Season for Change

It seems with the new year comes new changes. The same can be said on my side of the screen. After much thought, I have created a new website which I hope you will visit: http://cswcllc.weebly.com/ I also hope while you are their you can check out the new blog site where I hope to continue this journey. 

When you visit our new place, you will see that I have a separate page for each book where you can click on a global location. I had planned on using the Tagul animation I had done before but that didn't work out so well. Below are the images that I can share here. 

CSWC Storm Warning

CSWC Wings of Eagles

Genesis CSWCSOL

Instead of the animated version, I went old school. When we get new books I will add new pages. As I learn new tricks, I will update the website. After you visit our new place, if you have any constructive ideas for me, then maybe you will leave me a note below. 

Here's hoping that you and yours are having a Happy New Year.

Lynn Hallbrooks
http://cswcllc.weebly.com

On Love and CSWC series

Often times people associate love with romance. That can be true. There is also love of God, country, family, and friends to name a few. Inside Call Sign: Wrecking Crew (Storm Warning) you will find all of the above. 

#CSWCSW

Just because someone is a highly trained military special operative does not mean they are immune to romantic love. They just approach it differently. This kind of love could be a chink in their armor, so to speak. After all when you are out in the field fighting to save your country, you don't have time for walks on the beach or candle light suppers. So what do you do? You compartmentalize - put up a wall around that aspect of your life - and do your job. You don't show your emotions, not even to your teammates. Maybe on your downtime but never on the job.

Team Wrecking Crew has a spiritual leader, Deano. He is more than that though, he is out there fighting alongside everyone. Many times before they go into battle, he will pray for their safety. So even though the team may not walk in Jesus' shoes, they have faith that He is on their side.

Love of country is no more evident then when they arrive back to the United States and discover the changes. They are all honor bound to right the wrongs and restore order from the chaos. 

This team is more than co-workers, they are more than friends, they are brothers and sisters in arms. This family is like any other, they have their disagreements. I warn you though, if you mess with one, the others will find a place beside them. Each taking their turn kicking your rear.

#CSWCWOE

#GenesisCSWCSOL

As their adventures continue into Call Sign: Wrecking Crew (Wings of Eagles) and Genesis: Call Sign: Wrecking Crew Slice of Life, you learn even more about their love for one another, God, and their country. 

If you haven't already done so, we encourage you to read this series, get to know these characters, and enjoy learning more about them in our upcoming novel. Call Sign: Wrecking Crew (Scimitar Brotherhood) will pick up after the ending of Genesis. It promises to show the reader even more about the life and times of team Wrecking Crew. Will they continue to kick butt for God and Country? Stay tuned to find out.

Lynn Hallbrooks

David McKoy

Authors/Owners of Call Sign Wrecking Crew, LLC

Project Revealed

I've been saying for months that we've been working on a special project. Today, I am able to reveal it. First, I have to thank my friend, Mark Wilcox, for inspiring it. Originally, it was to be a Short Story to entice readers. However, as with everything that David and I start, it grew bigger and became a novella.

Yesterday, I mentioned that we had a contract for a graphic artist to do book one, Call Sign: Wrecking Crew (Storm Warning). Since Grindhouse Media took on that challenge, the decision was made to have the graphic artist do this project. Ms. Ellie Bockert Augsburger, owner of Creative Digital Studios, did a most excellent job. I feel compelled to mention that she had great ideas for Storm Warning. When asked to switch, she did so with ease, for this and many other reasons, I highly recommend her. In addition to cover art, she does graphic designs for businesses. She did a silhouette of an eagle similar to the one on Call Sign: Wrecking Crew (Wings of Eagles) for our business logo. 
  
One of our early thoughts for the book cover was to incorporate all the Special Forces' emblems. Ellie asked if Wrecking Crew had one, I asked David and he said why yes they do and it just so happens to match the one for our logo. Knowing this, you'll understand the centerpiece of the cover art.

The title of the novella is:

Genesis - Call Sign: Wrecking Crew Slice of Life

The reader comes into the Operations Center and is treated to the evening's festivities. As with any family gathering, someone says something that irritates another. Eventually the group goes down memory lane and the reader learns more about how the Wrecking Crew was formed as well as glimpses into their personal lives. 

Have I piqued your interest?  If so, you can find the eBook exclusively on Amazon Kindle. Print book is due out hopefully later this week. 

Available exclusively on Amazon 

I also want to mention that I was inspired by Chris Almeida and Cecilia Aubrey's Bytes of Life series. It is my dream that we come up with more Slice of Life stories to share with our readers. 

By the way, remember I mentioned an upcoming book signing? I'll fill you in more on that as I firm up the details. I can tell you this much, all three books will be available to be personally autographed and purchased. 

Have a great one,

Lynn Hallbrooks
Author/Owner
David McKoy
Author/Owner
Call Sign Wrecking Crew, LLC

Latest Lessons I've learned

First lesson be sure to mention your co-author at every opportunity especially when doing your social media profiles. They tend to get quite testy. It doesn't matter that the blasted thing wouldn't let me say I'm a co-author or co-owner in the drop down menu.  Hey, I was still learning the ropes when I did LinkedIn... it never registered that they changed and that the profiles could be edited.  Kind of busy doing other things here. Issue now resolved.  David hasn't learned much about computers but he is learning how to work his phone. 

For those that don't know, David and computers do not get along.  He feels they are only good for target practice - C4 on them can't hurt either. On the other hand his spouse has a computer.  Now the plan when I was down in Houston doing the book signing, was for me to borrow his wife's computer... no joy. The Internet stopped working - or maybe it was Mr. Murphy doing his best to get in the way.  It slowed me down but did not stop me.  A FedEx Kinko's store was not far away and that's how I accessed the Internet but really quickly -they are pretty proud of their per minute usage rates. Office Depot was a big help with the stand-up poster for the book signing too.  The real kick to the rear-end was trying to do a Podcast with Deena Rae.  We had it set-up for the Wednesday before Thanksgiving via Talk Shoe since I wasn't sure about doing Skype on someone else's computer... not that I actually had access to Skype there as it turns out.  We dialed the number - input the required information.  No Deena for over a half hour.  Turns out Talk Shoe failed to tell her we were even there. 
So we rescheduled the Podcast for 18 December 2013. I got Skype on my computer. I found a microphone. The plan was to put David on speakerphone. "Best laid plans of Mice and Men..." - Deena couldn't hear him at all. I could barely hear him. So I did my best to relay questions. The problem is/was I'm not Deb nor am I, Larry (Call Sign Wrecking Crew characters). I had my hands full with hearing Deena's questions and answering them. My tongue kept getting twisted. To top it off, my speakers were making everything tinny and she was getting reverberation on her end.  Deena assures me that she will work on the sound side of things. The podcast will be posted on Bluebonnets, Bagpipes & Books  in the near future, so be looking out for it or you can just 'follow' via email.  Deena has also been working on a book for aspiring authors, so be watching for my future posts on that as well. 

CSWC Wings of Eagles

As many of you know, we published book 2, Call Sign: Wrecking Crew (Wings of Eagles) in late September. We sold some books at our book signings.  Some were given as gifts.  All were autographed... so imagine my surprise when I discovered our books being sold as used on Amazon.  I couldn't and still can't see anyone who purchased books directly from us selling them used. Only one online print book purchase was registering. I knew who purchased that one.  So I queried Amazon. They basically referred me back to Create Space who assured me that no pirating was going on.  After talking to members of my inner circle it was decided that this might just be a marketing ploy.  They act like an outlet mall. Apparently some people don't pay attention to the retail price... they just presume if it is used it is marked at a lower price.  Buyer beware on that. I've also been assured that books sold through any of the Amazon Marketplace vendors should result in royalties for us.  I certainly hope so because they just don't know how the "Wrecking Crew" rolls. The results are not pretty. 

My advice to everyone reading this - monitor the books being sold and their prices. Find out what the list price is... then go from there. Used does not necessarily mean cheaper. Authors monitor your Create Space channels for royalty payments. 

Lynn Hallbrooks
co-author to David McKoy
co-owners of Call Sign Wrecking Crew, LLC

http://www.callsignwreckingcrew.com

http://cswcwingsofeagles.homestead.com/

http://lynnhallbrooks.homestead.com/

Veterans Day Weekend

For those who are not in the know, David McKoy and I are both veterans of the United States Military.  We both go to the VA Medical Centers near us. Not only that our main characters are all veterans from different branches of the service. We support military and veteran causes, as much as we are able. So in honor of Veterans' Day (and the other multi-holidays coming up) we have placed Call Sign: Wrecking Crew (Storm Warning) on sale for 99 cents. I cannot guarantee that all the locations we are selling it on have changed over. 

Also this month, I am going to Houston to meet up with David to go over book 3, tentatively named Call Sign: Wrecking Crew (Scimitar Brotherhood) and hopefully for a book signing event. Since we never really had a book launch for Call Sign: Wrecking Crew (Wings of Eagles)  we decided to do a Rafflecopter for a $25 Amazon gift certificate.

A quick anecdote: 

David: Got a business call today.

Me: Yes?

David: They wanted concrete right away.

Me: Really?

David: Yes, I told them we are novelist. They said, "What?" I told them that we write books. "Oh" Click. 

Me: *Laughing out loud* We'll we do kind of sound like a construction crew. I keep telling Manta that we aren't. 

David: *Heavy Sigh* Just thought you'd like to know.

Me: I did but I still think it's funny.

Hope you enjoy visiting our sites and have a Happy Veterans' Day Weekend. Rafflecopter will begin midnight U.S. Central time on 11/8/13 until 11/12/13 midnight. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Lynn Hallbrooks

co-author to David McKoy

co-owner of Call Sign Wrecking Crew, LLC

Breaking free

I'm coming out of my cocoon. I've been wrapped up inside my book cocoon working my way out by type -retype - think - rethink and run through it all over again.  I finally broke through late last night. Right now Call Sign: Wrecking Crew (Wings Of Eagles) is being beta - tested. 

Many thanks to Jennifer Lockstedt and Justin Woods for all their hard work on our cover art.  David feels it is a great representation of what's inside the book. 

Cover Art 

Now that you've gotten a preview of the cover, I'll share the synopsis with you.

Short version

Will the warnings be heeded, so the fearless Eagles can triumph over Evil? Or will Evil win this round?

Longer version

Recognizing that evil knows no bounds, Eagle Protective Service Incorporated, an elite company, employs and trains members to protect or destroy. They do whatever is necessary to get the job done. Call Sign: Wrecking Crew is an integral part of this company. They put their unique talents to excellent use. When put to the test, will their best efforts be enough? Or will Pandemonium reign supreme?

With the first book, I lived alone and did the best with what I knew then. I've learned so much over the last couple years from fellow authors and many different blogs. 

But now that I live with a very active family, I  understand why so many authors go to a remote location when writing. When you have real life going on all around you it is hard to concrete and put forth your best effort. Even putting myself on a social media hiatus didn't stop daily living from interfering. 

I also understand why famous authors hire publicists to run their social media. If they didn't we might not ever see another book come from them. 

The next step of the book process is to take what the beta reader sends me and incorporate as much as possible. We want this book to be as high of quality as we can make it. As it is, I think I've vastly improved from the first book.  However, I'll let you be the judge of that when it comes available. 

For now I'll try to catch up on social media in between doing my daily chores. 

Have a great one,

Lynn Hallbrooks

co-author to David McKoy

co-owners of Call Sign Wrecking Crew, LLC