Independence Day -- because Freedom Isn't Free

I'm pleased to announce that The Orphan Ship is available on Amazon and Amazon Kindle -- just click on the links on the right side of this page to go directly to the site. The Lost Sheep is almost ready for publication. The cover art (thank you, Nathaniel) and editing is done. I'll be at Holden Beach, NC, with the family next week -- no internet connection -- so The Lost Sheep will be on Kindle the week afterwards. Hopefully the book will be available by the end of the month.

Meanwhile, I'm writing the final book in the trilogy, tentatively entitled The Last Orphan. I'm still miffed that I somehow managed to misplace my plot outline for the book -- I'm usually very organized -- and now have to try and piece it together by memory. The bad news is that my memory isn't very good, but the good news is that the story will probably take on some new twists and turns if I don't have a plot outline! I figure by chapter five I'll have to sit down and plot out the rest of the book. Never fear, the trilogy will have a satisfactory conclusion with all the loose ends pulled together. I hope.

My mini-soapbox speech: freedom isn't free. Let's never take for granted our 1st Amendment rights to free speech and freedom of the press. We are very blessed to live in a nation where we have access to millions of books; our choices are unlimited. Next time you visit a public library, think of how wonderful it is to have a wealth of knowledge, entertainment, and adventure at your fingertips. Without the 1st Amendment, our choices of reading material would be severely limited to what the higher-ups think is 'appropriate' for us, which means millions of books would be banned and/or burned, just like in Nazi Germany. Without the 1st Amendment, we would also have limits to what we can read online. This is a reality now for those who live in China. They have limited access to social media -- Facebook or blogs -- and the news that's published is strictly controlled by the Communist regime.

As an author, I'm grateful for the freedom to write whatever I can imagine. I am grateful for the vivid imaginations of the brilliant authors that came before me. A world without Twain or Tolkien or Tan, Dahl or Rowling or Suess, would be very dull. So what are you doing on here? Log off and go read a book!