So the rule of law is dead in fundamentally transformed America. Is anyone surprised? Not David Harsanyi of The Federalist:
Hillary Clinton is Above the Law

Not Austin Bay of Observer.com:
James Comey Sells Out

Not Ace at the Ace of Spades HQ:
Cover-Up Concluded: FBI Director Comey: Hillary broke the law but we're not recommending criminal charges because YOLO

And not the most excellent Instapundit, Glenn Reynolds, writing over at USAToday.com:
About that Clinton-Lynch accidental meeting

John Fund, writing in the opinion section of Fox News, takes it a few steps further:
Nine big questions for FBI Director Comey about Hillary's emails

Frankly, no one at all acquainted with the Clintons should be surprised that, as it's been phrased on Twitter, #TheFixIsIn. Hillary is the epitome of the global elites, and if nothing else, that tribe takes care of its own. From Victor Davis Hanson at NationalReview.com:
The American Elite and the American People

Before today, I hadn't convinced myself to vote for Donald Trump. That changed today.

This link, which dates to October 2010, was prescient in its day. From Gonzalo Lira of Business Insider:
The Coming Middle-Class Anarchy

But the Ultimate Cynic Award today goes to Kurt Schlichter of Townhall.com, because he posted this article a day before the FBI sold out:
You Owe Them Nothing—Not Respect, Not Loyalty, Not Obedience

Just a reminder that the Smashwords sale will last the entire month of July.

Thanks for stopping by. Cheers,

Gunnar

Hey, everybody, welcome back. It's time to address the question of the week, which has been the question of a lot of weeks for about five years now: what's next for Greece and the Eurozone?

First shot
Here's a good, accurate, and brief summary of the situation from Thomas Lifson of The American Thinker:
Greek banks closed for 6 days as default looms Tuesday

Second shot
If you've got a little more time, libertarian Megan McArdle offers an outstanding summary along with some commentary regarding several possible futures on BloombergView.com. (If you're not into bond investing, maybe skip the final two paras.)
The Moral of the Greek Story

Third shot
If you prefer a bit of political discussion with your summary, the excellent Patrick Smith of The Fiscal Times can accommodate that:
To the Brink: Why It’s Time for Greece to Call the Euro Quits

Chaser
And just when you thought things couldn't get much worse, Stephen Green the VodkaPundit busts that bubble neatly over at PJMedia.com:
Puerto Rico to Tip Over

Need more?
Finally, if you need any additional reasons not to support the inevitable, here's Sarah Westwood of the Washington Examiner:
Records show Clinton withheld emails about oil, terrorism

And a follow-up from the same reporter and paper:
New emails show State, White House teamed up to promote Benghazi narrative

Can't wait to see what world stocks do overnight and tomorrow. There's a lot riding on the Greek negotiations, including the possibility (thankfully not a probability) of yet another global financial crisis.

Cheers. Yeah, right.

Gunnar

Hello, everybody, and wow, it's been a while, hasn't it? First off, I'm sorry for avoiding everyone. I just haven't had much heart for anything since my Tweetie bird's death. Unfortunately, that lack of enthusiasm also applied to Petie bird, her lifelong mate. He grew quieter, sadder, and he started avoiding the other birds in the aviary. He grieved.

Nope, I couldn't stand it. Tweetie's not forgotten, the little hell-raiser never will be, but in January we welcomed Keatie bird into our home. She's about six months old now; the photo shows her the day after she arrived. Keat and Pete share a cage off by themselves, away from JT and J3 in the aviary (and those two seem to think they own the place now). As soon as she finishes growing up, we'll introduce her to the "big house."

In other news: Deal with the Devil won the World War II category of the 2013 Chaucer Award for Historical Fiction, and is now competing in the finals for the award itself. Trophies is a finalist for the 2013 Clue Award, and I've finished the first rough draft of a new novella called Star of Wonder, which will be published by Dingbat Publishing this autumn.

Cheers,

Gunnar

This week I’m part of the Writing Process Blog Tour, where authors talk about their processes and why they write the stories they write.

At the end of this post, you’ll see that I tag two other authors who will post about their writing process next Monday on their own blogs, thus continuing the Writing Process Blog Tour! Please follow them as they tell their tales.

What am I working on?

Right now I’ve got four projects underway. My Regency romance writing alter ego, Vivian Roycroft, is working on book three of the Scoundrel of Mayfair series for Astraea Press, this one called Shenanigans in Berkeley Square, plus a short story or short novella for Dingbat Publishing called Love, Unmasked. I’m also nibbling at an idea for a romantic suspense adventure for Astraea; they’re such a great group of people.

In January, I finished the rough draft of an inspirational Christmas paranormal mystery-adventure that I’m calling Star of Wonder. It’s a great story and so much fun in the writing that I’ve decided to craft a sequel to it, as well, with the working title Cross of Light. Look for both titles from Dingbat Publishing this autumn, okay?

How does my work differ from others of its genre?

A good friend once compared my writing to taffy: it stretches and stretches, but never seems to break. That’s because I keep each sentence in a story linked to the next, each thought, emotion, and action carrying into the next in an unbroken stream. This technique helps to turn a story from a collection of words into an experience for the reader, but be warned — it can also be really tough finding a place to put the book down!

Why do I write what I do?

You know, someone once asked Stephen King that question, and he responded, “What makes you think I have any choice?” (Or so the urban legend goes.)

Well, I’ve always found that to be pretty accurate. The stories I write are the stories I want to write, about characters who won’t leave me alone and themes that grab a chunk of my soul and won’t let go. Putting those words into pixels is a matter of sanity survival; if I don’t get them out of my system, something could explode. Or something.

How does your writing process work?

I’m never comfortable with a new project until I’ve got an outline down. Ja, I know, so many authors love to brag about their pantstering skills, and I used to write that way, too. But as a reader, I realized I can tell when an author bluffed her way through writing a book, as opposed to a planned, organized project, and the books written by pantsters don’t appeal to me as much because they never quite seem to come together, know what I mean?

The first outline is usually a series of brief sentences in present tense that sketch in the plot of the book. Then I’ll go back through and add more layers, inserting the characterization and sensory details and emotional eddies. During this stage, the verb tense changes, the setting begins to appear, and the characters grab the outline, transform it, and make it their own story. In a final pass, I self-edit and smooth the story, ensuring readers can always follow the references, understanding who’s talking and what’s happening.

Three passes usually does it, and the outline magically morphs into the finished story.

Thanks, Meg!

Thanks to Meg Mims for inviting me aboard the Writing Process Blog Tour. Meg is the very talented author of two Western mysteries, Double Crossing (winner of the 2011 SPUR Award) and Double or Nothing, as well as a contemporary romantic novella, Key to Love, and two Christmas novellas, Santa Paws and Santa Claws. As well, Meg is half of the writing team known as D.E. Ireland, whose cozy mysteries starring Eliza Doolittle and Henry Higgins from Pygmalion will be published by St. Martin’s Minotaur starting this September.

T A G G I N G   T W O   O T H E R   A U T H O R S

Thanks for stopping by today to read about my writing process. Now it’s my turn to tag two other authors to talk about their process and why they write what they do. Follow these authors’ posts in the next few weeks. Learn about them and discover a whole host of new books to read!

1) Kelly Martin, YA inspirational author of Crossing the Deep, Saint Sloan, and her newest release, Saving Sloan.

2) Ariella Moon, teen/YA author of The Teen Wytche Saga — Spell Check, Spell Struck, and Spell Fire.

Thanks for stopping by! Cheers,

Gunnar

On sale now! Use the coupon code REW50 when checking out to receive 50% off any or all of these Dingbat Publishing titles. Deal with the Devil — a World War II mystery~adventure and winner of the 2013 Chaucer Award for Historical Fiction (WW2 category). Ballistic Basics — how guns and ballistics work for the writer needing solid info and a few details. Trophies — a literary mystery~adventure with psychological overtones. All 50% off, this week only. If you've been waiting for a sale, well, now's the time!

Cheers,

Gunnar

THANK YOU to everyone who voted! In an intense evening of tweeting and retweeting and emailing and adding up totals, we shook down our options and arrived at this cover for Shakedown, the story of a retired war dog and his new owner as they work out their relationship.

An interesting fact about this book: nobody who's read and reviewed it has seen the plot twist coming. As we say in Texas, not brag, just fact. So feel free to take the challenge — read the book and see if you can figure out the punchline before the midpoint. With ten reviews on Amazon, it's got a five-star rating. So at 99¢, how can you lose?

Here's the blurb:
#
*50% OF ALL PROCEEDS FROM THIS BOOK GO TOWARD THEPETFUND.COM*

Captain Kelly Bonham, a NATO electronics officer and combat zone veteran, adopts a war dog, but when Pojo arrives he's not at all what she expected. This German Shepherd isn't interested in rolling over for a tummy rub; he's a working dog, a retired bomb sniffer who saw his handler cut in half by an anti-personnel mine in Afghanistan. That's serious trauma, and Bonnie wonders if his canine brain is still fully functional.

Now she's shaking down a relationship with a dog who has more teeth than the law allows, a dog whose behavior is puzzling and maybe even unhinged. And all she has to bring to the fight is electronic gadgetry and what's left of her self-confidence.

Can she rescue this war dog... or is she missing something?
#
Quoting from their website, ThePetFund.com "is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit association that provides financial assistance to owners of domestic animals who need veterinary care." 50% of the proceeds from Shakedown go to this excellent cause. And hey, it's only 99¢ on Amazon, Smashwords, Apple iTunes, and Barnes & Noble.

Cheers,

Gunnar

Hey, everybody, help me choose! I found so many great images on 123rf.com that I wound up with six (yeah, six) variations on the same theme and now I can't decide which is best.

The book in question is Shakedown. Of the books I've written, Shakedown holds a special place in my heart, because it deals with retired war dogs and what they've gone through in the combat zone. Here's the blurb:
#
Captain Kelly Bonham, a NATO electronics officer and combat zone veteran, adopts a war dog, but when Pojo arrives he's not at all what she expected. This German Shepherd isn't interested in rolling over for a tummy rub; he's a working dog, a retired bomb sniffer who saw his handler cut in half by an anti-personnel mine in Afghanistan. That's serious trauma, and Bonnie wonders if his canine brain is still fully functional.

Now she's shaking down a relationship with a dog who has more teeth than the law allows, a dog whose behavior is puzzling and maybe even unhinged. And all she has to bring to the fight is electronic gadgetry and what's left of her self-confidence.

Can she rescue this war dog... or is she missing something?
#
The book has some lighthearted moments, but it also includes some soul-searching and a canine psychological mystery as Bonnie attempts to sort out Pojo's thought processes. Thing is, I'm not certain which part of the story to emphasize on the cover (which explains entry #4, below). What do you think?

At this stage of the process, colors and fonts and taglines and images can all be traded around and played with. You can click on an image to make it larger, and you can leave a comment to vote. I haven't yet purchased any of these images; they are for comping purposes and are therefore copyright by 123rf.com (and if there are any problems with me using these images in this manner, I'll be happy to yank down this blog post with sincere apologies).

Oh, and I DO NOT COLLECT EMAIL ADDRESSES NOR SIGN YOU UP FOR NEWSLETTERS or anything like that. So feel free to comment with impunity. And thanks for your help.

Cheers,

Gunnar