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Francis Bacon – 1561-1626

English philosopher. The first credited with saying, "knowledge is power.” Bacon established the principles of the inductive method.

If a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts; but if he will be content to begin with doubts he shall end in certainties.

The are ill discoverers that think there is no land when they can see nothing but sea.

The human understanding is like a false mirror, which, receiving rays irregularly, distorts and discolors the nature of things by mingling its own nature with it.
Nature, to be commanded, must be obeyed.

Riches are a good handmaiden, but the worst mistress.

Hope is a good breakfast, but a bad supper.

Sir Amice Pawlet, when he saw too much haste made in any matter, was wont to say, “stay a while, that we may make an end the sooner.”

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Gator Crossing Mysteries - about to release for distribution:

Woo Burgers in Paradise
Buskers on the Half Shell - Oscar's Tale

Synopsis of the stories:
Woo Burgers in Pariadise is a character-driven comedy/mystery about finding love and serial killers in a small but complicated seaside community.

She’s a cop who will shoot you and he’s a veterinarian with a soft heart. She’s tough on crime and he can’t seem to follow the rules. She’s an insider and he’s an outsider. Her friends are normal and the few friends he has are just beyond the fringe or shed twice a year. She’s got a big family and he’s lonely.

Doc and Sergeant Viki are drawn together by a tumor nestled in the brain of her narcotic-sniffing German shepherd.

Oscar’s Tale, the second in the Gator-Crossing mystery series, continues Doc’s pursuit of Sergeant Viki. Oscar has been gator-napped and Sergeant Viki doesn’t want to pursue the case, but she’s forced to when it’s her only chance to retain her position as a detective in the Isle-of-Palms Police Department.


Woo Burgers in Paradise - short excerpt:
Viki’s Apartment—0630 Hours

I was awakened by a sound I never want to hear again as long as I live—the cocking of a pistol next to my left ear. I tried to turn but I felt the cold hard metal of the barrel poking into the meatus of my ear.

Viki cleared her throat, "I have some questions. You better give me truthful answers."

"Answers?"

"I’m missing something."

"Is this about what I said to Nana Pearl?"

"Leave my family out of this."

"Well, whatever it is, I haven’t got it. And I would appreciate your putting that cannon away.

"I’m missing five hours and I think you’ve got those five hours. And what did you say to my grandmother?"

I swallowed, "She asked what part of the anatomy I liked the best. And I thought she meant like, in anatomy class."

"What did you tell her?"

"The head. And then she said, ‘You mean BJ’s?’ Do you really need your gun for this?"

"I’ll be the judge of that." Viki uncocked her pistol.

I rolled over and Viki was dressed in black silk pajamas. And it’s true, she does look hot in silk. "You were tired. You fell asleep on Martha’s couch. Nothing happened. Martha didn’t take any compromising pictures."

"And how did you know the five hours I was looking for?"

"Don’t start blaming me because you and Sarge were drugged up and asleep on duty."

"Are you saying there were drugs in my brownies? Some kind of knockout drops."

"Just some grass or maybe hash oil."

"Sarge would have told me."

"Sarge had his share. When I woke up, he’d licked almost a full bowl of batter."

"Where was I?"

"On the couch, and Sarge was on the floor, out cold."

"And the last thing I remember, you were sitting at the table, right next to Martha."

"And you promised if I got you out of there, you would go to the movies."

"That’s bullshit."

I chose that moment to get up and go into the bathroom.

When I got out of Viki’s guest bathroom, you’d think I’d wiped my hands on the decorative towels or used one of Viki’s fancy molded fish soaps.

"So let me get this straight," Viki said. "I was out cold on the couch and Sarge was sleeping on the floor and you were sitting at the kitchen table with Martha?"

"Pretty much."

"Then how did Sarge clean out that entire bowl?"

"He got the bowl off the kitchen table."

"But neither you nor Martha did anything to stop him?"

"How’s Sarge?"

"I want to know what happened."

"I need a shower."

I turned to leave the room but then heard Viki cock her pistol again. It sounded like a round slammed home into the butt of a bazooka. I stopped in my tracks and said, "Viki, you have no right, absolutely no right, to scare me with that goddamn pistol."

"I don’t buy your version of the story."

"And you have a mental problem."

"I want the truth."

"You don’t have any call on me."

"I sure as hell do. You’re my partner."

"Jealousy is Cosmo’s number three sign that you’re attracted to me."

"This has nothing to do with jealousy."

"Well, if you’re such a hot-shot detective, you tell me where I was when I was supposed to be guarding this mixing bowl from Sarge?"

"You were with Martha. You were in her bedroom."

"Viki. Don’t go off half-cocked."

"That’s a bad choice of words."

"Viki. You told me. You don’t date partners. You told me in no uncertain terms. You’ve got no call on me. Now, I’m going to get a shower."

"Get your shower and go home. You’re off the case. I don’t need someone I can’t trust."



Special Offer:

For a short time we will be selling Woo Burgers in Paradise -

To receive a signed copy and get free shipping please send me an email at:

alanhbush@earthlink.net



Fred Belland - author of The True Sea

This book (Woo Burgers in Paradise) is what you get when you mix living on Big Pine Key for 29 years, six months of intense chemotherapy and 15 years of practicing veterinary medicine among the unique characters of the Florida Keys with no filter on your anesthetic machine.


Hal O'Boyle - author of Democracy: The Painted Whore, an extremist explains war, drugs, guns, God, gold, and Santa Claus (you've got to love this title)
A cheerful romp interrupted now and then by sulfurous whiffs, stuff the tide washed in. It was like a stroll in Mallory Square at Sunset in March, exotic, entertaining, bizarre. You've molded the Keys deeply wacky raw material into a charming cast of eccentric underachievers. It was a tasty mix of your past and the Keys present.

A Great Leap in the Dark

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Thomas Hobbes 1588-1679

Hobbes promoted a materialist philosophy and believed in the morality of the soul. He viewed freedom as being able to do what one desires.

Words are wise men’s counters, they do but reckon with them, but they are the money of fools.

The privilege of absurdity; to which no living creature is subject but man only.

(In a state of nature) No arts; no letter; no society; and which is worst of all, continual fear and danger of violent death; and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.

The praise of ancient authors proceeds not from the reverence of the dead, but from the competition and mutual envy of the living.

Such truth as opposeth no man’s profit nor pleasure is to all men welcome. Last Words: I am about to take my last voyage, a great leap in the dark.

A Little Foolery that Governs the World.

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John Selden – 1584-1654

An English jurist and scholar

Few men make themselves masters of the things they write or speak.

Marriage is a desperate thing.

Pleasure is nothing else but the intermission of pain.

Thou little thinkest what a little foolery governs the whole world.

They that govern most make the least noise.

Syllables govern the world.

Wise men say nothing in dangerous times.

Preachers say, Do as I say, not as I do.

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To Find Something Pleasing in the Misfortune of Friends -

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Francois, Duc de La Rochefoucauld 1613-1680

A cynical observer in the court of the French king, Louis XIV, and a forefather of the enlightenment.

Part Three

Absence diminishes mediocre passions and increases great ones, as the wind blows out candles and fans fire.

We frequently forgive those who bore us, but cannot forgive those whom we bore.

We always like those who admire us; we do not always like those whom we admire.

Few people know how to be old.

Nothing prevents our being natural so much as the desire to appear so.

Quarrels would not last long if the fault were only on one side.

In the misfortune of our best friends we often find something that is not displeasing.