Exhaustion laden with disappointment -- that was my week.

It was trial by day and play practice by night. 4 days of trial: A young victim's word against that of the defendant. Although her testimony rang true and the experts supported her, the defendant's wife and daughters testified that he was a saint and couldn't possibly do such a thing--and the jury put in the absolute minimum effort, refusing to look beyond the fact that no physical evidence existed (or could exist), finding the defendant not guilty in less than an hour--that was the salt in the wound. I slept poorly as the muse of slumber refused to brave the swords and bayonets of evidence and argument battling over the field of my consciousness. I'm still wondering when the what ifs and whys will stop tormenting me.

Saturday, I finally got to write. Like cool water to a parched soul.

Let me share three excerpts from book 2 in the series for your enjoyment:

He did feel—briefly—the teeth of the beast clamp down upon his midsection before those manifold sharpened daggers severed his

body in twain. -- Power to Hurt, p. 1.

“No. You are right. We are not that brave and stealthy. Heroic deeds and impossible feats are not for us. We are deaf to their calls. Like Odysseus tied to the mast, we cannot hearken. We choose to do the small things because we are small men who will not be detoured from the small deeds upon which we have set our small hearts. As for us and our house, we choose cabbages.” -- Power to Hurt, p. 5.

“Blacksmith, gunsmith, wood carver, what other skills are you hiding?" Velisha asked of Lee.

“Finder of dragons,” Lee smiled, “for those foolish enough to seek them.” -- Power to Hurt, p. 92.

I know, that last dialog tag (or not dialog tag done as such) should've been done differently, but my skirmish team wasn't enrolled at that point, and I take full responsibility for it.

As for the writing of book 6, I've finished chapter 9. I hope to complete chapter 10 this week, but things being what they are with my schedule, I'm not optimistic. It is highly unlikely that I'll be able to meet my June deadline for completion.

_________

Did you hear about the country whose scientists plan to send a rocket to the sun? After being warned that the sun would melt or burn the rocket as it got close, the scientists said they had solved that particular problem: They would go at night.

I'm not gonna hide it. I laughed out loud about that.

________

I did go to a movie. My wife insisted. We went to Dungeons & Dragons with Chris Pine et al and arrived five to ten minutes after it had already started. For clarification: Mr. Pine didn't go with us; he was in the movie. I enjoyed the show. On the scale of d4 to d20 (with d6, d8, d10, and d12 in between): I give it a d10 for entertainment value and only a d6 for the annoyance factor. Although entertaining, I did find much of it predictable--including what was going to be featured in the post credit clip. I put overall annoyance rating at d6 -- but there was one thing that was easily a d12 when considered by itself: the combat/fighting scenes. The direction of those scenes was choppy, confused, difficult to watch, and disappointing. As for the characters, I give them a d10. I may elaborate on my blog--if I get time. I liked the main characters--especially Chris Pine's. There were some funny moments--just not as many as the writers and director attempted. There were poignant moments that I thought were well done and not too overblown--except for the last one. The film has its flaws, but I would enjoy watching it again, and that's the true measure of a movie.

______________

Finally, let me give you a second chance at these free and reduced books:

Soar with these Flights of Fantasy

Dig into these Fantasy giveaways

_______________

Instead of reminding you to post reviews, let me prod you with a bit of Mark Twain on the topic:

“I haven’t any right to criticize books, and I don’t do it except when I hate them. I often want to criticize Jane Austen, but her books madden me so that I can’t conceal my frenzy from the reader; and therefore I have to stop every time I begin. Every time I read Pride and Prejudice I want to dig her up and beat her over the skull with her own shin-bone.”

****************

Honor Roll with special thanks to these subscribers:

Lois for her stunning review and heroic defense of The Shrinking Zone.

JBudd for reviews of Threading the Rude Eye, In Death Bedrenched, Power to Hurt, The Shrinking Zone, Clamorous Harbingers, Promise of Carnage and Flame, and Truth in Flames

Colleen for leaving ratings for several of my books on Amazon

Rob for leaving a review of Threading the Rude Eye

Michael for leaving reviews of Threading the Rude Eye, and The Shrinking Zone

Mayra for a review of Threading the Rude Eye

Gloria for a review of Threading the Rude Eye

ShannonC for a review of In Death Bedrenched

Jan for reviews of Threading the Rude Eye, Power to Hurt, Clamorous Harbingers, Promise of Carnage and Flame, In Death Bedrenched, The Shrinking Zone, Truth in Flames, and Justice in Season.

Bonnie for a review of In Death Bedrenched.

PAR for a review of Threading the Rude Eye

-There are other reviews of my books, of course, but I don't know whether those reviewers are also subscribers to this newsletter.