Gardens and flowers

My wife and I love flowers and plants. A couple of summers ago we visited the beautiful Quad Cities Botanical Gardens located in Rock Island, Illinois. For Sgt. Dunn readers, Rock Island is where the armory is located that Sgt. Dunn's little sister, Gertrude, worked briefly.

We went on an overcast day in July 2016, but the pictures are lovely. Today's group of pictures is of my favorite flowers and plants. I'll have another post in a day or so with glass art and living creatures.

I call this the S-tree (clever, huh?)

Ready to start writing Sgt. Dunn Novel #12!

I reached a point where I have plotted 80% of the next book. What that means is I'm planning for 45 chapters and know what happens in 36 of them. The 9 that are left are THE main attack story for the book. I know roughly what's going to happen, but will wait until I've written a few chapters to go back and fill in those last 9 chapters' plot. 

Now when I say "plotted," I mean I've written a sentence or two description of what happens. I also enter the date, day, time, and location, as well as who the Point of view character is. While plotting is fun and challenging for me, the real joy of writing occurs when I write the 1600 words (or so) that make up a chapter. That's where the real creativity shows up for me, especially when "something" happens in the chapter that I did NOT plan on. 

This early in the writing, I don't tell anyone outside of my family and FIRST READERS what the book is about, but I will say that: 

• Saunders goes to Sweden (yes, neutral Sweden!) for his first mission of the book
• Dunn goes to a very northernmost place in Italy (in the Alps Mountains, in winter!) for his first mission
• They combine forces to go to Sardinia, Italy to save the day.

We'll get to see Gertrude continue where she left off in Hunting Sgt. Dunn. (Don't want to give away her story if you haven't read that book yet.)

Our old friend Neil Marston, the British spy, makes an appearance, too.

It looks like loads of fun. I can't wait to start chapter 1 tomorrow!

Thanks for stopping by.

Ronn

Working on Sgt. Dunn Novel #12!

The idea for the next book came from my son, Nate. I started working on the plot a few days after Hunting Sgt. Dunn was published. Not ready to tell you what it's about just yet, but know I'm busy working on it.

You can track my plotting progress on the upper left of this blog.

Thank you, readers, Hunting Sgt. Dunn is currently #57 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > War.

I just love reading!

Today I took some extra time for myself to read, finishing a great book by David Baldacci. I rarely read during the day, usually saving it for bedtime for an hour and a half of immersing myself in someone else's story. The book in question was Long Road to Mercy, which is about a wonderful new character, Atlee Pine, an FBI agent assigned to the area near the Grand Canyon. Since I'm not interested in writing a book report, I'll just say I loved the book, as I do all of Mr. Baldacci's books.

Thinking about my reading habits, I recalled that I really got started in the 5th grade with Scholastic Books. During the summer between my 8th and 9th grades I rode my single speed 26" Western Flyer 1 1/2 miles (one way) to the Westport Branch Library weekly. That was the summer I discovered science fiction: Robert Heinlein, Theodore Sturgeon, and others. I would spend hours every day reading, lost in the imagination of these wonderful authors.

All through my life, reading was a big part of my "free" time. As an adult I started on authors like Clive Cussler, Dick Francis, Tom Clancy, Stephen King, and Isaac Asimov. The last ten years I've read all of John Sandford's books, Baldacci's, and Vince Flynn. I've read more Clive Cussler, Dick Francis, and Stephen King. I "discovered" and read Lee Child, Lincoln Child & Douglas Preston, J.A. Jance, Robert Crais, Michael Connelly, James Rollins, and David Rosenfelt.

When I started writing the Sgt. Dunn Novels, I read many WWII history books, including a few by Stephen Ambrose, perhaps most famous for Band of Brothers. I purchased the 25 volume The Marshall Cavendish Illustrated Encyclopedia of Word War II because my local library had taken theirs out of circulation. 

You'll never find me without a book to read. If I take my car in for maintenance, I take a book along. The same when I have a doctor appointment. 

So in case I haven't been clear: I LOVE READING!

The library I loved

Westport Branch Library
Kansas City, MO

Sgt. Dunn Novel #11, Hunting Sgt. Dunn, available on Amazon!

The newest Sgt. Dunn Novel, Hunting Sgt. Dunn, is now available on Amazon.

Thanks to all my FIRST READERS and my wife for all of their valuable help.

Here’s my hardworking FIRST READER crew: Steven B. Barltrop, Gordon Cotton, Dave Cross, Dave’s son and future engineer Jackson Cross, David M. Jones (Jonesy), Zander Jones (Jonesy II), Nathan Munsterman, Robert (Bob) A. Schneider II, John Skelton, Steven D. White, and please welcome one last new FIRST READER: Charlie Shrem, a voracious reader and Sgt. Dunn fan extraordinaire.

Cover design by

David M. Jones 

www.triarete.com

and

Nathalie Beloeil-Jones 

www.nathaliesworkshop.com

Sgt. Dunn Novel #11, Hunting Sgt. Dunn available soon on Amazon.

I just clicked the publish button for the Kindle version of Hunting Sgt. Dunn. It should be available sometime today, hopefully by late evening. I'll be back with the link to it as soon as possible.

Here's the cover for the new book, Hunting Sgt. Dunn. It's our first "look" ever at Dunn and Pamela! They are in front of her parents' house on the farm.

Cover design by

David M. Jones 

www.triarete.com

and

Nathalie Beloeil-Jones 

www.nathaliesworkshop.com

Book description

For U.S. Army Ranger Master Sergeant Tom Dunn the war takes place on the continent of Europe. However, unknown to him, a furious Albert Speer, Nazi Germany’s Minister of Armaments, has set in motion a plot so sinister, it’s almost beyond belief.

While on a mission near Hamburg to destroy a German facility where V2 rocket liquid oxygen is stored, Dunn receives additional orders from his commander, Colonel Kenton. Conduct reconnaissance in the Hamburg shipyards. Identify and mark for B-17 bombers where the Nazis are building submersible, ocean-going platforms for V2 rockets. The Germans plan to tow three of the deadly weapons behind a submarine to the east coast of the United States. From there they can fire the vengeance weapons on any seaboard city, including Washington, D.C.

British Intelligence uncovers a bizarre yet dangerous plot by the Nazis to forge millions of British pounds in various denominations. They plan is to flood the British economy with the bogus money, and therefore bring it to a grinding halt, interfering with England’s ability to wage war. British Commando Sergeant Major Malcolm Saunders is tasked with locating the pallets of money and burning it all before the Germans have the chance to ship it. Traveling to Bremerhaven, Saunders’ mission unavoidably goes awry.

Almost from the beginning, Dunn’s recon mission takes a deadly turn. As it progresses hour by hour, Dunn suddenly realizes he can’t wait for the B-17s. He must act quickly to stop the Germans’ terrifying plan.

A peaceful Sunday lunch at the Hardwicke Farm suddenly turns into a life or death battle for Dunn and Pamela, and her parents as Speer’s plan is launched.

In book eleven of his WWII action thrillers, Munsterman once again masterfully blends real-life Nazi plans with fiction giving the reader an action-packed story in a non-stop page turning pace.

Sgt. Dunn novel #11, Hunting Sgt. Dunn - working on last edit!

Like much of the Midwest and Northeast, woke up to a lot of snow. We have about 6 or 7 inches of new snow on top of another 4 or so. Spent quite some time playing with my snowblower, what fun. If you're sensing sarcasm,you are amazing.

Once that was done, I did my editing on Hunting Sgt. Dunn for the day. Now, that, my friends, IS fun!

I'm halfway through the last edit! I expect to release the book some time next week. I confess, that tomorrow night, my wife and I will be watching the Kansas City Chiefs.

But I'll do my editing work earlier in the day. Right now I'm at a very exciting point in the book where . . . oh, oops. Sorry.

It's currently 6 degrees out, with a high of 17 long gone. Supposed to reach -2 tonight. Where's Florida from here?