Good News with Good Fun

Hey there everyone.  Gosh it has been busy and I promise to catch up soon with everything.  But first things first.  I do not have to have brain surgery!  Yippeeee!

I do have the malformation I told you about.  But the Neurologist feels it is not the cause of the symptoms I am having thus the surgery would not fix them.  We are moving on with medication for the headaches.  Daily medication for migraines is how we are preceding.  I am unsure as to what to do for the double vision and ringing in the ears yet.

Now on to the fun part of this last week.  Well one part of it.  So much that I will have to do several post to share it all.  But my favorite is that Ken Dalton hung out with me.  Well not actually Ken, as much as I would love that.  But he sent The Tartan Shroud for me to read.  It is a continuation of the Pinky and Bear story line.  I read The Big Show Stopper in 2011.  Then Death is a Cabernet at the end of 2011.  Those were books two and three.  The Tartan Shroud is book four with The Bloody Birthright starting everything off.

I love Ken's books.  The are always a great romp of a mystery.  Not just a who done it but a get on and ride with the wind story line.  This time we took off and went all the way to Scotland to help with a mystery.  But in the middle of it all we have a continued story jump the 'pond' to meet up with us.  So it is like getting a two for one in mystery solving.  Ken, I want to tell you, Thank You!  Thanks for sharing with me personally.  Thanks for letting me fawn on your books or at least all over them.  But more so thanks for your continued support of Crazed Mind to share with.

Now on with the story line.  Everyone, Pinky, Bear, Flo, Ettamae....just about the whole dang mess of folks travel to Scotland to help out Willow's cousin Fergus with a who done it of a missing girl.  But instead of her missing now it was that she went missing some time ago but new evidence has been 'dug' up.  While Pinky goes up against a strong willed Fergus, Pinky learns that age does not define one's abilities when he meets up with a determined codger to help out.  Running this way and that while still making forward progress seems to be the way Ken weaves a good story.  I promise you it is all worth it.  Every single time.....always!

Nicole thanks for once again sharing with me.  Tribute Books live up to it's name...a pure Tribute to the readers with books that share great stories from amazing writers.  You have to love your job....all the time.

A bulldozer unearths a young girl’s body on a golf course in Scotland but for some reason, Fergus Murray, the top crime officer in Tayside seems unwilling to pursue the case. Fergus contacts Willow Stone, his American cousin and pleads for help. Willow, Pinky’s favorite ex-wife, calls in all her chips and convinces Pinky, Bear, Flo, and Ettamae to go to the small Scottish town of Pitlochry to help her cousin find the killer. Along the way the American’s come across a forester with a wonky eye—haggis—the occasional bad weather spring day—various Scottish policeman all named McSomething—mutton pie—a near new, sixty-year-old Austin Taxi—a bathroom that could double for a freezer—the nearly indecipherable Scottish accent—many glasses of whiskey and beer—ancient records—a broadsword—and a real Duke! Ride with Bear, Flo, and Henry during their final mad dash across Scotland to try to stop the murderer before he kills again inside the hallowed halls of Blair Castle.

Ken Dalton was born in 1938 at Hollywood Hospital. He grew up with his parents, his older sister, Pat, and younger brother, Richard in Los Angeles. The year 1938 informs the quick reader that Ken’s older than a lot of people, but younger than some.

In a turn of bad luck, the dreaded Polio virus found Ken.

At the end of World War ll, Ken’s family moved to Cheyenne, Wyoming for a year where he learned how to live through snow blizzards, avoid walking through the large pile of coal in the basement, and how to survive life as an Army Officer’s brat on a base called Fort Warren.

By the age of sixteen, after eleven years of operations, therapy, and braces, Ken’s luck changed dramatically when he met the girl of his dreams at a party. A few years later they married, produced three wonderful children, and settled into a happy life in Southern California.

In 1966, Ken, who worked as a technician for Pacific Bell, and his family left Southern California for the green hills of Sonoma County where they bought a home in Sebastopol surrounded with apple trees. A few years later, Ken and Arlene built a new home on three and a half acres. They raised cows, pigs, and learned how to build outstanding fences. While their children grew, they hosted two exchange students, Eva Reimers from Sweden, and Tanja Wuttke from Germany, both of whom are still loved members of the Dalton clan. Also during those years, Ken was promoted to management at Pacific Bell. He eventually ended up responsible for all the central offices, sixty-three, in an area that covered five counties.

In 1977, Ken, Arlene, Bob Wiltermood, and his wife Norma, designed, built, and operated a 2000 case winery named Pommeraie Vineyards. They produced award winning Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay. However, after Bob died, the winery was sold. Ken and Arlene moved to a hilltop in Healdsburg.

With the winery gone, and time on their hands, Ken and Arlene started to perform with the Camp Rose Players. Twenty years and forty productions later, both are still acting and singing.

Life was good. All Ken had to do was learn some lines and bow when the audience applauded.

Then, ten years ago, Ken started to write. His first article was published in Golf Illustrated in August 1996. More golf articles followed in national and regional magazines including Golf Magazine and Fairways and Greens.

After a two-year stint on the County Grand Jury, Ken felt the need to begin his first novel.

Now, after a decade of struggle to learn the craft of writing, Ken has become the publishing world’s latest overnight sensation.


Prices/Formats: $14.95 paperback, $4.99 ebook
Pages: 320
ISBN: 9780578113258
Publisher: Different Drummer Press
Released: October 1, 2012

Amazon paperback buy link ($14.95)
Barnes and Noble paperback buy link ($14.95)
KenDalton.comhttp://kendalton.com/paperback buy link ($14.95)

Kindle buy link ($4.99)