RocketMan is now available on Amazon too!

RocketMan is now officially available on both Amazon and Smashwords for 99cents.

Hours and hours of reading pleasure.

If you've ever seen the old time Republic Serials that ran in the movie houses and television during the forties, fifties and sixties, you're in for a huge treat.

If you just love action-packed thrillers with real heroes and villains you'll love to hiss and boo at, then you've found the right story.

Hitler is set on taking over the world. He is close to achieving it with a cache of secret super weapons that the world is unaware of.

Only one man can stop the Dictator's mad quest for world domination and annihilation of all those who oppose him....ROCKETMAN!

Next part of The Death of Conan has been posted. Enjoy!

The next part of The Death of Conan is posted and you can find it here.

RocketMan is on sale now for 99cents at Amazon late tomorrow and Smashwords right now. Buy one now. It's a high adventure science fiction thriller of what might have happened if the Nazis had won the war and not the Allies.

Have a great weekend!

John

Rocketman poster added

Next part of The Death of Conan has been posted.

I have just posted the next piece of my Baker Street Adventures The Death of Conan and you can find it here!

My third Baker Street Adventure story has been updated, revised and expanded and is now available on both Smashwords and Amazon for the bargain price of 99cents!

Rocketman is coming! Look for it soon on Amazon and Smashwords!

http://youtu.be/Gc-3eqCBEOo

The first Journey to the Center of the Earth novel is coming soon!

Rocketman Story Promo is posted tonight!

My new adventure series takes place during World War Two and goes back and forth between what our world is like now and what might have happened had the Nazis won the war. It's a fun filled adventure with heart and soul and lots of action.

I'll post when it's finally published on this blog and my personal site as well. I'm still fine tuning it. It's about the length of a novellete for the first story.

Have a great day tomorrow.

John

New video posted, and more Baker Street Adventures

Here is a video promo for my Journey to the Center of the Earth series.

Get the novel at Amazon. It's available in a beautiful paperback edition and Kindle as well.

First podcast coming this Friday

When I was a kid I found an old, old antiques shop that had several boxes of old Golden Age Story Magazines. While this is not one I personally purchased; it is similar.

Those old wonderful tales stimulated my imagination as a youth and though I only purchased at the ridiculous price of a dollar or two these collectibles, I learned so much and thrilled so much that they could have been worth hundreds or more!

Friday, in honor of that Golden Age of Detective stories, I am adding a podcast about how I came about to write my Baker Street Adventures series of stories. My podcast is an over simplification as it was actually a lifetime of reading, movies and TV that brought me to these stories, not to mention an extremely active imagination with me as the hero at times that brought all the elements together.

But now just click on the podcast to get a spoken version of how it all came together. The story I am referring to in the podcast is The Baker Street Adventures 1: The Death of Conan, which I have just updated and expanded and is now available for 99cents on both Smashwords and Amazon.

Look for the podcast this coming Friday!

Also, if you can tell me which of my Baker Street Adventure Stories has Stonehenge in it, I'll send you a digital version of my next new story in the series. The first five who guess it right will receive the prize. Send your guesses to: realmsword@cox.net.

Have a great day.

John

First part of "The Death of Conan" is posted tonight.

The above story is now posted in Free Stories at this link. I will be posting a new part each week on the Friday of that week.

Enjoy!

Meanwhile, I am searching for the right web host to put up my pro site on. I tried Wix, but it's too slow, so I've canceled that. If you have any ideas, please let me know and I'll send you a free story!

Once I have the right webhost I'm going to post downloadable versions of the stories I post, so you can upload them to your e-readers. Let me know what format you guys prefer and I'll try to post that one as well.

Have a great weekend!

John

Revised version of Seeker Promo and other news.

A revised version of my video promo for Seeker. As you can see I keep on looking for ways to upgrade my work, make it easier to read, easier to understand. So we'll call this Seeker V1.1 video promo. How's that for a laugh?

Getting ready to shoot down to California in about thirty minutes. 

Hope to put together a view Vlogs for this blog and my children's one as well while I'm down there. Not sure what the look will be yet, but you'll get to see a lot of my face for sure.LOL.

Have a great week and I'll be back for sure next Friday with some surprises I suspect.

John

Last chapter of Cartoon: Shades of Gray, the Portal's Opening is now posted!

Well,

The last chapter is up and we bid farewell to Cartoon and Johnnie, knowing that their adventures only just started. If you like this one, there's a lot more up on Amazon and Smashwords. As a matter of fact I'm posting my Sixth Cartoon story: The Clone Commando this weekend. Maybe tonight if I can get everything done in time.

Hope you got a chance to see my first story promo for "The Seeker." I created it myself. I'm hard at work now on the one for my Journey to the Earth series.

I'm going to California this next week, so I probably won't be doing any more work on videos during that time, but I might post a Vlog. I'm still checking to see if I can get that format decent enough for viewing.

Once I figure out the Vlog format, I'll be posting videos of me every week in addition to my stories to let everyone know what's going on.

Also, if you have any questions to ask, or suggestions to make to me, I'll address those during the Vlog. So while I'm hammering away at making this a more fun experience for you, you can  type or text away to me with what you'd like to ask or suggest.

Have a great weekend and if I don't get back  here sooner, next Friday's when I return and I'll be posting a new story that night.

Best to everyone.

John

Video for my Seeker story series is now posted online.

Great new story I've written for those seeking the truth in their lives and who seek happiness in all its venues! Best. John

I'll be posting video promos for all my work over time as time allows. Have fun with them. And read the stories!

Available on Smashwords and Amazon now for just 99 cents.

Best.

John

Summer is here! Yay! And Chapter Four of Cartoon is now posted!

Hey everyone!

Just posted Chapter Four of Cartoon today.

I'm looking forward to having more fun things to add as the summer progresses.

Meanwhile, enjoy the next chapter of Cartoon!

And don't forget to check out Smashwords and Amazon for more fun and adventures by me.

 He's just met the most beautiful woman in his life and she's sent him on a mission to find out who he is? What kind of romance is that? Seeker, a new series of stories that deal with the spiritual, the occult and the paranormal.

Seeker, "The Lady of the Mist," is now available on both Amazon and Smashwords for 99cents. Don't miss this extraordinary insight into the life of a man destined to become more than anyone could ever imagine.

 Check out my article on education and commerce in The Pen's Delight and then tell me what you think.

Also working on a new collection which is named Golden Realm Stories. It will include a novel and numerous stories for your reading pleasure at a great price.

Have a great Memorial Day Weekend and thanks to all those great souls who have given of themselves what some of us may fear to give...our lives and limbs. I am grateful for their sacrifices to keep us safe and to help our country.

John

New Chapter in Cartoon: Shades of Gray: The Portals Are Opening posted!

Hi Everyone,

I'm hard at work on a new episode of the Baker Street Adventures. This story focuses on the life of Professor Moriarity before he became famous or infamous, depending in which alternate reality you're talking about, and I think you'll like the little twist I'm putting on him in this story, which should explain a lot of things about his character while opening the door for a lot of new questions as well.

Meanwhile, to hold you steady in your thirst for stories, I've posted Chapter Two of Cartoon, " Shades of Gray: The Portals Are Opening." You can read it on this page, Cartoon, " Shades of Gray: The Portals Are Opening

Enjoy and have a great Memorial Day weekend.

John

Journey to the Center of the Earth has now reached number three in the series and to celebrate this I am giving away Journey to the Center of the Earth 1 for free as of tonight.

Enjoy.

John

After you read it, please review it. Thanks!

Get it HERE!

The world is a remarkable place

May 16, 2014

The world is such a remarkable place.

And America is dab in the center of it. Least from our point of view.

Imagine if you will a piece of the world that is so small that that dab wouldn't even leave a stain on your smallest pocket change. Imagine if it didn't even show up if you held it under a microscope.

What if that dab were populated by tiny living creatures?

To us they might seem like microbes, not knowing any better. But what if somewhere down there, far down below where our vision fails and only electronics of awesome magnitude can work...what if there were a race of beings that struggled to survive, struggled to fight against the odds, whose every day was a challenge to go on, to survive to the next and then battle again?

What if that world were called Elecktron?

Such is the name of a world I've populated with valiant warriors who must face death defying odds just to stay alive each day. A world populated by honorable beings who are constantly under attack by creatures so fierce and cruel that their only hope of redemption was a savior. Some one so brave and powerful that he could turn the tide of battle. And what if that powerful being was a hopelessly confused teenager who was running away from a father and mother in a different kind of war, one where both would lose and he would lose even more.

Escape to Elecktron, Princess of the Atomic World. A new story series I've created.

Available at Smashwords in digital format for only 99cents.

Chapter One of my original new series, Cartoon is posted. Read it here.....Shades of Gray, the Portal is Opening.

Which do we value most, ourselves or all life? Cartoon is about that.

Cartoon is a very unique character. I first wrote the idea down back in the Eighties for a motion picture screenplay. I pitched it to a producer at Paramount, and interestingly enough some few years later, after my screenplay had been rejected, a movie came out that was awfully similar to Cartoon. I later found out that the man who directed it had a reputation for stealing other people's ideas. This was not the first time it had happened to me. But such is life in the creative world.

We all build ideas from the giants before us. I usually take mine from the classics, but some do not. Their choice. My choice.

Cartoon, in my mind, is a metaphor for what is best in all of us. A personality who places honor, love and dignity above all else. She is willing to trade off even her own life to protect her people and to do what is right.

Johnnie, on the other hand, is a teenager bent somewhat by the push and pull of our modern life, where the world wants us all to hurry up and grow up and be part of the factory system that has been created by the military industrial complex led by the huge corporations of today and fronted by our own Congress unfortunately.

Do we blame this mess on them or our own lack of follow through in educating ourselves and doing the right thing?

Cartoon chooses to take the harder path...the one that guarantees she will have a soul at the end of the day, whether she wins or loses,  but Johnnie, the hero of our ongoing series is not yet that mature. He is fighting his hormones as most teenagers do, and unfortunately, many adults as well, and thus not thinking straight.

His path is constantly obstructed by his own emotions and hormonal discharges, much as we see in modern day Congress where the needs of the people are often set aside for the needs of the political pundit or party.

Will Johnnie make his masteries in life and become a true child of the universe who recognizes the dignity in all others and cares enough that he is even willing to give up his own goals for the greater good?

Only time will tell.

Happy Reading to all.

John

Cartoon has arrived. And is she beautiful!

After  you've read the first story in my Cartoon series, google on over to Smashwords where you can purchase the other three at 99cents each.

The free 1st story can be found by clicking here!

Please like me on Twitter and Facebook and thank me by commenting on my story page.  Love to hear from you!

Best.

John

Journey to the Center of the Earth, The Invisible Lands is published.

New part of my Journey to the Center of the Earth series has been published. "The Invisible Lands."

Get "Journey to the Center of the Earth, The Invisible Lands" today for 99cents at Smashwords. Available in all popular e-book formats.

Experience how the Eiffel Tower fell during the Big One. See how frightening the journey towards the center has become.

"Journey to the Center of the Earth, The Invisible Lands" at Smashwords now.

New Pricing

Hi Everyone,

I was rolling up my sleeves late last night to figure out some way to get my stories out there to more readers. After all I don't write these great stories just to kill time.They need someone to read them to bring them to fruition.

So I lit up all my magical candles, watching all the colors of the rainbow sparking to life, then I raised my magical fingers and pressed them continuously to my magical keyboard.

My computer screen lit up and a huge comical face lit it up and said, "Gee Whiz, Mister P. You can do better than that!"

So I did!

I have reduced the prices on all my stories to 99 cents each with the first of each series being free. This offer is available only on Smashwords.

Also, don't forget to check out Golden Realm Children's Stories. I've just completed a new story on Giddy and Gnobs, "The Creaky, Cranky Joints." It's loaded with super colorful illustrations. I've also posted a complete story called "Mister Po and the Vanishing Shadow," in the recent stories section.

And if you'd like to see a bit more about my stories you can also take a look at my pro site www.goldenrealmstories.com.

Take advantage of this great offer while it lasts.

Best.

John

Added new author to the free novel section.

Go to Free Novels.

The sequel to Journey to the Center of the Earth is named: The Invisible Lands.

Another concept piece for my Journey to the Center of the Earth series.

I am making good progress on the sequel to the first story. This one follows the Special Forces as they make progress towards their goal, finding the culprit behind the destruction of most major cities on the planet.

More time will be spent with the characters to see what's going on in their heads, as well as to establish more comraderie before the crap really hits the fan!

Remember, this is all parallel to what Jules Verne wrote, so somethings will intersect with his vision of the journey and the center of our world, but only in places, for the larger portion of the story now is on the bravery and stamina of so few against such tremendous odds as they race to save their homelands and their loved ones.

Concept art for cover of Journey to the Center of the Earth

Only 99cents on Smashwords: "Journey to the Center of the Earth, The Advent."

A concept illustration I rendered in 3D for my latest story "Journey to the Center of the Earth, The Advent."

I'm working on the next part of this miniseries now. Hope to have it finished by the end of next week.

And don't forget to read the entire story that began the Baker Street Adventures here. It's free and fun.
Did I mention it's....free at Smashwords in many digital formats.

Or you can read it here on my site.

Stay tuned.

Best.

John

Just published on Smashwords. Journey to the Center of the Earth. Hours of great reading. And only 99cents!

They thought this day would be just like any other day. They were wrong. The Eiffel Tower was the first to fall, then the Tower of Big Ben. Boulder Dam broke, then the Hoover Dam. New Orleans was flooded. Tidal waves rolled over Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, New York. It seemed like the end of the world and it almost was!

?His sister and he were about to be crushed by a huge piece of the temple, so Chandra did the only thing he could thing of, he grabbed her and flung them both off the cliff into the freezing cold Ganges. He felt the cold and then nothing!"

What caused everything to go to hell and back was a puzzle only a special team of  investigators, who had experienced the horrors first hand, could discover the truth. And they were heading for the Center of the Earth!

Posting free story: The Death of Conan!

Hi everyone,

Today I'm starting something new.

I will be adding a free story to my site once a month. It is one that would normally be sold at Smashwords, but for one week only will be free on my site.

This week I am presenting how it all started for my Baker Street Adventure series: The Death of Conan. Click here to read it!

How far the Mighty have fallen! From the ending of the Planet of the Apes starring Charles Heston. An eye opener.

May 3, 2014

I could call this a call to arms of sorts, but I won't.

Writers are probably for the most part more engaged in the mechanisms of society than most, and for good reason, they care about the world they live in and if it works or not. I think most people care, but they just don't put out the energy to make a difference. Perhaps they're in overwhelm, denial, or withdrawal for whatever the reason.

A good example of this is the current state of education in the United States. We have fallen so far behind other countries in the quality of our education, even though we  have far more money to spend than most countries put together.

Why is this?

Are we going through some kind of evolutionary change where stupid is in and enlightenment is out? One could certainly make a case for stupid when one reads the newspapers, follows the new on radio and TV and listens to the craziness of politics and some might say religion.

Global warming, garbage overflowing our oceans and lands, food that is not fit for an animal being prosletized as healthy to eat when it's not, failure of government to regulate monopolies, to safeguard liberties...it goes on and on.

In George Orwell's 1984 he postulated a time when society would be ruled by conformity, massive telecommunications would program people with how to think, speak and act.

One has to wonder if that is some kind of prophecy, as TV has millions, even billions mesmerized by food that will kill us, cars that are not safe, politics that is not for the people, but the elite. I could go on and on about this, but I think the point is clear.

Storytelling is often times a barometer for what is occuring or about to occur if we're not careful.

So are we going through a major evolutionary change in America? Or are we failing as a nation just like Britain, France, German and so many other once great nations did?

I leave you with those questions to ponder. George Orwell did. And 1984 was written in 1949. We've been living that story now for decades. Will we still be living it in the next century? Or will we become the Lost Continent of America, even as Atlantis dwindled into the mists of time and history, shrinking from a mighty continent of enlightened beings to a shrunken island barely able to stay above the waves and finally vanish.

I've posted a brief article under Author for everyone to read.

Have a great weekend.

John

Robin of the Woods

Just posted a short article under New Work which explains a new story I've written. I think you'll enjoy reading it.

Best.

John

There's different kinds of ways of looking for ideas.

1. You can sit down and close your ideas and hope something comes to you.

2. You can play different kinds of music.

3. You can read other stories and books to inspire you.

4. Sunsets are good.

5. A good night's sleep is great.

6. Dreams are an asset if you can remember them. I mostly do.

7. A vigorous discussion can stimulate ideas.

8. Anger at a policy or belief system that doesn't feel right can jar a few things loose.

9. Feeling loved is always good for a few jolts.

Myself, I usually go through most of the above, but for the most part my ideas come spontaeniously as I sit to write. I don't force them though, as that tends to be more intellectual and dry,
and most unpleasing to me. If I don't like what I write, I don't want to put it out there.

I don't personally believe that every writer will become known in their life, or maybe even at all. That's because there are many circumstances that can add or substract from a writer's popularity, despite poor writing or lack of publicity. Namely, it's just not their turn to be famous or known.

I happen to subscribe to the wheel of karma idea of things as Shakespeare hinted at in his own writings, being as he was a man of spiritual cloth in so many ways, as well as his friends.

That being said, it doesn't mean you can't just plain sabotage yourself, but even that is karmic. Patterns created perhaps by being put off by hard work, not wanting to pay attention to details, being lazy and so forth. But even those patterns subscribe to the Eastern thought of reincarnation and man repeating patterns of behavior over and over until he's learned his lessons in the school of life.

Just look at the world around us, and how the greatest nations of history and the present have fallen again and again and always because of the same patterns: exploitation of other countries and peoples, exploitation of its own people. Even of that sound familiar? It should. Great Britain fell prey to it. Rome fell pray to it. Greece. India. Japan. China. And now in current times America. Greed and avarice for power are the greatest reasons why nations fall.

Ideas are built from these histories all the time. We can call them group patterns, or karmas, collections of people who perpetrate or perpetuate karmic actions that bind and hurt others, as opposed to helping and uplifting.

And so again, we come to writing and its true purpose. Not just to entertain the masses and make its author filthy rich, but to uplift as well as entertain them. To help the souls affected by the writing to reach a further shore of self development and spiritual upliftment.

Enough said.

Back to writing. Got another karmic wheel to spin!

John

Ideas are like fish. If you cast your fly often enough times eventually you'll get a bite. I tend to catch a lot of them because I have created a habit of doing so. Even as a child I often sat for hours visualizing what I wanted to do, where I wanted to be, and what the world could be like if I did certain things or others did.

I read from time to time articles by successful entrepeneurs and artists and writers, as well as actors and politicians who spent many hours visualizing their goals and thus achieving them. It's not magic really. Though it can feel like that when doors suddenly swing wide that once were closed. But remember, even when a door opens you still have to be prepared for the journey that's going to happen on the other side. An artist who hasn't learned his craft may attract viewers of his artwork, but if he expects to make a living from it, he still has to deliver work that is of the appropriate level of craftsmanship that a paying audience would expect.

So all of the above being said and being true for most, then the logical thing to do would be to have lots of ideas, then to hone them to a state of polished craftsmanship. The ways in which people do so vary in as many ways as do snowflakes and grains of sand on the seashore. I had a friend at one time from India. Quite a good astrologer. He believed that all roads led to God. He called his belief system Ahimsa, which means "to do no harm."

So the idea was born for one author that if religion or spirituality could be a very powerful force of good, couldn't it also be one of evil or destruction? I just finished reading a great book by Mark Frost, "The Six Messiahs," which digs deeply into the ramifications of good and evil and how a man might start on the road to redemption and fall because of human frailties, such as self guilt and blame.

In this world people are not just good or evil, but usually shades in between. There are exceptions such as Buddha, Jesus, Mohammed, and so forth, but they are the rare soul, not the average. The average male or female struggles to create an identity for themselves an oftentimes spend the rest of their lives trying to understand how they could have gotten it all so wrong.

I recently joined a spiritual writer's club and find that the people in that organization fight as much over nuances of words and meaning as most people do, who don't claim to be spiritual. This is a good example of how sometimes the identities we create are flawed, not because they are necessarily bad or evil, but because they become inflexible. And we all know what happens to inflexible trees in a blasting wind. Snap!

As a story teller I'm not interested in punishing my characters for the way they think. It's not my stick. I don't think that way. I think anyone can be redeemed at some point in their evolution. Whether it's today, tomorrow or sometime in the distant future. It will happen.

And thus I am brought to the next phase of this brief article. I've got a great idea. I have a theme. Redemption. I now have a great villain. I need equally as strong a hero. Whether he's flawed or well rounded already, the villain has to be his match on many levels. When a person wins or loses it's not always by their skills alone, but as often times happens in our world, there are circumstances beyond our control. Weather, another person's intervention...or karma if you believe in reincarnation.

So now I've got all my ideas swishing together in the blender of my mind, tempered by my own emotional nature, and voila, what comes out is a story. Hopefully one that people will relate to. I only write about what I love. So if others don't love it, that's not a problem. Different strokes for different folks. Not everyone likes apples. Not everyone likes oranges, but...I laugh here...if I'm good enough, maybe I can get them to like an apple-orange.

Best to everyone.

The Author

Cartoon

I thought it might be interesting to dig into my concept of Cartoon a bit.

So many of us have a strong need to escape the world we live in. It's not the prettiest of worlds at times. And sometimes it can be darn hard to live in, let alone on, as the recent earthquake in Chili proves for those misfortunate enough to live on their coast.

The truth of life is that anything can happen. So the concept that perhaps there's a real world out there somewhere...a pocket universe, another galaxy, parallel universe, or alternate reality where cartoons really have individual existence was an idea I couldn't let go of.

Cartoons are used in the political arena on a daily basis as a weapon of humor and pathos, being as capable of uplifting a person as stripping them of their dignity.

What if our own sense of inadequacies also created a world or dimension where those ideals and inadequacies took root, and evolved and mutated into real beings of feeling and depth?

How would those Cartoon people view us? Would they like us? Would they fear us?

Hell, we even fear us. Look at all the armed people and nations around the planet, just waiting for something to trigger that fear into an action that is targetable.

So what if Cartoon existed? A beautiful young woman who saw the good in one teenage kid and wanted to nourish and help him, while at the same time saving her own world and maybe even our own as well? How would all those cards fall in the greater scheme of things...and especially when complicated by love and hope, and confusion...the territory of many teens in our present day world...past, present and future, I imagine.

So today we feature Cartoon on this page for the very reason that she exacts a hope and a primal desire to overcome our limitations and to become something greater and more positive than we are today.

Nano Kid has arrived on Smashwords! Buy it here!

The second story in the Escape to Elecktron series has been published on Smashwords: Buy it here!

Good night to everyone!

Added a new feature

Added a new feature, which I will comment in from time to time. It's called The Pen's DeLight. I will be writing about anything that comes to my mind at the time, but hopefully little goodies your heart and mind can fancy and digest. I'm still experimenting, so intend to watch how people respond, and then will either continue or discontinue, or upgrade if I can. I'm hoping to build an active community of readers and writers here, as well as on my other webpage: www.goldenrealmstories.com, which by the way, is where you can see all my current writing projects and purchase them, as well as other little tidbits I throw in for fun. Best. John

Still modifying this blog.

I am going to keep tinkering with this blog to make it more interesting. I won't be posting quite as often as I did when I wrote novels here, but there will be new things at least once a week, if not more often. Stay tuned!

Updating blog with newest work.

I now have 43 e-books published at Smashwords. Looking forward to writing many, many more. My one hope is to light a fire in the imagination of all who read my work and bring some form of peace and happiness to their souls. In a world as troubled as our own, it's nice to have a place to escape to that opens our hearts and our minds to the possibility of greater things. Best. John

New Blog!

It seems like a million years since I've had some really good news, but here goes:

http://www.goldenrealmstories.com/

Above is our new site. It contains a blog, which I will update frequently with information on new work and other surprises.

You can also see all my published books there. I will be posting my new work on the site as I complete it. And believe me I have lots of it rolling in. I still am way behind on getting my work up. A lot of things have to be done behind the scenes before I can publish and even that is a long process.

Hope to see all of you there.

Wishing you the best always!

John

Blog is going to change its look

For those who have been following me, I have been sick and unable to keep up with my posts. I also have been rethinking the nature of my blog and so sadly I am announcing that this blog as it now stands will not be continuing as a post a novel by the day blog anymore.

I will return with a new format, which I hope you will find to be as fun to read and follow as I will have making it.

Most sincerely,

John

Wells pounded a fist against his nightstand, causing the candle there to shake and almost topple over, spilling hot wax across his lap. Wells scrunched his face in pain for a moment, then nodded. “But we could try maybe one small thing.”

I shook my head. “Sadly, we don’t know how that would affect the chain of time events that streams from that one action. You squash a worm yesterday that you didn’t before and that worm might have been the meal of a starving bird, who if it hadn’t eaten the worm, would not have had a clutch of eggs, which would have hatched into more birds, who would have spread seed across a portion of land that people needed to cultivate. The land might have remained fallow. People might have died that would have lived. Perhaps even you or I would not exist now.”

Wells considered that. “But what if we went into an alternate dimension instead, then it wouldn’t affect us.”

I thought about it. “True, perhaps, but we would have to grow old with the concern in the back of our minds that we could have doomed another world, another life form because of our weakness and poor choices.”

“And…” I paused ominiously. “What if the changes we precipitated by our selfish actions caused a vehement and violent attack on us in the future by those we had affected.”

Wells suddenly understood. “My God! Our War of the Worlds could have been caused by just such a blundering then.”

I nodded my head and sadly answered. “The more this continues. This so-called war of the worlds, I have to wonder if somehow we didn’t create this war as a result of our meddlings with time and space.”

It was a gloomy thought and though both of us felt oppressed by the loss of our loved ones and by the possibilities of suppression by the Invaders that could yet happen, we still came out of that night in a happy manner.

Wells sighed, then propped his chin in the cup of his hands on his nightstand. “Somewhere out there. Somewhere, there must be beings who are more sane than our own species and the ones attacking.”

I put an arm around his shoulder and squeezed. “And someday, I promise you, we will find them.”

A month later I stood on a lonely pier that overlooked the Seine. Across the sparkling waters that were silvered by a full moon stood what was left of the Eiffel Tower. Its top half that had once looked like a might sword piercing the heavens now lay sagged across the bottom half, a sad sculpture made from happier times. I shifted my feet uneasily, for the Invaders were now coming more into the open. I saw three of their ships hovering near the Eiffel Tower, search lights stabbing right and left beneath them.

I could just imagine the terror and consternation of any who might be alive and sheltering there now. Hard to imagine in some ways, because the adults were all gone, as if vanished from the face of the earth.

Wells looked despondent at that moment. I think he felt my own sadness. In many ways it was like we were joined somehow mentally, almost like one soul in two bodies if that were possible. It would explain how I knew where to find him that momentous day I destroyed our first Invader.

“Wells,” I think we need to change the way things have been done on our planet.”

“I agree wholeheartedly.” He responded immediately, his spirits lifting as we moved away from thoughts of our family. “This whole war between worlds is a bunch of nonsense that should never have happened. If we survive this war, we must construct a society, a government of common good such that we are never divided again as peoples, nor in thought, word or deed.”

“I wonder if that is possible.” I replied, having already come to that exact same conclusion. “Look what happened when our first settlers went to the Americas. They were wiped out to a child. Everyone. And why? Because their skin was red, and not white like the Indians who live there.”

“Or the African people with their brown skin and golden eyes.” Wells added. “Everyone fears them because of their color. It’s ridiculous. How can the color of a man’s skin determine whether they’re mean or nice!”

“But how do we go about changing that?” I asked. “We can’t legislate morality…the way that a person believes in his soul.”

“No. But we can start with the children. Let them be together. All faiths, all colors. Let them grow up together. That will change much that needs to be done.”

“But that’s unheard of!” I stuttered. “My father would have been totally against the idea of our going to school with white people. Everyone thinks they’re low class and mean-spirited. Violent and short-sighted. Look what the Atlanteans did to the third quarter of our continent. Blew it right off the map with their stupid weapons of mass destruction.”

“But that was a long time ago, Jules.” Wells protested.

“True. But wasn’t it just a few years ago. Before we knew of the Invaders that the Germans were attacking the Swiss, the Swiss the Czechs, and the Russians the Chinese, the Japanese the Australians and so on?”

Wells sighed. “You’ve made your point, sorry to say. But I still believe it is the young ones who will change everything.” Wells said, then brightened. “Couldn’t we use your string ship to go ahead in time to see if it works?”

I grinned. “Wells, that would create a paradox. If we knew the future, it would alter it. We must never leave our time ships in any time period or it would alter everything. We can’t even go back to use it to defeat the Invaders.”

Just a quick note. You can download my short story taken from the Lord When combo, Time Swirl, for free on Amazon this November 23 for twenty four hours. It's a very lovely introduction to my new time travel series.

Also, I am running a countdown on my combos and novels from Friday through Sunday. All are discounted steeply. They are also available on Amazon: Lord When's Time Folds, The Baker Street Adventures Combo, Young King Arthur Combo, Into the Great Wonderful, and Samuel Light, Spiritual Detective. Tons of great reading.

Happy Reading.

John

Now back to War of the Worlds, Volume Two: The Nest.

Finally, I led my friend into a very spherical chamber. I called it the processing plant, because all our test vehicles were run through every kind of endurance test we had devised in this space.

Wells and I stopped behind a large silvered glass window, which had a metallic tint to it. Wells touched it. A slight tingling greeted his finger tip and he jerked it away. “What’s that?” He exclaimed.

“A slight charge. The whole window is nothing more than an elaborate optical illusion; it is actually a very finely tuned force field that keeps everything above the atomic level out, and if need be, even the subatomic level.”

Wells frowned. “Subatomic?”

I blew on the fake window and a slight mist covered it. I drew what could have been interpreted as the design of our solar system, but it wasn’t. “This is what Tesla and Einstein with the help of Madame Curie have figured out, with a bit of input from yours truly of course.”

Wells laughed. “My dear friend, I do believe your ego is threatening to break this glacier.”

“Ah, were it only so powerful.” I sighed, and then pointed to the sun shape. “The atom, and these planetary shapes, subatomic particles. They are the offshoot of the atom, and just like our sun, the atom flings portions of itself outward to form miniature orbits.”

“I see.” Wells said, his eyebrows threatening to break off his forehead. “In other word it’s like wheels within wheels.”

“Exactly!” I said happily, pounding him enthusiastically on his back. “I knew I did the right thing by showing you this. I think that together we can overcome any kind of physical obstacle these Invaders have thrown against us.”

“In time.” Wells added.

I sobered at those words. “Sometimes a very long time.” I smiled again. “But time is on our side. It’s our planet. Not theirs. They have to live in their artificial shells to survive, we do not.”

Wells frowned at me. “I suspect you have overlooked something, Jules.”

That time again. But check out Nuggets and free books for some goodies.

Best.

John

Wells, a bachelor now, as then, never found it in his heart to marry anyone. Sometimes I think it is our friendship that has ruined that part of him, for I sense within him a kind of satisfaction that we have such a close bond even after all the years of marriage with my beloved Jennifer. And I would never exclude him from my love and heart for anything, for even if a man might not love another man in the physical so dearly, he can still love him as dearly in the heart, mind and spirit, and so it was with Wells and I. And so it shall ever be, no matter which incarnation we experience across the necklace of time.

But you are probably wondering what happened after the first battle with the Invaders that took place. So forward, or rather backward into what proved to be a very long and painful climb to freedom for many and descent into madness or death for many others.

I  and Wells had many things to ponder after that fateful encounter with the Invaders. Most of it was philosophical at first. The first question being how were we to unite the remaining survivors of the conflict, to find them and then to heal their suffering souls.

That turned out to be far easier than I would have thought. For news of the victory spread like wildfire and even as I had spread notes across France with my wonderful machine where to find me, news spread further and wider through a network that was so hidden and deep that not even the devious Invaders could corrupt or pervert them.

So on that day that the first survivors found us, I amazed Wells even further. We stood on the porch introducing ourselves to the bedraggled remainders of humanity. Men, young and old, women, children. People of Europe and later the Americas as well.

Wells couldn’t understand how so many people could fit into his, though not tiny, still not adequate to the multitudes streaming inside his home. I took him aside when time allowed to explain that I had developed a way of shielding his home from the Invaders’ probes, as well as a unique conduit to our sanctuary. The work was a combination of ideas spawned by Madame Curie and Sir Nicholas Tesla, with a helpful nudge by myself and a buddy I had met at the Lourve, Al Einstein.

Al was leading the resistance in Germany, as Tesla was in Czechoslovakia and Madame Curie in Rusia.

I led him to the back of the home where the people were gong, led by several assistants I had stationed in strategic positions throughout the home. As Wells and I neared the kitchen, Hans, a rather large and intimidating Swiss stepped into view and gestured towards the Kitchen Pantry. I smiled. “Hans, this is my best friend Wells, and this is his house, so whatever is good for me is also good for him.”

Hans smiled, revealing one very large gold tooth that sparkled brightly. “Gut to see you Mister Wells, Jules speaks highly of you. I hope some day to be half as good a writer and visionary as yourself.”

“What is your full name?” Wells asked, shaking hands. “Olaf Hans Stapledon.” He replied, smiling even wider.

Mars, a barren world, old and abandoned. Why? Was there life once upon a time, and from another time? Will man find the answer to his quest for knowledge about where life originally came from, or will it come seeking him instead?

Tomorrow, Jules and Wells discover a bit more than they anticipated in their struggle with the Invaders. Questions are answered, but more are asked in Volume Two of War of the Worlds: The Nest.

I thought I'd drop off a couple links to Jules Verne and H.G. Wells for you to check out with some of their work and a bit of a biography about them.

H.G. Wells

http://www.wondersmith.com/scifi/wells.htm


A novelette and a story "A Dream of Armageddon" and "The Star."

Jules Verne

http://www.wondersmith.com/scifi/verne.htm

Short story "In the Year 2889."

 Meanwhile, with more tinkering around with the blog, I'm finally finishing for the night. A few more trinkets have been added to my children's story blog: http://writejohn.blogspot.com/p/author.html. Check it out.

I also revised my bookstore so it's a bit easier to look through. On the right side there's a link back to this blog under  browse by categories: Golden Realm Stories.

Meanwhile,

Have a peaceful weekend.

Best as always.

John

War of the Worlds Volume One, The Forever Friends comes to a close

CHAPTER EIGHT: MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

Jules and Wells sat inside the home of Wells, silently stirring cups of tea. Wells offered a lemon slice and Jules too it, squeezed it into his tea, then made a face and tasted his tea. “Bitter.”

Wells nodded. “But good for you. The military doctors over at Dover claim it aides in the body’s defense against illness.”

Jules smiled. “What a wonderful idea. Healing fruit.”

“Lemons are not fruit.” Wells responded.

“They most certainly are. “ Jules insisted. “And with a dash of honey, they become a nice glass of lemonade as well. I have one every morning after I get up. Have a hard time getting oranges these days, you know.”

Wells nodded, then added. “Hard time getting anything these days for that matter.”

Wells suddenly slammed his fist down on the table, startling Jules into spilling his tea into his lap. Jules jumped up and wiped at himself.

Embarassed, Wells got up and grabbed a towel for him. “I’m so sorry. I don’t know what made me do that.”

Jules wiped and grinned at his friend. “I know it’s all kind of overwhelming,  isn’t it?”

Wells sat back down and put his chin on the palm of his hands and watched Jules silently, then spoke. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Would you have believed me then, when you didn’t even believe me before?”

Wells shrugged his shoulders. “Guess not. Sorry, my friend.”

“No apologies necessary.”

Wells waited until Jules reseated himself, then added more tea to Jules’ cup from a beautiful ceramic pot with golden flowers embossed on its sides. “It’s just damned strange that so many are just up and gone. It’s as if they were pieces of iron drawn by a magnet to some destination only they know.”

Jules creased his eyebrows in thought, then nodded. “I still have no idea where they are either.”

Wells looked at him. “How long?”

“The ship?”

“That too.”

Jules smiled and Wells felt his warmth. “For a long time. Maybe five years.”

Wells stood up, astounded by the words. “And all this time you’ve said nothing to me?”

“Or anyone else quite frankly.” Jules replied. “Look at it this way. We both knew the world was coming to a turning point. But the British, give it the old stiff upper life attitude wasn’t going to save our butts, and the French, let’s toast to success wouldn’t either.”

Wells sighed. “What a dismal world this is.”

“Was. Wells. Was. That’s all going to change.”

“If we live long enough for that to happen. You’ve destroyed one of the ships of the Invaders, but they have many, many more.”

“Yes, but when I find out where…” Jules responded. His eyes hardened and his lips compressed. “When I find out where…” He left an air of malice in the air.

“How do you know they won’t come looking for you now that you’ve destroyed one of them?”

“They haven’t the ability to find where their ship is now.” Jules stated matter of factly. “And quite frankly, neither do I.”

Wells gave his friend a look of astonishment. “But Jules, how in the world can you invent something like that weapon without knowing what it does?”

Mysteriously. “It wasn’t my weapon.”

Another time to be shocked. Wells shook his head. “I am merely a humble writer. This is beyond my experience and imagination.”

Jules put an arm around his friend’s shoulder. “Dear Wells, nothing is beyond you and even less beyond the both of us. We will fight this war together…in our own ways.”

Wells turned to look into Jules’ eyes. “But we don’t know the enemy, where they come from, what they look like, how well fortified they are, how many of them there are?”

Jules laughed with a hint of amusement. “Then we will need friends won’t we?”

Jules nodded his head and Wells turned to look where he was looking. From many directions, young people, just like themselves were stealthily converging on Wells home.

“You see, my friend, we are not alone.” His eyes hardened again. “Our parents may be gone I know not where. Our armies may be vanquished. Our air and our navy, but we are not. As long as one of us is alive, the human race shall not perish from the face of this earth. And one day. One day soon we shall find our enemies and…”

Jules crushes his right hand into a fist. “And then it will be our turn to take the war to them!”

And thus ends "War of the Worlds: Volume One, The Forever Friends

Beginning on Monday: War of the Worlds: Volume Two, The Nest

Hi everyone!

I've posted a new addition to my children's blog and a new illustration. Check it out at: http://writejohn.blogspot.com/ or just click on the tab that says Golden Realm Children's Stories.
Have a great night!

Before Wells floated an armored vehicle with what appeared to be three huge eyes across its lower rim, two green and one red that blinked on and off. Atop its saucer like shape there rested an antenna of some kind that blinked rapidly with energies that appeared to melt in and out of each other. Wells would surely have fared worse had not a helpless dog chosen that moment to appear, see the device, then rush it barking

The device turns its antenna slightly and the blinking antenna shot forth a burst of dazzling red and yellow energies that caught the dog and wrapped around it, highlighting it in a blaze of light so bright Wells had to turn away. When he looked back, the dog was screaming hideously and burned to a cinder.

Wells snapped out of his petrification and ran to the left of the vehicle, where it wasn’t facing. It sensed his movement and the antenna came around to focus on him. He felt rather than heard its ray burst forth and immediately hit the ground and rolled under a parked wagon The rays burst into the gravel near him and seared it so hotly that it all melted together into a lump.

Wells didn’t stop then, he kept rolling and hopped to his feet, then dove behind some brush and began crawling rapidly on his belly between two homes. He heard a whirring sound and dared to look back. The vehicle was slowly rising on a column of blue light and its antenna was aimed towards him.

Desperate now, he jumped to his feet and ran for all he was worth. He felt the ray bursting behind him and ducked behind a building. The ray shot past the building in an arc of searing force that shredded the building in front of him.

Wells sprinted for the Seine, knowing the water was his only safe bet. Instinctively he felt that water would offset the power of the ray. Soon he was to test another of his assumptions

He reached the river edge and dove for the water. A burst of energy struck the water just ahead of him and it erupted in an explosion of superheated gases. Wells struck downwards, praying he could get deep enough and far enough away.

As he stroked for some distance the rays kept striking the water, and rather than being blunted by the liquid, they were amplified. Wells was just inches ahead of a deadly stream of superheated gases. Everything the gasses touched on the river bottom  exploded and caught fire, so hot was the force of the energies.

Finally, he could hold his air no longer, and burst to the surface, gasping for air. He floated there, struggling for air, when the vehicle came gliding into view. It was over, he knew. He was going to be with his mother now.

He closed his eyes, expecting the worst.

I posted another piece of Mister Po's story tonight for those of you interested at http://writejohn.blogspot.com/. I know your children will enjoy these light-hearted and sweet tales.


BACK to War of the Worlds which nears the end of Volume One.

Now that his own mother had crossed to wherever it was souls ultimately disappeared to, he had not felt quite the same, but it was a different kind of weight, as if a kind of bated breath, awaiting something terrible to befall. The news of the War had triggered it. All the uncertainty. The unknowns. He had no idea of what these invaders looked like. Were they human? Did they even have human feelings of any kind?

What little his father spoke of, was veiled with nuances that his mind could carry to places that perhaps it shouldn’t.

So yes, Jules was lost and confused in many ways. He was fighting a war he had no clear conception of, and it was really getting to him in major ways.

He sighed, and then went to a deep mahogany desk that lay sprawled against the right wall, next to tubes marked dia1, 2, etc.
Each were dated, and the first began almost two  years ago, which is when he first hatched his idea for the inevitable confrontation that loomed between man and invader.

Stretched across the top of the desk, which looked pretty bruised from being banged around multiple times, was a wrinkled diagram with tea and coffee stains, as well as milk and juice. For many hours this desk had been his source of freedom and a form of solitude for him as he worked out in his extremely agile mind all the ramifications of what he sought to achieve, and how it all must be done step by step.

 Jules was strong, but lugging the desk into the warehouse had been a major task for him and he had scraped and scratched it many times. The desk had one broken leg, so he had to be careful when he leaned against it, or else everything on top would spill onto the filthy floor, which was littered with scraps of metal, cloth, wood, and patches of grease and another substance that resembled orange slime.

He called the slime the Forcepellet, as it was the driving device behind the vehicle he had assembled. The sketch, over which he had labored so long and so hard, was of a huge cigar shaped device with twin shafts at the fore and aft of it, as well as midsection.

The Forcepellets were a unifed form of reactant made from oil and a rare earth substance found by the brilliant female scientist, Madame Curie. She had been exposed to it for quite some time, and as a result gained the ability to repulse anything she desired for a certain amount of time when she released a burst of emotion. Which is also why he said force…because unless the emotions were of great force, the pellets didn’t work.

So Forcepellets they became with Curie’s blessings. And with her help Jules had learned how to form and mold the energy release so that it could be used to propel anything….anything at all, further and faster than anything known to man at that time.

While not the reason for his diagram, it was integral to the device laid therein, because the device would be using the forcepellet, not only to propel the device, but also to arm it.

CHAPTER SEVEN: THE FIRST BATTLE

Wells was so horrorfied by the sight before him that he quite literally froze in his tracks, though one would think such a rational being would burst into flight before doing such a useless thing.

That time again, but even so, I've posted a new author to Nuggets and a link to a wonderful book series written by the famous Edgar Rice Burroughs, "Pullicidar."

Have a great weekend!

John

Wells thought about the door as long as it took him to recognize the purpose of the trunk, and then he turned his attention to his friend. Jules slept with his mouth half open and snored lightly. He frowned. The dear friend had probably stayed up most of the night watching over him. That tender thought made his heart melt, as he realized once more how deeply bonded the two were. That made him all the more determined not to distress his friend further.

So quietly, he moved the trunk, put on his clothes and slipped outside. The house was deathly quiet. Not a thing moved within it. Without his mother storming from one room to the other ordering the help around, or demanding it, as she had of late from her bedroom, there was no call for much movement. At least that is what he thought at the time.

Wells went into their rather sizable kitchen and was alarmed to see the stove on, but nothing on its top. On the floor were scattered broken dishes and pots and pans. The cupboards were all closed, so it wasn’t a theft he thought. But still odd. Where was Miss Glory, who always got up before everyone else and began baking. He checked the oven for the fresh bread, whose scent always filled the house while baking, and saw a baking pan there with bread in it, but no heat upon it. The oven was as lifeless appearing as the house itself.

“I was right, wasn’t I?” Jules says from behind Wells.

Wells is startled, but he refuses to show his fear to Jules.

“Undoubtedly they’re all off seeing to Mother’s funeral.”

Jules grabs Wells by his arm and spins him around. “Can’t you see what’s going on? They’re here. In our town. Right now.”

Wells stiffens. Jules lets go.

“The only thing I see is my best friend doing his damnest to scare me out of the one good life I have. Unlike cats, dear Jules, I have but the one. Try to refrain from such universal meanderings.”

Jules sighed and leaned back against the kitchen counter. “Ask yourself, would the servants just abandon a kitchen like this?”

Wells says nothing.

Jules wipes at his bloodshot eyes. “Fine. Don’t believe me. But they’re not going to take me. I’m fighting back.”

Jules starts to exit the kitchen, but Wells blocks his path. “Who is this they you refer to?”

Jules starts to answer, then shakes his head. Wearily he responds. “Wells, your mind is just as good as mine. When you figure it out, meet me at 54 Rue Morgue near the old pier. I will have a surprise for you.”

Jules darts around Wells and heads for the front door. He stops at the door and looks back at his friend, who seems in a state of shock. “I’d advise you to keep to the shadows, keep a low profile. And…”

“And what?” Wells asks weakly, uncertain how to respond.

“And don’t trust anyone!” Jules says with a tone that strikes a spike into Wells heart and twists it.

“Yes. I know exactly what I’m saying. That the war was lost a long time ago and our
governments have given over power to the invaders.”

Wells ran a shaking hand through his hair. “But if that’s so, then why are our people still
going off to war?”

Jules glared at Wells as if he had gone mad. “Isn’t it obvious?”

“What is obvious is that you’re driving me mad with your insinuations!”

Wells looked like he was ready to explode with impatience. He began what would later become his famous right eye wink, that whenever he became stressed or impatient, that infamous eye would begin to twitch violently. Beware anyone who dared to push him when that happened.

Jules slowed his thoughts down a moment. He didn’t want to distress his friend so much. “I believe the war is over. That the invaders have taken over our governments and we are now cattle for their slaughter.”

Wells now looked like the most wretched soul on the planet. He practically collapsed to the bed this time, his face drawn and weary. Jules took pity on him and helped him lie down. He drew bed covers over his best friend and smiled. “All is not lost, dear friend. Far from it.”

His eyes tightened with a vehemence that truly frightened Wells to the depths of his soul.

“The war has only just begun!”

CHAPTER FIVE: THE DIVISION OF LABOR

Wells awoke the next morning to find his friend, Jules, still in his bedroom. Asleep on a comfortable chair that faced the door. He wandered at that a moment,  until he saw the way the door was sealed. A chest of his clothing had been drawn across it to prevent its opening.

“Jules whatever in the world are you thinking? Wells muttered to himself.He got up, stretched and was amazed at how vital and strong he felt this day. He was past the shock and horror of his mother’s death and the strange possibilities Jules had spoken of. They had receded into the better part of his brain to be balanced with common sense and determination. As with Jules, Wells was the sort of person who didn’t allow life to roll over him. Both boys were alike in that spirit, which was perhaps why they loved each other so much without truly understanding the nature of their love.

In a lessor enlightened world this might be construed as a physical love, but both young men were far from physically attracted to each other, no, rather they were one soul inhabiting two bodies. They had more likes than dislikes about each other, and this rare quality made it easy for both their communication and their determination as we will see.

Aunt Persephone, the overweight, old Greek portion of his father’s side of the family, stepped aside. She had been blocking Jules view of Wells. He stepped carefully around her and half bowed in a mocking sort of way to Wells.

“You look splendid!” Wells said to Jules, stunned at the health and vigor his body shone with.

Jules smirked. “I’ve been eating a lot of apples.”

Everyone laughed, though they didn’t get the joke. Finally, the Priest, who was a very kind man, as well as a religious one, scooted everyone else out of the room so the two lads could have some privacy.

Jules sat down on the edge of Wells’ bed. “You look a bit darker than usual.”

Wells got cocky. “Oh, and I’’m usually dark then?”

“Usually.” Jules laughed.

Wells took  it with a grain of salt and got out of bed. He stretched, then his stomach growled loudly again. “I really am starving. How long have I been asleep?”

“Four days.” Jules said with a hint of solemnity.

“Oh my God!”Wells uttered, sitting back down hard on his bed. So hard it squeaked and groaned in protest.

Jules stood up and began pacing. “Wells, I feel that the world is falling apart around us and no one is taking it seriously. People march off to fight in the war machine, but none are returning. This doesn’t make sense.”

Wells thought about it a moment. “You’re right. Father left, and not a word. The military
department always let us know where he was. It doesn’t make sense.”

Jules stopped and stared at Wells. “Perhaps there is no War of the Worlds.”

“Whatever do you mean, Jules?

“Maybe there is no war, because it has already been won.”

Wells blanched. “My God! Do you know what you’re saying?”