Kindle Free Pick of the Week: You Are a Writer (So Start Acting Like One)

A quick and fun read for anyone who ever thought about putting pen to paper.

Hi, my name's Jeff. And I'm a writer. But I didn't always think of myself that way. In fact, for years, I dreamed of one day becoming a writer. But secretly, I was afraid of the risk. It took a gentle but firm rebuke from a friend to realize the dead-end course I was on, to finally understand who I was. After that, I was never the same.

One day, a friend asked me about my dream. I said I didn't know. "Really?" he said. "That's too bad -- because I would've thought it was to be a writer."

That hit me hard. I told him that was true. I did hope to be a writer. Maybe. Some day. If I was lucky.

He shook his head and smiled: "Jeff, you don't have to want to be a writer. You are a writer. You just need to write." So that's what I did, and it changed everything.

This is an eBook about a journey of becoming a writer. It's a guide to writing and publishing, including how to navigate the world of platform-building and getting your work noticed. Mostly, it's about believing in yourself. About the process of self-doubt we all go through and the declarations we make to do what were made to do.

Whether you realize it or not, you are a writer. You just need to write.

Kindle Free Pick of the Week: Black Oil, Red Blood

One from Diane Castle that will make you think.

The thing about cancer is it’s hard to prove somebody gave it to you on purpose—but Chloe Taylor can prove it. In fact, she proves it for a living. She sues oil refineries that would rather save a buck than comply with safety regulations designed to do important things like, you know, keep people alive.

Chloe had a successful career until circumstances forced her to move to the bass-ackwards town of Kettle, Texas (human population: 4,000; gun population: 34,356). Big Oil industry giant PetroPlex employs half of Kettle’s population, and there’s no question the judge in the town’s got oil stains on his hands. It’s no wonder she’s been on a losing streak lately. She suspects she’s been litigating on an uneven playing field, but when her star expert witness turns up dead less than 48 hours before a make-or break hearing, she knows.

What she doesn’t know is the key piece of information that got her expert killed. It turns out PetroPlex is harboring a shocking secret—one that has the potential to skyrocket gasoline prices, spark an energy market meltdown, and trigger riots, chaos, death, and destruction on a global scale. Chloe must discover the secret and expose the villains before she is permanently silenced, all while juggling a troublesome ex-fiancé and a tantalizing new flame along the way.

**A portion of the proceeds benefits Gulf People Helping People, a fundraising initiative of the Louisiana Environmental Action Network (LEAN), a non-profit 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization to support people in financial hardship because of the BP 2010 Gulf Oil Disaster. Proceeds will go directly to those most in need including fishermen, oil spill clean-up workers and residents whose livelihoods and families are suffering from either poor health and/or dire economic hardships. This important effort will assist Gulf oil spill workers, residents, organizations and communities in making Louisiana and the Gulf Coast a safer place to live and work for us all.

Tonight on "The Tech of Sports" - Paul Shirley

He's a writer, he's a former Academic All-American Division I college basketball player, he's a former NBA player.

He loves music and loves to travel.  He's 6'10" and a renassiance man with a unique perspective of what is happening around him and happening in the world.

His book, "Can I Keep My Jersey?" is a must read for sports and basketball fans along with anyone who has dreamed of playing in the NBA or on a professional basketball team.

I'm of course talking about Paul Shirley and he will be my guest tonight on "The Tech of Sports."  We may talk some basketball, we may talk some tech, but we'll talk other things as well. 

His book would make a great Father's Day gift.

Come by tonight at http://netcaststudio.com/live/  at 7pm EDT to hear the wit and wisdon of Paul Shirley.  He's @paulthenshirley on Twitter.

Kindle Free Pick of the Week: The Last Jump

Appropriate pick for Memorial Day.

The Last Jump: A Novel of World War II is the story of middle-aged journalist, J. P. Kilroy, who is invited in 1997 to go to a ceremony at the White House to accept the Medal of Honor for his dead father. When his mother was dying, she had told him he needed to find his father who had left years ago but J. P. never had. He felt his father could not get over J. P.'s going to Canada to avoid Vietnam War. While at the ceremony J. P. meets a number of his father's old war buddies and wanting to know more about his father he goes out to dinner with them. As he is a journalist, he tapes the conversation and when he uses the rest room the men acknowledge they are keeping a secret from him. This piques his interest but also some of the things they had said about his father intrigued him so he is determined to figure it out what the men are keeping from him.

The book then follows J. P. as he has conversations with his father's old buddies and the story flashes back so we get to know J. P.'s father and his best friend, both with the last name of Kilroy. You see how Jake and Johnny meet, become friends and go through their training and then on to Europe as paratroopers. They were excellent soldiers and found themselves behind enemy lines. Nevola gives you historical and military information about the battles they are involved in and you get a real feel for the horror of the war. You are on Omaha Beach with them as the bullets buzz by.

Kindle Free Pick of the Week: States of Confusion: My 19,000-Mile Detour to Find Direction

Rather than deal with the problems he was facing as a recent college grad, Paul Jury decided to leave them in his rearview mirror. He might not have known the direction his life was headed, but he knew the route he was taking to hit all forty-eight contiguous states on one epic road trip.

Filled with plenty of adventure and the unforeseen obstacle (or twelve), States of Confusion puts you in shotgun to see where the road takes Paul. All he knows - after crashing on the beer-soaked couch of his younger brother's frat - is that there's no going back.