But from the trance she sudden broke-

 The trance, or death into promoted life;

At her feet a shivered yoke,

And in her aspect turned to heaven

 No trace of passion or of strife-

A clear calm look.

--From "America" by Herman Melville

Another anthology with one of my short stories just came out.

Goblin Souk is herefeaturing my story, "A Soldier's Bargain."

I'm currently awaiting word on a sword and sorcery submission and I'm working on a pirate story. I've got a lot of traveling to do this month, including attending the Writers Cantina in Utah to mingle with writers in all stages of progress. I elected not to be a presenter this year, but I'll be on a few low key panels.

As part of my celebration of Independence Day, I've reduced the prices on most of my ebooks to $3.99 and Truth in Flames, book 5 of the Tomahawks and Dragon Fire Series to just $2.99.

It's the book that covers the Declaration of Independence and the battle in words and deeds to set forth and preserve the important truths. You'll hate yourself for not getting it - or not. Anything's possible. It's the book that made Iago a favorite character for some, or maybe that was the previous book. It's hard to keep track of the exciting adventures.

Reading:

I recently finished The Art of the Deal by Donald Trump. I'm also part way through Think Big by Bill Zanker and Donald Trump. I actually stopped reading that one to instead read TAOTD. I found Zanker's parts of TB to be a little annoying. What he had to say was good; it was the narrative voice that I found off-putting. Anyway, if you want to understand the way Trump works, read The Art of the Deal. It's not a list of secrets and lessons for deal making. It's Trump talking about various big deals that he made. The lessons are there, but they're not spooned out.

If you enjoy humor and the outdoors, try A Fine and Pleasant Misery by Patrick McManus. He has a whole series of humorous short stories. I think I've read them all, but that was 20 years ago. I enjoyed visiting these stories again, although they didn't have quite the same impact that the did the first several times I read them.

Sudden update: I just got word that Raconteur Press wants to publish my boys' adventure book. Yippee!

Music:

A head to head battle from one of my playlists. Which would you choose: "Castle Walls" by Styx or "Moonshadow" by Cat Stevens?

Fun Fact:

Time doesn't allow me to present the fun fact--or the history morsel--I had intended, so let me give you a link to the bit of history I shared on the blog this week. It's Christmas in Jerusalem 1099.

Check out the Summer Book Bash for free deals

Don't miss these July Fantasy and Sci-fi giveaways.

Notwithstanding the meme below, remember: We learn by doing, and we have to expect to make some mistakes along the way.