Tag: southern california

Loser Baby by Jason Bovberg Review

On By authoranthonyavinablogIn reviewsLeave a comment

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

A brother must search for his sister after a wild night at an Orange County house party leads to his sister’s disappearance, and a dangerous man prowling the streets of the O.C. looking for her in author Jason Bovberg’s “Loser Baby”.

Advertisements

The Synopsis

Jasmine Frank is missing.

It’s a humid summer morning in Santa Ana, California, and her twin brother Jordan abruptly finds himself on a desperate search—fearing the worst. The party last night got way out of hand, and his brain is still chemically fried. But this is Jasmine’s story. She’s awakened far from home to her own mystery: She’s unwittingly stolen something from the most dangerous person she’s ever known. Tommy Strafe. And now Tommy is raging through the sunbaked streets, gathering illicit forces to seek brutal retribution. But all Jasmine really wants is to get out of Orange County, escape her past, and find a measure of redemption.

LOSER BABY is a propulsive blast through the streets of the SoCal melting pot, a breakneck dark-comic neo-noir populated by misfits and malefactors, criminals and innocents, down-and-outers and spun-out dreamers. Prepare yourself for an adrenaline rush of rat-a-tat he-said-she-said narrative twists—all in service of a giddily slam-bang shock ending. 

The Review

A gritty and surreal look into the various facets of life in Orange County, author Jason Bovberg does an incredible job of capturing the atmosphere and culture of the O.C. area and those living in it. As someone who grew up in Southern California and has family from Orange County, it was fascinating to see the setting and atmosphere come to life like that, as the O.C. has so many different layers and cultures bubbling within it, and this book really brought that to life.

Yet it was the layered approach to the book’s mystery that kept the suspense and thriller genre alive in this novel. The story really elevates the narrative by taking the original premise and mystery and flipping it on its head. The shocking twists and turns the narrative takes, and the really nuanced characters that gave this story the emotional depth that it employed, was so engaging that I was hard-pressed to put this book down.

The Verdict

A remarkable, chilling, and emotional roller coaster, author Jason Bovberg’s “Loser Baby” is a must-read novel of 2021! The mystery and intrigue the story takes plays well against the dark and seedy undertones of both the criminal elements of the area and the average people caught up in the madness the day becomes, making this story really engrossing to read. If you haven’t yet, be sure to grab your copy today!

Rating: 10/10

Advertisements

About the Author

Jason Bovberg is the author of Loser Baby, the Blood trilogy (Blood Red, Draw Blood, and Blood Dawn) and The Naked Dame, a pulp noir novel. He is the founder of Dark Highway Press, which published Robert Devereaux’s controversial Santa Steps Out, as well as the highly acclaimed weird-western anthology Skull Full of Spurs. He lives in Fort Collins, Colorado, with his wife Barb, his daughters Harper and Sophie, and his canines Rocky and Rango. You can find him online at www.jasonbovberg.com.

https://twitter.com/JasonBovberg
On By authoranthonyavinablogIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

A Chance Encounter: An Intriguing Experiment

It’s funny, isn’t it? The memories and experiences that fade with each year we get older can pop up in the most unexpected ways. I happened
to be out with my mom one afternoon recently, and we were talking about how long it’s been for each of us to go to one of our favorite spots
in Southern California, and that is one of the many gorgeous beaches we have here. I went to Newport Beach earlier in the year, but I’ve
always dreamed of venturing out to Santa Monica or Venice Beach, or maybe even Laguna Beach. As we talked about our hopes of getting there,
she suddenly remembered a fun day when I was just a few years old, and we went to the beach. Apparently, we had decided to go on a boat ride
to watch for dolphins and whales, and on that boat, I’d met a young girl whom I had befriended quickly. According to my mom, we were inseparable
for the rest of the day, and sadly parted ways, never to meet again.

I have no recollection of this day, but I was suddenly intrigued. I’ve always been a shy guy, but this encounter painted me as a talkative,
active young man with a natural charisma I didn’t think I possessed at that age. I was curious, so I went looking through some old photo albums,
and sure enough, I found the pictures of me and this young girl, (pictured above). Now, the memory still alludes me, but I thought to myself,
how intriguing, that after all these years, these pictures should surface at a time where I’m looking to bolster my confidence.

I began to think about the power that a chance encounter or a spontaneous moment can have on our lives. Hearing that I wasn’t always the
shy, soft-spoken young man I am today gave me a boost of inspiration that I’ve been looking for. Sometimes, the tiniest, most random moments
in time can have a huge impact on others. The world can seem like such a random, chaotic place a lot of the time, but other times, I can
see how we are more connected than we realize. I’m not sitting here saying that fate brought me and this girl together, nor am I saying
that it was our destiny to meet that day. I’m a semi spiritual man, but even my spiritual tendencies are based in science. What I’m talking
about here is the fact that the connections we make ourselves, not the ones destiny has forced upon us, are powerful themselves. We have the
power to impact others and ourselves.

Now, I also found myself curious to know what happened to this young girl. I have no name, only a picture of the two of us together. We were
both so young, but I find myself wondering, what happened to her? What is she doing now? Who is she, and more importantly, is she happy? I’m
not sitting here hoping for some big, Hollywood style romantic scene, where we reunite at that same beach, (I believe it was either Newport
or Laguna, I can’t remember), and have some huge, heart-pounding moment with the rain pouring down around us. No, this is just a curiosity
more than anything. She apparently was one of my first friends, albeit for merely 1 day. Even if I never meet her in person again or get
the chance to be her friend, I at least would love the opportunity to say hi, ask how she is, and thank her for her day of friendship. Like
I said, I’m not expecting anything, but if anyone knows or recognizes this little girl from an old photo, or has seen this photo and would
know who she grew up to be, feel free to let her know about this blog post, or even tag her on social media. I’m curious to see whatever happens
with this blog experiment, because as I said, the smallest moments in our lives can have lasting influences, and this little trip down memory
lane gave me the burst of energy and inspiration I needed to push forward with my career. To her, and to all of you who have left impressions
on me and those in your lives, I say thank you.

Setting Up Interviews with Boyce Avenue! 2014 Vlog Day 282 (October 9th, 2014)

On By authoranthonyavinablogIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

via YouTube Capture Question of the Day: What do you think of a 30 Second Preview/Review show? Have questions for Boyce Avenue? Leave your thoughts, comments…

Setting Up Interviews with Boyce Avenue! 2014 Vlog Day 282 (October 9th, 2014)

I Got a Job! 2014 Vlog Day 278 (October 5th, 2014)

On By authoranthonyavinablogIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

via YouTube Capture Question of the Day: Please like this video, comment on it, favorite it, and share it, and if you don’t already, please subscribe to the …

New vlog on my YouTube channel. Make sure to life, share, favorite, comment and subscribe! Thanks guys! 🙂

I Got a Job! 2014 Vlog Day 278 (October 5th, 2014)

Writing 101: The Creative Process

On By authoranthonyavinablogIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

Whether you are writing a novel, poetry, an essay, or the menu for your restaurant, one of the biggest aspects of writing is immersing yourself into the creative process. Everyone’s process is unique and different than others. For instance, I like to either put on some tv or blast my spotify music  to get into the right head space. The first step in beginning your writing is to find whatever it is in life that inspires you, that gets your creative juices flowing, and delving head first into that pool of creativity. Lesson of the day to all you writers out there: find your inspiration, develop your personal creative process, and immerse yourself completely!

Who is Anthony Avina and Avina Vlogs?

On By authoranthonyavinablogIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

Hello there, my name is Anthony Avina, and this is my personal blog. I used to use this blog for the magazine I write for as well, but I now have a separate account for that and will be using this blog as my own personal blog. In this blog, I will have a variety of posts, from videos, music, photos, and thoughts I enjoy, to my own personal photos and videos, to insight into my life, to my writing process and filming process, to whatever else catches my fancy. Before I begin, I thought I’d introduce the world to who I am.

My name is Anthony Avina. I am 24 years old, and was born and raised in Southern California. I lived in California until I was 13 years old, and then my family and I moved to North Carolina due to my dad getting another job. We spent 8 long years in NC, and although I have nothing against the state or the people within it, I am a California kind of guy, and NC just did not feel like home. In 2012, we moved back home, and have been living here since.

Here are a few facts about me, some obvious, some not. I am a big guy, both in height and weight. Although I’m losing weight for health reasons, I am not and will never be a super skinny guy, and I am proud to be a big guy, despite what some other people in the world may think about my size. I do not enjoy discussing politics or religion, because I think people should focus on the kind of person you are rather than what religion or political party you are associate with. I will just flat out say for this post that I am not religious. I am not an atheist either, but I do not believe in organized religion. I respect everyone’s right to believe whatever they want to believe, and I accept everyone for who they are. However, I do not care for anyone who hates, discriminates, or put down people who don’t believe what they do, so if you don’t care to associate with me because of that, I understand, and wish you well.

I am a huge fan of all forms of entertainment, from books, music, television, video games and movies and YouTube! I am not a huge fan of country music, reality tv, documentaries, but all other forms of entertainment I love. I don’t hate anyone who likes the things I dislike, I just personally don’t care for them. I am not a huge sports guy, but occasionally I’ll watch hockey or basketball. I am a huge horror/sci-fi/action genre fan of all forms of entertainment, and I confess that I am a big time hopeless romantic, and find myself drawn to love stories often.

I am a writer for an online publication, On Request Magazine. I write reviews, previews, and more for the magazine, covering music, television, movies, games, books, YouTube, conventions, concerts, and more! I’ve been writing for the magazine for over 5 years now, and I’ve loved every single moment of it.

I am a huge supporter for equal rights for all. I constantly bring attention to causes that I support, from the rights of anyone to love whomever they choose, to racial equality and gender equality. I also will probably speak about causes that I support, from raising awareness for mental health to other health related organizations.

The biggest part of me that I want to make known is that I am a writer. I’ve been publishing books online on Amazon Kindle for five years now, and I’ve recently begun publishing paperback books as well through Createspace. I write mainly novels, short stories, novellas, poetry and more in the horror/science fiction genre, intermixing my stories with romance and action often. I’m hoping to meet some people that will be interested in working together to delve into adapting my stories and scripts that I’ve written into videos online, as well as comic books and other forms of media.

I just wanted to introduce myself and showcase who I am as a person both personally and professionally. I will post often on here, and I hope you guys will come along with me as I post. I am also a YouTuber myself,, with a modest but growing audience right now. I will be posting my videos on this blog constantly, as well as photos and video from my social networking, and I might even put up excerpts, poetry, and more of my own personal writing. Thank you guys, and I look forward to speaking with you all. I hope you all have a great night, and I’ll see you in the next blog!

Anthony Avina

Writer/YouTuber/Journalist/Author

www.onrequestmag.com

www.youtube.com/GunslingerPimp

Bedtime Paperback Edition: https://www.createspace.com/5010334?ref=1147694&utm_id=6026

Bedtime Kindle Edition: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00NQWOS20/ref=redir_mdp_mobile

Family Movie Day! 2014 Vlog Day 261 (September 18th, 2014)

On By authoranthonyavinablogIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

via YouTube Capture Question of the Day: Have you ever had a day slip away from you? Please like this video, comment on it, favorite it, and share it, and if…

Come check out today’s new vlog, where I talk about new movies, letting the day get away from me, and planning for the future. Make sure to like, favorite, share and comment on this video, and if you haven’t already, make sure to subscribe!

Family Movie Day! 2014 Vlog Day 261 (September 18th, 2014)

On By authoranthonyavinablogIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

America, You Looked Good | Los Angeles | HeyUSA

On Request Magazine’s YT Spotlight of the Day comes from HeyUSA, the hit summer show starring YouTubers and best friends Grace Helbig and Mamrie Hart, as the show ended it’s first season in their hometown of Los Angeles, CA. Watch as they explore their hometown and give one final glance at the great ol’ USA. Special Guest Appearance by Miranda Sings!

gracehelbig mamrie mirandasingsofficial heyusashow

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)

On Request Magazine’s Nintendo News Roundup

On By authoranthonyavinablogIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

1. Nintendo has added three Mercedes-Benz Cars and updated Mario Kart 8. Starting August 27th, the game update for the Wii U console will deliver a large array of new features for players, including the ability in-game to download three free Mercedes-Benz cars that players can race, including: the modern Mercedes-Benz GLA, the 300 SL Roadster from the 1950’s and the legendary Silver Arrow of the 1930s. The GLA model comes with special wheel options, and players can customize all three new karts with various wheels and gliders in the game. The update comes on the 22nd anniversary of the launch of the original Mario Kart game, Super Mario Kart, which launched in Japan on August 27th, 1992. Also to celebrate the anniversary, the original game will be available for $7.99 in the Nintendo eShop on Wii U.

2. Between August 27th and September 23rd, Nintendo and Mercedes-Benz will also host an online worldwide “Mercedes Cup” tournament. All of the competitors will require a Wii U console, the Mario Kart 8 game, a broadband internet connection and the Mercedes-Benz karts.

3. Be on the lookout for new updates from Nintendo as the annual Gamestop Expo 2014 arrives in Anaheim, CA.