The Shadow's Speed - Story Draft 2

DOWNLOAD the new version at junoletters.com/whats_new.php

Thanks to all of you that downloaded the first story draft. You may have noticed some odd things if you read through the entire story. I warned you ... here are some of the Round 2 updates:

Armin/Ambrose Ziegler-Shaffer-Keller
This character mysteriously morphed into several names as the story progressed. This actually happens often as I write in small "snippets" that are not necessarily connected and not sequential. Seldom does a character have as many names as poor Armin, but he is much better now. Even though he is dead.

The Red Circle Climax
If you managed to read through to the near-end, the sequence at the Red Circle in Munich has undergone some consistency changes - both in the lead up and the execution of the journal drop. It will go through another integration starting today. It uses what I have seen called the "Texas Two-Step" or the "Double Shuffle" technique - a series of rapid-fire sequences, mostly dialogue, that make a climax event move very quickly. It is a challenge to get the sequence right with so little space allocated for each one. It is not quite right, yet.

The Cover
This version has both the preliminary chapter quotes and a temporary cover. The cover is under design and this is a placeholder, but it will give you an idea of what the final product may look like.

Typoes and othr crazzy ishoes

I caught the majority of the typos and edits in this iteration. Thanks to all of you that refrained from scolding me too much ... the story draft is not meant for prime time. I run through a whole list of standard edits: "all of" to "all"; eliminating overuse of "that"; catching phases used too many times; and of course simple typos and errors. The free-writing process results in a pretty messy document but it does come together in time.

The Shadow's Speed is on track for its debut in February. Thanks for all your comments, and have a Happy Holiday!

Larry

Story Draft - The Shadow's Speed

The Shadow's Speed - book 7 of The Juno Letters series - is now available for readers to download. This is the STORY DRAFT - the first time the entire story is compiled. It is not yet edited - that process has begun and will continue for the next two months. The finished book is scheduled for release February 1, 2016.

You are welcome to download either an ePUB or a Kindle version in it entirety; or you can simply preview the Prologue and Chapter 1. In either case just go to What's New on the Junoletters site and click the appropriate link.

One quick note - I am NOT looking for free editors. You are welcome to send me your thoughts, but we will be examining everything in the coming weeks. Like I said, this is a draft.

I hope you have a wonderful holiday with family and friends, and hope to hear from you sometime.

Happy Holidays,

L.W. Hewitt

Building Toward a Mobile Future

I uploaded the dedicated Juno Letters mobile site today. While my basic web design works fine on tablets, and was acceptable on my iPhone despite its truncated size, it is clear that mobile sites and apps are beginning to play a bigger role in the ebook business. There are fundamental differences in the approach to mobile sites. While the main Juno web site has lots of special features, samples, even a video, the mobile version is slimmed down and simple - present the premise for the series, show the books, provide the sales links to all of the major resellers, and provide a way to communicate with me through a secure form.

One of the things I did was build a routine where if you come to The Juno Letters with a mobile device the browser automatically redirects to go the mobile version. That's not all that difficult. But what if you want more of the full features in the main site and do not want to wait to get on board with a full-screen computer? Thanks to the programming magic of Php I built a routine that lets you choose to go from MOBILE to FULL-SCREEN with a mobile device. The system remembers that's what you wanted to do until you select a home screen button that takes you back to mobile.

Ah, the curse of programming. My twenty-some years in technology sometimes creeps back in and ruins my day. Tomorrow I go back to writing book 7. I will build functionality as I see the need in the mobile site, however. Those of us in this business who don't respect the changing landscape will run the risk of being left sitting alongside the margin.

Let me know what you think about the mobile site. Just go to "junoletters.com" with an iPhone or other smart phone and let the site do the work. If you discover any bugs, break out there "Raid" and drop me a line with the contact form, or at junoletters@icloud.com. I hope to get the video up - still having issues getting the permission to use the music.

Good reading.

Last call for SMASHWORDS and kudos to Google Earth

This is the last call for the SMASHWORDS promo - visit junoletters.com/smashwords.php for details.

I write about the great wars of the twentieth century - a rich playground of drama. It is not hard to find micro-events to weave a new story around. In 1943 the Americans launched the Alsos Mission - a vintage version of "Mission Impossible" to locate information on secret Nazi weapons (specifically the atom bomb), capture Nazi scientists, and prevent the Soviets from beating them to the punch. The story of Alsos is full of intrigue, and great twists and turns.

Look for a treatment of this clandestine operation in my new book - still untitled. One of the plot vehicles I use is to find small stories and insert my characters as players within them - blurring the boundary between history and fiction. This looks like a good one.

To make this plausible I use a lot of technology to build an accurate context for the story. One of the most useful resources is Google Earth. While I have travelled through Europe, you simply could never visit enough locations within a lifetime to flush out the details of a series of novels. Instead, I walk the streets of villages and cities using Street View and use real buildings, real cafes, real streets, real vistas ... a sort of fictional travelogue. I receive email from people who have either visited or plan to visit these locations, and even had one reader give a copy of The Clan of the Black Sun to the owner of Le Cafe Reuban Vert in Paris - my private haunt in the series.

I will post updates about Book 7 as the story progresses. And as usual, I always like to hear your story ideas and suggestions.

Good reading ... L.W. Hewitt

From my Oly Club office ...

We made it back! After a series of scans and tests we got the OK to go home. It was a long and challenging time but successful. I want to thank all who have sent their best wishes for our boy. He still has years of tests to go to make certain the cancer stays clear, but we are very optimistic.

I am sitting at my table in the Olympic Club for the first time in almost eight months - it is very cathartic. The work of the pub goes on all around me and I get to dissolve into its familiarity. Occasionally I even get a coffee poured ... by someone else! I was warned not to get used to that. It is good to be back. The Oly Club is recreated in my books as Le Cafe Reuban Vert (a real cafe) in Paris.

Now, to business. The Madonna Rosa went live on July 1 as planned and was included along with the rest of The Juno Letters series in the SMASHWORDS July Summer/Winter sale - the annual event which is the only time I offer production versions of my books for free. To celebrate going home I put the entire series up and the response has been great this first few days. I'll be connecting back with my publisher (California Times) and audio narrator (Gary Regal) to let them know I am now back in the game.

I am working on book 7 - and tossing ideas around to see how they interplay. Still no working title, but I have some great ideas to exploit. Something about stone age caves and "Die Glocke" - look it up and figure that one out!

For those of you who use the iPhone, the new iOS 8.4 supports the iBook version of ebooks through the iBooks app on the iPad, iMac, and iPhone. I make a version with iBooks Author and just tested it. Without a doubt it is the best ebook experience out there. If you have purchased (or downloaded) any copy in The Juno Letters series and want the iBook version, just drop me an email at junoletters@icloud.com and I'll send you a link to get a free upgrade.

I'm going to play with book 7 and just try to get adjusted to normal life. Stay tuned to the blog and have a wonderful summer.

Just around the corner

Book 6 is done. The Madonna Rosa will be released July 1 through the SMASHWORDS Summer Sale event. It was conceived, written, edited, and published from this kitchen table at Ronald McDonald House and the cafeteria at Seattle Children's Hospital.

This week we undergo our last in-patient chemo therapy. Our remarkable little boy has grown into a young man here at Seattle Children's Hospital and RMCH. He has known almost nothing of America since he arrived last September except this bubble that extends from Ronald McDonald House on NE 40th Street across Sand Point Way to the hospital. Yet at the same time he has experienced the very best of what we all stand for. The commitment of the people who have cared for our boy these past eight months, the generosity of the volunteers here who have welcomed him into their hearts, and the friends we have made here at "the house" show just who we all can be when times are difficult.

I saw that Peter Chung who was here from Korea left me a comment a while back - January, actually. Time kinda flows in its own space right now, and I am sorry I did not see it earlier. Peter - I wish you and your family good health. They specifically selected Children's Hospital from among a list of hospitals around the world to care for their child. I enjoyed our talks in the kitchen.

The odd thing about living here is that people just disappear. You come back from clinic or an in-patient stay and things have changed. People are gone. New families are here. Children you have seen with feeding tubes, scars from heart transplants, bald heads from the effects of chemo - they have gone home to restart their lives. The reality is when you get the OK to go, you go.

That day is approaching for us. We hope to be home by July 4, but planning is at best precarious. So today the tasks are the same - scrub the bathroom for the weekly room check, mix the high-calorie shake in the morning to try and keep the weight up, blood draw at 10:00, monthly visit from the case worker. Our friends from Symmetra are fixing dinner. Just another day to keep our boy cold- and infection-free before this last chemo, fretting over every cough you hear, every sneeze, wondering when the person who just offered you their hand last washed them.

We found out that little "Dallas" who was moved to House B - the seclusion apartments - was just pronounced cancer free and will get to go home soon. What a joy! Another family who was on what they call comfort care also left. That makes number four since we have been here.

I want to go home.

Seclusion is Inspirational ... whoever said that ...

Many of you already know that I have spent the last several weeks, since before Thanksgiving, in relative seclusion in Seattle living for the most part at Children's Hospital. We are the guests of Monsieur R. McDonald and House, just across the street from the hospital, and will be here until at least July. One of my foster boys is fighting cancer, and I have taken on the role as his in-home caregiver. My wife Rhonda has our other four foster boys at home, and is taking on the duties of that monstrous house by herself. Plus holding down her new job. She is amazing.

I am keeping up my writing schedule as best I can. Most of book 6 is being composed in the cafeteria at Children's and the communal kitchen at Ronald McDonald House at odd hours of the day. I suspect this book will be a little late, but that cannot be helped.

This forced seclusion is an interesting conundrum. There are times when the sheer amount of unoccupied time is more overwhelming than inspiring; while the chaos of the doctor visits, labs, chemo, and surgery rooms inspires me with new ideas. Getting them down amidst all that is a challenge.

What is even more challenging is the realization that there are people here - children and their parents, some not much more than children themselves - who are facing some of the most horrendous difficulties you can imagine. I have been moved by their courage and resilience, and humbled by their generosity.

When at some point in your life you may find yourself wondering who to donate funds to, where to create an endowment, or where to volunteer your time, please consider one of the many cancer-care alliances throughout the country or the Ronald McDonald Charities. Something as simple as volunteering your company to prepare dinner for the families does more to fight the void than you can possibly imagine.

Thanks for reading ...

A Sad Day ...

The Paris neighborhood that inspired me to write The Juno Letters came under a heinous attack yesterday. To my friends join Paris and throughout France I extend my hand in sadness and in hope that you will stand tall and not be afraid. To the victims, their families and friends, the American people will stand beside you, and share your sorrow. I cry today for my beloved Paris.