Three FREE Short Stories on Smashwords! (and more)

You might be wondering where I have disappeared to. Aside from not having much to say (and my kids just roll their eyes at that statement), I am currently working on one of my novels.

I won't tell you much about it, though if you're a regular reader, you've seen the first draft of the first chapter. It is much different now, but the working title remains as Zombie Apocalypse: Vampire Raiders of Las Vegas. Yes, everyone rolls their eyes at that, but it will be a good story - or at least a fun one. It is still a few months away from being published. (Hey, I have a day job, too.)

However, I decided that I needed to publish some of my short stories (which are mostly short, short stories). I dropped the first one out on Smashwords tonight. Long time readers might recognize it, too.

Why Smashwords and not Amazon? Well, Amazon doesn't really let me put my stories out there for free, and I don't feel right about charging for my short stories. I also hear Amazon is negotiating with some of the major publishers and rumors say it will result in lower percentages for authors. They are the three-hundred pound gorilla out there, after all.

So Smashwords it is! Smashwords lets you download just about any e-reader format, so you shouldn't have any problems. If you like my stories, please leave a review. 

If you don't like my stories... why wouldn't you like my stories? Send me email! Click the pictures to go download my new books!

I call the first one The Duel, which is my first von Crapp Brothers Tale.
The Von Crapp Brothers, Adventurers, become embroiled in an unwanted duel in renaissance Italy. Will BA von Crapp finally kill everyone?
A short, short story.

 

The next von Crapp Brothers Tale is Safari in the Mist. It's a little longer. If you're a fan of H. Rider Haggard, you're going to like these guys and this adventure. The von Crapp Brothers, Adventurers, embark on a Safari into the heart of the Congo, searching for the People of the Mist. Once they find them, will they be able to leave?

The final short story published is really short, but I thought it was a lot of fun. Darling wants me to make it into a novel, and I might... I call it Psychic Toll Call. The call woke Frank in the early morning hours. The sultry voice offered him a better life, but at what cost?

Also on Smashwords for free is the book I wrote with my wife and it's still relevant (sadly): The Fiscal Cliff.  What is the Fiscal Cliff? What can you do, as an individual, to protect yourself from some of the effects of the Fiscal Cliff? We review what it is, and what you can do.

Available on Amazon in paperback, too.

We might make a sequel (which I'll call The Fiscal Chasm) but that's a lot of work - and I have a novel to finish.

On Smashwords and Amazon, I still have My Mother-in-law Misadventures, the collection of stories of living with my mother-in-law for ten years. If you're a regular reader you know all about this one. I didn't make it free, though. Still, it IS worth a read if you want a few laughs. This one is also available in paperback on the Amazon site.

Finally, for you technical folks out there I did put together a book on how to Organize Your Kindle Book Titles in Excel, but it is only on Amazon and I didn't make it free. It has a lot of Excel tricks in it, though, and it's worth the price. This one is a precursor to the book I'm writing on Managing Big Data Using Excel (working title), even though some MIT profs think you can't do that. Well, you can, but only for small sets of Big Data! Ponder that. Even so - Excel Tricks to Organize Kindle Book Titles might have been a better title for this one.

So - Enjoy! And post nice reviews. Thanks!