September 2015 – Page 2 – Looking to God

Cover Reveal

Posted on September 14, 2015September 20, 2015 by Jack Flacco

Four years later, it’s done. The final book to my Ranger Martin zombie series is complete. Today I reveal the cover to Ranger Martin and the Search for Paradise. Am I excited? I wouldn’t know where to start to tell you how I feel right now. Yeah, I am excited. Can’t you tell? Next month, my dream will come true. On October 20, 2015, the book releases.

Last Friday, I’d promised I’d tell you where the idea for Ranger Martin came from.

As clichéd as it sounds, I woke up one morning in October 2011 with Ranger’s name surfing through my head. While shaving, the image of a zombie slayer turned father-figure began to take shape. Ranger would travel across the country saving kids from the likes of chewers and eaters, providing lodging and giving them a purpose for their existence.

The story grew after I had entered it as part of National Novel Writing Month in November that year.

Two of the other main characters in the series are Matty, a fifteen-year-old who doesn’t take any flak from anyone, and her know-it-all eight-year-old brother, Jon. Together, they’re the ones who cause Ranger the most grief.

What I found interesting writing this series is how the stories for each book flowed without much effort on my part. I had a general idea of how it would all work—actually, all I had were the titles Ranger Martin and the Zombie Apocalypse, Ranger Martin and the Alien Invasion, Ranger Martin and the Search for Paradise, and the endings. Beyond that, I hadn’t a clue as to what would happen in each novel. Every day that I took to my writing hole there was an adventure awaiting for me to discover.

In all honesty, it was as if I were taking dictation.

Anyway, to give you an idea where the cover came from, the photo is from October 2004. I was sitting on a hill watching the boats pass at Toronto’s Waterfront when I saw a women standing on the dock. She caught my attention and I snapped her picture. A few seconds was all it took and she was gone. Years later, I would remember that photo and it made me wonder whatever happened to that woman. What was she thinking while she stared into the distance? Was she thinking of her family? Was she thinking of a long lost love? Or was she simply standing there because she saw me taking photos of the area knowing she would become a timeless image for others to talk about?

If she only knew her image would become part of the cover to my next book, I’m sure now she would think it flattering.

Not to make it sound as if the whole process for writing the trilogy was easy, I had to sacrifice a better part of my Sundays and evenings to put the series together. That included dedicating writing sessions between events such as home renovations, birthdays, driving my kids to recitals, long weekends, funerals, and anything else you can classify as mundane tasks that would make up life. Add to the laundry list the blog schedule I had committed to in December 2012 to write three posts a week, no matter what the circumstances, and you have a very busy Jack.

Mind you, I’m not complaining—I’m explaining. Then again, I wouldn’t trade in the experience for anything in the world. If it hadn’t been for Ranger Martin, I wouldn’t have found the writing rhythm that works for me. Ranger taught me

Never to surrender.
Always be consistent.
And never pay attention to what the crowd is doing.

Okay, I think I can now can tell you what Ranger Martin and the Search for Paradise is about! From the back jacket:

There is no cure. The change is permanent. Whoever says they can fix this is wrong.

Months ago, billions of people died in the zombie apocalypse. The survivors either have become refugees looking for a way out or have turned against each other. No one will admit they killed their friend for a package of raisins. It happens though, and there isn’t anything anyone can do about it.

Undead slayer Ranger Martin makes the unforgiving Arizona desert his home. He has never had to defend it. He has never had to kill anyone for it. If anything, he has shelved his shotgun and has taken an early retirement package.

That is, until now.

When the military lays siege on his silo, Ranger and his crack team of professionals—a bunch of kids, really—have no other choice than to run. But after he discovers a map that may lead to a mythic city called Paradise, where neither army nor zombie can invade, Ranger mounts a cross-state journey to find the place of safety before the others find him and it’s too late.

Now, because I would love for everyone on the planet to enjoy Ranger Martin’s way of solving the zombie problem, and in celebration of my October 20 release of my new book, starting tomorrow for 5 days, I will be offering the first book in the trilogy Ranger Martin and the Zombie Apocalypse FREE. That’s right. You’ll be able to download it without spending a dime. It’s my way of showing my appreciation for all the support extended to me these past few years while I teetered on the edge of insanity doing what I love doing—writing about the zombie apocalypse.

Thanks everyone for all your support!

Pre-Cover Reveal

Posted on September 11, 2015May 9, 2017 by Jack Flacco

When it comes to announcements, I’m never quite sure how to go about making them. Sometimes, I keep it a secret for as long as I can in order to maximize its impact. Other times though, I want to talk about it until I collapse on my bed and wish for a time less stressful.

Today, I’m trying to figure out which one of these times this is.

This coming Monday I will reveal the cover to my new book Ranger Martin and the Search for Paradise, which hits the shelves on October 20. I’m excited about it, but at the same time, sad. The book is the final entry in the Ranger Martin zombie trilogy.

For those of you unfamiliar with how the Ranger Martin series came to be, I had written the first book Ranger Martin and the Zombie Apocalypse during 2011’s NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), a writing contest that takes place annually in November as a way to spurn writers to compete against themselves in order to write 50,000 words in 30 days.

I joined the challenge thinking it would be a good opportunity to exercise my skills as a writer and write the book I’ve always wanted to write, even if I had no idea what the project was going to be about. I joined anyway with the hope it would take on a life of its own.

For a month, I had no friends.

Yeah, you can say I went all OCD on everyone. The goal of NaNoWriMo is to write 1,666 words every day for 30 days and I approached it as if it were a war. No matter what, I wouldn’t let anything or anyone get in the way of my goal to complete the manuscript.

I was such an idiot. Seriously.

Part of that attitude came from the fact that the most I could produce at that time was 500 words a day. I wouldn’t have thought I was capable of producing three times that amount. Ever. I can truly say it is also the reason some reviewers felt the writing in the first novel had a sense of urgency. And there was. Every day was a race against the clock to get my ideas into the manuscript before midnight. The way it works is if I missed one day, it meant I would have had to write 3,332 words the next day. And that, to me, would have been equivalent to clamping my head to a paint mixer and flipping the switch.

Looking back, I now see how silly that was, given today I write every day out of habit. You know what else, though? Once I had immersed myself in Ranger Martin’s world, I was producing far more than the assigned daily quota. I actually was having fun, even if I had shunned society for the entirety of November that year.

Anyway, I was planning to talk about Ranger Martin, how the character came to be, but it looks like I’m running out of time. I guess I’ll save it until Monday.

Just know I’m excited to show you the cover. It’s a journey completed. I really can’t wait.

Oh, and by the way, in celebration of the Ranger Martin and the Search for Paradise release, I’m offering the first book Ranger Martin and the Zombie Apocalypse FREE next week for 5 days, starting on Tuesday. It’s my way to thank you all for putting up with my long-winded posts about zombies, women who wow, macho warriors, and anything else that may have caught my attention.

Here’s the first of the plugs I’m publishing for this celebration. Thanks for the support.

Wednesday Warriors

Josh Kovaks

Posted on September 9, 2015September 8, 2015 by Jack Flacco

Tower Heist is one of those movies you can plop on the couch and immediately know who the players are and what they’re after. Reminiscent of the lighthearted caper Ocean’s Eleven, the film features an all-star cast portraying a quirky set of characters out for revenge. Not only is the movie a popcorn feature with all the expected thrills of a heist tale, but it also has a wonderful ending that is much too good to spoil.

With that intro out of the way, Josh Kovaks takes top billing for today’s Wednesday Warriors.

As great as Tower Heist is, critics didn’t like it. Yes, it is light. Yes, it has a few ridiculous plot holes. And yes, the acting could be better. But because it doesn’t take itself seriously, and some of the story elements are not as tight as one would hope, it doesn’t mean the plot isn’t good. On the contrary, holding it together is a lead character so unbelievable that Ben Stiller makes him believable.

Ben Stiller [Photo Credit: Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.]

Josh Kovaks is the manager to a New York apartment building whose employer (Alan Alda), who Josh admires, becomes the center of an FBI fraud investigation. When Josh discovers the apartment’s employees have fallen victim to their employer’s Ponzi scheme, he takes it upon himself to seek revenge against his once-beloved idol. Adding further to his motives, this happens after one of the elderly employees attempts to take his own life soon after finding out his retirement nest egg has vanished in the scheme.

From the very beginning, the audience gets to know Josh as a determined boss who leads his team with the goal of making the tenants’ stay more enjoyable. He memorizes silly facts about wines so as he can make recommendations to those with the financial means of appreciating his taste. He also takes the time to get to know each guest under his care—a trait the tenants find comforting. Under Josh’s watch, he is aware of everything, and everything that happens, happens for a reason.

Like other good caper films, Josh goes on a mission to recruit those capable of pulling off the impossible. In this case, he and his crew will need to break into his former boss’ penthouse to rip off what is supposedly a bucket of cash, ready for transport. The trouble with the plan is finding where his former boss had hidden it.

Although Josh has a hard time attempting to pull the plan together, nothing compares with him trying to keep the other members of his team from bailing on the plot or betraying each other. The people problem is what has him losing sleep.

Overall, in spite of the obstacles, Josh delivers on his promises to his team—even if it’s not in the way the audience quite expects it.

RANGER MARTIN AND THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE, on sale now.
RANGER MARTIN AND THE ALIEN INVASION, on sale now.
RANGER MARTIN AND THE SEARCH FOR PARADISE, on sale October 20.

Have you seen Tower Heist? If so, what did you think about it? What do you think of Josh?

Monday Mayhem

Zombie What Ifs VIII

Posted on September 7, 2015September 4, 2015 by Jack Flacco

Today’s Labor Day weekend is all about fun! That’s right. It’s Monday Mayhem again, folks. It’s time to put your thinking caps on and help me escape the zombies. Are you ready to indulge in some serious undead running?

How it works: I present a scenario filled with zombies, and your job is to figure out a way to escape. Of course I’ll give you my answer telling you what I’d do, but it doesn’t mean that’s what you would do. That’s up for you to decide. And if you missed them, here are the first seven parts: I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII.

Are you ready? All right then. Let’s go!

Scenario #1: You’re in the woods looking for a place to sleep. In an hour, you’ll lose the light and will have nothing but the night to keep you company. You’ve discovered by some of the others who used to be part of your group that you are a loud snorer. In fact, you’re so loud that your entire group fell to the undead because of your obnoxious condition that had alerted a crowd of fly-breaders to your location earlier in the day. You manage to find a cabin. Inside, you also find it cozy if you were to leave the lights off. The shutters will do well with keeping the changed away from the area. Now the dilemma. Knowing of your condition, how will you guarantee to get a good night’s sleep without hinting at where you’re sleeping? Will your snoring be the end of you this time around?

My Answer: Apparently sleeping on one’s side is the best solution. Then again, so is sticking your head under a bucket. I’m not sure if that would help.

Scenario #2: Running several miles from a horde on the city street, you don’t notice the manhole ahead as you sprint toward a building. You fall in and injure your leg. You’re knee-deep in sewage and you can’t stand for long. If you stay where you landed, the zombies won’t touch you. It could be the zombies hate the smell of filth coming from the hole. Who knows? At the same time, because you fell into raw sewage, your injury will become susceptible for infection and you might pass out from the stench, thereby drowning in the only place where you find it safe. What are you going to do? Do you climb the ladder, take a chance by running to the building you wanted to get to before you cross paths with the crowd, or do you wait them out, hoping that in the meantime you won’t die in the bowels of the city?

My Answer: Get me out of here. The quicker I get to that building, the faster I can find clean clothes—I hope.

Scenario #3: The store at the end of the road is the only thing keeping the zombies from having their time with you. You duck through the door, lock it tight and run to the back where you find a rear exit. Before you can make it through though, three draggers pile from the entrance and chase you through the aisles as you try to avoid their paws from grabbing a hold in order to sink their teeth into you. Next thing you know, the front door bursts open and the rest of the crowd that was chasing you appear once more, marking their territory with their putrid smell. The way to get out of this alive would be to find a weapon, cut a path though the store and escape through the rear entrance. The only real problem is that it’s a dressmaking shop. Where are you going to find a weapon that would put those miserable rot-bags in their place?

My Answer: I figure a dressmaking shop will have scissors, but with a horde after you, it will take more than scissors to get out of this mess.

RANGER MARTIN AND THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE, on sale now.
RANGER MARTIN AND THE ALIEN INVASION, on sale now.
RANGER MARTIN AND THE SEARCH FOR PARADISE, on sale October 20.

What would you do?

Freedom Friday

Mystery of the Sardines

Posted on September 4, 2015August 28, 2015 by Jack Flacco

For the life of me, I can’t seem to find a recipe that features sardines as its main ingredient. Oh, don’t get me wrong, I’ve tried. I’ve scoured the internet from Food Network to individual cooking sites in an effort to prove that sardines can be a main ingredient to a dish. Alas, I’ve come up empty. To me, the results make for good fodder for today’s Freedom Friday post.

One afternoon last fall, I was hungry. The family was away and I was looking to make something that would tie me over until dinner. I didn’t feel like a full lunch, but at the same time, my hunger was strong enough to warrant a hot meal. First thing I did was head to the pantry. I could have gone into the freezer and thawed one of those ready-made burritos, but like I said, I was looking for something light. Besides, a burrito does all sorts of funky things to my stomach that I didn’t want to experience.

Anyway, I came across a package of spaghetti and a jar of marinara sauce. I thought, “great, it would be the perfect meal.” A small bowl of pasta with some sauce would be enough to keep me active for a couple of hours. Then, with the package and jar in my hands, I eyed the shelves for some protein. I could have gone for the nuts, but I wasn’t in the mood to sit at the table and supplement my meal with another course. That was when I saw the can of sardines.

For those unfamiliar with the taste of sardines, let me tell you. The texture is mushy. The flavor is strong. They’re a great source of Omega-3’s, fatty acids and protein, but they do nothing to stem the flow of a good appetite. That’s my opinion.

I thought, “Hey, why not try it out.”

The pasta went into the water, the sauce went into the pan and the can opener hit the sardines next to the stove. Twenty minutes later, while mixing the sauce into the pasta, I added half a can of sardines.

My nose should have warned me. I didn’t take a hint very well. It was awful, just awful. I had all I could do from tossing my innards.

From that moment on, it’s been my quest to find the ultimate sardine recipe. And honestly, the only one that comes to mind, other than eating out of a can, is sardines on a bed of salad topped with a butter sauce. Unbelievably, that’s all I could find. There was no epiphany to stir my culinary creativity, no magic bullet to hit me with the idea of the century, and no wonderful mix of vegetables and starches to compliment the marine treat.

I just couldn’t find anything.

So now, I ask you all. Do you have a sardine recipe that will surprise and equally shock me into believing in miracles?

RANGER MARTIN AND THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE, on sale now.
RANGER MARTIN AND THE ALIEN INVASION, on sale now.
RANGER MARTIN AND THE SEARCH FOR PARADISE, on sale October 20.

What have you done with sardines lately to make them special? Is it possible to have sardines as a main ingredient in a dish?

Wednesday Warriors

John Connor

Posted on September 2, 2015September 2, 2015 by Jack Flacco

The boy doesn’t have a clue who is after him. At first, he thinks a cop has gotten wind of his little ATM scam he is pulling on the side as a way to score big bucks for a video game binge at the local arcade. But when he realizes the cop isn’t there to issue him a ticket, John Connor (Edward Furlong) runs for his life.

Wednesday Warriors is proud to feature John Connor, the leader of the Resistance as today’s kick-ass character.

A Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is after his mother, Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton). When the Terminator fails its mission, Sarah takes every measure to protect John from any other future attempts on his life. She hides weapon stashes throughout New Mexico. She teaches John how to use a gun. She trains him to be aware of his surroundings, never to take a chance with anything he does, and always being sure to check everything twice—even if it is obvious. Nothing will prevent him from growing up. And nothing will prevent him from leading.

When Sarah Connor ends up in the mental ward of Pescadero State Hospital, John roams free, biting his thumb at his foster parents and living as a rebel.

Terminator 2's John Connor — Terminator 2’s John Connor

From birth, John’s life never made much sense. He travelled from home to home, hideout to hideout, living off the grid, under assumed names. But that afternoon confirmed everything his mother had taught him. He always had to be ready.

The T-800 Terminator, a metal endoskeleton coated in flesh, is the perfect killing machine. Sent from the future to complete a mission in the present, it is able to blend into its surroundings, find its target and terminate it. It does not feel anything, It does not think beyond the parameters of its mission. And it does not take kindly to anything or anyone getting in its way.

The newest T-1000 Terminator (Robert Patrick), a machine made of mimetic poly-alloy (liquid metal), is also in on the hunt. The target? John Connor. In a bid to capture the future rebel of the machines’ world domination, this Terminator does not spare any expense to kill in order to extract information, deceive John into revealing his location and come after him with all its got.

John, however, has a plan. Even at a young age, he looks at ending the machines’ attempt to conquer the earth by destroying the very company that manufactures the neural net processor occupying the Terminator brain. Cyberdyne Systems becomes his target.

Yet, before then, he launches a brazen attack on the asylum his mother Sarah resides. He gets her out and realizes the power he now holds, as the only one who can save humanity, is his ultimate strength.

No longer will he not believe his mother for warning him about the Terminators. No longer will he sit back and allow others to dictate his life.

John Connor will defeat the Terminators—even if it takes him the rest of his life.

RANGER MARTIN AND THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE, on sale now.
RANGER MARTIN AND THE ALIEN INVASION, on sale now.
RANGER MARTIN AND THE SEARCH FOR PARADISE, on sale October 20.

Have you seen any of the Terminator movies? What do you think of John Connor?

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: