tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10992455342109969732024-02-07T18:05:00.912-05:00AzarRisingFollowing the journey of award winning author, Alex Azar, as he travels the publishing world and all things interesting.
To reproduce or publish any material found within this blog, please contact me at azarrising@hotmail.comazarrisinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06883843625206014727noreply@blogger.comBlogger135125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1099245534210996973.post-72309499115663933162014-05-21T12:00:00.000-04:002014-05-21T12:00:01.134-04:00What I'm Reading Now 5/21/14If you didn't realize from my previous posts about Batman's 75th anniversary, I'm a bit of a comic fan. As such I thoroughly enjoyed a six issue comic series called The Escapist which came out in 2006. The story revolved around a golden age era comic hero I hadn't heard about getting a retelling in more modern times. It wasn't until after I read the series that I learned there never azarrisinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06883843625206014727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1099245534210996973.post-20000469916209197042014-04-15T15:22:00.001-04:002014-04-15T15:22:07.881-04:00Big News!....Last week I received some huge news. I probably could tell you more at this point, but I'd rather draw it out. So, all I'll say is, check back often for the biggest news I've ever announced.
Am I over selling it? Stay tuned to find out.
azarrisinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06883843625206014727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1099245534210996973.post-83179435112278290932014-04-04T03:19:00.002-04:002014-04-04T03:19:40.601-04:00Free Thoughts 4/4/14Growing up I never really had an issue with pimples. Sure I got the stray bump while going through those awkward teenage years, but it was never so bad as a problem. My skin, aside from the various scars I've acquired from the follies of youth, has always been mostly blemish free.
Why am I telling you this? Perhaps because it's three a.m. Thursday night, or if you prefer early Fridayazarrisinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06883843625206014727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1099245534210996973.post-76188119175315822722014-03-31T13:00:00.000-04:002014-05-09T12:10:37.074-04:00What I'm Reading Now 3/31/14: UPDATEDThere's a strange dichotomy within me. I'm very much a fan of Stephen King, however I haven't read many of his novels. My fandom of his exists almost entirely with his short stories, (a large influence of my own style) however there are actually only a handful of his novels that I've already read. Of course my opinion of the bard has been influenced by the plethora of movies/tv azarrisinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06883843625206014727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1099245534210996973.post-55779804642934765292014-03-24T12:00:00.000-04:002014-03-24T12:00:05.090-04:00Free Thoughts 3/24/14I recently went to a concert at the Stanhope House. It's basically a large bar that has a stage. Apparently, it's mostly a Jazz/Blues venue, but I went with my brother to see Pharoahe Monch, a rapper. And because he's a rapper, the opening acts were also hip-hop... all of them. There was 8 opening acts, each performed 3-4 quick raps and were gone. I would have much azarrisinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06883843625206014727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1099245534210996973.post-26532225113156332492014-03-17T13:00:00.000-04:002014-03-17T13:00:05.637-04:00A History Of Comics From One Fan's Eyes: Part 3
Marvel
Comics and the creators behind these legendary characters that
populate their universe did an amazing job crafting fantastic heroes
that are somehow still relatable. Stan Lee, Archie Goodwin, John
Byrne, David Michelinie and countless other authors found a way for
me to relate to this character that should otherwise not work. What
was the quote from the Avengers movie? Without the suit ofazarrisinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06883843625206014727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1099245534210996973.post-64399252413214282462014-03-10T13:00:00.000-04:002014-03-10T13:00:02.151-04:00Intro 9: The Statue GardenOne thing I've learned as an author, and have confirmed with others in this profession, is that ideas never die. It may take some time for them to resurface but they always do. Some story ideas should probably stay buried like that time I thought people wanted to read about an Arab teen's fictional reimagining of the hip-hop East coast - West coast situation at the time of Biggie's azarrisinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06883843625206014727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1099245534210996973.post-47154736795817749072014-03-03T13:00:00.000-05:002014-03-03T13:00:02.366-05:00A History Of Comics From One Fan's Eyes: Part 2
I
didn't know at the time, but choosing to buy that issue of Iron Man
#133 not only started on the sexy path of comic collector (hey, maybe
if enough people say it comics can be sexy), but also changed my life
in a much more profound way.
The
comic that started me on my path of constant near poverty, in
other words, a comic collector
Coming
from a azarrisinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06883843625206014727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1099245534210996973.post-37014609531339998602014-02-24T12:00:00.000-05:002014-03-09T00:15:42.722-05:00What I'm Reading Now 2/24/14 UPDATEDI'm about to read a book called "The 37th Mandala", and that's about all I know about the book. I even had to google the book to find out the author is Marc Laidlaw, feel like I should know this name, but I don't.
I had come across the book randomly about two years ago and remember hearing years prior that I would enjoy it. I think the phrase used was something along the lines azarrisinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06883843625206014727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1099245534210996973.post-73017660269103985922014-02-17T12:00:00.000-05:002014-02-17T12:00:00.686-05:00A History Of Comics From One Fan's Eyes: Part 1
If recent history is any indication, we
all love comics. How else would the biggest Hollywood blockbusters
be based on the four-color 'funny pages' so many of us grew up on?
Marvel's The Avengers is the third highest grossing movie of all
time, and the Iron Man and Christopher Nolan Batman trilogies are
among the biggest franchises in recent years. Comics have even taken
over our TV screens azarrisinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06883843625206014727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1099245534210996973.post-69806642983664565282014-02-10T12:00:00.000-05:002014-02-28T12:05:28.500-05:00What I'm Reading Now 2/10/14 UPDATEDNext on my reading block is a book by one of the best comic writers in the industry today, Warren Ellis. He's the creator of the Iron Man stories that heavily influenced the feel of the movies, thus creating the Iron Man most of the public knows and loves. I know from his comic work that he crafts interesting, fantastic tales but bases them on real world probabilities.
This has azarrisinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06883843625206014727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1099245534210996973.post-38024987997769100112014-01-24T23:27:00.001-05:002014-02-09T09:03:42.949-05:00What I'm Reading Now 1/24/14 UPDATEDAfter reading several flops that I couldn't get past, or in some cases even up to, page 75 I was tempted to reread a book I know I like. In the end I decided against this, and chose a book that was a recent addition to my list of to-read books, "Sandman Slim". The premise seems promising enough to be worthy of doing a "What I'm Reading" post on it. The main character, presumablyazarrisinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06883843625206014727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1099245534210996973.post-75626642780199987572014-01-13T14:09:00.001-05:002014-01-13T14:12:33.697-05:00Creator Interview Pete Hernandez IIINot too long ago I had hosted an author interview for Ed Ahern. I had enjoyed the process so much, that I decided to continue hosting interviews. Today we have Pete Hernandez III creator of Company Man, and an all around good guy. (I'm hoping to butter him up for future collaborations...) On to the good stuff.
Pete Hernandez III (who else would it be a pic of?)
AzarRising: azarrisinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06883843625206014727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1099245534210996973.post-40893785016794440792014-01-12T09:15:00.000-05:002014-01-12T09:16:03.666-05:00Ongoing Giveaway
At this time, I'm still looking for new followers, so I've upped the ante for the race to 50.
Once I've reached 50 followers, all names will be entered into a virtual hat and 5 will be chosen at random. Those 5 winner will receive not one but five anthologies I've been published in to date.
That's right, better than a $5 footlong from Subway, you'll receive five azarrisinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06883843625206014727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1099245534210996973.post-42002905120742251412014-01-06T18:58:00.001-05:002014-01-06T18:58:31.616-05:00New Year: Same ExcusesI was never one to give much credence to New Year's Resolutions. To me they seemed doomed from the start to fail. If you need a resolution to save more money, you clearly have a larger issue at hand that's already out of your control. You shouldn't have to rely on a particular date to begin a diet if you're not happy with your body. And if you have to rely on a fake azarrisinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06883843625206014727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1099245534210996973.post-773928648707606552013-12-26T13:53:00.002-05:002013-12-26T14:04:16.265-05:00Intro 8: Mindless ThoughtsContinuing my series of teases of published stories, I give you the intro to my entry in the New Dawn Fades anthology from PostMortem Press that focused on zombies of a different sort. The editor challenged authors to try something different with the genre instead of relying on the tropes. After a few failed attempts I came across this gem that I really enjoyed writing, and have azarrisinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06883843625206014727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1099245534210996973.post-89479947232860231722013-11-24T16:33:00.005-05:002013-11-24T16:34:12.970-05:00Mystery and Horror LLC book giveaway
For those of you feeling lucky (or cheap) you can win a copy of the latest anthology I'm published in Undead of Winter over at the Mystery and Horror LLC website.
Head on over to the link to take your chance. But fret not, even if you don't win (sorry) you're still lucky enough to live in a country where the book hasn't been banned, yet! So head on over to amazon.com&azarrisinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06883843625206014727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1099245534210996973.post-2320181263327671712013-11-20T15:08:00.001-05:002013-11-20T15:09:11.992-05:00Detective James S. PeckmanA few weeks ago I had posted about a forth coming story that is going to be published by Mystery and Horror LLC, who published my most recent short story as well. This new anthology Undead of Winter contains my first published story of a character that I've been working on for several years.
This character, James S. Peckman, is a paranormal detective that was introducedazarrisinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06883843625206014727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1099245534210996973.post-86186954616162625902013-11-05T13:33:00.002-05:002013-11-05T13:36:28.256-05:00Politics, sorry for the interruption.People always tell me I should care more about politics and especially should vote at every election. I say people need to stop being complacent and voting for 'the lesser of two evils'. This country will not change if we keep bringing into office people we don't fully support. Don't vote for one representative because you disagree with the other, don't blindly follow a red candidate azarrisinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06883843625206014727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1099245534210996973.post-63973249576060288092013-11-03T09:01:00.003-05:002013-11-03T09:03:32.072-05:00Halloween Still?It must still be Halloween, because I just recently sign the contract for my 11th publication!
I'm happy to announce to once again be working with Mystery and Horror LLC, the great new publisher that put out my most recent story, "The Taste of Copper" in their Strangely Funny anthology.
This time around, the mood isn't so jovial as we explore the undead things lurking during the azarrisinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06883843625206014727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1099245534210996973.post-31287986265534921042013-10-31T00:01:00.001-04:002013-10-31T00:01:32.278-04:00Untitled Ghost storyIf I've said it once, I've probably repeated myself as I'm prone to do, but I sincerely feel that as a horror author it is my responsibility to post a horror story every Halloween. This year is no different.
Many moons ago I had wondered what would the world look like if no only ghosts were real, but they were public knowledge that the government protected against, or even azarrisinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06883843625206014727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1099245534210996973.post-35763621077707675582013-10-21T22:39:00.002-04:002013-10-21T22:39:53.075-04:00Intro 7: Little ChangesLest you forget this is first and foremost a blog about my writing, here's the intro to the next story I had published, Little Changes.
This is another story that was written for a particular anthology that unfortunately didn't make the cut. The original publisher I submitted this to had called for a were-creature story that didn't involve werewolves and took place in an urban setting. &azarrisinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06883843625206014727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1099245534210996973.post-82289936325685458172013-10-10T15:49:00.001-04:002013-10-10T15:49:06.560-04:00Free Thoughts 10/10/13
Late last night I returned to NJ from a trip to San Francisco and here are a few takeaways I have from my first time to the city. I'm a fan. New Orleans is still my favorite vacation spot, but I really enjoyed my time in San Fran. Everyone is so laid back, even in the Financial District, not something I'm used to from the East Coast.
Hills are killer on the calves, but you gotta love azarrisinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06883843625206014727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1099245534210996973.post-32530903275741893742013-09-27T00:00:00.000-04:002013-10-05T01:19:03.980-04:00What I'm Reading Now: 9/27 UPDATEDAnother book I've had for a while that I've just gotten around to reading. "Flowers for Algernon" is a book from 1959 about a retard (that's the term they used back then) who undergoes an operation that is intended to increase his intelligence. The entire book is told through Charlie, the retard, by way of his progress reports, or "progris riport" as he initially spells it. I azarrisinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06883843625206014727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1099245534210996973.post-19854166732364409052013-09-24T15:10:00.001-04:002013-09-24T15:10:06.056-04:00Rejection 14: "Under the Hood of Winter"It's been a while since I posted a rejection, sadly not because I haven't been rejected, but because the majority of rejections sent out are generic and not personalized to the author. That makes for boring reading for you, and for me if I'm being honest.
However, I recently received a rejection for a story I was positive would make it, and after not hearing back from the editor when I wasazarrisinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06883843625206014727noreply@blogger.com0