Jon Pew's Blog, page 3

just a quick note!!

Well hello from Afghani-land! It’s been an exciting week here an I am happy to  say that Transition Man is ready for re-release on all major E-book vendors, and I’m working on the paperback version, it should be ready for the re-release on May 4th. I admit I moved it to the right a few days because my friend and counselor Aurora with Elizabeth Delena Rosa author services is taking over the promotion. So keep an eye out for her posts and timelines. I finally got to write a little on Achilles last night and it felt good to get words on the pages again. In all we’re moving forward, but I’m so busy finishing my publication process I don’t have a lot of time. look for a proper Author-Jon Pew post in the next few days.

 

update on publishing Transition Man

Well this is another shorty because I’m working my fingers to the bone here trying to get this book uploaded, reviewed and out to the public. so here’s the images for the cover, so excited! And the book will be available through Smashwords, and Create space which should make it available for E-book, or print. Also I have started a re-release event on FB for the online release of the book for April 30th, please share a round to your friends and anyone who likes fantasy books! I am going to have giveaways of copies of the book, and posters. I will also be sharing tidbits from the upcoming release of Part two in the series Twisted souls. I would love to have a busy day answering questions and sharing the excitement with all my friends and supporters. Thanks again and please come! https://www.facebook.com/events/338907769565639/

 

 

 Next I’ll be working on getting it into hardback!

back cover for Transition Man!

Time for some news!!

 

Well hello again from Afghani-land! In a few more weeks I won’t be saying that anymore! (sings leaving on a jet plane!) That will be a great day. For news from home it’s all about the same except my mom’s back in Kentucky and looking after the fam until I can get there. We are starting to fly a bit more which is great, it sure makes time go by faster when you’re busy.

On the author front I’m working hard on several fronts right now. 1st and the biggest news of the day…Transition Man will be re-released on April 30th with a  new cover and a re-format! I’ll be independently published and working on the next book in the line True Immortals Genesis which is in June. For all my fans and friends that bought T-Man edition 1 thanks for the support and the help. I didn’t change anything inside the book really except a couple more typos I found while reformatting, so your book is still the same, no additions or re-writes. And remember, Griffin Chronicles part 2 Twisted Souls is scheduled for a July release. I’m so excited about getting this done and having the fresh look up and going.

I am publishing through Smashwords and Create space so it’ll still be available in paper and digital formats. Plus it will now be available through many more avenues than before. I am hosting a release party online because I’ll still be here on this rotation, but we are having a bunch of giveaways free copies of the book, posters, etc. and I hope you’ll all attend and bring your friends and fans of fantasy books.

The other front is the tiring one, my 4th novel is Sword of Achilles and I just passed page 144 and still have a lot of story left to tell. I was hoping to have it finished before I go home and I’m working hard on that point and will keep you updated as I go along. Let me just say, this is the hardest yet best book I’ve written and it takes time to think out the scenes so they aren’t confusing or out of line. Plus because I’m using actual aircraft and strategies we employ, I have to be careful of what I say. I want to make a great book here, but I also don’t want to put any of my brothers or sisters in more harms way than they already are.

Any way that’s what’s going on with this guy. Keep an eye out for the details of the release party and I’ll keep posting. That’s it for this edition, as always I’m proud of my kids and wife. Play to Win!! And you stay classy planet earth!

The Big Plan revealed for publishing books!

 

Well hello again from Afghani-land! It’s been a few days and here’s the scoop. My mother in law Wendy lady has been with the family for 10 days and has to go back to Arizona. She has been a huge help and has managed to allow my mother to go back to Utah and help with the duties she has there. She is done, or near it and is ready (or at least willing) to come back to KY and help us finish up this tour. I can never say thank you enough to either of them for their sacrifice for my family’s sake. My mom will have spent nearly 2 months away from home with my kids and wife to allow me to stay here and further my career so a big thanks again to the both of them. Jules and the kids are doing better everyday. Julie Jean’s confidence is rising and she’s working on getting back to 100%. The boys are doing really well in school this quarter doing all their homework and trying not to kill each other and their mother. Laynee is amazing as always. Her grades are top-notch and she’s getting ready for the end of the year concert in band. (I should be home for that!!!) I’m so proud of all my family and loved ones have accomplished while I’ve  been away, way to go.

On the author front I have been working hard with Elizabeth Delna Rosa aka Aurora on getting Transition Man up and ready to go. I posted the new cover last post and this one I promised to give you an excerpt to go along with it. After the close I’ll post the excerpt from T-Man for all to see! But first I wanted to put out what Aurora and I have been talking about for a few weeks now. As you all know that read this blog I didn’t sign with a small house again because I simply don’t need one this time. Not that they don’t have their use’s and aren’t great, but it’s not the right fit for me. What a small house, any house is good for is networking and getting your blogs and tweets and FB comments seen by more people and therefore expand your potential customer base. I nearly signed with a house just for this advantage. But we thought maybe we could do something similar and maybe help other indie authors along the way without them having to lose a percentage of their royalties.

So here’s the plan, we are starting an independently published group called “Our House publishing”. No it’s not a publishing house, at least not yet. For now we are going to have a group that wants to work together and more importantly to promote together. I know there are many FB groups that do this, however we are not going to allow self promoting in this group. We will work together not sell to each other. We’re going to do the usual, re-blog each others posts, tweets and share each others FB pages. We will have a news letter where each member can inform the group as to what they are trying to do so we can all help each other and of course group giveaways. We will provide each other feed back on WIP’s and provide the help and advice that most people need. IE how does this cover look, or read this chapter for me and let me know how it sounds.

We are also going to have (we hope) a group of small houses to recommend if an author wants a house, and of course referrals for paid author services. The main point of this group is not to sell to each other but to sell to our combined network of friends and their friends. When one of our members is bringing a book to print we will all pitch in and help get the work done and posted. Then we will help with the release part of the process and donate to the giveaway and release party with free copies of our own works and or swag we might have.

We’re also designing a logo that can be put the back of our books so we can be identified in association with each other. All of this will be mandatory for being a part of the group. (Not the paid services part but being involved and helping our groupies) Non of this will cost anything it’s free but we are going to be selective and we are going to make sure that everyone who decides to get involved understands what they are getting into. If a member decides they don’t want to be so involved they can of course choose to leave. It should be very helpful and we should be able to work well together to push out our work to people who may not know us directly, but who would look at our stuff because they know someone in the group. Working together we should be able to make everyone rise at the same time.

If you’re like me then the biggest headache you get is reaching an audience that you don’t know and that will look at buying your book  because it was referred by a friend, that is what this group is all about. Plus the advantage of having other indie-author-publishers that have done all that and can offer help and advice, for free! So if you’re interested send me a message and we’ll find out why you want to join, and make sure you understand what we are doing. I am so excited about this idea it makes me giddy. (Good word right?) As soon as you’re in we’ll have you sign on our blog tour and that will help when you have announcements or blog posts so we can all get the network a churning!

So if you’re a serious blogger get involved here! If you’re a reviewer we’ll have an endless supply of stories for you. If you’re a small house and want to get involved in the network, let’s get it going. If you’re a self-puber looking for allies in the never-ending quest to sell books and don’t have a million hours a week to spend online then get involved and take advantage of combined hours worked and re-blogged, published, tweeted, FB’s and all that good schtuff!

Well that’s it for now, as usual I’m so proud of my kids and wife. Play to Win! And you stay classy planet earth!

***T-Man Excerpt

The shadow on the Dark Transition Man turned liquid and he flung it at Wesley as he

jumped forward with a yell of rage and hate….

He raised his shield out of instinct and blocked the first attack, Wesley spun back and used his shields sharp edges to cut off his opponent’s legs but he bounced over Wesley’s back and sliced his upper arm with a short stroke. Landing softly he made an immediate forward thrust for Wesley’s exposed side and he had to dive forward to avoid major injury. He rolled up to his feet and turned quickly slung his shield across his back and stood with Talon in hand and ready.

“Time to go to work” Wesley said and let the silver flow.

The shadow was already airborne and then running along the ceiling of the room, throwing small daggers at Wesley as he ran. He dodged two and turned ducking down and blocked another five with his shield. But one got threw and cut his calf muscle. The pain was immediate and intense. He felt numbness start spreading up his leg from some toxin on the edges of the blades. The shadow landed behind him and Wesley had to act fast.

Dropping to the floor, skimming away from his enemy he launched Talon trying to either kill the Dark Transition Man or at the least gain some space in which to change the momentum of the fight. He could see the whole battle unfold and his strategy formed quickly. He put it into action without hesitation.

The Dark Transition Man dodged, but barley, Talon almost took his head off. Wesley spun away tried to recall Talon but he wouldn’t respond. In a flash he raised his shield and drew his sword in one fluid motion preparing for the battle that was about to begin. He felt a weak in the one leg thanks to the toxin on the dagger and his enemy knew it. He didn’t wait for Wesley to repost, he came on like a tsunami.

Wesley felt him draw on the dark power and watched as he flew up in the air and came down on him with full strength. Wesley raised his shield and was driven to the floor but his shield arm held. In desperation he did the only thing he could being trapped on the floor, he reached his sword out behind his enemy and cut both of his Achilles tendons with one slash. The Dark Transition Man fell to the floor screaming in pain and agony furious that he had been beaten. Wesley stood over his fallen foe, reveling in his enemy’s fear as he drew near to finish him.

Transition Man re-boot!!

Well hello from Afghani-land again! it’s been a few days since I’ve posted and there is a good reason but first let’s get to the family news. Jules has been in good communication with me for a while now and she’s doing much better! (Prayers always work.) My kids are doing much better as well and grades for the boys are improving. Sometimes you have to go through a hard time to understand the good ones. My mother needed to go back home for a bit and get a break, as well as take care of her taxes so she swapped out with Julie’s mom, Wendy and she’ll be with the fam for around 10 days when my mom will return again and help finish up the last couple weeks of this rotation. I truly am blessed to have such a great support team to help me with this Army career, thanks so much guys love you.

As for me and soldiering…I have my stripes on now and am very happy about that. I’m learning what the army expects its leaders to do and implementing that in what I have set for myself as leadership skills, should make a good pairing. We’ve had lots of weather lately so flying has slowed down, but the new reports are that it’s breaking up and warming up, so I should get back in the sky and finish up flying! Very excited about that. I’ve managed to get back in the gym after taking some time off for a couple “old man” injuries and love the results I’m seeing. (Even if no one else is!) My weight is staying stable and my muscles are getting stronger and a little bigger. Running is easier as well and playing a little b-ball is breaking up the monotony.

Now for writing. Sword of Achilles has been put on a temporary hold while I have been working on setting up my own little house, (with 1 author) and I’ve been getting Transition Man ready for re-release. Re-formatting was an interesting exercise in patience, but worth it. I’ve decided I’ll be using Smashwords, and Create-Space for my publishing outlets and have set up appropriate accounts there. I have been extremely lucky in this whole thing to have had a friend and consultant Aurora Martinez with Elizabeth Delna Rosa author services or I’d be lost! I’ve decided to revamp the cover a little, it’s very similar and used the same model. We’ve used a different back drop to bring Vegas more into the cover. It’s also going to be the back ground for all 4 books in the series so we ended up tweaking Twisted Souls to use the same backdrop. I’m very proud of the work Aurora did and pleased with the final product. (Which I will show you at the end of this post!)

I’ve had a chance to revisit some of the final edits and put it through another updated word program and caught a few errors that were missed but for the most part I’m keeping the main body the same. I’ve had my consultant give me some pointers on Mexican language and social cues that I need to change in Isa’s language and actions, but that’s all the changes I’m going to make. I thought to do a re-read, but decided against it so everything should remain nearly identical to the original. I’m pleased to announce that everything should be done in the next 2 weeks and a re-release party will be held online with giveaways and imaginary food and drinks for everyone. (Spared no expense!) I’ll update with a for sure day when I know I’ve got all my ducks in a row. remember that True Immortals Genesis is coming in June so we’re gonna have a wild ride this summer starting with the Transition Man re-boot coming soon!

Well that’s it for now. As always I’m proud of my kids and my wife. Play to Win! And you stay classy planet earth!

 

 

nothing to say

Sorry friends nothing new to say today. I’m working hard on getting Transition Man reformatted and working a new cover. I hope to re-release in a couple of weeks will update you on my next post in a few days!!

news on books, fam and life, and some thoughts on finding happiness.

 Well hello again from Afghani land! It’s been an interesting few days and I have much to report on my doings and what’s happening at camp Pew right now. On the family front everyone’s trying to get along until I can get home in mid-May. My mom has been there for a month now and has done an outstanding job getting everything back on track. The boys ended up passing their last quarter but only just. The 4th started with better habits and arguments but everyone seems to be getting in line and doing what they’re supposed to do. As of today she needed to go home and get a break for a couple of weeks, so my mother in law who is also awesome Wendy is on her way out to take a turn helping keep everyone moving forward. I can never thank these two enough for what they’ve done in helping me with my family and my career. The military doesn’t look too kindly on soldiers who have to leave combat zones for family issues that should be taken care of before deployment. But everything has been handled and I was able to stay and finish my tour, earning my promotion and gaining experience that I sorely needed to understand what this job is really all about. I’m especially proud of my daughter and eldest child Laynee, she’s made National Junior Honor Society and gotten the all A honor roll twice now, working on her third. Also she finished her basketball season and did very well. My boy Jaxon is starting boy scouts and is excited about that, he’s trying to fix his grades and wants to get into some more plays and musicals as soon as possible. He is also going to start some sports this spring we hope and get to making new friends. He starts middle school next year and he’s happy about that too as he gets to pick and instrument and play in the band like his big sister. My Evan is still a happy little guy and wants to play baseball if we can sign him up for it. He’s stopped trying to get out of school and is doing much better in his classes. He’ll be our little guy for a little bit longer being the only one in elementary school next year.
With the home front back under control and having replacement help already scheduled to come help until I can get home I’ve turned my mind back a little to my writing. The new WIP is moving along. In Achilles I’ve started the battle for the beaches of Troy and it’s exhilarating to write. I feel like I’m flying on a hit every time I start the radio calls and the description of what it feels like on a CH-47 on approach to an air assault landing. So if you like realistic military action you’ll love this book when I get it out this fall. (More to come about this)
Now onto books, as I have already announced I’m going to independently publish all my books by end of august, at least that’s the plan. So I have a lot to do! First I think I’m going to set up my own house for publishing. Not that I’m taking on more authors it just for some reason adds credence to a published work. I’m excited about the opportunity to start a new venture. I don’t know where this idea will lead but I’m intrigued by the challenge. Now onto books, Transition Man is still available through Little Acorns for now, I am planning to re-release it under my own name and Kristina is being such an awesome friend allowing it to stay up for now. I’m working hard on it with my wizard Elizabeth Delena Rosa to get a revamped cover and a minor change to the format, otherwise it’ll be the same book. Look for it in May. That brings me to this summer. Right now the plan is moving ahead well for a book release every month of the summer. In May we’ll have the re-release of T-Man, in June True Immortals Genesis which is at the Beta reader now and the editor is happily awaiting my revised script the cover is done and so is the blurb so it should be out on time. In July 1 year to the month if I can manage it will be the release of the second book in the Griffin Chronicles series Twisted Souls! I have actually had several of my readers express interest in reading this book and aren’t happy I made them wait this long for the release, but the cover’s done, the blurb and the Beta reader is finished I should have this to the editor within a couple of weeks of my return to the states so it should be on time as well. In August I’ll have a new type of book to release. It’s not a new genre I’m not that ingenious but it’s new to me. The Sword of Achilles is scheduled right now for release sometime in August. My next post will be about my progress on this book so no worries you’ll be kept up to date. I’ve been working on a concept for the cover of this book and it’ll be amazing. I haven’t gotten it to a beta reader yet because it’s still in progress but I’ll get it done on time as well I think.
That’s all the news about books. This post is not too dramatic it’s simply about finding contentment in life where ever you are and whatever you’re doing. I promise it’s not going to be very long as the news portion is way long. I have found that difficult circumstances arise all around us and at different times and in different degrees. One of the most popular comments I hear and I’m sure you have too is ‘when I only get _____ I’ll be happy’. The overall truth of any life is that hardship comes no matter what and if a person is waiting for some benchmark to happen to find happiness then it will never come. In my experience there is always happiness to be found. I have a friend who recently lost someone dear to their heart and helping her through this crisis has been hard for me to watch her suffer, but even more devastating for her to learn to live again. I personally have had my whole life turned upside down by economic changes that cost me a successful business. When it collapsed I lost my cars, house and fell into a bankruptcy that cost me credit and confidence. I re-entered the military to try to find a simpler way to rebuild my life and so far it’s been fine. But through all that I’ve been able to find happiness, and I believe that my friend who’s grieving, and everyone else can as well and it’s a simple principle, but a difficult realization.
First there is what you believe in. most of my friends and acquaintances believe in God, I’m a Latter Day Saint or Mormon, and most of the people I know are of some type of Christian faith. This belief in something greater than one’s self is crucial to finding happiness in everyday life. It’s not easy to get up and do the daily grind, get home to a house that needs cleaned a dinner that needs cooked and homework that needs done all before you get to have some time for yourself but that’s life. If you include what God has said about family and children and spouses you’ll find that in that simple framework is where true joy lies. Sometimes it takes a paradigm shift to understand that in the simple struggle of day-to-day is where the most rewarding work takes place. Imagine you are an architect designing and building the greatest structure the world has ever seen and you spend months and years of your life accomplishing this work. Then at your speech when the work is complete you have no one to thank for this great accomplishment! No spouse next to you on the platform, no kids waving at you from the crowd, no comments by your folks going ‘that’s my boy or my girl’. There is only you and you did all this work to feel empty inside. So the simple-ness of life is the richness in life. Plus when you put things into an eternal perspective, like what do I want out of life? Is it money and fame or is it to return to my God again with my family by my side? If it’s the later then even hard times can encourage us to do greater things, like make it to baseball practice on time.( I’ll have another post on religion later.)
Second there is the understanding that ‘this too shall pass’. I had a problem in my early life, I wanted to get married in our Temple. Most people know about Mormon Temples and you have to meet a certain standard to have that honor. My bride and I were worthy of the honor, but because of some past issues that were unclear at the time we were asked to postpone or get married outside the temple and get sealed inside a year later. I was devastated and the reason I was denied this honor was no fault of my own. However I loved my bride and still do and was willing to endure the trial in order to have her in my life. We decided to get married and go to the Temple a year later, it was a hard decision but one I have never regretted. As I struggled with what I felt was a disgrace on me and my new wife I learned that we were both not to blame and the person who was, was being held accountable. But having gone ahead with our wedding we now had to wait the year regardless. At the same time members of my own family were openly hostile toward my new wife and encouraged me to leave her and find someone else, less than 6 months after I was wed. My anger swelled inside me and I wanted to lash out at those that were making my life difficult for their own gain. A wise leader in the church counseled me, ‘he said all things heal in time’ and that if I wanted to I could find happiness in what I had instead of what I didn’t. He said I could look at the goal of a Temple sealing as a time to study and understand what it really meant, not just that I had been taught that my whole life and felt it was what was expected of me. I could appreciate it more because of what I was going through. I used his advice and found happiness in spending time with my new sweetheart discussing what our future meant. We’d go on long walks and find peace and contentment with each other. We discovered that we were expecting our first little miracle and that added the mortar to solidify our happiness in what we had been blessed with.
No matter how hard life might get we can find happiness in the little things and find that our lives provide us with all the meaning we need simply by looking for it instead of dwelling on what isn’t or is lost. This way of thinking doesn’t guarantee we’ll always be happy, that we won’t have hard times or hard days. It does mean that in the overall scheme when we look back on our lives, we’ll find that we were happy and found joy in doing those things expected of us by our maker and those we love.
Well that’s it for now, as always I’m proud of my kids and my wife. Play to win! And you stay classy planet earth.

a taste of Genesis, True Immortals part one.

Hey from Afghani-land, as promised here is a small excerpt from True Immortals Genesis, this part is where Abby has discovered that she and Rikter share an ability to fight together and she has honed her skills. Now Adam has to get Eve to understand that Abby isn’t going to be a stay at home mom, she’s a working girl and there is something different about her.  Please don’t be too critical, it’s still rough draft form and I promise it’ll be edited by the time the book is released in June. LOL. Hope you enjoy!

 

Adam knew that Abby wouldn’t be left behind when Rikter went out on patrol. Nor would she be left behind when he trained or fought. It was time to let Eve know about their new developments. He went to work in his workshop making Abby her own weapons. He made her a sword, small shield, a specific spear head and most special of all a new invention. What he made was a hidden knife sheath that would fit up her sleeve and held five small daggers. She could get the knives in her hand by swinging her arm at a short angle and then throw all five knives with one motion. He worked with her tirelessly over the space of many months in order to make sure she prepared and could use all these weapons with extreme skill.

He made her armor specific to her size and need. It fit inside her cloths and  fit like a shirt and was flexible as she was. All her weapons fit into her armor, so no matter what she was wearing, she was armed and protected. Once he felt he had done all he could to prepare her, it was time to show Eve and the boys.

One afternoon after nearly a year had passed he called the family together to show them what he and Abby had done. The boys were growing. Cain was nearly six years old, Abel had just celebrated his fourth birthday and Abby was ten. Eve was in the Nursery with Cain and Abel was being playing by Rikter. They all came together in the courtyard in the spring.

“Thanks for taking the time to come when I called.” Said Adam awkwardly “What you are about to see will shock and amaze you. Before you get upset or excited please observe, then let me explain before anything else is done.”

            Eve knew that Adam had been doing something but didn’t press him. Eventually she would find out, she always did. He was the worst liar and she loved him for that. But what ever this was, it had to do with Abby, and she wasn’t happy that something this secret involved her little girl.

“This better be good. If what ever you’re doing endangers my little angel, you’ll have me to answer to Man.”

“Y, Y, Yes dear.”  Adam said knowing he was in deep crap no matter how the demonstration went. “Alright, Abby come on out.”

            Abby crept slowly out of the workshop looking shy, but normal as ever. She was so cute. She was tall for a ten-year old and surprisingly well-developed. She was strong with muscular legs and arms and small breasts starting to show. Her cloths were black with tight-fitting pants and a silky looking grey long sleeve shirt with a hood. She had black gloves on and her hair was up in a pony tail. Eve applauded and so did Cain to see how wonderful she looked. Abby curtsied and her hair fell slightly to the side Eve could see the hilt of a little sword protruding from her back and stopped clapping at once.

“What is that!” She yelled pointing and starting to move forward to inspect.

Adam jumped between them forcing her to keep some distance. “Wait and see, then let me explain before you go ballistic ok?”

            The way Eve looked at him would have killed a charging wild boar. Her glare was icy and her hand was balled up ready to put a few new knots on Adam’s head. Even though she looked murderous, she sat back down slowly. She was rigid, sitting on a spring waiting to jump up again and knock his head off. Abby watched and waited. Adam gave her a wink and a motion to go ahead.

            “Mom and everyone I wanted to show you what I have been working on with dad. He actually caught me a few years ago breaking into his shop. I found one of the early swords he forged and was practicing trying to learn how to fight and defend myself. I have watched him from the time I was very small and have been longing to go with Rikter to help in the battles that defend the valley against all invaders. I fell like this is what I’m meant to do, that battle is what my mission is.”

            She twitched her arm, Rikter jumped up and pulled a rope that swung out several large semi human shaped logs. She spun in a circle and flung her arms in an arc the knives flew from her hands and blistered the face and chest of the first log. She jumped as high as she could and Rikter moved underneath her, she bounced off his shoulder and as she flew through the air she drew her sword from her back and sliced a bag full of sand in half, as she came down several spears sprung out nearly impaling her but she gracefully bounced from one shaft to the next bouncing off the first and propelling herself past the next slicing off the tips with her sword as she went.

When she hit the ground more bags swung out at her she reacted instinctively. She sliced sideways and up, cutting and slashing her enemy forms. She sliced the other log men threw the torso in a lethal move. She tumbled and ran across the courtyard bouncing off the wall and climbing up on small hand holds. She did fifteen pull ups and ran across a ladder suspended between two buildings. She flipped sideways and plummeted to the ground where she landed and rolled to disperse the impact without a break in motion. In the moment she landed Adam attacked her in a flurry of blows that were so fast Abel couldn’t follow what was happening. Eve caught her breath and covered her mouth in fear. Rikter then ran forward and joined in the fray Eve thought it would be too much but Abby held her own.

She jumped and flipped, defended and parried all blows. She kicked out and turned Rikter’s attacks. She sent her father’s sword flying and tripped Rikter so he stumbled over his own massive paws. She landed in a strong forward pose and let the two of them get back to their feet. They all stopped and bowed to each other. She sheathed her sword and walked over to retrieve her knives. After she reloaded her forearm knife loads and paused to fix her hair and cloths. Then she looked at her mom for approval.

“Eve I caught her breaking into her shop a couple of years ago, I tried to kick her out and told her not to return, but she came back again and again. She and Rikter can do everything you have seen here, minus the weapons before I got involved.”

            As he spoke her face went from amazed and surprised to furious! “What the…are you joking…you did all this…NO!!” She finished lamely not being able to string together a sentence that could describe their treachery.

Her daughter was now a warrior there was no way around that fact. She was the best warrior Eve had seen from any race or species besides Adam. Her initial thoughts were how she to undo what had been done. She wanted Abby to be a mother and to have time with Eve to spend raising their kids together and being the first mothers of the race. But she now knew that would never happen. This child had something special to do, something that had nothing to do with bearing and raising children. She would do something so much more amazing that Eve no longer felt she could really relate. She was now more than ever a daddy’s girl and would be forever.

“Eve she has this skill. I don’t know how or why and I want to but she won’t be left behind. She is determined to go out with Rikter and me to defend the valley. Since she wouldn’t be comforted or dissuaded I thought the best thing to do was to train her and help her prepare. I made her weapons, and I made the armor that she has on. She will always be protected, she will always be armed. What do you think?” he asked

Eve got up slowly and stood poised and queenly. She walked up to Abby and inspected her armor and weapons. She looked her daughter over and her chin quivered as the tears started in her eyes she cleaned some dirt off Abby’s face. She then turned to Adam looked and into his eyes. He opened his arms to comfort her and she punched him straight in the nose. Blood spurted everywhere and he doubled over in pain.

“You stupid ass! Why would you do this to our only daughter? She will never leave it alone now. She thinks she’s a warrior, she thinks she’s some kind of…I don’t know… a crazy assassin or I don’t even know what to call it and it’s entirely your fault. I hope you’re happy with the family you have because you’re sleeping in your workshop forever!” she stormed away

Adam pinched his nose to stop the bleeding and sat on the ground. Abby walked over and put her hand on his shoulder trying to pat his back without laughing. The boys wandered over to laugh at their dad, and Rikter was already laughing rolling over and over on the grass.

“Well I don’t think you could’ve really hoped for better than that dad. Don’t worry, she’ll forgive you eventually.” Said Cain

The kids couldn’t hold it anymore they all broke out laughing and joined Rikter on the ground. Adam stopped the bleeding and got to his feet. He walked away dejectedly to this workshop and shut the door.

“You ungrateful little cretins.” He yelled from inside and all was quiet except the kids laughing together on the lawn.

The boys wanted to examine all the weapons and armor. They asked her all kinds of questions about her training and what she wanted to do now that she was trained to fight. Abel took the spear from the training course and held it in his hands thoughtfully. But Cain just looked at her, and for the first time thought how wonderful she was and that he wanted to make her smile like she was right now for the rest of her life.

Cain excused himself and went back out to the nursery to work with his plants. He was developing a new type of crop with his mother that would be able to grow in all seasons of the year. They were also working on different types of herbs and medicines to help with healing the warriors that fought for the valley. Even at his young age, he knew he wanted to work with plants, and grow amazing crops and herbs. He would be able to feed everyone in his family, no matter how big it got.

Abel however was into caring for animals. He loved taking care of the flocks and herds. He went out with his dad a lot to take care of the animals they possessed. The cattle and sheep especially were his friends. But he saw in the talents of his sister a way to care for his charges. If predators came to hunt his animals she could defend them. All together there were tons of new developments and time was flying by.

A little bit of me, talking about morals.

Well hello again from Afghani land! I have a few new things to report this start of a new week and a new month. 1st, I have been promoted at work to the rank of Sargent and pay grade of E-5 which will help take care of 3 growing kids. It’s been a long time coming and I’m excited about it. Second as announced last post I’ve decided to go it alone and self-publish all my works so I’m going to be ubber busy very soon getting that all going. Third the fam is closing in on the end of our time a part and nearing my going home. Still don’t have for sure dates but I can feel the nearness of it and it’s starting to make me trunk-ey to get out of here. I’ve nearly hit 300 hours in country and am sure I will before we leave. That’s not an extra ordinary amount of hours but I’ve flown on a lot of air assault missions and that kinda makes up for the shorter amount of hours. Either way, I have nearly met my goals for why I wanted to come on this rendezvous with destiny anyway. (Not that I have a choice, it goes where it’s told.)

I sat in front of my computer screen for a while trying to determine what I wanted to blog about today and I wasn’t at first sure. I’ve hit all my major works in production and want to wait a little before revealing much about Sword of Achilles. Plus I’ve had friends comment on how they want to hear more about my opinions and more about me personally. This is difficult for me. I’m usually a very private person who doesn’t like to air his laundry, dirty or clean. But I do have a few opinions and experiences that might come in handy to others so I’ve decided to share a little of myself and my thoughts with you today.

The first topic I thought I’d hit is one close to my heart. It’s particularly poignant today with my promotion. The subject is morals. I suppose that statement needs a little explanation so I’ll try and keep it short. A little over a year ago I was demoted at work for breaking the law I’m not going into specifics but don’t worry I didn’t kill anyone. I took some not so good advice, and made a choice. It was a bad choice and it’s totally my fault I knew better and should have behaved in that way. But needless to say I screwed up and as it’s not in my character to lie about it, I owned it and paid my debt to society. I had a good career path that was going to put me far ahead of my peers and was well on my way when this set back entered my life. It was a hard row to hoe but still that is what a person who doesn’t usually make those kinds of mistakes does to make what they did wrong right. This is where I came up with the idea of morals.

First what are morals? As I’m an author many people think I must have a massive vocabulary and that I can wordsmith up something cool in a jiff, the truth is it’s hard for me to define words. I discovered this about myself when I tried to define leadership. How would you in your own words define leadership? Try it…kinda difficult huh. I tried to define other words, like certainty, or confidence, words I use everyday and struggled. But morals was particularly difficult. I think of morals as a person’s base for determining right from wrong. It’s the ground work laid by several people in that person’s early up brining and life. For example if you’re raised in a Christian home, your morals are often based on the Ten Commandments or some interpretation of them. If parents are more lenient on certain things or lack the ability to provide proper discipline, love and structure to a child then that person will have different morals than someone else. It doesn’t mean that anyone is better than another it just provides some explanation as to why we have so many different layers in society.

For me the idea of breaking the law is wrong and unjust to the rest of my fellow beings, but to others it’s totally acceptable. I felt the need to atone for my wrongs as others might but I didn’t account for what it’d cost me. Monetarily it cost me nearly 5000 bucks. Career wise, I might have been able to pin this promotion on 9 months to a year ago. I might also have been looking at trying for the E-6 board in another 9 months to a year from now. But like I said my mistake my cost, it’s what’s required to pay the cost and I’m happy to pay my dues for what I did. But how does this relate to morals? It’s by my moral judgment that I know I did wrong, it’s by that same judgment that I can accept the punishment for the crime and do my best to recover and not get discouraged or angry. These judgments and choices we all make in life are guided by our own moral compass. It gives us a heading toward that which is good and descent. It tells us when we’ve gone too far or off our natural path. Seeing this for what it is I can understand what people mean when they say I can’t do this or I have to do that because of my morals. But which path is correct and what morals should you follow? I have no freakin idea! I only know what my guidelines are. I only know what is right from my point of view and would never imagine telling people what to believe or how to live their lives. I try to teach my kids what is right and wrong and instill in each of them a certain group of morals that can lead them to happiness. I want them to understand what choices will result in good and which in bad. I want them to embrace that they will make mistakes but as long as they follow a good set of morals they can’t go so wrong that they can never recover. I want them to be happy productive members of society and of our church. I want them to be good parents to their kids, better than I am to them. All of this is taught through the correct application of moral living.

If we can live moral and just lives we can have a positive influence on the world at large. We can spread the good actions and good results that come from being an upstanding citizen. We can receive God’s blessings if we follow that which he has commanded us to do. In the end we can only find true peace in life by learning and staying true to good moral principle. At least that’s what I believe and have come to understand from my 36 years on this earth.

Well that’s a little bit from inside my mind. Hope you enjoyed it and if not, don’t worry I’ll be back talking about books tomorrow. I’m planning on updating the site with a new excerpt from Genesis tomorrow. Alright that’s it for now, as always I’m proud of my kids and my wife. Play to win! And you stay classy planet earth.