| November News | | November was a fun month of travel, writing, and exploration. - I wrote 75% of the first draft of my next novel about Desert Steve.
- Took my Jeep off-road to explore some places in the mountains where scenes are located in my next novel.
- Spent five days in San Diego enjoying the Gaslamp district, writing, eating, smoking cigars, and drinking Guiness.
- Spent eight days in the desert, writing and exploring, and meeting new people.
- Attended three L.A. Rams games (and they won two!)
- Worked with a small Facebook group of authors, encouraging each other as we work on novels.
I've written over 70,000 words in the first draft of my next novel, a historical fiction work set in the late 1882-1972 in the California desert (see below). The historical society of Palm Desert was a nice resource, as well as off-roading up to an old, burned out cabin that mu protagonist built and lived in. December will be more writing of the novel (finish the first draft!), working on a ghostwriting project, and two editing projects for other authors.. Scroll on down for my books, current novel in progress, sneak peaks, and book reviews.Have a good month, dear readers. Make someone smile. Don’t judge others when you don’t know their story. "Be curious, not judgmental." | |
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FREE BOOK OF SHORT STORIES | | SHORT FICTION | | This is a sample of four short stories from Markus' two collections.
Free or .99 from most retailers | | | |
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MY BOOKS | | Click on a cover for more. |
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WIP: Desert Steve Novel | | Desert. Sun. Sand. And no roads or human settlements within 50 miles in any direction. The perfect place to found a town?
That's what Steve Ragsdale believed. So he and his wife bundled up their four kids in their 1915 Ford Model T, bought a local prospector’s shack and well, and built a fuel station (a 50-gallon drum), a repair garage, and café. He advertised “Free food on days the sun doesn't shine" and “No drunks, no dogs—we prefer dogs.” He was the mayor, sheriff, rockhound, author, naturalist, desert guide, and Santa Claus at Christmastime. He became one of the local “Desert Rats” and earned the moniker “Desert Steve.” Along the way, he became part of history: the construction of the first State and National highways, the invention of prepaid healthcare, General Patton and World War II, the largest iron mine in the United States, flying saucer sightings, and much more.
Based on a true story, this is the tale of a quirky, clever, and bold man who pursued a dream, wrote bad poetry, and found ways to survive when many would have perished or packed it in.
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| NOV 8, 2023 | Beach Walks: Life, Chaos, and the Order of the Universe | | |
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| NOV 15, 2023 | A swashbuckling fantasy tale: My Father’s Ghost by AC Wilson | AmazonkindlepublisherI had no trouble reading the second book in the tetralogy, even though I hadn’t read the first. Had I read the first volume, I probably would’ve... | | |
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| NOV 22, 2023 | Review: The Warrior's Apprentice - military space opera with great characters | AmazonkindleappleaudibleThis is the fourth book in a 17-book series about the Vorkosigan family. It is a science fiction, commonly called space opera, although this one... | | |
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| NOV 29, 2023 | The Bobtails and the Cousins: a slice-of-life from the late 1800s | AmazonkindlePublisher’s pageArthur Yeomans. The Bobtails and the Cousins (Bobtails Adventures, Book 2). Wise Path Books, 2023. 332pp. This was an interesting read,... | | |
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Support Markus for the price of a coffee a month | | |
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Doctor Markus lives on a yacht and travels. He's overeducated with a serious case of wanderlust. Loves reading, Scotch whisky, and Cuban cigars. | Markus McDowell | author, editor, ghostwriter | |
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