I started writing novels at the age of sixty-one.
The journey continues!
All books listed below are available in Kindle form as well as paperback on Amazon. Just click on the title to purchase.
The 12/59 Shuttle From Yesterday to Today
Sheila, the self-professed “Goddess of the Insignificant and Guardian of all that is Miniature,” has a gift. She is able to travel between alternate universes and bring to life those who have died in the past. A wonderful gift to be sure but one she only uses sparingly. Sheila only resurrects people who once lived at St. Elizabeth’s Home for Children in Tacoma, Washington during a devastating blizzard in 1959. Those children grew up understanding the power of life force and love and have been designated as the saviors of a world spiraling out of control due to environmental damage.
Bill Hollis is stumbling through a disaster of his own making, namely his life. Bouncing from one meaningless job to the next, drinking heavily and womanizing to pass the time, he has no direction, no goals, and seemingly no hope. Until he meets Sheila!
As the resurrections grow in number, Bill falls in love with Sheila but is left to wonder why he has been “chosen” to join Sheila on her journey. Along the way they are joined by Sheila’s roommates, Tweetie and Pauline, and an ever-growing number of back-from-the-dead converts. Bill is told that his job is to write a book, this book, as a warning so that the inhabitants of Earth can begin preparing for the inevitable b leak future as Earth rebels against the damage already inflicted upon it.
Join this fearless band of messengers as they take you on a journey that may seem like fantasy but rings all too true for those of you paying attention to the events in today’s world. Described in one review as a “hilarious tale of impending doom,” The 12/59 Shuttle From Yesterday to Today” will grab you by the short hairs and never let go.
Everything I know about writing, but not everything I will ever know. In this comprehensive discussion about writing, I’ll tell you how to write creatively, how to establish yourself as a freelance writer, how to nail down some gigs, how to market and perhaps most importantly, how to view writing as the craft it is with you as the craftsman.
Is it possible to survive the mistakes of our past?
Is it possible to thrive despite them?
Toby King has it all, and is destined for greatness….but…..
“I once saw a woman stoned to death. That shit will stay with you once you see it, alter the course of your life, and put you on a path you never envisioned when you were a youngster playing Kick the Can. It did for me, and my writings today reflect those moments when mankind’s brutality overshadows all advancements made in the past two hundred thousand years.”
Toby’s life slowly unravels. The deaths of his parents, the loss of a lifelong dream, the horrors of Vietnam, all build up inside of him, all wear him down, and all chip away at the confidence and joy he once had. Finally, his hubris, and a growing addiction to alcohol, lead to disgrace and fourteen years in prison.
Can Toby overcome it all? Can he rise from the ashes of the past and discover the secret of happiness?
Through flashbacks covering fifty years, and through Toby’s own writings, travel along on a journey of self-discovery. Perhaps it truly is possible to live a meaningful life despite the transgressions of the past.
“Are there some of our species who are just born distorted without the troubling shackles of a conscience, intent on debasing all that is good, or are all of us capable of changing by taking a wrong turn and discarding morality, finally becoming someone even a mother wouldn’t recognize?
There is a third possibility, one whispered around campfires and told in stories passed down through the generations, stories of pure evil walking among us, dating back to Yahweh, an evil that is shapeless, ethereal and sinister.
I have wrestled with those questions for most of my adult life.”
Eli Baker is about to meet pure evil. The only question that remains is can he survive the meeting?
Someone is snatching young teens from the streets of Olympia. Eli Baker is hired to find one of those girls. What he finds, instead, is evil disguised as corporate greed. Will our philosophical vigilante be able to stop the kidnappings? Will he ever feel clean again?
“Shadows Over Innocence” will have you locking the doors at night and keeping a closer eye on those children of yours because, let’s face it, evil does exist.
“The Billy the Kid Chronicles: The Blood Red Russian Moon”
Billy the Kid is an Irish street rat, born and raised in the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York City, who gets by on guts and street smarts. He does the odd job for anyone will to pay, a modern-day problem-solver, a Mister Fix-It, who’s services you won’t find in the Yellow Pages.
As the weather turns colder, Billy finds warmth and comfort under the sheets with a young woman named Anna, a match made in Heaven but doomed for Hell, for Anna is the daughter of Russian crime boss Ivan, and Ivan is none too happy when he hears the news of this budding romance. Quicker than you can eat a bowl of borsch, Billy has a price on his head, and it’s going to take every ounce of his street smarts to get him out of this problem.
”
“Blood Red Russian Moon” is the first in the Billy the Kid Chronicles, a series of novellas following this crazy Mick bastard anti-hero as he navigates through life with all the finesse of a runaway locomotive.
“The Billy the Kid Chronicles: Walking in a Dead Man’s Shoes”
Billy the Kid and Genna have settled in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, hoping to find some normalcy and catch their breaths after escaping from the Russian and Mexican mobs. The chase continues, however, all the way to West Yellowstone, Montana where again, false hopes tease them and again, the past refuses to be a caring lover.
Fight or flight? That’s what it always comes down to, and Billy the Kid is dead tired of flight.
“Walking in a Dead Man’s Shoes” is the second novella in the Billy the Kid Chronicles. Volume Three will be released in May, 2016.
“The Billy the Kid Chronicles: Ashes to Ashes”
Synopsis: The third in the “Billy the Kid” series finds our ass-kicking anti-hero trying his damndest to stay out of trouble and walk a peaceful path. After all, his common-law wife, Genna, is expecting a child soon, and she has strongly suggested to Billy that his child will need a healthy father around for years to come, and maybe he should find ways to fix problems without violence.
Easier said than done, as we find out in this novella.
Billy is asked to find the missing sister of a good friend of his. The young woman joined a religious group nine months earlier and hasn’t contacted her family in three months. The family is worried and that means it’s time for Billy to do his thing.
But can Billy find the woman and bring her home without violence? One look at the two-legged monster guarding the religious cult’s compound suggests this might not be an exercise in non-violence for Billy.
“The Billy the Kid Chronicles: Home is a Dangerous Place”
Almost a year ago Billy the Kid left his home in the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York City, and he left it in a hurry, having just killed the Russian mob boss. Obviously it is to his advantage not to return to the Big Apple.
Since then he has made a life for himself and his common law wife, under assumed identities, in Jackson, Wyoming. It’s a good life and they have a child and, by God, life is pretty special when mobsters aren’t shooting at you and people think you are dead….but then….
Billy receives a phone call from a friend of his in New York. Billy’s friend Mindi, a hooker by trade, has been beaten, knifed and raped by four Italians under orders from Val Checkers, the ruling mafia boss in charge of prostitution in the Burroughs. Mindi and Mindi’s friend, Paula, are asking for help, and if there’s one thing Billy can’t ignore it’s harm done to his family or friends.
The Kid packs a bag, kisses his wife and baby goodbye and flies back to New York. It’s time for some frontier justice, Billy-style.
“Home is a Dangerous Place” is the fourth installment of the Billy the Kid Chronicles.
“The Billy the Kid Chronicles: Breathing Fire on a Cold Winter’s Day”
Winter has settled in around the town of Jackson, Wyoming. The snow is deep, the temperatures are low, and Billy Fix-It, his wife Genna and his daughter Jade are warm and cozy with their new identities and idyllic life, the past far behind them.
Or is it?
It begins with slaughtered cattle on the ranch where Billy works, followed by the ranch foreman being shot and a death threat to Billy’s family. Someone is not happy with Billy the Kid, and Billy is about to learn a very valuable lesson: You never completely bury the past.
“Breathing Fire On A Cold Winter’s Day” is the quintessential Billy the Kid novella, filled with harsh retribution and a harsher truth: Screw with Billy and you are playing with fire.
This is the fifth in the Billy the Kid series. William D. Holland is currently taking a break from this series to work on his next full-length novel, “Shadows Over A Hangman’s Noose.”
SHADOWS OVER A HANGMAN’S NOOSE
The dreams arrive, un-invited. Eli Baker is visited by the dead, and they always have one request of him: find out the truth about their deaths.
Melanie Hooper is missing and yet, as an orphan, there is no one missing Melanie Hooper. Her co-workers find it odd that she left, and unsettling for sure, but she is, after all, an adult, and perhaps she simply decided to start a new life somewhere else. With no body or suspicious circumstances to go by, the Seattle police do not consider Melanie’s disappearance to be sinister at all.
But Eli Baker has dreams, and Melanie Hooper has visited him in one, along with four other orphans who are also missing.
The search is on, and Eli Baker is the right man to delve into the case of the missing orphans. However, Eli soon finds that evil acts are not only performed by evil men, but by Evil itself.
Eli, his girlfriend Liz, and his deadly friend Striker are about to face off against a foe the likes of which they have never encountered.
“Shadows Over A Hangman’s Noose” is the third in the “Shadows” series. It will leave you questioning everything you thought you knew about the sinister shadows of life.
THE URBAN FARMING COLORING BOOK
We began with five quail. It was a little hobby, we called it. Two years later we had 150 of the darling little birds, and sold nearly 300 dozen eggs.
We began with a 5’x5′ herb garden. Four years later we couldn’t eat everything we produced. It would be safe to say we have caught the “urban farming” bug.
So this coloring book is for the urban farmers out there, and the urban farmer wannabes. May you find as much pleasure in it as my wife and I have found. At the very least, I hope you have fun coloring the pictures.
Each page is a chapter . . . “how to raise chickens” . . . “how to prepare the soil” . . . “how to compost” . . . and there is information about each topic, as well as a picture to color. It is a great learning tool for parents and their children or, heck, it’s just a fun book to play with.
THE HISTORY OF OLYMPIA, WASHINGTON COLORING BOOK
The history of Olympia, Washington, can arguably be traced back to 1791 when George Vancouver first sailed into the area now known as the Puget Sound. Fast-forward fifty years, to 1841, and Lieutenant Wilkes of the U.S. Expedition mapped the area where Olympia now stands.
It was then just a matter of time before settlers arrived, and in 1846 Edmond Sylvester and Levi Smith filed a joint claim for the land that would become the capital of the State of Washington.
William D. Holland, former history teacher, novelist, and resident of Olympia for the past twenty-six years, takes a look at the fascinating history of the city on Budd Inlet, once destined to become the “San Francisco of Puget Sound,” and now a picturesque haven for artists, musicians, environmental activists, and government workers.
The History of Olympia, Washington is now a coloring book. Each chapter details a part of Olympia’s history in addition to the corresponding coloring page.
Read along and learn!
Color along and enjoy!
“And The Blind Shall See” published 1/17/20
Billybuc
Artistry With Words 