The Mystery of Ebook Pricing

I don’t always understand how publishers and Amazon price ebooks. Sometimes prices are reduced for promos, like A Taste of Tragedy was awhile back, though the price still hasn’t been raised to its original price of $3.99 from its currently discounted price of $0.99. I have no idea when that might happen. As for boxed sets, they’re often a major bargain. I assume this is to encourage readers to try a new author with very little to lose. My Kindle boxed set is only $3.99 and it includes three of my adventure novels. If you downloaded each separately the cost would be $10.97. So, whatever the reason I always like to pass on to readers that if you haven’t tried my books, the Kindle boxed set is a very economical way to go. If you have read these three novels, I'd love to hear which is your favorite. 

Memorial Day Remembrances

Memorial Day is officially celebrated on the last Monday of May. The holiday is a time to express our gratitude to the service men and women who gave their lives for our freedom, and to remember loved ones who have passed away. Memorial Day traditions include parades, picnics, and a visit to the cemetery to decorate the headstones of loved ones or pay tribute to veterans, often distinguished by flags placed near their headstones. However you choose to celebrate, please take a moment and remember those who have sacrificed so much for our country and our freedom. No words can adequately express my gratitude. Thank you!

Can Travel Change the World

Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.

- Innocents Abroad, Mark Twain

Words to Live By

Words of to live by from Zig Ziglar

Adventure Inspirations – What Makes an Adventure?

“What is adventure? If a lone wolf lifts his plaintive call into the moonlight near your campsite, you might call that adventure. While you’re sweating like a horse on a climb over a 12,000 foot pass, that could be adventure. When howling head winds press your lips against your teeth, you face a mighty struggle. When your pack grows heavy on your shoulders as your climb a 14,000 foot peak, you feel the adventure. When you suffer freezing temperatures and 20 inches of fresh powder on a hut to hut trip in the Rockies, that could be called adventure. But that’s not what makes an adventure. It’s your willingness to conquer it, and to present yourself at the doorstep of nature. That creates the experience. No more greater joy can come from life than to live inside a moment of adventure. It is the uncommon wilderness experience that gives your life expectation.” 

Frosty Wooldridge, Golden, Colorado 

Cave-In

I just finished an adventure novel from one of my favorite best-selling authors. It had a cave-in scene that kind of reminded me of one I wrote in Shrouded in Secrets. There’s nothing more terrifying than being trapped underground unless, as in Cash’s case, it's being drug out of the crumbling cavern by a panicked mule. Here’s a scene from Shrouded in Secrets.

Cash yanked the closest timber and caught the bundle as it fell. The ceiling groaned and rocks dislodged in a hail storm as he ran toward the first pit. He cleared the hole with room to spare, landed on his feet and kept running, hunched over. The sound of gunfire grew louder as he neared the sharp turn in the tunnel.

As soon as he rounded the corner, he was forced to lie down and shimmy forward. He pulled himself along the ground with one arm while holding his prize tight to his side with the other. He scooted past the second pit and slowed as he reached the exit. He set the bundle down, planning to retrieve it once he neutralized the threat. At the moment, he needed his hand on his gun more than the rotted leather wrap.

He was in a vulnerable position. If he just stuck his head out, it could very well get shot off, but he had to do something. Inching closer to the mouth of the cavern, the gunfire stopped, leaving an eerie quiet. He strained to hear sounds to clue him in on the situation, but silence ruled.

Suddenly the slack went out of the forgotten rope tied around his waist, tightening, forcing all the air out of his lungs, propelling him into motion. The momentum yanked him out into the daylight in a blur, dislodging his gun somewhere in the process. The speed in which he was being drug up the steep hill, across the rocks, brush, and cacti on his belly grew with each painful moment. Cash struggled to retrieve the knife from its sheath at his side, but found accomplishing the task impossible as his body bounced over the rough terrain with the rope cutting into his skin.

He abandoned all attempts to reach his blade and covered his head with his arms as he sped toward a sturdy shrub. Branches snapped and flew through the air as he scraped over the bush. Blood ran down his hands and forearms, but at least he successfully protected his skull. Fumbling, Cash finally managed to free his knife. He sawed frantically at the taut rope, realizing the mule pulling him was running full out for the lip of another steep gorge.

The ultra-strong high-tech filament line gave way, and his body skidded to an abrupt halt. He glanced up in time to see the mule disappear over the ledge, dust and rocks flying up behind frantic hooves as the terrified animal fled the danger.

Happy Mother's Day

Wishing my mom and all the mom’s out there a wonderful Mother’s Day. Did you know that the first Mother’s Day was recognized on May 10, 1908 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania?

Adventure Scrapbook – Neretva River Delta

I usually capture people or recognizable landmarks in my travel photographs, but occasionally I try my hand at a purely artistic composition. This photo was taken from the ladja (local wooden boat) we were on as we explored the wetlands of the Neretva River delta about an hour from Dubrovnik, Croatia.

Adventure Inspirations – No Regrets

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

 - Mark Twain- 

May Days

Here’s what’s on tap for May:

May 3 – Star Wars Day

May 5 – Cinco de Mayo

May 6 – National Teachers Day

May 14 – Mother’s Day

May 20 – Armed Service Day

May 24 – Victoria Day in Canada

May 27 – Beginning of Ramadan

May 29 – Memorial Day

Mark your calendar, celebrate, and enjoy spring!

Thanks for 100,000 Page Views

I just wanted to interrupt my regularly scheduled blog to say thank you. I have just reach 100,000 page views on my blog. I appreciate everyone who has stopped by for a look and I will try to keep it real and keep it interesting in the months and years to come. I've enjoyed sharing my adventures with everyone.