Shadowed Inheritance is Coming

Shadowed Inheritance, Consortium Origin Tales #1

Shadowed Inheritance is Coming

A Consortium Origins Tale, Book #1

Shadowed Inheritance is Coming, that is to say, Shadowed Inheritance gets released in July 2024. I’m excited about this book. It’s a prequel story of the Consortium Series. OMG, I can’t believe it. It’s nearly done. I still have a few tweaks to make to it, but it’s mostly finished and ready for publication.

Synopsis

With the Consortium, no one is safe from their favorite hunting grounds. The trouble is… it includes the entire globe and no one can hide when they select their next target. Will that be you or one of your loved ones?

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Making Progress with the Consortium Prequel

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June 9, 2024

It’s June 9, 2024. I just realized it’s been six or more weeks since I last wrote, and I apologize. Where has the time gone?

This is a quick note to inform you that May was an extremely hectic month. I got little done with working on my next book. Sure, there’s been progress, but I’m not happy with how much I got done. I’m still determined to get this book out by Summer’s end. Cross your fingers and wish me luck.

A quick note for April

Things have settled down even more over the past couple of weeks. I’m spending less and less time with paperwork, doctor follow-ups, and Medicaid shit for my domestic partner. I’m feeling less stressed as a result. Nice! I’m now trying to catch up on sleep to reawaken my creative mind. I’m also doing something else to achieve that goal.

I’m working on a short prequel novel in the Consortium series. I aim to write a short novel introducing the series’ main characters. I plan to offer it for cheap or free as a lead-in to the rest of my books. So far, it’s coming out well. I’ve written 14 out of approximately 20 chapters. I hope you will embrace it as much as it deserves, considering I’ve been off the writing cart for the past year.

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Did you see the North America solar eclipse?

Solar Eclipse

Here, where I live, I should have seen the solar eclipses’ totality. Did I? Fuck no. The day before and after the solar eclipse, the skies were clear of all cloud cover. It would have been beautiful. The day of? Heavy, thick clouds covered the entire region. Mother Nature was certainly screwing with us. All it did for us was get dark for a few minutes, light returning minutes later. It wasn’t worth us getting the solar eclipse glasses. It’ll be 24 years before it crosses North America and over a hundred years before it crosses above my home. I plan on being there for that event. 😊

total solar eclipse diamond ring
Photo by Beth Fitzpatrick on Pexels.com
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Winter Solstice 2023

Winter Solstice 2023

Today is the shortest day of the natural year, Winter Solstice 2023. Starting tomorrow, the sun will rise a little earlier and set a little later in the day. It’ll be slow at first but gradually go longer and longer until Spring arrives.

To me, this pattern of Earth’s trip around the Sun represents the pattern of life. We are born and grow taller and stronger until we reach a steady balance between birth and death. That period is different for each of us, but eventually, it moves past that, and just as the days get shorter, so does our remaining life. For me, the Winter Solstice 2023 is a rebirth of sorts. I believe when we die, we do not fade into oblivion. Our consciousness rejoins the universe we are made of and reborn again. What that rebirth entails, no one knows, including me. I just know we will… I will. The cycle repeats forever.

Does this mean that the stardust we rejoin is heaven? Maybe? I won’t speculate. Does this mean everyone who dies with a stain on their soul or not returns to stardust? Yes, they do. If there is such a thing as sin in the universe, their sins are cleansed, and they, like the rest of us, return to the cycle of rebirth.

For the here and now, it’s what we do with the life we are living and what we do with it. I am trying to leave it a better place than when I was born into it. Others tend to go the other way. That’s sad, but I can do little about that. I can only do what I can, which is take care of myself and then try to care for others. If I don’t have the strength and wherewithal to care for myself, how can I possibly care for others?

Enjoy the winter solstice and the holiday that follows. And if you are looking to do something, might I suggest reading a good book? Here’s a suggestion. Read one of mine.

https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/Richard Verry

Happy Thanksgiving 2023


Happy Thanksgiving 2023

Just a quick note to wish everyone here in the U.S.A. a Happy Thanksgiving 2023.

As most of you know, it has not been a good year for my partner and me. Between her disease and me, an engineer, taking on the role of a full-time home caregiver has stressed the household too many limits. But that’s alright. She’s still with us and, hopefully, will be for several years to come.

Her neurologist informed us at our last appointment that there is no way to predict how much time she has left. Unlike other fatal diseases, they can chart no metrics on a timeline to approximate how long she has left. It could be six months, six years, and anything between and even longer.

happy thanksgiving 2023

But I am thankful she’s still with us, as her family is as well.

Have a happy Thanksgiving. Just be careful not to overdo it.

And if you’re not sharing it with a loved one, friend, or even an acquaintance, find something to do. Take a walk, go to the park, ride a bicycle, read a book, or do anything that interests you. And remember, I have many good books you can read, you can find most of them on Amazon. If you haven’t read one of my books, check them out. You might be surprised.

Happy Halloween 2023

Witch flying on a broomstick with a full moon.

Happy Halloween 2023. For those worldwide who celebrate this holiday, from me to you, please enjoy it. It is my favorite, and I enjoy it, free from any doctrinal or contemptuous connotations.

Mermaid Witch underwater on a broomstick. Happy Halloween 2023.

I don’t know why I enjoy it so much, but I do. It stems from my childhood when I heard and read stories of the Headless Horsemen, popular in New England. Here, I can combine it with my other favorite mystical beings, mermaids. And, what is my favorite Halloween movie? 1959’s ‘The House on Haunted Hill’ starring Vincent Price. Yep? As an adult, I realized while it is a horror film, it’s also a murder mystery, where the owner of the house sets out to murder his wife by dropping her in a bath of acid.

It’s a fun holiday where one can let go and enjoy themselves in settings free from the norm and day-to-day lives. Enjoy it with your kids and even without. There is no age limit to having fun on this holiday.

And… if you’re not into Halloween, perhaps you’d like to read a book. May I suggest one of mine on Amazon? or for more information, check out my stories’ webpage.

Happy Halloween 2023

Follow-up on Amazon banning Her Client

Follow-up on Amazon banning Her Client

I think it is important to give you, my readers, a follow-up on Amazon banning Her Client. After I made my last on the subject, I received several comments from many of you, supporting my contention that Amazon made an error of judgement. I know of other books that are just as brutal and even more so. So why was my book singled out?

I continue to contend that Amazon’s increasing use of AI algorithms to decide these questions is the fault here.

In the old days, a human would review the newly published work and decide. With so many authors are uploading self-published work coupled with Amazon’s need to watch costs and the bottom line, did they move too aggressively into the world of AI? Did they tailor these algorithms to more PC rather than letting the author’s creativity take precedence?

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Amazon banned Her Client

Amazon banned Her Client

Yes, my faithful readers. This morning, I received an email that Amazon banned Her Client, the first book in the ‘Her Client Series.’ I don’t get it. It initially published and offered for sale on Amazon eight years ago, but suddenly, they reviewed it and chose to ban it.

The same thing happened in September of 2021 when they banned the second book in the series, leaving 1 and 3 in place.

Why they suddenly decided to unpublish the book on me is unknown. Amazon claims it violates its “content guidelines for appropriateness.” Yet, I know it passed those guidelines at least twice when I first published it and again a year later. I don’t remember exactly when the second review occurred, but that’s okay.

I learned over the years that there is no appeal process for this ruling, and without lots of sales, it’s impossible to get it published again without a major rewrite. In my opinion, a rewrite that will pass their guidelines with strip the story from the emotions of the characters. My readers know what I am talking about. I strive hard to get inside the heads of my characters, protagonists and antagonists alike. It’s the why they do what they do.

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