COVID-19 and NaNoWriMo, Both!

 Hey everybody!

Just wanted to check in.  It is November, which, you may know means NaNoWriMo, aka National Novel Writing Month, aka "write an entire book in one month", aka "interrupt me, and YOU DIE month".

Usually I blog on the experience, but this year, as of yet, I have not.  The reason for that is simple:  I decided to go ahead and catch the coronavirus in the start of November.  Yeah, that's right, I'm doing the craziness of NaNo, WHILE sick with the pandemic.  Ain't that nice!

To be honest, I don't even know where or how I caught it.  We hadn't been going out hardly at all.  I'm still trying to scrape together a living from home (programmer for hire, if you happen to know anybody!) meanwhile the kids are all homeschooled.

But yeah, all that and it hit us just the same.

 

So what was COVID like?

Those of you who have blessedly avoided catching it, may be wondering what having the disease was actually like.  Personally, I didn't think it was *all that* horrible.  Just like a bad flu, really.

Now, back when we caught H1N1, that dude was really bad!  It was less like the flu and more like being whacked with a gunny sack full of bricks.  Oh, and at the time we had a newborn in the house we were trying to keep from getting sick, so... apparently we like to do these things at the worst possible time.

Even though the virus wasn't as much a horror movie as the media might lead you to believe, it does hit the lungs especially hard.  I suppose in that regard I can see how it could be especially dangerous to the elderly and those with breathing problems.  Not that I recommend it in general, you understand.

All in all, I think my NaNoWriMo progress graph also serves as a great graph of how you feel with the virus.

Ignoring the little bump at the start (I slammed out some ideas in Oct to get a feel for whether I would like doing this story or not).

Other than that, notice the complete flatline up until Nov 9.  Then a little boost...  A little virus biting back... then a gradual recovery.  Yep.  That's about what it was like health-wise (as well as writing-wise).

The main thing I can say for those diagnosed with COVID is:  You know how one of the symptoms they list is "lack of taste".  (I'm an engineer, so it's like, "What?  I didn't have any taste to start with!" 😜 ) But seriously, therein lies the virus' trickery.  I quit eating early on because I didn't feel like it.  You can see the results above.  My son (who, btw, was diagnosed with it) kept on stuffing his face, and he was basically back to normal in three days.  

Your mama was right!  Keep on that chicken soup!!!

The story title in that image sounds strange what's the deal about that?

Ah!  Good question!  So glad you asked!

So I decided to do Pride and Prejudice... only in space!  Yes, that sounds bizarre, and yes, at times it is.  Though now that I'm 40-something thousand words into it, I can honestly say it actually works!  Not only that, this is turning into a really interesting story!

Now, I didn't want to make it into a spoof like "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" and I also didn't want to do a straight-up retelling in a different genre like a lot of books and movies do.

I decided to keep all the characters by name, personality, and inter-relationships.  I kept some of my alltime favorite lines as well.  But the story wrapped around these things is all new.  For example, at one point Elizabeth Bennet actually agrees to marry Mr Collins! .... (!!!!!!!!)   Add on top of that some political conspiracy, pirates, razor-toothed alien beasts... and a fair amount of swoonage (got to keep that going #amiright).

All the fun sci-fi drama aside, one of the most surprising things I've encountered so far is in character development.

In the original story and all of its successors that I know about, nobody has ever given Mrs Bennet a character arc!  Surprising, I know, but check me out on this.  

She starts out a nerve-racking shrew and ends up a nerve-racking shrew.  But where is her journey?  How do all of these major life changes that happen impact her?  It has been a totally fascinating question to work through.

Conclusion:

Well, I guess that's about it.  In summary:

COVID-19:  0 out of 5 stars... would not recommend.

Mr Darcy in space?  Actually kind of cool!  I'll let you know when it gets published,  I promise!

 

Live YOUR adventure!

 - E.L. Fletcher

Why We Should Stop Calling 2020 A "Bad Year"

First off, how 'bout that image, eh? 😂
(And, yes, I know about the flammability difference between helium blimp verses a hydrogen zeppelin.  But the pun wouldn't work if they were both zeppelins, so cut me some slack, ok! 😫)

Anyway, I thought I'd jump into a pet peeve of mine today: people referring to 2020 as a "bad year".

Even now I struggle with a similar line of thinking that a day is either a "good day" or a "bad day".  I trace the line of thinking all the way back to the time when I was an Atheist.  It looks like something like this: You get up in the morning and you do this and that... then all of a sudden something happens.  It can be either unusually good or unusually bad, but whichever it is, that initial event is going to characterize the entire rest of the day as either "good" or "bad".

When you think about it, it's  just a manifestation of the concept of "luck", right?  This is your lucky day... as opposed to yesterday, which, wow!  Hope you wore your lucky shoes, because, yikes! 

I had to fight this belief BIG TIME when I became a Christian.  (P.S.  You know how sometimes when people repent of something, they decide they have to physically burn the object of their sin in a bonfire?  Well let's just say, "lucky" shoes smell REALLY NASTY when burned!  I don't recommend that particular... form of combustion... to anyone... ever.  'Nuf said.) 😬

-- P.S. Don't ever burn shoes. ;) --

Like I say, whether it's a "bad day" or a "bad year"... all the same thing.  I mean, yeah, some of the jokes and memes are funny, but I'm a little sick of 2020 being called a "bad year", but I can understand why people are.  Under the surface I think we try to laugh about it and make light of the situation in an attempt to try and lighten the weight on our hearts of how we feel.

Of course we've faced some difficult challenges this year.  No arguing that.  The alternative is not about being all kumbaya and naïve about things going on.

But still, "bad year"?  Really?  Did we not wake up this morning?  Has the planet Earth's orbit shifted out of the Goldilocks Zone?  Has the Mad Max vehicle army rumbled into town? 
(Just kidding.  That last one would be kindof AWESOME!)

No!  Of course not!  The world continues to spin on.  God has not forsaken us yet.

And I think that really begins to touch upon the issue.  As blogger Seth Jones put it, "There are no bad days, only bad gods." just as I found out in my own experience above.

To unpack how this "2020 is a bad year" theme gained so much momentum you have to pause and recognize that Atheism is the dominant western religion.  Our culture at large has no underlying life meaning or divine plan to fall back on, so of course there will be panic.  We're working without a net, here, folks!

Without second-guessing Providence too much, I wonder if the one thing doesn't have a little something to do with the other.  For many people, I hope and pray, this could be the wake-up call where they realize that they have built their house on shifting sands.  The storms of life came down this year (in a downpour), and now they may begin to realize what their foundation was truly made of. (Matthew 7:24-27)

But to you, dear Christian, what's your excuse?  Are you going to take your cue from the sensationalist news media and be swept along with the panic?  Or can you be secure enough in the hands of the Lord to kick back with some popcorn and watch what happens next?  -- Just take life as it comes?

Because the thing is, once you dethrone yourself as the king of your world... when you quit pretending to be the coach, you can finally become an effective player.  Likewise, when your security in life doesn't come from your own doing, but rests securely in the hands of the Omnipotent Almighty Creator, then you can finally relax and focus on being a mere human instead. (Matthew 20:11 promises exactly this!)

Furthermore, continuing with the "bad year", just like the "bad day" observation above, the thought itself can kind of take over and become a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy.  The moment that you've decided in your mind, "this is going to be a bad day", then you quit taking those risks that could bring about big success, while at the same time your full attention is focussed on spotting the negative.  If you set out looking for something to complain about, the trouble is you eventually always find it.

With that in mind, now consider the "bad year" 2020.  It's easy to focus on the negatives.  We all know the list.  It has even become a running gag, "what's next...", like this endless parade of horrors marching by.  But if that's what you decide to focus on, then you're going to miss out on all of the good things.

For example, did you notice that US Marshals made great headway this year, breaking several major child sex trafficking rings and rescuing hundreds of kids from that ghastly life.  You and I might have run out of toilet paper and dubbed 2020 a "bad year", but the child who finds him or herself finally freed from those horrors will always remember 2020 as a year of liberation!  Shouldn't the rest of us celebrate this too?  Or will we be so focused on our own pity-party to even notice?

In conclusion, I guess it's a choice we get to make.  Are we going to sit cowering in the corner and worry?  Or are we going to give it over to the Lord, step outside, and notice that the skies that are still blue and the birds are still singing?

"This is the [year] that the Lord has made;
I will rejoice and be glad in it."
Psalm 118:24

Live YOUR Adventure,

-Edmund Lloyd Fletcher

5-Day Fast (FMD) - Did it work?

Context - My personal story:

Okay, this isn't a fitness blog, but here's the deal.  Lately I've been trying to think of ways to get in better shape.  This spring I've been going on a 5-mile walk every day, which has been good, but now it's time for something more.

Just for a frame of reference, back in highscool/college when I used to work out, I weighed a pretty consistent 180.  A few years ago when I was a software engineer, sucking exhaust fumes for two hours a day and sitting behind a desk for the rest, take-out lunch meetings, snacks in the breakroom... you get the picture.  In short, I was up to 215 with some serious muffin-top going on. That's a good way to have your heart explode and keel over dead. (I think my obituary would simply be a picture of Twinkie the Kid, and that would explain that.)

Since coming home and chasing kids and chasing around the homestead every day, I'd dropped to 190.  That is, 189.6 to be precise, which I was on last Friday morning when I began the FMD fast.  (Stay tuned for results...)

FMD?  What's that?

Now, back up a little.  What is FMD?  Well, I explain it this way:  Think about most of the diets currently circulating out there -- Keto, Vegetarian/Vegan, Calorie Counter (such as Weight Watchers), and of course there's also an emphasis on "intermittent fasting".  Well, which do you choose?

An Italian dude named Dr. Valter Longo came along and decided to smoosh them all into one, called the FMD (Fast Mimicking Diet).  How he arrived at this, is he is actually a Gerontologist studying how humans age, and therefore, how they can keep their bodies young.  A big part of his plan is to do an FMD, approximately every other month, claiming that it can act as a "reset button" for your whole system.

Naturally, being a 40's-something, this appeals to me.  The weight loss aspect appeals to me as well.  But most importantly, the "system reset" appeals to me.  Without being overly graphic about it, let's just say I've developed "digestive issues" later in life.  (I apologize for the TMI, but it's hard to accurately talk about one's personal biology without getting... biological... about it.)

And just as an FYI, here are some of the most useful resources I found to implement this:

• Prolon - worth mentioning, this is Dr Longo's official packaged meals system.
• Cronometer - good online tool for planning meals. It adds up calories as well as the amount of each nutrient you're getting (which is emphasized as very important to the diet)
• ageingadvice.org - has some great recipes for things you can make for this diet
• foreverfreedom.com - created and shared a great google docs spreadsheet that helps you plan thigs out day-by-day
• Quantified Bob - has an alternative google docs spreadsheet you may also like instead

• Finally, here is my spreadsheet of the exact diet plan that I used (based on the foreverfreedom spreadsheet above).

Anyway, after all that research I decided to bite the proverbial low-calorie bullet give it a whirl.  Here's the...

Day-by-day summary:

Day 1 - (Fri, April 24, 2020):
Is actually a higher-calorie day than the rest of the diet.  I can't say anything was much different at all.

My daily walk did just fine as well.

Day 2 - (Sat, April 25, 2020):Though the portions were greatly reduced, I did not feel hungry in the slightest, but right away some serious stuff started happening.

I  don't know if you guys have heard of the "Keto Flu" - basically flu-like symptoms can occur when your body is entering a state of ketoisis (that is, burning fats instead of carbohydrates for energy).  That's a pretty dry & mild definition though.  Suffice it to say I had the granddaddy of all headaches.  On top of that, I also had diarrhea which, as aforementioned, is not uncommon.  I also had a fever.

Day 3 - (Sun, April 26, 2020):
Woke up without a  headache, which after last night, made me feel like Maria Von Trapp out twirling in a meadow somewhere.  I thought I had a sore throat, but may have been the power of suggestion.  Anyway, I wasn't going to argue with a good thing.

Felt mildly hungry at times, but not like, "Ooh!  I'm staaarving...!".  More like taking a late lunch kind of hungry.

The hard part is the temptation.  My son decided to make a peach pie.  That was TORTURE.

That night I had a bout of insomnia and stayed up all night coding.  0% tired, and 0% tired the next day.  This is extremely peculiar for me since I tend to have the opposite problem.  Normally when my body says "sleep", I'm out, and nothing short of heavy artillery fire can wake me.

Day 4 - (Mon, April 27, 2020):
 The day was mostly like yesterday.  Not much to report.

The night, however...
Monday is mommy+daddy date night, and, how should I put this mildly...?  On the FMD, they say mild exercise only and avoid strenuous activity. Well, Mommy and daddy enjoyed a great deal of, *ahem*, "strenuous activity".  (Again, apoligies for the TMI.  I just don't know any more tactful way of saying that, and it is relevant to the diet.)

The thing is, with the FMD, you are depleted of calories and only have so much energy.  To put it bluntly, engaging in an all-nighter at this point completely wipes you of all energy you have left and leaves you unable to function the next day. 

Day 5 - (Tue, April 28, 2020):
 Spent most of the day in bed for lack of energy.  I started streaming "Mutant X", which, despite being a flagrant X-men knock-off by the Canadians, was pretty good...  Well, from what I could tell, anyway.  Kept falling asleep... during the daytime!

I tried to get up a couple of times, but felt immediately woozy.  Not cool.

In fact, I discovered a new way that coffee can keep you awake. True story! How it works is:
1) you're barely conscious, so you beg your daughter to bring in some java
2) she heats some up but gets it blisteringly hot
3) you hang onto it waiting for it to cool whilst watching a show about mutants (last part, optional)
4) you fall asleep
5) you wake up to pain and screaming!

 Well, since I was awake, I went on my walk.  Totally and completely without energy after that, but managed to make it till bedtime without total collapse.

Day 6 - (Wed, April 29, 2020):
Today is the "transition" day.  It technically isn't part of the diet because you can eat whatever you want.  They recommend treating it a little special and avoiding meats, dairy, etc. just because they don't want your stomach to revolt.

Since it's officially over now, this brings us to...

The Results:

I weighed in this morning at 184.2 pounds.  Which gives us a total weight loss of... drumroll, please... 5.4 pounds!!!

Wait.  All that rigmarole for just 5 pounds?  Well, I *guess* that's good, but meh.  I'm looking back at all these websites and youtubes I saw in preparation for this, which claim 15 or more pounds.  Granted, maybe their metabolism is different than mine, but the situation makes me feel like a referee about to throw the B.S. flag on the field.

Meager results, but I suppose it's good.  As Bob would say, "baby steps".

As far as what it was doing health-wise?  Hard to say for sure.  My body definitely went on a wild rollercoaster of different feelings, so something was definitely going on there.  Was this the famed "reset button" of myth and legend?  I guess I can't say.  I'll come back and update this with status later whether this makes a noticeable difference in my everyday metabolism.

Conclusion:

The fast wasn't all that bad, nor as extreme as the interwebs led me to believe.  Again, any hunger experienced was a rare occurrence and pretty mild at that.  I was able to stick to the diet verbatim without cheats, and maintained my usual daily walks without much trouble.

Was it worth it?/Would I recommend it to you?  Yeah, maybe.  There was certainly some progress, and I think that just seeing what would happen was a good experience.  Who knows, maybe your results would come out even better than mine!  I also learned a lot of great new recipes, including cucumber gazpacho soup (again, that's from agingadvice.org), so the time was not wasted.

Am I, personally, going to do it again in two months as prescribed?   Don't know for sure, but probably not.  I've decided on a wild new personal fitness goal, which is probably incompatible, and which I will be unveiling soon.  Follow me on social media for the deets as they unfold. ;)

Also, feel free to hurl some questions/comments my way if there's something I missed.

Till next time,
Live YOUR adventure!
-E.L. Fletcher

Pandemic Owners Manual

SARS, Bird Flu, West Nile Virus... It seems like every few years there is some new dread disease that is going to kill us all. Yet as of the time of this article none has had the same level of cultural impact as the latest plague du jour, coronavirus. (One might even say it has gone... viral. 😜)

No!  Don't leave!  Last pun. I promise, okay? ✋

My point is (and the reason I felt the need for a blog article is), for all the noise and all the hullabaloo, what I'm not hearing is the church's response to all this.  Does the Bible say anything about such events, or more to the point, how we're supposed to handle it?

I'm going to answer that by taking a little detour through the world of historical fiction.


If I could get everyone to read any other book as a "be like this" instruction manual, it would have to be the historical novel When London Burned by G.A. Henty.  And the good news is it's out of copyright too so you can, and should, download it for free  (👈 aka, free ebook/manual as promised)


"But wait, isn't that about some kind of fire?" I hear you ask.  And it is.  But this is just one of a series of large-scale events that happened one, right after another during the reign of Charles II of England.  Not the least of which was the "Great Plague" which made coronavirus look like a fluffy bunny.


Like we're seeing now, the prevailing response in those days was to panic, but unlike nowadays the herd chose not to stockpile toilet paper, but to do the marginally more logical thing, and flee the city in droves.


Unfortunately, this often included doctors, nurses, and clergy, which left the city not only with an overwhelming need, but a shortage of personnel to make it all worse.
 
 
The hero of the story took a different view of things and although untrained, he decides to risk his life to stay behind and help the infected people of London. This all comes after hearing the words of one of the few ministers who stayed behind. Well worth a read:

"You are all soldiers of Christ," [the minister] said, "and now is an opportunity given to you to show that you are worthy soldiers. When the troops of a worldly monarch go into battle they do so with head erect, with proud and resolute bearing, with flashing eye, and with high courage, determined to bear aloft his banner and to crown it with victory, even though it cost them their lives.

Such is the mien that soldiers of Christ should bear in the mortal strife now raging round us. Let them show the same fearlessness of death, the same high courage, the same unlimited confidence in their Leader.

What matter if they die in His service?
He has told them what their work should be. He has bidden them visit the sick and comfort the sorrowing.

What if there be danger in the work?
Did He shrink from the Cross which was to end His work of love, and is it for His followers to do so? 'Though you go down into the pit,' He has said, 'I am there also'; and with His companionship one must be craven indeed to tremble.

This is a noble opportunity for holding high the banner of Christ. There is work to be done for all, and as the work is done, men should see by the calm courage, the cheerfulness, and the patience of those that do it, that they know that they are doing His work, and that they are content to leave the issue, whatever it be, in His hands."

(Spoiler: The minister dies of the plague, BTW! 😲)

I think we could all use a dose of this kind of fearlessness today. After all, Jesus Himself said, "And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?"  

Even though the threat of the disease isn't even in the same league as the plagues of old, it is still causing a tidal wave of need.  For example, in our area they have officially closed public schools for the next two weeks. Consider the terrible ripple-effect of that little whammy.

Consider first the poorer members of the community whose kids *used to* get free school lunch.  What are they going to eat now?

Consider working moms -- especially single moms.  What are they going to do with their kids?  Will they have to quit their job to watch them?  That would make their poverty WORSE!

And what about the nurses who have to deal with this, ON TOP OF their now overwhelming number of patients, AND the ever-present knowledge that they are more likely than most to be exposed to the disease.

Consider small businesses and those operating on thin margins already.  What happens to them when people stop going out to eat, or going to the movies, or whatever their shop is about.

I'm sure there are many more hardships that I'm not even seeing.  But for every one of these, there is an opportunity -- more than that, a moral imperative -- upon all Christians to help out!

And really, that's what separates "the men from the boys" (as it were).  You see, anyone can claim to be a Christian when the sun is shining and it's all Easter bonnets and Sunday School picnics.  But what really puts proof to it is... what you do when it might just cost you something!

So, in summary:

1. Instead of looking only to cover your own buttocks just like everybody else in town, open your eyes to the need around you.
2. Seeing it alone means nothing. (James 1:23-24) Do something about it.
3. Be fearless - like one who knows that life is only temporary and chooses to spend it the best way possible.
4. Finally, read the book above.  The language is a little archaic, and the home remedies are weird, but overall, an action-packed adventure!

Or, in other words, the summary of the summary:
Live Your Adventure!
-E.L. Fletcher

Clive Cussler

One of my major writing inspirations died this week. :_(

His story:

Multiple bestselling action/adventure author Clive Cussler died on Monday in his Arizona home. The facts surrounding that can be easily found on your mainsleaze news media of choice or wikipedia, but I wanted to chime into the conversation with my take on his work and how it has influenced my own.

  

First, if you're not familiar with his work, his books are very action-packed and have often been described as "a cross between James Bond and Indiana Jones". That is, he is always out to save the world from megalomaniac baddies like Bond, but on the other hand, there is always a historical mystery element to piece together like Indy. (Sound familiar to anybody we know?)

That was the fiction he wrote, but what the casual reader might not know this: Cussler didn't only write about uncovering history, but actually did so, himself! He was an antique automobile collector and underwater explorer who went on several amazing adventures. (His autobiography is one of my favorites.) 

He even founded his own exploration group named NUMA, after the fictional (albeit better funded) one from his stories. 

One thing that will always stick with me is how he talks about a little speech he had with his crew. 

My rendition:

So he had hired a large oceangoing vessel and crew and was supposed to meet up with them. The water was choppy that day as he approached the exploration vessel in his little motorboat. With the rolling waves and rope ladder he had a hard time getting aboard. 

Rather than lend a hand, the rough sailors only laughed at his attempts to climb up. 

Livid, he gathered the entire crew together for a meeting. 

He held up his right hand and said to them, "See this hand? I don't care what you do on this boat. I don't care what you do to the ship, to eachother, even to me. But whatever you do... you want to save this hand right here." 

Sure enough one of the sailors bit. "And why the [explicitve] would we save that hand?" 

He looked them in the eye and said, "Because that's the hand that writes the checks!"

After that they took a lot better care of him. :)

And speaking of an author living his adventure... 

My story:

As for me I finally decided to become an author when I was commuting back and forth into the city every day (an hour each direction on a good day). 

Needless to say, I had a lot of time to kill. Evenings were no problem as I had Brant Hanson to listen to on the radio -- my favorite DJ of all time, hands down. But in the mornings I needed something to occupy my mind other than talk radio (which had a way of wrecking my attitude). 

Inevitably, being an avid reader, I finally turned to books on tape. Round-about way of saying, I wound up listening to most of Clive Cussler's repitore while staring at the taillights of the car in front of me. 

While going through the books I often thought, "Wow! My boys would love these!" But then there was always that "one scene"... you know, where Dirk Pitt winds up sleeping with a married woman in a Titanic stateroom or somesuch other horrible thing. 

Then, in stepped a Christian filmmaker colleague who posted a meme, "Create the things you wish existed." 

That was it. Over the next several months I sat in the "hot box" (my car in the parking lot at lunch times) banging away on what would become my first release, "Queen of Atlantis". 

In short: all the adventure with none of the cringe. 

Even though I went an all new direction with the stories, there were three characters in the series which were based around Cussler's world, as a silent omage to the books' inspiration.

Two of these were Michael and Melinda Moast, themselves. They were based in part on Sam and Remi Fargo from one of Cussler's serieses. 

I liked the idea of a married couple who "do adventure" together. It completely dovetails into the Christian view of marriage. What's more, I think that living through the ups-and-downs of the adventure of life together is really what a healthy marriage is all about.

The third character adaptation is... well... I can't tell you. It's kind of an "easter egg" in the books, so I don't want to spoil it. I'll leave it to you guys to speculate. (Heh, heh, heh!) ;)

In conclusion:

We lost a very talented author and dynamic personality, without whom, most likely, my own works would not even exist.  Mr Cussler, we salute you!

Now it is up to you and I to...
Live your adventure,
- E.L. Fletcher

Author Business Plan

The main purpose of this post is not only to check in but also to provide a little more information around what "Edmund Lloyd Fletcher" is about as an author.

Backing up a step, I was recently reading an ebook that said, "the reason why most authors fail is that they do not treat their writing career like a business".  The book went on to explain how most authors don't have a business plan. 

...Which I also didn't! *Ghasp!*

Therefore I freaked out, dropped everything, and wrote one up.  Even being only a few hours old, I feel like it has already helped to provide some guidance and direction.

I thought it would be a great idea to share the business plan here on the website so my readers can get to know me and what I'm about.  Also, I think that other authors can benefit as far as inspiration in making up their own plan.

(Naturally there are some portions I've held back from posting online, but I've left the headings in place for you authors out there.)

Business plan - Edmund Lloyd Fletcher

Mission statement

To fill the under-served niche of Christian-based novels with high levels of action and excitement.  Moreover, to encourage Christians to live the adventure of following God's call.

Tag line / Motto

Live YOUR adventure!

Core values

Compelling stories that make the reader think about life.

Flawed, but faithful heroes that the reader can identify personally with.

Villains so "reasonable" in their thought processes that the reader can identify with.

Clean from sexual content and perverse speech. (Even including pseudo-cusswords.)

Portray worlds in keeping with the Christian worldview. (eg. Magic is always evil, etc)

Encourage the reader to get out there and live the adventure of life!

Message should flow in a non-preachy way such that a complete atheist could read the book

Target audience

Faithful Christians

Avid readers

primarily young adult eager for adventures of life

also older people "stuck in a rut" and desiring adventure

Available assets

programming skills

wife with people skills + facebook skills

kids with vivid imagination

kids who are readers

old christian film contacts

church family

Short-term goals

Release a book every three months

Teach classes (how to publish your own book in today's world)

Speaking events?

Long-term goals

20 novels

Ultimate goal

To be able to make a living from my writing.

Syndicate "Edmund Lloyd Fletcher"

Action plan

Get The Third Crown out ASAP!

... [other items redacted] ...

Support team

Potential writing partners

[redacted]

Beta readers

[redacted]

Editors

[redacted]

Reviewers (send advanced-reader copies)

[redacted]

Promotion Locations

[redacted]

Advertising Locations

[redacted]

NaNo, Go, Go GO!

Okay, that title may or may not have been written by my inner cheerleader. 

And, I'm going to need her, because NaNoWriMo is in full-swing!  To compound matters, this is the most pantster I have ever gone.  I literally started out with nothing but an idea -- no characters, no scene ideas, no nothing!

Day 1 is down, and despite starting out at absolute zero

I actually made (and exceeded) my word count today!

Also, you may be curious, "Hey, what idea is he doing, anyway?  Last I heard he was still deciding".

Too true.  Thank you everybody who voted!  Unfortunately the votes were pretty much neck-and-neck, so it literally came down to a coin toss.  As I told DW as she was flipping, "Wouldn't it be wild if this book totally takes off and people want to know 'how did you decide...' "  That would be a fun story.

Anyway, without further vindaloo, the idea that won both the votes and the toss was #2, the war between fantasy realms.  Here's the working cover I hacked together last night.

Strangely, it turned out having the "feel" of an indie CD cover to me.  Oh well.  Works for now.

Plus, if you're good at reading the clues, you can figure out which fantasy realms are at war here. ;) ;)

So, hopefully somewhere in the mishmash lies a story you'll one day enjoy reading!  Till then, if you're also a NaNoWriMo participant, feel free to "buddy" me on there.  My account is, of course, "Edmund Lloyd Fletcher".


Thanks, and Live YOUR Adventure,
-E.L. Fletcher

NaNoWriMo 2019 Ideas

 

Uh oh! It's that time of year again!

 Yep NaNoWriMo, the legendary "National Novel Writing Month" is upon us once again.  Of course, I still haven't finished editing and publishing the 3 books from the past NaNo experiences, but I prefer not to dwell on the... present. :D

And like last year I'm going to open it up to you, my friends and fans, to vote on what story you most want to see!

Here are our options:

1) Giant rock beasts with villagers living on their back. Goal of the beasts is to fight one another in a Highlander-esque “In the end, there can be only one” scenario.  This would be a trilogy, progressively insane in scale of the beasts and the stakes for the people involved.

2) A fantasy war story between two fairytale realms — that is told as an actual war story.  What I mean by that is less “battle of the 5 armies” and more “saving private ryan”.  Like an in-the-trenches viewpoint.

3) I have an entire file cabinet full of sci-fi stuff from way back in highschool when I was into that.  Someday I need to sort that out, clean it up (it was written in my BC days), and do something with it.  Not looking forward to this mess, but it needs to be done.

I think the easiest way to tabulate results would be to head on over to the poll on my facebook page.

Beta Readers Wanted!

 

Get it?  Because it's a Beta fish... 😜

Okay, never mind.

I think the real point is that even if you aren't a fish, you may be interested to know that I'm looking for beta-readers for my new novel slated to come out Oct 4.   Yep, that's right, you get to read the story a FULL MONTH before everybody else!!!

I've gotten a few people on board already by word of mouth (you guys ROCK!) but the more, the merrier.  Come on in!

Also, I should mention that is a staged-release, so each beta reader gets the version with feedback & features recommended by the previous round.  What this means to you is that you really benefit by all those already with their noses in the book - er - kindle, I guess.

If you're interested in joining the fun, drop me an email or message me on your social media of choice.

Thanks,

  - E.L. Fletcher

Books, marketing, and a Bible lesson (that should scare you a little)

Books, marketing, and a Bible lesson (that should scare you a little)

If you're like me, it means you love to create; build things; innovate; put the pieces together and come up with something great.  I mean, that's what drives us, right?

The trouble is at some point or another, we have to make money to, you know, eat.  That means selling/marketing our work.  It means *distant shriek* actually talking to people.

If we've gone the traditional publisher route, we can (but probably shouldn't) assume that they'll take care of some of that.  And, of course, if we self-publish we're all on our own.

Either way, our marketing approach usually remains the same:  Ignore it and hope it goes away.  After all, our book is so awesome people will find it and buy it.  Riiight... 🤔

I hate to say it,  but... (No, seriously.  I really don't want to say it!) ... that's not only a terrible plan, but explicitly condemned by Scripture as well!

"Huh? What? Where's it say that?"

Matthew 25:14-30, otherwise entitled the "Parable of the Talents".  It's fairly popular, but to recap, Jesus told the story of a businessman goes on vacation, leaves some cash ("talents" were silver coins) with his servants for safekeeping.  First two did a good job investing, doubled his money, and were generously rewarded.  Third guy not only didn't invest, but didn't even put it in the bank.

He literally buried his talents in a hole.  Yeah!  Here he had talents and instead of putting them out there for the world to see he buried them away.  Haha! What a doofus!  He completely... um... [uncomfortable pause] ... oh wait. I see what you did there, Jesus. 😳

 There were two consequences for this.  First, his talents were taken away and given to the wealthiest of the wise servants.  Ever heard the cliche "the rich get richer"?  Well, what if that observation isn't about fairness (as we make it out to be) but more a matter of poor stewardship and its consequences?  Something to think on.

Oh, but don't leave offended yet.  It gets worse!

The last line is, "cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth"  That's a common Biblical euphemism for Hell!  Okay, I never quite let that sink in before.  This whole analogy about not living up to ones' potential... okay, fine, I track with that.  But, Hell!?? Woa!  😱

Hard to say exactly why the offense called for such a severe punishment.  But it certainly does make one sit up and take notice!

The best conclusion I came up with is that if we bury our talents, either through active hiding or the laissez-faire policy of ignoring marketing, we're essentailly stealing.  We're stealing from the world something that others could enjoy and be edified by.

I don't know about you, but I don't believe in randomness or chance, but in a world that's logical and under control.  I have to believe, then, that we were put here with a specific job to do and a purpose in mind (Esther 4:14). 

But what happens when we neglect that job?  Good question.  I know it doesn't confound God's plan, but... at what cost to those around us?   And if the dire consequences of the parable are any indication, then the cost to us must be quite high indeed!

Now how am I going to end this topic on a more positive note ...?

I know! For those looking for a little more carrot an a little less stick, take a moment and listen through Matthew West's song "You've Got Something to Say"

Bueno?

Okay, now get out there, get your marketing game on, and most of all...

Live Your Adventure,
-E.L. Fletcher

NaNoWriMo 2018 In Review

Well it's over - that great month of insanity known as NaNoWriMo.

And if you recall from the previous post I had determined to write a complete first draft of two different novels in the same month.  So how did that work out?

Did I make it?
Did it just about kill me?
Do I kind of regret signing on for that much?

Yes, to all three.

But it's over now, so I thought I'd share with you guys a little postmortem of things and a few gravy quotes of what you can look forward to when the full books are finally released.

Interestingly, the two couldn't have been more opposite.

Elfworld:

• Male Protagonist
• Just a fun, wild, and light-hearted comedy.
• Total "pantster". I had had absolutely no plan in mind going into it, just this basic idea of the world.
• The characters are all relaxed, endearing, and in some ways nigh invincible.
• Has a totally concrete "and they lived happily ever after" ending.  (Well, TWO of those, actually.  But you'd have to read it to get what I mean by that.)

Yet One Way Ticket:

• Female Protagonist.
• A deep, brooding dystopia where mortality confronts the characters at every turn.
• Total "planster".  I had a number of ideas that I wanted to work in and spent the entire first day doing nothing but outlining.  (If you look at my word graph it's easy to see when I switched.  I did a whopping 18 words that day, vs the usual 3,000 or more!)
• The characters are flawed, broken, plagued with self-doubt.  At one point you don't even know who to trust. 
• Ends with a major twist, a huge new development in the world, and characters geared up and ready to go for a sequel (though I han'd been planning to make either a series.  I couln't leave their world the way it was and so it just played out that way.)

In other ways they turned out strikingly similar. 

• Their main adversaries were high-level influencers in their world system. 
• Both heroes are a part of a dedicated, hand-picked team which allegedly has a traitor in its midst.
• The main plot consisted of a physical journey from here to there.
• Protagonist is an everyday person who learns way too much about the way the world works, their place in it, and brings themself under fire due to their unique special abilities.

In fact, at one point in both stories, the leading female character gets a certain thing into her head and has to be bodily carried away from the situation like a sack of potatoes.  I don't know why I happened to use that exact same plot device twice in a row, but the situation seemed to call for it, so... whatever, I guess.

I've had to shelve stories in the past that simply didn't seem to work out right, but both of these seem like winners in their own way.  Since I literally only finished it moments ago, I have no feedback on One-Way Ticket yet, but concerning Elfworld, I've heard my pre-alpha readers physically laughing out loud, so that's a good compliment! :)

I think you'll probably see both in print someday.

Anyway, here are a couple of great excerpts from each that you can enjoy until then.
(You can totally see the huge difference between the two stories from the tone of the quotes below.)

One-Way Ticket:

Nature had done its job well, and the body had no remaining odor to it. All that remained behind were bones and a few stray hairs.

Stricken with a sudden morbid curiosity, she reached over plucked one up.

Drawing it out, she watched in mute fascination as it slid through her thumb and forefinger.

Who were you, once? she mentally asked the bones. You had pretty hair. she added, realizing that the color and length was not dissimilar to her own.

How does it come to this? You were just an average woman living in Utopia. she thought, not sure which one of them she was addressing. But The Collectives had their points to make, didn't they? And so, here you are.

Were you going to the fridge for a snack when it happened? she wondered. Were you making a meal for your family? Are they buried here too?

Or did your body simply fall here? Thrown out with the rest like any common piece of garbage?

The bones would not answer.

Elfworld:

His friends had long ago given up any idea of participating in the fighting and now merely stood aside and watched. Though he plowed through the soldiers as reckless as lemming on crack, and though he had too many holes in him to count, Benny's life bar hadn't budged a single tick.

If the previous battles were any indication, he should be feeling tremendous physical pain right now, but apparently the effects of Trina's last Courage +50 were eclipsing even that.

Kamauski cleared his throat. "Um, guys. You know we're probably the worst fantasy team of all time, right? I mean, the only reason we're even winning right now is because we slipped our own leader a power-up mickey so he'd do all the fighting for us..."

They nodded slowly.

"No, okay. As long as you're good with it."

One-Way Ticket:

From her present point of view the city seemed to be a rare oasis of life in this world of war and decay, but now Emily had seen the truth behind the illusion, however. It was no oasis at all, but a great and hungry leech, sucking away the life and all good things from the surrounding land. This even included its own underground, for not but a level or two below the surface, the destitute people of the Fells treadled the great millstone that made the whole engine turn. Utopia, built upon hollow stuffs, in more ways than one.

Elfworld:

On the TV screen, a drone shot panned across a roaring stadium of mixed-species fans of all walks of life.

Cut to a balding announcer in a crooked tie. "We're back! Bottom of the sixth, Cubs are still up by two. It's been an exciting game sportsfans."

Same announcer, in voice-over as they cut to the diamond. "But they may be in trouble, folks, coach has sent in Kellan Frostbeard."

A white-bearded dwarf spit (not to be racist, but dwarves tended to like that part of the sport), tapped the dirt off his cleats, and settled into his stance.

"Now, Frostbeard led the league in RBI's last season, despite having a fairly low number of hits."

Another voice, "Right you are, Chuck, but I'd like to remind you that when looking at the stats of your halfling batters it all comes down to a question of whether the pitcher can put it across the strike zone or not. And with the bases loaded like they are, it looks like the Cubbies could be in for --"

Untold thousands of fans around the nation groaned in unison as the picture cut out in favor of the station logo.

Well, that's it for now.  I guess I have to come out of hibernation now and see what real life has to offer. ;)

Live YOUR Adventure,
-E.L. Fletcher

NaNoWriMo Double-Down!

So you guys asked for Elfworld, and you know what?  You got Elfworld!  (Or a first draft, at least.)

Submitted for your approval, a photographic re-enactment of me crushing it:

But here's the real question.  Today is Nov 14 - only halfway through NaNoWriMo - but I've already got the 50,000 words in.

Therefore, since I wrote the one you wanted for the first of the month, I'm going to write the one I want for the second half.  Sound fair?

That makes this post my second NaNo announcment.  This time the book is:

One Way Ticket

(Working title only.  Still thinking up a cool name.)

 In a dystopian future, the continent has been reduced to a number of warring city-states. Each, in a desperate scramble for survival has devolved to the level of bloodthirsty efficiency. Needless to say that when Emily Conrad is diagnosed with a terminal illness, she suddenly finds herself running out of options.

Only one alternative remains: To join the army's death squad division and at least go out with a bang!

Sound exciting? 
I hope so.
For updates, follow me on social media (links on the right) and my NaNoWriMo profile.




Till then, Live Your Adventure!
-E.L.Fletcher

Nanowrimo 2018 announcement!

Yes folks, it's that time of year again.  Time to binge write like a person half my age and end up getting wheeled off to the looney bin.  Fun times!

This year I narrowed it down to three ideas and let you, my loyal fans, decide on social media.

Well, the votes are in and the winner is...

Okay, first off I had way too much fun doctoring that image. :)

And secondly, the elf dude actually does resemble one of the characters shaking out of the story.  His name is Hadley Morrel, a power-executive who seeks to leverage the q.e. for his own financial gain.

Oh, but what is the q.e.?  You may ask.

The q.e. is the Quantum Eclipse. 

You see, it turns out that "parallel dimensions" are anything but parallel. Rather, they are constantly adrift, coming in and out of phase with one another. 

The reason why our culture has been so influenced by the the fantasy genre is because that particular dimension is nearing our own. 

Of course, Benny doesn't realize any of this until he arrives at the office one morning and holds the door for an elf with a briefcase. The fantasy world is suddenly mashed up with our own, and he grows increasingly frustrated that only he seems to know the difference between the two!

Now he has to walk that fine line between fantasy and reality, and hopefully save both from tyranny and destruction!

There are some great surprises along the way, including some guest appearances by certain persons you may know.  I'm not going to say any more than that.  You'll have to read the book.  :)-

Anyway, the first day of binge-writing went rather well, propelling me to a respectable start of 6,590 words.  NaNo says if I can keep that up I'll be done in a week.  I make no promises in that regard though. Lol!

Finally, if you are a fellow NaNoWriMo participant, you can find me / buddy me / verbally abuse me via:
https://nanowrimo.org/participants/edmund-lloyd-fletcher

Be Safe Out There.

The artist space I'm a member of is doing a big push to get everybody to keep MSDS safety sheets on file for all of the supplies they use.

Being an author, I'm feeling a little left out of the "fun", so I made this.

Be safe out there, folks! ;)

Here's a close-up of the hazard icons:


(I love the word "foodstuffs", by the way.)
And if you want the whole thing, you can download as an OpenOffice drawing or a PDF file.


Well, keep smiling and Live Your Adventure,
-E.L. Fletcher

Review: The Ishbane Conspiracy

The Ishbane Conspiracy
By Angela, Karina, and Randy Alcorn

ISBN: 9781576738177

Cover description:

Sneak a peek over the enemy's shoulder as Lord Foulgrin describes his plan to capture the souls of four young friends. Picture-perfect Jillian is terrified of getting hurt. Tough-talking Brittany trusts nobody. Successful athlete Ian dabbles in the occult. And former gang member Rob struggles with old guilt and new faith. Will they resist temptation?

Here's the deal:

Any instagrammies (insta... grannies?  What??) reading this will recall I recently made out like a bandit at a library book sale.

Well, one of the things I came away with was The Ishbane Comspiracy by Randy Alcorn.  (Third book down in the far left stack.) When it happened, I was a little short of time, so I saw "Randy Alcorn", grabbed it, and kept right on swimming through the book table like Scrooge MacDuck.

It, in fact, is not only written by Randy Alcorn, but also his two daughters Angela and Karina.  Truth be told, it was probably written entirely by them, only leveraging their father's name to get ahead...  which I don't begrudge them.  It's is nice work if you can get it, right? ;)

Anyway, I didn't realize until I finished it, that this is technically a sequel to another book called Lord Foulgrin's Letters.  You can very well read Ishbane all on its own as I did (it stands alone fairly well), but I believe reading the other first would give some helpful backstory on the Foulgrin vs. Ishbane conflict as well as what happened with Mr Jordan Fletcher, the father.

Yep, the family's name is Fletcher.  Good name. :)

On to the review:

I honestly didn't know what to expect going into this.  It seemed more like a This Present Darkness straight-up spiritual warfare story, but turned out to be more like The Screwtape Letters.

[Aside:  For those who don't know C.S. Lewis' The Screwtape Letters is about a demon writing to his nephew/apprentice about the best ways to beat you up and kill you.]

The first book even brands itself as "a screwtape letters for our day", which, yes and no.  I have to say that a lot of the "our day" stuff was a little dated, even for the 2001 printing date.  But hey, if you write it off as the world the book is set in, you can move right along, no problem.

As to the screwtape letters angle, I liked that they intermingled a narrative story with the letters between the two demons.  Unfortunately, they chose to always include one letter per chapter.  The chapters themselves were short and sweet (if you've read my stuff, you know I like that model).  But mix the two things together, however, and you have a lot of demon banter that is simply there for filler.  As the book progresses you come to dread getting to the end of the action because you know that you'll have to wade through two pages of Hell's politics before getting on with the story!

And to make matters worse, demons, as it turns out, always seem to speak in mixed-metaphors.  Why?  Well that brings me to...

The biggest problem, however, can be seen before you even get to chapter 1.  Just take a look at the acknowledgments page.  Usually, it's a one liner, like, "I want to thank God and Uncle Jessie for always standing by me." ;)  This book lists over a full page of people who all threw in their ten cents!

So what does that mean in a practical sense?  It means that they tried to cram in every possible thought about Christianity as it relates to the modern world.  I mean, to their credit, they get it all right.  Flat out nailing that many culture/worldview issues is no small fete!  But the thing is, doing it all in one book... that's a bit much.

No.  Strike that.  A Kendrick Brothers film covers a bit much.  This is like four Kendrick films smooshed together.

For instance, this book tackles: underage drinking, drinking and driving, drug abuse, new age, tarot, oiji boards (giving us a full chronological history), transcendental meditation, crystals, homosexuality, abortion, wicca, teen sex, school shootings, relativism, metaphysics, suicide, pop music, irreducible complexity, heaven, bullying, harry potter, peer pressure, media bias, college anti-christian prejudice, down syndrome babies, out-of-body experiences, liberal parenting, familiar spirits, and, of course, the meaning of salvation.

And this is just a sampling off the top of my head!

All those things are great topics that need to be discussed.  But pick ONE!  (Maybe two or three at most.)

Of course, this is the reason behind all of the mixed-metaphors that I was complaining about earlier.  It's this continual shifting from one great analogy to another without a clutch that's really grinding my gears. (Now how's that for a metaphor!  No?  Okay, moving on...)

Finally by the time we reach the major climax of the book (I won't spoil it) we have one -- count 'em, ONE -- chapter for the characters to come to grips with what happened.  You know how in my review of Haunted House Flipper I applauded the author for having such a clean, tight ending.  Well, that's doubly to his credit if even the Alcorns have a hard time getting it together.

At this point I want to pause my ranting and call a time-out.   In these reviews I'm always worried that people will read all of my negative comments and go, "Wow, thanks, I sure don't want to read that one, then!"

I mean, some of them are that way, but if that's the take-home, I'll definitely say so.

This book... erm...
Well, read the summary and find out.

Summary:

I would recommend reading the first book if you can.  If not, don't sweat it too much.  Go ahead and grab this one anyway.  It stands well enough on its own.

As far as the book itself:  It's good, but it does cover a lot of ground.  I think if you know that going into it, and you're ready and willing to take that journey, no problem. 

If, on the other hand, you're not feeling up for that and want something with a clear, straightforward theme...  Well, I wouldn't say don't read it.  I'd rather say, keep it on your shelf until the day you are in the mood to chew through it.


Live YOUR adventure!
  -E.L. Fletcher

P.S.

Interestingly, one of the metaphors in chapter 3:

"No I mean it.  I'm not in control.  Neither are you.  We can do what we can do, but let's face it, we don't pull the strings of the universe.  It's like we're on a big ship crossing the ocean and we can do certain things on board, like eat lunch or play shuffleboard or take a nap or read a book.  But we can't make the ship go wherever we want."

I noticed must have come directly from the A.W. Tozer book I recently reviewed! Concerning the sovreignty of God, Tozer says:

On board the [ocean] liner are several scores of passengers.  These are not in chains, neither are their activities determined for them by decree.  They are completely free to move about as they will.  They eat, sleep, play, lounge about on deck, read, talk, altogether as they please; but all the while the great liner is carrying them steadily onward to a predetermined port.

How's that for good timing?

Review: Haunted House Flipper

Haunted House Flipper
By: Dan Absalonson

ISBN: 978-1983682025

Cover Description:

Ray is a friendless realtor who stumbles on supernatural tools that get rid of demons. He decides to flip haunted mansions by ridding them of demons, renovating them, then selling them for a hefty profit. Discover a new world within our own as Ray learns how to use his supernatural tools, fights demons, makes new friends, & outsmarts new enemies.

Background:

So here's how it happened.  I was just hanging out on the socials, trying to keep up with all that rigamaroll, when a guy on Instagram starts talking about this strange new book he's reading about a "haunted house flipper".  (Much the same as the description above.)  I was intrigued by the concept and started asking more about it.

Turns out the author himself was lurking on the conversation since his name was @ tagged.  He was like "here, lemme send you a copy".  And I'm all like, "Kay."  -- Though the conversation may have been less teenager-y than that, that was the jest of it.

He sent me the ebook, not asking for a review or anything, just, "here you go".

But I liked the story and thought I'd write a review anyway, so here goes...

Review:

First the cons:

As far as the technical craftsmanship, a couple of things fell a little short. 

First off, the cover.  I mean, it works, and it isn't MS Paint by any means, but it does seem a little lacking when compared to many so-called "professional" designs.  Maybe a B- project in Photoshop class.  Especially surprising since the author is not a bad artist, so I assume part of this could be a "personal taste" factor at play here.  Anyway, I had the ebook, so it really wasn't front-and-center to bother me regardless.

The other thing that seemed to fall a little short was in the writing.  Though in many ways very well done, the author's tendency to re-use the same word over and over got a little monotonous.  Again, a passing grade by all means, and like the cover design, your average reader not being so obsessed with the minute details of the craft probably wouldn't notice.

This problem was further compounded by the choice to write in the first person.  Not an easy undertaking, but in doing so, every sentence tends to go I... I... I...  And with the two together we arrive at:  I needed to ride the bus so I went to the bus stop and I waited for the bus.  When the bus came I got on the bus... I, bus, I, bus, I, bus... Sheesh!

All that nitpickery aside, none of this amounts to much of a handicap.  The critical part of any novel is always the story, and this one turned out to be engrossing enough that after a couple of chapters the writing style became irrelevant.  And that's really where it counts, #amiright?

The story, though everything the description promises, wound up having several eyebrow-raising twists and facets to it, which were delightfully clever and unexpected.

For instance, when I heard about the concept of casting out demons and turning a profit from it, I wondered, "Interesting idea, but would that really be ethical?"  The author has a creative, and again, unexpected, way of addressing that.

Not to spoil it, but as a teaser (and probably the defining quote of the book IMO), at one point Ray says:

"I only knew how to serve myself so that's what guided my decision.  I would get rid of that demon all right, but I would do it so I could flip that mansion and make a huge profit from it."

In fact, whenever the plot ran into any questionable situation, the author did a great job of putting it right in terms of a proper Christian worldview -- yet at the same time not painting a false picture of the world as being all saccharine and Kumbaya.  The story doesn't spare the blood and grit of real life, which I truly appreciate.

The characters also really grow on you, and the excitement and peril keep you sucked in and always wanting to know what happens next.

Side note: I don't how to work this into the course of the review.  In fact, I don't even know if this was cleverly intentional, or just a mere coincidence, but I noticed that the first demon battle occurred in chapter 13!  How apropos!

Finally, although the ending in many indie books tends to be either either rushed or left unresolved, this one is orchestrated perfectly.  The plot is all tied up with a neat little bow, yet with just the few unexplored dimensions to make you wonder, "Gee, I wonder what happens next?"

In Summary:

Even though I spilt a little of the proverbial red ink at the beginning of this review, in the end I can honestly say that this is a delightful story which I'd recommend for anyone to read.

That is doubly so if you have friends who are realtors or even full-blown house-flippers.  In which case, you absolutely MUST get them a copy of this book!  They'll love it!

Más Awesomesauce:

(Yeah, I've been hitting the Duolingo Español a little heavy lately.  Cut me some slack.)

I don't usually give props to the author's website itsself, but this one is worth looking at.  It is rich with other audiobooks and short stories, many of them FREE for the downloading.  Check it out:
www.DanDanTheArtMan.com