Best Selling Author -- Leave me OUT!

Consider the graphic below. Don't just glance at it, read it. Read what's written under each picture.

You smiled, didn't you? At least at a couple...the ones you've actually read.

Me? If we count across the top from left to right, I've read numbers 1, 2, 3 & 5. I've read plenty of other Hemingway, so number 4 will have to wait. As for James Joyce's Ulysses - I'm not sure I'm smart enough to read that one.

Show of hands: Who has read 1984

I create in the dystopian and post-apocalyptic genres. As such, Orwell's classic is the standard-bearer for me. But, this doesn't mean everyone loves the novel. Look at these quotes:

"I read it in (high) school, but I didn't really like it. It was weird." -Former Neighbor

"I think Orwell was on drugs when he wrote that book. It's so far-fetched." - College Buddy

"Kinda boring. I prefer Brave New World." 

That last quote comes from my beloved wife of nearly 36 years. How dare she! It is well known that Huxley was an alien from some distant planet, only sent to earth to confuse us. (Okay, I made that part up; but I get irrational when defending George Orwell).

When I ask people about Moby Dick, the reactions are the same

And this is my point. People find a master like George Orwell weird. Herman Melville is boring in their opinions. James Joyce...who even knows. Way beyond the normal person.

Yet, these books are classics. I mean full fledged, 100 percent classics. Even dissenters agree with that thinking. As for people admitting to actually wanting to read these epics... crickets.

I'd love to write a classic, the next Great American Novel

But I don't want people to think I'm dull, or boring. For me, I would rather have a nice group of fans who enjoy the fiction I create. I'm not looking to be forced upon teens in high school. NO! That would give us an entire generation that would read only one of my books, and then say something stupid like this:

"Oh yeah, the teacher made us read e a lake in high school. WWIV or something like that. She said it was a classic. Classic dullsville!"

Selling a few more books would be great. But I don't want to end up in the trash heap of literature! No sir, thank you. I'd hate to be relegated to the likes of Orwell, Melville, Joyce, and Steinbeck. Geez, that would be just awful...right?

Until next week, tell me how many of the six highlighted books you've read. Has anyone had the courage, time, and stamina to read all of them? Let me know.

e a lake

(books below are interactive, so go ahead and click on any of them)

                           

Won't You Be My Neighbor?

Perhaps "won't you be my friend" is a better way to ask this. But you get the idea, right? Tell me you didn't hear Fred Rogers singing when you saw the heading? Deny to me, right now, you didn't sing the jingle!

Join e a lake's First Readers Team

I Need Your Help!

Yep, I do. And I'm not afraid to ask for it.

You see, I need "First Readers". At least, that's what I'm calling them/you. I need 15 to 25 diehard readers for my latest book that will be released later this month. I need to find every last mistake in this one, and you can help. And I need some reviews for Amazon the day it is released.

Here's what I provide to you:

1. An electronic copy of book three - WWIV - Basin of Secrets. Preferably I will provide it in pdf format, but I can be flexible on that.

2. A FREE copy of the paperback (WWIV - Basin of Secrets) sometime in February or March (when it is available).

3. My undying love and thanks.

Here's what you provide in return:

1. Read the entire novel.

2. Provide me with feedback on any mistakes you find, or any questions you have on the book.

3. When released on Amazon, leave an honest review.

That's it, really! I give, you give,  and perhaps we establish a long-lasting relationship. If we "like" each other, we can do this all again with the release of my next book(s).

Here is the link to begin: 

Join e a lake's First Readers Team


Click here to find out more details on WWIV - Basin of Secrets!

Thank you for considering becoming a First Reader.

Have a great first week of 2016,

e a lake

(books below are interactive, so go ahead and click on them)

                           

Results of Promo - AweSome!

Okay, as many of you already know, I recently had three free days for my first book of shorts in my WWIV series. Immediately below is the graphic I used, and next to that were my predictions for this giveaway.

It ran Friday, Saturday, and Sunday two weeks ago. From the research I performed, and based on all my other giveaways, I came up with these goals:

Friday Goal - 100 units

Saturday Goal - 75 units

Sunday Goal - 50 units

Total for all days - 225 units.

Promo Time

I placed several small ads on the days above. Let's say six; why "let's say"? Well, I'm not sure all of the ads ran. I was busy with my wife's family that weekend, so I didn't have the time needed to check on all of them.

Also, I placed it in FaceBook on my author page and my personal page. Several friends shared the promo with their followings, and for that I thank them! I further used my blog to promo the giveaway and Twitter (and we all know how well that platform works for things such as this).

And the Results are in

Friday Dec 19th - 236 units (goal was 100)

Saturday Goal - 231 units (75)

Sunday Goal - 95 units (50)

Total for all days - 563 units.

Happy, Blessed, and Thrilled - all in one

Perhaps I'm just goofy. But hey, I more than doubled my goal. And this means that 563 new readers have been introduced to my writing. That's the thrilling part. Even if all of them aren't new readers of my series, the majority most likely are (darn Amazon is so stingy with details like this).

And here's the best part

WWIV - Darkness Descends cracked the top 600 in Free Kindle Books during this period. Actually, it crawled a little higher at one point, somewhere near number 500. But of course, I was busy and couldn't take a screenshot at that time.

Yes, I could have done better with a little better planning, finding a few more places to promote the giveaway, spending a little more money (my budget = $50), and getting the word out to even more of my family and friends.

But with a little bit of planning, it was still a great promotion (at least in my mind). If you'd like more details, drop me a line. I'll be happy to share what I can.

If you would like to know when my next free offer comes, join my readers group here. You will also information soon about discounted pre-release pricing for my soon to be released book  WWIV - Basin of Secrets.

Happy New Year Everyone,

e a lake

(books below are interactive, so go ahead and click on any of them)

                           

Last Christmas, Before The Darkness

I know, I know. It's Christmas time. Time to be happy, and jolly. All that peace on earth, good will toward men stuff.

But what if this was the last Christmas before the Darkness arrives?

You remember the Darkness, don't you? We've spoken about it for the past month. The Darkness: No electricity, No vehicles, No communications...No hope.

It's not very cherry, very Christmasy  - is it? Well, that's intentional; it's not supposed to be. You aren't meant to like the Darkness. Actually, you should fear the Darkness. Because - well - it's the Darkness. The time when all mankind will realize just how good they used to have it.

So really - what are you going to do?

Christmas will never, ever, be the same again. And that's not all bad, is it?

No more jam-packed stores for a month before Christmas. Well, no more stores really. Not like we know them nowadays. They will be much more utilitarian after the Darkness arrives. Groceries (some), clothing (limited), footwear (nothing like we have now). The most popular place just may be the livery stable...look if up if you need to kids, the rest of us can wait.

There will be no money to buy presents with

Barter and trade, people. That will be the new normal. And that's okay. You're going to be really busy hauling water and chopping wood anyway.

Presents? Yeah, those are going to become a thing of the past. Warm socks and coats may be the best presents given when the Darkness rules the earth.

How long before it - Christmas - disappears?

Let's hope it never does. But if the Darkness arrives, things will change. Permanently!

I pray that Christmas will always live in each of our hearts, our children's hearts, our grandchildren's hearts. Here's a picture of mine, taken along with my wife in Virginia over Thanksgiving. For their sake, as well as yours, let's all pray it never comes.

Merry Christmas everyone. And let's all express that for as long as we can. Before...well, you know.

e a lake

(books below are interactive, so go ahead and click on any of them)

                       

This Weekend Only...FREE!

Absolutely FREE!

This Friday, Saturday, and Sunday Only!

Get my first book of shorts for FREE!

That's this weekend - December 18th through the 20th! Don't miss my free gift to you.

Thank you for following this blog. I appreciate each and everyone who reads and comments. Without you, my voice would be muted.

Seasons Greetings to All,

e a lake

(books below are interactive, so go ahead and click on any of them)

                       

You've Got Real Problems Now

Let's summarize what's gone from your world; what I've taken away over the past three weeks.

1. Electricity (all power)     

Yep, you no have use of any electric devices. No fridge, no stove, no air conditioning, no furnace, no television, no radio. No nothing! Fun, right?

You may say, "I'll be fine without these modern conveniences." But really, will you? Can't look up anything on the internet anymore. That's gone too. Just another casualty of the Darkness. 

You know all that stuff you saved on some hard drive? All about prepping and survival skills? Sorry, no access. It's all gone, pal.

2. Transportation

No planes, no trains, no automobiles. 

You're on foot, or horse or bike from this point forward. The range you can roam just dwindled from thousands of miles, to maybe twenty. Feeling a little confined, friend?

Anything with a computer is dead. And almost all of our transportation, nowadays, runs on computers. The average car has a number of them somewhere under the hood. Planes don't use hydraulics that much anymore. Most of what is accomplished to get airborne is done with the aid of a computer.

Now some cars, and some smaller planes, will work - for a while. But once we use up the last of our stored fossil fuels, they are done as well. Remember, no electricity to pump them from deep storage tanks. Bet you forgot all about that, didn't you?

3. Communications

No cell phones, no landlines, no pagers, no faxes, no texting...yeah, you get it: no easy communication.

This one really sucks. How am I supposed to know how my mother, some eighty miles away, is doing? Or how my youngest son and his family 1,200 miles away are holding up in the Darkness?

Even more sobering, what if my wife is some thirty miles away when it strikes and can't get home? Will I ever see her again? Will I ever know what happened to her?

Much will be lost when the Darkness arrives. Ease of living, loved ones, the world we know. How will humankind survive such an event? Will we even care how it happened? Or will we all go into survival mode? Some many questions - so few answers.

This is the world of WWIV. Four full novels, and three novellas (when all are finished) - exploring people's reactions and lives at the time of the event, and in the years that follow. If you want to know what caused all of this havoc, maybe you do and maybe you don't, you'll have to wait for the last novella in 2016 - The Truth.

Until then, if you would like to read any of these stories, click on the books below. If you'd like to know when new books are arriving, click here to receive my newsletter.

I'll have more for you next week. Until then, get your loved ones something decent to read for Christmas.

e a lake

(books below are interactive, so go ahead and click on any of them)

                       

You are really gonna miss this!

You're at a restaurant - like maybe right now. If so, look around. What do you see? Almost everyone has their attention focused on that device in their hands...their cellular phone.

A cell phone is primarily meant for communication, right? At least that was its original intent. But nowadays? Entertainment, news, sports...everything. And people have grown real attached to these devices. Very Attached.

Say goodbye to your little friend

When the Darkness arrives, those handheld devices will be useless. No more texting or chatting with friends. No hour long phone calls with mom and dad. No quick goodnight calls to significant others hundreds of miles away. Nothing, gone, kaput. Dead silence...forever.

Think about it for a moment. How, just how, are you going to communicate with others now? Landlines will be just as useless; no fax machines or pagers either. The Post Office is closed - permanently. 

Looks like you are going to get to know your neighbors after all! What were their names again? Lonnie and Melanie...or something like that?

And no Internet to boot

Jeez, this gets worse by the moment, doesn't it? No text messages, or SnapChats (whatever they are), or Instagram (never used it myself). Just word of mouth now. Perhaps some written letters and notes, as well.  But mostly one on one communication from the moment the Darkness arrives.

And what are you going to do? I'm not letting you give up. No, not going to be an easy way out here. Not this time; not ever again. You're stuck in the middle of a world that is so unfamiliar to most. 

Maybe it's time for a good support system. A human support system. Anyone think they need to work on the interpersonal human relationship skills? Maybe before the Darkness arrives?

Yeah, I thought so.

I'll have a wrap-up for you next week. Now that your electricity, and transportation, and communication is all gone to hell you'll pay attention. Maybe you can still survive. Maybe.

e a lake

(books below are interactive, so go ahead and click on any of them)