A New Look for an Old Friend...

The Third Revolution - New Cover!

Since it was first published in 2004, the trusty buffalo on the cover of my first novel, The Third Revolution, has been confounding fan and foe alike:

"Why is it there?"
"Is it a book about buffalo?"
"Is it some sort of environmental screed?"
"Is it about the politics of bison management?"
"Patriotic buffalo?"

"Why is it there?!!!"

Those of you who've pushed past the issue and actually read the book know that it's a tale about freedom and liberty, a story that cuts to the core of why groups of individuals decide to form governments in the first place. There are bison (lots of 'em!) featured in the plot, but it's not about them. They just live there...

The argument could (easily) be made that they serve a metaphorical presence in the story, but metaphors don't make very compelling visual hooks when you're competing in a crowded book market, where most consumers do indeed judge a book by its cover. Hence the change.

For now you'll see the new cover on the Kindle edition only; changing the cover on the print edition is a big production and hardly seems worth it given the rising primacy of ebooks. As always, thanks for your support, and your feedback is always welcome.  

The original cover - Still gracing the print edition

Free Kindle Reading Apps...

I assume everyone is aware of these free applications, but it doesn't hurt to spread the word. All six of my books are available as Kindle ebooks, and there's no need to shell out the bucks for a Kindle device if you don't need to. I download and read Kindle books on my old Windows XP Dell laptop, and it works just fine. Reading apps are available for pretty much every imaginable device (smartphones, tablets, computers) and across a broad selection of operating systems.

You can download the apps here: Free Kindle Reading Apps. And please consider my reasonably priced and entertaining offerings to get your Kindle collection started: Books by Anthony F. Lewis.

The Last Bartender giveaway...

I know what you're asking: what are you giving away next? Answer: I don't know. Being a committed capitalist pig, I have to ask: "what's in it for me?" Losing 100% on each sale isn't something you can make up in volume. I'm going to wait and see if the promotion had the desired effect: a few nice reviews, some ancillary cross-sales, anything that shows me that it's worth doing again.

What was surprising (or at least unexpected) was the strong response from across the pond, especially from the UK and Germany. Thank you and welcome aboard to my new readers from the UK, Germany, Italy, Canada, France and Japan. I hope you all enjoy The Last Bartender, and I hope to see you all again soon.

Time for one on the house...

Okay, I know you've been waiting; here's your buyback. I'm running a three-day (April 3, 4 & 5) giveaway promotion for The Last Bartender (Kindle edition only). In case you're not familiar:

Set in the near future, The Last Bartender follows Justin Gardiner, a highly-decorated Operation Enduring Freedom veteran who returns home to work as a bartender.

Just a few years into his new career, rising healthcare costs and other political factors lead to a new prohibition on alcohol — all bars are closed, retail alcohol sales are halted and criminalized, and Justin finds himself out of work. Soon afterwards, Justin and his barroom cohorts buy a rundown Catskill resort and set up an ambitious bootlegging operation, supplying keg beer to the New York City area.

Events start rapidly spiraling out of control as the Drug Enforcement Agency closes its net and the mob aggressively moves in on the moneymaking operation, leaving Justin and his friends caught in the crossfire of the opposing forces.

 You can grab your free copy here: The Last Bartender. And thanks again for your support.

Sneak Peek at Manifest Destiny...

I'm working on Manifest Destiny, my third "Ben Kane" novel. I thought I'd toss his fans a bone, pull back the curtain a bit and give you a peek at how things were shaping up.

In this scene Governor Kane places a call to the CEO of Phillip Morris to discuss an idea he's been kicking around. All of the major tobacco companies have left the United States and have relocated to the Middle American states in order to avoid the usurious taxes, the never-ending legal settlements and the ever-growing list of burdensome regulations:

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Ben spoke with Calderone for a while longer, working their way through the presumptive military chess game that they were facing. When the meeting ended, Ben spent some time considering his next move. He had a long list of people he needed to consult with—legislative leaders, cabinet administrators within his administration, the other governors and Kim, of course. But in the end, as with all difficult calls, any decision would be his to make. He picked up the phone and called Phillip Morris; moments later he was on the line with Jeffrey Johnson, the Chairman and CEO.

“Governor,” Johnson said. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

Ben allowed about thirty seconds for small talk before asking his first question. “How many smokers are there in the U.S.?”

“The number’s been holding pretty steady at about twenty-percent of the population, call it 61 million. That’s including our free states, so figure 60 million outside of our borders.”

“That’s a lot of people.”

“The industry’s been demonized for so long most people—smokers included—never give much thought to how many of them there are out there. That number has dropped considerably over the years as a percentage of overall population, but the actual number of smokers hasn’t changed as much as you might think. Back in 1960, about 40-percent of the population smoked. But the population back then was only, say, 180 million, so there were 72 million smokers, verses the 61 million today. But that number is still roughly equivalent to the combined populations of California, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania.”

“I never thought of it that way,” Ben said. “You would think that they’d have more political clout with those kinds of numbers. Why do they let themselves get pushed around by the health Nazis the way they’ve been? I don’t think I’ve ever heard of smokers pushing back against the regulations, restrictions and taxes aimed at them.”

“Guilt, I imagine. They’ve got grotesque, graphic warnings on each and every pack directed at them, and television and print ad campaigns have been haranguing them at every turn, for decades. And keep in mind that most of those regulations, restrictions and taxes were never proposed as being against smokers, they were always pitched as being for the benefit of non-smokers. Add that to constant reminders about how smokers are a burden to the health care system, and are accused of killing their children and neighbors with secondhand smoke, and you make it difficult for the average smoker to stand up in his or her own defense without looking like a selfish, anti-social, self-destructive serial killer.”

“So everyone just swallows their guilt, pays their tobacco taxes, and smokes their cigarettes in exile, out in the snow or under a narrow awning in the rain.”

“Welcome to my world.”

“I was always surprised that the industry didn’t push back harder against the state and federal government, especially with those sorts of numbers behind you.”

“The truth is they never really bit into our income much, so we settled for a seat at the table whenever they were ready to cook up a new batch of regulations. The taxes and fines were meaningless—they just got passed on to the customers, so they never affected our bottom line. The sad reality was that the industry long ago got into bed with the government and got comfortable with it. When I took the helm three years ago, I started looking west to what you folks were doing and thought: why not us? Then the new administration took office and started making noises about extending the Tobacco Agreement beyond its original terms. At that point I started talking to my counterparts in the other companies and—you know the rest. Here we are.”

“So how’s business? Are you able to move your product into the states without too much of a problem?”

“We’re stumbling along. We fly the product up through Canada and then to warehouse distribution centers either in Mexico or the Bahamas. We’ve been given a “special dispensation” from the new black market restrictions—they can’t afford to give up the sales taxes they collect on cigarettes. Rumor has it they’re going to increase the federal tobacco tax to try to fill the gap left by our missing settlement and income tax payments. They’re cracking down like crazy on a whole array of other black market products—retailers are being heavily fined and even threatened with felony convictions if they’re caught with anything originating out of the free state region.”

“I know. It’s really getting ugly out there. So how come you’re warehousing the product outside the U.S. if they’ve given you a green light to do business there?”

“We don’t trust the administration; it’s as simple as that. I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised to wake up one morning to a phone call telling me that the government had seized our warehouses for one fabricated reason or another. Remember, we’re the devil incarnate to begin with, and they honestly feel that they were robbed when we left the states to come work here. So we sell the product to wholesale distributors in the states, deliver only what’s been paid in advance and let them worry about it. It’s the same way we operate with third world military juntas. We keep our assets out of their reach and essentially just dump the product on the beach and let them do what they want with it.”

“This is a really sad conversation, isn’t it?”

“You bet. The tobacco industry was here before the founding of the country. It breaks my heart to see what’s happening—both to the industry and to the country. Thank God for you, Governor.”

“Thanks, but I wasn’t fishing for the compliment. Let me ask you something—how big a hit would you take if you suspended all cigarette shipments to the U.S. market? Just cut ‘em off, out of the blue.”

“Believe it or not, we’ve considered it. I think I told you the first time we met that we could sell everything we produce here overseas. Financially, we’d come out ahead, because the American made products are so popular we can position them as premium brands and price them accordingly. Why do you ask?”

“You might recall that during my televised address I promised everybody that, one way or another, I’d turn this embargo back on Washington. I can’t think of any one better way of doing that then cutting off tens of millions of smokers cold turkey. I really hate to drag Joe Six Pack into this mess, but it’s time everyone had a little skin in the game. Plus it allows me to piss off 60 million or so already maltreated second-class citizens and dump them on Washington’s doorstep. I have to tell you, the idea has some appeal to me.”

“Let me kick it around a little, talk to a few people. If we were to stay out of the market for too long it would probably cost us fifty-percent or more of our customer base as people who wanted to quit took advantage of the situation and gave up the habit for good. But we might be able to arrange some manufacturing delays or product recalls or something along those lines that would result in nationwide product shortages for a few weeks or a month or so. Would that do?”

“I’m glad I don’t smoke anymore.”

No Birds Were Harmed in the Making of this Christmas Card...

All photo credit to my sister, Lesley A. Lewis.  Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays to all.

A Set of Golf Clubs and this Grey is Good to Go...

Proof positive that when really smart people and really smart parrots get together, hilarity ensues. I particularly like how the folded newspaper slips securely into the retaining slots below the driver. Nice touch...

"Proving that robots aren't just for people any longer, African grey parrot, Pepper, has learned to drive a robot that was specially designed for him. Pepper, whose wings are clipped to preventing him from flying around his humans' house and destroying things, now manipulates the joystick on his riding robot to guide it to where ever he wishes to go.

This robotic "bird buggy" was the brainchild of his human companion, Andrew Gray, a 29-year-old electrical and computer engineering graduate student at the University of Florida. It was inspired by Pepper's growing frustration with his human family's rude behaviours."

Read the whole story here: Tool use by an African grey parrot 

For more hijinks involving really, really smart African Grey Parrots, please check out my book, Little Birdies!  And I'd really appreciate it if you could take a moment to "Like" my Amazon Author's Page; it really helps with my visibility. Thanks.