Who would you like to meet?

If you could meet anyone or even several people in this world, who would you most like to meet?

I recently read the book, Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10 by Marcus Luttrell and Patrick Robinson. After reading that book I would definitely like to meet Marcus Luttrell and his brother Morgan. Of course, I wouldn’t mind meeting Billy Shelton to see if he can whip my hiney into shape. Not that I want to be a Navy SEAL. Although, I do love to scuba dive.

The technology side of me would like to meet Bill Gates. I mean here’s a man who started a business when he was practically a kid and it’s still around today doing well and an organization that companies strive to compete with. Not to mention the fact that the man is a humanitarian and always looking to donate money and/or resources for various organizations and people and he is a true believer in education. Education is a passion with me.

The truly geeky side of me and the side of me that reads an article or a book and then has to learn more would love to meet Bryant Linares, President and CEO of Apollo Diamond, Inc. Yes, ladies, part of what his company does is create diamonds. When I say create, I mean manmade “real” diamonds. But he doesn’t create them for us to wear, although that has been a byproduct of his work. Through the use of nanotechnology, Apollo Diamond, Inc creates diamonds to be used in technology like the replacement for silicon computer chips. Diamonds are better heat conductors than silicon. In his garage, Mr. Linares built a machine that “makes” REAL diamonds. Today, he runs his business out of a secret location. Cool, huh!

While I am not a political person. . .actually, I deplore politics. I do however have a great deal of respect for one politician out of Oklahoma, Thomas Coburn. He’s a politician second and a practicing doctor first. He believes in term-limits and calls things like they are. While I may not agree with all of his views, I respect any man that steps up to the podium and tells people what he thinks and why, without regard for his party line. He actually reads things as black and white and foregoes the gray matter in the middle that most politicians thrive on.

Since I’m talking about men I respect, I would like to meet a guy who works for me. Yeah, that sounds kind of funny, right? But it’s true. I’ve worked with a man by the name of Mike Finn for over two years now, but have yet to meet him in person. I have a picture of him taped to my phone so whenever the team does con-calls we all can put a face to a name, it is not the same as meeting someone and getting to know them. Mike is a terrific engineer, probably one of the best I have ever had the opportunity to work with, but beyond that, he is a man that realizes there is more to life than work. He enjoys his family and revels in his free time to do things like play music with his band and make home brewed beer. By the way, I’ve tasted some of the beer…very good!
Of course there are many authors that I would love to meet, to sit and just have lunch with and pick their brains. To hear from them the trials and tribulations they went through to get to where they are today.

One more that will probably surprise you all is an artist by the name of Dale Chihuly. Mr. Chihuly is a famous blown glass artist. Ever since I read a book by Nora Roberts years ago, I have been fascinated by glass blowing. Well, this man is the epitome of art in he glass world. Look him and his work up. Beautiful doesn’t come close to describing his work or his talent.

President fails to ‘connect the dots’ but this crime thriller doesn’t

Salem author Denise Robbins didn’t know the title of her latest release would become today’s headlines, but she’s pleased at the media attention being paid to her crime thriller “Connect the Dots.”

A failed Christmas Day attack on a Detroit-bound Northwest flight led President Obama to proclaim his administration had failed to “connect the dots,” a phrase that has since taken on a life of its own. In a Google search for the words “terror” and “connect the dots,” there are no less than 192,000 returns.

“I received an email from a reader who had just bought my book, and she said she wouldn’t want to have a book title with a phrase being quoted by the president every two minutes,” Robbins said. “I look at it differently. My books are crime thrillers with terror as a main part of the plot. The title and the book fit perfectly with the news event.”

Robbins knows a thing or two about fright and making readers’ hearts pound. A software engineering manager, she successfully combines her knowledge of computers and technology with the world of crime and clandestine activities in all of her novels. Her last release, Killer Bunny Hill, gave readers a glimpse into the breakthrough science of nanotechnology, while Connect the Dots delves into the secret world of the CIA.

Torture, secret prisons, and ghost flights are just a few of the other current-event themes touched upon in Connect the Dots, which was released on Dec. 15.

The hero in Connect the Dots is a special agent, and the heroine is a CIA Human Intelligence Officer who is kidnapped and ends up in a “black site.” Black sites, or secret prisons run by the CIA, made headlines a few years ago when stories about their existence were published by national media. Robbins also effectively intertwines real events like the 2008 Russia-Georgia War into the plot, giving readers a glimpse into behind-the-scenes international activities.

Readers can learn more about Denise Robbins and her crime thrillers at her website www.deniserobbins.com. All her books can be purchased through the publisher at www.lldreamspell.com.