I want to primarily write about entertainment that I love on this blog. On Twitter, I also post shorter reviews of films and shows I’ve recently seen. But here, it’s about building a map to the good movies.

To kick things off, I recommend a movie from the 1980s—one of the very first movies I ever watched. I remember coming home from kindergarten at age five. My brother had gotten No Surrender, No Retreat on VHS, and we watched it on a rainy afternoon.

In Germany, the movie was actually sold as Karate Tiger. But no matter the title, it’s the flick that launched Jean-Claude van Damme’s movie career. It also introduced me to Bruce Lee and, I believe, inspired my own interest in martial arts a couple of years later.

The plot is simple: a lost boy is rejected by friends, society, and family. But he finds meaning and confidence in martial arts, guided by Bruce Lee’s ghost, who teaches him that martial arts are not just a sport, but a way of life. Along the way, the movie also introduced Van Damme’s trademark split.

One standout aspect of the film is its music, which perfectly complements the training and fight scenes. The choreography still holds up today, as all the side characters clearly had solid martial arts experience.

The movie was a low-budget production, but the director made the most of limited resources. Sure, the dialogue can feel cheesy at times now, and the plot is paper-thin, but the film has a remarkable ability to motivate you to work out and practice fighting. If you have a young son, show him this movie—and maybe get him into kickboxing the next day!

IMDb rates it only 5.6 here. Likely because No Surrender, No Retreat is a classic “boys’ movie,” a type of story that isn’t really told anymore today.

By the way, the movie is currently (as I’m writing this post) freely available on YouTube: Watch here

Man, what a ride this guy had through life. Ozzy Osbourne was one of rock’s greatest voices—if not the greatest of them all. Today, he sadly passed away at the age of 76. Just two weeks ago, he played his final concert, bringing together some of the biggest names in music for one last, unforgettable hurrah.

I remember hearing him for the first time—falling in love with that kind of music and his unique voice. Later, I saw him on that MTV show, The Osbournes, which in Germany only aired with subtitles. My English wasn’t good enough at first to understand everything, but after watching rerun after rerun, not only did I get why so many liked it—I also came to love Ozzy Osbourne the person.

He always struck me as a great guy with a kind heart. And he managed to do what many men strive for: he stayed true to himself and lived his dream all the way to the end.

His music with Black Sabbath made me pick up a guitar. His work with Randy Rhoads is rock history at its finest. And his solo career later on produced hit after hit—for good reason. My father loved his music so much, he wanted Ozzy’s song Dreamer to be played at his funeral.

A man can’t live forever.
But his work can.
RIP Prince of Darkness.

This is my first full month launching my free short story promotion. My plan is to publish a new short story on Amazon every month and offer it for free during the promotional period. Each story will be between 2,000 and 10,000 words, and the free offer will run for as long as Amazon allows—5 days.

July’s short story is titled The Last Portrait, and it’s available for free until Sunday.

If you read eBooks on Kindle, be sure to grab your copy while it’s free. And if you enjoy the story, I’d really appreciate a review on Amazon—thank you!

Here are the links:

• The Last Portrait (US – English version)
• Das Letzte Porträt (DE – German version)

After the promotion ends, both versions will be priced at $0.89.
If you don’t want to miss future free promotions—I’ll be doing them regularly—follow me on Twitter and join my newsletter.

Take care!

One of the strategies I want to try for building a readership is to give away as much content as possible for free. In addition to publishing short stories on this website, I also plan to release stories on Amazon — either at the lowest possible price or completely free.

If you’re not familiar with how Amazon works: there’s a limit on how many days you can offer a book for free. However, I can run a free promotion for up to five days per book.

My idea is to write a new short story each month, between 2,000 and 10,000 words, and use these free campaigns to attract readers. Giving away books is, in my opinion, one of the best ways to get people interested in what I write.

The first test of this approach is now live and available for free on Amazon:

• Black Market Dreams (US – English version)
• Dunkle Träume (DE – German version)

It’s a quick read — about 5,000 words (19 Kindle pages) — but I think it’s a strong story and a good example of what you can expect from my future work.

So if you’re curious, feel free to check it out!

(Keep in mind, though, that the free campaign will only last for 5 days. So the book is going to be 99 Cents after June 25th.)