Tag: thriller fiction

Tuesday-Anything Possible Kreative Kue #53 by Keith Channing and a Reminder that His Revenge is on sale for $0.99

~ John W. Howell ~ 26 Comments

His Revenge front final

The reminder first

As a reminder beginning at 12:00 am PST (6:00 am GMT) on November 30th (Yesterday) until 12:00 pm PST (6:00 pm GMT) on December 1st  (Today) His Revenge will be on sale for $0.99 in the US and £0.99 in the UK. This event is a thirty-six-hour sale for the US and UK markets and is in support of CYBER Monday. If you want to read His Revenge, for a limited time it is available for less than half of a Vente coffee at Starbucks. (And lasts longer)

Now to Creative Cakes # 53

As you may know, I have become enamored by the talent of Keith Channing. He has a weekly prompt named Creative Kue, which runs on Mondays. Here are the instructions from Keith for the prompt. “Using this photo as inspiration, write a short story, flash fiction, scene, poem; anything, really; and either put it (or a link to it) in a comment or email it to me at keithkreates@channing.fr before 6pm on Sunday (if you aren’t sure what the time is where I live, this link will tell you). If you post it on your blog or site, a link to this page would be appreciated.”

His advice. “Go on. You know you want to. Let your creativity and imagination soar. I shall display the entries, with links to your blog or website, next Monday.” Here are the photo and my interpretation.

SONY DSC

July 14th by John W. Howell © 2015

“Hello there. Anyone here?”

“I don’t think there is anyone.”

“This is the right spot. I have the directions right here in my hand.”

“There are no people to serve us, though.”

“I can see that. Where do you suppose they went.”

“I don’t know, but I would say they are missing a real nice opportunity to sell some pies.”

“I know right? I dressed up in my Bastille Day soldier outfit just for the occasion.”

“Tell me. That outfit stinks by the way.”

“Aw come on. It’s festive.”

“Why choose a soldier outfit?”

“I didn’t want to be a peasant.”

“Well, that make sense. Not.”

“So do we just help ourselves to the pies?”

“I don’t know. That truck we passed looks like it delivered them. Of course the name is kind of funny.”

“What do you mean?”

“The lettering on the door says, Marcel Le Cordier.”

“So that means deliverer of pies right?”

“I wish you would learn to read. No, it doesn’t say that.”

“What does it say for heaven’s sake?”

“Le Cordier translates to The Tailpiece.”

“The tailpiece. What the hell does that mean?”

“I think it means we should avoid the pies.”

 

 

Rave Reviews Book Club Wants You – #RRBC

~ John W. Howell ~ 20 Comments

a book-club-badge-suggestion-copy-1Anniversary Badge Year 1

As you may know, I am a member of the Rave Reviews Book Club. What you may not know is the reason I joined and what the Club has meant to me. Let me clear these last points up.

I joined Rave Reviews Book Club to become associated with like-minded writers who were interested in promoting each other’s work. At the time, I looked at some organizations and had made the decision not to associate myself with them due to what I considered unusual quid pro quo requirements.

By quid pro quo, I’m referring to the practice of following each other if followed, reviewing each others books if reviewed and other scratch my back, and I’ll scratch yours kind of programs. At the time, these practices seemed a little shady to me and so I passed.

Then I had a chance to read a blog by an RRBC member and decided to visit the site. What I found was a whole new kind of club. This was a place where others supported each other with blog tours, twitter messages, and a management team interested in Indie author success. Well, I signed up and let me now quote some statistics.

  1. When I joined RRBC, I had about 600 Twitter followers. Today I have over 5,250 followers. I did not get these followers by an aggressive plan of following and then following back. These followers came to me because they saw I was promoting my fellow authors and would in all probability support them as well. There are over 400 members of RRBC and not all follow me so as you can see these are not just member followers.
  2. When I joined RRBC, my first book My GRL was resting near the bottom of the Amazon ranking pile. Each time the club got behind the book (Book of the Month, Spotlight Author) the rank shot up into the five figures and held there for several days.
  3. When I joined the club, I had twelve reviews for My GRL. Currently, My GRL has forty-four reviews that have come as a result of the publicity. Of the forty-four, nine are by club members. It can be said although all club members don’t review any individual book those that do, add substantially to the information new readers want to know before buying.

So why don’t you go to the Rave Reviews Book Club site and take a look at all the activities? You never know it may be something you want to join. (Full disclosure: I am a member of the Board of Governors, the Tweet Support Team, and host or co-host of  four Radio broadcasts. YES I’m biased)

Ten Things Not to do Shopping for the Holidays and a Reminder His Revenge is on Sale

~ John W. Howell ~ 35 Comments

The reminder first.

His Revenge front final

As a reminder beginning at 12:00 am PST (6:00 am GMT) on November 30th (Today) until 12:00 pm PST (6:00 pm GMT) on December 1st His Revenge will be on sale for $0.99 in the US and £0.99 in the UK. This event is a thirty-six-hour sale for the US and UK markets and is in support of CYBER Monday. If you want to read His Revenge, for a limited time it is available for less than what you would pay for a hot dog at the gas station. (And better for you)

Funny-cartoon-Christmas-shopping

 

Ten Things Not to do While Shopping for the Holidays

The inspiration for this list is some years of watching the same kinds of mistakes made during this festive time.

10 While shopping for the holidays do not think other shoppers are out to get you. If you do, at best you will resemble someone who needs hospitalization. At worst, you may take retaliatory action on  the city kickboxing champ who accidentally ran into you.. (Notice how he doesn’t use his hands to kick your butt.)

9 While shopping for the holidays, do not have a few drinks to ease the pain. If you do, at best you may give into a temptation and overspend. At worst, you will have the best time you’ll never recall except for the car full of stuff you still don’t know how it got there. (That ringing phone is the credit card company wanting to know if your card has been stolen.)

8 While shopping for the holidays, don’t go out without a list. If you do, at best you will forget some gifts. At worst, you will spend more than you thought and yet have a nagging feeling you forgot an important gift. (How did that office gift exchange go since you were empty-handed?)

7 While shopping for the holidays, do not leave the house without a travel plan. If you do, at best you will cover the stores in a pattern looking like the infinity symbol. At worst, you will need to use your GPS to finally figure out where you are and to locate the stores you have already passed. (You say you passed the gift shop twice but can’t figure out how to get back there?)

6 While shopping for the holidays, do not take the small children with you. If you do, at best you all will be frustrated doing exactly the opposite of what you want to do. At worst, you will start to deviate from your shopping plan and end up at the McDonald’s Playground trying to figure out what to tell everyone who will not get a gift this year. (That Big Mac and supersized order of fries are starting to look pretty good by now.)

5 While shopping for the holidays, do not think you are saving money by buying things on sale that you know are not perfect gifts. If you do, at best you can give gift receipts so the gift can be returned. At worst, you will get the perfect gift from the person you gave a less than a perfect present. (That is Murphy’s Law of scrimping on a gift for someone. It goes like this. The expense of the gift you receive is indirectly proportional to the cheapness of the gift you give. In other words the less you spend, the more someone else spends on you.)

4 While shopping for the holidays, do not think a gift card takes the place of an actual present. If you do, at best you will get your shopping done fast and early. At worst, you could spend more on the gift card than you would on a thoughtful gift. (The problem is the recipient knows the amount. Darn it)

3 While shopping for the holidays do not take gift suggestions from ads on tv. If you do, at best your present could represent an uninspired choice. At worst, the gift you give could be totally inappropriate. (Yeah, that Victoria Secret or Home Depot item should have stayed in the store.)

2 While shopping for the holidays do not wait until the last-minute to decide what gifts to buy. If you do, at best you will be running around not knowing what you had in mind. At worst, you will be faced with some difficult decisions given everything you wanted to buy is not available. (The net result is much more expensive than you had originally planned)

1 While shopping for the holidays do not avoid taking water and eating before the trips. If you do, at best you will be without energy and parched. At worst, you will finally be forced to take a break and will have to spend what could be an enormous amount for something to eat and drink. (Sure you could wait an hour for a fast food chicken sandwich but time is money right?)

Cyber Monday Sale on His Revenge – Kindle Version US $0.99 UK £0.99 #RRBC

~ John W. Howell ~ 28 Comments

 

His Revenge front final

One of the reasons I decided to self-publish was to be able to control my promotional events. I am therefore pleased to announce beginning at 12:00 am PST (6:00 am GMT) on November 30th (Tomorrow) until 12:00 pm PST (6:00 pm GMT) on December 1st His Revenge will be on sale for $0.99 in the US and £0.99 in the UK. This is a thirty-six-hour sales event for the US and UK markets and is in support of CYBER Monday.

If you want to read His Revenge, for a limited time it is available for less than what you would pay for a bag of sour cream and onion potato chips at the gas station. (And better for you)

#RRBC Spotlight Author Tour – Michael P. King

~ John W. Howell ~ 16 Comments

AUTHOR PHOTO (9)THE TRAVELING MAN

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am pleased to host Michael P. King on his seventh stop on his Spotlight Author Tour. This kind of recognition is what every active member of Rave Reviews Book Club has an opportunity to enjoy.

Welcome Michael.

Thanks John,

When to Start on Social Media

Probably one of the biggest mistakes I made in becoming an Indie author was to start so late on social media. When I launched The Traveling Man in April 2015, I had a rudimentary website and a three-week old Facebook presence. Since then, I’ve been playing catch up. And starting out so far behind means that I’ve had to spend a lot of valuable time learning how to use social media that I could have used for actual marketing, or hunting reviews, or working on my next book. But we don’t get to start where we want to start; we start where we have to start.

So now, about eight months out, I’ve finally gotten up and running in an appreciable way on my website, on Facebook, on Twitter and on Pinterest. So if you haven’t got your first book out yet, and you’re not on social media yet, it could take you six months or so to get everything into place. And that’s work you want done before you launch your book if at all possible. Because after you launch your book, all your spare time will be taken up with marketing (Veteran writers are all nodding their heads now). And all your already-in-place social media connections will be invaluable to getting the word out.

To learn more about Michael P. King, or to purchase The Traveling Man, please visit:

Website: https://michaelpking.org

Amazon Author Page: http://bit.ly/MPKingA

Twitter handle: https://twitter.com/mpking3312

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MichaelP.King.thetravelers

 

Stream of Consciousness Saturday – Prompt “Stuff”

~ John W. Howell ~ 18 Comments

a new socs-badge-2015

Linda hill is still cavorting in japan so she appointed Pavowski as the person in charge. He has dictated that the prompt is “stuff.” and all the various derivations. If you would like to know more and join in go to Linda’s blog and find out how. http://lindaghill.com/2015/11/27/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-nov-2815/ Here is my interpretation.

Stuff by John W.Howell ©2015

“What is that stuff?”

“This stuff?”

“Yeah, that stuff. What is it?”

“It’s my stuff man.”

“Well. that tells me a lot. What is it?”

“You can’t tell from there?”

“Looks like basket of laundry to me.”

“It’s not laundry. Take a closer look.”

“Okay now I see. Your stuff is nothing but cans.”

“These aren’t cans they’re gold. I’m dealing in the commodies market.”

“Next you’ll tell me your cardboard box is a castle.”

“Better than nothing and yeah its a castle to me. what chew got?”

“Well I’ll tell you I don’t count my wealth in terms of cans. My stuff is more valuable than that.”

“Like what kind of stuff do you have?”

“My stuff has substance and a projectable cash flow.”

“What stuff is that?”

“Corner marketing.”

“Corner marketing?”

“Yeah, standing out there with my advertising message.”

“What message?”

“A number of them.”

“Give me one.”

“Will work for food.”

 

Friday JohnKu – TGIF

~ John W. Howell ~ 18 Comments

Black Friday

 

Here we are BLACK FRIDAY. I don’t know about you, but I’m staying in the house. I have to rest up for the Baylor Bear football game tonight. They are playing those TCU Horned Frogs. In our house, we have a high affinity to Baylor. The prime reason is that we sent a small fortune to Baylor along with the youngest. The other reason is we like to watch them play. They have a fast tempo that is exciting. They are capable of running a play every 19 seconds and usually can manage a touchdown in under two minutes. This kind of pace leaves you exhausted from watching and cannot imagine what the opposing team feels. The TCU/Baylor rivalry goes back some years but came to a head last year when the Big 12 voted Baylor and TCU as co-champions. Neither team felt the other deserved the title. So this week marks a chance for bragging rights. Let’s hope they fall (the rights) to Baylor. Today’s John Ku talks about team loyalty.

My Team by John W. Howell © 2105

They roll over all,

Using time and talent well. . .

Preserving honor.

Tuesday – Anything Possible – Kreative Kue #52 by Keith Krates

~ John W. Howell ~ 28 Comments

As you may know, I have become enamored by the talent of Keith Channing. He has a weekly prompt named Kreative Kue, which runs on Mondays. Here are the instructions from Keith for the prompt. “Using this photo as inspiration, write a short story, flash fiction, scene, poem; anything, really; and either put it (or a link to it) in a comment or email it to me at keithkreates@channing.fr before 6pm on Sunday (if you aren’t sure what the time is where I live, this link will tell you). If you post it on your blog or site, a link to this page would be appreciated.”

His advice. “Go on. You know you want to. Let your creativity and imagination soar. I shall display the entries, with links to your blog or website, next Monday.” Here is the photo and my interpretation.

Kreative Kue #52

The Peddler by John W. Howell © 2015

“You’ve got to be kidding me. Fifty dollars for this wood and screen?”

“That madam is no ordinary timber and screen. That has power beyond belief.”

“Yeah sure. It looks like a simple wall hanging to me.”

“I can assure you. The magic in that item could make you rich.”

“Rich? You must be nuts. I’ll give you four bucks.”

“I cannot accept your nice offer. If I do the magic will turn black and might be harmful to you.”

“Man, you won’t give up will you?”

“I must protect you. I could let that go for forty dollars and all the right magic will still be intact.”

“What if I still say no and put it down.”

“Oh, I’m afraid it’s too late for that. Once you pick it up, the magic stays with you. If you set it down, the magic will drain out of you. You’ll be cursed.”

“Do you have a license to sell these things?”

“I get my permissions from God.”

“OMG. I’m putting this down now and walking away.”

“Suit yourself madam. Only you will be the one to suffer. Oh, and your family of course.”

“Goodbye, sir.”

“God speed madam I have to take this call. Hello, Sam. How many times have I asked you not to call me while I’m working? Sales? Naw not going so well. Yes, I am trying the curse strategy but no one takes me seriously. Sure I could lay a curse on someone but I’m thinking we should get into another line of business. These wooden things can’t suck enough. Yes, I know your wife makes them but come on. Look you can’t talk to me that way. What? Yeah, I could curse you and don’t call me Lucy. My name is Lucifer.”