Thursday, December 25, 2014

I Want A Red Ryder Carbine Action Two-hundred Shot Range Model Air Rifle



The last movie for this holiday season is Christmas Story.  Mmmmmm! 24 hours non-stop on Christmas day.  Channel TNT.

When the movie first came out, everyone jumped on the tag lines.

“You’ll shoot your eye out.”

“Oooooh, fudge!” (Only I didn’t say “fudge.” I said THE word, the big one, the queen-mother of dirty words, the "F-dash-dash-dash" word!

“Ho, ho, ho!” (You must say it with the same emphasis as the Bad Santa does. See clip below.)

“He looks like a deranged Easter Bunny.” (Ralphie wearing the Aunt Clara’s bunny suit gift.)

“Over the years I got to be quite a connoisseur of soap. My personal preference was for Lux, but I found Palmolive had a nice, piquant after-dinner flavor - heady, but with just a touch of mellow smoothness.” (Ralphie getting his mouth washed out with soap after saying the “fudge” word.

For your enjoyment, here is the Evil Santa scene from You Tube.



And Merry Christmas to all!

Ron D. Voigts is the author of dark mysteries and the Penelope Mystery Series.  His novel Strigoi, The Blood Bond is available on Kindle, and for the holidays check out Penelope and The Christmas Spirit.

Saturday, December 20, 2014

Kevin Will Come Out and Play

The count down to Christmas continues. Today is wrapping day.  My wife applies the paper and bags them. I'm the bow and tag man. This is my favorite part of Christmas.  NOT! Hours and hours we labor.  Long into the night. Bleary eyed we retire hoping something did not get missed, mis-tagged, and everyone is covered.  Then in a blink on the morning of Dec 25, the paper comes off and the gifts are revealed. Poof! Days of work gone in a heart beat.

For the Holidays, Strigoi, The Blood Bond is on a Kindle Countdown Deal.  Stop by and check it out.

I offer yet another movie--Home Alone.  I found this trailer for the movie with a new spin on the old flick.  Happy watching!





Ron D. Voigts is the author of dark mysteries and the Penelope Mystery Series.  His novel Strigoi, The Blood Bond is available on Kindle, and for the holidays check out Penelope and The Christmas Spirit.

Saturday, December 13, 2014

What a splendid idea! This Christmas sounds like fun. I fully endorse it.

My third offering of a a movie for the holiday season is Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas.  It's a delightful tale of Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King, a skeleton character dressed in a black pin striped suit.  His love interest is Sally, a rag doll who frequently falls apart and must sow herself back together. Her creator is Dr. Finkelstein, a mad scientist with a hinged skull that can open to reveal his brain.

Yeah, your saying (unless you've seen the movie) so what does this all have to do with Christmas?  Well Jack and the other characters of Halloween Town decide to invade Christmas Town, kidnap Santa Claus  and make Christmas their own. Jack drives Santa's sleigh with his dog Zero, whose nose glows, leading the reindeer. Shades of Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer! Of course, the grass is always greener in someone else's holiday as Jack soon learns.

Danny Elfman did the music score; of course Elfman's music credits include myriad of movies and TV shows, including Edward Scissorhands, Charlie Brown and the Chocolate Factory, American Hustle and Frankenweenie.

The concept for Nightmare came to Burton while still working for Walt Disney Animation Studios. Here is the poem on YouTube.


So, Happy Halloween, er, Merry Christmas, I mean.

Ron D. Voigts is the author of dark mysteries and the Penelope Mystery Series.  His novel Strigoi, The Blood Bond is available on Kindle, and for the holidays check out Penelope and The Christmas Spirit.


Saturday, December 6, 2014

Do you honestly think I'd check thousands of tiny little lights if I wasn't sure the extension cord was plugged in?

In my family if you took a vote for favorite Christmas movie, the tally would be unanimous.  Without a doubt it would be National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.  At least once during the season we all gather around the TV, pop the DVD in the player, and watch the familiar scenes of a man and his family trying to have a traditional family Christmas.

The fascination here is identifying with the scenes and the characters. Who has not had Christmas lights go out or fail to light?  Annoying family over for the holidays? Disappointing gifts? Disastrous turkey dinners? The quest for the perfect tree?

Some have said the movie was Chevy Chase's greatest comedic role, playing Clark Griswold, a man struggling for a merry Christmas. Here is a cut from YouTube of the tree lighting. The first attempt was a disaster as family looked on at the failure of 25,000 lights to burn.  Only his wife, Ellen, remains behind to offer advice and understanding.


Hope your holiday is as bright!

Ron D. Voigts is the author of dark mysteries and the Penelope Mystery Series.  His novel Strigoi, The Blood Bond is available on Kindle, and for the holidays check out Penelope and The Christmas Spirit.

Friday, November 28, 2014

I don't mind you hitting me, Frank, but take it easy on the Bacardi.



For me Christmas begins with Black Friday, though the real reason is the day after Thanksgiving. My daughter doesn’t want to think of Christmas until December 1st arrives, and for many retailers and advertisers, it begins right after Halloween when the jack-o-lanterns are tossed into the garbage, haunted houses close, and black cats become family pets again, not harbingers of evil.  O, Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum, how green are your leaves.Traditions kick in. Decorations go up. Carolers sing and revelers revel.  

One of my little things is to deck the halls, er I mean the house, and decorate the tree while playing Scrooge movies on the DVD player. I have a collection and have enjoyed many more when they show up on the cable roundup.  A Christmas Carol starring Patrick Stewart, George C. Scott, Jim Carrey, Reginald Owen, and Kelsey Grammar. Scrooge  with Alistair Sim, Albert Finney, Seymor Hicks, H. V. Esmond, Warren Graves, and Bransby Williams. And perhaps one of the more unusual twists is Scrooged with Bill Murray, playing the part of Frank Cross, a modern day Scrooge.

One my favorite scenes is when Frank’s old boss, Lew Hayward, arrives as the equivalent Jacob Marley to tell Frank he will be visited three ghosts. Of course, Frank (Scrooge) doesn’t want to hear it.  Well, here is cut from YouTube, via MovieClips.com.



I got more tree trimming to do so gotta run.  “Bah, humbug!” and “God bless us one and all.”


Ron D. Voigts is the author of dark mysteries and the Penelope Mystery Series.  His novel Strigoi, The Blood Bond is available on Kindle, and for the holidays check out Penelope and The Christmas Spirit.

Sunday, November 16, 2014

Here we go again

When my book Penelope and The Movie Star came out, I jumped on the KDP Select bandwagon. Everyone raved how important it was to marketing books on Amazon. The big attraction was free days.  From the stories back then getting the book out there for na-da would boost sales and long after the giveaway was over, sales would continue.  Well, The Movie Star was downloaded by the thousands.  I saw the ratings for it soar and my heart jumped at the thought that this would sky rocket the book.  That never happened. And I vowed never again.

Fast forward a few years.  I decided to give it a shot again. First, KDP Select now offers a "Count Down Deals" offering the book at a discount for a limited time.  Second, downloading free books on Amazon Prime is more accepted and Kindle Unlimited is also available.  So this offers more chances to get Strigoi, The Blood Bond in reader's hands.

* * * * * 

My next book is in the final content edit stage.  I'll send it back to my editor this week and then it's off to the Line Editor, who corrects grammar, spelling and that stuff.  I'm also hoping the cover design is coming along.  That should be coming back soon.  On a personal note, my experience with the new publisher is much better than my last foray. So far we are on target for The Witch's Daughter release in the Spring of  2015.

* * * * *

I started work on the next book in the series. This one has a working title of The Fortune Teller's Secret.  A murder takes place a a carnival that has come to town.  Cavendish (the town news paper editor), Jane (the psychic) and Alex (Goth girl) pit their wits against a killer who has taken two lives and may take more.  

* * * * * 

A final quote from Edgar Allan Poe.

"Deep int that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before."

Happy dreams!  Adieu.


Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Three Movies to Scare You Silly

One type of horror movie that I enjoy is the classic religion vs. the devil.  The premise is some malevolent force, traceable back to the devil, is out to doom mankind or  single person or somewhere in between.  The classic is of course The Exorcist with the demonic possession of a 12 year old girl and the attempts by two priests to rid her of the evil by exorcism. In 1973 this was a scary film that frightened people with the idea that the devil could be lurking anywhere.  I had a cousin back then, in his twenties, who slept with the lights on for a month after seeing it.


The Exorcist (YouTube)

My all time favorite is Stigmata with Patricia Arquette (of the TV series Medium) as Frankie, a young woman who finds herself possessed with the wounds experienced by Christ while on the cross. Hands bleeding as if pierced, feet bleeding, thorn marks on herhead, lashes to her back and her side pierced are signs of the Stigmata, and Frankie manifests them during the movie, one by one.  Enter into the picture a priest whose faith has faltered, trying to help her.

Stigmata (YouTube)

The most recent movie I've come across is Deliver Us From Evil.  Three soldiers bring back a demonic presence that goes up against a beat detective whose faith has waned and a priest who offers a fresh look at religion.  This movie is dark with chilling effects.  



Deliver Us From Evil (YouTube)

There you have my picks for scary movies with religious overtones. Do you have a favorite?

Ron D. Voigts is the author of paranormal mystery-thriller Strigoi The Blood Bond and coming March 2015, The Witch's Daughter.

Friday, October 3, 2014

Strigoi, The Blood Bond...Blog Tour


October 13 -- Sister Sinister Speaks

October 13 -- SBM Book Obsession

October 14 -- Sapphyria's Book Reviews 

October 14 -- The Word at My Fingertips

October 15 -- Mythical Books

October 15 -- Book Purses & Reviews

October 16 -- Fang-tastic Books

October 16 -- Deal Sharing Aunt

October 17 -- Roxanne’s Realm

October 17 -- fuonlyknew

October 20 -- Pembroke Sinclair  

October 21 -- My Book Fairy

October 21 -- 3 Partners in Shopping, Nana, Mommy, & Sissy, Too!   http://3partnersinshopping.blogspot.com

October 22 -- Vailia's Page Turner

October 23 -- Kim Mullican

October 23 -- Paranormal Romance and Authors That Rock

October 24 -- Reading Addict 

October 27 -- Kristy Centeno

October 27 -- Tanyas Book Nook 
http://tanyasbooknook.blogspot.com

An Amazon gift card will be given away, 
so stop by and put in an entry.