The earth continues its journey around the sun, the air gets cooler, football is on TV, leaves fall. Picnic give way to tailgaters, and our coffee and food is imbued with everything pumpkin-coffee, milkshakes, lattes. October wraps around us like a warm blanket.
September was a busy time for me writing-wise. I signed books at the Gainesville B&N and then gave a well-received talk at the George Mason Branch Library in Annandale, Virginia. I also decided to change the cover of “Hotwire” from one that I loved. But I admit it may have been too inflammatory—Lady Liberty shoved in handcuffs across an ICE vehicle. The new one represents the book better, a beat-up plane in the desert. Book sales have picked up, so I think I made the right choice. I am running a giveaway on GoodReads this month. Enter here to have a chance to get a free book!
Submerged continues to do well! October marks the seventh month in a row that is ranked #1 in its category on Amazon and it is now #1 in two categories!
At the talks I give, people are really interested in the hidden world of submarines, and also in their history and future. I talk about how pivotal subs were in the Pacific War—the submarine force comprised 2% of the Navy but sank 55% of the Japanese shipping sunk. Hitler started the war with 59 submarines, and with those, he came dangerously close to starving England into submission. For the future, submarines are the only warships that can take the fight to our potential enemies, China and Russia. China has hypersonic missiles for which we do not have a reliable defense, restricting surface ships to the “Second Island Chain” (around Guam). They cannot proceed westward without being subjected to hypersonic missile attack. Russia is fielding Yasen-class submarines with Zircon missiles, also hypersonic. Subs will be the defining factor in, God forbid, a war with Russia or China.
I also made progress on my new novel, tentatively titled “Google Maps Handicap”. The external story is about two gearheads who invent a racing app that forces the US Government to turn off all the GPS satellites. But it is the subject of the internal story that I think will captivate readers more: the growing polarization in America today, both the economic divide and the ideological one. I have written about 30,000 words of the first draft. When ready, I will post a few chapters on the website.
I have heard from a few readers in the past month and yearn to hear from more! I respond to everyone and that is why I write, to create a reaction in people. Hopefully positive, but negative is fine too. Let me know what you think!
October will be another busy writing month for me. I will be hosted on a podcast early October, when that hits, I will post a link here. Oct 23 I will be giving a talk at Rust Library in Leesburg. And on Oct 19 I will find out the result of the Writers Digest Writing Awards, the top of which is a five-figure cash award, and an all-expense-paid trip to their 2026 convention. So if you live anywhere in Noeth America and hear a primal yell coming from West Virginia on that day, you will know my memoir won.
Until next month! Thank you for reading, and, as always, peace.
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