Sunday, November 29, 2015

Tales of a Texas Boy - Excerpt 1

Excerpt from Tales of a Texas Boy

Dad Boles and Sophie

It was summer again and the carnival would be here in a week. That’s about the most exciting event of the year, except maybe the roundup and branding. I surely was looking forward to the cotton candy and riding the Ferris wheel. Beins I’m a kid, a carnival was pretty interesting, but I looked forward to it most ‘cause that’s when Dad Boles came to town.

My Pa met up with Dad Boles during the war where they’d been in France with the cavalry. My Pa was the horse doctor and Dad Boles was the horseshoer, though he’d been a lot of different things in his life. They’d hit it off and Dad Boles took to coming to Hereford to spend time with Pa and to bring his bear to the carnival.

I didn’t mention he owned a bear? Oh, he surely did! He’d raised Sophie from a cub. Truth be known I think he’d killed her ma, so he wasn’t exactly being overly nice by taking in a little bear cub. He also kept a pet bobcat named Bob.

When they all drove up to the farm in his big Studebaker, they surely were a sight. Sophie sat up in the back seat just like she was a person. Bob rode in a cage as he wasn’t as easy-goin’ as Sophie.

Read the rest of the story and more in Tales of a Texas Boy.

**** EBOOK IS FREE AT SMASHWORDS. Just set your price to FREE at checkout. You can also pay up to $2.99 if you want.****

Tales of a Texas Boy is available in Large Print paperback for $8.00 on Amazon. It's also in ebook format on Amazon ($2.99) or $0.99 if you buy the paperback. And if your family or friend has vision issues beyond the help of large print (as my father did), the audio book is available at audible.com for only $6.95

Thursday, November 26, 2015

Happy Thanksgiving 2015

Have a great Thanksgiving or a decent Thursday the 26th if you're not in the US.

Also, Happy Birthday to my mom on her 92nd birthday on Friday, November 27th. 



Saturday, November 21, 2015

Cool Characters You'll Never Meet

It's all about the blood.

I was going to write a fourth book in the Witches of Galdorheim series. It was supposed to be Rune's book. You probably don't know who Rune is either, so I'll first introduce him a bit, then talk about the characters you'll not have the opportunity to meet in the Galdorheim series.

Rune: Half vampire and half warlock, Rune has adventured with his sister, Katrina in the first three books  of the Galdorheim series. With his double-dip of magic from both his mother and father, Rune is bound to be the most powerful warlock to come out of Galdorheim. First, though, he has to learn how to control his vampiric urges. This is an on-going battle for him throughout the series. In the third book of the series, he is forced to use his vampire's bite to save himself and his sister from the evil winter goddess, Cailleach. After that battle, he returns home distraught and suffering from PTSD.

Drakos: Rune's father. Drakos was a human warlock when turned into a vampire. Because he has strong magical skills, he is able to moderate his vampiristic tendencies. He does like to play the part, however. Living in a chalet in the High Tatras Mountains of Slovakia (not every vampire lives in Transylvania in a dank castle) with a few other vampires, he ensures the surrounding villages are safe from his companions.

When first turned, however, he didn't have proper control yet. He attacked Rune's mother intent on taking her blood while they engaged in a bit of hanky-panky. Ardyth, a powerful witch, nipped that in the bud (so to speak) and returned home carrying Drakos' child, Rune.

Helsing and Liebchen: Helsing is a distant relative of the famous Van Helsing who took on Dracula in Bram Stoker's seminal work. He isn't the brightest bulb on the tree, but desperately wants to make a name for himself as a vampire hunter to follow in his ancestor's footsteps.

He does have a secret weapon at his disposal: Liebchen the Lundehund. The Norwegian Lundehunds have six toes on each foot that allow them to climb on vertical cliffs and their neck joints enable them to bend their head backward over their shoulders so that their forehead touches its back.

The hound can also close their ear canals at will (to protect them against dirt and moisture) and are able to bend their head 180 degrees backwards over their shoulders. Their fore-shoulder joints are extremely flexible and empower both front legs to be stretched straight out to both sides, for greater ease in swimming and maneuvering in the narrow crevices in Norwegian seaside cliffs where their avian prey lives.

The dog, for all its traits and talents, has a flaw of its digestive tract which requires an almost 100% protein diet. Thus sensitized to detect protein sources, the Lundehund is ideal for seeking out creatures which also require high protein foods, such as vampires. Blood calories are almost all protein. It does contain a high salt and iron content, which might be detrimental to humans, but vampire and Lundehund physiology can counteract the potential poisons.

Biel the Mahr: The Mahr are a race of giant vampire moths that dwell in the Carpathian Mountains. When a person was bitten by one of the Mahr, the creature would host the body of that person. A Mahr can be killed, and thus returning the soul to the original owner, by driving a wooden stake through its heart, or by finding its lair and exposing it to daylight. In Poland, they are called Mora and in Bulgaria Morava. The Mahr needs substantial quantities of blood to survive cocooning for several years.

Early on in the book-which-will-not-be, Rune and Drakos must fight off a Mahr named Biel. Not usually enemies, Biel is upset because Drakos has banned blood-taking in the area enforcing the rules via his control of a variety of folkloric creatures which were to be determined if the book had been written.

The Witches of Galdorheim series is available in ebook, print, and audio formats. I have given out the links a thousand times, so no reason to bother repeating myself.

Thursday, November 19, 2015

Books You Won't See in an Amazon Ad

Click the title for links


FANTASY FOR KIDS

Witches of Galdorheim Series (3-Volume Book) $4.99

   Bad Spelling $2.99
   Midnight Oil $2.99
   Scotch Broom $2.99
   Spellslinger $0.99

Faizah's Destiny $2.99

Setara's Genie $2.99

SCIENCE FICTION

Ultimate Duty $2.99
First Duty $1.99

MYSTERY AND ADVENTURE

Missing, Assumed Dead $1.99
Eagle Quest $1.99

SHORT STORY COLLECTIONS

Tales of a Texas Boy $2.99
Mixed Bag Short Story Collection $0.99
Fish Story: A Three Story Sampler $0.99

P.S. Most also have a print option. Six have audio options.

Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Ebook Prices at Smashwords

Smashwords ebooks from #free to $2.99 (most are .99 and $1.99). Many are name your own price. Buy the book, then enter the price you want to pay at checkout. That can include $0.00 if you want.

Witches of Galdorheim Boxed Set $3.99

   Bad Spelling $2.99 - Name Your Own Price
   Midnight Oil $2.99 - Name Your Own Price
   Scotch Broom $2.99 - Name Your Own Price
   Spellslinger $0.99

The Tales of Abu Nuwas Series 
  Faizah's Destiny $2.99 - Name Your Own Price
  Setara's Genie $2.99 - Name Your Own Price

Mystery/Adventure $0.99 each
  Missing, Assumed Dead $1.99
  Eagle Quest $1.99

Science Fiction
  First Duty $1.99
  Ultimate Duty $2.99 - Name Your Own Price

Miscellaneous
  Tales of a Texas Boy $2.99 - Name Your Own Price
  Mixed Bag Short Story Collection $0.99
  Mixed Bag II: Supersized $1.99
  Lemons and Other Kid Tales $0.99







Thursday, November 12, 2015

Delivery Time

If you plan on giving books for the Holidays of the paper variety, you might start thinking about it soon if you'll be ordering on-line. Of course, Amazon zaps them to you in a couple of days. But if you're thinking of buying from the authors to get autographed copies, that takes a bit longer. For example, I sell all of my books as an Amazon Merchant. I ship via Media Mail. That takes 7-10 days for delivery. Just sayin'. I also have a limited number on hand. When they're gone, they're gone, at least for this year.

Friday, November 06, 2015

Happy Trails Trailer

Great Book for Dad or Grandpa - Surprise them with a Veterans' Day Gift of Old-Time Humor

Amazon Kindle Ebook - $0.99
Smashwords - FREE
Large Print Paperback $8.00 at Amazon
Audio Book only $6.95

Little Eddie tells some almost true Tall Tales set in West Texas of the 1930s. Guess what's true and what Eddie fudged on. Was it about the bear? Cage McNatt's prize sow? The skunk in the cornpatch? Guaranteed for a chuckle and maybe a tear here and there.


Book Trailer #1 = Tales of a Texas Boy




Tuesday, November 03, 2015

Great Gift for Vets: Tales of a Texas Boy

I've discounted Tales of a Texas Boy to all time low prices. Buy a print book and get the ebook for 99 cents on Amazon (but you can get a free ebook at Smashwords throughout November). Or leave a comment to win a paperback to gift to your favorite vet.

It's available in Large Print on Amazon for $8.00. The ebooks don't have the old-time photos illustrating each story. I got a few of them from the family albums, but I selected others from the archives of Texas University to illustrate the story themes. See below for a few of the photos.

Tales of a Texas Boy is a series of related short stories loosely based on my father's stories about his boyhood in West Texas during the Depression.

It all started with a cattle drive. Yeah, right, pop. Nobody had cattle drives in the 1930's. Well, yeah, they did. My father, Eddie in the stories, got to ride herd when he was only eleven years old. That was sure the highlight of that year.

His father, Louis (my grandfather), had been a veterinarian with Blackjack Pershing's American Expeditionary Forces. That's what they called the army during WWI. In the service, he became friends with an interesting old guy who happened to have a bear. When Dad Boles brought Sophie to the annual fair, Eddie loved to sit by the campfire listening to some dandy whoppers.

Eddie had a pretty busy life for a boy who lived miles away from the nearest neighbors. He managed to find plenty of trouble to get into, but had a big heart to soften his bad boy image. No matter that he loved to aggravate his sister, he took care of her when she and her pony were almost swept away by a flood.

The boy cared about the rattlesnakes, the jackrabbits, the jack asses, even old Cage McNatt's prize sow. He went fishing with a special borrowed float, then proceeded to lose it, find it, then give it away.

These are simple tales without any big events, unless you consider the despair of the Great Depression hanging over everybody's lives.

This is really my Dad.
Yes, I made up some aspects of the stories, and I even made up a few completely, but most of the book is as true as a Texas Tall Tale can be.

If these kind of stories appeal to your father, your mother, uncle, aunt, or even yourself, I think you'll be glad to read my father's stories. Since he died last August, I'm proud and relieved to have gotten around to writing the stories, having several published separately, then putting all of them together in one book. I decided to feature Large Print since my father's eyesight was failing.

Excerpt - Pa's Story

World War I took many young men away from their homes and sent them off to foreign shores. Eddie's Pa was one of those young men. He has his own tale to tell.

In 1916, I was still a young buck and not yet married, so I signed up with Black Jack Pershing to go after Pancho Villa. Ol' Pancho and his banditos came into US territory and killed a bunch of folks in Columbus, New Mexico.

I was real good with horses, so soon I was the veterinarian. This was just as well, as I didn't take well to using a gun. I'd never studied vetting in school, but I'd grown up on a farm in Nebraska and knew just about all there was to know about horses and mules. We chased Pancho and his gang just about all over Mexico, but never did catch up with him. A couple years later, I was still in the service, so I ended up goin' to France with Black Jack when he got to be a General. I could have decided not to go as I'd done my time, but I knew Black Jack could put me to good use.

We were on the troop ship for weeks. Everybody was seasick for the first few days. The horses seemed to fare fine in that regard, but I was worried we couldn't exercise them enough. We brought them up from the hold, a few at a time, and let them stretch their legs. We'd lead them in a quick walk around the deck. With the metal decks, we didn't want them to move very fast for fear they'd slip and fall.

I'd hate to have to put down a horse with a broken leg, so we took it real easy. As a result, the horses were not in good fightin' shape by the time we landed in France.

It took some time, but me and Joe, who got assigned to be my assistant, got them in shape again. Mostly the horses were used to pack gear, but a few officers still rode them. Black Jack Pershing liked to ride on occasion, as did Captain Patton. I thought we should only have mules, since they make better pack animals than horses, but there were never enough mules to go around.

We weren't in too many battles directly as we were the supply line for the army, but in 1918 it turned pretty bad when we went into the Argonne Forest. They called this an 'offensive.' I can see why as it offended me a lot. The fighting went on for nearly two months and only ended in November when the big guys signed the Treaty at Versailles.

In that short two months, it was hell on earth. Thousands of men died. One whole division, the 77th, was cut off for near a week and held out surrounded by the German forces. It was some battle, I can tell you. Almost all day long, I could hear the shells bursting and the sharp reports of rifle fire. And I heard the screams of dying men and horses.

The worst part for me was the horses being swept up in the middle of the battle. It broke my heart to go out on the fields after the fighting passed by and after the dead and wounded men were collected. Sometimes the ground was so soaked with blood that my boots were covered before I got back. A horse with an artery torn open bleeds gallons of blood; men only a few pints. It angered me when I thought how much the horses gave. They didn't even have a say in goin' to war. Men, at least, had a choice.

I carried a sidearm and had to shoot more horses than I can count. Those we could save, we'd bring back to the line and see if we could treat their wounds. It was a second heartbreak when they wouldn't heal proper and we'd take them out behind the tents to put them down. We dug a deep trench to bury them for health reasons and we kept digging every day to hold them all.

While we treated the horses, close by we could see the wounded men being brought back from the battlefield. Legs and arms were already gone or had to be cut off by the doctors right there in the field. From the history I'd read about the Civil War, this was just about as bad. If the choice was amputate or die, then they had to do what was necessary. We dug another trench to hold the arms and legs the doctors cut off; the dead soldiers we wrapped in oilcloth to be sent back behind the lines, where we hoped to send their bodies back home to their families.

All told I spent twenty months in France. It was the worst part of my life and I hoped and prayed we'd never see another war like this again.

* * *

Pa's story made me sad in a way, though I was proud of him for what he did in the war. It seemed to me people should learn to get along. I never was sure why Pa had to go to France. Later in my own life, I'd learn what it was to go to war. I was lucky to not go overseas, but somethin' in me wished I had.



Sunday, November 01, 2015

November is for Veterans

Vets' Day Special (all of November)
Leave a comment on this blog about your special Vet
and win both the ebook and audiobook!
OR
*Purchase the ebook from Amazon, send proof of purchase to mgdasef@gmail.com, Or, you can PM at Facebook or G+. I will send a gift of the book through audible.com.


TALES OF A TEXAS BOY
How do you handle a crazy jackass? Eddie knows. If you ask Eddie, he'll tell you pigs can fly and show you where to find real mammoth bones. Take his word for it when he tells you always to bet on the bear. Twenty-one nostalgic stories based on the real life Eddie's adventures growing up in West Texas during the Great Depression. But the stories are not depressing at all! If you like animals and stories of farm and ranch life, this is a perfect book for you.

Watch the Book Trailer on YouTube.

Listen to the excerpt at SoundCloud.