Friday John Ku – AKA – TGIF

November 3, 2017November 2, 2017 ~ John W. Howell ~ 56 Comments

Friday is here and it sure feels good. I’m sure we all could use a little break from the work week. Of course, for those of you who tend to write on the weekends there isn’t a break in work but hopefully a break in routine.

I tend to keep going on the weekends as if there is no day off. I do manage to take a few liberties like a nice IPA on Saturday and some cooking time which I love. For the most part, though, I stick to my 1000 words a day writing schedule.

I still like to see Friday arrive. It has a psychological benefit that may mean reaching the finish line for the week. This week’s John Ku explores this concept a little further. I hope you all have a super weekend.

The beginning step,

Has importance at the front. . .

The finish is sweet.

Friday John Ku – AKA – TGIF

October 27, 2017October 26, 2017 ~ John W. Howell ~ 41 Comments

Friday is here and time to look forward to the weekend. The week has been busy with the editing of the latest book titled The Contract. A story of two souls who must venture to Earth to stop a catastrophic event that is threatening the viability of the planet. They will have no memory of their eternal life once they occupy the bodies chosen for them. The two must deal with the situation using only the temporal skills of their host beings. They sign a contract before leaving their celestial home that stipulates what is required. They commit even though they have no guarantee of success but cannot resist the ultimate reward which is a personal anointing by the Creator. There is no room for failure. This book is a collaboration with Gwen Plano, the author of Letting Go Into Perfect Love, a 2017 KCT Int’l Literary Awards winner.

It has been an interesting engagement writing a book with another author. Gwen is a memoirist and of course, I write thrillers. Our writing styles and experience are quite different so bringing these differences together to produce a cogent story has been a lot of fun.

We are now in the editing stage and hope to be in a position to publish the book in February. There will be an opportunity for a beta read. The call will go out when the editing is done.

Today’s John Ku talks about working with others. I hope you have a great weekend.

To work by one’s self,

Is comfortable and safe. . .

But doesn’t teach much.

Friday – JohnKu – AKA – TGIF

October 20, 2017October 19, 2017 ~ John W. Howell ~ 34 Comments

Sorry about the early publish yesterday. Here is the real thing.

It is Friday again, and we can see the gateway to the weekend from here. This has been a busy week spent in meetings with contractors. The home repair situation is going to take a long time. We have adopted what we call the New Normal. It is the belief that all will get done but will take a long time to do it. We just heard the flooring people are so far behind that it might take six months to have the floors replaced. So, the New Normal is not to care if the floors ever get replaced. Then when they do it will be a bonus. The New Normal also dictates that those without a roof should be fixed first then replace ours. Today’s JohnKu talks about the New Normal reality.

I need it fixed now,

Was the old expectation. . .

Now, whenever works.

Have a great weekend.

Friday John Ku – AKA – TGIF

October 13, 2017October 12, 2017 ~ John W. Howell ~ 38 Comments

Friday the 13th

Hard to believe it is Friday once again. (The Thirteenth at that ) This has been one of those weeks that fly for me. I tried to take stock of where I spent my time this week. What did not come up was any time spent on my WIP. Most of my WIP time was spent working on projects around the house. The biggest of these was installing eleven outside lanterns. The hurricane took all our lighting fixtures to the next county. The job entailed removing the old hardware and lamp anchoring bracket, (The thing that you attach the lamp to on the side of the house) installing a new anchoring bracket, and then the lamps. I was very fortunate that I had a voltage detector since I tested each wire before beginning the installation. Only once was the wire active, but had I touched it to metal there would have been a sinus-clearing surprise.

I managed to install all of them without getting electrocuted. Here is a before and after of just one of the lamps. By the way, the before shows you that the outside lamp is gone, but you can also see the damage to the paint, door frame, and siding.

New lamp

The new lamp sits on a newly painted and repaired wall. As you can see, the damage from the hurricane is no longer visible since it has been painted away. No one could stand in this spot by the lamp and imagine that once, not too long ago, there was a storm here. In essence, the physical damage no longer exists.

Today’s John Ku talks about how we can be affected by events.

When we are wounded,

There remain some reminders. . .

There’s some we can see.

Friday John KU – AKA Don Massenzio Kindle Scout Effort

September 29, 2017September 20, 2017 ~ John W. Howell ~ 32 Comments

Introducing Kindle Scout Candidate – Blood Match – By Don Massenzio

Blood Match, a new thriller by Don Massenzio is currently a candidate in the Kindle Scout Program.

What is the Kindle Scout Program?

Kindle Scout is reader-powered publishing for new, never-before-published books. … Selected books will be published by Kindle Press and receive 5-year renewable terms, an advance, royalties and featured Amazon marketing.

A Little about the book:

Intelligence analyst Jake Balrich boards his Monday morning flight, as he has so many times, for routine field work. When the plan lands, a passenger fails to wake up. Jake soon realizes that the death was not accidental and that the murderous plot was meant for him.

The situation soon spins out of control with Balrich running for his life trying to prove his own innocence as he struggles with an unknown enemy that seems to guess his every move.

Blood Match is a terrorism thriller examines how far someone will go to reach the height of power and ambition with little regard for human life.

Follow Jake, Balrich as he enlists the help of Commander Brad Rafferty, to take down an enemy more powerful and dangerous than the United States has ever faced.

Some of you may recognize this story. It originally appeared as a weekly serial on my blog under the name Road Kill. The story has been reworked and many extras have been added to turn it into this novel.

Why is it a Kindle Scout Candidate?

If Don’s book is selected for publication by Kindle Scout, it can help take his writing to the next level in terms of exposure and recognition.

How can you help?

First and foremost, you can vote to nominate the book. The campaign goes up on September 20th at midnight and will continue through October 20th. You can vote for it and preview the opening of the book by clicking HERE.

How can you help even more?

Spread the word. Don has made it easy for you using something called Thunderclap. Thunderclap is a social media tool that allows you to effortlessly spread the word using your social media accounts with a pre-written message. All of your followers will receive the message. You can help by signing up for the Thunderclap campaign HERE.

What’s in it for you?

Apart from Don’s eternal gratitude, if his book is selected, you will receive a free pre-launch copy from Amazon and will have the opportunity to officially review it before its launch. That is a free book for you, but it also help, yet again, by allowing the book to launch with established reviews.

Friday John Ku – AKA – TGIF

September 22, 2017September 23, 2017 ~ John W. Howell ~ 66 Comments

Funny Friday

Friday is here already. Time does fly when you are having fun. I still don’t have internet or TV, but I am managing quite well on my AT&T cell phone. The speed isn’t all that red-hot, but I’m able to work it through. I did cancel my Spectrum service since they refused to credit my account for the time of the hurricane and until when it comes back. (Yes, they billed me the full amount payable in advance. You know how it is.) They wanted me to take a seasonal rate of $5.00 per service, and they would disconnect my service for a month. I explained that the only season I knew about was Hurricane season and I didn’t see why I should pay anything for no service. Long story short it was easier to disconnect.

I went to the local phone company and signed up for DSL which should be turned on today sometime. I also called Direct TV and signed up for satellite service. Between the two I’m saving over one-hundred dollars a month. I was appalled at the lack of empathy by Spectrum. I even sent a letter to their CEO and got one of his minions to explain that they really didn’t have a policy covering outages. Anyway, the good news is Spectrum is still without service here and it looks like by the weekend I will be up and running.

I was appalled at the lack of empathy by Spectrum. I even sent a letter to their CEO and got one of his minions to explain that they really didn’t have a policy covering outages. Anyway, the good news is Spectrum is still without service here and it looks like by the weekend I will be up and running.

Through it all, I managed to get Circumstances of Childhood up on Kindle and am waiting for the final proof of the paper edition. it should be good to go, but I want one final check. Today’s John Ku talks about Karma which I hope Spectrum understands that a whole boatload is coming their way if this is how they have treated all their Hurricane Harvey customers. It won’t be the good kind either.

Do unto others,

As you would like done to you. . .

Karma is a bitch.

Have a great weekend.

Friday John Ku – AKA – TGIF

September 15, 2017September 14, 2017 ~ John W. Howell ~ 37 Comments

TGIF

Another Friday has rolled around. I hope you are ready for the weekend. Maybe I should say I hope the weekend is coming at a good time.

I have been waiting for my proof of Circumstances of Childhood that shipped on September 4th. I found out UPS is having service issues and sent it back to Amazon. It will be reshipped to arrive by the 18th. Once I the proof is in my hand it takes me several hours to review The setup. If there are any changes, then Amazon takes 24 hours to check to make sure the book is printable. The second proof takes five days to reach me.

So, now I have to do the math to see if I can make an October 1 launch for the print version. I can certainly do Kindle. Let’s see. The proof reaches me on the 18th. I submit changes on the 18th. Amazon takes until the 19th to verify the changes can work. I order the second proof which arrives on the 25th. Assuming no changes, I can hit publish and make it. YAY. I cannot have any further delays though. Today’s John Ku talks about best-laid plans.

Best Laid Plans By John W. Howell

The well thought out plans,

Always finish perfectly. . .

Unless they go wrong.

Friday John Ku – AKA – TGIF

September 1, 2017August 31, 2017 ~ John W. Howell ~ 76 Comments

TGIF

It is Friday again and time to look forward to the weekend. It is also time to say thank you for all the warm wishes my family and I have received as a result of hurricane Harvey making a mess out of our island. Thank you all.

I am happy to report that the damage is all repairable although it looks like the roof and floors will need to be replaced. There still is no electricity but that will improve. Once the electricity is on we will be able to go back. None of the repairs needed make the house uninhabitable so we are very fortunate. Others are not as fortunate. Todays John Ku talks about the importance of good wishes.

When the times are tough,

A kind word or wish expressed . . .

Makes the difference.

***

Thank you all.

Friday JohnKu – AKA – TGIF

August 25, 2017August 24, 2017 ~ John W. Howell ~ 81 Comments

TGIF

Well, It is Friday. I have left my home as ordered by the Port Aransas Police. Yes, we have had a compulsory evacuation due to the severity of Hurricane Harvey. The storm is expected to hit Port Aransas at 1:00 am Saturday morning. The winds are expected to sustain at 110 miles per hour. So we followed orders and joined the thousands who crowded the highway. We are now in Austin with our youngest and will ride out the storm here.

I have to apologize to all of you since I have unable to get on-line prior to leaving Port Aransas. The drive to Austin took an extra two hours due to traffic. (Some guy in a truck took down a major utility pole.) I’m not sure how attentive I will be, but will give it my best shot. Today’s JohnKu talks about what is important in these kinds of situations.

When life is upset,

We all need to think about. . .

What is important.

Friday JohnKu – AKA – TGIF & Cover Reveal

August 18, 2017August 17, 2017 ~ John W. Howell ~ 64 Comments

I have to believe Friday is one of the best days of the week. I think Saturday is tops but still, the feeling that there may be two days of relaxation ahead is hard to beat. Today I would like to introduce you to the cover of my next book. I expect the launch before October 1st but wanted you to see the finished cover. Without further ado.

Here is a bit about the story.

When a former NFL star and broadcaster, now a Wall Street maven is accused of insider trading, will he be able to prove his innocence and expose those who are guilty?

Greg and his boyhood pal dreamed of big success in the NFL and then later in business. Greg was the only one to live the dream. Now the founder of an investment fund Greg is faced with a routine audit finding by the SEC. The audit points to irregularities and all the tracks lead to Greg. The justice department hits him with an indictment of 23 counts of fraud, money laundering, and insider trading. His firm goes bust, and Greg is on his own.

His best friend knows he is innocent but has been ordered under penalty of eternal damnation not to help.

If you enjoy stories of riches to rags, redemption, brotherly love, and a little of the paranormal, Circumstance of Childhood will keep you riveted.

Today’s JohnKu talks about things that excite. I hope you have a great weekend.

When we think of life,

Excitement is highly prized. . .

A new book does it.