Another week closer to.....

Once again, you can thank my buddy Wayne Allen Sallee for the picture that graces this entry. He finds some of the coolest pictures.

Anyway, not much new to report, I guess. I had a fun evening with a lovely young lady last Thursday. She's leaving town tomorrow and we wanted to get together and hang out before she left. It was one of the best nights out I've had in eons. She's a sweetheart and I'll miss her dearly, but Portland is beckoning her considerable talents. I wish her well.

Boy, was I tired Friday morning.

But, it was a good kind of tired. A happy kind of tired, if that makes sense. Still, I slept like a rock last night.

Now, on to fictive things. MURDER AT PK'S is in the final proofing phase and being readied to publish. The same will probably happen for the short-short story collection, LIL' FELLERS, in the near future. I've also been editing an old, old, old novel for publication as well. It's entitled PURGATORY and was written in 1987. I'm about half way through that now, too. Another poetry collection (I've been writing a lot of it for some reason lately) will come out by year's end, too. It's entitled GAS STATION ROSE. I hope to start filming THE BIG MUDDY MONSTER in late October/early November. And, if that's not being busy enough, Jim Foerster and I are going to start working on an avant garde spoken word album this fall, too. No set title for that yet, but I've been writing some experimental pieces for it. Think William S. Burrough's SPARE ASS ANNIE written by a redneck and you're in the territory of where that'll take you. Actually, what inspired the notion of a spoken word cd was William Shatner's HAS BEEN cd. I get a lot of laughs from people when I say it's one of my favorite cds from last year, but it's the truth. I highly recommend checking it out. It's all about old age and death and Shatner really does have an amazing sense of humor.

Anyway, hope everyone is fine. Sorry I haven't been posting more regularly....but I've been busy.

Take care, friends.
Roger

47

Well, Yesterday was my 47th birthday. I never thought I'd get this old, to be honest. My father died at the ripe old age of 50 and I'm a bit scared about that myself. But, I'm trying to put the past behind me. It's a tough thing for me to do. I'm old and set in my ways, and I did love my wife very, very much. I had the displeasure of being near her for a couple of hours yesterday and it made me realize just how much I didn't know the woman. It's strange. She has laid in my arms and told me she loved me. Now, it's like I'm talking to a complete stranger. Of course, I know that I'm better off without her. She brought nothing but lies and deceit into my home, and treated me like a second-class human being in that home. But, I did love the woman. There will always be a part of me that loves her, but I am trying to seal that part of my heart away and move on. She doesn't care. All I can do is remember the good times and hope a good woman presents herself to me soon. I will try to work on that in the coming months.

I have the final proof of MURDER AT PK'S circulating right at the moment. I found a few logical errors (minor ones, really....you can't write a book over the course of a year without those!), and am fixing them. Brad Moore is doing the cover.Hopefully, the book will be out there sometime in September. We'll see.

Hey, if you're on myspace, check me out (www.myspace.com/rogerdaletrexler). Some of my friends are pretty cool.

later,
Roger

Big shoulders

It's true....I have big shoulders and, a lot of the time, people want me to carry the weight for them. That's fine, I guess. That's what life is about. But, once in a while, it would be nice if someone would carry some of the burden for me. Man, it seems like everyone wants me to do this or that for them, but they don't want to return the favor. In a lot of ways, that's the reason I'm divorced. My wife wanted me to carry the burden for her, but she didn't want to return the favor. Got into a bit of a fight earlier with her. Part of me feels bad about what was said; the other part knows that what I said was true and from the heart. Basically, she wanted me to do something for her tomorrow morning and gave me notice at 9 p.m. Arrrgghhhhh! And she has the audacity to call me an idiot. Of course, I guess I must be. I agreed. It involved our children and I didn't want to let them down. She knows that about me and, boy, does she abuse it.

I guess what I'm saying here is this: it's fine to ask someone to carry the weight from time to time as long as you're willing to reciprocate the favor. Anything else is just being a turdball of a human being. And, just because someone is willing to help you in a pinch doesn't give you the right to abuse it.

Words of wisdom from your friendly author.

More later, Roger

Another new story

I should have another new short (very short) story going up online today. It's an online contest I've participated in three times before. You write a 250 word story based on the picture provided. It's always interesting and a challenge to see if you can write something coherent in 250 words. This time, I played on my own search for the perfect woman. She's out there, I know. Check out the story at www.clarityofnight.blogspot.com

The story is called "Chameleon".

I hope you enjoy it.

Roger

The Rocket's red glare

Well, here it is, the 4th of July. The year has flown by. It's been a strange year in the ever-evolving life of your humble author. Some good changes, some bad changes. But changes. Always changes. I finished typesetting MURDER AT PK'S yesterday and planned on outputting proof copies to take to the fireworks at Craig and Bert's, but the ol' laserprinter isn't agreeing with me. Gonna get out the ink jet refills and see if I can get the ink jet printer to print out a few copies. I've also started working on the text to a spoken word CD I'm planning on recording this Fall. I'll discuss the project with Jim Foerster at the fireworks tonight.

Anyway, I hope everyone has a happy and safe 4th of July. Behave, if you can. Roger

Another week?

Another weekend is half over and I simply don't know where time has gone. I've been working hard at finishing the rewrite of MURDER AT PK'S. Got about 30 pages left to go. With luck, I'll have it done by next weekend. I'll try to have the book in print sometime in August. I've been shooting around the idea of a spoken word CD and have written several experimental pieces for it already. That'll probably happen this Fall sometime. And, I swear, we'll shoot THE BIG MUDDY MONSTER this October or November. I want to trees to have changed colors and a bed of leaves on the ground. I'm also working on a short novel called THE JOURNEY. Since my return to writing in late 2004, I've had a certain change of direction in my writing. Back in the 80's, I wrote primarily dark fantasy or horror. I've been writing a melange of general "literary" fiction, science fiction and only the occasional horror piece. Funny how time can change your outlook on things, I guess.

Anyway, just wanted everyone to know I'm still alive and kicking. It's a beautiful day out and I need to get the kids outdoors. Till later, Roger

Has it really been a week already?

Has it really been a week already since my last post? Jeez, time is flying by. Not really much new to report. Life has pretty much been work, kids, sleep, eat, in a continuous cycle. I've been working very had to finish typesetting "Murder at PK's". I think I'll have it typeset by the end of the month, and the month of July will be spent proofreading and fine-tuning the text. The book will also feature a short story, "Dead Man's Mug". It's already written as well, and it's set in PK's as well. I'm considering adding another Frank Powell mystery to the mix, an as-yet unwritten tale to be called "Sequence of Events: a murder at Lost Cross". As anyone in Carbondale knows, Lost Cross is the quintessential punker after hours hangout. I've been there a few times with Brad and my buddy Rehab. I was never really a punker, but it's interesting to get out there and meet people with different values and philosophies in life. I had a conversation with one of the guys that lived at Lost Cross the last time I was there. It was a small crowd, and he was playing Black Sabbath's Technical Ecstasy album. As anyone who's seen my record collection can attest, I'm a music - well, hard rock - afficionado. It was a good conversation, even though I doubt the guy remembers it because he was so drunk. We both agreed Technical Ecstasy and Never Say Die were severely underrated Black Sabbath albums. Tony Iommi was trying to expand their musical horizons, and the public wasn't really listening.

Anyway, I just wanted to put up a new post. I have a story coming out online at www.crimeandsuspense.com Check it out when you can.

Roger