Kindle eBooks - A Miracle in Our Time!

When I was growing up, we moved from the city into the countryside, away from all of the amenities and conveniences a city has to offer. But most important, we moved away from bookstores and a public library. The schools I attended had few books, and the ones they had were acquired with an awareness that they had to meet the reading needs of children from the first grade through high school. Even when I reached adulthood, you could not always find the books you wanted at your local bookstore, and ordering the one you wanted could sometimes be impossible.

Online bookstores began to appear as soon as the Internet became available to consumers, but many books were prohibitively expensive. To offset the expense of print books and the shipping cost to deliver them, the concept of electronic books came into being. The drawback was the medium to deliver them and a suitable device on which they could be read. Some books were offered on floppy disk, but few of them were sold. It was not until Amazon tackled the problem of how to offer books in a hassle free manner that the concept began to fly. There were many of us who held our breath when the first Kindles came on the market, until we realized that they were actually the miracle that was promised. Amazons plans are to eventually have every book in existence in their marketplace. For an avid reader like me, this is almost too much to contemplate. Thank you Amazon for making my childhood dreams come true!

My latest eBook is now available on Amazon, and for the next five days it will be FREE. You can download it by clicking on the title of this article.

The Eternal

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Anyone can write a short story, but writing a good one is infinitely harder than anyone without writing experience can imagine. Most short stories have little substance, no plot, and their only saving grace is the fact that they don’t engage the reader for very long. But occasionally a good one comes along, crafted from bits and pieces of reality that make the reader wonder if the story is real. The Eternal does all of the things a good story should do, it entertains, it amuses, and it makes you think. You are going to love Nellie Wertz and the world George Wier has crafted in this story. Click on the title of this post and it will carry you to George Wier's Amazon page. Oh, and another thing. Did I tell you the short story can be downloaded to your Kindle for free.
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Freedom of Speech /vs/ Humor Gone to Far

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Fredom of speech allows humorist to go all the way to the firewall to express themselves. But many countries don’t allow nearly as much freedom as the United States, and you don’t have to go to third world countries to find this type of oppression. There are some who think using the word ‘oppression’ is not a good way to express the feelings of those who think we go to far - dangerously far - to let our citizens express their beliefs and feelings. England is now debating the pros and cons. You can click on the title of this article to find a newspaper article discussing the problem and some suggestions that are up for discussion. If you want to see an example of the freewheeling things that are allow in this country check out the Borowitz Report on the Internet.

http://www.borowitzreport.com/
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Free Copy of Abraham's Bones on Kindle

It has always astonished me that there are some people who never read. I have always been immersed in literature, and I feel lucky that I enjoy reading books from every genre. If there was room enough on an automobile vanity plate, mine would say, ‘There’s nothing like a book!’ I have several reasons for writing, but the most important is the desire to give pleasure to the people who enjoy reading as much as I do.

I spent many enjoyable hours writing Abraham’s Bones, a suspense novel about politics, the clash of the three great religions, and terrorism . . . with a lot of romantic entanglement thrown in to make the personalities of the characters come alive. Through Amazon’s promotional program, I am giving free copies away through this weekend. If you like suspense, you are going to love Abraham’s Bones, the first book in three book series. Click on the title of this article to get a free copy for your Kindle.

Merry Christmas Santa

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Randall would never have thought of this if it hadn’t been for the key. It was one of those little things no one could explain— a stroke of luck, kismet, providence, or maybe it was just the season. His grandmother had always believed in good luck. She thought if you waited long enough, it would turn in your favor and you would be suddenly and unexpectedly rewarded.

Not that it ever happened to her. She was dead at fifty-three of a heart attack, after working a minimum wage job for most of her life. In the last year, Randall had come to realize that luck was what you made of life. After this was over, he would not have to get up before daylight to drive the delivery truck. With careful planning, he might be able to live for a year or two without working. He wondered how much there would be in the night deposit. Could there be as much a hundred thousand? The department stores would have the largest cash flow. The other shops did not do a lot of business, but with fifty of them, it would add up to an impressive amount of cash. He thought of all the wonderful things he could buy with a hundred thousand dollars. A new car would be nice, some new clothes, and then he would head south, away from the slate gray sky and the bone-chilling temperature. He would go to some town with a warm sunlit beach. He wanted a place where he could relax, budget his money, and go for as long as possible without having to work.

Maybe there wouldn’t be a hundred thousand, he thought. Seventy-five thousand would do, but then he decided he could make it on fifty. Fifty was a good number and he didn’t need to tempt fate, or whatever it was that provided this golden opportunity.

He climbed across the console to the passenger seat where he could look in the mirror on the back of the sun visor as he put on the rest of his disguise. There was a strip of adhesive around the edge of the beard. He worried that it might come off and allow someone to see his face. The outfit had cost him twenty bucks at a consignment shop, and he was pleased to see how well it fit. He tugged the cap down over his head until it rested just above his ears and took one last look in the mirror.

“Merry Christmas, Santa,” he said as he jerked the handle on the door. It opened with a creaking noise that sent a flock of pigeons angling toward the sky. He gave the door a shove, but it wouldn’t close. After bumping it a couple of times with his knee, he heard the latch click. Despite the worn-out appearance of the car, the motor ran surprisingly well. He spent several hours looking for an older car with an ignition that would be easy to hot-wire. His luck was turning. He could feel it. This job was going to go like a dream.

There was a steady stream of shoppers rushing across the parking lot toward the entrance. Some of them were elderly people who leaned forward as if they were walking up a steep hill. The teenagers were strolling along five or six paces in front, trying to pretend they weren’t with their parents. The younger adults were either carrying a baby or leading their excited children. Some of the kids spotted him and waved. He waved back at them, but his mind was on the security office where they kept the night deposit. The rear of the building housed the storage area and the offices. This whole thing had started when he took a wrong turn in the back corridor on his last delivery. He discovered his mistake and was about to turn his cart around when he spotted the key on the floor underneath a coat rack. One side of it said, ‘do not duplicate’ while the other had a number. He was a lot more interested in the label that identified it as the key to the security entrance. Looking down the corridor, he saw a sign that said, ‘security personnel only.’ It would be a simple matter to overpower the bored security guard in the office and make his escape before anyone discovered the empty safe. This was going to be easy, too easy. He almost laughed aloud.

The group from the ‘Community Chest’ was hard at work just inside the entrance, jingling their bells and waving at customers. He waved back as he took a right turn and headed toward the end of the corridor that led into the office area. There was a bench near the ‘you are here’ sign and it would be the perfect place for him to wait until the two guards picked up the money pouches from the shops and carried them to the security office. Five minutes in the office and he would be through the back door trying to put as much distance as he could between himself and the North Pole.

He saw the long line of children as he came around the corner and realized this was where Santa—the real Santa—had set up his headquarters. Some of the small kids did a double take as he passed by the Christmas tree and took a seat on the empty bench. As he looked casually around, he saw some of the kids talking excitedly to their parents. He looked away, then suddenly realized one of the kids was standing directly in front of him.

“Which one of you is the real Santa?” a little girl asked. He turned reluctantly in her direction and saw a head of blond ringlets and a pair of serious, unblinking eyes. Her mother was hovering in the background as if she didn’t know what to do.

“I’m Santa’s helper,” he said, hoping his answer would send the kids scurrying back to the end of the line.

“Are you sure?” the little girl asked. “You look so real.”

“There is more than one Santa,” another girl said, rolling her eyes toward the ceiling. “You can talk to any of the Santa’s because they all know the same stuff.”

He was horrified to see the kids forming a line in front of him. He glanced at his watch and saw that he had thirty minutes before the guards would be pushing the cart past his bench. The first kid climbed on his lap and started reciting what she wanted in a singsong voice. He listened patiently while she ran through her list. When she finished, another child took her place. This one seemed to want almost everything in the toy department. By the end of the thirty minutes, only one child remained. This one wore a pair of mismatched socks and a threadbare coat. The woman standing a short distance away looked work-worn and near exhaustion. It was a look he was familiar with, having seen his grandmother drag wearily through each day during the Christmas season, working two jobs in order to buy his presents. The little girl climbed on his lap, then took a quick look over her shoulder at her mother.

“Are you the real Santa or just a helper?” she whispered.

“I’m the real Santa,” he said as he met her expectant gaze. She closed her eyes tightly and it seemed to him that she was not breathing. The speaker near the Christmas tree was playing Jingle Bells. Two girls dressed like elves were dancing with the music as they passed out candy canes.

“What would you like for Christmas,” he prompted when she didn’t say anything else.

“I need a car,” she said.

The other girls asked for toys of various types, but the first item on their list was a doll. She didn’t look like a tomboy, but he didn’t know that much about kids. He would have guessed her age at about seven, maybe eight at the most.

“What kind of a car would you like?” he asked, holding his hands about a foot apart.

“Not a toy car,” she said with a shake of her head that sent her shoulder length hair swinging. “I want a real car for my mommy. Someone stole ours last night. It’s the only way my mommy has to get to work. There isn’t any bus service in our part of town and she will have to walk all the way to the restaurant. We live behind the ballpark, but you already know that because you are Santa and you know everything.”

Her lips began to swell and she started to cry. He felt a thick lump forming in his throat. The car he stole was in front of a run down apartment building behind the ballpark. Lady Luck had thrown him a curve on this one.

“I know it’s a lot to ask,” she said, “but I heard Mommy talking to Mrs. Crawford, and she said if she lost her job they would put us out of the apartment.”

He could hear the pain and desperation in her voice. Did this child and her mother sleep in a room with no heat, huddled underneath a pile of quilts with their coats on for warmth? He remembered the apartment had a colorful mailbox, which had no doubt been a school project. The two names were Deidre and Molly. This was obviously Molly.

The guards had reached the door of the security office and were pushing the cart inside. In another minute or two, the door would swing shut.

“I’m sure something can be arranged, Molly,” he said and saw the surprise and happiness leap in her eyes. He needed to go. There was still time to place her on her feet and go rapidly down the corridor to the office. Surprise would be on his side, and it would be an easy matter to disarm the guards and take the money. He could return the car to its parking place in front of the apartment without anyone seeing him. He might even leave some money on the dash to buy her a Christmas present. There would be at least fifty thousand, maybe as much as seventy-five. A couple of hundred—no, make that five hundred—would buy Molly some warm clothes, and there would be enough left over so her mother would not have to hold down two jobs in order to buy her some presents for Christmas.

“You mean it!” Molly said. “You are going to get my mommy a car? You promise!”

“How would you like to have the car back that someone stole from you?”

“Oh, yes! I love that car. Mommy and I named it. We call it Roscoe. I think Roscoe is the best car in the whole wide world.”
Randall glanced toward the security office again, knowing he had to get up immediately, but as he turned the problem over in his mind, he suddenly realized that he felt languid and content with this small child sitting on his lap.

Behind him someone said, “Merry Christmas, Santa.”

“Merry Christmas,” he answered as he glanced over his shoulder and saw the security guards retracing their route toward the front entrance. He had cashed his paycheck after leaving work. There would be plenty of time to get her a doll and the other things she wanted and leave them in the passenger seat of the car. He studied Molly’s expression for a few seconds, and then he leaned toward her small, bowed head, listening to the breathless sound of her voice.

He hadn’t been this happy in years.

George Wier's Exciting New Mystery Series

Avid readers are always searching for series books that have fast action, intriguing characters, and a plot that pulls you in. In George Wier’s first novel in a 21 book series he accomplishes all of this and then some.

Bill Travis, the protagonist of the story, is a guy who fixes things, which is not uncommon in this type of mystery story. Wier seems to be one step ahead of the well known writers like Raymond Chandler or Dashiel Hammett who are credited with founding the hard-boiled school of detective fiction. There are too many fiction detectives that are too poor, too inept, or too . . . You fill in the blanks. Bill Travis is believable, he is the kind of guy you would want for a friend, and the one you would go to if you had a serious problem. I am looking forward to reading the other books in this series as they become available. This is a book you don’t want to miss.

Clicking on the title of this article will carry you to George's novel on Amazon where you can download it for FREE!

The Antaeus Factor

There is nothing as exciting to an author as the release of a new novel to the reading public. The ANTAEUS FACTOR is a suspense novel about cyber terrorism. In the past three decades, scientific developments have advanced exponentially, and some of it in frightening ways. It no longer takes the might of a superpower to radically change the course of history. A few dedicated fanatics can bring about terrifying events and they can do so with impunity. If you like psychological suspense that keeps you glued to the edge of your seat, this might be the book for you. You can read more about THE ANTAEUS FACTOR by clicking the title to this article.
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New Novel by New York Times bestselling author CJ Lyons

Most of the readers I know are constantly searching for new authors, especially those who know how to entertain us with a good book. C.J. Lyons is a pediatric ER doctor now writing full time. I discovered her books a couple of years ago and was delighted to find someone who knew what they were writing about and had the ability to craft a gripping story.

Number one New York Times bestselling author Lee Child has called CJ Lyons' work "Everything a great thriller should be--action packed, authentic, and intense."

That kind of praise is about as good as it gets, especially when coming from someone like Lee Child. Lyons has also been on the New York Times bestseller list, and we can expect her to repeat this feat with her current offerings.

Lyons is currently busy on her Thriller series about Lucy Guardino, an FBI agent who is able to balance her careers and still have a life. Her just released novel SNAKE SKIN is now available at Amazon.

Here is a brief description of her book:

Just your average Pittsburgh soccer mom, baking brownies and carrying a loaded forty-caliber Glock... A loving mom and wife, dutiful daughter, consummate professional, and kick-ass federal agent, Lucy Guardino is living the perfect life, until the day she comes up against a predator more vicious and cunning than any she's ever tackled before, one who forces Lucy to choose between the life of the young victim she is fighting to save and her own daughter's....and Lucy's dream life is shattered. "Combine Dirty Harry with a loving wife and mother and you might end up with Lucy Guardino…You won't be able to put this one down." 4 1/2 stars, RT Book Reviews

Click on the title of this article to sample or buy SNAKESKIN

Little White Lies

Regardless of the type of novel I am writing, the emphasis is always on the human relationships between the characters. Murder mysteries, spy novels, and all the rest would not be worth my time if the reader was not emotionally impacted by the relationships.

One of the best police procedural novels I am aware of involves the murder of a street person that seemed not to have a past. No one knew him, no one loved him, but his death affected the homicide detective deeply. The police officer’s marriage was falling apart and the author created a poignant contrast between his failures as a husband and the derelict on the autopsy slab in the morgue.

Human relationships are important, and I often draw from what I observe in the real world. Here is a recent incident that will probably appear in one of my novels.

Five young women, probably in their early thirties, were blocking the center aisle in Wal-Mart as I tried to squeeze past. The man with them said, “You girls take your time. I’m going to the automotive section and prowl while you’re shopping.”

Megan: “Rob, do you know how insulting that is?”

Rob: “What did I do?”

Megan: When a woman passes her twenty-fifth birthday she doesn’t want to be called a girl.”

Rob: “I thought you were twenty-four on your last birthday.”

Megan, with a smile climbing slowly up her face: “Just take your time Rob. I love you.”

Three Rules For Writing a Novel

W. Somerset Maugham said, “There are three rules to writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.”

I think fellow author Jack Bludis came close to discovering the first rule when he said, “I think a writer must like what the writer likes before he can please anyone else.”

Most authors spend a lot of time trying to analyze books that sell well, attempting to discover that tiny element that creates a ‘bottled lightning effect’ and sends sales soaring into the stratosphere. There are all kinds of tweaks that we can give to our manuscript to improve the story, but if you don’t like the darn thing yourself, then why should someone else?

The writers of the television series, ‘Breaking Bad,’ came up with an improbable scenario. A science teacher has a desperate need for money for cancer treatments. He produces and sells methadone to meet that need. This story works because the writers sell us on a character caught in a desperate situation. A similar state of affairs is the character in Stieg Larsson’s novel ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.’ Lisbeth Salander is everything a character should not be, but she grabs the reader’s attention with a vengeance and doesn’t let go for the next 700 pages. If you analyze Larsson’s writing, scene by scene, you discover that he is far from being the best writer around. He is a storyteller who knows how to create an adorable character, and he does that very well. So maybe the question we should ask ourselves is not about our new marketing plan, but about the story itself. 'Do we like what we are writing, or have we fallen into the habit of producing a certain kind of story because they seem to be moving well in the marketplace.'

I’m going to back up to the opening scene of my current WIP and examine all of the characters afresh. I want to fall in love all over again with Lori, Sandi, and Chris. I hope in the process of doing so, the reader will catch that magical spark and fall in love with them too.

You can view Jack Bludis novel, Dirty Work, by clicking on the title of this article.

Bad Romance Chinese Style

I love all things Chinese, their culture, their lyrical language, and especially the wonderful people who run our local Chinese restaurants. I was somewhat surprised when I ran across a video of a group of senior citizens performing their version of Lady Gaga’s musical hit, Bad Romance. They have changed the words of the song, but they seem to be having as much fun as I had in listening to it. Click on the title and watch the video. You’re going to love it.

Death of the computer monitor?

There are bad ideas and then there are BAD ideas. The video linked to the title of this article is one of those ideas that I hope never catches on, but you never know. Microsoft is developing a computer control system that doesn’t require a monitor or keyboard. A projector contained in a device attached to your shoulder transmits a keyboard on any surface and you can use this image as a touchpad. You can use your hand, the office wall or your picture of Lady Gaga as a screen, rather than having that troublesome monitor and keyboard in front of you. One of the selling points in the video is the suggestion that you can walk over to the office wall and perform your work there.

Experts who have studied the effects of engineering on society have determined that a lack of innovation can be very detrimental. The assertion has been made that Germany lost WWII because they were too inflexible with their designs. It was too hard to work new developments into their assembly lines and they quickly fell behind as the Allies introduced a steady stream of improvements into the war effort. But there is a flip side to development and this is the point of this article. One thing that has a crippling effect on progress is the desire to reinvent the wheel every Monday morning. Examples of this are all around us in the workplace and in our homes. Take a chair for example. Chairs have been around somewhat in their present form since the time of the Grecian Empire. Despite the efforts of companies to change the basic form of a chair, the fact remains that chairs fit the human body and you mess with the basic design at your own peril.

Some brainiac at Microsoft has evidently forgotten the fact that sitting in a chair in front of a keyboard and monitor is the best way to get most computing task done. I don’t want to project a keyboard on a wall or the palm of my hand. I can type 60 words per minute on a keyboard, and there are a lot of words in a novel. Most of them have to be typed over and over in the creation of a manuscript -- a process that takes months or perhaps years to complete. Before the guys at Microsoft become too giddy, they should realize that some task performed on a computer are much more complicated than composing a message on Twitter. ‘mte u n clelnd ths wknd’ might not be the message to get the job done.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/this-could-be-big-abc-news/death-keyboards-monitors-omnitouch-202115388.html