Kyle Pratt's Blog: Musings & Rantings, page 16

News and Events from my POV

Friend and Mentor

Authors Kyle Pratt and Joyce Scott

My friend, and mentor, Joyce Scott is visiting southwest Washington State. Joyce is the author of six books that range in genre from historical fiction, to fantasy and murder mysteries. Today she travels with her husband in an RV, but several years ago she lived in Chehalis. Before she moved from the area she and I were in The Inklings critique group. There she both mentored my writing and encouraged my digital publishing.

I look forward to meeting with her whenever she is in the area.

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Jordan Hart of LewisTalk

Jordan Hartt. Photo by Jennifer Vandenberg

Jordan Hartt associate editor at LewisTalk.com spoke at the Lewis County Writers Guild on Friday. LewisTalk publishes human interest stories of 400 and 800 words on their website. To accomplish this daily task they employ freelance writers. The local Lewis county branch is part of NorthAmericaTalk a digital media company building a network of community media sites across Western Washington.

The way readers get their news is changing rapidly and NorthAmericaTalk, along with LewisTalk may be part of that future. As a writer, it fascinates me the way publishing and media are evolving. Jordan came looking for writers. I’m busy doing my own publishing, but I think Jordan found several potential journalists.

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Conference Poster

2016 Southwest Washington Writers Conference

The official poster of the Third Annual Southwest Washington Writers Conference is now available. I'm easy to spot on the poster--I'm the only male.

The conference is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 17th, in the Walton Science Center at Centralia College. I’ll be speaking at the conference alongside bestselling author Carolyn McCray. The title of our workshop is “Indie Publishing: Amazon KDP Select vs. Everyone Else.”

Carolyn exclusively uses Amazon and has sold over 750,000 books. I use a combination of Amazon, Nook, Kobo, iTunes and Google Play to reach my audience.

I’ll talk more about our workshop later. Today I just want to use this forum to display the official poster for the conference. I hope to see many of my reader and writer friends there. 

The Volcano Erupts

A minor earthquake at 8:32 a.m. on Sunday, May 18, 1980, caused the bulging and weakened north side of Mount St. Helens to collapse into the largest landslide ever recorded. The gas, steam, lava, and pulverized rock that it exposed, exploded toward Spirit Lake. Then a column of ash rose 80,000 feet into the air.

Our home at the time in Centralia. Notice the brown sky.

I was twenty-five at the time and worked as an assistant manager at a drugstore in Centralia, less than seventy-five miles northwest, as the ash falls. But the winds were blowing east that day. Friends as far away as Indiana sent pictures of their cars covered with dust. Those of us in Centralia watched the awesome display of nature’s might from vantage points around town.

As the day progressed we learned that entire forests near the volcano had been leveled, homes and bridges were swept away in the resulting flood and over fifty people died.

But in Centralia that day, no ash fell.

The following Sunday was when Mount St. Helens came to Centralia. At 2:30 a.m. the mountain erupted again.

My wife and I were asleep, along with our infant son, but some time before dawn the phone rang. My wife picked it up. “Hello?”

The street in front of our home at 9:00 a.m. on May 25, 1980

“Lorraine, do you have any windows open?” my mother asked.

“Yes.”

“Close them. Mount St. Helens erupted again and we’re getting covered with ash.”

While Lorraine secured the house, I went outside. Standing on the covered porch with the lights off the darkness was so total I couldn’t see my hand in front of my face. With my foot I felt for the steps. It felt like snow falling on me.

After a few steps onto the sidewalk, I returned to the house before getting lost.

It was well after nine in the morning before there was enough light to take the pictures seen here. We escaped the worst of the mountain’s fury, but those of us who were there will never forget that May.

Coming Soon

A new book and a new edition are coming soon.

 

The new book

The Long Way Home by Kyle Pratt

The final book in the Strengthen What Remains series, at least for now, is the 20,000 word novella, The Long Way Home. The story will be released on July 15th, but is available for preorder on Amazon and Smashwords, and will soon be available on Nook and Kobo.

Five cities had already been decimated by nuclear terrorism when Trevor Westmore sets out on a mission to bring Sue, his pregnant daughter-in-law, back to the relative safety of the family farm. He also hopes to find his daughter Lisa and bring her home. But, almost immediately upon finding Sue, in the suburbs of Seattle, terrorists detonate another nuclear bomb and the two must flee amid the chaos and fallout.

 

The Omnibus Edition

The Strengthen What Remains omnibus edition by Kyle Pratt

The Strengthen What Remains omnibus edition is scheduled for release on August 26. This ebook only edition will include the three novels, Through Many Fires, A Time to Endure, and Braving the Storms. Also included is the novelette, Nightmare in Slow Motion and the yet to be released novella, The Long Way Home, described above. While the final price has not been set, the plan is to save readers money over buying the books individually. A pre-order page will be created later this month.

News and Events from my POV

Still Excited

Author Barbara Blakey

In a recent blogpost titled, Excited for Friends, I described how my friend Debby Lee contracted through her agent Tamela Hancock Murray of the Steve Laube Agency to write a 20,000 novella for a Barbour Publishing anthology. Barbour needed more writers for the project so Debby suggested our mutual friend Barbara Blakey, and she also signed on to write a novella for the Hearts of the Pony Express Romance anthology.

Well, the good news just keeps on coming. Recognizing Barbara’s quality writing, Tamela asked her to contract with the Steve Laube Agency. Barbara signed on earlier this week. 

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The Writer’s Armamentarium

A Writer's Armamentarium by Jennifer Vandenberg

My friend and fellow author, Jennifer Vandenberg has released a new ebook, A Writer’s Armamentarium. She describes it as a short collection of lists designed to inspire writers of all levels and experience. Jennifer is a woman of many hats, talents and opinions. In addition to author, shedescribes herself as a geology student, national park ranger, secretary, tax preparer, swim instructor, Hallmark sales associate, school aide, library assistant, children's bookseller, merchandise supervisor, property curator, volunteer, farmer, and blogger. You can learn more about Jennifer on her website and Amazon page.

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Apiary News

Bees flying in and out of Hive One

This winter was rough on bees. Many beekeepers lost colonies, including me. On April 22nd I mentioned on Twitter that I was installing a new nucleus colony. Without getting overly technical, I was worried about the queen and the overall health of the new colony.

I’ve opened the hive and done two inspections now and the colony seems to be healthy and growing. The next couple of weeks will be critical, but I’ll let you know how the bees do. 

Nightmare Novelette

My latest release can best be described as a “sidequel.”

Sidequel isn’t a real word, not yet anyway, but it’s the best way to describe Nightmare in Slow Motion, my just released 12,000 word novelette in the Strengthen What Remains series. This story unfolds at the same time, or alongside, the first chapters of Through Many Fires.

Nightmare in Slow Motion by Kyle Pratt

Peter Westmore is the older brother of Caden and a police officer helping with the evacuation of Seattle when terrorists explode a nuclear bomb. In my novel A Time to Endure we glimpse the end of Peter’s life. In that novel his brother Caden is on a mission to destroy gangs and terrorists living on the fringe of the Seattle blast zone. During the fighting, Caden goes to his older brother’s abandoned home and discovers Peter’s body and two letters. The contents of one are revealed in A Time to Endure. The other is not. Nightmare in Slow Motions fills in the blanks of Peter’s last days.

Nightmare in Slow is Motion available in ebook format on Amazon, Nook, Kobo, Google Play, and Smashwords.

I Love (and hate) the English Language

This is a short clip of real-life wife and husband Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz reading a children’s book on their 1950’s television show, I Love Lucy. While they perform the skit for its comedic value, it shows one of the many idiosyncrasies of the English language that as a writer drives me crazy. How can the same letters in the same order be pronounced differently?

As I write, I try to remember that the English language is a complex set of words adopted from a variety of languages. These nuances can be maddening, but they also give the English language its spice and variety. 

Spring on the Farm

The greening of the farm inspired me.

As many of you know, I live on a small farm and spring is always a very special time. After a cold and wet (Pacific Northwest) winter it is time to get outside and repair fences, gates and the broken hen house door.

The greenhouse is so full of budding vegetables that my wife has many in Styrofoam cups on south facing window sills. Peas grow in the garden and the forest is green once again. Tadpoles swim in the pond and chicks are in the house.

That last one may have surprised you.

Those who grew up in the city would certainly find it weird to have baby chicks in the house, but it is still early spring and many days remain still cool and wet. Chicks need a warm and dry location to grow. The picture shows six Ameraucana chicks under a heat lamp in our entryway. Chickens can be really nasty to each other so, in a few months, when they are older, we’ll put them outside, but in a separate area of the chicken yard, and gradually introduce them to the other chickens.

Ah, the rituals of spring! 

Spring Cover

The website cover picture this month was taken by award winning photographer Tim Swaan captured the picture that now graces the cover of the website. Tim is from The Netherlands, but he loves to travel and the picture shown here was taken in at Whangarei Falls in New Zealand. From other pictures he has taken I know that Tim likes the image of a road or path going away from the viewer. I like his style and thankfully he has made this picture available for our use.

You can find more about previous cover photos here.

An outstretched hand

I have a wonderful life.

Yes, I made some good life choices, but I also know that the grace of God has shined in my life. I am fortunate to have been born here in America and at this time. I thank God that I met and married my wonderful wife, and that I can do what I love for a living.

So, when my writer and friend Julie Zander asked if I’d be willing to donate a copy of one of my books to the Lewis County Gospel Mission fundraiser, I quickly agreed.

Author Kyle Pratt with Gospel Mission director Fay Ternan

Earlier today, I met with the director, Fay Ternan. She told me the mission was formed in 1996 as an independent Christian outreach to the widows, runaways, the homeless, poor and those just out of jail. In addition to clothing, bedding, shows, and other essentials, the mission provides thousands of meals every month. This is the work of Matthew 25:35 and 36.

The fundraiser is a dinner and live auction at the Centralia Christian School this Saturday. I’ve donated a copy of each of my four paperback books to the effort. I hope to see you there.

Excited for Friends

I recently received great news from two of my writer friends.

Authors Debby Lee, Kyle Pratt and Barbara Blakey

My friend Debby Lee was recently contacted by her agent about writing a 20,000 novella for a Barbour Publishing anthology. Barbour needed more writers for the project so Debby suggested our mutual friend Barbara Blakey. Both have now signed contracts to write novellas for the Hearts of the Pony Express Romance anthology.

Debby is the author several books including Harvest of Hope and Butterflies are Free, along with numerous short stories. Her story in the anthology will be titled, Ride into my heart.

Barbara is the author of Bertie’s War. Her novella will be titled, A Place to Belong. Over the next few months they’ll be preparing their stories for release next spring.

I’m not sure why they didn’t think of asking me to write a sweet historical romance, but I’m thrilled for Debby and Barbara.