Craig Rainey's Author Blog

Bert’s Tale of Booze  Bar-baby-an Excerpted from the novel Stolen Valor, A Carson Brand Novel. Bert is Carson Brand's best friend. He is known for his telling of the following tale during Rennaisance Festivals. A grey sky hovered low upon the wet roofs and bundled masses heaving along the streets of the village. Cloaks clung tightly around chilled shoulders. Peace tied swords weighed heavily, ankle bells tinkled with each step, and ponderous chain mail shifted and tinkled with their haste. The scarred double doors of the great hall resisted the large crowd entering to receive a small amount of warmth and a large amount of ale or Meade. At the center of the roiling throng stood a large bearded man in stiff leathers, broad gauntlets and grieves. His arms spread dramatically as his deep voice boomed. All present knew of him and his tale. No matter the frequency of the telling, his ode was welcomed as a mainstay of the festival. “Settle in with me now.   Join me in

Short Story: As Much Fun as a Barrel of Monkeys  by Craig Rainey He gained consciousness in the familiar confines of his apartment. He knew it was his apartment only because he could see the banister to his bedroom loft and the burgundy accent wall above him. But that was where the familiarity ended. He pulled himself to his feet. "Ow!" He played gingerly at the tender spot on the top of his head: a spot covered by hair, matted with dried blood - apparently his own. Because opening his eyes caused him pain, he squinted through narrowly separated eyelids at his surroundings. He groaned at the sight of one of his home theater speakers poking out of the screen of his 72” 4k television. His green leather sofa, loveseat, and lounger were in turn, toppled, ripped and... "What the hell is that?" he muttered, spitting out small strands of hair…or fur. As he got closer to the sofa, he identified the smeared matter on the leather upholstery as feces. Upon clo

Stolen Valor, A Carson Brand Novel by Craig Rainey Craig Rainey published Stolen Valor - A Carson Brand Novel (Craig Rainey Publishing) in the Summer of 2019. The first in the Carson Brand Series, the story introduces a new action-adventure character and a gripping plot. Carson Brand Embodies the Hero in Everyone    My second novel was an easier project than Massacre at   Agua Caliente - A Western Tragedy (Craig Rainey Publishing 2018) where the script determined much of the storyline in the western, I had free reign over the structure and the content of my new novel. I have always read spy novels. The most formative was The Destroyer Series by Richard Sapir and Warren Murphy. Later I enjoyed the Bourne series, Jack Ryan,  and most recently Jack Reacher . The common theme I grew to dislike was the characterization of the protagonists when they weren't performing heroic feats or saving the day was their social lives. Jack Ryan always featured a particular type of w

Massacre at Agua Caliente by Craig Rainey Craig Rainey Published his first western novel in the Spring of 2018. Massacre at Agua Caliente - A Western Tragedy (Craig Rainey Publishing) is based upon the award-winning screenplay of the same title. The Book Came from Craig Rainey's Roots San Angelo, Texas was not much different in the ’60s, when I grew up there than it was in the late 1800’s and the early years of the twentieth century when my ancestors settled in the region. The car had replaced horse and buggy and we had a TV in every house with at least 3 stations available. But all one had to do was step outside, and the waning remnants of a passing era were easily recognizable in the fast-moving clouds and the warm acrid dust in the ever-present winds. “Angelo”, as it was called by the natives, moved at its own pace. That pace was slow but not plodding. The hot days were oppressive, but you got used to it. Country wisdom was known simply as wisdom. Anyone without a