Life of Pol

Sometimes I fall-but you're always there to catch me. Sometimes I'm sad-but you're always there to make me laugh. Sometimes I fall- catch me- hold me- love me- I need your protection against the world. Open your arms wide and remember- sometimes I fall. Pol McShane www.polmcshane.com 

Although Steve and I are both feeling the horrible effects of cedar fever, we decided to hit the movies yesterday. (It sounded like a better plan than the gym.) The movie of choice- The Grey .  The movie stars Liam Neeson as one of a group of roughneck oil drillers who find themselves struggling for survival after their plane goes down in the wastelands of Alaska's back country. Let me first start by saying that I am a weird sort of chap, who is terrified of flying, but loves to see movies about plane crashes.  And The Grey does not disappoint on that aspect. In fact the scene only reaffirmed my terror of flight and the knowledge that an air disaster would be a horrible thing to have to go through. And in the case of Neeson and his co-workers, the plane crash and subsequently surviving it, was the least of their problems.  Not only are they stranded in sub-zero temperatures with no food or supplies, but there's an angry pack of wolves who have decided they have a pe...

Man, the past few days have been kind of hectic.  But in a way, that's what I like.  Although I would rather not be hectic at work (day job-echk!)  and at home, it does make the days fly by. But being hectic at home is good because it simply means that things are happening, and that is always good.  I'm still waiting for the manuscript to get done at the editor's, so not much has changed there, but I have been working on other things, all of which you will see in due time.  One of the changes that will be occurring in the writing part of my life is that soon I will no longer have the elevator website (visit while you can: http://www.themagicelevator.com/ ).  The reason for this is purely a professional choice.  I love the site, but it has not proven to be as profitable over the last four years as I had hoped.  And continuing to keep it running is simply not feasible.  I will , however, have a new site up shortly that will showcase all ...

As the time draws nearer, I find myself becoming more and more excited about what’s to come. Every step of the process that gets completed means one step closer.   I’ve waited for so long. I’m talking about the publication and eventual release of my latest book Luthor . They say “there is a time for everything.”   Steve and I are true believers in that.   “Things happen for a reason.”   That’s another good one.   This blog is called The Daily Ups and Downs of an Up and Coming Writer.   You’ve seen some of the Downs .   Now is time for an Up. I’ve been writing for quite a few years.   And while it’s been fun and exciting, it has yet to bloom into the lifestyle-sustaining career I know it will eventually be.   I have spent many years struggling with, and in a way waiting for, that specific publisher to say yes, that one agent . . . “There is a time for everything”- It’s time to stop waiting. “Things happen for a ...

I guess I should count myself lucky.  Buster is now six years old, leaning more toward the seventh year of his life, and we have never had a disastrous situation regarding (how can I say this gently? I can't.) diarrhea.  Well, our lucky streak ended yesterday.  I should say my lucky streak, since Steve of Iron Stomach can never handle such things, and clean up is left to sit heavily on my shoulders. And last night that weight seemed equal to, if not more than, a two-ton truck. You see, our baby has, once again, picked up something at the dog park in our complex.  This happened once before, but things were taken care of outside , and after a very expensive trip to the vet, it was resolved within a few days. We had thought, when we realized that something was not right down under with Buster again, that it would resolve itself in much the same manner. WRONG! Night before last "things" seemed to be getting better than they were that afternoon, when B...

On top of being elected president of the Southern Christian Leadership conference, and in an eleven year span travelling over six million miles, speaking over 2,500 times whenever there was injustice, protest and action, he wrote five book and caught the attention of the nation. At the age of thirty-five, Martin Luther King, Jr., was the youngest man to have received the Nobel Peace Prize.  He announced that he would turn over the prize money of $54,123 to the furtherance of the civil rights movement. On the evening of April 4, 1968, while standing on the balcony of his motel room in Memphis, Tennessee, where he was to lead a protest march in sympathy with striking garbage workers of that city, he was assassinated. Today we honor him.

It's Friday the 13th.  Normally that would spark fear and terror in the hearts of many.  And to be perfectly honest, I used to be freaked out about these so called cursed days, too.  But as I get older and wiser (just go with it) I realize there is nothing more that is going to happen on Friday the 13th than would on Friday the 10th or 5th or 23rd.  Actually, aside from today being a hectic day at work (and a few select persons trying to raise my blood pressure), it was a pretty good day.  Perhaps it was because I am so looking forward to this weekend.  Not only is it a three-day weekend, but Steve will be off on Saturday and Monday.  We will have two days off together.  That rarely happens, but when it does, we almost always have a great time.  Even if we do nothing but go to the gym and then come home and watch a movie, we will have a great time. I am also feeling very optimistic because of my upcoming book releases.  I don...

Christians for a Moral America . What a bunch of hate-filled, bigoted, hypocritical, psychopaths!   I heard today that they are praying for the death of George Michael because of his sinful life.   BECAUSE OF THE WAY HE WAS BORN!!!!!!   These freaks, these “Christians”, who are supposed to be following Jesus’ word and loving thy neighbor and not judging, are praying for a person’s death!   It is this very thing that infuriates me to no end.   It infuriates me because they are so self-righteous, and supposedly all-knowing, yet they have their eyes and minds closed to so many things, that they are more ignorant than any other group of people on the planet!   These are the same type of freaks as the Westboro Baptist Church group, who also have an extreme stance against homosexuality and have been protesting fallen soldiers’ funerals. Why are these hate groups allowed to continue to terrorize and harass innocent people?   In my...

A lot of people wonder where writers get the ideas for their books.  I have been asked several times about the strange concepts of some of mine.  Since I've been promoting Blue Moon lately in preparation of the release of The Rise of the Son , I figured I would talk about this one. Being a writer I spend most of my days with random conversations going on in my head. (At least I hope it's because I'm a writer and not because I'm psychotic.)  But I find that I play and replay conversations in my head, creating conversations and scenarios that may or may not turn into something that could be used in a book or could be used to create an entire story in itself.  The latter is what happened with Blue Moon . One morning while I was eating breakfast, I was, for some reason, thinking about werewolves.  Werewolves have always been my favorite of the big monsters.  I don't know if it's because I've always thought there was something sexy about them or if it'...

I’ve been thinking a lot about love today. I write about love in my books.   I write about the love of a man for a woman.   The love of a mother for a son.   The love of two brothers for an over-sized grizzly bear. But what is love, really? Why is it so potent? And why is it so elusive to some but so abundant to others?   I think it all comes down to who you are inside.   What kind of person you are.   What you’re capable of.   Love can be a breathtaking thing—like when two people find each other and know without a doubt they could not subsist without their other half ever again, without being a lesser individual than they were before. The kind of love that overrides any kind of self-doubt.   The kind of love where you would set your own life aside for that person who has your heart.   It doesn’t matter if you’re straight or gay.   If you’re a man in love with a woman, a woman in love with another woman, or a ma...

It’s the beginning of day two of 2012.   I have been filled with such feeling of elation I can’t even begin to explain it without demeaning it in some way.   I have never been so optimistic about an upcoming year.   I don’t really understand it.   Perhaps it’s because I feel so much more connected with what I’m doing in my life regarding my writing and where I’m going with it.   Perhaps it’s the fact that I’m taking the horse by the reigns and I’m the one in control, instead of waiting for someone else to tell me it’s time. But I’m not the only one who is feeling optimistic about the coming year.   Everywhere you look people are excited about what’s to come.   And I think that in itself is enough to celebrate.   Yesterday was a good day for me and Steve.   Aside from feeling a little hung over in the morning, we managed to get our butts to the gym.   We didn’t have a heavy workout, but we got there.   Part of our...