NaNoWriMo, Free Promo, and Trivia

Another NaNoWriMo has come and gone. I broke the 50,000 word mark with Return to Origin, but didn't finish. Sadly, it's not on pace to be finished anytime soon. The overhaul of The Curse is going along. There's still a lot of work to do on that book. Needless to say, 2015 will be busy. The first two goals is to finish the overhaul and publish Second Chance.

Today and tomorrow, my ebook Rickshaw, New Mexico is free for the Kindle. Click the link in the previous sentence and download your copy now. Hope you enjoy the story.

Now for some trivia!

Army and Navy are playing for the 115th time. Navy leads the series 58-49-7 and has a 12 game winning streak against the Black Knights. Army last beat the Midshipmen in 2001, 26-17. They first met in 1890 when Navy blanked Army 24-0. Their last tie was 3-3 in 1981. The last time Navy shut out Army was 34-0 in 2008. The last time Army shut out Navy was 27-0 in 1969. They never met in a bowl game.

The Pittsburgh Steelers travel to the Georgia Dome to take on the Atlanta Falcons. The Steelers lead the series 12-2-1, and is 1-1-1 against Atlanta since 2002. Their last three meetings were also their only overtime games. Their lone tie game was 34-34 in 2002. They first met in 1966, when Pittsburgh spanked the Falcons 57-33. Both of Atlanta's wins came at home and their last home win against the Steelers was 41-38 in 2006. They never met in the postseason. Neither team has ever shut out the other.

The Philadelphia Eagles host the Dallas Cowboys tomorrow night. The Cowboys lead the series 62-49 and enjoy a two game winning streak. They first met in 1960, when the Eagles won 27-25. Dallas also leads the postseason series 3-1. They last met in the playoffs in the 2009 season, when the Cowboys won 34-14. Philadelphia won their lone NFC Championship game 20-7 and went on to lose Super Bowl XV to the Oakland Raiders 27-10. The last time Dallas shut out Philadelphia was 24-0 in 2009 (2008 season). The last time Philadelphia shut out Dallas was 24-0 in 1991.

The New Orleans Saints go to the Windy City on Monday night to face the Chicago Bears. Chicago leads the series 15-13, but the Saints won the last two games. They first met in 1968 when the Bears won 23-17.  Chicago won both of their playoff meetings, the last one in the 2006 NFC Championship game. They are 1-1 in overtime, the last one a 27-24 Bears victory. The only shutout in the series was a 10-0 New Orleans win in 1982. Here's another nugget of trivia. Saints head coach Sean Payton played for the Bears in the 1987 strike shortened season. The Saints played Payton's Bears in Chicago and Payton went 3-11 for 28 yards and an interception. He is definitely a better coach than he was as a player.

Here are some historical scores for teams playing each other today, December 13,

1969  Oakland 10 - Kansas City 6
1970  Atlanta 27 - Pittsburgh 16
1970  Denver 17 - San Diego 17
1980  Washington 16 - New York Giants 13
1981  Dallas 21 - Philadelphia 10
1987  Kansas City 16 - Los Angeles Raiders 10
1987  Cleveland 38 - Cincinnati 24
1997  New York Giants 30 - Washington 10

And in college,

1930 - Army 6 - Navy 0


Finally, congrats to all those who are NaNoWriMo winners!

Have a great weekend!!!

Counting the Days...

With eight days to go for NaNoWriMo, I have a good idea what story wants to be told. It lost the battle for July's Camp NaNoWriMo, but the story that wants to be told is one I started over three years ago, Return To Origin. The story is inspired by one of my favorite History Channel shows, Ancient Aliens.

I started writing this story soon after finishing the first draft of The Curse. Then I made the worst mistake involving Return To Origin. I stopped less than halfway through to begin editing The Curse. Since then, the writing process has sputtered at best. There were other issues, but they're mostly resolved now. However, that's no excuse to stop writing a novel in favor of editing another one.

In December, I have another decision to make. With four novels somewhere in the editing pipeline, should I participate in the April and July Camp NaNoWriMo? If I had to decide now, the answer would be no. However, it depends on how much time the upcoming edits and revamps take.

Speaking of, I'm currently revamping my novella, Rickshaw, New Mexico. So far, there are some minor rephrases and clarifications that were needed. The challenge will be my novel, The Curse, which is getting an overhaul. The story will remain intact. However, as my two-star reviewer said, it needed another edit. He was right and that's what's happening. After Rickshaw, The Hunted is next, followed by The Acts of 1.


Now for some sports trivia...

• Congrats to the Kansas City Royals for winning Game 1 of the World Series. This is their first World Series game they won in 10,587 days.
  
• Since we're counting days, here's another one. It has been 38,725 days since the Chicago Cubs last won the World Series (1908). The days continue.
  
• There are quite a few for football. Here are the teams who never made it to the Super Bowl, with the number of days since their last championship: Detroit Lions - 20,752 days (1957) and the Cleveland Browns - 18,197 (1964). The Houston Texans and Jacksonville Jaguars were born in the Super Bowl era, but never played in one.
  
• For one of the Super Bowl contenders, it has been 19,659 days since the Philadelphia Eagles won an NFL championship (1960).
  
• It's also been a long drought for three former AFL champions. The Buffalo Bills last won the AFL title 17,833 days ago (1965). It's been 18,554 days for the 1963 AFL Champion San Diego Chargers. Finally, the Houston Oilers (now Tennessee Titans) won their last AFL title 19,296 days ago (1961).
  
• One of the most famous Super Bowl games, Super Bowl III, it has been 16,720 days since the New York Jets won their only championship.

Counting all these days makes one thirsty. So who's drinking the beer in the cellar in the NFL? Why that would be this week's Kings of the Cellar, the 0-6 Oakland Raiders, who are on a 12 game losing streak and haven't won one since November 17 against the Houston Texans. This week's honorable mention goes to my 2-4 New Orleans Saints. This is a talent laden team who has performed like the New Orleans Saints teams of the 1970's. By no means is the season over nor have the Saints collapsed as past teams have. Unless they get their act together, they will be mentioned here again.

Here are historic scores for teams playing each other this week, October 23,

1955  Chicago Cardinals 24 - Philadelphia 24
1983 - Denver 14 - San Diego 6
1988  Minnesota 49 - Tampa Bay 20
1994  Denver 20 - San Diego 15
2011  Atlanta 23 - Detroit 16
2011  Houston 41 - Tennessee 7


Have a great day!!!

Historic Scores

In a sports trivia post, if applicable, I usually put the historic scores for that day at the end. In the last post, I forgot to do that so instead of editing the last posts, there will be two posts today.

Here are the historic scores for NFL teams playing each other this week, on October 9,

1955  Chicago Cardinals 24 - Washington 10
1965  Cleveland 24 - Pittsburgh 19
1977  Philadelphia 28 - New York Giants 10
1977  Minnesota 14 - Detroit 7
1983  Washington 38 - St. Louis Cardinals 14
1983  Philadelphia 17 - New York Giants 13
1983  Los Angeles Rams 10 - San Francisco 7

Okay, there weren't as many scores as hoped. Here are some NCAA historical scores for teams playing each other this week, on October 9,

1920  Northwestern 17 - Minnesota 0
1926  Baylor 7 - TCU 7
1943  Illinois 25 - Wisconsin 7
1948  Northwestern 19 - Minnesota 16
1954  Minnesota 26 - Northwestern 7

1971  LSU 48 - Florida 7
1976  Oklahoma State 21 - Kansas 14
1982  Washington 50 - California 7
1982  Kansas 24 - Oklahoma State 24
1982  Northwestern 31 - Minnesota 21

1991  Auburn 31 - Mississippi State 17
1993  Florida 58 - LSU 3
1993  Washington 24 - California 23
1999  Arizona 31 - USC 24
1999  UCLA 34 - Oregon 29
1999  Florida 31 - LSU 10
1999  Mississippi State 18 - Auburn 16

2004  LSU 24 - Florida 21
2004  Florida State 17 - Syracuse 13
2010  LSU 33 - Florida 29

That's more like it! Until next time...

Have a great day!!!

Almost That Time of Year & A Pair of Kings

It's almost that time of year again. No, it's not Halloween, Thanksgiving, or even Christmas. In a few weeks, NaNoWriMo begins. For those of you who don't know, NaNoWriMo is National Novel Writing Month, which occurs each November. Last year, I wrote Second Chance, which is in (I hope) the final editing stages. April and July are Camp NaNoWriMo months and I participated in each, writng Justice in April and Timewatch in July. Both novels are only completed first drafts.

Back in June, I struggled with what I wanted to write versus what wanted to be written. However, this time is much easier. Although I do have a couple of story ideas, such as the sequel to Justice and a story I've been mulling over for some time, there are short stories and two unfinished novels I could complete or transcribe. If I had to decide now, the choice would be to finish and transcribe handwritten stories. I have enough short stories for another book, plus a couple of others I'm thinking about writing. This was the other choice for July's Camp NaNoWriMo.

And then there's the third choice: Don't participate. As previously stated, I have two novels in first draft form that need editing. I'm also revamping or overhauling the books I already published. There's a LOT of editing to do and it may be a better idea to focus on that. There's still time to think about it and I may write one story and edit another.

Let's get to some sports.

Alas, there will be no three-peat. Congratulations to the 64-98 Arizona Diamondbacks. They are the 2014 Kings of the Cellar and all the beer goes to them. The 66-96 Colorado Rockies lost by two games. The 2012 and 2013 champion Houston Astros won enough games to end the season at 70-92.

And now for some football. The 0-5 Jacksonville Jaguars are this week's Kings of the Cellar. They are searching for their first win since December 5. The 0-4 Oakland Raiders are on Jacksonville's tail, going after their first win since November 17. Neither team is expected to win on Sunday. This week's honorable mention goes to the 1-4 Tennessee Titans, who the Jaguars play this week. This should be a fun game to watch. After winning the first game of the season, Tennessee hasn't won since.

The 3-2 Green Bay Packers travel to Miami to take on the 2-2 Dolphins. Miami leads the series 10-3. They last met in 2010, when the Dolphins won in the only overtime game in the series, 23-20. Green Bay last played in Miami in 2006, when Brett Favre led the Packers to its last victory over Joey Harrington and the Dolphins, 34-24. They first met in 1971, when the Dolphins trounced the Packers 27-6. Neither team has ever shut out the other nor have they met in the postseason.

The 2-2 Cleveland Browns, fresh off their record setting comeback win, host the 3-2 Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers lead the series 68-57 and barely survived last month's game in Pittsburgh, 30-27. The Browns last beat Pittsburgh in 2012, 20-14. They first met in 1950, when Cleveland won 30-17. They also faced each other in the playoffs twice. The Steelers won the 1995 AFC Divisional Round game 29-9 and the 2003 Wild Card round 36-33. Pittsburgh is 4-1 against the Browns in overtime. They first went to OT in 1978, when the Steelers won 15-9. Their last overtime game was in 2002, when the Steelers won 16-13. Cleveland's only OT victory was in 1986, 37-31. The last time Pittsburgh shut out Cleveland was 31-0 in 2008. The last time Cleveland shut out Pittsburgh was 51-0 in 1989.

If you haven't done so already, please visit my Facebook author page and my Amazon author page, and put a like on each. Thank you for reading my post and thank you for your support.

Until next time...have a great day!!!

Finishing Drafts, Doing Edits, and Enjoying Some Trivia

It's done. I finally finished the first draft of Timewatch. It took six weeks versus the thirty days of Camp NaNoWriMo, but it's done. When I finished, the tune that came to mind was I'm Free by The Who. I posted a link to the song from YouTube on my Facebook author and Google+ pages. The final first draft word count came short of 60,000, making it to 59,441.

Now that the first draft is done, Timewatch is better defined as a follow up to Rickshaw, New Mexico rather than a sequel. The writing process was a pantser's nightmare. I didn't know who the bad guy was until the story neared the end. That was good in a way, because it affected how the story unfolded. The second draft will probably be a higher word count than the first, because now I can fill in certain blanks, such as plot holes and descriptions. Now Timewatch gets to sit for a long while, because, there are three books ahead of it.

Speaking of...

I finished my review of The Curse and my ideal reader is now taking a crack at it. She finished her review of the latest draft of Second Chance and now it's in my grubby paws. When I finish editing Second Chance, hopefully the next draft will be the last one, but we all know how "last drafts" work.

And then there's Justice, the working title for my April Camp NaNoWriMo project. I haven't done anything with it since then, but when The Curse and Second Chance are done, it will be next in the editing process. As with Timewatch, Justice needs holes filled in and descriptions added. I have my work cut out for me for the next few months.

Now let's get to some sports trivia.

The 49-77 Texas Rangers are enjoying the beer in the fridge, because they are today's Kings of the Cellar. They are 4-6 in their last ten games, but on a positive note, the Rangers are 2-1 in their last three games. The 50-76 Colorado Rockies trail Texas by a game, but on a positive note (again), the Rockies are 4-2 in their last six games.

Today's honorable mention goes to the 53-74 Arizona Diamondbacks, who are 2-8 in their last ten games, losers of their last five. They are also 5-13 since August 1. With all the winning Texas and Colorado are doing, Arizona could take over the cellar and have the beer all to themselves.

Today in 1953, the St. Louis Browns and Cleveland Indians went to extra innings knotted up at 2-2. In the bottom of the 12th inning, Bill Glynn hit a double and Bobby Avila scored from first base, giving Cleveland the win, 3-2. Something you never see today, WP Dave Hoskins and LP Harry Brecheen pitched a complete game. Each pitcher only struck out two batters, but Dick Kokos of the Browns and Al Rosen of the Indians each hit a homerun.

Today in 1963, an RBI single by Bob Aspromonte was all the Houston Colt .45's needed to beat the Cincinnati Reds 1-0. WP Don Nottebart struck out nine batters, while LP Jim O'Toole struck out six.

Today in 1983, the California Angels and New York Yankees went scoreless into the top of the 9th inning, when Doug DeCinces hit in Daryl Sconiers to take the lead 1-0. In the bottom of the 9th, Ken Griffey hit a single, bringing in Bert Campaneris and Willie Randolph, to give the Yankees the win 2-1. WP Dave Righetti struck out five batters.

Today in 2003, a five run fourth inning was not enough, as the Detroit Tigers continued their losing ways, falling to the Anaheim Angels 10-7. The Angels led 7-6 in the top of the 9th and added three runs to put the game out of reach.

Until next time...Have a great day!!!

What Has Been Written

At the end of June, I was still debating the idea of writing the story I wanted to (Return To Origin) and writing the story that wants to be written (Timewatch), for CampNaNoWriMo. I ended up doing the latter. Timewatch began as the sequel to my ebook, Rickshaw, New Mexico. However, as the story progressed, things went sideways and if you know me, I embrace the sideways.

So what happened?

First of all, I'm technically a CampNaNoWriMo winner, passing the 50,000 word total. However, the story isn't finished. There are several more chapters to write. Rickshaw, New Mexico was only somewhere around 30,000 words, but that doesn't answer the question.

Rickshaw was told from George Foster's point of view. Timewatch isn't. George is in there and has a key role, but he's more of a supporting character. Laura Taylor and Dean Haskell are the main characters of Timewatch, so can you call that a sequel? I can't. It may be sequel-ish, but it's not THE sequel, at least by my definition. A true sequel of Rickshaw would still have to be told from George's point of view. Timewatch could also be a sequel of my short story, A Flash In Time, which is in The Acts of 1 - A Collection of Short Stories. Haskell makes his first appearance in that story. As I said in my last entry, once Timewatch is almost ready for publication, I will publish A Flash In Time by itself. There's plenty of time to decide on the price.

Thank you for your support and readership. Now let's have some fun.

My, how the mighty have fallen. The 43-66 Texas Rangers are Kings of the Cellar, but the 44-65 Colorado Rockies are only a game behind, with the 45-65 two time defending Kings of the Cellar champion Houston Astros making their run at a threepeat. This week's honorable mention is my beloved 58-52 Atlanta Braves. They are 4-8 in their last 12 games, losing four straight.

On a sad note, Indiana Pacers star, Paul George, suffered a possible season ending leg injury in the US National Team's intrasquad scrimmage. Thoughts and prayers go out to him and hope his injury heals quickly.

Congrats to the NFL Hall of Fame Class of 2014! This is an excellent class.

Speaking of the NFL, now that training camp has begun, so have the prognostications. Most of it's crap, but it's still fun to read and write about.


If you haven't done so already, please visit my Facebook author page and my Amazon author page, and put a like on each. Thank you for reading my post and thank you for your support.

What You Want To Write vs What Wants To Be Written

Here we go again. This post started as another post on my Facebook author page and became too long. As July's Camp NaNoWriMo approaches, there is a conflict. I haven't decided on which story to write yet, but it boils down to this: There is the story I want to finish writing (Return To Origin) and the story that wants to be written (Timewatch).

After finishing the first draft of The Curse in 2011, I began to write Return To Origin, which was the story that wanted to be written at the time. However, I made the mistake of stopping to start editing The Curse. Since then, I worked on Return To Origin a bit at a time, but the first draft is nowhere near finished.

Then there's the sequel to the short story, The Immortals, and my novel, The Curse, titled Caretaker. The Immortals is in The Acts of 1. I started Caretaker after finishing the first draft of Rickshaw, New Mexico. At the time, this was my best first draft. However, as with Return To Origin, I stopped. Why? Because The Curse needed, yet again, more editing. As with Return To Origin, the first draft of Caretaker is nowhere near finished. My ideal reader wants me to finish both of these stories.

Here's the point. Whenever there is a conflict between what you want to write and what wants to be written, choose the story that wants to be written. That's where your mind and heart are. Once you start, do not stop until the story is finished. That's the mistake I made with Return To Origin and with Caretaker, and that is why their first drafts remain incomplete.

If I had to choose now, instead of Return To Origin, July's Camp NaNoWriMo project will be Timewatch. It's the story that wants to be told. So far. there are only a few disjointed scenes, including Woodrow and Janowski (from A Flash In Time) going through the swamps of 1753 of what will be Chalmette, Louisiana, searching for legendary swamp demons. The scene may go into the story and it may not. Obviously, new characters will be introduced and maybe even surprise appearances by characters from some of my other stories.

Also, if Timewatch turns out to be the story I write next month, then I will publish A Flash In Time (from The Acts of 1) by itself. At this time, I haven't decided whether to charge 99 cents or make the short story permafree. A Flash In Time is my oldest story idea, beginning when I was sixteen years old. It's about a retail manager who, on the night of December 28, 1999, is driving home from work in the middle of a thunderstorm and in a flash, it's a sunny Friday afternoon in September 2011. As with George Foster in Rickshaw, New Mexico, Bryan Mixon has no idea how he got there or how he'll get home. Although George's and Bryan's situations are similar, their stories are different. If published, the cover of A Flash In Time will most likely be done with Amazon's Cover Creator.

If you haven't done so already, please visit my Facebook author page and my Amazon author page, and put a like on each.

Have a great day!!!

Rickshaw, New Mexico Review (and Sequel?)

This started as an entry on my Facebook author page and quickly became too long to post there. Now I can go into more detail.

Yesterday, I was reading through and reviewing the first draft of a novel I'm thinking about finishing next month, titled Return To Origin. If I choose to write it for next month's JuNoWriMo challenge (July Camp National Novel Writing Month), there are a few changes that will be made. One of my bad habits when writing is to fool around on the internet (and yes, on Facebook, too). You know, how are sales? How are my books' rankings? Are there any new reviews? While expecting the usual answer of nothing, somebody posted a 5-star review of my ebook, Rickshaw, New Mexico. The reviewer's name is TXBkLvr and thank you for your review. Here is what TXBkLvr wrote:

Maybe I shouldn't have given this 5 stars. It was, after all, rather tidy the way it wrapped up. But it was so much fun to read! Time Travel is one of my favorite genres but it's gotten old in a lot of books lately. The same old story with a different cover. The way it happened here was fresh and interesting.

The writing was very well done. I didn't see any typos or misspellings. If there were any I was reading too fast to notice them.

If you like time travel, old westerns, and thrillers, this is a book for you. I hope there's a sequel. 

Hmm...this is the second consecutive review of Rickshaw that talks about a sequel. George Foster's story has been told, but there are a couple of other characters whose stories are nowhere near done. Actually, one of the two characters first appeared in my short story, A Flash In Time, which is in my ebook, The Acts of 1 - A Collection of Short Stories. So in a way, Rickshaw is a sequel to A Flash In Time. Maybe it's time to publish A Flash In Time by itself.

To be honest, since AndyB's review of Rickshaw, I've been toying with the idea of writing a sequel. In fact, over the past couple of weeks, I've even written scenes, including one addressing "the George Foster incident." The current scene I'm working on is mentioned in the final scene of Rickshaw. No spoilers here. In the scenes I've written so far, two characters from Rickshaw and two more from A Flash In Time appear.

When I decide to write a story, there is usually have a beginning and end, laced with a few specific outcomes in the story. For this one, which the working title will be Timewatch, all I have is a few scenes. Then again, all I had when I wrote my Camp NaNoWriMo novel in April (titled Justice) was a beginning and an end. There was nothing in between.

So here's the point. Which book do I write next month? Do I finish the one I started in 2011 immediately after finishing the first draft of The Curse (Return To Origin) or do I write the sequel to A Flash In Time and Rickshaw, New Mexico (Timewatch)? That's the burning question right now and the answer at the moment is, I don't know. There is a little more than a week left to decide. I may post a little bit about each book and let you decide. Again, thank you, TXBkLvr, for posting your review of Rickshaw!!

In the meantime, be sure to click the links on this post and please visit and put a like on my Facebook author page and my Amazon author page.

Have a great day!!!

Last Place Update and Did the '62 Mets Win On This Day?

Before we get started, congrats to Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers, for pitching his first ever no-hitter against the Colorado Rockies, an 8-0 win. Kershaw struck out 15 batters and is now 7-2.

On the flip side, the 28-45 Tampa Bay Devil Rays are this week's Kings of the Cellar. After going 4-1 in recent games, the Rays have lost two in a row. The 31-44 Arizona Diamondbacks trail the Devil Rays by two games. Arizona is 3-7 in their last ten games, but are 2-2 in their last four. At this point, none of these teams are a threat to the 1962 New York Mets' record of futility. After 73 games, the Mets were 20-53.

This week's honorable mention goes to the 43-29 San Francisco Giants. They are 2-8 in their last ten games, losing five straight.

Now for some trivia...

Today in 1962, the New York Mets scored three runs in the first inning and never trailed against the Milwaukee Braves, getting one of their few wins in their worst ever season, 6-5. Future Padres and Giants manager, Roger Craig, pitched a complete game for the Mets and struck out five. Eddie Matthews of the Braves, and Joe Christopher and Gene Woodling of the Mets each hit a homerun.

Today in 1988, David Cone pitched a complete game two-hitter helping the New York Mets defeat the Philadelphia Phillies 6-0. Cone struck out seven and batted 1-4. Darryl Strawberry and Kevin McReynolds hit a homerun.

Today in 1992, a top of the first inning leadoff homerun by Greg Briley was all the Seattle Mariners needed to beat the Minnesota Twins 1-0. This was Briley's only hit of the game. WP Dave Fleming struck out six batters. Chili Davis and Kent Hrbek got the only hits for the Twins.

Today in 2004, Julio Franco and Eli Marrero each hit a two run homer and elevated the Atlanta Braves to an easy 4-0 win over the Cleveland Indians. In seven innings, WP Paul Byrd struck out seven and John Smoltz got the save.


As we count down to July's Camp NaNoWriMo, the choice of which story to write is getting easier. It also appears that July's Camp NaNoWriMo is called JuNoWriMo. If I had to choose which story to write now, it would be Return To Origin. I started it just after finishing the first draft of The Curse in 2011.

It seems I may have to use Amazon's Cover Creator once again for Second Chance. I was hoping to enlist someone's help, but that's not going to happen. Hence, the plan is to keep the cover design simple until it can be replaced with a better one.

I wrote a few drafts of the blurb to Second Chance. Although it's not ready, here's the best version so far:

Gus Harrison is a 46 year old city worker who lives in the past. He obsesses over the good old days of his youth, but there is a dark side. In 1987, the love of his life, Penny Neal, was murdered. His best friend, Dub Druber, died in 2000. Not a day goes by that Gus wishes he could go back in time and save their lives.

One fateful day, as his life falls apart, Gus gets his chance. He gets sent back to 1987 and is young once again. Can Gus change history and save the people he loves?

If things go as anticipated, Second Chance will be published as early as July or August.

Have a great day!!!

Remembering Chuck Noll and Tony Gwynn

I hadn't planned on posting anything today, but with the passing of two legends, that changed.

Over the weekend, football lost one of its greatest ever Hall of Fame coaches, Chuck Noll, of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Noll coached the Steelers to four Super Bowl Championships in six years. In fact, he was the only head coach to ever win four Super Bowls. From 1969-91, he coached the Steelers to a 193-148 regular season record. Noll was 16-8 in the playoffs and, obviously, 4-0 in the Super Bowl.

As a player, Noll played with the Cleveland Browns from 1953-59. He served as a defensive coach for the Los Angeles/San Diego Chargers from 1960-65, where the team won the AFL Championship in 1963. In 1966, Noll moved on to a defensive backfield coach for the Baltimore Colts, where he coached until 1968. After the Colts lost Super Bowl III, Noll was hired as the head coach of the Steelers.

Yesterday, baseball lost a rare gem of the game, Hall of Famer, Tony Gwynn. He played his entire MLB playing career with the San Diego Padres, which spanned from 1982-2001. He also won a slew of awards, including 15 All-Star appearances, 5 Golden Gloves, 8 NL batting titles, and 2 World Series appearances. He finished his career with a .338 batting average. After retiring in 2001, he became the head coach of his alma mater, San Diego State, in 2002, where he coached until his death. Gwynn set the example as a player and as a man. He was class personified.

Thoughts and prayers go out to the Noll and Gwynn families.



On another note, today is the last day that my ebook, Rickshaw, New Mexico will be free. Thank you all for your support so far and let's finish strong.

Here is a little bit of what Rickshaw is about...

George Foster, a down and out Las Vegas private investigator in 2011, took a routine late night stakeout assignment that changed his life forever. Things went terribly wrong when an affair turned into a double murder, with George as the number one suspect.

Once at home, George drank to drown his sorrows, passed out, and woke up in a jail cell...

...in 1886.

Somehow, George went from present day Las Vegas, Nevada to a one-street town named Rickshaw in the New Mexico Territory, a place with problems of its own. With no idea how he got there, George must adapt, survive, and find his way home.

Click the Rickshaw, New Mexico link to download your FREE copy now.


Have a great day!!!

NBA & MLB Trivia, and Rickshaw, New Mexico

Wow! Three posts in a week. It's been a while. Camp NaNoWriMo is less than three weeks away and I'm still undecided about which story to write. A couple of nights ago, I wrote a second scene, this one dealing with the fallout from Rickshaw, New Mexico. More on Rickshaw in a bit. If this continues, Return To Origin may once again, go to the back burner.

Now what's going on with Rickshaw, New Mexico? From today until June 17, Rickshaw will be free for the Kindle. The link will be posted after the trivia. Speaking of...

Here's some NBA trivia...

Today in 1993, the Phoenix Suns beat the Chicago Bulls in triple overtime, 129-121. Michael Jordan led all scorers with 44 points. Dan Majerle led the Suns with 28. The Suns improved to 1-2 in the series, but the Bulls went on to win the NBA Championship 4-2.

Today in 1997, the Chicago Bulls defeated the Utah Jazz 90-86. Michael Jordan led all scorers with 39 and Karl Malone led the Jazz with 21. With this win, Chicago won the NBA Championship 4-2.

Today in 2001, the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Philadelphia 76ers 100-86. Allen Iverson led all scorers with 35 points. Shaquille O'Neal led the Lakers with 34. Los Angeles improves to 3-1 in the series and would win the NBA Championship 4-1.

And for some MLB trivia...

Today in 1975, the Big Red Machine got into a slugfest with the Chicago Cubs. By the seventh inning, the Cubs led the Cincinnati Reds 8-6, but the bottom fell out in the eighth. The Reds went on a 12-3 run and won the game 18-11. Johhny Bench and George Foster each hit a homerun for the Reds and  Jerry Morales hit a homerun for the Cubs.

Today in 1988, the St. Louis Cardinals and New York Mets took a 1-1 game into 12 innings. In the bottom of the 12th, Lee Mazzilli hit an RBI single to win the game 2-1. Darryl Strawberry hit a solo homer to get the Mets on the board. Bob Horner hit an RBI single to account for the Cardinals' score.

Today in 2006, a solo homerun by Robinson Cano was all the New York Yankees needed to defeat the Cleveland Indians 1-0. In a respectable effort, LP Paul Byrd struck out six batters.

If you want to explore more trivia and see the box scores, go to Basketball-Reference.com and Baseball-Reference.com.

So what's going on with Rickshaw?

Starting today, my ebook, Rickshaw, New Mexico is free until June 17. Click the link, download your FREE copy today, and please spread the word.

Have a great day!!!

A Possible Story Change, a Sweep, and a Belated Spanking

So much for not making an entry for the next month. This began as an entry on my Facebook author page, but it was going to be too long. So what happened?

All of this started from Andy B's review of my ebook, Rickshaw, New Mexico. Andy wanted to know more about certain characters in the story and if there's going to be a sequel. The answer is yes and no. In a way, Rickshaw is a sequel to a short story I wrote in The Acts of 1 - A Collection of Short Stories, titled, A Flash In Time. It's not a true sequel, but the stories are somewhat related.

As I said yesterday, I wrote out a scene involving a couple of characters from A Flash In Time. They were walking down a trail in what would later be Chalmette, Louisiana. The year is 1753. Again, the scene isn't long, but it's pretty good, at least for a first draft. Yes, I know. All first drafts suck, but the story is pretty good.

Last night, three more scenes popped into my head. I can't go into detail because of spoilers. However, one of the scenes is much like one late in A Flash In Time. Here's the point of this part of my blog entry: If scenes continue to pop up like this, my July Camp NaNoWriMo project may change from Return To Origin to this. Now you see why the post is here instead of my Facebook author page.

Since we are here, it's time for some trivia...

Today in 1989, the bad boy Detroit Pistons defeated the Los Angeles Lakers  114-110 in the NBA Finals. The win put the Pistons up 3-0 in the series. Detroit's Joe Dumars led all scorers with 31 points. James Worthy led the Lakers with 26. The Pistons would go on to sweep the series 4-0 and win the NBA Championship.

Today in 1997, Michael Jordan scored 38 points to lead the Chicago Bulls to a 90-88 win over the Utah Jazz in the NBA Finals. The Bulls now led the series 3-2. Karl Malone led the Jazz with 19 points. Chicago would go on to win the series 4-2 and become NBA Champions.

Today in 1974, an RBI by Bake McBride was all the St. Louis Cardinals needed to defeat the Los Angeles Dodgers 1-0. WP Lynn McGlothen allowed seven hits and threw six strikeouts. Al Hrabosky got his second save of the season. In a respectable effort, LP Andy Messersmith allowed four hits and struck out four batters. McGlothen improved to 8-3 and Messersmith fell to 6-2.

Today in 1991, Nolan Ryan pitched a complete game shutout as the Texas Rangers beat the Chicago White Sox 2-0. Ryan allowed six hits and struck out 10 batters. He improved to 4-4 with the win.

Forgot one: Yesterday in 1943, the St. Louis Cardinals spanked the Cincinnati Reds 18-0. Stan Musial went 3-4 and hit 3 RBI's. What was surprising about this game was that with all the runs scored, nobody hit a homerun. Also, WP Mort Cooper pitched a complete game shutout, he allowed five hits and struck out only two batters. Fifteen year old Joe Nuxhall made his major league debut and pitched 2/3 of an inning for the Reds.

If you want to explore and learn more trivia from these games, go to Basketball-Reference.com and Baseball-Reference.com. Note: I am not part of or have any financial interest in either of these websites. I'm just a fan who likes trivia and appreciates the efforts of the people on these websites who make the information available to us.

If you are interested in any of the stories covered in today's entry, click the links above or you could go to my Amazon author page to view all of my ebooks.

Have a great day!!!

Updates, Trivia, and Musings

Boy, has it been busy. I keep wondering if I can come back to posting something here every day, but the demands of writing and editing my stories are taking too much time. I even thought about starting another blog to cover the writing and keep this one just for sports trivia. The final decision is still pending.

So what's been going on?

My upcoming ebook, Second Chance, is near completion. After the final edits, all that's left are a blurb and cover. Once the book is complete, it will be available for the Kindle and Print On Demand via Createspace. Second Chance is about a man, Gus Harrison, who is 46 years old and obsesses about and lives in the past. He would give anything to go back and save the life of the woman he loved, Penny Neal. On a fateful night in 1987, after breaking up with Gus, Penny's date with her new boyfriend goes horribly wrong and she died in a dormitory stairwell. To make matters worse, Gus's best friend became an alcoholic and later died. Since Penny's death, Gus thought of nothing but his life before Penny's death. One fateful evening, he got his chance to go back in time. What happened next? Once it's published, buy the book and find out.

July's Camp NaNoWriMo is almost upon us. Instead of writing something new, I decided to finish a novel I started after finishing the first draft of The Curse in 2011. The story is titled, Return To Origin. It's a science fiction story inspired by episodes of Ancient Aliens, which I'm a fan. The word count will be a cheat in the beginning and although my goal is 50,000 words, the story may end up being much longer than that. The pre-camp prep work has already begun. Now before you shake your head about the word count, I have an obligation that will take me away from writing during the first week. Besides, I'm tired of this incomplete story being in the pipeline, waiting to be done. It's way past time to finish the first draft.

Last night, a scene went through my head. It involved characters from my short story, A Flash In Time, a story published in The Acts of 1 - A Collection of Short Stories. The scene takes place in 1753. I wrote it out and it's not bad. It's short enough to be a flash fiction story right now, but could grow into more.

Now lets get down to some sports trivia, specifically the Last Place Update. When I last posted, the Houston Astros were on pace to three-peat, but since then they did something unfamiliar to them in recent years: winning. In fact, the Astros are nowhere near the Update's radar. So who are the Kings of the Cellar? It's the 24-41 Tampa Bay Devil Rays! They're 1-9 in their last ten games and 1-13 since May 26. However, they are ahead of the 1962 Mets, who were 18-47 after 65 games and already past the 1899 Cleveland Spiders, who won only 20 games that year. The Mets lead the 25-36 Chicago Cubs and Philadelphia Phillies by three games. The 33-27 Detroit Tigers get the honorable mention. The Tigers are 3-7 in their last ten games and 6-15 since May 19.

Speaking of trivia, today in 1962, the New York Mets split a double-header with the Chicago Cubs. They played a five game series that weekend, and believe it or not, the hapless Mets won that weekend series 3-2.

Finally, here's some seriously old school baseball trivia. Today in 1918, in a defensive struggle, Bullet Joe Bush pitched the Boston Red Sox to victory over manager Pants Rowland's Chicago White Sox, 1-0. Both starting pitchers pitched complete games and their performances would have been dominating today. Bush struck out six and only allowed three hits. LP Frank Shellenback struck out four and only allowed two hits. The game also featured players with unique names, such as Bullet Joe, Stuffy McInnis, and a young player by the name of Babe Ruth, for the Red Sox, and Chick Gandil (from the Black Sox scandal the next year), Nemo Liebold, and Happy Felsch, for the White Sox. The Red Sox went on to win the World Series that year and wouldn't win another until 2004. For more about this game visit Baseball-Reference.com or the box score here.

Have a great day!!

A Few Thoughts

Happy Tuesday! Hope all of you had a great Mother's Day. I just wanted to post a few things.

Camp NaNoWriMo was a success. My project (the working title is "Justice") was finished on April 30 and the first draft ended up being over 59,000 words. In the rush to finish the first draft, I inadvertently left out some things which will be added in the second draft. Now I have two completed drafts in the pipeline.

My second novel, Second Chance, is still in the editing process, but it's not far from being completed. Unlike my other books, the cover will be the difficult part. I used Amazon's Cover Creator on The Hunted and Rickshaw, New Mexico, but there's nothing useful for Second Chance.

The Phantom Regiment Drum and Bugle Corps will feature its alumni hornline at the Show of Shows contest in June. I'm hoping to go and participate, but my chances are slim.

I'm thinking about redesigning this blog site to make it more dynamic. There are some excellent Blogger sites out there. I haven't posted much of anything here in some time, but it doesn't mean I'm abandoning the blog. Each trivia post is a time consuming project and I've been focusing on writing and editing my stories.

Speaking of trivia...

The 12-27 Houston Astros have confiscated the beer and are once again, Kings of the Cellar. They lead the 13-24 Chicago Cubs by two games, with the 15-26 Arizona Diamondbacks riding alongside the Cubs.

Again, hopefully more entries will be coming and I'll let you know if or when the redesign is coming.

Have a great day!!!!

Camp NaNoWriMo

If you're a sports trivia fan and see the title, you're asking yourself what that is. NaNoWriMo is National Novel Writing Month, which is held every November (Don't worry. There will be sports trivia entries in this post). The challenge is to write a 50,000 word novel in one month. I participated last year and achieved my word count and completion goals. There are two Camp NaNoWriMo months before the big one and they are in April and July. I'm participating in this month's writing challenge.

So far, this challenge is going like November's did. I fell behind early and am struggling to catch up. The word count is just short of 25,000. This is also the first project I started that has no title. I usually have the title before the writing begins. The story is a paranormal murder mystery, my first attempt with murder mysteries.

Sports Trivia

See? I told you there would be sports trivia. Let's catch up a little.

Congrats to the 2014 NBA Kings of the Cellar Champions, the 15-67 Milwaukee Bucks. They finished the season with a 1-9 record, losing three straight. The 1973 Philadelphia 76ers record of futility is safe for another year.

As a rule, I don't start the MLB Kings of the Cellar competition in baseball until May. However, assuming I can start and continue these posts, the 4-14 Arizona Diamondbacks would enjoy the beer in the cellar this week. After winning two in a row, the Diamondbacks lost six straight.

Today in 1914, the Brooklyn Dodgers defeated the New York Giants 9-6. The game went back and forth until the bottom of the seventh inning, when Brooklyn had a five run rally and went ahead to stay. John McGraw's Giants went to 0-3, tied for last place in the NL with the Boston Braves (Note: The 0-3 Braves went on to win the World Series that year). Wilbert Robinson's Dodger's went to 3-0. A couple of notable stats, LP Christy Mathewson went to 0-1 for the Giants and Casey Stengel batted 0-4 for the Dodgers.

Today in 1947, solo homeruns by Roy Cullenbine and Pat Mullin were all the Detroit Tigers needed to beat the Cleveland Indians 2-0. WP Virgil Trucks struck out five and went to 1-0.

Today in 1972, RBI singles by Mickey Rivers and WP Nolan Ryan were all the California Angels needed to beat the Minnesota Twins 2-0. Ryan allowed only four hits, struck out 10, and went to 1-0.

Today in 1993, a five run first inning and a six run fourth inning weren't enough for the Atlanta Braves to hold off the San Francisco Giants. They were tied 11-11 and went to extra innings. At the bottom of the 11th inning, Matt Williams hit a solo homerun to win the game for the Giants.

If you want to see the box scores for these and other games, visit BaseballReference.com.

Other Stuff

So why the huge dropoff in blog entries? I've been writing and editing my e-books and have had less time to dedicate here. When I did a "Today in" entry, it took at least two hours to complete, as did some of the other type of trivia entries. Of course, there was a lot more detail than in today's entry. Does this mean it's time to close up shop here? The answer is a resounding no. There is some good trivia here and I still enjoy writing this blog.

If time allows, I'll start doing traditional entries again. However, in case this is how things are going to be, I tried something new in this post with the "Today in" entries. They didn't take nearly as long, which may do the trick. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Have a great day!!!