The Tentacle Porn Reclassification (and your WOD)

Posted on November 6, 2015 | Leave a comment
Here's the cover to my new supernatural romance eBook bundle. Pretty, huh?

Here’s the cover to my new supernatural romance eBook bundle. Pretty, huh?

Out of the frying pan and into the fire.

For some reason I had this idea that my books would fare better if reclassified as Supernatural Romance instead of as Horror.   Maybe it had been preconceived notions or simple machismo that had clouded my eyes before,  but I had the realization that my novels were actually romances.

So that’s where I put them.

And this morning I scoped out the competition, and what do I see?  Books with titles that include words like BBW, Sexy, Wild, Penetration, Lust, Erotic, and so on. I’m up against a bundle called “Monster Lovers” which apparently contains “Tentacles, Demons and Slenderman, Nonhuman, Kinky, Fetish, Supernatural, Impregnation, Pagan, Paranormal Erotica.”

Wonderful.  I mean, to each his own.  I’m not hating — read what you want.  I’m just a little disappointed because I had hoped to find my books lined up with similar books.  Is that so much to ask?

If you want to pre-order out my Supernatural/Paranormal Romance Bundle — which contains non-explicit sex between caring partners but no tentacle porn — here are the links.

Calis Codex cover final for web

I also wrote a calisthenics book that ‘s selling like hotcakes. Gitcha some.

And now for your WOD:

  • AMSAYC in 11 minutes of 8 Fingertip Push-ups, 8 Twisters, and 8 (per leg ) Front Lunges.
  • 4 x 3:00/1:00 of Weapon Combos vs. air.  Go hard or go home — full power practical combos from close to long range.    Combo Example with Cane: Two-handed bracing strike to face, two-handed poke x3 (high, low, mid-section), clearing maneuver x3, overhand figure 8 x3.  Alternate hands/stances.

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Hey Guys, Let’s Circle Up (and Your WOD)

Posted on November 5, 2015 | Leave a comment

It’s getting dark early now that we’ve done the whole Daylight-Savings-Time-Fall-Back-thing.  Pretty soon the martial arts club will be going to Winter hours, canceling Tuesday nights and meeting Saturday afternoons only.

I shot this video on Tuesday.  This is the blessing with which we close all our meetings.  Gotta say, my guys are the best.

And now for your two-part WOD.  This is only 20 minutes, but trust me, you’ll be pushing some serious carbon dioxide around your workout space.

  1. Sandbag Workout. Choose a bag at least 15% body weight and complete AMSAYC in 10 mins of 10 Prisoner Get-ups and 10 Squat-Curl-Presses.
  2. Ground Fighting Conditioner #1.  Set timer for two minutes and take as few 12 second breaks as possible:
  • Circle the bag: Forearms on bag and toes on floor are only points of contact.  Circle the bag using only legs and feet, alternating directions, until the timer beeps.
  • Mount the bag: Strike 10 times as hard as you can. Body lock the bag, barrel-roll, regain mount, and repeat until the timer beeps.
  • Roll the bag: Lay on your back with heavy-bag perpendicularly on top of your body.  Roll it up and down across torso, pushing and pulling like a rolling pin.  From time to time, press up the bag and let it drop on your torso to maintain your tolerance for the stresses of wrestling.  Continue for entire round.
  • Defend the bag: Lay on your back with back on top of you longways.  Push up the bag w/ left hand and strike it five times with the right, then switch and strike with the left hand.  Repeat for two minutes.
  • Side Mount the bag: Scissor legs each direction 3 times, then scramble over bag with forearms and toes only.  Repeat.  When the timer beeps, you’re done.

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My Tajine Recipe, More Temple Pics, and your WOD

Posted on November 4, 2015 | Leave a comment
The Cabal Fang Temple in the morning fog.

The sun rises behind The Cabal Fang Temple in the morning fog.

Every since I read the book Wind, Sand and Stars by Antoine De Saint-Exupery I’ve had a fascination with North Africa and its flavors.  I experimented with Moroccan cooking and spiced coffees for months, and then I kind of got out of it.  Then last night, out of the blue, I started craving all those crazy spices.  So I made this — my first Tajine.

wpid-20151103_195341.jpgMitch’s Quick ‘n’ Dirty Tajine*

  • 1 lb. Free Range Ground Beef
  • 2 sweet potatoes boiled and cubed
  • 1 cups of cooked fresh or frozen peas
  • 1 cup cooked brown rice
  • 1 snack-sized box of raisins
  • 1 can of diced tomatoes with onion and garlic
  • 1 teaspoon of cumin (or more to taste)
  • 1 teaspoon of cinnamon (or more to taste)
  • 1/2 teaspoon of salt or to taste
  • optional: a dash of Cobra Spice Mix

Brown beef and drain while  your peeled and cubed  sweet potatoes are boiling and your brown rice is cooking.  When done, add all of it the pot.  Throw in peas, raisins, tomatoes and spices.  Put a lid on it and let it bubble on very low heat until heated through.  Like most stews, it’s much better on the second day after the spices settle in and permeate the ingredients.  This is two servings for me, which means it’s actually four servings.

And now for your Cabal Fang WOD.

  • Dumbbells: 6 x 12 of Two-handed Bench Presses, Curl-ups, and Goblet Squats (should take about 20 minutes).
  • Standing Contemplation: Set timer to beep every minute and change stances when it does.  Do Horse stance (thighs parallel to floor), Left Front (left thigh parallel to floor), Right Front (right thigh parallel to floor), Left Back, Right Back, Left Crane, Right Crane, and Horse once more.  Total 8 minutes.

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* I know, Tajine is supposed to be ladled over couscous.  But I don’t eat white carbs, and very rarely even brown rice or wheat bread.  So I subbed brown rice and threw it all together in the same pot.

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Don’t Hone the Message

Posted on November 2, 2015 | 4 comments

wpid-20140824_122343.jpgMarketing.  The word issues from my mouth like moldy egg shells and coffee grounds falling through a slit in a garbage bag.  Like most things that are gross and now make my skin crawl, I once had a love affair with Marketing.

I wanted to sell more stuff.  So I started cozying up to marketing concepts.  I started reading about marketing and thinking about marketing.  I even met with a couple of prospective marketing managers.  I never took either of them on, but both of them said what the Marketing 101 books and blogs say.  That I needed to define my niche, speak to my target audience, and hone my message.

I started doing that, and I put a ton of time into it.  I didn’t sell any more stuff.  I just wasted  lots of time that I could’ve spent writing, and what I did write lacked my unique vision.    As Kurt Vonnegut said, “If you open a window to the world, your story will catch cold.”

I’m done “honing my message.”  Honing my message actually dulls my edge.  I’m a martial artist and mystic who writes non-fiction books on martial arts and fitness and the occasional paranormal romance novel (my newest bundle is on pre-order until Dec. 1st).

Nowadays I just ask myself, “What is the thought or idea that you and only you are capable of expressing?”  My uniqueness is the sizzle on my steak, the stank that draws the flies, the milkshake that brings all the boys to the yard.  Ooops, I think I got a little carried away on that last one.  I do not have or want any boys in my yard.

What I mean is that if I spent my life trying to be the popular kid and sold a zillion books, then I’d just die wondering if the stuff I really wanted to write could have ever sold.

I don’t want to be James Patterson.  I want to be me.  Me is all I got.

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Archangel Barachiel and Your WOD

Posted on October 30, 2015 | Leave a comment
Inside the Cabal Fang Temple an offering of incense burns in the shrine to Barachiel.

Inside the Cabal Fang Temple an offering of incense burns in the shrine to Barachiel.

Today’s Cabal Fang WOD is a three-parter, as follows:

  • Half-pyramid to 12 of: Hop or Clap Push-ups, Flutter Kicks, Prisoner Squats (that’s a total of 78 each).
  • Two-kick Combos vs. Heavy Bag: Set timer for 1 min.   Kick bag with lead leg two-kick combos for 1 min, then rear leg combos, then rest 1 min.*
  • Meditation: Set a timer for 10 mins.  Relax, open your mind, and spend a few minutes meditating on a mental image of Archangel Barachiel, the androgynous guardian angel of Cabal Fang.  In the Eastern Orthodoxy he is known as Saint Barachiel, leader of the guardian angels, Prince of Seraphim.  Ruler of the planet Jupiter, he/she holds dominion over lighting and is often depicted holding a white rose or a basket of bread. Interestingly enough, In Enoch 8:4 he/she is listed as the 9th Watcher, the fallen angel who taught Astronomy to humanity.

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Books & Brews: Courtship of the Cake / Ballast Point’s Calm Before the Storm

Posted on October 29, 2015 | Leave a comment

Mary Chris Escobar runs a kick-ass shop.  Great ideas, relentless and work ethic, and a cool sense of humor.  You should give her blog a sip — er, I mean, a read.  Because…beer.  Duh!

Source: Books & Brews: Courtship of the Cake / Ballast Point’s Calm Before the Storm

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A Filthy Little Workout

Posted on October 27, 2015 | Leave a comment
Calis Codex cover final for web

If you like this workout, you might like my eBook “The Calisthenics Codex.” Click this pick to check it out.

Yesterday I was so busy talking about the new three book bundle I have out on preorder right now that I forgot to share the Cabal Fang Workout of the Day.  So, without further delay, here it is…

  • Dumbbells. 5 x 12 of Military Press, Rear Lunges, 2-Handed Tricep Ext., Ripcords.  Rest 30 secs between sets (this should take 15 – 20 minutes).
  • Rest 1 minute.
  • Deck of Cards Original Combo. Remove Jokers, shuffle deck, and place face down on floor.  Flip top card.  Black = Push-ups, red = Squats.   Hold last position while flipping next card — deep squat or one-handed plank.  Aces = 10, face cards = 12.  Finish the whole deck and it’s 200 Push-ups and 200 Squats.  Finish it faster than 20:50 and you have me beat.

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My New Romance eBook Bundle — Pre-ordering Now Everywhere

Posted on October 26, 2015 | 3 comments
Here's the cover to my new supernatural romance eBook bundle. Pretty, huh?

Nice cover, huh? Pre-order now.  Price goes up to $7.99 on Dec 1st.

Deep realization: my three novels are actually in the Supernatural Romance genre rather than the Horror or Supernatural Thriller category.  Are they creepy, weird, and strange?  Yes.

Are they “Rated R?”  Yes.  There’s sex, violence, monsters, swearing, guns, stab wounds, blood, corpses, and kinds of stuff that aren’t in your grandma’s romance books.  But that’s not what they’re really about.

These books are about love, growth, and transformation.  They’re about overcoming the dark forces that seem to be trying to drag us down into negativity, mediocrity, boredom, and sloth, or even further down into prejudice, violence, and hate.  My books are about overcoming gravity and finding love.

Why am I just realizing this now?  Give credit to my ongoing sublimation, my continual confrontation of the shadow, or just thank the teachings of Hermes Trismegistus.  But somehow I was able to clear away the mask and see that I wrote three romance novels that some people seem to really like.  Here’s what some reviewers said about the books in this series:

  • “A good read — Love the end!”
  • “A terrific read…is it real or just fiction? Cannot wait for the next book to come out.”
  • “It puts your belief between fact and fiction. You begin to second guess what you know as fact.”

Save $2.00 (and support your local writer) by pre-ordering the set for $5.99.  Price goes up to $7.99 on Dec. 1st.  That’s three complete eBooks, over 200,000 words of reading pleasure, for just $5.99.  If it was any cheaper it’d be free.

Pre-order at iTunes

Pre-order at Barnes & Noble

Pre-order at Smashwords in any eBook format

Pre-order for your KOBO eReader

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Your WOD — Which Includes Ground-fighting Conditioner #4

Posted on October 23, 2015 | 2 comments

wpid-20151023_070604.jpgHere’s your 3-Part Cabal Fang WOD (“Workout of the Day”).  Intermediate players add a weighted vest to Part 2 (I used a #10):

  1. 8-minute Blast.  As many sets as you can in 8 minutes of 10 Steam Engines, 10 Zombie Squats, 10 Staggered Push-ups, and 10 Pikes — take as few 12-second breaks as you need to finish, preferably none.  I made 5 full sets with zero breaks (PTDICE are great for generating workouts like this).
  2. Ground-fighting Conditioner #4.  Put on your MMA gloves and set timer for 10 minutes.  Shin or Knee Ride bag, face post, and punch “head” 10 times.  Slide leg over into mount and strike 10 times.  Body lock back and roll to bottom position.  Push up bag with one hand and strike it 10 times with the other.  Hip escape and advance back to Shin or Knee Ride and repeat as many times as you can before the timer beeps.
  3. Tarot Meditation.  Set timer for 10 minutes and dim the lights.  Stand up Tarot Trump XII “The Hanged Man” — lean it against something like a stack of books — and meditate on the image with eyes narrowed until the timer beeps.  Fully relax and experience the symbolism.

Everybody have a great weekend

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Three Realizations and Your WOD

Posted on October 21, 2015 | Leave a comment

It’s funny how, if you don’t give up, your spiritual and intellectual vision gets ever more acute and insightful.  I think that’s what they call wisdom?  Anyway, I’ve had several significant realizations lately, all of which coalesced after reading the Alan Watts book and the D. W. Hauck book.

And those realizations, in no particular order, are:

  1. What I actually study should properly be called “the ageless wisdom” or “the perennial philosophy.”  “Occult” is a stupid choice of words that’s really off-putting to 99% of the population.  The word “occult” is damaged goods, now suitable only for horror films.  Kind of like Tsuguharu Foujita’s mustache immediately reminds everyone of a certain genocidal maniac.  I’ve talked about poor word and symbol choice before.  How could I be so dumb?
  2. Cabal Fang, the martial art I founded in 2008, isn’t really a Western martial art as much as it is a world martial art.  East and West are increasingly meaningless distinctions.  Just because it was born in the Western hemisphere doesn’t mean it’s Western, necessarily.
  3. I’ve been setting my sights too low.  Why do I always allow myself to be hammered flat onto the anvil of mediocrity?  I do not want to write books that a few people enjoy or that make a few bucks.  I want to write books that change the world, and I will not write another book unless I think it is going to be the best of it’s kind that has ever been written. 

wpid-20151021_070131.jpgAnd now for your WOD, which is a “mega-Tabata” that will take you 24 minutes.

  • Part 1 — Dumbbells.  Select dumbbells each no less than 10% of your body weight.  Set timer for 24 x :20/:10 and cycle through Squat/Press, Shrugs, and Goblet Squats 8 times.  Each round complete as many as you can during the :20 and rest for the :10.
  • Part 2 — Static Slow Kicks.  Set timer for 24 x :20/:10 and cycle through Lead Leg Roundhouse, Lead Leg Side Kick, and Lead Leg Push Kick.  Change stance and do it again.   Repeat 3 more times.  Execute kicks very slowly and with perfect form (no more than 5 or 6 kicks per :20 round).

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