Mark R. Hunter's Blog, page 37

Smoky Days and Sleepless Nights price drop

It's been one heck of a month so far, in a bad way, so we've delayed the debut of our new book cover a little bit. But in the meantime it remains Christmas season! Or so the Elf on the Shelf tells me. How did that little so and so get in, anyway?

My labor of love was a book that I spent a quarter of a century working on, and boy, are my researching eyes tired. But I think it appeals not only to the locals around my home town, but to anyone who has an interest in firefighting, history, or firefighting history.

Smoky Days and Sleepless Nights: A Century or So With the Albion Fire Department, covers the first hundred years of a small town fire department that I've now been a member of for almost forty years.

For those of you who like to support a good cause, profits from the book go to the Albion Volunteer Fire Department!

For those of you who like a good deal, the e-book version price just dropped from $2.99 to $1.99! Not to mention the illustrated print version is just $9.95



Here's the blurb:

Smoky Days and Sleepless Nights chronicles the hazardous early days of Albion, Indiana, which like many small towns of the time tended to burn down – a lot. The story follows the efforts of townspeople to organize themselves into a firefighting force, and the personalities that stepped in along the way. It moves into modern times along with the volunteers, who face not only danger and death but changing technology and new threats. Using newspaper accounts, official records, oral stories and the fine art of digging for details, Mark R. Hunter shows how hand drawn apparatus and desperate bucket brigades turned into the trained, organized and well equipped department of today.

Smoky Days and Sleepless Nights is well illustrated with historical and firefighting photos. It’s also spiced with the humor that Hunter, the author of a novel and short story collection in addition to his column, “Slightly Off The Mark”, has become known for.

Find it on our website: http://markrhunter.com/books.html
Or on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B0058CL6OO
Or Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/%22M...
Along with many other e-book platforms.


Remember, every time you pass on a book, a tiny little elf house catches on fire! Which I suppose is how they end up hanging out on shelves.

Merry early Christmas in Albion!

The town's all Christmassy!

Albion's courthouse square is always nice, but especially during the holidays. We hope to see everyone there at Grace Christian Church, right in the middle of things; and we hope you enjoy the parade and everything else going on tomorrow (or tonight, depending on when you read this).

We now know the bazaar starts at 4 in the church, and goes on until 8. I understand the parade starts at 6 and goes right by there--if I have the time wrong hopefully someone will correct me. And Santa Claus? Well, he's there all the time, but I've heard he'll be lighting the town Christmas tree at around 7 p.m.

My Author Appearance Necessity List

Don't mind this, it's just a list. I don't do author appearances often, so I want to make sure we have everything we need. So, what does every good author, and most of the bad ones, need to make sure they have with them?

1. Books. This is kinda important. If you're going to do a book signing, you should have something to sign.

2. Change. When one goes somewhere to sell books, one has to assume some books will be sold. Thus: change for those high rollers who walk around with hundred dollar bills. I don't know any of them, either.

3. A calculator. After all, the whole reason I became a writer is because I can't do math in my head.

4. Tylenol. You'd be surprised. No, probably you wouldn't.

5. A camera. Some years ago my wife took a photo of me signing a book for an Indiana State Senator who, apparently not having read my columns about politicians, was very nice. You never know what you might get a picture of when you're out in the public.

6. Paper and pens. The pens are to, duh, sign books. The paper is because, even though I'll have both an iPhone and an iPad with me, I don't trust technology.

7. A tarp and an umbrella, if the venue is outside. There's a reason why books aren't usually sold outdoors, but I laugh in the face of danger. Well, I cringe, which looks a little like laughing, if you squint.

8. Business cards. Emily designed me my very own business card! Sometimes, when it's slow at events, I sneak around the crowds and pull the opposite of pick pocketing, leaving my calling card behind. Yeah, that was me.

9. A table and chairs. The basics, right? We bought a folding chair that's so comfortable I'm thinking of throwing away our couch.

10. Liquid refreshments. I'm thinking water. Hey, I don't need any help from alcohol to look foolish.

11. Displays and signs. To display stuff ... like signs.

12. Scotch Tape. It's the author's duct tape.

A lot of that stuff will fit nicely into the two totes we bought for just that purpose, although, man, books can get heavy when you're carrying them a long way. How about you other authors? What's on your "to-bring" list? And what would you potential readers like to see an author supplied with?





The blog that details the upcoming appearance, as I'm sure you're tired of hearing, is here:

https://markrhunter.blogspot.com/2019...

Remember, every time you miss a Christmas event, an elf gets six inches taller. You don't want Santa to have to renovate.


(But if you can't make it, find our books at:)

http://markrhunter.com/

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

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

A Writer's Search History Can Be Puzzling

I spent some time on the internet last month researching the parts of a saddle and bridle, types of horses, trailer hitches, dog behavior, cowboy hats, head injuries, patient assessment, and the topography of Brown County, Indiana. All for one story.

Later I spent more time researching the horse racing industry, handguns, mushrooms, John Wayne, skin glue, and Japanese names.

Yeah, I'm back in that fiction writing game. At least until I get done with the first draft of We Love Trouble, and go back to researching for nonfiction.

I love this job.



http://markrhunter.com/
https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B0058CL6OO
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/&quo... R Hunter"

(Remember, every book that doesn't sell by January 1st has to go to the Island of Mistfit Books.)

Come for Christmas, see the new book

Due to some required corrections and updates, we won't have copies of More Slightly Off the Mark: Why I Hate Cats, and Other Lies available at our author appearance on December 6. However, we will have a proof copy you can look at, and a pre-order sheet for anyone who wants their copy in a few weeks. (It goes without saying we'll have our other books, at a reduced price.)

Wow, it's in just a week! All the information on the event is here:

https://markrhunter.blogspot.com/2019...

There's a lot going on that Friday night, but I hope everyone takes time to stop in at the church and visit all the vendors. I was told the Bazaar would start at 5 after a setup period, but I'm seeing it advertised as starting at 4 ... so we're going to try to get there right at 4, to get ready and split the difference. Either way, there'll be lots to see.


The new cover will look a little like the original Slightly Off the Mark, because: sequel. Well, kind of a prequel. I'll explain later. Meanwhile, the e-book price of the original is dropping to 99 cents.






And if you can't make it, find our books at:

http://markrhunter.com/

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

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


(Remember, every book that doesn't sell by January 1st has to go to the Island of Mistfit Books.)

Writing on Staycation, or: Ignore the dog

We've been on a staycation, during which I practiced writing full time. After all, if you have a goal, you should know what that goal entails.

Anyone who's done it will tell you the hard thing about working from home is avoiding distractions. (By the way, we really liked the new series, "Batwoman".) First rule: Turn off the TV, and turn on movie scores and classical music. Other voices, it turns out, interfere with my writing voice.

But before that, we had to get my new medical problems handled, and how often have I said that? As I mentioned before, my routine colonoscopy led to the discovery that I had another massive sinus infection, and also that the top of my head was about to blow off.

My blood pressure was so high that medical professionals who'd been on the job for twenty years would take it, then call in another medical pro: "Here, you try--that can't be right."

It was right. So they put me on two meds, one of which is a diuretic.

By the way, it's very important to understand that there's a big difference between diuretic and diarrhetic--big difference. Although they both involve the bathroom.

What the medication's designed to do is make me pee. A lot. As they ushered me out the door with this med, the nurse told me, "Now, make sure you drink plenty of fluids while you're on this."

Okay. So ... you want me to drink a lot of fluids while I'm on this drug that's designed to get rid of a lot of fluids? Got it.

But never mind. After my diastolic BP dropped thirty points and the little Terminator stopped shooting off his Gatling gun inside my skull, I discovered that I can, indeed, discipline myself enough to work on writing eight hours a day. (And also enough to give up the salt shaker.)

Even accounting for non-writing writing work, such as ... well, this blog ... I managed to add over 10,000 words to my novel-in-progress in a week. And that's good, because it's a mystery story, and keeping at it helps me remember what the heck is going on.

(Respect to writers who joined NaNoWriMo, an effort to write 50,000 words during November. I did it twice, and it was rough.)

At the same time Emily finished her editing work on our newest book, More Slightly Off the Mark, and we just got the first proof copy back. Now we check it for still more problems that need corrected, but it'll be available for Christmas order. It kind of makes me wish more of my weeks went like this.

Except for the Gatling gun part.
I posted this on Instagram the other day, showing that it made for TWO distractions.




Don't forget our upcoming author appearance:

https://markrhunter.blogspot.com/2019...

Movie review: Midway

It's hard for any of us today to fully understand just how much of an underdog the American military was in 1942. In the Pacific the Japanese had a bigger navy, more experience, and often better arms. We had no reason to believe they didn't plan to invade Hawaii, then go on to attack West Coast cities. As nations played a dangerous game of chess across the vast ocean, a tiny, two and a half square mile atoll in the middle of nowhere was so important that Japanese destroyers shelled it the same day Pearl Harbor was attacked: the two islands of Midway.

(And by the way, the first U.S. Marine to earn the Congressional Medal of Honor during WWII earned it that day, at Midway.)

How can one movie possibly show how critical of a time that was, for both sides?

It turns out: pretty darned well.

I was concerned when I found out Midway actually starts with the Pearl Harbor attack. In 1976 Hollywood pulled together every famous actor they could find to tell just the story of Midway itself, the one battle, and it took them 132 minutes to do it. (Granted, they had to jam in a love story along the way.) This new movie was working in the Pearl Harbor attack, the Doolittle Raid, and other battles that happened along the way! How could they manage that?

Pretty darned well. And maybe in a way better: In the more than forty years since the first movie, many of us need a reminder of the chain of events leading up to the battle.

This Midway also brings in several celebrities, all of them playing real historical figures, from admirals to the poor back seat guy in the dive bombers, trying to drive away fighters without shooting off their own plane's tail. The movie pulls everything together by concentrating on a few characters who get to be involved in just about everything (and some of them really were). There are no star turns here: The impressive performances by people like Woody Harrelson, Dennis Quaid, and even Mandy Moore are all the more impressive because they manage to turn themselves into their characters--not stars playing their characters.

Similarly, there's the concern that giant explosions and flashy special effects might overwhelm the actual story. After all, it was directed by Roland Emmerich, who seems to have destroyed the world in every way possible. And there certainly were plenty of effects, but this is a war story, and they served the story instead of the other way around. I suspect some people will find them overwhelming; I also suspect that in some scenes they were meant to be. But it works: sometimes I became genuinely concerned about the characters even though I already knew what was going to happen.

Midway is overall historically accurate. But, to fit half a year's worth of war into 138 minutes, shortcuts are taken from time to time, and once or twice I found them jarring. For instance, at one point we see a navy commander make a critical decision about attacking the enemy, and in the next scene we see a carrier burning--you have to pay attention to understand they were connected.

But for the most part they do a good job--an amazing job, really--of guiding us through the strikes and counter strikes that led to this turning point in the Pacific War.


My Rating:

Entertainment Value: 4 out of 4 M&Ms. This was something of a throwback to the war movies of an earlier time, where you can actually enjoy the movie and understand the stakes without being buried in graphic violence and Important Messages. Not that there aren't messages to be had.

Oscar Potential: 2 out of 4 M&Ms. Everyone did a great job overall, but this doesn't seem to be the kind of movie Academy voters care about. I did sometimes wish I could insert John Williams' score from the first Midway into this one.

Your Own Anti-Anxiety Advocate

I was rather anxious about something the other day, and when I mentioned it to my wife, she told me I was suffering from anxiety.

Well, yeah. And poor people are suffering from a lack of money.

What she meant was anxiety disorder, a disorder that can make people anxious. Several years ago I was diagnosed with Seasonal Affected Disorder, a disorder that affected me in the winter season. See, medical stuff isn't really all that complicated, once you diagnose the names.

Emotional problems have a stigma--the idea that maybe it's not a medical thing, but somehow your fault for being weak, or complaining too much, or maybe watching too much "Housewives of" programming. Okay, maybe that last is a personal fault. But if you have a real problem, you should be able to talk it out.

One thing that could make anxiety disorder worse is getting anxious about it. So best to just tackle the issue, find out if you have it, and deal. I turned, as most people do in these important moments, to the internet.

I have to admit, I was fixated on the outcome of my investigation. That's why I wasn't surprised when I found a list of common symptoms, which started with a fixation on the outcome of events.

What could have caused this with me? Well, as of this month I've earned full retirement from my 911 dispatching career, but I wanted to make enough money writing to supplement my income after that. In other words, I wanted to retire so I could write full time, but I'm not making enough money writing to retire. As that time neared, I became more and more fixated on it. Thus, anxiety.

Second on the list was restlessness and difficulty concentrating. Here on the written page, where I can edit to my heart's content before hitting "publish", I seem fairly put-together. In reality, I kept getting distracted by puppy videos, chocolate snacks, and winter storm warnings.

Yes, I'm aware winter storm warnings might contribute to my anxiety.

Third, problems with decision making. I don't think I'm indecisive. Well. Sometimes, maybe. Or maybe not. I'm not really sure. Maybe you should ask my wife.

Next: Worrying about anxiety or, in a nutshell, worrying about worrying. People who know they're suffering from anxiety often get anxious about it, which is--let's face it--what led me to this point to begin with. It's a vicious cycle, like weekly lawn mowing, or Congress.

Five, mental stress can wreck you physically. Fatigue, irritability, headaches, all the things I thought came from taking 911 calls for a living, may actually be caused by the anxiety I experience after taking 911 calls for a living. It's a fine line. Also on the list are being easily startled, frequent aches and pains, and throwing things at the TV whenever adds for "The Bachelor" come on.

Next: Sweating, which is followed by shortness of breath and palpitations.

Ah--those I don't have! I'm cured! I never had a problem to begin with! Put that in your cigar and smoke it, Sigmund.

Next is insomnia. Got you there, too. I usually have no problems at all falling asleep, especially after taking my bedtime meds, which cause drowsiness and I think I just figured out why they're to be taken at bedtime. Sure, I sometimes wake up just a few hours later and have trouble getting to sleep again, and sure, only about half of people with general anxiety disorder report sleep problems, but oh, shut up.

Irrational fears. I'm not sure about this one. Define irrational. Do I fear machines taking over the world? Yes, I do, but the other day I asked Siri for directions and she said "don't worry, we'll find you" ... so I really don't think it's so irrational.

I also have a fear that no one will ever read my books, because so many people have stopped reading that there are more writers than readers, and the writers don't have time to read. I'm not so sure that's irrational, either.

There are similar symptoms, such as fatigue, irritability, and feelings of impending doom, all of which I have, but in all fairness this country is locked in a 24/7 election cycle--even though we just keep electing the same morons back into office, anyway. Is there anyone who's not irritable?

I found the list of treatments for anxiety interesting. Sunlight? All for it. Warm baths? An excellent idea. So is lowing caffeine intake, and I'll get back to you as soon as I retire from my third shift job. Then there's exercise, but no treatment plan is perfect.

Dietary modifications are important, and also easy: Just stop eating everything you like, and start eating everything you don't. Increase your intake of something called superfoods, which have lots of vitamins, minerals, and fiber. By sticking strictly to superfoods you're bound to lose weight, because you'll no longer be interesting in your meals. Anybody want a nice avocado? Me neither.

Essential oils are also supposed to help, specifically lavender oil. The way I see it, what's the harm of trying? It smells nice. I tried the same thing with chocolate aroma therapy, but the scent goes away quickly once you eat those candles.

Finally we have tea, which I thought was a great idea. "Earl Grey," I told my wife. "Hot."

She patted me on the shoulder and said, "You just have fun making that", which I must say increased my anxiety. But that wouldn't help anyway, because apparently the stress-fighting tea of choice is Chamomile. Have you tried it? Doesn't taste like tea. Maybe I can combine it with Earl Grey.

In the end it's modern life that causes much of our anxiety. But it's also modern life that keeps us so happily modern, so I'll avoid the Amish solution. As for the rest, I'll keep you updated, now that I've become an anti-anxiety avocado advocate.

(And yes, I went to the doctor about it. I'm now stressed about being on another med. For stress.)

Meanwhile, as I go down the line and check yes on almost all the boxes, there's something calming just having a name to put on the problem. Yes, blaming all the stupid people in the world has a certain therapeutic effect, but the difference is you can treat anxiety disorder; stupid people aren't going anywhere.

Nobody Wants To Probe Colons When They Grow Up, But Thankfully Someone Did

Routine medical tests often bring nasty surprises ... usually related to the test being done.

I had a colonoscopy last week. You know what that means: No need to go into details. Honestly, I don't feel as bad for people getting them as I do for people who do them.

Lots of twelve year olds probably say they want to be a doctor when they grow up. I can't imagine any of them adding, "And I want to spend all day sticking tubes up butts to check for polyps!"

I slept through the procedure. For patients, the fun stuff comes a day or two before, when they first go on a clear diet, then take a substance that, um, clears that diet. But there's more to it, and therein lies this tale. It's about the only thing that stayed therein.

A week before, I had to stop taking supplements, including vitamin D (a lack of which contributed to my wintertime depression). I also stopped taking aspirin or any kind of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug, which I never knew is what NSAID is short for. (Acetaminophen is not an NSAID, but it also doesn't work well on me.)

Soon after that I developed a sinus headache, which I didn't worry about because if I have a sinus headache, it must be Tuesday. By the end of the next day someone was driving a railroad spike through the top of my skull, from the inside. It was every bit as bad as a migraine.

But what was causing it? Sinuses? Stress? Lack of vitamin D? Rebound from having taken too much ibuprofen in the past? The idea of highly trained specialists examining my butt with an eye toward giving me--ahem--an eye full?

Still, if I could make it through another few days, I could take pain pills again, and everything would be fine ... at least until I got the results of the test.

Then, just before the procedure, a strange thing happened.

One of the techs took my blood pressure, paused, then took it again. Then she called the doctor in. He took it, then he put the BP cuff on my other arm and took it again. Then they all looked at each other.

There's no typical blood pressure for everyone, but it's generally acknowledged that the bottom number--the diastolic--should be in the high double digits, like around 70.

My diastolic was in the triple digits. And not just barely, either. The first number, systolic, was also reaching for the stars.

There's your headache.

My blood pressure was so high, in fact, that they almost canceled the procedure. And I did not want to go through the prep again.

They did do it, but when I woke the new problem hadn't changed. The next day, at my work clinic, I found Doctor Donna sitting in the waiting room, as if waiting for me. "We were wondering how soon this would happen," she said (I'd been her patient for many years). She refused to tell me who won the betting pool, but she did confirm the diagnosis. She also gave me a good once over, and found that it hurt whenever she tapped on the areas near my nose.

I had high blood pressure and another massive sinus infection.

Doctor Donna told me I had to reduce my stress levels. A lot. I thought about my job and laughed. Then I laughed again. Then I cried. It seems my idea to retire, and support myself by writing full time, has become a matter of life and death. But what the heck--I'm always looking for ways to guilt readers into buying books. Meanwhile I'm on two new meds, one of which makes me pee almost as much as I was doing the other thing, the day before the colonoscopy.

Oh, and the results of the actual procedure? Clean as a whistle (figuratively), with nary a polyp in sight. But if they hadn't done it, my head may have exploded a week later. It seems I'm entering a new phase of my mid-life.

I'll call it ... the Ailment Years.

Author Appearance! December 6th during Albion's Christmas In the Village

Emily and I (if all goes well, because--history) will be attending the S.T.A.R. Bazaar Friday, December 6, to sell our books, along with a bunch of other vendors selling a bunch of other things.

This year the event will be at Grace Christian Church, which is right at the stoplight in downtown Albion, from 4-8 p.m. It's all part of Christmas in the Village--the village being Albion. Specifically, Indiana. (I've only been to three Albions so far, including Michigan and Illinois--I need to get on that.)

The whole event of Christmas In the Village includes the Christmas Light Parade, the lighting of the town Christmas tree, and singing Christmas carols. There are also refreshments at local businesses, you can enter to win prizes and--rumor has it--Santa will be there. So the Bazaar will only be a part of the party, and our author appearance only part of the Bazaar.

S.T.A.R. stands for Super Town of Albion Revitalization Team. They do super things to revitalize Albion, and hey! I think I just figured out where they got the name. They also work very hard, so do come out and support them, and the town, and us, and Santa. Not necessarily in that order.

Also, if we sell $100 worth of books during the event, I will dance, badly, and post that dance on social media. It might look more like I'm being electrocuted, but it'll be something very similar to a dance. I know there's a basic human need to see others embarrass themselves, so tell all your friends.

It'll be fun for the whole family! Not the dance, so much. But one of our books is a young adult adventure, so between that and Santa I stand by that statement.



(And if you can't make it, find our books at:)


http://markrhunter.com/
https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B0058CL6OO
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/&quo... R Hunter"

Remember, they're doing that Christmas gift thing again this year.