Prime Suspect

Why are they cancelling TV shows I like? We just started watching Prime Suspect. I've been recording every episode from the beginning, but we always watched other shows. However with all the repeats right now we decided to give Prime Suspect a try, and we liked it. It is just another cops and robbers show, but it is a little different, a bit of humor, not too stupid. Now they decided to cancel it! Why??? My wife has this theory that it seems they are cancelling shows where women are portrayed as a bit more aggressive, like in this show. She might have something there. Another show we liked last season, Chicago Code, was cancelled. It was one of the better shows in my opinion compared to some of the garbage that never seems to go away anymore. There was a woman police chief. Is it because these shows don't get enough viewers? Or are some people complaining about them? I don't know how they determine how many people are actually watching the show. I don't write in to the networks and tell them what I'm watching. I guess somebody does surveys, but they are never correct or conclusive. I'm reminded of the original Star Trek. After the show was cancelled it was discovered that it had a huge following, but in the meantime the producers had taken down all the props, the performers had taken other jobs, and it was too late to keep it going. Sure, later on we had the New Star Treks and other spinoffs like Deep Space Nine, but in the meantime we lost all those years were we could have enjoyed Leonard Nemoy as Mister Spock, William Shatner as Captain Kirk, and all the other characters we came to love. We are also watching Grim and we like that one. It is also a cop show, but with a difference. There are all kinds of 'monsters' popping up, like werewolves, werepigs, and other creatures from folk legends. An interesting show. I just read it was given the green light for the whole 22 episodes. I wish they'd bring a few good Science Fiction shows comparable to Star Trek. I miss those. V never came back. The Event was cancelled. They were good shows. I'm hoping to see Falling Skies again. It ended last season with a cliffhanger. On other news: I finished doing the final edits on The Xandra, Book Four, Lure of Seduction, to be published in February. I still haven't seen the cover for 'Mark of the Cobra,' which is supposed to be published in January. Not much progress in The Xandra, Book Seven, which I'm currently working on. Too much to do around Christmas time. Things should slow down after New Years. My wife got a Sony Reader for Christmas. I still don't have my WiFi hooked up to my computer. I've installed the router and it all seemed to have installed, but apparently neither the Sony Reader nor my Laptop detects a WiFi signal. Something isn't right. So I've downloaded books onto my computer and then transferred them to the Reader. Even that gave my trouble. The Reader updated itself and installed a new software, now the Sony file on my computer does not seem to synchronize with the Reader. I'm constantly getting the message 'The Reader encountered a problem and needs to shut down...blah...blah...blah... I think I'm getting too old for these new gadgets. Can't keep up anymore. I still haven't found a use for all those options on our cellphone. All I really want to do is make a call. I don't need to take pictures or upload music. For that I have a camera or an mp3 player. When I want to know what time it is I look at my watch. Much faster and I don't have to constantly recharge the battery. Progress if fine but sometimes it doesn't make much sense. Who needs to be in touch with everyone all the time? Do we need to report everything we do every moment of the day to our friends or the world? People don't seem to have time anymore to relax or just think about things. Especially the young kids. Why would anyone be on the phone when crossing the street or walking through a door? Or while driving? Even with the high fines and all the accidents people just don't seem to learn or get the message. Maybe somebody should send them a email or a text-message. I'm trying to make use of today's gadgets, like the computer for instance. Without it I would never have been able to write as much as I do or even get my writings published. Having an email account is great. Saves a lot of postage and I can send messages out instantly and receive answers back. But there are drawbacks. The spam mail is definitely annoying. The internet is wonderful for a lot of things, but also a terrible time-waster. I try to limit my time on it. My wife likes her new Reader. She can carry a whole library in her handbag. It is good to have a cellphone in case of an emergency, but to chatter all day long is not for me. There are more important things to be done. I find it annoying and almost insulting when I'm having a conversation with someone and they answer their cell phone during our conversation, leaving me standing talking to the air. If they would at least say ,"Excuse me, I need to answer this call. It could be the President calling me. He needs my services." I could understand that, because that would be more important than our conversation, but that never happens. I guess, we have to find a way to manage our time wisely and not to give in to all these temptations the new gadgets throw at us. Unfortunately, some of us are too weak to resist...like me writing this long entry into my blog. I hope I didn't lose any of my visitors because they needed to answer their cellphone. That would really annoy me.

Merry Christmas

It's Christmas again. A time for love and good cheer. A time to spend with family and friends and to remember the ones who are no longer with us. A time to receive and give presents. It doesn't matter if we are religious, it doesn't matter if we believe the reason we celebrate Christmas, the birth of Jesus Christ 2000 years ago. As long as we believe that there is still love and good will in humanity, and not only the hatred we see every day on television, or read about in the newspapers, the reports about people strapping bombs around their bodies and blowing themselves up, murdering innocent people in their misguided fanatical believe. One doesn't even have to watch the images of those incidents in the Middle East. We have plenty of crimes being committed in our own cities. In Winnipeg every night somebody gets either shot or stabbed. So it is good to forget about those things for a few days and enjoy a peaceful Christmas. Maybe some day it will be like that every day. One can hope.

My next release

I just finished the final edit on my upcoming novel 'Mark of the Cobra', to be released in January 2012. (I can't believe another year is coming to an end!). Surprisingly, even after having it edited by my editor (she does a nice job and catches many errors), I still found a few errors. I also re-wrote the odd sentence when I thought it didn't read right. Hopefully, I finally have a clean manuscript. I sent the 'final-edited' version back to Melange Books yesterday. I still don't have a cover for it, but apparently the art's department at Melange Books is busy right now designing one. I am anxious to see what they come up with. Mark of the Cobra was supposed to be published a few years ago by Midnight Showcase. My editor at that time didn't like it. She didn't think the novel was up to my usual standards. She thought the main character was not a likable person. He was a 'wife-cheating bastard' as she put it. I agreed and pulled it. I still liked the story and after contemplating for a while, I changed a few things. Now, the main character is not married, which means he is not a wife-cheating bastard. The novel contains more explicit erotica than I usually have in my novels. I realized this after re-reading it again, but that's how it is now and I hope my readers don't mind. Everything I write these days does have little or no erotica in it. To be honest, I am actually getting somewhat bored with writing erotica. Either because I've written enough of it of maybe it's just because I'm getting older. Probably both. The last novel I submitted to Melange Books, 'Bullet of Revenge', has no explicit erotica. I still like to write about interactions of my male characters with beautiful women, but the sexual action stops at the bedroom door. It means I have to think a little harder to fill the pages with interesting writing. But even without the erotica the novel ended up to be 102,000 words plus long, which proves the erotica is not really necessary to write a long novel. I haven't made too much progress in the novel I'm busy with right now: Book Seven in the Xandra series. I'm still just below 10,000 words, but I have a skinny blueprint of the novel. Now with Christmas shopping and other stuff I just don't seem to find the time to write. Once this is all over I will concentrate again on my writing.

Raptor's Tooth, Book 3 of Lizard World

This book was supposed to be released in October, but for some reasons it didn't. It is finally here. I'm quite happy with the cover, and the story is great, too. There should be no errors in this one. I read it so many times, even after I got it back from my editor. I was amazed how many errors I still found. Nothing major, but still, they were there. Hopefully, I managed to find them all. It just goes to show again how our minds work. We think we notice when something is amiss, but we don't, because our mind fills in the blanks. Things like she instead of the. Totally amazing and sometimes annoying.
To read more about it or to buy either go to my website Herbert's World http://hegro.shawwebspace.ca (or click on the word in the welcoming paragraph at the top) or click on the cover of the book listed in the right column and it'll take you there.

Tracks in the Snow

What a change from the last couple of days! Two days ago we broke the previous record for the warmest day. It was 9 C above Zero, higher than the record in 1907, that’s over a hundred years ago. Most of the snow we received a week ago melted away. The grass was showing through patches of white. Now the temperatures dropped and last night it snowed. Everything is covered again with the white stuff. I guess it is inevitable; three more weeks and winter officially begins. Mother Nature doesn’t wait that long to bring us snow. In some years we’ve already had snow by the end of October and the snow stayed.
In a way snow is beautiful. It covers all the dirt and makes everything look nice and clean…until the winter enthusiasts make tracks in it with their snowmobiles. I have nothing against snowmobiles, except for the noise, and the damage they do to the grass if the snow isn’t deep enough.

I remember the first snowfall many years ago after we had moved into our first house. Looking out of our living room window I admired the beautiful sight of the clean snow on our front yard. I also remember how upset I was when the neighbor’s boys ran across the yard and spoiled the clean blanket of white snow with their tracks.

I still love to look at new snow and the unspoiled white blanket, but tracks in the snow don’t bother me anymore. I enjoy watching my grandchildren stomping through the snow, rolling it into a huge ball or making a snowman, heck, I even do it.

Here are a couple of pictures without tracks in the snow.

Hunting 2011 Part 2

As is evident from my last blog I enjoy hunting. I hunt ducks, geese, rabbits, grouse, and deer. Rabbits and grouse are scarce these days in our neck of the woods, and I’ve gone hunting for geese only 3 times this year. And, of course, I’ve hunted for deer.
There are many people who think hunting is a cruel sport. Hunters are cold-blooded killers who enjoy killing animals. Perhaps some are, there is always the exception, but most hunters actually love animals. It seems paradox but it is true. I love watching birds, I feed them all year. I get enjoyment from watching rabbits hopping around (as long as they don’t eat my shrubs ^_^ ), and I find pleasure in seeing does with their fawns coming out of the bush and grazing in the fields when there is no hunting season. When I hunt I shoot only what my bag limit allows me. And I eat what I shoot.
Many anti-hunters suffer from the ‘bambi-syndrom’, the Disney version of the animal world. In reality nature is cruel. At least it seems that way. Survival of the fittest...that is the law of the jungle and anywhere else in this world. Some animals are prey and others are predators. It has always been that way. Humans have hunted for their food since beginning of time. Humans have also been hunted by larger, stronger predators as food since the beginning of time. Fortunately, most of those large animals don't exist anymore; fortunately for us Humans. There are still Grizzly and polar-bears, tigers, and lions, but they are no threat to the majority of Humans.
For the Native Americans hunting was a way of life. The tribes moved with the buffalo across the prairies. They hunted deer and other animals for their survival. Parts of the animals were used as food, for clothing, shelter, weapons, and even ornaments and jewelry.
Modern man doesn’t have to hunt for food. We buy our meat in the grocery store, nicely cut, packaged, and labeled. Now we hunt for sport, for enjoyment, but also for the meat. Hunters enjoy venison, ducks, geese. Venison is not always available in stores. The regular stores don’t carry it, and the ones that do ask a hefty price for it. I’ve never seen wild ducks, geese, turkeys, wild rabbits, or game birds for sale anywhere. Heck, you can hardly find domestic rabbits in stores. They taste just as good as chickens, but when they are available they cost a fortune. The price of farm-raised geese and ducks is prohibitively expensive. Turkeys are only available for a descent price at Thanksgiving.
Of course, there are some people who think we shouldn’t eat meat at all.
The Vegetarians.
Poor misguided people. They don’t know what they are missing ^_^. Humans are part of the animal world; actually we are omnivores, which means we eat vegetables and meat. Vegetarians would not have survived for long in the northern parts of the country. The earlier people had no choice but to eat only meat in the winter. Nothing grows in the snow and when the temperature plunges to minus 20 C and colder.
Yes, we have to kill an animal to get the meat, but most hunters try to put an animal down as quickly as possible, make certain it doesn’t suffer. Lions, tigers, wolves, and other predatory animals have no such compunctions. They will rip their victim to pieces, and eat parts of it while it is still alive. Anyone who has the stomach to watch documentaries from Africa can attest to that. I’ve seen two lions chase a gazelle and rip it in half when they caught up with it. I’ve seen the fright in the eyes of a wildebeest when a lion jumped on its back and sank its teeth into its neck. The deer we shoot don’t suffer from that kind of fear.
It is not only the shooting of the animal we enjoy. The pleasure comes from being in the outdoors, breathing the crisp air, walking through the bush following a trail made by deer, elk, or even moose, getting excited when finding a deer track in the freshly fallen snow, looking at the stars on a cold, clear night, seeing the bright disk of the full moon, hearing the coyotes barking and howling in the bush, walking in the dark to our tree stand, spending time with friends, talking about past hunts, successes and missed chances. That is what hunting is all about for us.
Some people play golf, drive snowmobiles, ski, play football, hockey, or any other sport. We go fishing and we hunt. Some hunters may do all those other things, too.
Hunting is a huge industry. It creates jobs. Plenty of jobs and brings in millions of Dollars. Many people don’t think about that. All they see are a bunch of bloodthirsty rednecks with rifles killing innocent, cute animals. That is not what we are. We are regular people who just happen to enjoy hunting, a sport that is slowly becoming more and more difficult to pursue for many reasons.
Chickens are cute in their own way, so are cows, but we have no problem eating chicken eggs or buying a barbequed chicken from the store, we have no problem drinking the milk from the cows or eating steaks or roasts. Pigs are intelligent, more intelligent than dogs, and kinda cute with their snouts and curly tails, but we love bacon for breakfast with our eggs, or ribs (preferable all we can eat) when we go out for supper.
People who are against hunting have their reasons, but we don’t stop them from having them. We have our reasons for going hunting. I have mine and I will go hunting as long as I am physically able to do so. I’m not looking forward to the day when I don’t have the strength anymore to climb my tree stand, or the stamina to walk down a lonely trail through the bush on a cold fall day, looking for grouse or rabbits. But until that day comes I will enjoy every hunt with pleasure and appreciation for the privilege to do so.

Hunting for deer 2011

I spent a week in the bush hunting deer. My son and I and four friends. Our friends have a trailer while my and son and I sleep in my old work van which I transformed into a camper. Nothing fancy, just the bare essentials to make it comfortable. We have a propane heater to keep us warm and to keep the water from freezing. We sleep in sleeping bags. We grill our meat on a barbeque outside, fry eggs and sausages on a cooker inside. It is almost like home. Almost. I have to admit, sometimes it feels a bit cramped, but we are not there to be pampered. We are hunting.
We left Winnipeg at 9:15 am. The highway was good. No snow on the road and we made good time. We arrived at our campsite Thursday, November 10 in the afternoon, at around 3 pm. We’ve been going there for 25 years now. The same place, the same spot. It is in the bush. Nothing but snow-covered grass and trees. And, hopefully, deer.
By 3:30 we sat already in our deer stand for the evening hunt. We had until Sunday evening to shoot a deer with a muzzleloader.
I had a couple of so-so chances but missed. I don’t have a scope on my muzzleloader, which will be remedied next year. A scope is essential.
My son had more success. He bagged a huge buck with a great rack at 180 yards with his muzzleloader. That is quite impressive.
The general deer season started Monday, November 14. I sat in my deer stand at 7:20 am and shot my buck at 7:25 am. It was still a bit dark, but with a scope no problem. I waited until 7:50 to gut the deer. It was not a big buck, but it had antlers and I was happy. It’s been four years now since I shot my last buck. Larger than this one. Every deer hunter wants to shoot a big buck, of course, but the best meat is on smaller animals. Last year I was not successful, but two years ago I shot a nice doe.
After I shot my buck I was elated and sad at the same time. Elated at my success but sad because my hunting season was over. I stayed in my stand until noon, watching over my buck, because of the coyotes. The woods are filled with them and they will devour a downed animal in a short time. And there are also plenty of hungry crows and magpies, and the odd eagle, all eagerly waiting for something to eat. They will clean up the guts within hours, which is a good thing. In nature nothing ever gets wasted.
I went back to our camp at noon and my son drove with the quad to pick up the deer and transport it to our camp. The coyotes and birds will not come to the camp.
Years ago we used to have to drag the deer back to camp, which was a grueling task, especially if there was no snow. A large buck gave you a good workout. There were years when we shot four deer (it was legal), and dragging four large animals was exhausting. But like anything we enjoy doing, there is always a tradeoff. Nothing ever comes easy. If you want something you have to work at it. It comes with the territory.
We love venison. We skin and cut up our deer when we get home, take out the bones and package the meat. De-boning is important, because bones make the meat taste gamey. After it has been packaged it goes into the freezer, to be enjoyed with a glass of red wine in the coming year.
The last couple of days the weather turned cold and nasty. Even though I had bagged my deer, I still sat in my stand during the day, just to enjoy the outdoors and observe the wildlife, and to find out how much traffic my stand gets. A few years back I shot my two deer in the morning of the first day. I spent the rest of the week sitting in my stand and I saw the biggest bucks coming into my clearing. It was exciting but also frustrating, because my bag limit was filled…with a doe and a small buck. But that is part of the hunt. The big bucks always seem to get away…or almost always.
This time I saw only one buck on the last day. There was not much traffic in my clearing, possibly because of the weather. It was so cold the water bottle I carried in my backpack froze solid in two hours. Even my feet began to tingle a bit inside my boots. I did have toe warmers, but they were not enough.
We left our camp Thursday, November 17 at 3:15 pm. It began to snow and we drove home most of the way on a treacherous highway. We arrived home at around 7:30 pm.
Here is a picture of the buck I shot.

First snow

Well, we've had our first snowfall this season. Not much, only about 2 cm, but it stayed on the grass all day. Some areas in Manitoba did get up to 27 cm of the white stuff. I don't mind it too much. I'll be going on my yearly deer hunting trip this Thursday and a little snow is always welcome. It makes tracking the deer easier in case they need to be tracked. But I usually put my deer down on the spot, which means I don't have to track them through the bush. It is difficult to find a spur if there is no snow. But snow means cold...brrr...brrr...Not something I enjoy, especially when I have to sit in my deer stand for hours. It's the feet that get cold first, and after a while the whole body begins to chill. Of course, I shouldn't complain; after all, I'm having fun LOL. Nobody forces me to go into the cold outdoors. I bought some toe-warmers this year, so cold feet should not be a problem. As long as it doesn't rain or sleet...that is the worst. There is nothing more discouraging than a cold wet wind in your face and cold drops of water running down your neck. I'm feeling uncomfortable just writing about it. Too warm is no good either. It is pleasant to sit, but not good for hunting. The deer have to move. The cold weather also causes the bucks to got into rut, which means they'll be chasing the does and won't be so cautious.
I'm looking forward to getting away again for a few days, contemplate life and charge up the batteries. I'm not making much progress with Book Seven of The Xandra. Haven't even written ten thousand words yet. Maybe when I come back from hunting I'll be more anxious to write. Maybe I'll get some new ideas when I'm sitting in my stand waiting for the big buck to come by.
Till next time.

An enjoyable evening

We went to a social last night. The daughter of one of our friends is getting married. 500 tickets were apparently sold and it seems most people came. The hall was designed for about 380 people or so, which meant many people were standing around, but with the dancing it didn’t really matter. It was a social and Halloween party. My wife went as a cat and I went as a policeman. Most people came in a costume, which was nice. Some went a bit too far, like the two guys wearing only briefs. I think they were supposed to be wrestlers. But there were many nice costumes. People went all out with makeup and whatever. There was a group from Wizard of Oz. A couple of tinmen, a lion, and even a guy dressed as a brickwall, not bad if not a bit revealing with his skintight outfit. Some came as zombies, different varieties of cats, policemen and women, gypsies. One guy was dressed as superman, another as a vampire. A Star Trek officer, even Spock was there. And witches. I can’t remember them all. It was nice to see people getting into the spirit of Halloween. Some girls were quite attractive in there costumes. Or to be politically correct I should say Young women. Oh yes, I may be an older guy but that doesn’t stop me from looking at attractive women.
The food was delicious: Perogies, cabbage rolls, meatballs, salads, ham and sausage, and deserts.
I’ve never been to a social with such great food. Usually it is just bread and sausage.
The prizes for the silent auction were also fabulous. A 42inch TV, Jets tickets (hockey), Blue Bomber tickets (football), and many other great prizes. Too bad we didn’t win anything.
One thing that spoiled it for me was the music, or what classifies as music these days. I put pieces of Kleenex in my ears which made it bearable, but it didn’t stop my chest from vibrating to the loud beat. Why does the DJ have to scream into the microphone? I didn’t understand a word he said. Of course, the speakers were shot anyway. Not that it mattered, because I wouldn’t have enjoyed the music even if it would have been played at a normal level. Our parents used to call it jungle music. In those days it wasn’t even as bad as it is now. I don’t understand the words. Pardon me, sometimes I can actually make out one word, like one song had nothing but hot, hot, hot. That’s all I heard. But maybe it was a different word.
I realized again why I haven’t gone to a social for such a long time. I’m as far removed from the music these days as a Neanderthal is from modern man. I’m not sure though if I’m the Neanderthal or vice versa.
I love the Jim Reeves type of Country music, Barbara Mandrell and Ann Murray type of popsongs. I like to dance the waltz, the tango, the foxtrot, rumba. I like to listen to saxophone and the romantic guitar of Liona Boyd for instance, music played on the piano by Richard Clayderman and musicians like him. Music I can relax by, words I can understand, not this loud screeching of steel guitars, the drumming, the screaming of people who can’t really sing. Not for me, but that is just me. Obviously, there are plenty of mostly young people who love it, so who am I to judge? Our parents criticized the way we behaved when we were young and we called them oldfashioned.
One thing I have to say, the young people at the social behaved exemplary. There were not fights or argument. No drunken brawls. So the music was loud. It didn’t really matter. As long as everyone has fun. That is important.
The world changes, people change, customs change, tastes change, in music and everything else. That is how the human race evolves. We can only hope it is for the better.

A nice but cold day

The weather has been kind so far. Just heard about snow in Newfoundland. Here in our part of the province of Manitoba (Winnipeg) we don't have any snow yet, but it is coming. Last night we had minus 4 Celsius. There is ice on the birdbaths. Almost time to take them into the garage for the winter. Today the sun is shining and it looks like a nice day ahead. The weather people promised us about 6 plus today. No frost for tonight.
I've been going fishing quite a few times these last three weeks in Lockport. I live only about 5 minutes away. In Lockport is a lock and dam in the Red River to control the water that flows into Lake Winnipeg. Right now the walleye and other fish are coming up the river to spawn, but they are stopped by the dam, which means a lot of fish at that spot. I've been catching my limit of fish ever time I went. The limit is 4 which incidentally is also the possession limit. Needless to say we've been eating a lot of fish lately. We love fish, so forced to eat them so quickly is not a punishment. The fish I caught were mostly saugers. They are a close relative of the walleye only smaller. 4 fish usually provide about 450 g of filets, just enough for one meal for my wife and me.
In early October when I started going they were biting quite nicely, but it is slowing down now. I catch them casting with a 1/4 ounce jig and a plastic grub. You have to get the jig down to the bottom of the river, because that's where the fish are, but, unfortunately, there are also plenty of rocks and they take their share of jigs. It's what keeps the fishing stores in business.
I also caught 1 nice-sized silver bass and 4 large suckers, but we don't eat them. The suckers are bony and the silver bass taste swampy.
My first fish I caught on my first day in Lockport was a goldeye. It is in the freezer now waiting for more of its fellows. They taste good only smoked because they are so greasy.
Finding a good spot there is sometimes challenging. On some days I fished shoulder to shoulder with other fishermen. Not the most idyllic way to fish. I prefer a quiet place, but I've been catching fish, which does not always happen in a quiet spot on a lake or river. There is always a trade-off, like with most things in life.
Many of the fishermen are Filipino. They like their fish. I've seen the same people coming every time I was there and I got to know some of them. Filipino are friendly people. Often they offered me one of their jigs if I asked what they are using as bait.
Halloween is coming. I remember many uncomfortable cold Halloween evenings with rain or sleet when I used to take our sons for trick-or-treat in the neighborhood. One year we had a snowstorm and the snow stayed for the winter. You never know what Halloween brings, but it looks like it is going to be a nice, beautiful day this year.
I'm waiting for the release of Raptor's Tooth, Book 3 of my Lizard World trilogy. It is supposed to be released by the end of the month.
I haven't made much progress with Book 7 of The Xandra. So far I'm at 5,000 words. Been too busy getting the yard ready for winter and with fishing. But Winter will be here soon enough and I'll have more time to write. I hope.

Ads by Yahoo

The ads on the Yahoo sites are gone! I don't know if the complaining helped, but I am happy Yahoo seemed to have listened to people's concerns and complaints. I understand ads are a necessary evil in today's world. I advertise my books. Without ads readers wouldn't find them, without ads we wouldn't know about bargains and good deals, but when advertising becomes a nuisance and is shoved into our faces wherever we go, then they are not tools to help sell our products but only get potential buyers annoyed and turned off. Advertisers need to know this, and the only way they find this out is if consumers speak up.

Yahoo and advertising

I don't like complaining, but I hate what Yahoo is doing to us again with their advertising. I'm talking about the ads popping up in the center of the postings on the Yahoo groups. It is so hard to read the excerpts and the information other members post. I realize that Yahoo makes its money on advertising, but do we really have to be subjected to this kind of abuse? And I consider it abuse because it annoys me. It gives me heart-palpitations. I wouldn't check out these ads out of principal just because they are so annoying and irritating. I hate all this advertising on TV; they are such a waste of my time, but there I can tape a show and forward the ads. What I hate about Yahoo is that we have no choice. They don't give us a choice to opt out of these ads. I don't mind them when they appear as a sidebar or even on the top as a small strip; I can live with that, but in the middle of the webpage? Come on! Enough is enough. I checked out a forum and found plenty of other upset users. One of the monitors of the forum posted that Yahoo takes a note of these complaints, but will they act upon it? I doubt it.
At first I thought it might be my browser. I use Mozilla Firefox, but when I used Google Chrome and Internet Explorer I got the same thing.
I am totally dissatisfied with Yahoo. Too bad we have no other choice. That is the problem when somebody has a monopoly. They can do what they want. Just like the governments.

2 1/2 Men

We've watched 2 1/2 men from the beginning. At first I thought 'Charlie Sheen? In a funny sitcom? No way! He's a serious actor.' I liked him in action movies. But after watching the first show we actually liked it and became fans. Too bad Charlie had to screw up his life like this with drugs and alcohol. Anyway, we watched another episode with his replacement Kutcher. Maybe Kutcher is funny in other roles, but the character he plays in the new 2 1/2 men series is an idiot. Not funny at all. The episode was stupid but not funny. No genius who managed to make 1.2 Billion Dollars can be such a moron. If the writers and directors don't get their act together the show will bomb. Only another moron can like this new show. I'm saying this and I don't care if it is politically correct.It is almost insulting to expect normal people to watch this. And another thing...since when is farting funny? That's how the last episode ended...with Allan farting. Come on! I've already used idiot and moron. What other word can I use to express what I think about such stupid humor?
I'll give it a couple more chances, but if they decide to carry on this way I will stop watching the show. And I'm sure many other viewers will too. There are other funny sitcoms out there. Modern Family and Mike and Molly are a couple of really funny shows. Good humor.
It is hard to define what is funny and what makes people laugh, but some things are just not funny. Kutcher's character is not funny. I didn't laugh I just cringed.

News about Bullet of Revenge

Just got my contract from Melange Books, LLC for Bullet of Revenge. My publisher likes the novel and it is scheduled to be published in June 2012. That's not even a year away. Hurray. By the way, after reading and editing it three times, my wife read it and found still a bunch of mistakes. Nothing major but there are mistakes hidden in the manuscript. I'm making a note of them and when I get the novel back for a final edit I will fix them. Funny how our eyes and minds sometimes deceive us. Well, I won't have to worry about fixing anything for nearly a year. In the meantime I will write Book 7 in the Xandra series.

Epsilon City and Tarnished Valor

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.

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.

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.

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...

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

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:

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.

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.

Traitors and Patriots

Traitors and Patriots, Book Two in my Web of Conspiracy trilogy is available now from Melange Books, LLC.

To celebrate the release I will give away a free PDF copy to some (may I say ‘lucky’?) readers. Just send me an email to hegro@shaw.ca and mention you saw it on my blog or leave a message on my blog. That will be fine also.

Book Three ‘Tarnished Valor’ will be published next month. The trilogy is in reality one long novel (180,000 words). It was too long to be published as one book. If you haven’t read Book One ‘Death of a Hero’, send me an email, mention it and I will send you a free PDF copy.

Happy reading.

Conspiracy?

I wrote my last paragraph yesterday on the contemporary novel I've been working on. 101,000+ words. Yes, it turned out longer than expected, but I'm not really surprised. Somehow I can't write short novels. There is always so much I want to put into it and it cannot be done in novels in the 60,000 word range. Now I'm again in a dilemma. Should I make two books out of it? The problem with that is it is one story, if I cut it in half neither book stands on its own. The only solution would be Title, Part One and Title, Part Two.
There is a good reason why I write 'Title'. I don't have one yet. I've been tearing out my hair to find a good one. 'Conspiracy' was only the working title. I actually changed it to 'Tangled Web' but it doesn't have the right feel.

Now, of course, comes the work of editing, which means reading it a few times slowly and with critical eyes, looking for spelling errors, use of wrong words, awkward sentences, inconsistencies and stuff like that. Maybe, when I read it, a title will pop into my mind. It happened before.

Once I'm done with everything and it has been submitted to my publisher, I'll carry on with Book Seven of 'The Xandra', which is already in my head.

By the way, Book Two of 'Web of Conspiracy', Traitors and Patriots will be available from Melange Books LLC August 28th.

Here is a sneak preview of the novel without a title. Part of the first chapter:

Chapter One

Frank Hummer watched the couple coming through the doors into the shopping mall. The man was middle-aged, a little heavier around the middle than he should have been; the woman about ten years younger in appearance, nice figure, her auburn hair falling in gentle waves down to her shoulders, her eyes rimmed with dark eyeliner. She appeared elegant and sure of herself. They stopped in front of a shoe store and walked into the store. He came back out a few minutes later and headed for one of the benches in the mall, looking bored. His eyes met Hummer’s for a quick moment. He nodded, lifted his hands with a shrug of his shoulders and said, “Women! They can never make up their minds.” Then he sat down, crossing his legs. Obviously getting ready for a long wait.
Hummer smiled as he sipped from his coffee. He wasn’t married, but he knew men hated going shopping with their wives at the best of times, and looking for shoes could not classify as one of the most exciting shopping trips.
His eyes wandered to the wide doors again when he saw a couple of burly men in white suits and a woman, also in a white uniform, coming into the mall. They looked around for a moment then headed straight for the man on the bench.
He looked up as the trio approached him. Hummer wasn’t particularly interested in what he saw, but something in the two burly men’s behavior kept him watching.
“Can I help you?” the man on the bench asked.
One of the two men in white suits smiled. “Hello, Harry. It’s time to go home?”
“What?” the man asked, obviously taken by surprise.
“Don’t make a fuss, Harry. Let’s go!” Both of the white-suited men grabbed the man and pulled him up.
The man struggled in their grip and called out, “Let go of me, you morons. What do you think you’re doing?”
“Now, now, Harry,” said the woman. “Be a good boy and come without causing a disturbance. You wouldn’t want me to stick a needle into you, would you? I know how you hate needles.”
“What the hell are you talking about? You must have me confused with someone else. Let go of my arms!”
“Harry, Harry. The same thing happened the last time when you walked away. You remember the last time?” The woman’s voice sounded patronizing.
“There was no such thing as the last time,” the man shouted. He squirmed and looked about for help. “Somebody call the police. These people are molesting me.”
“Shut up!” one of the two orderlies snapped. “We’ll have to subdue you if you don’t behave and it won’t be pleasant.”
Hummer noticed a few people stopping and turning heads, but most people seemed to be more annoyed about the commotion than what was actually happening.
Looks like some lunatic escaped again. He appears quite normal, but appearances can be deceiving. I wonder who that woman is. Maybe they weren’t even together. He may have just assumed in crazy mind she was his wife.
The two men in white dragged the struggling and shouting man toward the doors. They almost reached the doors when the auburn-haired woman came out of the shoe store. Looking around, she saw the four people but didn’t pay any attention, only when the man shouted, “Let go of me!” she stopped walking and turned around.
Then she screamed, “Harry, what’s going on?”
“Call the police, Helen!” the man yelled, struggling to get free from the men who held him.
The woman in the white uniform walked up to the auburn-haired woman and said, “I don’t know who you are or what your connection to that man is, but take my advice…don’t get involved or you’ll be sorry.” She poked her finger into the woman’s chest and then rushed after the three men as they disappeared through the doors.
The auburn-haired woman followed them, struggled with the doors to get outside.
Hummer’s interest was aroused and he got up to see where they were taking the man named Harry. When he arrived at the doors, he saw the two burly men pushing Harry into a white van. It looked like a rescue wagon. It had Happy Acres Sanatorium written on the back doors.
As I suspected. An escaped lunatic.
He watched as the van pulled away. The woman the man had called Helen ran after it but she gave up the chase when the vehicle left the parking lot and disappeared into the traffic. She stood among the parked cars, her arms hanging on her sides. Then she turned around and headed back toward the mall, stumbling like a drunk. She appeared scared and shaken. When she walked through the door, Hummer could hear her sobbing. He shrugged and went back to his cup of coffee.
Looking around the mall like a lost child, the woman seemed to notice Hummer watching her and rushed up to him. “Do you have a cell phone?” she asked between loud sobs.
“Yes, I do,” he said. “Can you tell me what happened?”
“Please, please, phone the police for me. My husband has been abducted.”
“That was your husband?”
She nodded, tears streaking her cheeks dark with mascara. “Did you see what happened?”
“Yes, I did. Who were those men?”
“I don’t know.” She sounded hysterical.
“They looked like orderlies from a Sanatorium. They said they were taking him…your husband…back home. Is your husband by any chance a patient in the Happy Acres Sanatorium?”
“Of course not. I’ve never heard of that place. My husband is a professor doing research for Globe Labs Institute. He is a sane as anybody and has no reason to even visit a Sanatorium.”
“They called him Harry.”
“That’s his name. Harry Middler. I’m Helen Middler…his wife.” She sobbed again. “Please, call the police.”
Hummer reached for his cell phone, hesitating. “You know, it may not be a smart idea to involve the police…not yet anyway. Kidnappers usually call within hours demanding some kind of ransom. They always stress not to get the police involved. I would suggest you wait at least twenty-four hours before going to the police.”
She sank into the chair across from him. “How do you know so much about what kidnappers do?” Suddenly she seemed wary.
“Because it is not the first time I’ve dealt with this kind of problem.” He took out his wallet and removed a card, handing it to her. “My name is Frank Hummer. I’m an investigator.”
“A detective?”
He nodded. “A private detective.”
“I don’t have money to hire an investigator. In fact, I have no idea why anyone would want to kidnap my husband for money. We are not rich. We’re just a regular couple with a house and a mortgage.”
Hummer gave her a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry about money, Missis Middler. I’m not in this for the money.”
“Then why would you help me?”
He shrugged. “Out of curiosity.”
She shook her head, not quite sure what to do. She eyed him with suspicion. “Nobody does anything without getting something for it. What are you hoping to get out of this?”
“The satisfaction that I’ve helped someone in distress. I do this out of boredom, Missis Middler. Call it my hobby. You see, I have all the money I’ll ever need…and more.”
“Let’s say I’ll ask you to help me, what guarantee do I have that you won’t give up because you’ll get bored with the case? I mean, without asking for money you don’t really have an incentive to finish it.”
“It’s not only boredom that motivates me. I have a strong sense of justice and I hate criminals. Once I’m on a trail, I’m like a bloodhound. I never give up until I’ve brought the guilty to justice.”
“Then, please, help me.”
Hummer was about to ask her for more information, but before he got the chance a man approached their table and said, “Hey, Rose, I’m glad I caught up with you.”
The woman gave him an astonished look. “Pardon me? You must have me confused with someone else. My name isn’t Rose.”
The man laughed. “Come on, Hot Thighs, I’d recognize you and your red hair anywhere. And I’ll never forget the night we spent a couple of weeks ago. You certainly delivered, babe.” He made cooling motions with his hand. “Wow, you were hot and worth the couple hundred I paid you.”
“What are you talking about? I’ve never seen you before in my life. And one more time…my name is not Rose.” She fairly screamed the last few words.
The man lifted his hands as if defending himself and chuckled. “Whoa. That temper of yours…it got you into trouble before. By the way, here is your handbag.” He handed her a leather bag.
The woman ripped it from his hands. “Where the hell did you get my handbag from?”
“You forgot it in that shoe-store.” The man looked at Hummer, as if noticing him for the first time. “You’d better watch her. Don’t believe everything she tells you.” He grinned. “And hang on to your wallet, buddy."

POV or Point Of View

Today I am again on Mila's blog. I wrote an article about POV when writing a story. Anyone interested in reading about it, please, go to Mila's Blog.

Free pdf copy

Welcome visitors. My other new release last month was Book One, Death of a Hero', from my contemporary thriller trilogy 'Web of Conspiracy'. You can find our more in earlier posts, or go to my website Herbert's Place.
I promised you a free pdf copy of any of my books. Browse through them and just leave a comment on my blog and tell me which one you would like. If you prefer and want to be anonymous then send me an email hegro@shaw.ca.
It's that simple. If you leave a comment on my blog, please make sure you give me information where to send the copy to.
Looking forward to hearing from you.

Am article about Spell-check

I've written an article about Spell-check, that neat program that checks and criticizes whenever you write something on your computer. It also gives you helpful and sometimes misleading suggestions. This article can be read on Mila's Blog here: Mila Ramos

Free pdf copy of Epsilon or Death of a Hero

Welcome to my blog. If you're a new visitor, please, stay awhile and browse through my posts. Maybe even visit my website Herbert's World to see what kind of books I write.

I'll give away a few pdf copies of 'Epsilon' or 'Death of a Hero'. Find out more about the books below.

To get a copy, please, send me an email at hegro@shaw.ca and mention you saw it on my blog. I will pick a few of the emails.

Thanks for visiting and come again.

Camelot

We've been watching the TV series Camelot and I must say I am somewhat disappointed. The episode we watched last night was the one where King Arthur accompanies Guinevere to see her dying father. First of all, King Arthur would have never gone onto a journey like that without a few warriors to accompany him. And I found the whole trip without much sense. In one scene we have Arthur and Guinevere lying on furs at night studying the stars. Come on now, how boring can it get? And Morgan, Arthur's sister? I can't make up my mind if she is evil or not. It is hard to pinpoint exactly what is missing, but there seems to be no tension. I am comparing it with the last series we watched 'Game of Thrones'. Now there was a series that kept you on the edge of your seat. I can't wait for season 2 to start. Too bad about Camelot. I expected more, but I'll finish watching the series.

My website

I updated my website Herbert's World. I wish I had a counter on the site, but my website doesn't allow HTML, which means I can't install a counter. I have no idea if anyone actually visits my website, but I keep it updated anyway. Can't do much with it either. It's not even as good as my blog, which has more features. I shouldn't complain though, because my internet provider 'Shaw' supplies it for free. At least I have the option of having many pages, which is something the blog doesn't have.

Epsilon and Death of a Hero

The day has finally arrived. ‘Death of a Hero’, Book One of my contemporary thriller ‘Web of Conspiracy’ is out. I started writing the book in 2006 and it took two years to finish. Originally the title was ‘Tarnished Valor’ and it was supposed to be the novel that would help me break into the print market, but after trying to find an agent for it I gave up. Time was too precious to waste it finding an agent who would take on a new writer. So I decided to have it published electronically. Since it is such a long novel (around 180,000 words) I made it into a trilogy. Book One: Death of a Hero. Book Two: Traitors and Patriots. Book Three: Tarnished Valor. The books will also be available in print.
I enjoyed writing the book because it was something different for me, since I usually write Science Fiction. I needed to do a lot of research on it, since I’ve never been in Iraq and didn’t know anything about the country and its people, aside from what I read in the media. I learned quite a bit about the country and found it interesting. Originally, I didn’t have any erotica it the novel, but since it seems erotica sells better in e-publishing, I wrote some erotic scenes into it, but not as much as I usually have in my other stories.
My second release this month is ‘Epsilon’, Book One of my Science Fiction trilogy ‘Lizard World’, which is part of a planned series ‘The Spider Wars’. Of course, I don’t know when, if ever, I will write another novel in that series, but it is good to plan ahead. My first published book ‘The Xandra, Daughter of the Dark’ turned into a trilogy, and now I wrote three additional books which will be published in 2012, and I already started Book Seven. There may be more to follow.
My shorter novel ‘Outpost Epsilon’ which is also available from Melange Books, was the forerunner of the ‘Lizard World’ trilogy. Each book is written from a different character's viewpoint, but all three stories meld together in Book Three ‘Raptor’s Tooth’.
Epsilon tells the story from Terrex Stonewall’s viewpoint. He was the main character in ‘Outpost Epsilon’. We’ll also meet his friend Will Peters again.
I’ve always wanted to write about a world populated by dinosaurs. Well, Epsilon is that world.
If you are interested in buying the book, please click on Epsilon.
Click on Death of a Hero, if you are interested in my contemporary novel. Or buy both.

The wages of ignorance

Every action carries consequences. Some not so good. A few days ago I discovered bugs on my pepper plants. I have about 60 plants and most of them were infected. I couldn't find any information anywhere, even the garden center nearby didn't know what they were. They suggested I use 'Sevin' to kill them. So I did. I even sprayed the plants with an insect powder. A few days later some of the little critters turned completely orange. Most of them disappeared.
Now my daughter-in-law, who knows bugs, tells me, to my horror and too late, much too late, these invaders were the pupae of ladybugs. Beneficial insects any gardener wants, because they eat those pesky aphids. Why did I act so hastily? Why...why?
This morning I found a few ladybugs on my plants and my spirits lifted a little, but I also discovered many of my pepper plants had shiny leaves, which comes from the excretion of aphids. Now I have aphids on my peppers and I killed off the very little friends I could use right now.
Pupae and adult ladybugs eat aphids. Ignorance is not always a bliss, sometimes it is painful and costly.
Tomorrow morning I will spray my peppers with a homemade remedy: 2 tsp mild dish detergent, 1 tbsp canola oil mixed with 1 spray bottle of lukewarm water. I won't use 'Sevin', because then I'll kill the few ladybugs I didn't kill.

A comment about juggling

I left a comment yesterday at Ann Cory's blog. She writes about juggling your time and chores. Interesting blog. You can find it here http://anncory.blogspot.com/

Check out the comments.

An interview

Today I'm being interviewed by one of my fellow writers Teresa Jones. You can check it out on her blog:
Interview with Herbert Grosshans

Caterpillar of the Monarch Butterfly

The two caterpillars I found a few days ago in my garden disappeared, but this morning I found one wandering in the walkway of my garden, so I took another picture.

My upcoming new release

Book One of my trilogy 'Lizard World' will be available from Melange Books, LLC by the end of this month. Outpost Epsilon was the forerunner to this trilogy. The events in Lizard World take place 15 years after Outpost Epsilon. I always wanted to write a novel about dinosaurs, well, this is the one. Plenty of giant ferocious lizards, hot jungle, intelligent giant ants and bees, and other aliens who want a piece of the planet Epsilon. High adventure and Space Opera. Oh, and let's not forget hot Erotica.

How I survived cutting my lawn with my new John Deere lawn tractor

Cut my grass today with my new John Deere 21 HP Lawntractor. It’s got a hydrostatic transmission, which means no gears to shift. Just like driving a car, well, almost. The brake is on the left side which takes a little getting used to. I almost decapitated myself when I cut the grass under our plum trees. The branches are really low and I have to duck. Now driving with an automatic transmission is quite easy once you’re used to it. Take your foot off the gas pedal and the tractor slows down or comes to a complete stop.
The reverse works the same way. The first tryout of the tractor went pretty good except I misjudged the speed of the reverse and backed right into my van. Fortunately, only the tires of the van and the tractor touched. No damage done there. Driving forward went also quite well with a few rabbit jumps across the lawn.
Coming back to today. When I came close to the plum tree I wanted to slow down but forgot I was on my new tractor. After driving the old tractor for 18 years operating it was second nature. With my old one I had to shift gears manually and when I wanted to slow down I pushed down the clutch petal on the right side. Well, I did that on my new tractor. Except this was not the clutch but the gas petal. Instead of slowing down the tractor jumped forward. Panicked, I pushed the petal even more which sped up the tractor on a collision course with the tree. But since I’m here to write this post means I managed to stop before my throat was pierced by the thorny branch of the plum tree or before the branch decapitated me. Those were a few heart pounding seconds.
Now I’ve had almost 3 hours practice on the tractor and I’m almost in control of it, but I think it will take a few times of cutting the lawn until working with it will become second nature to me.
Maybe it was the heat that slowed down my quick reflexes and fried my brain a little, because it was hot today. The next few days are supposed to get extremely hot. Good to be inside an air-conditioned home.
Last night we went to the movies. Watched ‘Water for Elephants’. It was quite enjoyable. Reminded me of ‘The Notebook’. Not the same movie of course but in a similar mode…a man remembering his past and a love story.

Monarch Butterfly

When I watered my garden this morning I found a couple of visitors on one of my dillweeds. They are caterpillars which will turn into the beautiful Monarch Butterfly. Needless to say I did not disturb them. They are beautiful in their own right.
If you want to have a look at the adult Monarch Butterfly go to this site:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarch_%28butterfly%29

Canada Day

Yesterday was Canada Day. Didn't do much but watched the fireworks display in Selkirk, like we do every year. Well, this is only our third year since we've been doing it. It was an amazing display again. It is over in about twenty minutes and it takes us longer than that to drive home in all that traffic, but well worth the trouble. We take picnic chairs along,; they are easy to carry and set up. Then we just sit among the other spectators and enjoy the show. The people who run it set up their stuff on the other side of the Red River and it all happens over the water, so there is little danger of potential fires.
It sure is a nice change watching something like that at 11:00 pm where people have fun and are enjoying themselves, especially the young people, instead of watching the evening news and listening to reports about insurgents in Afghanistan blowing themselves up and murdering innocent people or another Canadian or American soldier getting killed while trying to help free the people in that country. Another thing that bugs are the Greeks complaining about not being able to retire at 55 with full pension and having to work more hours to make a living while the country is going bankrupt. One of the demonstrators (a woman) said "we just won't pay back the loans the other countries in Europe are giving us to bail us out." What an attitude. Of course, our postal workers and their union have a similar attitude about retiring at 55 and their 7 weeks paid holiday, while the post office is losing money. Why don't they see the writing on the wall? The mail service is a dying institution. The 'Pony Express' has run its course. People are using email or texting on their phones.
Soon nobody will be using 'snail mail'. The postal workers should be happy they still have a job. Who knows for how long. I didn't have the luxury to retire at 55. I worked past my retirement age, so don't ask me to have sympathy with them. Oh well, got carried away again. Back to my regular writing. I'm at over 50,000 words with my novel (temporary title: Conspiracy) and still waiting for ideas to finish it.
Actually, these last three days I wrote a Paranormal story which I submitted for a contest. The story is 2,750 words long and took me one day to write but a couple of days to whip in shape, which included a little rewriting.

Free book

Thank you for visiting. I'm giving away a pdf copy of The Xandra, Daughter of the Dark. Just send me an email to hegro@shaw.ca and ask for it.
All of my books are available from Melange Books, LLC.

Book One of 'Web of Conspiracy' and Book One of 'Lizard World' will be available in July. Book Two and Three in both trilogies will be published in the months following. If you are interested in finding out when they are available, send me an email and I will notify you.

Cats

We went to see the musical Cats last night at the Rainbow Stage in Winnipeg. What a wonderful show. Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber. It was so relaxing to watch the show and listen to the wonderful music. It’s sure different from the stuff they play on the radio these days or what you see and hear at the New Year’s celebrations they broadcast on TV on New Year’s Eve. We don’t watch that anymore because of the noisy ‘music’. In fact most shows these days play that kind of stuff. Whatever happened to real music? Even country isn’t the same anymore. We’ve got tickets already for Andre Rieu who is coming to Winnipeg in September with his Vienna Orchestra. I can’t wait to see that show.
Like I said, Cats was wonderful. The costumes, the dancing, the beautiful voices of the singers, and the acrobatic performance of some of the dancers provided the audience with an evening of great entertainment. The actors are so talented and put their all into their performance. I wish I were in such good shape. I also wish the people in the audience were as slim as the performers. We had one big woman sitting in front of us, blocking the view, and a few rows down, right in front of me, sat a mountain of… (dare I say it or is it political incorrect? Ah, what the hell, who cares…)…a mountain of blubber. I may sound prejudiced, but big people like that should sit in a different section, not in front of regular sized people. It sort of spoiled it for me a little not to be able to see the whole stage. And we had good seats…or so it seemed at first.
All in all, we had a wonderful time and the evening was over much too soon. I wish they’d bring more plays like that, and, most importantly, at a reasonable price. Some of the shows at the Concert Hall or in the MTS Center are much too expensive and not everyone can afford to go and see them. It’s a shame.

Computers make life easier but make morons out of some of us

My last post reminded me of another incident years ago. I went to the wholesale to buy an item I needed for a job. The clerk checked out his computer and told me they didn’t have it in stock. I happened to look at the shelf behind him and spotted the item. I said, “Sure, you have it. It is sitting right there on the shelf.”
Not bothering to look the clerk said, “No, we don’t have it. It says so in my computer.”
I insisted that he had the item and told him just to look on the shelf. He did. “You are right. That’s the one,” he said.
“Good,” I said. “How much is it?”
“I don’t know. It is not marked.”
“Check your computer.”
He did.
“Well?” I said, “How much is it?”
He gave me the number, so I said, “I’ll take it.”
“I’m sorry, but I can’t sell it to you,”
“Why not?”
”Because according to the computer we don’t have it.”
“You’re holding it in your hand.”
“I still can’t sell it to you.”
“Is it sold to someone else?”
“No.”
“Then what is the problem?”
“It’s not listed in the computer, which means we don’t have it. I’d have to order you one.”
“Okay. Put in the order. I’ll take the one you have in your hand. When the new one comes in you’ll just replace the one you apparently don’t have but was sitting on the shelf behind you all this time.”
He scratched his head. “I can’t do that, because then it is in the computer as stock.”
“So? It means you can sell it to the next customer because now you stock it and you’ll have gotten rid of the one that’s been sitting on the shelf for who knows how long because you didn’t have one in stock.”
“That’s too complicated and doesn’t make sense. If you want it I’ll order it for you and that will be much simpler.”
Well, I needed it so I ordered it. They probably still don’t have any in stock according to the computer, but the one they have in stock is still sitting on the shelf as unlisted and cannot be sold.
Such is the complexity of real life living with computers who were supposed to make life easier.

K.I.S.S.

What ever happened to the K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple Stupid) method?
I had a matching last number on my 6/49, which used to mean a free ticket. They changed that to a $2.00 win.
So I took my winning ticket to the store and asked to exchange it for another play. The clerk asks me if I want to use the $2.00 on my invoice for other stuff I bought as a credit. I said, “No, I want to play it again.” So he said, “This is $2.00 cash.” I said, “I know. Just give me another ticket.” He said, “This is cash. What do you want to do with it?” I said, “Use it for another ticket.” He told me he can’t do that. He has to put it on the invoice as a credit because the winning ticket is $2.00 cash. So I said, “Okay, put it on the invoice.”
Then he gets my new ticket and asks, “Do you want this added to the invoice?”
By now feeling like an idiot (don’t know why) I said, “Sure, put it on the invoice.”
Now, is it just me or am I getting too old and too simple minded to understand the complexity of these transactions? Wouldn’t it have been much simpler just to give me another ticket without this back and forth?
I guess had I asked for cash he would have given me the $2.00 which I would have given back to him for the new play.
Now I finally understand why old people get so frustrated when dealing with young people who still have to learn the art of Simplicity or the old K.I.S.S. method.

Game of Thrones, the last episode for the season

It is always sad to have something you like to come to an end. The season finale of Game of Thrones ended with a surprise, and I can't wait until Fall when season 2 carries on with the story. Some people were disappointed, even enraged, with last episode's ending, but the series is following the book the way George R. R. Martin wrote it. What a wonderful show it is. It is Fantasy at its finest but still close to reality. The actors are great and make the story believable. None of the stupid humor you find in some shows. Everything is taken seriously and no tongue-in-cheek stuff either. George R. R. Martin is surely a great storyteller.

Boston beats Vancouver

Okay, so the Canucks lost. Too bad, but that is life. We don't always get what we want or wish for. It would have been nice. Maybe next time.
But what I can't understand are those idiots who can't take losing. They surly are sore losers. Why would any normal person set fire to cars, buildings, smash windows, or just go crazy because his or her team lost a game. It is only a game. The world is not coming to an end.
I watched it on TV as some of these morons jumped on cars; one guy used his feet to do damage to the car, others were fighting. What kind of people are they? I can never understand how anyone can lose his (her) temper and get so violent, lose total control over their ability to think straight. Are they possessed by some evil entity or are they just plain crazy? I would throw these idiots into jail and let them rot there for a while. Give them water to drink and dry bread to eat. And no TV, no books. Just let them think about their stupidity and lack of body and mental control. And, of course, make them pay for the damages.
Those are the people who give sports-fans a bad name. One only has to think about those troublemakers from England who go from one soccer-game to another and steer up trouble. They have been banned from going to these games. People like that are not fans, they are actually criminals and need to be put in jail, because they do endanger other people's lives.
All I can say: It's only a game. There has to be a winner and a loser. Enjoy the game and don't worry who wins. After all, not everything is about winning, it is about enjoyment of the moment.

Game of Thrones, Episode 9

Wow. I didn't expect that. The ending of Episode 9 was shocking, to say the least. I am not going to reveal it here. It would spoil it for others. I can't wait to watch the next installment. I suspect Season 1 is coming to an end now. There might be only 1 more episode, but the show has been renewed and I'm looking forward to next season. Sometimes a good show comes along and Game of Thrones is certainly one of them. With so much crap on TV these days it is refreshing to watch something as different as this show. Unfortunately, sometimes these kind of shows are not popular. One never knows what people like. I'm still disappointed about 'Chicago Code' not being renewed for next year. There was another great show and I can't understand why it didn't make it. Go figure.

About writing a mystery

I have to admit I was wrong. I thought I had everything mapped out in the contemporary novel I am currently writing and I figured there would be no surprises waiting around the corner for my characters. Well, I should have known better. Sometimes the characters want to go their own way. I'm nearly at 40,000 words right now and don't know exactly where I'm going with the novel. I guess now I have to wait for more inspiration. There is no erotica in this novel, even though there are opportunities for my main character to have a sexual relationship, but I am steadfast with my resolution not to have any explicit sex scenes in this story. Sure, they would fill pages, but it is not about filling pages. I'm happy with what I've written so far, but now I need something surprising, something unexpected. I'm as anxious to discover that as my characters are. Where are you, Lady Muse? Hello...Let's have some ideas here.

My books on Smashwords

Here is the link to see all my available books on Smashwords

Smashwords

A few of my books are now on Smashwords. They are available in various formats including Kindle, LRF (for Sony Readers), and Palm Doc


The Xandra, Book One, Daughter of the Dark

The Xandra, Book Two, Mother of Light


The Xandra, Book Three, Goddess of Life


Stars in Chains (Book 1) Slave

Stars in Chains (Book 2) Liberator

Of course, Orion, Symbiont of Passion, is also available on Kindle from Amazon.

Episode 7 of Game of Thrones

Just finished watching another episode of 'Game of Thrones'. This is one show I'm glad I started watching. It is a bit confusing sometimes, to keep all the names straight, but nevertheless, it is a great show. Plenty of action, intrigue, erotica, and a good story. The ending of tonight's episode was surprising and I can't wait for the continuation. It is fantasy, to be sure, but it isn't any different than watching a movie about knights and kings from hundreds of years ago. Certainly a wonderful change from all the cop-shows and CSI shows. Or even all those reality shows.
The Borgias has come to an end. My wife and I really enjoyed that one also. That was not fantasy but taken from history. A bit of an eye opener about the corruption in the church and the power-play and politics that goes on, probably still to this day. Makes one wonder if the religious leaders truly believe what they preach or if they are only in it for the power and prestige their positions bring.
By the way, I've written around 22,000 words in my new novel so far. Right now it has the title 'Conspiracy', but that will change once the story is finished.

Thunder and Lightening

Talk about Mother Nature. We had quite some hail today. Our lawn was covered with ice-pellets. A small mountain stayed on the grass for hours after the storm was over. Some of the flowers on the flowerbeds were damaged, but they'll grow back. Luckily, I haven't planted my garden yet, otherwise I'd be singing the blues right now, lamenting the loss of my tomato and pepper plants, but they are still patiently waiting to be planted...safe in their little pots. That is always part of my fear after planting my garden...hail.
Apparently, a tornado touched down in St. Adolph, but no damage was done. Crazy weather. Another system is supposed to move in for Monday.

Where is Summer?

Last night we had minus 3 Celsius. Been covering up our flowers for the last three nights, but tonight the low temperature will be 7 plus. We saw our first hummingbird at the feeder today. We hung out the feeder last week. The North American Finches have been here for a while now. They probably are wondering where the warm weather is. The chokecherry tree is is full bloom as is the crab-apple tree. Maybe next week it will be warm enough so I can plant my tomatoes, peppers, and seed my garden. The summer and the growing season are so short. There isn't much time for things to grow. But we shouldn't complain. So many parts of Manitoba are under water, people have lost their houses and cottages. And all the tornadoes in the US. Terrible. So much property destroyed and so many people killed. One wonders what is going on. Mother Nature is a strong force and we are nothing but puppets and toys when she unleashes her powers and lets them run rampant.

Orola, Warrior Priestess

It seems yahoo does not put the whole link onto my posts or perhaps it is the Amazon site itself, because the link published on the post takes you to the Amazon Kindle ad site.
Well, anyway, anyone interested please, follow this link to get to my books at Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/s/qid=1243894445/ref=sr_nr_af_1?ie=UTF8&field-is-available-new=1&rs=&sort=relevancerank&unfiltered=1&rh=n%3A!1000%2Ci%3Astripbooks%2Cp_27%3AHerbert%20Grosshans

Orion on Kindle

Orion, Symbiont of Passion is available now from Amazon on Kindle. Here is the link.


http://www.amazon.com/s/qid=1243894445/ref=sr_nr_af_1?ie=UTF8&field-is-available-new=1&rs=&sort=relevancerank&unfiltered=1&rh=n%3A!1000%2Ci%3Astripbooks%2Cp_27%3AHerbert%20Grosshans

Cancelled TV shows

I just saw the list of cancelled Television shows and it sucks. It seems all the shows I’ve been watching won’t return.
The Chicago Code. One of the best Crime dramas in a long time. Cancelled.
The Event. Loved the show. Cancelled.
V. I thought it was great. Good drama, no stupid jokes (the same in the above shows). Cancelled.
Medium. It’s been running for a long time and my wife didn’t care for it anymore. I still liked it. Cancelled.
Off the Map. A quirky show about doctors in the jungle. We enjoyed it. Good acting and action. Cancelled.
Shit, my Father says. Cancelled. Too bad. I like William Shatner and I thought he was funny in the show, even though a bit crude, but that was his character in the show.

Fortunately, another of our favorite shows, The Vampire Diaries, is coming back. Thank goodness for small favors.

We’ve been watching ‘The Borgias’ and ‘Game of Thrones’. Those are two great shows. Plenty of action, intrigue, erotica, and no stupid jokes. I hate those shows with stupid jokes, especially when the shows are serious dramas.
If I want to watch comedy I will, like Mike and Molly, Modern Family, Big Bang Theory. We love those and hope they are coming back. We used to watch 2 ½ men, but it was beginning to get lame. Maybe the new show with Ashton Kutcher will breathe new life into it. However, I have a feeling it won’t be the same without Charlie Sheen.

The End of the World

Unbelievable! It is always amazing how many coots and idiots live among us. How many times has somebody predicted the End of the World? It seems they haven’t learned yet because they keep popping up. This evangelist spent his entire retirement fund ($144,000.00) to announce on billboards that Judgment Day is on May 21st, 2011 (Yesterday). It was supposed to start with an earthquake and then continue around the world every hour with another one until the Earth was destroyed. Well…we are still here. What is he going to do now? Ask for donations from the other idiots who believed him? Perhaps some day one of these Doomsday-Sayers will get it right, who knows.
I remember quite a number of years ago, one of these ‘prophets’ gathered all of his followers on top of a mountain and waited for Jesus to pick them up. They gave away all of their possessions. Imagine how they felt when nobody came to pick them up and now they had no place to return to. Maybe they are still waiting... How can anyone feel sorry for them?
History is full of stories like that. It seems, people never learn. I am always puzzled that there is no shortage of people who believe these charlatans. If they don’t wait for somebody to physically take them to a better world, they commit suicide to speed up the process. Are people really that dumb or ignorant?
Unfortunately, the answer is Yes. One only has to look at the religions on this planet, the big, so-called ‘True’ religions and the cults, the smaller groups. What do they actually believe? They believe that there exists a better world than the one we live in. They believe the world will be destroyed some day and all the faithful will be saved and taken to this better world. It's a wonderful dream. Most of us dream of a better world. Is it because this one is so bad? Who is to blame for this bad world we live in? Why would the next one be better when everyone who makes this one bad will also be there? Wouldn’t it be better to try to make the one we have a better place instead of dreaming about a fantasy world that may not exist?
Something to think about.
The Mayans predict the end of ‘the world we know’ will happen in 2012. According to the Mayans this happens periodically every so many thousands of years. Scientists speculate about Earth’s possible destruction by a huge meteor that might collide with our planet some day.
It’s all speculation. I am more inclined to believe the scientists than the writings in old books or the visions of so-called prophets or seers.
But then again…I might just be wrong. In the meantime, I write my stories and my own visions of humanity’s future. They all start with the word ‘if’.That is my contribution of trying to make the world we live in a better, more pleasurable place, to provide readers with a place they can escape to for a few hours. Sure, the worlds I create are imaginary, but no less real than the one promised in old books.

Tulips in the Garden

There is nothing more beautiful and uplifting than a flowerbed. Tulips are one of the first flowers to appear. We don’t have many, only a few. They’ve been in bloom for a couple of days now. Some are yellow, some red, and some yellow with red stripes.
Our plum tree is also in full bloom. Perhaps in other parts of Canada flowers and trees bloom earlier in the year, but here in Manitoba it is cold for many months. We’ve only had warm and dry weather for a few days now. Last week we still had frost at night.
Next week I want to plant my vegetable garden. The tomatoes I grew from seeds in the basement are developing nicely but are still spindly and tall. Can’t compare them with the stocky, thick-stemmed plants the garden centers are selling. I don’t know how they prevent their plants from becoming leggy. I read on one site to cut the top leafs and the plants won’t shoot up so fast, but I can’t see the gardeners, who grow plants on masse, to take the time with every plant. It is fiddly and time-consuming. There has to be a better and easier way.
I shall enjoy my tulips as long as they bloom. Sadly, they don’t last too long, but our lilies are coming along fine. Some of them are quite beautiful. My wife adds more every year and they do multiply. Unfortunately, not all of them survive the cold winter.
The dandelions are also in full bloom, but they are a nuisance flower and I shall be spraying them next week, weather permitting. I tried to make a salad with dandelions leafs one time, but I think I will have to be quite desperate to make it again, even though they are supposed to possess healing qualities.

Dual Visions

'Dual Visions' has a new cover. The book contains 2 novellas. 'The Cliffs of Time' is a time travel story, and 'Orion, the Hunt' is a Science Fiction Adventure story. Here is the new cover:




If you want to read more about it click on this link: Dual Visions