Karl’s Korner

Good evening, my friends,

For some reason, my blog is acting up tonight and Windows Internet Explorer is giving me a very small space to type in. Hey, I just figured it out; the space was set at 75% - some day I’ll learn to check everything…sorry about that. I never have claimed to be a computer expert – ask my neighbor, Nancy.

But, yes, people connected with the Nature Conservatory Group in Hawaii, and who have jurisdiction over Palmyra Atoll, have been heard from. A fellow named Jordan wrote in reply to my message telling them I’d like to send them a copy of my novel for review. He will leave for Palmyra in a few weeks, so the book should arrive in time for him to read while he is there - that is so neat!

And, I located my friend, Brenda from Bermuda. She no longer works for the Chamber of Commerce - she suffered the loss of the love of her life recently, which we were sad to learn. Hopefully when I send her a copy of “The Lost Priest”, it may brighten her day. That novel will be published no later than September of this year, perhaps earlier, depending on sales of my previous and present novels.

On top of all of that, it was the most beautiful day we’ve had since the New Year - bright sunshine and actually HOT! What a refreshing change. Hopefully Spring is here to stay.

I decided to work outside today, so I cleaned out the garage - a job I’ve been putting off, but it looks very nice now. I also bought a new sprayer and sprayed “Termite Killer” around not only my town house, but the two adjoining ones, just to protect us all. My back was aching by the time I finished.

Sadly, I didn’t get to wash the van because I chose instead to get a late day haircut. By the time I got home, a cool wind was blowing and I didn’t want to catch the first cold in thirty years, so I put it off yet again.

But, I did load up lots of books for the book signings tomorrow afternoon and Saturday and Sunday at Starbucks in Portland, TX. I hope to see a lot of you there. Buy directly from me there and save the $3.00 shipping.

I got six more pages done last night on “The Don’s Stimulus Package” - when I looked down at the clock in the corner of my computer, I was surprised to see it was after 12:30 a.m. when I finished for the evening. Time seems to fly by when I’m writing. I really enjoy what I do.

I hope you’ll enjoy each and every one of the novels I’ve completed so far, and look forward to many more to come in the near future.

But, since it’s an early rising time in the morning for yet another Doctor appointment for Carol, I’d better close for the night and hit the sack.

Until we see you either at Starbucks or back here again soon,
Vaya con Dias, my friends,
Karl & Carol

Good morning, my friends,

I forgot to tell you about this last night:

I don’t usually check my bills for the TV, electricity, phone, etc, but for some reason, I took a look at the one from Direct TV.

Every month since we signed up with Direct TV, we’ve received their fancy glossy and thick TV guide. Since I have no use for it, I usually threw it in the trash can at the post office, or tore my name off and left it on a desk there for someone else to use.

Now, when I checked my bill, I found I was being charged $4.00 a month for this publication. I immediately called Direct TV and cancelled the subscription - thereby saving $48 for the next year and every year after.

So, I’ll pass this info on to you. If you have no use for that heavy book of TV listings - call and cancel it.

Other news: my insurance cards got here, so we are good to go for another trip to the Navy base to pick up our new chairs.

And, here’s another strange thing. A few days prior to our first trip, (which I reported to you), we received a card in the mail from the BX that has three “rub-off” patches that could save us anywhere from 5% to 50%, depending on which we choose to rub off.

I thought the card was good for the day we went to the base - now upon checking the card, I find it is only good from March 12-16…go figure. Thanks to having no insurance card, we’ll still get our discount. I hope Carol rubs off the right one to get us 50%. I’ll let you know.

Almost time for our visitors to arrive from San Antonio - they are a nice couple we met on the last two cruises. We’ll head out to “The Big Fisherman” for lunch and have a good visit.

One last thing: I wrote to the Chamber of Commerce in Bermuda to see if Ms Darling-Meade is still a member. (Her name sounds so British, and I love it). She provided me with a lot of info for “The Lost Priest”, which I plan to publish in September. I want to make sure she is still there to send her a signed first edition for her assistance.

I’m ordering more bumper stickers, so get your request in now. Help me publicize my novels.
Thanks in advance,

Until later,
Vaya con Dias, my friends,
Karl

Good evening, my friends from all over the globe. We’re getting hits on the website from many countries and we welcome you all.

Yes, today was beautiful, about 80 degrees if not a little hotter in the late afternoon. The morning started off looking like rain, with dark clouds surrounding us, but as always, they seem to break apart when they hit our bay and split, going out to sea and behind us. Then they join up again in the north. Strange, but I guess it has to do with the open water, or something!

We took two walks, one to make up for the many days we’ve missed the past two months. We noticed the clover seems to be taking over most of the block behind us; all the sidewalks and public areas between the sidewalks and the street are covered with the stupid stuff. It is a mess and is spreading all over town. I don’t know how to contain it - that would take tons of weed killer.

We ate at Mac’s BBQ, hoping to see the owner, Domingo, and sell him a book, but he was off tonight - maybe tomorrow.

Then we headed up to the theater for “free popcorn” night and to see “Shutter Island”, which might make you shudder in places. As an author, I figured the plot out about halfway through, but still, it was interesting and seemed to hold the attention of the audience. I won’t go into details - go see it yourself and enrich the stars of Hollywood.

We talked to the manager afterward and asked about the possibility of holding a book signing there on a Tuesday night when all the Winter Texans are there eating their free popcorn. We’ll wait to see what the owners say. Keep your fingers crossed.

We had a nice discussion with her about the terrible plots and storylines of most movies made nowadays. She agrees there is way too much violence, profanity, sex and needless killings, explosions and stupid car chases through the supposedly empty streets of our big cities. Not much of this has anything to do with the plot or storyline. I guess Hollywood thinks we’re all stupid enough to want those things. Do you?

I think you’ll agree with me that all of my novels would make great movies that would keep the audience entertained and guessing until the end. I just wish someone who had some say in Hollywood would take a look at my books. Keep hoping with me.

Forty of my fans will soon be receiving bumper stickers in the mail. My sister-in-law - the missionary in the Philippines - got them for me. I am working on ordering more here, so if you’d like one for the back bumper of your vehicle, let me know by email at:
author@karlboyd.com I’ll be glad to send you one FREE when the next order comes in.

I hear Carol getting ready for bed, so I guess I’ll do the same. I got five more pages written on “The Don’s Stimulus Package” last night. If I keep that up, the book will be finished in a couple months, (or less). It all depends on how well I sleep, (or don’t).

So, for tonight, I’ll call it quits and look for you all here tomorrow, of the next time I find time to get online and chat with you.

One last thing - there is a comment form below for you to fill out and send me your thoughts, or go to my Facebook account and drop me a line. If you’d like me as your “friend” - I’d be honored to accept.

Until next time,
Vaya con Dias, my friends,
Karl

Good evening, my friends,

Yes, we’ll have a book signing this Saturday, March 13th, (our favorite number), and possibly the 14th, (depending on the Saturday sales), at the Starbucks in Portland.

In addition, we’ll hold one at Curves in Rockport on Monday, the 15th, to publicize the new novel.

Then, if things are going well, we’ll be back at Starbucks for a couple days next week - probably Tuesday and Wednesday, but we’ll see how tired we are after three days in a row sitting on our duffs and selling books - LOL

It was a bad day today - first it began raining just as we left for the Navy base in Corpus Christi, and it continued to rain all day until late this afternoon. That wasn’t so bad, but driving in Corpus in any weather is a challenge, (did I mention that the city of CC has the second worse drivers in the country?) But, we managed to make our way to the base, only to be told that our decal to get on the base was now expired - “Pull over to the building there and they’ll take care of you,” the nice guy on the gate said.

Knowing I had to have my registration, license and INSURANCE papers, I sorted through a large envelope I keep in the glove compartment for just such occasions as this - and, you guessed it - no proof of insurance was to be found, (although we DO have insurance)! So, foiled again, we turned for home as the rain came down harder. It was not a fun ride home.

We were hoping to replace our two recliners, one of which fell to pieces last night - imagine this, one of the main components was made of particle board - you all know how dependable that junk is.
But, enough of that.

We got home and I took the old recliner to Castaways for someone to fix if they want to. Then I came home and started running off letters and attachments for a big mail out for the new book.

I hope you receive your copy and will respond soon. I’d like to get another book on the way, but with nearly 1,000 on hand, I need to move these first. Thanks in advance.

On another note, we attended a very nice talent show at the high school here in Rockport yesterday. Lots of GREAT talent is available in just ordinary folks who live here - the show was amazing! We really enjoyed ourselves.

And, on top of that, we had a nice chat with Todd Hunter, State Representative from District 32 - and a great fan of my writing. (He is two books behind now, but promised to see me this Saturday at Starbucks and get caught up on the adventures of Roger and Carl and the newest characters in “Palmyra”.

Todd gave a great short speech on how important the coming Census is to all Texas citizens. We need to make sure we count everyone and get our fair share of that “stimulus” money that’s out there somewhere.

So, I’ll close for now and hope to see you at Starbucks or Curves.

You’ll save the $3.00 shipping if you stop by and chat for a while, (and have a hot latte or some other exotic drink).

I’d love to see you and hear how you are enjoying my novels.

Until then,

Vaya con Dias, my friends,
Karl & Carol

Good evening, my friends,

Sorry to be so long in adding to my blog, but my computer was down for two days as my CD drive went out suddenly. Thanks to my neighbor, Nancy, my life blood is up and running again.

Just before Nancy came over, someone must have been messing with my electricity - I thought it was the entire neighborhood when the lights went out and then came on, back off, on, etc., for about ten times in five minutes; but it wasn’t. I have no idea who or what caused this, but I lost one of my files on “The Don’s Stimulus Package” - the fourth part of the “Yes, we ‘con’” trilogy. Thankfully, I had most of it backed up on my laptop, but it was still a busy day today attempting to remember everything I had written previously and try to reconstruct it all. It was a chore and I know it’s not as good as the original - it never is, but I’ll keep attempting to get it right. The storyline is moving along well and I’m happy with the progress I’m making on this story.

But, as I said in the title line - my latest novel, “Palmyra, Isle of Death” is here and I’ve already sent out several copies to my fans who ordered them in advance. I’ll be looking for your order in the mail - don’t delay!

Thanks so much to my computer expert, Nancy Paulson, for updating my website. I think you’ll agree she does a wonderful job. Check out all the different “buttons” for an updated interview with the author, Bio and other pages. A review page is forthcoming soon.

If you are looking for someone to build you a website and maintain it in a very positive manner, go on line to Nancy@rockportwebsites.com and see what she can do for you. I highly recommend her and her husband, Dennis, (my fishing buddy), as they combine to do fantastic work.

They already have a group of clients throughout the Coastal Bend Area who will also give you good recommendations.

On another subject, the Fulton Oysterfest is taking place this weekend. If you’re looking for a good place to go for wonderful food, entertainment and fun, plus arts and crafts, etc. Head for Fulton and support our many charitable organizations that will have food booths and other items for sale. Many of them depend on this event to support their charities. You won’t go wrong.

But, it’s late again, and I just got my new mattress set yesterday, so I have to try it out and get used to sleeping on it. It would be nice to get a good night’s sleep for a change. Wish me luck.

In the meantime, check out the rest of my website and get those orders in the mail!

Until the next time we visit,
Vaya con Dias, my friends,
Karl