Five Turner e-books on sale for 99 cents

Five of my e-books will be reduced in price to 99 cents for 48 hours beginning at 10 a.m. Sunday on Amazon Kiudle. (Those of you who do not have a Kindle can download the free Kindle app.)

The five include my novels No Child Left Alive, The Devil's on Facebook, and Small Town News and non-fiction books Let Teachers Teach and The Best of Sports Talk.

No Child Left Alive is the story of one year in a dysfunctional high school as teachers battle out-of-control students and clueless, self-absorbed administrators (Where do I come up with these ideas?). It is the book that C. J. Huff testified has nothing to say whatsoever about education and frequent Joplin Globe columnist Anson Burlingame says is pornography. After you read it, you will begin to wonder if C. J. Huff knows anything about education and if Anson Burlingame knows anything about pornography.

The Devil's on Facebook is an updated version of my 2006 novel Devil's Messenger and is a combination horror story/murder mystery. A teenage girl communicates with her murdered father on Facebook. Devil's Messenger, you may remember, is another book that Joplin R-8 Administration cited in its eventually successful effort to fire me. This vile book (according to them) was also pornographic and I allowed students to read it. That is true. Of course, it was never mentioned that the book had been on the shelves at East/South and Joplin High School for seven years.

Small Town News was my first novel, originally published in 2005, and is a fictionalized version of the events of October 31, 2001, when the bank of Diamond was robbed and Diamond R-4 Superintendent Greg Smith on the same day. The book is a satire on what happens when a small town is besieged by the media as newspaper and television reporters battle to get the story.

Let Teachers Teach is a collection of my best writing on education, including some original essays, plus ones that have been published elsewhere. Topics featured include standardized tests, the war against public education and public schoolteachers, my experiences teaching after the Joplin Tornado, remembrances of colleagues and former students, and the challenges that face classroom teachers.

The Best of Sports Talk is a collection of my best sports writing, mostly from the 1990s, including features on current Joplin City Councilwoman Miranda Lewis, about her aunt Nancy Cruzan of the Supreme Court right-to-die case, former Lamar Coach Armando DeLaRosa, who murdered his wife and then killed himself, current Carthage teacher Peggy Lucas as she watched her daughter Tysha, also a teacher now, play her final high school volleyball match, and the girl who received her first kiss at a basketball game, plus the way a swimmer who died of meningitis affected a class of first graders and much, much more.

Things I've Been Thinking About, January 8

A few things I have been thinking about:

A Republican bloodbath in Missouri?- Last year, we saw some key votes in the state legislature that came down to Republicans making sensible decisions and making bi-partisan votes. Don't expect to see that happen much this year. CHIPS is coming to Missouri and I am not talking about the California Highway Patrol motorcycle cops. These are the guys who guided the Kansas GOP on a shift to the right by mounting primary challenges, almost all successful, to Republicans who were not as far to the right as they. It should be another nutty year in Jefferson City.

Turner Report Ramping Up Political Coverage- I plan on adding even more political coverage of the state legislature and other branches of state government than I have had in the past, including videos, news releases, investigative reporting, and commentary. Be sure to check in every day and hopefully, I can help everyone keep things straight. It should be a fascinating session.

Speaking of Political Coverage- I plan to be out and about a lot more as we get closer to the primary election. I hope to attend political events around the area, adding photos, videos, news stories, and commentary. I may even go back to Carthage and bring back the old Garrison Avenue poll. I plan to make the Turner Report, Inside Joplin, and the rest of these blogs the place to be for political coverage in 2014.

Last 12 hours for Small Town News Sale- My first novel, Small Town News, originally published in 2005, is still on sale, in E-book format for another 12 hours from Amazon Kindle.

Will Tomorrow Be the Day?- Barring a barrage of bad weather tonight, it looks like the three new Joplin R-8 schools will open tomorrow morning. It should be exciting times for those attending East Middle School, Irving Elementary School, and Soaring Costs.Elementary School.

Things I'm Thinking About, January 6

Lobbyists' gifts- Some of the legislation that has been pre-filed for the 2014 General Assembly puts a limit on the gifts legislators receive from lobbyists. Isn't it time we followed the example of other states that make it illegal for lobbyists to give legislators anything. The lobbyists already have an advantage- proximity. Is there any reason why they can't meet with senators and representatives in their offices instead of at bars or restaurants? And if they do meet outside of the office, is there any reason why the legislators can't pay for their own meals and drinks. We are already paying them a certain amount each day to cover meals.

If we can't do that- If our elected officials can't bring themselves to cut off their meals, drinks, trip and ball games, there are a few things I would like to see done. On the Missouri Ethics Commission website, require all gifts for legislators' wives, other family members and staff members to be posted on the legislator's page, as well as campaign contributions from the lobbyists. It is also high time that we cut down on the turnaround time from when a legislator receives a gift from a lobbyist and when it shows up on the Ethics Commission website. Currently, a gift received Jan. 1 will not be available for public inspection until March 1. It would still be better just to make the gifts illegal.

A shoutout for Gretchen Bolander- I have enjoyed the work Gretchen Bolander has been doing anchoring the news on KODE. As with the times she has done it in the past or the times she has filled in on the morning show, she always makes those programs better.

Joplin R-8- So many things have been done by the Joplin R-8 School District that have been intended for marketing purposes (down to the recent decision to start selling off the naming rights and monetizing everything else to try to dig out of debt), that it is easy to forget that the first ridiculous naming decision made by the Board of Education was not Soaring Heights, but changing Joplin R-8 School District to Joplin Schools. I was reminded that when I saw the words Joplin R-8 on all of the stations today as they posted schools that will be closed tomorrow. Every other school district in the area is R-1, R-2, R-3, etc. It is that way all across Missouri. Is it that much easier to sell Joplin Schools? I will continue to refer to it as the Joplin R-8 School District, not only because I like it better, but because to the state, that is still what we are.

Small Town News Sale- Don't forget that for two days beginning at 10 a.m. tomorrow, my first novel, Small Town News, first published in 2005, wil be available for 99 cents in e-book form. The book is the fictionalized version of events of October 31, 2001, when Diamond Superintendent Greg Smith disappeared and the bank of Diamond was robbed.

Small Town News e-book on sale for 99 cents beginning tomorrow

The e-book version of my first novel, Small Town News, will be available for a reduced price of 99 cents for two days beginning at 10 a.m. Tuesday morning.

Small Town News was inspired by events that took place Oct. 31, 2001, in Diamond when the bank was robbed and the school superintendent, Dr. Greg Smith, disappeared on the same day. At first, media reports seemed to link the two events, though later it turned out there was no connection at all. Dr. Smith's body was found the following week, in his car at the bottom of a pond just outside the Diamond city limits. Newton County Coroner Mark Bridges eventually ruled that Dr. Smith committed suicide.

At the time, I was teaching current issues, a writing-intensive class, at Diamond Middle School. In one of my classes, we discussed the situation and I was surprised by the vehemence of the opinions students had about the behavior of the media during the whole situation. They were particularly disturbed by the way Dr. Smith's widow was treated and the scope of the questions with which she was bombarded. Almost 100 percent of the students thought the media should leave the woman alone.

The student comments got me thinking about writing the book, which is a fictionalized version of those events. The focus is on the media, as seen through the eyes of a student, a high school junior named Tiffany Everett who has a one-week internship with one of the three local television stations.
Within the 196 pages of the book, the way the media handles news in a small town is scrutinized though the actions of the high school junior, her teacher, the television reporter to whom she is assigned, and the editor of the town's newspaper.

Small Town News continues to be available in paperback at Amazon.com and other internet sources and locally at Changing Hands Book Shoppe and Always Buying Books in Joplin and Pat's Books in Carthage.

(The cover that is pictured is the cover of the paperback and not the e-book version.)

Things I'm Thnking About Today- January 4

-Playoffs Over for Chiefs- After watching wins by Oklahoma and MU the last two night, I was hoping the Chiefs would make it three in a row today. Great game- lousy result. Joe Montana and Marcus Allen are getting further and further in the rear view mirror.

-Marty Schottenheimer Got a Raw Deal- Speaking of the Montana/Allen Chiefs, over the past few days after Washington fired head coach Mike Shanahan, the pundits have talked about all of Redskins owner Dan Snyder's poor coaching hires, one of whom was former Chiefs Coach Marty Schottenheimer. Setting the record straight, Schottenheimer did not do a bad coaching job for Washington. He took a team that did not have much ability and after losing the first five or six games of the year, guided it to an 8-8 record and got fired for his efforts. Schottenheimer also got a raw deal in San Diego where he posted a 14-2 record, lost in the first round of the playoffs and got fired. He was replaced by Norv Turner, who came nowhere near that kind of record but hung around for years. Schottenheimer never received the credit he deserves.

-Why is Debby Woodin Writing About Downton Abbey?-I thought there was nothing the Joplin Globe could do that would shock me any more, but today's page one is a head scratcher. One of the few remaining journalistic assets the Globe has is veteran reporter Debby Woodin. Her reporting on former Jasper County Public Administrator Rita Hunter is the last solid investigative reporting that has graced the Globe's page. So why in the world do the Globe editors have her doing a story on local people who watch the PBS show Downton Abbey? When you have a whole group of smug, self-important people who write about entertainment, why waste one of the newspaper's real assets?

-Missing the Civil Rights Research Project- I am going to miss teaching for the next few weeks more than I have at any time since I was removed from the classroom nine months ago. Monday would have marked the beginning of the annual third quarter research project on the Civil Rights Movement. That was always my favorite part of the school year.

- Sale Set for Small Town News E-Books- A couple of advertisements to end today's musings. Beginning Jan. 7 for two days, the e-book version of my first novel, Small Town News, will be available for 99 cents. It normally sells for $2.99. That book, fiction based on a real-life occurrence, the 2001 disappearance of Diamond Superintendent Greg Smith and the robbery of the Bank of Diamond, was originally published in 2005.

-No Child Left Alive- If you would like to see what can happen when a superintendent is willing to cut any corners to bring up a high school's graduation rate, including gift grades, ignoring criminal activity, and undercutting teachers, you might check my novel No Child Left Alive, available in both paperback and e-book.