Road Worthy

It’s been a good week, though not as productive in every area as I wanted. My writing fell off to only 28,000 words this week as I took care of other business.

I never thought I’d see the day when I said ‘only’ in reference to that kind of number. But I’m sharpening my keyboard in preparation for Camp NaNoWriMo starting tomorrow (April 1). This week I had a small client project that took up a bit of my writing time. Can always use the extra income!

April! I’m suddenly staring at the end of winter in Arizona and taxes. I guess my interruption in productivity isn’t over yet. The project I did this week was from a financial advisor who titled one of his chapters, ‘Given Death and Taxes, Choose Death.’ Thank you but I think I’ll get my taxes done this afternoon!

I’ve once again celebrated the birth of my daughter this week. We had a lovely chat and I’m still amazed at how time changes us. I remember this

Almost better than this

Happy birthday, sweetie.

Faced with the reality of heading for Idaho in just two short weeks, I made a last trip down to Yuma to get ready. My high-res mouse died. It’s clicker no longer clicks. So, my first stop was at Best Buy to get a new mouse. I’m happy. Then I needed to get the truck ready. Tire inflation and oil change. It’s running great and ready for the road.

And then there was the problem of what to do with me. For one thing, I need a new profile pic for the back cover of my book. What I had isn’t quite suitable, so I got the lawn mowed and the hedges trimmed a bit.

Well, it’s closer to being human.

I was amazed at how green everything is out here in the desert. I stopped to take pictures of the crops in the fields in Yuma Valley. Of course, you can see right away why they are green. The pipes run through the fields and sprinklers feed water from the irrigation canals to make the desert bloom with crops.

Being a Midwesterner, I wasn’t familiar with the planting techniques out here. This is a field prepared for planting.

The pipes are laid in the furrows and the crops are planted on the ridges. A million people come out to pull weeds and tend the young crops. Another place we get food.

April is a great time to become a Patron at https://www.patreon.com/join/NathanEverett. I’ll be posting the pre-release serialization of two new novels beginning in April. I’ve mentioned a lot about Wild Woods, the sequel to last year’s City Limits. I expect the last proofread copy in from my editors this week and will start a last readthrough and formatting of the story for pre-release on my website. Wild Woods continues the story of Gee Evars as he and his fiancé work to make Rosebud Falls and the Forest a better place to live. Mysteries hidden in the newly acquired Wild Woods, however, will shake the very foundations of their community. And Gee will discover who he is and why he is there.

At the same time, I’ll begin the pre-release serialization of Municipal Blondes, the sequel to the Dag Hamar mystery, For Blood or Money, my first published book. I’d like to say this story continues Dag Hamar, but alas, it is narrated by his faithful partner, Deb Riley, as she chases down the loose ends of the mystery Dag died trying to solve. Her penchant for disguise and not exactly following the rules land Deb in hot water almost from the beginning of the book as she heads back to the Condo, down to Belize, and across the ocean to track down the missing pieces.

The pre-release serials will be available to my patrons before anyone else as a thank you for your support!

So far, plans for simultaneous release of both books in June are progressing!

Maybe I was a little chatty in this post, but it’s almost time to shed the winter plumage and wing my way north. I guess first, I’d better do the taxes!

Happily Ever After is a Fairy Tale

This week, a new serialized version of my first published novel, For Blood or Money, completed. You can check it out at http://nathaneverett.com/releases/fbom/

Written in 2006, For Blood or Money was first released as Security and Exchange in an anthology to raise money for building libraries in third world countries. We raised over $5,000 that year. The next year, the fledgling boutique publisher Long Tale Press released the book as For Blood or Money. It was my first commercial release and was well-received. I still have a couple of copies from its first printing. That was back before ‘on-demand’ publishing took hold. Good times.

The problem was my detective narrator died at the end of the story. Bummer. Readers wanted more of him. I resolved the problem five years later by writing a prequel, For Money or Mayhem. I raised some charitable funds with that book as well, selling a character in the book for $1,800 donated to Studio East Training for the Performing Arts (https://studio-east.org/). I like giving things away and when I don’t have money, I give away what I have: Words.

The problem was the detective’s girlfriend died at the end of the story. Poor Dag Hamar. Happily ever after seemed to be eluding him. Or at least eluding my readers.

Response to the end of For Blood or Money has been mixed. Here are a few samples taken from comments and email I’ve received this week.

“What an extraordinary story! Thanks.”
“Well, fuck!”
“Wow! Best ending--ever.”
“AAAhhhhhhh I do hate unhappy endings. Oh well a very good story just the same.”
“Magnificent story. The ending suits the tale.”
“Too bad you seem to prefer unhappy endings to your stories.”
“A great ending. More please.”
“The ending was very disappointing. I'm not just talking about the unhappy ending, but all the loose ends. 1) The unsolved code 2) No letter to Riley explaining his decision 3) Nothing for Billie 4) Maizie will eat his dead face when he's not alive to feed her. After the Gutenberg Rubric, this story was a major disappointment. But thanks for writing.”

Of course, I want to dwell on the last comment because it is instructive, listing the things the reader was disappointed in. It got me thinking about the nature of death and what it does to us. Well, it kills us, I guess. But I don’t know of anyone who was truly prepared to die. No one has all the loose ends of life tied up in a neat package with every string resolved. Every time I think about this, I think of all the things I need to get put in order in my life before I go traipsing around the world next fall.

Does someone have the password for my computer? Does anyone know who to contact? Will I disappear from my story sites and leave a hole that goes unfilled like an Indiana pothole? What happens to royalties and patronage? Heck! I should clean my refrigerator!

Dag’s life is not tidily wrapped up. It simply ends. It is no longer his concern. It leaves unanswered questions. It is left to those who survive to write the next chapter. One more comment I received:

“Any story that makes you pause and do some own self thinking about one's life choices is a good story. Your story is a great story! It made me just sit and think, as I'm dating a girl right now. Have I made my feelings toward her as known as I want them to be? So, I had a sit down and chat with her.”

What very few people know is I wrote a sequel to For Blood or Money in 2006 as well. Portions of it were written in parallel with the mystery and I considered at one time doing a flip-book where you read the story from one perspective from front to back and from another perspective from back to front.

I dug the manuscript for Municipal Blondes out of my files when I started serializing For Blood or Money and decided it was time for this book to see daylight. The story is narrated by Dag Hamar’s intrepid partner, Deb Riley. Riley was as important to For Blood or Money as Dag and he gradually turned more and more of the investigation over to her, ending by telling her there was a tattoo on a corpse that had the information needed to solve the code.

Municipal Blondes picks up the story in the hospital a few days before the end of For Blood or Money. It’s written in Riley’s voice and from her determination to finish Dag’s story. But it is no longer Dag’s story. It is Riley’s. And it has its own questions to be answered.

I’ve become almost obsessed over completing the rewrite of Municipal Blondes and it is coming along so well that I’ve decided to do a joint release of the mystery with Wild Woods on June 23. The contrast between the two books will be something to see!

Wild Woods is now in final proofreading and I expect the remaining readers to have their corrections to me by the first of April so I can start formatting the files for publication. Details on the double release will be available soon!

There. That’s as close to a happy ending as this blog post will ever have!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day

The day when everyone in America becomes Irish Catholic. I’m thinking that surely the day will come when we have a holiday on which everyone in America becomes Iraqi Muslim for a day. We could be sober, eat Halal foods, and spend the day looking over our shoulders for white supremacist assassins. My dress code today is not green, but black.

I saw one of those ‘stupid memes’ on Facebook. But in the wake of murders committed by white supremacists now taking hold around the world I found this to be an interesting take.

How odd that even supporters of the current administration recognize that in the world’s eyes we’ve allowed ‘being American’ to be equated with being racist. Instead of standing up to stop American racism, we are told to be bold in claiming it.

In case you were wondering, I've grown a philosopher's beard, so I can wax eloquent on this subject. And any other.

That brings me, logically enough, to my writing adventure. Doesn’t everything? I completed the ‘final’ draft of Wild Woods last week and sent it off to four proofreaders. I am so thankful for these people who have volunteered their time to help make my book stronger and error-free. The first of the proofreaders has already responded with well over 100 errors spotted. No matter how careful an author, even reading aloud, we see what should be there rather than what is there. A lot like life.

Reading comments from the story editors and integrating them into the story brought home a couple of points that I’d written but hadn’t yet absorbed into my life. Sometimes I write things and later it’s like “Why didn’t I think of that?” Dummy. The key element that I took away from rereading Wild Woods was this.

I’ve long believed that our purpose on earth is to make the world a better place than we found it. I have admired people who stood up and made a difference, whether that was politically, religiously, socially, scientifically, or educationally. Any other ‘ally’s you want to put in there. These are people who made a difference. So why isn’t the world a wonderful happy place and getting better each day?

What could make the world a better place than watching the Mariners beat the Diamondbacks in spring training??? I think they won. We were ahead 6-3 when I left after the second hot dog.

Well, Gee’s revelation in Wild Woods is that what makes a good world is good people. And therefore, if what you do, say, or post doesn’t make you a better person, it doesn’t make the world a better place. And then I think of how many religious, social, political, scientific, and educational developments were made by people who weren’t good. We had no ‘good people’ running for high office in 2016. We had few if any good people running in 2018. I’m not sure we have any lined up for 2020.

I’ve heard lots of people—in individual conversation and in public forums—declare their anger, resistance, beliefs, grief, and commitments. They do so under the banner of free speech. “I should be able to say whatever I want to.” But I look at memes like the one above and think, “If I repost this, will it make me a better person?” For Gee the issue was much bigger, of course, because he’s the main character in a 120,000-word novel.

Wild Woods will be released June 23, 2019. Watch for news and information on the party location!

For me, it is often just, “If I say this and just rip this SOB to shreds for his stupidity, will it make me a better person?” I’m learning (slowly) to shut up.

I don't even start my truck more than once a week and that is usually to go to the post office or to get propane or groceries. I lead a quiet and almost reclusive life.

One of the places Q and I missed when she visited in December was the Blythe Intaglios, giant figures etched in the desert floor by unknown people hundreds of years ago. Friday, I decided to take a little trip up to Parker, AZ for groceries and then cross the Colorado River into California and go see the giant figures.

I’d driven past this site a few years ago and never even noticed it was there. The big roadside marker that is supposed to indicate a historic site has been damaged and never repaired.

What I found was a lonely stretch of dirt road through the desert that led to some impressive sites. Geoglyphs are a rare cultural resource that occur in different countries, including Peru, Chile, England, and Australia. This is the only site of its kind in the US.

These are not down in canyons where you can look over the edge and see the whole thing from above and I’m not rich enough to hire a helicopter to fly me over them. But walking around this 103' long figure of a human was impressive. And fortunately, there were still signs that help identify them.

I saw half a dozen of these giant figures during my visit to a wild and barren land. But the weather the past few weeks has been uncommonly wet and rainy. As a result, it is in bloom wherever you go, including near the intaglios.

I made my way back home, filled with curiosity about the people who had come before and wondered what they had done to make the world a better place. And did they succeed?

Now here is good news for fans of my cyber mysteries, For Money or Mayhem and For Blood or Money. Both of you! I’m in the process of rewriting a sequel to the latter that picks up just before the final chapter of For Blood or Money. Just before? Municipal Blondes continues the story from the perspective of Dag’s partner, Deb Riley. She’s in trouble almost from the beginning as she attempts to unravel the clues that Dag has left as she investigates the strange goings-on at the Condo and with Dag’s ex-wife, the Muffin-Top.

I’ll be releasing Municipal Blondes later this summer. The writing never ends! Perhaps something I say or do will make me a better person.

You can support the effort by subscribing to my Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/bePatron?u=11237246. My patrons get to read all my books before they are released to the public!

Getting It Written

If you read my blog, you probably believe the life of this writer is pretty glamorous. I travel around the country and around the world, collecting experience and background for the stories I write. I run around naked in the desert (or the Palouse), dancing and howling at the moon. And every few months or so, I magically release another book.

Oh, my friends, how I wish it were true!

In the three weeks of February past, I’ve spent 23 hours editing and formatting a client project. I’ve spent 53 hours rewriting my next big release, Wild Woods. And I’ve spent 42 hours in the guise of my alter ego, Devon Layne, writing his next erotic novel, Double Take Book 2. All of those numbers are keyboard time on the project. They don't include the hours I spend proofreading, editing, and formatting my books. They don’t include hours of research that I go through to make the stories authentic or so I can understand another author’s work.

“What is the 5k running time for competitive female high school runners in Indiana?”

“What music would a classical guitarist and a flautist play in a recital?” (hint: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL54JVjPqRWsEWgQEsx5pi2k3dRqCM00At)

“What thorny bushes are native to Northeastern Pennsylvania and which invasive species would survive in a hickory forest if introduced.”

“What is a glass cockpit and how does it affect how pilots fly their planes?”

Just a few of the things I’ve had to learn this week.

Most of my day is spent sitting in my writing chair (substitute desk) working on one of these projects and trying to have a modicum of a life outside. The past week, it has been easy to stay inside as temperatures have routinely been in the 30s at night and rain has been falling at an uncommon rate in the desert. So, I’m afraid there isn’t much in the way of pictures this week. It’s all been writing and editing.

Here’s a little insight into the process I’m going through rewriting Wild Woods. First, I say ‘rewrite’ instead of edit. So far, in 300 pages of rewritten material (70,000 words), I haven’t used copy and paste from my first draft at all. I’ve typed every one of those 379,000 characters. Why? Because in retyping, I rewrite. I find simpler ways to say things. I find better word choices. And I quickly pass over the amount of diddly garbage I wrote in the first draft.

This is not editing. When my story editors, Michele, Michelle, and Lyndsy, got hold of the first draft in November and December, they scribbled all over it. “What? Who is this? This is lazy writing. Is this person important later? I have a hard time keeping track of all your red herrings. Ha-ha!” After reading their comments and frequent line-outs, I put a Band-Aid on my ego and started making my own notes.

“This subplot isn’t going anywhere. Delete.” “Can’t have kids this age in chapter two based on what happens in the ninth chapter.” “Stop preaching and tell the story.” There are days when I read two or three chapters (They are long at 8-9,000 words each.) just so I have a better feeling for the flow and can identify holes that need to be plugged to facilitate later action.

And then I type.

When this draft is completed, sometime in the next two weeks, I’ll reread the entire story and continue to edit and tighten before I send it to my proofreaders. And when it comes back, voilà! I’ll have churned out another lovely story on which I have bled for the past six months.

You can help! After eight months on sale, City Limits has only four reviews on Amazon, all 5-star, and none on Barnes & Noble. It has three reviews and two ratings on Goodreads, averaging a 4.33-star rating. It’s a good book. It needs more reviews, especially as I start moving toward the release of Wild Woods in June.

Please read and review this book!

If you can’t purchase the book for any reason, you can read it online for free at http://www.nathaneverett.com/releases/citylimits/. I don’t often flat-out beg for help, but I need your reviews! I don’t think you’ll regret taking the time to read City Limits!

And then, you’ll be all set to start Wild Woods soon.

Doing a Thing

I love how cultural clichés work into every day language. I read online about various friends who are ‘doing a thing’ and I often think how silly that phrasing is. But this past week, I found myself using the phrase in a Facebook post to refer to plans I’ve made that I’m not quite ready to announce but I’m too excited about to keep quiet. And so, ‘doing a thing’ became the shortcut to share my tiny bit of excitement without saying what it was. Now I'll say what the thing is.

Three years ago, I turned my back on the Hawaiian sunrise and set off West. Around the world. It was one of the greatest adventures of my life. I saw places and met people I will always cherish. So, my announcement on Facebook last week that “I’ve started the process of preparing to do the thing. Target: October 19” is to say that I’m going to do it again. This time I have a list of places I’ve never been before and a few places I simply need to return to.

The trigger for starting the process of preparing was reaching a milestone in my savings. I wanted to make this trip last year but unexpected expenses wiped out my savings and I couldn’t imagine ever getting to that level again. But I devoted myself to living an extremely frugal life since then. I chose my winter campground, for example, because I could stay here for six months for $1300. Food and fuel are cheap and I seldom venture outside my trailer.

The biggest expense of an around-the-world trip is airfare and transportation. I give both of those because, like last time, I plan to spend my time in Europe traveling by train. And possibly the time in India, too. I contacted my travel agent who set me up on such great flights the last time and his word was that I should keep planning but it was too early to buy tickets. In fact, he won’t be able to book most of the trip until mid-summer. But here is my proposed routing.

Seattle to Shanghai and/or Hong Kong. Investigation so far indicates that it is cheaper to fly to both these locations than to fly through Tokyo. Too bad. I seriously considered spending some time in Japan but when it comes down to that or the two great cities of China, it’s not contest. Traveling as a single ‘older’ man to these locations is frightening to say the least. No language, no guide, no contacts. What a way to get my feet wet for this part of the adventure.

I’ve often pondered how my Northern Hemisphere mindset affected my pagan beliefs. So, I think a great way to challenge them is to spend my high holiday of the year, winter solstice, down under where it is summer solstice instead. Australia and New Zealand are at the top of my list to spend December. And besides, I promised my daughter that when I go south of the equator, I’ll get that tattoo I’ve talked about for years. She might even join me there for the holiday.

From Australia, it is a return to two places I’ve enjoyed in the past—Singapore and Chiang Mai, Thailand. I wasn’t and am not particularly enthused about Bangkok, especially if I’m spending some time wandering around Singapore before I get there. (Pepper crabs!) But I can’t wait to spend a month in Thailand at the fabulous Enchanted Garden Bungalows. I feel like I made friends with Steve, Wanchai, and Janie on my last trip and found it to be one of the most beautiful and peaceful places on earth. January seems like a perfect time to spend there.

I’ve worked for several years with another author and adventurer, Mark Sawyer, who has given me so many good insights on India that I can’t pass up the opportunity to go there this time.

I expect to make the journey from Chennai to Mumbai overland, seeking out the holy mountain, Arunachula, and some of the people and fabulous sights Mark has described over the years. From Mumbai, I’m head back to Greece.

This is where Eurail will kick in again for my longest overland journey… I’m guessing about two months. On my last journey, I went north from Greece and toured Central Europe. This time, I want to go through Southern Europe along the Mediterranean Sea. This will include a return to some places dear to me.

I need to return to Metéora in Thessaly. Back to Rome. To see Monaco (James Bond fan). To return to the Camargue in France and then Barcelona. And I want to get to Gibraltar. I’ve never been on the continent of Africa, so it seems that a hop down to Tangier in Morocco would suit my tastes, even if I don’t make it all the way to Casablanca. Then up to Portugal where several friends who have visited recently have told me fabulous tales of the wine… and architecture and art, of course.

Assuming they still allow Americans into the country, I want to spend a fair amount of time (a month?) in the UK. First, to visit my friends, Jo, Sassy, and Michelle. That will take me from London to Cambridge to Scotland. But in between is a place that settled so deeply in my heart on my first visit in 1970 that I’ve written about it in four books and I simply must return: Keswick and the Lake District. I will return to Carles Castlerigg stone circle.

Photo by Rob Bendall, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15746841

Six or seven months after I start this great adventure, I’ll return to my camp in Idaho by way of Seattle and spend the rest of the summer spinning tales of my adventures and writing my next great novel.

All a pipe-dream? I’m certainly not saying that the itinerary is set in stone. My agent will have ideas for routing. I've allowed too much time in Australia and New Zealand to allow the kind of time I want in Thailand and Southern Europe. My friends along the way will have ideas for who and when I should visit. And my limited funds will certainly dictate how long I stay in certain places. I can stay in Thailand for little more than I stay at Quartzsite. I can probably afford only a day or two in Singapore.

Do you have a couch I can surf for a few days along the way? Want to travel alongside for part of the journey? I want to meet more people, see more things, do more stuff. I’ll be 70 years old and I think that’s just young enough to enjoy this trip!

Where Did the Time Go?

This morning, I’m thinking that caption should go on the California DMV website. I went online to buy new tabs for my trailer on December 31, only to discover that if there was a change of address, I had to mail my renewal. And, California has no grace period, so mailing the renewal on January 2 meant it would cost $20 extra. The price went up every week.

So, I filled out the form, found the special envelope that said “Expedite: California DMV”, went to Blythe, and mailed the renewal along with my check, including the late fee. It’s now February 10, over a month since I sent it in, and the check still hasn’t been cashed. I’m pretty sure the fee for getting my tabs is now well over $300. Not amused.

I suppose the same could be said of me since it has been nearly a month since I updated this blog. Wow! Where did the time go?

Here in Quartzsite AZ, there is a winter phenomenon. In mid-January, the population goes from 2,000 to 250,000 as the Quartzsite PowWow, The Quartzsite RV show, and the Quartzsite Gem and Mineral show draw even more crowds than the Quartzsite 70 degrees and sunny show. One unfortunate side-effect is that Verizon has no concept that traffic increases in January and data speeds slow to a crawl. Seriously, half the time I can’t check Facebook or email. That slow. So much for unlimited high speed internet.

So, I didn’t do much internetting until I headed out for Las Vegas on the 20th. I was in disguise and changing appearance every day as I adopted the persona of author Devon Layne, writer of adult romance and adventure.

That’s my South American dictator disguise.

Of course, I was there for professional reasons. That was the week of the Adult Entertainment Expo and Devon is on the fringe of that industry with several acquaintances. He’s been trying to interest producers in scripts that actually have a storyline and dialog. Not much chance of that, but getting together with some of my favorite professionals in the industry is always worth the trip.

That was my Western Sheriff disguise.

A high point of the week, though, was meeting up with some of my friends from up north and enjoying the gaming, nightlife, and food of Las Vegas.

I was in my hip old man disguise there.

Well, it was a good week even though Doug and Colleen tried to get me to eat crawdads. Mike and I enjoyed a few good cigars. And we all got dolled up to go out and party one night.

So, after a week of leaving everything behind in Las Vegas, I headed back south for Quartzsite. I was surprised to find the desert had turned green in my absence. Water does such funny things.

I thought I was on top of everything. I got my Washington Business taxes filed. I even did my annual report (not due till end of February). I paid Mark his royalties for the past year of $14. I formatted and uploaded a new book, got my websites updated, and have gained 26 new patrons on Patreon since the last time I posted here. Life’s been good to me so far!

I’m still in disguise and several times was mistaken for “That guy on Jurassic Park”, Richard Attenborough. Apparently, they didn’t realize he died four years ago. So, several people got photos with the dead-at-90 actor.

Writing is progressing apace. January saw me already 30,000 words ahead of my writing pace goal, even with a few days of enforced wordlessness.

The major project on my desk as of February 1 is Wild Woods, the sequel to my popular novel of last year, City Limits. With the notes of my excellent editors in hand, I’m estimating Wild Woods will only require about a 50% rewrite rather than the 90% that City Limits needed. Whoopee! At the moment, I’m declaring myself to still be on-target for a June 2019 release.

Well, that’s my news of the day. No telling what will come next!

Giving Back What I Can

I don’t have a lot of new pictures of fun adventures to share this week, so I’ll use book covers. We had a big ‘yard’ sale in the RV park Saturday and I sold a book! What a treat, however, to find that two other people came by to tell me they had already read or were reading City Limits and enjoying it.

Those are kind people who buy books. I’ve seen precious few of those around in the past year. On the other hand, I’ve started giving them away. It’s what I can do.

Back in April, before I officially released City Limits, I serialized it online. For free! If you like or tolerate reading books online instead of having a physical or electronic copy downloaded to your fingertips, check this out. I worked hard to make a good reading experience for you at http://www.nathaneverett.com/releases/citylimits/.

Releasing it for free before it released commercially helped sales as I had people buying the book who had already read it or part of it. I’ll do the same with Wild Woods when it releases this spring.

But I discovered over the years there are many readers who can’t or don’t afford books, yet love to read. I understand that. The price of a $15 paperback is the same as a steak dinner at our local restaurant here in Quartzsite—including tip. A $5 eBook is the same price as a meal at home. I’m very careful about what I buy. My income isn’t getting any bigger!

So I followed up the release of City Limits with For Money or Mayhem, a Dag Hamar mystery. Once again, chapters were read online 75,000 times! For free! Sales of For Money or Mayhem on Amazon were the highest since its release with phenomenal new reviews. Now you can read the book online for free at http://www.nathaneverett.com/releases/money/.

It was with a little worry that I decided to release my most popular novel, The Gutenberg Rubric online. But the people who were writing to me and commenting often mentioned that they would never have been able to buy one of my books and were grateful that I was publishing them where they could access them for free. I began posting The Gutenberg Rubric online for free in October and it became my highest rated of the three books, scoring 8.6 out of 10 in reader votes. And there were matching sales online from those who could purchase the book and wanted to support the author. Now you can read The Gutenberg Rubric on my site for free at http://www.nathaneverett.com/releases/gutenberg/.

The latest entry into the field started free posting this week: For Blood or Money. My first published novel, For Blood or Money has been a staple of my backlist, seemingly rediscovered repeatedly. Now I’m offering it at no charge to readers who can’t afford it.

“Nathan, why was there no free reader link?”

The answer is simple. On my website, I release the book first to my sponsors so they get the first glimpse. They pay for making it available to other readers for free. As a result, they get to read it first. These are the people I’m pleased to call my Fellow Traveler Patrons. https://www.patreon.com/join/NathanEverett

I have two Patreon accounts and both provide income that I use for site maintenance, software, conversion of files, and cover art. The other site is for those interested in adult romance and adventure, often with a sexual theme. I protect the Nathan Everett patrons from that but if you are interested in the works of Devon Layne, you might try https://www.patreon.com/join/aroslav. Just this year, Devon has released three lengthy novels for his Advance Release Community before they were available for free to the public.

    

His newest work, Double Take, is currently being made available. Devon’s site, featuring all twenty-eight of his released books is http://www.devonlayne.com/.

It seems the one thing I have an abundance of is words. They might not be great words, but for many people they provide entertainment, inspiration, and even comfort. I’m making those words available to people who cannot or will not afford them as my little gift to the world and with the grateful support of my Patrons.