CFBA: Germ by Robert Liparulo

Song Stuck on the Brain: Let It Rise by Big Daddy Weave

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing GERM(WestBow Nov 1, 2006) by Robert Liparulo

ABOUT THE BOOK:
If you breathe, it will find you...

The list of 10,000 names was created for maximum devastation. On it are business leaders, housewives, politicians, celebrities, janitors, children. None know what is about to happen...but all will be part of the most frightening brand of warfare the world has ever known.

The GERM...a more advanced form of the Ebola virus...has been genetically engineered to infect only those people whose DNA matches the codes embedded within it. If your DNA is not a match, you simply catch a cold. But if your DNA is a match, within days your internal organs liquefy and you die a most painful death. There is no cure.

The release of the virus would usher in a new era of power...one in which countries are left without any form of defense, where one person or millions could be killed with 100% accuracy yet result in no collateral damage to property or those not targeted.

That time isn't coming...It is now!

GERM is coming. Pray the assassins get you first.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Robert's novel paints a scenario so frighteningly real that six Hollywood producers were bidding on movie rights before the novel was completed. His acclaimed debut novel, Comes A Horseman, is being made into a major motion picture by producer Mace Neufeld and his short story "Kill Zone" was featured in the anthology Thriller, edited by James Patterson.

Robert is an award-winning author of over a thousand published articles and short stories. He is currently a contributing editor for New Man magazine. His work has appeared in Reader's Digest, Travel & Leisure, Modern Bride, Consumers Digest, Chief Executive, and The Arizona Daily Star, among other publications. In addition, he previously worked as a celebrity journalist, interviewing Stephen King, Tom Clancy, Charlton Heston, and others for magazines such as Rocky Road, Preview, and L.A. Weekly. He has sold or optioned three screenplays.

Robert is an avid scuba diver, swimmer, reader, traveler, and a law enforcement and military enthusiast. He lives in Colorado with his wife and four children.He is currently working on his third novel.

MY TAKE:
I love this book, it's incredibly fast paced, exciting and intriguing. I'd heard of this type of biological warfare, but it had always seemed like something futuristic. Kudos to Robert for scaring the pants off me with the realization that my next cold could be my last.

A.

Reminder: Don't forget to enter the contest to win a copy of my book Missing Pieces and the silver tone puzzle key chains. You have until midnight tonight to click the link at the top of the sidebar and email me your entry. Good luck!

Maybe...

Song Stuck on the Brain: Smack That by Akon feat. Eminem. Ugh. I really hate this song. My nephew has it as his ring back song so I had to listen to it when I called him. Now it's Stuck in my head. Just the chorus... smack that, all on the floor, smack that, give me some more, smack that, 'till you get sore... Ugh. That's not lyrics, it's garbage.

Speaking of lyrics, my 24 hour mope ended at 11pm last night and in honor of that I wrote lyrics to a new song. No accompaniment yet, just words. I suppose to the lyricist the words have meaning, so Akon or whoever wrote that song probably doesn't think the lyrics are garbage.

My new lyrics have personal meaning to me, but who knows? Maybe the rest of the world would think my lyrics are ridiculous. For that matter, six months from now, I may come back and read my new song and think, "OMG, this is terrible." Funny how time gives you perspective. I have a lot of songs that I look back on and cringe. I keep them in my folder though just to show myself how bad it can get.

This new song kind of stemmed from an old crush from eons ago (at least it seems that long). I know I'm over him, but it seems like whenever something goes wrong in my life and I feel just the least bit emotionally vulnerable, I dream about him. Which totally unnerves me for the rest of the next day. I'm sure there's a psychological reason for it, but I'm beginning to think that trying to untangle my psyche would just be too scary. Better to leave it alone.

Anyway, here are the new lyrics. The song is called Maybe.

Maybe
©April Erwin
1/30/07

I thought I’d put you away
Like a dark secret no one should see
Hid all my thoughts of love
Told the world I was finally free.
But here you come again
Strolling through my dreams like you belong.
I wake with a heart that’s blue
And I realize I was wrong.

Maybe you’ll change your mind
Maybe you’ll come back to me
Maybe you’re really the one
But maybe’s a long time to see.

It’s usually the lonely days
When my world seems to fall apart,
Days when I hurt the most
That I dig down deep in my heart.
Unconsciously I find the seed
Of hope that I’ve hidden away.
Hope that time was all we lacked
And someday you’ll come home to stay.

Maybe you’ll change your mind
Maybe you’ll come back to me
Maybe you’re really the one
But maybe’s a long time to see.

Hours roll into days
And days into years
And still I’m holding on
But dreams like this can’t live
In the bright light of day
It’s time that hope was gone.

Maybe you’ll change your mind
Maybe you’ll come back to me
Maybe you’re really the one
But maybe’s a long time to see.

This would be the rough draft version. A lot of times the phrasing or rhythm changes when the music comes.

I suppose it doesn't really matter whether the song is caca or not. It did something for me. It allowed me to purge something I was feeling and it prodded my creative center to write something after it's confidence was bruised. In fact, the song will probably never see the recording booth, but it turned my juices back on and now I'm already mulling over a short story I'd like to finish.

Maybe this old crush was worth something after all...

A.

Reminder... Don't forget to enter the contest to win a copy of my first book Missing Pieces and the puzzle key chains. Enter by clicking the link at the top of the sidebar. Winners will be announced February 1, 2007. Good luck!

Dream Agent responds

Song Stuck on the Brain: My Little Pony theme song. I was searching for new movies to add to my rental list on-line and a My Little Pony movie was on the new to DVD list. As soon as I saw it the song started running and it hasn't stopped yet.

Another busy weekend come and gone. I did get the haircut. Love it. It must make me look really different though, becuase everyone's been doing double takes. I'm thinking positive and assuming those are GOOD double takes. Regardless, I'm happy with it and that's the most important thing.

Saturday was the family birthday party which was fun. Alexis told Papa that he had to open his presents first. Imagine that, an 8 year old willing to delay gift opening. She was most excited for him to open the one from her. She'd shopped for him all by herself. The first thing out of the bag was a little stuffed teddy bear holding a red rose. Allie says, 'Isn't he cute, Papa?' Dad agreed he was and pretended to snuggle him, then tucked the bear under his suspenders near his shoulder. The second thing out of the bag was Mardi Gras beads. Which got an even bigger laugh. Dad showed her all the ways he could wear them by hooking them over his ears or around his head or under his nose like oxygen tubes. Of course you have to know that my dad is the biggest ham ever. Plus he's looks like the scottsman that runs in his blood. At one time he had flame red hair, now most of it is white, but he's always worn a full beard and he's stocky. It was just too funny to see him with teddy bears and beads.

The Mardi Gras beads started a whole new conversation of course. Angel and I looked at one another and said, "Wanna see some boobs?" Which of course started us cracking up, because we know an individual that uses the Mardi Gras beads on yearly float trips for just that purpose. I told mom if we saw her wearing the beads, we'd know what they'd been up to. She was like, 'huh?' After explaining what some people used the beads for she laughed and blushed. Which then caused more giggling from the rest of us. Even Dad chuckled.

It was sweet though, Dad made Alexis feel like her present was terrific and she was so happy to have made him happy.

I never did get the opportunity to write. I spent several hours photographing Angel's original jewelry designs so she can create a catalog. Once the catalog's done, I still need to create the store on www.TheErwins.com for her. It was fun though. She's got some really beautiful jewelry.

Sunday the three nieces and I made homeade valentines to send to the children's hospital. They had so much fun with all the glitter and beads and cutting and gluing. It was messy, but they enjoyed it so much. I did too. It was fun to have that time together with them. We ended up with a total of nine cards to send. I hope it makes some little kid really happy to see all the I Love You's.

I did get a response from Dream Agent late Sunday night. She passed on seeing more of the story. She gave me line edits on the first 5 pages which was nice. I have the impression though, that my query letter was better than the actual manuscript. Which is kind of a bummer since I've really worked hard on this book. I didn't cry (amazing, I know. I was surprised myself.) but I think it's because I truly left it in God's hands. I didn't want false hope. If this really wasn't my Dream Agent, then I didn't want to get a request for more of the manuscript.

However, despite that, I still felt saddened. I don't handle rejection well, and let's face it, writing is 99.9% rejection. I'm giving myself 24 hours to feel blue, bummed, worthless and untalented before I dig back into my writing. I don't know where it will go from here, but God's in charge. I've just got to stick with it.

I'd love to say that I think this agent was an idiot for passing me up, but I can't. It's just not true. Even if she isn't the agent for me, she still seems like a rockin' agent and I know those she works with are lucky to have her.

So, I'm going to pity party a little longer and I'll see you all on the flipside.

A.

Hair today, gone tomorrow

Song Stuck on the Brain: Made to Love You by Toby Mac


Yippee!!! It's finally Friday! This week has felt three times longer than normal. But it's Friday and I have a whole weekend ahead of me.

I'm starting it off with a haircut... finally. It's been months and I keep putting it off. My hair is down to my waist now and I'm really wanting to keep as much length as possible, but since I also have super fine hair, I have to layer it to keep it from looking terribly flat. I chose these two pictures to take with me to the stylist. I'm keeping my fingers crossed on the outcome.


Saturday we'll be celebrating both my father's and my niece's birthdays. Dad is turning 64 and Allie is turning 8. They're having a joint birthday party and I don't think Dad will mind a bit. He's such a big kid at heart. An eternal tease. Allie-gator thinks it's very cool to be sharing her party, too. She asked me the other day if I had bought her a birthday present. I said, "What do you think?" She paused, put a finger to her chin and said, "hmmm. Yeah?" I said, "Duh. Of course I bought you one." She just beamed. Such a cutie and growing way too fast. She's the youngest of what I call 'my' kiddos.

The rest of the weekend will be (hopefully) spent working on my novel. I'm only a few chapters shy of finishing it. I have 16 days until I can expect a response from Dream Agent. I'm thinking it's probably going to be a no-go though. Another on-line writing bud sent a partial at the same time I did and Dream Agent has already contacted my friend by phone to discuss the project and request a full. So... I think I'm probably out of the running, but I won't know for sure Until Feb. 12th. So I'm not giving up all hope yet.

I'll probably spend some time reading, I've got a new series by Annette Blair. I read the Kitchen Witch first. Very sassy, very cute. Currently I'm on book two, My Favorite Witch, and I'm having a hard time not ignoring everything just to read. Could be I'm just in the reading mode. Book three is the Scot, the Witch and the Wardrobe. I'm particularly looking forward to that one. Big brawny Scotsmen just can't be beat. I've got a definite weakness for them. Nerds and Scotsmen. Think I can find those two combined? A little Sean Connery meets David Krumholtz meets Braveheart? Hmmm. Probably not, Fantasy will have to do.

Have Fantabulous Weekend, ya'll.

A.

And the cosmos say... ACE!

Song Stuck on the Brain: What Goes Around Comes Around by Justin Timberlake.

I must be in tune with the universe today.

For some odd reason, Ace Young crossed my mind this morning. He reached the 7th place spot on American Idol last year. I haven't thought or heard about him since last season ended. But this morning the thought crossed my mind, "I wonder what he's doing and if he's putting out an album." Then about a half hour later I got an email from VH1 with an article all about Ace and his upcoming album.

Freaky huh? Okay, maybe not. But it was a really interesting article. You can go here to read it yourself.

It also talks about his charity work and how he's already helped to raise $80,000 for a children's hospital in his home town Denver. I thought that was interesting, because my on-line Bible study group has been talking about finding Joy in your walk with Jesus. One point was that by helping others you bring joy to your own life. The question was aked, 'Can one person really make a difference?' I think the answer is absolutely yes, and we've been discussing ways we can reach out to others in our community. Whether it's through charities or just individuals reaching out to someone they know needs help, we can all impact someone. Seeing how Ace, a relatively unknown artist has managed to make that big of an impact is exciting. It kind of reinforced our discussion.

Plus, I'm just really excited to see he is working on music.

I haven't settled on my outreach project yet, although there is a Valentines card drive in our city. You make the homemade cards and then the radio stations deliver them to the sick kids at Children's Mercy and places like that. I think a lot of us will be doing that. Anything to make a kid smile.

The thing with charity work is that there are so many worthy ones out there to be a part of. Then, if you don't have a lot of money to donate, then you have to find other ways to get involved. Finding where you can be the most help can be a challenge too. And do you choose an organization or adopt a needy family or individual on your own? I've done both in the past. Both make you feel great. I'm just having trouble choosing right now.

I think I will do the Valentine's Day Card drive though. Anyone have any favorite charitable actvities?

A.

Don't forget to enter the new contest to win an autographed copy of my book Missing Pieces and the silver puzzle key chains. Click on the link at the top of the sidbar and email your entry. Refer a friend and earn extra enteries!