Good books are friends

My girlfriend and I had chinese food for dinner the other night. I’d like to share with you what my fortune cookie had hidden inside.

“Good books are friends who are always ready to talk to us.”

For the readers out there, I think you will agree. Good or bad, they talk to us, reach into our souls and stimulate emotions. I don’t know about you, but I have conversations with my books. Yes, the books themselves. I talk to them and they respond.

IMG_20160617_111433I also have conversations with other readers about books, either mine or someone else’s. We can debate whether it was a good read or a bad read. We can argue about the elements of the characters, the plot or the outcome.

My favorite books are those that I cannot predict where the story is taking me. Not just the ending either. I want to be surprised and jolted all along the way. Just when I think I figured out ‘who done it’ or whether the couple will final get together, the best stories for me those that change direction. By the time the last page is turned, I want the story wrapped up. I want all of the pieces to fit, like a jigsaw puzzle.

So far, from what people tell me, my books fit that criteria. However, I would be interested in what you, the reader of this blog, thinks. Write me. Fill out the comment field below and lay it on me. Tell me whether your favorite books talk to you and what it is about them that makes the book one of your favorites.

Till next time, have a great day and a better tomorrow.

Your’s in reading and writing, Rich.

Mid-Summer Musings

I know it’s been a week since I’ve last posted a note. Sorry about that. I took the time to revise my website, RichardVerry.com, getting it to load faster, and remove some of the bloat that time inevitably creates. If you haven’t been to the site lately, please stop by.

29869517 - an image of a useful sale button 50%

One reason to stop by is that I am running a sale on some of my books. Check out the webpage for details. I can say this, some of the books are either free or 50% off.

Her-Client-Trilogy-advert1aI want to thank everyone who has been buying my ‘Her Client’ books. I did an analysis of sales for the past month. It appears that I am selling a decent quantity of these books each day. However, I did note some interesting facts.

Fact 1: Book 1, ‘Her Client’ sells twice as many as Books 2 & 3, and Book 2 ‘Her Overseer’ sells twice as many as Book 3 ‘Her Essentia’.

Fact 2: Sales on Books 2 & 3 follow that same curve as book 1, only a day or two later. That tells me this. If I captured your interest in Book 1, you are sure to buy books 2 & 3 a day or two later.

Fact3: Sales are the best reviews. I heartily believe that. However, I would love to hear from the readers on what you thought about the books. Write me, I welcome your comments. In the long run, your comments will help me write better and better books.

Be on the lookout for other books in the ‘Her Client’ genre. I have one already published on my site called ‘The Breakup’. It is also available on many other sites. I hope to get it available soon on Amazon. Frankly, I’ve been holding off on publishing it to Amazon as I am running an experiment. I’ll tell you more about the experiment in the future, but for now, the best place to get the book, ‘The Breakup’ is from my site.The-Breakup-advert5a800x300

Stop by and check out the site and read the reviews by readers like you. You might be surprised at mind boggling and enthralling the stories are.

Till next time, I hope you are have a great day and a better tomorrow.

Working Hard

All my life I have strived to do better, improve myself, help the community, love my family, and cherish my significant other. It’s hard work but it’s easy work as well. Seems like a contradiction, doesn’t it? I don’t see it that way. Take for example, the quote I just found.

“Working hard for something we don’t care about is called stress. Working hard for something we love is called passion.”

Working HardWhen I read this, I didn’t need to study it. My mind instantly went to points in my life where I felt each of these emotions. I’ve had my stresses in my life but once I’m past them, I tend to forget about them. The feelings remain but the facts fade. I guess I do that as a way of protecting myself and staying healthy.

Most poignantly are the passions in my life. Building a shelf, lashing a complicated structure to protect life and limb, painting a portrait to get it just right, writing and rewriting a piece of dialog for a story; these are all passions I love.

I pour my heart and soul into my passions. My girlfriend and significant other is the most important passion in my life. I tend to put aside other passions in order to do for her. Helping others, even the little things, is also important to me. Whether it’s offering a drink to a house guest, helping someone find their lost keys, or helping someone in distress, I do with the love of passion.

When I put aside time to work on my creative works, my passions really come alive. I recall and relive those feelings. I get lost in the creative process. Even now, as I write this entry, my body and soul are coming alive as these feelings flood every nook and cranny.

Time seems to slow or even stop. Adrenaline floods my body, my mind focuses on the work and everything else disappears. It’s a wonderful feeling. In my mind, I go somewhere else. Just ask anyone who has observed me in this state. I’m gone from this world and I’m in another world. I’m so far gone, that it frustrates my girlfriend to no end. Whether she wants to make dinner, spend time with me, or just ask my opinion, she finds it hard to break in. When I finally acknowledge the interruption, I can get upset, even angry. I lose my train of thought. I lose my mojo.

I don’t mean it. I would prefer to not snap and get upset. She doesn’t deserve the response and she tries to be patient but at times, not. Sorry honey. Together, we work it out, make adjustments and move forward.

Yet, I can’t get away from this alternate reality I go to in my mind when I’m creating, painting or writing. It’s fun. It’s addicting. It’s a far better alternative to prefering alcohol, drugs or just being a dickwad.

I can’t wait to re-enter the zone of my passions. What about you? What are your passions that you love.

Leave a trail

Good morning all you readers out there. I had a long and tiring weekend but today I’m refreshed and happy. I spent Friday night with friends who cooked us a fine meal and engaged me with spirited conversation well into the night. Saturday, I went to a wedding at the ball park. After the wedding, the reception was held in one of the ball park suites where a battle raged on the field. After the game, I were treated to fireworks. I’ll bet that there aren’t too many people who can honestly say that they had fireworks on their wedding night.

Not that kind! Well, that too but I am referring to the kind where gun powder is fired into the air which explodes into a multitude of light and sonic boomers. I had a wonderful time. Sunday was recovery day. I was wiped out and I needed to rest and recover.

But I digress. I read a cool quote this morning which I’d like to share with you.

“Do no go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Reading this quote, I was hit with conflicting emotions. On the one hand, following the path is easy. It’s what is expected. Fall in line, conform, and do as your told. I know that my girlfriend would welcome this from me, at least, some of the time. Yet, one of the reasons she loves me is that I do blaze my own trail. I go my own way. I forage ahead and damn the consequences.

Leading Line To The Kyoto GatesAdmittedly, I’ve gotten into trouble on a number of occasions and paid a price for my independence. Yet, it is who I am. One thing I’ve learned in life is that to be happy with myself, I have to be who I am. If I’m not happy with me and who I am, how the f**k can I make someone else happy.

So, I walk where there is no path. I am enjoying this period of discovery. It’s filled with wonder and joy. True, I make a wrong turn now and then and I need to back track a bit. So what. It’s a learning experience. What I still need to figure out is how to leave a trail. I do so in my professional life. Yet, I need to figure out how to leave a more lasting trail in my personal life.

I have talent for doing things. Whether it is hanging a TV on the wall so it won’t fall off or grilling a steak to perfection, I manage to do things in creative ways that people appreciate, or so they tell me. Yet, it is not enough. I want to more. I want to blaze a trail for others to enjoy.

Which is why I write and paint. I can express myself in ways that is impossible to do in real life. Perhaps some of my creative works will survive my life. Wouldn’t that be cool? Can you imagine? What if a hundred years from now, some picks up one of my books and reads it, or stumbles across one of my paintings and says, “Wow!”

What would Mona think? Would she enjoy someone reading her story well after her author moved on? I think she would. There is a lot of me in Mona.

What about you? What do you think?

Followup to Goals without a Plan

Yesterday, I wrote about goals without a plan is nothing more than a wish. In fact, I believe it’s more than that. It’s wishful thinking.

However, once you have the plan, you are already on the road to meeting your goals. For me, that’s the fun part. Taking the first step, then the next and then, the next one again. I’ve always believed that to reach the summit, you must put one foot in front of the other. Step over over the pebbles and eventually you’ll step over the stone, and eventually the mountain.

Earlier, I stumbled upon this followup quote.

“There’s no elevator to success. You have to take the stairs.”

Makes sense to me, despite that I wish that it were possible to jump ahead of the line and go right to the top.

No Elevator to SuccessThe image I’ve displayed shows the quote surrounded by a spiraling stair case. I can’t imagine how many steps it would take to climb that stair case and reach the top. Hundreds? Thousands?

However many there are, in real life, it takes much more to achieve our goals. My goals. I’ve spent decades learning, experiencing, and experimentation before deciding upon my goals. Some of my goals have fallen to the wayside in favor of newer, more interesting goals.

Do you know what I find if fun? Working on my goals, figuring them out and taking the steps to achieve them. For me, it’s sitting down in front of my computer and transcribing the dialog running through my head. It’s picking up a pencil or paint brush and putting it to paper or canvas. Adrenaline begins racing throughout my body. I’m excited and the imagery in my mind feeds off the adrenaline and suddenly, my fingers can’t move fast enough. Whether it’s typing on a keyboard or stroke after stroke of my pencil or brush, I pour my heart and soul into each creative work.

Years later, I can look at a painting I did, notice one of my books on the shelves and the excitement returns in an immeasurable instant. Every so often, I review Honey’s story in my book, The Taste of Honey, and I’m filled with joy, wonderment and concern. I want her to be saved. I want her to thrive. I know that she has a goal in mind and that goal will survive death. She’ll make it happen. She has a plan. You’ll see as you delve into her world along with her best friend, Mona Bendarova.

Damn, I love what I do. I hope you do and if you don’t, well that’s okay too. You’re welcome to your opinion. Who am I to tell you what to think. So, to conclude, I hope I can instill this one thought and it’s a motto I’ve lived with my entire life. As far as I can tell, no one else has said this and I’ve repeated the mantra in my head every day of my adult life, and I’ve been around a while. I would be interested in your comments and responses. Please send me a note. I’ll be happy to read them.

My personal motto is this.

“Nothing is impossible. Everything is possible. It’s all in the attitude.” – Richard Verry

Sales are the best review but are they really?

Hello friends and fans. Yesterday afternoon I got a pleasant surprise. Someone bought a copy of my book, ‘Broken Steele‘ from Smashwords. Thank you.

Book-2D-loopHowever, that one little revelation got me poking around all of my sales outlets. To my surprise, over the past three months, unbeknownst to me, hundreds of copies of all of my books have been downloaded from various sites. Many are free copies of my book ‘Her Client’ but many of you out there bought your own copies of my other books from various sources. I noted sales on iBooks for the Apple platform, B&N for the Nook platform and even Kobo for who knows what eBook reader.

I’m ecstatic.

Thanks to all who have purchased and downloaded one of my books. I hope you enjoy them. Please, I would be interested in a review or two from you. Of course sales are the best review so I must be doing something right.

Read what others have said about my books. Many are summarized right here. Feel free to read them and decide for yourself. Thank you for giving me a slice of your valuable time. I appreciate it.

[good-reviews]

 

Someone just purchased Broken Steele, thank you.

I just received notice that someone purchased a copy of my book ‘Broken Steele‘. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. It would be fantastic if you would post a review of the book. I’ll give you a gold star should you do. This book, as well as all of my books, are available on my website, RichardVerry.com and at book retailers such as Amazon, Smashwords, iBooks, B&N and a host of ebook retailers all over the world.

Broken-Steele-advert3a-800x300

When you read this erotic, kinky, and captivating, tale, you will wonder who your friends are and can they be trusted.

For those of you who might not be aware, ‘Broken Steele‘ is the gripping sequel to ‘The Taste of Honey‘ and is the second book in the Mona Bendarova Adventures. It picks up after Honey is rescued and before she delivers her first male child. It is another mystery for Mona to solve when she is called upon to find out who brutally murdered the master of another estate in her community. Along the way, she uncovers a plot that is threatening the entire community. A community who for years has experienced peace and tranquility which is now shattered with fear, angst, and unrest.

She solves the mystery but now her own life is in great peril as many in her community are ignorant of the growing threat and simply can’t deal with the consequences. Mona’s own life is now in jeopardy as well as those who are close to her.

Good luck Mona. It appears you have a long and perilous journey ahead of you. Book three in the series, ‘Lucky Bitch’ is in the works. Be sure to look for it.

Suitable for readers 18+.

A Big Thank You

Her Client Trilogy book cover 3D
Her Client Trilogy

I wish to express my gratitude for the fantastic reviewsreviewsreviewsreviewsreviews 5 star reviews that Bibs left on Amazon for my trilogy, ‘Her Client’. You brought a big smile to my face. Thank you, I really appreciate the reviews. A paper back version is also available at CreateSpace logo .

Bibs is correct. These books are not for everyone. Yet, I wrote them because I saw a market and people are responding. The-Breakup-advert4aIf you liked ‘Her Client’ you may enjoy reading ‘The Breakup’, currently only available off my website, RichardVerry.com. Just $0.99.

In the review, Bibs wanted to know if I would continue Jolene’s story? I have considered it. If you are, sent me your comments, including ideas on how you think Jolene should carry on. If there is enough interest, I will see what I can come up with.

Do you know what the trouble is? I have outlined over thirty stories in the same genre and I really want to bring them all to life. I’m working on two more right now, in addition to finishing up the third book in my “Mona Bendarova” series entitled ‘Lucky Bitch’.

Her Client Book 1 cover 3D
Her Client, Book 1 in the Her Client Trilogy
Her Overseer Book 2 cover 3D
Her Overseer, Book 2 in the Her Client Trilogy
Her Essentia Book 3 cover 3D
Her Essentia, Book 3 in the Her Client Trilogy

Thank you for the reviews.

I am Richard Verry and I appreciate the support.

Holiday weekend with Charles Bendarova

It’s 97 degrees Fahrenheit or 36 degrees Celsius. It’s hot. Really hot. Stifling hot on a cloudless day, the hot sun beating down on everyone and everything. Going outside is something I don’t relish. Yet, I had the opportunity to invite Charles Bendarova over to share a beer and catch up.

Charles is a good friend of mine. Of course he’s a fictional characters in my Mona Bendarova Adventure series. Yet, he is a dear friend. Tomorrow, he will be going to his communities Summer Start festivities but today, he could give me a couple of hours to kibitz, shoot the breeze and share stories.

Taste-Of-Honey--advert4aTogether, we sat on the porch and shared a beer. Well, several as it turned out. As the afternoon wore on, we talked about a lot of things. Take tomorrow for example. He told me the barbecue tomorrow was going to be a big affair. Several competitions were planned and he intended to win the dance competition. He had once again entered Jewel, his latest personal sub in training, to compete and this time, he had high expectations of her winning. Of course, I wished the two of them luck.

Soon enough, we got on to the talk of sex. I felt bad that I couldn’t offer him an attendant. Especially knowing that if the tables were turned and he had been hosting my visit to his home, we would be sharing beers while any number of gorgeous women attended to our desires. A big part of me wanted to go with him to his barbecue on the morrow but then again, who would then write the stories that come out of it. Yes, Charles knows full well that we are a team. Without me, his stories could not be told and without him, I wouldn’t have stories to tell.

Broken-Steele-advert2aEventually, we got to talking about Mona. Charles is really worried about her. He’s worried because she’s on her own and no longer under his protection. Officially, that is. He confessed that he still looks after her, watches out for her, and does his best to protect her ass. Still, she’s on her own and he’s very worried. I am too. Mona has challenges to overcome just learning how to run her own estate. Yet, Charles and I know different. Many segments of the community don’t like the fact that a woman is now in charge of her own estate. She is the boss. She is the master of the house and mistress to hundreds of people under her. She must figure out how to feed everyone, take care of their needs, and care of the welfare of her housemates.

I feel for Charles, I do. Yet, I don’t know how to help him. He needs to figure it out for himself. I can only report the stories as it unfolds. I agreed with him, Mona has much to learn and she doesn’t need obstructive behaviors of members of her house and community working against her and making it even harder for everyone.

What I didn’t know until recently, Mona has had to deal with acts of terrorism within her own house. I was surprised, to say the least. Mona’s community hasn’t known behaviors like this for centuries. Charles is dumbfounded, to say the least. He reported to me that he suspects that several of Mona’s household have been assaulted and killed. He was shocked and nearly powerless to help.

I felt for him but I didn’t know what to say. Except to say, I tilted my glass of beer towards him, clinked the together and we each drained them. After draining a few more beers, he bade me goodbye. I wished him well.

Tomorrow, while Charles is partying it up at the barbecue, I’ll be writing more of his stories. Stay tuned.

Unofficial start of summer in America

Unofficial Start of Summer

In the United States, we are about to celebrate the start of summer. The unofficial start of summer that is. Memorial Day is an official national holiday created to commemorate our fallen soldiers in past and present military actions. Unofficially, it is our unofficial start of summer.

But I wonder, the same occasion remembers our fallen dead while we celebrate the coming of summer. Interesting, isn’t it?

Mona Bendarova’s Community Holidays

Celebrating the unofficial start of summer
Find out how the human race survives

I can’t help wonder what Mona Bendarova and her community would do to celebrate the coming of summer. I refer to of course to my books, ‘The Taste of Honey’, ‘Broken Steele’, and  the soon to be released ‘Lucky Bitch’.

Mona and her community would celebrate one of the biggest parties of the year. While roasting meats over a number of barbecue pits, they would prepare tables of delicacies, and imbibe on all sorts of hard and soft beverages.

Competitions abound as cheering audiences root for their favorite contestants and betting flows freely celebrating both winners and losers. Capping the holiday off everyone enjoys wild group sex among a number of partners well into the next day.

Reading her stories, you will get a sense of what I am referring to. It’s a time everyone looks forward too. Sounds like a fun time. Eat, drink, fornicate, and be merry.

I’m looking forward to my celebration of the coming summer in a completely different way. There will be many similarities yet, there will be significant differences, especially when it comes to the menu. As I eat my share this weekend, I can promise you that I will think about Mona and her housemates, friends and acquaintances.