Thursday – A Little Personal – A Call for Volunteers for Launch Tour.

October 1, 2015September 28, 2015 ~ John W. Howell ~ 49 Comments

CALLING FOR VOLUNTEERS FOR THE LAUNCH OF HIS REVENGE

It is almost time for the launch of the sequel to My GRL titled His Revenge. It looks like the first week in November will be the launch of the book. It will be available in paper and Kindle from Amazon. After a few weeks, it will be available in the rest of the e-book universe. This date will need to be flexible since artwork and the books need to come together, and something might slip.

The launch will be a simple affair. If you agree to post sometime in November (it won’t matter when) I will send an HTML file that all you have to do is copy and paste and it will be ready to go.

If you are interested please send an e-mail to me at johnhowell(dot)wave(at)Gmail(dot)com (excuse the address but I want the robots to have some trouble sending spam. You humans know how to convert. Right?). Once received I will acknowledge your message and then you can look for the material as soon as I have all the link information and can verify the book is, in fact, ready and available.

Thank you so much for helping. I will be posting this message again, so if you forget, I will remind you.

Here is the blurb:

America loves John Cannon, its newest hero, and the President wants to present him with the highest civilian medal for bravery. While in Washington for the award ceremony, John unwillingly becomes an accomplice in a terrorist plan to disrupt US influence on world opinion. There is no way out as John either becomes a traitor to America or causes thousands of innocent people to die if he refuses.

The second John J Cannon Thriller moves from a barrier Island off the coast of Texas to Washington DC, then to Northern California, and finally to Ecuador. John is on the receiving end of an offer he cannot, refuse. His avowed enemy Matt Jacobs now wants John to help him shake the reputation of the US in the world political arena. If John refuses, Matt plans to murder innocent Americans including John’s latest relationship. John’s only way out is to pretend to go along with the plan and hope for a miracle.

Thursday – A Little Personal

September 24, 2015September 23, 2015 ~ John W. Howell ~ 21 Comments

We have been having a little rain this week. While walking the dogs, I looked out over the water and saw this cloud formation. There are three waterspouts under the clouds but unfortunately unless you blow this photo up they remain hard to see. I marked them with little arrows so maybe you can find them. The one with two arrows (on the right) is visible from the cloud all the way to the water. I wanted to show the spouts, but then started looking at the cloud and picked up three characters. To the left is a laughing man with a heavy beard. I think he has been joking around with the dog (at the top) in the center. The dog is barking at the fox (at the top) on the right who looks very concerned. I also see a number of other animals in this formation. This shows how a writer can pretty much pull something out of nothing. It could be another way of saying we are all nuts. What do you see?

Thursday-A Little Personal – Wedding Coast Style

September 3, 2015September 2, 2015 ~ John W. Howell ~ 25 Comments

This weekend my wife and I were able to attend our friends’ wedding. I thought I would share a couple of the photographs from the reception.

The first is a photo of the event venue. As you can see, the reception was held on the beach. The wedding itself was in a church in town. The guest arrived at the reception welcomed by drinks and raw seafood bar. There was music and to the left you can see an assortment of palm trees (brought in by the caterer) and Adirondack chairs for lounging. The sun is setting in the West but casting a pink glow to the East.

Here is a closer view of the chairs around a fire with torch accents. The full moon is beginning to rise over the Gulf.

A closer view of the palms which became the border for the dancing area. You can see the DJ to the right. He played well into the night. The food was terrific and the night was magical courtesy of the beach, the moon and, of course, the happy couple.

I did try to get a nice shot of the moon reflecting off the Gulf but was only a little lucky. My wife Molly, on the other hand, was very successful. (Photo Credit; Molly D. McCormick) Those lights in the background are freighters waiting to enter the ship’s channel to pick up or unload their cargo.

Thursday – A Little Personal

August 27, 2015August 27, 2015 ~ John W. Howell ~ 25 Comments

A couple of weeks ago I did a post that had the tail end of a freighter moving through the Corpus Christi ship channel on the way to pick up some oil. I wasn’t quick enough to get a good picture. You can go HERE to see it if you want. I was finally successful yesterday in getting a couple of shots of a freighter just as it entered the channel from the Gulf. Here is one picture.

Notice how high the ship rides in the water. This shows you the boat is empty.

The ship’s name is Cape Bird and this photo shows you the bow wave. Usually, there are dolphins swimming in the bow wave playing a game of racing the ship. There were none when I took the photo.

Here is a closer photo as the ship passes and begins to move further into the channel on its way to pick up oil.

I took this final shot which includes a couple of old salts pondering what they should have for lunch. “How about fish fellas?”

Thursday – A Little Personal

August 13, 2015August 12, 2015 ~ John W. Howell ~ 25 Comments

I thought I would give a view of our shipping channel which I took this last week.

This is a large oil tanker moving toward the Port of Corpus Christi to pick up a load of Oil that has come from the Eagle Shale oilfield. This is oil that has been extracted from the shale by the process called fracking. This fracking process is responsible for the low price of oil these days. It is not because of the abundance of oil from the process but the decision of OPEC to reduce the price of oil to make this process too expensive to be practical. The potential for fracked oil was over 30% of the use in the US. That strategy is working since exploration and building of new facilities has been slowed considerably.

On the left is the tail end of a ferry that connects our island to the mainland. The ferry cuts across the shipping channel and usually has to yield to the large tankers.

You can see the ferries better with this longer shot. Also, you can see a drilling platform to the right. These are built locally and then shipped all over the Gulf. This one has been brought back for rehab and retrofit for another deployment.

Here is a picture taken from this same spot of a platform heading out to sea after it was manufactured. This was taken a couple of years ago.

And finally a close up. You can see the size as compared to the people on the dock.

Thursday – A Little Personal – My Second Post Oct. 2012

August 6, 2015August 4, 2015 ~ John W. Howell ~ 19 Comments

Linda Hill nominated me for the First Post honor. The idea is to go back to your first post and then publish it again.

The rules are:
Copy-paste, link, pingback, etc. your first post.

Identify the post: introduction, story, poem.

Explain why it was your first post.

Nominate five other bloggers.

Since I have been honored before I decided I would publish my second post which was a brief discussion of the author William F. Buckley. I decided to re-post this under my personal banner this time because the post was a little embarrassing. This was my second post since I was doing a series on authors and William F. Buckley was one of my favorites.

Before I get to the post here are my mentions.

GREAT ESPIONAGE STORIES FROM AN UNUSUAL SOURCE

October 29, 2012 · by John W. Howell · in Favorite Fiction · 2 Comments ·Edit

1/21/1988 President Reagan meeting with William F Buckley in oval office (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

William F. Buckley known more for his conservative view of politics, his acerbic wit, and his own television show was also very talented in crafting entertaining and well thought out espionage novels. He established the hero Blackford Oakes, a Yale-trained CIA agent, who started as a newbie on the East West bloc and rose to a senior field operative. Buckley, who was described by the New York Times as the Waugh of suspense fiction, taught me in his many novels that there is no need to be confined to single dimensional thoughts or career. His lesson to me in short – when you aspire to do more you will. Buckley wrote his stories in the 80s but they are still worth a read today. His titles include Saving the Queen; Stained Glass; Marco Polo, If You Can; Who’s on First; The Story of Henri Tod and See You Later Alligator.

Thursday – A Little Personal

July 30, 2015July 27, 2015 ~ John W. Howell ~ 29 Comments

I just returned from an excellent writer’s conference and have the need to change/set some short-term goals if I am to accomplish what I envisioned as a successful conclusion when I started this writer’s journey.

To begin the process, I think a restatement of my original goal (mission statement) is in order. Here it is: To Write What People Want to Read.

I know my mission statement doesn’t sound all that profound but has been my guiding principle since I began writing in 2012. You will notice it has nothing to do with money, fame, glory, or Amazon rankings. The idea of writing for readers answers the question of why my so-called platform here on WordPress is more about entertainment than selling books. Yes there is a click-through on the sidebar and yes I have put an arrow (see below) on the blog now and then pointing to all the hard sell on the sidebar but for the most part subjects covered here are to be read. I keep the word counts manageable in recognition of the time it takes to visit some blogs. In short I don’t do a superb job conforming to the basic rules of attracting a mass following. I do know those who do follow do not need to waste their time on overly long posts.

Where am I going with all of this?

1. I need to rewrite the opening to the sequel to My GRL. I have never been entirely happy with it and a group of very bright folks gave me some clues on how to make it better.

2. I need to hold on any more work on editing book three of the My GRL trilogy until the sequel to book one is published.

3. I need to finish the edits and rework for what I am calling a stand alone (my fourth book) and begin the query process. The current name is Circumstances of Childhood.

4. I have asked for and received from my publisher a waiver on the first right of refusal for books two and three of the trilogy. I have made the decision to self-publish these.

5. I will continue to write material I hope people want to read and will do those things necessary to try to reach readers with the message that my stuff is good to read.

So there you have it. A clear path and the basic plan for the next twelve months. I think the conference was worth it.

Thursday – A Little Personal

July 9, 2015July 7, 2015 ~ John W. Howell ~ 50 Comments

For the last year, I have not been able to talk or write about the day our beloved Silky Terrier took her walk over the Rainbow Bridge. I’m not too sure I can write about it now, but it is time to move from avoiding the memories of that day to remembering the fun and good times we shared.

Coco was with us for seven years and was a rescue found on the streets of San Antonio. she was estimated to be five years old when we found her. (or she found us) My wife was visiting the local shelter and came upon Coco looking very sad in a cage with another dog. This is her sad look which we found out after adopting her she could put on in a second.

She came home to us and gave us many hours of laughter and like most terriers was in charge of the household which included two cats, two dogs, and two humans.

One of her favorite things to do (among many) was to go in the yard and the minute you turned your back slip through the fence to visit the neighbor. Here is a shot just before the slip. In fact, you can see the leg position getting ready for a turn toward the fence.

and after

For some reason, she liked the neighbor’s lawn even though she had ne of her own. Another favorite of hers was to play with the bigger dogs and to act as the mediator when the cats started an argument. We called her Barney Fife due to her effectiveness in maintaining law and order. Here is a photo of her blended family and Coco taking a break. (but just barely)

This last photo is of Coco deciding not to leave the beach. She loved to walk and when it was time to go home she more or less would invoke a sit-down strike and it was up to us to wait until she finished looking at the water.

We all miss her and know she had a wonderful life and enjoyed it to the fullest as we enjoyed her. Rest well little one.

Thursday – A Little Personal

July 2, 2015June 30, 2015 ~ John W. Howell ~ 40 Comments

Thursday is the time to do a post that has some meaning to me and will hopefully not bore you to death. Today I’m posting a status of my self-installed screening on my screen porch to appeal to my DIY muse Dan Antion. Dan is always interested in this kind of stuff, and I also am interested when he shows us some of his skill. (you should go to his blog No Facilities by clicking on his name) So without any delay let’s go to a before photo.

You can see the screening is installed on the outside of the porch railing and is in need of repair. Since I’m an older person, it is now difficult to go on a ladder knowing the twenty some odd foot fall will be my last. Also, these screens are made of aluminum, and the salt air dissolves them and they let go where the screw attaches them to the wood.

Here is the after.

What has happened is all the screens were removed and then a new vinyl system installed. The screening was moved to the inside so that whenever they need repair this old person can do it without risking a broken hip (or worse).

This final shot gives you an idea what the system looks like from the inside. The screen, the base, and the cap (that white strip) are all made of vinyl and should last a number of years (or until the hurricane) whichever comes first. The shot is a little dark because the screening material is solar blocking. Hoped you weren’t too bored but I am very pleased with the results

Thursday – A Little Personal

June 25, 2015June 23, 2015 ~ John W. Howell ~ 24 Comments

One thing about living close to the Gulf is everything of metal is subject to deterioration due to salt spray, sand and the wind. This includes automobiles, bikes and houses. Of course, there are no houses made of metal but they do have metal roofs and fixtures. I thought you would enjoy seeing some of the effects of the elements on a few things around our house. The first is the outdoor lamps. These lamps are the most durable that we could find short of putting up vinyl. The material is stainless steel with enamel reflectors. Take a look.

The patina is beautiful but we have ten of these lamps at various places on the home, and I can’t wait to come out and see them laying in pieces on the porches. The material behind the fixture that looks like wood siding is Hardy Plank, which is a concrete product.

The next photo is of one of door handles.

These knobs are also stainless steel. You can see the same pitting that is evident on the lamps. The lock above the handle is also stainless steel but is looking like it is made of copper. The door material is vinyl so it is pretty impervious to the weather. The strikes on the right side are stainless and are now crumbling. I did not take photos of the knobs when they were new, but I did take one of the inside that will give you an idea of how they looked when installed.

The final photo is of the front door knob. You can see rust on the top strike on the left. I replace the strikes once a year otherwise the door locks would have no place to go. When we ordered the hardware for the doors we paid additional money for a better grade. Since we have eight doors, replacing them might have cost a lot of money. The Kwikset company has sent replacements at no charge. I will have a good time this summer doing the replacements. Those pits in the molding on the right are in the paint and not the material.

Thanks for reading.