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Carlos Hazday

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Everything posted by Carlos Hazday

  1. Do you smoke? Get a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. Crave chocolate? Find a bag of M&Ms. Enjoy wine? Open a new bottle. Wineglass optional. Make yourself comfortable and get ready to lose yourself in a great story. You may want to use the restroom before you start; putting this book down will be difficult. Take a bucolic setting, toss in an acerbic police chief, a troubled rich boy, and a handsome newcomer. Add assorted small-town denizens, mix well, and voila! "Paying the Piper" is a delicious crime drama cooked just tight. Ms. Drew has concocted a tale full of cliches that happen to work well together. The cheating wife, the town gossip, the bumbling nerd, and the hard-drinking bar owner are but a few of those stereotypes. A fast-paced thriller with just the right amount of humor provided primarily by the delightful Quent. For those seeking a deeper meaning, the effects of self-denial, misplaced guilt, and dysfunctional families will give you plenty to ponder. It's rare for me to award five stars to a story but I didn't hesitate in this case. One of the most enjoyable offerings on GA.
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  2. Carlos Hazday

    Chapter 27

    Jim. And his unusual garage. And his hobby.
  3. Carlos Hazday

    Chapter 17

    I'm breaking my promise not to comment on specific chapters while binge reading. I'm still hoping Elizabeth is the killer giving stupid Cale an out. Bitch should die.
  4. CJ and Owen returned to Washington exhausted from the trip. The previous week’s events left them drained but too emotional to fall asleep on the plane. The following morning, CJ woke up much later than usual, climbed upstairs in search of coffee, and discovered he and Owen were alone in the house. He sipped from the heavy ceramic mug while staring at the backyard through the kitchen window; he tried to figure out what to do. The contemplative mood ended when he reached a decision. Calling Br
  5. @Defiance19 That was a fun chapter to write. I do love sharing details on places I've been to or want to go to (yep, some of it has been based on reading in hopes of visiting). As for Liz, we'll find out what's going on in the next chapter. CJ does have a unique personality doesn't he? There's some of me in him for sure. But the longer I write him, the more he ventures out on his own. I've ended up writing a couple of things that surprised me. Sorry, it's the voices again. I'm out of wine so I think I need a stronger beverage. Look for Owen's comments on that Parducci wine in the next book
  6. Add UCLA, Miami, and Arizona to the losers bracket. I don't have a horse in this race any longer. I'll root for Duke hoping an ACC team will make the Final Four.
  7. Based on the article, the problem was she created a world where groups of people resembled stereotypes of cultural groups. Not every story has to carry a diverse cast, It depends on the place and time it's set in. Some of us may on purpose use multi-ethnic or multi-cultural approach on purpose. For me, it come out of being a member of several minorities and growing up in that type of an environment. My high school was an almost perfect split: 1/3 white, 1/3 black, 1/3 Hispanic (mostly Caucasian) I try to write about what I know as much as possible.
  8. Carlos Hazday

    Chapter 1

    You better be planning lots of pain for the psycho bitch and her gutless husband.
  9. @Mikiesboy I won't call an author a worthless piece of trash but I also don't believe in discussing what's wrong with a story only in Private Messages. When I write a review I want it to be honest and maybe save someone from having to read a dreadful piece of drek. @Parker Owens Based on how you've reacted when I've been less than happy with something you wrote, I'd say you have the right approach. @BlindAmbition Political correctness has it's time and place but you're right about it being taken too far at times. I'm a believer in tough love. Sometimes you just have to slap someone down hard and if it happens I'm not afraid to do it in public. Being nice all the time is boring LOL Without offering an opinion on the lady's work, I was impressed she took the comments to heart and asked to postpone publishing so she could do re-writes. And since someone asked about this entry's title, it's a riff on the "Oscars so White" hashtag used for the Academy Awards.
  10. Fascinating article about an author rewriting her first book after a barrage of negative Tweets. The over-the-top reactions by some of her fans don't surprise me. An idiot on GA lambasted me when I had the chutzpah to call out an author he liked. He claimed she was trying. Well, if she was trying then she would have appreciated my telling her what she wrote was crap. She did. And she earned my respect by acknowledging she didn't have any knowledge of what she was writing about and asking for help. I'm a firm believer in honesty when reviewing. There are a handful of GA authors I don't bother with because they seem to whine whenever anyone says anything about their work that isn't absolute praise. Keira Drake seems to be the type to pay attention to what readers say even if it's not laudatory. Unless as authors we're willing to listen to what others find wrong with our work, we'll never improve. Maybe I'm weird, but I'd rather hear how something I wrote doesn't make sense so I can improve. So, what do y'all think? http://www.vulture.com/2018/02/keira-drake-the-continent.html
  11. One of my most satisfying moments comes when everyone knows something will happen but you manage to surprise readers with the when, the how, and sometimes the where. With everyone trying to figure out what's coming, I tend to throw breadcrumbs along the way without revealing where the bake house is. It happened recently with a marriage proposal. I'm still tickled with the response and how many people were surprised.
  12. Thanks @Buz Maybe it doesn't happen a lot these days with our world becoming smaller, but stories always allowed readers to escape their lives and visit exotic places. Think of me as an old-fashioned travel blogger Cancer does suck big ones.
  13. Thank you! Although I tried to interject bits of humor and 'fun' while exploring, I suspect no trip to Israel would be complete without somber moments. Too much history all over the place. I've been to the Holacaust Museum in DC and I'm thinking I may want to visit the one in NYC when I'm there next month. I take NEVER FORGET seriously.
  14. @davidw It's OK to hate CJ, I do often. My jealousy creeping in. LOL Not sure I could handle his life as well as he does but then again that's the beauty of fiction.
  15. @spikey582 Just like people in other countries think we all carry a six-shooter strapped to our waist, the misconceptions about safety in Israel are huge. When I was there, Bus 29 had been bombed several times and I made it a point of riding it to prove I wasn't going to allow terrorists to ruin my trip. Same for the idiot who blew himself up in the middle of Tel Aviv's financial district 15 minutes after I'd cashed traveler cheques (remember those?) at a place that didn't exist after the explosion. I watched men in long black coats cleanse the streets removing fragments of bodies left behind. I could have spent 2 months instead of 2 weeks and it wouldn't have been enough to see everything in the country. I did walk in a couple of churches and the crowds were overwhelming. Lots of Christian tours guiding visitors through the religious sites. The only nasty person I encountered was an American priest who complained to a guard my companions and I weren't with his group entering the Dome of the Rock plaza. The guard looked at my passport, said "Sephardic?" when he saw my last name and smiled when I nodded. We were all waved through and the priest didn't look happy it was so easy. Of course, I didn't bother telling the Israeli soldier I wasn't religious and my mother was Catholic. LOL If you ever get the chance, go! You will not regret it.
  16. @BlindAmbition Getting bad news is awful enough. Being so far away and unable to do anything is the worst. We'll see CJ's reaction in the next chapter. Thanks. JP.
  17. @Parker Owens Thanks, bud. It's tough trying to decide when too much is too much but I thought Israel was interesting enough to warrant an entire chapter. I hadn't done that in a while. But I won't ever try the 3-4 chapter approach like the first trip to Australia, too much stress trying to get it all right
  18. @Potterslashfan Crap at the end? What crap at the end? I don't see no crap at the end! Codependency is what's going on between CJ and Owen. He can't handle more than two weeks away from his boyfriend? GAG ME!
  19. @JeffreyL Travel agent and tour guide! By now you've all figured out I like the chapters when they travel. Seven days and we find out what CJ's reaction was.
  20. @Daddydavek Ooops, forgot to apologize. Israel instead of Spain but this one was part of the master plan LOL
  21. @Sweetlion Excluding Australia, CJ hasn't traveled much outside the US. This is the first trip aimed at changing that and turning the kid into more of a globalist.
  22. Some of my best grades in school were in history classes. I enjoy sharing some of what I know and learning new stuff to include in the story. Are you saying I'm following in CJ's footsteps? LMAO
  23. @pvtguy Thanks, Tony. I was in Israel over twenty years ago for two weeks, Some of this chapter is based on recollections, some on following MIddle East politics, and a lot on research since some of the spots they visit I've never been to. The Arab-Israeli conflict has more facets than a diamond and nobody has all the answers. It is my fervent wish one day the land will find peace.
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