Compare On This Day

 
 


 Thanksgiving is a day when we, as a country,   give thanks for not only the food on our plate and the material things that we have, but also for the freedom  we enjoy – a freedom that gives us a  lifestyle, which is unique to  the USA.  The turkey on the Thanksgiving table does not arrive without a price. 

 

 

 

As a nation, two weeks before this November day of thanksgiving, we pause on Veterans Day to give thanks to our veterans and their families –– the reason we remain strong –– that we live in peace

and enjoy all the bounties that Thanksgiving represents.

Because of their sacrifices, we have the luxury to appreciate a fiery sunset and have the time to contemplate the wonders of nature …

Instead of the flames of human destruction, that many others throughout the world live with on a daily basis.

Millions visit Yellowstone National Park. They come in peace from all over the world to observe the explosion of nature’s power…..

While others must witness explosions of unrest and destruction on a daily basis.

 

When I hike the hills surrounding my home in California I relish in the vastness, the serenity and the freedom the scene portrays. A feeling of indebtedness to our veterans overcomes me.

Because of our veterans' sacrifices, I do not have to experience this instead.

  

 

On this Veterans Day, please take a moment.  

Remember our veterans.

 

 

 

Let your voice be heard.

Thank a veteran.

Pay it forward with an act of kindness.
Judy Howard's two books in the
Masada Series  --

 Masada's Marine
and
 Masada's Mission  
will be available

 throughout this weekend 

for $ .99,

 beginning Friday , November  11th at 7pm through 7 am on Monday, November 14th.

Masada's Mission

 on Kindle

 

 

 

Masada's Marine

 on Kindle

 

 

Special Veteran's Day Promotion

Special Veteran's Day Promotion.

81% Discount of Judy's Howard's Latest Novel,

MASADA'S MARINE

 $ .99

For A Limited Time!

Begins Sunday,

November 8 at 3pm PST 

A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR OF MASADA’S MARINE

              Before I began writing MASADA’S MARINE, I, like most Americans, never gave much thought to our American service men and women who serve and sacrifice their lives so that I may bask in the California sunshine, sip a $4.00 Caramel Frappuccino, and discuss the latest episode of The Black List or Dancing With The Stars.

              When the subject of our military arose, I proudly stated my patriotic views and gave a blanket, but silent ‘thank you’ to all who lost their lives to keep me safe. My heart twisted in sadness every Veterans Day and Memorial Day. I consider myself an average American.

              When I decided to write MASADA’S MARINE, I imagined it as a nice story about a puppy named Masada who grows up to become a service dog and changes the lives of two men.

              One man, who began his life as a patriotic boy, graduates high school, starts his own family and becomes a gung-ho Marine. The young man has everything to live for until he comes home from his first tour in Iraq with PTSD and loses it all, even his will to live.

              Another man, who began life as the son of a drug addicted mother, learns how to fight a war of survival on the streets and exists inside a life of crime. The pressures of the young man’s illicit career takes its toll, and he ends up in prison, defeated. He, too, has nothing to live for.

              As I penned my story, the characters took on lives of their own and demanded that this not be a nice story about a man and his dog. During hours of research and interviews the characters became people, electric with emotions, and sometimes terrifying, like the firefight that promises only one victor. As I learned more about the invisible disease, PTSD, the story’s heartbeat pulsed out of my control, like the disease itself.

              Masada and her littermates, the real heroes in this drama, matured into valuable service dogs. They changed not only the characters’ lives, but my life as well. I am no longer the silent American. I hope Masada will change your life, too.

Every hour a veteran takes his own life.

Please enjoy an excerpt from Chapter One of Masada’s Marine

MASADA’S MARINE

CHAPTER ONE

She lay on the hardwood floor next to Lance Corporal Alexander March, USMC, as he slept in the dark. An astringent odor mixed in the autumn air drifted down to her nose. She lay still, but opened her eyes. The bedside clock cast shadows across the gold oak floor. She squinted at its green glow and listened to the Marine’s breathing- the only sound – air escaping in jagged puffs from his lungs. The glass patio door in the room allowed light from a flickering streetlamp to beat against the wadded bed sheets. She jerked her head up, ears pointed, just before the Marine’s flailing arms and legs rustled the covers and his cries pierced her ears. The stinging smells of panic signaled her to action. Twenty months of intensive training kicked in.

Her name was Masada. She was an American Service Dog. She was a professional.

She stood ready and would never quit. She would never leave her comrade’s side.

 

Give VETERANS The Gift of EMPATHY and UNDERSTANDING

Veterans Day.

As I wrote MASADA'S MARINE, I spent many days buried in the stories of our men and women in the military who have  returned  home. During my research,  I gained empathy and understanding of their experiences.

I shared in their joy, relief, and gratitude. I felt the warmth of their smiling faces on the tarmac,  the happy surprises of their loved ones.

On this Veterans Day  these   emotions  will be brought to the forefront  again. This time, my book, MASADA'S MARINE  will  tell the rest of their stories, the ones  these men and women don’t tell  or can’t bring themselves to tell. 

Eighteen months of interviews and research taught me our veterans sacrificed much more than just time away from their family and their country.

This Veterans Day I hope to  give something back to them.

MASADA’S MARINE, The Story of A Service Dog and Her wounded Marine Warrior, gives  the  reader empathy and understanding for our men and women returning home.  It reveals the real sacrifices of our men and women in the military.

This VETERANS DAY  give the  priceless gift of empathy and understanding.

On Monday, November 10th and
VETERANS DAY,  Tuesday, November 11th, the digital version of  MASADA’S MARINE will be discounted to $ .99 !!  
 A savings of $ 6.00. 

MASADA'S MARINE, The Story of A Service Dog and Her Wounded Marine Warrior

GET IT ON AMAZON 

  Please share this with your friends and family in order to bring awareness, not only about the effects of PTSD on our veterans, but also how service dogs  enhance their lives.

Our men and women are coming home. Please keep them alive on home soil.

 

Every hour a veteran commits suicide.

 

 

MASADA'S MARINE ON AMAZON

HOW IT ALL BEGAN -PART ONE

This is Part One of a series titled, “How it all began.” 

Statistics prove over 25% of you dream of writing a book.  In the beginning I didn’t include myself in the poll. Writing never occurred to me.  In order for you to understand the life of this writer, I will start this series  by answering some of the questions readers have asked.  To begin with, “Have you always dreamed of becoming an author?

No.  I never dreamed of becoming an author, until the first day in a writing class I attended for the fun of it.  As I put my pen to the paper, I was surprised and a little shaken by the words tumbling out of my head. At that moment   I recognized a burning desire to express myself that had festered within me all my life. I had ignored the yearning because it could never be satisfied, unless I became a preacher on a pulpit or a politician on a podium. Who would listen to me? 

Like a starving, thirsty soul stumbling across an arid land, that simple class of creative writing became an oasis of fulfillment. I soaked up the information offered and sought out to gorge myself with even more. I surfed the internet, delved into books, fiction and non-fiction, and attended conferences as if I were a shark engaged in a feeding frenzy. I wanted, no, I needed to express myself. I had experiences to share, opinions to vent. How best to accomplish the feat than to write a book?

The fun little writing class became like small boat. I paddled along the beach admiring the scenery and absorbing the magic of the moment, unaware I was drifting further out to sea.  One day I looked around and I could no longer see the shoreline.  The water became choppy and I paddled harder.  I felt no panic, but amazement instead, I had come so far, too far to go back.  I had written a complete manuscript.

                                           *******

My fourth anniversary as an author is approaching and I want to thank you, my readers who have followed me on this journey.

 For a limited time, beginning Friday at 8 am on November 7th,  you may take advantage of   DEEP DISCOUNTS, as much as 75%, on COAST TO COAST WITH A CAT AND A GHOST , and GOING HOME WITH A CAT AND A GHOST.   

As an author you can believe me when I say there are no words to express my gratitude to all of you. I hope you take advantage of this offer.

Purchase  MASADA'S MARINE, for $ .99    on Novemeber 10th and VETERANS DAY , November 11th.

 Every hour a veteran commits suicide.