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New Book – Swimming the Echo

The new book came in a wave of anticipation from my publisher yesterday. Blasting comparisons to summer reads for teens, young adults, and beyond! I was ecstatic to see it go up on their site first yesterday at: ELectioPublishing.

Swimming the Echo is near and dear as it encompasses parts of southern Kentucky, including caves like Mammoth. It makes me appreciate the memories of exploring at a younger age. I hope it does the same for you.

  • With ELectio’s site you get a FREE ebook of Swimming the Echo*

*with every paperback copy ordered

  • Today, Amazon has only the ebook listed for sale. You can find it here. (Reviews are possible to write by scrolling and selecting ‘Write a customer review’ on their page.)
  • Barnes & Noble also has the ebook (Nook book) available online at: B&N.

Other retailers will add the book to their databases in the coming days!

I’m thrilled for those already sharing the book and reading it! Feel free to post pictures online of your travels with this one. Thank you.

-Brian

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12 Things I Learned about Paris

  1. Wearing a suit in 90-degree weather is totally acceptable.
  2. English is a common denominator and most Parisians will help you translate
  3. Baguettes are a must – daily. (Especially on the train ride home)
  4. Their motto: work to live
  5. The Metropolitan is both above and below ground
  6. Dinner comes after work but not before a few hours spent socializing
  7. Brasseries are the ONLY way to spend time with friends
  8. They are genuinely kind and love their city deeply
  9. Cigarettes aren’t just in the movies
  10. Wine, cheese, crepes, & boulangeries 24/7
  11. Everyone is outside: young, middle, and old (and together)
  12. PDA is downright encouraged

 

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NEW Book, New Cover Design

As promised earlier on social media, my new book cover for Swimming the Echo is available for viewing on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and right here. The actual book will go live on Amazon, eLectio Publishing, and in brick and mortar stores on May 30th. I’m thrilled to share this update.

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New Book COVER Reveal, today at 4pm

In March, it was announced that Wheelman would get a facelift.

Today, I shared the NEW Wheelman cover on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. But, I also wanted to share a brand new image I received from my publisher for my newest work, Swimming the Echo, which launches this month (5.30.17) with eLectio Publishing!

The image for Swimming the Echo will be shared online at 4pm today. I hope you are as excited as I am. These works of fiction are something I look forward to sharing with you.

Currently, Wheelman and Baptisms & Dogs: Stories are both available as Kindle ebooks for $5 total!

Share the love. Take a book on vacation.

Brian

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More Aplomb Por Favor

A Good Person with Aplomb is Rare

How many self-confident people in stressful situations do you know?

Now remove Kim Kardashian.

How many people do you have left?

Good people with good intentions. Those who are levelheaded when life presents Amazonian rainforest conditions.

Again, the Kardashians are not the best company.

Think about someone you really, truly respect.

Billy Graham is a good example.

Now, think about how Billy Graham would handle the hardest parts of your Monday.

Calm. Cool. Collected.

These are the people you want to be more like. The people who would hold the door for you and ask about your weekend.

Join me in stepping away from infamy. Even for a day.

The world will take notice, because it’s different. It’s not the same. It’s not popular, but it’s not normal. Do this life with poise, a calm demeanor.

Stop asking the world what it needs and pray about what burns deep inside your core being. What screams for your heart. See it. And do those things.

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WHEELMAN gets a facelift

Hi all!

Following last month’s update about the release of my next novel, Swimming the Echo (5.30.17), I wanted to give another little update regarding the WHEELMAN paperback version. I’m currently in the works for finding a new cover design for it, and I’ll try to share that look (and its reprinting) soon!

In the meantime, the e-book version is alive and kicking OVER on Amazon FOR 2.99!!

Thanks for reading.

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In 3 Months: My New Novel, Swimming the Echo

Hey all!

In a little over 3 months (5.30.17), my newest novel, Swimming the Echo, will be hitting bookshelves, and I wanted to give you as much notice as possible.

This novel will delve into more backstory of the fictional town of Seton, Kentucky (first featured in my story collection, Baptisms & Dogs (2014)), and the adventures of one youth who takes it upon himself to explore the terrains of love and loyalty.

Here’s an early synopsis:

IT’S AN ADVENTURE OF A LIFETIME.

When a summer job to explore Mammoth Cave lands in Cade Rainy’s lap, he doesn’t think twice.

THE TEEN FROM SOUTHERN KENTUCKY MAKES A BREAK FOR IT.

But when he finds his dad is connected to a man working at Mammoth, Cade discovers there’s more to this trip than meets the eye.

THE CAVE IS JUST THE START.

Cade sets out to map the real route of twisted lies through fissures and stalactites, battling claustrophobia and bats.

EXPLORE. ADVENTURE. DON’T DIE.

EXPLORE. Don’t die.

don’t die

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The Uncertainty of Travel, circa 2017.

Fun times abound.

If you travel somewhere, there’s about a gazillion warnings the CDC will throw at you. (I know they’re trying to do their job.)

And airports will inevitably warn you against bringing a contaminated fruit across the border. But, the list is crazy long now.

What was the last one you saw when you traveled abroad?

I think I was asked about 5 times one morning whether I had a Samsung Galaxy Note 7 in my pocket or not. I kept shaking my head and thinking about how much that company probably regrets going live with their product.

Flammable. Watch out! Everyone might die!

And I read signs before we boarded the plane about airborne contagions, and I saw about one hundred (all men) in line to board a plane to Las Vegas with face masks on – not making eye contact with a soul.

And I was asked if I knew whether I was headed to a country with Zika infestations. My wife and I, of course, were.

The cold shoulder of travel. A few lines were check marked by the customs lady. We went West, South, and then more West, unsure of whether a mosquito bit us or not.

The signs in the airport said to take precautions against birth defects, etc., if you came into contact with a disease.

(No wonder Orwell’s 1984 is the most downloaded book online today.)

I’m still unsure of what (if anything) bit me last Christmas. But, like any good American, I’ll wait for the inevitable – for question marks to become periods. For rest to come and end the worry.

They’ve all gone to bed in the beds of their choices. – Dr. Seuss

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Gloves Off Gospel

My pastor says things much more eloquently than me. He draws inferences from the Good Book, and I thank the Good Lord for it.

Some times I find myself just wanting to haul off and punch people.

But fortunately, I have people around me who teach biblical truth. A wife who loves first and foremost.

It stops my fist before it leaves the proverbial hangar.

Yesterday, Mark spoke on Revelation and made a connection to loving people I’d never heard in my 32 churchgoing years.

And before you stop reading, let me say right here that it wasn’t another LG,LP message. He didn’t make it about holding hands and skipping or anything.

It’s what I like to call Gloves Off Gospel.

It wasn’t highfaluting wish wash, but something that dug in and hit home.

The question he led with: Do you love as well as you used to? (Taken out of context this could mean anything. But here, for a Christian, it means what it says.)

Revelation 2 instructs every believer to – “do the works you did at first…”

This harps on how love diminishes in everyone who starts on warp speed, with mad love for God, and then, well, fizzles out.

Life, politics, saccharine packets, and bad pizza take their toll on our hearts metaphorically and literally. 1st world sucker punches happen and we think this somehow makes it okay to stop caring. I don’t know about you, but I’m not okay with any punch to my gut. From friend or foe.

My stomach hurts just typing this. I want to avoid the lull of carelessness. Forever.

Can we pray for impenetrable faith? Do we need extra compassion injections over time? Are we being the body we’re called to be?

January is cold and nothing can insulate like good works & faith.

Do I love as well as I used to?