Friday, December 30, 2022

For Those with an Empty Chair


By any measure, this Christmas season was one of the best for our household. Emily’s engagement to Q was a highlight. Em and Q, Hannah and Alex, Kim and I celebrated for several days together. Eating, laughing, talking, reading, watching movies. Loved every minute.

Each year, we talk about how we need to get each other less, yet the gifts under our tree, and the gifts, peace and love in our hearts, seem to grow. And that’s the way it should be, I guess. I feel that’s the right way to go. 

But I am aware that for many, this Christmas season was one of pain and frustration. Those stranded in airports who couldn’t get to see loved ones. Those in airports who were visiting can’t get home. Those who were traveling can’t get their luggage back or, for some, don’t even know where it is.

I think of the ongoing, thoughtless and illegal war in Ukraine. The constant shelling. The bombs and rockets blasting away at their power grid, leaving many in the dark and cold, without food or water.

I think of those in the south suffering from uncharacteristic and unkind weather, cold and snow. I think of those in upstate New York buried under feet of snow that will soon melt to floods.

I think of those who got sick and are in the hospital, unable to be with their loved ones or celebrate the season as they would have. Sometimes alone, in pain, worrying. 

And I think of those who had an empty chair where someone, gone, lost, passed away, would have normally sat enjoying the moments we take for granted. An empty chair. Someone taken- at any age- well before they should have been taken. Gone. Lost smiles. Lost laughs. Lost moments and thoughts and conversation. All lost. Only to be remembered by fading pictures and not-so-fading memories.

Moments seep to the surface and we try to ignore- for our own good and the good of those celebrating around us. And we move on as best we can. As best we can.

I think that’s what happens to those of us who experience loss. We get up, we breathe, we put one foot in front of the other and we move and don’t stop. We get up the next morning and repeat it. Over and over. We live with it. We deal with it. At times, we feel the loss coming on, and we fight back by keeping ourselves busy and we try not to think about it. At other times, we give in and we let that wave wash over us, hoping we don’t drown. 

For as many, many reasons as this season of Christmas was glorious and still makes me smile, there are reasons, a few, perhaps many, that for some folks, the candlelight was a bit dimmer than it should have been.

As we pack up our ornaments, put away the lights and decorations, and take out the tree, let us remember the ones with the empty chair. Let’s bow our heads and give them a thought, say a prayer that they, too, may have joy and peace. Something to think about …

Live Your Life, and Make A Difference!

To My Readers:

Start out the New Year with a New Book! Inexpensive, and a good story lasts and will stick with the reader throughout life. Hint: I have nine available, and I hope you gift someone with one of my books.

My newest, Fan Mail, is Available for Preorder at https://www.blackrosewriting.com/thrillers/fanmail  

Use code PREORDER2023 to receive a 15% Discount. If you head over to my author website at www.jrlewisauthor.blog/ you will find the cover to Fan Mail, along with the book trailer, and the first two chapters to preview. You can also PREORDER the Kindle Version on Amazon at: amzn.to/3WBbRps

If you have read one of my books, I would like to ask a favor. If you could go online and write a review or, at the least, give a rating on the book, it would be of great help. Both a review and a rating would be wonderful. The review could be one or two lines. It doesn’t have to be long. Just let others know you read it and hopefully, enjoyed it. Obviously, 4s and 5s are the best. Thanks for this consideration.

Connect with me on Social Media: 
Author Websitewww.jrlewisauthor.blog/
Facebook at: www.facebook.com/Joseph.Lewis.Author  
Amazon at: 
www.amazon.com/Joseph-Lewis/e/B01FWB9AOI /

Fan Mail: New Release!

A barrage of threatening letters, a car bomb, and a heart attack rip apart what was once a close-knit family of adopted brothers. Randy and Bobby, along with fellow band member and best friend, Danny, receive fan mail that turns menacing. They ignore it, but to their detriment. The sender turns up the heat. Violence upends their world. It rocks the relationship between the boys and ripples through their family, nearly killing their dad.

As these boys turn on each other, adopted brother Brian flashes back to that event in Arizona where he nearly lost his life saving his brothers. The scars on his face and arms healed, but not his heart.

Would he once again have to put himself in harm’s way to save them? And if faced with that choice, will he?

Blaze In, Blaze Out: Best Action Crime Thriller of 2022 by Best Thrillers! A Literary Titan Gold Book Award Winner! A Readers’ Favorite Award Winner! A Reader’s Ready Recommended Read! A BestThriller’s Editor’s Pick!

Eiselmann and O’Connor thought the conviction of Dmitry Andruko, the head of a Ukrainian crime family, meant the end. It was only the beginning. They forgot that revenge knows no boundaries, vindictiveness knows no restraints, and ruthlessness never worries about collateral damage. Andruko hired contract killers to go after and kill O’Connor and Eiselmann. The killers can be anyone and be anywhere. They can strike at any time. They care nothing of collateral damage. Andruko believes a target is a target, and in the end, the target must die. https://amzn.to/34lNllP

Betrayed: Two Top Shelf Awards: 1st Place Fiction-Mystery; and Runner-Up Fiction-Crime; A PenCraft 1st Place Winner for Thriller-Fiction! A Maxy Award Runner-Up for Mystery/Suspense! A Literary Titan Silver Book Award Winner! A Reader’s Ready Recommended Read Award Winner! A Reader’s Favorite Honorable Mention Award Winner for Fiction-Crime-Mystery!

Betrayed is Now Available in Audio Book, Kindle and Paperback! https://amzn.to/3AfUUpS

A late-night phone call, a missing kid, a murdered family, but no one is talking. A promise is made and kept, but it could mean the death of a fifteen-year-old boy. Greed can be all-consuming, and seeing is not believing. No one can be trusted, and the hunters become the hunted. https://amzn.to/2EKHudx

Spiral Into Darkness: Named a Recommended Read in the Author Shout Reader Awards!
He blends in. He is successful, intelligent, and methodical. So far, he has murdered eight people. There is no discernible pattern. There are no clues. There are no leads. The only thing the FBI and local police have to go on is the method of death: two bullets to the face- gruesome and meant to send a message. But it’s difficult to understand any message coming from a dark and damaged mind. Two adopted boys, struggling in their own world, do not know they are the next targets. Neither does their family. And neither does local law enforcement. https://amzn.to/2RBWvTm

Caught in a Web: A PenCraft Literary Award Winner! Named “One of the Best Thrillers of 2018!” by BestThrillers.com 

Caught in a Web is also available in Audio Book, Kindle and Paperback! http://bit.ly/2WO3kka

They found the bodies of high school and middle school kids dead from an overdose of heroin and fentanyl. A violent gang, MS-13, controls the drug trade along the I-94 and I-43 corridors. They send Ricardo Fuentes to find out who is cutting in on their business, shut it down and teach them a lesson. But he has an ulterior motive: find and kill a fifteen-year-old boy, George Tokay. Detectives Jamie Graff, Pat O’Connor and Paul Eiselmann race to find the source of the drugs, shut down the ring, and find Fuentes before he kills anyone else. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CKF7696  
 
The Lives Trilogy Prequel, Taking Lives:
FBI Agent Pete Kelliher and his partner search for the clues behind the bodies of six boys left in various and remote parts of the country. Even though they live in separate parts of the country, the lives of Kelliher, 11-year-old Brett McGovern, and 11-year-old George Tokay are separate pieces of a puzzle. The two boys become interwoven with the same thread Kelliher holds in his hand. The three of them are on a collision course and when that happens, their futures grow dark as each search for a way out. 
https://amzn.to/34nXBH5
 
Book One, Stolen Lives: Editor’s Pick by BestThrillers! Literary Titan Gold Book Award Winner! A Crime Thriller finalist in the 2021 Best Thriller Book Awards!
Two thirteen-year-old boys are abducted off a safe suburban street. Kelliher and his team of FBI agents have 24 hours to find them or they will end up like the other kids they found- dead! They have no leads, no clues, and nothing to go on. To make the investigation that much tougher, Kelliher suspects that one of his team members might be involved. 
https://amzn.to/3oMo4qZ  
 
Book Two of the Lives Trilogy, Shattered Lives:
The boys are home, but now they have to fit back in with their families and friends. Their parents and the FBI thought the boys were safe. They were until people began dying. Now the hunt is on for six dangerous and desperate men who vow revenge. With no leads and nothing to go on, the FBI can only sit back and wait. A dangerous game that threatens not only the boys, but their families. 
https://amzn.to/2RAYIk2 
 
Book Three of the Lives Trilogy, Splintered Lives:
Three dangerous men with nothing to lose offer a handsome reward to anyone willing to kill fourteen-year-old Brett McGovern. He does not know that he, his younger brother, and a friend are targets. More than anyone, these three men vow to kill George, whom they blame for forcing them to run and hide. A fun vacation turns into a nightmare and ends where it started, back on the Navajo Nation Reservation, high on a mesa held sacred by George and his grandfather. Outnumbered and outgunned, George will make the ultimate sacrifice to protect his adoptive father and his adoptive brothers- but can he? Without knowing who these men are? Or where they are? Without knowing whom to trust? Is he prepared for betrayal that leads to his heartbreak and death? 
http://bit.ly/SplinteredLives  

Photo Courtesy of Allec Gomes and Unsplash.

 

Friday, December 16, 2022

You Are the Gift!


Like many of you reading this, our family is getting ready for Christmas, a short one week away. It is safe to say we are hyped for it! 

The kids gave us their list of hopes and dreams, and Kim and I gave our list to the kids. Kim and I are going simple this year. One gift for the both of us. It’s all we need and really, all we want. And you can imagine the list we gave to the kids is much smaller than theirs, and I figure that’s the way it should be. Alex, Hannah’s husband, caused a smile. For the fifth or sixth year running, at the bottom of his list, he wrote, ‘ All the riches of the world.’ 

It’s interesting how the kids’ lists have changed over the years. Toys and movies, books and CDs to, well, books and clothes, and household items. Except for a few odds and ends, Kim and I are almost done shopping for them. It will be a great Christmas for everyone.

My list is simple: give me a couple of books and let me be surrounded by Kim and my kids, and I’m good! Easy Peasy! It’s all that matters to me. To know my wife is happy and healthy and still enjoys hanging with me. To know my kids are happy and healthy and successfully chasing their dreams. That’s all I need. Will ever need.

At the school where I work part-time, the faculty and staff take part in Secret Santa. I’ve noticed that a number of kids do this with each other. There is a dollar amount, but it’s safe to say that the suggested amount is pretty much ignored. My Secret Santa has treated me super well! And I think it’s also safe to say that as much as we enjoy the surprise of what we might find in our mailbox, there is more joy in the giving. 

It isn’t so much what give or what we get, but rather, it’s really the thought behind it. It’s the effort taken to make us smile. It’s the warm feeling we get when we are gifted with something, and in turn, the warm feeling we get when we give something. 

Many of us won’t get the car sitting in the driveway with the pretty red bow on top. Most of us won’t get the newest, bestest TV, or the dream vacation. 

Most of us will be satisfied with something meaningful given with the warmest and best intentions. Doesn’t have to be great or grand, at least to anyone looking at it. But it will be great or grand because of who we receive it from and why it was given, whether or not it was big or small or fancy. It is the intention, the heart behind it.

In all cases, whether we know it or not, we are the gift! 

Sharing a joke. Listening to someone in need. Our presence when words cannot be expressed adequately. Our touch. Our smile.

The gift of knowing that if someone needs anything- a kind word, a ride, a gesture, a touch- we are there. Yes, we are the gift. Always the gift. And it doesn’t cost a dime. Something to think about …

Live Your Life, and Make A Difference!

To My Readers:

Books make wonderful Christmas presents! Inexpensive, and a good story lasts and will stick with the reader throughout life. Hint: I have nine available, and I hope you gift someone with one of my books.

My newest, Fan Mail, is Available for Preorder at https://www.blackrosewriting.com/thrillers/fanmail  

Use code PREORDER2023 to receive a 15% Discount. If you head over to my author website at www.jrlewisauthor.blog/ you will find the cover to Fan Mail, along with the book trailer, and the first two chapters to preview.

If you have read one of my books, I would like to ask a favor. If you could go online and write a review or, at the least, give a rating on the book, it would be of great help. Both a review and a rating would be wonderful. The review could be one or two lines. It doesn’t have to be long. Just let others know you read it and hopefully, enjoyed it. Obviously, 4s and 5s are the best. Thanks for this consideration.

Connect with me on Social Media: 
Author Websitewww.jrlewisauthor.blog/
Facebook at: www.facebook.com/Joseph.Lewis.Author  
Amazon at: 
www.amazon.com/Joseph-Lewis/e/B01FWB9AOI /

Fan Mail: New Release!

A barrage of threatening letters, a car bomb, and a heart attack rip apart what was once a close-knit family of adopted brothers. Randy and Bobby, along with fellow band member and best friend, Danny, receive fan mail that turns menacing. They ignore it, but to their detriment. The sender turns up the heat. Violence upends their world. It rocks the relationship between the boys and ripples through their family, nearly killing their dad.

As these boys turn on each other, adopted brother Brian flashes back to that event in Arizona where he nearly lost his life saving his brothers. The scars on his face and arms healed, but not his heart.

Would he once again have to put himself in harm’s way to save them? And if faced with that choice, will he?

Blaze In, Blaze Out: Best Action Crime Thriller of 2022 by Best Thrillers! A Literary Titan Gold Book Award Winner! A Readers’ Favorite Award Winner! A Reader’s Ready Recommended Read! A BestThriller’s Editor’s Pick!

Eiselmann and O’Connor thought the conviction of Dmitry Andruko, the head of a Ukrainian crime family, meant the end. It was only the beginning. They forgot that revenge knows no boundaries, vindictiveness knows no restraints, and ruthlessness never worries about collateral damage. Andruko hired contract killers to go after and kill O’Connor and Eiselmann. The killers can be anyone and be anywhere. They can strike at any time. They care nothing of collateral damage. Andruko believes a target is a target, and in the end, the target must die. https://amzn.to/34lNllP

Betrayed: Two Top Shelf Awards: 1st Place Fiction-Mystery; and Runner-Up Fiction-Crime; A PenCraft 1st Place Winner for Thriller-Fiction! A Maxy Award Runner-Up for Mystery/Suspense! A Literary Titan Silver Book Award Winner! A Reader’s Ready Recommended Read Award Winner! A Reader’s Favorite Honorable Mention Award Winner for Fiction-Crime-Mystery!

Betrayed is Now Available in Audio Book, Kindle and Paperback! https://amzn.to/3AfUUpS

A late-night phone call, a missing kid, a murdered family, but no one is talking. A promise is made and kept, but it could mean the death of a fifteen-year-old boy. Greed can be all-consuming, and seeing is not believing. No one can be trusted, and the hunters become the hunted. https://amzn.to/2EKHudx

Spiral Into Darkness: Named a Recommended Read in the Author Shout Reader Awards!
He blends in. He is successful, intelligent, and methodical. So far, he has murdered eight people. There is no discernible pattern. There are no clues. There are no leads. The only thing the FBI and local police have to go on is the method of death: two bullets to the face- gruesome and meant to send a message. But it’s difficult to understand any message coming from a dark and damaged mind. Two adopted boys, struggling in their own world, do not know they are the next targets. Neither does their family. And neither does local law enforcement. https://amzn.to/2RBWvTm

Caught in a Web: A PenCraft Literary Award Winner! Named “One of the Best Thrillers of 2018!” by BestThrillers.com 

Caught in a Web is also available in Audio Book, Kindle and Paperback! http://bit.ly/2WO3kka

They found the bodies of high school and middle school kids dead from an overdose of heroin and fentanyl. A violent gang, MS-13, controls the drug trade along the I-94 and I-43 corridors. They send Ricardo Fuentes to find out who is cutting in on their business, shut it down and teach them a lesson. But he has an ulterior motive: find and kill a fifteen-year-old boy, George Tokay. Detectives Jamie Graff, Pat O’Connor and Paul Eiselmann race to find the source of the drugs, shut down the ring, and find Fuentes before he kills anyone else. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CKF7696  
 
The Lives Trilogy Prequel, Taking Lives:
FBI Agent Pete Kelliher and his partner search for the clues behind the bodies of six boys left in various and remote parts of the country. Even though they live in separate parts of the country, the lives of Kelliher, 11-year-old Brett McGovern, and 11-year-old George Tokay are separate pieces of a puzzle. The two boys become interwoven with the same thread Kelliher holds in his hand. The three of them are on a collision course and when that happens, their futures grow dark as each search for a way out. 
https://amzn.to/34nXBH5
 
Book One, Stolen Lives: Editor’s Pick by BestThrillers! Literary Titan Gold Book Award Winner! A Crime Thriller finalist in the 2021 Best Thriller Book Awards!
Two thirteen-year-old boys are abducted off a safe suburban street. Kelliher and his team of FBI agents have 24 hours to find them or they will end up like the other kids they found- dead! They have no leads, no clues, and nothing to go on. To make the investigation that much tougher, Kelliher suspects that one of his team members might be involved. 
https://amzn.to/3oMo4qZ  
 
Book Two of the Lives Trilogy, Shattered Lives:
The boys are home, but now they have to fit back in with their families and friends. Their parents and the FBI thought the boys were safe. They were until people began dying. Now the hunt is on for six dangerous and desperate men who vow revenge. With no leads and nothing to go on, the FBI can only sit back and wait. A dangerous game that threatens not only the boys, but their families. 
https://amzn.to/2RAYIk2 
 
Book Three of the Lives Trilogy, Splintered Lives:
Three dangerous men with nothing to lose offer a handsome reward to anyone willing to kill fourteen-year-old Brett McGovern. He does not know that he, his younger brother, and a friend are targets. More than anyone, these three men vow to kill George, whom they blame for forcing them to run and hide. A fun vacation turns into a nightmare and ends where it started, back on the Navajo Nation Reservation, high on a mesa held sacred by George and his grandfather. Outnumbered and outgunned, George will make the ultimate sacrifice to protect his adoptive father and his adoptive brothers- but can he? Without knowing who these men are? Or where they are? Without knowing whom to trust? Is he prepared for betrayal that leads to his heartbreak and death? 
http://bit.ly/SplinteredLives  

Photo Courtesy of Unsplash.

 

 

 

Tuesday, December 6, 2022

At the Finish


In the 1978-79 season, my third year as a head varsity coach, I coached a group of young men who were farmers and ranchers. They knew what it meant to do hard work. They were determined, intense, and gifted. We might have had a loss or two, but that was it.

Shortly after the Christmas holidays, we traveled to Burns, a class B school (we were class C- smaller). At the half, we were down by just under twenty points. It was a miserable offensive and defensive performance. Nothing going right. We couldn’t shoot, got beat up on the boards, and our defense looked more like the ‘de fence around the house’. 

After the half, I did the unthinkable.

We were a solid man-to-man team. Aggressive. Trapping everywhere. Run and gun type of offense, especially after a steal or rebound.

I chose to have the kids play zone, and dare Burns to hit from the outside. I figured it would help our rebounding and if we put front side pressure on the ball, that might do the trick.

For some unknown, ungodly reason, it worked. It made no sense to me then, and it didn’t make sense to me now. To go into a zone against a team that had been shooting super well doesn’t make sense. Some parents shook their heads, and there were catcalls. But we stuck with it.

Burns went stone cold. The zone improved our fastbreak and our offense. It certainly helped our defense.

By the end of the game, we won by 33 points. Yes, you read that right. From a deficit of just under twenty to a 33 point advantage, we did it. Just by going to a zone.

I’ll come back to this in a minute …

The Daytona 500 is a yearly car race, one of the biggest. It’s 500 miles, and 400 laps around a tight oval. Cars and drivers decked out in their gear looking like walking or motorized billboards.

The thing about the race: you can lead for 399 laps, but if you don’t lead on the 400th lap and cross the finish line first, you lost. A driver can never lead until the last lap and if he should cross the finish line first, he wins. 

Just like our basketball game against Burns, the game wasn’t over at halftime. We still had a second half to play. And at the final buzzer, we finished 33 points above our opponent, and won the game.

In race car driving. In basketball or any other sport. Whoever finishes first, wins.

One last thing … 

Each year I coached, kids wanted to be a starter. To have their name called out at the beginning of the game to the cheers of the crowd. There is a certain amount of prestige in that. I get it. But what was more important to me was the first man off the bench- my sixth man. He was the guy who had to come into the game and either light a fire or put a fire out. Besides my point guard (the coach on the court), the sixth man was the MVP of my team. It was a hard sell, but by the time I finished coaching, I had kids honored to be named Sixth Man. 

But even more important than that, were the five guys who finished the game. Sometimes they started, but many times, they were subs. Yet, they finished. They were on the court when the final buzzer went off. 

In life, we live and make mistakes. We change course. We travel on a path- sometimes smooth and well-laid out. Other times, rocky and rough. But we make our way. Some of us will live a long time, while others have their lives cut short. Yet, each of us finish our own race, and each of us walk our own path to the end, whenever that end comes. Nothing wrong with that. In fact, everything is right about that. Everything. We will be judged by the kindness we showed, by the persistence with which we lived, and by the help we gave to others along the way. Just like in the Daytona 500, it doesn’t matter if you are lagging behind. Just like in basketball, it doesn’t matter if you stunk up the court for three quarters. It doesn’t matter if you’re the first to walk the path or the last. It’s the finish that matters. Something to think about … 

Live Your Life, and Make a Difference! 

To My Readers:

Books make wonderful Christmas presents! Inexpensive, and a good story lasts and will stick with the reader throughout life. Hint: I have nine available, and I hope you gift someone with one of my books.

My newest, Fan Mail, is Available for Preorder at https://www.blackrosewriting.com/thrillers/fanmail  

Use code PREORDER2023 to receive a 15% Discount. If you head over to my author website at www.jrlewisauthor.blog/ you will find the cover to Fan Mail, along with the book trailer, and the first two chapters to preview.

I received some fantastic news!

Blaze In, Blaze Out received the Best Action Fiction of 2022 Award by Best Thrillers! I can’t possibly express how happy and humbled I am to receive it. This marks the fifth award Blaze In, Blaze Out has won.

If you have read one of my books, I would like to ask a favor. If you could go online and write a review or, at the least, give a rating on the book, it would be of great help. Both a review and a rating would be wonderful. The review could be one or two lines. It doesn’t have to be long. Just let others know you read it and hopefully, enjoyed it. Obviously, 4s and 5s are the best. Thanks for this consideration.

Connect with me on Social Media: 
Author Websitewww.jrlewisauthor.blog/
Facebook at: www.facebook.com/Joseph.Lewis.Author  
Amazon at: 
www.amazon.com/Joseph-Lewis/e/B01FWB9AOI /

Fan Mail: New Release!

A barrage of threatening letters, a car bomb, and a heart attack rip apart what was once a close-knit family of adopted brothers. Randy and Bobby, along with fellow band member and best friend, Danny, receive fan mail that turns menacing. They ignore it, but to their detriment. The sender turns up the heat. Violence upends their world. It rocks the relationship between the boys and ripples through their family, nearly killing their dad.

As these boys turn on each other, adopted brother Brian flashes back to that event in Arizona where he nearly lost his life saving his brothers. The scars on his face and arms healed, but not his heart.

Would he once again have to put himself in harm’s way to save them? And if faced with that choice, will he?

Blaze In, Blaze Out: Best Action Crime Thriller of 2022 by Best Thrillers! A Literary Titan Gold Book Award Winner! A Readers’ Favorite Award Winner! A Reader’s Ready Recommended Read! A BestThriller’s Editor’s Pick!

Eiselmann and O’Connor thought the conviction of Dmitry Andruko, the head of a Ukrainian crime family, meant the end. It was only the beginning. They forgot that revenge knows no boundaries, vindictiveness knows no restraints, and ruthlessness never worries about collateral damage. Andruko hired contract killers to go after and kill O’Connor and Eiselmann. The killers can be anyone and be anywhere. They can strike at any time. They care nothing of collateral damage. Andruko believes a target is a target, and in the end, the target must die. https://amzn.to/34lNllP

Betrayed: Two Top Shelf Awards: 1st Place Fiction-Mystery; and Runner-Up Fiction-Crime; A PenCraft 1st Place Winner for Thriller-Fiction! A Maxy Award Runner-Up for Mystery/Suspense! A Literary Titan Silver Book Award Winner! A Reader’s Ready Recommended Read Award Winner! A Reader’s Favorite Honorable Mention Award Winner for Fiction-Crime-Mystery!

Betrayed is Now Available in Audio Book, Kindle and Paperback! https://amzn.to/3AfUUpS

A late-night phone call, a missing kid, a murdered family, but no one is talking. A promise is made and kept, but it could mean the death of a fifteen-year-old boy. Greed can be all-consuming, and seeing is not believing. No one can be trusted, and the hunters become the hunted. https://amzn.to/2EKHudx

Spiral Into Darkness: Named a Recommended Read in the Author Shout Reader Awards!
He blends in. He is successful, intelligent, and methodical. So far, he has murdered eight people. There is no discernible pattern. There are no clues. There are no leads. The only thing the FBI and local police have to go on is the method of death: two bullets to the face- gruesome and meant to send a message. But it’s difficult to understand any message coming from a dark and damaged mind. Two adopted boys, struggling in their own world, do not know they are the next targets. Neither does their family. And neither does local law enforcement. https://amzn.to/2RBWvTm

Caught in a Web: A PenCraft Literary Award Winner! Named “One of the Best Thrillers of 2018!” by BestThrillers.com 

Caught in a Web is also available in Audio Book, Kindle and Paperback! http://bit.ly/2WO3kka

They found the bodies of high school and middle school kids dead from an overdose of heroin and fentanyl. A violent gang, MS-13, controls the drug trade along the I-94 and I-43 corridors. They send Ricardo Fuentes to find out who is cutting in on their business, shut it down and teach them a lesson. But he has an ulterior motive: find and kill a fifteen-year-old boy, George Tokay. Detectives Jamie Graff, Pat O’Connor and Paul Eiselmann race to find the source of the drugs, shut down the ring, and find Fuentes before he kills anyone else. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CKF7696  
 
The Lives Trilogy Prequel, Taking Lives:
FBI Agent Pete Kelliher and his partner search for the clues behind the bodies of six boys left in various and remote parts of the country. Even though they live in separate parts of the country, the lives of Kelliher, 11-year-old Brett McGovern, and 11-year-old George Tokay are separate pieces of a puzzle. The two boys become interwoven with the same thread Kelliher holds in his hand. The three of them are on a collision course and when that happens, their futures grow dark as each search for a way out. 
https://amzn.to/34nXBH5
 
Book One, Stolen Lives: Editor’s Pick by BestThrillers! Literary Titan Gold Book Award Winner! A Crime Thriller finalist in the 2021 Best Thriller Book Awards!
Two thirteen-year-old boys are abducted off a safe suburban street. Kelliher and his team of FBI agents have 24 hours to find them or they will end up like the other kids they found- dead! They have no leads, no clues, and nothing to go on. To make the investigation that much tougher, Kelliher suspects that one of his team members might be involved. 
https://amzn.to/3oMo4qZ  
 
Book Two of the Lives Trilogy, Shattered Lives:
The boys are home, but now they have to fit back in with their families and friends. Their parents and the FBI thought the boys were safe. They were until people began dying. Now the hunt is on for six dangerous and desperate men who vow revenge. With no leads and nothing to go on, the FBI can only sit back and wait. A dangerous game that threatens not only the boys, but their families. 
https://amzn.to/2RAYIk2 
 
Book Three of the Lives Trilogy, Splintered Lives:
Three dangerous men with nothing to lose offer a handsome reward to anyone willing to kill fourteen-year-old Brett McGovern. He does not know that he, his younger brother, and a friend are targets. More than anyone, these three men vow to kill George, whom they blame for forcing them to run and hide. A fun vacation turns into a nightmare and ends where it started, back on the Navajo Nation Reservation, high on a mesa held sacred by George and his grandfather. Outnumbered and outgunned, George will make the ultimate sacrifice to protect his adoptive father and his adoptive brothers- but can he? Without knowing who these men are? Or where they are? Without knowing whom to trust? Is he prepared for betrayal that leads to his heartbreak and death? 
http://bit.ly/SplinteredLives  

Photo Courtesy of Chris Moore and Unsplash.

 

 

 

Tuesday, November 15, 2022

A Couple of Thoughts


As a basketball coach, I admit I was more animated than many other coaches. I was a yeller and screamer, and I directed the game from the sidelines. My assistant coaches, Dan, Mark and Tim, were much more calm than I was. Thinking back on my antics on the sideline, I’m embarrassed. And honestly, it was one reason, probably the main reason, I got out of coaching. I didn’t like who I became. It really wasn’t me. I embarrassed myself as much or more than anyone. Successful, sure. At least in terms of record and accomplishments. But successful when measuring how I handled myself and the kids, I was an abject failure.

Yes, I am intense and passionate. In my writing, in love and care and concern for my family and loved ones. I think there are times and places for intensity and passion. Just not all the time, twenty-four-seven.

I watched an interview where Robert De Niro spoke about being calm. I am paraphrasing badly, but he said it never pays to get too excited, because the only place you go from there is disappointment. You can’t go too far up, without at some point dropping down. And he continued by saying, you cannot allow yourself to get too far down, because at some point, you will rise. One cannot happen without the other.

I’ve written before about waves and troughs, and peaks and valleys. We’ve all been there, haven’t we? As many times we have success, we also fail. The trick is to stand up each time, continue on our journey, and as De Niro said, Stay Calm.

The other thought I had is somewhat related to the above. It is about being kind.

Be kind whenever possible, and it is always possible. Always. It doesn’t cost you anything to be kind to someone else.

When you recognize someone in a valley, when someone has fallen down, help by lifting them up. That is kindness. You can go on your way after, but take a moment to lift up. A kind word or gesture. Maybe just to be with someone in silence until they can gather themselves to take a step.

As a principal, I’ve had teachers and staff members and some central office folks who would stop in and say hello, but then ask for permission to just sit and gather themselves. I get it. I’ve been there myself. I’ve sought places to sit quietly, or times to take a quiet walk, or sought people I know I can be with or be around and not be judged for it. 

Be That Person! Be kind! 

There is no cost involved. Kindness doesn’t cost anything. It can only help. Imagine what our world might be if we were kinder to those around us- and kinder to ourselves? We need that. We all need that! Something to think about … 

Live Your Life, and Make A Difference!

To My Readers:

My newest book, Fan Mail, is Available for Preorder at https://www.blackrosewriting.com/thrillers/fanmail  

Use code PREORDER2023 to receive a 15% Discount. If you head over to my author website at www.jrlewisauthor.blog/ you will find the cover to Fan Mail, along with the book trailer, and the first two chapters to preview.

I received some fantastic news!

Blaze In, Blaze Out received the Best Action Fiction of 2022 Award by Best Thrillers! I can’t possibly express how happy and humbled I am to receive it. This marks the fifth award Blaze In, Blaze Out has won.

If you have read one of my books, I would like to ask a favor. If you could go online and write a review or, at the least, give a rating on the book, it would be of great help. Both a review and a rating would be wonderful. The review could be one or two lines. It doesn’t have to be long. Just let others know you read it and hopefully, enjoyed it. Obviously, 4s and 5s are the best. Thanks for this consideration.

Connect with me on Social Media: 
Author Websitewww.jrlewisauthor.blog/
Twitter at @jrlewisauthor
Facebook at: 
www.facebook.com/Joseph.Lewis.Author  
Amazon at: 
www.amazon.com/Joseph-Lewis/e/B01FWB9AOI /

Fan Mail: New Release!

A barrage of threatening letters, a car bomb, and a heart attack rip apart what was once a close-knit family of adopted brothers. Randy and Bobby, along with fellow band member and best friend, Danny, receive fan mail that turns menacing. They ignore it, but to their detriment. The sender turns up the heat. Violence upends their world. It rocks the relationship between the boys and ripples through their family, nearly killing their dad.

As these boys turn on each other, adopted brother Brian flashes back to that event in Arizona where he nearly lost his life saving his brothers. The scars on his face and arms healed, but not his heart.

Would he once again have to put himself in harm’s way to save them? And if faced with that choice, will he?

Blaze In, Blaze Out: Best Action Thriller of 2022 by Best Thrillers! A Literary Titan Gold Book Award Winner! A Readers’ Favorite Award Winner! A Reader’s Ready Recommended Read! A BestThriller’s Editor’s Pick!

Eiselmann and O’Connor thought the conviction of Dmitry Andruko, the head of a Ukrainian crime family, meant the end. It was only the beginning. They forgot that revenge knows no boundaries, vindictiveness knows no restraints, and ruthlessness never worries about collateral damage. Andruko hired contract killers to go after and kill O’Connor and Eiselmann. The killers can be anyone and be anywhere. They can strike at any time. They care nothing of collateral damage. Andruko believes a target is a target, and in the end, the target must die. https://amzn.to/34lNllP

Betrayed: Two Top Shelf Awards: 1st Place Fiction-Mystery; and Runner-Up Fiction-Crime; A PenCraft 1st Place Winner for Thriller-Fiction! A Maxy Award Runner-Up for Mystery/Suspense! A Literary Titan Silver Book Award Winner! A Reader’s Ready Recommended Read Award Winner! A Reader’s Favorite Honorable Mention Award Winner for Fiction-Crime-Mystery!

Betrayed is Now Available in Audio Book, Kindle and Paperback! https://amzn.to/3AfUUpS

A late-night phone call, a missing kid, a murdered family, but no one is talking. A promise is made and kept, but it could mean the death of a fifteen-year-old boy. Greed can be all-consuming, and seeing is not believing. No one can be trusted, and the hunters become the hunted. https://amzn.to/2EKHudx

Spiral Into Darkness: Named a Recommended Read in the Author Shout Reader Awards!
He blends in. He is successful, intelligent, and methodical. So far, he has murdered eight people. There is no discernible pattern. There are no clues. There are no leads. The only thing the FBI and local police have to go on is the method of death: two bullets to the face- gruesome and meant to send a message. But it’s difficult to understand any message coming from a dark and damaged mind. Two adopted boys, struggling in their own world, do not know they are the next targets. Neither does their family. And neither does local law enforcement. https://amzn.to/2RBWvTm

Caught in a Web: A PenCraft Literary Award Winner! Named “One of the Best Thrillers of 2018!” by BestThrillers.com 

Caught in a Web is also available in Audio Book, Kindle and Paperback! http://bit.ly/2WO3kka

They found the bodies of high school and middle school kids dead from an overdose of heroin and fentanyl. A violent gang, MS-13, controls the drug trade along the I-94 and I-43 corridors. They send Ricardo Fuentes to find out who is cutting in on their business, shut it down and teach them a lesson. But he has an ulterior motive: find and kill a fifteen-year-old boy, George Tokay. Detectives Jamie Graff, Pat O’Connor and Paul Eiselmann race to find the source of the drugs, shut down the ring, and find Fuentes before he kills anyone else. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CKF7696  
 
The Lives Trilogy Prequel, Taking Lives:
FBI Agent Pete Kelliher and his partner search for the clues behind the bodies of six boys left in various and remote parts of the country. Even though they live in separate parts of the country, the lives of Kelliher, 11-year-old Brett McGovern, and 11-year-old George Tokay are separate pieces of a puzzle. The two boys become interwoven with the same thread Kelliher holds in his hand. The three of them are on a collision course and when that happens, their futures grow dark as each search for a way out. 
https://amzn.to/34nXBH5
 
Book One, Stolen Lives: Editor’s Pick by BestThrillers! Literary Titan Gold Book Award Winner! A Crime Thriller finalist in the 2021 Best Thriller Book Awards!
Two thirteen-year-old boys are abducted off a safe suburban street. Kelliher and his team of FBI agents have 24 hours to find them or they will end up like the other kids they found- dead! They have no leads, no clues, and nothing to go on. To make the investigation that much tougher, Kelliher suspects that one of his team members might be involved. 
https://amzn.to/3oMo4qZ  
 
Book Two of the Lives Trilogy, Shattered Lives:
The boys are home, but now they have to fit back in with their families and friends. Their parents and the FBI thought the boys were safe. They were until people began dying. Now the hunt is on for six dangerous and desperate men who vow revenge. With no leads and nothing to go on, the FBI can only sit back and wait. A dangerous game that threatens not only the boys, but their families. 
https://amzn.to/2RAYIk2 
 
Book Three of the Lives Trilogy, Splintered Lives:
Three dangerous men with nothing to lose offer a handsome reward to anyone willing to kill fourteen-year-old Brett McGovern. He does not know that he, his younger brother, and a friend are targets. More than anyone, these three men vow to kill George, whom they blame for forcing them to run and hide. A fun vacation turns into a nightmare and ends where it started, back on the Navajo Nation Reservation, high on a mesa held sacred by George and his grandfather. Outnumbered and outgunned, George will make the ultimate sacrifice to protect his adoptive father and his adoptive brothers- but can he? Without knowing who these men are? Or where they are? Without knowing whom to trust? Is he prepared for betrayal that leads to his heartbreak and death? 
http://bit.ly/SplinteredLives  

Photo Courtesy of Kalen Emsley and Unsplash.