Fool’s Gold Rush Arrives Just in Time for Hurricane Season

Two years ago, almost to the day, I began work on my twelfth novel (my 17^th book overall).

Unlike all of my previous works, this one took an exceptionally long time.

What’s different about it, you ask?

Nothing really.

Like most of my other novels it takes place in Flagler Beach, Florida where our hero Ike is tasked with saving the day from the latest collection of ne’er-do-wells. I didn’t have any unusual trouble with the plot or the characters or the ending (although that did change a few times).

The plain and simple truth is, I just got busy.

It seemed like I always had something else to do…and when I didn’t have something else demanding my time, (okay – demanding is a strong word…more like suggesting alternative uses for) I wasn’t all that jazzed about sitting down at the computer.

So – here we are – two years for one novel.

It had better be worth it.

Personally, I think it is.

In my opinion it’s a fast, fun read with a bit of a comically-bizarre story line – but, like I said, that’s my opinion.

The real test will be what you think about it.

So, what’s the name of this book?

The working title had been “Rising Tide” – which never really thrilled me. After much deliberation, I have settled on the title Fool’s Gold Rush.

And without further ado – I’d like to show you the cover…

 

There you have it.

Fool’s Gold Rush – available NOW!!

Click here for the paperback

Click here for Kindle

 

As always – thank you for reading

Fool’s Gold Rush is coming – Doomed to Repeat is FREE!!

Remember me?

It’s been a while, I know.

About five months to be specific.

The last blog post I wrote was entitled “How I Spent My Corona Isolation (so far)” and I posted it on April 18^th.

At the time I, like many of you I’m sure, thought this virus thing would be over in a couple of months and life would get back to normal.

So much for that – right?

Here it is, September, and any hope for a return to “normal” is wishful thinking to say the least.

So – what have you been up to? (Feel free to share your experiences in the comments below)

As for me – I tried to put the time to good use.

Aside from doing a little SCUBA diving (there are no viruses under water) I also managed to finish my latest novel.

It has been read and critiqued by my beta readers, edited (twice) and is being formatted for release as we speak. The only task remaining is the cover.

The working title of the book had been “Rising Tide” – but I was never thrilled with it. After lots of thought I have renamed it Fool’s Gold Rush.

In this story Ike, Brewski and friends are dealing with three knuckleheads who come up with the brilliant idea of stealing two-million dollars’ worth of gold during a Cat 4 hurricane.

Coincidence that its release will coincide with hurricane season? You decide.

As usual it’s a pretty fast-paced adventure with a healthy dose of tongue-in-cheek humor.

What else would you expect from me?

So – in celebration of the fact that the release of my twelfth novel (A Baker’s Dozen I guess you could call it) is imminent I am going to give away some more books – very much like I did back at the beginning of the COVID situation.

Starting off this round of giveaways will be my last novel – Doomed to Repeat – free from Sept2 thru Sept 6 (kindle version only. Sorry)

Who knows…maybe things will be back to normal before I go through the entire lineup this time!

(Yeah – I don’t think so either)

 

As always – thank you for reading

How I Spent My Corona Isolation (so far)

Like most of you, I’ve been in Corona Lockdown for almost a month now.

And like you I’m sure, it’s been a unique experience to say the least. I’m sure we’ve all done many of the same things to keep ourselves occupied and forget about the fact that we can’t go out to dinner with friends or go to the beach or even go to the grocery store. I mean – we can go to the grocery store, but it’s a little like stepping into the Twilight Zone…am I right?

Believe it or not – there is one thing about the quarantine I am really grateful for…

Almost twenty months after I started writing the first draft of my latest novel, I have finally finished it!

Ordinarily it’s about a year from the day I start writing to the day the book is released – but this one fell victim to several “life distractions.”

The specifics of the delays are irrelevant – and I take full responsibility for being a slacker.

What’s important is that the new book is in the hands of my beta readers and they have been tasked with tearing it apart! If all goes to plan it will be in the hands of my editor this time next month, and then in the hands of you – the readers – the following month.

The book is tentatively titled Rising Tide.

As usual it takes place in Flagler Beach and of course Ike and Brewski are back, along with Ralph Donabedian and the staff at The Golden Lion (speaking of places I miss going to)!

The story takes place in a four or five day stretch while a major hurricane is bearing down on our little beachside community. In fact, the bad guys are using the hurricane as part of their plan to commit a serious, if not well-thought-out, heist.

That’s about all I’ll tell you, I guess you’ll have to wait for the book!

In the meantime – stay home and stay safe!

 

As always – thank you for reading

Let’s Make a Movie!

Before I get to the big news – let me first say I hope you are all healthy, and that you stay that way. These are strange days indeed. Please be safe and stick together (from six feet away!).

Now – on to the program…

By now you’ve most likely heard about my fund raiser…

Plot twist!

As you know, the original idea was to raise enough money to make a ten-minute video trailer and pitch it to networks as a possible TV series. Upon further consideration we (Team Meg) have decided to make a movie!

Let’s face it…the video trailer pitch may have been a cool idea, but it was probably a long shot at best. Even though I thought it was my only shot, I was willing to take the risk. However, our director* had an idea for a different approach. Rather than spend $20,000 – $25,000 on a ten minute video he proposed it would make more sense to spend $100,000 on a full length independent movie.

*actual director is NOT Steven Spielberg!

To be honest, I was pretty easy to convince.

I see you have questions…

Obviously first – Yes – I will have to find more money, but I believe that people will be much more inclined to donate money if it means they will be involved in an actual movie as opposed to a short video. I will also be applying for some grants to help out.

Also Yes – the incentives for donations will change – and for the better.

Yes – I will still use dollars originally pledged toward the video for the movie. Any changes in incentives will be passed on to those who have already pledged. And for those who have already pledged – you are free to withdraw your pledge if you don’t like the idea of switching gears like this.

No – it won’t be a Hollywood production which means (barring a small-to-medium sized miracle) Matthew McConaughey and Sandra Bullock still won’t be involved.

But that doesn’t mean it won’t be a quality production. Not only is there more than enough local talent to make a film, but Independent films have won awards at film festivals and, if I’m not mistaken, even been nominated for academy awards.

Yes – it’s still possible (even more probable) that Unfinished Business could be picked up for a series – it has been known to happen.

Yes – making a film is a much larger endeavor than making a video, but the entire team is excited about it (although I doubt they’re nearly as excited as I am!) so even though it’ll be a challenge we’re all looking forward to it!

Yes – true to the book, most of the filming will be done in Flagler Beach. Also true to the book – there is bound to be a cameo appearance by Ike!

I’ll be revising the fund raiser page accordingly – here is the link, please check it out. – and, once again, please share it!

That’s a wrap.

I’ll be posting updates as things happen. And once conditions of the world allow, I’ll make a video to introduce you to the team.

Stay tuned.

 

As always – thank you for reading

 

 

Time for Another Free Book!

 It’s been a while since I gave away a book – and because a reader left a very nice review of Eyewitness Blues on Amazon today let’s give that one away!

First things first…here is the review:

 

As any author (independent or otherwise) will tell you – getting a nice review is (in my best Rhode Island vernacular) wicked awesome! It’s arguably why we write…it’s at least one of the top reasons. I wish I could personally thank each and every person who leaves a review, but Amazon keeps the reviewer’s identity private. So this is my way of saying thank you!

About Eyewitness Blues…I remember the moment I came up with the “what if” for the story;

The owner of a local pizza parlor had been arrested for assault after attacking a customer who tried to return a calzone. Come to find out – said pizza parlor owner was living here as part of the witness protection program (from New Jersey I believe). Here is a local news story from the incident.

Oddly enough – after the incident made the news he disappeared.

There was lots of speculation around the water cooler about where he had “disappeared to” – maybe the feds had relocated him, or maybe his “friends” from Jersey had paid him a visit.

I never found out, but while talking about it to a co-worker one day I thought; What if there was a guy who was convinced that the only way to escape his crappy life was the witness protection program. The only problem being…he hasn’t witnessed anything.

That was all it took!

Please download your FREE copy of Eyewitness Blues. If you’ve already read it please pass this along to somebody who might enjoy it. You are my best marketing representative!

The giveaway begins at midnight Tuesday, January 14 and runs until midnight Sunday, January 19.

 

As always – thank you for reading

Time for Another FREE Book!

Do you like a good action/suspense story?

Do you like a little historical fiction?

Do you like humor?

Do you like FREE stuff?

Do you like Ike?

Do you like pie?

If you answered yes to any of these questions I have good news for you…

From August 15 – 19 my most recent novel Doomed to Repeat is FREE!!

 

…actually – the last question has nothing to do with anything, but who doesn’t like pie?

 

 

Doomed to Repeat, my 11^th novel, was released in November of 2018 and has been highly praised!

The story begins in a top-secret Nazi bunker during World War II, but soon lands in modern day Flagler Beach where three men wash ashore – two with amnesia, one dead.  Ike (our hero) tries to help the survivors, but when the dead body is discovered, a routine autopsy results in an international incident. Now Ike has to figure out why the FBI, the KGB and a racist politician are all after his new friends.

It’s a fast and fascinating read, the ending of which may leave you with more questions than answers…

Get Doomed to Repeat FREE from August 15^th thru the 19^th!

 

As always – thank you for reading

Please Judge This Book by its Cover

In my last post I announced the completion of the first draft of my next novel.

Since then it’s been read by my crack team of beta readers, and thoroughly picked apart. I’ve also gone through it several times to clean it up and plug the holes in the story.

I’m really excited about releasing this one, not only because this story appealed to me from the moment I conceived it, but because all of my beta readers have said it’s my best work.

In another week or so it will go off to the editor…a month or so later it will be released.

I’ve also renamed the book. Up until about a week ago I had been calling it Time After Time – a title that fit the story really well, but didn’t appeal to me at all.

After a lot of thought I have settled on the title Doomed to Repeat.

Both titles fit the story, but I prefer the new one. Only one of my betas disagrees with the change, so I’m happy with it.

While all this is going on I also initiated the cover design process – which is the reason for this post.

Here’s the thing…

We all know how important the cover of a book is. I once read that a potential book buyer will look at the cover of a book for ten seconds or less. If it appeals to them they’ll flip it over and give the back cover another ten seconds to convince them to buy it.

That’s it.

Twenty seconds (give or take) is how much time an author has to sell a book that probably took a year to write. Seems a bit unfair, but it is what it is. Of course, buying books on the internet is different, especially on Amazon where you can actually peek inside the book, but if the cover doesn’t grab you, you probably won’t waste your time peeking. In a perfect world we wouldn’t judge the book by its cover, but the world is far from perfect, so…

I need your help.

I’m going to show you the first conceptual cover design of the new book and I’m going to ask for your honest (brutal if necessary) opinion.

You see…I’ve gotten some feedback from my betas on it already and a couple of them expressed the same concern. I’m not going to tell you what their concern is, I want to know what you think.

So take a look at the cover…

 

 

Now read this blurb…

 

In a top secret bunker during World War II Hitler’s best scientists worked feverishly to complete a project code named Die Glocke (The Bell). Hitler was convinced that The Bell would change, not only the outcome of the war, but history itself.

But what exactly is The Bell?

Flagler Beach, Florida, 2019; Three men emerge from the surf. Two suffer from amnesia – the other is dead. The survivors decide it would be in their best interest to put some distance between them and the corpse. They meet Ex-Navy SEAL Ike, who befriends them and tries to help them with their memory loss.

When the body is discovered, a routine murder investigation turns into an international incident.

Ike has to figure out what the CIA, the KGB and a corrupt U.S. Senator want with his new friends.

It’s a race against time, and time is not on his side.

…now tell me what you think – please.

Be honest – brutally if you like. Don’t hold back – I’m really looking for honest input.

 

As always – thank you for reading

Happy Friday – Have Some More Free Books!!

This may seem like déjà vu, but I’m back again to tell you about yet ANOTHER FREE BOOK…

Beginning today, March 2, 2018 and going until Tuesday the 6^th you can download Pump It Up for FREE.

Pump It Up for FREE!!

Again – this is part of the Valentine’s gift from Ike (discussed here) where I will be giving away FREE BOOKS until my new novel 24 Minutes is released.

Speaking of 24 Minutes…here’s an update;

The editing process is done and the book is now in the hands of the formatter.

If things go well it should be available by the end of next week sometime around March 10^th).

BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE!!!!

Since we are so close to the release of 24 Minutes – and thus the end of the free book give away…I’m going to up the ante…

Beginning tomorrow, March 3, 2018, Water Hazard will be FREE for 5 days!

Don’t drink the water – unless it’s FREE!!

So you can snag all of your weekend reading (whether you’re snow bound or going to the beach) for FREE!

So – to recap…

Valentine

Ike

Pump It Up – FREE

Water Hazard – FREE

24 Minutes – ALMOST

Happy Friday!

Oh – and here’s a shark…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As always – thank you for reading

Good News, Bad News – Which Do You Want First?

If somebody says to you “I’ve got good news and bad news” it’s perfectly understandable to brace yourself for the bad news, regardless of their claim that it will be accompanied by good news. I mean, let’s face it, if the bad news wasn’t really all that bad, they wouldn’t need to give you good news to wash it down…

Right?

Well, I hate to do this to you, but…

I’ve got some good news and I’ve got some bad news.

Now – before you brace yourself too much, let me say this in my defense, my bad news is offset by several pieces of good news.

I know…it still sounds like a trap, but I’m hoping it won’t be as bad as all that.

So let’s rip the band off right away and get to the bad news…

As you may know, I’ve been working on my tenth novel, 24 Minutes, for a while now.

The goal was to have it released in the beginning of December.

Here it comes – brace yourself.

The release of 24 Minutes will be delayed, possibly by several weeks.

Believe me, I wish I didn’t have to make this announcement, but in the past six months my writing time often had to be put on the back burner (beginning with two months without the use of my right arm back in April).

Oh, and I almost forgot…another piece of bad news for some of you, 24 Minutes has no Ike.

I know – blasphemy!

Lemme ‘splain…

24 Minutes is a complete departure from my previous works. There’s no tongue-in-cheek caper threatening to rob Flagler Beach’s tourists of their peaceful piece of Nirvana, which means there’s no need for Ike to save the day.

In fact, in 24 Minutes there is no hero to save the day, per se. It’s a story dealing with a very intense situation we hear about all too often these days – but that’s all I’m going to say about that.

So, now for all that good news I promised;

First, according to my awesome group of beta readers, 24 Minutes is my best work yet.

One reader said – “It was a little bit breathtaking for me. It’s a chunk of blatant reality playing out. It’s powerful. The reader can feel the passion that went into writing it.”

Needless to say, that was extremely flattering, and also a bit of a relief, because the entire time I’ve been working on it I’ve wondered if I was making a mistake by veering away from my bread and butter, Ike. That being said, hopefully it will be worth the wait for you.

That’s all well and good, but No Ike?

I know – it just doesn’t seem fair, which brings me to more “good news”…

I already have the “what if” idea for my next Ike story, so I’ll be getting to work on that as soon as 24 Minutes is released. My goal will be to have that released during the summer of 2018.

Still not enough good news? Well, try this on for size…

Ike, being the iconic hero he is, has found his way into a book I didn’t write!

That’s right – Ike will be gracing the pages of the soon-to-be-released action novel Blood Dawn, by California author Chris DiBella.

Blood Dawn is DiBella’s third novel and is scheduled for release on December 14^th.

Check out this synopsis:

Four Russian submariners wash up on a Florida Beach in 1989, seemingly the survivors of a sunken vessel. The reason for their being in such close proximity to the American shoreline soon becomes evident, as an elderly couple overhears a conversation that leads them to believe there’s much more to the story than just a malfunction at sea. For over thirty years, the fabricated account of the soldiers’ tale remains a mystery. Sean Mercer and his partner, Pat Vigil, are in Colorado conducting research at Rocky Flats when they inadvertently stumble upon a massive tunnel system lying beneath an old nuclear facility. The discovery leads to questions about an unsolved mystery from decades earlier, but finding the answers they seek could lead them down a path from which they might not return. Upon ascertaining information about a Russian plot to smuggle a nuclear bomb into the United States, Mercer realizes there may be a link to the current conspiracy and the discovery about the past. The race is on to find the nuclear weapon and bring the madman responsible for the threat to justice, but will time run out before he and his partner can thwart the attempt to detonate a nuclear weapon on U.S. soil? Blood Dawn is the third installment in the NESA Files series featuring Sean Mercer and the rest of the NESA team.

Fair is fair, Mercer and Vigil were featured in my short story Jungle Boogie, part of the anthology Path of a Bullet. As for the specifics of how Ike fits in to Blood Dawn, well – you’ll have to read it to find out, but, if you like Ike, I think it will be worth your time.

For more information on Chris, and Blood Dawn – go to www.chrisdibella.com.

Finally, I won’t say this fits into the category of good news, but it’s certainly kind of cool…in Blood Dawn there is a character named Tim Baker. (Undoubtedly a suave, sophisticated, James Bond type whose feathers are never ruffled, even while he’s saving the world.)And, from what I’ve been told, he’s not just a throw-away character, he has a fairly significant part in the story.

So there you have it. I really don’t like sharing bad news of any kind, but hopefully this batch came with enough good news to offset it.

Stay tuned for further updates on the release of 24 Minutes…

 

As always, thank you for reading

 

Blood in the Water #FREE This Weekend

The 89^th Academy Awards Ceremony – that’s the Oscars to you and me – will take place this Sunday and in celebration of this momentous occasion I am making my latest novel Blood in the Water available for FREE download all weekend!

What is the connection between Blood in the Water and the Oscars you ask?

Well, in addition to being the basis for a future Best Picture Winner, it has loads of connections!!!

First, the main character in the story is named Bob Oscarson, but he goes by the nickname Oscar.

Not enough for you?

How about this…in the story there are sharks – and as we all know Jaws (a movie about a shark) won 3 Oscars…Best Sound, Best Film Editing and Best Music. It was also nominated for Best Picture, but lost to One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. (Damn you Jack Nicholson).

 

The Oscars will be hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, and Jimmy has interviewed Oprah Winfrey on his show, and Oprah once hosted a famous book club – so there’s that. (We won’t get into how she never promoted one of my books…)

Blood in the Water is a novel, and many Oscar winning movies have been based on novels.

Blood in the Water is FREE this weekend (I may have already mentioned that) and you can watch the Oscars for free as well!

 

As you can see – the connections are numerous (if not tenuous) – so don’t hesitate…get your FREE copy of this future Oscar winning story today! (or tomorrow, or Sunday – but not Monday, that will be too late!)

As always – thank you for reading (and I’d like to thank the academy…)