NEWS
March 30, 2017
March 31, 2017
Friday, 3-31-2017. I had a very pleasant surprise today. A young man who is starting up an audio book concern in Northern Colorado sent me a very flattering email regarding a couple of my short stories. He wants to produce them into YouTube videos. How about that. I will update as more information is available.
April 2, 2017
April 4, 2017
One thing a writer needs, besides decent coffee, is a good developmental editor. Not just an editor, but a developmental editor. Now perhaps I'm splitting hairs here, but in my experience most plain editors have about as much use in the arena of speculative writing as tits on a boar. The reason for this is simple, they know grammar, they know sentence structure, and guess what, people do not talk like that. Imagine a passage dealing with north country bumpkins where they are speaking with the highbrow tones of today's version of Shakespearean English. No, not in one of my books. A proper developmental editor is an editor who can catch those pesky typos as well as the continuity errors while keeping the tone of your masterpiece intact. Big difference. Editors are for what is left of today's newspapers, developmental editor are for books.
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And speaking of developmental editor, check out Bonnie Millani down in SoCal. https://bonniemilani.com/
June 26, 2017
Today TallTale TV uploaded the 7th and final chapter in Hole Lotta Shakin'. Just a superb job, and if you listen around, you will find that most of the readers of audiobooks do not bother to do voices or accents, they just read. TTTV is so much better.
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It also inspired an idea for another short story, one that should be a lot of fun, and if I get the permissions I need, could be the best audio short story ever. More later.
June 28, 2017
Here is the cover for the new short story. This one is indeed proving interesting. even though, granted it is not an entirely new idea, as I believe John DeChancie used the crossover idea when he had characters from his Startrucker series cross over into a Castle Perilous novel.
However, I do believe I am the first to take characters from two different series, and very different worlds and plop them down into our world and not the world of fiction. In addition, this may be the first short story of its type written specifically for an audiobook podcast where the narrator, and his lovely wife, an author herself, are in the book as themselves.
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Yes (evil hand-rubbing laugh) this is going to be fun!
July 17, 2017
As a fan, I enjoy both the classic Doctor Who and BSG series. When BSG was rebooted and Starbuck given a sex change, all of the PC world cheered. Me, I have yet to see a single episode. Now I read that the BBC, in their infinite quest to cater to the politically correct wherever they may be, has done the same to Doctor Who. Looks like I will be sticking with my classic Doctor Who DVDs. No, I will not watch a single episode of this incarnation ever. The writing may be superb, but the unforgivable sin is that of character, not writing. It is the same as when a novelist takes the time to develop a character right down to the gait and when the BBC or Hollywood get hold of it, the first thing they do is decide that they know better than the one who created the whole thing. Sorry, but regardless of how much money and the size of the platform you control, and regardless of how many sheep exist as people in this world, character cannot be changed, not from an author's viewpoint. If you disagree, you simply have no basis for understanding. Go write a novel and then we'll talk. However, if you have written and still think this thing being done to established and loved characters is just fine... please stop writing.
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September 1, 2017
Yesterday was a big day. I discovered the first book of the mysteries, A Slight Case of Death had been released as an audiobook with a full cast and sound effects. The director, who also plays Tony and narrates did a masterful job, and so did every other cast member. The fellow who plays Frankie nailed the part and that is the voice I now hear when I write the big guy.
As for links and where to buy it, simply type Tony Mandolin into your search engine and you will see down the list, in 4th or 5th place, something that says "A Tony Mandolin Mystery 1: A Slight Case of Death. Click that and you are there. I have paid for my copy (hey, if I don't support me, who will?) and I can assure you, the entire five-plus hours is worth listening to.
October 1, 2017
Heads up folks, check out this link, https://www.thunderclap.it/projects/62780-tales-from-the-underground Inklings Press, the best small run independent publisher of Sci-Fi and Fantasy needs your support. So go over there and give them some.
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January 1, 2018
I walked into a bar yesterday and saw this old guy sitting there, nursing what looked like a triple shot of rum. I mean, this poor fellow looked like he'd been run through the mill, stomped on and then dragged behind a stampede of diarrhetic cattle. The bartender glanced at me nodded and then said, "Tony, this poor guy really needs some help." I nodded back, ordered my usual and then said, "Hey there old fellow. The name's Mandolin. What's yours?" The old guy lifted eyes that had already seen too much and mumbled, "I'm 2018."
February 6, 2018
There is a whole lot of stuff going on. First, there are three of the TOny Mandolin Graphic Audio audiobooks out. I am well into writing my own Robert Heinlein inspired YA sci-fi novel call Tankers. Tony Mandolin book 9 Something Grimm is coming along very nicely and I am past the halfway point in that one. As for Tony Mandolin 10, Get Stuffed, that one is getting a mummy, hee hee hee.
February 17, 2018
Today is the first day of my being represented by a Literary Agent. Mister Freeman is a man I have known for several years, but I have never really thought it would be worth the effort to try to approach the large publishing houses, until just a few days ago. That was before I was told that my first Tony Mandolin story, A Slight Case of Death had been nominated for and then made it into the finals out of literally thousands of other books in its category for the ABR 2018 listeners award. This is for the Graphic Audio audiobook production. I heard what they did to my writing and knew it was good, but... damn!
Well, back to having an agent. With that award possibility hanging over my head, and even if I don't win, it says something about the marketability of the book itself as well as the series, and today publishers like series. What do you do when the universe tells you it is time for a change? You change. The man I chose as an agent is not only a very well respected attorney, but has also sat on the bench as a judge, and he knows contracts better than anyone else I know. But more than that, he likes my writing. and that is a huge plus when the man is representing me as an author. All for now.
March 11, 2018
Well, today I turned into my 67th year on this planet. There is a lot going on. I am almost 1/4 of the way into Tankers, my Heinlein-inspired YA scifi novel, and I am 2/3 of the way through the 9th Tony Mandolin Mystery, and in my opinion, probably the one that will be the most fun to read so far.
There are very popular books with some of them even being turned into movies (wouldn't that be a kick in the pants?) that are filled with pop culture references. One very successful tome is practically all that, with the pop culture being held together by a plot so thin it is translucent, but for some reason, it is also a best-seller. There really is no accounting for what sells these days.
However, the one thing no writer has done, and that makes the Tony Mandolin series unique, is parody the parodies that reference pop culture. Let's face it, in today's world, general society is an ongoing tragic comedy anyway, so why not make fun of those who are making fun of it?
I also dropped in on the website of Graphic Audio to see how Hair of the Dog, the 4th book is coming along in its multi-voice audiobook production. According to the site, the release date is the 19th of this month. There is still no cover art, so... there is that, but you don't listen to cover art, so there is also that. I pre-ordered my copy and you can do the same at https://www.graphicaudio.net/a-tony-mandolin-mystery-4-hair-of-the-dog.html
March 14, 2018
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For me, this is incredibly exciting news, Tony Mandolin 4, Hair of the Dog, the book with the most action, the most monsters and the best one-liner from Frankie, is due to be released by Graphic Audio on Monday, March 19, 2018. From what I hear, they will be sitting on book 5 for a while, and that is their decision. They optioned the books for production, but nowhere in the contract does it stipulate how quickly that production must be done. If you want to urge them to step it up on book 5 Lucky Stiff, that is your decision. I'm just the author. By the way, here is the Graphic Audio cover and the link to pre-order for download. https://www.graphicaudio.net/a-tony-mandolin-mystery-4-hair-of-the-dog.html
May 27, 2018
I have just uploaded book 9, Something Grimm to the Tony Mandolin series. It is the longest, and one of the best in the entire arc. Go on over to the downloads section and grab a copy. You will not be disappointed. As for what is next, it's a few short stories I've had in mind. This means book 10, is at least two or three years down the line. Sorry.
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January 23, 2019
I found the old archives of my comic strip, Life on the Rockpile. I am thinking of creating a page for them here. What do you think?
January 27, 2019
If you are wondering why you cannot find me on Facebook, Twitter, or any of the other so-called Social Media outlets, it is because I have sworn off. You can reach me via email, or phone, or leave a message on this site. I can guarantee you, I will reply. As for the reason why I left the sewer... try it, you will not go back. Fresh air is so much healthier.
July 18, 2019
Today I uploaded the final Tony Mandolin novel, Get Stuffed. In many ways it is the best of the ten. There will be more Mandolin stories to come, but all of those will be short stories. Perhaps one day, if I feel like it, I may put them all into a collection.
September 22, 2019
Editing has been going on. Serious editing. So far, the first four books of the Tony Mandolin Series have been gone through word-by-word, typos corrected, though how they were missed in the first three or four read-throughs... and a few words and sentences added to enhance the story. So if it's been awhile, I suggest you amble on over to the download page and get a fresh copy.
September 24, 2019
I am a few chapters into editing book 5, Lucky Stiff. If you can wait for it, your patience will be rewarded.
November 19, 2019
Almost all of my books are now being published in every online bookstore there is through Draft2Digital. This means that they are available in any format you want, and this includes printed books as well.
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In addition, a Tony Mandolin fan club is being put together and I am in the hunt for a producer for the Tony Mandolin Mysteries TV show. Busy times.
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Last, and certainly not least, Tony Mandolin book 11 is up to about 20,000 words. The title is Which Witch is Which.
May 06, 2020
It's been a while. Which Witch is Which is at the halfway point and it's paused there so I can finish up Tankers, my YA sci-fi novel, written as a homage to the master of the genre, Robert A. Heinlein. That book is at 74,000 words, just about 3/4 of the way done.
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On the Mandolin front, I have teamed up with the incomparable narrator of audiobooks, Chris Herron of Tall Tale TV in a Kickstarter campaign to cover the costs of narrating and producing Tony Mandolin book 5, Lucky Stiff into a high-quality audiobook. Here is the link to that campaign:
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Thursday, 3-30-2017. Well I'm almost done with the writing of book number 7, Steak & Eggs. In many ways this is probably the best Tony Mandolin Mystery book ever. I'm rather anxious to see how it ends.
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In Later 2016 I started a Kickstarter Campaign to help defray the costs of writing and promoting this series. The campaign was successful and with it I wound up with some new characters to put into ...You Get Dandruff, Tony Mandolin Mystery number 8. Interestingly enough, one of the successful backers asked if she could be a villain. Hmmm.
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Well, yesterday, April First, I learned more about the YouTube audio book start-up. It's called Tall Tale TV, and here is the Twitter Page, https://twitter.com/TallTaleTV A pretty impressive-looking endeavor I must say. Make sure you check out the audio clips. Chris says he's still learning. I say he has learned. Oh, by the way, a comments app has been added to this site. You'll find it next to the character profiles for the Tony Mandolin cast.
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In addition, I've been playing around with the art side of my life as well. If you take a trip over to http://www.coroflot.com/RobertLeeBeers/portfolio you will see the online portfolio of what I've worked on over the last half century. I've never received a medal from the Munich Royal Academy of Art like my Great Grandfather Irving R. Bacon, but I think I'm able to hold my own as a well-rounded artist.
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August 29, 2017
Origin: Stories on Creativity is a YouTube podcast you have to check out. I was interview number 53, which means that Bryan had some practice before he got to me. Here's the link to his YT : OSOC
As interviews go, it was rather fun and very broad spectrum. Per the podcast title, he focused on the genesis of the creative process more so than the books. I think it ought to be something worth listening to, even if you aren't a writer.