Time Passages

Have you ever noticed how quickly time can pass?

If you aren’t careful, time will fly past you faster than you can enjoy it.

So often, we become wrapped up in making our living…and forget to live while we can.

Trust me on this.

I will turn fifty-eight years old this coming November. It seems like just a couple of years ago that I was twenty-five.

But, I’ve had some interesting times!

I became a radio announcer, and worked at one of my “bucket list” radio stations in Nashville back in the mid-eighties.

As a matter of fact, I was a radio announcer off-and-on for over twenty years. And I could still go back to work at my hometown radio station now, if I wanted to. I loved it! What other job pays you to play music, make fun commercials, and be a general smart aleck on the air?

Well, now I write stories…both for your entertainment and mine…and I love it!

My point to all of this?

If you want to do something that you love, don’t wait for the “right time” to do it. It never happens. Circumstances will never be “perfect”.

Do you want to act? What’s keeping you? You can start an amateur theater company in your town! Rent a school auditorium, paint a few sets, and round up some fellow actors!

Want to work in radio? Call up your favorite announcer and ask how to do it. It’s usually easy, and small-town radio will help you build your chops.

Want to be a writer? The fastest way to do it is to sit your butt down in front of your computer, and write. Every story ever written begins with one sentence. Write it. It gets easier as you tell your story.

Do you want to fly planes? Run for public office? Run a small business?

Nothing is stopping you.

Except you.

You have to take a risk to accomplish what you want to accomplish. Without risk, there is no gain.

But…you have to want it.

Time is moving forward. Do it before it runs out.

And, most of all…

Keep reading!

T. M. Bilderback (But you can call me Michael)

Follow me on Twitter:  @mrtmbilderback

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Blow Something Up

A piece of advice that I’ve given out to other writers?

Simple: when you get stuck, blow something up.

Every author that has tackled something other than a short story has run across the same issue, usually in the middle of the book: things can draaaagggg.

What does an author do when caught in the draaagggy depths? Go back and rewrite the section that drags? Nonsense.

Blow something up.

You don’t have to literally blow something up, as in an explosion…although, those are fun to do. My Justice Security character, Joey Justice, does that with regularity, and always by accident.

No, you can blow something up lots of ways. Have a character suddenly become ill, and rush that character to the hospital. Make it life-threatening, and you can have all sorts of flashbacks and soul-searching by friends and family members.

Put your characters into a car and cause a crash. Was it deliberate? Was it truly an accident? Or was someone trying to stop the characters from discovering the truth about something?

In a romance novel, you can suddenly have someone from a character’s past show up…preferably with leftover feelings that can cause a love triangle.

Blowing something up means introducing something suddenly and without warning. It can get any author…or reader…through the draaagggyyy middle parts of a story by introducing something that helps keep things interesting.

Authors, believe me: if YOU are bored with the middle parts, so are the readers. Your job, as a writer and entertainer, is to keep things interesting, fun, and move the story along.

Wait…what? Entertainer?

T. M., have you lost your mind?

Nope. That’s what every author actually is. An entertainer.

We entertain our audiences. We say we write for ourselves, or for money, or for literary recognition. And those reasons are great.

But, our real purpose is to entertain. We write to entertain our readers.

And if the entertainment becomes draaagggyyy, it is our responsibility to make it entertaining again.

So, blow something up. Help your readers…

Keep reading!

T. M. Bilderback (But you can call me Michael)

Follow me on Twitter:  @mrtmbilderback

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Falling Darkness?

I hope you’ve enjoyed the third entry in the series Tales Of Sardis County. I had fun writing The Devil’s In The Details.

What? You haven’t read it yet? Are you serious?

Then stop, find, and read. Or listen, since it’s also an audiobook available from Audible. I think you’ll have a blast!

Coming up on March 31^st is the release of Heart Of Glass, the sequel to The Lion Sleeps Tonight and featuring another adventure from the quite colorful Colonel Quentin James Abernathy (ret.). This time, the Colonel relates the story of the World War II love of his life, and ties in with the Library Of Alexandria. It’s available for pre-order now, so if you want to be sure to have it on the release date, please set up your order now! And, again, there will be an audiobook timed to release close to the eBook release date, performed again by Phillip J. Mather.

Another pre-order has been set up for the story Eli’s Coming. It’s set for release on May 31^st. I urge you to get your pre-order in now!

Coming this year, also, is the July 31^st release of Hell’s Bells – A Justice Security Novel. This is the story that has been three years in the making, and the one that finally pulls Nicholas Turner into the Justice Security world…and, where Nicholas goes, so goes Madeline.

One of the biggest rules I’ve had for myself in any series that I write is this: No character is safe! Any character, at any time, could be maimed or otherwise injured to the point of no return…or killed. Any character could be pulled into the darkness.

In Hell’s Bells, darkness falls, and it falls hard.

At least one major character departs the Nicholas Turner/Justice Security world in this novel…possibly more than one.

I’ll let that sink in for a minute.

Now, think about all the characters in the fictional city that is called home by Nicholas Turner and Justice Security. At least one major character gives all, and goes into the darkness in this story.

The Justice Security stories have gotten darker with each entry. They have been leading up to a finish that no one expects. This is the beginning of it.

While there may be a couple of side trips along the way, the next few Justice Security stories will march Joey Justice and the gang (whoever the gang may be) right along to the big finish. It’s several stories into the future, and may take a bit of time to get there, but it’s coming.

Now, for news in the Tales Of Sardis County world, I’m hoping to have completed I’m Your Boogie Man – A Tale Of Sardis County in time for a September 30^th release. Keep your fingers crossed.

Sardis County will also become a bit more entwined into the world of Justice Security, too…just a heads-up for you on that.

Lots of things coming up in the T. M. Bilderback universe for you, friend Reader…as long as you…

Keep reading!

T. M. Bilderback (But you can call me Michael)

Follow me on Twitter:  @mrtmbilderback

Check me out on Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/TMBilderback

And sign up for my newsletter: https://tinyletter.com/tmbilderback

Get 'Em Before They're Gone!

I hope your Christmas/Hanukah/other holiday went well, and that you had peace, goodwill, and pleasure during the period.

Now, New Year’s Day is coming…and I wish us all the best for 2017!

I give you this as a heads-up:  With the new year, I’ll be withdrawing from publication three collection titles. They are:

1           The Best Of Justice Security Volume 1 – A Three-In-One Omnibus

2           The Best Of Justice Security Volume 2 – The Four Short Stories

3         The Justice Security Anthology – The First Seven Stories

These three collections basically contain the same stories in each volume. They offer a discounted price for a collection of stories…but, alas, they don’t sell very well. So, it’s time to pull the plug!

Now, if you’ve been putting off buying any of these collections, now would be the time to get them. Come January 1^st, 2017, they’re pulled from publication.

I hate to pull the three titles, but they’re all covered in the still-available The Justice Security Collection, and the Kobo version includes a bonus: If You Could Read My Mind – A Nicholas Turner Novel.

I hope you enjoy the stories, and, again, I wish us all the best in 2017! Mostly, I hope that you…

Keep reading!

T. M. Bilderback (But you can call me Michael)

Follow me on Twitter:  @mrtmbilderback

Check me out on Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/TMBilderback

It's Holiday Time!

Christmas is rapidly approaching.

With all of the bad things that have been happening around the nation and the world, I pray that this season brings peace to all.

In my household, this Christmas Day Sunday will see us hosting my dad, our children, and our grandchildren. We’ll have a good meal, we’ll all open gifts, and we’ll all enjoy being together. We will miss those that are no longer with us. Perhaps we’ll feel a bit melancholy. Perhaps we’ll even that out with a good batch of happiness that comes from all of us being together.

And, as we say goodbye to 2016, we look forward to 2017 with hope, and an eagerness for things to come.

During 2017, I plan to publish many of the stories that I’ve been working on for the last year and a half.

These are the stories that are for sure coming to you in 2017:

The Devil’s In The Details – A Tale Of Sardis County is a short story that takes place in Sardis County. A literary agent agrees to examine and sign off on a contract…but the details are killers!

Eli’s Coming – A Short Story deals with a young couple, and a mysterious killer that steals the life force from the hearts of his victims.

Heart Of Glass – A Short Story is the second story featuring another adventure with Colonel Quentin James Abernathy. This adventure takes place during World War II, and Colonel Abernathy is stationed in North Africa. He meets the love of his life, and finds out what really happened to the Library of Alexandria.

Escape – A Codename: Chandler/Justice Security Novel features a team-up between Justice Security and characters from the Codename: Chandler series.

Hell’s Bells – A Justice Security/Nicholas Turner Novel brings back Nicholas Turner and his daughter, Madeline. When a group kidnaps a school bus full of children, they demand Joey Justice in exchange, so that they can collect the bounty on his head. If Joey doesn’t give himself up, the children will die. It takes Nicholas Turner, an expert in children’s cases, to help solve this one, along with some special assistance from Madeline…and her special powers.

I’m Your Boogie Man – A Tale Of Sardis County brings newcomers to Sardis County, just as Sheriff Billy Napier and Deputy Alan Blake are trying to stop a killer that’s been called the Sardis Slasher.

So, those are the definite releases for 2017. It’s been a long wait for you, faithful fans, but I hope that you think it was worth it. I’ve had a blast getting these stories ready…I hope that you have as much fun reading them!

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, Happy Kwanzaa, or Happy Holidays…I hope your holiday time is special this year.

And, as always, I hope that you…

Keep reading!

T. M. Bilderback (But you can call me Michael)

Follow me on Twitter:  @mrtmbilderback

Check me out on Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/TMBilderback