Showing posts with label Second Shot. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Second Shot. Show all posts

Sunday, April 12, 2026

Sentences and Snapshots


I was recently tasked with selecting one of my favorite sentences from my upcoming novel - Second Shot. Nothing sprung to mind since having the entire novel memorized is beyond my capabilities. So, I did a skim in search of candidates that jumped out at me. Presumably I missed some gems, but I caught enough that pleased me to feel satisfied with the effort. My findings can be found below, accompanied by photographs located by skimming the picture gallery on my phone. No single sentence of Second Shot declared itself to be the one I liked best. If there is one you admire above the rest, feel free to drop a comment. In the not too distant future, I hope that you will be holding a copy of Second Shot in your hands. When that happens, please be sure to read it deeply and thoroughly - slowly if possible, but perhaps you won't be able to resist tearing through the pages. There's nothing quite like a novel that compels you to race through it, yet every so often, a well placed line causes you to pause in appreciation.

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Everyone and everything we miss is proof that we have known love, that we haven’t wasted the entirety of our precious unknown quantity of time.





What I did instinctively realize was that when the woman he loves is overwhelmed with fear, a man cannot be secure in his masculinity until she feels safe again.





An unaccepted apology is like a half-built bridge.





The closer I got to forgetting that I was lying, the more it felt like I was being my new true self.





Silence is the non-confrontational alternative to acknowledgement of wrongdoing.





My second chance was miraculously operating on schedule, like a heart removed from one body and given to another, still resiliently beating.





Memories are not flashing before my eyes, but rather, floating past like a piece of driftwood on a mild current.





There are moments in life better to melt into than attempting to document and calculate and keep track of.





Some momentum can only be ended by violent collision, unavoidable destruction.





I did not know that I would be such a good liar until forced into the habit.





The idea of ordinary becomes intolerable once exceptional has been tasted.





Every day provides a new chance, perhaps to repeat mistakes, or to make different ones, or to take the opportunity to make amends.





If a lesson has been taught by this strange life of mine, I am unclear on its meaning.








Monday, December 1, 2025

My Year In Reading - Books Consumed in 2025



  








Here they are for your visual perusal - the books that made it on to my 2025 reading list. If you care to read my thoughts about them, stop by my page on Goodreads. Prefer to listen to what I had to say? Then head over to my booktube channel - Roy's Book Reviews. Maybe even subscribe, which would fill me with such joy. Simply want to know what they are? Scroll down the page of this blog post where you'll find them presented in no particular order. Tasked by BookDNA.com (formerly Shepherd.com) with the pleasant mission of selecting a Top 3, I settled on The Song of Achilles (Madeline Miller), Small Mercies (Dennis Lehane), and The Vanishing Half (Brit Bennet). The narrowing down process wasn't easy since I read several excellent novels in 2025. Olive Kitteridge and A Visit from the Goon Squad both won the Pulitzer Prize for good reason, The Changeling had me hooked from page one; The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store is wonderful storytelling; The Night Circus is a master class in descriptively establishing a sense of fantastical place; Dan Brown made us wait a minute before putting out his latest addictive gem; and Zone One is another gift from one of my favorite authors - Colson Whitehead

*****











And to wrap up my year in reading, I finished this excellent book in between Christmas and New Year's Eve. I've since moved on to What is the What by Dave Eggers.




Oh, by the way, along with reading a number of books I also finished writing one (my third novel) in 2025. I read it as well in the editing process as I've tweaked it in follow-up drafts, so technically that's one more novel read this year. Stay tuned here and beyond for more news about the upcoming publication of SECOND SHOT.



 







Another thing I managed to squeeze in before switching to a new calendar is recording and posting my latest children's book reading at Roy's Book Reviews.


   







@mudhousebooks 📚 #booktok ♬ I Walk This Earth All By Myself - Ekkstacy
@mudhousebooks How was your year in reading? How much are you looking forward to your 2026 reads? 📚 #booktok ♬ Jazz Instrumental - Marco Antonio
@mudhousebooks Patches of Grey - a novel by Roy L. Pickering Jr. Available in print and kindle editions at Amazon. #booktok #stockingstuffer ♬ Gray - Ari Bose
@mudhousebooks

Matters of Convenience by Roy L. Pickering Jr. (sold at Amazon)

♬ original sound - little4love

Friday, September 12, 2025

The death of a young provocateur


R.I.P. Charlie Kirk - But let's be real here about who he was, discuss some of the ridiculous assumptions and attempts at pinning blame that took place in the brief time between murder and capture, and touch upon attempts by the usual suspects to use a young man/husband/father's death to rile up a Civil War. Much better to keep our eyes on the prize (return of normal democracy). And those infamous files.


   



 


   



   



   



   




Okay, fine. If you know me you know I have a little more than that to say. As do others.


   



   


That was probably a rhetorical question, but whether sincere or not, the answer/song remains the same.


   





   






   

Don't get it twisted no matter how much misinformation they spread. The Democratic party, while by no means unflawed, is not the organization that's indoctrinating and turning people into hateful killers. While I'll grant that there may have been some sensitivity overkill on the generous behalf of those belonging to marginalized groups, the "wokeness card" is being severely overplayed. So called wokeness has resulted in a grand total of zero deaths/tragedies. When it comes to killing, or to combatting BS masked in "Conservative Christian values", the Dems simply don't have it it them.


   



   


   





      


   


   



   


   




R.I.P. Iryna Zarutska

P.S. - Mostly unrelated, but this social media post caught my eye recently and is too good not to repeat.

  


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Also unrelated to Charlie Kirk / Tyler Robinson and other non-fictional people specifically - but take a listen to the video below anyway and stay tuned for more of SECOND SHOT. 


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The video below tickled some funny bones and ruffled some feathers. Is Druski lying though? And no, you don't get to make "whiteface" a whining rallying cry in 2026 when you already let the Wayans Brothers slide more than 20 years ago. It was established even longer ago that comedy equals tragedy plus time.