Author Honors 'Nam Vets

On this Memorial Day, I repost an entry from Jan. 2012 on Nolan. I still intend to write about my 2000/2002 experiences in Cambodia and Vietnam working for the State Department and the Agency for International Development, and how you can see the history of the war written in the cratered earth. But that project will blossom when the moment is right. For now, let this post be my Memorial Day tribute.

 There was a time when I burned through military history books by the gross. I read famous authors like Band of Brothers' Stephen Ambrose and not-so-famous guys like Keith William Nolan. My history book reading has fallen off lately and so I just learned Nolan died three years ago from cancer. His specialty was the Vietnam War and his works relied heavily on interviews with American veterans who fought there.

Ten years ago, I had vague plans of producing a film based on Nolan's book about Operation Buffalo, which centered around the ambush of a Marine company in 1967. As I was returning to Cambodia for a project with State Dept./USAID and Warner Bros.—a story in itself—I made plans to visit the battlefields in neighboring Vietnam.

And so I contacted Keith William Nolan and asked for an option to develop a project based around his 1991 book Operation Buffalo: USMC Fight for the DMZ. I mentioned I was a former Marine who had served during the Vietnam era.

He let me have the option free.

That is simply not done in these parts.

By email, I thanked him for his generosity.

I CORPS

In time, I toured the landscape of Operation Buffalo, a dangerous patch of ground still peppered with Viet Cong mines and booby traps as well as unexploded American and North Vietnamese artillery shells. I walked the narrow, red dirt lanes on which B Company was ambushed in an action that grew into the bloodiest day for the Marines in Vietnam.

I drew a crowd of Vietnamese, hardly any who had lived there back in the day. (Most had been relocated in 1966, the year prior to the fight.) At one point, I was invited into a hut and asked to tell a few elders what I knew of the event. With kids and dogs yelling outside, I spoke in bursts of English which my interpreter translated into Vietnamese, explaining how a battalion of North Vietnamese lured an understrength Marine company into an trap that wiped out two platoons and shot to pieces a second company that came to help. Many of the Marine M-16 rifles malfunctioned, and men were cut down desperately trying to remove jammed rounds from their weapons. Some enemy troops infiltrated Marine positions dressed in captured American uniforms. Their assault was backed with flamethrowers and heavy artillery—based in nearby North Vietnam.

IN LEATHERNECK SQUARE

As the sky grew darker outside, we drank tea and smoked cigarettes. Reciting Nolan's book from memory as best I could, I told how the Marines returned the next day to retrieve the bodies of their dead and that turned into another fight. More reinforcements poured in on both sides, culminating in a massive North Vietnamese attack preceded by an artillery barrage. The Marines mowed down the charging troops, sealed off breaches in their lines and held. The enemy withdraw back to safety in North Vietnam. Marine patrols from the hill base at Con then set out once more to sweep the area, and the pattern of Operation Buffalo would be repeated in minor and major keys for the next several years.

Outside the village kids gathered around as I reemerged from the hut. There was a huge freaking spider the size of a catcher's mitt hanging in a web attached to a nearby pole. I refused to look at the monster. I feared the kids would knock the hulking arachnid down with a stick and chase it toward me to see what the tall foreigner would do.

I came home and the option expired and my movie idea eventually migrated into a rather large folder of unfinished products. Nolan wrote ten books on the Vietnam War, but never made a pile of money. His publisher wanted him to write about "popular wars" because Vietnam didn't sell. But Nolan felt he had an obligation to veterans who were often treated quite shabbily, called "baby killers," and depicted in the media as drug addicts, psychos and losers. He felt someone had to tell their story.

He stayed true to that calling.

A non-smoker, 44-year-old Keith William Nolan died of lung cancer. He left behind a little girl.

Nolan's books are more than just the story of battles, interesting to history buffs like myself. They are our heritage, our nation's story, told by those present, their deeds preserved for kids like Anna Britt Nolan.

One hot August night, I was at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. Little gifts, flowers and tokens are often left at its base by families, friends, and old comrades come to visit the names of the dead. Apparently a grade school class had passed through earlier and left various letters on lined paper in huge kid scrawl. One in part read: "Dear Grandpa, We saw the Vietnam Wall. I'm sorry you could not tell your stories."

Keith William Nolan could.

(Below is information on a trust fund set up for Nolan's daughter. If you can, please donate.)

Anna Britt Nolan Trust
c/o First Bank
6211 Midriver Mall Drive
St. Charles, MO 63304

Images: Two-Seven Tooter

Review: 'Nam Generals

In honor of Memorial Day, I'll be posting a pair of book reviews. Both are by author Lewis Sorley and deal with soldiers in command during the Vietnam War.

Honorable Warrior by Lewis Sorley

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


A forgotten man in the history of the Vietnam War, General Harold K. Johnson served as U.S. Army Chief of Staff during the run-up to the war and fought against the ill-conceived policies behind it.

A highly-decorated officer who had survived three brutal years as a Japanese prisoner, and served as a highly-decorated field commander in Korea, General Johnson saw the error in attempting to fight a war of attrition in Vietnam using draftees. He warned LBJ and Secretary of Defense McNamara that a failure to call up the reserves would result in cannibalizing the American Army in three years. As General Johnson predicted, men and equipment were stripped from Europe and other commands to feed the Vietnam beast. The American Army was transformed into a hollow shell.

Told in a linear fashion, Lewis Sorley's narrative follows Johnson's life from rural North Dakota to West Point, through two wars and a grueling peace, to four-star rank. A worthwhile read.

Westmoreland: The General Who Lost Vietnam by Lewis Sorley

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


It's been said that a commander is judged by his actions and his actions by their result.

If so, then history must take a stern view of General William Westmoreland. Famous for his command of American forces in Vietnam from 1964 to 1968, Westmoreland stands accused of being a careerist, promoted above his competence level, who fought Vietnam with the wrong tactics and allowed the Johnson Administration to use him politically as casualties rose and battlefield success grew more elusive.

A complex man, Westmoreland was a good officer, respected by his men at lower levels of command. Sorely chronicles his life and career as Westmoreland rapidly ascends through the ranks under the patronage of General Maxwell Taylor.

Given command in Vietnam, Westmoreland relied on body count as a metric of success. But by "cooking the books" to hide the rising number of enemy troops he faced, then returning to America to announce enemy capabilities were being degraded Westmoreland eroded his credibility and that of the Johnson Administration. When the NVA/VC Tet Offensive erupted in 1968, it made the general appear ill-informed or hapless.

A controversial commander in a controversial war, Westmoreland is worth a look.



View all my reviews

E.T. Panzer Ace Returns

(Visitors keep visiting this post from Sept. 2012. So back it comes with only a minor tweak or so.)

In any given year roughly 250,000 speculative screenplays circulate around Hollywood, written for free by someone with a dream and a keyboard. Perhaps 50 will be purchased. That means 249,950 untold stories will silently wither, never to stimulate our imagination. But that Darwinian process changes today. Every Friday Write Enough! resurrects moribund scripts from the Hollywood Slush Pile, drawing on a veritable Marianas Trench of passed over pictures for a peek at might have been.

Today's offering is the 1983 sci fi/historical thriller: E.T. Panzer Ace.

Eager to piggyback on the success of Steven Spielberg's 1982 mega-hit, screenwriters typed out their top friendly alien offerings. But one canny scribe counter-punched. Aspiring wordsmith Moss Karling, a military history buff and bartender at Bob's Frolic Room in Hollywood, poured his dark passions onto the page. Eventually he convinced character actor (and regular customer) Gill Hong to show the script to his agent.

Karling's story followed the Spielberg path of a lost alien. But Moss elected to have the creature  marooned in 1943 Germany. The frightened being is discovered hiding under a Panther tank by lonely gunner Manfred Knobble. Knobble lures it into the barracks by leaving a trail of schnapps and cigarettes. Through an improbable series of events, E.T. eventually becomes a top panzer commander on the Eastern Front, personally decorated by Hitler who is told the odd-looking soldier hails from Tibet.

In a rare production still, E.T. (Gill Hong) is awarded an Iron Cross by Hitler (Loaf Masters).

But a suspicious Gestapo want the chain-smoking alien brought in for questioning. Knobble helps his friend construct a device to call for rescue, using an old concertina, barbed wire and a Volkswagen battery. The contraption works and a spacecraft arrives. Soldier and alien toast farewell with mugs of schnapps. As the groggy extraterrestrial staggers onto the ship, Manfred presents a parting gift—an antitank rocket. Thick with drink, the befuddled E.T. accidentally triggers the weapon inside the craft, setting off a thermonuclear explosion that vaporizes ship, alien, Knobble, and twenty-nine acres of the Black Forest.

"I'm just not seeing this," said Gill Hong's agent. "And the ending's a little dark, yes?"

A determined Karling set out to film the picture himself. He raised enough money to shoot fourteen minutes of footage, using borrowed equipment and actors like Cleveland Bevel who went out to become a featured extra in Air Wolf.

In time, Karling's interest in the project waned and he began a successful career writing historical fiction. His copy may be found on many official U.S. government websites. Hong worked steadily, later becoming a fixture in Tucson dinner theater. His former agent was arrested for lewd conduct with office furniture.

But now a lost tale has finally been told.
Image: alienresearchalliance.com   

Ruegger Remembers

For your nostalgic viewing, Tom Ruegger over at Cartoonatics has been posting photos of people who helped make the above-mentioned animated TV shows, but whose names usually shot by on the credits at light speed. Another entry here.

L.to R.: Tom Ruegger, Richard Stone, Julie and Steve Bernstein being happy.

Last Day for Discount on Molten Hot New Age Satire

All things end: nations, droughts, the Cub's absence in a World Series—though I'm not 100% certain about that one. Nonetheless, the same applies to discount code SQ34V. After today, it may no longer be applied to The Little Book of Big Enlightenment. You may no longer purchase a fun, fast read spoofing New Age practices for 50% off.

This most excellent discount only applies to eBooks purchased at Smashwords. Kindle owners will find this site accommodating their Mobi needs. Everyone else, from Nook folk to PDF fans, can select the format most pleasing to their eBook enjoyment.

After today, SQ34V will be disbanded as a discount code. Ultimate fate? Who is to say what happens to discount codes upon expiration? But I am certain you will no longer be able to apply SQ34V to my eBook explaining why "condensed enlightenment" is possible to all by uttering three simple words.

Learn about the dangers of hyper-enlightenment. What is Tarot Face? What happens when you contract the Cry of Atlantis?

The Little Book of Big Enlightenment is also available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Apple, Kobo, and a host of other fine venues, both foreign and domestic.

Don't let SQ34V dissipate in vain. Apply it now to your very own eBook copy of The Little Book of Big Enlightenment. Maybe that decent act will provide the universal karma necessary to help the Cubs, or the sporting team of your choice, achieve their destiny.

Behold! The Little Book of Big Enlightenment on iBooks.

Running, Beer Rule in Pikermis Blog

Post-race Mo enjoying a short beer.

Once I blogged about running, marathons and 10ks and such.  Now I run vicariously through the indefatigable Emil Cheng who, over the years, has posted innumerable photos of himself at different races, eating various foods and drinking a wide selection of beers.

But Maureen Smith may soon rival that. Blogging over at I Heart Pikermis (a term for half-marathons), this Chicago-based runner offers a growing catalog of beers sampled as well as her training log, and interesting observations on odious items spotted along a forest preserve trail.

This Sunday, Mo Smith will attempt to crack four hours at the Cleveland Marathon. That's about a 9:09 pace for 26.2 miles. But judging from her log, the pace will not be a problem. If there's any wild card, it's always race day conditions. You can train like a beast and then have Mother Nature throw a wrench in your carefully laid plans.

But running is all about overcoming. So all the best to Maureen this weekend and may her sub-four hour, beer-drinking dreams come true.

Links to The Little Book of Big Enlightenment

There's nothing like fresh links on a Saturday morning.

Over at Twi See.com thanks to @Jasmin5817 for tweeting out an Amazon link to the "Little Book."

And a friendly rattle of Tibetan prayer beads to author Sarah Hoyt at Instapundit for referring to The Little Book of Big Enlightenment as "something to cheer you up."

Just a reminder, Kindle users, you can purchase "Little Book" over at Smashwords. Select 'Mobi' (or Kindle Speak as it's often known) and enjoy rapid spiritual enlightenment on the reader of your choice.

In addition, you can take advantage of the discount code SQ34V for 50% off.

For those sans e-readers of any kind, this fine eBook may be downloaded at Smashwords as a PDF file and read on your computer.

More soon as more happens.

Joe Leahy Favors Little Book

Valued Freakazoid! announcer, and voice over king, Joe Leahy has graciously saluted The Little Book of Big Enlightenment now up at Smashwords and Amazon.

Joe has seen, and said, it all so his compliment carries weight, especially since I'm no longer in a position to offer him work.

But I would if I could because he rocks a sound studio.

Blue Whales Endorse Little Book

 It's now official. Marine biologists have deciphered the speech of a Northeast Pacific Blue Whale and the creature was absolutely stoked that The Little Book of Big Enlightenment is live at Amazon. Follow the transcript below:

BLUE WHALE: My brothers, stop eating krill and listen: The Little Book of Big Enlightenment is now available for under two dry land dollars. For that amount, you receive three words that can lead you instantly to a new consciousness. Plus there is fighting and name-calling among the air breathing authors. This book is more fun that stuffing sea weed into a brother's air hole. Calving females, you will find mirth in this eBook as well. I'm breaching now for a copy.

Frankly, nothing says 'New Age' more than whales and so I can't think of a higher endorsement for a book that promises you that new consciousness you've always talked about in only a few short hours, thanks to "condensed enlightenment." Learn more fantastic spiritual shortcuts conceived by Master Lompoc Tollhaus today.

Naturally, Amazon has so much freaking cash they've developed a salt water Kindle for aquatic mammals. That's the way it goes. So if you aren't a narwhal or manatee, or a regular human with a Kindle, don't fret. The "Little Book" is also available at Smashwords. Download this awesome eBook in a variety of formats, including PDF that will allow you to read the "Little Book" online. For the next week, add discount code SQ34V for 50% off. (Only good on Smashwords and not available for  aquatic mammals.)

This is lava hot. Whales are picky about what they endorse. So if you want fun, fast, fast enlightenment tips, and a peek behind the rainbow curtain of New Age publishing, then act now and grab a copy of The Little Book of Big Enlightenment. Remember: whales like it.
Video: MoMarr

Half Off Little Book

At least through next Thu. May 15 using the code SQ34V (if purchased at Smashwords).

Right now, The Little Book of Big Enlightenment awaits vetting by the Amazon folks for uploading to their busy site sometime tomorrow. All who pre-ordered will receive their copies on Friday through Smashwords, Barnes and Noble, Kobo and Apple.

There may be an upcoming plug from an influential media fellow, as well as an actual review of "Little Book." Naturally, I will sound off should such things occur.

Learn more informative book purchasing information here and here.

What else is to be done?

Go work on the next book.

Wisdom from The Little Book of Big Enlightenment

Krishnayapa after eating Twizzlers.

Master Krishnayapa lived a long time ago and said things that many accounted as wise. His sayings were collected by a disciple, Lompoc Tollhaus, who used them to pick up hippie chicks. But then Tollhaus experienced the wonder and astonishment of spiritual enlightenment and his life changed. He sought to raise the consciousness of humanity. In a breakthrough discovery, Lompoc Tollhaus uncovered a secret that would allow the common person to rapidly achieve spiritual enlightenment in the time it would take to read a little book.

But his dreams were dogged by the shadowy menace of Big Spirit, and a co-author who used to sell male enhancement devices.

Learn more tomorrow as The Little Book of Big Enlightenment prepares to launch Friday, May 9 at Amazon and Smashwords. If you are the proud owner of an Apple app, a Barnes and Noble Nook or a Kobo player, then know that you may pre-order a copy of the book this very instant. If you are ashamed of owning these items, you may pre-order anyway.

Without an e-reading device of any sort? You need not feel weak and out-of-sorts. On Friday, you may download from Smashwords—but only Smashwords—a PDF version allowing you to read on screen at your leisure, or print out a copy as in the days of Krishnayapa.

Today was spent formatting the book for Amazon where it now strains forward in draft mode, awaiting the green flag on Thursday evening. (Takes awhile for Amazon to approve everything, but the book should be visible and ready by Friday.)

 And remember that Thursday May 8, or tomorrow as many say, the code that—for one week—grants you half-price off any Little Book of Big Enlightenment purchased at Smashwords—and only Smashwords—will be displayed. Here, Facebook, Twitter, everywhere.

Soon the secrets of rapid enlightenment will be yours. Oh, fortunate one. Hurry, Friday!
(Images:  Hub Pages and True North.)

JP Mac Interview Plus Special Sale on "Little Book"

With The Little Book of Big Enlightenment going live this Friday, May 9, at Amazon and Smashwords, I thought I'd sound my own horn, thump my own tub, and otherwise make a big social media noise. Smashwords has this interesting facet where they allow you to interview yourself. One on one with one. So I answered my own questions as best I could. See how I did at Smashwords Interview with JP Mac.

In the next day or so, I'll be posting my red hot promotional code. Beginning Friday, May 9, should you, from the kindness of your hearts, purchase "Little Book" at Smashwords, you may use said code for 50% off. That's half off a fictional work promising fast, fast, fast spiritual enlightenment in "about the time it takes you to read the book."

No Kindle or Nook? No problem. You can choose to download "Little Book" as a PDF file and read it on your computer, or print it out old school style.

Don't try and use the code on Amazon. They will tersely rebuff you. Of that I have been assured.

And don't wait to act. Like all good promotions—and a fair number of bad ones—this 50% off business only lasts up to Thu. May 15. Then you must pay an additional buck and that's the way it goes.

So check back, nab the code, and stand by for The Little Book of Big Enlightenment this Friday, May 9. And, should time permit, read my interview and glean any number of writerly things.
(Images:  True North.)

Back From Nippy Chicago

A blustery 41 degrees when I left. Ninety-nine degrees in Phoenix where I changed planes. Home in seventy-degree LA after a long sad weekend attending my cousin's wake-funeral-burial. More should be said about Mary Ann Smith's courageous ten-year fight with cancer, but it's all still too depressing right now. Nevertheless, I found time for friends and family, Chicago-style pizza,  Italian beef sandwiches and stories about who knows who and what kind of favors that translates into.
(Image: Got Weather?)

"Little Book of Big Enlightenment" Up at Apple, Barnes and Noble, Kobo

Animated projects and indie book promotions. Between the two, I've had little chance to post for a few weeks. Before I go further, I hate formatting manuscripts for publication. What a boring pain! There. I'm restored.

The Little Book of Big Enlightenment is parked over at Smashwords, unavailable till May 9. However, you may pre-order a copy today at Apple, Barnes and Noble and, for my non-American chums, Kobo.  Get a jump on your reading peers before this astounding faux New Age book, written for the broadest of chuckles and telling you how to become spiritually enlightened in no time whatsoever, goes live on Amazon. And not just whopping monstrous Amazon, but all affiliated Smashwords sites such as the aforementioned Apple, B&N, Kobo plus FlipKart, Scribd and more. This humorous eBook will be spread across the Web like strawberry jam upon wheat toast. (A breakfast favorite around here.)

That was very sales-like and exhausting. Thank Heavens I've read The Little Book of Big Enlightenment and have sufficient serenity to withstand all contingencies. Well, most contingencies. Let's say a few contingencies and an unexpected bump or two not to exceed three per month. Then I grow sullen and overeat.

Ark Royal Review: Book Moves at Light Speed

Ark Royal by Christopher Nuttall
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In the 'what happens next' department, Christopher Nuttall plays a winning hand. His tale of aging interstellar war ship Ark Royal pressed into desperate battle against invading aliens is a page turner.

His characterizations, however, draw a blank. The Captain is hardly creditable as a drunk of many years who attempts to set aside the bottle because "he must." Having some experience with drug addicts and alcoholics, the Captain would've died years earlier from a corroded liver. And no amount of duty, honor, humanity, would have stopped his descent.

There is an anemic love story and personalities you sense you've met over and over again in books and film. The news reporters, for the most part, are caricatured so broadly as to be cartoons.

But for all that, I read the story straight through, eager to learn the fate of Earth and the Ark Royal. I was reminded of Tom Clancy's Red Storm Rising, a techno-military page powerhouse with thin characters that also gripped my attention.

If you like your space war fiction at a rapid pace, give this one a try.

View all my reviews

Beneath the Willows: Excellent Short Horror Story

Beneath the Willow by Gemma Farrow
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Gemma Farrow's undead offering is a short, well-written story about the triumph of hope over reality. Thomas wants life back as it was before his beloved girlfriend, Keziah, was attacked. And now, in dreams, a strange figure describes for Keziah certain actions that Thomas must take on her behalf. Devotion wars with truth. Will she again be the girl he loved or something quite different, quite frightening?

Farrow's pacing and sharp focus kept me turning the pages. Characters were, for the most part, well drawn. Give this short story a shot.


View all my reviews

Jury Doody at Smashwords

Smashwords now hosts Jury Doody. Scroll down the page past my interview with myself and observer the pretty purchase icon.

Comedy-Mystery Banana Bamboozle

 Cassidy Dunne is out to solve a mystery. The only problem is the disorganized personality of Cassidy Dunne. Did her niece survive a fire? Can she save her best friend from ruin? Is there enough candy to sugar-rush her past life's bumpy spots? Find out more in this comedy-mystery by author Becky Clark with help from Ted Hardwick.

Ted and I did improv together back in the day and the guy's a blast. Give Banana Bamboozle a peek and treat yourself to a fun read.

Morongo Makes Losing Fun

If you live in Southern California and must drop a few bucks—and that's all we had to drop—then I recommend Morongo. Past Banning on Interstate 10, the place shoots up from the desert floor like a leftover set from Gattaca. Located between the snowy peaks of Mt. San Jacinto and Mt. San Gorgonio, the casino sports a nice view west of the windmill farm. Yeah, they had slots and table games and video roulette, but they possessed something else I hadn't encountered in a good long while: customer service. Even the ladies cleaning up the rooms smiled and said 'good morning.' The staff was so friendly, I wondered if it weren't some kind of set-up.

Here's how far behind the gaming curve I was: last time I visited a casino, slot machines still accepted coins. Nowadays you feed your money in, lose for awhile, then  press Cash Out,  and—if there's any left—get a paper slip listing the amount. Then you insert that slip into another machine—a lucky machine—and play down what's left. The strong willed march that slip to an ATM-like machine that pays real money. Farewell to the clang-clang-clang of coins hitting a steel tray. Very 21st Century.

Anyway, my wife and I had a blast. No family reunions. No place to be. And great WiFi so we could sit in the same room, on the same bed, and surf the Web.  In addition, there was an In-And-Out Burger within a block of the place. Thus our needs were met on multiple fronts.

Now I've got animated assignments and a book to upload to Smashwords. But getting away for the first time in years was fantastic. So refreshing was the experience, that we returned home and forgot to be resentful of our noisy neighbors.

Review: Fetterman Massacre

The Fetterman Massacre by Dee Brown
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Fascinating description of the U.S. Army's 1866 construction of Ft. Phil Kearny and the subsequent massacre of a detachment that left no survivors. Based on Army records and firsthand accounts, the narrative builds to an ambush by two thousand Sioux of Captain William Fetterman and his 80 cavalry and infantry.

While hardened veterans of the Civil War, Fetterman and most of his officers had no experience fighting Sioux and Arapaho, but plenty of confidence in their own martial abilities. At the same time, Fetterman's commanding officer had no Civil War combat experience, thus was held in low-esteem by several subordinates, including Fetterman.

Events surrounding the ambush bookend this history, but much of the tale involves traveling across the prairie from Nebraska to the site of the fort in Wyoming Territory. Soldiers had been encouraged to bring their wives and these women kept diaries. Author Dee Brown expertly weaves their observations into the story, providing a valuable peek into the beauty and harshness of life on the frontier almost one-hundred and fifty years ago.

View all my reviews

Smashwords Formatting, Free eBook Giveaway, and Book Reviews

Writing on all fronts languishes. In animation, new studio leadership and extensive paperwork respectively stall assignments. In eBook town, my Little Book of Big Enlightenment has improved with rewrites, but grown longer. Rebuilding it to conform to Smashwords is a drag. Minor tech-like things always compel me to Web surf. But I'll finish up this week.

Pleasantly surprised by the five-day Jury Doody giveaway. Three additional five-star reviews and a total of 1, 096 downloads. Since the promotion ended last Saturday, I've sold four more copies. These aren't astounding numbers by any stretch, but small pieces in a larger mosaic that takes form over time.

Book and Kindle reading has accelerated lately. Four new books in  horror,  sci-fi,  literature and history are read and crying out for review.

I'd rather be writing, but formatting and social promotion won't take care of themselves. I've tried. Give them space and they still won't conform. Such is the way of things. As Hyman Roth said, "This is the business we have chosen."

Review: Enemy at the Gate: Habsburgs, Ottomans

The Enemy at the Gate: Habsburgs, Ottomans and the Battle for Europe by Andrew Wheatcroft
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Enjoyable narrative on the clash between the Hapsburg and Ottoman Empires in 1683. A high-water mark for Ottoman conquest in Europe, the Turks were forced back by a Hapsburg counterattack and compelled to surrender Hungary.

Most fascinating for me was the tactical differences between the two armies and the effect of the printing press on Western military development. Turks were hand-to-hand masters who surged forward in a mob, while Hapsburg forces maneuvered in mass thanks to drills codified and disseminated in manuals. Thus Western generals kept more control over their forces once a battle commenced.

The book seemed uneven, with great behind the scenes research on both sides up to the climax at Vienna. Afterwards, the focus shifted to the Hapsburg reconquest of Central Europe, reconciliation between two second-class empires, and, the final irony, alliance against the allies in World War I. All covered very rapidly.

That said, Wheatcroft's book is accessible to students of the era and novices such as myself. A worthwhile competent history.

View all my reviews

eBook Daily Promotes Jury Doody

Well-read folk at eBook Daily gave Jury Doody a shout-out on their main page. Scroll down to Memoirs and Biographies.

On this last day of my free give away, Jury Doody still holds the #1 spot in Humorous Essays:

• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #646 Free in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Free in Kindle Store)
  • #1 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Humor & Entertainment > Humor > Essay 

And #2 in True Crime.

I'm at 916 copies downloaded and feeling pretty confident that I'll crack 1k and pick up a few more reviews. And a pleasant Saturday to you! 

Jury Doody@Amazon, Still #1 Humorous Essays

What will I talk about today? Oh, well, there's always my eBook,  Jury Doody. Since Tuesday morning, I've held the #1 spot in free Humorous Essays and now stand at #2 in True Crime. With one day to go, I've been pleased with the outcome. Almost 550 copies have been downloaded, resulting in three more positive reviews. I only wish I had another book uploaded. Otherwise, can't—and won't—complain.

Free eBook Still #1 at Amazon, Adds 'True Crime' Category

A day later and still trending up, Jury Doody cracks the top 1,000 in free eBook giveaways. As of this morning, add #1 in 'True Crime' to #1 in 'Humorous Essay.' Few people buy what I write, but a great many enjoy reading my work free. Some leave positive reviews. I've found a niche!

• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #988 Free in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Free in Kindle Store)
  • #1 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Biographies & Memoirs > True Accounts > True Crime 

Free eBook Hits #1 on Amazon

As of 1:57 Pacific Time, Jury Doody was:

• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,218 Free in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Free in Kindle Store)
  • #1 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Humor & Entertainment > Humor > Essays

Free eBook Nears Top of Amazon Rankings

Did I say #3?

That was so last-hour of me.

 I meant #2. 

 

Amazon Best Sellers

Our most popular products based on sales. Updated hourly.

Best Sellers in Humor Essays

 

2.

Jury Doody

by JP Mac

4.9 out of 5 stars   (8)

Kindle Edition

Free

Free eBook Climbs to #3

Like a phoenix, Jury Doody rises to the third spot on Amazon's list of free humorous essays. A fun little work about on odd domestic violence trial in Los Angeles, it's captured the public's imagination provided there's no cost. Not to slight to those who purchased a copy, but I found myself in a use-it-or-lose-it situation with Kindle Direct Publishing.

 KDP requires your book be exclusive to Amazon for ninety days. But one of the perks is a five day window in which you may offer your ebook free of charge. This pays off  best when you have other books available. I had hoped to have another title up before the giveaway, but "The Little Book" is not so little anymore. As I'm not renewing with Kindle Direct, and the free days don't rollover, I had to go "free" before Saturday.

So grab a copy today. Or, if matters are pressing, by Saturday. Learn more about a case involving spousal abuse, cell phone abuse, and strange glottal wailing. Only in LA.

Always Writing: Websites all writers should be on!

Neil Ostroff's blog offers a cool list of FREE spots writers should consider joining. Having turned in my DreamWorks assignment this morning, I'm off to check them out.

Always Writing: Websites all writers should be on!: I’ve been doing a lot of marketing/promotion lately for my books and have come up with a “must-be-on” list for writers who want to pro...

Pat Hobby Review: Hobby Rocks Studios

Some things in Hollywood never change. Tom Ruegger sent me his copy of these short stories and I really enjoyed them. 

The Pat Hobby Stories by F. Scott Fitzgerald
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A hilarious collection of short stories by F. Scott Fitzgerald about a once successful Hollywood writer with a big house and a leaky pool, now reduced to living in a cheap Los Angeles apartment and hustling the studios for piece work.

Pat Hobby was big in the 20s, dictating movie scenarios and fond of seeing his name up on screen. But in the late 30s, he's a desperate middle-aged has-been with gambling and drinking addictions to nourish. Hobby will steal ideas, lie, connive, and manipulate for another shot at steady studio employment and the brass ring of the producer title he felt was denied him.

But Hobby reaps what he sows and often finds himself upended by his own chaotic plans and the blow-back they generate from outraged victims.

A writer at Universal Studios, Fitzgerald published these shorts in Esquire at a time when it appeared he was the washed up voice of the 1920s. Give these seventeen short stories a read and enjoy watching the train wrecks pile up.

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More Ink and Harold Ramis

Robin Kalinich, social media dynamo, has penned a kind word about me over at More Ink's Facebook page. Thanks once again Robin for a most-appreciated shout-out.

Less festive is the news that writer/director Harold Ramis passed away. I heard him speak at the American Film Institute many years ago and he seemed like an easy-going guy, not too swollen by success. Prayers and best wishes to the family. He leaves behind an awesome body of work. Among my many favorites is the oft-quotable Caddyshack.

See Lousy Book Covers!

They aren't kidding. Ponder the importance of designer skills as Lousy Book Covers presents the best of the worst.

Social Media Swamps Writer

Lovely Pics

Often mentioned, never dealt with is my growing conflict between writing and social media. As an independent author, I need to establish my presence online. But I find the balance hard to maintain. I should be focusing on the final rewrites to my next eBook. (Now available for preview here and at Goodreads.) Instead, I've spent the past ninety minutes "liking" the Facebook and Amazon author pages of other writers, screwing around with Twitter and Goodreads and wondering when I'll get over to Google +. My online presence is not large but all the little likes and comments add up. A hundred small leaks will cause a boat to founder as surely as a great hole.

Do other writers set a fixed time for social media? I'm open to suggestions. 

DreamWorks, Warner Bros. Assignments Due Next Week

Image: Spencer Fry

 No Sunday or President's Day off. DreamWorks outline material must be finished by Tuesday—that's the part-time gig I've had since January. And episode ideas for a new Warner Bros. show need to go in Wednesday morning. These brief joblets keep me afloat while I final edit The Little Book of Big Enlightenment.

On the subject of eBooks, next week will see a promotion of some manner for Jury Doody. Why don't I know the nature of my own promotion? I must first read the Amazon,com promotional rules and haven't time. But watch closely later next week. Something will occur.

New Age Satire Sample

D.C. Richter

Coming soon on Amazon, Smashwords and in printed form. Peruse a chapter or two here, or over at Goodreads.

PRAISE for The Little Book of BIG ENLIGHTENMENT

 “Condensed spiritual enlightenment is fast, effective and lava-hot! In only a few hours you can achieve a state of consciousness that is normally unreachable without 20-40-60 years of intense study and practice. This is the total enlightenment package for the 21st century. Lompoc Tollhouse has really hit one out of the park. I wish I’d thought of this.”

 —Swami Sid, Author of Find Your Inner Godhead and Feed It Luncheon Meat 

“I’ve sat on the floor in so many ashrams, I’ve got mat burn on my ass. Thanks to Master Lompoc Tollhouse and his discovery of condensed enlightenment, I am packed full of virtue, concentration and wisdom right now. And it only took a few hours. And I did it all sitting in a recliner. Shambhala, baby!”

—I have released my name to the universe. Call me ‘Every Fellow.’

“It is one of the book’s strengths that bold, oversized fonts are used so often and with telling effect.”

—The Quarterly Journal of Bold Oversized Fonts 

“This book was different from other books. The author talked about fast spirituality. Then another man who was supposed to be the author showed up and called the first author names. Still, I liked [The Little Book of Big Enlightenment] because it is colorful and bossy and tells me what to do, which I’m very used to by now.

—Elliot Cypher, a middle-aged man living in his Dad’s attic

“A cry of gratitude to Lompoc Tollhouse for making spiritual enlightenment available to all Mankind, even torpid weaklings with fat puffy fingers who could never grasp a spear in battle.”

—Locan the Thunder Warrior from ancient Pangaea whose avatar now shares the body of Mrs. Gale Hamm-Pellagra of Olympia, Washington

PUBLISHER’S FORWARD

This is very awkward, by which I mean ‘em-bar-ras-sing.’

We set out to publish a small book on spiritual enlightenment—we are publishers after all. Instead we seem to have given birth to a brawl worthy of the Octagon. You are entitled to know more before you begin reading—you are the reader, after all.

Spiritual master Lompoc Tollhouse was contracted by Cornerstone Media to expand on the subject of “condensed enlightenment,” a field in which he is a pioneer. Shortly after inking the deal, Mr. Tollhouse contracted a strange New Age illness. For a time, it appeared he would be unable to complete this book. Due to various business arrangements—we are a business after all—we hired author JP Mac to complete the work. Guided by the notes of Mr. Tollhouse, Mr. Mac constructed a book that is—to say the least—as vibrant and eye-catching as any in the field of New Age publications.

Upon his recovery, Mr. Tollhouse was not amused. In words as clear as the crystal he wears about his neck, he expressed displeasure at Mr. Mac’s handling of the material. I found myself in the middle—trying to help after all—seeking a compromise. I must confess, there were times I felt like a parent calming two sugar-fueled children. But—after all—I, too, am a healer in my own way.

Eventually all parties agreed to my Solomon-like solution.

Mr. Mac’s writing would stand.

Mr. Tollhouse would be allowed a chapter-by-chapter clarification.

This odd hybrid, this ‘jack-a-lope’ of a book is the result. Don’t let barbs, personal attacks, and raw snark distract you from investigating a New Age subject that is—after all—both fascinating and practical and could—in a world of endless possibilities—rapidly alter the fate of humanity.

Enjoy and experience these pages in a manner familiar to you!

Mansard Hamcott
Publisher-in-Chief
Cornerstone Media

CHAPTER ONE
 
RAPID ENLIGHTENMENT IS HERE NOW!!!

DISCOVER THREE ASTOUNDING WORDS THAT WILL SLINGSHOT YOU INSTANTLY TO THE PINNACLE OF AWESOME CONSCIOUSNESS

INSTANT DHARMA WITHOUT EFFORT

READ THIS BOOK ONCE AND LOSE 49% OF YOUR FALSE CONSCIOUSNESS

EXPERIENCE THE POWER OF “CONDENSED ENLIGHTENMENT”

FROM THE DESK OF JP MAC
 
Hello Spiritual Friends. I’m JP Mac, and I can’t tell you how excited I am to introduce you to the life-changing information contained in this little volume.

ASCEND TO THE ZENITH OF SPIRITUAL ENLIGHTENMENT IN HOURS!!

Sounds crazy, huh?

Sure. Everyone’s told you that spiritual enlightenment takes decades of study, preparation, effort, classes, craft fairs. If you want the bliss and serenity that comes with achieving total consciousness you need to put in time and, let’s face it, a good deal of money.

• Are T’ai Chi slippers free?
 • Acupuncture?
• Yoga camp?

Think it doesn’t add up?

The typical seeker after enlightenment will give up—that’s right, quit—after an average of eleven years of searching, having spent at least $71,209.62 on hemp clothing, crystals, Enya downloads, tofu and grow lamps. Those aren’t my statistics. Those numbers come from the latest study conducted by the Humboldt State University Department of Holistic Studies.

IS ENLIGHTENMENT BEYOND MY GRASP?

The odds aren’t with you, brothers and sisters. But let me point out one small difference between you and all the other seekers after spiritual enlightenment.

THIS BOOK!!

You are on the threshold of knowing your true self. You are about to bask in the pure consciousness that is a byproduct of awakening. You are about to release the bonds of the material world faster than a hobo dropping a hot can of stew.

And when you’re spiritually enlightened, you’re totally in tune with the world AS IT IS RIGHT NOW!! Parked in “The Moment,” the roller coaster of life no longer disturbs your serenity. You’ve flattened out the tracks. You’re present, but above it all.

Fired? Cool.
Divorced? Great.
Kid tracks dog crap all over the carpet? Hey, that’s different.
Win the Lottery? What’s for dinner?

Thanks to rapid spiritual enlightenment:

• You are centered.
• You are in the zone.
• You are the Dalai Lama with hipper glasses.

But first, you must forget all that you’ve heard or learned about achieving spiritual enlightenment.
Because everything you think you know is painfully wrong!!

First, let me tell you a little about myself.

Like you, I wanted peace in my life and the serenity that comes with renunciation of the material realm, total acceptance, and living in the moment. I was so desperate that I believed everything I heard about spiritual enlightenment. I thought you had to climb a mountain, or live in a cave, or eat sorghum until you were so thin you’d fart pencils.

I bounced around from yoga to the Course in Miracles to selling dye-tied tee shirts on Venice Beach. I needed help. I needed direction. I needed a guru.

So I hooked up with this Buddhist guy, Mr. Baka, who said he’d show me the path to pure consciousness. So we go along until one day he tells me I need to learn the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path.

Say what? I haven’t got time for that crap. So next day in the temple, I got in Mr. Baka’s grill.

“Dog, I’m paying you every month for your spiritual savvy. So, what’s up with this four-fold, eight-fold, six-fold a dollar double-talk?” And he’s sitting on the floor Zen-style and cracks this super serene smile and says, “My friend, spiritual enlightenment is only reached when you don’t reach for it.”

Got that? Months have passed. I’m out hundreds of dollars.

AND ALL I GET IS YODA TALK!!

I brushed off Mr. Baka so fast he probably dropped a pair of four fold truths. But at least he leveled with me.

THIS CON JOB HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS!!

Sad, but true. Seekers throughout history have been told:

• You can’t get there from here.
 • There’s no easy path.
 • No ABC.
 • No fast, proven method of spiritually ascending.

BAT GUANO!!

Pardon my language. But I get so furious when I hear this Old School nonsense. We’re on the threshold of an amazing breakthrough. Condensed enlightenment is the antidote to decades of tedious, expensive study. Now, for the first time in recorded history, spiritual enlightenment is fast, understandable and available NOW.

Spiritual enlightenment is:

• Easy as reading.
• Easy as flipping to the next page.
• Easy as uttering three simple words.

IN A VERY SHORT TIME, YOU WILL BE SPIRITUALLY ENLIGHTENED!!

This information is so vital that I’ve employed the proven style of direct-mail marketing to put this book in the hands of as many people as possible. Let me stop for a minute here. I’m not naming names, but I got around 70 pounds of pushback over the style and tone I chose for this little book. A certain person, let’s call him a ‘crybaby,’ objected.

At one point, this crybaby said:

‘Spiritual enlightenment isn’t a male organ enhancer!’

Uh doy! I’ve sold male organ enhancers. I know the difference. But what the crybaby didn’t realize is that more and more products are turning today to the power of direct-mail marketing. For example, within the last year I have promoted:

• The Jolly Bear Home Dental Kit
• Katie Couric Colostomy Bags
• A Steamship Filled with Bauxite
• My Little Pony Hollow Point Rounds

Don’t tell me you can’t promote spiritual enlightenment through a proven stylistic method. It’s being done. It’s being done NOW.

Enough about crybabies, let’s discuss Lompoc Tollhouse. I think you will all agree he is a titan of New Age holistic scholarship. His first book, Out of Mind, Out of Coins for Parking: A New Paradigm, is required reading in many junior colleges, universities, and the Ninth Circuit Court.

You’ve seen Lompoc Tollhouse on television, comically fumbling around, losing his place, forgetting his point. (How endearing!) You’ve participated in his expensive webinars, learning in detail his theory of mind ghosts and how they are caused by guilt and are responsible for the ringing in your ears after a loud noise.

As you can imagine, I was flattered when Tollhouse called, asking me to write for him. (He would have written this little book himself, but the subject matter was so critical that he wanted the job done right the first time.)

Frankly, I was astounded when he told me his latest two findings. In a hushed voice, a little slurred—he may have been drinking—Lompoc Tollhouse informed me that after years of research he had uncovered two universal game changers. Lompoc Tollhouse had learned . . .

. . . A REVOLUTIONARY NEW METHOD TO RAPIDLY ALTER YOUR CONSCIOUSNESS AND ACHIEVE COMPLETE SPIRITUAL ENLIGHTENMENT IN ONLY HOURS . . .

. . . and he had torn the curtain aside, forcing into the light . . .

. . . POWERFUL SHADOWY FORCES THAT DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES WANT YOU ENLIGHTENED EVER!!!

Wow! That’s a lot to have laid on you in one phone call. I was totally blown away. But when Lompoc Tollhouse begged me to bring his ideas to millions of desperate people, I said ‘no.’

I turned him down flat.

Before we continue, I just realized many of you haven’t purchased this book. You’re reading the handful of free pages available online. Naturally, you’re wary of extravagant promises for rapid spiritual enlightenment. I don’t blame you for being cautious. The history of spiritual enlightenment is also the history of hucksterism and the grand swindle.

I cannot force you to purchase this book AT ONCE. I cannot make you seek spiritual superpower status through the practice of condensed enlightenment.

I cannot make you want something you may not even care about.

• You may not care about a pure expanding consciousness.
 • You may not care about the serenity of living the rest of your life in the moment.
 • You may not care about the awesome knowledge that comes with total self-awareness.

Leave now. No hard feelings.

Clearly, the idea of sustained bliss in the face of life’s hurdles leaves you unmoved.

YOU SIMPLY MAY NOT WANT A HIGHER CONSCIOUSNESS DELIVERED IN A FEW HOURS!!!

But if you possess even the slightest interest in tranquility, please purchase this book AT ONCE! And know that deep inside these pages resides the lights-out spiritual method pioneered by Lompoc Tollhouse. This method short circuits old-school enlightenment and rockets you to full and complete elevated consciousness in no time.

You will . . .

• Learn the secrets of CONDENSED ENLIGHTENMENT, the 21st Century spiritual dynamo so powerful it must be administered in small doses to prevent hyper-enlightenment.
 • Learn a spiritual word more powerful than tens of thousands of other spiritual words.
• Learn a MATHEMATICAL PHRASE that, once uttered, catapults your vibrations into the SPIRITUAL STRATOSPHERE!!

Learn these insights without study, knowledge, preparation, purging, fasting, prayer, inner and outer cleansing, living like a hermit, eating sweet grass, or reading old books.

No Four Fold, Eight Fold dibble-dee-do.

IN THE TIME IT TAKES YOU TO READ THIS LITTLE BOOK, YOU WILL EXPERIENCE RAPID SPIRITUAL ENLIGHTENMENT!!

Can’t be that easy?

Sadly, there are certain parties who would like you to believe that. They would like to keep you slaving away for decades. They want to keep you shelling out the bucks for meditation classes, psychic healings, past life regressions.

THEY WANT TO DENY YOU THE INSTANT ACCESS TO COMPLETE SELF-AWARENESS, A NEW CONSCIOUSNESS, AND THE SERENE JOY THAT FLOWS FROM AN ELEVATED STATE OF SPIRITUAL ENLIGHTENMENT.

Only by following the program set forth in this book conceived by fussy, pedantic Lompoc Tollhouse will you learn why certain forces FEAR anyone who has punched through the fog of ignorance and reached the blazing light of absolute self consciousness.

Did I mention turning down Lompoc Tollhouse when he begged me to write this book?

I respect Lompoc Tollhouse. But his marketing ideas have all the punch of a Hallmark Greeting Card. His concept involved hippy-dippy artwork, better suited to selling elf suppositories than promoting the most revolutionary spiritual breakthrough in history.

I told him flat-out, “I don’t roll that way. I only write things that people will read.”

We talked more and finally Lompoc pleaded, “What will it take for you to accept this assignment?” In a whisper, he added, “Please, JP, I am completely out of my depth when it comes to marketing. You might even say I am a witless clown man.”

Okay. I respect honesty. I thought it over and finally said, “I’ve got to be free to do this book the right way. My way.”

Well, he hemmed and hawed and finally saw the light—heh, heh. And the result is this little book that will jump-start your spiritual life and erase stress, remorse, guilt, fear and frottage, replacing them with tranquility, serenity, and absolute total consciousness.

And that process is happening RIGHT NOW. Every word you read brings you closer to fast, effective spiritual enlightenment.

What an insane amount of hot new information to absorb, huh?

Settle down. Grab a half pint of Stolis and a smoke Power Bar and some arugula and relax.

This has been mucho intense.

Maybe you’re wondering why it’s so vital to be instantly enlightened? You might even think that the process is a journey.

Pardon me while I stuff a laugh.

That’s old school thinking. You can’t be blamed for reaching such conclusions. It’s part of a FAR-REACHING PLAN to keep you praying and paying for a spiritual serenity you’ll never reach.

I’ll explain shortly.

But before we proceed, let’s learn more about enlightenment in general and why condensed enlightenment is so critical to the growth of your consciousness.

(If you'd like a heads-up when the book launches do send an email to jpmac@hushmail.com and put "Little Book" in the heading.)

Self-Pub Schedule Set

D.C. Richter supplied the fine cover art.

This is inside baseball in a stadium owned by me. Nevertheless, this year's tales have been assigned a batting order and are swinging around the lumber in anticipation. I'm thinking these next five stories will be released in both eBook and paperback formats. And while I'm still experimenting with release strategies, the next publication will go live electronically via Smashwords, with CreateSpace providing the paperback version.

Now to the line-up.

Lead off hitter is this month's The Little Book of Big Enlightenment,  in which a hypersensitive New Age author battles a brash marketer over the content of a self-help book on "condensed enlightenment." Next up will be a 50 Shades parody in April, then an H.P. Lovecraft comedy in July, and, batting, clean-up, a short-story collection of dark urban tales in September. My first full length horror novel about a doomed whale-watching expedition steps up to the plate by Christmas. Now I've put it out there, now I'll have to deliver.

Batter up!

Be Wary of Red Cloud Claims in "American Legend" Book

The Heart of Everything That Is: The Untold Story of Red Cloud, An American Legend by Bob Drury
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Lakota Chief Red Cloud was the only Indian to push back the westward march of the United States. His ability to forge individualistic warriors from competing tribes into a coherent force is a tribute to his leadership. During the period 1866 to 1868, Sioux, Cheyenne and Arapaho simultaneously stuck multiple targets ranging from forts to wagon trains.

Among Red Cloud’s accomplishments was the ambush and massacre of eighty poorly armed and trained U.S. soldiers by two thousand Indians. The repercussions of this fight eventually led the federal government to withdraw troops from the Powder River country claimed by Red Cloud and his allies.

There was brutality and viciousness on both sides. And while U.S. massacres such as Sand Creek are well-documented, the book details the savagery of the Sioux who tortured their captives then rated them by the manner in which they died. Warriors raped women and bashed in the heads of babies. The Sioux committed these acts on other Indians whose lands they seized and toward whites encroaching on Sioux turf.

Based on Red Cloud's memories as told to another toward the end of his life, I was left wondering how much weight they deserved. Bolstered by Sioux oral history, the chief's claims were given more heft by the authors who exhibited healthy scepticism toward official documents. I have a feeling that warriors with an oral tradition, like fishermen, can be prone to exaggeration. I would've liked to see the book take a more even-handed approach toward veracity.

If you’re interested in this era, The Fetterman Massacre by Dee Brown covers the outbreak of the Red Cloud War leading up to the deadly Indian ambush of eighty soldiers under the command of Captain William Judd Fetterman. It is a good companion piece.


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Jury Doody Featured at More Ink

I crave purchase and a review.

 Robin Kalinich has graciously featured my book, Jury Doody on her More Ink website. Robin is an author and indefatigable social media presence, highlighting writers and artists across our fair Internet. Some of her sites include Ink and Alchemy and Southwest Writers. Robin's More Ink also has a presence on Facebook. Check them out, leave a comment, and let Robin know her tireless promotional efforts are bearing fruit.

Jury Doody will be featured on More Ink throughout the month of February. Should you be moved to purchase this wee Kindle essay about a strange jury trail in Los Angeles—or read free on Amazon Prime—please leave a review on Amazon. (And, if you're exceptionally motivated, Goodreads.) Reviews are the life-blood of the self-published author. Good ones are my personal favorite, but all will be accepted. 

Beta Readers Take Note on Latest eBook

inplainsite

A break in the action as the beta readers peruse the text of my next eBook, The Little Book of Big Enlightenment. A satire describing a clash of visions between a New Age author and a marketing hack on the subject of "condensed enlightenment," the book should be out in early February. Cover art corrections are shaping up nicely and a second publication will allow me more promotional elbow room. In addition to the eBook, I may do a print run. But next week will be a breather from the many-faceted world of self-publishing as I concentrate on delightful, paying animation work. 

Book Review—The Thirty Years War: Europe's Tragedy

"Another damned thick book," said the Duke of Gloucester to Edward Gibbon and now I understand the sentiment. After expressing interest in the 30 Years War, I received this book as a gift. At around 900 pages (not counting end notes), this weighty tome wore me out. A third of the way through, having just reached the war's beginning, I resigned. Everything prior to my stopping point was the run-up to the conflict, social, political and religious, and there was plenty.

While well written, the names, dates, and places quickly stack up. There are more kings and queens than in a Blackjack shoe. Before I could digest royalty names and titles, I was served a healthy portion of Bohemia, Poles and Danes in Saxony, Bavaria, and Spanish Harlem.:) I'm a history buff, but this book proved too detailed for me.

I won't pan 'Europe's Tragedy' just because my relatives picked the thickest book on the subject. My guess: if you're up-to-speed on Central Europe in the late 16th to mid-17th centuries, this text could be lights-out. But if you're looking for a general overview of the 30 Years War, seek elsewhere.

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Twelve Days Worth of Writing Exercises

Leah Cutter

 Brian A. Klems offers a dozen prompts to get you writing. Here's a few to prime the pump.

"It’s the perfect time to restart your engine and get back into writing. Here, I offer up a 12-day plan of simple writing exercises to help you keep your creative juices flowing without eating up too much of your time. Follow this plan and in less than half a month, you’ll not only be impressed with what you’ve accomplished, but you may also have something worth publishing.

The 12-Day Plan of Simple Writing Exercises

Day 1: Write 10 potential book titles of books you’d like to write.

Day 2: Create a character with personality traits of someone you love, but the physical characteristics of someone you don’t care for.

Day 3: Write a setting based on the most beautiful place you’ve ever seen.

 Read the rest at Writer's Digest.

Animation Writing for DreamWorks and a New eBook

A brace of TV animation outlines completed over the holidays for the busy cadre at DreamWorks, (including Paul Rugg). Now back to the next eBook. As soon as my cover art tests are completed, I'll tease out chapters on Goodreads as well as this very blog. What happens when a stuffy New Age Guru wars with a copy writing hack in the pages of a new spiritual book on "condensed enlightenment?" Soon. More can, and will, be revealed.