The Ride

In The Demon’s Head #95: The Ride

April 5, 2013

Happy Friday everyone. I hope that your weekend is ready to kick off in huge fashion. It’s been a real productive week for me. Editing is coming along on “Six Feet Under” and hopefully I can have it ready to go by next month. On a non-writing note, this is a huge weekend in my house. Why you may wonder? This Sunday is Wrestlemania Sunday. I’m sure almost everyone knows what Wrestlemania is. In my house though it’s almost like a tradition almost as big as the Superbowl. I’m very excited about Wrestlemania Sunday That’s enough about what’s going on this weekend let’s get onto today’s festivities. Take a look at the picture for today:

The Ride

It came up for sale on the internet,

One of those Facebook sites,

They wanted $350 dollars,

But the car looked to be in absolute,

Perfect condition,

I was skeptical,

But I took the meeting,

And decided that I wanted to know,

If it was too good to be true,

My head said that it was,

But I wanted to believe,

I was a kid,

Working minimum wage,

And needed a car,

It wasn’t the most masculine car,

But if it worked,

I couldn’t complain,

The car ran fine,

And the price tag,

Was indeed real,

So I bought it,

Weeks went by with no problems,

Then one day I found the car across the street,

As if pushed out of my driveway,

Perfectly parked,

I drove it for a few days,

Then one day I came out,

To find all the windows destroyed,

All four door windows,

The windshield,

And the back glass,

All broken in,

Nothing was missing,

And all of the glass seemed to be on the ground,

As if broken from the inside,

I fixed the windows,

And on the first drive to work,

I looked into the rearview,

And in the flash,

I thought I saw a child,

No more then 7,

But in a blink,

They were gone,

I sat at home that night,

And thought to look up the car,

Information was scarce,

But I found something that blew my mind,

The very car I was driving,

Had been wrecked,

Shortly after purchase,

The mother was driving down the road,

Her 7 year old son in the back,

They said that she had a meltdown,

And drove over a bridge,

Into the river,

The car sank,

As she laughed,

The son tried to fight,

But couldn’t get out before he drown,

The car was towed from the river,

Funerals held,

And the car was refinished,

Inside and Out,

And resold,

Reports were that people kept seeing a child,

In the back,

The kid was smiling,

In a sadistic way,

Laughing,

As if he was enjoying what was,

About to happen,

I laid awake that night,

And in my head,

I heard the laughter,

The sadistic laughter,

Of mother and child,

I heard a noise outside,

And leaned up to look out the window,

In the drivers’ seat,

The woman looked at me,

The split grin rolled across her face,

The son,

In the back smiling devilishly,

The car rolled backwards,

Slowly,

And suddenly made impact with an on-coming semi,

The car was crushed,

But as I stand here,

At the junk yard,

Looking at the scrap of metal,

I can’t help but thank the woman for saving my life,

Or maybe the son,

Should be the one to thank,

Because that grin,

Still haunts my dreams,

And I swear she mouthed the words,

Join Us,

Before the car rolled back,

In fact that image,

Still sends a chill down my spine,

I’m happy that they finally found a new home,

But I feel like I keep seeing something in the mirrors,

Of the house now,

About The Piece

This was one of the longer pieces that I’ve written for this photo-blogging challenge. It’s also one of the hardest that I had to come up with. The picture never really seemed to speak to me but I think I found a good story within it. Overall, the three pictures that I did this week seemed to be the hardest I’ve ran into but I think that the pieces do them justice. I’d love to know what you think. Feel free to share your feedback in the comments section.

You can Like the Page on Facebook or Follow me on Twitter and Pinterest so that you stay up to date on everything. You can check out my Smashwords Library. If you like what you read you can subscribe to the blog feed by entering your email in the upper right hand corner box. And if you’re feeling generous you can donate using the paypal button at the top of the screen.

Until the next time you want to take a trip through the gates of hell and into the demon’s head, I’m Kyle Robinson wishing you a safe trip back to the surface. 

A Revolution In Youtube

In The Demon’s Head #92: A Revolution In Youtube

March 30, 2013

Hello everyone and welcome to a special, rare Saturday post. When the idea for this post originally came to me yesterday, I thought about posting it Sunday. The more I thought about it the more I realized that would have been, kind of wrong on some levels. After all, posting a blog called “In The Demon’s Head” on Easter Sunday just seems kind of sacrilegious. Either way I have some new and exciting things to share with you which is why this post is being written. Let’s get to it.

Youtube Channel Coming

About two months ago I talked about starting a Youtube Channel. The idea swarmed around in my head for a few days and then went away. Then a couple of weeks ago I started exploring the idea of audio books. I started toying about with some audio equipment I have. I started recording a few things. At the same time I was working on one of my Photo-blogging challenge pieces, and an idea was born.

Using the computer’s built in webcam and audio equipment that I have I will begin producing some audio readings of my photo-blogging challenge pieces. This does two things for me. It offers me a new platform to help build the audience as well as lets me use my voice in a new way. I also learn the basics of reading my own stuff out loud which is something that I need to get better at.

But the beauty of it all is that readings won’t be the only thing on the channel. In fact I’m going to be doing a vlog from time to time as well. If I can figure it out I will be doing some book trailers. Finally I will debut some public readings of my new works that are coming in the future on the channel. There may be other content that I add but that’s something I have yet to discover. The channel will be live next week hopefully with videos following later that week.

While the title might oversell the idea a bit I think this is a huge step in online presence. One that a lot of writers don’t use to my knowledge so hopefully I’ll see some good things come from it. I’ll have a live link when it’s all set up on my website, and Facebook Page.

MP3 Library Coming to the Website/ Audio Book Future

With the launch of the Youtube Channel there will be MP3’s of the readings. Should you want to download them they will be free of charge available on the website. There will be links in all the descriptions. I hope that you guys take advantage of these downloads and by all means please distribute and share the videos and MP3 files. I’d love all the help that I could get to get noticed.

Speaking of MP3 Files, Life After Dark will no longer be an audio book, at least not at the current time. Now that could change should I learn how things work on a new website someone sent my way. Either way should an audio book for Life After Dark be available any time soon I will not be the one doing it.

Looking To and For Guest Blogging and Interviews

Finally, I’d like to offer out an invitation to any of my fellow writers or readers who may be interested in writing a guest blog post for In The Demon’s Head. I’m a bit new to the guest blogging platform but I know that it’s something that is very beneficial. On the same front I’m available to write guest blog post so if you’d like someone to write a guest post for your blog, or would like to write a guest blog post for me please send me an email with the subject Guest Blogging. In the message give me the details.

On the same note, Interviews are the same way. I’m available for any interviews at any time usually and would love to contribute by giving an interview. It can either be audio or written. Also I’m launching a call to anyone who’d like to have an interview featured here on “In The Demon’s Head” to let me know. If you fall into either category of wanting an interview, or wanting your interview done, send me an email with the subject line “Interview” with details.

I’d like to thank everyone for their response to the Photo-blogging Challenge. You can Like the Page on Facebook, or Follow me on Twitter and Pinterest. Until the next time you want to take a trip through the gates of hell and into the demon’s head, I’m Kyle Robinson wishing you a safe trip back to the surface. 

In The Demon's Head: When The Daylight Grows

In The Demon’s Head # 87: When The Daylight Grows

March 20, 2013

Hello guys how are things are your end of the computer screen. This is the first blog post that I’ve written in almost a month. Not so much because I don’t have a lot going on. (There’s that too in honesty) but more so because I’ve been really busy with everything from working on my writing with school to a few other projects. I can say though that there will likely be a lot more of these blog post coming. I’ll explain that shortly.

More Blog Post Coming

A lot of people who read this post are fans of my Facebook and Twitter accounts and if you’ve been following that then it’s likely that you’ve heard that I’ve lost my full time job as a member of the Missouri Veterans Home. I don’t want to go into a lot of details for why I was fired or why because quite frankly it’s in the past. However, it does open a new door to me.

That door is that a lot more of my time can be spent on my writing and publishing some of my work. This means that I can focus full time on my writing. Part of that time will be spent writing more blog post. I am hoping to going back to 2-3 post a week. We’ll have to see what happens between and I won’t make promises but I’m hoping that is one way that it goes.

Email List

I’ve spent a lot of time reading and learning in the last few weeks. One of the major points that I’ve taken away from all that reading was that an Email list is as beneficial to me as a Facebook Page. What I’m hoping is that I can launch an email list within the next couple of weeks I think that it will be majorly beneficial moving forward.  I’ll keep you updated as things near that point.

More New Ideas

Sometimes it amazes me that I manage to derive ideas the way I do. I’ve literally found my last three ideas while eating or sleeping. It’s kind of surprising to me that things can come to me the way they do. I’m not going to complain though and I can’t wait to get a few of them on paper. I think the new short story idea, as well as the new novel ideas will all pipe your interest.

The Blackout Series

I know that there are quite a few people who have downloaded the Blackout Series’ inaugural title “Life After Dark” and I’m happy to announce that the next story in the series will be available right around the corner.

I don’t want to give away too much yet but I’m hoping that it will be available and ready for your reading by the end of April.

That’s about all I have for right now. I hope that you enjoy this post and I remind you to subscribe to the post by entering your email in the upper right hand corner. You can also follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.  Finally If you like what I’m doing please feel free to use the donate button at the top of the blog. Any kind of donation would help and would go a long way into helping me keep the dream alive.

Until the next time you want to take a trip through the gates of hell and into the demon’s head, I’m Kyle Robinson wishing you a safe trip back to the surface.  

In The Demon's Head: How The Hell Are You?

In The Demon’s Head #74: How The Hell Are You?

February 01, 2013

Holy rhetorical Monkey shit batman. How in the hell have you guys been. I haven’t written an In The Demon’s Head blog post in nearly a month but that’s all going to change here very, very soon and I’ll explain why a little later on toward the bottom. I understand that it’s been almost a month and for that I must apologize but I have to say that this issue of “In The Demon’s Head” is going to be full of news and information which is something that I really like.

As a side note before we get started in just over a week “In The Demon’s Head” will be turning a year old. I honestly never thought I’d have enough patience and drive to keep this thing going that long but I have and in that year a lot of changes have taken place. I’d like to take a moment and if you’ve read this blog on a regular basis, or even just read it in passing I’d love for you to share your thoughts with me via email. I would love to include some reader comments for the special anniversary issue of “In The Demon’s Head”

Now let’s get on with the meat of this issue,

The Website Undergos a Facelift

This may be old news to some but I finally went through with my idea of cleaning up my website. While the overhaul wasn’t anything massive I personally think that it makes the site look and feel a lot nicer and its overall easier to navigate. Which is something that I’ve been wanting out of that site for a long time but could never really figure out how to  do so for my first act of the New Year the website has gotten it’s promised Facelift and I hope you’ll check it out @ www.tinyurl.com/robinsonswritings

The Girl in 4-D is Released

This year is aiming to be a big one for me. At least that’s the hope when it’s all said and done. I can guarantee you that there will be a free writing piece (Usually Poetry) released every single month as well as Three Volumes of the Blackout Series, and possibly a compilation book at the end of the year, and maybe even a novel in there somewhere. It all adds up to a lot of writing and it started this past Tuesday as “The Girl in Apartment 4-D” was officially released on Wattpad. While I haven’t gotten any reviews yet the reads climbed steadily so far so if you haven’t checked it out yet click the name above and it will send you to the page. Read the poem and share your thoughts in the comments section.

March’s Free Writing is already decided

As I promised every month will have a free writing and while February’s has already been decided as the first volume in the Blackout Series (More on that later) March’s is already in the works. While I don’t usually end up with the this far in advance a dream that I had a few days ago sparked the imagination to kick into overdrive and I’ve come up with an idea that will be something special I feel for the month of March. I haven’t decided on the title yet and I don’t want to give away too much to early but I think the idea will resonate with a number of you and I hope that you like it.

A New Blogging Challenge is Coming This Monday

My wonderful fiancé Miss Liz Butler, came up with an idea that I’m going to attempt to try on top of everything else. A blogging challenge that will see her hand me a picture and I’m going to write a small piece on it every day.  Now how long this piece is, is really decided on how inspired I am to write the piece. I’m going to attempt to do this every day Monday Through Friday  I don’t want to make a promise that I’ll be able to do it every day and if not I may shift the schedule to something that I can do. Either way it will be posted on the blog as I do it so look for that beginning this Monday.

Possible New Youtube Channel and Show?

Now before you go thinking that I scored some awesome deal with Youtube or something I hate to say it but your mistaken. (I ain’t that famous) however, I am debating on starting a Youtube channel that will be the home of all of the book trailers that I do. On top of that the idea has come into my head to possibly start a weekly Youtube show, but I can promise you that If I did it wouldn’t be anything about writing. The idea is something that I’m going to hold onto for now but before the year is out there’s a good chance that I may sit down to do one or both of these projects and when and if that time comes I will be sure to let you guys know.

The Blackout Is Almost Here!

I’ve talked for weeks at length about the beginning of the Blackout Series. It’s finally almost here. Next month I will be releasing for free the first short story in the Blackout Series. Now I’ve been told by a few people that the way everything plays out there may be a few pissed off people and that’s possibly the case but I’m here to tell you that I hope that this story will tempt you to buy the proceeding stories because I can promise you that they only get better and better. I haven’t decided on a date for the release yet but stay tuned I will probably have one within in the next week or so.

That’s all I’ve got for this edition of “In The Demon’s Head” I hope that you guys will send me your feedback and thoughts on what’s been an amazing year in my life as my writing and my fanbase grow. I look forward to that and until the next time you take a trip through the gates of hell and into the demon’s head, I’m Kyle Robinson here to wish you a safe trip back to the surface.

In The Demon's Head: Sinking My Teeth In

In The Demon's Head #67: Sinking My Teeth In

October 12, 2012

Hello everyone and welcome to your weekend. I hope everyone has at least some sort of plan to do something this weekend. I for one am off work tonight and will hopefully finish the editing of “More Than Memories” by the end of the weekend. But that's not all that's going on in the world of Robinson's Writings. Join me for a few tidbits that I've found out of the last couple of weeks. Some of this information will be very useful going forward, some of it is more for me to share with you guys. So let's get started.

More Than Memories Releasing This Month

I've said this before I'm sure but I'll let you know again. “More Than Memories” is slated for an October 30^th release. That's just 17 days away. If it sounds like I'm harping, I promise I'm not I'm just so excited about the release of this book that I want to tell anyone who will listen.

One thing you may not know is that I have finally decided on the price for the book. It will be on sale for 4.99. I'm very excited and I'd love to tell everyone that I really hope that this book speaks to you the way it has to me over the last year.

In case your wondering what this book is about I'd like to give you a short overview:

The human mind serves its own purpose. It protects us when we can't do it ourselves. It takes over when we shut down. It saves us when we can't save us. But what about when your mind is pushed to the edge and it no longer functions like it should? In “More Than Memories” a short story and poetry collection that's exactly what happens. Throughout the book we find out what happens when the human limits are tested. How would you react if the world was in chaos? You lost everything you loved? “More Than Memories” explores these situations among many more.

I hope you'll join us on October 30^th as I release this book. I would also love any and all reviews for this book.

Looking Past “More Than Memories”

A writers work is never done. That's why right now I'd like to also talk about what's going to happen after “More Than Memories” is released. I've learned a number of things about how to promote my writing and my work and one way I'm going to do that is to release a free E-Book called “Life After Dark” it's the first in a 10 story series that is going to be full of twist, turns, and crazy like roller coaster rides.

While a definite release date is still not sure I'm looking at December sometime for this book. I look for this to be free via e-readers as well as my website, Wattpad, and possibly Facebook. I'll have more information on that as the dates get closer.

Learning That Money Isn't Everything

Now let's be honest here, I already knew this but there's a reason that I've titled this section that.

I've made no bones about the fact that I want to make a living writing books and entertaining you guys but today I realized there's a lot more to making money when I received a comment for a fan on Wattpad the comment came from user breathofmorninglight and it read: wow never found a poem about something like this but my goodness you did an amazing job!! The wording, the plot, the climax perfection! More people need to read this!

It was at that moment that I learned that I love doing this because I love that I can touch people with my words. It means more to me then I think you'll realize that I can do this for people. If I never make a living as a writer, as long as I have fans like this one I'll always continue to do it.

That will about do it for this edition of “In The Demon's Head” I will be back Tuesday with another opinion filled post you can bet on that. Until the next time you want to take a trip through the gates of hell and into the demon's head, I'm Kyle Robinson wishing you a safe trip back to the surface.

In The Demon's Head: My Problems With 50 Shades of Gray...

In The Demon's Head #66: My Problems With 50 Shades Of Gray....

October 9, 2012

Hello everyone and happy Tuesday. I talked about doing it last week and I intend to fully deliver on my promise. Before I begin to write this though I'd like to let everyone know that this isn't a post of jealousy, this isn't a post of hate, this is just my opinion on the 50 Shades of Gray books and why I have such a huge problem with them. I can't really say much in the way of sales because let's face it this book has sold 25 Million copies in 4 months that's pretty damn impressive. However...

My problem with this series is this, IT'S WRITTEN BY A SIXTH GRADER. No not literately but the book reads and feels like it was written by a sixth grader. Holy shit, and before anyone gets all offensive and angry and asks me have I read the book? The answer is HELL NO. However, while pondering my local Barns and Noble I did sit down for a few short minutes and picked up the Big Print Copy of this book to browse through. The big print is nearly twice the size of a regular print and I couldn't even make it through the first page....

Now I have no problem with the erotic novel either. I've even written a few erotic short stories, but I mean seriously my first draft of my short story had more life to it then the finished product of this book. I want to know how in the hell has anyone had the brain power to finish this book. Let me give you an example of what I'm saying here... My wonderful girlfriend, Liz reads Nightworld and other such vampire books and I tease her for the simplicity of them but to each their own. When she picks up the book and wants to mark all over due to some horrible grammar and won't even buy it because of how horrible the story is then that is a testament to how crappy this book really is.

Now at the risk of this burning a bridge or two (should the post ever been seen by that many eyes) I'd like to talk directly to first the editor of this book. Yes, I understand that this book has made a lot of money, this is a fact that I can't argue with but how in the hell can you really be okay with the fact that you let that book run by you and you didn't do anything at all to make it above the sixth grade reading level. What's worse is if you actually did something and jacked it up to that level then I would have hated to seen the actual original copy of the book. But in the end I suppose it's really all about the “Millions of Dollars” I guess if it's what helps you and yours sleep at night then by all means please let it go on.

Second, I'd like to say a word to E.L James. If you ever get a chance to read this post, then I'd love for you to know that while I respect your ability to get a product recognized I have to say that your ability to write a book is completely off course for where things should be. How do I know? I've read Twilight, I've read Harry Potter, I've read Stephen King, I've read Dean Koontz, I've read writing books, I've read dozens of reports, What I'm getting at is that I've read dozens of different things and it makes me sad to say that the most boring of those (which generally are the writing tips books) are still more powerfully written and better put together then your crap of a novel. You should be ashamed for having written such a horrible book. You can say all you want that people will want it, and your right, they may never read a copy of my book and that's fine. I'll continue to write for fun, and I'll do it without writing something that I'm not proud of, and if in fact you are proud of that novel then I'm very sorry to say that your level of pride has to be low.

Now I'm not sure if this is going to earn me any hate mail, I kind of hope so because I'd love to learn your points of view when it comes to this book. So by all means, comment, send me mail here, do whatever it is to show me that I'm wrong, or if you agree why not join on the bandwagon with me whichever side of the fence you fall on then to each their own.

Until the next time you take a trip through the gates of hell and into the demon's head, I'm Kyle Robinson wishing you a safe trip back to the surface.

In The Demon's Head: How To Measure Success

In The Demon's Head #65: How To Measure Success

October 4, 2012

First let me apologize for the lateness of this post. I know it's two days late and my main reason is because... well I didn't know what to write about to be honest. Now I read a few weeks ago, a post from someone who said write only when inspiration strikes and don't force it because it will cause your writing to suffer. I almost gave up writing this edition of “In The Demon's Head” then I read an article that I'd like to talk about today.

If you know me you know that I'm an avid reader of the “Writer's Digest” free newsletter and I'm trying all the time to read things left and right, I'm an avid believer of the more you know the more you learn. So when I learned that there was an article available that said “How To Measure Success”

I'd like to talk to you about what that means, at least to me. For me Success means happiness, it means that you enjoy what your doing everyday, it means that you have taken the necessary steps to reach your dream. For me I gauge my success like this:

It will happen when I am able to be home and writing on my schedule. I don't need millions to live, I hate everyone that says that unless your like JK Rowing, or Stephen King then your successful, the fact of the matter is that while that amount of money would be nice no doubt, but it's not something that is a necessity. I look at it like being able to make 60-100 thousand a year as something that would be the perfect amount of money for me to live off of.

Why am I bringing this up now? Because I want to get it out there that while the message of success varies from writer to writer, the overall message is clear that you don't have to be known worldwide, or extremely rich to be famous. Quite the contrary you can be moderately wealthy and your books never break the top 20 in order to be successful. I know not everyone will agree with that and that's fine but I think on a number of levels realistic goals that will provided some meaning of success is far better then shooting for ridiculous goals that few if any may ever achieve again. How do you measure success? Let me know in the comments section below. 

That's all for this edition of “In The Demon's Head” I'd like to thank everyone who has been reading me consistently since day one. I'll be back on Saturday, not Friday for a special update edition of “In The Demon's Head” then next Tuesday I'm finally going to sit down and explain the beef that I have with 50 Shades of Gray and it's writer. Until the next time you want to take a trip through the gates of hell and into the demon's head, I'm Kyle Robinson wishing you a safe trip back to the surface.

In The Demon's Head: Reviewing Has a Business of It's Own

In The Demon's Head #63: Reviewing Has A Business of it's Own.

September 26, 2012

So I've done it once again and now my post is late. I swear this is becoming a habit and I'm hoping to nip it in the bud and stop now but with everything that's going on I really doubt that it will stop anytime soon but I will try. I wrote Monday about the general update which should normally be on Friday and now I'm back today with my view of Fake Reviews.

Now until three weeks ago I didn't even realize that these damn things were real. I'd read small bits and pieces about them but I'd never realized that they were quite the juggernaut that they were.

I was rolling through some websites the other day and I realized that there are some cases where people are paying a thousand dollars for ten reviews. Now I'm all for free trade market and capitalism but holy hot shit what have you been smoking. I get you want reviews, and while ten is a decent number I find it very hard to believe that ten reviews will get you the fame and fortune you desire unless the ten reviews are from Roger and Ebert, Stephen King, JK Rowling, and authors of the sort.

Then today after reading another blog post I've learned that there have been times where people are posting funny reviews of products for no other reason then just to put comical reviews on the boards. I have no problem with these either in fact I thought they were damn funny in their own right.

Now of these two review styles I can't say I have a favorite or not. Because I don't, however, I would like to weigh in on the review system in general. Now as far as honest and legit reviews I have absolutely no problem with these, be them good or bad, either way is perfectly fine with me.

It's these other reviews that I have a problem with, and here's why.

They can be severely misleading. First let's focus on the paid for reviews. As stated earlier I found a place where you can get ten reviews for a thousand dollars. If you pay someone that kind of change then you'd best believe that the reviews better be shinning with gold platted compliments that could sell even the worst book on the planet.

The problem?

What if it is trying to sell one of the worst books ever. Here you have ten reviews for an eight dollar e-book. Now another forty people see this book and buy it but don't review it and then another dozen and then another. We're up to around sixty four additional readers. While this will never net you a massive income it's enough to give you hope that the book you had written was wonderful. But everyone of the buyers were disappointed and your second book will fail massively.

Now is what I'm saying a guarantee, of course not, but from a standpoint of the reader, I would never buy anything with your name on it again.

Now on the regard of the funny reviews. These have less merit and are just a hell of a lot more fun to read. I don't really see these as being harmful, most of the time though they don't really help either. Now like a lot of writers, I'm not out to condone or condemn the actions of reviewers, I personally would just wish that they were honest reviews.

Now call it hypocritical if you will, but if I had the money I'd certainly buy the reviews for my book. If for no other reason just to see if it would help. But that's another time for another day. What I'm getting at here is that writers write, and readers read, and in the readers case they are mostly directly by the reviews of others. If those reviews are false, for good or bad, then the readers are either in for a horrible surprise when they open the book, or they are in for a surprise when and if they decide to purchase the book.

That's about it for me this week, I'll be back Friday with the weekly general update. Until then I'd still like some guest post, if your interested please send me an email and let me know that you'd like to be featured on In The Demon's Head. Until the next time you want to take a trip through the gates of hell and into the demon's head, I'm Kyle Robinson wishing you a safe trip back to the surface.