Do You Love? To Read? Here's a Free Ebook for You. It's Easy.

SMOKED, by Patrick Quinlan. 
Discover how to get the ebook version of this novel free, for a limited time.

 

Many years ago (surprisingly many), Thee Optimist harbored an ambition to become a novelist.  In particular, he wanted to write thrillers.

It seemed like a very silly idea, and most people he knew didn't take it seriously.

To support himself, he worked long hours at other jobs (public relations, fundraising, politics, etc.).  

What a waste of time to then work long hours late at night, trying to write novels, with no guarantee of success.

Why not have fun instead?

Thee Optimist's secret weapon in all this was he didn't sleep that much.  As a young man, he was gifted with something like boundless energy.

That's not fair, but nothing really is.

Thee youthful Optimist, demonstrating boundless energy during Thee Writing Process.  He had fun, too.  Probably a little too much.

He wrote a few novels that were real porkers, eh, corkers.  He had acquired a literary agent while still in his 20s, but major publication eluded him.  

Usually, he would submit a novel, only to find out months later that it had been rejected by dozens of publishing houses.

This situation changed abruptly in 2004 (yes, I know).  That year, Thee Optimist wrote a crime novel called SMOKED.

Two weeks after submitting it, he had a North American deal with a New York publisher.  A few weeks after that, he had a worldwide deal, in English, with a London publisher.

Publishers from other countries purchased translation rights.  The book became a bestseller in various places, and was optioned for film three times. 

SMOKED changed Thee Optimist's life dramatically, and for the better.  

Of course, all of this took place in the era before ebooks.

But ebooks are here now, and the ebook version of SMOKED will be free during the month of July.  Click here to get it, or keep reading this blog post to learn more.

An early paperback version of SMOKED, that used to appear in airport bookstores and drug stores.  Many versions of the book came out over the years, but this somewhat rare cover is Thee Optimist's favorite.  

Get Your Free Thing Right Here

There is a website called Smashwords.  They sell ebooks on that website.  It's pretty much all they do.

They are having a large ebook sale this July (2025, if you are visiting from the future).

SMOKED is free to download in any format you might like, as part of this sale.  You can probably find many other free or steeply discounted ebooks there as well.

You will probably have to make a Smashwords account, but doing so is free of charge and only takes a couple minutes.

Click here to get SMOKED for free on Smashwords.  You can also click on either of the SMOKED covers above.

Click on the above image of Thee Optimist to discover some other, totally different person with the same name as Thee Optimist.  It's a common name. 

Yes, Thee Optimist knows this person, a little bit.  

He is cool.

This is the Dutch translation of SMOKED.  In Dutch, WRAAK is a word that means "revenge."

Words of Wisdom

"Energy and persistence conquer all things."

- Benjamin Franklin