Review…

I am pleased to announce that my short story “The Language of Ice” is scheduled to appear in Phoenix Sullivan’s upcoming anthology Extinct Doesn’t Mean Forever. The anthology is slated for a spring release. You’ll be able to find it wherever fine e-books are sold. I just signed the contract and I am very excited! : )

More information can be found here: http://phoenixsullivan.blogspot.com/2011/02/stories-accepted-for-extinct.html

2010 Goals Accomplished…Now onto 2011

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2010 Goals Accomplished …Now onto 2011

Another year is over. Did you make the most of it? What did you accomplish? I bet you accomplished more than you think you did. Throughout the year I keep track of everything I’m doing, everything I’m accomplishing. Then at the end of the year I post a list of many of my greatest accomplishments and even some of my smaller ones. To keep myself honest, at the end of the year, I post the list for you to see. Just knowing that I have to share my list publicly keeps me on track.

Accomplishments

Education (UMASS)

Microsoft Office—Grade: A

Art Appreciation—Grade: A

Human Ecology—Grade: A-

Economics I (microeconomics)—C+. Not a bad grade considering that when you learn online you pretty much teach yourself.

Applied for and received loans

Bought Office 2007 and Office for Mac 2008 and installed them.

Visited Museum of Art Rhode Island School of Design 2x

Writing

Continued editing novel based on professional critique.

Called Ray Garton to discuss his professional critique of my novel.

Used Duotrope.com to research short story markets and keep up with the needs of publishers.

Donated to Duotrope.com

Paid Horror Writer’s Association (HWA) dues

Wrote synopsis for a nonfiction book I’m planning on writing

Read writing instructional e-book Write Good or Die

Researched e-book indie-publishing

Submitted short stories to 14 fiction markets

Joined Book club/writing group

Wrote 3 short stories this year.

Attended Tracy Carbone’s signing at Barnes & Noble

Sold Kindle 2’s so we could buy Kindle 3’s

Joined Dropbox.com to backup my writing files.

Martial Arts

Celebrated 23 years of martial arts training

Taught private lessons in Tang Soo Do (Korean Karate).

Promoted 2 students to yellow belt and one student to orange belt.

Became a certified instructor/official branch school under GM Rhee to provide my students with official certificates.

Trained at my old Moo Duk Kwan school on days that I visited my parents.

Assisted teaching a little dragon’s TKD class.

Trained with my friend M. Phil in TKD/TSD and he instructed me in some Hapkido.

Relearned Pyung Ahn hung and Bassai (M. Phil critiqued forms and gave me a tune-up).

Analyzed and researched the Pyung Ahn hung (Kata) and basic one-step sparring

Compared and contrasted TSD hung and BBT kata

Read Shotokan’s Secret

Continued martial arts notebook

Learned Naihanchi Cho Dan and Began learning Naihanchi Ye Dan.

Ordered uniforms for students

Researched locations for a school location

Bought a new white uniform for myself

Bought martial arts shoes

Health

Began reading Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle

Went to dental appointments

Made eye doctor appointments for next year

Lost 5 lbs then maintained weight.

Continued alkalizing and energizing

PNM Books

Continued selling books and other items as an Amazon seller

Cars

Had cars inspected

Completed all regular maintenance

Had Patty’s windshield replaced

Upgraded TomTom GPS to XXL (sold my old TomTom One to do this)

Financial

Held quarterly family financial meetings

Continued Leveraging taxes to a tax preparer

Checked into refinancing our auto loans but the price was comparable.

I’m not going to list other financial but we were pretty much on track for the year.

Family

Celebrated 15 years of marriage and 17 years since first date

Celebrated our birthdays

Called Mom, Dad and Sister once per week

Had dinner ate in-laws for birthdays

Attended Patty’s work party at the Aldrich Mansion in Warwick RI and watched a murder mystery play/interactive event

Had snapshot turned into an 8×7 portrait for in-laws

Befriended family on Facebook

Visited and met my Grand Niece Liberty Mae and visited with my sister-in-law and my two nieces in CT.

Dinner at Wright’s Chicken farm with in-laws

Visited with my Mom, Dad and Bro at Foxwoods for Mother’s Day

Practiced martial arts with family

Went to breakfast with Mom, Dad, and Sis

Promoted Patty to Yellow Belt (9^th kyu)

Sent packages to Niece who is in Kosovo.

Keep in contact with nephew who was in Afghanistan in the service.

Contacted my Aunt.

Began regular visits with my parents over the summer.

Went to Foxwoods for Parents 40^th Anniversary

Went to Foxwoods to see parents at Christmas. Watched Legends show.

Friends

Had our friends Michelle and Jim over the house.

Reconnected with my old friend Marcus

Trained with my friend M. Phil (Also trained with old friend M. Dennis and new friend Dr. Dave and a whole host of new friends)

Connected with my friend Ed at KISS concert

Hung out with my friends Chuck, Susan, and Dan in Salem

Reconnected with a high school classmate at Foxwoods

Connected with friends on Facebook

Fun

Went to see Jersey Boys at CPAC

Attended Frankie Valli concert at Mohegan Sun

Went to Mohegan Sun for gaming

Went to see KISS at the Comcast Center

Watched local Memorial Day Fireworks

Saw Inception: The IMAX Experience

Rejoined Red Sox Nation

Joined the Archaeology, Astronautics & SETI Research Association.

Joined Netflix again

Upgraded Cable

Upgraded Blackberry’s to Bold

Travel

Went to Salem MA 3x (Psychic, House of 7, Ghost Tour, Beer Works, Rockefellers)

Trip to America’s Stonehenge in Salem NH. Had a great meal at Margareta’s, stayed in an executive suite overnight with whirlpool bath.

House

Completed spring-cleaning

Completed all house upkeep

Replaced dish Washer

Replaced garbage disposal

Cleaned garage

Installed new CO2 detectors

Installed new bathroom faucet

Had furnace serviced

Charity/Community Service

On track with charity giving

Voted in all elections

Planning

Continued using the Anthony Robbins Rapid Planning Method (RPM). I’ve been using this planning system since sometime in 2001.

Added a magic moments tab to monthly goal file.

That’s all for 2010…now onto 2011!

2009 Goals Achieved…Now onto 2010…

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Every year I set a series of goals in every aspect of my life. I keep track of all my progress no matter how small. I’ve found that by doing this my productivity has really improved. This year I documented 22 pages worth of accomplishments and progress. Every year I post an abbreviated list to help myself stay productive throughout the year. And I hope that my example will inspire others to go for what they want in life.

Goal List:

Writing

Completed my first novel

Wrote and edited complete synopsis of first novel

Won ebay auction to have horror grandmaster Ray Garton critique my novel

Entered the Leisure Books Fresh Blood Novel Contest (This allowed me to get the goal of sending out my completed novel to a publisher).

Had two short stories shortlisted for inclusion in two different anthologies

Started a Word Press Blog

Submitted stories to 14 fiction markets

Entered 4 writing contests

Made Stoker award recommendations

Paid Horror Writers Association dues

Updated Myspace page

Transferred fiction and nonfiction to the Mac

Began an outline for a nonfiction book idea

Wrote the first chapters of 2 nonfiction book ideas

Researched writing project management software

Joined and donated to Duotrope Digest

Read chapters and stories for two aspiring authors and gave them some encouragement and information

Bought and read The Novel Selling Tool Kit

Wrote 2 new stories

Purchased Scrivener

Began writing another short story for an anthology

Martial Arts

Celebrated 22 years of martial arts training

Celebrated 10 years of Bujinkan Budo/Ninpo Taijutsu and jujutsu training

Began teaching private martial arts lessons

Continued teaching my wife martial arts (but changed the focus to a karate style curriculum).

Officially founded North-Martino Martial Arts

Had a discussion with my Aiki-Jujutsu teacher that is sure to shape my martial destiny for the next decade.

Went to the BMAC Old School Winter Seminar

Paid Bujinkan Dues

Reviewed SKH Coaching Program

Bought Patty a Do-gi for our training together

Attended BMAC March seminar

Bought a new Kasari-Fundo training weapon

Joined the NRA—got a free membership

Bought new BDU pants

Bought a new Bo (staff)

Watched monthly SKH DVD’s

Appeared on monthly SKH DVD as a student in training at SKH Martial Arts Festival.

Watched and took Comprehensive notes on SKH Kuji-in and Kuji Kiri DVD’s

Received Business credit card for my martial arts business

PNM Books

Continued to sell books and DVD’s as an Amazon seller.

Car

Completed all scheduled maintenance for our cars

Set up GPS

Had to update my license this year

Won a car spar from Anchor Subaru ($160.00 value) and cashed it in.

Financial Goals

Created two Think and Grow Rich affirmations and said them regularly

Sold old Kindles so we could buy Kindle 2’s

Filed taxes

Decided to wait before we locked in mortgage rate—It didn’t make sense financially

Won 2 tickets to IMAX from IMAX on Facebook

Made a small profit from selling Cemex stock

Made a small profit from selling TIVO stock

Made a small profit from selling Titanima Metals stock

Activated and used a 2 Month Free BJ’s Membership

Decided to move from Sharebuilder to Options Express

Patty Won Tickets to the Providence Bruins

Paid our car loans down significantly

Paid equity loan down significantly

401k increased significantly

Old 401k improved and mostly recovered

Got $$$ for opening Options Express account

Patty received bonus and raise

Transferred credit card balance to take advantage of 0% APR

IRA Improved and mostly recovered

Things

I don’t like to list everything on line but suffice it to say, we made our thing goals for the year.

Family

Celebrated 14 years of marriage and 17 years since our first date.

Visited with my uncle and aunt from NH

Visited with my Dad’s cousin from CA

Called my Mom, Dad and Sister once per week

Easter at the in-laws

Visited Mom for Mother’s Day

Went on vacation to York and Kittery Maine

Visited Dad for Father’s Day

Visited with Parents in Newport

Patty and I spent a day in Mystic CT. We went to Mystic Sea port, Mystic Aquarium, and ate at Go Fish. We also stayed a night at the Hilton

Attended my Nieces’ baby shower

Thanksgiving at In-laws

Holliday’s with In-laws and parents

Health

Lost 10 lbs

Passed a kidney stone

Changed my eating to combat kidney stones

Used Triple Flex for joint mobility

Pulled a hamstring

Dentist appointments. Had cavity filled.

Signed up for Medco by mail to get cheaper prescriptions but decided to go back to a brick and mortar pharmacy.

Education

The Gothic Tradition in Literature A

Applied Chemistry C+

Adult Development and Ageing A

Introduction to Information Systems A

Friends

This year has been extremely busy and I’ve neglected some friends but I’m already making some plans to rectify that in the coming year.

Appointed Vice President of Physical Fitness of the David Martino’s club of world on Facebook.

Caught up with a lot of friends on facebook

Made plans to visits some friends in January

Spent time training with friends at dojo

House

Got new rugs for downstairs bathroom

Finished sorting clutter in the study

Replaced air filters and heater filter

Completed spring cleaning

Video taped house for insurance

Replaced mattress

Had floors installed

Had Cable box put in upstairs bedroom

Had 1800 Junk come to clean out garage

Got a new fire extinguisher

Charity/Community Service

Completed all charity/community service goals

Planning

Decided to stop using Franklin Covey for Outlook. I have returned completely to Anthony Robbins RPM. But I’m using the Word for Mac notebook and some templates to implement the system instead of using the planner.

Travel

Kittery, York and Scarborough Maine

Foxwoods in CT

Newport RI

Mystic CT

That’s all I have for now. 2010 here I come…

Decade in Review

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Decade in Review

Here’s a list of some of my most memorable accomplishments and challenges of the decade. I didn’t start keeping a detailed list until 2006 so I’m sure I’m missing stuff that happened earlier. Soon I’ll list everything I accomplished in 2009.

2000

Promoted to Human Resources Recruiter and increased my income by 5K.

Bought 2000 Ford Contour SE.

Vacationed in New Orleans.

2001

Bought Townhouse

Bought 2001 Chevy Impalla (Patty)

2002

Became a shareholder when I bought stock for the first time.

2003

Received award for outstanding service to company

Downsized from Pinkerton when they sold to Securitas (one of the best things that ever happened from me).

2004

Began working as a recruiter for BVS and increased income by $2,500.

Placed 1^st story at the Swamp e-zine.

Earned a certificate in Effective Personal Leadership from Leadership Management International USA, Inc.

2005

Downsized from BVS as they reduced staff for buyout (Another best thing that ever happened to me).

Completed half a certificate in human resources management but abandoned the goal once I decided to work toward a BLA.

2006

Sold first paid short story to Dark Recesses Press by winning the $500.00 Déjà vu Horror Contest

Completed 1^st draft of second Novel in 4 months

Became an Amazon Seller

Enrolled at UMASS, Lowell and began work toward a BLA with concentrations in English and psychology.

Attended The New England Writer’s Convention (NECON)

Flew cross-country to attend BSG convention in California

Joined New England Horror Writers

Made affiliate status in the Horror Writer’s Association

Accepted into advanced Bujinkan Budo/Ninpo Taijutsu class.

Internationally certified and recognized as a black belt level karate instructor.

Internationally certified and recognized as a Tang Soo Do black belt.

Joined the Martial Art’s Teacher’s Association

2007

Sold short story “Graven Image” to Afterburn SF

Bought 2008 Subaru Legacy 2.5i Limited

Bought 2008 Subaru Legacy 2.5i Limited (Patty)

Traveled to Ohio to train in To-Shin Do at the Stephen K Hayes Fall Martial Arts Fall Festival

Invited into Master’s program at UMASS

2008

Had the first 100 pages of my novel critiqued by a former Tor editor

Had shoulder fixed by Barry at Muscular Solutions after a martial arts injury

Inducted into Gamma Delta the UMASS, Lowell chapter of the Alpha Sigma Lambda National Honor Society.

Traveled to Ohio to train at the SKH Fall Festival

2009

Completed my first novel

Won ebay auction to have horror grandmaster Ray Garton critique my novel

Entered the Leisure Books Fresh Blood Novel Contest

Had two short stories shortlisted for inclusion in two different anthologies

Celebrated 22 years in the martial arts

Celebrated 10 years of Bujinkan Budo/Ninpo Taijutsu training

Began teaching private martial arts lessons

Continued teaching my wife martial arts (but changed the focus to a karate style curriculum).

Officially founded North-Martino Martial Arts

Was laid-up with a kidney stone

Had floors installed in house

Made major progress remodeling living room and dining room

And now for something really geeky…

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If I were a D&D character I would be a: True Neutral Human Sorcerer (10th Level)
Ability Scores:
Strength- 14
Dexterity- 16
Constitution- 16
Intelligence- 14
Wisdom- 14
Charisma- 15
Alignment:
True Neutral- A true neutral character does what seems to be a good idea. He doesn’t feel strongly one way or the other when it comes to good vs. evil or law vs. chaos. Most true neutral characters exhibit a lack of conviction or bias rather than a commitment to neutrality. Such a character thinks of good as better than evil after all, he would rather have good neighbors and rulers than evil ones. Still, he’s not personally committed to upholding good in any abstract or universal way. Some true neutral characters, on the other hand, commit themselves philosophically to neutrality. They see good, evil, law, and chaos as prejudices and dangerous extremes. They advocate the middle way of neutrality as the best, most balanced road in the long run. True neutral is the best alignment you can be because it means you act naturally, without prejudice or compulsion. However, true neutral can be a dangerous alignment because it represents apathy, indifference, and a lack of conviction.

Race:
Humans are the most adaptable of the common races. Short generations and a penchant for migration and conquest have made them physically diverse as well. Humans are often unorthodox in their dress, sporting unusual hairstyles, fanciful clothes, tattoos, and the like.

Class:
Sorcerers- Sorcerers are arcane spellcasters who manipulate magic energy with imagination and talent rather than studious discipline. They have no books, no mentors, no theories just raw power that they direct at will. Sorcerers know fewer spells than wizards do and acquire them more slowly, but they can cast individual spells more often and have no need to prepare their incantations ahead of time. Also unlike wizards, sorcerers cannot specialize in a school of magic. Since sorcerers gain their powers without undergoing the years of rigorous study that wizards go through, they have more time to learn fighting skills and are proficient with simple weapons. Charisma is very important for sorcerers; the higher their value in this ability, the higher the spell level they can cast.

http://easydamus.com/character.html

Short List

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I just found out I made the short list for an upcoming horror anthology. They’ll let me know if I made the final cut by early March. I’m just happy to know I’m being considered. And after last years drought it’s good to be starting off the year with some momentum.

I’ll Play

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I got this from Bob Freeman’s blog:

Grab the book nearest you. Right now. Turn to page 56. Find the fifth sentence. Post that sentence along with these instructions on your blog. Don’t dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

“There is neither this world nor the world beyond nor happiness for the one who doubts.”

–Think and Grow Rich! The Original Version, Restored and Revised by Napoleon Hill, edited by Ross Cornell. This sentence is quoted in TGR! From the Bhagavad-Gita.