Late-Life Endeavor

Greetings friends and followers,

I want to personally thank every reader who downloaded Memoirs of the not-so Grim Reaper during my promotion. I was rewarded with a number 1 ranking on Amazon for the promo in its genre – Religious Graphic Novels.

My books have now been read in the following countries I know of:

U.S.A. – Canada – England – Ireland – Scotland – France – Portugal – Spain – Germany – Russia – South Africa – Kenya – Australia – New Zealand – Japan – India – Brazil – The Bahamas – Puerto Rico and Mexico. (No, I never imagined this in my wildest dreams. I was hoping to at least sell 500 copies. I’ve done more than a thousand in one day, and over 500 twice).

I embarked on my attempt at a writing career at the tender young age of 62 in 2016 with a collection of poetry; not an easy task, and one which was a literary disaster. I lost a couple thousand dollars on that venture but learned some very valuable lessons. Those lessons gave birth to “Phantom Scorpio Productions”, my very own little publishing enterprise. And yes, I have been approached by others to publish their books. I’m simply not there yet.

I’ve had more jobs than I can count in my lifetime; often working two at a time and for 4 years I held down 3 jobs – two full and one part-time. I have dreamed of being an author since my dad introduced me to Tarzan and by proxy, Edgar Rice Burroughs.

So, here I am at 65 with two poetry collections, a very unorthodox memoir and two novels in a series about an international assassin and philanthropist who redefines the meaning of love and loyalty to me. Not too shabby…

I do believe I am a decent writer and I don't believe, as of yet, to have penned a literary turd as it were – subject, of course to the contrary opinions of some readers who slaughtered Memoirs in their reviews. What I did not anticipate was a writer is as good as his readers believe him to be. It’s gratifying, humbling and stressful all at once. My writing has been compared on more than one occasion to James Patterson, Ted Dekker, Lee Cobb and his “Jack Reacher”. One reader called Memoirs brilliant. Another called it a waste of time. It’s the polarizing effect Memoirs seems to have – which is good. It was part of my plan.

Evolution of a Killer has received all 5-star ratings on Amazon, though not many. It’s doing very well with the GoodReads nation at a 4+ rating. I don’t take the negative reviews very seriously as they have nothing to do with my writing – only the content and only with Memoirs, which makes me happy. I wrote it knowing some would choose to take offense and they have. Makes me happy to see the negative comments since it is a large portion of my motivation for writing it.

I don’t know how many Lazarus Chronicles I have in me, so I am working on the third. You will know when I run out of ideas – Lazarus will die. I never foresaw a happy ending for my killer companion when I created him/me.

Thank you, reader for taking time from your life to allow me to share some of myself with you. It truly is an honor and a privilege. I’d heard writers and actors say that in the past; now I understand what they meant.

“One Witness; A Lazarus Solaris Thriller” has been on the back burner for several months as life has happened again and again. Please don’t give up on me. I haven’t quit – it isn’t in me.

Happy Reading – write some author a nice review today.

Robert Ullrich

rmullrich@phantomscorpioproductions.com

https://phantomscorpioproductions.com

Book Review: This Darkness Light, by Michaelbrent Collins

This Darkness Light by Michaelbrent Collings

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


It is sometimes nigh impossible to review a novel like "This Darkness Light" without sounding like you're getting paid to review it, which I was not. This was the first and latest novel by Mb Collings I've read. June of 2018 was the first, just finished the second. Yes - it's that good.

Several have gone into detail concerning the plot and characters, so I won't repeat those insights. I read This Darkness Light the second time because the first left me mentally shell-shocked. I was new to Mr. Collings as a reader. My intro to him was via Fivver and a search for a cover for my first novel. Mb won the competition, so I decided by way of gratitude I would give a couple of his books a read.

Damn good call on my part. The prose in this particular novel is a well-woven as the plot. The characters well-defined in a manner rarely matched. Good vs. evil. Unsung heroes and heroines. Unlikely alliances and unexpected turns.

The first novel I read twice was The Lord of the Rings at the age of 15. I can count on one hand the books I love enough to read time and again. I have now added This Darkness Light and Mr. Collings along side of works by Tolkien, Stephen King, Anne Rice, James Clavell, Alexander Dumas and T. H. H. White which I will never tire of re-reading.

If you've read other works by MC, you'll want to add this one. If you've never read anything by this author - this is the perfect place to start.



View all my reviews

Thoughts on Racism.

Here’s a fair question to ask. What do I know about racism as a white male in his 60’s? It’s a fair question.

I grew up with very a very racist grandfather who went as fat as to threaten an elderly black couple crossing the drive at the church they attended together. My grandfather almost ran them over, stopping at the last moment.

“ Mover you nigger asses or I will run you over.” I was about 7 or 6. My mother seemed to take it in stride, though she later told me, “That’s just how grandpa is. I’m not like that and I don’t want you to be either.” My father later talked to me about it. He told me, “Don’t judge a man simply by the color of his skin. Get to know him. If h’s stupid, it will come to show. If he’s ignorant, that’s different to me. I believe you can educate the ignorant, but stupid is forever.

“There are far more stupid and ignorant whites than you can possibly imagine. I want you to have something I didn’t. Am opportunity to judge for yourself.”

I took it to heart. My first wife is Hispanic, so now, are my children. They’ve been harassed by police and white people alike in Texas. My daughter was forcibly drug from her vehicle by a Dallas officer who pulled her over because he said her music was too loud. She also has very nice tattoos on her shoulders; one of the Virgin Mary and the other of Jesus in his crown of thorns. Obviously, she must be a gang-banging piece of Latino shit. When in fact, she graduated North Texas with a degree in psychology, and is currently a mid-level manager for AT&T. I am no expert, nor do I claim to be. However, I usually know what is meant to be racist and what is just ignorance.

Donald Trump’s comments regarding the four congresswomen of color are racist. My grandfather used to say the same things. “Go back to where you came from. It’s America; love it or leave it, etc.”

It is not pollical rhetoric when you attack someone personally. The are all citizens of this nation. They all have the right to free speech – including criticizing the President. They have the right to pursue a more progressive style of government.

What reveals Trump’s stupidity, not ignorance, is he told three U. S. born women to go back where they came from. He said something about coming from countries with broken governments, crime-infested, etc. Taken at face value, Trump thinks the United States has a pretty crappy government, is crime infested and hates America.

Trump has recently been described as the most racist president since Andrew Jackson. I’m no presidential historian so I will defer to their judgement. I do know the Trump family business has been charged an sued in the past over discriminatory actions towards minorities.

I also didn’t realize it is a condition, or proof of my loyalty or love of my nation that I have to love the Israelis. I respect them greatly and support their right to their homeland. It doesn’t mean I love every decision they make as a country – which has nothing to do with my feelings for Judaism.

The house voted to condemn Trump yesterday. It amazed me how many Republicans defended his statements. Fortunately, there are enough who value the principles of our nation or partisan politics.

These, of course my opinions. You don’t have to agree with me, not at all. I am merely standing up, as a white male of European descent for the rights of all peoples under the Constitution.

So, I say to you – if indeed you are a white of European descent, “If you don’t like it, please feel free to go back to where you came from.” The country of your ancestors, not the last place you lived.

Freedom isn’t free.

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”  A quote attributed to

Edmund Burke (in a letter addressed to Thomas Mercer). That's the short version, attributed to Burke.

Robert Ullrich, July 17, 2019