Victor D. López's Blog: Victor D. Lopez, page 8

On Veterans Day (2022)

On Veterans Day

Some came back home with scars that would not heal,
Some were welcomed with ticker tape parades,
Some spit upon by cowards with much zeal,
Some draped in flags to rest in early graves.

They fought in all our wars asking not why,
For country, family, brothers in arms,
They fought that freedom should not, would not die,
They fought in cities, forests, fields and farms.

They bought our freedom with their sacrifice,
Paid with their blood, their limbs, their innocence,
They sought not ...

Poetry Readings

Below are a few links to podcasts featuring readings of some of my newer poems that I hope you will like.

End of Days — Free until July 4, 2022

This is by far the most disturbing and also quite possibly prescient short story from my Echoes of the Mind’s Eye collection. It features a novel theory of cosmology to explain both the creation and extinction of universes in what I term the omniverse–the root source of the infinite number of universes contained in what is most often referred to as the multiverse. The short story traces precisely how our universe began with The Big Bang and how both our world and eventually our corner of the mul...

Free download of my Echoes of Dawn at Dusk book of poems until June 20 and a teaser sonnet

I am making the eBook versions of my latest book of poems free to download through June 20. Poems include free verse, blank verse, sonnets, rhyme, haikus and linked haikus on a wide range of subjects. It is available both in electronic and paperback versions. The eBook versions include some direct links to sample poetry readings. Although the paperback and eBook versions of the book are available at most book retailers, the free download offer (no coupon needed) is available only at the followin...

Download an eBook version of my novel free through June 20, 2022

My first novel, Hire Lernin’, concerns the journey of a newly-minted, idealistic lawyer who is hired as the academic dean of a for-profit business school in New York City in the 1980s unaware of the nature of the industry. A clash of visions quickly ensues with the protagonist motivated to change the system from within that leads to both unprecedented professional success and painful personal failure. The novel is fiction based on my own experience in my first academic posting as a dean early in...

Free download of the eBook version of my novel (expires May 8, 2022)

My novel involves the bittersweet journey of a young, idealistic, naïve attorney who takes on the role of academic dean at a for-profit business school in New York City in the late 1980s knowing very little about the industry. Unable to accept the way things are, he immediately launches into a personal quest to change lives for the better in an environment where only the bottom-line matters. Hard work and an entrepreneurial spirit quickly propel him to professional success, but at a deep persona...

Free copyright book offer (expires 5/5/22)

Until May 5, 2022 you can download a free copy of the eBook version of my Copyright Law: A Practical Guide which is based on the copyright materials in an edited and expanded version from my more comprehensive book, Intellectual Property Law: A Practical Guide to Copyrights, Patents, Trademarks and Trade Secrets. It is intended as a general reference work but will be of particular interest to authors, artists, bloggers and anyone who posts or shares materials created by others. In addition to a ...

Free SF Short Story eBook – What Price to Live the Dream? (Ends 5/5/22)

This short story (9500 words) is one of the 13 speculative fiction short stories in my Echoes of the Mind’s Eye collection.

Of the many crossroads we all face in life, some paths once taken have indelible effects that no amount of regret can ever undo. Words left unsaid, decisions made out of false assumptions, poor judgment or simple fear can with time and the benefit of hindsight become caustic memories that wear away hope and slowly erode our souls. But what if it were within our power to ...

Free Short Story Download Until May 1, 2022 – To Sleep, Perchance to Dream

A Teaser Poem . . .

We know so very little about dreams,
Are they just fantasies we realize?
Products perhaps of the subconscious mind,
Working out problems as we sleep at night?

No one yet understands the human brain,
Mapping its function is beyond our grasp,
Despite the knowledge science has achieved,
Its mystery’s still a Gordian knot.

How does cognition arise in our brain?
What are its secrets we have yet to find?
Where does the soul reside, if one exists?
And what is hidden from the consci...

Sample Reading of the First Pages of Each Short Story in My Mindscapes Collection