My new releases this month are Book 2 of Lizard World, Epsilon City and Book 3 of my contemporary thriller Web of Conspiracy, Tarnished Valor.
Anyone interested in a free pdf copy of Book 1 of Lizard World or Book 1 and 2 of Web of Conspiracy, please, send me an email to hegro@shaw.ca and ask for one.
I will give away one free copy of Epsilon City and Tarnished Valor from the list of people who send me an email.
Here is the link to Epsilon City (just click on it)
And this is the link to Tarnished Valor at Melange Books LLC.
Monday, September 26, 2011
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Not a good day
September 25 is not a good day for me. Never. It was 32 years ago, September 25, 1979, when I lost my brother Arthur in a plane crash. No matter how many years go by, I recall every moment and every word when I received the call from my sister-in-law.
She asked me to come to her place, because she had something to tell my parents which she could not do.
I can also never forget when I told my parents the terrible news. I still hear my father's shouts of anguish and my mother's plaintive cries. My father never got over it. He died 4 years later.
Losing a loved one is a tragic event, and only people who have experienced it know the pain it causes inside. I've lost many friends over the years, and it is always sad. You lose a part of yourself, a part of your life, it is awful, but it cannot compare with the loss of a family member.
My brother Arthur and I were close. We could talk about things one can only discuss with someone close to you without feeling embarrassed or foolish. Things you share only with a brother (or sister if you're a woman). We used to sing and play the guitar together. Even though he was younger, he was the one who taught me the songs. He was the one with the talent for music and the better voice. He had a great sense of humor that was infectious. I've missed the years without him and I will miss him until the day I leave this plane of existence.
If there is an afterlife, I will see you again, my brother, and we will talk about our youth.
She asked me to come to her place, because she had something to tell my parents which she could not do.
I can also never forget when I told my parents the terrible news. I still hear my father's shouts of anguish and my mother's plaintive cries. My father never got over it. He died 4 years later.
Losing a loved one is a tragic event, and only people who have experienced it know the pain it causes inside. I've lost many friends over the years, and it is always sad. You lose a part of yourself, a part of your life, it is awful, but it cannot compare with the loss of a family member.
My brother Arthur and I were close. We could talk about things one can only discuss with someone close to you without feeling embarrassed or foolish. Things you share only with a brother (or sister if you're a woman). We used to sing and play the guitar together. Even though he was younger, he was the one who taught me the songs. He was the one with the talent for music and the better voice. He had a great sense of humor that was infectious. I've missed the years without him and I will miss him until the day I leave this plane of existence.
If there is an afterlife, I will see you again, my brother, and we will talk about our youth.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Bullet of Revenge
I just submitted my contemporary mystery/romance novel 'Bullet of Revenge' to Melange Books, LLC. The final version ended up being 102,775 words long. I edited it three times. It is amazing how many mistakes I still found the third time around. After the second edit I printed the story for the third edit. It proves again, how important it is to not rush submitting a story. Our brains are wonderful in the respect that they make us see things that are not there sometimes, like missing letters. For instance one of the company names in the story is 'Globe Labs'. Twice I forgot the e in Globe, and one time I spelled it 'Glove Labs'. Never caught that the first two edits. Hopefully, I found all the mistakes and I submitted a clean manuscript. Of course, before the story gets released, the editor will go through it, then send it back to me for another look.
Here is the blurb for ‘Bullet of Revenge’ by Herbert Grosshans
When PI Frank Hummer takes on a new case to help a woman in distress, he soon finds himself in a web of lies and deception. Ghosts from the past reach out toward him, demanding atonement for the things he committed a decade ago, things he tried hard to forget.
The story does not contain any explicit sex, but it still is an adult novel, because of erotic elements and sometimes coarse language. I hope my publisher likes it and then it will take at least a year before it gets published. Patience is important in the life of a writer.
In the meantime I still have 2 books released this month (Book 3 of Web of Conspiracy, and Book 2 of Lizard World). Next month it will be Book 3 of Lizard World. In January next year I'll have Mark of the Cobra, a contemporary novel. Following that Book 4, 5, and 6 of The Xandra. That's four books already. That will make waiting easier.
Maybe I'll even get Book 7 of The Xandra done to be published still in 2012. We'll see.
Here is the blurb for ‘Bullet of Revenge’ by Herbert Grosshans
When PI Frank Hummer takes on a new case to help a woman in distress, he soon finds himself in a web of lies and deception. Ghosts from the past reach out toward him, demanding atonement for the things he committed a decade ago, things he tried hard to forget.
The story does not contain any explicit sex, but it still is an adult novel, because of erotic elements and sometimes coarse language. I hope my publisher likes it and then it will take at least a year before it gets published. Patience is important in the life of a writer.
In the meantime I still have 2 books released this month (Book 3 of Web of Conspiracy, and Book 2 of Lizard World). Next month it will be Book 3 of Lizard World. In January next year I'll have Mark of the Cobra, a contemporary novel. Following that Book 4, 5, and 6 of The Xandra. That's four books already. That will make waiting easier.
Maybe I'll even get Book 7 of The Xandra done to be published still in 2012. We'll see.
About Numbers
Woke up at 4:34, 6:36, 7:37. Sometimes I wake up at 2:22 and 4:44. What do these numbers mean? Maybe nothing. Maybe something. Who knows? Very mysterious. Maybe I should write a story about secret numbers. The Universe is made up of numbers. The letters we write on our keyboard are in reality nothing but numbers in the computer. Everything can be broken down into numbers. Even though we give every day a name, like Monday, Tuesday, they are basically only numbers. The number of the day in a week, a month, even a year. Today is the 21st day of September, the 9th month of the year, the 264th day of 2011. In 94 days it will be Christmas. In 102 days it will be the year 2012. It takes 9 minutes for the light from the sun to reach our planet, and 4.3 years to reach Alpha Centauri. Tyrannosaurus Rex walked the Earth 70 million years ago, that's about 25,550,000,000 days. What a long string of numbers. We can not even comprehend such numbers.
Numbers are important. We use them to measure distance, weights, amounts, speed, time. Numbers mean order. "I am the first. I am the second. I am the last." Without numbers there would be chaos. No way to measure anything, except maybe to say, "Give me a handful of money and I'll give you 'so many' handfuls of apples." or "I'll see you when the moon is full again."
That still doesn't explain why I wake up at such unusual times. Questions, questions...
Numbers are important. We use them to measure distance, weights, amounts, speed, time. Numbers mean order. "I am the first. I am the second. I am the last." Without numbers there would be chaos. No way to measure anything, except maybe to say, "Give me a handful of money and I'll give you 'so many' handfuls of apples." or "I'll see you when the moon is full again."
That still doesn't explain why I wake up at such unusual times. Questions, questions...
Sunday, September 18, 2011
eBook Eros
Some of my books are available now on eBook Eros. The name says it all. Check it out.
http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
Saturday, September 17, 2011
King Tut - an interesting trip
About three weeks ago, Monday August 22, to be exact, we drove to Minneapolis to see the King Tut display in the Science Museum in Saint Paul. The first day we drove to Alexandria where we spent the night. In Alexandria we visited the Viking Museum. Very interesting display. It proved that Vikings visited North America already long before Columbus ‘discovered’ America.
The next day we drove to Bloomington. We stayed in the Comfort Inn which is near the Mall of America. Driving on the Interstate was hair-raising for me. We are not used to these highways. This was our first trip in many years. Usually we go on holidays by plane. But we made it safely to our hotel without getting off the freeway at the wrong exit.
Before we left, I studied Google maps and printed them out, so I knew exactly which exit to take. The Mall of America was sure a great experience. It is huge, but we didn’t find any bargains. We can buy the same stuff in Canada for the same price. The aquarium was interesting. We visited Bubba Gump and ate Shrimp. We also went shopping at IKEA, which is next to the Mall of America. We found the layout of IKEA strange. You go in one way and have to follow the arrows to get out again. We actually did buy some things there.
Thursday, August 25, we drove to the Science Museum. It was only a twenty-minute drive from our hotel. The King Tut display was marvelous. We spent three hours looking at everything. There was also a real mummy on display. To think all those treasures are thousands of years old. It blows your mind just to imagine it.
We left Minneapolis Friday, August 26, traveled to Grand Forks where we spent the night. We had supper at Grizzly’s Grill. Great Steak. The next day, Saturday, August 27, we went shopping in the Columbia Mall. Left after lunch to drive home. We had a good time but it was nice to sleep in my own bed again and take care of my fish and garden. I’m like an old tree. My roots are at home and when I get transplanted I don’t feel right.
After we came home, we watched a bunch of movies about the pyramids and it gets you thinking. Apparently, according to some researchers, the pyramids were built thousands of years before the age of the pharaohs. They were not built as tombs for them. The Egyptians did not have the technology to build those pyramids in the short time span most historians claim. The pyramid at Giza has 2,300,000 huge stones. If it was built in 20 years as is claimed, they would have to put up one stone every 2.3 minutes, working 12 hours a day.
Some scientists believe there were already ancient civilizations with a high technology that even surpasses ours living thousands of years ago on Earth. With the technology we possess today, we could not build the pyramids with such accuracy. The other explanation, which is also quite fascinating for me, suggests there were visitors from another planet on Earth.
Very interesting and intriguing. And it makes total sense. The evidence is there all around the globe. Unfortunately, what we can’t explain because it doesn’t fit into the established facts and theories of the scientists and historians, we ignore and shrug off. If somebody comes along with a new theory he/she is usually ridiculed by the scientific community. Nobody wants to re-write the history books. And let’s not forget the church. According to some religious people the Universe is only 6,000 years old and everything, including the fossils, was created that way. The reason for that is still a mystery. Total nonsense as far as I’m concerned. It is so illogical it doesn’t even make sense.
Maybe some day I’ll write a novel with an ancient civilization as the background. All I need is an idea and the inspiration.
Oh, here is something interesting. I’m always fascinated by numbers. Mystery numbers, that is, like waking up during the night at 4:44 or 2:22. Here is a mystery number for you. When we came home from our trip, I drove into the garage and shut off the motor. This is what the odometer showed:
The next day we drove to Bloomington. We stayed in the Comfort Inn which is near the Mall of America. Driving on the Interstate was hair-raising for me. We are not used to these highways. This was our first trip in many years. Usually we go on holidays by plane. But we made it safely to our hotel without getting off the freeway at the wrong exit.
Before we left, I studied Google maps and printed them out, so I knew exactly which exit to take. The Mall of America was sure a great experience. It is huge, but we didn’t find any bargains. We can buy the same stuff in Canada for the same price. The aquarium was interesting. We visited Bubba Gump and ate Shrimp. We also went shopping at IKEA, which is next to the Mall of America. We found the layout of IKEA strange. You go in one way and have to follow the arrows to get out again. We actually did buy some things there.
Thursday, August 25, we drove to the Science Museum. It was only a twenty-minute drive from our hotel. The King Tut display was marvelous. We spent three hours looking at everything. There was also a real mummy on display. To think all those treasures are thousands of years old. It blows your mind just to imagine it.
We left Minneapolis Friday, August 26, traveled to Grand Forks where we spent the night. We had supper at Grizzly’s Grill. Great Steak. The next day, Saturday, August 27, we went shopping in the Columbia Mall. Left after lunch to drive home. We had a good time but it was nice to sleep in my own bed again and take care of my fish and garden. I’m like an old tree. My roots are at home and when I get transplanted I don’t feel right.
After we came home, we watched a bunch of movies about the pyramids and it gets you thinking. Apparently, according to some researchers, the pyramids were built thousands of years before the age of the pharaohs. They were not built as tombs for them. The Egyptians did not have the technology to build those pyramids in the short time span most historians claim. The pyramid at Giza has 2,300,000 huge stones. If it was built in 20 years as is claimed, they would have to put up one stone every 2.3 minutes, working 12 hours a day.
Some scientists believe there were already ancient civilizations with a high technology that even surpasses ours living thousands of years ago on Earth. With the technology we possess today, we could not build the pyramids with such accuracy. The other explanation, which is also quite fascinating for me, suggests there were visitors from another planet on Earth.
Very interesting and intriguing. And it makes total sense. The evidence is there all around the globe. Unfortunately, what we can’t explain because it doesn’t fit into the established facts and theories of the scientists and historians, we ignore and shrug off. If somebody comes along with a new theory he/she is usually ridiculed by the scientific community. Nobody wants to re-write the history books. And let’s not forget the church. According to some religious people the Universe is only 6,000 years old and everything, including the fossils, was created that way. The reason for that is still a mystery. Total nonsense as far as I’m concerned. It is so illogical it doesn’t even make sense.
Maybe some day I’ll write a novel with an ancient civilization as the background. All I need is an idea and the inspiration.
Oh, here is something interesting. I’m always fascinated by numbers. Mystery numbers, that is, like waking up during the night at 4:44 or 2:22. Here is a mystery number for you. When we came home from our trip, I drove into the garage and shut off the motor. This is what the odometer showed:
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Almost done
I just finished editing my latest novel for the second time. It is amazing how much I missed with the first edit. I wouldn't be surprised if I found more things wrong the next time I read it. During my first edit I looked mainly for inconsistencies, like the wrong name, time-frame, awkward dialog and sentences. The second time I concentrated more on wrong words, dialog and sentences. I printed it out and now I will read it again in the printed form to see how the story flows. After that I will send it to my publisher.
The new and most likely final title of the novel is 'Bullet of Revenge'. (The writing title was 'Conspiracy'). I had other titles which I liked better, but when I did a search on the internet those titles already existed.
The word-count of the novel is 102,700 words. I was afraid I may have to make it into 2 books, but I contacted my publisher and was told the length was fine as an ebook. Also, it looks better in print when the novel is longer.
I thoroughly enjoyed writing this novel. It presented me with many challenges. It is a contemporary novel and takes place in the present time, in 2011 to be exact. I had to make sure I got all my days and dates right.
As soon as I'm completely finished I will go back to writing Book Seven in the Xandra series. Back to Science Fiction. I'm looking forward to it.
The new and most likely final title of the novel is 'Bullet of Revenge'. (The writing title was 'Conspiracy'). I had other titles which I liked better, but when I did a search on the internet those titles already existed.
The word-count of the novel is 102,700 words. I was afraid I may have to make it into 2 books, but I contacted my publisher and was told the length was fine as an ebook. Also, it looks better in print when the novel is longer.
I thoroughly enjoyed writing this novel. It presented me with many challenges. It is a contemporary novel and takes place in the present time, in 2011 to be exact. I had to make sure I got all my days and dates right.
As soon as I'm completely finished I will go back to writing Book Seven in the Xandra series. Back to Science Fiction. I'm looking forward to it.
Friday, September 09, 2011
Free copy
Thank you for visiting. To get your free pdf copy please read the post below this one.
In case you have a copy already or are interested in my other latest release, Epsilon, then please ask for that one.
Epsilon is Book One of my Science Fiction trilogy 'Lizard World'. Book Two 'Epsilon City' will be published also by the end of this month. Book Three 'Raptor's Tooth' is scheduled to be published by Melange Books in October.
If you would like to read more how I came to write 'Web of Conspiracy' then please scroll down to my blog from Sunday, July 24 and read about it.
I hope to hear from you.
Visit my website Herbert's World to see all of my books and read some excerpts.
In case you have a copy already or are interested in my other latest release, Epsilon, then please ask for that one.
Epsilon is Book One of my Science Fiction trilogy 'Lizard World'. Book Two 'Epsilon City' will be published also by the end of this month. Book Three 'Raptor's Tooth' is scheduled to be published by Melange Books in October.
If you would like to read more how I came to write 'Web of Conspiracy' then please scroll down to my blog from Sunday, July 24 and read about it.
I hope to hear from you.
Visit my website Herbert's World to see all of my books and read some excerpts.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)