3 Fun Links and 3 Writing Tips Plus a Free . . .

A free what? That’s what you want to know. If you can’t wait, scroll down to the bottom. But then you’ll miss the 3 Fun Links and the 3 Writing Tips.

3 Fun Links

Fun first! Here’s the first fun one!

Note: Spoilers for the film classic ‘Casablanca’, a 76-year-old film.

Then we have the second bit of fun:

How’s your Klingon? If anyone can post the lyrics to Happy Birthday in Klingon, I’ll send you a free ebook of your choice!

Finally, the third fun link, from your favorite comic paranormal animal author, your’s truly!

We Interrupt Your 3 Fun Links for a Freebie Notice

Psst! If you’re not yet a subscriber to our newsletter, here’s your chance! Click here before the link goes down. (Such as in a nuclear attack.)  We now return you to 3 Writing Tips and a free . . .

3 Writing Tips and a free . . .

Your first writing tip is right here:

Your second writing tip follows, surprisingly, the first one!

Then, next, we have your third writing tip:

For good measure, I’ll throw in a tip on marketing and getting reviews.

At Last!  Your free . . .

You knew I’d drag this out. But it’s worth the wait. It’s a free . . .

excerpt from my upcoming novel Paranormal Privateers. How recent? I just wrote it today!

Naturally, this excerpt is the first draft, raw, and unexpurgated. Feel free to critisize me roundly in the comments to this post or directly contact me here.

I had a great day writing: 4,600 words. For the month I’m at 25,000 words. I’m still trying to finish this month. I’ve got a less than 20,000 words to go.

Let me give one hint about something in this novel:

Yes, I have a Nautilus, not the Nautilus from Jules Verne.

Now, the new Paranormal Privateers excerpt next:

Paranormal Privateers excerpt

The alien mining machine rose from a hole in a desert plateau in Nevada. It disgorged its load of rare earth ores into the waiting trucks. One of the mining trucks in the line to be filled had a tarp over its enormous bed. From under the tarp emerged an object looking somewhat like a Van de Graaf generator, complete with arcing lightning and a glowing corona, brilliant even in the desert.

Without preamble, lightning shot from the generator to the mining machine. For an instant, nothing happened. Then slowly, like a balloon descending, the miner eased to the ground and tilted to its side on the ground.

At that moment, a formation of cargo planes flew three miles overhead dropping tons of metallic chaff, hiding the scene from orbital observation and lasers. Simultaneously, the empty mining trucks flanked the fallen alien construct. Using antigravity lifts copied from the aliens flying cars and hover boards, army personnel lifted the two hundred foot machine into the air. Four thick sheet of woven nylon unrolled from the sides of the mining trucks, linking eight of them together, side by side. The disable machine descended and rested on the eight trucks.

Despite their four-hundred ton capacity, the eight were barely able to move the enormous machine, sagging under the weight of it. With care, the eight performed a slow, arcing turn that took up forty acres of real estate, and headed deeper toward the nearest mountains.

Paranormal Privateers excerpt part 2

The twelve-mile journey took over an hour. The cargo planes replaced the chaff several times before the trucks and the alien equipment reach a blank cliff. The hundred-foot cliff dropped into the ground, uncovering a black cavern behind it. The trucks and alien craft entered, and then the cliff rose again from the ground.

“That was successful!” said General Figeroa, watching the door close from the inside. The paranormal privateers nodded in agreement beside them. A capuchin monkey sat atop Diane Newby’s shoulder wearing a red fez. He nodded in agreement.

“Yes. That went as well as my most optimistic hope,” said a tinny voice coming from the metal yarmulke bound onto the monkey’s skull.