Publishing on the Moon

Publishing on the Moon:

On this day in 1994, Jeff Bezos founded Amazon.com. As an author, publisher and disabled shopper, I thank him. I’ve been with Amazon for over 20 years now, and they reminded me of that with a gift recently.  I recall my resistance to using my credit card online—but I believe in the beginning I could call and give my card over the phone.  Jeff Bezos had said back then, he wanted the biggest bookstore in the world.  It reminds me of the publishing contract Don Pendleton had with the late New York publisher, Donald I. Fine, which included Fine’s publishing rights on the Moon.  (Don and I laughed, at the time)  Maybe that is what Bezos is working toward with his space program.  After all, Jeff Bezos is a visionary, and thank goodness, he is.  I never could have published 78 books, and also foreign language books at foreign Amazons—without Jeff Bezos’ vision.   

~Linda Pendleton

 

Don Pendleton and his Joe Copp, Private Eye Character

“Pendleton, author of the long-running paperback Executioner series, shows in his first hardcover that hardboiled writing can be insightful as well as action-packed.” ~Library Journal

Last night I had a dream about my writing and my late husband, Don Pendleton.  For those of you who do not know, Don Pendleton was creator of the best-selling, The Executioner: Mack Bolan series of novels, the first one being, “War Against the Mafia,” published in 1969. Don is also considered the “father of Action/Adventure.”

My vivid dream, and dream discussion with Don of my PI novel I’ve been working on, got me to thinking today about Don’s Joe Copp character, who first appeared in his novel, Copp for Hire, first of the six books in the Copp series.   This morning I also saw a FB post about fictional characters.  It also reminded me (as if I needed to be reminded) of the ease and skill of writing that Don had.  He allowed the creative flow to do just that, flow. 

So my mind went back to the first of Don’s Copp books.  We were at our dining table, after a nice breakfast, enjoying our coffee when Don said, “Today I’m going to start a new private eye series.  The opening is:  ‘I smelled trouble all over this kid the instant she stepped into my office. She was hot.’”  He picked up a pen and jotted that on paper.

He started writing that day, and a few days later, Don sent off a proposal to his agent, and if I recall, with three chapters.  Not long after he had a contract for hardcover publication of the series of six books with New York publisher, Donald I. Fine, Inc., and in addition, that was followed soon after by a nice paperback deal on the series.      

Joe Copp was a California cop, turned private eye.  A tough, hard-boiled guy.  But Joe had a big heart and a teddy-bear personality, that is, as long as you were on the right side of the law.  If you were on the wrong side, he would just be as happy to get rid of you in the easiest way possible.   

Copp for Hire:  “Tough, cagey, ex-cop turned private eye, Joe Copp, descends into the labyrinth of forbidden sex, corrupt politics, and multiple murders. It is a powerful story of gray and light and shifting shadows that conceal as much as they reveal about human nature. The fast moving story takes Joe Copp to the rough and tumble, down and dirty, anything-goes underbelly of Los Angeles and on to the deadly vice pits of Honolulu's Chinatown. “

I loved the character.  And so did many professional reviewers. 

"Pendleton's Joe Copp is a dynamo."

–Roanoke Times and World News

“Pendleton, author of the long-running paperback Executioner series, shows in his first hardcover that hardboiled writing can be insightful as well as action-packed.” ~Library Journal

"Pendleton mines another bestselling vein with the cases of ex-cop/private eye

Joe Copp, the toughest operator this side of Mike Hammer."

–ALA Booklist

"The latest Joe Copp adventure reads like an express train...

Pendleton knows how to keep us turning pages."

–Publishers Weekly

The books are available in print, ebooks, and audiobooks.  Books 1 and 2 in a Boxed Set at Kindle.  

 ~Linda

  

The Creative Rationale by Author, Don Pendleton. A Unique Look at Writing the Novel

“The writer is always working from his own individual world view, whatever the subject, so an honest writer cannot conceal himself in the work no matter how hard he may try to do so.”–Don Pendleton (1927–1995)

Renowned author, the late Don Pendleton, recorded "The Creative Rationale" in 1986.  It became the opening to the book, The Metaphyics of the Novel. The Inner Workings of a Novel and a Novelist by Don Pendleton, with Linda Pendleton.  

Don's unique and inspirational look at the creative processes that move the modern novel and what creative forces move the novelist is not only for aspiring writers but for those who love books.  

Don Pendleton is known as the father of the Action/Adventure, a genre he created with his original The Executioner: Mack Bolan Series.  The first book was published in 1969, War Against the Mafia. After book 38 of the series, Don franchised his characters to Harlequin and they continue to publish The Executioner Series, now about 1,000 books.  In addition to Mack Bolan, Don wrote SciFi, mysteries, including the Joe Copp Private Eye Series; Ashton Ford Psychic Detective Series.   His books have been published in many languages world-wide.   So who better to turn to for an understanding of the creative rationale than a successful novelist, whose career spanned many years and many books.   

Author Jon Guenther had this to say:  "I can guarantee first hand that The Metaphysical of the Novel is invaluable for anyone with the genuine desire to write and publish their book."  

Author Stephen Mertz, who knew Don for many years, said this about the book, "A profound study of the spiritual aspects of the novelist's art.  If you're looking for a quick-fix list of agents and the like, look elsewhere.  Pendleton has deeper truths to share in a work that entertains as it enlightens, examining the creative rationale that is the source of good writing."  

I consider this book to be an important book for aspiring writers, just as Don did.  In listening to Don's unique approach to creativity, I believe you will understand why.

~Linda Pendleton

   

My Experience with Amazon's Kindle Select Program

I just posted this at Jon Guenther's Ctrl+Alt+Pub "a multi-author blog dedicated to providing information about self-publishing and inspire authors seeking to publish their own works through non-traditional venues"...and decided to post it here as well.

A few weeks ago, when Amazon announced their new Kindle Select Program, I was not in favor of it. My reason for that was the exclusivity required to enroll your book/books. I had even posted at a blog that I would not be taking part in Amazon’s new program. The idea of giving books away as a promotional tool was not at all my reason for declining the opportunity. Over the years I’ve given many books away: mine, those of my late husband, Don Pendleton, and ours.

From the Amazon Kindle site: “ When you make your book exclusive to Kindle for at least 90 days, it will be part of the Kindle Owners' Lending Library for the same period and you will earn your share of a monthly fund when readers borrow your books from the library. You will also be able to promote your book as free for up to 5 days during these 90 days.” The monthly fund for December was $500,000, and for January it is $700,00. Sharing that amount of money should be enticing. I happen to be a Prime member of Amazon and have been for a number of years, and am now able to “borrow” many books free through the Lending Library.

I have over fifty books now published at Kindle, which includes more than a dozen of Don Pendleton’s books. A number of our books are also at Smashwords, and distributed to a number of ebook retailers, including for the Nook, Kobo, iPad.

But one of my books has been exclusive to Kindle, only because I had not gotten around to putting it elsewhere. I decided to give the program a try. On December 27 and 28, I gave my historical Civil War novel, Corn Silk Days: Iowa, 1862, away FREE. I was amazed!! Nearly 8,000 copies were downloaded. It was #1 on the Free Best Seller Lists, War Fiction: The # 2 book on that list was Tolstoy’s War and Peace! Other listings included, # 4 in Historical romance, # 4 in Historical Fiction; # 19 in Romance; # 77 in Fiction.

When the two-day promotion ended, it stayed fairly high on the Best Seller Lists, staying in the Top Ten of paid books under War Fiction. Today, it is listed as # 2 under Best Selling Historical War Novels in the Kindle Store. # 3 is War and Peace (a free edition), and War Horse is # 4. Obviously my sales and the Kindle Lending Library downloads are continuing.

I then added two additional books, one mystery, one nonfiction, to the Select Program. The results have not been quite as impressive, but my nonfiction, To Dance With Angels, went # 1 in Paid New Age Channeling, and # 1 in New Age Religion and Spirituality. Today, it remains in the Top Ten after a two-day promotion on January 1st.

So I’m happy! Sales have increased on many of my others books not in the program. I’d say this promotion may well be worth it.


~Linda

A Kindle Christmas!

More than a week ago, on December 15th, a press release from Amazon.com stated that "Kindle devices remain the hottest products this holiday season – for the third week in a row, customers are purchasing well over 1 million Kindle devices per week, and Kindle Fire remains the #1 bestselling, most gifted, and most wished for product across the millions of items available on Amazon.com since its introduction 11 weeks ago."

I wonder what the number will be by year's end. 5 million??


Whatever the number, as an author with numerous books at Kindle, I am happy to hear this news.


I like my Kindle, a gift from my son, daughter-in-law and grandson, last Christmas, and I also use Kindle on my PC.

So many book to chose from, including many from those of us who have chosen to self-publish many of our books. Here are some ideas to check out for books to put on your new Kindle or Kindle Fire.


Last week I read Andrew E. Kaufman's second book, The Lion, the Lamb, the Hunted. It is a very good psychological thriller. You won't be disappointed! Andrew's first book will also keep you in suspense: the best-selling book, While the Savage Sleeps


Read the Interview I did with Andrew E. Kaufman here following the release of his first book.


For something different, yet suspenseful, is The Fourth Awakening Series by Rod Pennington and Jeffrey A. Martin, Ph.D. The first book in the best-selling spiritional fiction series is The Fourth Awakening. The second in the series, The Gathering Darkness was publ ished recently.

I also interviewed Rod Pennington.


Don Pendleton's Joe Copp Private Eye Series of six books are now all priced at .99 cents for the holidays.


I reduced the price on my own Catherine Winter Private Eye Series, Shattered Lens and Fractured Image.


Roulette, a crime novel by Don Pendleton and Linda Pendleton is now 3.99. This book turned out to be Don Pendleton's last novel. Don was the "father of the Action/Adventure genre."


The Death Gods by Richard S. Prather. It is his last novel, 61 years after the publication of Prather's first book in his best-selling Shell Scott Mystery Series.


A fascinating nonfiction memoir you might take a look at is Athena Demitrios' book, The Seasoning of the Soul. An inspirational read!


Check my Author Page at Amazon and you may see a variety of books, nonfiction and fiction, that may interest you. The California Gold Rush nonfiction books seem to find their home on Kindles all the time.


Happy Holidays! Happy reading. Don't you just love the new technology?!


~Linda

Creating Credible Fiction

Andrew E. Kaufman, author of While the Savage Sleeps, and the upcoming book, The Lion, The Lamb, The Hunted, wrote an interesting blog post, “Why the Decision to Kill off a Character can be Murder on an Author.”

Andrew said it well! Fiction has to be larger than life and credible. We have to build a realistic world as we create our stories. So I agree with his comment: “Our job, although writers of fiction, is to depict life in a realistic manner, make the reader forget she's actually reading.”

Our characters tell the story they want to tell and sometimes it can be difficult to kill of one of the characters. But the important thing in writing realistic characters is that even the bad guys may have some redeeming features. That makes them human. My husband, Don Pendleton, the “father of action/adventure,” was very good at that. Sometimes you hated when his bad guys were knocked off. He wrote in his book, Metaphysics of the Novel: The Inner Workings of a Novel and a Novelist:
“If you have villains in your story make sure you have made them powerful and resourceful, not reduced to the idiot level. In real life, the bad guys are highly formidable and dangerous individuals. Real life is full of grim games played by grim people. So should your fictional world be, if that is the type of story you are presenting. Do not indulge in some juvenile misunderstanding of the forces that move and shake this world. Some people are dangerous, not because a gun is in their hand, but because something cold and deadly is in their hearts. So make sure you are presenting a credible world with the world of your novel.”

After all, we are writing about the human situation, no matter what predicaments we place our characters in. Life itself presents challenges, drama, pain, joy, grief, wonder, and more, and a successful novelist is called upon to examine and develop deeper insights into the moving forces that power creativity. Writing is an art, and it is up to the artist to produce a living image of reality.

The author is in charge of his own fictional world, and that fictional world needs to be understandable, coherent, and credible. But it is our own story to create, and not everybody may like it. And that is just fine.

~Linda

Don Pendleton's Mystery Series Facebook Pages

I recently added Facebook pages for Don Pendleton’s two mystery series. The pages, which include information on the books in each series, videos of booktrailers on several books, and additional information, can be found at Facebook.

Don Pendleton's Ashton Ford, Psychic Detective Series of Novels

Don Pendleton's Joe Copp, Private Eye Series of Novels











~Linda

Soul Expressions, Poetry Collection, Linda and Don Pendleton

Poetry Collection Linda Pendleton and Don Pendleton, now in Kindle. Coming in the next months to print.

Poetry, A Bridge Between the Physical and Spiritual Worlds.

Poetry is the language of feelings and intuition. As such, it structures the feelings and intuitions of the inner world in a form that can be apprehended by the outer world. Since it uses the mental matrices of emotion, feeling, and intuition, it does not have to conform to any idea of linear logic, which can be the antithesis of spiritual knowingness.

Within this Poetry Collection by Linda and Don Pendleton, you will discover a variety of themes, Life, Love, Family, Angels, and a variety of styles such as rhyme, free verse, narrative, and a few humorous or limerick styles. For the most part, the poems are expressions of ideas, of emotions, without much thought to a specific style or form. Also included are a number of poems inspired and given to Linda by Don after his death.

Don Pendleton (1927-1995) was creator of The Executioner: Mack Bolan Series of action/adventure novels; Joe Copp Private Eye Thrillers; Ashton Ford, Psychic Detective Series; and other novels. He wrote poetry and metaphysical essays for many years. He also wrote nonfiction.

Linda Pendleton has written fiction and nonfiction. Together, Don and Linda wrote the nonfiction books, To Dance With Angels; Whispers From the Soul, the Divine Dance of Consciousness; and the novel, Roulette: The Search for the Sunrise Killer. Linda's novels include Corn Silk Days, Iowa, 1862; Shattered Lens: Catherine Winter, Private Investigator; and The Dawning, a Novel of Mystery and Suspense.

Linda dedicates this book to her family and to young "Heartsongs" poet, Mattie J. T. Stepanek.

Cover design by Judy Bullard

Creating a Fictional World

“So unleash your creative power, let it flow in all its beauty.

Yes, Novelist, you are in charge of your own bright world.”

~Don Pendleton, The Metaphysics of the Novel

A few years ago, my husband, Don Pendleton, wrote in his nonfiction book, The Metaphysics of the Novel, The Inner Workings of a Novel and a Novelist:

“One thing that every novel needs is credibility, and as a novelist you must never forget that. Your story must be plausible, meaningful, and entertaining.

“Before the final draft of any story is set to paper, you must have resolved all your story problems and structure problems. Then, and only then, can your characters have the freedom they need to carry the story, to handle their conflicts, and to finally reach resolution.

“As you review your manuscript, begin by studying your opening paragraph. Read it and re-read. If it sounds weak as you read it silently, and then out loud, rewrite it. Study it again. Polish it until it shines.

“If you discover you have "padded" your story with unnecessary dribble, or if you come upon a place where you wonder where the hell it is going, it is because you did not know where you were going. So get out the scalpel and start carving away. Do it delicately but deftly until you feel you are in command as god of your novel.

“Watch for the spots where you come across even a page or two of nothing. If nothing was happening, change it, make something happen.

“Make sure your dialogue is sharp, and real. If it is not, beef it up until you hear the voices singing. Be sure those characters talk like real people.

“Are you satisfied that you have properly dimensioned each character? If you have villains in your story make sure you have made them powerful and resourceful, not reduced to the idiot level. In real life, the bad guys are highly formidable and dangerous individuals. Real life is full of grim games played by grim people. So should your fictional world be, if that is the type of story you are presenting. Do not indulge in some juvenile misunderstanding of the forces that move and shake this world. Some people are dangerous, not because a gun is in their hand, but because something cold and deadly is in their hearts. So make sure you are presenting a credible world with the world of your novel.

“The paradox of good fiction is that the fictional world must seem more understandable and coherent to the reader than the world in which he lives daily. So to connect with the readers, the writer had better be in complete charge of the world he creates at the keyboard. Pointless defiance of real world logic is available all the time on television. Don't expose your readers to anything but a setting of characters in a logical cause and effect world.

“When you have edited your manuscript to a high polish, when you love every word you have placed there, set it aside for a few days. When you pick it up again, and you find you still love every word there, you are then ready, novelist, to present it to the world.

“But brace yourself. Your presentation may not be received with the open arms you expect and hope for. The days ahead can be filled with frustration and rejection. In those times, though, the important thing to remember is, you have fulfilled your dream of becoming a novelist, and you have taken your vision from that place inside, to that place where books really are–outside.”

Don went on to write about marketing your book and hopefully selling it. At the time he wrote the book, the only way to publish was via a traditional publisher, or with original vanity publishing which could cost you a small fortune, or self publish and sell your books out of the back of your car, as a few well-known authors have done. James Redfield and The Celestine Prophecy comes to mind, as does Richard Paul Evans who also wrote another best-seller, The Christmas Box; and a more recent book, The Shack.

Today we consider the Internet and the incredible technology to be so much a part of our lives, and I believe if Don were still alive he would be in favor of what many authors are now doing with self-publishing and e-books.

He wrote: “Play the game and give it all the artful attention you possess. I shudder to think of all the talented writers I have known who are still unpublished because they never learned to play the game to their best advantage. In a card game, you know, there is a time to sit tight and a time to fold. Play your publishing moment to its best advantage.

“If you have not yet found that moment then you need to get actively involved in your own destiny. Even a moment that may be pre-ordained needs a willing and active interest in those whispers from the muses, a driving force that propels you into that fateful encounter. It will not come looking for you unless you have already "prepared the soil" for a fertile encounter.

“Develop an understanding of the publishing world. “

Get actively involved in your own destiny. Yes, Don would be in favor of self-publishing especially when you know you have produced a credible and quality work. You have a choice and you don’t have to waste time and seek permission to share your book with the world.

The time can be now! Go for it!

Kindle, Smashwords, Createspace, not only give us darn good royalties that are not found in traditional publishing, but give us opportunity to share our works worldwide.



The Metaphysics of the Novel is available at Kindle, Smashwords, and other ebook online stores and in print at Amazon.com

~Linda

Don Pendleton's Joe Copp Mystery Series

Today I put up a Facebook page for Don Pendleton’s Joe Copp Private Eye Thriller series. It includes the covers to the books, designed by Judy. Judy and I have worked together now for ten years. She’s done my websites and my POD and ebook covers. If you have a need for Kindle, Smashwords, ebook covers, or POD covers, take a look at Judy's website. She does good work.

The first book in the Joe Copp series of six, Copp for Hire, is now on SALE for .99 Cents at Kindle and at Smashwords, with the five other novels $2.99 each. If you like hard-boiled, fast paced stories, check the books out. The popular novels were originally published in hardcover and then in paper.

They are also available in print with the new covers that we did recently. All six ebooks should be available very soon in Nook, Kobo, iPad and other formats. I believe three or four are currently available in those additional applications, but all six will soon be, if they are not already.

Many people do not know they can download the Kindle app for their PC, and other devices. You can then sample Kindle books at Amazon, in addition to buying ebooks in seconds.

Check out Don’s Author Page at Smashwords and the Joe Copp series Amazon Kindle.

And if you are on Facebook, visit “Don Pendleton’s Joe Copp, Private Eye Series” Page.

Linda

Interview With Author, Bill Craig

I’m pleased to have this interview with Bill Craig, who is author of the Jack Riley Adventure Series; the Sam Decker, Private Investigator Series; the Hardluck Hannigan Adventure Series; and a Joe Collins suspense thriller. His books are available in print and as Kindle e-books.

Welcome, Bill. You’ve been busy these last few years and have published now a number of books. Years ago, I know you corresponded with my husband, Don Pendleton. I believe you were just starting out with your writing career, at that time, or at least considering writing for publication, is that correct?

Bill: That is correct. I had been writing for awhile and reading everything I could but it was during that time that I actually began to seriously pursue writing. That was when the need to write really settled over me.

Linda: Bill, these are two of my favorite questions I like to ask of writers: Did you write as a kid? When did you know you wanted to write?

Bill: Oh yes, I can remember one of my first projects being a compilation of short stories for a third grade project titled: Things in the Night. I won an award for it. That was when I first realized I wanted to write.

Linda: If you would care to share, who has influenced you the most in your life? And why?

Bill: I was heavily influenced by my parents who introduced me to books at a young age. I taught myself to read at age four and have been doing so now for 47 years.

Linda: What books have most influenced your life and/or your world view? What books do you believe have influenced your writing? Favorite author/authors?

Bill: Well, when I was about ten years old when I was introduced to Doc Savage, which began a life-long love affair with pulp fiction. Then came The Shadow, The Phantom, and I picked up a copy of War Against the Mafia and was hooked all over again. Writers that have influenced me would Lester Dent, the author behind the Kenneth Robeson house name, Walter Gibson aka Maxwell Grant, Don Pendleton was a tremendous influence, as were Jerry Ahern, Robert B. Parker, and a comic book writer named Doug Moench.

Linda: I could ask if you have a favorite series of the three, or at least a character that you love more than one of the others, but I won’t ask that. I know how it is. We love all our characters, even the bad guys, huh? So, instead, tell us about your Hardluck Hannigan character and the series.

Bill: Hardluck Hannigan is just pure fun to write. It is a throw-back to the pulp novels of the thirties and forties with slam bang action and rollicking adventure. Hannigan is a bit of a soldier of fortune from the heartland and he is surrounded by friends that help him make it through his adventures due to the fact he has the worst luck imaginable.

Hannigan started his career when he left a tramp steamer in Africa and got involved in a race to recover the fabled Emerald of Eternity from the Priest King Prester John. He faced off against Nazis, the evil Dr. Ragnarok, and deadly River Pirates. Then he was captured by the Kondor Legion and battled the fabled Nazi pilots and their three flying saucers that had been recovered from a secret base in the Arctic circle. After that, Hannigan was sent to the Amazon to search for Colonel Percy Fawcett and a lost Atlantean outpost.

His fourth adventure began on an ocean liner that was sabotaged and set adrift in the Sargasso sea where he battled a several centuries old colony of pirates and a mad Russian Scientist that had set up a city beneath the sea and was plotting to destroy all life on the surface. A trip back to the States reunited Hannigan with his father and brought him face to face with a Nazi spy ring and a Demonic creature haunting Kill Devil Hills. Tragedy struck Hannigan during that adventure and sent him fleeing back to Africa where he was caught up in a search for yet another lost city and battling Nazis for the fabled Spear of Goliath.

The current book I am working on finds him in Egypt fighting desert nomads, a Chinese villain, and being a pawn in a battle between two ancient Egyptian goddesses. The Golden Scorpion will hopefully be out by spring.

Linda: I always like to ask writers how they receive their inspiration. Many writers feel the inspiration comes from beyond them at times as they are working with their characters. Do you experience that in your writing?

Bill: I would have to agree that it does come from beyond. Many times the characters just take over and I feel like I am just channeling them to get the story on paper. There have been times when I sit down to write and totally lose time, yet when I stop I have 5-10 pages written that are completely new to me.

Linda: Do you visualize your scenes as you write? Do you “walk” in your character’s shoes?

Bill: Very much so. For the most part I tend to write in a very visual style, but I love to do a lot with dialog as well. And yeah I am in there every step of the way. One of the more fun pieces I have done lately was an old west werewolf story for Six-guns Straight from Hell, an anthology put together by Laura Givens and David Riley.

Linda: I believe you have chosen to do what many of us are now doing—publishing e-books. What encouraged you to do so?

Bill: The potential to build my fan base with the advent of the multiple e-reader systems out there. And so far word is spreading and sales are picking up.

Linda: Tell us about your other series and about your next project?

Bill: I have about seven or eight books in the works at the moment, the next book out will be either The Golden Scorpion from the Hardluck Hannigan series of Smuggler’s Blues, the fourth Decker P.I. title. I have several more Hannigans plotted out, a fifth Sam Decker, and three more books featuring Joe Collins the hero of The Butterfly Tattoo which has been my best selling title both in print and on kindle. The Decker books follow an ex-DEA agent turned Private Investigator in the Florida Keys. Joe Collins is a cop on the Gulf side of South Florida who gave up part of his soul to find and stop the infamous Butterfly Killer who he suspected was behind the death of his wife. The subsequent books are about his journey back to being what he is: A good and dedicated cop.

I am also working on some stuff for Airship27 which includes a Masked Rider Western, and the lead off story for a south sea series I created called Tales of the Hanging Monkey. Plus I have a western novel in the works.

Linda: And my last question, Bill. What is your favorite quote?

Bill: My favorite quote. There are so many, however the one that carries the most important lesson for me comes from a western character I am working on named Hannibal Tucker. The Quote: “The most trouble I ever got into was because of a woman,”—Hannibal Tucker, from an upcoming western novel that is as of yet untitled.

Thanks so much, Bill, for taking time for this interview. Good luck with your books.

To read more about Bill Craig’s book, visit his Amazon Author Page.


~Linda

Don Pendleton's COPP ON ICE Book Trailer

Don Pendleton's Joe Copp Private Eye Thriller Series
Available in Print at Amazon, and ebooks, Kindle, Smashwords, and ebook stores.


~Linda

Kindle Sale Now on Don Pendleton's Ashton Ford, Psychic Detective Series

Meet Ashton Ford...Psychic Detective...

I’ve dropped the Kindle Price on the six Ashton Ford books by Don Pendleton.

Private Investigator Ashton Ford has special powers, powers that some call supernatural. A former naval intelligence officer, highly knowledgeable in cryptology and philosophy, Ford will shatter your ideas of reality and take you into a mystical world of vision, intuition, and psychic truth. A phenomenal psychic, unparalleled lover, and a true Renaissance man, Ashton Ford can see into the future and even into the distant past using his psychic powers to assist special clients who are in crisis.

By the creator of The Executioner Series and the Joe Copp Private Eye Series.

~Linda

Two Books are EPIC Award Finalist

It was nearly 10 years ago that I began publishing books electronically. In 2002, my nonfiction book Three Principles of Angelic Wisdom won a Finalist ebook Award from EPIC (now known as the Electronically Published Internet Coalition™), and in the previous year, the crime novel, Roulette by my husband Don Pendleton and me (then titled One Dark and Stormy Night) was also chosen as an EPIC ebook Award Finalist. This year I decided to enter the 2011 EPIC eBook Awards Competition™. And again, two of my books have been chosen as Award Finalist! The winners will be announced at the EPIC annual conference, held in historical Williamsburg, Virginia, March 10-13, 2011.

The popularity of ebooks has increased tremendously and will continue to do so now with the Kindle, iPad, Nook, and numerous electronic devices. Looking back over the decade, I knew back then it would be the technology of our future, and although it has happened a little slow, it is taking off and is becoming more popular month by month. I hope Amazon’s Jeff Bezos is prepared for Kindle sales this Christmas as I believe they will go through the roof. That means many of our books will sell as well. And for those of us who have chosen to publish with Kindle, Smashwords, and other distributors, we now have the opportunity to publish, have control of our work, and enjoy a sense of freedom. I am a self-published author and am proud of my work. It is also nice that the stigma of self-publishing is dropping by the wayside. Works of quality are being self-published, electronically and in print.

Jon Guenther and I (and a few other authors) for many months have protested among ourselves (and at times publicly) about the uncalled for attitude of writer’s groups, other successful authors, who were or are against those of us who have chosen alternative ways to publish. In other words, to self-publish, without agents, or the NY Biggies. I’m reminded of the Paul Anka song, My Way. And yeah, we are doing it our way. Good for us.

Shattered Lens: Catherine Winter, Private Investigator by Linda Pendleton

2011 EPIC Award Finalist, Mystery and/or Suspense Novel Category

The Cosmic Breath: Metaphysical Essays of Don Pendleton, Introduction by Linda Pendleton
2011 EPIC Award Finalist, Non-fiction Category

I’m delighted. Both books are available at Amazon Kindle and at Amazon in print.

Physicist Stephen Hawking Puts God Out of Picture

"Why do I worry for Stephen Hawking? I suppose it is a fear that I have misinterpreted his moving forces, and that what I have characterized above as "unemotion­al scientific detachment" is in fact an almost passio­nate desire to live in an alternative universe without God. If that be true, to whatever degree, then his inner world will almost certainly be at cross purposes to his work in the outer." ~Don Pendleton, A Search for Meaning From the Surface of a Small Planet.

Physicist Stephen Hawking has made statements in his upcoming book that seems to have surprised many. Apparently in his new book, Hawking claims physics can provide an explanation for many things without there being a need for a benevolent creator who made the universe for our benefit. In other words, he puts God out of the equation. These theories he now holds in contrast to his previous ideas, follow on the heels of another recent statement he made that that we should not try to communicate with extraterrestrial life as they would have malevolent intent to "conquer and colonize."

When I read Hawking's statement about God I was reminded of what my husband, Don Pendleton wrote in his book more than 15 years ago in regards to Hawking and God. Don was concerned about Hawking then, and I would imagine if Don was here today, he would be even more concerned about the man.

At the time, Don's original draft was even a little more harsh about Hawking than it ended up in the book. Don discussed this chapter with me then he decided to soften it a bit out of respect for the scientist, which he did. This is what Don wrote in his Search for Meaning, Chapter 13:

CHAPTER THIRTEEN - ALTERNATIVES TO GOD

A recent reading of Nobel physicist Stephen Hawking's excellent A Brief History of Time, though it is charm­ing and entertaining throughout as well as provocative in many of its movements, served chiefly to remind me that science still continues its almost desperate struggle to elucidate every possible alternative to God. This is good, I suppose, in that the ongoing process of elimination guarantees that the scientists will not throw up their hands in surrender to an insol­uble riddle; meanwhile they are moving ever closer to the truth and all of us benefit even from their mis­takes. We are, after all, a long way removed from the cave, and the largest strides have been muscled by the advance of knowledge through science.

I do worry a bit, though, about the scientists themselves. It seems to be a human tendency that our inner worlds become ordered or tainted by the work roles that we take on in the outer world. Thus the lawyer may have to guard against a creeping cynicism and a world view based on lies, deceits, greed, avarice and all the other ills that form the working world of the lawyer, lest he become just like that himself. The clergyman may find it wise to constantly remind himself that he serves the problems of earth, not those of heaven, and that his power (professional value) comes from those he serves, not from some supposed mantle of authority which may seduce him into the mistaken con­viction that he is the voice of God on earth, lest he find himself denying his own humanity. The psycholo­gist or psychiatrist, I should think, must be wary of any idea that because he is instrumental in restoring order to disordered minds, he is then competent to dictate order to all minds everywhere, lest he become a bit unbalanced himself in the attempt.

And the scientist, God love him, should be ever so careful in dealing with the foundations of the universe that he not begin to fancy himself the builder, lest he become disdainful of the process or, worse, go a little mad because he is not therefore worshiped for having built it.

Case in point: Isaac Newton. This giant of 17th century science, upon whose findings are based much of our modern world, became a pygmy in his inner world and an insufferably pompous egomaniac in his relations with others. Though the first scientist to be knighted by the British Crown, he was notorious among his peers as furiously arrogant and disputatious, devious, unforgiv­ing and vindictive, and he spent the final thirty years of his life in an obscure political post far removed from the march of scientific achievement. How much more would Sir Isaac have given our world if his inner world had not entrapped his genius?

Albert Einstein, on the other hand, seems to have been a gentle and humble man who turned down an offer to become president of Israel and labored until his death at the age of 76 to develop a unified field theory that would link the big and little of things in one grand theorem. He did not succeed in that, but he'd long since moved the world a quantum leap beyond Newtonian physics and perhaps would have found his grand theorem but for an intrusion from his own inner world. While agreeing with the basic tenets of quantum physics (as early as 1905 he'd revolutionized the theory of light with his proposal that it is composed of individual quanta which behave not only as waves but also as particles) he ultimately rejected the principle of uncertainty inherent in the new physics as absolute because it offended his sense of order, expressed in two widely quoted statements, "God does not play dice," and "God is subtle but he is not malicious."

Perhaps one day Einstein will be proven right, after all, in bypassing the seemingly chaotic condi­tions within the atom, but it seems more likely at this time that he was defeated by a rigid order within his own inner world which would not countenance a creation built of apparent disorder. He gave us enough, cer­tainly–and all built from that same inner appreciation of a splendidly ordered reality, which he equated with God–but I do wonder how much more he would have given us had he sought the possible alternatives to God instead of God itself.

Hawking seems to have the proper approach, an unemotional scientific detachment which objects even to the singularity as another form of infinity, the pure scientist's arch-nemesis. But I worry about him, too, because this brilliant theoretician has begun to mock his own past achievements in physics and now seems bent on proving that this creation we call the universe was not, in fact, created by anything at all. In "solving" the singularity (from which supposedly issued the big bang) by dismissing it, Hawking would erect in its place a universe of two alternate infinities, a uni­verse without beginning and without end, alternately expanding and contracting forever in finite space and finite time but structured in such a way that both space and time would function as infinities.

It is reported that when Einstein first heard the Belgian scientist Lemaitre outline his big bang theory he jumped to his feet with applause and later declared, "This is the most beautiful and satisfactory explana­tion of creation to which I have ever listened." The reaction is characteristic of Einstein, who forever sought and found beauty in the universe and thought of such beauty as the firm imprint of God revealed in the mysterious workings of the universe.

One finds no such appreciation lurking between the lines of A Brief History of Time. Rather, Hawking seems to regard the entire business as an intellectual exercise and, where Einstein sought to reveal God through science, Hawking appears determined to shut God out. And I doubt that Albert Einstein would leap gleefully into spontaneous applause in reaction to Stephen Hawking's finite but boundary-less pulsating universe, especially since the proposal concludes: "The idea that space and time may form a closed surface without boundary also has profound implications for the role of God in the affairs of the universe. With the success of scientific theories in describing events, most people have come to believe that God allows the universe to evolve according to a set of laws and does not intervene in the universe to break these laws. However, the laws do not tell us what the universe should have looked like when it started–it would still be up to God to wind up the clockwork and choose how to start it off. So long as the universe had a beginning, we could suppose it had a creator. But if the universe is really completely self-contained, having no boundary or edge, it would have neither beginning nor end: it would simply be. What place, then, for a creator?"

Why do I worry for Stephen Hawking? I suppose it is a fear that I have misinterpreted his moving forces, and that what I have characterized above as "unemotion­al scientific detachment" is in fact an almost passio­nate desire to live in an alternative universe without God. If that be true, to whatever degree, then his inner world will almost certainly be at cross purposes to his work in the outer. Of course there is also the possibility that the outer world has intruded upon the inner, as suggested in the early examples above, and of this I am even more fearful, for Stephen Hawking–for all his brilliance and intellectual achievements–is a man in strong need of inner peace with his universe. He is a victim of ALS, Lou Gehrig's disease, a progres­sive crippler which has reduced him to the use of two fingers for communication with the outside world–and indeed he wrote his book in that condition, using a specially designed computer attached to the arm of his wheelchair.

But I am told by some who know him that he has an irrepressible sense of humor–which, in such an intel­lect, could mean also a finely tuned sense of the ridiculous–so perhaps he is just putting us all on, particularly his peers in science, with the suggestion that it is better to have an explicable universe with­out God than to live in a world under God which is beyond the final reach of science. This latter could be a definition of hell for those who dare not believe in God because otherwise they could not bear to not be God (to paraphrase Nietzsche).

At the bottom of all this exposition into the alternatives to God is a growing feeling that, indeed, many scientists do find frustration in the fact that all their laboratory models of reality point unerringly toward infinity in both directions–up and down, big and little. Infinity is where the scientist is shut out. Perhaps it is more convenient for many to shut God out instead–because God, you know, does not fund research grants, establish endowments for the sciences, or confer academic honors.

Einstein grew more and more isolated from the main­stream of science during his declining years because he rejected the logical inferences that new scientists were drawing from his own brilliant work with relativ­ity and the theory of light. Scientists such as Hawking and his fellows who are engaged in particle physics research are perhaps becoming isolated in turn because they have not yet recognized the full ramifi­cations of their own brilliant work. The reason that they have not could well be because their work has led them to a point very close to the end of their trail–in just a couple of generations the trail has become a rut, and extrication from the rut requires a leap of mind which few seem willing or able to make.

Part of the reason for this was expressed by Tolstoy, long ago: "I know that most men, including those at ease with problems of the greatest complexity, can seldom accept even the simplest and most obvious truth if it be such as would oblige them to admit the falsity of conclusions which they have delighted in explaining to colleagues, which they have proudly taught to others, and which they have woven, thread by thread, into the fabric of their lives."

But the problem goes even deeper than that, having to do with the revolution of thought and the ability to see old things in a new way. Einstein looked at the principle of uncertainty and shuddered at the concept of an underlying chaos in nature. A new generation of scientists looked at the same concept and leapt to their feet with applause, as Einstein did when encount­ering the big bang theory, because they saw through the disorder with a new vision that sought patterns instead of particles.

If one bases one's view of the macrocosm upon what is observed from the random collision of particles in a laboratory, and if the view expressed depends entirely upon the interactions observed between particles according to the principles of probability physics, then one is certainly justified in a view that the world is built accidentally by an unpredictable process that builds the most probable reality–not by plan but, as Einstein feared, a roll of nature's dice. A leap of mind, however, that sees underlying chaos as mere raw product for invisible patterns in space, alters the view dramatically and restores plan to the universe.

This is where the most exciting things are happening in science today, for the patterns are there and an excited new generation of science is busily pursuing them.

It is both sad and ironic that Einstein was instrumental in developing and popularizing the original field theories on which the new science is built. Even his explanation of gravity as a result of curved space rather than the force deduced by Newton was a precursor of things to come, since the curved space surrounding a massive object such as our earth or sun is now being understood as the boundary areas of an invisible pattern or field which orchestrates the physical activities within it.

The leap from particle to organizing field seems to be a leap in the right direction for modern science, which has virtually exhausted the resources of particle physics anyway, a fact with which Stephen Hawking almost plaintively agrees. Only time will tell if it is merely another alternative to God–but it really does not matter in the long view because all altern­atives are themselves structures in space, spiraling toward the center, and all will ultimately be seen as pathways to the one reality. The churnings of science are themselves processes of chaos responding each in its own way to the insistent pull of the universe. Let us leap to our feet and gleefully applaud them all.

Alternative

There was a young muon from Trevyn,
Who sought but could not find a leaven,
He said, "Lone though I be,
I will never agree
With an ugly old gluon from heaven."
There was a bright scientist named Hawking,
Who could not put up with the squawking
Of his brothers in arms,
Or his sisters in charms,
So he gave them a fighting charmed chalking.
If you've found a massless particle,
For a scientific article,
You can give it some spin
for a Nobel prize win:
Introduce it with God parenthetical.

Excerpt from the book, A Search For Meaning From the Surface of a Small Planet by Don Pendleton, © Copyright 2000, 2002 by Linda Pendleton

Don's book is available in print and Kindle at Amazon.com


~Linda

Louis L'Amour and His Writing

I grew up with Louis L'Amour. What I mean is, my father, John read paperback books all the time, and he always read the latest Louis L'Amour books. He read Westerns: L'Amour, Max Band, Zane Grey, and author's names I do not recall. In the evenings Daddy always had a book in his hands. He'd read and was very much a mult-tasker (like me), who could watch TV and read, and maybe answer a question or two after some thought, and about the time I would think he didn't hear my question he would give me an answer.

Louis L'Amour is considered to be on of the world's most popular writers. He is the only American-born novelist in history to receive both the Congressional Gold Medal (1982) and Presidential Medal of Freedom (1984). He published ninety novels, thirty short-story collections, two works of nonfiction, a memoir, Education of a Wandering Man, and a volume of poetry. I've read there are about 300 million copies of his books in print.

Just after his death in 1988, at the age of 80, his daughter Angelique L'Amour published A Trial of Memories, The Quotations of Louis L'Amour, which included a Foreword by Louis L'Amour.

In 1987 an article by Donald Dale Jackson was published in the Smithsonian Magazine and here is a quote from it. (You can find the full article at the Official Louis L'Amour website)

"L'Amour is up at 6 and at the typewriter by 7 every morning, batting out the five to ten pages he produces daily. He halts at noon and resumes for an hour and a half after lunch before he quits and heads for his gym to lift weights and pedal a stationary bike. He never works from a plot outline, preferring to improvise as a story unfolds. 'I start with a character and a situation, but I don't know what's' going to happen until I write it. Sometimes things happen that surprise me.'"

"He believes he may only now be achieving "full command" of his craft; indeed, his current books are among his best. 'It's like a ballet dancer who learns technique and becomes a superior technician, and then the change comes,' he says. 'The dancer becomes the dance. It's not the technique anymore, the music is part of her. I feel that as a writer, that it's all there now - I am the writing.'"

I like his quote on the music and the dance....

One year when Don Pendleton was on a book tour, Louis L'Amour had been on the same tour visiting book distributors all over the country, just a few days before Don. Everywhere Don went he heard repeatedly what a great, likable man L'Amour was.

Have you read any Louis L'Amour?

~Linda

Words

"Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind."
--Rudyard Kipling 1865 – 1936

Lower Kindle Price, Don Pendleton's Joe Copp Thrillers

I have been working on the print format for six Joe Copp Private Eye novels by Don Pendleton. I had recently put them up at Kindle but in doing new covers and new trade paper I have to go through them again for the proper format for print. So it takes time.

I have lowered the price on the Kindle editions of the Joe Copp Thrillers. They are now going for $6.99 each. So if you want a good hard-boiled detective read, those just might be the books for you.

I'm so pleased with the Kindle sales of my books that I may just have to splurge before long for my own Kindle. I've heard from two frineds that they just love their Kindle.

The Joe Copp Mystery Series was Don Pendleton's first hardcover books, after many books published in paperback. The Copp books were published by the late Donald I. Fine, a longtime N.Y. editor and publisher. They were soon after realeased in paperback. I put them back in print through the Authors Guild Back in Print program about ten years ago. And now in the coming weeks they will again be released in print with new covers...the same covers my web desinger, Judy Bullard and I designed for Kindle editions.

If you need any Kindle, POD, ebook covers, check Judy's work out. She does excellent covers. She recently designed several for author Mark Terry.

Here are a few reviews of Don Pendleton's Joe Copp Private Eye Series:

“This Joe Copp adventure reads like an express train. A throwback to the vintage Spillane era, Pendleton knows how to keep us turning the pages.” ~Publishers Weekly

“Pendleton has a great new character in Copp. His style is fresh, the pace is brisk, and there are enough twists to please any mystery fan.” ~St. Petersburg Times

“Pendleton, author of the long-running paperback Executioner series, shows in his first hardcover that hardboiled writing can be insightful as well as action-packed.” ~Library Journal

“A fast-moving, even blurring, story of murder behind the floodlights.” ~Book World

"Pendleton mines another bestselling vein with the cases of ex-cop/private eye Joe Copp, the toughest operator this side of Mike Hammer."
~ALA Booklist

Read more about Don Pendleton's Joe Copp Kindle books Here

~Linda

Don Pendleton's Last Novel, Roulette

I see Amazon has dropped the price of my Kindle edition of our crime novel, Roulette by Don and Linda Pendleton. This turned out to be Don Pendleton's last novel. Also our first fiction collaboration. It's also available in paper at amazon and other online bookstores.

Review of Roulette: “Great story. I could hardly put it down. So real, so credible, a delightful page turner.” ~Ken M., California



Roulette by Don and Linda Pendleton

Husband and wife police detectives, both married more to the badge than each other, have inevitable conflict within their marriage and their careers are put to the test when a psychopathic killer invades their community.

In the early morning hour of a spring day, Helen Carter, twenty four-year-old housewife and mother of two small children, is awakened by a ski-masked intruder at her bedside. Paralyzed by fear, she works desperately to steel herself against the inevitable rape and harrowing attack that is already in progress. Helen Carter is to become only the first victim of the Sunrise Rapist. She is a very lucky young woman. Following the brutal attack of the second victim of the Sunrise Rapist, the perpetrator is immediately tagged the Sunrise Killer, and the quiet and peaceful community of San Remo, California, becomes a hotbed of fear and outrage.

The San Remo Police Department, already caught up in a difficult political climate, now has its hands full with a killer in their midst. Detective Rebecca Storm, the only woman in the detective bureau, and the sole member of the Sex Crimes Unit, finds that the Sunrise Killer will not only challenge her career, her marriage, but her very life.

Her husband, and fellow officer, veteran Detective Sergeant Peter Storm, already caught up in the infighting of the police department and city management, is drawn deeper into his career battles and challenges as the Sunrise Killer makes his appearance in San Remo.

What is ahead for the San Remo Police Department, and especially for two of its detectives, is many sleepless nights as the Sunrise Killer increases his maniacal assault on the innocent women and children of San Remo. But the killer’s reach goes far beyond his actual victims and their families. The lives of those dedicated to preserving peace within the city and pursuing the serial killer are challenged to the limits, both in their personal lives and in their professional careers.

The story is fast-moving, often riveting, often disturbing, as the cops are repeatedly challenged by a psychotic serial killer who has them all in his grip.

Copyright © 2010 by Linda Pendleton.

Don Pendleton's "Heart to Heart" Novel

Don Pendleton’s fifth Ashton Ford novel, Heart to Heart, is now available at Kindle.

I have enjoyed again reading and getting Ashton Ford ready for Kindle. Don was able to explore metaphysical ideas and the paranormal with his Ashton Ford character.

Don Pendleton wrote this for his readers about his Ashton Ford, Psychic Detective series:

"Through this character I attempt to understand more fully and to give better meaning to my perceptions of what is going on here on Planet Earth, and the greatest mystery of all the mysteries: the why of existence itself. Through Ford I use everything I can reach in the total knowledge of mankind to elaborate this mystery and to arm my characters for the quest. I try to entertain myself with their adventures, hoping that what entertains me may also entertain others–so these books, like life itself, are not all grim purpose and trembling truths. They are fun to write; for some they will be fun to read."

Heart to Heart, is an adventure that Ashton Ford never intended to share because it involved many tender depths of his own heart. It all started with the sudden appearance of a gentleman reported to have died over 150 years ago—and a mind-blowing mystery high above the sea in Laguna Beach, California. There, in a magnificent mansion, Ford finds himself surrounded by luxurious comfort and the flesh and blood “ghosts” of people from the past. Ford’s keen and awesome talents must now pierce the secret of the mansion, while his heart, at the mercy of an ageless and beautiful sculptress, follows a dangerous path of its own.

For Ford, his beliefs about reincarnation and reality would never be the same as he sees into the past, and sometimes, into your heart as well as his own.


Soon, I will have the sixth Ashton Ford book, Time to Time ready for Kindle.

Read about the other books in the series, here and here.

~Linda