Our editor just sent the edits back for Haunted Noble County, Indiana, along with a VERY tight deadline for getting them done. So you won't be hearing much from us for a week or so.

That being the case, I'm interrupting your regular blog so you can check out the news over on our newsletter, which you'll find here:

The Notorious Ian Grant released, Haunted Noble County on preorder, Storm Chaser price cut! 

Long story short: Haunted Noble County, Indiana is up for preorder now with an August 12 release date; we cut the ebook price for Storm Chaser from $1.50 to 99 cents; and we're rolling out the rerelease of Storm Chaser's sequel, The Notorious Ian Grant. It's out as an ebook, and will hopefully be available on print and audio soon.

Okay, it wasn't that short. But there are more details in the newsletter. I'm off to edit--wish my chronic back pain away, please.

Ian Grant Cover Small.jpg



Support your local author! And editor. If you have time.

·        Amazon:  https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B0058CL6OO
·        Barnes & Noble:  https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/"Mark R Hunter"
·        Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4898846.Mark_R_Hunter
·        Blog: https://markrhunter.blogspot.com/
·        Website: http://www.markrhunter.com/
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Remember, a lot of work goes into making a good book, so keep buying.

 

 As part of some Big Stuff coming down the pike, we've reduced the ebook price of Storm Chaser to .99 cents. That's just one cup of coffee, if you're still in the 20th century! I guess you'd have to buy several to match the cost of a Starbucks grande moff vanilla triple entente Xstream latte.
For now it's in the Kindle Store here:
You can also get it on audiobook for .99 cents if you're a member, or even zero if you're a member of Audible:
(Remember, the audiobook is done by virtual voice. If you don't like that, you might like to pass, or donate money for me to pay for a narrator.)

78909-10.jpg

The black funnel of an approaching tornado makes all other troubles seem small. But when Indiana State Trooper Chance Hamlin "rescues" Allie Craine from a twister, his troubles are just beginning. Allie, a disaster photographer, rescues him when he drives into the storm's path.
Chance doesn't like being rescued. He also doesn't like photographers, and he definitely doesn't like being stuck with Allie when she wants to stay in calm, peaceful, Indiana.
Too bad his family, friends, and even coworkers think she’s great. Suspicious of Allie’s motives, he decides to drive her away out of sheer boredom—but that’s not so easy when someone begins causing fires and other catastrophes around the area. That someone might be Allie, who has plans of her own ...



You can read our books here:


·        Amazon:  https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B0058CL6OO

·        Barnes & Noble:  https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/"Mark R Hunter"

·        Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4898846.Mark_R_Hunter

·        Blog: https://markrhunter.blogspot.com/

·        Website: http://www.markrhunter.com/

·        Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ozma914/

·        Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarkRHunter914

·        Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markrhunter/

·        Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarkRHunter

·        Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@MarkRHunter

·        Substack:  https://substack.com/@markrhunter

·        Tumblr:  https://www.tumblr.com/ozma914

·        Smashwords:  https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/ozma914

·        Audible: https://www.audible.com/search?searchAuthor=Mark+R.+Hunter&ref_pageloadid=4C1TS2KZGoOjloaJ&pf



Reading about storms is way more fun than experiencing them.

"If the Beast gave me a library like he gave to Belle, I'd marry him too." -- Aya Ling


 So, my wife's bosses were going through storage units, and had to sort through all the books their daughter collected over the years. Some were damaged, but they offered to give Emily and me most of the rest. Their daughter, they said, read a lot.

Not long after, they filled our Ford Escape with so many books I was afraid it would bottom out on every hill on the way home. A few days later, they did it again. Then again.

 

 

Mountains of books! Forests of books! More books than you'd ever read in a lifetime!

Ahem. If you'll pardon me for quoting Beauty and the Beast. I may have cried a little. I also may have cried a little while we were carrying them all up the steps into the house, but enough about my back.

It was Emily who had to clean up the books because, as it happens, I'm allergic to both dust and mold. Never thought I'd be glad about that. But I forgot, and later when I was cleaning our former bedroom/new reading room (our own library!) I gave myself an allergy attack. Too bad--eight hours of sleeping off the Benadryl, when I could have been reading.

 

Freaking scads of books! 

We're still sorting them, by author and genre. Authors like me, who don't stick to a genre, will be a problem. But many of them were novel series (love a good series), which helped. We unfolded a table and Emily got started while I was cooking and doing the dishes, which is completely understandable when you realize how much more organized her mind is than mine.

Really, the only member of the family who wasn't thrilled was the dog. (This all happened before Beowulf passed away.) When we first put up the table he liked to lay down under it, but as we unpacked more books that space became filled, too. Sometimes he just walked up to the table and looks sadly at his former doghouse.

"I am NOT amused. I can't even read."

 

A large percentage of the books are what's called high fantasy, which I take it are better enjoyed when you're high. Wait, let me check ...

Oh. Well, it means epic in scope, with forces threatening a world that is not our own. Game Of Thrones stuff, and didn't it take us a whole year to read through those massive tomes. The novel I wrote (and am currently trying to sell) is low fantasy: mostly set in the real world, with the addition of magical elements. Now we're talking about Harry Potter and the Giant Dump Truck of Money.

Many others are space opera, again similar to another novel in my submission process. Think Dune, the Lensman books, and of course Star Wars. (My Junior English teacher in high school was the daughter of E.E. Smith, who authored the Hugo-nominated Lensman series. Fun old-timey SF, and possibly an inspiration for the Green Lantern.)

There are also history books, mostly involving World War II, which made me squeal a little. Okay, a lot. There are mysteries, and both nonfiction and fiction books about horses, and encyclopedia yearbooks covering all the earlier years of my life and some before. We have our own library of books--something I always dreamed of.

I took this photo to document that someone decided to leave their shampoo behind, and buy a book instead. If you never leave your couch, you don't need shampoo.

 

It all made me a little sad.

Let's face it: even if I gave up writing and put all my spare time into reading, there's no way I'll ever get to all these books, plus the ones I already have, plus the ones on my reading list. We've still got books in boxes in the garage. I've got friends writing books that I want to read. It makes me want to retire to a rustic cabin in the woods and just become one with a comfortable chair.

Still, just having all those books up on shelves around us will cheer me up substantially, and better too many than not enough. With books, I may never go anywhere again--but I'll go everywhere.

That's a pretty good way to spend your time.


Remember: Every time you don't read a book, the author has an allergy attack. Keep authors healthy.

 


 

We and our books--I mean, the ones we wrote--can be found everywhere:

·        Amazon:  https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B0058CL6OO

·        Barnes & Noble:  https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/"Mark R Hunter"

·        Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4898846.Mark_R_Hunter

·        Blog: https://markrhunter.blogspot.com/

·        Website: http://www.markrhunter.com/

·        Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ozma914/

·        Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarkRHunter914

·        Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markrhunter/

·        Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarkRHunter

·        Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@MarkRHunter

·        Substack:  https://substack.com/@markrhunter

·        Tumblr:  https://www.tumblr.com/ozma914

·        Smashwords:  https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/ozma914


A few years ago we got the publishing rights back to our Storm Chaser series of books: Storm Chaser, Storm Chaser Shorts, and The Notorious Ian Grant. Our plan was to independently publish all three.

Sales had been flat, and the publisher that bought the publisher that bought the books (!) left their pricing (in my opinion) too high for a little known author. $3.99 is a great Kindle buy for a Steven King novel, but few people had heard of Mark R. Hunter.

(Many of those who did thought I was the CEO of Molson Coors Brewing Company. I once got a nasty e-mail from someone who didn't like how I was running my baseball team.)

Well, COVID happened, along with a bunch of other unforeseen problems of various kinds, but here it is!

 

 

 

We made a few edits, but basically it's the same story (a little R-rated in a couple of places) at a much lower price: The e-book version is $1.50 instead of $3.99, and the print version $14 instead of $16.99. (Printing costs are killing everyone.) Check it out here:

https://www.amazon.com/Storm-Chaser-Mark-Hunter-ebook/dp/B0C7MB95NH

Storm Chaser is a romantic comedy pairing a Californian disaster photographer with an Indiana State Trooper who hates photographers—and Californians. I have a feeling he’ll come around … but meanwhile, who’s causing emergencies in his home area, just in time for her to photograph them?

There are still original editions of the book wandering around out there, with the same character on the cover. It seemed best to make the new cover different, but not too different.

We did get Storm Chaser Shorts, now titled Storm Squalls, out last year.

It can be found here, https://www.amazon.com/Storm-Squalls-Mark-R-Hunter-ebook/dp/B09YGJ1XR6, also at a lower cost.

I haven't been advertising Storm Squalls because most of the stories take place after the events of Storm Chaser--but now Storm Chaser is officially on the virtual bookshelves, so I can promote the heck out of both in between working on new projects. We're going to get The Notorious Ian Grant back up too, but it might have to wait until autumn.

But wait ... there's more!

Coming Attractions will be FREE on ebook in July, part of the Smashwords July summer/winter sale.

 


 Participating authors can be found here:
https://www.smashwords.com/shelves/promos, starting  July 1st, and my account is at https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/ozma914. There you'll also find the two fiction anthologies I have stories in, also at the attractive cost of zero.

 

 


 

 

More about that later, but I wanted to give everyone a heads up. Now even the dog knows.


 He's a little upset I didn't ask his help in editing, though. Don't tell him, but Emily's much better at it.

By the way, my YA novel The No-Campfire Girls is also in the Storm Chaser universe, as it shares some of the same characters.


http://markrhunter.com/
https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B0058CL6OO

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/"Mark R Hunter"

 

If we sell a hundred books by the end of summer, I'll recite one of my humor poems online. If we sell a thousand by the end of summer, I promise I WON'T recite poetry online.

 

Ever have one of those days when everything seemed to be going your way? Nick Fashion has a beautiful fiancée, a thriving business, a fancy car ... if it had been me, I'd be terrified.

But in Doohickey, Nick stumbles unaware into Very Bad Day territory. His business burns down, his eccentric inventor grandfather dies under mysterious circumstances, and his potential father-in-law ends up being a suspicious ex-cop. In short order he's a broke, single, arson suspect with bullet holes in his car.

Pete Hautman really does, as the Bible might put it, a Job job on poor Nick. But Nick has a glimmer of hope: He inherits his grandfather's isolated desert compound, along with a brilliant invention: a kitchen doohickey that's bound to make him rich ... if he can figure out how to pay for the production, avoid being killed by an angry psycho, and not get arrested.

 


https://www.amazon.com/Doohickey-Novel-Pete-Hautman-ebook/dp/B003L77W32

 

Poor Nick: Every time something does go his way, it backfires. An offer of financial support from a beautiful cooking show host, for instance, angers two people Nick doesn't want to make mad: his fiancée and the aforementioned angry psycho, the host's ex-husband. It's exactly the kind of twisted complications and eccentric characters Hautman excels in. Doohickey is one of those novels in which you root for Nick to succeed, but can't help being entertained by his failures.

Sadly, it took me twelve years for me to find this book, but now that Pete Hautman is on my radar, you can be sure I'll track down some of his many other works. It's a fun read ... even if not so fun for the characters.

 

http://markrhunter.com/
https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B0058CL6OO
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/"Mark R Hunter"

 

 Tom Jett, with his freshly minted college degree in philosophy, wanders from California across the country, looking for the right mountain range for ... he's not sure what. When his Toyota breaks down in the little town of Pick in southeast Kentucky, Tom figures this must be it, whatever it is.

Unfortunately, Tom arrives just as a corporation starts buying up local properties for a mining operation. He's put up in an old hillside cabin by local mechanic/blues artist Gilman Lee, who asks Tom to watch for signs the corporation is auguring coal from under his property. In short order Tom spots Gemma Collet, her skin milky white due to a medical condition, bathing naked in a nearby creek. Not long after, former resident Rosalie Wilson, Gilman's lost love, arrives from Florida, on the run from her rich, charming, homicidal lover.

Yes, it's a long book.

 

 
https://www.amazon.com/SLOW-DANCING-DINOSAUR-BONES-Novel/dp/0684815354

 

It's a little hard to describe the plot of Slow Dancing On Dinosaur Bones--in that way it's something of a literary novel, right up to an ending that's sudden and seems pointless, if inevitable. Gilman Lee is really the main protagonist, and the main fight is against an uncaring coal company that may not own his property, but does own the mineral rights. But things get complicated, quickly, and we're treated to numerous points of view as the characters go about their lives in ways that, often without realizing it, have great effect on others.

You should know that the book came out in 1996, although that doesn't really matter other than the lack of technology that may have made things a bit easier for everyone. Lana Witt has written a sequel of sorts, called The Heart of a Thirsty Woman, which at least in the beginning takes place in Pick. To give you an idea of my thoughts on the first book, I'll be tracking down the second for a read.

 


 

My family comes from that area of Kentucky--it was fun to recognize various towns and places mentioned. Lana Witt surely also comes from down there, because she has not only the locations and terrain down, but also the people. Good and bad. She also knows how to pick up the threads of a story and weave them together into a fascinating tale.

My only complaint about Slow Dancing On Dinosaur Bones is my pet peeve: The characters do things that often go against their own best interest, for absolutely no good reason, when a dab of common sense would solve their problems. In other words, the people of Pick are sometimes so much like real people it makes you wince. It's fascinating and a great read, but don't expect escapism.


 

http://markrhunter.com/
https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B0058CL6OO
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/"Mark R Hunter"

 


 

 It seems I can type between napping, even if I can't talk all that well--long story.

(Actually it's a short story: Viruses and white blood cells are waging an epic battle in my upper respiratory system, like Game of Thrones but with more coughing.)

Before my next dose of NyQuil I wanted to remind everyone that my novel Coming Attractions, as well as two fiction anthologies I have short stories in, remain free on e-book at Smashwords until the end of this year. (And aren't we all eager for this year to be over?)

My Smashwords account is at https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/ozma914, but there are lots of other free and reduced books there for another, oh, three days. (!)
 
Email Header 
 
Pick up a free download on epub, mobi, and pdf formats, or as an original document. After all, we have long weeks of winter coming up, and when your friends want you to go outside you can tell them you're catching up on your reading.
 
 
 


 In case I sleep through it: Happy New Year!
 
As usual, all our books can be found at:

 When a novel begins with the total destruction of Earth and everyone on it ... where do you go from there?

In God's Bolt, Ron Forsythe goes to the only survivor: scientist Helen Southcote. Alone on a United Nations sponsored space station, she has to witness the asteroid impact that destroys the world, and live with the knowledge that she's the only survivor.

She doesn't handle it well.

Helen's only companion is an Artificial Intelligence running the station that she doesn't really like, and her only comfort the knowledge that the search for intelligence elsewhere, her life's obsession, was successful: There is life out in the rest of the galaxy. Unfortunately, it's so far away that it's no hope of rescue, and unlikely to even know of the Earth's destruction.

 God's Bolt by [Ron Forsythe] 

 https://www.amazon.com/Gods-Bolt-Ron-Forsythe-ebook/dp/B07QB9CFJL

 

For the rest of the novel Forsythe flashes back to Helen's life, the creation of the space station's A.I., and the discovery of the massive asteroid that sneaks up on Earth, along with efforts to divert it. At the same time we follow Helen's recovery from despair. She's seen her friends and family all die, and is now stranded on a space station that can never land. The best she can hope for is to survive, alone, and watch the world burn beneath her.

Not the most upbeat life in the world. Still, God's Bolt is fascinating in the same way so many disaster stories are, even if the "Who will live?" question seems settled right from the beginning. The writing can be repetitive at times, especially when it comes to Helen's breakdown and the fight against the asteroid--I couldn't help thinking it wasn't necessary to say it was huge so many times, for instance. But it was an interesting, optimistic, look at what the world could be in a century and a half or so. Interesting enough that I was sad to see it go!

Helen is the main viewpoint character in God's Bolt, and I found her well rounded, especially as we get to follow her through her life and dedication to the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. That's a subject I assumed was an unnecessary side story, but just about everything is tied up at the end.

I also found the efforts to stop the disaster, complete with infighting in the world's government and the rise of a doomsday cult, to be fascinating, even knowing their efforts would ultimately fail. All in all a fun read, or at least as fun as planetary Armageddon can be.

By the way, improbably ... there's a sequel.

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51ulBV0gGyL._SY346_.jpg

 

 

 

http://markrhunter.com/
https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B0058CL6OO
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/"Mark R Hunter"

 

I have a new (and free) short story up on the newsletter:

https://mailchi.mp/1a341fafb2bb/free-christmas-short-story

Because we all deserve a little free entertainment ... but especially this year. So here's the story of a man with a morally questionable past adjusting to a new life, and the extended family that welcomes him. (The characters are from the Storm Chaser stories, but beyond revealing the books have happy endings, there are no spoilers here.)

 

And don't forget the rest of our books--Merry Christmas!


 

 

 The No-Campfire Girls is featured today on The Fussy Librarian newsletter, which is a great way to see free and bargain books. Check out their website:

https://www.thefussylibrarian.com/

 

But The No-Campfire Girls is always 99 cents as an e-book and just five bucks in paperback, which is pretty darned good. There's a nice article about the book and how it came to be written (complete with a picture of our dog!) here:


https://www.kpcnews.com/news/latest/newssun/article_3353901e-ff14-5d01-a815-e78667f481be.html

 Good publicity is ... well, good. As usual the book and all our books can be found on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00K3OS35C

Or on our website:

http://www.markrhunter.com/books.html

 After all, no one ever got hurt by reading a book. Um, except maybe The Anarchist Cookbook.

 

Get the whole set!

 

http://markrhunter.com/
https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B0058CL6OO
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/"Mark R Hunter"

See that little play on words I did with the title? No? Never mind.

 

 I finished the final polishing of We Love Trouble. It tops out at 81,000 words--still the longest novel I've written yet. Boy, is writing a mystery tough: characters, suspects, clues, red herrings, ghosts, horses, Bigfoot ... 

 Well, it's that kind of story.

I already have Beowulf: In Harm's Way, Fire On Mist Creek, and Summer Jobs Are Murder at various points in the submission process, and I think I'll send this one out on the literary agent hunt. I really like it ... which doesn't mean it's good, of course, but if readers have half as much fun reading it as I did writing it, it should do pretty well.

I've described We Love Trouble as "The Thin Man meets Scooby Doo". For those of you who don't remember "The Thin Man", I could also describe it as "Hart to Hart Meets Scooby Doo". For those who don't remember "Hart to Hart", I'm at something of a loss. I assume everyone has heard of Scooby Doo.

I finished a submission cover letter, and here's one of the blurbs I came up with:

 

 

A near collision with a riderless horse leads travel bloggers Travis and Victoria Noble to an unconscious teenager—then to a dead man. A quiet Indiana camping trip for the Suzuki twins and their steeds has become a conspiracy involving horse racing, blackmail, and … morel mushrooms.

It's another fun mystery for the always helpful Nobles, who are so used to being suspects they have bail money on speed dial. Not so for their dog Wulfgar, whose unusual talents include seeing dead people. He struggles to protect his humans and pass on what the ghosts tell him: Something's unusual about the twins' horses, and the threat to the Suzuki family—and the Nobles—is far more than supernatural.

 

Yeah, I'd read that. Well, I already have, about a dozen times.

 

"Did you say dog?"


 


http://markrhunter.com/
https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B0058CL6OO
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/"Mark R Hunter"

 

NaNoWriMo update: 35,000 words into the new novel!

Just an update on our newest book, More Slightly Off the Mark: We had to make some changes, and that screwed up formatting, and things happened, pandemic, yadayada ... anyway, it's back up for sale in print and e-book. If you ordered a copy direct from us, there will be a slight delay in delivery, for which I'm deeply sorry. I blame 2020.

 

 It's that time of year again ... that time when we think about Christmas and completely forget the fact that there's still another major holiday before then.

While I'm firmly of the "too much Christmas lessons the holiday" opinion, I'm also well aware that many of you are already searching for Christmas presents. Honestly, it's a good idea, and I should do it myself someday. But until then, here's another idea for Christmas presents:

Yes, books. If you already knew, why did you let me go on for so long?

In addition to previously dropping prices on some of our other books, we recently dropped the e-book price of Coming Attractions from $2.99 to $1.99, which according to my admittedly weak math is close to a dollar off, and in the area of half the cost of a four dollar book. 

As usual, you can go direct and get it and our other books on the website:

http://www.markrhunter.com/books.html


 

In that case you can get it signed ... which is kind of like your own personal graffiti, already in the book when you get it. No extra price for my defacing! Heck, it should drop the price.

Needless to say, of course, you can also get it and the other books on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Coming-Attractions-Mark-R-Hunter-ebook-dp-B07KM6JWQC

I'm hearing some people aren't leaving Amazon this year. At all. I'm more of a brick and mortar guy, but I suppose reading in general is more important to me than where you get your reading. If you're contrary, you can do a search for "Coming Attractions Mark R. Hunter" and get hits from several different book sellers, because some of us just march to the beat of our own book drums.

 But remember this: Buy early, buy often. Whenever Santa delivers a book, one of his whiskers turns into an angel and flies away. And Santa's getting pretty hairy.

 

 

My new National Novel Writing Month project is very special to me, but I'm not quite ready to announce what it is ... not on purpose.

 

https://youtu.be/B4kxxtrbgKk

 

My new National Novel Writing Month project is very special to me, but I'm not quite ready to announce what it is ... on purpose.

 

 

 

 


I planned to take a break from long works after reading The Passage, which I described as "War and Peace and More War". But my wife wanted to forge ahead into the sequel, and it's hard to say no considering how good the original was.
 
The Passage covered an entire century, starting with an ill-advised government experiment (aren't they all?) and ending with a world overrun by what we could loosely call vampires, with a few human settlements hanging on. Two of our constants are Amy, a six year old subject of the experiments, and Arbogast, a government agent who once had a daughter of his own, and against orders decides to protect the little girl.
 
As The Twelve opens we find ourselves right back at the beginning, following a small group of survivors as they try to escape the virus spreading through America. At first there seems little connection between them and characters from the previous book, but as their paths converge those connections do appear. By the time we jump forward to "present" day we're back with the people from the first novel, including a mysteriously slow aging Amy, who turns out to be the key to evolving events.
 
Speaking of evolving, the hordes of infected are now under the control of the original experiment subjects--The Twelve--and in a horrible city of human slaves they're planning a new order that could be quite literally a fate worse than death. The only way to stop them: Infiltrate the city, and kill The Twelve.
 
 
How hard could it be?
 
 
The Twelve is epic and complex, and yes, it's long, but my only complaint is that you might have a little trouble keeping track of characters. Luckily Cronin is good at keeping things and people clarified, for which I assume he has a flow chart marching along every one of his office walls. Its been awhile since I've been willing to trade sleep for reading, and this time Cronin is the reason why. The Twelve might not be right for someone looking for a light read, but for anyone who wants to be drawn in and actually care about the characters, this is the place to be.
 
Maybe--just maybe--The Twelve is actually better than The Passage. If that's so the third book in the trilogy, which we just picked up, will have to be pretty spectacular, indeed. And pretty long.
 
The City of Mirrors awaits me. If I disappear for a while, don't be concerned.
 
 

This may seem an odd time of the year for this, but I've been working on a novel set at a horse campground in late April, so to me it fits right in. In conjunction with it appearing Monday on the FussyLibrarian website, here's my periodic soap selling about one of my favorite books, The No-Campfire Girls.

Half the proceeds of this novel benefits Friends of Latonka, an organization made to support Emily's former Girl Scout camp in Wappapello, Missouri. That's the camp singer Cheryl Crow went to. No, I'm not making that up.

My fourteen regular readers, you know the story:



 
Fifteen year old Beth Hamlin is horrified to discover her beloved summer camp must go without campfires this year, due to the fire hazard from a drought. But Beth isn't one to just sit (or swim, or boat, or horseback) around. When her new cabin mate, Cassidy, claims a local Cherokee can do a rain dance, she jumps into action.

All they have to do is trick the Camp Director into letting Running Creek do the dance, avoid the local bully and a flying arrow or two, and keep from getting caught plotting with Cassidy’s firefighter father on a forbidden cell phone. With luck southern Indiana will get a nice, soaking rain, and Camp Inipi can have proper campfires again.

But when things go horribly wrong, the whole area is endangered by a double disaster. Now Beth and her unit may be the only people who can save not only their camp, but everyone in it.
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It was a lot of fun for me to write and seems to be fun to read, judging from the comments. Plus, hey--99 cents for an e-book and five bucks for a print copy is a pretty darned good buy these days. 
 
Like poison ivy, you can get it all over the place. But the most popular place to get it (the book, not poison ivy) is on our website, or on Amazon:
 
 
 
Please consider it for you and/or a young adult you love, because a day without reading is like, well, a day without campfires. Or, best case scenario, reading around a campfire.
 

 

I spent some time on the internet last month researching the parts of a saddle and bridle, types of horses, trailer hitches, dog behavior, cowboy hats, head injuries, patient assessment, and the topography of Brown County, Indiana. All for one story.

Later I spent more time researching the horse racing industry, handguns, mushrooms, John Wayne, skin glue, and Japanese names.

Yeah, I'm back in that fiction writing game. At least until I get done with the first draft of We Love Trouble, and go back to researching for nonfiction.

I love this job.

 

Ah--so that's a horse. Thanks, Pokagon Saddle Barn!

 


http://markrhunter.com/
https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B0058CL6OO
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/"Mark R Hunter"

(Remember, every book that doesn't sell by January 1st has to go to the Island of Mistfit Books.)

Happy 68th birthday, Camp Latonka!

Today (Friday, 6/28), The No-Campfire Girls is being promoted on The Fussy Librarian, an e-book website that can be found here:

https://www.thefussylibrarian.com/

Yes, there's a connection! I don't normally ask you--um, more than once a week--to buy our books. But half the proceeds of this novel continue to go toward the effort to support Camp Latonka, the Missouri Girl Scout facility where Emily camped and then worked for many years. It's listed as a young adult adventure, but I think it could be fun for adult readers, too--and at least the cost is fun, at 99 cents on e-book and $5 in paperback.

If you don't want to subscribe, The No-Campfire Girls can still be found at the same price at, among other places, here:
 

 
It's been awhile since I've been able to give Friends of Camp Latonka a donation, and Scout camps continue to get shut down across the country. Please spread the word to everyone you know, especially if you happen to know former Scouts Taylor Swift, Gwyneth Paltrow, Susan Lucci, Abigail Breslin, Dionne Warwick, Katie Couric, Martha Stewart, Mariah Carey, Celine Dion, Dakota Fanning, Barbara Walters, Venus Williams, and Sheryl Crow. They could probably use a fun read, right? 

 
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Fifteen year old Beth Hamlin is horrified to discover her beloved summer camp must go without campfires this year, due to the fire hazard from a drought. But Beth isn't one to just sit (or swim, or boat, or horseback) around. When her new cabinmate, Cassidy, claims a local Cherokee can do a rain dance, she jumps into action.

All they have to do is trick the Camp Director into letting Running Creek do the dance, avoid the local bully and a flying arrow or two, and keep from getting caught plotting with Cassidy’s firefighter father on a forbidden cell phone. With luck southern Indiana will get a nice, soaking rain, and Camp Inipi can have proper campfires again.

But when things go horribly wrong, the whole area is endangered by a double disaster. Now Beth and her unit may be the only people who can save not only their camp, but everyone in it.
 
 
Image
So, I saw a familiar semi trailer on an episode of The Walking Dead last year:
 

Turns out it is the very same trailer that was part of Bandit's semi (although if you ask me, it should have been called Snowman's semi, since he drove it through most of the movie). Well, that got my creative juices flowing. How did that trailer end up on the side of the road, during the zombie apocalypse?


Which, for some reason, seemed to erase the comparison photo above after I sent it out. So people are saying, "What's that funny little icon, and what semi trailer are you talking about?" And I apparently can't edit my newsletter once it's sent, which kinda makes sense since it's been sent since (say that three times fast), so I'm posting it here, too.

One of the fun things about fanfiction is that you can merge two worlds that would otherwise never exist. My old fanfiction can be found under Ozma914 over at fanfiction.net, and includes such things as a meeting between Doctor Who and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

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ONE LAST LONG HAUL

“Bandit, this is the Snowman. Looks like those deadheads got the highway backed up all the way up to the 360. C’mon back.”

Snowman released the mic before letting his frustration out with a series of curses. Not that anyone cared about cussing on the radio anymore, but old habits, and all. He braked the eighteen wheeler, looking for a way around the sea of walking dead that stretched across the two lane highway as far as the eye could see. Suggesting the herd stopped at the 360 mile marker was wishful thinking.

“Snowman, we’re working on it, son. But the interstate’s a no-go—full of parked cars to the Carolina state line. We gotta find a way through ‘em, even if you dent my rig.”

Well, then. Attracted by the truck’s rumbling diesel engine, the walkers had started moving his way. Snowman put the rig in reverse and started backing slowly, while considering his options. This was the part where he’d talk to Fred, if his poor old dog hadn’t passed away years ago.

Maybe it was for the best.

He was down to an eighth of a tank. The trailer, still decorated from the glory days with its bandit and stagecoach décor, was empty after a failed supply run to the south. He could always abandon it and try to hike around the herd, to get back to his friends and family.

It would take forever.

For a moment Snowman rubbed his three day stubble, then picked up the mic again. “Bandit … you find a place for the group?”

“I did, but we used up about all our gas getting there. Safe place, Snowman—I already dropped off your wife and kids, they’re fine. Guy in charge there’s got a tiger. A real tiger! You gotta see it. I picked up some more friends, too.”

Snowman chuckled, but he also understood Bandit’s underlying meaning. He had to see it. Had to get there, and with their fuel about out, that would be their last stop. No more long hauls across the countryside. Well, they were getting too old for that, anyway.

But first he had to get there.

“Now, son, don’t do anything stupid. We’re on our way.”

“Heh. Bandit, son, I think ‘stupid’ and ‘get through’ might be connected.” Snowman backed up more, being careful to stay between the lines. No tow trucks, not anymore. After some mental calculations, he backed up another hundred feet. It was all about force versus control.

There were thousands of them, shambling toward him. Thousands. And what if they someday turned north, and headed toward his family’s new sanctuary?

“Bandit, you make sure they get taken care of, y’hear?”

“Snowman, now, we’re almost there--!”

Almost there in what? That light little Trans Am? It wouldn’t make it past the first row. Snowman checked his safety belt, jammed the truck into gear, and hit the gas.

As he worked through the gears, the empty truck picked up speed quickly. He barely even felt the first impacts, as bodies flew right and left, but soon the rig began to shudder and lose momentum. The steering wheel jerked as bodies piled up beneath the semi. Snowman gripped it harder, his foot still hard on the accelerator.

There were so many dead. He got only a glimpse of one before it hit the corner of the cab—the guy was a giant, probably this biggest man in Virginia, or maybe the whole Southeast. At least, that was the instant impression Snowman got of him—six foot eight easy, closing in on 400 pounds. He must have been an easy target for the walkers, but he looked freshly dead … or as close to fresh as the dead got, these days.

The giant disappeared, and the big rig veered to the right.

The steering wheel spun out of Snowman’s hands. Without the seatbelt he’d have been thrown across the cab, as the semi launched itself across a ditch and into a field. Cursing, he hauled the wheel to the left and hung on as the truck jounced its way back toward the road, losing speed way too fast. Suddenly it surged forward—he’d lost the trailer in the grass behind him.

For a moment he thought he’d get control back, but now the engine began stuttering as he steered through a grassy area, looking for a good place to regain the pavement. When the front wheels hit the ditch again, they stayed there. Somehow he’d kept the truck upright, but as its engine went silent Snowman knew this was the end of the line.

He’d made it maybe three-quarters of the way through the herd. Now those that could still walk did, headed toward where they’d last seen noise and movement.

“Took a lot of 'em with us, though.” He had a knife, strapped to his belt. There was the metal bar by the door, the same one Bandit had used to check tire pressure since he hauled his first load, all those years ago. But when Snowman reached for it, it was gone, maybe bounced somewhere behind the seat.

“Well, now.” Snowman scooped up the mic. “Bandit, this is the Snowman, you got your ears on?”

“Snowman, you keepin’ the sunny side up and the bloody side down?”

Snowman gave a short laugh. “Son, I’m still up, but the rig’s down for the count. Didn’t quite make it through that crowd of deadheads, they’re worse than hittin’ Atlanta at rush hour. Don’t think I’m gonna make our rendezvous.” So close. His hand closed over the knife hilt, but already the dead were approaching the cab door, clustering up by the dozens. At least Bandit and Frog would take care of his family.

Then he heard a sound he’d never imagined hearing again. A sound he used to hate.

A siren.

“What?” Far ahead, through spatters and streaks of blood on the truck windshield, red lights flashed. A truck engine roared as it plowed into the herd. It moved forward relentlessly, the gore collecting on it blending with its red paint job.

A fire truck.

“Okay, Snowman, if you can’t make the rendezvous, we’ll just have to bring the rendezvous to you. Ten-four?”

As the truck got closer Bandit’s grinning face—how did he keep that handsome mustache in this mess?—appeared behind the wheel. He had two passengers, a small female in the front and someone he couldn’t make out in the back. The truck knocked down the closest walkers, then stopped in line with the semi cab. Bandit had to keep a little distance to allow for door clearance, and a few walkers stumbled forward until the figure in the back opened his door and drew a revolver.

Holy crap. It can’t be.

“What are you waitin’ for, you sumbitch? Get your ass in the truck!” Hanging from the cab, Sheriff
Buford T. Justice took one-handed aim and blew a hole in the nearest walker’s head. Three more shots, three more dead-on hits. Then he scooted across the back seat—pretty quickly, for someone his size—to give Snowman room.

It was an easy jump from semi to fire truck. Well, easy when you didn’t want to touch what was jumbled across the pavement between them.

As soon as the door closed, Bandit put the truck into reverse. His legendary driving ability served him well as he backed up in the same path he’d entered, using only the side mirrors to navigate. A few more walkers had stumbled into that route, but proved no problem for the fire engine’s powerful motor. Through it all, Bandit still had time to flash his friend a grin. “You all owe me for that truck!”

“But how--?” Snowman flailed his arm toward the uniformed man beside him, who he now
realized had lost a lot of weight. “How--?”

Justice made a dismissive wave, then realized he still held the gun and holstered it. “You think the gol-durn apocalypse is gonna keep me from tracking you and the Bandit down?”

Snowman glanced at Frog--no, Carrie, since CB handles hadn't mattered for a long time. She'd turned to kneel on her seat so she could see them. He saw the sympathy in her eyes, which made him look at Justice more closely and see the hangdog look, the dark bags under his eyes. His hat was gone, his hair pure white. “Sheriff … um, where’s Junior?”

Justice made a scoffing noise. “After my wife passed on, Junior wasn’t worth a bag of hair.” He squared his shoulders. “He went down fightin’ though, I’ll give him that.”

“I’m sorry, Sheriff,” Carrie said. “He was a good boy.”

“Yeah, well. After that, seemed like there wasn’t anything left but pursuin’ you all. So that’s what I did.”

“You caught us, sure enough.” Having made it through the horde, Bandit turned the truck around and accelerated away. “We’ll be out of gas by the time we get back to that crazy king and his tiger, so looks like our chasing days are over.”

They were all silent for a moment, as the truck roared down the road. “Guess my wife will be glad about that,” Snowman finally said. “So, how did you find that place, anyway?”

Bandit laughed. “Got waved down by a guy who looks exactly like Jesus, he pointed us that way. Said we’d fit right in.”

“So—you let Jesus take the wheel?" Snowman couldn’t help laughing. "Ten-four."
 
"I'm not going down there. I hear zombies down there."

I've been contemplating the fact that I wrote a novel set at a drive-in movie theater in early summer, and released it at the beginning of winter.

Wishful thinking, maybe? After all, I'm known for wanting to skip the cold months.


There are two ways of looking at this:

1. Maybe in the dead of winter people would like to think about the kind of weather that would allow you to to sit outside and watch a movie. 

B. Maybe I screwed up.

I also wrote part of the novel while sitting outside at a drive-in movie theater, but that's another story. It's definitely useful to soak in the atmosphere.

In any case, it doesn't look like we'll sell a hundred copies by January 1st, which implies people might prefer to read a summer novel in the summer. (I won't know the numbers for sure until I start getting sales reports. Also, because we haven't ordered a print run yet, I'm counting anyone who said they wanted a hard copy when it's available.) It also means I won't have to embarrass myself with the public poetry reading or the old photos, although to be honest I was kind of looking forward to it. Maybe we'll try again next month, when the seasonal overload starts to ebb.

 

Personally, I think a fun story set in summer could help us through the winter blahs.

Coming Attractions should be up very soon on our websites, www.markrhunter.com. In the meantime, here's a list of where you can find the book online:

https://markrhunter.blogspot.com/2018/12/coming-attractions-is-e-booking-all.html

My annual thank-you to my readers, here's a short story prequel to Coming Attractions.

https://mailchi.mp/077e5c193767/a-christmas-short-story-for-well-christmas?fbclid=IwAR2tAUCU_GsVnvti4IrjVhE0JNhMWW0wKo1VmDI3V83S-qV3KMEgHSpGTdg

If any of you who subscribe to the newsletter didn't get it today, check your e-mail spam boxes ... that's where I found my copy.
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