Pheaturing Kimberly Raiser

Hello there, welcome to the Most Phantastic Summer Ever on the Phile. So, how are you? Thanks for stopping by. Good news: the chain-smoking toddler from Indonesia has cut down to 15 cigarettes per day. You know what would get him to stop smoking for good? It’s a lesser-known treatment called, “Don’t give him any.” So, have you been watching the World Cup?
In the U.S., soccer’s popularity ranges somewhere between Jon Gosselin and people that give out raisins on Halloween. The reason Americans don’t get into soccer is because the scores are too low. They should make each goal worth two points, and then maybe let the players use their hands, and then maybe add some hoops and a basketball. Americans would watch that.
It’s estimated that a billion people watch the World Cup. To give you an idea of how many people that is, take the readers who read this blog, and add one billion to it. I’ve refrained from commenting on the oil spill, because I have nothing funny to say about it. But that hasn’t stopped me with anything else. You know it’s a real catastrophe when the biggest hope of getting something done is Kevin Costner. The polls say Americans want the President to show more emotion. He said that when he finds out who’s responsible for the oil spill mess, he’s going to stick a containment cap up their blowout valve. The World Cup as you know this year is in South Africa and they have this cool logo for it. That is I thought it was cool until I got a better look at it. Check it out, Phile phans.

This Sunday is Father's Day and I was hoping they'd be a nice touchy Father's Day inspirational poster out there, but instead I found this:

Jimmy Dean
August 10, 1928 - June 13, 2010
Let me guess. High cholesterol?




Someone stole some money-printing plates. Counterfeiters! And then there are some bad Blackwatery guys and even badder CIA guys. The A-Team has, of course, been framed for the theft and held responsible for the death of a miltary general. They have to clear their names and find the people responsible. Could it be someone who's right under their big collective nose? That would just be crazy. Anyway, the part you'll care about most is when they wind up flying a tank that's plummeting to earth under a parachute that was designed specifically to hold a tank. Later a giant shipping tanker explodes and everyone is shooting guns. And most of the time, even in between the noisiest parts, people are still yelling about this and that. It doesn't really matter what. If, unlike me, it's not your job to point out the flaws in a movie, you'll be happy to know that all of the machines in this film do their job impeccably. The vehicles go vroom, the guns go bang, the rocket launchers incinerate lots of people collateral damage unfortunate enough to stumble across their path, helicopters fly upside down the way they do sometimes and bombs burst in air. And on the sea. And in the desert, turning sand into glass. Pretend most of the people aren't in it and you'll have no good reason not to fully enjoy yourself. Someone was too in love with the sound of Liam Neeson's voice to let him ruin it by puffing on cigars as much as his character should. Bradley Cooper's good looks are not the same thing as putting in the work to direct him to a charismatic performance and he just comes off as grating and entitled. Sharlto Copley's accents are fun but once they establish him as the "crazy one" he's got nothing to do but re-enact scenes from Braveheart and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. And Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, for all his physical presence, comes off as threatening as a bowl of Mr. T cereal. With skim milk. What I'm trying to say is that I blame the director. The best scene was when Jackson and Neeson sit around talking about Gandhi. No joke. It happens. And Neeson reasons that if Gandhi were here he want them to START KILLING EVERYONE. Not long before or after this moment--honestly, I forget where--he also says, "Overkill is underrated." Right on, Schindler's List Guy. And stay through the credits and you'll see Dirk Benedict, who played the Cooper role in the original TV series. He doesn't have much to do but there he is, on camera, bestowing what I assume is a blessing on the proceedings and counting every penny of the paycheck. Y'know, he once turned down being interviewed for the Phile. From 1 to 10, it gets a 7, and I probably will end up getting it on blu-ray. I like the original show a lot better.

1939
In Versailles, Eugene Weidmann becomes the last person to be publicly guillotined.
1968
Ohio Express' "Yummy Yummy Yummy (I've got love in my tummy)" goes gold.
1972
The "plumbers" break into Democratic National Committee Headquarters in the Watergate complex, in the course of what President Nixon will later describe as a "third rate burglary." In actuality, it is an attempt by the Republican Party to illegally wiretap the opposition.
1974
The IRA explodes a bomb in Houses of Parliament. An hour before the explosion, the IRA calls to warn of the threat but officers fail to clear the building in time and 11 are killed.
1994
O.J. Simpson fails to turn himself in to the LAPD at a prearranged time and is later spotted in a white Ford Bronco on a Los Angeles expressway. After a low-speed pursuit through the freeways and streets of Brentwood, O.J. is finally arrested live on television in the driveway of his mansion. According to one of the defense attorneys who served on O.J.'s "Dream Team," Simpson tried to kill himself in the car, but the gun misfired. The Juice allegedly told him: "I pulled the trigger and it didn't go off."


Today's guest is the 9th Peverett Phile Book club author to be pheatured on the Phile. Her book "Family Bones" is available right now on Amazon.com and she'll be appearing at the 5th Annual Galax Book Festival in Grayson St. Galax, VA on June 11th and 12th. Please welcome to the Phile... Kimberly Raiser.


Me: Hello, Kimberly, welcome to the Peverett Phile. So, how are you?

Kimberly: I'm doing pretty darned good!

Me: Do you prefer to be called Kimberly or Kim?

Kimberly: I prefer Kimberly, thank you for asking.

Me: Congrats, your book "Family Bones" is the 9th book to be pheatured on the Phile. Thanks for sending me a copy, I really enjoyed it. Explain briefly what the book is about.

Kimberly: This question is always difficult for me. It's a very cross genre piece of work. It's been falling under the Horror genre on Amazon, and doing quite well in the top 100 on Kindle recently. It also comes up in Action and Adventure. I would say it's a mystery thriller with Sci-fi and supernatural elements. The story follows the Weaver family as they visit Steven's family home that they have recently inherited. There are dark secrets from the Weaver family that reside on the property. There are passageways and hidden rooms. The couple's young son gets separated from them while the family investigates the property. Strangers appear. There are twists and turns throughout the story. I enjoy a good twist in my stories, and unpredictability.

Me: It takes place in Pennsylvania, but you are not from there, right?

Kimberly: No I'm not, but I did live in Pensylvania for a few years as a young child. I love it there, and there is so much history.

Me: You currently live in St. Augestine, Kimberly. What made you decide to move there? As a matter of fact I just moved to the Richmond area of Virginia but we have kept our home in St. Augustine. My husband and I actually met in St. Augustine eleven years ago. We both love the history and oldness of the area. We also were married downtown... the oldest city in our nation!

Me: Have you ever done any of those ghost tours there?

Kimberly: We tend to do our own ghost tours! But I have had a number of ghostly experiences in St. Augustine. There is definitely something here and there.

Me: When did "Family Bones" originally get published? It's your first novel, is that right?

Kimberly: It was actually first published as a serial on www.silverthought.com titled "Astral Plains", then I decided to finish it as a novel "The Family Bones".

Me: Speaking of 'family'... what does your family think of your writing? You have children, right?

Kimberly: I drive them crazy with my short stories. My daughter doesn't like the scary ones. I tend to give her nightmares so she won't let me read them to her. All in all my family is very supportive of my writing. My husband is my technical adviser; he's been just incredible.

Me: You were a poetry writer originally, is that right? What made you become a novelist? Do you still write poetry?

Kimberly: I've written poetry since I was a young child. I actually had a great deal of poetry published before I started writing seriously in the fiction genre. I used to always say I would write a novel someday, but I just never finished anything. I finally decided a few summers ago to work on short stories and getting them published just to get my name out there. After much success I finally finished "The Family Bones". I do also have a book of my published short stories out there titled "Stranded: Stories from the edge of infinity..." It's got some great sci-fi, horror, and just plain quirky stories in it.

Me: I still remember my first poem I wrote in grade school, Kimberly. "Cindy Windy flew away, flying over the USA. She got popped, and down she fell, splashing in an old man's well"
What do you think?

Kimberly: She got popped huh? Sounds like someone had a warped sense of humor. My kinda kid!!!

Me: Let's talk about "Pepper Fink". That's a children's book you are working on, am I right? What is the premise, and is it aimed at boys or girls or both?

Kimberly: Pepper Fink is actually the pen name I use for my children's stories. I am currently awaiting word from a publisher about the series, the first being "A Little town called Plink". This story is for both girls and boys and also meant to be enjoyed by adults that are reading it out loud. It's smart and funny and features a young girl who is curious and bright and ventures out in Plink to find out why the sky has changed colors. She comes across some unusual characters and visits Mr. Godfrey who is a quite inventive chap who helps she and Charlie to their discovery. I always throw in some humor, I can't help myself!

Me: I also read your book on short stories called "Stranded Stories From the Edge of Infinity" thanks to you sending me a copy of that book as well. What do you like better, writing short stories or novels? I enjoy all of it. It's hard for me to stay on task. Life has been a bit busy the last year, although I must say, I really enjoy short stories. I love being goofy, and scary.

Kimberly: Do you have any favorite authors that you admire? I have two... Douglas Adams and Alan Dean Foster. I interviewed Foster here on the Phile, but unfortunately I won't be interviewing Adams.

Kimberly: I love Douglas Adams, he is my hero!!! I also had the opportunity to sit on a panel with Brian Keene in Nashville last year, and now I am addicted to his books. I just consumed four of them in the last six months. Great Zombie writer!!! I always liked Chrichton and Asimov and Heinlein as a kid.

Me: What do you think of the "Twilight" craze? I have no intention of reading those books. I heard they make good movies though. Would you ever want "Family Bones" to be turned into a movie?

Kimberly: I probably feel the same as you about the craze. Don't want to really read the books, haven't seen the movies. It would be cool to see any work turned into a movie. I've actually had a few inquiries from big movie companies about the rights to it!

Me: I have to ask you about your grandfather Henry Kunicki. I googled him, Kimberly. Tell the Phile readers who he was.

Kimberly: My grandfather grew up with physicist David Bohm. I never knew this until he was much older. My father had sent me and article about David Bohm's biography. I bought a copy of the book and there was my grandfather mentioned in it as his childhood friend that used to talk about space travel and such. It was very exciting. My grandfather was an electrical engineer and used to tell us stories of strange things that happened to him as a young man and with the government where he worked. He also love science fiction and used to save all the books he read for me when I would come to visit he and my grandmother in the summers. I wish he would have been around to see my work published.

Me: Did he ever tell you any Einstein stories?

Kimberly: Not really. David Bohm worked with Einstein but that was after they had lost touch with each other.

Me: We briefly met at MegaCon a few months ago, Kimberly. Do you like doing conventions?

Kimberly: I actually have a blast doing them. I get to meet so many fascinating and fun people. I actually keep in touch with alot of them, including Felix Silla who played Cousin It on "The Adams Family" He was a hoot at last year's MegaCon.

Me: Will you be at FX?

Kimberly: Not this year. I went last year and had a blast, got to meet Leonard Nimoy!!!!

Me: What are you working on now, Kimberly? You are busy editing a magazine as well, right?

Kimberly: The magazine is on hold. I'm working on a trilogy titled "Children of Roen". It's about the descendents of the lost colony of Roanoke and how they have been cursed. The main character is a young woman who starts to grow wings every other month or so. They tear through her flesh for days and after being confined for a week at home they fall off and she has to go through it over and over again until one day she finally cannot resist the temptation to fly. She will come in contact with others similar to herself that do not know about the curse. She will also have to deal with the descendents of the hunters who are charged to destroy them. The legend says that the descendents shall rise and then battle until good or evil prevails. Part One of Book One is available on Kindle right now!!!

Me: Thanks for being on the Phile and letting "Family Bones" be on the book club. I wish you lots of luck, nd in your next book, if you want to add a character based on me I wouldn't object. LOL. All the best, and thanks for the books. I really enjoyed them. Keep up the good work.

Kimberly: Thanks so much. I'll have to throw a book reviewer in there as a character somewhere. I'll have to do some research on you!!!! I'll be looking forword to our next chat!!!!

That's it for the Phile this week. Thanks to Wikipedia, and of course Kimberly Raiser. Next Thursday: Les Dudek. Spread the word, not the turd and don't let alligators and snakes bite you. Bye love you, bye. Now I am gonna go swimming with the fam.