Five free stories / Happenings In The Outhouse 30-Oct-2015

From now through November 2nd, 2015, I have a Halloween-special promotion for five of my short stories--they are FREE.  These are only available through Amazon, and for those of you who have Amazon Kindle Unlimited, you can pick these up through that program as well.

All of these stories are part of the If Walls Could Talk short story collection.  There are a few others in the collection, but these five are longer and are available separately.

The first is I Zone. 

  

"An outbreak in the northwoods of Minnesota threatens the livelihood of its residents.  But when NICK CHASE and his best friends SHAWN and MANDY go out for the annual deer hunting season, they discover the horrific truth behind those infected."

 

The second is Mischief Is My Middle Name.

 

"Fed up with an abusive, controlling marriage, ERIN KEMP gives her daughter TINA the one gift she’s been asking for—and frees herself in the process."
The third is Night People.

"ABBY STONE hates working the nightshift. She hates it even more that she has to work alongside her abusive ex-husband TROY. But she soon develops a growing affection for one of her co-workers. There’s only one problem. THOMAS FREDERICK, who goes by the colorful name of MR. SPOOKY, works exclusively at night."

The fourth is Reach's Roaches.

"KYLE REACH has a family secret. A strange disease that fatally strikes the males in the family by their mid-twenties. His wife CHARISSA prays the disease skips Kyle, for she doesn’t want to spend the better part of her life a widow. She doesn’t want to raise her unborn son by herself either.  But there is something more to the Reach women, Kyle’s mother and grandmother, than just surviving widows."

And last, but certainly not least, is The 13th Hole.

"ADAM DOLE has no choice but to face his fears. In high school, he killed accidentally killed someone with a golf ball from the 13th hole. He told no one. Another man paid for his crime.   Now, he has to win a golf tournament on the same golf course. However, the house that lies beyond the dreaded 13th hole may hold secrets.   Including the secret of his innocence."

All five of these short stories are FREE for the Halloween season.  Please be sure to pick them up while you can.

 

It's that time of year again (i.e. talking about goals) / Happenings In The Outhouse 23-Oct-2015

Oh, it's that time of year again.  Depending on where you live, it may be growing colder and it's getting ever-closer to the holiday season.

And you know what that means?

We sit and talk about goals.

No, wait!  Come back!  I promise, I'll keep this short.  Pinky swear, even.

I'm doing something a little different this year.  Not only am I looking at what I want to accomplish in the next year, but I'm setting up accomplishments I want to achieve over the next 26 months.  So, that means, between now and the end of 2017.

Number one: I hope to God I live that long.  I honestly have no control over it, so let's go over what I can control.

My writing.  I brainstormed a list of all the stories I want to publish within the next 26 months.  It's a long list, but certainly not impossible.  It's only impossible if I do nothing.

And that's not going to happen.

Writing Your Own Autobiography / Happenings In The Outhoues 16-Oct-2015

Earlier this year, I had some medical issues which drastically affected my life.  Especially my writing.  I won't expound on them here--and ironically this week I have been down at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN getting myself checked out further--but when I look at my life, I always think about someone's biography.

At what chapter would I be in now?

I like to feel that I am in a brief chapter, near the beginning of the book, titled BRIEF MEDICAL HIATUS.  I am still producing words, although not as much as I'd like.  I did take the advice of publishing shorter works, so I have five short stories (please click on this link for a full list) and another five I need to polish up.

I am also working on the third novel in the Central Division Series, and have plans in the works for the fourth and fifth in the series.

As far as your own autobiography, no matter how old you are, treat your life as if where you are is near the beginning.  You have a whole lot to accomplish.

Think Colonel Sanders.  Assuming he "retired" at age 65, he started the KFC franchise not long after and lived until he was 90.  What did he do before retiring?  Doesn't matter.  It's what happened after that made a difference and created a multi-billion dollar empire.

Where are you at?  Treat your life as if it's just starting.

Go forth and conquer.  The world needs you. Start it today.  Not tomorrow.  On your mark, get set . . . GO!

One Busy Beaver / Happenings In The Outhouse 09-Oct-2015

I have been one busy beaver these past few weeks.  For those have taken a gander at my Amazon Author Page, you may have noticed a few new additions.

As of this blog post, I have four out of five new additions.  Short stories.

About a month ago, Simon Whistler of the Rocking Self-Publishing Podcast had an interview with Damian Silvers.  They spoke a lot about writing shorter stories.  Here is a link to listen to the entire episode.  I highly recommend it.

These short stories are part of the If Walls Could Talk short story collection.  If you don't want to shell out the $2.99 for the collection, each one is for sale individually.  However, I will be having some of the really short ones up for free on my blog and website in the near future.  For now, click on this link for a list of all the short stories I have out so far.

I have written roughly 20,000 words on the third novel in the Central Division Series.  I will not share the title as of yet, but I am very excited for it.  I'm shooting for a possible December release date, so stay turned.

Like tumblers on a lock (when a new story comes together) / Happenings In The Outhouse 04-Sept-2015

The tumblers fell in place yesterday morning.  And I mean, perfectly in place.

I've been working on the first draft of the third novel in the Central Division Series, and at first I didn't feel the original plot was enough to hold through the entire novel.  I added a second major plot to fill it out.  My thought was to add a more realistic feel to big city investigators, juggling multiple cases (even high profile ones) at once.

As Arnold Schwarzenegger has said on multiple occasions in his movies: "Big mistake."

(insert smiley face emoticon or appropriate meme here)

As each of the major plots for the third story grew, I quickly realized I had two novels in my hands.  Not just one.

I thought a lot about the major thriller novels, movies, and TV series, and how they were set up.  I realized that to pack so much in would be . . . well, a mistake.  It would confuse the readers, something I don't want to do.

So, what was once one novel is now two.

I'm about 8,000 words into the third novel, which will have to be dissected now that I have to take the second story line out.  No worries.  I'm very excited for the change.

In the meantime, both of the novels in the Central Division Series are available at all major ebook outlets.  Here is a link to my website, which has retail links to places from Amazon to Google Play.

And interesting sidenote: here is a recent Washington Post article about the small-town where I currently live.  Very well-written, and an eye-opener for many.

Back in the saddle / Happenings In The Outhouse 31-Jul-2015

Didn't think you'd ever hear from me again, did you?

A lot has happened in the past few months, one of which is the failure of my trusty laptop--I'm writing this on another computer, by the way.  I've researched and found the laptop I want.  Now it's just to get off my butt and buy it.

A few months ago, I also published Straight Razor.  It's currently $2.99, exclusive with Amazon for the near-future, and it's also free for those in the Amazon Kindle Unlimited program.

This week was also our writers group meeting.  There was only one member present, aside from myself, and it was a wonderful meeting.  This young writer is very talented and is nearing the end of her first fantasy novel.  We discussed how her writing has changed from the very beginning, and how not to get in the habit of endless editing when you can either hit PUBLISH or send it off to a publisher.

I promise to start writing more.  Well, I have been writing, but it's longhand in a notebook.  It's interesting to do so, because it forces one to think more.

Okay, what am I writing?  The third novel in the Central Division Series.  I have a few chapters written so far, and it's going very well.

Once again, if you wish to pick up an ebook copy of Straight Razor, I'd be grateful if you did.  Sales have been decent, and I'm contemplating whether or not to keep the Amazon exclusivity when it runs out the end of August.

I'm still here / Happenings In The Outhouse 20-Mar-2015

Yes I am.

I'm still here.

Still writing.

It may be slow going, but editing Straight Razor is still moving along.  My temporary publication date has been pushed out another month--for now I'm keeping the date to myself, but as soon as I get closer I'll share it.

For now, I've adjusted my schedule to work more on writing in the morning.  I typically get up at six, and I joked with my wife the other night that I should get up at four.  I was a little serious, but I may adjust it to . . . oh, five thirty or so.

For now, I'm still healing and each day I'm getting better.