Article on TheNervousBreakdown.com about memorial service for pilot, businessman Doug Sharratt - By N.L. Belardes

Doug Sharratt Memorial Service, Bakersfield, Calif.

I posted the article, "An Orange Truck, Doug Sharratt’s Memorial And A Few Good Men" on TheNervousBreakdown.com. Here's an excerpt. Feel free to go to leave a comment on the full article.

Excerpt:

An orange truck came speeding south on H Street. My kid Landen, 17, said, “There’s that orange truck. I see it everywhere. It’s following me.” He was half joking, but it’s true. I recognized the orange truck’s driver. He lives with his wife in a little bungalow on Blanche Street, close to St. Francis of Assisi church.

Sometimes I see the same person everywhere. There’s a disfigured man who seems to haunt me. He passes on a bus, walks past on streets. He once roamed campuses while I attended local colleges. He appears in libraries and grocery stores—even on Internet sites. I’ve seen him for nearly 20 years and have pointed him out. He’s everywhere.

It’s strange because other paths seem to never cross even though people live in the same town.

A few minutes before seeing the orange truck I saw many teary faces in St. Francis Church. Doug Sharratt’s memorial service had just ended. There were faces I hadn’t seen in months. Some of them probably watched me on ABC23 (KERO) while I spoke about the Internet twice a day. But I never saw them. All I ever saw was a camera, reporters, cameramen, producers, monitors, my old fishbowl office. Yet, out in the community was a sea of faces looking at me like detectives through one of those fancy interrogation room windows.

Read the full article

N.L. Reviews Scariest Book Of 08: The Shell Game

Steve Alten is an author you can say has gone green—way green. In fact he’s gone so green that he’s dedicated his entire new novel, “The Shell Game” to his fight to help others realize that not only is oil becoming very scarce, it’s part of a big business and political front, that he believes, could lead to global conflict.

Talk about scary... read my Nick 2.0 post on The Shell Game.

YouTube On-Air Segment:

Bakersfield High, Bakersfield College and more on TNB blog - By N.L. Belardes

I have a new post up on the homepage of www.thenervousbreakdown.com and it's all about football. The title is, "A Bakersfield Band, Valley Championship Football, Frank Gifford And The Wide World Of Sports (Including Evil Knievel Wipeouts), And Don't Forget Sidelines Of The SoCal Championships."

Many of the titles on the site are really long and weird...

In case you didn't know, I'm a huge football fan. I take pride in local football and wrote a piece that I think you might find fascinating. There's even a little Evel Knievel connection to Frank Gifford and Bakersfield High in it...

What's the latest Nick 2.0 on ABC23? - By N.L. Belardes

Check it out... I'm plugging the ABC23 weathergirl in spandex...

Are Superheroes The New Gods? - By N.L. Belardes

Are people going overboard with comic book superhero worship? Read my article, "Book Claims Superheroes New Gods" about the new book, "Our Gods Wear Spandex."



Now, the article is different than the video I shot and edited which you can see here on YouTube. The article is commentary and an interview with author Chris Knowles. The video is an interview with three local comic book afficionados. I think you will be amazed at what they have to say.

- Nick, ABC23

Noose Found At Bakersfield Bookstore That Features Occult Items - By N.L. Belardes

Image from ABC23

OK, I may not do my holiday shopping at occult bookstores, but I do check out my share of spiritual books. In fact, I'm about to launch a big article on www.turnto23.com on a comic book history book that ties the industry to the occult.

Anyway, it's just crap to think people resort to hangman's nooses and symbolic hate threats against people not part of the conservative cultural mainstream.

Click for story and video.

Blogging: An Art Of Identity, Writing And Social Change - By N.L. Belardes

When Product Manager Matt Munoz of Bakotopia.com asked me to write a piece on blogging that he could publish online and in the magazine version, I instantly thought of the portion of my college lecture that was meant to motivate writers rather than instruct. Sure, there's instruction in the piece you're about to read. But most students, and people in general, are stuck as writers. They're stuck in their identity and stuck in being motivated.

So get inspired, read the following piece and thank Matt Munoz for getting me to share these thoughts with you:

Blogging Is Writing, So Understand Who You Are
Who are you? What is your identity? If you identify yourself as solely a student, housewife, teacher, police officer, etc., then stop reading immediately and go meditate. That’s right, run along and think. Because the words you’re about to read aren’t meant for you. They won’t make a difference in your life unless you identify yourself as a writer. Don’t even think of coming back unless you’ve accepted a very crazy notion whole-heartedly, even fanatically, as if you’ve converted to the wildest, most far-reaching religious faith of all time: writing.

Once you’ve accepted your fate as a writer, you may continue. If I’ve lost anyone at this point, and I often do, then it just wasn’t meant to be. Go back to being an office worker, or whatever it is that you do, because it’s not disheveled enough, not crazy enough, not risky enough as we writers who accept our fate understand. Those who are half-writers, pseudo writers, or wannabes just won’t be able to partake in the full range of staring that we, who identify as writers, get from the gawking world around us.



When it comes to being a writer, or in this case, a blogger, often there are no right or wrong answers when it comes to the ‘how’ and ‘why’ of writing. Yet when it comes to the why I have my own set of rules: you either are a writer, or you aren’t. You either want to learn and grow as a writer, or you’re too pompous to believe your writing can get any better. If you think you can’t get any better, or that your writing is perfect already, let me tell you, you’re stuck.

Maybe you think your words are perfect the first time a paragraph spills out of your head—often a good sign of someone who fears change. Or maybe you’re one of those writers whose belief is in purity, that your words are strangely tainted if you edit them—often a good sign of a pompous writer. Such writers just want reassurance that what they’ve written is some kind of divine godsend. Believe me, these are the kind of people who approach me and say, “Will you look at something I wrote?” I tend to ignore such pompous and fear-of-change types. I give no holy blessing to such snootiness.

I often let out a sigh at this point because I know that most often that person won’t like that I often interpret their meanings as “help.” My red pen marks are cuts to their psyche. Blue pen marks? Deep gouges to their already icy egos. Rather, many such writers are passively suggesting that I help them get published, which I don’t mind doing when the writing is good enough.

So this is the first step to being a blogger: blogging is writing, so understand who you are.

That means although you blog, what you really are is a writer, which means you need to learn and grow as writers do. And maybe that’s wrong of me to suggest. But I figure if I’m still learning and growing as a writer, so should every other writer out there.

Good Bloggers Are Writers Who Adapt And Mature
I accepted early on in my writing career that writing is a life-long learning process. Writing, as you grow older, will change, progress, adapt and mature. Look, we all need editors because not only are we often blind to much of our own writing, but often we writers have growing pains that we’re not even aware of. Sentence structure, voice, clarity and vision in writing evolves through stages of learning, which I believe, are little epiphanies as we come to understand new techniques and develop deeper vocabulary. Look, I could submit this essay to a magazine and entire paragraphs might be chopped, reorganized, clarified. I have to be mature enough to accept editing from others as I do my own editing and artistic growth. Yes, writing is art.



An essay or short story I write today at age 39 is completely different in tone and perspective from my writing twenty years ago. Maybe that’s what makes someone like Tolkien, Orwell or Naipaul so special: they could capture maturity and youth, and achieve an incredible sense of clarity by having allowed the writing processes in them to change and adapt through the construct of time. As they got older I bet they even enjoyed committed editors who worked to help them grow further.

So as you blog, understand that you have at the very least, to self-edit your work. Even though blogging is an immediate form of writing, some degree of editing is necessary. Write a passage, sit back, and edit. New thoughts might flood into your head; stronger arguments could unfold. Believe me, readers aren’t dumb and can sense maturity in writing as if they’re sniffing out the best plate at a five-star Vegas buffet.

(Read the full article on Bakotopia)

Bakersfield filmmakers at their most gruesome premiere Skip 2 - By N.L. Belardes

GRAPHIC. Not for kids:

Skip 2 (2007):



Skip 1 (2006):

The Fresnan talks coffeehouse blues, is it the same in Bakersfield? - By N.L. Belardes

Coffeehouse blues. Every city with locally established coffeehouses gets affected by the Starbucks takeover. The Fresnan even brought it up in a blog topic about a documentary filmmaker's clip on the Starbucks' corporate brainwashing of the American coffeehouse vibe.

There's even this great YouTube video from the documentary segment, "Starbucked":



I wrote in the comments to the Fresnan:

It's the same in Bakersfield, though there is a local drive-thru coffee house chain doing well, and a downtown coffeehouse that has survived the Starbucks takeover.

Local coffee and local coffeehouse atmosphere is better than Starbucks. Starbucks just wants us to think their vibe is what every city should be about...

And since Starbucks coffee is better left dumped as if in Boston Tea Party fashion, I leave you with this blog with the famous Bakersfield Stabucks Starfucked dumping, and this cheesy video taken from the bowels of some Starbucks somewhere:

Liars On The Road: A Carny Story - By N.L. Belardes

The original title for my carny story that appeared on ABC23 was titled "Liars On The Road," but a friend of mine thought that was too harsh, too put-offish.

I think when you read the article, "Carny Road Addict Hides Dark Life"
Avoiding Tough Topics, Carny Discusses Gypsy Life", watch the videos and see the pics, you'll make the judgement for yourself whether you think the carny I interviewed was telling the truth or not.

Even though the carny wouldn't say very much, it's one of my favorite articles I've ever written. It's a dark piece, and if you know what I like to write, it's articles, blogs and books that have a flair for the dark side.

Here's my Nick 2.0 plug for the piece, which some of the video aired during the 6pm broadcast. I'll have to re-look at what anchorwoman Jackie Parks had to say, but she really dug it, which made my whole day.

Excerpt:

Days after the Kern County Fair ended, balloons littered the ground in an area near the carny living quarters. Gone was the carny who may have lied, but who did speak about a hard life on the road. The carny, Sean Riley, had sat nervously on the steps of a trailer, and said, “It’s rough sometimes. It’s rough to live on the road away from home.”

The lot was mostly empty now. No longer crowded with games, rides, trucks, vans and long trailers, there was only the sense that thousands of people had just trod there.



A lone Coke bottle partly covered with dirt near a cigarette butt appeared to have been tossed after the fair ended; likely from the exodus of carnies as they discarded their junk and moved further north in California’s Great Central Valley toward Fresno.

It’s been a few days since the traveling portion of the 48th largest fair in America left Bakersfield, Calif. 400,000 visitors passed through the gates to visit the rodeo, live acts, food booths, and to ride roller coasters, upside-down spinning rides and twirling swings.



While such carnival rides brought color, sound and dazzling neon light to the southern central valley’s grass-covered fields and dirty air, just three days later mostly big rig trucks and the metal bases of a few rides remained. I stood there and thought about Riley in the lot, coaxing people to play games. Again, was he telling me the truth?

A few days ago, trailers resembling large horse trailers sat parked beyond a gate leading to carnival rides and games. Of course there were no horses. Instead the trailers were fitted with rooms as living quarters for carnies traveling the roads from city to town and through rural areas.



(Read the full article)

Nick 2.0 Episode 20:

Nick 2.0 tries to ruin lunches after filming maggoty candy - By N.L. Belardes

*MORE UPDATES: The maggot story is off the hook, made CNN broadcast last night and CNN homepage...

Earlier today I tried to ruin a few lunches after posting a film I shot of maggot-filled candy clusters that a man brought in to the ABC23 studios. I went onto ABC23 news in my 11am Nick 2.0 news segment.

Episode 17:



Now watch the gruesome maggot-infested candy video:



Now read the full article, "Man Says Candy Clusters Had Maggots." I submitted it to CNN, but there's no guarantee they're into posting maggoty articles...

*UPDATE: Just got word this story will hit about 100 sites nationally... no word from CNN yet...

Reflecting on the Kern speech - By N.L. Belardes

Today marks a historic day with the largest mass murder in Bakersfield ending in a death sentence for the convicted killer, Vincent Brothers.

Sitting adjacent to the ABC23 newsroom from my fish bowl, I wondered how a black man could get convicted in Bakersfield for mass murder, while O.J., in the news again, might walk free, again.

Executive Producer Jay Jones automatically said “L.A.” Does that mean L.A. courts versus Bakersfield courts? Would Phil Spector’s trial have ended the way it did if cast in the Bakersfield theater of mean justice? Would O.J.’s first case fair the same? What about the second O.J. case?

What do you know about Mean Justice?

Now I’m not saying Vincent Brothers is innocent. His family seems convinced he killed members of his own family. The courts proved he killed his family. But then, I’ve read The Innocent Man by John Grisham. Innocent men do get locked away for murder.

They sit in prisons and rot and wait for the needle, noose, electric chair, or whatever it is their state uses to execute them. And they were proven guilty too.

Now once again, I’m not saying Vincent Brothers is innocent. A man who can’t acknowledge his own daughter while she talks about her loved ones killed in cold blood…well, I would have a hard time being lenient on such a man too, to let's say, serve life without parole rather than getting the chair, needle, etc. I don’t even think he looked her in the eye; his own beautiful daughter.

Should Brothers sit in prison and rot? Obviously the courts don’t think so, even though Brothers will likely rot in prison for years before his death sentence is carried out. If ever.

I heard one person in the newsroom say, “He’ll be there 20 years.” Maybe there won’t be any further executions in California. I doubt that. I’m sure the blood bath will start up any day.

Not that I don’t believe in executions for heinous crimes. Although sometimes it may be better for convicted criminals to sit and rot instead of leaving the world.

I do have to say I understand what it feels like to have an unsupportive family in one way or another. And to lose that family by being either excommunicated in one way or another. And although one of my uncles was murdered years ago, I can’t possibly imagine so many members of a family gone at once, though I can easily imagine broken and unsupportive relationships with family.

There was so much anger and passion in Margaret Kern’s speech that I had to take off my headphones for a moment to dry my eyes. I couldn’t separate emotionally from Kern’s emotions she displayed.

I think by showing her entire statement on the ABC23 website it makes for a necessarily tougher day for the community. So I put it there. People need to see her entire statement, feel her pain. At least for the portion of the community who cares about the falling apart of familial relationships, hurt daughters, an ethnic community in turmoil, and resolution to tragedy and loss.

Nick 2.0 Episode One - By N.L. Belardes

Who knows how long this show will last. If I get to ten episodes I will feel like a lucky man.

No matter what the ABC23 show ends up being named I'm going to refer to it as "Nick 2.0".

Episode One:

Love Walk Travel Journal - By N.L. Belardes

Although Baketown is bashing the poor kid who is crossing mountains by foot for love as just being an unemployed loser, I'll just go ahead and take the dreamy approach that love supercedes employment opportunities, welfare checks, and corporate offices.

Love is just what it is. You can't put an employment price tag on it. In most movies do you care about the love story or about whether both characters are employed?



We live in a society (and county) where people lose jobs, pick up the pieces, and move on. Sometimes people don't have jobs. Doesn't mean they're going to stay down and out at all. Personally, I think Staker's commitment to his journey is showing a great work ethic.

I've been unemployed before and in love. So what? Big deal! Besides, CNN keeps begging us for video, so I think people are appreciating this story...

Now that I vented, have a look at the TRAVEL JOURNAL I've put together. I'm calling Staker every few hours to ask him about the latest, then posting on the original story.

It's a great love story.

N.L. slammed as unethical, goes on self-promotional binge - By N.L. Belardes

On the same day I got some big news that I can't talk about, one reader slammed me saying I was unethical because I wrote about my kid's band in the article "Local Harry Potter Song Wrocks" and about my Yosemite Writers Conference experiences in the story, "Is Book Publishing Dead" on ABC23.

Harry Potter songs were very newsworthy at the time. That was the biggest book release in the history of book releases in the world, and Potter songs are popular and have their own music genre. I was proud that my kid's band was involved, and who better to write about it? Since I do run a literary press. I'm qualified! That's why MAS and Bakotopia asked for the article to run in their magazines too.

My Yosemite Writers Conference pieces are timely as well, or one of them would not have gotten the traffic it received.

In fact, I didn't go out of my way to promote myself at the conference. That would be tacky. I spoke about the hot topics at hand and only spoke about my book when asked.

I think I do a pretty good job of promoting others. I got my Captain America piece on the CNN homepage yesterday (As well as about 75 broadcast websites). I don't think that was self promotion. And I could list hundreds of articles I've written that promote others.

So why don't people get it? Are there just naysayers out there? People who only pretend to support others to get media attention?

Ahh, it comes down to you can't please everyone. Jealousy in the scene maybe? And that's OK. It's just part of the heat I've been taking since blogging. You gotta have thick skin in this biz. I've heard the same arguments since I began my blog. My philosophy is what Ray Bradbury said when he came to town. He said there is always going to be people who try to ruin your dreams. Push them out of your way, he said. So I did. I told that person to quit writing to me. Although I respect people's opinions, I can't support people who outright slam me. That would be crazy. Who needs that? Ray Bradbury would have run over that person's opinion with his wheelchair.

My answer is for more people to blog, to be the media, to put themselves in positions to help the community they believe in, and to help those close to them who are doing great work, even in if they are in their own families. And yes, to even help themselves when appropriate.

I believe in helping my kid's band. I do write about music don't I? I would take heat if I ignored them.

Now for some self lovin'...

In a sudden bout of feeling self promotional, I was overjoyed that ABC23 reporter Leticia Juarez included my novel in a cameo in her report on earthquake safety tonight! If you want to buy a copy of my book used in this on-air report, go to www.noveltown.net/books and order a copy!

Captain America, CNN top stories, plane crashes, and the Yosemite Writers Conference - By N.L. Belardes

I tried really hard Friday to get CNN to pick up this ABC23 (KERO) story on the creator of Rambo helping to bring Captain America back to life. No go. CNN picked up a plane crash story near here after I tipped them off Friday night. Made top news.





Back to Captain America...

I met up with author of First Blood, David Morrell at the popular Yosemite Writers Conference. Check out this video interview:



Excerpt:

Come Sept. 5, perhaps Captain America can show citizens the way to courage, truth and justice after all.

Captain America is once again entering the consciousness of American popular culture by fighting the war on terrorism in the new six-part action series, “Captain America: The Chosen.”

New York Times best-selling author and creator of Rambo David Morrell has written the stand-alone comic series that follows Captain America’s involvement with a war-tired U.S. marine unit in Afghanistan.

Yet the question remains about the fate of America’s superhero, Steve Rogers, a k a, Captain America. Earlier this year in issue No. 25, Rogers was killed on courthouse steps in New York City.

According to Morrell, the new series pre-dates the superhero’s fictitious death and takes place in a separate Marvel Comics universe.

ABC23 managing editor Nick Belardes spoke with David Morrell at the premiere Yosemite Writers Conference to discuss Morrell’s dive into the world of Marvel Comics.

“I was called by Marvel Comics about two years ago and they thought it would be interesting if the creator of Rambo did a piece about Captain America,” Morrell said.

Now read, "Rambo Creator Reinvents Captain America: Captain America Resurrected To Fight War On Terror."

More on the 2007 Yosemite Writers Conference:

Is Book Publishing Dead? Yosemite Writers Conference Provides Food For Hungry Writers
Yosemite Writers Conference: A Conversation about Blogging
Rambo Creator Reinvents Captain America
Yosemite Writers Conference: Demystifying Chick lit and Women’s fiction
Yosemite Writers Conference: Poetry talk
Mystery talk after David Morrell's big speech
2007 Yosemite Writers Conference: Brenda Knight Sidesteps the TVA man
Yosemite Writers and the Chukchansi bathroom break
Headed to Yosemite Writers Conference to talk writing for social change

*****************
Read Noveltown’s experiences at last year’s Yosemite Writer’s Conference:

By N.L. Belardes
A Writer in Yosemite: Part One
A Writer in Yosemite: Part Two
A Writer in Yosemite: Part Three
A Writer in Yosemite: Part Four
A Writer in Yosemite: Part Five
A Writer in Yosemite: Part Six
A Writer in Yosemite: Part Seven
A Writer in Yosemite: Part Eight

By Matildakay
A great literary weekend
What's your type?
How to Approach a Literary Agent...
The Mary Wong Lee Memorial Scholarship
Malcolm Margolin is Posh
Hanging out with the Pirates of Yosemite and setting the record straight
Kill Your Darlings

Hanging out at the Rabobank before Korn hits the stage - By N.L. Belardes

I was just hanging out at the Rabobank Arena prior to tonight's Korn concert. Last night I saw the Briggs and the Horrorpops over at Bakersfield's The Dome. I'll be reporting more on that drama in a future blog on ABC23's Buzz Bands.

In the meantime I just posted another Korn article on ABC23. This one is titled, "Korn Fever Hits Bakersfield; Album Still On Charts."

I interview Billboard Magazine, Bakotopia Magazine and provide this youtube video interview with fans at the Rabobank:



Those of you waiting for me to report about Yosemite Writers Conference, David Morell and Captain America might have to wait a few more days. Sorry about that. I don't want to post on Captain America until I get a few more photos...

I'm going to be adding a pre-concert slideshow to the Korn article today, and will post slides from the show tomorrow.

The Water War Debates - By N.L. Belardes

I'm sure many of you are aware of Water War issues Kern County has been involved in for years.

Now we have a state Senator declaring water in the Central Valley is scarce, and that nearly 4 billion dollar plan is needed to create more dams and reservoirs to protect the future of Central and Southern CA.

You may agree with the plan. You might not. Democrats have opposed the plan which reached Bakersfield Friday in the way of a huge water-related forum.

I'm still wondering if it's all really about protecting the quality of water of if it's about big money, big agriculture, and big water deals for gov't agencies.

I wrote an article yesterday on ABC23 titled, "Water Wars Over Northern Calif. Supplies Hit Bakersfield."

Here's an excerpt:

Kern County is also part of the state's ongoing water crisis which Senator Dave Cogdill of Modesto called the worst drought in California history.

State Senator Roy Ashburn who called the forum believes Californians need to have more water, build more damns, and build more reservoirs. He said California has more water in north and not a lot in the south or in Central California.

According to a report sent out by Senator Cogdill, the $3.95 billion SB 59 Reliable Water Supply Bond Act would solve the crisis.

The bill has stalled in recent months from Democrat opposition in the California state Senate. Four Democrats opposed the bill and one abstained. According to the Aquafornia blog water flowing one way from north to south is a problem in itself, and that northern California water officials claim details are lacking regarding the water plan.

Senator Ashburn said, “It’s been decades since we’ve made any changes in our water supply, yet we’ve continued to grow.”

The report claims that California’s water system is in need for improvements. Declining snow pack levels and increased population growth mean that more storage capacity for water is needed, especially for dry years like 2007.

(read the full article)

What do you think?

Bakotopia Adema edition mentioned on ABC23 - By N.L. Belardes

Media promoting media. Gotta love it. Watch this ABC23 video where Christina Loren and Doug DeRoo promote Bakotopia... and don't forget to read Matt Munoz article on Adema.



Video might not appear for a few minutes.

Who is this mystery-masked Nacho man? - By N.L. Belardes

Can you guess?

Korn article makes top CNN entertainment story - By N.L. Belardes

I was excited to find out Friday that my article "Untitled Korn Album Debuts At No. 2" made the top entertainment stories list on CNN.

Click here for CNN Entertainment while the link lasts. Not sure how long the story will be linked. I noticed the link Friday around 3 or 4 pm. I'm guessing it may last through the weekend.

Going from a local blogger duking it out in the online scene, to having a direct connection to CNN in the past month, has been part of an exciting journey into the media world. It's sort of a weird rags to riches story for any blogger to go through.

I'll be curious to see how much traffic will come to ABC23 through CNN. I'm guessing somewhere between 25,000-50,000 visits, but really can only guess. Could be double that.

Getting such links isn't just good for me as a blogger. Really, it's good for Bakersfield, the Bakersfield music scene, Korn and Brian "Head" Welch.

Social Networking, Corporate Backpedalling and the TV Biz - By N.L. Belardes

In the digital media world, when you want your own site or your company to grow online, you have to be pro-active, creative, and sometimes be a bit of a risk taker through social networking mediums. That means forward momentum. Forward movement.

Allow me to get straight to the point… In the digital media world, once momentum starts building, don’t stop. Backpedalling leads to backwardsville. You don’t want to go there. That’s a nasty place of embarrassment and failing credibility.

Nowadays, you can’t just have a website floating in the darkness of Internet-space. You have to interact. You have to blog.

If you do and then kill it, you’ll look the fool to the people who understand blogging and social networking. And that includes a lot of educated people who teach at prestigious universities, those who work for the biggest media conglomerates and corporations in the world, and leaders in the industries you may interact with.

Let me give you a case study, a prime example of blog backpedalling.

When I worked for ProSoft Technology, I recommended what I thought was a great marketing avenue toward online corporate growth: blogging.

That’s cheap promotion compared to paying $8,000 on average for one month’s ad in a magazine that a company like ProSoft often paid for, and then wouldn’t track.

Blogging is easy to track. It’s more visible than print ads, and can create big traffic. All you have to have is one decent conversational writer.

As you know, blogging is about conversations, social networking online, and being part of online communities.

The blog I created for ProSoft Technology grew quickly. Traffic came, and lots of folks throughout the automation industry commented. Industry experts interacted with relevant articles that meant something to them. It was those leaders who made the biggest negative remarks over ProSoft’s inability to “get it” when the blog was eventually killed without reason.

Of course I instantly thought, “Trust issues.”

One industry leader wrote to me after I mentioned trust issues:

“There are an infinite number of possible answers ranging from trust to appreciation of the medium.”

Social networking. Blogging. Online promotion. To appreciate it you have to be a part of the process. You have to move forward and grow your digital media island.

ProSoft Technology fell into one of those holes that is sometimes visible in the digital media world: back-peddling corporate behavior with a lack of vision as to the power of social networking; and possible paranoia to the point of secretive behaviors which may have led to their decision in corporate blog killing.

In the end, their blog killing was left unexplained.

Eventually I left ProSoft feeling unfulfilled. The company itself seemed zapped of life and not just in the digital media world. I could go into many details about ProSoft being a struggling company with failing wireless and non ease-of-use products, which I never wrote about on their blog. It was becoming a scary place to hold a job. And without a foothold in digital media, I didn’t feel secure. After I left, most of their wireless radio division was laid off.

Had I left just in time? Maybe.

The reality was I had worked under a dark cloud of mismanagement, and for that matter, marketing management that had once again shown that they did not indeed know how to run a marketing department in the new age of digital media.

There are few traces online of the once vibrant ProSoft blog.

It’s embarrassing, really. Not for me, but for ProSoft. Many articles still link back to where there was once relevant ProSoft articles. Most of those are now dead links from automation industry-leading blogs, now re-routed to a static homepage.

That’s information and conversation lost.

That’s also a complete backpedalling in the world of blogs and digital media, which I think is embarrassing for the company, bad marketing, and poor social networking.

I suppose you can eventually regain such credibility. But that’s tough.

When it comes to social networking within the digital media sphere, some people get it and let’s face it, some people don’t.

That industry blogger was right. There are an infinite number of possible answers ranging from trust to appreciation of the medium as to why any company gives up on blogging.

I’m sure many blog deaths are embroiled in hidden reasons that are no more than candy-coated paranoid mysteries that revolve around issues of distrust by management of those writing such doomed tombstone blogs.

I can honestly say that I’m still doing what I was doing for ProSoft, though now to a higher degree: I utilize more social networking sites than ever to promote ABC23 TV.

In doing so, I was glad to hear that ABC23 was recently recognized for its blogging prowess on lostremote.com, one of the leading blogs on the changes technology and progress brings to the television business.

Lostremote’s David Johnson, also of Scripps Media Center in Washington D.C., is no digital media slouch. He’s an expert in the field (read more about Johnson).

Johnson said in his article, “Blogging Yourself”:

I have wondered frequently why stations don’t start blogging themselves to increase their content footprint and grow potential eyeshare… Blogging and posting station video that is hosted into YouTube in the voice and style of a vblogger, Nick offers a whole different package that adds to the media mix for his station. Leveraging existing social media outlets is the smart online promotional strategy to grow audience while taking the message to the masses, and it is great to see that ABC23 also has a myspace page.

Howard Owens of Gatehouse Media tipped off Johnson with his blog titled, “Online editor in Bakersfield uses the local network to promote his company’s site.”

Owens wrote, “Nick Belardes, a long-time Bakersfield blogger, gets the nature of networked media.”

If I get it, that means there’s something there to get, to understand about digital media. The companies that don’t ‘get it’, backpedal, waffle, and eventually are left in the dark. Or like ProSoft Technology, a self-proclaimed high-tech company, are left in obvious embarrassment by reverting back to the stone age of digital media.

When you backpedal in today’s age of growing social media, where does that leave you, especially when you’re a struggling company who might benefit from such tactics?

Poor management of digital media tools, once started, and then stopped, only leaves a gaping hole, one that becomes obvious to others on an Internet that leaves many footprints.

Social media is everywhere. It's just a matter of speaking the dialects that exist within each social networking sphere to promote products, corporate image, and more. The rest is just hoping people join in the conversation and accept your voice as one amongst their community.

Video of gas station fire aftermath - By N.L. Belardes

When I drove out to a fuel pump fire today I instantly hoped that the entire gas station wouldn't blow up. That would be bad, really bad.

By the time I arrived, the fire was out. A burned fuel pump lie on its side. I got part of the story as I took photos. I got the rest at the station from watching interviews conducted by one of the ABC23 reporters. Read, "Motorist Causes Fire At Gas Station: Samaritan Attempts To Put Out Fire Caused By Negligent Motorist."

Wow. Lucky no one was hurt...

I did take this video:

An interview with Brian "Head" Welch, ex-lead guitarist for Korn - By N.L. Belardes

I spoke with Brian "Head" Welch yesterday about his new book, "Save Me From Myself." We talked about spirituality, Bakersfield church leaders, his writing process and more.

His inspiring book recently reached the top 15 of the New York Times Best Seller list.

Here's an excerpt from my interview on ABC23:

Interview:

ABC23: First off, I want to say “Save Me From Myself” is an honest look at the reality facing many people today who are caught in the culture of drugs. Its rawness—though honest and inspiring—is filled with language and graphic drug use. What kind of feedback are you getting?

Welch: I’m getting some pretty good feedback. A lot of broken people are getting inspired by it. I’ve had no negative comments about the rawness and realness of it. It’s I think what people expected, you know. It could actually have been worse. If I wasn’t just trying to be real or tell my story; it could have been one of those tell all books. But I just wanted to tell my story…it’s inspiring people. Listen: Audio 1

ABC23: I have a few questions about the writing process. Now, some people write books, whether fiction or non-fiction chronologically. Did you start at the beginning? Or did you maybe write the second half first, or a bunch of parts simultaneously?

Welch: I think the preface in it I wrote last. But the story I wrote it all how it happened. I went way back and went chapter by chapter.

I just wanted to get the whole story to the people about who I am, where I came from, and I wanted to throw the whole Korn story in there too to about how we all met, because it’s interesting.

I wanted it to be interesting too. I think a lot of people go through what I went through inside and they don’t tell anybody. We have problems when we’re kids, with whatever, with friends, bullies, with life in general what we go through, with drugs, and we don’t talk about a lot of it it. And I wanted to talk about it. Listen: Audio 2

(Read the full interview and hear all 12 audio files)

BookTour.com makes Book Tours pain free – By Melinda Carroll

One of the hardest things in the literary world other than getting published is connecting authors and readers. Setting up book tours, promoting appearances and actually getting readers to show up to your book signing and hopefully buy a copy of your book is a dreaded but necessary evil for most authors.

Finally, there is an online service to help authors connect to readers. BookTour.com.

From BookTour.com’s About Us page:

“BookTour.com was founded in late 2006 by three authors who believe that technology can transform how authors find receptive groups of readers.

We're a free online service that connects authors and potential audiences of all sorts, from book groups to civic organizations, from bookstores to corporate events. Authors create their own page (biography, books, tour dates and availability) and any group looking for speakers can find them and contact them directly to arrange for an appearance. Relevant information for both authors and venues can be added in minutes through a simple fill-in-the-blanks interface. Connecting authors with potential audiences then becomes as easy as searching (by geography, book titles, subject, dates of availability) and sending an email.

For authors, BookTour.com serves as a one-stop tool for book promotion, allowing authors at all levels of their careers to locate receptive live audiences. For readers and audiences, BookTour.com makes finding when a favorite author is coming to your town as easy as checking the weather.

BookTour is based in San Francisco, the city that buys more books (and wine) per capita than any in America.”

I found BookTour.com on the Booksquare blog recently. Have I told you lately how much I love Booksquare? I LOVE Booksquare! The writers at Booksquare are just fabulous at finding literary gems in the publishing world like BookTour.com. And once found I just have to pass these gems along to you all.

Booksquare had this to say about BookTour.com:

“Thanks to easy-to-use, modern technology, you can get out the word about your appearances. But wait, there’s more! By combining authors, books, and places, you get personalized content. Like, oh, a weekly newsletter telling you about author appearances in your neighborhood and, once you’ve registered, the home page gives you a listing of upcoming appearances (dates would be helpful here).

By taking a multi-pronged approach to getting author appearance information into the database, this increases the breadth and depth of information for readers. Since they’re the ones who matter, this is very good indeed.”

(Read the full blog)

BookTour.com is still in Beta phase and will only get better from here.

So authors, what are you waiting for? Get on over to BookTour.com and register and list your upcoming appearances. BookTour.com is not just for authors. So all you readers out there get on over to BookTour.com and sign up and start receiving news of when your favorite authors will be in your town promoting their books.

I know Noveltown will be registering on BookTour.com and using it as a tool to help connect authors to readers and vise versa.

Lacey Alexander talks about her novel Voyeur and Erotica – By chingpea

Recently I stepped away from my normal behind the scenes role of marketing relations and printer wars and connected with erotica author Lacey Alexander. She was gracious enough to be my ‘first’ Noveltown book review. I found her to be as ‘deliciously decadent’ as her novel Voyeur and you will too.

In Voyeur, Alexander takes the reader on a steamy ride with Laura a writer suffering writer’s block who travels to Colorado in search of inspiration. She soon discovers more than she bargained for as she embraces her sexuality and imagination. Read Voyeur with a pitcher of ice cold water within arm’s reach. Believe me, you’ll definitely need it!



Lacey Alexander is an intoxicating, erotic writer using sensual and sexual prowess to embrace your inner passions and desires. Sexual discovery at its best, Voyeur entices you from beginning to end.



Typically erotica fiction is predominately read by women, Voyeur, however, is a book that men would enjoy as well. In fact if you dare, read Voyeur aloud with your partner. It might just be the thing to spice up your love life!



An arousing read, I definitely enjoyed Voyeur and would absolutely love to read whatever project she has next!



Alexander had some great insight into the world of erotica fiction. Check out the interview:

Noveltown: I love that Voyeur is super steamy, romantic erotica. You must get a lot of satisfaction from pleasing your audience. Thoughts?

Lacey Alexander: The reader response to my books has been overwhelming and helped me to realize that I’ve unexpectedly tapped in to something a lot of women relate to and even need – the “permission” to explore their most forbidden sexual fantasies. Readers also often tell me that my books have enhanced their marriages and I can’t imagine anything more gratifying than that.

Noveltown: One day you made a decision in your life to become the type of author that you are. Was there a certain influence on your decision? And, do other authors inspire you?

Lacey Alexander: I actually started writing erotica because my mainstream romance career (written under another pseudonym) was in a downturn and the erotica market was beginning to flourish. So it was a strictly strategic move in the beginning, to be honest. Kind of an “I think I’ll take a stab at writing that kind of book” decision. But it worked out to be very serendipitous since I gained a loyal readership very quickly. As it stands, both careers are going strong and I couldn’t be happier.

And no, I actually have avoided reading most other erotica, deciding early on that I was going to make my books what I thought “a woman’s perfect erotic fantasy” should be and that if it worked, it worked, and if it didn’t, then I wasn’t meant to write erotica. But apparently I was meant to write erotica.

Noveltown: Do you consider yourself more sensual or sexual when it comes to erotica? And your audience?

Lacey Alexander: Both, actually. And my readers seem to respond very positively to the combination of both sensuality and sexuality. I actually think that’s what makes them work, and hopefully what makes them feel a little unique among erotica offerings.

Noveltown: I love how your website says, “Discover your inner bad girl.” Do you think erotica fans find themselves discovering their “inner bad selves” when they read Voyeur?

Lacey Alexander: I certainly hope so. I hope every one of my books invites readers to recognize and embrace that part of themselves. I should add that I don’t advocate that people go out and “live the fantasy,” but I think it’s very healthy to recognize that it’s okay to think about “forbidden” things.



Noveltown: Was there research for Voyeur? Dare we even ask?

Lacey Alexander: Ha! No, not really. But the setting came from a vacation home I stayed in a few years ago, and I concocted the idea while on the trip.

Noveltown: Laura Watkins and Braden Stone mirror the characters of Riley Wainscott and Sloane Bennett. Since Laura uses acquaintances as well as herself as inspiration for her characters and character experiences, do you as the author do the same?

Lacey Alexander: No, I never really draw characters from real life. They’re all in my head.

Noveltown: You must receive a lot of feedback from your fans. Give us some of the goods about what men have been saying versus women…

Lacey Alexander: Actually, when I hear from men, it’s usually short and sweet, something like: I enjoy your books. And that suits me fine. I really don’t want to get into sexual discussions with guys I don’t know and when I get e-mails from men who seem to want to have cyber sex, I hit the delete button quick. I’m a happily married woman, after all. So I don’t know exactly how men perceive the books, only that I do have male readers who enjoy them. It’s the women who tell me they find my books very liberating and also the books have made them bolder with their partner, more comfortable with sex, etc., and if that’s all I accomplish before I die, I’m pretty happy with it.

Noveltown: Did anything get in the way of your imagination when deep into discovery and fantasy regarding writing Voyeur?

Lacey Alexander: When I’m writing erotica, it’s very necessary to turn off my internal “edit button,” to simply not censor myself. When I first started writing these books that part was a challenge – I had to pretend no one would ever read them but me. And I will admit that there are a few scenes in my books that I can’t quite believe I wrote, because they’re so contrary to the real me. But I’ve written enough erotica now that it comes pretty easily and is just part of the job.

Noveltown: Thanks for taking part in this interview. Just one more thing. What's coming next?

Lacey Alexander: Thanks for asking! I actually have lots in the works! As you know, VOYEUR came out in May, and it went back for a second printing after just a week on the shelves! In July, CITY HEAT becomes available – which combines the first two novellas of my City Heat series in one print volume (the novellas are available individually as e-books through www.ellorascave.com). In September, I have a short story in an anthology called SEASONS OF SEDUCTION III. My contribution is called THE PIRATE AND THE PUSSYCAT and is a fun Halloween romp. Then in April 2008, Penguin will release my second novel with them, SEVEN NIGHTS OF SIN, which is an erotic odyssey through Las Vegas. Readers can learn more about these and my other books by visiting me online at www.laceyalexander.net.



Thank you so much for a great interview. I enjoyed it!

Pick up your copy of Voyeur here . Also check out Lacey’s myspace .

Snake eater talks to ABC 23 - By N.L Belardes

You saw the snake eater on Bakersfield.com. Now watch him talk about his antics and whether or not he says he ate a live snake.

What do you think? Was the snake dead? Do you believe the snake eater?

Harry Potter book release on the way for "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows"... - By N.L. Belardes

Just finished up my third Harry Potter article for turnto23.com.

I'll probably update it tomorrow...

Here's an excerpt:

Mike Russo had just gathered a group of Harry Potter books in his arms and politely posed for a photo. Behind him stood a cardboard Harry Potter cutout that had a countdown calendar attached. He gave a slight grimace, then smiled big.

Russo knows the value of the upcoming Harry Potter books that he will soon have in his hands.

“It’s going to be the largest book release in the history of our bookstore,” he said.

Around Russo’s bookstore, the world of Harry Potter catches the eye: the magical color of various toy stands, book stands, piles of Harry Potter books, posters, wizard hats and more. All of it is a sign that Harry Potter is far more than a movie premiere. It’s really about a book craze.

(Read the full article)

Are you doing your Summer Reading? – By Melinda Carroll

Remember when you were a kid and your teachers would send a recommended summer reading list home with you at the end of the school year hoping you would do more than just play video games, like improve your mind. How many of you were good boys and girls and actually read a few books on the recommended summer reading list? How much did your summer reading influence your life as a child? As an adult? Is reading a passion in your life?

I don’t know about you, but I’m always reading. I have a stack of books at home that are in my “to be read” pile, but I continue to buy more books. I can’t help myself. My logic is I’ll eventually read them all.

Noveltown is not only passionate about writers, we’re passionate about readers too! Without readers the Indie literary presses and the publishing world would come to a screeching halt and eventually cease to exist. Books would become coasters, or those things you press flowers in, or worse! I don’t even want to imagine a world without books, its too horrible a thought. For in books our imaginations run free within world’s writers create for us. J. K. Rowling is the most successful author ever because of readers!

It’s mid summer and Noveltown just wanted to check in on you to make sure you’re doing your summer reading…

For all of you Paperback Writer readers who are book sluts, word whores, always carry a book with you in your purse or backpack, read while laying out by the pool, on the beach or by a lake, and plan what books you’re taking with you on vacation we’ve got some fabulous recommended summer reading for you.

Salon.com put together a great four part recommended summer reading list:

Mysteries and Science Fiction: “Thrills and chills: These mysteries and science fiction novels will transport you to a higher plane.”

Three Bags Full - By Leonie Swann, Anthea Bell, trans.
Mr. Dixon Disappears - By Ian Sansom
Up in Honey's Room - By Elmore Leonard
Body of Lies - By David Ignatius
Brasyl - By Ian McDonald
The Margarets - By Sheri S. Tepper

(Read the full mystery and science fiction article for synopsis’ of these books and links to buy)

Memoirs: “Great escapes: From a journey down the Nile to the chronicle of a professional basketball player, these memoir recommendations will whisk you away.”

Four Seasons in Rome: On Twins, Insomnia, and the Biggest Funeral in the History of the World - By Anthony Doerr
Down the Nile: Alone in a Fisherman's Skiff - By Rosemary Mahoney
Can I Keep My Jersey? 11 Teams, 5 Countries, and 4 Years in My Life as a Basketball Vagabond - By Paul Shirley
Dog Days: Dispatches From Bedlam Farm - By Jon Katz
The Cure for Anything Is Salt Water: How I Threw My Life Overboard and Found Happiness at Sea - By Mary South

(Read the full memoir article for synopsis’ of these books and links to buy)

Chic lit: “Chic lit: From a saga of 17th century maidens to a 21st century mom flirting with disaster, our novel recommendations will make you feel cheap and sexy in the best possible way.”

Little Stalker - By Jennifer Belle
Peony in Love - By Lisa See
Slummy Mummy - By Fiona Neill
The New Yorkers: A Novel - By Cathleen Schine
Sheer Abandon - By Penny Vincenzi

(Read the full chic lit article for synopsis’ of these books and links to buy)

Thrillers: “Killer thrillers: From the pursuit of a lost Shakespeare manuscript to a chilling tale of missing sisters, these recommendations will add sizzle to your beach book list.”

The Book of Air and Shadows - By Michael Gruber
What the Dead Know - By Laura Lippman
Nerve Damage - By Peter Abrahams
The Broken Shore - By Peter Temple
The Grave Tattoo - By Val McDermid

(Read the full thrillers article for synopsis’ of these books and links to buy)

***********************

Noveltown put together our own recommended summer reading list by some of our favorite authors:

Contemporar