I was inspired by this post:http://www.fromdatestodiapers.com/50-rules-for-dads-of-daughters
to write something from my own experiences.

While that post is geared toward cherishing every precious moment with your daughter, I have to write about guarding every single moment with any child.

I've lost two children. One to cancer, one to SIDS.

This isn't meant to be a negative or sad post, though it will seem that way. It's meant to be positive, to urge you to make every second a treasure.

Which brings me to the main point of this post. Guard every moment. They are all precious. You never know when that child will be taken from you. Just as you don't know your own last second of life, you also don't know your child's last second of life. So guard those seconds.

When they wake up and you look into their eyes and smile, you never know if that will be the last time you'll see that life looking back at you and smiling with joy. When they are eating, you never know if this is the last bite you'll ever see them take. When you take their hand to cross the road or walk through the store, or even just walk through nature, you never know if that'll be the last time their hands are alive in yours. When you read them a story for bed, you never know if that's the last time they will ever sit in your lap. When you put them to bed, you never know if that's the last time you'll ever be able to caress their cheek or kiss them on their forehead or cheek. When you hug them...hug them tight. You never know if that's the last time you'll be able to hug that precious child.

You never know if the last time you told them that you love them will be the last time you'll ever be able to say that to them. So don't wait. Don't tell them once a week or once a month. Tell them every day. Every chance you get every day, even.

Don't waste the opportunities you have to touch your children, to talk to your children, to look into your children's eyes, to watch the wonder your child shows as they learn something new. Don't squander the gift you've been given with that child.

Guard those seconds. You never know when they will stop ticking away. And when that happens...the regret you have will be regretting to treasure each and every single one. You never know how many seconds you have left with that child that loves you more than life itself.
 
As I come closer to wrapping up the rough draft of All Jacked Up Walt Disney World, I want to share another excerpt with you:

Sarah brought me a plate of food as she sat on the couch beside me. I had no idea I was in some kind of trance until she asked me a question.

"Jack, what's going on? Ever since we've been off work you've been staring out that window. There aren't even any clouds out there, so you're not actually staring out the window. What's wrong? Remember, we can only trust each other."

Can I really trust you? And if you do really care, you're also about to walk out of my life.

Sarah sat her own plate down. She touched my right hand with her left, as she turned her body toward me. "Jack, if we can't trust each other, who in this whole wide world can we trust? Baby, I want to help you through what ever this is. What can I do for you? Talk to me. Tell me. Lead me." She put her face in front of mine. "Tell me how I can help you. Let me in."

I looked into her eyes. 'Mickey knows all about me. Everything."

Her brows raised, then I saw the confusion in her face and the worry in her eyes. "How?"

"I have no idea. He stopped me this morning and told me everything about my life. Everything I've been sharing with you." Then, like a lightning bolt shocking my body, a thought hit me. I tilted my head and looked deeply into her eyes. "Did you tell him?"

Her mouth dropped. Tears flooded her eyes. Her hands clutched her chest. "Ouch! That hurts. How could you even think that? After how I've reached out to you, trying to be here for you. After giving myself to you. How could you...?" Her body starts shaking from her sobs.

Good job, Jack. Screw yet another good thing up. There you go.

"No, Jack," she said through sobs. "I haven't said a word to anyone." She stared at me through red, teary eyes. "Remember, we can only trust each other. Do you remember that?" She closed her eyes in pain and let the sobs continue.

I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her close. "I'm sorry."
 
Here's an unedited excerpt from All Jacked Up Walt Disney World. (Name may change a bit.) Hope you enjoy. Feedback is welcome.

She sat in the driver's seat, key in hand. She looked at me with the most seductive eyes I've ever seen on a girl looking at me. She put her foot on the pedal and wiggled her brows at me. When I didn't move, she extended her hand to me, then did a 'come hither' motion with her index finger.

Oh my God, I can't believe I'm about to actually do this.
 
"C'mon, baby. You know you want to." That wavy brunette hair is falling across her back looking like she just jumped out of bed, and it looks so good. Her eyes are so bright, it's obvious she's excited. Her smile shows she's completely comfortable with the idea of what we're about to do.

I climb in. As soon as my but hits the seat, she hits the pedal and I'm about to get whiplash. The air starts flowing around us. Her hair flaps a bit as we take off from right outside the Wardrobe Room and head South. We pass a couple of workers and she heads straight into the main hall that cuts a straight line right under the Magic Kingdom. I can't help but watch her hair, her face, her eyes. The smile grows wider, her eyes grow brighter, and her hair seems to get lighter with every second and each section of the hall that she drives us through. The lights are passing overhead, the wall sections are passing beside us letting me know that we are going at a decent rate of speed.

In just a few minutes we come to the section where the Utilidors split in three ways again. She lets off the pedal to slow down, then takes a sharp right, in front of the personnel office. Then she takes an almost immediate sharp left, then another sharp right in front of Stairway 18.

The hall turns at an angle to the right as we start to go around the circle of the Utilidors. She drives down a bit and some workers start telling us to slow down. She ignores them and we pass a first aid station and a break area on the left. On the right is Stairway 17, which goes to the Crystal Palace.

She comes close to knocking the legs off a couple of guys and they cuss her.

I look at her again and she's smiling bigger than ever.

"You do realize that you're throwing your job here away, right?"

The joy on her face continues to grow. "Oh, I should have done this a long time ago."

I try to sit back and enjoy the ride, knowing we will both be fired in the morning.

The hall makes a couple more curves to the right and we're under Adventureland now. We pass another hall to the left that contains Stairway 13 which goes to Liberty Square and Adventureland Veranda, and Stairway 16 which goes to Adventureland and Frontierland. There's also a break room and a bathroom down that hall.

"Hey, slow that thing down if you know what's good for you!" The voice yelling fades as she ignores them and keeps going.

The hall breaks to the right again and we pass Stairway 12 to Ye Old Christmas Shoppe, on the right. On the left are Stairway 10 to the Hall of Presidents and Stairway 15 to Legend of the Lion King. This leg of the Utilidors is a bit longer, so we keep going. Another hall shoots off to the left and contains Stairway 14 and goes to Liberty Square, Columbia Harbor House, and Peter Pan's Flight.

A lady jumps out of our way. "I'm reporting you!"

Immediately after that hall is the Lion King Green Room. Just past that is Studio D and the halls breaks again.

"You're gonna crash, you know that don't you!" Another voice that fades into the background.

This time there's the equivalent of a fork in the hall. Studio D is on the left of the fork and the Character Zoo is on the right. Going right, we'll pass the straight section we just came out of and go around to the other half of the Utilidors. Breaking left we'll pass another set of bathrooms and the Fantasyland Dining Room, then we'll be out in the daylight, ready to run off the property. The main wardrobe is in a huge room located in the middle of this fork.

She takes the left this time.

"Wanting to enjoy some outside air now?" I ask.

"Sure. Plus I'm tired of these workers complaining about our little joy ride." Her eyes and her smile are as bright as ever, though.
 
Supernatural! No, not the TV series, although that's an awesome show. The supernatural, haunted castles and homes, ghosts, ghost hunting, and modern equipment. For those that love this area of fact and fiction, here's a treat for you! Micheal Rivers:

The Ghosts of Verliege

The book entitled Verliege takes place in a fictional town and castle in Germany. Just as
Superman has his Metropolis and the number of planets that are visited in the solar system,
Verliege is nothing more than a figment of the imagination. I am sure some other writers would
agree the towns and cities they have written about are not only imaginary but also have no
connection with the country or state that seem to be the location for the stories. It was said by a reviewer that Verliege did not sound German. Hanover and Lake Constance, both in Germany, sound like you are in Pennsylvania or somewhere here in the states. Yes, I do my research what can I say? Enjoy the stories and try to not to confuse it with real life when Potter waves his wand and turns a pit bull into a toad.

The ghosts in the story Verliege were treated as though they were not fiction. The tools of
the paranormal investigation for the discovery of the existence of the castle ghosts are indeed
some of the actual tools used in paranormal investigations today. Hence, we have added the fact to the fiction which many times goes completely unnoticed.

I have investigated the paranormal for a lot of years (more than I care to admit) and I revel
in the thoughts of new and different technology becoming available to try and answer some of
the questions that plague us about spirits. The video and still technology alone today is enough to make you shake your head in wonderment.

Several of the instances of ghostly activity in the castle were taken from an actual
investigation in three different locations here in the United States. One of the locations was an
old hospital closed down by President Ronald Reagan during his administration.

Some, but not all of the methods used in the book are what goes on in an actual
investigation. I am fond of the full spectrum camera in many instances. As far as sound recording equipment is concerned I prefer Sony Digital technology. The quality of electronic voice phenomena seems to be better for me.

The scent of the woman’s perfume in the air, objects seemingly moving on their own
accord, and being touched, are just part of what can happen on an investigation and were noted in Verliege. The events I just mentioned have been witnessed many times with witnesses in real time. During some investigations you get actual facts about ordinary people who have been dead for a very long time and the information can be verified by official records. This was done on one of our investigations at a famous asylum in West Virginia.

The castle itself in Verliege is a combination of several castles as well as a design of my
own. These castles are well known for their documented hauntings. The town below the castle
was developed from old towns in five different countries and yes dear hearts, one of them
actually is in Germany. The Inn Keeper was an actual man who his real profession in life is a
plumber. For the sake of those who really want to know, his name is …Mueller. He is 100%
born and bred German.

The oddities and mysteries of the world around us are far from mundane and in many cases
incredulous. I believe this is where the saying fact is stranger than fiction derived from. To see
these things in books or on television is at best questionable. To see these things before you is
something you can never forget. For every work of fiction there is fact involved somewhere.
Whether you can comprehend it is another story which involves the working of the human mind
and the level of intelligence one has. Just remember text books are made for learning. Fictional
movies and stories are made for pleasure and a means to escape reality.

Want to know more? Pick up your copy of Verliege.

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Today I unleash a short I've been working on for a bit. It wouldn't seem something like this would take much "work", but for me, it did. I don't write kid's books. There's a reason for that, haha! While I can talk face to face to a child, for some reason I can't write like a child. So, after much work, including editing and cover work, I'm finally releasing to the world a new piece I have.

It's called Love You, Daddy. It's about the current child support system and one families struggle with that. Coming in at 3,500 words, it's a quick read. But, it's also emotional, so I'm told. Who would have thought that a short story about a family struggling and seeing life collapse virtually to ashes, through the eyes of a seven year old, would be so emotionally powerful?

Here's the blurb.

I'm sad.

My daddy tries so hard.

I wish people would grow up and see what life is all about, like I do. I'm seven. I'm a big boy!

Help me fix this legal system thing so they don't take my daddy away from me.

I don't want your little boy or girl feeling sad or lonely like these law people make me feel.

Let's work together and fix this.

Whaddya say?

It's available on Smashwords and Amazon now, so enjoy!

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/180563

http://amzn.to/NlDw6h

 
What exactly makes something a collector's edition?

I guess a lot of factors can go into that, and I'm betting each factor will differ according to each collector. I mean, are there any rules anywhere that state what the universal law is that governs whether something becomes a collector's edition or not?

Hey, if you know of such a universal law or set of laws, please tell me. I'd love to know!

As far as I can, just coming out with another, updated edition of something can make the previous edition a collector's item. If that's the case...you may want to spend a measly five bucks and purchase my current edition of The Dating Doctor Diaries...because I'm about to split the book up!

Yes, split it up. Currently it's got two main parts. A story up front, and a how-to manual in the back. What I'm about to do is, flesh out some details of the story part that I purposely left out in the current edition, and publish it by itself. Then I'll add the how-to manual as a companion edition.

Here's the current synopsis/blurb:
This book is a snapshot in the life of dating and seduction coach, L.A. Tripp. He tells a gruesome story of his relationships and the methods he uses to teach guys to "get the girl".

Watch his learning curve and find out that it's not so different from the you. Feel his turmoil as his love life is thrown into a tailspin because of one woman.

Along the way, Tripp shares tidbits that you can use for your own love life, immediately, to see results for yourself.

In the end, which woman does he pick? Is she Mrs. Right?

And find out what he believes is the most important lesson to learn when attracting hot women.

Enjoy it this way while you can!
 
What would you do if you had a choice?

If you could work the rest of your life for someone else or if you could work the rest of your life for yourself, which way  would you choose?

Working for yourself, your job is never secure. No matter what your occupation, what field you're in, how in-demand you are, how high in the company you are, it doesn't matter. Your job is never secure. You can always be replaced by the next college graduate or the next big thing in your chosen profession. That paycheck that you count on can disappear overnight, literally.

When you work for yourself, you're also not guaranteed income. It's all sales and your ability to sell yourself and your product. The minute you stop selling yourself and your product or products, your income will stop.

So, which is better?

Well, to me, working for someone else is letting them determine how much I'm allowed to make (by what they are willing to pay me out of their pocket), allowing them to determine what kind of good or bad schedule I have each week, only being allowed to move up the ladder when they feel they are ready to let me do so, and it's handing my future to them in regards to my job security because they will only keep me on their payroll as long as it's beneficial to them to do so.

Make no mistake. As a business owner, a company will only keep you on their payroll as long as it's beneficial for that company to do so.

Working for myself, yes it's a sacrifice. I have to devote countless hours to building a career of my own up, on my own, when I could be playing games with the family, spending more quality time with the family, watching that movie or TV show I've been dying to see, just sitting around doing nothing but reading or listening to music, working on stereos (which I love doing), or countless other things which are fun for me. I have to sacrifice some of all of that in order to push forward with my dreams. However, I do this because the hope is that one day I can afford to hire a full-time sitter, maybe a full-time housekeeper, be able to put in 4 or 8 hours a day and spend the rest of the time spending time with my loved ones, have the money to not only take care of bills, but also car repairs, home repairs, extended family needs, etc. I have the dream that one day I can open my financial resources to people whom I don't know that truly need help. Such as wounded warriors. Or people who have lost their homes and jobs through some natural tragedy. Things like that.

Working for myself, I can actually create jobs by hiring a publicist, hiring a full-time editor (Laura Clark, eat your heart out baby :P ), hiring a full-time cover designer (Katie Jennings, beware of your time if I ever get rich :P ), hiring a personal assistant to keep track of any scheduling for me and the other authors I work with.

Working for myself, I can contribute more to my local and national economy. It's economics 101. Working for someone else, I'm extremely limited in what I can do in this area. Working for myself, the bigger the company gets (the more I can write and sell), the more people I can hire for different tasks. Working for myself, I can prosper more.

It's Free Enterprise, baby.

My choice, my dream, is to work full-time for myself. Yes, it's a HUGE sacrifice at first. But, in the end, I hope that the rewards pay off much more than the sacrifice is right now.

Which way would you choose to go?

One last note. Working for yourself doesn't just mean being an author. You can be a successful musician (I know several), successful brick and mortar store owner, successful network marketer with a company such as Amway (note: I HAVE been in Amway before and it's a great company...I DID make money with it...see Josh Luck if you're interested). You can work for yourself as an independent locksmith, personal trainer (I've worked with one, my wife currently does), mechanic (mechanics independent of a shop have their advantages...I work with a local one at times myself), trash man, attorney (see Lisa Michelle Watson if you need one), and the list goes on and on.

Disclaimer: I am making absolutely nothing for mentioning any names in the above paragraphs. These are just people I'm connected with on or off facebook. I'm just doing what I can to support other entrepreneurs. I hope you will as well.
 
Today, I'm sharing a slightly juiced up version of a cover blurb I have for All Jacked Up Again. Would love to hear your thoughts on the blurb and on the alternate cover below:

Jack survived psychotic co-workers, a slimy boss, falling on the wrong side of the fence, interfering parents, trying to climb the rat-race ladder, and a girl that knows a little too much about him.

That was round one.

Here's round two: a shady Italian, a psychotic mom that stalks him, a girl friend that's not his girl friend, and an innocent sandwich maker.

Will Jack keep his sanity?

Reader warning: This has a cliff-hanger ending.
 
Happy 4th of July! Enjoy America's celebration of Independence with an excerpt from All Jacked Up Disney, which isn't available yet...

I could hear the rumblings of voices through the wall as he approached the door we were about to go through to surprise park guests. Getting closer to the wall, the voices grow in volume. I can hear boys and girls and parents. Hi and low pitches mixing together. Traveling in all directions as people are moving about.

We open the door and the cacophony of sounds bathes us as we watch the surprised faces while everyone turns and looks at us. You know they are wondering where in the world we just came from. How we materialized out of thin air.

"Hey, how are you guys doing today?" Sarah asks as she wiggles her body and waves to the crowd.

I make a few Goofy movements, then turn my attention to her again.

She starts walking through the crowd, acting so chipper as she passes each and every person. In other words, being herself. She lives to bring a smile to each face. She'll shake her hands, lift a foot at a time and shake it in the air, wiggle her rear, and bob her head if that's what it takes to get the patrons to smile and laugh. It's like they energize her. The more responses she gets from them, the more animated she becomes.

I don't think I'll ever be able to say the same about myself. Probably not such a good thing for Goofy to think. Then again, I didn't choose this career. It was thrown upon me.

As Sarah comes alive, I'm happy to slide into the shadows, so to speak, as people focus their attention on her. As they energize her, she energizes them. They feed off each other well.

Kids are coming up to her, hugging her, posing with her, and insisting on kissing her costumed cheeks. They may not know the real Sarah, but they absolutely adore Sarah's version of Minnie. They are in love with her. Not only the kids, but the parents. I see the trances parents slip into as they watch their kids be mesmerized by Sarah. Mom's eyes become glassy from tears of joy. Dad's faces flow with pride, knowing that they were able to provide this for their children and give them at least one dream that every child craves. Flashes erupt right and left as memories are retained forever, so each family can look back on this moment in time and say to each other that they got to physically be with Minnie at least once in their life. And what a magical person Minnie is. And always will be now, thanks to Sarah's example.

Anything for the Disney magic, right?

 
Oh my God. This is the fastest I have run in my life. As I round another curve, I see the dust cloud behind me. It's amazing that I can even hold my grip on all this dirt. And this funky skin-tight suit they have me squeezed into is unbelievably comfortable. Must be some new age material or something. Oh hell, I think they're seducing me into what ever experiment this is. I've gotta quit enjoying these...amazing skills I've got now. Well, I guess it is better than being dead.

"OK, take a break and let the dust cloud you're sirring settle back to the ground. I hate this part of the job. I hate dust landing all over my body," My new constant companion, Morgan, says.

I stop on a dime. I'm not even out of breath. I walk to her and sit beside her on their makeshift bench, which consists of a couple of milk crates.

"Where am I, Morgan?"

"All that you need to know right now is that you're on a limited trial run. The only way you keep your current life is to pass all of these tests with flying colors."

"No problem. Just give me my old life back."

Morgan locks her warm eyes with mine. Then her eyes turn ice cold. "You will never be going back to your old life. You're dead to your old life. As far as everyone you knew, they all believe you're dead, because you are. You belong to us now. This is your new life. Take advantage of it. You won't have another second chance. One last thing. Your name is now John Millstone. Because you will become the millstone that sinks our enemies.

"What if I don't pass your tests with flying colors?"

"There is no other option." Suddenly, I see passion fire behind those icy eyes. "But don't worry, we've never had a test subject run around our course in excess of 50 miles per hour."

"Course? This is open dessert."

She looks back at her data. "Don't ever let me hear you disrespect a military installation again, Mr. Millstone. This is what most people think of when you talk about Area 51. If only the people knew the full truth of this place. This is only what's above ground. The bed you woke up on is six stories underneath us. Now, run again."

"Run again? What?"

"You were given an order, Mr. Millstone. I'd suggest you obey it."