Dusk Before the Dawn

Heidegger’s Glasses combines the events of World War II and the Holocaust, mixes in a Nazi obsession with the supernatural, and adds a stubborn German philosopher named Heidegger who needs a new pair of glasses. The idea and concepts were interesting and i enjoyed the read, though I found the characters (especially the Germans) running together and the ending loose. This book was an uncorrected proof sent through Amazon’s Vine program.

The story revolves around a hidden camp, where Jews with particular language skills are pulled from the concentration camps and made to answer letters that come in for those whom have died in the camps.

“Himmler had forbade burning them. He believed in the supernatural with a vengeance and thought the dead would pester psychics for answers if they knew their letters were destroyed - eventually exposing the Final Solution. Goebbels, who despised the supernatural, wouldn’t burn them for a different reason. He wanted each letter to be answered for the sake of record keeping so there wouldn’t be any questions after the war. In order to look authentic, he decided the letters should be answered in their original language: hence the compound’s motto Like Answers Like.”

Elie is the lady with past whom takes care of the scribes and loves their German handler, Gerhardt, when she is not helping to smuggle Jews out of Germany. Their existence is strained, with the Scribes, Elie and the Germans assuming they wipe all be called to task by different masters soon. (more…)

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When I was a kid, every Christmas my mother would wrap an Almanac under the tree. This was back in the day before the Internet (yes, kids, there was such a time), so these books were treasure troves of information. I still have some old World Almanacs in my collection, but until recently have not purchased one.

After leafing through my new copy of the  Texas Almanac 2010-2011, I am wondering why I waited so long.

Published since 1857 (and this year by the Texas State Historical Association), this every two year compendium of Texas is a beautifully packaged collection of the obvious and the not-so-obvious.

The cornerstone of the 700+ page Almanac is the almost 200 pages with thumbnails of each of Texas 254 counties.  A map for each country is shown, along with information on physical features, economy, history, ethnicity, vital stats, recreation, minerals, agriculture, information on the cities in the county and population. (more…)

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Fiction that interweaves historical fact, especially the World War I or II time periods, are among my favorite reads (and I enjoy writing them as well). Sarah’s Key fits that bill very well, mixing the tragic events of the holocaust in Paris in 1942 with a modern journalist seeking her own truths in the past and present. Yet another excellent choice by my wife who suggested this book.

The titular Sarah was a young girl who was part of the round up of of Jews in Paris in July of 1942 known as the Vel’ d’Hiv (strangely enough, code named Operation Spring Breeze). French policemen were complicit in the round up (later apologized for by French President Jacques Chirac in 1995), where several thousand Jews were kept with no food, water or facilities for days, then shipped to camps outside of Paris, then onto Auschwitz and other concentration camps. As with the Bombing of Bari, Italy, this remains a little known episode of World War II, outside of those it directly affected. (more…)

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Software by the Kilo was reviewed on the Coffee Time Romance web site. I did try to follow my wife’s instructions to lower the geek factor in my second novel, but never dreamed it would be reviewed on a romance blog, much less get a four out of five coffee cup rating (after a four out of five spider rating from a review on WebbWeaver, four is becoming a good number).

From the review:

Software by the Kilo is a neat story that flows like a roller coaster. With an exciting plot and a multi-cast of characters, this story is anything but dull; Larry Ketchersid creates a fast-paced good read. He not only creatively fashions unforgettable main characters but secondary ones, too. I really enjoyed the character of Jason and how he dealt with the problem of carrying his laptop, trying to find internet access, and even his composure in some of the toughest situations. I can understand why he was the level-headed person of the twosome in this venture project. This story will definitely keep one on their toes.

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Most histories of World War II focus on North Africa, then the Sicily
and Italy invasions by the Allies. But after the fall of Rome a few days before D-Day, they focus on the Normandy invasions and the push through France to Germany. There was a lot of Italy left, and the Allies forces there held down several German armies, keeping them away from the Russian and D-Day fronts.

James Holland’s 539 page history of the war in Italy from 1944-1945, Italy’s Sorrow: A Year of War 1944-1945, documents not only the Allies and German armies and their battles, but the struggles of the Italian citizens, partisans, remaining fascist government and reforming Italian armies.

Italy at the time faced civil war, two Armies (first the retreating Germans, then the advancing Allies) consuming all the food and resources leaving little for the citizens, a fragmented leadership with mixed messages, and the pure devastation of war (where it sometimes seems only Rome and Florence were spared). It is truly amazing the country has survived.

This in-depth history is presented in four sections: (more…)

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In the summer of 2005, I was about to venture into my third
small start-up company, wrapping up the last items with my previous employer. As luck would have it, my previous employer had offices in Europe, in Milan, Munich and London. We were lucky enough to wrap in a non-business trip to Greece, including the island of Paxos around my visiting the European customers and offices.

I was hiking around that island one day, being pursued by thoughts of start-up company financing, when I came across a large villa, facing out across the Adriatic Sea towards Italy. Wouldn’t it be great, I mused, if there were a nice angel investor in that villa who would like to invest in this next venture?

What if he were an Italian drug smuggler?

That was the genesis for my new novel, Software by the Kilo.

But it wasn’t until last November, several years after that first trip, that the novel was finished, with a World War II back story that tied the original start-up plus Italian drug smuggler story line together.

It is no coincidence that the book is released on December 2, the anniversary of “Little Pearl Harbor”, the bombing of Bari, Italy in 1943, which ends up as a pivotal setting in the novel.

Of course I had to add in that one of the Italian henchmen loves Clint Eastwood spaghetti westerns, and that led to the body count game…

I never thought it would be more than three years between novels; obviously Stephen King I’m not, in more ways than just output. But I’ve enjoyed thoroughly the writing process, getting the pieces of the story to fall into place, bouncing ideas off of friends and fellow writers. The voices in my head never shut up, so my therapy to keep what little sanity I have left is to keep putting them down on paper.

The book is available at your local independent book stores like The Twig in San Antonio (now in the Pearl Brewery!), Books Inc. in California, BookPeople in Austin, Murder by the Book in Houston, Katy Budget Books in Katy Texas (if they don’t have it, stomp your feet and ask them to order it, please), at Amazon (.com and overseas), Barnes and Noble, and other outlets.

If you have any questions or feedback before, during or after, please let me know. More info on the novel is here.

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Thanks to Paul Levinson and Robert Flynn for the excellent quotes, and Kenny Manchester for a great cover. The novel should be available in December.

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I’ve been doing research for my next novel, Software by the Kilo and have always had a strong interest in World War II. Part of the novel takes place in Italy in World War II, one scene in particular during the bombing of Bari, Italy. Few people are aware of this bombing, which at the time was referred to as “Little Pearl Harbor”. As with Pearl Harbor, the Allies were caught completely unawares, this time because they were certain their airforce owned the skies over Italy. There wasn’t a single German bomber shot down, and the pickings were easy because the Allies had lights on in the harbor to speed the unloading by working at night.

There was mustard gas on one of the US Merchant Marine ships, the John Harvey which was destroyed in the bombing. The gas was being transported to Europe to be kept if needed for retaliation in the event Hitler used chemical weapons. This fact was covered up by both the US and British governments for a while, and it contributed to the deaths of many civilians and servicemen.

The table below compares Pearl Harbor with the bombing at Bari. (more…)

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With many people in our democracy cheering the Iranians and their marching in the streets to ensure that their last election was indeed fair and democratic, I cannot help but wonder how much influence the fact that Iraq is  holding apparently fair and successful elections right next door has had on the Iranians and their thoughts about their own rights. I certainly do not claim to be an expert in the region or its politics, but Iraq and Iran, long nemesises, have seen a recent thawing out in their relationship and one would assume the Iranians (both the government and its people) are watching the democracy next door with interest.

Not much has been said about this probably because the U.S. and the media (and frankly most of us voters) are in a “Bush hating mentality” at the moment, and don’t want to acknowledge that a change that he and his administration inflicted is having an impact upon the world that many support.  No matter the methods (and a couple of decades ago, few people would have batted an eye if the CIA had taken out a dictator), Iraq now has democracy, certainly supported by the U.S. but still one of the few democracies in the region and the only one who has had recent bloodshed with Iran. (more…)

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While waiting for Riordan’s next Percy Jackson novel The Last Olympian, readers can get their Percy fix with this collection of short stories and interviews. While short (133 pages excluding pictures, puzzles and a Last Olympian preview), the collection (called ‘auxiliary book’ on Mr. Riordan’s blog) features three short stories and five ‘interviews’ with some of Camp Half-Blood’s most famous campers.

The three short stories:

• Percy Jackson and the Stolen Chariot - Percy helps Clarisse, when her half brothers, the demigods Phobos (fear) and Deimos (terror) take Ares chariot, which he had entrusted to Clarisse.
• Percy Jackson and the Bronze Dragon - Beckendorf, from the Hephaestus house, and Percy are on the same side in a Camp Half-Blood capture-the-flag game. Beckendorf sees giant ants hauling off a bronze dragon head, made by Hephaestus house long ago to protect the Camp, and charges. Percy gets captured by Annabeth and Silena, who are on the other side of the game, allowing Beckendorf to get dragged into the giant ant hill. Annabeth, Percy and Silena (who has a thing for Beckendorf) decide to put the bronze dragon back together so they can resue Beckendorf. More Percy and Annabeth clumsy courtship in this story.
• Percy Jackson and the Sword of Hades - this is the longest of the three short stories, and it appears that it will be released on its own in the UK. Percy is reunited with Thalia and Nico, and the offspring of Poseidon, Zeus and Hades go on a quest to recover Hades stolen sword. The sword has one of Hades’ keys in the handle, which would allow the bearer to resurrect the dead from the Underworld…even Titans from Tarturus.

For the kids, there are puzzles at the end, and short interviews with the characters, plus pictures of the gods and half-bloods. An intro chapter from The Last Olympian is included, showing the Percy is going to get into trouble not only with Titans but with girls (Rachael and Annabeth).

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