Showing posts with label gothic. Show all posts

Monday, 12 January 2026

Race Track Diary, Entry Number Ten: Century Mile Racetrack (September 13, 2025)

Race Track Diary, Entry Number Ten

Century Mile Racetrack (September 13, 2025)

Introduction

This blog and some following blogs are sections from an informal diary of “visits to the race-track” at a particular time and place, by a person who has followed the races with varying levels of participation over a long period. These relate primarily to some visits to the track and/or off-track betting venues in the 2025 period and onward. They contain observations about the activity, both specific and general. Although these remarks are personal, they also reflect general cultural and historical trends, as they have impacted horse-racing, wagering and culture in general.

The setting is Edmonton, Alberta, Canada (population of about one million plus). However, I imagine that the observations would apply to many places in the world, as they are a reflection of how changing trends in technology, globalization and culture in general have affected this ancient and honourable activity of horse-racing.

For now, I will use what I call “polished point-form” for the narrative.

10 – Century Mile 6 (September 13, 2025)
- This is the seventh trip to the “real” racetrack, though once again, we didn’t actually leave the off-track betting area of the casino, and go to the outside world, where the real horses would be running. So it goes – eventually I am sure that we will cross that threshold.
- The off-track betting area was not too busy early on, but it did become more so as the late afternoon and early evening came upon us. The parking lot was much busier when we left than when we arrived (early afternoon) as well.
- It is quite possible that the busyness of the day was related to the fact that this was the last day of the local thoroughbred meet. That was reinforced in my mind by overhearing some of the chat of bettors nearby our base of operations, later in the day. It seemed likely that some of them were probably personally connected to the horses that were running that day, perhaps owners, trainers, horse handlers or people related to others in these roles.
- After this day, it would be harness races only (as well as off-track betting, of course). My brother Craig probably won’t mind that too much, as he has a strange love/hate affair with what he terms “the bucket-pullers”.
- On this occasion Tyler, one of Craig’s sons accompanied us to the track. He is an occasional horse-race and/or casino participant, though his real passion (so to speak) is sports, especially his beloved Raiders and Blue Jays. For hockey I suppose it must be the Oilers, but at this time of year football and baseball reign supreme.
- He started a new job recently, where the employers have routinely gifted him with jerseys and similar sports paraphernalia related to the Raiders. He says they have told him that the atmosphere around the place has improved since he began, so I guess they want to keep him around (without having to give him a raise, no doubt). He is an easy guy to get along with, so I sort-of understand it. Anyway, good for him.
- The races at Fairmount Park didn’t show up on the big screens until the fourth race. That was the track that I bought a program for, so there was no betting for me until then. I prefer to follow just one track and attempt to handicap that set of races. I find that following too many races spreads one’s mental energies too thinly, which makes handicapping difficult.
- These days I appear to be in the minority, as far as that goes. Craig and Tyler weren’t paying too much attention to the numbers, more or less going on intuition or just blind luck. That said, today they did better than I did.
- I came within a neck of picking up a pretty decent exacta, when my second place horse got nipped at the wire. I also missed another exacta, when my horses came in second-third, with my third-rated pick beating them both. However, that didn’t happen at the wire, so it wasn’t as close as the first contest, thus not as exciting (or disappointing, if you look at it that way).
- Craig and Tyler focused for a while on a TV screen near our table, which featured races from Jamaica. It was somewhat strange, as the prices were being shown in Jamaican dollars, which are valued at a small fraction of U.S. or Canadian dollars. Thus, the purse on one of the races was 1.2 million dollars and the payoff for exotic bets (e.g. triactors) were typically in the tens of thousands. It took a few minutes to figure out the currency confusion, but it was amusing until then.
- It turned out that Craig hit a few of these races, as well as some bucket-pullers at the Woodbine track in Toronto. I should note that he lived in southern Ontario for a few years, so was quite familiar with Woodbine from personal visits. I had also been there a few times – it’s a nice big facility, as I recall.
- Tyler had no luck with the horses, but he disappeared for a few minutes near the end of our visit and came back with an 80 dollar win from the video lottery machines. Or are they slot machines? These days I can’t make out the difference, though to be honest, I have never been attracted to either.
- Some internet sources claim that VLTs are "tighter" (lower payoffs) than slot machines, but that my only apply to places like Las Vegas. Either way, they are negative expectation games, so in the long run, you lose either way. Horse-racing uses pari-mutual payoffs (essentially a contest among the pool of betters), though the track’s takeout is high enough that these comparisons are a moot point. I keep my bets modest and play for the comanionship and intellectual challenge.
- I noted to Tyler that it was nice to hit a win at the slots, but it would have been so much nicer to make that on horses – more bragging rights. He laughed and said “I suppose so”, but he was probably just humouring me.
- At about the same time, the Blue Jays knocked in a few runs in the ninth inning to win their baseball game (they were in a pennant race), so that lifted Tyler’s spirits as well.
- At any rate, my winning streak ended, but someone else’s had just begun.
- My off-day was made up for by Craig’s and Tyler’s good fortune. That made the outing ok in my books. Besides, True Handicapping will eventually prevail (ha, ha).
- I should note that I had done some horseracing simulations in a spreadsheet, then in the statistical programming language R, to see just how often a long streak would show up by pure random chance (also called luck). I will add the results to this narrative a little later.
  For anyone who is curious, this is how my handicapping has gone so far during this project (the statements are from the previous blogs). I think I will go for about 25 entries, to see how I do.
  1 - Won a few bets, came out positive, I think. At least one fair-size win.
  
  2 - No wins for us.
  
  3 - Came out ahead.
  
  4 - I broke even.
  
  5 - not a winning day,
  
  6 - I left that track with more money than I arrived with.
  
  7 - I came out of the day ahead.
  
  8 - Well over the top for the day.
  
  9 - Exactor that paid enough to cover the rest of my bets for the rest of the day, with some to spare.
  
  10 - my winning streak ended.

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A Dark Horse

In “A Dark Horse”, a gambler’s desire to hit a big win seems to lead him to make a Faustian bargain with a supernatural evil. Or is it all just a string of unnaturally good luck?

The story is just $0.99 U.S. (equivalent in other currencies) and about 8000 words. It is also available on Kindle Unlimited and is occasionally on free promotion.

U.S.: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

U.K.: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Germany: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

France: https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Italy: https://www.amazon.it/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Netherlands: https://www.amazon.nl/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Spain: https://www.amazon.es/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Japan: https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

India: https://www.amazon.in/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Mexico: https://www.amazon.com.mx/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Brazil: https://www.amazon.com.br/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01MDMY2BR

Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Here’s an interesting review from Goodreads

(BTW, the writer has never met the reviewer and was not even aware of the review until very recently – You can look up the review on Goodreads, if you like)

A Dark Horse

Every gambler is bound to run out of luck eventually, right?

By far my favourite type of horror is psychological horror. I was quite pleased with how Mr. Olausen frightened his audience without spilling a single drop of blood or so much as hinting at anything gory. He knew exactly what hints to drop for us that made us deliciously dread the next scene simply by throwing out hints about who or what the dark horse might actually represent. This is the kind of stuff I love getting scared by, especially as Halloween approaches.

It would have been helpful to have more character development in this short story. While I certainly wouldn’t expect to see as much time spent on this as I would for a full-length novel, I did have trouble connecting to the main characters due to how little I knew about them and how much their personalities seemed to remain the same no matter what happened to them. If not for this issue, I would have felt comfortable choosing a much higher rating as the plot itself was well done.

I must admit to not knowing much about gambling at all, so I appreciated the brief explanations the narrator shared about how placing bets works and why some people have so much trouble walking away from a bet. While I will leave it up to experts on these topics to say how accurate everything was, I did enjoy learning more about the main character’s addiction and what he hoped to gain from betting on just one more game or race. It gave me a stronger sense of empathy for folks in his position.

A Dark Horse – A Gothic Tale was a deliciously chilling story for the Halloween season and beyond.

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And here is a science fiction story that I wrote. It’s not about horses, but people seem to have found it interesting, going by reviews and/or ratings on Amazon (note that there actually is a novel version now):

The Magnetic Anomaly: A ScienceFiction Story

“A geophysical crew went into the Canadian north. There were some regrettable accidents among a few ex-military who had become geophysical contractors after their service in the forces. A young man and young woman went temporarily mad from the stress of seeing that. They imagined things, terrible things. But both are known to have vivid imaginations; we have childhood records to verify that. It was all very sad. That’s the official story.”

You can purchase it for all of 99 cents. Alternatively, keep your eyes open for a free promotions, which occur periodically. Or, get it with Kindle Unlimited.

Amazon:

U.S.: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0176H22B4

UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0176H22B4

Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0176H22B4

France: https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B0176H22B4

Italy: https://www.amazon.it/dp/B0176H22B4

Netherlands: https://www.amazon.nl/dp/B0176H22B4

Spain: https://www.amazon.es/dp/B0176H22B4

Japan: https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B0176H22B4

Mexico: https://www.amazon.com.mx/dp/B0176H22B4

Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0176H22B4

Germany: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B0176H22B4

India: https://www.amazon.in/dp/B0176H22B4

Brazil: https://www.amazon.com.br/dp/B0176H22B4

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Thursday, 6 November 2025

Race Track Diary, Entry Number Three (March 7, 2025)

Introduction

For now, I will use what I call “polished point-form” for the narrative.

3 – Century Mile 1 (March 7, 2025)

This facility is near the International Airport, about 20 of so minutes south of Edmonton, depending on traffic. Traffic can get rather intense, as this is the main southern route into the city.
The racetrack is associated with a large casino. The term casino is a bit of a stretch, as the gambling is almost entirely of the VLT (video lottery terminal) or slot machine variety. There are probably hundreds of those. I believe that there is also a Keno or Baccarat area (they use the term "electronic tables" on the website).
The racetrack itself is a good facility, as it is a mile-long track. A lot of horse players like that, as it means fewer turns in the race and more straight runs. Presumably that cuts down on the effect of the inside post positions and resultant jockey strategy, making the race more of a pure speed event. Conversely, it takes away some of the tactical considerations from the race (i.e. the good or bad ‘trip’ - no, I don’t mean LSD).
My handicapping is generally based on speed and early speed, so I suppose that I ought to prefer the mile track. My brother Craig is more interested in the intricacies of the race and other strategic considerations (ethical and not-so-ethical), so I suppose that he ought to prefer the five-eighths mile, which probably gives more scope for shenanigans.
This track has supplanted the old Northlands Racetrack which was located well-inside the city limits. Actually, it was a slightly sketchy area of town, though I can’t recall having any problems there. Arguably, it was a bit seedy, but that was part of its Damon Runyon type charm.
For decades, Northlands just did horse-races (thoroughbred and harness). At that time, horse-racing was the only form of gambling that was legal in Alberta or for that matter in most of North America. Later, a casino was added to the track.
Eventually lotteries moved in and proliferated, as did high-stakes Bingos and ‘charity casinos’. Those were then supplanted by fancier casinos and multi-game sports betting. Now, most everything is permitted. In my opinion things were much more interesting in the horse-racing and low-stakes bingo eras, but that’s just me.
In the fullness of time, the racetrack that was Northlands was shut down in favour of the new facility that is Century Mile.
We took up some seats in the horse-racing part of the casino/racetrack that is Century Mile. There were a multitude of screens, as well as the usual automatic betting machines and racing form printers. In the quaint old days, human beings would have taken care of these tasks.
The Century Mile racetrack itself is a nice facility, or so they say. You can play about a dozen of so tracks from the casino area, so I have yet to visit the track itself (I know, that is kind of sad). I should note that Century Mile has both thoroughbred and harness meets. However, the races are a bit later in the day and my brother prefers the afternoon, so I rarely bet on the local track (I know, that is kind of sad too).
One nice thing about this new facility is the food, which is really surprisingly good. I had a plate of fries and gravy – they were more than just ok. Actually surprisingly ok.
Still, nothing beats the old track-burger at Northlands, in my memory. Mind you, I was younger then, and more tolerant of not-so-great food. We used to joke that the burgers were made from horses that lost a few too many races.
Getting back to today, it was a fairly thin crowd at the horse-racing section. Most of the people were playing the slot machines. The crowd (horse-racing and slots) tended to be older, but not exclusively so. I suppose that the government is getting its pension money back via gambling taxes.
As noted, the horse players were older, with a few exceptions. One fellow was quite chatty with some relatively younger females, who seemed to find him amusing. It made you wonder.
All the horse racing betting machines worked fine, including the program printers (we had problems with them at an off-track place the previous week). However, the horse-racing cashier shut down early, so I had to get my winnings at the slot machine cashier (yes, I got winnings).
There was continual music, mostly emanating from the VLT and/or slot machines. That got irritating after a while. I would be happy to never hear "Paradise at the Dashboard Light" again, for as long as I live. What an ear worm.
As I noted above, I came out ahead. That was based on winning a couple of exactors at Santa Anita, a track near Los Angeles. I had some luck with favourites that I coupled with longer odds horses who had potential in their form. They paid well, so I came out ahead by a creditable amount of money.
Just kidding about luck, it was all due to skilful handicapping. :)
Unfortunately Craig’s bets didn’t work out as well. But he likes 3 and 4 horse combo bets, especially at the Mohawk harness races, so it takes a while to make a hit.
At the bucket pullers at Woodbine (Toronto), a 99 to 1 shot came in, in a 6 horse field. Seems dodgy, Craig was not impressed. That said, he was amused in a sort of ironic way, as is his nature.
The place had a selection of regular corporate beers i.e. nothing very good . However, the Rickard’s Red was acceptable, in a pinch.
We took the long way home, via the road that goes near Devon, on the west side of the city. It was experimental, an effort to bypass the main highway. It was a bit longer and took a bit more gas, but it is a nicer drive, not so busy as the main highway.
Later, while on one of the main city routes, a truck ahead of us was sparking, from below. Something dragging? Eventually, it parked on a median on an on-ramp to a city street not far from where I live, presumably to check the source of the sparking. Weird place to park to check a vehicle.
Strangely enough, some months later I read an account in the local paper of a fellow doing the exact same thing at that location. Unfortunately, he was struck by a car and killed when he got out to check his vehicle.
You never know what fate holds in store for you, never mind the horses.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Since I am running a book publishing blog, here is a plug for a horse-racing oriented short story that I wrote.

A Dark Horse

In “A Dark Horse”, a gambler’s desire to hit a big win seems to lead him to make a Faustian bargain with a supernatural evil. Or is it all just a string of unnaturally good luck?

The story is just $0.99 U.S. (equivalent in other currencies) and about 8000 words. It is also available on Kindle Unlimited and is occasionally on free promotion.

U.S.: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

U.K.: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Germany: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

France: https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Italy: https://www.amazon.it/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Netherlands: https://www.amazon.nl/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Spain:https://www.amazon.es/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Japan: https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

India: https://www.amazon.in/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Mexico: https://www.amazon.com.mx/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Brazil: https://www.amazon.com.br/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01MDMY2BR

Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Here’s an interesting review from Goodreads

(BTW, the writer has never met the reviewer and was not even aware of the review

until very recently – You can look up the review on Goodreads, if you like)

A Dark Horse

Every gambler is bound to run out of luck eventually, right?

By far my favourite type of horror is psychological horror. I was quite pleased with how Mr. Olausen frightened his audience without spilling a single drop of blood or so much as hinting at anything gory. He knew exactly what hints to drop for us that made us deliciously dread the next scene simply by throwing out hints about who or what the dark horse might actually represent. This is the kind of stuff I love getting scared by, especially as Halloween approaches.

It would have been helpful to have more character development in this short story. While I certainly wouldn’t expect to see as much time spent on this as I would for a full-length novel, I did have trouble connecting to the main characters due to how little I knew about them and how much their personalities seemed to remain the same no matter what happened to them. If not for this issue, I would have felt comfortable choosing a much higher rating as the plot itself was well done.

I must admit to not knowing much about gambling at all, so I appreciated the brief explanations the narrator shared about how placing bets works and why some people have so much trouble walking away from a bet. While I will leave it up to experts on these topics to say how accurate everything was, I did enjoy learning more about the main character’s addiction and what he hoped to gain from betting on just one more game or race. It gave me a stronger sense of empathy for folks in his position.

A Dark Horse – A Gothic Tale was a deliciously chilling story for the Halloween season and beyond.

Wednesday, 24 September 2025

Some Interesting (and Somewhat Spooky) Events, Concerning Clocks

Sept 2025: In the evening, my wife Helena and I were standing near the drip coffee maker in the kitchen. She wanted me to put coffee in the filter and water in the reservoir, as she wasn’t feeling all that well and thought she might spill something if she did it herself. However, she did stick around to make sure that I wouldn’t automatically turn the machine on after refilling it, as I often did, just by habit. The coffee was to be used in the morning, we were just setting it up that evening, for that purpose.

As a joke, I pretended I was going to turn it on after filling it up and pointed my finger at the on switch, as if I was about to turn it on. I said something like "now I stab at thee, on switch", riffing off the quote from Moby Dick ("From Hell’s heart I stab at thee").

At exactly that moment the clock on the wall suddenly fell down, with a loud thud as it hit the floor. The clock was in the same general direction as I was ‘stabbing’, as it was behind the coffee maker, a bit above and to the left. However, my finger was still a good foot away from the wall, as was my wife’s hand.

The timing was so precise that it was hard not to think that there was some significance to it. Helena wondered if it presaged a death. If nothing else, it presaged purchasing a new wall clock.

Some time in the 2010s: We had had a similar experience some dozen or more years earlier, while watching a TV show late one night. A comedy skit came on, featuring some black humour about a funeral. Just at that time, a different clock fell off a bookshelf near the TV. That clock had been owned by my mother, who had passed away a few months before.

Related to this was another occasion, when a book about War Brides fell off the bookshelf at another strategic time, again one that had significance my mom, who had been a war bride. Unfortunately by now my memory is a bit vague on the details around that one.

Perhaps all clocks are really time vultures in disguise.

Wednesday, 30 July 2025

The Stalkers, now on Audiobook (Amazon)

A crime story. Quite noir in style, not for the faint-hearted. A sort of rough justice is done by the end, but with a twist.

The Stalkers Blurb

A sexual predator stalks the city. He has chosen his unwary victim - he waits, he watches, he stalks. But, who stalks the stalker?

I wrote this some time back, when there were a number of rapes in the Toronto Scarborough area by someone who became known as “the balcony rapist”. At the time, he hadn’t been caught yet, though he was arrested later, for these and other horrible crimes.

So, the story is fictional, but loosely based on that era’s events, though with purely imagined plot twists. I suppose this was a sort of fictional rumination on evil, attempting to get into the mind of such a person. But, even after writing a million words, I doubt that it is possible to get into a mind like that.

This is a short story of about 6000 somewhat disturbing words.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BJJM9W53

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0BJJM9W53

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0BJJM9W53

https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0BJJM9W53

https://www.amazon.de/dp/B0BJJM9W53

https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B0BJJM9W53

https://www.amazon.es/dp/B0BJJM9W53

https://www.amazon.it/dp/B0BJJM9W53

https://www.amazon.nl/dp/B0BJJM9W53

https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B0BJJM9W53

https://www.amazon.com.br/dp/B0BJJM9W53

https://www.amazon.com.mx/dp/B0BJJM9W53

https://www.amazon.in/dp/B0BJJM9W53

Wednesday, 2 July 2025

The Boathouse Christ, Now on Audiobook (Amazon)

The Boathouse Christ is now on audiobook, via Amazon. It is an engaging tale of a young woman coming to terms with herself and the efforts of family and friends to assist her in that journey. It is about forty minutes of listening on audiobook, somewhat less when read in ebook form.

The Boathouse Christ

A teenage girl inadvertently materializes the image of a Christ on the Cross on the outside wall of her parents’ boathouse, at their cottage on a Northern Ontario lake. She spends hours praying to the figure while her parents and their neighbours express their distress. Then it is discovered that the girl, Terese, also has marks on her body, recreating the wounds of the Christ.

What is to be done?

Discover what happens as the uncanny events unfold, during one week in October, which just happens to include Halloween.

This is a short story of approximately 6000 words.

U.S. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JBRD90Q
U.K. http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00JBRD90Q
Can: http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00JBRD90Q

Germany: http://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B00JBRD90Q

France: https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B00JBRD90Q

Spain: https://www.amazon.es/dp/B00JBRD90Q

Italy: https://www.amazon.it/dp/B00JBRD90Q

Netherlands: https://www.amazon.nl/dp/B00JBRD90Q

Japan: https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B00JBRD90Q

Brazil: https://www.amazon.com.br/dp/B00JBRD90Q

Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B00JBRD90Q

India: https://www.amazon.in/dp/B00JBRD90Q

Mexico: https://www.amazon.com.mx/dp/B00JBRD90Q

Beyond the Blue Door Part 2 (Behind the Locked Door), Now on Audiobook (Amazon)

Beyond the Blue Door Part 2 (Behind the Locked Door) is now on audiobook, via Amazon. It is a continuation of the Beyond the Blue Door story, but set several decades in the future. The character Jenny is revisited, along with her sister Molly, along with some new parties. In this part of the story, the characters go through some harrowing experiences, but also eventually gain the opportunity for a happier and more hopeful future.

Beyond the Locked Door (Beyond the Blue Door, Part 2)

This story is titled “Beyond the Blue Door, Part 2”, as it is a companion piece to Helena Puumala’s original story “Beyond the Blue Door”. In that story, the teenage girl Jennie takes refuge from domestic abuse in a perhaps illusory, perhaps supernatural, world that she has discovered that exists beyond a hidden blue door in an old farmhouse. The story can be interpreted in many ways – the Blue Door may represent a psychological escape mechanism for a traumatized youth, or it may represent a transition to a hopeful alternative reality. The conclusion to the story can be read either way.

Part 2 of Jennie’s story tends to the latter interpretation and expands on it by introducing several new characters and a new framework for the action. This also opens up the opportunity for the character of Jennie to be explored in a new direction, within which she can exercise a more active role, in concert with the other new characters. It also explores some different perspectives on the nature of good and evil, as well as the potential for love in even the most harrowing of circumstances.

The story stands on its own, but it is perhaps best read after reading Part 1. Together, the two stories clock in at about 20,000 words, independently at about 10,000 each.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BTBG1ZW6

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0BTBG1ZW6

https://www.amazon.de/dp/B0BTBG1ZW6

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0BTBG1ZW6

https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0BTBG1ZW6

https://www.amazon.in/dp/B0BTBG1ZW6

https://www.amazon.es/dp/B0BTBG1ZW6

https://www.amazon.com.br/dp/B0BTBG1ZW6

https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B0BTBG1ZW6

https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B0BTBG1ZW6

https://www.amazon.it/dp/B0BTBG1ZW6

https://www.amazon.com.mx/dp/B0BTBG1ZW6

https://www.amazon.nl/dp/B0BTBG1ZW6

Part 1 can be obtained via the Amazon link:

Amazon U.S.: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09SCV6284

The two stories can be bought together, in a separate ebook, which includes them both:

U.S.: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CG3ZLTHS

Friday, 27 June 2025

Beyond the Blue Door, Now on Audiobook (Amazon)

Beyond the Blue Door is now on audiobook, via Amazon. It is a very well crafted story about a disturbing family situation, which ultimately concludes on an existentially hopeful note.

Beyond the Blue Door

Two haunted houses are involved in this tale. But where does the greater evil reside - in the safe family domicile of our everyday world or in the creepy old abandoned farmhouse?

On Amazon:

U.S.: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OX60XJU

UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00OX60XJU

Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00OX60XJU

Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B00OX60XJU

Germany: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B00OX60XJU

France: https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B00OX60XJU

Spain: https://www.amazon.es/dp/B00OX60XJU

Italy: https://www.amazon.it/dp/B00OX60XJU

Netherlands: https://www.amazon.nl/dp/B00OX60XJU

Japan: https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B00OX60XJU

Brazil: https://www.amazon.com.br/dp/B00OX60XJU

Mexico: https://www.amazon.com.mx/dp/B00OX60XJU

India: https://www.amazon.in/dp/B00OX60XJU

Monday, 23 June 2025

The Haunted Park, Now on Audiobook (Amazon)

The Haunted Park is now on audiobook, via Amazon. It is a nice little ghost story, fun to listen to, perhaps during a late night drive down an isolated country road.

The Haunted Park

This story is composed of two interconnected narratives, with Part 1 describing a tragic family situation that is resolved by the events in Part 2. The families involved are separated in both time and space, but their fates intertwine in this location which has become known by the locals as "the haunted park". Philosophically, the story explores the notion of a ghosts and the afterlife from a several different perspectives. And of course, it is just a satisfying ghost story.

The characters in Part 2 are also found in Helena Puumala’s selection of ‘Lake’ stories, entitled Five Holiday Mysteries”. The characters unique and special backgrounds, personalities and abilities are explored more fully in those stories, though this story can be read as a stand-alone ghost story.

The story is about 7500 words, which can be read within about 45 minutes to an hour, at typical reading speeds.

U.S. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CYK1MTK4

U.K. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CYK1MTK4

Can: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0CYK1MTK4

Germany: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B0CYK1MTK4

France: https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B0CYK1MTK4

Spain: https://www.amazon.es/dp/B0CYK1MTK4

Italy: https://www.amazon.it/dp/B0CYK1MTK4

Netherlands: https://www.amazon.nl/dp/B0CYK1MTK4

Japan: https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B0CYK1MTK4

Brazil: https://www.amazon.com.br/dp/B0CYK1MTK4

Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0CYK1MTK4

Mexico: https://www.amazon.com.mx/dp/B0CYK1MTK4

India: https://www.amazon.in/dp/B0CYK1MTK4

Saturday, 24 May 2025

The Magnetic Anomaly – A Science Fiction Novel (now available on Amazon)

The Magnetic Anomaly – A Science Fiction Novel

The novel version of The Magnetic Anomaly is now available on Amazon (ebook, print version).

This novel began life as a short story, with a similar name, though not exactly the same: The Magnetic Anomaly – A Science Fiction Story (note “the novel” vs “story”). Some reviewers were interested to know where the short story would go, if it was expanded into a novel.

To be honest, I didn’t know myself, until I started writing it. But often the process of writing takes on a life of its own. I think it turned out quite nicely, in my humble but obviously not disinterested opinion. Fortunately, my beta readers agreed with that assessment. I hope other readers agree as well.

Summary

Below is an excerpt from the short story, which is also the first chapter of the novel:

As the summary above indicates, the main characters, geophysicist Alex and geologist Mary, survived their ordeal in the northern exploration camp. However, there was much more involved, behind the scenes, than they could imagine at the time.

The novel version of the story expands greatly on this.

Alex and Mary get caught up in a vast conflict and exciting adventure, one of literally cosmic proportions. During this time, they encounter a variety of enigmatic persons, as well as other entities, all of whom are also engaged in this struggle. With some of them they end up allying; with others, they contend in deadly conflict. The struggle takes them around the world, and eventually to the far reaches of the solar system.

During this time their relationship continues to evolve and deepen. Circumstances demand that they grow in courage and confidence, though within the scope of (mostly) normal people, as has been the case for countless people throughout history.

The story also showcases some historical events, relating to different versions of what went on in Antarctica, shortly after World War 2. Several versions of these events, official history and unofficial UFO lore are given. This becomes a springboard to much of the action. Some philosophical and scientific ideas are also explored, though not in such a way as to get in the way of the action, at least not for long.

Below is a Table of Contents, to give some hints of where the story goes.

Chapter 1 – The Magnetic Anomaly

Chapter 2 – The Radioactive Anomaly

Chapter 3 – The Battle of the Tableland

Chapter 4 – Fight and Flight In the Alien Tunnels

Chapter 5 – Special Ops

Chapter 6 – Jack and the Underground Base

Chapter 7 – Debriefing

Chapter 8 – Flight from the Base

Chapter 9 – Evasive Manoeuvres

Chapter 10 – Orbital Mechanics

Chapter 11 – Crash Dive