Mark Hunter > Recent Status Updates

About the next best thing to brains is good humor.

--Kin Hubbard

How the Scrinch Loved Christmas ... Songs:

https://markrhunter.blogspot.com/2025...

Don't tell. And Merry Christmas!

Happy birthday, Emily!

https://markrhunter.blogspot.com/2025...

I couldn't live without her, although there are times she'd like to kill me.

An Ode To Odious Winter:

https://markrhunter.blogspot.com/2025...

Winter makes me wax poetic, and also gives my fingers a waxy coating of ice. The prose is purple, just like my skin.

Coming Attractions, and the anthologies I'm in, are free on Smashwords this month:

https://markrhunter.blogspot.com/2025...

Okay so--"again". But it's still a free book, so Merry Christmas! Leave cookies and milk for Santa, and reviews for authors.

Years ago I had a tape of classical music with one piece that was my absolute favorite--then I lost the tape, and couldn't remember the name.

This morning I was editing my novel Radio Red for reissue--it was originally published eight years ago--and guess what classical piece a character plays? Yep. Dvorak's Slavonic Dance No. 4 in F Major, Op. 46, you guessed right!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0-2j...

Radio Red Is On the Front Burner:

https://markrhunter.blogspot.com/2025...

It won't be re-released in time for Christmas, but we've got plenty of other books that make great holiday presents. Not to mention winter reading, and it looks like this will be a good winter for that.

We'll find a way to let you know about those!

Our Twelve Books of Christmas:

https://markrhunter.blogspot.com/2025...

Okay, the books aren't OF Christmas, but they make great Christmas gifts, and that'll ring an author's bell.

For those of you who have Substack, I'm also posting the blog there:

https://markrhunter.substack.com/p/th...

I can't guarantee the accuracy: For instance, I’m not sure if the Pilgrims watched football on a black and white TV, or listened to it on the radio.

The Real First Thanksgiving, More or Less:

https://markrhunter.blogspot.com/2025...

"What was actually served at that original celebration? And did they really all sit down at long tables outside, in New England, in November? That’s a recipe for a nice heaping helping of frostbite."

Googling yourself Is Strange:

https://markrhunter.blogspot.com/2025...

Sometimes our books show up in the strangest places ... on a related note, does anyone speak Dutch?

Ok, so I've mostly finished winterizing the house--a month later than normal, which is par for the course this year. Now I'm clocking in to my part time job: Time to write. I'm taking a deep dive into notable Hoosiers, for our Hoosier Hysterical sequel.

We Need a Little Christmas ... Again:

https://markrhunter.blogspot.com/2025...

"There was a time when seeing anything Christmas related before November would send me into a murderous rage. That's how I got banned from Wal-Mart one August."

Renovations Make a White House Blue:

https://markrhunter.blogspot.com/2025...

A history of planned and unplanned changes at the Executive Mansion. Change is what history is all about, of course.

"George Washington picked out its location, about an equal distance between the local Starbucks and a CVS Pharmacy."

When Indiana cop Chance Hamlin tries to rescue photographer Allie Craine from a tornado, she instead rescues him, from driving into the storm's path.

https://markrhunter.com/storm-chaser

Chance doesn't like being rescued. He doesn't like photographers, or being stuck with one. But someone is causing disasters just in time for her to photograph them--and Allie may be involved.

An Active Author's Autumn:

https://markrhunter.blogspot.com/2025...

Two live presentations, a book signing, a radio station interview, a TV interview, and a podcast, and we're exhausted. Coming up next: Actual writing.

Has anyone else has experienced this long term but minor cold Emily and I have had for the last few weeks? The usual: Cough, sore throat, sinus issues, an occasional sneeze, general exhaustion, so on. Not that bad, although a few times it flared up and put us flat out for a day or two. The sinus and joint pain is, I think, more of a seasonal/weather thing, or maybe it's all connected.

No Electronics: Stories to Scare Your Grandkids:

https://markrhunter.blogspot.com/2025...

"After I explained how it operated, she looked it over carefully and asked, 'But where's the power cord?'"

Stars of Stage, Radio, and Podcast:

https://markrhunter.blogspot.com/2025...

We're going to be on the radio Wednesday morning, and I almost missed that we're up on a podcast right now! I'm posting more because there's so much going on, but I try not to be boring. (Honestly, I think FB and other sites have been reducing how much these get seen, anyway.)

Grandkids, Pooches, and Public Speaking:

https://markrhunter.blogspot.com/2025...

I took the weekend off, sort of, to recover from public speaking.

What a Month--Welcome To Our Newsletter:

https://markrhunter.blogspot.com/2025...

I don't usually post the newsletter anywhere, even though it usually has content I don't put on my blog. But I also don't usually have two author appearances in the same month, and I really want people to know about them.

Charge Away From Battery Fires:

https://markrhunter.blogspot.com/2025...

The timely focus of this year's Fire Prevention Week is the threat of lithium-ion batteries. You might say it's a hot topic readers should get a charge out of.

Have you wondered what an author's press release looks like, before the media gets it?

No? Oh. Well, it looks like this:

https://markrhunter.blogspot.com/2025...

The trick is to make it easy for news outlets to pull what they need, so they have material and the author has exposure. This is one time when exposure is good. Not like that time I forgot to close the curtains.

We were on TV--and I forgot:

https://markrhunter.blogspot.com/2025...

The problem is that I'm a good writer, but I hired a lousy publicist: me.

Coming Soon, To a Podcast Near Me:

https://markrhunter.blogspot.com/2025...

And also to the Ligonier Public Library and the Community Learning Center in Kendallville. Like our books, we try to get around.

Our Author Appearance Necessity List:

https://markrhunter.blogspot.com/2025...

Our Amazon top ten book (I told you I'd use it!), Haunted Noble County, Indiana, led to us setting up for Albion's Fall Celebration this Saturday. And I just realized I haven't seen our outdoor awning in five years.

Emily pointed out that, even though "ghosts and hauntings" is probably a small category, I can still technically tell people Haunted Noble County, Indiana hit the top 10 on Amazon. I was more impressed that it went past #20,000 in all books. It's better than our other books have done!

Avoiding the Kick Zone:

https://markrhunter.blogspot.com/2025...

Spend time around horses (or mules) and you'll learn valuable lessons--if you survive.

Call For Books, and Authors Appear!

https://markrhunter.blogspot.com/2025...

We're making a few appearances (so far) this fall, and naturally all of our books are tagging along.

In sports, as in many areas, pros practice their plays and their basics, over and over. No swing, throw, or run is wasted: It's all part of the training. I have half a dozen trunk novels that will never see the light of day, but without them I'd have never been published. Writing is editing, but it's also practicing.