A Hairy Situation

Unless you like long, thin black hairs baked into the cheese on your pizza, don't order from Papa John's on 4th Street in Long Beach.

Not only did we discover said DNA in our dinner, when I called them to report it, they were less than professional about it. First they suggested that I drive the pizzas back over and they'd make new ones for us. We had it delivered! The last thing I wanted was to go get new ones.

Then they said their driver would bring us new ones (if we give the driver the hair-infested ones to bring back) so I asked "How do I know there won't be hair in these ones?" I thought it was a fair question. He said, "I'll have someone who's bald make them." Hardly the response of someone taking me seriously. So I replied, "I hope his eyebrows don't shed while he's doing it."

I waited almost another half hour for the new pizzas to arrive. By then, Melody was extremely hungry and Lori was making her a sandwich. Finally I called them back and told them not to bother and dumped the pizzas into the outside garbage can.

So basically we paid for two pizzas tonight that Papa Johns never made good on (and the guy got a tip too).

Needless to say, we won't frequent there again. I'm encouraging you to go elsewhere as well. In fact, give Tony's on 7th and Long Beach Blvd. a try. Their hours are somewhat odd sometimes (which was why we tried Papa Johns to begin with), but for the money, they've got the best pizza in town.

Power To The People

No. The title of this post is not in reference to the historic election madness that's sweeping the nation.

"Power To The People" is the name of the new Chance short story that I delivered to my editor last week.

As is my custom, I tested it with Lori before I sent it along. While she generally liked the piece, she did think that part of it was somewhat, well I'll use her word: "gross."

Which was intended. There's usually an "ick" factor to a Chance story. I delight in dumping my character into trash, sludge, grime and (in the case of torture scenes) his own bodily fluids. This time, I put him in touch with a substance I've never used before.

So I was okay with her response.

When I heard back from my editor regarding the story, I wasn't sure what to expect. You see, I happen to know that my editor is going through some tough times in his personal life right now. I was actually a little suprised to hear back as soon as I did.

"So what did you think of it?" I asked. "Is it too gross?"

He replied, "I laughed. Hard!" He then went on to explain, "I needed to laugh too."

The intended response! A ringing endorsement! I couldn't have asked for a better reply.

"Power To The People" will only be available in the upcoming Blademaster Press edition of Chance for the Future, available in hardcover this summer from your favorite book store.

Make sure you pick up a copy and let me know what you think.