Mark R. Hunter's Blog

Call For Books, and Authors Make Appearances!

I can type again! .... some.



A few author appearances are coming up:



On September 20 we'll be at Albion's Fall Celebration, which is on a Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Lots of vendors, plus a car show, all on the Noble County Courthouse Square in Albion. We plan to have all of our books available, and fingers crossed for good weather. Honestly, outdoor appearances make me very nervous, what with rain and all the paper.

https://www.albionstarteam.org/fall-c...


On September 28th Emily and I are going to be guesting on the Easily Distracted by Cemeteries podcast, in a discussion I suspect will involve ... cemeteries. They're based not far from Diamond Lake, which, along with its accompanying hill, has a rich tradition of the supernatural.

https://rss.com/podcasts/easilydistra...

"Join us as we discuss cemeteries, ghosts, and the antics of those visiting cemeteries with many distractions and laughs along the way."

We're starting at 2 p.m., but I assume this isn't live. I'll let you know when I have a broadcast time.



On October 30, from 6-7:30 p.m., we'll be at the Assembly Room of the Community Learning Center in Kendallville. I'll be giving a talk, then hosting a Q&A. But on the brighter side, I'm told there'll be drinks (non-alcoholic) and snacks. I'm reasonably certain I'll be able to string two words together, maybe three.

https://thecommunitylearningcenter.org/

This will be a ticketed event, which wasn't my idea, and please show up! It's to cover the CLC expenses, and it's a pretty great organization. The Community Learning Center is at 401 E. Diamond Street, in the old Kendallville High School, which was more recently the old Kendallville Middle School.






Hope to see everyone there, which would be quite a crowd. But if you can't make it ours books are all available online, pending operations by Skynet:




· Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B0058CL6OO

· Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/&quo... R Hunter"

· Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...

· Blog: https://markrhunter.blogspot.com/

· Website: http://www.markrhunter.com/

· Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ozma914/

· Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarkRHunter914

· Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markrhunter/

· Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarkRHunter

· Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@MarkRHunter

· Substack: https://substack.com/@markrhunter

· Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/ozma914

· Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/vi...

· Audible: https://www.audible.com/search?search...


Remember: Fresh air never hurt anyone. I mean, outside of blizzards. And heat waves. And ... never mind.

Prices and Shipping Costs, and Other Boring Book Stuff

Pardon any typos, I'm still doing the speech to text thing.

We investigated the costs of producing and shipping our print books, and got some bad news: We're actually losing a little money on a couple of the books, and making hardly any on others. I'm all for a fun hobby, but this is also supposed to be a business, and when it comes to style--red is a bad look on a business.

So we have to increase the price of a couple of the books, by a dollar. This, of course, doesn't apply to the traditionally published books, Haunted Noble County, Indiana and Images of America: Albion and Noble County. In those cases the publisher sets the retail price.

On the matter of shipping costs, we took some books to the Post Office and did some figuring. Basically, sending our books to anywhere in America is $4.77 to ship, not including envelopes, which are around 50 cents or so. There's also handling, but we don't get enough mail orders to charge for our time.

It means to mail one book to you is $5.00, which for Haunted Noble County is now set up on our website:

https://markrhunter.com/haunted-noble...

Hitting the buy button will take you to a PayPal area for payment, and it will give us the address to ship it to. According to the Post Office, ordering two books would increase shipping to $5.22.


You might be money ahead to buy the book direct from Arcadia Publishing, where shipping and handling is a dollar less:

https://www.arcadiapublishing.com/col...



Last time I checked Amazon S&H was actually more, but a lot less if you have Prime, or a larger order to go with it:

https://www.amazon.com/stores/Mark-R-...



It's also online at Barnes and Noble and--wait for it--copies are available at the Barnes and Noble store at Fort Wayne's Glenbrook mall:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/%22M...

Has anyone seen Haunted Noble County, Indiana for sale at any other brick and mortar locations?



So you can get a signed copy direct from us through the website, or from Butterfly Alley Gifts here in Albion:

www.facebook.com/p/Butterfly-Alley-Gi...

You can also get signed copies at one of our upcoming author appearances, which I'll give you information about on my next post. If you show up somewhere with a book you already bought, of course we'll sign it ... but don't count on that increasing the book's value.



I have to stop for now ... my talking muscles are getting tired.

Oh, just one more thing: When I say "we" set up this or set up that, it's actually Emily who did it. Even if I could type right now, my lack of talent on computer design verges on legendary.





As usual, all our books can be found here:

· Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B0058CL6OO

· Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/&quo... R Hunter"

· Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...

· Blog: https://markrhunter.blogspot.com/

· Website: http://www.markrhunter.com/

· Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ozma914/

· Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarkRHunter914

· Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markrhunter/

· Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarkRHunter

· Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@MarkRHunter

· Substack: https://substack.com/@markrhunter

· Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/ozma914

· Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/vi...

· Audible: https://www.audible.com/search?search...



Remember: Support both your local author and your local mail carrier.

The Hand, the Books, and the Typing

The surgery went well, or so I assume. The bandage doesn't come off until next Wednesday, so in theory there should could be some kind of horror movie eye inserted into the palm of my hand that I won't know about until then. My wrist is itching like crazy, so maybe that's eyelashes blinking.

The meds they had me on can cause thinking like that. I tried to go off the painkiller early, because I'm not a big fan of the heavy duty drugs. That's when I found out just how much this would be hurting if I didn't have the heavy duty drugs, so I'll try weaning myself off in a few more days. Until then my biggest activity has been sleeping, although we did get a chance to catch up on watching Strange New Worlds.

Yesterday I managed to read an entire writer's Digest magazine, although I skipped the poetry page. It took all my brain power, especially after a dose of Benadryl because of the itching under my bandage. Stop blinking, third eye! But that's been about all I can complain about.

(Actually, Emily read the fine print for the pain med and realize that I am suffering from every single one of the side effects listed, from upset stomach to, yes, back pain--including itching.)

We ordered 45 copies of Haunted Noble County Indiana, and as of yesterday sold 40 of them. That's pretty darn good, considering I haven't left the house other than to go to the hospital. That includes those sold by Butterfly Alley Gifts, a shop just up the street from us. It doesn't include Amazon and other online sales; our website is live, but not set up to take orders just yet.

I waved a copy of the book around while they were wheeling me into the OR, but nobody seemed interested.

So as soon as I came out of the mental fog I ordered 50 more copies, and they should be here in a few days. Here's something weird: I also ordered 10 copies each of Storm Squalls and The Notorious Ian Grant. For some reason, they're sending them to me piecemeal: three copies here, five copies there, and twice I got just one copy in a package. It seems like it would have saved a lot of shipping trouble to just send them all at once.

Anyway, I'm finding talk to text, or whatever it's called, to be very frustrating. Way too much time spent going back to correct it -- maybe I just need to work on enunciation. Typing one handed is even worse, so for now I'm going to take my special happy pill and call it a day. Thanks to all the well wishers!




You can preorder, order, and generally make contact here:

· Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B0058CL6OO

· Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/&quo... R Hunter"

· Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...

· Blog: https://markrhunter.blogspot.com/

· Website: http://www.markrhunter.com/

· Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ozma914/

· Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarkRHunter914

· Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markrhunter/

· Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarkRHunter

· Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@MarkRHunter

· Substack: https://substack.com/@markrhunter

· Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/ozma914

· Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/vi...

· Audible: https://www.audible.com/search?search...




Remember: Pain meds might make you blah blah blah.

Give Me a Hand ... For Surgery

Chances are good that I'm about to disappear.

I'm having surgery on my hand, thanks to a non-dangerous affliction called Dupuytren's contracture. This was named after a scientist named Guillotine Dupuytren, and I hope he's happy. I'd give him the middle finger, but it won't bend that way.

Over time, a patient's fingers can bend toward his palm until he--that would be me--can't use them anymore. In my case it's the two middle fingers on the left hand, where tissue under the skin hardens and draws them in.

I know what you're thinking: "Mark, how did you get Kleenex under your skin?"

No, no, it's not facial tissue, I think. It's one of those medical terms, like when they call a person who draws blood a phlebotomist, instead of the obvious title of "blood sucker". A phlebotomist sounds like someone who collects spit. Thank goodness for knowing terminology, because the medical establishment classifies Dupuytren's contracture as a "tumor".

Think of it more like paper towels when they get squeezed together while wet, then dry into a hard mass you can't break with a hammer. My sewer once got blocked that way. Unrelated to my hand.

In the United Kingdom, where many of my ancestors come from, about 20% of men over 65 have, as the drug commercials would put it, D.C. I'm not that old yet, but you gotta start somewhere. My Grandmother had it, and her maiden name was Welch, which is Welsh. But you knew that.

It's often painless, although it's started to hurt me--and hurt way more after the ortho doctor poked and prodded at it for half an hour. There's also the time he tried to ease the pain by sticking a five foot long needle through my hand, but never mind.

The man ran an iron bar through my palm--to make the pain go away! It did eventually, but I broke my other hand while punching the wall.

It wasn't the pain that worried me: It was the fact that I keyboard for my fulltime job and for my part time job, and now that I'm no longer an active firefighter, I keyboard for the Fire Department. You older people, that means typing. Typing with one hand clenched into a fist would cause issues.

So the doctor's going to put me under, then use a fork and steak knife to dig the tumor/tissue out. Then I won't be able to use my left hand for about two weeks.

You see where I'm going with this.

I once had a boss who had one hand, and he could do just about anything a two-handed person could do, out of necessity. I'm not that kind of person. I've been practicing, and it's no go. I'll have to wear sweatpants and zippered hoodies I can't zip up. Cooking will be even more dangerous than before.

Okay, usually Emily cooks, but as for doing the dishes, we'll have to stock up on paper and plastic. Mowing the lawn will be up to my grandkids. (I actually like mowing, when it's not so humid you have to shoo fish out of the way.) I have to take two weeks off work, which is fine, but everything I do at home involves a keyboard, too.

Which brings me to the internet.

Some would say I spend too much time on the internet, and they'd be right. I submit that some of that time is necessary, both to keep up with friends and family and to promote my writing. I also submit that I can't type well one handed. I'll try some speech to text writing, but based on experience with my phone, I'd have to type that much more to correct mistakes.

So I declare late August to be a vacation from the internet, and if you see a long piece of writing from me it was probably prescheduled. Once the pain and pain meds have subsided enough for me to think straight, I want to catch up on my reading.

But what I'll probably do is watch TV.



Just because I'm not around doesn't mean you can't find our books--including the newest, Haunted Noble County, Indiana:

· Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B0058CL6OO

· Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/&quo... R Hunter"

· Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...

· Blog: https://markrhunter.blogspot.com/

· Website: http://www.markrhunter.com/

· Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ozma914/

· Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarkRHunter914

· Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markrhunter/

· Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarkRHunter

· Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@MarkRHunter

· Substack: https://substack.com/@markrhunter

· Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/ozma914

· Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/vi...

· Audible: https://www.audible.com/search?search...



Remember: You only need one hand to turn the pages.

Release Day! Sort Of.

Yes, today is the release date for Haunted Noble County, Indiana. It's hit the bookseller websites (although not as an ebook yet), and I just received a box of what may or may not be copies of the book, although I've been too busy to actually open it. In my defense I was going to take a video of me opening it, and Emily and I haven't been in one place long enough to do it.

Things started going right immediately, starting with a flood of people wanting a signed copy straight from us. That was also something that went wrong because--despite me constantly talking about it online--the date sneaked up on us. As of when I write this, I haven't made arrangements for a local author appearance where I can distribute copies before late September, and there are way more people wanting them than I have time to deliver to.

Which is good, if you think about it. I always worry about whether anyone will want our newest book. This is the twelfth published, and I still have imposter syndrome.

On a related note, I should have gotten another book out earlier, so the book about ghosts and hauntings would be our 13th.

So, what went wrong? There were some personal and family related things that I can't talk about here. I can talk about the prep for my upcoming hand surgery, which will happen on August 18th, and I just realized the joke: I really can't hand deliver the copies.

It's minor surgery, but starting last week I had to stop taking any form of certain pain medicines. Due to the wording on the pre-op papers I was led to believe that meant all pain medicines, including acetomenoph ... aceta ... ac ... Tylenol. Specifically the paper said I couldn't take paracetamol, which is another word for, yes, acetaminophen.

As all fourteen of my regular readers now, I have chronic pain issues. I stopped all meds on the 8th, and the following weekend was really, really rough. On Monday I called the ortho doctor, because all our internet overlords said taking Tylenol was just fine. He said, "taking Tylenol is just fine!"

So I took six, then crushed a bottle full and spread them over my body, then emptied a case full into the bathtub and soaked in it for six hours.

Where were we? Oh, yeah, the book.

Long before all this started, Emily set about updating our https://www.markrhunter.com/ website, so the new book would be there along with links to buy it. You people who want it mailed to you, that's where you can go to make the order and give me your mailing address.

Except Emily realized the entire website had to be completely redone. At exactly the same time her seasonal job is at its busiest. After working on it every spare hour, she punched the domain name transfer request with one day to spare.

Except the domain name transfer doesn't happen in one day. It may, in fact, take several days, and there's no way to rush it. So I don't know when you'll be able to order it, I don't know where I'll be passing copies out, and I have to work this weekend ahead of the surgery.

And there you have it. Both an apology and a sob story, and an epic fail. Whoever knows where I live is welcome to stop by, of course, if you don't mind the clutter, and I'll update things as we go along. But in the end I can only blame myself and my hand, and my back, and sometimes my head.


I WILL keep you updated!


If you can't find it on one of these sites now, you will soon:

· Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B0058CL6OO

· Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/&quo... R Hunter"

· Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...

· Blog: https://markrhunter.blogspot.com/

· Website: http://www.markrhunter.com/

· Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ozma914/

· Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarkRHunter914

· Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markrhunter/

· Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarkRHunter

· Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@MarkRHunter

· Substack: https://substack.com/@markrhunter

· Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/ozma914

· Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/vi...

· Audible: https://www.audible.com/search?search...



Remember: Ghosts can’t read, so you may have to read for them.

Book Notes. No, There's No Music In Them

Okay, a few quick writerly things:

Haunted Noble County, Indiana is still up for pre-order at a price of $21.99, and will be officially released August 12th. If you want a signed copy from us let us know. I'm starting to get the idea that we didn't order enough, but we can get more sent fairly quickly. If you buy it elsewhere and want it signed--have a pen with you! (Kidding--we'll have a pen.)



We hope to plan some book signings for the rest of the year, and I'll post them as soon as they're confirmed. At the moment there's a slight and not dangerous medical thing to take care of, before the schedule is set.

We do plan for an author appearance September 20th at the Fall Celebration in downtown Albion (Indiana). We ordered more copies of Storm Squalls and The Notorious Ian Grant, so there should be enough of all our books.



Speaking of author appearances, I've contacted the Noble County Library about doing one sometime this month. I haven't heard back yet, but we've been up to the main branch in Albion twice before, and they've treated us very well. One was, sadly, disrupted by a sleet storm, but we don't get those often in August.



Remember Radio Red? You can be forgiven if you don't. It's a romantic comedy, published by Torrid Books in 2017. They were taken over by Start Romance, and since then the book has languished from a lack of promotion (which after eight years is understandable) and a lack of ever having its price reduced (which in my opinion is not understandable).

Our attempts to get the rights back to the Storm Chaser books took many months. To my shock, my request for a reversion of rights in this case got a response in only a couple of weeks. So one of our fall and winter projects will be editing, reformatting, and re-releasing Radio Red independently, with a new cover.

Not that there's anything wrong with the old cover; it just doesn't belong to us.


Our other fall and winter writing projects include a Storm Chaser prequel, a Hoosier Hysterical sequel, and (finally!) finishing our photo book about the Albion Fire Department, as well as continuing to submit to publishers and literary agents. I'm betting there'll be a blog, too. Like this one.





You can preorder, order, and generally make contact here:

· Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B0058CL6OO

· Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/&quo... R Hunter"

· Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...

· Blog: https://markrhunter.blogspot.com/

· Website: http://www.markrhunter.com/

· Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ozma914/

· Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarkRHunter914

· Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markrhunter/

· Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarkRHunter

· Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@MarkRHunter

· Substack: https://substack.com/@markrhunter

· Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/ozma914

· Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/vi...

· Audible: https://www.audible.com/search?search...



Remember: If you support your local author, it's a good mark in your book.

Haunted Video From Coast to Coast, Almost

So, is anyone thinking of buying a copy of Haunted Noble County, Indiana directly from us? I was just wondering how many author copies to order; it can get a little expensive on the front end.



I did an interview with a Fort Wayne news station a few years ago, and just discovered that, without my knowledge, it went all over the country. It appears to be from a syndicated news source, and I gave up keeping track after finding them everywhere from Vermont to West Virginia to Missouri.

It starts with a little segment about Halloween then goes to me, which is pretty cool. Here are some examples, but no need to click on more than one: They're all the same video. I thought it would be fun to list them, then stopped after I realized how many there were.



https://www.wave3.com/video/2023/10/2...

https://www.wvva.com/video/2023/10/26...

https://www.wlbt.com/video/2023/10/26...

https://www.ky3.com/video/2023/10/26/...

https://www.kctv5.com/video/2023/10/2...

https://www.wsmv.com/video/2023/10/26...

https://www.fox8live.com/video/2023/1...

https://www.fox19.com/video/2023/10/2...

https://www.wcax.com/video/2023/10/26...



I know what you're thinking: How much attention did that bring to your books, Mark? None, that I know of. The thing about promotion and publicity is that only 5% of it actually works, and no one knows which 5%. So authors have to continue to give it their all in the hopes of keeping the balance sheet in the black, and that's pretty much the same for all small businesses.

It's one reason why so many authors still submit to traditional publishers. They don't do all the work, but they do a lot of it--in return to taking a much higher percentage of the sales. Meanwhile, the author still has to do a lot of promotion.

This is why many good writers choose not to publish at all.



You can preorder, order, and generally make contact here:

· Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B0058CL6OO

· Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/&quo... R Hunter"

· Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...

· Blog: https://markrhunter.blogspot.com/

· Website: http://www.markrhunter.com/

· Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ozma914/

· Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarkRHunter914

· Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markrhunter/

· Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarkRHunter

· Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@MarkRHunter

· Substack: https://substack.com/@markrhunter

· Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/ozma914

· Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/vi...

· Audible: https://www.audible.com/search?search...



Remember: Ghosts can’t read, so you might have to read for them.

Movie review: Superman

Three things were clear to me after watching James Gunn's version of "Superman":

First, every future version of the Superman story, be it movie, TV show, or animated, should be required by federal law to utilize John Williams' 1978 score. They should even include the sheet music in the comics.

Second, that dog stole every single scene it appeared in.

Third, James Gunn understands comic book movies.

This latest version of Kal El's story starts in mid fight, with Superman getting the worst of it. Gunn wisely avoids still another version of the origin story: It's been three years since Superman donned his colorful outfit, complete with underwear on the outside. As Clark Kent he's already a star reporter, dating Lois Lane and perfecting his alter ego. But as Superman he's overstepped his bounds by interfering in a foreign war, giving everyone's favorite arch-enemy, Lex Luther, the chance to sink his reputation.

Luthor's master class in villainy causes Superman to not only lose public support, but to question himself and his reason for being on Earth. Also, he can't get that darned dog to behave. Soon Supes is hitting rock bottom, part of Luthor's master plan.

David Corenswet and Rachel Brosnahan fit right in as Superman and Lois, and in general the supporting actors do great. I had a little trouble warming up to Nicholas Hoult as Luthor, mostly because his voice was so different from Gene Hackman's, but by the end he was perfect. (Although the character's motivations seemed particularly petty, even for him.) Like Krypto, Nathan Fillion steals every scene he's in as Green Lantern Guy Gardner, a kind of anti-Superman from a personality standpoint.

Milly Alcock has a fun cameo as a new hero, and Fillion's Gardner made for a great comic trio with Edi Gathegi as Mr. Terrific and Isabela Merced as Hawkgirl.

Speaking of those characters--the "Justice Gang"--that's one of the things Gunn does very well. He knew better than to jam major heroes like Batman or Wonder Woman into the first movie of a possible future franchise. Instead, he made a deep dive into comic lore for supporting characters who could be both interesting and fresh. When's the last time you saw Metamorpho in a live action show? I barely remember him from when I was reading comics.

Gunn also understands what made Superman great to begin with, and he took the character back to the beginning, to even before Christopher Reeve times. Superman isn't dark. Superman is a Boy Scout. Not only does Superman wear his underwear on the outside of his costume, he pauses in the middle of city-wide destruction to save squirrels. You want to enrage him? Kidnap his dog.

This is what makes "Superman" a great movie. It's a throwback in the best possible way, and it shows that truly nice guy can still be the hero of the story. Not only that, but a movie starring that character can still be fun.

We can only hope this is the beginning of a universe every bit as entertaining as the Marvel Cinematic Universe, back in the day.



You can read our books here:

· Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B0058CL6OO

· Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/&quo... R Hunter"

· Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...

· Blog: https://markrhunter.blogspot.com/

· Website: http://www.markrhunter.com/

· Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ozma914/

· Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarkRHunter914

· Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markrhunter/

· Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarkRHunter

· Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@MarkRHunter

· Substack: https://substack.com/@markrhunter

· Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/ozma914

· Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/vi...

· Audible: https://www.audible.com/search?search...



Remember: Reading is the best super power.

Abandoning Social Media. Well, Some Social Media

Okay, so here's the deal: I'm on too much social media.

Welcome to just about everyone's life.

My theory going in was that, in addition to keeping track of friends and family, I could use the internet to promote my books. For those of you who haven't heard, I write books. In fear of losing out on a sale, I'd try new social media sites without abandoning the old ones.

I mean, I got rid of Friendster--let's not get silly. I even, many years after I should have, stopped using MySpace. Remember MySpace? I think I got up to 17 followers.

I still have a Tumbler account. Well, I think, hold on.

There it is, 44 followers. I started it in, oh, 1928; a couple of people liked a post of mine in 1954. On the other hand, I joined Substack a couple of years ago: Without really trying I have 273 followers already, and 36 subscribers. (There's a difference.)



The internet, like any other living thing, evolves.

I'm trying to put more time into writing and book promotion, and that means putting less time into other things. So, some places where some of you may see me, you soon may not.

For instance, I have two Twitter accounts, which (like everything on this list) seemed like a good idea at the time. One is my main account, and the second is dedicated to the Storm Chaser book series. Regardless of how you feel about Twit--I mean, X, it doesn't make sense to promote twelve books on one account, then have another where I promote four of them again.

Also, I like to have a little fun on social media, and I can't do that if I'm constantly dashing from site to site.

Something similar happened on Facebook. I have my main account, and an author page, and I also run a page for the Albion Volunteer Fire Department. Then I have one for my book Smoky Days and Sleepless Nights: A Century or So With the Albion Fire Department. One book. "It seemed like a good idea at the time" is my middle name.

Then there are Facebook Groups. You can find an interest and get addicted, especially me. Marx Johnny West Collection action figures? Check. Military toys from our childhood? Another check. Most of my childhood toys were military related, and nostalgia runs strong in this one.

My childhood Thompson, just like Sergeants Rock and Fury carried.



What do I want to do when I see these childhood toys I loved and lost? Replace them. But I can't afford that, don't have a place to display them, and don't have time for online shopping. It's time for some of my FB groups to go.

Whether you're a writer or not, it's dangerous to spread yourself too thin over the internet. No, I'm not slashing and burning--I still like to keep track of family, friends, and fellow authors. I'm just tightening my belt a little.

Isn't that worth it, to make the internet a little bit less about pulling your hair out?



For now you can still find me and/or our books here:

· Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B0058CL6OO

· Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/&quo... R Hunter"

· Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...

· Blog: https://markrhunter.blogspot.com/

· Website: http://www.markrhunter.com/

· Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ozma914/

· Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarkRHunter914

· Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markrhunter/

· Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarkRHunter

· Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@MarkRHunter

· Substack: https://substack.com/@markrhunter

· Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/ozma914

· Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/vi...

· Audible: https://www.audible.com/search?search...

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mark.r..hunter

Remember: Even if you totally forgot you had a Tumblr account, it's still there.

Funny Money Fax for Fast Cash

We received a very nice fax at work one day (remember the fax?), from Mrs. Nazek Audi Hariri. I’m sure you’ve heard of her husband, Rafik Baha al-din Hariri. Or at least, it’s possible you once raised a din while driving your Audi in Baha.

Mrs. Audi Hariri offered to give us 20% of 36 million dollars.

I thought to myself, “Well, we’re all getting raises this year!

It seems her husband, a respected businessman and politician in Lebanon, was killed in an explosion on Valentines Day. Tragic, right? Afterward, Mrs. Hariri was contacted by a European security firm, which held a trunk that belonged to her husband – a trunk containing the aforementioned three dozen million bucks, all in cash. This no doubt cushioned the lady’s grief, and provided a nice little Valentine gift.

Apparently the money came from business associates, and was meant to for Mr. Hariri’s next election campaign. I’m guessing the campaign finance laws work a little differently in Lebanon.

20%, amounts to, um, let me do some quick math … seven million bucks. Give or take--at that point do a few hundred more bucks really matter? I could buy a lot of ramen noodles with a seven and six ones.

Here’s where things get a bit fuzzy: The reason Mrs. Hairy sent this fax is because a person receiving it, identified by her as “you”, is one of her husband’s business partners. But the fax came to my work, and anyone working there who had enough money to contribute toward a multi-million dollar campaign fund would NOT be working there.

Mrs. Heshe explained it all in this clear and concise sentence:

“The part of services the diplomat is required to render is to assist you in claiming the consignments from the terminal of the security company and to set up a transit domiciliary account in your name in one of the prime bank he has contacts to carry out the exercise through the back door.”

Oh. Well, when you put it that way, it all makes sense.

I checked into the story. There really was a Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, who really was killed in an explosion, and he really was estimated to be worth billions. Which is like millions, only more. He even has a son named Baha:

“What are you going to name your son?”

“Baha.”

“Well, what happens in California stays in California. Where are you vacationing next year?”

“Saadeddine.”

“Oh boy.”

I called Mrs. Hibijibi's contact person, a diplomat in London named Mark Johnson. “I’d like to help with the Audi Hariri Funny Honey Money Fund,” I told him.

“You would?” I couldn’t figure out why he was so surprised. After all, 20% of 36 million is so much money I’ll never have to do math again.

“I sure do. I mean, the poor lady’s so oppressed that she has to go through the back door! If this keeps up, they’ll take her names away, one by one. First she won’t have an Audi, then she won’t be Hariri any more, and next thing you know she’ll never get to go to Baha again.”

“Ah, yes …” He seemed a little uncertain about whether I was for real – after all, people do crazy things for money. “Well, with this much cash flow involved, you must understand that certain guarantees will be needed, certain, ah, capital assistance to provide for the transference of funds.”

“I live in the capital of Noble County. Does that help?”

“What I’m saying is, a certain amount of financial incentive on your part will be needed to assist in the transference of cash into your account.”

“Are you saying I need to send you money in order to get money? So in return for services, you need a financial contribution?”

“Well … yes.”

“So you’re like the federal government?”

“Um –“

“Look, here’s the thing. Mrs. Hihickey obviously needs our help, so what if you bring the money over yourself? It just so happens that we have a place near my job where you can stay while we get this all sorted out. You’ll get a nice bed, three square meals a day, entertainment, and even people who’ll stay with you and help you acclimate into our society.”

“Really? Where would that be?”

“The Noble County Jail. Now, if you’ll just give me your –“

That’s when Mr. Mark Johnson hung up, and he wouldn’t answer my return calls. Honestly, I’m beginning to suspect he wasn’t on the level.



You can send us 30 million dollars--or more likely less--to buy our books here:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B0058CL6OO

· Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/&quo... R Hunter"

· Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...

· Blog: https://markrhunter.blogspot.com/

· Website: http://www.markrhunter.com/

· Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ozma914/

· Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarkRHunter914

· Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markrhunter/

· Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarkRHunter

· Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@MarkRHunter

· Substack: https://substack.com/@markrhunter

· Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/ozma914

· Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/vi...

· Audible: https://www.audible.com/search?search...


Remember: You don't have to blow anyone up to get a good book.