# AMSTERDAM 2012 - Euro Thriller



## kayakruthie (Jan 28, 2010)

After my publisher turned down this Euro thriller for being too controversial, I published it on Kindle, where it has met with great success, doing what controversial books are meant to do--stirring up readers and opening up discussion on difficult topics.



The story:

A young woman witnesses a murder in Amsterdam that touches off a Muslim rebellion and leads to the Great Eurabian War-World War III.

During her summer break, Ann Aulis travels to Amsterdam with her boyfriend Peter to visit the Anne Frank Museum. They spend the night with a friendly Dutch couple, and the next morning discover their hosts have been murdered. Ann and Peter flee to London only to discover the murders have touched off a Muslim rebellion in Holland that spreads to England. They return to the US, where Peter is detained at Kennedy Airport, then taken away by FBI agents.

Ann returns to her family in Los Angeles, horrified as she sees Muslim rebellions in Europe spread to civil war. With her lover in Guantanamo Bay Prison, Ann watches the United States slowly get dragged into the Eurabian war. As the Muslim world establishes a new caliphate, the United States falls into a major recession caused by high oil prices. Then a major flu epidemic. The only thing keeping Ann sane is her deep attachment to Anne Frank, and her love for Peter. Finally, Ann throws off her passivity, and decides to act.

Hope you enjoy!


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## mamiller (Apr 28, 2009)

We're happy you decided to go the Kindle route as well.    Welcome.  The book sounds intriguing.


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## Dave Dykema (May 18, 2009)

Your link doesn't work. I found the book manually, but not through your link.

Sounds interesting.


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## CegAbq (Mar 17, 2009)

Sounds interesting; I dl'd a sample.


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## Rebekah (Oct 9, 2009)

That looks good.  I may be buying it soon.  Thanks for sharing!


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## MarthaT (Mar 3, 2009)

that looks very interesting


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## J Dean (Feb 9, 2009)

Very cool idea.

Yeah, sometimes, what is not politically correct makes publishers nervous, and that's really too bad.


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## kayakruthie (Jan 28, 2010)

J Dean--

At first I was surprised that my publisher, then others turned it down because of the politics.  After all, there are lots of books about terrorism out there.  I think it was my approach, telling the story from a young woman's point of view, in a very personal way, as it happens, as if it has already happened, that makes it so scary and controversial.  

In any case, I enjoy the opportunity to epublish on Kindle which opens a whole new dynamic between reader and writer.  I'm excited to be part of it.


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## Leslie (Apr 7, 2008)

Hi Kayakruthie,

I am sending you a PM with a gentle reminder about bumping author threads. Thanks....

Leslie
Global Mod


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## davinci (Feb 24, 2010)

I took a chance a week ago and downloaded this book.  Wow!  What a ride.  I can't believe this hasn't gotten published.  I noticed this morning that Francisco lower her price to .99 from 3.99. 

Check out the reviews.  They say it better than I can.


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## Alastair Dandy (Feb 21, 2010)

At 99 cents, this is stealing from the author - unless thousands buy it and give her just reward for her excellent work.


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## dfwillia (Jan 10, 2009)

Ruth,
Just picked this one up. The price of .99 made it impossible to ignore. The reviews are wonderful and the plot sounds exciting, compeling and intriguing. Can't wait to get to this book...will move it up to the "next on my reading list" spot. Thanks for "Kindle-izing" it for us. Sounds like this books needs and deserves a wide audience. Good luck and shame, shame on the publishers who turned it down.


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## sem (Oct 27, 2008)

I'm in the middle of this book now. It is well written and compelling. A little scary considering the times. Would recommend this book.


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## davinci (Feb 24, 2010)

I've been trying to think of other books in the same vein, and I came up with Margaret Atwood's "A Handmaid's Tale", Philip Roth's "A Plot Against America", and Dan Brown's "The DaVinci Code", books that gave me something to think about as well as entertained me.  

Really worth supporting writers like this.


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## Sharlow (Dec 20, 2009)

Hey Ruth nice to see you here. I hope everyones treating you well.    I assume the sales are going well on Kindle?


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## kdawna (Feb 16, 2009)

I can't wait to read it. I just downloaded it. Great price, thanks!
Brenda


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## kayakruthie (Jan 28, 2010)

Thank you, everyone, for all of your incredible support.  With the new pricing, my Amazon Best Seller ranking went from 23,000 to 47, and I've sold 450 books in about 24 hours.  It doesn't seem possible, but there it is.  It's really taking off.  

Thank you all again. 

-Ruth


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## Guest (Feb 27, 2010)

That looks good.  I may be buying it soon.  Thanks for sharing!


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## Eric C (Aug 3, 2009)

kayakruthie said:


> Thank you, everyone, for all of your incredible support. With the new pricing, my Amazon Best Seller ranking went from 23,000 to 47, and I've sold 450 books in about 24 hours. It doesn't seem possible, but there it is. It's really taking off.
> 
> Thank you all again.


That's amazing! Big publishing has no balls, Ruthie, otherwise I'd say you're kicking them in the nuts.


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## Bren S. (May 10, 2009)

I picked your book up. I look forward to reading it.


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## Sharlow (Dec 20, 2009)

kayakruthie said:


> Thank you, everyone, for all of your incredible support. With the new pricing, my Amazon Best Seller ranking went from 23,000 to 47, and I've sold 450 books in about 24 hours. It doesn't seem possible, but there it is. It's really taking off.
> 
> Thank you all again.
> 
> -Ruth


whoa, Thats incredible. If I sold that many in two months i'd be dancing.


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## kayakruthie (Jan 28, 2010)

Yes, if I weren't so dizzy, I'd be dancing, too. 1,280 books sold in my weekend promo.  It doesn't seem possible.


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## Neekeebee (Jan 10, 2009)

I picked it up too. My Kindle will keep it safe until the next time I'm in the mood to read a thriller!

N


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## koland (Nov 24, 2008)

Ruth,

Looks like you are #1 in two categories, #2 in another and were at #33 in the Kindle store.

Congrats,
Karen


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## cheerio (May 16, 2009)

crazy cycle


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## Sky Warrior (Mar 1, 2010)

Ruth,
Hey, way to sell books like crazy. You deserve it! Congrats.
Steve Ward


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## kayakruthie (Jan 28, 2010)

Thank you, Steve.  I know you are interested in pricing and how it effects sales, so I thought I'd share.  I raised my price from .99 to 1.99, and my sales ranking went from 60 to 97.  If I slip off the 100 list, I expect sales will plummet.  So my advice is to stay at .99 until you have another avenue for promotion--such as a great review from an established source -- although I don't think PW or other mags review indies yet.  But they will at some point.


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## brownsfaninva (Mar 12, 2010)

Just finished it in like 1 1/2 days - great read! How many real "pages" was it? I'd love to see certain parts fleshed out more if one of the pubs was smart enough to pick it up.

Thanks for the great book, I really enjoyed it and there was no way I would have had a chance if not for my kindle


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## kayakruthie (Jan 28, 2010)

This week the *Indie Spotlight* features *"Amsterdam 2012"* by Ruth Francisco. Now priced on Amazon Kindle at $1.99.

Check it out at: www.theindiespotlight.com/?p=864

Many thanks to Greg Banks and Edward Patterson for their unflagging support of the indie community. Kudos!


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## Edward C. Patterson (Mar 28, 2009)

Today's featured author

Saturday: Ruth Francisco - Amsterdam 2012

http://www.theindiespotlight.com

Come up and read and leave a comment.

Edward C. Patterson
& Gregory B. Banks


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## davinci (Feb 24, 2010)

I almost never read a book twice, but after reading about Somalia I wanted to see if you'd mentioned it.  Just like what you wrote, and I suppose you first wrote that about a year or so ago.  Really, everyone should read this book.  With volcanoes exploding and grinding European commerce to a halt, it's clear how vulnerable we are both to terrorism and natural disasters.  Compound them, as you do in your novel, and we have a world-wide crisis.


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## Sharlow (Dec 20, 2009)

kayakruthie said:


> Thanks, Karen. I thought I was doing really well, but then this morning I saw 10 new free books topping the Best Seller list, bumping everyone else down ten books. Ha! Kind of funny, really. Makes me think of that child's game "Kind of the Hill".
> 
> Good luck to you!
> 
> -Ruth


i really don't think the free ones should be on that list. They should have there own list.


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## Lisa Hinsley (Jan 11, 2010)

Only just saw how well you've been doing! Wow, many congratulations!


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## kayakruthie (Jan 28, 2010)

Thanks, Lisa.  I see you have two books up now.  That's great!


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## davinci (Feb 24, 2010)

Ruth, why is the Kindle version of "Good Morning, Darkness" now $19.99.  That's insane.  I bought it for $5.99 just a little while back.  What's going on?


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## kayakruthie (Jan 28, 2010)

Marc, I was as shocked as you when I saw the price for "Good Morning, Darkness" at $19.99.  My publisher, Warner books apparently sells subsidiary rights to other publishers, in this case Hachette Publishing.  Hachette has set a lot of crazy prices for ebooks--I think they're testing the market, trying to figure out how to make the most.  I asked my agent to look into it.  I heard from some that they actually lowered the price for some of Vincent Flynn ebooks when people complained enough.  We'll see.


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## davinci (Feb 24, 2010)

It doesn't make any sense.  With the boycott-any-Kindle-book-over-9.99 movement so strong, Hachette is just going to lose sales.  I hope your agent can do something about it.


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## Sharlow (Dec 20, 2009)

You cheated some how didn't you. You got a crystal ball hidden on you some where?


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## davinci (Feb 24, 2010)

I've been following the Times Square bombing.  Looks like Pakistani Taliban is involved.  Their first strike on American soil.


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## Sean Sweeney (Apr 17, 2010)

I'm going to buy this as soon as my next paycheck comes in... so within two weeks.


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## pam (Sep 8, 2009)

Just wanted to chime in to say what a wonderful book this is.  It has to be one of the most interesting books I have ever read and I have been recommending it to everyone I know.  Please take the opportunity to read this wonderful book.  It refocused my attention on the fact that the terrorists are extremists and not the normal Muslim and made me want to learn more about the teachings of this religion.


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## kayakruthie (Jan 28, 2010)

Thank you, Pam.  Without bogging down the narrative drive too much, I tried to show a glimpse of the beauty of Muslim spirituality.  

If you're interested, speakingoffaith.com (NPR radio) has some really wonderful interviews on the Muslim faith, and also some interviews that try to understand the connection between terrorism and religion.  Very interesting radio program.


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## pam (Sep 8, 2009)

Thanks so much for the suggestion.  I just bought another of your books and downloaded samples of the others.  Love your work.  You have another fan.


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## davinci (Feb 24, 2010)

When you posted these books on another site a few months ago, I looked for them on Kindle and they weren't there.  Now they are, along with "America Alone", by Mark Steyn, "Londonistan", by Melanie Phillips, "Menace in Europe", by Claire Berlinkski.  All good reading, especially for Americans who are pretty removed from the situation.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Congrats, Ruth!

Betsy


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## Sharlow (Dec 20, 2009)

congrats Ruth. Hey, I didn't know you had been published before.


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## LeeGoldberg (Jun 12, 2009)

kayakruthie said:


> Thank you, Betsy. I had been so discouraged about getting published again--turned down by publishers not willing to take a chance. I never made back my original advances for my first three books, which is poison to publishers, that on top of an industry that is imploding out of sheer arrogance, fear of technology, and economics.
> 
> I can hardly wait to see how the Kindle world develops.


I've got a signed copy of GOOD MORNING, DARKNESS in my collection... hand-sold to me by the fine folks at the Mystery Book Store. How is it going putting your backlist on the Kindle?

I have sold more copies of THE WALK on the Kindle than I ever did in hardcover...and earned more, too!

I am not about to give up on NY publishers(unless, of course, they give up on me), but I would probably take a manuscript of mine to the Kindle before selling it to a small publisher like Five Star, Poisoned Pen, or Severn House.

Lee


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## jpmorgan49 (Feb 10, 2009)

Looks good,  just purchased it!!!
jp


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## LeeGoldberg (Jun 12, 2009)

kayakruthie said:


> Take a look at J.A.Konrath's website for inspiration:
> 
> www.jakonrath.blogspot.com
> 
> Good luck, Lee. You are a truly wonderful writer!


I am very familiar with Joe and his blog...in fact, he's the one who spurred me to put my back-list on the Kindle. He also redesigned my covers, and changed the titles, of all the books in my out-of-print .357 VIGILANTE series from the 1980s. He did it as a bet and to prove a point...he won the bet and proved his point in spades.

Lee


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## kayakruthie (Jan 28, 2010)

David Wisehart posted an interview with me about Amsterdam and Good Morning, Darkness. He is interested in interviewing other Kindle writers, so drop by and take a look.

http://kindle-author.blogspot.com/2010/07/interview-ruth-francisco.html


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## LeeGoldberg (Jun 12, 2009)

kayakruthie said:


> David Wisehart posted an interview with me about Amsterdam and Good Morning, Darkness. He is interested in interviewing other Kindle writers, so drop by and take a look.
> 
> http://kindle-author.blogspot.com/2010/07/interview-ruth-francisco.html


Thanks for the tip!
I really enjoyed your interview.

Lee


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## scottnicholson (Jan 31, 2010)

What? Lee Goldberg saying he'll self-publish? Almost sort of willingly? Ha, hah, I KNEW we'd get you. I know what Five Star pays...

Scott


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## LeeGoldberg (Jun 12, 2009)

scottnicholson said:


> What? Lee Goldberg saying he'll self-publish? Almost sort of willingly? Ha, hah, I KNEW we'd get you. I know what Five Star pays...
> 
> Scott


I don't think I'd set out to write an original novel for the Kindle...but I have certainly earned *far* more from the Kindle sales of THE WALK than I did from Five Star. I would aim first for a sale to a major publishers. But if it was a choice between Five Star (or a small publisher like it), I would probably go for the Kindle. It would purely be a financial decision, not a career one. I am already an established, professional author. HOWEVER, if I was a newbie author, I definitely would go with Five Star (or another small, reputable, respected press) rather than self-publish on the Kindle. With a small press like Five Star, you have the chance to be widely reviewed (almost definitely by PW), stocked in libraries, sold in some stores, and it will make you eligible for major awards and active status membership in professional writers organizations, which is very important for networking, awards, speaking gigs, etc. You will be regarded as a professional, published author. That's still an important requirement for a writer who wants to make a career out being a novelist.

Lee


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## kayakruthie (Jan 28, 2010)

Lee, I very much enjoyed your interview, too.  But I am not sure, for a new writer, small press publishing is helpful at all.  The advance is small, the interminable wait for the published book (1-2 years), limited distribution, and the emotional and financial requirement for self-promotion/book tours now demanded by all DTB publishers, small or large.  Also, getting published by a small press is not easy, and very time-consuming to land a contract.  Alternatively, I think publishers/agents will/and are looking for books to publish from Kindle.  A new writer will immediately get financial compensation (so s/he feels like a writer), and will get input from readers to improve their work.  I have a niece who is just getting started, and I strongly recommended epublishing and blog publishing to her.

Glad to have you on our team, Lee.


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## davinci (Feb 24, 2010)

Yeah, I read about that, and thought about your book.  Have you gotten much feedback from European readers about your book?


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## jpmorgan49 (Feb 10, 2009)

I just finished your book.  I really enjoyed it, great plot.
jp


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## davinci (Feb 24, 2010)

Caught this on the Internet.  Wondered if you'd seen it:

"ABC News Exclusive: Two Men on United Flight from Chicago Arrested on 'Preparation of a Terrorist Attack' in Amsterdam,":

    Two men taken off a Chicago-to-Amsterdam United Airlines flight in the Netherlands have been charged by Dutch police with "preparation of a terrorist attack," U.S. law enforcement officials tell ABC News. 

    U.S. officials said the two appeared to be traveling with what were termed "mock bombs" in their luggage. "This was almost certainly a dry run, a test," said one senior law enforcement official.

    A spokesman for the Dutch public prosecutor, Ernst Koelman, confirmed the two men were arrested this morning and said "the investigation is ongoing." He said the arrests were made "at the request of American authorities."


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## tomthompson (Sep 1, 2010)

This sounds incredible.  I saw the buzz about it on Facebook, so I downloaded it for this weekend.  I love this place.


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## tomthompson (Sep 1, 2010)

Started and finished last night.  Couldn't put it down.  Wow.  Scary as hell. When does the sequel come out?


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## bce (Nov 17, 2009)

Ruth,

This is a great book. You have done a really good job of showing the problem that so many refuse to see. It gets even scarier when you find news reports like this:



> PORTLAND, ME (NEWS CENTER) -- Police say there were no injuries or damage caused by a chemical bomb that went off in a parking lot near the Islamic Society of Portland.
> The bomb went off in the lot between the Islamic Society and Back Bay Grill around 8:00 PM Tuesday night. Portland Police say Islamic elders came forward to tell them that a 13 year old from the Society was experimenting and was responsible for the bomb. Another bomb was also found undetinated.
> Police say it's unclear if charges will be filed against the teenagers.


(http://www.wcsh6.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=129223)

Stories like this are never reported on the national news. If the kid was the son of the owner of the Back Bay Grill, it would have been all over the place and he certainly would have been arrested.


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## kayakruthie (Jan 28, 2010)

Thank you Tom and Brian.  Yes, Brian, I'm sure a lot of local stories go unreported--no one wants to cause alarm.  But what is more disturbing is Americans have no idea what is really going on in Europe unless they make a huge effort to find out.  Our newspapers simply don't cover international news.  It was one of the reasons I wrote the book.


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## tomthompson (Sep 1, 2010)

Thought your readers should see this!!!

*U.K. issues travel advisory over jihad threat on European continent, Sweden raises alert to highest level ever.*

"Foreign Office warns of high terror threat in France and Germany," from the Telegraph, October 3:

The Foreign Office warned that there was a ''high threat'' of attacks in countries including France and Germany, rather than the ''general threat'' previously identified.

The move came shortly after the State Department issued guidance urging Americans to be vigilant when visiting Europe, highlighting the ''potential for terrorists to attack public transportation systems and other tourist infrastructure''.

The Foreign Office advice now states: "Like other large European countries, the French/German authorities continue to consider that there is a high threat of terrorism.

"Attacks could be indiscriminate, including in places frequented by expatriates and foreign travelers."


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## kayakruthie (Jan 28, 2010)

Today we're featured in Candy's Raves, one of the most literate review sites on the web. I discuss some of my experiences with Kindle publishing with Candy. Thank you, Candy, you are terrific.

http://candysraves.com/


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## kayakruthie (Jan 28, 2010)

We're featured today on Dailycheapreads.com.

http://dailycheapreads.com/

Thank you, Paula. You are the greatest.


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## kayakruthie (Jan 28, 2010)

"Taliban warns Dutch government," from Expatica, October 18:

    A senior Afghan Taliban official has warned of an attack against the Netherlands if its new government implements the agenda of anti-Islam MP Geert Wilders, the Volkskrant daily reported Monday.

    "If the Netherlands maintains or intensifies its anti-Islam policy, it is certain that the Netherlands will be the target of an attack by a jihadist group," Zabiullah Mujahed, a long-time Taliban spokesman, is quoted as having told the newspaper...."


And I was planning a trip to Amsterdam in November to do research for my sequel!


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## Dave Dykema (May 18, 2009)

Ye Gods, if you go and get in the middle of something you'll have plenty of research...and then some!


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## kayakruthie (Jan 28, 2010)

Yes, I'm bound to get in some trouble.  Maybe the sequel will be nonfiction instead of fiction.  Ha!


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## kayakruthie (Jan 28, 2010)

We're written up today in BookBuzzr, a book marketing website out of India chock full of marketing ideas and insights. Thank you, Freya, and good luck with all of your ventures.

http://www.bookbuzzr.com/blog/book-marketing/kindling-fires-up-writers/


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## bce (Nov 17, 2009)

Excerpt: _ Last week, a television broadcast showed how three Jews with skullcaps, two adolescents and an adult, were harassed within thirty minutes of being out in the streets of Amsterdam. Young Muslims spat at them, mocked them, shouted insults and made Nazi salutes. "Dirty Jew, go back to your own country," a group of Moroccan youths shouted at a young indigenous Dutch Jew. "It is rather ironic," the young man commented, adding that if one goes out in a burka one encounters less hostility than if one wears a skullcap._

from: http://www.brusselsjournal.com/node/4470


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## kayakruthie (Jan 28, 2010)

Fascinating article. Thank you for pointing that out to me. It's going to really be interesting to see what's going on there now. I hope to spend a week in Amsterdam and maybe get down to Brussels, too.

Also, today Simon Royle is featuring a rather long interview with me on Amsterdam 2012, how I came to write the novel, and the blog novel to Kindle process. Thank you, Simon, for promoting indie writers.

http://www.simon-royle.com/


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## kayakruthie (Jan 28, 2010)

This week, an in-depth interview with British author Catherine Chisnall at

http://blog.catherinechisnall.co.uk/.

Catherine is no stranger to controversial novels, and her thought-provoking questions were challenging. British writers are so smart it's scary.


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## kayakruthie (Jan 28, 2010)

This today on MSNBC. To think I wrote my book over two years ago--what I wrote as fiction is coming true. Yikes.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40336911/ns/world_news-europe


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## kayakruthie (Jan 28, 2010)

News over the holidays.  

"COPENHAGEN, Denmark -- Five men planning to shoot as many people as possible in a building housing the newsroom of a paper that published cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad were arrested Wednesday in an operation that halted an imminent attack, intelligence officials said.

    Denmark's intelligence service said it arrested four men in two raids in suburbs of the capital, Copenhagen, and seized an automatic weapon, a silencer and ammunition. Swedish police said they arrested a 37-year-old Swedish citizen of Tunisian origin living in Stockholm.

    "An imminent terror attack has been foiled," said Jakob Scharf, head of the Danish Security and Intelligence Service, or PET. He described some the suspects as "militant Islamists with relations to international terror networks" and said that more arrests were possible."


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## kayakruthie (Jan 28, 2010)

Today Debra Martin has posted an interview with about "Amsterdam 2012" and my experiences with Kindle. What a great way to start off the new year! Thank you, Debra.

http://twoendsofthepen.blogspot.com/


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## kayakruthie (Jan 28, 2010)

It appears there's about a 50/50 chance that Egypt will become another Islamic led government, although circumstances are different than they were in 1979 in Iran:

"Iranian leaders hope for Islamic republic in Egypt: Clerics say protests against Mubarak government were inspired by 1979 revolution in Iran," from Ynet News, January 29:

    Iranian leaders expressed satisfaction with the anti-government protests in Egypt, with one leader saying he believes the protesters were inspired by the revolution in his country in 1979.

    "Today, as a result of the gifts of the Islamic revolution in Iran, freedom-loving Islamic peoples such as the peoples of Tunisia, Egypt and nearby Arab countries are standing up to their oppressive governments," the New York Times quoted Ayatollah Mohammad-Taghi Mesbah-Yazdi as saying.

    He congratulated the Egyptian people, saying their actions were "based on the principles" of the Islamic revolution."


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## kayakruthie (Jan 28, 2010)

"Amsterdam 2012" got nominated for in the Gatekeepers Post for mystery/thriller ebook of the year.

Please vote for me!! I've never been nominated for anything.

http://www.gatekeeperspost.com/book-lover-reviews/ebooks-of-the-year-vote/

Winners will be listed in the Huffington Post, which recently merged with AOL, so this could be a big deal.


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## kayakruthie (Jan 28, 2010)

Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, Libya, Yemen, Iraq, Iran.  It's all very exciting to watch.  The fear is that Islamic theocracies will be the only group organized and powerful enough to fill the vacuum.  Let's hope democracy will prevail!


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## Neekeebee (Jan 10, 2009)

I read your book a couple of weeks ago.  Could not put it down.  I still think about it whenever I watch the news.  Great job!

N


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## kayakruthie (Jan 28, 2010)

Thank you, Neekeebee.  It is alarming that so much of what I wrote about has come true.  Wish I had the same prescience when it comes to the lottery.


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## kayakruthie (Jan 28, 2010)

Interesting report from WikiLeaks: "Montreal mosque 'is a top Al Qaeda recruiting zone,'" from the Daily Mail, April 27: 
    
"A mosque in Montreal has been ranked in the world’s top nine Al Qaeda recruiting zones and linked to a terror cell planning attacks on Los Angeles airport, new released documents claim.

    The WikiLeaks files, written by U.S. military chiefs, list the Al Sunnah Al Nabawiah mosque among nine houses of prayer worldwide considered as a place ‘Al Qaeda members were recruited, facilitated or trained’.

    The leaked ‘Matrix of Threat’ documents, designed in the early days of the Guantanamo detention centre to assist intelligence officials, rank the Canadian mosque alongside sites in Yemen, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

    The Al Sunnah Al Nabawiah Mosque in Montreal is considered by the U.S. military to be among places where 'known al-Qaeda members were recruited.'

    The mosque, which was also linked to the September 11 attacks, is the only Islamic prayer house in North America listed as a threat in the leaked report."


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## kayakruthie (Jan 28, 2010)

I had so much hope during the Arab Spring.  But will Egypt follow?

"Bashir says Sudan will adopt Islamic constitution," from Reuters, October 13:

    KHARTOUM - Sudan will go ahead with plans to adopt an entirely Islamic constitution and strengthen Islamic law, President Omar Hassan al-Bashir said on Wednesday, three months after its former civil war enemy South Sudan became independent.

    Juba seceded on 9 July after a referendum agreed under a 2005 peace deal that ended decades of civil war between the mainly Muslim north and the South where most follow Christian and traditional beliefs.

    Bashir had said in December that Sudan would adopt an Islamic constitution if Juba seceded but many southerners had hoped he would not deliver on this.

    His comments will add to uncertainty for more than a million southerners who still live in the north and are now treated legally as foreigners. Khartoum has given them until spring to leave or obtain the legal right to stay, a complicated process.


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## kayakruthie (Jan 28, 2010)

With 2012 coming up, it is astonishing to see how much of my book has already come true.  With the Republican party having such a hard time finding a suitable candidate, I can see a third party candidate appearing, just like I predicted in Amsterdam 2012!


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## kayakruthie (Jan 28, 2010)

Amsterdam 2012 is FREE for December 26 and 27.  Get a copy before the sequel comes out in 2012!


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## kayakruthie (Jan 28, 2010)

I still not sure the Amazon Select is working for me.  I did give away a lot of books, but it did nothing to boost the sales of my New Release, "Sunshine Highway", which was my aim.  Live and learn.


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## Neekeebee (Jan 10, 2009)

There's going to be a sequel?  When?

N


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## kayakruthie (Jan 28, 2010)

Yes, I've been tossing about ideas for a sequel for a year now.  But I am committed to a writing workshop in Amsterdam in March, so I'm going over there with a rough outline and some chapters, and will probably have a sequel by the end of the year, probably a much more involved book than the first one.  It will be called Amsterdam 2020, and will involve a group in Europe much like the French resistance, that fights for freedom.  I'll also continue with Anne's story in Mexico and her fight in the U.S.

Thank you for your interest.  I went on about it, but I'm excited.


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## kayakruthie (Jan 28, 2010)

This cracked me up: Iran Bans Barbies; Disgruntled Little Girl Calls Replacement Dolls 'Ugly and Fat'

http://blogs.laweekly.com/informer/2012/01/iran_bans_barbies.php


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## kayakruthie (Jan 28, 2010)

No chocolate for you!

BANDA ACEH (Indonesia),14 Rabi al-Awwal/6 Feb (IINA)-Ulema in Aceh have warned Muslims, the younger generation in particular, that observing Valentine’s Day is not allowed in Islam and against Sharia law that is in force in all of Aceh province.

“It is haram for Muslims to observe Valentine’s Day because it does not accord with Islamic Sharia” Tgk Feisal, general secretary of the Aceh Ulema Association (HUDA), said on Monday.


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## kayakruthie (Jan 28, 2010)

FREE, Feb 16-17.  Pick up a copy before the sequel comes out.


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## kayakruthie (Jan 28, 2010)

So much for the Arab Spring...and the pluralism and western-style democracy we'd hoped for.

"Islamists win 80% of Egypt's upper parliament vote," by Oren Kessler for the Jerusalem Post, February 26:

    "Islamist parties won more than 80 percent of seats in Egypt's upper house of parliament, the country's election board announced Sunday.

    The Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party took 58 percent of the seats in contention, while the harder-line Salafist Al-Nour party came in second with a quarter of all seats. The nationalist Wafd party came in third with just 7 percent of the vote....

    Islamists also dominated voting for the lower house of parliament, with the Brotherhood taking 38 percent and Al-Nour 27 percent."


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## kayakruthie (Jan 28, 2010)

Freedom of speech is the fundamental protection against tyranny. The Swedish cartoonist Lars Vilks lives with death threats daily.

http://www.jihadwatch.org/2012/03/death-threats-its-something-you-get-used-to-interview-with-swedish-muhammed-cartoonist-lars-vilks.html


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## kayakruthie (Jan 28, 2010)

Looks like Egypt will fall to the Muslim Brotherhood.  Again, so much for the Arab Spring.  From the NYTimes, April 1.

CAIRO — The Muslim Brotherhood nominated its chief strategist and financier Khairat el-Shater on Saturday as its candidate to become Egypt’s first president since Hosni Mubarak, breaking a pledge not to seek the top office and a monopoly on power.

The Brotherhood’s entry into the race also turns the election into a debate over the future of the Islamist political movement that is sure to resonate in the region. Mr. Shater faces Islamist rivals to his left and right — one a more liberal former Brotherhood leader, the other an ultraconservative Salafist. Indeed, the Brotherhood may have entered the race in part because a strong showing by either rival could undercut the group’s authority as the predominant voice of Islam in Egyptian politics.


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## kayakruthie (Jan 28, 2010)

"100,000 British women mutilated," from the Telegraph, April 22:

    As many as 100,000 women in Britain have undergone female genital mutilations with medics in the UK offering to carry out the illegal procedure on girls as young as 10, it has been reported.

    Investigators from The Sunday Times said they secretly filmed a doctor, dentist and alternative medicine practitioner who were allegedly willing to perform circumcisions or arrange for the operation to be carried out. The doctor and dentist deny any wrongdoing.

    The practice, which involves the surgical removal of external genitalia and in some cases the stitching of the vaginal opening, is illegal in Britain and carries up to a 14 year prison sentence.

    Research suggests that every year up to 6,000 girls in London are at risk of the potentially fatal procedure, and more than 22,000 in the UK as a whole.


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## kayakruthie (Jan 28, 2010)

Ah, the glories of the new, democratic "Arab Spring" Egypt! "Suez knifing stirs fears of 'moral' policing in Egypt," from Ahram Online, July 3:

    Twenty-year-old engineering student Ahmed Said was stabbed to death on Sunday in the Egyptian canal city of Suez – allegedly by bearded men – while walking with his fiancée.

    According to eyewitnesses, Said was attacked by three men with long beards and dressed in galabiyas – attire generally associated with religious Muslims – while walking with his fiancée near the centrally-located Arbeen Square.

    "They shouted at him, demanding to know his relationship with the woman he was with," Said's father said in video testimony currently circulating on social-media networks. "And Said replied that it was none of their business."


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## kayakruthie (Jan 28, 2010)

If Romney continues to refuse to release his tax forms, I'm guessing we may have a brokered Republican convention.  Just like I predicted when I first wrote this book.


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## kayakruthie (Jan 28, 2010)

Indications of a systematic targeting of U.S. Embassies:

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia’s anti-terror squad arrested 11 people suspected of planning a range of attacks on domestic and foreign targets including the U.S. and Australian embassies, police said Saturday.

The suspects were arrested in raids Friday and Saturday in four provinces, national police spokesman Maj. Gen. Suhardi Aliyus said.

He said the suspects belonged to a new group called the Sunni Movement for Indonesian Society, or HASMI.

Police seized a number of bombs, explosive materials, a bomb-making manual and ammunition, Aliyus said.

He said the group had plans to target the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta and a plaza near the Australian Embassy and the local office of U.S. mining giant Freeport-McMoRan. It also planned to attack the U.S. Consulate in Surabaya and the headquarters of a police special force in Central Java, he said....


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## kayakruthie (Jan 28, 2010)

"France launches air strikes in Mali against Islamist rebels," by Elizabeth Pineau and Bate Felix for Reuters, January 11:

    (Reuters) - France carried out air strikes against Islamist rebels in Mali on Friday as it began a military intervention intended to halt a drive southward by the militants who control the country's desert north.

    Western governments, particularly former colonial power France, voiced alarm after the al Qaeda-linked rebel alliance captured the central Malian town of Konna on Thursday, a gateway towards the capital Bamako 600 km (375 miles) fur


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## kayakruthie (Jan 28, 2010)

February 21, 2013:

    Three would-be suicide bombers who plotted to carry out an attack to rival the 7 July and 9/11 atrocities have been found guilty of terrorism charges.

    Irfan Naseer, 31, Irfan Khalid, 27, and Ashik Ali, 27, from Birmingham, were found guilty at Woolwich Crown Court of being "central figures" in the plan.

    Jurors were told they planned to set off up to eight bombs in rucksacks, using timers to detonate the charges.
Police described the men as "committed, passionate extremists".  The trio were arrested in 2011 amid fears an attack was imminent.


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## kayakruthie (Jan 28, 2010)

"Taliban Spread Terror in Karachi as the New Gang in Town," by Declan Walsh and Zia ur-Rehman for The New York Times, March 28, 2013:

    KARACHI, Pakistan — This seaside metropolis is no stranger to gangland violence, driven for years by a motley collection of armed groups who battle over money, turf and votes.

    But there is a new gang in town. Hundreds of miles from their homeland in the mountainous northwest, Pakistani Taliban fighters have started to flex their muscles more forcefully in parts of this vast city, and they are openly taking ground.

    Taliban gunmen have mounted guerrilla assaults on police stations, killing scores of officers. They have stepped up extortion rackets that target rich businessmen and traders, and shot dead public health workers engaged in polio vaccination efforts. In some neighborhoods, Taliban clerics have started to mediate disputes through a parallel judicial system.

    The grab for influence and power in Karachi shows that the Taliban have been able to extend their reach across Pakistan, even here in the country’s most populous city, with about 20 million inhabitants. No longer can they be written off as endemic only to the country’s frontier regions.


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## kayakruthie (Jan 28, 2010)

Associated Press, April 6, 2013:

    YOLA, Nigeria – Authorities in northeast Nigeria say at least 11 people were killed in a gun and machete attack carried out by radical Islamic extremists in a northeast Nigeria village.

    Adamawa state police spokesman Mohammed Ibrahim said the attacker hit the village of Midlu early Saturday morning, targeting the house of the state's deputy governor during their assault.

    Ibrahim said victims had their throats slit. Villagers living there said the attackers called out some of their victims by name, suggesting that the assailants had particular people they wanted dead....


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## kayakruthie (Jan 28, 2010)

Accused Alabama terrorist to plead guilty to federal criminal charge," April 10, 2013:

    MOBILE, Alabama – An accused terrorist with ties to Birmingham has announced he will plead guilty to the federal charge.

    Dom Soto, an attorney for Randy “Rasheed” Wilson, told a judge at a pretrial conference this week that his client will plead guilty to conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists. A hearing has been scheduled for April 19 before U.S. District Judge Kristi DuBose.

    A plea agreement has not been filed yet, but Soto said prosecutors have indicated they intend to seek a sentence of 15 years in prison.


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## kayakruthie (Jan 28, 2010)

From Robert Spencer:

"Four separate studies found that 80% of U.S. mosques were teaching jihad, Islamic supremacism, and hatred and contempt for Jews and Christians. There are no countervailing studies that challenge these results. In 1998, Sheikh Muhammad Hisham Kabbani, a Sufi leader, visited 114 mosques in the United States. Then he gave testimony before a State Department Open Forum in January 1999, and asserted that 80% of American mosques taught the “extremist ideology.”

Then there was the Center for Religious Freedom’s 2005 study, and the Mapping Sharia Project’s 2008 study. Each independently showed that upwards of 80% of mosques in America were preaching hatred of Jews and Christians and the necessity ultimately to impose Islamic rule.

And in the summer of 2011 came another study showing that only 19% of mosques in U.S. don’t teach jihad violence and/or Islamic supremacism."


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## kayakruthie (Jan 28, 2010)

In the wake of the Boston Marathon murders.  By Ryan Parry in The Sun, April 29:

    AN ex-girlfriend of dead Boston bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev has told how he tried to brainwash her into becoming a Muslim fanatic who hated America.

    Nadine Ascencao, 24, said Tamerlan made her wear an Islamic hijab and pray to Allah and slapped her when she wore Western clothes.

    But she was so blindly in love with the handsome boxer who had taken her virginity, she did her utmost to make him happy.

    Nadine said: “I went to his mosque a couple of times and even looked into converting to make him happy. I thought, ‘This is crazy’ — but I still did it for him.

    “Tamerlan had taken my virginity and said he loved me because I was pure and hadn’t been with any other guys. I was in love and scared he’d leave me if I didn’t do what he said. Looking back I had a lucky escape.”


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## kayakruthie (Jan 28, 2010)

"France: Priest Attacked by Muslim, Monsignor Denounces Muslims Taking Control of District," by Cheradenine Zakalwe for Islam Versus Europe, May 14:

    On Monday at around 8 pm, Father Grégoire from the parish of Saint-Jean was attacked by an individual. Struck on the face, the priest was unconscious on the ground until two other members of the parish arrived. This Tuesday morning at around 11 am, Monsignor Cattenoz, Archbishop of Avignon, denounced growing insecurity in the district of Saint-Ruf (while the local authority official in charge of public safety claims instead that there has been a decrease in crime in this sector), as well as the proliferation of thefts and threats towards members of the parish.

    The leader of the Catholics in Vaucluse went even further: "People of the Muslim faith have progressively taken control of this district"... before proposing to create a committee bringing together representatives of the main religions, in order to calm the situation.


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## kayakruthie (Jan 28, 2010)

The jihad in Britain has just begun. "Britain braces for possible copycat attacks," by Paisley Dodds for The Associated Press, May 24:

    LONDON — Britain is bracing for clashes with right-wing extremists and possible copycat terror attacks after the brutal slaying of a young soldier.

    London's Metropolitan Police said more than 1,000 officers will be sent to potential trouble spots with armed response units. Only a fraction of Britain's police officers are armed.

    Wednesday's bloody attack was captured on video by passersby and made for gruesome viewing — one man is seen with his hands stained red and holding two butcher's knives as he angrily complained about the British government and troops in foreign lands. A lifeless body is seen on the street behind him.

    Terror analysts say the attackers wanted the publicity to inspire copycat attacks, and that they are already seeing an increase in chatter on extremist sites calling for such attacks....


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## kayakruthie (Jan 28, 2010)

"Pakistan militants bomb women on bus, then seize hospital in deadly attack," by Gul Yousafzai, Syed Raza Hassan and Frank Jack Daniel for Reuters, June 15:

    QUETTA, Pakistan -- Militants in western Pakistan bombed a bus carrying women university students on Saturday and then seized part of the hospital where survivors of the attack were taken, killing at least 12 people, officials said.  At least 19 were injured.

    The gunmen in Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province long plagued by sectarian violence, were holed up in the emergency ward of a hospital, engulfed in a firefight pitting militants against the security forces.


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## kayakruthie (Jan 28, 2010)

This conversation between Morsi and General Sisi before the Egyptian military took over is very interesting. It feels a bit like propaganda, but it may be true.

http://www.raymondibrahim.com/from-the-arab-world/exposed-final-conversation-between-morsi-and-sisi/


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## kayakruthie (Jan 28, 2010)

Very interesting today on Jihad Watch.  Europe has had enough.

The Europeans are waking up: Surveys show rapidly increasing support for Islam-critical parties

If you think Europe will sleep through its Islamisation, you are wrong. Surveys predict a sharp increase of power to Islam-critical parties in coming elections in several European countries. This reflects the Europeans' increasingly negative attitude towards Islam and Muslim immigration. This does not mean that the explosion of Muslim violence against non-Muslims all over Western Europe will stop, or that the heavily armed Muslim bastions that are eating up thousands of cities on our continent will start obeying secular law and authorities instead of imams and homemade sharia courts. Nor does it mean that Islamic terrorists will quit their plans to destabilize our societies with the use of bombs, poison, kidnappings, highjacking, train derailments, cyber attacks, political lobbying, etc.

What it means is that the final blow between Islam and Europe will happen earlier than many expected. The point where the conflict could have been solved through a full stop for Muslim immigration and refugees, crackdowns on mosques preaching the unrevised and thus unconstitutional version of the Quran, complete rollback of any kind of islamization, effective policing in troubled ghettos, repatriation of criminal and unemployed immigrants without full citizenship, decreased welfare for people unable to speak the country's language, child support limited to two children, paid repatriation, and much heavier sentences for engaging in gang-related crimes, violence and rape (with the possibility to get a cut in the sentence if they emigrate to a non-EU country) without losing blood, sweat and tears fighting civil war-like riots and organised Islamic guerrilla groups was passed more than a decade ago.

Uplifting political polls

The French party Front National is now as popular as the governing Socialist party and the former Sarkozy-led conservative UMP. All three parties received 21 percent of the votes, and it is worth noting that the Socialists and the Conservatives are generally decreasing, while Front National is still growing steadily. The leader of Front National, Marie le Pen, has renounced her father's antisemitic and race-based policies, and vows to destroy the euro and has declared Islamisation the greatest threat to France.

The Danish Peoples' Party is now the second biggest party in Denmark, according to several surveys. With 20 percent, DPP is bigger than the Social Democrats, and can form a government with the Venstre (Liberal Conservatives), which also has outspoken Islam-critics among its MPs, alone.

In Sweden, the Swedish Democrats, known for their very outspoken negative statements on Islam and Muslim immigration, are now the third biggest party, with 11 percent in the surveys.

In Holland, Geert Wilders' Party for Freedom (PVV) is now the biggest party in surveys. 24 percent of the voters would vote for the PVV.

The UK Independence Party, UKIP, is mainly known for its fierce stance against the EU. UKIP's policy, though, is also against immigration, and several members of UKIP have expressed very negative comments on Islam. UKIP receives 13 percent in polls, and surveys show that many UK voters who traditionally vote Socialist and Conservative are strongly considering voting for UKIP at the coming elections.

In Norway, The Progress Party, which is known for its very sceptical stance on Islam and Muslim immigration, is the third biggest party, with 14 percent of the votes according to surveys.

In Austria the FPÖ, Freedom Party Austria, is now at 20 percent in surveys, making it the third biggest party if elections were to be held tomorrow. FPÖ is working together with Geert Wilders.

In Finland, the True Finns are the third biggest party, with 19 percent of the votes. The True Finns are EU-sceptical and against Islamisation and Muslim immigration.

Though Switzerland does not have a major Islam-critical party, 58 percent of voters voted for a ban on minarets in the country, showing a generally very critical attitude towards Islam among Swiss voters.

It is worth noting that the change in the Europeans' attitude has happened in spite of the medias' and the politicians' conscious, powerful and almost all-pervasive attempt to downplay, ignore and even lie about Islam and the consequences of Muslim immigration.


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## kayakruthie (Jan 28, 2010)

AMSTERDAM 2012 is now available as an audio book.  Susan Eichhorn Young reads.  A lovely voice with just the right amount of vitality.


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## kayakruthie (Jan 28, 2010)

"Austrian rape victim was arrested for having sex outside of marriage in UAE when she reported the crime&#8230; and told she had to MARRY her attacker," by Luke Garratt for the Daily Mail, January 31:

An Austrian woman who was raped in Dubai has been arrested for having extra martial [sic] sex and was told by police she could only avoid jail if she married her attacker.

The 29-year-old student from Vienna was facing a jail sentence having been accused of having sex outside of marriage and drinking alcohol, both of which are illegal in the United Arab Emirate capital.

It was only after the Austrian Foreign Ministry intervened, that she was able to leave the country and return home.


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## kayakruthie (Jan 28, 2010)

“Muslims Demand ‘Right of Return’ to Spain,” by Soeren Kern for the Gatestone Institute, February 21:

    Muslim groups are demanding Spanish citizenship for potentially millions of descendants of Muslims who were expelled from Spain during the Middle Ages.

    The growing clamor for “historical justice” comes after the recent approval of a law that would grant Spanish citizenship to descendants of Sephardic Jews expelled from Spain in 1492.

    Muslim supporters say they are entitled to the same rights and privileges as Jews because both groups were expelled from Spain under similar historical circumstances.

    But historians point out that the Jewish presence in Spain predates the arrival of Christianity in the country and that their expulsion was a matter of bigotry. By contrast, the Muslims in Spain were colonial occupiers who called the territory Al-Andalus and imposed Arabic as the official language. Historians say their expulsion was a matter of decolonization.

    In any event, the descendants of Muslims expelled from Spain are believed to number in the millions—possibly tens of millions—and most of them now live in North Africa. Observers say that by granting citizenship to all of them, Spain, virtually overnight, would end up with the largest Muslim population in the European Union.

    Much of the Iberian Peninsula was occupied by Muslim conquerors known as the Moors from 711 until 1492, when the Moorish Kingdom of Granada surrendered to the Catholic Monarchs of Spain (Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon), in what is known as the Christian Reconquest.

    But the final Muslim expulsion from Granada did not take place until over a century later, beginning in 1609, when King Philip III decreed the expulsion of the Moriscos.

    The Moriscos—Moors who decided to convert to Catholicism after the Reconquest rather than leave Spain—were suspected of being nominal Catholics who continued to practice Islam in secret. From 1609 through 1614, the Spanish monarchy forced an estimated 350,000 Moriscos to leave Spain for Muslim North Africa.

    Today, up to five million descendants of the Moriscos are living in Morocco alone; there are millions more living in Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Mauritania, Tunisia and Turkey.


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## kayakruthie (Jan 28, 2010)

“Bomb kills at least 10 in northeast Nigerian city: witnesses,” Reuters, March 1:

    (Reuters) – At least 10 people were killed on Saturday when a bomb exploded in the northeast Nigerian city of Maiduguri, witnesses said, in a region where the Islamist sect Boko Haram is pursuing a bloody insurgency.

    Boko Haram, whose fight for an Islamic state in northern Nigeria has killed thousands and made the group the biggest threat to security in Africa’s top oil producer, is increasingly targeting the civilian population.

    The bomb went off at around 6 p.m. in a busy market area in Ajilari-Gomari near the city’s airport, two witnesses and a police source said.


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## kayakruthie (Jan 28, 2010)

PHILADELPHIA  (AP) 4/17/2014 – An immigrant teen who had earned a scholarship to an elite U.S. college but helped solicit support for Jihadists he met online was sentenced Thursday to five years in prison.

Mohammad Hassan Khalid had earned a full scholarship to Johns Hopkins University after just a few years in the United States, where his family was building a new life after leaving Pakistan.

As his parents and siblings worked to achieve the American dream, he retreated to his bedroom in the family’s cramped apartment near Baltimore, and joined radical Islamist chat rooms by the time he was 15. He was soon conversing with Coleen LaRose, a troubled Pennsylvania woman who called herself “Jihad Jane,” and other extremists.

Federal prosecutors say Khalid used his “brilliance and eloquence,” along with his computer and video skills, to help them translate documents and try to recruit westerners. That got the attention of the FBI, which visited Khalid repeatedly.

Since his 2011 arrest, Khalid has given significant help to U.S. officials pursuing various al-Qaida offshoots, assistance that took years off his potential sentence of 15 years for providing material aid to terrorists.

LaRose got a 10-year term in January for agreeing to kill Swedish artist Lars Vilks, who drew a cartoon that had offended Muslims, while another American woman, Jamie Paulin-Ramirez, got eight years. Both had moved to Ireland to join an alleged terror cell.


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## kayakruthie (Jan 28, 2010)

With ISIS and ebola on the rampage, this book is more relevant than ever.


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## kayakruthie (Jan 28, 2010)

Did Richard Engel actually claim "no one saw ISIS coming?"  Not quite.  A lot of us did.


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## kayakruthie (Jan 28, 2010)

Je suis Charlie.

It's unfolding just like in Amsterdam 2012.


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## kayakruthie (Jan 28, 2010)

Paris, Brussels, now San Bernardino.  It seems everything I wrote about in Amsterdam 2012 is coming true.  Yikes!


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## kayakruthie (Jan 28, 2010)

The sequel is FREE December 19-20.  Merry Christmas.


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