Catching up again!

I know, I know...it's been a while.

Sorry; I've been busy creating new novels and new ideas to be released in the next twelve months. I think you're going to like them. So stay tuned!

Here's what you might have missed while I've been on hiatus:

My latest release (from about a month ago) was The Remnants of Antietam. It's post-apocalyptic and involves a little more fighting and weaponry than my usual stuff, but follows much of the same vein you've grown to like.

Set in Sharpsburg, MD (near the Antietam Battlefield) a small community of preppers finds themselves thrown into the world they thought they were ready for. But is anyone ever truly prepared for the end of times?

You can get it by clicking on the picture/cover below:

Also, if you were following the online novel Glitched, it's available in ebook and paperback as well now:

I'll have more to tell you in a few days. I'll catch you up to speed on what I'm writing and an exciting series that will be released in 2018.

Until then, have a great week.

Thanks for reading,

e a lake

FREE - but this weekend only!

Get this novella for free on Amazon. But you have to hurry. It is only free from October 21st to October 23rd.

And while you're at it, get this title for free anytime.

Have a great weekend!

e a lake

A good thing about the Apocalypse

Well, there's actually a couple of good things.

No Elections to Fret Over

Not sure about you, but I'm sick of political ads, pointless debates, and general mudslinging. I sure won't miss any of those if the EOTWAWKI comes in my lifetime.

Organic is the Only Way

My wife is gluten and lactose intolerant. She is also allergic to carrots, celery, tree nuts, and an assortment of other things.

To combat this she likes to eat as natural as possible. And I get to eat as natural as possible as well (oh goody)!

I am so sick of companies claiming their food is all organic or natural. You want natural? Kill it, grow it or produce it yourself. That way you know for sure where your food is coming from.

So, maybe my type 2 diabetes will disappear when the end comes. Or maybe not. My wife says the jury is still out on that.


In my current series, The No Where Apocalypse, a regular old guy from the Chicago area (one that's never grown a thing in his life...except a beard) finds himself stranded in Northern Michigan when the lights go out. Now he'll have to grow, kill and produce if he wants to stay alive.

Check it out by clicking on the picture below. One Amazon reviewer said it is 'well written and depressing.' I'm pretty sure he meant the depressing part as a compliment.

Until next time, have a great fall (all of you in the northern hemisphere).

e a lake

Did you know this ebook is always free!? And in various formats? Click it to find out more.

Imagining No Where

What if? What if? That's the question.

Each summer I like to sneak up to our family cottage for a long weekend all by myself. No one but me and the dogs, a fishing boat, and my computer. Four days of downtime that allows me to recharge my internal batteries and sometimes come up with some great story ideas.

The same happens each falls when I sneak away to the family farm for a few days alone of bowhunting. I love being at one with nature: the chirping fluttering birds, squirrels chasing through the woods, sunshine on my face, and even the occasional drip of rain or two.

What if...

The Darkness arrived when I was on one of my trips? What if I awoke to no electricity, no phone service, a dead car, no running water, and a

new eerie haunting silence? What would I do then? What would you do then?

The first thing you might notice is that haunting silence. We, as humans, are so used to white noise that sometimes I wonder if we would know what true silence sounds like?

What if...

You were truly all alone? What if you had to depend on the kindness and generosity of strangers?

At the cottage, there are people I could turn to. And they might just be turning to someone else for answers. Most of these folks are rugged northwoods types. The power goes down a lot up there (in Northern Wisconsin). So they're used to dealing with an inconvenience like that. If it lasts for, say, years -- what then?

At the farm (in Southern Wisconsin) I am surrounded by Amish. Great stroke of luck there...at least for me. I often wonder how long it would take them to realize that TEOTWAWKI had come? They don't have cars or electricity. Most don't use cell phones (though I've seen a few sneaky ones with that device in their hand).

What if...

You never saw your family again? When would it first strike you that you were never getting home? Day 1, week 1, year 1? We all say we'd do our damnedest to get back to our loved ones. But talk is cheap. And the apocalypse is forever. Just ask Bob Reiniger. He'll tell you all about it.

Just some thoughts. That's all. Hopefully, they don't cause you to lose any sleep...hopefully.

Until next time,

e a lake

Things you won't miss in the Apocalypse: #3

The Internal Revenue Service

Oh, my friends, this is a timely one!

There are two types of people in The United States: those that love tax day, and those of us who hate it. And these groups are easy to tell apart. Lovers of tax day get refunds. Non-lovers (like me) owe money at the end of the tax year.

The Darkness will save us all from Tax Day

And the dreaded IRS.

First off, if you get a large refund you're just plain silly...goofy in the brain. Why do you insist on lending people money at a zero percent interest rate? No one, and I mean absolutely no one, would do that for you. So that "forced savings plan" of yours that the government generously sends back to you was yours all along.

And if you owe, like me, why haven't you made your estimated payments? That would save you a whole bunch of grief come April 15th, you know.

But what if that all went away?

That's one of the benefits of the Darkness (or what you might call the apocalypse or TEOTWAWKI). No more taxes, or tax day. No more government. No more IRS!

Yeah, the Darkness will have its ugly side (or I should say sides) but taxes won't be one of them.

Most money and income will be gone

Transactions will become barter based. I trade you four cans of pork and beans for a live chicken. You trade two of those cans to another soul for five 12-guage shells. They trade one of those cans for a clean bottle of water. 

Much simpler, right? And no taxes to be paid.

You won't be going to work anymore. No more 9 to 5, no more bosses with unreasonable demands. No more rushing home to catch little Suzie's soccer practice.

What a nice simple life you'll have.

There will be a down side, of course

Finding food and water will be your new "Job". That and keeping yourself, and your loved ones, safe. But if you don't have to rush off to work, or worry about paying or filing your taxes, you're going to have all sorts of extra free time.

Is that a fair trade? Well, maybe.

Until next time when we talk about not missing the unwanted phone calls,

e a lake

Things you won't miss in the Apocalypse: #2

The Recycling Police

Don't get me wrong, we sort at my house. Trash is separated from recyclables, and almost weekly we have 30 to 40 gallons to be reused somewhere in the world.

But some folks take it too far

And you know exactly who I mean. That relative that brags about only having five gallons of trash a month because he or she recycle the rest. The neighbor who only buys recycled materials. The kids in your neighborhood that wander around on trash day in their neon-green shirts, urging you to dig through your crap and fish that one aluminum can out of the bottom. The one covered in potatoes peels or dog crap.

I have nothing against recycling; I'm just not fond of the Recycling Police.

I won't miss sorting my trash in the Darkness

Not me. I also won't miss trash day -- both literally and figuratively. My recycling comes at about 5:00 a.m. That's a little before my comfort zone of rising (since I wrote fiction well into the dark hours). So if I don't get my recycling out the night before, it ain't getting out that particular week.

And I hate each spring when the groups of youngsters spread out in the neighborhood. "Please remember to recycle," they say, pleading with tears in their eyes. Or even better, "Save the planet for me, Mister."

Wow, now I hate spring...and kids in neon-green shirts!

No one is going to bother you in the Darkness

Not about recycling, at least. They may beg for food, or shelter, or protection. My former recycling materials will be of no one's concern any longer.

Plus, people will recycle in new ways. Those plastic bottles shown here? Forget about the BPAs. They will be used many times over to store fresh water, regardless of dangerous they were once thought. They're easier to carry in a backpack than a five-gallon pail, right?

We will be more creative with our recyclables at the EOTWAWKI. We will have to be because once they're gone...they'll be gone forever.

Goodbye people worried about the trash we spread

I can't say I'm going to miss you.

Until next time when we talk about not missing the Internal Revenue Service,

e a lake

Things you won't miss in the Apocalypse: #1

Presidential Campaigns

Every four years a new group of candidates come out of the woods and announce they are "running for the office of President of the United States of America." Sometimes they are substantive: Barrack Obama, Ronald Reagan, John F. Kennedy. Real candidates that stand for something besides the status quo.

Then there are the quirky: Ralph Nader, Ross Perot, Donald Trump, Bernie Sanders. All legitimate candidates but a bubble or two off of plumb. They talk a good talk; sometimes things they say make a lot of sense. But in the end...they flame out. (The jury is still out on Mr. Trump).

And then the true status quo: Jeb Bush, Ted Cruz, Hillary Clinton, John McCain. These folks offer nothing new. Just four (or sometimes eight) more years of what we already have. Bland, beige, boring.

What if that all went away?

Enter the Apocalypse (I call it The Darkness). Gone is all electricity and power; gone are all forms of mass communication (cell phones, Twitter, FaceBook, landlines, faxes). Travel is pretty much limited to foot, or a horse if you can find one.

Do you know what that means people? Think about it: No more debates, No more commercials, No more town hall meetings, No more sound bites. The end of the rhetoric...finally!

In the Darkness, we may not even have a President

Communities would be self-ruled. No need for someone (or many someones) a thousand or more miles away telling us what to do. Think they could help with the limited food supply after two months of Darkness? Doubt it. 

Our former leaders will be too busy hiding, all bunkered up in some fortified hole in the ground. Surrounded by decades of fresh food and water. They might even be chuckling as what's left of the citizenry scrounges to survive.

But we have the last laugh

No longer will we have to listen to these government types (they call themselves Civil Servants) beg for our votes. If the trains still ran (their computers were destroyed with the Darkness, so they don't) this new breed of candidate could do whistle-stop campaigns, ala Teddy Roosevelt.

But why? There'll be nothing left to rule. A formerly great country, in a formerly well-connected world, will be a shell of its former self. (And just so we're clear, the rest of the world will have the same Darkness to deal with).

We will all suffer

But at least we won't have to listen to these clowns anymore!


Until next time when we talk about not missing the recycling police,


e a lake

My Number One Conspiracy Theory

We never went to the moon. Check that; we didn't go there in 1969. It just doesn't seem possible to me. I'll convince you, if you give me a chance.

I am NOT a conspiracy theorist

Really, I'm not. I don't believe Elvis is still alive, I have no wild view of 911, and I have a normal take on the Kenndey assassination (that was the CIA). But to believe that in 1969 we (or anyone for that matter) landed on and returned from the moon???? Come on, people!

I was alive in 1969 – I was 10. I remember that July day and night well.

My parents had a cottage on the Wisconsin River (in south central Wisconsin). It was a warm July afternoon when Apollo 11 landed on the moon's surface. My folks had brought our little 12" black and white tv along that weekend so we could watch the lunar activity.

It was the pitch black night (in my neck of the woods) before Neil Armstrong stepped out onto the moon's soil. "One small step for man..." You know the rest. I watched it live on TV – right as it happened.

Or did I?

1969 was a time much different than today. Greatly different. Like Little House on the Prairie vs. Star Trek. That different.

Consider a few facts from 1969:

     

• We were decades away from the first personal computers
• Handheld calculators were in their infancy
• Most houses had no central air conditioning
• Most houses had only a black and white television
• Most TV stations (if not all) signed off the air after midnight
• There was no internet
• There were no cell phones
• There weren't even answering machines thus far

And in all of that, we believe that two men landed on the moon – in nothing more than a modified tin can – explored for a couple of days, relaunched to join up with an orbiting capsule and made their way back to earth? Well...maybe Elvis is alive, after all.

It doesn't add up

I'm not saying we never went to the moon. I'm fairly confident we've been there. I'm only saying I find it highly unlikely we went there in 1969.

There were nights (many nights) where our TV at home couldn't pull in many stations. We were 18 years away from the first person ever being convicted based on DNA evidence. Bill Gates was 13 at the time; Steve Jobs was 14. We were years away from either of their revolutionary inventions.

The science and technology do not add up, people.

What likely happened?

Got me! Like I said at the beginning, I am not a conspiracy theorist. All I can figure out is that we wanted to beat the Russians to the moon (a very popular fight at the time) and we faked some of the footage. 

We couldn't have 24-hour television, many people didn't have a dedicated phone line, and every time it stormed half the town went dark --- but we were able to watch the astronauts walked around on the moon? Really? I mean – REALLY!?

While we're on the subject....

What Caused the Darkness?

Until next week,

e a lake

The Darkness: World War IV

The Darkness, simply put, is the End of The World as We Know It! The event which causes the Darkness is actually WWIII. It's an event that will last only mere moments, but what it leaves in its wake is a world we never expected. A place where life isn't as precious as it was - even moments before.

World War 3 has come and gone

It was the old "twinkle of an eye" kind of thing. One moment everything was fine: The world was whole, all things worked as intended, people - for the most part - were happy.

And then at 2:33 a.m. (US Central time zone) one hot August night, the world changed...forever.

Many of my readers assume it was an EMP (electromagnetic pulse). But let me tell you a secret - it wasn't. I can't tell you yet what exactly happened (and yes, I do already know), but if you look up at night, you'll have a hint.

What's the worst about the Darkness?

That's an easy one. Besides the obvious (everything!) here's what's missing.

Electricity disappeared with that eye twinkle as well. That's kind of a crucial utility to lose. That means your furnace won't work, neither will your air conditioning. And don't even get me started on what you're going to do for fresh water.

That means nursing homes and hospitals will be left without power (the backup generators got fried too).

People will start to die within hours. The old, the infirmed, those who depend on others for help or food. Babies in incubators and hooked up to machines will perish.

Within days our medical systems will be overrun and collapse. Police and emergency services will simply give up. There will be no Army or National Guard coming to the rescue. The American people, and every citizen of the world, will be completely helpless...and on the own.

And the Darkness will reign

Thus begins World War IV: Humankind's struggle for survival. Precisely what Einstein was speaking of in his quote. And the battle will be fought with sticks and stones.

And I'm not sure mankind will win.


It begins!

     

Until next time,

e a lake

Apple vs. The Big Bad Wolf

Yes, I am oversimplifying things with the title above. And yes, there are always two sides to every story. But no, I don't honestly know where I stand on this issue yet.

Okay, here's what's at Stake

  

Me and my iPhone

(Not me per se, but you understand)

 VS.

The United States Department of Justice

And the winner will be --- Absolutely No One!

Here's why:

• The DOJ needs Apple's help to get into the cell phone from one of the San Bernadino Shooter's iPhones.

• Apple does not want to open Pandora's Box.

I'm sure they both have compelling reasons. But this case is a no win!

If Apple "unlocks" the Phone

It will be seen as a defeat for personal privacy by many. Big Brother now has the precedent (and know how) to invade all of our lives at any time they wish.

If the DOJ doesn't get in the Terrorist's Phone

We may never know what they knew. And we may never find out if other sleeper cells have similar activities planned.

Or, we may just find that this guy had an awesome score on Candy Crush, or something like that.

You can see both sides of the argument. Privacy vs. Saftey. The average US citizen vs. Big Government.

No one wins here, folks. I just wish they would have handled this behind the scenes and worked something out. Yes, in this case, treat us like mushrooms: in the dark and covered with crap.

After all, that's what large companies and the government do every day, isn't it?!

Until next time, hang in there.

e a lake

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Yes, it will be that BAD!

Tell me what you see here? Come on, tell me.

They're grocery store shelves, nearly empty. I believe this photo comes to us from the UK, but it's not a sight that we are immune to here in the US either.

The Great East Coast Blizzard of two weeks past

The above scene was shown in many, many papers. My youngest son and his family live in Norfolk (VA) proper. He told me people were going "nuts", stocking up on food and supplies there. And they were only going to get an inch, or two, of snow in that part of the state.

Any Hurricane about to hit mainland "Anywhere"

Last fall that same son of mine watched nervously for several days as a hurricane approached. Fortunately, for many people, it stayed out in the Atlantic (though they did receive tremendous amounts of rain). Nonetheless, people went crazy buying up food, water, building (perhaps re-building) materials and everything else they could get their hands on.

So yes, when the Darkness arrives, things will be messy

A common belief of many people is that if we experience some cataclysmic event, society will be all right for a while. Maybe a month, maybe two. But, in their minds, things will hold together longer than most preppers believe.

HOGWASH!!!!!

Imagine a world where your electricity is gone; your vehicle doesn't start - won't even turn over. A world where all forms of electronic communication fail to work.

And you can tell me - with a straight face - that all hell isn't going to break loose sooner rather than later? I don't think so, friend. This is the apocalypse...and the Darkness has arrived.

History, as mentioned above, proves me right. When things go bad, people tend to take care of themselves first, and later they will help their neighbors. But when this new world lasts for weeks on end, what's theirs is theirs. Plain and simple.

So yes, the Darkness will be that bad...and worse. Read all about it here: The Darkness.

Until next week, chin up. Spring is only three months away here in Minnesota.

e a lake

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Pre-release Sample Chapter - Book 3 WWIV Series

The time is near! Read the first chapter of this soon to be released novel today.

Subscribers to my newsletter will receive special pre-release pricing information in the next week. To join this group, click here.

To read chapter one of my latest novel, before it is released, simply click here (or on the picture above) and click on "Download Sample Chapter".

Watch for WWIV - Basin of Secrets release, coming soon exclusively on Amazon.

As always, thanks for following, and watch for more next week.

e a lake

(go ahead, click on one...I double-dog dare you to)

             

Happy Friday --- I Think

There's a lot going on in the world right now. A whole bunch. And all of it is super important. Thus, I'll keep this brief so you can get back to those important issues.

Massive Blizzard Strikes East Coast

Two to three feet of snow, in places not used to getting that much snow all at once (much less an entire winter). Travel will be impossible, cities will be paralyzed, food has disappeared from most store's shelves. A true apocalyptic event (albeit temporary).

In Minnesota, we call that kind of thing Wednesday.

Will Smith Joins List of Actors Boycotting Oscars

They have a problem in Hollywood. And it's the second year in a row. But let's face it, this isn't a new problem for them. Have you seen many films? If so, you know they're not all that culturally diverse.

So a group of over-hyped stars (at least in their minds) with over-sized egos want me to worry about a show/event where they pat each other on the back and give out meaningless awards and make speeches giving undeserved adulations to one another?

I don't think so.

Donald Trump Continues to Lead in Many Polls

If you're a mainstream conservative, you grimace every time you see him on TV. Or hear his name mentioned anywhere. Liberals? They are hoping (perhaps praying) this run ends -- quickly. Not that any of their candidates has the answers.

Someone asked me the other day if I thought The Donald would receive the Republican nomination. Maybe, I said. But history is not on his side. Early front runners typically fade. Back in 2008, our current President was barely a blip on the political radar at this point going into Iowa.

And by the way, I truly doubt we will see a Commander in Chief in the next fifteen to twenty years that will make any difference. Our country is too divided right now. Until someone has the guts to fix that problem, the Bush and Obama years will be seen as "good times".

Here's My Point

Everything is temporary, people. The three issues above? Just blips on the radar today, gone with tomorrow's sunrise (okay, we'll have to wait a while for the political thing to play out). But in the long-run, none of this really matters.

Once the Darkness arrives, a whole lot of things won't matter. Of the three above, only a major storm (of any type) will ever have an effect on your life. No one will remember who won what award, who Donald Trump was, or even what life was once like.

Don't believe me? Start reading - WWIV -- Darkness Descends.

According to one reader, it scared the sh*t out of her.

See you next week...perhaps,

e a lake

(go ahead, click on one...I double-dog dare you to)