Another Goodreads Giveaway!
Sixty signed copies of THE SECOND LAW, Lynn Dayton Thriller #3, are offered in a free Goodreads giveaway drawing. Sign-up for the drawing closes September 7.
Entry is here Book giveaway for The Second Law (Lynn Dayton Thrillers, #3) by L.A. Starks Aug 09-Sep 07, 2022 | Goodreads
Energy Situation More Desperate
The US and Europe’s sanctions against Russian oil, gas, and coal have led Russia to reduce or stop those exports to Europe. Indeed, it is now flaring natural gas instead of pipelining it. This has caused all energy prices to increase—and caused critical natural gas prices to skyrocket to more than 10x their previous levels (over $100/MMBTU now), all in advance of winter. These costs roll through not just EU heating and electricity consumers but also to manufacturing (glass, for example) and commercial establishments, like restaurants. Meanwhile, the US and Canadian administrations perversely continue to limit hydrocarbon production. Until the energy shortages due to halted and redirected Russian oil and gas (and coal) exports are resolved, the net effect may be financial depression in Europe, recessions in Asia, and a recession plus more inflation in the US.
Now even more timely: I write three articles a month for the public (free) Seeking Alpha platform and six a month for a Seeking Alpha Marketplace subscriber platform, Econ-Based Energy Investing (EBEI). The public platform link: Laura Starks’s Articles | Seeking Alpha
Writing
Lynn Dayton Thriller #4: I outlined, revised, and drafted more chapters in the fourth Lynn Dayton thriller. World events noted above dovetail all too much with the book’s plot.
Reading
In the last five months I read eighteen books, five non-fiction and thirteen fiction. I have been picking some novels from a crimereads.com list titled “30 Essential Crime Reads Written by Women in the Last 100 Years.” I recommend the list as a great resource.
Non-fiction included Ashley Yablon’s Standing Up To China, a first-person account of Chinese IP theft in the north Texas telecom corridor; Ayelet Fishbach’s Get It Done, with all kinds of useful project completion insights and tools; and Steven Koonin’s Unsettled, which discusses the severe limitations of climate models, CO2 emissions, and a range of alternatives. Unsettled is very technical yet equally readable precisely because it is written in a scientific format, with many questions and hypotheses, rather than as an absolutist policy screed.
Of the fiction, I recommend books cheerfully (and correctly, sympathetically) set in north Texas and Oklahoma by Julia Heaberlin. I read three of the five she has published so far and look forward to reading the other two.
Thus, while I enjoyed all the novels I read in the last several months, the five I most recommend are:
- A Bitter Feast by Deborah Crombie,
- A Demon in My View by Ruth Rendell, and
- Playing Dead, Black-Eyed Susans, and We Are All the Same in the Dark, by Julie Heaberlin.
All my book reviews can be found at Goodreads.
Until next time,
L. A. Starks
Fiction (books) by L. A. Starks– in reverse order:
THE SECOND LAW: Lynn Dayton Thriller #3
Print ISBN 9780991110742, published by Nemaha Ridge Publishing Group LLC, October 2018, $18.95. E-book ASIN B07JLDGTVL, published by Nemaha Ridge Publishing Group LLC, October 2018, $8.12.
STRIKE PRICE: Lynn Dayton Thriller #2
Print ISBN 9780991110704, 2nd edition published by Nemaha Ridge Publishing Group LLC, March 2014, $18.95. E-book ASIN B01K5Y406A, published by Nemaha Ridge Publishing Group LLC, August 2016, $8.99.
13 DAYS: THE PYTHAGORAS CONSPIRACY-Lynn Dayton Thriller #1
2nd Print ISBN 978-0991110711, published by Nemaha Ridge Publishing Group, LLC, August 2016, $18.95.
E-book ASIN B015LI65GI, published by Nemaha Ridge Publishing Group, LLC, September 2015, $7.99.
Short stories by L. A. Starks on Amazon Kindle, in reverse chronological order
- “Incurable” bubbled up as I developed one of the antagonists in THE SECOND LAW. 2020. ASIN: B08L9RY4T5, $0.99.
- “Josh Rosen & Bubbe” gives additional background on series character Josh Rosen and insight into his relationship with his grandmother when she falls ill. 2014. ASIN: B00O854YKA, $0.99.
- “A Time for Eating Wild Onions” introduces two key characters in the second Lynn Dayton book, STRIKE PRICE. The tragedy that befalls them profoundly shapes the next generation. 2007. ASIN: B003NE6DGA, $0.99.
- “Robert and Thérèse Guillard: Choices” is a story about 13 DAYS’ Parisian antagonist and how it feels to fly in a wing suit. 2007. ASIN: B003NE6D74, $0.99.
Flash Fiction by L. A. Starks
“Why Are You Running?” in Dog Days of Summer and A Year of Shorts flash fiction anthologies.
*DOG DAYS OF SUMMER: FLASH FICTION, May 2021, E-book ASIN: B095J998Q9, $0.99.
*A YEAR OF SHORTS: FLASH FICTION, Print ISBN: 979-8519555579, June 2021, $5.99. E-book ASIN: B096Y7WBH6, June 2021, $1.99.
Thank you for your support of the early editions! The covers have changed but the books and short stories are the same. Electronic and print editions published primarily by L&L Dreamspell, Brown Books, and StoneThread Publishing are no longer available and so are collectors’ items. Covers from prior editions of these books and stories, are shown below.
