Steven Helmer Publications

I picked these up a couple days ago because I was looking for something I could keep in my office for breakfast that was both simple and filling. The fact the bag cost less than $6 was a plus as well. After having these, I have to say they exceeded my expectations. Since the price did seem a little low compared to other brands, I was expecting a big drop off in terms of quality. However, I didn't notice any real difference between this pork sausage and a more expensive brand. I also thought the sausage had a decent amount of seasoning in it. It had flavor without being overpowering or too spicy, something I'm not a big fan of first thing in the morning. And, as I had hoped, the sausage does fill me up. Two or three patties are more than enough to last me until lunch, meaning I can get about four breakfasts out of this bag for considerably less than buying breakfast sandwiches at the convenience store up the street from my office. Final Opinion: I had lowered expectations about

Synopsis: In 1976, an 11-year-old Gru aspires to be a supervillain and thinks his dreams are about to come true when he receives an invite to interview for a position with the Vicious 6 crime team. When the team's leader, Bell Bottom, insults him, Gru tries to prove his worthiness by stealing a mystical stone from the group and, instead, finds his life in danger from both the Vicious 6 and their ex-leader Wild Knuckles and it is up to the Minions to save the day. Who's in it? The animated movie uses voices from Steve Carrell , Danny Trejo , Alan Arkin , Dolph Lundgren and Jean-Claude Van Damme . Review: My entire family is fans of the Minions/Despicable Me movies but, by the time I heard about this film, I had serious doubts about the quality. After all, even the best franchises grow stale after awhile.  That's why I didn't bother paying money to see this at the theater but did take advantage of being able to see it on Peacock. We did that last night and it turned

Synopsis: With Georgie ( Montana Jordan ) and Connie ( Annie Potts ) in jail for trying to smuggle cigarettes across the Mexican border, George ( Lance Barber ) enlists help from Dale (Craig T. Nelson) to bail them out. Feeling she is being challenged, Mary ( Zoe Perry ) faces a crisis of faith that only grows when she tries to return to church. My Thoughts: With all the drama affecting the Cooper family, I think the person I still feel sorriest for is Mandy ( Emily Osment ). She's stuck between a rock and a hard place because she doesn't want to marry Georgie (and probably shouldn't) but I'm sure still feels horrible about the fallout created by her pregnancy. I'm sure her conversation with Missy ( Raegan Revord ) didn't help with that. Despite the huge mistake he made, I feel like Georgie deserves a pat on the back. Yes, smuggling cigarettes was a horrible mistake but, as Connie even pointed out, he's at least trying to do the right thing by finding a w

Synopsis: Well-renown surgeon and conservative icon Ben Carson gives his view on race relations in America as well as subjects like critical race theory and George Floyd's death at the hands of police officers. Review: As a moderate independent, I try to keep an open mind and read books/articles written by people from both ends of the spectrum. That's why, when I came across this book at the library, I was intrigued enough to check it out. Since I was familiar enough with Ben Carson to know his basic political views, I pretty much knew what to expect from the book. However, I also hoped a conservative, black, doctor would offer a slightly unique viewpoint about racism in America and how to solve it. Unfortunately, that turned out not to be the case. To be fair, there were a couple things that did stand out for me when reading this book, such as his stories about the racism he faced when he was a child and how his white teachers hated the fact he was doing better than the whit

Well, "celebrating" might not be the right word for it since I have stuff I need to do today. However, it's still one more year added to a life that has witnessed the rise and fall of NASA's space shuttle program, the fall of the Berlin Wall, a pandemic that shut the world down and a president being impeached because his intern didn't get her dress dry cleaned. It's been a wild ride and I'm looking forward to seeing what happens next.

  This is a sequel to Murder by Chili I've been working on for some time now and it stars the detective from that book, Maxwell V. Diamond. I decided to publish this book on Kindle Vella, which is a platform on Amazon that lets me publish the story in "episodes" rather than all at once. I've never tried this platform before so it's definitely a new experience for me. My hope is, depending on how successful this murder mystery is, I can add other stories as additional episodes down the road. The first four chapters are already published and can be read here:  The Body at Belmount Manor | Kindle Vella (amazon.com)