J. Timothy King

Dear email spammers everywhere. For future reference:

I already have all the medications I need, and I sure as hell wouldn’t get them from Canada!?
I have already had all the news from CNN that I can stand.
I am currently satisfied with my sexual prowess. (Really, I am. Just ask my wife.)
If you really want me to […]

I just got off the phone with RCN, because I got my new RCN bill, the first after they switched completely to digital. They’ve proven better at irking me than even Comcast was.
To review, about a month and a half ago, I got an oversized postcard in the mail from RCN. It said, “You’ll lose […]

(This post is a follow-up to yesterday’s post, “Update on Helena-West Helena Police State: They could be ripping off my book for their press releases.” Catch the whole true story from the beginning, starting here.)
Cited in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Northwest Edition yesterday, also found at ArkansasOnline and other sources:

“Under the old curfew, everyone was subject to some minimal intrusion,” [Mayor James] Valley said. “Now, if people are sitting out in their yard talking, it’s not going to be a big deal. But if they are out drinking or smoking a blunt, that’s going to be a problem.”
Valley and Scott said police officers will continue stopping and questioning people in the saturation zones, just as they did in the first curfew zone. As long as a person has a “legitimate reason” for moving through the saturation zone, Valley said, he’ll be allowed to pass.  Click to continue »

A thread on the Self-Publishing mailing list a couple weeks ago impressed even more strongly on me how backwards the book industry is for minor authors, including self-published authors, and that we really should be doing things the opposite of how the big publishers do.
Case in point: Here’s how most book publishers sell their books. […]

As reported by KARK (channel 4 in Little Rock, the NBC affiliate), Helena-West Helena politicians have come up with an alternate plan, after the ACLU lambasted the mayor for imprisoning citizens—both innocent and guilty—in their own homes since last Thursday.
(I’m actually not clear on whether the whole neighborhood has been under blanket, continual curfew, or whether it’s only part of the neighborhood. What I had read last week led me to understand it was the whole neighborhood. Now, I’m seeing some reports like that of KARK, which says “Second Street and the surrounding blocks.” Others, however, still talk only about the whole neighborhood. Blog posts I’ve been able to find have been no more helpful. But I’ll keep an eye out for an eyewitness with a blog. If you know of a local with a blog posting about this story, please leave a link in the comments!)
The alternative, as KARK reports it, is what I would call the “Can I see your papers?” plan.  Click to continue »

Buried in a Zogby poll about the right of secession—35% of those under age 30 would support their state if it decided to secede from the US!— Buried at the bottom is a separate question, “I believe the United States’ system is broken and cannot be fixed by traditional two-party politics and elections.” 44% of respondents agreed with that statement, that the US political system is broken.
Little wonder, considering the growing dissatisfaction with the political process and the general feeling of helplessness when one looks at the choices we’re given by the ruling elite. Or maybe I’m just projecting.
In any case, I then ran across this tidbit, which I’ll have to work into Abe’s Turn at some point. This is just so Sam Baedes. (Thanks to Chris Brunner from The LRC Blog for posting a link to this story.) As reported by KTHV, the CBS affiliate in Little Rock, AK, Mayor James Valley last Thursday confined everyone who lives in Helena-West Helena (a neighborhood on the Westside of Helena) to their homes, in a non-stop curfew that “could last for days.” (As of now, Monday night, August 11, I’ve been able to find no word that martial law.. er, I mean, the curfew has been lifted.)
The justification? Fighting crime. Yes, you read that right. This dickwad has apparently made everyone, innocent and guilty, a prisoner in his own home, because he wants to curb the actions of a few criminals.
Get these quotes:  Click to continue »

First, shameless self-promotion: If you haven’t already, click here and sign up for a chance to get a free copy of my upcoming book.
Some interesting, angering, and inspiring tidbits I ran across this weekend:
Do you think that Sunni and Shi’a fight, have fought since forever, can do nothing except fight? Think again! Guest blogger at […]

I had written and completed numerous shorter works over the years, but The Conscience of Abe’s Turn: Season 1 Episodes 1-4 is the first full novel-length work I had ever written and edited to completion. The experience taught me a whole new set of lessons.
Some of these lessons I learned from my own editing experience. […]

Here’s a Friday Snippet from one of the bonus extras included in the upcoming, first volume of The Conscience of Abe’s Turn, a retrospective essay entitled “Whatever Happened to Zorro?” about what inspired and motivated me to write Abe’s Turn.
Note that I’m going to be giving away a limited number of copies of the book. […]

I’m busy at work, finishing up the extra chapters of the first volume of The Conscience of Abe’s Turn. And when that’s done, it’ll take a few weeks to get the first real copies. I’m going to be giving away a limited number of these very first copies. (I don’t know how many yet.)
Here’s the thing: I’m only giving away these free books to people who pre-register by signing up for the “Abe’s Turn Premium Content” email list. This is a low-volume email list that will include announcements of contests and giveaways, new Abe’s Turn products, and links to stories and essays not published on the website.
Also, I ask that if you enter the giveaway (when the time comes) that you be willing to give me a short testimonial. Just a quick, one-line review (positive or negative). Or that you post (and email me the link) a review on your blog, or on a third-party article site, or somewhere else on the Internet. The review can be positive or negative. (“Love me. Hate me. Just please don’t ignore me,” as they say.)
If you don’t know whether you’ll want to enter this giveaway, start by reading why you might hate The Conscience of Abe’s Turn and preview the text of the story online.
To Become Eligible for the Giveaway…
So if you want to be eligible for the upcoming book giveaway—Or even just to find out the details (when the time comes)—use the form below to sign up for the “Abe’s Turn Premium Content” email list:  Click to continue »