I know it's April Fool's day, but there's no foolin' in this letter. I believe it's also Debbie Reynolds' birthday. My grandfather and a granddaughter also have birthday's today.

I saw a friendly face at the DMV. Actually, they were all friendly--it's the small town charm. What I mean to convey is that I saw a friend at the DMV. He told me that he had just completed reading book 6 in the Tomahawks and Dragon Fire Series. He did mention some of his favorite characters, and noted Iago did not have a lot to say -- which I found funny, because the Iago character lacks the power of vocal speech. Of course, we're both very amusing gentlemen, or pretend to be.

What was I doing at the DMV? After many weeks of being harangued by wife and daughter and an intense 3 day spree of auto lot combat, I had at last procured wheels for the youngest to take back to college. Needless to say, I had not been looking forward to the ordeal. Frankly, a nice jaunt to Mordor or the dentist's office--or a dentist's office in Mordor--would've been more welcome.

The car salesmen were all quite affable--it's what they do, or should do. (Oh, should I write a story about a belligerent salesman who simply does not want to sell his cars at all but wants to keep them stacked on his lot as his own gleaming possessions, only selling when circumstances or some other personal factor force his hand? Just an idea). The difficulty came in getting straight answers. We ended up purchasing a car from the lot where the young salesman was naive enough to give us answers to the questions asked without trying to deflect the conversation another way or trying to get me to focus on monthly payments instead of price. He was very helpful in getting me the breakdown of all the costs involved, rather than concealing the critical information as long as possible--which seems to be the strategy of most of the salesmen. His cooperative rather than adversarial approach was refreshing, and contributed mightily to our decision to purchase there. I let his boss know that we were pleased to deal with him.

_____

Writing continues. I've sent another installment of the bugmageddon novel to my Skirmish Team. They're also going over the submissions on the flash fiction story to choose a winner and a possible runner-up as well. Those results should be in the April 15th Newsletter.

The short stories I've submitted for publication are getting responses. So far, I have received a "no," a "very likely," a "yes," and one remains under consideration. So I'm hoping three of the four will go to press over the next few months.

Reader Quote of the Week (about what makes my writing compelling): "I think because the reader gets to know the characters and care about them (invested), you constantly place them in danger and who can put the book down?"

If you haven't checked out my books, here's a good place to see them all.

I present for your enjoyment these free or discounted books:

Speculative Fiction direct from the authors

Fantastic Fantasy MegaSale

Finally, today is like any other day, only moreso. Trust no one.