Today Awful Intent went on sale and is currently ranked #33 in the whole Kindle store. You can enlarge the screenshot below. Nice to be on a list with Harry Potter and James Patterson 🙂 To see it in it’s full glory, click on the screen shot, then click it again to zoom.
Edit 8/21/16: And it looks like its #5 in the Nook store.
Just got back from taking a small troop of 12 and 13 year old young men on a scouting hiking and camping trip in the Sawtooth Mountains in Idaho with two other leaders.
Here’s the checklist.
Watch a boy think it’s a good idea to stand with his back three feet from the edge of an 80-foot drop and begin pulling on a two-hundred pound hunk of granite while three other boys on the other side push on it with their feet in an attempt to send said large object over the edge.
Check.
(Eventually their frontal cortexes will develop; until then it’s up to leaders to say, “Hey, um, make sure you pull really hard.”)
Sleep under stars in sleeping bag I don’t quite fit in with my serial killer ski mask on backwards because my eyeballs are freezing and wake up at 5 am to 27 degrees.
Check.
See spectacular views, including one stark place (Baron Lakes) that looks like a habitation for dragons or trolls.
Check.
Watch in rear view mirror in the middle of nowhere Idaho as the other scout leader in the pickup with the four boys tries to pass two rabbit farmer pickups at a T intersection (yeah, passing at an intersection is against the law even if the trucks have hazards on and are waving people around), each with a single ton round bale in the bed; see the first rabbit farmer truck start to turn, and then the scout transportation vehicle swerve, miss a traffic sign by 14 inches, go flying off the road at 60 mph, bounce a number of times in the field and come to a halt. Upon flying off the road, spiritual and hippy scout leader shouts, “Oh, s**t!” When the truck comes to rest, the one scout whose father lent us the truck exclaims, “THAT WAS AWESOME!”
Check.
(Yes, they had their seat belts on.)
So, all in all, a great trip.
5.5 miles and 2,000+ feet in elevation on the way in and again on the way out, wearing a $6 pair of camo jeans purchased at the Deseret Industries (the local thrift shop) and a $17 pair of WalMart special shoes with soles that were mostly made out of foam, which meant that while they were comfy much of the time, I did get to make friends with a number of pointy granite rocks, proving that “be prepared” for some of us is more of a guideline than an actual rule.
“From the Clay of His Heart” is going to be published for the fourth time in August.
This time it’s by Deep Magic, a tremendous e-zine headed by Jeff Wheeler, a hugely popular fantasy author.
Deep Magic is a bi-monthly electronic magazine that publishes clean short fiction in the fantasy and science fiction genres (epic, paranormal, steampunk, etc.) plus author interviews, art, book reviews, and tips for writers. In this August issue, they feature:
So basically, lots and lots of good stuff.
If you want to read gripping SF&F stories that don’t rely on sex, swearing, and graphic violence, Deep Magic is the right place. You can check it out on Amazon or their website.
August 2nd is the date! The listing is up on Audible now. It appears the preview will be available until it goes live. Very excited about this.
Folks with asphalt driveways and parking areas, I have something you’ll be interested in.
I have a nice long driveway, about 5,500 square feet of asphalt. We hadn’t touched it since 2005 when it was installed. But asphalt doesn’t last forever. If it’s not periodically sealed, it weathers and cracks, and then the water gets in and undermines the whole structure, and soon you get pot holes and alligator cracks and the thing becomes a mess. Last year some small cracks began to show, and we knew we couldn’t put it off any longer.
I called a number of places for quotes and availability. And the person who gave me the best quote and quickest turnaround was Caden Andersen of Andersen Asphalt. The name will sound familiar because that’s the Caden that grew up in Rich County. He and his brother took over his grandfather’s long-standing business.
And I am happy to report that they did an excellent job at an excellent price. They came and cleaned the whole thing with wire brooms (although I power washed it before they came), filled the cracks with hot tar, then sealed everything with two coats. Their service was friendly and prompt. And they went the extra mile. There were some large cracks in the city’s road right before you turn off into our driveway. They filled those cracks with tar as well for no extra charge. The result is a beautiful driveway that’s going to last for quite some time.
They have two locations right now, one in Cokeville, Wyoming and the second in South Ogden, Utah. If you live within an hour or two of either of those places and need to seal some asphalt, I highly recommend you give Andersen Asphalt a call.
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