Life of Pol

Well, here we are on the brink of a brand new year. I have to say, 2012 was a pretty good year for me, but I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am for 2013. I have met so many wonderful people this past year, and my life has been made all the better. I thank everyone from the bottom of my heart for all your support. Happy New Year!

    I wish each and every one of you a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

Okay, I'm not sure if all of you know what's been happening with us the past week, but it's been a mess. We've been dealing with a brat dog named Buster. You see, Friday before last, Buster got annoyed that he had to spend the day alone.  So, he ate two feet of Christmas lights off of the tree. That was a lovely clean up job for Steve (I got lucky and missed that one).  But it was a continuous clean up job that would last for a day and a half. We were waiting to take him to the vet because we've been through this drill before.  Not so much with the Christmas lights, but other household objects.  It usually passes within two days. But this time, there was just something not right about Buster.  The way he was acting, we had to take him in.  And I thank God that we did. The Christmas lights had stopped their journey right before his stomach.  There was simply too much of it to pass by.  The poor baby had to ha...

Although I am spending my day baby sitting Buster, once again because he decided to eat something he shouldn't (this time it was two feet of Christmas tree lights OFF the Christmas tree), I'm happy. It looks like Buster be fine, and we've been trough this drill enough to know he'll be good as new in a few days.  We learned this after the disposable razor, and the blue pen, and leather guitar strap . . . But everything's okay.  Even a dog puking Christmas joy all over the place could ruin my mood.  This is an exciting time in history.  The Supreme Court is reviewing two key questions regarding same-sex marriage, and a person's Constitutional right; the outcome could be that same-sex marriage will be legal in all 50 states! I can't wait for the moment when the marriage that Steve and I went to Canada for, is finally legal where ever we are in the United States, too.  Man, the celebrations that are gonna ...

(I'm doing this entry on my iPad, so I'm not able to add a picture.  Just imagine a cool shot of Colorado, please. ) As most of you know, our big goal is to get the hell out of Austin and up to the mountains of Colorado. Obviously we have to wait a couple of years until I retire with the City of Austin, The other day I got some good news: That goal got 6/7 months closer. I will be able to buy my sick time and move my date up! Nice! So by roughly September of 2014 I will be retiring! It seems weird to say those words. People tell me, "You can't retire, you're too young." The hell, I can't! You're never too young to retire, if you're able.  It's my reward for sticking with a job I didn't like most of the time for 23 years! Some also ask, "What are you going to do? You'll get bored." The hell I will! They forget: I'm a writer. I actually never thought I would retire with the City, because I always thought my caree...

I'm finding myself at a crossroads. Maybe not so much at a crossroad as much as I'm struggling with myself. I have so much writing to do.  So many stories that need to be told. But as I push myself and push myself to write during every possible free opportunity, I'm finding that I'm burning myself out. Even though, three weeks ago, I took a week off from writing, I still feel a bit overwhelmed. I went from Luthor to The Rise of the Son into Inanimate Objects (coming in January) and straight into my current work in progress. So yesterday I decided I would ease up and start a new wood burning, that way I can let my brain rest and get back into the swing if things. But my problem is, I'm not all that into the burning I'm working on because all I can think about is writing. They say a true writer NEEDS to write, and in a case like this, I see the truth in those words. But I will still try to take today off (even though I'm sitting on the couch writing in my ...

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays.  I don't know why.  I'm not a very big eater.  And it's not like I enjoy cooking.  There's just something about it that I love.  Perhaps it's one of the things I'm most thankful for that makes it great: my husband, Steve. I thank God every day that He gave Steve to me.  Yes, I thank God, because it was God Who brought Steve into my life more than twenty years ago.  And it's God Who keeps him there, too. Steve makes Thanksgiving so special.  For years Steve and I have spent the majority of our Thanksgivings alone, just the two of us.  We get dressed up, and cook all day, and usually go see a movie or something.  Doesn't sound like much, but for us, it's special and fun.  And each year it simply gets better. I am thankful for many things in my life.  I'm thankful we're both healthy and happy.  I'm thankful we're both employed.  I'm thankful we...

Well it's snowing in Colorado today.  I always find it extremely hard to fight the green-eyed monster of jealousy during this time.  As many of you know, it is mine and Steve's goal to live in Colorado as soon as possible. I was hoping to be able to buy out my last year of retirement with the City, and get there by 2014, but as reality is setting in, I am seeing that just may be an impossibility.  But I will do what I can to cut off as many months as possible. So, until I can retire and we are able to move to our dream land, I will push on.  I am still doing what I can to market Luthor .  I have been pushing Blue Moon , too, as well as The Rise of the Son .  I have also recently gotten all of the Johnny & Joey adventures on eBooks-  The Magic Elevator , Back to the Elevator , Return to Animal Land , and the Button That Should Never, Ever, Ever Be Pushed . I have completed Inanimate Objects, and it is going through a few reading ...

I guess I should count myself lucky, since (knock wood) I normally don't get sick throughout the year.  But when I do feel under the weather, there's usually one suspect: allergies. In Austin, you can spend weeks trying to find one person who is not effected by either grass, cedar, or pigweed (I don't even know what that is) spores.  The one that gets me the worst is mold.  It usually hits . . . well, there's no certain time when it usually hits, that's the fun part. If it rains for days on end (which hardly happens in this lovely state), the mold count rises.  And if it doesn't rain for a while and is just hot as hell (which is pretty much the norm), the mold count rises. Well, last Friday it began.  Slowly at first, and relatively controllable.  Steve and I were on vacation, and after we would spend the day doing whatever we had planned, 3 o'clock would roll around and the headache would begin.  Then I would hide inside and nurse my...

Aaaaaah! Patience is just not my thing! Been trying to learn Paint Shop Pro X5 the past week and I know nothing more than when I started a week ago! Yes, I've watched the tutorials and I've read the help guide (which wasn't very helpful, thank you).  But the problem with all the tutorials I've watched is that they aren't very good teaching tools.  They click this and click that, and magically make what they want to achieve happen, as if it's the easiest thing in the world. But then I try to click this and click that and nothing happens.  Well, something happens, but it's not what's supposed to happen.  Perhaps I'm just too old to try and learn something new.  Perhaps I will forever be dependent on graphic artists to help with covers and marketing materials.  You see, that was my whole goal: to NOT be that dependent on them.  But, I will continue to try the program and see what I can or can not learn. Wish me luck. Don't forget ...

It's vacation time again.  Steve and I are both off this week.  We don't have anything really concrete planned, but that's good.  We're just gonna do whatever comes up. I managed to finish Inanimate Object Friday night.  I was so glad that I did, this way I can truly do nothing while I'm on vacation and try to chill.  The key word there is TRY.  I wanted to stop writing for the week, thought my brain deserved it.  I've been going and going for most of the year.  In January I was working on the final polishes for Luthor and then worked on getting published.  Once that was done, I started working on the sequel to Blue Moon , The Rise of the Son .  And once that was done and published I worked on Inanimate Objects .  So, yes, I need a break.  But needing one and convincing my brain and heart that I'm on one is another thing entirely.  All day yesterday I had the nagging feeling that I should be doing some...

Well, just wanted to drop a line and say hi.  I've been making great headway on my current project.  My goal is to finish by mid week.  Then it heads to three rounds of edits and we can put it in the can (movie talk for finishing a film). I hope everyone bookmarks my website www.polmcshane.com  so you can keep up with me in the future.  I have lots of stuff planned.  Here's a list of upcoming books in order of their release: Inanimate Objects- Squish-Squash- The Son and the Moon (the final installment of the Blue Moon saga)- Reunion-The Children of Lauderdale Park- Hell on Earth (Inanimate Objects pt2)- Love Me Beautiful- So stick with me and enjoy the ride.  It may get a little scary . . .

Well, I just finished reading Life of Pi and I loved it. It's weird, I had never even heard of this book before. Then, one day, Steve and I were at the movies and he was in the concession line and I was looking around at the upcoming movies. There it was: a tall thee-sided display for a movie called Life of Pi.  One side was covered in meerkats and the other had a whale and the third had a lifeboat with a boy in it and a Bengal tiger. Of course my interest was peeked.  As soon as I got home I looked up the trailer and the movie looked amazing. Something told me that I wanted to read the book. So I went on Amazon and purchased the eBook. I devoured the story. The weird part is that I have heard so many people tell me they, too, love the book and had read it long ago. Now I can't wait for the movie to come out even more so. I just have to make a conscious effort not to continuously compare the movie to the book, since there are inevitably going to be differences. I had t...

Yes, I know I haven't been blogging as much as I should be.  But I also haven't been sitting around on my duff, not doing anything.  I've been busy, busy.  During the week, when I get home from my tedious day job (that seems to get more tedious by the week), I take care of Buster and get to writing.  If I don't get to writing right away, I have to get to the gym first and THEN get to writing.  And on the weekends, after I get up at the buttcrack of dawn, I write for a while, head to the gym, come back and, either start writing right away, or take care of Buster and some housework and THEN get to writing.  Needless to say, I've been writing a lot. On top of all the writing, gym, fatherly duties, and housework, I've been doing whatever I can to continuously promote Luthor and Blue Moon and The Rise of The Son . I have also recently managed to get all of the Johnny & Joey books onto Kindle, so they can reach a whole new audience. I was hop...

Ain't life strange? Things change from one year to the next.  Things change from one DAY to the next, more like it.  I'm not one for change.  I've had the same job for 23 years, the same man (thank God) for 21.  But there are times when change is good.  Yes, I know that's what they say.  But I've never bought into it. What the hell am I talking about?  I'm talking about publishing.  I'm talking about books.  I'm talking about eBooks.  I'm talking about paper vs. electronic.  Now let me start by saying, I love my printed books, and always will.  When the whole eBook thing started, I took it with a grain of salt because I knew it would never effect me.  I didn't see the appeal of reading a book on a screen.  I'm very OCD about my printed books and love to hold them in my hands. But then . . . things started to change. I purchased an iPad, fell in love with it, and wanted to use it in as many ways as p...

  They say there's something good that comes out of everything bad.  I suppose that's true, though it may be hard to see it right away. Why am I saying this? Well, as some of you know, about six years ago, I was approached by a movie studio that wanted to make Blue Moon into a movie.  It was the greatest news I had heard since the day Steve told me he wanted to be boyfriends. So, I worked with the studio on this and that for ever.  I sent copy after copy of the book  to writers they wanted to do the script. Well, fast-forward six years and I'm told that my story had been changed so much, the movie was no longer going to be based on my book, so I got booted.  Blue Moon became Blood Moon (real big difference). But it's okay, I've accepted it now. The good thing that came of it? I had never intended to do a sequel to Blue Moon .  But during the course of me getting fucked over, the studio had talked about making it multiple movies...

It's finally here! The Rise of the Son has gone live! I'm very excited.  I wrote this book about four years ago, but for one reason or another, I never published it. To be honest, when I wrote Blue Moon , I was never intending to continue the story.  But after many requests, I realized it was the right thing to do.  What's more, for the entire story to be complete, I knew it needed to be a trilogy. Now, with the popularity and success of eBooks, I have decided to hop on that train and publish this book solely as an eBook. It's a new venture for me, and I'm thrilled.  I appreciate everyone's patience, but the wait it over.  The second installment to the Blue Moon saga is here-- http://www.amazon.com/Rise-Blue-Moon-Saga-ebook/dp/B009BOO66K/ref=sr_1_5?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1347821783&sr=1-5&keywords=pol+mcshane

(coming to eBook) It's been a long time coming, but the time is almost here.  The sequel to Blue Moon has almost arrived.  But for now, here's a sneak peek at the first chapter of: The Rise of the Son     1       My name is Sephina.   For those of you who know me, no introduction is necessary.   I’ve been told I’m not an easy one to forget.   For those of you who don’t know me—who are coming into this thing with blinders on—I hope you have an open mind.   I hope you accept the things you cannot explain.   I hope you don’t take things at face value.   I hope you will leave some room for speculation.   For the possibility that what you are about to read is real.   For the possibility that what you are about to read actually happened.   This is a recalling of events transpired.   Because if you don’t do that—if you blow it off as just another work of fiction—then I’m...

                                                                      RIP                                                  Michael Clarke Duncan

By now I'm sure everyone has seen or heard about the infamous Clint Eastwood talking to a chair speech.  Yes, it was weird, but I get what he was trying to convey. But on the other hand, this is one of the reasons I don't like politics.  It's because you get to see who people really are.  I always thought Clint Eastwood was a cool guy.  I liked his movies and thought it would be sweet to meet him one day.   But now that I've learned he's a Republican, and I've watched him insult the president, I feel totally opposite.  I know he would never support me in my life, so why should I ever go see another of his films (not that there would be many left in the future, if you know what I mean) and support him? And Eastwood's not the only one.  There are "friends" on my Facebook page that I thought were cool.  But as of late have seen some posting their support for Romney, and it's making me question everything...

I'm not a very political person.  I mean, I pay attention to what's going on, and I vote, but I can't hold a debate on who did what to whom and when.  But I can tell you that I am afraid of the upcoming election.  I know that Obama has said he would do things and hasn't.  I know that some of the things he's done, people don't agree with.  I also know that the state of the economy hasn't improved as it should have, either.  But I also know that the other guy is worse.  As far as I'm concerned, anyway.  And I know that I'm pissing some people off, and that is exactly why I don't talk politics.  But If Romney wins, I will seriously consider moving to Canada.  All the headway the gay community has made over the past few years will be erased.  Religion will be a major part of the office (as it has in the race already), and that in itself will reverse any forward motion we've made. I don't know what will happen come November, bu...

"Every once in a while you come across a story that moves you. Luthor did just that. From the beginning, I was intrigued by the characters. Not only were they interesting, but there was something about them that told me there was more than what the reader can see. The complexity of the characters is by far one of Luthor's biggest strengths. Their motives behind every action is clearly done with purpose, yet is not always immediately apparent. McShane has created some of the most complex, lively, entertaining and thought-provoking characters I have ever come across. Effortlessly tying his characters into a brilliant storyline, McShane creates a world so vivid and realistic (without falling victim to redundancy) that one forgets they are reading. These characters draw the reader in such a way that they feel as though they are living the same emotions and experiences right alongside them. Beautifully written, this is by far one of the most captivating, frightening, sad an...

Thank God! It's August 25th.  The summer is almost gone.  At least this one, although extremely hot, wasn't as bad as last year.  Hopefully, the temperatures will begin to drop soon and we'll be able to go on walks with Buster without our skin feeling as if we've been placed in some old witch's oven inside a cottage made of goodies. The summer went by pretty quickly.  My head was more often in Colorado than here, and perhaps that helped.  I simply need to continue using that trick for the next two years. Ugh, two years.  When I say it out loud (or write it, as the case may be) it seems like forever.  But I know it's not forever.  I'm trying desperately to shorten that time.  Who knows, perhaps I'll be successful.  I hope so.  As mentioned, a lot of my time is spent with my body doing one thing and my mind in Colorado.  I can't help but continuously picture a house in the woods with a cool porch.  A porch that will ...

I know, I know, you missed me.  Yeah, it's been a little while since I posted an entry.  But I've been busy.  Actually, that's partly a lie.  I was busy some of the time, but I also was lazy some of the time.  Hey-isn't honesty the best policy? I had some marketing/publicity pictures taken last Monday (some of which you'll see, some you won't).  But before I took the pictures, I spent almost two months working out harder than I had in a while, and that took up a bunch of time.  Time is what I wish I had more of during the day in order to get done everything I need to get done (work, the gym, writing, taking care of the house, reading, marketing) and still have a life. Anyway, once the pictures were taken, I took a few days (four, yikes) off from the gym to let my body chill out.  I may have been on the brink of overdoing it.  But while I was taking time off from that, I took time off from pretty much everything else, too....

Okay, one of the rules of blogging (for authors) is not to talk about your books all the time.  And I've tried to space it out a bit.  The last entry was about that fucking idiot who was living it up torturing wolves.  So now I get to talk about my books again.  And you know by that I mean, I get to talk about Luthor again. Let me start by saying, one of the reasons I seem to always end up talking about Luthor is because it's a very exciting time. There always seems to be something on the horizon with this book.  Every day I don't know what will happen next with it.  One morning I may wake feeling slightly glum because I feel things have slowed down.  The next minute Steve calls me and says that people at the restaurant were talking about Luthor because some of the employees are reading it.  A delivery guy got a copy and said he couldn't put it down, and that it was the best book he's read all year. ...

I opened up Facebook when I got home today expecting to find happy greeting from friends and stories about what happened during their day. Instead I find this horrible picture and story about Josh Bransford, a Federal employee with the Idaho National Forest.  He used this poor, trapped, suffering animal as target practice! My stomach is in knots right now because I simply can't believe the level of cruelty that people will go to. Would he be smiling if this were his own wife, limping around in the background, staining the snow with her blood, confused and alone? This savagery has gone unpunished because of the wolves' status as unprotected.  I could go on an on about the emotions that I'm feeling, but my heart is already too heavy. Please sign the petition below so that justice may be served.  And if you know of anyone who participates in this this sort of savage behavior, I pray that you will do whatever you can to help and make things right. ...

Chapter 14 John’s screams woke me from my flight.  I sat up in the chair and looked at him. He was naked and bent over, like he was sick.  I stood and walked to the glass.   “John, are you okay?” He moaned and screamed out again. “Leave!”   “What’s wrong with you?”   “What the fuck do you think is wrong?”   “John, tell yourself that it’s all in your head.  Try and stay in control.” He stood and lunged at me.  I stepped back as I looked at him.  His face was red, all distorted and covered in sweat.  He growled at me. “Does this look like it’s in my fucking head?”    Tears flooded his eyes.  “I’m sorry.” I whispered.    I don’t know why, but I just felt that I had to apologize.  Partly for not trusting him, no matter how many times I said I did.  For not believing him, even after I was convinced.  But mostly, I think I apologized because at long last, I absolutely knew it was true. ...

Well it's that time again.  Time to hear the word Olympics 20 times a day.  Time to see update commercials every five minutes. Nah, it's not so bad.  It's actually a fun time.  It's an uplifting occasion.  Even if you don't watch every event (and there's nothing that says you have to), there are still plenty of entertaining things going worth watching.  The Summer Olympics are great.  I mean, I really like the winter Olympics, with the skiing and the ice skating and bobsled stuff.  But the summer Olympics . . . The summer Olympics . . .What can I say? There's something about the summer Olympics that makes it so special.  I can't seem to put it into words . . . Like it's not just all the countries getting together in solidarity and all that la-di-da stuff.  There's something about these games that moves you every time they come around . . . I don't know what it is.  Perhaps it's simply because it...

Yes, I do have my precious computer back, but this entry will have no picture or proper spacing because I'm working on the iPad at work. Anyway- Things have been good for me lately. But as things tend to do, they change slightly. The rush of book purchases have slowed (simply in person, not sure about online). And of course, that high I had felt is beginning to fade. Those negative feeling are beginning to creep in like smoke under a door. But I know those negative feelings are uncalled for. This is simply the regular pace of things. It's silly to give negativity any merit at this point. So I'll try the next venture of marketing, try to reach out to the next group of people. I'll keep going. That's all I can do: try. I won't stop. I made a promise to Steve and to myself that I would do whatever it takes to make Luthor a success. And I WILL see that happen. Negative feelings be damned. Don't forget to stop by and have a look around the Store on my site ht...

You'd think I would be getting used to the strong effects Luthor has on readers. But then I go to my computer, open up FaceBook and there's a post by someone that says this: "Little bit sad and unsure of what to do next. Just finished Luthor by an amazing author, Pol McShane. I smiled, I teared up, I flat out cried . . . All I can say is READ IT!" On some level, I do feel badly about making so many people feel sad and uncomfortable, but on that same level, it's exactly what I want them to feel. I don't know where this ride will take me, but I'm enjoying the journey.

It's early Sunday morning.  The better half of my life just left for work, and I have poured myself a cup of coffee, and patiently await for its magical properties to take effect. Yesterday was a bit difficult, as I was almost in a car accident due to another person's recklessness.  That proverbial last straw was almost reached, and I swore I would take out my retirement and throw the towel in so we could leave Austin and move to Colorado.  But as my blood pressure returned to normal and my shaking subsided, pure common sense slowly found its way back into my subconsciousness.  With a mere two years to go, if I gave up my retirement, I would kick myself each morning I got up for work in the future for being so careless. So, as the dawn of a new day breaks, I know there will be challenges that come with it.  And those challenges will have to be dealt with each in their own manner.  I will simply have to figure it out as I go along. Th...

It's July 5th. Yesterday marked the true symbol of summer: the 4th of July. Our's went on without much fan fair. Steve worked and I wrote most of the day. The evening was spent soothing Buster as he paced and panted each time a firework exploded somewhere in the night sky. In my mind, the 4th of July seems to be the halfway point between summer and fall. Although I'm quite aware that it is not the case. Perhaps it seems so to me because we've been dealing with summer temperatures since early May. A trick of Mother Nather. But seeing things this way has its benefits. I am able to look forward to the time when temperatures will begin to drop, and the leaves will begin to change into their autumn outfits before their final days, when they will wither and descend to the ground. Time seems to be passing quickly. That's fine for me. Another day closer to the future. A future that holds my dreams in its grasp. A future where anything is possible.

Well, today marks the day when something happened that has never happened to me before: my computer went on the blitz. I don't know what happened. This morning I was writing, everything was fine. Then I was working on the website, everything was fine. I stopped for about ten minutes and the screen went blank. I thought it was just stuck, so I shut it down. We went to the gym and ran a few errands and came home. I turned the computer back on, and it tried to go through the motions, but no image. Nothing I did worked. It is now being sent off to be worked on. The really bad news: I will be without my precious computer for three weeks! I don't what I'm gong to do. I was just beginning to get back into the swing of writing like crazy because of my new projects. Now I'm lost for three weeks! Thank God I have my iPad so I can keep up with my blogs and check emails. I guess I just have to keep in mind that this, too, shall pass. It's gonna be a long three weeks. This is ...