Hey Jay! Where’d you go?
Hey Howdy Hey Gang!
My apologies for disappearing for much longer than intended. We took our trip to Utah, the Mrs got sick. I got sick. Easter happened. I accidentally bought a new bass (a fixer upper that I will do a video about when it’s done.) So much packed into a single month.
But I’m back.
I’ll soon get back on track with the V&A Shipping 2 Audio. Sorry that got delayed.
If you’re looking for more talk about authors, J. Daniel Sawyer and I started a new vid cast and have a few episodes out there for your listening enjoyment.
Hat Guys Talk Books (HGTB): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCO3A365tQU0zApbJkwoeVkw
Other than, not much has changed since the last time we spoke. I hope to change that. 🙂
Until next Time!
Stay Awesome!
7th book I read this year: Groo Meets Tarzan
This isn’t much I can say about this book that others won’t. It’s Groo. He meets Tarzan. I ordered this a LONG time ago and was happily surprised when it showed up. As with any Groo literary work, I devoured this book in short time. I mean, it’s Groo. That’s what you do with Groo. You get it, you read it, you laugh and feel a sudden need for Cheese Dip.
Bit of an Update
Hey Gang!
First, thank you to all who stick around and read this blog when I put out posts and put out videos. It means a lot to me.
Secondly, My voice is gone. Watch the below video and you’ll know why. Short story, I sang my heart out at Metal Jam 2022. Yeah, I played bass on one song, but I sang as loudly as I could for every other song. It was a great time. Being that my job is mostly conference calls and I talk all day, my voice hasn’t recovered yet.
I did have enough voice to talk with J. Daniel Sawyer last night to record a couple of episodes of Hat Guys Talk Books. Those will hit your feed if you subscribe.
Finally, all this is to say, further episodes of V&A Shipping 2 will be delayed while my voice recovers. And I’ll be on vacation mentally recovering.
I hope to get back to regular blogging (2 or 3 a week) starting upon my return from this vacation. It’s time to get my focus back now that Metal Jam is behind me and I don’t need to make sure I’ve got my song down and don’t embarrass my bandmates on the night of the event.
Side Note: If you watch the video, understand that I met 3 or the 4 people I was on stage with…an hour before we went on stage! Very few are believing that, but it’s 100% true. Only the lead guitarist and I got together for a practice session.
Anyway, I’m off to go get other things done.
Until Next Time!
Stay Awesome!
If you made it this far, I’m being sneaky and slipping in links to My Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/jrmurdock. Please, don’t feel obligated. I’m not doing much there yet but building up a backlog of content.
6th book I read this year: Station 3 by Paul E Cooley
Yes, I read another Paul Cooley book. I do that.
Everyone has that one author that they’ll buy/read everything that author puts out. I’ve been that way with Paul’s work for a very long time. Not everything he wrote back in the day resonated with me, but I could see where he was going with what he was doing at the time.
Paul’s work over the years has evolved. There’s no other way to put it. Some of his work was psychological horror/thriller stuff that usually worked. His Street stories are stuff of legend. Garaga was interesting.
Then we got The Black. This is where Paul’s years of effort paid off. Yes, there were ump scares. Yes, there was the intense mindf*ckery. Who lives? Who dies? Who cares! Let’s keep this ride going. And keep it going he did.
The Paul jumped into space with the Derelict saga. The kid gloves were off. Each book, though I’m sure it took a toll on him, was a fun ride filled with ups, downs, heroes in trouble, daring escapes, and you were left with a feeling of utter dread and satisfaction at the end of the first 4 books of that series. At least I was.
Then we get Station 3. Let’s start out with the obvious. Paul plays video games. There’s no doubt in my mind this story could be wrapped up and played for several hours of enjoyment. I saw a tweet that he’d love to write a Dead Space novel. Hell yes! Sign me up.
This story, Paul left it all out on the table. He upped his game (pun intended) yet again. We get deeper into the mind of the character than we normally do. The conflicted state of emotions driving him forward despite of what’s happening around him. Shark swims. Then he’ll stop and access what happened and what might happen next. Turtle thinks. We get a fleshed out backstory with snippets of the characters childhood and past missions.
I mean, wow. This is Paul at his best. Unless I miss my guess, this book will be a stand alone novel for those that despise a series. For those that love a series, yes, there’s room for more in this universe. I’ll say no more as I don’t wish to drop any spoilers.
Paul, well done. Well done.
More on this later…but…
Billy the Guardian: Billy Barbarian Book 1: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLF9Gqf8Cj5kwTUbuo-gKJmv0gsgSTP-1s
J.R. Murdock 