Welcome To Wonderwood

 Wonderwood

9-year-old Jacob craves adventure. His grandfather (Pop) and older cousin Jack, both treasure hunters and, at times, ghost chasers, have survived many narrow escapes while collecting a fortune in valuable relics, gold coins and rare jewels.

What could he do?         

Augie, Pop’s Scottish Terrier, wearing his red bow tie, has the answer, and, in exchange for his favorite treat, will guide Jacob to the ancient oak tree and its hidden passage, leading to a strange and classical world of mystical creatures, evil witches, talking animals, dangerous outlaws, brave knights, and, if he can survive to collect it, a priceless golden key.

Can Jacob meet the challenge? And Augie, what is HIS secret?  

                                                                        *****

Decided it was time to write a new book - this time featuring my youngest grandson (Jacob) & my little buddy (who is not spoiled at all) Augie - my Scottish Terrier. 

Kids today don't read the classic stories so, leaving behind my YA - Rackham series (I have book #4 of the series in the works) decided it would be good to have my NEW characters visit the classics & take part in the stories. It was a blast to write & Augie (who is already quite famous) was ready for the challenge. It's a smaller middle grade book, 114 pages - not overwhelming - & each chapter is an adventure, which leads to the next classic story. Great feedback so far.  

Here are some links if you want to check it out:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/.../wonderwo.../1142821697...

https://www.booksamillion.com/search?filter=&id=7614679483510&query=David+Ebright+Wonderwood+

Wonderwood: A Jacob & Augie Adventure: Ebright, David N: 9781732227781: Amazon.com: Books

#scottishterriers #scottiedog #classicstories #middlegradebooks #augie #belznan #kidsadventures

And here's Augie (he loves the beach) 

Jack Rackham's New Boat

 Most folks that follow me know Jack. My oldest grandson that is. He's the treasure huntin', ghost chasin', time travelin' subject of my JACK RACKHAM ADVENTURE series. Spent some time on the phone with him the other day. Awesome kid. Love him like crazy (& Isabel & Jacob too!). 

Now I'm 3/4 of the way through a new book - Isabel is the primary character (Jack makes an appearance), & this one is a bit scarier than the others. I mean, what's so scary about confronting ghosts, dead pirates, zombies, shape shifters, evil slave traders & going back in time after a dangerous trek through the jungle & swimming in an underground river. Child's Play. Had to kick it up a few notches. (Jacob's book is done, with another in the works, but I can't get the art work right.)

Anyway, Jack has his smaller boat, BAD LATITUDE which Pop bought for him when he was 15. Now that Jack's older now, & has lotsa money from treasure hunting he went n' bought his bad self a new boat - custom built in the UK - named it Cacique - if ya read BAD LATITUDE it'll tell you where that name comes from. 

Here are some pictures of the new ride. 

I mean the kid needs some space - 90' should work

Gotta have a place to hang out inside

& a little kitchen area

& a place to run the boat from inside in bad weather

 & a nice outdoor spot for lunch

& naturally a tolerable place to sleep.

Yep. The kid has come a long way since this picture was taken, a while before becoming a treasure hunter. That's the great thing about having grandkids, & being a grandfather writing YA Fiction. #havingablast  

  

 

 

How The Story Starts

 "Your first line sells the book. Your last line sells the next book."  Mickey Spillane

"Where's Papa going with that axe?" asked Fern. (From Charlotte's Web by E.B. White)

Does that sentence grab your attention? Do you really want to find out where Papa's going with the axe? Does it make you want to read more? Okay so I've already read it & I know how it works out. Charlotte's Web is a classic children's novel, though in a lot of ways it's pretty deep, with death being a major theme. But it starts out with a question about Papa's action.   

So opening lines - do they work? I decided to pull my books off the shelf & see how I started the three already-published Jack Rackham Adventures. I didn't want to post the last lines because they tend to give away the story endings. Sorry. 

Drumroll please - 

 BAD LATITUDE 

There was no escaping the hurricane's fury. Okay, not awful, it was my first book, but I probably should have combined it with the 2nd sentence where actual action takes place - The center mast snapped, toppling with a thunderous crash as the doomed ship listed to port, exposing its massive keel. Action instead of set up. At the risk of showing my bias, at least this opening might provoke some interest. A reader might be inclined to read further to discover what happens to the poor folks onboard this ship being destroyed in a hurricane. Maybe. 

RECKLESS ENDEAVOR 

A thick rope made of hemp & flax cinched his neck, biting into the skin while a thinner cord bound the gnarled hands behind his back. Somebody's in big trouble here. Who? What did he do? Is he going to die or get rescued? He certainly wasn't being treated gently, I mean, the rope IS biting into his skin. Not perfect, but hopeful. It might not be enough to grab, but it might provide a little tug. 

GALLOWS POINT 

Rachel couldn't breathe as she spun helplessly through brilliant pulsing light. Well, I stuck a gerund in there. I try to avoid them since they describe an incomplete action, so I'm not sure how this one got past me. Rachel is obviously unable to change anything about her situation - she's 'helpless' but is this opening sentence enough to make a reader go further? Hate to say it, but probably not. Hey, just being honest, here. Fortunately (in terms of story pacing) Rachel confronts her kidnapper, the dreaded pirate Calico Jack Rackham (he's dead of course) within the first couple of pages. So there's THAT. 

The good news? Most readers will go a little further than the first line so make sure the story takes off. 

BAD LATITUDE - Jack Rackham's 1st Adventure

I used to blog back in the day & had a lot of fun with it. Made a lot of friends as well. This is my first attempt at getting back into it - a whole new set up. So I'll plan on posting about my books, writing in general, pirates, ghosts, shapeshifters & lost treasure, sailing ships, haunted St Augustine, & maybe some baseball & grandkid stuff.

It (writing) started in my garage - had my laptop out there - was thinking about my grandson Jack, we had moved from Pennsylvania to Florida & he lived in Pa (still does) so I was missing him (still do). I tapped out "Jack spent summers with his grandparents in St Augustine." (Daydreaming at that point.) I ended up writing a story about how he came to visit - which morphed into a "chapter" then another & another & several months later I had the first draft - and made countless changes, even with plot & characters. 3/4 of the way through I decided it would be cool if he was the descendant of a pirate - a real pirate, Calico Jack Rackham. So I rewrote the whole dang thing & had a blast doing it. BAD LATITUDE did so well, & I had so much fun, that I started writing another Jack Rackham book - & then another. I'll post about them (& my Augie series & current WIP) in the future.

This is the back of the book copy for my first book, which still does remarkably well.

The seaside town of St. Augustine is haunted.

Everyone knows that.

For fifteen-year-old Jack Rackham, a descendant of the notorious pirate

Calico Jack, it was supposed to be a relaxing summer of great surfing, exploring

the Ancient City and adventures on his very own boat, Bad Latitude. His

discovery of a three hundred-year-old diary changed all of that.

When the secrets of the old book are unraveled, Jack enlists the help

of his best friend Kai, and together, they begin the dangerous search for

the hidden fortune buried beneath the abandoned burial grounds of

Rattlesnake Island. Digging under the light of the full moon, the boys are

unaware that a terrifying menace waits in the darkness, determined to

prevent their escape. Supernatural guardians of the island are clawing and

dragging their way through the snake-infested marsh grass, surrounding

the pair, working to create a deadly ambush, while offshore lurks a

mysterious ship, shrouded in an eerie green fog, flying the flag of the

long dead Calico Jack Rackham.

Before daybreak, Jack and Kai will face a desperate struggle for

survival, ultimately choosing between unimaginable wealth and

friendship. Will they put their own lives on the line to save one another

from the evil that stalks their every move, or will the promise of great

riches lead to tragedy and despair?

Healthcare - Redneck Style

I've missed blogging so I'm dipping my toes into the water again with a post that might be helpful during these trying times - a kind of public service. Lately stories about the new healthcare laws and how insurers are scramblin' to cut - reinstate or adapt coverage have dominated the news. The problems have been particularly difficult here in some parts of the south because the medical terminology is so . . .  different. As a writer, decipherin' language is important, so with some help from the internet I'm gonna take a brief break from Pirates, GALLOWS POINT & general storytellin' to explain the lingo so y'all can cogitate on it a spell.  

Benign - What you be, after you be eight.
Artery - The study of paintings
Bacteria - Back door to the cafeteria
Barium - what doctors do when patients die
Cesarean section - a neighborhood in Rome
Cat scan - searching for kitty
Cauterize - made eye contact with her
Coma- a punctuation mark
D & C - Where Washington is
Dilate - to live long
Enema - Not a friend
Fester - quicker than someone else
Fibula - a small lie
GI series - world series of military baseball
Hangnail - what you hang your coat on
Impotent - distinguished, well-known
Labor pain - getting hurt at work
Medical staff - a doctor's cane
Morbid - a higher offer
Nitrates - cheaper than day rates
Node - I knew it
Outpatient - a person who has fainted
Pap Smear - A fatherhood test
Pelvis - second cousin to Elvis
Post Operative - a letter carrier
Recovery room - place to do upholstery
Rectum - darn near killed him
Secretion - hiding something
Seizure - a Roman emperor
Tablet - a small table
Terminal Illness - getting sick at the airport
Tumor - one plus one more
Urine - opposite of you're out
Varicose - nearby / close by



Redneck Ambulance on the way to the Clinic

 

You Don't Know Jack. . . . YET

6 months have passed since I last posted on this blog. Hmph!


We are back (finally) from our lengthy stint in South Florida & currently living full-time (*sigh of relief*) in our own home here in the nation's oldest city. My writing room renovation is almost finished (nautical theme - big surprise) & the push is on to get into the flow again on GALLOWS POINT, the 3rd book in The Jack Rackham Adventure series.

Sneak peak photo above - All of the pictures in my writing room were taken by Deb & mounted on canvas. The yacht shown is 'Enticer' built in 1934 sailing out of Rhode Island. It is very similar to FDR's Sequoia & is currently for sale for $3.3 million. This was taken in St Augustine during a visit from "The HMS Bounty".

Sorry - Back to the post: 

Unfortunately, blogging will continue to take a back seat for a bit longer. I totally understand the importance for writers to maintain a healthy internet presence, but spare time comes at such a premium & something's got to give. There is hope, however - a little anyway.

A few days ago I chatted about my dilemma with my good friend (& book character) 'Pop' while we enjoyed fine hand-rolled cigars a we lounged on the deck of RECKLESS ENDEAVOR, his luxurious multi-million dollar schooner moored just off the seawall near St Augustine's municipal pier. I mentioned some of the specific questions that I get from readers about Jack & the rest of the characters in the JRA books,  many  that even I can't answer & asked if he had any thoughts. This morning he called with a remedy.

Now he refuses to actually blog, though I imagine it could be very entertaining if he did, but it seems he invited one of his favorite authors (he never mentioned who & I know better than to ask) over to the mansion to interview his grandson Jack. Guess I could have done that myself but maybe it's better to get an outsider's perspective. In any case, this will give me some material to plug in for a couple of blog posts (since he agreed to let me use it all, word for word, if I want), & some Twitter linkage (which I still struggle with) &, as a bonus, I'll finally get some reader questions answered.

Well, we're just gonna have to see where this ends up. Could be interesting . . .  & I wonder who is doing the interview . . .  Do you have any questions?

Sunday Stroll - in the old town

It's been almost a month since I've written anything. More than 3 since my last post. Almost zero time online. Lots going on. Getting to the final stage of my project in Miami. Pushing hard. Tired.

Six weeks ago my doctor (Dr Butcher) said I looked like crap. He ought to see me now. Dark circles under the dark circles. Guess that happens when you try to cram the work of 6 months into 3. More design changes in the works. The days seem really long but the calendar pages are flipping by way too fast. Can't believe it's almost February. Two looooong years. 

This engraving of bat wings on each side of the hour glass means "time flies". It's a marble insert on the face of a St Augustine tomb where a Catholic Bishop was once buried. He "moved" home to Cuba  about 100 years ago, 40 years after his death. Hope I get home sooner than that! (And not in a box.)

  
Last week Deb suggested we take a little stress-relief walk around our haunted seaside hometown. First stop was an old cemetery. Maybe she was tryin' to make a not-so-subtle point.

Next we visited the old drugstore where we buy our loose tea & organic Florida honey - but no drugs.

Deb wanted to get a shot of the old city gates. It was a gray day, not great for photos, but she managed to get a picture without tourists in the scene. Across the street, in the background, is the Castillo de San Marcos. That was our next destination. These structures are built with coquina.  

                 The Castillo pictures - same day (within minutes) 2 angles. 

Busy day at the fort. On weekends they fire cannons every hour using "Spanish" soldiers in full uniform. A few years back we were in our boat (our boat really is named Laffin' Gaff), 10 yards away from the fort's seawall facing the inlet when that cannon went off. Though my engine blew up. That incident blossomed into a part of the story in BAD LATITUDE - the night Jack & Kai were fired upon by the ghost ship.

The Bridge of Lions. This bridge was recently taken apart & hauled away. A temporary bridge was built in its place. The original was completely restored, trucked back in sections & reassembled. THAT would have been an awesome project to run. In RECKLESS (book number 2), Pop does some showin' off, sailing through this very drawbridge in his restored schooner Reckless Endeavor as they leave port in search of the Rackham treasure. 

We need to run a contest to see who can figure out where the name of the bridge comes from. (Hint: Granite statues.) The inscription P de L 1513 stands for Ponce de Leon who founded the city in 1513, making St Augustine the oldest city in America & the very first Catholic mass in all of North America.   

Now drawbridges are fairly common, but how often do you see pirate ships crossing through 'em?  

                                 Or doors with this kind of hardware?   

Seeing pirates walking the streets is no big deal - happens all the time. Certainly my idea of using a dead pirate as a character couldn't have been influenced by the history of a haunted town, a town ready to celebrate its 500th year.

Hoping to get back home soon - where inspiration lurks at every corner . . .  & where I work best as The Haunted City Writer.

It's just after midnight - I'm going to write. Tonight. Finally.