Those who follow my Facebook page might have seen this already, but I ran into a spot of trouble concerning Hunting in the Shadows‘ Kindle Select status. Long story short, it seems that Kobo Ebooks failed to take it down after I unpublished the Smashwords version (though all the others are down). I’ve contacted Smashwords about it; they have contacted Kobo, and hopefully this will be getting sorted soon. I also contacted Kindle Direct Publishing, explaining the situation, and HitS has a bit of a reprieve; I’ve now got 30 days to make sure Kobo gets their act together. Considering that Kobo’s website has no contact portal for anything but troubleshooting their ereaders, I’m going to have to rely on Smashwords for it; fortunately, Smashwords got back to me within a couple of hours, so that’s a good sign. Kill Yuan has now been out for two months, and a few people have asked about the next Praetorian book. Lex Talionis is coming, and I’ve started to do a little bit of groundwork for it. I’d hoped to see it out the door by the end of the year; however, depending on how things go over the next couple of
“Do-Something-ism” and Societal Childishness
“Jack,” Trent said, “When I was fourteen I was a man. Had to be. Well, it looks like your father dying has made you a man, too. “I’m giving you this Sharps. She’s an old gun, but she shoots straight. I’m not giving this gun to a boy, but to a man, and a man doesn’t ever use a gun unless he has to. He never wastes lead shooting carelessly. He shoots only when he has to, and when he can see what it is he’s shootin’ at. “This gun is a present with no strings attached except that any man who takes up a gun accepts responsibility for what he does with it. Use it to hunt game, for target practice, or in defense of your home or those you love. “Keep it loaded always. A gun’s no good to a man when it’s empty, and if it is settin’ around, people aren’t liable to handle it carelessly. They’ll say, ‘That’s Jack Moffit’s gun, and it’s always loaded.’ It is the guns people think are unloaded that cause accidents.” Louis L’Amour, The Mountain Valley War This isn’t just about guns or the current uproar over the reaction to the
Memorial Day
Presented without further comment, a poem by my Recon Brother, Bryan Moulton. Dedicated to those who have given all that they can in the defense of our nation, I offer my own humble tribute: Morning rays, a golden hue, give to your pale visage Shadows, banished by the day, lurk in angled lines and draws I lie in peace amidst dew-dropped curves and blades on which you lie A blanket, born of heavenly breath, warm and safe beneath the sky An echo, a mourn, not seen but felt, a memory long ago A flash of light, a flash of sound, age-faded but crisp and bold Loving assault upon senses, dulled, these memories to the fore O’ershadow the triumphant trumpets’ call to a friend in need no more Eyes lift from the green to the playful draught, teasing brilliant stripes with ease Starry night turns starry day, watched by timeless guardians, freed A dance in the wind, the fabric plays, with its furl and snap of cloth Watched over by beams of radiant gold, free of want and grief and wroth Wondrous gaze falls to alabaster skin, in blessed relief, stark By warmed touch, your closed eyes have kept me through
Good and Evil in Stories
I’ve shied away from writing about writing, since I’m still learning myself, but I had a thought recently that I figured could use some fleshing out. So here goes.
“Kill Yuan” Is Now Available
Today’s the day. Kill Yuan is out. Amazon’s being a little slower getting the paperback up than they have previously, but it is on the way. The Kindle link is here. As previously announced, the ebook is presently Kindle exclusive. I’m giving Kindle Select a try, which also means that if you are subscribed to Kindle Unlimited, you can borrow the book on your Kindle. Signed paperbacks are now available for pre-order on americanpraetorians.com, to go out June 10.
China Keeps Pushing
China has been a player in a couple of my novels, now. The Devil You Don’t Know dealt in part with the PRC’s dealings with Mexican cartels. Kill Yuan is set on the periphery of the perennial flashpoint of the South China Sea. Neither are new, though the South China Sea is becoming more and more of a focus, as China continues to push the US Navy as well as all of their maritime neighbors to the south, including Vietnam, the Philippines, and Malaysia. The Spratlys have been a flashpoint with China’s neighbors for decades. The Chinese claim actually, according to Beijing and Taipei (which claims the islands under the auspices of the Nationalist Chinese government that preceded Mao’s Red China), dates back to the Han Dynasty, in 2 BC. Malaysia, Brunei, Vietnam, and the Philippines also claim the islands. In recent years, the PRC has begun building up reefs in the South China Sea into artificial islands, claiming that these are for scientific research such as fish population studies, though, in spite of the conspicuous operation of civilian airliners on the artificial island on Fiery Reef, there appears to be plenty of military equipment on the islands. They have
Somalia Going The Way Of “Task Force Desperate”
When I wrote Task Force Desperate, I made some predictions that haven’t quite panned out (and this is not necessarily a bad thing). I expected the Muslim Brotherhood’s regime in Egypt to last a lot longer than it did. And only a year or so after the book came out, it was looking like Al Shabaab was well and truly on the rocks. Not anymore. http://www.voanews.com/content/somalia-al-shabab/3306919.html
In The Bag
Kill Yuan is finished. Editing is done, the final file has been uploaded to KDP, and we’ve just got a couple more formatting things to take care of (including the final cover file) and the paperback should be ready to go. I actually hate editing, even though that’s where a lot of the work happens. By the time I’ve finished going through the work three times, beginning to end, back to back, I’m not only getting sick of it, but I’m pretty well convinced that I’m a talentless hack who has no business selling his awkward mangling of the English language to anybody. But enough of y’all apparently still enjoy my hackery enough to pay me for it, so I will continue. Anyway, here’s another snippet, since I did say there would be a few more forthcoming:
My Review Of The First Ten Minutes of “Sicario”
It’s taken a while, but given the milieu of The Devil You Don’t Know, I’ve been interested in seeing Sicario. (It usually takes a while for me to get around to actually seeing a movie.) I’d heard mixed reviews, but given that the trailers for Sicario, Narcos, and Ghost Recon Wildlands, all of which deal with Latin American Narcos, came out right about the same time as The Devil You Don’t Know was released, it got on my radar. I’m not well-known enough to be able to say I set a trend with talking about the Mexican Drug War again, but the coincidental timing was interesting. Anyway, the other night, I gave Sicario a shot. And, as you can probably tell from the title of this post, I didn’t make it very far. It’s bad. The movie opens with an FBI raid on a house in Arizona. Now, the CQB tactics and weapons handling are atrocious, but it’s Hollywood, so that’s kind of to be expected. Annoying, but not necessarily a deal-breaker. It’s the rest of the scenario where the wheels really start to fall off. For all the little cinematography tricks that they use to build up how ominous
“Kill Yuan” Chapter 5
I’m about halfway through Edit 2. This will be the last full sample chapter, though I might throw a couple more little snippets out before release. Chapter 5 Dan turned and looked behind him, barely able to see five meters even with the NVGs strapped to his head. He couldn’t see Jenny behind him. Again. He turned back forward, waited until Vernon looked back, and then raised his hand to signal a halt. Vernon nodded, and sank to a knee in the muck; they were all soaked and filthy from the last four hours of slogging through the Florida swamp anyway, so it didn’t matter. Still making an effort not to make too much noise sloshing through the swamp, Dan started to work his way back to where Jenny had lost contact. He found her another ten yards back, stumbling over the roots in front of her. The Asian girl, named Cassy, was trying to hiss encouragement at her, but just from her posture, it looked like she was about all in. She was staggering, and making about as much noise as a baby elephant, her shoulders sagging under the weight of her gear and assault pack. As he got