Monday, April 29, 2013

Goose Creek - Chapter 1

Rinsing curly hairs off a bar of soap, nineteen-year-old Dare Harriman screwed up his face—nasty. Just my luck to be the last one in the shower, he thought.

Penny insisted her men be clean and smell good or they couldn’t touch her. House rules. Shutting off the spigot, Dare jumped when a crack of lightning killed the power. “Scared the crap out of me,” he muttered to himself, groping in the dark for the shower curtain and pulling it aside.

Wrapping a towel around his waist, he called, “Hey, Penny, you got a flashlight or candles?”

He waited. No answer. “Come on guys. Somebody answer me.”

With the next boom an old black and white movie of a woman screaming in a shower flashed in his mind. Aware of his involuntary shudder, he chuckled at himself. What’s the name of that old movie? Weirdo or something like that. He chuckled again.

Finding the wall with his hand, Dare followed it to Penny’s room and rapped his knuckles on the door. “James, come on man, not funny. Say something.”

“Okay, I’m coming in, so you guys better not be doing it.” Awkward.

He found the knob and cracked the door. Hit by the odor of Penny’s drug store perfume melding with a nursing home diaper stink, Dare wrinkled his nose. What the hell? Something wasn’t right. His skin prickled.

Tilting his head Dare listened with his good ear. Nothingness except the storm raging outside. Goose bumps raised the hairs on his arms.

“James. Penny. Hey!”

Blind, Dare shuffled forward with arms outstretched. Memory guided him through the dark room toward the bed. Tripping over something large on the floor, he fell, grazing his head on the footboard. “Ow!” Warm, sticky wet coated his fingertips when he touched his brow.

Crawling, his towel untucked and fell away. He nudged a leg.  His breath hitched. Running a hand over the smooth limb, Dare knew it wasn’t James. Not hairy. Exploring further, his fingers sank into mush. The stench gagged him.

The power snapped on, restoring the light beside the bed.

Dare jerked his hand from the leg. Penny lay in front of him, splotched crimson decorating her breast, splattered and trickling onto the floor like a three dimensional drip painting. Eyes half closed, she stared upward, unblinking. Scrambling to stand, unable to look away, he backed into the door jamb. Retching, he stumbled from the room.

Slinging open the front door, smearing his blood and remnants of Penny’s last worldly excrement on the knob, Dare stepped out naked on the screened porch, chest heaving, quaffing in fresh air, he scanned the shimmering ebony of night rain. The unlatched wooden screened door flapped once, banging shut and blowing open again. He jumped. “James!”............

Available on Amazon Kindle Books

Starts off with a Bang! Goose Creek is an exceptional story examining the bane of bullying and the intricacies of male friendship, prejudice & pity. It is a story of small town lives with big town secrets and lies. The authors' knowledge of antiques and all things 'fine', his descriptive flair, and the conveyance of characters and relationships - both cutting and kind - are so real and satisfying as to paint pictures in your head that make you think 'I know these people, don't I? Great story of Family Honor and Redemption! B. Bales, April 23, 2013

Sunday, April 28, 2013

Creatures - Real and Mythical

Taken with my Canon EOS Rebel XT in 2012
 
 Koi (carp)
 
 Komodo Dragon
 
 Reticulated Giraffe
 
One of my drawings
I like to sketch when the mood strikes me

Phoenix Rising - drawing in progress
My work bench

Friday, April 26, 2013

HDR & Digitally Enhanced Images

High Dynamic Range (HDR) & Digitally Enhanced photos from our spring garden in central Virginia. 2013

 


 
 

 


 

 
 
 
 

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Time to Get Away from it All - Some Great Tour & Travel Companies

My wife and I love to go places and meet people. These are travel companies we're familiar with and know first hand of their quality, integrity, friendliness, and attention to detail.
 
Mid-Atlantic Tours & Receptive Services (MARS) is the best group tour operator and receptive on the east coast. If you are organizing a group trip for a company, school, reunion, or other organization, their range of expertise and custom planning can't be beat. Also: I LOVE their slogan "Take A Fun Trip". So when you "Take A Fun Trip don't forget to take along your Kindle and "Read A Good Book".
 
Guaranteed Departures by Travel Alliance Partners (TAP) is a partnership of top tour companies in the United States and Canada. Their selection of guaranteed departure vacations and scheduled departures is unparalleled. If you are an individual, couple, or group, TAP offers the world! Looking for a unique group tour but can't find what you're looking for, reach out to them. With partners in North America and affiliations around the globe TAP makes wonderful things happen.
 
Scholastic Journeys is a travel company designed with student travel and their budgets in mind. Teachers, educators, and students can have custom tours planned and operated specifically for their requirements. Awesome!
 
SoccerTours.net works with soccer clubs, teams, and schools worldwide. Their tour programs appeal to coaches, parents, and players. The summer soccer season in Europe is a chance for teams to experience the culture, history, and play some friendly matches with local teams. Grab you gear, don't forget your goalie, and "kick off" for Europe, Argentina, Mexico, or Canada. That's my "Pitch"... for a top quality sports tour company.

 

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Reviews of my Novels on Amazon

 
Pure Magic! Step into another land & time... Kings & queens, soldiers, slaves & stable hands. From bath houses to battlegrounds, courtyards to palaces. The Emeralds of Shenah is an enchanting adult story full of the magic the human heart longs for! The authors' knowledge and attention to detail for everything from the meals that could have been served at festivals and celebrations to embroidered gowns and fabulous jewels make this novel of love, honor, and male friendship an exquisite feast of a read! B. Bales, April 23, 2013
 
Starts off with a Bang! Goose Creek is an exceptional story examining the bane of bullying and the intricacies of male friendship, prejudice & pity. It is a story of small town lives with big town secrets and lies. The authors' knowledge of antiques and all things 'fine', his descriptive flair, and the conveyance of characters and relationships - both cutting and kind - are so real and satisfying as to paint pictures in your head that make you think 'I know these people, don't I? Great story of Family Honor and Redemption! B. Bales, April 23, 2013
 
 

Monday, April 22, 2013

Kindle Ebooks I've Read

These are a few of the Kindle ebooks I’ve read this past year. It’s an eclectic assortment, but leans heavier toward my favorite stories of historic fiction, adventure, fantasy, and magic in an ancient world.






 
Tricked; Hammered; Hexed; Hounded; by Kevin Hearne – love this series!
Corvus; King of Morning; The Ten Thousand; by Paul Kearney – Fun read.
A Song of Ice and Fire; by George R.R. Marin – Thoroughly entertaining. Always looking for the next volume.
Roma; Empire; The Seven Wonders; by Steven Saylor – A glimpse into the ancient world. Enjoyed these.
Digital Fortress; by Dan Brown – Good book!
The Help; by Kathryn Stockett – Love it!
The Isle of Stone; by Nicholas Nicasteo
The Copper Sign; by Katie Fox – Fun read
Fifty Sades; by E.L. James – read all three. Yikes… lol…
Iron House; Down River; King of Lies; by John Hart – One of the best authors I’ve come across lately. Great prose and can weave a spellbinding story.
Inexperienced Mage; Branded Mage; by D.W. Jackson – fun read but needs a bit of proofing. Never-the-less, I enjoyed these and plan on reading the next volumn in the series.
Night Angel; by Brent Weeks – enjoyed it
Prince of Thorns; King of Thorns ; by Mark Lawrence – I really enjoyed these books
Michael; Airel; by Aaron Patterson – enjoyed these
Mage Born, The Blacksmith’s Son; by Michael G. Manning – enjoyed
Among Thieves; by Douglas Hulick – Liked a lot
God of War; Lord of the World; The Lion of Macedonia; by John McLeod – enjoyed
Daughter of Troy; by Sarah B. Franklin
Return to Eden; Weaving Destiny; The Soul Keeper; by G.P. Ching
Lorien Legacies; - the boy in me loves this whole series

Friday, April 19, 2013

Goose Creek - Living in Loudoun County

I was raised in Loudoun County, and Clarke County, Virginia. Many of my observations and experiences growing up are the setting in my novel Goose Creek. The characters are fictional amalgamations of my imagination and in no way represent any individual I knew or know.
 
I played and swam in Goose Creek as a young kid, picnicking on the banks with my family. My mother would give us a bath before leaving using a bar of Ivory soap so she wouldn’t lose it in the creek. We had fun chasing the floating bar when she dropped it. My father would drink beer and watch us. He once saved my life pulling me out of the water when I stepped in a sinkhole way over my head. I learned to swim later taking lessons at the Middleburg Community Center. I used a picnic scence similar to this in the book but my dad was nothing like Cole, the abusive father of Dare in my novel Goose Creek.
 
Cole is a ‘not cool dude’. The story I tell in Goose Creek weaves around the equestrian estates and wonderful small towns I knew; Middleburg, Marshall, Upperville, Aldie, Boyce, and Berryville. 
 
Goose Creek is available on Amazon’s Kindle Books. If you get a chance to read it I would appreciate hearing your critiques on Amazon or on my blog.

 

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

KBoards - Everything Related to Kindles

I recently joined KBoards, a wonderful website for authors and readers of ebooks. It's a site where members can post and discuss everything related to Kindles. Stop by and visit. You can meet some great people and share your Kindle experiences.

Friday, April 12, 2013

Free Sites to Promote e-Books


These are a couple of websites I’ve come across with information to help authors/writers promote their e-books. I’ve explored some and found the information useful—promotions are free but be sure to check if there are any specific caveats or requirements.

Photos in this post are public domain from pixabay.com. Keyword search ‘books’.
 
Free Sites to Promote Your e-Books

46 Top Websites to Promote Your e-Books for Free

Thursday, April 11, 2013

Nature Images

A few photos of mine in the public domain for friends and visitors to use. Free high resolution downloads of these images can be found here on pixabay.com under the photographer's pseudonym JamesDeMers.










 
 

Book Reviews

The first  customer reviews of my books recently published on Amazon Kindle Books:
  
This is the sort of epic adventure about really decent, generous people who like to have fun in between dealing with heavy issues. The opulence of their world is a tasty treat -- Allen goes over the top in a good way describing all the perks of being a prince, or a prince's friend. The bad guys are gnarly and grotesque, which is entertaining too. I don't think you can go wrong with this book, if you like fantasy fiction of the Prince of Persia, Lord of the Rings variety! Joan Dabner Clickner, April 10, 2013
 
 
 
 
Allen is a confident storyteller who loves to create a likable main character one can relate to. The experiences of Dare Harriman may not be ones we've had, but his reactions are familiar, making him realistic. You're pulling for Dare all the way, you want him to make it. The setting is uber rich northern Virginia, one of those massive farms you might pass on a gorgeous country road, which is fun to experience. You feel like you're right there, among the fine things, lovely horses, Lear jets, etc. The friendship depicted is a pleasure to witness in its development, and the plot keeps you turning pages all the way to the end. This is a carefully written, nice book. Joan Dabner Clickner, April 4, 2013
 

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Photos of shiny things and more

Things that caught my eye when I had my camera in my hand or nearby. I've posted these on pixabay.com where visitors can download high resolution images for free.