Charles Dampor was supposed to be a blessing, but instead turned out to be a curse. A family torn by deception and greed now saw Emily for what she was, and a co-worker with a vicious past of his own now has his own personal vendetta against her. If Emily doesn't open her eyes and see the doors she's unlocked, she'll find herself at the bottom of Lake Bermin...with Charles's ex-wife.

When did you become interested in storytelling?

When I was 20, my late and great friend Greg put the idea into my head. The idea was alcohol-induced, as we decided that our lives were so entertaining that we’d be doing the world a disservice if they didn’t get to read a story of our lives. And from that day forward, putting words to paper became my passion.

What was your first book/story published?

It was a short story, titled Danboro—a story about a reporter who chased a story about a haunted house and the one man who managed to escape it. And when he tracks down the man, he unknowingly brings the bad spirit with him.

The story was a finalist in a short story competition and was published in an anthology with the other top stories.

What inspired you to write Out of Hiding?

The story actually came by simply starting with some characters and branching out. I was having some serious writer’s block and I asked my wife to give me some ideas of characters. She gave me some, and then I created a story around them, but I never felt like the story was ready until I added Herb into the picture.

What is your favorite part in Out of Hiding?

The beginning, for sure. I’m an avid reader and I fall head over heels for a book that captures my attention right away. So I try to write the same way, and I’m happy with how this beginning turned out.

What was the hardest part to write?

The beginning and end of every chapter. This goes along with the favorite chapter for me—I love a book where the chapter ends and I just cannot shut the book. So, once again, I try to mimic my writing style to match my reader expectations.

What would your ideal career be, if you couldn’t be an author?

I’m a typical guy—sports, sports, sports. Growing up, all I ever wanted to be was a professional ice hockey player. I’m getting a little older now, and my body aches at random points of the day for no apparent reason, so just thinking about playing sports sounds painful. That being said, I still have this dream that one day my writing will make me so famous that the Philadelphia Flyers let me take some sort of a “celebrity shift” on the ice during a preseason game. That’s the little boy in me—still chasing my childhood dream.

Do you read reviews of your books? If so, do you pay attention to them, or let them influence your writing?

TV-Y7; 13 hours 37 minutes; Buy Link

When many of us think of Saturday Morning Cartoons, we remember The Real Ghostbusters, Garfield & Friends, Transformers, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which are more or less aimed towards boys. Believe it or not, there were several cartoons for girls in the 1980s, such as My Little Pony, Maxie's World, Beverly Hills Teens, Rainbow Bright, She-Ra, and The Care Bears.

Recently, Mill Creek Entertainment re-released Horseland: The Complete Series to DVD with a brand-new cover art. As an added bonus, the set comes with a digital code that can be redeemed at www.millcreekent.com/redeem.

While some of you have probably heard of the series, I wasn't aware of it until I received a review copy. For some reason, I thought the series was from the 1990s, but after a quick internet search, I learned I was completely wrong. The series actually aired from 2006 to 2008 as part of the KOL Secret Slumber Party on CBS.  It lasted for three seasons with 39 total episodes. As you probably guess, the cartoon was made for girls who love horses and ponies.

The series centers on a group of kids (Sarah, Zoey, Chloe, Alma, Molly, Bailey, and Will) and their horses (Scarlet, Pepper, Chili, Button, Calypso, Aztec, and Jimber) at an incredible place called Horseland. The kids come to the ranch to practice their horse riding skills, compete with others, and learn from each other. Each episode finds the kids and their horses going on adventures or getting into some sort of trouble that requires them to use teamwork to get through it.

Do you ever feel like you have emerged better for reading a book?

2. Enter the link to your post in the linky list below (enter your Blog Name and the direct link to your post answering this week’s question. Failure to do so will result in removal of your link).


3. Visit other blogs in the list and comment on their posts. Try to spend some time on the blogs reading other posts and possible become a new follower.  The purpose of the hop is to give bloggers a chance to follow other blogs, learn about new books, befriend other bloggers, and receive new followers to your own blog.
  

My Answer:

Yes. I had a high school teacher tell me that I would learn more from reading on my own than I would every learn from just sitting in a classroom.

Not Rated; 184 minutes; Buy Link

I'm back!!!!!

Well, I actually didn't go anywhere at all! I've just been procrastinating once again, which explains why my review for the Hammer Films Double Feature: Maniac & Die! Die! My Darling! is so late. Originally, I meant to have it written and posted around the same time I had reviewed the Hammer Films Double Feature: Never Take Candy From a Stranger and Scream of Fear! (Read my review here!).

While Hammer Film Production has been around since 1938, the film company didn't become famous until it started releasing horror flicks. The birth of "Hammer Horror" began with the first film in The Quatermass Experiment trilogy in 1955. The horror genre was very successful for Hammer until the 1970s, when their Gothic-style stories started to fade with moviegoers. Their last horror film was To the Devil... a Daughter, which was released in 1976. The production company seemed to dead until it was revamped in 2007. Since then, the company has returned to their horror roots with several feature films, including The Woman in Black and its sequel The Woman in Black: Angel of Death.

For the last few years, Mill Creek Entertainment has been releasing several of the Hammer horror films to DVD and Blu-ray. Most recently, they released Hammer Films Double Feature: Maniac & Die! Die! My Darling! to Blu-ray.

Directed by Michael Carreras, Maniac is a 1963 British-French psychological-thriller that centers on Jeff Farrell (played by Kerwin Mathews), an American artist who finds himself alone in France after breaking up with his girlfriend. With nowhere to go, he ends up renting a room above a bar owned by Eve Beynat (played by Nadia Gray) and her stepdaughter, Annette (played by Liliane Brousse). Despite an age difference, Jeff falls for Eve, who convinces him to help her husband escape an asylum. Unfortunately, Jeff finds out that things aren't always as they seem to be.


Directed by Silvio Narizzano, Die! Die! My Darling! (also known as Frantic) is a 1965 British horror-thriller that centers on Patricia Carrol (played by Stefanie Powers), an American woman who is planning on marrying her boyfriend Alan (played by Maurice Kaufmann) in London. However, before she can get married, she needs to make a visit to her deceased fiancé Stephen's mother in Mrs. Trefoile (played by Tallulah Bankhead), who lives in a secluded house near a small English village. Upon arriving, Patricia quickly learns that Mrs. Trefoile is extremely religious and doesn't allow any modern technology in her home. Plus, the woman blames Patricia for her son's death. With the help of her servants, the old woman holds Patricia hostage in the attempt to cleanse her soul!

One of my most guiltiest pleasures of lately is chocolate! And if I'm correct, I do believe many other people have the same love for chocolates as I do.

I haven't always been in "love" with chocolates. I wasn't that big on candy until I recently found my sweet tooth, which isn't exactly a great thing to find when you're trying to lose weight. Nevertheless, I still let myself devour in chocolate candies, cookies, and ice cream. Even my favorite coffee flavor is "mocha," which of course has chocolate in it!

Recently, I read about the new "Craft Chocolate" crave, which has been extremely popular in UK for the past decade.

What is Craft Chocolate?

Well, it's similar to the Craft Beer and Craft Coffee fads. Smaller startup business are opening up "Craft Chocolate" stores, where they the sell chocolates that have been made from the best and finest ingredients. Basically, it turns the processing of creating chocolate into an art form. The Chocolatiers (a.k.a - the people who make the chocolate) make sure they utilize the natural flavor of the cocoa beans, which will give the best chocolatey taste. A few of the biggest Chocolatiers in the Craft Chocolate UK are: Pump St Chocolate, Duffy’s, Solkiki, Land, and the Seaforth Chocolate Co..

If you don't live in the UK (like me), you don't have to worry, as you there are many places online where you can buy craft chocolate bars.

Yes, my love for chocolate is why I can't lose weight, but chocolate is great to snack on when I'm working on writing projects in the early morning hours or late at night. I can't explain it, but chocolate has a way of lifting the fog from my mind and giving the me ability to concentrate on whatever I'm currently working on.

One of my many talents (if you can call them that) is baking! Yes, I'm a guy who knows how go bake cookies, brownies, cakes, and pies.

Guess what are my favorite ingredient to use!

14 hours 26 minutes; $19.98;  Buy Link

It's Saturday morning, but it's nowhere near the Saturday mornings that I experienced during my childhood. I remember getting up bright & early, fixing a bowl of a cereal, and turning on the old television set, so I could watch my favorite Saturday morning cartoons. Now thanks to the Children's Television Act, networks have long since abandoned animated programming in exchange for local news. Yes, many cable channels still air cartoons, but it's just not the same as it was in 1980s and the early 1990s.

One my favorite animated series is the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which ran for 10 seasons. The series popularity (as well as the Playmates toyline) started to decline in the early 1990s; just around the time a ripoff of sorts arrived - Street Sharks!

Mattel released a line of mutant sharks action figures in 1994, which was mostly likely inspired by the success of TMNT. Of course to help sell the toys, a cartoon series was created! Produced by DIC Entertainment, the series aired from 1994 to 1997, lasting three seasons with a total of 40 episodes.

The premise of the series centered around two scientist, Dr. Robert Bolton and Dr. Luther Paradigm, who created a "gene-slammer" machine which can successfully mix aquatic creatures DNA with human DNA, creating anthropomorphic hybrids. Dr. Paradigm is mad and plans on using the machine to create his own species. He transforms Dr. Bolton into a creature, who escapes. Later, Dr Luther Paradigm lures Dr. Bolton's sons (John, Bobby, Coop, and Clint) into his lair and splices their DNA with sharks.

To make a long story short, John, Bobby, Coop, and Clint become mutant sharks. Most people would be freaked out by this, but they take it pretty well. Actually, they enjoy being mutants. John becomes Ripster, Bobby becomes Streex, Coop becomes Big Slammu, and Clint becomes Jab. Along with their pals Lena Mack and Bends, the brothers set out to stop Dr. Paradigm's (who becomes a
piranha mutant) evil plans.


A short-lived comic series from Archie Comics debuted in 1996. An animated spinoff,  Extreme Dinosaurs, debuted in 1997 for one season of 52 episodes.

Mill Creek Entertainment released the entire Street Shark series on DVD in 2013, but is now out-of-print. Not to worry, as they re-released "The Complete Series" early this year and for the very first time, the series is also available on Digital through the Mill Creek Entertainment website. A free digital code is included with the three-disc DVD set.

Have you ever thought of writing a respectful, but angry letter to an author to ask them WHY they killed off one of your favorite characters in a novel?

2. Enter the link to your post in the linky list below (enter your Blog Name and the direct link to your post answering this week’s question. Failure to do so will result in removal of your link).


3. Visit other blogs in the list and comment on their posts. Try to spend some time on the blogs reading other posts and possible become a new follower.  The purpose of the hop is to give bloggers a chance to follow other blogs, learn about new books, befriend other bloggers, and receive new followers to your own blog.
  

My Answer:

I don't believe I have had ever had those thoughts after a book character. I just accept the death and continue reading.