Good evening once again, my friends,
Here I am - out of bed at 3:15 in the a.m., attempting to tell you of an adventure and a new book – all at the same time.
Now I know how a wildcatter out in the West Texas oil fields feels when he strikes it rich with a “gusher”.
Believe it or not, in the past three weeks, I’ve written another novel I hadn’t even thought of until I took a fishing trip to Cabo San Lucas with my son, Kris.
Like the oil well I spoke of above, my mind allowed the words to flow out in a rush, 87,492 of them, in 104 chapters, (short and long), on 497 double spaced pages – all in the span of 21 days.
The novel has me so excited I hardly slept during those three weeks. The story is riveting and unique, but so is the way it came about.
Let me see - how to go about telling you everything. I think I’ll give you some background – then tell you how the idea came to mind – and finish with teasing you a little. What about it?
Okay, first the background:
If you followed my BLOG so far, you know Publish America is publishing my fifth book, “Signs of Our Times”. They sent the book cover to me today, and it is wonderful!! You’ll see what I mean when you purchase it.
I also finished editing my first book, “The Lost Priest” for the final time. It’s ready to go whenever my publisher wants a new novel.
Two other novels out of a three part series are completely edited.
They are: Number 2 - “The Perfect Plan” - A gang of ex-Army buddies rob three Brinks armored trucks and make them disappear in broad daylight, along with a payload of thirty-four million dollars.
Number 3 – “The Cyrus Caper” – The same gang hijacks a cruise ship, robs the purser’s office, casino and jewelry store, plus all the passengers, while helping Interpol and the FBI capture a most wanted terrorist.
Number 4 - Another half-finished novel takes the same gang to Las Vegas where they plan to steal the twenty million dollar jackpot from the final table at the Universal Poker Tour – It is tentatively titled: “The Texas Two Card Hold ’Em Heist”.
I was working on this latest tale, when Kris’ birthday rolled around. In the 21 years he’s been married, Kris and I have never taken a “father/son” trip. It was time.
Since my wife, Carol, and I were in Cabo last December, where we caught four Marlin and a sailfish, I thought it was time Kris hooked and landed his first large fish.
So I made the arrangements for March 12-16, and away we flew. Without realizing the event was taking place, we arrived in the midst of the craziness of “Spring Break”.
Everything went according to plan. Kris caught an 8 foot long Marlin weighing 140 pounds. We stuffed it that night in a restaurant – right down our throats! It was delicious.
I’ve always been accused of looking at things a little differently than other people. This trip was no exception.
There were all those young people from college and high school, raising hell, drinking and doing a lot of two other different things – what I can’t say – it would spoil the effect of the new novel. (No, neither of them involved sex.)
So, I came home, sat down at my trusty computer and as they say in Rome, the rest is history. The words poured out of my head as if my mind was so full it wanted to burst. I couldn’t sleep for new ideas refilling the empty space of the words which spilled out onto paper. It was amazing.
The most marvelous part of it all is the lines, sentences and paragraphs were so pure I hardly needed to edit them. I shake my head in wonder at the finished product. As I said, I am more excited about this book than any other I’ve written, and I loved them all.
Through all of my writing, I used one tried and true method of determining whether my tales are good or need more effort. I allow my lovely Carol to read the final draft. From her reactions, I know which way to go.
I just checked. Carol has finished 162 pages. So far she came into my cubbyhole twice, reporting, “I had to stop for few minutes. My eyes were so full of tears I couldn’t see the words.”
Yet several times I heard her laugh out loud. Three times I heard her say, “Good ending,” to a chapter.
From past experiences with Carol’s emotional barometer, I know this novel is a winner. Yeah, it’s going to be GREAT!
Now the teaser:
Here’s the Prelude to my new book. Let me know if it’s enough to make you want to read more. Drop me an e-mail on this web site. Thanks.
THE TAKING OF AMERICA
Prelude
In the beginning, the Bible says God created the world in six days. He rested on the seventh.
The history books of the future would record the Chinese took one day less to conquer North America without firing a shot. Then they never paused for a moment.
At one second after midnight on the west coast, or the first tick of the clock on a cold, late winter day, there were approximately three hundred million Americans residing in the U.S.A. An additional thirty-two million lived in Canada, and finally, one hundred and nine million were citizens of Mexico.
Five days later, it was one second after noon, Eastern Time; and the corresponding times in the Mountain, Central and Pacific time zones, plus those of the Hawaiian Islands and Alaska. Given the average number of natural deaths and new babies born each day, the number of warm bodies was approximately the same.
The only difference was, nearly seventy-two percent of them were dead. More than one survivor wondered what God thought about all of this, or if he even cared anymore.
So my friends; this is my story. When I have this novel published, I know you’ll love it. I hope it will make you think, along with the rest of America. Let’s hope the tale never comes true.
Suddenly I feel light headed. I wonder why. Could it be my mind is stuck on empty so I can get a few hours of sleep? I hope so. I am so tired. So, it’s off to bed tonight or this morning — take your pick. Goodnight. Wish me sweet dreams – perhaps the beginning of a new tale?
Shush, be quiet; don’t let my mind hear you.
God Bless America!
Via Con Dias,
Karl