I've been reading some of Chris Smith's westerns, lately. I'm a big fan of the American 'Oater' ever since the Lone Ranger, Hop-Along Cassidy, Bonanza, and Gunsmoke. Smith's westerns are excellent considering that he's from South Africa. I forget right now what we were talking about, but he related a great story about his early days as a writer. I quote, 'During my early days as a writer I didn't plan my stories out as well as I should have and I wrote my character into a corner. I had to rope in my twin brother for some help and there we were, two grown men, shooting at each other with imaginary guns at work as we recreated the scene.' Laugh out loud just doesn't cover it. I'm not going to be able to read my next Chris Smith western with visualizing these two grown men jumping off the divan, hiding behind the room divider shouting, 'pow, pow, bang, bang, I got you.' I like this Back Story. Jeff Bailey.
Wednesday, August 3, 2022
The Back Story for Author Chris Smith and His Traditional Westerns
I've been reading some of Chris Smith's westerns, lately. I'm a big fan of the American 'Oater' ever since the Lone Ranger, Hop-Along Cassidy, Bonanza, and Gunsmoke. Smith's westerns are excellent considering that he's from South Africa. I forget right now what we were talking about, but he related a great story about his early days as a writer. I quote, 'During my early days as a writer I didn't plan my stories out as well as I should have and I wrote my character into a corner. I had to rope in my twin brother for some help and there we were, two grown men, shooting at each other with imaginary guns at work as we recreated the scene.' Laugh out loud just doesn't cover it. I'm not going to be able to read my next Chris Smith western with visualizing these two grown men jumping off the divan, hiding behind the room divider shouting, 'pow, pow, bang, bang, I got you.' I like this Back Story. Jeff Bailey.
Thursday, July 21, 2022
Australian Adventure Writer Kez Wickham St George - The Back Story
I’ve been working lately with Australian adventure
writer, Kez Wickham St. George. We had been talking about cross marketing
between the U.S. and Australia. Kez creates her stories from her real-life
adventures and explorations in the Australian Outback. My kind of research. Kez told me the most
engaging story, I have to paraphrase some of it because, like any good writer,
she told a lot of story. It seems that after the peak of Covid passed, several
families headed out into the remotest of the Outback for a caravan trip. As
luck would have it, they developed an oil leak in the Jeep, lots of acrid
smoke, and had to layover in a ‘caravan bay’ for a couple of days.
I quote, ‘This night one woman caught my eye, she looked familiar, yet I did not know her, she was from Cairns and traveling to NSW. I introduced myself, she asked me about my accent, “I’m a Kiwi (New Zealander)” she informed her family had married into the Maori people. My ears twitched, as also to have ties to a Maori family, I asked her for names of where they were? When she said the name of my hometown, so many memories filling my mind, now the attention of the entire gang around the fire pit was engaged. As this woman said names, times and places, the air around me went still, the family she was talking about were my next-door neighbors for ten years [back in New Zealand]. She told me that her sister married into this family. Meant to be? What struck me was what a small world we live in, I’m sitting around a campfire in Western Australia in a tiny county shire Dandaragan she knows a family I once knew in a small fishing village Ngunguru in Northland New Zealand, different countries the Pacific Ocean plus many thousands of kilometers between us, wow….. The story continues in the Camp fire trilogy beginning with Metal Mermaid.’
As you read one one of Kez’s adventure stories, maybe even Metal Mermaid, and when the main characters are in an isolated ‘public layover’, imagine that those two ladies at the next campfire are reminiscing about their families back in New Zealand…. because now you know Kez's Back Story.
For more on Kez Wickham St. George, Go to her Home Page, or follow her on Amazon, GoodReads, or on her LinkedIn blog.
For more on Jeff Bailey, go to his Home Page, or follow him on Amazon, GoorReads, or on his LinkedIn blog.
Welcome to my World
Monday, July 18, 2022
My First Review of Not On My Watch From SPAIN
Wednesday, July 6, 2022
A Review of Kira Tynan's The Third Choice
The Third Choice by Kira Tynan was unique in so many ways, a thoroughly delightful read. It was an unusual blend of family dynamics and Sci-Fi without the Sci-Fi dominating the plotline. The protagonist, Chris, is by all accounts a normal young man, living a life and caring for his ‘special-needs’ parents. But those ‘special-needs’ are … well … a bit unique. Thus enter the Sci-Fi backstory. One might say that the parents are out of this word. I liked Kira’s presentation and writing style. They were not heavy handed or intrusive. The story just flowed well and kept the social dynamic of one living with his parents and trying and trying to meet a nice girl in the forefront. Gives new meaning to ‘meet the parents.’ I could easily see The Third Choice as a Sci-Fi selection on the Oprah Book List. It was that well done. I’ve already ordered my next Kira Tynan novel. For me, five stars for both Kira Tynan and for The Third Choice. Jeff Bailey, author of the conspiracy thriller Not On MY Watch.
Monday, July 4, 2022
The Back Story for The Great Live Radio Show
Here's the link to the interview:
https://www.facebook.com/910amsuperstation/videos/2196135483879331/
For more on Jeff Bailey, check out his web page or follow him on Amazon, GoodReads or his LinkedIn Blog.Monday, June 20, 2022
William (Bill) Wright's review of Not On My Watch
This is a page turner, I read it over the weekend.
Once again the author builds strong characters, not fantastical super heroes, he demonstrates the potential hero in all of us. He gives insight into the how and why of making the choice to be better than average.
Military culture and discipline provide believable tools for success in adverse conditions for the hero. The main character proves the main difference between people, is in their heart and beliefs.
The author also provides insight into the inner workings of the criminal mind and our difficulty in grasping their thought process. The story is so much more than a good guy/bad guy plot. It's a study in human nature, weakness and strength.
Another aspect he reveals and I love the way he weaves it, is the manipulation factor. Many evil doers latch onto worthy sounding causes and put too much faith in their leaders. It brought to mind, The Screw Tape Letters by C.S. Lewis.
I highly recommend this book [Not On MY Watch]. I read it like a writer and I am impressed.
Saturday, June 18, 2022
A Review of To Be A King by Gunner Lindbloom
I just finished Gunner Lindbloom’s To Be A King, vol I. OMG! Every page just oozed authenticity and realism. I like when
an author writes what he knows, and it is obvious that Lindbloom knows this
genre very intimately. The story chronicles the rise and fall of a Detroit
mafioso and the extended family around him. T also showed the real side of the
characters, hw they justified their chosen business and how they led very
normal lives. I never thought about the fact that police arrests of some
made-men creates opportunities for expansion for his associates and for his
rivals. It is such a fluid, fragile, world. I rather liked King the main
character. He wasn’t all bad and just trying to do the best he could in the
world he was born into. There is so much story yet to tell. I have already
bought my copy of To Be A King, vol. II. If this was a tv mini-series, I would
binge-watch it. Excellent read and five stars for Gunner Lindbloom and for ToBe A King (both volumes). JAB, author of the conspiracy thriller Not On MyWatch.
For more on Gunner Lindbloom, go to his homepage or follow him on Amazon, GoodReads, or his LinkedIn blog.
Jeff Bailey Reviews Across The Universe by Robbie Sheerin
Robbie Sheerin 's new novella, Across the Universe, Not Really a Beatles Story sure is quirky in an offbeat humorous way. A bit of Sc...
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A child of divorce and abuse, E.L. Irwin found escape in reading and writing, and through the school of hard-knocks, learned to be a figh...
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The Dog On The Acropolis - The Back Story The Back Story. That's a term that I have been hearing more and more often as I have been ne...
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Trechery , by R. T. Lund was an excellent and pleasingly complex crime thriller. In the story, the wife of a federal judge is found nude ...