Stephen Drivick's Blog, page 4

Sometimes We Ran - 2 Years Published.

It's hard to believe, but Sometimes We Ran (the first one in the series) has been in publication for 2 years! Where has the time gone.

This is the cool thing about ebooks. Even if they're not exactly best-sellers, they stay around forever.:) It's my hope that I will be able to come to my blog one day and write: Sometimes We Ran - Published 20 years!

To celebrate my little zombie book's birthday, I'm taking the price down to .99 cents until Memorial Day. Available where all great ebooks are sold. :)

Till next time, zombie fans.

Sometimes We Ran 3: Rescue - Now in Print Form!

It took four attempts to get the cover right, but Sometimes We Ran 3: Rescue is out in print through Createspace! The fault is mine...took me a while to understand the dang template.

The link: http://goo.gl/oTeqTy $7.50

They should look great. Createspace always does a good job.

For those of you playing at home, this opens all my sales channels. Here are the links:

Amazon Kindle (Almighty 'Zon): http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00VYWHZP6

NOOK (more action there lately): http://goo.gl/4haHVD

Kobo (got a few fans over there):http://goo.gl/zsyjwi

Apple (picked up a sale here): http://goo.gl/8CwJ5v

DriveThruFiction (always a few zombie fans over there): http://goo.gl/41Dzgv

Scribd: http://goo.gl/be7Ryb

It's also available at:
Page Foundry: http://goo.gl/8xJynP, and Tolino.

It's also available at Libiro, the all indie bookstore. It comes and goes, so buy it when you see it. It may not be there next time. :)

Where all fine e-books are sold. :)

Later on, zombie fans.

Keep Fighting Until They All Come Home.

Sometimes We Ran 3: Rescue is (finally) released to the general public! Right now, you can buy it from Amazon and DriveThruFiction. NOOK, Kobo, Apple, and Scribd coming soon.

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00VYWHZP6

DriveThruFiction: http://goo.gl/3p9dNR

I hope everyone enjoys it, and thanks to all the zombie fans out there.

Now, on to Sometimes We Ran 4: Enough with the Zombies already!. :)

Link to the cover if you want to take a peek: http://goo.gl/9UVuA5

Cruising

With the snow now behind us and warm Spring temps ahead, it's time to think about cruise-ins again. First up is the Po Boys car cruise in the great city of Canton, GA - still one of the biggest cruises in the South.

Every third Saturday from March till October, hundreds of car guys and girls meet in a strip mall to park and show off their rides. When the weather cooperates, the parking lot fills to capacity with neat rides from every decade. Spectators who came to shop or maybe to get a bite to eat find themselves surrounded by classics, muscle cars, hot imports and other automobilia.

I've been coming for the past ten years, its never the same cruise twice. You have your "regulars", but first-timers with all types of cars fill the rows. The show draws cars from all over the South. In the past, I've seen plates from Tennessee, Kentucky, and even Florida.

No trophies, no judging. Just a lot of great cars and people getting together. And for car lovers just there to spectate, a little bit of everything. Camaros and Mustangs? We got them. Hard-working pickups? We got a few rows worth. Muscle cars? Exotics? Old fashioned cars from the Thirties? You'll find a few. We even had a Kaiser Manhatten.

If you ever find yourself in Canton, GA on the third Saturday of the month and need a car show fix, come on by. Just look for all the cars with their hoods up. :)

Highlights from the March 2015 Po Boys Canton, GA cruise: http://goo.gl/Mu0u6h


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FYI: I haven't forgotten (or abandoned!) Sometimes We Ran 3. Delayed by a sick editor, it's back in my hands ready for correction. It will be a book eventually ...I promise. :)

Thanks for waiting, Zombie fans.

From Sometimes We Ran 3: Rescue

She stumbled out of the darkness, almost like someone pushed her. Her head was down with dirty blond hair covering her face. Very unsteady, the zombie tripped over her feet a few times as it tried to track us. She had been a receptionist or maybe one of the designers at the plant. Now she was a shambling mess, her nice white blouse ripped open to the waist and blackened by blood and gore. Her shoes were missing, and her pantyhose were in tatters, with deep open gashes up and down her legs. A plastic name tag still hung around her neck from her former life. Something had worked her over good.

She walked like a drunk, swaying back and forth as she tried to reach the van and her possible next meal. The effort to remain mobile caused small grunts and cries as she walked in the open space of the shop. Blood, body fluid, and God knows what else trailed in a gory little path behind her.

We stood frozen in morbid fascination. None of us could move as she continued her death dance in front of us. She reached a point a few feet in front of me, and raised her head. Twin red orbs greeted me from beneath her matted hair.

She showed her scary, red eyes.

From Sometimes We Ran 3: Rescue.

Available in the Amazon Kindle book store, and part of the Kindle Unlimited program.

http://tinyurl.com/SometimesWeRan3AMZN

Sometimes We Ran 2: Community - One Year Published.

Hard to believe, but Sometimes We Ran 2 has been in publication for one year. When I finished the first volume, Sometimes We Ran, I never pictured writing a follow-up. Then the ideas started to flow, and I fired up Open Office. A few months later, another manuscript was born.

So far, it hasn't sold as fast as the first book but that's okay. To help it along, I'm running a weekend flash sale.

This time, I was able to correctly set up a Kindle Countdown sale. The new price clicked into place about 3 a.m. this morning, North Georgia time.:) If you want to try Sometimes We Ran 2 for 99 cents, you have about 2 days, 22 hours to go get it into your Kindle! It's also available to borrow in the Kindle Unlimited program.

Thank you zombie fans. Here's to another great year for Sometimes We Ran 2.

Link:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HUGWWQC

Oops!

Okay ...Here's my story, and I sticking to it.

One of the cool things about being in KDP Select is the ability to run Kindle Countdown deals on your books. You set a discount price and a period of time for the sale, and Amazon takes care of the rest.

In preparation for the holidays, I planned a week-long, 99c sale for Sometimes We Ran 2. So, I went into my dashboard and set it up.

Or so I thought.

Yesterday, no matter how many times I checked, the price refused to change. I messed something up.

I'm having the sale anyway.:)

I manually changed the price to 99c, and the sale is on! I'm calling it I-screwed-up-my-Kindle-Countdown-but-my-book-is-on-sale-anyway-Holiday-Extravaganza-Sale. Just for the heck of it, I'm throwing Sometimes We Ran on sale as well. Both books will 99c until 12/31/14.

Here are the links:
Sometimes We Ran: http://goo.gl/AKkR5U
Sometimes We Ran 2: http://goo.gl/6VtdLC

Thank you, and Happy Holidays Zombie Fans. See you in 2015.

Flash Fiction - Floating City Style

"There it is," he whispered, "the safest city on earth." I took a step toward it and said, "Do you wanna knock or should I?"

"I'll take care of it," said the young lady with the rocket launcher on her back. "Just stand back, and get the ammo ready." She unpacked the parts in the case, and began assembling the weapon. She was fast. In just a few minutes, the launcher took shape in her hands. It was a huge and majestic device, almost as big as the girl trying to put it together.

"Are you sure about this, Alyssa? I could make the launch," said the young man. They had traveled far from their home for this mission, and his legs ached.

Alyssa gently blew some stray hairs out of her eyes as she completed the self-test on the launcher. She hoisted it onto her shoulder when the green check light appeared. "Yes, Peter. I got it. Just watch out for bad guys, and prepare to load this damn thing." To Peter, the strong, stocky blonde sounded a little pissed off.

Alyssa took the weapon into some cover by a few sharp rocks. Peter followed behind, with the rocket for the device in his hands. It was a small, spear-like object filled with high-tech explosives and expensive electronics. Just the trick to bring down the floating city.Peter thought of all the people above his head, unaware they were about to fall and die. To them, Alyssa and Peter would be considered terrorists but Peter thought different. He was taught by the elders that he was a freedom fighter, striking a blow for all the people left behind by the floating city people to scratch out a living on the poisoned earth while they lived in luxury in the clouds. Today, they would know pain as they crashed to the ground. Peter jammed the missile into the end, and pressed the small button on the back of the launching tube. He tapped Alyssa on her blonde head, and yelled, "Armed, and ready to go."

The girl looked carefully through the sights at her target. She seemed uncertain at what to hit. "The power couplings at the base," Peter said.

"I know, I know." After a few more seconds of aim, she pulled the trigger.

With a great roar, and a lot of smoke and flame, the missile leaped out of the tube at great speed. The force of the launch threw Alyssa and Peter to the ground. They quickly got to their feet to see the results. This was it. They would never be able to do another launch. The weapon was too expensive and rare for a repeat performance. Peter and Alyssa started to swell with pride as the powerful missile neared the floating city. Today, the pampered population of all the floating cities of the earth would hear the ground people.

They watched as the missile streaked past the city, missing the power couplings and impacting into a stand of dead trees. Peter heard the dull boom of a distant explosion. The city would not fall today.

Peter and Alyssa looked at each other. The girl's mouth was in a perfect "O" shape of disbelief. Peter could hardly speak. "You missed. How the hell did you miss?" he said, not quite believing what happened.

Alyssa dropped the mega-weapon to the ground, and sank to her knees. "I ...I don't know. I can't believe it. We walked for days to get here. What do we do now?" Tears formed in her pretty, green eyes.

Up above, the proximity lights on the floating city changed from green to blinking red. The city was on alert. Infrared sensors were turning on, drones were flying, and soon agents would be on the ground looking for whoever fired on the city.

Peter kicked the rocket launcher down the embankment, and grabbed Alyssa's hand. "We've got to get out of here."

As they started their long journey home, Alyssa said, "How are we going to explain this?"

Peter just shook his head, and continued to run. They had to get away from the city. Peter and Alyssa were selected for this mission. They were supposed to be going home as heroes, but now they were laughing stocks. Peter didn't know how he was going to explain it all, but at least he had a hundred miles or so to think up some kind of excuse.

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Flash fiction inspired by the picture from this Facebook group:https://www.facebook.com/groups/bando...
It was supposed to be 300 words, but mine is about 740 or so. I can't cut any more, so I'll post it here. :)

Happy Holidays

So very cold.

The picture is from a holiday light display at Hobgood Park, a local green spot here in Woodstock, GA. For the sum of $10, you were transported into a magical, LED-lit world of wonder. The displays ranged from small, animated pieces to large snowmen and reindeer pulling bright wagons. One of Santa's helpers on the grounds said a million lights were used, and I believed him. Lights were everywhere. Even on the snack bar! :)

But, oh boy, was it cold.

Happy Holidays, Zombie fans.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I managed to get myself out of my food coma. Happy Thanksgiving zombie fans! :)

Speaking of Thanksgiving, you'll need some short stories for your trip home. Here's a few in a handy omnibus. Yours truly has two stories inside. :)

Link to the mighty 'Zon: http://ow.ly/F7nsp

Besides two stories from me, you get some other fantastic short tales from other great indie writers. All proceeds go to charity.