Reynold Conger's Blog
December 9, 2015
New Book
I have just released the Kindle e-book, GONE RUNNING AND GONE. It can be downloaded free from Dec 11 - 15.
This is book 2 of the Richard Tracy series about Richard Tracy, a retired detective and retired chef, Mary Beth Austin.
Richard has been being harassed and getting threats. Now he prepares to run a marathon. Mary Beth is his cheerleader and support team. As he runs, she leapfrog's ahead on her bike to cheer again.
Suddenly, he is gone.
Now Mary Beth must help the police find and rescue the love of her life, Richard.
This is book 2 of the Richard Tracy series about Richard Tracy, a retired detective and retired chef, Mary Beth Austin.
Richard has been being harassed and getting threats. Now he prepares to run a marathon. Mary Beth is his cheerleader and support team. As he runs, she leapfrog's ahead on her bike to cheer again.
Suddenly, he is gone.
Now Mary Beth must help the police find and rescue the love of her life, Richard.
December 9, 2012
Christmas Sale
Visit www.congerbooks.info for my Christmas sale. Deep discounts on:
Chased Across Australia (by Reynold J. Conger) -- A thriller about American tourists being chased by terrorists who what what is on their laptop.
You Forgot, but I Still Love You,Reynold (by Betty Conger) -- Reynold's mother tells of her 17 year effort to care for her husband at home. Reynold C. Conger suffered from Alzheimer's before it became well known. The book is inspiring as well as giving tips to caregivers. Recommended for caregivers.
Chased Across Australia (by Reynold J. Conger) -- A thriller about American tourists being chased by terrorists who what what is on their laptop.
You Forgot, but I Still Love You,Reynold (by Betty Conger) -- Reynold's mother tells of her 17 year effort to care for her husband at home. Reynold C. Conger suffered from Alzheimer's before it became well known. The book is inspiring as well as giving tips to caregivers. Recommended for caregivers.
September 10, 2012
Review of Chased Across Australia
A review of my book has just been posted on the author's blog. Please check it out at http://www.bloggernews.net/128501.
June 9, 2012
Muse at the Grand Canyon
My wife and I recently visited the Grand Canyon. It is a spectacular view. Of course muses live there, but we found the best muses below the rim on the Bright Angel Trail.
Visit my blog for description and some photos. My blog: rjcsite.wordpress.com
Visit my blog for description and some photos. My blog: rjcsite.wordpress.com
February 11, 2012
Can You Forgive?
Jesus tells us to forgive our enemies. What then are we to do about a spouse when sexual infidelity is suspected?
In the last post, I asked men which is stronger, sexual temptation or loyalty to one's spouse. Considering the strength of the male sex drive, most of us would have to admit it would take a lot of strength to chase a strange, beautiful woman out of our bed. I believe it can be done, and hope I would do it if I were tempted like the hero of my book is.
Now, women, what would your response be if you learned that a beautiful woman slipped into bed with your husband in your absence? Whether or not the husband actually had sex or not, most men would deny having had sex. Would you believe him? How angry would you be? Would you be able to forgive him for what ever did or did not happen?
Let us further assume that at some time in the future you encounter the young woman in question. She is spectacularly beautiful, but she says your husband rejected her because you are so beautiful. Do you believe her? Is her statement proof that your husband was faithful to you?
Remember, this woman tried to steal your husband's affections from you. Would you be willing to forgive her?
Heavy stuff, eh? In a situation like this, the man faces a real challenge turning away the temptress. What about the wife? Does she face as hard a challenge forgiving her husband and the woman?
The Bible calls us to strive to live moral lives, but it also tells us that Jesus forgives sinners who repent. In like manor, we must forgive each other.
Read Chased Across Australia to see what my hero does in the face of temptation and what the heroine does in response.
In the last post, I asked men which is stronger, sexual temptation or loyalty to one's spouse. Considering the strength of the male sex drive, most of us would have to admit it would take a lot of strength to chase a strange, beautiful woman out of our bed. I believe it can be done, and hope I would do it if I were tempted like the hero of my book is.
Now, women, what would your response be if you learned that a beautiful woman slipped into bed with your husband in your absence? Whether or not the husband actually had sex or not, most men would deny having had sex. Would you believe him? How angry would you be? Would you be able to forgive him for what ever did or did not happen?
Let us further assume that at some time in the future you encounter the young woman in question. She is spectacularly beautiful, but she says your husband rejected her because you are so beautiful. Do you believe her? Is her statement proof that your husband was faithful to you?
Remember, this woman tried to steal your husband's affections from you. Would you be willing to forgive her?
Heavy stuff, eh? In a situation like this, the man faces a real challenge turning away the temptress. What about the wife? Does she face as hard a challenge forgiving her husband and the woman?
The Bible calls us to strive to live moral lives, but it also tells us that Jesus forgives sinners who repent. In like manor, we must forgive each other.
Read Chased Across Australia to see what my hero does in the face of temptation and what the heroine does in response.
January 11, 2012
Sexual Pleasure or Loyalty?
What is stronger, sexual temptation or loyalty to one's spouse (once called fidelity)?
In my book, Chased Across Australia, Jack and Jill are informed that their pregnant daughter-in-law is in the hospital. Jill, rushes back to Sydney, but Jack is restrained by the local constable. Jack witnessed a shooting, and the constable orders Jack to stay in town during the preliminary investigation.
Alone, Jack falls asleep, hugging a pillow and dreaming of Jill. In the middle of the night he wakes to find a beautiful, young woman in bed with him. She tries to initiate sex.
I will not say any more lest I spoil the story for my readers.
Men, what would you do in that situation? Would you enjoy the pleasures of a willing woman with a spectacular figure, or would you remain faithful to your wife? Could you keep this secret from your wife? If you could keep it secret, how much guilt would you feel. If your wife found out, what would be her response?
Would I be able to resist the temptation if this happened to me? I honestly don't know. Considering the strength of sexual temptation to us healthy males, I am thankful that the only beautiful woman who has ever slipped into my bed has been my wife.
The next post will be a question for the women to ponder.
In my book, Chased Across Australia, Jack and Jill are informed that their pregnant daughter-in-law is in the hospital. Jill, rushes back to Sydney, but Jack is restrained by the local constable. Jack witnessed a shooting, and the constable orders Jack to stay in town during the preliminary investigation.
Alone, Jack falls asleep, hugging a pillow and dreaming of Jill. In the middle of the night he wakes to find a beautiful, young woman in bed with him. She tries to initiate sex.
I will not say any more lest I spoil the story for my readers.
Men, what would you do in that situation? Would you enjoy the pleasures of a willing woman with a spectacular figure, or would you remain faithful to your wife? Could you keep this secret from your wife? If you could keep it secret, how much guilt would you feel. If your wife found out, what would be her response?
Would I be able to resist the temptation if this happened to me? I honestly don't know. Considering the strength of sexual temptation to us healthy males, I am thankful that the only beautiful woman who has ever slipped into my bed has been my wife.
The next post will be a question for the women to ponder.
November 20, 2011
Australian Dialect in the Book
When writing Chased Across Australia, I inserted the colorful Australian dialect into the story.
In a previous post, I told how this book was inspired by our trip to Australia. When we arrived in Sydney, I did not expect to be writing a book, but my wife and I were interested in the local dialect so we began collecting examples. Our son also had two guide books with glossaries of Australian slang. I eventually compiled our observations along with the two glossaries onto my laptop. Thus when I started writing, I had a good source of genuine slang words.
I hope that my insertion of Australian slang into the dialogue made the story richer. I did not attempt, however, to spell words phonetically as pronounced by Ausis. I gave a few hints to the reader how words like mate are pronounced with the a sounding more like a long I.
The other thing I did was use the British spelling any time an Australian was speaking, but American spellings for dialogue by Americans. Thus the American would say, "He seems to have troubles skidding on curves. Perhaps he has a low tire." On the other hand, an Australian is saying, "Take a shot at their tyre."
Writing Chased Across Australia was fun, and incorporating the Australian dialect into the story increased the pleasure.
In a previous post, I told how this book was inspired by our trip to Australia. When we arrived in Sydney, I did not expect to be writing a book, but my wife and I were interested in the local dialect so we began collecting examples. Our son also had two guide books with glossaries of Australian slang. I eventually compiled our observations along with the two glossaries onto my laptop. Thus when I started writing, I had a good source of genuine slang words.
I hope that my insertion of Australian slang into the dialogue made the story richer. I did not attempt, however, to spell words phonetically as pronounced by Ausis. I gave a few hints to the reader how words like mate are pronounced with the a sounding more like a long I.
The other thing I did was use the British spelling any time an Australian was speaking, but American spellings for dialogue by Americans. Thus the American would say, "He seems to have troubles skidding on curves. Perhaps he has a low tire." On the other hand, an Australian is saying, "Take a shot at their tyre."
Writing Chased Across Australia was fun, and incorporating the Australian dialect into the story increased the pleasure.
November 7, 2011
Chased Across Australia Inspired by a Trip
I would like to share the inspiration for my thriller, Chased Across Australia.
We celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary a couple of years ago with a trip to Australia. At the time, I was teaching high school and my wife was working as a physical therapist in a nursing home. This gave me all summer free. My wife was indispensable enough she could pretty well get any vacation time she requested. Our son, Wes, was temporarily working in Sydney. What a better place to celebrate a special anniversary?
We stayed a month using Wes’ house as base camp. We made trips to the Blue Mountains, Cairns, and Melbourne. Wes took a week of vacation so that the four of us could drive part of The Great Ocean Road. Unfortunately, we only saw a small faction of Australia, but wow, what a fantastic month.
Every visitor to Sydney(who does not suffer from acrophobia) should go over the top. Going over the top means a person takes the bridge climb. Yes, for a fee, guides will escort people along the beams to the very top of the Sydney Harbor Bridge. It is a great view and well worth the cost. As we climbed, I wondered what a person would do if they went on the bridge climb in spite of being afraid of heights. Everyone is tied on with safety straps, but it is a long way down.
Cairns is a small enough town that we felt we needed our own transportation. Thus I came prepared with an international driver’s license, but I had never before driven on the left side of the road. Wes took me out for a half hour lesson one afternoon. Then we flew to Cairns where I rented a car. My wife navigated, and I concentrated on keeping the car where it belonged. Traffic in Queensland is sparse enough that we got around with little trouble except. . .
One afternoon we drove along the Captain Cook Highway to Port Douglas. En route, the road climbs along the sea-side cliffs in a snakelike fashion. We were not bothered by the inconvenience of having to stop for a road crew repaving a stretch of the road.
After an excellent dinner in Port Douglas, we headed south toward our bed and breakfast. When we reached the section of the road where the crew had been repaving, I found myself on a road with no center line and no markings on the edge. There was no moon. I had to drive on an unmarked black ribbon of asphalt that just faded ahead into the darkness of the night on that curving section of road. The headlights of approaching cars appeared to be coming from the wrong places. After all, I am used to driving on the right side of the road. It was more disorienting than flying in instrument conditions. I suffered vertigo, but managed to stay on the road at the posted speed limit of 50 or 60km/hr. (30 or 36 mph).
That got me wondering what would be going through the mind of an American who was driving the same road at high-speed with a car chasing him. What kind of vertigo would he be experiencing at 120 or 150 km/hr?
By the time we flew home, I had the idea for a story, Chased Across Austalia. Chased Across Australia is the thriller I have just published.
The general plot is about terrorists who plot to explode a dirty bomb in Sydney, but critical documents get accidentally downloaded onto the laptop of American tourists. Desperate to recover the files, the terrorists chase the American couple across Australia.
Of course these fictional Americans visited the same places we did, and the terrorist had to follow them. He followed them onto the harbor bridge in spite of his acrophobia. In the Blue Mountains, he followed them into gondola cars and incline railroads that further aggravated his acrophobia. Burglary is attempted twice, but fails both times. A woman is sent in to put the American in a compromising position, but he refuses to sleep with her. In Cains, the American finds himself involved in a high-speed car chase at night along the unmarked section of the Captain Cook Highway. The terrorists are shooting at the American. In spite of his vertigo, he must drive a lot faster than I drove.
Part of the challenge of such a story is writing the dialogue in dialect. When a digger was speaking, I used those dialect phrases as I knew, and used the Australian spelling for the words. I hope I did not do too much of a disservice to the way Australians talk.
The story was great fun to write, but I was glad it was fiction and not a memoir. I am not sure I could have done as well as the hero of the story.
My book is total fiction. The geography may be real, but all of the people and all of the events are pure fiction inspired by a trip to a beautiful continent with a wonderful woman at my side.
Reynold
We celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary a couple of years ago with a trip to Australia. At the time, I was teaching high school and my wife was working as a physical therapist in a nursing home. This gave me all summer free. My wife was indispensable enough she could pretty well get any vacation time she requested. Our son, Wes, was temporarily working in Sydney. What a better place to celebrate a special anniversary?
We stayed a month using Wes’ house as base camp. We made trips to the Blue Mountains, Cairns, and Melbourne. Wes took a week of vacation so that the four of us could drive part of The Great Ocean Road. Unfortunately, we only saw a small faction of Australia, but wow, what a fantastic month.
Every visitor to Sydney(who does not suffer from acrophobia) should go over the top. Going over the top means a person takes the bridge climb. Yes, for a fee, guides will escort people along the beams to the very top of the Sydney Harbor Bridge. It is a great view and well worth the cost. As we climbed, I wondered what a person would do if they went on the bridge climb in spite of being afraid of heights. Everyone is tied on with safety straps, but it is a long way down.
Cairns is a small enough town that we felt we needed our own transportation. Thus I came prepared with an international driver’s license, but I had never before driven on the left side of the road. Wes took me out for a half hour lesson one afternoon. Then we flew to Cairns where I rented a car. My wife navigated, and I concentrated on keeping the car where it belonged. Traffic in Queensland is sparse enough that we got around with little trouble except. . .
One afternoon we drove along the Captain Cook Highway to Port Douglas. En route, the road climbs along the sea-side cliffs in a snakelike fashion. We were not bothered by the inconvenience of having to stop for a road crew repaving a stretch of the road.
After an excellent dinner in Port Douglas, we headed south toward our bed and breakfast. When we reached the section of the road where the crew had been repaving, I found myself on a road with no center line and no markings on the edge. There was no moon. I had to drive on an unmarked black ribbon of asphalt that just faded ahead into the darkness of the night on that curving section of road. The headlights of approaching cars appeared to be coming from the wrong places. After all, I am used to driving on the right side of the road. It was more disorienting than flying in instrument conditions. I suffered vertigo, but managed to stay on the road at the posted speed limit of 50 or 60km/hr. (30 or 36 mph).
That got me wondering what would be going through the mind of an American who was driving the same road at high-speed with a car chasing him. What kind of vertigo would he be experiencing at 120 or 150 km/hr?
By the time we flew home, I had the idea for a story, Chased Across Austalia. Chased Across Australia is the thriller I have just published.
The general plot is about terrorists who plot to explode a dirty bomb in Sydney, but critical documents get accidentally downloaded onto the laptop of American tourists. Desperate to recover the files, the terrorists chase the American couple across Australia.
Of course these fictional Americans visited the same places we did, and the terrorist had to follow them. He followed them onto the harbor bridge in spite of his acrophobia. In the Blue Mountains, he followed them into gondola cars and incline railroads that further aggravated his acrophobia. Burglary is attempted twice, but fails both times. A woman is sent in to put the American in a compromising position, but he refuses to sleep with her. In Cains, the American finds himself involved in a high-speed car chase at night along the unmarked section of the Captain Cook Highway. The terrorists are shooting at the American. In spite of his vertigo, he must drive a lot faster than I drove.
Part of the challenge of such a story is writing the dialogue in dialect. When a digger was speaking, I used those dialect phrases as I knew, and used the Australian spelling for the words. I hope I did not do too much of a disservice to the way Australians talk.
The story was great fun to write, but I was glad it was fiction and not a memoir. I am not sure I could have done as well as the hero of the story.
My book is total fiction. The geography may be real, but all of the people and all of the events are pure fiction inspired by a trip to a beautiful continent with a wonderful woman at my side.
Reynold
October 25, 2011
Greetings from Reynold Conger
Hello: The publication of my book Chased Across Australia prompted me to join goodreads. I feel it is appropriate to start this blog by introducing myself.
I am Reynold Conger, a retired scientist, engineer, consultant and teacher. At this time, I am an unpublished author. While I write for my own entertainment, I would like to get published, both to share my work and to earn a little money.
I grew up in Wisconsin. After earning BS and MS degrees in Chemistry, worked for 30 years in the pulp and paper industry. At the end of my career, I was an international consultant and made calls on every continent except Antarctica. I saw a lot of things and met a lot of different people. While I was consulting, I began carrying a laptop for business purposes. One of the downsides of international consulting is that frequently, I was stuck in locations with little TV I could understand, and few sources of wholesome entertainment. I ran a lot and learned to watch soccer matches with the local language commentary turned down. I also discovered I could write fiction on my laptop as a way to pass the time. Writing became a serious hobby that I now want to turn into a retirement career.
Eventually my wife and I moved to New Mexico for health reasons. Soon after, a bad global economy made my consulting practice unprofitable. With a demand for teachers, I taught high school science and math for 8 years, retiring in the spring of 2009.
My wife and I live on the northern fringe of the Chihuahuan Desert in rural New Mexico. (Note: Contrary to what many assume, New Mexico is a state of the USA and not to be confused with the country of Mexico.) We hike, garden, exercise and spoil our pets. Our two children are grown and have careers of their own.
My life has been enriched by a number of factors. I was a high school athlete who swam and ran. I continue to run. I have run a marathon. I have done some coaching. We have lived in several different part of the United States, and I have worked with different types of people making a variety of grades of paper. I have sung with a symphony orchestra choir. I have a private pilot’s license and flew a light plane for a while.
We are members of an Independent Baptist church. Both my wife and I were saved as teenagers. Through our married life we served in a variety of churches of different denominations as we moved from paper mill town to paper mill town. Currently, I am song leader and a substitute Sunday school teacher. My wife teaches a Sunday school class of young girls. While we are active members of that church, I see our greatest contribution to the Kingdom of God as the way we carry out our lives rather than in the things we do in the church.
I write from a Christian perspective because I have a Christian world view. Would that all the world comes to Christ, but the fact is that only a few people accept Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior. Thus when I write, I strive to portray the setting of a story as populated with a variety of characters, some Christian, some simply church members and others agnostic or perhaps antagonistic toward religion. I try to populate the story in proportion to the numbers of people in the setting. Most of the time I do not write stories that are Christian stories per se, but I strive to let my witness come through in the story. Perhaps some non-believer will be touched.
My short story, Grace, won 6th place in the inspirational division of The 2007 Writer’s Digest Short Story Contest.
I am Reynold Conger, a retired scientist, engineer, consultant and teacher. At this time, I am an unpublished author. While I write for my own entertainment, I would like to get published, both to share my work and to earn a little money.
I grew up in Wisconsin. After earning BS and MS degrees in Chemistry, worked for 30 years in the pulp and paper industry. At the end of my career, I was an international consultant and made calls on every continent except Antarctica. I saw a lot of things and met a lot of different people. While I was consulting, I began carrying a laptop for business purposes. One of the downsides of international consulting is that frequently, I was stuck in locations with little TV I could understand, and few sources of wholesome entertainment. I ran a lot and learned to watch soccer matches with the local language commentary turned down. I also discovered I could write fiction on my laptop as a way to pass the time. Writing became a serious hobby that I now want to turn into a retirement career.
Eventually my wife and I moved to New Mexico for health reasons. Soon after, a bad global economy made my consulting practice unprofitable. With a demand for teachers, I taught high school science and math for 8 years, retiring in the spring of 2009.
My wife and I live on the northern fringe of the Chihuahuan Desert in rural New Mexico. (Note: Contrary to what many assume, New Mexico is a state of the USA and not to be confused with the country of Mexico.) We hike, garden, exercise and spoil our pets. Our two children are grown and have careers of their own.
My life has been enriched by a number of factors. I was a high school athlete who swam and ran. I continue to run. I have run a marathon. I have done some coaching. We have lived in several different part of the United States, and I have worked with different types of people making a variety of grades of paper. I have sung with a symphony orchestra choir. I have a private pilot’s license and flew a light plane for a while.
We are members of an Independent Baptist church. Both my wife and I were saved as teenagers. Through our married life we served in a variety of churches of different denominations as we moved from paper mill town to paper mill town. Currently, I am song leader and a substitute Sunday school teacher. My wife teaches a Sunday school class of young girls. While we are active members of that church, I see our greatest contribution to the Kingdom of God as the way we carry out our lives rather than in the things we do in the church.
I write from a Christian perspective because I have a Christian world view. Would that all the world comes to Christ, but the fact is that only a few people accept Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior. Thus when I write, I strive to portray the setting of a story as populated with a variety of characters, some Christian, some simply church members and others agnostic or perhaps antagonistic toward religion. I try to populate the story in proportion to the numbers of people in the setting. Most of the time I do not write stories that are Christian stories per se, but I strive to let my witness come through in the story. Perhaps some non-believer will be touched.
My short story, Grace, won 6th place in the inspirational division of The 2007 Writer’s Digest Short Story Contest.
