A Couple of Images

 I'm posting these just so they won't go away (unless Google doubles down on their Gulf of whoever nonsense), and in honor of Pride Month.

Celebrating the orange buffoon's stupidity, and that of his minions is certainly a strong vote in favor, tbh.

Enola Gay

While it may have been restored, the image of the Enola Gay being deleted for the sin of having "Gay" painted on the fuselage can't be derided too much, ever. And I hope for it to resound far and wide.

USNS Harvey Milk

Thye haven't deleted the name from the records; they deleted the whole ship, by renaming her. The honor of being selected for the new name of T-AO 206 hasn't been bestowed; it's sufficient that we know Harvey Milk's name will no longer despoil this battleship gray hull.

These two images serve to remind us we once honored all people, not merely the straight, white, Judeo-Christian ones attempting to take over history.

 

 

 

 

 

With good eyes, you may be able to read Harvey Milk on the stern.

 

Enjoy. Comments are closed.

 

Price Increase

On my Print Books.

On my Print Books Only.

If any of my one's of readers had thought about picking up the paperback edition of any of my books, NOW is the time to click on over to Amazon and do your thing.

I bumped two prices last night, on Coda? and on Father Maman, but they aren't first in series, so I expect there to be less interest in them.

The price increase comes about after my upstream supplier, Amazon, raised their prices. They didn't say the increase resulted from tariff pressures, but they didn't say it didn't either. Make of that what you will. The increase hits me June 10, 2025, so I'll be raising the prices on my other books starting on June 7.

Increases apply to most of the territories I offer books in, so if you're reading this from outside the US, be advised.

The links in the sidebar are to the ebook version; those pages include Other Format links. To see all of them in one place, go to my Author Page and in the upper left hand corner, choose Paperback for the format. This will display all those, allowing you to choose. The link will open in a new window. Again, Paperbacks only are affected.

As an also beware, Amazon isn't singling ME out for this treatment; as a public service, if you had thought of picking up any print offering, you should look into the prices sooner rather than later. No telling what schedule other authors or marketing mavens have in mind.

Review of Half-Pint Hex, Book One of Aura Healers Hall, in the Hundred Halls Universe, by Thomas K. Carpenter

Five stars.

Reread this book, getting back into the Hundred Halls while waiting for new offerings from Mr. Carpenter. A pleasure, for sure. Magic, mystery, suspense, lots of human characteristics—good and bad, for sure!—humor and pathos.

More than some of the other books in the universe, Remi survives a laudable character arc, and the other main characters are truly satisfactory. I look forward to the other books in this series.

I was pleased by this addition to the Universe, and I recommend it to readers of contemporary fantasy.

I obtained this book through a Kickstarter. I read the ebook on my MacBook Air, using Apple’s Books app. The cover calls out for a color reader, but the balance of the book is fine on a monochrome reader.

This review will be posted at Amazon and Goodreads, and other sites.

The Smashwords Sale Goes Live

From today through March 8 Only. 

130,000 Books for your edification, delight, amusement and enjoyment!

 

Among those 130,000, I have five books for free (see below) and all my other books 50% off (save two at $0.99). So, find something you like and read. Since the orange felon and his faux co-prez have fired NWS and NOAA workers who provide our weather forecasts, there'll be no way to know if March is out like a lion or a lamb til too late, so get your hunker down and relax material early.

The five books available for free begin my two series, the Rebecca Jamse Thrillers (Contemporary political thrillers), and Dragons Run My Life (an epic fantasy series where stories build on one another). Click the images to visit the Smashwords page where you can apply the appropriate code and get the book free. The link will open in a new window.

Note, use the links below rather than the ones in the sidebar; the sale is only at Smashwords.

I have sixteen other books, six Rebecca Jamse Thrillers, and ten Dragons Run My Life stories. Two novella length stories remain at $0.99, while the other fourteen are 50% off during the sale. The linked pages contain further links to those books, so feel free.

Rebecca Jamse Thrillers Free

 

 

Dragons Run My Life Epic Fantasy Books Free

Enjoy! Read! More to come.

Comments welcome, as always. 

How to Reconcile? Also a Reminder

 How do I reconcile two pieces of writing advice which seem to me contradictory, while at the same time, I’m certain they are both correct and useful?

What are you talking about? I hear. All writing advice is contradictory.

True, but it doesn’t always show-up simultaneously, and more important, they don’t normally both have advice that seems to be correct!

Today, I read a post by Nathan Bransford, “Stamp out vague catchalls in your writing”, where Mr. Bransford pleads for specificity in our writing. He writes, “It’s so important to precisely articulate what you mean when you write, possibly to the point of feeling like you’re being pedantic. Err on the side of clarity.”

To be fair, his main point is that we should eliminate (if possible) “vague catchall[s] like 'this,' 'it,' or 'that' where it’s unclear what’s being referred to”. (Emphasis mine.)

The other post, by Alex Limberg of Ride the Pen, writing about… wait for it… "How to Create Drama and Plot Without a Single Facebook Entry (Shakespeare’s Macbeth)". Wait, what?

Everything can be answered by Macbeth; it’s kinda like the Bible in that regard.

Specifically, in this post, and in what seems like opposition to Mr. Bransford’s post imploring details and specificity, Mr. Limberg uses Macbeth to argue that our plots will be stronger, and more importantly, will have an easier job keeping readers engaged (and this is something we all dearly wish for, is it not?) because by not revealing things, being less specific, allows questions to form, not in our minds but in the readers', and if the question is sufficiently interesting, the reader will be motivated not to pitch their book, or Kindle or Nook or laptop against the wall protesting terminal boredom but rather, continue reading.

Clarity and suspense. Both are useful things to recall. One might say crucial to the author looking to find an audience. Still, they do seem at first blush to be in opposition.

No, each applies to its own circumstance, and both are indeed important.

I invite you to read both of the posts and see for yourself the points being made, and not only the points but examples to illustrate the positions.

Remember, Smashwords’ 16th Annual Read an Ebook Week Super Sale kicks off March 2nd and runs through the end of day March 8th. Along with 130,000 other books, all my books are available at  50% off, except for Series Starters in both of my series which are free.

Thanks for reading. Comments welcome.

Not Disappeared, Yet

So, not quite a year since my last post. I hope everyone’s having a good year, though with the convicted orange buffoon ruining the country, I suspect not everyone is. Still, it’s a worthy wish, and I lay it on you, hopeful that you’re getting by.

In honor of the convicted orange buffoon ruining the country, I sent the following message to both my Senators (in spite of them voting for Rubio) and my Representative:

Topic: Other

Subject: Action to save the United States



Message Text:


Unfortunately, "Save the United States" is not one of the suggested Topics, hence I chose Other.

When Trump decides he's actually king instead of just raping and pillaging, what are you going to do about it?

My vote may not matter then, but without some useful definitive action, I'll be looking elsewhere.

Your personal vendettas don't seem to carry much weight when the government is being dismantled like White Stadium in Boston. Or the World Trade Center on 9-11. You do recall those things, and I hope you can see the parallel. Except for first responders rushing in to help. Not much of that going on.

I'll be watching with hope, though Democrats haven't covered themselves with glory in the past month. Look at the confirmed Cabinet positions for my proof.

Thank you for listening and taking some action.

 So far, auto-responses from two of the three, consistent with other messages I've sent. While I do have two nickels to rub together, I don't have enough money to be noticed in the political quagmire Citizens United has bequeathed us, and push comes to shove, my wife and kids can use those nickels to get away (assuming that fits their plans, too).

Without money to make a difference, Ben Cohen of The Daily Banter suggests writing congresss critters to protest what's going on, so I'm trying that approach. Feel free to follow along, if you will. Perhaps President's Day will once again be something to celebrate. Or maybe we'll all hang the flag upside down on Flag Day.

Memorial Day

 Weather's not the best for opening your pool.

At least, here. And in the south Mid-west, where reports suggest tornadoes may again afflict your celebrations.

A new flag for the year.

In the midst of your celebrations, please remember the reason for Memorial Day, whether you have someone lost in service or not.

Enjoy no matter how you honor those who gave all.