Join the Release Party right here!

On Tuesday, December 22, 2020, my eleventh novel, A Place at the Table, was released to the public. On that day, I was interviewed by Brit Author PA of @Alternative-Read.com. It was a great interview so I've chosen to reproduce it here. Enjoy! Add questions in the comments if you'd like.

That sounds like a good way to start. A Place at the Table is an alternate universe depiction of an America that has a highly defined class structure in which every person in the country knows what class he or she is part of by the time they are out of high school. But the classes are not based on wealth, heredity, position, or occupation. They are based on individual character and aptitude. So, it shouldn’t be surprising to find a person of any one of the ten classes in any occupation. A Leader, for example, might show up in business, fashion, politics, or even as a tour guide. But elitism is still a problem with this class structure and that is what our hero, Liam, has to navigate.

If you are familiar with the genre Bildungsroman, you’ll understand that the story focuses on the psychological and moral growth of the protagonist from youth to adulthood. With his grandmother as an example and Meredith by his side, Liam evolves from a self-centered boy of privilege to a man people can trust to lead them.

I’ve become more and more cognizant of class divisions in our society through my whole life. An off-hand comment a couple of years ago mentioned that we were “ruled over by American Royalty.” In fact, my first draft of the story was titled “American Royalty.” But I wanted to define a class structure that didn’t imply traditional classes that are largely hereditary or based on wealth or occupation. Things like ‘working class,’ ‘bourgeoisie,’ ‘noble,’ or ‘royal’ were too loaded with meaning already. I wanted classes that weren’t equivalent to those but really settled on character. That’s what I set out to write and it took several drafts to get it to the place I was satisfied.

Liam Cyning is a young man just entering his majority at eighteen. He finds that he has been placed in the Leader class. But in many ways, he’s a kid trying to grow up. He’s fine in groups but facing a girl on a date makes him freeze up. He has typical questions about where he fits and what being a Leader means. He has to figure out what kind of leader he will be and where he wants to lead people. The one thing his grandmother impresses upon him most is that a leader must be incorruptible. Character, honesty, and integrity are paramount. But what we discover is that Liam simply has the kind of character that makes people want to follow him. If he has an idea, it sounds good. People just naturally get with it.

There are ten classes in this structure: Dexter, Cognoscente, Aspirant, Defender, Inquirer, Commander, Creator, Promoter, Leader, and Advisor. I was told in a palm reading once that I was the person soldiers would want to follow into battle. I can’t really imagine that myself. I think that I am by nature a Creator, though I do have a tendency toward both Inquirer and Cognoscente. Now you’ll have to read the book to find the definition of any of those classes!

Wow! I remember when my first book was published (For Blood or Money), an early reader came up to me and said, “Oh, this is you. I recognize you.” I really don’t fancy myself as a Dag Hamar cyber detective, though. I think that I’d like to be Keith Drucker from The Gutenberg Rubric. Keith is an expert in rare books and manuscripts who is still enough of an adventurer to get himself in hot water—even in a library! And he has a wonderful companion. I think I lived more of that book than any other as I researched it for twenty years!

Interestingly, after I published The Volunteer, my older sister confronted me. “You must have had a different father than I had! That is nothing like the one I remember!” It took me over an hour to convince her that the story was fiction. “But I recognized some of those places.” I had to explain that our experiences inform what we write but that doesn't make it autobiographical.

I’m an eclectic reader and often read books that have not been released through normal channels, like online serials. And I have very limited living space as I’m a full-time RVer. So nearly all my books are electronic. I’m sorry I don’t have a paper book on my nightstand. I have two open eBooks at the moment. On my laptop, I have Japanese Cooking Made Simple from Salinas Press. I got started experimenting with Japanese cooking after watching the Midnight Diner series on Netflix. On my tablet (really beside my bed), I’ve begun re-reading the works of Robert A. Heinlein and currently have The Moon is a Harsh Mistress open. I do a bit of sci-fi writing under another name and many authors and reviewers refer to Heinlein. It seemed worthwhile to refresh my memory.

With as many different social platforms as we have these days, it’s a wonder we can keep up with them at all. Here are the best places to look for me:

My website: www.nathaneverett.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Wayzgoose/

Twitter: @wayzgoose

Patreon: www.patreon.com/nathaneverett

email through Elder Road Books: elderroadbooks@outlook.com

Blog: https://firstexit0.blogspot.com/

I think that is the best list with the widest variety of connections. I update nearly everything at least weekly, including serializing my novels on my website for patrons before they are released to the public. I hope you’ll all consider joining me!

Thanks to Brit Author PA of @Alternative-Read.com for the terrific interview questions!

A Place at the Table Release Party!

I’m happy to say on this day after Solstice, A Place at the Table, my newest literary novel, has now been released on all major platforms in both eBook and paperback formats. Hooray!

But that’s not all. For the past few years, I’ve been holding my book release parties at Chandler Reach Vineyards Tasting Room on or about the Summer Solstice. The parties for City Limits and Wild Woods were loads of fun with lots of people and plenty of wine. I was going to do the same this year, but then the plague.

And my editors insisted that it needed one more rewrite.

So, I’m holding the party today, the day after Winter Solstice. Sadly, it can’t be indoors, so I’m holding it online.

Join at https://www.facebook.com/events/1353074885036334

I’ll still be drinking wine (or champagne) and will be interviewed online starting at 4:00 to get the ball rolling. Through the evening I’ll be joined by four other authors: Amy Romine, Jeffrey Cook, Eileen Troemel, and Cameron Allie will each be on for half an hour with interesting talk, games, questions, and prizes. Get yourself a glass of your favorite beverage and join us for this fun event!

Now, about the book:

Though the America Liam Cyning lives in is quite similar to the America of half a century or more ago, it is also fundamentally different. Ten clearly defined classes are the underpinning of American Society, determined by the educational system. As a newly assigned member of the Leader class, Liam is still uncertain what his role and responsibilities are.

Meredith Sauvage, a childhood friend and nemesis has been assigned to the Advisor class and is hired as Liam's personal assistant. Her job is to guide and mentor the young man while navigating the tricky waters of a personal relationship and the conflicts of a class society.

This story is a Bildungsroman—a literary genre that focuses on the psychological and moral growth of Liam Cyning from youth to adulthood. With his grandmother as an example and Meredith by his side, Liam earns a place at the table as he exposes the fundamental weaknesses of the very system that made him who he is.

Sometimes, I think we need to separate ourselves a bit from the issues facing our own society and focus on an imaginary society in order to see our own clearly. That is my hope with this novel. Did I succeed?

Here’s the word from reviewer Les Bagley:

Imagine a “classless” America where class distinctions are nonetheless, very important, and very real! Nathan Everett has imagined such a world, and his new novel, A Place at the Table, tells the story of one young man coming to grips with his role in such a rigid society.

Navigating the tricky path from youth to adulthood is never easy in the best of times. Learning about relationships with friends, nemeses, and the opposite sex are challenges everyone must face. But add in the overwhelming complexities of prescribed class, wealth, and privilege in an otherwise “classless society,” and growing and learning becomes even more of a challenge.

Everett follows the story of Liam Cyning as he matures from the days of carefree youth, to responsible young adulthood, only to quickly encounter the expectations society places on a born leader’s shoulders. But are true leaders born, or made? And what happens when his wealthy grandmother chooses and grooms a beautiful assistant that Liam would much rather have as a lover than as a dedicated employee?

Along the way, there is youthful exuberance, corporate intrigue, labor strife, budding romance, and enduring friendships, all woven into the fabric of a different society, yet not really so different from the real America of today.

Buy this. Read this. Enjoy this! You’ll find it’s one of Mr. Everett’s most enjoyable (and maybe thought provoking) works.

You can get A Place at the Table now! It is available for Kindle, Nook, and in paperback at major vendors. And you can order the eBook in either ePUB or MOBI form from https://bookapy.com/s/257/a-place-at-the-table

And here’s something special!

You can read the book online for free on my website! Why do I offer this when I’m trying to sell books? I believe once you sample the book on my website you will want to own it. And if you can’t own it, at least you’ll still get to read it. For a quick sneak peek at A Place at the Table, go to http://www.nathaneverett.com/releases/atthetable/

Hope I’ll see you at the party!

The Big Reveal and Upcoming Release

I started writing a book in November 2019 that has now been through several rewrites and four different titles, but at last it is ready for prime time! A Place at the Table.

The agreed-upon title and cover for A Place at the Table are now official and the book is off to the press. I've also used about ten different synopses to describe the book, but I think this is the one I'm using going forward.

Though the America Liam Cyning lives in is quite similar to the America of half a century or more ago, it is also fundamentally different. Ten clearly defined classes are the underpinning of American Society, determined by the educational system. As a newly assigned member of the Leader class, Liam is still uncertain what his role and responsibilities are.

Meredith Sauvage, a childhood friend and nemesis has been assigned to the Advisor class and is hired as Liam’s personal assistant. Her job is to guide and mentor the young man while navigating the tricky waters of a personal relationship and the conflicts of a class society.

This story is a Bildungsroman, a literary genre that focuses on the psychological and moral growth of Liam Cyning from youth to adulthood. With his grandmother as an example and Meredith by his side, Liam earns a place at the table as he exposes the fundamental weaknesses of the very system that made him who he is.

And that info and links to the pre-sale sites are at http://www.nathaneverett.com/atthetable.html.

And that brings me to December 22, 2020. I'm having my one-day-late Winter Solstice party and release party online that day and hope you'll join me as I get the details straightened out. I'm still waiting for ordering info for the paperback, but the eBooks are set and ready to go. There will be prizes, guests, and readings at the release party. I hope you'll be able to join me!

I'm releasing a Devon Layne book this month as well, though with somewhat less fanfare. The first erotic romance I wrote as Devon Layne was posted at StoriesOnline.net back on December 2, 2011. In celebration of the ninth anniversary, I've released a newly edited and expanded version of the story in both eBook and paperback.

D.R. Peters, “Doc” to his friends, is an artist who also sells real estate. He paints lovely portraits of beautiful women. The women love their portraits. Doc loves the women. Everyone is happy.

Until smart and sexy neighbor Rita asks Doc to teach her the art of love, to which Doc willingly agrees. But he is caught off guard when the young research scientist begins experimenting with the effect of intimacy on the portraits Doc creates.

As his lovely assistant Rita teaches him the science of the art of love, Doc evolves a whole new and exciting style of painting that launches him into galleries and museums. He is an expert at the art and science of love.

Sale information is on my Devon Layne website at http://www.devonlayne.com/asl.html

I'm continuing to write and am in relative isolation, waving at my neighbors from a distance and looking out across the sound. This week has been fairly clear and some of the views have been stunning. The mountain (Mt. Baker) seen across the Sound has been glowing pink this week.

Stay safe. Stay well. Wear your mask!

Nathan

Is this a hobby?

I've been parked in my campsite in Port Townsend, WA for almost a month now. My writing chair faces my picture window looking out over Puget Sound. Every ship headed to or from Seattle, Tacoma, Navy yards, or Olympia passes by my window. I've found a site that identifies all the ships that pass here and I've started running out each time I see one to take a picture.

Of course, there are many sailboats as avid sailors take advantage of any clear day, of which there have been only five or six this month. Not all the sailing vessels and pleasure craft are identified on my map because they don't radio in their positions.

From my angle and with the depth of field of my telephoto lens, it often looks like there will be a collision. This time between a fast-moving Navy tug, Shenandoah, and the ferry, Salish. The tug was much faster and long gone before the ferry got there.

Excuse me for thinking that some people just don't have a concept of how cold that water is. I see paddleboards, kayaks, and even a couple guys in wetsuits swimming along the shore. 

The US Navy Destroyer Samson is one of the Navy ships I've seen a couple of times. It and the Momsen apparently are on duty patrolling our shores.

The American Seafoods Factory Trawler American Triumph was pretty impressive. This thing comes in with somewhere around 900 tons of fish that are cleaned, packaged, and fast frozen right on the ship. I'd actually like to get a tour of one of these some day. I've seen three come into port in Seattle this month.

Tugboats do a lively business on the Sound. This big barge is being moved along by The Western Ranger and the barge appears to be filled with gravel or sand. That is a lot of tonnage!

Of course, I see a lot of container ships. This one is the MSC Antonella. I have no idea what is in any of those containers. That's one of the things that is missing from the website. No idea what any of the cargo is.

The Ocean Tact is a bulk carrier--of what, we have no idea--flying the Panama flag and on its way from Korea to Olympia. It's an interesting profile but I have no idea what any of that equipment does or what it carries.

This was one of the closest ships I've seen out here. USNS Washington Chambers is a Navy Replenishment Vessel from Pearl Harbor and was headed to the Naval Reserve base on Indian Island, just across Port Townsend Bay. It looked like it was coming right into shore here at the marina! It was met by three tugboats just around the point and guided into port.

And, of course, there is the Coupeville to Port Townsend Ferry that makes a round trip in about an hour and a half starting around 6:00 a.m. This was at Sunrise on Thursday the 26th. Our ferry is the WSF Salish.

So there is an introduction to my new hobby. It keeps me jumping up out of my chair every time I see a ship cross my field of vision, so it's also my major form of exercise. Whether this will last another month as a hobby is uncertain, but I had to get a picture of the sunrise in at least once!

NaNoWriMo is coming to an end tomorrow. I've more than completed my 50k words, but unfortunately they are on two different stories instead of just one. Some of the writing has been like pulling teeth to get it out of my head and onto the page.

BUT... A Place at the Table is now finished and the release date is estimated to be December 22, just so I have a nice Solstice present for myself. I got the last chapter back from the final proofreader and comments back on the paperback layout yesterday. I think it will be a good addition to my collection. I'll talk all about it next week.

Be safe, Be well, and Wear Your Mask!

Wait a minute. It's stopped raining.

 Guys are swimming. Guys are sailing.

After a week of gray skies, wind, and rain, the 55 degree weather and partly sunny skies came as a real relief this afternoon. I got out and sat outside for a while today. After I straightened out my patio rug and made sure nothing had completely blown away. Even the gulls were back on the water this morning.

I've gotten quite a lot done on my NaNoWriMo project this week, though my numbers don't show as much progress as I'd like. I'm at 25,035 words on my story It Ain't Immortality, But... Still, they are good words and don't reflect the additional 12,000 I've written on my other story, The Assassin. Nor do they show the new book I've proofread and uploaded for presale. I'd say that's positive.

And today's views across the sound have been pretty spectacular. The Fort Worden lighthouse is a good two miles from here and is clearly visible this afternoon.

I've made a couple of trips out for supplies this week and now I'm hunkered down for at least two weeks. We're still holding our Thanksgiving plans open and are watching the progress against the plague. If it looks like we might be at risk, we'll hold off our celebration for a while. I bought a turkey pot pie, just in case.

Had a spectacular sunrise on Monday, but it presaged the stormy weather to come. For a few days, the trailer really rocked in the wind.

 I've been aware of how my writing affects me this week. It's pretty amazing. Theo, the character I'm writing about, has taken up photography. I find that I'm taking more pictures than I've been taking, even though most are very near the trailer. It's really neat to see the sailboats and cargo ships plying the water. I've been getting up around 6:30 in the morning, just as it's getting light out with sunrise at about 7:15 these days. The first thing I see in the morning is the ferry making it's first trip across the Sound.

Theo is also writing a journal. Nothing deep. Just a record of the day. I found some journal software I like and have been updating it each day, including a picture from the day. It's pretty neat to follow the journey of my main character with my own journey--though we're very different.

The one thing I'm not doing that Theo is doing is meeting lots of people. I nod and wave at people walking along the shore in front of my trailer, but not really having any personal contact. I wouldn't have missed it if it weren't for writing about him meeting people. I think that's one of the things I haven't done well on my journey the past seven years, even before the COVID-19 pandemic. When it finally passes (and it will) I want to spend more time sitting and talking to people. Even if we're socially distanced. Had to get out to say hello to the greyhounds, Oliver and Speckles.

I have many people I communicate with online--some of whom I have actually met at least once! I heard an incredible amount of angst and fear being expressed the past couple of weeks, but so far haven't seen evidence of much they were afraid of. Not that there is nothing scary in the world, but I hope we can start living without fear.

I found these words online and though I don't generally pass a lot of this on, these words, supposedly from an older man, were worth pondering:

#1 After loving my parents, my siblings, my spouse, my children, my friends, now I have started loving myself.
#2 I just realized that I am not “Atlas”. The world does not rest on my shoulders.
#3 I now stopped bargaining with vegetables & fruits vendors. A few pennies more is not going to burn a hole in my pocket but it might help the poor fellow save for his daughter’s school fees.
#4 I pay my waitress a big tip. The extra money might bring a smile to her face. She is toiling much harder for a living than me
#5 I stopped telling the elderly that they've already narrated that story many times. The story makes them walk down the memory lane & relive the past.
#6 I have learned not to correct people even when I know they are wrong. The onus of making everyone perfect is not on me. Peace is more precious than perfection.
#7 I give compliments freely & generously. Compliments are a mood enhancer not only for the recipient, but also for me. And a small tip for the recipient of a compliment, never, NEVER turn it down, just say "Thank You"
#8 I have learned not to bother about a crease or a spot on my shirt. Personality speaks louder than appearances.
#9 I walk away from people who don't value me. They might not know my worth, but I do.
#10 I remain cool when someone plays dirty to outrun me in the rat race. I am not a rat & neither am I in any race.
#11 I am learning not to be embarrassed by my emotions. It’s my emotions that make me human.
#12 I have learned that it's better to drop the ego than to break a relationship. My ego will keep me aloof, whereas with relationships I will never be alone.
#13 I have learned to live each day as if it's the last. After all, it might be the last.
#14 I am doing what makes me happy. I am responsible for my happiness, and I owe it to myself. 

I'm not saying this is the way I live, but there are some gems within it that I will and do aspire to.

Be safe. Be well. And wear your damned mask!

Week one: 16,357 words

That's a start. It's not moving as fast as I thought it would, but I also got nearly 5,000 words in on my alternate story, so the total isn't bad at all. I mean, think of all that happened this week!

1. I moved to my new winter site on Sunday. Nice place. I'm spending hours just staring out the window at Mount Baker across the Sound. At least, hours on clear days.

2. The weather was warm and sunny. Then it was cold and cloudy. Then it rained. Then the wind started blowing. Then it was cold and sunny. It's a bit confusing, but driving through town yesterday to get my groceries, I saw again how beautiful this town is, even in the rain.

3. Went over to Lynnwood to pick up my repaired computer from the mailbox. Computer is working great, but they were unable to recover my data. New drive. Still, I have it for working on my NaNo projects! and I've started automated hourly backups to a remote drive. Just hoping that means I never have another accidental spill on my keyboard!

4. I took the south route across the Sound from Kingston to Edmonds on Tuesday and the north route up Whidbey Island back to Port Townsend on Wednesday. Both routes are incredibly beautiful. North is a little more costly because it involves two ferry rides. I happened to hit both perfectly and the trip was no longer timewise than going to Kingston.

5. You see the strangest things on the water. I had no idea what this ship was when I saw it, but have been informed by people who know that it is a new stealth destroyer for the Navy, a Zumwalt Class. I didn't know the Navy had white ships for stealth in the Arctic and Antarctic.

6. I've been learning a lot about photography because the MC in my new story, It Ain't Immortality, But..., decides to take up photography and I've had to learn some about it. Not much. I'm not writing an instruction manual. It's funny, though, that I've approached it a lot like I was writing an instructional manual and trying to figure out what should be in the user manual and what is irritating because it isn't in the manual. But writing the stories as he begins collecting them is making this an interesting project.

7. Oh, yes. Lest I forget, we apparently elected a new president. I'll believe it when I see him sworn in.

And that's my adventurous week. I'm once again caught up in writing several hours a day as I relive my own memories as others talk about theirs. Hope your week is going well!

It’s NaNoWriMo Time!

Not today, but next Sunday. Am I excited? Hell yes! This will be my seventeenth consecutive year of writing one or two books in November, National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). According to the NaNoWriMo website, over the past sixteen years, I’ve completed a total of 24 projects and 1,862,052 words. I calculate over twice that number of completed projects when I include non-NaNoWriMo months of writing. Heck, last year alone, I wrote 1,141,946 words. I’ve been a little off that pace this year, but still managed to produce a lot of books. (I currently have 48 stories on on my two websites!)

What that also means is that it’s pledge week. You know, like public radio? Except this is money that goes in my pocket to pay for my websites, printing, and providing ALL my books for online reading at no charge. All thanks to my patrons at www.patreon.com/nathaneverett.

The benefit to me is obvious, but what’s in it for you? I have two major tiers of patronage. At $5 per month (Fellow Travelers), you get everything I release before I release it anywhere else. That includes new eBooks as well as online serials. Next Sunday, patrons at this level will begin reading Liam’s Place At the Table (slated for general release at Christmas), the vastly rewritten and improved version of last year's NaNoWriMo project, American Royalty 1: Coming of Age. Patrons are currently reading my new Devon Layne work, Pussy Pirates, a story in Thinking Horndog’s Swarm Cycle Universe. In the meantime, I’m putting out new versions of some of my older stories, like The Art and Science of Love, all of which will be released on either NathanEverett.com or DevonLayne.com.

At the $10 per month level (Fifth Wheel), you get to watch me make it happen. The Fifth Wheel tier gets to read everything new I’m writing, as I write it—raw and unedited. Believe me, November is a big month for these folks. I’ve already begun writing a new Devon Layne Swarm story, tentatively titled The Assassin. Starting Sunday, I’ll have a new Nathan Everett NaNoWriMo story starting with nearly daily posts. This one is called It Ain’t Immortality, But…

Theo is a septuagenarian with a heart problem. He is invited to take part in an experimental program that will reset his cellular age to his mid-thirties. He’ll still be an old man. He’ll still look like an old man. But he’ll have the energy and vigor he had as a young man. With this new lease on life, Theo needs to decide what to do with his next twenty years.

He decides to take up photography and try to really get to know his subjects. He talks to each person he photographs on his journey and learns their story. Usually, this involves sharing food or drink and listening while the person entertains him with some important aspect of his or her life. The book will be Theo finding, photographing, and listening to the stories of the people he meets.

Chapters will be coming on a near daily basis for my Fifth Wheel patrons as I write during November. They get it raw and unedited, often giving me advice as to where the story should go next! Of course, Fifth Wheel patrons also get all the new works the Fellow Travelers tier gets.

So, there is my annual pledge drive promotion. Join me and get the latest and greatest from your favorite author!

https://www.patreon.com/nathaneverett

!!All Nathan Everett patrons have equal access to Devon Layne stories if they want it!!

To celebrate or mourn?

No, this is not a political post. Get your mind out of the gutter. I'm celebrating having found a campsite for the winter.

It's Point Hudson Marina and RV Park in Port Townsend, WA where I will have a chilly and rainy winter, but I shouldn't completely freeze. That picture is facing Puget Sound southeast. Here's are a couple of maps for orientation.

I'll be facing more or less northeast with my rear picture window. Across toward Whidbey Island. It's a good spot but Washington Lease Tax almost put it out of reach. $80 a month in tax to rent the RV pad!

Then in other news, I broke a computer this week and of course some of my most valuable files weren't backed up recently. Information I had posted to one of my websites was recoverable. Files I'd received in email were recoverable. My current development and recent dev files that hadn't been uploaded yet weren't so lucky. Remember those two books I released on my birthday?

I'm glad they are on sale at Amazon and Barnes & Noble because all the production files are gone! For Mayhem or Madness was backed up to my website for release but I hadn't uploaded Not This Time yet. And there were other books I'd recently formatted for release on my website and first time in print or eBook. Like The Hero Lincoln Trilogy. I'd show you a picture of the cover, but I don't have one. All the edits of all three books and the layout for the trilogy in a single volume plus four covers--gone.

And I need to start over from my editors' files on putting Rise and Awaken together. I'd gotten through sixteen of twenty-three chapters and was very pleased with the improvements. I have the editing files in email.

I'd uploaded quite a lot of my development material for my new Swarm Cycle endeavor, The
Assassin, but in a burst of inspiration early this week, I'd done an amazing world-building document, a population development spreadsheet, an action outline, not yet organized into a plot outline, and a detailed listing of issues I needed to deal with in one part of the novel. Gone.

I guess that's the mournful part. A lot of documents I need to rebuild and hope I can be as brilliant as I was the first time around. 

So, I'll toss out a bit of good news, I managed to get an appointment for a couple of badly needed trailer repairs before the winter, so I'll be leaving Sun Meadow the 20th to drop off my trailer in Burlington, WA on the 21st. I'll be staying in Lynnwood until the first when I pick up the trailer and move across the Sound to that beautiful spot shown above. Yippee!

Book Release Party!

Remember the good old days when I'd have a book release party and we'd all get together to drink wine and celebrate? Yes, that was pre-COVID-19. And I was younger. And we could all still drive at night.

BUT... Today I'm celebrating my 71st birthday with the release of two new books! And if you were a fan of Dag Hamar in For Money or Mayhem and For Blood or Money, this is a very good day for you!

Introducing For Mayhem or Madness, a Dag Hamar cyber mystery. Dag is one to carry a grudge and has planned revenge for Andi's murder for five years now. But when he brings down the entire fraudulent charitable foundation site that the insane game developer John Patterson founded, another hacker takes the credit and makes Dag's revenge even more complete by erasing the digital identity of people involved.

Into the aftermath, Jordan Grant arrives at Dag's new office and asks him to track down a hacker who poses a clear threat to all the major governments of the world. But so far, he's only touched people those governments are happy to see gone, so they haven't been diligent about tracking him down. FinCEN has decided to shove the job off on Dag if he'll take it. 

Dag is off around the world to chase down Hacker X and decide if he needs to stop the hacker or join him.

On Kindle at: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08JXQCKMK

On Nook and paper at: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/for-mayhem-or-madness-nathan-everett/1137738180?ean=2940162904120

But wait! There's more!

I'm also releasing Devon Layne's genre-breaking do-over story, Not This Time. What would you do if you were sent back in time to relive your life, but arrived on the day AFTER you made the biggest mistake of your life? You know how you dealt with it the first time. Can you do better this time?

There is a common trope for do-over stories that has been repeated time and time again.

1. A man (always a man) of sixty or seventy years or more 
2. is shot, electrocuted, caught in a wormhole, abducted by aliens, finds a mysterious gem, has a heart attack,
3. and is sent back to relive his life from the time he turned fourteen.
4. He has wikipedic knowledge of everything that has happened in the years he already lived.
5. He is able to bet on obscure sporting events, invest in the right stocks, invent something revolutionary before the real inventor gets to it, or otherwise become fabulously wealthy by being in the right place at the right time.
6. He uses his vast knowledge and understanding of women, acquired in his former life, to woo and bed many women from age fourteen up (because he's really only fourteen, right?)
7. He uses his great understanding of the future to become a world leader and bring peace and prosperity to everyone.

Sounds perfect, right? Well, Not This Time.

On Kindle at: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08JZ7HVTY

On Nook and paper at: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/not-this-time-devon-layne/1137694752?ean=2940162904045

Come celebrate my birthday with a good entertaining read!

Why I’m not trying to convince Republicans not to vote for the incumbent

I see the social media sites lighting up with political memes, passing on ‘the facts,’ and vociferously arguing for their candidate. I’m not joining in. I’ll support getting the vote out and I will point new voters to a good match with the right candidate. And I’ll try to tell people not to throw their vote away on a third, fourth, or fifth party candidate and not to get so disgusted they don’t vote.

But I won’t try to convert someone who has decided to vote for POTUS 45.

They already know.

They already know he is racist and promotes white supremist ideology and groups. They don’t care.

They already know he withheld vital information from the nation and lied about COVID-19 so as ‘not to cause panic’ and made the pandemic worse than it could have been. They don’t care.

They already know he rules on behalf of the ultra-wealthy and has no concern for the poor. They don’t care.

They already know he actively promotes police brutality. They don’t care.

They already know he has no respect for the suckers and losers who make up our military and veterans. They don’t care.

They already know unemployment was falling in the three years before his administration at the same rate it fell during the first three years of his administration. They don’t care.

They already know improving stock prices only help the moderately-to-very wealthy and do not show an improvement in the real national economy. They don’t care.

They already know he has the lowest moral rating of any president since Clinton. They don’t care.

They already know he cannot compose or speak a complete sentence. They don’t care.

They already know America has fallen to the lowest level of respect of every other nation in the world. They don’t care.

They already know he and his family have profited by his presidency through nepotism and government contracts. They don’t care.

They already know how many of his appointees and closest advisors have been convicted of crimes (and many then pardoned by him). They don’t care.

They already know he lies about what is happening, what he’ll do, and how he’ll make America great again. They don’t care.

When half the nation can see this and still not care, it is a waste of breath to try to convert them. They will justify their blind loyalty with made up facts and fear of the opposition. They will deny any evidence contrary to what they have decided to believe and what they have dug up ‘evidence’ to support.

This is the party of ‘I don’t care.’

Who needs to breathe?

Don’t know if you’ve heard about the air quality out west. With hundreds of uncontrolled wild fires burning, the sky is overcast with smoke. It would be bad enough if it stayed up in the sky, but no. It has to come down here were people are trying to breathe.

A friend took a picture in Worley, just up the road from my summer camp. It wasn’t encouraging.

Last night I even slept with a mask on—most of the night. When I lost it, I covered my head with a blanket. Which gave me an even better idea for today. It’s hard to drink coffee while wearing a mask, but if I had a tent around me, I could filter out some more smoke and still have breakfast.

I happened to have this large piece of lightweight fabric and draped it over my head and computer. Here I sit in my little hidey-tent, in my LaZBoy, working on the blog post.

Well, I’ve little else to mention this week. I have to get a prescription filled tomorrow and that involves a drive into Coeur d’Alene, where the air quality is even worse. Here’s to global warming! (Which, of course, doesn’t exist.)