Category: Promotion

The AWLR books

I was so absorbed in this week’s unplanned trilogy (“To be heard,” “To hear,” and “Peace over a coffee cup”) that I forgot I have designated Thursday for promoting my modest selection of books. My hope is to convince you to purchase one or more of my little offerings for the book lover in your family at Christmastime. They make quite nice gifts if I say so myself.

I have published five books in the last three years. I was talking with my daughter-in-law, Wife of Son of Red, this week, and we agreed we tend to measure time as Before We Lost Red and After We Lost Red. These are the five books I’ve published since Carol Jean passed, and while I can’t put my finger on the difference, I am more inclined to emphasize/promote/recommend these five works first among my 17 literary efforts, although I certainly am proud to point you towards all of them.

I’m listing the ISBNs with each because I am a horrendous marketer, and so it’s unlikely you’ll find these tomes at your local bookstore — but I’m confident they will gladly order them for you.

Ebenezer: A sequel of sorts to “A Christmas Carol” (979-8-9863331-6-8) (or hardcover 979-8-9863331-5-1) is a novelette about an encounter between a morose young man and Mr. Scrooge, envisioning how that fine gentleman may have spent his time after pledging to hold Christmas in his heart always.

Dejah & Summer in the Time of Magic (979-8-9863331-8-2) tells the story of when my two golden retrievers began to talk shortly before Halloween and how we fought off an attack by the Evil One, with the help of a motley crew of magical beings.

The Man Who Crossed Whimsy Avenue (978-0-9910107-0-7) is a collection of 96 very short stories (“flash fiction”) in various genres.

And then there are the last two collections of posts from this blog.

A Declaration of Peace (979-8-9863331-9-9) collects my thoughts in the wake of Red’s passing, generally focused on the value of human life after the worst loss of my experience. Originally published as War IS the Crime, I repackaged it to better emphasize the underlying theme, which is, of course, “Love God and love your neighbor.”

See the World! (978-0-9910107-1-4) contains 70 reflections about staying aware in the moment as we walk through this most amazing life, and about what we see when we look up from our screens and embrace the world around us.

I still aim to release my next collection, titled What I Came to Say, in time for Christmas 2026, in case your book lover wants to find the very latest Bluhm tome under the tree. Of course, they can always find the very latest right here, and for free, but we all know there’s something extra special about holding the words in your hands.

My Christmas sequel

From the first chapter of Ebenezer: A sequel of sorts to A Christmas Carol …

He passed a cheerful mother with her child ringing bells at a little kettle.

“Merry Christmas,” cried the sweet little girl as she pumped her hand and the bell jangled and jangled.

“Meh,” said Edmund Filliput, but the girl only smiled and jangled the bell all the more.

A young man with a little book was speaking loudly as the crowd passed, and Edmund’s eyes narrowed as he saw that it was a storefront church.

“I bring tidings of great joy,” the man read from his little book. “Today in Bethlehem a child is born.” But Edmund swept past with the rest of the multitude.

Snow suddenly began to fall in great quantities, and the Good Old City was filled with a swirling as if encased in a glass globe.

“Just what I need now,” Edmund said bitterly, and he nearly bumped into a man wearing, of all things, a top hat. He had the presence of mind to say “Excuse me” to the man, who had stopped in the middle of the sidewalk to look up at the falling snow.

“Oh, it’s no trouble at all, my good sir,” said the man in the top hat, and Edmund saw a beatific smile on the man’s face. “Isn’t this wonderful? Just in time for the merriest of Christmases.”

“Meh,” said Edmund Filliput, but he stopped long enough to stare at the jolly man, who met his eyes and laughed a great laugh.

“No, sir, I have not taken leave of my senses,” said the man. “I just love to see snow on Christmas Eve.”

“It’s just frozen rain,” Edmund muttered. “We’ll all catch our death.”

At this a great peal of laughter came from the happy stranger, who clapped Edmund on the shoulder.

“You are absolutely correct, sir, it is quite cold,” he said. “Come, let’s have a cup of tea — or are you a coffee man? There’s a shop right here.”

Edmund had not noticed they were standing in front of a great window, where they could see tables arranged inside, a counter with stools, and a few people scattered here and there about the room. He had to admit to himself that consuming something warm would be more pleasant than walking in the cold.

“I must be insane, but sure,” he told the man.

– – – – –

Hard to believe Ebenezer is now three years old. I hope it’s part of your Christmas by now, but if not, your local independent bookstore can order it for you — ask for ISBN 979-8-9863331-6-8. Your favorite online bookstore has it, too, but the local store is friendlier, don’t you think?

A Halloween fantasy

Throwback Thursday — Sept. 29, 2024. You may have noticed I have started using Thursdays to spotlight past blog posts that have found their way into my books. Two years ago I wrote a novel by writing a different chapter every day for 34 days. This is the beginning of the post that became Chapter 2 of Dejah & Summer in the Time of Magic. My two golden retrievers have suddenly started talking, and Dejah mentions that there seems to be an inter-dimensional portal in the back yard …

“Eww, you need to pick up back here more,” said Summer, who was the timid young dog.

“I’ll take care of it after we deal with this inter-dimensional portal that Dejah found near the garden shed,” I said, watching my step anyway.

“It’s right over here,” Dejah said.

“I’m still a little freaked out that you’re talking,” I admitted.

“That freaks you out, but not the inter-dimensional portal floating in the air?” Dejah said.

“Well, I have to say that adds to the freakout factor.”

We reached the garden shed. Sure enough, some sort of round glowing thing was hanging in the air, kind of a cross between the Guardian of Forever in Star Trek and the Stargate in Stargate except without the artificial structure forming it, and we could see another world through it. Not an alien world — we could see grass and trees on the other side — just a different world.

“Hang on,” Dejah said, looking up through the portal. “What’s that?”

“I don’t see anything.”

“That’s because you’re not looking from down here.”

Then I saw what she meant. A shadow fell across the opening, and then a huge, scaly foot appeared. It was ghastly and gnarled and looked more like a tree trunk than animal skin, with three clawed toes.

The foot began a cautious descent through the portal into the back yard.

“I’m going back in the house now,” said Summer, and she scampered up the stairs to the deck.

– – – – –

You can read what happens next by clicking back through my blog archive to Sept. 28 through Nov. 1, 2024, or by asking your favorite bookseller to order Dejah & Summer in the Time of Magic, ISBN 979-8-9863331-8-2. You can also just buy the ebook and start reading now by clicking on this link. In any case, thank you for your attention and happy reading!