Category Archives: Writing

Writing books and articles

Happy New Year 2019

December 30, 2018Living in the wilderness on Kodiak Island, WritingKodiak, Kodiak Wilderness Mystery Author, New Year's Resolutions, Robin Barefieldadmin

Happy New Year! Time flies, doesn’t it? I feel as if I just wrote my 2018 New Year’s post. Since I post my resolutions on my blog, I can’t pretend at the end of the year to forget what resolutions I made in January. A quick look back at last year’s post reminded me I did not finish as many writing projects as I’d planned.

I work hard to be a successful author, but as an author, I must wear many hats. On my best days, I’m able to sit down and work on my novel, and on my worst days, I spend my time promoting my books, my website, or my mystery newsletters. I couldn’t have known a year ago how much time I would spend in the coming year working on promotion and on building my author platform, and the more time I spend on promotion, the less time I have available to write. It’s a trade-off, and usually, I choose writing, but during the last few months, I decided to get serious about my author business.

Although my next novel, Karluk Bones, is not yet ready to send to my publisher, I finished the rough draft this past week. I resolve to send Karluk Bones to my publisher by late spring and have it in the hands of readers by late summer or early fall. I know how long it takes to edit and publish a novel, so this seems like a reasonable resolution.

My second resolution is a promise to myself to finish editing my wildlife book and get it published and to market by the end of the year. I made this same resolution last year and didn’t accomplish it, but I hope 2019 will be different. My wildlife book requires extra time and energy in every facet of the writing and editing process. I know the book will never be perfect, but I want to do the best job I can on it, and I hope it will be worth the wait.

Karluk Bones and The Wildlife of Kodiak Island will be my two be my two main writing projects for 2019, but I hope to begin my next novel sometime this coming spring or summer. I already have a rough idea for the plot, and I would love to start writing it now. My next planned non-fiction book will be a compilation of my true stories of murder from Alaska. These are the tales I write every month for my Mystery Newsletter, and I have more than enough compiled for a book.

I’d better stop before I promise too much. I plan to remain active in The Reader’s and Writer’s Book Club, and I hope to write more articles for True Crime: Case Files and Medium. I also want to leave enough time in my schedule to explore other opportunities I discover.

I haven’t written a wildlife post in several weeks, but I’m returning to fish and will write about rockfish over the next few weeks. Thank you for reading my posts this past year, and I hope you will stay with me through 2019.

Happy New Year, I wish you health, happiness, and prosperity!

Robin Barefield is the author of three Alaska wilderness mystery novels, Big Game, Murder Over Kodiak, and The Fisherman’s Daughter. To download a free copy of one of her novels, watch her webinar about how she became an author and why she writes Alaska wilderness mysteries. Also, sign up below to subscribe to her free, monthly newsletter on true murder and mystery in Alaska.

Mystery Newsletter

Happy Holidays

December 23, 2018Living in the wilderness on Kodiak Island, Uncategorized, WritingJane Marcus, Kodiak Island, Robin Barefieldadmin

Wherever you are and whatever holiday you celebrate this time of year, I wish you peace and happiness. I celebrate Christmas, and I thought this year it would be fun to follow my friend, Author Mary Ann Poll’s lead. For my Thanksgiving post, Mary Ann sent a note from her protagonist, Kat, describing how Kat celebrates Thanksgiving in Ravens Cove, Alaska. So, for my Christmas post, I decided to look in on my main character, Jane Marcus, and see how she celebrates the holiday.

For those of you who don’t know Jane, she is a fisheries biologist at the Kodiak Marine Center. She is unmarried but has a long-distance relationship with an FBI agent who lives in Virginia. Let’s see how she’s doing this holiday season.

I disconnected with my father and wiped the trickle of tears from my face only to open the dam for a full flood. I knew now I should have flown back to Kansas for the holidays. Nothing happens at the Marine Center during the Christmas break, and I could have taken leave for a week or two to fly home to see my father. He sounded lonely on the phone, and although he told me he’d spent a nice afternoon with my brother and his family, I could tell he missed me, and I missed him. I hadn’t seen him in a year.

I’d made the trip to Kansas the previous year for Christmas, but I hated flying during the holidays, and the family obligations overwhelmed me. This year, I wanted peace and quiet, so I stayed in Kodiak, and now I wanted my family. I laughed at myself. I needed to adopt a cat or maybe a goldfish.

I didn’t plan to spend the entire day at home alone. My friend, Dana, invited me to a Christmas party. I think Dana and her current boyfriend, Jack, invited half the town of Kodiak to their Christmas buffet. Jack volunteered to host the event at his place since Dana’s tiny house wouldn’t hold a crowd larger than three.

As I walked down the hall to my bedroom to change my clothes, I heard my phone chirp in the living room. I hurried back, grabbed the phone from the coffee table, and felt a smile play across my mouth when I read the phone’s display.

“Merry Christmas, Agent Morgan,” I said.

“Merry Christmas to you, Jane. Where are you?”

“I’m at home in Kodiak, and you?”

“I’m in my apartment in Virginia right now, but I’m flying to Miami tomorrow on a big case. I’ll be there for a few weeks,” Morgan said

“I thought you were working on a string of murders in Indiana.”

“I was,” he said. “My involvement in the case ended yesterday.”

“Did you catch the killer?”

“We did, but not until after he’d murdered six women.”

“At least you got him,” I said.

Morgan didn’t say anything for a moment, and then, “I’m sorry Jane. I have another call, and I need to take it.”

“Maybe I’ll see you one day again.” I hoped I hid the bitterness I felt.

“You will,” he said. “Take care.”

I sank into the couch and began to cry again. Once the tears stopped, I realized I was in no mood for a party. I called Dana. She must have been busy because she didn’t answer until the sixth ring.

“Where are you?” She asked.

“I’m sorry Dana, but I don’t feel well. I won’t be able to make it to your party.”

“What? Nonsense. I’ll send Jack to pick you up. He has agreed not to consume alcohol tonight, so he is our designated driver for the evening.”

I thanked Dana but told her I was in no mood for a party. I headed to my kitchen, grabbed a bag of potato chips, poured myself a glass of wine, and turned on the television, quickly flipping past a parade of holiday shows until I found an old episode of Dateline. I settled on the couch and tried to concentrate on the show.

Fifteen minutes later, my doorbell rang. I opened the door a crack, and saw Jack’s smiling face.

“What are you doing here?” I asked. “I told Dana I wouldn’t be able to make it to the party.”

Jack smiled and shrugged. He looked even more handsome than usual. His black parka matched his eyes, and even in the fading light, I could see the dimple on his right cheek.

“You know Dana,” Jack said. “She gets what she wants, and I do as she says. She told me to collect you using any means necessary and bring you to our party.”

I laughed. “Do you plan to kidnap me?”

He shrugged again. “Speaking of kidnapping, Dana said to tell you we are discussing the recent abduction in Anchorage.”

“What abduction?” I asked

“You didn’t hear about it?”

I shook my head.

“A big oil executive. I can’t remember which company, but anyway, three masked men entered his house while he and his wife and kids were celebrating Christmas Eve. One of the guys pulled a gun and told him to come with them, or they’d start shooting his family.”

“Whoa,” I said. Then I took a step back and narrowed my eyes at Jack. “Are you making this up just to get me to go to your party?”

Jack held his hands in the air. “It’s true. You can check the Internet. Dana says with your detective skills, we need your input on the crime.”

“You’re playing dirty, jack,” I said. “You know I can’t resist discussing a crime.” I pushed the door open and let Jack into my house. “Have a seat,” I said. “I need to change my clothes.”

Have a wonderful holiday, and I will be back here next week to discuss my New Year’s resolutions. Meanwhile, leave a comment and tell me about your resolutions.

Mystery Newsletter

Karluk Bones

December 2, 2018Living in the wilderness on Kodiak Island, WritingAlaska Wilderness Mystery, Books about Alaska, Jane Marcus, Karluk, Karluk Bones, Kodiak Island, Mystery, Robin Barefield, Wilderness Mysteryadmin

Karluk Bones is the title of my fourth Alaska wilderness mystery. The book has taken me longer to write than I had planned, but I think it will be worth the wait. This week, I want to share a portion of the opening scene with you.

Those of you who have read my other novels know Dr. Jane Marcus is a biologist at the Kodiak Fisheries Tech Center. In this scene, Jane and three of her friends camp near Karluk Lake on Kodiak. The next morning, they plan to float the Karluk River, but a fire in the middle of the night derails their expedition.

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Karluk Bones

Saturday, May 24th

“Fire! Wake up! Fire!”

The cry yanked me from a pleasant dream where my camping companions and I sat around the campfire roasting marshmallows. Now, I realized the smoky inspiration for my dream emanated not from a campfire but a forest fire.

I struggled to sit in my sleeping bag while my fingers fumbled with the zipper. Did we leave our campfire burning? No, I remember Geoff throwing water on it, and then we all watched until the last curls of smoke evaporated.

I’d worn my clothes to bed, and as soon as I struggled out of my bag, I crawled through the fly of the small tent. Smoke filled the air, and my friend and colleague, Geoff Baker, my friend, Dana Baynes, and her new beau, Jack Parker, all stood, staring to the north. I followed their gazes and saw the flames, but the fire had not yet spread far.

“What do you think?” I asked.

“It looks like a campfire got out of hand,” Geoff said.

“It’s so dry,” Dana said. “It’s bound to spread before they can put it out.”

“And the wind is blowing this way,” Geoff added.

“We’d better help them,” Jack said.

“You’re right,” I said, “but I fear only Mother Nature will be able to extinguish a blaze in the midst of all this dead, dry vegetation.”

“I’ll dump out our food buckets,” Geoff offered. “We can use those to scoop up lake water to throw on the fire.”

“Sure,” Dana said, “We’ll do a bucket brigade.”

I doubted anything we did would help, but if we stayed where we were, we’d be burned alive. “I suggest sticking anything you can’t live without in your pocket,” I said.

“Good point, Doc. I’ll grab my phone,” Geoff said.

“I’m grabbing my raincoat just in case,” Dana added.

I nodded. “I hope we need our raincoats. Rain is the one thing that will extinguish this fire.”
Geoff, Jack, and I carried our bear-proof food buckets now empty of their contents, and Dana shouldered a pack full of first-aid gear. She also carried a small camp shovel.

We hiked along the shore of Karluk Lake. It was a dark, chilly night. Correction, it was a dark, chilly morning. Darkness is an infrequent visitor in late May on Kodiak Island, but I can testify it is dark at 3:00 am. We wore headlamps to light the beach along the lakeshore, and I glued my eyes to the ground so that I wouldn’t stumble over a large rock or a tree branch. The smell of smoke grew stronger with each step.

As we neared the fire, I could see the flames growing in intensity and slowly but steadily spreading toward the south and our camp.

“We should have packed our stuff and moved it out of the line of fire,” I said.

“I don’t think we could move our stuff far enough to get it out of the fire line unless we brought it with us and stashed it upwind from the flames,” Geoff said.

We clung to the lakeshore and skirted around the edge of the fire. As we neared the tent camp where the blaze had started, we saw four young men frantically packing their tents and gear and moving everything down the beach. Miraculously, it looked as if the flames had not touched their camp.

Dana ran toward the men. “Is everyone okay?” She called.

One of the young men stopped in his tracks and looked toward her, obviously surprised by her presence. “Our campfire got out of control,” he said. “I thought we put it out but guess we didn’t.”

The man slurred his speech and seemed confused. At first, I thought he had a natural physical or mental impairment, but then, I realized he was drunk, or to be more accurate, he hadn’t completely sobered up from being drunk. I took in the entire scene and watched his camping companions stumble to move their gear, their actions clumsy and awkward. They were all in the no man’s land between drunk and sober, the period of the night when you wake up and curse yourself for drinking too much alcohol. I admit I’d been there a time or two, and now I tried to muster some forgiveness for them stupidly getting drunk and letting their campfire burn out of control.

Forgiveness was not on Dana’s mind, and she immediately understood the situation. She dropped her pack on the ground and stood, hands on hips, glaring at the young man who had spoken to her. “Are you drunk?”

“Maybe,” he said. “I’m not quite sober.”

“You are camping on an island with 3500 bears.” Dana walked toward him, her voice as loud as I’d ever heard it. “Many of those bears live near this lake.”

The young man looked at the ground and said nothing.

“If you want to camp on this Refuge, you need to be responsible.” Dana gestured to the spreading fire. “You started a fire by not putting out your campfire.”

“We tried to put it out,” the young man said.

“You tried?” Dana was now only about four feet away from the poor guy, all five feet nothing of her intimidating the young man as she screamed up at him.

Although the situation was dire, I nearly laughed as I watched the much larger man cower while petite Dana approached him. He flinched at each of her words as if she were slapping him in the face, and I thought she might slap him in the face when she got a few steps closer.

“I saw a video the other day,” Dana said. “An observant camper watched and videotaped a bunch of yahoos like you and your friends. They ate breakfast around their campfire, threw a little water on the fire, packed their gear, jumped in their raft, and headed down river. A few minutes after they’d left, a curious bear began sniffing their campfire. He put his paw on the hot embers, burned his paw and limped away, holding his burned paw in the air.” She took another step toward the young man who was now backing away from her. “I thought their lack of regard for the environment was disgusting until I see what you idiots managed to do here.”

I stood, caught up in the drama of Dana and the young camper when Geoff thumped me on the shoulder.

“Here, Doc,” he said, handing me a full bucket of lake water. “Let’s get this bucket brigade going.” He looked at Dana and the cowering campers. “Yo!” he yelled. “We need some help here; we have a fire to put out.”

The campers seemed happy for any excuse to escape Dana’s withering gaze and sharp reprimand. They found two more food buckets in their gear, emptied the contents, and hurried to stand in line between the lake and the burning fire.

I knew I couldn’t be the only one in this group who saw the futility of fighting a spreading wildfire with buckets of water, but buckets were all we had, and we needed to do something. There was no firefighting agency to call in the middle of the night to help put out a fire on the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge. If the fire hadn’t been extinguished by morning, we would notify the National Wildlife Refuge office in Kodiak, and perhaps they could ask for assistance from the Department of Natural Resources. Dana was a biologist for the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge, so she would know what to do. At present, Dana stood in the bucket brigade between the four campers, still lecturing them. If they weren’t sober by now, they would be soon, and between excessive alcohol, smoke, and Dana’s piercing voice, I didn’t envy any one of them the headache he would have for the next several hours.

We continued the steady progression of bucket passing as the sky slowly lightened. At 5:00 am, my arms were numb, my shoulders screamed with pain, and I had one of the worst headaches of my life. My comrades and I silently passed buckets, refusing to admit defeat. At 6:00 am, Mother Nature decided to lend us a helping hand. It started as a drizzle, but soon the rain pelted us in sheets.

I stepped out of the bucket line and said, “I think we can stop now.”

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While hiking back to their campsite, Jane and her friends stumble across human bones exposed by the burned vegetation. Are the bones ancient or modern, and how did this individual die? These are the first of many questions Jane asks Alaska State Trooper Sergeant Dan Patterson, and Jane won’t rest until she uncovers the answers and learns not only the identity of the man whose bones she found but also what or who caused his death.

I will share other outtakes of my novel at intervals over the next few months. Please let me know what you think. The above scene is the beginning of the book. Did it grab you and make you want to read more?

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Robin Barefield is the author of three Alaska wilderness mystery novels, Big Game, Murder Over Kodiak, and The Fisherman’s Daughter. To download a free copy of one of her novels, watch her webinar about how she became an author and why she writes Alaska wilderness mysteries. Also, sign up below to subscribe to her free, monthly newsletter on true murder and mystery in Alaska.

Mystery Newsletter

Thanksgiving in Ravens Cove

November 18, 2018WritingAlaskan Books, Mary Ann Poll, Ravens Cove, Robin Barefield, Supernatural Thriller, Thanksgivingadmin

Happy Thanksgiving to those of you in the U.S. I think it’s a wonderful idea no matter where we live to take a day, or better yet, several days throughout the year to consider everything and everyone in our lives for which we are thankful. We are all busy and are bombarded by negative news reports, political scare tactics, vicious elections, and the knowledge violence can happen anywhere at any time. It is easy to lose track of what is important and good in our lives.

This week, in honor of Thanksgiving, I have a special treat for you. My friend and fellow author, Mary Ann Poll, has shared with me an inside look at how the residents of Ravens Cove, Alaska celebrate Thanksgiving.

Mary Ann writes spine-tingling novels about the clash between good and evil. Ravens Cove is the first novel in her Iconoclast Mystery series, and it takes place in the fictional town of Ravens Cove, Alaska.

Kat, the protagonist in Ravens Cove, wrote this post, and she describes Thanksgiving in a small, Alaska town. Kat mentions that the dishes her relatives serve for the Thanksgiving feast come from a variety of cultures and traditions, making the meal truly Alaskan and emulating the “first” Thanksgiving which was also a blending of cultures.

Mary Ann will write a guest post for me in a few weeks, and I know this post by Kat will have you excited to read about Mary Ann and her books. Take it away, Kat.

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Happy Thanksgiving from Ravens Cove, Alaska

Today is a cold one for this time of year. Usually, we are around thirty-four degrees, but today our forecast is for the mid-twenties and a north wind, which means I’ll be pulling out the Army-green parka and clunky boots. On the bright side, the cold means fair skies…after 9:30 a.m. when the sun peaks out from behind the mountains. But, I digress. Today the cold is really last on my list of concerns because this is one of my favorite events of the year – Thanksgiving at Grandma’s house.
It seems like half the town gathers at Grandma’s (Alese Bricken for those of you who do not know her) for Thanksgiving. It is the time to catch up with my neighbors. Funny how we live in a small town and in the winter we can still go months without talking to each other.
We will have the traditional American feast but with parts of my Alaska native heritage thrown in – Grandma cannot seem to cook a meal without adding moose to the menu and, of course, smoked salmon for the appetizer. And, there is the pumpkin pie and mincemeat – does anyone know how a mincemeat pie became part of this? – Not my favorite, I’ll tell you! But, I will have a small sliver because Grandma thinks it is good for my bones. And, I choose my battles with Grandma.
May your turkey day be blessed!
Until next time…… Chin’an gheli – for my English-speaking friends: Thank you very much.
Kat

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Thank you, Kat, and thank you, Mary Ann. I am very thankful for you both for writing my post this week, and I love the idea of imagining how my characters spend their holidays! I am also thankful for my blog readers. A few of you have been with me from the beginning, and you hold a special place in my heart, so as Kat said, Chin’an gheli!

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Mystery Newsletter

My Life as an Author

November 11, 2018WritingAuthor Masterminds, Robin Barefield, The Wagon Magazine, True Crime in Alaska, True Crime: Case Files, Wilderness Mysteries, Writing on Kodiak Islandadmin

It has been a while since I’ve posted about my life as an author, and I’d like to share news about some exciting writing opportunities I’ve been offered in the last few months.

Autumn is a busy time at our lodge, and I have little extra time to do anything. When I take a break, I usually fall asleep, so I haven’t written as much as I’d planned this fall. I have received some interesting invitations, though, and they have reignited my passion for succeeding as an author.

I was surprised and honored when Krishna Prasad, the editor for The Wagon Magazine, invited me to publish my mystery newsletters as a monthly column in his magazine. He even provided this logo for me to use. A few weeks later, the editor of True Crime: Case Files ezine asked me to submit an article. I sent her one of my mystery stories, and she accepted it for publication in the winter issue.

As the number of subscribers for my newsletter grows, I feel I’m beginning to reap the rewards of the many hours of hard work I’ve put into writing the newsletters, and I can’t wait to see what awaits down the road for my true crime stories. I hope before long to compile the stories into a book (or two).

Several of the authors I’ve invited to write guest posts on my site over the last few weeks are members of a group I belong to called Author Masterminds. We all have the same publisher (Publication Consultants), and the group consists of approximately thirty authors. We meet once a week via Zoom, an Internet meeting interface. Our group includes authors from Alaska, Texas, Florida, Michigan, Idaho, and other U.S. States, as well as from South Africa and Gibraltar. We write in many different genres, and I don’t think any two of us write in the same genre. We range in age from 16 to 75 and have very little in common other than a passion for writing and a dream to have others read what we write.

When I first joined this group, I felt honored to be invited. Our first meetings were quiet as we got to know each other, but as the group has expanded, we’ve all become more verbose. I have grown attached to the people in this group and feel especially close to the few I’ve been with since the beginning. We have supported each other through medical issues and family worries, and we’ve laughed a great deal as we’ve shared our clumsy attempts at marketing. A few members of the group make me laugh whenever I hear their voices.

It’s always nice to form a bond and belong to a group with others who share your passion, but for me, it’s a special treat. I live in the middle of the wilderness, and I have no one to talk to about writing and promoting my writing. It is invaluable to spend an hour a week with other authors who understand my dreams, confusion, and insecurities when it comes to the modern world of writing and publicity. I look forward each week to our meetings, but with our limited Internet out here in the wilds of Kodiak Island, I can only attend the meetings by audio, not video, so I refer to myself as the voice in the darkness. Some of our African colleagues face the same bandwidth restrictions I do, so we hang out with each other in the shadows.

Our publisher has recently hired a marketing specialist for us, and we are developing a book club Our club will differ from most book clubs because we, the authors, want to interact with our readers, get to know them and find out what they think about our books. I’m excited to invite readers to join our club, and I hope we can pull together an involved group. I’ll let you know how it goes, and I will provide a link to our club once we are organized. I hope all of you will join us.

Next week, Rich Ritter, a member of our Author Masterminds group who writes edgy historical fiction, will be my guest blogger. Rich is a talented author, and I know you will find him as fascinating as I do.

For now, my wilderness friends and I want to wish you a great week.

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Robin Barefield is the author of three Alaska wilderness mystery novels, Big Game, Murder Over Kodiak, and The Fisherman’s Daughter. To download a free copy of one of her novels, watch her webinar about how she became an author and why she writes Alaska wilderness mysteries. If you like audiobooks, check out her audiobook version of Murder Over Kodiak. Also, sign up below to subscribe to her free, monthly newsletter on true murder and mystery in Alaska.

Mystery Newsletter

Steve Levi, Author and Historian

October 14, 2018WritingAuthor Masterminds, Clara Nevada, Dead Men Do Come Back, Steve Levi, The Alaska Gold Rush, The Matter of the Vanishing Greyhoundadmin

This week, I want to welcome my friend and fellow author, Steve Levi. Steve is an Alaska historian and a fount of information about Alaska, past, and present. When I need an idea for one of my true-crime newsletters, I ask Steve, and the ideas fly from him so quickly, I can barely keep up with him. I know you will find Steve and his books as fascinating as I do, so take it away, Steve Levi!

Steve Levi: Master of the Impossible Crime

My motto is simple: “If you do not write something unique you have nothing.” As a writer, I look for what has not been done. After all, the last thing the world needs is one more biography of George Washington or the personal tribulations of a retired detective fighting alcoholism and struggling through a divorce when he/she gets called back for his/her ‘greatest case.’

Keeping with my motto, I want every one of my books to be different. In nonfiction, as an example, I am the only writer to have completed a book on the CLARA NEVADA, Alaska’s ghost ship. It sinks in the Lynn Canal in February of 1898 and ten years later comes back up – missing about $17 million in gold in today’s dollars. My biography of bush pilot Archie Ferguson – dubbed “The Craziest Pilot in the World” by the Saturday Evening Post—was and is the only one in existence and only possible because I took a dozen trips north of Arctic Circle to interview Inupiat Eskimo and whites who knew him. Ferguson died in 1962 and my interviews, on tape, will be around for the next century for anyone who wants a birds’ eye view of the Arctic from the 1920s to the 1960s. I am one of the few people in America – and possibly the only person – who has studied the long-term impact of a terrorist bomb on an American civilian population and my history of the Alaska Gold Rush was the first to make certain readers knew the Klondike Strike in the Yukon Territory of Canada was not the Alaska Gold Rush AND the stories of Jack London and poems of Robert Service have nothing to do with the Alaska Gold Rush.

Just as in nonfiction, I want my fiction to be unique. As far as I know, I am the only writer who produces “impossible crime” novels. An impossible crime in one where the detective has to solve HOW the crime was committed before he can go after the perpetrators. In THE MATTER OF THE VANISHING GREYHOUND, the San Francisco Police are following a Greyhound bus filled with $10 million in cash, four bank robbers and a dozen hostages. The bank robbers demand to cross the Golden Gate Bridge and the police simply allow the bus to roll onto the bridge and then close off both ends. But when they send their hostage negotiators out to the bus it is not there. It has vanished. How can you make a Greyhound bus disappear off the Golden Gate Bridge? You’ll have to read the book to find out! [www.authormasterminds.com.]
When I have to be conventional – as in a mystery with a murder – I make it as convoluted as possible. My novel DEAD MEN DO COME BACK has a murder but the murder is not the focus of the book. The murder – and subsequent reappearance of the cadaver twice – is simply the cover for two robberies of 250 pounds of gold from a mine in Juneau. Thus DEAD MEN DO COME BACK is unique as it offers the reader an on-the-ground look at the Alaska Gold Rush in Southeast Alaska where 250 pounds of gold was simply one-week’s shipment from one mine. Additionally, DEAD MEN DO COME BACK is a novel where the villains, multiple, get away with it because it is a “silent robbery,’ one where the insurance company pays and ‘everything goes away.’ That, in the real life, is a lot more common than one would believe.

If you are a writer, I have some VERY, VERY good news for you! We are entering a golden age of literature. Why? Because, to date, big publishers do not publish good books. They publish books they think will sell. So good books sit in author’s computers. If you don’t believe me, try to find a “mystery” book in a bookstore that is not a murder. If it is not a murder, the big New York “mystery” publishers will not consider it. So I had to go around the Big Publishers. And I was successful because now readers are looking for unusual novels. Readers are no longer satisfied with the same old/same old that has been offered by the bookstores and silver screen. They want different. And they are lucky. Today, with the advent of Netflix, YouTube and other low-budget entertainment outlets, there are increasing opportunities for writers – as long as those writers have unique offerings. And allow me to finish where I began. If you want to be successful in this brave new world of literature, you have to be different. To quote myself, “If you do not write something unique you have nothing.”

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Thank you, Steve Levi! Check out Steve’s website, his Author Masterminds page where you can buy his books, and his Amazon author’s page. If you would like to learn more about Steve, watch his webinar about how he became a published author, and if you stay until the end of the webinar, you will be able to download one of Steve’s books for free. Don’t miss Steve’s Impossible Crime books because they truly are unique.

T. Martin O’Neil – from Naval Intelligence Officer to Popular Author

September 16, 2018WritingInto the Fire, Naval Intelligence, SEAL Team, T. Martin O'Neil, The Worth of Souls, U.S. Navy Sealsadmin

The following is a guest post by my friend and fellow author T. Martin O’Neil and his journey from a Naval Intelligence Officer to a popular author. I know you will enjoy his story as much as I did. Take it away Marty!

Thoughts About the Origin of My Background and Naval Career

by T. Martin O’Neil

It was a tense moment. Just plain and simple. Sweat glistened off my forehead forming bigger and bigger blobs until, unabated, it formed a torrent of rivulets streaking my camouflage skin paint. Sweat stung my red-rimmed eyes as I lay pressed into the surrounding clumps of grass, leaves, debris and tropical plant-life. There were no sounds of life. No sounds of monkeys, birds or even insects.

The two men I watched were not more than 30-meters away. I knew they were talking, albeit in low voices, but the sound of their words seemed to die as the words left their lips. The oppressive humidity and heat made every effort to become part of my surroundings futile. If just a bird had flown by, the movement of air from its wings would have spelled welcome relief. Instead, nothing.

One man lit a Chinese cigarette. The acrid, bitter smoke enveloped his head like an ethereal cloud. Even he could not stand the fumes and moved out of the way of the smoke-screen. His companion laughed lightly and teased his buddy. Both men side-stepped away from the brownish cloud.

A small python moved silently and stealthily away from the clearing the men stood in. Its small tongue flicking quickly from the end of its snout smelling, no doubt, its potential dinner.

My thoughts flashed randomly as to how I came to be in this place. Initially I wanted to be in Naval Aviation. I’d gone to Pensacola, Florida, to attend flight school. It was my dream even as a child to fly as my father had flown. He’d flown during World War II for the Navy, and I really wanted to do the same now.

While at flight school, I’d done quite well. Unfortunately my eyesight limited my choice to being a Naval Flight Officer but I still could fly “back seat” in the F-4 Phantom II. School progressed and I was fortunate enough to be top man in my class. This meant that I could have my first choice of any available assignments. I wanted to stay flying.

The time frame I speak of was in 1970, after the 2nd Tet Offensive in Vietnam and the whole war effort was being drawn down in a new tactic called Vietnamization. We were turning the war over to the benefactors of our support, the South Vietnamese.

It seemed the Communist North Vietnamese knew they could not defeat the far superior U.S./South Vietnamese forces militarily, so they resorted to the tactics that had worked so well with the French. Namely, they took the fight to the homelands using the dupes in the news media and liberal educational fields to subvert the military. After all, it worked before and appeared to working this time. Politicians, citizens and even the military were being badgered by the communists and were capitulating.

Vietnamization meant that the military was winding down its activities in the U.S. “Pipelines” were filled with men and women waiting to serve, but with no places to go. In its usual myopic way, the military just folded up its tent and walked away from thousands of students it had trained and paid for like so much trash left on the curb on garbage pick-up day. This meant in my case that I had two choices, go home or pick another field that still was available.

The draft had not gone away. My draft board was in Chicago. Because my draft number had already been called, if I went home, in spite of my education, degree and the flight training I’d been given, I could feasibly be made into so much cannon fodder.

Of the fields that remained open, however, Intelligence was the closest to my education. Less than two weeks later I found myself off to Denver, Colorado, to attend the Armed Forces Air Intelligence School at Lowry AFB.

Again, while there, I was fortunate enough to finish top of my class and had my choice of assignments. I chose to work not with the aviation commands, but with the Amphibious Forces. This gave me a chance to immediately have my own shop. Most junior naval officers worked in shops as trainees. In my situation, I was able to act as the shop director. This paid huge dividends later in my career. Instead of reacting to orders, I was able to see situations and direct solutions to those issues. I learned with OJT and not with browbeating and hazing-like experiences so common to other situations.

While assigned to the Amphibious Forces, I was introduced to flag officers that ultimately changed my life. I became acquainted with the head of all inshore activities in South Vietnam, termed the brown-water Navy. We hit it off and the door opened to work with Naval Special Warfare teams in Southeast Asia. My first experience was with SEAL Team One.

SEAL Team One was charged with the interdiction of weapons and supplies to South Vietnam from North Vietnam. The only catch phrase that seemed to change our charge was “and other duties as assigned.” It is these other duties I write about in my books.

Hollywood casts a cloud of farce on everything related to SEALS. If it is associated with SEALS, it means death, destruction and wanton killing. This is not the truth and in most cases reflects very little of the truth. SEALS are trained to accomplish their assignments and leave no one behind. Sometimes, it does mean killing enemies, but Hollywood wants viewers to see these men in only one way; cold killers. My books reflect the humanitarian efforts they performed.

As an Intelligence Officer, my duties centered on the planning and execution assistance of these men. Because of my relationship with the operators, I received opportunities to work reconnaissance operations with them. The stories in my books reflect my fieldwork, many of which were counter-narcotics and counter-human smuggling. The counter-piracy stories were added because our assignments were never dull or routine. Some of the events were adjusted to fit the time-frame of my books but all are based on fact; so much so, that my books have to be vetted by members of the Office of Naval Intelligence to ensure I don’t inadvertently use information that has not been declassified.

My books reflect the beginning of a 35-year career that I truly enjoyed. I know I made a difference. I have the satisfaction of knowing that my children can now read about my contributions. My experiences are more than war stories told around a campfire or plaques on a wall. You and my family can know I made a difference as well.

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I thank you for your service, Marty, and I am happy we all can read about the difference you made and gain a more realistic view of SEALS and their missions. Please follow the following links to read more about and purchase Marty’s books on Amazon: Into The Fire and The Worth of Souls. Marty’s books are also available on Author Masterminds.

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Robin Barefield is the author of three Alaska wilderness mystery novels, Big Game, Murder Over Kodiak, and The Fisherman’s Daughter.

Mystery Newsletter

Meet Lawrence Shimkets

August 12, 2018Writingadventure fiction, adventure novel, adventure story, Lawrence Shimkets, Malice in the Palaceadmin

This week I would like to introduce adventure author and my guest blogger, Lawrence Shimkets. I know you will enjoy his post, and I highly recommend his novel, Malice in the Palace.

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I would like to thank Robin for giving me this opportunity to tell you about my unusual career path as a novelist. I began my first career as an Assistant Professor of Microbiology at the University of Georgia and won a prestigious award from U. S. President Ronald Reagan in 1984. I’ve had a 35-year career with international acclaim and fellowship in two prestigious scientific societies. I (semi)-retired in 2017, though I can’t seem to let go of my science fix entirely. So why would someone abandon a successful career as a research scientist and teacher for a second career as an unknown and fledgling fiction writer? In my case, there are two reasons. First, going back to my teenage years, I wanted to write fiction. In my youth, I went to the Carnegie Library in Pittsburgh every Saturday to check out books. Reading was a lifelong gift from my dear Mother. Today I read a lot and at the end of a book often say to myself, ‘I can do that even better’, with perfect (and sometimes misplaced) confidence. So, I stepped outside the ‘box’ of scientific academics to challenge myself to write fiction. I like thrillers and, inspired by David Baldacci’s Camel Club series, decided to try my hand at something similar. Beyond the challenge of creating something uniquely yours, I love those books that end with me wanting more from certain characters knowing I will never read about those characters again. Sweet sadness. My goal was to create characters who others feel the same about. With Malice in the Palace, I believe I have created compelling characters who bare their vices and virtues. Readers have asked for a sequel, and there will be at least two.

The second reason for my career shift is that I wanted to support causes in a way I never could as an academic. I love the sentence in the Declaration of Independence, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.” I feel passionate about social justice and wanted to champion people whose voices are ignored. Like most writers, I was strongly influenced by personal circumstances. Diane and I adopted two beautiful children from New Mexico who are predominately Native American. This pointed me in the direction of modern western themes. In addition, in my role as mentor and teacher, I was disappointed to see that women of extraordinary talent have glass ceilings, which are higher than those of comparably talented men. I wanted to develop an enviable female character who would gracefully showcase ingenuity and accomplishment. I received daily inspiration from five sisters, five sister-in-laws, mother and mother-in-law, wife, and daughter. At the same time, I understood that most men can’t write remarkable female characters. Though I fall short of the way Shakespeare’s Juliet pushed past social norms or Henrik Ibsen’s Nora discarded her ‘dollhouses’, I do hope that my female readers will be inspired to push through their personal glass ceilings.

I began working on Malice in the Palace in my spare time about 6 years ago, but I did not have much time to spend on it. I began by inventing characters on a dusty ranch just north of the Mexican border in my head as I fell asleep or on the drive to work (not both at the same time, fortunately). I found it rewarding to develop my imagination in a different way than a scientist, though it was a lengthy process for me that crystallized in fits and starts. Another roadblock was writing dialog-driven prose, which is entirely foreign to a narrative-driven science writer. It took me years to develop unique voices for the different characters and to embed them into a compelling, 21st-century plot. In 2017, serendipity played a role in the final development of Malice in the Palace as you might be able to tell from the title. Trump became president and I leveraged his regrettable words against women and military heroes, his desire to end health care for those with the greatest need, and his disdain for refugees, immigrants, and minorities. I was pleased to publish ‘Malice in the Palace’ on Martin Luther King Day in January 2018 with Outskirts Press.

Many people have offered praise for the fast-paced plot either personally or on websites such as Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Goodreads, or Facebook where it is averaging close to 5 stars. I invite you to evaluate it and offer your perspective, which can only help me become a more compelling author. If you want to offer comments or criticism, let me suggest two venues. First, my Goodreads author page has a Malice in the Palace discussion section and I welcome you to be the first to post there. Second, I started a Facebook author page https://www.facebook.com/myberthonearth/. I welcome you to post there.

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Robin Barefield is the author of three Alaska wilderness mystery novels, Big Game, Murder Over Kodiak, and The Fisherman’s Daughter. To download a free copy of one of her novels, watch her webinar about how she became an author and why she writes Alaska wilderness mysteries. If you like audiobooks, check out her audiobook version of Murder Over Kodiak. Also, sign up below to subscribe to her free, monthly newsletter on true murder and mystery in Alaska.

Mystery Newsletter

Dreamers

August 5, 2018Writingauthor, Lawrence Shimkets, Malice in the Palace, Robin Barefield, Writingadmin

Fiction authors are dreamers. Dreaming is essential to what we do. We dream up characters, we dream up settings, and we dream up stories to tell about our characters in these settings. We also dream people will read and enjoy our books. I dream of someday selling thousands of copies of my books and becoming a successful author, but even if I don’t, I will never stop writing the stories I have in my head. When I meet other authors, I realize most are like me. No matter what line of work they are in, they dream up stories they not only want but feel they must tell. As Maya Angelou said, “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”

I’m taking a break for the next two weeks from writing about fish, but for those of you who enjoy my wildlife posts, I‘ll continue my fish profiles soon.

Next week, I am thrilled to welcome author Lawrence Shimkets who has agreed to write a guest post for my blog. Lawrence is an acclaimed microbiology professor and researcher from the University of Georgia, and he will explain how an award-winning microbiologist became an action-adventure author.

I met Lawrence (Larry) Shimkets on LinkedIn, and we’ve corresponded about storytelling, writing, and promotion. I’ve met several other authors on LinkedIn, and while most of us have “day jobs,’ we feel driven to write and a need to tell the next story formulating in our minds. We are dreamers.

Larry is currently in Costa Rica teaching genetics in a classroom in the Monteverde Cloud Forest. Last month, he attended a microbiology conference in London, and a few weeks earlier, he and his wife spent time kayaking through the Florida Everglades. Larry travels the world and collects a rich array of settings he can use for his adventure novels.

I am reading Larry’s novel, Malice in the Palace, and it is a fun ride. I highly recommend it. Larry tells an exciting story, and I can only guess at the next dream burbling in his mind, waiting to be told.

I am in the process of writing my next novel, and I think about it constantly. Storytelling doesn’t follow a linear path for me. I write an outline, but part way through the manuscript, when my characters do something I don’t expect, I throw away the outline, and my dreams follow the twists and turns of my characters’ actions. Dreams are good. I’d be lost if I couldn’t tell my stories.

Please visit my blog next week and help me welcome Larry Shimkets as we get to know him better and learn what drove a world-renowned microbiologist to step away from the microscope, sit down at the computer, and dream up a thrilling adventure tale.

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Robin Barefield is the author of three Alaska wilderness mystery novels, Big Game, Murder Over Kodiak, and The Fisherman’s Daughter. To download a free copy of one of her novels, watch her webinar about how she became an author and why she writes Alaska wilderness mysteries. If you like audiobooks, check out her audiobook version of Murder Over Kodiak. Also, sign up below to subscribe to her free, monthly newsletter on true murder and mystery in Alaska.

Mystery Newsletter

Sunshine

June 17, 2018Living in the wilderness on Kodiak Island, WritingAlaska Wilderness Author, Kodiak Island, Medium, Writingadmin

Ahh, sunshine! Finally, we’ve had a week without clouds. When the sun shines on this lush, green rainforest I call home, no place is more beautiful, and a day of sunshine makes me forget all the cloudy, rainy days preceding it. We have had a cool spring with almost no sunshine until now, and I was beginning to wonder if I would ever see the sun again.

June is “work” month here at our lodge on Kodiak Island. It is the month we paint, fix, clean, and garden in preparation for our summer bear-viewing and sport-fishing trips. A day of sunshine means it is time to rush outdoors, grab a brush and spread paint until exhausted. June is also one of the rainiest, foggiest months on the island, so we cannot afford to squander sunshine on decadent activities such as picnics on the beach or hikes in the woods. Nevertheless, I enjoy the sunshine, and after a week of hard work, I am also looking forward to the forecasted rain in a few days!

This time of year, writing is a luxury, and I have to steal a minute here and there to write a few lines. While my mind bursts with story-telling and promotional ideas, I don’t have time to follow through on them. I recently began publishing my murder newsletters on Medium, an online publishing platform. Here is a link to my first article. While this is the wrong time of year to give myself a new job, I was excited to have an additional outlet for my writing, and I couldn’t wait to see if people would read my stories on Medium. I dreamed of thousands of new readers, but now, I’ll be happy if my article receives a hundred views.

I am eager to get back to writing my next novel. I’m excited about the story, and I love writing fiction. My writing focus this summer, though, will be to finish the edits on my wildlife book. I hope to send it to my publisher this winter.

I have been thinking about my blog posts for this summer, and I plan to focus once again on fish. Of all the posts I have written, my most popular one is, “The Difference Between Atlantic and Pacific Salmon.” I guess this means folks are interested in fish, and since I love talking about fish, it’s a topic I’ll embrace. I have a halibut post planned for next week, and then I’ll jump into the troubling issue of the sudden decline in Pacific grey cod.

Please send me any questions you have about fish species in the North Pacific, and I will investigate the answer and write a post about it. I will be happy to write about fish biology, fishing regulations, and fishing techniques.

I know I don’t say this often enough, but thank you for reading my posts. I appreciate you! Now, it’s time for me to get outdoors, enjoy this sunshine, and paint something.

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Robin Barefield is the author of three Alaska wilderness mystery novels, Big Game, Murder Over Kodiak, and The Fisherman’s Daughter. To download a free copy of one of her novels, watch her webinar about how she became an author and why she writes Alaska wilderness mysteries. If you like audiobooks, check out her audiobook version of Murder Over Kodiak. Also, sign up below to subscribe to her free, monthly newsletter on true murder and mystery in Alaska.