Stranger Than Fiction

I have a difficult time saying no to people. Especially Kindle All-Stars people. So when David Hulegaard, my "brotha from anotha motha," sent me an email asking whether he could take over my blog for a day, how could I refuse him? David's latest book, Strangers has just been released and the KAS folks are all over it. Some acted as beta readers and Tony Healey designed the cover. What can I say? We're a fairly close-knit group. Anyhow, read what David has to say about his latest labor of love then pop over to his website to download a sample story from the collection.

Happy Reading!

Humanity can be ugly.

I toyed with several options for a tagline, but in the end, that's the one I felt represented my new book the closest. I didn't necessarily set out to write an uplifting collection of short stories when I started, but all cards on the table, Strangers took many twists and turns that even surprised me.

My original concept was pretty simple. In all my years of traveling, I had met some rather intriguing characters and amassed an impressive collection of too-crazy-to-be-true stories. At business dinners I was constantly being asked to entertain clients by sharing the latest and greatest of my experiences. Without fail, someone would say to me, "You have GOT to write a book of these stories!"

So at long last, that's what I've done. I sifted through years worth of my compiled notes and selected some of my favorites to share in this book. Some of the stories I experienced first-hand, and others were events retold to me by complete strangers as we traveled together. The things that people will tell you thinking that they'll never see you again would astound you.

Strangers contains eight twisted short stories and is available on Kindle now for $2.99. You can download "Chicago" for free here, but be warned... humanity can be ugly.

David K. Hulegaard

Noble is currently available on Amazon
and the sequel Noble: Bloodlines will be there soon

I rarely call David by his given name. In my brain he goes by his nickname from college that all his buddies call him. This is because I had to separate him from another David. Online, he's "Little Bro" or "Big D." Why? Because he reminds me of my younger brother and there's only a year separating the two of them. I call him "my brothah from anothah mothah" because I'm a Bostonian and Rs were outlawed in Massachusetts back in 1690.

But I kid. Truth is, I love David like family. We live 3000 miles apart, but thanks to the Internet, we can "see" each other any time we want.

The Ballad of the Forgotten

By: David K. Hulegaard

We were there.

Though you’d be hard-pressed to tell now,

Time once belonged to us.

Inches of thick concrete now entomb our resting bones,

But we were there.

Layers of asphalt have buried the cobblestone that marked our streets,

But we were there.

Victorian homes, once so elegant, so prominent in our time;

Stand broken and weeping, subdivided and rented out for a buck.

But we were there.

Our treasures have been tucked away in attics;

Shoved to the bottom of uncatalogued boxes.

The fruits of our sore hands have been covered up by advertisements and spray paint.

The sounds of our brass instruments, played to perfection, threaten to become lost to time.

But we were there.

We did our part before passing the torch to the next in line;

Instilling the knowledge we accumulated from our broken backs.

We set an example and left the rest up to you.

We closed our eyes, squeezed the stems in our palms, and said goodbye, one-by-one.

But we are not at rest.

Our hearts have grown weary, and our eyes brought to tears.

We can only watch as you dismantle in no time what took us decades to build.

Our constructions have been torn down to the foundations we poured,

While throngs of disenchanted idlers inherit the space we once called home.

But we were there.

No matter how hard you try to erase us from existence,

We were there.

No matter how many fresh coats of paint you apply,

We were there.

No matter how many children will never speak our names,

We were there.

No matter how many of our cemeteries you encroach with apartment complexes,

We were there.

We mattered.

David K. Hulegaard is an author and student of film and music. Among his writing credits are the Sci-Fi series NOBLE, the paranormal novella THE JUMPER, and the short-story collection STRANGERS. He currently lives in Oregon City with his fiancee, and their Welsh Terrier, Tobi.

LINKS:

http://davidhulegaard.com

http://www.amazon.com/author/dkhulegaard