the exit ramp to Founder’s Hall. There I was kissing my date.

“Jimmy getting some!” Simon slapped me on the back. Unprepared, I stumbled forward. My face entered the holographic screen. As it did, I felt the cold chill of the wind that night and my memory. I recalled the outside smelled like someone cooking BBQ. I smelled it again, except it wasn’t a memory. I was really there. I backed up and instead of re-entering the lab, I stumbled over a bush edging the sidewalk.

I was in 2019 again. I stood up. The girl was standing on the steps as other me scuffled around the corner. I remember being giddy with my first kiss, terrified at the invite to go further. I looked back. The NASA lab was no where to be seen. Somehow, I had invaded my own past. It was as if I was borrowing my own life, getting a second opportunity. This time I would not leave.

Original Source

“Sarah, Sarah!” I yelled as I ran down the walkway to where she still stood on the stairs.

“Jimmy?” She pointed to where my other self had walked and then to my clothes. “You were over there? And dressed up?”

I looked at my wrinkled khakis and polo shirt, definitely not formal wear. “I thought quick and offered up the lame comment, “If we are going back to your place I wanted to change.”

“You are a quirky one, for sure. Cute, but quirky,” she pinched my cheek before planting another kiss on my lips. This time we also embraced. I held it till she made the motion to let go.

The next morning I offered to run to the corner store to get some coffees and bagels. Outside the door stood Jimmy. He was in a convertible Mustang. “Jimmy,” he shouted. As I walked over to his car he said, “Guess what? Once you left I figured I’d give it a go. Dropped myself somewhere to make a whole lot of money. Invested most of it in Pfizer and Zoom. This time next year, you and I are going to be rich! How’s it going with the girl?”