Written Words, a blog for readers

Win your summer's whole reading list for free

Enter the eBook & Paperback Sweepstakes! (2) Winners of eBook “Gift Baskets” of ALL ebooks Other Winners of individual ebooks or paperbacks (randomly selected) It’s beach reading season! Yes, it’s finally here, after the most difficult year in a long, long time. So whether you’re going to be reading on the sand, with your feet […]

Summer solstice sample

A special celebration from 1,428 years ago The Bones of the Earth, Part 1: Initiation Rites For the first day of summer, the summer solstice, here is a sample from another summer solstice, which I described in The Bones of the Earth, Part 1: Initiation Rites. This scene takes place on the night before the […]

Will we write "A Journal of the COVID Year"?

As I write this, the radio morning show is doing a “streeter,” talking to people in the ByWard Market as COVID-19 restrictions in Ontario ease. Non-essential businesses are opening again, with limited capacity: stores, restaurants, bars, summer camps and others. People who speak with the radio reporters express relief, even joy at the ability to […]

WIN the full Eastern Front Trilogy

+ 30 more full book series and bonus paperbacks This week, all three volumes of the Eastern Front Trilogy are part of the AuthorXP Boxed Set and Series Sweepstakes. Army of Worn Soles 1941: Their retreat across Ukraine wore their boots out—and they kept going. Three months after drafting him, the Soviet Red Army throws […]

Join me in a new adventure

Creating a world is fun! That’s why I want to bring you, my readers along on this journey into the future. Once again, I am moving into a new genre: near-future dystopian fiction. The working title is either “Fractured States of America” or “The Woman from the Prairie Bank.” The situation In the year 2050, […]

Dead Man Lying cover

The third Hawaiian Storm is available on e-tailers FBI Special Agent Vanessa Storm returns to rain-soaked Hana on Maui, Hawaii, to investigate the death of a once-famous contry-rock star. Talking to the late singer’s family, she finds a nest of liars and deceit. An enormous antique handgun. And a whole new album gone missing. The […]

Sample Sunday: Human resource headache

An excerpt from the upcoming Dead Man Lying Her phone buzzed. “Excuse me,” she said, walking down the teak paneled hallway toward the kitchen. It was Al King, her boss, the Special Agent in Charge of the Honolulu Division. “I just heard you’ve been shot at,” he said, without preamble as usual. How does he […]

Dead Man Lying cover

A taste of the soon-to-arrive Dead Man Lying: Hawaiian Storm mystery #3 She watched Jeffrey pick up a pen that happened to be sitting on the end table beside the couch, take off the cap and put it on again. He turned to look out the window, and dissatisfied with the darkness, stood and looked […]

Win Torn Roots, an e-reader and 50 more thrillers

Don’t wait—you have until Sunday to enter the draw for a free e-copy of Torn Roots, Hawaiian Storm #1, along with an e-reader and more than 50 other fast-paced thrillers through BookSweeps. All you have to do is leave your email so that you can be informed when you win. Don’t worry, you can unsubscribe […]