I Miss My Dad Tonight.

Posted on by

When a parent passes it’s natural to think about them from time to time. Tonight was one of those times.

Please follow me on Twitter, and “Like” the Facebook author page. Don’t forget to subscribe (the box is on the right side of the page) to be eligible for free e-books and other benefits!

I drove home from a writer’s conference in Saint Louis today. Got home at the stroke of midnight and I looked like I’d been crying. Probably because I’d shed a few tears when this video, Letters From Home, came on my stereo in the trusty Explorer.

My dad passed 5 years ago. He never saw a finished book, not so much as a congratulatory email from a fan of the blog, and certainly never a cover to a novel. And I’m missing him tonight because that’s so close and I won’t be able to share it with him on this earth.

My dad was a man of many accomplishments. I’m pretty sure he had goals for me that I never met. I know he loved me, and I loved him. But there was never that moment where I knew he was 100% proud of something I did. A lot of that was his nature: he was not the effusive type.

Now, with a great conference behind me, a bright future ahead of me, and sequels, prequels, and other books all in the process, I think my dad would be busting his buttons over what “his kid” had done with his life. You can’t live your life for your parents, but when they take joy in your accomplishments it sweetens it for all.

Mom, I know you’re proud. And I love you more than you can ever know. I tease you and joke with you, but I love you and respect your opinion.

Dad, if God posts this on the board up there, I hope you can smile and say, “That’s my son. I knew he’d make it.”

Guess I’ll find out soon enough. But I miss him tonight because I’d love to hear his voice when I tell him all the great things going on in my life. I miss that voice more and more as the years go by.

Parents: don’t wait to tell your kids you’re proud. Do it the moment you are starting to smile. Because that’s when they need it most. And you won’t always be there to write letters from home.

Good night, Dad. I’ll talk to you in a minute in my dreams. Lots to go over tonight and I’m hoping for some insights.

Now It’s Time To See If You Really Like Free Stuff.

Posted on by

I’ve been promoting the mailing list with this entry for almost a year:

Please follow me on Twitter, and “Like” the Facebook author page. Don’t forget to subscribe (the box is on the right side of the page) to be eligible for free e-books and other benefits!

Some of you have listened, some have not. Now we get to the part where I hand out free stuff.

Assault on Saint Agnes is scheduled for a November 11 release. The winning cover can be viewed by clicking this link (I don’t own it outright yet so I can’t post it here for a few more days.)

In the near future (within 30 days) I will be giving out some advanced copies to the people on the mailing list. The goal is, and I know you’ll play along, to find people willing to read an advanced release copy and then review it on Amazon and Goodreads when the time comes.

You must be on the email list to be eligible to do this heroic task. I would like to choose people who have lots of friends and who will write an honest review. Yes, it would be nice if you gave it five stars. I think by virtue of the fact you’re here today you are disposed to like my scribbling, so it’s not all that huge a risk for me. But it is not a requirement. I would only ask that before you fire off a one-star review, you contact me with your concerns. But I will not “block” you or anything like that with my response. I will only hope for the best.

One of the advanced readers will also get a jar of my famous Cherry Bomb jam. We will relabel it Omar’s Oomph just for you. And, lest there be any doubts about my sincerity, there will be another contest open to the subscribers only: a copy of the audio book.

That one is a little more tricky. I will need to see how many people you share my launch post with before I award the audio book. I will be the narrator. I will be the author. I will be thrilled to have all of your help in promoting the book.

There you are – free stuff. All I want in return is an honest review, you to promote the book with friends and your own readers if you’re a blogger, and the blessing of knowing that you like the work.

More to come in the next few weeks. We have not ruled out a bobble-head of me but don’t count on it at this point.

Each Chapter Takes More Ink

Posted on by

Over the course of the past five years I’ve gone from reluctant scribe to real-life author. This past week cemented that in my mind as never before.

For some reason we all doubt our identity in some way. Only the arrogant are truly comfortable in saying, “I’ve made it to this level” without some kind of official affirmation from a convening authority. When I went through basic training I was not a sailor until graduation day. Until that point, I was “recruit” to one and all. When I got to my first school command I wasn’t a Cryptologic Technician in the eyes of the powers until I’d passed all of the schools, got my security clearance, and passed the final tests.

Last week I became an actual author. Two events proclaimed that fact, a third will cement it for others. The two events were the contest to design my novel’s cover. Sometime Tuesday afternoon I will pick the winner of the contest. If you’d like to vote on the winning cover, click on this link.

The second item that told me I’d made it was when a best selling author wrote a promotional forward to the novel. It was laudatory. Best of all, when he’d sent it to me I opened a chat session with him. His words, the ones that cemented it for me, were “You’d better write more books, I need something to read.”

The self doubt evaporated at that moment. I am an author.

This week I’ll show you the preliminary cover when we’ve picked a winner. It will change a bit before publication as we add quotes, update the copy on the back, slip in logos, etc. But we’re almost there in my mind. Just under two months until the book is finally published. Assault on Saint Agnes will be a real book, really for sale.

Thanks, God, for making it all possible. I’d appreciate your prayers as I round the corner and head for the finish line.

Vote For The Winning Cover For Assault On Saint Agnes – Here’s The Link!

Posted on by

I promised you a chance to vote, it’s official: Vote for the winning cover art.

Please take a minute to vote in the contest. I value your opinions. The sole criteria is that you pick the cover you’d most likely buy without reading the back cover.

Yup, pure sex appeal is what I’m looking for in this contest.

Thank you in advance! Contest will end on Monday.

So, Who Wants To Help Pick The Cover Of Assault On Saint Agnes?

Posted on by

The greatest part of having a blog is you have a way to reach out to thousands (or dozens) of people in one post. Now I need you all to help out in picking the cover art for the novel.

Please follow me on Twitter, and “Like” the Facebook author page. Don’t forget to subscribe (the box is on the right side of the page) to be eligible for free e-books and other benefits!

I’m using www.99designs.com to pick the artist for my book. There will be an additional story about that experience down the road, but so far it’s been very exciting.

Part of the problem is deciding what to pick as the winner. I will conduct another poll on either Friday or Monday, but for the moment I’d like to have you all run over to this link and look at the finalists.

What I need is for you to put your favorite two into a comment and leave it for me right away. I will not publish the comments so as to avoid skewing the results.

I hope you like what you see as much as I do when I look at the contestants. Your goal is to tell me which one grabs you most at first glance. Don’t get too in depth, go with your gut. Because we all know that’s how it works at the book store!

Thanks in advance for your help.