San Francisco Olympics Bid 2024

San Francisco has put in its bid for hosting the 2024 Summer Olympics, and is currently one of the top finalists vying for the honor. As an avid sports and Olympics fan, I’m particularly stoked for this opportunity because the San Francisco Bay Area is my home. And, the proposed stadium and Olympic Village would be built just a few miles from my house. Sweet!!!

But of course, 2024 is a long way off, and the bidding begins in earnest for the U.S. candidate city in 2015 with the International Olympic Committee choosing the winning city in 2017. However, only 4 U.S. cities remain in the running: L.A., D.C., Boston, and the City by the Bay. On top of that, we’ll have some stiff international competition from cities such as Paris and Rome.

However, it’ll have been almost 30 years since the U.S. hosted an Olympics, and the IOC is said to be particularly inclined to select a U.S. city for 2024. Especially since few other locations can offer the increased security and economic infrastructure that the games demand. Whatever happens, I’m just glad my hometown is in the running, and I sincerely hope to someday attend the Olympics in person with my children. Fingers crossed!

La Boheme

This weekend, my wife and I went to see La Boheme at the San Francisco Opera. Needless to say, it was pretty darn awesome! I'd definitely recommend it to first time visitors as well as frequent opera-goers.

Puccini was certainly a genius, mixing all the elements of a good story, particularly his use of tension and comedy. I was surprised how much I laughed during this opera. Even after a hundred years there are some pretty good jokes in this piece.

The music was really great too. If you've seen the movie Moonstruck, you'll recognize a lot of the signature songs. Most of us won't get to Paris any time soon, but if not, check out La Boheme and I guarantee you won't be disappointed. 

Finished First Draft of Sequel!!!

Whew! It took me about twelve weeks, but I just recently churned out the first draft of my sequel to Between Two Fires, entitled The Long Defeat. Now for the edits and rewrites.

The Long Defeat follows what happens after my debut novel, Between Two Fires, and the continued struggles of the medieval Welsh trying to survive barbarian invasions. As part of my two-book deal with St. Martin’s Press, I need to provide the sequel to my publishers in addition to my first book so that we can make sure to follow up my debut novel when it comes out in bookstores about a year from now.

In the meantime, in addition to my usual awesome readers, I’m looking for any other beta readers interested in reading anywhere from one chapter to the full length draft of my new book. I of course reciprocate, and would be more than happy to beta read any of your work. Any takers?