Why do I give away stuff?
The simple answer: It’s my literacy project! Baldacci has a more famous one, but he gives away nothing. I figure if I give away my fiction, I can encourage people who can read to actually do it instead of watching the drivel Hollywood producers force-feed us or listening to the blather spewed on TikTok and other social media sites, in podcasts, and Fox News. (Maybe if a certain presidential candidate could actually read a book, he wouldn’t be such a pathetically ignorant and “f&^%ing moron”—the latter is the description of him made by his ex-SecState, not me, by the way. Fortunately, I’ve never met that candidate and have no desire to do so.)
While that answer represents what most motivates me (literacy, not competing with Baldacci, one of the favored stallions in the stables of the Big Five publishing conglomerates), there’s a lot more: A second is that you might like something that’s a freebie enough that you’ll try some of my very reasonably priced books I sell (that includes ebook and print books from two small presses, by the way), especially ebooks. After all, another reason to complain about the price of fast food (those “value meals” from McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s, etc.) is that they cost more than an ebook! (Not usually ones from the Big Five, though, which is a type of price gouging they do because they’d rather sell you an expensive print version.) Inexpensive ebooks like mine are like fast food entertainment for the mind, and they cost less than a movie.
Third reason: I refuse to be like James Patterson by turning my book production efforts into an assembly-line factory that exploits readers and authors alike (Patterson’s co-authors). I’m also not going to make a fool of myself on TV ads and other expensive advertising like Patterson either (even if I could afford to do so). In fact, I don’t advertise my books anymore! Why bother? A lot of people are like that current presidential candidate: They can’t even read a one-page briefing! Or don’t want to do so because they prefer chicken wings, cold beer, and football. (Is that the definition of a MAGA maniac?) Of course, Patterson actually got started on his TV ads because he thought he had to compete with Tom Brady (another MAGA supporter who now spends his time saying he’s the GOAT as if anyone now pays attention to what he says). I don’t want to compete against either Brady or Patterson!
My writing now has two goals: Having fun doing it and entertaining a few readers in the process. Those have always been my goals, in fact. I can accomplish both by giving away some stuff. (You might not like short fiction and novels in PDF format, the format for my free downloads listed on the “Free Stuff & Contests” web page, but you really have no right to complain. It’s all free!) There might be some new additions to the list of freebies real soon, in fact. Watch for them!
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Comments are always welcome. (Please follow the rules on the “Join the Conversation” web page.)
Defanging the Red Dragon and Intolerance. These two free PDF downloads are complete novels! They’re the sixth and seventh novels in the “Esther Brookstone Art Detective” series. (Defanging the Red Dragon is a crossover novel between that series and the “Detectives Chen & Castilblanco” series, so it also counts as number eight in the latter series as well.)
In the first novel, the Chinese are after submarine secrets, and Esther gets involved. In the second, Esther helps to solve a cold case from Ireland, to thwart a domestic terrorist, and to capture a crazy man out for revenge.
There’s a lot of sleuthing going on in both novels!
Around the world and to the stars! In libris libertas!
