Tag: author

Interview by Freado Books

~ John W. Howell ~ 4 Comments

 

 

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Freado Books did an interview on me. Clicking on their name will get you to the site. Interesting folks and their BookBuzzr is one way to market your book. They have a free listing and then you can buy additional support for nominal fees.

Here is the interview:

1. Could you tell us a little bit about yourself?
I was a business person retired at age fifty, a consultant hired by one of my clients, a contracts professional for fifteen years, and finally an author. I currently live on a barrier island in the Gulf of Mexico off the Texas coast. My children are grown and my wife and I tend to our rescue pets
2. Describe your book My GRL in 30 words or less.
John J. Cannon, is unaware his new boat, My GRL, will be used to destroy iconic symbols of America’s power. John is caught between the terrorists and their mission’s success.
3. What was the hardest part of writing your book?
The hardest part was making the story flow with the proper timing, humor, and suspense to keep the reader engaged.
4. What books have had the greatest influence on you?
I think Catch 22 by Joseph Heller, Jailbird by Kurt Vonnegut, Mila 18 by Leon Uris, and Hotel New Hampshire by John Irving had the greatest influence.
5. Briefly share with us what you do to market your book?
My marking plan calls for social media interaction, continuous e-mail mailing campaign, advertising on book sites, reviews and pod casts. I am also doing book signings and appearances.
6. How do you spend your time when you are not writing?
When not writing, which is seldom, I work restoring my 1978 Toyota land Cruiser. I am doing all the work myself. I also read everything I can fit in during the day and make sure I spend time with my wife and our pets.
7. What are you working on next?
My next project is the sequel to My GRL which has a working title of His Revenge.  It continues the interaction of the protagonist and those out to destroy him. The draft is finished and in the edit stage. I am also starting the third book in the trilogy with the working title of Our Justice which will conclude the series.

Launch of a New Book – Asher of the Angelmen

~ John W. Howell ~ 1 Comment

 

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Click to visit Amazon

Fellow Martin Sisters Publishing author Tracy Custer Slonaker  is launching the second paraquel in the Angelmen series

Synopsis:

Every girl at Hanover High wants a piece of the track star, Asher Andrews. The colleges are after him, too, to further his football career. His world couldn’t be better until Angela comes in to change everything. Presented with a mission and a new identity from his angel, Asher finds he must leave his hometown, and his life will not return to the college track he expected.
Asher of the Angelmen is the second paraquel in the Angelmen series. Four angelmen will be brought together to take up their roles as leaders in The Battle of the Angelmen. (Book 5)

About the Author

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A former elementary school teacher and subsequent lover of the English language in the written word, Tracy Slonaker found several new hobbies after embarking on the new career of motherhood.  One hobby was running distances, which gave her plenty of time to create characters, build plots, and listen for God’s input.  The result of all this thinking was the birth of a new hobby: writing the Angelmen Series, an analogy of God’s love for His people. Amity of the Angelmen is the first installment of this series.

Tracy enjoys her life as a wife and mother of three in just outside Reading, PA.  She still has a soft spot for kids and an eagerness to use her degrees in Elementary Education by using them as Director of Christian Education at her non-denominational Christian church.  She has also learned to love running, and has not given up her childhood fondness of sports (playing softball and watching football).  She gives thanks to the Lord for all His good gifts.bout the Author:

Give it a look.

 

Thank Goodness it is Friday – Margarita Ho.

~ John W. Howell ~ 13 Comments

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Friday is the last golden day of the work week. That is unless you are a type A personality and need to keep working through the weekend to satisfy some inner need to drive to perfection. If you are; allow me to step aside and you can bowl right through there and jump on those opportunities. I could almost feel the wind go by me on your way to perfection. YOU GO! Don’t let anyone or anything try to persuade you to alter the path to your own actualization. You deserve the best and by dammit you shall have it.

For the rest of us this is a day to look forward to some off-time. While the type A there is minding and grinding the details of the next salvation machine for mankind why don’t we relax. Take a deep breath and say after me. MAR . . . go ahead say it. GAR . . .that’s it. RITA . . .YAY you are well on your way to an enjoyable couple of days. Here is a Haiku to get you started.

Relax by John W. Howell © 2014

Every muscle tight,

Down to the very last nerve and . . .

Need Saturday now.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Family of the Tri-Rune Cover Reveal

~ John W. Howell ~ 2 Comments

Legends of Windemere: Family of the Tri-Rune is set to debut on Sunday, March 16th!!!

The magical adventure continues after Luke Callindor and his friends recover from their battles in Haven.

Nyx still has nightmares about casting the genocide spell in Hero’s Gate. Every night her heart is gripped by the sensation of hundreds of goblins dying by her magic. By the request of Lord Highrider and Duke Solomon, she is returning to fix the damage she caused. With Luke Callindor and Sari by her side, Nyx is ready to face the vengeful goblins and opportunistic thieves that plague Hero’s Gate. Yet, there is a darker threat that was born from her violated magic: The Krypters.

It is another action-packed, character driven story that will reveal one of our heroes has been lied to for their entire life.

About the Author:

Charles Yallowitz was born and raised on Long Island, NY, but he has spent most of his life wandering his own imagination in a blissful haze. Occasionally, he would return from this world for the necessities such as food, showers, and Saturday morning cartoons. One day he returned from his imagination and decided he would share his stories with the world. After his wife decided that she was tired of hearing the same stories repeatedly, she convinced him that it would make more sense to follow his dream of being a fantasy author. So, locked within the house under orders to shut up and get to work, Charles brings you Legends of Windemere. He looks forward to sharing all of his stories with you and his wife is happy he finally has someone else to play with.

Blog: Legends of Windemere
Twitter: @cyallowitz
Facebook: Charles Yallowitz

We’re still taking volunteers for the April blog tour. So fill out the form HERE!

Read the Previous Volumes of Legends of Windemere!!!

Wednesday Story for Hump Day

~ John W. Howell ~ 6 Comments

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No that is not me in the blue hat.

Wednesday comes so fast. We are in the middle of the week and time for a story. Also our little community here at the beach is right inside the first week of Spring Break. The stories I could tell which are not Fiction Favorites. This time of year we absolutely hibernate in order to avoid the chaos. We go to the store only when we absolutely need to go since we buy about two weeks’ worth of stuff so we won’t have to go downtown. Unless the lime juice runs out there is no need to go there.  Going downtown normally takes about four minutes. During spring Break you may be lucky to make it in an hour. Sometimes the mayhem gets so out of hand you have no choice but to turn around and go back home. Those of us in the know, simply don’t go out. Enough of my lesson on living in a place where every drunken young adult wants to congregate and drink more. Yeah you are right. We knew this would happen. It’s like hurricanes, we know they could arrive, but it doesn’t stop us from living here.

Here is the story, it is called Spring Break by John W. Howell © 2014

“So where do you want to go to dinner tonight?”

“Eh I don’t care. You choose.”

“Okay. There is a good pizza place downtown.”

“Mmmm naw. Pizza is loaded with fat and calories.”

“How about a nice burger. The Ground Cow has some really good burgers.”

“Well. . . I gave up beef a couple of years ago. I just don’t want to violate my body with cow flesh.”

“There is a real nice seafood place and we can walk there.”

“Eu seafood. You mean the stuff that comes out of the Gulf?”

“Ah well yeah and it’s really fresh.”

“I hate to be picky, but I just don’t know where the seafood has been and I’m gonna pass.”

“Okay how about a salad then?”

“I’m not sure. You think the greens are okay? I mean I hear a lot about salmonella and stuff.”

“I guess I give up. What can you have for dinner?”

“I think we can stay right here on the beach. These blue corn chips are great and the green tea is cold. There is Grey Goose in the cooler. What else do we need? Besides I can’t stand up.  Oh by the way. Got a light?”

Look to the Right on the Sidebar

~ John W. Howell ~ 2 Comments

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I just thought I would remind you there is a side bar on this blog (maybe you’ve missed it) which has a number of places to click for additional information. If you should be in the mood to buy my book, there is a handy book cover for Amazon. If you would rather do Nook there is a Barnes and Noble icon. If you have any other reader, you can click the Martin Sisters Publishing link under blog roll and there you will be. If you are not sure you want to buy a book, there is the first chapter waiting for you to read and then make a more informed decision. also, there are Facebook like buttons for the book and me. You really don’t have to buy the book to be helpful. A quick like lets others know on Facebook the book and I are alive.

Thanks

TGIF Haiku is as TGIF Haiku Does

~ John W. Howell ~ 20 Comments

 

 

 

Well here we are on the cusp of the weekend once again. Boy do I love Fridays. It is the night of an authorized Margarita and a nice ending to the week. I hope your week was productive and you accomplished all you set out to do. I have to say mine overflowed with getting stuff done. I was able to do some editing in addition to recording a Pod Cast interview. All in all, a very productive week

Here is my Friday Haiku for this week.

Work Week by John W. Howell ©2014

Work is done for now,

Time to celebrate the week . . .

Margarita rocks.

Happy Friday and best to all for the weekend

Hump Day is as Hump Day Does

~ John W. Howell ~ 6 Comments

 

I know the video has nothing to do with Hump day, but I really think this song is something we should think about now and then. It does relate to the story so  I decided to put it up there anyway. Yes it is hump day after all and time for another story. This one is about a guy who asks a fellow worker for a favor. Hope you like it.

The Favor by John W. Howell ©2014

Frank makes his way down the hall. He needs to see Ronny about a loan and Ronny’s cube is in the next section of the building. Ronny’s Section BB is about a stone’s throw from section AA where Frank works. He always thought it strange how the company labeled the various rooms of the office. You would think they could just call it section A, he thinks to himself the many times he traversed the hall.  Ronny and Frank are friends as well as co-workers. Even though they don’t have the same boss they feel they have a co-worker bond in addition to the friendship.

Frank weaves around the various cubes walls until the maze ends up and Ronny’s place.

“Hey Ronny.”

“Crap Frank. You scared the hell out of me.”

“I’m sorry. Can you chat a minute?”

“Yeah sure. Move that shit of the chair and have a seat.”

“You sure you’re not busy?”

“Oh oh looks like you need some money.”

“How did you know?”

“Whenever you are polite, you need money.”

“Well I resemble that.”

“I’m sure. So how much do you need?”

“How much you got?”

“Come on Frank, quit kidding. How much?”

“Well I need twenty but will take five.”

“Oh sure, let me get a five.”

“Not five dollars Ronny. Five thousand.”

“W-What. Five thousand? What the hell for?”

“I really need twenty, but the five will keep me alive until next week.”

“Keep you alive. What are you saying?”

“Um, I borrowed so to speak twenty thousand from a  guy and now I need to pay it back.”

“Why did you do that?”

“This guy said if I didn’t give him twenty thousand he was going to throw me off the Empire State Building.”

“Just like that? He demands twenty thousand. Why didn’t you go to the police?”

“Couldn’t. I paid a guy twenty thousand not to kill another guy.”

“Aw Frank. This is becoming way too complex. I don’t have twenty thousand to give you and how in god’s name did you get yourself into this mess.”

“Well the guy they were going to kill was a friend of mine and the killer said he would not do it for twenty thousand. So I burrowed the twenty from another guy who now wants it back or I go sailing off the Empire State building.”

“Good luck on this Frank. You should have never gotten involved in the first place. I can’t help you.”

“Of course there is another alternative.”

“Yeah what is that?”

“I could collect the twenty if I killed the guy myself.”

“Frank. Listen to me. You are a big boy and for some reason you are acting like a kid. Do you know why they wanted your friend killed?”

“Yeah. He was playing the market and came up short. He owes them a bunch of money and it looks like they won’t get it.”

“So you got yourself into the middle. Is this friend worth it?”

“I don’t know Ronny are you?”

“Me? What the hell you talking about? What are going to do with that gun?”

“Don’t you owe some guys a bunch of money?”

“No. Did they tell you I did?”

“Yes. They said they were going to kill you if I didn’t give them the twenty.”

“Shit I didn’t think it would come to this. Yeah I do owe them the money”

“So can I have the twenty?”

“I don’t have it.”

“I think you better come with me Frank. Very quietly.”

*

Did you ever do a favor for someone and they not appreciate it?

A Nice Thank You From a Reader

~ John W. Howell ~ 15 Comments

 

I was very surprised today to get a thank you from a reader who had bought a book at my signing held during the launch of My GRL. I can’t tell you how much this note touched me. I have heard other compliments about My GRL, but to receive a note of thanks is really special. Some really nice folks who have read My GRL have written some really great reviews. I have loved each and every one of the reviews written to date. I have to tell you though, a hand written note penned by someone who appreciated the story is a real pleasant surprise.  Tell me this isn’t sweet.

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Thank you to this reader. You made my day.