The Falls: Inferno

     The Falls: Inferno, the 20th volume of the Falls small town series, is now at the Kindle Store, released July 15th! The citizens of The Falls and the surrounding communities are growing more and more concerned as fires are being set in buildings around the area. Starting off with old barns and cabins, the targets of a pyromaniac begin to get larger and closer to the very heart of the village. Whispers abound that should any of the businesses or houses around the town square be set, it might mean the end of the town as they know it. A community watch is initiated.

     Return to The Falls and follow Cash, Yamato, Horace, Sergeant McNealy, Doc and Meg as they hunt for the deranged arsonist! The clock is ticking! Drake receives a disturbing jolt out of the past as well. Lorraine finds a nice young man, but is he, really?

     May the dragons watch over all the citizens of The Falls...

http://www.amazon.com/Falls-Inferno-small-town-mystery-ebook/dp/B011H3QS18/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1436831488&sr=8-2&keywords=The+Falls%3A+Inferno

Summer Doldrums...

     Okay, whatever is a summer doldrum anyway? Have any of you ever seen one, felt one, given one as a gift? Anyway, we are in the midst of summer...all the fireworks have been shot off...I certainly hope. I like to watch fireworks in the sky done by professionals, but I worry about the people who do their own. Too many bad things happen when you mix fire and gunpowder.

     At the moment, I am editing the next The Falls small town mystery...getting ready to place it on Kindle within the next few days. Have to come up with a cover as well. That will be through myecovermaker.com. I use that for Kindles and CreateSpace.com for paperbacks (including the covers obviously). The Falls: Inferno is about fires being purposely set around the town. It gets more and more tense for the usually calm and cheerful citizens of The Falls. Cash Green organizes the community and they...well you'll have to read the story to see what they do!

     I am checking on the second proof of The Falls: Return, that chronicles the return of Caleb LePaige back to The Falls, along with the cruel and pathetic warden of the prison that he escaped from. That should be available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble, etc. in a few weeks. I'm already halfway through editing and converting The Falls: Revenge, over to CreateSpace in paperback form. I have to admit, I'm getting better at editing.

     You can see that I'm busy. We're also putting in a new fence and then doing some landscaping in a few weeks. My wife and I now volunteer once a week at the new hospital in our area Tradition Hospital, a Martin Memorial medical facility. I work as Guest Relations, taking discharged patients out in a wheelchair, while she works in Labor and Delivery. (She wanted to rock the babies, but they don't give her the opportunity.)

     I hope the summer is wearing well on all of you. Keep busy, keep writing and reading. There's always a wonderful story just around the corner! May the dragons watch over you...

Summer Begins...

     Just got back from CA where Carolyn and I were very proud to watch our granddaughter Chelsea graduate from high school. Great soccer player, student and all round great kid! She's headed to Boston University on a soccer scholarship. This is the fourth grandchild to graduate from high school, and the next one in line won't get there for about seven years. Had a great time at our son and daughter-in-law's house along with quite a few other members of the extended family. Our son and his wife always go out of their way to make us feel welcome and a real part of their family. I can't begin to express how good that makes us feel.

     I'm finishing editing The Falls: Return today then the proof is on to Carolyn for her edit as well. I'm not pleased with the cover, so there will be a whole new makeover, picture, cover color and font color. That paperback should be ready to be available at Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble and CreateSpace.com soon.

     Heading into the home stretch with the new book, The Falls: Inferno. About four-fifths of the way done. I'm writing the crucial scene today in fact right after this. The characters have already whispered what should happen. Now let's see if it actually turns out that way. One never knows when an inspiration might strike!

     It's fantasy football league time! I run two leagues for family and friends. One league has drafted and the other one is getting there. I do enjoy playing owner and general manager! Hope that all the dad's out there have a good day. To me, Father's Day is simply a time for me to be thankful for having five of the most wonderful 'kids' imaginable!

     May the dragons watch over you all...

Happy Memorial Day...

     To all those who have served or are now serving...a heartfelt, proud and sincere THANK YOU for all you have done to keep our great nation free and proud. We owe you more than we will ever be able to repay and you will always be in our hearts and memories...

Good morning...

     Here's hoping that everyone is doing well as we head into springtime. (Of course, since we live in Florida, it's already summer here...heat and humidity.) At this point, I'm editing the paperback proof of The Falls: The Trial, or actually I've finished, and now my patient and wonderful wife Carolyn gets to be my Beta Reader. Should have that done as well as editing the template for CreateSpace.com within the next two weeks. Then order one more proof to just check it out and it will be published on CreateSpace, Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble and other book stores. The Falls paperbacks are also on the lists for libraries to purchase as well, so if you'd like to read them and your library doesn't have them, let the librarian know. 

     I'm about a third of the way done with the 20th book in The Falls small town mystery series, The Falls: Inferno. Bet you have a pretty good idea what the main plot line is just by the title, right? Well, be patient, there are some twists and turns.

     The short free promotion for The Falls: May Flowers, book 8 in the series, was very successful. Two hundred and eighty-three free eBooks went out. I try and do a free promotion every few months. Sort of like giving back to those who can't even afford the $2.99 price. Giving back always feels good, whatever it is you do.

     I'm running ads every day on at least six Facebook pages (over the years I've accumulated a lot of pages where I can reach thousands of readers...always looking for new ones) for the latest in The Falls small town mystery series, The Falls: Prodigal Twin. That gets a bit tedious and I hope I don't bore people, but it's necessary. I'm the only publicist I have.

     It's almost the end of the school year. We have another grandchild graduating high school. So we'll be off to celebrate their success in a while. I'm sure many of you have the same type of thing coming up. As a teacher and a principal, I've gone to my share of graduations, and put on quite a few. But watching my grandkids graduate has a special feeling. Okay, okay...I won't get all sappy on you. Let's just say that I love them all...a lot. They mean the world to me...as do our kids...shhh! don't tell them! Our kids did a great job raising them...and they mean the world to us.

     Until next time, keep writing and reading. Remember, words create vast new worlds, inspire our minds, touch our hearts and souls and reach out across every language, race and religion. Words unite us and make each of us special. Words rock!!!!! May the dragons watch over you...

FREE!!!! The Falls: May Flowers!

     The Kindle edition of the 8th volume of The Falls small town mystery series, The Falls: May Flowers, will be free from Mother's Day, May 10th until Thursday, May 14th! If you haven't already gotten this book from The Falls series, here's your chance...for free!

     A very Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there, and we'll be thrilled to have you spend part of it with all of us at The Falls! Happy Mother's Day...and a very wonderful May to everyone!

     May the dragons watch over you!

http://www.amazon.com/Falls-Flowers-small-town-mystery-ebook/dp/B00AQNC5M2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1431176967&sr=8-1&keywords=the+falls+may+flowers

The Falls: Prodigal Twin...

     The Falls: Prodigal Twin, the 19th and latest volume of The Falls small town mystery series, is now at the Kindle Store on Amazon.com! Return to The Falls as Sean Frasier gets a surprise guest and both Sean and Yamato find themselves in deadly situations. Lorraine finds herself faced with a difficult choice while Jeremy and Sylvia Jean explore a creepy old house! Join Cash, Yamato, Horace, Doc, Jordan, Meg, Sean, William and Serafina as they strive to find out 'who dunit!' Welcome back to The Falls!

     All the community members and I hope you enjoy this new story! You get to look into another small town, Berington Springs that's a few miles away as the crow flies, as well as walk the familiar streets of West Sugar Shack Falls. After all, it's the town that matters. The town, it's colorful and caring people and the relationships they have built over the years. It's the first of November in Vermont as we peek in on the story, so grab yourself a hot chocolate with little marshmallows and find a comfy place to watch all the action from. Welcome back, we've missed you!

     May the dragons watch over you all...  

Happy Easter...

Happy Easter, to all our friends spread across several states, our wonderful family and to all the caring and kindhearted people we meet on FB. What better time to say we love and appreciate each and every one of you. May the Easter Bunny leave you sweet treats, and may the love and special feelings of the season bring you love and laughter surrounded by those you love and care most about. Reach out and bring a smile to those dearest in your lives. May the dragons watch over you all...

Onward and Upward?

     Happy Easter Eve! Hmmm...does anybody ever really say that, other than me, I mean? Ah well...The Falls: May Flowers is now in paperback on Amazon, and I have finished editing The Falls: Election. Carolyn is about halfway through the Beta read as well. So, within a week, I'll be putting the finished version on CreateSpace and publishing, I would imagine. I'm already starting to edit and transfer the next of The Falls novels (The Falls: The Trial) to the CreateSpace template. I usually place about three small 'chapters' (the amount I write every morning) into one regular chapter with *** in-between to show a change of scene. That means I have to convert the format of each Falls book from their original format on Kindle.

     Today I take my iMac and place it back upstairs on the standup/sitdown desk. It's been okay sitting at the dining room table while recuperating from the toe surgery, but I'll be glad to get back up to the writing loft again. I enjoy standing while I write now. I'm back at the gym and will start swimming Tuesday. (We swim Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday...go to the gym Monday, Wednesday and Friday after our walk which we do 6 days a week). Sunday is sleep in day. Okay, okay...I only sleep until 7:00 or so at the latest, but that's getting up when I wake up rather than the alarm waking me at 6:00 like the other six mornings. Chuckles...big difference huh?

     Well, Carolyn's got the duck in the sink thawing out for Easter dinner and the Easter Bunny is prepping himself (or herself) for the rigorous trip around the world to deliver eggs, candy and baskets! May your day be filled with small pleasures and as always, may the dragons watch over you...

Huge Sale!

     The Falls: County Fair, the latest in The Falls small town mystery series, will be on sale this Thursday through Saturday (March 26th -March 28th) for $.99 at the Kindle Store! It's to thank all the kind and caring readers who return to The Falls and follow along with Sheriff Cash Green, Deputies Ericka Yamato and Horace Scofield as well as Doc Stone, Meg Monroe and the Frasier brothers. Return to The Falls and may the dragons watch over you...

The Dining Room Table...

     I'm writing this from my dining room table. My standup desk is left upstairs and we are mutually wishing I was there. I had surgery on the toe next to the big toe on my left foot. I had to have the bone shaved down considerably as it was affecting my walking and rubbing on the big toe. It's been coming for years. Had it done Wednesday. Here it is Friday and I feel a bit frustrated and like the proverbial bump on a log...sadly out of place. It aches, but not badly and getting around is like walking on eggshells. 

     Anyway...enough of a pity party. The second proof for The Falls: May Flowers is on its way from CreateSpace.com and then, after a quick look through, I'll give the okay to have it available on Barnes & Noble, Amazon.com, CreateSpace.com, etc. If you're interested, it takes about four or five days usually after I approve the proof for it to be available on Amazon (its immediately available at CreateSpace.com) and two to three weeks for Barnes and Noble and other book stores to list it.

     The initial proof for The Falls: Election, the next in the series, is being shipped. That will take Carolyn and I about three weeks or so to go through carefully. So it should be ready for approval in a little over a month. In the meantime, I'm working on The Falls: Prodigal Twin, nineteenth in the series as an eBook for Kindle. I'm on page 93 on the Word document I believe, which translates to about two thirds of the ways through. The Falls: County Fair is still the latest on the Kindle "shelves".

     Spring in Florida is in the mid 80's and the AC runs quite a bit during the day (we keep it at 78 degrees). I'm not sure I'll ever really get used to Florida weather. I'm an old Vermont boy, by way of Scottish, English and Irish ancestors. All of those locations together can't equal the humid and heat of a Florida summer, trust me.

     So here I sit, one leg up, trying to get comfortable and wishing the healing along. May your day be filled with small pleasures and may the dragons watch over you...

The Space Center and River Excursion...

     My sister Ann and her grandson Spencer were here for the past 5 days. They live in the frosty climes of Vermont (Yes, right around the corner from where The Falls is located!) and needed a break from Old Man Winter. We had a great time gong with them to the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral Florida (where we had taken my daughter Stephanie and her husband Joe a few months earlier). We also took a pleasant two hour tour on the St. Lucie River which was kind of neat as well as visiting a local botanical garden (with the largest collection of Bonsai trees in the world), and several restaurants including Chuck's Seafood in Ft. Pierce and Longhorn in Tradition. We also engaged in  two nights worth of serious and enthusiastic card playing with the game Sevens! (If you don't know how to play it...check it out!) We even checked out the new heating system in the community pool.

     They went back on Friday, flew into Boston and drove home from there. With the amount of snow, ice and freezing temperatures up in New England, I'm surprised we haven't had more visitors this winter! Anyway, for the past week, I have taken a break from writing, some advertising and checking FB, Twitter and my blog. We also had a break from our morning walks, trips to the gym. Now that we are back in our regular pattern, life goes on as usual.

     I should have the edit for The Falls: May Flowers ready for CreateSpace soon and that will make the first eight of The Falls stories in paperback at CreateSpace.com, Barnes & Noble and Amazon.com. I'm getting there, slowly but surely. I have already started transposing the next Falls novel, The Falls: Election, into the template for CreateSpace.

     My thoughtful wife Carolyn bought me a comfort standing mat for my standup desk. It's about three feet wide and two feet deep and works well. I can certainly tell the difference. I can even stand barefooted now if I want and write. Thank you, Sweetheart!

     Ah well...onward and upward! Take care and may the dragons watch over you...