Naked Alliances to be Delivered Today!

We opened at a ranking of #90,198 on the eVersion. Having started at nearly 500,000 it is definitely an improvement.

Pre-order helps.

I have two radio shows lined up. One is the web based show with Lisa Burton over at Entertaining Stories, and another is live with Surf 97.3 FM WQFB over in Flagler Beach with Tim Baker and Vern Shank.

I just sent out a completed questionnaire to my publicist, Maryglenn McCombs. She will be lining up a blog tour, getting reviewers, and making contact with some media outlets. The reviewers will also be doing some giveaways. I’ll keep you informed about those. I’ll be doing some guest posts. I will also be setting up my own blog tour.

Thank you so much for all of the support you have given me here. Helping with the book when I was stuck, beta reading, your comments mean the world to me, and being here for me to process through ideas, provide feedback…well, you are all just awesome. Your encouragement has kept me going.

I’m notifying my vaping group that the book is available now. Also my local writer’s group. I’m so excited!!!

You can pick up the book on Amazon

BTW…if you have a review ready or did an endorsement, you can post those now!!! Please make sure to note if you received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

 

 

Trying to get back in the routine

Lisa got into a little trouble while visiting Florida.

Entertaining Stories

Today is my flex day off this week. I got kind of a late start, and it felt good to sleep in for once. I spent an hour feeding Otto, and playing with him and his squeaky fox toy. After he settled down, I headed for the writing cabin.

I landed my gyrocopter and parked on the runway. When I took the elevator down into the basement, I noticed the formerly haunted biplane was missing. The yak was standing in his stall, waiting for me to get back to his story. “Where’s Lisa?”

“She has not returned,” the yak said. “I need to graze, if you don’t mind.”

I opened the stall and led him out the back door. “Stay near the cabin. Lisa isn’t here to guard you, and there are all kinds of fantasy creatures in the woods.”

I left him to his breakfast, and went in through…

View original post 796 more words

News from the Sunshine State: Home of Richard Noggin and Brandi

There is no way to explain how busy I’ve been in the past two months. I looked at the blank page and didn’t know where to begin this post, so I’ll probably ramble.

As you know by now, Naked Alliances has hit the market. The eversion can be pre-ordered and will be delivered Friday the 23^rd. I’m both excited and scared. I’ve sold more copies of the paperback in the first month than I did with Red Clay and Roses in three years. I hope that’s a good sign.

I’ve been signing copies for the rocket scientist’s friends at work. They are making me feel somewhat like a celebrity. There is a woman who works there and has a friend who writes a column for a newspaper that showcases local talent. She’s going to check on getting me a slot.

My publicist assures me that my anxieties are unwarranted. She’ll be contacting me later this week with more details on what she does and what I will need to do.

I have a list of names of people who beta read for me and will send out emails soon asking for your preferred delivery method…eversion or paperback, or both. I can’t thank you enough for all you have done. If you manage to write a review of the final version, I will dance at your next wedding.

For some reason, my list only shows ten and I was certain I had twelve beta readers, so if you don’t hear from me by the end of this week, please don’t hesitate to drop me a line and ask me what’s up. I may never know who I’m missing. Sorry about that. Sometimes my brain is scrambled and I think I noted things that I didn’t.

I’ve traveled the state of Florida visiting Native Americans and their homes and communities. I am floored by the information I am gathering with my research and excited to be able to share some of this in my next book. Richard is having a hard time getting Brandi to take her new job seriously.

I’ll be doing the rest of my traveling around in my new Chrysler Pacifica Limited. It’s a minivan transformed and tripped out with all the latest bells and whistles. I call it the grandmother vehicle because it seats six adults comfortably, but there are two back seats which will hold car seats for the two youngest grandchildren in town, and mama, daddy and the oldest grandchild can sit comfortably in the third row, while the RS and I sit up front. It also has room for cargo. The kids can even watch Netflix or play games on dual screens while mama and I work on our laptops. Most importantly, though, my whole six person Pokemon Go patrol team fits in there comfortably with USB ports all around for phones and chargers.

Hey…Don’t judge me. Unlike most old folk in Florida, I don’t play golf, have no country club dues, greens fees, or caddies to pay. I’m not sporting the newest golfing attire and accessories…it’s just my thing to do. I’m socializing and getting out to the gorgeous parks in the sunshine state.

Brandi has been invited to the Lisa Burton Radio Show. She’s looking forward to meeting Lisa soon and talking to you about her role in Naked Alliances. She’ll likely have some things to say about me too. After all, I’m the one who paired her with Richard.

If you liked the book “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil” by John Berendt, you will love Naked Alliances. The setting doesn’t have that small town feel because Orlando is a big city, but Chablis and Brandi were hatched out of the same egg.

<insert cool pic>  (This is where a cool pic of my book on a coffee  table goes but WP wouldn’t let me upload…it errored me out a dozen times, so I’m posting anyway.)

You can pick up a copy to go with your morning coffee at the links provided below. Your purchase will help boost my rankings on release day…or so I’m told. There is a ranking now which was in the 100,000s yesterday morning. I don’t know if that’s good or bad, but it started out at nearly 500,000, so it’s certainly better. I can’t see how many copies have been purchased through the pre-order. I don’t think I’ll get that data until Friday.

Paperback:

https://www.amazon.com/Naked-Alliances-Richard-Noggin-Novel/dp/0989568601/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1474477303&sr=8-1&keywords=Naked+Alliances

Eversion:

https://www.amazon.com/Naked-Alliances-Richard-Noggin-Novel-ebook/dp/B01LFW4XAE/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1474477303&sr=8-1

Lisa Burton Drops by to Tell Us About C.S. Boyack’s Short Stories and How Writing Them Differs From Novels

Today I have a dear friend, Craig, who goes by C.S. Boyack as his author name. Craig has a spokemodel for his books, Lisa Burton, and I have invited her here to tell us a bit about the difference between short stories and novels. I personally find reading the two types of work very different. C.S. Boyack has a new book of short stories out and his creative energy is flowing through its pages.

Thanks for inviting me, Sue. I enjoy getting out of the writing cabin every once in a while. You wanted to know about the difference between short stories and novels. Craig had to think about this one for a while, but here’s what he told me.

With a novel, you have more time to build worlds, add in small bits of backstory, and go on a hero’s journey. Short stories don’t have that luxury. You have to know what the point is, and get to it in a hurry. A novel might have a chapter of denouement, but short stories usually end before then.

Craig said most short stories involve an epiphany. There is character growth, but it’s usually more shocking and direct than in a novel. Maybe the character learns she’s been wrong about everything. Back her up and walk her into that moment of understanding. It’s that lightbulb moment that makes for a good short story. The cavalry isn’t coming, I’ve created a monster, aliens are real, that kind of thing.

There is a lot of room within those parameters. In Craig’s new book, characters grow, some die, some make lifestyle changes. Twist endings are popular in short stories, and Craig uses them too sometimes.

In novels, they talk about rising tension. This works in short stories, but it has to be faster. Sometimes the tension is already there, and the author dials the heat up from that point.

Craig started out as a novelist, and he always has one of those going on. He has lots of ideas, but they won’t all carry a novel for eighty-thousand words. He used to toss index cards over his shoulder as he discarded ideas looking for the right one. Guess who had to clean them all up.

Today, he saves those ideas. Maybe they won’t carry a novel, but many of them make for a nice short story. Craig writes his short fiction when he’s pressed for time, or when the novel burns him out. He’s doubled his productivity that way, and I have a hunch the method is here to stay.

The book is called The Experimental Notebook of C. S. Boyack II. It’s the second collection he’s put out. This one contains some paranormal, some science fiction, and one that might pass for fantasy. Any of them can be read during a lunch break, and some can even fit into a coffee break.

 

The book is priced at 99¢ and is available on Amazon right now.

Personally, I’m glad to see a little more science fiction in this collection. As a robot, those are my roots, and where I’m most comfortable. Remember, I help Craig with dialog and positioning. I enjoyed dressing up as an Amazon Queen, or as a colonial era witch, but getting back to science fiction felt great.

That brings me to your poster. This is reflective of a story in the collection called Last Flight of the Rocket Men. It’s me getting ready to take the rocket-pack up for a flight. It made Craig nervous, but I took several orbits that day and had a blast.

Your readers are welcome to use the poster as backgrounds on PCs, laptops, phones, or whatever.

Don’t forget about Lisa Burton Radio when Naked Alliances publishes. I’d love to get Richard or Brandi on the show.

Now, what kind of cool shopping do you have in Florida? I need a swimsuit, and you never know what else I might find.

Oh wow! And purple is my favorite color…I have it in my hair. Swimsuits are always available, Lisa, and definitely flip-flops. I know your shoes are often exotic, but everybody needs a pair of flip-flops to slip into when you just don’t feel like dressing up. They are  a staple around here and there are many stylish ones for sale that are cushiony soft and highly decorated.

So glad you could drop by and introduce my readers to Craig’s newest book. I loved Wild Concept and am in the middle of The Second Experimental Notebook. The story Magpies really caught my attention and made me think about what might go through my own head during such a moment in time.

I can’t wait to introduce you to my P.I.’s sidekick, Brandi. I think you’ll make good friends. She’s kind of new to women’s fashion. Perhaps you can give her some pointers.

You can hook up with C.S. Boyack Here:

Follow my blog: http://coldhandboyack.wordpress.com

 

Check out my novels here: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00ILXBXUY

 

Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/Virgilante

 

On Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/9841203.C_S_Boyack

Michigan Visit: A New Baby and a New Book

My busy self had to take a week off and visit my new grandson in Michigan and see how new Mama and Daddy were faring. It was my first born’s first born, so I was thrilled to finally get a chance to hold him in my arms. Meet Carter Jeffery Schultz:

What a warm cuddle butt he is. With his little round head and bottom and wiry arms and legs, I had to nickname him Mr. Peanut. There is nothing that touches a grandmother’s heart quite like holding a newborn grandchild.

My favorite picture of father and son.

With Daddy working weird hours, Mama and me got to do a little sightseeing. We had lunch at Fireflies on the water watching the canoers paddle by and baby was such a good child. It was his first excursion to a restaurant and did very well. Helped Mama’s confidence to get him out and about, also. She’s such a good little mama.

Another day, when Daddy was home, we went to a wine tasting at a place they now call The Commons. This was my kind of place.

It’s a historic 1884 hospital complex now a sprawling shopping & dining spot with arboretum & hiking.

The Traverse City State Hospital of Traverse City, Michigan has been variously known as the Northern Michigan Asylum and the Traverse City Regional Psychiatric Hospital. It is the last Kirkbride Building of Michigan’s original four left in the state. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978 and designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1985. It was a deary day with sprinkling rain when we went which lent a more mysterious feel to the place…almost haunting.

One little tid-bit I learned while visiting is that roughly 80% of the women there from the 1930s-60s were menopausal or post-meopausal and thier husbands had mistresses younger than them…hmmm.

Northern Michigan Asylum was established in 1881 as the demand for a third psychiatric hospital, in addition to those established in Kalamazoo and Pontiac, began to grow. Lumber baron, Perry Hannah, “the father of Traverse City,” used his political influence to secure its location in his home town under the supervision of prominent architect Gordon W. Lloyd, the first building, known as Building 50, was constructed in Victorian–Italianate style according to the Kirkbride Plan. The hospital opened in 1885 with 43 residents.

Arial View of the complex

Under Dr. James Decker Munson, the first superintendent from 1885 to 1924, the institution expanded. Twelve housing cottages and two infirmaries were built between 1887 and 1903 to meet the specific needs of male and female patients. The institution became the city’s largest employer and contributed to its growth. In the 1930s three large college-like buildings were constructed near the present site of the Munson Hospital parking deck and the Grand Traverse Pavilions.

Long before the advent of drug therapy in the 1950s, Munson was a firm believer in the “beauty is therapy” philosophy. Patients were treated through kindness, comfort, and pleasure, and beautiful flowers provided year-round by the asylum’s own greenhouses and the variety of trees Munson planted on the grounds. Restraints, such as the straitjacket, were forbidden. Also, as part of the “work is therapy” philosophy, the asylum provided opportunities for patients to gain a sense of purpose through farming, furniture construction, fruit canning, and other trades that kept the institution fully self-sufficient. The asylum farm began in 1885 with the purchase of some milk cows and within a decade grew to include pigs, chickens, milk and meat cows, and many vegetable fields. In the 1910s-30s, the farm was home to a world champion milk cow, Traverse Colantha Walker. Her grave is at the end of the dirt trail between the farm and the asylum.

While the hospital was established for the care of the mentally ill, its use expanded during outbreaks of tuberculosis, typhoid, diphtheria, influenza, and polio. It also cared for the elderly, served as a rehab for drug addicts, and was used to train nurses. Kinda creepy, huh?

I was most interested in the tunnels that honeycomb the undergrounds. These were used during winter months when there was eight to twelve feet of snow on the ground so the patients could wander around and the caretakers could get from one building to another without freezing to death. (BTW…they are filled with spiders.)

The inside of the buildings are room after room of quiant upscale boutiques, coffee shops, and eateries. The upstairs are condos where people live year ’round or summer over. It was both fun and interesting on many levels. Much nicer than the tunnels, but I don’t know that I could live there.

Inside The Commons

There was a wonderful restaurant inside, called Stella’s, and we had a lovely dinner of veal sweetbreads, thinly sliced fried pig ears, fried artichokes and a cheese tray for starters. That was followed by entrees of wild boar, lamb and scallops and topped off by a decadent chocolate desert with a crispy cookie and creamy mousse with whipped cream and shaved chocolate…oh yes, we did have another delicious bottle of Cab-Sav. A nice glass of Taylor Fladgate port rounded off the meal.

While touring the buildings and the grounds my mind wandered back to the 30s-50s when patients lived and worked there. As any good author, by the time I left I already had the makings of another book in my head.

There is already so much in my head, I don’t know if this lifetime will grant me what is necessary to finish such a piece, but it’s worth a try.

Right now, I’m focused on marketing my zany little Florida regional crime novel with Richard and Brandi which is on pre-order HERE with the paperback available HERE.

Perhaps Richard and Brandi can go back with me to Traverse City and use those tunnels to uncover some heinous crime that occurred there. I’d jump at the chance to revisit for more research.

Introducing the Third Book in the John J. Cannon Trilogy – Our Justice

I saw this book on Amazon and thought there is a book written by a a guy who has the same name as my author friend John W. Howel and I love that cover….well, duh! It is a book written by my author friend John W. Howell. I was so ashamed I have not been paying attention to the blogosphere lately or keeping up with my reading. John is one of the sweetest men I know, but he can write a mean book. By mean, I am referring to pure awesomesauce! I fell in love with his character, John J. Cannon, in book one of this Trilogy and am delighted to introduce you to book three.

Click to go to Amazon

Blurb

 

The terrorist leader and financier Matt Jacobs has figured out a way to eliminate the President. He is relying on John Cannon’s stature as a hero to help him carry it off. John finds himself walking the fine line of pretending to help Matt while trying to figure out a countermeasure to the plan.

The action begins with John fearing for his life. Clearly, whoever is trying to get him has a mission to accomplish and the elimination of John is at the top of the to-do list. The quest to survive takes John and his love, Stephanie from the beaches of Port Aransas to West Virginia and finally to Matt Jacob’s corporate headquarters at the Embarcadero Center in San Francisco. There John finally understands what he needs to do to protect both he and Stephanie from further mayhem.

The third book in the John J. Cannon Trilogy brings together two strong wills for a showdown. The question to be answered is who will feel the satisfaction that the achievement of justice delivers? John, Matt or neither?

Our Justice is available on Amazon and KDP now in e-book format for preorder at $2.99 with shipments starting on September 23^rd. The paper edition will be available on Amazon September 23^rd at $14.99. Here is the link for pre-order of the e-book https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LDFM9WM?ref_=pe_2427780_160035660

Excerpt.

I see out of the corner of my eye that Ned is on the phone. Hopefully, he’s calling in reinforcements since it looks like the SUV is gaining on us. Just as the rear window of the Focus blows inward, he finishes the call. Hundreds of pieces of glass hit Ned and me. Luckily, it’s shatterproof stuff, so we’re mostly okay cut wise. Ned crouches down and fires three quick shots with his 9MM. In the mirror, the SUV swerves to the left and almost explodes after it rams a parked car. “Stop,” Ned yells.

I slam on the brakes, which nearly tosses Ned through the windshield. “For shit’s sake, I don’t have a seatbelt on, junior, so take it easy. Just stop and turn around.”

Author BIO

John’s main interests are reading and writing. He turned to writing as a full-time occupation after an extensive career in business. John writes fictional short stories and novels as well as a daily blog. His first novel, My GRL is available on Amazon and wherever e-books are sold. His second, His Revenge is available on Amazon and KDP Select.

John lives on a barrier island in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of South Texas with his wife and spoiled rescue pets.

Other places.

Blog Fiction Favorites – http://johnwhowell.com/

Facebook– https://www.facebook.com/john.howell.98229241

Twitter –https://www.twitter.com/HowellWave

Authors db –http://www.authorsdb.com/authors-directory/6604-john-w-howell

LinkedIn –http://www.linkedin.com/pub/john-w-howell/48/b59/462/

Google +https://plus.google.com/+JohnHowellAuthor/

Goodreads –https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7751796.John_W_Howell

Amazon Author’s page –https://www.amazon.com/author/johnwhowell

Martin Sisters Publishing –Http://www.martinsisterspublishing.com

 

 

Book Review: A Thousand Yesteryears by Mae Clair

I read this book a while back and thought I had posted the review already, but must have written it in my head, as I couldn’t find it anywhere. It sucks getting old. (That’s what I like to blame all my blunders on.)

Mae Clair knows mystery and paranormal and this book was a great blend of the two!

Really glad this book is the first in a series, as I had a hard time letting go at the end. Eva Parrish returns to her hometown to settle her Aunt Rosie’s estate. A tragedy occurred there when she was a pre-teen and her father and best friend perished, but there is so much more to this story. This town holds secrets galore. What is Mothman? Is he evil, or is he good?  Is he even real? This is not a one murder story, and unraveling the connections was loads of fun.

I came from a small town where everybody knew everybody’s business and this book captures the essence of small town life with excellence. Eva reunites with a crush and that relationship develops throughout the course of the story. Their whole experience is tainted by the supernatural and I loved the way the author blended mystery and paranormal.

As a former psych nurse, I have to comment on the way mental illness was managed in this book. Ryan and Caden’s mom is afflicted…or is she? So many times what we regard as an unnatural feature in the way that the mind and spirit works is actually more natural than we realize. Given the mom’s grief reaction, the book was most believable and the author certainly did her research, or has had experience with those who have been affected by such trauma. I was most impressed with how this was handled.

Looking forward to reading more from Mae Clair. 5 Stars*****

You can click the pic to buy the book🙂