Exactly ten days ago, as you will recall from my recent blog post, I met at a local coffee shop with one Mr. Eldritch Black. A rather curious gentlemen and fellow author here on Whidbey Island, Mr. Black writes creepy books for the purpose of scaring youngsters. We’ve asked him not to do this terrible thing, however the children seem to enjoy these tomes of his, so I guess it’s all for the better. Weirdbey Island
Since becoming an author myself just over a year ago with “Make Your Own Darn Good Cookies“, I’ve had the blessing (and sometimes curse) of connecting with numerous other authors. Quite a few have kindly shared their works, most often in the form of e-books — some with audiobooks. Over the past year I have received so many of each I can’t keep up with them. Mr. Black generously foisted some of his upon me — two from his Weirdbey Island series along with The Book of Kindly Deaths.
A few months ago I had the opportunity to listen to the first of the Weirdbey Island books — The Pirates of Penn Cove. Despite Mr. Black’s purpose of scaring children, I being an adult found I rather enjoyed the story. His story of Island newcomer, Dylan, was unsettling at every turn — and the locations were written much as they are in real life right here on Whidbey! For his generosity, and whatever possibly twisted reasoning behind it, I wanted to return Mr. Black’s courtesy with my online review.
Today I started Weirdbey Island book #2 — The Day of the Jackalope — and it’s already off to a bizarre and unnerving start. Dylan is with his friends leading their own investigations into the mysterious going-ons on Whidbey Island. These books have been a delight for the sheer sake that they remind me of the creepy books I read as a kid. It is a nostalgia-blast that takes me back to the first two books of the Bunnicula series.
As time permits I will listen to the audiobook copy of The Book of Kindly Deaths … not that I really want to, I just want to make sure the children out there are safe. Weirdbey Island
This has been an attempt to write in similar style to the story-telling you will find in these first few Weirdbey Island books. Frankly, they’re a lot of fun, and I hope you and the children in your life will enjoy them as much as I have. Both of the Weirdbey Island books above are delightfully narrated by J. Scott Bennett.
~ Best, Don
The legend of Bill Millin is well-known in the Highland bagpipe community. The short story that everyone knows is that “Piper Bill” went ashore on Sword Beach* — he carried no firearm, wore a kilt, played bagpipes, and never got shot by German forces because they thought he had gone insane. While all of this is true and I already knew from lore, I have been formally researching the whole story and it is far more detailed.
(*Queen Red, the furthest east section of the invasion)
Bill Millin with his bagpipes landing on the Queen Red section of Sword Beach.
It is an honor to be writing about this man’s role in the June 6, 1944, Normandy invasion and it is important to me that I get it right. I have reached out for every information source I can locate. Presently I have a considerable stack of library books on D-Day, audiobooks and e-books, media on order, one film, along with articles and interviews I’ve found online. Something I am particularly excited about is that I have made contact with Bill Millin’s son and grandson online and they have agreed to review my work once complete. Also, it seems that each time I stop by the library to pick up another piece of media I’ve ordered, I find and buy a D-Day or WWII book from their used book rack. Apparently I’m building my own D-Day/WWII library $3 at a time!
The bronze life-size statue of Piper Bill Millin unveiled on 8 June 2013 at Colleville-Montgomery, near Sword, in France.
As I review these history sources I have found some problems in the information. Generally speaking I have books written by historians and articles written by journalists. Some of the errors I have identified due to my Highland bagpipe playing career. Some of the errors seem to be words and concepts the previous writers did not fully understand. The biggest problem I have been finding is historical inconsistencies. Generally the greater collection of errors come from the journalists — these individuals tend to work at a faster pace with less study than historians. Usually I can sift through the historical inconsistencies by applying information from military documents along with identifying the details that are consistent in history books and interviews from Bill Millin himself.
As said it is an honor to be writing about this man. It is an honor as a bagpiper and as the grandson of WWII veterans. My aim is to help clean up some of the history mistakes that have developed and promote the greater story of Bill Millin’s role in D-Day among my piping peers along with my non-piping readers. I am sure that you too will be impressed by this one aspect of The Greatest Generation and the greatest invasion in the history of the world.
Books and Other Media
D-Day / Minute by Minuteby Jonathan Mayo – This book gives a ‘real-life’ presentation of D-Day as each hour passes. It is an amazing book and I would be thrilled to have a copy in my collection.
The Longest Day: 6 June 1944 D-Dayby Cornelius Ryan – This is the seminal D-Day history book behind the film. I am presently about half way through it and it is nothing short of AMAZING! With it I watched the cast-of-thousands film by Darryl F. Zanuck for my third-or-so time. While it does not include everything in Ryan’s book it presents much of it with considerable adherence to detail — not common these days with books-turned-film — well worth viewing.
I also have copies of the following e-books from my library however have not had time to get into them yet — D-Dayby Stephen E. Ambrose and D-Day / The Battle for Normandyby (Sir) Antony Beevor. I’m already impressed by Ambrose’s work and from what I’ve gathered about Beevor’s book it sounds to be a valuable text.
Middle-grade and Youth-oriented Books
D-Dayby Charlie Samuels – Part of the “Turning Points In US Military History” collection, for its target audience this book looked excellent!
D-Day / A True Bookby Peter Benoit – This book is similar to the Charlie Samuels’ text … only that I’m uncomfortable with a history book that says it is a ‘true’ history book.
D-Day / The Invasion of Normandy 1944 by Rick Atkinson – I plowed through the Atkinson book looking for information on my subject. In my opinion based on the other books I have studied, the author glosses over details and frequently presents them with gross mistakes.
D-Day / The WWII Invasion That Changed Historyby Deborah Hopkinson – I’m frankly disappointed by this book. Picking it up it appears to be on-par with the work of Cornelius Ryan and Stephen Ambrose (ETC) — the book is large and thick — but that is a first impression only. Upon closer inspection, as an author I can tell you there are a few tricks that have been used to make the book appear more impressive. The two main tricks is that the book is not single-spaced and it is loaded with pictures; take out the photos, make it single spaced, and it is half the length at best. This 2018 publication does not appear to present anything new on the topic and is possibly written in such a manner as to not ‘offend’ the Politically Correct (ETC) crowd &/or to spoon-feed D-Day to the delicate middle-grade blue-ribbon crowd. The good thing I can say about the book is that it is worth it for accessing the D-Day related pictures … other than that, other books are in my opinion better information sources whereas this one is comparatively watered-down. And for my uses … no apparent mention of Bill Millin on Sword Beach or at Pegasus Bridge.
Last evening I had a meeting with Tom Trimbath – a gentleman I consider a friend, a self-publishing mentor, and an all around good soul. This ‘meeting’ was not unlike our previous meetings – informal, creative, humorous, and inspiring. A number of things are coming up for Tom and I — it was time to check in again. We met at Toby’s Tavern in Coupeville, WA, for dinner – the same joint we were in not long after the publication of my recipe book last fall.
Now before I tell you about the meeting, let me tell you a little about Toby’s …
If you think this view of Coupeville over Penn Cove is beautiful, you should see it from the ground level.Here’s a little look at Coupeville…
Before Tom’s and my meeting last year Tom suggested Toby’s and offered for me to look into other places in Coupeville. While Coupeville is about 22 square miles here on Whidbey Island, what I was inquiring about was the historic 2-block area on the waterfront overlooking Penn Cove. I know the area well – as a kid I spent summer days playing in the town and seeing the different shops when visiting my grandparents. While many of the shops have changed since then, the historic town has stayed much the same – and if you’re visiting Whidbey Island, definitely stop in and enjoy yourself in Coupeville for at least a few hours. But where was I? Oh yeah – back to Toby’s …
This is the place!
Last fall when I was looking at reviews for the different restaurants on the Coupeville waterfront I came up with a number of nice sounding places. When I looked up Tom’s suggestion of “Toby’s Tavern” I read some rather interesting reviews on Google and Yelp (etc). I read things that made it sound … well … TERRIBLE! Bad food, fist-fights, weirdoes galore … I hung out in my share of divey places in my 20s, but now it just didn’t sound all that appealing. When I checked with Tom he said Toby’s was nothing like that, to trust him, and to meet him there later that evening. So, trusting Tom as I often do, I did!
“A quintessential dive bar housed in a vintage mercantile building dating from the 1890s; even the polished back bar was originally shipped here from around Cape Horn in 1900. Quaff home-produced microbrews and enjoy a menu spearheaded by local classics such as fantastic mussels, clam strips, and halibut and chips, while listening to the jukebox or shooting pool.”
I haven’t been back to Toby’s since meeting Tom there last fall but in my time there I found I like Toby’s. There was something about the joint that was just … comfortable. When I have a few more things in order in my daily life I’d like to stop in for a burger, catch a window booth and write while looking out on the cove.
Not my burger from last night — I don’t take food pictures like this … it’s weird.
Locally, Toby’s is somewhat known for their burgers – I can’t say they’re particularly special – if you go there don’t expect them to be gourmet, from what I’ve seen they just make a good classic burger. So I joined Tom last night again at Toby’s – he had a plate of fish and chips and I ordered a bacon cheeseburger and lemonade. Since he was a little late for our meeting, and I was a little later, we quickly got down to business.
MY BOOK!
We started out with talking about our presentation next week at the Langley Library – titled “Self-Publishing – From Inspiration to Publication“. We gave this same presentation last October and it went well. If you don’t know about this already, it’s great for authors and folks working or thinking abut becoming authors. Writers have additional options to traditional publishing these days, and one of those is to self-publish – you do all the work to produce your book and have a press manufacture your books for you. Self-publishing is how I brought my recipe book to fruition – and one of the companies that supports this is Amazon.com – they make, sell, and provide me with copies of “Make Your Own Darn Good Cookies“. Self-publishing has been growing like gangbusters over the past 20 years; it is an option that authors and to-be authors ought to know abut and consider.
I can write this — NO PROBLEM!!!
Tom then brought up the topic of a writing project he invited me to a number of weeks ago – it was about this time that the juices from my burger started leaking down my hand. As for the ‘writing project’, Tom had asked that I contribute some writing to a fundraiser book about tea. This was an interesting prospect to me since I’m more of a coffee drinker. I drink tea, I just don’t drink much tea. Tea remains a new personal discovery for me – I’m still exploring the flavours and finding the moods when it best suits me. As for this tea book, I’m flattered to be asked and I’m excited to get myself further known as a writer – and I know already that I’ll be writing from the ‘new to tea’ position.
Yep, that’s me — BagpiperDon AKA BiscottiDon
This ‘fundraiser book’ topic was timely since I brought a question for Tom on the subject to our meeting. Since publishing “Make Your Own Darn Good Cookies” I have been working on two books; one of these is my next recipe book, and the next book to be published is a bagpipe sheet music book that is planned to be a fundraiser for a veteran’s organization of which I am a member. It was at this point that my burger started falling apart in my hands with a distinct immediacy. Nonetheless, Tom helped to clarify that books can be set-up through Amazon and sold for fund-raisers, and gave me a little insight on the process … and, as usual, the day after I have a number of other questions for him around this.
There might be robots!
We went on to talk a bit about a Sci-Fi book that Tom is writing coupled with a series I’ve had in my head for 25+/- years. It was then, despite my best efforts, that my burger was really going to pieces – pickles falling out, onions falling out, juice down my hands … that otherwise tasty burger was making me look like a real SLOB! Tom’s book (actually, he said there is going to be two) could exist in the same universe as my book series and we’ve been talking about working on these cooperatively. The prospect has fed my mind – so much so, that to make his book(s) and my books work together it has given me ideas for a back-story book along with two or more books beyond the original four I had thought of – and I’ve been making notes regardless of other things I’ve been needing to focus on.
As we finished up our meeting, and I finished up the last of my broken burger, we touched on two other topics briefly before Tom had to leave. One of these is that we’re looking beyond our 1-off ‘how to self-publish’ presentations. We talked about taking our presentation ‘on the road’ and off of Whidbey Island – we’ve even talked about growing it to where it is a weekend-long workshop with additional presenters. Then, as I was wiping burger juices off of my hands, I introduced a new idea – doing podcasts to promote our writing. I have the gear and the capabilities, and between Tom and I we have plenty to talk about. Tom liked this idea, so I’m sure we’ll talk about it more soon.
Then, Tom and I wrapped our meeting. As our bill got paid we talked with one of the ladies who’s part of the Toby’s bar staff about our presentation. Tom left for an evening of dance, and I left for an evening of practicing bagpipes for a St. Patrick’s Day parade this weekend. Tom didn’t shake my hand when we departed, and after that burger I don’t blame him. And as for Toby’s – it’s dive-bar charm, tasty if sometimes greasy burgers, and view of beautiful Penn Cove – yeah … I’ll be back.
If you do then you need to know about Craig Lea Gordon …
Craig Lea Gordon — playable at 33RPM
After three years of work, last fall I began to see the ‘light at the end of the tunnel‘ on writing my first recipe book, “Make Your Own Darn Good Cookies“. As my publication date grew close I started looking online for other independent authors — I wanted to find folks who were going for it like me, men and women who were sharp and well experienced. There were numerous questions I had, which I not only thought I could ask these authors but also learn from them by observing what they do. Among these authors I was fortunate to come across Craig Lea Gordon and his work.
Craig lives and writes in North East England — where Gordon Sumner is from …. you know, Sting?!? He comes across as a pleasant blend of being smart as a whip and extremely down to earth. I picked up on him through a free e-book offer, and in my opinion what Craig writes is AMAZING! First I got the e-book and then I started receiving e-mails from the guy — Craig, not Sting. One of his e-mails offered that I could join his Facebook group — which then lead to getting my hands on a copy of “The Machine“.
I have a few problems when it comes to books…
One of these problems is that I LOVE BOOKS. I’ll get a stack of books — often from a used book store — and I want to read them All. One or two of them will catch my eye at home were I already have a few books open …. it’s an interesting book … I’m looking forward to reading it …. and I tell myself, “Well, I can just read the first few pages to get a sense of it and then put it down until I’ve finished one of my other books.” Yeah … that never works …. and the next I know I have four or five books that I’m in the middle of and loving*. I did this with “The Machine”, and as reading goes … I made a wonderful mistake. * For the record, I currently only have three books that I’m reading … maybe four.
The Machine is rich in detail and has a creepy-factor that is palpable! The last time I read a book that had this level of ambiance was authored by a well-known writer here in Washington State by the name of Frank Herbert … you know, the guy who wrote Dune. Yeah, The Machine is like that!
Craig’s most recent book!
As for Craig, he’s a swell guy! He updates us on his literary projects in his Facebook group, we get to see sneak previews of his cover art, and he presents weekly ‘What Sci-Fi Film Is This’ challenges … which I get the right answer to about half the time … and consequently realize how much sci-fi I’ve seen. Craig even puts up with my sense of humor, which for that alone he should probably get knighted.
And here’s part of why I’m making sure you know about Craig and his writing — because lately …. he did me a solid!
(Read on ….)
(Yep … keep scrolling down.)
This wasn’t actually a surprise*, but let’s pretend that it was… because that’s more fun!
Ten days ago I received Craig’s most recent e-mail update. First he told his followers about how the holidays went with his family. Then Craig let us know how to get Advance Reader Copies of his next book “The Acid Suite”. The he told us about two other authors’ books — now, bear in mind, Craig has an internationalfollowing with his e-mails. One of these books is titled “The Rig” by Roger Levy, and the other one …. well …. it wasn’t a sci-fi book at all!?! In fact, Craig told everyone about “Make Your Own Darn Good Cookies” by yours truly!!! Craig wrote about my participation on his Facebook group and even plugged my book on Amazon — WOW!
* Craig messaged me a few days earlier and kindly asked if I would mind if he did this … PHHT, like I was going to say No?!?
Check out what Craig is doing at his homepage along with Facebook & Twitter — you can even get a free e-book copy of his first Acid Suite book “Transmit“. Dark palpable sci-fi cyberpunk … oh yeah, Craig is your new author!
If you’re like me, right now you are grinning from ear-to-ear having seen the latest Star Wars installment “The Last Jedi“! In anticipation of the film, I looked on my library’s website for what material from the cannon they had available. As it turned out, they had LOADS!
Star Wars films, soundtracks, books, audio books, William Shakespeare‘s StarWars books — AND THIS — The Star Wars Cookbook II -Darth Malt and More Galactic Recipes by Frankie Frankeny & Wesley Martin.
Being into sci-fi, and soon to publish my own first baking/cooking book, I’ve started to look at recipe books with a different eye. When it came to this Star Wars cookbook … I Simply Had To Check This Out!
Clever recipe titles!
Attributes
Geared toward kids, over the course of its 60 wipe-clean pages it features hilarious photographs and fun Star Wars themed recipes. This second installment of The Star Wars Cookbook series even includes a washable plastic stencil of Darth Maul’s iconic face to help decorate culinary creations. While kid-cooks might think they’re getting it play with their food, it instead teaches to get creative with cooking. Bring your kids into the kitchen to learn to cook without the use of Jedi mind-control tricks! Adults as well as kids will have a great time with this book.
NOTE – “Star Wars” and all other names, references, images, et cetera are the property of their respective copyright owners. If I have somehow violated copyright, please instruct as to how to correct this ….. in other words, Disney, please don’t sue me … besides, I don’t have anything.
A few months ago I had the opportunity to listen to the first of the Weirdbey Island books — The Pirates of Penn Cove. Despite Mr. Black’s purpose of scaring children, I being an adult found I rather enjoyed the story. His story of Island newcomer, Dylan, was unsettling at every turn — and the locations were written much as they are in real life right here on Whidbey! For his generosity, and whatever possibly twisted reasoning behind it, I wanted to return Mr. Black’s courtesy with my online review.
Today I started Weirdbey Island book #2 — The Day of the Jackalope — and it’s already off to a bizarre and unnerving start. Dylan is with his friends leading their own investigations into the mysterious going-ons on Whidbey Island. These books have been a delight for the sheer sake that they remind me of the creepy books I read as a kid. It is a nostalgia-blast that takes me back to the first two books of the Bunnicula series.
Then, Tom and I wrapped our meeting. As our bill got paid we talked with one of the ladies who’s part of the Toby’s bar staff about our presentation. Tom left for an evening of dance, and I left for an evening of practicing bagpipes for a St. Patrick’s Day parade this weekend. Tom didn’t shake my hand when we departed, and after that burger I don’t blame him. And as for Toby’s – it’s dive-bar charm, tasty if sometimes greasy burgers, and view of beautiful Penn Cove – yeah … I’ll be back.
* For the record, I currently only have three books that I’m reading … maybe four.
