Friday JohnKu – AKA – TGIF

October 2, 2020October 1, 2020 ~ John W. Howell ~ 68 Comments

“Dad. Lucy won’t ruckus with me.”
“I’m sure that’s not true, Twiggy.”
“Believe her, Boss.”

Well, it’s Friday at last. I hope you are glad the day is here. I know Twiggy seems to think it is pretty special. I’m still trying to figure that out. Her treats don’t change and there is nothing special about her menu that would warrant a celebration. Maybe she senses a finish to the week that Friday represents. That is a good feeling.

Since it has been relatively quiet the last two days you can assume the tour for Eternal Road is over. I certainly want to thank all the bloggers who were kind enough to invite me to their blog. The scope of the tour was quite impressive. We traveled to eight countries, and the message was delivered to over 100,000 followers of the blogs. Yes, there were some duplicates but the figure still blows me away.

In addition, I used universal links on this intro, which meant I could track the clicks on those links. Again, there is an unknown amount of duplicates but during the period of the tour, over 3200 clicks were reported from nine countries.

So when I’m asked how the tour went, I respond with high praise.

To those who visited all these posts, I am also very grateful that you did and hope you found some interesting folks to follow.

So that’s a wrap. I’m going back to work on the next one. (yeah, I took a half a day off) Thanks everyone. Today’s JohnKu talks about support. Have a great weekend.

The load is heavy,

And you can’t lift by yourself. . .

Help is wonderful.

Friday JohnKu – AKA – TGIF

September 25, 2020September 24, 2020 ~ John W. Howell ~ 64 Comments

“Why are you at the door?”
“I think Friday is in there.”
“Little one. Friday is a day, not a being. Friday is everywhere.”
“Yeah, isn’t it great?”

Here we are having arrived at Friday again. I hope you all had a super week. I have been touring with some of the best bloggers. It has been an exciting experience. I suddenly realize why I only publish one book every 18 months. This is a lot of work. I also feel so much gratitude for those who have volunteered to host me and especially for those who continually stop to comment. I get a real sense of Family with this process.

Come the 30th of September, and all this tour stuff will be done. Then on to the dreaded AMS (Amazon Marketing System) for some fun with ads. I was so confused this week I put the TGIF moniker on the Wednesday Hump Day post. All of you were so gracious in not mentioning it.

Today’s JohnKu talks about promoting a new book. I hope you have a relaxing weekend and a good one next week.

The last word spoken,

When the journey is over . . .

Never “promotion.”

Friday JohnKu – AKA – TGIF

September 18, 2020September 17, 2020 ~ John W. Howell ~ 70 Comments

“What? I’m just asking if Lucy wants to play.”
“It just looked like you were going to pounce on her.”
“Who me? Pounce on this water buffalo? Not a chance.”

I am over at Story Empire today. I’m talking about a review link to your book on Amazon. Here is the link. (speaking of links)

https://storyempirecom.wordpress.com/2020/09/18/book-review-link-on-amazon/

Friday is here, and for the life of me, I can’t figure out a good reason to be overjoyed at the prospect. For those working, of course, it is a good thing to take a couple of days off. So I guess I’ll celebrate for you. 🎶 toot 🎶 (love that party horn.)

Not much going on around here. Yes, I’m still touring and am grateful for all the support. The last stop will be on the 30th, so there is a little way to go. A quick reminder that the price of Eternal Road will go up mid-October. It will go from 99¢ to $2.99. As I have said before, the price will never go below 99¢.

We have to keep Hurricane Sally victims in mind today. There is no such thing as an inconsequential Hurricane. Think of the last time you dropped some water on the floor. A Hurricane drops so much more water that usually everything on the main floor of homes is destroyed. Also, without power and A/C, the mold starts to grow immediately. These folks have a tough road ahead.

Today’s JohnKu talks about facing tough times. I hope you all have a beautiful weekend.

You hear of a storm,

And feel good it’s not near you . . .

Pray, you are not next.

Friday JohnKu – AKA – TGIF

September 11, 2020September 11, 2020 ~ John W. Howell ~ 58 Comments

September 11th is the time to remember the horrible events of this day in 2001. It is a day to think about those in New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania who lost their lives to terrorists. We should go on with our lives remembering those who lost theirs.

Twiggy and Lucy — “I don’t get why we have no opposable thumbs. We could do this door ourselves.”
“Mom’s coming, Little One Don’t let the 57 degrees get to you.”

It is Friday again. So we made it another week. There’s a lot of good news around here.

We’ve had almost four inches of rain and a cold front. Our overnight temps are in the 50s, which is a real blessing. The rain came down over enough time, so there was not a lot of flooding. Normally if that amount of rain fell in a couple of hours, Austin would be underwater. So good news, no one got swept away. The temps will be cool for the next two days, then back to the 90s.

New cases of COVID 19 and positive test results are both down in our area. Of course, the health authorities are concerned about the effects of Labor Day gatherings, and those results will start showing up in two weeks.

Sales of Eternal Road are holding steady. I’m glad I didn’t go for a preorder since the sales have been ongoing, so there hasn’t been an off the cliff drop. Thanks to everyone who has bought a copy. The tour continues, and I hope those who are following are enjoying the excerpts. Not to worry. You will not have the whole book in excerpts. There is still plenty of surprises.

The first review for Eternal Road is in. It is a five star, and you can see it here.

https://www.amazon.com/Eternal-Road-John-W-Howell-ebook/dp/B08GL135KQ/

Thank you, Denise.

Today’s JohnKu talks about good news. I hope you all have a super weekend.

You get some good news,

Now you worry there’ll be bad . . .

Stay in the moment.

Friday JohnKu – AKA – TGIF

September 4, 2020September 3, 2020 ~ John W. Howell ~ 78 Comments

“Okay, I’ll give you till the count of three.”
“I will not need any time to escape a water buffalo.”
“Suit yourself.”

Another Friday is here. If you saw the post yesterday, then you know we finally got a break in the weather. This summer has been one for the record books. Not only were the temps in the 100s but the heat indexes were in from 105 to 110. Of course, this is 2020 so what should we expect? We hope to stay in the 90s for the rest of the season. (Imagine being thankful for 90-degree temps)

We are also missing all the rain. Those to the North, West, and East of us are getting tons. We are getting nada. They say maybe this weekend. Sure let’s have a labor Day deluge. Would be perfect for this year. At least it would be rain.

The launch of Eternal Road – The final stop is going well. I am so grateful for all the nice folks who volunteered to help. I know I’ve said that before but it bears repeating. I hope you enjoy the excerpts as well. They are all different parts of the book.

Today’s JohnKu talks about gratitude (again)

I want to wish everyone a Happy and Safe Labor Day Weekend.

When you receive grace,

The best gratitude is to . . .

Treat someone the same.

Friday JohnKu – AKA – TGIF

August 28, 2020August 27, 2020 ~ John W. Howell ~ 79 Comments

“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.

Here are the links again.

Kindle

Paper

Today’s JohnKu talks about today’s challenges. I hope you all have a great weekend.

COVID 19 curse,

Political arguments . . .

Hurricane Laura.

They can get you down,

Or you can rise above them . . .

You can choose your path.

Friday JohnKu – AKA – TGIF

August 21, 2020August 20, 2020 ~ John W. Howell ~ 68 Comments

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.

The details so many,

The minutes seemingly few . . .

The neck yells for help.

Friday – JohnKu – AKA – TGIF

August 14, 2020August 13, 2020 ~ John W. Howell ~ 84 Comments

“Go ahead say it.”
“I see Friday.”
“How right you are Little One.”
“Yay.”

Another Friday. YAY, YAY, YAY. Friyay. The weeks seem to fly by. I guess I’m now used to isolation. Not sure I’ll ever go back into society again. (How’s that for a Howard Hughes imitation)

My proof copy of Eternal Road arrived, and I’m quite pleased that the formatting looks great. KDP has an annoying habit of running the proof language right through the title. I’m glad they feel good knowing I can’t sell this copy. Take a look.

The cover is bluer than pictured here. I think the grey shelf threw off the camera a little. You get the idea, though.

The launch plan is coming along. The e-book is waiting for the publish button to be hit. The paper just needs a few tweaks, and it is ready as well.

I am writing individual launch posts for the blog tour. There will be a different excerpt in each. I think readers will get a good idea of what the book is about as a result. I’m not going to reblog each post but will link the day’s post so everyone can find it and provide some recognition to the super folks who offered to host the introduction.

Today’s JohnKu talks about how time behaves. When I first started this book it seemed like time was an unending resource. Well, it is being consumed pretty fast. I hope you all have a healthy and happy weekend.

Time starts out slowly,

We think it’s unlimited . . .

Until it is gone.

Friday JohnKu – AKA -TGIF

August 7, 2020August 7, 2020 ~ John W. Howell ~ 66 Comments

We have arrived. Another Friday is here, which signals the weekend. Of course, the weekend may not look too much different from the week, but that is beside the point. The point is…..it’s Friday. YAY.

Been a busy week. I’m in the “trying to get ready for a book launch” phase of life. I uploaded the paperback edition and am waiting for the proof. The ebook edition is ready to go, as well. I have decided not to do a pre-order, so the books will be available day one of the launch. After some serious research, I decided pre-order just didn’t fit my profile as an author. The only drawback is the Amazon link won’t be available until the publish button is hit. I plan to publish about three days before the first blog tour post so that I can send the link to the early stops before their post goes live.

Speaking of posts, I am working to have them all done by mid-month August. This will give everyone enough time to set things up, and if a problem comes up, to get back to me. Gotta hope it all works. After September is over, we will all be ready for a vacation. I keep saying how grateful I am for those who have volunteered to help spread the word and continue to feel blessed. Today’s JohnKu talks about trying to make it alone. I hope you all have a super weekend.

Facing a challenge,

You can try going alone . . .

Better to have help.

Friday John Ku – AKA – TGIF

July 31, 2020July 30, 2020 ~ John W. Howell ~ 83 Comments

Friday is here again, and I’m sure Twiggy is delighted. For whatever reason, she is always pleased to see the weekend roll around. I mean, it’s not like The Producer, and I are working full time or are not chained to the house. So I guess it is not our presence but something else.

I was blown away by the number of volunteers for the launch of Eternal Road – The final stop. I’m so grateful to everyone and am looking forward to the start. Thank you all again.

The e-book and paper formatting is done, so now it is a matter of going on to KDP and setting up the books. This is my 6th rodeo, and so far, I’m still in the publishing saddle. Not sure if I’m going to do preorder or not. I do know the initial price for the e-book will be $0.99. That price will last for 30 days, then it is up to $2.99. I believe the lowest cost should be at the intro to reward the folks who buy early. I tend to grit my teeth when I rush out and pay full price for a book only to have the author run a $0.99 sale shortly after launch. Yes, there may be discounts down the road, but I double-dog guarantee none for at least a year. I know this may fly in the face of conventional wisdom, but I think it is the right thing to do.

There is not much more to say about the virus. We now have a full-fledged mess on our hands, and I hope someday it will prove to be temporary. Leadership is nonexistent. In case you think I’m talking about one party or another, I’m not. I’m talking about anyone even remotely connected to the political process. Yes, Democrats and Republicans, I’m talking about you. I am so tired of hearing how the other side has mishandled everything that I think it’s time for you to get a grip and do something to help. None of us give a crap about blame anymore. There is enough to go around. How about taking the initiative and doing something to help? Yeah, I get it. Too much work, and it may look like you have turned sides.

Today’s JohnKu talks about finger-pointing. I hope you all have a safe and happy weekend.

We should remember,

Someone pointing a finger. . .

Has three pointing back.