We can have no ’50-50′ allegiance in this country. Either a man is an American and nothing else, or he is not an American at all.
Theodore Roosevelt
Author: photog
02APR2026 – Photo of the Day
Time to Make the Donuts
So, I’m busy, busy, busy with my giveaway on BookFunnel (here’s the link). I’m also seeing if I can put part or all of it up on a site called Royal Road. And I’m posting links on my X feed to try to connect with the wider world. And if any of you want a free copy or have any friends who might like the story, please pass the link along to them.
Well, in addition to all this I’ve been drafted into a publicity campaign for the Dunwich Republicans. I’ve got to awaken a “sleeping giant.” But it’s more like a geriatric midget in a coma. So even if I can drum up new blood, I’m afraid they’ll just show up, hear there’s work to be done and say, “Looks like you’re doing a great job. CARRY ON!!!
But one must do the best one can. As old TR used to remind us it’s “The Man in the Arena” that counts. Unfortunately, I feel more like the Christian being fed to the lions in that arena.
Well, the weather is just as uncertain as ever with one day being seventy degrees and the next day featuring snow flurries but we’ve definitely turned a corner and the Great Southern Ice Sheet is barely a foot thick and receding rapidly. All the spring flowers are budding and the turtles are sitting on the dead log in the swamp. The mallards must be awaiting the hatching of their eggs and even the local pair of hawks seem to be hyperactive, probably getting food for their nest.
Listening to Andy Weir talk to the Critical Drinker about his book “The Martian” was kind of exciting. I think anyone who writes a book secretly desires to be that guy who hits the jackpot and has the world beat a path to his door. I mean, I know it’s ridiculously unlikely for a number of reasons for my book to be a big seller. It’s in a very restricted corner of the marketplace based on politics and demographics and trying to get advertising is like pulling teeth. But I confess I not-so-secretly dream of the book going viral and selling tons and tons of copies. I guess when the dust settles, I’ll probably be in a funk for a while but I think it was still a good experience to try my hand at something I’ve wanted to do since I was a teenager.
And I’ll say that I don’t think that writing a good book is beyond my talents. But self-publishing and self-marketing is not for the faint of heart. It takes money and a lot of hard work to promote a book in the current marketplace. And that’s the part I don’t enjoy at all. Playing cat and mouse with the Amazon algorithm isn’t my idea of a fun occupation. It’s more like going to the dentist’s office than something associated with creativity.
Ah well. Whine, whine, whine. Time to make the donuts. Onward and upward. Excelsior!
25MAY2019 – Quote of the Day
The bosses of the Democratic party and the bosses of the Republican party alike have a closer grip than ever before on the party machines in the States and in the Nation. This crooked control of both the old parties by the beneficiaries of political and business privilege renders it hopeless to expect any far-reaching and fundamental service from either.
Theodore Roosevelt
01APR2026 – Photo of the Day
Tom’s World – 31March2026 – Photo
If you’ve ever been into cameras you’ll notice occasional affinity between a particular camera and lens combo. One such pairing is my #2 camera, a Sony a7IV, a Tamron 70-300 f5.6 zoom. The shots are crystal clear, the colors vibrant and a nice smooth bokeh (the out of focus area). The lens isn’t expensive as things go these days but I consistently get great results.
Book Funnel Sniper Giveaway
That’s right get your free pdf copy of “The Sniper.” All that’s needed is to provide your e-mail address and view my harrangue at the end of the book to leave a review on Amazon. What’s fairer than that? Don’t answer that! It’s a rhetorical question as part of my sales pitch. Let me know if there are any problems with the download. This is my first attempt to use BookFunnel.
Click Here for Link to Sniper Giveaway
31MAR2026 – Country Song for the Morning – Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (and Roy Acuff)
This is my definition of “old timey music.”
Riding High on a Horse in a Star-Spangled Rodeo
So, I’m making the plunge. I’ve joined BookFunnel and I’ll be running a giveaway for e-copies of the “The Sniper” starting pretty soon. The trick now will be to get as much visibility for the giveaway as I can. So, I’ll publicize it here (of course) and I’ll put up a post on X and I’ll tell everybody I can think of that likes this kind of story. My plan, such as it is, is to use the giveaway to garner as many reviews as I can and try to get the book more attention. And after that I’ll put it up on Kindle Unlimited to tempt the general public that tests out its fiction one page at a time.
Will it work? Well, I certainly hope it will but I’ll find out for sure whether I can interest the world at large. I was listening to the Critical Drinker interview Andy Weir about the success of two of his books being turned into movies. But I was just as interested in his story about self-publishing. His “The Martian” was self-published on Amazon and struggled to find an audience in the beginning. So, it’s kind of that one in a million-success story that inspires the other 999,999 writers out there toiling away in obscurity. So just to clear the air ahead of time, for the movie version of “The Sniper,” I want Adam Baldwin to play Bogey and Gary Oldman to play Cutter. Nick Searcy would make a good Chastain. As for Connors, I haven’t made up my mind. And the other parts are also up for grabs but definitely no Hollywood weirdos; that’s for sure. I think Christopher Walken would make a good President Miller. He’s always able to provide a memorably psychopathic character when required. Of course I’m hoping to get myself a bit part. Sort of like how Stan Lee always got a cameo in the Marvel superhero movies. Maybe I can be one of the clerks at the airport in Baghdad. I think I could really handle the part with style and finesse. Sort of a latter-day Olivier.
But I will say it is a little discouraging to see just how much grunt work there is in navigating the world of self-publishing. The experts don’t really seem to know that much more than the people wandering around in the dark like me. Sure, they have a sense of things like keywords and how to attach to other books that are already popular but it doesn’t seem like they can tap into any magic formula for shining a spotlight on a new book. It reminds me of that Glenn Campbell song “Rhinestone Cowboy,” “Where hustle’s the name of the game and nice guys get washed away by the snow and the rain.” Of course, that’s a little dramatic because I’m doing this from the comfort of my dining room where it’s relatively warm and dry. But metaphorically I’m pounding that digital pavement so I can sing the blues along with Mr. Campbell.
