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AM I THE ONLY ONE…  who enjoys reading serial books?

NOTICE: We’d like to offer a free copy of the book of your choice from any of the books we have published to the first ten people who respond by requesting it from: chandlerdd@msn.com ATTENTION BOOK AUTHOR. (Please note, for a complete listing of said books, go to OUR BOOKS on this site.) 

In return, we ask only that you review the book for us on any social media form that you might use:

Please remember to INCLUDE YOUR MAILING ADDRESS. We wish to thank you in advance for responding to this offer.

Richard L. King     Donna H. Chandler

A LITTLE SOMETHING ABOUT OUR BOOKS

If you’ve been on our blog before, you undoubtedly know that we are both writers.  Between the two of us, we now have just over 25 books in print.  In the beginning, we each began by writing poetry or at least what we considered to be poetry and our early books contained our poetic efforts.  Then, for our first collaboration, we put out what we titled THE HINTS BOOK ALMANAC, books one and two.  These two books contained about 2700 helpful household hints, categorized and alphabetized so the reader can easily find the exact hint that he or she is looking for.

We followed those two books with a children’s book titled ADVENTURES OF GIZZY, a story about our cat traveling about 10 miles through or around swampland to get back home after having been moved to a new home. 

More recently, however, our books have been stories of a western flavor.  Oh, but they’re not shoot-em-up, bang/bang type westerns.  Of course, there is some of that, but we try to inject more in-depth characters who have a back-story.  Although there is usually at least one love scene in each book, we try to dial them down, somewhat.   It’s tricky, you don’t want them to be the same old mundane stuff, but we don’t want them to be overly explicit or exceptionally graphic either. We strive to attain a perfect mix.

We like using recurring characters, which was widespread in our 8 book CROW’S LAKE series, and continued in our 4 books and counting, CHAYCIN series. That all started in our private investigator series, CLOSED CASES, which had Stony Johnson, Donna Jones and Christy Christopher as the three main characters in all three books.  

In the CROW’S series, books one and two pretty much centered around Bo Hasbrook and Lindsey Hanks.  Lindsey’s uncle, Vern Johnson was mentioned, but he was already dead.  Book two, was for the most part, a continuation of book one.  Then, beginning with book three, each new book was sort of a “spin-off” of a character from the preceding book.  Book three was a bit of a flashback to the 1890’s as it detailed the life of Vern Johnson.  As an 18-year-old, Vern went into the mountains, seeking gold.  He found it and a whole lot more.  In that story, as in most of our stories, there is a limited amount of gunplay, but one of the lead characters will succumb to it.  Later that death will be avenged as the perpetrators will meet their maker at the hands of a survivor of their treachery.

Books four and five continue to tell Vern’s story as he moves on from his gold mine, which he owned in partnership with Pappy Adams, to owning his own ranch, and falling in love.  After introducing Pappy in book three he continues as a prominent character in books four and five, but became the title character in book six, PAPPY’S GOLD, a flashback to The Civil War days. 

Pappy’s brothers Luke and Darvin, barely mentioned in the earlier books, will become mainstays in book seven BROTHER’S ADAMS, where they were the leading characters throughout the book.  Leaving home as teenagers to join the Rebel army to fight against the north, they will eventually head west on a wagon train.  Ultimately, they will become wealthy men and return to their southern roots purchasing a ranch near the family’s original homestead in Arkansas.  They will continue expanding their holdings until they become the largest cattle raising operation in the entire state.

The eighth and final book in the CROW’S series, LAST RIDE, returns to the telling of Vern Johnson’s story as he moved into his sunset years, going from ranching to becoming a mainstay in the town he calls home.  As the town marshal, he will help lead the town into the twentieth century wherein indoor plumbing, electricity and the horseless carriage will become common things.

We strive to inject both action and romance into each of our stories, as each day new stories begin to formulate in our brains and eventually find their way into the pages of a new book.  As I’m writing this, we are putting the finishing touches on the fifth book in the CHAYCIN series, tentatively titled CHAYCIN PARADISE.  At the same time, we are contemplating a sixth book, destined to be titled CHAYCIN something, although just what, is yet to be determined.

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Gramps use’ta say
©R.L.King2012 #508

About: Difficult Times

“Seek the blessing in your disappointments.”

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EDITOR’S NOTE: Please check us out at:   

amazon.com/author/richard-lee-king/

amazon.com/author/donnachandler

Kindle versions of most of our books are available at only 99 cents.

Uncategorized

AM I THE ONLY ONE. . . . who has apprehension about the amount of pre-storm coverage we receive?

HURRICANE SEASON

I wrote this article a few years ago when there was a lot of complaining about what seemed like overkill in the pre-storm reporting of a storm that was heading toward Florida.  In light of the recent storm and the tornadoes that accompanied it, I thought it might be appropriate to run it again.

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Seems like everyone is up in arms over the big hull-a-baloo the media made over Hurricane Erica last week.  Get used to it folks.  There is big money in storms.  The grocery stores sell out, the gas stations have lines, generator sales go up, the sale of plywood skyrockets, and all manner of hurricane supplies fly off the shelves. 

Do you think the retail industry is complaining about the overkill involved in reporting a tropical depression as a full-blown hurricane?  – or the fact that they had the storm track so fouled up that Einstein couldn’t have figured it out?   Hell, no they ain’t! 

It’s damn good for business…..  And what’s good for business is good for Florida.  If the projected storm track takes in the whole damn state, then the retail sales in the whole damn state will also be positively affected.  Who’d complain about that?

On a more serious note, the early warnings that we get in more recent years are a Godsend. It’s probably much better to be over-prepared than it is to be un-prepared, don’t you think?  The early warnings allow us to be much better prepared.  Starting in June or July anyone with good common sense will have most of their hurricane supplies pretty much attended to.  At least those that are not perishable. 

We will have our propane tanks set aside for lights and cooking burners. We’ll have a large supply of batteries for all the battery-operated things we might use.  (Radios, lights, fans and things of that nature.) We’ll have all the canned foods that might be needed to get us through a lengthy power outage. (some of those canned goods in my supplies are several years old and I have some MRE’s still left over from Francis and Jean’s aftermath) We may even have bottled water, beer and wine on standby, but most of us will probably wait until a storm is imminent before laying in those more perishable types of supplies. 

As a final thought, perhaps the TV stations overdo it a tad bit, but isn’t that preferable to not reporting about pending storms at all?

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Gramps use’ta say
©R.L.King2012 #546

About: Frustration

“Sometimes I need a little more Jack …and a lot less Jesus.”

********

Please visit us @ : amazon.com/author/richard-lee-king/
OR @: amazon.com/author/donnachandler

Or

please visit our BOOKS page on this site for special pricing offers (including free shipping).

Patriotic, Uncategorized

PATRIOTIC OFFERING

If you like us, please help us spread the word by liking us below…

Gramps use’ta say
©R.L.King2012 #M-10

About: Military Service
(Enlisting)

 “Each of us has a life to live.
Each chooses the direction they take.

Each makes their own decisions.
Likewise,,,, their own mistakes.”

********

MISSING IN ACTION
© Copyright 2013 Richard Lee King

19-year-old buddies, off to fight in the war,
without the slightest clue, just what lie in store.

Hoping to make it home, but not really sure,
likely no one would know, the suffering they’d endure.

They were in a foreign country, fighting for the cause,
living by the code, unsuspecting of its flaws.

Doing Uncle Sam’s bidding wherever they’re sent,
despised by the locals for the ideals they represent.

Captured by the enemy, barely getting by,
hoping to escape, certain they would try.

Resisting the torture, honoring their peers,
days turning to weeks, seeming more like years.

Had they been forgotten, did Uncle know of their plight?
Tolerance wearing thin, yet continuing the fight.

In deplorable conditions, comparable to hell….
name, rank & service number, all they would tell.

Adhering to their oath, never to wavier,
hoping someone will come, in need of a savior.

Still fighting for what’s right, though the fight is near gone,
never dreaming their commitment would last this long.

Surely someone will come, the end must be near,
continuing the struggle, in danger, they fear.

Resisting enemy attempts to convert them to spies,
….a lifetime slowly passes, as we accept their demise.

********

Please visit us @ : amazon.com/author/richard-lee-king/
OR @: amazon.com/author/donnachandler

Or please visit our BOOKS page on this site for special pricing offers (including free shipping).

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AM I THE ONLY ONE. . . who didn’t even try marijuana until after I was married with children?

I was sitting at home alone lounging.  My back was hurting.  I had injured it as a 17-year-old and it’s never been right since. On top of that, my bunions were hurting and my knees were aching. As I recall, I was sitting there in front of the TV, probably feeling a bit sorry for myself, when a buddy stopped by for a visit. 

The game was on, so we sat down to have a few beers, and watch it.  After a while, he offed me a toke.  This was in the mid 70’s or early 80’s, and in those days it was still illegal everywhere.  (I’m from Michigan, and somewhere along the way, I heard that those caught smoking pot on the campus of The University of Michigan, were punished with a $5.00 fine, so I guess it wasn’t all that serious of a crime.)  Anyway, I’d never even sampled it before, but I’d heard about it.  I’d heard guys talk about how it mellows you out, but I don’t think I really understood what they meant by mellows you out.  I guess I was still very naïve.  

Well hell, I was in my own home, and I wasn’t planning on going anywhere, so I said, “Why Not?”  That was all it took.  He brought out a doobie, and we had a few tokes while we watched the game.   When you’ve never smoked it before, it doesn’t take much of it before you really feel the effects, so of course, it affected me more than it did him.  Soon I was giggling and having a great time.

Course, the mellower you get, the less you care about the game. So, we chatted some. Suddenly, I noticed that my back wasn’t troubling me nearly as much.  Oh, it still hurt, but it wasn’t bothering me nearly as much.

Later I realized that my knees didn’t seem to bother me as much either.  Oh, my bunions were still a problem, but even that wasn’t as noticeable.  I’m not trying to say that it felt like marijuana was a miracle cure, but it sure did make my hurts less troublesome.  All I know is, I finally felt like I understood what they were talking about, when they said that marijuana mellows you out.

It was years later before I tried it again.  By then, I had moved to Florida, and met a gal who partook quite regularly.  I had recently turned 50, and when she offered, once again I said, “why not?”  I sampled it numerous times over the next few years, really beginning to believe in the benefits.  However, I haven’t been with that gal in years and it’s been quite some time since I last toked. Occasionally, when my back is really hurting me, I remember those days, and wish I had a source. 

Of course, it’s legal now, and I know I could go get a medical marijuana card, but I’m almost 80, and I’ve put up with the pain for over 60 years.  Besides, when I was toking fairly regularly, I worried that it might be bad for my lungs. 

I guess each of us just have to decide for ourselves, which evil, is the lesser evil. .  

Gramps use’ta say
R.L.King2012 #556

About: Life’s Lessons

“Learn from the past,
but don’t live in it.”

Quoting Admiral Kilbride on NCIS: “The past is a place to learn from, not a place to live in.”

EDITOR’S NOTE: Please check us out… Kindle versions of our books are available at only 99 cents.

amazon.com/author/richard-lee-king/

amazon.com/author/donnachandler

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AM I THE ONLY ONE . . .  who has a weak stomach?

It was the early 60’s and my best friend, Bill, and I were in college.  We were taking a coffee break in the café across the street from the classroom.  I’d been through the line, paid for my tray and had taken a seat across from him.  Then all hell broke loose.  I bit into my sweet roll and as I pulled it away from my mouth, I noticed a kinky, black hair protruding from the section where I’d just taken my bite. 

Did I mention that I have a weak stomach or that a hair in my mouth will almost always make me puke?  No, I didn’t, but that’s only because at that particular time neither of those, now true, comments were yet to become fact.  That day, actually at that very moment, I became a sniveling, weak stomached, up-chucking wimp.

I immediately dropped the sweet roll and made a dash for the bathroom, covering my mouth with both hands to catch the up-chuck that was making its way up from my stomach.  The café was probably only about 15’ wide, but it made up for that fact by being about 20 yards deep and the bathroom was in the very rear.  I still had a long way to go and my hands were already beginning to fill up. 

Suffice it to say, that day doesn’t bring back pleasant memories, though it’s a day that I’ll never forget.  That was the day that I first realized that I have a weak stomach and that a hair could make me up-chuck. Or, in this case, a half of a hair.  Half of a black, kinky hair to be more precise. 

When I got back to the table, Bill started in.  He’s always been a quick-witted guy who was never at a loss for words and that day was no exception.  It’s too many years ago to remember exactly what he had to say, but I believe it went something like this.  “Where do you suppose the rest of that hair is?  Did you swallow it?  Where do you suppose it came from?  Black, Kinky…. Could be from somebody’s arm-pit, but more likely, it could be a pubic hair. 

Oh, yeah, he was very helpful.  Just thinking about it made me want to turn around and head back to the bath room.  Let’s just say I could have survived quite well without all that commentary. 

To this day, a hair in my mouth can get me started.  Over the years, I’ve learned to control the up-chuck reflex much better, but it can be difficult and there can still be that mad dash to the bath room.  I’ve relived that day hundreds of times over the last 50 years,,, every time I get a hair in my mouth.

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Gramps use’ta say
R.L.King2012 #559

About: Life’s Truths

“Searching for self is a journey for a lifetime,
life is what happens in between.

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EDITOR’S NOTE: We are both writers.  Please check us out at:

amazon.com/author/richard-lee-king/

amazon.com/author/donnachandler

Kindle versions of most of our books are available at only 99 cents.