Before I start, free books involving birds, (I'm not joking).

Also my friend Chris had me on his show Liminal Spaces. We talk my top 10 favorite books of all time, a little about my writing, and fun game we used to play called scare game. You should check it out.

A couple months ago, I did a survey to ask you about what content you like to see on the list. A lot of you said you want my Personal Stories, Funny Lists, with In-depth Book Info and Futurism posts, and the message was loud and clear, keep political views to myself (though I imagine it wouldn’t take a political scholar to figure out which way I lean). So, I’ll try to write at least one personal story, one funny list, one in depth book info, and one Futurism and science article each book release.

In case you are wondering, I only write new emails every time I release a book. The reason you are getting them once a week is because I have an auto sender that sends out a message weekly of everything I’ve written since starting the list. So, you can tell when it’s book release time because you’ll get two emails from me in one week. Then after the new email comes out I pop it on the auto queue so new people on the list can get the classics like 25 Cult Ideas (which I wrote in 2010 but still continues to amuse years later). You can also generally tell what book I was promoting when I originally wrote the email (with some exceptions, when I switched to Sendfox, I had to redo some of the headers and footers because it didn’t migrate over).

I sometimes like to put books (like Office Maxi) up to the top of the autoqueue  because it would take years for new subscribers to get to those via the auto emails), so that may explain why some of you may have gotten the same email twice. It depends on where you are on the queue and when I plop it in. However, if you get the original email, and then the autoqueue email that will be the last time you’ll ever get that particular one, because when someone finally gets to the end. I have a little joke for you (some of you OG subscribers when I switched from Mailerlite to Sendfox are getting close to end). Anyway, if you get to the end, and want to go through it all again, let me know.

The rest of the survey, like all my surveys, asked about your reactions to a silly scenario, which was based on a real-life event that happened to me (no, not the alien part). Basically, it was a survey about what you’d do if you were sitting in your car and saw people running then found out it was aliens.

Basically, I was sitting in my car after having come down the Rio Rancho hill at the intersection of 528 and Ellison Road (which also happens to be where my high school is located). For those unfamiliar with the Rio Rancho hill, it’s steep and short and I’ve gotten my car going pretty fast down that thing just by coasting and very shortly after you get to the bottom there is a traffic light.

Now, if you are like me, I have a guess that you are at least a little because you read my books, you’ve seen your fair share of disaster and apocalypse movies. You’ve probably seen aliens zap major cities in Independence Day or the world freeze in Day After Tomorrow, and maybe even saw the lava apocalypse, whatever the hell that was of 2012.  I have a personal unscientific theory that people are being trained by those movies and fiction in general to look at what are people running from, not what are they running toward.

Case in point, when I was minding my own business, listening to Metallica or whatever heavy metal music I was into at the time, I saw a bunch of people get out of their cars and run. Seriously, it was at a red light and people were just getting out of their cars and running. My first instinct (trained by Hollywood disaster films) was to turn around and see what they were running from and if you think I’m unique 89% of you who took my survey said you’d do the exact same thing, turn to see what people are running from. The other more sensible 13% decided to put the pedal to the metal and drive away.

I’m pretty sure all of us have seen the movies and know what to do in that scenario. I’m sure you’re wondering, what would cause a bunch of people to get out of their cars and run at a traffic light in Albuquerque? When I looked behind me, did I see a dragon burning the hilltops? A megatsunami that made it from the coast to the high desert of New Mexico? A portal with orc armies rushing out? Or maybe it was aliens or undead?

It was nothing. There was nothing behind me but more cars piling up to the intersection wondering why traffic was halted. However, when I turned to see what people were running toward, it all suddenly made sense, why people all got out of their car at the same time and started running.  

Because I was playing loud music, I failed to hear the car that must have been going pretty fast down that hill (that curves by the way, so you don’t see the traffic light until you’re close). They must have swerved to avoid plowing into us people stopped at the light and went off the side of the road and flipped a couple times. There was a banged up black camaro upside down not more than a car length or two from where I was sitting. The people getting out of their car and running were doing it to check on the driver who I noticed was thankfully wearing his seatbelt and sitting stunned upside down in his car.

By the time I realized what was happening, there were plenty of people at the scene with cell phones out calling emergency services, so at the point where I discovered the tragedy, I was just another rubbernecker holding up traffic and decided to continue on my way. But I think about that day and wonder if movies taught me to look at what people are running from rather than what they are running towards. What I witnessed that day was a whole lot of people helping another person in need and not an alien apocalypse.

As for the survey, it was aliens, and the responses were pretty split evenly from people jazzed about aliens coming for a visit to those heading for their weapon filled bunkers and those who wish they were here to take that one politician away (you know who I’m talking about). Including a few of you just ready to fall in love with the alien who looks human, but glows occasionally and have a Hallmark Christmas movie affair. 

When I reveal that the aliens are here to harvest Earth’s one unique natural resource K-pop artists, 100% of you said, “finally :)” I’ll let you interpret the results on your own on what that means. And finally, I got some questions from all of you that I will answer in a future Ask Me Anything Email (psst… there is still time to ask me more questions if you want).

Also, drumroll, Misfits of Carnt 4 is out. Get it direct from me or at your favorite online vendor.

Mount Hood bellows an unnatural smoke while Toby stumbles upon a cavern with an ancient prophecy. The pictographs feature his friends, the real heroes. He had always thought he was a supporting role. Until he saw an image of himself holding a powerful artifact.

Meanwhile, the moon mage Jenny cuts a deal with Petra to resolve her death problem. But like all deals with the lunar wizard, there’s a catch with a cost that may not be worth the price of her life.

Turns out there's a cache of magical weapons that just might save the world from an apocalypse that could leave both Earth and Carnt in ruins.

Read Misfits of Carnt 4 today!

Books to Consider

They told him peace was worth any cost. Even genocide.

Read Ashes of Xyphos today!