Monday, September 28, 2015

A Tale From The Dark Side

In light of the recent lunar eclipse that occurred last night, I have a story from a few years ago. Back around 1979. A total solar eclipse.

I’ve always been a little stubborn. I was in sixth grade at the time and during the days leading up to the eclipse, we were all instructed to NOT watch the eclipse; to NOT even look toward the sun. Our eyes would be permanently damaged, they said. Instead, we were told, we would make little shadow boxes so we could experience the eclipse safely. The idea was we would watch the effect of the eclipse as the shadow moved across our boxes. Everyone in my class was told we had to make a box.

Well first, I didn’t know of anyone who could look directly at the sun, it was too bright. I didn’t need anyone to tell me that. Most of us had tried long before this and discovered we involuntarily looked away. Second, and more to the point of me being stubborn, this eclipse was a rare event. There was no way I was going to miss it by watching a shadow displayed inside a box.

Since I didn’t plan on using a box, I saw no point in making one, so I didn’t. My teacher informed me that if I did not make a box I would get and “F.” But since the “F” was only for that assignment, I decided it was worth it. The day of the eclipse came and as I had so stubbornly informed everyone, I had not made a box.

But apparently, I wasn’t the only one who wanted to watch the real thing. Most all of the students in my class were excited and forgot about their little box. When the eclipse started, we all were watching the sun. Yet, not a single one of us went blind.

I think most people know how to shade their eyes with their hand, it’s another almost involuntary action. It allows you to see what’s going on without being blinded. We all practiced this technique that my teacher had evidently never heard of, and then the strangest thing happened, it got dark! Not completely dark but enough so we didn’t need to shade our eyes—because the sun was gone! Not really that dangerous after all!

I did get my “F.” But I also proved my point—that I didn’t need a box. My eyes were just fine afterwards! Although... Lately, I’m noticing things are getting harder to see. The print on virtually everything is so small these days! Maybe it’s just normal aging or... Maybe I should have made a box! ~


Bruce A. Borders is the author of more than a dozen books, including: Inside Room 913, Over My Dead Body, The Journey, Miscarriage Of Justice, and The Wynn Garrett Series. Available in ebook and paperback on iTunes, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and Smashwords, or at www.bruceabordersbooks.weebly.com. Amazon Profile - http://www.amazon.com/Bruce-A.-Borders/e/B006SOLWQS. Bruce A. Borders is a proud member of Rave Reviews Book Club.

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Monday, September 21, 2015

As If I Have Nothing To Do

A few months ago, I wrote a post (read here) about being a sculptor. Specifically, how as  a kid I’d tried my hand at the art of sculpting without much luck but then in later years while working as dental technician, I realized I was sculpting teeth. After that enlightening discovery, I started making all sorts of things: little guns and holsters, cars, candles, birds, or anything else I could think of.

Recently, while sorting through my vast amounts of junk—er, collectibles—I discovered­ some of the “art” I’d made. Yes, I saved most of it, as I do with nearly everything. I dug through the box, remembering how fun it was to create this almost meaningless stuff. I say almost meaningless, because although it serves no purpose, it’s kind of nice to have and look at once in a while. (My wife would probably not agree).

But after I quit working at the dental lab, the creation of my pieces of art stopped. Not having an entire lab full of equipment and supplies at my disposal rather hampered my creativity. This no doubt made my wife happy but I missed making my little treasures.

Then, a couple of weeks ago, I had an occasion to need a few items that we had in the dental lab. So, I ordered some supplies and basic equipment. I now can create little trinkets again! (My wife will be so thrilled to read this). I’m not sure what I will make first. Or, when I’ll have the time. Or, what I’ll do with what I make. I guess I could sell it but that doesn’t really fit with my habit of keeping everything. Although... it would be one way to recoup some of my loss. But no, I’ll probably keep it all.

With the cost of the supplies and equipment, some (my wife) would say this could be an expensive hobby. But I look at it more as an investment. Should I, in the future, ever need dentures, I can make them myself! Considering the cost of a dentist visit these days, I think the cost of my hobby just went way down! ~

Bruce A. Borders is the author of more than a dozen books, including: Inside Room 913, Over My Dead Body, The Journey, Miscarriage Of Justice, and The Wynn Garrett Series. Available in ebook and paperback on iTunes, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and Smashwords, or at www.bruceabordersbooks.weebly.com. Amazon Profile - http://www.amazon.com/Bruce-A.-Borders/e/B006SOLWQS. Bruce A. Borders is a proud member of Rave Reviews Book Club.


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Monday, September 14, 2015

Cantonese Adventure

So apparently, guys are not supposed to take young kids to a restaurant by themselves. At least that’s what I hear. I’m not sure if they aren’t allowed to or if people just think they shouldn’t. Either way, I guess I went and broke the rule.

I found this out last Saturday. My wife and daughter went shopping and I kept the one-year-old grandkid. I thought it would be a good time to enjoy a nice dinner at my favorite Chinese restaurant. Yes, the grandkid likes Chinese food. And he knows how to eat by himself, with utensils, so it wasn’t a big deal. Or so, I thought.

We got a lot of strange looks from staff and other customers the minute we walked in. The hostess, who wanted to seat us at a large table, kept asking if the rest of our party would be coming soon. When I finally got through to her that were alone, she gave me a strange look but seated us at a table for two. Even the waitress appeared concerned, asking if I needed her to help me feed the kid. I guess that was a nice offer but, uh, no. I’m quite capable of managing on my own.

But, apparently people just don’t expect guys to take young kids to a restaurant. I think what they expect is guys to be incompetent, or intimidated, or something. Well, maybe some guys are. I am not. That doesn’t make me special. Taking care of a one-year-old is not exactly hard. And doing it successfully shouldn’t give anyone bragging rights. It should be just normal. When my own kids were little, I took them anywhere and everywhere I went. Seems only natural. Especially since the alternative would be to leave them home alone. Pretty sure that would cause more problems than whatever catastrophe everyone is waiting for.

Eventually, everybody at the restaurant got used to the idea that we were there alone. But the waitress, still obviously worried about me, came by and in her heavy Chinese accent asked, “Are you okay?” I nodded and she went on her way. But in a couple of minutes she came back by. It was then that the grandkid, who is into mimicking everything he hears people say, looked at her and, in the same foreign accent, said, “Are you okay?”

She laughed, as did everyone within earshot. “He say that like me,” the waitress said, smiling proudly.

We finished our meal, packaged up the leftovers, and went to pay the bill—all the while the grandkid is listening intently to the workers talk, trying to copy them. And doing a pretty good job if the audience response was any indication! His audience being the entire restaurant!

All in all, we had a good time, ate some good food, and... nothing terrible happened. But apparently, according to the wisdom of the general public, guys are still not supposed to take young kids to a restaurant. And they may be right. After we got home, I had only an hour or two to get rid of the Chinese accent the grandkid had acquired—before his mother came back! ~


Bruce A. Borders is the author of more than a dozen books, including: Inside Room 913, Over My Dead Body, The Journey, Miscarriage Of Justice, and The Wynn Garrett Series. Available in ebook and paperback on iTunes, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and Smashwords, or at www.bruceabordersbooks.weebly.com. Amazon Profile - http://www.amazon.com/Bruce-A.-Borders/e/B006SOLWQS. Bruce A. Borders is a proud member of Rave Reviews Book Club.

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Tuesday, September 8, 2015

Back-To-School Book & Blog Party



Rave Reviews Book Club

BACK-TO-SCHOOL BOOK & BLOG BLOCK PARTY!


Welcome to Rave Reviews Book Club’s
BACK-TO-SCHOOL BOOK & BLOG BLOCK PARTY
at Bruce A. Borders on Blogger!
Location: Oregon, USA

Here’s What I’m Giving Away Today:

*One (1) Ebook Copy of Inside Room 913
*One (1) Ebook Copy of Miscarriage of Justice
*One (1) Ebook Copy of Over My Dead Body 

# of Winners for this stop: 3

WINNERS: Elizabeth Newton, Brian O’Hare, Richie Gerber

During the month of September, Rave Reviews Book Club is hosting one of the largest collective blog tours in the history of blog tours! Authors are promoting their own books on their blogs and visitors to these blogs can win prizes. (See the list of Grand Prizes). To enter just leave a comment below. Each time a visitor leaves a comment on a blog stop, their name will be entered into the drawings for our Grand Prizes at the end of the tour. Each time a visitor leaves a comment on a blog stop, their name will be entered into the drawings for DAILY PRIZES at each stop. Comments will be collected at each blog stop by 12 midnight, CST (at the close of each day) and winners will be announced the very next day! Winners of the GRAND PRIZES will be announced at the close of the tour.

I’m happy to be participating in the Rave Reviews Book Club BACK-TO-SCHOOL BOOK & BLOG BLOCK PARTY and I’m very excited to have the opportunity to profile some of my books. Although I branch out to other genres and styles from time to time, I tend to write mystery/crime/suspense novels, usually with a theme of some sort of injustice that has occurred. I love to write so the list of books is constantly growing!
My Books:
Available as ebook and paperback. Links are to Amazon but most books also available on Barnes & Noble, Kobo, iTunes, Smashwords, and more.

by Bruce A. Borders



When eighteen-year-old Cynthia Holt takes a job at a former sanitarium, now operating as an assisted living center, she discovers there is something more occurring than providing the elderly with housing and care. Something very strange is going on behind the locked door of Room 913. After she is warned to stay away from the room and to not discuss it or the occupant with her co-workers, she is even more intrigued. And suspicious. Letting her curious nature guide her, she immediately begins asking questions. When she finds that Room 913 has been closed off; locked and sealed for many years, her curiosity turns to concern. Though rumors abound, no one seems inclined to talk about it. Not giving up so easily, Cynthia persists in her inquisitive pursuit until she finds out the truth - or does she?


by Bruce A. Borders




The justice system is just a system, not a just system.

Sentenced to fifteen years in prison for a crime he didn't commit, Ethan Rafferty has one thing on his mind—payback! With his time up, the ex-con is free to pursue his mission of revenge. The District Attorney, Mariana Clark, who, during the trial suppressed evidence that would've exonerated him, is the focus of his vengeance. Intent on making her life miserable, Ethan employs a variety of tactics to antagonize and torment the woman. Unable to retaliate through the courts, considering her role in the previous trial, Mariana decides to fight fire with fire. Soon, their feud escalates to a point where neither imagined it would go.

Which one will prevail, Ethan or Mariana? Who will win? Can either? Or, are both of them bound to a destiny produced by a Miscarriage of Justice?


by Bruce A. Borders



What would you do if Child Protective Services showed up on your doorstep with an army of Sheriff’s deputies and tried to remove your three-year-old from your home? Knowing there's no justification for their action and the court documents they presented are fabricated, would you stand by or fight to protect your child?


Over My Dead Body  explores the deadly reaction and consequences when a protective father, Jeff Blake, tries to prevent the state from  taking his daughter. The director of Child Protective Services uses his position to exact a personal vendetta in removing three-year-old Ashley from the Blake’s home.

The situation quickly becomes violent as Jeff resorts to the only response he feels he has. By the end of the short encounter, three people are dead. Ironically, Ashley is still taken, so the tragic fiasco gained nothing.

Matters are further complicated when Amy, the wife and mother, winds up in a mental ward due to the trauma she witnessed in her home. Jeff and Amy’s daughter is placed in temporary foster care, while the family’s attorneys attempt to salvage what they can and re-unite the family. The police, as well as the Courts, understandably, are not too concerned with the needs of the family and it seems the entire justice system is against them.

Complete with many twists of fate, the story looks at the common problems of a typical family caught between love and the law.


by Bruce A. Borders


When a teenage boy, who thinks he knows it all, leaves home in search of a better life, he finds out the hard way what everyone must learn—growing up isn’t an easy thing to do.

Leaving home at fifteen, Kyle Davis’ path to adulthood takes him on an eventful ride, and at times a dangerous one. His firsthand experiences with the cruel realities of a callous world drive home the point that he has a lot to learn and a long ways to go.

Unwilling to admit his mistakes, he flounders a while before finally accepting life for what it is—hard work. It takes considerably more time for him to reach the point of going home and apologizing. That’s when he discovers the world didn’t stop to wait for him. Home isn’t quite the way he remembers it, and he sees how drastically things can change.

Still, certain things remain the same; principles and values are a constant. It isn’t a persons age, location or where they are in life that determines when they’ve become an adult. Kyle realizes The Journey is more than merely miles traveled. The road to maturity, whether literal or figurative, takes a person only as fast as they are willing to go. Yet, at some point, everyone has to make The Journey.


by Brenda Borders, Bruce A. Borders



All cats can be a little strange! Some might even be crazy! But it takes a smart cat to pull off some of the things this lovable cat named Stupid does! Follow his adventures, told in his own words. (Based on the life of a real cat, who thanks to his head-shaking behavior, earned the nickname of Stupid).


by Bruce A. Borders

  
  
  WARNING: These books contain language that some may consider offensive. This language, along with multiple acts of violence, is directed toward Islamic radicals. If you are sympathetic to the terrorists cause, sensitive to criticism of radical Islam, or are easily offended by such content - DO NOT READ.

The Not-So-Politically-Correct Books on Fighting Terrorism.

Cruelly honest and unabashedly patriotic, slightly offensive but extremely effective, Wynn Garrett is America’s answer to the problem of domestic terrorism. When the Department of Homeland Security, assigns him the job of eliminating the terrorist threat by any means necessary, they expect him to follow a few reasonable guidelines. He turns out to be anything but reasonable.

A proud American, Wynn Garrett is determined America emerge victorious, and employs questionable tactics in his personal war on terrorism—much to the consternation of his superiors in Washington. They constantly attempt to curb his reckless behavior, but to no avail.


And coming soon...

The Lana Denae Mystery Series
by Bruce A. Borders
Dead Broke, the first title in this series, is scheduled to be published by the end of 2015.

Visit my Amazon Profile Page for more information on these and my other books. Or see my website www.BruceABordersbooks.com.

Thank you for stopping by! Leave a comment below to be entered in the contest to win valuable prizes. Brought to you by Rave Reviews BookClub. See our website for Official Rules.


Please visit Rave Reviews BookClub for more chances to enter.


Monday, September 7, 2015

The Skeleton In My Closet

After two weeks of writing about my present day activities, I think it’s time I dredge up some story from the past. Wait, that makes it sound like I’m digging up dirt on myself, which I’m definitely NOT going to do. Not that I don’t have such stories. I do. Plenty. I’m just not going to write about them!

Okay, now that that’s settled, where was I? Oh yeah, the skeleton that I once kept in my closet. And sorry to disappoint anyone but that word, skeleton, isn’t a metaphoric representation of some big bad secret. I had actual bones, a full set. And no, it wasn’t a lab model. It was a real live skeleton! Okay, probably not “live.” I’m sure the creature that once used the bones was quite dead.

As you probably guessed, the skeleton wasn’t of the human variety. I’m not sure what is was—a small animal of some sort—but definitely not human. (I’m not really a psycho). Whatever it was, I found it while “exploring” outside one day and brought it into the house—for safe-keeping, I suppose. I know I said it wasn’t a big bad secret but I did try to keep it hidden—mainly from my mother. Had she discovered the skeleton, I think she would have quickly disposed of it. So, I kept it out of sight.

Back then, our family used to take long road trips, and usually, we didn’t stop for a motel, we just kept driving. (No surprise I’m now a truck driver). My dad, in order to stay awake, would listen to talk shows on the radio. In those days there were only two: Larry King and the Night Caps. Since I’ve always had an aversion to sleeping, I was usually awake and listening too.

I’m not sure which of the shows it was and I have no idea now what they were discussing but I remember the guy on the radio saying, “Everybody’s got a skeleton or two in their closet.”

Everybody? So why was I trying to hide mine? Oh yeah, my Mother! Then, I started wondering why I’d never seen any skeletons in anyone else’s closet. You got to remember I was pretty young at the time and had never heard that particular phrase before.

Well, after that, I decided to get rid of the skeleton. Didn’t want to be like everybody else! But being a kid, by the time we got home, I’d forgotten all about it. Didn’t think of it again until we moved a couple of years later. As I was packing, my dad came into my room and seeing the skeleton, asked what I was doing with it.

By this time, I was a little more familiar with the English language, idioms in particular. I said to my dad, “Doesn’t everybody have a skeleton in their closet?”

He laughed but said I still needed to get rid of it, which I did—I stashed it in a partially hidden cubby hole in the closet. Yeah, the same closet, in the house we were moving out of. Hey, someone new was going to move in and to paraphrase an old saying, “Everyone needs a skeleton in their closet!” ~

Bruce A. Borders is the author of more than a dozen books, including: Inside Room 913, Over My Dead Body, The Journey, Miscarriage Of Justice, and The Wynn Garrett Series. Available in ebook and paperback on iTunes, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and Smashwords, or at www.bruceabordersbooks.weebly.com. Amazon Profile - http://www.amazon.com/Bruce-A.-Borders/e/B006SOLWQS. Bruce A. Borders is a proud member of Rave Reviews Book Club.


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