122 Rules by Deek Rhew

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Erin Rhew's Cover Reveal for The Fulfillment!

I am epically proud to be part of this book cover reveal. My beautiful Southern bride, Erin Rhew, is on the cusp of releasing her third book in the Fulfillment Series, appropriately named The Fulfillment (out October 15, 2015). This marks the end of a journey that began years ago when a series of characters flooded her imagination and demanded she tell their stories. Fortunately for us, she listened to them!

Though I, and many of her other fans, have talked to her about writing more stories from this fantasy realm, this is the concluding novel--for now!--for Wil, Nash, Layla, Grant, Samson, and a host of other characters. I'm lucky to have gotten to know these people and share in their journey. And I'm honored that I was able to participate, at least a little, in the telling of their adventures, and even in shaping their destinies.

Erin is an amazing storyteller. The world is spectacular, the characters real and relatable. She pulls you into her universe, and you don't ever want to leave. On October 15th, you'll be able to linger a little longer.

Her cover artists, Anita Carroll, did a fantastic job of capturing the mysticism and wonder between the front and back pages.

Here is a little teaser to whet your appetite!

With Nash imprisoned and Vance on the warpath, Layla ventures to the Outlands to negotiate the
Halfling prince’s release and to discover the century’s old secret of the Outlander people. But she
underestimated the evil lurking with Queen Cataleen. And the Outlander power, the coveted secret
they’ve

And the Outlander secret power leads to lasting consequences that affect Wil, Nash, and Layla in ways none of them could have imagined.

And now for the big reveal! (Cue music!!)

Erin Rhew's, The Fulfillment


Erin Rhew

Erin Rhew
Erin Rhew is an editor, a running coach, and the author of The Fulfillment Series. Since she picked up Morris the Moose Goes to School at age four, she has been infatuated with the written
word. She went on to work as a grammar and writing tutor in college and is still teased by her family and friends for being a member of the "Grammar Police."

A Southern girl by blood and birth, Erin now lives in a rainy pocket of the Pacific Northwest with the amazingly talented (and totally handsome) writer Deek Rhew and their “overly fluffy,” patient-as-a-saint writing assistant, a tabby cat named Trinity. She and Deek enjoy reading aloud to one another, running, lifting, boxing, eating chocolate, and writing side-by-side.






Find Erin Online


Goodreads

and 

On Amazon

Sunday, September 13, 2015

Keeping Portland Weird

I have lived in the coffee-swilling PNW most of my life, and for all that time, I've heard the battle cry "Keep Portland Weird!" Not having really ventured out much past its mountainous borders, I didn't give it a lot of thought. Everyone has odd things about their city they are either proud or ashamed of. How odd could we really be?

Well as it turns out pretty...well, weird! My wife, Erin Rhew, comes from the east coast, and when I visited her home town, I expected that they too would have naked bicycle rides, skirt-wearing women that ride unicycles to work, tiny parks, and x-rated doughnut shops. Nope, evidently these things are unique to our neck of the woods.

Here are a just a few highlights of our fair city:

Naked Bike Rides. Yes, that's right: naked. In the buff. Nude. No clothes on. No padding in your nether quarters on bumpy roads. For the record, I have not done, nor plan to, do this, but many in our city participate in this annual event. My first thought is "Ouch!!" followed up by "Nobody wants to see me naked."

Portland's Naked Bike Rides
But if you are in the neighborhood and want to join in, register with PDXWNBR.org.

Crazy Bikes. Portland is ranked 3rd in the county's most bike friendly cities by Forbes. You can get from pretty much anyplace to anyplace via one of our specially marked lanes, bike-only trails, or bike-friendly bridges. So it stands to reason that we would have some very special bikes.






Crazy Doughnuts. Anyone who's been to the city has to stop in at Voodoo Doughnuts. This place has pretty much anything you could ever dream of on a doughnut, including maple bacon--both Erin and I have tried this and voted it delicious--Captain Crunch, CoCo Puffs, you name it. This place is ranked #1 in the country! It also includes a couple of x-rated tasty cream-filled treats. I won't include a picture here, though I'm sure that Google Images would be more than happy to oblige you.



Other city highlights:

Crazy Cars - There are many such automobiles running 'round our city. Their drivers are usually just as...individualized.



PDX Carpet - Who ever thought a city would get so attached to the carpet in their airport? Guess who? Portland! We even have a carpet project web site.



And of course our "professional" basketball team. A team so sad and wracked with delinquents, felons, and the cream of society's crop that we renamed them:



World's smallest park! Mill Ends Park is a park for, of course, Leprechauns! At just 2 feet across, it is the smallest park in the world.
Mill Ends Park

I don't know how we stack up against Austin, Texas who also has a similar slogan. Perhaps someday I'll do a point-by-point comparison. Erin and I will have to add Austin to our list of places to visit.



But, my dear friends, in Austin, do you have a kilt-wearing, flaming bagpipes-playing, unicycle-riding, Darth Vader? I think not.

I introduce to you the Unipiper! He can be found on Facebook,on Twitter, and on his Unipiper web site.


With his flaming bagpipes, he rides around Portland, enchanting us with sounds of Star Wars. Definitely gives my inner geek a THO.

Erin and I actually saw him from the TriMet yesterday!

Portland's Unipiper

Portland's Unipiper!

So those are just a few things about my city that I love. For you Austin folks that think that your city is weirder, it may be. I haven't been there, but I leave you with this.


Have fun and keep it weeeeirrrd!!!