How to write a book no-one wants to read:

Two of my books that involve my two favorite topics (birds, and the military) are now out on www.amazon.com for Kindle, and also at www.smashwords.com in all of the other (Nook, iPad) formats. They should already be up for direct purchase from iTunes (iStore) and www.barnesandnoble.com in their prospective formats, but somebody somewhere hasn’t done the paperwork, yet.

Click here for information about all three books' content, and here to review or purchase Amateur Hour.

Some thoughts about one of the books, Roadside Rest: As a veteran who has worked in VA hospitals scanning my fellow veterans, Roadside Rest means a lot to me. While the story is fictional, it is based on several real-life people. Interestingly, I may have come up with the magic combination that causes few people to want to read it:

1. Women don’t want to read it because they have no military experience.

2. Men who usually read military stories don’t want to read it “because it’s about a girl.”

3. Birders (birdwatchers) don’t want to read it because (a) they have no military experience (the number of current or former military types who are birders is relatively small), and (b) Kris wears her dad’s .45 while out photographing birds in the Huachucas and the Chiricahuas.

4. Gun owners don’t like it because Kris is a birdwatcher, clearly a suspect liberal activity.

Now, I say these things somewhat tongue-in-cheek, but I still fret that too many people find it easier to hide inside their own pigeonholes, and not bother with a protagonist who doesn’t mirror all of their personal values i.e. mores.