Composite Edition: The Knight of Death and The King of Terrors

By tomorrow at this time, I hope to be able to offer my latest publication: The Red Cross of Gold I & II at Amazon Kindle for only $3.99 for both books. This is a savings of $2.00 off the price of buying them separately. Here is a preview of the book cover as it will appear when the Amazon meatgrinder spits it out. I'll be back with the link ASAP.

5 Stars for the King of Terror (from a stranger)

It's strange how authors keep hoping that someone, somewhere will read their works, like them and write nice big reviews on Amazon and other places, but it seems that ill-will and procrastination are much stronger than good-will and enthusiasm. I know very well from my sells reports that there are people out there buying and reading (I assume) my Assassin Chronicles. And I know that they must have enjoyed them (or else the world is full of masochists) because I am selling copies of Book 15, Book 16 and so on. But where are the reviews? I see other authors on the Kindleboards, Amazon boards and Goodreads posting their latest and 63874th review on their works and yet, when I hazard a peek at my Amazon author pages and such, I see nothing but the same old reviews I've had for ages. (Some of which, I will admit came from family members. Not that I'm opposed to family members writing reviews... I mean what is a fella to say to a family member who posts a wonderful review after reading my book? Hey! WTF?! Stop trying to help me out! I'm an ungrateful, sorry bastard and you have to keep your nose out of my business!) Well, I'm not that kind of family member. I'm just glad that none of them did me any favors by giving me three stars on a review a few years ago that brought my four and five stars down and knocked me out of a competition completely simply because, as he later explained "I didn't actually get to read the book. I loaned it to a friend, but I wanted to get a review up for you." After which, while my jaw was sagging on the floor in disbelief, he smiled and said "I'm sure I'll like it." Please, please, please... what else can we say?

It's not that family and friends are out to get us (most of the time). It's just that they don't understand what it is we do. They don't understand the damage they can do to our reputations and our outlook on life. They don't understand that they can actually give us hernias, heart attacks and ulcers. To them (generally speaking) writing is just something that I 'fiddle' around with in my spare time. A hobby. They do not know that my writing is actually my life and without it, I am nothing.

Now, trolls of course are another breed altogether and I shall leave them for another blogpost.

Mark Twain

Be careful of reading health books. You may die of a misprint. - Mark Twain

Mark Twain is certainly one of the inspirations behind my writing. I love his wit, humor and even his dark cynicism that many people today would find completely unacceptable. Even though I am over 1/4 Native American, I find his overt hatred of 'Indians' understandable considering the time in which he lived. His disdain for religion and God was also understandable even though I consider myself a devout believer. I believe one of his best dislikes was his intolerance of all things French. He didn't like the French, but in light of recent developments in the political world, I believe he might find some support for his opinions of our French allies. I wonder what he would think of them now? I wonder what he would think of America now? Would he recognize it at all or would he think he'd died and gone to France? I wonder what acid remarks he might have rebuked his detractors with? While my sainted grandmother was born with French as her native language, I can only say that I had always thought myself part French, but then I read the history of the Cajun/Acadian peoples and learned that they probably weren't French at all and were actually cast out of France before they were cast out of Nova Scotia (formerly known as Acadia). Then they were kicked out of New York by the 'Americans' and finally set down in the swamps of Louisiana (French again!) A strange story, but well, there it is and so that leads me back to my original thought of the day. What would Mark Twain have said to my French reviewer who saw fit to give me a one star rating on Amazon? I think he would have said something scrumptious, but then I thought "Hey! The thing speaks for itself!" The review is on The Red Cross of Gold II:. The King of Terrors. At first, it may not be evident why I would be laughing over it, but then consider this... Why would he buy the second book if the first book was so disgusting? Isn't that like saying "Hey, this spaghetti is awful! Give me another plate full so I can make sure." D'oh!!! LOL.

Free Form Friday

Well, another Free Form Friday has come to Texas Hill County. Yesterday evening we had thunder storms and rain and it's truly amazing how fast things turn green around here. The fields were beautiful on the way home today and the cattle, goats and sheep were enjoying the slightly cooler evening, munching down on some green grass that could possibly put Kentucky to shame. Actually, there are some strange weeds that grow along the roadside that appear blue and I wish I knew the name of it so I could compare the genus and specie to the Kentucky bluegrass grass... er, well, you know. Anyway, so I'm working late, working under very stressful conditions and this morning I have to attend a teleconference where I and about 123 of my colleagues are berated, warned and threatened for about forty-five minutes by those chaps at HQ. Narry a word about how great we are doing under the circumstances, about how we are all taking psychotropic drugs now to keep from killing our immediate supervisors, co-workers and subordinates. Not a single word of encouragement, nor even the hint of a nod of approval.

Bottom line was the bottom line.

Someone at the top (State Legislative Body) has PROVEN BEYOND THE SHADOW OF A DOUBT (think Rush Limbaugh's best authoritative voice here) that I and those of my colleagues engaged in my particular line of public service have Bankrupted the entire State of Texas and may have contributed to the Federal Trillion-Dollar Budget Deficit.

Over the years I have learned that these gunsights are on a rotating turret and if I wait long enough, the gears will grind and the world will turn and some other target will come into the line of fire. Been there, done that, been there, etc.

So I would say it's Friday, but it's not. Tomorrow is my Friday which is really Saturday which will make my Sunday my Saturday which will be good because I'm usually stressed on Sunday because tomorrow is Monday, but this time Monday will be Sunday and I won't be stressed out until Monday which will be my Sunday because the next day is Tuesday.

I would like to thank everyone who purchased copies of my new release: Tempo Rubato

I would like to also thank everyone who continues to read, enjoy and purchase the Red Cross of Gold.

Another Lazy Saturday

Just sitting around editing my next addition to my Kindle book list which I hope to release in this week, sooner than I expected. I might be able to do it tomorrow if all goes well and I don't get called in to work. I do hate working on my days off, but that is what happens when co-workers are not willing to pull their own weight. I suppose I must be in a rare somber mood today. Drinking Captain Morgan's rum and coke, looking at the bright sunshine through the windows. I'm hoping for a good thunderstorm later on and maybe a good movie. My editor/fan #1/critic/proofreader, Miss Mayellem Sockingfoot, has promised that we would actually try to finish the book off today and tomorrow and get it on line. My fans have requested that I hurry up and put it up there because they don't like to be left hanging, but really, I ask you... if I didn't leave some intrigue unfinished, why would anyone be prompted to read further? I'm currently reading a very interesting romance novel written by Maureen Miller and also available on Kindle. She has a real way with phrasing and description that makes the reader feel present in the scenes she describes. I haven't read a good romance in ages... well, I do enjoy a good romance from time to time... LOL. It's called "Widow's Tale" and it's set in Maine.

Anyway, the continuing saga of the Knight of Death's adventures will travel on in Book XII when he goes in search of the Djinni in the Mountains of the Moon. In the meantime, Happy Reading.

Rhythm, Rhyme and Harmony

If you travel around the web and you want to see something absolutely awful, go to Kindleboards.com and look at the Book Bazaar Forum under the Poetry thread and you'll find an original limerick that I was coerced into writing by my fellow author, Edward Patterson. You will also find a number of interesting comments and threads for bargain books on Kindle where most of my books are now published. I am currently trying to get the final edit on King of Terrors, the second book in the Red Cross of Gold Series so that I can publish on Amazon.com proper in the paperback section for those of you who want to hold a real book in your hands. I have also dropped the price on said Kindle book for a time while I am cutting the final edit. Thanks for stopping buy... I mean by and keep on reading until you find the answers because, trust me, they are out there.