Rust and Trespass

My son, Jordan and I went on a photo expedition this morning (after an appropriately filling breakfast at Bob Evans).  So I'm ringing out the year with some images of rust, obtained through a little harmless trespass.

Car Sear

Half and Half

Right After the Zombie Came Out

Furnace

The End

Rainy Sunday

Some pictures from a short outing this morning.

Remains of the Day

Emma

Prestonsburg Bridge

Random Shots

Here are a few random pictures, some older, some newer, mostly either recently worked up, or recently re-worked a bit different than the first time.

Derby Fashion

Trouble

Ice

Pasture

Price Monolith

Nuthatch

Live Oaks

Wet Road

The White Door

The Blue Chair

Merry Christmas!

Lauren and Ann on the front row; me, Jesse, Jordan, and Oriana on the back row.

Frosty

The weather has been strange lately.  It was in the 70s over the weekend, but it is back in the 30s today, and it was much colder than this last week.  According to the thermometer in my car, it was in the teens on the morning I snapped these frost patterns - one on Ann's van and one on my windshield.

Have a Nice Day.  And a Nice Christmas too.

Now There's a Sequel

Not to The Road of Regret.  Yet.  But a sequel to "The Knoxville Girl" traditional murder ballad featured in the book.  "Old Time Angels" by Tim Lauderdale features avenging ghosts of the unfortunate girl from Knoxville and other victims of Appalachian murder ballads.  You can read about it, listen to it, and watch a video of Mr. Lauderdale and his band singing the song  at NPR - just click here.

Moody

The picture that is, not me.  Though others may disagree.  I really had a good time playing with Analog Efex Pro yesterday.  I ran this one through Silver Efex Pro too.  This used to be a colorful picture of a tree in fog that glowed a pretty pink.  It works both ways, I think.  Analog Efex is mostly good for eliminating the perfection that digital photography often has.  Because, you know, too much perfection is boring.

Nik Analog Efex Pro

 It's a lazy Saturday, and I discovered that Google now offers an Analog Efex Pro plug-in along with all the other fine Nik plugins they still have.  So I gave it a try in Lightroom.  It has many controls for varying the look of photos, as well as a good number of built-in pre-sets.  I've had a good time playing with it this morning and highly recommend all the Nik plugins.  Which is good, I guess, since I think you have to buy them all in a package ever since Google bought out Nik.

Thankful

Lots of travel last week - to Louisville on Friday and Cincinnati on Saturday.  I'm thankful we made the trips safely, that we had family time in Cincy, that Ann is feeling a little better today from a sinus infection and from her last (LAST!) round of chemo, and that we're not actually doing "Thankgiving" today because I'm tired.  We're doing it on Saturday.  I'm also thankful for my little Ricoh GRD III camera that fits in my pocket - even though I often forget to take it out and use it.

While in Louisville I stopped by Chuck Rubin's fantastic used camera store.  I ended up leaving empty handed but Bardstown Road is a great place for a short stroll.

In Cincinnati I only took a couple of pictures with the camera, including this one of my son Jordan and his girlfriend Oriana walking in front of us during our shopping.  It was too cold to shop much.

Buy My Book and Save $125!

The Kindle version of The Road of Regret is on sale for only $0.99 at Amazon today until Friday evening.  Just click on the link in the right hand column to go get a copy.

At the same time, I'm not sure why there are used copies of the paperback version available that cost over $126, but hey, I wish that seller luck.  And no, I'm not sure why the cheapest used copies are more than $30 either.  But it sure makes my Kindle book sale look like a good deal!

Wet Morning

It rained a lot yesterday and last night, although this morning was clear and bright.  A couple of shots from my front yard this morning before work.

Nominated for Best Mystery/Thriller on Goodreads! And Now at Joseph-Beth!

The Road of Regret has been nominated as best mystery/thriller novel of the year at Goodreads.  Okay, it was a write in nominee by one person, but it isn't a person that I know, so that makes it pretty special.  Here is what she said in the email letting me know:

Hi there. 

Just wanted you to know that I cast a write-in vote for The Road of Regret in the best mystery/thriller category in the 2013 goodreads book awards competition. I edit books and stories for a living, so I'm constantly reading. However, when I got to that category in the voting, I had to be honest and admit that I hadn't enjoyed any of the pre-selected books in the category as much as I had enjoyed yours. I know that it would be extremely unlikely for your book to win up against such huge names in the category, but I felt that you should at least know that someone liked your book enough to nominate it over Dan Brown and James Patterson.

Best wishes,

Annie

 How very, very kind of Annie!

Also, got to see my book on the shelves at Joseph-Beth Booksellers in Lexington this week!  It is quite surreal to see your book on the shelves of a bookstore.  Apparently I was so excited that I couldn't hold my phone steady for the picture. Now, hopefully, they will sell out and order more.

Some Pics from the First Week of November

Ann made apple pie

Jordan was here and Lauren was sick (but the mask only stayed on a few minutes)

Monday morning from the living room window

The Bradford Pear tree in our front yard, this morning

Thank You!

From recent reviews of The Road of Regret at Goodreads.com:

I love Detective Leander Justice. He is a damaged man with a lifetime of regret behind him, yet he continues to persevere. Also, he's a complete badass -- sometimes stupid in his decisions, but a badass nonetheless.

Annie Chance 

The book is just damned good. Fans of James Patterson, Lee Child, or other thrillers should definitely check out this book.

Carolyn Keel

Caught up in triple murders in his old home town — Prestonsburg, Kentucky — Detective Justice is fated to face his demons, question his former decisions and make a stand — for Law or for Justice. 

Would I read another Leander Justice novel?

Absolutely.

Harold 

October: Half Over

It was a  busy week.  Monday morning started with some amazing sky - at least for a few minutes.  On Wednesday, I had to travel to Bowling Green and back for work - 247 miles each way.  I snapped exactly one picture during my 9 hours on the road.  On Friday, it was off to Grundy, Va.  No time for any pictures that day.  So I went over to Dewey Lake this morning for some great fog and foliage.

Meanwhile my giveaway of 10 signed paperbacks of The Road of Regret ended at midnight.  892 people registered for the giveaway and 317 folks added to their "to read" shelves, so I'm very happy with the results.  Now to get the 10 copies shipped!

Monday Morning

Wednesday near Somerset (KY)

Green Apples

Fallen

Honeysuckle

Early Birds

 

Dewey Lake 1

Dewey Lake 2

Only 1 Week Left

The signup for the giveaway of 10 free, autographed paperback copies of The Road of Regret at Goodreads ends in a week.  Sign up for your chance to win!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

The Road of Regret

by Jeff Damron

Giveaway ends October 20, 2013.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Square Sunday at Home

Pilgrim at Tinker Creek

I posted my review of this Pulitzer Prize winning book on Goodreads today.  Here is what I said:



This book was not what I thought it would be. I was expecting observations and ruminations on rural life from some time alone in the country. It is that. But that is just the launching pad for a view of the natural and supernatural worlds that is unlike anything I've ever read before. The book combines observations of the natural world in a Virginia valley with information learned from a host of other sources about science, nature and spirituality. It is a fairly short book but it took me several weeks to read - in part due to limited time, in part due to a few challenging sections, and in part due to the beauty and elegance of the writing. In places deeply spiritual, in places horrifying in its descriptions of nature (particularly the insect world), in places surreal - this small volume serves up a wide variety of "moments."

Here is the first thing I underlined in my copy of the book:


Peeping through my keyhole I see within the range of only about thirty percent of the light that comes from the sun; the rest is infrared and some little ultraviolet, perfectly apparent to many animals, but invisible to me. A nightmare network of ganglia, charged and firing without my knowledge, cuts and splices what I do see, editing it for my brain. Donald E. Carr points out that the sense impressions of one celled animals are not edited for the brain: "This is philosophically interesting in a rather mournful way, since it means that only the simplest animals perceive the universe as it is."



This is followed by many, many more intriguing combinations of information and observations. In the end, it is an incredible meditation on the world and universe in which we live, filled with horror and grace, each making the other more powerful. Annie Dillard was not yet thirty when she wrote this masterpiece, and so it is not perfect, though perfect enough to win a Pulitzer Prize. A more mature writer may have toned down some of the more self-indulgent forays that read more like writing exercises, but a more mature writer would probably also shy away from the fearless ambition of this book. Still, this is one of my favorite books I've ever read. Ms. Dillard's worldview and writing style is not for everyone - some people apparently loathe this book. I would suggest you read a snippet at Amazon, or buy a used copy like I did. I know I will read this one again so I plan to buy a hardback next.

Close Shave

My wife's friend, Liz, threw a "head shaving party" for Ann on Wednesday night.  Ann's hair was falling out in clumps as we neared round 2 of chemotherapy on Thursday, so Liz had her hairdresser come to house.  There was food and drinks and family and an electric hair trimmer and a razor.  Followed by a wig.