From On the Road

Not a Bing Crosby-Bob Hope movie… I hope. Who remembers them besides me?

We’re back in the land of no internetz, well except for Panera Bread. In Norfolk, on the way to meet the grandson at The Mouse, in Florida. He, with parental units, will arrive Sunday, the same day we plan to get there. While he goes by plane (school vacation is all he has), we’re driving, hence the intermediate stops, here at Gramma’s house and then outside Savannah. Us old people don’t want to drive all that long any more, LOL.

As for writing, my job for now, I’ve finally finished up two critiques for wonderful people that I can’t say any more about since their work isn’t public yet. I’ll try to let you know when they’re available.

Freedom Does Matter has a review on Goodreads. I’m not sure about the proprieties of reposting, but it’s linked from my book page, here. She discusses Mercenaries, too. Sales are existent, but countable on hands so far.

The third book, which has gone through maybe ten titles starting with Background Check, is currently called Connections for now. I’m trying to find a photo or two I can work both the English and Spanish words into. I have, two days ago, finished a major revision, recommended by my readers, and I’m letting it stew for a week or so, till we return home at the end of the month. If I can get it read again, I’m hopeful for an April release. I’ll post more about that later, along with some ideas for the cover. Reaction is always welcome.

The fourth book, working title Coda?, will be coming up for more work now that I’ve set Connections aside. Lessons learned from Connections are being applied, and that should make the story both stronger and clearer. But new scenes are required! It’s about 70Kwords now; the goal is 110K +/-, similar to Freedom and Connections.

I don’t believe I mentioned it before, but the hand-hewn map I used in the front matter of all the Mercenaries books describing the Nest, has been redrawn by Tommi Salama, find him at tommisalama (at) gmail.com. I think he did a great job; he’s looking at another map of the Nest, used in the reference material section, again, of all the books. You could find a worse cartographer. He does graphic design as well.

There are interesting posts at Ramblings of a Grumpy Old Man, . Try it and see if you like it.


Your thoughts and comments are always welcome!

Giveaway Running Now, and Best Wishes

On Goodreads, I've offered ten paperback copies of Freedom Does Matter. You still have ten days to sign up, until January 10. If you'd like a chance, at this writing about 1 in twenty, to get this book, click here for more info and to enter.

Of course, the odds of obtaining a copy in ebook format is 1 in 1 if you click the Buy Now link on Amazon or Smashwords. Or B&N, or Kobo, or Apple iBooks (search for "Freedom Does Matter"). For the paperback,  check CreateSpace. The Amazon link above can lead you there, too.

I wish for everyone the best in the New Year; that everything that you work for comes to pass.

Comments welcome.

Working with Smashwords

Probably most writers know this, but in case there are others, learning their way...

When I published Freedom Does Matter in September, I only uploaded an epub. I hadn't read the (not so) fine print... and didn't until last week. The fine print that says if you upload your own epub, that's all that will be available.

Specifically, no samples would be available.

There have been page views of the Freedom Does Matter page, but (obviously), no sample downloads. And no purchases, either, which makes sense; my two friends use Kindles! I hasten to add that the sample is available at Amazon, and sales have been... slow, so perhaps the story isn't as engaging as I hoped. However, Amazon doesn't provide any data on page views (I know; I asked and was politely told they'd consider giving that info up in future.) or on numbers of samples downloaded (if any), so it's hard to judge if potential customers are not visiting, are turned off by the cover image, or are turned off by the sample... Or just think the price is wrong.

In any event, this post is about Smashwords. I created a .doc file and put it through the process, keeping the epub that I uploaded, but generating all the other formats. That was yesterday, and today, according to SW statistics, the only apparent visitor downloaded the sample. So, maybe...

No matter, the upshot is, even if you want control over the look of the epub distributed by Smashwords -- sold by them, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Apple and the host of other retailers you might opt in for -- do the work to create a MeatGrinder ready Word file, and upload it as well.

At least, the sample will then be available.

Comments welcome, unless it's just to say "read the rules!"

It's December, so NaNoWriMo is Over

Yes, NaNoWriMo is history for another November. With 60K words validated, they declared me a Winner. So, good job, me. And Even Better Job to all the other NaNoWriMo’s who won, who came close, even those who wrote a word. Less of a better job to those who thought about it but didn’t actually get a word written. Better luck next time, which I think is in April, if enough people donate. Shameless plug: I gave to them, Not much, but what I could afford. If you can, throw something their way.

So what did that 60K words accomplish? Draft .7 of a front to back treatment of Coda?, the next story in the Mercenaries stories. There are rough spots—Hoo, boy, are there rough spots!— and the 60K will balloon to 85 or 90K by the time the pieces now marked with either an ^ or an … are added, and the roughness smoothed a little.

Description: Losses mount quickly as Beckie makes what she believes to be an unforgivable error, and has to live with the consequences. In that process, she meets an old friend, an acquaintance, and a new friend. Will her decisions lead to the life she’d hoping for?

 I’m having trouble putting any detail into the description, to avoid spoilers.

I will put Coda? aside for a while now, and work on (not necessarily in this order): Adapt the Past (the new title for Background Check), three different authors' stories I’m in various stages of critting, and trying to wrangle some reviews for Freedom Does Matter.

Another shameless plug: Edward L. Cote, one of the contributors to Twelve Worlds, has published his first book, a YA novella entitled Violet Skies. It’s available for Kindle and in paper at Amazon,  and at Smashwords in epub format. I liked it the first time I critiqued it, and it’s gotten better since. Disclaimer: I did the ebook formatting, so if you find a problem with the mobi or the epub versions, sing out to me. I’ve copied the description below for your enlightenment.

Taya Mindaerel and her mother, the Oracle of the Prairie Winds, must flee their home or face certain death at the hands of a dark hunter and his man-eating horse. Their journey takes them to Aurum, the City of Gold, where they seek the aid of the Great Magus Olbinaar.

On the way they meet three allies- Alex, a vagabond; Brand, a master swordsman, and Ogger, a wild creature. They will need all the help they can get to surmount all the obstacles in their path.

In the city, however, they learn that their journey has just begun.

Violet Skies is the first book in a YA series of the same name. Each book is a novella, short and easy to read. This is a fresh twist on classic fantasy, but it keeps its essential nature intact. The writing focuses on compelling characters first and appeals to fans and critics of the genre alike. Influences ranging from anime to Zelazny combine in a way familiar yet unique.

Comments are always welcome.

Hello, Saturday

If you follow my twitter, you'll know that I started NaNaWriMo really well, 5400 words in three days. Unfortunately, the next three days were pretty sucky; not even 1000 words combined. Can you say catch-up?

Fortunately, the tile laying is finally complete (pictures later) and yesterday and today--so far--I've put over 7500 words in the file; I'm at just over 14000 words total, which is only a thousand behind!

However, as I tweeted last night (or early today, I guess, to be accurate), I've come to the end of what my pre-planning covered; my characters are now staring into a very dark place, and they haven't figured out how to use their headlamps (figuratively), so I'm not sure exactly what they'll see once they recover from not one, but two important... That might be too much of a spoiler. No matter, they seem important to me; have to see what readers think.

Coda (working title) is an action story, and so far, I have too much exposition, I'm sure. But that's okay for the first draft, if I can bring out the garden shears and hedge trimmer when needed.

Monday, we crawl up the stairs (Kona is allegedly the only international airport that still uses portable stairways to debark/embark passengers) for the trip back home. Via LAX. Hopefully we won't encounter a tragedy similar to the one last week. Lots of work to do back home, too, so this has been fun, if tiring.

Time to add more words to today's total. Comments always welcome.

I Pulled the Trigger Today.

No, this isn’t a gun control rant.

Freedom Does Matter should be live at Amazon, Smashwords and Kobo as you read this. I have the paper version in process at CreateSpace, but due to proofing and shipping, that will be longer.

Now, on to complete the third Mercenaries book, Background Check, which I’m thinking of renaming Love, Consequences, Love, or Unintended Consequences, or something I’ve not yet considered.

Finally, to prepare for NaNoWriMo, I’ve been researching the story after BC; named Coda. I feel pretty confident in that name sticking, and hope to get more than half of it done in November.

Update October 5: Added the link for Kobo. I expect the paperback version to be available next month, due to my schedule.

Fair Warning: A Political Post, on Syria

An open letter to my Senators and Representative concerning the upcoming vote on President Obama's request for military action in Syria.

Dear Senator/Representative;
As one of your constituents, I'd like to inform you of my position vis a vis President Obama's plan to punish Bashar al-Assad for his alleged use of chemical weapons.


While the tragedy of the almost 1500 Syrian citizens cannot be denied, I doubt that those involved really discriminate between Sarin and incendiary bombs or gunfire. The hundred thousand plus other Syrian (and other) dead should have roused an equal outrage. Since they have not, I'm left to think the President would have me believe that the treaty -- to which Syria and other MidEastern countries are not signatories -- ranks higher than the offense to common human decency that the other killings fill us with.


That's a common enough argument, I suppose. I am confident in President Obama's record for doing what he says, and the record gives me confidence as well that, given authorization, he will not allow events to overcome him and us.


If you will read my suggestion: Listen carefully to every briefing. Discover the mission's goal, its definition and how we may recognize it. Discover the disengagement process. More importantly, find out what happens when the plan fails and chemical weapons are again used, because to me, it seems certain that they will be. I am not as confident as Secretary Kerry that the rebels are lily white in this matter, and our actions may well embolden them to attempt to frame al-Assad, intent on putting America in the position where we must increase our involvement to "punish" his "continuing" evil.


Understanding the goal is crucial, I believe, since I think none of the parties in the civil war particularly like America; President Obama and Secretary Kerry have the unenviable job of picking the least worst, and no matter what we do, I see a fundamentalist regime in Syria's near future, as much as I believe in secular government. The goal should be limited, clearly defined, and in your opinion if you vote Yea, achievable. It should be a better outcome for Syria and for the world than declining to act as the President believes necessary.


Similarly, you must believe if you vote Yea that the consequences of both success and failure are accurately described, and acceptable. Also, they must be more acceptable to the country than those of voting Nay, preventing the President and the United States from additional involvement.


Personally, I don't believe that intervention is a wise move. I believe our moral outrage is sadly misplaced. I'm not convinced al-Assad is the only culprit. I'm sure that our action will play into the hands of those in America who would have us at war for their profit, and I'm as certain as can be that without a full-fledged intervention, our actions will vanish like smoke. Except in the history books.


However, I also believe that the President, the Secretary and you as my representative, have more detailed, accurate and comprehensive information than I. I ask you to use that information to make the best decision you can on this crucial matter.

No matter how you feel about this, please take a few minutes to inform your Senators and Representative of your views. That's the way it works. And of course, vote when the time comes.

If you don't know your Congress-critters' email addresses, check this web page. 

Comments welcome.