Rock And Roll Revolution

Rock And Roll Revolution

I was born and raised on ‘rock and roll’. Personally it took a long time for me to understand exactly what there was to the music that so much appealed to me. You see I was fully indoctrinated in the “American Pie” dream. I accepted everything rammed down my throat as ‘gospel’. I would have gladly killed and died for my country.

Ironically though I don’t believe in the political process one bit I am very active in it. I vote in every election, I write politicians, I get petitions signed, I attend peaceful protests, I volunteer with a political organization and I even visit representatives of elected officials. Still I don’t think this really changes the world in any grand matter.

I firmly believe that the only way to ‘change the world for the better’ is by personal interaction, one soul at a time. That is the only worthwhile and lasting change is one that is spiritual in nature. There is no higher calling than to share ‘The Love Of God’ as expressed by Jesus Christ.

But my roots go deep into ‘Rock And Roll’. I can recall Neil Young singing about Love and being alienated. His backup band ‘Crazy Horse’ was taken from the great ‘Sioux’ warrior. Neil also introduced me to the genocide of the indigenous peoples though I could not comprehend it at the time. After all it was my belief that my country, the United States, was infallible.

Pink Floyd challenged my mind. It planted seeds of rebellion and challenged all authority, whether it was the government or the teacher. I now see blind allegiance to anything is a dangerous thing. We must teach others to question 'Why?' 

Of course Bob Dylan made me think. Not only were there his protest songs but his poetic excellence challenged my senses. Perhaps most poignant of his songs were ‘Masters of War’ and ‘Maggie’s Farm’. Masters of War revealed the whole military industrial complex for the evil that it is. ‘Maggie’s Farm’ had its name changed to ‘Lisa’s Farm’’ for my friend Maria. Maria baby sat for Lisa and got paid a pittance.

Now I have developed into an artist myself. My art is through words both prose and poetry. I have embraced the moral aspect in my writing. Sometimes it is a byproduct and sometimes it is the purpose.

I always imagined creating the F.I.R.E.W.I.N.D. band. The name is an acronym of which I only know. I was going to give a huge prize to anyone who can tell me what it stands for. So if you can figure it out put the answer in the comments and you’ll win audio recordings for two of my books.

Firewind Anthem

This is the ballad of the Firewind band

We’re revolting against central command

This is the ballad of the Firewind band

We are the musicians rocking the land

Everybody come lend us your hand

It’s about time to make our final stand

We rebel against the powers that be

Against a government too blind to see

Come laughter or sorrow

We are force tomorrow

We’re going to rock your soul

If you still got a soul

This is our anthem the Firewind song

We resolve that hatred and killing is wrong

This is our anthem the Firewind song

If you stand for peace and Love you belong

We’re going to be marching in the street

We’re gonna give the powers that be some heat

Lay down your weapons and join with us

Pick up your cross as we follow Jesus

Come laughter or sorrow

We are force tomorrow

We’re going to rock your soul

If you still got a soul

This is our glorious Firewind tune

The final fight for freedom’s coming soon

This is our glorious Firewind tune

It’s close to Armageddon near high noon

The people in charge says nothing is wrong

But I say the horror has gone on too long

Lay down your weapons lay them down tonight

Peace and Love are the tools with which we fight

Come laughter or sorrow

We are force tomorrow

We’re going to rock your soul

If you still got a soul

My Rock and Roll Revolution permeates my writings. I invite you to explore “I Should Have Been A Rock Star”. It is a witty tale which explores both the darker and lighter sides of life.

To Purchase Hard Copy Of "I Should Have Been A Rock Star" 

To Purchase Kindle Version Of "I Should Have Been A Rock Star"

"What happens when Don ‘Hypo’ Colandri mysteriously disappears from Edward’s University on his way to a Statics exam? Why his three roommates lie outright claiming he was kidnapped by a Satanic cult, all to get money and score with chicks. Don, however, has been mysteriously transported into outer space where he becomes a pawn of one Nellie Watt against the Time Lords in a cosmic game being run by God. Unfortunately for Myron, Slick and Psycho, (Don’s three former roommates) they have dived into a realm where fools tread. Hilda Thethia, a practicing Satanist, learns of the ruse and quickly begins to blackmail the trio. Sadly Myron, Slick and Psycho realize that the followers of Satan are more wide spread than they could have ever imagined and none are too happy at having the name of their Dark Lord besmirched. Meanwhile poor Don is learning the ropes of outer space in a very hard way. Every mystery he solves only brings more questions. Will Nellie Watt succeed in her contest against the Time Lords and go to the Twinkling of Twilights to press the Reset Button? Will Myron, Slick and Psycho manage to escape from the miserable maze they created? And most important of all, Why didn’t YOU become a rock star?

The Brittle Riders By Bill McCormick

Blog post by Bill McCormick

What is The Brittle Riders?

The obvious answer, a trilogy written by me, doesn’t really do anyone justice.  It would be more accurate to say it’s a trilogy written by me with the specific intent to bend things. Badly and whenever possible. From the cover art to the prose nothing is as it should be. And that’s purposeful.

The cover, designed by Bhri Stokes based on characters designed by Brian “Bigger Lion” Daniels, is your first clue this trilogy is a different animal. Printed sideways, with no author name included, you have to manually turn the book to find out which episode you’re about to read.

If an understanding of Roman numerals eludes the reader the books are also color coded; red, blue, and green, in order. Of course, if an understanding of Roman numerals eludes the reader then maybe books aren’t their thing.

When our, hypothetical, reader flips open the book they are greeted with a cheery missive from me and then the appendix. Yes, everyone involved knows that appendixes are meant to be placed at the end of the book. Otherwise it would be called a prependix. Duh!

But, in this rare case, the appendix is actually a part of the story. A dry recitation of facts that belie the weirdness readers are about to encounter. Think of it as a linguistic map for the universe of The Brittle Riders.

Once they slog through that they are welcomed into the preamble. In just a few, short, pages every man, woman, and child on the planet Earth is killed and almost all monuments to humanity are razed. As readers will discover this horrific turn of events stems from a party.

However, to be fair, it was a very nice party.

There was food, booze, nude wait-staff, mutant seals, pretty much everything any reasonable person could want.

The fact that it kickstarted the apocalypse was just one of those things. Like losing your car keys, missing that important job interview, and ending up homeless. But with more bloodshed, death, and stuff.

Once the reader has gotten this far the actual story begins. Look, like I said, this thing is bent.

The first book is written in present perfect; i.e., character is running across the room versus character ran across the room. It was done this way to reflect the point of view of the titular characters. They have no past worth remembering nor any future worth believing in. Everything in their world is in the now.

In fact, it’s not until readers are almost a hundred and fifty pages into the first book that Geldish, R’Yune, N’leah, Braarb, and Sland (a/k/a The Brittle Riders), begin to acknowledge anything outside of their truncated world view. Don’t worry, it’s worth the reader’s time, I threw in a really fun sex scene there to keep things interesting.

Over the course of the next two books the writing style opens up to more traditional modes as the characters develop. By the end of it all it reads just like a book normal people would write. With minor plot lines others might not include.  For example, when you’re done with the trilogy, you may never look at taking a dump in the woods the same way again.

The fact this is an important plot point merely reinforces my earlier statement that this trilogy is well and truly bent.

I could go on, and often do after a few drinks, but you get the idea. Nevertheless, just in case I’m wrong, read what some pre-readers had to say about The Brittle Riders.

1)      If David Brin came off a three day tequila bender and dropped acid, he would have written The Brittle Riders.

2)      McCormick packs more in twelve words than other writers pack in twelve paragraphs

3)      Fuck him for making me horny and sad in the same book.

4)      It’s like everything and nothing I’ve ever read before. He uses language like a weapon.

5)      Everything I know is wrong, everything I believe is stupid, and everything else is terrifying.

The Brittle Riders, courtesy of Azoth Khem Publishing, Apocalypses Are Funny That Way.

The Brittle Riders On Amazon

Bill McCormick’s web site

Bhri Stokes

Brian “Bigger Lion” Daniels

Azoth Khem Publishing

The Brittle Riders video teaser

The Lost Cantos Of John Kaniecki

I guess the first question regarding “The Lost Cantos Of John Kaniecki” is where did they go?

“The Lost Cantos Of John Kaniecki” were written about twenty years ago. The collection was placed in my parent’s attic where they survived the ferocious heat. Next they went to my basement where they survived the flooding of Hurricane Sandy. Perhaps “The Lost Cantos” would be better labeled “The Misplaced Cantos” but that wouldn’t be as dramatic would it?

 “The Lost Cantos Of John Kaniecki” is a feel good book. They poems have rhythm and rhyme.

Canto 10

From the window I saw an eagle fly

Soaring in the heaven’s azure blue sky

Said my friend with pipe in his withered hand

The universe’s mysteries I do understand

My gaze lowered to view his wrinkled face

If I wasn’t high I would leave this place

But the Earth pipe he passed to me

And I inhaled then I did disagree

To admit omnipotence is a fatal sin

Humility is the place to begin

For knowledge alone solves no mystery at all

True understanding is answering God’s call

Then the wind whipped and sang a moan

And I understood, yes I alone

I looked upon the fool with great pity

How futile is the chase to infinity

Counting one by one is how they go

Me I simply divide by zero

It’s nothing special and nothing at all

True understanding is answering God’s call

The wine in my glass was once full to me

But long ago I have made the vessel empty

My friend was stoned and stoned I should be

For to some being high is heresy

Please check out this phenomenal book of poetry.

To purchase "The Lost Cantos Of John Kaniecki"

How and Why: Rarity from the Hollow by Robert Eggleton

How and Why: Rarity from the Hollow

by Robert Eggleton

I’m a retired children’s psychotherapist and have worked in the field of children’s advocacy in an impoverished U.S. state, West Virginia, for over forty years. Rarity from the Hollow is my debut novel. Although I’d dreamed of becoming a famous author since early adolescence, most of my writing has been nonfiction within my field. In 2002, I accepted a job as a children’s psychotherapist for an intensive day treatment program at our local mental health center. Many of the kids in the program had been abused, some sexually. Part of my job was to facilitate group therapy sessions.

One day in 2006, during a group therapy session, I was sitting around a table used for written therapeutic exercises, and a little girl with stringy, brown hair sat a few feet away. Instead of just disclosing the horrors of her abuse at the hands of the meanest daddy on Earth, she also spoke of her hopes and dreams for the future: finding a permanent and loving family that would protect her.

Over the years, I’d met hundreds of kids who had been traumatized by child maltreatment, but this girl was different. Her resilience was inspiring to everyone that she interacted with, kids and staff alike. She got me thinking again about my own hopes and dreams of writing fiction. My protagonist was born that day – an empowered victim who takes on the evils of the universe: Lacy Dawn. I began to write fiction in the evenings and sometimes went to work the next day without enough sleep. Every time that I would feel discouraged, when I felt like giving up, I would imagine Lacy Dawn speaking honestly about the barriers that she faced in pursuit of her dream of finding loving home.

During my career, many emotionally charged situations have tugged my heart strings so hard that child welfare became more than my job, more than a cause. It became a calling. Rarity from the Hollow fictionalized some of my true-life experiences and includes elements of poverty, domestic violence, child maltreatment, substance abuse and mental health problems. I wrote what I know best. My characters are more real than not, even though the backdrop of the story is science fiction.

I modeled the flow of the story after a mental health treatment episode involving a traumatized child: harsh and difficult to read scenes in the beginning of the story are similar to how, in treatment, therapeutic relationships must first be established before very difficult disclosures are made; cathartic and more relaxed scenes in middle chapters as detailed disclosures are less painful; and, increasingly satiric and comical toward the end through an understanding that it is “silly” to live in the past, that demons, no matter how scary, can be evicted, and that nothing controls our lives more so than the decisions that we make ourselves.

I know that it sounds weird, but I imagined victims benefiting from having read a science fiction story. Maybe I was trying to rationalize a balance between these two competing interests – writing fiction and my interest in child welfare. Even though I’d paid into the U.S. Social Security fund for over fifty-two years, I felt a little guilty even thinking about retirement.


In hindsight, maybe my idea that persons who had experienced childhood maltreatment could benefit from reading Rarity from the Hollow wasn’t so off-base after all. Nine book reviewers have privately disclosed to me that they were survivors of childhood maltreatment, and that they had benefited having read the story. A couple of book reviewers publicly disclosed:




“…As a rape survivor… found myself relating easily to Lacy Dawn… style of writing which I would describe as beautifully honest. Rarity from the Hollow is different from anything I have ever read, and in today’s world of cookie-cutter cloned books, that’s pretty refreshing…taking you on a wild ride you won’t soon forget….” 


“…a hillbilly version of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, only instead of the earth being destroyed to make way for a hyperspace bypass, Lacy Dawn must…The author has managed to do what I would have thought impossible; taken serious subjects like poverty, ignorance, abuse, and written about them with tongue-in-cheek humor without trivializing them…Eggleton sucks you into the Hollow, dunks you in the creek, rolls you in the mud, and splays you in the sun to dry off. Tucked between the folds of humor are some profound observations on human nature and modern society that you have to read to appreciate…it’s a funny book that most sci-fi fans will thoroughly enjoy.”

http://awesomeindies.net/ai-approved-review-of-rarity-from-the-holly-by-robert-eggleton/ 


To Purchase This Exciting Book

Publisher's Page

Deep Thoughts

Hello everybody,

I want to tell you that I am beginning a massive campaign on “Turn A Page Or Two”.  I am going to recruit many hands for the task at hand in multiple areas. So if you haven’t now is the time to subscribe to this blog.

We are going to be working on all twenty four cylinders on this spaceship whose first trip is to Jupitar. That’s right Jupitar, not Jupiter.

So with those deep thoughts in mind enjoy these “Deep Thoughts”.

Deep Thoughts

by John Kaniecki

Quasars

Jimi Hendrix licking electric guitars

Einstein tripping on acid

The ocean eternally placid

A rhyming poet raging in fun

Being born before time begun

The Words of the great I Am

Who would buy from a cable TV scam?

How you are miserably caught

In a dark, devious, deep thought

What was there before light?

What you'll have for dinner tonight

The crucifixion was insane

Acid in the rain

Why a God of Love lets baby starve

A piece of wood you want to carve

The abundance of pornography

What you really mean to me

Bob Dylan singing in tune

How the cow jumped over the moon

When the sun refuses to rise

How we're all confused by lies

How mistress money is only paper

And we can't escape her

How when old we repeat our parents' ways

The passing of the Rubix Cube phase

How three Beatles were born in Liverpool?

Why I am the perfect fool

All the things they don't teach in school

Why learning is fun

How to decide the poem is done

I want you to check out my Amazon Page.  John's. Amazon Page

I am featuring today my feel good poetry book “A Day’s Weather”. It is the least expensive of my books. It features some 'feel good' early poetry. The book explores 'A Day's Weather' with a poem for each one.

The beginning

Rain

Down the rains came,

Splattering heavenly tears

Mourning over sinful years

Mankind is still the same

Playing the part of the fool

Same today as yesterday

We cannot even obey

The simple Golden Rule

To Buy A Day's Weather

Do You Ever Ponder

DO YOU EVER PONDER?

DO YOU EVER PONDER THE HIGH COST OF DEATH?

FROM BABIES IN THE WOMB

TO OUR ANCESTORS IN THEIR TOMBS

DO YOU EVER WONDER WHY WE LIVE ONLY TO DIE?

DO YOU EVER PONDER WHY WE ALLOW SO MANY TO SUFFER?

FROM THOSE TOO STARVED TO LIVE

TO THE GREEDY HOARDING IT ALL IN BANKS

AS WE RUSH ON TO OUR DOOM

DO YOU EVER WONDER WHY MONEY HAS SO MUCH POWER?

AS IT ROBS OUR TOMORROWS

KILLS OUR MOTHERS AND FATHERS

POISONING OUR AIR LAND AND SEAS

DO YOU EVER PONDER THE CRUELTY WE SHARE?

AS WE TAKE UP WEAPONS TO KILL

DO YOU EVER WONDER WHY WE CAN’T STOP

ALL THE FUNERALS THAT MONEY HAS BOUGHT?

DO YOU EVER WONDER WHY WE LET MONEY LIE?

HOW MUCH IS TOO MUCH TO SAY?

CAN WE HEAR OUR GODS TELL THE WAY?

WHILE MONEY ONLY MAKES EVERYONE PAY

DO YOU EVER PONDER HOW MUCH IS TOO MUCH TO PAY?

Jane E Christenson 2004

In Memory Of Heather Heyer

In Memory Of Heather Heyer

August 13, 2017

By John Kaniecki

Today is a day of sorrow

So alive,

So young,

So beautiful,

You will never see tomorrow-

There is the reality

Instead of you

It could have been me

Or anyone who serves the cause

Who fights the fight

For justice and all that is right,

You did not want the martyr’s role

But you sacrificed your soul,

And so your name is written down

One more on a list far too long

Your spirit has been released

May you find a gentle peace

I can only offer you one thing

Besides my regret

That your name Heather Heyer

We will never forget.

Now is the time to mourn

Now is the time to cry

To see this world of scorn

And not only ask ‘Why?’

But to try

To make it better

Fair thee well

Heather Heyer 

Check out a book of revolutionary poetry "Poet To The Poor, Poems Of Hope For The Bottom One Percent"