J.T. Kalnay's Blog, page 23
October 2, 2012
Topsail Accord Having A Good Day!
The Topsail Accord is having a very good day on Amazon.com. Thanks to everyone who helped with the story and the promotion. And thanks to all the readers who’ve sent me such thoughtful notes about the book. I think you’ll see many of your suggestions appear in The Point.
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #59 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Contemporary Fiction
Topsail Accord Free on 10/2, 10/3, 10/4
The Topsail Accord is free today, tomorrow, and thursday on Amazon.com.
The book has received decent reviews. The positive commentary includes praise for the descriptiveness of the beaches and for the easy pace at which Shannon and Joe try to come together. The negative commentary focuses on how much of a b*tch Shannon is, and about the explicitness of some of the romantic scenes… Love it or hate it, I hope you try it and that it whisks you away to a North Carolina beach.
Please consider sharing this link on your facebook page, through Twitter, and through Pinterest. We indie authors truly appreciate every like and share that our friends provide.
October 1, 2012
The Keeper Audiobook Available
Here’s a link to the first of my books that is available as an audio book. Kevin Charles Minatrea is a delight to listen to. He really captured the spirit of the story, especially the Ojibway grandmother!
2,000 Dead in Afghanistan
Jesse and James hoped that the war would be over by now, and that all the soldiers would be home. They were wrong. Here’s a link to the story: http://news.yahoo.com/us-military-deaths-afghanistan-hit-2-000-11-131020733.html
And here’s a link to the book describing how Wounded Warriors Jesse and James were wounded, and what they did about it…
http://www.amazon.com/Wounded-Warriors-ebook/dp/B005A1GHLA/ref=tmm_kin_title_0
Chinese Spear Fishing Attack on White House
This hacking technique is described by the FBI in G1.1. If only the White House had read this book about a young hacker. Here’s a link to the news story. http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2012/10/01/washington-confirms-chinese-hack-attack-on-white-house-computer/
And here’s a link to the book, where the Chinese are behind a corrupt casino in Las Vegas that Ginny (a hacker from Cleveland) decides to penetrate….
September 29, 2012
Keeper Audiobook Now Available on Amazon and iTunes
The Amazon link:
The iTunes link:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/j.-t.-kalnay/id566770909?ign-mpt=uo%3D4
Keeper Released As Audioboook!
The Keeper was released yesterday as an Audiobook on audible.com. It’ll be on iTunes and Amazon soon as an audiobook. I think the narrator did an excellent job on this short little story about love, loss, PTSD, and maybe, just maybe, time travel…
http://www.audible.com/pd/ref=sr_1_1?asin=B009HVMGDW&qid=1348926674&sr=1-1
September 25, 2012
CrossFit: The Mentality of “I can’t”
“I can’t”. It’s so easy to say, and it’s almost always wrong. At the very least it’s inaccurate. And it’s a waste of time and energy. Once, just ONCE, try this substitution. When looking at the pullup bar, say “I have a triple black band pullup”, instead of “I can’t do a pullup”. When looking at the bar, say “I have a PVC snatch”, instead of “I can’t even snatch an empty bar.” When looking at 10 burpees in the warmup say “I can get down and up by lowering down and coming up one limb at a time” instead of “I can’t do a burpee.” And, note to self, once, just ONCE, just EFFIN ONCE say “I can keep moving for the entire 400 yards”, instead of “I can’t run.” If we can substitute bacon for donuts, we ought to be able to substitute I can do X for I can’t do Y….
I wonder what tomorrow’s WOD will be.
CrossFit: From serf to King of the World and back to Duke of a small principality
Today was one of those days in CrossFit when you feel like you’re on top of the world and then you feel that the world has decided it’s going to sit on your chest for a while…
First a clever (devious?) warmup awakened all the sore muscles from the last few days’ workouts, and then it was on to strength training. You know how you feel strong when you lift something heavy? That’s cool. You know how you feel weak when you can’t lift something light? That’s not so cool. Power snatch? Cool. Snatch squat? Not so cool. It’s practically the same, and yet it’s completely different, and that’s one of the hidden subtleties of CrossFit. It’s not just constantly varied in the big picture (e.g., strength to metcon to mobility), but also on a micro scale (e.g., power snatch, squat snatch), even within a movement! After strength training, it was a broken down piece of a movement separated by box jumps. Here’s where King of the World comes in. 12″? No problem (couldn’t step up on a 12″ box 6 months ago, now that little box looks so weak and pathetic). 18″? No problem. 24″? Okay, gotta concentrate, that’s a long way up. Yes! Got it. 30″? Are you effin’ kiddin’ me? 30″? Dude you have a prosthetic hip. YES! 30″ goes. That’s effin’ amazing! 36″? Really? Are you even considering that? How are you going to explain the surgery to your wife after an epic fail? Shup up failure voice. Amp up the try it voice. 36″? YESSSSS!!!!!!!!! I am the KING OF THE WORLD! Dancing and jumping on top of the 36″ box!!! King of the World! The French Press probably wants to take topless pictures! (Okay, let’s not get insane…). But too soon box jumps are over and its Metcon time. And just that suddenly, the king of the world is deposed, relagated to prince, and then all the way to Duke of some small out-of-the-way principality named YkantIbreathistan.
All that, in just one workout. I wonder what tomorrow’s WOD will be….
September 24, 2012
Six Months of CrossFit
One of the things you do in CrossFit is write down your current ability. That way, you can go back and compare to see whether you are progressing.
Here are two entries separated by a little of 6 months…
March 1st, 2012 (could not complete one CurtisP with empty hands, could not do 1 situp, could not do 1 double under).
September 27, 2012 (performed CurtisPs with 115#, did 50-50-40-40 double unders, situps in 12:33).
Thank you Carl Dei, Larry Crooks, and all the members at CTown CrossFit who have been so helpful. Thank you also to Tim and Jeff at the Shed ‘o Pain for your support.
