Maroon Rising
Page 24
Another Jamaican friend, who happens to live in New York, Thremane Henry, helped me to understand history, city details, music, and had some great suggestions on settings and pertinent cultural aspects of the country. As one of a few trusted pre-readers, he also offered insight and encouragement on the plot and storyline for Maroon Rising.
Thanks also to my friend and publicist, Ann-Marie Nieves of GetredPR, for her unwavering support, brainstorming, energy, introductions and creativity. You’re the best. Also to Tim Harkness illustrator extraordinaire, along with John Wojciech of C-Straight, my webpage designer, and to Cathy Snipper at Island Outpost for her help in Jamaica.
Thank you to the team at The Editorial Department (TED): Renni Browne, Ross Browne, Peter Gelfan, Shannon Roberts, Morgana Gallaway Laurie, Jane Ryder, Liz Felix and Tad Daggerhart. I’ve worked with TED as my editorial team for 20 years, and they do an amazing job.
One last thing, people often ask me about my writing habits. The reality is that it takes a lot of time and inspiration to write and edit books, and given the amount of time I travel (over 100 commercial flights in 2015, so far), I thought you might enjoy seeing a partial list of cities, countries, airlines, and hotels, aside from my writing barn, where I wrote portions of Maroon Rising. Someday I will travel less and write more. Here you go …
New York, NY
Key West, FL
Islamorada, FL
Wellington, FL
Blacksburg, VA
Hamilton, VA
Richmond, VA
Ashland, VA
Nashville, TN
Denver, CO
Pasadena, CA
St. Barths
Jamaica
Amtrak Acela
Delta Shuttle
USAir
United Airlines
American Airlines
Frontier Airlines
NoMad Hotel
London NYC Hotel
Pier House Hotel
Strawberry Hill Resort
GoldenEye Resort
Langham Hotel
Ace Hotel
and more...
And finally, to my lovely ladies Holly, Bailey and Cortney, thank you for your love and support. Never give up on your dreams, some day they may actually come true …
About the Author
John H. Cunningham is the author of the best selling, five book, Buck Reilly adventure series, which includes Red Right Return, Green to Go, Crystal Blue, Second Chance Gold and Maroon Rising. Through the years, John has been a bouncer at a Key West nightclub, a diver, pilot, magazine editor, commercial developer, song writer and global traveler. He has either lived in or visited the many island locations that populate the series, and has experienced or witnessed enough craziness and wild times to keep the Buck Reilly series flowing. John mixes fact with fiction and often includes real people in his novels, like Jimmy Buffett, Matt Hoggatt, Thom Shepherd and Bankie Banx to augment the reader’s experience. Adhering to the old maxim, “write what you know,” John’s books have an authenticity and immediacy that have earned a loyal following and strong reviews.
John lives in Virginia with his wife and two daughters, and spends much of his time traveling. His choices for the places and plots that populate the Buck Reilly series include many subjects that he loves: Key West, Cuba, Jamaica, and multiple Caribbean settings, along with amphibious aircraft, colorful characters, and stories that concern themselves with the same tensions and issues that affect all of our lives.
For John’s other books and music, you can go to his website and link from there:
WWW.JHCUNNINGHAM.COM
Rum Punch
By Thom Shepherd and John Cunningham
Lazy afternoon, with Bob Marley on
Got the Beach Bar boogie
And Bacardi in a jar
Mix it on up, and pour it over ice
Smiles all around, yeah
Rum punch on a hot summer day
feeling down island
In a happy kinda way
The sun is-a shining, ain’t nobody whining
We’re just doing fine
Sand between my toes, and the sun on my nose
Got good friends together, and some nobody knows
It don’t matter ’cause everyone agrees
Too many days-a working and not enough of these
Hell-yeah, everybody’s fine
Gettin-on a buzz, don’t care about the time
Rum punch on a hot summer day
feeling down island
In a crazy kinda way
The sun is-a shining, ain’t nobody whining
We’re just doing fine
I said, we’re just doing fine
What’s it really matter
What’s it all about
Choosin’ to be happy
Drink away the doubt
Laughter is the flavor
With a little pinch of love
Throw it in a pitcher and mix me up some of that
Rum punch on a hot summer day
feeling down island
In a happy kinda way
The sun is-a shining, ain’t nobody whining
We’re just doing fine, yeah
Living on island time
Mix me up some
Rum punch
Mix you up some
Rum punch
Drink us up some
Rum punch
“Rum Punch” by Thom Shepherd, and cowritten by John H. Cunningham, will be released on Amazon and iTunes simultaneously with Maroon Rising
THE BALLAD OF BUCK REILLY
(Available for download, along with the album
Workaholic in Recovery from Amazon and iTunes)
Table of Contents
Redemption Song
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
So Many Rising
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Capture Land
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Lava Ground
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58