I thought I would change up my July blog post. It has been about a month since the paperback version of EQUILIBRIUM came out (visit https://www.tomburnsbooks.com if you still need a copy). The feedback that I have received on my novel EQUILIBRIUM has really been fantastic. My sincere thanks to all of you!Being new to this world of fiction, I am really thankful to everyone for “spreading the word” to your family, friends, co-workers, colleagues, book clubs, and neighbors so that others can hopefully enjoy it too.I have mentioned that I am working on a follow-up novel that I think will be ready in the second half of 2018 so I thought I would give you an unedited glimpse of the first few pages. The story will still involve fictionalized versions of real events – in some instances taken from stories that you may have heard on the news (both world events and engineering events). Don’t worry Nick and Katie will still be in here as well. I would like to hear your feedback on the first few pages and, as time goes on, I will probably send out a few more previews in the months to come.I hope you enjoy. Please go ahead and Share/Like this blog post with others on social media!*********************************************************************1Monday June 4, 20071:00 PMRussell County, KentuckyJ. T. McKay stuffed the last piece of bologna sandwich into his mouth and chewed it a couple of times before washing it down with what was left of his Coke.  He regretted that lunch time was ending as the cool blast from the pickup’s air conditioning provided a welcome refuge from the heat. Today’s temperature was expected to top out above ninety degrees in the south central Kentucky towns of Jamestown, Monticello, and Burkesville. Parked on an access road on the downstream side of Wolf Creek Dam, J. T. knew that was his location was practically in the middle of those three towns and, as such, he was in for a hot afternoon outside today. As the sun beat down upon the hood of his truck he stared up at the massive concrete structure comprising the main part of the dam standing two hundred and fifty eight tall in front of him. Knowing that twenty five stories of Lake Cumberland stood above him on the other side of the concrete structure made him feel a sense of awe and queasiness at the same time.Wolf Creek Dam was one of several constructed after the second World War in southern Kentucky to provide flood control, generate electricity and allow for year-round navigation on local waterways. Those benefits were in addition to forming Lake Cumberland – a lake stretching over one hundred miles long with over twelve hundred miles of zig-zagging shoreline etched into the Kentucky hillsides. More than just water for many people in southern Kentucky, the lake provided a livelihood by way of the leisure economy it had spawned. From Memorial Day until Labor Day marinas – State Dock, Lee’s Ford, Jamestown, Conley Bottom, and others – were invaded with vacationers from the north looking for a boating, skiing, fishing and eating get away. Many of J. T.’s family and friends were happy to oblige the vacationing masses – for a price.“Can’t put it off any longer,” he mumbled to himself as he reached over and plucked his hardhat off of the passenger seat. Getting out of the truck he was met head-on by the stifling heat and humidity that would be with him the rest of the afternoon. To make matters worse, he was required by his employer – the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – to wear a florescent orange safety vest while performing any type of inspection work. Although the vest was lightweight nylon, it still was another layer of fabric on a day when an additional layer was the last thing needed when working outside. Slipping on the vest and J. T. grabbed a clipboard, tape measure, camera, and walking stick from behind his seat and turned around to begin his work.The inspector really considered himself to be a farmer, a guy who liked getting his hands dirty raising corn and soybeans on his twenty acres in nearby Adair County.  He tried his hand at other things as well, including tobacco and cattle but those were difficult. Regulations on tobacco had dried up federal subsidies and the market for beef was suffering through a period of extremely low prices. His job with the Corps helped him enough to almost balance his budget. Besides the Corps had trained him to do a number of jobs, one of which was what he was doing today – a visual inspection of Wolf Creek Dam’s earthen embankment.“Cross-trained sounds a helluva a lot better when you’re inside,” he muttered to himself as he walked away from the truck.Before his one-day training course in dam inspection J. T. thought, as many people do, that a dam like the Wolf Creek Dam are composed only of the huge concrete wall. The concrete section of the Wolf creek Dam was built on rock and contained a spillway capped by ten huge rectangular gates allowing water to be released from the lake as needed. It was in this section where the powerhouse is located, where the water spins the turbines to generate 800,000,000 kilowatt hours of electricity – enough to power eighty thousand houses for an entire year. Although this is what visitors recognize as “the dam”, the reality is that the concrete portion of the Wolf Creek Dam makes up only about one-third of the total length of the dam. The larger portion of the dam is its earthen embankment – a ten million cubic yard pile of well-compacted clay and rock taken from the valleys surrounding the site. During construction it took roughly one million dump trucks to transport that amount of material to the site. It was that massive pile of dirt which was needed to withstand the pressure of the two hundred and fifteen feet water which would form behind it. The embankment coupled with the concrete portion of the dam were responsible for holding back the largest reservoir east of the Mississippi – Lake Cumberland.