An Ode to the Library

"Without libraries what have we? We have no past and no future." - Ray Bradbury

My mom introduced me to the public library when I was an impressionable wee lad, and I remember being amazed by how many books there were, and that we were allowed to take them home with us. As a teen, I'd bike over to the local library every week or so, and while in college, if I wasn't too busy shooting pool, I would spend most of my spare time at the library studying and whatnot.

When my wife and I lived in San Diego, our local library was within walking distance, and walk we did, rain or shine (mostly shine), to peruse the stacks, checking out books, DVDs and CDs. Upon moving to West Michigan, one of our first priorities was to get member cards at the county and city libraries, and we visit both locations on a regular basis. 

As technology continues to advance, so do the library's offerings. I've mentioned Hoopla and Overdrive before, and Gizmo (my 15-year-old Kindle, looking real spiffy these days in his brand-spanking new cover) holds at least half a dozen library eBooks any given week. But there's also a paper-and-glue library book in my backpack as backup, going wherever I go.

Recently, our local library informed us that Freegal Music is available to all patrons. Free streaming music without ads. Tens of thousands of albums, if you can believe. I've been playing instrumental post-rock while I write and, during the work day, introducing my students to the jazz styles of Miles Davis and John Coltrane, the slack key vibes of Leonard Kwan, and some really cool blues guitar compilations. Great background tunes for embarking upon scholarly pursuits.

All this to say, I've always been a big fan of libraries, and they keep giving me reasons to appreciate them for evermore.

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Supporting Indie Authors

Without the powerful marketing machine of those BIG publishers behind us, what do indie authors need most? Exposure. The more readers who discover our work, the better. Word of mouth and multi-author promotions are great, but sometimes we need that little extra push. So this year, I'll be doing my part each month, sharing books by folks who write in some of the same genres I do.

First up, we have Dark Secrets: A Dark Blade Prequel Novella by Tyrean Martinson, author of fantasy & faith adventures. In the kingdom of Septily, ancient magic and political intrigue collide as four young lives are thrust into a world of danger and destiny. When a sinister plot threatens to ensnare them all, these unlikely allies must navigate treacherous waters. The Red Hand, a shadowy organization of merchants, mercenaries, and sorceresses, weaves a web of corruption that reaches the highest echelons of power. With the fate of the kingdom hanging in the balance, each must decide where their loyalties lie and what they're willing to sacrifice for the greater good.

Next is The Rise of Manifesto the Great, a sci-fi comedy by Kerrie A. Noor. Manifesto the Great comes from a dynasty of leaders who treat women like breeding machines. When his father dies, he must take over as leader, but will he rise over the tidal wave of discontented women and claim his throne or drown under a sea of estrogen? If you crave a roller coaster ride of laughter and fast-paced satire, then check this one out.

Our third book is The Fungo Society, a humorous murder mystery by Jeff Stanger. A dead ballplayer. A missing antique. And nobody wants the cops. They want Quick. Jonathan Quick is a savant when it comes to sports relics and a complete failure in relationships. He has a moral code when it comes to antiques and a complete lack of one for anything else. Quick takes a call from a mysterious group of old ballplayers named the Fungo Society. They’re convinced that one of their own has been murdered and don’t believe the police who have ruled it a suicide.

Next up is Desert Runner, a LitRPG with a kick-arse heroine by Dawn Chapman. Plagued by old injuries that won't heal, Maddie is enticed into accepting a deadly escort mission. Puatera Online is a harsh world, even for the people who have to live there. Good thing Maddie is tougher than cured leather, because she may have just bitten off more than she can chew.

Last, but not least, here are nine space adventure novels for the price of FREE. Yes, you read that right. Spaceships & Dames includes: Project Charon 1: Re-entry by Patty Jansen,  Starship Waking by C. Gockel,  Star Mage Quest by J.J. Green,  Children of Darkness by James E. Wisher,  Faring Soul by Tracy Cooper-Posey, Spaceberg by M. Pax, Ghost by Demelza Carlton,  Traitor's Code by Jane Killick, and Derelict by LJ Cohen. You're bound to like one of them—each the first installment in a series.

January Reading Deals

Check out these multi-author book promotions. You're sure to find something you like:

Captivating Stories        Cozy Mysteries        Into the Shadows

Sci-Fi Series Sale        Sci-Fi & Fantasy Sale        Escape into Adventure

New Year, New Reads        Collections & Anthologies        Mayhem & Motives

Support Indie Authors        Awakened Heroes        Dystopian / Post-Apocalyptic

KU First in Series        Plot Twists & Surprises        The Sound of Stories

Starships & Cyberpunks        Dark Dystopian Reads        More Cozy Mysteries

Epic SciFi Book Bazaar        SciFi & Fantasy Deals        SciFi w/ Kobo Plus

KU Post-Apocalyptic        KU Science Fiction        $0.99 Crime Fiction

Kobo Plus Mysteries        New Year, New Cozies        KU Fill Your Kindle

Find Your Next Read        Mysteries, Crime Noir & Thrillers        Sizzling Tales

Mysteries, Thrillers & Suspense        Even More Cozy Mysteries

And peruse these multi-author book giveaways. Download as many as you like:

SciFi & Fantasy Adventures        Fantasy & SciFi Promo        Free SciFi & Fantasy 2025

Free SciFi & Epic Fantasy Reads        SciFi & Fantasy Giveaway        New Reads Giveaway

Free Sci-Fi and Fantasy        Mystery, Thriller, and Suspense        Mysteries & Thrillers

Take the Dark Path        Mystery & Suspense Freebies        Sci-Fi Mysteries

More Free Fantasy & SciFi        SF&F Mania        Epic Prequels 1/15

Year in Review: 2024

I started out the year strong, editing the first book in my Dome City Investigations trilogy and getting it ready for an early February release, which went well. Then I started working on the sequel, which also went fairly well; I had it drafted, revised, edited, and polished up for its June release date with time to spare. All I had left to do was write the third book, scheduled to greet the world in December. Except...that wasn't going to happen. An idea for a novella between Books 2 & 3 started to blossom, but then it went nowhere. As did an idea for another novella, as did plans for Book 3. We were dealing with an unexpected death in the family at the time, and I'd just started a new part-time teaching job, so writing couldn't be a priority. It had to wait. In the meantime, I began brainstorming how to combine the plots for both novellas and Book 3 into one kick-arse trilogy finale. So that's what I'm working on now, and fingers-crossed, it may be good to go by next summer. Working title: Angels & Androids. The goal: just have fun with it.

Novels Written: 

Infidels & Insurgents (90K)

Angels & Androids (35K...in progress)

Books Published:

Dust Freaks & Demigods

Infidels & Insurgents

Audiobook Produced:

Out of Time (Virtual Voice experiment)

Blog Posts: 12

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What Are We To Do With This Jesus?

"You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to." 

- C.S. Lewis

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$ale

A bunch of my books are currently on sale for only 99¢ each, and some of my $4.99 titles are marked down to $2.99. How about that? Consider it an early Christmas present. Peace on Earth, goodwill toward everybody, and cheap reads! Unfortunately, I haven't been doing much writing these days—the new day job is still kicking me in the heinie—but I'm hopeful that will change this winter when I have a couple weeks off. In the meantime, I wish you a blessed Holiday Season, and I'll see you on the other side.

Slow Going, but Going

Hit the 20K mark today on my current work in progress. Originally intended to be a Dome City Investigations novella, it's now turning into Book 3. We'll see where the story takes me. So far, I've got a character in witness protection, two android assassins tasked with his extermination, and masked freedom-fighters looking for trouble. Our heroes, Sera and Dunn, have been captured by unsavory types, and it doesn't look like they're going to escape unscathed. Because if they want out, they'll first have to survive an underground cage match.

I had a lot of projects lined up this summer, but a close encounter with poison sumac put most of them on the back burner for a couple weeks. I've been taking medication to help with the inflammation and maddening itch, but it's left me feeling a bit wonky. Even so, I've gotten a few things done around the house, which is always nice. And I plan to fully eradicate our yard of the dread urushiol offender, wearing long sleeves, long pants, and gloves, of course. Lesson learned.

Looks like I'll be subbing again this fall. It's been four years now since I taught full-time. For the last couple years, I've been a building sub at the local middle school down the street. I show up each day, and if they need me to cover a class, that's what I do. Any subject, grades 6-8. If all the teachers are present and accounted for, I help with cafeteria supervision, hall monitoring, and shelving books in the library. After twenty years of teaching, this job feels like semi-retirement.

In other news, I'm slowly unshackling all of my books from Kindle Unlimited and allowing them to roam free, which means you'll be able to find them at Barnes & Noble, the Apple store, and Kobo, among other retailers. My audiobooks are available from Audible and Apple, as well. Feel free to buy as many as you like, and then tell everyone you know about them. You'll make my day.

New Release

Amazon

Somehow, everything is connected.

The case seems straightforward at first: a high-tech heist at a jewelry shop specializing in priceless items favored by the upper castes. Except the thieves make an impossible getaway, and they're caught on surveillance employing a powerful military-grade weapon Sera Chen is all-too familiar with. 

If that's not weird enough, the Prometheus cult unexpectedly reemerges, threatening death to infidels refusing to believe in their venerable AI. Amid the ensuing mayhem, a mysterious government agent appears with a cryptic warning for Sera. And to top things off, there's a killer lurking in the maintenance tunnels under Dome 1's streets.

Sera and her partner Dunn make a good team. But everyone has a limit, and theirs will be tested when a high profile coup threatens to take over the Domes, revealing the interrelated nature of recent events.

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Editing Update

Took about a month of blood, sweat, and tears (not so much), but it was well worth the effort, and I'm pleased with how the edits turned out. Trimmed some fat, fleshed out a few scenes, cut and tightened the dialogue, improved the overall pacing, and fixed a dozen or so typos along the way. Next, I'll give the manuscript one more proofreading pass in Word, which always seems to catch things I've missed in Docs. Then I'll start work on the formatting: eBook and paperback.

The blurb is good to go, and you can check it out here. There's a lot going on in this novel, and summarizing it in a way that piques reader curiosity was no small task. I may give it a tweak at some point, but for now, it's serviceable enough.

I'm kicking around the idea of writing a couple novella-length adventures that take place between Infidels & Insurgents and the next book, Angels & Androids. Just not sure which order to do this in. Novellas first? Novel first? Dinner then dessert? Guess I'll go where the muse takes me.

Novel #23

The second riveting installment in my Dome City Investigations series has been drafted in toto: 90K of futuristic crime-solving action & adventure with plenty of character development and even some humor along the way. I enjoyed writing in this world again, building on the precarious setting I established in the Spirits of the Earth trilogy and bringing back two of my favorite characters as supporting cast. I also introduced some major political intrigue alluded to in Dust Freaks & Demigods, which was interesting to see play out.

Next: a few rounds of edits and blurb-composing in 150 words or less. I have about a month and a half before the final draft is due, so that should give me plenty of time to polish everything up just right.

Meanwhile, you can be first in line to snag your very own Kindle copy by pre-ordering it right here. Assuming I get it formatted in time, a paperback version will also be available on the release date.