A Brief Word About Epublishing.

Well, I've now owned an ebook reader for about three months. My first impression of the ebook phenomenon was that it was horrible and I wanted nothing at all to do with it. However, after a fair amount of my own sales were generated by ebooks I began to have to take a different look at it. Selfish reason, that, but there you are.

In addition, everyone I know had bought some type of ebook reader and each of them raved about how great it was to have such a thing. Personally, I was horrified and I remained horrified over this new development for a long time. Finally, though, I caved and when Carole asked me what I wanted for Christmas I told her to buy me a Kindle Fire ereader.

And that is what I got.


At first I didn't care for it. It was just the idea of reading on a video screen that bothered me. I have never minded reading science texts or news on my various computer screens, but I couldn't bear to sit in front of any kind of video screen for long periods of time reading fiction or book length non-fiction. Why? Hell if I know! I just didn't care for it!

However...after a couple of weeks of downloading novels and reading them, I finally got used to the format. Now, I rather like it. I still prefer real books, but at least I can dig reading fiction on my Kindle. It's okay.

Another reason I decided to go the route of reading ebooks is that a lot of the writers I know rave about how it changed their writing careers. A number of these folk decided never again to submit their work to publishers and to henceforth just publish their own books and reap the rewards themselves. Most of them went to Amazon.com where they could self-publish and share a bit with the Seattle firm but take the lion's share for themselves. Online, I met quite a few writers who are actually making a decent middle-working-class living publishing their own novels. They one and all kept telling me to do the same.

So I figured what have I got to lose? I'd take the plunge and give it a shot with one of my unsold novels and see what would happen. I had a novel (HISSMELINA) that had been a near-sell at several large publishing houses over the years, but had never quite made it all the way to print, and so I decided to use that book as my test case.

However, one thing that I failed to do before making this decision was to read the books that these self-published authors were selling so well. I wish to Jove I had at least done that much. It was only after committing myself to self-publish a novel that I bothered to see what these ladies and gentlemen were selling so well on Amazon. So I bought some of these books and read them.

Well, that's not quite the truth.

I didn't actually read them.

I tried to read them. However, in every single case--without exception--these self-published novels were so horrid that I could not read more than a few chapters. They are awful. Every one of them. The self-published market at Amazon and Smashwords and the rest are crap. Shit. Dreck. Puke. Vomit. Garbage. Sewage...

And I put myself in with that crowd. I inadvertently identified myself with these jackasses and shysters. These were, are, and always will be folk who don't know how to write. They never submitted work that was able to muster editorial critique, and their work never will pass such muster. The stuff sucks, and it floods the ebook markets like a tsunami of trash.

I'd like to point out some of these lousy writers and embarrass them, but I doubt it would do any good. Sadly, they sell enough of their word-garbage that they make money at it. They're beyond being able to be embarrassed. They've talked enough pals and acquaintances into leaving five-star reviews for their drivel so that customers looking for material to read fall for the trick. In quite a few cases they have generated a kind of pyramid scheme that keeps rolling along, like a giant new Amway business model. You grease me and I'll grease you. The guy with the most moist hands in his crotch wins.

I learned my lesson, though. No more self-publishing for me. Yeah, a few guys lucked out that way--John Grisham and Pat Conroy and James Redfield beat the odds. But the flood of idiots who are self-publishing utter crap is...well, it's a sick and twisted situation.

I hope very soon to see it collapse. I fear it will keep on, but nothing would please me more than seeing it come to a quick end. And a painful one for all of those self-published manufacturers of literary turds.

Bushed!

I don't think I've ever been this tired in my life. I had to pass up a hiking trip so that I could actually spend Sunday as a day of rest. Also, Carole is sick with the flu so I'd have had to stay home anyway to help her out.

Just a quick photo post today. I'm not even going to work on a novel.

This is one of my favorite photos I ever took. I took it, I think, in 2005. I was hiking in Hanging Rock State Park here in North Carolina. I was exploring the base of a waterfall in the park and wandered into a kind of grotto at the foot of the falls. Looking up on the wall of the grotto I spotted this nest. I'm fairly sure it's a hummingbird nest, because they're the only birds I've ever seen who use lichens in nest construction. There was one egg in the nest. I took this photo and quickly faded away to keep from alarming a parent if it returned.

COALITION: STATE OF EXTINCTION

From Robert Mathis Kurtz comes the first installment of a new zombie trilogy: THE COALITION!

STATE OF EXTINCTION: When the dead rose to destroy the living, Ron Cutter learned to survive. While so many others died, he thrived. His life is a constant battle against the living dead. As he casts his own bullets and packs his shotgun shells, his humanity slowly melts away.

Then he encounters a lost boy and a woman searching for a place of refuge. Can they help him recover the emotions he set aside to live? And if he does recover them, will those feelings be an asset in his struggles, or a danger to him?

THE STATE OF EXTINCTION: the first installment in the COALITON OF THE LIVING trilogy of Mankind’s battle against the plague of the Living Dead. As recounted by author Robert Mathis Kurtz.

THE COALITION: Part I, STATE OF EXTINCTION!

The Chimneys, Linville Gorge

A neat place that's relatively easy to get to in the Linville Gorge Wilderness is a pair of mountain peaks called "The Chimneys". Viewed from a distance they appear to be easy to climb, but when you get to the base of the twin peaks, you learn that it's not actually as easy as it looks.

The first time I went I wasn't able to climb all the way to the summit of the higher of the pair of peaks. But I hope to return there soon and get to the top.

Photo of the Bob about a half mile from The Chimneys in Linville Gorge.
(Photo by Andy Kunkle.)

Here I was at the base of one of the peaks. You have to climb the rock walls to get to the top. Next time, for sure.

I did manage to climb most of the way to the top, stopping about twenty vertical feet shy of the summit. There I turned and got this photo of Andy and Boone sitting at the bottom.

Falling Water

A bit back I posted about one of the coolest waterfalls I have ever seen: Virgin Falls in Tennessee. It's a waterfall that appears out of a cave, then plunges into a sinkhole and vanishes forever.

A lot of folk don't know that Florida actually has waterfalls. It's not a state known for having the vertical relief necessary to create a waterfall. But there are some there. The highest in the state can be seen at Falling Waters State Park. The waterfall there is, they say, a bit over 70 feet in height, which is impressive. I'll take their word for the height.

Zoom! Over the edge, Alice! Over the edge!

Basically, it's a lot like Virgin Falls, in that it flows into a sinkhole and vanishes into the earth. The day we were there was during a drought and the flow was not very impressive. I've heard that it's a much more exciting sight when you can view it during times of normal rainfall.

I wonder if there are any fossils down there.

Yellowstone Float Trip

One of the highlights of our Yellowstone/Grand Tetons vacation was a rafting trip down the Yellowstone River. One thing about the West--I've never seen skies as consistently clear and as deep a blue as the ones out there. The only time I saw anything approaching smoggy eastern skies was our last day in the area when we drove through Jackson Hole.

Other than that one unfortunate partial day of smog, the air was cut as clean and clear as anywhere I've ever been.

We had to descend that steep hill via stairs down to our rafts.

Mountains, village, and river.

Panorama where we stopped to eat lunch.

The picnic area where we had our takeout for lunch and bathroom break. Look at those skies!

I rode the last little bit out in the riffles of the river. They had to call me to swim back to the raft or I'd have missed out last takeout point.

THE DEVIL'S COATTAILS

The anthology THE DEVIL'S COATTAILS is now out and available for purchase.

The first anthology edited by Jason Brock and William Nolan and published by Cykatrix Press was THE BLEEDING EDGE. I thought that anthology was a gorgeous hardback, but this one is even more impressive. As a collectible book, it's as beautiful as any I've seen. The printing, binding, and type are as fine as anything being published these days.

Since I'm working on several novels just now, I haven't had time to read the entire anthology, but so far what I have read is excellent fiction. First and foremost was "The Moons" by Ramsey Campbell. At this point in the history of modern horror fiction no one needs to be told who Campbell is. His skills as a writer of short fiction have only become sharper in recent years and this story illustrates that he's creating the kind of story that is unique--his voice, his themes, his way. Over the years I've felt that nobody is as good as Campbell when it comes to this type of thing, and once more we see him writing of children, of families, and weaving a most disturbing tale.

One story that surprised me with its wit and skill was "Dying to Forget" by Sunni Brock. I'd never read anything by Ms. Brock, so if this is the kind of work she produces, I hope to read more of her fiction in the future.

Some of the other authors present in this volume are Richard Christian Matheson, the late Messieurs Norman Corwin and Dan O'Bannon; Melanie Tem, Steve Rasnic Tem, Wilum Pugmire & Maryanne Snyder, Paul Bens, Jr., Earl Hamner, Jr., Scott Zicree, Jason Brock, Bill Nolan, and others (including James Robert Smith).

If you collect fine books, then THE DEVIL'S COATTAILS is one for you. If you just like to read great fantastic fiction, you can't do better than this one.

THE DEVIL'S COATTAILS, a fine limited edition hardback. Containing (among many others) the short story "On the First Day" by James Robert Smith.

Finishing Touches

Argh. The last few months have been tough. I keep plugging away at working as a laborer full time and then also working as a writer almost every day when I finish lifting and carrying. It ain't easy. You sometimes have to make compromises on everything but that job that brings in the regular freaking pay check.



At any rate, I'm almost finished. In fact, I'll probably finish it today and do the proofreading and get it sent to the publisher. I'm going to try.

And then what? Then I'm going to start on a new writing project. And for the first time in a long time, it's not a horror novel. It's still pure pulp for now people, but for a change it's not going to be horror, or connected in any way to horror fiction.

We'll see.

377 Feet

377 feet??!! Yep. Definitely some dick bias going on there.

Wiseman's View

My last stop of the day was Wiseman's View. It's a National Forest site along the Kistler Highway. It does indeed offer pretty much the finest easily accessible views in the entire gorge. I've been to finer grandstands in the wilderness, but you have to hike to those over rough trails. This one can be had via a drive to a parking area and then a short stroll to the edge of the canyon.

The Forest Service has provided some infrastructure here. There's a vault toilet, plenty of parking, an asphalt trail leading to the overlook that's even suitable for wheelchairs, benches, two rock and concrete viewpoints, rock walls, and even some grassy meadow suitable for picnicking.

As I enjoyed the spot I had the place utterly and completely to myself. There wasn't a single other human there on that cold, windy day. Initially the views were unimpeded by clouds or precipitation, but that changed as the snowstorm that had dogged me all that afternoon came zipping down the gorge and soon it was snowing again.

Finally, after taking a number of great shots of the gorge at Wiseman's View, I headed out with the wind whipping and the snow falling. Driving down from the ridgetop and into the lowlands, I left the place with the ground turning white beneath the snow.

I never tire of seeing the view from this overlook. (Click to embiggen.)

One of the pair of carefully constructed overlooks at the edge of the precipice.

The impressive peak known as Table Rock.

Telephoto shot of the Linville River 2,000 feet below.

The snow catches up to Wiseman's View.

The snowstorm came riding down the gorge.

I stopped at one last spot to look back at the mouth of the gorge, with Shortoff Mountain's looming cliffs soaring over the river.

Top O' the Falls!

Since the part of the Parkway where I wanted to hike was closed to me, I hopped off an the village of Linville Falls and drove over to the Kistler Highway to dally at the edges of the Gorge. First I stopped at the first overlook and took the .4-mile hike down to see the top of the falls.

At this point I had gotten an upset stomach and didn't feel like hanging around too much and ended up just taking some photos and strolling back to my car as the clouds gathered again and it started snowing. Back on the Kistler Highway, I saw a few wild turkeys and decided that my next, and last stop of the day would be the always fun Wiseman's View farther down the gorge.

I'll cover that tomorrow...

There were once a lot of grand old hemlocks in the gorge. Now they're all dead, except for a very few that the National Park Service has treated against the hwa infestation. Here is one fairly large one that is recovering after being treated.

This is the first set of cascades before the big main section of Linville Falls.

And this is the river as it goes over the precipice into the plunge pool far below.

The top section of Linville Falls.

Late Winter Snow

After I left Hunt Fish Falls I hopped in my truck and headed for the Blue Ridge Parkway. To do this, I took Forest Service Road 981 which intersects with the Parkway just south of Grandfather Mountain. My original intent was to hike up Grandmother Mountain and bag that peak, but I was stunned to discover that the mountain is now home to a high income vacation home subdivision. Complete with roads to the summit. And some kind of radio/microwave tower. Well, there was another plan shot down.

At any rate, the weather was getting weirder and weirder. Clouds would roll in and snow would come driving down. Then the cloud cover would vanish and it would stop snowing for a couple of minutes, and then the clouds and snow would return. And the wind just kept getting more and more fierce.

Finally, I decided to drive to the short Beacon Heights Trail and hike there. It's only about a half-mile round trip and leads out to some very nice exposed rock with really excellent views, especially of Tanawha (Grandfather Mountain). By the time I parked there the snow was really slamming the ridge but I bundled up in my gloves, my Postal jacket, a knit cap, and a scarf. Soon the ground was turning white, and the sky kept doing its chameleon thing with clouds and clear blue then clouds again.

After taking a bunch of photos I went back to my truck and remembered that I hadn't eaten yet, so I had a sandwich and cookies and then figured that I'd drive south to hit some other trails that I have been curious about. But soon after I passed the turnoff for Linville Gorge I found that the Parkway had been blocked off by the Park Service due to the inclement weather. I just couldn't win.

I turned around and headed back toward Linville where I knew I could drive down the Kistler Highway and walk to the top of the falls. I'll pick it up there tomorrow...

There aren't many original buildings remaining from the days when Mortimer was a thriving town. But this one still stands. I'm not sure what it was, but my suspicion is that it may have been the train station. (Or it could just be someone's vacation home.)

And this little building sits out on the same lot as the "train station".

I take photos at Beacon Heights during a break in the clouds.

Whoops! Here comes another snow squall over the 6,000-foot summit of Tanawha!

Damn! The storm is gone again!

This storm really caught me by surprise!

Looking off toward the east.

Then the snow starts getting serious again and soon the ground is beginning to turn white. Checking weather reports the following morning, I discovered that the area got around five inches of snowfall.

Lost Cove Cliffs as seen from the Blue Ridge Parkway. I've hiked there a couple of times. It's a very beautiful area.

Salamander Eggs

While I was hanging out at Hunt Fish Falls I noticed some weird-looking stuff floating in a pothole out on the bare granite expanses below the main falls. These are places where small stones and grains of sand have worn out circular depressions and holes in the granite face. This particular pothole was about two feet across and about the same depth. It was full of water and floating in that water were a couple of clusters of what were obviously eggs of some type.

I figured that they were amphibian eggs, but I don't know much about such things and wasn't sure. And they could have been any type of amphibian for all I knew. So I took some video and photographs and when I got back I showed them to some of my online pals who are far more knowledgeable abut these things.

The consensus is that they're obviously salamander eggs. But as to the exact species--that's up in the air. It would be nice if they're Hellbenders, which are our largest species of salamander here in the NC mountains. I've never actually seen a Hellbender, and it would be nice to think that I got to see literally hundreds of Hellbender embryos floating in that little pool of water.

Here I am on the exposed rock below the falls. This rock is riddled with many potholes. It was in one such pothole that I saw the clusters of eggs.

Here is a macro shot I took of a single egg. The eggs looked to be absolutely perfect little spheres, and in the center of each sphere was a forming embryo soon to become a baby salamander.

The eggs.


A better view of both masses. Each cluster was about the size of a soccer ball.

Hunt Fish Falls Revisit

I was able to get away on Sunday for a hike in the mountains. Since I was going solo again I didn't want to go bushwhacking. I promised Carole that I won't go off in the trackless wastes any more without hiking companions. So I decided to go back to the Wilson Creek area to find the South Harper Creek Falls which I have never seen. After that I'd have time for some other trails that I wanted to hit.

But trouble found me almost as soon as I got to the Wilson Creek Recreation Area. In the form of the weather. When I arrived, the weather was fine. A mild day with clear skies. However, the previous evening had been very windy and as I got a good ways up Forest Service Road 464 and was about six or seven miles from the trailhead I wanted to use, I discovered that the road was blocked by a large tree (see yesterday's post for a photo). I had to turn around. There was no way to go around the tree.

I had passed the trail to Hunt Fish Falls a mile or so before the blockage and I turned around and went back to that. I'd been there before, but it's a very picturesque waterfall if not a very tall one. And the hiking would be easy, and I could head down the trail to another waterfall that I'd heard about but had never seen.

In quick order I was on the trail and plunging down into the gorge. As I hiked I noticed that it was getting colder. At first I thought that it was just my imagination at work, but by the time I got down to Hunt Fish Falls and walked out on the big granite clearings below the falls I realized that it really was getting colder. There was a powerful front moving through and it was bringing cold air with it. Out on the rock I actually had to put my gloves on to keep my fingers from going numb. Fortunately, I'd brought a jacket, a ski cap, gloves, and a scarf. I don't know why I had grabbed those items at the last minute, because all weather reports I'd read had called for temperatures in the low 50s. But that wasn't the case at all.

After I'd spent some time at Hunt Fish Falls I packed my camera stuff away and shouldered my pack and headed downstream, seeing more of the trail that I'd never hiked. After a mile or so I came to a spacious camping area beside the creek and I pushed on. I met some people fishing in the creek and I waved and said hello and continued down the trail. And then I saw that the trail ended and to continue the hike I'd have to cross the creek. To do that I'd have to take off my boots and socks and unzip my convertible pants. But by then the temperature was definitely in the low 40s, maybe even down into the 30s--it was much too cold to go wading in a fast-moving creek pumped up with recent rainfall.

So I turned around and headed back to my truck. I figured I could take another Forest Service Road up to the Blue Ridge Parkway and do some hiking from there. In quick order I passed Hunt Fish Falls again and made the climb back to my truck. Once more I was really surprised at how cold it was getting. Oh, well. I had the right clothing on hand in case it got even colder.

Taking another Forest Service Road I began to climb up toward the Parkway. And just as I was getting close to the Parkway I saw something. My first thought was that I was seeing some early blossoms being blown off some tree, because the wind was whipping up. And then I realized that it was snowing. The higher I drove the more intense the snowfall became. A huge front of clouds was coming in from the west and bringing, apparently, heavy snow. I kept driving and hit the Parkway where I turned north, meaning to find some trailheads near Grandfather Mountain.

And it was at that point that the storm really hit. Soon the snow was pouring down and the wind was whipping fiercely. Grandfather Mountain disappeared behind dark clouds and blinding snow squalls, the reappeared as breaks in the cloud cover passed over, then vanished again. This was repeated again and again, but soon the cloud cover seemed to be winning out and the ground quickly began to turn white. I parked at the Beacon Heights trail and strolled to the big exposed rocks at the end of that stroll where I took some photos. Then I figured I'd take advantage of the snow and hit a trail off the Parkway that I'd wanted to hike for some time, but after I'd driven a few miles I found the Park authorities had blocked the route south.

By then, it was getting far too late to think about much in the way of a serious hike. Resigning myself to the fact that the weather had gotten the best of my plans, I backtracked and turned toward the Linville Gorge Wilderness. At least I could stop and walk to the top of Linville Falls, then drive down to Wiseman's View and wrap up my day of outdoor adventures.

And that's what I did. More photos (and video) tomorrow.

This is as the start of the trail to Hunt Fish Falls. It's classic southern Appalachian hiking. If you want to see mountain laurel, azalea, and rhododendron in bloom, this is one great place to go in Spring and Summer.

This is the view from the top of the modest (but very pretty) Hunt Fish Falls.

This is one gorgeous campsite right at the top of the falls. I'd love to hike down here and camp.

A panorama of Hunt Fish Falls and the wonderful swimming hole below it. I can imagine spending an entire day and evening here just lazing around the site and swimming and taking it easy.

Hunt Fish Falls.

The sky was almost clear and spectacularly blue. Little did I know that things were about to change drastically.

This is a panorama of a vast campsite that I hear is mainly used by fishermen. It's huge and is about a mile or a bit more than that from Hunt Fish Falls. Just beyond here is where I had to turn around because it had gotten way too cold for me to ford the creek.

Trail 262 (Lost Cove) is just a lovely path.

And one more view of Hunt Fish as I passed it again on my way back up to the top of the canyon.

I've been to Hunt Fish Falls three times. And every time I've been this little waterfall has been running, sending water in to join the creek below Hunt Fish.

You're not to keep any of the fish you catch on this creek. It's all catch and release.

The great campsite right beside Hunt Fish Falls.

You can always find little treasures like this along the trails. This was just a tiny little cascade. But there in the shade beneath the rhododendron, it was quite pretty.

Good ol' Hunt Fish Falls.

Yesterday's Hike

I managed to go hiking yesterday. My trip was scrambled by a number of factors, all dealing with the (changing) weather. I'll post details later, but my first problem was the blockage of the road I was going to use to get to my preferred trail head. The wind of the previous evening had planted a large tree across the road, blocking access.

The road was blocked. Thanks Mr. Wind!

So I had to completely change my plans and play it by ear. After a hike to see a waterfall I'd visited a couple of years ago I headed into higher country to access some different trails, and ran into fierce winter weather complete with snow.

Oh, well.

My final stop of the day: Wiseman's View in the Linville Gorge. The snow was starting to come down in serious fashion as I left the Gorge.

The big snowstorm was gliding across Grandfather Mountain, getting ready to hammer me.

And this is the weather that soon caught up to me.