A Time To Start Planning For The Gathering Season

I hope that everyone had a great Christmas and Hannukah. One more holiday on January 1st to survive and then the earth will bed down for the Winter and start the renewal process all over again in the Spring.

Many of the tribes used winter as a time for healing, reflection, story telling and planning for the migration to the next available food source when the weather warmed. They traveled hundreds of miles from place to place. It was a millenia of experience that kept them alive and helped them store up for the following Winter, too. Life is a cycle in many ways. One way was to adapt to what the earth's timing was for these things.

May a good robe warm you this Winter beside a nice low fire and your children and grandchildren listen to your wisdom with wonder. Share what you can with others who have fallen on hard times and remember that the Creator has made all of this for His pleasure -- especially you.

May your bow find its targets and your enemies be few in the coming year and give thanks for the blessings.

Gary

Newer Projects

I just finished a revision on my manuscript, Hollow Point, featuring the Suquamish tribe on the Port Madison Reservation. Now I'm diving headlong into research and writing a thriller about the Mountain Shoshone tribe titled The Sheepeater and having a blast learning new things!

I would also like to thank Richard Hacker for inviting me on his website a couple of days ago (www.richardhacker.com). I encourage you to visit it and "like" it. He's done a great job.

Guest Blog Reminder

I will be a guest on author Richard Hacker's blog this coming Monday, December 10th. Richard authored Toxic Relationship with Champagne Book Group. His website address is www.richardhacker.com. I hope you take the opportunity to venture over and give it a peek and learn a little bit more about my book, Buffalo Hump. Tell your friends!

Gary

Can You Hear The Pow Wow Drums?

PROUDLY ANNOUNCING THE E-BOOK RELEASE OF

 

BUFFALO HUMP

 

MONDAY, DECEMBER 3RD, 2012

 

AVAILABLE THROUGH

 

CHAMPAGNE BOOK GROUP

 

WWW.CHAMPAGNEBOOKS.COM

 

 

Happy Thanksgiving To You and Yours

I have been honored to be asked to be a guest contributor to Richard Hacker's blog on December 10th and discuss Buffalo Hump. Richard's web address is www.richardhacker.com. He authored Toxic Relationships, which is doing well in the market place. My ebook will be released the first part of the month and I suggest you go to Champagne Book Group's website to find it!

Meanwhile, enjoy the fruits of your labor and don't forget those who have less. You never know where those sneaky angels might show up!

Gary

Excerpt from Chapter Two of Buffalo Hump

   While he was in the cabin, Jack decided a cup of hot coffee wouldn’t

hurt. Besides that, he had at least a day left before Pete was due back from

the Seven Devils. There was no rush to dig anywhere else but the streambed.

   He contemplated pulling the sluice box from beside the mine and putting it near the spring, but joked to himself that he might as well get used to

enjoying his new-found life of leisure.

   Someone had a different idea. Jack wasn’t paying attention when he

came back around the corner of the cabin, heading to the stream. His
thoughts were consumed by the gold and he made noise like a city slicker,
banging the pick against the pan and padding heavily along on the ground.

   Of course, being the only human within twenty miles didn’t lend to

feeling a need for being quiet, but nature has a way of making you pay for your transgressions.

A God-awful scream jerked Jack’s eyes from the ground in front of him to the streambed. His startled body reacted to the scream with a shiver that ran down his back like a lightning bolt. Before him stood an angry-looking

momma cougar between him and her two cubs that scrambled up the

12

hill. Her ears were laid back flat against her head and her teeth looked like

giant daggers protruding from her jaws. She was back on her haunches and
her long tail flipped like a super-charged fly swatter. If Jack hadn’t been so
scared, he would have been thoroughly impressed with watching Mother
Nature at work.

   All he could think to do was raise his pick and hold the pan out like a

poor imitation of a gladiator’s shield before ever…so…slowly backing off
from the big cat. Her low, guttural growls synchronized with each of his
movements. Her eyes were locked onto his implements. He couldn’t
remember if you were or weren’t supposed to look cougars in the eye. It
didn’t matter. He was trying to stay on his feet backing up, so he spent most
of his time watching the ground anyhow.

Book Cover

Published by Champagne Books as an Ebook due out December 2012.

Here comes another one!

For those of you who like western Indian tribes, you might like the new book I'm working on now. It centers around the Mountain Shosone Tribe north of Yellowstone - the Sheepeaters - in a present day story about a young ranch hand named Eli Washakie, named after a famous Shosone Chief.

Of course there's trouble afoot and Washakie's got to help his boss, Sourdough Severson overcome big hurdles to survive and save his herd inspite of an incompetent Sheriff. Washakie will have to use everything he learned growing up. His boss isn't exactly the shy, retiring type either. Between the two of them, they have stepped up their odds to that of a snowball's chance in Hell, but don't count out Jethro, Percy and Queenie to whittle them down even more.

New Manuscript Drafted

Finished my first draft manuscript of "Hollow Point" yesterday afternoon. It's a short fiction of modern lore, dealing with a drug ring and the Suquamish tribe on the Port Madison Indian Reservation. More information as it becomes available!

Y'all better take cover for a bit

Now I'm all Wi-Fied; Kindled and laptopped up. I have yet to try anything out for fear I'll launch something ominous into space and put someone's eye out! If you see a mushroom cloud, it's just me pressing the "on" button. I'll give you fair warning before it's time to hide under your desks!

It's Sneakin' Up!

The manuscript for Buffalo Hump just went into final edit in the past few days (thanks to a very patient editor). Just waiting for the rest of the pieces to fall into place and I'll be a happy camper! If the rest of my books go this well, I might just learn something...well, Nikki might have a different opinion about that! :)

No Guts -- No Glory

Or some such thing. Pardon my absence while I dried out and sobered up. It's a new and amazing thing to have your teeth rattle out of you head an you can't find the right keys on the keyboard to try to get some work done, but it's better now. I'm sure Hemingway could relate.

The one conference I really wanted to get to just wasn't to be, but alas, a better thing happened! I met two very interesting Tulallip men going through the same thing I was. The world is a funny place. Grist for another story, I think.

Good luck to all who are trying to kick it. The stories there are amazing - even the ones about the bugs on the wall :)

Gary

Holy Cow

I'm afraid I got side-tracked there for awhile due to a loooong visit to my local hospital. I didn't feel much like doing anything other than racing to the toilet, so forgive my inattentiveness!

Hollow Point is at 50k words and growing. Buffalo Hump is in the middle of its fourth edit and the writer feels like he's been manhandled through a cheese grater backwards.

I'm hoping that the galleys for BH will be forthcoming in the near future to share with all of you (at least the book cover). Keep your fingers crossed!

What a Process!

Just sent out my third edit to my estute editor, hoping she likes most of it. I almost feel like a 7th grader trying to get my teacher's approval, but it's worth it! I can't wait to see the end result!

Just Bragging A Bit

My dad's 79th birthday is coming up on the 15th and he and mom's 61st anniversary follows on the 17th. I'm so proud of them that I could easily bust my buttons! They've been amazing parents, grandparents and great-grandparents in our family.

#2 Edit and a Great new word

I just sent back another edit yesterday or so and let my editor know I was technologically deficient. She put a new word in my vocabulary that I think is hilarious: "technotard." It perfectly depicts my computer abilities. That one's going into my spell-check dictionary!

A Week in the Day of a Writer

I think being a writer is a lot like my old profession, being a firefighter. Things plug along forever; an unending plodding toward a hope to make a difference. Then, all of a sudden, you find yourself up to your ears in chaos, trying to keep your nose above water. Editors pull you and encourage you to hone your story; you're trying to hawk your self-published work; and then there's life itself that has no particular regard for your professional priorities. This could drive a man to get old, but I love it! Hope all of you have a great weekend!

It's Been A Busy Week

I just registered for the Pacific Northwest Writers Association conference in July in Sea-Tac. It should be another great one this year, but it'll be even better knowing that I met my future publisher there last year and several great people since. I'm looking forward to it!

Phew!

Just sent back my first edit of Buffalo Hump to my editor. Wow! She's putting me through my paces. I think I'm gonna have to eat my Wheaties to keep up with her!

To Hard Working Moms Everywhere

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY! May your day and heart be filled with love and honor.

Excitement!

I have been assigned an editor from Champagne Books for Buffalo Hump today. She sounds enthusiatic! That's always a good sign!

Cinco de Mayo

Why is it that the only ones who truly celebrate the 'holiday' are Americans? I guess we just like great excuses to party!

A Good Day!

Had a great time with the people at Cafe Noir in Silverdale, WA. Very well received and very gracious hosts!

Tomorrow Is Officially Declared Tuesday

And since it is Tuesday, and since it is May 1st, I shall make myself appear at Cafe Noir in Silverdale between 9:00 and 2:00. I'm limbering up my signature-writing muscles now. If anything else, you can buy a great cup of coffee or tea and goodies from Mike, the owner!

Song of the Unsung Book Signing

Just a quick reminder that I'll be at Cafe Noir in Silverdale, WA next Tuesday, May 1st from 9-2 to autograph copies of Song of the Unsung. Hope to see you there!

Buffalo Hump

Here's one for you: Is Buffalo Hump a person, place or thing? Where does he/it reside? The book is being released in December with Champagne Books. I think you're going to like it!

Here's A Thought

I've heard a lot of people say that they'd like to write a novel, as every other writer probably has. Go for it! Let your story unfold. Let your imagination overwhelm you. Put your fingers to your keyboard and let 'er rip!

Then the next thing you need to do is learn the skill. Join a writers' critique group. Leave your ego at the door, because you're going to be skewered on a regular basis. What you see as a masterpiece seldom is at first.

When your manuscript is honed and polished. It can be submitted to Publishing Houses, agents, editors, or even be self-published. First hand experience says that unless you're fortunate, you're going to have a drawer full of rejection letters before you are accepted by someone.

After you are accepted, it can take up to a year or better to actually become published,  and longer than that to receive your first royalty check, so don't quit your day job.

Be serious about writing. Decide whether you love it for the recreation and creativity or for a career. There's always room for more good writers!

Gary

Book Signing

I'll be signing books at Cafe Noir in Silverdale on May 1st from 9-2. The coffee's great there!

From Song of the Unsung

CHAPTER ONE

Two days before life on the planet changed, Ben Stitch was back in the air in his Piper Cherokee heading west from his last delivery of mail and a passenger at the Inupiaq village in the ‘1002 (ten-zero-two) Land’ near the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). Stitch was one of the North Slope Borough’s pilots paid to make deliveries and other odd jobs a plane was needed for between towns and villages.

He was just settling in and adjusting himself for his long flight back to Prudhoe Bay for a quick refueling stop and then on to his home at Nuiqsut when he spotted a huge herd of caribou moving north en masse toward the coast. Migration to the north was unheard of during this time of year. It was way too early - too cold. Something seemed to be driving them.

Within fifteen minutes of seeing the caribou Stitch spotted a herd of musk ox heading in the same direction in herd numbers that he had never witnessed before. “Hmmmm…what do they know that we don’t know,” he wondered aloud.

Rehearsing all he had been taught over the years by his people and his interest in science, his mind started rattling off the checklist for possible reasons:

Earthquakes are common, but the stronger ones usually happen more around the Gulf of Alaska in the southwest part of the State. Every so often a little temblor still manages to rattle a window up here, though. It might have rattled some critters nerves this time, but it would’ve had to be big to move that many animals. Maybe there was a volcano eruption somewhere? Animals have a weird sense about these things even before they happen.

 “What the…since when do grizzlies run beside musk ox without the oomingmak circling up to protect themselves?” Ben spoke out louder to himself in disbelief as he saw yet another anomaly. About a dozen grizzly bears were traveling to the right of the musk ox in a group. Neither species seemed to pay any attention to the other or the airplane noise overhead as they ran toward the direction of the coast. The oomingmak and bears were running parallel to each other at full speed about one hundred yards apart.

“That’s just nuts,” Ben muttered as he scratched his head. “What’s next - a sasquatch sighting?” He radioed to Prudhoe Bay about what he saw when he came into range, thinking the State’s wildlife folks might like to hear about this.

Easter

What a great day today. We celebrated my twin nieces' 14th birthday, plus in was grandson Waylon's first-ever Easter (he didn't give a rip, but it was cute). Family is everything, writing comes in second, but writing's what I love to do as well.

Funny enough that I had a wild bunny traversing across my front lawn tonight, though. Had a great chuckle about that!

Hippity Hop, Hippity Hop

I remember Easter as an exciting time when I was in K thru 3rd grade in Wasco, OR. We searched for Easter eggs in the park and the whole community (of about 300) cheered on the kids. It was our version of a current-day Disneyland. How I wish for the preservation of those little towns across the country and their adherence to tradition! ;)

April? Already?

You know it's spring when you look up from your keyboard and discover your hair has grown long and you look like a hermit that has inhabited a snow cave for the winter! It has been productive, though: one book published on Amazon (Song of the Unsung) and one being published by Champagne Books due out this coming December (Buffalo Hump). I'm still working on the planning stage of perhaps putting out SOTU's sequel sometime this year, too. It's title is tentatively Arctic America.

I'm currently working on my fourth manuscript, Hollow Point, and am about half way through it. Hopefully, it will be ready for submission by the end of the year.

I appreciate all of the positive comments I've received for SOTU! I have found that all the research for the book has paid off (plus I don't want to start any tribal wars and have the Inupiat knocking at my door, so I figured I'd better get the majority of my facts right).

Next time I'll throw in a few tidbits from one of the books. They all have to do with Native Americans in today's and/or tomorrow's world.

Some Days the Dragon Wins!

My writers' forum chewed me up and spit me out today. I probably deserved it, but dang. I think they went and raised the bar on me! LOL! Time to take it up a notch. These people are merciless, so I can't let them see me bleed. :)

I Take That Back!

Song of the Unsung is NOW AVAILABLE on Kindle! Let me know how you like it!

Song of the Unsung's almost up and running on Kindle

The book should be available on Kindle in the next 24-48 hours for those die-hard ebook fans! Hope you enjoy it.
Gary E.

Song of the Unsung update

So far there has been some positive comments on the book, and not all from relatives! LOL! One lady reportedly commented that she'd have never picked the book for herself, but her hubby bought it and she became intrigued. A surprising and nice affirmation! Maybe others will be equally surprised!

Just a thought

Wow. What if you were stuck in a place that you never anticipated and it was in the far reaches of the far north? 'Song of the Unsung' takes your there. 'Normal' changes. Watch out for bears!

The conclusion

Wow, what a store of information! Many people with much experience shared their thoughts. My brain is still assimilating much of it! It was a great week of learning!

The Week of Learning

I've been involved in a web seminar that is eye-opening for a new author. While the business end is enlightening, I find that the writing end is much more enriching of the mind and spirit. Both are necessary to achieve success, but my readers will have to decide whether they like my stories in the end.

My goal is to give the reader a chance to enjoy a few moments of 'what if.' I hope you find a pleasant repose in the Native American side of fiction writing.

Gary

It's Hard to be Creative Every Day

I find that sometimes the creative juices dry up at the worst times. They tend to do that when business interupts the flow. I decided to venture out and present a book, Song of the Unsung, that I self-published today in my little town. The store owner wasn't overly enthusiastic, but she was willing to sell on consignment. One book.

That released in me a new interest in continuing to write, amazingly. Weird, but effective. Even if the book sits on the shelf, it's an offering to the reading public. I feel a sense of accomplishment. It's out there! How good is that?

Gary

While I Was Out Playing With Waylon

My book, Song of the Unsung, became available on Amazon February 16th!
Check it out (better yet, buy it)!

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=song+of+the+unsung+gary+eddings&x=0&y=0

Waylon's Arrived!

Healthy baby boy; 7lbs 3oz, 20 3/4 inches long, full head of dark hair and hungry as a horse! Proud Grampa here!

News Flash

My first grandson, Waylon's about to make his grand entrance into the world in Wenatchee, WA, so I'll be pre-occupied for a few days! Wahoo!

My "Other" First Book

This has been a busy time since last posting! I decided to follow my Dad's lead and self-publish the first manuscript I ever wrote on Amazon. Its title is 'Song of the Unsung' and it takes place on the North Slope of Alaska with the Inupiat Eskimos and others who live and work along the coast up there. It's an apocalyptic thriller with a few twists.

I should receive the proof in a few days and once I make necessary corrections, it will come out on the market in both paperback and Kindle shortly thereafter, hopefully by March. I'll keep y'all posted!
Gary

The Inspiration of my Dad

This past week has been a joy, despite some health issues that popped up. My 78 year old Dad, Larry Eddings, just self-published his first novel on Amazon. The Kindle version came out Monday and the paperback on Friday. Its title is Sam and it is a mainstream fiction project.

He writes for the love of creativity and the relaxation it provides. He also happens to write great stories in the process. I know that the proud offspring thing might seem a little cliche, but this guy's been my hero my whole life anyhow. I am extraordinarily excited about his accomplishment. Buy the book and see what you think!

The Purpose of Winter

I have concluded that these cold days serve a purpose. They remind me of the first two manuscripts I wrote about the Inupiat Eskimos and the North Slope residents. I had so much fun researching and writing them that winter didn't seem so long! Therefore, I have finally rationalized a reason to be accepting of the long, cold, sometimes snowy, short, dark days. Sanity is a fickle mistress.

Still waiting to hear from the editor on the 'Buffalo Hump' manuscript. I'm getting very excited about this project. I feel like a bull that wants to get out of the chute and kick up my heels!

Snow falling on cedars...Hey, that's my backyard - not a movie!

This is the first time in a long time that I've enjoyed the snowfall in Western WA. I've been writing and enjoying the season. I don't have to be anywhere except at the keyboard! I hope everyone is safe and sound, meanwhile I'll just enjoy the moment!

Gary E.

Friday the 13th

I'll bet that all of my paranormal and numerology colleagues are having fits of inspiration and paranoia today! I believe that the 13th exists for two reasons: to go after the 12th and before the 14th. However, I wish a day filled with new ideas and few mishaps to all!

Me? I'm to walk under a ladder and see what happens! Maybe there'll be a story in it. :)

I'm Awake!

I love it when you wake up and have a whole new twist to put in your story line! Maybe that's why I like writing so much. It keeps me entertained!

Pictures!

Getting my first head shots this coming Saturday...or maybe shot in the head. Anyway the photographer that's doing it is a long-time participant in the Miss WA/Miss America program. My own #2 daughter was Miss WA in 2006 and in the top 15 at Miss America in '07. I feel speeeeecial! ;) Hope the pix don't scare anyone!

Is it tacky to do two posts in a day? Oh well!

We'll see who gets this right:

1. When the Nez Perce went into battle, what did they do to urge the warriors on when they attacked?
a) beat a war drum
b) chant
c) blow war whistles
d) perform a coup on their adversaries

2. What is a Wyakin?

3. What is the main town's name for the Nez Perce Reservation in Central Idaho?

That should fry some brain cells!

The New Year's humming along so far

I have to thank my daughter, Kristen, for all her help setting this blog up. She reminds me when I need to do 'stuff.' I hope you will all take a moment and join my blog. It doesn't cost anything! Besides that, you might find another reason to laugh during your day. You never know what I'll come up with (and neither will I). :)