Bart "J.B." Hopkins's Blog, page 36

Shakespeare!

On our Summer 2012 trip to England, we paid homage to Shakespeare, and visited his birthplace.  We also popped into the Globe Theater in London where we saw Henry V.  In school, I found reading Shakespeare interesting, but it was, at times, difficult to immerse myself in it.  Being able to see it on stage was much better.  The actors did a great job…it was fun…and a great way to experience Shakespeare.  Incredibly, it only cost 5 pounds (about $8) per person.

Before the show, I stopped to consider all the deeper complexities of life, as you can clearly see in the photo.

Unfortunately, there was no epiphany.

That day, however, we learned the value of ponchos in England.  Rain or shine, the show must go on, and ponchos earn their keep in an open-air theater.

Once more unto the breach, dear friends!

 

Kindle Highlights: Fluke

I just stumbled upon this website that lets you view highlights & notes from Kindle users.  Not all users have enabled “public viewing” of their highlights, so it isn’t all-encompassing, but it’s cool nonetheless.

Naturally, I looked up Fluke to see what people were highlighting.  Here are a few of the highlights (actual passages from the novel that have been highlighted in Kindles):

1. “Love wasn’t something that could be defined or articulated, it was just something to be felt, it was something that was yours, and it didn’t matter if anyone else knew it or not.” – Highlighted by 10 people

2. “What if you missed out on true love because you wanted to sleep another hour?” – Highlighted by 4 people

3. “It hit you like a brick in the heart, in the face, in the stomach, and nothing anyone tells you can prepare you for it, forget the great poets.” – Highlighted by 4 people

4. “My theory was that the body’s internal workings would wake you up when it was ready to do so, when it was rested and prepared to start back up.  Alarm clocks, I felt, were nothing more than a plague rained down by an evil force, possibly even Lucifer himself.” – Highlighted by 3 people

5. “Sometimes a beautiful woman had to do nothing more than smile to make you forget about any ugliness.”

6. “A quest for knowledge,” I said in an overly dramatic voice, “and its bastard son, truth!”

Another win for Amazon’s Kindle.  What an experience to be able to see which passages in Fluke struck a chord in our readers.

Click on the link to check it out:  Kindle Highlights from Fluke

 

 

What is an awesome day?

Back in October of 2012 we had the opportunity to meet Alex Trebek.  The Jeopardy crew came to Ramstein Air Base to seek out future contestants for a week of episodes highlighting military personnel that serve overseas.

My family is addicted to Jeopardy–and Alex Trebek–so we were excited!  We routinely watch Jeopardy! just before dinner.

My wife and I got in line, met Alex, and got his autograph.  He was very kind to us.  Then, yep, we got into the line of people waiting to take the tests (tryout) for the show.

After 30 minutes or so we had worked our way nearly up to the front of the line (just across from Alex).  He looked up from signing a photograph, saw us, and said, “Hey, Bart and Perla…looks like you’re almost to the front of the line!”

I stood there, grinning, and looking foolish, but I couldn’t help it.   Alex Trebek had just said our names aloud, ha!  Even though he had worked through a line of fans since our meeting, Alex Trebek remembered our names and called us out. I thought that was pretty cool.

We didn’t make the cut for the show (man!) but it was an awesome day.

Fluke Promotion through Amazon and Kindle

Merry Christmas Eve!

In my last blog post, I mentioned that our novel, Fluke, was free through Christmas.  It still is.  Follow links at the bottom of the post to the pot of gold.

This Fluke promotion has been (I think) a huge success.  We’ve had over 16,000 downloads at the 76-hour point and it’s still moving.  While we aren’t making royalties from giveaways, they are a serious means of advertising.  The reviews and word-of-mouth generate a lot of sales (educated guess).

Watching the numbers as books are downloaded in the various Amazon regions is also highly addictive.  I refresh throughout the day, awed as the electrons move to iPads, Kindles, and gadgets everywhere.

The numbers revealed to me that there are 23 Canadians, five Italians, six Spaniards, and over 5,000 people in the UK who were lucky enough to nab Fluke.  There is also one lonely Brazilian that has a copy–maybe he or she can lend it to a friend and spread the good word.

If I haven’t mentioned it–I love the UK–we had an amazing trip there this August.  I’m very excited about the exposure we are getting there.

And, so, I encourage you to grab a copy while they are free and spread the Holiday cheer to your friends.  In return, please leave us a review on Amazon to let us know what you think.  Happy Holidays!

Here if you are in the USA.     Here if you are in the UK.     Here if you are in Canada.

Fluke Promotion!!

Fluke is going to be FREE on Amazon (most countries) for all your Kindle applications…December 21st – December 23rd.

JUST CLICK HERE to grab a copy of Fluke

 

 

Book Signing

This weekend I had my first book signing.  It was a last-minute decision with zero advertising…a table amongst tables at a Holiday Market on Ramstein Air Base (not the usual location for a book signing).

I had no idea what to expect, but it turned out to be an awesome experience. I truly enjoyed talking to people about our novel, Fluke, and my upcoming solo novel Texas Jack.  More than that I enjoyed connecting with readers – too much fun – and I can’t wait to do it again.

The only negative was that my buddy and Fluke co-author, Dave Elliott, couldn’t be there.  Next time, Gadget…

So, a huge thanks to those of you that snagged a copy of Fluke – I truly appreciate you taking time to water the seedling author.  And, I hope you enjoy the book.  Thanks, as well, to everyone that stopped by just to chat!

Not so much a review as a recommendation: The Kite Runner

The Kite Runner

By Khaled Hosseini

This book is fantastic!

It has all of the elements that make for a powerful story. One of the best I’ve read in the past few years.

I haven’t seen the movie, so I cannot make any comparison between the two.

The characters are richly developed. You love the good ones and hate the bad ones. As they traverse the landscape of life you cannot help but to feel what they feel. And, their lives are not simple. Their culture is at stake as their land is ravaged by a variety of invaders. The turmoil over doing what is right is always present. Cowardice is a challenge. Redemption, love, guilt, petty behavior, family, honor…it’s all there.

The story is so well told it could easily be real. It also gives you an understanding of the challenges faced by the people of Afghanistan the past few decades.

Check out the synopsis on any site and don’t hesitate to pick up a copy.

A favorite quote:

“It was only a smile, nothing more. It didn’t make everything all right. It didn’t make anything all right. Only a smile. A tiny thing. A leaf in the woods, shaking in the wake of a startled bird’s flight. But I’ll take it. With open arms.”

Mornings

Nobody in our family enjoys waking up early.  But…there is one of us that really despises mornings.  Here’s a hint who that is…

I feel her pain…I don’t enjoy mornings either.  I dream about a day when alarm clocks are the exception in my life instead of being the rule.

Which reminds me…I have to wake up early.  So, I will bring this to a close somewhat prematurely and simply wish anyone that may read this the best of nights.

AFN The Eagle

Do you live in a place that doesn’t have a big selection of radio stations?  Or, possibly, just not many radion stations that cater to your native tongue?

I live in a place like that and I don’t have satellite radio…not even sure they do satellite radio in Germany.  But, what we do have is the Armed Forces Network (AFN).  AFN pipes radio and television out to Americans stationed around the world.  It’s nice and brings a little home to us.

Today as my son and I rolled up to the Ramstein Air Base gate, a song I haven’t heard in a while came on the AFN The Eagle radio station.  I turned up the volume and sang along.  The line was long to get on base, and as we moved along slowly, I looked at the people in vehicles around me.  What I saw going on around me made me chuckle.

Everyone.   I mean everyone in the vehicles surrounding ours…they were all singing the same song that I was singing.  Synchronized singing between, maybe, 10 vehicles.  Our lips all moving in unison.  It was strange, and funny, and oddly good and comforting.  I’m not sure any of them noticed…they were too busy belting out the lyrics of the radio tune.

I should mention that we were all middle-aged.  I didn’t see any youngsters in the other cars.  After all…this was a song for people in their 30′s and 40′s.

What song was it?  Against All Odds by Phil Collins.

And, so, I leave you with a morsel of that song to chew on…

“How can I just let you walk away,
just let you leave without a trace
When I stand here taking every breath with you, ooh-ooh
You’re the only one who really knew me at all…”

Spam

One of the creepiest few minutes of each week for me is going into my SPAM folder on Yahoo.

I can understand the purpose of having a SPAM folder and I appreciate it.  But, it’s strange to me that we live in a world so jam-packed with bad emails that it necessitates another folder for the garbage.

I am guessing the biggest factor that leads to an email going to SPAM is that it has approximately one bajillion people in the “To” block, give or take?

A secondary factor might be long, unrecognized sender email addresses.  A third might be the use of certain words in the body of the title.

I used to laugh at the titles of some of these emails.  Someone noticed me online and thinks I’m sexy (how is that possible?).  Cheap pharmaceuticals.  Foreign lotteries which I have won.  Weight loss secrets.  Cheap software.  And, the hits keep on coming…

I don’t open them–I’m scared that will lead to a virus.  But the titles used to seem funny to me.  Over there years, the humor as slowly crept out of them.  They no longer seem funny.  Many are vile, ominous, or downright ignorant.

I have continued opening the SPAM folder for that 1 of every 5,000 emails that slips through that should have gone to my Inbox.  I don’t think I can do it any longer.  I can’t open that rubbish and scan through all the (insert curse word) for the one email that shouldn’t be there.  It’s like wading through sewage for a penny.  It’s just not worth it.

And, so, my friends, if I do not reply to you, it could be that yours was that poor, unfortunate email that was sorted into my SPAM folder.  It is a cesspool down there.  The water isn’t great.  I’m sorry, my bad…give me a call on the phone.

~Bart