Rodney V. Earle's Blog, page 2
October 10, 2012
ViSalus 90-Day Challenge: First Post
So THIS is where I should be writing plenty about my history and my thoughts about each day and all of that. I am in week TWO, and I have yet to do any of those things. But I WILL keep working on it and blog EVERY DAY! Down 22 pounds and more than 10 inches all over. ALREADY it has been a GREAT RIDE! More to come!
September 14, 2012
Book Giveaways at my Facebook Fan Page!
Howdy, Friends! I wanted to let you all know that I am beefing up my Facebook Author Page in anticipation of new novels coming up, so I am giving away SEVERAL books from my personal library. Virtually EVERY ONE is like NEW, and you would pay $25 EACH in the bookstore for them. Here’s an example:
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CLICK HERE to go to my Facebook Author Page and WIN THIS!
That’s RIGHT! I am giving away Marley & Me by John Grogan in hardback! Click the photo, click HERE, or click the horse’s head BELOW to go to my Facebook Author Page, and look for the latest GIVEAWAY pinned to the top of the page! Click “Like” on the photo, and you are automatically entered for a chance to WIN!
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CLICK HERE to go to my Facebook Author Page!
September 5, 2012
Remembering August for 11 Bucks in PRINT!
Happy Wednesday, Friends! For those of you who prefer PRINT to the digital version of “Remembering August,” there is a Digital Coupon for 20% off the already-low $13.79 cover price. That’s about 11 BUCKS! Just enter Coupon code “CITHARA20” at checkout! Just click the book cover below or CLICK HERE!
August 23, 2012
“Remembering August” FREE for Kindle!
Yes, Ladies and Gentlemen, it’s that time again. Today marks the ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY of publishing Remembering August in print. By the end of this upcoming weekend, I truly hope to hit the 10,000 mark (for free downloads and sales combined). Soon it will be time to move to the next installment, as well as 3 or 4 other projects I have been working on.
I want to encourage you to share this with the WORLD, so that EVERYONE can have a free copy of this wonderful story. It’s entirely possible that come October or so, Remembering August will no longer be offered for free, depending on how it does at the New York Competition. At any rate, as a thank you to friends, fans, colleagues, and everyone else, please enjoy this FREE download of Remembering August for Kindle (and Kindle Apps for your favorite device) starting Friday, August 24th at MIDNIGHT. It will be available for 48 hours.
August 21, 2012
Seeking Equine Authors for Unique Auction!
Email rodneyearle@gmail.com for details! We are looking for PUBLISHED and
SELF-PUBLISHED Equine and Animal Authors (Including Western Novelists)
for a VERY UNIQUE Auction, hosted by a PROFESSIONAL Auction Site!
August 20, 2012
Book Blog: Antolick (Day 19)
Continued From Day 18…
Mrs. Ekstrand’s son was the same age as Jeff, and the two often rode their bikes or played games together over by the creek. Their favorite games usually had something to do with playing “Army.” They came up with different objectives to overcome, and would arm themselves with different weapons. More times than not, the objectives were on the other side of the creek. After all, that’s where the baby raccoons – who not only doubled as buffalo, but were also the “bad guys” – had come from.
The other side of the creek was enemy territory, and the two boys were always armed with the most modern weaponry of the day. Ears of dried corn served as grenades, and were never in short supply. Rifles were fashioned from fallen branches (later replaced by Red Rider BB Guns), and Daisy was the best scout in the division.
Along with 4th of July celebrations came the most realistic of the weapons in their arsenal; the bottle rockets. Other than overdue library book fines, Black Cat bottle rockets were one of Jeff’s biggest expenses of each summer. They were only available for purchase one week before 4th of July every year, so Jeff saved as much money as he could to bulk up his “arsenal.” He bought as many bottle rockets, smoke bombs, and giant sparklers (perfect for night operations) as he could carry on his bike.
Jeff’s father taught him at an early age how dangerous fireworks can be if used improperly. He was taught that smoke bombs and bottle rockets could start fires in the pasture beyond the creek if the summer was dry, so once his assault was completed and his objectives obtained, he would carefully account for everything he sent into enemy territory.
Mrs. Ekstrand’s son had a pair of camouflage binoculars, and he was very good at making sure that not only the rockets and bombs hit their mark, but that they were completely safe to the surrounding landscape. No operation could continue unless he signaled the “all clear.”
To Be Continued…
August 16, 2012
Book Blog: Antolick (Day 18)
Continued From Day 17…
It was decided several years before that Christine’s pumpkin pie was so perfect, that there was no use competing against her. Following the competition, the pies were auctioned off to the highest bidder. Since before Jeff could remember, the pie that always sold for the highest bid was Mrs. Ekstrand’s coconut creme pie.
And oh, what a pie it was! Mrs. Ekstrand took great pains with her Grand Champion pie, especially the meringue and coconut on the top. The meringue had perfectly-stiff peaks, was a beautiful golden brown, and the coconut was toasted to a perfect color. Not only did it look beautiful, it tasted oh so wonderful, and everyone knew it. Nobody could beat Mrs. Ekstrand’s pie. Nobody. Well, Christine’s “Perfect Pumpkin Pie” was certainly close, but the two pies are nothing alike, of course, so there was no comparison between the two.
Since Christine’s pie was not allowed in the competition, every year she spent a few days before the competition baking hundreds of pies to be auctioned off as a “write-in,” and the proceeds were donated to different community causes, such as the library fund or the volunteer fire department.
But this year was going to be different. Even when Christine was perfectly healthy, baking so many pies ‘round the clock before the auction took a lot of energy, and her disease had progressed so far that she could barely get out of bed anymore, much less bake hundreds of pies. But that, too, was planned for, just like the accounting duties with Mrs. Hansen.
Early in the summer, Christine started training a “mystery chef.” Nobody knew who the mystery chef was, and there was some speculation that Mrs. Ekstrand was the likely candidate, since she was the pie champion for many years running. The neighbors in the surrounding farmsteads had a sort of “spying” system going. They kept their eyes out for visitors at Big Sky, and Mrs. Ekstrand was most certainly a frequent visitor there.
To Be Continued…
August 14, 2012
Book Blog: Antolick (Day 17)
Continued From Day 16…
During the drier months of the year, the night crawlers at Stan’s were pretty thin, not only in number, but in size. That’s when Jeff figured he could make the most money with his worm farm. You see, Stan’s paid handsomely for good bait, and Jeff’s worm farm produced the biggest, fattest night crawlers in the Midwest. Stan’s paid anywhere between ten and twenty-five cents a dozen, depending on how lively, big, and numerous the supply was.
Jeff’s crawlers always brought twenty-five cents per dozen, and when the locals knew he sold a bunch to the Bait & Tackle, the crawlers didn’t stay in stock long. One year, Jeff’s worm farm was getting a bit crowded, and the weather had been exceptionally dry, so the supply at Stan’s was scarce. Jeff decided that was a good time to sell. In all, he sold one-hundred-forty-four dozen in one day. At twenty-five cents a dozen, you can do the math, but he really cleaned up! It was a great way to earn money for the Tri-County Fair, too!
Jeff spent a good many hours painting the barn, dreaming about the Friesians, and, of course, fishing. It didn’t take long before the barn had two fresh coats of paint, ready for the often harsh Kansas winter. Preparations at the fairgrounds were well underway, and many “practice” pies were baked in anticipation of the big competition. John was an honorary judge every year, which made Christine ineligible to enter her famous pumpkin pie in the competition.
Quite often during the summer, different pies were delivered to Big Sky Ranch. John had said that the competitors were not only “tuning up” their pie-baking skills, but they had hoped to sort of “sway” the judge before the competition. There was always pie in the ice box of one kind or another. Whether it was apple or cherry pie, mincemeat or peach pie, blueberry or pecan pie, the only kind of pie that was never delivered to the ranch was pumpkin. Out of respect for Christine’s “Perfect Pumpkin Pie,” to which only she held the secret recipe, pumpkin pie was eliminated from the competition.
To Be Continued…
August 12, 2012
Book Blog: Antolick (Day 16)
Continued From Day 15…
Then he read that the breed became nearly extinct many times, but the modern day Friesian was gaining in popularity and was making a comeback, particularly as a harness horse and in the field of dressage. Jeff loved the way the coat, mane, and tail shimmered in the sun in all of the pictures of the black ones. Their average height was just over fifteen hands, which was a shade taller than King. Their legs have long, silky hair, sort of like a Clydesdale, but not that thick and fluffy.
Jeff was obsessed with Friesians. He checked out as many horse books as he could find that had anything to do with the powerful breed. A few times he had gone to the library to check out more books, but the librarian told him he already had too many checked out, and often they were overdue, and the fine was twenty-five cents per week.
Jeff hated going to his father to ask for money for overdue books. John told him that if he was going to continually incur overdue fees, he had to either take them back on-time or find a way to support his “habit” by making some money on his own. That’s when Jeff had an idea. His worm farm in the barn had the fattest night crawlers anywhere, and when he went fishing, the guys always begged for them. Jeff always caught the biggest fish.
His favorite kind of fish to catch was a big, fat carp. Carp were considered useless to most. They fought like crazy, and nobody really wanted to eat one unless it had been smoked. Many lines had been broken by even the smallest of them, which angered most fishermen. Expensive lures were lost. High-quality Berkeley fishing rods had been broken like twigs. The carp was a hated fish, but not to Jeff. He loved fighting them, and if he knew he couldn’t land one of the big ones, he would fight as much as he could and then just cut the line. A hook and sinker were a small price to pay, considering they were so cheap at Stan’s Bait & Tackle on the edge of town.
To be Continued…
July 30, 2012
Book Blog: Antolick (Day 15)
Continued From Day 14…
Of the many things coming in the fall, the most anticipated by everyone was the Tri-County Fair. For the past ninety-nine years, the surrounding counties and towns all gathered at the Tri-County Fairgrounds to show their livestock, compete in competitions such as pie baking and chili cook-offs, and even compete in a rodeo.
The Tri-County Rodeo brought riders and ropers from all over the United States, and along with them the much-needed business from fans and vendors who all gathered there. Fair time was a big time for everyone. It was a time for celebration, a time to get together with friends and family, and most of all, a time for fun.
This year, the fair promised to be as big as ever. It was the one hundredth year of the Tri-County Fair, and plans for the centennial anniversary had begun about five years earlier. Everyone pitched in with the planning, construction, and staffing. There were planned concerts by big-name country music and rock bands, appearances by politicians who were running for office, and the one that really excited everyone was the Fiesta of the Spanish Horse show. The show featured highly-trained Friesian horses with performers of all kinds. The famous show had never been to Kansas, much less the Tri-State Fair. The whole week-long event promised to be even bigger than the Kansas State Fair.
John promised his son front-row seats to the big Saturday extravaganza at the end, and Jeff couldn’t have been more excited. Friesian horses were something special indeed. Of course, not as special as King, in Jeff’s opinion, but they came pretty darn close. When the guys were all together, whether it was fishing or riding bikes, the subject of the Friesians always came up.
Jeff had gone to the library in town and did some research on the breed. He learned that long ago, Friesian horses were used as war horses throughout Europe, due to their size and ability to carry knights in armor. How exciting that was! Jeff poured over pictures of Friesians, and imagined himself as a knight, fighting for the honor of the King. He saw himself in shining armor, long sword in hand, ready to do battle.
To Be Continued…
