End of an Era...

As the near the end of Part IV, it is becoming more and more clear that this will be the final installment of the Foreign & Domestic series. As a result, Part IV will be longer than the previous Parts and this is mainly due my desire to tie things off. The story lines and character arcs are dovetailing and closing nicely, so that's good.

It has been a lot of fun writing this series, but it's time to move on.

I'll still be writing so don't worry about that. I think, moving forward, the next several works will be stand alone pieces. First and foremost, I want to re-read the first three parts, give them a thorough review, and prep them (and Part IV) for the Audiobook Creation Exchange (ACX) (scroll down and read the May 30th posting). After that's done, I'd like to complete the two non-fiction works that are currently in process (see the Works in Progress page). Once that stuff is done, I have several pieces that I've already started so it'll be kinda fun to pick and choose what I do next. 

Finally, I think it's safe to say that I'll be sticking with the genre. It's been good to me and I enjoy it. That being said, look for some original storylines dealing with the aftermath of various events not related to the 'big two' - financial collapse and EMP, when I start writing the stand alone fiction pieces.

Lessons learned from the Foreign & Domestic series... writing a series is really exhausting.

Amazon Reviews

I'm curious, using the Contacts page (or comment on the this post), drop me a line and let me know if you've left a review on Amazon. If yes, then great! If no, then why not? 

Frankly, I could use some more reviews and little sunshine blown up my skirt today.

Don't be bashful in your reviews or comments to me. If you liked my work, let me know. If you had an issue, let me know that too. But please, if you're gonna bash me, at least do me the courtesy of telling where a word was incorrect or what exactly you think I got wrong. I might not have gotten it wrong. I might have just employed some creative license. Something along the lines of:

Chapter 3, 12th paragraph --> you used 'x' when it should have 'y'.

I know it's tough to do with the Kindle format as each reader can adjust the font size so in the example above I just counted paragraphs. If you have a paperback version it might look like:

Page 197, 2nd paragraph --> you wrote 'abcd' when it should have been 'dcab' and here's the link to prove I'm right and your wrong.

 

Summer TV

With the remodel that has been going on in my house, we've been living here sporadically over the last 6 months. Thankfully, that has ended as now all four of us are back under one roof! As it happens, this weekend the wife and the oldest child are out of town for a lacrosse tournament down in Richmond, VA. The youngest is here in town with me... but like all teenage girls... she has ditched her old man.

I thought about doing some writing, but then I get distracted by the horrible paint job and feel compelled to fix stuff. Or I get distracted by the urge to put all of the shelving units back together for all of my 'gear' in what remains of the unfinished space in the remodeled basement. My latest distraction was to see what happened to be on my DVR.

I've literally been home from work for 2 hours and this is what my brain is doing to me.

So, in keeping with my latest distraction, I checked the queue on the DVR and found that two of my favorite summer time shows have returned to the air! I was so happy to see that 'Mountain Men' and 'Life Below Zero' were being recorded while I was far to busy to sit and watch a TV show. This shows are quite entertaining, to me at least, and they keep me inspired.

Seriously, by the time we finished doing whatever we were doing to the house, it's 10:00 PM. At that point, all I wanted to do was take a shower and crawl into bed. I think the wife waits until I get home from work to give me the hard, nasty, or heavy stuff.

Anyway, I am very excited to sit and veg-out and binge watch my shows undisturbed.

Use the Contact page and tell me what your favorite shows are. Which shows inspire you to try something new or approach things differently?  

Water

Water is the lifeblood to our survival... just above food. Without water, you die.

You need to know how and where are the best locations to capture it on your land/home/property, then you need to know how to store so that it doesn't become tainted, and you also need to know how purify it for drinking/cooking/laundry (as your situation prescribes).

However, when it comes to waterproofing your newly finished basement... water is a colossal pain in the ass!

That's all I have to say about that.

Condolences

It is with deep regret that I announce the passing of several characters in the latest installment of the Foreign & Domestic series. As I near the conclusion on this part, it has become painfully obvious that this book has turned more thoughtful and introspective. On more than one occasion during the course of writing this book, a scene has quite literally made the author cry as he wrote it. I don't know if it's because of age and the realization that I have more funerals than weddings and child births in front of me, or if I'm turning into a softy, of if it was the sheer emotional toll that the scene conveys. Many of these scenes were more than difficult to write, but it needed to be done. 

Who Doesn't Like to Re-Read Favorites

Our home remodel has been progressing and I've recently uncovered my old Gen1 iPad. I basically use it as a reader as it can't have the iOS updated any further to be useful for much else. I have many, many ebooks on this device. Anyway, one such book is a book that helped inspire me to embrace certain aspects and elements in life, Patriots by James Wesley, Rawles. (And for the record I have no idea why he includes a comma in his name.)

In this book, he spends a great deal of time taking his "list of lists" (which is downloadable from his website by the way) and detailing the items out in either descriptive text or dialog. Yes, I know this can be off-putting which is why I've tried to avoid do this in my own writing. That being said, one of the more interesting pieces, to me at any rate, is where he goes into great detail to describe water catchment. This got me to thinking... I wonder if YouTube has a DIY of the subject of underground concrete cisterns? 

Well whatdoyaknow! Here are a couple links to just such a project. Enjoy!

Audiobooks

I think I'm about ready to pull the trigger on the generation of an audiobook for each of the first three parts of the series!

No surprise, but I've been doing a lot of research on this. Long story short, I figure that given the fact that I'm already hitched to Amazon, for better or for worse, on the Kindle and paperback distribution, I might as well go and sleep with the their subsidiary, Audiobook Creation Exchange (ACX).

It's actually quite an interesting concept in that it is similar to that of the site I used for my cover art, 99Designs.com. Basically, you put your project out there, give a little sales-y spiel as to why it would be profitable via royalty sharing to do the work, and off you go. However, to be fair and to make sure we have a true blue level set, I have absolutely no idea how long it takes for a producer to bite and get started.

In a perfect world, I'd like the same producer and narrator to handle all three, and soon to be four, parts of the Foreign & Domestic series... I really do hate change. Sorry, I'm a creature of habit and I rather do enjoy consistency.

I'll keep everyone posted as to the progress on this front.

Recent Facebook Posts

Sometimes it's easier to post random thoughts on my FB author page since I can do that fairly simply through my iPhone.. To be frank, there are several ***** ** **** employees that live to narc on a contractor for using the internet. Which is funny to me because the wife made me take down a post titled "Your tax dollars at work" and contained a half dozen candid photos of employees sleeping at the desk. C'est la vie.

Anyhoo, there might be folks that have this website bookmarked and don't use Facebook. So, I thought it only fair to post/paste the contents of my FB posts here so everything is equal.

April 16, 2017

People need to learn multiple growing mediums as a check on contaminated soils.

https://www.facebook.com/NowThisNews/videos/1384836634939790/

April 24, 2017

Saw this on my personal page and thought I'd share...

https://www.facebook.com/shtfdad/posts/1110233939082074

05/10/2017

Interesting tidbit.... I've been reading through the first 300 pages I've written for Part IV and felt like it needed more 'zip' or 'pop' or action.... something was just missing. I could feel it.

As a result I added a new set of characters, but I wound up with a wonderful unintended consequence. In a nut shell, the band is being put back together to take on a very specific task. What I discovered with this new set of characters is that, during their individual/group journeys, the very distinct character sets go about travel in a dystopian world very differently.

One set uses their skills to carry favor with small enclaves and towns as a form of currency to barter. Another set employs violence, theft, and subterfuge. While another adopts the 'gray man' principles of anonymity and inconspicuousness. The last two sets employ avoidance of populated areas and rely heavily on hunter/gatherer skills.

It's a very interesting dichotomy that I happened to realize and stumble upon as I added this new set of characters to 'spice up' the storylines.

I sincerely hope people like this latest installment once it's finished and released.

05/17/2017

I'm actually having a ball adding the 'pop' and 'zing' storyline I mentioned in a previous post(s). I've been using this set of characters to give the reader a proper mindset of ruthlessness when a country is essentially lawless for nearly two decades. At last count they've planted six heinous buggers six feet deep.... in very creative fashion I might add.

"It's good to be the King"...

05/17/2017

Friend of mine tagged me in a post for this.... sounds incredibly intriguing.

https://truththeory.com/2017/03/07/ikeas-hydroponic-system-allows-grow-vegetables-year-round-without-garden/?utm_source=March+Against+Monsanto