“It’s Friday, Lucy.” “It is Little One. Let’s play tag.” “You’re it.” “Of course. I’m it.”
Friday has arrived. Twiggy can relax now. Just when you thought this year could not get worse, Hurricane Laura decides East Texas and West Louisana could use a category 4 whooping. Being forced to deal with Hurricane Harvey my heart goes out to anyone who now must deal with Laura.
As some of you know, I did an announcement launch of Eternal Road – The final stop. September 1st starts a whole month of blog tours, which I’m calling the hard launch.
This book is pretty far outside my comfort zone in that it is not solely a thriller. Yeah, there are some of those elements, but when the characters take some trips to other times and places in their 1956 Oldsmobile, you can almost believe the book has many genres. There are elements of fantasy, time travel, paranormal, history, sci-fi, romance, and spiritual. So if you like any of these kinds of stories, you will find something to enjoy. The tour participants are among the best-known bloggers and authors. I am very grateful for their help. Each stop will have a different excerpt, so if you visit, you will have a pretty good idea if this is the book for you. The good news is if you like what you see in the excerpts, there is still time to buy the e-book for 99¢ since that price will be good for 15 days after the tour ends.
I did universal links this time, so no matter what market you live in, the link will take you to your Amazon store. Yes, the price is the same worldwide translated to the local currency.
“Yes, Lucy.” “Aren’t you supposed to be launching a book.” “Well, the big launch starts on September first.” “So, it sits there until then?” “I guess I could do a soft launch.” “Soft smoft. Announce it already.”
Eternal Road – The final stop is Now Available in Paper and Kindle Formats. For the Introduction, the Kindle edition is on sale at 99¢. The Price Will Never be Lower.
James Wainwright picks up a hitchhiker and discovers two things 1. The woman he picks up is his childhood sweetheart, only Seventeen years older. 2. He is no longer of this world.
James began a road trip alone in his 1956 Oldsmobile. He stops for a hitchhiker only to discover she is his childhood sweetheart, Sam, who disappeared seventeen years before. James learns from Sam falling asleep miles back caused him to perish in a one-car accident. He also comes to understand that Sam was taken and murdered all those years ago, and now she has come back to help him find his eternal home.
The pair visit a number of times and places and are witness to a number of historical events. The rules dictate that they do no harm to the time continuum. Trying to be careful, they inadvertently come to the attention of Lucifer, who would love to have their souls as his subjects. They also find a threat to human survival and desperately need to put in place the fix necessary to save humankind.
The question becomes, will James find his eternal home in grace or lose the battle with Satan for his immortal soul and the future of human life with it? If you like time-travel, adventure, mystery, justice, and the supernatural, this story is for you.
This is not your usual thriller or paranormal romance. It is a piece of fiction that is a combination of inspiration, adventure, time travel, sci-fi, a touch of erotica, and a dash of spiritual. In short, it is a lot of things, but hopefully, a story that will make you happy to have read it.
“What are you doing, Twiggy?” “Waiting for Friday and my seal pup impersonation.” “Okay. Carry on.”
It is Wednesday Story Day, and last week we were in the room when Pricilla started her interrogation of Lazar. We learned that Cortez and Taggert were the guys in charge of the illegal activities around Reno. We also learned that Nikola Stanković was not involved in the nefarious activities of Cortez, Taggert, and Lazar. Now the question is, do we believe lazar? I see Pricilla took a break from Lazar and is leading the discussion in the conference room with our gang. Let’s go and see what she’s thinking.
“Okay, guys, here are my thoughts. I think Lazar has a lot to lose by fingering Stanković, and so he might be hiding something.”
“Excuse me.”
“Sure, Larry. Go ahead.”
“Stankovic was the one who told us about Lazar. If he was involved, why would he do that?”
“I could think of a few reasons.”
“Well, he did say he wanted to eliminate the competition.”
“That sounds like a good front. Stanković knows Lazar won’t rat him out, so he has nothing to lose by throwing Lazar under the bus.”
“Okay, but let’s look at the other side.”
“Which is.”
“Suppose Taggert and Lazar are a pain in Stanković’s side. Suppose he wants to get rid of them. What better way than to use us?”
“Yeah, I get that. What makes him think we won’t come after him?”
“I can answer that.”
“Yes, Robert.”
“Half the city council, most of the state representatives, a few congresspeople, and one senator owe him a ton of favors.”
“You’re kidding.”
“I wish I were. He has done a lot for those people. Believe me, if we go after him, all hell’s going to break loose.”
“You know I represent the Federal Government and could prosecute those folks as well.”
“The sad part is I don’t believe Stanković’s help could be classified as crimes.”
“What about bribery?”
“You would have to prove a quid pro quo, and I’m not sure there is one.” Most of these favors were legal contributions, charity donations, jobs for kids in his legitimate businesses. Would be tough to prove bribery.”
“You sound like a fan.”
“I worked in his auto garage all through college. I didn’t know it was his, though.”
“Has he ever mentioned it?”
“You looking for a case, madam prosecutor?”
“I guess it sounded that way. You do know Stanković pretty well.”
“Enough to respect when he says he wants to eliminate Lazar, Cortez, and Taggert, he means it.”
“Okay. Let’s assume he is not involved in this mess. Let’s go back in and find out how deeply Lazar knows about the Taggert and Cortez connection.”
“Good idea, Pricilla. I don’t buy that he is just a small-time distributor who took a payment from Taggert. I also don’t buy that his knowledge of Cortez is just cause he heard the name from Taggert.”
“I’m with you, Robert. I also want to know if he was the one who ordered those thugs to kill Andrew and me?”
“If so, Larry, this would be an interesting tie to your Sandusky. Case.”
“Thank you. Robert.”
“You gentlemen are going to need to fill me in on all of this. Let’s go and find out more about Cortez and we can talk more later.
“Using this photo (below) as inspiration, write a short story, flash fiction, scene, poem; anything, really; even just a caption for the photograph. Either put it (or a link to it) in a comment or email it to me at keithchanning@gmail.com before 6pm next Sunday (if you aren’t sure what the time is where I live, this link will tell you). If you post it on your own blog or site, a link to this page would be appreciated, but please do also mention it in a comment here.
Go on. You know you want to. Let your creativity and imagination soar. I shall display the entries next Monday.”
This week marks the 185th anniversary of the appearance of the first in a series of six articles in the New York Sun newspaper announcing the supposed discovery of life on the moon. Now, we cannot miss going there to get a feeling of how folks back then could have been fooled by such a story. So that we don’t disrupt the time continuum we need to take the usual list of what not to do.
Top Ten Things Not to Do at the Great Moon Hoax of 1835
10 If you go, do not laugh out loud when you read the first installment. If you do, at best, folks will think you are reading about the latest divorces. At worst, the editor Benjamin Day will think you have caught on to the hoax. (You see, Macon the paper was founded in 1833, and the articles about life on the moon were written by Richard Adams Locke as satire in response to some other ideas put forward at the time. If Day knows you know, he might have to figure out a way to silence you. Oh, oh, who are those men in black suits?)
9 If you go, do not ask Tiny the WWF champ if he has seen any men form the moon. If you do, at best Tiny won’t be paying attention. At worst, Tiny, who has had one wrestling match over the line, will think you are teasing him. (One of the descriptions of men from the moon describes them as furry winged, bats. Tiny hates things that could get caught in his hair. He is planning to use you to swat them out of the air. Don’t worry Maddock, we all know they aren’t real. Yeah, you are right. Tiny might let you go if he gets tired, spinning your around while holding your legs. Yup, it might hurt.)
8 If you go, do not ask Benjamin Day how he can afford to sell his paper for a penny. If you do, at best he’ll ignore you. At worst, since he made the decision to appeal to the working class, he’ll consider you as a bourgeoise member of the leisure class. (So he didn’t answer your question, Madog. Don’t feel bad. His price of a penny (26¢ today) was so working folks could have a paper. Other papers cost 5¢ ($1.04). He doesn’t like the leisure class much.)
7 If you go, do not ask Day about the other content of the newspaper. If you do, at best, Day will be busy. At worst, Day will think you are working for the New York Times. (Day decided that his low-income readership would like to know more about life than book reviews and the theater. He was the first to send out reporters to cover crimes, suicides, deaths, and divorces. He is now talking to those two big guys dressed in black, Maged. I don’t think your departure is going to be all that dignified)
6 If you go, do not question the so-called facts in the story. If you do, at best, the noise level in the room will drown you out. At worst, you could question the facts within earshot of the Reverand Thomas Dick. (Not only does the Reverand have an unfortunate name, Maher, but he has also published a number of best-selling books where he describes the moon as having 4.2 billion inhabitants. The story was written as a tongue in cheek jibe at the Reverand. Yes, I would say he is angry. Yes, that does look like a gun.)
5 If you go, do not start a Go Fund Me campaign for a trip to the moon. If you do, at best, everyone will think you are joking. At worst, Benjamin will want to put a quick stop to your efforts. (Day is very happy with the newspaper sales and views your efforts as potentially damaging. (If everyone decided to go to the moon, Mai, they would lose interest in the stories, and the sales would fall. Looks like the sheriff has been called. Something about unlicensed fundraising.)
4 If you go, do not start selling souvenirs from the moon. If you do, at best, you’ll get no buyers. At worst, you’ll be asked to authenticate the objects as being from the moon. (The articles in the newspaper detailed descriptions of the moon’s amethyst crystals. I guess you could use those descriptions as proof of authenticity, Mairtin. Just stay out of Benjamin Days way, though. He’ll want a cut of the profits.)
3 If you go, do not start describing how delicious a Royal Crown Cola and Moon Pie are together. If you do, at best no one will get it. At worst, everyone will want some. (Now you are in trouble, Majid. Royal Crown Cola was first made in 1905, and the moon pie was invented in 1917. Maybe you could whip something up before that crowd of hungry onlookers pay you a visit.)
2 If you go, do not demonstrate your version of Michael Jackson’s moonwalk. If you do, at best everyone will have left. At worst, you will shock the crowd into disbelief. (You also will have a tough time explaining just how you came to invent what will be known as Makani’s moonwalk, Makani. Whatever happened to trying to prevent a tear in the time continuum.)
1 If you go, do not try to help a group of Yale scientists who have come to review the information behind the stories. If you do, at best they won’t believe you. At worst, the scientists would learn from you enough to blow the whole story. (Calm down, Maklolm. Yes, the scientists did come to investigate. The New York Sun staff kept them so busy they went back to Yale, never knowing the stories were a hoax. So you did not cause a tear, and the paper admitted the stories were fake a month later.)
Another slow day in the neighborhood, so I thought I would catch up on my top of the mailbox photo collection. Just as I was finishing up, I came upon a surprise.
The car in the foreground is a 1954 Cheverlot Bel-Aire. The one with the hood up is a 1967 Pontiac GTO. The green one is a 1956 Plymouth Belvedere. I was on a road with no pull-off and a truck behind me, so this was as good as I could get.
So, back to the mailbox toppers. Here is an eagle that made me cautious in taking the photo.
The sun makes it hard, but this is a bright metal bowl.
Here is a cute bowl of succulents.
Kind of mid-century modern.
Big ole yellow bowl. The sign says its a wildlife sanctuary. (In the middle of a subdivision? Right. I guess it makes the owner feel better.)
A non-descript rock. Looks almost like sandstone.
Here is that cute raccoon-like figure. I couldn’t resist.
Big gothic bowl. Looks like something used in sacrifice.
Perkey cat. Can’t help but smile.
An urn that looks like a fire should be burning in it.
Little white bird.
This is a pig but hard to tell. You can see I’m coming up on those cars.
I hope you enjoyed the tour. We had some rain today, and I wanted to take a photo of the rain gauge, but Twiggy kicked it over before I got to it.
It is Stream of Consciousness Saturday time again. Here is Linda Hill carrying a valise. I hope she is here to tell us about the prompt this week. Hi Linda. Welcome. “Hello, John. Yes, I’m here with this week’s prompt. Let me set this case up on the table. You are in for a treat, but let’s get to the prompt first. Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is ‘brush.’ Use it as a noun, a verb, or an idiom. Have fun! ”
“Okay, Linda, that sounds pretty. Self-explanatory. What is in the case?”
“I have a deal for you. How many times have you wanted to clean something and didn’t have the right tool? Don’t answer that. Many times I’m sure. Well, now your troubles are over. I have, in this case, every kind of brush known to man.”
“Are you working for the Fuller Brush Company?”
“No, I have my own brush company, Hill’s Brushes. Our motto, “Brush up your life with Hills.”
“I think I’m all set in the brush department, Linda. Thank you for the prompt. By the way, how is ‘brush’ used as an idiom?”
“You gotta brush up on your idioms, John.”
“That’s why I’m asking.”
“No, you see I just used an idiom.”
“Oh, I see. We have also have used ‘brush’ as a noun.”
“Yup. Now all you need is a verb, and you’ll collect those bonus points for sure. Well, since you have no need for a brush, I guess I’ll be going.”
“Wait, Linda.”
“What?”
“You have something on your shoulder there. Looks like dog hair.”
“I can’t see it.”
“Here, give me that brush, and I’ll brush it off.”
“Here you go. How close are you to that Bentley Turbo?”
“Maybe a thousand points or so. There I got the hair.”
“Thank you, John. You just earned ten bonus points for the verb.”
“Verb? Oh, I get it. Thank you, Linda. Good luck in the brush business.”
“I’ll give you to the count of three to get away.” “I won’t need three, Lucy. This is Friday after all.”
Yes, Friday is here, and with it, another week is history. I’m still working to get ready for the launch of Eternal Road – The final stop. The material is ready, and now I have to wait to get the links after I hit publish. I have decided to not do a preorder this time around so I’m trying to time the launch, so there is as little downtime as possible between the go-live and start of the promotions. Don’t we all love to have these problems?
I don’t know about you but when it comes to launching a book, I always get a crick in my neck from worrying about every detail. You would think after six books I would be used to it. Not a chance.
Today’s JohnKu tries to describe how a deadline feels. I hope you all have a great week.
“You wearing sunscreen, Lucy?” “Umf. Uh. yeah.” “Have to be careful. Two more days till Friday.”
It is Wednesday Story Day again, and last week, we met Pricilla Thomas, the Assistant District Attorney for the Federal judicial district covering Reno and Lake Tahoe. She also met Lazar and made it quite clear who was in charge. It looks like she is ready to start questioning Lazar, so I think we better get over there.
“Mr. Stennis, I will be recording this session, so that we have an accurate depiction of the conversation. This recording will not take the place of a signed affidavit and will be used to simply record today’s discussion for possible use in an affidavit. I hope you understand that this recording is in lieu of a court reporter. A court reported may or may not be necessary in the future, but for today, the recording will suffice. A copy of this recording will be made available to you. Let me advise though, anything your client says can and may be used against him in a court of law. Do you understand what I have covered?”
“Yes, ADA Thomas. My client and I understand.”
“Okay, then let me turn on the recording, and we can get underway. Ahem This is an informal discussion with Lazar Popović. Present is his attorney Jerry Stennis as well as representatives of the State patrol and Boston police department. I have explained that this recording could be used in a court of law, but that official documents would be generated should this become necessary. Council for Mr. Popović has agreed to the terms. My first question to you, Mr. Popović, do you swear to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth?”
“I do.”
“You understand that lying to a federal officer is a felony and punishable by up to ten years in jail per count?”
“I was not aware but don’t intend to tell any lies.”
“Fair enough. For the record, please state your full name.”
“Uh Lazar Matija Popović.”
“And your address?”
“1663 Piney Woods Drive. Reno, Nevada “
“Thank you. Are you an American citizen?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, now to some more interesting stuff. Please tell me how you came to have all those drugs in your possession.”
“Objection.”
“Yes, Mr. Stennis.”
“It has not been established that Mr. Popović was in possession of any drugs.”
“Fair point. Let me ask you a different way, Mr. Popović. Have you ever been in possession of large amounts of illegal controlled substances or street drugs?”
“Yes, I have.”
“Were you in possession of the drugs seized in a raid on your warehouse yesterday?”
“It was my warehouse, and I knew the drugs were there.”
“That doesn’t answer my question.”
“Well, it is hard to answer your question truthfully.”
“How so?”
“I didn’t own the drugs.”
“I didn’t ask if you owned them, I asked if you were in possession of them.”
“Does possession mean that they are on my property?”
“Yes, it does.”
“Okay then, yes, I was in possession of the drugs.”
“Now to your other point. Who owned the drugs?
“See, I’m not really sure. I know who paid me to store them.”
“Okay, who was that?”
“Mr. Taggert.”
“The assistant city attorney for Reno Taggert?”
“The very same.”
“How did he pay you?”
“in cash.”
“You were paid how much in cash?”
“For that lot, three million give or take.”
“Where is the money now?”
“Still in my bedroom at my house. It’s a pretty big bundle.”
“I’ll bet it is. Back to Taggert.”
“Yes?”
“Do you have any idea who he is working for?”
“I do, but it would be conjecture. At least I know who Taggert said would be very disappointed it anything happened to the drugs before they were distributed.”
“Okay, who was that?’
“He mentioned Cortez.’
“Did he also mention Nikola Stanković?”
“He wouldn’t dare.”
“Tell me more.”
“Stanković has the power to eliminate Taggert just for saying his name.”
“So, he’s not involved in your deal?”
“Not to my knowledge.”
“Just Cortez and Taggert.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Okay, let’s take a break for a minute. We’ll be right back.”
