Bad Penny

  • You thought Bad Penny was fiction?

    ByJohn Brown

    How about former CIA operatives and Navy Seals forming a private group to rescue child slaves?

    Last January, Ballard made a bold move and left his job to form his own team of former CIA operatives and Navy Seals who operate undercover to bust child slavery rings

    . . . . .

    Ballard’s organization is called Operation Underground Railroad, and members call themselves abolitionists. The references to 19th-century slave liberation are deliberate.

    There are currently 25 million people living in slavery, according to the 2014 Global Slavery Index research released by anti-trafficking organization Walk Free Foundation. The U.S. State Department puts the figure closer to 21 million, and about two million of those slaves are children.

    Ballard’s line of work has opened his eyes to a problem most people are blind to — the fact that there are more people living in slavery now than at the height of the trans-Atlantic slave trade.

    . . . . .

    Ballard knows better than anyone just how easy it is to buy a child. In an operation in Haiti earlier this year, he posed as a trafficker and visited an orphanage where two children — a brother and sister ages 2 and 3 — were sold to him for $15,000 apiece.

    That’s the going rate for a child, says Ballard, and over time, the owner can make millions of dollars by selling the child for sex or forced labor.

    Read the rest at Heroes of 2014. Become an abolitionist here.

    Then go on to read about another hero–the Iron Angel–who is helping folks out of another kind of slavery.

    Then a third called the Vicar of Bagdad, who has had over 1,000 of his flock killed for their beliefs.

    Here’s the full list of the six featured heroes.

  • Did you like BAD PENNY? Nominate it.

    ByJohn Brown

    If you enjoyed Bad Penny, you can nominate Frank, Sam, Carmen, and the gang to be considered for The Whitney Award.

    Here’s how it works. The public nominates novels they like by LDS authors. A panel of judges reads through all the nominations and selects no more than 5 finalists for each genre. Then a “panel of industry professionals, including authors, publishers, bookstore owners, distributors, critics, and others” vote on the nominations. The winners get some good PR and exposure. It’s not Oprah, but getting the word out is critical, and every bit helps.

    To tell the judges to consider BAD PENNY go here: Whitney Nominations. You have until December 31st.  

    Hope you all had a wonderful holiday.

  • Bad Penny is here!

    ByJohn Brown

    BadPennyEbookCoverBoom, baby! Today is thriller day.

    Frank’s an ex-con, trying to go straight. Then an old cell mate shows up and . . . let’s just say things go downhill from there. Throw in a Mormon, some drug lords, and a good helping of guns, and, man, was this book a blast to write!

    You might be interested to know that this story was inspired by a fine old brother in my church in Ohio who was one of those salt-of-the-earth folks who also happened to have been at one time a bank robber.

    When he got out of prison, he determined his life would change. He married a good Methodist girl he met at a church dance, went into the laundry business, and never looked back.

    It was my privilege to record his life history. Not a single event or detail in the book is about him. But I can tell you that his story deserves a book. Hopefully, my character Frank ends up doing as well in life as he did.

    The new release sale will run this week only. Same great prices as the last time.  Get ’em now while they’re hot.

    Bad Penny – eBook (Amazon)

    Bad Penny – Trade Paper (Amazon)

    Hey, John! What about iTunes, Nook, Kobo, etc?

    I’ve been working the last two weeks like a freaking elf from the North Pole trying to get these distribution channels set up, but the holidays seem to have stretched out the channel lead times.

    So here’s what you do: email me right now (click on my face in the sidebar) and tell me which platform you’re interested in. When the book goes live on that platform (and that should be soon), I will set it at the new release price and email you with the news. It’s that easy.

    See how good I am to you? (grin)

    A Holiday Side Note

    If you’re lying around on the 24th and don’t know what to do get the holiday spirit, please watch Merry Madagascar. It’s short, you’ll have a good time, and if you’re not already a King Julien fan, you will be.

    Have an awesome Christmas!

    Sincerely,

    John