Tuesday, December 27, 2016

Finding Closure release set for early February 2017

mark@marktreble.cm

I had hoped to release Finding Closure, volume three of the Finding Series, in early January. That will be postponed to early February. My editor has identified two problem areas in the draft, and she is right. One will be easy to fix, the other requires a new approach to a quarter of the book.

Sunday, December 18, 2016

Asking for input

mark@marktreble.com

I'm most of the way through the first draft of Did You Ever See Allegro?, which follows a college garage band 1969-1970, then its members separate lives after college. Point of View changes from Chapter to Chapter, with each of the six band members taking turns.

I think it's working. Have you had experience reading changing POV books, and what did you think of them?

Thanks,

Mark

Thursday, December 8, 2016

Publication rate will be less going forward

mark@marktreble.com

This year has been a record for books published.

- Taunting, a mystery, went live in January

- The Trip to Helen Gawne, a comedy, went live in February

- Life Continues, a drama, went live in July

- Finding Friendship, exploration of an unusual relationship, went live in October

- Its sequel, Finding Each Other, went live in November.

The third volume in the Finding Series, Finding Closure, should go live in January 2017.

Meanwhile I'm doing some cleanup. The Women of New England is due to a publisher before the end of January. The Men of Carolina, a love story, is at a publisher now, awaiting the inevitable requests for changes.

Several are underway, and I'd like some feedback about which should get first focus.

Did You Ever See Allegro, the tale of a 1969-1970 college garage band, is about 65% complete in first draft. Harassing, a mystery - book two of the FlintFiles, is barely started, as is The Head Game, a sports comedy. Life Creates, third volume of the Life Stories series, is in concept. It will be narrated by Alex, the stepson of Ethan, who narrated the first two volumes. An untitled work follows two friends from elementary school through collecting social security; it is about 5% complete. The Men of the Northwest, a buddy tale about three men who go camping every Labor Day Weekend for 35 years, is also at about 5%.

Which should I work on first?

Thanks, Mark
,

Monday, December 5, 2016

Update on the Men of Carolina/The Women of New England

mark@marktreble.com

I have been asked by a publisher to complete the Women of New England, and have sent The Men of Carolina to another publisher, unsolicited. I'll keep you updated.

Monday, November 21, 2016

Finding Each Other scheduled for release November 27, 2016

mark@marktreble.com

Finding  Each Other, sequel to Finding Friendship, will be released to publication on Amazon.com on November 27, 2016. Its post-publication price will be $2.99. Until then, it is available for pre-order at $0.99.

Monday, November 14, 2016

Finding Each Other Available Tomorrow for Pre-order

mark@marktreble.com

Finding Each Other, Book Two of the Finding Series, will be available for pre-order November 15, 2016, at a price of $0.99. It will be published on November 27, 2016, at the regular price of $2.99.

This is the sequel to Finding Friendship, where straight Mike and gay Luke strike up a bromance. Luke is still wary of getting too close for fear of being hurt again. Mike is still wary of pushing Luke to come closer for fear of abandonment. Mike's meltdowns, triggered by jealousy, actually help bring the two men closer. Luke's meltdowns, triggered by becoming vulnerable, push them farther apart.

They become closer emotionally, intellectually and physically. They agree they are boyfriends, but don't try to define it. When Luke finally opens his art to Mike, it starts a chain of events that bonds them tighter, and leads to each expressing his feelings for the other. They've found friendship and they've found one another. Do they find love?

Readers can get a free companion novella, Emgee Saves the Farm, written by Mike's dog.

Volume Three, Finding Closure, will be available for pre-order just before Christmas, 2016.


Sunday, November 13, 2016

Current Status of In-Process Books

mark@marktreble.com

Finding Friendship has been available for two weeks and is doing well.

Finding Each Other is complete, pending a final review of the e-book conversion. It is scheduled to be available November 20, 2016, for pre-order at $0.99, then will be published November 27 at its regular price of $2.99.

Finding Closure is in editing. Tentative schedule for pre-order availability is December 20, 2016, at $0.99, then will be published December 27, 2016, at its regular price of $3.99.

Did You Ever See Allegro is about 60% finished in first draft. This tale of a college garage band in 1969-70 should be available for purchase in the first quarter of 2017.

Thursday, November 10, 2016

Finding Each Other scheduled for pre-orders November 20

mark@marktreble.com

Finding Each Other, Volume Two of the Finding Series, is scheduled for pre-orders at $0.99 on November 20, 2016. It will be published on November 27, 2016, at its regular price of $2.99.

Mike and Luke continue getting closer, but each has issues he cannot discuss, and cannot deal with by himself. Do they work together to deal with the issues, or do they call it quits?

Friday, November 4, 2016

Finding Friendship is off to a good start across the globe

mark@marktreble.com

Finding Friendship has launched well with sales in the U.S., U.K., Germany and Australia. Book two, Finding Each Other, will be available for pre-order around November 20 at a reduced price, and will be published around November 30. Volume three is set for pre-order at a reduced price, and publication, in December.

Those who have read Finding Friendship can have a free copy of volume one of Emgee's Autobiography, Emgee Adopts a Pet, by sending me an email.

Thanks!

Tuesday, November 1, 2016

Recommended Reading

mark@marktreble.com

Daron's Guitar Chronicles is the best coming-of-age tale I have ever read.

https://www.amazon.com/Darons-Guitar-Chronicles-Cecilia-Tan-ebook/dp/B004EHZUA0/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1478017797&sr=1-1&keywords=daron%27s+guitar+chronicles

Daron's growth and evolution provides the umbrella story. Underneath that are multiple stories dealing with rock and roll in the 1980s, the record industry, dysfunctional families, coming out, dealing with adversity, mental illness, the meaning of fidelity, and at least a dozen others. The stories are told in threads that intertwine, disappear and reappear later, but all are tied to Daron's coming of age.

The Chronicles are also available on-line at http://daron.ceciliatan.com/. The writing is superb, the characters are so realistic that many aficionados treat them as actual people. If you read on-line, start at the beginning. There's not a wasted chapter, sentence or word.

Monday, October 31, 2016

Only a few hours left

mark@marktreble.com

Finding Friendship, Book One of the Finding Series, will be available for less than twelve more hours at its pre-order price of $0.99. After that, the regular price of $2.99 will apply.

Finding Each Other, Book Two of the series, will be available for pre-order in mid-November 2016.


Friday, October 28, 2016

Just three days left to pre-order Finding Friendship at its pre-order reduced price

mark@marktreble.com

Finding Friendship, Volume One of the Finding Series, will be available until mid-day Monday, October 31, at the reduced price of $0.99. Thereafter, the regular price, $2,99, will apply.

US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M5EUVW1

UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01M5EUVW1

Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01M5EUVW1

Finding Each Other, Volume Two of the Finding Series, will be available for pre-order starting in mid-November 2016.


Sunday, October 23, 2016

Finding Friendship now available for pre-order

mark@marktreble.com

Finding Friendship, first book of the Finding Trilogy, is now available for pre-order on Amazon.com at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M5EUVW1. Pre-order price is $0.99, which will rise to $2.99 on October 31.

A gay man and a straight man fall for each other. Each brings issues and baggage to the relationship aside from different sexual orientations. Mike wants affection, which Luke supplies in large quantities. Luke wants a friend who accepts him as he is, which Mike does completely.

Luke refuses to give his heart to anyone because he has been badly burned twice. Mike is afraid he's being too needy and will drive Luke away. Mike won't do "gay stuff," but that doesn't preclude cuddling, kissing and more. Luke is afraid he'll lose Mike to a woman, while Mike is afraid he'll lose Luke to someone willing to have gay sex.



Saturday, October 22, 2016

Looking for Input

mark@marktreble.com

The Finding series is finished. It is a trilogy exploring the issues and baggage brought to a bromance by a straight man and a gay man. Yes, there's some sex in the trilogy, but it's not the focus.

Finding Closure still needs to be edited, which should be complete by mid-December. At that point I plan to publish the entire series at once on Amazon in the Kindle Store.

Should I stick to that plan, or publish them in sequence?

Whether I publish them all together or all at once, should I make Volume One permanently free, to spark interest in the remainder of the series?

Thanks in advance for your input.

Thursday, October 13, 2016

Hello Thursday

mark@marktreble.com

We still have e-books available for giveaway. "I'm giving away copies of the following books for free to the first fifteen people who promise to leave an honest review of the book in the Kindle Store at amazon.com. E-mail me and tell me which one you want." Titles still available.

Taunting, murder mystery

The Trip to Helen Gawne, comedy

Life Struggles, drama

Life Contnues, drama

Four Seconds on the Clock, gay coming of age.

======

We are still looking for paid beta readers for The Men of Carolina

======

Next up in 2016, Did you ever see Allegro?, tale of a fictional college band 1969-70.

Friday, October 7, 2016

Book Giveaway

mark@marktreble.com

I'm giving away copies of the following books for free to the first fifteen people who promise to leave an honest review of the book in the Kindle Store at amazon.com. E-mail me and tell me which one you want.

Life Struggles Drama/Medical Mystery  Ethan McQuade is a recently-widowed investigative reporter for a New Orleans newspaper. Thirty-one year old Ethan and his step-son of eighteen, Alex DeLauder, live together in a fragile truce that is broken and repaired at least daily. Unfortunately, the glue is running out as the relationship deteriorates.

Then Alex mysteriously disappears and his clothes are found at the curb...
LIfe Continues Drama  Alex acts out while Ethan tries to cope. The stepson/stepfather duo cycles among fighting, sulking, looking for love (and sex if available), and having spectacular meltdowns.
Alex is arrested for soliciting prostitution...
The Trip to Helen Gawne Comedy  Four lifetime friends go on a road trip to take one last shot at winning the heart of their mutual former crush, the Prom Queen. Except it’s almost fifty years after high school and the guys are all in their sixties. What can possibly go wrong?
Taunting Mystery  Somebody is killing the elderly members of New Orleans’ venerable Martyrs’ Episcopal Church. Are bigots targeting the church for holding gay weddings? Are activists targeting the church because its priest wants to preach instead of politicize, and minister instead of marching? Or, perhaps it’s because the church’s congregation has shrunk while the value of its land has skyrocketed.
Four Seconds on the Clock Coming of Age/MM Romance  Two gay teen basketball players struggle with the aftermath of trauma. Logan, the team playmaker,  has everythng, but his world is crumbling around him. Tommy, team captain and Logan's former best friend, hates Logan almost as much as Logan hates Tommy. At the state championship final, Logan collapses. Tommy follows shortly thereafter.
Coach suspects he knows what the problem is, but not what to do about it.


Saturday, September 24, 2016

Still looking for paid beta readers

mark@marktreble.com

The Men of Carolina, a 450-page story of a gay man's search for love, is ready for beta reading. I'll pay you to read it and let me know what you think.

Did You Ever See Allegro?, a 250-page story of a fictional 1969-1970 college garage band, should be ready by mid-October for beta reading. Let me know if you're interested in being paid to read it and give a reaction.

Thanks!

Monday, September 19, 2016

Looking for names for children for Life Creates

mark@marktreble.com

Life Creates, volume three of the Life Stories series, will feature two births to different characters. In Taunting we learn that Ethan and Carly are expecting. I have tentatively named their girl child Kimberly. Another couple will have a child, and I'm leaning toward a boy. Anybody have any ideas about names?

Thanks

Friday, September 9, 2016

Highly-Rated "Life Struggles" is on a two-day free promorion worldwide

mark@marktreble.com

Life Struggles, the highly-rated Mystery/Thriller, is available for free on Amazon Kindle until September 11, 2016.

US Review: A fun, entertaining book! 2 Mar. 2016
By Kimberly VanOver Published on Amazon.com
Format: Kindle Edition
Very entertaining! Filled with a cast of very likable characters. Alex is your not so typical, trouble making teenager, and his step father Ethan seems to manage even when you think he is not going to make it through! This book has a great sub-plot story line as well.

US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B016FL9KB2

UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B016FL9KB2

UK Review: Nail biting and full of wit
By 4personnen on 27 Oct. 2015
Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase
The book is fully packed with action, humor and naughty scenes, so packed that sometimes I wished more insight were given on a particular event. But I had great fun reading it, and honestly, the plot becomes better as you read it. Some scenes are a bit unsettling and maybe unnecessarily graphic, so beware, but overall a very good book, with great characters you'd like to meet. I am waiting for the second book of the series, as the last scene left me shiver with anticipation. Well recommended.

Tuesday, August 30, 2016

A select group of readers will receive a free book

mark@marktreble.com

Readers of Daron's Guitar Chronicles (www.daron.ceciliatan.com) will soon be able to receive a free pre-publication copy of The Men of Carolina, a 450-page erotic tale of a gay man's search for love. We're juggling publication dates, and there are four books ahead of it in the queue.


Daron's Guitar Chronicles is the best coming of age story I have ever read. It's a web serial, and I'll warn you now: it's addictive.

Saturday, August 27, 2016

Looking for Paid Beta Readers

mark@marktreble.com

I need paid beta readers for two completed drafts. E-mail me if interested.

 A beta reader is a non-professional reader who reads a written work, generally fiction, with the intent of looking over the material to make suggestions to improve the story, its characters, or its setting. Beta reading is typically done before the story is released for public consumption. Beta readers are not explicitly proofreaders or editors.
Elements highlighted by beta readers encompass things such as plot holes, problems with continuity, characterisation or believability; in fiction and non-fiction.

Finding Each Other, Volume Two of the Finding Series. 62K words, 166 pages. Bromance.

Straight Mike and gay Luke explore what they want from their relationship, and why. Luke has reason to avoid commitment, while Mike has reason to want it. The casual attitude toward sex of many in the gay community – including some of Luke’s friends – causes panic for Mike. He wants someone close to whom he can demonstrate affection, pure and simple. It’s OK to hug and hold hands. What about kissing? What about the petrifying potential for more? Sex is rarely far from the surface, but can’t be allowed to break through. Mike wants a friend, a close friend, maybe even a boyfriend. Luke would be thrilled to have a boyfriend, if he just weren’t so scared – and scared with good reason.

This story overlaps with Life Struggles and the characters and actions move between the two stories. We get glimpses of the Decadence festival in New Orleans and see a few of the events from the perspective of on-lookers, and occasionally of participants. The sexual energy of Decadence interferes with the more important needs for love and affection.


Some things are simply not meant to be understood easily, if ever. In the immortal words of Luke’s nephew, Alex, “Explain it? I can’t explain television.”

Finding Closure, Volume Three of the Findig Series. 85K words, 232 pages. Bromance.

This story overlaps with both Taunting and Life Continues. The characters and actions move between and among the stories. We see flashes of a dysfunctional relationship, snippets of a complex murder investigation, and realize that life itself makes a mess of any attempt to find and keep love.

The men take their relationship on the road to the South Pacific where Mike is advising a small island nation on infrastructure and job development, while Luke finds inspiration for his art. They struggle with the meaning of love, sex, relationships, life and many other things that each finds strange in his own way.


Mike’s need for affection meets Luke’s unwillingness to accept it. Both struggle with norms and expectations, grappling with the issues separately and together. Finding love is never easy. Do they?

Wednesday, August 17, 2016

Tentative Schedule for Releases

mark@marktreble.com

There are several new books that should be available before the end of the year in the Amazon Kindle Store.

All three volumes of the Finding Series, a bromance between a straight man and a gay man, will be published simultaneously in December, along with their companion novellas, each written by the narrator's puppy, Emgee.

Volume One, Finding Friendship, tells the story of Mike (straight man, narrator) meeting and establishing a close friendship with Luke (gay man). It will contain instructions on how to get a free copy of Emgee Adtopts A Pet.

Volume Two, Finding Each Other, tells the story of a deepening relationship, and explores the issues and baggage each brings to the relationship. One of the least important is their different sexual orientations. It will contain instructions on how to get a free copy of Emgee Saves The Farm.

Volume Three, Finding Closure, examines the many ways in which each of the men can bring pain to the other and to the relationship, and the work and dedication needed to repair the bromance. It will contain instructions on how to get a free copy of Emgee Saves The World.

Did You Ever See Allegro, the story of a college garage band in 1969 and 1970, takes the reader behind the scene in organizing and running a rock band. It looks at the music industry at that time, and how it exploited young and inexperienced performers. It gives you a peek behind the curtain for a look at performances from the band members' perspectives. And it lets you watch as the band, a flash-in-the-pan success, shared most such bands' fate byfolding ignominiously.

The book follows the six members of the band for several decades after it folded, and the reader will leaarn how fourteen short months in the long lives of its members shaped their work, relationships and attitudes, for the rest of their lives.

Two other books are scheduled for release in the first quarter of 2017:

The Women of New England tells the tale of a young woman in distress. She just started her law career, and somebody's trying to kill her. Thrills, chills, action and plot twists.

The Men of Carolina follows a young gay man's fourteen year search for love. Caution: Some material may not be suitable for minors.


Wednesday, August 10, 2016

Taunting five-star-rated mystery, goes on Amazon Kindle countdown August 12 at 11:00 a.m. on Friday August 12

mark@marktreble.com

Taunting, five-star-rated mystery, goes on a countdown deal on Amazon Kindle at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, August 16. Regularly $2.99, it will be available for $0.99 until 11:00 a.m. on August 15, then for $1.99 until 7:00 p.m. on August 19.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01AB1W9LU#nav-subnav



Somebody is killing the elderly members of New Orleans’ venerable Martyrs’ Episcopal Church. Are bigots targeting the church for holding gay weddings? Are activists targeting the church because its priest wants to preach instead of politicize, and minister instead of marching? Or, perhaps it’s because the church’s congregation has shrunk while the value of its land has skyrocketed.

Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Finding Friendship is in the home stretch

mark@marktreble.com

Finding Friendship, book one of the Finding Trilogy, will be out of editing the end of next month. The cover is done, and it will need proofreading and file conversion.

The Finding Series tells about a bromance between a straight management consultant and a gay graphic artist. It explores the many issues each brings to the relationship; the difference in sexual orientations is not the most important.

Anyone who buys Finding Friendship will get instructions for obtaining a free copy of a book written by the straight guy's puppy. My Very Own Autobiography: Emgee Adopts a Pet. Each of the three volumes will have a free  volume of Emgee's book to accompany it.



Monday, July 25, 2016

Life Continues now availalbe at Amazon Kindle

mark@marktreble.com

Life Cotinues, the sequel to five-star-rated Life Struggles, is now avaiable at Amazon Kindle.

See https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01IWIPM40#nav-subnav

Thursday, July 21, 2016

Life Continues, the Sequel to the five-star-rated Life Changes, goes live Friday July 29

mark@marktreble.com



Alex's mother, and Ethan's wife, is dead. Alex acts out and makes his step-father's life miserable. Ethan, on the other hand, is struggling with his responsibility for Alex, as well as his profession, journalism. Not to mention that Ethan is getting serious about a woman, who is alreay serious about a man, who is already serious about his boyfriend. Watch the dominoes fall.

Ethan travels around the country writing stories, such as the average day of a police officer, and life in towns and cities where German, Polish, French and Portuguese are the first language of most residents, some of whom have lived there for seventy years.

Ethan and his girlfriend attend a party thrown for a pair of visiting Swedih-speaking Finnish nudists. Would the U.S. have invaded Iraq if its men's manslems hadn't been cut as infants? Read and find out.

Dana's parents visit and want to take Alex to their home in Madison, Wisconsin, where he will get a proper upbringing. They are outspoken social liberals and lifetime members of the NAACP. They just want to get Alex away from an envionment in which colored people visit his house, which is located next to two homo-sex-walls.

Drama, grief, closure and humor appear when least expected.

Monday, July 18, 2016

Life Continues Status

mark@marktreble.com

Life Creates is finally out of editing and the cover art is complete. It will be sent for conversion today, and should be available on Amazon.com in the Kindle Store by the end of the week.

Friday, July 15, 2016

Things are finally coming together

Finding Friendship, Volume One of the Finding Series, entered editing yesterday. Expect publication in September.

Life Continues, Volume Two of the Life Story Series, entered editing today. Look for publication in August or September.

Friday, July 8, 2016

New books are coming together

mark@marktreble.com

Hope your summer is going well.

Finding Friendship, volume one of a trilogy about a bromance between a straight man and a gay man, is mid-way through beta reading. Cover is two months overdue, and I'm seeking alternatives. Then I need to find an editor and proofreader, convert and upload. Probably another two months. About 250 pages. The companion free novella, Emgee Adopts a Pet, is ready except for converion. Will be uploaded to Amazon Kindle simultaneously with Finding Friendship.

Life Continues, volume two of the Life Story Series, a tale of the relationship between a thirty-one year old journalist and his nineteen-year-old stepson, is a month overdue out of editing. Still need proofreading and a cover. Will be uploaded to Amazon Kindle within a month of exiting editing. About 225 pages.

The Men of Carolina, a stand-alone novel about the fourteen-year journey of a gay man's search for love, is through beta reading. Cover is done, need an editor and proofreader, then conversion. Probably another three months before upload to Amazon Kindle because it's about 600 pages.

Did You Ever See Allegro, the story of a 1969-1970s garage band, should be through development in another month. Look for it before the end of the year on Amazon Kindle

Saturday, June 18, 2016

The Trip to Helen Gawne to go on a countdown special.

mark@marktreble.com

The Trip to Helen Gawne, an unusual buddy-road trip comedy, goes on a countdown deal starting June 20, 2016. It will be available until the morning of June 24 for $0.99, then until the morning of June 27 for 1.99. After that, it reverts to its standard price of $2.99

Buy at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01BLYAXU0

Four lifetime friends go on a road trip to take one last shot at winning the heart of their mutual former crush, the Prom Queen. Except it’s almost fifty years after high school and the guys are all in their sixties. What can possibly go wrong?
Jake, Elvis, Woody and Alessandro travel from the Florida Panhandle to Las Vegas to see Helen Bradley. Helen married Richie Gawne, the basketball star in a sports-crazy town. An unfortunate accident with a bouncing basketball knocked loose a nasty clot in Richie’s brain and, well, he’s now playing for another team. And his widow, Helen Gawne, is once more available.
As their golden years tarnish before their eyes, the four friends take off cross-country on their last desperate shot at youth. They’re on The Trip to Helen Gawne.

Thursday, June 9, 2016

What's Going On

mark@marktreble.com

Volume One of the Finding Series, Finding Friendship, is now in beta reading. Its accompanying novella, Emgee Adopts a Pet (written by the narrator's puppy, Emgee), is ready for release. Target date for simultaneous publication of all three Finding Series volumes plus their accompanying novellas is set for late this year.

Volume Two of the Life Stories Series, Life Continues, is in editing. When it is finished I'll have the cover completed, convert it to e-book format, and publish it on Amazon.com in the Kindle Store. Volume Three, Life Creates, has been re-started from scratch.

The Men of Tennessee is in beta reading. Anyone wishing to be a beta reader for it is welcome to contact me. Warning: it's 185,000 words and is in a niche genre.

Works in development are

Harasing, the sequel to Taunting. Mystery.

The Women of New England. Mystery.

The Head Game. Sports Comedy.

Did You Ever See Allegro? Story of a 1969-1970 college rock band.


Friday, May 27, 2016

Life Continues (Life Stories Series) has been overhauled and will be in edting in June

mark@marktreble.com

My editor gave up on editing Life Continues, having encountered several significant issues that she could not correct. I believe I've corrected them, and it will go back into editing in June 20

Life Creates is still on hold.

Friday, May 20, 2016

Serialized Novel

mark@marktreble.com

I've begun serializing an old coming-of-age tale that was never published, Power. You can read it for free at http://www.jukepop.com/home/read/9459?chapter=1. New chapters are posted weekly.

Wednesday, May 11, 2016

Entire Life Stories series put on hold

mark@marktreble.com

I first threw away everything written in Life Creates because it was trite. I'm about to throw away everything in Life Continues because my editor says it cannot be salvaged. I believe her. On to other things.

Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Four Seconds on the Clock is on a countdown special in the Amazon Kindle Store

mark@marktreble.com

Four Seconds on the Clock, a five-star-rated drama about two young men dealing with the aftermath of trauma, goes on sale today for $0.99 for four days, then is raised to $1.99 for the following four days. After that, it reverts to its regular price of $2.99.

http://www.amazon.com/Four-Seconds-Clock-Gulfside-City-ebook/dp/B0118HRM4A?ie=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0


Logan Matthews has it all: good grades, a leading position on the basketball team, a hot girlfriend, a smart best friend, a great part-time job and his own car - and a slam-dunk basketball scholarship to a nationally-ranked university. Everything’s going his way. So, why does life suddenly feel as though everything is spiraling out of control?

A substitute teacher with an agenda is threatening to fail him in an important class. Logan’s hot girlfriend is finally loosening up on the physical relationship side. But Logan’s father has grounded him because he disobeyed Coach’s orders. Even Coach admits it was a great play, but Logan’s father could care less. He wants Logan to dump his girlfriend because her twin brother is gay, and his best friend, Antoine, because he’s black.

Logan’s former best friend, Tommy, is the basketball team captain, and despises Logan. Almost as much as Logan despises Tommy. But, they have to work together or both lose their scholarships. And Coach won’t let up on forcing the issue. Either they put aside their differences or Coach will put aside their scholarships. But putting aside their differences is just not going to happen. There’s too much history and pain to overcome.

Logan gets sick during the state championship tournament. With him the team is good, state championship caliber, and far better than any other small-town team in the state. Without him the team might not be good enough. And, without a win, many scholarships and futures – not just Logan and Tommy’s – are in trouble.

Coach knows what the disease is and even its cause. But he has no clue about how to fix it in time for the final games. If forfeiting the state championship would make Logan better, then Coach was willing to do that. The team and its members mean far more to him than a title. But Coach knows that a forfeited title won’t fix Logan. In fact, Coach is struggling with his own demons. He’s fairly certain he not only knows the cause of the disease, but he blames himself for the whole thing.


As Logan pivots his feet on the squeaky gym floor, he’s counting on a desperation play to win the game. And he wonders just how many more desperation plays, on and off the court, will have to succeed to get his life in order. It could all start with winning this game, but can he do it? After all, there are only four seconds left on the clock.

Thursday, April 21, 2016

The Men of Carolina/The Women of New England

mark@marktreble.com

About five weeks ago a voice popped into my head, with a fully-formed character. His name is Kyle Randolph, and he wanted to tell me a story. I let him know that I had other things to do, but he didn't care.

He started telling me a tale about a search for love. I couldn't shut him up for the entire five weeks. I finally just listened and typed. I wrote an average of almost five thousand words a day, every day, and near the end of the five weeks he told me the ending.

The Men of Carolina is more than four hundred pages long, with about 175,000 words. I'm in the first post-draft review, and honestly am not sure what to do with it. Yesterday, Kyle popped up again and told me he has a friend who wants to tell me the story of The Women of New England. I told him to go blank himself. I think I hurt his feelings.

Friday, April 15, 2016

New On-Line Serial Novel Now on Jukepop

mark@marktreble.com

The first chapter of my new on-line serial novel, Power, is now live on www.jukepop.com. I intend to update with new chapters every Monday, beginning on April 25, 2016.   The site hosts self-published stories by a variety of authors. Power is a coming-of-age tale I wrote a couple of years ago and have been unsure about ever publishing. A chapter-by-chapter posting, with the opportunity for interacton with readers, seems a good start.

Chapter One is at http://www.jukepop.com/home/read/9459?chapter=1

See you there!

Wednesday, April 6, 2016

Amazon Kindle Count-Down Deal on The Trip to Helen Gawne

mark@marktreble.com

Five star-rated comedy, The Trip to Helen Gawne, starts a Kindle Countdown Deal at eight a.m. on April 8. Price will be ninety-nine cents through eight a.m. on April 11, and $1.99 from then until eight a.m on April 14. After that, the regular price of $2.99 will apply.

"Heartwarming...Funny....Great Read!!!
on February 25, 2016
I finished this book in less than 24 hours, I couldn't put it down! It's a great story of friendship, comradely, and life. It's funny and heartwarming with characters you quickly come to embrace and love. It made me laugh...a lot, but is also very poignant story about growing older and some of the trials that come with that."

US: http://www.amazon.com/The-Trip-Helen-Gawne-Gulfside-ebook/dp/B01BLYAXU0?ie=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0

UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Trip-Helen-Gawne-Gulfside-ebook/dp/B01BLYAXU0/277-1393007-2841860?ie=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0




Saturday, March 26, 2016

All four published books have five-star ratings

mark@marktreble.com

All four books,

Taunting, a mystery

The Trip to Helen Gawne, a comedy

Life Struggles, a drama

Four Second on the Clock, a story of coming of age and coming up

now have uniform five-star ratings in the Kindle Store at Amazon.com.

Thursday, March 24, 2016

Immediate future

mark@marktreble.com

I've published three books in the last five months, and need to slow down. I find if I try to work to an arbitrary date that quality suffers. Life Continues, the sequel to Life Struggles, will go to editing in April and be published in May. After that I'll send the bromance trilogy, The Finding Series, to editing. I expect that to take some time. I want to publish all three volumes simultaneously, because it's a single story. That probably won't be available in the Kindle Store at Amazon.com until close to the end of the year.

While that's in editing I'll finish the companion novellas, My Very Own Autobiography, written by Emgee. He's a puppy and belongs to Mike, one of the characters in the bromance. His books will be offered free to people who buy the individual books of the trilogy.

I'm chanelling a guy who popped into my head fully-formed. I just write what he tells me. He's already given me the story arc, and is fillilng in the spaces in between the turning points. It's a little difficult, because he forgets to tell me things like "XYZ" dies doesn't come immediately before "ABC turns back up." It seems they're a couple years apart.

It's a completely new genre for me. Men of Carolina is about two men who meet their senior year of college. The narrator, Kyle, is an author. The other man, Adam, is an actor. The book follows them for more than a decade, starting in 2002. Every time Kyle tells me what to write I'm surprised. In two weeks I'm about three quarters through the first draft of a four-hundred page book. To say the least, this is one of the strangest writing experiences of my life.

If Kyle will just shut up, I'll get back to Did You Ever See Allegro?, the story of a college band in 1969-1970. It was good, it was fun, it was unsuccessful. The story is told in vignettes from the past, separated by conversations between the two surviving band members, enroute to the other men's funerals. It's very different, and very personal. When it's done I'll need beta readers. If you're intereted, write to me at mark@marktreble.com

Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Author Website is now live!

mark@marktreble.com

The new website is now live! Sign up for the newsletter at www.marktreble.com by April first and receive a free book of your choice from among:

Published:

Taunting, a mystery
The Trip to Helen Gawne, a comedy
Life Struggles, a drama
Four Seconds on the Clock, a story of coming of age and coming out.

Unpublished and NOT YET EDITED:

Life Continues, sequel to Life Struggles
Finding Friendship, volume one of a trilogy following a bromance between a straight man and a gay man.

See you there.

Mark

Saturday, March 19, 2016

Get a free book!

mark@marktreble.com

The new site has a couple of days of testing, then it goes live not later than March 25. Meanwhile, the e-mail is active and I'm responding to messages from readers.

Visit the new site, www.marktreble.com, between March 25 and April 1, sign up for the newsletter, and let me know which free book you would like.

Taunting, a mystery

The Trip to Helen Gawne, a comedy

Life Struggles, drama and a medical mystery

Four Seconds on the Clock, coming of age and coming out.

Life Continues, the sequel to Life Struggles, is scheduled for pubication on KIndle at Amazon.com in May, 2016.

Final Drafts of the three-volume (b)romance should be done this summer. Planned publication is for October, 2016.

Happy Reading!

Mark

Tuesday, March 15, 2016

Taunting is on Kindle Countdown Deal

marktreble@earthlink.net

Taunting, the five-star-rated mytery, is on a short-term countdown deal. From now until eight a.m. on March 18 it is only $0.99, a 67% price savings. From eight a.m. March 18 thrugh five-seight a.m. March  21 it will be only $1.99, a 33% savings. At eight a.m. on March 21 it reverts to its standard price of $2.99.

Somebody is killing the elderly members of New Orleans’ venerable Martyrs’ Episcopal Church. Are bigots targeting the church for holding gay weddings? Are activists targeting the church because its priest wants to preach instead of politicize, and minister instead of marching? Or, perhaps it’s because the church’s congregation has shrunk while the value of its land has skyrocketed.

Or maybe something else is going on here. Follow Danny Flint and the High Profile Crimes unit as they follow clues to the killer and bring him in – only to have him die while the bodies keep piling up. Something else is definitely going on here, but what?

Buy at http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01AB1W9LU?*Version*=1&*entries*=0





Monday, March 7, 2016

New Author Website to go live March 25, 2016

marktreble@earthlink.net

My new author website, www.marktreble.com, will go live on March 25. That is also the date my new email address, mark@marktreble.com, goes live. You will be able to sign up for the newsletter, see all the books at once, browse links to interesting sites and keep up to date with this blog, all from one place.

See you there on March 25, 2016!

Sunday, March 6, 2016

Contest Winners!

marktreble@earthlink.net

Most recent contest winners who will have characters named for them in a forthcoming book:

Raul Sanchez
Candy Clark
Kyle Randolph

Look for your names in print by the end of the year!

Mark

Thursday, March 3, 2016

Complete rewrite of Life Creates

marktreble@earthlink.net

Beta readers of Life Continues have pointed out a variety of weaknesses in the book, and I am following most of their recommendations. Publication is still set for May 2016.

While making the changes it occurred to me: Angst is an easy topic for a writer. Conflict is fascinating, and it's easy to conceptualize and describe. Transformation without constant conflict is much harder to accomplish.

First part of the existing blurb:

Alex feels cast aside. He had finally accepted his mother’s death and begun developing a healthy relationship with his stepfather. Then Ethan remarries and starts a new family. They’re back to Square One.

While Ethan tries to help Alex adjust to the new circumstances, Alex plots to sabotage Ethan’s new marriage. How do you deal with a teenager trying to create new victims to join him in his misery? How do you love the stepson working to destroy you, the police officer wife who loves you, and the baby still on the way?

That has all been trashed for now. Angst is easy to conceptualize and describe, but I think by now in the Life Stories series it has reached its limits. I'm reconceptualizing the book as a story of evolution and growth. There will still be conflict - can't write fiction without it - but conflict will no longer be central to the story. It will be one of several influences on Ethan's and Alex's continuing growth and evolution. It's hardly a spoiler to say that Ethan and Carly marry. It's hardly another spoiler that Alex improves his ability to relate in a mature manner to those in his life. 

Comments on a new story arc, scenes you'd like to see, and events and environments that promote change, are welcome. Right now, the book is a blank slate with some cryptic notes. Readers' participation in the book's development is invited and encouraged.

Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Life Continues goes to editing next month

marktreble@earthlink.net

Life Continues, the sequel to Life Struggles, is currently in the beta read stage. That will be complete by the end of this month, and the book goes to editing April 1 with a projected early May publication in the Kindle Store at Amazon.com.

Friday, February 26, 2016

Four Seconds on the Clock goes on price promotion

marktreble@earthlink.net

Four Second on the Clock goes on price promotion first week of March, 2016. See Here

Two young men deal with the aftermath of trauma, that devastated their lives - and their love.

Thursday, February 25, 2016

Meet the nurses: The Guys

marktreble@earthlink.net

In addition to the women there are two male nurses who play significant roles. In Finding Closure, Brian (no last name) is a home health care nurse who is in and out of the story caring for Luke after surgery and an overdose, and trying to find couples counseling for Luke (gay) and Mike (straight).

Dr. Tony Sheffield is a DVM, a veterinarian. He also retained his license as a Licensed Practical Nurse and looks after a variety of the characters (human and other animals) in both the Life Stories series and the Finding series. Tony was a roommate with Brett, Luke's straight brother. Their girlfriends got turned on watching them fool around a bit, and Tony discovered it turned him on, also. Brett threw him out.

When last seen Tony was having an affair with a female internist, Jeanine, who is Mike's doctor. He's also having an affair with Marcus, roommate to Mike and Luke. Marcus and Jeanine are each aware of the other and don't mind. The two relationships never overlap.

Tony provides a major assist with Alex DeLauder, Ethan McQuade's rebellious step-son who is suffering meltdowns from a combination of grief, depression and anxiety. He also recognizes when Luke has gone off his depression medications and convinces his physician to have Luke involuntarily committed to a mental hospital. Tony is an all-around good guy and a frequent Good Samaritan.

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Meet the Nurses: Rose Borland

marktreble@earthlink.net

Rose Borland is the aunt of Mike's (The Finding Series) Virtual Assistant, Pam Borland. She is about sixty and a recently-retired nurse. Mike (straight) and his boyfriend, Luke (gay) are invited on a luxury yacht for a working vacation. Shortly before the departure date Luke is injured in an unfortunate encounter with a steer having a bad hair day. His ankle is shattered.

Surgery to stabilize the ankle is performed. Luke insists on accompanying Mike on the voyage because he doesn't want his "straight boyfriend let loose on a yacht with a bunch of naked women." The solution is to take a nurse with them. Rose is very solicitous of Luke and supervises his care, his actvities and his diet. She tells Mike if he wants somebody to care for him he needed to hire his own nurse.

Rose rules with an iron fist. She examines Luke, bathes him, monitors his medication and in general keeps Luke and Mike apart when they want alone time. Mike threatens to smother her if she plans to sleep in the same suite with them. Rose bans alcohol for her patient and supervises every morsel going into Luke's mouth. She announces he needs a high-protein diet. Mike offers to help with that.

Rose eventually relents and allows Mike to help with Luke's bathing and the guys get plenty of private time to snuggle and kiss and whatever. The last night of the trip Rose finds Luke high on pain medication and alcohol, incoherent, and in flagrante delicto with a male crewmember. Mike is devastated. The yacht returns Luke to port and Rose accompanies him to a hospital in an ambulance. Mike's client, who has paid for the trip, orders Mike to go ashore and stay in a hotel.

Rose joins Mike at the hotel and Mike breaks down. Rose tells him to forgive Luke. Mike refuses. She talks him through why that is not just the right thing to do, but the necessary thing to do. And that talk drives the remaining three-quarters of Finding Closure.

Rose will appear again in as-yet-untitled book in the Gulfside City Series.


Wednesday, February 10, 2016

The Trip to Helen Gawne is now available on Kindle at Amazon.com

marktreble@earthlink.net

A new comedy, The Trip to Helen Gawne, is now available in the Kindle Store at Amazon.com.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01BLYAXU0?ref_=pe_2427780_160035660

Four lifetime friends take a cross country trip in a convertible to visit their common sweetheart, Prom Queen Helen Bradley. Except everybody graduated high school 48 years ago. What could possibly go wrong?

Friday, February 5, 2016

January Contest Winners

marktreble@earthlink.net

Our January Contest Winners are Eloise Grable, Walter Mansfield and Bob Hagan. You'll find your characters  in forthcoming books. I hope you like them.

There will be another contest in March for those who would like their names used as characters in a Mark Treble book. To enter, send an e-mail to marktreble@earthlink.net and include the word "Contet" in the title. If there is a specific type of character you wish to be, please include that and we will do whatever we can to comply.

Monday, February 1, 2016

The Trip to Helen Gawne Debuts February 15 on Amazon Kindle

marktreble@earthlink.net

Four high school buddies drive cross-country in a convertible to try and woo their sweetheart, the Prom Queen. Helen Bradley had married Richie Gawne right after high school, and now he's gone.

High school graduation was 1968 and now it's 2015? What could go wrong on The Trip to Helen Gawne?

Saturday, January 30, 2016

Praise for Taunting

marktreble@earthlink.net

Reviews are starting to come in, and they're five stars out of five.

From P. Wincup

Mark Treble should be ranked along with James Lee Burke as a great story teller for criminal thrillers. He thoroughly develops each character in the book so you get to know them as well as Danny Flint. I am looking forward to the next book in this series.

From R. McFarlin

Right up there with the best mystery writers. This is the second book of Mark's which I have read and I like this one best. About two thirds of the way through I started getting an idea who the real villain was but didn't know for sure until just the right time.

Remember, between today and February 5, leave a comment on the blog and get a free pdf copy of the forthcoming comedy, The Trip to Helen Gawne.

Friday, January 29, 2016

The Trip to Helen Gawne

marktreble@earthlink.net

The Trip to Helen Gawne, a road-trip comedy starring senior citizens, will be published on February 20, 2016, in the Kindle Store at Amazon.com.

Between today and February 5, leave a comment on the blog and get a free pdf copy of the book.

Monday, January 25, 2016

Meet the Nurses: Cheryl Longfellow

marktreble@earthlink.net

For reasons I don't understand, many of my strong female characters are nurses. The first post gave information about Kamisha Jackson, Nurse Practitioner in the small town of Stoneport, Florida.

Cheryl Longfellow is Chief Trauma Nurse at St. Swithin's Hospital in New Orleans. Cheryl has a long history of training other nurses, several of whom (including New Orleans' Chief Medical Examiner) later became physicians. In her mid-fifties, Cheryl is a power center at St. Swithin's. She can work miracles for those she likes, and make lives miserable for those who cross her.

Cheryl first appears in Life Struggles, part of the Life Stories Series, as the hero's friend with benefits. When Ethan's (the hero's) stepson, Alex, is kidnapped Cheryl helps Ethan search. When Ethan's search puts him in the sights of a crime family, Cheryl pulls strings to get him a private room at St. Swithin's and round-the-clock care. When Alex is found she pulls more strings and he, too, gets a private room. Eventually the story becomes a medical mystery, and Cheryl shines.

She identifies the medical specialty involved, which allows a nationwide network of medical labs to sort out what the kidnappers of many young men in many different cities want. She works with the police to help focus the investigation, and the Medical Examiner to sort out what the police need.

Cheryl reappears in the sequel to Life Struggles, Life Continues. She' still Ethan's friend with benefits but takes on a second lover, Detective Danny Flint. She sorts out a schedule and an orgasm quota for each man. When Alex goes into meltdowns St.. Cheryl repeatedly rides in on her white horse, even after Ethan has taken on a girlfriend, and ended the "with benefits" part of their relationship.

She next takes a role in Taunting, volume one of The Flint Files mysteries. Now the girlfriend of Detective Danny Flint, Deputy Commander of the High Profile Crimes Squad, Cheryl helps the detectives understand why the serial killer's targets are so easy to dispatch. When a mass poisoning occurs, she helps identify the type of poison and even uncovers its source.

Cheryl makes brief appearances in the Finding Series, volumes two and three, as a minor character.

If you have any questions for Cheryl, please write to marktreble@earthlink.net and he'll relay her answers.

Up next: Rose Borland, retired RN.

Sunday, January 24, 2016

Meet the Nurses

marktreble@earthlink.net

I just realized that many of my strong female characters are nurses. I'm not sure what that means, but I'm also not sure it needs to mean anything.

First is Kamisha Jackson. She appears in Four Seconds on the Clock and in The Trip to Helen Gawne. She'll also make an appearance, maybe many appearances in The Head Game. All three are part of the Gulfside City Series.

Kamishaa Jackson is in her fifties. She is relatively short and weighs about three hundred fifty pounds. She lives in Stoneport, Florida, where she is the only medical practitioner for miles around. She has been a nurse practitioner for several decades.

Kamisha's nephew, Antoine Jackson, is Logan Matthews' best friend (Four Seconds). She was instrumental in convincing her brother to move to Stoneport from New York where the school system had Antoine pigeon-holed as learning disabled. On his arrival she ran a few simple exams and learned that he was mostly deaf and dyslexic. Simple surgery restored Antoine's hearing, and the local school district (and Logan, his tutor) addressed the dyslexia. He turned out to be the brightest kid in school.

Kamisha is a power in the Stonegulf African Methodist Episcopal Church. Most of the area's African-Americans belong to the church, with a few attending the local Catholic church. Kamisha's friend, Jake LaPierre (Heen Gawne) and his family attend the church as well. Jake's deceased wife had been one-quarter black, his only daughter is one-eighth black and his grandchildren are one-sixteenth black. They go to to "black" church in any event because it's family tradition and, most importantly, they feel like family at the church.

Kamisha and Dr. E. Percy Bramble, DDS, (Helen Gawne) take care of most of the Stoneport residents' medical needs. For more than fifteen years Kamisha has been having an affair with Dr. Gil Martin, a white retired clinical psychologist. They make an interesting couple: Gil is about five-ten and maybe a hundred fifty pounds.

Kamisha gets help occasionally from physicians in Gulfside City, the nearest population center of any size. These include Logan's uncle's college roommate, Rick, who visits several times a year. Rick (Four Seconds) is a proctologist (and, yes, he's gay, enough with the snide comments). Rick works as a volunteer general practitioner a few weeks a year in the Stoneport Free Clinic.

Kamisha is central to Four Seconds on the Clock. When Logan Matthews comes out as gay he leaves home knowing that his father will disown him. Logan's best friend is Antoine, Kamisha's nephew, and they consider themselves brothers. So, Kamisha is Logan's aunt as well. Logan moves in with her.

When Tommy West, Logan's former best friend and biggest enemy, also comes out his parents order him out of the house. Kamisha offers to take him in as well. And she is instrumental in helping the two young men deal with the aftermath of terrible trauma three years earlier. Tommy calls her "Aunt Scary Lady." Logan and Antoine are in agreement.

Before you jump to conclusions, most of the characters in Four Seconds are straight. It was helpful to the story, athough not critical to it, that Logan, Tommy and Rick all be gay.

If you have any questions for Kamisha, please write to marktreble@earthlink.net and she will try to answer them.

Next up: Chief Trauma Nurse Cheryl Longfellow of St. Swithin's Hospital in New Orleans.




Saturday, January 16, 2016

Taunting cracks top two hundred in Kindle on day two

Taunting reached number 194 in Kindle in Mystery-Serial Killer on the day after it was initially published.

Wednesday, January 6, 2016

Taunting available for discounted pre-order on Friday

Taunting will available in the Kindle Store at Amazon.com for pre-order in the Kindle Store at Amazon.com at the discounted price of $2.99 on Friday January 8. On January 25 it will be available for purchase at the regular price of $3.99.

Somebody is killing the elderly members of New Orleans’ venerable Martyrs’ Episcopal Church. Are bigots targeting the church for holding gay weddings? Are activists targeting the church because its priest wants to preach instead of politicize, and minister instead of marching? Or, perhaps it’s because the church’s congregation has shrunk while the value of its land has skyrocketed.


Or maybe something else is going on here. Follow Danny Flint and the HPC as they follow clues to the killer and bring him in – only to have him die while the bodies keep piling up. Something else is definitely going on here, but what?

f

Get our newsletter by contacting us at marktreble@earthlink.net.

Friday, January 1, 2016

Taunting available next week for pre-order

Taunting, Volume One of the Flint Files mysteries, will be availble on or before January 15 for pre-order. Someone is killing the elderly members of New Orleans' venerable Martyrs Episcopsl Church. It's up to Danny Flint and the High Profile Crimes Squad to stop the carnage and bring the culprits to justice. But, first, motive. There doesn't seem to be a single one that makes sense.

Remember, you can sign up for the newsletter at marktreble@earthlink.net.